Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowlings, thus Harry & Co. do not belong to me. But I am staking claim on the plot hehe.
A/N: Wow! Thanks for all the reviews, I was just kidding about the 30 review thing but hey, I am not complaining… I will try to answer some questions at the end of the chapter. Keep reviewing!
Chapter 7: The Portals
~Harry drew in his breath and took in the page. On it was a picture of something that he had emblazoned on his mind from the first day that he had seen it. Sandwiched between two other pictures was a sketch of the veil that Sirius had fallen into~
Harry remembered the image of the veil vividly. How it had been situated on the dais and the black curtain that blew lightly in a nonexistent breeze. He remembered how his godfather had fallen through the ancient looking archway and into the veil.
He focused intently on the sketch and noticed a caption under it reading:
The Veil of Esimed
"Esimed lanos rep decnei rep xeev ahoh wesoht fow odahs atub woshi"
He nearly fell off the stool when a hand lightly touched his shoulder. Harry rapidly turned around to see Aberforth standing behind him.
Aberforth peered over Harry's shoulder, sneaking a peek at what he had been reading. "Well Harry it appears you have found one of our many storage rooms. As you can see there are things that haven't been touched in centuries most likely. But, I gather that you recognize the picture in front of you… two in fact."
Baffled, Harry turned back to the book to discover that he did recognize the sketch of the Veil, as well as the one to the left. He had seen this during his first year. It was the Mirror of Erised with its gold ornate frame and clawed feet.
"Albus has told me of your many adventures throughout the years Harry. Amusing really, most young boys play games or pranks… But you, Mr. Potter, choose to fight dark wizards." Harry watched as he chuckled lightly at his own comment.
All Harry could think about was how people thought Dumbledore was strange… if they only met his brother. Aberforth pulled out a stool that was next to the desk and sat down. He put his hand in his robes and pulled out a bottle with a dark brown fluid in it. He pulled out the cork and took a couple swigs of the questionable liquid. This made Aberforth look extremely familiar to Harry, almost as if he had seen him prior to being at the castle. Harry only remembered seeing him the one time in the photograph. Aberforth replaced the cork and leveled his eyes to Harry's.
"Albus told me what happened to your Uncle. That is the same Veil if you are wondering. All three of these are connected actually."
Harry looked at the page and his eyes passed from the Mirror of Erised to the Veil of Esimed and finally to the picture he had not looked at. There was a picture of what looked like a large wrought iron gate with threatening spikes positioned on top. It was entitled The Gateway of Ecnanimod.
Aberforth pointed to the title of the page, "These are known as 'The Three Great Portals.' They come from a very ancient magic and unfortunately we know very little about them. I also expect that most people have long forgotten about them."
Harry looked up at the old man, "How are they connected?"
Aberforth had closed his eyes and Harry thought he wouldn't answer but he continued on, "I guess I will start with the easiest things first. A very long time ago, and I am talking ancient times, three portals were created. As time passed their purposes became less well known. We do know a powerful wizard named Authendall had created them using a very strong ancient magic which I very much doubt exists today. He created them in an effort to discover more about life. He was figured out rather quickly after he finished and he was never able to try out any of them. Instead, he chose to hide each one so that no one would reap the benefits of his creation. The mirror and the veil he did not care to hide as much as the gateway. Again he had only intended to use them for himself."
"The Mirror of Erised was the first portal to be constructed. Its purpose, as you know, is quite simple: To allow a person to see their deepest desires. There is only one drawback as looking into it for two long can cause you to become trapped in wanting your own desires. You can look into it as many times as you desire but it doesn't actually do anything for you. This was the portal into the human heart. My brother was fortunate enough to find it when he was younger. Lucky really, otherwise what else would he have used with the stone."
"The second portal to be constructed was the Veil of Esimed; we know only a limited number of things about it. It is more of a portal into the eternal life. All that we know is that it was somehow in the possession of the dark wizard Grindelwald. When Albus defeated him, the ministry confiscated his property, along with the veil which was found at one of his residences. No one is supposed to know that it is was found and as such, many do not. The veil was taken in and brought to the Department of Mysteries so that they could try and figure out what its true purpose was. Of course, we know nothing from their testing because they choose to keep it secret among the Uspeakables."
"What we do know is in this book. It shows us something, like the mirror, but it is not desires. Unlike the mirror, this can only be used once by a person but it requires a rather complicated spell. People who do not use the spell get trapped inside the veil for eternity, like Sirius.
Harry spoke quietly, "But if you can use it once than maybe I can get Sirius back."
Aberforth gazed directly at him, "The trouble Harry is that we do not know what that spell allows one to do. We do not know if it enables a person to speak to the dead or see them or if they themselves get pulled into the veil… there is just too much speculation… and anyway the last I heard the spell is so ancient no one would be able to do it. All I know is that anyone who has fallen into the Veil has yet to come out."
"Unfortunately that is all I know about that, although the Ministry probably knows more…" he looked angry for a second before his face lightened "I am sorry to be the one to say this Harry, but do not get your hopes up, I doubt you will ever get a chance to find out what it does."
He was about to get up when Harry stopped him, "But what is this Gateway?"
Aberforth smiled slightly, "I almost forgot. That is perhaps one of the biggest mysteries of all because it has yet to be found. The mirror and the veil were discovered but this one never was. And there is even less written about it than the other two."
He whispered as if not to be heard, "I myself have heard that this is the portal to Immortality. That it grants man ultimate power and everlasting life. But Harry again I must stress that there is very little hope in dwelling on these. There are few who are working on figuring them out and even some of those people still believe it is just some legend that is not really true."
He winked at Harry and stood up, "Well I must be turning in. I believe that Albus will be joining us in the morning. Also, I would appreciate it if you went back to bed yourself… and don't be tempted to come back here or any other secret rooms… despite annoying garden gnomes who can't mind their own business. Oh and Harry one more thing, despite what Albus has ever told you… I can read." (A/N: GF 24)
Harry had followed Aberforth back down into the living room. He watched as the old man sat in front of the fireplace where the fire had been relit. Harry turned and made his way up the staircase and entered his room. He slowly undressed and lay back down into bed.
A million thoughts ran through his mind. All he could think about was the Veil. Surely if it was some kind of portal then he could bring Sirius back. He remembered hearing voices behind the curtain. What if that was people who had died? But that didn't make sense. Aberforth had told him that he was trapped for eternity; but was that something this complicated spell could override? Nothing made sense anymore, if anything he was more confused then ever. He thought that maybe the story about the Veil was just that, a story. Anyway, he thought there wasn't anything he could do because no one knew how it worked or if it did. He figured it was the right thing, at least for the time being, to let it go.
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Harry was wretched from his slumber the next morning by three people jumping on his bed. Harry opened his eyes to see two red heads and one brunette come into focus.
"Harry," Hermione spoke, "you need to wake up now… Dumbledore is here."
He saw Ron sit on the sofa across the room, "Yea and the twins are coming… of course if you would rather have them get you up…"
Harry shot up into a sitting position, "No, I'm up I swear."
They all doubled up in laughter. He could only imagine what the twins had invented over the summer that would aid in awaking him. Glancing around, Harry saw that the others were already dressed.
"What time is it?"
A voice answered from the hallway, "Almost noon you lazy git."
A moment later Fred and George strolled into the room wearing black leather robes. They walked to the far side of the room in a catwalk style.
Ginny's jaw dropped, "Where on earth did you get those?"
"My young sister," George sat on the couch next to Ron, "They are the latest style"
Ron smirked, "Latest style for what exactly?"
Fred looked like he was about to retort but was interrupted, "Boys," Ginny interceded, "so I guess the shop is doing really well?"
George replied, "Yea… we have successfully opened another store in Hogsmeade. We rented an apartment with Lee there too. We would rather be closer to Hogwarts so that we can be certain that others are continuing to live up to our mayhem."
Harry laughed, "I don't think that anyone could do that."
Fred bowed, "Yes well that doesn't mean that they shouldn't try."
George pulled out a Chocolate Frog from his pocket, "Did Mum tell you who we saw the other day?"
They all shook their heads and Ron responded, "Are you kidding? You know she doesn't tell us anything."
"We saw Percy."
Ron looked confused, "Where in Diagon Alley?"
"No," George shook his head, "In Hogsmeade, apparently he is living there now… with Penelope Clearwater."
Harry mused as Ginny's jaw dropped once again, "Since when?"
"Dunno… but Mum wasn't too happy when we told her," George answered.
He continued, "Yea we were closing shop and he was walking by with her. He looked our way but they walked off. Percy is the same as always. He is too proud to admit that he was wrong. He was returned to his original job but he probably still idolizes Fudge."
Harry could still not forget the letter that Percy had written to Ron the previous year and all of the horrible things that he had said about him. He was not sure that he would ever be able to forget about that.
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Later that day Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had arrived. Harry was slightly intrigued when Mrs. Weasley told Lupin "not to worry and that his letter was delivered."
It was decided that all of them would spend the remaining days at the castle together. Fred and George had taken bedrooms on the fifth floor. They spent most of the time receiving demonstrations of the twin's new products such Coma Cakes which were successful in putting a person in a deep sleep for one hour per cake ingested. Harry could only imagine the madness that would ensue at Hogwarts with students slipping into comas conveniently before exams.
Harry had stuck with his original idea and had neglected to tell everyone about the information that Aberforth had given him about the Veil. Indeed Aberforth had acted like they had not even spoken that night. Harry noted that he mostly kept to himself sitting in front of the fire. When he did talk to people it was often one at a time and for a short period. Harry thought him a very odd bloke.
Before he knew it the day before they were returning to Hogwarts had come. The four were very eager to get back and see everyone. Ginny especially was going on and on about how much she couldn't wait to see Dean, much to Ron's consternation. Harry thought it was a little mean to keep working Ron up, but he thought it better to stay out of family disputes.
They were all sitting in the living room once again as the fire started to flash brighter. Harry looked over and saw the face of 'Mad Eye' Moody, magical eye and all. Harry saw the floating head yell out, "Albus, Aberforth…!"
Both of them quickly got up and moved in front of the fire.
Dumbledore spoke, "What is it Alastor?"
Moody looked very troubled, "The Village of Hogsmeade has been attacked; Tonks has already gone over along with Kingsley. I don't know much about the situation except that…" he hesitated for a moment, eyeing Aberforth closely, "I'm really sorry Aberforth but I believe that Hog's Head Inn was destroyed. If you want to go over go through the Three Broomsticks." With that, the head disappeared and the flames returned to their normal size.
Harry couldn't understand why he would care that deeply. But then it all clicked. Aberforth had been the keeper that he had seen the previous year. His hair was not as gray as he remembered but he was definitely the same tall and thin man. He couldn't believe that it had taken him this long to figure it out. It all made sense. That is probably where Dumbledore had stayed when he had been ousted by Umbridge. He also remembered Dumbledore telling him that he interviewed Trelawney there. He looked over and could see the hurt in Aberforth's eyes.
Aberforth spoke quietly, "I am very sorry Albus, but I must go and assess the damage. Hog's Head is my number one priority. I don't think I can fulfill your request for this year."
Dumbledore nodded his head and reached over to the pot of Floo Powder which he then handed over to his brother. Aberforth grabbed the powder. He stepped into the fireplace, threw the powder down and spoke clearly, "The Three Broomsticks."
Fred and George both got up from where they had been sitting and rushed over to the fireplace. Fred looked panicked, "We have to go too… we need to check on our shop and the apartment."
Mrs. Weasley got up, "Absolutely not! It is way too dangerous…" She was interrupted by Mr. Weasley who had placed his hand on her shoulder. "Molly, they are grown up now, they can go if they want to… but I think that I am going to go along also to see if I can be any help."
Mrs. Weasley looked grateful that he was going to and hugged her husband, "Be safe dear…" She stopped and looked like she was struggling with her thoughts. "Be sure to tell me if anyone was hurt."
He nodded and walked toward his sons. Harry watched as they all disappeared from site. He figured that Mrs. Weasley was torn over her need to make sure Percy was alright and her anger from the way he had acted. Harry thought it made sense, she was Percy's mother after all and that would never change.
Remus stood up, "I think I am going to go also… I could help with the clean up."
Dumbledore nodded knowingly and handed him the powder as well. The remaining people slowly returned to the couches.
Mrs. Weasley was slightly on edge and yelled at the four if they were too loud. Harry and Ron found a Wizard Chess board to play with. Harry lost even while being cheered on by Hermione and Ginny. Ron looked somewhat dismayed at the fact that no one was cheering him on, not that he needed it.
Dumbledore had walked out of the living room shortly after Remus left for Diagon Alley. But when Harry looked up he saw the professor who had just entered the doorway and was walking over to him.
"Harry, I wonder if I can speak to you for a moment."
Harry nodded and followed the professor out of the living room and into the long hallway with the doors on both sides. Harry watched as Dumbledore walked down to the fourth door on the left, He grasped the doorknob and pushed the door open, motioning for Harry to enter. Harry walked into the room and found what looked like a small study. It had a large oak desk in the center of them room. The walls had shelves, but instead of books, there were strange objects, similar to what the Moody impersonator had decorated his office with during Harry's fourth year.
Dumbledore sat in the large chair behind the desk and Harry sat in front on an armchair.
"I need your help with something Harry. You see, Aberforth had agreed to act as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year at Hogwarts."
Harry could not picture Aberforth teaching. He had never even seen him do any magic. The times that he had spent with him at the castle he was usually rather quiet, and he had regularly drunk from the bottle within his robes. But he also knew that Dumbledore appointed rather strange people to teaching positions before. Currently teaching at Hogwarts was a half giant, a centaur, an ex-death eater, and a ghost, among others.
"But as you have heard, Hog's Head was destroyed and if I know my brother he will want to rebuild it. I myself can put side enough time to teach the fifth, six, and seventh year DADA courses. But, I find I am without a teacher for the younger years. That is were you come in. I know that you had a large amount of success with the DA (Dumbledore's Army). What I am proposing Harry is that you provide me with the names of about eight people who you think would be willing to teach the lower classes. As incentive I will allow each person to forgo the exams in their own DADA class. I will be providing the exams and grading for all classes but I cannot spare the time to teach all of them."
Harry thought for a moment. "Well, I know I would love to teach and probably Hermione, Ron, and Ginny also. Let's see…umm… Oh Neville definitely, he improved so much… and Ernie Macmillan would probably love the challenge. I guess maybe Luna Lovegood, she fought at the Ministry with us and… and I guess Cho Chang."
Dumbledore scribbled the names down and nodded, "Very good choices, I will find a time when we get to Hogwarts to get all of you together to see if they would like to participate."
Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had all stayed up late that night talking. They were too excited about going back to Hogwarts that none of them could sleep.
Harry told them about teaching and they all seemed rather eager about doing it. Ginny was a little upset that Harry had not mentioned Colin for the job, as she was close with him. But Harry figured that despite his strange and somewhat awkward past with Cho, she was more prepared for the task. Finally late into the night they each returned to their respective rooms and attempted to go to sleep, all really thinking about the following day.
~~~~~~***~~~~~~***~~~~~~
The next morning the castle was filled with excitement. Everyone had got all of their trunks packed and brought them down to the entrance hall. Dumbledore had apparated to Hogsmeade earlier in the morning to assess the damage, and then he would be going to straight to Hogwarts. He had arranged for them to Floo to Hogsmeade where they would spend the day before the train arrived at night. Harry had not thought about the location of the castle, but apparently it was not that far away from Hogsmeade. That is why it was thought a waste for them to go to back to London to take the train. Harry figured that might have been the reason that Hogsmeade had been attacked. That Voldemort knew about the castle, not its exact location of course, but he could have an idea that they were with Dumbledore. The one thing that Harry regretted was that he hadn't been able to explore the castle more. After finding that storage room he was sure that there were most likely many interesting things hidden within its walls. He made a mental note to do more probing if he ever went back to the castle.
One by one, they had taken the Floo to The Three Broomsticks. Their luggage had been shrunk again and resided in the pockets of their robes.
Harry stumbled out of the fireplace in the Three Broomsticks and was relieved to see that it was indeed untouched. He walked past a couple of wizards who were sitting at the bar and continued outside. He looked off to the right. In the distance he could see an empty space littered with wood and stone where Hog's Head had once stood. Surprisingly it looked like most of the remaining buildings and shops were fine. That was except for Zonko's Joke Shop and Gladrags Wizardwear. Both of these stores had the front windows busted in and it looked as if the insides of the stores were a little trashed. He looked across the street to see a small store with the sign Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. He was relived to see that there appeared to be no damage, and with Zonko's out they were bound to make good business.
He turned around to see Ginny, Hermione, and Ron walking up behind him. Mrs. Weasley had said goodbye to them at the castle before they left as she was not going with them to Hogsmeade.
The four walked into Fred and George's shop and were given the full tour of merchandise. They also spent a large amount of the day at Honeyduke's where they replenished their sweet supply. When the twins had closed the shop down for the night they all went to The Three Broomsticks where they bought some butterbeer from Madam Rosmerta. The twins treated and provided them with extra to bring back up to the school with them.
Hermione noticed that it was getting late and that the Hogwart's Express would be pulling into the station shortly.
After saying goodbye to the twins they made there way up to the station where The Hogwart's Express would unload the rest of the students. They walked up and saw through the darkness two bright headlights a small ways off.
Just then Harry heard a familiar voice from behind them, "Hiya Harry!"
Harry turned around to see the Hogwart's gamekeeper, Hagrid walking along the platform toward them.
"Hello Hagrid."
Hagrid held out his hand which Harry shook intensely "So how was 'yur summer?"
Harry smiled, "Eventful."
"Well," Hagrid replied looking up the tracks, "Righ' then… the train looks like it's comin' in. Try and come fer a visit all righ' …yeh can tell me then wha' yeh bin up ter."
And with that he walked over toward the lake where the boats were awaiting the new first years. Harry was glad to see him once again. Hagrid had been his first real friend and he felt as if they would always have a special bond. He looked forward very much to meeting with him once he settled in.
Harry looked to the side of the platform and saw the stagecoaches… and the thestrals on front of them. He remembered learning about these winged horses the previous year. They were only visible to people who had seen death.
He pointed toward them, "I guess we should get a carriage before everyone gets off."
Hermione nodded in affirmation and waved them over to follow her to the coaches, as the huge scarlet steam engine had come to a full stop in the station. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny piled into one of the carriages in the front. They watched as all of the students exited the train and found their way to the coaches. Harry peered out over the crowd and could see Hagrid motioning for the frightened first years to follow him.
Finally, after what had seemed a couple of hours, the carriages slowly began to move up to the school. Harry looked out into the night sky and saw Hogwarts Castle growing in size as they approached.
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Avid reader: Hufflepuff, yea they are back at school and thanks for all of the reviews for each chapter
Hpfreak2001: hmmm…. Don't want to give away any secrets… sorry I know its annoying… but I will say don't give up hope ^_-
Akuma-sama: Thanks… as for your question; the dementors were able to get in because the Order was distracted by the attack on Diagon Alley.
Mella deRanged: there will be more on the Veil later on…
PhoenixPadfoot89: same as above and thanks
Luvvangel: thanks and I'll try to watch the annunciation
Pegasus: I do have the story mapped out but I don't know how many chapters yet… that changes.
Lady Game: tried to improve both for this chapter… how did I do?
Rishiy: umm…:shrugs:: well happy reading elsewhere then
Stevie: That is up to interpretation because I believe it said the dementors retreated into darkness (in PoA)… thus not all were defeated… but I could be wrong…oh well ^_-
I don't have time to write comments to everyone but I will say thanks to the rest of you who reviewed Chp 6. (I won't do this every chapter but everyone has been extremely encouraging) So thanks to Alynna Lis Eachann, AmethystStar, Anonymous, Athene Saile, BabyRose129, CeCe, Cokefreak, Coolerimmortal, Corrie, David305, Emilie, Fanyar, IanB, Krazymelmo5385, Lily Evans Potter Black Lupin, Lspencer, MaNdA, Marielle, me, Medieval Woman, Melcircus, Nic, Nykimstar, precious phoenix, ronslilprincess, Silent Bob, Star06, Stefanie, Tessa66, Trinity_unicorn, Tropic, Twilight Gurl. Keep reviewing!!
And as always…. Thanks to my beta "Bootstrap" Hufflepuff Jim II. Who loves Square One ^_^