Harry,
You're right, things have been strange recently, or at least more so than usual. I had the feeling you might pick up on it, but you are faster than I thought. I've been meaning to tell you this for a while, I want to come see you, but it's out of the question with the ministry on full protection alert. This is a long story, but you deserve to know the truth.
You were right in thinking the worst. When you overheard Snape saying the ministry had been (in Ron's words) "buggered", he was referring to something very closely connected with you, Harry. You are a very special person, as you well know, having been the only one in history to resist Voldemorts curse. As far as we knew up until now, at least. Don't suppose that someone else has resisted it (well, not directly anyway), but something happened recently that, well, shocked the ministry and the higher leagues in the wizarding world.
You know that the ministry knows every person with magic inclinations. This is very important for muggle-born children, who have no ancestry to realise from. By having this knowledge, ministry chambers around the world can keep track of muggle-threatening events, and perhaps more importantly so, wizarding schools can select their students and educate them. Can you imagine an adult wizard or witch with no idea of their true potential, let loose on muggle streets? Stop imagining. It is coming very close to true.
A 15 year old girl, who would be in your year had she or the ministry have known, was out with her muggle parents one day, quite recently, waiting for a train. Her younger brother, (only 4 years old) while walking along with them, fell onto the track. Within seconds, the mother and the young girl had jumped on the track to try and help the boy off, while the father went for help. The boy, quite badly hurt had his foot trapped in the track, and could not be moved. If only the girl had been taught as she should have been at Hogwarts, she would have known that an unbinding spell would have done the trick. Innocence, however, could not change the train times. They heard it well before they saw it, and apparently, muggle trains take at least a mile to come to a complete stop. The mother, weeping over her now unconscious child refused to leave the track. The girl, seeing the train approach (according to muggles nearby) screamed, and when the train was within metres of the small boy, it suddenly flew off the open track, and ran into an empty factory building opposite the platform. The destruction was massive to the surrounding area, but no-one was killed. The train was driven by 'machines', and had no passengers, transporting only materials.
You may now be wondering the following. How did the ministry not recognize this girl as a witch? How did she, especially having not been taught, even come close to controlling something the size of a train? Why is this such a disaster if the ministry can just erase the memories of nearby muggles? What's this got to do with Voldemort? I told you it was a long story.
This girl had no record with the ministry, even though she is most definitely a witch. Interviews with her and a close look at her life has shown no other similar evidence of magical power, but now, teamed with a wand, she is undeniably one of us. There is only one way of concealing or preventing magic existing in a fellow wizard or witch. Only a handful of wizards can achieve it, and even then, it takes power beyond what we may imagine possible. It was thought to never have been done, since fatal to the bestower. And to the victim. I'm sorry if I'm not being clear Harry, but I am quite confused myself. You see, they think it was Voldemort who did this to her, and if it was, then you're not the only baby to, erm, 'kick Voldemort butt', as Rita Skeeter so elegantly put it at a ministry of media meeting. This girl stayed alive, and broke the curse, by at the age of 15, regaining(?) her powers. In answer to the second question, no-one is quite sure how, and as to the third, even if the muggles don't know what has happened, when this gets out in the wizarding world, the ministry will be in a lot of trouble. Who else could be under this curse?
I didn't want you to hear all of this through the Daily Prophet, Harry, because I know it is a big enough shock to the few who know as it is. This girl will be coming to Hogwarts, Harry. She will be joining your year, and, I suppose, catching up on only the necessities from previous years that time will allow her to. I'm not quite sure what to advise you to do Harry, this is a very serious situation, and I'm not sure how much the ministry will reveal to the general wizarding world. I'll tell you only this; remember how you felt finding out you were a wizard, and then starting school, and then finding out you had survived one of the most fatal curses in existence. Saying it wasn't easy is a slight under-statement, I think.
I hope I have cleared your mind slightly, and as for the rest, your guess is as good as mine. Be careful Harry, and always remember, if you need anything, let me know immediately. This is a lot to take in. Just see how it goes, and I promise to contact you with anything else that I hear.
Take Care
Sirius
You're right, things have been strange recently, or at least more so than usual. I had the feeling you might pick up on it, but you are faster than I thought. I've been meaning to tell you this for a while, I want to come see you, but it's out of the question with the ministry on full protection alert. This is a long story, but you deserve to know the truth.
You were right in thinking the worst. When you overheard Snape saying the ministry had been (in Ron's words) "buggered", he was referring to something very closely connected with you, Harry. You are a very special person, as you well know, having been the only one in history to resist Voldemorts curse. As far as we knew up until now, at least. Don't suppose that someone else has resisted it (well, not directly anyway), but something happened recently that, well, shocked the ministry and the higher leagues in the wizarding world.
You know that the ministry knows every person with magic inclinations. This is very important for muggle-born children, who have no ancestry to realise from. By having this knowledge, ministry chambers around the world can keep track of muggle-threatening events, and perhaps more importantly so, wizarding schools can select their students and educate them. Can you imagine an adult wizard or witch with no idea of their true potential, let loose on muggle streets? Stop imagining. It is coming very close to true.
A 15 year old girl, who would be in your year had she or the ministry have known, was out with her muggle parents one day, quite recently, waiting for a train. Her younger brother, (only 4 years old) while walking along with them, fell onto the track. Within seconds, the mother and the young girl had jumped on the track to try and help the boy off, while the father went for help. The boy, quite badly hurt had his foot trapped in the track, and could not be moved. If only the girl had been taught as she should have been at Hogwarts, she would have known that an unbinding spell would have done the trick. Innocence, however, could not change the train times. They heard it well before they saw it, and apparently, muggle trains take at least a mile to come to a complete stop. The mother, weeping over her now unconscious child refused to leave the track. The girl, seeing the train approach (according to muggles nearby) screamed, and when the train was within metres of the small boy, it suddenly flew off the open track, and ran into an empty factory building opposite the platform. The destruction was massive to the surrounding area, but no-one was killed. The train was driven by 'machines', and had no passengers, transporting only materials.
You may now be wondering the following. How did the ministry not recognize this girl as a witch? How did she, especially having not been taught, even come close to controlling something the size of a train? Why is this such a disaster if the ministry can just erase the memories of nearby muggles? What's this got to do with Voldemort? I told you it was a long story.
This girl had no record with the ministry, even though she is most definitely a witch. Interviews with her and a close look at her life has shown no other similar evidence of magical power, but now, teamed with a wand, she is undeniably one of us. There is only one way of concealing or preventing magic existing in a fellow wizard or witch. Only a handful of wizards can achieve it, and even then, it takes power beyond what we may imagine possible. It was thought to never have been done, since fatal to the bestower. And to the victim. I'm sorry if I'm not being clear Harry, but I am quite confused myself. You see, they think it was Voldemort who did this to her, and if it was, then you're not the only baby to, erm, 'kick Voldemort butt', as Rita Skeeter so elegantly put it at a ministry of media meeting. This girl stayed alive, and broke the curse, by at the age of 15, regaining(?) her powers. In answer to the second question, no-one is quite sure how, and as to the third, even if the muggles don't know what has happened, when this gets out in the wizarding world, the ministry will be in a lot of trouble. Who else could be under this curse?
I didn't want you to hear all of this through the Daily Prophet, Harry, because I know it is a big enough shock to the few who know as it is. This girl will be coming to Hogwarts, Harry. She will be joining your year, and, I suppose, catching up on only the necessities from previous years that time will allow her to. I'm not quite sure what to advise you to do Harry, this is a very serious situation, and I'm not sure how much the ministry will reveal to the general wizarding world. I'll tell you only this; remember how you felt finding out you were a wizard, and then starting school, and then finding out you had survived one of the most fatal curses in existence. Saying it wasn't easy is a slight under-statement, I think.
I hope I have cleared your mind slightly, and as for the rest, your guess is as good as mine. Be careful Harry, and always remember, if you need anything, let me know immediately. This is a lot to take in. Just see how it goes, and I promise to contact you with anything else that I hear.
Take Care
Sirius