The Battle Standard
by Jardyn39
Chapter 4 - The Other Ring
Harry stepped out of the fireplace into Professor McGonagall's office.
"Welcome, Harry," she said not looking up from her desk.
"Hello, Professor," he replied.
"Neville should be along shortly," she continued, adding a short note to the bottom of the sheet of parchment in front of her.
Harry nodded and walked over to the portrait of Professor Dumbledore who was still sleeping soundly in his frame. It always amazed him how lifelike his former Headmaster's likeness was.
He turned and not wishing to interrupt Professor McGonagall, he went over to the window overlooking the grounds. It was a fine day and he could see a couple of students flying high over the Quidditch stadium.
"Hagrid insisted that we reinstate the Quidditch Cup," said the Professor.
Harry grinned and turned to face her, sure that Hagrid wouldn't have needed to try very hard to persuade her that it would be safe for Quidditch matches to begin again.
"How do you pick sides now there are no Houses?"
"The students organised themselves into teams. We actually have six teams in the league this year. Next year it looks like there will be even more. There is also quite a lot of support for a knock-out competition as well."
"That's great," said Harry. "I always thought there should be more matches."
There was a soft knock on the door and Professor McGonagall said sharply, "Come!"
The door opened and Neville walked in.
"Hi, Harry. Ready to go?"
"Hello, Neville," Harry replied with a smile. "Yes, I think so, unless there is anything, Professor?"
"Neville, you are to be back here no later than eight o'clock this evening. Any later and the wards will prevent you from coming back into the grounds. If you are delayed, please inform me at once."
"Yes, Professor," said Neville.
"Harry, I would remind you that we have an appointment Thursday evening to continue your studies."
"Thanks, Professor. I'll remember," he promised.
Neville threw a pinch of Floo Powder into the fire and entered first.
*
Harry stepped out into a brightly lit drawing room. Before him, Neville was brushing himself down with his wand. Harry hurried to do the same and had just finished when Mrs Longbottom came into the room.
"Harry, it's most nice to see you again," said Mrs Longbottom, extending her hand.
"Thank you for seeing me, Mrs Longbottom."
"Not at all," she said pleasantly. "Neville said something about you wishing to see the family ring? You are most welcome to see it, of course, but how ever did you even learn about its existence?"
Harry shot an uncertain look at Neville.
"I didn't feel I should tell Gran that, Harry," admitted Neville sheepishly.
"Um, it's a rather strange tale, actually," said Harry.
"Most intriguing," said Mrs Longbottom with a smile. "I look forward to hearing all about it over luncheon. Shall we go through?"
*
Over lunch Harry told Mrs Longbottom almost everything about his vision of the future and how he came to catch a glimpse of the Longbottom family ring. He decided not to mention that he knew the identity of Christopher Longbottom's mother to save Neville any embarrassment.
"You said you only saw the ring briefly, Harry," said Mrs Longbottom. "Can you describe it at all?"
"Well," said Harry, frowning slightly as he thought back. "It was a heavy looking ring. I'm sure it was gold and it had a highly polished surface. I think it had a single stone. It looked red coloured, but it didn't glitter like a ruby."
He shrugged and said, "I'm afraid that's it. I really didn't get that close."
Mrs Longbottom reached for a small box in front of her that Harry hadn't noticed before. She opened the hinged lid and slid the box over to him.
Harry gasped as he saw the golden ring.
It was exactly as he remembered seeing it. If there was a difference, he was sure he hadn't seen it.
"May I take it out of the box?" asked Harry.
"Please do," said Mrs Longbottom.
"Harry?" said Neville. "Show Gran your ring, will you?"
"Sure," Harry said at once and slid the ring off his ringer and offered it to her.
"This is really Slytherin's ring?" she said incredulously.
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore showed me last year," said Harry, carefully lifting the golden ring out of the box.
The ring was quite as heavy as Slytherin's ring but the finish had far more lustre. The red stone wasn't a ruby as he'd suspected.
"This is a family heirloom?" asked Harry.
"Yes."
"How long has it been in your family?"
"It came to us sometime during the tenth century, although there has been considerable speculation that it belonged to a family member long before then."
"When did you personally receive the ring?"
"That would be the Spring of 1914. My father-in-law gave it to me for safekeeping. He was a sweet man."
"Has it ever," began Harry, before he looked up, suddenly realising the significance of the date. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Mrs Longbottom smiled warmly and said, "It was a long time ago. Ask your question," she prompted gently.
"Has it ever been out of your possession?"
"No. Well, to be entirely accurate, only once. Frank asked to use it once but the ring never left my sight, as it happened."
"What about for cleaning or restoration?"
"No. It has never needed restoration nor repairs. In any event, I would not be comfortable leaving such a valuable jewel with anyone outside the family."
"It is valuable, then?"
"Priceless, although only in monetary terms because it is so unique. Very few people outside the immediate family even know of that ring's existence, Harry. If they did, we might need to review our household security arrangements."
"Why? I mean," he added quickly, "if you don't mind my asking?"
"Harry, that is Gryffindor's ring."
Harry just nodded in wonder. He had no idea how, but something deep inside him knew that this ring did indeed once belong to Godric Gryffindor.
He also now felt that the ring was unlikely to be one of the remaining Horcruxes, since Voldemort never had an opportunity to steal it.
"Put the ring on, Harry," Mrs Longbottom commanded.
"No, I shouldn't. It wouldn't be right."
Mrs Longbottom handed Slytherin's ring to Neville and said, "Neville, put this Slytherin ring on your finger too."
Both Neville and Harry exchanged quizzical looks, but then each shrugged and nodded.
Neville tried first, but try as he might, the ring would now allow itself to be placed on any of his fingers. The ring went as far as his first knuckle, but no further.
Mrs Longbottom chuckled kindly, clearly expecting this to happen and said, "Go on, Harry. You next."
Harry grinned and held the ring up.
Fully expecting to have exactly the same difficulties as Neville, he pushed the ring over his finger.
Neville gasped audibly as the ring slid onto Harry's finger with no resistance at all.
Harry shuddered and fought the impulse to pull the ring off and hurl it away.
"Now, this tells us a number of things," said Mrs Longbottom. Harry looked up at her, hoping they wouldn't notice just how uncomfortable he felt.
"Firstly, we have confirmation that Neville here is as far away from Slytherin's blood line as it's possible to get. I have no doubt that I could not wear the ring either."
Harry nodded and discretely pulled the ring off his finger. A wave of relief swept through him.
"Secondly, it shows us that there is some truth in the vision you have seen. Hardly anyone outside the family knows of this effect and yet you saw the ring pulled off your own fingers."
"Actually, I didn't see my face," said Harry. "I only had Christopher's word that it was an older version of me under the table."
"Thirdly," continued Mrs Longbottom, "you must be distantly related to both Slytherin and Gryffindor."
Harry frowned and said, "Dumbledore wore Slytherin's ring. Was my Dad related to Dumbledore?"
"All the pureblood families share a degree of common ancestry. To be honest, your Mother's bloodline would well be a factor as well. Remember, the Founders lived hundreds of years ago."
Harry nodded, but his mind was full of only one thing: he and Dumbledore may have shared a common ancestry, even if it was as far back as Slytherin himself.
"Did Dumbledore ever try Gryffindor's ring on?" he asked.
"No, not that I'm aware of. I'm fairly sure he would not have been able to wear it, though."
Harry placed the ring back in the box.
"Can you think of any reason at all why I would have this ring?"
"That part of your story seemed the most difficult to accept," said Mrs Longbottom. "If Neville or his descendants were deceased, perhaps. Otherwise, I can't see how that would ever happen. Even if you were to marry into the Longbottom family, your wife would hold the ring, not you."
"Christopher implied that Neville and I were still friends, despite everything."
Harry sighed and pushed the box back over to her.
"Unfortunately, the only thing I can think of is if I were to steal the ring; take it by force," he said, voicing the reason he thought had made the ring so extremely uncomfortable to wear.
"I refuse to believe you, Harry, would ever be capable of any such thing."
Harry smiled at her and said, "Thanks, Mrs Longbottom, but the future version of me didn't sound like he was very nice at all."
Neville got up and poured the three of them coffee.
"Mrs Longbottom? I'd like you to seriously consider improving the security around here."
"We are not unprotected, Harry."
"Even so. Listen, I would have wanted to see that ring even if I hadn't seen it in some vision. If Voldemort knew of that ring, I'm sure he would have attempted to steal it. He wouldn't care who he hurt or killed to get it either."
"But, he doesn't know, does he?"
"Please, let's not take any chances?"
"Harry's right, Gran," said Neville. "Do you really need to keep the ring around the house?"
"I'm an old woman who needs old woman's comforts, both of you. When you get to my age you'll understand that things like that evoke memories that are important to me."
"Your safety is more important to me than some trinket," said Neville drinking his coffee quickly. "I've just got time to take a couple of cuttings to take back with us. Keep on at her, will you Harry?"
Neville dashed out of the room leaving Harry and Mrs Longbottom to exchange smiles.
Of course, Harry didn't think his powers of persuasion were any kind of match for Mrs Longbottom's determination, so he decided to change the subject.
"This is certainly an impressive room, Mrs Longbottom. I particularly like the view of the garden from here."
"Thank you, Harry. This was always my late husband's favourite view as well. He was a keen gardener too."
"That's where Neville got his green fingers from, then?"
"Oh, Merlin, no! Mr Longbottom was hopeless. He never could resist over-trimming everything in sight. Honestly, it's a wonder anything survived."
Harry chuckled softly as Mrs Longbottom rose and said, "Come, Harry. Let's take a walk through the walled garden. We can meet up with Neville in the greenhouses."
"Sure," said Harry.
*
Mrs Longbottom took Harry's arm to descend the steps down from the wide rear terrace. Harry thought the garden was incredibly regimented. The grass paths that separated the beds were perfectly straight and there wasn't a weed in sight.
"The garden won't be quite at its best until the summer," commented Mrs Longbottom as they walked along. "Still, the walled garden enabled us to bring a few varieties along sooner. I do like to see a little colour."
Harry nodded seeing the high stone and brick wall they were approaching. He guessed the walled garden was behind the closed timber pair of doors they were approaching.
Mrs Longbottom tapped the lock with her wand and the door clicked and opened at once.
Directly ahead was plain brick wall. Mrs Longbottom walked forward onto a gravel path on the other side of the doorway and immediately wheeled around to the left.
Harry followed, realising that the brick wall was there to act as a screen in case curious Muggles caught a glimpse.
Although Harry expected to see a number of plants that were flowering out of season, he wasn't at all prepared for the extraordinary sight before him.
The first thing that hit him was the incredible heat. Despite there being no roof, the air was hotter than any greenhouse he'd been in, including the Hogwarts hot-houses. The air was thick with exotic flower scents too.
The second thing that hit Harry was a fairy that flew straight at his face. It impacted heavily against his forehead. He swatted the flying creature away and realised that the fairies he could now see darting everywhere were not the usual kind. These appeared to be far more aggressive.
Thankfully the fairy, who was about to attack Harry in earnest, bumped mid-air into another aggressive fairy and they immediately began to fight.
Harry hurried to catch up with Mrs Longbottom.
"This garden is amazing," said Harry, raising his voice to be heard over the loud calls of the jungle birds.
"A little extravagant, though," replied Mrs Longbottom pleasantly. "We originally had humming birds too, for authenticity. Unfortunately, the fairies are rather partial to them and they didn't last very long. The larger birds are not magical but are big enough to take care of themselves."
As she spoke, Harry saw a large multi-coloured bird that he didn't recognise gobble down the remains of a fairy that had obviously got a little too close.
The gravel path followed the high curved wall in a long radius. To their right, all Harry could see was the thick jungle.
Soon they came to another doorway in the high perimeter wall. As soon as he stepped past the brick screen, Harry noticed a distinct drop in the air temperature and the sounds of the garden faded.
"You'll find stepping from one climate to another takes some getting used to," said Mrs Longbottom.
The door opened and for a moment Harry thought it was snowing outside. The stepped out of the walled garden and Harry realised it was the same temperate day as they'd left the house in.
"The greenhouses are this way," said Mrs Longbottom after locking the door behind her with a tap of her wand.
Harry followed her down a short flight of steps towards a small ornate fountain.
The greenhouses were concealed for the most part behind a thick green hedge. They walked along until they came to a small opening that had a recessed door leading inside.
The greenhouse was massive inside, with rows and rows of planting beds. Just at the entrance there was a path that lead across all the beds making a short-cut across to the other side.
"Where has Neville got to?" Mrs Longbottom wondered aloud. "I do hope he hasn't gone off to one of the larger greenhouses or we'll have to get brooms."
Harry laughed, not entirely sure if she was serious or not.
Then they both turned hearing a crash over to their right. Harry looked but could see nothing. He hurried along the cross-path looking down the aisles. Then something caught his eye. He began to walk over, seeing that there was a seed tray on the ground and fresh compost strewn around.
Then he saw movement.
"Harry! Gran!" cried Neville weakly. "Behind you!"
Harry wheeled around and withdrew his wand.
Mrs Longbottom, who had neither seen nor heard Neville, looked at him with some alarm.
"Whatever is the matter?"
Harry dived in front of her and just managed to shield her from one of the stunners that were being fired from the far end of the greenhouse.
Four wizards were running towards them, one in each of the aisles.
"Get down!" cried Harry.
"I most certainly will not!"
"These plants are high enough to hide in," said Harry as loudly as he dared, firing and hitting the closest wizard.
He fired again but the other wizards managed to dodge his spells.
Quickly the three remaining attackers were within feet of the two of them.
"Alright," said one, clearly trying to catch his breath. "Drop your wand or she gets hurt."
Two of them were pointing their wands at Mrs Longbottom.
Harry lowered his wand slightly.
"If you dare drop your guard, Harry," said Mrs Longbottom from behind him, "you will incur my extreme disapproval."
At this one of the wizards pointed his wand from Mrs Longbottom and towards himself.
Harry fired as quickly as he could.
He got the one pointing his wand at Mrs Longbottom first and then blasted the spokesman off his feet. Neville had got the third one before Harry got the chance.
"You okay?" asked Harry with concern.
"I'm fine. Let's see to Neville, shall we?"
They found Neville crawling out of the planting beds in obvious pain.
"They got me from behind," he complained. "Just look at my cuttings!"
Realising that Neville wasn't seriously injured, Harry returned to the attackers and bound them. He searched through their pockets but found no identification at all. He did find a piece of parchment with the Longbottom's address and a single word that read, "Buttercup."
He returned to the others.
"How ever did they get past the security wards?" Neville was asking.
"I found this on one of them," said Harry, handing the parchment to Mrs Longbottom.
She visibly paled reading the words.
"Buttercup?" she repeated weakly.
"That's the security over-ride," said Neville. "Hardly anyone knows that."
"Well, clearly someone knows who shouldn't," said Harry. "I think we should all get away from here as soon as possible. Where is the nearest fireplace that I can call the Aurors from?"
"Back up at the house, Harry," said Neville, "but I want to get Gran away from here as soon as possible. I heard them talking when they thought I was knocked out. They were after her, not us. Could you take her back to Hogwarts for me? I know the wards will allow you inside but the gates would stay locked shut for me."
"What about you?"
"I need to collect a few things. I'll call the Aurors and then follow."
"I'm not sure, Neville. There could be more of them."
"Please, Harry."
"How about if I drop her off somewhere safe for now. I can be back here much quicker then."
"Nowhere is as safe as Hogwarts, Harry."
"Inside Hogwarts, you mean. I can only Apparate outside the grounds and then form an entrance. If they are really after her, she'll be vulnerable until I managed to get her inside. That could take some time. It would be much better to take her somewhere Voldemort can't get to."
"So where will you take her?" asked Neville.
"London, remember?"
Neville frowned and Harry knew that the Fidelius Charm on Grimmauld Place was affecting his memory. Neville had only been there the once and Harry still hadn't got around to having him included amongst the few people told of the place by the new secret keeper.
"I'll meet you back at the house," said Harry, grabbing hold of Mrs Longbottom.
*
They directly Apparated into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.
"Kreacher!" shouted Harry at the top of his voice. "Come here! I need you!"
Kreacher appeared with a loud crack just as Harry was about to bellow again.
"Hi, Kreacher. Thanks for coming so quickly. This is Mrs Longbottom. Please look after her and keep her safe until I return. She is not to leave the house under any circumstances."
Harry gently guided Mrs Longbottom to a chair and prised the parchment from her fingers.
He then kneeled down in front of the house elf and said quietly, "She's had a bit of a shock. Make her some tea and then call the Ministry of Magic. Say there has been an attack at the Longbottom estate. Neville is still there and I'm returning there now. There were four attackers but they may be more. Got all that?"
"What is Kreacher to do with this parchment?"
"That is the address of the Longbottom property. Buttercup is the password that gets past all the security. Tell the Ministry everything. The password will have to be changed now, anyway."
Kreacher nodded and Harry rose to his feet. He touched Mrs Longbottom's arm gently and said, "I'll be back as soon as I can. I need to get back to Neville."
She showed no sign of hearing him.
Harry straightened up and Disapparated at once.
*
Harry instinctively threw his arm up to shield his face from the flying glass. The windows along the wide terrace had exploded outwards almost the moment he had Apparated just outside.
He had first gone back to the Greenhouses and discovered the four assailants missing. Realising the Neville might be in trouble, he had Disapparated back up to the house. He wasn't too sure how close the protective wards would allow him, so he decided to try the terrace first.
Harry dashed inside through one of the destroyed windows.
Neville was firing hexes from behind an upturned antique desk in a far corner of the large room. He was surrounded by six cloaked attackers.
Harry began firing at once and their confusion at his sudden appearance worked to their advantage. He got three of them before they even knew he was here and then drew fire away from Neville.
One of the attackers decided to make a run for the far window, but was cut down by a hex fired from outside.
Neville and Harry each stunned the remaining two as a wheezing figure staggered into the room.
"Jenkins?" said Neville, getting up and rushing over to the old man. "Here, come and sit down a moment."
Neville grabbed a chair, made a hasty repair to restore the missing leg and placed it before the old man.
"I'm sorry, master Neville," he said between pants. "I came as quickly as I could."
"There's nothing to be sorry about, Jenkins," Neville said firmly. "You did just fine."
"Mrs Longbottom?"
Neville looked back at Harry who said, "She's somewhere safe. I left someone looking after her and the Ministry should arrive soon."
Neville nodded and looked around the room. Hardly any furniture had survived and most of the paintings had large scorch marks on them.
There was a pop and three house elves appeared before them.
"What a mess!" cried one.
"Listen, all of you," Neville said kindly. "We mustn't start to clear this place up until after the Ministry people have finished investigating."
The three looked very uncomfortable about this instruction.
"The Ministry people will be arriving soon," continued Neville. "Why not prepare them teas?"
They immediately brightened at this.
"Some lunch too?" piped up one.
"Sure, why not?" agreed Neville with a smile.
There was the sound of a ringing bell.
Jenkins stood at once and said, "That'll be the Ministry. I'll go and let them in. I'm afraid I took the liberty of changing the grounds security code when I realised we had unwelcome company. Rather too late as it happens."
"No, that was good thinking, Jenkins," agreed Neville. "Will you be okay on your own?"
"Oh, yes," he agreed wiping his brow with an old handkerchief, "I'm got my breath back now."
He got up and made his way back outside.
"Harry, help me right this desk, will you?"
"Sure," said Harry, pointing his wand and intending to levitate the heavy looking desk.
"Sorry, but we need to do this the hard way. The desk won't respond to magic at all. That's why we use it and why it was such a good thing to hide behind."
The two of them struggled to right the desk. Harry couldn't believe how heavy it was, but eventually they righted it and Neville could get to the drawers.
He quickly opened the topmost drawer and pressed a concealed button inside. Two things happened. A thin drawer popped open that had previously looked like a simple division. Neville reached out and pulled the drawer open. Inside was a flat piece of parchment that he quickly pocketed. Neville then pushed the vertical panel inside the leg-space that Harry had seen move inwards slightly.
A small compartment was revealed. Neville pocketed several small items including a couple of wands and the box that contained Gryffindor's ring.
They began to hear noises coming from outside.
"Thanks, Harry. I'm done," said Neville, sounding more than a little relieved.
They moved away from the desk as Kingsley Shacklebolt entered through one of the blown out windows from the terrace. He was quickly followed by several Aurors who immediately secured the unconscious attackers.
"Kingsley, the four that attacked us in the greenhouses are still around somewhere."
"Aren't they still in the greenhouse?" asked Neville.
"No, I went there before coming back here. They had all got away."
"If they didn't get away before the grounds security was changed, there's a good chance they are still around and hiding," said Shacklebolt. "We'll make a thorough search."
"How come I was able to Apparate around the grounds?" asked Harry.
"Gran probably put you on the wards in case you needed to get away quickly," said Neville quickly, bending down and picking up the largest piece of a shattered vase.
Kingsley nodded and moved away to talk to one of his men before Neville looked up.
Harry raised his eyebrows at him, suspecting that Mrs Longbottom had no time to change the security arrangements. Unlike Kingsley, Harry had the advantage of knowing full well the telltale signs that Neville was lying.
Neville shook his head slightly and Harry nodded to indicate he understood not to enquire about it while they could be overheard.