Summary: It's time that the young generation of wizards and witches learned about events that transpired during the 2nd war against Voldemort. And they shouldn't hear it from Professor Binns or Rita Skeeter. Lee Jordan presents Footprints of War.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: I have been thinking about writing this kind of story for a long time now. Originally I wanted to write it as excerpts from the Daily Prophet or from The Quibbler in the days shortly after the war, but in the end this seemed like a better idea.
Footprints of War
"Good afternoon, wizarding Britain, good afternoon wizarding world! My name is Lee Jordan and I will be your host today with our brand new show Footprints of War. Some of you might remember me as River, the former host of Potterwatch, your only reliable source of news during the dark days of the 2nd war against Voldemort, You-Know-Who, He Who Must Not Be Named or as I prefer to call him, either Moldywart or He Who Had No Nose. But anyway back to the topic of our show, over the span of the next few weeks or maybe months we will be looking back at the very days in which yours truly and a bunch of other, if not quite as significant, fellows fought against the darkest Lord of them all. It is a story that deserves to be told and our youth needs to hear it without dying from boredom inflicted upon their innocent souls by the lovely professor Binns and from a more reliable source than Rita Skeeter. And by the way if you happened to come across her new book about Dumbledore's Army, please use this book for it's only appopriate purpose, that is when you happen to run out of toiler paper. I assure you that the pages are quite soft and believe me I never did actually snog Angelina Weasley, nee Johnson. Anyway, moving on to our first interesting guest of many to come. Ladies and genlemen, Grendel Ganser, a magical historian and writer of several books about magical Britain in the second part of last century. Welcome, Gren."
"Thank you, Lee. I'm really glad to be here today."
"I assure our listeners that we have funnier editions of this programme in store for you. I'll let you guys infer who the guests might be for that one. But given the topic, it felt more appropriate to start on a more serious note. So please, bear with us, believe me you will be rewarded in the end. No offense, Gren."
"None taken. There aren't many people who take interest in history. And we have to understand that the events that transpired at the end of the last century very much constitute history for the young generation of witches and wizards today. Even those whose lives were in some way directly affected by what happened don't have those memories like those of us who faced the terror years. They might dream of the what ifs and could have beens and of course their lives might not have been the easiest. But nonetheless I believe that even those of them who were hit hardest by the tragedy would conclude that they have lead good lives in a safe world so far. They don't have the knowledge of living in fear like our generation or the generations before us had."
"Why do you believe that the young witches and wizards of today should listen to our programme and learn about things that happened when they were small children or even before they were born?"
"Well, I am sure that there are those whose lives were in some way affected and who are currently listening, holding their breaths for an uncensured version of the events unlike the one they usually hear from their close ones. Here I'd like to say hello to my sons Doran and Devan, who are listening, I am sure. On a larger scale, the answer to this question happens to be very simple. In order to prevent similar events in the future. After Voldemort was defeated the first time around the wizarding community was quick to accept his fall as permanent. Our world wanted him to be dead and done for so much, that most spent a whole year denying his return. With the exception of Albus Dumbledore and those loyal to him, of course."
"Do you think that had the unfortunate minister Fudge and his cohorts accepted that Loldywart was back right after the murder of Cedric Diggory things would have gone differently?"
"Well, Lee, it's always difficult to determine what could have been if... But it is my deepest belief that if nothing else, at least some of the causalties on our side could have been prevented. Had we all connected our powers right at the start...instead the Order of the Phoenix had to deal with opposition from the Ministry on top of fighting Voldemort and his supporters for almost a year after his return."
"Never trust byrocrats, I suppose. Were the wizarding world faced with a similar threat today, has the Ministry changed enough to prevent a similar disaster?"
"Well, with so many notable veterans of the war in charge one would expect so. It is difficult to imagine that after their own experiences Kingsley Shacklebolt, Harry Potter or Hermione Granger would act similarly to Fudge."
"Now, moving on to the next question and I am particularly curious about the answer here. Plans for this programme have been long in the making, but it was you who insisted that we should start this year and on this particular day. Why? I mean we could have chosen prominent days such as the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. So why today?"
"Oh, but today is also an important anniversary. Today is the day when the Ministry fell. The exact date of the sart of the war is widely disputed and you could even go as far back as Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts and the not very widely known attempt of Voldemot's to come back, you might choose the death of Cedric Diggory or about a dozen other times or you might even say that the first war never properly ended. Personally I'm in favour of taking today's date. Yes, Voldemort had been back much longer and there had been squirmishes and victims in the first two years, but today marks the day when he and his supporters declared war openly. And as for the year. Well, today maks exactly seventeen years since the Ministry fell. The number of years that it takes for a wizard or witch to be considered an adult. It's time that the story was told."
"Thank you very much for this in depth explanation, Gren. Now we have some time to take a question from our listeners. If you have a question, all you have to do is to tap the wireless with your wand and say Mad-Eye..."
"Hello?"
"It seems we already have our first question, Lee."
"Well, hello there, what's your name?"
"I'm Mack."
"Hi, Mack. How old are you?"
"I'm fifteen."
"Ahh, good year for sure. What is your question, Mack?"
"Well, I've been wondering, what did you two do during the war?"
"Excellent question, Mack. Would you like to start, Gren?"
"You go ahead, Lee. I believe your story is longer and more interesting than mine."
"If you say so. So, Mack, I suppose you could say I have been there from the very start. I joined the very first Dumbledore's Army, which at that time pretty much only meant that I was taking extra Defense against the Dark Magic lessons, from Harry Potter no less. We were trying to prepare ouselves if we had to fight eventually. We were just a bunch of kids, some as young as fourteen then, but almost all of us ended up fighting in the final battle. And sadly some of them did not live to see the victory. After I finished school I more or less joined the Order of the Phoenix. I suppose you could think of the DA as a sort of junior organisation to the Order. When the Ministry and media were taken over, we created this show called Potterwatch with some of my friends. We tried to provide information to those resisting that they could not gain anywhere else. It might sound strange to you, but we also ended up having a lot of fun. In the end, two of us didn't make it in the final battle, one became the Minister for Magic and one is the owner of the most famous joke shop in the wizarding world and then there's me."
"Well, I believe you are pretty cool too, Lee."
"Ha, thanks, Gren. So what about you? What were you doing in the days that Moldywart's shadow hung over our heads? Except having your head burrowed in books?"
"Well, I am afraid that my story is nowhere near as impressive as yours. I was only in my 2nd year when Vodemort came back. And being the diligent little Hufflepuff I stayed away from much of the happenings on orders from my mom. Not that she didn't believe Potter and Dumbledore. Quiet the oppoiste, in fact. She just feared for my life. It all changed in my 5th year when the Death Eaters took over Hogwarts. With wee 1st years being subjected to the Cruciatus curse for small offenses, I could no longer hold myself back. I joined the 2nd Dumbledore's Army, which under Neville Longbottom's command, and yes Mack, that is the very same Longbottom as your current Herbology teacher, came a bit closer to being an actual army. Although we mostly tried proecting the small ones, taking the hits for them and we also did quite a bit of graffity. Of course, when the final battle came around, being underage I was between the students that were evacuated from the grounds."
"Oh, but I know that's not the story ends, Gren."
"Jordan, you really want my mother to murder me, don't you? Ahh, well, no, it didn't end there. With several kids from the DA we sneaked back into the castle and took part in the final battle. Mom, if you are listening, I am so sorry."
"Well, Gren, I am sure she is proud of you."
"Oh, no, she's pissed, I'm sure. So would be I if Doran and Devan did something similar. Fifteen of us sneaked back, only ten lived to see today."
"And you were just fifteen then?"
"Yes, Mack. A few days short of sixteen. Wasn't even the youngest, Lace was fourteen I believe. The bravest girl I ever knew."
"Wow, you guys are so cool."
"Thank you, Mack. And I'm sorry, my dear listeners, but it seems we ran out of time. We will have to make place for some more of Celestina Warbeck. However don't despair, Footprints of War will be back over the span of the next few weeks or maybe months, it's hard to tell as we're making it up as we go, with more stories and special guests. For now, thank you for listening and thank you, Gren for coming today, your insight was much appreciated. Be safe and remember that your safety has been warranted by many who gave their lives for the world you live in today."