Chapter 29 - The Trunks in the Closet

Harry wasn't sure what Neville planned to do tonight, as they had changed their plans already with Dean and Seamus, so he waited on setting the hourglasses, and went through his bag – sliding the contents onto an empty table. He set the two trunks Flitwick had given him of his parents' and set them aside. Despite having a year in the Room he'd not opened them – largely forgetting they were even in the voluminous bag he carried.

It would have made it easier for Neville, if he'd been able to use one of the wands, but something inside Harry clenched at the idea. Though it would only be proper to offer, after all, Neville had lost his dad's wand helping save Harry. Forgetfulness had kept it from being an issue before… Harry shook his head, it would only come up if he and Neville were alone anyway – Harry couldn't let anyone else know he'd gotten the trunks. Neville had written Ollivander with the results of a wand test they'd found in an older Muggleborn guide, The Science Behind Wizardry, that seemed to be from when the elements were thought of as earth, air, and the like. They hoped that with a note that it would be temporary – until Neville could come in – Ollivander would at least humor the request and send one. Professor Binns had warned them against it, but the test's prediction seemed so logical…

Another thought came to Harry, a lost and found… Over a thousand years surely there was one at some point. He asked the Room, it flashed, and then opened a door into what looked like a storage area full of dust, cobwebs, and the smell of stale air just a bit too dry for mold. Harry thought it odd that the house elves hadn't maintained the room, and as he entered saw the strangest thing – a pile of student trunks each with initials on them. Surely it couldn't be that hard to match them back up. How many students wouldn't notice losing most of their belongings?

Harry said aloud, "Surely you'd claim it, or report it missing immediately?" The Room responded by making a large dusty volume, twice length and width of a normal book appear in front of Harry on a bookstand. The Hogwarts Student Roster Record was embossed in gold on what looked to be a tan leather cover through the dust. Nearly as soon as Harry read the cover the book opened and flipped to a page headed with the title Expulsions, cont. At the top of the page was Hagrid – and no names followed the groundskeeper's. Harry flipped the page but it, too, was blank.

The light flashed in the Room and Harry let the Lost & Found door go. When Neville entered, Harry waited a bit, letting Neville activate the hourglasses as he tried to discern what the Room was trying to tell him.

Neville spoke first, "Sprout is mad for it! She nearly clipped the new wood of the Hydrangea she just got in! Good thing we're doing this Thursday – otherwise I'd bet she'd invite the parents."

"What?" Harry's brain took a moment to switch gears and catch up. "Oh. Did you tell her to coordinate with Flitwick?"

"Yes, and she nearly bounced on the way back to the castle. I thought I'd seen her happy – but this was – wow! Apparently she has an OWL only niece and has been worried for her."

"OWL only?" Harry asked, and then smacked his forehead. "Withdrawals, not expulsions!" Harry paged back to the front of the book, and soon had a list of withdrawals, with student year, guardian, and relationship noted.

Harry took a deep breath, and then looked at Neville. "I think I found more plotting."

Neville looked at the book with dread, "Is it murder now?"

Harry shrugged, "At least disappearances or theft. I was wondering about a Lost & Found – most muggle places have them at a reception desk or with security. And I thought maybe there would be a wand in there you could use if Ollivander doesn't come through."

Neville nodded slowly.

"Well, I asked the Room, and…" Harry wished the Room to make the entrance visible again. "The problem is house elves should have cleaned this – unless it was sealed, which it wasn't, or there is something majorly cursed in there."

Neville nodded, "And.."

"And then it occurred to me, maybe you'd be embarrassed to lose your wand or forget a book or sweater at the end of the year... But there is no way you'd forget your trunk."

Neville and Harry stared at the large stack of trunks visible through the open door. "How many?"

"Don't know yet. But it looks like hundreds of names since Dumbledore joined the staff, have quit before NEWTs," Harry started marking the copied list, & numbering some, "And it looks like 31 quit at odd times, and at least 20 of those were from orphanages."

Neville shook his head slowly, "There's no way the staff didn't know."

Harry shrugged, "31 students in 50 some years – and that is if all of these left mysteriously. People apparently drop out from school all the time – for reasons good and non. Though it really makes you wonder how people still think this is such a great school, with so many leaving after fifth year."

Neville shook his head again, "Any that left before the end of fifth year would be marked squibs for life – legally, no appeal. And most families confine their fortunes to magical heirs…"

"Oh." Harry ran a hand through his hair, "I wonder if Binns has gotten anywhere on that."

"The financial laws?"

"Yeah."

Neville made a squashy chair appear in the Room, and plopped down in it. "I don't think Purebloods would approve of it. Perhaps a lesser branch being able to take possession – or only proven purebloods being able to take receipt of heirless estates."

"Would there be any valid reason to deny a squib an estate? You'd think people would at least want it as an option…"

Neville replied, "Most wouldn't have enough magic to survive or control a Wizarding Home for long alone – too many boggarts and other magical vermin pop up that could kill them."

Harry sighed, remembering Grimmauld Place. "What makes a home Wizarding? Wards?"

Neville shrugged, "They help, but it's more gradual. The house changes as Wizards live in it. And if you have magical pets or house elves it really speeds up the absorption rate."

Harry nodded, "But what about muggleborns – like Hermione? How long until her house would be Wizarding?"

"She's likely only done magic before first year, so it should be safe for her parents even with wards. Besides, it doesn't sound like she's really at home much even when she is with her parents. They travel a lot, right?"

Harry mused, "It's a bit odd that her parents let her stay so long with me and Ron, isn't it? Though that was after she and Ginny became friends…"

Neville said, "It's not like she's friends with any other girls. Even her partners for Arithmancy and Runes are boys."

Harry asked the Room for a chair himself, and plopped down across from Neville, "She has to stay in the dark. She never really answered my question, just went off on a tangent. Of course, that's rather like her, but.. " Harry shrugged. "Without a clear statement…"

Neville nodded, "Maybe finding a mind arts book in her birthday gifts would be a good idea. That way if she swears later, she'd be more ready to protect secrets."

Harry smiled, then stood and turned back to the list and the open door to the Lost and Found. Abruptly he nodded to himself, and got his parents' wands out of the rosewood trunk. "Professor Flitwick had my parents' wands. You'll need to be able to scan for traps too."

Neville stood, with a look of shock on his face, and gently took the offered wands from Harry. The Room then popped up two large parchment targets, and Neville cast "Encanto," once with each wand at a different parchment. Then moved up to the parchments, and said, "No spell traces left on your dad's. And only an encanto on your mom's."

"How did you know…" Harry trailed off at the sad look that came across Neville's face.

"Part of the story they tell in the children's history primer," answered Neville. Harry gave a jerky nod.

"Sorry, Harry." Neville then handed Harry his father's wand back. "I think your Mom's wand works best for me."

Harry put back his father's wand, and shook his head to clear it. "Let's start with the newest trunks."

Neville nodded, and they began.

The stack of trunks closest to the door was the one with the least dust and newest styles of trunks. Neville started detection spells on each trunk, making notes as he went down the stack. Harry began to look for wards on the floor around the stack. After making his way halfway around the stack Harry bopped himself on the head, "I require a list of any magic on or from each trunk, and on the stack and surrounding area. I also require a list of any physical traps or tricks, and any notification methods. Um, and contents of the trunks would be nice too, unless that would set off something…"

A list detailing the contents and curses on each trunk appeared on a large easel next to the stack.

Neville shrugged, "At least I can see if I missed anything."

According to the list, there were no harmful spells on any of the trunks or their contents, or any notification wards. The trunks were identified by owner's name on the Room's list rather than just the initials visible on the trunks. Sirius Black, Creevey, Riddle, and 3 Smiths stood out on the list – the Smiths all matched names of orphans that had possibly been very likely not to have been named Doe as their parents' names were different from their last.

"Why wouldn't Sirius Black have mentioned losing a trunk to you? Being expelled or pressured to quit would have been a big deal…"

Harry shrugged as he stared at the black dragonhide covered trunk that bore a silver medallion with SB over the lock, with silver handles on the ends and side. "Memory charms? It's not empty, so I don't think he ditched it on purpose to get a new one. And it's near the middle – when did Luke Smith leave?"

Neville consulted the list of withdrawn students. "1978."

Harry sighed, "Just have to see if there is anything written inside that will tell us. Looks like there is at least something charmed like their Map was. It has expensive things and a lot of galleons so maybe he stowed it here himself the summer before he ran away. But you'd think he'd at least mentioned it to me or Remus…"

Neville shrugged, "Those handles are real silver. Maybe that would be enough not to mention it, or maybe he hid it somewhere else and thought someone else got it."

Harry nodded, "He did have a younger brother. But from the way this all looks…" Harry sighed, "So from the top."

They carefully levitated the top trunk down, and brought it out of the Lost & Found into the main room along with the list the Room had made. They levitated out each item, placing them on a long white sheet that appeared, laying them from left to right starting with the upper most layers. No spells went off and no traps were sprung. The contents smelled slightly musty as if the preservation charms on the trunk were failing. When the trunk was empty, Neville used the x-ray charm Binns had taught them when they were exploring the experimental lab in the Chamber of Secrets, but despite the name the charm found what was intentionally hidden. It had been developed and well used by an American Cursebreaker by the name of Jones in early part of the century, hence the misleading name. The charm discovered papers secreted in the lining of the trunk.

The trunk belonged to a Charles Smith, whose parents were a wizard and a muggle. The papers were from Gringott's confirming his right of inheritance to the estate of James Cameron, scheduled for July 1, 1978. The next few trunks revealed much the same: robes and charmed clothing, magic books, pictures and other magical possessions. No trainers or loafers, no clothes that could be muggle, no identity papers or trinkets from the muggle world. Tired from their extended day, Harry and Neville locked the Room of Requirement and went to their respective beds.

First thing after they woke they went back to work on the trunks, which continued to show the same basic components – the wizarding supplies of a student and papers (hidden and not) that indicated the "muggleborn" was the heir of an estate at Gringotts, with an appointment in the summer break. Harry and Neville took a break for showers and breakfast. The list of contents and of the curses made the opening of Sirius's trunk no less daunting. Some seemed geared to Harry's father (antlers) and perhaps others would be negated by a Potter opening the trunk. But he still dreaded what he would find.

Neville seemed to understand, suggesting that they work on the animagus potions before they resumed trunk sorting. But the trunks were the mystery, and even avoiding them couldn't keep them from being a distraction. So finally the boys had worked down to Sirius's trunk. Harry moved the trunk by conjuring a flying pair of tongs to lift it to a empty space that would hopefully not set off any of the older trunks.

"I could open it, Harry."

Harry shook his head, "I know I'm being a wimp, I'll do it." Harry took his wand and tapped the lock, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." His shoulders sagged when nothing happened, and shrugged, "I had to try."

"Alohomora."

With a flash and bang, the area around the trunk was covered in glitter and pink smoke. Neville used a fan charm, used for hardening up plants to leave the greenhouse, and Harry was revealed - with a pair of pink antlers on his head, and an open trunk with an envelope addressed to Prongs propped up on the top.