"Morning! 'Harry' is it?" Sarah said with a smile as she looked over the top of her cup of tea. "fancy a cup?" she asked waving her cup slightly to the boy who had just entered the kitchen.
Harry stared at the stranger wondering who she might be; he knew she wasn't any threat to him because Petal had told mum and dad that the house was protected by some wards, which kept out any one who wanted to cause harm to the family, and which were even stronger and better than the wards at Gringotts bank. "Who are you?" he asked as he smiled and nodded yes rather vigorously.
Sarah poured Harry his cup of tea while she introduced herself, "I'm Sarah, Hermione's grandmother." She told him as she passed him the tea.
Harry stared at the woman as she placed his cup in front of him taking in all the details of her looks, "Are you sure you are Hermione's Nan?" he asked still looking at her with some surprise showing in his eye's.
"Quite positive young Harry," Sarah answered with a little chuckle as a puzzled look appeared on his face.
"Well you don't look like a grandmother, you've got no grey hair, and you're definitely not chubby, or got rosy cheeks, and where's your apron?" Harry said slowly with a look of puzzlement on his face.
"Well thank you, but why should I have grey hair and be fat, Harry? anyone would think the only grandmother…" Sarah stopped speaking as Hermione entered the room and rushed over to hug her.
"Nan. When did you get here? Why didn't you come up to say hello? Do mum and dad know you are here, never mind answering that one? Harry have you met my Nan? Is there any tea left?" Hermione rattled of the quick questions while both Sarah and Harry chuckled at her excitement.
"Hermione, calm down little one, one question at a time," Sarah said as she hugged Hermione tight for a few seconds, "I was just talking to your husband, how'd you like to tell your old Nan how you come to be married so young, are you trying to make me feel old? You know gramps is going to be so sorry he has missed this."
While her Nan was speaking Hermione moved over to stand beside Harry and then kissed him on his cheek whispering "Good morning husband," before she pulled out a chair and sat next to him at the table.
It was just at that moment that Richard and Helen entered the kitchen. A very tired looking Richard headed straight for the tea pot with out saying a word, while Helen wished everyone good morning. Richard grunted as he swirled the tea pot around "Ugh, empty." Before he could put the pot back on to the table Petal appeared and after saying "good morning, masters, mistresses," she waved her hand at the tea pot.
Richard mumbled a thank you as the pot refilled with fresh tea. "What would the master like for breakfast?" Petal asked turning to face Harry.
Harry scratched the back of his head for a few seconds before he answered with "Er, mum what do we want for breakfast?"
As they all sat around the table eating the breakfast prepared by Petal, Sarah looked at each one of them in turn, then slowly pushing her finished breakfast away from her she looked at Hermione for a moment before she spoke. "So little one, I believe you have made a discovery, would you care to enlighten me?"
Hermione looked at her mum and dad and seeing them both nod their heads slightly she turned to look at her Nan, "Er I'm a witch and Harry is a wizard, and at first I was rather puzzled why you weren't surprised when Petal simply appeared out of thin air, but then I figured mum and dad must have told you about magic, how else could you have gotten here, so that just leaves me and Harry being soul bonded, well when we kissed for the first time something happened and according to Griphook we are now married."
As Hermione finished speaking Paddy appeared and walked to the side of Sarah, carefully he placed what seemed to be a small six inch by eight inch leather bound book in front of her, then he held out a small steel key to her. "Thank you Paddy," Sarah said as she took the key and placed it in her pocket.
Picking up the book she handed it to Helen, "I asked Paddy to collect this for me, I hope you don't mind." As Helen turned the book over to examine it Sarah began to speak again but rather quietly, "Richard, first thing we need to do is to cancel that appointment with the headmaster of that school you were thinking of. Helen as the mother of our new warrior witch you need to tap the centre of the circle on the front of the book with your right index finger to get it to open, according to grandmother it will only open for the mother of the new witch. Hermione, Harry, you will not be attending any schools, from today onward your mother and I will be teaching you all you need to know. Now Richard can I suggest that you continue with your work as you had planned, but Helen will have to stay at home, she will be far to busy teaching to be a dentist." As she spoke she moved away from the table and was lifting her handbag as she finished.
Pulling out a really old looking piece of parchment from her handbag Sarah began to speak again, "Helen once you have tapped the centre there should appear a five pointed star within the circle," she glanced at the parchment as she walked back to the table, after laying the ancient letter on the table and smoothed out the folds she started to speak again, "Once the star appears place two fingers in the centre point and turn the star to the left as far as it will go, then turn it back to the centre before turning to the right, do this three times," she said as she read the instructions off the parchment.
Helen wondering how on earth she was supposed to teach a witch and wizard, pushed her breakfast plate away and placed the book on the table in front of her, carefully she followed her mothers instructions, as she finished moving the star the book glowed golden for a moment and then it began to swell and expand, a few seconds later the book had reached at least six times it's original size, and it had swollen to be at least a foot thick. Gingerly Helen opened the book. The writing on the opening leaf made Helen look up sharply at Hermione before looking back down at the book.
"Mum, what's wrong?" Hermione asked seeing the look her mother had just given her.
Helen said nothing for several seconds and then she began to read out loud.
'Helen, daughter of Ravenclaw. Mother of Hermione 'sixth' protector, and wife to the chosen one, heir of Gryffindor. Wife of Richard, heir of Hufflepuff and regent master of Hogwarts. You are charged this day with the training and tuition of the protector and the chosen one, also any persons she might choose to fight by her side, but be warned Ravenclaw magic will only work for those who are pure of heart.'
Helen with a look of shock turned to her mother and then to her husband Richard, "It says you are master of Hogwarts?"
Richard who had just finished drinking his tea looked at Helen as though she had gone crazy, leaning over he looked at the book to where Helen was pointing her finger. "I thought I'd seen some crazy things since Hermione rescued Harry, but that is plain stupid, I mean I'm no more master of a magical castle than I am a milk man, how could I be?" he said as he looked at his family one by one, as if expecting one of them to know the answer.
Helen started reading again, her voice sounding loud in the total silence that filled the kitchen.
'On the night of the full moon, you are to sleep with this volume of knowledge for your pillow, for one full cycle you will sleep, when you awaken you will be prepared with the knowledge needed to prepare the protector for the future that she is destined for.'
"What's a full cycle?" Harry and Hermione asked at the same time "does it say?"
Helen shook her head as she turned the pages of the huge book, "There's nothing else at all, that's it, just those few lines, Mother is there anything else on that piece of parchment?"
Sarah looked a little surprised as she answered, "Only the family legend that I told you of last night."
Richard was still mumbling about the stupidity of thinking he was master of a castle he wouldn't even be able to see, if all the literature they had read was true, Muggles simply could not see Hogwarts, all they would see is a pile of stones and ruins from some ancient derelict building.
Hermione got the oddest feeling that she should have already done all this years ago, but she could not quite understand why she was having such an odd feeling. Concentrating on remembering the magic she knew, she tried a few revealing spells that came to her mind but nothing happened, the pages in the book remained blank, it was obvious that to find out if the book was some sort of elaborate joke, Helen would have to follow the instructions on the next full moon, which was in six days time.
Hogwarts School
"…Yes, yes, headmaster I know you have duties to perform, and yes I know you also have duties in the Wizengamot, but you were close to a mental breakdown, you need time off, you have been working far to hard you need time to recover, you really should remain here in the hospital wing for at least another week," Madam Pomfrey the school healer told Albus Dumbledore for the tenth time that morning.
"Poppy dear, I simply had a most severe shock, I can tell you no more than that but I am perfectly alright now," Albus said as he stood next to the hospital bed he had been kept in, and pulled his bright purple robes over his head, wriggling a little before shaking himself hard to make the robes hang properly.
"Ok, headmaster, but… Albus as I will be unable to I'm going to ask Minerva to keep an eye on you for a few days, just to be sure." Poppy said as she turned to walk back into her office, she knew just how stubborn he could be, she had given her medical opinion telling him she did not think him well enough to go back to work, there was nothing else she could do.
Ten minutes later Minerva McGonagall, deputy head and transfiguration teacher watched as her old friend Albus stood cursing and threatening the gargoyle that guarded the stairs to the headmaster's office. "Albus, what on earth are you doing. Does Poppy know you are out of the hospital wing?" she asked as he kicked at the shins of the stone statue that simply refused to move or to allow him admittance to his office.
"Ah Minerva my dear, I take it you changed the password while you stood in for me?" Albus said forcing a smile onto his face, hiding the frustration he was feeling.
"Albus no one has entered your office since… well since that day you received that letter," Minerva answered looking worriedly at her old friend.
Gringotts bank. Diagon Alley.
"So Griphook see to it that those posters are placed in every Goblin owned building, I want to see that old fraud get justice and if we have to pay a reward then so be it." said Ragnok head of the Goblin nation.
"I'll see to it as quickly as I can sir, I too wish to see justice served to one who would rob a child, or a widow," Griphook the new keeper of the Potter vaults said, a scowl on his face as he thought of Dumbledore.
An hour later shops offices and a few restaurants all had wanted posters stuck in prominent places. Albus Dumbledore was to be arrested on charges of theft from several widows and orphans as soon as he set foot in any Goblin owned property.