Heritage

Chapter 13


The grandfather clock sat gleaming in the corner, ticking away. It chimed the hour and the sound echoed off the ancient polished oak. Ginny glanced up at the clock anxiously. Harry beenbeen gone for almost three hours. It would be getting dark soon. ‘What did Dumbledore say to Harry that would keep him away for so long?’

“I wish I knew,” said Hermione softly from her perch by the fire. Ginny blinked. She hadn’t realized that she had spoken out loud.

Ginny turned around at the sound of the portrait opening. Through the open door inched Remus Lupin, thin lines of worry etched heavily onto his aging face.

\"Mr. Lupin, what are you doing here?\" asked Hermione.

\"I needed to speak with all of you.\"

Ron frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Harry.”

\"What happened?\" Ron demanded urgently, too worried for pleasantries.

Remus pulled Ron away, \"I will explain.\"

Ron gripped Remus by the arm tightly, \"Damn it Remus! Just tell us! Is Harry alright?\"

Remus loosened Ron’s grasp, \"Yes, he’s fine … physically”

Ginny narrowed her eyes, \"What do you mean ‘physically’?\"

\"Wait, I can explain everything but not here.\" The werewolf’s keen eyes scanned the room, noticing the few random students scattered about the room who were casually eavesdropping.

\"Listen to him Ron,\" muttered Hermione.

Ron glared at the back of Remus’ head as they followed him out of the tower. They crept through the darkened stone corridors in silence. Remus led them into the staff quarters. Looking around quickly to make sure no one was watching, he walked through a large clock against the wall. The others hurriedly followed and found themselves in a large sitting room decorated in scarlet and gold, but it wasn’t the Gryffindor common room.


It was Remus’s den. A fluffy old sofa of red and gold plaid, which looked as though it had seen better days, much like its owner, sat in front of the fire. At its base lay a plush scarlet rug, gold lions bedecked the edges. On either side of the sofa sat two matched chairs, both as shabby as the sofa.


Remus sat down in one of the chairs and gestured the others to the sofa. \"What I’m about to tell you might alarm you, but you must hear me out. I don’t have all the answers but I can tell you what I know.\" He fixed the Trio with a stare to stave off any questions on their tongues.


At Ron’s nod, Remus continued, \"Harry is an orphan, raised by the Dursley’s after Voldemort killed his parents and tried to kill him. Correct?\" The group nodded. \"What you don’t know is why Voldemort wants him dead so badly.\"

“Yes, we do. Harry wrote to us this summer. We had to drag it out of him, but he said that there was a prophecy that said he was the one to stop Voldemort,” said Hermione very matter-of-factly.

“No, it didn’t. The prophecy said “the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.” Remus cast sad, knowing eyes upon them. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Voldemort came after Harry because he is the only wizard in the world with the power to stop him.”

Hermione opened her mouth, and then shut it again, after a glare from Remus.

“Didn’t you ever wonder why Voldemort was so determined to kill Harry? Why he came after a tiny baby in the first place? Why bother? What was it about Harry that made Voldemort track him down, forcing his parents into hiding? What made him so special?”

“Well, Harry did kill him when the curse rebound off of him.”

“Yes, but Voldemort didn’t know that would happen. He couldn’t have or he never would’ve done it.” Remus paused. \"You know off the legend of Godric Gryffindor, so I need not explain that. But what you don’t know is that Godric had an heir.\"

A sinking, disbelief built in the pit of Ginny’s stomach. ‘Surely, Harry was not…’

“Harry is a Gryffindor, the heir of Godric Gryffindor.”

Ron started laughing. “Uh huh, Harry is the heir of Gryffindor. You’re joking.”

“Why would I joke about something like this?”

Remus saw the understanding seep onto their faces. Silence filled the air. The only sound was the faint ticking of the clock. Ginny’s mind whirled, ‘It couldn’t be? Harry . . . Gryffindor?’

\"What do we do?\" Ron asked numbly.

\"Be his friend. That is all you can do.\" Remus looked out the window, \"he has just found out about this.\" He seemed wearier than usual, as if an invisible boulder had been placed on his shoulders.

\"It is my fault. If I had told him of this sooner, perhaps it would not have been so hard. I wanted to protect him with ignorance, to let him live as simple a life as possible, for as long as possible. One not destined for pain and suffering. I was a fool to think I could change Harry’s destiny.\" He sighed sadly.

He placed a hand on Ginny’s shoulder. \"Go. Find him. What he needs most right now, are his friends.”

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