To Meet History

Chapter 2-Exploring a Vampire's House

The next day, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco spent the day exploring Le-Annette's manor. Hermione enjoyed showing her friends the various libraries and sitting rooms on each floor of the house. Meanwhile, the professors were busy installing various securities to keep them all safe from Voldemort.

"I cannot believe the Headmaster stuck me with a werewolf and a vampire!" Snape muttered.

Lupin, who stood right beside him and was sure Snape wanted him to respond, said, "I think Le-Annette is trustworthy. Everyone else knows of my trustworthiness."

"Yes, only when you have the Wolf's Bane Potions. Speaking of which, I must ask our hostess if she has a room suitable for potion making,"

A couple of minutes later, the four seventeen year olds came down the stair case. They were whispering amongst themselves about something Hermione had in her hand.

"Hey, Professor Lupin," Harry began, taking what looked like a photo album from Hermione's hand.

"Children, we are going to be here all summer. Please, lets move to a first name basis," Lupin replied.

"Oh, okay," Harry stumbled. "Dumbledore said Le-Annette was a 'powerful witch' right?"

"Right," Lupin said slowly.

Snape turned to give Harry a glare.

"Do get on with a sensible question, Potter!" he said.

"Very well, Severus. You reckon she attended Hogwarts?"

"She says she's traveled all over and that she isn't, of course, originally from America," Hermione said.

Snape scowled at Harry for the emphasis he had placed on his first name. However, he looked calmly at Hermione and said, "It is possible."

"We saw paintings of her in this one room, Remus! She's really old!" Ron said excitedly.

"We'll just ask her when the sun goes down," Lupin said kindly.

Which seemed to come to pass very quickly. Soon Le-Annette was descending the stairs from her bedroom and greeting her guests in the kitchen.

"Did you all enjoy my home today?" she asked, taking a seat by Snape.

"Yes, Aunt Le-Annette, we did," Hermione said, then, when she was nudged by Harry, she added, "In fact, we have a question for you."

"What is it?" Le-Annette smiled. Draco's eyes widened somewhat, possibly, in fear.

"I was wondering, well, you've never told me much about your past, and, well-"

"Do get on with it, child!" Snape hissed.

Le-Annette looked at him with wide eyes. "So hasty," she said, "perhaps you should take this summer to relax."

Everyone, except Snape of course, fought to suppress giggles. Hermione continued.

"Did you ever go to Hogwarts? And, if so, when? How old are you, Aunt Le-Annette?"

Le-Annette shook her head.

"What provokes such questioning, my loves?"

"We found a photo album, and then some paintings of you that date back really far," Harry said, handing Le-Annette the large, leather bound book. She laughed slightly at it.

"These questions all lead to a story I have never told. It is a long story, my dears,"

"Did you attend Hogwarts, Miss Le-Annette?" Lupin asked, now obviously curious.

"Yes, in fact, I was the second first-year class to ever enter the school. But, if you all are interested, I could tell you that story after I have fed," she said, opening the book and flipping through it absentmindedly.

"I suppose it would be interesting, hearing from someone who, undoubtedly, knew the founders. I heard they were close with their early students, is this true?" Snape asked.

"Yes, very true. You really don't know how true. But, let me feed. I shall return when all of you have had your supper. Then we shall hear the story in the sitting room. I shall return,"

With that, Le-Annette stood and swept from the room.

"How interesting! We are going to hear a history of Hogwarts, firsthand!" Hermione said, almost leaping from her chair with excitement.

And so, they prepared their dinner, with Hermione's instruction as to where everything was, and ate it quickly. Then, about an hour later, they all gathered in the sitting room, where a fire was already crackling merrily.

"How long do you think it takes her to-um-eat?" Draco asked.

"Not very long," Le-Annette said from the doorway.

She entered and took a seat close to the fire, which lit her face creepily. She had the photo album in her hand, but instead of opening it, allowed it to rest on her lap.

"I shall begin with my early childhood. You must first understand these things: that witchcraft was frowned upon by most, not all; that women where thought to be weak and useless, and that when my story starts, I am only nine," she said.

"When did you start wizarding school at that time?" Hermione asked.

"Same time you do now. My story just starts a bit earlier. I was actually about nine and a half..."