At dinner that evening, Harry and Hermione received identical scrolls of parchment sealed with purple wax. Upon opening them, they found a short note in narrow, loopy handwriting they both recognized:
Please come to my office at eight this evening. I enjoy chocolate frogs.
Yours very sincerely,
Professor Dumbledore
Needless to say, the note was extremely vague, and their interest was more than piqued. As Harry looked up from the parchment, he caught sight of Draco across the hall and noticed that his brother had a letter as well. Draco met his eyes and shrugged.
"So it's something he wants all three of us to know," he said quietly.
"Hmm?" Hermione was busy buttering her potatoes and had subsequently missed the cross-table exchange.
"All three of us – you, me, and Draco – have these notes, so whatever Dumbledore wants to talk to us about, it's something we all need to know. I wonder what it is – and what's up with the chocolate frogs bit?"
"Maybe it's a password," Hermione suggested. "We should definitely go, though – it might be important."
The friends managed to whittle away the time between the end of dinner and their meeting by finishing their Charms homework, and just before eight, they left the Room of Requirement to make their way to the headmaster's office. When they reached the gargoyle, Harry took Hermione's suggestion and said, "Chocolate frogs." The gargoyle leapt aside, and they found themselves on the moving staircase. Harry, who was closest to the door when they reached the top, grabbed the knocker.
"Come in!" a voice called. The trio obliged, and Hermione gasped. Harry laughed in spite of himself. Of course – Hermione had never been in here before. She'd probably been momentarily stunned by the sheer number of books in the room, as he was almost positive Dumbledore's collection was second only to the massive main library itself.
"Good evening," Dumbledore said cordially. "Please, do have a seat." He indicated three squashy-looking armchairs in front of his desk, and when the teenagers complied, they found them to be extremely comfortable and sank back almost immediately.
"Now, I suppose you're wondering why I pulled you away from your ever-important schoolwork this evening," Dumbledore began.
"We were doing work, Professor, I promise," Harry said, not sure why he felt the sudden need to defend himself.
"I don't doubt you, my boy," Dumbledore replied with a chuckle. "I just had some news I thought you might find interesting. Do you recall the mention of a legend?" The three stared blankly at him for several seconds, then Hermione's eyes widened in recognition.
"You mean the legend from the prophecy?" she asked. Draco and Harry perked up instantly at her question. Merlin, Harry thought. We've been so wrapped up in classes and Quidditch and Wormtail that we completely forgot about the prophecy!
"The very same," Dumbledore replied. "I thought it might end up being a rather lengthy search – we did have no idea where to start, after all – but the answer, I think, has been here all the time."
"Here?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"Yes, here," Dumbledore repeated, unable to stop himself from chuckling once more. "For you see, we failed to recall the entire line of the prophecy, which refers to 'the legend in her sacred vault' – how silly of me to forget that Hogwarts does indeed have a 'sacred vault' of sorts."
"Sir?" Draco questioned, still not getting where the headmaster was going with this. Judging by their eager and slightly confused looks, neither did Harry or Hermione.
"Hogwarts has archives," Dumbledore told them, "archives that only the current head of the school – or deputy head, in times of emergency – can access. These archives house records of all sorts that date back to the very founding of the school, and even before then, if you count the blueprints and many scrolls detailing the planning, the hopes and dreams the founders poured into these very walls." Dumbledore paused and gestured around the room as if to emphasize his point. "There are even some records about the founders themselves, although those aren't nearly as numerous as those directly related to the school."
"Wow," Hermione breathed. "That's…"
"A treasure trove," Draco finished, looking equally as awed.
"Indeed it is," Dumbledore agreed. "The sheer quantity of knowledge in that room is astounding – I don't pretend to have discovered all its secrets, and I suspect I never will. The fact that I even have access to such a room is humbling. But I digress. I was searching the archives for something else entirely when I came across a letter I think you might like to read." He shuffled around behind his desk – it sounded like he was opening a drawer – and straightened up a moment later, holding a very ornate and rather rusty key.
"While I cannot take you into the archives themselves, as numerous enchantments prevent anyone but Professor McGonagall or I from entering, I can take you into the viewing room," he said, pushing aside a tapestry behind his desk to reveal a plain wooden door.
"What's the viewing room, sir?" Harry asked. Dumbledore fumbled with the key for a moment before managing to insert it into the lock, which was large and looked just as old as the key.
"I'm sure you're all familiar with the idea of preserving documents, no?" he asked. When the three students gave him half-hearted shrugs, he continued, "The older an artifact gets, the more fragile it becomes – artwork starts to fade or crack, buildings begin to crumble. In the case of written documents, mishandling them can lead to devastating consequences – even the wrong air quality or too harsh lighting can irreparably damage ancient scrolls. The archives have a viewing room that is strictly controlled to account for such variables, which allows for further examination of records without having to remain in the archives themselves – in situations like these, where others besides those with access to the archives need to know, it's quite convenient."
"Couldn't you just copy the original, instead of risking damage by moving it in here?" Hermione wondered.
"I could, but there's no way of knowing how many times an object has been duplicated, and overdoing it can damage the original just as much as moving it," Dumbledore replied. "Besides, I thought you three might like to see the original – it's highly fascinating." He opened the door and ushered them into a room roughly the size of most of Hogwarts' classrooms – not too big, but not too small. The room was bathed in a soft reddish light not unlike a photography darkroom, and a simple table and chairs were the only furnishings in the otherwise bare space.
"Where's the entrance to the archives, Professor?" Hermione asked, looking confused at the lack of another door.
"Oh, it's certainly not in here," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling merrily even in the dim light. "Another one of the founders' brilliant moves, if I do say so – after all, how secure would the archives be if just anyone could break in provided they found the door? No, the entrance to the archives is somewhere else entirely, and a special transportation spell allows objects to be moved here."
"The philosopher's stone!" Draco said suddenly, having recalled something Dumbledore said after their trip down the trapdoor. "The stone was in the archives, wasn't it?"
"Very good, Mr. Black, very good indeed!" Dumbledore replied, sounding rather pleased. "I always love it when my students are so astute – the stone was indeed housed in the archives that year. As such, it is not a part of Hogwarts' history and couldn't remain any longer than that, but it gave dear Nicolas and I time to find a better safekeeping spot for it. Now, to the matter at hand, shall we?" He gestured towards the table, where several pairs of gloves and thin tweezers sat waiting.
"Gloves on, please," he said. "The oils in your hands can damage old parchment alarmingly quickly. If you must move it, use the tools." The trio did as requested and finally approached the center of the table, where a single sheet of parchment sat waiting for them on a tray. It was faded around the edges and looked extremely old, and the writing upon it was in a thick, curly script.
"Go ahead," Dumbledore encouraged. They stepped forward to take a closer look, and Hermione almost immediately let out a yelp, her eyes having instinctively dropped to the signature first.
"Is that…is that really a letter written by Helga Hufflepuff?" she managed to stammer. Harry and Draco followed her gaze, where they indeed found the famous witch's large, flowery signature staring at them.
"The very same," Dumbledore assured them. "But I'm sure you might find the contents even more interesting than the signature, so read on." The trio quickly decided it was best if Hermione just read the letter aloud – it was too hard for all three of them to make everything out in the dark room – and so she began:
To Whom It May Concern,
And so it is done – Rowena has finished the charms on her ring today, thereby completing the set. The four together are probably among the most powerful magical objects in the world, if used properly – but then, the circumstances surrounding their use are so specific that we needn't despair should one fall into the wrong hands.
The rings, of course, allow the wearers to tap into the magic of Hogwarts itself – a protection plan, if you will, should the school find itself in excessive danger. Of course, we hope with everything we are that this may never be the case, but one can never be too prepared. Those worthy of wearing the rings will personify the qualities of each respective house, though it is not necessary to have a member of each house amongst their ranks – uniting the character traits that distinguish us is far more important than to which banner each wearer is pledged at such a tender age as eleven. I shan't explain how you will know if a particular individual is the right candidate – if the time comes when they're needed, the rings will speak for themselves.
May Hogwarts ever stand strong.
Kindest regards,
Helga Hufflepuff
The three friends stared silently at the letter for several long moments after Hermione finished reading.
"It's called the Legend of the Founders' Rings," Dumbledore said once he'd realized they didn't quite know what to say. "I found references to it in other journals as well, some of them written as many as three or four hundred years after this letter."
"As interesting as it is – and it really is – the letter doesn't really help us all that much, does it?" Hermione said.
"Whatever do you mean, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore replied.
"Well…I suppose it tells us how to determine who wears the rings…but that doesn't help much if we don't have the rings, does it?"
"And that, my dear, is where you are wrong."
"You mean…you have the rings?" Harry asked, his eyes wide.
"Well…no, not exactly. But we do have one of them." Dumbledore waved his hand and murmured something they couldn't hear, and a second tray appeared to the left of the first.
"Hufflepuff's ring," he proclaimed. "That, you may touch – objects containing that much magic easily withstand the test of time."
"Is that why Ginny didn't have any issues with Gryffindor's sword?" Harry asked.
"Precisely. Now, go ahead and take a look at that ring. In fact, why don't we bring it back into my office so you can see it better?" The trio complied and were soon seated back in the squashy armchairs in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"But…there must be some mistake," Draco said, frowning once he'd gotten a good look at the ring. "No offense, Professor, but this looks like…well, it looks like it's made of…"
"Plastic?" Dumbledore suggested with a smile.
"Well…yes."
And indeed, Draco was right. The object before them was indeed a ring, two stripes of black surrounding a single stripe of yellow down the middle, but it looked – and felt – like plastic. It resembled a child's toy far more than a powerful magical artifact.
"Ah, yes," Dumbledore said, "but we've forgotten the protection plan, have we not?"
"The protection plan has a protection plan?" Harry muttered, remembering the phrase Hufflepuff had used to refer to the rings.
"Yes, it does, and the founders did right to put it in place," Dumbledore said. "If you'll recall, I said I'd found journal entries that mentioned the rings – as far as I can tell, no one has ever used them, as they've never been able to find a complete set of people who fit the requirements for wearing them, but there have been times when as many as three rings have been matched to wearers, and the journals describe a noticeable change in the rings when such a thing happens. From what I can tell, the 'plastic' look is a special sort of Glamour Charm, one that will only remove itself when one who is worthy of that particular ring puts it on."
"So we have to track down the rest of the rings, which could get interesting, but once we have them, it can't be too hard to find a quartet worthy of wearing them, could it?" Harry asked.
"Ah, but the prophecy has further requirements for those who wear the rings," Dumbledore corrected him. "'Bronze and black together in friendship, silver and gold given freely in the name of the enemy's ignorance.' I had my suspicions, of course, that these lines had something to do with the houses, given that they mention each house's secondary color, and now that we've seen what one of the rings looks like, I'm sure of it."
"But what do those lines mean?" Draco pressed. "It's best if we start looking for these people now – who knows how long it'll take us to find the rings, and chances are we'll need them at some point."
"Unfortunately, I don't doubt that," Dumbledore said gravely. "As for the meaning behind the lines…I have ideas, of course, but it's always best to have help when consulting prophecies, and you three are highly intelligent – let's see if you can come up with that answer. Now, I think I've given you more than enough to think about for one evening, don't you? Off to bed, then!"
The three friends left Dumbledore's office without another word. One thing was for sure – he certainly had given them a lot to think about.
A/N: Alrighty, this chapter, I really want to know what you think - the legend is entirely my own creation & will play a large part in the story to come, & I want to hear your thoughts! Where will they find the 3 remaining rings, & more importantly, who will wear each one, & why? (I'd be willing to bet you can't guess that last part...) My sister thought it was a really cool idea, but I'd love to hear your thoughts as well, regardless of whether you agree with her! In case you need a refresher, bronze = Ravenclaw, black = Hufflepuff, silver = Slytherin, & gold = Gryffindor.
JKR owns all things Potter, I just play. Thanks so much for reading/following/favoriting/reviewing, & I hope you enjoy! :)
