By Lisa Rene
“Ready?” said Susan, handing Hannah a pair of worn gardening gloves. “Where are the boys?”
“They’re already out there, Justin said he would start digging the hole for the oak tree with Ernie.” Hannah got up, and they walked together out of the portrait hole and up the stairs to the great entrance hall.
As fifth years, Susan and Hannah had approached their head of house, Professor Sprout, with an idea for a project. The grounds of Hogwarts were beautiful and sweeping, and well-tended by Hagrid. But the girls had thought it would be lovely to have a little sitting garden, somewhere that students could go to chat or do homework and mix with the other houses, rather than working in their own common rooms. There was a large clearing in the trees behind the greenhouses that was perfect. Professor Sprout had thought it was a wonderful idea and gave them full access to the greenhouse supplies.
They had asked their friends, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ernie Macmillan, to help them. Truth be told, Hannah had had a crush on Justin for ages, but the four of them had always had an easy friendship, and the boys were happy for the chance to do some work outside for a change.
Justin looked up from the hole he was digging in the center of the garden. They had chosen to plant a tree that was already well-grown, so that it could provide shade right away. But this meant they needed a large enough hole to plant it in. “Hey you two,” he said, breathing hard, “we’re nearly finished here. We’re going to have to move that tree all together.”
Susan went up to inspect their work while Hannah sat down on the Hufflepuff bench. They had put four benches in a large circle, one for each house, connected by a path of flat stones. Each bench bore its house crest and was surrounded by pretty flowers: yellow tulips for Hufflepuff, red peonies for Gryffindor, deep blue irises for Ravenclaw, and climbing black roses for Slytherin.
“I think a few more inches should do it,” huffed Ernie. He dug his shovel into the earth, but came up short as it hit something hard. “Justin, help me get this rock out.”
They pulled up a flat, circular stone covered with dirt. It was about a foot across and looked like it might have been part of a larger, carved stone at one time. The face had deep lines and there were jagged edges, worn by time.
“Hannah, come look at this!” exclaimed Susan. Hannah jogged to the edge of the hole and bent down. She tried to wipe away the dirt, but it was deep in the seams of the rock.
“Do you think you could clean it?” asked Susan. Cleaning spells were Hannah’s specialty. They came in very useful for cleaning soiled robes and dirty fingernails that were the trademark of the hard-working Hufflepuffs.
“Let me try.” Hannah pulled her wand out of her robes and waved it over the stone. “Abstergeo!” The dirt melted away from the stone and revealed an intricate carving underneath, a crest of sorts. Four symbols in a circle representing the four physical elements – earth, wind, fire, water.
“Ooh,” breathed Susan, “how pretty!”
“Wow, it looks old,” said Justin, “it was probably a decoration on some old part of the castle. Maybe something happened and it got dumped here by mistake.”
Hannah looked in the freshly dug hole. “But this is a big hole. Did you find any other pieces like this around it?”
“No,” said Ernie.
“Maybe it was buried here on purpose. But why?” asked Susan.
“Look at this,” Hannah bent over the stone, feeling along the edges, “there are letters here.” Just visible along the worn edges, her fingers traced letters and half-words etched into the stone, as if each symbol had its own words of explanation.
“This is part of something bigger, or was.” Hannah searched her mind, then her eyes grew wide. “Wait a minute!” She turned and ran toward the greenhouses, robes flying.
“Hannah! What is it?” yelled Susan.
“Come on,” said Justin, dusting the dirt from his knees, “let’s go.”
They sprinted after Hannah, arriving just in time to see her disappear down a stairway leading into the castle behind Greenhouse Three. They knew this was the entrance to Professor Sprout’s office, but neither Susan, Justin, or Ernie had been down there more than a few times. Hannah, however, was a favorite of her Head of House, and she felt no qualms about knocking on Professor Sprout’s door.
“Professor?” she called breathlessly as the others caught up to her, “it’s Hannah, may I come in?”
“Yes, of course,” called a bright voice from inside, “come in dear.”
Hannah turned the knob and the four of them piled into the office. It was a cozy room, furnished in soft yellow shades. Professor Sprout stood up from her cushioned chair at the sight of the four flushed faces standing before her.
“Goodness!” she exclaimed, “Is everything alright? Need any help out in the garden?”
“Professor, that stone,” said Hannah, pointing to a large rectangular object on the wall above the desk. There was a phrase etched into the stone that Hannah had read many times before when she had visited the office. “Where did it come from?”
“Oh, yes,” Professor Sprout’s eyes lit up as she looked to where Hannah was pointing, “one of my most prized possessions. It has hung in the Head of Hufflepuff’s office ever since I can remember. It is a part of the Founders’ Stone.”
“The Founders’ Stone?” asked Susan, “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Well, it’s a legend really,” explained the Professor. “When the four Founders were first building Hogwarts, they each approached the task with their own ideas of what kind of students they would like to teach. Elemental magic was very strong at that time, and each believed they had a special connection to the elements of the earth that would aid them in their endeavor. Legend says that each of the Founders – Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin – devised mottos for themselves that spoke to their elemental qualities. The mottos were carved into a stone which hung in the entrance hall of the castle. But then Salazar Slytherin decided to leave the Founders due to differences in opinion of the type of students who should be accepted at Hogwarts. Legend says that on his way out of the castle for the last time, he turned his wand on the stone and blasted it into pieces, scattering them, to separate himself from the other Founders forever. Theoretically, all the pieces would have landed either somewhere in the castle or on the grounds. But this is the only piece that was ever recovered.”
They all read the stone silently, “As earth brings toil, so toil bears fruit to those who see...”, but the end was cut off by a broken edge.
“So that means,” wondered Justin, “that the stone is a thousand years old?”
“Yes. It’s a pity the ending is gone,” said Professor Sprout, “but I’m very honored to have it, just the same.”
“Professor, we found something while we were digging in the garden. I think you should see it.” Hannah led the way out of the office, followed by everyone. When they reached the stone and explained what they had found, Professor Sprout looked intrigued.
“Indeed, it does seem to fit together, doesn’t it? These letters here next to the symbol for earth... ‘k’ and ‘it’. If you put it next to my stone, it would read ‘As earth brings toil, so toil bears fruit to those who seek it’. And ‘earth’ would have most likely been Helga’s element, wouldn’t it. Well done, children! I’m sure Professor Dumbledore would be most interested to learn about this.”
Professor Sprout led them to Dumbledore’s office and knocked.
“Please enter, Professor Sprout,” a kindly voice called out them from inside.
Professor Sprout turned to the children, shaking her head. “How does he do that?”
Dumbledore greeted them graciously. It was the first time any of the Hufflepuffs had been inside the extraordinary office, and they tried to take in as much as they could while Professor Sprout explained what they had found in an excited voice.
When she was done, Dumbledore looked over his spectacles at Hannah. “So, Miss Abbott, it was your quick mind and proficiency with cleaning spells that uncovered this mystery? Well done. I must tell you that even though none of the other pieces of the Founders’ Stone has been recovered, I have always thought that they must be here, if only someone had the patience to look for them. And none other than a Hufflepuff would be such a good fit for the task. If you and your friends care to, you have my permission to search the castle and grounds and see what you can find. I would be most interested to see where your hunt leads you. Most interested indeed.”
The four friends brightened at this new challenge. “Thank you, Professor!” “Yes, we would love to, Professor!”
After dinner, they settled into the common room and put their heads together.
Hannah began, “So, we know that Helga Hufflepuff’s element was earth. That’s obvious. What about the others?”
“Well,” said Justin, “the four elements are earth, wind, fire and water. I don’t know where Helga’s piece was originally found, but the part we found was definitely in the earth. Do you think the other pieces might be near their elements?”
“Why not,” said Susan, “it’s a good place to start. The lake would be the most obvious place for water, let’s check that in the morning.”
A week later, Susan ran in to breakfast, beckoning the boys to follow her. They had searched the edge of the lake in vain for several days, finding nothing. This morning, Susan and Hannah had decided to go for and early morning walk before breakfast.
“There’s a small stream that flows out from the Forbidden Forest and into the lake,” said Susan as the boys hurried to keep up with her. “We think we found something, but we can’t get it out of the mud. Hannah is waiting for us there.”
When they arrived, Hannah was squatting by the bank of the stream. She pointed to the tip of a smooth, flat rock jutting up through the rushing water.
“It looks like the same kind of stone, but it’s buried so deep.” Hannah turned to the boys, “I think if we all use our wands together, we might be able to lift it.”
They stood in a row on the bank, Hannah and Susan in the middle, flanked by Justin and Ernie. They raised their wands at the stone and shouted together, “Wingardium Leviosa!”
The stone rose slowly out of the water, heavy and dripping with mud. They guided it together to the bank and set it down gently. Hannah stood over it and spoke her cleaning spell “Abstergeo!” and like before, the mud melted away to reveal a carving underneath. The lines were worn away by time and water, but the words were still visible. It read, “As water gives life, so knowledge flows into great...”
“Minds!” shouted Hannah, “the word next to the water symbol on the other stone was ‘minds’! That has to be Rowena Ravenclaw’s! We did it, we found it!” She jumped up into Justin’s arms and hugged him tightly. He seemed surprised and their eyes met as he released her, but he smiled. She suddenly became embarrassed and looked away.
They set about looking for the remaining two stones with renewed vigor. They were running out of ideas on where to look for “wind” until Ernie suggested the Astronomy Tower. The air was clear up there, and being the tallest tower at the castle, it could get quite windy. They scrambled out to the roof late one night after the evening classes had finished. The open platform was bare except for a few heavy wooden shelves which held telescopes and other equipment.
Not knowing where else to look, Justin and Ernie began to push one of the shelves aside. The wall behind it didn’t look out of the ordinary. They turned to the second, larger shelf and with the girls’ help, pushed it aside as well. Here, the wall looked the same, except for one stone that was much larger than the others, and slightly discolored. But the face of it was blank.
“It’s the right size,” said Hannah, “and look, the mortar around this stone is different. It’s crumbly.”
“Stand back,” said Justin, pointing his wand at the stone.
“Be careful,” said Susan.
“Emoveo,” Justin spoke softly. The mortar around the stone began to crumble away, leaving it exposed. Ernie, Susan and Hannah raced forward to catch it and lowered the stone to the floor gently. On the back side, they found the words they had been looking for. “As wind blows unseen, so ambition reaches the depths of the soul.”
“Slytherin,” Hannah whispered. She looked up and caught Justin beaming at her.
Hannah sat in the Great Hall. Her friends were just finishing dinner, but she pushed the food around her plate and stared absently at the great fireplace. It had been two weeks since they had found the Slytherin stone. With end of term looming closer, they had been too preoccupied with homework to spend much time looking for the last piece, Gryffindor’s fire.
She stared into the flames at the head of the Great Hall, near to where she was sitting. Its warm glow made her sleepy. Fire, she thought, fire, fire, fire. She had been staring so long that she thought she could almost see the word “fire” dancing in the flames. She sat up with a start and grabbed Susan’s hand next to her.
“What is it?” Susan asked, following Hannah’s gaze. Hannah stood up and walked to the head table. She whispered to Professor Sprout, who in turn whispered to Professor Dumbledore. He stood up and met her at the end of the table, near the fireplace.
“Hello, Miss Abbott, you wish to show me something?”
“Professor, I may just be seeing things, but I thought I saw something at the back of the fireplace, behind the flames. It seems to be wedged up the chimney, along the back wall. I can just make out the tip. It’s very black, but I could have sworn I saw the word ‘fire’ written on it.”
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, his eyes twinkled. He had been very pleased by the Hufflepuffs’ progress so far and had confidence that they would indeed find the final missing piece. He raised his wand to the fireplace. “Nox frigidum,” he said, and the fire died, the ashes turning cold.
Hannah crept up to the opening and stuck her head inside. Black soot fell from the chimney, dusting her face. The stone she had seen was wedged at an angle against the back wall, as if it had dropped down the chimney and become stuck. The face of it was thick with ash, this would require a stronger spell than getting rid of mud and dirt. But she was so sure.
She raised her wand into the cramped space and whispered, “Emoveo incendium.” A cloud of soot fell from the stone and covered her in dust. She coughed and looked up at the stone. She could see the outlines of letters, but it was still quite black. She spoke louder, “Emoveo ater incendium!”
The black disintegrated, leaving the beautiful stone intact, its deep grooves refined by centuries of fire.
Dumbledore’s face appeared beside her, smiling, “Well done indeed, Miss Abbott. Congratulations.” Together, they levitated the stone out of the fireplace and onto the floor. She read the inscription, “As fire sharpens steel, so fire is in the blood of the brave and...”
“Noble,” Hannah said to herself.
Justin, Ernie and Susan, who had been watching with bated breath, now came rushing up to the platform. Hannah turned to them, her eyes shining out of her blackened face. She saw that the handful of students who were left in the dining hall all had their eyes trained on her.
“Students!” spoke Dumbledore, “We... or should I say, Miss Abbott and her friends... have made a rather exciting discovery!”
News spread throughout the school quickly of what the Hufflepuffs had found. Hannah found that people eyed her in the hallways with a new look of respect. Even the Slytherins, once they had found out that the stone also included a motto from Salazar himself, were duly impressed. It filled her with pride and made her walk a little taller.
On the weekend after the final piece was found, the four friends stood in the center of their garden under the grand oak tree, a symbol of wisdom, strength, and endurance. They had levitated it into the hole together the day before, with the restored Founders’ Stone set onto a platform at the base of the tree. Now, the whole school surrounded them as they officially opened the garden.
Professor Dumbledore stepped up beside the stone and raised his hands for silence.
“I would like to thank you all for coming out for such a wonderful occasion as the opening of our new sitting garden. Thanks to the hard work of Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ernie Macmillan, the students of Hogwarts will now have an enchanting place where the four houses can mingle together and get to know one another, as was originally intended by the Founders of this school. Even our own Sorting Hat has spoken of it in its yearly recitations: And never since the founders four were whittled down to three, have the Houses been united as they once were meant to be.”
He paused to motion to Hannah, who blushed and came to his side. “I’m sure the Founders would be proud of the keen mind and dedication of Hannah in finding and restoring the Founders’ Stone. Under their words, let us begin to unite our houses once again.”
A hearty round of applause greeted Hannah as she slipped back into the crowd beside Justin. He took her hand and smiled, “You did it! I knew you could.”
She squeezed his hand and held his eyes for a moment. “We both did. I could never think of having such a great adventure without you.”
The End
