Chapter 9
That evening as their guests were leaving Fred and George pulled Harry and Hermione to one side of the parlour.
"We found your father's map of Hogwarts, Harry." George explained to them.
"And we were just going to give it to you." Fred continued.
"But Sirius and Remus want to make some alterations first."
"Sounds good." Harry smiled at them. "It's nice that you were going to pass it on to me, but I'll show it to you once they've finished with it."
"We look forward to it." George replied.
"But we won't see you until we're back at the castle, once you're back from France we'll be in Romania with Charlie at the dragon sanctuary.
"Well do have fun." Hermione smiled at them. "And try to resist the urge to feed Ronald to a dragon."
"No promises, although right now Percy would be the better target." Fred laughed as they stepped into the fireplace.
Once all of their guests had returned home Harry and Hermione retired to the library intending to sequester themselves in the reading room with their grimoires, but they found Aunt Minnie talking with Uncle Severus about making the potion for them.
"So I hear you have another challenge for me." Severus smiled as they approached the coffee table.
"Only if you don't mind helping." Hermione stated.
"Not at all." Severus replied. "Your Cruciartus cure was a great challenge even for a master potioneer such as myself, and I am told this is of greater importance."
"It's a potion from the Peverall grimoire." Hermione stated. "It's supposed to be able to cleanse a Horcrux without destroying the vessel."
"Well if it can do that it might just be the most important potion I'll have ever made." Severus chuckled. "I'll be back before you leave for France to pick up the formula."
"Harry are you ok?" Aunt Minnie asked. "You haven't said a word since we started talking."
"Yeah just wondering where Sirius and Remus are, and if they've been left alone with Aunt Petunia, that wouldn't end well." He replied.
"Remus isn't so much the issue." Hermione stated. "It's Sirius and my parents that are the problem, mum looked absolutely livid when she realised who you were hugging earlier."
"Remus is busy trying to get Dudley to calm down he got angry that you hadn't shared any of your fortune or this house with him while you were growing up." Aunt Minnie advised them. "Severus you knew Petunia didn't you?"
"A long time ago, I haven't seen her in more than 15 years." He replied standing up. "But I suppose a familiar face might help."
They found Petunia in the Dragon room with Sirius, Viv, and Richard just as Hermione had predicted, she was sat with her head in her hands while the other appeared to be angry but taking time to formulate their arguments. Hermione was shocked at the looks on her parents faces, she had seen them angry before but never like this, the look in her fathers eye was practically demonic.
"SHE HAS BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH WITHOUT THE THREE OF YOU PILING MORE GUILT ON TO HER!" Harry shouted as he entered the room. "If my former uncle turned his ire on her she doesn't deserve this level of response from anyone."
"Harry you must understand that the way she treated you isn't right." Viv stated looking at him as softly as she could manage.
"He does." Hermione stated forcefully arguing with her mother for the first time in her life. "He also knows that had she treated him with any love, let alone additional kindness that she may have been on the receiving end of the madman's abuse before Harry left and then what could have happened to Harry or Dudley?"
"I can understand your point of view, both of you." Sirius said looking at them. "But she needs to understand that her inaction of the abuse her husband and son laid upon Harry is completely unforgivable."
"AND YET I HAVE FORGIVEN HER." Harry shouted. "She never laid a finger on me, not one not even when I was deserving of being punished. The worst things she asked me to do were Cooking, gardening, and the washing up, all things I don't mind doing." He said turning to Viv and Richard. "I'm sure you had Hermione doing those sorts of things before she left for Hogwarts."
"Yes we did." Viv said quietly as she looked at the floor, and Richard's demonic glares softened.
"And Sirius I know the concept of helping around the house is foreign to you, but it is normal in a muggle household." Aunt Minnie stated. "The amount of times I've been introduced to a muggleborn child who was in the middle of a chore is more than I could possibly count."
"I am sorry Petunia." Viv said placing a hand on the crying woman's shoulder. "I was blinded by the facts about how Harry was treated I didn't stop to think about how living in a house like that could affect a mother."
"And we should all have taken a cue from Harry." Richard stated. "Had we listened to him rather than make our own assumptions we could have avoided all of this."
"I don't know if I'm happy about this." Sirius said tersely. "But I don't need my godson shouting at me again, he puts his mother to shame and with Hermione by his side that's was downright frightening."
"Well done." Aunt Minnie said hugging Harry and Hermione. "We will all leave you both to talk to your Aunt, Harry."
"Indeed, I'm glad I wasn't needed I'm not sure how helpful I would have been." Severus smiled. "I'll be back in a few days for the formula."
"No worries Uncle Sev." Harry smiled at him. "Once we get back are you still going to help us with some of next years potions?"
"I can only spare one day." He replied frowning. "But I shall spend the entire day helping you make as many as we can get through, but don't forget Minerva wants to start your animagi training."
"We know." Hermione smiled.
Once everyone else had cleared the room Harry realised that the painting though full of his family was silent.
"Mi do you know how to undo a silencing charm?" He asked.
"Yes handsome." She said pulling out her wand. "FINITÉ."
"Thank you." Lily said as soon as the spell keeping her quiet disappeared. "Petunia are you ok?"
"No they're right I shouldn't have come here I have caused Harry enough pain in his life, he doesn't need me here to remind him of it every time he sees me."
"Aunt Petunia." Harry said giving her a hug. "You were as much a prisoner in that house as I was, I do not blame you for my upbringing it made me the person I am your slight kindnesses while we were alone in the house were enough to help me see that all people have the capacity to be kind but only those that show it outwardly deserve to be shown any back."
"Spoken like a true Potter." James stated as he smiled down at his son.
"That and who is to say the Horcrux in my head didn't effect you all." Harry stated reassuringly.
"He does have a point." Fleamont nodded. "There haven't been many cases of humans, muggle or magical, that have been the vessel for another's soul piece, given the evil nature of Voldemort it is possible."
"You actually had a part of him inside of you?" Aunt Petunia asked in shock. "I thought Minerva was speaking metaphorically, but why didn't Albus Dumbledore deal with it?"
"We don't know." Hermione replied bluntly. "But it is definitely gone now, once his core was unbound it was strong enough to expel it."
"So he is not dead?"
"We don't think so." Harry sighed. "But anyone here is safe, and you never need to leave here again, neither does Dudley."
"What about his education?" Petunia asked.
"I'm not sure." Harry frowned.
"Well Remus was a tutor in the muggle world for a while, and Mum and Dad are highly educated I am sure that between the three of them that they could come up with something." Hermione stated.
"You weren't wrong Lily, she is remarkably like you." Petunia smiled at her sister's painting. "Now why don't we find my darling Duddikins and see if he has calmed down at all."
They found Dudley with Remus and Minerva sitting at the same table that Harry had used earlier in the day to open his gifts with his friends, Harry and Hermione stood with watching the exchange between Dudley and their guardians.
"So Harry didn't know about any of this while we were living in Little Whinging?" Dudley asked.
"Not until Christmas." Remus replied. "When he came here for the first time in his life."
"Oh." Dudley sighed. "But why didn't he at least came and talk to mum and dad?"
"If anyone had treated you like your father did Harry would you have wanted to see them?" Aunt Minnie asked.
"No."
"Then you can hardly blame him for not returning to Surrey." Remus stated.
"But what about my friends?" Dudley asked. "Will I be able to see them again? and what about school? I like it at Smelting's."
"I don't know Duddikins." Petunia said stepping forwards. "We will just have to see what happens, but Harry has been kind enough to open his home to us."
"But why would he do that?"
"Because you're family Dudley." Harry said. "And I have faith that we can get along with each other without your dad getting in the way."
"Besides it is what family does, they help each other when it's needed." Hermione smiled.
"Sorry, but who exactly are you?"
"I am Hermione Jean Granger, Harry's fiancé." She beamed.
"Fiancé? Aren't you a little young to have made that kind of step?"
"It's complicated." Harry replied. "We'll explain it properly once you've settled in. Has Poppy been sent shopping for Dudley yet, and do we know if Amelia has dealt with Vernon yet?"
"Yes Poppy has not long returned." Aunt Minnie stated. "And she has a new wardrobe for Petunia and Dudley. As for Amelia she contacted her counterpart in the department of education and they have several police officers waiting for Vernon in Privat Drive as Dudley said his father gave him enough money to get home on his own."
"Good I take it we don't need to provide an address for where he's living now, so long as he's with Petunia?" Hermione asked.
"She has assured me we won't have a problem." Aunt Minnie smiled.
The next few days flew by for the residents of Potter Manor, Amelia was waiting for Harry and Hermione in the main parlour after breakfast the following day with news that Vernon had been arrested due to his lack of concern for his missing son. Dudley had been understandably upset but after spending a great deal of time speaking with Remus he joined the rest of the house for dinner much happier than he had been since he had arrived. The second day saw Harry, Hermione, Dudley, and Pansy spending the entire day in the pool, but it was the third day that was the most hectic as Viv went through her pre-holiday checklists, and given that she wanted to give Harry the full muggle holiday experience she had ordered the elves not to help them, Harry and Hermione were forced to help her as she went over all of her checklists multiple times, while her husband ensured their transit to the airport was ready. Petunia was busy in London ensuring she was awarded full custody of Dudley, who was spending his day in the library with Minerva and Remus learning the history of the magical world he had now joined
By the time Harry and Hermione returned to their suite after the tenth complete run through of Viv's checklists they were exhausted, they fell into bed and were asleep within minutes. Much to their annoyance Velma woke them after only 4 hours of sleep, they were only placated from their complaints by the large breakfast she served them in their bed, she also informed them that Minerva and Remus would be taking them to Heathrow in an hour to meet Hermione's parents who were already there sorting out the muggle side of things.
"Did you notice how mum and dad haven't mentioned France at all since your birthday?" Hermione asked as they exited their suite in search of Aunt Minnie and Remus.
"It's almost like we are going else where and they've been trying to avoid slipping up by not mentioning our actual destination at at all." Harry replied.
"Nothing gets past you two does it?" Sirius asked rhetorically as they reached him in the library.
"But don't bother asking, we promised to keep it a secret." Remus stated.
"We had better get going." Aunt Minnie smiled. "I promised Severus that I would check what potions Poppy needs for the coming year, and that's turned into a full inventory and renovation of the hospital wing with most of the other staff."
"Sounds fun." Harry smiled.
"It will definitely be interesting, Poppy spent a some time in magical Japan at the start of summer and they've been working on some intriguing developments in their hospitals that she wants to implement." She replied. "But your parents are waiting for us outside the terminal we should so we should really get you there quickly."
After arriving at the terminal Viv and Richard ushered them through to their gate and they were surprised to find themselves waiting for a plane headed to Singapore. The next two weeks were the best Harry had ever had in the muggle world, they spent the first week in Singapore, Harry found he enjoyed being immersed in such a foreign environment so much that he forgot about all of the worries for the coming year at Hogwarts and tried to have fun as a normal child, he loved the food much to Hermione's delight as she had only known him to eat English food. The second week saw them staying in Sydney with a view across the harbour, here Harry and Hermione found a joint love for the hot weather and deciding to speak with Aunt Minnie and their account manager about buying some land on somewhere on the southern isle, but the best thing about the holiday for Harry was getting to spend some time alone with the Grangers, they hadn't been alone like this since the first day he had met them. After their week in Australia was over the only thing keeping the young couple from complaining about returning home was the excitement about their planned trip to Avalon in the coming days. By the time they arrived back at Heathrow they were exhausted and Harry and Hermione were happy to see Aunt Minnie and Remus waiting for them by the family car, and as soon as they were loaded into the car the two of them were aparated back to the manor and instructed to sleep as long as they needed. When they awoke later that afternoon, Velma was waiting for them at the foot of the bed.
"Good afternoon my Lord and Lady." She smiled at them. "It is good to have you home again, Mister Snape is with Mistress Minerva in the library, I believe he has brought the potion you requested."
"I'd forgotten about that." Hermione exclaimed. "We can deal with one of the Horcruxes."
"And unite the hallows." Harry stated. "Not that we really need to."
"I know but if it unlocks the rest of the grimoire nobody has to know we have it."
"I guess, let's get down there and we can see what Aunt Minnie suggests we do." He agreed.
As they walked into the library it was clear that this was not going to be a private conversation, Sirius, Remus, Petunia, Violet, and Andromeda had all joined Aunt Minnie and Uncle Sev around the coffee table that hid the family grimoires. Their conversation seemed jovial as the couple approached but quickly stopped when they were spotted.
"Don't stop on our account." Hermione stated as they reached the sofas.
"In all honesty we were trying to cheer ourselves up." Andromeda stated. "We're about to call a Horcrux after all."
"You told them?" Harry asked looking between Aunt Minnie and Sirius.
"We thought it would be best if the entire family knew what we were up against." Aunt Minnie stated.
"And we agreed that you need as much help with this as you can get." Violet smiled.
"And both Dudley and I are trying to embrace being around magic as much as possible, and yes I understand this might not be pleasant to watch, it's why Pansy and Dudley are spending the day out exploring the woods with Fredrick keeping an eye on them." Petunia stated. "And we discussed it with your parents before you left, they are aware we are doing this now and aren't to fussed so long as they're apart of the Avalon excursion."
"Understandable, let's get this over with then." Hermione said. "Velma, can you bring Harry his two hallows please?"
As soon as they appeared on the table Hermione picked up the cloak and draped it over Harry's shoulders, and he palmed the wand.
"Everyone who can get ready to ward the table." Severus stated. "Voldemort is known for his lethal curses, I wouldn't put it past him to have a compulsion charm on the stone to make you want to pick it up."
"TERTIA PARS HIC APPAREBIT!" Harry cast pointing the elder wand at the centre of the coffee table, a ring appeared and Harry instantly wanted to put it on, he over came the compulsion with the help of the wand. "FINITÉ MAXIMA." He cast remembering Bill's lessons from the start of summer. "Is everyone ok?" He asked as the others in the room shook their heads and moved back from the table.
"Merlin that was strong." Sirius stated. "I take it we have Bill to thank for teaching you that spell?"
"It's one of the few Harry mastered before Hermione." Aunt Minnie smiled. "And with the power of that wand behind it, Voldemort's charm didn't stand a chance."
"Agreed, even I couldn't have predicted the strength of such a compulsion charm from an item that hasn't been near active magic in decades." Severus remarked. "Now I believe we need only submerge the item in the potion and it should become too unstable for the soul fragment to hold on."
"How did you know?" Hermione queried.
"Hermione I am a master potioneer after all." Severus smiled. "I can tell the proper uses of a potion from its ingredients."
"I didn't know that it was possible to do that, I thought all potions changed the effects of the ingredients as they were added."
"And that is a normal assumption to someone so new to their potions education." Uncle Sev smiled. "Now if we get a small bowl we need only use a small amount and then we can place the rest in stasis I'm sure we'll need it again."
As soon as a bowl had appeared on the table the potions master poured a small amount of clear liquid from the large flask he had brought into it, if Harry hadn't known better he'd have sworn it was water. Hermione levitated the ring up from the table and let it drop gently into the bowl, where the potion turned scarlet and began to boil, after several tense moments a thick black smoke issued from the bowl and rose into a cloud above the bowl, once the bowl had finished smoking the cloud gave out a blood curdling scream and dissipated leaving the ring sitting in an empty bowl on the table.
"Well that was terrifying." Petunia stated.
"To say the least." Violet agreed.
"So it's safe to touch now?" Harry asked. "But will I be able to use it like the ring it is? It looks like my other Head of House rings."
"That's because it is one." Sirius stated. "That's the Peverall coat of arms, as you would expect, but this ring obviously belongs to another house."
"It's the Gaunt Head of House ring." Hermione stated. "Sorry the page after the potion explained what this item had become, if it accepts you it means that you have won Voldemort's house from him by right of conquest."
"Gaunt?" Sirius asked skeptically. "That line has been dead for about 50 years, hasn't it?"
"I think so." Andromeda concurred. "Grandfather used them as an example of why it's not wise to continue with strict blood supremacy, they lost their nobility a few centuries ago because of it and it was said that they were basically squibs by the time the last of them was imprisoned."
"Father once told me they were thought to be the last descendants of Slytherin." Violet added. "That's why they were obsessed with keeping their blood pure, to 'preserve' his legacy."
Harry gingerly picked up the ring, it was heavy in his hand and felt warm to the touch, and as he slipped it onto his index finger there was a small flash of light and the ring resized to him.
"Well that certainly took ahold." Sirius smiled. "Now this gives you power over Voldemort, if he acknowledges his Gaunt ancestry to you you can ask magic to judge him for acting against his Head of House, but obviously that only works if he regains a body."
"Can we avoid that?" Violet asked.
"We have the goblins looking into it." Aunt Minnie smiled.
"Good." Andromeda replied. "Now why don't we see what that wand can do?"
"What did you have in mind?" Harry asked. "We both, as in Hermione and I, agreed not to use it at all."
"That was to stop other people from finding out we have it." Hermione smiled at him.
"I have an idea." Remus said speaking for the first time since Harry and Hermione had reached the coffee table. "I've been meaning to start the two of you on the patronus charm."
"Come off it Mooney that's an O.W.L level charm." Sirius protested.
"Not with the current level of teaching its not, even the examination board notes it as a N.E.W.T level spell." Aunt Minnie sighed. "I'm starting to think there really is a curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position."
"Why not change it then?" Hermione suggested.
"To what?"
"Call it Defensive Magic." Sirius stated. "And move the classroom."
"That could work." Severus agreed. "As loathsome as it is to agree with Black, it might just work."
"But I still need a Professor." Aunt Minnie stated. "The board is suggesting I ask Gilderoy Lockhart, and that's just a terrible idea."
"I'll do it until you can find a replacement, I was trained as an auror after all." Sirius smiled. "And with Mooney's help I can get a decent syllabus together before September."
"Agreed." Aunt Minnie smiled. "Your pay will match his as well."
"Hang on so how many Professors now have a direct link to Harry?" Violet asked.
"If you include our new elective Professor?" Aunt Minnie smiled. "Five."
"New elective?" Hermione asked curiously.
"We are dropping divination, and starting healing in its place."
"Andi?" Harry asked looking at Aunt Minnie, who nodded. "Awesome it'll be good to see my cousin more often."
"And what am I?" Sirius asked. "Chopped liver?"
"I know it's your favourite Padfoot but there's no need to compare yourself to it." Harry smirked. "It's not like you are what you eat."
"You walked right into that one Padfoot." Remus stated once everyone had stopped laughing. "Now come outside and we can see about teaching you."
"I shall have to decline, as much as I would love to stay and help." Severus stated. "Harry I will be back in a few days when I have a little more time, to show you next year's potions."
"Ok Uncle Sev." Harry replied hugging him. "Thanks for doing this for us."
"It was my pleasure." Severus smiled down at him. "You saved me from going back to Voldemort, and with Dumbledore out of the way nobody can force me to."
"You were with him Severus ?" Petunia demanded.
"The second biggest regret I have, and the first is losing Lily's friendship." Snape lamented. "And it didn't help that Albus was poisoning my mind against Harry and the other Gryffindors."
"Well at least you've changed your allegiance now." She sighed. "Lily would be happy to call you a friend again with how you're treating Harry, and so am I."
Once they were outside Remus set about teaching them about how to call forward their happiest memory, whithin an hour Hermione had produced a shield of mist, but Harry was still sputtering with nothing, until he asked Velma for his mother's Defence Against the Dark Arts notebook, where he read her best results came from memories of love, his first choice of his and Hermione's first kiss produced a strong shield, his second choice of Hermione herself and how he felt about her produced a small dragon that appeared before them, it was about 6 feet in length and had a ridge of spikes from the crown of its head to the tip of its tail, and could breath fire in the way of pure white light.
"How did you manage that?" Hermione asked.
"I got Velma to bring me mum's notes, she found a feeling of love was the most effective in producing a powerful patronus." Harry explained. "I just thought of you and I had a dragon before me."
"Ok let me try."
"And that was your normal wand?" Andi asked as Hermione produced a blinding shield.
"It was." Remus smiled as Hermione produced an undefined shape. "And he'll need to do it a few more times before I let him loose with the elder wand."
It was then that Hermione managed to produce a similar shape to Harry's, but her dragon was different, it was longer, and its back was devoid of spikes, instead it had a row of small spikes on either side of its tail and a large spike on both sides near the tip.
"Well as expected as a dragon was, why are they different?" Petunia asked.
"The fact that they're dragons show their compatibility with each other." Remus smiled. "And the fact that we have to distinct species shows their individuality, Harry's is a Swedish shortsnout, hence the bright flame, and Hermione's is a Hungarian Horntail, and I only know that due to the spikes on its tail.
"Why don't we see what Harry can do with the elder wand?" Sirius suggested. "We need to see what happens."
Harry took ahold of Hermione's hand and changed his wand for the elder, and as soon as he cast the spell with all his feelings for Hermione and her physical contact to him, life sized dragons came streaming out of the wand, it took several minutes for them to stop, but by the time they had the sky was full of them.
"Merlin!" Sirius exclaimed. "Maybe save that for an entire hoard of them, you could clear the entirety of Azkaban with that and still have patroni to spare."
"How long will they be up there for?" Hermione asked.
"Most only last until they are needed, but given Harry's power, the fact he use the elder wand, and his love for you, I couldn't possibly guess, it could be a few minutes they might be permanent." Remus stated. "We will just have to wait, I don't think Harry could even using his super powered Finité could get rid of all of them."
"What's going on?" Pansy asked as she and Dudley ran out of the forest towards the group.
"Nothing important." Violet replied.
"Just Harry doing some impressive magic." Sirius beamed.
"They're patroni aren't they?" Pansy asked, her mother nodded. "Father always said the spell was useless, hated going to Azkaban as one of the prisoners lawyer, because he could never get even a shield to work."
"Death eaters can't cast it." Sirius stated. "Word around the Auror teams during the war was that the dark mark removes the ability to truly be happy."
"That makes sense." Andromeda smiled.
Harry and Hermione awoke the next morning feeling refreshed, today was Avalon exploration day, and they couldn't wait. It turned out they weren't the only ones choosing to make an early start the entire house, minus Dudley and Pansy, were waiting in the family dining room for them once they emerged from their suite at half past seven. They ate in near silence as everyone was still waking up but as soon as the food was finished they all began to discuss the goings on of the day animatedly, it was decided that Aunt Minnie, Remus, and Sirius would join Harry and Hermione on their delve into Avalon, while the others agreed to view their memories in the pensieve Sirius had found at Blackmoor. First they traveled to Gringotts by way of the Leaky Cauldron, and met Daphne with her father in the middle of Diagon Alley.
"Good morning Daphne." Harry called out as they approached her.
"Hi Harry, Hermione." Daphne replied as her father greeted the adults.
"How's your summer been so far?" Hermione asked.
"Great actually, I'm sorry I haven't been over to see you yet my sister is starting Hogwarts this year and she worried about where she's going to be sorted, and mum has been taking us abroad whenever she goes." The blonde replied smiling.
"That's ok we've been busy as well." Hermione stated. "We're on our way to the bank, we had better not keep the goblins waiting, you know how they get when they feel they've been wronged."
"Indeed." Gerald smiled. "It is good to see you both again, Minerva was kind enough to lend me your support on a bill in the next session, if you have anything you need to get through just let me know and I'll do some leg work with the grey houses for you."
"We certainly will." Harry smiled back as they moved towards the bank. "Have a good few weeks Daphne and you're welcome to sit with us on the train, with Tracy of course."
"I look forward to it, bye Harry."
"If we weren't bound together I might actually be worried." Hermione giggled as they entered the bank.
"I'm just being friendly." Harry protested.
"I know Hero I'm just teasing you." She chuckled.
"Good morning Teller Stonefist." Harry greeted the goblin. "Lord Potter-Merlin to see my account manager."
"Good morning Lord Potter-Merlin." Stonefist replied. "Do you have an appointment with Ranog?"
"In about 5 minutes." Harry stated.
"Excellent." The goblin smiled. "I shall have our guards escort you."
"Thank you, my your enemies cower at your feet and your gold flow like a river." Harry replied leaving the goblin speechless having never heard a human offer them a traditional parting phrase.
"I think you broke him." Sirius laughed as they entered the corridor off of the main bank floor.
"Most of us are not used to receiving even the slightest kindness from the humans who use our services, let alone one who would honour us with our own traditions." The guard who was leading them stated.
"It just makes sense to me." Harry said. "If I were to anger you how would I ever get my money, and honestly all beings are worthy of respect, the other magicals could learn a thing or two from the muggles in that regard."
"Oh?" Remus queried.
"Muggles tend to respect the customs of the county they're visiting." Hermione stated. "Like while we were in Singapore for example, we observed their greetings and the traditions they have for eating and treating others."
"I never thought of it like that." Aunt Minnie sighed. "I hope you do not hold it against us for not observing your customs."
"No." Their guard replied. "We only act against those who are deliberately cruel to us, such as Mr Malfoy was while he was still a client, anyway here is Ranog's office, Lord Potter-Merlin may your foe's blood curdle at the sound of your name, and your gold fill your vaults like an endless ocean."
"You do my client great honour with your phrasing Captain Blackfang." Ranog smiled toothlessly as he opened his office door. "I shall see that you are sufficiently compensated for your actions."
Once they were all inside and seated, Ranog began to pull down several ledgers from the shelf behind his desk.
"Right then, before I give you your portkey to Avalon, we need to go over several changes to your accounts since I last saw you in November." The goblin stated.
"Yeah I picked up several large acquisitions in January." Harry stated. "Sorry I should have checked them with you already."
"That isn't the issue." Ranog smiled. "We have been in constant communication with Madam McGonagall who is listed as your financial advisor with us, no the business today relates to family lines you have absorbed into the Potter line and the treasures they brought with them."
"Ok?" Hermione queried.
"Well along with the Malfoy millions, their vault contains 50 separate items of any value, not including the paintings, wand trunks and furniture they stored there." Ranog explained. "The item I believe you will find of most interest is a complete set of basilisk hide duelling armour, it is light, durable and highly resistant to magic."
"Can you have it delivered to Potter Manor please?" Harry asked.
"At once, along with a list of the other items." Ranog stated. "The Parkinson vault only has 1 item of any exceptional value and it is believed to be a familiar egg, it will only hatch when it senses its partner and will become their best suited animal, this will be delivered to your manor along with your armour. But most interesting of all is the treasure we found in the Flint vault, and were the vault not already removed from their hands it would have been confiscated, we found a trunk with an expanded inside space."
"Nothing unusual with that I have a few back at Blackmoor." Sirius stated.
"The trunk is not the interesting item, there are a few dozen of such chests in the Potter vault, no its contents is of interest though, what do you know of dragon eggs?"
"Not much." Hermione frowned.
"Well let me educate you then a dragon egg will only hatch when the right amount of heat is applied to it and will remain dormant until such a time as the heat is applied, some eggs survive for hundreds of years before they hatch." Ranog informed them. "You now own through no fault of your own nearly a thousand illegal dragon eggs, of every known species, some of which were thought to be extinct."
"So we donate them to a sanctuary." Harry stated. "Along with some additional funds to help raise them and revive the species that they can."
"A wise suggestion." Ranog nodded. "I believe you have a contact with the Romanian sanctuary?" Harry nodded. "Then we shall forward the eggs there and instruct our Romanian branch to add 1 million galleons into their account, we should be able to have this sorted by August 26th just over a week from now, and most of that will be transporting the eggs through our deep underground tunnels, they cannot be moved through magical means unfortunately."
"Sounds good." Hermione said. "The Weasleys should still be there at that point."
The portkey turned out to be a miniature dragon statue, and the journey from Ranog's office was the smooth, or at least so the three adults commented as they landed in the middle of a forest clearing in front of an unassuming stone arch containing a metal door with a large 'M' in is centre, the arch was not connected to any wall but was standing tall and alone in the very centre of the clearing, they could walk all the way around it without any interference, behind it in the distance as they looked through the trees they could see Glastonbury Tor, or at least so Hermione said.
"Strange." Aunt Minnie stated waving her wand over the arch. "The magic here is incredible, only a magical can see this door, but not open it, and a muggle would just pass through it."
"Impressive." Remus agreed. "But then again this is Merlin's home we're talking about."
"After you Harry." Sirius smiled. "If it's like other family estates it will open for its Head of House."
Harry placed his hand on the 'M' and felt a jolt of pain in palm before the door swung open away from him, revealing a limestone castle where the Tor had been moments before, he looked around the arch and could not see the castle he stepped through and held the door open for the others.
"So it's like a pocket world just out of sync with our own?" Hermione thought aloud. "No wonder the muggles never found it, they think it's here but can't prove it."
As soon as Harry shut the door the noises of the world beyond disappeared and were replaced by the sounds of magical creatures, they followed the dirt path from the door all the way to the edge of the castle's moat a twenty foot wide ring of crystal clear water that showed the magical creatures living within it, none of which Harry or Hermione recognised by sight. Before them was dark wooden drawbridge that had remained fully upright as they approached it.
"You might need to announce yourself Harry." Remus suggested.
"I am Lord Harry James Potter-Merlin Head of House Merlin and I request entrance to Avalon, my ancestors home." Harry called out and slowly the bridge began to lower into place, the links of the chains it was suspended on were so large Harry could have climbed through them with ease. "A little excessive don't you think?"
"This was Merlin's seat of power for a great number of years." Aunt Minnie stated. "He used to hear the plights of the clans here before he created the Wizengamot and hid away from the rest of the world, an entrance like this would have done wonders to reaffirm his power and as a show of dominance over the arriving guests."
"Not to mention that when this was built there were several wars raging in the muggle world, that it took Arthur a good few years to quell properly." Remus added. "And you also have to remember that before Hogwarts Merlin was the preeminent teacher of magic in this country."
They crossed the bridge and found themselves passing through a small doorway in the base of the castle wall into a grand hall with a large golden throne at its far end, the floor between the door and the seat was a deep mahogany, and the tapestries that lined the walls bore the house crests of the Ancient houses that Harry recognised from his lessons about the Wizengamot. Behind the thrown was a crest that he didn't recognise, but given its location Harry knew it to be the true crest of house Merlin, one the world hadn't seen in more than a millennia, it was a falcon with its wings spread wide in a sapphire shield.
"What bird is that?" Sirius asked.
"It's a falcon." Hermione stated. "The fastest bird of prey on the planet."
"An unusual crest, to say the least." Aunt Minnie commented. "Then again this is the house of Merlin we're talking about."
As they explored the rest of the castle they found it to be perfectly preserved, there were rooms filled with with all manor of treasures, all of the mundane kind, none of the portraits they found were magical in anyway, in truth nothing they found was magical at all. It wasn't until they found a warded door deep in the bowls of the castle that Harry needed to invoke his Head of House privilege again, as soon as he did the door shimmered before it glowed brightly and disappeared completely revealing a wide open space beyond it. Inside this space there was a large round table surrounded by more than 50 chairs, each chair bore the crest of a different house both magical and muggle.
"The original Wizengamot chamber." Remus exclaimed. "It was always assumed that the first meetings included the muggles, but obviously once the statute of secrecy was enacted we couldn't continue, and it's not like the purebloods would want to acknowledge this part of our history."
"Actually we were taught about it." Sirius stated. "Or at least we were in the house of Black, but it was more of a cautionary tale of why we split from them rather than a wholesome tale of unity."
"We really need to have this added to History of magic." Hermione commented.
"Don't worry." Aunt Minnie smiled. "I contacted the I.C.W central library to see if they had a historian who was willing to teach at Hogwarts and they actually have several who are willing and will be swapping out every year so they can maintain their connection to their library."
"Sounds good." Harry smiled. "Do they know about this place?"
"I should think so the library is in Rome and dates back to before the rise of the Roman Empire." Aunt Minnie replied. "I have already approved Professor Möller's curriculum, it should prove to be a lot more interesting than Binns droning on the subject of goblin wars, which Möller believes you should only hear about in passing as the don't feature on the I.C.W standardised O.W.L examination."
"I look forward to actually learning history." Harry chuckled. "Now why don't we look around and see what else is here."
There was only one door leading off of the room, it was behind the chair that bore the Merlin house sigil, again Harry had to invoke his Head of House privileges, once the door was open they found themselves descending a very tight spiral staircase, it took more than an hour to reach the bottom. The room they found themselves in was spacious, the large crystal in its centre bathed the room in soft white light, they appeared to be in a potions lab of sorts, with some equipment that Harry and Hermione didn't recognise.
"It's an alchemy lab." Aunt Minnie explained. "We have one at Hogwarts but we, as in the board and I have been unable to find a proper professor, Albus was able to teach it himself but always refused to do so."
"Why not pass on his knowledge?" Hermione questioned. "He was a professor for most of his life, and he didn't want to pass on his knowledge."
"He liked his secrets." Aunt Minnie sighed. "But don't worry I will find someone to teach the subject but it will be an elective for sixth and seventh years with a sufficient potions grade, I'm sure by the time you two get that far I will have found a competent instructor."
"Maybe we will find something here that someone else can learn from." Remus suggested as he opened a book that was next to one of the golden cauldrons. "But this is written in Latin so we would need to get them translated."
"There is a spell for that." Hermione stated, loving the fact sh knew something a Professor didn't. "Lily found it during her second year."
"Of course she did." Sirius chuckled shaking his head.
After they had scoured the room and collected all of the books, and several other items they thought were of interest into the expanded space backpack Sirius was carrying, they continued through the doors out of the left side of the room and found themselves in a narrow corridor with a door out at the far end and two doors off of each side. Each of the doors off of the sides of the corridors contained a small bedroom equipped with a small bed a desk and a small library worth of books, all of which found their way into Sirius' bag.
"Well this must be where he had his students staying." Aunt Minnie said as the approached the last door. "So I wonder what's through here."
"Probably a communal space of some kind." Remus suggested.
"Or a practical magic classroom." Hermione posed. "You wouldn't want to do that around the alchemy equipment."
But what lay beyond the door had them all speechless, it put its corresponding room back at Potter manor to shame, in fact it was so large the they couldn't quite see the far end of the room. It was a library of epic proportions, the bookshelves were only a metre apart and stood at least 3 metres high, and stretched from the central walkway a good 40 metres to each side wall, in front of them on the nearest table was a small yellow book that was in the centre of a spotlight from an undeterminable source.
"Well I guess that's the first book we should read." Sirius surmised.
Hermione opened the book and read it aloud.
"Welcome to the worlds only complete library containing every piece of literature ever created, this room is self sizing and will update with every new work released be they magical or mundane, upon these shelves you will find the original in its native language and a translation into the native language of the being who removes it from the shelf."
"Well that explains the size of the place." Remus smiled. "There has to be a million books in here."
"Easily." Sirius agreed. "And now we've been here we can have one of the elves pop over to get us a book."
"Only if you can read house elf Padfoot." Harry chuckled. "Like Hermione said the native language of the 'being' who takes it off the shelf."
"Just testing your ears Prognlet." He retorted.
"But this is going to help us greatly." Aunt Minnie stated happily. "The lost knowledge here could help up bring back the old magics, the ones we haven't taught at Hogwarts for many centuries."
Once they had pilfered the alchemy section a selection of books that seemed to be aimed at an apprentice to the subject they headed back to the main room they had descended into, there were two other doors heading out of the room other than the stairs leading up, through the door directly opposite them they found four identical bedroom to the ones on the other side, again all of the books were loaded into Sirius' bag, what they found beyond the door at the end of the corridor shocked them all, once again the expanse of the space amazed them, it appeared to be just a large open area lit periodically by balls of pure white light that were floating by the ceiling, the polished black floor was inlayed with runes of various sizes and colours arranged in circles, like the ripples on water with the epicentre in the centre of the room.
"A ritual room?" Hermione exclaimed. "I thought only the goblins had these and they're very expensive to use."
"Until now you were right, but this is a part of the magic we've lost of over the years." Aunt Minnie stated. "We will need to scour the library across the way to see what we can find, I'm sure there are more than a few beneficial rituals we can teach others."
"There is a legend within the werewolf community that there was one that could cure one of us of our plight." Remus stated. "Of course most of the talks of a cure are just wishful thinking."
"But if there is then it will be in my ultimate library." Harry smiled. "You can come back here as often as you like to do your research."
"I like that." Hermione giggled. "My fiancé has the 'Ultimate Library'."
"You do realise you're stuck with her now, right?" Sirius asked teasingly as the made their way back to the alchemy chamber.
"Remus I think we need to get Sirius some help." Harry stated smiling.
"Oh, in what way?" Remus asked catching on quickly. "I mean I know he's having terrible luck with the ladies right now, but he'll pull through."
"No, im not worried about that Andi keeps that inline, I mean it's his memory, he can't seem to remember any useful information."
"I suppose his stay with the hooded ones has addled his noggin more than we realised." Remus chuckled. "Sirius try to remember these two are soulmates, they are a match made by magic, he'd be stuck with her even if he didn't have this castle."
"I knew I should have spent more time at Hogwarts." Sirius sighed shaking his head. "It's like I've got two Mooneys ribbing me."
"Well learning from the brains of the Marauders is better than learning from their mutt, is it not?" Hermione asked playfully.
"Don't you start as well." Sirius complained.
"Once again Sirius, we must remind you they are an extension of each other." Aunt Minnie smiled. "You are making me question my decision to hire you as my Defence Against the Dark Arts professor."
"Not you as well." Sirius exclaimed in a feign of exasperation.
As they reached the last door off of the alchemy lab Sirius tried to open it but found it to be locked, there was no ward in place so Harry tried instead, as soon as his hand closed around the handle there was a jolt of pain as there had been on the gateway into the castle grounds, the door flashed a brilliant white and opened away from him, beyond it was a large room full of all manner of equipment most of which could not be identified by any of the party.
"Good afternoon Harry and Hermione." A familiar voice called as they entered the room properly.
"Hello Merlin." Hermione replied walking up to the portrait of him.
"So what do you think of my home?" He asked.
"It's impressive." Harry replied smiling. "Honestly we only came for the grimoire, and we found so much more."
"Indeed, I suppose my library must be an impressive sight by now."
"Like you wouldn't believe." Sirius replied.
"Well your grimoire is on the table directly in front of me, it took me a century using an elixir that extended my life to write it, but it contains every spell and potion I ever created, and a few that my teachers taught me." Merlin stated. "But I must advise caution most of those spell require a great deal of power, and all of them need a strong will and immense focus."
"We will take it slowly, but the power shouldn't be an issue." Hermione stated. "He is a maelstrom of magic waiting to blow, one piece of bad news and he could probably level Hogwarts."
"I'm not that bad I have a decent control of my core thank you very much." Harry retorted. "Professor Flitwick was a real help after the unbinding."
"I know Hero." Hermione sighed kissing his cheek. "I was just giving Merlin an example."
"I'm glad one of you has a level head." Sirius chuckled. "Lord Merlin is there anything in your grimoire that might aid the animagus training they will be starting tomorrow?"
"Chapter 6 details my extensive research on the subject, I even managed to overcome the need to hold that disgusting weed in ones mouth for an entire month." The portrait stated. "Now then the last thing I need to inform you of, is the duality of my portraits, for example if you were to say Hermione to me I would open into your suite at Hogwarts, and if you were to give me another password I would open up into the lord's chambers behind this frame."
"I have a better idea, let's change the Hogwarts password to Prongs and have this one set to Library." Harry stated. "That way no one else will think to give that as the password as it's something Hermione and I discuss everyday, will you be able to be on both sides of the Hogwarts portrait?"
"It can be achieved I believe the Headmistress will be able to make the change herself."
"I can it is an easy charm but I will ask Filius to teach it to the two of you upon your return to the castle." Aunt Minnie smiled.
Once Merlin had opened to reveal the chambers beyond Harry and Hermione were speechless for about the hundredth time since arriving at Avalon, the room they were stood in was a obviously designed to maximise the space, that had been made to look like it was carved from a single piece of white marble, the strong grey vein flowed across not only all of the walls, the floor and the ceiling, but also the vast majority of the furniture, there was a waist high surface perturbing from all of the walls of the large rectangular room, the left side of the room contained a small fire pit and cooking tripod, that Merlin had obviously used while sequestering himself, this was surrounded by two crescent shaped benches draped in various furs. The right side of the room was dominated by a large stone bed piled high with all manner of pillows and furs, it was oddly inviting and Harry and Hermione could see themselves staying here if the ever felt the need to. All around the room were various personal effects Merlin had left for his heir, there were piles of scrolls depicting the family history as Merlin had known it, there were several swords and other assorted weapons that all appeared to be enchanted to some extent, but what Harry had been hoping to find was hanging above the bed , Merlin's staff radiated power as Harry reached for it, and as soon as it was in his hand he was overcome with a feeling of immense joy as for the second time in a year pure magic arced from him, only this time it connected with Hermione who it seemed was the focal point for the blindingly bright magic, the adults with them looked concerned until the saw she was smiling and not in pain. When the arcs had stopped she was left holding a stark contrast to the gnarled yew branch that Harry had lifted from its setting, hers was a perfectly round cylinder of ebony.
"I'm not going to lie that was amazing." Sirius said as the preteens looked at their new acquisitions. "We'll need to see if they affect the power of your spell-casting, but since I'm going to be at the castle with you this year it shouldn't be a problem."
"Agreed." Aunt Minnie smiled. "And I'm sure we can find some interesting volumes here about staff-casting."
Once they returned to Potter Manor their lead up to their second year was eventful, they spent the next day with Uncle Sev and managed to produce all of the second year potions to his standard, with the help of Lily's notes, and he had agreed that they would become teaching aids to the rest of their potions class for the next year. The day after had been their shopping day in Diagon Alley and given the extra funding they had compared to the year before, both of the bought extra robes and Harry made sure to get a few sets of uniform for Rose who he was sure would make a few appearances over the coming year, as they were returning to the leaky caldron to return home, they bumped into the Weasleys fresh home from their trip to the dragon sanctuary with Charlie, it turned out they had been asked to leave because the twin had nearly gotten the entire family killed by a Hungarian Horntail after tricking Percy into standing near her eggs, they were all extremely tired and only completing their shopping now to allow them to read their books before the school year started, or at least that was Molly's insinuation, both Harry and Hermione knew this wasn't going to happen, at least not for Ron, and probably not for the twins. Before they knew it they were packing their trunk to return to their home away from home, but neither of them minded, this year promised to be less eventful that the last and perhaps without Dumbledore to meddle in their lives they might actually have a normal year.