Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 16: Explanations
Harry finally saw Hermione before they boarded the carriages. She had her confident face on and walked with a determined purpose amongst the snickers of the rest of the students. Harry would have guessed nothing happened earlier, except for the tear streaks on her face and her puffy red eyes. Ron apparently saw this too, because Harry heard a "dammit" from his left.
She strode up to Harry, gave a greeting, and stayed close to him. After all, she could count on Harry. He was her anchor. He gave the most thoughtful gifts (Bubo), was sweet, somewhat cute, rich, and brave, and thought of other people before himself. He would make any girl happy; she was hoping it was she. She kind of had a crush on him since he saved her from the troll in first year. She kidded herself it was puppy love, which worked at first, until last year when she spent most of her time with him, and rather liked that better than spending time in the library by herself, or with both boys and having to listen to Ron make obnoxious comments about everything just to irk her.
That's why she was so embarrassed about Ron's comment earlier. Harry had heard Ron say that. What if he believed Ron, her life would be over. Who cared about the rest of Hogwarts? They were either mean (Slytherins), nerdy (Ravenclaw), dorks (Hufflepuff), or stupid (Gryffindor). She thought the houses weren't what they used to be, and neither were people. Look at how everyone treated her very good, hoped to be more friend, Harry. When he's successful, he's their best friend; when he has a fall, he's public enemy number one. Even Ron was a part of the masses.
She figured her and Harry were the only people who thought for themselves in the entire school, well except for maybe Dumbledore. She also thought Harry was the best person she knew and could fit into any house easily. Maybe not Ravenclaw, he was a bit dim at any given time, like most of the female attraction of Hogwarts being focused on him, whether for his looks, money, fame, or just him (Hermione). He wanted to prove himself, which was something to get him into Slytherin; he was loyal to a fault, which was obviously Hufflepuff; he got above average grades, which is why it was puzzling why he wasn't made a Prefect and Ron was, and that would have got him into Ravenclaw; and lastly he was the most brave person she knew, which made him the picture perfect Gryffindor.
At the current moment, she was sitting by Harry, looking out the window. Harry was dozing (again), and Ron had his head in his hands. The carriage came to an abrupt halt in front of the doors, effectively waking Harry and shaking Hermione out of her stupor. The three best friends climbed out the carriage and headed to the doors. When they reached the Great Hall, Harry gave Hermione a gentle squeeze on her shoulder, bringing her focus on him.
"I have to go meet with Dumbledore."
"What, all be all alone."
"No worries, all be back before everyone eats, so save me a spot, alright." Harry said with a little grin. Hermione looked into his eyes, only to notice how tired he looked. She grinned back too though, since it seemed contagious whenever Harry grinned.
Harry walked to the gargoyle that hid Dumbledore's office. He was in a hurry to get back. Not just for Hermione's sake, but he figured he could get a nap in when the feast started. He approached the gargoyle, and it sprung out of the way, letting Harry through. He figured Dumbledore must have asked the gargoyle to let him through when he got there.
He let the stone steps carry him to the big wooden door to the headmaster's office. He knocked on the door, then heard a faint, "Come in." Harry opened the door, only to see the headmaster grinning. He seemed a little older too. Harry figured he would look a little older if he had to organize a resistance against Voldemort, and now a new joker trying to dominate the world.
Dumbledore gestured for Harry to sit in a chair, which he gladly took. Dumbledore decided to start with, "I hope your trip was fine."
"Yes sir." Harry replied as respectful as he could while trying to fall asleep at the same time. Maybe if he did, he would be sent to his bed, but that would mean Hermione would be alone, and he said he would be there for her. He sat a little straighter after that.
"Right, now why I asked you to come see me. Originally, you are supposed to be the male Prefect for the fifth year Gryffindors. I realized how busy you would be this year, what with learning how to be an animagus and whatnot. Therefore, I suggested a first time ever position for you, an alternate Prefect. You don't have to wear the badge," at which he offered Harry a bronze badge with a P on it, opposed to the silver, "with this, you get to use the Prefect bathroom, and are privy to all Prefect information. That I will tell you myself.
"You don't, however, have to enforce the school rules. In fact, you are not allowed to, unless you have to take the place of another Prefect. You are also eligible for Head Boy." He finished with a benign smile. "You may go Mister Potter."
Harry got up, and was half way to the door, when he remembered that he had some questions. He turned to see Dumbledore standing up, and straightening some papers.
"Sir," Harry started to speak, "if you don't mind, I have some questions."
"Go right ahead, we might be a little late for the feast, but that will be fine. And call me Albus."
Harry didn't feel like arguing with him so started, "Well, Albus, I activated my elemental power, but since then, it hasn't recovered. Before I activated it, my reserves would climb quicker than expected, but since then, they have stayed at the same level. What's wrong?"
"When did you activate them?"
"Last week."
"What level did they release themselves at?"
"Level one sir."
"That's extremely dangerous. When did you wake from your coma?"
Harry blushed at having been caught, but answered, "This morning."
"Ah, I see. You have damaged your reserves. I am afraid they will be stuck at that level forever if we don't do something soon. I think I can organize something by Halloween."
"What will I do in the mean time?"
Dumbledore looked pensive for a few seconds before opening his desk drawer. He pulled out a necklace with an ice blue teardrop as the charm. "This will give you the feel of having twenty percent of your reserves back. However, you are only to wear this during class. It is like a drug. If you get dependant on it, you could be in serious trouble because you can run your reserves into the negatives, and not feel anything until you take it off."
He handed it over to Harry, who took it with some trepidation. He didn't like the fact he could hurt himself with it. He shook his mind away from those thoughts, and remembered a question he had been dying to ask since summer.
"Albus," he asked, which brought a smile to the old man's face, at the fact he remembered to call him by his name, "this summer when I transformed into my first innate, I had a dream. In it, Salazar Slytherin appeared, and just wanted to look at what was causing his heir so much trouble. He then proceeded to insult me, and called me the heir of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, King Arthur, and some person named Hogwarts. He also said that I would be his heir if Voldemort died and didn't have a child by then. Do you know what it all means?"
Dumbledore had a face that Harry didn't like. It looked like he was trying to disguise his anger, which was still seeping through. "Can you. describe him?" he asked in a would be calm voice.
"Yeah, he had what sounded like a Spanish accent, he wore forest green robes with a silver lining, his eyes were the same color as his robes, and his hair and beard were just like yours. He also seemed to like the Hufflepuff house way back when, and was disappointed in that house now, and the heir, me."
Dumbledore's face grew graver and graver with each detail Harry gave. He gave a sigh and replied, "Yes Harry, all which is true. However, that also means that somehow Voldemort has found a way to communicate with the dead. Which poses a problem for us," Dumbledore began to explain, but Harry just wanted the parts that concerned him, because it was hard not to fall asleep listening to Dumbledore. Not that he was boring, but he had a deep, soothing voice, which Harry felt that the same voice had sung him to sleep when he was a baby.
He cut Dumbledore off with, "Sir, I don't mean to sound rude, but could you just tell me what concerns me and did you sing me to sleep when I was a baby?"
Dumbledore chuckled a little at this, and seem to color more than usual at the last question. "Yes I did. And what concerns your heritage. I'll start with the most recent.
"When Voldemort casted the Killing Curse on you, he sent enough power in you to receive enough 'blood' of Slytherin in you. Hence, parseltongue. You get Hufflepuff blood from a few hundred years ago when that heir married Gryffindor's heir, a Potter.
"Now I have to jump to the beginning. Have you ever wondered who taught the founders their magic? Merlin. He was a great friend to the founders. They even had a nickname for him. Hogwarts was that name because it was rumored he had warts on his arm that Rowena Ravenclaw said looked like hog's warts, which stuck with him. Now, before then, he trained young Arthur Pendragon. Unknown by most everyone, Merlin had a daughter the same age as Arthur. They grew up best friends. Merlin's daughter is said to have had a crush on Arthur. She was heart broken when he married Gwen. She didn't let it show and was still his best friend.
"Years later when Gwen ran off with Sir Lancelot, Arthur was heart broken, just as Megan, Merlin's daughter, had been. Megan comforted Arthur, and they eventually had an affair. Arthur was once again in love, and so was Megan. She had their son nine months later. Megan died shortly afterwards, when she contracted the bubonic plague.
"Arthur took his son afterwards, faking his death and changing their last name to Potter. His son was named Godric. Arthur taught his son the art of sword fighting in their quiet, countryside home.
"Years later, when Godric was fifteen, him and his father came across and old man begging for help, which they gave. They gave board and food for a week, before the man revealed himself to be Merlin. Arthur was overjoyed at seeing an old face. Merlin later told him that he would have to take Godric and train him, and he knew that he and his daughter were intimate with each other, and that he was sorry. Arthur knew it would have to happen, and let tears of sorrow go down his face as he watched his son, the only person he loved, leave him. He died later from a broken heart.
"Godric learned the arts from Merlin, and also grew up with him. When Godric did his animagus transformation, which was a gold gryffin. If you translate that to French, you get 'gryffin d'ore.' This was made to Gryffindor, his nickname."
Harry was flabbergasted. Or as flabbergasted as one could get when they're totally exhausted. Talk about information overload. Harry just gave an awed, "Wow."
"Harry," Dumbledore started, "I know that was a lot of information. That is why I didn't want to tell you in your first year. You either wouldn't comprehend the significance of the whole situation, or I would have fried your brain."
"Does. does it mean anything?" Harry asked in a far away voice.
"It means you have powerful blood, and nothing more. You might get a few traits of your ancestors, if you haven't already, but you won't be like a god."
"Why then, did Voldemort kill my father, and is trying to kill me?"
"He knows of your blood, he also knows that it means you will do anything to prevail over injustice. When the Pendragon bloodline puts their mind to something, like destroying an evil force or accomplishing an ability, there is nothing to stop them. But it also means if they believe they can't do something, they never will.
"Look at your self. You had trouble with the Summoning Charm, one of the easiest charms of fourth year, and you couldn't do it. On the other hand, you accomplished a charm that most adult wizards can't accomplish in the Patronus Charm. Then when you needed the Summoning Charm for the first task, you performed it flawlessly. Better than Miss. Granger could ever hope to accomplish until at least next year. See, you could be so much powerful, only if you let yourself be more powerful." Dumbledore finished in a whisper.
"Now, let's head off to the feast." He said.
(AN: Finally updated. How was it, by the way? Hoped it answered some of your questions. Felt good to finally get that information out. Not many chapters left, the next one should be funny if you liked the whole penis envy thing last chapter. BTW, does anyone know how to get italics and bold letters uploaded to FF? Thanks for updating. Peace).
Chapter 16: Explanations
Harry finally saw Hermione before they boarded the carriages. She had her confident face on and walked with a determined purpose amongst the snickers of the rest of the students. Harry would have guessed nothing happened earlier, except for the tear streaks on her face and her puffy red eyes. Ron apparently saw this too, because Harry heard a "dammit" from his left.
She strode up to Harry, gave a greeting, and stayed close to him. After all, she could count on Harry. He was her anchor. He gave the most thoughtful gifts (Bubo), was sweet, somewhat cute, rich, and brave, and thought of other people before himself. He would make any girl happy; she was hoping it was she. She kind of had a crush on him since he saved her from the troll in first year. She kidded herself it was puppy love, which worked at first, until last year when she spent most of her time with him, and rather liked that better than spending time in the library by herself, or with both boys and having to listen to Ron make obnoxious comments about everything just to irk her.
That's why she was so embarrassed about Ron's comment earlier. Harry had heard Ron say that. What if he believed Ron, her life would be over. Who cared about the rest of Hogwarts? They were either mean (Slytherins), nerdy (Ravenclaw), dorks (Hufflepuff), or stupid (Gryffindor). She thought the houses weren't what they used to be, and neither were people. Look at how everyone treated her very good, hoped to be more friend, Harry. When he's successful, he's their best friend; when he has a fall, he's public enemy number one. Even Ron was a part of the masses.
She figured her and Harry were the only people who thought for themselves in the entire school, well except for maybe Dumbledore. She also thought Harry was the best person she knew and could fit into any house easily. Maybe not Ravenclaw, he was a bit dim at any given time, like most of the female attraction of Hogwarts being focused on him, whether for his looks, money, fame, or just him (Hermione). He wanted to prove himself, which was something to get him into Slytherin; he was loyal to a fault, which was obviously Hufflepuff; he got above average grades, which is why it was puzzling why he wasn't made a Prefect and Ron was, and that would have got him into Ravenclaw; and lastly he was the most brave person she knew, which made him the picture perfect Gryffindor.
At the current moment, she was sitting by Harry, looking out the window. Harry was dozing (again), and Ron had his head in his hands. The carriage came to an abrupt halt in front of the doors, effectively waking Harry and shaking Hermione out of her stupor. The three best friends climbed out the carriage and headed to the doors. When they reached the Great Hall, Harry gave Hermione a gentle squeeze on her shoulder, bringing her focus on him.
"I have to go meet with Dumbledore."
"What, all be all alone."
"No worries, all be back before everyone eats, so save me a spot, alright." Harry said with a little grin. Hermione looked into his eyes, only to notice how tired he looked. She grinned back too though, since it seemed contagious whenever Harry grinned.
Harry walked to the gargoyle that hid Dumbledore's office. He was in a hurry to get back. Not just for Hermione's sake, but he figured he could get a nap in when the feast started. He approached the gargoyle, and it sprung out of the way, letting Harry through. He figured Dumbledore must have asked the gargoyle to let him through when he got there.
He let the stone steps carry him to the big wooden door to the headmaster's office. He knocked on the door, then heard a faint, "Come in." Harry opened the door, only to see the headmaster grinning. He seemed a little older too. Harry figured he would look a little older if he had to organize a resistance against Voldemort, and now a new joker trying to dominate the world.
Dumbledore gestured for Harry to sit in a chair, which he gladly took. Dumbledore decided to start with, "I hope your trip was fine."
"Yes sir." Harry replied as respectful as he could while trying to fall asleep at the same time. Maybe if he did, he would be sent to his bed, but that would mean Hermione would be alone, and he said he would be there for her. He sat a little straighter after that.
"Right, now why I asked you to come see me. Originally, you are supposed to be the male Prefect for the fifth year Gryffindors. I realized how busy you would be this year, what with learning how to be an animagus and whatnot. Therefore, I suggested a first time ever position for you, an alternate Prefect. You don't have to wear the badge," at which he offered Harry a bronze badge with a P on it, opposed to the silver, "with this, you get to use the Prefect bathroom, and are privy to all Prefect information. That I will tell you myself.
"You don't, however, have to enforce the school rules. In fact, you are not allowed to, unless you have to take the place of another Prefect. You are also eligible for Head Boy." He finished with a benign smile. "You may go Mister Potter."
Harry got up, and was half way to the door, when he remembered that he had some questions. He turned to see Dumbledore standing up, and straightening some papers.
"Sir," Harry started to speak, "if you don't mind, I have some questions."
"Go right ahead, we might be a little late for the feast, but that will be fine. And call me Albus."
Harry didn't feel like arguing with him so started, "Well, Albus, I activated my elemental power, but since then, it hasn't recovered. Before I activated it, my reserves would climb quicker than expected, but since then, they have stayed at the same level. What's wrong?"
"When did you activate them?"
"Last week."
"What level did they release themselves at?"
"Level one sir."
"That's extremely dangerous. When did you wake from your coma?"
Harry blushed at having been caught, but answered, "This morning."
"Ah, I see. You have damaged your reserves. I am afraid they will be stuck at that level forever if we don't do something soon. I think I can organize something by Halloween."
"What will I do in the mean time?"
Dumbledore looked pensive for a few seconds before opening his desk drawer. He pulled out a necklace with an ice blue teardrop as the charm. "This will give you the feel of having twenty percent of your reserves back. However, you are only to wear this during class. It is like a drug. If you get dependant on it, you could be in serious trouble because you can run your reserves into the negatives, and not feel anything until you take it off."
He handed it over to Harry, who took it with some trepidation. He didn't like the fact he could hurt himself with it. He shook his mind away from those thoughts, and remembered a question he had been dying to ask since summer.
"Albus," he asked, which brought a smile to the old man's face, at the fact he remembered to call him by his name, "this summer when I transformed into my first innate, I had a dream. In it, Salazar Slytherin appeared, and just wanted to look at what was causing his heir so much trouble. He then proceeded to insult me, and called me the heir of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, King Arthur, and some person named Hogwarts. He also said that I would be his heir if Voldemort died and didn't have a child by then. Do you know what it all means?"
Dumbledore had a face that Harry didn't like. It looked like he was trying to disguise his anger, which was still seeping through. "Can you. describe him?" he asked in a would be calm voice.
"Yeah, he had what sounded like a Spanish accent, he wore forest green robes with a silver lining, his eyes were the same color as his robes, and his hair and beard were just like yours. He also seemed to like the Hufflepuff house way back when, and was disappointed in that house now, and the heir, me."
Dumbledore's face grew graver and graver with each detail Harry gave. He gave a sigh and replied, "Yes Harry, all which is true. However, that also means that somehow Voldemort has found a way to communicate with the dead. Which poses a problem for us," Dumbledore began to explain, but Harry just wanted the parts that concerned him, because it was hard not to fall asleep listening to Dumbledore. Not that he was boring, but he had a deep, soothing voice, which Harry felt that the same voice had sung him to sleep when he was a baby.
He cut Dumbledore off with, "Sir, I don't mean to sound rude, but could you just tell me what concerns me and did you sing me to sleep when I was a baby?"
Dumbledore chuckled a little at this, and seem to color more than usual at the last question. "Yes I did. And what concerns your heritage. I'll start with the most recent.
"When Voldemort casted the Killing Curse on you, he sent enough power in you to receive enough 'blood' of Slytherin in you. Hence, parseltongue. You get Hufflepuff blood from a few hundred years ago when that heir married Gryffindor's heir, a Potter.
"Now I have to jump to the beginning. Have you ever wondered who taught the founders their magic? Merlin. He was a great friend to the founders. They even had a nickname for him. Hogwarts was that name because it was rumored he had warts on his arm that Rowena Ravenclaw said looked like hog's warts, which stuck with him. Now, before then, he trained young Arthur Pendragon. Unknown by most everyone, Merlin had a daughter the same age as Arthur. They grew up best friends. Merlin's daughter is said to have had a crush on Arthur. She was heart broken when he married Gwen. She didn't let it show and was still his best friend.
"Years later when Gwen ran off with Sir Lancelot, Arthur was heart broken, just as Megan, Merlin's daughter, had been. Megan comforted Arthur, and they eventually had an affair. Arthur was once again in love, and so was Megan. She had their son nine months later. Megan died shortly afterwards, when she contracted the bubonic plague.
"Arthur took his son afterwards, faking his death and changing their last name to Potter. His son was named Godric. Arthur taught his son the art of sword fighting in their quiet, countryside home.
"Years later, when Godric was fifteen, him and his father came across and old man begging for help, which they gave. They gave board and food for a week, before the man revealed himself to be Merlin. Arthur was overjoyed at seeing an old face. Merlin later told him that he would have to take Godric and train him, and he knew that he and his daughter were intimate with each other, and that he was sorry. Arthur knew it would have to happen, and let tears of sorrow go down his face as he watched his son, the only person he loved, leave him. He died later from a broken heart.
"Godric learned the arts from Merlin, and also grew up with him. When Godric did his animagus transformation, which was a gold gryffin. If you translate that to French, you get 'gryffin d'ore.' This was made to Gryffindor, his nickname."
Harry was flabbergasted. Or as flabbergasted as one could get when they're totally exhausted. Talk about information overload. Harry just gave an awed, "Wow."
"Harry," Dumbledore started, "I know that was a lot of information. That is why I didn't want to tell you in your first year. You either wouldn't comprehend the significance of the whole situation, or I would have fried your brain."
"Does. does it mean anything?" Harry asked in a far away voice.
"It means you have powerful blood, and nothing more. You might get a few traits of your ancestors, if you haven't already, but you won't be like a god."
"Why then, did Voldemort kill my father, and is trying to kill me?"
"He knows of your blood, he also knows that it means you will do anything to prevail over injustice. When the Pendragon bloodline puts their mind to something, like destroying an evil force or accomplishing an ability, there is nothing to stop them. But it also means if they believe they can't do something, they never will.
"Look at your self. You had trouble with the Summoning Charm, one of the easiest charms of fourth year, and you couldn't do it. On the other hand, you accomplished a charm that most adult wizards can't accomplish in the Patronus Charm. Then when you needed the Summoning Charm for the first task, you performed it flawlessly. Better than Miss. Granger could ever hope to accomplish until at least next year. See, you could be so much powerful, only if you let yourself be more powerful." Dumbledore finished in a whisper.
"Now, let's head off to the feast." He said.
(AN: Finally updated. How was it, by the way? Hoped it answered some of your questions. Felt good to finally get that information out. Not many chapters left, the next one should be funny if you liked the whole penis envy thing last chapter. BTW, does anyone know how to get italics and bold letters uploaded to FF? Thanks for updating. Peace).