Back to the story at hand!
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There was a certain buzz about the hallways, classrooms, and even the Great Hall, the arrival of the other schools was just right around the corner. Without a doubt, everyone was excited to see the foreigners within their familiar school walls!
Harry wouldn't deny that even he was excited; he had met plenty of people that hailed from other magical countries like the Parvati Patil and Padma Patil, Blaise Zabini, Professor Aurora Sinistra, Choo Chang, Sue Li, and so forth. However, more than anything they were either born or grew up here and took up the mannerisms and tradition of the British Isles.
He was at the World Cup, but he never immersed himself in other cultures and got to know people that grew up somewhere besides Magical Great Britain.
Besides the light reading he had done over the summer over the 11 most prestigious schools, Harry also took to more comprehensive mostly at the behest of Hermoine, who just wouldn't let him down. Now besides wanting to get racy with him when the urge strikes her up, she also was his ever present baby sitter.
Really if the sex wasn't there on the board, he might have gotten frustrated with her and snapped. But he had to admit her nagging was what brought the best out of him at times and made him strive for stuff he would never have. That was Hermoine for you.
Besides the ever present excitement and eagerness that held the school in a tight grip, something else bothered Harry.
Ever since he had came back to Hogwarts for his fourth year he had been hearing whispers directed at him. At first, he chucked it up to his imagination, but it kept on persisting and persisting. No matter where he was in the school grounds he would suddenly be assaulted by a wave of some background noise.
Once he saw that it was not his imagination, he thought he was going mad.
You would be surprised with how many wizards and witches go mad, it just is a staple of the life style. It is more common in powerful wizards, some theorize its all the magic they have bottle up in their body that does it.
Harry had a whole bunch of magic in him, a lot, lot more than his schoolmates, and even adults. He really was approaching the level of Sirius and beyond.
At such a young age having that much magic might have been the thing that finally snapped him.
However when he left Hogwarts on the weekends to head off to his family Manor take care of his lordly duties the whispers abated. It was like he was imagining it all like he first thought.
Then when he came back to school it was back like a switch was turned on.
It was obvious when you connected two to two together what was the root of the issue, or more accurately, the place - Hogwarts.
He was after all the heir of three out of the four founders, he imagined nobody as close to this school and the legacies of the founders which it held ever walked these halls.
He did not know what or how, but this place or something inside of it was speaking to him, and Harry did not know how he knew, but he was sure it was the former.
Still that did not matter, voices were speaking to him, and he knew that was not the basis of a healthy life. He did not want to know what or who was trying to communicating with him, he just wanted it to stop.
As it continued he thought about taking a long leave, it was the only thing really that could hold his sanity.
Even though the idea paned him, he knew he had to get out. Still Hogwarts was always a second home for him, a time to get away from his abusive relatives and learn about magic. Something any child would be fascinated with, and would just kill to do.
Just as he was at the snapping point, the voices suddenly stopped, Harry waited hours then days but the voices whispering to him incessantly ceased.
With a sigh of relief he did not know he was holding back, and as his shoulders relaxed back from their constricted knot, he carried on with his studies.
He thought that was the end of all that, but one day as he was heading to the kitchens to get a midnight snack after a rather intensive session with lavender who required his attention, Harry had himself a large appetite and was looking for something to ease it.
The house-elves were happy to provide for him, the little buggers seem to be awake throughout all portions of the days doing one thing or the other whether it be cooking, cleaning, laundry, and so forth.
Heading out a ghostly apparition passed him and Harry didn't even blink, at this point he was used to the ghosts that walked or more accurately floated about the school just like everyone else that spend years within these walls. At this point, it became a normal occurrence seeing something weird or supernatural that couldn't be explained with muggle science.
However the ghost did not just float by, but stopped in front of him. At first, he thought it was Nearly Headless Nick or more accurately Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the Gryffindor House Ghost. But the man before him was a total stranger, a ghost he never meet before or even knew of for that matter.
The apparition had on some very fine robes with intricate designs laced with gold and silver, a turban hat with a large ruby set in the center, and a scroll in his hand. He had sharp silver eyes, a white beard and mustache, bushy eyebrows, long nose, thin lips, and a tan leathery skin set on a round face.
He looked like a man pulled out of the deep dark ages, and from his mannerism and the way he carried himself he must see himself as some one of importance. "Are you Harry James Potter?" the man asked in a gruff old voice with a rich timbre.
"Yes, that would be me," he answered with a nod of his head. "And who are you, you are a ghost I never meet within these walls."
"A ghost," he snorted in distaste. "No," he said with a shake of his head, "I am a memory summoned up."
"A memory of who?" he asked as he looked up and down the old man.
"Albriech Cadoc Ambratorix," he answered with an incline of his head, showing all the grandiose of a nobleman.
"Who?" Harry asked as he never heard of that name before. The man seem to think he should known his name have as he peered closely at him.
"So you don't who I am?" he asked as he brought himself to his full height. "You never heard of me before?"
"No, should I have?" Harry mused with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Of course," he shouted, "Do you know you built this very structure you stand on? Do you know who labored endlessly to make this beautiful wonder? Who raised this place up from the very ground?"
"The founders," Harry replied with a grin, he knew what or whom the man was getting at, but it somehow felt enjoyable ticking off him.
"No me, you fool," he shouted as he tried to smack him on the back of the head but only made him feel a cold sensation as his hand passed through his head. "I forgot about that," he muttered once he saw he didn't have the desired outcome he was looking for.
"So what, you're the architect of Hogwarts? How come I never heard about you?" Harry asked, he was truly curious to know. He never heard mention of him before until now.
"You never read me in your books or anything?" the older man mused out loud. "Those lousy brats," he muttered under his breath. Then turning to face him head on, he declared, "As I said, I am Albriech Cadoc Ambratorix. The most renowned and famous architect of my time. I have been known to build many great wonders all over the world thanks to the gift I have been bestowed with of being able to shape and build objects with magical ease."
"Well meet, then," Harry said with a bow of his head. "So you said you were looking for me?" he asked as he changed up the conversation. "What for?"
"Someone wants to meet you," he answered. "I don't know why you didn't appear before her sooner."
"Are you talking up the whispered I kept on hearing?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. If you just made an effort, then I wouldn't have been summoned."
Snorting, Harry remarked in a sarcastic tone, "Yes, follow that voices, Harry! Why didn't I think of that?"
"What did I do to get a smart aleck like you as a descendant?" the man sighed out loud.
"Wait," Harry said as he held out his hand for him to top, "you said a descendant as in.... you know? Like are you like my ancestor?"
"Don't tell me you don't even know," he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Know what?"
"That I am the grandfather of the Peverell brothers. The very same ones that cheated death!"
"So it that why you were summoned up?" Harry asked as he connected the dots.
"Among many reasons, yes," the older man answered. Then waved his hand off, he uttered "That is of little importance now. We can chat about my life another time.
"Now follow me," he beckoned as he floated off, "the school spirit awaits."
Once again he was confronted with the weirdness of the magical world, and once again he shrugged his shoulders and said to himself, It's magic! There is no way he would ever be able to wrap his mind around it.
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It wasn't every day that you met the collective consciousness of a whole school. But Harry was having one of those rare days where he actually did.
They came up to the seventh floor of the Hogwarts castle and took the left corridor when it came up, and they finally came up to a blank wall, opposite it was a tapestry depicting a wizard who seem to be trying to teach trolls the ballet.
"So is this it?" Harry asked as he waved his hand about to the nothingness that surrounded them. They were at a dead end with just a silly tapestry to look at. He was pretty sure he saw no school spirit about.
"No," the older man who turned out to be his ancestor and the architect of the school answered. "You need to pass it three times thinking about what you need."
"And that is to meet the school spirit," he brooded on as he faced the wall.
"Yes," Albriech simply answered.
Doing as commanded, Harry walked around the wall three times thinking about meeting the mysterious spirit of the school. then when he made his final lap a door magically appeared out of thin air.
"What are you waiting for?" Albriech asked as he was half way through the door with his ghostly body, "she is waiting for you."
Grabbing the door handle, Harry swung the door open and entered inside. Once he was fully through the door slide shut behind him by itself, but he put no concern into it and just walked deeper inside.
He thought for a moment this might have been a trap but it was just too skewed and weird that he just didn't think it was possible. And if it was.... then he would show them what he had been learning all these past few months.
Finally, he came to a large chamber where Albriech stood to the side and in the center was a beautiful floating woman with chains wrapped around her. Her knees were up to her breasts as she was in a feeble position. She wasn't human at all, her body seem to be a white ghostly blue like that of a spirit, and she was so small as big as a 12 year old even though she had the assets of a fully grown woman.
"Meet Lady Hogwarts," Albriech sighed out loud as he waved his hand at the spirit.
"What happened to her?" he asked as he stared up at her.
Suddenly a feminine voice spoke up to him as it came from all around, he had the feeling he knew who it was as he stared at the school's spirit. "Not what, but whom...." the voice whispered.
"My lady," Harry quickly bowed as he got to one knee and had his hand over his heart. "It is an honor to meet you."
"I wish I could say the same," the voice once more came from everywhere even though Lady Hogwart's body or lips did not even move an inch. "But as you can see, I am not in the best of states to welcome guests."
"You said someone did this to you?" Harry asked, and even as he knew deep down who did this, he still asked, "Who?"
"He shouldn't be named, but I believe you already know young Harry Potter," the voice uttered in a sad tone. "Names have power, remember that."
"How..." Harry tried to say as he looked up to see how the ethereal chains wrapped around her body tightly. "How can he do this to you?!"
He felt rage build up, the old man just didn't harm him, but actively took part in harming others. No matter what excuses he made or in whatever name he said he had done this in, this was just pure evil.
"Our dear Headmaster has been scheming for decades on end to take over this school completely. It is my fault I haven't seem this coming sooner. Don't blame yourself, my dear boy."
"Don't worry," Harry promised as he stepped up to the chains, "I will free you."
"DON'T!!!" Albriech shouted as he held out his hand but it was too late as Harry's finger touched the white ethereal chains wrapping around the woman.
As his fingers wrapped around them and tried to make the gesture of ripping them away, force started to build up and then in a wave it sent him flying into the air. Landing against the wall in the far side of the room with a loud boom, Harry slid down it and fell to the floor.
Floating over, Albriech looked down at him as he got up from the ground, "It's useless," the old man stated, "I have to give it to he who shall not be named, he knew his stuff very well."
"Is there nothing we can do?" Harry asked, he knew the old man was a very powerful wizard leagues apart from him in power, experience, and knowledge.
"There is actually," Lady Hogwarts answered in the silence that greeted him and his ancestor.
"What can I do my lady? These chains are too powerful for me to break apart."
"No, I want you to claim your rightful place as the Hogwarts Heir! You are the descendent of two of the Founders, and by right of conquest the third house goes to you. Of all the people who walked these halls never has there been one as close to the Founder as you. Come," she beckoned him over.
Harry had been so distracted by the sight of the chained woman up in the air that he didn't even notice the giant jewel set in a pedestal at the center of the room until now. Once his eyes landed on it, Harry immediately knew what it was. All great properties have this gem, it is the core of a magical structure and the beating heart. The center piece that acted as the control device of wizarding homes and towers.
The Wardstone!
"You can't mean...." Harry whispered. He knew better than anyone what it would mean giving another the wardstone to them.
And he just couldn't believe he was being handed the school just like that!
"It is your birthright," Lady Hogwarts stated.
"Who better than a Peverell to inherent one of my finest works," Albriech declared.
Stepping forth, Harry took a hesitant step forward, this was an honor beyond any bound. He was being given something millenniums years old with a rich history that spanned throughout most of Magical Great Britain's history.
Taking another step, he was soon right at the Wardstone, he watched as it pulsed a beautiful purple glow. He could feel it, this was the master key to the school, and everything it held.
"Take it," Lady Hogwarts commanded and Harry did so....
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END OF VOLUME TWO!