The Founder's Secret Garden

Chapter 5: Lessons with the Founders

The next morning Harry woke up on the sofa in Severus' room, covered by a thin, yet warm, fleece blanket. And he blushed. He could smell food being cooked in the small kitchenette, and hear Severus moving around, and humming a tune as he cooked. And he blushed some more.

He tried to get it under control as he sat up and took the time to admire the quarters properly, occasionally glancing at his soulmate and being in awe of the fluidity, and grace of the man's movements.

"I have received a letter from Draco," Severus said, his voice was gentle but it still caused Harry to jump as he noticed that the man was looking directly at him, a small smirk on his lips, "We are to meet everyone in the Founder's quarters for some lessons, at nine o'clock. Neville has covered your absence in the dorms by saying you were unwell. If anyone goes looking they will just assume Poppy has released you,"

"Right," Harry said, nodding as he tried to control the blush that threatened to take over his whole body, "Sorry for falling asleep, I… I didn't mean to,"

"I know," Severus said, smiling slightly, "And it is of no consequence. I am glad you feel safe enough here to sleep peacefully. You have found out some difficult information, you are upset, stressed, and you were exhausted. I understand. Though, I should probably say to try not to make a habit of it, we don't want people growing suspicious,"

It was as Severus was speaking, and the blush continued to grow on Harry, that he realised the man wasn't wearing his glamour yet. He looked seventeen.

And Harry really tried not to blush more at the sight of his soulmate.

"Breakfast is ready," Severus said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Right," Harry said, nodding as he stood and made his way to the table that Severus was setting for them with plates of a mouthwatering full English, and a glass of juice for Harry, a coffee for himself.

They talked a little as they ate, and Harry felt both comfortable and safe. Both feelings that he had never really felt before the weekend previous. The weekend where he found a family, and his soulmate in perhaps the most unexpected way possible.

Soon they were walking to the Founder's rooms, Harry wearing the invisibility cloak as he tried to keep up with Severus' long strides. He felt so small compared to the man who towered over him, his glamour firmly back in place. But he didn't mind it, not now. He knew that Severus could and would protect him as much as possible, and look after him in ways that no one else had before. And that made him feel… good. Brilliant even.

They arrived right on time to find everyone else already there, gathered in the large, comfortable sitting room chatting together with the Founder's ghosts.

"Harry," Neville said, happily greeting his roommate, "How did your meeting go?"

"Hi, Neville," Harry said, smiling at his friend, "Erm, well, it went… okay, I guess," he muttered, fidgeting slightly under the worried looks from his new family.

"Hm, okay if finding out a number of people are stealing from you and a certain someone is using some of your Wizengamot seats illegally is okay," Severus said, "But we got everything sorted, have claimed our Lordships, I am taking our seats in the Wizengamot now, and we are getting our money and items back from those who have stolen,"

"Lordships?" Godric said, "We were under the impression that Harry only had two, though he couldn't use the Peverell one, and you only had one?"

"Indeed, Lordships," Severus muttered.

Harry chuckled slightly at his soulmate's put upon look, "Yes, Lordships, I am also the Lord of Slytherin and Hufflepuff, and Severus is the Lord of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor alongside the Prince family,"

"I knew they were our babies," Salazar muttered from his spot next to his wife.

Godric sighed, "Now he is going to mother you both, be prepared for him and Helga to smother you,"

Rowena laughed at her husband, "As if you aren't going to be smothering them also,"

"I do not smother," Godric said, sounding deeply wounded.

Rowena raised an eyebrow at him, "Really? I'm certain that everyone would love to hear how you-"

"I don't believe they need to hear about that, Ro," Godric cut her off quickly, blushing slightly.

"Oh, come on, Ric," Salazar teased, "You know everyone would love to-"

"I think everyone is quite alright with not knowing, Sal," Godric said, glaring slightly at his friend.

"But Godric, sir, we really must know," Fred said, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"No, we are here for learning, not storytelling," Godric said firmly, shaking his head at them all.

"Fine," Helga huffed, "We'll just tell them all later,"

"No, you won't," Godric said firmly, though Harry noted humourously that there seemed to be a slight pleading tone to his voice also.

And so they got down to business. It wasn't an action packed training lesson, they would work their way up to that. They needed to know the basics before they could start proper training and it seemed that the current curriculum was rather, edited. A lot was missing which then led to the students getting worse grades because they didn't truly understand the classes, the magic involved, the process.

So they started off with a long, yet interesting lesson, on magical theory. A subject that is meant to be compulsory at any magical school, and is at all of them, apart from Hogwarts. Dumbledore removed the class shortly after becoming headmaster as he didn't think the Muggleborns truly understood what was being taught, and thought they didn't like many parts of it.

They learned about the differences between Light and Dark magic, as it truly is, and not as they have been raised to believe. Dark magic isn't necessarily bad magic. And a lot of things have been deemed 'Dark' or 'Dangerous' or even illegal that aren't dangerous at all. Light magic, as it is, is any magic that is derived wholly from your magic. In simpler terms, it is magic that comes from magic itself, no other elements are needed. This involves basic charms, spells, hexes that don't require any specific magical strength, ability, or emotion to power them alongside the presence of a working magical core. Dark magic, however, is magic that needs something else alongside your magic to power it. Such as a strong emotion, which is the main component for most of the spells in the category. Sometimes, however, you need to be of a certain power level, or have a certain ability to be able to do a spell, though that is rarer.

In fact, during the Founder's time they were never called Light and Dark Magic, because it didn't really make sense. You can harm someone just as easily with a supposed Light spell, as you could with a Dark one. In the Founder's time Dark magic was called motus magicae (emotion magic), and Light magic was just called… magic.

There are Dark Arts. But those spells, rituals and potions can easily fall into either category depending on whether something else was involved in the crafting of a spell or not. The Dark Arts refer to any magic that was created with the specific intent to cause grievous harm to a human, or animal. And, surprisingly, none of the unforgivable curses are considered Dark Arts based on this.

The killing curse was created by a healer who wanted patients to have an option to have a painless death if they were dying from a long-term, painful illness that there was no cure for.

The cruciatus curse was created by another healer as a way to stimulate and heal patients' damaged nerves.

And the imperius curse was created by yet another healer as a way of stopping patients from hurting themselves and or others, temporarily. The spell was only used during periods where they felt the patient was close to doing something, and was released when the situation had calmed, then a mind healer would talk the patient through the experience, emotions, and such that led to them becoming angry, or whatever other emotion was causing them to want to hurt themselves or others. It had been used to stop a large number of suicides before it was made illegal.

All of these supposed curses, whose purposes were originally good, had been taken and used for terrible things though. The imperius started being used to enslave people. The cruciatus curse to torture. And the killing curse to murder. And so, in 1717 it became illegal to cast any of them.

They are all Dark Magic, due to the strong emotions needed to cast them, although if you were to ask a Death Eater what emotion was needed they would all say anger, which was technically incorrect. They can be cast correctly with strong levels of any emotion, not just anger. But they aren't Dark Arts based on what the Dark Arts actually are.

They also learned about the Old Ways. In other words, the pagan traditions that the wizarding world used to follow, to keep their magics strong. The rituals done on the pagan holidays were done to honour Lady Magic, nature, and to keep the magic alive, healthy, and going. Each of the eight traditional holidays; before Christianity took over in the country, Europe, and the Americas; had a specific meaning, rituals done for specific things to help their magic and lines grow strong and healthy. Beltane, for example, was a time for fertility, and ensuring the children were healthy, which certainly had the students blushing.

However, with time came the decline of usage of these rituals, with some families, and schools, deciding not to teach the Old Ways, or let the students take part in their own rituals, because they deemed it not appropriate. Some of the Muggleborns, especially those raised in strict religious households, thought the rituals were worshipping the devil, and therefore, deemed them as Dark Arts. And to make the Muggleborns more comfortable many parts of society stopped celebrating Lady Magic, and nature, until it was made illegal to do so.

As a result of this, and a number of other things, magic was getting weaker as the rituals were specifically for the purpose of heightening the magic in ourselves and nature. More squibs were being born because the old families weren't partaking in the festivities that kept their lines strong. And the Muggleborns and half-bloods weren't doing the rituals either, which led to their lines not being as strong as they could, and perhaps should be. Magical gifts within the families were fading away, although, again, the lack of rituals weren't the only cause for this. And, as a whole, they were dishonouring Lady Magic by not celebrating and thanking her. Which was leading to her Death, slowly, but surely.

Inbreeding was also another issue, especially amongst the pureblood families. This was leading to deformities, squibs, and lack of family gifts alongside the lack of the Old Ways. The children weren't as strong with each new generation, although there were the odd exceptions, nor were they as healthy.

They needed to diversify their bloodlines with Muggleborns and half-bloods, to create stronger children, and bring back the family gifts. Examples being that Harry, Dumbledore and Tom (the Dark Lord) were all half-bloods and all the most powerful people in the country, closely followed by Severus and Minerva McGonagall, who were also half-bloods. An example of bringing back the family gifts was Nymphadora Tonks, a woman who finished school in June 1991 and she was a half-blood who brought with her the gift of a metamorphmagus from the Black family on her mother's side. She was Draco's cousin apparently.

They shouldn't marry someone too closely related to them, although by that point all the pureblood families were related, and so were a lot of the half-bloods. And they should start doing the rituals again, educating everyone on why they aren't Dark. Emphasising that there is no devil worship. There are no ritual sacrifices. No murders. No blood shedding. Nothing remotely Dark. Nothing remotely harmful.

It would take time, though. Especially with all the prejudices going around, from both sides of the ever looming war. And they would need a plan, first and foremost, on how to introduce the Old Ways back into society, and to prove that keeping the family 'Pure' isn't necessarily a good thing.

"What about marriage contracts? Many of us aren't able to get out of them once our parents have created them," Draco asked, "Were they around during your time? Were you all contracted to each other?"

"They most certainly weren't around during our time," Godric grunted, "They are inhumane is what they are. Forcing two, usually, teens to bond with someone they don't like is just calling for more issues. People wonder why families aren't larger, and some say it is fertility troubles, which is true in some cases due to inbreeding and lack of the Old Ways, but putting two people who don't like each other together and trying to get them to create more than one child is just ridiculous. Now, don't get me wrong, yes, there are some couples, some people, who do just want the one child. But we all know that the magical population is declining, so more children from each couple would be ideal, to keep our magic, our safety, and our world strong,

"During our time we married for love, and/or magical connection, or compatibility. And the amount of children we all had back in the days, rather happily I might add, showed it," Godric said.

"How many children did you all have?" Luna asked curiously.

"Godric and I had nine. Helga and Salazar had eleven," Rowena said, a bright smile on her face, although there was a twinge of sadness there also.

Everyone looked at the Founders in shock, blushes on their cheeks.

Well, everyone apart from Harry.

Harry was amazed that anyone could have that many children. That large of an immediate family. Everyone he knew had either one or two children, well, everyone he knew who had mentioned enough around him for him to know that much. The obvious exception being the Weasleys.

But he liked the thought of having a large family. Of a house… a home, full of children. With Severus.

One day.

When he wasn't technically a child.

His hand went to his flat stomach as he thought more about it. The thought of having that many children with his soulmate filled him with more happiness than he could ever have imagined feeling.

It would be challenging, he had no doubt. Raising that many children had to be difficult. But a good kind of difficult. The best kind. Because they were his children, his babies. And they would be the most amazing gifts in the world.

One day.

He glanced at Severus and saw the man looking at him also, smiling slightly with a light in his dark eyes that gave him hope that maybe Severus wanted the same thing.

A home.

A family.

One day.

Then he glanced at the Founders, who were all looking at him with knowing smiles as everyone else continued to stare at them in shock. And he smiled back. His thumb unconsciously, mostly, rubbing his stomach gently as he saw in his mind's eye a comforting home, with Severus, and their children. And all the possibilities.

Happiness surged through him the more he thought about it, and he honestly didn't think he could ever be that happy, not before. But now, when he has a family to live and fight for. A family to make the world better, safer for.

One day.

Hiya, how are you all?

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and that everything is explained well enough. More will be coming in future chapters to go into more detail, but I am way too dead at the moment. Honestly, fatigue has hit me like a freight train, or a stampeding herd of hippogriffs. And I have to go to work tonight :( Also, I hope any of you that celebrate the pagan holidays, like myself, had a wonderful Beltane yesterday! Also, if you are thinking that eleven children for Helga and Salazar are too many, then, my great nan had eleven kids, and Helga reminds me very much of her, so... that would be why. Also, I wouldn't be opposed to having that many children myself, to be honest, if someone would just show they were interested in me, or something, ya know?

But that is enough of that, I guess. What do you think is to come? Training will definitely be coming, but what will the Founders train them in? And what other lessons need to be learned? Will any of the soulmate couples out themselves to the world anytime soon? If so, what will the reactions of everyone else be? What will the newfound family do together? How easy will it be to get everyone to listen to them regarding the Old Ways? We all know Hermione, and others, will pitch a fit, but what about everyone else? And what will happen with the Triwizard Tournament? And just other characters you want to see in the story? We will see, I suppose, but I would like to hear your thoughts.

Also, I posted an essay/petition where I (un)officially explain why I think I should be cast as my favourite character, Severus Snape, in the new HBO series, despite the fact that I am a woman. It would mean a lot if you went and read it, but no pressure. It isn't going to lead to anything, unless, by some miracle, it goes viral, but it was fun to write. Feel free to go and check it out.

Anywho, I am working on some Spotify playlists for my fanfics, so if you can think of any songs you think work with the stories as they are so far, or where you think they are going, or songs that give you the vibes you get from the stories, then please do let me know and I will give them a listen, then potentially add them to the playlists. I will let you know as soon as they are ready, though it may take a few weeks because life.

I have a Facebook group called Maraudering_Paige which you are all welcome to join if you would like to and are able to. It is where we can talk about Harry Potter, fanfics, life, share memes and more. It is also where I have somewhat of an update schedule for my fics and will be keeping you up to date on what I am working on, in regards to fanfics, original works, and more things. So if you are interested in joining then I am more than happy to accept you all.

I hope you are having an amazing day!

Kind regards,

Paige xx