Chapter Eleven

Heirs.

"Rose… Why?" McGonagall asked disappointed

"Professor I need to talk to you urgently!"

"I'm all ears, Rose," McGonagall turned to look at her

"Professor, something is in the castle!" McGonagall stopped dead in her tracks.

"Something?" Her face looked as though she had been stunned, "What do you mean Rose?"

"I was on my way to my common room and I heard something, I don't know what it was but a dark figure started running towards me, so I ran and hid in Mr Filch's office and then he found me," Rose's breathing was so erratic she thought she might pass out. McGonagall opened the door to her office and ushered Rose in, "Please Professor, I would not make this up, I saw something I promise."

"I need to alert the headmaster, stay here! This could be worse than I thought!"

McGonagall rushed out of her office leaving Rose stood there in silence; she took a chair infront of McGonagall's desk and waited. A few moments later McGonagall arrived and sat down opposite her, "The Professor Dumbledore has been warned, Rose there is something I must tell you! Something very important!" This time, Rose was all ears.

"I assume you know of the four founders of Hogwarts, named after the houses of this school etc do you not?"

"Yes I do, Professor,"

"Well, if you remember in your 2nd year, the chamber of secrets had been opened by the heir of Slytherin. We then released a statement that the heir of Slytherin was indeed Tom Riddle Jnr, he still is, however, it is said to be that all four of the heirs will return to Hogwarts at the same time. Weather this is in the same year or year above or below. All heirs will return at the same time. Well this is not true as Tom Riddle left Hogwarts 50 years ago. Back to the Chamber of Secrets, It was not Tom Riddle or Ginny Weasley who opened it, it was Draco Malfoy," Rose let out a gasp, "Malfoy has been You Know Who's spy in this castle, he was assigned to spy on Harry Potter and pass of crucial information onto You Know Who. So, Malfoy opening the Chamber of Secrets and being in the Slytherin Family blood line anyway, Malfoy therefore inherited the "Heir of Slytherin" title. Tom Riddle wanting to carry out the "noble" if you like, deeds of Salazar Slytherin, passing it onto Malfoy to do the same."

"McGonagall I never knew!" Rose was overwhelmed, "Wait, where does this bring me into it?"

"Well, you must know, I cannot keep this a secret any longer," McGonagall hung her head, "Rose, what was your Great Grandmother's name on your fathers side?"

"Rowena, my great grandfather disappeared before my grandfather was born and she died soon after, my grandfather was bought up in care," McGonagall nodded towards the plaque on her wall. There perched highly on her wall was the Hogwarts crest. Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff and… Rowena Ravenclaw! Rose let out a small cry, "Are you saying that…?" Rose was speechless, for once. McGonagall nodded.

'My great grandmother was a co-founder of Hogwarts'

"We managed to get hold of the family trees, we traced it down and it turns out that you, Rose, are the heir of Ravenclaw." Rose didn't know what to say.

"And your grandmother?" McGonagall asked

"Same with her, she died in childbirth having my father. My grandfather bought him up,"

"The heirs can skip up to 3 generations, depending on when births were,"

"And my grandmother? Does she have a part to play in this?" Rose asked, she never knew she had so much family history.

"Your grandmother is the Ravenclaw ghost, the gray lady," McGonagall smiled, "Your father was born a squib, married a Muggle, therefore making you Muggle Born, Your father being a squib giving him the official status as Muggle," Rose had wondered why her father was so overjoyed at her becoming a witch.

"Who are the other heirs professor?" Rose asked

"Cedric Diggory, of Hufflepuff, Sadly deceased, you, of Ravenclaw, Draco Malfoy, of Slytherin and Harry Potter of Gryffindor," McGonagall recited. Rose's stomach lurched, "You Know Who is out to get all of you, he has already killed Cedric Diggory, and He is using Draco Malfoy to do his bidding, being pureblood and then you, a fine young Muggle Born witch. You're going to have to keep your eyes peeled Rose,"

"And Harry?"

"Harry is the one You Know Who is after the most. Salazar and Godric were at loggerheads all the time they were creating Hogwarts. In You Know Who's eyes, Harry needs to go first before he tries you." McGonagall knew Rose needed to know.

"He wants to kill me?"

"Not just you, all the heirs, except Malfoy, he wants to overtake the school and overtake our world,"

"I won't let him!" Rose said standing up, "I wont, I will stop him,"

"Rose calm down!" McGonagall ushered her to sit back down, "Harry doesn't know and he can't know, so you can't tell him. You can't let Draco know that you know about this!" There was a moments pause.

"McGonagall, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know all this,"

"Rose, we have spies, we're not stupid,"

"Who are your spies?" Rose asked eagerly

"Now Rose, that I can't tell you," McGonagall smiled, "Now off to bed with you, it's getting late," And with that McGonagall closed the door behind her.