Chapter Two: Professor Coe
Harry fell onto the ground, not quite sure where the portkey had brought him. He stood and straightened his cloak, and tucked his invisibility cloak into his trunk. He glanced around, not recognizing his surroundings. He looked to be in the entry of a very large and old house. The walls were thankfully free of beheaded house elves, but there were a great number of paintings and portraits that hung on the deep mahogany walls.
With a much more graceful appearance, Coe appeared beside Harry a few moments later, the old boot he had used as a portkey in his hand.
"What the bloody hell just happened?" Harry demanded.
"We set a bit of a trap," Coe explained, taking off his cloak. "We knew that the Death Eaters were planning on attacking your aunt and uncle's house the moment you turned seventeen. It was the first moment when the blood magic Dumbledore set up all those years ago would run out."
"Who told you that was going to happen?" Harry asked.
"We had a source," Coe replied.
"If it was-" Harry began but Coe cut him off.
"No, Harry, it was not Severus Snape," Coe said quickly, steering away from the subject he knew was sensitive to Harry. "As much as we would all like to trust Severus, and believe that he was acting on Dumbledore's orders, we do not have any evidence of that. And until he shows something that would lead us to believe he was not working for Voldemort all along, he is wanted for the murder of Albus Dumbledore. Murdering the headmaster of the school doesn't go unnoticed, or unpunished."
"Good," Harry said bitterly. Dumbledore's death he could deal with, and was dealing with rather well. He had his moments, but Snape was one thing that would always make him angry.
Coe continued his explanation while ushering Harry into the kitchen. "So we knew that you were going to be attacked. We decided to spring a bit of a trap of our own. We got you out of there and to safety and made your house appear to be already destroyed. While you portkied out of there, Aurors were Apparating in to capture as many Death Eaters as possible."
"Who is 'we'?" Harry asked.
"The Order of the Phoenix," Coe replied and waved his wand at a tea kettle. "But slightly different and tweaked than you would remember. We are now working with the complete support of the Ministry."
"Voldemort was there," Harry said.
"Was he?" Coe asked, and looked around at Harry. "How do you know?"
"My scar was bursting with pain," Harry said and rubbed his hand over his scar, which now felt normal. "It does that when he's close by."
"Hmm," Coe said and fiddled with two steaming mugs. "Tonks is going to give me a report as soon as everything gets settled. But for tonight, you are welcome to stay here. This is my home, by the way. And tomorrow we should go into Diagon Alley and to Gringotts. And I believe I promised you a birthday dinner!"
"Any particular reason for going into Diagon Alley?" Harry asked. "I'm not going back to Hogwarts, you know."
Coe pushed a mug full of steaming hot chocolate towards him and Harry wrapped his hands around it, sending the warmth through his body.
"We've got some things to discuss, Harry," Coe said sitting down.
"I doubt I'll have any use for what you have to say if it doesn't involve those horcruxes," Harry replied coldly. "You said you would be able to help."
Coe sighed. "Well, then you'll have to listen to the non-relevant stuff for the relevant stuff to have any meaning."
"All right," Harry said.
"First off, Hogwarts will remain open. It was the wish of a dying old man that Hogwarts stay open in his departure. The Board of Governors sees no reason why the school should be closed if there are students who wish to learn, and if there is an acceptable Headmaster or Headmistress. The Board has decided that Professor McGonagall was indeed acceptable, if not suitably qualified. As for the staff, security measures and restrictions will be taken of course and-"
"Security measures?" Harry asked.
"All teachers must be approved by the Board of Governors, not just the Headmistress, for starters," Coe said. "Anyone with any sort of criminal past, regardless if they were ever convicted, will not be able to teach. All accusations against a student or teacher will not be taken lightly, though that is not a widely known fact. We don't want students coming to us with every petty problem just to get back at the other student."
"Makes sense," Harry replied.
"Indeed," Coe nodded. "But continuing on with my non-relevant ramble. You, Harry, are asked to, not required mind you, to return to school and complete your seventh and final year at Hogwarts. This request comes from many of the teachers who feel that you have the ability to do greatness in our world, even after you defeat Voldemort. Many people believe in you, Harry, and they want you to have a life and a future post Voldemort. Remember this comes as a suggestion. Everyone involved is prepared for you to say no. But everyone involved believes in you."
Harry nodded and stared into his cocoa.
"Here is where a slight amount of trickery on our part begins. We feel, and we being myself, Dumbledore, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt, and a few others, feel that in order to give you an element of surprise in a battle against Voldemort, that you appear to not take Voldemort seriously. Under this pretense, you will be offered private lessons, to learn to defend and attack."
"Who's going to teach me?" Harry asked.
"A combination of people," Coe replied. "Everyone I just mentioned."
"With the exception of Dumbledore," Harry said.
"Actually, no," Coe replied. "There are ways he can still teach you, even from the grave. It won't be quite as personal as the rest of your teachings, but you will find them rewarding none the less."
"What will I be learning?"
"Whatever the individual teacher feels you might need."
"Oh."
"This suggestion, if you will, does come with some requirements, none that should be too hard to accept," Coe said. "First, you will remain Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, and continue to play Quidditch. Second, you should continue to date Miss Ginny Weasley. That is-" Coe's tone changed when he saw Harry's expression change at the mention of Ginny. "-if you want to. But I highly recommend it."
"I'll have to think about that one," Harry replied. "It would be putting her in a awful lot of danger."
"Not any more than she already is, and she will be quite safe while at school," Coe countered. "I assure you, she will be much safer at school than she was before. We are making sure of that."
"What else are my requirements?" Harry asked.
"You need to not push your friends away," Coe stated. "You will need them in the end. You will need Ron's strategic thinking, and Hermione's logical problem solving, and Ginny's feisty courage, and Neville's undaunting loyalty, and Luna's unique point of view. You will need your friends for strength and purpose. Don't assume that because this prophecy has your name written on it, that you are the only one who can do anything. They will be there with you till the end. And I doubt that your friends will want you making the choice for them to stay out of the way and away from danger. Don't cheat them of their chance to help you."
"And you know this how?"
"There were a lot of things stored in Dumbledore's pensive," Coe said simply.
"Anything else?"
"Two things actually," Coe replied. "One of the things you will be taught is Occlumency, and in time Legilimency. These two will be incredibly important to your survival during any confrontation with Voldemort. You must master them, and you must take it seriously. You've seen first hand how easy it can be for another skilled Legilimens to know what spell to ward off. Snape was just a taste of Voldemort."
The mention of Snape's name made Harry's blood boil. His narrowed his eyes and glared at his mug. Snape. Snape. If anyone had bothered to listen to him about Snape...
Harry quickly pushed his anger back down. Over the past few weeks he had gotten quite good at keeping his emotions under control.
"The last thing?" Harry asked, looking up at Coe.
Coe smiled. "Well, as your new Head of Gryffindor House, Harry, it is quite an honor to inform you that you have been chosen to be the new Head Boy."
Harry about fell off his chair. "I've been what?"
"You're Head Boy, Harry," Coe repeated. "It was actually a unanimous vote, across the staff. Now this has nothing and everything to do with Voldemort. On one hand, it is something you deserve, and I'm quite sure you would have been Head Boy if there was no prophecy and no Voldemort. On the other hand, this will allow you to appear to remain aloof to Voldemort."
"But I wasn't a Prefect," Harry protested.
"Neither was your father."
"Did you know my father?"
"That's neither here nor there."
"Did you know my father?" Harry asked again.
"Yes, I did," Coe replied. "But the story isn't nearly as interesting as you'd like it to be, Harry. I was at school with him, in Gryffindor. I was a year below your father. I played Quidditch with him on the house team."
"Oh," Harry replied. Hagrid had said he wrote to all his parent's school friends, asking for photos. This was probably one of those friends, nothing more than team mates and housemates.
"Does all this sound acceptable to you?" Coe asked.
"I'm still not sure about the Head Boy part, and I'll think about putting Ginny in that sort of danger," Harry replied. "But I do agree with the logic behind it. I'm no where ready to face Voldemort and the best place to learn is at the school. But I have a few requirements myself."
"I thought you might," Coe said, smirking. "Lets hear them."
"First, I want the trust of the staff to allow me to come and go as I need to. I fully intend to find the other horcruxes, and will need to leave the school from time to time. Also, I reserve the right to take anyone I want with me."
"Sixth year or above," Coe said. "And I'd appreciate if it you would at least let me know when you leave and how long you expect to be gone."
"Well, of course sixth year or above," Harry replied. "And if for some reason I need someone lower, then I'll have to get permission and show reasonable cause. And yes I'll let you know, unless I forget to, or I can't tell you, then, well... sorry."
"Fair enough," Coe replied. "Anything else?"
"I'd like for Ginny and Luna to get their Apparition licenses, if they choose to. Knowing they are closest to me will put them in danger and I want them to be able to escape."
"The Apparition license age is being dropped to fifteen years of age and above," Coe said. "If they qualify, anyone fifteen and sixteen can receive and Restricted Apparition license to use with parents or guardians or in the event of an emergency. So that shouldn't be a problem."
"Then I think that about covers it," Harry said and drained his mug. "Do I get to hear the relevant stuff now?"
Coe sighed and removed his glasses. "I'd hoped you would forget until the beginning of term or at least until the morning." Coe paused and refilled Harry's mug. "I have information regarding the reaming possessions of Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw. Dumbledore believed that Voldemort might have sought other heirlooms from the other two founders to use as his horcruxes. I have not been able to locate the remaining Ravenclaw decedents, and one of the decedents of Gryffindor has gone missing, I'm afraid. I have checked on all of Gryffindor's other possessions, and they are safely in the vault, but the one thing that the missing Gryffindor had in her possession was not at her house, or her vault, nor the Gryffindor vault."
"Did Dumbledore know about this?"
"He was informed that there was no other surviving Gryffindor relics," Coe replied. "However, the decedents of Gryffidnor felt no need to make public what was remaining and what wasn't. Therefore, after Dumbledore initial request regarding the surviving relics, the vaults were checked and everything, with the exception of one piece, was accounted for."
"Do you have any names of these people?"
"The Ravenclaw bloodline seems to have died off about fifty years ago. Their name was Shale. And the missing Gryffindor is Marian Cunning. She married a Muggle-born and never had any children."
"Are there any other Gryffindors?" Harry asked.
"There is one more that is alive, though its quite a surprise he is. It was through him that I was able to check the contents of the Gryffindor vault."
"Why did Dumbledore contact you?" Harry asked.
"He knew he could trust me," Coe replied. "He was something like my great great uncle or something like that. I'm from his mother's sister's line and he always had a soft spot for me. His sister married my great grandfather, I believe."
"You're related to Dumledore?" Harry asked.
"Barely," Coe laughed. "Besides, you, of all people, Harry, should know that its not nice to judge people based on their families."
"True," Harry replied. "You said something of Ms. Cunning's was missing. What was it?"
"A pocket watch," Coe replied. "It had an ornate carving of a griffin on the front panel. Passed down from first born to first born, normally eldest son to eldest son, that is until Marian's mother was born. She was the first born, and the first eldest child to be a daughter. It was a first in a long line of Gryffindor who had before her produced first born males. And even more surprisingly, Marian's own first born was a daughter. So the watch went from Marian's grandfather to Marian's mother, then to Marian herself, as she was the eldest. She had a younger brother, he was the one I spoke of a moment ago, the other Gryffindor decedent. They didn't get along much, and that watch was the reason for it."
"What was her brother's name?" Harry asked.
"Oh, it was quite appropriate," Coe replied, and rolled his eyes. "They named him Godric."
"Is there anymore information you have?" Harry asked.
"No, I'm sorry," Coe replied. "But I might be able to help you with the Ravenclaws and Shales. They were old friends of the family."
"I'd like to see Gryffindor's vault," Harry stated. "I want to make sure everything is there."
"I've already told you-"
"And since I'm the one who has to defeat him, I want to know for myself that when I do it, it will be for good. I don't want any secret horcruxes showing up that we thought didn't exist. And I don't want to search for one to discover it was something else all along."
"Fair enough," Coe said. "How about tomorrow?"
"Can this Godric character be available tomorrow? It is awfully short notice," Harry said.
"It should be fine," Coe said. "We need to get your Apparition license tomorrow as well as show you your vaults."
"Vaults? I only have one."
"You have the fault your parents set up for you," Coe explained. "There is also your parent's vault, and the Black vault that you haven't been to yet, and the Potter family vault. You gained access to those when you turned seventeen."
"How do you know all this?" Harry asked, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable that this man who he knew nothing about knew so much about him.
"I've already told you," Coe replied. "Dumbledore wrote me a letter explaining a lot of things in it. I've also seen his pensive. I've also paid attention to what people have told me."
"People talk about me? How?"
"For instance, it was mentioned once, just in passing, that you were the new Gryffindor Seeker, and that you were the youngest player in a century. That had to mean that you were quite a good flyer. There was nothing about your Quidditch abilities in the pensive or the letter."
"How much do people know about me?" Harry asked.
"More than you'd think they know about some things, and less about some things you'd think they'd know a lot about."
"Do you get your cryptic responses from the Dumbledore side of the family?" Harry asked.
"Probably," Coe replied and nodded thoughtfully. "Often drives people quite mad."
The next morning, walking through Diagon Alley, Harry was slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't that he wasn't used to the staring and whispering wherever he went, he just still didn't like it, and it still made him uncomfortable. He followed Coe up the steps of Gringotts and into the wizard bank. Coe conversed with a goblin at the counter before being led down to a cart which would take them to their desired vaults.
Their first stop was Harry's vault, where he withdrew a fair amount of gold, as he didn't know when his next chance to withdraw gold would be. The next stop was the Black family vault.
"Traditionally," Coe said as they stepped out of the cart, "the family vaults are passed from head of the family, to the succeeding head, normally father to eldest son. Since Sirius didn't have an eldest son, he passed this vault to you. No other Black can access this vault. Its old magic, similar to the one that binds Kreacher to you."
"What do I have to do?" Harry asked.
"Stand in front of the door," their goblin guide instructed. Harry did so and after a moment of wondering if he looked as silly as he felt, his body tingled and the vault door vanished.
Harry took in the contents of the vault, not sure what to make of it. True it was vast, and there was a great amount of gold everywhere, but...
"Were the Black's an untidy family?" Coe asked, peering into the vault from behind Harry.
"I honestly don't know," Harry replied. There were papers strewn about, and trunks overturned. "I didn't think so."
"It looks as though someone was looking for something," Coe commented.
"When was this vault last accessed?" Harry asked the goblin.
"The twenty-fifth of August, in the wizard year of nineteen eighty one," the goblin replied promptly.
"Do you know by who?" Harry asked.
"Mr. Canopus Black," the goblin replied. "Do you require this vault any longer, sir?"
"No, I don't need to see it any more," Harry said, stepping away from the vault. The door immediately reappeared. "Do you have a vault inventory by chance?"
The goblin pulled a large roll of parchment from his tote bag and held it up to Harry. From the mere thickness of the roll, Harry knew he was going to have a grand time with the Black vault.
Their next stop was the Potter family vault. As before with the Black vault, Harry had to stand in front of the door to gain access to the vault. This one was much neater. There were stacks of books and papers and trunks lined along one wall, miscellaneous furniture, paintings and chairs along another. Harry stepped deeper into the fault and his breath caught at the sight of the gold. The back of the vault opened up to a room quite possibly three times the size of Gryffindor common room. It was filled from top to bottom with gold.
"Well," Harry muttered to himself. "I guess I can vacation for the rest of my life if I wanted to."
After closing the vault and receiving another vault inventory list (this one surprisingly equal in size and thickness to the Black vault inventory parchment) Harry and Coe were back in the cart.
"Gryffindor family vault next," the goblin chirped.
"But your friend, Godric, could he not make it?" Harry asked, looking at Coe.
Coe didn't answer him, for at that moment the cart lurched forward and it was impossible to have a conversation while being darted back and forth hundreds of feet beneath London. When at last the cart stopped, Harry and Coe got out.
"If you please, Mr. Coe," the goblin said to Coe and beckoned him forward as he had done to Harry at the previous two vaults. And then it dawned on Harry.
"You're Godric," Harry said, irritated at the professor's deceit. "You're the other descendent of Gryffindor."
"That I am," Coe replied. Coe positioned himself in front of the door as Harry had done and a moment later the vault door disappeared. Harry could not hide his shock at the size of the Gryffindor vault, for it wasn't larger than he expected, it was much, much smaller.
"Come now, Harry," Coe chuckled at the look on the young man's face. "This is Godric Gryffindor's actual vault. These are the only remaining relics of Gryffindor."
Harry stared at the handful of things in the vault. There were two goblets, a book, a ring and a wax seal.
"I thought there'd be more," Harry replied.
"Well, Gryffindor lived over a thousand years ago. Not much survived that long."
"I'd still like an inventory," Harry said. Coe nodded to the goblin who in turn handed Harry a much smaller roll of parchment.
Without so much as a word to Coe, Harry got back into the cart followed quickly by Coe and the goblin. The cart ride back to the surface gave Harry a few moments to gather his thoughts and get his emotions under control.
"Do you need anything else while we're in Diagon Alley, Harry?" Coe asked as they stepped out onto the cobbled street of Diagon Alley.
"Look," Harry said turning to look at Coe. "After I get my Apparition license, I'm Appariting away from you. I have little time to waste on your issues with your heritage. If you intend to help me from this point forward, I expect you to be straight forward with me."
Coe sighed. "I am sorry I didn't tell you, Harry. I see I under estimated your trust."
"And it will take quite a bit to earn it back," Harry snapped. "If you're able to help me, great, but I don't have the time or patience to wonder if I'm getting the whole truth from you."
"Everything I told you last night was the truth."
"Except the part where you are the same Godric that is descended from Gryffindor," Harry replied. "That was a key part you omitted."
"I don't exactly like being related to Gryffindor, Harry," Coe said, irritably. "I'm sorry that I wanted you to trust and judge me as myself rather than Gryffindor's great-something grandson."
"And I don't exactly like being Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived," Harry shot back. "But I have to live with it and deal with what that means."
"I also wanted to see if you were serious about undertaking this task," Coe continued.
"I want Voldemort finished," Harry said. "And I intend on doing what needs to be done to insure that."
"Well then from here on out, you will have the truth," Coe replied. "I'm sorry I didn't give it to you sooner."
"Is there anything else that you can tell me that you might have previously left out?" Harry asked.
"No, Harry," Coe replied. "That was the only thing."
"Then lets continue on our way," Harry said. "I need to pick some things up at Flourish and Blotts, before we leave Diagon Alley. I'd like to be able to Apparate legally by the end of the day, so lets not spend anymore time here than necessary."
Thanks for reading! Please review! -Belle