Next Chapper!

Let's get going!

Some talking and the journey back to the dragon preserve. Harry learns why they're so important and Scortwit gives them instructions to lay low. With the wand from last chapter, Harry might get to learn a bit of normal magic.

That being said, I know that I haven't explained how Harry has done magic yet. If you haven't made your guesses, the answer will come soon.

So let's go!

—0—

"We've stopped, remember, your name is Harriet, understand?"

The child nodded as Scortwit climbed out of the truck to refuel. The red haired young man, Charlie, turned around in his seat to look at Harry.

"So… you're really Harry Potter?"

"That's my name. I still don't know why it's so special." The child responded.

Charlie nodded. "I'll tell you the story when we get going again. How about we hop out and get some road snacks?"

Harry nodded and climbed out of the truck with a little help from Charlie. Harry was about to walk into the front of the petrol station, when Charlie grabbed their shoulder.

"No, not the muggle shop."

Harry blinked as Charlie led them around to the side, looking left and right before taking a handful of gold and silver coins from his pocket.

Charlie pulled out a wand and tapped a brick on the wall. Harry watched in awe as the brick spun, before melting into the brick below it. Rest of the wall rippled, melted, and shifted, until they were standing before a doorway. Charlie ushered Harry inside while looking around, before he slipped in and closed the door behind them.

Harry looked around to find a wonderland of magical treats. Jelly beans, lollipops. Licorice wands, chocolate frogs.

"Welcome to Droobles mobile shop. They've got one set up at every petrol station. You've just got to know where to look."

Harry grinned at the young man who ruffled their hair. "Come on, let's get you some treats!"

Harry didn't know what to do with themselves as Charlie piled several packages of candy into their arms. They caught glimpses of items like Bertie Botts' every flavored beans, Droobles best blowing gum, and fizzing whizbees.

"Licorice wands?"

"Oh right, you've lived with muggles for most of your life, haven't you."

Harry nodded.

"Well then, we'll just have to get some of the safe stuff as well!" The young man grinned as he picked up a few blue packages and added them to the snack pile.

"Yer total comes to two galleons and three sickles." The shopkeeper grunted as they set the candy on the counter.

Charlie nodded and paid the shopkeeper, before ushering Harry out of the candy store and back to the truck.

"Did anyone know who you were?" Scortwit raised an eyebrow as he climbed back into his seat.

"No sir. Nobody even asked for my name."

"Good. Did you get what I asked for, Charlie-boy?"

Charlie nodded and pulled out one of the candies from the store.

"Can't get these anywhere but the road shops!" Scortwit grinned, taking the circular container. "Saffron chews, oh yeah."

Harry watched as the man took one of the candies and popped it in his mouth, before starting the truck and peeling out of the petrol station.

Harry smiled and opened one of the candies that Charlie tossed to them. "Bertie Botts every flavored beans?"

"They mean every flavor!" Charlie smirked. "My twin brothers got a bogey flavored one once. I had the unfortunate experience of getting one that tasted like toe fuzz. Not a great taste for a jelly bean, or any food for that matter."

Harry made a face and carefully selected a single bean. It was pink with a few white spots. Harry looked the bean over from every angle, before popping it into their mouth.

The sweet taste of strawberry ice cream melted across their tongue. "Wonderful…"

"You got a good one?" Charlie blinked.

"Strawberry ice cream."

"Lucky."

Scortwit chuckled as he ate another of his saffron candies. "They might be one of the lucky one's Charlie."

"No…"

Scortwit cackled. "They can never find a bad bean for themselves!"

Harry shrugged and selected another bean, which turned out to be chocolate pudding flavored.

"Okay, hand those back. Try a chocolate frog!"

Harry looked at the pentagonal package and shrugged, before popping the top open. With a ribbit, the chocolate frog nestled within hopped up onto the child's chest.

Harry gave a shout of surprise and tumbled back into the resting room of the truck, causing Scortwit and Charlie to laugh. With a pout, the child sat up, finding that the frog was now inanimate.

"They only have about one good hop in them before they lose the enchantment. It's just a candy now." Charlie assured them.

Harry nodded and took the frog, nibbling at it as a test, before scarfing the treat down ravenously.

"That good eh?" Scortwit chuckled from the driver's seat.

Harry simply nodded, looking back at the package. "What's this?"

Charlie turned in his seat and looked at the card that Harry took out of the package.

"Wizard cards." The man nodded. "They have pictures of famous wizards, although there's a chance you can find recordings of famous groups or duels."

Harry nodded and looked at the card. A moving display of four individuals raising wands as a castle built itself from stones being pulled from the earth. As the castle finished, the image zoomed in, displaying a portrait of a man with long, golden hair. The portrait shifted to display a man with black hair and a thin mustache, his eyes a deep brown that was almost black. The portrait shifted again, displaying a woman with long black hair, which spilled down and over her shoulders in a smooth and elegant fashion. The portrait shifted once more, displaying a woman with auburn hair, a scar crossing from her temple down to her chin. The picture flashed, before playing back from the beginning, with the four raising the castle from the earth.

"The Four Founders of Hogwarts."

Charlie blinked. "Really? Wow. I've heard there are only a few of these ones…"

"What's Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"A school. They teach magic to wizarding children." Scortwit nodded. "It was founded by four magicals, two wizards and two witches."

"The four founders." Harry nodded, watching as the picture shifted to the first portrait.

"Godric Gryffindor, the head of Gryffindor house, master of defense against the dark arts and runes." Scortwit spoke. "He was also known as Godric the Brave, having defeated several dark wizards in his time. It's also rumored that he was a seer, and had visions of the future."

The picture shifted as Charlie piped up. "Of course you can't talk about Gryffindor without mentioning his rival, Salazar Slytherin. He was rumored to be a master of the dark arts, and his talent for transfiguration is legendary. He also was supposedly a great beastkeeper, if the rumors of his secret chamber are to be believed. Of course, several would tell you that Slytherin was more accomplished in potions, but that's mainly because all of the heads of Slytherin have been potion masters."

Harry looked at the thin mustache on the portrait displayed upon the card. He could swear a bit of pride flashed in the pictures eyes, before it moved to the next portrait.

"Then the other two. Rowena Ravenclaw was a childhood friend of Gryffindor and Slytherin. She was a legendary witch who held a raw talent for Potions, charms, and Arithmancy. Ravenclaw holds the credit to roughly thirty seven of the worlds potion recipes, and is still referred to as one of the greatest potion masters to this day." Scortwit nodded.

"And finally, there's Helga Hufflepuff…" Charlie spoke. "Not much is known about her now. It is said that she was a genius when it came to herbology, but there were many other magics that she used that are now a mystery. She enchanted the entire castle to be a place of learning and fun, but several of the spells she used to do it, while unknown to us now, cannot help to be put under speculation."

"Questionable magic?" Harry blinked.

"Blood magic, sacrificial rituals." Scortwit answered. "The magics that are tied to her name are far too powerful for us to understand. She chained the soul of a poltergeist to the castle, in order to keep the students on their toes. Along with that, she created a mind for the sorting hat, a sentient cap that places you in your house at Hogwarts… It is well known that chaining ghosts or spirits to places requires sacrifices, and that creating a homunculus is possible, but it requires something of equal value to be traded."

"Nevertheless, the castle stands to this day. It's a right brilliant school to learn magic from." Charlie grinned.

"I went there, Charlie boy did as well. So did your parents."

Harry looked back at the card. "My parents?"

"Yes." Scortwit nodded. "They went to Hogwarts, James and Lily."

"James…" Harry mumbled. "And Lily."

The truck was silent as they drove on, with Harry looking at the image of the castle. After a few minutes, the child spoke.

"What… what were they like?"

Scortwit nodded for a while, his face stoic, before he finally spoke. "They were brave. "

Charlie looked at the red face of his mentor. He had no idea that it would make Scortwit this emotional.

"I was uh… an apprentice under the beast keeping professor at the time. Grubbly Plank. I… I met them then. They were third years at the time. James, he was a prankster, he was. And your mother, she was a genius."

Harry listened closely as the man spoke, hanging onto every word so that he wouldn't ever forget.

"James was a master of transfiguration… your mother was more skilled than the professor at charms. They were incredible… and then, he rose to power."

"Who rose to power?" Harry blinked.

"We do not speak his name." The man said in a harsh whisper. "He was a dark lord, a wizard with power at his fingertips and the raw cunning and ambition to use it to his benefit. This wizard, he began collecting followers, rallied men and women to his cause, and with the use of terrible magic, they began murdering hundreds upon thousands of witches, wizards, and above all, muggles."

Harry shuddered as the story went on.

"Your mom and dad, well they fought against him. Saved a lot of lives before they had to go into hiding. They had made the top of his hit list, and he wanted them dead, along with you."

"Me?"

Scortwit nodded. "He was well known for making statements, and he was no stranger to slaying children. But something happened that night… he found your parents and struck them down. When he went to do the same to you… well. For some reason, he was undone."

Harry remained silent, staring at the mirror between the drivers and passengers seat. He could see the emptiness in Scortwits eyes, the weakness that the man felt.

"This terrible wizard… he was defeated by… me?"

"That's what we all believe. Nobody's seen the man since that night, either he's dead, or he was weakened. Several people believe that he waits, biding his time and regaining his power… that's why you are so important Harry, you are the only one who beat the dark lord, the only one to survive the unsurvivable. You are the boy who lived."

Harry blinked and leaned back against the wall of the truck. "Wow… that's a lot…"

"I never got to asking you sir, what house were you in at Hogwarts?" Charlie pondered.

"Oh, me?" Scortwit blinked. "I was Gryffindor myself, but I had a few friends in Ravenclaw who said I would do better there. You were Gryffindor as well, weren't you?"

"I was. Top of my year." Charlie smiled. The young man turned and noticed Harry staring at the card in his hand silently. He could tell that the child was deep in thought."

"So… you ever done magic?" He smiled.

Harry nodded in response.

"That's cool, what kind of magic did you do?" Charlie asked, opening a licorice wand.

"Well… I can make light, and I've made water as well."

"You've already conjured elements? On purpose or-"

"The first time with the light was accidental, but I figured it out after I woke up. Then I tried water, because I was thirsty."

Charlie shook his head in wonder. "Could you show me?"

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, but would it be dangerous?"

Charlie shook his head. "We can go with a safe element, like earth."

Harry shrugged, before holding out their hand. "I wish for earth."

The child could feel the magic better this time, as glowing green strands of light curled through the air, and a handful of soil deposited itself in their palm. Harry looked up to see Charlie staring at him.

"Did I do something wrong?"

The young man blinked before shaking his head. "No! No, not at all. Harry, can you er… have you ever spoken to snakes?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, a few months ago I spoke to a snake at the zoo."

"I see." Charlie nodded. "So, can you tell when you are speaking it?"

"Isn't it something every wizard can do?" Harry blinked.

"No, only a few people can speak to snakes. I just wanted to know if you could tell what you were saying."

"I simply wished for earth."

Charlie shrugged. "Maybe that's what you heard yourself say, but to Scortwit and I, you let out a few hissing sounds."

Harry blinked. "Wait, I've been using magic in snake language?"

"Yes. There are many benefits that come with magical languages. Some can simply produce effects if you wish for them, while others may increase the power of common Latin invocations. It's something we'll talk about when we get back home."

Harry nodded. "Home…"

Charlie chuckled and leaned his seat back. "Until then, I'm gonna get some rest. It's been a long day."

Scortwit nodded and looked at Harry in the mirror. "You should probably get some rest as well kid. I know that you've been sleeping a lot, but your body is still adjusting. Climb onto that cot back there and get some shuteye."

Harry nodded and climbed into the small area that was meant for laying down, and pulled a blanket over

The road rumbled beneath the truck, Scortwit popped yet another saffron candy into his mouth,

And Harry Potter drifted once more into the arms of sleep.

—0—

And there's the next chapter. A bit shorter this time, but I'll have shorter chapters and longer chapters. All a part of writing at this point.

I'm making the four founders a bit different this time. Normally Slytherin is a master of potions and Gryffindor is a master of transfiguration. I find that while these do correlate with the professors in the story, they don't necessarily give any more depth to the founders other than "They're all dead now, and they were really strong."

Don't get me wrong, I love a good founder's heir story, but that's just it. It has to be good. You can't just slap potions over Salazar Slytherin's name and say he was great at it. The four founders are old, so of course the words of their magic would change throughout the ages.

Also, yes, Parselmagic. I know it's sort of trope-y. I'm putting my own twist on it, which you will eventually see. It's similar to how I do rituals in this story, and it isn't all powerful. Simply wishing to conjure an element isn't necessarily powerful, and it would take a lot more magic if Harry wanted to make that element do something, such as animate or burn. Otherwise, all Harry would be doing with Parselmagic is throwing handfuls of dirt at people, and while I think "Pocket Sand" would be a hilarious fake spell for Harry to use, it would be limited in use.

Anyways, leave a review, and until next time,

Adios.