Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Slayer, The Avatar And The Guardian Of Light

CH69 - The 1st House - Castle Black

by GuardianOfLight 5 reviews

Harry Sees The Black Ancestral Home

Category: Harry Potter - Rating: G - Genres: Crossover,Drama,Romance - Characters: Dumbledore,Fleur,Harry,Hermione,Lupin,Snape - Warnings: [!!] [?] - Published: 2007-08-19 - Updated: 2007-08-19 - 4379 words

3Original
Chapter 69 - The 1st House Of Harry Potter - Castle Black

Severus Snape was really getting aggravated, not only had the strangers and foreigners been accepted at Hogwarts, but they are now teaching, and even worse still was that Potter had somehow managed to pass his Potions Exams and was also teaching HIS students his best subject, including Malfoy. Not even the Founders knew how that happened, how in Merlin's name had Lucius managed to get him to do that.

He had noticed a change in Malfoy's behaviour this term, he was not Lucius's son so much these days, he'd been almost normal, he hadn't seen him insult Potter once, which he had to admit was a bit of a disappointment. He has actually been almost polite to the Golden Trio, not to mention the Weasley girl; he's been acting almost as strangely towards her as she had towards him. He doubted that either of them actually knew what was going on yet.

Oh Merlin that was a match made in hell, Lucius would have a whole litter of Kneazles if he knew, but then again Draco always did like to get one up on Lucius, that was something they still had in common.

He would have to keep a close eye on Malfoy, if he was not careful he would get himself killed, if not by Lucius then by Weasley Senior, but then again Weasley always was a bit soft, he would be more likely to accept the match than Lucius.

Then there was that woman, Buffy Summers, she was trouble, firstly she was American and couldn't speak proper English to save her life and secondly, now that she's a witch she's was being given private tuition, by the Headmaster no less.

Her companion was a bit more of a mystery. He had power, a lot of it, the Headmaster had vouched for him and as much as Severus trusted the Headmasters opinion there was still something he was not telling them. Last week just after the incident in the MD room, he had returned from Gringotts with a staff, only the most powerful wizards could use them to any great affect, the only other person in the school who had the raw magical power to do so was the Headmaster himself though to his knowledge he never saw fit to making one.

Then there was even more disturbing news, Voldemort was doing very little, not including the attack on the train which was probably just a target of opportunity, or a chance to test out that new pet of his, there had been nothing from him for weeks. He was planning something big, it was the only explanation, and he hadn't called the Death Eaters for over a month.

They would have to see what he had planned.
________________________________________________________________________

Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 14th September 2001 AD
Country: Britain - Scotland
Location: Hogwarts - Dumbledore's Office
Time: Morning


The next weekend all those who had been granted access to Castle Black had been invited to assemble in the Headmaster's Office, Harry, Fleur and Colette were the first to arrive.

"Ah My Lord." Greeted Dumbledore, getting up from his desk. He had obviously finally accepted Harry's demand that he be called by his given title "Could I speak to you in private for a minute?"

Harry thought for a moment before nodding, sending reassuring thoughts to Fleur.

Dumbledore turned and opened a room hidden directly behind the Headmasters desk, the section of stone wall and the portrait of Dumbledore's immediate predecessor mounted upon it jutted forward and slid to the side, revealing the hidden room.

Following the Headmaster into it, Harry fully opened his link with Fleur, allowing her to know what was going on.

The room itself was rather small, around the size of his room at the Dursley's except it was oval in shape, the wall, floor and ceiling were all covered in red velvet and the only light came from a small stained glass window containing images of the Four Founders, covering the room in many colours of light.

Around the room were many paintings of various sections of Hogwarts and its grounds, including the Main Gates, Entrance Hall, Great Hall, the four Common Rooms, several stair wells and various other locations, there were about a dozen House Elves in the room monitoring the various paintings, Harry realised that the paintings must show what is actually happening in those areas of the school and that this was how the House Elves told Dumbledore what was going on.

In the centre of the room was a table with a transparent scale model of Hogwarts and its grounds, the inner passages of the castle were visible through the outer walls, the whole thing was contained within a bubble that Harry guessed represented the wards. Upon the model were small white, red, green, blue and yellow figures that flickered in and out of existence like a light bulb with a dodgy connection.

"Please leave us a moment." Dumbledore asked the House Elves who promptly bowed and vanished, leaving the pair alone in the room as the door slid closed behind them.

"This is the Watch Room," explained Dumbledore as he turned to Harry "This is how I monitor what goes on inside of Hogwarts, yet for some strange reason yourself and several other members of staff and students no longer show up in any of the portraits. Would you happen to know why My Lord?"

"I'm afraid I do not know why I no longer appear on the portraits Headmaster." He replied truthfully, he could guess with what was probably a large degree of accuracy that he actually did appear on them, but the House Elves just didn't report what they saw to Dumbledore.

"Very well," acknowledged Dumbledore before turning to the model of Hogwarts, obviously having seen him looking at it earlier "That is something Remus is working on, as I am sure you are aware he has some experience in creating monitoring spells," he grinned, obviously thinking of the Marauders Map "But at the moment its causing a few problems as it isn't just a flat sheet of paper, but regardless I am going off topic." He said straightening himself.

"I wish to apologise to you My Lord, for what have obviously been mistakes on my part as regards to your welfare over the years, it appears that my mistakes go far deeper than those I revealed to you at the end of last year and for that I apologize and I hope that in time I regain some of the trust in you that my actions have recently rid you of."

Harry stood stunned for several seconds, though he was careful not to show it on his face; he could safely say that he was not expecting that, he thought he would be fighting Dumbledore all the way, apparently his successes against him thus far had indeed, as Adam had advised him to do, proved to the headmaster that he was not his pawn.

"I accept your apology Headmaster," Harry nodded before adding "But there are a few words I never want to hear again, ‘need to know', ‘for your own good', ‘I only did it to protect you', ‘I must do this' or anything else of the sort. Trust has to be earned Headmaster; it will take time for me to see you as I once did."

"I understand My Lord." Nodded Dumbledore as Harry turned and opened the panel to let them out.

Pausing as he was about to cross the threshold Harry turned to look over his shoulder and corrected.

"Harry."

Walking back into the Office Harry could see that everyone was assembled.

"Ready Harry?" asked Dumbledore, smiling widely at the state of Detente he had just achieved with him.

Nodding, Harry picked up some Floo Powder and threw it into the fire.

"I Harry James Potter Master of Castle Black demand admittance to my estate."

The fire flared and Harry stepped through.

He hurtled through the network, seeing the various exits along the way, the ride seemed more turbulent than usual, Harry barely had time to register this when he jerked sideways and was sent tumbling out of the network.

When Harry's head had finished spinning he discovered that he was on his hands and knees in what appeared to be a sitting room.

Hearing footsteps to his left, Harry spun around, wand raised and ready to strike, only to come face to face, or to be more precise face to navel with Gristleback.

"I apologise for the landing Harry, but Gringotts rules state that that when an owner takes possession of an estate of this size he or she must be escorted inside by a member of staff, in addition the wards around the Castle, the magic around the estate diverted your Floo to this Gatehouse, hence the bumpy landing."

"No more bumpy than usual." He replied, climbing to his feet.

There was a lick of green flame behind them as the rest of the group started arriving through the fireplace.

Finally the last person arrived, it took slightly longer than usual as each landing was as bumpy as his own, when Adam tumbled through the opening he became the only one not to stagger in the slightest as he landed on one knee using his fist for support, Harry observed the slight sagging on his face as he rested, for the first time Harry realised that the jump meant that his power was left back at Hogwarts.

"Sorry Adam I forgot about your power drag."

Adam straightened up, his face wearing a pleasant smile.

"It's fine Harry."

The Goblin cleared his throat so that he could get everyone's attention and led them out into a hall, down a flight of stairs and through the buildings front door, once outside he led them a little way from the Gatehouse so they could see it clearly.

They were standing near a cliff, the Gatehouse stood right on the edge, a balcony out the back leaned over said cliff, what made the scene stranger was the fact that the Gatehouse was, as a gatehouse should be, shaped around two large black sets of gates. One set in front of the other, the gates themselves were two stories high and the building itself three stories high and at least thirty meters in width and the same in depth, making it one of the biggest gatehouses that the group had ever scene and easily big enough for people to live in. But the strange thing was although the gate was heavily fortified, there was no fencing or walls on either side of the Gatehouse so you could in effect walk straight around the side of the building, they were currently standing on the cliff side of the gates.

"We are now standing Viscount on the cliffs of Black Island, if I could ask you to look out over the sea for a moment Mr. Potter the last of your guests is awaiting permission to approach."

Harry looked out where the Goblin directed, hovering about one hundred meters off shore was a woman on a broom that Harry could identify as Andromeda.

"I thought she couldn't see the island?" asked Harry.

"She cannot, but I told her rough directions, the island will become visible when she is granted admission."

Harry withdrew his wand and pointed to his throat.

"Sonorus. I HARRY JAMES POTTER, MASTER OF CASTLE BLACK GRANT ADMITTANCE TO ANDROMEDA BLACK TONKS TO MY RESIDENCE ON BLACK ISLAND. QUIETUS."

A beam of light flew out from Harry's chest and passed through the flyer; as soon as this had happened Andromeda flew to the cliffs and landed.

"Good morning Harry," she greeted "I want to thank you fo...."

"Andromeda." he interrupted, raising a hand "You have more right to be here than I do so let's not speak another word on the subject.

Andromeda paused for a moment before smiling widely.

Turning around, Harry walked towards the gates, as soon as his hand touched them, both sets swung open in front of them.

The Goblin cleared his throat to get their attention again.

"This way please Viscount."

The group followed the Goblin through the gates, across the grass and over a slight hill, a lawn came into view with a path leading up to a very old and remarkably intact castle, the stonework was black and ancient, the castle looked older than Hogwarts and roughly the same size, but unlike Hogwarts the castle appeared to be a more practical design with a large outer wall and a tall inner wall, both of square design, inside the inner wall was a large central building that Harry remembered was called a keep, on each corner of the walls and the keep were towers. Unlike the tall towers of Hogwarts the wall towers were wide and defensive; several turrets also adorned each wall. The towers on the keeps corners were taller and topped with taller flag poles than the wall towers, with one larger tower extending from the middle of the keep with an extremely large flag pole on the top, on each pole was a flag with the Black family crest upon it. Surrounding the castle was a small ditch about five meters wide extending from the wall and surrounding that where many acres of lawns, fields, woods and overgrown gardens.

Harry was not sure whether to he should be shocked at the castles grandeur or whether he should shudder at the dark overgrown, ominous state of the place.

"Wow," exclaimed Ginny "That's....that's...."

"Kinda creepy." Buffy contributed.

"To say the least." Agreed Colette.

"Shall we go in." chuckled Remus.

They passed over a drawbridge which extended over the ditch and reached the Gate House of the outer wall; a set of Heavy Iron Gates could be seen a meter behind a very large portcullis, the Gate House itself was very thick and was most defiantly designed for defence; the crest of the Black family was displayed above the portcullis.

The Goblin waved his hand and the portcullis rose out of the way.

Stepping into the tunnel before the gate, the group observed the various spikes, arrow slits and various other defensive measures housed within the Gatehouse.

As Harry reached the gate the Goblin handed him a large key which he pushed it into the lock and turned.

Nothing happened.

"You need to demand entry Viscount." Gristleback explained, clearing his throat.

"Oh right, I Harry James Potter Master of Castle Black demand admittance to my estate."

There was a flash of light and all the flags and crests that they could see though the gate changed to that of the Potter family, then followed a loud creak as the gate swung open slowly.

As the Gatehouse was spread over both walls they didn't need to repeat this procedure on the inner wall.

Upon passing through the inner wall and into the bailey (Harry had been doing research on castles so he knew all the correct terms) of the castle, he observed a large area of overgrown gardens and small lawns; they approached the keep only to be confronted by a large set of black wood doors with the Potter family crest mounted above them.

Harry placed the key in this lock and turned, the door swung open slowly.

"Viscount, congratulations on your inheritance of Castle Black." said Gristleback with a satisfied smile "As you know, our staff have been around the estate and have removed a large number of dangerous charms, jinxes and curses that could cause you or your guests harm, we have also finished installing additional wards as you requested. You now have full ownership of the estate and are in effect its secret keeper and as a result the only people who know of the location of the estate are present here today."

Harry thought for a moment then asked.

"What about you're Goblins, I'm not trying to imply in any way that they would give away personal information but I thought it best to ask."

Gristleback gave a toothy smile "You are correct in thinking that any of our employees would never give away personnel information, they all have to sign a magical contract of confidentiality upon joining the company, but to be on the safe side we always wipe their memories of the location when they return."

Harry nodded his acceptance.

"This way please Viscount." the Goblin directed leading the way into the house.

They entered a large entrance hall, the floors of which were dirty and all the surfaces were thick with dust.

"Professor," Harry asked turning to Remus "I was wondering do you think Dumbledore would object if...."

"Dobby and Winky are already here Harry." Remus explained with a smile "We knew you would want them working for you."

"Thank you Professor."

"There is someone else here as well Harry."

"Who?" Harry asked confused.

"Kreacher."

"WHAT?" shouted Harry, Ron and Ginny.

"He is now your legal property Harry/"

"I don't...."

There were three pops and the House Elves appeared in front of them, the one in the centre stepped forward and all three bowed low.

"Professor Harry Potter Sir, Dobby and Winky are overjoyed that you want us working for you sir."

"It's my pleasure Dobby, now how much do you want to be paid....how's ten Galleons a week with one day a week off sound....the same goes for Winky if she wants it."

"Master Professor Harry Potter Sir!" Dobby exclaimed "Dobby couldn't accept so much generosity."

"I insist Dobby," he said with a smile, he then turned to Winky "Do you wish to be paid too Winky?"

"No thank you Professor Potter Sir, Winky is a true House Elf and wishes to serve you as other House Elves would."

"Very well Winky, as you wish."

"Thank you Master." she said bowing low, as she straightened up she snapped her fingers and her tatty clothes were replaced by a tea cosy

"Winky, could you wear something a little less....a little less...."

"Degrading." Hermione contributed, for the first time Harry saw that she was beaming, she was probably overjoyed that although SPEW had failed these House Elves would at least get a good life, she knew he of all people would treat them well.

He had half expected her to explode at even the thought that he would be employing House Elves.

"Exactly." Harry agreed.

Winky thought for a moment then clicked her fingers; the tea cosy was exchanged for a sheet of black material wound around her in such a way as to look like a miniature robe, on the front was the Potter family crest in the same place as the Hogwarts Logo was on their school robes, Harry saw how clever this was, she was wearing a scrap of material that was made in such a way as to make it look like she was wearing robes, though technically she wasn't.

Dobby seeing Winky's idea also clicked his fingers and then appeared to be wearing a miniature butler's outfit also with the Potter family crest in the top left hand corner.

Some of the group laughed at the pair's new attire.

Harry also smiled but then his face hardened and turned to Kreacher.

"Kreacher...." Harry began but before he could get any further Kreacher flung himself down on his hands and knees.

"I'M SO SORRY MASTER, I WASN'T MYSELF, I'M SORRY FOR INSULTING YOU, I'M SORRY FOR INSULTING YOUR FRIENDS, I'M SORRY FOR BETRAYING MY LAST MASTER TO HIS DEATH, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY."

Harry turned to Remus, utterly confused at the House Elves sudden change of personality.

"Some families cast spells on their House Elves so that their personalities tend to be the same as the family they serve as in the case of Kreacher he used to serve the Black's and therefore had the same mind set as them, but now he serves the Potter's. Dobby and Winky don't have the same spells upon them, their personalities are constant, as Kreacher is now your House Elf Harry he is now a good House Elf and he serves the same side as you."

Harry nodded and turned back to the wailing Kreacher, trying to ignore the look of fury on Hermione's face that anyone could just change a beings identity like that.

"KREACHER" he shouts, attempting to quell the still wailing House Elf "I don't blame you....it wasn't your fault....I forgive you."

"Oh thank you Master, a thousand thank you's." he cried out in relief as he regained his footing and changed his attire to match Winky's.

"Now you three, I want you to start cleaning this castle from top to bottom, firstly clean all the rooms that Andromeda and Tonks will use as they will also be living here, then I want Dobby to go and clean Godrics Hollow and Kreacher to do the same to Number 12 as he has lived there the longest and knows his way around the best, when you have finished I want you both to go to Potter Mansion and do the same before return here to help Winky clean the rest of the keep then move onto the rest of the castle and it's grounds, oh and can you have at least half of the flags displaying the Black family crest instead of the Potter crest, I may own the castle but there are more Blacks here than Potter's. When you've finished I want all four houses to look like people have lived in them for generations, but remember there is no rush for the Potter Estate or Godrics Hollow as they are currently unused."

With three calls of ‘yes master' and similar statements, they popped away.

Gristleback then leads them into the Living Room, the room was large and full of cloth covered furniture, pulling the sheets off produced large clouds of dust which were rapidly banished by one or more of the teachers, when the dust cleared three settees, two arm chairs and a table were revealed, all were arranged in front of a very large fireplace, above which was a shield with the Black family crest upon it, there were a pair of Japanese's looking swords crossed behind it. The room also appears to contain a mini bar as well as several large exterior windows now dirty from neglect, the room was also heavily covered in dust, dirt and more than one spider was visible in the corners of the room (luckily Ron didn't notice).

There was a burst of flame as Colette lit the fire with a ball of flame, blowing more dust out into the room.

Approaching the fireplace, Harry picked up a lump of hardened Floo Powder from the jar beside the fireplace and threw it into the hearth.

The fire coughed and spluttered for a moment as the ancient powder slowly seemed to do what it was supposed to do.

"I Harry James Potter change the password of my residence to...."

Harry had been thinking very carefully about what to have as a password and he had finally decided, as the message said ‘any language' Harry had decided on....

Parseltongue

"Padfoot." he hissed, the fire place roaring with flame before returning to a normal burn, Harry turned back to the Goblin.

"Shall we continue?"

Over the next hour they saw the rest of the castle including several offices, large libraries (making Hermione want even more to meet the terms of the Sirius's will), store rooms and many bedrooms, of which Andromeda and Tonks each chose one, Harry chose the room with a connecting office on the top floor of the keep in the central turret as it gave him a good view of the castle. He discovered that it was in fact the main bedroom of the master of the house which seemed fairly appropriate.

They also discovered that the castle had a heated underground swimming pool as well as a very fine wine cellar and a large amount of dungeons, around and in front of the castle were a series of woods, fields and gardens all overgrown from neglect, behind the castle were vertical cliffs, they were a similar colour to the white cliffs near Dover on England's south coast and they appeared to be the only bright part of the island. They were heavily worn at the base by weathering making the piece of land they were on wider at the top than it was at the bottom, presumably some magic was preventing the overhanging stone from breaking off under its own weight, there were also a series of caves dug into the cliffs.

Arriving back in the living room, Gristleback turned to Harry.

"I believe that is everything Viscount," he concluded "Congratulations again on your inheritance."

He then snapped his fingers and vanished.

Harry then turned to Andromeda.

"I hope you'll enjoy living here."

"I'm sure we will Harry," Andromeda thanked "But there must be some way we can repay you for allowing us back to our ancestral home."

"You could help the House Elves brighten this place up a bit," Looking down at his hand he pulled of the Black family ring and handed it to her "Use the ring to get yourself continuing access to my account and then send it back to me."

"It's the least we can do Harry, and thank you." Andromeda said smiling widely before drawing her wand and heading down the hall casting cleaning charms as she went.

Harry then turned to Adam.

"Could I ask you to add your protections to all four of my residences, the Goblins have already added the strongest wards they can but I get the feelings yours will be even stronger."

"Certainly Harry." Adam nodded.

"Shall we move on to number twelve?" he said turning to Remus, he had already got Dumbledore to reveal the Order's secret location to Buffy, Neville, Luna and Adam so they could talk about it freely.

"As you wish Harry."

Harry nodded and moved to the fireplace, picking up some Floo Powder he threw it into the fire.

"12 Grimmauld Place" the fire flared and he stepped in.
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