Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. You should know, since if you are reading this, you're probably a fan.
Year 6th Hogwarts: The Year of Discovery
Chapter 2
You may sometimes find that the pieces of the past lie in the decisions of the future. The past is shaped by the future as the future is shaped by the past. The never-ending ouroboros: time…
"Uh, y-y-yeah, I have," Harry stuttered, sounding strangely like Neville.
"Good," Rowena stated cheerfully. "This will make it a lot easier."
"Yeah, it will," agreed Harry, who had absolutely no idea what she was talking about and was still in a semi-state of shock.
"Good," Rowena repeated again thoughtfully. "Harry, now, you see, we brought you here because of an ancient prophecy about you."
Harry's thoughts immediately jumped to that Dumbledore had told him at the end of his 5th year at Hogwarts; the one that Professor Trelawney had told that day when she was seeking employment. But Professor Trelawney hadn't lived in the time of the Founders of Hogwarts. "Another one?" Harry asked, still in a stupor, his mind moving lethargically slow.
"There is only one, as far as I'm concerned," Rowena answered, still smiling. "And this was made by your direct ancestor, the great prophet and magician, Merlin. You see, Harry, you are the direct heir of Merlin himself on your father's side. You are also the indirect heir of all of us, including Helga. Godric, Helga, and I come from your mother's side, and Salazar came from your archenemy, Tom Riddle, I assume."
This put upon the previous shocking information so quickly made Harry's mind go into overdrive. All he managed to mutter before fainting clear away was a meek, "Oh."
Rowena Ravenclaw stood up and sighed. She turned to Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin and said quite cheerfully, "Well, that went well," and left the room.
The two wizards standing in Harry's room muttered ominously, "How can she always be so cheerful?!"
When Harry next opened his eyes, it was daylight. Although he had slept for a long time the night before, he was somehow still tired. He groaned. "Look guys, he's awake," came a voice that was totally different to Harry. He turned over and saw a witch which he had never saw before.
"Good," came another voice. "Well, I guess it's back to explaining."
"Except this time, you let Helga explain," came yet another voice belonging to a man to Harry's right.
"Why?"
"Because the last time you explained, you made him faint. It's bad for his health, you know. With you explaining, he'd be dead before you're finished.
"No, I meant, why don't you explain if you're so great and sure of yourself?"
"Well, actually, I'm not too good at this myself," the man admitted reluctantly.
"Ah ha! See!"
"But at least I admit it."
"Ok, you two, stop fighting like little two year olds. We have a guest, you know. And how old are you two again? Five? Ten? Fifteen?" came a woman's voice from directly in front of Harry's bed.
"We're twenty, for your information," the man snapped.
"Then act your age."
"Fine."
At this point, Harry deemed that it was time for him to interrupt or this argument might last a lifetime. "Uh… Who are you?" he asked.
"Great," mumbled the man. "See, Rowena, your explanation was totally useless. You put him into shock and now he's suffering from mild amnesia."
"That wasn't me," defended the woman known as Rowena. "That was your experimental spell, oh, what was it? Obliterate?"
"Obliviate," the man hissed. "And it wasn't my —"
"Alright, peoples," came another man's voice. "Rowena, you're just going to have to do a knowledge transfer. It's so much faster and safer."
"Why didn't I think of this before, Godric?" Rowena said.
"'Cause you're a dimwitted moron," came the first man's voice.
"Shut up, Salazar."
"Oh, just because I insulted your girlfriend, there's no need to get all angry like that."
Harry watched from his bed, bemused. It looked as if the man named Godric was going to say, "Yeah it is," when Rowena seemed to notice him once more. "Oh don't worry," she said to Harry, turning towards him. "Not all of us are as immature as those two."
"Hey, we heard that!"
"They remind me of my friends from home. Say, where am I? You guys aren't Death Eaters right? 'Cause the last thing I remember is them putting the Cruciatus Curse on me…." Harry trailed off. He didn't know why he was telling them these things except that he, for some strange and unknown reason, trusted them.
"What are Death Eaters?" questioned Rowena.
"You don't know who Death Eaters are?" Harry asked, incredulously. Where do these guys live? Mars? I mean, who doesn't know who Death Eaters are? And they don't seem to be Muggles, I mean, they know the Memory Charm, Harry thought. There was a moment of silence. Godric, Salazar, Rowena, and another witch Harry had not noticed before, but supposed was the Helga mentioned before were all watching him expectantly. "Well," he said, "Death Eaters are Voldemort's supporters, you do know who Voldemort is, right?"
"Of course we do," Godric answered curtly, and Harry was momentarily surprised that the three strangers around him did not flinch. "That explains everything. Now, Harry, we are about to show you why you are here. Rowena, if you please."
As Rowena moved towards him, Harry suddenly panicked. "Wait, how did you guys know my name?"
"That will be explained momentarily," Rowena said, smiling. Harry started to shy away from her, but she grabbed his arm. He tried to move, but found that he couldn't. How strange? Harry thought. He was almost sure that he saw no one hold a wand up. "Let go of me," he yelled. "I don't even know your names. What is you actually are Voldemort's Death Eaters in disguise or something?"
The three ignored his ranting. Rowena raised a hand and put it to Harry's forehead. Slowly, a bluish white light started glowing around Harry's whole body, and he himself had stopped screaming and trying to thrash around and was looking at the light in bewilderment. Suddenly, Harry fell backwards onto the bed, out cold.
"He should be regaining consciousness any time now and should understand everything," Rowena said, standing up.
"Yeah he should, if you did the spell right," Helga said.
"Hey! Are you doubting the ability of my spell casting? Anyone could do that spell, and you know it," Rowena said, faking a look of mock indignation.
"I would have to agree with Rowena this time, Helga," Salazar sniggered. "You'd better move Rowena. He might lose the knowledge you gave him just by looking at the horrible thing you call your face."
Rowena was about to retort, but Godric quickly pointed out that Harry was about to wake up. Harry was, in fact, stirring. Suddenly, he sat back up, eyes wide open. "Hey," he said. "I know everything. So are you guys really the four founders of Hogwarts?"
"Of course," Rowena answered. "You can tell because you do not see many people with the name of Salazar Slytherin and look as ugly as him." Rowena pointed at what Harry now knew to be Salazar Slytherin. While Slytherin began to fume, Harry asked another question.
"And you brought me back here because of a prophecy that Merlin made? So you could train me and help me defeat Voldemort?"
"Uh huh."
"And when you send me back, it'll be as if no time had passed at all?"
"Yup," Rowena quipped.
"Oh. Ok. So I'll still be in that Cruciatus Curse, right?" Harry asked gloomily. "So whatever I learn would be useless because I'll be under the Cruciatus and my wand was somewhere in the living room, but I certainly didn't have it. It'll be a waste of time."
"Don't worry about that Harry," Rowena said. "You'll be fine when we're done with you."
"If you say so," Harry said skeptically, completely forgetting the fact that he was surrounded by some of the most powerful witches and wizards ever. "Say," he asked, thoughtfully. "How do you speak my language? I'm sure English didn't exist at the same time you did."
"Shows how much you know," Slytherin snorted.
"English did exist right now?"
"No. We just used a simple language spell."
"Oh."
"Yup," Rowena said so cheerfully that he thought that she had a Cheering Charm put on her. "We'll teach you everything you know. I can't wait." She was almost bouncing around the room in excitement. Harry stared at her. She reminded him so much of Tonks that he couldn't resist.
"You're so cheerful. How old are you anyways, if you don't mind me asking," Harry asked.
"That's none of your business." Rowena's voice was now cold. She got up abruptly, turned, and briskly walked from the room, closing the door after her. Harry gazed at after her with his mouth open.
"Oh don't worry about her," Godric whispered to Harry. "She's only twenty-eight."
"Twenty-eight? That's it? Then why was she so secretive about it like she was eighty or something?"
"To see your face after she said it," Godric said, starting to laugh.
The door opened again. "Sorry," Rowena said, laughing. "I just couldn't resist. The look on your face was priceless. Oh dear, look at the time. Go to sleep Harry, and enjoy it. Your training will start tomorrow."
Harry was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillows. He'd had an exhausting day, more exhausting than any other day he had lived through, and thought that this was as exhausted as he could get. Of course, he didn't exactly know what 'training' was.
To Be Continued…
Wizard
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