Chapter 3

Seeing a wave of shimmering air pass through the room Harry blinked as he had to struggle to decide if he did feel the squeezing sensation as the wave hit him or not. Deciding not to even bother thinking about it any longer he looked around the room for a way out, “Great! How the hell am I supposed to get out of a room with no door…”

“Wicked,” Harry grinned as a portal door appeared right after he ranted about there not being a door.

“Harry?” the voice of his mum came from the mirror along with his father’s chuckles.

“I asked for a door and it appeared,” Harry walked out into the hall. “I love magic…”

“Dad,” Harry looked down the hallway both ways and not seeing an exit, “Which way now?”

“Head to your left Harry,” James hugged his wife close while whispering a ‘shush you’ to low for the mirror to pick up. “You should see an engraving of our family’s crest on the wall,” then realizing that his son had probably never had a chance to see the family crest he added, “You’re looking for a picture of a crown on a field of red bordered in blue. You’ll find a small indentation on the crown where one of the jewels is missing, if you place your ring in it, without removing it from your hand, the door will open leading you to a ladder. After that it is up several floors and to another hallway where you’ll see stairs leading up on your right. You’ll end up in the central glade outside the Lords house.”

“O…kay,” Harry rolled his eyes and fought the urge to say something about playing hide and seek. Then again he thought as he saw the crest, it was probably for the best that there were secret ways in and out of the heart room, otherwise back when the Potters were attacked… “If all someone had to do was turn on the shields and protections to keep the Island safe, how come the ministry was able to seize our home without someone activating the shields?”

“I don’t know Harry,” James voice sounded worried. “I hope we can find out what happened when some of those that were cursed are returned to their normal forms.”

Climbing the rungs of the ladder in silence, Harry was feeling the adventure was starting to wear off. What he had been finding out worried him, more for the fact that he so desperately wanted out of the clutches of his relatives that he found out he shouldn’t ever have gone to.

Slipping into the hallway, Harry spotted the steps leading up and started up while noticing there was a strange musty scent. Walking out into the sunshine, Harry looked up wondering how there was sunlight when he knew they were deep underground. Taking a few steps forward to get a better look he let out a horrified mumble, “OH NO…No!” Rushing forward he twirled around as he heard his parent’s voices calling out to him from the mirror, “Everything’s dead…”

James looked at Lily in shock.

“Harry…”Lily called out trying to calm her son. “Harry, it will be alright.”

“Your mother is right son,” James calm voice along with his mothers did a lot to calm Harry down. “We can do wonders with magic, once we find out what went wrong we can fix it and then with magic Underhill will be green again.”

Staring at the mirror in his hand, Harry needed to see his parents instead of just talking to them, holding his hand out he commanded the trunk to return, “Potter Hideout.” Watching the bracelet turn liquid and drip off his wrist and reform on the ground in front of him as his trunk he threw the lock open as soon as it reformed and was down the steps without closing the lid. Calming down as he stared back at his parents worried faces he fell onto the couch, “Everything is dead. Everywhere I looked it was dead plants on top of dead plants.” Shivering he did not like seeing the reality that had shattered his fantasy of a magical world deep underground.

“I wonder why the house elves neglected their duties,” Lily kept one eye on Harry as she moved as much as possible in her frame. “It’s too much to be a coincidence that after seven hundred years all of a sudden they take off or stop taking care of the gardens.”

“I have to wonder,” James thought out loud. “I remember planning for every eventuality. But if Albus was the one to orchestrate hiding Harry and ignoring our wishes like we think; could he have hidden Harry under wards that would have broken the bond with the Potter house elves?”

Lily looked aghast, eyes wide she knew the facts fit, “But Blood Wars have started between families for doing that.”

“What are house elves?” Harry asked now that he was calm and away from all the dead gardens.

“House elves are a magical intelligent species that bond with a magical person to ensure their own magic stabilizes.” Lily looked at the confused look on Harry’s face and smiled, “House elves have magic, but they can only freely use their magic when serving others. Their magic only works as intended when they are serving. Long ago we would have called house elves, Brownies, Like described in children’s fairy tales of the shoemaker.”

“Over time the Brownies discovered that if they bonded to a family their magic stabilized to the point they could do great feats of magic at anytime they wanted.” Lily looked past Harry as she recalled what she had read, “But over time Witches and Wizards discovered that the bond could be used to enslave the helpful house elves and it has gotten to the point that house elves need their masters permission to reproduce.”

“All except for those House Elves here on Potter lands,” James added to the explanation from what he had gleaned from reading from the Potter Repository of Knowledge. “Because the lands that belong to the Potters have three converging nexus of Ley Lines, and our lands are the only place in the world three such nexus converge, the house elves here are slightly different. More true to their origins than those in the outer worlds, but even then the house elves that serve Underhill have a light link to the Potter family to stabilize their magic. The Potter family made sure they are not enslaved like those outside our lands.”

James nodded as he decided on a plan of action, “Right then. Harry I think it is time to try calling the house elves. To do that you need to state your name and claim the Potter lands for your own while dripping a drop of blood on your head ring. For best effect you should do this in the gardens right in front of the heads house. We’ll know what happened to them after you call them and how to proceed from there. After all the lands that have returned from the bottom of the oceans to the surface…well you described them as green and lush.”

Blinking, Harry nodded slowly as he remembered the image from the table and describing it to his parents. Staring at his parents as he thought things over, he tilted his head to see if he could figure out how the portrait was secured to the trunk wall.

“Something the matter Harry?” Lily enquired as she followed her sons gaze to their portrait frame.

“Can the portrait you both are in be moved?” Harry asked as he stood up and went for a closer look. “I was thinking it might be helpful if the both of you could see what is going on.”

“James?” Lily asked as she looked at her husband.

Looking up at the top of the frame James thought about the spell anchors they had used, “I think it should be possible. If nothing else it won’t do any damage to our anchors if it doesn’t work.” Looking back down at harry he smiled as he gave his son the instructions that would allow the portrait to be moved, “What you need to do Harry is to remove the four red gems, there is one at each corner of our frame. Start with the upper left and end with the lower left hand ones. After that the frame should shrink enough to allow you to lift it up through the stair well, after that you need to put the frame on the wall you want us to be placed on and return the gems in the exact reverse of how you took them out.”

Glancing at the portrait frame as his father told him how they could be removed, Harry spotted all four gems. Looking up at the topmost gems he held his hand up as he glanced between his hand and the top of the frame. Seeing there was no way he could just reach over and grab the gemstones he looked back over his shoulder to the couch before nodding and dragging it to the edge of the frame. Standing on the arm of the couch he grinned face to face with his parents a moment before reaching up and grabbing the first gem and twisting it out. Using his other hand to remove the other topmost gem he jumped off the arm of the couch and carefully placed both gems on the table top in the order he had removed them. Pushing the couch away from the portrait he removed the lowest right hand gen and carefully placed it on the table before going back and twisting the last gem out of its socket.

Catching the frame before it could fall off the wall as it suddenly shrunk, Harry was very careful as he slowly made his way up the steps and out of the trunk. Having already decided that the perfect spot to place his parents frame was on the outer wall of the house he had walked out of. He moved along the wall until he found the perfect spot, a place his parents could gaze out over the city and its hanging gardens. Of course right now it was all dead and depressing he thought as he clutched the portrait frame to his chest as he stood and gazed out over the devastation.

Shaking his head as he dragged himself out of the depressing thoughts as he turned away from the dead gardens, Harry placed the frame in the middle of the wall and twisted the gem he was holding into the lowest left hand corner slot of the portrait frame causing the frame to stick to the wall and enlarge back to the size it had been before removing the gems. Two trips back down into the trunk to retrieve the other gems he placed the last gem into the portrait after having to drag a chair from inside the house so he could stand on it to reach the upper slots.

Blinking as the magic of the frame started to flow once again, Lily gazed out and down the tiers that made up the hanging gardens of Underhill. Tears flowing freely as every where she looked she saw nothing but death and decay, “Oh, James…”

“Good show Har…” James started to congratulate his son on a job well done until his eyes caught the devastation to the gardens. “By the first ones…” he stuttered out as he gazed out and down each of the tiers and saw nothing but brown where there should be healthy green.

“I know,” Harry whispered in pain as he looked at the ground. Remembering what he had been about to do he pulled a pin out of his belt and pricked the end of his finger. Pushing on it until a large drop of blood and rubbed it on top of his ring, “I Harry James Potter…Head of the Potters…I reclaim all Potter lands and holdings…What was once taken has now been reclaimed,” Magic had taken hold of him and where he had planned just to announce he was head of his family, well magic had other plans. His voice took on an echoing quality, “A Potter now holds dominion over our lands once more,” glowing Harry turned away from his awe struck parents to face the city. “By Blood…By magic…” Harry started to float several feet in the air as a magical wind twisted around him. “By my Soul…” light started to shoot out from Harry’s eyes and mouth, “Magic walks through the land from a Potter once more…”

Feeling a strong second wave of magic flow through him, Bisby felt something tug at the back of his mind as the Potter link settled into place. Placing the watering can down on the bench near the seedlings Bisby popped towards the source of the mind tug. Appearing in front of the house where legend had it that the head of the Potter family lived, Bisby fell to his knees in awe as he saw something out of the mists of time. A Potter was reclaiming his lands in his family’s name.

Landing on his feet, eyes still glowing, Harry looked at the little being that had appeared, “Only one?”

Bisby knowing what the young lord was asking looked down in shame, “Bisby is being the only one left. All others have long gone to sleep.” Letting out a moan of fear he whispered, “Bisby not being enough to keep gardens alive, Bisby is only being one. But Bisby being able to keeps the greenhouses going.”

“Sleep?” Harry asked as the glow started to fade from around his body. “Do you mean they died?”

Shaking his head no, Bisby told him, “Theys be going to sleep. Likes those animules that sleep during the snow times.”

“Hibernation,” mused Harry as he looked down at the strange creature kneeling in front of him. “Can we wake them up? And,” he looked around at the gardens and the parched soil, “Do you know what needs to be done to fix the watering system in the gardens?”

“Harry,” James called out.

Turning to face the portrait Harry looked up at his parents, “Yes.”

“When you attached our frame to the house we became part of the protections of Underhill,” James started to explain as he looked sideways as if hearing an answer. “It seems Underhill uses a magical watering system for the gardens, and when I and your mother inscribed the ritual of cleansing to remove the curse from those turned into Dementors…well it seems we might have made a mistake and accidently short circuited one of the power arrays.”

“Can it be fixed?” Harry asked slowly as he wondered how he was going to be able to do that considering he knew nothing of magic.

“Yes, easily…” James started to tell Harry how to do it but was interrupted by Lily.

“Harry,” Lily interrupted her husband with a glare that told him he was losing track of what needed to be done first. “Why don’t we wait until all those cursed are released before thinking about fixing the watering system. That way some of the older Potters can fix it, after all it should be an easy fix for them.”

Nodding his head Harry turned back to face the house elf, “Bisby? Can you go and wake up the other house elves, from what I understand, once they are cured the Potters will be weak and needing some food…maybe some soup.” Thinking about how much food he had left he frowned. It was supposed to last him a month while living at his relatives, more like being locked in at his relatives. The problem was he had only bought around forty five meals, mostly breakfasts and supper. He was going to need to raid a grocers before going to bed.

“Bisby do,” Bisby nodded enthusiastically before snapping his fingers and popping down to the sleeping caves.

“Very strange creature,” Harry mumbled as he shook himself and faced his parents once more. “So,” bouncing on the balls of his feat, “How do I undo this curse then?”

--

Walking into the ritual room after getting directions from his parents, Harry looked all around the room to see strange writing and symbols covering what looked like every square inch of the place; including the floors and ceiling. Picking up a small golden piece that looked like it would fit a puzzle he looked around the floor and walls for the slot he was supposed to fit it in. finally finding it near some strange door frame without a door, or even an opening behind it he fit it into place and pushed it until it clicked. Blinking in surprise as he heard a loud hum from the walls of the room he stepped back as the door frame suddenly shimmered and he saw an image through it.

As he stared through the doorway Harry fiddled with the protective pendant he had put on yesterday as he looked at the milling mob of creepy Dementors on the other side of the door. After several minutes of staring he remembered his father’s words, “The means to reverse the curse on you has been found.”

Surrounding the lone stone arch near the edge of where the devastated land met the newly risen section of the island, the Dementors waited patiently for something to happen. What part of their minds that still remained human hoped for the first time in ages as the archway shimmered and they caught sight of…a young boy. Watching him move around as he spoke to them they saw the Potter family ring on his hand. So this was their head of house, but the question they wished they could ask if they had the ability was why such a young child was now the head of their family. What new calamity had befallen their family now?

Moving over to the spot his father had told him he needed to do the spell from, after placing a drop of his blood on the symbol that is, Harry knelt down as he called for the first to have the curse removed, he was going to have to have a long talk with someone about the amount of blood used in performing spells, after all he thought as he stabbed the pin into his finger to draw blood, it bloody well hurt. “One at a time you can enter the room, stand in the center of the circle while I do what I need too to activate the counter to the curse.”

Shivering as the room got colder as one of the creepy larger ones floated into the room, Harry waited until it stopped in the center of the room before dripping one drop of his blood on the symbol on the floor, “Blood calls to blood.” The room started to glow a bright white, “Cursed by betrayal…Chained in malice and hate.” The Dementor had been reduced to half its size as the cloak hiding its skeletal body was reduced to nothing in a flash of flame leaving it naked, “Created in hate…Be healed in love of family.”

Harry watched in wide eyed shock as the creature first lost all its clothes leaving nothing but wisps of mist and a partial skeleton. Then as if in great pain it fell over onto the floor as the mist was driven off in bright bolts of energy; each time it was hit from a different symbol from the wall or ceiling something happened. First the skeleton filled out, then organs started to appear and were soon covered by muscles and then skin.

Staring as the room faded back from its bright glow to a somewhat normal brightness Harry starred in shock at the naked young boy who was attempting to get to his knees in the center of the circle. Ignoring the screeches coming from the doorway he moved to the boy’s side.

Looking up in wonder at the head of his family, Christophe let his tears out finally. Knowing what he had to do he reached over and pricked his finger on the pin in his saviors hand and touched his bleeding finger to the spot of blood on the others hand. “Blood calls to Blood. By my magic…By the blood that runs in my body…And by my soul, I Christophe Potter swear loyalty to the Potter line and he who leads us.”

Blinking back the spots as the flash of light faded from his eyes, Harry decided to ask later what that was all about. Helping Christophe get to his feet he set him down outside the room with his back against the wall so he could rest. Returning to the room he groaned as he made himself comfortable, the next Potter to be returned to normal was waiting for him to start.

--

Bisby stared at the red crystal as it melted away from the body of Zazy, the guardian of the caves.

Zazy opened his eyes just as the last of the crystal melted off his body. Looking around he spotted one lone elf staring at him in anticipation. Groaning as he moved his stiff body out of the cavity he had been sleeping in, “Whos is you to be waking Zazy?”

“Bisby is,” Bisby told him as he waved at all the sleepers surrounding them on the three levels of the tower style cave. “The Potter has returned. The Potter is wanting all elves to wake and help him fix city.”

Feeling for the link Zazy was surprised to feel that indeed it was there. Frowning as he looked around the circular chamber at the resting elves, “City is fine. Nothings needing fixing.”

Bisby stomped his foot as he glared at the guard elf, “Zazy been sleeping. Zazy no know what city looks like.” Ears drooping as his face filled with shame, “Gardens be dead. Nothing survive but greenhouses for when The Potter comes home.”

Zazy stared at the other elf for several long moments as he thought about what he was told. Shaking his head hard enough for his floppy ears to hit his head, “Bad Bisby for waking Zazy; bad elf knows magic keeps gardens growing.”

Growling in frustration and anger Bisby grabbed Zazy by the ear and popped out of the cave into the middle of the hanging gardens. Waving his arm around at the four levels above them he whacked the old elf on the side of the head, “Bisby no bad elf…ZAZY LOOK , believe own eyes.”

Falling to his knees Zazy stared at all the brown vegetation, every where he looked all he could see was row upon row of dead plants where once there was beautiful flowers.

--

Four long hours after he started, Harry helped the last person returned to their normal form out of the ritual room. While he had family again, the oldest of those that were cursed was only twenty and the majority were younger than he was.

Tobias leaned on the railing overlooking the city with dismay. While the city looked to be in great shape he was very troubled seeing that the gardens had died. Being deep underground without the gardens the air would start to go stale and become poisonous before long if nothing was done soon to fix them.

Walking up to stand next to the older boy Harry asked after catching the pensive expression on Tobias face, “Is something wrong?”

Sighing, Tobias tore his eyes away from the gardens to look at the head of his family, so young he thought, yet he had the strength of conviction to get him this far. “Several things Father.”

 Screwing up his face in shock, Harry looked at the older boy as if he had lost more than one marble, “Father??? I think the seven hundred or so years you spent cursed has addled your mind.” Pointing to his chest as he took a step back, “Do I look like a Father to you? Bloody hell, I‘ve not even got hair down there yet.”

Laughing hard enough to almost fall down, it took Tobias several tries to explain himself, “That’s too funny...You are the head of our family…our clan if you will. The head of the family is always addressed as Father…but the other meaning is funny too.”

“Ha…Ha,” Harry grumbled as the other boy chuckled. Finally seeing the amusement in it he smiled, “So back to what I was asking then.”

Sighing Tobias ran his hand through his hair, “Several things. The first being that as we are deep underground, we rely on the gardens to refresh our air.”

“And with them being dead,” Harry frowned as he looked out over the city.

“Yes and we need to fix that as quickly as possible,” Tobias once again had to hold onto the railing to keep from falling, this time because he was still so weak. “Not only that, most of us are as weak as a newborn babe, we don’t have enough magic in our cores right now to do the work needed to get everything back to normal. I just don’t understand why the Little Ones let the gardens die.”

“Little Ones,” Harry mouthed softly as he tried to figure out who…”Oh, you mean the House Elves.”

“Is that what they are calling themselves now?” Tobias turned to look at his family head.

Shrugging, Harry pointed back towards the house he placed his parents frame on, “Don’t rightly know to tell the truth. That’s what my parent’s portrait told me they were called. I do know when I claimed my birthright this morning only one house elf answered the call.” Leaning against the railing so he could use it to hold himself up as he was feeling tired, “Bisby, that’s the name of the House Elf that answered the call, told me all the others went into some type of sleep like hibernating animals do in the winter.”

“I see,” Tobias mumbled as he stared at Harry by moving his head slightly. “Something must have happened before you became the head of the family that made them think there was no hope in returning us to normal from our cursed fate.”

Nodding his head, Harry pointed to the portrait across the way that he could barely make out, “My parents portrait told me that the person who betrayed them and me must have placed me under some type of…” thinking back he shrugged as he could not remember what his father called it, “Shields of some sort that broke the link to the House Elves. I think he wanted to make sure that I had no chance of getting away from the nasty people he placed me with after my parents were murdered.”

Raising his eyebrows, Tobias spotted the simmering anger on Harry’s face and decided later on he would talk to this portrait to find out what went on before Harry made his way home. Thinking about how the potion shelves were empty as they helped each of the cousins into the infirmary decided to concentrate on what was important. Looking around he spotted Dieter and called him over. “Father…”

Harry made a face at being called Father again and frowned as both teens chuckled at him.

“You’ll get used to it in time,” Tobias told him as he placed a steadying hand on Dieters shoulder. “Dieter here is one of the best medicinal brewers the Potters ever taught.” Turning to face his friend he sighed, “Somehow you are going to have to find the energy to brew the energy restoratives we need to get back on our feet. While you do that I need to see about trying to make something soothing for all of us to eat.”

Seeing how tired Dieter looked Harry remembered the first aid potions he had bought after talking to the man in the apothecary during his shopping trip, on top of that he had enough food to make some soup if he made several different types. But it would mean he had to go shopping right away. Touching his bracelet he startled the two older teens when the trunk returned to normal, “Potter’s hideout.” Opening the lid as he pushed the button for the third room, Harry threw the lid open and rushed down the stairs.

Tobias stared at the trunk in shock as he watched the head of their family disappear. Leaning forward he tried to think of how the space layering charms were integrated into transmutation charms.

Rushing up the stairs Harry wondering why his trunk was getting strange looks. Shrugging it off he knelt in front of the trunk and pressed the number two causing the trunk to shimmer and reform with the school compartments showing. Pulling all his potion supplies out of the compartment he stacked them up next to Dieter’s feet. Removing the rack of memories he stared at them before setting them to one side, he would have to remember to watch them later once everything settled down. Pulling the next set of racks out of the holder with a click he placed them next to him before returning the rack of memories to the holder. “I’m not sure what you need, but if you need some ingredients that I don’t have I probably can get them.”

“There should be more than enough ingredients in the greenhouses,” Dieter told Harry as he looked through the ingredient vials. “That is if they are not dead too,” he mumbled as he looked back at the gardens.

“Bisby told me they are okay,” Harry told him as he placed his hand on the trunk. “Form up!” Smiling as the trunk returned to his wrist he just could not think he would ever get tired of doing magic. Digging into the satchel for his supply of meals he glanced around as he started to pull out the dinners he had bought, “Um, does the hospital have a kitchen?”