Harry landed hard on the ground, thankfully on his feet. He found that he had landed on some kind of huge green field. All he could see was a wide expanse of greenery. He took out his glasses, wiped them on his T-shirt & looked around. To his surprise he found himself staring into a very familiar pair of chocolate-brown eyes.
"Ginny!" He moved towards her. "What-" Before he could complete his sentence, he banged into- "Malfoy!"
If Malfoy looked surprised, it was only for a second.
"Looks like you can't see straight even with your glasses on, Potter." He sneered.
He looked around & his glance fell on Ginny. His eyes widened.
"Well, well. If it isn't Potter's girlfriend, what's-her-name Weasel."
Before Harry could make a really original remark like "Sod of Malfoy" or "Eat dung, Malfoy", Ginny said, with an exaggerated imitation on Malfoy's drawl,
"Well, well. If it isn't Malfoy, the bouncing ferret. Of all the animals we could have got stuck with!"
Both Harry & Draco looked at her in surprise. They had never heard Ginny speak like that before. She would have usually blushed furiously & said something commonplace like "Shut up, Malfoy." Instead, here she was, giving back Malfoy in his own coin.
Before Malfoy could retort, there was a distraction in the form of a house elf running towards them. "Master Malfoy." "Master Potter. "Miss Weasley." It said, bowing to each of the three, in turn.
Harry stared. How did the house-elf know their names? He was sure it wasn't Dobby or Winky or any of the other elves, which were at Hogwarts.
"The Great Four want to see you." It said. Harry looked at the other two, bewildered. He found his expression mirrored on their faces.
"The Great Who?" asked Draco.
The elf looked shocked at the lack of respect shown by Malfoy. "Master must not talk of The Great Four like that."
"Who the hell are the Great Four?" demanded Draco irritably.
Harry intervened on seeing the elf's shocked expression at Malfoy's disrespectful words, by saying hurriedly, "Err.. We would be pleased to come."
The elf bowed.
The three of them followed. "Potter, do you know what that thing is talking about?" burst out Malfoy.
Harry resented Malfoy referring to the house-elf as 'that thing', but he made no comment. He just shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me."
"Then why did you have to say, 'We would be pleased to come.'?" Said Malfoy in a sugary sweet imitation of Harry.
Harry glared at him. "Look, we don't have any idea where we are. We are practically trespassers. The least we can do is to be polite & do what they ask us to do."
By that time they had reached a huge castle. It reminded Harry of something. With a start Harry realised what the castle reminded him of. It was exactly like Hogwarts. But this castle looked like it was newly built. There was also a moat and a drawbridge. Harry looked around and saw that the lake was there too. He was about to point out the astonishing similarity of this castle to Hogwarts, when a red-haired lady came running out of the castle towards them.
"You have arrived!" she said excitedly.
Before any of them could reply, a dark-haired man apparated beside her and said, "So, they have arrived."
Harry wished someone would explain what was going on, instead of just saying that they had arrived. Any moron could see that they had arrived. But arrived where? And why was that lady looking so pleased to see them?
"They must be taken to the Incantation room." Said the dark-haired man.
"But Salazar, surely we are not going to do it so soon! Why, they have just arrived. They need to rest and have things explained to them." Said the red-haired lady.
Harry's ears had pricked at the name of 'Salazar.' Was it Salazar Slytherin? But Slytherin was supposed to have lived ages ago. What was he doing here in the 21st century? Maybe this was Slytherin's descendant. But Harry knew that there was only one heir of Slytherin & that was Voldemort. So who was this? Harry looked at the black-haired man with interest. He was really a very handsome man. He was nothing like the picture Harry had seen of Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets. He was a very tall, imposing figure. Before he could reply to the red-haired lady's words, there was an interruption in the form of a house-elf. It was not the same one, which had brought Harry & the others to the castle.
"If you please Master Slytherin, and Mistress Hufflepuff," it said bowing to the dark-haired man & the red-haired lady in turn, "Master Gryffindor and Mistress Ravenclaw are anxious to see the 'Young Ones'."
All three of them, Harry Draco & Ginny, gasped. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff & Slytherin! The founders of Hogwarts. They glanced at each other, confusion, bewilderment and uneasiness writ all over their faces. Before any of them could voice their thoughts, the red-haired lady (whom I'll start referring to as Helga from now on) said,
"Oh, yes. We'll bring them in right away. Come children."
The last bit was addressed to Harry, Draco & Ginny. Draco looked like he was going to protest, but as the others were already halfway over the drawbridge, he thought better of it & followed them. Harry had an odd sense of déjà vu as he stepped inside the castle. It was astonishingly similar to Hogwarts, and at the same time, dissimilar too. For one thing, it was not as big as Hogwarts was. From the outside it looked to be the same size as Hogwarts, but inside it was smaller. Helga & Slytherin led them through a long passageway & they emerged into- Dumbledore's room!
For a minute Harry stood there staring. Then he realised that the blonde-haired man sitting at the table was not Dumbledore and he also found that there was no phoenix. In fact, there was nothing here, which had been in Dumbledore's room. But Harry was sure that this was or had been Dumbledore's room. This had also been the same room, which Harry had seen during his 2nd year, when he had gone inside Riddle's memory & visited Professor Dippet's room. This was the room, which the Headmaster of Hogwarts occupied.
He wondered what was going on. What was this castle, which reminded him so clearly of Hogwarts? Where was Dumbledore and what were the founders of Hogwarts doing here?
The blonde-haired man spoke as if in direct answer to his thoughts. "Welcome to Hogwarts, my Young Ones!"
"Hogwarts?!" said Draco surprised. "But this can't be-"
"So, the Hogwarts in the future is very different from what it was when it was first set up?' said the blonde-haired man, who apparently was Godric Gryffindor.
"Hogwarts in the future?" blurted out Harry. "Do you mean that this is...Do you mean we are in-'
"The past?" Ginny completed his question.
Godric nodded his head, smiling. "Yes My Young Ones, you are very much in the past. I'm sure you'll want to know all about it, but I have been given strict instructions to tell you nothing before you have eaten something & refreshed yourself." He beckoned the house-elf. "Show them into the Great Hall. Rowena will receive them there."
The trio followed the house-elf quietly, even though they were bursting with questions. As soon as they were out of earshot, Ginny burst out,
"We are in the past! But how-"
"It was obviously the whirlwind which brought us here." said Draco in a superior voice, as if he couldn't believe that Ginny was so naïve.
"Obviously it was the whirlwind." Retorted Ginny. "But what made the whirlwind bring us here?"
Before any of them could reply, they had reached the Great Hall. As they entered Harry was again struck by the similarity.
'Well obviously it looks like the Great Hall at Hogwarts.' Thought Harry. This was the same Hogwarts, after all. But there were a few differences, which didn't take Harry very long to notice. There were only 4 tables for the teachers & unlike at Hogwarts, there were no house tables. There was only one long table at the centre of the Great Hall. There was a chair at the head of the table, which was occupied by a slender, raven-haired lady. She rose as they approached and said, in a musical voice,
"Welcome to Hogwarts. Hope the travel wasn't too uncomfortable?" Before they could reply she said, "Only three of you have arrived? Where is the fourth one?" She turned to the house-elf. "Ask Godric to come here." She said in an imperious voice.
Something in her voice was so commanding that Harry immediately turned to go call Godric. It was only Ginny clutching his hand & whispering fiercely, "Harry, what do you think you are doing?" which made him stop. It was almost like being in the presence of a Veela. You wanted to do anything that might please them or impress them. She looked at them and smiled.
"Sit down." She said, seating herself at the head of the table. Harry and Ginny sat to her right, while Draco sat to her left. As soon as they were seated, the house-elves brought the food to the table.
Harry marveled at the different kinds of dishes set out. The house-elves began to serve. Harry found himself thinking of The Hogwarts of the future, where all one had to do was look at the plate and say the name of whatever food item he wanted. Things were quite different in the past, and they were soon to find out how different and difficult it could be, in the past.
A/N- Since many of the readers have protested that this chapter was too difficult to read, on account of there being no proper distinction between paragraphs (I'm really sorry for that), I've uploaded the chapter with (I hope) proper spacing between the paragraphs.
"Ginny!" He moved towards her. "What-" Before he could complete his sentence, he banged into- "Malfoy!"
If Malfoy looked surprised, it was only for a second.
"Looks like you can't see straight even with your glasses on, Potter." He sneered.
He looked around & his glance fell on Ginny. His eyes widened.
"Well, well. If it isn't Potter's girlfriend, what's-her-name Weasel."
Before Harry could make a really original remark like "Sod of Malfoy" or "Eat dung, Malfoy", Ginny said, with an exaggerated imitation on Malfoy's drawl,
"Well, well. If it isn't Malfoy, the bouncing ferret. Of all the animals we could have got stuck with!"
Both Harry & Draco looked at her in surprise. They had never heard Ginny speak like that before. She would have usually blushed furiously & said something commonplace like "Shut up, Malfoy." Instead, here she was, giving back Malfoy in his own coin.
Before Malfoy could retort, there was a distraction in the form of a house elf running towards them. "Master Malfoy." "Master Potter. "Miss Weasley." It said, bowing to each of the three, in turn.
Harry stared. How did the house-elf know their names? He was sure it wasn't Dobby or Winky or any of the other elves, which were at Hogwarts.
"The Great Four want to see you." It said. Harry looked at the other two, bewildered. He found his expression mirrored on their faces.
"The Great Who?" asked Draco.
The elf looked shocked at the lack of respect shown by Malfoy. "Master must not talk of The Great Four like that."
"Who the hell are the Great Four?" demanded Draco irritably.
Harry intervened on seeing the elf's shocked expression at Malfoy's disrespectful words, by saying hurriedly, "Err.. We would be pleased to come."
The elf bowed.
The three of them followed. "Potter, do you know what that thing is talking about?" burst out Malfoy.
Harry resented Malfoy referring to the house-elf as 'that thing', but he made no comment. He just shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me."
"Then why did you have to say, 'We would be pleased to come.'?" Said Malfoy in a sugary sweet imitation of Harry.
Harry glared at him. "Look, we don't have any idea where we are. We are practically trespassers. The least we can do is to be polite & do what they ask us to do."
By that time they had reached a huge castle. It reminded Harry of something. With a start Harry realised what the castle reminded him of. It was exactly like Hogwarts. But this castle looked like it was newly built. There was also a moat and a drawbridge. Harry looked around and saw that the lake was there too. He was about to point out the astonishing similarity of this castle to Hogwarts, when a red-haired lady came running out of the castle towards them.
"You have arrived!" she said excitedly.
Before any of them could reply, a dark-haired man apparated beside her and said, "So, they have arrived."
Harry wished someone would explain what was going on, instead of just saying that they had arrived. Any moron could see that they had arrived. But arrived where? And why was that lady looking so pleased to see them?
"They must be taken to the Incantation room." Said the dark-haired man.
"But Salazar, surely we are not going to do it so soon! Why, they have just arrived. They need to rest and have things explained to them." Said the red-haired lady.
Harry's ears had pricked at the name of 'Salazar.' Was it Salazar Slytherin? But Slytherin was supposed to have lived ages ago. What was he doing here in the 21st century? Maybe this was Slytherin's descendant. But Harry knew that there was only one heir of Slytherin & that was Voldemort. So who was this? Harry looked at the black-haired man with interest. He was really a very handsome man. He was nothing like the picture Harry had seen of Slytherin in the Chamber of Secrets. He was a very tall, imposing figure. Before he could reply to the red-haired lady's words, there was an interruption in the form of a house-elf. It was not the same one, which had brought Harry & the others to the castle.
"If you please Master Slytherin, and Mistress Hufflepuff," it said bowing to the dark-haired man & the red-haired lady in turn, "Master Gryffindor and Mistress Ravenclaw are anxious to see the 'Young Ones'."
All three of them, Harry Draco & Ginny, gasped. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff & Slytherin! The founders of Hogwarts. They glanced at each other, confusion, bewilderment and uneasiness writ all over their faces. Before any of them could voice their thoughts, the red-haired lady (whom I'll start referring to as Helga from now on) said,
"Oh, yes. We'll bring them in right away. Come children."
The last bit was addressed to Harry, Draco & Ginny. Draco looked like he was going to protest, but as the others were already halfway over the drawbridge, he thought better of it & followed them. Harry had an odd sense of déjà vu as he stepped inside the castle. It was astonishingly similar to Hogwarts, and at the same time, dissimilar too. For one thing, it was not as big as Hogwarts was. From the outside it looked to be the same size as Hogwarts, but inside it was smaller. Helga & Slytherin led them through a long passageway & they emerged into- Dumbledore's room!
For a minute Harry stood there staring. Then he realised that the blonde-haired man sitting at the table was not Dumbledore and he also found that there was no phoenix. In fact, there was nothing here, which had been in Dumbledore's room. But Harry was sure that this was or had been Dumbledore's room. This had also been the same room, which Harry had seen during his 2nd year, when he had gone inside Riddle's memory & visited Professor Dippet's room. This was the room, which the Headmaster of Hogwarts occupied.
He wondered what was going on. What was this castle, which reminded him so clearly of Hogwarts? Where was Dumbledore and what were the founders of Hogwarts doing here?
The blonde-haired man spoke as if in direct answer to his thoughts. "Welcome to Hogwarts, my Young Ones!"
"Hogwarts?!" said Draco surprised. "But this can't be-"
"So, the Hogwarts in the future is very different from what it was when it was first set up?' said the blonde-haired man, who apparently was Godric Gryffindor.
"Hogwarts in the future?" blurted out Harry. "Do you mean that this is...Do you mean we are in-'
"The past?" Ginny completed his question.
Godric nodded his head, smiling. "Yes My Young Ones, you are very much in the past. I'm sure you'll want to know all about it, but I have been given strict instructions to tell you nothing before you have eaten something & refreshed yourself." He beckoned the house-elf. "Show them into the Great Hall. Rowena will receive them there."
The trio followed the house-elf quietly, even though they were bursting with questions. As soon as they were out of earshot, Ginny burst out,
"We are in the past! But how-"
"It was obviously the whirlwind which brought us here." said Draco in a superior voice, as if he couldn't believe that Ginny was so naïve.
"Obviously it was the whirlwind." Retorted Ginny. "But what made the whirlwind bring us here?"
Before any of them could reply, they had reached the Great Hall. As they entered Harry was again struck by the similarity.
'Well obviously it looks like the Great Hall at Hogwarts.' Thought Harry. This was the same Hogwarts, after all. But there were a few differences, which didn't take Harry very long to notice. There were only 4 tables for the teachers & unlike at Hogwarts, there were no house tables. There was only one long table at the centre of the Great Hall. There was a chair at the head of the table, which was occupied by a slender, raven-haired lady. She rose as they approached and said, in a musical voice,
"Welcome to Hogwarts. Hope the travel wasn't too uncomfortable?" Before they could reply she said, "Only three of you have arrived? Where is the fourth one?" She turned to the house-elf. "Ask Godric to come here." She said in an imperious voice.
Something in her voice was so commanding that Harry immediately turned to go call Godric. It was only Ginny clutching his hand & whispering fiercely, "Harry, what do you think you are doing?" which made him stop. It was almost like being in the presence of a Veela. You wanted to do anything that might please them or impress them. She looked at them and smiled.
"Sit down." She said, seating herself at the head of the table. Harry and Ginny sat to her right, while Draco sat to her left. As soon as they were seated, the house-elves brought the food to the table.
Harry marveled at the different kinds of dishes set out. The house-elves began to serve. Harry found himself thinking of The Hogwarts of the future, where all one had to do was look at the plate and say the name of whatever food item he wanted. Things were quite different in the past, and they were soon to find out how different and difficult it could be, in the past.
A/N- Since many of the readers have protested that this chapter was too difficult to read, on account of there being no proper distinction between paragraphs (I'm really sorry for that), I've uploaded the chapter with (I hope) proper spacing between the paragraphs.