It was late in the afternoon the time Harry and Ginny arrived in Hogsmeade. After doing a quick check of the immediate area for Death Eaters, Harry and Ginny proceeded towards where the Main Gates of Hogwarts were supposed to be.
Because of the lockdown, the castle and grounds looked like scattered ruins. While this is how Hogwarts, and even Hogsmeade, looked like to muggles. To magical folk however, it was somewhat disconcerting.
Once they reached the location of the gate, Harry removed his sword and thrust it into the middle of the invisible gate. The sword began to glow a pulsating blue before the blue spread out thru the air and covered the invisible gate.
Once the gate was completely visible, Harry removed his sword and placed his hand over the Hogwarts Coat-of-Arms and spoke "As the Heir of Gryffindor, I command you to reveal your secrets."
Over the next five minutes, Hogwarts Castle, the grounds, the Black Lake, and a part of the Forbidden Forest became visible once more. Once the last area became visible, the gates opened and Harry took his wife's hand, and crossed the gate's threshold. Once they were on Hogwarts grounds, they both felt a calming presence invade their very souls.
As they approached the Main Doors, 435 house elves appeared before them. Each elf wore a tea towel with the Hogwarts Crest stamped on the front and back side. The lead elf approached the Potters and bowed deeply.
"Lady and Lady Gryffindor, we is yours to command. I is Tiffy, the head house elf. Yous be needing to go down and see the heart stone very quickly. Tiffy will have Gabby take you."
Without another word, another elf, a female, appeared and escorted Harry and Ginny into the entrance hall and down the stairs towards the dungeons. They quickly passed the Slytherin Common Room and some of the older dungeon cells until they reached a very old looking door.
"Gabby cannot be going any more, sir. Yous both need to go on from here. I is going to wait here."
With a look at Ginny, Harry pushed the door opened and walked in, with Ginny right next to him. The room they entered was huge. It was easily three times the size of the Great Hall. Within the walls, floor and ceiling were veins of some silver substance that all led to the center of the room where a large pedestal was located, the silver substance seemed to cover the entire pedestal. On top of it were the remains of a dying gigantic stone. Ginny knew that at one point in time it was a huge, covering the entire platform, but now it was about one quarter of the size it should be. This stone was neither diamond nor any other stone that Harry or Ginny had ever seen before.
The stone had a dim internal light that was fading even as Harry and Ginny watched it. Every few minutes, the stone would shrink in size, and the internal light would brighten for a moment before dimming again. As they unconsciously approached it, a ghostly female specter appeared in the room. It looked at the stone and spoke, without really speaking to the couple.
"It is dying. There have not been any heirs to infuse the stone in 700 years. Soon, the ancient magic that is stored within the stone will be lost forever. Hogwarts will no longer be sentient and will become cold and lifeless, like any other castle in the world."
"Is there anything we can do? I am the Heir of both Gryffindor & Slytherin; maybe I can recharge the stone." Harry asked, concern on his face. Hogwarts was the only place he really called home and was not going to see harm come to it if he could help it.
"Unfortunately Mi Lord, you cannot infuse enough of your magic without killing yourself. You see, Hogwarts lies on the intersection of two of the strongest lay lines in the world. A single body cannot withstand the raw power that it would to absorb, let alone infuse it with enough of its own magic to recharge and re-grow the stone.
"Because of this, it takes two extremely magically strong heirs to do this task. If the stone was not this damaged, then you might have been able to do something." The specter moved away from Harry and stared into the stone.
"A thousand years worth of memories of children laughing and being happy, of pranks and duels, of learning and living will be lost and there is nothing I can do about." The specter began to cry.
Harry and Ginny looked at each other. Harry saw the fierce determination that he loved, and Ginny saw the steel hard resolve behind Harry's green eyes. Ginny knew that Harry had lost many things in his life; he was determined not to lose any piece of the first place he ever called home.
Harry then turned to the specter and said in his commanding voice, "You may have given up, but we are not as easily swayed." Ginny quickly pulled out the shrunken trunk they had filled in the Hogwarts Vault from Ginny's purse. After returning it to its normal size, Ginny removed the portrait of the Founders and placed on an easel Harry had conjured.
"Rowena, we have a serious problem. The Heart Stone is dying. Since we are soul-bonded, do you think we can channel the power of the lay line thru us?" Ginny asked without any of the normal pleasantries.
"How bad is the Heart Stone?" Salazar asked while Godric and Helga both reached for parchment from somewhere Harry and Ginny could not see.
Harry looked over to the specter who shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea, but based on the light in the stone, I'd say we don't have a lot of time."
It was at this point that Salazar began to swear in Parseltongue. Harry and Ginny could both understand him very well and were tempted to take notes for future reference.
Finally Helga spoke up, "Damn It Ro! That's it! That is the only way to do it. Since they are soul bonded, Harry and Ginny are literally one soul but with two bodies. One body, Harry's, is heir to both Godric and Salazar. If Ginny were to become Rowena's and my heir, then they would together be the heirs to the four of us and should be able to recharge the stone."
After looking at Helga, Rowena nodded her head in resigned acceptance and spoke "Ginny. On the far wall should be four vials of blood, they are our blood and have stasis charms placed on them. Bring them over here. Harry, you need to draw a circle on the floor, 10 feet across. Mark the four compass points, use the point me spell if you need to find the directions.
"Once that is done, Use your Hogwarts Signet Ring—"
"WAIT!!" Godric shouted. "Harry, let me see your Signet Ring." Harry moved to show the Hogwarts Signet Ring on his right hand. As Godric inspected it, the Gryffindor and Slytherin Signet Rings separated for a moment before they were reabsorbed. It was also at this point that Godric saw the Azkaban Signet Ring.
"Ok, this is even better. Helga, yours and Rowena plan will not work. Harry is Salazar's MAGICAL HEIR, not his heir by blood and magic." Godric gave the others a moment to process what he had said, then turned to Harry and Ginny.
"Ok, listen to me very carefully, because the Heart Stone is almost depleted; Ginny gather eight vials, two vials of each of our blood, remove the stasis charms and bring them back over here." Ginny took off to do what Godric was told. "Harry, cut your left palm with my sword and let your blood puddle in your palm."
Harry did as he was told and made a somewhat deep gash on the palm of his hand. The blood began to pull somewhat quickly. When Ginny returned, Godric spoke again.
"Ginny, I want you to do the same thing, but with Gwendolyn's sword." Harry took the four vials from Ginny in his good hand and watched as she sliced her hand opened. The blood pooled in Harry's hand began fall out of his hand and onto the floor, Ginny's soon followed.
"Excellent, now Harry take one vial of each of our blood and pour them onto the ground, right onto the blood you and Ginny have spilt already. Once that is done, turn your palms over, facing the ground, allowing your blood to spill on the floor, covering our blood." Harry and Ginny did as they were told and watched as the red blood began to brighten. Soon the pool of blood began to cycle thru yellow, green, blue, red, and white.
"Excellent, now, I want you both to place your feet into the pool of blood. Now, hold your left hands open, palms up; excellent, now I want you to open the last four vials of blood and pour them into your palms. The order does not matter, but you must use all of our blood."
As soon as the different bloods touched and began to mix, Harry and Ginny started to receive flashes of memories from the Founders.
"Now, clasp your hands together and let your own blood mix with your soulmate's and ours. Now, the next part is the hardest, soon you will feel the raw magic begin to feel your magical core. Once you believe you cannot take anymore, concentrate on any happy feelings you have. Whatever you use to cast a patronus will work. Once you feel the magic beginning to change, you'll have to channel it thru your body into your arm and hand and thru your swords into the stone."
Harry and Ginny did as they were told and soon they felt the raw magical power of the earth being pulled up thru their feet and into their bodies. It was being directed into their magical cores, just like Godric explained, where it continued to build up. As it continued to build, Harry and Ginny kissed deeply and passionately. The raw energy continued to pour into the couple, when they felt like they were ready to explode, they pointed their free hands towards the stone and summoned their swords.
As the power continued to build up within them, the specter could see the white, raw magic, was being pulled thru their spilled blood and wrapping around their feet and legs, locking them into this single spot. As this was happening, Harry and Ginny's arms, hands, and swords glowed and magic erupted from the tips of their swords and hit the Heart Stone. The stone glowed brightly as it absorbed the magic that Harry and Ginny were giving it. The stone continued to glow and slowly began to grow in size; soon it was three times the size of a quaffle.
Once the stone reached this size, the magic that was contained in the stone began to pour out and thru the silver substance within the veins of the room. Once all of the veins in the room were pulsating with the same light that the stone did, the specter crossed to Harry and Ginny and stood between them and the stone, stopping the magic transfer. As soon as the magic stopped flowing into the Heart Stone, Harry and Ginny broke their kiss. The moment the kiss was broken, the raw magic stopped flowing from the ground.
Harry and Ginny looked winded, but quite pleased. Besides knowing that they had recharged the Heart Stone, their kiss was one of the best kisses they had ever had. The entire room, which had looked like a damp dungeon when they first arrived, now looked alive. The blood that they had stepped in was no longer visible as it had been absorbed by the ground. Their wounds on their hands were also healed.
The founders, who were in awe of the magic they had just seen, composed themselves as Godric spoke. "Harry, Ginny, what I had you do was merge our blood into your own. Our blood now flows thru your veins, you are our heirs in blood and magic now."
Harry felt his Hogwarts Signet Ring change. He saw the Gryffindor and Slytherin rings emerged from the Hogwarts ring then saw two more rings appear on his long finger. Harry immediately saw the two new rings had the crests of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Once the four rings were clearly visible, they all merged back into the Hogwarts Signet Ring.
Harry looked at his ring and saw that the eagle and badger that represented Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff as well as their house colors were now showing just as strongly as the lion and serpent.
Harry saw that Ginny too wore a ring on her right middle finger, just somewhat smaller than Harry's.
"Godric is right. By mixing our blood with yours, you were able to channel the raw magic that we used to create the stone and Hogwarts herself the same way we were able to. Your future heirs will be able to recharge the Heart Stone by themselves, without any other help. I am very proud of you" Salazar with eyes with unshed tears.
Helga, the empath spoke, "Even as a portrait, my magic can still feel the love that you have given the stone. Your love is infusing all of Hogwarts, from the walls, to the floors, to the water of the black lake, and the actual grounds. You have given the students who learn here a great gift. With your phoenix powers now imbedded within Hogwarts, those who are of pure heart and spirit will feel its effects."
"I too am very proud of you. Even with everything that you have both gone thru, you both chose what was right, not what was easy. I see why Gideon placed you both in Gryffindor. However, there is still something that you both must do. You both need to claim your rights as the Lord and Lady of Hogwarts." Rowena stated.
"What must we do?" Ginny asked.
The specter, who was becoming more and more solid, spoke up "Lord and Lady Gryffindor, please kneel in front of me with your swords, tips pointing down, and your hands clasped over the pommel."
Both Harry and Ginny did as they were told and kneeled. The specter moved across the room and removed a sword from the wall, then crossed back to the kneeling forms of Harry and Ginny.
"Lord & Lady Gryffindor, by the powers invested in me by Merlin the Great and Morgan Le Fey, I hereby confer upon you the title and powers of the Lord and Lady of Hogwarts."
Completing a process similar to Harry's knighting by the queen, the specter then separated the sword she used into two swords and placed them above the Harry and Ginny's hands. The moment she let go of them, the two swords became smoke and fell down until they merged with their existing swords.
"The swords of Merlin and Morgan Le Fey are now merged with the swords of Godric and Gwendolyn Gryffindor. These swords are now indestructible and cut thru any magical armor."
As Harry and Ginny inspected their swords, the entire room lit up even more as the specter dissolved into nothingness. Once the specter was gone, Harry and Ginny were standing in the entrance hall with their trunk and the portrait of the founders.
"Well that was sudden," Harry stated with a small smile. However Ginny was looking around in awe.
The old dark granite stone was gone. Through out the entire castle new shining marble had replaced the granite. The entire castle seemed to glow with an internal light, just like the Heart Stone.
Tiffy ran out of the Great Hall and bowed before her master and mistress. Ginny noticed that she was no longer wearing a tea towel, but an outfit very similar to the one Winky wore.
"Tiffy knew yous be able to help Hogwarts. Yous giving Hogwarts and her elves the magics we is needing to care for student for many-many generations."
Harry asked Tiffy to take the Founders Portrait and their trunk to the Founder's Suite as they proceeded out to the grounds. The grounds themselves were greener than either of them had even seen before with many of the animals from the Forbidden Forest grazing and walking around the grounds. Thestrals, unicorns, horses, deer, wolves, squirrels, chipmunks, and other creatures, magical and not magical were seen all about.
However the biggest surprise was the centaurs that were approaching Harry and Ginny. Not only did Harry see Bane and Magorian, but he also saw female centaurs and many centaur foals, something which no human had seen in hundreds of years.
When Magorian and Bane reached the Potters, they both bowed deeply. After Harry and Ginny returned their bows, Magorian spoke, "Lord and Lady of Hogwarts, we come to pledge our allegiance to you and your cause. The magic that you invoked destroyed the cancer that had been foretold by the stars for many years. This cancer has claimed many of those who call the forest their home as well as many of our kind. Look at the forest now."
Harry and Ginny did just that and saw that the blackness and decayed state of the forest was disappearing and instead a healthy forest was replacing it.
"We will protect the forest and those whom enter it. Whenever you need us, just call upon us, we will answer." Bane spoke for the first time.
"And what of Firenze? Will he be welcomed back into your herd?" Harry asked.
This time Magorian spoke up before Bane could open his mouth. "Firenze has already rejoined our herd. Your Professor McGonagall and I spoke not long before the Heart Stone began to fail and I agreed to welcome Firenze home. I considered it a personal favor from one leader to another."
"And what about Hagrid and his brother, and those of us who enter the forest. Bane has not always given my husband a warm welcome in times past." Ginny asked in a raised tone.
Magorian looked cross at Bane for a moment before speaking to Ginny directly. "Lady of Hogwarts, for many years, since I was a wee foal, I knew of this cancer that was intruding on our forest. I, like many others of my kind, felt that you humans were blame. Hagrid had always been welcome because he is not truly human.
"When you and your mate destroyed the cancer, I realized that many of my views about humans are indeed wrong. It was then that I looked to the sky and saw the red sun falling over the horizon and I knew that I had been in error. I give you my word that we centaurs no longer have any issue with Hagrid, his brother or any foal or professor from your school as long as they do not harm the forest, any creature of the forest or us intentionally."
Harry and Ginny looked at each other and then at the two centaurs before coming to an unspoken agreement. "Magorian, you and your herd will always be welcome in the forest that your kind has called home for over a thousand years. My mate and I are honored to call you and your herd friends."
With that, Harry held out his hand in friendship, which Magorian took without reservation. "Now, I see that sun is beginning to retire for the night, and I believe that your foals should too, good night my friends."
"Good night Harry Potter and good night Ginny Potter." With that the two centaurs joined their herd and headed back to the forbidden forest. As they were leaving, Ginny had a thought, and shouted to gain Bane's attention.
"Bane, can you find Hagrid and inform him that he can come home?"
Bane bowed to Ginny. "It will be done. I will also inform him of our conversations today."
Watching as the other animals retreated back to the forest, Harry and Ginny transformed into their Phoenix Forms and took flight.
As they were flying over the castle, Fawkes appeared and admired their handiwork.
'Well fledglings, when you do something, you do it big! I felt the changes thru my bond with Albus' Fawkes said while trying not to laugh.
'What do you mean Fawkes?' Ginny asked.
'The amount of love and magic you used to recharge and restore the Heart Stone was so pure, and so powerful, that no human has seen this level of power in thousands of years, since before Hogwarts herself was built.
'I believe that your soul bond helped to achieve this, but I am not sure about that. All I do know is that when he bond to the castle was reestablished, Albus regained much of the sparkle in his eyes and soul that he had lost long ago and for that I thank you. Now come, we must return to the nest. Molly Weasley and Winky have prepared a rather large dinner. She believes as I do that younglings must be properly fed with food and love'
The three phoenixes immediately flamed away from Hogwarts, living a very confused Hagrid staring at his home in wonderment. After Bane had spoken to him, Hagrid proceeded back to check on the castle. When it first came into view, Hagrid was floored. He knew that this was indeed Hogwarts, because he felt like Harry did, that he was staring at his home, even from this distance. Instead of the gray granite stones and dark spires, a marble castle that looked exactly like Hogwarts did before stood in her place.
As Hagrid crossed the boundary onto Hogwarts, Hagrid also felt something else. Hagrid would later swore he heard and felt phoenix song coming from the castle and the grounds; as if it was bottled up and then poured over every inch of the grounds and castle. With a happy smile, Hagrid continued onto his hut to get his medicine pouch. Bane had told him that a couple of the Unicorn mares had been injured and needed some attention.