Chapter 10

Harry entwined his fingers in Ari's mane almost absentmindedly as he stood before the Merlinus Vault. It had taken approximately an hour to walk to the Merlinus vault, since Ari didn't fit in the mine carts and was too big for any Floo connection not Hagrid-sized.

The great entrance to the Vault of Merlin included an entrance hall, since this great mage's descendants had been the ones to aid in Gringotts' creation. Marble columns, laced with rose quartz, grew elegantly, gracefully, in style unimposing, out of the marble floor. The purple and orange, blue and red shades of sunset drifted almost lazily into the foyer, staining patches of marble stone into shades of baby blue, pink-orange, lilac, and boysenberry…

"You okay, cub? You haven't talked much since, well, the Potter Vault." Sirius stated, worry lacing his tone, his weight shifting from foot to foot nervously.

"M'fine, Padfoot. Just a little tired out, that's all." Harry said lethargically, attempting to smile comfortingly at his godfather, but his exhaustion turned the expression into a grimace.

You should rest, young one.

Speak for yourself. I'm not made of glass, and I'm not about to collapse, either.

My oh my, so snappish. You are tired.

Whoof, he sighed, I am tired, but if I don't finish this I won't get to sleep anyway.

I'm inclined to agree. I spent most of the last thousand years asleep, waiting for heirs to visit the vault so I could see them, their children, and the possessions they left in the vault… and yet I still find that sleep has a hold on me that can only be delayed, not stopped.

I don't know what half of that meant, but I agree. I'm going to be snoozing all day tomorrow.

"Harry?" Nicholas queried. Harry's eyes returned from the slightly unfocused way that meant he was talking to Ari. The last of Ari's amber color left his hunter green eyes as Harry focused his attention on Nicholas. "Can you open the Merlinus Vault?"

Harry nodded, removed his fingers with some difficulty from Ari's mane, and strode confidently up to the great stone door.

A door forged by the Goblins with help from Grímr Langobarðr, the famed Dwarvish smith, the great gate to the Merlinus Vault was made of jet-black feldspar, covered in a blend of mercury, silver, and iron that was incredibly light, yet could be made into unparalleled and unmatched weapons and armor that none could oppose.

A rowan tree1 was carved into the dark mineral, a silvery metal filling the etchings. Twelve silver stars, designed in an arc just above the last shiny leaf of the rowan, seemed to be the crowning glory of that great gate. A thirteenth star, larger and higher up than the others, burned fiercely with a light not of this earth as Harry approached the Vault.

Harry grew in power as he placed his hand upon the rowan's trunk and muttered, "Dulcet decorumst pro patria mori, sed dulcius pro patria vivere."2

The great tree and silvery stars faded into ordinary grey metal as a great crack appeared in the visually solid stone. With a little squeaking, the door opened its right half to admit Harry. He pulled and pushed at the door until it was the rest of the way open to allow Nicholas, Sirius, Remus, Charles, and Ari enter. Thror stayed outside.

Deep in Harry's dog-tired brain, the great beauty of that vault reached a place that not even the chilling effects of the Dementors could ever take from him. Streams of silver streaked through the natural cavern's ceiling, making the soft glow of the magical lamps reflect off the snaking flows like starlight.

A battered grayish-blue hat, wide brimmed and pointy-crowned, was placed upon a pedestal. Beside that plinth was a second, smaller one, bearing a wolf's tooth inscribed with protective runes, strung on a metal necklace chain. Next to them, balancing in a wrought iron stand was a tall dogwood staff, smooth in places from use and rough in others from combat. A luminescent crystal was locked into a niche at the staff's tip, bestowing the area around the hat, fang, and staff with an ethereal and wraithlike light.

Harry tottered, a hand on Ari's shoulder for support, toward the hat's dais. Drawn by the same force with the hat as with the Brith Caregan3, he seized it by the brim and put it on.

A flash of light enveloped both Harry and the hat, which was now sitting freely upon his head, for a split second. Then, the light had retreated, and a voice rang out in the cavern. It was not a loud voice, nor a soft one, but it made every word articulated perfectly clear.

"O YE OF MY HOUSE, I CHOOSE YOU AS MY HEIR FREELY… YE MAY TAKE MY HAT, FOR IT IS YOURS NOW AND HAS MAGIC OF ITS OWN FROM BEING AROUND ME FOR SO LONG, AND MY STAFF, WHICH WILL DOUBTLESS SERVE YOU AS WELL, IN TIME OF WAR AND IN TIME OF PEACE, AS IT HAS SERVED ME… I ASK THAT YOU TAKE THE WOLF'S FANG AMULET, FOR I MADE IT FOR THE HEIR WHO WOULD HAVE MY HAT AND STAFF…"

"Who are you?" Harry asked, not in his I'm a three year old, not a threat, voice but his I'm a Lord of many Houses, don't make me annoyed, voice.

"I WAS CALLED MERLIN, SON OF NONE… I AIDED A YOUNG KING GAIN CONTROL OF ENGLAND AND IN SO DOING SPAWNED MORE ENEMIES THAN FRIENDS… FOR THAT I AM SORRY. FOR THAT I WAS AND AM LAUDED, AND FOR HAVING POWER THAT FEW POSSESSED, EITHER BEFORE OR SINCE…

"NOW THE CHARM I PLACED UPON MY HAT IS WEARING THIN AND RAGGED… GOOD HEALTH AND LONG LIFE TO YOU, Harry JAMES MERLINUS GRYFFINDOR RAVENCLAW FLAMEL POTTER-BLACK…"

And the voice faded leaving a deafening silence and an exhausted child.

Sirius picked Harry up, the kid already slipping into sleep, Nicholas grabbed the hat and amulet, Ari took hold of the staff, and Remus carried Charles and guarded the rear of their little platoon as they left Gringotts in the light of a summer night.

1 A mountain ash

2 It is both sweet and seemly to die for the fatherland, but it is sweeter to live for it.

3 The silvery moonstone from Chapter 8