Disclaimer: It's not mine no matter how much I wish. 'Course this disclaimer probably isn't either.
A/N:
StrawberriesHarry stood nervously and walked over to stand before Lord Gryffindor. He shifted from one foot to the other as Lord Gryffindor slowly stood up. He grasped Harry's chin, forcing his head up into the light, causing Harry's hair to fall backwards bringing his scar into view. Lord Gryffindor brushed the fingers of his other hand along the scar before inspecting Harry's other features. He murmured to himself as he gazed at Harry's facial features, moving his head in different directions.
Seeming to come to a conclusion he nodded to Harry, releasing his chin, and sat back down. Harry took that as his cue to sit down himself. Harry nervously cleared his throat after Gryffindor had been silent for a while.
"Ah, sorry about that. Could you… er… tell me about that scar of yours?" asked Gryffindor.
"When I was a bit older than a year Voldemort attempted to kill me like he had done to many others before. The death of my mother previously caused the killing curse to rebound back onto him. It left him without a body for about thirteen years and me with a few of his gifts. It was disturbing to many people when it came out that I was a parselmouth." Gryffindor blinked at Harry.
"That always did bother me. Just because it sounds disturbing people label it as a dark wizard thing. To be honest, part of our attempt at becoming mages we had to attain a certain… proficiency in dealing with nature and her denizens. Needless to say we each chose to learn from animals associated with our animagus forms. Salazar seemed to prefer snakes to his animagus form... something about the appeal of being able to hide anywhere. I never did understand him." Gryffindor shook his head in amusement. "Who did you say your mother was?"
"I didn't say. She was Lily. I think her maiden name was Evans," answered Harry.
"Ah… little Lily. I remember telling Nicholas to watch over that one. But she didn't turn out to be one of mine. In retrospect it's not surprising, but at the time I had hoped… But that's all in the past. For we need to deal with the future now."
"The future? Do you mean the war with Voldemort, Lord Gryffindor?" asked Harry.
"Ah. In a way, Harry, but a little bit more immediate than that. Voldemort is something to be dealt with at a later date. For now… I just wanted to tell you that you're… well, you're my direct heir." Gryffindor sat back to watch Harry's reaction. Harry surprised him again but not even being really surprised.
"That makes sense considering you said my father would have been brought to you had he followed Sir Nicholas." Gryffindor nodded, but still seemed uncertain of himself.
"Oh get over yourself and get on with this. Tell him about the potion and his purpose of being here!" exclaimed a stern female voice. Both Harry and Gryffindor looked up at the portrait, startled.
"I do so apologize, my dearest. I didn't realize you were waiting on me to kick out my newest heir. One of the main reasons why I have Nicholas bring all my blood relations down here is so that I can pass on many of my own skills and knowledge. I can only assume that Helga, Salazar, and Rowena do the same for their own. I used to actually teach my heirs, but not too long ago Nicholas brought me news from Salazar that he had developed a potion to help initiate a link between two people, a link allowing for the transfer of magical abilities and information. It seems that Salazar was bored with teaching his heirs the same thing each and every time one showed up. He preferred to just get it over with in one shot and devote the rest of his time to inventing and talking with his pets." Here Gryffindor paused again, uncertain of Harry's reaction. "If you are willing we can utilize this potion and just talk and brush up on our skills the rest of the time. It looks like we may need to exercise you a bit to get you in shape."
Harry blushed before nodding. "It certainly sounds quicker. Does it take long? The headmaster may send someone looking for me while I'm in here." Gryffindor nodded to himself before waving a regal hand towards the goblet sitting on the table beside Harry's chair. He picked up an identical one from his own table. He raised it to Harry in a salute before drinking it down.
"You just drink it down. My potion is made to be the initiator that sends all my knowledge and skills. The first person I touch that has drunk of a similar, but slightly different potion, becomes the receiver of the potion. You have that potion. All my previous heirs that have taken it have merely felt a bit drowsy afterwards, but that is it." Harry nodded before taking up his own goblet. He frowned at the swirling colours in the glass before raising it to his lips with foreboding. All the past potions he had had to drink drifted through his mind as he quickly swallowed the potion in one gulp. He sighed as he found the potion to have a pleasant strawberry flavour.
Gryffindor chuckled at Harry's antics. "Salazar always was fond of strawberries. I believe they were quite rare from one of the places that he grew up in." Gryffindor looked Harry closely in the face before asking, "Are you ready, Harry?" Harry swallowed nervously before holding out his hand. Gryffindor paused a moment before reaching out and grasping Harry's hand as if in a tight handshake.
Harry didn't even have enough time to gasp in surprise as his world exploded in a shower of colours and disjointed images.
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None as of yet as this has been written before I could even post the previous chapter.
