Chapter 15:- Bloodlines and Heirs.
"Harry is the heir of Godric Gryffindor." exclaimed McGonagall.
"And you knew of this?" asked Remus.
"Yes I did." said Dumbledore. "That is not all though."
"What do you mean?" asked Reet.
"What I am about to divulge to you is not known to any other soul on this planet. I had told this to James just after he passed out of Hogwarts. He told Lily of course, but they decided to keep it a secret till the threat of Voldemort was over. Yes, it was Salazar who killed Godric and yes they were half brothers. I those days on reaching adulthood the lords assumed there own titles so they have different surnames. But actually they were brothers. Salazar did not only kill Godric, he and his son, Solomon, wiped out three generations of Gryffindor family. Solomon was even more ruthless than Salazar. I fact some belive that Salazar had some doubts about carrying out the attack on Godric's family but the son was adamant on carrying on the murderous sequence. But he did not know one thing. Just before his death Godric Gryffindor had adopted a nine year old girl. Emily. This fact was kept a secret as she was born out of wedlock of a very famous witch. Helga Hufflepuff."
People gasped.
"Yes. Emily went on to marry a young wizard, Tiberius Potter. Harry's great grandfather."
"But sir," interrupted Remus. "Then Harry is not the heir of Gryffindor. He is the heir of Hufflepuff."
"No." said Reet. "He is the heir of both houses."
"How?" asked Remus.
"It is not blood that decides the true heir of a lineage. It is the destiny of a man or a woman as foretold by the stars. Harry's actions show that he is chosen to avenge his family's death and finally end this thousand year old feud."
"Very true Mr. Reet." said Dumbledore. "Where else can you find better example of heir being chosen by actions rather than by blood lines than right in this room."
"What do you mean?" asked Reet.
"Well I guess it is time to unfold another secret."
"As is known after Salazar murdered the Gryffindors. He hoped that he would take over Hogwarts."
"But his own son in thirst for power killed him. Then the magical community revolted against him and under the leadership of Rowena Ravenclaw defeated him. Solomon fled. Later in life he had twin daughters. But their natures were very much different. Angara was as vicious as her father. She followed on his footsteps. But Amanda was unfortunately nothing like her father. She was kind and gentle. She did not approve of his grand fathers ways. She was also much more powerful than Angara. Angara tried to kill her but she fled to a distant land. Two generations later her grandson came back to England to send his only son to Hogwarts. A man you know quite well today."
"Who?" asked everyone present in the room in unison.
"Me. Albus Dumbledore."
"YOU!" gasped Lupin.
"It can't be. You are against him."
"Exactly Remus. That goes to show that it is not blood, but our own character that makes us the person we are. That is why Harry though not related to either Godric Gryffindor or Merlin is the true heir to their powers. But Voldemort in whose veins flows the blood of not only Salazar Slytherine, but also the great Merlin himself is destined to be annihilated by his half cousin."
Great murmur broke up in the headmaster's office the entire staff obviously greatly disturbed by the shocking revelation about Harry's as well as Dumbledore's ancestry. The only person who segregated himself from the animated conversation was Reet. He thought of the dream he had four years ago just after he had met Enemar. The fog the made the sense of the dream so difficult to understand was gradually lifting up. Things were becoming clearer but that definitely was not a good sign.
"Welcome to advanced defense against the dark arts." announced Quirrell.
"For those who have a short term memory, my name is Umor Quirrell. I am your new teacher. Today we shall study a very different mode of defense from what you have studied already. You will learn to defend yourself against something far worse than Grindyglows or a Boggart. You will learn to protect you and your friends from one of the vilest creatures on this planet. Now, ordinarily this spell is only taught to final year students, but considering the circumstances your Headmaster suggested this to be taught in all the advanced years. Now of all the magical creatures you have encountered which do you find the most dark and dangerous."
"A Manticore." said Hermione.
"Good answer Miss Granger. But not the one I expected."
"An Acromantula." said Ron.
"Ahh! Another arachnophobic Weasley; I don't blame you. I hate those things as well but they are no where near to the thing I have in mind."
"He certainly has not met Aragog." whispered Ron to Harry.
"A Hippogriff."
Harry and Ron almost rolled over in laughter and Malfoy's answer.
"I must admit that an enraged Hippogriff is one of the most dangerous beasts to tackle, but that is still not the right answer."
The class continued to bludgeon the professor with wild guesses, everyone except Harry taking a shot.
"Blast Ended Skrewts." said Blaise Zabini.
"No not correct. I see everyone has made a guess except for Mr. Potter here. What happened? I heard you used to be a very good at this class?"
Harry had known the answer all along but the only reason he did not want to say it was because the Quirrell would call him for a demonstration. Oh well, he sighed. Might as well get some points for Gryffindor.
"The most dark and dangerous creature in magical world is a Dementor." he said flatly.
"60 points to Gryffindor!" exclaimed Quirrell.
"But" to everyone's surprise Harry continued, "There are two more creatures, which are far more dark, filthy and dangerous than all the Dementors in the world put together. A Snake and a Ghost."
Most of the class failed to understand Harry's implication but it did not go past Quirrell.
"Well from what I have heard." said Quirrell completely ignoring Harry's last comment. "Quite a few of you have had some experience in this spell thanks to one of your friends. I have also heard that Mr. Potter here is capable of performing a corporeal Patronus at will; something which most grown up wizards can not do. Don't worry Potter. I will not ask you for a demonstration. But I want every one from the remaining class come to come to the podium and demonstrate the Patronus spell. Those who do not know already the spell is 'Expecto Patronus' if your magic is strong enough it will create an object which will drive away the Dementor."
One by one the whole class came to the podium aimed at the wall. Harry having taught this spell last year knew exactly how much proficiency his classmates had in this spell. Ron, Hermione, Draco, Neville were able to produce foggy shapes, but Harry doubted that any of their Patronus was strong enough to trouble an actual Dementor.
"Quite impressive" said Quirrell. "But as you can see your Patronus are not strong enough. They won't be very effective against a real Dementor."
"What are you talking about? My Patronus was strong enough to kill a Dementor." said Draco arrogantly.
"Nothing can kill a Dementor Malfoy. Ten points from Slytherine for speaking out of turn. But since you think your Patronus is strong enough to tackle a Dementor you may volunteer for the next lesson. You get the chance to face an actual Dementor."
Malfoy paled.
"You can't. Dumbledore will never let you bring a Dementor in here." he said.
"True but I know something that will turn into a Dementor so that you can 'practice' on it."
"Oh No!" thought Harry. "He is going to bring a Boggart."
Surely enough, Quirrell soon came back with a safe.
"Now, this safe contains a Boggart. I have performed a spell on it so that he can see only one person in this room. Me. I can assure you that Boggart will take the form of a Dementor. You, Mr. Malfoy can then use your Patronus spell against the Dementor. One more thing Potter you must move to the back of the class."
"What do you know?" thought Harry. "I am not the only one who turns a Boggart into a Dementor."
As soon as Quirrell opened the safe the Boggart walked out and immediately assumed the shape of a Dementor. Malfoy did not seem to be getting affected by the Dementor; he feebly raised his wand a croaked, "Expecto Patronus."
Nothing happened.
"Granger, Weasley," shouted Quirrell, "use your spell against him, hurry."
His voice was also beginning to get ragged. The Dementor seemed to affect him as badly as it did Harry. Hermione and Ron both sent their weak Patroni towards the Boggart- Dementor. It managed to drive the dementor away from Malfoy but it rushed towards Quirrell.
Quirrell seemed to have been caught off guard. He had fallen on the floor. The whole class watched in horror as he stumbled back.
Harry realized he had to do something. He whipped out his wand and raised to perform his famous Patronus.
"Use both of your powers." came a voice in Harry's head.
Harry raised his wand in his right hand and tried to call his internal powers from his heart. He yelled the spell and was himself amazed at what happened.
Instead of the silver white stag form of prongs, came of a pitch black lion with wings of fire. It roared aloud and dashed straight at the dementor. Then as soon as it pounced on the dementor the fake dementor exploded into a thousand pieces.
"What happened?" said Quirrell. "Potter that was not your usual Patronus?"
"No sir." said Harry having difficulty in believing what just happened himself."
"Excuse me Professor," came the voice of Remus who had appeared at the door. "Professor Dumbledore wants to speak to Harry immediately."
"Very well" said Quirrell, still a bit flustered, "Potter you may leave."
As Harry was leaving Quirrell spoke again,
"Potter. Thanks for the help."
At Dumbledore's office,
"Harry, can you please wait outside the door for a second I have to ask Dumbledore something."
As Harry waited outside curiosity got the better of him and he laid his ear on the door to listen to what seemed to be quite an animated conversation.
"I say we confront him." came the sneering voice of Snape.
"With what?" said Dumbledore. "He killed one of the most skilled Death Eaters. The wizengamot suggested honoring him."
"That is exactly my point sir. Bellatrix Lestrange was a student of the Dark Lord himself. Some even considered her heir to the Dark Lord. No one knew about use of unforgivables better than her except probably the Dark Lord himself. Umor Quirrell did not become a Death Eaters for one and one reason only. He was very unskilled in using the unforgivables. The Dark Lord hates people who lacked skills in Dark Arts. That is why he never even considered recruiting him."
"I am afraid I agree with Severus." Harry heard Remus say and swore silently.
"As you suggested I was observing his class today. He used that trick Boggart. But when the Dementor came towards him he reacted almost as badly as Harry did when he first met a Dementor. Then Harry produced a new Patronus."
"A NEW PATRONUS." shouted Flitwick. It seemed that the entire staff was in their.
"Yes. As you all know, Harry is one of youngest student to have a corporeal Patronus. His form has as I have heard from Arabella and Sirius has always been a stag. Prongs. But today his Patronus took a whole new form. It took the shape of a black Griffin with wings that seemed to be made of fire."
"That is not possible Lupin." said Snape. "No one can have two forms of Patronus."
"Excuse me, but I know two more people who do." said Lupin agitatedly.
"Who?" challenged Snape.
"Well I knew one, Lily? As you all remember she was very good with charms. Normally her Patronus was the form of a Fairy. But whenever someone else was in danger or she was really excited her Patronus also took the form of Prongs, exactly like Harry's."
"Who is the other one?"
"Severus you really don't know your Dark Arts. The other person is our dear Headmaster."
"Is it true sir?" asked McGonagall.
"Yes. Although I myself did not know that it was so rare a talent. My Patronus takes the form of an elf usually. But on rare occasions, one being during my battle with Grindelwald my Patronus took the form of a Phoenix just like Fawkes."
"But sir, I have seen a lot of people perform the Patronus. But Harry's was different. Patroni have an ethereal glow. And they drive a dementor away not make them explode."
"Ahh!" exclaimed Dumbledore. "Now it makes sense. Minerva please summon Reet. I think he can shed some light on this matter."
"But sir are we not going a bit off topic." said Snape impatiently.
"I am afraid we are," said Lupin. "Sir if you remember when the ministry first made an ally with the Dementors they assigned a few people who were particularly skilled at handling them. Umor Quirrell was one of them. So the question at our hand is how can a man who has handled dozens of Dementors, not be able to take care of a Boggart shaped one? But the even bigger question is why would a man who by profession associated with the Dementors is so afraid of them that a Boggart will take its form in front of him?
End Of Chapter 15. ======================================================
9
"Harry is the heir of Godric Gryffindor." exclaimed McGonagall.
"And you knew of this?" asked Remus.
"Yes I did." said Dumbledore. "That is not all though."
"What do you mean?" asked Reet.
"What I am about to divulge to you is not known to any other soul on this planet. I had told this to James just after he passed out of Hogwarts. He told Lily of course, but they decided to keep it a secret till the threat of Voldemort was over. Yes, it was Salazar who killed Godric and yes they were half brothers. I those days on reaching adulthood the lords assumed there own titles so they have different surnames. But actually they were brothers. Salazar did not only kill Godric, he and his son, Solomon, wiped out three generations of Gryffindor family. Solomon was even more ruthless than Salazar. I fact some belive that Salazar had some doubts about carrying out the attack on Godric's family but the son was adamant on carrying on the murderous sequence. But he did not know one thing. Just before his death Godric Gryffindor had adopted a nine year old girl. Emily. This fact was kept a secret as she was born out of wedlock of a very famous witch. Helga Hufflepuff."
People gasped.
"Yes. Emily went on to marry a young wizard, Tiberius Potter. Harry's great grandfather."
"But sir," interrupted Remus. "Then Harry is not the heir of Gryffindor. He is the heir of Hufflepuff."
"No." said Reet. "He is the heir of both houses."
"How?" asked Remus.
"It is not blood that decides the true heir of a lineage. It is the destiny of a man or a woman as foretold by the stars. Harry's actions show that he is chosen to avenge his family's death and finally end this thousand year old feud."
"Very true Mr. Reet." said Dumbledore. "Where else can you find better example of heir being chosen by actions rather than by blood lines than right in this room."
"What do you mean?" asked Reet.
"Well I guess it is time to unfold another secret."
"As is known after Salazar murdered the Gryffindors. He hoped that he would take over Hogwarts."
"But his own son in thirst for power killed him. Then the magical community revolted against him and under the leadership of Rowena Ravenclaw defeated him. Solomon fled. Later in life he had twin daughters. But their natures were very much different. Angara was as vicious as her father. She followed on his footsteps. But Amanda was unfortunately nothing like her father. She was kind and gentle. She did not approve of his grand fathers ways. She was also much more powerful than Angara. Angara tried to kill her but she fled to a distant land. Two generations later her grandson came back to England to send his only son to Hogwarts. A man you know quite well today."
"Who?" asked everyone present in the room in unison.
"Me. Albus Dumbledore."
"YOU!" gasped Lupin.
"It can't be. You are against him."
"Exactly Remus. That goes to show that it is not blood, but our own character that makes us the person we are. That is why Harry though not related to either Godric Gryffindor or Merlin is the true heir to their powers. But Voldemort in whose veins flows the blood of not only Salazar Slytherine, but also the great Merlin himself is destined to be annihilated by his half cousin."
Great murmur broke up in the headmaster's office the entire staff obviously greatly disturbed by the shocking revelation about Harry's as well as Dumbledore's ancestry. The only person who segregated himself from the animated conversation was Reet. He thought of the dream he had four years ago just after he had met Enemar. The fog the made the sense of the dream so difficult to understand was gradually lifting up. Things were becoming clearer but that definitely was not a good sign.
"Welcome to advanced defense against the dark arts." announced Quirrell.
"For those who have a short term memory, my name is Umor Quirrell. I am your new teacher. Today we shall study a very different mode of defense from what you have studied already. You will learn to defend yourself against something far worse than Grindyglows or a Boggart. You will learn to protect you and your friends from one of the vilest creatures on this planet. Now, ordinarily this spell is only taught to final year students, but considering the circumstances your Headmaster suggested this to be taught in all the advanced years. Now of all the magical creatures you have encountered which do you find the most dark and dangerous."
"A Manticore." said Hermione.
"Good answer Miss Granger. But not the one I expected."
"An Acromantula." said Ron.
"Ahh! Another arachnophobic Weasley; I don't blame you. I hate those things as well but they are no where near to the thing I have in mind."
"He certainly has not met Aragog." whispered Ron to Harry.
"A Hippogriff."
Harry and Ron almost rolled over in laughter and Malfoy's answer.
"I must admit that an enraged Hippogriff is one of the most dangerous beasts to tackle, but that is still not the right answer."
The class continued to bludgeon the professor with wild guesses, everyone except Harry taking a shot.
"Blast Ended Skrewts." said Blaise Zabini.
"No not correct. I see everyone has made a guess except for Mr. Potter here. What happened? I heard you used to be a very good at this class?"
Harry had known the answer all along but the only reason he did not want to say it was because the Quirrell would call him for a demonstration. Oh well, he sighed. Might as well get some points for Gryffindor.
"The most dark and dangerous creature in magical world is a Dementor." he said flatly.
"60 points to Gryffindor!" exclaimed Quirrell.
"But" to everyone's surprise Harry continued, "There are two more creatures, which are far more dark, filthy and dangerous than all the Dementors in the world put together. A Snake and a Ghost."
Most of the class failed to understand Harry's implication but it did not go past Quirrell.
"Well from what I have heard." said Quirrell completely ignoring Harry's last comment. "Quite a few of you have had some experience in this spell thanks to one of your friends. I have also heard that Mr. Potter here is capable of performing a corporeal Patronus at will; something which most grown up wizards can not do. Don't worry Potter. I will not ask you for a demonstration. But I want every one from the remaining class come to come to the podium and demonstrate the Patronus spell. Those who do not know already the spell is 'Expecto Patronus' if your magic is strong enough it will create an object which will drive away the Dementor."
One by one the whole class came to the podium aimed at the wall. Harry having taught this spell last year knew exactly how much proficiency his classmates had in this spell. Ron, Hermione, Draco, Neville were able to produce foggy shapes, but Harry doubted that any of their Patronus was strong enough to trouble an actual Dementor.
"Quite impressive" said Quirrell. "But as you can see your Patronus are not strong enough. They won't be very effective against a real Dementor."
"What are you talking about? My Patronus was strong enough to kill a Dementor." said Draco arrogantly.
"Nothing can kill a Dementor Malfoy. Ten points from Slytherine for speaking out of turn. But since you think your Patronus is strong enough to tackle a Dementor you may volunteer for the next lesson. You get the chance to face an actual Dementor."
Malfoy paled.
"You can't. Dumbledore will never let you bring a Dementor in here." he said.
"True but I know something that will turn into a Dementor so that you can 'practice' on it."
"Oh No!" thought Harry. "He is going to bring a Boggart."
Surely enough, Quirrell soon came back with a safe.
"Now, this safe contains a Boggart. I have performed a spell on it so that he can see only one person in this room. Me. I can assure you that Boggart will take the form of a Dementor. You, Mr. Malfoy can then use your Patronus spell against the Dementor. One more thing Potter you must move to the back of the class."
"What do you know?" thought Harry. "I am not the only one who turns a Boggart into a Dementor."
As soon as Quirrell opened the safe the Boggart walked out and immediately assumed the shape of a Dementor. Malfoy did not seem to be getting affected by the Dementor; he feebly raised his wand a croaked, "Expecto Patronus."
Nothing happened.
"Granger, Weasley," shouted Quirrell, "use your spell against him, hurry."
His voice was also beginning to get ragged. The Dementor seemed to affect him as badly as it did Harry. Hermione and Ron both sent their weak Patroni towards the Boggart- Dementor. It managed to drive the dementor away from Malfoy but it rushed towards Quirrell.
Quirrell seemed to have been caught off guard. He had fallen on the floor. The whole class watched in horror as he stumbled back.
Harry realized he had to do something. He whipped out his wand and raised to perform his famous Patronus.
"Use both of your powers." came a voice in Harry's head.
Harry raised his wand in his right hand and tried to call his internal powers from his heart. He yelled the spell and was himself amazed at what happened.
Instead of the silver white stag form of prongs, came of a pitch black lion with wings of fire. It roared aloud and dashed straight at the dementor. Then as soon as it pounced on the dementor the fake dementor exploded into a thousand pieces.
"What happened?" said Quirrell. "Potter that was not your usual Patronus?"
"No sir." said Harry having difficulty in believing what just happened himself."
"Excuse me Professor," came the voice of Remus who had appeared at the door. "Professor Dumbledore wants to speak to Harry immediately."
"Very well" said Quirrell, still a bit flustered, "Potter you may leave."
As Harry was leaving Quirrell spoke again,
"Potter. Thanks for the help."
At Dumbledore's office,
"Harry, can you please wait outside the door for a second I have to ask Dumbledore something."
As Harry waited outside curiosity got the better of him and he laid his ear on the door to listen to what seemed to be quite an animated conversation.
"I say we confront him." came the sneering voice of Snape.
"With what?" said Dumbledore. "He killed one of the most skilled Death Eaters. The wizengamot suggested honoring him."
"That is exactly my point sir. Bellatrix Lestrange was a student of the Dark Lord himself. Some even considered her heir to the Dark Lord. No one knew about use of unforgivables better than her except probably the Dark Lord himself. Umor Quirrell did not become a Death Eaters for one and one reason only. He was very unskilled in using the unforgivables. The Dark Lord hates people who lacked skills in Dark Arts. That is why he never even considered recruiting him."
"I am afraid I agree with Severus." Harry heard Remus say and swore silently.
"As you suggested I was observing his class today. He used that trick Boggart. But when the Dementor came towards him he reacted almost as badly as Harry did when he first met a Dementor. Then Harry produced a new Patronus."
"A NEW PATRONUS." shouted Flitwick. It seemed that the entire staff was in their.
"Yes. As you all know, Harry is one of youngest student to have a corporeal Patronus. His form has as I have heard from Arabella and Sirius has always been a stag. Prongs. But today his Patronus took a whole new form. It took the shape of a black Griffin with wings that seemed to be made of fire."
"That is not possible Lupin." said Snape. "No one can have two forms of Patronus."
"Excuse me, but I know two more people who do." said Lupin agitatedly.
"Who?" challenged Snape.
"Well I knew one, Lily? As you all remember she was very good with charms. Normally her Patronus was the form of a Fairy. But whenever someone else was in danger or she was really excited her Patronus also took the form of Prongs, exactly like Harry's."
"Who is the other one?"
"Severus you really don't know your Dark Arts. The other person is our dear Headmaster."
"Is it true sir?" asked McGonagall.
"Yes. Although I myself did not know that it was so rare a talent. My Patronus takes the form of an elf usually. But on rare occasions, one being during my battle with Grindelwald my Patronus took the form of a Phoenix just like Fawkes."
"But sir, I have seen a lot of people perform the Patronus. But Harry's was different. Patroni have an ethereal glow. And they drive a dementor away not make them explode."
"Ahh!" exclaimed Dumbledore. "Now it makes sense. Minerva please summon Reet. I think he can shed some light on this matter."
"But sir are we not going a bit off topic." said Snape impatiently.
"I am afraid we are," said Lupin. "Sir if you remember when the ministry first made an ally with the Dementors they assigned a few people who were particularly skilled at handling them. Umor Quirrell was one of them. So the question at our hand is how can a man who has handled dozens of Dementors, not be able to take care of a Boggart shaped one? But the even bigger question is why would a man who by profession associated with the Dementors is so afraid of them that a Boggart will take its form in front of him?
End Of Chapter 15. ======================================================
9