𝕬 𝕷𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝕳𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝕽𝖎𝖘𝖊𝖘 | 𝑇𝑜𝑚 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 |

Chapter 3- The Third and Fourth Founders

Well, it didn't actually take hours, considering all the records they had to go through and family name changes over the past several centuries. It took weeks to go through things and they still weren't getting even close to a possible suspect. The Ravenclaw line seemed to die with the death of Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena's daughter, and the Hufflepuffs had so many offspring in the family line the descendant could be practically anyone at this point in time. Although, there was a slight chance that they weren't even in the school at all. There was no way of knowing. Tom had hoped to find them both by winter holiday, so if they had any artifacts or something at their homes that might give them any clues, they could bring them back to school with them.

However, with only three days till the break, that fantasy did not seem likely. The two sat at a table in the library, surrounded by every piece of literature they could obtain about Hogwarts and the founders in a search that seemed like only a means to an end at this point.

"We've got to come up with a more practical method of research. I'm starting to not like books as much as I used to." Tom sighed, obviously frustrated by the lack of results. He closed yet another Hufflepuff history book and slammed it carelessly into the pile of already drained books. This was getting tedious and wearisome. They needed to find the founder's heirs some other way. But what other way was there?

"Well, it's not like we can go around inquiring about it like, 'Good day—by any chance, are you a descendant of one of the four founders of Hogwarts?'. They'll think we've gone mad." Frankie argued. She understood his urgency, but there wasn't any other way to do this. Slughorn warned them about trusting other people. Frankie's mother had too. They didn't even know if the other descendants would actually agree to help them, or just turn them into the headmaster.

"That would be a very bizarre question indeed."

A voice had drifted in from their left and they turned to find Prue Thompson, a Ravenclaw from their year, slightly smiling for obviously catching them in the act of doing something secret that she was not supposed to have overheard. "Fancy meeting you here, wallflowers. Might I inquire what the two of you are doing?"

"This is just a bit of extra research on the founding of the school." Tom replied, hoping it would make what she just heard somewhat justified. "We're starting Hogwarts history, once the new term begins, and Frankie is usually the one who continues the lecture after Professor Binns falls asleep at his desk."

"How interesting. Is it going well?"

"Not very. We're having a bit of trouble finding details. All these books are too general and repetitive."

"You know, I'm actually a descendant of the House of Ravenclaw. Not directly from Rowena herself, but still I might be of some assistance." Prue replied. Tom and Frankie's mouths nearly fell open at this sudden discovery.

"It's—it's—"

"Calm yourself, Frankie. You'll scare her off." Tom added, to Frankie's excited stammering. Although, Tom wanted to be skeptical and question her claim to such noble lineage, he'd always had a weird feeling about Prue. She'd always known that she was going to be in Ravenclaw and had enough intelligence to rival him and Frankie's, perhaps even more. It wouldn't be such a crazy claim in her case. "It turns out, Prue, you are exactly what we need..."

"—So, if I'm understanding right—you two are embarking on a quest to get Frankie's magic back. The potion that can do that requires gathering the four founders and having them unlock their secrets hidden within the school." Prue reiterated, after Tom fully explained the current situation to her.

"Yes, I believe there are four essential ingredients hidden within the castle. A tuft of fur from Aslan, a claw of the Bludgeoned Badger, a wing from one of Rowena's ravens, and the venom of a Basilisk, which are all here in places only descendants from the bloodline can access." Tom explained, referring to the four ingredients with four differently colored bullet points by them. Red, yellow, blue, and green, of course.