A/N: I've started doing something I said I would never do. I'm writing the sequel to this one. As far as I'm concerned, sequels in fan fiction always suck, but I really needed to. I had so much fun writing this one that I'm bored now that all I have left to do is editing. Please forgive me!
On another note, what does everyone have against Ginny and Harry being a couple? I've had so many people writing to tell me that it's a horrible combination, but I love it! I don't understand... Anyhow, I promise that I haven't made this story into a romance, nor do I intend to, but I need to know why people are so against the one relationship that I can't leave alone. I mean, if not Ginny, then who else? It's either her or Hermione that are the only ones strong enough to take Harry on anyhow. They're the only ones who will really understand his past enough to see him as a real person. Since Hermione seems to be well and truly taken, there's only one other option. SO DON'T COMPLAIN WHEN THE SEQUEL COMES OUT!!!!!!!
Sorry, I just had to vent there for a second.
Disclaimer: I won't be making any money from the sequel either.
Chapter Twenty-five –
Hermione's Big Find
Once the formalities were out of the way, and the pack inducted properly into the order, Dumbledore explained to them what had been happening. He was more than a little surprised to hear that most of the information wasn't new to them, and made it clear that their ability to dig up information they shouldn't know was the only reason that he was allowing them into the order. The danger of letting them search out information unsupervised could tear everything that they had worked for to shreds.
After the meeting, the Grangers met them all at the top of the stairs.
"Mum! Dad!" Hermione shrieked, and ran forward to hug her parents.
"Hello, Hermione! How've you been at school? No more problems?" Hermione's father sounded a little edgy as he asked, and no one could blame him. The attack on their house last summer had been stressful, from what Hermione had told them. There had been round the clock surveillance of their house ever since. The Grangers had to be pretty sick of the whole thing.
"It's been crazy, and there was one attack on Hogsmeade, the closest town, but Hogwarts is well protected so they didn't go near the school. Otherwise, I'm all right. Still getting amazing marks, and such."
Mr. Granger nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone else noted how little Hermione had really told her father. She hadn't even told him that she had been present at the time of the attack, much less that she'd been involved and had saved people's lives.
By the stilted way they were acting, Harry could see that a rift was forming between Hermione and her parents. After five years of half-summers spent with them, and only a few Christmases at home, it was unavoidable that there would be some hesitation. It was a little sad to now see her forced into lying to her own parents. Harry could see that if she were to tell the truth, then her parents would take her out of Hogwarts, and she would run the risk of losing her place in the wizarding world.
Neville tapped Harry, Ginny, Luna and Ron on the shoulder to get their attentions, and they all shifted away from Hermione and the Grangers a bit. "Would you guys like to come and meet my parents? He asked quietly, so that Hermione wouldn't hear.
Harry looked at the rest of the group inquiringly, and they all nodded.
They quietly slipped away to let Hermione reacquaint herself with her family.
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Frank and Alice Longbottom sat in plush chairs facing the black windows that Harry had seen earlier from the outside. There was a plate of sandwitches between them, and they looked reasonably healthy from what Harry could see of them.
Both of them were pale and thin, unlike their vibrant plump selves Harry had seen once in a photograph. Their skin hung in certain places that had once been filled with fat, and their hands shook as they reached for more sandwiches.
At least they were eating, and Harry could have sworn that he'd heard a bit of loud conversation from out in the hall.
"MUM? DAD?" Neville had opened the door into the room, and gestured the others to follow him. He obviously had to speak loudly because neither parent's hearing was up to scratch, and it probably would never be. From the way he spoke, it was obvious that he didn't want them to realize he was yelling.
"Neville!" Mrs. Longbottom said, looking startled. "My, how you've grown! You're the very image of Frank at that age! I should be seeing you more often than once a month now!" She scolded.
"MUM, YOU ONLY SAW ME JUST TWO WEEKS AGO." He reminded her gently, without any scorn or laughter.
"Oh, did I?" she asked, looking confused. "I must have forgotten."
"And who are these people?" Mr. Longbottom interrupted. "James! It's been years, hasn't it?" he asked, looking at Harry.
Harry cleared his throat to speak at the same volume as Neville. "I'M NOT JAMES, I'M HIS SON, HARRY. PLEASED TO MEET YOU." He held out his hand politely for him to shake.
Mr. Longbottom started, looking slightly afraid, and pulled away without taking the proffered hand. "That's right!" He said, sounding as though this were something he had just remembered. "James and Lily were killed, weren't they? Of course you couldn't be him."
Harry nodded, feeling as though the introductions had been pretty much ruined by the comment. Mr. Longbottom still looked reluctant to shake his hand, so he lowered his arm, and stuck it uselessly in his pocket.
Neville, obviously used to his parent's forgetfulness ignored the unintended barb and introduced the others in a loud voice.
"Molly Prewett's children?" Mrs. Longbottom asked Ginny and Ron. "I knew her brothers. Good men, Gideon and Fabian were. Too bad about what happened to them."
Harry hadn't known what Molly Weasley's maiden name was. He remembered something from the summer before last. Mad-Eye Moody had showed him a picture of the whole Order of the Phoenix as they were sixteen years before. That had been the picture in which Harry had seen the healthier Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom. The Prewetts had also been in the picture, and Moody had explained that they had been killed by Voldemort.
Molly Weasley had lost her family to Voldemort too.
Looking at the very near to decrepit Longbottoms, then over to the stunned looking Ron and Ginny who had lost uncles they had never known, then on to Luna, whose father was muggleborn and as such, in extreme danger. Each of them was on Voldemort's list of possible victims for a different reason.
All of them were waiting for him to be a murderer.
Harry had to grow up fast.
"They asked me about you, you know."
"Excuse me?" Harry asked, confused, then spoke again, a little louder so they could hear him. "EXCUSE ME?
Mr. Longbottom restated the comment. "They asked me about you."
"I KNOW." Harry said, looking at his feet with shame.
"Then you're the one?" Mrs. Longbottom interrupted Harry's thoughts.
"I AM."
"It's for sure?"
"YES."
"Good."
Harry was confused for a moment, before Mrs. Longbottom explained. "As long as it isn't Neville, then we're happy. We want him safe and out of the line of fire."
Personally, Harry thought so too, and he was impressed that Mrs. Longbottom had recovered to the point where such things had become important.
Neville grinned, and Harry knew that he'd just understood how lucky he truly was.
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Remus was good to his word, and early the next morning at six o'clock, he and Harry were sitting in the Study working on warping charms.
"The incantation is 'Cambre'" Remus told him. "I'm going to send a light disarming charm at you, and I want you to aim not for me, but for the charm itself. Ready?"
Harry nodded.
"Expelliarmus." Remus muttered, just as Harry yelled, "Cambre!"
The two spells collided in midair, and the disarming charm shifted to the left, whizzing past Harry's shoulder.
"Very good! Now I'll try a tougher one. Hmm... how about the tickling jinx?" He smirked.
Harry nodded.
"Rictusempra!"
"Cambre!"
Again the spell shifted to the left and went over his shoulder.
"Great! Now try to imagine you want it to go somewhere specific. Send it towards the back of the door. Just concentrate really hard on where it will head. Ready?"
"Right."
"Rictusempra!" said Remus.
"Cambre!" said Harry thinking hard about the back of the door just to his right.
The beam of light thudded against the door and left a light scorch mark on the lower right hand corner.
"You're fast at this. I had forgotten." Remus praised.
"Thanks!" Harry said, flushed with excitement.
"All right, I'll turn and aim at that lampshade there, and I want you to catch the spell as it's moving, and warp it towards the door. It's different when you aren't catching a spell that's aimed at you, but this could save a friend some day. Ready?"
Harry nodded.
Remus shot towards the lampshade and the first two times it was attempted, Harry missed, but he got it on the third shot and didn't miss again after that.
"Good job!" Remus nodded at the grouping of scorch marks on the back of the door. "We'll have to do something about that. I think I can remember a whitewashing charm..."
Harry grinned. "Do it again." He said quickly. "This time, I'm aiming for the handle."
Remus raised his eyebrows. "That small a target is difficult for spell warping. You sure you want to?"
"Why not?"
"All right." Remus muttered. "I've never seen it happen, but it can't hurt to try."
"Go then."
"Rictusempra!"
"Cambre!"
The door chose that very moment to open, and the spell hit Ron in a very embarassing and uncomfortable spot. He let out a grunt of alarm, then collapsed to the floor in a fit of uncontrollable squirming giggles.
Ron could hardly breathe he was laughing so hard. His legs and arms twitched and contorted, and he clutched at his sides trying to supress the sensation. Harry knew that hitting a wizard in that particular spot with any jinx amlified the jinx' effects. Although the incantation was very different, Harry was unpleasantly reminded of Percy's attack back in July.
"Finite Incantatem." Harry said quickly, and he and Remus rushed over to help Ron up.
"Sorry about that mate." Harry said quickly. "You just walked through our target."
"No problem." Ron chuckled, trying to regain his balance. "Glad it wasn't something too horrible. No bat-bogeys or anything."
Harry laughed. "That one's a Ginny classic. No one else is allowed to use it."
Ron gave Harry a funny look.
"What?"
"Nothing." Ron said quickly.
"No, I mean what did you need us for?"
"Oh, that. Mum's got us all cleaning out the attic. She wants it done as quickly as possible. She knows you're busy, but she wanted to ask if you can come help whenever you finish?"
"All right. We're just about done here. I'll head up there in fifteen minutes."
Ron nodded.
"Ron?" Harry caught him just as he was about to close the door.
"Hmm?"
"Next time knock. Not that I care that you know what's going on, but the back of the door makes a very good target, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt."
"Right." Ron said sheepishly. "We'll have to find some sort of charm to protect the...erm... you know... from attack. It's a vulnerable spot mate."
Harry laughed. "I'll try and look something up for the DA."
Ron nodded with a dark red complexion, and left the room.
"Try again?" Harry asked once Ron was gone.
It was quickly proved that not only did Harry Potter learn things quickly, he also had the best aim out of any wizard Remus knew.
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Harry had only just put a foot on the stairs that led to the attic the very moment that he heard Hermione scream loudly. He raced up the steps, and slammed himself through the door.
"What!" He panted. "What happened?"
"Look what I've found! Oh you'll never believe... I've been looking everywhere! Just what was it doing here I wonder?!"
The others were gathered together peering over her shoulder at the thing in her lap.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that what she held was a book.
Leave it to Hermione to scream when she finds a good book. He thought to himself.
"What is it?" he asked.
She carefully folded the aged brown leather-bound book closed, and held it up for him to try to make out the illegible black script on the front.
"Sorry." Harry said squinting, adjusting his glasses and moving closer. "I can't quite make it out."
"This is Ravenclaw's book!" she nearly shrieked brandishing the book like a shield in front of her face.
Harry looked closer at the cover, and realized it said The Four Founders of Hogwarts by Rowena Ravenclaw. The letters were faded and the cover slightly abused over the years, but it was in remarkably fine condition for such an old text.
The gold edges of the pages were crisp and no nicks were visible. The ink had dried the first pages to each other, but with light careful encouragement, they separated to reveal the feminine looking decorated cursive.
Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor: The First Seven Years"Ooooh!" Hermione squealed. "I'm going to have to show this to Dumbledore! And I'll take it to Madam Pince! Oh, and professor Flitwick! Maybe with him being the head of Ravenclaw house, he would know what to do about this!" She made a concerted effort to flip to the next page. This one was considerably more stuck together, and Hermione huffed in frustration.
"Hermione! Calm down!" Ron touched her shoulder lightly. "You're going to wreck it if you try to tear those pages apart."
She flipped the book closed reluctantly. "Maybe I should just take it to Dumbledore. See if he can get it open."
"Hermione, may I see that?" Harry asked.
"Sure." She handed it carefully to him with two hands, and he took it in much the same manner.
Harry opened to the first page easily.
Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor: The First Seven Years
He carefully ran his hand along the gold foil on the page edges, wondering if there might be some sort of charm holding them closed.
To his surprise, as he stroked the edges, the seal holding the ink stuck together was broken, and the next page lifted away.
"I think I got it." He told Hermione uselessly, since she was already nearly hyperventillating trying to see what the next page said.
"Here." He said, handing it to her. "Just stroke the gold, and it unsticks."
"Thanks!" She said reverently.
They all waited with baited breath while she read the opening few paragraphs. She went to turn the page, reaching over and stroking the gold leaf lightly.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
"Um, maybe I'm just doing it wrong?" she asked Harry, and handed the book to him.
He stroked the gold, and the next page unstuck. "I'm not sure there is a wrong way. It seems to work just fine." He handed her back the book.
As an experiment, she stroked the gold again.
Still, the next page did not turn.
"Here, you try." She handed it to Ron.
He touched the gold, and ran his fingers down the edge. The third page turned easily. He shrugged and handed it back.
Still, the pages would not turn for Hermione.
Ron began to laugh. "Finally, we've found a book that doesn't like Hermione back!"
"It's not funny Ron!" she huffed, and handed it to Ginny to try.
The fourth page turned for Ginny.
The fifth page turned for Neville.
Neville didn't bother handing it back to Hermione, but passed it directly to Luna. Luna took the book wordlessly, but didn't bother to try. "Oh, it won't work for me either."
"But why?" Hermione pressed her lips together in a thin frustrated line. "Give it a try anyway. I'm going to figure this out if it kills me."
Luna ran her finger across the gold. As she had predicted, nothing happened.
"How did you know?" Hermione asked. "What did you do differently than them?"
"Oh, I didn't do anything differently. It's just that I have the same history you do. My grandparents were all muggles. My parents, even though they were both magical, were muggleborn. I have a feeling that the book wants to make sure it's not giving away any secrets to muggles or to their children."
"A book that discriminates against muggleborns? Are you crazy? I thought Ravenclaw was supposed to be open minded! Why would she do something like this? That sounds more like something Slytherin would do!" She sat down in the dust with a huff of displeasure.
Ron took the book back and examined it. Harry looked over his shoulder. Ron grimaced, and pulled his hand away from the spine in disgust. It was covered in a fine layer of brown leather speckles. They both noticed what it meant at the same time, and looked quickly at each other, then at Hermione who was contemplating the floor.
Harry watched Ron analyze the speckles on his hand. "Um Hermione, when a leather covered book is first opened, you have to crack the spine right?" He looked intently at the spine, which before had been flawless, and was now missing tiny chunks of its wax coating.
She nodded, still not looking at him.
"And old leather books used to be varnished with wax once they were finished, to preserve the leather?"
Again, she nodded. "They stopped doing that about nine-hundred years ago. Oil works much more effectively. The wax would usually crack away after about fifty years." She looked up at Ron's hand. It only took her a second before she gasped in amazement.
"It's never been opened!" She shrieked.
Ron and Harry nodded together. Ginny, Luna and Neville gasped.
"You mean, like brand new? Never been read?" Neville asked in amazement.
Ron nodded. "Well, no one could have read it since after the leather dried out and the wax hardened, which has to be at least since Ravenclaw died. The spine is not nearly broken enough for it to have even been used much in her lifetime."
"That muggleborn thing doesn't make sense either." Harry interrupted. "Why would it open for me if my mother was muggleborn? It couldn't possibly be a discriminatory measure. From what we know of Ravenclaw, she wasn't like that."
Hermione nodded. "If I could read it, then it might say something about the charm holding it closed."
"Right." Ron said, closing the book, and handing it to her.
Hermione opened the cover, and turned to the first page again. Once more, the second page would not turn over for her. She looked as though the only thing stopping her from tossing the book out the dusty attic window was the thought that the book was so incredibly valuable.
Harry quickly took the book from her and stroked the first two pages open. "Just read for now. We'll clean, and you can tell us if you find something interesting or if you need the page turned."
Hermione nodded, looking very grateful, and the others distributed themselves across the dusty attic, carefully packing dark magical artifacts away into large cloth sacks.
After about an hour of cleaning, and listening to Hermione say odd things like; "Did you know that Helga Hufflepuff had fourteen children?" and "Would you believe it if I told you that Salazar Slytherin killed his own first wife when she told him she was barren? I can't believe people back then were so barbaric."
To which Ron replied. "Not everyone was that barbaric back then, just Slytherin."
"Oh wow!" She gasped in disbelief just when she seemed to be reaching the end of the fourth chapter. –Everyone knew where she was in the book, because she needed them to turn the pages for her each time.
"What is it?" Harry asked, wiping an unnamed and particularily disgusting slimy brown substance off his palm and on to the dusty windowsill.
"Um.. did you know that both Slytherin and Gryffindor killed each other?"
"What?!" Harry asked her in disbelief. "How is that possible?"
"Well, Rowena doesn't know the details, because she was at the school at the time, but apparently Slytherin had amassed a small army of wizards, and attacked Gryffindor's home castle. Gryffindor had only just left the school to fight Slytherin's army, and his men weren't properly prepared. The men were killed, and the castle burnt to ashes."
"Well, what happened to Gryffindor?" Harry asked curiously.
"He and Slytherin had a one on one duel during the battle, and Gryffindor was killed. Slytherin was badly injured though, and after he returned to his home, he died from blood-loss."
"Didn't they try any blood replenishing potions?" Neville asked.
Luna scoffed. "Blood replenishing potions were invented in the sixteenth century, Neville. That was much later than the founders' time."
Neville shrugged. "Oh."
"Ugh!" Hermione exclaimed, her mouth flattening out into a disgusted scowl.
"What?" Ron asked, trying to read over her shoulder.
"It says here, 'Godric Gryffindor's daughter and his two young sons watched horrified from the safety of the forbidden forest while Slytherin's army raised their father's decapitated head onto a pole overlooking the gates of their burning home.' That's horrible! Those poor children!" She stared sadly at the book for another moment, before shutting it. "Rowena Ravenclaw certainly didn't skimp on the details. I don't think I really want to read more of this right now."
"Tell you what." Said Harry flatly. "I think reading that sort of material could be rather uplifting for me. Do you think I could read it next?"
"Sure. Sirius would have probably given it to either you or Remus anyhow if he'd known that it was here." She handed the book to him carefully, then scrunched up her nose at the brown speckles on her palm. "You might want to get madam Pince to look at the condition of the leather before you do. She knows a number of useful restoration spells for older books. We wouldn't want the spine to completely crumble away."
"All right," Harry said, walking towards the door, "I'll put it into my trunk, and first thing I'll do when we're back at Hogwarts is take it to her."
