The Magical World Exposed
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.
Warnings: COMPLETELY AU! If you don't like this, just stop reading and write your own story more to your liking.
The two boys stole themselves through the living room, glad that Lily and James seemed to be fast asleep in their portrait, and stepped out into the empty hall.
The voice, to which no human body seemed to belong, guided the twins through the deserted corridors that were only sparsely lit by the light of the full moon. They passed the hospital wing, before the corridor ended in front of a painting. Actually, it was a life size portrait of what they recognised as the four founders of Hogwarts.
"Welcome to the founders' lair," the voice finally said and motioned them to step though the opening that revealed itself in front of the boys, when Helga leaned back into Salazar's arms and Rowena into Godric's, making a small passage appear between the two ladies.
'I hope this isn't a trap,' Harry thought, as he hesitantly followed his brother through the opening, noticing, uncomfortably, that it closed automatically, as soon as they had passed it.
The two boys found themselves in a cosy looking room. Behind themselves was the large portrait of the four founders, and, whilst both sides were occupied with a lot of small doors, each of them equipped with a portrait, the wall in front of them was completely white, void of any decoration whatsoever.
"Welcome to our lair," one of the founders spoke up, making the boys turn around quickly. "I'm Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of your house," she continued, before she introduced, "Godric Gryffindor, our headmaster and my husband, Helga Hufflepuff, our healer, and her husband, Salazar Slytherin, our Potions Master."
"Thank you for following our invitation," Godric spoke up, smiling at the boys, before he motioned themselves to take a seat on one of the sofas that were occupying the centre of the room.
"Excuse me, sir, but why us?" David was the first to get a grip on himself and speak up, before the boys hesitantly sat on the edge of a comfortably looking sofa.
"You are the heirs of all of us," Godric informed them, only to add, "and we care a lot about our heirs."
"The heirs?" Harry blurted out in disbelief.
"But my parents are Muggles," David added.
"In fact, Harry is the first heir of all of us, the heir of Godric and me though his father James' side and the heir of Helga and Salazar through his mother Lily's side," Rowena explained, patiently. "As far as we know, Harry shared his blood with you, so that you're now also our heir."
"Oh," the boys replied, simultaneously.
"Excuse me, Professor," Harry then asked, pensively, "why exactly did you call us here? Is there something that we can do for you?"
The founders chuckled, before Salazar spoke up, sounding very grumpy. "What would two first years be able to help grown up professors?"
The boys shrugged, deciding that they did not overly like Salazar.
"It's the other way round," Helga spoke up. "My friend Rowena is a Seer, and we know that we're able to help you with several matters. However," she added, glancing at Rowena, who returned a firm nod, "for us to reveal our secrets to you, you need to come here together with your betrotheds, as they will play an important role in your future."
"Our what?" David blurted out, bewildered.
"Your wives," Rowena informed them, gently.
"Eh, excuse me, Professors, but we're only eleven. We don't have wives yet," Harry replied, feeling utmost confused at the founders' request.
"Do you have girlfriends?" Salazar threw in, sounding impatient. "You just have to bond with them. They don't even have to know about the matter, but you need to be bonded, before you can bring them here."
"We don't know any girls here," David said in confusion.
"Except for Ginny and Hermione, but they're more like sisters than anything else," Harry continued, causing his brother to nod his agreement.
"How can we bond to random girls, and how do we know that this is something they'd want?" Harry queried, running a hand through his unruly hair in confusion.
"If you're too young, you'll just have to wait," Rowena finally said. "However, I believe that it's important that the four of you get to know about your destiny as soon as possible."
"Excuse me, Professor," David asked, hesitantly, "If you have seen the four of us, could you please tell us if the girls are Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley?"
Rowena did not reply, however, she smiled at the two boys, encouragingly.
"Very well then," Harry took over, "would you be willing to teach us the spell to bond them to us please?"
The founders agreed, and during the next thirty minutes, Godric and Rowena taught the boys the spell, knowing that it was complicated and more seventh year's material than first year's.
"Well, practise a lot during the day and come back here tonight or at any other time, provided that no one misses you," Godric instructed them.
"Only cast the spell at your girlfriends, when we tell you that your wand waving is adequate," Rowena added. "Otherwise, you might hurt the girls."
Harry and David nodded and thanked the founders, when Helga informed them that they only had to touch their portrait with their hands to be let in. "Your magical signature will make the portrait open," she explained.
HP
A few minutes later, David and Hurry walked back to their parents' quarters, noticing in surprise that the sky behind the lake was already getting light.
"How long have we been in the founders' lair?" David blurted out, incredulously.
"I thought it was about thirty minutes," Harry replied, likewise astonished. "Too bad that we can't tell the girls about it. Hermione would surely know what to do."
"Do you think it's them?" David asked, yawning.
"I don't know," Harry replied, feeling confused but also extremely glad to be able to go back to bed and sleep.
The next thing they knew was that their mother tried to wake them up. "David, Harry, what's wrong with you? Are you ill?" Annette asked in apparent concern.
"No, we're fine..."
"... We merely spent some hours talking during the night," they replied, recalling that the founders had told them to not speak with anyone about their visit in the founders' lair.
HP
Harry and David dragged themselves through their classes, feeling incredibly tired due to their nightly activity.
'I think we should speak with Hermione and Ginny about the matter,' Harry mused, as he allowed his thoughts to drift off during the Herbology class, 'at least with Hermione.'
Unfortunately, his inattentiveness caused him to lose five points from Ravenclaw, and he swore to himself that it would not happen again.
HP
To the first years' surprise, the headmistress taught the Transfiguration class instead of Remus. 'Oh right, it was the night of the full moon,' Harry realised, resolving to visit Remus later on.
Professor McGonagall was stricter than Remus, whom Harry and David knew extremely well, so that the twins forgot quickly about being tired. Harry sighed in relief, when he managed to gain more points than those which he had lost in Herbology earlier.
HP
After the last afternoon class, Harry and David told the others that they would return home for a quick nap instead of heading to the common room.
Hermione gave them a sharp look. "Very well, sleep well and don't miss dinner," she instructed them. "I'll help you with your homework later on."
The twins returned to their own room after a short detour to visit Remus, however, with no intention of closing as much as one eye. Instead, they used their private time to discuss the matter of the founders and their request to bring their betrotheds.
"I wonder what they want to help us with anyway," David said, pensively.
"Perhaps about the matter with the prophecy," Harry replied, scrunching his forehead in thought.
"Well, if it's that, any help would be appreciated, as soon as possible," his brother added and suggested, "Shall we tell the girls about the matter tonight and see how they react?"
"We should speak with them somewhere out on the grounds," Harry agreed. "Shall we talk to them separately, I mean you with Ginny and I with Hermione, or together?" he then queried, quirking an eyebrow.
After a few more minutes of discussion, they decided to invite both girls for a walk around the lake and speak with them together.
'Hermione will never agree to such a thing,' Harry thought, when they headed to the Great Hall on time for dinner. Just when they reached the entrance hall, his scar erupted in pain, and he grabbed his forehead, horrified. However, as much as he looked around, he could not see anything out of the order. Students from all houses were just heading to the Great Hall, just like themselves.
"Are you all right?" his brother asked in concern and, seeing Harry nod, suggested, "Let's speak with the adults about this tonight. Maybe they know or can find out what causes your sudden headaches."
Glad that his headache receded as soon as he entered the Great Hall, Harry grudgingly agreed, before he turned his thoughts back to the most pressing matter for the moment.
HP
After dinner, the twins led Hermione and Ginny out onto the grounds, only to immediately return inside upon noticing the storm that had began to rage outside the castle.
Harry let out a long sigh. "We need to speak with you in private," he uttered, before a sudden idea crossed his mind. "Flora," he called his phoenix, "could you please take us somewhere within Hogwarts, where no one else will be able to find us?"
#Sure,# Flora replied, letting out a series of happy trills, before she turned her back to the children motioning them to grab her tail feathers.
Everyone complied, and an instant later, they found themselves in a very large, unknown room that someone reminded the children of the dungeons at Potter Manor. It was slightly different from the manor though, as the ground and the walls could easily be recognised as Hogwarts' stones.
"Where are we?" Hermione was the first to speak up, while the children looked around with a combination of surprise and interest.
Flora chuckled. #This is the thermal bath of Hogwarts from the time of its beginning,# the phoenix replied. #As you know, I love to take a bath, and when I was missing the swimming pool in the dungeons of Potter Manor, I asked Fawkes if there was a pool somewhere at Hogwarts. Fawkes brought me here and told me what it was. Only he and I and, according to Fawkes, sometimes house-elves come to take a bath here. No one else knows about this place. It's called the Thermae. The water is fresh and warm, you just have to explore the Thermae, as they're quite big. If you want me to take you back, call me. You can also walk, but it's quite far.#
"It's a hot bath like in Roman times," Hermione blurted out, as she eagerly began to explore the place, closely followed by the others.
The Thermae were charmed to look as if they were outside in a huge garden with trees, grass and flowers everywhere.
"This is just beautiful," Ginny spoke up in clear amazement. "Shall we take a bath?"
Harry and David exchanged a glance.
"We don't mind..."
"... as long as we can talk to you in private..."
"... We have something important to discuss."
Hermione also agreed, and the four children undressed and headed into the bath, noticing contentedly that the water held just the right temperature.
When they were all seated in the bath, Harry and David told the two girls about their nightly adventure.
"You met the founders?" Hermione blurted out in disbelief. "Do you know how much I envy you?"
The boys chuckled, however, their expressions sobered quickly, when they recalled why they were telling the girls about the adventure.
"The founders said that they'd only be able to help us..."
"... if we brought our betrothed with us," they quickly told the rest of the story, giving the girls uncertain looks.
"Ginny's only ten and I'm nearly twelve," Hermione replied, incredulously. "We don't even know how to make ourselves your betrotheds."
The twins exchanged a worried glance, before they informed the girls about the bonding spell that the founders taught them for that purpose.
Only when they finished speaking, Harry summoned the courage to look at the girls, only to be taken aback at their reaction.