Harry Potter and the Founders Vault
Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but the idea.
Year 1: The Gryffindor Key
"There's no way anyone is getting ahead of Slytherin now," Daphne exclaimed. They were getting up to the end of the term; the first years were finishing up their final exams already. Harper nodded to her friend, though; Slytherin had gained back what Draco had lost and was far ahead of the other three houses now.
Harper was distracted though. She, Harry, and Hermione had still not figured out what book the cypher was for. While Hermione tried every book in the library, she had been trying to figure out the clue to what book it was, meanwhile, Harry was trying to prepare himself for whatever the task to get the key was. Finals had distracted them for a while, wanting to get good grades – Harper and Harry especially in the classes they were in the older years for – but now with finals ending, they wanted to get the key before the year ended.
"You okay Harper?" Tracey asked. Harper was only with Tracey and Daphne, sitting in the courtyard as Harry and Hermione were busy taking their own final exams. Her, Tracey, and Daphne had already finished up their exams that morning and were free.
"Yeah, it's just…." Harper paused as an owl landed next to her. She recognized Newt's owl, Midnight, a black owl with large amber eyes. She had wanted to tell Newt about Hagrid's temporary dragon, Norbert, and to make sure Norbert got to a good location. Harry had said it was sweet of her and he wished he thought of it.
"Thanks Midnight," Harper said, taking out an owl treat she kept on her incase Hedwig came with a letter. "You can get water at the owlery." Midnight gave a hoot as Harper took her letter, which included a package. Harper opened the package to reveal what looked like a small tooth on a bracelet. "it's from Newt." Harper told her friend as she turned to read the letter
'Harper, first off Happy Belated birthday!' Harper read to herself – her 12th birthday had been a month ago. 'I hope you like the dragon tooth bracelet. I'm sorry I didn't have another rare comic to send you; I always keep my eyes out though.' Harper gave a smile. She had got a lot of good stuff from Newt. 'You can wear the tooth, or if you feel connected to it, maybe get it transferred into a second wand. Dragon teeth are amazing wand cores. As for Norbert, the dragon, the Dragon Sanctuary in Romania is one of the best not owned by me. Thanks for the tip too; I contacted the sanctuary and they agreed to let me come see the baby dragon. I plan on writing to Hagrid and asking for an interview. This story will make a great addition to 11th version of Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them.'
Harper paused. The rest of the letter was just to tell Harry he said hello and good luck on finals, but the way he worded about his book was something that caused Harper pause, but not about Hagrid raising a dragon in his hut being put in the book. Newt always looked for interesting stories about magical creatures to add to the book to make them more entertaining, but 11 versions in? Newt was writing the 11th version of his book, meaning the current version was the 10th edition.
"We're idiots," Harper said aloud making Daphne and Tracey look at her, stopping their own conversation, as she jumped up and grabbed her bag. "I've got to find Harry and Mione." Harper ran off at top speed, leaving her friends confused.
"She's nice but also, so weird," Tracey said.
"Yeah," Daphne said with a nod. "But she knows Newt Scamander?"
-Harry Potter-
Harry and Hermione were just exiting the Great Hall, having finished their final exam.
"I think I did well," Hermione was saying. "How did you and Harper do in Herbology and Astronomy?"
"I think we did well," Harry said with a nod. "Nothing we can do…"
Harry was cut off as Harper appeared, almost out of nowhere, and grabbed hold of both of them, dragging the two always with her. Harry nearly tripped as his sister dragged him. "I got it," Harper said as they ran down the corridor, the now familiar path to Moaning Myrtle bathroom.
They paused for a moment as they neared the bathroom to make sure no one was watching as they entered.
"Oh, hi Harry," it was Myrtle; the ghost hadn't been as enthusiastic as Rowan about the three using their bathroom as a headquarters, but Harry took it upon himself to be nice to her. Now Myrtle seemed to have a bit of a crush on him. Hermione had heard Rowan reminding the ghost that Harry was 11 and alive.
"Could you and Rowan make sure no one enters?" Harper asked Myrtle nicely.
"Rowan's not here but don't worry. I'll make sure no one comes in here," Myrtle said, "no one ever comes in here anyway," she added as she swooped away.
"Guys, I got it," Harper spoke again, bringing their attention back.
"We heard you say that. Can you explain what you've got?" Harry asked and then noticed the dragon tooth still in her hand. "Oh, nice."
"Thanks," Harper said. "Birthday present just arrived today, but that's not what I meant. It's the clue. The 10th version of a mother's friend. It means our mom. It's talking about Newt Scamander."
"The 10th edition of Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them?" Harry said, eyes wide, looking like he wanted to hit himself on the head.
"Wait, your mother is friends with Newt Scamander?" Hermione asked.
"We told you she runs a creature reserve," Harry pointed out and Hermione nodded. "Well, it's one of Newt's. In fact, Newt personally trained her. He's sort of become an extra grandpa to us. His grandson is like a cross between our closest and oldest friend and a big brother."
"That's interesting but there is no 10th Edition to Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them. He stopped at the 3rd," Hermione pointed out. Harper and Harry looked at each other.
Harper went into her bag and took out her edition of Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them. "10 edition," Harper said pointing at the ten on the cover.
Hermione grabbed the book from Harper faster than she could blink. "Why is my brand-new copy the 3rd Edition?!" Hermione moaned, her voice getting a little high as she said it.
"We asked Newt about that," Harry said. "He said Britain had weird laws over what can be published and after the 3rd edition they decided they didn't need anymore books from him. He even had to find a new publisher. His old one still prints the 3rd edition and sells in Britain and some other European countries, but everywhere else keeps up to date."
Hermione mumbled darkly at this as she took out the Vault Book and a quill and piece of parchment. "I don't have ink," Hermione said. "I used it up on my last exam."
"Mione, here," Harper said holding out a ballpoint pen to Hermione.
"Have you been using pens this entire year?" Hermione asked as she took the pen, used to them due to her muggle heritage.
"It's easier," Harry said, showing he had one too. "And you don't get any ink on your hands."
"I honestly don't know why the British Wizarding World still uses inks and quill," Harper added.
Hermione had to agree on that, she had been constantly running out of ink and having to get more. It had annoyed her that she hadn't brought any normal pens with her from home as she had been looking up cleaning spells to remove the ink.
Hermione started flipping through the book. She had done this with so many books since Christmas she barely had to look at the Vault Book to know what she needed to find – she had the numbers almost memorized; she just took a glance to make sure she was using the correct word. "This is the right book," Hermione said.
"That was fast," Harry said. "The entire thing makes sense?"
"No, I'm not done. The first line decoded is that," Hermione said and Harry and Harper had to laugh. Hermione continued decoding. "To continue on the quest, tell the Griffin I seek the Lion's den."
"You sure that's right?" Harry asked.
"I double checked every word," Hermione said, and then paused. "And the book just updated." Hermione turned the Vault Book around; on top of each of the clues for the cipher the words Hermione had found were there. After the clue it said: 'Gryffindor's tasks awaits you when you are ready Harry.'
"So, I guess the question is, are you ready Harry?" Harper asked, turning to her brother.
"I looked up all I could on Godric Gryffindor. I read over some defenses books and even made sure to exercise when I could in case the task was physical," Harry pointed out. "I can't be anymore readier?"
"So when should we do this? I mean the griffin does also lead to Dumbledore's office. I know Dumbledore is fine with us doing this, but we don't want to choose a time people are walking in and out, so they can't get to or leave Dumbledore's office," Hermione said.
"Actually, my roommates might have come in handy. I overheard them mentioning Dumbledore was away from the school today," Harry said. "Something about the Wizengamot. But it means no one will be by his office. How about we meet outside it right before curfew? I'll grab my father's invisibility cloak for after we're done." Hermione and Harper agreed to the plan.
"Hey Myrtle we're leaving," Harper called to the ghost. "Probably last time we'll be here this year."
"Oh," Mrytle appeared before them, looking sad. "It'll be long summer without you," her eyes lingered on Harry.
"Yeah, well, have a good summer," Harry said to the ghost, who seemed so happy he said it. Harry noticed Harper looking at the sinks and put a hand on her shoulder as Hermione went for the door. "Something wrong?"
"No," Harper said shaking her head as she went for the door out herself.
-Harry Potter-
It was just before curfew when Harry, Hermione, and Harper met outside the griffin statue that lead to Dumbledore's office. As Harry had predicted, no one was in the area. Harry had his invisibility cloak under his arm and the Vault Book in his hands. Harry nodded to the others as he turned to the Griffin. "I seek the lion's den," Harry said aloud to the griffin.
Nothing happened for a moment, but then the griffin stepped sideways, the wall opening behind him, but the normal staircase did not appear. The wall in the back morphed to create a door. "All three may enter," Harry said and turned the book so Hermione and Harper could see the writing that had appeared in there too.
The three went through the doorway, the door closing behind them. Harry was the first to use lumos to light up his wand, followed by Harper and Hermione. The pathway was dark as they walked down the corridor. The only sound being their footsteps echoing off the stone.
"It's a dead end," Hermione said, confused when they came up to a wall. "Do we…?" Before she could finish, the floor they were standing on moved downward. The three nearly tripping and having to take a moment to regain their balance as the platform descended.
The platform stopped and they were confused for a moment when torches lit up around them. They were in a chamber – red and gold painted on the wall and a giant, golden lion statue present in the middle of the room. There was a round, what looked like, dueling ring and another area to the side of it. "What…?" Harry didn't finish his sentence as the Lion moved and let out a roar.
"For those who wish to find the Vault of the Founders of Hogwarts," the lion said in a low voice, "you must pass four tasks. Welcome to Gryffindor's Chamber. What you must win is the key." A light appeared from almost nowhere and the three noticed something in a box nearby. It was long and had a lion symbol on it – the three assuming it was the Gryffindor key. "Step forward, Gryffindor representative."
Harry took a step forward. "I represent Gryffindor," he said, having a feeling he should.
"You wish to take on the task of the brave, of courage, of the true Gryffindor?" The lion asked. "There is no backing down now or else you and your group fail."
"I am ready," Harry said.
"Then give your wand and any other weapons you have on you to your companions," the lion said, surprising Harry, but he turned and handed his wand to Harper and then the invisibility cloak to Hermione. He didn't know if it counted as a weapon, but he would take no chances. "And now step into the ring. Slytherin and Ravenclaw's representative may watch from the small viewing area where they will be protected."
"You got this Harry," Harper said to her brother.
"Good luck," Hermione said, feeling a bit worried as the two went into the smaller area next to the ring as Harry stepped in to ring itself.
"Gryffindor is the house of the brave. The house of the champions. The house of the warrior," the lion said. "The Gryffindor champion must prove his bravery." Harry was shocked as before him a suit of armor appeared in the middle of the ring and started to move – it had a sword in its hand and attacked Harry. Harry used his reflexes trained from years of playing sports to dodge the sword.
"I have no weapon to defend myself!" Harry called out as he continued to dodge the attack.
"If you are truly Gryffindor, then the weapon shall come to you," the lion said as Harry dodged another attack.
"I don't get this task at all," Hermione said to Harper as they watched Harry dodging the knight. "He has no way to defend himself. He can't…"
"Hermione, this isn't a logic task. It's a Gryffindor task," Harper stated. "Don't try to make sense of it. Harry will figure it out."
Harry, for his part, had decided to stop trying to think. He was starting to get why his wand was taken. This task didn't want to know how much he had learned. It didn't want him to prove he could duel. It wanted him to prove he was brave. He had to stop trying to think through the problem and just react – like he had with the troll. He turned to the knight and ran right at him.
For a moment he heard a gasp from Hermione as the knight used his arm not holding the sword to push Harry back. Harry realized he was on his back in the middle of the ring, but then a sword appeared next to him. He picked it up, wondering for a moment if he should, but didn't have time as the knight came for him.
"How does Harry know how to do this?" Hermione asked, watching Harry and the knight sword fight each other.
"He took fencing lessons as a gym class," Harper dismissed, and Hermione turned her head to look at her friend, a little surprised about the answer but automatically turned back to the fighting.
Harry was concentrating on the fight with the knight, trying to figure out how to end this thing and, deciding to go for it, summoning all the strength he had he lunged forward, hitting his sword against the knight's chest. The sword went through the armor and Harry wondered if he made a mistake. There wasn't actually a body there, but the knight armor fell apart around Harry and the sword the knight was carrying fell to the floor.
Harry let out a breath of relief as he held the sword. "You have won," the lion called out. "You proved you are brave. The sword of Gryffindor came to help you. Please, take the key." Harry paused though as he looked more closely at the sword he was using – it had words inscribed in it. A name. Godric Gryffindor's name. But he didn't have time to take this all in as the box holding the key opened and he went to take the unusual lion-shaped key out. "Keep it on you. Keep it safe. Should your companions get the other three keys, the Vault is yours and what is inside is yours to do with as you must," the lion added.
Harry gave a nod as he backed out of the ring. Hermione and Harper meeting him. "Nice job," Harper said, giving Harry back his wand.
"Really good," Hermione said with a smile. "But shouldn't you put the sword down?"
Harry frowned as he looked back at the sword, still in his hand, but before he could decide to leave it behind, the sword glowed. He felt a strange sensation – like the way he felt in Hogwarts, that something was reaching out to his magic, but this time it felt like it was connecting to him. As he was looking at the sword, before it stopped glowing, he saw on the opposite side of the sword where Godric name was his name appeared.
"Oh wow," Harper said when the glow was over. "That must actually be a magical sword."
"Magical sword?" Hermione asked, trying to remember what that was.
"You have to know this Mione? Not exactly popular nowadays but was all the rage over a thousand years ago. Powerful sorcerers made a weapon using skills and his or her very own magic. Putting your very own magic inside the weapon. Swords were the most popular," Harper said.
"Then they named the sword," Harry added. "And the sword becomes a living being in and of itself. Choosing who gets to wield it. This sword just chose me as its new wielder. See the former owners name is here?" Harry pointed at Godric. "And mine is here as the current owner. Should the sword choose someone after me, Godric's name would be removed for the next owner's name. But this sword is mine until death now," he knew all about this, but was still surprised to suddenly own this type of magical object.
"Was there a name on that side before yours?" Harper asked, wondering if there had been an owner before Godric.
"Not that I saw, but I didn't look that closely," Harry said. "Godric could have been the one to make this sword. He was very powerful. But by the time of the Founders, this was getting less popular to do."
"Thus, Godric being the last owner before you," Hermione nodded, getting it.
"We'll have to do research into magical weapons. See if we can match it. Figure out it's true name," Harper said.
"Are we talking like King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table. Excalibur?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, but Excalibur has been missing for a very long time," Harper dismissed, and Hermione paused.
"That's real…?" Hermione asked. "I need to do more research into this." Hermione's mind was already turning and trying to figure out where she could come up with the information needed.
Harry smiled as he held up the key. "Well, we've got it," Harry said looking at the key. He had to keep this on him, but seemed the Founders thought of that as it was on a chain, which Harry put it around his neck. "Let's get out of here."
The trio went back to the platform that brought had them there and soon they were brought up back to the tunnel. The three walked back down the tunnel and stopped right at the wall. It was after curfew.
"We'll put the Invisibility Cloak on' Gryffindor tower is the closest, we'll drop Harry off first and then me. Harper will take the Invisibility Cloak back to Slytherin with her and keep hold of it," Hermione explained, having clearly thought this bit through.
Harry and Harper agreed to that as Hermione took the cloak and spread it over them. The trio walked out of the secret door. The griffin moving aside again to let him out. As they quietly headed over to the Gryffindor entrance, the group paused as the portrait that guarded the common room opened and out came Ron, Seamus, and Dean. They quickly ducked into an alcove so as not to raise suspicions of the three Gryffindors.
"I don't know about this," Dean was saying as they walked right passed where Harry, Hermione, and Harper were hiding. "We're first years! Even if Snape is trying to steal the Stone, what can we do?"
"We're Gryffindors. We're going to stop him," Ron said proudly as he led the two away.
"What were they…?" Hermione started, but Harry felt a need to follow them now.
"Come on," Harry whispered and, instead of heading to the Gryffindor entrance, he started walking in the direction his dormmates had headed.
At a staircase they paused. The Gryffindors had bumped into Neville; Harper almost groaned when she saw the boy with the toad in his hand.
"Oh no. If we're all out again we'll all get detention again! I got locked out of Hufflepuff common room again," Neville moaned.
"We're on a mission," Ron dismissed the boy. "And you're coming with now. The more numbers the better."
"Are you sure we should take him?" Seamus asked. "He's not very good in class."
"We have no choice unless we want to get caught even before we get there," Dean sighed, but he didn't seem sure. He looked like he wanted to run back to Gryffindor tower.
"Neville, you're coming with," Ron said, and practically dragged the poor Hufflepuff with him.
"Where are we going?" Neville asked, trying to keep hold of the toad.
"The third-floor corridor on the right-hand side," Ron said.
"But that's out of bounds on certain death!" Neville cried out as the group dragged him away.
"I really don't like your roommates," Hermione whispered; the scene reminded her too much of bullies she knew back home. Neville had just been forced into something he didn't want to do.
"We've got to go," Harry said.
"Is this your saving people thing?" Harper asked -since they were kids Harry had always put himself in danger for others, mostly for her or Boyd, but for instance, he would climb a tree to put a baby bird back in its nest or getting in-between bullies and their victims. Harper had ended up getting involved to back her brother. It was how they made some of their good friends when younger.
"Maybe we should just get a teacher or prefect?" Hermione suggested.
"And we all get into trouble?" Harry pointed out. "Let's go get them and if we can't stop the idiot trio we can at least save Neville from them."
"We're not going to talk him out of this, Mione. Let's just go," Harper told Hermione, sighing slightly, as the three walked under the Invisibility Cloak, following the four boys. Part of them were hoping they would see a teacher or prefect before they got to their destination. They had no such luck though as they reached a door.
Taking a breath, Harry, Harper, and Hermione paused as Ron practically forced Neville through the door, the other two boy following, slightly reluctantly, behind them.
"We should do something now," Harry stated, moving forward.
"No, wait," Hermione stated grabbing Harry arm and stopping him from going to the door.
"Why?" Harry looked to his friend, pausing.
"This could be bad. We should get a teacher…" Hermione pointed out once again.
"They could be dead by then," Harper muttered darkly at this.
"Oh, don't say that," Hermione moaned. "What if we get injured or killed too."
"Look, Mione, if you want to go find a teacher, do, but I'm going in," Harry pointed out.
"And you know I'm following," Harper added. "Can't let you do this alone."
"Fine, no. Okay," Hermione sighed as the three finally took off the Invisibility Cloak, figuring they would not need it right now. They moved forward but the door was already locked.
"Must have a self-locking charm," Harper pointed out.
"Let me," Hermione moaned as she held out her wand. "Alohomora!" The door clicked open and, cautiously, the three opened the door.
Post Chapter Note: Well, the Gryffindor Key has been received and now it's time to do things by-the-book, quite literally. What will the trio find behind the door? Well, we should all know that by now…
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