Harry stared at Goldengaze for a few moments before he remembered that he was standing in front of a griffin. He cleared his throat and looked anxiously at his friends.
"Do you sense him lying?" he asked Hermione, not bothering to keep his voice down because of the griffin's impeccable hearing.
Goldengaze seemed amused and crouched in front of Hermione. "If it would ease my Lords' and Lady's worries, I will allow Lady Slytherin to use Legilimency to sift through my mind. But I ask that you hurry my Lady as class shall begin shortly."
Hermione nodded and tentatively put her hands on both sides of Goldengaze's face. She found it easier to look into other's minds if she was making contact.
Closing her eyes in concentration, Hermione took in a deep breath and began to dig. She saw flashes of a young Goldengaze playing with other small griffins, some sort of adulthood ceremony that he went through and even saw glimpses of Goldengaze courting a beautiful, light-brown griffin. Pushing onwards, she found what she was looking for. She saw a slightly older Goldengaze standing in front of four powerful looking adults who were undoubtedly the Founders. Stepping as close as she dared, she watched the memory before her.
"Goldengaze," Godric Gryffindor said in a low powerful voice. "You have been chosen out of all of your brethren to be our messenger. Your Elders have spoken highly of you and your strength and, should you choose, we shall bestow upon you a great opportunity, greater than any griffin has had before. This power shall be strictly tied to Hogwarts. So long as you serve Hogwarts, you shall be a champion among the griffins. I will give you my magical blessing so that your strength doesn't waiver."
"I will give you my magical blessing so that you remain truly loyal," Helga Hufflepuff said. "Especially to Willowsong," she added with a knowing smirk.
Goldengaze's feathers ruffled slightly, like he was embarrassed.
Rowena Ravenclaw stepped forward and looked at Goldengaze fondly. "I've always had a soft spot for you Goldengaze. You think before you leap and you are the most rational griffin that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. You have my magical blessing so that your mind remains as strong as your body."
Lastly, Salazar Slytherin stepped forward. Salazar Slytherin had a kind face and his eyes seemed to shine with a light that sparkled with compassion. He stepped up next to Rowena Ravenclaw and gently took her hand in his own. "My magical blessing to you Goldengaze is the ability to guide others to do what is right. You'll need it, trust me."
Godric cleared his throat and stepped forward with Helga right behind him. "A prophecy has been made Goldengaze. We do not know when it will come into motion, but we do know that we need an immortal magical creature to guide those who we have chosen. Our magic will be inherited by a future generation, and we do not know how far along it will be."
Goldengaze gaped at Godric for a minute before his piercing gaze narrowed. "I may be immortal Lord Gryffindor, but you are asking me to wait for Merlin knows how long for a prophecy to be set into motion. I have Willowsong to consider too. I can't leave her back home while I perch on Hogwarts for centuries while I wait for your heirs."
Godric smiled warmly and shook his head. "We would never ask that of you. When our heirs are revealed, should you accept, you will know. Until then, you will be able to live your life with your mate."
"I am still not sure," Goldengaze said hesitantly. "What do you mean by "guide" the heirs?"
"They will need guidance to unlock Hogwarts' magic," Rowena said. "Only a highly magical creature who has our magical blessings will be able to sense Hogwarts' magic. We're trusting this to you Goldengaze."
Goldengaze hesitated for a moment before determination filled his eyes. He bowed his head respectfully. "I, Goldengaze of the griffins, do hereby swear to serve Hogwarts and one day the Spiritual Heirs."
The Founders nodded in unison and circled Goldengaze. When they had the griffin surrounded, they each raised their wand hands. Each respective hand glowed the color of their house. All at once, they cast their magical blessing on Goldengaze. The griffin screeched in pain at the overflow of pure magical power that was filling his body.
When the blessings were finished, Salazar stepped forward and whispered in Goldengaze's ear.
"I have been told that when the prophecy begins, my house will become dark as well as my name. My heir will face many prejudices, but I ask you to tell her that even though I will not have the pleasure of meeting her, I have faith that she will redeem my house. Ambition and cunning are only as dark as the wizard makes them to be. She must spread the word. I have always wanted Slytherin to be pure, but not pure of blood. Purity of heart matters much more than purity of blood. Please help her to understand this."
Goldengaze nodded and shakily got to his feet.
"It is done," Godric declared.
Hermione stepped back and the memory faded. Within a second of stepping out, Hermione pulled her mind back and found herself back in the classroom. She staggered for a second, but Harry steadied her. Goldengaze shook his head and stepped back to change back into his human form.
"Can we trust him?" Harry asked.
Hermione nodded and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. "Legilimency on a griffin is more draining, but the memories are true. A griffin can't lie and they can't fake memories."
Harry opened his mouth to ask another question when there was a loud banging on the door.
"It looks like it is time for class," Goldengaze, now a human, sighed. "I will explain more to you, but Lady Ravenclaw needs to be present. If it would please my Lords and Ladies please come here after dinner."
The class was pretty basic. Goldengaze introduced himself as Professor Griffin, a name that Harry, Hermione and Neville found incredibly unimaginative now, and he mostly went over what he would teach for the term and what he expected.
"This year we will be focusing on silent casting," Goldengaze said while he paced in front of the rows of tables. "Can anyone tell me the advantages of silent casting?"
Hermione, to nobody's surprise, raised her hand.
"Yes Miss Granger?" Goldengaze said with a smile.
"By not saying the incantation out loud," Hermione began. "The defender will not be able to prepare for the spell and won't know what the spell is until it's too late."
"Excellent, five points to Gryffindor," Goldengaze grinned.
The rest of the class was spent going over the theory of silent casting and even practicing it towards the end. Harry, Hermione and Neville could all do basic silent casting, but they needed to tone down their skills. They were already catching unwanted attention because of their familiars and their more mature bodies, the last thing they needed was for them to catch more attention because of their superior abilities.
At dinner that night they talked about their first days of classes with Luna and acted as normally as they could. When they were done with dinner they all went back to Professor Griffin's classroom.
Goldengaze was waiting for them in his human form. Once they were inside he sealed the room off and led them into his office. A few more sealing spells on his office later, he transformed into his true form. Unsurprisingly, Luna was unaffected by the shifting of a man into a large griffin taking place right in front of her.
"Lady Ravenclaw," Goldengaze greeted. "My name is Goldengaze and I have been sent by the Founders to guide you and your friends."
"It's nice to meet you Goldengaze," Luna said warmly. "Neville tells me that you can help us understand the prophecy and unlock the power of Hogwarts."
Goldengaze nodded in confirmation. "Unfortunately though, I cannot tell you how to do that just yet."
Harry stiffened in irritation. "Why now? If we have Hogwarts behind us then we can defeat Voldemort! The longer wait, the more that people will die!"
"Peace Lord Gryffindor," Goldengaze said calmly while raising his front paw. "Lady Slytherin, would you be so kind as to inform us of what the Spiritual Heirs must do?"
Hermione closed her eyes for a second before she looked at all of her friends. "We need to be trained. Harry, you've already been trained by the goblins and I have been trained by Winky, but Neville needs to be trained by the centaurs and Luna needs to be trained by the fairies. We're supposed to unite the magical world and Hogwarts is sort of a conductor of sorts."
Goldengaze nodded, looking pleased. "Precisely Lady Slytherin. Although, you still require training as well. When the prophecy was made, house elves weren't the primary species of elves."
"So I need to find an actual elf," Hermione confirmed. "But I thought they were extinct and house elves were the only elf species left."
"There is a difference between 'extinct' and hiding," Goldengaze sighed. "House elves used to be true elves, but centuries of enslavement has diminished their forms and magic. Most house elves are happy to serve their masters, but they are simply but a shadow of what they should have been."
Hermione clenched her fists slightly. "Is there any way to restore the house elves?"
Goldengaze shook his head. "I'm afraid that house elves are now a different form of elves. But, real elves still exist and you will eventually be called to them Lady Slytherin."
Hermione nodded.
Neville was shifting anxiously besides Luna. "How am I supposed to get a centaur to train me? The centaurs in the forest aren't exactly friendly and I don't know if Professor Firenze will have the time to train me."
"An exiled centaur wouldn't do anyway," Goldengaze said. "Centaurs are meant to live in herds. You would only benefit from training if you were trained by a whole herd. If Lord Hufflepuff would like, I shall escort you to the centaur herd this weekend. They might be more open to accepting you as their pupil if they had a Founders' blessed griffin there."
Neville nodded and seemed to visibly relaxed.
They talked about Goldengaze's life for about an hour. They went over where he lived which was in Wales, he talked about his mate, Willowsong, and how she was taking care of their daughter back home. When they asked what Goldengaze's daughter's name was he said that it was simply Robin until her she reached adulthood.
"Does it hurt you to be apart from them?" Hermione asked sadly.
Goldengaze looked wistfully out of the window. "Robin was learning to fly when I left. Yes, I miss them every second, but I am bound by my duty and they understand that. I will make up for the lost time when I see them next." He looked at the clock and stood up to shake himself. "We have talked a lot tonight. If it would please my Lords and Ladies, meet me here after breakfast on Saturday. I will escort you to the centaur herd and we shall try to convince them to take on Lord Hufflepuff as their pupil."
"Please call us by our names Goldengaze," Harry pleaded. "You're helping us so much and we don't want you to feel like you're worth less than we are."
Goldengaze hesitated for a second before he nodded. "Very well Harry. Now, as your professor I must tell you to head back to your dorms because it is almost curfew."
The four heirs and their familiars bade goodnight to Goldengaze and left the room. Once the room was empty, Goldengaze walked up to the window and sighed sadly.
"I hope that we won't be parted for long Willowsong," he said softly. "Wait for me my love. I will make this world safe for both you and Robin even if I have to give up my own life to do so."
chapter 18
The first week of classes switched between infuriating, to boring, to infuriatingly boring. All of the Heirs and their familiars were bored out of their minds during class because they literally learned the stuff that was covered years ago.
All four of them were doing well in their classes even though they weren't really trying. Even Hermione decided that it was pointless to get obsessed with grades when they had a prophecy hanging over their heads. But that didn't mean that she was willing to give up her position at the top of the class.
"Top of the class from Hogwarts will look good on an application for after the war," Hermione had told her friends when they had teased her.
Goldengaze had become a great resource to the heirs. Every night they went to the griffin's office and they talked about the Founders and the real history of Salazar Slytherin's departure from the school.
"They fought over a girl," Goldengaze told them with a hearty laugh.
"They didn't," Hermione and Luna gasped.
Harry couldn't believe it. "Are you telling me, that two of the greatest wizards of all time went separate ways because of a girl? What girl could break apart the Founders?"
Hermione gasped again when she recalled Goldengaze's memory. "They were fighting over Rowena Ravenclaw?"
Goldengaze laughed again and nodded. "Lord Gryffindor was so angry that Lord Slytherin won the lady that he was interested in that Lord Slytherin left the castle just to get away from the glares. But, Lord Slytherin returned within months and Lord Gryffindor gave his blessing. They decided that their friendship was too important."
"Then why are Slytherin and Gryffindor enemies if their Founders were best friends?" Neville asked.
"History was twisted I'm afraid," Goldengaze said sadly. "The prophecy says that the bridge between Gryffindor and Slytherin will need to be restored, but it's not talking about the Founders. It's talking about the houses."
"There's a better chance of Malfoy publicly declaring love for a muggleborn than that happening," Neville said sourly.
Goldengaze chuckled. "Regardless, it must be done."
It lightened all of their hearts knowing that Hermione wasn't the Heir to someone evil, but it also opened more questions. None of them liked how their world's history was being warped, and they planned to change it.
Bright and early on Saturday morning the Heirs woke up and met up with Goldengaze outside of the Forbidden Forest. The griffin was in his human form and was glaring at the forest.
"What's wrong Goldengaze?" Luna asked.
Goldengaze blinked and looked at them. "Oh I'm not that fond of centaurs. Temperamental creatures they are. Neville, if we convince them to take you on then you will need to stand up for yourself. Yell at them if need be. Being nice won't get you far with a centaur."
Neville nodded determinedly and looked at the forest with a glint in his eye. "I can yell if I have to," he said.
Luna grabbed Neville's hand and squeezed it. "Please don't anger them though Neville. Our magic won't be as effective against centaurs and we didn't bring our weapons. Fighting a herd would be difficult."
"No worries," Neville said with a smile while Sage nodded enthusiastically.
They made their way through the Forbidden Forest. Once Goldengaze was confident that nobody would see, he changed into his true form and continued to lead them. It wasn't too difficult to find the centaur herd, they just followed the hoof marks in the ground and Sage followed the smell.
After a half hour of tracking, they found themselves on the edge of the centaurs' territory.
"We will wait here," Goldengaze said while he sat down. "Centaurs do not appreciate others crossing into their territory without permission."
"Will they know we're here?" Neville asked while he paced anxiously.
"I'm sure they will sense the high levels of magic on the edge of their territory shortly," Goldengaze assured him. "The important thing is that we don't look hostile. I would rather avoid fighting with the herd."
They didn't have to wait long. A few minutes later they heard the sound of hooves thundering on the ground. They all stood up and waited patiently for the centaurs.
There were four of them. Three of them none of them knew, but the fourth one Harry noticed with displeasure was Bane.
Bane was glaring at the humans in front of him and he began stomping on the ground in agitation with his front legs. "Why are you on the edge of our territory?" he demanded.
Goldengaze's eye twitched, but otherwise he remained calm. "We wish to speak with your chief."
"And why should I take you to him?" Bane sneered while he leaned forward to look Goldengaze in the eye.
"Because I am the Founder's Blessed Griffin," Goldengaze said while he puffed out his chest and flapped his powerful wings. "Now, take us to your chief before I stop being polite."
Bane glared at Goldengaze and made a move for his bow, but Goldengaze suddenly let off a huge wave of magical energy that nearly knocked the temperamental centaur off his feet.
"Stop this Bane," one of the centaurs shouted. "You know that Chief allows passage to any griffin who requests it! Do not let your temper cloud your judgment."
"It is not my judgment that is clouded," Bane snarled. "Why should we permit this cat with wings to wander about our territory?"
"'Cat with wings'?" Goldengaze screeched in fury.
The normally calm and composed griffin was bristling with fury and looked like he was about to leap and attack Bane.
"Stop!" Neville shouted.
Neville thrust himself between Goldengaze and Bane and silenced the griffin with a glare.
"I am the Spiritual Heir of Helga Hufflepuff," Neville said to Bane. "I have come to speak to your chief and I will not be turned away by a centaur that is more closely related to a donkey than a horse."
"You dare," Bane began.
Neville held himself tall and refused to yield to Bane's anger. "I have come to speak to your chief," he repeated. "Now stand aside."
Bane made a move to kick Neville when a loud horn stopped him in his tracks. Furious, Bane landed on all four legs and spun around.
Standing at the top of the hill in front of them were three more centaurs. One stood in front while the other two stood guard by his flanks. The centaur standing in front had flaming red hair and his human parts were muscular. There were scars covering his body and he had an axe strapped around his waist.
"Stand back Bane," the centaur ordered while he walked up to Neville.
"But Chief," Bane protested.
"That was an order," the chief snapped.
Bane glared for a moment before he bowed his head and stepped back.
Neville was looking at the chief with wide eyes before he remembered his manners and bowed. "Master centaur, my name is Neville Longbottom and I am the Spiritual Heir of Helga Hufflepuff. According to prophecy, I am to be trained by the centaurs which is why I have come to seek you. I ask of you to take me on as your apprentice to teach me the ways of the centaur so that I can fulfill my part of the prophecy."
The chief centaur watched Neville with a neutral expression for a few moments before he turned around and started marching back up the hill.
"Come," he ordered over his shoulder.
Neville exchanged a hopeful glance with Luna and followed right behind the other centaurs. They followed the centaurs through the thick forest for almost ten minutes. When they reached the outskirts of the centaurs' camp, the chief stopped and turned around.
"Your wands and animals remain out here," he ordered. "My herd will not respond well to wands and your animals are highly magical as well. Only the Heirs and the griffin may enter my camp."
"I wanted to watch," Sage whined under his breath.
The familiars waited at the edge of the camp with everyone's wands, both legal and illegal, while Neville followed behind the chief into the camp.
The camp was filled with large huts. The huts were up to ten feet tall and were about twenty feet long. There were no doors on the huts, instead there were leather flaps that were rolled up and strapped to the top of the hut. They were designed so that the occupants could get some privacy by untying the flap and letting it cover the door. In the center of the camp there was a large fire pit where a bunch of centaurs were gathered.
"This is where my herd camps out," the chief said. "Each hut houses one centaur, but mates share a hut. We will talk in my hut."
The chief held open the flap to the largest hut in the camp. Once everyone was inside, he went in and secured the flap behind him. Inside the hut there were leather pouches filled with different herbs and weapons hanging from the walls. In the corner was a bed of straw and blankets that appeared to serve as a bed. The chief motioned for the others to sit before he settled himself on the ground.
"My name is Pholus," he began. "But please just call me Chief. I won the right to lead this herd two years ago and I have been dealing with a lot of wizard ignorance. More and more of my herd's territory is restricted due to your ministry's laws and it becomes more difficult for my herd to accept any outsiders."
"I'm afraid that we don't have any control over the ministry," Neville began. "But according to the prophecy the Heirs are the ones who rebuild the bridges between the races. This surely includes the centaurs as well."
Chief looked thoughtful for a moment. "I have heard of the prophecy. You say young one, that you need to be trained by the centaurs, but I am afraid that only a member of the herd can learn centaur ways."
When Neville looked down, Chief smiled reassuringly. "There are ways to earn your right in the herd young one. Unfortunately though, the only way is for you to win trial by combat. Without the aid of magic, you must defeat one of my centaurs."
Luna started to look afraid for her boyfriend, but Hermione put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Who will mentor me if I win?" Neville asked quietly.
Chief smirked. "Most likely even if you do win, nobody will take you on as their apprentice. Therefore I will train you if you win."
Neville's eyes widened in surprise, and determination quickly filled his face. "I'll do it."
chapter 19
Sitting in his office, Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk with a letter in his hand. The term had barely started and already he was having problems controlling the Potter kid. When Harry had denied his offer of help at the Feast, Albus had been more offended than anything else.
The boy still blames me for Black's death, Albus mused. I will have to get him back under my control while I try to find out where he and his friends got familiar eggs.
Once again Albus' attention was dragged back to the letter. The matron Weasley had written to him earlier in the week, but he hadn't had time to really ponder what was written until now.
Dear Albus,
I hope that the beginning of term went smoothly and that Ron and Ginny haven't caused any trouble yet. I am writing because we have yet to receive the 1,000 galleons from Gringotts. The payment usually arrives on the first of September, but I held off contacting you in case the money was simply late. As the overseer of the marriage contract then you have the authority to discuss this with the goblins. I am sorry to nag you like this, but Arthur and I need that 1,000 galleons. Also, we need another copy of the contract, ours seems to have disappeared.
Thank you very much,
Molly Weasley
Albus read the letter over two more times. When he read that the Weasleys couldn't find their copy of the contract, Albus began to get worried. The only way that Molly's family wouldn't receive their payment and their copy was gone was if the contract had somehow been voided.
But that is impossible, Albus thought. I wrote that contract myself, there were no loopholes in it whatsoever.
Deciding to take care of the issue immediately, Dumbledore went over to his fireplace and flooed to Gringotts. As soon as he stepped out of the fireplace in the bank, he stood tall and waited for a goblin to run up to him and ask what he needed. When no goblin came up to him, he began to get irritated and he stomped up to the nearest teller.
When the goblin didn't look up when Albus approached, Albus' irritation turned into anger. Albus cleared his throat loudly and rudely. That seemed to get the goblin's attention.
"What is it?" the goblin demanded when he looked up from his paperwork.
"I demand to speak to the head of the bank," Dumbledore said harshly, his face beginning to redden in anger.
The goblin sneered at Dumbledore, something that the great wizard was not used to. "Director Ragnok is busy, but if you would like I could leave him a message."
"I demand to speak to him!" Dumbledore spat.
"And I said no," the goblin spat back. He snapped his fingers and instantly a goblin guard surrounded Dumbledore. "Now leave. I will tell Director Ragnok that an obnoxious wizard who thinks he matters in Gringotts bank was asking for him."
"I am Albus Dumbledore and I will not be treated this way!"
The goblin teller summoned Dumbledore's wand to his hand and handed it to one of the guards. "You are just another rude wizard when entering this bank," the goblin said.
A seething Dumbledore relented to the escort and walked back over to the floo. When he stepped into the fireplace the goblin handed him back his wand and Albus Dumbledore left the bank under sword point.
Once the emerald flamed died down, the goblin teller stepped away from the booth and headed towards his superior's office. Inside the office an older goblin was working on paperwork.
"How did it go Griphook?" the older goblin asked.
Griphook smirked, showing all his teeth. "That old coot is apparently not used to such treatment. Are you going to ban him from Gringotts?"
Director Ragnok sighed and put down the quill that he was using. "Even after everything that he has put young Harry through, I do not have enough against Dumbledore to stand before the King and have him stand behind my decision. From now on we'll just give Mister Dumbledore the treatment that he deserves."
"He will surely start to harass you until you agree to meet with him," Griphook pointed out.
"I will meet with him after Harry becomes public with his titles," Ragnok said while he turned back to his paperwork. "Until then, the alert spells that we put on Dumbledore's private floo connection will give us a nice heads up to when he's coming."
"What if he comes through the front doors?" Griphook wanted to know.
Ragnok chuckled and gave Griphook a toothy smile. "Typical pureblood wizard arrogance. Dumbledore thinks of himself too important to use the front door. Now Griphook, are you sure that you don't want me to assign Dumbledore to another goblin? You are already busy enough with managing the Potter and Black estates."
Griphook shook his head. "Harry Potter gave me a great opportunity and I owe him my complete devotion. This includes managing Dumbledore as well."
"Well, I can say this, I can't wait to see how the wizarding world reacts when Harry Potter goes public as Lord Potter-Black," Ragnok laughed.
Apparently saying "I'll do it," to the proposal of trial by combat, were the magic words to get a camp full of centaurs riled up. Almost as soon as the words left Neville's mouth, he was taken aside by a centaur and prepared for combat. While Neville was being prepared, Hermione and Harry were doing their best to comfort Luna outside in the clearing where the fight was to take place while Goldengaze took a perch in one of the lower trees.
The normally composed Ravenclaw was crying out of fear for her boyfriend. Luna was the expert on creatures both magical and non-magical, and she knew how violent centaurs could be during combat.
"He'll be okay Luna," Hermione soothed while Luna cried on her shoulder. "Have faith, this is what Neville has been working for."
"Centaurs are so violent Hermione," Luna sobbed. "And what if Neville is put against Bane? Bane won't stop until Neville is dead."
"Neville is strong," Harry said while he put a comforting hand on Luna's knee. "He's also determined. He has something to prove and he won't give up."
Centaurs began to gather around the edges of the clearing, far away from the humans. They stomped the ground eagerly. Some centaurs jeered at Luna about needing to find a new mate, causing the Heir of Ravenclaw to cry even harder.
After fifteen minutes, Chief walked into the center of the clearing and held his hands up for silence.
"We are gathered here to witness a trial by combat," he said, his voice carrying effortlessly over the clearing. "If the human wins, then he will be accepted as a member of this herd. He will be my apprentice, but we will train him as a whole. Who will face him?"
There was an excited murmur among the centaurs and Harry looked at Bane, half expecting the angry centaur to fight. Bane met Harry's gaze and stomped his feet, but otherwise didn't move.
"I will fight him," a clear voice said further down from Bane.
Stepping into the clearing was a centaur with black hair. The centaur's human parts were as muscular and scarred as Chief's were, but the centaur didn't seem to be as blood-thirsty as the rest of the herd was.
"Lithos will face the challenger," Chief shouted. "Do any object?"
None of the centaurs objected, but Bane did not look happy. Before Harry could think about why Bane looked so mad, Neville marched into the clearing.
Neville was no longer wearing his shirt, which showed his muscular chest. He carried an ax on his back and a sword stripped to his belt. Other than those, and his pants, Neville was bare. He wasn't even allowed to wear his shoes.
He waved nervously to Luna who chuckled and hastily wiped her eyes. The last thing that Neville needed at the moment was to worry about her.
Chief stood in the center of the clearing with Lithos and Neville facing each other. Lithos didn't look angry or like he wanted to kill Neville. Instead he looked genuinely interested in the young wizard.
"I am one of the senior warriors, Lithos," Lithos said to Neville. "I am also Pholus' brother. If you are truly Helga Hufflepuff's Spiritual Heir, then you should be able to defeat me. If you are not, then you will most likely be killed. Either way, aim to kill for that is the only honorable way."
Neville nodded, albeit a little shakily. "I will not insult you by holding back."
Lithos nodded approvingly before bowing respectfully. After Neville returned the bow, Chief dropped his raised arm and shouted, "Begin!"
Immediately, Lithos took his ax off of his belt and charged at Neville. Neville rolled out of the way of the thundering hooves. Once on his feet, Neville took out his own ax and blocked Lithos' blow.
Due to his superior height and weight, Lithos forced Neville to his knees. Before Lithos could finish him off, Neville broke the lock and quickly dashed behind Lithos. He made a move to hack at Lithos' legs, but Lithos aimed a kick with his back legs, forcing Neville to back up.
For fifteen tiresome minutes, Neville fought Lithos with everything he had, but the centaur had many years of battle experience and knew how to counter every single one of Neville's attacks. Both fighters were sweating heavily, but they didn't slow down. Neville had a few scratches from some close calls and Lithos had a long, shallow scratch along his flank, but other than that they were both unharmed.
Starting to tire, Neville decided to do something incredibly stupid. The next time that Lithos brought his ax down, Neville met it with only one hand holding his ax. Lithos' ax nearly embedded itself in his skull while Neville fumbled with his other hand for his sword. When he had his sword out of the sheath, he jammed it in Lithos' hand. The centaur cursed and dropped his ax which Neville kicked away. Next, Neville prayed that he wouldn't be killed and jumped on Lithos' back.
The centaurs who had been cheering suddenly fell silent. It was a great insult to ride a centaur, and that's exactly what Neville was doing. Lithos got on his back legs and tried to throw Neville off while he reached for him, but Neville wasn't going anywhere.
"He is riding Lithos like a common horse!" Bane shouted in outrage. "The human should die for his insult!"
A couple centaurs agreed with Neville, but Chief silenced them with a stern look.
Lithos on the other hand was amused with Neville's tactic. "Not bad young one but let us see how long you can hang on."
Neville grinned and tightened his grip on Lithos' belt. "I have some experience staying on a bucking horse. No offense intended."
Lithos laughed and started to buck. The centaur had to give Neville some credit, the boy did not fall. When Lithos took off his belt, Neville grabbed his arms for support and pinned them behind his back. With a shout of surprise that quickly turned to pain, Neville was thrown off of Lithos and landed right underneath the centaur's dangerous hooves.
"Neville!" Luna cried when the hooves were about to make contact.
Grimly, Neville grabbed his sword and jabbed it in Lithos' back leg. Lithos yelled in pain and shifted his weight to his other three legs. He stayed upright for a moment but he eventually fell to his side, unable to move.
"You win young one," Lithos said through gritted teeth. "Kill me."
Neville stared at the bloody sword in his hand with a repulsed expression. He looked at Lithos for a second before shaking his head and tossing the sword to the ground. "I will not kill an unarmed opponent," he said. "You were a true opponent, and it would be a shame to kill you."
Lithos grinned at Neville. "You have my respect. Hopefully my brother won't screw up your training too bad."
Chief scoffed. "Neville has won his right to be a part of this herd!" he shouted. "He will from now on be our brother in all but blood!"
From his spot on the sides, Bane yelled furiously. "I will not accept a human into my herd!"
Blinded by fury, Bane took out his sword and raced towards Neville. The other centaurs were so shocked by Bane's sudden action that none, not even Chief, reacted quick enough.
Neville reached for his sword before he remembered that he had foolishly tossed it aside like it was garbage. He was too tired and sore to get out of the way in time. With eyes closed tight, he braced himself for death.
A furious hissing forced him to open his eyes. Furiously attacking Bane's face was a light gray bundle of fur.
It looked like a large cat with large pointed ears, long elegant limbs and a lion-like tail. It was a kneazle. The kneazle was spitting an array of insults and was clawing at Bane's eyes.
Bane was cursing in fury and was trying to dislodge the kneazle with one hand while holding his sword with the other. His flaying front hooves nearly caught Neville, but Neville found his second wind and got out of the way.
"Unhand me you filth!" Bane cursed as he grabbed the kneazle's scruff and threw it into a tree. The kneazle hit the tree with a yowl and Neville heard something snap.
Fury unlike anything that Neville had ever felt before filled his veins. Gripping his sword tightly, he raced forward and, before Bane even realized what was going on, dug the sword right through the centaur's side. Bane choked back a cry of pain and glared at Neville with hate-filled eyes before he collapsed to the ground. He stayed on the ground cursing and coughing, but Neville paid him no attention.
Neville sprinted towards the injured kneazle and gently tried to pick it up. The kneazle looked at him with trusting storm cloud eyes, but yowled in pain when its front leg was moved.
"Are you alright Love?" Neville asked with a choked voice. "Can you shift back?"
Luna closed her eyes and slowly shifted back. When she shifted back into her human form, she sagged against Neville while cradling her arm. "He was going to kill you," she whispered.
Neville kissed her hair and held her close. "He almost killed you too. You scared me half-to death. Please don't do that again."
"Can't do that," Luna said with a grimace. "I'll always do what it takes to keep you safe."
While Neville kissed Luna again, Harry, Hermione and Goldengaze came over with worry all over their faces.
"We need to get her to the Hospital Wing," Hermione said.
Chief walked over to them and bent over so he was on even eye-level. "I apologize for Bane's dishonorable attack Lady Ravenclaw and Lord Hufflepuff. Lord Hufflepuff, you are fully within your rights to kill him if not for attacking you without reason then for him injuring your mate."
Neville glared at Bane for a moment before he looked back at Luna. "Bane isn't worth the effort. I'll leave his punishment up to you Chief since it was your arena of combat that he dishonored."
Chief nodded approvingly. "I understand that you want to get your mate seen to by your healer. Be here by sunrise on Saturday to begin your training. From now on, you will not need an escort and you may bring your wolf, but your wands must remain behind."
Neville nodded and helped Luna to her feet. "Thank you Chief. And I hope to learn more from you as well Lithos," he added to Lithos who was being tended to while Bane was ignored.
Lithos nodded and the group headed back to their familiars and wands before heading back to the castle. Another part of the prophecy had begun to be accomplished, but the four still had a long way to go.
chapter 20
After they had gotten Luna's broken arm healed by Madam Pomfrey with a half-baked excuse, Harry and Hermione apparated everyone to the trunk to discuss everything that had occurred during the week. They all sat around the dining room table and allowed Winky to fuss over them.
Ever since Luna had been hurt by Bane, Neville hadn't left her side. The sight of her being so still after being thrown into the tree had hurt Neville deeper than he let on. Now his Hufflepuff nature was on overdrive and he refused to leave her.
"I wish I could've seen you kick centaur butt," Sage laughed from his spot on Neville's other side. "I still don't believe that you rode a centaur like a horse."
Neville smiled dryly. "At least that's one less thing to worry about, my training. But what do we do now?"
"We need to find the fairies and the elves," Luna said. "I think that we would have a better shot at finding me a fairy mentor. Goldengaze did say that the true elves would come to Hermione in time."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Harry opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by an excited squeal from Hermione.
"I have an idea," she said and she left the room with Ivy right behind her.
They waited in amusement for ten minutes. When Hermione and Ivy came back, Hermione was slightly red in the face, but otherwise very excited. In her arms were an old, thick book and a small black portfolio. She put both on the table and hurriedly turned to a page of the older book while Ivy opened up the portfolio.
"I love it when she gets so intense about finding an answer," Harry whispered to Kex who sniggered.
Hermione stopped shuffling through pages after a minute of searching and took a piece of parchment that Ivy had pulled from the portfolio.
"I think I have a solution to our housing situation and the fairy situation," she said excitedly. When she had everyone's full attention, Hermione poked the book that she had rushed to get. "There's a fairy colony somewhere in the Black Mountains in Wales," she explained. "They aren't very partial to humans and no one has seen them in years, but they're still there."
"How do you know?" Luna asked curiously.
"Fairies are little pranksters," Hermione said while Luna nodded in agreement. "There are rumors around that around Llanthony Priory, those are ruins in the mountains, there are strange occurrences such as people losing their belongings and finding them at the foot of the hills."
"Typical fairy behavior," Luna said excitedly. "So, you believe that the fairy colony is still in these ruins?"
Hermione nodded, her excitement at meeting fairies and seeing the ruins bubbling over. "They're the only fairy colony whose location is at least semi-known."
Harry smiled and leaned over to kiss Hermione. "You're brilliant."
Hermione blushed and turned back to Luna. "You already know more about fairies than I do Luna, but this book has some useful bits of information that I thought you'd like to read up on."
Luna accepted the book gratefully and began to read through it a little with Fay.
"As for our housing situation," Hermione said happily. "We won't have to live in the trunk if we don't want to. I know that the trunk is like home, but it doesn't have the room we need. We all know how crazy we were when we were stuck in the trunk for three years."
At everyone's agreeing nod, Hermione held up the piece of parchment that Ivy had given her. "Harry," she said turning to him. "You know that you own a large number of properties right?"
"Yeah," Harry said while he grinned sheepishly. "But I have no clue where they are."
Hermione clicked her tongue, but her eyes were smiling. "Harry, Potter Manor, your family's ancestral house, is located in the Black Mountains in Wales."
Harry's eyes widened in surprise before a teasing smile played across his face. "And you know this how Miss Hermione?"
"Someone had to look into your affairs," Hermione retaliated playfully. "Just because you haven't gone public yet doesn't mean that there aren't things that need to be done. For example, did you know that you have quite a lot of house elves in your service? Both from the Black and Potter families?"
"No I didn't," Harry said in surprise. His eyes floated over to Dobby and Winky who were starting to fidget anxiously. "Well, I guess that my head elves will be more than able to get everything in tip-top shape."
Winky's and Dobby's ears perked up and they ran over to hug Harry excitedly. Three years ago, the feat would've been horrifying to the elves, but now that they felt like equals and not just like slaves, they were happy to do it.
"Thank you Master Harry!" Dobby cried. Unfortunately, nothing any of them did could get the elves to stop calling them 'master' or 'miss'.
"Winky and Dobby will be great head elves," Winky said while she blew her nose on her handkerchief. "May Winky go get some more material to make Winky and Dobby fitting uniforms for a Lord's head elf?"
"Of course Winky," Harry said with a smile. Instantly, Winky apparated away and Harry turned back to Hermione. "So, you think that we should all live in Potter Manor. Love, aren't you forgetting about something? What about Hogwarts?"
Hermione scoffed. "If a Hogwarts diploma didn't carry any weight then I would just say that we should just take our NEWTs and be done with it. I'm working on a neat little project that should take away any suspicion when we disappear at night. And, when you go public with your titles, you can have the option of commuting to Hogwarts for classes. Also, anyone in your charge can as well. Neville could do this as well as the heir apparent for the House of Longbottom. Harry, if you took me as your charge and Neville took Luna as his charge then we should be fine."
Harry smiled and kissed Hermione again. "So how do we get to Potter Manor?"
"That only Griphook can tell you," Hermione said while she put the parchment back in the portfolio and handed it to Harry. "But, I'd imagine that Griphook has a way to get to your house. And since it's an Ancient House's… well house, then the protections on it should be remarkable."
"So you want me to go see Griphook," Harry clarified.
Hermione nodded. "And ask him if there's a way to make portkeys for us that tie into Potter Manor."
"Anything else Dear?" Harry asked cheekily.
When Hermione exaggeratingly seemed to think of something else, Harry took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately.
"Gods I can't wait to marry you," Harry breathed.
Another kiss and Harry was gone.
During Harry's open display of love, Neville watched Luna out of the corner of his eye. The love that he felt for the witch was stronger than anything he thought possible. Even though he wasn't the same shy boy he was before their trunk training, Neville still had trouble tapping into his Gryffindor courage every now and then.
"Luna," he whispered. "Can I talk to you?"
Luna looked up from the book and nodded. Their familiars stayed behind and Neville led her to the pool room.
"Are you alright Neville?" Luna asked in concern. "You haven't said much since we left the centaur camp."
Neville grabbed Luna and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry. I let my guard down and you were hurt because of it."
"There's nothing to be sorry for Neville," Luna said somewhat firmly. "You would have done the same for me without a second thought so please don't lecture me that I shouldn't put myself in danger. I'm a Spiritual Heir too and I don't want you to tell me that I need to be protected."
Neville shook his head. "Luna, no one has more faith in you than I do. I just want you to know that without you, I have no reason to fight. So, if not for me then for the world we're supposed to save, please be careful."
Luna smiled and kissed Neville. "I'll do it for both."
They stayed in the embrace for a few moments, just breathing in each other's complete essence.
"I love you Luna," Neville whispered. "More than humanly possible. Will you marry me?"
Surprised at the sudden proposal, Luna stepped back and stared at Neville in shock. "Neville," she started. "Please don't just propose to me because you're suddenly aware of our own mortality!"
"Oh gods no!" Neville assured her. He took her anxious hands in his own and gently rubbed them. "Luna, I've wanted to marry you for so long. Yes, our mortality made me act sooner than I thought, but that's only because I don't want to die without having the honor of being your husband."
Tears leaked out of Luna's eyes.
Neville wiped the tears away with his thumb and kissed her eyelashes. "I did want to propose to you in a more romantic way, but I couldn't hold it in anymore. I've got the Longbottom engagement rings in my room, I've been holding onto them since we left the trunk."
Luna giggled and kissed Neville back. "I would love to marry you Neville, but only if you can promise me that you will do everything in your power, because I plan to do everything in mine, that we live a long life together."
"Deal," Neville whispered.
For that moment at least, there was no war going on and Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood were just two people in love who were just happy to stay in each other's embrace.
After their moment by the fake pool, Neville had proposed the correct way and gave Luna the engagement ring. Once they had a heavy kissing session, they went back to the dining room to find that Harry was already back and they were waiting on them.
As soon as they walked in the room, Hermione's ever observant eyes zoned in on the ring on Luna's ring finger and gave a very un-Hermione-like squeal.
"You're engaged," she said excitedly. She ran over to her best friend and gave her a hug.
"You'll have to be my maid of honor," Luna practically ordered her.
Hermione rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. "Well of course! You're mine after all!"
While the girls hurriedly talked about Luna's engagement, Harry clapped Neville on the back.
"Congratulations Mate," he said happily.
Neville's smile was almost too big for his face. "Took me long enough though."
They spent ten more minutes congratulating Neville and Luna. Once everyone had calmed down, Harry pulled out something from his pocket. When he held it up, everyone saw that it was a simple golden ring.
"I talked with Griphook and he told me how to get to Potter Manor. He also told me about Dumbledore stopping by Gringotts to find out why the Weasels weren't getting their annual payment from my vaults."
Hermione's eyes narrowed at the mention of the marriage contract that Dumbledore had arranged for Harry. "I hope they treated Dumbledore like the arse he is."
Harry smiled and nodded. "Oh yes, Griphook is personally making sure of it. Anyway, Griphook gave me the address to Potter Manor, it's under the Fidelius Charm, but Griphook had access to the secret as the manager of my accounts. Now that I know the secret Griphook doesn't know it and I'm effectively the Secret Keeper. Griphook also gave me the Potter Manor portkey. According to Griphook, only I, as Lord Potter, can not only activate the portkey ring but also duplicate it."
Hermione took the ring from Harry's hand and examined it. "That's quite the impressive feat of magic. Does this mean that you have a different portkey for each property?"
"Griphook said that I could tie the other properties into the portkey, but it would take time. I'll take care of that when I see him next. Now, I'll make copies of the portkey for all of you."
Harry took the portkey back and put it on the table in front of him. He then took out a small knife that he always kept on his person and sliced his palm open. When his hand was covered with blood, he put the knife down and put the ring in his bloody hand. When the ring was covered with blood, he took out his alder wand and pointed it at the ring.
"Geminio," he said.
The ring in his hand instantly doubled. Harry took the clean ring and put it in the table and kept saying the spell until he had enough rings for all of them.
As soon as there were enough rings, Hermione healed Harry's hand while shaking her head. "I wish that blood magic wasn't used for everything with the Ancient Houses."
"No worries Love," Harry assured her. "With you to heal me I'll be fine. Now, would you help me out here and size the rings?"
Hermione sighed, but didn't comment again. She sized all of the rings so that they fit everyone perfectly. While Hermione, Luna and Neville simply wore them on their fingers, the familiars and Goldengaze wore them differently.
Fay wore hers around her foot almost like a tracking bracelet, Sage, at his insistence, wore his as an earring, and Kex and Ivy chose to wear theirs as collars.
"Why did you have to have an earring?" Neville asked Sage while wiping the dried blood off of the wolf's ear.
"Because it's cool," Sage said back.
Neville sighed, but let the argument drop.
Goldengaze wore his around his wrist and looked at it curiously. "This is some old magic. It's rather impressive."
Harry smiled and cleaned the original with a simple spell. "They shouldn't come off easily, but if they do tell me right away cause I can destroy it by using the original."
"How do we activate them?" Luna asked.
"First I have to tell you the secret, but the password is 'unity'. As long as you know the Fidelius secret, have the portkey and know the portkey's password, you shouldn't have any issues getting to Potter Manor."
Everyone around the table nodded. After Harry told them all the secret, they all looked at each other before touching their portkeys and saying 'unity'.
They all felt the pull of a portkey and were whisked away. When they landed, they landed on a cold, stone floor. Harry helped Hermione up and lit up his alder wand.
The light illuminated a large, stone room with a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling above their heads. There were two sets of stairs that led to the second floor that seemed to frame the hallway that sat in-between the stairs. Comfortable chairs were scattered around the fireplace that was in the side of the room. They all wanted to explore, but they all knew that they would probably get lost in the large manor.
"Hey Dobby," Harry asked the house elf who had come with them. "How do I summon all of my house elves?"
Dobby pointed to the rings around Harry's neck. "Until Master knows all his elves names, he can summon them by using the rings."
Harry nodded and put his rings on his hand. He put them against his mouth and said uncertainly, "Um, could all my house elves please come to me. Please."
Dobby giggled at Harry's request and stood by Harry's side.
Loud 'cracks' filled the room they were in and Harry soon found himself facing about sixty elves. Thirty of the elves stood on his left while the rest stood on his right.
"Um, hi," Harry said lamely. "I'm Harry Potter, and I'm the Lord Potter-Black."
One elf stepped forward from each group. They shared a mild glare before bowing deeply.
"Greetings Lord Potter-Black," the one on the right said. "My name is Stone and I am the Head Potter Elf."
The elf from the left bowed deeper. "I am Flint my Lord and I am the Head Black Elf."
Harry looked at the two groups of elves and shifted anxiously when he saw that they obviously didn't get along. "It's nice to meet you two and I look forward to meeting the rest of you. I called you all here to give you a chance to get to meet me and so that I could understand what you guys do. But first," he put his hand on Dobby's shoulder. "This is Dobby. He and another elf, Winky, are my Head Elves. They will both oversee both families that I am lord of, but they won't step on your toes unless required."
Stone and Flint looked at Dobby; Stone looked kindly at the younger elf while Flint was practically sneering.
"I know that the Potter and Black families haven't necessarily gotten along in the past," Harry said nervously. "But, all of you are on the same side and I would like it if we could all get along. Now, could you guys tell me who works where?"
Instantly, the two large groups shifted into four smaller groups while Stone and Flint stayed separate. Stone nodded to Flint politely who nodded back somewhat begrudgingly. Flint explained that one group looked after Black Manor while the other one lived at Black Manor, but looked after the other properties.
Stone said that his elves had the same system and introduced the elves that looked after Potter Manor.
Harry noticed that only Stone and Flint were speaking and that the other elves were hanging back. "I would like the opportunity to meet all of you. If there's anything that I can do to help you, then please do not hesitate to ask. All I ask for is that I have your loyalty. It's one thing to serve a master; it's another to be loyal to a friend."
Dobby stepped forward and held the older elves' gaze without flinching. "Master Harry is a wonderful master," he said boldly. "Dobby was abused by his former masters and Master Harry saved him. Winky was released from her family and Master Harry saved her. Master Harry is a friend to the elves and deserves your loyalty. If he doesn't have it yet then he will earn it because that is what Master Harry does."
Stone and Flint shared a glance before they gave Harry a smile.
"Would Master Harry and the Black house elves like a tour?" Stone asked.
chapter 21
Stone led everyone on a tour of Potter Manor while the Potter elves went to do some last second cleaning. They wanted their new lord to be impressed with their work.
They saw the downstairs first. The dining room was the first room that they saw and Hermione had to remind Harry to breathe. The dining room was as big as the Dursley's house. Stone explained that the dining room was mostly for formal events and that the past Potter Manor occupants would eat in the much smaller dining room that was attached to the kitchen.
A little further down from the dining hall was a ballroom. Stone told Harry that a lord often throws parties, thus the need for a ballroom. The ballroom itself was almost the size of a football field. Harry asked how such a large ballroom fit in a house and Stone simply informed him that the House's magic was ancient.
Aside from a pool, a training room and a door that led downstairs to the potion lab and basement area, the only room left downstairs was the kitchen. When they entered the kitchen, Dobby was grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh Master Harry," he breathed. "Winky will love this."
Harry had to agree. The kitchen was almost three times the size of the kitchen in the trunk. There were pantries, fridges and freezers lining the walls, the stainless steel counters were absolutely spotless; there were five ovens and an incredibly large sink.
"May I introduce our head chef, Dolan," Stone introduced.
A male house elf stepped forward from the Potter elf group and bowed low. "Greetings Master Harry. I am Dolan and I am the new head chef. Our former head chef and my mentor, Nona, passed away a couple of years ago."
"I'm sorry to hear that Dolan," Harry said sincerely. "May I ask, what have you been doing since the house became empty?"
Dolan smiled at Harry's sincerity over his loss. "Your grandparents ordered before they died that until you claimed your inheritance and came to live in your house, we were to shelter and feed injured magical creatures. When your name began appearing in the papers we began bringing food and supplies to the creatures while your properties were prepared."
Harry was impressed. "That's a great thing to do. Please, don't stop helping other magical creatures just because I've finally claimed my inheritance."
Dolan smiled even bigger. "Of course Master Harry."
The tour continued outside. Because Potter Manor was located in the mountains, the view was incredible. There were small shacks scattered on the edge of the property where the house elves lodged. Harry talked quietly to Stone and requested that the shacks be made bigger and insulated properly so that his elves would have more comfortable lodging. The last thing Harry wanted was for his house elves to be uncomfortable or cold.
Harry's favorite part of the outside was the small Quidditch Pitch. The Pitch wasn't regulation size, but it was the perfect size for a scrimmage game. Plus, since Harry wasn't planning on joining the team this year it would be just the thing needed to keep his skills from getting rusty.
"You do realize that you'll have to play," Harry smirked at Hermione who paled slightly. "Oh come on Love! I thought that you'd love flying by now."
Hermione shuddered and Harry put a comforting arm around her. "No matter how many times I'm in the air, I'll never be perfectly comfortable with flying."
They went back inside and Stone led everyone upstairs. The Black elves still wrinkled their noses distastefully from being so close to Potter elves and Harry realized that it would be a while until they would be comfortable together.
The upstairs was home to the personal rooms, bathrooms, the library and even an observatory upstairs. There were two main rooms, each with a private bathroom, one nursery and ten smaller, but still luxurious rooms. Each small room had a bathroom that it shared with the room next door to it, two rooms shared one bathroom.
The library wasn't as big as the one in the trunk, but Stone informed them that was because Harry's mother had taken most of the books and put them in the trunk when they went into hiding. Harry decided to move the library back to the Manor where it belonged.
Stone showed them the two master bedrooms. There was more than enough room in each room for two people to live in each.
When the tour was over, Stone led everyone back to the room where they had entered. He and the other Potter elves bowed and were smiling brightly.
"Will Lord Potter-Black be moving in Potter Manor?" Stone asked hopefully.
"Of course," Harry said instantly. "Before I move in here though, I want to look at the Black properties and make some decisions. I haven't gone public with my titles yet and I need all of your words that you won't tell anyone."
All of the elves gave their word, the Black elves somewhat begrudgingly.
"Flint, tomorrow we'll come and look at Black Manor, everyone including the Potter elves," Harry told the head Black elf. "You can expect us at eleven." Harry smiled at all of his house elves. "Thank you all for coming here today, and remember that if there's anything you need do not hesitate to come to me. When I go public with my titles, I will need all of you desperately."
The house elves brightened and bowed even lower before they all, minus Stone, apparated away.
"Would you like for me to have the two main rooms prepared?" Stone asked. "I could have two of the smaller rooms magicked so that they are main rooms as well."
Harry hesitated and blushed. "Well Stone um…I'm engaged to Hermione and…"
Stone smirked at his young master. "Would Master Harry like to room with his betrothed?"
Hermione blushed as well, but smiled at Harry and nodded. Harry blushed deeper and nodded to Stone. "Yes please."
"Stone," Neville said politely. "I am engaged to Luna and we would like to share a room as well. We were planning on rooming together in the trunk, but Potter Manor's rooms are much more spacious."
Stone chuckled. "The two main rooms will be prepared. If I may ask, when will you be moving in?"
Harry thought for a moment. "I'd like to get out of the dorms as soon as possible, but we aren't prepared for that yet."
"I'll be done with my project by tomorrow hopefully," Hermione told him.
Harry nodded and turned back to Stone. "We'll move in next weekend so you and the other Potter elves will have plenty of time. This will also give us time to try out Hermione's solution. Now, we need to get back. I'll summon you and the other Potter elves when we arrive at Black Manor tomorrow."
Stone nodded and smiled even wider.
Goldengaze, who had remained silent during the whole tour, asked Harry, "How do we navigate where our portkeys take us on the return trip? I have to plan my lessons for next week tonight if I'm going to explore Black Manor with you tomorrow."
"Griphook said to just picture the destination," Harry said. "If you picture your office, your portkey should take you there.
Goldengaze nodded and touched his portkey with his other paw. "Come to my office at eleven and we will go from there, if that's agreeable."
When everyone agreed, Goldengaze bid them goodbye and disappeared.
"I'm going to go to the trunk to work on my project," Hermione told them. "We need to do a test run before we move and I need to be finished with them in order for that to happen."
Harry kissed her cheek. "I'll come get you for dinner Love."
Hermione kissed him back and activated her portkey. When Hermione was gone, Harry shook Stone's hand, much to the elf's surprise, and activated his portkey followed by everyone else.
The next day the group met at Goldengaze's office right before 11. Harry had gone to Griphook earlier and had added his Black properties and all of his Potter properties to the main portkey. He added Black Manor to all of his friend's portkeys and explained that the password to Black Manor was 'purity'. He also said that he planned on changing the password as soon as possible. Harry told them the secret so that they could access Black Manor and all of them left.
When they touched solid ground, Harry immediately felt a difference in atmosphere. While Potter Manor had a warm feeling that made him feel welcome, Black Manor was cold and felt hostile.
Barely suppressing a shiver, Harry summoned his elves. They all appeared before him with a loud 'pop'. Harry had a big smile on his face when he saw the work that Winky had put into hers and Dobby's new uniforms.
Dobby now wore brown breeches with a brown tunic that was trimmed with black and red thread that weaved around each other. On his chest he wore the Potter crest but it was trimmed with black. Winky wore a brown dress that was trimmed the same as Dobby's was, but on her chest she wore the Black crest trimmed with red.
"Bloody hell Winky, those look great!" Harry exclaimed.
Winky blushed and curtsied. "Winky thought that because Winky and Dobby are both Master Harry's head elves, we should each wear a crest."
"Dob…I mean I wanted to wear the Potter crest Master Harry," Dobby said brightly. "Serving the Potter family is a dream come true and I wanted to wear it proudly."
Harry smiled in pride at how Dobby and Winky were working so hard to improve their grammar. "You guys look great. Winky, would it be too much to ask of you to update the other elves' uniforms by adding that trim? I don't want there to be any confusion about the fact that we're all one family now."
Winky nodded and beamed with pride. "I will get started on them right after the tour Master Harry."
While Winky was smiling, Flint stepped forward and glanced with a little hostility at the Black crest on her chest. "Would Master Harry like the tour now?"
"Yes Flint, please," Harry responded.
Without another word, Flint turned around and showed them the manor.
Right away everyone could tell that the previous Black lords preferred things cold and gloomy. The manor wasn't as big as Potter Manor, but Harry was still intrigued by it. Apart from the similar sized ballrooms and bedrooms, there weren't many differences. Hermione noticed that the library was filled with dark texts and Neville had to wrestle with a book when it tried to pull Luna inside of it.
It made Harry slightly nauseous, but the most useful room inside of Black Manor was the dungeon. There were dozens of incredibly small cells in the dungeon that were heavily spelled to resist any form of magical transportation, communication and when Hermione translated the runes that were etched on the door of each cell they learned that the cells actually suppressed the magic of the person inside of it. Eager to test them out, Harry had them lock him in the cell. As soon as the door was locked, he felt his magic get cut off. He tried apparating and tried using his alder wand, but neither worked.
"This will be very useful," Luna said softly. "We all knew that we have to fight in the gray area because it's impossible to win a war and be completely 'light'."
Neville put his arm around her. "It doesn't make it any easier though."
The rest of the tour went well. When the tour was over Harry dismissed the Potter elves and said that they would be moving in to Potter Manor on Saturday, making the elves shake with excitement. Once all the Potter elves were gone, Harry turned to the Black elves and had a serious expression on his face.
"I know that you guys have seen your fair share of dark things in the past," Harry said with a sigh. "And…I'm afraid that because of the war we will be doing some more things that can be considered 'dark'."
Flint looked at Harry in surprise. "What do you mean Lord Potter-Black?"
Harry rubbed his eyes. "We can't win a war by simply stunning the Death Eaters. I have a job for you and the other Black elves."
When Harry seemed to struggle with what needed to be said, Neville stepped forward. "We want you to turn Black Manor into a secure prison. When we catch a Death Eater, we plan on sending them here."
"Not that I don't trust all of you," Harry said when he got his voice back. "But, I'm giving you all an order as Lord Black. None of you are to imply in the slightest of what is going on here. No writing, mailing, telling, nothing that could possibly give us away."
The Black elves looked shocked at the request. "Master…what you are requesting is not new to us," Flint said after a moment. "But we are shocked that you would make such a request. You are known as the hero of the wizarding world and we never dreamed that you would ask us to make you a secure prison."
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't want to make a prison," he said softly. "But we want to win this war, and the only way to do that is to be gray."
Flint studied Harry with interest. "Master Harry, we will make your prison and you will have no need to worry about betrayal. House elf laws are very clear in the fact that we cannot betray our masters. The elf, Kreacher, was killed when Sirius Black was killed. I will personally deal with any elf who even thinks about betraying you."
"Please don't kill any," Hermione begged. "If you catch any who plan on betraying us, please just let us know and we'll try to find a way to deal with it without killing."
"If you wish Mistress," Flint said hesitantly. "But even if I do not have them killed they will be slowly poisoned to death through their magic because of the Black contract's punishment. If I dealt with traitors then they would have a swifter death and I would hopefully be able to deal with them before you are betrayed."
Hermione bit her lip in anger but chose not to comment.
When Harry sensed Hermione calming down he took in a deep breath. "I'll leave the prison planning to you and the other Black elves. I'd like all of you to not mention this to the Potter elves until I've discussed it with them. If you need to reach me, contact me through Dobby or Winky, they know how to reach me without giving me away."
Flint nodded. "When would you like your prison to be ready? Also, would you like for me and the other Black elves to add house-elf wards to the property?"
Harry nodded. "The wards would be great. I can't give you a date to finish because I don't know when we'll need it. But, probably the sooner the better without compromising the job. We'll stop by after we've moved into Potter Manor to check on the progress."
"Very good Master," Flint said with a bow. "I will have the elves start right away."
They all said goodbye to the elves and activated their portkeys with the trunk visualized in their minds. When their feet were back on solid ground, Hermione told them to wait in the dining room and went running to her room with Ivy right behind her.
After a few minutes of waiting, Hermione ran into the dining room where everybody was gathered. In her arms were what looked like four dolls, except these dolls had no faces and were dressed in pajamas.
"Um Love," Harry said hesitantly. "I think your dolls are defective."
Hermione laughed and put the four dolls on the table. "I finished my little project. These 'defective' dolls are the answer to our housing situation."
Luna picked up one of the dolls and her eyes widened in surprise. "This doll is wearing the exact same pajamas that I wear."
"That one is yours," Hermione said while she handed one to Harry and one to Neville. "I charmed these dolls to enlarge and effectively become our dopple-gangers. When we get ready for bed we just need to put our doll on our bed and enlarge it. Each doll has a mild notice-me-not charm so people won't notice that the dolls aren't breathing. Here, let me show you with mine."
She put her doll on the table and poked it in-between the eyes with her wand. The doll was encased in a blue glow for a second before it expanded. Lying on the table right where the doll was put was a perfect replica of Hermione. The doll now had a face and its eyes were closed peacefully, making it look like it was sleeping.
"That's incredible Hermione," Luna praised. "But what about our familiars?"
Hermione grinned and pulled something small and brown from her pocket. Upon closer inspection they saw that it was a small fennec fox doll, not even the size of Hermione's fist. "Of course I made dolls for them too. But, for them I had to transfigure items into dolls that represented their species. Before you can use your dolls I'm afraid that they need to be…well programmed. I needed to use some basic blood magic on these dolls and they won't be complete until they get the blood."
She put the fennec fox doll on the table before deactivating her own doll with another wand poke between the eyes. Hermione then took a small pin from her pocket and poked Ivy's paw with enough force to only draw a few drops of blood. Ivy held her paw above her doll and let a few drops of blood drip onto the doll. The doll glowed green but faded quickly. After the light died down Ivy quickly stopped the bleeding with a hasty lick and pressed her paw on the doll. Instantly, the doll grew and everyone looked at Ivy's replica.
"Bloody hell," Harry and Neville breathed at the same time while their familiars nodded in agreement.
Fay jumped from her perch on Luna's shoulder and poked the Ivy doll with her beak. "Very impressive. The fur is real and the body feels warm as if it is in fact alive. It's a good thing that there's a mild notice-me-not charm on the dolls because I can't even tell that it's not breathing."
Hermione smiled and handed out the familiar dolls. "Each doll needs a few drops of your blood. But be careful to not get anyone else's blood on them. I don't think a human doll with fur would be very helpful."
When everyone personalized their dolls they went to their respective rooms to pack up whatever belongings they still had. Moving day was coming up, but none of them would forget that the trunk was a safe haven to all of them. But they had to move forward. War didn't make allowances for emotional teenagers and they were going to be in the thick of it. They only hoped that they would be prepared for what was still to come.