Chapter Four: Hatter
The black door stood as imposing as ever, but he wasn't afraid of it any longer, it held the secrets of his home; the ties of families long past. The Sliver snake still shined lightly, like it had been polished recently but he knew this to be magic. Harry smirked though, his eyes shined with mischief as he looked at the snake, something that he now attributed to himself.
"Open." He whispered the single word, the tongue of hissing, the tongue of fear.
With a single click, the door opened slightly and the young boy slipped inside. As always the room was dark, a single silver candle flickered to life as the door opened and cast light onto the room. His wrist tightened as he drew near the mirror, the serpent like bracelet slid across his pale skin.
"Harry." An older voice spoke softly, the man looked the same as always. Salazar Slytherin. Though he knew now that this was a younger version of the famous wizard, his hair wasn't all gone and he had some color left to it.
"Salazar, how have you been?" He asked simply, pulling up a chair from the desk nearby.
Salazar scoffed, a small expression took place over his face "Right, the shade that had been here for ages with little human contact, missed you terribly." He then pointed to a small silver serpent mouth "Place the bracelet in there."
Harry nodded, slipping the still lightly slithering metal and then placed it in the mouth.
Salazar seemed to be reading something, a light mumble as he searched the bracelets memories "Good, you've done well in the past year and I think you're ready for more offensive magic. Especially if you're going to get into more and more fights." He said rather offhandedly.
Harry just grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck a little from nerves "Thanks, I try." He chuckled lightly.
Salazar rolled his eyes "Take the bracelet and another scroll from the shelve, you should start getting more into Parselmagic." He explained, gesturing to the wall full of books and scrolls, some of which were wrapped tightly in silver serpents.
Harry nodded, reaching up and slipping a random scroll that wasn't bound in silver, the swirling lines clicked in his mind after a moment "Transmutation?" He muttered, before looking up at the old professor. He knew a little bit about the ancient art, it was once an amazing power to hold but in today's world it'd be considered blood magic.
Salazar raised a brow "That should be sealed, I know I sealed that." He said with a frown across his face "Pick another scroll."
A female figure stepped out of the shadows "I think not Salazar, Harry should learn this technique for the coming years." She explained, her black hair similar to the young boy's and robes so white they were almost glowing.
Salazar glanced to his left, crossing his arms "Alice, how unsurprising." He spoke in a calm voice but it had a hint of venom behind it "You need to learn the boys limits, he is twelve." He stressed the word 'Twelve' and sighed "I was twenty when I took the first steps of Transmutation, it was one of the few things that Godric couldn't do."
Harry seemed to perk up a little at that "Gryffindor couldn't do Blood Transmutation?" He asked leaning on the nearby wall. "I've always heard that he was a Master of Transfiguration."
"True, but Godric had standards and I did not. Power is Power Harry, all that matters is how you use it." Salazar couldn't hold back his mirth though, starting to laugh at the memories "He was proud of one thing over anything else, he was a prodigy with Alchemy."
"Alchemy? Wonder if Nick knows about this?" Ginny whispered through their link "Ask why Parsel-Transmutation is different from normal Transmutation."
"Of course." He mumbled, he could feel the link between them and Ginny was currently reading a book about Healing Arts. "Salazar, why is it being Parsel a big deal?"
Salazar looked up, his conversation with Alice broken "Oh, using your Parsel laced blood should allow you to create snakes of all different types." He explained, with a small sigh "Things such as Copper, Stone, Bone, Ect."
Harry nodded, the idea of creating living snakes or weapons intrigued him but using his blood to so was a risk. "And you think I am ready for this?" He asked looking towards Alice.
Alice gave him a smile "I do, in small doses over time you should have little to no trouble learning this." She took a step back, starting to vanish into the shadows once more "I believe my time here is done, boys. I'll speak to you soon."
Salazar glanced at Harry "She does this often doesn't she?" He inquired gently.
"What being vague, helpful and yet never really telling anything." Harry yawned, looking up bored "Nope, never."
XX~XX~XX~XX
With this year's garbage of a book in his lap, he scanned the page's for anything useful or relative but it was largely rubbish and not very helpful rubbish at that. The idea of giving a Yeti the head-cold was ridiculous, that he could fight off not one but a number of werewolves singlehanded (And force one back into being human) and that ghouls were an impressive issue was completely unrealistic.
He looked further and further into the subtext of the books, spent days reading them all and found them utterly useless. In fact there was no doubt in his mind, no matter how small the chance was that Lockhart had done none of these things. All it took was asking Sirius to find a copy of Lockhart's transcript of Hogwarts, a simple task for an Auror of Sirius' level.
Lockhart was a talented student, no more than average across the board though and most of the written reports were pretty simple and stated he was always hungry for attention. His OWLs and NEWTs weren't all that good but they weren't terrible, and he did have a talent for charms but none in Defense.
'And we have to deal with this? All year?' Ginny had whispered once he had a pretty decent theory that Lockhart was a fake, using some truth from others and enhancing details to further his own gains. 'My mother won't shut up about us getting him to sign our books….'
Harry rubbed his temples as he pushed away Holiday with Hags, he turned around for something of legibility or something with helpful words; that would take his headache away. He didn't even bother looking up at the sounds of an Elf popping in "Ah Kreacher, may I have some tea please?" He asked in a simple voice.
"I be sorry, Master Harry Potter, but I am no Kreacher, I am a Dobby." A small voice distracted came from behind, so far different than Kreacher's bullfrog like voice.
Harry spun quickly on his heel, pulling his wand out in one fluid motion like Sirius had been training him. His wand glowed red at the sight of the elf in front of him, it seemed familiar to him but he couldn't tell for certain. "Dobby, how did you get in here?" He asked with a frown on his face.
Dobby seemed surprised by the question, then he looked sheepish "I….I came to warn, to warn you Harry Potter. To not go to Hogwarts." He squeaked out.
Harry paused, taking a step towards the elf "Continue, please." He pressed gently "I'm intrigued."
Dobby nodded quickly "Oh…one wonders where to begin sir…."
Harry pulled a seat forward from the other end of the room, and sat in the dark red cushions "I've got time Dobby, please take yours." He spoke calmly.
Dobby looked flabbergasted, his mouth agape and soon he was crying "I has, has never….taken my time sir." He wailed.
Harry held up a hand "I'm sorry, to have offended you Dobby." He spoke simply "Should perhaps be meaner?"
Dobby continued to wail "Offended…Harry Potter thinks that Dobby is offended! Oh I has heard of how noble Harry Potter is!" He continued, crying deeply.
"Oh for the love of Merlin, Dobby I order you to stop." He spoke again in a very calm and simple voice.
Dobby paused, his loud crying suddenly turned very silent but the tears still streamed down his face "I ams sorry sir…it is just that Dobby has never….has never been treated…"
"Like an equal?"
"Yes!"
"Then you haven't been treated very fairly and if I have to guess, the fact you were able to bypass my wards then you must be Malfoy's House Elf. Draco or Lucius?" Harry moved his legs to cross the other and placed his hands into his lap.
"I-I…."
"You are forbidden to say, I understand." Harry sighed, rubbing his temples "Look can you at least tell me of the danger?"
"All I cans say is there is a plot, a terrible plot."
"Then it is Lucius, has it got to do with Voldemort then?"
Dobby flinched, shaking his head quickly trying to remove the sound "Do not speak the name sir, please do not speak the name." He wailed.
"Is Voldemort involved! Dobby I need to know!"
"Nones to my knowledge sir! Please Dobby must insist that Harry Potter does not return to Hogwarts!"
"I do not care Dobby." Harry said simply, turning back to the bookcase "Please go away, or I shall tell Draco about your little field trip."
With a yelp Dobby had vanished with a pop, Harry snapped his fingers and his house elf Kreacher appeared with a bow "Master has summed Kreacher?"
"Yes, I think I require some tea and please add a few drops of peppermint oil to it, I have a headache." He said softly, his elf didn't reply and was gone as quickly as he came 'What do you think of what just happened?'
It took Ginny a few seconds to respond, and we she did, he was already in the middle of sipping his tea 'I think our list of problems keeps growing, soon we'll be buried.'
'Let them continue to play checkers, Ginny. It's time we start playing chess.'
XX~XX~XX~XX
"Hermione dear! We're going to be late!" A deep voice shouted up the stairs, his voice traveled through the hall and into the open room. It wasn't all that large but for who occupied it, it was perfect for her and what little she bothered to décor with.
It was painted a dark purple, with the single bed off to the side neatly made and the walls lined with books on shelves. A few small pictures of her, with her parents, with coaches and with teachers hung where there happened to be room. Trophies, awards and other knickknacks barely stood out against the lines of books, some new and familiar, some old and from what seemed to be another world.
The girl in question was just finishing up packing, neatly laying one of her jumpers into the large leather trunk. Most trunks were customizable, the most basic being a simple single storage box, but her trunk had a few other bits to make it special. The lock was keyed to her magical signature, the compartments were a little larger than normal, it had a feather weight charm and her books were sealed in special shelves.
It made packing and keeping track of her things a little easier, especially around the other girls who weren't nearly as neat as she was. While she wasn't one for drama, she knew all of their dirty little secrets after all when would they learn that the walls of Hogwarts has ears and the keyholes have eyes?
Though Hermione believed that she had come from a better background than flat blackmailing someone, but if the girls started to push on her boundaries; that would come to an end. Like how Lavender sucked her thumb to sleep, or Parvati Patil stuffed her bra; just little embarrassing things.
With the trunk locked tightly, she turned to her trainers and laced them before slipping them on; they were still fairly new and still needed to be broken in. Her brown eyes landed on the vanity mirror of her room, she pulled her bushy brown locks into a loose pony tail and a few locks wouldn't be contained but she didn't care. The pale grey shirt was covered with a purple jumper that ended right as her brown belt and jeans began, nodding in satisfaction she went towards the stairs; dragging her light trunk with her.
"Are we ready to go then Helena?" Christopher asked similar brown eyes looking over at his wife. The man was tall but not unnaturally so, his physic was lanky and thin but he seemed to broaden at the shoulders. His light brown hair was beginning to thin and grey a little at the sides, this left him with a slight widows peak.
Helena nodded at her husband "I wish I could go and see you off dear." She leaned down and gave her daughter a tight hug "Stay safe at school, keep your studies up and please try not getting in fights." Helena had her dark brown hair pulled into a tight braid, she kissed the girl on the cheek "We'll see you for Christmas, be safe."
Hermione could see the concern for her in the silver eyes of her mother, she shouldn't have told them about the Stone. She hugged her mother tightly, giving her a return kiss and moving over to her father "Now why would I, get into a fight? Christian is brute enough for the both of us."
Christopher choked back a laugh, he'd only met the young man a few times and he seemed to be made out of some strong stock. He placed his hand on his daughters shoulder and gave the wife a final goodbye before walking out the door and to his car.
He helped Hermione load her trunk into the boot, then they made their way to Kingscross Station. The traffic was light, and soon enough they were pulling into the station. "Alright, lead the way kiddo." Chris spoke calmly, putting the car into park and opening the boot.
Hermione grinned and helped take the trunk out from the car, she lead the way to Platform 9 and after the third column, she saw the barrier as someone ran through it "There." She almost pointed.
"Amazing that no one seems to notice."
"Wizards have special wards to keep someone from looking to hard, even some designed for Muggles."
"Which is what your mother and me are, right?"
"Correct, I'd be Muggle-born, however my children would be considered Half-Bloods, should I choose to have some." Hermione answered as they waited their turn for the barrier.
"Halfblood?" Chris still wasn't a hundred percent sure what the titles meant, some were obvious Minster, Headmaster; others? Supreme Mugwump?
"A Wizard of Muggle decent. A Pure-Blood is from old families of Wizards, Ron for example is a Pure-Blood." She explained, running through the barrier with him.
Chris nodded as he tried to follow along "So over time our family will become Pure-Blood?" He asked with a raised brow, holding his daughters hand as they walked toward the train.
"I'm not sure, anything is possible with enough time, not likely though." Hermione looked at the train and smiled "I'm also quite sure that at least Harry is running around somewhere, he always beats me."
Chris leaned down and gave her one final hug "Please be careful, and if anyone insults where you came from, give them the Granger special." He said with a smug look across his face.
"Granger special?" Hermione's face went from a smile to neutral faster than one could blink.
"Your old man was a Boxer in college." He gave her a grin "So was my father, remember? The Granger special was two jabs from the right, and a hard left cross."
"Dad, you can't be serious…."
"I'm completely serious, if anything aim for the nose and make it a quick strike."
"I don't think I'll be doing that, words are stronger weapons." She gave him and grin, taking the trunk from his grasp "I'll see you at Christmas Dad!"
"See you later, baby girl." Chris waved her off, placing his arms behind his back.
Hermione jumped onto the train, avoiding a few older Ravenclaws running down the hall. If she had to guess, Harry would take the cart closest to the back. As she headed for the usual cart, she saw a red blur get ejected from the cart.
"For the last time, Ronald, stay away from me." Harry said at the door of the cart, his eyes practically slits with anger and rage.
Ron growled standing up, his face red with anger and shame "And I told you to leave Gin alone!" He snarled, his right hand clenched in a tight fist.
"I'm quite sure that Ginny can make her own mind up, if she would rather wait in my compartment, she may." He spoke with a calm grace, though his eyes still held anger and rage.
Ginny stepped forward, Hermione had to admit that the young girl had schooled her features well "Ron, I see you enough at home. Bugger off before I hex you." With that Ginny turned back to the compartment.
"Oh, hey there Mione." Harry greeted her with his standard awful nickname "Need a hand with your trunk?"
"No I think I have it quite in hand, Harry." Hermione gave him a smile and slipped into the compartment, she was honestly surprised that the Weasley's beat her here; traffic wasn't that bad and they had left at a decent time. Ginny sat with a magazine spread across her lap, her red hair was head back in a tight ponytail and a brown Weasley Jumper with a maroon a G on it.
To her left a new girl probably about the same age sat upside down next to her, her legs rested on the wall and her head nearly touching the floor. Blond dirty hair rested on the floor itself, and her face was covered by a right side up magazine named the Quibbler.
Across from the girl, sat Neville Longbottom one of their fellow Gryffindor's, the boy was a sort of outcast because of his magical ability but Potter Co. didn't really care about that; he probably couldn't find anywhere else.
"Where's Christian or the girls?" Hermione asked as Harry and herself lifted her trunk onto the rack.
"Daphne said that she was going to sit with some friends that she's been waiting to see all summer, no idea where Kidd is though." Ginny explained for Harry as he tossed himself to Ginny's open right and Hermione sat down next to Neville.
"Good summer, Hermione?" The slightly portly boy asked, shifting his slightly longer dirty blond bangs out of his eyes.
"I can't complain, spent a lot of time with my parents. So that was fun." She spoke quickly, leaning back in her seat "What about you?"
Neville seemed a little uneasy for a moment "It was like any other summer…." He spoke softly, before turning to Harry "Not going to get in anymore trouble this year are you?"
"You don't think I actually go looking for it do you?" Harry spoke with a look of pain on his features, though everyone in the room didn't believe him "Fine, as a matter of fact, I'm going to bring the Marauders back into action."
The blond girl let her magazine fall towards the floor a little, looking up at Harry with glass like silver eyes "You mean that prankster group headed by your father?" She asked a little lazily.
"Indeed, my dear Luna." Ginny responded, not looking up from her book on Werewolves "Harry believes that the art of pranks should not be left my brothers."
"Actually, I believe that pranks are meant for everyone."
"No you don't, you just need an excuse to prank everyone."
"I don't need an excuse to do anything, just the motivation."
"It's adorable when you two do that." Luna spoke up again, a smile crossing her features "It's almost like there isn't anything that divides you."
Harry and Ginny shared a look for a brief moment, before looking up at the door "It's the American." She said before pulling the magazine over her eyes, as the door was opened.
Christian moved into the cabin, slamming the door shut and breaking the glass "Fucking pricks." He snarled before tossing himself onto the bench.
Harry glanced at the broken window, then at the blonde "Want to talk about it?" He asked before fixing the window with a flick of his wand.
"Hell no." He growled, simmering in his seat next to Neville.
Luna didn't glance up but her dreamy voice could be heard "He's upset because an angel made him late, and a red weasel mocked him." She laughed lightly "Did you hear about the Pilox sighting in Cambridge, quite extraordinary."
Christian looked up at the group, then down at the girl near the floor and then back up at the group "Who is she?" He grumbled.
"Luna Lovegood." Harry, Ginny and Luna said in unison.
"That's a headache brewing that is." Neville mumbled as he'd been subject to Harry and Ginny's united speaking. Then to Luna's strange way of understanding, everything and nothing all at the same time, it was beginning to grate him.
"Relax Neville, we should be leaving fairly soon." Hermione spoke in a matter of fact way.
As she said that, she felt the familiar jerk of the train as it began to move towards the school; as it has over the last two hundred years.
XX~XX~XX~XX
Harry watched as McGonagall entered the Great Hall, he sat waiting for the sorting to begin so that the school year may start and the feast could go on. He could feel Ginny was just as excited as he was, the hat had already told them that she would be part of Gryffindor; but they were jittery none the less.
Before Harry could even register, the hat began to sing "Do you fear what I may know, to hear your deepest thoughts! I should hope not so, for then my job is not! Ravenclaw fair and wise, Gryffindor brave and bold, together took to the skies! Yet sweet and kind Hufflepuff, cunning and hard Slytherin found their refuge under the ground! Place me on your head, don't be afraid, I'll know your Home and I shalt be wrong! "
With that the sorting had begun, as with every year and the year before; it had been pretty fair and spread out across the board. Students looked on with smiles at their new homes, grinning Gryffindor's and smirking Slytherin's. Some however did not smile, a look of horror clashed across their features; a Pureblood from a Slytherin family in Hufflepuff, a Muggleborn in Slytherin, the list could go on.
It was something that Harry was familiar with, his wrist tingled with the thought as Slytherin could have been his best/worst choice. Something that Ginny could also be claimed with, should he have gotten that far.
'Ah, another young mind or should I say familiar mind. Hello, Mr. Potter and Miss. Weasley. So shall I separate you? Place you in Slytherin maybe, give you some help on the inside?' The Hat paused for a moment, as Harry listened through their connection 'I jest, I see you've been a busy pair of bee's and learning quickly too are we? Blood Transmutation, Healing and other interesting little facts! Sal has been a naughty boy….but still I say "Gryffindor!" Was shouted at the top of hat's volume, and echoed through their combined minds.
"Wicked!" George, Fred and Harry screamed, as the rest of the Lion table burst with applause. It had been a long time coming, seven children of Molly and Arthur Weasley had been sorted through Gryffindor. Ginny had come running down the steps towards the table, tackling Harry out of seat in a hug while the rest laughed at their antics.
Harry and Ginny took their spots at the table, with her being the last on the list of students and he cast a look around the room. Luna sat rather dreamily at the Ravenclaw table, next to some of the other first years. Daphne and Tracy had taken their spots at their table as well, not far from them Malfoy and his group sat.
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice he'd avoided all summer "Tuck in!" Dumbledore.
XX~XX~XX~XX
Good Evening Everyone, how are you all doing today? I have been so busy with the start of the semester, working odd hours over the summer. However as you can see, I am back with another chapter of my first and favorite story. Little Ginny has finally arrived at Hogwarts, and so the fun shall begin as we begin to verge into the new school year….but something isn't quite right is it? Where is that little black book?
I'll give you a hint, which book did Lord Malfoy take.