Ancient Hogwarts

When Harry woke, he felt better than he ever had. He was tempted to believe that the last few weeks had all been a strange dream, but he would never have woken up to gentle sunlight in his cupboard. As he opened his eyes and looked around, Harry saw a room he didn't recognize.

He was in an intricately carved wooden four-poster bed, with light green curtains partially drawn around it. The curtains were a thin fabric, letting the light filter in, and they were drawn on two sides. On the other side, Harry saw stone walls with brightly colored tapestries of strange creatures. A wooden desk and chair were placed beneath a window, bearing the same light curtains as the bed.

Harry sat up, letting the dark green sheets and blanket fall around his waist. He was dressed in simple cotton pyjamas, and, as he got up, he was surprised when his bare feet found a thick rug instead of cold stone floors.

Outside of the bed's curtains, he found the rest of the room looked the same as his first glance. There were two armchairs set in the corner by the door, and he saw a dark green robe folded on one of the chairs.

He also found two doors and a wardrobe. The first door he opened led to a small water closet, and he quickly went through his morning ablutions. When Harry emerged, he found that nothing had changed, and he approached the chairs. The robe was still there, sitting on top of a full set of clothes, and there were even boots tucked beneath the chair.

Looking around to make sure he was alone, Harry quickly changed into the clothes and robe, which he found fit him well, unlike Dudley's oversized clothes. Even the boots were a perfect match; he wouldn't need to stuff socks into them to keep them from slipping off his feet! Unlike his school robes, the dark green robe hung open in the front, revealing the brown trousers and shirt beneath. His boots were brown too, matching his trousers perfectly.

As soon as he was dressed, Harry was surprised by a pop. Looking around, he saw that a strange, small creature wearing a miniature version of his robes had appeared a few feet away. "Um, hello?" he said hesitantly.

"Hello Harry," the creature said. "I am Frally, an Elf. Breakfast is ready in the kitchens."

"Hello Frally," Harry replied. He tried to think back to his trip through the castle the night before, but was drawing a blank. "I'm afraid I don't know where the kitchens are," he admitted. "Are they near the Great Hall?"

Frally frowned. "I am not sure which Hall you are referring to. I shall escort you to the kitchens." The Elf snapped its fingers and the second door opened.

Curious, Harry followed the Elf. This room appeared to be a sitting room, with a bigger desk and several couches and chairs. Bookshelves lined the walls, but Harry was surprised to realize that they were only half-filled with books. Scattered around the room were models of strange creatures. Or perhaps they were the real thing - stuffed. Harry had no idea what most of them were, so he didn't feel confident judging their realness. Skulls, feathers, and similar related items were also spread around the room, as well as cages in various small sizes.

Harry wanted to stop and explore the room a little more closely, but Frally continued walking, choosing one of a dozen doors that were interspersed among the bookshelves. Harry hurried to keep up, and found himself in a much larger common room that looked vaguely familiar.

There, he finally saw something he recognized. "Hermione! Neville!"

The other two looked over at him, their happy smiles not entirely hiding hints of uncomfortableness that mirrored Harry's own. "Good morning, young guests," Frally said. "Please follow me to the kitchens."

The trio fell in behind the Elf as it led them out into the Castle's halls.

"Excuse me please, but what are you?" Hermione asked.

"I am Frally, an Elf," it replied.

"And are you a male or female Elf?" she asked. Harry missed a step, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Neville turn bright red.

Thankfully, the Elf didn't seem to mind the question. "I am a male elf. If you look at my ears, you will see that they have a bump at the base. Once we reach the kitchens I will introduce you to a female elf. You will see that her ears are smooth."

"Thank you for explaining!" Hermione said. "I'll look for that! And what do Elves do?"

"We live and work at Hogwarts," Frally said. "Some of us help in the kitchens, some with lessons, some with building, some with the gardens, some with the creatures, some with the defenders. We do all sorts of things here."

"So you live alongside the witches and wizards?" Neville asked. "You're equals?"

Harry wasn't sure what the other boy meant by the question, but he thought it must be some aspect magic that he just didn't understand yet.

"Of course! We all serve the Lord and Lady professors."

"The professors!" Harry suddenly remembered. "Are they going to meet us in the kitchens? The ghosts said they would help us with the ar- ar-"

"Aurors," Neville corrected.

"Aurors?" Frally asked. "I don't know this word."

Just then a young woman swept around the corner. "Hello Frally," she said kindly. "I'll take our guests from here." She looked familiar, and finally Harry realized where he had seen her before.

"Are you the Grey Lady?" he asked.

She smiled. "Yes, though right now you should please call me Helena. I know that you will one day call me that, but it is not yet my name."

"What do you mean, one day?" Hermione asked. "And why aren't you a ghost anymore?"

"You mean, why aren't I a ghost yet" Helena retorted.

"What?"

Helena smirked. "Welcome, young heirs, to 812 AD."

By the end of breakfast, Harry felt himself slipping again into his overwhelmed stupor. The surprises had kept coming. After the revelation that they were in the time of the Founders, and talking to people who had lived over a millennium before, they actually met the Founders. Salazar Slytherin and his wife, Mary Catherine, Godric Gryffindor and his wife, Gwendolyn, Helga Hufflepuff and her husband, Charlus, and Rowena Ravenclaw and her husband, Ulric. Moreover, they discovered that the founder's children were also grown, with children of their own, and teaching at the school. The current headmistress was Helena's sister, Lady Athena Ravenclaw. The school had been around for almost fifty years, and was picking up steam.

That said, the castle was still under construction. A whole new wing was being built, including the area that would come to be the Great Hall that Harry had seen last night.

Hermione had dozens of questions about their presence; was this a dream? Had they really traveled back in time? How did the Founders know about them? Wouldn't there be issues with the timeline and contradictions from them going into the past?