Harry Potter and the Peverell Legacy
Book Two of the Heritage Series
Chapter Twenty-Eight
History Books
Hermione under Harry's firm direction had gone to see the Healer Tessa after her duel in the Arena and had been kept overnight, Harry's opinion of his healing skills were not wrong, he had stopped the bleeding and sealed the flesh and muscle together but he had not correctly healed the muscle and Healer Tessa had to use magic to rectify the damage.
When Harry had left Hermione she had been in a sour mood at having to undergo a full medical scan and check-up to look for further curse damage due to the nature of the magic, and Harry had scarpered quickly but when he returned Hermione was in a much brighter mood but when Harry questioned her she just smiled and changed the subject.
The school morale had changed after the duels and Durmstrang was changed with it, the Durmstrang students were not happy that they were losing and they hated that Hermione had defeated one of their students but they were so focused on winning the next set of duels it was like being in Hogwarts when the Quidditch Cup got close and they had to be careful of not being sabotaged.
Viktor had invited Harry and Fleur to a small private dinner in his rooms and they had a good laugh and chat about things.
The Order had contacted them both regarding the attack of Nurmengard and they had reached out to their friends and contacts in their home countries and they had found that there was a great sense of panic through the continent and most feared what would happen next, the old guard had been given a heavy blow by the Death Eaters and it was believed that Britiain should be isolated to prevent their spreading their terror to their own countries.
"My people have never forgotten" Viktor said taking a long sip of mead "our families were all touched by Grindelwald's army, my own grandfather was killed by him."
"So, you think that Europe will retreat further?" Harry asked, "I know that they have already distanced themselves and severed most ties to Britain."
"They will." Fleur agreed sadly "but not all agree with this, a very small minority wish to band together and fight but they are a small voice among the masses and I do not think that will change."
"Your students put up quite the fight" Viktor said suddenly looking at Harry with an annoyed look "Hermonee did better than I thought she would."
Harry hid a smile at the pronunciation even with the translation rune he still couldn't say her name although he had gotten much better "We are doing well aren't we."
"Better than my students" Fleur sniffed annoyed "I am hoping that we can get some better scores in the Team section."
"Arno and François did not make a good team" Viktor agreed "it was hard to watch."
Fleur's face changed slightly at his words and for the first time Harry could see a hint of the feral creature that Veela's contained "I know, it was disgusting. Madam Maxime was horrified and sent Arno a howler."
"You did not pick the pairings?" Harry asked assuming from what she was saying that she did not.
"No, it was picked randomly for my team." She sighed "And I advised against it."
"No offence Fleur, but this event does not seem to be the one for your team." Viktor said shaking his head "So far your team have not done well."
"No we do not concentrate on duelling in Beauxbaton like you do here, even Hogwarts works on duelling more than us."
Harry was caught short wondering if that had actually been an insult against his school.
"Our schools differ" Viktor said frowning "but how then is it that you duel so well?"
Fleur smiled and she glowed with her innate magic and Harry realised who she was thinking of "I had some help from my fiancé and he was quite vigorous."
Viktor and Fleur laughed at her comment but Harry felt his cheeks glow red at it, not used to such comments and they continued their meal for a few more hours before Harry returned to his quarters.
For the next two weeks, the Hogwarts team worked harder than ever to get ready for the Team Events that were due to start that weekend. Harry was making sure that the students were well versed in all the magic they had so far been taught at Durmstrang but also making sure they had learnt from the Double Rounds.
The cold northern weather had also brought a number of problems to the team, three of their equestrian mounts had been taken ill because of the weather and the team had to make sure to keep them warm and to treat them.
Buckbeak was almost as restless as Harry was, so Harry began to take him for long flights in the evening as a way of calming them both down. Harrys issue was his connection to Voldemort seemed to be getting stronger and he kept crossing over in his dreams.
The Valley was home to a large heard of Griffins which flew with Harry as he passed over the school and lake and they were in formation with Buckbeak. A number of the herd had been found dead in the grounds recently and the professors hadn't been able to explain why they had died. What made Harry sad was hearing the herd mourning their fallen in their song.
One of the griffins bit Buckbeak as they were flying on his flank which made him rear and he threw Harry off and he went tumbling through the air from a great height.
Not able to stop himself, Harry used his wand to send a spell directly into the lake which broke open the ice and he fell through it and down into the freezing depths.
He used a silent bubblehead charm on himself which enabled him to breathe underwater but he couldn't see anything as the water was black and his glasses were useless under water.
The bubblehead charm created a bubble of air over the nose and mouth and left the rest of the head exposed but it didn't have to, he extended the bubble so that it surrounded his entire head and he imagined it looked like he had a fish bowl on his shoulders but it enabled him to see better and with a bit more light from his wand he could see the surrounding seaweed and creatures.
He began to kick his way to the surface so that he could get out of the lake when he caught sight of something that intrigued him, down in the deepest part of the lake was a flat lake bed where he could see stone work.
Wanting a closer look he swan down to the lake bed and found that the stonework were ruins, or at least that's was what he would call them, there was a raised circle of stone that was covered in green moss and lake creatures , set into the circle was a number of ancient looking stone pillars.
They reminded Harry of the pictures of Stonehenge back home but this looked different each pillar was carved in some odd way and even through the lake plant life that covered it was still visible. He knew that the Durmstrang ship passed through a gateway and this must be it but he wondered just what magic this was as he had never heard of it or seen any other portal magic before.
The magical creatures in the lake had noticed him while he was looking at the standing stones and he decided that he better return to the surface before they attack him and used a spell to make him shoot up like a cork from a bottle and almost collided with Buckbeak who was flying low over the lake looking for him.
He grabbed hold of Buckbeak's leg and he carried him to the lake edge where he jumped down to and cast a drying charm to rid him of the water. Buckbeak landed and tossed his head in what could be seen as annoyance and he glared up at the Griffin herd in the sky.
"Ignore them Beaky" Harry said rubbing his large head and looked for any injury to him but found only a small bite which he would heal later "They were just playing."
Buckbeak didn't seem to care and continued to glare up at them while they walked back across the grounds to the temporary stables where he was tethered to and he made his way back into the school and to the library.
Edvard looked up from in large round desk that was stacked with books and scrolls when he entered and called him over.
"Good evening Edvard" Harry said.
"It is isn't it" Edvard agreed pleasantly but he lowered his voice slightly "You should know that a number of students are plotting against the Granger girl."
Harry was taken aback by his comment for a moment but managed to conceal it quickly.
"How do you know this?"
"I am a vampire, I hear more than most." Edvard said showing two very prominent teeth as his eyes changed displaying his vamparic nature. "Most forget that my senses are heightened and do not use privacy spells."
"Why are they plotting against her? Because of her blood?" Harry asked concerned for Hermione, she was not the only muggleborn but she somehow always created enemies not unlike Harry did.
"Partially" Edvard agreed calmly "But from what I understand they see it as an affront that she is in this school and for her to duel those of higher status and blood than her with magic that by all rights she should not have learnt and even caused harm to one of their fellow students."
"I see," Harry said looking around the students who were in the library at this moment and wondered if it were any of them, but it struck him as odd that the librarian was warning him "Why did you warn me?"
"I do not care for the status of one's blood" he said like it was obvious "I have lived among men for a very long number of years and in that time I have drank from all echelons of society, muggles, wizards, witches, purebloods, low and high born people, muggleborn and halfblood's and do you know what I discovered? Blood is just blood. A wizard of a long standing magical lines blood is no different to mere muggles, I do not care for status or blood, I care only for knowledge and history which due to my own nature I can study for generations."
Harry was caught short by his small speech and while it shocked him he could see the vampires point of view. As a magical creature, they could not use magic but they had abilities that were unique to their species and as their diet depended on blood Edvard would be an expert on it and the differences between people.
It was disconcerting how easily the vampire discussed his nature and need to feed.
The vampire laughed at him lightly and at Harry's questioning look he explained.
"You English live such sheltered lives, I am a vampire, you learn about my kind in classes but when confronted by my nature you would rather not talk about it. In all my years I have never met a race of people that do not like to talk about things such as money and things that you deem below you." he said chuckling "I have been on this earth for such a long time that I find it foolish to try and conceal myself and what I need, you know I drink blood so why should I pretend that I am a human?"
"I apologise if I have offended you" Harry said quickly "But I lived with muggle relatives of most of my life, you are the first vampire I have met and lessons on your species do not prepare you, after all descriptions don't have personalities, intelligence or emotions."
"No they do not" Edvard agreed and smiled approvingly and pointed towards a part of the library "She is down there, but you need not worry she is safe in my library, if I were to notice an attack I would be more than a match for any young wizard."
Edvard said no more and returned to his work leaving Harry looking at him with curiosity, he wondered if Edvard was odd among vampires, for he was odd compared to a human.
Hermione predictably was surrounded by books at a table that groaned under the weight but she did not seem to notice the fortress she had created herself and was startled when Harry came over.
"Harry!" she said clutching her heat in fright, "You shouldn't sneak up on a person."
"I didn't, you just don't pay attention when your nose is in a book." Harry laughed lightly teasing his friend, "What are you looking up?"
She flashed him a triumphant smiled and pulled him around to her side of the table where a large number of books and scrolls were laid out but also rolls of parchment with her own notes, but open in front was a scroll which showed a beautiful drawing of a castle and surrounding lands.
"Camelot." Harry said recognising the image.
Hermione nodded, "What do you know about Camelot?"
"I know what Arthur did with the help of Merlin, I know how he ruled, how he was killed and how he formed the families." Harry said "why?"
"What do you know about his father?" she asked "Uther Pendragon, he who created the kingdom which Arthur inherited."
Harry paused, he didn't know anything about him, only that he had created the kingdom his lessons with Sirius had not given him the history of Uther and he had not read anything on him either.
"Nothing" Harry admitted.
She smirked knowing she had his undivided attention and pulled out a small ancient looking book that looked delicate "This book is an account of a wizard who travelled from Poland to England back in the early days of Camelot, during the reign of Uther. The man recounts how the Kingdom Uther created was crying out for an heir it was believed that the Queen was barren, but in an odd event Uther sent out his knights on a mission, a mission that Uther would not divulge even to his advisors. The man had been found by the knights who had heard of his tales of healing and wonder and asked he travel to Camelot to help the queen conceive a son."
"Why didn't he use wizards from his own Kingdom?" Harry asked.
"Uthur was not magical and the magical people of the kingdom kept to themselves and only the wandering druid tribes were known to him. But I think he did it to prevent his rivals from usurping his reign." Hermione explained, "Better to obtain foreign help that expose himself to his Kingsman."
"Odd logic." Harry muttered.
"By the time the man from Poland, whose name I cannot pronounce, arrived in Camelot the Queen was already pregnant and he had travelled for months for no reason and without the reward he was unable to get home so he settled in Camelot. The Queen gave birth to a boy and the kingdom rejoiced but in a dark turn of events she died due to the birth. No more than a few days later did Uthur ban all magic and began a witch hunt and persecuted all who practiced it, and so began the purges and massacres and forced magic users to hide."
"Sounds like how we live now." Harry pointed out "Not that hiding our existence is bad."
"True, but according to the histories there are many who speculated that the king had used magic to help with conception. One account mentions specifically a magic which is dangerous and unpredictable mentioned in legends and beliefs of the druid folk."
"Which is?" Harry asked.
"To create life, a life must be taken, the balance between life and death must always be equal" She said, "That is the highest law of ancient druid sacrificial magic, it was their believe that the power of life and death was perilous."
"So King Uthur used magic to get a son and the price of that magic was the death of his Queen, and in retaliation he outlawed the very magic he used to cure his wife." Harry surmised and shook his head finding the hypocrisy unbelievable.
Hermione nodded, "It does leave a sour taste in your mouth doesn't it, now while Uther tried to remove all magic users from his Kingdom he also sealed away two jewels of his treasure room, artefacts that many believe were magical and were eventually used by Arthur."
"Are you talking of the sword in the stone." Harry said remembering the story of it from school, as a boy he had loved that story, now looking back he was reminded how he had pulled a sword for a hat and it amused him.
"Not specifically, although it is one of the most famous Arthurian artefacts" She said matter-of-factly, "I looked up the legends of the Arthurian artefacts and a number of them are said to have been magical. I have found mention of a great circlet crown made of shining gold and starlight, a staff made of gold and wood that endowed great power and a throne carved from an Ancient Tree by priests of the old religion to allow the king to rule his kingdom and even a ring, not unlike your own."
"None of these have ever been found and most historians believe that Merlin and Queen Guinevere sealed them away in Arthurs Tomb, or otherwise they did not exist or were destroyed during the purge. For centuries people have searched for them, mostly for their power, even our Ministry tried to locate the throne and crown as symbols of their power over Britain but of course they have never succeeded.
"I however saw this in one of the books, and I though it odd, don't you agree?" She asked and put a heavy book in front of him.
"I don't see –"Harry went to say but Hermione reached out and pointed to an archway in the image where a small disfigured man could be seen in a hood leaning on a wooden staff with some odd looking appendages. "Who is that?"
"Odd, isn't he? I wondered why such a man would have been able to stand in the king's court. However, his depiction reminded me of a story I had read and it was only today I remembered where it was from." She said triumphantly "It has been bugging me for so long and then when those men arrived from one of the Ministries arrived to investigate the Giants it hit me."
"The Grimm's?" Harry said surprised "what have they got to do with anything?"
Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes "I forget reading is very new to you sometimes."
"Hey!" Harry said in mocking hurt tone.
"Do you know who wrote the stories of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Hansel and Gretel?" she asked excitedly and ignoring his protest, she pulled out a book from her own bag which was obviously her own and contained muggle Fairy Tales.
"No" Harry said honestly having only read them when he was in school and seen the movies of them at the end of school terms.
"All muggle Fairy Tales are based on true historical magical events!" She said sounding very shocked "Every single one of them! Have you never wondered how hundreds of years ago magic was well known to muggles and then they slowly came to dismiss it as child fantasy and make believe?"
Harry shrugged, he had never really thought about it, if at all, but he supposed that the magical world just covered everything up with magic.
"When our community truly started to go into hiding due to the Statute of Secrecy, stories of magic were everywhere so the ICW sent out two brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, they travelled all of Europe finding stories of magic and began to cover them up and pass them off as folklore, superstition, legends and of course fairy tales." Hermione explained "They wrote the stories they created to hide magic and had them published in each country, and they told them to bards and minstrels so that they would soon be doubted and not believed. Of course they were aided with magic and memory charms and it took them long years to accomplish their goals but they did it."
"Your telling me that there was once a princess under a sleeping curse which was broken by her one true love giving her a kiss?" Harry asked incredulously not believing that at all.
"Of course not!" she snapped and rolling her eyes "However it would be more reasonable to say that a woman had taken the draught of living death, which placed her in a dead like state. Then along came a wizard who recognised her condition for what it was and administered a wiggenweld potion."
It was absurd to think that there was a truth to that story but there was logic in her explanation especially given that all magic would have had to be covered up at some point in history and what better way than to create a fairy-tale which only a child would believe to be true.
"Now what I actually wanted to show was this particular story," She said and she flicked through the book and opened to a page which depicted an odd looking wizard with a deformity who was leaning of a familiar staff.
"But that's…."
"This is Rumpelstiltskin" she said pointing at the picture "He used to terrify me as a girl but now he intrigues me, stories of his exploitation of magic and muggles can be found dating back centuries," Hermione said "I have found references and similar stories in Croatia, Czech, England, France" she pulled out a book or turn to a specific page with each country "Iceland, Israel, Italy, Russia, Scotland and Serbia."
"I am not familiar with his fairy tale" Harry admitted "what is it?"
"The Grimm story is that a Miller lies to a king saying his daughter can spin straw to gold, the king locks the girl in a tower and threatens to kill her unless she can make the gold he needs. She obviously can't do it but Rumpelstiltskin appears and does as the king bids for her in exchange for a gift." Hermione recanted pulling her fairy tale book towards her and opening it to the correct page which she skimmed as she summarised, "the king then made her do this three more times but eventually she had nothing left to bargain with so she gave a promise that Rumpelstiltskin could have her first born. He produced the gold and her life was saved and she married the prince and had a child but when the time came she wouldn't uphold her promise."
"You surprise me" Harry said rolling his eyes this story rung a chord with him because of his own past but it was obvious where this story would end.
"Rumpel was furious but made her a deal, if she could guess his name she could keep her child and she would get three guesses. She fails to guess his name on two occasions when he visits but after the second she follows him to his cottage in the woods and finds him singing and he mentions his name, when he visits again she names him and keeps her child."
"What happened to him in the story?" Harry asked having thought that the creature would have been killed by some gallant knight or prince.
"Well that depends of the version, some say he flies away on a wooden spoon, others say he just disappears other say he rips himself in half" Hermione shrugged "All of which sound magical to me but there are other stories all which are similar but each have their own details which are unique which makes me think it is the work of one person."
"So the Ministry Grimms…" he began to say but Hermione finished his sentence.
"Are so named after the two brothers who started their profession two centuries ago. I asked Ingrid about them in transfiguration the other day, they are like our magical law enforcement squad, accidental magic reversal squad and obliviators all rolled into a single department."
Harry sat flummoxed, she had found of something that should be impossible but it kept her busy and he left her to it, sure it was interesting but he had other obsessions of his own he wanted to devote study to.
"Just do me a favour Hermione, keep an eye on the other students in here." Harry warned, "I snuck up on you accidently, what would happen if one of those traditional highborn students here wanted to get you back for your duel."
Hermione looked shocked for a moment but nodded and pulled her wand out of her pocket and placed it on the table so it was easily in reach.
He would need to tell her of the threat, but not right now as she was already focused back on her little project and he decided to pick up his family history books once more.
Hermione wasn't paying much attention when he returned with the book he had wanted to read for a while, and when he sat down she was behind her small fort and he was able to read without interruption.
The wizarding bloodline of the Potter Family of the British Isles can trace their familial name to back to a single wizard in the twelfth century. Linfred of Stinchcombe was born in 1176 and was the first of his bloodline to settle into a single place for centuries, his forefathers held a nomadic lifestyle travelling between countries and lands offering their services and magic for a price.
Linfred bought himself a small cottage in Stinchcombe, Gloucestershire, a small muggle village with the money he was given when he became of age. He soon became known to the local muggles as an herbalist and healer and who could most often be seen working in his large garden full of exotic and odd plants. To the muggle populace he was known as "Old Potterer" who was known as a harmless old chap who pottered about his garden and was always happy to give medical help to the villagers.
Linfred kept his magical talents hidden from his neighbours and began to experiment with his plants and potions to create new cures and remedies; Linfred is accredited for the originator of a number of remedies that have evolved over the centuries into common healing potions such as Skele-gro, Pepperup Potion and the Wiggenwald potion.
The sales of his magical remedies and concoctions laid the foundation a family fortune and by the time he died he could leave a sizeable amount of gold for six of his seven surviving children.
The name Potter came from Linfred's nickname "the Potterer" and was taken as the family name by his eldest son Hardwin who continued his father's work with healing and met his future wife in the village of Godric's Hollow where he was visiting.
The Potter family rose to further prominence when Hardwin married the daughter of Lord Moros of the Noble and Ancient House of Peverell, Iolanthe was the eldest of three daughters and had an elder brother who died in an accident, without an heir the family title passed to the Potter family and created the Noble and Ancient House of Potter.
The lands of Peveralle from which the Peverell family took their name had not been the seat from which its Lord had not resided since the Dark Crusade but Hardwin swore to his wife that he would restore her family's lands and uphold their traditions as the new custodians of their Ancient Promise, they relocated to Castle Peveralle where they rebuilt the derelict ancestral home and the village which had been abandoned.
The family became an obscurity in future generations, often not involving themselves in the happenings of the country, content to sit in their lands and live out their lives and with each generation adding more to the family coffers by their hard work, and it must be said, by ingenuity that was characterised by their forebear, Linfred.
The Potters were looked down on with disdain by some of the other high born families in the British Isles as they would often take employment or create a new means of revenue for themselves; this was seen to the highborn families as beneath them as they gained their money from their lands and taxes. They were later envied by the families as the Potters would often donate generously to start up business ventures and charities, and they had a uncanny ability of supporting ventures that most believed would fail but would then become incredibly successful, the owners would reward the Potters with a share in their new companies fortune.
The Potters have continued with what many attribute to the families Heritage and business traditions, in recent history Fleamont Henry Potter, started his own potion production company with the family gold and invented Sleekeazy's Hair Potion. The company was ran by him for a number of years and he eventually sold it when he retired for a great profit and it was reported that he had been able to quadruple the families fortune in only a single generation.
Harry couldn't help but laugh to himself as he read about Fleamont Potter, he knew that many of the girls at Hogwarts, Hermione included, swore by Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, but to know that it was invented by his great grandfather amused him greatly, especially as his own hair was untameable which was a trait he, his father and even his grandfather had shared.
It had actually surprised him that up until his grandfather the family was known to be great potioneers, only Charlus had turned to defensive magic and his father to Transfiguration. He himself found potions fun and his own experiments, while they were failing, tickled his intellect.
That thought made Harry wonder if there was not some familial guiding hand at work, even without the knowledge of his family history his was still following their footsteps unknowingly, something that he had been doing for most of his life.
It was from the books that Harry confirmed what Sirius has once told him, thathis name had not solely come from his maternal great grandfather Harrison Evans, but also from Henry Potter who had been his great-great Grandfather, both were shortened to Harry, which Henry was most often called according to the books.
With a sigh and sore eyes Harry closed the book and placed it aside and rested his head in his hands as he processed what he had read. He missed Hogwarts, Durmstrang felt so foreign to him now and he missed the familiarity of Hogwarts and the warming comfort it seemed to exude.
He plucked out some spare parchment and self-inking quill from Hermione's bag and wrote a letter to Ron, Tonks, Remus and Aunt Dromeda, it had been too long since he had sent them all something.
As he sat writing the letters he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched, the hair on the back of his neck tingled and stood on end and he kept stopping his writing to look round of the source of his suspicions but found no one there, he shook off the feeling thinking it was him being paranoid about Hermione's safety based on Edvards warning, but it lingered at the edge of his mind the entire time they were in the library.
