A/N: hello everyone, sorry I haven't published any chapters in a while. I had exams so I haven't had any time to myself recently. But the last exam was today so it's update time. I will update three new chapters today. be on the lookout for them. (2/3)
Chapter 5: The Vault
"Harry wake up, come on everyone wants to see the painting of that horrible woman get ripped off the wall." George said jumping on Harry's bed, laughing as Harry groaned and tried pushing him away.
"Gerroff Fred!" Ron yelled at his brother who was smothering him with a pillow.
"Come on, Mad-Eye thinks there is a secret room or something past the painting since he can't see through the wall!" Fred told them.
"A secret room? Wonder what kind of dark arts stuff is in there?" Harry questioned while getting dressed. "I can't wait to get rid of that evil hag's portrait. I feel like it is the one thing I can do for Sirius is to make sure that painting is out of this house!" They all made their way downstairs, where the rest of the house was waiting as well as Tonks, Mad-Eye, Kingsley, McGonagall and even Dumbledore.
"Good morning Harry," Dumbledore said, his eyes were twinkling more than Harry had ever seen them. "I see you have taken our two faithful house elves into your service."
"Yes Professor, they have agreed to help me keep this house in good condition as well as to remove this ugly painting from the wall." Harry told the old man with the long beard. "So, shall we see what's behind her?" Harry asked the eager crowd.
"You'll never get me out of this house you disgrace to the name of wizard! How dare you defile my house with these blood traitors and mudbloods!" Mrs. Black screeched.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is my house now and I demand to be treated with respect in my own home!" Harry said forcefully. Mrs. Black shut up immediately. "Now, if you would be so kind as to get yourself unstuck from the wall that will save me the trouble of burdening my house elf friends here from doing it." He told her, and to everyone's surprise (except Dumbledore's, his eyes were twinkling for a reason) they heard a sound and her painting slid down off the wall and to the floor.
"Good, now you will remain silent unless spoken to and you will treat guests in this home with respect or I will have this portrait disposed of." Harry told Mrs. Black as Dobby and Winky moved the painting aside. He couldn't believe the old bat had listened to him.
Where the painting had hung was a door. It was a thick wooden door, but it looked like even Hagrid wouldn't be able to break it down. "Can you see anything through it Alastor?" Professor McGonagall asked him, wary of opening a door in a house that was once owned by a family full of dark wizards.
"No, there is either five feet of solid rock or a highly powerful spell, I cannot see through it like I can the other walls." He told them.
"Can you open the door Dobby?" Harry asked as the room collectively backed away from the door. "Be careful, you know the type of wizards the Blacks were."
"Yes sir, Dobby will try." He said as he attempted to gain entry to the room, even with the help of Winky they could not open the door.
"Stand aside," Harry said as he walked up to the door. "I Harry James Potter, the master of this house, demand that this door be opened for me." He said in that same powerful voice he had spoken to Mrs. Black with and the door swung open.
"Very nicely done Harry," Dumbledore told him as the others stood gaping at Harry. "Shall we see what lies beyond?" Harry followed Dumbledore into the room and gasped. It was a vault! There were piles of galleon's, gold, silver, and gemstones. There were cabinets lining the walls full of priceless artifacts. "Ahhh, I see we have found the hidden Black treasure. You see it has been missing for years. Mrs. Black emptied her vaults at Gringotts right after Sirius ran away from home in order to protect her fortune from him. Seems she succeeded, but never the less, this all belongs to you now Harry." Harry was too shocked to respond, he just looked Dumbledore in the eyes, and he knew his Professor could read all that he needed in his eyes. "I'll be back after dinner; we can discuss the order and the other things on your mind then Harry." He said placing his hand on Harry's shoulder for a moment before leaving the room.
"Oi! Look at all that gold!" Fred said walking into the room, "No wonder the old bat was keeping this door hidden!" He laughed running his hand over the gold bricks. They heard a soft thump behind them and turned around to see Mrs. Weasley passed out on the floor. "I guess it's a little too much for mum to take!"
"Holy cricket, what are you going to do with all this money Harry?" Hermione asked in awe. She and Ginny were lovingly stroking all the gems.
"I don't know." Harry said honestly. "Let's go eat breakfast and we can figure out what else is in here afterwards." He said stepping out of the vault. "Dobby, can you set this door up to only open for Remus, you, Winky and me?" Harry asked him.
"Yes sir, now that the door is open, we can control it with our elf magic." Dobby said and got to work on putting the charm on the door. Harry led everyone else into the kitchen where Winky was setting out plates full of breakfast food.
"Looks like you get a break today mum," Ginny said cheerfully grabbing a waffle. Ron was already stuffing his face.
"This looks wonderful Winky, thank you." Harry said as he started to eat.
"It is my pleasure Harry sir." She added turning pink and bringing out more food.
Kingsley, Mad-Eye, and McGonagall left right after breakfast, saying they would be back after supper for Order business. The rest of the 'family' headed back to the vault to explore the cabinets and see exactly what other surprises awaited them. Tonks looked longingly at the vault and said to Harry, "I'll just see you after dinner; I don't want to intrude on family business."
"Technically, you are family. If I'm related to the Blacks then I'm related to you. Besides, you are always welcome here." Harry told her as they walked into the safe. Winky pulled on Tonks robes.
"You is all his family Miss, he told us to treat you like that, you and Mr. Lupin and all the Weezy's even Professor Dumbledore! He will not mind if you want to stay, I can tell." Winky told her, "I heard you talking with Mr. Fred that you is looking for a new place to stay. I is sure master Harry will let you stay."
"You are very sweet Winky, thank you." Tonks said smiling. She had been living at her parent's house while she looked for a new apartment, but she would love to be at headquarters.
"Then it's settled. You can move in whenever you like." Harry winked at her from behind. "It'll give Remus someone to talk to when I go back to school!"
"Thanks Harry!" Tonks said, she couldn't believe how easily Harry had accepted her into his 'family,'
"Hey Ron! Check these out!" Harry said as he opened an armoire. There were at least a dozen invisibility cloaks inside. These would be great to have for the order, but Ron, Hermione, and Ginny got one first.
"Invisibility cloaks! Way cool, now we won't have to all try and fit under yours." Ron said, and then whispered, "It'll make sneaking out a whole lot easier!" They both laughed and moved over to show Hermione their find.
"Oh, wow, look at these gorgeous gowns. Ginny, Tonks come here and look!" Hermione said, spying the beautiful gowns and robes that filled the rest of the armoire. The girls kept pulling gowns out and holding them up to themselves and spinning around, soon even Mrs. Weasley joined in.
"Better not let them look in here then," George told Harry pointing to a beautifully engraved cherry wood box. Inside were magnificent jewelry pieces, necklaces, rings, brooches, and earrings of all colors, and shapes.
"Yeah, let's keep this a secret. That way it's an even bigger surprise later when they get to wear it." Harry told the guys as he locked the box and put the key in his pocket.
They found two orbs with exact replicas of the solar system in them, just like the one Harry had been drooling over in Diagon Alley before his third year. He would never have to do a star chart again! There was a trunk like Mad-Eye's that was full of Dark detectors.
"This had to have belonged to an Auror!" Tonks exclaimed, "What is it doing in this house?" Upon closer inspection, it had a monogram on the front of the trunk: H. Potter. "It has your name on it, Harry! How is that possible?" She asked perplexed.
"Harry's grandfather was an Auror; he was killed by Death eaters before Harry was born. His name was Harold Potter. You were named after him Harry." Lupin told everyone. "Now you have a bigger trunk to take your stuff in back to school!" Lupin laughed, trying to lighten the mood.
"I guess it just shows that you were meant to open this room and to have this house." Mr. Weasley said. "And all this equipment will be very helpful to the Order as well as the invisibility cloaks."
"The order can use all but three of the cloaks and all the dark detectors, except I think I'll hang the foe glass over my bed, just in case." Harry told him as he opened another cabinet to find it full of china and crystal and silver. There were tea sets and place settings, enough for a grand party.
"Harry, come look at these." Remus told him, he was looking in the large stand-up chest. It was full of portraits and beautiful tapestries. There were a few that caught both Harry's and Remus' eye. One was of the four Hogwarts founders. They pulled it out carefully, for it was over a century old.
"Good day fine gentlemen. At last, we have been freed from our wooden cage," said the portrait of Godric Gryffindor. Harry smiled; Gryffindor was the brave once, that's why he spoke first.
"It is an honor to be the one to remove your painting from its bonds." Lupin said with respect to the four greatest witches and wizards of their age.
"I see that you young sir are of the age to attend Hogwarts, we would be pleased to hear of its condition." Helga Hufflepuff asked Harry.
"Hogwarts is as magnificent as ever Madame. I shall return there for my 6th year in a few months." Harry told her, he didn't want to offend her by saying he was a Gryffindor. He heard the painted Salazar Slytherin snort in the background. "Ah, and I must say, you should have done a better job of hiding your Chamber of Secrets, Slytherin." Harry said drawing out the name to show he did not respect the wizard. "I had no problems killing your basilisk." Harry tried not to smirk at the glare he got from Slytherin.
"Spoken like a true Gryffindor." Rowena Ravenclaw said proudly. "No other would risk their life to save the school and the lives of the muggle-born witches and wizards."
"Thank you mam, I am humbled to receive such a compliment from the cleverest witch of the age." Harry said bowing slightly.
"Definitely a Gryffindor, he is both brave and charming!" Godric Gryffindor spoke as Harry and Remus gently laid the portrait off to the side. The next portrait was of Godric Gryffindor as well. It was magnificent. Gryffindor was painted in the foreground and a beautiful phoenix was painted in the background. The unique thing about the painting was that only one of them would move at a time.
"Fawkes" Harry breathed quietly, recognizing the beautiful bird. The phoenix in the painting tilted its head in recognition. As Harry watched the painting, he began to realize why only one or the other would move at a time. They were the same being. Godric Gryffindor was an animagus, he was Fawkes. Lupin had gone to get the others to show them the paintings. "You are Fawkes." Harry whispered to Godric, who nodded solemnly. "Shall I keep this a secret?" Harry asked quietly as the others headed towards him.
"Only my heir and the Headmaster may know." Godric said before Fawkes came to life again. Harry was stunned into silence. The phoenix that had helped him out so many times was actually Godric Gryffindor himself!
"Harry, these portraits are the largest historical find in a very long time!" Hermione said. "I can't even image what they are worth, they must be priceless."
"I just called Bill over; I wanted Harry to have an inventory of the gold and all the possessions." Mrs. Weasley said, "He will be able to help determine the value of all this."
"Harry, are you OK? You seem kind of pale?" Remus asked him.
"Yes, I'm just in shock at all we have found," He told them, fingering the corner of a tapestry of King Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table. The tapestry was rich in color and the knights waved at them. "I think I would like to hang this one over the entrance to the vault, to replace Mrs. Black. She can go in the attic."
"That sounds lovely dear." Mrs. Weasley said, "Oh, here's Bill now, I'll just show him in."
Bill said it would take the entire afternoon to catalog and count, even with the help of Dobby and Winky. Harry gave him the key to the jewelry box and told him to keep it a secret from the girls. They all left to let Bill get to work.
Fred and George went to work at the shop saying they had to pollute the young minds of their customers. Tonks and Lupin said they had some errands to run for the Order and would see them for dinner. Harry reminded Tonks she could move in whatever she wanted. Ginny, Hermione, Harry and Ron then played exploding snap in the living room while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went upstairs to take a nap.
"I can't wait until Professor Dumbledore gets here tonight," Harry told his friends. "I want to give him the portrait of the four founders for Hogwarts to have. It's only right that it be displayed in the school they founded."
"That is great Harry, I'm sure he will cherish the painting. What are you going to do with the one of Godric Gryffindor?" Hermione asked him.
"I'm not sure, but I want to keep it. I feel connected to it somehow, I can't explain it. I think I will find a place for it here in the house, a special place." Harry told them.
"It's a shame it's just a moving portrait, it would be so neat if he could speak!" Ron said as Harry looked at him weird, "He could have given us advice on how to defeat Voldemort!"
"Why do you think it can't speak?" Harry asked curiously.
"That type of painting can't, you can tell by the way there were two subjects. The artist just made them mobile." Ron said.
"Ginny, what have you been up to this summer?" Harry asked changing the subject. "Are you still going out with Dean?"
Ginny giggled and looked at Ron's angry face. Ron hated the idea of his little sister dating anybody. "No, we never were going out; I just said that to get a reaction out of Ron!" Ginny laughed, even Hermione was trying to hold back a smile at Ron's reaction.
"You what!?" Ron yelled, "I was going to have to kill him when we got back to Hogwarts, it's a good thing you told me the truth before I broke his neck!"
"You know Ron if you are going to overreact every time I like a boy; we are going to have some serious problems." Ginny told him matter-of-factly. "I happen to like boys, so you're going to have to get used to the fact that I'll have boyfriends."
"I know you'll have boyfriends, just make sure you pick somebody who deserves you next time." Ron told her, "Right Harry?"
"I'm staying out of this one, far out of it!" Harry laughed getting up and moving over next to Hermione.
"Dean is a Gryffindor and one of your friends, how is he not good enough for me?" Ginny asked shocked.
"He is a total flirt! You need someone who will treat you right, who will protect you when this war breaks out, someone who is caring, strong, brave, smart and funny. Someone who is going to treat you with respect, not parade you around like some trophy." Ron told her seriously.
"That is a really sweet idea Ron, but there are not very many guys out there like that, and the ones that are," she said glancing at Harry, "would never want to go out with me." She told her brother with her head down. Ron gave Harry and Hermione a pleading 'please help me with this look.'
"Ron's right Gin, you deserve the best. Don't settle for someone, you'll find a guy that will be perfect for you, just give it time." Hermione told her.
"Like I said, a perfect guy would never pay any attention to me." Ginny said looking right at Harry, almost challenging him to disagree. But being the brave Gryffindor he was he took the challenge.
"That's not true Ginny. You are an amazing girl. You are strong willed, brave, very smart, even Snape can't mark down your potions, you have a great sense of humor and adventure and you are loyal to your friends and family. All of that and you are very pretty; any guy would have to be stupid to not want to be with you." Harry told her smiling. Ginny was shocked; did Harry Potter just say all those amazing things about her? Did he really believe that about her?
"Yes Harry, any guy would be stupid to pass up Ginny once he realized she has all those amazing traits." Hermione said smirking at how thick-headed boys really were.
"See Gin, even Hermione agrees." Harry added, heading into the kitchen for a snack. Hermione just sat shaking her head as Ginny glowed; she never thought Harry could possibly think those things about her after what happened in the Chamber of Secrets. Too bad he only meant that she would find some other guy who would be all the things Ron said. Too bad the only person she had ever met to fill all those traits was Harry. Ginny went up to her room to write in her diary (just parchment this time, not dark wizards hiding inside using her); she didn't want to forget all the great stuff Harry had said about her.
As Ron sank down into the couch, he turned to Hermione. "I think we cheered Gin up. I don't think she's going to go running after the first boy who flirts with her this year." He said proudly.
"Yeah, maybe just the first one to compliment her and tell her she's amazing." Hermione mumbled, but Ron caught it anyway.
"Wait! Did Harry just tell my little sister she was amazing and then list off almost a hundred things about her?" Ron asked, "And he even said she was pretty!" He said with his jaw hanging open.
"Don't worry Ron; I don't think Harry realized he told her that any guy would be stupid not to want to be with her." Hermione laughed at the look on Ron's face, it was a mix between realization, shock, anger, and happiness. "You boys are too thick to realize you like someone and are even thicker when it comes to catching the hints that a girl likes you."
"That's not true, I would know it if I had feelings for a girl. And I know for a fact that there are no girls at Hogwarts interested in me!" Ron protested. Hermione just smiled.
"Sure you wouldn't Ron. You wouldn't realize you liked the girl until she showed interest in someone else and you wouldn't know a girl liked you until she either told you flat out or showed you. I know for a fact that there is a girl that likes you that will be going back to Hogwarts soon as well." She told him, enjoying the shocked look on his face. "Maybe you should take some lessons from Dean, he may be a flirt be at least he can pick up on the fact that someone likes him." Hermione teased.