Chapter 26

FLASHBACK

When Harry came out of Lords Study he came out of Potter Castle where he went to apparition point where he touched his heir ring and muttered –

"Take me to Gryffindor Castle."

He appeared on a lane leading to a large castle that would not have looked out of place on the cover of a Muggle fairytale book. He walked up to the gate which promptly rose, allowing them to approach the tall wood and iron double doors.

Harry smiled and placed the palm of his right hand on the door like he had done at the vault in Potter Castle where their family sword was kept

The door spoke, "Who desires entrance?"

Harry replied, "I, Heir Potter, heir of Godric Gryffindor, demand entrance," the door swung open.

He crossed a beautiful courtyard filled with flowers and a fountain; and walked up to the doors of the entrance hall. He gasped in awe.

Smooth marble made up the floor, and gorgeous tapestries in every color imaginable and family portraits covered the walls. There was a twelve foot wide, marble staircase about fifty feet in front of them. On either side of the stairs were two halls which were also each twelve feet in width.

There were two sets of double doors leading out of the entrance hall, one on each side. There was a large chandelier to give light. It was obvious from that, that whoever kept the castle clean, also kept it up to date it when necessary.

The doors to their right suddenly opened revealing a house elf wearing a clean red pillowcase with gold embroidery. The elf froze when he saw Harry. "You-you is looking like the portrait of Master Gryffindor."

Harry smiled at the excited elf, "I am Harry Potter," the house elf squealed in delight.

"You is a Potter. You is my master. My name is Nob. I is Head Elf of the castle."

"Would Master like to meet the rest of the house elves now."

"There are more of you?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yes, there is twenty of us in the castle." Nob snapped his fingers and nineteen more house elves appeared all wearing the same red pillowcase. "Their names are: Jinks, Milly, Dorry, Dib, Zell, Wog, Kiffy, Goom, Libby, Cubby, Middy, Hally, Figgy, Addy, Boon, Wib, Dilly, Tunny, and Bob. before there were nearly 35 but after Master Gryffindor's death our grandparents were ordered to maintain the castle Masters Heir returns "

"It's nice to meet all of you. I am Harry Potter you all have done a very good job in maintaining the castle I am sure Grandpa Godric would be proud of you" Harry said . This of course caused the elves to become rather teary eyed.

Nob asked, "Is there anything that we can do for you?"

Harry smiled and said, "Well actually, I haven't eaten since early this morning. We'd like some lunch, and a tour of the castle this afternoon."

"Of course, Master Harry, follow me to the dining room," Nob was very happy to have someone to serve.

Nob led him down the corridor to the left of the stairs. They turned down another wide corridor and entered the large double doors on the left. The dining hall was about twenty feet wide and fifty feet deep. It held a large mahogany dining table and chairs.

After a delicious meal of soup and salad, Nob gave him the promised tour of the castle. Besides the dining hall, there was a library, the kitchen, house elf quarters, formal parlor, sitting room, ballroom, potions lab, several offices and small parlors, and a dueling room all on the ground floor.

The basement was used for storage, mostly food, and a wine cellar. There were also dungeons below that, but they had clearly not been used much, even in the Middle Ages.

Nob informed them that there were secret passages, but he would not tell them where, because 'A Gryffindor always finds a way'.

Harry was walking around the castle. He was on the fifth floor, searching for something. After ten minutes and waving his hands and extending his senses to search for a ward or a magical enclosure, he struck gold. His hand was touching a particular piece of stone that he knew didn't belong there, even though it looked perfectly normal to the naked eye.

He placed his hand on the stone and closed his eyes. Just as he had suspected, there was a blood ward in place. He moved his hand a bit, and said in a low voice, "Open in the name of Lord Gryffindor."

The Gryffindor ring flashed and a pedestal appeared in the wall, creating a cavity. Harry waved his hand over his palm, and a deep gash appeared. He let the drops of blood hit the pedestal and healed the wound. After a few seconds, there was a rumble and the stones parted to reveal a stone passageway. Harry lit his wand and entered. He flicked his wand and the ancient lighting charms flickered into existence, bathing the staircase with light. Harry climbed up the stairs until he reached a door, with a lion engraving. The lion looked at him and roared. Harry calmly showed the lion his ring. After passing through another blood ward, the door opened. Once he stepped inside, Harry gasped.

Inside were mounds of gold and other precious metals and gems. There were also several tomes of books on shelves. Further along, there was a study and a bedroom. This was clearly Godric's Lord study. He must have filled this place with treasures and books just before he moved to Potter Castle.

When he entered the study, he realised that there were preservation wards woven into the room. His eyes went wide when he saw a thick diary on top of the desk, with the Gryffindor crest on it. When he reached for it, the ring once again flashed and the diary opened. There was a message written on the first page. It was clearly written in old English, so Harry cast an advanced translation charm on it.

Dear descendant,

I am Godric Gryffindor, and if you're reading this, then it means you are the descendant of my daughter Geraldine and her husband Alan Potter, and you have obtained my sword from the Sorting Hat. I congratulate you on your success, as I had instructed the hat to only pass it on to a descendant of mine whose values matched what Hogwarts stands for – bravery, intelligence, loyalty and ambition.

I have gone through a lot in my life. I have experienced hardship, happiness, love, and despair. This is the book that gives you the information about my life, and how this school came to be. All my properties and treasures now belong to you; use them well. If you're interested in knowing about my life, go ahead and read this journal. If not, well, can't stop an old man from hoping his grandchild would want to read it someday.

This is the last time I would be at Hogwarts. My health has deteriorated rapidly after the death of my dear friend Salazar, so I'll be staying with my dear daughter and son-in-law at Potter Castle; I just can't bring myself to go back to Gryffindor Castle; not now. At this age, having so many feeling buried within me, I won't be able to survive alone at that place. I'm sure the Headmaster I've hired is more than up to the task of running the school as I'm just not able. How ironic; it is the greatest curse for a battle mage to become so weak. Salazar always warned me about it, but I never considered it. My dear friend would probably be laughing now. Oh, how I wish I could meet Helga, Rowena and Salazar one more time before I leave, even if it is to hear them laugh at me.

Learn from my mistakes, child, and do not repeat them. Do your best to take care of this school that we have built to keep the knowledge of magic alive.

May the Goddess Magic bless you and may you find peace in your life which I could never achieve.

Godric Gryffindor

Tears formed in Harry's eyes as he read the first page. This was a message from his ancestor Godric Gryffindor, for him. He touched the journal to his head and stood in silence for several seconds. He kept the book down and looked at the mountains of treasures and books around him. It was safer to transfer them all to Potter Castle. He couldn't let everything lie in lords study like this so he decided to place all these in the vaults of Potter Castle

"Molby" he said.

The elf popped in front of him. "What can Molby do for Master Hadrian?" she asked in a calm voice.

Harry cleared his throat and said, "Molby, this is the Lord Study of Godric Gryffindor. As you can see, there are tonnes of gold and other precious stones, along with books and weapons. Do we have an empty high-security vault at Potter Castle where we can store this?"

Molby looked around in awe and answered "Yes, Master Hadrian. There are very little treasures in High-Security Vault 12. We can remove it and place all this there."

Harry nodded. "Good. Get the other elves in this Castle to assist you"

Harry then proceeded to the diary. He used a powerful copying charm on it, and his ring flashed again. A copy of Godric's journal appeared on the desk.

"Take this diary and give it to Grandfather, Molby. I don't want this going into the main vaults" he said, handing the diary gingerly to the elf.

"It will be done, Master Hadrian" said the elf.

END FLASHBACK

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