Harry stared; the three Death Eaters had somehow gotten past the
defenses and landed in Dumbledore's office. Snape and Remus crouched down
defensively and whipped their own wands out. So far they hadn't been
noticed, leaving them the element of surprise, which they definitely used
to their advantage. "STUPIFY!" Remus, Snape, and to their surprise, Harry
joined in, catching Malfoy in the back. Dumbledore looked up, unsurprised
to see them in his office and casually cast a spell to bind them together
so the Death Eaters couldn't move. Severus grabbed the wands that had been
dropped and placed them in his cloak.
"Headmaster, what happened here?" Remus looked down, grimacing at the stunned face of Bellatrix. "And how on earth did they manage to get in here in the first place?"
Dumbledore put up a hand, telling him to be silent. "I don't rightly know myself. They didn't apparate, which would've been easy to detect, not to mention impossible. I suspect Voldemort was able to construct a portkey that transported them here. Before you stunned them, they were threatening me to tell them where Harry was. But that shouldn't come as a surprise. Mr. Malfoy here was particularly enjoying his role of attempting the Crucio curse. I do believe we haven't seen the last of them, nor have we ridded the entire school of Death Eaters. Be on your toes until I'm able to make the rounds to check. Oh, Remus, would you be so nice as to go collect Tonks and Minerva for me? I need to place some guards here until we are able to get a hold of the authorities to collect their captives."
Remus nodded and swiftly headed out of the room, leaving Harry and Severus in the office with Dumbledore. "Sir? You said they were looking for me, what was the reason this time?"
The old man sighed; his eyes weren't twinkling like they had before. "There is one other thing I neglected to tell you at the end of last year. Take a look in this book," He requested, summoning the book from a large shelf and placing it in Harry's hands. The boy opened it up, flipping through the pages and seeing pictures of the founders of the school.
Harry stared back at Dumbledore and asked plainly, "What does this have to do with me?" "Keep looking, more towards the back of the book." He complied, his father standing over his shoulder, curious to know what Dumbledore was getting at. A minute later he came across a page with Tom Riddle's picture on it, interested in knowing what he was doing in the book, he read the caption.
Tom Riddle, now known as Lord Voldemort, is the heir of the late Salazar Slytherin. He has the ability to speak Parseltongue, a gift noted to remain generally in that line of successors. He now continues on his ancestor's work, trying to purge the world of the Muggle-born witches and wizards. Voldemort has one wizard standing in his way, that being the Heir of Godric Gryffindor.
Harry blinked a few times and turned to the next page. His mouth dropped open as a saw a picture of himself staring back at him. "Yes Harry, you're Godric's ancestor and the Heir of Gryffindor."
The boy couldn't do anything but just stare at Dumbledore. Severus couldn't do anything but gape either, wondering how on earth his son could be the Heir of Gryffindor. "S-sir?" The man sputtered.
"Keep your feelings towards Gryffindor to yourself please, Severus, this isn't the place nor time. Harry, I'd suspected this ever since you'd pulled the sword out of the hat down in the Chamber of Secrets." A flick of the wand and a letter appeared in his hand. "This has been in possession of the headmasters since the founders appointed someone to run the school. Godric wouldn't trust anyone else with the task."
Harry opened it up, curious to know what it was and had been written inside:
To my Heir, Harry. You are my heir, as I'm sure you now know if you are reading this letter. I don't know what has been happening, other than the Heir of Slytherin has appeared in the midst of your world, and according to a prophecy made by Helga Hufflepuff, you're the only one who is able to stop him. From what we've been told, his powers will be extraordinary and none other than you will be able to stop him. I suspect you already know you're capable of wandless magic, but you need to work on that, as it's your weakness. Two wands with the same core are practically useless against each other in a duel. Being my heir, you'll be able to do this more readily than most wizards and you'll now find a chest enclosed with my legacy to you. This will help you with your upcoming task and I leave with saying, "Good luck and we all have faith in you." Godric Gryffindor
Harry's gaze flickered to his left, where a large trunk in the colors of gold and red stood. Not knowing why, he waved a hand infront of the lock and it instantly opened for him. Inside were cloaks of red and gold, bearing trimmings of lions, a small ruby amulet with the house crest on the back, a signet ring, and a scabbard for the sword sitting on Dumbledore's desk. He placed the ring onto his finger and it felt rather awkward since he'd never had a ring before. Also, he put the amulet around his neck, feeling a sudden warmth flood throughout him as well as removing any trace of tiredness in his body.
"You're strong Harry, descended from one of the greatest wizards of all time, but you also have an advantage. The blood of Slytherin runs through your veins as well from both your father and the night where he transferred part of his powers to you. And I recognize that amulet you know wear around your neck from a book of mine. It will assist you on using wandless magic as well as casting normal spells since Godric placed his own power into it. It will take time to understand it, but you'll have an advantage once you master it."
Snape had long since left the room, his mind was reeling with questions and a confliction of his son was entering his mind again. It was hard enough to accept that the boy he'd tortured all these years was actually his son, but now finding out he was the Heir of Gryffindor was just pushing his understanding to the limit. Everyone knew he hated Gryffindors, it wasn't precisely hard to tell with how unfair he always treated them. He didn't know what to think of Harry anymore, especially since he'd starting feeling more comfortable with the idea, but now, he shook his head and threw his hands up in frustration. Severus was interrupted a moment later by Remus grabbing his arm with Tonks and McGonagall at his feet.
"Severus? Is everything all right? Dumbledore didn't send you out to get more help did he? Are the Death Eaters still tied up?" Remus asked, his eyes full of worry. Snape turned his head, not wanting to see the man's face. "They're fine. I needed some time to myself," He snapped, walking down towards his office.
By the time the thee professors entered the office, Harry had put on his newly received robes with a pair of dragon hide boots along with binding his long hair back with a leather thong. Tonks stared, McGonagall let out a soft squeak and Remus stumbled over from the surprise. "H-harry?" Tonks started, "What's going on?" McGonagall finished.
"I, umm, seem to be the Heir of Gryffindor..." He muttered, kicking Malfoy to see if he was still out cold. The man grunted softly, his lips locked in a permanent sneer. Dumbledore took over, explaining it to them while Harry gazed out the window, as he often liked to do now. What was his father going to think now? He noted that Severus had left the room not long after he'd found out, a shocked look on his face and almost a hurt expression. He'd just found out about his new family and Harry'd finally started to accept his father and didn't want to lose that now.
"Sir?" Harry looked up at Dumbledore. "Is my father going to hate me even more than because of this?" The old man's gaze towards Harry was sympathetic. "I don't rightly know. He's had a grudge against Gryffindor since his beginning here and this might have hurt him more than you can imagine."
"Not to interrupt this important talk, but someone needs to take care of these three," Remus said, enjoying the fact that he was able to kick Macnair in the head. "Ahh thank you, Remus." He clapped his hands a few times and Fudge appeared in the room. "What do you want, Albus?" The man looked annoyed, but blinked in surprise a few times when his eyes landed on Harry.
"Cornelius, I do believe you recognize these three Death Eaters. They broke into the school and were stopped by Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, and Harry here did a brilliant job of stopping Lucius in his tracks. If you'd like, we can wake them up and if needed, a bottle of Vertiserum can be obtained if they are not willing to talk."
The Minister of Magic looked around and scowled, "So do it."
Dumbledore waved his wand, "Enervate!" and the three Death Eaters stirred, still bound with the ropes and wands well out of their grasps having left the room with a distressed Snape. Malfoy looked particularly hateful at Harry, knowing that the boy had already been told who he was.
"Malfoy, Bellatrix, Macnair, would you care to tell us why you're here? We can do this the easy way or with the help of Vertiserum." Dumbledore questioned calmly. Bellatrix spat at him. "I see we're going with the hard way. Minerva, if you please." The professor complied and placed three drops of the potion on their tongues.
"Now, why were you here?"
"The Dark Lord told us that Harry Potter was the Heir of Gryffindor and was the only one standing in his way of his plot." Malfoy said in a listless voice, not being able to help what he was saying. "He wanted to get the boy before he'd found out about his heritage and gained the help of Gryffindor. We were told to kill everyone."
Fudge raised his eyes, looking at Macnair. "I would've suspected better of you. Thank you, Albus." He muttered grudgingly as he called for a few other wizards to take the three Death Eaters into custody.
Once the room was emptied of Fudge and his captives, the professors and Harry sat down, not being able to say a word. A look from Harry's face, and they all could tell what he was thinking- what was his father going to think now?
Snape rested his head against the stonewall of the dungeon. His mind was racing back and forth, utterly confused as to what to do. "Severus, you can't hate him. He needs you more than ever now. He's scared, that I'm sure you know, but he needs someone to be with him now. Someone to say they'll be there for him no matter what happens," came the voice of Albus, seemingly to have appeared out of nowhere.
"He already probably hates me for hating Gryffindor so much." "Are you sure of that?" "No," Snape admitted, "He had his mind closed to me when I tried to look into it." "I sensed that right now he's worried more that you'll want nothing to do with him now rather than your past feelings. You two will need to talk this out at some point."
"Sir?" Came the soft voice of Harry a few minutes later, "Perhaps you could leave my father and I alone for a bit. I need to talk to him." Dumbledore smiled and gave his leave, and Harry sat down in the chair next to Severus. "Do you hate me?"
Snape was startled by the bluntness of the question, but then again he'd known it would've come sooner or later. "No. Why would you think that?" He asked, wanting to know the boy's reasoning behind the claim first. "You have always given off the impression that you hate Gryffindors more than any other students in the school. Now that you found out I'm the Heir to the house and man, it'd make sense that you'd hate me." "I don't hate you. No, I couldn't hate my own son for what he is." Finally being able to tell himself this since he'd heard. "So what do we do now?" "First you're going to go to bed. Tomorrow is Monday and you know you have Double Potions first thing."
He watched as the boy groaned and laughed to himself. He might be an Heir, but he's still a teenage boy in school who definitely didn't want to be studying for NEWTs.
"I might be an Heir, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to skive off that class tomorrow," Harry joked, seeming to have read his mind.
Snape patted him on the back and escorted him back to his quarters, which had now been done up in the Heir's colors along with his new belongings transported near his bed. Harry closed the door, finally having some time to himself, but was too tired to care, and finally passed out on the bed.
"Headmaster, what happened here?" Remus looked down, grimacing at the stunned face of Bellatrix. "And how on earth did they manage to get in here in the first place?"
Dumbledore put up a hand, telling him to be silent. "I don't rightly know myself. They didn't apparate, which would've been easy to detect, not to mention impossible. I suspect Voldemort was able to construct a portkey that transported them here. Before you stunned them, they were threatening me to tell them where Harry was. But that shouldn't come as a surprise. Mr. Malfoy here was particularly enjoying his role of attempting the Crucio curse. I do believe we haven't seen the last of them, nor have we ridded the entire school of Death Eaters. Be on your toes until I'm able to make the rounds to check. Oh, Remus, would you be so nice as to go collect Tonks and Minerva for me? I need to place some guards here until we are able to get a hold of the authorities to collect their captives."
Remus nodded and swiftly headed out of the room, leaving Harry and Severus in the office with Dumbledore. "Sir? You said they were looking for me, what was the reason this time?"
The old man sighed; his eyes weren't twinkling like they had before. "There is one other thing I neglected to tell you at the end of last year. Take a look in this book," He requested, summoning the book from a large shelf and placing it in Harry's hands. The boy opened it up, flipping through the pages and seeing pictures of the founders of the school.
Harry stared back at Dumbledore and asked plainly, "What does this have to do with me?" "Keep looking, more towards the back of the book." He complied, his father standing over his shoulder, curious to know what Dumbledore was getting at. A minute later he came across a page with Tom Riddle's picture on it, interested in knowing what he was doing in the book, he read the caption.
Tom Riddle, now known as Lord Voldemort, is the heir of the late Salazar Slytherin. He has the ability to speak Parseltongue, a gift noted to remain generally in that line of successors. He now continues on his ancestor's work, trying to purge the world of the Muggle-born witches and wizards. Voldemort has one wizard standing in his way, that being the Heir of Godric Gryffindor.
Harry blinked a few times and turned to the next page. His mouth dropped open as a saw a picture of himself staring back at him. "Yes Harry, you're Godric's ancestor and the Heir of Gryffindor."
The boy couldn't do anything but just stare at Dumbledore. Severus couldn't do anything but gape either, wondering how on earth his son could be the Heir of Gryffindor. "S-sir?" The man sputtered.
"Keep your feelings towards Gryffindor to yourself please, Severus, this isn't the place nor time. Harry, I'd suspected this ever since you'd pulled the sword out of the hat down in the Chamber of Secrets." A flick of the wand and a letter appeared in his hand. "This has been in possession of the headmasters since the founders appointed someone to run the school. Godric wouldn't trust anyone else with the task."
Harry opened it up, curious to know what it was and had been written inside:
To my Heir, Harry. You are my heir, as I'm sure you now know if you are reading this letter. I don't know what has been happening, other than the Heir of Slytherin has appeared in the midst of your world, and according to a prophecy made by Helga Hufflepuff, you're the only one who is able to stop him. From what we've been told, his powers will be extraordinary and none other than you will be able to stop him. I suspect you already know you're capable of wandless magic, but you need to work on that, as it's your weakness. Two wands with the same core are practically useless against each other in a duel. Being my heir, you'll be able to do this more readily than most wizards and you'll now find a chest enclosed with my legacy to you. This will help you with your upcoming task and I leave with saying, "Good luck and we all have faith in you." Godric Gryffindor
Harry's gaze flickered to his left, where a large trunk in the colors of gold and red stood. Not knowing why, he waved a hand infront of the lock and it instantly opened for him. Inside were cloaks of red and gold, bearing trimmings of lions, a small ruby amulet with the house crest on the back, a signet ring, and a scabbard for the sword sitting on Dumbledore's desk. He placed the ring onto his finger and it felt rather awkward since he'd never had a ring before. Also, he put the amulet around his neck, feeling a sudden warmth flood throughout him as well as removing any trace of tiredness in his body.
"You're strong Harry, descended from one of the greatest wizards of all time, but you also have an advantage. The blood of Slytherin runs through your veins as well from both your father and the night where he transferred part of his powers to you. And I recognize that amulet you know wear around your neck from a book of mine. It will assist you on using wandless magic as well as casting normal spells since Godric placed his own power into it. It will take time to understand it, but you'll have an advantage once you master it."
Snape had long since left the room, his mind was reeling with questions and a confliction of his son was entering his mind again. It was hard enough to accept that the boy he'd tortured all these years was actually his son, but now finding out he was the Heir of Gryffindor was just pushing his understanding to the limit. Everyone knew he hated Gryffindors, it wasn't precisely hard to tell with how unfair he always treated them. He didn't know what to think of Harry anymore, especially since he'd starting feeling more comfortable with the idea, but now, he shook his head and threw his hands up in frustration. Severus was interrupted a moment later by Remus grabbing his arm with Tonks and McGonagall at his feet.
"Severus? Is everything all right? Dumbledore didn't send you out to get more help did he? Are the Death Eaters still tied up?" Remus asked, his eyes full of worry. Snape turned his head, not wanting to see the man's face. "They're fine. I needed some time to myself," He snapped, walking down towards his office.
By the time the thee professors entered the office, Harry had put on his newly received robes with a pair of dragon hide boots along with binding his long hair back with a leather thong. Tonks stared, McGonagall let out a soft squeak and Remus stumbled over from the surprise. "H-harry?" Tonks started, "What's going on?" McGonagall finished.
"I, umm, seem to be the Heir of Gryffindor..." He muttered, kicking Malfoy to see if he was still out cold. The man grunted softly, his lips locked in a permanent sneer. Dumbledore took over, explaining it to them while Harry gazed out the window, as he often liked to do now. What was his father going to think now? He noted that Severus had left the room not long after he'd found out, a shocked look on his face and almost a hurt expression. He'd just found out about his new family and Harry'd finally started to accept his father and didn't want to lose that now.
"Sir?" Harry looked up at Dumbledore. "Is my father going to hate me even more than because of this?" The old man's gaze towards Harry was sympathetic. "I don't rightly know. He's had a grudge against Gryffindor since his beginning here and this might have hurt him more than you can imagine."
"Not to interrupt this important talk, but someone needs to take care of these three," Remus said, enjoying the fact that he was able to kick Macnair in the head. "Ahh thank you, Remus." He clapped his hands a few times and Fudge appeared in the room. "What do you want, Albus?" The man looked annoyed, but blinked in surprise a few times when his eyes landed on Harry.
"Cornelius, I do believe you recognize these three Death Eaters. They broke into the school and were stopped by Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, and Harry here did a brilliant job of stopping Lucius in his tracks. If you'd like, we can wake them up and if needed, a bottle of Vertiserum can be obtained if they are not willing to talk."
The Minister of Magic looked around and scowled, "So do it."
Dumbledore waved his wand, "Enervate!" and the three Death Eaters stirred, still bound with the ropes and wands well out of their grasps having left the room with a distressed Snape. Malfoy looked particularly hateful at Harry, knowing that the boy had already been told who he was.
"Malfoy, Bellatrix, Macnair, would you care to tell us why you're here? We can do this the easy way or with the help of Vertiserum." Dumbledore questioned calmly. Bellatrix spat at him. "I see we're going with the hard way. Minerva, if you please." The professor complied and placed three drops of the potion on their tongues.
"Now, why were you here?"
"The Dark Lord told us that Harry Potter was the Heir of Gryffindor and was the only one standing in his way of his plot." Malfoy said in a listless voice, not being able to help what he was saying. "He wanted to get the boy before he'd found out about his heritage and gained the help of Gryffindor. We were told to kill everyone."
Fudge raised his eyes, looking at Macnair. "I would've suspected better of you. Thank you, Albus." He muttered grudgingly as he called for a few other wizards to take the three Death Eaters into custody.
Once the room was emptied of Fudge and his captives, the professors and Harry sat down, not being able to say a word. A look from Harry's face, and they all could tell what he was thinking- what was his father going to think now?
Snape rested his head against the stonewall of the dungeon. His mind was racing back and forth, utterly confused as to what to do. "Severus, you can't hate him. He needs you more than ever now. He's scared, that I'm sure you know, but he needs someone to be with him now. Someone to say they'll be there for him no matter what happens," came the voice of Albus, seemingly to have appeared out of nowhere.
"He already probably hates me for hating Gryffindor so much." "Are you sure of that?" "No," Snape admitted, "He had his mind closed to me when I tried to look into it." "I sensed that right now he's worried more that you'll want nothing to do with him now rather than your past feelings. You two will need to talk this out at some point."
"Sir?" Came the soft voice of Harry a few minutes later, "Perhaps you could leave my father and I alone for a bit. I need to talk to him." Dumbledore smiled and gave his leave, and Harry sat down in the chair next to Severus. "Do you hate me?"
Snape was startled by the bluntness of the question, but then again he'd known it would've come sooner or later. "No. Why would you think that?" He asked, wanting to know the boy's reasoning behind the claim first. "You have always given off the impression that you hate Gryffindors more than any other students in the school. Now that you found out I'm the Heir to the house and man, it'd make sense that you'd hate me." "I don't hate you. No, I couldn't hate my own son for what he is." Finally being able to tell himself this since he'd heard. "So what do we do now?" "First you're going to go to bed. Tomorrow is Monday and you know you have Double Potions first thing."
He watched as the boy groaned and laughed to himself. He might be an Heir, but he's still a teenage boy in school who definitely didn't want to be studying for NEWTs.
"I might be an Heir, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to skive off that class tomorrow," Harry joked, seeming to have read his mind.
Snape patted him on the back and escorted him back to his quarters, which had now been done up in the Heir's colors along with his new belongings transported near his bed. Harry closed the door, finally having some time to himself, but was too tired to care, and finally passed out on the bed.