The Founders Four: The Return

The Castle

Chapter Nine: The Castle

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'Voldemort and his Death Eaters will never win.' Harry raises his hand to touch his lightning scar, which flares with a spark of pain for a split-second before glowing a sickly, Avada Kedavra Green.

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The rest of Harry's summer flew by. Staying at the Burrow was much better than Privet Drive. Ron had been rather put off by him lately, saying he was acting strangely. Harry just brushed him off, saying it was because he was not used to living with a large number of people. He looked convinced and didn't question him any further.

Other inhabitants had also taken notice of Harry's strange behaviour. One time he had to convince Bill Weasley that he wasn't inherently evil after he had given him a near heart attack by speaking in Parseltongue. It wasn't Harry's fault. Salazar's particular talent had been itching to be used and the garden snake has been the perfect companion to chat with at the time.

One thing Harry was having issues with was that the many memories caused him to have many headaches, some as painful as when his scar burns near Voldemort.

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Harry groaned as his head pounded painfully. He lowered his head into his arms and sighed as it slowly began to recede. He felt the Weasley's eyes on him. He looked back up to see Mrs.Weasley looking over at him in concern.

"Harry dear, are you alright?" She didn't allow him to finish as she rushed over to him and pressed a hand against his forehead. "You seem alright; is it a headache?" Harry hurriedly spoke, to not let her start fretting over him (well, any more than she already was).

"I'm fine." He said. At her dubious look, he added. "My head was hurting for a little, but it's gone now." Mrs.Weasley nodded but looked ready to shove soup down his throat at the smallest hint of a sniffle. A warm feeling grew in his chest at the thought of someone caring for him like that.

Harry looked over to Ginny and saw her look at him worriedly. Harry smiled at her reassuringly. It was good to know that she cared enough about him. (Harry-him or Salazar-him, he didn't know.) When he looked back to Mrs. Weasley, she had a strange expression on her face as she observed the two of them.

Harry's head hurt too much to try and figure out what that look on her face meant. He hoped maybe Rowena (whoever she was) would be able to ease the random pains. It made him want September to arrive even quicker.

Not that there was anything wrong with the Weasley's home, but the Founder part of Harry (Salazar) wished for the large castle's looming presence and the magic -their magic- to surround them comfortingly as it had 1000 years ago. Harry sent another smile Mrs. Weasley's way as she looked at him again.

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Harry let out a sigh as he looked out of the train compartment of the Hogwarts Express. He slowly closed his eyes as he leaned his head against the cold glass of the window, soothing his raging headache. The pain was so great that he didn't care if Voldemort himself showed up on the train and opened the door.

As if on cue, the door to the compartment slid open and Ron entered in his usual fashion -loudly arguing over the strangest of things- alongside Hermione.

Now, Harry knew that usually, he would have been leaping for joy when he saw Hermione; after an entire summer, it was nice to finally get together with his two best friends, but somehow he felt a different kind of excitement go through him. Like a spark, it travelled up him until he locked eyes with Hermione. No. No way.

Harry looked away quickly from his friend as he tried to gather his thoughts. Hermione felt familiar. Really familiar. Harry shook his head as he tried to clear his head from his thoughts as he greeted Hermione.

"How have your summers' been so far? I heard about what happened at the Quidditch Cup, are you two alright? No one had been seriously injured, but the appearance of the Dark Mark- the Mark which Voldemort's followers had used in the past- is rather alarming..."

Harry turned his back to them both as Hermione and Ron started to argue after Ron made an insensitive comment ("Well the Muggles don't know about Dark Wizards and they had run around screaming like little girls."), and laid his head back onto the window. However, he felt a gaze bore into his back the entire ride. While the train stopped, Harry turned to see Hermione looking as if she could see right through him, which unnerved him. A lot.

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The sight of Hogwarts had never failed to send a thrill through Harry; it was the only place he really considered home (he certainly wasn't going to call the Dursley's Residence home). This time, however was different. The moment he stepped onto the grounds, Harry felt as if he had been tucked into a warm blanket. The feeling only grew as he continued into Hogwarts.

Normally, if something that odd happened Harry would be really suspicious. However, this didn't feel threatening at all. In fact it felt rather...nice. Harry looked up at the ceiling and tried to remember why he would feel this way when it hit him.

Of course. Hogwarts had been built and infused using their- The Founders- magic. It wasn't something that could be erased so easily and it remained, infused with the school itself. His friends' magic whom he had been so close to then should obviously be familiar to him as was his ow-Salazar's.

Speaking of Salazar, he wasn't sure how to feel. At first, he felt as if he should be angry- this was the place he had been forced to leave all those years. All he felt now was a deep sadness. If only he had stayed, maybe things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. With Ginny and maybe Draco on his side- along with whoever Rowena was- maybe they could try and fix their mistakes.

"Harry?" He turned at the sound of Hermione's voice which held a note of concern in it. She was looked at him cautiously like she was waiting to explode or spring at her. He didn't know why she was acting like that.

She couldn't be....could she?

Harry didn't want think about how Hermione -his best friend- (she was then too, remember?) might be...her.

Desperately trying to stop his racing thoughts, Harry stepped into the Great Hall. He remembered when they had enchanted the top of the Great Hall to reflect the star-filled night sky. He sat down and tried to stop the overload of memories from flowing. When he lifted his head, he saw Hermione looking pained as she clutched her head. Harry looked down the table at Ginny and across the hall at Draco. They both seemed to be in pain. Most of their life had been spent building the castle. This was their home. It was good to be back.

"Good Evening to all. Before we start the feast, there is a special announcement I must make..."