Chapter Text
Summer Start
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Date: Summer Before Seventh Year, Late June
Throwing his bag down on the couch Harry lets out a big great sigh before plopping himself down on said couch as well. As Mason and Sirius do the same he says, "So, what now?"
"You tell us Harry," Mason says with amusement, "as normally this is when you have to go off and do something."
Shake of head. "Nope, not this time, not today. Today I am off the clock, I made it so."
"And now," Remus says from the door as he walks into the room and gives Sirius a kiss as he sits down, "so am I."
Mason looks around to make sure everyone is in agreement and then grins. "Great, so great, well then, let's play a game!"
8888
Putting his book down Harry blinks in surprise as he feels the wards vibrate a bit - with the subsequent request by Albus Dumbledore for entrance.
With but a momentary twist of his magic the wards sing with permission and the fireplace activates, letting Dumbledore step out into the floo gateway chamber.
A few hallways later and he is stepping into the room where Harry is sitting reading. Giving the Lord of the Manor a small bow the Headmaster smiles, "Hello Harry, I appreciate the acceptance."
"Not a problem Albus, not a problem," Harry says with his own smile and nod, "so how may I assist you today?"
"Well, truthfully, I am mostly here to speak to Sirius as the official leader of the Hogwarts School Board but if your free I wouldn't mind going over some Order business with you." The last part is said with a twinkle in his eye.
"That's no problem at all," Harry says before laughing, "in fact I could use a distraction, this book is not exactly fitting my mood right now." He then holds up the book he is reading, a muggle novel called 'The Perfect Storm,' not that Dumbledore recognizes it or anything. He then gestures towards the couch nearby. "Please sit as Sirius is a bit busy right now but will come down soon." A grin follows that and so does, "So, any interesting new Hogwarts business?"
As he sits down the twinkle in the Headmaster's eyes go brighter before he laughs and says, "Actually yes, one matter." A pause to add suspense then, "So it seems that in the aftermath of your cleansing of the wards last October the magics of the school struck Binns."
A blink at that then a tilt of the head, "Has he Moved On?"
A shake of the head, "No, not yet, he still says he is not ready, that there is too much to share for him to go to the Light." A grin. "But at the same time he has finally retired from teaching History of Magics."
A pause, a bit long as Harry takes the news in, which is followed by a bit of bark of laughter. "Oh he has, has he. Well that is amusing, and between us, about time." Two shared grins are the response then Harry asks, "So what is to come of him?"
"After decades of loyal service Hogwarts herself has no wish to kick him out of the school and so has made room for him." At Harry's curious look the Headmaster grins, "It seems a new room has manifested right off the library, a room where he may lecture all about the Goblin Wars and Goblin-Magical Relations all he wishes."
"Oh." A pause follows that then a laughter. "Wow." A shake of the head. "That's kind of brilliant actually." He then gives a grin as an idea comes to him, leading to him saying, "Are you planning on providing students with extra credit of they attend his lectures?"
A wide grin and a twinkle in his eye precedes the Headmaster simply saying, "Of course. Especially as there are many benefits to the students learning from him, especially on the matter of the goblin wars."
A chuckle. "That's actually really brilliant and I hope that the new professor, whomever you hire, will take advantage of his knowledge on that topic."
Albus gives a gentle nod at that before adding, "That is actually part of what I need to go over with Sirius. Professor Binns was not being paid, at least not in gold, which means a larger History of Magic budget is going to be needed."
Harry nods at that, "Ah, yes, I can see how that would be true. Beyond the whole paying Binns in magic, which you will still do, you will need the money to pay, what, a dozen new staff for the department?"
"Fourteen new staff to be accurate." He then sighs slightly, an act he carefully keeps from most other people from seeing but as Harry is, well, Harry, he makes an exception. "Which wouldn't have been so bad if I had been given more time to figure this out."
A slight chuckle, "Hey, don't look at me, I didn't know that my cleansing of the wards would lead to this result." A pause then, "Now, I can't say I am sorry that it happened as Hogwarts has longed needed a flesh and blood professor for history, let us not pretend otherwise." He waits for a moment, eventually getting a nod from the Headmaster. "But yes, I would not have done it this way, especially with the pace of the war expanding."
"Don't worry Harry, it is what it is, it can't be helped. Especially as you already have too much on your plate."
A shake of the head. "We all do really." A pause as he thinks things over then his eyes widen in glee. "Actually, there is something easy I can do. I can put you in contact with the officers in charge of staff hiring for my various educational departments, which include House Sage. With there help you will easily be able to find and then interview the staff you need."
A slight blink of surprise before a twinkle comes to the Headmaster's eyes as he gives a slight bow of thanks. "I thank you Harry for the assistance on that especially as it will help speed up the process."
"Not a problem," Harry says with a grin, "glad to help, especially considering whomever you hire will have at least one year with me and so I want the best."
The Headmaster chuckles in response, for what else is there to say. He then looks at his watch, which leads to Harry saying, "Five minutes then Sirius will be free."
With a nod of thanks he then leans back and says, "Well, we might as well use that time to go over some quick Order business."
"Sounds great." Harry says with a grin before turning his full attention onto what the Headmaster is going to say.
8888
After almost three hours of meetings Harry leans back in his quite comfy chair and says, "Right, so we're down to the last report for the day." He then looks about the room and his senior officers and adds, "I'm listening."
Sirius then says, "Well its last but not least, as they say."
"Thanks Sirius," Harry says with some amusement before gesturing towards Bill and saying, "Bill, its you right?"
A nod from Bill, "Yes." He then clears his throat. "Right. So background. Since Harry claimed the Head Ring he has sponsored almost seven hundred individual cursebreaking and warding operations. Due to that fact there has been a delay in going over each and every artifact or relic collected by all those projects."
"I'd say I'm sorry about all the work but we all know not only would I be lying but that you all actually are happy about it." A bit of laughter erupts. "So, what did you find that has you all in a tizzy?"
Bill holds up an object, which leads to Sirius saying, "A book?"
"While yes that's true, this isn't simply any book, this is an ancient artifact of prehuman origin." A pause for emphasize then, "Of First Race origin."
"Give it to me," Harry says while holding out his hand. The book, once Bill lets go of it, begins moving towards him rather than falling down. As soon as he has his grip on it he says, "What have you learned about it?"
"The book’s wards are ancient, primeval, and are fundamentally intertwined in the whole package." A quick pause. "We also learned that for all its protections merely touching the artifact holds no dangers." He stops and then looks around the room. "Because no one is able to open it."
"Harry," Remus says simply, "I bet you can open it."
Chuckles.
Bill comments with a nod, "We agree with you on that, and not because Harry is Harry but rather because it gives off a Potter aura."
Raising an eyebrow slightly at that he extends his aura, not his personal aura but the aura of the House of Potter, and lets it surround the artifact. There is a shimmer and then from nowhere a lock appears, and so does a keyhole.
One which exactly fits a House Ring.
A fact that is not surprising to Harry and so he doesn't even hesitate to manifest his Potter Head Ring and then lay it on top of the keyhole. His ring extends a bit on its own and gets swallowed up by the keyhole.
Click!
The lock opens up and then it, and the keyhole, disappear as unneeded.
"Open it, open it," Sirius says like a kid in a store. Which immediately breaks the tension that the group had felt.
With a knowing grin sent in his godfather's direction Harry opens the book.
From everyone else's perspective nothing happens, but from his own an aura of ancient magic comes over him - checking him, making sure he is the rightful bearer. When it fades what had appeared to be blank pages transforms into one covered in words in an unknown language. Said words then shimmer as auto-translation magics activate - the words are now in English.
His mouth opens up in shock as he clears his throat and begins to read the introduction, "This is the Journal of Ha'ral of Atla. Within I shall share an account of my life, both in service to the Elder Drak, High Lord of the First Race, and then afterward when I become the village potter for the tribe of my wife. I will also share, for those of my blood who have enough power, the secrets given to me alone by my patron." He stops and then his eyes close at the sheer overwhelming importance of what he just found. A shake of the head, "I don't have words." A moment later and his eyes open fully and with authority in his voice he says, "This is a Secret, one that none of you will speak of. Bill," he stops to make sure Bill is looking at him and when that is clear he says, "this is also a Secret for those working in your office."
Magic swirls as the oaths are enforced.
"Good." A deep breath. "Right all, so as this meeting is now over please head to the dining hall for dinner."
As the room gets cleared Harry stays sitting as he works to comprehend the nature of what he had just been given. Which is nothing less than the very start of not just his family's magic but human magic in general.
"You okay pup?" Sirius as soon as everyone but him, Remus, and Bill are gone.
A soft grin is the response. "Yeah, it's just heady you know." He then turns to Bill and states, "I mean I was just handed the very first journal written by a human magical."
"How much of it do you think you will tell others?"
A chuckle, "Most of it will remain familial, so those in this room plus a few others." Wide grins in response.
"That makes sense," Sirius adds, "it is basically a family grimore."
"It's the First Grimore, the first collection of family texts and lore." He then takes one more look at the book before closing it. A nod. "Right, so that's enough for now." He then stands up with the book in his hand while turning to the three as he says. "Hey, so why don't you guys head to the dining hall." At their look he adds, "I'll be there shortly but I need to do a quick ritual to add this to the family magics so that I can recall it when I want."
The three look at each other before Sirius puts his hands on Harry's shoulder in comfort. "No worries, we'll wait."
Harry looks between them before giving a quick grin and reaching for his magic to manifest his Potter Athame. He then chants an ancient ritual of magic, cuts his finger, and lets three drops of blood fall on the book - which is quickly absorbed as a glowing aura manifests around the book before fading.
Of course unseen are all the interactions going on - interactions between his personal magic, the Potter family magic, the Potter House magic, and the magic of the artifact book itself. When the magic fades a small alcove manifested in the central vault deep beneath Potter Manor as the artifact book became just as fundamental a Potter relic as any of the other ancient tomes here. Which meant that at will he could summon the book or order it transported back to its pedestal in the ancient vault.
When magic settled he smiled at the three men and then said, "Well then, lets head to the dining hall as we don't want to keep them waiting anymore than we already have."
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