Madison Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Chapter 18: Castle on the Hill: Part Four

SUPER IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT END READ IT

Madison Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Chapter 18: Castle on the Hill: Part Four

Harry and I strode down to the Hogwarts grounds in silence. The only thing that you could hear was the dying flames that were surrounding the walls of the school.

We came to a halt when we reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the dark trees looking more menacing than they ever have before. It should of been nerve racking, it really should have- Harry and I were going to face our enemy and let ourselves be killed by said enemy- but it wasn't. It was... peaceful. Well, not quite that, but something along the lines of peaceful and readiness.

Slowly, we entered the Forbidden Forest without looking back. If we looked back, we both knew what would happen: we wouldn't go through with it.

Harry pulled something that looked like a snitch- the one he caught at his very first Quidditch match- out of his pocket. He put it to his mouth. He frowned.

"What, were you expecting it to open or something?" I asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Well, no, but it says here, 'I open at the close'."

That didn't make sense, but then again, neither did Snape loving my mother or my mother being friends with Snape.

He showed me the snitch, and I realized something right then and there: there was a keyhole on the side of the snitch, just underneath the left wing, which, thankfully, was still.

My eyes widened- it all made sense now.

"It all makes sense..." I murmured as I put my hand in my right pocket and got something out.

Still frowning, Harry asked me, "What makes sense? Nothing about this situation makes any sense!"

The golden key that Dumbledore had left me in his will was in my hands. I remembered what it had translated to in English when Fleur read it in French.

"What does it say?" Harry asked, peering over at the key.

"It's in French. In English, it says 'I open at the heart of magic, I open the place where help will always be given, I open the gates of the place you call home'. Fleur told me the legend of the key."

"What is it? You can't expect me to know it. I'm not the brains of the Potter twins!" Harry stated.

"From what Fleur told me- I would have done some more research but the library at Auntie Muriel's and Shell Cottage was very limited- it was said that a key, just like this one here, supposedly belonged to the founder of Beauxbaton, and it opened the place that its holder always felt the safest. Legend says that this key used to belong to the son of Ignotus Peverell. Apparently, it got lost for a very long time, but then it was found in the house of Percival Dumbledore, who gave it to Professor Dumbledore, who gave it to me."

Harry let out a low whistle. "So the gates of Hogwarts, maybe?"

I shook my head. "No, no. I thought that at first- Hogwarts is basically my home, but the opportunity never came for me to use this key- until now. Harry, give me that snitch," I demanded.

He handed it over. Carefully, I put the key into the key hole. It fit perfectly. I twisted it to the right, and the top of the snitch opened. A rock floated out of it.

"Harry, if that's what I think it is-"

"Let's find out, shall we?" He interrupted me.

He reached out for the rock and turned it over thrice in his hands.