Descend to Darkness
By: Kyuubi04
HARRY POTTER FANFICTION
Chapter 5: Claiming of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff
Summary: Harry defeated Voldemort through some unknown magic and has been in a coma for months. Upon waking up, he had somehow changed, in both attitude and stance, and was confusing everybody. During a visit to the infamous Chamber of Secrets, he discovered the reason behind this change along with the confirmation of one Albus Dumbledore.
Warnings:There will be slash... Harry is Salazar Slytherin and will be calmer and colder than before. It will be a Dark Harry but he's not evil. There will be Ron and Ginny Bashing as I don't like the two of them and they will be the main antagonists along with Seamus Finnegan and Lavender Brown. Pairings would be HPDM, SSRL, LMSB, NLLL, DTPP, BZHG, and TNPP. This will probably be a short series and updates will probably range from twice to once a month.
Notes:"Fall Prey to the Eternal Darkness" – regular speech
-Fall Prey to the Eternal Darkness- parseltongue
+Fall Prey to the Eternal Darkness+ gobbledegook
-x-x-x-o-o-o-x-x-x-
Hermione Granger was happily reading one of the novels that she bought on the muggle bookstore when she heard a tap on the window. She looked up to see an owl bearing an official-looking letter. She allowed it to enter her room and noted the Gringotts seal on the envelope. She opened it and read:
To Ms. Hermione Jane Granger,
Greeting, Ms. Granger,
We, at Gringotts, are conducting a test for all available witches and wizards of sixteen. We are hoping to close all stagnant vaults whose owners have vanished through time. This letter is to inform you that you are invited to partake in the said examination in hopes of determining whether you are eligible to inherit one of these vaults. The inheritance is determined through magic so as to ensure that the contents of each vault are given to its rightful heir.
If you are wondering, everyone from purebloods, half-bloods, and muggle-borns are invited. Should you decide to take the test, just sign your name at the form enclosed in this letter.
May gold into your hands,
Ragnok,
Bank Manager
Gringotts Wizarding Bank
She re-read the letter and tried to determine its authenticity. Surely, no muggle-born would be able to inherit something. Maybe it's some type of ploy to further undermine muggle-borns. She scanned the contents of the letter and noticed the form enclosed. Unable to decide what to do, she went down to the living room to find her parents.
Daniel and Jane Granger were lounging on the sofa while watching some noon-time show when they heard their daughter enter. Jane motioned Hermione to sit with them and asked, "Is there something that you need, dear?"
Hermione showed them the letter and waited for their input. Upon reading the contents, Daniel told his daughter, "You should sign it, Hermione."
The teen looked at her parent with curiosity and asked why she should sign it, explaining her doubts and suspicions. Her mother shook her head and replied, "Actually, we have been keeping something from you? We're not exactly muggles but squibs, dear."
"You're joking, right Mom?" She asked voicing her incredulity about the revelation.
Her father shook his head and explained, "Haven't you ever wondered once why we easily accepted the idea that you're a witch? Truthfully, we, meaning your mother and me, are squibs. Your mom was disowned when it was realized that she has no magic while I came from a very long line of squibs to the point that we are already considered as muggles. So there's a chance that you are able to inherit something since you are the first witch to be ever born into our family."
The girl gave a nod and asked, "So the reason why Gringotts invited muggle-borns as well is because there is a chance that some of them are just like me?"
"That may be their reason, dear." Her mother affirmed. Giving a soft sigh, Hermione signed the form and was stunned to see it flash red before it glowed green and receded to show that the fields indicated were already completed. The form was like this:
Name: Hermione Jane Granger
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Schedule: August 5, 10:00 a.m., Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Diagon Alley, London (look for Ragnok)
Agenda: Take inheritance test for unclaimed vaults
Showing the form to her parents, they gave a satisfied nod and told her that they'll escort her to London. She grabbed the letter and the form, and then headed back to her room to continue her reading.
After an hour, another owl came. This time, Hermione received a set of identification card, appointment slip, and clearance form. She placed them in her desk and resumed her reading. She just hoped that she'd meet Harry there. She'd been worried about her friend ever since he entered into a coma four months ago and was hoping that the boy would get better soon.
-x-x-x-
Neville Longbottom was trimming his garden when he heard a warning that signals the coming of a letter. He entered to see for whom it was only to see his grandmother already reading it. When she turned to see Neville, the Longbottom Matriarch motioned the boy to seat in front of him. After sitting, he was abruptly given a form and was told to sign. The parchment glowed red and green. When the light receded, he saw the following written on it:
Name: Neville Frank Longbottom
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Schedule: August 5, 10:00 a.m., Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Diagon Alley, London (look for Ragnok)
Agenda: Take inheritance test for unclaimed vaults
He asked his grandmother about it and only given a scolding and an order to wear his finest robe on August 5th. Used to the dismissive way that his grandmother treats him, the teen stood, gave a nod, and returned to his gardening. When he heard another warning, he decided not to take notice of it and worked happily.
He thought a bit about what happened at the ministry and frowned. He wanted to know how Harry was but no one apart from his guardians and Headmaster Dumbledore was allowed to visit him. He noticed that something was a bit off about the way Harry defeated the Dark Lord and wondered a bit about it. He scowled when he remembered how the aurors acted teens when his friend collapsed. He gave a sigh and willed himself to clear his thoughts of such depressing notions.
-o-o-o-
Harry used his time alone to buy a few more robes, potions ingredients, books, and focus stones. He visited all three alleys in his search. Much to his surprise, he only entered Crafters' Paradise to purchase some materials for weapons and shield crafting.
He was trying to determine how he would present himself at Hogwarts this year. He knew that he couldn't just up and show them a good performance without inviting suspicions. At first, he thought to have the headmaster proclaim that he was still too ill to attend and enter his sixth year as Gerald Moonhaven. But he immediately disregarded the idea thinking that it would also cause people to suspect.
After much deliberation, he opted to maintain his present performance in all classes except for Potions. He just couldn't purposely sabotage his efforts in the subject so he decided to slowly show some improvement on the subject. Since he never removed his glamour during his short vacation, he decided to visit "Wand-Crafters of Time" and buy another wand. He gave up the hope to ever find his original wand but he didn't want to continue using his holly wand either. To him, both wands had become incompatible with him since his personality was no longer the same when he possessed both wands. He would probably craft a second wand of his own but this time, he couldn't afford to lose the time when he could use it to further integrate his disguised self into the society.
To every shop owners in Diagon Alley, he was the charismatic foreign lord who decided to visit England now that a Dark Lord is no longer threatening its safety. In Triad Alley, he was a connoisseur of all crafts. He had helped several shop-owners there to improve their products with the least expenditure. However, to the patrons of Knockturne Alley, he was mysterious entity who knew how to recognize the rare items sold there.
During the fourth day of his stay, most frequenters of all three alleys knew him by face. Even without knowing his name, they felt that he had power and influence. Nobody ever did suspect that he was not what he was portraying himself to be.
-x-x-x-
The 5th of August was willed with anticipation for two persons. Hermione and Neville met with each other when both of their families entered the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione saw the boy and greeted him. Neville returned the greeting when he saw the bookworm drag her parents towards himself and his grandmother. The elders introduced themselves to each other and when they realized that they had the same agenda, they decided to join their groups together.
The two teenagers conversed about their vacation so far. Both wondered about Harry's well-being and showed deep concern about the boy that didn't escaped the adult's notice.
Inside Gringotts, the two met the Weasleys, Notts, Parkinsons, Finnegans, Browns, Patils, Abbotts, and Bones. The teens were summoned one-by-one in order of entrance. All the previous families only found out what they were supposed to know, that they only inherited from their original families. None of them said a word about it although it was obvious that they were disappointed with the results, especially one Ron Weasley who didn't even acknowledge the presence of Neville and Hermione after he came out of the ritual room that Harry had entered before. The rest of the sixth years present left as soon as they received their results.
Hermione was the first to enter. She underwent the usual procedure and much to her surprise, she saw the following:
Hermione Jane Granger
Family Membership Claims:
House of Ravenclaw – direct descendant
House of Rozenheim – claimed through House of Ravenclaw
Inheritance Claims:
House of Ravenclaw – one special security vault (personal artefacts and rare books of one Rowena Ravenclaw, all materials in shield-crafting encased in preservation charms, Manuscripts and Manuals on the specifics of shield-crafting), one high-security vault (familial artefacts, 734,643,123 in Galleons, 254,345,653 in Sickles, 1,343,665 in Knuts, Deeds to Raven's Nest) – two seats at the Wizengamot (unoccupied)
House of Rozenheim – one special security vault (all materials in stone-crafting encased in preservation charms, Manuscripts and Manuals on the specifics of stone-crafting), one high-security vault (familial artefacts, 986,456,445 in Galleons, 985,785,542 in Sickles, 573,232 in Knuts, Deeds to Rozenheim Tower) – two seats at the Wizengamot (unoccupied)
The goblin, who she assumed was Ragnok, warned him not to broadcast her inheritance for such a claim would surely be contested until she was able to claim the lordship of both houses. She left the room in a daze confusing Neville, who entered after her.
Neville underwent the same procedure and was surprised to see the result:
Neville Frank Longbottom
Family Membership Claims:
House of Longbottom – direct descendant
House of Hufflepuff – direct descendant
House of Inflares – claimed through House of Hufflepuff
Inheritance Claims:
House of Longbottom – one high-security Gringotts vault (familial artefacts only), one mid-level security vault (542,356,765 Galleons, Deeds to three family estates including Longbottom Manor, Rare books removed from Longbottom library), one trust fund vault for family dependents (1,232,456 in Galleons, 2,344,323 in Sickles, 454,123 in Knuts) – a seat at the Wizengamot (unoccupied)
House of Hufflepuff – one special security vault (personal artefacts and rare books of one Helga Hufflepuff, all materials in ward-crafting encased in preservation charms, Manuscripts and Manuals on the specifics of ward-crafting), one high-security vault (familial artefacts, 423,764,565 in Galleons, 565,434,323 in Sickles, 862,344 in Knuts, Deeds to Badger's Lair) – two seats at the Wizengamot (unoccupied)
House of Inflares – one special security vault (all materials in spell-crafting encased in preservation charms, Manuscripts and Manuals on the specifics of spell-crafting), one high-security vault (familial artefacts, 865,454,566 in Galleons, 565,532,432 in Sickles, 623,344 in Knuts, Deeds to Inflares Manor) – two seats at the Wizengamot (unoccupied)
After reading, Neville was given the same warning. He went out of the room to meet up with his grandmother and the Grangers. Hermione, who finally came out of her daze, invited him to join her to Diagon Alley since her parents allowed her to roam the street while they negotiated with the goblins about her newly-acquired fortune. When he asked his grandmother for permission, the old witch was about to disagree but decided not to when she saw his grandson act openly to the girl. She didn't know her grandson's result but knew that he had somehow acquired something from the Hufflepuff line. She knew that the family was a direct descendant of said founder. She just warned her grandson to return early in the afternoon.
-o-o-o-
With Ragnok, he was chuckling at his office whenever he remembered the faces of the families that came. The inquiry would continue up until the 10th of August but still, he found this day to be very amusing. Despite his remark about their rights being contested, the goblin knew that there was no way to take away the inheritance of Hermione and Neville. He wondered if this was the reason why Harry asked him to bring their attention on their inheritance. He promised himself to thank the young lord for reviving the legendary lines, albeit indirectly, later.
He assumed a stern face when he heard that the Grangers were going to talk to him about the specifics of their daughter's inheritance.
-x-x-x-
The two Gryffindors, despite the warning, began to converse about the result of their inheritance test. They were both stunned by the fact that they inherited something from the founders but didn't even look into the other family names thinking that they were just some minor families that vanished earlier. They were disappointed to see that Harry wasn't there but reasoned that maybe he was scheduled on a different date.
As they were talking with each, they didn't notice that they were about to collide with someone.
-o-o-o-
Harry decided to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies to buy a Firebolt X, the newest and currently fastest line of racing brooms. He was so caught up in looking into the shop window that he didn't notice the persons approaching him. He felt two bodies collide with and thankfully, he didn't fall down. He heard some muffle apologies coming from the ground and turned to see Hermione and Neville.
He was about to greet them when he remembered that he was disguised as a pureblood. So, instead, he offered his hands to help them up. The two took it and mumbled some thanks.
As soon as they are properly standing, Hermione said to him, "I apologize for colliding with you. We weren't looking on where we're going."
Harry inclined his head and replied, "It matters not if you tell me that you are unharmed, Miss."
She blushed and answered, "I'm fine. I'm Hermione Granger by the way and this is Neville Longbottom."
Neville gave a nod of acknowledgement and added, "I'm sorry as well."
Harry brushed off the apology and said aloud, "I know the Longbottoms but I don't think that I've heard of any Granger before, are you a muggle-born?"
Hermione winced a "yes" preparing for a round of pureblood bigotry but was pleasantly when he only hmm-ed and said, "Gerald Gabriel Moonhaven, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Ms. Granger, Mr. Longbottom."
Neville looked confused and asked, "Moonhaven? Where have I heard that name before?"
Harry smiled a bit at that, making Hermione who saw it gasped when it softened his features that seemed very intimidating before, and told him, "You may have heard of it along the names of Sagebryne, Rozenheim, Inflares, and Shaldyes. They were quite famous when the family heads fought and defeated the demon invasion a thousand years ago."
The two Gryffindors blank-out a bit when they realized that the names that they disregarded as some unknown pureblood families were actually more important than the founders' names. They tried to apologize for their lack of knowledge, Hermione more so because she was supposed to know everything by now when it comes to wizard history. Harry chuckled at them and said a bit patronizingly, "Don't stress yourself too much about it. I don't really expect you to know of it since I heard from the Headmaster Dumbledore that the only history taught to you by your ghostly professor was the time of the Goblin Rebellion. Besides, I'm already quite used to be thought of as a minor pureblood. It doesn't exactly matter to me now."
Instead of being reassured, the two became further embarrassed to learn that the mysterious boy knew of their lack of proper education about their own history.
Harry, in trying to dispel the uncomfortable air, invited them to join him inside the quidditch store. Inside the shop, Harry immediately made his way to the counter to purchase the new broom while the other two levitated around him, not really interested in buying anything apart from a few get-well gifts for their supposedly comatose friend.
After purchasing other quidditch gears, Harry asked the two to join him and have some lunch at Leisure Expo. He was amused to note that they, too, had the same reactions with Draco and his friends when he introduced Triad Alley. He even wondered about why his year-mates didn't know of it when there were actually a lot of patrons in the alley.
During lunch, the three conversed about some things like school and quidditch. But, when they broached the subject of the Dark Lord's defeat, the expression on Harry's companions darkened. When he saw this, he was a bit worried that they would blame him or something but to his shock, he heard Hermione grumble, "It's quite irritating how the wizarding world instantly reveres Harry when they actually went out of their way to persecute him last year."
He was even more surprised when Neville added, "Then those aurors acted like headless chickens when he collapsed during that battle. They wouldn't have even thought about sending him to the hospital if I hadn't suggested it."
After hearing these comments, Harry tested the waters and asked, "So, you mean to say, that you don't even blame him for bringing you to such a dangerous place?"
Hermione looked at him, offended for suggesting such a thing, "Of course not! We went with him on our own. He would've gone alone if we hadn't insisted to come along. Harry's our friend so it's very much obvious that we'll help him even if we have to follow him to danger."
"That's right. I haven't been as close to Harry as Hermione is but the guy helped me overcome my shyness and taught me how to stand up for myself. He made me realize that I'm not a failure and for me, that's enough to make me help him even with such dangerous odds." Neville added with such vehemence that Harry felt gratified by their loyalty. He was even tempted to reveal himself but, fortunately, he managed to get himself together.
After his initial test, Harry continued to ask subtle questions to ensure their trustworthiness. He only hoped that the results would be the same when it came to Ron. When he was satisfied, he directed their conversation to some lighter topics.
Hermione and Neville was surprised that they had enjoyed the mysterious boy's company. Neville even invited him to visit Longbottom Manor tomorrow. The slightly pudgy boy also extended the invitation to Hermione, saying that he's going to invite most of their friends at Hogwarts for a late birthday celebration that his grandmother organized for him since he was unable to celebrate his birthday last 31st of July.
Harry and Hermione agreed to come. After they finished their lunch, the trio left the restaurant and went their separate ways. Hermione returned to Gringotts. Neville went home. And Harry went back to the Leaky Cauldron with a satisfied smirk on his face.
-x-x-x-o-o-o-x-x-x-
Finally, Hermione and Neville appear...
Also, if you're wondering why they didn't know that Harry's awake then here's the explanation...
A day after he woke up, Harry immediately set out to furnish some loose ends with his history as Salazar.
Dumbledore was too curious to even think about informing Sirius and Remus.
Draco isn't the type to broadcast that he had some sort of interaction with the boy.
Severus is the same as well.
The other professors were of the opinion that Dumbledore have already told the boy's guardians.
I hope that their interaction with Harry when he was disguised as Gerald was satisfactory...
Next time: Let's join in the celebration in Longbottom Manor and listen on Harry's confession to his godfathers.