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.

While Ginny was chuckling, Hermine was smiling at Harry.

"As long as it's you, I don't mind. I couldn't imagine getting together with anyone else anyway," she said, quietly, only to add, "provided that our parents won't know about it for at least five years."

"That's true," Ginny added, still chuckling. "I'm fine with it, too. Mum would throw a fit though if she knew."

The four friends decided to comply with the founders' request as soon as Harry and David would be able to cast the bonding spell.

HP

It was a week later, after several visits to the founders' lair between the last afternoon class and dinner, that the founders finally deemed the boys' spell casting perfect enough to cast the bonding spell at their girlfriends.

In the meantime, the four friends had found out where the Thermae were situated. At the far end of an unused part of the castle, there was a staircase leading down from the first floor into a dungeon, which was not connected to the main dungeons of the castle. It only led to the Thermae, and the four children declared it their secret place at Hogwarts.

"Harry, you and Hermione go first. Ginny and I will wait outside," David decided, when they reached the antique bath.

Receiving a comforting nod from Hermione, Harry and the girl entered the room, closing the door behind themselves.

"Mione, are you sure?" Harry asked, unsurely, as he pulled his wand and pointed it at his best friend.

"Of course, Harry," Hermione replied, smiling, however, Harry could see that the smile did not really reach her eyes. "It's fine, Harry," Hermione reassured him. "It just doesn't feel well to be at someone's wand point, so please get on with it."

Harry nodded in relief and swiftly cast the spell. By the time he slid his wand back into his robe pocket, he realised that not only he suddenly felt very happy but also that he could sense that Hermione seemed to be delighted as well.

'It worked,' he heard her think and smirked, as he thought back, 'Of course it did.'

"Harry?" Hermione blurted out in disbelief. "Did you just manage to think to me?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed, before he told her that he was able to hear her thoughts as well.

"That's great," Hermione agreed, and Harry nodded, happily, just when it came into his mind that his brother and Ginny were waiting outside.

"Let's call the others in," he said and hurriedly opened the door, giving his twin an encouraging nod.

HP

The four friends decided to visit the founders as soon as they'd have finished their homework later the same day. However, when they returned to the O'Briens' quarters after dinner to work on their assignments, Sirius, Remus and Molly were already gathered in the living room and motioned them to sit down.

'Why?' Harry wondered in disbelief, knowing that the adults used to gather in his parents' living room only after curfew.

"We've spoken with our colleagues about the pain in your scar," Sirius spoke up, turning to Harry. "Snape thinks that Voldemort is not really gone and that he' the only one who can make your scar hurt, means that if your scar hurts, it might be possible that he's nearby. Maybe not, but we don't know that," he added, pensively.

"That means," Molly continued, "that you should never be alone in the halls."

"We didn't see anyone though, when it happened," David spoke up, questioningly.

"He might be under an invisibility cloak, under a notice-me-not charm, or he might even be imperceptible because of being a ghost," James threw in. "We don't know what happened to him after he vanished ten years ago."

'Why don't you tell them about your conversation with the founders?' Hermione suddenly thought to Harry, who hesitantly agreed.

"Maybe the founders know something," he spoke up in a small voice. "They've told us that they want to help us with something and that Rowena Ravenclaw is a Seer. I know Mum's a Seer too though," he added and slowly trailed off.

"Harry, where and when did you speak with the founders?" James enquired what everyone else was wondering about.

"We accidentally found the founders' lair," David explained.

"... and they told us that we're both the first heirs of all four of them," Harry continued.

"... So they told us to come to see them together with Hermione and Ginny..."

"... so that they could teach us something."

"What?" James threw in, incredulously. "We've been at Hogwarts for seven years, and you just come here and find the founders' lair?"

"I think we could only find it because we're the heir of all of them..."

"... They told us we couldn't bring anyone but the girls..."

"... It's right behind the hospital wing," the boys explained quickly.

'Now that's said, but we mustn't let them know about our bonding,' Harry thought in determination to keep the matter from the adults, especially from Molly Weasley.

"Very good, boys. Then I can only say good luck. Go and ask the founders about Voldemort. Maybe they know something or they'll be able to ask Hogwarts. She must know if he's currently here," Remus finally chose to contribute to the conversation. "We'll all help you with whatever has to be done."

The children agreed and quickly got their homework done, even if not as precisely as usually, before they headed to the founders' lair.

HP

"Voldemort is definitely inside Hogwarts," Rowena informed them thirty minutes later. "However, he's only a spirit, and I believe that he's trying to possess someone in order to finally manage to gain a corporate body. You must be very careful, Harry."

'Does he want to possess me?' Harry wondered, suddenly feeling very frightened.

'I don't think so,' Hermione replied, soothingly. 'He'll probably choose someone with a very weak magic or a fragile character. With you, he probably wouldn't have a chance to defeat you in a way that he'd be able to take over your body.'

'All right,' Harry thought back, feeling very relieved at his girlfriend's reasoning, before a sudden thought crossed his mind. 'What about David?' he thought, horrified. 'His magic is much weaker than mine.'

"We'd like you to watch some of my visions," Rowena told the four children, pointing to the white wall opposite of the founders' portrait.

The four first-years made themselves comfortable on the sofa and looked at the wall that suddenly changed to a large screen, on which a scene began to play.

Harry stared at the screen in shock, realising that no others than the four of them were running through a large, old looking garden, apparently trying to not be seen by anyone. Several scenes later, they saw themselves trying to destroy a golden ring with several items, before Flora brought them something that seemed to be a sword. Only using the sword, Harry was finally able to destroy the ring. Only from observing the scenes, however, Harry instinctively knew that he and his three friends had been very anxious and uncertain about their task that seemed to be extremely dangerous.

Finally, the scenes ended and the screen changed back to the white wall.

"Let's stop here," Rowena said in a soft voice, before she explained about the Horcruxes that Voldemort had made splitting his soul in order to remain alive for as long as possible, preferably an eternity.

"We know about the Horcruxes," Hermione spoke up and told the founders what Buckbean had said about them.

"Oh, that's good if the goblins help you," Rowena said, sounding very relieved. "During the following evenings, we'll show you more scenes, so that you know what the Horcruxes are and where to find them. With that knowledge as basis, you can ask the goblins for help. Don't worry, we'll also help you as much as possible, and when we'll believe that you deserve it, we'll send you to the past to meet our real selves, who should be able to train you even more efficiently."

"We'd love to meet your real selves, Professor," Hermione replied, eagerly, "but how will we be able to gain your trust in a way...?"

"Just do as you're told," Salazar interrupted her, as grumpy as he had always been when Harry and David had met him.

"Yes sir," the four friends replied, unanimously, before they profusely thanked the founders for their help and promised to return the following evening.

HP

A few hundred miles into the south, Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his favourite armchair at Dumbledore Manor, his phoenix Fawkes perched on his knee and a bowl with lemon drops sitting on the side table next to him.

On the one hand, it felt good to not have the responsibility for several hundred students anymore, however, on the other hand, he had to admit to himself that he felt very lonely only in the company of the house-elves at Dumbledore Manor. He was still the head of the Wizengamot, however, with Voldemort gone, it was a peaceful time, and not many happenings occurred that required the Wizengamot to assemble.

'Since Harry's a first year now, maybe Voldemort will show up at Hogwarts, provided that my theory is true that he's still alive,' he thought, wondering how he might be able to interfere at Hogwarts and help Harry against his number one nemesis. 'The magical world should know that I'm the most powerful wizard alive, and that they need me to assist Harry in finally getting rid of Voldemort.' He remained pensive for a long time, before he resolved to go and visit Hogwarts from time to time. 'Thank Merlin I still have James Potter's invisibility cloak, so no one will be able to see me at the school. Maybe I can even try to speak with Harry in private.'

With that happy idea in mind, he called it a night and headed to his bedroom, accompanied by the one companion who would never leave his side - Fawkes.

HP

In one of the unused corridors of Hogwarts, Tom Riddle's spirit looked out onto the grounds, pondering his situation.

'Harry Potter was supposed to be at Hogwarts this year, but his name wasn't called at the Sorting. I wonder where he is. So much about trying to possess the boy and eventually kill him. Oh well, maybe I wouldn't be able to kill him let alone steal his body though, considering that he must be very powerful,' he then thought. 'Of course, it's the most important thing that I manage to gain a corporate body, however, I can't just go and possess a random student,' he mused. 'It might be it's a really stupid Hufflepuff, and everyone would ridicule me for the rest of my life.'

He finally decided to do some more research before acting. 'If I can't get to possess Potter, I'll at least want someone adequate,' he resolved and made his way to the library, hoping to get a glimpse at the Daily Prophet, hoping to be wiser afterwards.

Hours later, he returned to the solace of his favourite unused corridor, feverishly pondering what to do. 'Arthur Weasley is the Minister of Magic,' he had just learned from the newspaper, 'and he has several sons at Hogwarts. I'll watch them for a few days, before I choose one to possess. They're all Gryffindors, stupid but not unintelligent, maybe just what I need.'

HP

During the following days, Harry couldn't help feeling as if his scar hurt more often than it had hurt during the first days at the castle. 'I wonder where Voldemort is and what he's doing,' he thought, feeling very concerned for his brother and even for his girlfriend, even if he reassured himself that Voldemort surely would not try to possess a girl.

Every evening, the founders showed the four first-years more scenes of them finding and trying to destroy Horcruxes, and after a few hours of watching horrible scenes, the children decided to speak with the adults of their enlarged family.

"We need a Pensieve," Sirius blurted out, turning to James. "James, did you not possess a Pensieve?"

"Yes, but when Lily told me that we were going to die, I gave it to Dumbledore," James replied, sighing, "along with the invisibility cloak. I asked him to give both to Harry when he would be coming to Hogwarts."

"Which he didn't," Sirius growled, "the old coot."

"I'll go and ask Minerva if she is willing to ask him about it," Molly offered and, seeing everyone nod their agreement, stepped into the fireplace.

HP

At the same time, Tom Riddle AKA Lord Voldemort decided to pull through with the stunt that he had planned carefully. He knew that the Gryffindors were just having Quidditch tryouts, and that Ronald Weasley should soon be going to come inside.

'As soon as he comes through the entrance door, I'll attack and possess him,' he resolved and waited impatiently for the redhead to appear, glad that the boy was easy to recognise with his red hair.

He had pondered his plan for a few days, and to him it seemed absolutely fool proof. Even considering all precautions, he had not been able to imagine what could go wrong before it happened.

tbc...