Date: 7pm, 1st September, 2010

From: Percy Weasley (Chief Justice to The Wizengamot)

To: Everyone

Subject: A Historical Perspective.

Dear All,

I will be coming to the party soon, but as I was about to leave the office, I received a... I can't really call it a report, because it wasn't anywhere near that official, but the person who told me it is reliable enough that I would call it more than a rumour.

Just to make it clear, this is not something that either I, The Wizengamot or The Ministry can act on yet. While I am fairly certain it is true, and that eventually we will have to do something about it, there isn't enough to do anything about it yet.

The reason I am telling you is it provides a preface to the rest of what this memo is about, and also gives you all a heads up as to what might be coming over the next two months. And, if it turns out to be as bad as I think it is, then you - especially The Four Fathers, The Potters and The Minister - will need as much advance notice as you can get.

A friend of mine - one of my "sources" - has information that there may be a new group coming to prominence. They call themselves The Bumblebees, and - as you can probably guess - they are members of that very, very small part of the population that believe Albus Dumbledore was actually the second coming of Merlin, and that the other 99.998% of the country are either deluded, or covering up the crimes of his killers.

That's about all the information I have, but I promise I will keep you all in the loop, and - if I may ask - if any of you get any information, could you let the rest of us know as well?

In the meantime, I thought that we could all benefit from reviewing the... official version of what happened. And by "official", I am not meaning to suggest it is anything other than true - just that if we can all... agree what story we have, it will make it easier to deal with any future problems.

So, if you are all sitting comfortably, I'll begin. Actually - I will apologise in advance for talking about a number of you in the third person, then I'll begin.

After his defeat of Grindlewald, Professor Dumbledore became the single most renowned and respected mage in Europe, if not the world. He was beloved for killing a True Dark Lord, and respected for his wisdom and intelligence.

In the years that followed he increased his reputation, both with his work with Nicholas Flammel and his promotion to Headmaster at Hogwarts.

However, what is less well known is that he had a paranoid streak a mile wide, and was always concerned that someone else would come along an usurp his position, leaving him alone and forgotten - fading in the public conscience and eventually dying in obscurity.

To this end, he started looking for signs of the next Dark Lord rising, and - as you know - became focused on a young lad named Tom Marvolo Riddle, who had finished Hogwarts the same year that Grindlewald had been killed. Professor Dumbledore became convinced that Tom was turning dark, despite the fact he was well loved by teachers and fellow students alike.

When Tom took the Defence Against The Dark Arts job at Hogwarts, it only re-enforced Professor Dumbledore's belief that Tom was headed down the path to the dark side. By this point, his levels of paranoia were so high that everything Tom did fed further in to Professor Dumbledore's twisted belief. Tom was popular with the staff and students? Evidence that he was bewitching them. Tom was one of the best Defence Teachers in history? Evidence he was a powerful mage that should be feared. Tom's mother was suggested as a replacement for Horace Slughorn? Evidence that... well - you get the idea.

During Tom's tenure as DADA Professor, he made friends with six students in particular - James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Severus and Peter. The Marauders and Miss Evans were fast friends by the end of the second year, and - despite the attempts Headmaster Dumbledore to create an artificial rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor - they became friends with Master Snape less than a year later. (Something else that prompted the Headmaster in to action - Tom was obviously intent on uniting the Houses for nefarious reasons).

After Lily and The Famous Five finished school, Tom kept in touch with them, making Professor Dumbledore believe that they were a part of his plan. While it is almost impossible to be certain, I am pretty sure that it was at this point that Professor Dumbledore lost his final connection with reality, and decided to take action against Tom.

He didn't act immediately, but instead took three years to make his move. In that time, he managed to bring one of The Famous Five in to his confidence (Peter Pettigrew), and used Peter to supply information to James and his friends, and to get information from them. The news that James and Lily were expecting a child was what gave Professor Dumbledore the push to action - if Tom Riddle could be caught red-handed in the act of murdering James, Lily and their new born baby, then everyone would see that Tom Riddle was the new ascending Dark Lord.

With Peter's help, he convinced James and Lily to hold a special party for Harry's second Halloween, in October 1981. The Four Fathers (as Tom, Peter, Remus and Sirius were now collectively known - a reference to their joint godfathership of Harry) would be there, as would James, Lily and Harry (obviously). At a pre-arranged time, Peter would stun everyone, and Professor Dumbledore would take care of James, Lily and Harry, framing Tom for their muder.

But - as you all know (especially the three of you who are still alive!) - Peter betrayed Professor Dumbledore, told James and Lily what was happening, and made sure everyone was ready for Professor Dumbledore's arrival.

When the Professor came in, James and The Four Fathers were waiting, stood in a line in front of Lily and Harry. Professor Dumbledore tried to persuade them, but when it became apparent they weren't ready to believe him, he attacked, and - acting purely in self-defence (as verified by The Aurors on the scene, by the inquiry, by veritaserum and by The Wizengamot), Tom, Peter, Remus, James and Sirius killed Professor Dumbledore by blasting him backwards out of the house in to an oak tree in the garden, breaking his back and snapping his neck.

After the inquiry was completed, The Board and The Ministry asked Tom Riddle, as the Heir Of Slytherin, to take over as Headmaster, which he reluctantly agreed to. He has been running Hogwarts since then, and (if I may say so) the majority of the public love him for it.

Since then, there have been a few rumbles about re-opening the inquiry - suggestions that those at Godric's Hollow were not as innocent as they proclaimed, but after reviewing all the records, I can find no hint that any previous Chief Justice or Chief Warlock gave any thought to taking those demands seriously.

Most of us "third generation" kids went through Hogwarts under Tom Riddle's Headmastership, and - personally speaking - I enjoyed every moment of it. It was a pity that The Tri-Wizard Tournament couldn't be held while we were there, but I understand the concerns about students dying. And, from what I understand, there might be moves on this topic in the next year or so? (Feel free not to answer that, Minister - I know that some secrets must be kept!)

To sum up - every inquiry held at the time proclaimed Albus Dumbledore to be guilty of seven counts attempted murder, and that everyone in Godric's Hollow acted in self-defence. Since then, there has been nothing to indicate that this is anything other than the truth.

So while I do expect this new group to stir up trouble, I don't think they'll get anywhere with it. But it is better to be safe than sorry. And since Peter moved to Australia with his wife and daughter, it is likely more attention will fall on the rest of those who were present. (I plan to inform Peter of all of this via owl, just so he is not caught unaware).

And with that, I am signing off, and leaving for the party. And, unless you are all very dull and boring people, you will not receive this until the party is long over.

Regards,

Percy.

xoxox

Date: 7:52pm, 1st September, 2010

From: Ginny Malfoy

To: Percy Weasley

Subject: Two things.

Dear Big Bro,

One - not all of us are at the party. Some of us have a school full of children to look after!

Secondly - you can be a very long-winded pompous ass when you try.

Thirdly - I suck at counting.

Fourthly - that was a very impressive summary. Congratulations!

Love,

Little Sis.

xoxox

Date: 8:12pm, 1st September, 2010

From: Tom Riddle

To: Percy Weasley

Subject: Third Generation?

Dear Percy,

Wouldn't you be a "fourth generation" child? My mother would be the oldest in our group, followed by me (unless you are classing us both as the same generation, which is kind of creepy and a little odd), then by James, Sirius, Severus and so forth, making you, Harry, Luna and company the fourth generation, with the current crop of children at Hogwarts the fifth.

Even if you discount today's new arrivals, that wouldn't change things.

I guess it's probably a good thing that budget and financial responsibility lies with The Ministry, and not the Judicial arm of The Wizengamot :)

Regards,

TMR.