Since the castle had brought them all together, Hari, Cedric, Hermione, and Neville had been spending a lot of time together. Their magic was still feeling jittery and excited, but they didn't know why, so they were trying to ignore it.
After the last HA meeting for the semester – which took place two weeks before break – the four friends found themselves alone in the room of requirement. Their magic had been growing more eager over the past couple days, and when they were alone in the Room of Requirement a door appeared on the back wall.
They stared at the door without moving, and the castle pulsed at them.
"Guess that means we should go?" Hari asked with a nervous laugh.
Ced was the first to move, and the three fifth years followed behind. Behind the door was a large, circular room. It was separated into quarters, each decorated with the colors of one Hogwarts house. Every quarter was decorated in the same way. Along the wall there was a door and a fireplace. Each fireplace had a couch in front of it. There was also a bookcase, lamps, plants, etcetera. They were all identical except for their color scheme.
Hari moved to the Slytherin space on instinct, while Cedric moved to Hufflepuff, Neville moved to Gryffindor, and Hermione moved to Ravenclaw. In the center of the room, where all the houses touched, there were four armchairs. They took their seats, facing each other with smiles. Neville was the last to sit and when he did, they all began to glow. It was silvery-white in color, and it was warm. The glow's intensity continued to grow until they were blinded and had to close their eyes.
And then it was gone.
Hari was the first to open her eyes and found that her friends were adorned with crowns. She put a hand up to her head and found a crown of her own. That's when she noticed the portraits. They were above each fireplace, one for each founder of Hogwarts.
"The founders return," Hari whispered and rose to address Salazar. She bowed deeply while the others watched. "It is an honor to meet you, Salazar Slytherin," she said. "My name is Hari Potter, and I am your heir."
"A pleasure to finally meet you, child," Salazar replied with a bow of his own.
Hari turned around to find the others conversing with their own founders' portraits and smiled. "I have to admit that I don't carry your blood, sir," Hari told him. "I won the heirship by conquest."
"Then it is rightfully yours!" he laughed. "Of the four of you, only the young lion carries our blood. The others were chosen by character."
"That makes sense," Hari responded.
"Gather round, everyone!" Ravenclaw clapped her hands. "We have much to discuss. You have been chosen as our heirs. One by blood," she motioned to Neville, "two by character," she motioned to Hermione and Cedric before training her eyes on Hari, "and one by conquest."
"Why now?" Neville asked.
"The castle needs us. All of us," she responded gravely. "Evil is at work."
"Umbridge," Hermione spat.
"Not just her," Helga pitched in.
"Dumbledore," Hari said. Hermione and Cedric nodded sadly, but Neville looked towards her in confusion. "How's your occlumency, Nev?"
"Not great," he admitted.
"The crowns will help with that," Godric stated, his voice was low and gruff, like he smoked a pack a day.
"We can't wear them out there, though," Hermione said nervously.
"Of course you can!" Rowena laughed. "No one else will be able to see them unless you want them to. I suggest you three update young Neville on the dangers of Albus Dumbledore before we move on."
"It might take a while," Hari warned them.
"We have time," Rowena said.
It took about two hours to bring Neville up to speed on everything. Once Hari started, she found that she couldn't stop. So, she told him everything, pausing every once in a while, so Cedric or Hermione could add in details she couldn't recall. She told him about Dumbledore's manipulations, his theft, the horcruxes, and her deal with him. Dobby had popped in at some point with tea and snacks, which the foursome ate greedily. She told him about the dragons and their gifts, about the elves and her bond to them. Then she had an idea.
"We can use the elves to make Umbridge's life harder," she said excitedly. "Dobby! Sparrow!"
"What cans we bes doing for the great master?" Dobby asked, and Hari chuckled. Dobby had found a loophole to continue referring to her as 'master' and she let him have it.
"Will the elves listen to us over professors?" Hari asked.
"Oh yes!" Sparrow said. "Wes be beings yours, Miss Hari. All the elves, not just the Hogwarts ones."
"Brilliant," she smiled with greed. "From now on, you don't answer Umbridge's call. No cleaning for her, either," Hari instructed. Dobby and Sparrow nodded along happily as Hermione's smile slowly morphed into a smirk.
"What can you do about her food?" Hermione asked slowly.
"We cans not be poisoning her," Dobby said sadly.
"Merlin, Dobby!" Hari laughed. "I'd like to think you wouldn't poison anyone."
"I would be being doing it if you asking, Miss Hari," Dobby said while nodding. "Just not be being doing it in the castle."
"Can you change the foods that she has access to?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, yes," Dobby responded.
Hermione smiled wickedly and got down on Dobby's level. "From now on, she can only have the blandest foods. Obviously, she needs to be able to survive off of it, but no flavor or spices. And only water for her drinks."
"Wes be doing that!" Dobby said happily and then both house elves popped away.
Hari turned back to her friends nervously. "There's one more thing, but…" she looked towards Cedric, and he put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm just not ready to talk about it yet. I haven't processed it."
"I'm not sure I could take anything else in," Neville laughed.
"We still have business to discuss," Godric scoffed, and Helga scolded him.
"Now that the four of you have your crowns," Salazar began, "you're more connected to the castle. Other than the rooms that Helga and I left behind, the Room of Requirement and the Chamber, Godric and Rowena left rooms behind as well."
"Mine is a library," Rowen smiled softly as Hermione's eyes widened.
"Mine is a training room," Godric said.
"That'll be helpful for the HA," Cedric said.
"What is the HA?" Helga asked her heir.
"A secret defense club we've been running," he explained. "It started as a way not to fail our exams under Umbridge, but it's more than that now."
"We're breaking down the house barriers," Hari told them. "Even the snakes and lions are working together happily."
"Speaking of that," Neville chimed in, "What really happened between you two?"
Godric turned away from Salazar and scoffed.
"I think we deserve to know," Hari added.
"Godric didn't approve of my… dislike for muggles. I never had a problem with muggleborns, but I thought we should be more proactive about them. Telling their families early and removing children from parents who wouldn't accept their magical children."
"We cannot steal children, Sal!" Godric seethed.
"I never wanted to steal them!" he spat back. "I wanted to save them!"
"Still a point of contention, I see," Hari said, feeling a little angry herself. "What do you have against taking kids out of abusive homes?"
"Not all muggles abuse their magical children," Godric said.
"But a lot of them do!" Hari spat back, causing the founders to stare at her. "How different would my life be if someone had fucking checked on me?! One house visit would have made a world of difference!"
Godric was looking a bit ashamed of himself, which Hari loved. Cedric's hand had fallen off of her shoulder when she stood, and he joined her on his feet and put his hands on her shoulders gently.
"The biggest issue between them was what to do about the muggle family members of muggleborn children," Rowena supplied. "Godric believed that to accept a magical child meant that their family had the right to enter our society. Sal disagreed."
"What about the two of you?" Neville asked Rowena and Helga.
"I agreed with certain points on both sides of the argument," Rowena supplied.
"I tried to stay out of it," Helga admitted. "The children in question were more important that what happened to their families."
"You both have good points," Hari said. "Muggleborns and their families should be notified much earlier. Accidental magic can happen as early as infancy; Sirius told me I was levitating shit before I could walk. And steps should be taken to ensure that muggle family members treat their magical kids right."
"Even taking the children away though?" Hermione asked.
"That's what muggle social services do," Hari countered. "If they'd ever been given the option, you know the Dursleys would have happily handed me over without ever looking back."
"I'm with Hari," Neville said. "It's not pleasant to think about, but if it's in the best interest of the child…"
"Do we even have our own version of social services?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Hari said, though she wasn't smiling. "It's understaffed and underfunded. Remus has been looking into it."
"Why Remus?" Cedric asked.
"His parents were…" Hari struggled to find the right words, "neglectful. They never hit him or starved him, but they only ever did the bare minimum for him after he was bitten." A mournful silence filled the room until Hermione gracefully changed the subject.
"We should go over the dragon's prophecy again," she suggested.
"That's a good idea," Cedric added.
"Most of the first verse is pretty obvious," Hari said. "'Born as the seventh month dies, marked for death before her birth. Forgotten by love and cursed with power, Death calls her friend.' The middle line refers to Albus' prophecy; it's only the last bit that I don't know about."
"The next verse is also pretty obvious," Cedric added. "'Vanquisher of false lords and kings' references Tom and the basilisk. Then 'She will be marked first as their equal,' is also a reference to Tom. But what about the last half? 'And then as their better, for she has a power they know not?'"
"I think the 'power they know not,' is a reference to my political power," Hari said. "The third verse is just about Albus, and the fourth is about Tom. It's the last verse that references the founders. 'The outcome she seeks is far easier than she believes but cannot be accomplished alone. Await the founders return, or all will be lost.'"
"What are you waiting for?" Cedric asked.
"Maybe my plans for Umbridge?" she asked.
"What are your plans for Umbridge?" Hermione asked, suddenly concerned.
"Oh, um," Hari stuttered and looked away. "There's something I haven't told you."
"What?" Cedric asked softly, grabbing her good hand in one of his and enticing her to look in his eyes.
"Detentions with Umbridge," Hari said.
"You said it's just lines," Hermione accused.
"It is, but… it's lines with a… a blood quill," she finally admitted.
Hermione was the loudest. Neville stood up to pace laps around the room. Cedric pulled her into a hug and wouldn't let go. Most people didn't think that Hufflepuff's 'pretty boy' could get angry, but they were wrong. Cedric just wasn't loud about his anger. Hari could feel it in his magic while he held her.
"I can't feel it," Hari said. "That's why I didn't tell you, it cuts into my numb arm."
"You still should have told us, Hari," Hermione scolded her. "What if she'd doing it to other kids?"
"I'm pretty sure she isn't," Hari said. "I've been checking everyone that's had detention with her."
"What are you doing about it?" Cedric asked softly, still refusing to let her go.
"Snape and Albus know, plus the goblins. When I give the say-so, they come arrest her."
"Goblin law," Neville said, nodding his head. He was passing in front of them now but was still walking around the room.
"Yeah," Hari confirmed.
"Why haven't you done it yet?" Hermione asked.
"We need to know what the ministry is playing at," Hari said. "I know Albus is learning things, but he hasn't told all of them to me. The memories he passes on through Snape are all about Tom. Letting her stay has more advantages than getting rid of her."
"What about her teaching skills, Hari?" Hermione reprimanded the girl by hitting her shoulder gently.
"Look, I know that sucks," Hari conceded, "but she represents the ministry here. The decrees are horrible, but they tell us what direction the ministry wants to go. They want to cripple us Hermione! Think of all the work I'll have to undo when I take the throne!" Hari mentally hit herself, she wasn't supposed to be thinking about that. Neville had paused in his pacing but had started right back up again swiftly. "She's the only source of information we have, and she's right in our backyard. It's too good an opportunity to pass up," she finished.
Hermione didn't look happy about it but eventually she sat back in her seat. Hari hadn't noticed, but her chair and Cedric's chair had merged into a love seat, and he was still holding her.
"We have to at least warn people," Neville said, finally joining the circle again. "Maybe during the HA."
"I'll agree to that," Hari said. "First one of second term."
The following days were glorious. Umbridge arrived at breakfast looking a bit… rumpled. Her hair wasn't as perfectly sculpted as usual and the pink monstrosity she called clothing was wrinkled. Hari and co. watched as she attempted to get her usual breakfast – an omelet, sausage, and toast – but only got a bowl of room temperature oatmeal. She complained about it loudly to the rest of the staff, but no one made any move to assist her.
In the last week before break, the four founders' heirs had a wonderful time watching the woman they despised fall apart. Her classroom was a mess, as was her appearance, and all of her chalk had mysteriously vanished. It was great fun, and the entire student body was getting a much-needed laugh at her expense.
It wasn't until the Weasleys disappeared, two days before break, that they remembered the war brewing outside the castle walls.