Playing on the Harry Potter beach here. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling who gave us a great hero with wonderful adventures. This sandcastle will disappear with the tide and make way for the next fun story someone else shares.

08 Visitors at Hogwarts

Harry's winter in his fifth year grows complicated with visitors sneaking around looking for 'things'. But Ron Weasley actually helps thwart the sneaks. Dumbledore doesn't have a clue.

CHANGE SCENERY && Horcrux Dust

On the second day of their visit, when Nicolas and Perenelle managed to ditch Dumbledore and wander about the castle, the couple found themselves on the fifth floor and heading up the stairs when the entity they'd learned called herself 'Lady Hogwarts' appeared on the landing to the sixth floor.

The entity began by asking general questions about their accommodations, meals, and the library. Then she attempted to catch them off guard by saying, "I have been glad for several centuries that there are no portraits of you."

Nicolas smiled congenially and said, "There are a few portraits of my lovely wife and I in France."

"Not Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel. I referred to portraits of Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw," Lady Hogwarts replied.

"Who? What do you mean?" asked Perenelle. For almost thirty seconds she attempted to evade the statement but then smirked. She glanced at her husband who stood with his wand at his side, prepared to fight the castle entity.

"So, do you remember us?" she asked.

"Of course. It's only been a thousand years since you two worked with Helga and Godric to create me."

"Many people forget things with time. I don't think Helga remembers those first children she bore in Egypt two thousand years ago."

"While you've not carried another child since…1090 was it? That was when your daughter was born."

The Perenelle persona moved forward, sending Rowena back into her mind. "What is the purpose of this return to the past? Are our Horcruxes safe?"

The wizard lifted his wand and asked, "Will you tell us, or must we force you?"

Hogwarts snorted and replied, "There is no need for battle, Nicolas Flamel. And you have no secrets within these walls – Rowena's chamber is my library. Salazar's chamber is my headmaster's office."

Lady Hogwarts intentionally didn't mention the Chamber of Secrets – Nicolas (Salazar/Justinian) would not be satisfied unless he had some secrets kept from even his wife(s). Turning back to the witch, Hogwarts asked, "Don't you want to speak with your daughter? Her ghost has never left the halls of this castle in nine hundred years."

The witch now named Perenelle Flamel kept her face calm as she admitted, "I was never a motherly woman. It's not in my nature."

"No, that's true," Hogwarts admitted. "Helga was the excellent mother. Her children are everywhere in the world I'm certain. She'll challenge Godric and Ramesses for the total number of descendants someday.

Rowena shook her head. "After all this time, the lines are crossed over and over. Half of Britain is descended from Godric and Helga. I have descendants and they don't know me, but I am content."

"But now, tell us why you called for us?" demanded Nicolas. The wizard kept a single persona up on his face. Hogwarts had not seen a sign of Salazar Slytherin though he'd been spoken of more than once, and his original face – Justinian, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, face never appeared.

Before Hogwarts could answer, a gang of children ran along the hallway to climb the stairs to the seventh floor. Their presence interrupted the conversation of the trio.

"What is it you want?" asked Perenelle once they were alone again. But another gang of children ran passed, moving from the seventh floor and to the lower floors.

The witch asked, "Why are there so many children here on this floor at this time of day?"

Harry Potter ran by, nodded his head at the visitors respectfully but addressed the castle entity, "Lady Hogwarts, we're ready to begin the next round of games in the tournament."

Following the boy and Lady Hogwarts up the stairs, Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel were dismayed to find the hallway on the seventh floor filled with chess boards, students, and two professors at eight of the clock in the evening.

The trio stepped back from the main part of the hall where Ron Weasley was playing two games of chess simultaneously. The two challengers had challenged the Gryffindor student to play timed games to trick Weasley into a mistake. Each player had sixty seconds to make their move.

Nicolas asked, "This gathering will go on for weeks. How do we get into the room and see our…what we came to see?"

"Why do you need to see them?"

"You summoned us. Why, if not to see them?" asked Perenelle.

"When will Helga and Godric arrive?"

"What do we need them for?" asked Nicolas. "Did you summon them as well?"

"When did you last speak or exchange letters with them?" asked Hogwarts.

"We're accomplishing nothing with these endless questions," Nicolas growled before he stalked away, leaving his wife and the castle entity behind.

"Now, the man is gone, and the women can talk," Perenelle said as though confiding in the castle entity. Hogwarts sighed lightly – almost convincingly – she'd had a hundred years to watch Dumbledore's manipulations. However, the witch she faced, Theodora, Empress of the Byzantium Empire at one time, had 1500 years of experience manipulating men and women. She'd assumed different personas in that time, including Rowena Ravenclaw when they built Hogwarts, and then Perenelle Flamel to provide an occasional public face and name to present to witches and wizards.

Tonight, the witch spoke neutrally without any attempt to portray a different face. "Tell me why you signaled us to return to Hogwarts."

The castle entity nodded and said, "There are two things. First, I want you to find Alexander for me and ask him to visit."

"Godric said…the last time Nicolas spoke to Godric, the wizard reported that Alexander vanished during the muggle battles in France during the First World War. We've not seen or heard from Alexander since." The witch paused and added, "You would have done better to summon Helga and Godric alone. Nicolas will talk to you and ferret out your secrets. He'll want to prank Albus – that boy is still full of his own esteem even after a hundred years of hard knocks."

Hogwarts waited for the Perenelle persona to reappear and ask, "What's the second thing you want?"

"There's a wizard here in Britain who made multiple Horcruxes."

"Idiot. One is all you can make and remain your own person. Give me the details."

"Tom Marvolo Riddle, Slytherin House. He began with a large Horcrux in the early 1940s but then made six more."

Hissing, Rowena said, "Seven! He's a complete idiot. Is there any part of him left to study? We should do another translation of Cleopatra's book that names him as an idiot and…"

"There are only three pieces left to destroy," Lady Hogwarts said, interrupting, the other witch who shifted between her three primary faces as she considered the theory and practical creation of Horcruxes.

"We must eliminate this Riddle before he violates the Statute of Separation. Do we need to destroy all of Magical Britain?" Rowena's face asked before another group of children appeared.

CHANGE SCENE: Harry Thinks and Greets More Visitors

In the Great Hall for lunch, Harry noticed the professors and their notable guests were absent.

'Must be a long meeting where Headmaster gloriousness Dumbledore is telling about the genius of his latest spell – trimming the nails on your toes without bending over,' Harry thought with a little smirk. But then Dobby appeared beside Harry.

"Mr. Harry Potters goes to front door and holds it back…keeps visitors outside until Ladies Hoggiewarts gets to front door."

Without questioning the elf, Harry rose from his place at the table and left. He was followed by Dean, Seamus, and Neville. (Ron was still in the chess tournament and missed meals in the Great Hall while playing or watching the other champions play).

The four wizards who had spent five years together at Hogwarts reached the door and Harry pulled one side of the door open. Their four wands were aimed at a man and a woman who stopped before the stone steps.

"Good day," the witch called in greeting while the wizard frowned. "We've come to visit Hogwarts."

Harry took the time to bow to the couple and rose slowly before he said, "Good day. I must ask you to wait for a minute. The castle must appear and give you permission to enter."

The man blustered, "The castle's pretty much appeared around you, boy. Now, it's cold out here and you'll move aside or else."

Harry grinned and replied, "The wards will send you into a world of hurt if you fire a spell at a student."

The wizard cast a spell and smirked. "You lie! They're half-strength if even that much."

"But you must wait until I grant you entry or your life is forfeit!" declared the castle entity as she appeared behind Harry. "Sod this walking everywhere! Next time, I'm just jumping from one place to the next."

Lady Hogwarts moved between her four students, thanked them for holding her door, and then turned to the two new visitors. The witch looked surprised when the castle entity winked at her and then scowled at the wizard.

"So, you've come to visit, too," Lady Hogwarts said. "Nonetheless, I must hear names of who comes to my halls where I guard and teach children."

"Our names?" asked the wizard, scornfully. "You know us."

"I have never been introduced to you. And so again, I ask for the names of the wizard and witch who wish to visit my school," Lady Hogwarts said after a second deep curtsey.

This time, the witch answered, "I am Elizabeth Taylor, and this is my husband, Rex Harrison."

Seamus and Harry exchanged looks of confusion while Dean began giggling. Lady Hogwarts glanced at the boys – only Neville was unaffected. Dean whispered, "That's muggle movie star names."

The castle entity turned back to the couple and said, "Some of my students have heard of your movie exploits."

"Yeah, they played Cleopatra and Caesar in a movie years ago," Dean said.

The wizard scowled and muttered, "Muddy blood for certain."

Ignoring the wizard's comment, Lady Hogwarts smiled and asked, "What is your purpose in crossing my threshold?"

Now, the witch huffed and said, "Hogwarts, my husband and I come looking for our friends Nicolas and Perenelle Flamel. They asked us to help them with understanding a translation from Olde German."

The castle entity smiled, curtseyed a third time, and then stepped aside as she said, "Elizabeth Taylor and Rex Harrison, be guest welcome for a fortnight less two nights, and then depart with the Flamels and my best wishes for a prosperous life."

Just as the couple stepped inside the door, the headmaster and the other two guests arrived in the entry hall.

"Headmaster, two more guests arrived," Lady Hogwarts said. "This is Rex Harrison, and his wife Elizabeth Taylor. They were asked to attend the Flamels and help with a translation from Olde German.

"Old German?" asked Dumbledore before he looked at Nicolas. "I thought we were looking at scrolls in Latin and Phoenician?"

Nicholas smiled and said, "Next…after the Latin and Phoenician spell scrolls."

CHANGE SCREEN && Great Hall at Dinner

The Great Hall was crowded that evening – curious about the visitors and the story about muggle movie stars brought many students to the hall early and they lingered passed pudding to stare at the visitors and decide if they were actually the mythical creatures called 'movie stars' or not. Confined to a small table near the doors to the Great Hall, the four visitors sat together. Nicolas Flamel ate a large meal and began drinking prodigious amounts of wine. Rex Harrison drank more than he ate and grumbled after several youngsters asked for his autograph.

"My gran loves your movies," one muggle-born witch gushed over the scribble on a piece of parchment. "This will make her ever so happy, Mr. Harrison."

A muggle-born wizard was overheard telling his half-blood and pureblood friends, "Elizabeth Taylor's been married like ten times. She marries other movie stars or millionaires and then divorces them."

Neither of the new visitors was pleased with the reception they'd received – the castle's guardian limited their staff to just a dozen days, the headmaster was suspicious, the muddy-bloods shared stories about their movie star selves, and Nicolas and Perenelle sat at the table snickering through the entire meal. Finally, Perenelle put up a privacy charm that would block even the headmaster's strongest spying charms and added a spell to hide their lips from anyone watching and reading lips.

"Muddy-blood movie stars are very popular even with the purebloods for some reason," Perenelle told Elizabeth Taylor. "What took you so long to get on the move? We could have been here a week earlier."

"We are living in Spain. Our personas couldn't disappear easily."

Thinking for a moment, the witch asked, "Not Borbón? Are you king and queen again?"

"Rex enjoys being king and I was born a queen," the other witch replied. "We are King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía."

"How nice for you," Perenelle said but she remembered being confined by the role of empress the few times she and Nicolas played those roles. She looked at Elizabeth closely and asked, "Are you using muggles under the imperious or a magical couple using Polyjuice to keep your thrones warm while standing in a drafty castle in Scotland?"

"You don't need to know," Elizabeth replied. "Now, tell me why we're here. What does Miss Hogwarts want?"

While the two wizards drank wine and stared at the children and the staff, the two witches talked and made tentative plans. Unfortunately for them, Fred and George Weasley had placed a remote link to their extendable ears on the table in the fall when all the Governors remained at the school for a long time. Tonight, they listened to the conversation and called Harry over to give him an earpiece to listen.

"Blimey, who are these people?" George asked Fred and Harry.

Fred shook his head and said, "Bad news for certain, my ugly brother."

Harry leaned close and said, "Lady Hogwarts needs to know all this."

George glanced at his brother before motioning Harry to slip out the doors, "We'll listen until the end. You go outside and call her in some corner where no one can see.

Harry slipped from the Great Hall, and he ran up the staircase to the first floor and deserted classroom where he called for Lady Hogwarts. The castle entity appeared and listened patiently.

"Yes, Harry Potter, I know they are unhappy to be called. But they have an obligation to help me if they expect me to continue to protect their Horcruxes," she explained. "I'm not scared of them. They don't trust each other enough to truly unite against me."

"Are you sure?"

Nodding her head, Lady Hogwarts said, "Elizabeth is tired of Rex, and I shall remind her that he killed Marc Antony – her other great love. Nicolas and Perenelle truly love each other even after 1500 years but they don't trust Elizabeth or Rex enough to turn their backs on them for one minute."

"How will you convince them to help us get Riddle's other Horcruxes and kill him?"

The castle smiled mischievously and asked, "Think of a plan for me, Harry Potter. Something to tempt them to help me."

Making a sour face that caused the castle entity to laugh aloud, Harry stomped out of the classroom and hurried up the stairs. He didn't stop until he reached the seventh floor where he watched the chess matches. Ron Weasley was now playing three simultaneous games against the best players from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

'What do immortal wizards and witches want? Peace and another sunrise?' Harry thought as he leaned back against the wall to watch the games. He watched Ron decimate the Slytherin player's pawns, knights, and bishops once he captured the queen. 'The king on the chess board needs resources – pawns…money.'

'But where do I find some treasure for them?' he wondered. 'The Room of Requirement has some galleons, but Lady Hogwarts needs them to help students in need. Maybe there's a valuable painting hidden there. Or some artifact that would be worth a lot of money.'

'What kind of artifacts worth a lot of money can I find?' Harry thought.

Suddenly, the teenager stood up straight. 'What about the crown of James I? The crowns of the three Stuart kings! The crowns of all those Plantagenets ought to be worth a lot of galleons. The muggles will want them if not the goblins. And Charlemagne's shield – the Flamels can be famous for finding an important, historical artifact. Some Arab sheiks with billions of oil galleons will want the sword of Attila the Hun.'

At just that moment, Ron declared victory in all three chess matches! He became the champion of the second round of the games (following his championship play in the first round).

Everyone wandered away, while Ron had a celebratory butterbeer. Professor Hilliard guided everyone away from the hallway and back toward the four dormitories while Lady Hogwarts appeared and set the furniture to rights for the evening. The third round of games would begin after tomorrow's lunch.

Around the corner, Harry slipped his cloak of invisibility over his head and slowly made his way back to the hallway where Lady Hogwarts waited. Before he could reveal his presence, the four visitors appeared.

"We ditched the headmaster and thought the four of us should talk with you plainly," Rex Harrison declared. The wand in his hand pointed directly at Lady Hogwarts and she said nothing in reply. Without moving her hands, four thrones appeared; then Hogwarts motioned to the four founders to take their seats. Underneath his cloak, Harry watched Elizabeth Taylor sit on the throne for Hufflepuff, Perenelle Flamel move to the Ravenclaw's throne, Nicolas Flamel park it on Slytherin's throne, and finally, Rex Harrison settle onto Gryffindor's throne.

"Kneel before your masters, Hogwarts," Rex commanded once he was comfortable.

Harry gripped his wand tightly and prepared to burst from underneath his cloak but waited when he noticed the score of house elves silent appear behind the thrones. Lady Hogwarts asked, "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yes, it is time you remembered your place," Elizabeth Taylor declared. "Kneel before your creators."

"Very well," Lady Hogwarts said as she dropped to her knees and a large thump was felt through the floor. Harry looked toward the thrones and grinned – the four visitors were sound asleep, wrapped in magical chains with gags in their mouths, and in their night clothes. He slipped from underneath his cloak and moved to help Lady Hogwarts back to her feet.

"Thank you, my loyal knight," the castle entity told the teenager.

"What do we do with them now?"

"Did you have any ideas?"

"Yes. Offer them the empty crowns as payment for helping us with Tom Riddle," Harry said. "The shield might be tempting to the Flamel to take back to France and you could sell Attila's sword for a lot of gold. You have a dozen golden crowns with jewels that can be sold for lots of gold."

Lady Hogwarts nodded and said, "Ask for the Horcrux room. We'll move them inside and bargain."

SCENERY: Updated List of Horcruxes

Cleopatra (Helga Hufflepuff) Bust Marble

Caesar (Godric Gryffindor) Gold Roman Victor's Crown

Theodora (Rowena Ravenclaw and Perenelle Flamel) Jeweled Necklace

Justinian (Salazar Slytherin and Nicolas Flamel) Iron Buckle for Robes or Belt

Alexander the Great (not seen since WWI) Golden Knife Sheath

Ramesses the Great (not seen since WWII) Golden Ankh

Marc Antony (murdered by Caesar in 1402) Greave (leg guard)

James I (died 1620) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 10 Jan 1996

Charles I (died 1640) Crown Harry Potter destroyed 10 Jan 1996

Charles II (died 1685) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 11 Jan 1996

Edward I (died 1307) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 11 Jan 1996

Edward the Black Prince (died 1376) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 12 Jan 1996

Edward III (died 1377) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 12 Jan 1996

Henry V (died 1422) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 15 Jan 1996

Henry VI (died 1471) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 15 Jan 1996

Charlemagne (died 814) Shield. Harry Potter destroyed 7 Jan 1996

Attila the Hun (died 453) Sword. Harry Potter destroyed 7 Jan 1996

Eleanor of Aquitaine (died 1204) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 16 Jan 1996

Henry III (died 1272) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 16 Jan 1996

Henry II (died 1189) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 17 Jan 1996

Richard the Lionheart (died 1199) Crown. Harry Potter destroyed 17 Jan 1996

Thomas Riddle (died 1981, 1991, 1992) Diadem Harry Potter destroyed 7 Jan 1996

Other dead Horcruxes

Diary of T.M.R. (destroyed by Harry Potter in June 1992)

Nagini (Maledictus) (destroyed by Auror Shacklebolt, 19 December 1995)

Slytherin's Locket (destroyed by Harry Potter, 23 December 1995)

Scar (destroyed by Harry Potter, 23 December 1995)

Ravenclaws Diadem (Harry Potter, destroyed 7 Jan 1996)

Remaining Riddle Horcruxes

Hufflepuff's Cup

Gaunt Family Ring

Tom Riddle Homunculus