Chapter 53 - A Rude Message

By the time the adults had arrived upstairs Harry and Ginny had emptied his trunk out and had it sitting on his bed.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came into the room and sat on Ron's bed to oversee the opening. Ginny was shifting her weight back and forth nervously as she knew how important this was to Harry.

"Is there anything special you have to do to open the side you want?" Mr. Weasley asked Harry.

"I sure hope not, Mr. Weasley. Professor Lupin didn't say anything about a password and there wasn't anything in the letter from my parents about it."

Harry looked at the latch on the side of the trunk he had opened and then turned the trunk around so that he was looking at the supposed backside. He looked at the side closest to him and then felt the back and sides carefully to discover if there was a hidden switch. He found nothing unusual. He said 'open' but nothing happened. He looked to the other people in the room for suggestions.

Ginny came up with the first suggestion. "Try pushing on the crest on this side of the trunk Harry." When Harry placed his palm on the crest it only glowed for a moment before resuming its' normal appearance.

"Have you checked the bottom of the trunk for any instructions or latches Harry?"

"No, Mrs. Weasley." Harry turned the trunk up on its side so that he could see the bottom. Other than a faded label, there was nothing to see or feel there. Harry turned the trunk upright again.

"It's on the opposite side from the regular opening side Harry" said Mr. Weasley. "Maybe the opening command has to be reversed somehow."

Harry shrugged his shoulders in puzzlement. He was willing to try almost anything to get at what his parents might have left him. Standing back a couple of paces, Harry said the command "Nepo!"

There was a loud buzz that came from trunk and it began shaking. Ginny had come up besides Harry and watched the trunk around his shoulder. The shaking stopped suddenly and a ticking replaced the buzzing. There was a sudden ding and a red envelope suddenly appeared, floating over the trunk.

"Oh dear" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "A Howler!"

"Grab it Harry before it explodes" Mr. Weasley said rising from the bed.

"What's a Howler?" asked Harry grabbing the envelope out of midair.

"It's a very rude letter" Ginny replied. "Mum has sent a few to Hogwarts for the twins after their mischief making."

"Better let me set up a silencing charm," said Mrs. Weasley waving her wand. "We don't want to wake up the rest of the household."

Harry waited until after Mrs. Weasley finished her spell before starting to open the envelope. He stopped before he opened it all the way to motion to Ginny to go sit with her parents. When he finished prying the seal open, the envelope (brandishing a realistic set of lips) began yelling!

'NOT EVEN CLOSE! YOU HAVE TO DO A LOT BETTER IF YOU WANT INTO THIS TRUNK! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THIS FROM ITS RIGHTFUL OWNER - HARRY JAMES POTTER! BEGONE BEFORE THE AURORS ARRIVE! NOW!'

There was a pause and then the Howler continued in a quieter voice.

'Harry, if this is you, I'm sorry for all the security. If you've made it this far then you already have had the key in your hands to open the other side of this trunk! Enjoy your time at Hogwarts and keep the memory of the Marauders alive!'

The envelope quit talking and dissolved into a shower of confetti. Harry looked around the room to see the shocked faces of the Weasley's. Harry imagined that his face had a somewhat similar appearance and he pulled his chair around to sit down.

"That was quite a warning, wasn't it?" Harry looked to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley for help. "Do you think the Aurors are actually on their way?"

"I don't think so" Mr. Weasley replied. "You are the one the trunk is keyed to. You are the rightful owner now. I think it would have reported a theft if somebody else tried to open it."

"That's a relief then."

"Harry" Ginny asked, "do you suppose that was your father's voice? It was a bit scary."

"That wasn't James Potter's voice," Mr. Weasley said quietly.

Harry stared at Mr. Weasley, waiting for an explanation of that last statement.

Mrs. Weasley patted the bed beside her. Harry came over and sat down and Mrs. Weasley threw an arm around his shoulders. "We've met your parents Harry and I'm sorry we haven't told you before. However, we knew you would have questions and we couldn't tell you anything more than we met each other a couple of times. They seemed to be very nice people and I'm sorry we can't tell you any more about them."

"That's ok, I understand" Harry replied. "I probably would have pestered you both without finding out anything important. I hope that whatever's in the trunk will let me know them a little better."

"I hope so to Harry" Mrs. Weasley replied. "Whatever did it mean by remembering the Marauders?"

"I think whoever left that Howler was one of my Dads friends - either Peter or Sirius. I think that he wanted me to have some fun at Hogwarts and enjoy life. At least, I hope that's what it means."

Ginny had been thinking since the message ended. "Harry, the Howler said you've already held the key to opening the trunk in your hands. Do you suppose it means the key for your vault at Gringotts?"

"Maybe it's just that simple Ginny. Mrs. Weasley do you still have my key?"

"I'll have to go down to our room to fetch it Harry. Wait right here and I'll be right back."

Mrs. Weasley left the room to fetch Harry's vault key. Ginny joined Harry in looking for a keyhole on any part of the trunk. They even pealed the old label off the bottom to see if there was a hidden panel underneath it. They found nothing!

Harry had sat back down and waited for Mrs. Weasley to come back. When she came back, Harry took the key from her outstretched hand. Not knowing what to do with it, Harry moved it around the sides of the trunk. No keyhole appeared even when Harry pressed the key onto both of the Potter crests on the lid!

It was a puzzled bunch of people who ended up staring at the trunk on Harry's bed. Harry was losing hope of being able to get into the trunk and find out what was there. The other three were wondering what Harry supposedly already had that would unlock the trunks' secrets.

Mrs. Weasley finally broke the loud quiet in the room. "I'm sorry you couldn't find a way in Harry, but we all keep thinking about that message. But now it's time to turn in. You both need to get a good night's sleep as your going to Hogwarts tomorrow. We'll get to the trunk again."

Mr. Weasley got up and ruffled Harry's head playfully. "Get a good nights sleep then. At least you'll be away from the twins for a bit tomorrow."

Harry smiled at that and leaned into the hug Mrs. Weasley gave him. She waited in the doorway while Ginny came over and gave Harry a hug. "Things will look better tomorrow Harry. Maybe you can owl Professor Lupin about that trunk."

"Thanks Ginny, we'll try that next I guess." Harry smiled as Ginny hurried to catch up with her mother.

'Blue Skies, Harry!'

'You too, Ginerva Molly Weasley!'

Harry heard a mental chuckle as the footsteps went down the stairs. Harry pulled the trunk off his bed and set it back down at the foot of his bed. He stared at it a long time, trying to figure out the big puzzle that was sitting in front of him. There was something nagging him about that message but he just couldn't put his finger on it. He eventually gave up and began thumbing through the magical creature book he had trying to relax.

It was almost time to turn the lights out when Harry felt a huge gasp of surprise coming through his connection with Ginny. He straightened up in bed and prepared to run down the stairs.

'Ginny are you ok? What happened?'

'Don't come down here Harry! I am ok. I was looking at some of the books that Madame Pomfrey wants me to read. There are…pictures of people in one of them.'

'Pictures?'

"Go away, Harry Potter! It's an… anatomy book!'

Harry tried to put as much embarrassment from himself back to Ginny as he felt coming from her. 'I'm sorry Ginny!'

'You should be. Now I have to show this to Mum in the morning. She'll kill me if I even think about hiding this!'

'Ginny, I promise never to speak anything about this again. And I definitely promise never ever to quiz you about what you learn from that book!'

Harry shut down the connection quickly before Ginny could storm back at him. Tomorrow was shaping up to be a very interesting day!