Harry Potter and the Founders Vault
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Quidditch Interruption
The attack on Dean had caused initial tension in the school, but as weeks went by with no more attacks, the student body calmed down - to the point that by the end of January, many thought Dean was a one-off since the Christmas purge of the castle and that they were safe.
For Harry, Hermione, Harper, and Neville, however the more important news was that they figured out the riddle of where the third potion recipe was: it had been Sir Cadogan, and so it was during a weekend Quidditch match that the four walked down to Hagrid's hut, happy they had no more riddles to solve.
"It's Gryffindor against Slytherin," Neville said, able to hear the commentary from Fred and George's friend, Lee Jordan. "Gryffindor is still down a chaser. No one wanted to take the position."
"Nev, if you want to go watch, you can go," Harry said; Neville was the only one of the four who cared about Quidditch and this was the first match he was skipping. Harper, Hermione, and Harry usually used this time to get homework done or research in the library - or just play games between themselves.
"No, this is Founders' Vault business and I am 100 percent in," Neville said, determined. "So… which creatures do we need for this final potion?"
"We need an Abraxan hair and Salamander blood," Hermione spoke. "We can get the salamander blood from the potions classroom, it's a fairly common ingredient, but I have never seen Abraxan hair in potions before."
"It's not used much," Harry reasoned.
"Is there even an Abraxan here?" Hermione asked.
Harry and Harper gave each other a smile and then Harry whistled.
"Abraham!" Harper called out.
Neville and Hermione looked at each other but both were shocked as a large horse with wings came soaring out of the Forbidden Forest and landed in front of them. "Meet Abraham the Abraxan," Harry introduced as the creature bowed to Harry. "He lives on a field just by the Forbidden Forest. Comes for food every once in a while."
"He's dirty," Harper chuckled. Abraham was covered in mud and dirt. It was a bit cold in January but it wasn't the worst today so she could clean him and cast a spell to dry him fast. "Harry, you grab some hairs. I'll get a bucket and water and start cleaning him."
Harry pet Abraham and gave him some food before sneakily taking a couple of hairs before giving them to Hermione, who put them in vial to preserve them for the potion. Harper came back with a stool, water and sponge from inside Hagrid hut, given he was at the game.
"We got to look up spells to make this easier," Harry said, helping his sister clean. Hermione and Neville came over and with the four of them, they were able to clean the giant horse
Harper took a brush and started brushing Abraham's coat. Hermione and Neville sat back as Harry looked over at the Hippogriff nearby. "So, do you guys know what classes you're signing up for next year?" Hermione asked, as third years could choose extra classes.
"Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Ruins," Harry said instantly. "I asked Professor McGonagall if I could just take the Care of Magical Creatures OWL this year but she said no. Really sucks, I'm sure I can pass it, too."
"Well, the same as Harry, for me, only I am also going to take Arithmancy," Harper added.
"Divination and Care of Magical Creatures," Neville mumbled.
"I was planning on signing up for all of them," Hermione spoke up, looking determined.
Before Harry could make a comment though, he heard a pop right by the Hippogriffs. He caught sight of Dobby but before he could react, Dobby had snapped his fingers there was a loud explosion, instantly causing the Hippogriff to run wild. Harry had to jump away to avoid being trampled but he heard a crack and felt a pain in his wrist as he hit the ground.
He heard Hermione and Neville yelling and looked up in time to see Abraham had been spooked and the stool Harper was standing on to brush him had been knocked over. As Harper was about to fall, she had grabbed hold of Abraham - which instantly proved to be a mistake. Abraham had jumped up into the air with Harper holding onto his neck, dangling precariously as she screamed.
"Harper!" Harry called, but Abraham was too fast. He was going to tell her to fall and he would cast the levitation spell on her, but it was all happening too quickly. "Mione, Nev, you two okay?" He turned to his friends
"Yeah," Neville said, he was bleeding and Hermione had some blood coming off her too.
"I'm fine, but Harper..." Hermione said pointed.
Harry ignored the pain in his wrist as he looked around. There were two Hippogriffs he knew well, still standing around and not as spooked. "Buckbeak!" Harry called to the hippogriff, who turned to him. Harry bowed to him and Buckbeak bowed back; it was easier to get them to bow if they knew you well,which thankfully Buckbeak did. Hagrid had introduced Harry to his favorite Hippogriff last year.
Harry now rushed over to Buckbeak and jumped onto his back. "Come on boy. After that Abraxan," Harry said, and Buckbeak took to the sky.
-Harry Potter-
Harper was screaming and barely noticed as Abraham flew out onto the Quidditch pitch. "Help!" Harper was yelling as she finally lost her grip on Abraham and started to fall. She thought she was going to hit the ground but was shocked as she felt arms around her.
"Can't hold you forever, swing your leg around my broom," a familiar voice stated and Harper obeyed as she smiled at the Weasley twin whose broom she was on.
"Fred or George, I don't care, thank you," Harper said as she hugged the boy back.
"Fred," Fred said with a smile. "And never say a Weasley ever didn't save a damsel in distress."
"And one of the Weasley saves the bloody heir of Slytherin from falling to her death. Sorry Professor! Might not be a good…." Before Lee Jordan could finish, Harper could hear Professor McGonagall shouting at him.
"Who is the commentator for this?" Harper asked.
"I think I'll keep my mouth shut in case he ends up petrified so no one can say you held a grudge because you don't know who it is," Fred said.
"Not a bad idea," Harper chuckled with a nod but her attention was towards Abraham now. The giant horse was panicking and didn't seem to be moving. He was flapping his wings to float in place, his head looking around erratically. "The death ball thing is heading right for him..."
"Bludger," Fred corrected.
"I don't care what it's called," Harper dismissed, but George had already zoomed over and hit the bludger away from Abraham. "Why is this game still going on?"
"Quidditch is designed to go on no matter happens," Fred explained, and Harper paused at this.
She didn't have time to say anything more as she saw a Hippogriff fly in and Harry on its back. "Buckbeak and Harry, go!" Harper called, and Fred decided not to argue as he flew his broom towards the two.
"Glad you're okay," Harry called. "We need to get Abraham out of here. Weasley, take Harper in front of him. He knows her. Could calm her. Buckbeak, let's get towards his side."
Fred zoomed around Abraham so Harper was facing him and she started talking to him calmly as Buckbeak and Harry lined up on Abraham's side. Buckbeak was surprisingly good at taking directions as Harry stood on Buckbeak's back and jumped over onto Abraham.
"Hey, it's okay boy," Harry said as he steadied himself onto the giant horse. Harry bit his lip at the pain his wrist. He was sure it was broken from the angle it was at, but he had to get both Buckbeak and Abraham out of here. Harper calm talking seemed to be working and then Harry noticed something gold in Abraham hair. Clearly annoying him.
Harry grabbed the golden object and zipped it up his pocket so to examine it later. Harry patted Abraham's neck now and tugged on his hair a bit to point him in a direction. Abraham started flying and Buckbeak followed, leaving the Quidditch pitch.
"Well, that was interesting," George said. He had been guarding against bludgers to keep the animals and humans safe.
"Yeah," Fred said.
"Can you two get me out of this game?" Harper complained.
"Oh yeah, Oliver!" Fred yelled over. "Time out," with that, Oliver called for time out and all the Gryffindor players went towards their side of the pitch.
Once on her feet, Harper took a deep breath and looked back at the field. There was something strange about the field, pulling her attention, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It was different than the normal pull she felt inside Hogwarts. "Harper, are you okay?" It was Oliver Wood. Harper barely knew the teen by anything but name.
"I am. Sorry about interrupting your game..." Harper said, her mind away from the field now.
"Well, clearly this was an accident, besides it's not like we're winning," Oliver sighed, his eyes going to the other players.
"Well, I'll just go…. Fred, thank you." Harper went and hugged the boy and kissed his cheek. "Tell your parents we're even."
"What?" Fred and George asked.
"Life debt," Harper explained. "Your dad committed the entire family to repay the one Ron owes us. I helped saved Ron last year, and you just saved my life. I think we're even." Harper noticed the looks on the boy's face. "You didn't know..."
"No," George confirmed for his brother.
"Doesn't matter," Fred dismissed. "You're my friend. I wouldn't let you die."
"Ah, that's sweet. Might want to tell the school you were repaying a life debt though," Harper said to a laugh from a couple of players nearby as Harper moved off. She knew to head for the Hospital wing and that's where she would find the others.
-Harry Potter-
Harper did find Harry, Hermione, and Neville in the Hospital Wing. Hermione and Neville only had minor injuries. Meanwhile, Madam Pomfret had fixed up Harry's wrist. She wanted to give Harper something but Harper had to reject the potions and Pomfrey nodded - her allergies meaning she couldn't take normal potions to help. "I'll take some pain killers later," Harper mumbled, knowing she would be sore and having some Advil - American pain killers - in her trunk.
Professor McGonagall had then shown up soon after Harper, but was waiting for them to be done so she could question them. The four mentioned how they had been at Hagrid's hut and Harry mentioned the explosion from the House Elf had caused the creatures to scatter. "Well you're all very lucky this wasn't worse," Professor McGonagall admitted. "I know you two are good with Magical Creatures, but please make sure Hagrid or Professor Kettleburn is with you from now on."
"Yes, Professor," the four chorused.
"And Mr. Potter, what's in your pocket?" McGonagall added, noticing the unusual bulge that had been moving in Harry's pocket. He'd been ignoring this until now.
"Oh, yeah, this weird ball that was in Abraham hair," Harry said, taking out the ball. "I thought Dobby..."
Professor McGonagall's lips thinned as she looked at Harry and the small . "Mr. Potter, I know you don't like Quidditch but haven't you ever seen a game?" She asked.
"Um… yeah," Harry said, confused.
"Harry, that's the Snitch!" Neville sighed.
"No, it's not," Harry said. "The Snitch is green."
"It's literally called the Golden Snitch," Neville said.
"Oh, Oh! I know this one," Harper said, making eyes go to Harper. "Ron Weasley thinks I'm his best friend now and spent over an hour in the library yesterday just rambling to me about Quidditch and the difference between the American version and here. When Quidditch didn't take off in America, the American Quidditch League tried changing some aspects about the game - including changing the Snitch to green as it makes it harder to catch, apparently. They thought that would bring people in. It didn't. Apparently, they are revamping it again and taking the Snitch and Bludgers out. Make it more just chasers and keepers trying to score goals until a certain team reaches a certain amount of points."
"I'd watch that," Harry said, pointing at Harper. "Um… sorry." Harry held out the Snitch to McGonagall who took the ball.
"In this circumstance, I'd best go have the game cancelled," Professor McGonagall sighed, giving Harry a longing look which Harry knew what was going through her head. She wanted Harry on the team but knew better than to ask now.
Before Professor McGonagall could leave, however, Professor Dumbledore came in, his wand out and floating a student behind him.
"Oh no..." Hermione mumbled, seeing the student clearly petrified, but before they could find out who it was, the four were quickly rushed out of the Hospital Wing. "That was Penelope Clearwater!" Hermione had managed to see who it was.
"Did you see she had like a makeup mirror in her hand?" Harper asked and Hermione nodded.
"Well, the bright side is you have an alibi," Harry reasoned. "I mean, the entire school just saw you hanging from Abraham."
"That's a pretty dark bright side," Neville pointed out, eyes going down to the floor.
"Ah but look, now we have the hair, I can easily get the Salamander blood. I already have the potion started, so we have all the ingredients. This potion is the simplest. It will be done in a week. Two weeks, maximum," Hermione said. "Which is good because we need that key in case…" Hermione let the sentence hang. The end of it too dark: it was in case the school was shut down for the rest of the year.
-Harry Potter-
That night, Harry had gone to bed early. He had to get away from Oliver Wood who was begging him to take the seeker position as he'd caught the Snitch.
Luckily, once asleep, he was with Merlin once more in his dream-training.
"Hello, young warrior," Merlin smiled at Harry. "I'm going to start teaching you how to focus magic through the sword."
"You mean, like use it like a wand?" Harry asked.
"Yes and no," Merlin reasoned. "You don't wave the sword like a wand but it is possible for you to focus your magic through the sword and do simple spells. Anything more complicated will need your wand anyway. Soon, Godric and I will teach you how to use the sword and wand together once in battle."
"Wow! Well, that is if Godric ever comes to talk to me again," Harry said, having not seen Godric since the man let slip about the heirs of Slytherin.
"Godric is trying not to interfere," Merlin reasoned. "He told you to much. Once this crisis is over…."
"Over? What, when someone dies?" Harry asked.
"I see you're not in a mood to learn sword magic tonight, young heir," Merlin mused. "Okay, ask your questions. But know I cannot tell you exactly what you need."
"Okay. Tell me about the Chamber. The heirs. . How many?" Harry asked.
"There are three heirs to Salazar Slytherin currently in the school," Merlin spoke, and Harry took a deep breath in. Three of them? "One of them is the attacker, one of them does not hold Salazar's magic, and the last is the only one who can stop the attacks. She holds the true magic of Salazar within her. She is the only one who can stop this, not you."
"Tell me who she is. Tell me where the Chamber is. I'll take her, I'll support her, and bring her to stop this!" Harry said quickly.
"Oh, young Harry Potter. You are more mature than your age, but also show it so clearly," Merlin said, confusing Harry. "Your brave heart will get you into trouble if you don't think. You have all the information you need. All the puzzle pieces are there but you can't see the final picture. Think Harry. Use that brain of yours. I know you are smart."
Harry thought for a moment but didn't have an answer. "I'll leave you to think. Remember this is a dream," Merlin said as he disappeared now.
"Okay, okay, so all the pieces are there. There's Dobby..." Harry said to himself as Dobby appeared, giving his warning albeit ghostlike due to being a dream, "who is owned by the Malfoys..." Draco appeared, "but not Draco..." Draco disappeared and Lucius appeared, "but what could he have done? He's not in the school... he could know this heir. Maybe he planned this whole thing in Dobby's earshot?"
Before Harry could finish his musing he felt a weight on him in real life which woke him up, confusing him. Looking around sleepily, he saw his dormmates were in the room and asleep. He blinked to see Dobby on top of him.
"Dobby!" Harry snapped, sitting up and forcing the House Elf off him. "You made a mistake coming here," Harry hissed at the House Elf. He knew Dobby had caused those creatures to go wild, after all.
"Dobby, wanted to apologize, Harry Potter sir. Dobby had to punish himself," Dobby said, holding his hands out to show fresh wounds on them.
"What are you trying to do, kill me? Kill my sister?" Harry said, ignoring the injuries abs getting up, going for Dobby who dodged.
"Never kill!" Dobby said, quickly. "Dobby knows the great Harry Potter is only here because his sister could come too. Dobby thought if she was injured enough she would be sent home and Harry Potter would follow."
"Does Dobby know my sister can't take a lot of healing potions due to an allergy?! It's hard to care for her if she's seriously injured," Harry snapped.
"Dobby did not," Dobby said, his eyes widening to saucers now. "Dobby is bad." Dobby squeaked, started hitting his head on the bedpost.
"Dobby, stop it," Harry moaned, not wanting Dobby to wake his roommates but they heard one stir. With that, Dobby popped out before Seamus woke up.
"What's going on.. ?" Seamus yawned, seeing Harry awake and up.
"I fell out of bed," Harry said quickly. "Go back to sleep." Harry moved to open his trunk and hopped in, taking the communication notebook and a pen, he wrote to Harper.
-Harry Potter-
Harper was sleeping fitfully in her bed, jerking awake to see her Dream Catcher glowing. She groaned. No one in Mato's tribe had any idea why it glowed and Harper was wondering if she should take it down. Harper pushed Lucy off her and sat up. Daisy gave a meow and jumped off the bed, jumping onto Tracey's bed instead.
She heard her communication notebook hum and she grabbed it, the hum telling her someone had written in it
'Three heirs to Salazar in the school,' Harper read from Harry. 'Only one is attacking, one has none of Salazar's powers, and one has the true power of Salazar in her. We need to find her and get to the Chamber. Merlin says we have all the pieces we need to figure out where the Chamber is and who she is.'
'Let's get Hermione in one this,' Harper wrote back.
'Good idea, what about Neville?' Harry wrote back.
'Maybe let him concentrate on the Hufflepuff task,' Harper wrote back to that, knowing Neville was a little nervous. They had to figure this out.
Post Chapter Note 1: Well, as Merlin said, all the clues are there. Any ideas from you all?
Post Chapter Note 2: As my Beta is with me in America right now, edits for the next chapter may take time so expect another 3 weeks until the next update.
Karry Master OUT!