Year One
Chapter 4- Progress
Harry sat in silence, suffering the glare of the Hogwarts librarian, Irma Pince as they awaited the arrival of the vaunted headmaster of the school, Albus Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and defeater of the infamous Gellert Grindelwald. The only movements Harry mad was the slight rise and fall of his chest as he continued to take deep measured breaths, he had been an idiot, thinking that there was no surveillance, but he had made a mistake, and now he was to pay for it.
A small cough broke through his thoughts, slate grey eyes were drawn to the twinkling blue that were the enigmatic and wise eyes of the strongest wizard since Merlin.
"Good evening Mr Potter, although, it is a tad late to be saying that now no?"
The eccentric man wasn't wrong, Harry thought, given that it was now one in the morning.
"I dare say so, headmaster"
"Mind telling me what you were doing in the restricted section tonight my boy?"
"Of course not headmaster, I was simply searching for something, it was not in the normal section and the majority of books that may cover it are in the restricted section."
Dumbledore's eyes narrowed, eyebrows scrunching in thought as he pondered Harry's answer.
"And what exactly where you looking for my boy?"
"History, specifically around the time of the four founders, and in regards to their contributions to Hogwarts."
Dumbledore's sigh of relief was so slight it almost went unnoticed by Harry. Almost.
"Well, I do suppose that's not the worst thing in the world" he mused out loud "however, I cannot condone breaking into the restricted section, or being out past curfew during school hours, so while I can admire your quest for knowledge, that will be thirty points from Slytherin and a night of detention next week with Mr Filch. Do you understand why I must do this Harry?"
"Of course headmaster"
"However, you are not the first to ask after that particular knowledge, I myself had an enlightening time reading through the book you seek. May I ask what in particular you were hoping to find?"
Harry looked warily at Dumbledore, the man's charming nature seemed slightly off putting, a part of his mind screamed at him not to trust the man, and he settled for a point in between the two extremes.
"Nothing much sir, just some interest in the founders is all, I want to understand them."
"An interesting pursuit my boy, I myself was more interested in their artifacts myself, I'm sure you know of my more than passing interest in enchanting and alchemy"
"Of course professor"
"Come Harry, I shall accompany you back to your dorms, even Hogwarts can be a harsh place at night and it is always best to be careful."
They travelled along the stone veins of the castle in silence until Dumbledore started humming a tune Harry didn't recognise, and it was only at the entrance of the Slytherin common room that Dumbledore spoke again, his cheery voice ringing off the stone walls.
"Well, Harry my boy, this is where we shall part ways for now, I hope to see you again soon. Hopefully not due to any nighttime forays of course."
"Of course, goodnight sir."
"Goodnight my boy"
-TDR-
§Wake child, it is daybreak, and a house elf has visited your room§
Harry groaned in annoyance, sleepily waving away the voice's command, and continued to lay in bed.
§I. Said. Wake.§
At the final word, Harry's eyes snapped open, all traces of exhaustion lifted from him as he was filled with a strange energy.
§How do you do that? You're a voice.§
§A voice I may be, blood of my blood, but parseltongue is a inherently magical language and even simple commands will alter the world according to the user's will. You would know this if you bothered to research your ability.§
§Yes that would go so well, I can just see the headlines now. 'Brother of the Boy-Who-Lived Researches Dark Magic! Will He Become a Dark Lord?'§
§Why care about it? They are not you, you are above them, just as I was above my peers all those centuries ago.§
§And yet, they defeated you together, you may have been stronger, but not by enough to negate their strength together, and I am not strong enough to defeat wizarding Britain, not yet at least.§
§Very well. What did the elf deliver to you?§
Harry blinked in surprise at the reminder, he had forgotten that the voice had mentioned a house elf having visited his room. He looked around his room for anything that was different, and his eyes spotted a parcel laying on the small desk he used to do his homework. It was a fairly nondescript wrapping, with small ties holding it together, with a note atop the paper.
'Do ask next time, a gift from me to you - APWBD'
Harry grinned in joy, he had not failed after all, excellent.
§What is it, blood of my blood?§
§Your history, if I am correct§
§Really?§
Tearing off the wrapping, Harry grinned ferally at the title.
Hogwarts: The Castle and Its Founders, First Edition
§Really§
-TDR-
Harry had stayed in the comfort of his room for the weekend, leaving only for meals and to be seen so as not to worry others, not that he really cared, but it would have been a slight inconvenience were any issues to arise from his absence. Locked behind a parseltongue keyed door, he read through the book Dumbledore had gifted him, devouring the pages that held information on both his house's founder and that of Rowena Ravenclaw herself, pages of notes lay scattered around him, and littered among them were hand drawn sketches of the castle itselfs, maps of each floor drawn from his ever improving memory, an improvement, he noted, that had started with his use of the flame and the void, but he had yet to fully explore that ability, though he suspected it may be somewhat related to the study of occlumency that many strong wizards undertook.
Over the weekend he had managed to narrow his field of search for Rowena's Room to the upper levels of the classroom, but other than that, he had effectively hit a brick wall in his efforts. Growling in frustration he nearly threw the book across the room, only stopped by the voice he was quickly becoming fond of interrupting him.
§Someone is at your door, blood of my blood.§
Harry's eyes narrowed slightly at that, his voice emerging as a hiss in response.
§Who is it?§
§I am not sure, I pay no heed to the other students, they are not you. But I can say they are female, and blonde, outside of that, I know nothing.§
§Thank you, blood of my blood.§
It was strange, Harry mused as he went to open the door, voice hissing out the parseltongue translation for unlock, that he had started speaking in the same way the voice had, although with a voice that no one else could hear as one of your only companions it was bound to happen eventually.
Upon reaching the door, he twisted the handle and pulled the barrier that stood between him and the rest of the castle open, revealing his normally clean and orderly appearance, now ruffled and dishevelled, to whoever was outside, though he had his suspicions as to who his visitor may be. Looking into the corridor, he nodded in greeting at the individual standing in front of him.
"Ah, heiress Greengrass, good evening, may I ask why you have visited me in my humble abode?"
His voice was rough from the few days speaking in only parseltongue, and it came out in a mangled semi hissed rasp. And her eyebrow raised once he had finished speaking, his greeting fading into a silence that dragged on, almost to an awkward level.
"Potter, it has been nearly a month since you last spoke to me, and now you've locked yourself in your room for the weekend, not bothering to clean up your appearance as befits the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. It is time this finished, go get showered and dressed, I'll be waiting outside, you have half an hour."
"Bu-"
"Go"
His head dropped acquiescence as he sighed, his body sagging as he gave in to Daphne's demands, shuffling to his built in bathroom, kicking the door shut behind him and locking it once again with a hiss of parseltongue.
With only minutes to spare in his half hour timer, Harry emerged from his room, looking as impeccably dressed as he usually did, red hair brushed to frame his face somewhat, clean black school robes trimmed in emerald clinging to his form. Arching an eyebrow at Daphne he raised his arms out by his sides, staring at her as he spoke out in a bored drawl.
"Happy now, Miss Greengrass?"
"Incredibly, now get moving"
Her sarcastic tone wasn't doing much for Harry, who was becoming more irritated by the second, and he spoke up yet again.
"I don't even know where we're going though?"
"The great hall. Now. Get. Moving"
"Yes ma'am"
And with that final response and a quick salute, he started moving towards the room that students and staff alike ate in, smirking at the growl that escaped the blonde girl's mouth in anger.
-TDR-
Harry had been quite surprised upon entering the Hogwarts Kitchens, to say the least, the high ceilinged room with a table layout exactly the same as that of the great hall above them, was bustling with a large number of house elves, their small frames scampering across the floor, some scrubbing pots while others sat in front of a large fireplace.
"How did you find this?"
Daphne sniffed at his question, voice taking on an imperious tone, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's not uncommon for students to find the kitchens during their time at Hogwarts, but I just asked my parents, they were more than happy to tell me. Dipsy!"
A smaller than normal elf appeared in front of the two students, her bulbous blue eyes sticking somewhat comically out of her head, bat-like ears flopping around in excitement.
"Mistress Greenygrass! How can Dipsy be helping yous?"
Daphne smiled at the young elf, her eyes softening from their ice like nature as she looked down in happiness at the excitable house elf.
"Just a small meal for the two of us please Dipsy, and some butterbeer for us as well."
"Of course Mistress Greenygrass! Dipsy will be doing straight away."
As the little elf scurried away to complete the request, Harry let out a small chuckle at Daphne's expense.
"Mistress Greenygrass?"
"Shut up Potter, I wouldn't be surprised if they come up with an equally ridiculous name for you, then I'll be the one laughing at you"
"If you say so Mistress Greenygrass" he replied, eyes twinkling in amusement similarly to the headmaster's on occasion, and he was rewarded with an unenthusiastic punch to the arm and a muttered expletive aimed at him.
After a few minutes of being subjected to Daphne's glare of impending doom, they were seated at the table that corresponded with the placement of the Slytherin table in the great hall above them, bowls of rice and chicken placed in front of them, along with a bottle of butterbeer each.
"So, Miss Greengrass, what are your goals in life? What motivates you?"
His eyes locked onto hers, icy blue meeting slate gray, twin circles of hard colour meeting as they stared at each other, and with a small shake of her head, Daphne answered.
"I want to become Minister of Magic"
Harry's eyes widened, that was a lofty goal, although, he mused, based on her current performance in class, she was certainly well on the way there, with most results from homework and in class tests graded with an Outstanding. Compared to his subpar practical results, and above average theoretical marks, she was well above him.
"Any particular reason?"
"This world is broken, and I intend to fix it, becoming Minister will just help with that, and if necessary I can always take a different route."
"Like what?"
She fixed him with an icy stare, as if testing his mettle by trying to stare into his soul, blue eyes shining with an intensity that could freeze the hottest of fires just by looking at them.
"I'll beat the changes into the system, I'll raise an army and force them to agree."
"Voldemort already tried that, as did Grindelwald, what makes you think you could succeed where they failed? Do you consider yourself better than them? Or just smarter? More magically talented? What's your plan?"
His words brought a quizzical expression to her face, as if she had only realised that others had tried and failed to do what she was speaking of.
"I'll form a political bloc to support my movement before I act, gather a group of well trained individuals, conduct guerilla strikes and put my enemies on the back foot, and while they are reeling I'll push through laws that will seemingly help the situation, but are just laws that will fix the issues present in this world."
Harry hummed in thought, it was similar to Voldemort in the basic foundations, but he hadn't had a solid political movement behind him, not truly. Yes he'd had the Malfoys, Notts, Parkinsons, and a variety of other dark aligned houses in his pocket, but his efforts had been stunted by the rise of Dumbledore's militia and the few gray houses that didn't agree with the Dark Lord's views.
"That could work, as long as you don't screw up. But that begs the question, why tell me any of this? You do know who my parents are and who they acquaint themselves with yes?"
"Of course I know, I'm not an idiot so don't take me for one. I'm telling you because I need allies, your brother, while being Heir Potter and carrying the prestige of the Boy-Who-Lived, is arrogant and self serving above all else, you're by far the more sensible brother and if nothing else you will be Lord Potter if anything were to happen to Charlus, which is always an option."
Harry stiffened at that, eyes burning in rage as he quickly slipped into the void, emerald flame flickering rapidly in his mind, the comfort of the void wrapping around him better than any article of clothing, the unique feeling enveloping him as he planted his hands on the table, voice coming out in a harsh whisper.
"Don't you dare! I may not like my brother very much, but he is family, and if you think I will ever condone a course of action that will harm my family you have picked the wrong person!"
His glare accompanied his words, freezing the girl, who would one day become known as the Ice Queen of Slytherin, in place her body stiff with tension as a strange feeling enveloped the Hogwarts Kitchen, the house elves dropping into the fetal position as they whimpered and covered their eyes at the unknown force.
Daphne struggled to choke out a few words, the force was suffocating in its intensity, the strange energy making even drawing a breath a colossal effort on her part.
"Harry, please. I- I'm so- I'm sorry. Please."
Harry stared into her eyes, once icy blue now softened by unshed tears, and he released his grip on the void, the cold of the room lessening as he did so, slowly returning to normal levels. And as Daphne slowly regained her breath, he stood from his seat, casting his eyes around the kitchen, taking in the view of the now kneeling house elves, their small forms hunched over as they bowed their heads in his direction, muttering the word dragon over and over. He turned to look at his female companion once more, speaking one final line in a tone colder than glaciers as he strode to the exit, and subsequently, towards the dungeons once more.
"Best of luck, Heiress Greengrass."
-TDR-
Once he reached the safety of his private room, his anger exploded, raging out of the void as he threw things all across the room. Nothing was spared from his rage as he tossed books, leafs of parchment, his trunk and his bedside table, the objects slamming into each other and the walls of his room in his anger.
Harry collapsed on his bed, tears streaming from his eyes, as he went over the events of the evening in his head, and how he had almost attacked the closest thing he had to a friend over his ass of a brother of all things. And as he wept, a silent observer watched, unable to comfort the child that he had grown fond of over his time at Hogwarts, and cursed the castle for hiding him away.
'Find me soon, blood of my blood.'
-TDR-
AN: Hey guys! Thanks for reading once again, sorry about the slightly delayed update, I planned to have this chapter out last week but I didn't have access to a pc to type it up for a few days unfortunately. But here it is, the fourth proper chapter in The Dragon Reborn.
I imagine that this story will be covering up to the third year of the timeline, just trying to figure out how I want it to go in the later half of this part of the story at the moment, so it's subject to change later one. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the somewhat late chapter, Arhan out.