Chapter 2

Harry strolled into Tidwell's Wizarding Tents and Trunks, glancing at the displays. Tents were set up around the store, and Harry recalled his first and only experience inside a wizarding tent at the National Quiddich Championship game before his fourth year.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, I'm glad you could make it." Harry looked up and saw a tall, slender man coming toward him. He looked to be about 55 or 60 years old. His dark hair was spattered with gray. He held out his hand and Harry shook it.

"You look just like your father," he said, and Harry waited for him to add the part about having his mother's eyes, but Mr. Tidwell continued without mentioning it. "And Jamey looked just like his father." He paused, his eyes turning sad. "I really miss your grandfather. He was the best friend I ever had."

"I wish I could have known him," Harry said, not quite sure how to respond. "Both of them," he added softly.

Mr. Tidwell smiled consolingly. "Let's go back to my office, and I'll show you what I wrote to you about in my letter."

Harry followed him through the store and into the office, which was in the back. The office was large and decorated warmly, the colors reminding him of the Griffindor common room.

"Were you a Griffindor, Mr. Tidwell?" Harry asked, seating himself in the chair in front of the desk that Mr. Tidwell motioned for him to take.

The man smiled warmly. "Yes, I was, as was your grandfather. We were in the same year. And I hear that you've continued your family's tradition."

Harry grinned, pleased to discover that he was part of a long line of Griffindors, just like his best friend, Ron Weasley.

"Right, then. It's late, and I know you need to get home, so let's get down to business." He opened a drawer of his desk and took out a gold chain with a pendant attached. He laid it on the desk. The pendant was a rectangle, made of a black material, which Harry had never seen before, marbled with dark red and green lines. He couldn't tell if it was a stone or something similar to leather. The gold chain was attached at both ends of the longer sides of the rectangle so that the shorter ends formed the top and bottom. The name Potter was inscribed across the pendant in gold script.

"About a month before you were born, your grandfather commissioned me to make something for him. In fact, your grandfather actually put more into the construction of the object than I did. Charley, that's what most people called your grandfather, was an unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. He worked in Research and Development and was responsible for some of the most amazing charms and other spell-work imaginable. Some of his work was so secret that only a few who worked in the DoM knew of its existence.

He reached down and picked up the pendant. "This is your grandfather's finest piece of work. It took over a year for us to complete this project, and by the time it was completed, your grandparents were gone and your parents had gone into hiding. When you defeated Voldemort, I placed it in a vault in Gringotts where it's been until today."

Harry leaned forward to get a closer look. "What is it?"

Mr. Tidwell stood up and set the pendant down on the floor. "Come over here, Harry, and place your thumb on the pendant." Harry went over and knelt down in front of it, placing his thumb over the small object. "Now, don't say anything aloud. Just think the word 'restore.'"

'Restore,' Harry thought, and suddenly the pendant disappeared and in its place was a trunk, much like his school trunk. On top of the trunk was the name Potter in gold letters. He looked up at Mr. Tidwell in surprise.

"This, my boy, is a multi-dimensional trunk. The outside is made of the strongest dragon hide, so it can't be scratched, burned, dented, or damaged in any way. Now, see the numbers there on the front?" Harry saw three numbers, which could be turned like a combination lock on a brief case. "Turn the dial to 001," Mr. Tidwell instructed, "Then open the trunk."

Harry obeyed, and when the trunk was open, he saw that the compartment looked much like his own trunk. However, the inside was made of cedar. He found that he liked the way it smelled and wondered if his clothes would smell as fresh after being in the trunk.

"That's the first compartment," Mr. Tidwell said. "It holds about three times more than a normal trunk. This compartment is for clothes. Now, close that up and turn the number to 002 to see the second compartment."

Harry obeyed, and found that the second compartment was sectioned off for different uses. "This holds your school supplies, parchment, ink, quills, books, a cauldron, potion ingredients, your broom, and anything else you might need for school. It, too, holds more than a normal trunk. Now, turn to the third compartment."

The third was also sectioned and held what Mr. Tidwell called "personal items." It would hold his invisibility cloak, the marauders map, journals, letters, bank statements, galleons, muggle money, and anything else that he didn't want other people to see when he opened his trunk to get his clothes or school supplies.

"The first three compartments are for normal trunk usage. They're really not necessary for anything other than to hide the real purpose of the trunk. Now, turn to 004, and you'll see what that purpose is," Mr. Tidwell said.

Hands trembling with excitement, Harry turned the numbers to 004 and opened the trunk. It was dark inside, and all he could see was a set of wooden stairs going down into the trunk. "Think the word 'lumos,'" he was instructed, and Harry and Mr. Tidwell stepped into the trunk and walked down a well-lit, wooden circular staircase. At the bottom, Harry found himself in a large library. The walls were lined, floor to ceiling, with books. There was a fireplace on one wall with a sofa and two comfortable looking chairs in front of it. There was a desk and several chairs and end tables scattered around the room. Harry spun around slowly, taking it all in.

Over the fireplace was a tapestry like the one he had seen in the Black family library. A closer look showed him that it was the Potter Family Tree. A warm feeling came over him. He had a grandfather who had known him, and he had a family tree. He suddenly felt more connected to his family than he ever had before.

Mr. Tidwell went to a small section of one of the bookcases behind the desk and pushed on the side. It swung open to reveal a large pensieve on a stand. "There are instructions on how to use this in a booklet I'll show you later," he said.

"I've always wanted one of those, ever since I saw Professor Dumbledores," Harry said, excitedly.

Mr. Tidwell closed the shelf housing the pensieve. "You can take more time with this later," he said. "There's much more I need to show you."

Harry allowed himself to be led to one of two doors behind the desk. "This," said Mr. Tidwell opening the door. "Is a potions lab. It is fully equipped and has every ingredient you can imagine. The ingredients have a stay-fresh charm on them. There's also a potions library over here," he said, leading Harry to a back wall lined with books. "It's self-updating. When a potion is patented, it appears in this library, along with the instructions for brewing it."

"You mean, something like the instructions for the wolfsbane potion would be in here?" Harry asked, amazed that a library could be self-updating.

"Absolutely. Every potion that has ever been patented is in here."

He grinned, thinking about what this would mean for Remus.

"And through this door is a medical facility," he said. Harry followed him into the connecting room which contained two hospital beds and cabinets filled with medical supplies. "This was to be your grandmother's area. Anna was a healer, a potions master, and an expert on Herbology. Unfortunately, she never got to use it."

Harry followed Mr. Tidwell out of the medical facility and back into the potions lab. "And through this door," he said, indicating a door on the opposite wall, "is a greenhouse for potions ingredients that must be used fresh, medicinal herbs, flowers, and vegetables." He grinned. "Your mother wouldn't allow any vegetable on her table that didn't come from her own garden."

Harry stared at the room in awe. It looked exactly like a glass-enclosed conservatory, but he knew that it had to be an illusion, being inside a trunk. Yet, sunlight streamed through the glass and the plants were lush and plentiful. Cobblestone paths wound through the immense garden. A pond filled with fish was situated in the center surrounded by a trees and benches for people to sit on to relax and enjoy the scenery. It was the most beautiful room Harry had ever seen.

Mr. Tidwell led him out of the conservatory, through the potions lab, and back into the library. "Now, I'm going to show you a room that your grandfather designed and built himself. But before I do, I have to let you know that this room must remain a secret, Harry. This room is why I haven't given you the trunk before. I should have waited until you were a legal adult, and that's not for another year, but after what happened at the DoM last week, I felt I couldn't wait any longer. What this room does, Harry, may not even be known to the researchers in the DoM, and frankly, it's probably illegal for you or me or anyone else to have access to this kind of magic."

At Harry's frown, he continued to explain. "Oh, it's not dark magic. It's just very advanced magic. In fact, it's unheard of in our world. It's the sort of thing your grandfather worked at." He opened the door, and Harry followed him inside.

"This is the control room," he said, and Harry found himself inside a room, which reminded him of the deck of the Starship Enterprise. On one side of the room was a long panel with flashing buttons. There was a large screen, which took up the entire wall over the panel.

"This is a magical computer, an invention of your grandfather's. The buttons on the panel are simple to use, as you can see. They're marked with names like screen on, shrink, restore, invisible, etc." He flipped the button that said screen on, and Harry could see the interior of Mr. Tidwell's office. "This enables you to see whatever is outside the trunk. You can also charm places into this area here to move the trunk wherever you want it to go. You just have to put in the coordinates or give a specific name or address to where you want to go. The instructions are simple and are right here in this desk drawer."

"This is amazing!" Harry said, sitting down in front of the screen. He opened the drawer, took out the leather bound book of instructions, and flipped through it. It was written in what he assumed was his grandfather's handwriting. "What else does it do?"

Mr. Tidwell looked thoughtful for a moment, and then sighed. "This trunk can do amazing things, Harry, and you'll find them all in the instruction journal. But there's something I want to caution you about. In fact, this is the one thing that made me hesitate to give you the trunk before you were of age. The trunk is capable of not only traveling from place to place, but also moving anyone inside it forward or backward in time. You realize, of course, that doing so could be disastrous. If you change the past, it could have devastating affects on the present. People you know might cease to exist. Our world could end up in even worse shape than it is. Be responsible with this power I'm placing in your hands, Harry."

"I will, Mr. Tidwell, I swear it," Harry said, nodding earnestly, but an idea was already forming in his mind. He would keep that to himself, though.

"Let me show you the other compartments, then you can take the trunk home and read the instructions." Harry placed the book back in the drawer and followed Mr. Tidwell out of the control room and back into the library.

"You can reach the other compartments without having to leave the trunk. Each compartment has a door leading to the next." He showed Harry a door beside the control room.

Harry opened the door and walked into a large lounge with a fireplace and comfortable furniture. Over the fireplace was a portrait of a man who looked like an older version of his father. "That's your grandfather, Harry."

Harry stood in front of the portrait for a moment and admired his grandfather. "Is this a magical portrait?" he asked.

"Yes, but it's not activated. You'll read about that in the instruction book."

Harry nodded and allowed Mr. Tidwell to continue the tour.

The fifth compartment was a large living area. It contained a living room, 4 bedrooms— each with its own bathroom, a dining room with a table that seated 20 people, a large kitchen, a utility room with storage and laundry facilities, and a small dormitory area for house elves.

The sixth compartment contained more bedrooms. There were 8, in fact, each with it's own bathroom. Harry realized there were enough bedrooms for the entire Weasley family to move in without having to share sleeping quarters.

The seventh compartment was Harry's favorite. It was a Room of Requirement. By thinking of what he wanted, Harry turned the room into a forest, a beach, a swimming pool, a quiddich pitch complete with spectator stands, a dueling room, and finally the Great Hall of Hogwarts. "I could have some great parties in here!" he said, grinning happily.

Mr. Tidwell laughed as he led him to the last compartment, which was empty. It reminded Harry of the Hogwart's dungeon. The walls, floor, and even the ceiling looked like solid stone. "I don't know what your grandfather had in mind for this room," he said. "It was something he was going to work on himself after the rest of the trunk was finished. I suppose you could turn it into anything you wanted."

They climbed out of the trunk and back into Mr. Tidwell's office.

"Now, Harry. There are a few more things I need to tell you about the trunk. This is very important."

Harry gave him his full attention.

"Please shrink the trunk just by thinking the word shrink."

Harry did, and Mr. Tidwell picked up the pendant and chain from the floor.

"Your grandfather created a spell so that when I place this chain around your neck, I will be obliviated. I will remember nothing about the trunk, only that you came in here to look at Wizarding tents. Once the pendant is around your neck, no one can remove it, except for you, of course. You will be the only one who can open it, move it, see it, touch it, or feel it.

"Let's say that you were captured by Death Eaters, and they stripped you naked and chained you to a wall. They would not be able to see or feel that pendant. All you would have to do is think the words 'safe haven,' and you would disappear from the chained wall and reappear in your trunk. Think the word 'home,' and the trunk will appear in a place that you've charmed to be your home base. It doesn't matter where you are. You could be in the most warded place in the world, and the trunk will pass through it. You could appear in or disappear from Askaban, a Gringott's vault, a room in Hogwarts, or anywhere else in the world. All you need to do is to keep that pendant around your neck at all times when you are out of the trunk.

"You can charm it so other people can enter and leave the trunk, and you can decide who can access which rooms. If you or someone you've charmed to have access are injured badly enough to lose consciousness, you will automatically be brought back to the medical facilities in the trunk, and the trunk will return to your home base. When someone is transported to this facility, an alarm will sound. If no one answers it, the trunk will automatically transport the patient to St. Mungos or, if you prefer, the Hogwart's hospital ward. Everyone you charmed to the trunk will receive a medallion, which will enable them to use the trunk as a safe haven.

"Even when other people are inside the trunk, you can shrink it, put it around your neck, and go about your day. It won't affect anything inside the trunk. People inside won't be able to tell it has shrunk or that it's moving. You, yourself, can be inside the trunk and shrink it or turn it invisible or move it from place to place from the control panel. None of this affects the inside. Everything about this trunk can be found in the instructions in the Control Room. Do you have any questions?"

Harry felt overwhelmed, but he shook his head. He would read more about the trunk later. For now, he needed to get to Gringotts.