Disclaimer: I alas do not own Harry Potter I wish I did but I don't. All I own is this computer I'm working on and a few other items in this room of mine.
A/N: Hey people I must say that it feels good to be up to over 200 reviews and I thank you all for your support in this fic and I promise that they is more on the way I just have to write it and get it cheeked. Anyway enjoy and remember people to let me know what you think of this.
Chapter 14: Rowena.
/ Telepathic /
26 October 1996 A.D. 12:33 PM
The month passed quickly as did the next month before Harry had a chance to escape attention and go to Rowena's panting by himself. He made his way to the fourth floor and determined to see what it was hiding and for a time at least to escape the rumours and innuendo that suddenly abounded concerning his love life. The possibilities for who might be considered his type had become the talk of the school and everyone seemed intent on knowing who was his 'type'.
Reaching the painting he noted that it was still there and looked the same except the raven was gone, no doubt visiting someone in one of the paintings further along the floor. Walking up to the painting Harry studied it for a long while than lowered his head and in a clear voice called "Miss Ravenclaw, how have you been?" for lack of anything better to say.
He did not actually expect to get a response as this painting looked like a muggle painting but the Raven was definitely missing and he was willing to try for a reaction.
After a moment the painted lips curved into a smile and the eyes changed from gold to Harry's green. "Hello Harry. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" The voice was soft and gentle just like it had been when he talked to her in the Sorting Hat but now the underlying hardness was gone.
"Nothing special, just visiting. I was wondering what it is that you know about me and about Silvenestri." Harry said with a smile and nodded politely to the painting.
"Well, I would suggest that we move to a more comfortable place for this talk. Don't you agree, Harry?" The painted woman smiled wider and before Harry could say anything the painting moved aside to reveal the doorway to a room behind it.
The room wore the colours of Ravenclaw blue and gray with one wall taken over by a massive bookshelf packed with as many books as could possibly be squeezed onto it. A large fire on the opposite wall was burning merrily in an ornate oversized hearth and two large blue leather chairs were placed in front of it to face the fire. The high winged backs of the overstuffed chairs were facing Harry and the heat of the fire was pleasant. The floor was highly polished wood with no carpets and Harry found himself staring at his reflection in the floor and fingering a two days growth of beard.
'Forgot to shave this morning.' He thought and wondered what spell had been cast on the floor to get is that reflective.
Looking around slowly at the paintings that were hung Harry was stunned to see a painting of himself and Silvenestri. It was a portrait that showed them in the days when they were still nesting in the forest outside what would eventually become the school.
"Now how did that get made?" He said out loud looking at the painting and moving close to study the fine workmanship.
"I painted that when I was 13 years old, Harry, that one and many other painting hanging in this school. Now come in and have a seat. I have been waiting for you." The familiar voice came from one of the chairs by the fire.
Harry walked over to the chairs uncertain exactly what he would see. The most solid ghost he had seen at the castle smiled at him as she waved toward the other chair. Unlike the other ghosts that he had seen here Rowena had more colour in her than just silver. He had no trouble recognising the black hair and gold eyes of Rowena Ravenclaw. She was sitting in the chair by the fire, not floating just above it as he had seen other ghosts do and she looked almost like she was still alive.
"Hello Miss Ravenclaw. How have you been?" Harry questioned politely as though he spoke to the ghost of one of the founders of Hogwarts all of the time. He was shocked to think that a founder of Hogwarts had actually become a ghost.
Rowena looked at Harry and smiled politely and with genuine pleasure, her eyes changing colour from the amber gold that he had admired in the painting before to now shine a ski blue. "Quite well, thank you Harry, do have a seat. Now you must call me Rowena and you must tell me what it is I can do for you."
Harry nodded and settled into the offered chair before continuing the conversation, "Thanks and if I may I must say that this is a very nice room. It must have taken a lot of work."
"Thank you, my dear. You must remember that I have had over 850 years to work on this sanctuary and that dose give one time to work on things to get them just right." Rowena said and waved her hand as a pot of tea appeared on the table next to Harry.
He watched, fascinated as her dark hair blushed to a deep gold, lingered for a moment and then blushed back into her what he was certain was her natural dark colouring
"Do have some tea, Harry. It has been many years since I last had someone to take tea with and confess that I am delighted that my visitor is the last Dragon Lord."
Harry smiled and pored a cup of tea for himself then looked up at the panting over the fireplace. "You were 13 when you painted that?" Harry paused to take a sip of his tea before asking, "What was it that made you so fascinated with the Last Dragon Lord? How did you get such an accurate likeness to me and to Silvenestri?"
Rowena smiled and smoothed her blue robes then looked at the painting and for long minutes she entertained thoughts of her old life. Her eyes reverted again to the amber that complimented her ark tresses before she looked to Harry.
"I was born and raised a witch in Hogsmeade and like most of the children here I walked the forest that now make up the grounds of Hogwarts. One day… I think I was about 8… I wandered further than usual and I became lost deep in the woods. While trying to find a way out I found your clearing with the cave. It had started to rain and I was tired, wet and cold so I tried to enter the cave to get out of the rain but I was thrown across the clearing and knocked out. It must have about an hour before I woke up. When I came too it was to see an image of you and Silvenestri before my eyes. I stared at you and you stared at me and then you and the dragon nodded and I knew that I could go into the cave. When I tried to enter the cave again I was able to and inside I found a marvellous suit of armour and a great shining sword resting on a stand in the back of the cave. I was rather disappointed to find no cloak as most people said you would have worn one of gleaming silver but the armour and sword were wonders enough. After that discovery I would head back to the cave as often as I could manage to elude my mothers sight."
She paused and considered the fire for a long moment no doubt remembering long ago days when a carefree little girl had run wild in the woods. Finally she smiled and looked over at Harry watching in respectful silence and waiting for her to continue.
"I was 13 when I had this feeling I had to make a place of learning there near that cave. It was that feeling, the need itself that made me paint that portrait and find Godric and the others to help me to build this school. It took 12 year for me to find them and talk them into helping build this place. By the time we had agreed to build Hogwarts I had married a wizard in Hogsmeade I had known all of my life. We had a little girl during our travels to find those who would be the Co-founders of the school of witchcraft and wizardry that I knew must be built."
Harry nodded and considered his hostess in silence for a moment, watching as her eyes became green and then blue and settled once again to the amber gold. "That is how Tonks's blood line was started? Your family, your daughters descendants in time married into the Blacks." At an inquisitive arch of a regal dark brow Harry smiled. "You are a Metamorphmagus and I know that it would skip a generation every now and then, sometimes not showing for up to 5 generations at a time. I assumed correctly?"
"Yes, you did. Anyway, some years later the school was build and Godric and Salazar started fighting over who was to be permitted into the school while Helga and my family and I determined that anyone who had magically power should be permitted entrance. That was how the four houses were formed."
"That still does not answer why you were so interested in Silvenestri or me, Rowena." Harry poured another cup of tea for himself and settled back into the chair.
"A little girl's curiosity and love of fairytales, perhaps? I would always make certain that I was at the Inn in town whenever a bard or a storyteller would come to town and I would hope for a story of the Dragon Lords of old. I knew the legends as well as any of the bards and when I found your cave I knew that I just had to meet you. I had my dreams and this one was just as strong as the one that bade me build Hogwarts and to full fill it I became a ghost. I have waited a very long time Harry and now that you and Silvenestri are here and I know what type of person you are I just want to help you fight this dark lord. I can help you against Voldemort and I might just be of assistance in helping you to deal with Dumbledore, the latest Hogwarts headmaster to indulge in a little control mania for the good of his students. Would you be willing to allow me to help you, Harry?" Rowena rose from her chair and glided over to Harry, holding out one ghostly hand to him in friendship.
Harry looked at the offered hand and then at Rowena. "I would be honoured to work with the founder of this school." He reached out and placed his hand on hers to feel the familiar cold chill he had felt when he walked through Nick in second year.
Rowena smiled and closed her ghostly fingers around Harry's. "I am pleased. It is time for you to see just what it is that this room offers to you Harry."
Harry rose to his feet, curious and followed her over to one of the doors he had not at first noticed in the room, wondering what it could possibly be that she was offering to him in this room. It was clearly a very magical room and he was eager to learn what he could of the secrets of the ghosts sanctuary.
At a motion of her delicate fingers Harry opened the door and peered in. The floor of the large room was marked with five power circles, one for each of the four elements and the last as a focus circle.
A smile twitched his lips and he glanced at the ghost. "Studied my notes on runes and power circles, I see." He was pleased to see that each circle was complete and perfect right down to the minutest detail.
"Yes. From your notes that I read I understood that you need to have the focus to work any element of your choosing so I had all five of the symbols placed in this room." Rowena said, looking at the black circles inscribed into the stone floor, a happy smile curving her lips. She would not tell him of all the trouble she had gone through to get the symbols exactly right.
The ghost glided over to the next door and Harry followed, opening the door to peer into the room and find each wall of the room inset with four framed mirrors that closely resembled windows. "What is this room for Rowena?" Harry queried, looking into one of the mirrors to see his face reflected back at him.
Rowena smiled and walked over to the north-facing window. "This, Harry, is a room of viewing. If you stand in front of a mirror and speak the name of anyone who you wish to see or any place that you wish to see, the mirror will show you that thing or that person. If you wanted to you could see Voldemort from the south window and Dumbledore from the north and watch them both if you angle yourself appropriately."
Intrigued Harry nodded and walked over to the east window and after a moment's thought he looked up into the mirrored window. "Show me Voldemort's home." His reflected image blurred and shifted and a dark deep cave appeared in the mirror. For some reason Harry felt certain that that cave lay somewhere in the heart of England. "Well I like this. We just have to make certain that no one else enters this room other than you and such people as I think need to know about this."
Rowena nodded and lead the way out of the viewing room and over to the last door which appeared next to the bookshelf. Opening the door showed Harry another round room with a circle inscribed into the middle of the floor. He quickly scanned the circle and his smile widened as he recognised the runes and the use of the circle. Whoever stood within the circle and spoke the right words would be teleported to where ever the person wanted. "Very nice Rowena. I must say that this is wonderful and does it work as it is meant to? It was always a difficult spell."
Rowena nodded. "Yes, this can get you anywhere in the world in a heart beat. Now the last of all the wonders in these rooms are the books. All that you see upon these shelves deal with the Dark Arts and how to fight them. Wands, runes and focus magic… It all is to be found here."
Harry smiled, his eyes shining as he took in the scope of the bookshelves and the gift that Rowena had given him in granting him the use of them. "Now that is guaranteed to get Dumbledore pissed off at me. Just for looking through those books let alone the idea of learning anything from them."
Rowena smiled and nodded and led the way to the fireplace. "Though it may seem restrictive and certainly is most annoying I assure you Harry, that Dumbledore only has your best interests at heart. We shall simply have to manage him as we need to. I have arranged for you to be able to bring those whom you trust to the door to enter this room. Only with your consent may they be granted admittance to this place."
Harry nodded and Rowena waved for another pot of tea to appear and they settled to talk more of the past. Harry was interested in the other founders of Hogwarts and to his questions concerning families Rowena smiled and informed him that of course the others had children. Salazar Slytherin had children and Dumbledore was Godric's descendant not Harry as so many had thought he might be after he had pulled the sword from the hat.
He remained talking to Rowena until dinnertime when he left to join the others in the great hall only to bump into Tonks who had been looking for him.
"Harry where were you? I've been looking for you for an hour now." She gave him a quick hug before listening to what he had to say.
Harry told her about his talk with Rowena and with a very wide grin he even told her that he had learned that she was descended of Rowena Ravenclaw's bloodline.
"Well! I must say I never knew about that. Anyway, Silvenestri had to go back into the forest. Someone gave her something with chocolate in it and now she can't changed back for a day. How are we going to explain her absence?" She said leading Harry down the hall, bypassing the Great Hall and leading the way outside. Seeing the worried look on his face she hugged him quickly again. "She is alright."
"Damn it, Tonks. Charley Weasley is meant to be coming in tomorrow to get this 'wild Dragon' out of the forest. Who gave her the chocolate? It takes a lot to force this sort of change in a dragon's magic." Harry said leading the way across the grounds and into the forest quickly before anyone noticed them.
Tonks followed Harry into the forest and lit her wand to show the path. "It was Draco, of course. The idiot. He found out that Silvenestri is allergic to it so he did something to her food. White chocolate, so she never realised what she was eating until it was too late. I think he did it because he is jealous. You very obviously care for her and haven't been taking his bait lately. He must be feeling deprived."
Harry blinked at her, and then nodded, almost running until they came to the clearing to see Hermione sitting next to the dragon who looked more gray than silver.
"Hermione, how much did she throw up?" Harry said walking over to the dragon and started to run a hand over Silvenestri's jaw sending soothing thoughts to her through their link.
"Not much but it was enough for her to settle to sleep the rest off. She did tell me it would be over a day before she can get back to full strength." Hermione watched as Harry stroked the dragon, noting the concern in Harry's eyes.
"It's ok, Silvenestri. I'll make sure Charley doesn't find you and I'll make sure that Malfoy pays for doing this as well." Harry crooned into the dragon's ear and then turned back to Hermione and Tonks. "I want you to stay with her at all times Tonks and you, Hermione, to help her where ever possible. I will deal with Malfoy and Charley. Ok?"
Hermione nodded as did Tonks and Harry vanished into his cave. After a while Harry reappeared, clad in his armour and sword strapped to his back and looking ready for battle.
"Harry! Your not going to kill him are you?" Hermione leaped to her feet, looking at the silver chain mail and the twin-bladed sword. He now wore the shimmering cloak a quick summoning spell having whisked it from the castle to his hand.
"No, I won't be hurting him, just scare him a little and maybe give him a hair cut." Harry grinned testing his blade on one of his own hairs. "What do you think of Malfoy in Gryffindor red and short hair?" he said with a cautious air and a large smile forming on his face.
Tonks stared and slowly folded to the ground, laughing merrily at the vision of Malfoy with ragged cut hair dyed Gryffindor red. Hermione sniggered and looked at the dragon and the snigger became an evil leer. Harry smiled, stroked Silvenestri lightly on the flank and walked out of the clearing and back toward the school. Before he left the safety of the Forbidden Forest he summoned one more item that he needed and then, with an evil smirk he drew his fathers invisibility cloak over him and headed for the castle.
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Draco Malfoy was sitting in the great hall glowering at his dinner and every now and then glaring around the great hall as he searched for Potter. He was eager to know how Potter liked his little present and while he had not given the girl enough chocolate to hurt her it was enough to get Potters attention. Or it should have been, he thought.
There was only so long that Draco could play with his dinner and when Potter still hadn't shown Draco snarled and started to walk to the Slytherin common room. He was certainly not in the mood for company so he left Crabbe and Goyle to their fourth helping of dinner. He had not wanted company but along the way he began to rethink that as possibly being foolish. He could have sworn that someone was following him but every time he looked behind him there was no one was there. Time and again he spun quickly to try to catch the person or 'thing' that had to be close to him but the hallway was always empty.
He quickly entered the common room and stared at the doorway but no one followed him into the room and soon he started work on some of his homework. Still uneasy he looked up around the common room, a prickle of unease telling him that he was being watched. So certain was he that he almost screamed when the Bloody Baron emerged from the wall near him and walked by. Relieved that it was only the Baron he returned to his work, not seeing when the Baron paused and looked for a long moment at a darkened corner of the room. After a moment the baron moved on and Malfoy continued with his work
It was close to midnight before Draco walked up to his room and prepared for bed. The Slytherin dorms were quiet and Crabbe and Goyle were snoring from their beds, everything was normal, so why was he so uneasy? With a disgruntled sigh he slipped into bed and settled down to sleep. Tomorrow he would think of some way to remind Potter that they had a feud to work on.
It was close to one in the morning when a figure appeared in the corner of the Slytherin 6th year's boy's dorm dressed in silver armour and a silver cloak hemmed with gray runes.
"Now then, Mr Malfoy. It is time for you to lean why you don't upset a Dragon Lord. Especially this Dragon Lord." The hooded figure walked over to Draco's bed and with neat, quick and precise motions start work on his hair silently repeating again and again a chant to saying a silent chant over and over to keep Draco asleep.
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Harry was sitting in the great hall eating breakfast with great gusto the next morning. It was around 11 o'clock and since it was a Sunday there was a late serving of breakfast and he knew that it would take some time for Draco to awake from the enchanted sleep he had taken the opportunity to get some much needed sleep. He would have to go soon and deal with Charley and the great Dragon Hunt but for now he had some time to wait and catch arrival of Draco. He was intending to have a good laugh at Draco's expense, just deserts he was sure for feeding Silvenestri chocolate.
Ron practically fell through the doors of the Great Hall, laughing so hard that he was holding his sides and gesturing back at the doors. "Harry! Harry do you know who did that to Malfoy? The red and gold… well…Harry, it just does not go well at all." Ron fell into the seat next to Harry and looked around for Hermione.
"She ate earlier." Harry said without waiting for the query. He was not about to tell Ron that Hermione was with Tonks in the forest looking after a sick dragon.
Two students from Hufflepuff ran in the door shrieking with laughter and Harry looked around in time to see Draco storm into the great hall. His previously shoulder length hair, almost snow white was now cut close to his head in spiked disarray and the blonde was hidden under rich Gryffindor red with the gold banding alone the sides and through the middle, giving him something of the appearance of a light house like brightness.
Harry along with most of the students in the great hall started to laugh out loud and he noticed that even Dumbledore who was seated at the main table smirked before rising to his feet with a very serious look on his face and two twinkling blue eyes. Draco glared around the hall and snarled then strode to his usual place at the Slytherin table and proceeded to act as though his hair was not neon red with golden highlights. He had tried everything he could think of to turn his hair its usual gleaming white blonde even if he could not regrow the length and nothing had worked.
That was all right, they could laugh because he knew who had done this though he could not prove it and that was just fine and dandy with him. Potter had remembered their feud. It was his turn next.
Ron by then had crammed down as much food as his mouth as it could hold but was still sniggering at Malfoy when ever he looked over at him. "So Harry, you going to help my brother with that dragon today or leave it to the Weasley Dragon Hunters?" he asked after swallowing enough to allow himself to be understood.
Harry looked away from him and in the direction of Draco and said in a quiet voice. "I think I will leave it to you two. I've got home work to do."
"But Harry! It'll be great. There's four of us going into the forest for this dragon. Charley, Fred and George and me. Charley agreed to teach me how to hunt Dragons. Don't you want to learn?" When Harry ignored him Ron sighed and crammed more food into his mouth, chewing heartily. "If you change your mind we aren't going until 2. You could always join us then." Ron was focused on his breakfast and on sparing the odd look at the neon bright Draco and missed the worried look in Harry's eyes.
"Fine Ron. Later." Harry nodded and left the great hall and headed for the fourth floor and to 'Rowena's Chamber of Secrets' as he chose to call the rooms that Rowena had shown him yesterday. He moved swiftly all the way trying to work out how best to keep Charley and his brothers away from Silvenestri with out them seeing him or coming across the dragon herself.
In the great hall Draco watched Harry leave the hall and sneered. He had not heard the last of this.
It was close to two in the afternoon and Harry was sitting in the mirror room using the viewing mirrors to watch over Silvenestri, Tonks and Hermione from the north window. He was now dressed in his armour and wore the cloak, his sword resting within its magical folds.
Rowena stood at the west wall, looking out of the viewing window and watching Ron who was waiting with the twins while Harry was watching Silvenestri. "Harry. Charley is here." She said when the form of Charley Weasley port keyed in to stand in front of his brothers.
Harry left his window to join her and watched Charley for a long minute, noting that he had acquired some more burns since the last time he had seen him. "Well. I'd say that its time for me to go. Wish me luck?" he said looking at Rowena.
"I would and do and I would even give you a kiss for luck but I think that Tonks would kill me - again - for even thinking it." Rowena smiled as Harry did a quick run through of his equipment.
"Well, I guess the luck will have to do. I think we test the teleport." Harry said leading the way into the room where the runes were inscribed on the floor, presumably allowing instant teleportation anywhere on the planet.
Taking a deep breath and hoping that Rowena had truly understood the vagaries of rune magic he strode into the circle and took his place in its centre.
"Zhaunil" he called out.
With a flash of light he was gone.
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Translation
Zhaunil: Learning or Wisdom or Knowledge
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