Kaylzzie: Thank you! And I agree they are like our beloved trio (though I like to think Ben as more of a young Sirius Black haha).
Loves to read books: Never fear – the update is here! :)
Guest: I understand how you'd see that – in fact, I at first liked to believe Harry would have delighted his kids with thrilling tales about his childhood fighting evil and defeating Voldemort. However, after reading the seventh book again, I noticed a line in the epilogue that seemed to indicate that Harry had actually NOT told his children who he was: "A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Harry. 'Why are they all staring?' demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students. 'Don't let it worry you', said Ron. 'It's me. I'm extremely famous'" (page 759 American version). Here, I think, JK Rowling is showing the reader that Harry (as well as Ron and Hermione) chose not to tell their kids about their past, either out of modesty or perhaps out of respect for the children's young age, I have no idea.
But still… even if you don't see things the way I do, it's alright! Haha I appreciate your insightful review all the same:) Thanks again!
Hanalei: Thank you! I appreciate you being a faithful reviewer to my story – I hope you enjoy this update! :)
Saturday
November 2nd
7:17 a.m. – Gryffindor common room
"Let me get this straight…" Ben said slowly, looking carefully at his friend. "Professor Binns mentioned your dad in class yesterday – said he had defeated some Dark wizard person or something…" he looked positively incredulous: "– and you take it upon yourself to research about it in the library?"
"I'm still shocked he was even paying attention in that class," Kyra marveled.
"Look," Al said impatiently, setting his tall stack of library books on the table in front of them. Luckily, the common room was empty this early in the morning, so Albus felt he could talk freely to his friends. "That's not the issue, here. All my life, my dad has never mentioned once that he defeated the greatest dark wizard in history!"
"'In history'?" Kyra looked skeptical. "C'mon, isn't that going a bit far? I'm sure there have been plenty of bad wizards over the years – what makes this 'Lord Voldermore' so terrible, anyway?"
But Al had already begun paging through one of his books: Darkest Wizards, Witches, and Sorcerers throughout the Ages. "There," he shoved the open book in front of her face. He pointed to a highlighted passage, and Kyra and Ben read:
"…No Dark wizard's reign exceeded the evil demonstrated by Tom Marvolo Riddle, who had later changed his title to 'Lord Voldemort'. The killing and torturing of innocent people, both magical and non-magical, executed by Lord Voldemort and his followers (i.e. Death Eaters) was to such a degree that a majority of the wizarding world feared to even speak his name…"
"There are whole chapters in here dedicated to outlining all the evil things Lord Voldemort had done –" Albus explained, flipping through Dark Sorcerers and Their Crimes. "He murdered some of the greatest witches and wizards of the day: the Prewetts, the McKinnons, Emmeline Vance, Alastor Moody… and here –" Al dragged out a large volume which looked relatively new: Dark Wizards of the 20th Century – The Rise and Fall of the Most Evil Wizards of Our Time by Xenophilius Lovegood. "I've been reading through this, and it explains exactly what my dad had done to defeat Voldemort, and the impact it had on the entire wizarding world!"
Al had finished speaking, and there was a short pause. Kyra and Ben glanced at each other.
"This is the most research I've ever seen you do," Ben observed to Al. Kyra laughed.
Al couldn't help but grin slightly as he set the book down, "I know, but I can't help it. I feel like I've been kept in complete ignorance about this, you know?" He moved over and sat down in a nearby armchair. "But this explains everything… people have been talking behind my back. But they're not talking about me: they're just fascinated with my dad, because they know who he is and what he's done."
"Well, if he's done all that, how come I've never heard of him?" Kyra frowned.
"You're Muggle-born, aren't you? You haven't grown up knowing about famous wizarding names and stuff, so that's not so surprising."
"Well, what about…"
Kyra trailed off, and she and Al glanced over at Ben, who looked up at them. Albus and Kyra knew that Ben's childhood was always a sensitive topic with him, especially when it regarded his father.
Ben thankfully spoke up: "I never heard anything about Al's dad killing some evil wizard either. My mum's Muggle-born, and…" he hesitated. "… well, no one else was really around to tell me much stuff about the wizarding world when I was a kid."
There was a slightly awkward pause following this, which Al eventually broke: "I'm not blaming you guys or anything for not knowing about my dad, but I just can't understand why he never bothered to mention it to me or James or anyone before."
"Perhaps he had mentioned it while you just weren't listening," Kyra shrugged.
"Yeah – it seems a bit weird that your dad never told you something that major," Ben agreed.
"Maybe…" Al frowned to himself, thinking. He wasn't going to drop this anytime soon, he was sure. He sighed, and then got to his feet. "C'mon, we should go get some breakfast."
~/~
Due to the still-early hour, the Great Hall was relatively empty when the three children had reached it. Most of the teachers were seated at the head table, however, and a fair number of Ravenclaw students sat at their table, among them Rose Weasley. She noticed Al right as he walked in, and waved at him, grinning. Albus smiled back, and the trio walked over to join her.
As they neared the table, they noticed a tall, blonde second-year boy eating breakfast with Rose. Kyra's face darkened when she saw him.
"Go away, Kendall – no one wants you here," Kyra snapped as she, Al, and Ben approached them. The boy looked up at his little sister.
"You can't kick me off my own table," he said, taking a piece of toast. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"What does it look like? I'm having breakfast," Kyra emphasized this by plopping herself down in the seat opposite Rose.
"Whatever," Kendall grabbed a second piece of toast, said goodbye to Rose, and promptly left.
Rose was silent as Kendall walked away – she then turned to Kyra, looking furious. "Why do you always have to do that? Kendall's nice!"
"No he's not – he's a stupid toe-rag," Kyra said casually as Al and Ben took seats on either side of her. "Here's a bit of advice, Rose: stay away from that boy."
"You can't tell me what to do," Rose's cheeks turned red. "And I can look after myself, thank you very much!"
"Yeah, Kyra, leave Rose alone. She can hang out with your brother if she wants," Al reasoned, tipping kippers and sausages onto his plate. "It's not like they're going to get married or anything, right?"
Rose's face went, if possible, even redder. Kyra merely shrugged, turning her attention to the bowl of porridge in front of her and dropping the matter. Rose rolled her eyes before turning to face her cousin:
"So, what's up Al?" she frowned. "You guys normally don't eat breakfast with us Ravenclaws..."
"Al found out something interesting about his dad yesterday," Ben supplied, and Rose raised her eyebrows.
"Uncle Harry?" she glanced between Ben and Albus. "What's wrong with him?"
"Nothing… look –" Al leaned in closer, and said in a slightly quieter voice: "Has your dad ever said anything about my dad? Like, has he talked to you or Hugo about when they grew up together or anything?"
Rose thought for a moment. "No, actually – he and mum don't really talk much about that sort of stuff."
Ben and Albus exchanged glances.
Rose looked curious, "Why do you ask?"
"Because Harry Potter is –" Kyra began, but Al quickly cut her off:
"– a really good Quidditch player," he said firmly, silencing his friend. "Yeah, uh, I found his name the other day in the trophy room – apparently he was the youngest Seeker to make the Gryffindor House Team in over a century…"
"Yeah, well, Aunt Ginny could've told you that," Rose giggled sardonically. "She must've told me and Hugo that story of the rogue Bludger a hundred times at least."
"Really? Oh, well, I never knew…" Albus lied. He, of course, knew all about his father's Quidditch talent, but it was clear that Rose had no idea about Lord Voldemort or anything of that nature related to his father. Al wasn't prepared to reveal that her parents had been lying to her as well.
"Okay, well, if that's all…" Rose said, getting to her feet. She said a hasty goodbye to each of them, grabbed a piece of toast, and hurried off in the direction of her common room.
"She's just going to go look for Kendall," Kyra watched Rose's retreating figure, scrunching her nose. "What she sees in that idiot I'll never know…"
"Why do you have to be so hard on him?" Ben asked her as the three stood up to leave. "Kendall seems like a perfectly decent bloke to me…"
Kyra gave a humorless laugh. "Oh, you don't know my brother like I do. Trust me – Rose would do better to just leave him alone."
"Hey, Kyra!"
The three turned, and noticed a fellow first-year girl with dark black hair and a pale, heart-shaped face sitting at the Gryffindor table. Lucy Hayward waved and grinned at Kyra, while Kyra smiled and waved back.
"I'll catch you guys up," she said to Al and Ben as she headed over to the Gryffindor table toward her friend. The boys, who were used to sharing Kyra with Lucy, had already begun to walk back up to the common room alone.
"… So why didn't you tell Rose about your dad defeating that Lord Voldemort guy?" Ben asked Al quietly as they trekked up the marble staircase. "I'm sure she could've told us something about the matter."
Albus sighed. "You know, I don't think she could've – my dad didn't even tell me, so why should he tell it to her? And I didn't want to be the one to break it to her that our parents have been lying to us…"
"Oh, come on," Ben shook his head. "Whatever reasons your parents had for not telling you about this, I'm sure they thought it was for the best…"
"I know," Albus said, rather dejectedly, as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
One day, he hoped to believe it too.
A/N: It is in my own personal cannon that Rose Weasley is in Ravenclaw, and if you guys don't like it, I dub thee a Slytherin!
(No, I don't. Honestly. Lighten up, people.)
Anyway, Please Review!:)