Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review, Love Moon x

Harry followed Professor Sprout out of her office and down the corridor to the stack of barrels. Moving in close to the barrels in such a way that he could no longer see them she did something he didn't see with her wand and opened the main stack of barrels which was actually a large round door designed to look like many small barrels all together. As soon as it was opened she ushered him inside. The common room was not at all as he would have thought it to be but then again he didn't really know what he would have thought it to be either. It was lower and deeper then one would think and was split into two levels much like the Ravenclaw common room was. In Ravenclaw there was also an upstairs section to their common room although you did access the rooms via the alcoves. From the upstairs section in his common room you could view the main room below and hang out or study upstairs as well. In fact some people even preferred to study upstairs out of the way of many people and it worked well for them. He still loved the way the floors moved up and down in his house though. He'd accidentally selected the wrong floor this morning but when he somehow ended up on the fifth floor none of the boys there laughed at him at all. He was smiled at as they wished him good morning and then he merely returned to the right floor.

If Gryffindor house had contained this same system of reaching their dorms he'd have been laughed at and mocked for days. He was very lucky they weren't like that to be honest. The room was split in two levels with plenty of teak and oak wood furniture in it. The couches which were black with golden cushions on them were very fully stuffed and looked so comfortable to him. Those that were in the house did look up when he entered but when Pomona explained she was just showing him around, they got back to their work. There were plenty of plants on the ceiling above the second floor landing. To one side he could see an indoor arboretum in which the students could walk and he was indeed very jealous. It was so gorgeous and peaceful in here. He truly loved it. Each house had it's own special room in it. Ravenclaw had a unique library with an attached astronomy study. It was magical in there pardon the pun. He wanted to stay in that room a lot when he'd found it but he didn't. Gryffindor had it's own duelling platform and Slytherin had it's own potions lab where you could make monitored and controlled potions. There was a huge round fireplace with a portrait of Helga Hufflepuff holding a cup in her hands over it.

Good afternoon Mr Potter and welcome to Hufflepuff house. It is known to me and all founders of the pure and not so pure deeds you've done. Don't worry you'll get no judgement from me. I am Helga and I am pleased you are here. Pomona please insure that this wonderful boy is always granted access to our wonderful home. Step forward Mr Potter and touch my frame please! Helga said as Pomona gasped. This was something which was rarely ever granted to someone. By not so pure deeds she meant imperiousing the truth out of people but she could understand why he'd needed to do it. He didn't always do it either so there was that. He was suddenly covered in a golden glow which turned bright red as Helga cursed.

It is as I feared my boy. You will find us four founders all have another portrait in the headmasters office. I am afraid you have tracking charms on your person which he has placed there last evening if my calculations are correct. Please enter! She instructed as her portrait opened and those in the house gasped as it had never done that before. Even Pomona had never seen this happen. Behind the portrait was a small hallway and a door. He entered through the portrait hole as asked and as soon as he was through, it closed again so that Pomona couldn't join him. She was told he was quite ok and that Pomona shouldn't worry so she didn't. She was more interested than anything to see what would happen to him. As soon as the portrait door closed behind him the other door opened to reveal the most beautiful library he'd ever seen in his life. The shelves in here were gold gilded and wonderful looking. He had no idea what he was expected to do in here but then he found a letter on the table which looked to be several pages long.

To whomever is granted access,

welcome to the RavenPuff sanctuary created by myself Rowena Ravenclaw and my best friend Helga Hufflepuff. Only those who have pure intentions may enter these rooms at any time. Through the teak door on the left hand side of this room is another version of the room of required things. This room becomes anything at all the user of it should require at that time. You will find that this room is much more potent then the room on the seventh floor of this illustrious castle. If you need to be ignored or alone for a while this room there will help you with that. You may stay as long as you like in that room and ten minutes only will have passed outside it. Personally I use it to catch up on reading and my astronomy work but Helga uses it to feed her plants and create new dishes for her kitchen. Should you be lucky enough to ever sample her decadent fudge brownies consider yourself highly lucky as they are the tastiest pastries this side of Asia.

Times are very lenient and so long as you do everything you do safely you may have anyone you trust implicitly back here with you but note that only yourself and three others may ever be in here at once. If anyone tries to enter who has bad or annoying tendencies they will be forcefully removed AT ONCE. As this parchment is designed to modernise it's text to match the times you are in we can tell you now that Prefect Percival Weasley for example would never be granted access to the RavenPuff Sanctuary. He follows the rules far to rigidly and has forgotten how to have fun which is what school is all about. As we feared we could not be in all places at once we have designed a portrait which will show you any part of the castle should you ask it to once you touch the frame of it. This does include the headmasters office as we could never guarantee that Godric wouldn't have a woman or several women up there as he was known to do.

Using an ancient ritual this parchment is capable of updating it's content to suit the time frame in which it has been viewed. When you entered the room you were healed of any injuries you had on your person at that time as standard. If you had no injuries you will of course have remained the same. We can report that a foul item which was located in the seventh floor room of required things has now been purged of all which cured it. A house elf has seen to it's restoral to it's original place. I feel you will hear about it later today or tomorrow whenever someone notices it has been returned. As I know you'll probably ask us all about Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin we shall tell you all we know in separate accounts, hence the length of this letter. I shall now give you my account of things and then Helga shall do so after me. Both are inherently good men but both are also severely flawed, in my opinion that is. Without us ladies this school simply wouldn't be what it is today. We instilled all of the logical elements this school still has today. Obviously headmistresses and headmasters have come and gone and with them new additions or removals. It is the way of running this school I guess.

Godric for example wanted lessons on sword training and crafting which many muggleborn students couldn't properly complete. The pureblood students would become angry and impatient when others couldn't complete this class well. After a few amputations which were fixed at once we realised this could no longer continue. Besides which it was dangerous in a school full of children to be wielding swords and as you can imagine it was cut from the curriculum at once. I don't know what hallucinogenic he was taking when he ever thought that would be a wise idea. He was so lovely but sometimes really could be daft as a brush. He was very fond of the women as well and would have as many as three at a time in his rooms. We don't normally talk about things of this nature but when our students started to notice things we needed discuss what to do. We told Godric that he either stops doing things like this where the children can see him or he'll need to leave. Suffice it to say he became very careful after that.

As you may or may not be aware in Hufflepuff Helga said everyone who was willing to put in hard work and be loyal could be a member. For Ravenclaw I wanted only those who loved learning and reading as much as me. They had to be witty beyond measure as my slogan says. Godric wanted only those who were brave and unafraid of being chivalrous in any situation but Salazar was different and he had every right to be in my opinion. Salazar wanted only those who were of either pure or half blood in his house and they needed to have a relatively full core as well. He wanted the students to learn about snake handling and venom collection processes which are lethal and we outright refused. He was most unhappy with us and even duelled us a bit because of his rage. Obviously I won. I am if you didn't know our finest dueller. The other three all have talents in areas I do not, so duelling is my talent they do not possess nearly as well.

At the time we set up the school some muggles had somehow discovered some wizards doing magic to cure the sick and had become terrified of what they were seeing. If they could use magic to heal then obviously they could also use magic to kill and harm. Henceforth began the witch trials where men and women were burned at the stake. A lot of them were never wizards and were murdered in cold blood. Salazar had many children and two of his daughters were captured and killed in the witch trials. Their wands were snapped in half before they had a chance to defend themselves. Their mother unfortunately had contracted Dragon Pox and died of that many years previous.

From then on Salazar grew to hate all muggles and muggleborn alike. They had killed two of his daughters and he failed to realise that not all muggleborn people were responsible for it. We argued back and forth with him about it but he just would not see reason. As he grew older he became more withdrawn into himself and later on in his life he came to realise his error. The books for some reason fail to mention this although we don't know why. If he could see the error of his ways surely everyone who carries his name should as well. It didn't work out that way however, as he'd become so bitter with his other children, that they went on a rampage killing many muggles before turning their wands on themselves. They couldn't believe he could ever forgive those who had killed their sisters. Not all of his children participated though and of his sixteen children six of them ran away to escape the conflict and the madness of their family. Salazar could no longer take the shame of the actions of his family and fled from the school at once. We begged him to stay but he would not concede. How could he stay teaching children when his whole family had wiped out a local village? He fled to Denmark last we heard of him.

He became a bitter and twisted man over everything that happened to him and his family. He was unable to cope and as I said in the end fled to Denmark searching for eternal peace. He died many years later after which we received correspondences from his son Percival who had reconnected with him in his later life. He asked us to keep the school up and running and to keep Slytherin house as a shrine to his father. We have decided to always do that. Slytherin house values cunning and ambitious traits above all else. These serve as a lesson to all in that house to watch their backs at all times and connect only with someone who can in some way help you or your situation. We regret to say that Slytherin in your time, student, has gone to hell in a hand basket. It has become a vile, evil and twisted place. Backstabbing is rife in that house in particular and we know Salazar would be most ashamed of it. As you know earlier on I told you that I could understand why Salazar didn't like Muggleborn students. Just because I can understand it doesn't mean I agree with it. There is a difference and it's important you know that.

Just as Slytherin would be unhappy with the way his house now operates I must admit I too am not happy with how my house now operates. Ravenclaw was designed to be a house of equal opportunity and learning for all despite our quirks. If someone was different in any way which may have even singled them out in some way, Ravenclaw was always their home. These past years Ravenclaws have become bullies and thiefs something I never wanted them to be. I am most disgusted with them. We now hog all the books in the library so none of the students of other houses can get them which I will be talking with your head of house about. When you entered the room I told you that you were scanned for health reasons and I also now know you are a fellow Raven. I haven't seen a keenness for reading this strong in many a year. Keep it up. Please student keep to yourself and question absolutely everything you hear. You will find your bedroom in whichever year you enter will now have a seperate door through which you can enter the RavenPuff Sanctuary at any time.

I wish you well in all of your endeavours in this school and beyond. Please be aware that the room to the right with the golden door contains my personal office and portrait which you may consult with at any time. If you wish to use my office for homework purposes you may do so. I will teach you anything from my portrait should you only ask me to help you with something. I have a personal house elf Holly who responds to only my portrait when it calls her. If you ever need to practice something and accidentally hurt yourself she can get you to the hospital wing at once. I don't foresee this happening but one can never be too sure. It is as they say better to be safe then sorry.

Hold out your wand and ask for a house elf who is free to come and bond with you at once. They are great to have for security reasons and can help you with most endeavours in your life. They live and survive off a magical bond they create with you when they become your magical servant. Without your magic to sustain them they would die and most people are kind to their elves. Those who are not should themselves die in my opinion. Elves are innocent and have done nothing wrong in their lives. Their only wish is to help and serve you all the days of your life and that of your family. When an elf binds itself to a new master he is essentially reborn using that persons magic so he will remain young and healthy all of his days. Elves can be male or female and some even marry and have families. If an elf is not kept busy with work they can become stressed and sad. It is not something we understand but it is the way things are. I would advise getting your elf to bind to you and then have her do anything she needs to do for you at once. I would also advise you telling her to work with the other Hogwarts elves so she will always be kept busy if you cannot do anything which would keep her busy all the time.

She can get you anything you need at any time and has a wealth of knowledge if one should only think to ask her. Most do not understand this as they are very stupid. All elves can cook and clean as standard however every elf has one specific talent which is their specialty. Some can train people on duelling and others potions. Some are better suited to gardening and garment making etc. Your new elf shall tell you all that you need to know about her own specialty or his if it's a male elf. They will tell you their name but it is up to you inform them how you wish to be addressed. They do usually call people master or mistress but if you don't like that you can tell them to call you something else and they must obey. I would advise giving your elf some ground rules they must follow when you bind to them. They appreciate rules and find them easy to follow. As for the rules you give them they can be anything. I have given Holly rules to follow which she knows of and will tell you of them if you ask her. Her specialty is actually wand crafting. She makes some of the best wands and what's more no one ever knows they haven't come from the local wand maker. Were he ever to view them he would assume they were his own creations which helps. I would ask you to ask her to make you a secondary wand. It always helps to have a backup. You should know that should you ask an elf to make themselves visible to only some people, no one else will see them if they should appear around that person.

Magic is a privilege and one we should always treasure. We are very lucky and must never forget this. Even Muggleborn students are most lucky. It just saddens me that the purebloods of your time cannot see it. Remember I am always in my office should you need help to discuss anything.

Signed Rowena Ravenclaw.

Flipping the page he saw the letter written by Helga Hufflepuff and squealed in joy at the thought of getting to read something else of interest by a founder no less. This was amazing and damn well he knew it to. He put the parchment back down for a moment and raised his wand in the air. He asked for a free elf to come to him at once as he needed a new elf. An old looking tired elf appeared there. She looked exhausted and rather cranky if he did so himself. Her facial scowl was deep. I need a new master. Please bind with me now. She requested. She told him her name was Amira and that he could name her something else if he so wished. She explained that per tradition each new master always gave her a new name. She'd had two masters already but only because they'd not had kids. He was shocked by that. It was a beautiful name. He told her he'd now call her Nora. He'd always really liked that name and she smiled slightly as he gave it to her which did look like a grimace on her old and cranky looking face. Taking her hand in his he welcomed her into his family. He then felt a huge pressure in his body as though everything in him was being sucked out and almost felt pain but was relieved when after a minute it receeded and was gone. There was a blast sound and a huge burst of smoke which made him cough deeply. When it was gone she was there but looking much younger and much happier.

She now wore a dress in a teal colour which was plain with no decoration on it. She had a simple bow on her head and squealed in joy when she saw herself. He was told she would look whichever his magic would want her to look and she was delighted with it. The old days of house elves always being in ratty old pillowcases was gone. Hogwarts elves for example all wore plain cream dresses with no embellishments on them. It was easy to work in and did mean that they did get less sick as they would have in the pillowcases of old. It was a small upgrade only.

What are your talents Nora?

Well Master my special talent is in acquiring various items you may require which would be difficult for you to obtain such as rare potion ingredients, books, poisons and or money etc. In fact right now in the school on the seventh floor there is a lot of abandoned money I could take for you if you ask me to. It sits there year after year and is never claimed. The headmaster doesn't know about it either. There are curses on some of it which can be removed at once. Should I do it master? She asked him with a glint in her eye. He could see she was prone to stealing like him and chuckled deeply. This would indeed be fun. He'd learned to steal because he'd needed to in order to survive but he did actually really enjoy it as well. There was something so thrilling in particular about stealing letters. He just got off on it. He was very clever though so he was never caught.

I need to give you some ground rules first. You are to call me master when we are alone but sir if there are others present. You should never harm yourself or anyone else unless I ask you to do so. I will generally never ask you to harm yourself but may ask you to harm others from time to time. I only ever harm those who do the wrong thing. You should let the bank know you are working for me and may need access to my accounts at times. Yes I think you should get that money and tell me how much it is in total. You may go.

Thank you master. The bank already knows we have bonded and will expect me to place and or remove money directly from your vault which only house elves who have bonded to their masters can do. With that she bowed once and left. He thought he'd been quite fair to her. He was stunned at just how fast she was. She returned in a few minutes smiling.

It was easier then I thought master. I summoned all the money and put it inside this extendable pouch I found. There was twenty thousand galleons master. Should I put it into your bank account?

Search the school and if you find anyone who is poor put three hundred galleons into their trunks and tell them it's from an anonymous benefactor who wishes them well at school. Do not be seen doing this but leave a note in unusual handwriting to explain the money. Find some money pouches in that room on the seventh floor to use. You may go Nora and thank you. She had left and put the money into the trunks of all the Weasley family members and the trunks of some muggleborn students as well. She had spent six thousand galleons helping twenty students in total. She went to the bank to deposit the remaining money in his vault. They recognised her as his familial elf and were happy to let her take out or put in money on his behalf. He was so excited to read the next letter from Helga Hufflepuff. How exciting that would be.