The four heirs had worked hard over the last few months. In charms they had mastered both levitating and unlocking charms and were now working on locking charms. They had managed to master the match to a needle quite quickly as well as the slightly trickier reversal. They were now working on adding decorations to the needle as well as changing the size during the transfiguration.
Master Mermann had taught them the stinging hex quite quickly meaning that with Professor Flitwick having taught them the knockback jinx and shield charm, they had the foundation for their duelling classes.
They had all also worked hard in potions, with the two girls proving to be instinctive brewers. Harry was quite competent himself. John on the other hand was useless at potions. Daphne was far outstripping the others in mind arts lessons, nearly being able to access her mindscape at will. Professor Dumbledore did comment that it did seem to be more due to Daphne having a natural talent for the area rather than the others incompetence.
So all in all the four heirs and their teachers were quite pleased with their progress. According to Professor Dumbledore if this was the rate they carried on at, they could be ready for their OWLS up to two years early, though he did say a lot could change between now and then.
If the four heirs had been happy leading up to Halloween, come the actual day Harry was miserable. And none of the four heirs had to ask why. They were all shocked when he revealed at the start of the month he did not know when his parents had died. It had been Professor Bagshot who had told him it was Halloween. After class he had confessed to the others he was now dreading Halloween. The other four felt this was a shame. Their families followed the old wizarding traditions on Halloween.
Unlike the muggles there was no trick or treating in the traditional wizarding households. Nor did they follow the traditions of Samhain as most muggleborns thought they did, though their traditions were far closer to Samhain than the muggle traditions.
After the feast in the Great Hall the old families who still celebrated in the traditional way would head down to a clearing just inside the Forbidden Forrest. There an animal would be slaughtered quickly and painlessly. Until the rise of Grindelwald it was one of the few times the Killing Curse would be cast without judgement. But after two Dark Lords in such quick succession the use of the Killing Curse had gone out of fashion, with the exception of the darker families. Now an animal, normally a goat would be stunned or put into an enchanted sleep before a severing charm would be used on its neck.
After the death of the animal all would move round the animal in a circle and one at a time touch their wand to the animal and release a short burst of magic while giving thanks for the meat. The animal would then be cooked above a large enchanted fire, the magical nature of the fire cooking the animal inside an hour, rather than the several it would normally take. Once it was cooked the animal was distributed out, the youngest first and eldest last. The carcass was buried and seeds planted into the soil to symbolise the that where there was death, life could also grow. Finally, into the enchanted flames went a piece of parchment with the name of a loved one who had died.
Normally Harry would be looking forward to this new aspect of the wizarding world, if a little queasy about the animal slaughter. But he could just not get himself excited about it, not the anniversary of the death of his parents. Such was Harry's melancholy, he barely noticed Professor Dumbledore moving towards them.
"Good morning everyone. I have come to tell you that there will be a change of plan for today. Master Ardwyad has agreed you can miss his lesson today, as I am to take Harry on a trip before the Halloween Feast starts."
"Where are we going, Sir?" Harry asked, his voice still laced with sadness.
"As it is the anniversary of your parent's death, I thought you might like to go and visit their grave."
Nobody at the table had ever seen the look that passed over Harry's face at that point. It was the strangest mixture of sadness and happiness anyone, including Professor Dumbledore had ever seen.
"Are we all going, or is it just us two, Sir?"
"Well I originally thought it would just be us two, but if you would like the others to join you, that can be arranged."
"Yes please Sir, I'd like my friends there."
The others at the table beamed that Harry felt close enough to them after two short months to let me join him on such a personal visit.
"Very well. I will make the arrangements with the Ministry. I will see you all in the Entrance Hall after your lesson with Master Mermann."
"Why do you need to tell the Ministry Professor?" Harry asked, thinking there would be a large group.
"It is to arrange a Portkey for five of us. Also the Ministry will activate the privacy enchantments on your parents grave before we get there so you have no need to worry about onlookers."
Harry nodded at this explanation, though was confused about why his parents grave had privacy enchantments on.
"The fall of Voldemort was a huge thing Harry." Susan explained. "The way my aunty tells we had been in a state of terror for ten years beforehand. Not only are you known as the Boy-Who-Lived, but your parents are also worshiped due to their role in Voldemorts downfall. As such every Halloween plenty of people go to Godric's Hollow to lay flowers at your parents grave."
Harry just nodded at this as the group rose off the table to head towards Potions, feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all.
o-0-o
The four of them found themselves running a bit late to get to Entrance Hall in time. At Daphne's suggestion, they had gone back up to their dorms to get changed, all wearing smart black robes and cloaks. Though not as smart as dress robes, these formal robes were still much smarter than the everyday robes their school uniform consisted of.
Reaching the entrance hall just time they saw Professor Dumbledore arriving. Even he had toned down his normally eccentric appearance for once and was wearing robes of such a dark navy blue they appeared black.
"As Headmaster I can create Portkeys to leave and entre directly from Hogwarts grounds. However there is some things I need to speak to you about this trip so we will take a pleasant walk to the gate instead."
He motioned them all outside, and once outside the gate gave them all a necklace with the Hogwarts crest on them.
"These are emergency Portkeys. Just say the word 'Sanctury' and you will be transported to the Hospital Wing. Myself, the heads of houses and Madam Pomphrey will also be notified. They were made for this trip, but I would like you to keep them from now on if you don't mind."
The four nodded, slipping them round their necks, as Susan asked why they were needed for tonight.
"As you know there are still pureblood extremists out there. The memorial of the Potters has long been a target for some of them." Professor Dumbledore explained, much to Harry's disgust.
"While they have never attacked the graves, there is a chance the lure of Harry being there might be too much for some of them to resist. So the Ministry have stationed Aurors in Godric's Hollow, close enough to intervene if needed, but far enough away to give us some privacy. If we are attacked, I want you all to use your Portkeys immediately. Is that understood?"
The four nodded in earnest, especially Harry, who though furious at the thought of a memorial to his parents being defaced, didn't want to miss the chance to visit his parents graves.
"However I think it is unlikely anyone will attack us, even if they wanted to."
"Why is that?" Harry asked.
"Because you are with me." Dumbledore stated simply as they reached the gate.
"Hold this." He said pulling out a long woolly sock. After they had all grabbed hold, he tapped it with his wand, and all of them felt a pull at their navel.
o-0-o
The five of them landed in a square in a tiny village to be greeted by two people. The man was horribly scarred on his face, with a false eye and a huge chunk of his nose missing. The woman beside him looked not too long out of Hogwarts herself. She was unscarred, with her short spikey hair a bright pink.
"Ah Alastair. It is good to see you. And this must by Nymphadora. How is your training going?"
The young witch bristled as her name was mentioned, but perked up at the question.
"It is going well Professor Dumbledore. I'm really enjoying it."
"Enjoying it girl!" The man barked. "If you say that I guess I'm going too easy on you"
The woman looked a bit worried on that, and suddenly looked like she hated her training and would much rather be anywhere else right now as Professor Dumbledore turned to the four students.
"This is Alistair Moody and Nymphadora Tonks. Alistair is an auror and young Miss Tonks left Hogwarts in June to start training."
The four made their greetings, Tonks greeting them far more enthusiastically than Moody, who looked straight at John.
"Your dad wanted to be one of the ones here he has a raid to plan for tomorrow night but he says hello."
John looked a bit disappointed but thanked Moody for his message anyway.
"Right Professor. We'll leave you to it now. We'll stay outside the cemetery unless there's trouble but have the gates in sight so we can see when you leave."
With that Moody turned around and walked wherever his post was, Tonks following him after a cheery wave to the four of them and a respectful nod to Professor Dumbledore who led the students to the cemetery.
Harry wasn't sure what he expected as he walked through the cemetery. After all he had never been to one. He knew he hadn't expected it to be so quiet. There was no sound at all apart from the wind rustling the brown leaves on the trees. The weather was definitely warmer down here than it was up in Scotland.
Suddenly Professor Dumbledore stopped and bent down to Harry.
"Your parents are a few graves along. We will wait here unless you call us over. Take as long as you need Harry."
"Should I have got some flowers or something Sir?" Harry asked with a lump in his throat.
Dumbledore took out his wand and with a casual flick a bouquet of flowers materialised in Harry's hand.
"These are white Carnations which symbolise remembrance. I have also put some Lily's in there for your mother. The transfiguration is not permanent but should last until Christmas."
Harry just nodded his thanks and walked towards the grave and dropped to his knees in front of it. Laying the flowers neatly in front of it he touched it, knowing it would be the closest he would get to touching his parents again and started talking.
Though they could see his lips moving, the other four were too far away to hear what Harry was saying. However, they all saw the moment he broke. He let out a huge cry and hugged the gravestone as tight as his eleven year old arms could, crying into it. Susan went to run over to comfort him, but Professor Dumbledore and Daphne both stopped her, realising this was something Harry had to get out his system.
It felt like hours to the group, watching the heartbreak in front of them. Daphne and Susan both cried openly while John and Professor Dumbledore wiped their eyes on the handkerchiefs they had brought. However all stopped crying and gasped as two translucent figures appeared behind Harry.
Dumbledore held his wand, though did not draw it as he realised what was happening. The woman went to touch Harry, but her hand just fell through him. Harry definitely felt something though as he turned around and looked up at the two figures.
"Mum? Dad?" He said in awe as both nodded. Harry immediately sprung up and tried to hug them, but his arms just went through them. Sobbing, he collapsed to his knees as the figures did the same, whispering into his ear. After too short of a time, the figures started to fade out of existence. However when Harry raised his head, the tears of despair had clearly turned to tears of happiness as he got up and walked towards them.
"Sir, mum said you would be able to tell us what happened?" Harry asked.
"Yes I think I can. At Halloween the space between the living and the dead is at the smallest it can be. Sometimes, if there is a strong enough emotional pull, or a strong enough purpose spirits of the departed can temporarily cross over and from like a ghost. However I must warn you Harry it is very rare and will almost certainly not happen again. There are only ever two of three cases a century."
"Yes mum said they probably couldn't do it again. But at least I got to see them this once." Harry said, never having had a bigger smile on his face. "Thank you for bringing me Professor. And thank you all for coming." Harry said, still filled with emotion as the others hugged him.
"Now we must go or we will miss the feast." Dumbledore beckoned them, turning around. However when he turned around he stopped dead in his tracks, going very pale.
Stood in front of them was a young girl, not much older than the four heirs. She was wearing an old style dress and had a smile on her face.
"Ariana?" Dumbledore managed to say. The spirit simply nodded as tears dropped freely from Dumbledore's face. The students knew this was a private moment and stayed quiet.
"Albus. You have tortured yourself for so long. It was not your curse that hit me. And I forgive you. Please tell Aberforth we both love him."
With that the spirit faded away much the same as Lily and James Potter had, with Dumbledore sobbing and weeping in front of four very shocked students.
After a few minutes Dumbledore regained his composure.
"I suppose I owe you all an explanation." He said turning to the four students.
"You owe us no explanation for something so private, Sir." Susan offered, but Dumbledore shook his head."
"I am afraid I do owe you one. Ariana was my sister. She was very ill as a child, too ill to attend Hogwarts. After I had graduated I and a friend got in an argument with Ariana in the room. Wands were drawn and curses fired. Ariana was caught in the crossfire, and until this day I did not know if I had fired the curse that ended my sisters life." He said, tears still falling down his face, as John offered him his handkerchief.
"Thank you John." Dumbledore said, taking a deep breath to compose himself. "Now we really must get the four of you back or we will be late." He said, taking the lead out of the cemetery.
o-0-o
Though the four of them were quiet when they returned from the cemetery to the feast, they soon got caught up with the excitement of the other students at the feast. It was hard not to as the excitement spread around the room. And the food was sublime. The house elves had outdone themselves. Mountains of roast beef, pork and chicken, roasted and boiled potatoes and every vegetable the house elves could get their hands on. John and Harry were just reaching for their second helping of beef as Professor Quirell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher burst into the Great Hall after he had left to go the toilet.
"Troll! Troll in the dungeons!" he screamed. "Thought you ought to know" he said before collapsing in a dead feint.
The hall erupted into chaos. Children of all ages screamed and it took several large canon blasts emitted from Professor Dumbledore's wand before order was restored.
"Prefects will lead their students to the common rooms. Teachers will come with me to try and find the troll."
Daphne and Susan looked at each other in horror, neither of the boys realising why until Daphne stood on her bench.
"Professor Dumbledore!" she shouted over the din of students standing up. "Hufflepuff and Slytherin common rooms are in the direction of the dungeons. They should not go down there!"
Nobody could hear what Professor Dumbledore said, but John was pretty sure he swore and Professor McGonagall slapping him round the back of the head seemed to confirm it.
Raising his voice Professor Dumbledore altered his instructions.
"All students will remain in the hall with Hagrid. All teachers will follow me to search for the troll."
The teachers hadn't been gone five minutes before two Gryffindors came up to the heirs. One was a chubby boy who had not lost his baby fat yet. The other had bright ginger hair and freckles all over his face and stood a fair bit taller than most first years.
"Neville, Ron." Susan greeted, knowing them both from before school. "How are you two?"
Ron just looked at Neville who seemed to be forcing him to tell them something."
"Umm You see… the thing is…" Ron started before Neville stood on his foot in a poor attempt at being subtle.
"I said some things about Hermione Granger earlier today and she went off to the bathroom to cry after she heard them." He said very quickly all in one breath.
"While we appreciate you telling us this Mr Weasley, is there a reason you are telling us now?" Daphne spoke, the very picture of pureblood lady.
"She didn't come to the feast and we think she's still in the third floor bathroom." Neville said before Ron could get a word in.
The four heirs looked at each other and swore at the exact same time before running off to Hagrid, Ron and Neville trailing behind them.
"Hagrid, Hagrid! There's a student in a third floor bathroom." Harry shouted.
Hagrid immediately went pale.
"What are we to do?" he asked, never having been put in a situation like this before.
"We can only do one thing." Harry said. "We have to find her."
"But I can't let you go out there!" Hagrid said in surprise at the plan. "Its too dangerous!"
"We don't have a choice Hagrid. As the heirs of the school we have a responsibility with the teachers to keep students safe. Please don't make us use our status to order you to let us through." Susan pleaded.
Hagrid thought for a moment before shouting for the Head Boy and Girl to come to the door and explained the situation to them, leaving them in charge. Daphne also had the idea to explain to The Grey Lady what was going on, who immediately left to try and find the teachers.
As soon as the four heirs and Hagrid got up the staircase however they noticed something behind them. Ron and Neville had followed them.
"You two have to go back" Hagrid said, turning around and realising who was following them.
"But its my fault" Ron protested. "I have to make sure she's ok."
"We don't have time for this." Daphne interrupted. "Follow us but if you don't do exactly what one of us or Hagrid says you will be expelled before you can even apologise."
Neville and Ron nodded as the group ran up to where the third floor toilets were to be confronted by the very last site they wanted to see.
There, hammering on a large, locked door was a Mountain Troll. Standing at around twelve feet tall it was definitely fully grown, being around the same size as Hagrid. A Hagrid who let out a great battle roar and immediately charged the troll, much to the groups horror. They knew that troll skin was resisted to magic so they could do little except hope the teachers got there soon.
The battle between Hagrid and the Troll was fierce but didn't last long. The troll had a very large club and Hagrid being the size he was struggled to dodge it. After a short amount of time, despite getting a few good hits in himself, Hagrid was sent crashing into a wall by an almighty swing of the trolls club. The troll lumbered over Hagrid and lifted his club up, seemingly in an attempt to finish him off. However much to the horror of everyone else, Neville took action.
He charged the troll and jumped to the club in an attempt to stop the club being risen into the air. It didn't work. Neville lost his grip on the club and dropped down right on top of the unconscious Hagrid. Luckily the four heirs seemed to have the same idea at the same time. Using the knockback jinx they had learnt, they managed to move Neville and Hagrid just far enough away that the trolls club missed them.
As the troll adjusted his position they were stumped however. Until they heard a voice behind them.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron cried with a swish and flick of his wand. The trolls club slipped out its hand and rose above its head. The troll lucked up rather comically to see where the club had gone. What he saw was the effect of Ron cancelling the levitation charm. The club fell and landed on the forehead of the troll. It wobbled for a second before it fell backwards with a huge crash, just as Professors Dumbledore, Flitwick, McGonagall and Snape rounded the corner at a sprint, wands drawn.
Professor Dumbledore had sharp intake at breath at seeing one of his oldest friends unconscious and bleeding. He rushed over and started casting spells on Hagrid while talking to Neville, making sure he was uninjured Flitwick and Snape immediately rushed over to the troll and made sure it was subdued before going over to help Dumbledore stabilise Hagrid as the Grey Lady had gone to fetch Madam Pomphrey.
This led the six students explaining to a very stressed Professor McGonagall what had happened. After the explanation she was about to say something just as Madam Pomphrey came running down the corridor, casting a diagnostic spell on Neville as she ran before crouching next to the obviously more injured Hagrid.
"Mr Longbottom has a cracked bone in his lower leg. Can someone please cast a simple bone knitting charm on it." She said as she waved her wand in complicated motions over Hagrid.
Susan beat the Professors to it, casting the bone knitting charm on Neville who immediately looked more comfortable.
"Hagrid has multiple cracked ribs, a cracked skull and possibly a broken spine. His giant blood is preventing the healing charms from working so we'll have to use potions." She said as Professor Dumbledore immobilised Hagrid and levitated him onto a floating stretcher Professor Flitwick had conjured. Professor Snape had gone down to the dungeons to retrieve some potions and Professor McGonagall helped Neville up. At Madam Pomphrey's request he was spending the night in the hospital wing in case of any complications. A very shaken up Hermione Granger would also be joining him as she was suffering from a nasty case of shock.
"Professor Dumbledore? Can you please get Professors Vector and Babbling to come meet us at the Great Hall? And Professor Flitwick, can you please inform the students the threat has ended and the feast will continue in the common rooms?"
Daphne may have phrased it was a request, but it clearly wasn't. Although the four of them felt strange ordering about Professors, it was their right as the Heirs of the school and they had all agreed on a plan of action which they were now putting in place.
o-0-o
Half an hour later the four heirs had brought the ward stone up from beneath the Great Hall and was sitting at the staff table as Professors Dumbledore, Babbling and Vector all analysed the stone, trying to work out how the troll had gotten in. After an hour, the Headmaster came up to the table while the other two professors bid their goodbyes and retired to their rooms.
"We have managed to work out how the troll got through the wards. A previous headmaster had changed the ward configuration. We hypothesised he took Pierre Bonaccord's 1605 decree that Mountain Trolls were not be hunted to mean they were no longer a dark creature and altered the wards so they could pass. I have changed them so no new trolls should be able to gain access."
"Is there a way to go through the entire ward scheme so we can make sure all wards are working as intended?" John asked.
"There is. However it is very difficult and very time consuming and would require the use of ward experts and at least three weeks of not being able to use the Great Hall so the ward stone can be accessed."
"Can you please look into the price of such an endeavour to see if it could be undertaken in the summer holidays?" Daphne instructed Professor Dumbledore who simply nodded.
"Can I ask what you intend to do with Mr Weasley and Mr Longbottom?" Professor Dumbledore enquired.
"We would like you to write to their guardians and ask them to come up to the school tomorrow evening for a meeting. The students, their guardians, the four of us, yourself and Professor McGonagall will be present. There we will explain what happened, what we've done to prevent it happening again and dish out any rewards or punishments." Harry answered, as Professor Dumbledore nodded in agreement.
o-0-o
Just after seven o'clock the following evening Professor Dumbledore's office was rather crowded again. Augusta Longbottom sat next a fully healed Neville, while Mr and Mrs Weasley stood behind their son Ron. The four heirs were sat to the sides of the desk as Professor Dumbledore explained everything that had gone on the previous night.
Needless to say neither set of guardians were happy that a troll had managed to get through the ward, but were reassured by the promise that the loophole had been fixed and that a full audit of the wards would take place at the next available opportunity. It was that point that Professor Dumbledore handed over to the four heirs. As Harry was Lord Gryffindor, it was him who spoke to them.
"Neville, you were the simpler of the two cases. Due to your outstanding bravery Hagrid survived his encounter with the troll and Madam Pomphrey predicts he will make a full recovery. We have agreed to award you one hundred points for Gryffindor."
Neville looked shocked and sat there with his mouth open until his grandmother slapped him on the wrist and thanked the four heirs.
"Ron, you were a little more complex. Your words caused the situation in the first place, but you were instrumental in solving it at the same time. We also found out from other students that your comments about Hermione were not a one time thing. For that reason, we decided you will serve a nights detention with Professor McGonagall as well as lose seventy five points for Gryffindor." Ron looked ashamed at this while his parents looked none too happy at his conduct, despite earlier having been proud of his bravery.
"However," Harry continued, "due to your important assistance against the troll, we also award you with one hundred points for Gryffindor." This cheered Ron up significantly and he looked a lot happier as he thanked them.
"There is one more thing" John started. "As you might be aware my grandfather is Garrick Ollivander. Because of that I've been taught wandlore and tell how well a wizard is connected to his wand. When you cast the levitation charm I felt that you were having to force your magic through your wand. Is that correct?"
Ron just nodded.
"I imagine then that you don't have your own wand and are using a wand from a family member?"
"Yes, my brothers Charlie's old wand."
At Johns request he handed his wand over.
"Ash, twelve inches with unicorn hair. I sense this is not the wand for you."
"We couldn't afford a new one." Mr Weasley said, a hint of shame in his voice.
"Don't worry. As Lord Ravenclaw I give Ron permission for escorted leave in order to gain a new wand. I will write up a Gringotts draft for ten galleons for the purpose. Not many of my grandfathers wands cost that much."
Mrs Weasley looked torn between understanding the need for Ron to have his own wand and not wanting to accept charity. In the end the education of her son won out and she thanked John for the money. At this point Augusta spoke up.
"Lord Ravenclaw. How much of an impact can a poorly matched wand have ona wizards magic?"
"A huge impact Regent Longbottom." John replied, using Agusta's official title. "Depending how poor the match was, it could even reduce Professor Dumbledore's powers to that of barely more than a squib, though that would be an extreme example."
"In that case can you take a look at Neville's wand? He is using his fathers. It was powerful wand."
After Neville handed John his wand John examined it before speaking.
"Ebony, fourteen inches with Dragon Heartstring. You are not wrong, it is a powerful wand, but not well suited to Neville."
Professor McGonagall spoke up at that point.
"That would explain the reports I've had about you Mr Longbottom. All say you grasp the theory really well but struggle with the practical aspects."
"We will get you a new wand at Christmas Neville." Augusta spoke firmly.
"Regent Longbottom? I am willing to take Neville at the same time as I take Ron if you like?" Mrs Weasley offered, to which Augusta quickly agreed. So it was decided that Ron and Neville would get two hours at Diagon Alley tomorrow in order to get new wands.
As the room emptied, Susan turned to Professor Dumbledore to ask how Hermione was doing.
"Physically she is well. Mentally she is struggling. It seems the troll attack has taken its toll on her nerves. Madam Pomphrey is having to supply her with a steady supply of Calming Draughts."
"Perhaps I should pay her a visit tomorrow." Susan said with some sympathy.
"I do not see any harm in that at all." Professor Dumbledore agreed, beaming down at his young apprentices.
