Harry Potter
The Founders Four
By JadedofMara
The Founders Four
Chapter Five: Flashback
It happened on the last day of term. After Dumbldore's funeral, while the rest of the students went back to the school to get their things, there had been a long conversation by the lake, hidden from the teachers by Harry's invisibility cloak. Ginny, being her usual stubborn self, had acquiesced to Harry's wishes only on the condition that she be allowed to know why she wasn't allowed to come along. And so, after a long argument, they told her.
Everything.
Afterward, there had been a long period of contemplative thought, followed by yet another muffliato-ed argument, before Hermione had very quietly reminded them all that they did have to get their things ready for the trip home, and that if they didn't hurry, they would miss the train. And so, with Ron's arm around Hermione, taking the lead, and Ginny hand in hand with Harry, casually commenting on the lovely Xirianu buds in Professor Sprout's garden this time of year, they all traipsed back up to the castle.
Nothing happened until Harry and Ginny entered the castle. Ron and Hermione entered without incident, and were nearly to the marble staircase before Harry and Ginny crossed the threshold. And that was when Hogwarts made her move.
Welcome home, my Founders.
Searing pain lanced through their heads, and they collapsed, synapses exploding with long forgotten knowledge. Languages, spells, Masteries in fields practiced no longer. Abilities, never discovered, were exposed. Magical cores expanded exponentially. Repressed emotions flew to the forefront.
One by one they awoke, knowledge still flooding their brains, and sat upright, staring. Helga Hufflepuff, in the form of Ginny Weasley, looked at each of them in turn, a steely gleam in her chestnut eyes.
"There is no way in Magic—" she said quietly, her voice radiating resolve, "—that you can leave me behind now."
It happened two months later, on the first day of the new Hogwarts term.
Once they had locked themselves away from the student body of Hogwarts(in a broom cupboard), Hermione had instantly taken charge. She insisted that they gather their belongings, to be kept on their person at all times. She also demanded that they keep out of sight of any and all students and teachers, utmost secrecy a top priority.
It was done exactly as Hermione planned. Familiar griffin, gyrfalcon, badger and viper had never died, tied to life by aching bonds with souls that had never left the earth, and with their every worldly possession that was not locked away in Gringotts, the Founders and their familiars met in the Training Room to formulate a strategy.
First, they set about discovering and correcting the limitations of their new bodies, and exploring the benefits. Harry and Ginny were both taller than Salazar and Helga had been, but Harry's eyes had needed a strong vision-correcting charm, and Ginny's Healer's Runes had needed reapplication. A hair manageability spell for Hermione was all that was required (she had been the one to need the vision correcting charm the previous time around), and for Ron, a mild memory charm to make him release the prejudice against Divination that was clouding his Sight.
Brewing strengthening potions and retraining their new bodies to their old fighting methods had taken most of the first month. After that, Ron decided that he required 'some quality time, Gazing with Geiror', as he put it, and so was unavailable to join in the 'duel' that resulted between the others.
Harry had needed practice in his Discernment, the ability to 'see' Magic, unweave it, and change the spell into something with the same magical Articles. Hermione had found it necessary to relearn the precise technique involved in dismantling an Aura to release all the magic in a Core, effectively decommissioning the person without causing them physical pain. Ginny had simply needed to break in her new Healers Runes. And so the duel erupted, with Hermione attempting to destroy Harry's aura, Harry trying to change the spell to one of its brothers (a rather complex version of Stupefy that did more than simply stun), and Ginny to patch up whichever failed.
It was the first day of July when they finally ventured forth into the world outside Hogwarts. They had stopped first at Gringotts and completely emptied their ancestral vaults as heirs of themselves (Harry had also retrieved the money from both the Potter and Black vaults), and replaced this with useless clutter transfigured to look real, provided one did not attempt to take it outside Gringotts.
They had arranged through Gringotts for both Harry's and Ginny's emancipation, and this accomplished, had legally married before the courts of London. Magically, they were already married, Ron to Hermione and Harry to Ginny, so the usual binding ceremony needed not take place. But from this happy occasion, everything slid downward.
Hermione's parents had been killed in an attempt to discover the whereabouts of the four during their month-long isolation in Hogwarts. The Burrow was destroyed in a Death Eater attack, leaving only two survivors. Remus Lupin had been murdered by a mob that had swept London in early June, killing every werewolf, vampire, veela, or hag they could get their hands on. And to make matters worse, the Horcrux in the locket that Salazar had given Helga on the eve of their first wedding anniversary had been sold by Mundungus Fletcher to the highest bidder, and was now who knew where.
It took the remaining month of Hogwarts' summer holiday, but Sshycien was finally able to find Nagini as she was out hunting, and from there, Ron's now venom-coated sword made easy work of the Horcrux.
By this time, Harry had remembered that he had seen Rowena's diadem in the Room of Requirement, so they returned swiftly to Hogwarts. They had been shocked to find it filled with students, old and new.
Taking great care to remain unseen, the four managed to get to the Room of Requirement with no interruption. But, just after they had destroyed the Horcrux (Ron had done it, as Hermione couldn't bear to harm her diadem), Harry felt a great surge of anger, and they knew.
Voldemort had discovered Nagini. He knew that someone was onto him. He knew they were at Hogwarts.
And he was on his way.
Ginny and Hermione, dressed as the founders of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and very self conscious for it, went immediately to the Great Hall to orchestrate the evacuation of the students to Hogsmeade, to Headmistress McGonagall's great shock. Ron and Harry, armed with two wands each, the swords of their former selves and numerous explosive and corrosive potions, went out to lure the Death Eaters to the wide central courtyard, away from the fleeing students.
Much of the battle itself was as yet a blur, it being so fresh in the minds of the speakers, but each knew one thing: Voldemort had revealed himself, and by the time that Ginny and Hermione arrived from the Great Hall the Priori Incantatem was already in effect.