366The Book of Seals to the Magical World
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. Ceridwen belongs to me :-)
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, time travel.
"She's barely alive," the Potions master replied in a grave voice. "We must take her to St. Mungo's immediately."
"Severus, please take her. I'll call the Weasleys," Minerva spoke up, urgently. "Remus, please take Harry back to his rooms and then go and inform the headmaster."
"Lupin," Severus addressed his colleague, while pointing his wand at a black book that was lying discarded on the floor to make a Portkey, "don't mention Harry. You saw them on the Marauders Map and fetched us to go to the bathroom together."
"All right," Remus agreed. "Come Harry."
"Professor," Harry spoke up, pensively, as they walked along the corridor, "was that Voldemort?"
"Apparently yes," Remus said, sighing. "You may still call me Remus though, as long as it's not in front of other students."
"All right, sir, sorry. I mean, how…" He slowly trailed off.
"I'm sorry, Harry, but I don't have a clue. Maybe Severus or Professor Dumbledore know more and can enlighten us."
"Did you go to see Madam Bones?" Harry enquired.
"We tried, but she was in a meeting with the Unspeakables," Remus replied, sighing. "We'll try to contact her again tonight. She needs to know that Voldemort is back, too."
"Oh, all right," Harry agreed in understanding. "If there's anything that Ceridwen and I can do, please let us know, and please keep us updated."
"We will, Harry. I'll be back later," Remus promised, before he hurried away in order to inform the headmaster.
"Ceridwen," Harry addressed the girl once he sat next to her on the sofa, "I know that I forgot something while we were in the past." Noticing her questioning look, he explained, "I intended to ask Sal to teach us Telepathy. Now it would really come handy in order to communicate with Severus."
"Is he able to use Telepathy?" Ceridwen enquired and, seeing Harry nod, suggested, "Then we could simply ask him if he's willing to teach us."
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Severus was sitting in the small hospital room, while the healers fussed about the unconscious child. 'I just hope Minerva will be here, before Molly annoying Weasley is going to show up,' he thought, at the same time wondering how the Dark Lord had managed to get a corporate body. 'I thought Harry had vanquished his spirit last winter,' he thought in extreme annoyance.
"Professor Snape," one of the healers suddenly addressed him and, seeing that he looked up, explained, "Good news first, Ms. Weasley is going to survive her ordeal. We'll even be able to release her into the care of Madam Pomfrey, provided that she'll agree to care for her in spite of the fact that school isn't running yet."
"That won't be a problem," Severus assured the healer, knowing that the Weasleys did not have the money to pay for a lengthy stay at the hospital. "And the bad news?" he enquired, tentatively.
"The bad news…" the healer interrupted himself, when Minerva strode into the room, closely followed by the Weasley parents.
"I'm going to fetch Poppy," Severus stated and hurriedly left the room towards a fireplace, leaving the healer to broaden the news to the Weasley matron.
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Harry and Ceridwen looked up in surprise, when Remus returned to the founders' quarters just an hour after he had left for the headmaster's office.
"Professor Dumbledore went to see the Minister of Magic," he informed them. "I'm going to try to reach Amelia Bones. Do you know if the fireplace here is connected to the Floo network?"
"I don't think so," Harry replied, shrugging. "Do you think you could connect it?"
"I could try," Remus said, pensively. "The question is if it would be better to connect this one or the one in our guest quarters."
Harry and Ceridwen exchanged a glance. "I don't see any difference," Ceridwen finally said. "Please go ahead and try, sir."
"The headmaster won't know about this, will he?" Harry asked, when a sudden thought crossed his mind. "Remus, wait. Let me ask Hogwarts about it."
"Oh, that's a good idea," the older wizard agreed, and Harry quickly placed a hand against the wall.
"I can connect this fireplace," the old lady said in a gentle voice, "and no, the headmaster won't know about this."
A moment later, she informed them, "You can now try to use the fireplace. It's connected to the normal Floo network and also to the internal Floo network, however, only people who are able to enter these quarters can use it. No one else will be able to recognise the fireplace let alone floo here."
Harry sighed in relief. "Thank you so very much," he replied, slowly taking his hand off the wall.
Remus pulled a small bag with Floo powder out of a robe pocket and leaned into the fireplace, "Amelia Bones," he called out.
An instant later, a female head appeared in the flames.
"Amelia," Remus greeted her, gently. "I'm sorry to disturb you in your evening, however, we need to urgently speak with you."
"Shall I step through?" the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement offered.
"Harry, may Amelia step through?" Remus asked. "She needs your approval to enter these rooms, and I strongly suggest that you give it."
Harry knelt next to Remus. "Madam Bones, please visit us in the founders' quarters at Hogwarts," he said in a soft voice, before he stepped back to allow the lady to Floo over.
As soon as Remus vacated the spot, Amelia Bones stepped out of the fireplace.
"This is Amelia Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Remus introduced the witch, before he pointed to the children and said, "Harry Potter and Ceridwen Hufflepuff."
"Good evening, Madam Bones," Harry and Ceridwen greeted the witch, who seemed very friendly. "Excuse me, Madam, but are you perhaps related to Susan?" Ceridwen enquired, smiling.
"Susan is my niece," Amelia informed her. "She's told me that you're one of her dormmates, and I'm glad to get to know you and Mr. Potter."
"Just call me Harry please, and the pleasure is just on our side," Harry replied, sincerely. "This is not just a social call though, as we have two pressing matters to discuss with you." Seeing that Remus gave him an encouraging nod, he continued, "Before we can reveal anything to you, we must ask you to swear us a witch's oath to not tell anyone about Ceridwen's and my secret."
Seeing Remus nod in consent, Amelia took her wand and swore her oath, causing the children to inwardly sigh in relief.
"Thank you very much," Ceridwen spoke up before motioning Harry to continue.
Harry informed the witch about his time travel and his life in the time of the founding of Hogwarts, before he came to the point. "The first issue concerns my godfather, Sirius Black. You might not know this, but Rowena Ravenclaw was a Seer. She had many visions about our time, which was in fact the reason why Ceridwen and I were sent to attend Hogwarts in this time. Anyway, she made us watch two of her visions, from which it became clear that everything, for which Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban, was conducted and done by Peter Pettigrew."
"Would you like to watch the memories?" Ceridwen offered, pointing to the Pensieve, which she had fetched from Harry's room, when Remus had called Amelia.
"This is a Pensieve?" Amelia enquired, eyeing the Pensieve with apparent interest.
"Yes, I received it from the founders, before we came here for our first year," Harry explained, unsure as to why it caused Amelia's attention.
"Oh, that's why it has such an antique touch," Amelia replied, smiling. "Sorry Mr. Potter, it's fine."
"Please just call me Harry," Harry repeated and cast the spell, which Rowena had taught them a couple of weeks ago to make a memory float over the Pensieve.
After viewing the two memories, Amelia shook her head in exasperation. "First thing tomorrow morning, I'll have Sirius Black brought to the ministry, and I'm going to check why he was sent to Azkaban in the first place. Thank you very much for bringing this to my attention."
"Thank you, Amelia," Remus spoke up. "Now, the second point is about something that happened today. Harry, will you show us the memory, please?"
The boy agreed and quickly showed Amelia the memory of how they had discovered and fought Voldemort, before he called a house-elf and was popped away.
"Do you know what happened to Ms. Weasley?" Amelia enquired, clearly shocked.
"Professor Snape took her to St. Mungo's, but he isn't back yet," Ceridwen informed her in a grave voice. "He said that she was barely alive."
"I'll look into this as well. Thank you very much for the information. If you will excuse me, I'll go back to my office and do some research. If you see Professor Snape, please ask him if he by chance knows to whom house-elf Dobby belongs."
"We'll ask him," Harry promised, knowing that Severus was going to come by as soon as he was back at Hogwarts.
"Thank you, Amelia," Remus replied, sighing. "Please keep us updated on either matter."
"At least the second point will involve the Unspeakables," Amelia informed them. "Would you be willing to speak with them?"
"Of course," the children reassured her, simultaneously.
"Please remember that we're not supposed to be at Hogwarts yet, as the headmaster is not privy of our secret," Harry warned her. "They'll only be able to contact us through owl or this fireplace."
'She's really nice,' he thought, absentmindedly observing how the older witch stepped back into the fireplace and vanished in the green flames.
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Narcissa Malfoy locked herself into her bedroom, threw herself onto her bed and cried, glad that Lucius was not able to enter her room without her consent anymore. 'I can't believe it,' she thought, furiously. 'Bad enough that he stepped into his father's footsteps and bowed to that evil man, but inviting an incarnation of the evil wizard to live with us, even if he's injured and weak at the moment, really tops everything,' she thought, angrily. 'If I had anywhere to go, I'd just take Draco and leave. Maybe when Draco will go back to Hogwarts next week, I'll think about it. I just hope Draco won't make the same mistakes as his father.'
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When Amelia left through the Floo, Remus excused himself. "I'll go and check if either Minerva or Severus are back yet. I suggest that you go to bed and get some sleep though. I'll ask both of them to come here for breakfast tomorrow, so that we can talk about everything."
"Thanks Remus," Harry replied, unable to suppress a yawn. "Good night."
"Good night, Remus," Ceridwen echoed.
"Good night, Harry and Ceridwen," Remus replied, smiling, before he left the room in search of his colleagues.
"Ceridwen," Harry spoke up in a soft voice, "thanks for being here with me and for me and doing everything together with me. I wouldn't want to live in this time without you."
Ceridwen cast him a genuine smile. "Same here, Harry. I'm very happy to have you, too. Good night, dear."
HP
Early the next morning, Harry woke up to an owl tapping against his window. He lazily dragged himself out of bed and accepted the parchment that was attached to the bird's feet. It was a letter from Amelia Bones.
'That was fast,' he thought, as he quickly unfolded the parchment.
'Dear Harry, dear Ceridwen,
This is to let you know that Unspeakable Raros will take care of both matters of which you have informed me earlier. He's the one who is most qualified in both cases. I have advised him to speak with you, and I'd like to advise you to confide in him. He has my full trust to act in Sirius' and your best interest.
Best regards
Amelia Bones
Head of Magical Law Enforcement
Ministry of Magic'
Taking the letter to the living room, Harry placed it onto the table for Ceridwen to see when she would come out of her bedroom, before he returned to his own room to take a shower and ready himself for the day.
When he returned to the living room, Ceridwen had yet to show up, however, another owl was perched on the window sill.
'Is it owl day today?' he thought in annoyance, as he went to relieve the owl of its letter.
'Dear Ms. Hufflepuff, dear Mr. Potter,
The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, has advised me to speak to the two of you concerning the matters, which you brought to her attention yesterday. Therefore, I'd like the two of you to visit me in my office at ten o'clock this morning. This parchment will turn into a Portkey at exactly ten o'clock. Please make sure to hold on to it on time.
I am looking forward to meeting you.
Best greetings
Unspeakable Raros'
"He doesn't even ask if we wish to come," Harry blurted out, feeling strangely annoyed by the fact, even if he knew that it was clear that they would indeed go to speak with the Unspeakable.
"Who doesn't ask if we'd come?" Ceridwen asked, smiling broadly, as she entered the room.
"Good morning," Harry greeted her, feeling much relieved by his best friend's ever pleasant smile. "Here, we've got two letters this morning and an appointment at the Ministry of Magic at ten o'clock," he explained, pointing to the parchments on the table.
"Oh, that's good, and at least something's happening," Ceridwen commented after reading both letters. "Maybe you're going to have a godfather soon."
"If that's the case, then he'll be your godfather, too," Harry said, indignantly. "If he's not willing to become your godfather as well, then I don't want him either."
Ceridwen chuckled, just when Minerva, Severus and Remus joined them.
"Gina," Harry quickly called the Potter elf, who popped in instantly, "would you please bring us breakfast for five persons?"
"Of course, Master Harry," Gina replied with apparent pleasure, and an instant later, breakfast that could rival the meals, which the Hogwarts elves used to serve in the mornings, popped up on the table.
"Letters?" Severus enquired, glancing at the two parchments, which were still spread out on the table, in apparent surprise.
"Yes, we're supposed to speak with Unspeakable Raros about the matter with Sirius and the Dark Lord at ten o'clock this morning," Harry quickly informed the professors. "The parchment is a Portkey, and I suppose they're going to provide one for our way back, too."
"Otherwise, you can just use the fireplace," Remus reassured them.
"How is Ginny Weasley, and do you have any other news?" Ceridwen enquired, giving Severus a concerned look.
The Potions master let out a deep sigh. "Ms. Weasley will live; however, she's a Squib. The healer informed us that her magic was drained to a great extent and that they won't be able to restore it. Perhaps over time, it might be possible that it'll restore itself, but frankly speaking, the chances are extremely low. Since they can't do anything for her at the hospital that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be able to provide for her, she has been brought to the hospital wing last night. However, she won't be able to attend Hogwarts."
"She was supposed to become a first-year next week," Minerva added in a grave voice.
"Oh no," Harry blurted out in shock. 'The poor girl. Losing one's magic must be an absolute horror.'
"Harry and Ceridwen, you saved her life," Minerva informed them. "If we hadn't found and rescued her when we did, she wouldn't have made it. Even if she lost her magic, she'll still be able to lead a happy life."
'A happy life?' Harry thought, feeling devastated, although he did not even know the girl. 'Having known magic her whole life and then having it taken from her, I can't believe that anyone could easily recover from that.'
tbc...
Thank you so much for your kind comments on this story! Please continue letting me know what you think. Having a hard time convincing my muse to continue with this story.
