Harry Potter and the Founders Vault
Disclaimer: The same as always
Year 2: The Howler and the Hufflepuff
The first morning of the new school year, Harry and Hermione were waiting outside the Great Hall, waiting for Neville and Harper. Harry had left Lucy in his trunk, knowing she would be fine in the living area of the trunk instead of accidentally ruining something of his dormmates.
Neville was first out, coming from the area of the dungeons, with Susan Bones not too far behind him. "Hi Susan," Harry said as Neville joined them.
"Nev, tells me you guys are stealing him this year?" Susan said as a joke.
"You're more than welcome to join us at the Gryffindor table," Hermione spoke.
"Thanks, but I'm going to head to the Hufflepuff table anyway. See you in class, Nev," Susan said, giving Neville a smile and Neville waved his goodbye.
Harper arrived a moment later, with Tracey and Daphne in tow. "Hey, who won monopoly?" Harry asked, remembering that Harper had told him she and her dormmates had been playing via their communication book. Daphne raised her hand.
"Beginner's luck," Harper muttered, and Daphne laughed.
"We'll see how well you do next time," Tracey said with a smirk, leaving Harper by the door as the two went in, knowing by now that Harper was splitting off with her brother and friends at this moment.
"When do we take out the book?" Neville suddenly asked eagerly of their special Founder's Vault book.
"Later," Harry said, giving Hermione and Harper a look. "After classes we'll take you to our secret spot." Neville gave a confused nod as they walked into the Great Hall.
Before they got to the table though, Harry was blinded by a flash of light, forcing him to close his eyes. Harper was fast in taking someone by the hands, who was holding the camera that had caused the flash.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Harper asked the young Gryffindor boy. She somewhat remembered him being sorted the day before but didn't remember his name.
"Getting a picture of Harry Potter," the boy said, prettified now in confrontation with the older girl.
"You could have asked first," Harry muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Harp, let him go."
"Sorry, Harry, I got excited," the boy said as Harper let him go. "I'm Colin Creevy, I'm a Gryffindor first year."
"That's obvious, but why are you taking my picture?" Harry asked, noticing a number of people looking over at them.
"Because you're Harry Potter. I have heard all about you. I am a muggle born. Can you take off the hat so I can get a picture of the scar?" Colin asked.
"He has no scar," Hermione and Neville said together, leaving Colin looking confused.
"Oh, well… could I get another picture? I promised my dad I would get as many pictures as possible. An older student told me if I develop them in a potion, they will move! Can you believe that?" Colin asked.
"We grew up in a magical household, so yeah," Harper spoke up, a little sarcastically.
"We?" Colin asked, looking at Harper, again confused.
"Harper is my sister," Harry said as he went to head for the table.
"Really?" Colin said and then turned back to Harper, and took a picture of her by surprise, making Harper blink.
"Man, that flash is bright," Harper complained.
"Can I get one of you two together? Maybe we can all get one with me in. And maybe you can sign it!" Colin started getting excited again.
"I don't do autographs. I think our Defense teacher does though," Harry stated, taking his sister's arm, and bringing her to the table before she could react on the boy. Hermione and Neville stopped Colin from following before taking seats themselves. The dejected Colin took a seat with his fellow First Years some spaces down the table.
Then, Fred and George came up on the other side of the table, eying the boy.
"Not what you expect first thing in the morning, is it, Fred?" One of the twins asked.
"It really isn't, Goerge. You two okay?" The other twin asked Harry and Harper.
"Yeah, fine. Just… wasn't expecting that," Harry stated, going for some toast.
"Well, if he keeps shoving that camera in our face, I might have to curse it," Harper added making others laugh.
"Fred, George!" A small red-headed girl they knew was the Weasley's youngest sibling and only sister had just entered the hall. She ran up to them, the twins having taken a seat already and making room for the girl.
"Hi," Fred said. "Harry, Harper, meet Ginny."
"Technically we met at the bookstore," Harry pointed out, giving the girl a smile.
"Yes, um… thanks… Hi," Ginny said, taking one glance at Harry before jumping from the table to the other's surprise, quickly exiting the Great Hall again.
"What was that about?" Neville asked, frowning after the girl.
"She has a crush on Harry," George said.
"Been talking about him all summer," Fred added.
"It's actually kind of annoying," the two said together.
"With camera boy and the youngest Weasley, it seems you have a fan club starting," Harper joked to her brother, who playfully pushed her, making her laugh.
That was when the owl post came in for the morning. A flock of owls coming in from the many open windows to greet their recipients. The white among the brown and grey indicated that Hedwig was amongst them as she came right over to Harry with a happy chirp and playfully nipped his ear. Harry was happy to see the owl and gave her some pats.
"You ready to start bringing letters home to friends and family?" Harry asked the owl, as Hedwig gave a happy hoot out.
"Hedwig, mind taking a letter to my parents?" Hermione asked, and the owl turned her head and hooted a yes.
"We were actually wondering if we could borrow Hedwig," Fred spoke up, making the group look to him. "She seems better at international travel and we want to send some letters to our brother Bill and MC in Egypt."
"Who's MC?" Harry, Harper, Hermione, and Neville all asked together.
"Mallory Crusher," George said.
"Bill's girlfriend," Fred completed.
"You might have heard of her," George said.
"She's known as the Curse Breaker of Hogwarts. She found and undid all the Cursed Vaults a few years ago," Fred explained, and Harper blinked. It was finally nice to put a name to the person she had heard so much about; Neither Barnaby, Tonks, nor Rowan's ghost had referred to her by name before.
"Well Hedwig, what do you think? Can you handle this high demand of letters?" Harry asked, and Hedwig gave a louder hoot, as if saying 'of course'.
Before anyone could say anything else a loud voice called out, surprising the entire Great Hall: "RONALD WEASLEY!" Everyone in the hall turned to see Ron, red faced, holding a red card which seemed to be the culprit, screaming at him with his own mother's voice. "HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR!? I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN ENQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!" The card suddenly flew from Ron's hand to move in front of Ginny, who had returned from her embarrassment earlier and was sitting with her fellow First Years. "Oh, and Ginny dear," Mrs. Weasley's voice was now a normal tone. "Congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud!" The card then burst into flames.
"What on Earth was that?" Hermione asked after a moment as Ron jumped from the table and ran out, the hall erupting into talk once more.
"A howler," Neville said with a frown. "I got one from my gran once, it was horrible."
"It's magical way to yell at someone without having to be there," Harper supplied to Hermione.
"Although we call it a Red Yeller, given it's always a red envelope and well, yells at you," Harry added, surprised at the British name for the Red Yeller.
"Glad it wasn't us this time," Fred and George said together.
"Have you two ever received one?" Hermione asked Harper and Harry.
"Not exactly, but mom and dad have other ways," Harry said.
"Dad is a lawyer," Harper continued for her brother.
"So, when we got old enough to understand," Harry continued.
"He gave us a contract," Harper said.
"With agreed upon laws and punishments should we break those laws," Harry said.
"It really just made us good at finding loopholes," Harper completed.
"Bet your dad didn't like that," Hermione said.
"Dad is a lawyer. He loved it," Harry said, surprising Hermione. "He even rewarded us for finding a good loophole in his contract once."
Fred and George actually started laughing at that. "You know with the camera, a fan girl, and a Red Yeller I think we picked the wrong table today," Harper said, and Harry laughed but nodded at his sister's comment.
After finishing their breakfasts, Professor McGonagall came up the table to hand out their timetables for this year; Harper, Hermione, and Neville surprised when she had theirs as well. The three figured they would have to go to their Head of Houses when they were done with breakfast.
"Considering what the four of you are doing, Professor Dumbledore and the Heads of Houses agreed it best I hand you four your timetables as one – given you would likely be sitting together," Professor McGonagall explained, to confused looks from Fred and George.
"What exactly are the four of you doing?" George asked.
"The… Fab Four," Fred added, causing Harry, Harper, and Hermione to laugh while Neville blushed at the name.
"Better than Harry and Harry's girls," Harper commented.
"Looks like we're heading to herbology," Harry said, looking over their timetable, ignoring Fred and Geroge's question. "Our first OWL class."
"Wait, you two are taking an OWL this year?" George asked, taken aback.
"Two actually," Harper said, surprising them as she got up now. "Let's go, Harry. Mione, Nev, we'll meet you later." Harper gave a wink as the others left the table with her.
"Any clue what the Fab Four are doing that allows the others to get their timetables here?" George asked aloud to the other Gryffindors, Fred smirking at the use of his newly-found nickname for the group.
"Alright," Fred added when no one could answer him. "We'll find out ourselves." The twins shared a look as they left the table, deciding to find their own best friend, Lee Jordan, to discuss this further.
-Harry Potter-
After they were done with classes that morning, Harry had gone to get Lucy and meet up with Hermione, Neville, and Harper for lunch.
"Follow us Nev," Harper said, taking Neville by the hand as Hermione gave Lucy a pet and Harry a smile.
They hadn't told Neville yet where they were working for the Vault quest, so they had decided to just show him – the group walking toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. But, when Harper opened the door Neville stopped.
"You'd want to get in quickly before someone sees…" Harry told Neville, surprising the boy as Harry gently nudged Neville inside.
"Harry?" The familiar ghost of Myrtle came flying out of her toilet. "Oh, welcome back."
"Hi, Myrtle. Oh, hi Rowan," Harry said, seeing the other ghost greeting Hermione and Harper. "Have a good summer?"
"Just dreadful," Myrtle bemoaned. "I missed you, though. Who's this?" Myrtle floated in front of Neville.
"Our friend, Neville. He's joining us this year," Harry said and Lucy gave a bark. "And this is my crup. Lucy."
"Well welcome Neville and Lucy," Rowan said, giving the dog a smile. "A bunch of crups once destroyed MC's broom, I hope Lucy is better trained?"
"She really is," Harry smiled, imagining a litter of cruppies thinking the remains of a broom were sticks to play with.
"Need us to keep everyone out?" Rowan added.
"Yes, please," Hermione, Harper, and Harry said together; soon Myrtle and Rowan were moaning and flying around, the sound enough to keep anyone from entering the room.
"So… this is where you work?" Neville asked, confused as Harper went into her bag. She had kept the Vault book on her this summer, after all.
"No one ever comes into here," Hermione said. "We can do anything we want."
"Including read this out loud," Harper said, having the Vault Book and turning the page to the next blank one; almost immediately, words started to appear on the page. "Welcome back to Hogwarts. Hope your summer break was good. This year, you will be looking for the Hufflepuff Key."
"You're up to bat Neville," Harry said, patting Neville on the back now, who looked nervous about being the one up.
"Bat?" Neville asked.
"Baseball expression. It means it's your turn," Harry explained, and then signaled for Harper to continue to read.
"The Hufflepuff Key is different from the other three, as is not in a hidden room." Harper read aloud. "Helga didn't believe in secrets, so instead she made many of the statues and portraits you see around the school. To get the Hufflepuff key, first you will need to receive Hufflepuff's box. The only clue I can bring, is to look for the warriors gathering."
"Warriors gathering?" Hermione frowned, taking to the riddle. "Oh, I got it!" Harry was surprised how fast Hermione had it. "Outside the Great Hall! On the wall, there's that row of knights. The ones who are always trading shield and swords around."
Harper looked down at the book. "Good job," Harper read as the book updated. "Go to the statues and the Hufflepuff representative will receive the box."
The four looked at each other, called goodbye to Myrtle and Rowan before rushing to the Great Hall. It was still lunchtime, so it was somewhat crowded.
"Neville go there, we'll guard," Harry said standing in front of the wall of statues with Lucy. Hermione and Harper stood on either side and the three started to randomly talk as Neville approached the statues.
"So, how many more times did you see Beauty and the Beast?" Harper asked Hermione.
"Four times," Hermione said. "Before no theater was showing it anymore. You?"
"About the same," Harper said. "Can't wait for it to come out on VHS."
"That will be a while," Hermione mumbled sadly.
"Magical Hollywood usually gets it out earlier than muggle Hollywood," Harper reasoned.
"Magical Hollywood?" Hermione asked.
Before either Harper or Harry could answer her, they were interrupted by a familiar voice of Hagrid; Lucy gave a bark as the large man came up. Harry looked back to see Neville was still talking to a statue it seemed.
"Well, 'ello there you three!" Hagrid stated. "Lookin' forward t' your second year?"
"Hagrid," Harry said with a smile, moving up so Hagrid wouldn't see as Neville seemed to bend down to take something. "We are, in fact. Well, Harper and I are taking two OWL subjects this year."
"Really? I knew you were smart! Here, I 'eard Dumbledore gave y' permission t' have your crup here," Hagrid added, giving Lucy a smile. "What's 'er name?"
"Lucy," Harry said, bending down to pet his dog. "You can pet her."
Hagrid smiled as he got down to pet the dog like creature. "Bring 'er out t' me hut. Fang is always looking for a playmate," Hagrid said happily.
"Will do," Harry said. Neville had moved away – he had what seemed like a box under his arm. "Nev, you know Hagrid, right?"
"Yes," Neville said with a smile.
"Well, I'll let y' four go. Come visit me soon," Hagrid said, seeming to sense the four wanted to move on. All four said bye to Hagrid, promising to come visit him and help take care of his creatures soon.
"Okay Nev, let's me see," Hermione said, and Neville held out the box. It was definitely old and ancient, but the lid help the crest of Hufflepuff on, indicating it was definitely Hufflepuff's. Hermione tried to open it but the box would not.
"Not going to open?" Harper asked, taking out the book again.
"The book updated?" Harry asked.
"The Hufflepuff box will not open until three tasks are complete: you must find and make three different potions." Neville moaned as Harper read off the word potions. "Once the three potions are complete, they will be mixed into something unique, and the Hufflepuff representative will drink the solution to do his task."
"It had to be potions," Neville moaned.
"You don't have to make the potions," Hermione calmed Neville, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"You just drink it," Harry added to this.
"The first recipe will be found with Guardians, one who protects those who impart wisdom," Harper completed from the book, and the four looked at each other.
"Give me time on that one," Hermione frowned.
"Well, we're one step closer," Harper sighed. "Neville, keep hold of the box. Keep it safe." Neville gave a nervous nod as Harper put the book away.
"Can we go get something to eat?" Neville asked; the three agreed, heading into the Great Hall for lunch.
-Harry Potter-
Over in America, Tim and Cassidy were at their house, waiting. Cassidy had some snacks together and was looking at the time – they were hoping their guest would get here long before Boyd got off of school, both having taken the afternoon off to have this meeting.
The doorbell rang and Tim moved to answer it to see the man waiting.
"Remus Lupin," Tim said, recognizing the man; he was older and worn but still the same man who had been friends with James Potter and Tim had met briefly at Lily and James wedding.
"Timothy Evans," Remus said, his voice a little hoarse. "It's nice to see you again."
"Come in," Tim said, letting the man in. "This is my wife, Cassidy." Cassidy smiled as she put the snacks she had made on the table in the living room, Remus taking a seat.
"Help yourself," Cassidy the, indicating the food and Remus smiled as he went to grab some pretzel sticks.
"I have to admit, I didn't expect to hear from you, but I have wanted to say thank you. Granting me that Vault in Gringotts changed my life," Remus said, referencing when Harry and Tim had granted Remus access to the trust the Potters had gifted their friend.
"Lily and James wanted you to have it," Tim said with a smile. "But that's not what we asked you to come all the way here to discuss. We wanted to talk about Sirius Black."
Remus raised an eyebrow as Tim handed over a copy of James and Lily Will he had received from Gringotts. He then showed the evidence he had gathered since, proving that the story behind Sirius killing all those people were false.
"Sirius didn't betray Lily and James, Remus," Tim explained once Remus had looked over the evidence. "Sirius convinced James to make Peter Pettigrew their Secret Keeper. It was Peter who betrayed Lilly and James, and he seemed to get away by faking his own death and framing Sirius for the crime."
"Peter…" whatever color Remus had in his face had drained away at this conclusion. "James, Sirius, and Peter were my best friends," Remus muttered. "In one day, I lost them all and I thought it was Sirius's fault. I was angry, but… now… he's innocent. And Peter…? I should have known."
"It's not your fault," Cassidy said sympathetically. "But you can help us help Sirius now. We need to find Peter to get him out."
"I'll turn over every rock back home to find that rat," Remus stated, angry now.
"That's the spirit I like," Tim smiled sympathetically. "But there's one thing you should know: we're keeping this from the kids, from Harry, just for now. So, when you meet Harry, please don't reveal Sirius's innocence. Not yet anyway."
"Wait, you're going to let me meet Harry?" Remus asked, seeming stunned. He had realized this meeting had taken place after Harry went back to school and he figured it was on purpose. That they didn't want Harry to know him. "Even with my… condition."
"Condition?" Cassidy spoke up.
"I thought you knew… that I'm…" Remus started.
"A werewolf? Yes, we know. Why should this stop us from letting you meet Harry?" Tim asked, confused by this. "As long as it's not the full moon."
"Well, the laws against werewolves, the hate and segregation we face," Remus stated sadly.
"There's nothing like that here," Tim stated, seriously now. "There's protection for werewolves rights in the United States. Anti-discrimination laws. As long as a werewolf takes proper precaution around the full moon they are protected."
"Really?" Remus asked, seeming shocked by this information.
"How about Christmas?" Cassidy spoke up, and Remus gave a smile.
"I'd love that," Remus said, barely above a whisper. For the first time in a long time, he felt welcomed again, he felt like he might have found a family again. And all he had to do was get his brother – in everything but blood – out of a jail he didn't belong in.
Post Chapter Note: Who saw that coming with Remus and werewolf law in the States? And the first part of the Hufflepuff Task is done too. Exciting stuff.
Relationships: If you paid attention, you will see I put Bill with the MC from the game, Hogwarts Mysteries. Simply put, I don't like any of the relationships JK made so, I am changing them up. Bill and MC in the game have great chemistry so it's easy to continue, while the other relationships from the books… well, spoilers.
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Karry Master OUT!