The Four Swords of Hogwarts

Chapter 11: To Be a Hero

"Wait, wait," Ron said, interrupting Harry's telling of his dream. "The woman you've been seeing is Hogwarts?"

Harry nodded. "She can apparently take form. Or, at least, the magic here can."

"Bloody hell," Ron said, obviously stunned.

"So, what happened?" Hermione asked.

"Something bad is happening to the school. She said her magic—the Founders' magic—is failing...dying. Someone is draining and misusing it, has been for a long time, from what it seems," Harry explained. "Her core is missing and has to be restored or else the magic goes away forever."

"How awful," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Did she say who's doing it?" Ron asked.

"No, she couldn't," Harry said. "She said whoever it is has her bound."

"They've got complete control," Hermione said, "and they must have known Hogwarts taking form was possible."

"What's this 'core' she mentioned?" Ron asked, taking a large bite of a buttered dinner roll.

"Swords," Harry said. "The Four Swords of the Founders."

"You mean like the one the Sorting Hat gave you in the Chamber of Secrets?" Hermione said.

Harry nodded. "That was one, but apparently it's gone, hidden somewhere like the others. We have to find them and bring them back to the core here in the castle."

"'We'?" Ron repeated.

"Where is the core?" Hermione asked.

"Apparently, there are three others that I have to find. 'Four swords for four heroes', she said," Harry explained. "As for the core, I have absolutely no idea."

Ron huffed. "For a sentient castle, she couldn't give you much, could she?"

"Unfortunately, no, but at least we know what's going on now, at least with the castle," Harry said. "We have a better place to start. We can research the swords, try to find out who the other heroes are, and try to figure out where the core is."

"We can also keep guessing at who's behind it," Ron said.

Harry frowned. "I thought we had agreed it was Voldemort?"

"Yes, but he doesn't fill in all the blanks," Hermione said. "Harry, what if we're wrong? What if it's not him?"

"Who else would it be?" Harry asked, slightly irritated even though a part of him had thought the exact same thing.

"I don't know," Hermione said, "but we should still try to find out. We have to stop them."

Harry bit into a sausage, nodding his agreement. Who would want to control and hurt Hogwarts, and everyone inside? His gaze wandered over the students before flickering up to the head table. He was instantly drawn to Dumbledore and was startled to find the man staring at him. The blue eyes were hard and did not change or dart away when they met Harry's green ones. He frowned at the look and the feeling that something had changed. It reinforced his feeling that he needed to start keeping an eye on the headmaster. He was beginning to wonder if Dumbledore were somehow involved.

"Shall we go to the library after classes today?" Hermione suggested. "I may be able to get us access to the Restricted Section."

"We definitely need in there," Harry said. "Tonight then."

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Harry hovered outside the Defense office, biting his lip as he considered whether this was a good idea or not. He had never gotten a response from the man after he went to him for help some time ago. He couldn't be sure anything had changed, but he had to try. It felt like Snape was the only one he could trust based on the visions he'd had. Snape had a role in helping stop the Mind Magic, he knew it. He was also fairly certain Snape had a role in his life, a role they had both been made to forget. So, he took a deep breath and quickly knocked on the door.