Dear Old Hogwarts: Alive Again
Disclaimer: Well, considering I’m not richer than England royalty, I don’t own Harry Potter.
Story: For Hogwarts, there must always be a headmaster. Without one, there would be dire consequences. So what happens when Dumbledore just dies suddenly? And what happens when the Founders have to take over for a while so they can find a new headmaster?
Set as an AU for six.
Spoilers: Books 1-7 probably.
Warnings: ????
Pairings:
Dear Old Hogwarts
Chapter One: Alive Again
“I’m sorry, Harry. If you’d like to see him…?” Professor McGonagall offered her condolences to the young man.
Over an hour ago, it was confirmed that Dumbledore had died. It hadn’t even been a full week after retrieving Slughorn, and Dumbledore had suddenly died without anyone suspecting the oncoming death of the headmaster.
“Of course, Professor McGonagall. I would like to see him now,” Harry said hollowly.
The walk up the winding stairs to Dumbledore’s office was disturbing, feeling different because of the nature of his visit. Harry steeled himself against the preceding image of death his mind had conjured up, feeling dread pool in the bottom of his stomach.
When at last he had reached the door, he hesitated for a brief moment and then slowly pushed the door open. The office was strangely the same, but in the room connected, Harry knew the deceased headmaster’s body lay. Taking steps towards the inevitable confrontation, he just couldn’t believe that this was happening of all things. He entered the chamber and froze at the sight of the pale Dumbledore lying on the bed.
He’d been so angry at Dumbledore at the end of last year that he’d never really gotten the chance to say sorry. He was still angry about the whole thing, and yet he understood some part of what Dumbledore had been trying to do. He didn’t like it whatever Dumbledore had been thinking, but Harry had known better than to blame it all on Dumbledore and throw a fit. He’d been too emotional, especially after Sirius’ fall.
Harry had never been a particularly emotional person. At the Dursley’s, that was the worst thing to be. It was more toward Harry than anything though. But after finding Hogwarts, Harry had been more open and began to let a bit of himself out. It wasn’t enough because Harry still believed in bottling up his emotions, which resulted in huge breakage 5th year and a spillage of his emotions after.
Harry still didn’t know how to express himself freely.
As he sat at Dumbledore’s bedside, Harry reminiscence on the past few years. And the thought of what was going to happen to the school now jolted into his mind. Was McGonagall going to run the school in the meantime? Who would become the new headmaster? Would Voldemort try to attack Hogwarts now that the only wizard the Dark Lord feared was dead?
Harry shivered at that thought.
Feeling that he couldn’t be there any longer, Harry practically ran out of the room. It was only to stop short at seeing four disgruntled people sprawled on the floor. There were two women and two men. One woman had a light blond hair that could almost pass for white, with golden eyes. Harry was sure there must’ve been some Veela blood in her. The other woman had an odd bluish hair that may have been black but really didn’t seem it, and dark brown eyes. There was this aristocratic air about her. Then there was one of the men who had silver hair and green eyes that were slightly lighter than Harry’s. The man next to him had auburn hair and brown eyes, remarkably normal compared to the others but also looked the friendliest and warmest.
“This is rather odd,” the Veela commented candidly, surprisingly light and pleasant. Harry had expected her to sound snobbish or vain.
“Indeed. Now, we need to figure why our presence has been brought here,” the silver-haired male responded.
“But Salazar, if we’re here, that must mean Hogwarts is in trouble,” the other male noted in distress.
“Godric, we must be calm. There is no need to jump to conclusions until we have at least some facts to ground us,” the blue-haired woman rationalized.
“Merlin, the Four Founders are here,” Harry breathed out in shock, interrupting the others after having deduced who was who.
The four adults swiveled their heads to him and Harry felt an incoming headache come on.
“Hullo there! Are you alright? You look quite faint,” the one Harry was sure was Godric Gryffindor asked cheerily.
“Bloody Hell,” Harry muttered and then fainted.
Harry awoke some time later, with four faces hovering above his own. He almost flinched, but held back from doing so. The Founders moved away and that allowed Harry to sit up comfortably and observe them. Each had varying looks of curiosity on their faces as they watched him in turn.
“Hello, dear. We’re in Hogwarts, correct?” Rowena Ravenclaw, he was sure, asked him.
Harry sighed. If for no other reason than to get this over with, he needed to explain everything in one go to them. “Yes, this is Hogwarts. If I am correct, you all are the Four Founders, respectively Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Your lives spanned about a thousand years ago as it is now the year 1996. My name is Harry Potter, current student of Hogwarts in Gryffindor.”
The other four stared at him before Helga spoke up, “Well, we know our location and timeframe. We just need to know the circumstances.”
“Did a Hogwarts’ headmaster die suddenly?” Salazar cut in.
Harry’s face darkened and his mouth tightened noticeable, “Albus Dumbledore, post-headmaster of Hogwarts, has just recently died a couple of hours ago with no warning.”
“I’m sorry, Harry. Were you close to him?” Godric asked uncertainly.
Harry fought the urge to sneer and glare at them, knowing that they weren’t at fault and that his own chaotic feelings were the ones fighting to control his actions.
“Yes. Headmaster Dumbledore was like a…mentor to me,” Harry finished lamely. He didn’t really want to reveal the extent of his relationship with the recently deceased headmaster. It was personal and it still hurt him raw to think about it. Dumbledore had been like a grandfather to him. The old wizard had been part of what little family Harry had gathered.
The Founders didn’t pry, having figured out that Harry had left something out and that he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Well, we’re here because it’s a failsafe for Hogwarts. If the headmaster dies suddenly without a new headmaster ready to replace him or her, then we’re pulled forth to take over until a new headmaster can be found. Otherwise, certain bad things will happen,” Salazar explained, continuing why he had asked in the first place.
Harry looked warily at the original Slytherin, but he was really wary of all of them. “Why can’t the deputy headmistress take over instead? And what bad things will happen?”
“For one thing, the wards around Hogwarts will fail. Another, Hogwarts itself will begin acting strangely, malfunctioning, and will begin to deteriorate within months. The deputy headmistress cannot take over if she is not clearly stated to be the next the headmistress or temporary headmistress.”
Harry scowled. ‘Help them Harry. Show them where they need to be and what they should do.’ He could actually hear Dumbledore saying that. Damn, he didn’t want to do anything. He wanted to grieve and brood to himself. He didn’t want to take responsibility, just have a normal year for once.
“Hold on,” he muttered to them reluctantly. He went to Dumbledore’s fireplace, tossing in floo powder and ready to announce the news.
“Heads of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. This is an announcement from the headmaster’s office. There will be a meeting in twenty minutes. The basic outline is that we have a group of unidentified intruders claiming to be the Four Founders sent as a failsafe in the event a headmaster dies suddenly. As you know, Headmaster Dumbledore has just recently passed. You four will come here to inspect them and then explain their roles as the pro tempore headmasters and headmistresses of the Hogwarts of this time. If they leave this room at any time before or during the meeting, they will be immediately classified as enemies of the school. At this time, you will alert the other teachers and detain the intruders. It’s spell to disarm, not kill.”
He stepped back from the fireplace to stare back at the stupefied Founders, after deactivating the floo.
“Don’t take it the wrong way. I don’t know if you really are who you say you are. It’s for safety, you know? There are a bunch of students coming to school and it’s not a good idea to one, advertise you are the Founders, and two, make sure you really are the Founders before handing control of the school to you. I’d also advise you to stay in this room until the Head of your Houses come to evaluate you and then clarify what work needs to be done. The portraits around you will report if otherwise. Good night.”
And then Harry was done. Having washed his hands of them, having helped whatever he could as a student, there was nothing more Harry wanted to do after having done what was necessary. He’d just leave the rest to the teachers and then to the Founders.
His inner Dumbledore tutted at his attitude.
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“Did that child just…?” Salazar trailed off, still staring in the direction Harry had left.
“Didn’t sound like a Gryffindor,” Helga muttered.
“On the contrary, the way he stood up to us like that, even after we told him who we were, was very courageous,” Godric said smugly.
“But his arguments were that of Ravenclaw material. They were sound and logical,” Rowena countered.
“He handled the conversation, and us, like a Slytherin,” Salazar pointed out.
“His loyalty to the school is very admirable. Such loyalty is usually found in Hufflepuff,” Helga stared shrewdly at the portrait she had just found that was labeled to be Albus Dumbledore.
Godric was about to retort that it didn’t matter and Harry was still one of his, when the door opened to admit Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout.
“Hullo there,” Godric waved instead.
The professors gaped, before recovering and starting to identify them. When that was done, the Founders had to explain again why they were there. After that, the professors just stared at them before muttering and sighing to themselves. The professors then began to talk amongst themselves. After, they had McGonagall speak on their behalves, as she was deputy headmistress.
“As you have proven to be who you say you are, you will be announced as the temporary headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts. Term has not started yet, but there are several things you must do before. Re-familiarize yourselves with the castle, check and reestablish the wards, settle yourselves in your office, and then we must find a place for all of you to stay. That is all for now, but be ready for more.”
“What about Harry?” Helga asked.
McGonagall blinked in surprise, “Ha –?”
“She means Potter, Minerva,” Snape sneered.
“Oh…what do you want with Mr. Potter?” McGonagall asked, her lips pursing and her eyes narrowing.
“Well, we were wondering why he was here before term has even started and if he could be our guide while we’re here,” Rowena explained.
“Potter is a screw up, don’t even bother with him,” Snape snapped at them, his sneer deepening. McGonagall frowned disapprovingly at him, but ignored him in favor of answering the Founders.
“Headmaster Dumbledore was in charge of bringing Mr. Potter here, so we don’t know of the circumstances. If you want him to be your guide, then that is fine. It will help distract him at the very least.”
Clearly, they were being dismissed. They nodded stiffly and then left, trying to remember an area they could sleep in as they had forgotten to ask the professors where they would sleep.
“Harry!” Godric cried out, seeing the boy walking towards the opposite direction of them. Harry stopped and looked back at them, debating whether he should stay or go. The decision was taken out of his hands when the group reached him.
“Yes, Lord Gryffindor?”
“Godric is quite fine. Now, would you mind terribly if you showed us around?”
Harry hid a grimace, “I was actually hoping to take a nap.”
“Oh, well, maybe we can sleep where you’re sleeping for tonight. They didn’t tell us exactly where we were supposed to sleep or anything to help us,” Rowena frowned severely.
Harry sighed, “Sure…”
So he reluctantly led them to Gryffindor Tower. Godric’s eyes lit up as he recognized it, his mouth turning quickly into a grin.
“You’re staying in Gryffindor Tower?” Godric prodded, happily celebrating that his House owned such a fine example.
“Well yeah. I am in Gryffindor, so if I was staying in Hogwarts it makes sense it would be here,” Harry shrugged.
“Brilliant. You’re such an excellent Gryffindor,” Godric emphasized, looking over at the others.
They just shook their heads at him.
Started 3/12/08 –Completed 4/14/08
Story: For Hogwarts, there must always be a headmaster. Without one, there would be dire consequences. So what happens when Dumbledore just dies suddenly? And what happens when the Founders have to take over for a while so they can find a new headmaster?
Set as an AU for six.
Spoilers: Books 1-7 probably.
Warnings: ????
Pairings:
Dear Old Hogwarts
Chapter One: Alive Again
“I’m sorry, Harry. If you’d like to see him…?” Professor McGonagall offered her condolences to the young man.
Over an hour ago, it was confirmed that Dumbledore had died. It hadn’t even been a full week after retrieving Slughorn, and Dumbledore had suddenly died without anyone suspecting the oncoming death of the headmaster.
“Of course, Professor McGonagall. I would like to see him now,” Harry said hollowly.
The walk up the winding stairs to Dumbledore’s office was disturbing, feeling different because of the nature of his visit. Harry steeled himself against the preceding image of death his mind had conjured up, feeling dread pool in the bottom of his stomach.
When at last he had reached the door, he hesitated for a brief moment and then slowly pushed the door open. The office was strangely the same, but in the room connected, Harry knew the deceased headmaster’s body lay. Taking steps towards the inevitable confrontation, he just couldn’t believe that this was happening of all things. He entered the chamber and froze at the sight of the pale Dumbledore lying on the bed.
He’d been so angry at Dumbledore at the end of last year that he’d never really gotten the chance to say sorry. He was still angry about the whole thing, and yet he understood some part of what Dumbledore had been trying to do. He didn’t like it whatever Dumbledore had been thinking, but Harry had known better than to blame it all on Dumbledore and throw a fit. He’d been too emotional, especially after Sirius’ fall.
Harry had never been a particularly emotional person. At the Dursley’s, that was the worst thing to be. It was more toward Harry than anything though. But after finding Hogwarts, Harry had been more open and began to let a bit of himself out. It wasn’t enough because Harry still believed in bottling up his emotions, which resulted in huge breakage 5th year and a spillage of his emotions after.
Harry still didn’t know how to express himself freely.
As he sat at Dumbledore’s bedside, Harry reminiscence on the past few years. And the thought of what was going to happen to the school now jolted into his mind. Was McGonagall going to run the school in the meantime? Who would become the new headmaster? Would Voldemort try to attack Hogwarts now that the only wizard the Dark Lord feared was dead?
Harry shivered at that thought.
Feeling that he couldn’t be there any longer, Harry practically ran out of the room. It was only to stop short at seeing four disgruntled people sprawled on the floor. There were two women and two men. One woman had a light blond hair that could almost pass for white, with golden eyes. Harry was sure there must’ve been some Veela blood in her. The other woman had an odd bluish hair that may have been black but really didn’t seem it, and dark brown eyes. There was this aristocratic air about her. Then there was one of the men who had silver hair and green eyes that were slightly lighter than Harry’s. The man next to him had auburn hair and brown eyes, remarkably normal compared to the others but also looked the friendliest and warmest.
“This is rather odd,” the Veela commented candidly, surprisingly light and pleasant. Harry had expected her to sound snobbish or vain.
“Indeed. Now, we need to figure why our presence has been brought here,” the silver-haired male responded.
“But Salazar, if we’re here, that must mean Hogwarts is in trouble,” the other male noted in distress.
“Godric, we must be calm. There is no need to jump to conclusions until we have at least some facts to ground us,” the blue-haired woman rationalized.
“Merlin, the Four Founders are here,” Harry breathed out in shock, interrupting the others after having deduced who was who.
The four adults swiveled their heads to him and Harry felt an incoming headache come on.
“Hullo there! Are you alright? You look quite faint,” the one Harry was sure was Godric Gryffindor asked cheerily.
“Bloody Hell,” Harry muttered and then fainted.
Harry awoke some time later, with four faces hovering above his own. He almost flinched, but held back from doing so. The Founders moved away and that allowed Harry to sit up comfortably and observe them. Each had varying looks of curiosity on their faces as they watched him in turn.
“Hello, dear. We’re in Hogwarts, correct?” Rowena Ravenclaw, he was sure, asked him.
Harry sighed. If for no other reason than to get this over with, he needed to explain everything in one go to them. “Yes, this is Hogwarts. If I am correct, you all are the Four Founders, respectively Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Your lives spanned about a thousand years ago as it is now the year 1996. My name is Harry Potter, current student of Hogwarts in Gryffindor.”
The other four stared at him before Helga spoke up, “Well, we know our location and timeframe. We just need to know the circumstances.”
“Did a Hogwarts’ headmaster die suddenly?” Salazar cut in.
Harry’s face darkened and his mouth tightened noticeable, “Albus Dumbledore, post-headmaster of Hogwarts, has just recently died a couple of hours ago with no warning.”
“I’m sorry, Harry. Were you close to him?” Godric asked uncertainly.
Harry fought the urge to sneer and glare at them, knowing that they weren’t at fault and that his own chaotic feelings were the ones fighting to control his actions.
“Yes. Headmaster Dumbledore was like a…mentor to me,” Harry finished lamely. He didn’t really want to reveal the extent of his relationship with the recently deceased headmaster. It was personal and it still hurt him raw to think about it. Dumbledore had been like a grandfather to him. The old wizard had been part of what little family Harry had gathered.
The Founders didn’t pry, having figured out that Harry had left something out and that he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Well, we’re here because it’s a failsafe for Hogwarts. If the headmaster dies suddenly without a new headmaster ready to replace him or her, then we’re pulled forth to take over until a new headmaster can be found. Otherwise, certain bad things will happen,” Salazar explained, continuing why he had asked in the first place.
Harry looked warily at the original Slytherin, but he was really wary of all of them. “Why can’t the deputy headmistress take over instead? And what bad things will happen?”
“For one thing, the wards around Hogwarts will fail. Another, Hogwarts itself will begin acting strangely, malfunctioning, and will begin to deteriorate within months. The deputy headmistress cannot take over if she is not clearly stated to be the next the headmistress or temporary headmistress.”
Harry scowled. ‘Help them Harry. Show them where they need to be and what they should do.’ He could actually hear Dumbledore saying that. Damn, he didn’t want to do anything. He wanted to grieve and brood to himself. He didn’t want to take responsibility, just have a normal year for once.
“Hold on,” he muttered to them reluctantly. He went to Dumbledore’s fireplace, tossing in floo powder and ready to announce the news.
“Heads of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. This is an announcement from the headmaster’s office. There will be a meeting in twenty minutes. The basic outline is that we have a group of unidentified intruders claiming to be the Four Founders sent as a failsafe in the event a headmaster dies suddenly. As you know, Headmaster Dumbledore has just recently passed. You four will come here to inspect them and then explain their roles as the pro tempore headmasters and headmistresses of the Hogwarts of this time. If they leave this room at any time before or during the meeting, they will be immediately classified as enemies of the school. At this time, you will alert the other teachers and detain the intruders. It’s spell to disarm, not kill.”
He stepped back from the fireplace to stare back at the stupefied Founders, after deactivating the floo.
“Don’t take it the wrong way. I don’t know if you really are who you say you are. It’s for safety, you know? There are a bunch of students coming to school and it’s not a good idea to one, advertise you are the Founders, and two, make sure you really are the Founders before handing control of the school to you. I’d also advise you to stay in this room until the Head of your Houses come to evaluate you and then clarify what work needs to be done. The portraits around you will report if otherwise. Good night.”
And then Harry was done. Having washed his hands of them, having helped whatever he could as a student, there was nothing more Harry wanted to do after having done what was necessary. He’d just leave the rest to the teachers and then to the Founders.
His inner Dumbledore tutted at his attitude.
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“Did that child just…?” Salazar trailed off, still staring in the direction Harry had left.
“Didn’t sound like a Gryffindor,” Helga muttered.
“On the contrary, the way he stood up to us like that, even after we told him who we were, was very courageous,” Godric said smugly.
“But his arguments were that of Ravenclaw material. They were sound and logical,” Rowena countered.
“He handled the conversation, and us, like a Slytherin,” Salazar pointed out.
“His loyalty to the school is very admirable. Such loyalty is usually found in Hufflepuff,” Helga stared shrewdly at the portrait she had just found that was labeled to be Albus Dumbledore.
Godric was about to retort that it didn’t matter and Harry was still one of his, when the door opened to admit Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout.
“Hullo there,” Godric waved instead.
The professors gaped, before recovering and starting to identify them. When that was done, the Founders had to explain again why they were there. After that, the professors just stared at them before muttering and sighing to themselves. The professors then began to talk amongst themselves. After, they had McGonagall speak on their behalves, as she was deputy headmistress.
“As you have proven to be who you say you are, you will be announced as the temporary headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts. Term has not started yet, but there are several things you must do before. Re-familiarize yourselves with the castle, check and reestablish the wards, settle yourselves in your office, and then we must find a place for all of you to stay. That is all for now, but be ready for more.”
“What about Harry?” Helga asked.
McGonagall blinked in surprise, “Ha –?”
“She means Potter, Minerva,” Snape sneered.
“Oh…what do you want with Mr. Potter?” McGonagall asked, her lips pursing and her eyes narrowing.
“Well, we were wondering why he was here before term has even started and if he could be our guide while we’re here,” Rowena explained.
“Potter is a screw up, don’t even bother with him,” Snape snapped at them, his sneer deepening. McGonagall frowned disapprovingly at him, but ignored him in favor of answering the Founders.
“Headmaster Dumbledore was in charge of bringing Mr. Potter here, so we don’t know of the circumstances. If you want him to be your guide, then that is fine. It will help distract him at the very least.”
Clearly, they were being dismissed. They nodded stiffly and then left, trying to remember an area they could sleep in as they had forgotten to ask the professors where they would sleep.
“Harry!” Godric cried out, seeing the boy walking towards the opposite direction of them. Harry stopped and looked back at them, debating whether he should stay or go. The decision was taken out of his hands when the group reached him.
“Yes, Lord Gryffindor?”
“Godric is quite fine. Now, would you mind terribly if you showed us around?”
Harry hid a grimace, “I was actually hoping to take a nap.”
“Oh, well, maybe we can sleep where you’re sleeping for tonight. They didn’t tell us exactly where we were supposed to sleep or anything to help us,” Rowena frowned severely.
Harry sighed, “Sure…”
So he reluctantly led them to Gryffindor Tower. Godric’s eyes lit up as he recognized it, his mouth turning quickly into a grin.
“You’re staying in Gryffindor Tower?” Godric prodded, happily celebrating that his House owned such a fine example.
“Well yeah. I am in Gryffindor, so if I was staying in Hogwarts it makes sense it would be here,” Harry shrugged.
“Brilliant. You’re such an excellent Gryffindor,” Godric emphasized, looking over at the others.
They just shook their heads at him.
Started 3/12/08 –Completed 4/14/08