The Legends of The Potters

chapter 4

Harry discovered that there were just more books and some manuscripts left in the second compartment so he opened the third compartment. He found it full of clothes, very nice clothes that looked brand new. A lot of them were robes with the Potter crest on them. They were in several nice colors. He found several pairs of pants, including 5 sets of slacks in various colors like black, navy blue, gray, and forest green. There were also 5 sets of blue jeans, 3 sets of black jeans, 2 sets of biker leather pants, a dozen or more long-sleeve button-up and pull-over shirts, some T-Shirts with funny sayings, 2 pairs of dress shoes in black and brown, some deep green dragon-hide boots with matching dragon-hide pants and jacket, 2 new sets of trainers, a dozen pairs of socks, and a dozen sets of boxers.
"That's a lot of nice clothes. Too bad they are not in my size." the fourth compartment Harry only found one thing - another note. "Harry, this compartment is intentionally left empty so it can be used for whatever else you would want to store in it. However, before you move on to the last compartment you should stand the trunk up vertically on its end and up against a wall, start to open the 5th compartment and the trunk will do the rest."
Put the end up against a wall in his bedroom. He grabbed the 5th compartment lid to open it but when he pulled it the trunk changed into a door and looked just like a door to an adjoining room. Harry opened the door and walked into a nice furnished living room with a comfortable looking sofa and couple of cushy chairs around a large area rug.
He found a lot of bookshelves covering one short wall from floor to ceiling with several books on the shelves as well. There was a small kitchen and dining room off to the left and a hallway to the right with a small loo half way down the hall and two nice bedrooms on each side at the end.
Each bedroom had a queen size bed, two walk-in closets, and a loo with a shower. In one of the bedrooms he found that the closets were completely full of more nice clothing. There were men's clothing in one closet and women's clothing in the other. Harry could not believe all the nice furnishings and all the clothes. The space was not cramped at all. It was hard to believe all this was inside one compartment of that trunk.
"I love magic," he said with a smile. Harry came back into the dining room and noticed a small item on the table that he missed before. It had a button on it with a note that said "Press the button." He sat down in one of the dining chairs, then slowly but carefully pressed the button. Two full-sized images of his mum and dad suddenly appeared before him. Harry jumped up from his chair and stood there staring. "Mum? ...Dad?" "Hi Harry, I bet you look handsome," his mum said. She was looking right at him."Yeah, Harry. I bet you are handsome because you certainly inherited all my good looks," Lily elbowed James in the side. "Of course you got your mum's beautiful eyes," he quickly added. His dad was looking right at him as well.
"Nice save James, but we need to get down to business. Harry, I wish we could really talk to you and give you the biggest hug but if you are seeing this memory that means we are no longer there for you. I am so sorry sweetie. I promise you that your dad and I did everything possible to prevent this from happening. We were in great danger and obviously something must have gone horribly wrong in all our plans if we did not make it. I am quite sure though that Sirius took really good care of you. You guys are so inseparable these days, especially when he's in his animagus form. You and Snuffles are real pals."
"Harry, same goes from me," his dad said. "We planned well I thought so I am not sure what could have happened. Your mum is right, though. You and your godfather are like two peas in a pod. I am sure growing up with Sirius was not too bad even though I wish I was really standing next to you right now, kiddo. There is so much we could have done together, father and son, Potters through and through to the end." "Okay, James, stop getting mushy. Potter, Potter, hoo-rah," Lily said with a smile. "We both would have loved to see you grow up and be there for you, Harry, because we love you with all our heart. However, there is a lot we need to share with you in this memory. We will go over the trunk in finer detail to make sure you fully understand all of its functionality. We will also give you a guided tour of this little hide-away explaining how everything works with the kitchen appliances, loos, etc. Basically it's all magic but we will explain it better and tell you why we have it and its intended use."
"That's just cracking the surface, sonny boy." Harry's focus switched to his dad. "I will also be telling you about your ancestral home and how you get there. Of course, there are more properties owned by the Potter Trust but we will not get into those for now. We will concentrate on getting to Potter Place first. The rest of the properties can come later."
"Back to me, Harry" his mum said. "Let's go to one of the bedrooms. Follow me." Harry followed his parents into the bedroom with the closets full of clothes. "Harry, this is the bedroom your dad and I were going to use. You will find the closets full of nice clothes. You can wear any of them that you want." His dad threw in "You might not want to wear any of your mum's clothes."
"Very funny, James, but I am sure he knows that already. Harry, all the clothes in this trunk, including the ones hanging in the closets and the extras in the 3rd compartment are all spelled to auto-adjust the fit when you put them on. I am quite good with charms, you see. If you can use any of them feel free. They are all brand new. I am sure you know by now that the Potters are very well off. I was not raised poor as my parents did quite well but compared to the Potters we were broke." "As Potters, we do not flaunt it but we do take advantage of it and enjoy it as much as we can" his dad added. "In the end, money can always be replaced. Friends and family, and the ones we love, are the precious, irreplaceable items."
"Don't I know it," Harry said."Your dad bought me all those clothes in my closet. There are a lot of nice ball gowns and robes in there that some pretty girl you fancy might want to use on occasion," his mum said with a wink. "Your girlfriend could use some of the jewelry in the first compartment that you should have found already, but the really nice stuff is in the Potter family vault which you cannot access until you are an adult. Don't worry though, it will be well worth the wait," she said with a smile. After James and Lily had explained to Harry all about the trunk and its uses, James asked Harry to pause the memory (by pushing the button twice). Next, he wanted Harry to go back out and get the pocket watch found in the 1st compartment, bring it back in and start the memory rolling again.
With his parents' memory paused, Harry left out of the room/trunk and went to his school trunk where he had put the pocket watch. He was thinking about using it as his own watch. Harry was not sure what his dad wanted to show him with it but he felt a bit of excitement coming on. While he was getting the watch out of his trunk, Dobby appeared with his dinner. "Hi, Dobby, is it time to eat already?" Harry's stomach growled and he realized just how hungry he really was. He hadn't even thought about food for a while. He had been very distracted and was quite happy about it. "Dobby has brought the Great Harry Potter his dinner." "Have you eaten Dobby? I would love it if you would join me for dinner. I am sure you brought plenty for both of us."
"But Dobby is a house elf, sir." "I know you are a house elf but why does that matter?" "The Great Harry Potter is a wizard, a very great wizard. No wizard has ever asked Dobby, or any other house elf Dobby knows, to sit down and eat with him before." "Really? That's odd. Well, it's about time then isn't it? Dobby, you may be a house elf and I may be a wizard but no matter what we are still friends, correct?" "Yes, Harry Potter is Dobby's greatest friend." "Okay, so as my friend I am asking you to join me for dinner. I am not asking you as a wizard to a house elf but I am asking you as your friend. Do you accept?" Dobby paused for only a second. "Yes, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby will be pleased to eat dinner with the Great Harry Potter."
Harry and Dobby enjoyed a great dinner that included some of Harry's favorites - Shepherd's Pie and Treacle Tart for dessert.
When done, Harry asked Dobby a question. "Dobby, see that door over there? I created that with a trunk I found in my Gringotts vault. Can you make it so that it is not noticeable by anyone, except me?" "Yes, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby will make it so only you can see the door." Dobby waved his hand at the door and cast the spell.
"Thank you Dobby. Thank you for dinner and thanks for eating with me. Tomorrow I will not need breakfast. I am going to be up late working on something so I will sleep in tomorrow morning and will not need you to bring me food until lunch. Okay?" "Yes, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby will see you at lunch." Dobby left with a pop and all the dirty dishes went with him leaving a very clean room. After letting Hedwig out for the night, Harry hurried back into the room/trunk with his pocket watch in hand. Going back to the table Harry pressed the button to continue the memory.
James started. "Harry, now that you have the pocket watch I need to tell you a secret. That is no ordinary watch. Yes, it functions just fine as a watch but it is also a portkey, a very special portkey. That watch is a Potter portkey. It will take you to the Potter ancestral home which is called 'Potter Place.' Once there you will learn about your heritage, be able to speak to your ancestors via their portraits, receive all kinds of help on anything you want to know or do, and you will be able to do all sorts of amazing things. The house and lands are protected by various charms and wards of the strongest nature. The house and lands are also unplottable. You can perform underage magic there without fear of the ministry finding out. I do not want to tell you much more. I think it would be best to have you go there and let our family fill in the blanks. The head house elf should still be there although she is quite old. Her name is Mattie. She will take care of you. She met you when you were a baby and even changed your nappy a few times. I am sure she will be happy to see you."
"Yes, she will Harry, "his mum cut in. "She fell in love with you the first time she laid eyes on you. Mattie is the sweetest house elf but she knows her stuff so rely on her. She has taken care of the house and helped raise many Potter children. She will be able to catch you up to speed at Potter Place."
"One last thing, Harry, before I show you how to operate the watch." His dad looked worried. "I just realized while your mum and I were getting this ready for you that if we are dead then that means you are the last of the Potters. Harry, I do not want to put any pressure on you but I must insist that you take very good care of yourself, that you marry a beautiful and talented witch (she will probably have red hair), and that you have lots of Potter babies. It would be a major tragedy if the Potter name died out. You will understand better what I am talking about once you have been to Potter Place. The Potters have played a very important role in the history of magic in this country. A lot will be lost if our name dies out. Take care of yourself, Harry. I love you."
"I agree Harry," his mum said. "You may not know it but the wizarding world owes a lot to the Potter family. It is up to you to keep up the tradition. We know you can do it sweetie. I love you." "Okay, James, tell him what he needs to know about the watch. We have to wrap this up."
"Right, Harry, let me show how the portkey works. Each Potter location has a phrase that you utter to go there. For instance, to get to Potter Place you merely need to hold the watch in the palm of your hand and say "Legends of Potter" but don't say it yet as I am not done. Get Mattie to help you so you can learn all the locations. The watch is also capable to learn additional locations. If you wanted to add the location you are at now then you could do that. However, Simon or my dad is better at explaining it than I am and they can actually interact with you while we can't since this is a memory."
"Who is Simon?" Harry asked. James smiled, "I bet you asked who Simon is, right? Simon is your great-grandfather, several greats to be exact. I forget how many greats it actually is but he goes back quite a ways. He was one of the most knowledgeable and best teachers of all the Potters, not to mention extremely powerful. His portrait can be found in the library. If you have a question he is the best person to ask. If he cannot help you then he will know who can. Also, don't forget to visit your grandparents' portraits in the study. My mum and dad will not only be ecstatic to see you but they will be very helpful to you. Dad was an unspeakable and mum was a healer. They can answer a lot of questions and teach you many helpful things. You got all that, Sport?"
Lily spoke up, "Oh, Harry, I almost forgot. If you have not read my diary yet then you should definitely read it. I wrote down some good spells in there, mostly charms. They should be very useful to you. Also, you need to know that we bound your magic when you were just a few months old. All this is explained in the diary as well. You were a very powerful little baby so we did it to protect you from hurting yourself or anyone else. We had plans to undo the bind no later than the age of ten so you could have a year to adjust to the extra power before attending Hogwarts. We were going to have you spend a lot of time at Potter Place after that so you could use your magic and adjust to the extra power. You need to know that as of this time when we made this memory your magic is still bound. Since we are not around you will need to ask your grandpa or Simon to help you determine if you are still bound and how to remove it. It could be that Professor Dumbledore noticed it already and removed it for you. However, I am sure you would have noticed if he did. Given the amount of raw magical power you were showing at such a young age, unbinding it should cause a big surge within you that you will feel and notice. I am certain of that. You will likely have to lie down for a while once it is unbound. Good luck, sweetie."
"Harry, this memory is coming to a close," his dad said. "We wish you all the best and want you to know that we have done this so no matter what happens you can come out on top. Potter Place is now yours. It will be a safe haven if you need it and a place to learn as much as you are willing to learn. Take advantage of it."
Harry's parents stood next to each other with his dad's arm on his mum's shoulders and her arm around his waist. They said together in perfect harmony, "Harry, always remember that we love you." They smiled and disappeared. Harry sunk down on his knees and cried harder than he as ever remembered. That was the longest amount of time he had ever seen his parents and it was a glimpse into how wonderful it could have been. He so wished they were with him now.
When Harry could not cry anymore he went into the loo to wash his face and clean up. He then went out of the room/trunk back into his bedroom. He got out the new clothes and put on a pair of his new boxers. He liked the fit. He put on a black pair of slacks and socks along with a gray button-up shirt. He put on the black dress shoes and one of the black Potter robes. Grabbing his wand and saying goodbye to Hedwig who had come back in, Harry pulled out the pocket watch and gripped it in his hand.
"Legends of Potter" and Harry was gone. Harry noticed that he did not feel the pull behind his naval like his other travels by portkey but nonetheless he knew he was moving from one place to another. That was obvious, especially when he saw his bedroom at Privet Drive disappear and then he reappeared in a nice room with walls made of finely decorated wood. They were of a reddish-brown color. Not too light and not too dark he thought, but a very nice brown. He quickly noticed on one wall, the one he was facing when he arrived, there was a life-sized, full-bodied portrait of a man. He did not notice any door to exit the room.
"Hello there, young man! Whom may I say is calling?" Harry noticed the middle-aged man in the picture had black untidy hair much like his own, although his eyes were a light blue. Taking a good look at Harry's face and eyes, he stammered "Oh my." Shaking himself, the man in the portrait stood up straighter and said "My name is Andrew Alan Potter and if I'm not mistaken your name would be Harry James Potter. Correct?"
"Yes," said Harry. "Did you say your name was Andrew Potter?" "Yes, my dear boy. I happen to be your great, great, great, great grandfather and I am most pleased to see you again. Of course, the last time you were here you were just a baby. Perhaps we can share a better conversation this time around? Not that you weren't talkative last time, it's just you were not very easy to understand; at least it was difficult for me. Your mother Lily seemed to understand you just fine though. You would jabber away and she seemed to know everything you were saying," he smiled at Harry.
Harry gave him a big grin. "Grandfather?" "Now, we will have none of that, Harry. You will find a lot of grandfathers in this house so you will need to stick with first names to keep down the confusion. I assure you, it will be perfectly alright with the others as well. Although, you may want to call your dad's parents Grandpa and Grandma. I am sure they would get a kick out of that."
"Okay, Andrew. It is very nice to finely meet you and talk to you. I have wanted so badly to meet my family so this is a very special occasion for me."
Andrew smiled and nodded. "Can you tell me what room this is, Andrew?" "Yes, of course, Harry. This is the Receiving Room. Anyone who apparates here, takes a floo here, or takes a portkey here lands in this room. I make sure they are meant to be here and if so I announce their arrival. It is not a good place to be if you do not belong here but I will not get into that now. Across the hall is the Leaving Room. My wife, who is your great, great, great, great-grandmother, Carolyn Anne Potter, oversees that room. Be sure to go by and see her." "Now, hold on to your hat Harry. I am about to announce you and I am positive there will be a lot of excited portraits and house elves after I do. Have no fear though. We are all family here." "Thanks, Andrew." Andrew left his portrait for a few seconds and returned.
About the same time as Andrew's return, a door appeared where there was not one before and an elderly elf approached Harry. She was dressed in a very nice uniform with the Potter crest proudly displayed on the front left breast area of the black dress jacket she had on. She was also wearing a grey skirt and a white jumper. She had the biggest smile on her face. Harry could hear quite a few voices coming through the now open door. They sounded excited. "Young Master Harry, it is so nice to see you again. Why you are practically grown. You were just a tiny baby when I last saw you. James and Lily were so proud of you and loved you so much. I miss them terribly still..." "...My apologies, Master Harry, for my reminiscing. My name is Mattie. I am the head elf for the Potters and I am at your service. You are the last of the Potters and sole owner of everything Potter. I will help you as much as I can to learn what you need to learn in your new role. You are obviously a Potter through and through so I am positive you will do just fine." "Mattie," Harry responded, "it is so nice to meet you. I must insist that you call me Harry, just Harry. There is no need to call me master."
"Harry, I will be honored to call you by just your first name. You are a credit to your Potter heritage. The Potters always treated the house elves as favorite employees instead of servants. I see you are no different. However, there will be times when it will not be appropriate for me to address you as such. I will have to address you formally like before or in some cases even more formally. I will know when those times come so do not think anything wrong of me when I do. Just know that I am doing what is needed at the appropriate time. I will return to our less formal address you have granted me when that time has passed. Do you understand?" "I cannot think of a time when it would not be appropriate for you to use just my name but you are much wiser than I am so I will trust your judgment during those times you feel I should be addressed formally. I am sure there will be much more I will need to learn besides the 'appropriate times' you mention and I am sure you are quite capable of teaching me what I need to know."
"I will do my best Harry" Mattie said smiling. Harry smiled back. He knew he was going to like Mattie very much and not just because his parents had praised her. "My parents mentioned you in a memory they left me, the same memory that taught me how to get here. They spoke very highly of you and apparently were very fond of you. I can see now why."
"James and Lily were the best. It is tragic what happened," Mattie replied looking a little sad.
Mattie quickly changed the uncomfortable subject. "There I go again. Harry, are you ready for a tour of Potter Place? There are many elves and portraits anxious to see you."
"Yes," said Harry." My parents also mentioned that I needed to talk to Simon in the Library and I believe they said my dad's parents were in the Study. There are a couple of things that I need to have them help me with." "Yes, Simon and your immediate grandparents can be very helpful to you. I will be sure to introduce you when we get to the Study and the Library. We will see all the elves first in the Banquet Hall. It is nearby. Then you can see a few portraits on the way to the Study and Library." "Thank you." "Follow me, please." Harry followed Mattie out of the Receiving Room and into a rather large hallway. To his right it opened up into a very large room. Across the way was another door to the Leaving Room.
"Oh, let me say hello to Carolyn while I am here. I will just be a minute." "Sure, Harry. Take your time." Harry quickly met Carolyn who was very happy and pleased that Harry stopped by to say hello. He spent about a minute with her and came back out to a waiting Mattie. Mattie led him into the large room where he met 20 other elves. They all appeared very excited to see him.
"Hello," said Harry." I did not realize there would be so many of you. But, nevertheless, I am so pleased to make all of your acquaintances." All the elves grinned at him. "This place must be a lot bigger than I thought to need this many elves. Elves are so efficient so Potter Place has to be huge." The compliment was not lost on any of the elves, including Mattie who smiled. "You are correct, Harry. Potter Place is rather large and its lands are quite large as well. We need all of these elves just to take care of the manor and the lands. It is not as big as Hogwarts but other manors most anywhere would have to say "they are not as big as Potter Place."
"I see," said Harry. "I suppose introductions are in order? After all the introductions were done with the house elves, Harry checked with Mattie to make sure they all understood about "appropriate times" and when given the go ahead he made sure they were all comfortable with calling him Harry. He made some big impressions on all the elves when he insisted on that. Harry also learned that some of the elves worked outside a good bit with the lands and animals and that Potter Place is self-sufficient, providing meat, eggs, and vegetables from the grounds. An elf called Jojo was pointed out as the one in charge of the livestock, which included horses, cows, sheep, and goats.
According to Mattie, this part of the estate actually made a good profit. The horses were bred and some sold periodically for a great deal of money. They had a few quality stock horses. They also had quarter-horses that were used around Potter Place. Most of the quarter-horses originally came from the U.S, and most of those from a large ranch in the state of Texas. They occasionally sold a quarter-horse for profit but not as often as they sold thoroughbreds which are quite expensive. Some of the thoroughbreds were originally imported from Kentucky, a state in the U.S. known for its racing horses. Their breeding stock was second to none Jojo told him. The cows were bred and used for beef at Potter Place as well as sold for beef to the market. Sheep provided wool to the market and the goats, a more recent edition, provided milk to a special market whose demand appeared to be growing. Harry was also told that there were plenty of chickens tended to as well. They provided eggs and poultry for Potter Place. Another elf took care of the garden that provided fresh vegetables for the meals. There were plenty of produce so it was sold to the market as well. Any other meat they needed for Potter Place such as pork was acquired through trade.
Harry found it amusing that the biggest market Potter Place had was Hogwarts. All this time at school and he never knew he was eating his own meat and vegetables. Since these kinds of dealings with food were dealt with by the elves only, Potter Place was able to continue providing beef and produce to the school without interruption. The witches and wizards of Hogwarts and other businesses they sold to, such as restaurants, normally left it entirely up to the trusted elves that had a budget to purchase food items; therefore, they did not know where the elves bought the food so Potter Place remained hidden. The market for wool existed in both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade where the clothing shops like Madam Malkin's bought the wool to make their clothes. Mattie kept track of the profits and expenses. Harry decided that he would have to take a look at the lands tomorrow. He hoped he would be allowed to ride one of the horses.
Mattie continued with Harry through the manor giving him the grand tour. The Banquet Hall where he met the elves was massive, as large if not bigger, than the Great Hall at Hogwarts. There was another room off of the Banquet Hall equally as large that was used for Balls and dancing. It included a raised stage at one end for live entertainment. Harry met a lot of relatives in portraits as he travelled through the manor. It was getting late so he made sure they all knew he would come back to visit when there was more time available. He basically just said hello and had them introduce themselves to him so he could keep moving.
The kitchen was extremely large with a small table that would seat 6 in one corner next to a window. There was a dining room next to the kitchen which was entered through large swinging doors marked IN and OUT to prevent accidents during busy times. He imagined it was for normal and/or guest use. Although much smaller than the Banquet Hall the dining room itself was quite large with seating for two dozen people easy. He noted the size of the room allowed for expansion of the table to seat more if needed.