Hiding at Hogwarts

~ by Healer Pomfrey ~

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

2 – The Portrait

"Oh excuse me for not introducing myself, my boy. I am Helga Hufflepuff."

Harry let out a gasp. "You're one of the Founders of Hogwarts," he blurted out, looking at the witch in the portrait in amazement.

"Well, at least you've heard of that," the older witch chuckled.

"Excuse me, Madame, but how can I be an heir of you? My father... Oh well, according to Professor Dumbledore, my father belonged to a side line of the Gryffindors, and my mother was muggleborn..." Harry slowly trailed off as the portrait chuckled again.

"Muggleborn? Ha! So many people think that their parents are Muggles, although in fact they are Squibs. I don't know if that's the case with your mother, but I think so. I don't know if you have ever visited Madam Pomfrey in her office, but a portrait of mine is hanging over her desk, so that I know most of the students, who have ever stayed in the hospital wing. I know that there was a witch a few years ago. She had the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, just like yours, but she had red hair. I always sensed that she had to be my heir, but unfortunately, I never had a chance to speak with her, because she didn't come into the office."

'That sounds like my mum looks in the pictures Hagrid gave me,' Harry mused, before he told Helga in a small voice what had happened to his mother.

"Oh my poor boy, I'm so sorry," Helga said softly. "Is that why you're hiding here? Because you have nowhere to go during the summer?"

"Um... err... I am supposed to spend the summer with my relatives, but they hate me so much. I asked Professor Dumbledore if I could stay here, but he won't allow me to do so. He always sends me back there. However, what I can't understand... If I am your heir, why didn't the Sorting Hat place me into your House but suggested Slytherin at first and then chose Gryffindor?"

Helga rolled her eyes. "Ah, Sopho, that crappy piece of cloth. Godric invented it and its more than dubious Sorting method. I can't believe that they're still using the arrogant know-it-all of a filthy hat to sort the students. Just ask Sopho why he didn't properly sort you. He is stupid."

Harry looked at the Founder in disbelief. 'I wonder why they accepted the method if they found the Hat so crazy?' he wondered. 'Well, it really seems stupid, considering that I was so easily able to talk him out of putting me into Slytherin.'

"Harry, you may stay here in my quarters. Since you're my heir, no one will be able to throw you out of Hogwarts," Helga said firmly. "Now, if you put your hand on the small stone badger on the second shelf from the right and the fifth shelf from the top, you will be able to access my private quarters. There is another painting of my friends and me in the living room, from where I will be able to communicate with you. I suggest that you head straight to bed." She pointed to a charmed display of time at the ceiling. "It's far after midnight, and you must be exhausted. Sleep well, Harry, and we'll continue our conversation in the morning."

"Thank you so much, Madame Hufflepuff," Harry replied gratefully, causing the witch to chuckle.

"Just call me Grandmother, Harry; that's what I am."

"Err... all right... Granny," Harry replied, suddenly feeling very excited at the thought of having found a caring relative. However, he was too tired to further dwell on the matter and quickly looked for the stone badger. As soon as he carefully laid his hand on the artefact, the bookshelf moved sideways, opening the way to an old fashioned living room, furnished with furniture of several different ages. Some of the sideboards seemed to be very old.

"Now Harry, I see you found my living room. The bathroom is on the right hand side, and the bedroom is right next to it. Just come and ask me if you have any questions."

Harry turned around, finding Helga smiling at him from a huge painting that was hanging above a very comfortable looking old sofa. There were three other people in the picture, whom Helga introduced as Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin.

"Good evening, everyone; thank you, Grandmother. Good night," he mumbled tiredly and headed straight to the bedroom. Feeling too exhausted to enlarge his trunk, he merely pulled his robes off and let himself sink on the large bed, which looked overly inviting.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

By the time Harry woke up, sunshine was streaming into the bedroom through an amazingly large window that allowed him to overlook the grounds, the lake and the road to Hogsmeade. He stood in front of the window, wondering if it was a real window or a charmed one. 'Probably it's real,' he thought, 'I'm in the bedroom of one of the Founders. They certainly chose good positions for their quarters with real windows.' He enlarged his trunk and headed to the bathroom to take a shower, before he stepped into the living room to once again speak with the Founders, suddenly feeling very hungry.

"Good morning, Professors," he hesitantly greeted the witches and wizards in the portrait. "Thank you so much for allowing me to stay in your quarters, Grandmother."

"You better get out of my sight quickly," the man, whom Helga had introduced as Salazar Slytherin, growled. "I heard that you are the one, who killed my basilisk a few weeks ago."

"That was your basilisk?" Harry asked in shock and disbelief.

"Yes, she was my familiar," Salazar replied angrily, turning to Godric Gryffindor. "And according to my portrait in the dungeons, Sopho and Fawkes helped him."

"I'm glad they did, Sal," Godric said firmly. "Harry is a relative of mine. I wouldn't have wanted your stupid basilisk to harm him."

"Professor Slytherin, I'm very sorry..." Harry began to profusely apologize to the Founder, who interrupted him rudely.

"Rubbish! You're not sorry at all."

"Now shut up, Salazar," Rowena Ravenclaw threw in sternly. "Tom Riddle, who is a relative of yours, if you allow me to emphasize that, forced him to kill her. It's his fault, just like the entire war is his fault. You shouldn't talk about anyone else's doing. Harry is a very sweet boy, and he will do great things in the future. It's his job to defeat that evil man." She turned to Harry. "Seeing that you're going to stay here during the summer, the four of us can teach you many things, which might help you on your way."

"I'd love that," Harry replied in surprise and anticipation. 'The Founders are going to teach me,' he thought in amazement. 'That's too cool.'

"Rowena is a Seer, Harry," Helga informed him gently. "I hope you had a good rest?"

"Yes. I can't remember when I've ever slept until eleven in the morning before," Harry said quietly. "Oh, by the way, do you know if there is a way to get something to eat here during the summer holidays?"

Godric laughed aloud. "Leo, this castle is full of house-elves, who have nothing else to do than to cook and prepare food for the humans living here, and during the summer, the elves are always very bored. They'll be enthralled to give you something to eat whenever you want."

"House-elves?" Harry asked in surprise. "Like Dobby? I mean..."

"I know Dobby. He visited you in the hospital wing a few months ago, didn't he?" Helga asked smirking. "Yes, he is a house-elf; however, he belongs to a wizarding family..."

"He belonged to the Malfoys, but I freed him," Harry impatiently interrupted the Founder and told Helga everything about Dobby.

"Oh well, do you know where the kitchens are?" Helga queried, slightly slapping Salazar's shoulder.

"The kitchens?"

"Very well then, go back to my office. In the top drawer of my desk, you'll find a tiny photo frame with a small portrait of Salazar. Even if he is very rude and pretends to hate you, you must know that in fact he doesn't. If you're my heir, you're his as well, because he is my husband, just like Rowena is Godric's wife. Anyway, take Salazar's portrait with you and pull your invisibility cloak over. He'll lead you to the kitchens. The house-elves will be glad to serve you. Be careful though, because I'm not sure if the Headmaster or any of the other teachers will be able to look through invisibility cloaks. Now, if you don't want to leave these rooms, you'll have to wait until the elves, who always look after my rooms just like after the other teachers' quarters, come here."

"I think I'll go and try to find the kitchens, if Professor Slytherin doesn't mind me taking his mini portrait with me," Harry said hesitantly, and soon he was on his way out of the quarters with the small portrait of his many times great grandfather in his left hand.

To his surprise, the professor seemed to be in a much better mood than he had been earlier, and his voice held no malice as he guided him through the empty halls. All of a sudden, after descending a hidden staircase, he became alert when Salazar stopped in front of the portrait of a snake and hissed, "Open."

'This is not the way to the kitchens,' Harry realised, horrified, as he automatically stepped forward and the door closed behind him, shutting with a small thud. 'This looks more like the Chamber of Secrets.'

tbc...

Thank you so much for your kind reviews. I hope you liked the chapter. When I began to write chapter three today, I noticed that the story is headed in a different direction than I intended for it to head, so I'd like to ask you something... Question: Apart from the Founders, whom would you like to have involved in this story? a) Minerva and Albus, b) Severus or c) Poppy?