The first thing Alena and Miyana looked at when they got down to the common room was the stairway to the boys' dorms, to make sure that - Yes, Bradan was there. Nodding to each other, the three looked around the room for their visitors. They could hardly believe what they saw.
Standing near the fireplace were three figures, two young men and one young woman. They were all wearing black robes and tall, conical hats, but even this wasn't the strangest thing about them. The strangest thing about them was that they didn't quite look real - they were surrounded by a strange, misty light.
Miyana covered her mouth, trying to keep from screaming. Bradan slowly moved closer to the two girls, never taking his eyes off the visitors. Alena just stared, amazed, trying to find the right words.
"Hello," said one of the figures, a young man with messy black hair. He sounded perfectly normal, and friendly - not evil, not even dead.
"A-are you guys - ghosts?" Alena finally said.
"No," said the young man. "We're memories. We're a bit like ghosts; the main difference is that we chose to appear in this form. We made these memories of ourselves when we were 17 - that's why we look that age now. We left them here at school in case the school ever needed our help again."
"But why? How?"
"We'll get to that. First, we ought to introduce ourselves. Believe me, the introductions will only be the first of a lot of incredible things you kids will find out tonight. Are you ready?"
Alena straightened. "I'm ready."
"Good. I'm Harry Potter, and I'm one of your ancestors, Alena."
"Wow!" Was this actually happening? It was like something out of a story.
"You have my eyes, do you know?" Harry added.
Alena looked at him. "Yeah, you're right . . ."
Now the second young man, the redhead, spoke. "Hi, I'm Ron Weasley, and I'm an ancestor of Miyana's."
"So you must be my ancestor?" Bradan said suddenly, indicating the young woman.
"Yes," she said. "My name is Hermione Granger."
"How long ago did you go to school here?" Miyana inquired.
"About two hundred and fifty years ago," answered Harry.
Alena looked stunned and confused. "But - back then there was nothing that could preserve a person's memory like this! How did you do it?"
"Oh, but there was something," smiled Hermione. "Come, let's go sit down. We have a lot to say, it may take a while."
The six of them pulled six of the many comfortable chairs in the room into a sort of circle. Alena and her friends were beginning to get used to the visitors, but it was still a very strange experience.
"Okay," said Harry. "I'm going to start with the first secret you need to know before you can understand the others. Please don't tell anyone, at least, not yet. Later, we'll let a few other people in on it."
"Is it a bad secret?" Bradan asked.
"No," said Hermione, "it's a wonderful secret. Harry and I found out when we were about your age, and when we got over the shock, it was the best thing that ever happened to us - isn't that right, Harry?"
"Yes," said Harry. "So, here it is. Alena, Miyana, and Bradan, all three of you are witches and wizards."
Silence.
"What do you mean?" Alena finally said. "Those are something people dress up as for Halloween. A whole bunch of people wore witch or wizard costumes to the school Halloween party. They're not real."
"And you said this wasn't a bad secret," added Bradan. "All the old stories say they were bad."
"Everything you've just said is, or was, a stereotype," said Hermione. "You see, through most of history there has been a worldwide magical community. This community always did its best to hide the fact of its existence from Muggles . . . yes, I know, you're about to ask what Muggles are."
"Did you read my thoughts?" asked Alena.
"No, that's what most people ask when they hear this story. Muggles are non-magical people, 'normal' people. Anyway, we wizards tried not to let them know about us, but they did, sort of. That's why you have all those stories Bradan mentioned. The stories may not be true, but the magic in them is real."
"Can you . . . show us some?" said Miyana.
"Sure. We'll have to do it together, though, becuase we're not very strong as memories."
As Alena and her friends watched, the others all pulled narrow sticks from their sleeves, pointed them at a chair on the other side of the room, and said in unison, "Accio chair!"
The chair zoomed across the room as if drawn by an enormous magnet, coming to rest behind Ron's and Hermione's chairs.
The younger kids looked at the chair and then at the memories, partly in awe, partly in shocked disbelief.
"So we can do that too?" said Alena.
"Yes," said Harry, "but you have to learn how. That brings us to the next important secret: We learned how here."
"Here? You mean this used to be a magic school?"
"Yes. This school began somewhere around the year 1000, and it was called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was founded by four great wizards, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. The school houses are named after them, only they call them teams now. What used to be Gryffindor is now the Red team. Ravenclaw is the Blue team. Hufflepuff is the Yellow team. Slytherin is the Green team."
"I get the impression," Alena remarked, "that the Green team - Slytherin - aren't a very nice bunch. Was that how it was in your day?"
"Yes!" said Harry. "You were Sorted into your teams, right?"
"Right."
"How?"
"They used a neural readout computer to analyze our personality. They said Red - Gryffindors were brave, Hufflepuffs were diligent and loyal, Slytherins were cunning and ambitious, and Ravenclaws were smart."
"That's absolutely right; it's always been that way. But in the old days, we were Sorted by the Sorting Hat. It was great . . . it could think for itself, and it talked to you when it Sorted you . . . but it's gone now, poor old thing . . ."
"What happened to it?" asked Alena. "What happened to this school? Why did it stop teaching magic?"
"Well," Hermione began, "it started in the year 2050. That spring, some dumb Muggles came exploring around Hogwarts - now, keep in mind that the entire castle was enchanted so that if a Muggle saw it, they only saw an old broken-down ruin. Anyway, when they got here, they found that their electronics started malfunctioning - that's another thing about Hogwarts; back then, there was so much magic in the air it messed up electronic devices. So, they stayed there a while, and left, and the things worked fine again. They wanted to know why, so they got a bunch of people together to study the area. Eventually, they found some dumb kid's Potions homework lying around on the grounds, and they knew it was an important clue because it was so strange to them. They took it into the castle and left it for someone to find. Someone did find it, and they took him into custody -"
"That's horrible! Why would they do that?"
"They did it to find out what the homework was and why their stuff didn't work. They did, and in doing so, they proved that magic existed, which is why it was indeed horrible. When word got out, it was exactly as we'd feared - the whole world wanted magical solutions to their problems. A few of the witches and wizards did what the public wanted, but most didn't want to - they understood that the reason their powers had been kept a secret for so long was that in the past, Muggles had persecuted them -"
"Of course, witch burning in the fourteenth century was completely pointless, but we won't go into that now -" Ron interjected, making his friends laugh.
"That's right," said Hermione. "Anyway, this had gone on the past, and they believed it would start up again now that the secret was out. It didn't, but the training of magical children gradually came to a stop. What happened was, Hogwarts - and the other wizarding schools, too - were overwhelmed with applications, most of them from Muggles who hadn't a hope of learning magic, and who just wouldn't listen to reason.
"Some ten years after the secret got out, two things happened: The datapad came on the market, and an Internet access line became as fundamental a part of a house as an electric, gas, or phone line. That turned a lot of attention from magic to technology. The Hogwarts staff of the time went with the flow and turned Hogwarts into a tech school.
"It didn't happen all at once, of course. To wire the castle up, change all the classes, and break all the enchantments took four years. A lot stayed the same, though - today's acceptance letter and supply list are very similar to the ones we had a long time ago. The dorm setup is the same, and the train route and the Sorting are almost the same. Speaking of that, the Sorting Hat, which was very old when we used it, must have gotten discarded sometime during the big transition."
"How do you know all this?" asked Bradan.
"Well," said Harry, "all this time we've been hanging around here as memories, we've been keeping up with the outside world through our telescopes, which we enchanted so we can see anything we want through them, no matter where it's happening. I hope you won't be offended, Alena, but I looked in on you a lot, and it's amazing how much your experiences have been just like mine."
"Coincidence, I suppose," said Alena.
"Right," said Harry. "Now, I'd like to go on to the next part of what we have to tell you. Are you comfortable with what you've heard so far?"
"Not exactly . . ." said Miyana. "Mind if we go get our datapads?"
"We'd better come with you," said Hermione, "in case we need to put sleep spells on your roommates. But yes, let's go."
A few minutes later, Alena and her friends had typed up some notes on what they had learned so far, with a few reminders from their new friends. They sat ready for whatever would come next.
"Here's our plan," Harry said. "How would you feel about making Hogwarts a magic school again?"
"Wow!" said Alena. "That would be . . . um . . ."
"Interesting, but . . ." said Miyana.
"It's not the reason we came here," Bradan finished.
"I know," said Harry, "but you'd like to learn magic, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah," said Alena. "It's . . . different."
"Very different," agreed Ron. "What we want is to put the magic back into this school. I realize that this place is so popular as a tech school, we'll never be able to get rid of that element entirely. What we can do is have the school offer classes in practical magic along with the tech ones. That way, everyone's happy."
"Aren't the magic classes supposed to be a secret?" Alena asked.
"Yes and no," answered Hermione. "It will never be a complete secret again. What we want is for the tech and magic classes to be taught alongside each other, for the two sets of skills to be considered equally important."
"Harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples . . ." mused Harry. "Gilderoy Lockhart's ideal birthday present!"
Apparently, this was another inside reference; Ron and Hermione laughed. "Yeah . . ."
"But wait," said Bradan. "If Hogwarts taught magic again as well as tech stuff, the Muggles would have to be excluded from the magic lessons . . . what would they think about that?"
"Oh," said Harry blankly.
"Oh, dear," said Hermione. "I guess 'harmony between magic and non-magic peoples' is going to be harder to do than we thought . . ."
"Is it possible?" Miyana wondered.
They thought about it. "Well," Harry finally said, "we are going to make a new magical Sorting Hat . . ."
"So it could tell the students . . ." Ron continued.
". . . whther or not they can be in the magic classes!" finished Alena.
"There would still be jealousy involved, though . . ." Miyana pointed out.
"True," said Harry, "but if that happens, we know how to do something called a Memory Charm. If the Muggles don't know what's going on, there won't be any jealousy."
"Okay," said Alena. "So how do we start doing all this?"
"Slowly and carefully, without letting the whole school know. Can we talk to Professor McConnell sometime after class? She's the head of your house."
"Yes, on Monday. Her class is in the morning. You know where it is?"
"Transinformation? Yes. We'll be there; just call for us at the end of class when everyone else has gone, and we'll come. Then we'll tell her most of what we just told you, and hopefully get her involved in our efforts. Agreed?"
"Agreed," said Alena, Miyana, and Bradan.
"Thanks so much," said Hermione. "You can go back to bed now."
"I have one question," said Alena. "Are there any other witches and wizards here besides us three?"
"Most likely," answered Harry. "We'll know for sure who's who when we get our new Sorting Hat."
*******
On Monday morning after Transinformation class, Alena and her friends stayed in the room after the class had ended. There was a 20-minute break between this class and the next, so they had time to say what they needed to. Alena began the conversation with, "Professor McConnell, there's someone here who'd like to meet you."
"Is there?" said the teacher. "Who?"
"Come in, Harry," Alena and her two friends said together.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione appeared out of the wall-screen, winked at each other, and said, "Please don't be alarmed -" It was too late; Professor McConnell was very alarmed.
"These," said Alena, "are our friends Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. They're - well, they're a lot of things . . ."
"They're glowing," said Professor McConnell.
"They're memories," said Bradan.
"Yes," said Ron, "preserved in this castle these 250 years, give or take a few. We were also students here once, and we were on the Red team."
"And," said Hermione, "by the time we graduated, we were good enough with magic to leave memories of ourselves here."
"You were good enough with what?" said Professor McConnell.
"You heard us," said Harry. "It's true. Alena knows it's true, right?"
"Right," Alena answered.
"You didn't learn magic here . . ." said Professor McConnell.
"We did," said Harry. "You don't know what happened?"
"What happened with regard to what?"
"With regard to how this school became a tech school."
"No, I really don't . . ."
"Well, we're here to tell you." They gave her a brief version of the events that had rendered Hogwarts non-magical.
"So now," Alena finished, "we want to arrange for magic classes to be taught here again. We're not going to change it all the way back - we can't, not now that this is such an important tech school. What we want is to add the magic classes to the regular ones. They can be equally useful."
"Well . . . I never imagined that this would happen . . . perhaps we should discuss this with Professor Draconis." Professor McConnell was doing her best to continue to look professional.
"The Headmaster?" said Harry. "Yes, of course. I have a feeling he'll listen to us - he reminds me of Dumbledore, in a way. When can we do it?"
"Thursday after dinner," Professor McConnell answered, "we're having a staff meeting. I'll let you all in."
"Thank you so much," said Alena.
"You're . . . welcome," said Professor McConnell. "You'd better get along now. See you later."
*******
Professor McConnell rushed through dinner on Thursday, then went to find Alena and her friends. She took them into a comfortable conference room, where, in addition to the swivel-chairs for the staff, six upholstered folding chairs had been set up.
The staff entered and took their seats. Professor Draconis opened the meeting by saying, "Good evening, everyone. We have some very unusual news tonight; that's why we have Miss Alena Reyes, Miss Miyana Hease, and Mr. Bradan Gregory as our guests."
He motioned to them to stand up. Nervously, they did.
"Hi, I'm Alena Reyes," she said. "Some friends of ours are going to come in and talk now. They graduated from this school a long, long time ago, and they were on the Red team too. They're kind of strange-looking, so please don't be alarmed when you see them."
She paused, and then she and her friends said together, "Come in, Harry!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione came in, through the door this time; Alena had suggested this, because "you look more normal that way."
"Allow me to introduce Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley," Alena went on. "They're wizards."
A cacophony of noise suddenly erupted in the room. All the staff were either terrified or staring in disbelief - all except Professor Draconis.
"Wizards, eh?" he said. "Then you really did graduate a long time ago . . ."
"You mean you know?" exclaimed Bradan.
"Of course I know," said Professor Draconis calmly. "This used to be Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They changed it in the late twenty-second century to Hogwarts Technical Institute."
"Why didn't you tell us?" demanded Professor Taylor.
"Ever since the transition," Professor Draconis answered, "the headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts have never told anyone about the school's history. You see, when this was a magic school, it was a complete secret to non-members of the magical community."
"Community?" said Professor Spyrida, who taught Horticulture.
"Yes," said Professor Draconis. "Maybe our . . . alumni will tell us about it?"
"There's not much to tell," said Miyana.
"There's plenty to tell!" said Harry. "We just haven't told you yet." He adressed the staff. "There are two things we need to tell you: how and why Hogwarts changed, and what we want to do about it. Then there's my story, which is interesting, but irrelevant. Professor Draconis, where should we start?"
"Start with what happened to Hogwarts. Then tell us what you want to do, and we'll see what we think."
"Can we get this recorded?" asked Hermione. "This is the third time we've had to tell all this in a week."
"Oh - sure," said Professor Draconis. "There's a camcorder in the other room - would someone please go and get it?"
"I will," said Professor McConnell. "In under a minute, she had set it up and turned it on. She spoke into it: "Hello, I'm Professor Eliza McConnell, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts Technical Institute. Today is Thursday, November 4, 2245, and some people have some very unusual things to tell us, and they wanted it recorded, so here goes. They're some strange- looking people . . . no, not you, Alena . . ."
"We know who you mean," said Bradan, as Professor McConnell turned the camcorder on the wizards.
"Hello," said the professor. "How about some introductions?"
"I'm Harry Potter, and this is my descendant, Alena Reyes. Alena?"
Alena got up and looked into the camera. "Hi!"
"I'm Ron Weasley, and this is my descendant, Miyana Hease."
Miyana, too, got up and greeted the camera. Hermione then introduced herself and Bradan.
Professor McConnell then aimed the camera at the six folding chairs and motioned for the guests to sit in them. They did, and she said, "Now, I've already heard all this, and it's pretty amazing . . . go ahead."
"Well," said Harry, "way back in the '90s -"
"The 1990s," Alena clarified.
"Exactly," said Harry. "Way back in the 1990s, Hermione and Ron and I came here to learn magic. This was once Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That explains why we look this way; we're memories now. We left them here just before we graduated."
"It was great back then," said Ron. "If you knew how, you could do as much with your wand as with a whole bunch of eclectic, er, electric things."
"But that changed . . ." Harry went over the story of how Hogwarts had changed one last time.
"So now, we want to start teaching magic classes again," concluded Hermione. "They won't replace the regular classes; they'll just supplement them. For those who can take them, it's a great skill to have."
" 'For those who can take them?' " asked Professor Taylor.
"Yes," said Harry, "magic is an inherited ability, and some people don't have it. We still haven't completely figured out how we're going to handle that . . ."
"If you ask me, we can deal with that stuff later," said Alena. "Now, we need Professor Draconis's decision. Can we start teaching magic again?"
"Will these three teach it?" said Professor Draconis, meaning Harry, Ron and Hermione.
"Yes," said Harry, "we will."
For a few moments, there was silence. Then Professor Draconis said:
"You know, when we abandon the ways of the past, we sometimes lose what was good in the world. Yes, this school will teach magic again."
"Yes!" The six people in the folding chairs got up and hugged, or at least high-fived.
"Then we have a lot of planning to do," said Miyana.
"We may need to do it another time," Bradan surmised.
"You're right, Bradan," said Professor McConnell. "We did have other things to talk about tonight, so let's just schedule a meeting for the weekend sometime . . . how about . . ." She consulted her datapad. "Sunday the 14th at two in the afternoon?"
"Sure," said Alena. "We can make that."
"Good. Well, it's almost your bedtime, isn't it? Good night."
*******
The meeting on Sunday was long and involved, but productive. The staff, the three old graduates, and their descendants decided when and how they would set up the magic classes, and when the classes would be held. Harry and his friends told the entire story of what had happened with them and Voldemort. The staff agreed - mostly - to accept this new element in the school. Plans were also made to reinstate certain things from the "old" Hogwarts - the hourglasses that recorded the house points, the password protection on some doors (this would be changed back to magical methods), the old house names and mascots, the Quidditch competition, and, of course, the Sorting Hat.
At the end of the meeting, Harry and his friends went down to the Chamber of Secrets, where they kept a wide variety of magical items. From this store, they got a pointed wizard's hat, kept in good condition all this time, and set it on a table next to a thick, old book. They then began what they knew would be the long, hard process of putting brains in the hat.
*******
Several weeks before Christmas, Alena came down to the Great Hall for breakfast and found it more beautifully decorated than she had ever imagined. The walls were hung with mistletoe and holly, and twelve trees stood around the room.
She took a closer look at one tree and noticed that the lights on it weren't wired together, weren't even in bulbs - they were just there. Cautiously, she touched one - it was warm and tickly. Magic!
She smiled and sat down. Soon, she and her friends would begin learning to do that!
Winter had begun, and students at Hogwarts could choose to go home for the holidays or stay at school. Alena and her friends were going home, so they had to buy each other presents before they left. They went with many other students and several teachers on a short shopping excursion in mid-December.
On the morning of the last day of classes, everyone got up, dressed, and went immediately to the common room to exchange gifts. Bradan gave both Alena and Miyana the handheld game "Totally Trivia." Alena gave Miyana a cute little lunchbox and Bradan a designer mousepad. Miyana gave Bradan a recording of Christmas music and Alena a mood bracelet.
The three of them were very nervous that evening when they went to dinner. Tonight was the night that their plans would be announced to the whole school.
When dinner had been cleared away, Professor Draconis got up to speak. A large projector had been set up in the middle of the hall, its screen behind the staff table.
"Happy holidays, everyone," said Professor Draconis. "I have something very special to announce tonight.
"About two months ago, several students from the Red team brough the history of the school to light. It was . . . well, just watch this."
He gave a signal. The lights were dimmed, and the video of the Thursday-night staff meeting came on.
It was followed by the highlights of the longer, Sunday meeting. When the lights came back on, Professor Draconis said:
"We have already begun preparing to teach magic. Like we said in the video, we're going to start using the real names of the houses and playing Quidditch again. We're also going to stop using the neural readout computer and start using the Sorting Hat II, which Harry Potter and his companions have just finished making."
Professor McConnell brought the Sorting Hat II onto the stage, on a stool. There was a neat slit near the brim. After a moment, the slit opened and the hat spoke.
"Hello," it said. "I am the Sorting Hat II, servant of Hogwarts School. I can see into your mind, and then place you with your kind. I was made by this fine crew, who I introduce to you."
In came the three memories. No one looked surprised; everyone had seen them on the video.
"Hi," said Harry. "It's wonderful having this hat back. For everyone's information, the original Sorting Hat -"
"May it rest in peace -" interjected the Sorting Hat II.
"- was created by this school's founders: Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. This hat will not only tell you what house you belong in, it will tell you whether or not you have magical abilities - remember, some people don't. Everyone will find out whether they do or not when we come back from vacation - we've scheduled it with your Heads of Houses. No, you will not change houses because of this.
"It took us six weeks of difficult wizardry to make this hat," Hermione said. "It used to be ours, but now it belongs to the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Merry Christmas, Professor Draconis."
"Thank you," said the professor.
"And now, it's time for bed," said Ron. "Our special friends - you know who you are - please meet us on the stage; we have presents for you. As for the rest of you, good night and happy holidays."
The room began to empty out. Alena, Miyana, and Bradan went up to the stage.
The three memories smiled. Each one handed his or her descendant a wrapped gift. "Open them now."
Bradan's present turned out to be Hogwarts, A History. "I read that all the time when I was in school," said Hermione. "It's interesting, but it's rather biased and selective, so you'll find some notes from me stuck in there."
"Thank you," said Bradan.
Miyana had a dark-red, drawstring bag. She opened it and looked in. "Jellybeans?"
"No, better," said Ron. "Every Flavor Beans. We used to love them, they come in every flavor you can imagine, including strawberry and mint and grass and pepper and sardine and earwax - don't worry, it's not very likely you'll find one of those, but it's the risk that makes them fun to eat."
"Cool, thanks."
Alena's present was in a gift box. It was a soft, gray, light, flowing piece of cloth.
"It's my Invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "On my first Christmas at Hogwarts, the headmaster gave it to me - it had been my father's. And now I'm passing it on to you; I don't need a cloak to become invisible now. Will you put it on?"
"Sure." She fastened it around her shoulders, and everyone stared at her. Hermione pointed her wand at the wall and muttered "Reflecta!" The wall suddenly became a mirror, and Alena laughed when she saw her head floating in it. "It works!"
"Put the hood up," Harry suggested.
She did, and vanished completely from the mirror - she could see right through the cloak where it covered her eyes.
"I used to sneak around school in that all the time," said Harry, "but I had to, because of the whole Voldemort thing. Don't let this get you in trouble, okay?"
"Okay," said Alena, pulling the cloak off.
"Merry Christmas, Alena," said Harry, putting one arm around her shoulders.
"When you come back, we'll use this castle as it was meant to be used.
And that will be a real step in the right direction."
A/N: That was the last part, but there will most likely be a sequel
- thanks again, Spork! :-) You may notice that I avoided mention
of any Harry/Hermione or Ron/Hermione romance at all - that felt really
awkward, because of their relationship to my characters. (Oh, don't
ask me to explain...)
This part is dedicated to the immensely caring and patient Annalyn
O. Reyes. Thanks for doing your job so well and best wishes for your
family. :-)
Notice that I snuck in a certain 12-letter buzzword beginning with
"H?" Heeheehee... :-)
It's my first Christmas on FF.n, and instead of a Christmas special,
I've written the last scene of this and "Flower of My Heart," my entry
in Flourish's challenge. Happy Holidays to all Harry Potter-heads!
:-D
Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling. No
money is being made off this; I write because it's fun. :-)