A/N: Hey. So no one guessed the correct answer to the riddle. MWPP-Marauders-Forever, however, was the only one who guessed and you were on the right track with it being related to Hogwarts. Read on and find out the answer. :]
"These two lines get me. 'I'm at a school' and 'I'm a symbol'. They seem most important," Hermione said.
"All right. Let's think this through. A school. A school mascot?" Harry said.
"A picture or words that go on a school uniform?" Ron stated.
"Uniforms. Hogwarts?" Harry added.
"The symbol for the school?" Hermione said.
"The houses?" Ron replied.
"Ron! That's it! The school houses! One of the house symbols is the answer!" Hermione and Harry exclaimed.
"Raveclaw is an eagle," Ron answered.
"Hufflepuff is a badger," Remus told them.
"Gryffindor is a lion," Hermione said.
"Slytherin is…whoa!" Harry gasped. The parchment was glowing.
"Why does everything glow lately?" Ron frowned.
"Look. At the bottom. 'Lion'," Hermione pointed.
"We got it," Harry grinned.
"What about the second clue?" Remus asked.
"Look for something, anything that is a lion, has a lion on it, or relates to a lion," Harry stated.
"Where?"
"Regulus' room."
"Harry, you're kidding," Ron said.
"He worshipped Voldemort. He was in Slytherin. Why would he have anything that relates to Gryffindor?" Hermione replied.
"Because of Sirius," Remus answered. "Sirius told me that Regulus had a small chest or box. It was painted red and gold and had a lion on it. He kept it hidden, of course."
"We need to find that box. Did anyone see it when they were in there looking?" Harry wondered.
"Not that I know of," Hermione shrugged. Ron shook his head.
"So we have to search," Harry sighed. "Let's go." They went back to Regulus' room and began searching. It wasn't until they had been looking for over an hour that the box was finally discovered.
"I found it!" Ron exclaimed and walked to the middle of the room. It was a small, square, red and gold box. There was a lion on the top and beside the lock.
"Is it locked or can we just open it?" Hermione asked.
"Try open it, mate," Ron quickly passed it to Harry. Harry tugged on the lid and it opened. Inside was a single piece of parchment. It read:
You solved the first,
Now solve me,
I once was a Founder,
Come find me.
"Another riddle," Hermione replied.
"At least this one if narrowed down. It's one of the four Founders of Hogwarts," Harry pointed out.
"What does the line 'come find me' mean though? The Founders have been dead for hundreds of years," Hermione wondered aloud.
"A metaphor?" Harry guessed.
"Could be," Hermione nodded.
"Maybe find something that was theirs. Something important," Ron put in.
"An object?" Remus added.
"I only know Slytherin and Gryffindor. Gryffindor is the sword and Slytherin is the locket," Harry told them.
"What about something with their names in it?" Ron stated.
"I can't even think of anything for any of the Founders. The only things named after them are the houses at Hogwarts," Hermione shrugged.
"What about a place? Somewhere related to them or was theirs or named after them," Remus responded.
"I don't know Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Slytherin had the Chamber of Secrets. Gryffindor had Godric's Hollow," Harry said. The parchment glowed. The words 'at Godric's Hollow' had appeared. "Godric Gryffindor at Godric's Hollow," Harry finished as the parchment flowed for the final time.
"The locket," Ron stated.
"It's at Godric's Hollow," Hermione said.
"That makes no sense. A Slytherin item at Gryffindor's house," Harry added.
"We have to get to Godric's Hollow," Ron said.
"Remus, where is it?" Harry asked.
Remus took out his wallet and pulled out a picture. "When Lily and James were trying to find somewhere to hide, Dumbledore helped them. He told them about Godric's Hollow. When they saw it, they loved it and immediately said yes. They took a picture and sent it to me and Sirius," he handed the picture to Harry. "I don't know what's happened to it. The last time I was there, it was destroyed."
"This isn't going to be easy," Hermione sighed.
"Nothing about what we're doing is easy. Time to go," Harry started downstairs with his friends. Remus caught his arm. "What?"
"Are you sure?"
"About?"
"About going to Godric's Hollow. It's not a memorable place for you."
"Mainly because I have no memory of the place. I was a year old," Harry answered. Remus stared at him. "I'll be fine. It's a house."
"Yes, a house in which your parents died. Harry, this isn't a good idea."
"I'll be fine. We have to go. We have to get the locket and destroy it," Harry told him and walked downstairs. Remus sighed and followed.
"We're all ready, Harry. We need to get going," Ron said as Harry put his bag on his back.
"Ready. Let's go," Harry nodded. They all turned to Remus.
"Thanks for helping, Remus," Hermione smiled.
"Yeah, thanks for healing Harry and letting us sleep," Ron agreed.
"Thanks for not dragging us back home. As much as I didn't want you to come and stay, I'm glad you did," Harry said.
"Anytime. Be careful. It's not as safe as it used to be," Remus nodded.
"When has it ever been safe? Definitely not while Harry's been around," Ron joked.
"Shut up, Ron," Harry grinned. "Bye, Remus."
"Bye, guys," he watched as the trio looked at the picture, turned, and disappeared. He then Apparated back to the Ministry where Seth and Tonks met up with him.
"Sirius, we might have something on Malfoy," Kingsley walked into Sirius' office.
"Keep talking," Sirius urged.
"He was seen entering a wizard home in Dufftown. A neighbour saw him and contacted the Ministry immediately. It's been three minutes since the neighbour called," Kingsley explained as Sirius grabbed his cloak.
"Address?"
"Sixty-two Lundstorm Road, Dufftown."
"I'm going," Sirius left the office and went in the direction to get outside.
"You're not going alone, are you?" Kingsley ran to catch up with his boss.
"There's no time to gather Aurors. I'll be fine. See you soon," Sirius pushed open the doors and went outside. He walked to the Apparation point and immediately disappeared. Kingsley ran back to the department to get a few Aurors.
"Okay, okay! One at a time. I have two ears but I can only listen to one person," Remus told Tonks and Seth who had been talking at once. "Tonks, go first."
"I got the hospital records you wanted. I have to say, it's a hell of a lot of births. Have fun," she stated and gave Remus the papers. "One baby on each page, even for twins."
"Great. Thanks, Tonks. What's up, Seth?" Remus turned to his close friends as Tonks left. He saw Kingsley run to her, say something, then run off with her out the corner of his eye.
"It's Greyback. He sent something to the department. More specifically, to you," Seth told him.
"Show me. What is it?" Remus began walking quickly to his department, Seth at his side.
"It's a letter. Not a long one, but it's a letter and for you," Seth replied as they walked into the department.
"Where is it?"
"In here. Luke Cameron is holding onto it so it isn't lost and no one steals it," Seth opened and door and they walked into an office. Sitting at a table with a letter in front of him, was a brown haired, green eyed, six foot one man. Luke Cameron was twenty-five and new in the department. Remus had hired him three weeks prior sometime in the midst of all the chaos happening in the world.
"Luke," Remus said.
"Hello, Mr. Lupin. Here's the letter. No one touched it. Not even me," Luke handed his boss the envelope.
"Thank you, Luke," Remus smiled at the younger wizard. He opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. He unfolded it and read.
Hello Lupin,
It's been far too long since we've spoke. Far too long. Anyways, congratulations on capturing Logan Sawyer. Of course, he was the newest and the weakest link of my pack, so he's not a good choice for getting information. I guess if you had known that, you wouldn't have sent Simon and Kevin to join me and they'd still be alive. Maybe next time you should aim for catching one of the stronger links. For example, Mark Woods or Daniel Culet. They've been with me the longest. So, what I really wanted to tell you was this. I'm watching and following your nephew. Not me in particular, but a very close friend of mine. In time, I will get him. For now, I'm hoping to put a special plan of mine in order maybe tonight. Maybe at Godric's Hollow. Who knows.
Bye, bye, Lupin.
Fenrir Greyback
"Oh no. he's going to attack Harry and his friends at Godric's Hollow. Crap!" Remus tore out of the office and to his own office. He put the records on his small sofa with the letter and began searching his messy desk. He was flinging papers everywhere and shoving papers aside. "This is stupid. Accio Communicator," he said, his wand out. His Communicator appeared from underneath many papers. He turned it on,
"Name please."
"Harry Potter."
"I'm sorry. The call could not be connected. Please try again. Name please."
"No," Remus stated then cursed.
What the hell do I do now? I can't get a hold of him, Remus thought.
"I need to tell Sirius," he left his office, locking the door. He didn't want anyone touching the records. Remus left his department, letter in hand, in search of his best friend.
Sirius kept his wand drawn as he slowly and quietly walked to the back of the house Lucius Malfoy had been seen entering. There hadn't been any noises of any kind inside the house. The house was in a secluded area. There were only three houses near it and there were trees around all of them, almost hiding them from sight. The houses looked identical. They were all one floor, black roof, pale coloured body, and a red door. You had to look at the house numbers to know which one to go to. When he got to the back, he peeked in a window. He saw two figures. One was Lucius Malfoy and the other, Sirius guessed, was the owner of the house. The owner had their back to Sirius, so he could only see Malfoy. The two were deep in conversation and clutching their wands. The window was open a tiny bit so he could hear mumbling, but couldn't make out any words.
"Incoming call from Remus John Lupin. Accept or decline call?" the Communicator said. Sirius' eyes grew wide and his breath caught in his chest. Malfoy and the owner had heard the voice and looked at Sirius sharply. He ducked down even though he knew he had been seen.
Now what? he thought, looking around. He heard a door open and close. Sirius got up and began to move around the house when he saw Malfoy's shadow.
"I know you're here, Black. I saw you," Malfoy called. Sirius wanted to say something but kept his mouth shut. He began moving away from the house and towards the road, never turning his back to the house. "Sirius, come on out," Malfoy called again and appeared in front of the house. He smirked at Sirius and began to slowly advance on Sirius, who was still heading for the road.
"Why are you here, Malfoy?"
"I could very well ask you the same question, cousin," Malfoy replied.
"We're not family. We never have been and never will be. Why are you here?" Sirius answered.
Malfoy jumped at Sirius and pushed him to the ground.
"Tsk, tsk. Still trying to keep tabs on me. I may be after you, but your nephew is the number one mission. You can and have to wait."
"Leave Harry alone, Malfoy!" Sirius yelled.
Malfoy pointed his wand at Sirius' neck. "Let's have a small duel. I win, I do what I want with the boy. You win, I leave your precious nephew alone. Deal?" Malfoy held out his hand.
"Even if I win, you'll still go after Harry," Sirius glared.
"I promise to keep my side of the deal."
Sirius stared at Malfoy and grabbed his wand as he stood up. "Let's go," he growled.
"Perfect," Malfoy grinned.
"Stupefy!" Sirius shouted but Malfoy blocked the spell.
"Is that all? You must be better than that," Malfoy teased.
"We've fought before, Malfoy. You know what I can do."
"I remember winning, Black. I will this time too."
"The deal involves my godson. I won't let anything happen to him," Sirius glared.
"You'll protect him the same way you did when he was fifteen?" Malfoy sneered. Sirius stared at the Death Eater. "Expelliarmus!" the spell hit Sirius, making him fly back.
"Reducto!" Sirius yelled as he got up. He missed.
"Crucio!"
"Protego!"
"Give it up, Black. You can't protect Potter. You don't even know where he is."
"I've been after you for too long to walk away now."
"Stupefy!"
"Impedimenta!"
"You should have stopped trying to keep tabs on me. Sectumsempra!"
"I won't stop until I get you and I will one day.
"Not today. Stupefy!" the spell flew towards Sirius and hit him in the chest. He fell unconscious to the ground. Malfoy walked over to him. "I win. Like I said. I promise to keep my side of the deal," he muttered then Disapparated.
"Leiland, where's Sirius?" Remus stopped Auror Hope Leiland in a corridor.
"He left about twenty-five minutes ago. Something to do with Lucius Malfoy. I don't know where," Leiland replied.
"Damn it. Thanks."
Now what do I do? Someone needs to know. I'll try call Harry again, he thought and walked back to his office. He unlocked the door and turned on his Communicator on his desk. Before sitting down, he placed the records and letter on his desk.
"Name please."
"Harry Potter," Remus replied. For a bit, nothing happened and he thought it was connecting. Then…
"I'm sorry. The call could not be connected. Please try again. Name please," the holographic voice said. Remus groaned.
"No," Remus said and turned the device off.
I have no idea what to do. Harry just needs to be really careful, Remus sighed and pulled the records in front of him. He put the letter in the middle drawer on his desk. He opened the records and read the first file.
Anderson, Ryan
Date of Birth: June 10, 1986
Mother: Sam Anderson nee Matthews
Father: Jake Anderson
He shook his head and put the file to the side. This is going to take a while, he thought as he opened the next record. At least I'm in no hurry to get anywhere. He sat back, ready for a long day. It was six-fifteen in the evening.
"It's been a half hour and we haven't seen a house or any ruins. Why didn't we just Apparate straight to the house?" Hermione replied.
"Because it's safer to walk through the forest first than to Apparate into a huge, open area," Harry explained.
"Are we lost then? It's been thirty minutes since we got here," Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"No, we're not lost," Harry sighed.
"Then where are we?" Ron asked.
"We're not lost. I just don't know where we are," Harry told them.
"In other words, we're lost," Hermione grinned.
"We're not lost," Harry muttered.
"Harry, I think we're going in circles. We've passed this tree three times," Ron stated.
"Ron, every single tree looks exactly the same. It's impossible to know if we've passed a certain tree more than once," Harry said. "We're almost there. I can feel it."
"I hope so. It feels like we're being followed," Ron answered. They walked for ten more minutes before they finally came upon a clearing.
"We're here," Harry replied and they walked into the clearing.
Where Harry had expected to see old rubble, stood a two story, stone house.
It looked like nothing had happened, like it had never been destroyed.
Standing tall and perfect in front of the trio was the old Potter house.
They were staring at Godric's Hollow.
A/N: Okay, yes, I know that Godric's Hollow isn't the name of the actual house. I know it's the name of the area and not the specific house that the Potters lived in. However, as I've said, I hardly knew anything from Deathly Hallows when I wrote this and it included the details about Godric's Hollow. So, don't get mad at me for that. :P I'm fully aware of my mistake and I'm sure you all know what I mean when I'm talking about Godric's Hollow and/or the Potter house. :P