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DISCLAIMER We don't own the HP or LotR canon characters.

…

Harry turned around and looked at the glass behind him. "Family chamber?"

Merlin nodded. "Through the archway behind you, you shall find the Book of your ancient bloodline. Only you as the Head of your House can read it."

"Okay." Harry was confused. "But how do I get to it?"

"Walk through the glass, of course," Merlin answered with a smile. Upon seeing Harry's skeptical look, he laughed. "You have been recognized as the Head of the House of Potter. You will now be admitted to the Chamber."

Harry stood and walked up to the glass. It looked solid. "Go on," he heard Merlin gently urge him.

Taking a deep breath, Harry took a hesitant step forward. As he stepped through the glass, the air around him felt like liquid flowing over his skin, yet strangely dry. It was a very odd sensation. It took two steps to enter the chamber and the air inside was heavy with the stale mustiness of ancient pages. But there was something else that Harry felt inside the small room that touched what he could only describe as the core of his magical being.

The chamber itself was cut of the same dark rock that the large hall was and rough to the touch. The floor was rough as well, but when Harry looked down, he saw that a narrow path had been worn smooth by the footsteps of his ancestors reaching back to the day that the Book was placed in the chamber by Saruman the White himself.

Bright torches flashed to life as Harry passed them by. He saw the Book resting on a tall wooden pedestal in the center of the room. As he approached and placed his hands on the Book's cover, the stand trembled slightly and seemed to melt before his eyes until it stood at a comfortable reading level. Intrigued, Harry bent down for a closer look and was surprised to feel life in the gnarled wood.

Gently, he eased the Book open. The pages were filled with a strangely beautiful flowing script unlike anything Harry had ever seen. He had no idea where to start and was concerned by the fact that he had never seen the language before in his life. But like all things, the only place to start was in the beginning.

As Harry looked at the first page that had no doubt been written eons before anyone he'd ever known had been born, the characters and words suddenly began to make sense to him. The Tengwar runes came alive and spoke to him.

Harry stepped back suddenly and cocked his head. 'Tengwar?' he thought. 'What's Tengwar?'
His curiosity quickly overcame him, though, and he approached the Book again. He softly ran his fingers over the pages as the words became clear.

"Herein lies the tale of the descendents of Saruman the White. I, Saruman, have laid this book in the chamber of the House of Potter, on the 25th day of March in the year 1018 of the Third Age of the world. The House of Potter shall here be recorded by each Head of the House and added to by the generations."

Harry paused after reading the words written by his ancestor. Saruman had been a great Wizard. He could feel the ancient power that the White Wizard had left behind. Suddenly he understood the feeling that had washed over him when he'd first entered the Chamber. He wondered if every one of the Chambers had that feeling, or if only the White Wizard had left behind such a presence.

It felt like hours as Harry read through hundreds of pages of runes written by all of his ancestors. One of his ancestors had been worshipped in a small town in a land called Ithilien as a healer. Another had fought off several creatures called Orcs from attacking the village. Several had fought in an alliance forever after referred to as the Men of the West. One was the last herald of King Elessar and King Eldarion after him. Many had lived in Minas Tirith.

Gradually, the entries began mentioning things that sounded more like the world that Harry was familiar with. There were knights from the Middle Ages. Some were beheaded for practicing magic during the English civil war. His first ancestor to go to Hogwarts was a man named Elias Kent Potter in 999 AD.

Harry stopped reading once he reached the second half of the twentieth century. It took a few moments of preparation before he could bring himself to read the last entry in the book – one written by James Potter.

Tears gathered in Harry's eyes as he read the words that his father had written over twenty years ago. Reading the account of his father in his family's sacred Book made him feel closer to him than he had ever felt before.

Finally, Harry felt it time to return to the Council room. He was surprised, to say the least, to find only Dumbledore and Merlin waiting for him. Merlin said nothing, only smiled at Harry and let Dumbledore lead him away.