CHAPTER THREE: THE HEIR OF GRYFFINDOR
~~~
Harry Potter had been in the hospital wing since waking up from his nightmare. Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping him there until a reason for his pain was discovered and a cure was found. Gryffindor's sword could put a temporary end to it, but Harry could only let go of it for a few hours before the pain returned. The school nurse was extremely annoyed by this; she hated the idea of having a foreign object like the sword in there contaminating the sterile environment.
Harry's friends visited him whenever they could, Ron especially. Harry's other best friend, Hermione Granger, who was Head Girl and Ron's girlfriend, visited him often as well. The two of them were in there with him when Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall returned from visiting the Flamels.
"Were you able to find anything out, Professors?" Harry asked when he saw the headmaster and deputy headmistress enter the room and walk toward him.
"Yes, we've been somewhat successful," Dumbledore answered, and summarized what they had learned on their outing.
Harry's eyes grew wide with amazement as Dumbledore spoke. "So Voldemort brought Salazar Slytherin back to life, and you plan to bring the other three back in the same way?"
"We hope to," Minerva said. "Hufflepuff will be relatively easy, as her wand is in the Hufflepuff common room and we have a descendent in Nicolas Flamel. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw will be much harder."
"But if the girls in the portrait were indeed their children," Hermione said, "then it shouldn't be too difficult to find their descendents."
"Difficult, no," said Dumbledore. "Time-consuming, yes. We don't know how long it will be before Voldemort and Slytherin strike, and we certainly do not have any time to waste on something that could turn out to be a wild goose chase."
"Flamel has volunteered to track down any potential descendents," Minerva added. "The hardest part will probably be convincing them to help us. The spell is difficult, dangerous, and rather painful for its casters."
"Why?" asked Ron. "What do you have to do?"
"Well, Mr. Weasley, at one point in the spell, the descendent must carve their full name into their arm and let the blood drip into the cauldron. Plus, if you aren't really a descendent, the spell will kill you."
Ron turned slightly pale.
"That would do it, wouldn't it?" Harry asked with a grin. He then felt a slight twinge of pain run through his head, and instinctively pressed his palm to his scar.
In an instant, Madam Pomfrey was at his bedside. "Are you all right, Potter?" she asked. "How strong is it? How long has it been hurting? Out of here at once, all of you!"
"It's okay, Madam Pomfrey," said Harry. "I just need the sword... now where did it go..."
Ron spotted the sword lying on the floor. "Here it is," he said, and tried to pick it up. It was surprisingly heavy, and he had to use both hands to get it to Harry. "That's funny; it doesn't look like it would be that heavy."
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked. "I'd say my wand weighs more than this sword." He easily picked it up with one hand.
A surprised look crossed Dumbledore's face. He clutched Minerva's arm and said, "Are you serious, Harry?"
Harry nodded. "Why? Does that mean something?"
"Albus, you're cutting off circulation," said Minerva.
"Sorry," Dumbledore said, and let go of her arm. "Ron, was it difficult for you to lift the sword?"
Ron nodded. "You saw, Professor. I had to use both hands."
"And everyone knows Ron's stronger than I am," Harry added.
Ron's face turned as red as his hair. Hermione giggled.
Dumbledore turned to his second. "I'm going to Flamel," he said. "Good-bye." Without another word or any form of explanation at all, he walked out of the room as fast as he could.
No one spoke until the door closed behind the headmaster. Harry looked at Minerva and asked, "What was that about, Professor McGonagall?"
Minerva shook her head. "I don't know, Harry. That man can be very difficult to understand sometimes."
~~~
"Velvet supernova."
The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open, and Neville Longbottom and Parvati Patil stepped into the Gryffindor common room. The two of them were hiding from a group of Hufflepuff girls who wanted to tie up Parvati and kidnap Neville. Parvati was Neville's girlfriend, and had been since the summer before their fifth year, long before Neville gained eight inches and a six-pack and became a registered Animagus. Needless to say, he was quite the heartthrob.
"I don't understand it, Parvati," Neville said, flopping down on a couch. "When did this happen?"
"Between fifth and sixth year," Parvati answered, sitting down next to him, "when you hit that growth spurt your grandmother knew would happen someday."
"No, I mean when did a bunch of girls decide to start stalking me?"
She grinned. "Like I said, that summer between fifth and sixth year... and being Head Boy and a seventeen-year-old Animagus doesn't hurt. Not everyone can change into a lynx, you know." Then she winked.
Neville sighed. "I'd rather be able to turn invisible."
Parvati leaned over and kissed him, and then spotted something moving on the mantel over the fireplace. A surprised look crossed her face. "Is that Trevor?"
Neville groaned. "Trevor!" He stood up and walked over to the fireplace. Trevor croaked and jumped onto Neville's chest. Neville wasn't expecting this, and he was so surprised that he fell over backwards. Trevor hopped off him and went over to Parvati, who was laughing so hard she was nearly in tears.
"Come here, Trevor," Parvati said, and picked up the toad. She then carried him over to where Neville was sitting on the floor and sat down next to her boyfriend. "He didn't mean it, Neville." She held Trevor out to him. "See? He says he's very sorry and he'll never do it again."
"You know, Parvati, if it wasn't for you, I probably would have killed Trevor a long time ago."
Parvati let out another round of clear, melodious laughter. "It's times like this when I'm even more glad the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw with Padma."
"You got something against Ravenclaw?" Neville asked teasingly.
"Don't get me wrong," Parvati said. "I love Ravenclaw."
At that moment, the fireplace slid about three inches to the left, revealing the entrance to a secret passage.
For almost a minute, Neville and Parvati could just stare at the opening. Neville finally swallowed his surprise and said, "A secret passage."
Parvati nodded.
"Do you think we should see where it goes?"
She smiled. "Definitely."
The two seventh-years stood up. Neville walked over to the fireplace. Parvati set Trevor down in a chair, told him to be careful, and then joined Neville at the fireplace. "Help me push," he said, and together, they pushed the fireplace back just far enough for them to squeeze through.
The passage was only about four feet wide, but at least ten feet high, so they didn't feel too crowded. It was also very dark. If it were not for the few rays of light coming from the Gryffindor common room by way of the opening they went through, it would be too dark to see one's hand in front of one's face. "Let's get some light in here," Parvati suggested, and pulled out her wand. "Lumos."
Nothing happened.
"That's funny," Neville said. "Try it again."
She did, and again, nothing happened. "Stupid wand," she grumbled. "Why don't you change into your Animagus form? A lynx should be able to see in here."
Neville tried to transform, but could not. "What's going on?" he asked. "That's the first time I haven't been able to transform since I was registered."
"Something about this tunnel probably prevents anyone inside from performing magic," Parvati realized. "Let's just follow it until we can't see anymore. It probably won't be very far."
About twenty feet into the tunnel was a corner, and hardly anything could be seen past that. "Let's go back," Neville said when they reached the corner.
"Wait!" Parvati said, grabbing onto his arm. "There's a door!"
Neville spotted it, too, and got a better idea. "On second though, let's get a lantern."
~~~
"Back already, Albus?" Nicolas Flamel commented as Buckle the house-elf led Albus Dumbledore into his study.
"I've made an interesting discovery," Dumbledore said.
Flamel smiled weakly. "Well, that's good to hear. I've traced Christine's lineage to about the middle of the fifteenth century, but I don't know how lucky we're going to be with this. We can't prove that Christine and Julianne were Gryffindor and Ravenclaw's children, or even one or the other. I never heard anything about Ravenclaw being pregnant, and although there have been rumors that Gryffindor was married at some point, there are no confirmations. We have to be realistic, Albus. We're going to be asking people to risk their lives for something we don't even know for certain. All we have is Professor McGonagall's hunch."
"Minerva would never have come to that conclusion if she didn't believe there was logic behind it," Dumbledore said.
"What was your 'interesting discovery'?"
He'd almost forgotten why he came there in his zeal to defend Minerva's judgement. "Nicolas, do you know who gave Godric Gryffindor his sword?"
Flamel looked mildly surprised. "Albus, you know the answer to that as well as I do. It was Rowena Ravenclaw."
"Right. And Ravenclaw put several charms on it, including one that would make it feel light as a feather to anyone who had Gryffindor blood in them, but heavy to anyone else."
"Where are you going with this?"
Dumbledore's blue eyes sparkled brightly. "Harry Potter said it felt like his wand weighed more than the sword. We've found him, Nicolas. Harry Potter is the heir of Gryffindor."
~~~
Harry Potter had been in the hospital wing since waking up from his nightmare. Madam Pomfrey insisted on keeping him there until a reason for his pain was discovered and a cure was found. Gryffindor's sword could put a temporary end to it, but Harry could only let go of it for a few hours before the pain returned. The school nurse was extremely annoyed by this; she hated the idea of having a foreign object like the sword in there contaminating the sterile environment.
Harry's friends visited him whenever they could, Ron especially. Harry's other best friend, Hermione Granger, who was Head Girl and Ron's girlfriend, visited him often as well. The two of them were in there with him when Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall returned from visiting the Flamels.
"Were you able to find anything out, Professors?" Harry asked when he saw the headmaster and deputy headmistress enter the room and walk toward him.
"Yes, we've been somewhat successful," Dumbledore answered, and summarized what they had learned on their outing.
Harry's eyes grew wide with amazement as Dumbledore spoke. "So Voldemort brought Salazar Slytherin back to life, and you plan to bring the other three back in the same way?"
"We hope to," Minerva said. "Hufflepuff will be relatively easy, as her wand is in the Hufflepuff common room and we have a descendent in Nicolas Flamel. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw will be much harder."
"But if the girls in the portrait were indeed their children," Hermione said, "then it shouldn't be too difficult to find their descendents."
"Difficult, no," said Dumbledore. "Time-consuming, yes. We don't know how long it will be before Voldemort and Slytherin strike, and we certainly do not have any time to waste on something that could turn out to be a wild goose chase."
"Flamel has volunteered to track down any potential descendents," Minerva added. "The hardest part will probably be convincing them to help us. The spell is difficult, dangerous, and rather painful for its casters."
"Why?" asked Ron. "What do you have to do?"
"Well, Mr. Weasley, at one point in the spell, the descendent must carve their full name into their arm and let the blood drip into the cauldron. Plus, if you aren't really a descendent, the spell will kill you."
Ron turned slightly pale.
"That would do it, wouldn't it?" Harry asked with a grin. He then felt a slight twinge of pain run through his head, and instinctively pressed his palm to his scar.
In an instant, Madam Pomfrey was at his bedside. "Are you all right, Potter?" she asked. "How strong is it? How long has it been hurting? Out of here at once, all of you!"
"It's okay, Madam Pomfrey," said Harry. "I just need the sword... now where did it go..."
Ron spotted the sword lying on the floor. "Here it is," he said, and tried to pick it up. It was surprisingly heavy, and he had to use both hands to get it to Harry. "That's funny; it doesn't look like it would be that heavy."
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked. "I'd say my wand weighs more than this sword." He easily picked it up with one hand.
A surprised look crossed Dumbledore's face. He clutched Minerva's arm and said, "Are you serious, Harry?"
Harry nodded. "Why? Does that mean something?"
"Albus, you're cutting off circulation," said Minerva.
"Sorry," Dumbledore said, and let go of her arm. "Ron, was it difficult for you to lift the sword?"
Ron nodded. "You saw, Professor. I had to use both hands."
"And everyone knows Ron's stronger than I am," Harry added.
Ron's face turned as red as his hair. Hermione giggled.
Dumbledore turned to his second. "I'm going to Flamel," he said. "Good-bye." Without another word or any form of explanation at all, he walked out of the room as fast as he could.
No one spoke until the door closed behind the headmaster. Harry looked at Minerva and asked, "What was that about, Professor McGonagall?"
Minerva shook her head. "I don't know, Harry. That man can be very difficult to understand sometimes."
~~~
"Velvet supernova."
The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open, and Neville Longbottom and Parvati Patil stepped into the Gryffindor common room. The two of them were hiding from a group of Hufflepuff girls who wanted to tie up Parvati and kidnap Neville. Parvati was Neville's girlfriend, and had been since the summer before their fifth year, long before Neville gained eight inches and a six-pack and became a registered Animagus. Needless to say, he was quite the heartthrob.
"I don't understand it, Parvati," Neville said, flopping down on a couch. "When did this happen?"
"Between fifth and sixth year," Parvati answered, sitting down next to him, "when you hit that growth spurt your grandmother knew would happen someday."
"No, I mean when did a bunch of girls decide to start stalking me?"
She grinned. "Like I said, that summer between fifth and sixth year... and being Head Boy and a seventeen-year-old Animagus doesn't hurt. Not everyone can change into a lynx, you know." Then she winked.
Neville sighed. "I'd rather be able to turn invisible."
Parvati leaned over and kissed him, and then spotted something moving on the mantel over the fireplace. A surprised look crossed her face. "Is that Trevor?"
Neville groaned. "Trevor!" He stood up and walked over to the fireplace. Trevor croaked and jumped onto Neville's chest. Neville wasn't expecting this, and he was so surprised that he fell over backwards. Trevor hopped off him and went over to Parvati, who was laughing so hard she was nearly in tears.
"Come here, Trevor," Parvati said, and picked up the toad. She then carried him over to where Neville was sitting on the floor and sat down next to her boyfriend. "He didn't mean it, Neville." She held Trevor out to him. "See? He says he's very sorry and he'll never do it again."
"You know, Parvati, if it wasn't for you, I probably would have killed Trevor a long time ago."
Parvati let out another round of clear, melodious laughter. "It's times like this when I'm even more glad the Sorting Hat put me in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw with Padma."
"You got something against Ravenclaw?" Neville asked teasingly.
"Don't get me wrong," Parvati said. "I love Ravenclaw."
At that moment, the fireplace slid about three inches to the left, revealing the entrance to a secret passage.
For almost a minute, Neville and Parvati could just stare at the opening. Neville finally swallowed his surprise and said, "A secret passage."
Parvati nodded.
"Do you think we should see where it goes?"
She smiled. "Definitely."
The two seventh-years stood up. Neville walked over to the fireplace. Parvati set Trevor down in a chair, told him to be careful, and then joined Neville at the fireplace. "Help me push," he said, and together, they pushed the fireplace back just far enough for them to squeeze through.
The passage was only about four feet wide, but at least ten feet high, so they didn't feel too crowded. It was also very dark. If it were not for the few rays of light coming from the Gryffindor common room by way of the opening they went through, it would be too dark to see one's hand in front of one's face. "Let's get some light in here," Parvati suggested, and pulled out her wand. "Lumos."
Nothing happened.
"That's funny," Neville said. "Try it again."
She did, and again, nothing happened. "Stupid wand," she grumbled. "Why don't you change into your Animagus form? A lynx should be able to see in here."
Neville tried to transform, but could not. "What's going on?" he asked. "That's the first time I haven't been able to transform since I was registered."
"Something about this tunnel probably prevents anyone inside from performing magic," Parvati realized. "Let's just follow it until we can't see anymore. It probably won't be very far."
About twenty feet into the tunnel was a corner, and hardly anything could be seen past that. "Let's go back," Neville said when they reached the corner.
"Wait!" Parvati said, grabbing onto his arm. "There's a door!"
Neville spotted it, too, and got a better idea. "On second though, let's get a lantern."
~~~
"Back already, Albus?" Nicolas Flamel commented as Buckle the house-elf led Albus Dumbledore into his study.
"I've made an interesting discovery," Dumbledore said.
Flamel smiled weakly. "Well, that's good to hear. I've traced Christine's lineage to about the middle of the fifteenth century, but I don't know how lucky we're going to be with this. We can't prove that Christine and Julianne were Gryffindor and Ravenclaw's children, or even one or the other. I never heard anything about Ravenclaw being pregnant, and although there have been rumors that Gryffindor was married at some point, there are no confirmations. We have to be realistic, Albus. We're going to be asking people to risk their lives for something we don't even know for certain. All we have is Professor McGonagall's hunch."
"Minerva would never have come to that conclusion if she didn't believe there was logic behind it," Dumbledore said.
"What was your 'interesting discovery'?"
He'd almost forgotten why he came there in his zeal to defend Minerva's judgement. "Nicolas, do you know who gave Godric Gryffindor his sword?"
Flamel looked mildly surprised. "Albus, you know the answer to that as well as I do. It was Rowena Ravenclaw."
"Right. And Ravenclaw put several charms on it, including one that would make it feel light as a feather to anyone who had Gryffindor blood in them, but heavy to anyone else."
"Where are you going with this?"
Dumbledore's blue eyes sparkled brightly. "Harry Potter said it felt like his wand weighed more than the sword. We've found him, Nicolas. Harry Potter is the heir of Gryffindor."