Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and I do not claim ownership of anything other than my original plots and OCs.
The Peverell Castle.
Harry slowly got out of bed, not recognizing the place he was in, feeling somewhat scared. The last thing he remembered was having a conversation with Grimm Peverell before crossing through that light...
At that moment, Harry realized what had happened—he had been transported to a new world. And his name was now Harry James Peverell.
Harry still didn't know what to do from that moment on, as he had no knowledge about the castle or if there were any other inhabitants.
It was then that a loud "Crack" resonated, and a small, thin figure with large bat-like ears appeared before him.
"Master Harry, sir, what are you doing out of bed? Has your fever subsided, sir?" said the small creature, the size of a child.
"Who... who are you? What are you?" Harry quickly asked.
"Master Harry doesn't recognize Tuffy. Tuffy is Master Harry's house-elf, yes, sir. Tuffy has taken care of Master Harry since he fell asleep from the fever two months ago, sir. Master Harry wouldn't wake up, he wouldn't, no, sir, and Tuffy was worried about him, yes, she was, sir," responded the house-elf named Tuffy.
"I... Was I asleep for two months?" Harry asked with wide eyes in surprise.
"Yes, you were. Master Harry was very sick. Tuffy thought he would go the same way as Master Harry's parents, they didn't wake up, no, sir, the fever took them. Tuffy did what she could, but it didn't help. Tuffy can be punished if Master Harry thinks she should, yes, sir," Tuffy replied.
"No, Tuffy, that won't be necessary," Harry quickly responded, as he somehow remembered that house-elves would self-harm if they felt they hadn't fulfilled their duties. "Tuffy, where are we?"
Tuffy looked at him with tearful eyes.
"Master Harry doesn't remember his room. Tuffy is worried. The Master also didn't remember Tuffy," she said hysterically. "Master Harry, sir. This is your room in Peverell Castle, yes, sir, the castle of your family. And Tuffy serves the Peverells and takes care of the castle and Master Harry."
Harry didn't know what had happened, but at that moment, a series of memories seemed to suddenly emerge. He knew the names of his parents in this world, Antonius Peverell and Eloise Peverell, née Dubois. Although the memories were still blurry, Harry realized that if his parents had died from the fever, it meant he was completely alone in the castle. And he was once again an orphan.
"Alright, Tuffy, I was just confused, probably from all the time I was asleep," Harry sighed. He now remembered Tuffy, and the house-elf was actually about his age. She had been assigned as his personal house-elf because they were born with a four-month difference. She was older than him but still very young, and she had been more of a childhood friend than a true servant.
"Master Harry is feeling better, and Tuffy is happy," the house-elf smiled from ear to ear, quite literally, and Harry smiled back. "Is Master Harry hungry? Does he want Tuffy to bring him food, or would he prefer to go down to the dining hall?"
Harry felt quite strange being called sir, master, or lord. It didn't feel right, especially when he remembered that Tuffy had been his playmate in this life and the only friend he had left now that neither Ron nor Hermione existed in his current reality.
"I'd prefer to eat here, Tuffy, and please, just call me Harry," he replied.
Tuffy looked at him with wide eyes and shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the other.
"Tuffy shouldn't, Master Antonius forbade Tuffy from doing that..." she responded in a low, almost inaudible tone.
"My father... my father is no longer here, Tuffy, you told me. So, you don't have to follow that order anymore," Harry replied, feeling uncomfortable as he still couldn't fully comprehend that his father was Antonius when in his previous life he was James Potter's son.
Tuffy looked at him for a moment, unsure of what to do, but then she simply jumped excitedly, hugged Harry for a moment, and stepped back with a much happier smile.
"Tuffy is happy. Tuffy will bring food for Harry," she said.
"Wait, could you bring a portion for yourself? I don't want to eat alone," Harry told her before Tuffy disappeared to fetch the food.
"Tuffy will do that. She will accompany Harry while he eats so he won't be alone," she replied, and with a "crack," she disappeared, presumably heading to the kitchen.
Harry took advantage of being alone to change his clothes as he was still in his pajamas. Using his vague memories, he went to the wardrobe and found clothes to wear. If there was one thing he was grateful for, it was that wizards hadn't changed the way they dressed in the future, so he had no trouble putting on the robes he found.
After getting dressed, Harry walked towards the windows, still covered by heavy curtains in black tones with streaks of silver and gold, giving them an air of elegance.
Carefully, he pulled aside the curtains and looked out of the castle. His room was in a tower overlooking vast plains and a small village, which, judging by his still-confused memories, was completely uninhabited.
Fields filled with what seemed to be wheat stretched beyond the village, and a huge, leafy forest extended further beyond the plains as far as the eye could see.
He hadn't been there for more than a minute when he heard the characteristic *crack* that announced someone's arrival through Apparition. Harry, knowing it was Tuffy, simply stepped away from the window and looked in the elf's direction. She conjured a feast with a snap of her fingers on a small square table in a corner of the room, surrounded by a pair of elegant and comfortable armchairs whose colors were similar to the curtains, reminiscent of those Harry remembered from Hogwarts in his previous life.
"Tuffy ordered Harry's favorite meals to celebrate his recovery," the house-elf announced cheerfully.
"Thank you, Tuffy. Let's eat before it gets cold," Harry replied, smiling.
Harry sat at the table, and Tuffy quickly joined him. The table was filled with a wide variety of dishes. The one that stood out the most was a plate of roasted ribs and a large pitcher of pumpkin juice. Harry also noticed a plate of mashed potatoes and a small brass pot filled with steaming soup.
He quickly served himself a couple of ribs with mashed potatoes on his plate, while he saw Tuffy serving herself a bowl of soup. Then, with a wave of her hand, Harry saw the pitcher move by itself to pour two large glasses of pumpkin juice.
They ate in silence because Harry didn't know what he could talk about with Tuffy, especially without being able to remember clearly the life that "Harry Peverell" had until then.
After they finished eating, Tuffy made the dishes disappear and stood up from her seat in the chair across from Harry.
"What will Harry do now?" she asked with her soft and kind voice
"What will Harry do now?" she asked with her soft and kind voice. It was almost melodious, which made her stand out among the other elves in the castle, as far as Harry could remember, their voices were mainly shrill or raspy.
Young Peverell wasn't sure what to do next. He had a vague sense that exploring the castle and its grounds might help him remember his life or perhaps the life of the original Harry Peverell, but he didn't know exactly how this "second chance" from Death worked.
"Tuffy... honestly, my memory is a bit fuzzy. Could you show me around the castle? I don't want to get lost," Harry replied timidly.
Tuffy, on the other hand, seemed very happy and nodded her head so quickly that Harry feared she might hurt herself.
"Of course, Harry. Tuffy is happy to guide you through the castle," she replied once she had calmed down.
Tuffy and Harry left the room and entered a small space a couple of meters wide that led directly to two spiral staircases—one going up and the other going down from the tower. The elf explained that Harry's room was on the first habitable level of the Western Tower of Peverell Castle, and the staircase descended almost forty meters to reach the base that was connected to the rest of the castle. Additionally, according to what he understood, in case the castle was invaded, a protective enchantment would activate, vanishing the stairs and preventing any form of flight or levitation inside the property. This would leave attackers with no choice but to conjure stone blocks to climb and attack those who took refuge at the top of the tower, which would exhaust any wizard or witch as the entire castle exerted resistance against those who weren't authorized by the rooms and protective enchantments.
Once they reached the base of the tower, Harry noticed it was a kind of round room with eighteen suits of armor on stone pedestals along its walls. Tuffy explained that if the castle were attacked, all the armor and statues would come to life and attack the invaders.
They left the tower through a gray stone corridor built on black stone pilings. The corridor was open on the sides, creating the illusion of having windows, except without glass.
The entire castle had been built over a thousand years ago, with some sections being over two thousand years old. According to what Tuffy recounted, in the center of the village, one could find a ritual altar that was almost three thousand years old. To Harry, everything seemed fascinating, and he even regretted not listening to Hermione when she talked about the history of Hogwarts. If he had, he might have found it just as interesting as the history of Peverell Castle.
They toured a large part of the castle, but no memories surfaced. Nevertheless, the tour allowed him to see how vast the place really was. It was almost three times the size of Hogwarts, and they hadn't even finished exploring all its chambers.
One of the things Harry found most curious was that all the portraits were covered by black curtains. When he asked about it, Tuffy simply replied, "It's to prevent spying. The Peverell family has been believed extinct for almost a millennium, but it's not, no, no, no," she said with a mischievous tone.
Harry didn't ask any more questions, but he still couldn't understand why the Peverell family would go to such lengths to remain hidden, to the point where people thought they had become extinct so long ago.
They continued their tour until they reached the main hall, where a table was set on a raised platform, and several long tables were placed at the foot of the platform. Tuffy began explaining in her peculiar tone.
"This is the Great Hall of the Peverell family. The stories tell that once the village was full of magical families, and once a week they would come here to eat under the protection of the lords of these lands, the Peverell family, who ruled this small kingdom for over a thousand years," she explained, hopping until she reached the table on the platform and pointing to the adjacent black stone throne. "That's Lord Peverell's throne, although it was once a king's throne."
Harry listened attentively until his eyes caught sight of the enormous banners hanging behind the main table.
That was a symbol Harry remembered seeing when he read "Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts," the symbol used by Gellert Grindelwald. However, he couldn't understand what it was doing in the ancestral home of the Peverell family.
"Tuffy... that symbol... What does it mean?" Harry asked, afraid of the possibility that his family might be followers of that Dark Lord.
Tuffy looked at him, not understanding, but still replied, "That is the coat of arms of the Peverell family, Harry. It's also on your clothes," she said, pointing to the left side of his robe. Harry followed her gaze and saw it right above his heart, and finally, he remembered.
One of the last things Grimm Peverell said to him before sending him to this new reality.
"A much more powerful Dark Lord than Voldemort is wreaking havoc, using and tarnishing our family's legacy. Harry, you have to stop him."
"Oh, come on!" was all Harry could say as he remembered it.