Harry Potter and the Founders' Vault
Disclaimer: Obviously I am not JK Rowling.
Year 3: The Unexpected Christmas Prank
Harry and Harper walked into Remus's office in the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower, on his request to meet.
"Ah Harry, Harper, good, we have some things to talk about," Remus said, closing a textbook he had on the desk. "Please, close the door," Harry shut the door on this instruction. "First off…" Remus handed a piece parchment to the siblings.
"Did you finish it?" Harper asked.
"Redrew all the lines floorplans for the castle – and beyond - for the map. Used the right potions and spells to hide it, to make it look like a bit of old parchment. There's just one problem," Remus sighed. "The spell that makes the map show who is who and where is not working – James was the one who mastered it last time. He was the only one it worked for. We never understood why it worked for him and not us."
Harry and Harper looked at each other; James Potter might not have been a true heir to Godric Gryffindor, but he was a blood heir, so it was likely this why the spell worked for Harry's father.
"Here, let me try," Harry said, and Remus raised an eyebrow stood aside.
"The incantation is 'humus locatos revelio', but if I remember correctly, he had to do it several times, with this wand movement," the symbol he drew in the air with his wand was like that of a footprint.
"Okay," Harry nodded, turning his attention to the map. "Humus locatos revelio," Harry muttered, tracing the spell pattern over the page, which glowed momentarily.
"Again," Lupin instructed, and Harry did as told – at least four more times before their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was happy.
"Are those dots… people?" Harper asked after a moment as she looked at the moving dots on the new map, peering closer.
"Unbelievable," Remus breathed as he quickly flipped the paper over to find a specific location. "Here, Harper…" he added, pointing to the map which now showed their location: The Defense Against the Dark Arts Office, on it were three little dots close together, each neatly labeled 'Harper Evans', 'Harry Potter' and 'Remus Lupin' respectfully.
"Wow," Harper was impressed by the magic involved.
"Now for the test," Remus leaned over the paper. "Mischief Managed," he stated, and instantly the lines of the map and the moving dots faded to nothing. "Good," he stated, "now… I Solemnly Swear that I'm Up to No Good," he added; Harper and Harry shared a look at this, but on these words, the lines and dots reappeared, complete with little name tags too. "Yes, it works perfectly. Just like the original," Remus grinned at this.
"So, we…?" Harper began.
"I'll keep this on me," Remus said, "and keep my eyes out for Sirius and Peter – if either are still here…" Harper looked at Harry at this; she had told Harry about her dream with Hogwarts about Sirius and Peter being here and the warning that eyes were on them. Due to that, they had been focusing on schoolwork and Harper on her Prank War with the Weasley Twins. Plus, discussion on the clue for the next key to the Founders' Vault.
"Anything else?" Harry asked.
"Yes. Tomorrow you two are not getting on the Hogwarts Express. Instead of spending time with Hermione and her parents you shall stay here for a while until I am done, and we'll leave together," Remus said and the two paused. "I'm spending the holidays with your family," Remus clarified, which caused both students to grin, "but I'll be coming back here before New Year's, so you'll still be with Hermione and her parents before getting back."
"Brilliant!" Harper said, figuring they had to go tell Hermione this.
"And the Flamels and myself finally worked out a schedule around their lessons and your normal lesson so I can start teaching you the Patronus Charm after the holidays. Harper, will you be joining in?" Remus asked.
"Cedric said he would teach me," Harper said, and Remus raised an eyebrow.
"Well, he was a gifted student the moment he walked into this school from what I have heard, Mr. Diggory," Remus nodded. "Now, consider this an early Christmas present…" Remus moved on, taking out two books – they were the same, thickly bound and looked like they covered the study and execution of the Patronus Charm itself. "Start reading to prepare."
Knowing their time with Remus was over, the two left the office with the books; Harper already flipping through hers.
"I can't believe they have a whole book on the Patronus charm," Harper mused.
"It's a complicated spell," Harry mused, he too, looking through the book as they walked. "And this book also talks about Dementors. It says here that their cloak can be used as a wand core. Quite powerful too, but unpredictable in their magic."
"What?!" A new voice called, and Ron appeared near them, as if he'd apparated on the spot. "Really? Dementor cloaks? How do I get one?"
"Are you like Bloody Mary or something?" Harper asked – it seemed like whenever wand cores or magical animals that can be used for wand cores were mentioned, Ron suddenly appeared.
"Bloody who?" Ron asked.
"Never mind… I thought you were mad at me?" Harper asked. Ever since Daisy had appeared in Gryffindor Common Room when Scabbers had apparently died, Ron hadn't been talking to her.
"Ah, I know you didn't do anything," Ron sighed. "Sorry I have been an ass to you… again," Ron said. "When he heard, Bill sent me an owl to keep instead," he smirked at this. "A lot more useful than a useless old rat, don't you think?"
"We have to agree," Harry smirked; he knew about the owl, having shared the dorm with Ron, but hadn't questioned it much.
"Oh, quick question… how do I get rid of Lavender?" Ron asked the other boy.
"Lavender Brown? I thought she was your girlfriend now?" Harry asked.
"That got old fast," Ron said, and the two siblings laughed.
-Harry Potter-
The next day, Harry and Harper said goodbye to their friends in the Great Hall – Hermione said she would work on the clue over the break, but Harry told her to get some rest. The group of four exchanged their presents, with Harry and Harper sending one home with Hermione for her parents. After that, and accompanying them to Hogsmead Station, the two watched the Hogwarts Express leave, to then spend the day in Hogsmead, interacting with the shopkeepers and buying some last-minute gifts.
Later, Remus found them at the Three Broomsticks, and after sharing a quick Butterbeer with the two and some friendly words with the pub owner, Madame Rosmerta, the three left to use the portkey back to America.
Once through Magical Customs, Remus apparated them to their house, much like Tim had done many times when greeting them at Magical Customs. Tim and Cassidy were waiting inside, the two coming to hug their children and welcoming Remus back as well.
"I heard Sirius is not so easy to find even when you know he's near Hogwarts," Tim stated to Remus.
"We've been advised not to look too closely for him, or we might lead someone not friendly to him," Harper said.
"Smart advice," Tim said with a nod.
"What are you doing Boyd?" Harper asked, seeing Boyd was in the kitchen with some books. Harper grabbed one of the books. "Oh, Magic Schools brochures! I forgot you have one year left of Junior Magic School. Time to look into this summer and start applying to Magic Schools," Harper said; Boyd would start his first year when Harry and Harper were in fifth.
"My advisor wanted me to make a list of schools over the break, but it's ridiculous. I am going to go to Ilvermorny," Boyd said proudly, and didn't seem to notice the looks shared by the rest of his family. "It's the only one I am going to apply to."
"Whoa, wait a second, no," Cassidy said, interrupting her youngest. "You have to apply to more."
"There's no point," Boyd said.
"Harry, Harper, how many schools were you advised to apply to?" Cassidy asked.
"Five," the two said together.
"How many did you apply to?" Cassidy asked.
"Ten," they said together.
"And how many did you get accepted to?" Cassidy asked.
"Seven," Harper said, while Harry voiced: "eight."
"Still, think it was your fame that got you the accept to that one," Harper said, and Harry gave a laugh.
"And they went to Hogwarts," Boyd said. "Clearly not as good of a school as the ones here."
"Hey," Harper, Harry, and Remus said together at once.
"Boyd, that was not nice. Hogwarts is a fine school," Tim said.
"Harry and Harper are ahead due to their junior schooling," Boyd pointed out. Remus decided not to speak up for his school, interested to see where this was going.
"I got this one," Harry said to the adults, though. "Boyd, Hogwarts, and Britain's magical education clearly have its issues. For one, there's no junior school – but that doesn't make it bad, it just means they don't learn as much before school and continue learning for specialist when they go into their jobs." Harry knew a lot of jobs in Britain did more training after school. "Besides, America has it's issues too."
"Like what?" Boyd asked.
"Price for one," Harper said.
"I heard dad say it was only Harry's parents' inheritance that paid for your schooling," Boyd pointed out.
"For me, a non-British citizen, it's expensive. But in Britain if you get accepted to Hogwarts and can't pay it's paid for you," Harper pointed out. "Granted you have to get secondary school supplies, but you still receive the same education as your peers. Here, the only free options are the public junior schools. Once you're out of junior school, if you want to continue a magical education you have to pay."
"That's true," Remus said with a nod. "As long as your name gets written in the Book of Acceptance, you are allowed to go to Hogwarts if you can pay or not. It does equal another issue with Britain education; you have to reach a certain power level to get into Hogwarts. If you don't reach that power level by the time you get to 11, you don't get a magical education. I looked into how America has so many magic schools and lots of students who would never get any education back in Britain but home schooling are being accepted here."
"See positives and negatives to both," Tim said. "But let's get back to point. Boyd, you are going to apply to at least five Magic School. Ilvermorny can be one of them, but you need four others."
"Grand Canyon Academy of Magic for one," Cassidy supplied, knowing that was a safe choice. Mato would accept Boyd into the school.
"But…" Boyd began.
"You heard your siblings – Harper and Harry didn't get into two or three schools they wanted, and they had an advantage you don't," Cassidy said.
"What?" Boyd asked, seeming shocked and Cassidy realized she made a mistake – she was about to reveal that Harper and Harry scored high on the Raw Magical Power test while Boyd had scored average; even Harry and Harper looked at Cassidy, confused.
"Harry's international fame as the Boy-Who-Lived and it being very obvious Harper is his sister," Cassidy said quickly; it was an excuse that made sense.
"But Harry's my brother too…" Boyd pointed out, Harry smirking as he moved to ruffle the boy's hair.
"It doesn't matter – that advantage just won't go to you," Cassidy didn't explain more – she didn't know how, so quickly moved the topic on. "So, Ilvermorny and Grand Canyon Academy are two. List at least three more… Empire School for Wizards is nice – and it's in New York. You loved it when we went to New York."
"That one's in one of the Twin Towers in Manhattan too," Tim pointed out. "Imagine living and being educated there…"
"I suppose that would be cool," Boyd stated, but didn't sound that convinced.
With that, Harry and Harper decided to make a quick withdrawal to one of their rooms, so as not to interject themselves in this tricky situation any more than they already had.
-Harry Potter-
On Christmas Day, their grandparents showed up early in the morning to greet the group and be there as the children opened Christmas presents.
"Hum, a box of chocolate," Harper said as she opened one of her grandparents' presents up. "Ugh, it's one of those that have caramel fillings and stuff… I hate these."
"Harper!" Cassidy snapped at her daughter for being rude about the present.
"Sorry…" Harper bit her lip at this, glancing to her grandparents who were luckily in conversation with Remus. There was something weird but she couldn't put her fingers on it.
"I like them," Boyd spoke up, though, looking up from his presents.
"Go for it," Harper said, tossing the box towards Boyd deciding to ignore the weirdness.
"You got another one, Harp," Harry said. Tim and Cassidy had gotten them a model of the Hogwarts Express for their ever-growing model of Hogwarts that now had expanded into Hogsmeade as well.
Harper took the small present and looked at the note. "Make sure you touch it first, love Cedric," Harper read off the card and unwrapped the present. It was a Golden Snitch in a box. Harper opened the box and took the Snitch in her hand, which opened, and inside were three small pins: one was of Hogwarts, one was the Hufflepuff House Crest, and the last was the Slytherin House Crest. After Harper took the three pins the Snitch closed and lazily floated around her.
Harper took the note on the inside. 'It was enchanted to open with the first touch outside the box – now it will always open for you. A place to hide something, and the three pins. Love, Cedric,' Harper read this one to herself and gave a smile as Harry swatted at the Snitch, annoyed by it already.
"Who's Cedric?" Tim asked, having heard Harper reading the first note.
"Harper's boyfriend," Harry answered.
"Boyfriend?" Tim said, his voice getting high. "But… Harper you… boyfriend?!"
"You didn't say anything when Harry started dating Enola," Cassidy pointed out, bemused by her husband's attitude.
"But Harry is…" Tim stopped, let his sentence trail off.
"What? And the end of that sentence better not be 'a boy'," Cassidy said, turning to her husband properly at this.
Tim turned to look at Remus. "You're not getting any help from me, mate," Remus chuckled, deciding to stay out of it.
"Smart man," Louis, Harry, and Harper's granddad, whispered to him.
"More mature. Harry is more mature," Tim decided on.
"More mature?" Harper asked.
"Well, I never did send a singing doll to a classmate," Harry mused.
"And I have?" Harper asked.
"Lumiere, Draco – you got detention," Harry reminded Harper.
"Oh yeah, still a good prank," Harper said. "But I never yelled at the Minister for Magic."
"And I am not the one who pranked the Minister for Magic," Harry countered.
"That was for you!" Harper said back. "And you're the one going off on everyone with anger lately. You're like a canon waiting to explode."
"Justifiably. Sirius never got a trial," Harry pointed out. "Besides, I'm not the one currently in a Prank War with the Weasley Twins," Harry smirked now.
"They started it, and I am win…" Harper stopped what she was saying at that point and looked back at her pile of presents. On the pile her grandparents gave her if you included the chocolate it was one more than her siblings. Her grandparents never gave them unequal amount of presents. "Who sent me that box of chocolates I gave to Boyd?" Boyd had left the room to go play with his toys. The group heard a scream and they all jumped up, rushing into the other room.
Boyd looked like something out of a horror movie – part of him covered in monkey fur while other parts had scales like a snake. His face was a mishmash of at least three different animals.
"Something tells me that chocolate wasn't from grandma and grandpa," Harry mused as Cassidy and Tim ran to their youngest.
"The Weasley sent you prank candy," Remus sighed. "They must have invented this one themselves."
"Remus?" Tim asked, "you know this sort of magic…?"
"I'm afraid this is beyond me," Remus stated as Boyd started to cry, unable to talk with his mishmash face.
"Fine, I'm taking him to the hospital," Cassidy said, apparating out and to their local magical hospital.
"So, prank war?" Tim asked, turning to the two siblings with angry, folded arms.
"I'm not a part of it," Harry said, raising his hands.
"I didn't put the potion in the candy. But I will get them back," Harper said turning to Harry and grabbing him. "You're helping."
"Wait, Harp, did you send Cedric a Christmas present?" Harry suddenly asked, turning to Harper as the two went towards Harry's room.
"Yeah, I got him a fancy pen. He expressed he liked my pens and new gloves for Quidditch, why?" Harper asked.
"Enola sent me a shirt. I didn't get her anything," Harry said.
"And dad says you're mature than me…" Harper said, rolling her eyes.
"Maybe that was too soon," Tim said turning to Remus. "Prank war? Why aren't the teachers stopping this?"
"It's been making people smile and laugh and the school needs that with Dementors around," Remus said. "We haven't let it go to far, on campus."
"Well this time the Weasley twins were lucky they missed their mark. Harper could have died if she had gotten those potions," Tim said knowing Boyd condition was bad but if Harper had actually eaten the chocolate it would have been a lot worst. "I'm going to go call the Weasley family. Have a word with Molly and Arthur."
"Good idea," Annika, Harry and Harper's grandmother, said.
"And then I want to know all about this boy," Tim said heading to their kitchen floo to call the Weasleys.
Cassidy returned later that night; Newt, Rolf, Barnaby, and Mato with his family were already at the house.
"Boyd ate at least three of the chocolates at the same time. They had a reaction with each other since each was meant for a transformation into a different animal. The healers said it would have probably worn off on their own if he had eaten one, but he'll have to be in the hospital for a few days now as they undo the damage," Cassidy explained. "I am going to go back later and spend the night with him."
"Good," Tim stated, glad his youngest son would be okay. "Molly and Arthur Weasley have grounded the twins for the rest of Christmas and are coming up with a suitable punishment for them too."
After that, Christmas was a little more somber than most, but they had a nice dinner with family and friends, with promises to meet up for a second Christmas once Boyd was back to full health.
-Harry Potter-
Remus had to go back to Hogwarts a couple of days after Christmas, while Harry and Harper plotted their revenge on Fred and George; Boyd came back a few days after Christmas, back to normal but refused to speak to either Harper or Harry, however agreeing to another Christmas meal once his older siblings had left for Hogwarts.
Because of this, Harry and Harper agreed to head to the Grangers a bit earlier than expected, to give Boyd some space; Hermione, Monica, and Wendell were more than happy to see them, and Harry made sure to give the Dursleys a wave when they arrived.
"You seem better rested," Harry said to Hermione the day before they were going to go back to Hogwarts.
"I spent a lot of time sleeping over the break," Hermione smirked.
"Are you sure you won't drop a few classes?" Harry asked, and Hermione shook her head.
"Well, what about the clue?" Harper asked. She had been playing with Lucy as Monica was spoiling Daisy.
"I am close," Hermione said with a nod. "Neville said he will meet us on the platform tomorrow."
"Good," Harry smiled at this. He had missed his other friend over the Christmas break.
-Harry Potter-
The next day at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Neville was waiting for them and gave them each a hug. Cedric and Edward also came up to see them, Cedric putting an arm around Harper and kissing her cheek.
"Oh, Ron, I need him!" Harper said, rushing after Ron.
"Why?" Cedric asked Harry, surprised by this.
"We need a Weasley – not Ginny – to help us finish Fred and George," Harry said giving them a wink and Edward gave a pout, wanting to be involved but obviously not in this part of the Prank War.
"I don't know," Ron was saying as Harper dragged him back to the others. He was holding the box of chocolates Harper had given him – the same ones Fred and George sent. "Prank my brothers?"
"How about for this?" Harper asked, taking out two feathers from her robes. "Griffin feathers – from the same Griffin that Harry's wand core comes from. Got two so you can mess up one and still have a shot at a Griffin wand core."
Ron gave a look at the feathers.
"Damnit, okay," Ron sighed as he closed the box of chocolates before moving off. Harry wondered if Ron's mother would appear, to apologize personally for the twin's prank, but couldn't make out the woman in the crowd of parents today.
"When did you get the feathers?" Harry asked, though.
"I've have had them for a while. I figured we might need to bribe Ron eventually," Harper chuckled. "I tried using the Phoenix feather Helia gave me to bribe him for Scabbers but that went out the door…" Harry wasn't sure if he was impressed or scared by Harper's way of thinking.
Once on the train, now rattling out of King's Cross, the group started to look for a compartment to share, gladly finding one next to where Fred, George, Lee Jordan, and a few of their friends had decided to sit.
"Seriously? We have to do this?" Neville asked; Cedric and Edward were also in the compartment and Luna and Ginny had found them as well so with the Fab Four plus the extras the compartment was full.
Edward, Ginny, and Luna shut the boy up. They were listening intently to the next compartment and laughed as Fred and George seemed to turn into donkeys. "Time for me to go in," Harper said, exiting their compartment and entering the Weasleys to find a shocked Lee Jordan and a bemused Ron with two very red donkeys.
"Thank you, Ron. Here's your reward… You can go now as me and Harry have a word with Fred and George," Harper mused, handing the feathers to Ron now who grinned as he left the compartment with Lee, who was glaring at Harper but dared not challenge her.
Already the potion was wearing off as the twins started to turn back to normal. Harry came into the compartment now and laughed at their appearance.
"Getting our siblings… to betray us," Fred spoke first, his voice slightly changed due to the potion.
"With our own prank," George added.
"You sent the box to my house. I gave it to my brother. He ate like five at once for different animals. He spent Christmas and several days in the hospital. You're lucky this is all I did," Harper said; the twins didn't know what to say to this.
"Your dad did call up ours on Christmas and we were forbidden from using magic at home," Fred muttered.
"Well, you're lucky Harper gave it to Boyd because your prank could have killed Harper. She's allergic to potions," Harry pointed out, that making him angry more than anything. The two seemed shocked by this one. "Which is why we're sorting out this Prank War now with a peace treaty. Fred, George, you will agree not to do blanket pranks over all of Slytherin and not to prank Harper, Edward, Ginny, or Luna at all anymore."
"And Ron," Harper decided to add, not wanting Ron to suffer payback.
"And Ron," Harry agreed. "Harper will agree not to prank you anymore and even give you assistance in pranking others," Harry added.
The two twins looked at each other – now back to normal – whispering to each other and giving each other nods. "Fine," Fred finally said.
"On the condition that Harper reveals how she pulled some of the pranks," George said.
"If I have to reveal my secrets you have to reveal yours," Harper said back.
"Deal," the two said together, folding their arms.
"Edward has a pet snake," Harper said simply.
"What does…?" The two paused as they said: "Oh, Parselmouth!"
"That's brilliant," George said, grinning.
"Your turn," Harry said and the two glanced at each other before pulling out a piece of old parchment.
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," Fred said, pointing his wand at the parchment and Harry and Harper were shocked to see the Marauders' Map – the one they had just helped Remus remake.
"We've been spending half the year remaking this map and Fred and George had it!" Harper groaned, not believing it.
"Wait, you two know about the Marauders Map?" George asked.
"My dad was Prongs," Harry said; the two seemed stunned and then looked at each other – instantly they got on their knees, fake bowing. "We're not worthy!" They both said.
"You might want to hold off on that one," Harper added.
"Professor Lupin is Moony," Harry added.
"Seriously?!" Fred asked.
"Major respect for Professor Lupin," George added.
"We knew there had to be a reason he's best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've had," Fred chuckled.
"Is this done?" Neville's voice interrupted them, appearing in the compartment, having been watching. He was joined by the others from their compartment.
"Yes, the prank is done," Harper said.
"Finally," Neville said seeming relieved.
"Oh, this prank war was like having friends," Luna said aloud.
"We are your friends," Ginny said putting an arm around Luna.
"And we can still pull pranks. Just not on Fred and George or Harper," Edward said. "Come on, let's plot."
"Not me either," Cedric yelled after his brother as the two Second Years and one First Year moved back into their compartment. "You know, you should somehow announce the prank war is over."
"Yes," the twins said together and gave Harper a look as Harry decided to leave and join the others at this point.
It wasn't until later, when they were at the returning feast, did the announcement that the Prank War had finished – when a giant flower sprouted from behind a surprised Professor Dumbledore, a combined magical effort of the twins and Harper, announcing the five simply words: The Prank War Is Over.
The headmaster was amused by this.
Post Chapter Note: And there you have it – another Christmas done. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the ending of the prank war.
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Karry Master OUT!