(I don't own Harry Potter or its characters, only this fanfiction's plot)
As soon as the adults left, Auntie Tia set them up in the den with some toys and board games, but Harry was hardly interested in that.
"We need to find out what's under that board," He announced, his partners in crime nodding in agreement.
"Board?" Vinnie asked, his cousin Greg looking just if not more confused.
"That haunted one on the third floor," Ceres said. "The one that screams when you step on it."
"Ah," Nott plopped down, crossing his ankles. "You're up to something stupid, then?"
"You're stupid!" Harry shot back, throwing a couch pillow at the thin boy.
Nott glared and threw it back. "No you!"
"Idiot!" Harry shouted in German, which he knew the other boy did not speak.
"la bête," Nott shouted back, and Harry jumped up, reaching for another pillow.
Ceres threw a pillow at both of them, "Will you stop? I've already told you; pretend to like each other in my presence."
Harry's lip twitched. "He started it.."
Nott's nostrils flared. "Liar!"
Ceres shot them with a look, silencing them.
A red-haired boy who Harry didn't know, asked, "What were you two saying?"
"Much of the same, I think," Harry said, glaring at Nott from the corner of his eye. "Do you not speak German or French?"
The boy shook his head, "Nuh-uh, what is it?"
"Languages," Draco answered. "They change depending on the country you're in."
"You're from London, then?" Pansy asked, leaning forwards from her spot on the floor.
The boy shrugged, "I dunno, I live near an apple orchard."
"Probably not then," Blaise said. "That's fine. Hades and I also live in the country, and Pansy doesn't stay in one place long enough to count."
The girl in question puffed her cheeks out. "Do not!"
"I think it's cool," A blonde girl named Daphne spoke up. "I wish father would take us out more often, it's boring watching my baby sister drool all day."
"I know what you mean," The red-headed boy said. "My sister learned to talk recently and never shuts up, drives me mad!"
"I like Ginny," Ceres frowned. "She's funny."
"That's because you don't have to deal with her all day," The red-head rolled his eyes.
Harry listened to them bicker, the haunted board forgotten for the moment.
It was early.
Far too early to be awake, so why his Uncle Iggy deemed it appropriate to defy this unwritten rule was beyond Harry. The surly four-year-old wanted very much to mutter all the naughty words he knew in German, but his Uncle spoke the language well enough to understand him. Harry settled for glaring at him.
Ignatius pulled out his wand. "Yes, I know. But we must do this before anyone else wakes up."
Harry looked at his wand, then realized what he was doing when his Uncle tapped his forehead- making his scar disappear.
Rubbing the skin, Harry's brows scrunched up when his Uncle didn't repeat the process with his friends- in fact, none of them had a mark on their foreheads.
Harry hadn't really thought about it, but now that he had, he didn't even know why his father (and now his uncle) did this whenever they left the house. Was there something wrong with him?
Harry contemplated this throughout the morning. Up until breakfast, when Draco said something which effectively distracted him from his dilemma.
"I was thinking we should get a House Elf to help us with the treasure," He began. "They have longer arms than us, and could crawl in and get if even if they can't reach."
The red-head boy, who Harry had learned was named Ronnie, eyes widened. "You have House Elves?"
Draco nodded. "Just about all of us do, I think. You are pureblood, aren't you?"
Ronnie's ears turned pink. "Yeah, not that it matters."
"My mummy says it does," Vinnie said. "It's the difference between great wizards and.. And not great."
"What is a pureblood?" Harry asked, not having heard the word before.
Pansy frowned, "It's just what we are."
"But what is it, though?" Harry asked, wondering if that was why he had the mark? Because he wasn't pureblood?
"It's like," Blaise began. "A way to say how much magic you have."
A murmur of agreement came from his friends, but Ronnie didn't look very pleased.
"It's just rubbish," He said to Harry. "My Daddy says so."
Harry didn't think a term to describe how much of a wizard you were could possibly be rubbish, but he supposed he could ask his own father about it when he went home tomorrow. Today, however, they had something to do.
"So," He said, turning to Ceres. "Think Pippy or Pots will be happier to help us?"
Pippy was thrilled to be ordered to crawl in the cramped, dusty space between the third floor's floor and second floor's ceiling, negating the need to lift the boards up again.
This time they had more of a plan; a plan to prevent any adults from stopping them from getting the mystery paper.
They decided they'd need to send out groups to distract Aunt Tia and Uncle Iggy respectively. So Team A (comprised of Ronnie and Daphne) went for Lucretia, and Team B (comprised of Vinnie, Nott, and Greg) went for Ignatius. Blaise was on lookout.
"Do you think it's really treasure?" Draco asked.
Harry shrugged, leaning against the wall. "I think it's fun to pretend, plus it's gotta be something."
"What if the paper is cursed?" Pansy asked, worrying her lip. "Or.. Or hexed?"
"That's why Pippy's getting it."
"Got something!" Ceres yelled, catching their attention.
Pippy was out and looked fine, covered in a bit of dust, but not dead. She held out a folded piece of paper out to Ceres.
"I has gotten the paper for the young master," She said, bowing as she presented it.
Ceres grinned, taking the paper without thanks as he unfolded it, the others gathering 'round.
"What is it?" Harry questioned, squinting as he tried to read the strange text.
"Is it a treasure map?" Blaise asked, walking back up to them.
"I'm not sure," Ceres said, brows forwarding. "It's.. I can't read it."
"Give me that!" Draco grabbed the paper and held it out, only to look even more irritated. "It's in another language."
Harry rolled his eyes. "It's not German, Blaise?"
"Don't look at me," He said, holding up his hands. "I can't read Italian yet."
"You live there!" Draco demand, "How can you not?"
"My mother's been busy," Blaise deadpanned, which earned a sigh from the other four.
"Well it's not Spanish," Pansy said. "It looks like someone wrote out a bunch of.. H's? It's strange."
"Maybe Uncle Iggy or Auntie Tia will know?"
Ceres glared at Harry, "No way! I'll get in trouble if they know we dug this up."
Pansy frowned, "I could ask my brother, he won't tattle on me unless it's dangerous."
Ceres promptly handed the mysterious paper over, "Just don't tell him where you got it from."
Suddenly, Vinnie started running down the hall. "Mr. Prewetts coming! Theo and Greggy are holding him off-"
"We got it," Blaise replied. "It's nothing, really. Let's go bully Mrs. Prewett into giving us more cake, yes?"
Vinnie frowned, but seemingly decided it wasn't worth the argument. Turning back around to lead the five friends back from whence he came.
Harry is very curious about his scar now, which you can hardly blame him for
The Map is another thing altogether, what do you guys think it is? Will Parkinson know anything about it?
On an unrelated note, I recently made a Tumblr ( IHateCheddar) where you can ask questions/ look at doodles I draw or whatever else one does with Tumblr
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!