Harry Potter and the Founders Vault
Disclaimer: The same as always.
Year 2: Friends and Rumors
"Where were you?" Hermione asked as she sat at the Hufflepuff table. It was a very rainy Saturday morning and Neville, Harry, and Harper were already having breakfast Neville was chatting with Susan but turned as Hermione spoke. Hermione eyes were looking at Harper though. "We were supposed to meet… you know where?"
"Ah, getting into Fab Four secrets?" Susan asked, making the four looked at her, confused at the name. "Fred and George's new name for your group of friends. I think it's sticking, although they're more curious as to what you're doing than what you're called."
"Well, it's none of their business," Hermione stated to Susan, who frowned at this response.
"I'm done anyway," Susan got up at this. "I'll see you in the common room Neville," she smiled at the four of them before leaving.
"Sorry, Mione," Harper shook her head at weirdness with Susan as activity around them returned to normal – or as near normal as could be considered these days, as since they found the writing on the wall, everyone had been whispering and spreading rumors about them. It was getting annoying. "I was heading there and then saw Ginny heading for the bathroom too. I stopped her and came here with her. Not the first time I found Ginny heading for Moaning Myrtle bathroom this year."
"So, how's the potion?" Harry asked, ignoring talks of Ginny who was now at the Gryffindor table anyway.
"Done," Hermione said, happily. "Bottled it and the book updated," Hermione took out the Vault book and opened up to a new page. "It's a new clue. If we figure this out and get the next potion recipe, you can buy ingredients during Thanksgiving." Harry and Harper had received permission to, once again, go home for Thanksgiving so under that pretense, they could easily buy ingredients at home, or even in Diagon Alley.
But before either of the other three could look at the clue, Harper was shocked and nearly jumped as someone ran up from behind her and brought her into a hug. The only thing that stopped her from retaliation to the sudden attack was that it was Ron Weasley – and she was too shocked to say anything.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you," Ron was saying.
"Get off! Get off! Get off," Harper retaliated, not sure why Ron was thanking her and really freaked by the hug.
Ron removed his arms and grinned as he held up what looked like two sticks tied together, a feather tucked between them. Then she realized it was actually a wand. "See this?" Ron asked.
"Your parents took you to some cheap shop to get a wand?" Harper asked.
"No, I made it," Ron said.
"I'm sorry?" Harper blinked.
"Like you suggested," Ron said, and Harper frowned.
She remembered her joke of Ron making his own wand, but she never thought he would actually do it. "Oh, Ron–"
"I got some Hippogriff feathers from Hagrid," Ron explained, not hearing Harper's countering him, "and the wood was easy to get, but I did get bitten by a couple of Bowtuckles. I got a book from the library and made the potion and everything in the artifact room."
Harper didn't know what to say to that. "It didn't blow up on you?" Hermione spoke up, however, seeming shocked as well.
"Well this is actually my third try. You need a wand to make a wand and my other one didn't do that well, so, my first one didn't even do anything, while my second one had a mild explosion but this one is alright. It's not a great match but I can use it and it won't blow up everything. I am going to use this to make another one. Thank you, you're the best. I am sorry for everything mean I have ever said about you."
Ron gave Harper another hug. "Personal space," Harper said, and Ron separated, giving them a smile and then ran to the Gryffindor table.
"Did that just happen?" Harper asked.
"It did," Harry said with a nod.
"That wasn't Ron Weasley. That was Bizzaro-Ron," Harper said and she, Harry, and Hermione laughed.
"Which would mean we're in Bizzaro-Hogwarts," Harry added.
"Or Bizzaro came to normal Hogwarts," Hermione added
"What are you on about?" Neville asked, not getting the joke as the three laughed.
"It's a muggle comic book reference," Harper told Neville with a smile. "Superman… never mind."
Neville raised an eyebrow but decided to leave that alone. "That's kind of impressive he made his own wand. Might be a hidden talent," Neville remarked.
"Possible," Harry stated. "Although Harper, aren't Hippogriff feathers really weak wand cores?"
"The weakest," Harper said with a nod.
"Harper," Hermione warned, giving Harper a disappointed look.
"Oh, don't 'Harper' me," Harper said. "It was a joke, not a serious suggestion. I didn't think he would actually do it."
"Still seems pretty mean to suggest that to him," Hermione said, but noticed Harry had taken the Vault book and was looking at the clue.
"I know who this is," Harry said, directing their attention back to the subject at hand. "It talks about a famous old wizard," Harry continued, glad they were at the Hufflepuff table as Harry noticed the silver specter of a fat little monk casually in conversation with a handsome boy and his friend. "Um… Excuse me?" Harry called over the ghost of Hufflepuff. "Fat Friar…?"
"Yes, Harry Potter," the ghost said, removing himself from the group of friends and floating over to Harry. "Such a pleasure to meet you. What can I do for you?"
"Is there a statue or portrait of Merlin in the school?" Harry asked.
"In fact, there is," the Fat Friar said. "In the Grand Staircase. Any reason why?"
"I'm… just curious," Harry said, looking at his friends as then they all stood up and quickly left the Great Hall.
"Ah, the secrets of Hogwarts," the Fat Friar chuckled to himself as he moved back down the table to the teenagers he'd been in conversation with.
-Harry Potter-
Hermione looked at the portrait of Merlin. He reminded her of Dumbledore with the long white hair and beard, except his attire less extravagant than their headmaster, with bottle-green eyes and robes to match.
"Are you sure about this?" Hermione asked as she looked at the book. They hadn't made the Merlin portrait their official answer yet – and they didn't know what would happen if they guessed wrong. Hermione was unsure on Harry's answer. "The clue is about a famous wizard who is often mistaken for another? Who is Merlin mistaken for?"
"Did Merlin attend Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Neville said instantly, making eyes turn to him. "He was a Slytherin."
"No," Harry said, confusing Neville. "The Merlin of Old, Advisor to King Arthur and one of the greatest wizards ever was around 500 years before Hogwarts. The Merlin who was sorted into Slytherin was his descendent, named after him."
"Very good young man," the portrait of Merlin spoke, amused at the children before him. "If I could give Gryffindor a hundred points for knowing that I would. Sadly, not many people do."
"Thank you," Harry said.
Hermione blinked as the portrait of Merlin confirmed Harry's own history knowledge. She looked at the Vault book and sighed.
"I'll do it," she said, adding to the book, "the answer is Merlin." She sighed as the book stated that they were right. Harry grinned.
Before Neville, who as the representative of Hufflepuff, could ask the portrait about the next potion, a Hufflepuff in their year came walking up to them.
"Oh, hi Harry, Harper, Hermione, Neville," he said.
"Um…. Justin, right?" Harry said. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just having a conversation with Professor Lockhart," Justin said, and Harper and Harry tried not to roll their eyes at that as they quickly, strategically got on either side of Justin and walked besides him as Hermione and Neville started talking to Merlin. "I know you two don't take his class but I think his brilliant. I was heading for Eton and my mom was unsure when I got my letter. It was Professor Lockhart's books that made my mom realize what having a wizard in the family could do."
"Interesting," Harper said, figuring Eton must have been another school, and feeling slightly insulted that the fakery of Lockhart was the reason Justin's mother wanted her son to be a wizard.
Justin eyes got wide as he looked at them, seeming to realizing something. "I got… to get something to eat," Justin said and ran off, shaking himself.
"That was weird," Harry said and Harper shrugged.
"We got it," Hermione called, the siblings turning back to look at their friends. "Already put it in the book. We got the new recipe."
Harper looked over the ingredients and frowned. "Seems simple enough."
"We can get most of these over Thanksgiving," Harry added.
"Except that," Harper said, pointing at one of the ingredients. "You have to be 17 years or older to buy that."
"Don't tell me we need to… you know, like Halloween," Neville said. Stealing from Snape had been hard on the boy who feared their potion's professor.
"We could get someone to buy it for us," Harper mused.
"Your mom and dad would?" Hermione asked.
"Oh no," Harry said shaking his head. "They don't find out about this. But we can always ask Barnaby."
"I dunno," Harper mused. "He might forget. Maybe we could ask Uncle Mato."
"Forget Uncle Mato. It's Newt we need to ask," Harry said, and Harper nodded at that. Newt could be manipulated a little more than the other adults in their lives but was also more prestigious too. "But I've got a mountain of homework for Herbology and Astronomy to do before Monday."
"Same," Harper said with a nod.
"You two have to tell me all about OWL classes and exams," Hermione now stated, and Harry and Hermione split off from Neville and Harper, who had to head back down to the dungeon to get to their common rooms.
"OWLs are actually pretty easy," Harry stated now, heading up the castle with Hermione. "We studied a lot before we even attended Hogwarts."
"That's true," Hermione mused, but decided to change topic. "By the way I have been meaning to mention, I have done a lot of research on magic weapons and where the known ones are and about unknown ones."
"Okay…?" Harry asked wondering where Hermione was going with this.
"Well… is it possible… that your sword is, well, Excalibur?" Hermione asked.
Realizing Hermione had worked it out, Harry had two choices: either to try to lie or tell Hermione the truth – and he couldn't lie to her. "Don't tell anyone," Harry decided on.
"Really? How do you know? Why didn't you tell me?" Hermione asked.
"I wasn't sure how you would react to it," Harry said truthfully. He trusted Hermione, but Excalibur was something else. "And as for how I know, Merlin, Arthur, and Godric come to me in my dreams to train me."
"Really?" Hermione asked, surprised by this. "My research had said that some owners of magical objects have reported previous owners visiting them in dreams, but the book put it off to rumors. Did Godric tell you anything about the Founders' Vault?"
"He says it's not his place to tell me," Harry said truthfully. "And he's been avoiding me lately." It was true, Harry had not had a training session with Godric since he slipped about there being more than one heir of Slytherin in the school. Only Merlin and Arthur had made appearances since.
"Seriously?" Hermione said stopping. "He knows something."
"Yeah and won't tell me," Harry said, but had to shut up as they saw the Gryffindor Quidditch team coming from the direction of Gryffindor tower. They were all dressed in their Quidditch robes and had their brooms. "Are you going to practice?"
"Yes," Fred and George, who were Beaters on the team, groaned as the captain, Oliver Wood stood before them.
"We have to be at the top of our game," Oliver said.
"It's pouring outside," Hermione pointed out. It had been raining hard and heavy all morning.
"If we're going to beat Slytherin with their new fancy brooms we need all the practice we can get," Oliver said. "Come on everyone," Oliver marched them pass the two and down the stairs. Harry noticed the Weasley twins muttering darkly to each other as they departed.
"I did hear Draco bribed his way onto the team by buying everyone Nimbus 2001," Hermione mused now.
"And Ron was mumbling about not making Seeker," Harry said, knowing that the Seeker the team used last year had since graduated, so the team had held tryouts again; Fred and George had even bugged him to tryout, but Harry was a firm, having more fun playing games with Dean. "I hear the person they got isn't much better than last year. But I don't really care. I better get to that work," Harry stated, they being outside the Gryffindor portrait, the Fat Lady watching the pair with bemusement.
"If you need any help I am more than willing to get a head start on OWLs," Hermione grinned as she turned and headed for the Ravenclaw tower.
"Will do," Harry muttered as he watched her retreating back.
"Well? Are you going to give me the password or just stare at that girl?" The Fat Lady asked, directing Harry's attention to her now.
"I'm sorry?" Harry asked.
"You couldn't be more obvious you like her," the Fat Lady pointed out.
"I… Fwooper," Harry decided, using the current password to force the Fat Lady to give him entrance to his Common Room, and stop this conversation.
-Harry Potter-
Neville was sitting in the Hufflepuff Common Room doing some homework of his own when Justin came up to him.
"Neville… I've got to ask," Justin spoke, surprising Neville as he sat across from Neville in one of the very comfy chairs. "Since Halloween, there's been a lot of rumors going around about you four. That one of you wrote the writing on the wall and everyone seems to think it's Harry and Harper."
"Justin," Neville sighed, he too a little fed up with the rumors, "I assure you I was with Harry and Harper the entire time, and none of us wrote it. We just came across it."
"Okay… well, that a relief," Justin said letting out a sigh, although still a little nervous. "I accidently told the two I am a muggle born and I freaked after that."
"You did?" Neville asked, not knowing this.
"I told them my mum wanted me to go to Eton…?" Justin stated.
"Oh. Well, trust me, they'd have no clue what Eton is so they would be none-the-wiser, but still, believe me when I say that they don't care," Neville said, and Justin gave a smile and then jumped up to join his own friends.
"Those rumors are getting out of hand," Susan had come up and sat next to him.
"You're telling me. Justin's not the first person who asked me about Harry and Harper," Neville said; it having been asked a couple of times now. "Why are they focusing on them? Me and Hermione were there too."
"Everyone knows the Longbottom family is a good family and in no way is related to Slytherin," Susan pointed out. "And Hermione, we know, is a muggle-born. But the Potter family while thought of as a good, was still a bit mysterious for a time. Plus, with Harry surviving such a dark curse and no one knowing how… then Harper is a bit of a question mark herself; she claims both her parents are muggle-born but we don't have any proof of that."
"Why would she be a Slytherin and lie her parents are muggle-born?" Neville pointed out.
"I am just telling you why the rumors have focused on them and disregarded you two. It's all rubbish anyway," Susan stated, and Neville nodded his agreement, giving Susan a smile as he continued his work.
-Harry Potter-
Harper was sitting on her bed in the dorm, it being a much quieter and peaceful place compared to the Common Room. She was going through a pile of Herbology work and petting Daisy when she heard a voice.
"Must kill… this time,' the voice said.
"Hello?" Harper called out, shocked by the voice.
"Hi," it was Tracey walking into their dorm room, thinking Harper had been talking to her.
"Sorry, no but did you just hear something weird?" Harper asked. The voice was gone now, and it had been fainter than the last few times she heard it.
"Only you calling out hello," Tracey frowned, and Harper shrugged. "That's a lot of work. Maybe you're getting stressed over it?"
"Maybe," Harper replied, although unconvinced. "Fifth year classes," she confirmed.
"Not looking forward to when I am there," Tracey remarked, sitting on bed. "Why are you doing this here and not in the Common Room?"
"I can't stand listening to Draco bragging about his broom or that 'Chamber is open and muggle-borns will die'," Harper said, doing her best imitating of Draco as she said it.
Tracey laughed as she looked at the books. "Well, when you finish we can play monopoly again," Tracey said. "Or scrabble..."
"You're on," Harper said with a wink. "Just let me finish this. You go and grab Daphne and see if she wants to join."
"On it," Tracey grinned, jumping up to go find their third roommate as Harper went to finish her work.
-Harry Potter-
Harry was in his Common Room doing his own work too, with Lucy snoozing in front of the fire, but she perked her head up as someone approached Harry. "Hey Harry," it was Ron, who sat down in the seat next to him. "Do you want to play wizard chess?"
"Since when do you talk to me?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We're friends now," Ron pointed out.
"We are?" Harry asked, unsure and thinking the idea of Ron being replaced with a lookalike was really a possibility.
"You saved my life last year. Harper gave me the idea to make my own wand and I had a lot of fun. I plan on making more. Better ones. I already have notes on how to improve," Ron said taking out some parchment paper. "Want to see?"
Harry was about to reject the officer, but he was curious. "How about you tell me over one game of Wizard chess," Harry decided. "Then I have to continue my homework. I have OWLs this year."
"But that's not until Fifth Year," Ron pointed out.
"I am in two Fifth Year classes," Harry replied, and Ron paused, not having realized that but had already taken out his chess set and was setting up the game on the table.
"I'll be white," Ron said and Harry shrugged. It was his board.
The two played for a while as Ron talked about how he made the wand; he told Harry there were several different methods to wand making, all involved potions in which to imbue the wand in to make it work, and Ron couldn't believe how enjoyable making a potion was without Snape looking over him.
Ron was just explaining the types of wood he'd used, also taking Harry Knight in the process, when the Quidditch team came into the room through the portrait, soaking wet and dirty. Harry and Ron looked up at the team.
"Hey, you're missing one," Ron pointed out, seeing there were only six players in the room. For once, Fred and George were quiet and slightly pale as it was Katie Bell who responded quietly.
"Alicia went back to grab something. When she took too long I went to go see what was the matter and found her… lying there… petrified… just like Ms. Norris," Katie answered.
A silence went over the Common Room at that. There had been another attack and this time a muggle born had been petrified and not just a cat.
Post Chapter: Yes, I went with someone who was not petrified in the books. I'm changing the game. Hope you enjoyed.
Karry Master OUT!