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

CH71 - The 3rd House - The Potter Estate

by GuardianOfLight 2 reviews

Harry Goes To His Ancestral Home And Finds Something He Did Not Expect

Category: Harry Potter - Rating: G - Genres: Crossover,Drama,Fantasy - Characters: Fleur,Harry,Lupin,Tonks - Warnings: [!!] [?] - Published: 2007-08-31 - Updated: 2007-08-31 - 3285 words

2Original
Chapter 71 - The 3rd House Of Harry Potter - The Potter Estate

Dimension: 563 - Earth
Date: 14th September 2001 AD
Country: Britain - Scotland
Location: The Potter Estate
Time: Late Afternoon.


Landing with a thud, Harry looked up into a cloud of dust. Picking himself off the floor, he had to blink several times to clear out the years of dirt that had just been blasted into his eyes.

Harry looked around at the Sitting Room of the Potter Estate as best he could through the clouds of dust he had just disturbed.

Like the castle, there were sheets covering the furniture, walls and the floor, keeping the dust off the floor (but unfortunately gathering it for when someone lands in a heap on one of the sheets covering the ground).

Coughing heavily Harry started vanishing as mush dust as possible as the rest of the group began emerging from the fireplace.

They did nothing for the first few minutes but dust removal, when they thought the room was sufficiently dust free they began removing the sheets.

The room underneath was a lot more pleasant than either of the other houses. The room was done out in light pleasant colours rather than the deep colours of the Chateau or the bleakness of either of the Black residences. The furniture was of light woods and the seating was nicely padded, making the room very pleasant to sit in, a wonderfully padded rug laid in front of the fireplace and a large Wizard photograph of the Potter Family and friends above it.

Harry spent several minutes just starring at the picture looking at each of the people in detail. Standing at the back of the picture where six older men and women, two of which he could identify as his mothers parents, he had seen pictures of them at the Dursley's. The rings visible on the fingers of two of the others suggested that they were his father's parents, he could see the likeness of his father to his grandfather easily, he began to wonder if a spell was cast upon the male line to make them look so similar. His grandmother stood beside him, her long curly grey hair falling around her shoulders as they and presumably his great aunt and uncle smiled widely at the just pregnant form of his mother standing in front of them, around her stood Sirius, Remus and Peter all smiling widely at the lump that was him.

When he came back to himself he noticed that almost everyone else was doing exactly the same as him.

Clearing his throat he led them out of the sitting room and into the hall, not giving them a chance to say anything as they began exploring the house, he walked ahead of them, not wanting to engage in conversation for a few minutes at least.

They past by many chambers some bedrooms, others libraries, a couple of offices and various other types of room including the kitchens and a trophy room, at the end of which hung a large tapestry with a family tree on it.

The tapestry was larger than that at Grimmauld Place and went back further in time, unlike the Black tapestry the Potter family itself was smaller but all related families were shown on the tapestry as well, no matter the allegiance. The crest at the top of the tree was a red shield with a gold star upon it; the star was twisted slight so that each point pointed to the one following it, upon the star was the symbol for infinity. Below the crest was a Latin phrase and in English the words:

Blood is thicker than water

"Bringing light to the world for eternity." Translated Adam as he examined the family tree "Sounds appropriate for you Harry."

On most branches at least one name would have another shield or crest below it, indicating where either another family had been linked to the Potter's or where the family crest would change as a new Head of Family came to power. At the bottom of the list Harry could see his name and those of his parents and grandparents, each with their own crest. Looking to the left of his name he saw the names of the Dursley's, Harry played for a moment with the notion of blasting them off of the tapestry, but realised that that would make him no better than the Black's. Looking along his level he saw many familiar names including the Weasley's, Malfoy's, Tonks and Sirius's families and three of four more that he recognised from all of the Hogwarts Houses.

"Blimey." Exclaimed Tonks as she examined some of the names "You are well connected Harry, your distantly related to almost half the Wizengamot."

"Not that it will do him much good nowadays, almost every Pureblood Wizard is related to every other." commented Remus "Shall we have a look outside; it's been a long time since I have been here and it would be nice to see the grounds again.

They all began to file out but Harry stopped when he realised that Adam was not with them, turning back into the room he saw him kneeling down in front of the portrait, looking intently at the line that connected him to his parents.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked.

Adam ran his hand down the line before standing up and turning around.

"No Harry, I just thought I saw something, I must have been mistaken."

Harry shrugged it off as the pair rejoined the group.

Walking further down the path the group were able to see that the house and garden were sitting on a small flat area of a steep slope that made up a mountain. On either side of the house on small terraces were more gardens of varying size, in fact every single flat surface in the area appeared to be covered in gardens, greens, patios, orchards, small seating areas, observation points and any other sort of garden related area you could think off. Each such area was either part of the hill or was supported by a retaining wall that was holding the earth in place.

As the group spread out over the gardens that Harry guessed had been magically flattened out to allow for more space around the house as there were far too much of it to be natural. Looking back at the building, Harry observed that it was a lot smaller than the Chateau Delacour but larger than the Dursley's, the sort of large house you might find on an expensive street, rather large and expensive but just too small to avoid being called a mansion. If he had to guess Harry would have said the front of the building was probably between two and three times the width of the Dursley's and probably the same in depth and one floor greater in height, the inside was obviously magically enlarged but if it were its actual size the house could have just held the Weasley family with everyone had their own room.

Looking down the slope in front of the house, Harry followed the path with his eyes as it left the gardens and wound its way down to a small thatched village on a less steep area of the mountain, it like the gardens was arranged on terraces, though they were larger, measured in tens of meters rather than the five or six square platforms around the house. Surrounding the village appeared to be more terraces where food was growing.

Turning back towards the house Harry saw that beyond the structure was a path leading up the steep side of the small mountain, winding its way amongst the gardens that covered the area towards a small grassy area at least twenty meters higher up the slope nearer the peak.

Curiosity carried Harry around the house and up said slope, after several minutes of hard walking, which got his heart pumping rather hard, Harry staggered onto the small green area.

Turning around he could see several of the others just beginning to follow him up, turning back he was rather surprised by what he saw.

Less than two meters from him stood a very large, very angry looking male Gryphon.

Having never seen a Gryphon before Harry was fascinated by the threatening creature. It stood around six foot tall at the shoulder, its Head was the of an eagle, its neck was hidden under a large golden mane which flowed down to the body of a lion, its forelegs were the talons of an eagle as were its golden wings, all in all it was a magnificent creature, far more elegant than a Hippogriph.

It was staring at him hard, its large beak slightly open, ready to snap an arm off if he came any closer, the Gryphon growled deep in its throat, it was not a noise he expected to hear from a creature with a beak but it growled none the less.

Leaning forward the Gryphon sniffed at Harry who was trying extremely hard not to move, if he went forward or sideways the Gryphon may strike and if he leaned back he would fall down the slope to his death.

He tried to slowly lean to the side but the Gryphon snapped its beak in the space he was trying to move into making Harry freeze, he didn't even want to try reaching for his wand.

The Gryphon moved its large head towards his right hand and sniffed at his family ring before leaning back and twisting its head so that the large eye on the side of its head was staring directly at him.

He stood stock still for several seconds before the Gryphon extended a talon in his direction.

Harry tensed again, preparing to jump back off the ledge; hopefully he would have enough time to transform before he hit the ground, even though it would reveal his identity.

In one rapid movement the Gryphon lunged its talon forward, but far from cutting into his stomach, the limb curled around his back and pulled Harry against the Gryphon's body in what could best be described as a hug.

Not knowing what on earth to do, Harry just stood there while the Gryphon ‘hugged' him.

A few seconds later the Gryphon released him and he stepped back, only to get the shock of his life when the creature ran its tongue up his face.

He coughed and spluttered at the taste on his lips before realising that the Gryphon had turned around and walked further back onto the platform which he could now see properly. The stretch of grass was surrounded on three sides by the rock walls which extended up only three or four meters above the top of the platform before reaching the open top of the small mountain, the open side that the path joined the platform on was open enough to allow the sun to either shine down upon them or through the gap in the front of the platform in the morning and evening.

The platform itself was no more than a rounded ten square meter area with three caves dug into the earth and rock in front of him, one was an arch shape and the tunnel beyond it straight, above the entrance was the Star and infinity crest of his ancestors, the others caves looked more like they had been roughly carved out and much more natural.

The Gryphon, after moving away from Harry, went to the tunnel on the left and called down it in a bird's cry that was much deeper than that of any normal bird.

A few seconds later another smaller Gryphon emerged, it was still very large but about a foot smaller than the first, it had no mane but a coat of golden feathers spreading down to the shoulders where the lions coat took over.

Following the second Gryphon came four small cubs, each just a foot in height.

The female Gryphon walked up to him and sniffed a couple of times before moving to the centre of the platform and lying down, allowing the cubs to come over to Harry and start sniffing at him.

"I see you have met the mountains resident predators Harry." came Remus's voice from behind him as he heaved himself up onto the platform "I probably should have told you about them before you came up, but it has been so long since I've been here that I completely forgot."

"You could have shouted a warning." Replied Harry, trying to stay upright as the young Gryphons tugged at his trousers, they were stronger than they looked.

"There was no need; you were wearing your family ring so there was no danger."

"I don't understand?"

"The Gryphons are effectively guard dogs." The male Gryphon snarled at the comparison "But that would be putting it lightly," continued Remus, looking cautiously towards the creature "Several generations back a couple of Gryphons came here and nested, they started hunting the local livestock and they blocked your families access to that tunnel." Said Remus, pointing to the central tunnel "Understandably the villagers wanted to remove them but the current head of your family had a better idea, he would agree to let them live up here and hunt the herds of deer and other large wild animals in return for their protecting the House and village and ever since, even when the remainder of their species became extinct in Britain, a Gryphon couple have lived up here protecting the estate, a few times a year they migrate to mainland Europe but at least one of the Gryphons that returns is always one of those that left."

Remus said this as Fleur, Colette, Hermione and Ron made it to the top of the slope.

"If memory serves, my guess would be that this," he said gesturing to the large male who Harry noticed had his eyes locked on Remus "Is Talon." the Gryphon let out an affirmative call, still not taking his eyes off Remus "He was a young adult when I was last here fifteen years ago, he never liked me very much."

Talon punctuated the statement with a snort.

"Not that he had much choice in the matter, your Grandfather granted me admission to the estate and so he had to live with it."

"Why doesn't he like you?" asked Harry.

"Werewolf." Explained Remus "Two top predators in the same range, that's another reason that Gryphons are nearly extinct in the British Isles, competition from Dragons drove them into mainland Europe.

"Err Arry?" came Fleur's worried voice.

Turning to her Harry saw that the female Gryphon had moved and was now snarling at Colette and his mate.

Harry quickly stepped in front of the Veela.

"No, they are my friends, they are all my friends." The female looked at him for a moment before turning to her mate who slowly nodded. Turning back to Harry the female nodded slightly, not overly happy with the decision before returning to her young.

Breathing a sigh of relief he turned to the Veela.

"Are you ok?"

"We're ok." Replied Colette nodding "I doubt they will disobey you, not that I want to wander around the estate without an escort."

"What is down that tunnel anyway?" asked Fleur.

Harry turned to Remus who gestured for Harry to go and look.

As Harry passed the Gryphons he heard Remus say quietly to the others when they attempted to follow him:

"No, let Harry look by himself."

Not turning back, he walked into the small tunnel and began to follow its path, looking at the smooth walls as he went; the tunnel split in two and proceeded of to the left and right. Deciding on the left route he began to walk down the curved tunnel, after he had walked about four meters he could see a series of square holes in the inside curve of the wall forming large windows.

As he approached one, he looked out and saw a large circular area, like that which the Gryphons lived around, though it was about twice the size, it was evident now that an awful lot of the top of the mountain was a magical illusion as such a large area would have to be many meters from the top of the mountain.

In the courtyard were a series of small obelisks arranged in a circular pattern, on the far side of the courtyard Harry could see the other passage through the corresponding windows in that passage and an entrance where both passages met again and led out into the courtyard.

Walking further around the passage Harry moved out into the courtyard area and looked in closer detail at the stones, looking at the closest stone he realised immediately what this area was, the first three words on the obelisk were:

JAMES & LILY POTTER

It was a cemetery.

Before him were the graves of his ancestors.

The oldest of his family he guessed lay under the tallest of the obelisks at four feet tall at the back of the cemetery, the obelisks then got progressively smaller as they created a semicircle around the first and then a semicircle around that ring and so on through four rings until they reached the last and smallest obelisk at just over a foot tall in the middle of the half filled fifth ring which held the names of his parents.

He dropped to the ground in front of his parent's grave.

It occurred to him that he had never once wondered where they were buried, all these years they had lain here and he had not known

For the first time in his life, as he knelt in front of the graves of his ancestors he felt....whole.

He had a future with Fleur and now he had a past.

Yes

He was....at last.

Complete.
________________________________________________________________________

After Remus had finished explaining what was down the passage the group had got progressively more nervous with every minute that past, how would Harry react to seeing his parent's graves?

Fifteen minutes after he had entered the group turned to look at the passage as footsteps began echoing on the stone tunnel floor.

As Harry emerged into the sunlight, everyone, even the Gryphons looked at him.

"Arry?" Fleur asked nervously "Are you ok?"

Looking at her he put on a large smile and replied.

"I'm a lot better than ok."

He didn't say more as he began to walk to the edge of the slope before turning back to Remus.

"Who buried them?"

"I did." Replied Remus "I brought their bodies back here and buried them before the wards sealed the Estate until the next generation of Potter's returned."

Harry nodded his understanding before turning to the Gryphons.

"I will see you soon Talon."

The Gryphon gave a return call before returning to one of the two tunnels that lay beside the cemetery entrance.

Smiling Harry began to descend the hill towards the mansion.

As the group re-entered the sitting room Harry turned to the others.

"If you don't mind I would like to see Godrics Hollow on my own."

Remus nodded his understanding.

"As you wish Harry, we will return to Hogwarts."

Harry nodded as the others looked at him sympathetically before entering the flames and vanishing, Fleur, Colette, Buffy, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all sent him worried looks but he just nodded and mouthed.

"I'll be fine."

Once the other had gone Harry picked up some Floo Powder and drew his wand just in case.

Taking a deep breath he sent the powder flying into the fire.

"Godrics Hollow."
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