Disclaimer: I don't own anything, yata, yata, yata. Nobody even reads these things anymore. Anything you recognise belongs to the grand J.K Rowling, really didn't do that good a job on OOTP.

A/N: Hi! Thanks for reviewing, the few of you that did. In the next chapter you'll be meeting with the new girl, (hopefully.)]

Key: '...'= Someone thinking "..."= Someone talking ~* Blah Blah Blah ~*= A letter or note

Summary: Harry starts his 5th year at Hogwarts. During the summer, he discovers a magical trunk that led to a lot of new powers, the truth about his heritage and new, loveable characters. I didn't really like J.K Rowling's version of the 5th year so I'm writing my own. RW/HG, DM/GW, HP/YS (my own character.)

Harry Potter and the Founders' Trunk

Chapter 2

Exploring the Trunk and Happy Birthday

Harry woke extra early the next morning, the events of last night still lingering vividly in his mind, after getting dressed, Harry hurried down the hollow stairs towards the Dursleys' kitchen.

"Boy! Cook breakfast! And don't you dare steal anything while you're there!" Uncle Vernon snarled.

Harry snorted silently, as if he was going to turn into a mini Dudley! Keeping a blank expression, Harry started working, desperately trying to cover his eagerness to finish the work as quickly possible and searching his brains for an excuse to go down to the basement again and have some privacy. 'Please God, do something to get rid of the Dursleys for awhile!'

As if hearing his prayer, the mail arrived.

"Go and get the mail, boy!" Aunt Petunia said nastily snatching the plate of slightly burnt toast from Harry's hands.

Harry reluctantly made his way to the shrewd door. As he opened it he felt the light morning breeze blow past his layer of baggy rags. Reaching the letterbox, Harry found two letters; one from Aunt Marge and the other had surprisingly been addressed to him.

~* Harry James Potter Littlest Room No. 4 Privet Drive Little Wringing Surrey ~*

No overcrowded stamps, check. Written neatly, check. Correct address, check. So it can't be from Ron and Hermione is unlikely to send him something like this. So who could it be?

Curious, Harry eagerly opened the letter. 'Who would be writing to me?' Harry decided that it wouldn't be dangerous. Seeing good, old Voldemort would never deliver a threat by the ways of Muggles. It would be discriminating and dirty to him and his *pure blooded* Death Eaters. Peering inside tentatively he was greeted with the familiar handwriting of the famous headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore.

~~** Harry-

Due to the return of Voldemort, I am sorry to tell you that you cannot leave the Dursleys' residence this summer and no owl can be sent to you due to the threat of being intercepted by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I apologize for the misfortune.

Now, for the good news, due to the heavy wards the Order set up to protect the Dursleys' residence, the Ministry can detect no magic from this area. Only the Order will be able to keep track of any magic. Which allows you to practice your magic this summer, which no doubt you'll find extremely useful in the upcoming year. Also, a fellow member of the Order, Ms. Arabella Figg will escort you to Diagon Alley to purchase your stationery on The 20th of August. To prove she's not an impostor, she will be carrying a feather from Fawkes.

After your trip to Diagon Alley, you'll be escorted back to Hogwarts where you will spend the rest of the holiday on a special assignment. I will inform you of the finer details when we meet again.

Please do not be frustrated by the arrangement as it is all for the best.

Regards

Albus Dumbledore. ~~**

Harry grinned and the letter, trust Dumbledore to know that Voldemort would never try to intercept Muggle mail. Harry wasn't angry, in fact, he was quite happy with the arrangements. Although it would have been nice to hear from Ron and Hermione. guess you can't have everything.

Now, only if the Dursleys would somehow go away on a trip or something. Then Harry will get the time and privacy he needs to thoroughly explore his trunk and find out its secrets.

"Boy! What the heck is taking so long!" uncle Vernon yelled as he poked his fat, purple head through the transparent window, suspiciously.

Looking down the letter again, he spotted a P.S.

Seeing Uncle Vernon make his way to the door, grudgingly, Harry hurriedly stuffed the letter in his pocket and looked around him to find an excuse for taking so long.

The sun was up and the Dursleys' garden looked unusually shaggy. The pretty peonies Aunt Petunia planted last year were nowhere in sight. Instead in its place were crisp, dried up autumn leaves and squashed daisies, most likely due to Dudley and his gang. Pieces of grass and mud were everywhere. Harry sighed, looks like a lot of work for this summer.

Finally, after a few seconds of hopeless searching, Harry spotted a silver stray cat. Looking to make sure Uncle Vernon saw him, he started chasing the poor cat.

"Get off the property, you stupid cat!" Harry yelled doing a wonderful impression of Aunt Petunia.

"Shoo!" The teenager said as a final warning. Seeing this, Uncle Vernon grunted and turned to walk inside. Harry followed him inside absent- mindedly.

Harry could not believe his luck. It turned out the Dursleys' were called away urgently due to a sudden illness the horrid Aunt Marge had developed during the summer. Not bothering to bring 'the boy' along to the 1 week trip knowing it would upset Marge terribly, Uncle Vernon made Harry swear to not do anything. abnormal while they were gone. The Dursleys' watched him wearily throughout the day as they packed for the trip, not trusting Harry, even though they knew perfectly well that he couldn't use magic outside of his 'freak' school. Or they thought they did.

The second they were gone; Harry rushed down to the dark basement at the speed of a snitch. Harry once again found the abandoned trunk buried under a massive pile of junk. He digged out his wand and tapped the trunk eagerly, saying his name in the process. Gaining access, Harry opened the first compartment to find his diary and the three other books stacked neatly on top, he figured he could put his valuable possessions in them.

After moving the trunk safely into his room with a simple levitation spell, Harry placed the Marauders' Map, his invisibility cloak, and his beloved Firebolt. (Remember that these compartments are quite big.)

Harry then anxiously slid open the second compartment when he suddenly remembered the letter that lay forgotten in his pockets until now. Digging it out again, Harry read:

~* P.S.- On your birthday, the wards around your house will be opened to let through certain registered owls for an hour before your birthday, on 11.00pm 30th of July. The purpose of this is to give your friends an opportunity to contact you and send you your presents and also for you to receive your Hogwarts letter for the upcoming year. Your friends have been notified of this arrangement. ~*

Harry smiled at the letter, no doubt Dumbledore thought of everything. Turning his attention back to the compartment, he found it much bigger than the first. It was completely empty except for what looked like a manual book for the trunk. Harry decided to keep read it later and decided to use this trunk to store his robes and other equipment

Harry then proceeded to open the third compartment, upon inspection, the contents made Harry gasp. He could not believe his eyes! This compartment was the size of the Gryffindor common room, if not bigger. Endless shelves stood neatly beside each other in lengthy columns. The compartment was divided into two sections. One was decorated childishly with brilliant colours sparking everywhere. The other looked more secretive and very mysterious. It was also decorated more maturely.

Scanning the room, Harry tried to find a way to go in, and spotted a small, elegant miniature door painted red and gold. Opening it cautiously, Harry felt a sick, familiar tug, which was strangely similar to the disgusting tug of a portkey.

When he opened his eyes again, Harry found himself in the grand storeroom he'd seen outside, looking around, he confirmed that this was the storeroom for ingredients used for professional pranks, 'curtsies to my dad, I'm sure. Probably wanted me to carry on the Marauders reputation.' Harry mused. After a few minutes of pointless wandering, he found another door, which led to the second section of the compartment. This room was again packed with several varieties of ingredients but these were for potions. In the middle of the room stood a well-prepared potions lab. Harry, who wasn't a great fan of potions, couldn't help but feel excitement rush through him; maybe potions aren't so bad after all. The subject at least was quite interesting, can't say the same about the teacher though. Looking around some more, Harry found himself fascinated with the variety of potion ingredients and recipes. 'Snape would commit murder to get his hands on these.' And after a moment's thought, Harry added to himself: 'so would

Fred and George, I'll bet.' With these things helping him, Harry would even be confident enough to challenge the twins to a Prank War and might even have a chance of winning.

Harry couldn't remember how long he spent looking over everything, but when his stomach grumbled unexpectedly, Harry decided he would look over the other compartments briefly before coming back.

Finding a stairway similar to the ones at Hogwarts, Harry tentatively climbed down to the next level. Seeing this level made his stomach flop, literally. Inside was a gigantic kitchen and dining room with robotic like House Elves seemingly slaving away producing enough food to feed an entire army.

This kitchen was about twice as big as the kitchen at Hogwarts and contained food from chicken drumsticks to butterbeers. Only on closer inspection did Harry notice that the house elves were fake and that a spell was put on the food to make them produce themselves over and over again.

Looking over the shelves of freshly kept food, still piping hot, Harry picked out some fried chicken on BBQ sauce, a plate of large crisp fries, a bowl of vegetable salad, two mashed potatoes, a bottle of butterbeer and a cookies and cream ice cream cone for dessert. (Yum! Drools.), (a/n: remember this is MY story, and Harry's a growing boy with an appetite so bare with me.) After his quick meal, which he found absolutely delicious, Harry went on exploring.

The fifth compartment turned out to be a well-equipped duelling stadium with an enormous variety of weapons and DADA books that would come in handy very soon.

To his surprise and pleasure, the moment he entered this compartment, a group of well selected weapons flew to him, stopping in mid air inches away from his face, waiting to be picked up.

Picking up a fine, long bladed, shiny sword, Harry gaped in awe, which he realised he'd been doing a lot lately. The sword that flew to him greatly resembled the sword of Godric Gryffindor, which Harry used to exterminate the Basilisk in his second year. The only difference was that this one was much more elegantly carved and the handle consisted of four brilliantly shiny gems, which glistened marvellously in the sun light. Harry recognised them as a ruby, sapphire, emerald and topaz. 'Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Hufflepuff' thought Harry as realization dawned to him. This must be the weapon of the Founders' Heir, the Chosen One! On one side of the blade was the crest of Hogwarts, but as he looked closer, Harry found a fifth animal on it, a golden phoenix with purple streaks in it's magnificent feather. Turning the blade around, Harry found the writings 'Founders' Heir' written in the same strange symbols that was engraved on his trunk, in platinum gold.

Quickly looking over the pair of dagger in his hands, Harry spotted the same patterns. Looking around, Harry also saw a bow and a pocket of arrows.

Holding his sword in one hand, Harry felt a surge of warmth rush through him and marvelled at how the weight and balance of the sword was made so perfectly that it seemed to belong in his hands. As Harry gave the sword a swing, he felt a flood of visions and images flash through his fascinated mind. Suddenly, Harry had stored in his head every sword technique ever invented.

Excited, Harry continuously attacked the empty air in swift and rapid movements. Anyone watching would have only seen a blur of gleaming red, blue, green and yellow light.

The daggers were pretty much the same. Though Harry had more trouble with archery, but after some practice, Harry perfected his aim exceptionally easily. Feeling tired and pleased with himself, he came out of his trunk and was shocked out of his mind when he saw that it was almost night time and the sun had set. 'It didn't seem so long when I was in the trunk! Guess the saying 'time flies when you're having fun' is true.' And with that Harry went to bed.

(A/N: should I stop here?)

(A/N: nah!)

After that Harry worked out a routine. In the mornings he would work in the garden till the sun reaches the unbearable point, then he would practise his wandless magic until lunch and since his homework was completed weeks ago, Harry would practice some extremely advanced charms and hexes with books from the sixth compartment which turned out to be a fancy library.

Then for the rest of the day, right up to midnight he would be in his trunk either studying in the library (think the size of the one at Hogwarts, only there are no restricted sections), training in his duelling room or practising and perfecting his new and more complex Quidditch moves in the 7th and last compartment which turned out to be a Quidditch Pitch, surprise, surprise.

His parents had made him promise not to try his Animagus form until his fifteenth birthday, though he was allowed to read through the notes right up to the practical bits so he can be prepared for the transformation. This immensely raised Harry's curiosity as to why he was forbidden to try out the transformation.

Speaking of birthdays, Harry looked at his miniature alarm clock. It was 10:58pm, 30th of July; in a bit over an hour Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived would be fifteen and would meet the famous Founders of Hogwarts. -Beep, beep-tap, tap, tap, - Harry looked over to his window and saw 5 owls trying to get into his room. 'But I thought they wer-oh that's right! It just turned ll:00 and Prof. Dumbledore said from ll-12 tonight I could get owl messages from my friends!'

Harry opened the window happily and the owls fluttered in one after another. Reaching out his long and muscular arm Harry caught the hypoactive Pig lazily as the tiny owl tried to zoom across the room. Harry was immensely surprised to find that he could do that without too much of an effort, which was saying something, as Pig would have caused Charlie Weasley some trouble to catch. 'Guess all the training paid off.' He thought as he ripped off the letter with great enthusiasm.

~* Harry-

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Hope those muggle relatives of yours are treating you well. Hope you're not too peeved mate. Though who could blame you, after over a month with those muggles.

Guess what? Mione and me were made Prefects. Can you believe it? Me!

(Harry laughed at this, who would have thought, Ron! But he was happy for him).

A prefect. Can't wait to see Malfoy's face when we get back to Hogwarts. Mum, dad, Bill and Charlie are really proud, the twins are angry that I'm following Percy's footsteps. My parents got me a whole new set of robes for this year. Anyway, Mione also said that there is a good chance that you'll be the Head Prefect, don't ask. It's an extremely long story and I'm sure Hermione would explain it to you in her letter. (It would most likely be in great detail. Sorry mate!)

Did you hear? Mione broke up with Krum! Isn't that wonderful? I mean.well. you know what I mean.

(Harry did know what Ron meant. He'd had a crush on her for ages, but is too stubborn to admit it.)

The twins are currently perusing their dream career to open the Weasleys Wizard Wheezes and some bigheaded, loaded idiot gave the twins a THOUSAND GALLONS! What a mad man! They were really nice about it and said their mystery sponsor wanted them to buy me some new dress robes. Anyways Mione reckons she knows who it is but she won't tell me.

Hope you like my present, it costed a fortune, but I reckon it's worth it.

Your friend,

Ron.

P.S. if the present works, I'll be speaking to you soon.

~*

Harry frowned, knowing Hermione she probably already figured it out. But she probably understands or she would have told Ron about it already. Intrigued about what Ron said in the postscript, Harry picked up the tiny parcel and ripped it open to find a red and golden ring with a magnificent, unfamiliar dragon that shone in rainbow colours. A note fell out:

~* Harry-

This is one of four Friendship Rings that I found in a magical jewellery shop. I brought the whole set, I kept one with a Earth Wolf engraved on it and this one wanted to be sent to you, so I figured it must chose you, like the Earth Wolf chose me. There is a black and white owl I'm planning to give to Hermione and I haven't decided whom to give the unicorn to yet.

The instructions say that if two or more wearers of the ring are wearing it at the same time you're able to communicate with each other mentally. Unfortunately, it can only be given to a friend (other than the buyer) on that person's birthday. So you'll only be able to talk to me until Mione's birthday in September.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Harry!

Ron ~*

'Wow' Harry thought before he put his ring on and concentrated hard on Ron, Harry felt the other teenage wizard.

'Ron can you hear me?'

*Gasp* 'Merlin's Beard! What the hell?' came the rushed reply.

'It's Harry; I'm in your mind due to the friendship ring you sent me! Hello! Are you awake Ron? Remember? It's my birthday and you sent me a FRIENDSHIP RING. Ring any bells?'

'Harry? Oh my God! I can't believe it! It worked! It worked. This is so wicked!'

'Listen Ron, can I get back to you? I'm opening my presents at the moment.'

'Oh sure, by the way Harry, happy birthday. Umm. the others are looking at me weird and the twins are trying to revive me from the so-called dazed state. They think I was hypnotised by their great mind sleeping magic. *Snorts* as if! So I'd better go.' And with that Ron ended their connection.

Harry shook his head and laughed at the twins' ridiculous and hilarious antics before going back to opening his presents. Two unfamiliar owls made their way through the window carrying a large broomstick shaped package. Opening the letter first Harry read:

~* Dear Harry-

How are you, kid? Are those muggles giving you any trouble? Well, they had better not be, or else.

Now for some good news, Harry. Wormtail was sighted during a attack in the summer and was caught, though he escaped Azakaban, the Ministry had pardoned me and returned back to me my estate, job as an auror and gave me a very neat sum of gallons for wrongly imprisoning me for 12 yrs.

So I thought since I didn't need so much money, why not give it to my favourite godson,

(Harry snorted at this, as he was his only godson.)

who also happens to be the person who saved my soul from those freaky Dementors.

So I got this new broomstick for you for your birthday. It's a brand new model and only seven was made in the whole world. It's the fastest broomstick ever invented. So have fun!

Enjoy it and don't you dare get in too much trouble!

Love,

Snuffles.

~*

Harry ripped off his parcel and gaped in awe. In front of him was the best broomstick ever made by mankind. It looked similar to the Firebolt but glimmered in the moonlight like pure gold. On the end was carefully engraved words that read: 'Starbolt'. Harry could hardly wait till he tries it out. After a minute, he finally tore his eyes away from the broomstick. And looked back at the remaining 4 owls, one he could see carried a slightly bigger than usual envelope baring the Hogwarts' crest. He decided to leave that to last and opened a letter from Hermione:

~* Dear Harry-

How are you? How have your summer been? I'm staying at The Burrow at the moment and everything is quite uneventful.

Oh! Did Ron tell you? We've been made Prefects, isn't it great? Anyway Prof. Dumbledore had decided that it is no longer safe for the students of Hogwarts to wonder around at night since the return of You-Know-Who. So he is choosing 3 prefects, plus a Head Prefect from every house to act like the Deputy Head Boy/Girl. We have no idea who the other Prefect is. Lavender Brown? Dean Thomas?

Anyway the criteria for choosing a Head Prefect are that he/she must be capable of defending himself in case of an emergency. That is why I think it is likely that you'll be selected for the Head Prefect's position to represent Gryffindor.

My theory for this is that Dumbledore will get the Prefects, along with the Head P and the Head Boy and Girl to patrol the corridors to make sure no one is out late.

Enough about this, I hope you've been doing your homework, after all we have O.W.Ls this year and if you're still wanting to become an auror I think you'll want to do well in O.W.Ls. So I brought this book for you to revise, I brought three versions so don't worry about me.

Love,

Hermione.

~*

Harry sighed, trust Hermione to give him a book on O.W.L Preparations for his birthday.

Looking at the other owl, Harry discovered it was old Errol, the Weasley family's ancient owl. He carried a birthday cake from Mrs. Weasley and a WWW starters' package from the twins. Oh, only if they knew!

The last owl was the Hogwarts owl. Reluctantly, Harry opened the package, not knowing what to expect,

Mr. Harry James Potter,

It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as the Head Prefect for Gryffindor house. You'll be required to meet in the Prefects' cabin on Hogwarts Express, where you'll be introduced to the other prefects.

As the Head Prefect, you are required to go on to patrol the corridor with you fellow Prefects to make sure no students are out after the set curfew.

Please be reminded that this is an obligation not a privilege. Enclosed are your stationary list, Prefect badge and a handbook on how to be the Perfect Prefect, which will give you an outline of the rules at Hogwarts.

Congratulations!

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress.

~*

Reading the letter, Harry gaped in surprise. He couldn't believe it, Hermione was right (again!). He was made Head Prefect. Him! Reaching for his connection, he called to Ron,

'Ron? Are you there?'

'Oh what is it now? In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to get some sleep!' Ron grumbled sleepily.

' Ron! I just received my Hogwarts' letter and I've been made a Head Prefect!'

Harry felt Ron stand alert, 'Really? That's great Harry! I can't wait to see Malfoy's face!'

'That's not all Ron! Are you still planning to try out for the Quidditch Chaser this year? Because I've got a feeling that if Alicia makes Head Girl than she won't have enough time to play Quidditch. And we all know that she has a good chance of getting selected for the Head Girl's position.'

'Well, I want to. but my broom is too slow and I'm afraid I'll let my team down-'

'Ron, what would you say if I offered you my Firebolt to keep, if you make it on the team.'

'Harry? Are you feeling o.k? You just asked me to keep your Firebolt! Holy Shit! Are you MAD?' came Ron's excited voice.

'I'm perfectly sane, thank you very much. For your information, I'd rather you have the broom than it sitting in the bottom of my trunk catching dust.'

'What do you mean by that? Aren't you playing Quidditch anymore?'

'Ron, I'll tell you and Mione everything when we get to school, but for the moment all you need to know is that, I've found another broom, yes, a better one. So do you accept my offer or not?'

'I guess. And Harry thanks, you don't know how much this means to me, from now on I'm going to train everyday till I'm certain I'll make a good Chaser.' With that Ron ended the connection.

Beep, beep, beep, the clock struck twelve...

REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A/N: so how do you like it? This is the longest thing I've ever written in my entire life! Next chapter, Harry meets the Founders' and goes to Diagon Alley.

If you have any suggestions, don't hesitate to make them and please don't critise me too much.