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.
09 Crowns and BooksHarry's winter in his fifth year grows complicated with visitors sneaking around looking for 'things'. Dumbledore gets a clue.
SCENE && ReviewHarry looked toward the thrones and grinned – the four visitors were sound asleep, wrapped in magical chains with gags in their mouths and dressed 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."
BEGIN HERE &&Cleopatra shifted in her uncomfortable position, trying to hold onto the dream of Antony's lips against her own. But it slipped away like so many other dreams.
Realizing she was bound and gagged, she opened her eyes and recognized the castle's form and the teenager standing beside Lady Hogwarts. For a moment, she was forced to remember her first child – two thousand years ago – the face of her son, smiling and laughing s all the years of his childhood. She would never forget the face of Caesarion. He'd vanished in the mess of Octavius's invasion, and she never found him with magic or spies. Her sons and daughter with Antony survived, hidden in different personas though she never saw them again.
Seeing the teenager standing beside the figure of the woman, Cleopatra was filled with the memory of her court in Alexandria, her first son at her side and courtiers on their faces, paying homage to the Queen of Egypt and her heir. Now, she stored the memory away and gauged the situation she was dealing with this evening.
'We're in a different room – this castle has too many rooms – and our Horcruxes are on the table. Where are the others? We acted as court wizards for kings and stored their soul jars for safekeeping. What has she done with them? Is the boy a resurrected king? Marc Antony? She wouldn't dare violate his Horcrux and bring back Antony!'
"Good, everyone is awake now," Lady Hogwarts said a minute later. The only noises in the room were the straining of muscles pulling on ropes and joints of the thrones creaking as the founders tested their bonds for weakness. "If I meant you harm, you would be dead already. Now cease shifting about and listen."
"This is Harry Potter, a student at Hogwarts who has helped me deal with problems this school year, and I owe him several favors. He will present you with the information about the tasks you need to fulfill to earn another thousand years of my protection for your Horcruxes."
She motioned toward the table where the four original Horcruxes lay – Cleopatra's bust, Caesar's golden leafy crown, Theodora's jeweled necklace, and Justinian's iron buckle. And in a box at the foot of the table, the other items that had been Horcruxes lay piled together, a dozen crowns, a shield, and a sword.
"As you can see, we have destroyed fourteen other Horcruxes stored here. Two individuals were still living, and I believe they exploded when their magical cores recognized how old they were – Mother Magic sees a thousand years as excessive for her creatures with souls."
The boy looked closer at the empty Horcruxes and asked, "Charlemagne and Attila?"
"Yes," Lady Hogwarts confirmed. She looked at the four founders and continued, "The shield of Charlemagne – a historical artifact that if returned to the government of France – magical or mundane – would earn the name Flamel a great deal of fame," Potter said. "And the sword of Attila the Hun. Some rich oil man or Russian oligarch would pay handsomely for such a collector's item."
"And the crowns…there's no proof of the king who wore which crown, but they're made of gold with lots of jewels," the boy stated, "That'll make 'em worth a lot of money."
Lady Hogwarts said, "The provenance of the crowns is not available, but several portraits painted during the lives of the Stuarts would help prove their authenticity. The queen in London would appreciate having back the crowns thought lost to the Roundheads in the English Civil War."
Looking at her four captives, Lady Hogwarts sighed and added, "I can prove that these are the original Horcruxes, and they have been cleaned. There is no subterfuge in my offer."
Looking at the four founders and the looks on their faces, Harry told Lady Hogwarts. "They don't believe you. And we don't have any more thingies we wanted to clean."
"There's Antony's Greave," she replied. "Godric stabbed him to death in 1402 because he refused to share Helga with him any longer."
Cleopatra (Helga/Elizabeth) struggled anew with her bonds and managed to spit out the gag. In a desperate voice, she begged, "No! Godric! Deny it! Tell her that she lies! You didn't do that!"
Godric remained silent on his throne, watching Lady Hogwarts with cold, dead eyes.
The boy spoke to an elf, and a moment later, a tray appeared with three cups. The Greave was brought out and Lady Hogwarts stepped close to each founder to show them that this was indeed the original Horcrux of Marc Antony.
"No! You can't do this! Hogwarts! You loved him too!" Cleopatra cried. "Caesar, please, tell them to stop. Offer them anything…don't remove Antony from my world!"
Lady Hogwarts moved her hand, and the gag was removed from Godric's mouth. The wizard remained silent for a moment but then said, "Lady Hogwarts, with his last breath, Antony declared that he only ever loved one woman in the many years of his life and that was Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile. You were never a true woman, and you never had a part of his heart."
While Lady Hogwarts did not turn pale, Harry felt a change in the castle's magic. She was in pain and doubted her course for a moment.
Then another wave of magic swept through the room. CHANGE SCENE && Father of Us All
The castle entity blinked and to the air, she asked, "Ramesses? Why are you with us, Great One?"
Harry glanced at the four founders and saw them grow pale. Cleopatra continued to weep, and Godric (Caesar/Rex) muttered obscenities in twenty-three different languages. Nicolas and Perenelle remained still and silent, hopeful of not being noticed by anyone.
Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck rise and he backed up against a wall, his wand slipping into his hand as a piece of the air twisted in ten different directions simultaneously and then opened into a doorway. A man stepped forth, dressed as a Pharoah of Ancient Egypt with a linen skirt, and the Pschent on his head. This red and white double crown was symbolic of his rule of both Upper and Lower Egypt. On his chin was the postiche, a false beard that symbolized immortality. There were sandals on his feet, but he wore no other clothes and no jewelry. In one hand he carried a scepter that he raised to close the opening in the air behind him.
Speaking in ancient Egyptian, Ramesses addressed the gathered wizards and witches, {We felt great distress in our children. Who has hurt them?}
There was magic in the air than allowed everyone to hear the words in a language they understood. Nicolas and Perenelle each muttered spells behind their gags while Godric muttered them aloud. Cleopatra tried to master her tears, but only Lady Hogwarts was able to speak clearly, "Father of us all, I called these four to Hogwarts to help protect magic. But they are contentious and do not listen."
{You are stumbling about and rushing matters, my child. I never move without a century's contemplation of every matter. Tell me, what do you require of them? And of me?}
The Pharoah glanced at Harry Potter, and the boy swallowed but met the eyes of the ancient man – this wizard was at least three thousand years old.
Godric said, "Ask the boy about these matters. He has killed many of your children, Father of us all."
With a negligent wave of his hand, Ramesses stopped Godric from speaking by placing a ball inside and a gag around the wizard's mouth. Nicolas and Perenelle fell silent rather than attract the attention of the elder wizard. Ramesses smiled at Harry and asked, {My children are numerous, and these four think they are my most favored.}
He shrugged and continued, {Once every five centuries or so, they entertain me but not tonight.}
The Pharoah stepped closer and examined the box of crowns, with a shield, and a sword. He lifted one crown and smelled it, and Harry expected to see the wizard lick the gold, but Ramesses simply returned it to the pile of crowns.
{These twelve were lost in sleep. They lost their lives. Their magic did not grow, and they did not learn to alter their appearance and move away from their mortal existence,} the Pharoah declared.
Motioning toward the shield and sword, he said, {These two were never careful. Once Antony stole their Horcruxes, they lived on borrowed time. I believe their deaths were spectacular. That is enough.}
Turning to the teenager, Ramesses waited. Gathering his courage, Harry spoke up and spoke of Tom Marvolo Riddle, a wizard who made multiple Horcruxes and threatened war in Magical Britain.
{And this concerns me in what way?}
Speaking sternly, Harry continued, "Riddle won't be satisfied with ruling Magical Britain. He wants to destroy the world! All the muggles! And he is willing to rule the ruins forever."
Ramesses paused and then asked, {May I see that memory…where he speaks of ruling?}
"Sure," Harry replied. Then seeing the ancient wizard didn't understand, he added, "Yes, you can look at my memory."
The scepter was raised again and for one second, Harry felt the presence of the Pharoah's mind beside his – not invading but simply exchanging information. The ancient wizard's presence was gone from Harry's mind, but he found a few pieces of information left behind. The others noticed the Pharoah cursed in his native tongue. He turned to the four captives on their thrones and said, {Do as Lady Hogwarts asks of you. No arguments and no bickering over payments and pricing. Unfortunate as it is, We believe it is necessary to protect this Statute of Secrecy.}
Ramesses waved his hand and freed their bonds. He stepped closer and physically removed the ball and gag from Godric before he whispered, {You'll never be first! My spell of the Horcrux gives you this extended life. But what have you accomplished in the last two thousand years? You continue to pay at being Pharoah here and there for a few years and then must disappear. My son – if that is what you want to be – study magic and craft new spells. Quit playing the part of a king!}
The Pharoah thanked Hogwarts for protecting his Horcrux for the past thousand years and asked her to continue protecting it for the next thousand years. Then he turned sideways and vanished from the Room of Requirement.
CHANGE SCENE && Move ForwardAfter a moment to stretch their muscles, the founders turned toward Hogwarts and her student. Perenelle asked, "What are the Horcruxes of this Riddle fellow we need to collect for you?"
Godric and Helga argued quietly in one corner of the room before the wizard insisted on the demonstration to destroy a Horcrux continue.
The Greave that held a portion of the soul of Marc Antony was placed on the table, and the other Horcruxes were sheltered as Harry poured the first cup of water on the leather and metal leg guard. Nothing happened, and Godric began to mutter until the second cup of water began the dissolution of the magic. With the third cup of water, the spirit of the wizard left the container. A face appeared for a moment and smiled at Lady Hogwarts before it dissipated into nothing.
"What was that magical fluid?" asked Nicolas. "It must be expensive! It must be hard to make!"
"No, not at all," replied Harry. Helga (Cleopatra/Elizabeth) had dried her tears. She stared at her husband with eyes as equally cold as his while denying any idea of what the fluid was.
"There are three pieces of Tom Riddle left in the world," the teenager continued. "I am fifteen and have defeated him three times in fights and I destroyed four of his Horcruxes myself and aided the destruction of a fifth."
Doubting the words but remaining silent, the founders waited while the boy explained, "The three remaining pieces are Helga Hufflepuff's cup, the Gaunt family ring, and then the homunculus that houses the remainder of Tom Riddle's soul."
"My cup?" asked Helga with distaste in her tone. "He used my cup?"
"And he used Rowena's diadem and Salazar's locket, but Harry already cleaned them," Lady Hogwarts said before she waved her hand causing those two items to appear.
Perenelle grimaced, "The magic of my diadem was destroyed by the curse of the Horcrux. But thank you for destroying a piece of Tom Riddle's soul."
"And my locket – the original magic is gone but so is the piece of the wizard's soul," Nicolas confirmed without thanking the young wizard.
"Where is the cup?" asked Godric.
"It is in Gringotts, in the vault of a witch who was in Azkaban for life."
"What do you mean, 'was'?" asked Nicolas Flamel.
Harry explained, "She died last month when Riddle attacked Azkaban and sucked the magic out of his followers there, trying to free them.
"Who inherited her vaults?" asked Rowena. "We must talk to them."
"Bellatrix was a member of the Black family, and none of the Lestrange family survives – she killed every one of them she could find when she married the heir to the name," Lady Hogwarts informed them all.
"But she never had any children…did she?" asked Harry.
"Where is Lord Black?" asked Godric. "He's our descendant and will listen to us."
Pointing at Harry, Lady Hogwarts said, "Here's his godson and heir. Ask nicely, and he'll contact his godfather. The first of your three tasks will be easily accomplished while you plan the second and the third."
Stepping closer to Harry Potter, Helga said, "Stand still and let me get a good look at you."
Harry was convinced the witch smelled him, and he worried she would lick or kiss him but thankfully, she turned to Godric and said, "The boy is one of our descendants through Eleanor."
Looking back at the boy, she explained, "At the beginning of the fifteenth century, Godric and I were forced to flee from the court of the Plantagenet kings. Our only child that century was a lovely girl with enough magic to move the moon in its orbit if she wanted. We betrothed her to Bernard Black before we fled until the middle of the sixteenth century."
"Enough talk!" Godric declared. Let us retire and begin again tomorrow.
"Yes," Perenelle agreed and turned to the door that appeared in the wall. She led her husband and the other persons back into the hallway of the seventh floor. The door vanished quietly once they stood in the hallway where Lady Hogwarts dismissed the house elves. Dobby grabbed his Harry Potter and popped the young wizard into his dorm, where all his dorm mates were already asleep. The castle entity escorted the two couples to their quarters and left them at their doors after wishing them restful dreams.
CHANGE SCENERY && Morning and LettersBefore breakfast, Harry wrote his first draft of a letter to Sirius about getting Hufflepuff's cup from Bellatrix's vault. After breakfast, Rex Harrison tore up the boy's parchment and provided three pages of notes and points he thought should be made in the letter to Lord Black.
Harry suggested that he knew Lord Black better than Rex Harrison did, but the wizard ignored the boy. Supported by Headmaster Dumbledore, Rex Harrison continued to instruct Harry about what to write in the letter and the boy refused to be brow-beaten. Professor Hilliard supported Harry. With the intervention of Elizabeth Taylor, Nicolas Flamel, and Professor Hilliard, Harry's letter was written (almost exactly as he'd originally written) and carried by Hedwig to Lord Black in London. Lady Hogwarts pulled the tracking charms from the letter, and she sent them back to Nicolas, Perenelle, Elizabeth, and Rex as stinging hexes.
During history class, Harry wrote another letter for Sirius about the shenanigans of the adults and asked Dobby to deliver it to the hands of his godfather. The reply from Lord Black came during the dessert after dinner, First, Hedwig flew into the Great Hall and flying beside her was a handsome male snowy owl who dropped a letter on Headmaster Dumbledore's plate of lemon tarts, and then a second letter onto the empty place in front of Rex Harrison.
From Gryffindor's table, Harry asked, "What did Lord Black say in his reply?"
Growling, Rex Harrison declined to reply, and Headmaster Dumbledore echoed a reluctance to divulge the contents of the letter. Harry smirked and said, "Then it is fortunate that I have my own copy of Lord Black's letter to Rex Harrison and to Headmaster Dumbledore."
Harry stood on the table and read that Sirius Black supposed he would have time to meet with these muggle-wanna-be wizards tomorrow afternoon at Gringott's Bank.
"Lord Black will be available with his vault managers at 3:00 PM," announced Harry before he stepped down from the tabletop and returned to his seat.
"These children really have the worst manners," Perenelle observed though no one seconded her opinion.
CHANGE SCENE && A New TranslationThe following afternoon, while Rex Harrison and Elizabeth Taylor apparated to Diagon Alley for their meeting at Gringotts Bank, Nicolas and Perenelle asked Dumbledore for a private meeting.
The trio met in the headmaster's office where Fawkes flew to the top of the banisters of the staircase to stare at the couple with a malevolent stare for the entirety of their visit. Nicolas and Perenelle ignored the phoenix. However, the headmaster who always liked to draw attention to his phoenix frowned and said, "I apologize for Fawkes. His behavior is most unusual."
"Think nothing of it, Albus," replied Nicolas. "She must be preparing to mate and considering the best spot in your office to lay her eggs. She's lived here for fifty years at least so she'll consider no other location to incubate her eggs."
Perenelle sighed and added, "Remember the time that phoenix nested at the castle in London?"
"Oh, yes, the great fire that burned half of the city," Nicolas replied. "When was that?"
"The 1660s, I think. Ah, yes, I remember, 1666 for certain," Perenelle replied as she glanced around the room. "The portraits and furniture can be relocated hopefully. The windowpanes will be lost, however…and the stairs."
"She? Eggs?" Dumbledore sputtered. "Fire?"
"Yes, phoenixes are very touchy when they lay a clutch of eggs. You'll have to exit the office for at least a year, and she'll pick the visitors she wants to visit her eggs and hatchlings. Whatever you do, never touch one of her young. Only the individuals the mother selects to bond with the young phoenix can touch them."
Distracted while considering the possibility of having to move his office, Dumbledore never noticed when Nicolas shrank and pocketed the candy dish on his desk. Pursing her lips to signal her disapproval of her husband's forthcoming prank, Perenelle began the conversation they'd planned.
"Headmaster, we have found several disturbing references to the Egyptian curse of soul jars," the witch explained.
Her husband responded, "Yes, like the Horcruxes your famous student David Riddle made."
"David Riddle?" asked Albus. "Perhaps you mean Tom Marvolo Riddle?
"I don't know…do I mean him? Did he make Horcruxes?" Flamel asked.
"Gentlemen!" Perenelle declared slapping her hand on the desk. This action captured Dumbledore's attention and allowed her husband to replace the candy dish on the desk.
"And Albus, what was the claptrap about having our stone here in 1991? I was most entertained that anyone would think we would allow you to store our precious stone somewhere besides our home…besides where we hid it."
Perenelle watched Dumbledore's attention to her husband's hints before directing the conversation back to the book. She explained, "There's a book about all this soul falderal but it hasn't been updated since 1800 by someone named Lady Dalrymple."
"Now, let's not be hasty…we don't want to draw the young people into something so unpleasant …as soul magic." After a moment, Dumbledore asked, "Does the book explain how to make a Horcrux?"
"No," Perenelle replied. "There's no information on…on whatever the dark ritual is to corrupt the souls…I can't even imagine what it is. But the book does explain what happens when an idiot makes multiple Horcruxes and then damns his soul with a homunculus resurrection."
"But it is an excellent book, written almost two thousand years ago by Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt," Nicolas said.
"Oh, was she a witch?" Albus asked absently as he thought about the notion of terrorizing the public with the information on Horcruxes.
"In the book, Cleopatra talks about the terrible side effects of making more than one of the things," added Flamel.
"Here is my copy of the book," Perenelle said, laying the book on the desk causing Fawkes to grumble for a moment. The witch ignored the phoenix and continued, "It was translated from Hellenic Greek into the Greek of the Byzantines. Then it was translated into Latin, French and finally English."
"That many people touched the original meanings? What's been lost I wonder?" asked Dumbledore. Perenelle (Rowena/Theodora) bristled at the notion she'd mangled the translation from the earlier languages and now Nicolas intervened.
"We read the French translation five hundred years ago, Albus. And then Perenelle consulted with that witch named Lady Dalrymple on the 1800 translation," Flamel explained. "Headmistress Alison Hightower refused a copy for the library here in 1810, if I recall correctly."
From a portrait frame high on the wall, a witch cleared her throat and confirmed Flamel's statement. "I would never allow anything with soul magic inside the walls of Hogwarts while I was headmistress."
"But if this David Riddle had been able to read the book, he might have reconsidered and not taken those terrible steps," Perenelle said mournfully. She brightened and continued, "I think a new edition should preserve the original text but begin with an essay on the horrors of making multiple Horcruxes! The loss of magic and the descent to being a squib at the end of life."
"And pictures! I want pictures of this David Riddle from his youth until his demise at the hands of that boy back in 1983," Nicolas insisted.
"Yes, and a picture of his current horrible appearance as a homunculus," Perenelle suggested. Disturbed by the tenor of the conversation, Dumbledore paused to take a candy from the dish on his desk and suck on the sour lemon taste.
"Tom Riddle…not David Riddle," the headmaster reminded this guests.
"That boy back in 1983; what was his name, my dear?" asked Nicolas. "Paulson? Petersburg?"
"Potter, dear. And it was 1981. Harry Potter, the one who was back talking Rex at breakfast and dinner. But he also protected our Stone from this same idiot David Riddle," Perenelle replied.
"Yes, Harry Potter," Nicolas said and fell quiet in deep thought. "Albus, it might be that the book will be even better received…I don't know how to say this gently."
"Out with it Nicolas," Albus insisted.
"Well, Perenelle and I thought to give you full credit for the newest edition of the book but maybe it would be read more widely if we use Harry Potter's name as the primary author."
The headmaster looked up with surprise evident on his face, while Nicolas continued, "If you don't want us to publish the book with your name attached to it, I'm certain his guardians will let us use his name."
"No, no. Of course, I shall let you use my name. The boy doesn't need the darkness this book would attach to his name," Albus insisted just before he grimaced. The potion in the lemon drop was affecting the headmaster's digestive system and he needed to end this interview. Nicolas attempted to delay their departure and increase Dumbledore's discomfort, but Perenelle was anxious to depart before Albus could have second thoughts about the book.
The couple exited the headmaster's office, leaving the book on his desk. The phoenix ignored the look on the wizard's face as he passed her on his way to the loo. Fawkes considered burning the book away but feared the Flamels had protected it from just such a thing. To consider the different opportunities available to her, Fawkes flamed away to the kitchens. She wanted some grapes and house elves were always happy to provide them from the cooling cabinet.
CHANGE && Characters with Multiple NamesElizabeth Taylor is first Cleopatra, and then Helga Hufflepuff.
Rex Harrison is first Caesar and then Godric Gryffindor.
Perenelle Flamel is first Theodora, Empress of the Byzantine Empire and then Rowena Ravenclaw.
Nicolas Flamel is first Justinian, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire, and then Salazar Slytherin.
SCENERY && Updated List of HorcruxesCleopatra (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 Greave. Destroyed by Harry Potter on 28 January 1996.
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