Chapter 2: New Allies
Dear Mr Potter,
We have received intelligence that you performed the Notice-Me-Not Charm at eleven minutes past four this morning in a Muggle-inhabited area. The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand.
As you have already received two official warnings for a previous offence under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your warnings have been used up and you will not have a trail to redeem yourself.
Hoping you are well,
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
Improper Use of Magic Office
Ministry of Magic
Harry looked at the piece of parchment and spoke with a smirk "Gin, give me your old wand please. I don't think we should be using them anyways, they must be tracking us through them, I've done magic without my wand lots of times and I have never received a warning."
Ginny didn't pause and handed him her wand with a confident smile.
Multicolor sparks flew in different directions as Harry took both wands and snapped them on his knee without any hesitation.
He looked quizzically at the piece of parchment from the ministry and hastily rolled up the two broken wands in the paper and handed it to Hedwig. "Carry this to Dumbledore" he said with a satisfying smile.
"Oh, you are so bad Mr. Potter" amused Ginny told him while squeezing his biceps as a joke. Hedwig swooped down from Ginny's shoulder and grabbed the parchment roll and flew out the open skylight.
It was around eight in the morning when house elves left them alone after a quick a tour around Gryffindor Manor and settled the two teens in the sunroom for some aromatic tea. Harry and Ginny have both looked around their new home in awe, and the only comments that escaped them were "Wow!" and "Look at that!". They met Godric Gryffindor's portrait and were told to come back straight to them after they get some sleep.
The most interesting thing they saw was when they visited the greenhouse, there were many magical and non-magical plants they have never even seen at school, many of them were in time capsules. There were many capsules, each was a different size, every capsule was made of glass and had bronze base with a plaque with information about each plant or animal inside. Most animals were very small, most looked like snakes, frogs and worms, some contained large eggs. The bigger capsules contained rare and supposedly extinct plants. One of the house elves who looked after the conservatory told them that a capsule was powered by the magic of the caster, which was infused into artificial magical core. He also told them that one core usually lasts around one thousand years before the capsule requires to be recharged. One of more intriguing things they learned is that time can not be stopped but it can be stretched, and that the ratio of time inside the capsule to time outside was one second to one thousand years respectively.
They agreed to talk about their 'preparations' after the very much needed nap. Ginny snuggled against Harry on a small but comfortable sofa as they both nodded off into sleep.
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Albus Dumbledore was sitting in the kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place sipping his morning lemon tea with a satisfying smirk. He was thinking of all the wonderful things he has done for this world and how proud he was of himself for being such a passionate and studious supporter of the light. He was thinking of when the war has started and how his plan has worked flawlessly thus far. 'A few more sacrifices and Harry would be ready to fight Voldemort, one day Harry will thank me…' thought Dumbledore.
A white flying form caught his attention in the window, it was moving towards the kitchen window, 'hmm, a white owl, those are rare' he continued to stare until his face slightly changed color from usual pale yellow to more white, what was usually his reaction when he was somewhat taken aback.
"Harry's owl?" he mumbled questionably.
"Oh, dear! Did Harry really send us a letter? Well, c'mon Albus what does it say?" Molly asked the headmaster with a cheery voice as she entered the kitchen.
Hedwig did not land on the window perch as she usually did but extended her claws and released the parcel. Small bundle of sticks rolled on the floor from a curled up parchment, without another movement the owl flew a semicircle around the kitchen chandelier and took off into the sky the same direction she flew from.
Albus immediately recognized Harry's wand and picked up all of the pieces, he didn't know who the other wand belonged to but quickly unrolled the parchment. His eyes skimmed through it, without any pause he moved to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder and yelled "ALASTOR MOODY!".
A mad looking man with a magical eye appeared in the green flames and grunted, "What is it Albus? Its Saturday for heavens sake…" he trailed off.
"Alert the Order members and check on Harry, his owl just brought his wand…in pieces!"
"WHAT? I DON'T BELIVE YOU. LET ME SEE THE WAND!" demanded Molly.
Mad-eye Moody was shocked and without another word he disappeared as green flames vanished. Albus handed over the wand pieces to Molly while she screamed.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN … THIS IS GINNY'S WAND!" she quickly ran out of the room and started yelling as she stormed upstairs towards Ginny's bedroom.
"Ginny wake up! Young lady if you are not in your bedroom you will not receive any birthday presents until I die!"
There was no answer.
Molly didn't knock or hesitate; she bustled through the door and to only find it empty.
She ran downstairs to find Arthur, Moody, Ablus, Severus, Tonks and Shacklebolt arguing about what seemed to be security of Privet Drive Number 4.
Looking disoriented and grabbing her husband's hand "Ginny is missing!" She sobbed.
After some more quarrelling all settled down and agreed that Ginny is probably at same location as Harry and that they couldn't have gone far since none of them can apparate.
"Albus what does this mean? Why are their wands broken? Do you think the ministry is behind this, look at the letter" spoke Arthur.
"I am not sure, lets just hope they are alright" Dumbledore said with a disappointed tone of voice.
"We need to find Harry immediately. Severus I want you to find out if Voldermor is part of this. Arthur Molly, look for Ginny; ask Ron and Hermione if they told anything to Harry or Ginny about our 'preparation'. Tonks and Shacklebolt find out what the Ministry knows about this, and I am going to speak to the Minister" The headmaster ordered.
Without any other comments all members departed to their appointed tasks.
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Comforting warmth was all Harry felt. He didn't recall ever being this comfy in his life, he could smell wild flowers in the air, he could hear regular but very calm breathing, he could feel Ginny's body snuggled closely to him. He was happy. Opening his eyes he squinted, sun beams were penetrating the skylight through the palm tree leaves above the sofa he laid on. It took him a moment to recognize his surroundings and the events of the night to catch up with him. He looked down at a beautiful redhead to his side and smiled, 'I am so lucky' he thought.
As if on queue Ginny woke up as well. "hey" was all she said while closing her eyes again trying to catch a few more seconds of cuddling.
After some time both got up and ate a quick lunch prepared by house elves. Once they both ate as much as they could stuff into themselves they went back to talk with Godric.
"Hey guys did you have a nice nap?"
"Yes" both teens answered.
"Why did you want to talk to us, not that we mind, you just seemed very eager?" asked Ginny.
"Excellent, you got to love red heads, right to the point, its in our blood Harry, I married a beautiful redhead myself" he beamed down at Ginny.
"Right, well, I know all about you Harry, and I know all about Dumbledore. I have my ways" he smiled. "Nothing fancy, just couple hidden portraits here and there. My gracious, the things that go on in headmaster's office make me sick. I don't know what that old man is thinking; his brain must be under some magical decay. I can't believe he told you your power is 'love', it is probably the most ridiculous idea I have heard in all of my time spent as a portrait. If it was that easy I am sure the old fool would kiss Voldermort himself. You are in threat from both Voldermort and Dumbledore, one wants you to do his dirty job and get all the credit for it, or at least that's what I think his motivation is. He really is mad. Well, and other wants you dead. You are being manipulated by two very powerful fanatical wizards" He paused while scratching his chin.
"Tell me Harry, do you know what magic is?"
"Um…Hermione once told me it is in our soul, in our blood, in our body but I don't know what it is made of or what it is…why do asked?" he answered confusingly.
"That's what I thought… completely clueless…hmm." He stroked his beard while thinking then he spoke again. "I think it would be best if you didn't attend Hogwarts next term or any term at all, in the past two hundred years the school has only gone down hill. Its ministry's fault so you know, since they started treating all creatures as second class or more talented as dark creatures, its quite alarming. You know Salazar was slightly prejudiced, but even he never crossed the line."
"But I thought he didn't want allow any muggle born wizards and witches to attend Hogwarts?" Harry interrupted.
"Yes, it is true, but not because he discriminated against them. He didn't like the idea of pureblood children having an advantage over other kids, so he wanted muggle borns to attend a 'pre-school'…anyways we are getting off topic." At this point Harry thought this portrait was of his knockers or Professor McGonigal fed him more lies in his second year.
"I think it would be best if you went to MA, Milesian Academy. It was founded by Anaximenes and Thales around twenty five hundred years ago, both were wizard philosophers. It's the oldest Academy on our planet, I graduated from it, and you should find a book on it in our library. It says the school has been destroyed and removed from the surface of earth when Roman Empire collapsed, well it is partly true. It was removed but it wasn't destroyed. Its sort of in a different realm, so its invisible to all magical and non magical beings." He continued to tell them about his stories at the school, but left out details about the school, and told them they would have to see it for themselves with a small wink.
Ginny and Harry both listened in interest and full of admiration, "So how do we find this school and contact them that four of us want to attend?" asked Harry.
"Four? Harry, I don't want to pain you but I hope you are not talking about Ronald and Hermione. Both have been part of this Order of the Phoenix for past three years, they are not full members yet since they are underage but they have been 'isolating you' from many events and guiding you down Dumbledore's path. I think it would be unwise to trust them."
"I don't believe you! You are crazy! I've known Ron and Hermione for five years they are my best friends, they would never do that to me" last few words were said with uncertainty, Harry started fuming with anger and betrayal, he couldn't believe he would die for both of them.
"You don't have to believe me, just a word of caution. I suggest you investigate yourself."
"The only truth Dumbledore has ever told you is the prophecy; the rest is solid as dragon's dung. Do you think it was James' decision to switch the secret keeper, it was Dumbledore's. He knew Peter was a death eater, Dumbledore needed to isolate you, he knew you wouldn't die, he is the one who suggested it to your mother to use an ancient spell so that her sacrifice would protect you, in progress making you a helpless vulnerable orphan. Do you think the Order didn't know about tri-wizard cup, Dumbledore himself has entered your name in the tournament. He needed Voldermort to come back and to cause mayhem until you turn seventeen. Remember when you saved Arthur Weasley, afterwards Dumbledore ordered Snape to weaken your mind and implant fake memories of Sirius being tortured, oh… the wonders master of Legitimancy can do I tell you, he even ordered Hermione and Ron make sure you go after your godfather." Godric concluded, he closed his eyes as if he was in understanding in how much pain Harry was.
Ginny firmly squeezed Harry's hand trying to comfort him. His eyes were full of tears but he didn't allow them to drop, he knew he couldn't trust many people anymore.
"But, but, Hermione told me it must be a fake vision…"
"Exactly, that only made you more scared and made you want to go more…Dumbledore is playing mind games with you. I was hoping you would find out about this house sooner…" Godric sighed.
"Anyways, listen there are still people you can trust, Malfoys. You know you should have been in Slytherin even though you are my heir it doesn't mean you are brave or foolish, you are cunning and intelligent, probably Dumbledore's handy work, because the hat is never wrong. Malfoy's didn't join Voldermort to kill muggles but to remove Dumbledore from power. They are an old French family, they have morals, they only follow the pureblood regime because they like wealthy families to marry into them, keeping up the Malfoy's name as one of the most influential in Europe."
"Are you saying we should contact the Malfoy's?" asked Ginny.
"Yes, to the point again" He smiled, and muttered something like 'redheads' "I am sure there will be many differences you share but believe me there are more similarities. For one, ask them about MA, and if they would allow young Mr. Malfoy to join you, they might have connections to more kids who would like to go with you. Don't worry about leaks, the Malfoy's are very secretive, also ask them why they wish to remove Dumbledore, you might be even more surprised" said Godric with a very approving nod.
"So how do we get into this school?" Harry repeated himself.
"Well, they usually have scouts, whom have been banded by British Magical Ministry. But contacting them is the easy part but attending it might be hard…you see the school population is mostly made of all other races, when I attended there were only five wizards and six witches, and when I graduated um … there were only two wizards Salazar and I, and two witches Helga and Rowena." He sounded slightly distressed.
"What happened to other students?" Asked Ginny, hoping the answer wouldn't be what she thought.
"Well, two died in first year, four got murdered by other students and one committed suicide… I never said its an easy school. It is rough, you don't get homework, you have only exams when you graduate, professors don't feed you, they don't care if you show up to class, and they usually don't get involved with students. Students sort their own problems on their own, and believe me its not through negotiation. There are certain rules that you must follow but anything goes, usually only half students graduate. Other half, if they didn't die during training they get killed if they don't meet graduating requirements."
"What are the requirements?" growled Harry.
"I am not sure if they are still the same, but when I went you had only four years to meet the graduating requirements, you had to become a master at least in six different magical fields and a master in at least one foreign magic. There is more to it, I am sure that they have changed it since I left; I graduated more then fifteen hundred years ago. New things have been invented, new theories developed etcetera"
"What do you recon we should do?" asked Harry.
"You have to stick as a group, that's how I survived. We made our own study group, just four of us. We did everything together and never left anyone alone." Godric got cut of by Harry. "No, that's pretty obvious; I mean how do we convince the school to accept us?"
"Why don't you guys come back to me tomorrow, let me think about all this. I will come up with a plan and a letter for you to send to school. In mean while, I want you guys to go down to the library and dig up stuff on Occlumency and Legitimancy, and perhaps find a book about Milesian Academy. Also write a letter to meet the Malfoy family, invite them over for some tea tonight lets say eight o'clock. You both need to become masters at mind magic before you attend MA not only to get ahead of other students but to be able to move to a higher level of mind magic, plus you get the benefit of protecting your thoughts and memories. I will assure you this library is nothing like the one in Hogwarts." He smiled and walked out of the portrait.
Harry and Ginny didn't know what he meant but were curious enough to go down to the library. They went down to the basement and found their way to what supposed to be the library entrance; they both stood in front of seven feet tall cypress doors with a large Ravenclaw crest on it. Under the crest was a phrase in golden lettering 'Time pays with Knowledge'.
Once they entered they were in a large empty but very bright room, not a single book was in the view. The walls were full of many sleeping portraits; the ceiling was a similar one to Hogwarts, it projected a similar weather to what was outside. In the middle of the room was a cube the size of a small dining table. When they approached it, the surface on this table started moving with different colors. The colors sped up and formed into letters, 'Theories - Alphabetical Listing, last update 1980' and underneath formed the alphabet. Harry touched letter 'O' and a list appeared of different magics starting with letter O.
"Wow, this is amazing, I bet Hermione would kill to look through this." Ginny commented but quickly regretted saying the comment; Harry gave her a disapproving look but didn't say anything.
Harry found 'Occlumency' and touched it, as soon as he did the room vibrated for about three seconds and the sky got much more cloudy and darker, four bright yellow lights shot out from the base of the cube towards the four corners of the room, they moved up the walls and then back towards the middle on the ceiling, when they reconnected again a beam of light as if lightning shot down from the sky illusion towards the middle of the cube, following the light a distant thunder rolled through the atmosphere and sky become clear again. Two while silvery strands appeared floating above the cube.
"What are those?" Ginny asked while pointing at the two silvery strands.
"If I am correct they are memories, I've seen similar floating strands in Dumbledore's office. But we need to have a pensive to view them." As soon he said last two words, the two silvery strands floated towards Harry and Ginny's wands. The wand sucked the silvery strands in and both teens got weird shivers running down their backs.
After some time both looked at each other, "Wicked! Now we need to train this theory" spoke Harry.
"I wish they had this at Hogwarts, this would make studying so much easier" said Ginny.
"As much as it benefits an individual, it would be completely unfair towards the society, what would be the point of teachers?" a strong echoing but delicate female voice spoke from behind them. Harry quickly turned around but didn't find anyone.
"Who is here? Show yourself!" he quickly scanned the room.
"Calm down Mr. Potter, I am a memory of Rowena Ravenclaw, you can not see me that's because I am imbedded into this room. I constructed this memory library for Godric, here you will be able to find records of many memories. You will be able to achieve as much knowledge as you yearn, you will be able to learn as many theories and spells as you desire. Residents of this Manor have been adding their knowledge to this library every year until 1980, I hope you will continue this tradition, as it was part of your family and it ought to be yours. I must warn you, do not try to learn too much in one sitting, as it can be overwhelming. I suggest you learn one or two theories and practice them until you perfect them, then come back. To the right you will see a door" many sleeping portraits moved around and a door solidified on the wall.
"This is the actual library with all books that memories are formed from, I suggest you read the book after you gain knowledge you sought out to make sure you don't forget what you have learned. Before you learn something new I suggest you check the book to make sure you do not learn something that can harm you." The voice didn't speak again, but Harry and Ginny knew if they needed help with anything in this library they could ask Rowena anytime.
Before they left the library they searched for 'Legitimancy' and learned the theory. What they found out, is when you learn different magics that overlap one with another, it is easier to understand the theory. They were slightly alarmed when no memory appeared when they searched for Milesian Academy, but they did find the book in the real library.
They left the library carrying three books, Ginny was carrying two small books that could fit in her palm of hand, one was named 'Obscure Art of Legitimancy' and other 'Fifteen Ages of Milesian Academy'. While Harry was carrying more like hugging the other book, the book was dark brown and the size of a large suit case, it had gold plated protective bindings and multiple intricate runes scripted all over the cover which shined silvery in the light, the only other marks on the book cover was the title in golden lettering 'The First and The Last Defense: Occlumency'. By the time they found their books and left the library they were surprised to find out it was nearly dinner time. They made their way up to the kitchen and asked the house elves for a meal, whom gladly obliged.
They placed their books on the table, and waited for food.
"What do think we should write to Malfoys?" asked Harry.
"I think we should write exactly what Godric told us, if he says we can trust them, maybe we should" answered Ginny.
Harry, found some expansive parchment with Gryffindor Crest on top of it, and set to work.
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Fire burned green three times, and three slightly puzzled people stepped out of large white marble fireplace. All three wore dark green silk attires, but the most striking features about each was that both males had a sophisticated but clean, straight, blond, shoulder long hair and the female wore a black witch hat hiding her blond locks which was covered entirely in dazzling black diamonds.
Four well groomed house elves greeted the three guests and three house elves took three cloaks. The fourth house elf introduced herself as Goldie and escorted three guests into the guest sitting room.
"Ah! Greetings and salutations… I see you have met Goldie. Thank you Goldie for escorting our three divine guests to sitting room, and if you would be kind enough … would you bring us some tea." Harry spoke as politely as he could as the house elf bowed and disappeared, Harry was trying to show off how generous and hospitable he is. He knew Malfoys were well off but he has never tried to mend the hostility and bickering of six years in a singular greeting without getting hexed or even killed.
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Dear Mr. & Mrs. Malfoy
I have recently come across some very important information concerning Albus Dumbledore, which deeply troubles me. Earlier today it was revealed to me that both the Malfoy's family and I share common interest regarding Albus Dumbledore. I would like you to come and visit me at Gryffindor Manor tonight at 8:00pm and discuss a possible alliance over a warm cup of tea. Please come alone, you may bring Draco, as this is much of a concern to him as to you.
P.S. the floo is not monitored and the password is "Altus"
Sincerely yours,
Harry James Potter I
The Malfoys really didn't know what to make of the letter they have just read, the only reason Lucius Malfoy didn't burn his mark to inform the Dark Lord of this memo was due to his curiosity, but mostly he didn't because he shared certain past with the Potters.
As a Death Eater Lucius has always been a servant and as much as he pretended to love doing Dark Lord's bidding he has always liked to have his options opened. When the Dark Lord disappeared and supposedly defeated he was one of the few brilliant ones that didn't do anything unintelligent or rash. He was accused of being a Death Eater but he had his ways out, he has never been sent to Azkaban or charged, he stayed silenced and kept his alternative escape roots open. In another words he was a true Slytherin.
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"Mr. Potter you sure do know how to make your guests welcome" Lucius Malfoy pretended to draw his wand trying to break the delicate mood, but Harry didn't flinch.
"Not scared? You know its been nearly eighteen years since the last time I was in this very room, pity of coarse that you were never like your father, I am sure Draco would have loved to explore the dungeon labyrinths under the manor, but then again this is what happens when you make friends with the wrong sort of families" After this comment Harry's expressions changed from the serious welcoming look, to questionable threatening gaze.
Million questions flooded Harry's mind, but then again he had to control his dangerous curiosity and bite his tongue. Ginny didn't know what to say, she knew Harry wanted to know, she knew he hated if information about his past has been withheld especially if it was concerning his parents.
Using all of his will power Harry smiled and motioned Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy and their son to sit down. They did, Ginny and Harry did the same, and all five picked up their tea cups.
There was a very long hostile silence. Harry and Ginny were especially surprised; they have never seen Draco the big mouth to act so calm, no idiotic comments escaped his mouth.
Harry was the only one to put his cup of tea down, and cleared his throat and spoke.
"Mr. Malfoy, I know our past is like water and oil, and I just wish you to hear me out. I know that you probably think of me as arrogant, irrational and as The-Boy-Who-Lived" He spat the last name with such revulsion that Mrs. Malfoy stirred uncomfortably.
"One wise man once said 'Don't judge a book by its cover' I am a poignant cliché of this statement" he sighed. "Look, I am not good at this formal talk. Yesterday, Ginny overheard what is the 'main plan' of Order of the Phoenix is, and lets just say it doesn't look very pretty for me. Dumbledore has come up with some brilliant plan to kill everyone close to me to apparently make me stronger, so I would be strong enough to kill Voldermort" to his surprise nobody flinched to the name of Tom Riddle. "Thus far his plan has worked faultlessly. Since my parents died I was raised by muggles whom have been manipulated by none other Dumbledore, they never told me about magical world, who my parents were, what they did for living, how they died, I knew nothing. They kept me in the dark. When I received my school letter and went to school nothing really changed. Dumbledore manipulated every move I made, and I was completely oblivious to it. He withheld information about my financial status, my parents, friends, and prophecy."
"So, it is true than, what did the prophecy say?" Draco spoke. His father didn't look at him but it seemed he was as interested.
Harry was about to speak but Ginny interrupted him "Can't you guess? Oh, I don't know what it could possibly be if only Harry and Voldermort could hear what it says. Voldermort being the darkest wizard ever, and Harry the only one who keeps surviving his attacks. You could guess half the things just by reading that truthful Prophet."
"Mr. Potter this history lesson is very fascinating and all, but I am still at a loss. What exactly did you wish to discuss with us?" Mrs. Malfoy finally spoke.
"I need your help…" Harry spoke with such a defeated tone that it made Ginny sad.
Harry and Ginny told them about their escape from Private Drive, about new wands, about Godric and what he told them. They told them about MA, and suggested that Draco attends with them, and perhaps anyone else they could trust. They spoke about leaders of 'Darkness and Light'. They spoke about family histories and power old families hold in the society. Harry was very surprised when he found out that back when his parents were alive together with the Malfoy family they could control many decisions made in the wizarding world in Great Britain.
"We do not need to become friends but mere partners in business, the way I see it is you wouldn't be here if you had nothing to gain from this. You wish Dumbledore removed from power for your own reasons; I wish to remove him for mine. Well, and Voldermort if there is a way for both of us to remove him from power it wouldn't hurt either of us." Harry concluded.
"Yes, you are correct Mr. Potter, but since it is you who seeks this help from us we may need you to do something for us, to lets just say, to expand our trust." Mr. Malfoy answered slowly while squeeze his wife's hand. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy's eyes met for a brief moment and both nodded in agreement. Draco stayed quiet.
"We need perhaps both of you to help us rescue Narcissa's sister" said Lucius Malfoy with concern.
"What do you mean? How many sisters do you have?" asked Harry.
"Two" was all Narcissa said with a pause then she continued "Mr. Potter have you ever seen the tapestry of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Blacks?"
Harry nodded, but didn't say anything waiting for Mrs. Malfoy to continue. "If you looked closely you would have noticed that all last five direct descendants of house of blacks were in the same age group. Sirius, Regulus, Andromeda, me and my beloved Bella" she shed a tear at the last name. "We were very close, and took care of each other."
"Do you know who Tom Riddle is?" she asked searching for another nod, she felt slightly relieved when Harry nodded again.
"None of the last five black descendants agreed to what our families' aphorism was. Regulus and my husband didn't join Dark Lord's ranks out of their own accord. Our parents were Riddle's classmates, so when he decided to form his union of Death Eaters his first order was when we become of age, sixteen, our birthday present would be a Dark Mark. As you can imagine, our parents as loyal followers of the Dark Lord could only thank him. We saw what the Dark Lord did to innocent, to those who were fighting for their peace. None of us, including my husband wanted the mark. So, when it was time to get branded some of us fled some thought they could fight it off. First was Andromeda, she married a muggle and disappeared getting cast off by the family to this day only I and her daughter know where she is, Sirius ran away into hiding, the only reason he didn't get killed when he turned of age was because he was heir of the Blacks. I fell in love with Lucius so he took the mark for both of us, the Dark Lord is a chauvinist and agreed that I would not get a dark mark if I produce a son" she shed another tear, while looking at Draco. Harry understood that Draco is bound to get marked this year.
"When is your birthday Draco?" asked Ginny while thinking along same lines as Harry.
After receiving an approving nod from his parents Draco answered "August Twelfth" and shrugged like he really didn't care, but it didn't fool anyone in the room. All knew he was probably dreading that date.
"Next was Regulus, he knew if he didn't join he would need to live in hiding but as smart as he was, he thought he could beat the Dark Lord. Six months after he joined his plan backfired and he was tortured and murdered by the Dark Lord himself in front of all his followers" tears rolled freely down her face, Lucius placed his other hand on her shoulder and reassured her to go on. Narcissa opened her tiny black purse with matching black diamonds similar to the ones on her fancy hat and a pink handkerchief flew out folding itself into a triangular shape, and magically absorbing tears on her face.
"What you probably don't know is that when it was Bella's turn, well she was different than all of us, she ran straight to Dumbledore asking for protection."
"What?!" Harry shouted.
"She killed Sirius, she is the most evil out of all of them!" Harry stopped yelling when he turned around and realized he was standing up and Ginny was pulling his hand to sit back down to the sofa.
"Why didn't Dumbledore help her, all of this could have been stopped?" he asked while sitting back down, trying to loose the red flustered face.
"He did…he did something with her because to this day we haven't seen her" Narcissa sobbed. Draco seemed upset and uncomfortable but he didn't dare to speak.
Lucius picked up where his wife ended, and let her calm down. "Bellatrix Lestrange you know is not who she pretends to be, we know only few things about this imposter. She doesn't interact with us; the Dark Lord doesn't care about our family feud. She just comes to meetings with Severus Snape and leaves with him, which probably explains the impeccable Occlumency defenses both have. At first we thought Bellatrix was just mad at us and didn't speak with us but when Cissa and I got married the Malfoy family book was updated and it displayed Draco's godmother as 'Bellatrix Black 1951 – XXXX' and it still does." he sounded excited like there was still hope the real Bella was alive.
"Whoever this person is, she must be part of the Order of the Phoenix, the Dark Lord knows that Severus is a spy for the Order and he plays that to his advantages. From the information we have the Dark Lord doesn't know that Bellatrix Lestrange is a spy, the only reason we can't tell the Dark Lord about this because Dumbledore is blackmailing us. He has the real Bella and who knows where." He sounded crushed, but continued to talk.
"Mr. Po…" Lucius corrected himself "Harry, do you really think Bella would kill Sirius? He was her favorite cousin. Do you think she would torture Longbottoms? This is the reason we want Dumbledore removed, he is playing God. This fake bitch whoever she is is the biggest disgrace to the family of Blacks we have seen. She is ruining our reputation, your godfather's. I have never seen her fail at her missions, it almost seems as if the Order is running the whole show. Have you ever wondered why Bellatrix was the only one who escaped from the Department of Mysteries? Have you ever wondered why I get away from these sticky situations all the time? It is all because of this Beacon of Light the Almighty Dumbledore; he lets her go because he needs her to spy for him and he lets me go because he needs me to stay shut up. Have you ever wondered why Dumbledore kept Sirius locked up in Azkaban all this time, and when he escapes he murders him?!" Nobody answered that question, Harry didn't know the answer. He felt guilty for never talking to Sirius about his past about his family, he never asked him about the night his parents got murdered. There were so many gaps in Harry's life that he didn't even know where to begin.
"Why do you keep calling this imposter female, for all we know it could be male?" Ginny broke the tension.
Lucius seemed to some extent reluctant to reveal this information but continued. "This fake is using some kind of glamour potion which lasts longer then one hour, so polyjuice is out of question. It is definitely not a spell; I have tried all kinds of revealing spells, all are futile. I even tried a very complex metamorphous revealo spell, that didn't work either. I've checked multiple libraries and the only potion that fit the description was 'Someseverto-Aevum Elixir', it is an illegal potion and it was invented by none other than Albus Dumbledore. There are many different criteria's for this potion but the only clues that are usable in our case is that the potion can only be used by the same sex you intend to transform into, and the other is that you need an antidote to turn back."
Before meeting the Malfoys Harry hated Dumbledore, after meeting the Malfoys Harry's levels of detestation reached such high heights it made him sick. Just thinking about how much different his life would be if that old intrusive geezer didn't poke his foul-smelling finger into his life. How many lives, families could be saved. What made him even angrier was that he did not understand what were Dumbledore's reasons for all of his actions.
After, another couple hours of conversations both parties agreed to work on a plan to find out where Bellatrix Black is and who Bellatrix Lestrange is. The Malfoys agreed to help Harry and Ginny out, if their end of the contract was met. Lucius informed them that he will contact them with MA decision within a week, and that they should hold of their letters Godric is writing for them until his decision is made.
Around midnight Lucius' mark burned indicating that Voldermort was demanding a meeting, the meeting at Gryffindor Manor concluded, and the three blond guests left. Their goodbyes were on first name terms.
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It was around one in the morning; Harry was on his balcony looking at star constellations he learned in astronomy, searching for that angry red Mars Firenze once told him of.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Ginny. She was leaning against the doorframe wearing her new pale pink pajamas.
"Stuff…" he shrugged, but didn't say anything else.
Ginny gave him a sweet goodnight kiss and left for her bedroom.
He stayed outside for another hour thinking of his parents, godfather and his old and new enemies. He wished he could ask his Mum to give me him a hug to make the pain go away, he wished he could ask his Dad to tell him what to do next. He mostly wished that they were alive, but he knew some things are just not meant to be.
AN: When I mention that Bellatrix, Regulus, Sirius, Andromeda, and Narcissa are all in same age group I mean they are all within 5 years apart, so yes the sequence of things is not in exact order. I know this is not true if you look at the actual tapestry. Also in my story I am saying that Bella is the youngest not the oldest. So yea these are just some 'historic' facts I am changing. If you don't really care, well, good for you. If you do, well I hope this explanation is enough.
JRK's Tapestry for curious folks
Regulus Black (1961 - 1979)
Sirius Black (1959 or 60 - June 1996)
Narcissa (Black) Malfoy (1955- )
Andromeda (Black) Tonks (1953- )
Bellatrix (Black) Lestrange (1951- )
