Harry Potter and the Final Chapter
By
Lewis M. Brooks, III
Chapter 49 – Things Remembered
By the last full week in February, Carly's morning sickness had stopped almost completely. Though due to an unfortunate incident at dinner one night, Carly discovered she could not stand the smell of steak and kidney pie. That would no longer be served at the Gryffindor table for the remainder of the year.
It had taken Harry quite a few days to stop fuming over the incident with Peter Skeeter. He always hated his fame, but more so when it hurt the people he loved. Though the thought made him slightly ill, Lily deserved to be able to spend time alone with her boyfriend without someone taking her picture. Harry knew they weren't doing anything he would not have been doing with Ginny if they were together, and his life weren't so crazy, when he was fifteen.
Harry never forgot the day of his wedding. Ginny was beautiful, Fawkes showed up before the ceremony started, he was nervous beyond words, and a team of fifty Aurors and Order members were keeping the press away from the Burrow. They had even had the wedding on a Wednesday afternoon to try and throw off the press, but that didn't work. A couple of reporters did slip past the Aurors and Order members, but Ron, George, Bill, and Charlie, deterred them. The reporters only suffered minor injuries.
It was late on a Friday night, early Saturday really, as it was now two o'clock in the morning when Harry looked at the clock again. Harry was sitting on the edge of his bed. Ginny had been asleep for a while. Harry had tried and tried to fall asleep, but he was not having any luck. He had far too much on his mind to sleep, but then that was nothing new.
The situation in Albania and Greece was getting worse. Healers had started hiring bodyguards as four more had disappeared, and more bodies were discovered, each body more gruesome than the last. What was worse he hadn't been able to find out anything about Elena Grindelwald. Without her, he could never get to the Sword of Souls. It was the only way to defeat Voldemort. Kingsley and Hanna had gone through every back channel they knew looking for her in Germany. They had to be careful. They didn't want anyone else to learn of her existence. They might have better luck through official channels, but then there would be a record of it.
"Harry," said Ginny.
"Sorry, Ginny," said Harry. "I didn't mean to wake you."
Ginny pulled herself up, and then over behind him, putting her arms and legs around him from behind. She placed a kiss on his bare back as he playfully tickled her feet, which were resting on his lap. He could feel her smile against his back as she giggled softly.
"Still thinking about finding Elena Grindelwald?" asked Ginny. Her warm breaths on his back made his skin tingle.
"I'm thinking about stopping Voldemort," said Harry. "Elena Grindelwald literally has the key to doing that. People are dying, Ginny."
"And you aren't responsible for them," said Ginny softly leaning her head on his back. Harry just hung his head.
"I know, Ginny," said Harry. "Really, I do, I'm just worried. I thought he was searching for the sword, like I was. It all made sense. But it's been so long since Al and I have had a vision. I don't miss them, but his continued inability to get the sword should be driving him mad by now. I just wish I knew what he was waiting for. I almost feel like he's trying to set something up."
"Come on, come to bed," said Ginny, pulling away from him.
Reluctantly, Harry lay back down and stared at the ceiling. Ginny knew he wasn't going to sleep, so she straddled him and looked down at him. Harry looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"If you can't fall asleep, then I'll just have to tire you out," said Ginny with a devilish smile. She leaned down and kissed him passionately, then started to kiss his chest.
"Shall I do this until you fall asleep?" asked Ginny between kisses.
"If you keep that up I'll never fall asleep," said Harry with a contented grin. After a few minutes he grabbed her around the waist and rolled over on top of her. Harry looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm falling into old habits obsessing again."
"Yes, you are," said Ginny with a smile. "Remember, no more wasting time."
"Yes, love," said Harry, and he leaned down and kissed her again.
In Gryffindor Tower, Colleen woke up early. It was about seven o'clock on the last Saturday morning in February. Colleen wanted to get started on something before anyone else was up, or at least, before Hugo was up. She was hoping to spare him from her plans for the day. He deserved one Saturday that wasn't all about her problems.
Colleen, with Luna's help, was going to go through her parents' belongings that morning. They wanted to throw out what wasn't worth keeping, and save the things that were to be put in storage for Colleen when she had her own home some day. All the furniture from their house in Germany was being stored at Luna's house already.
Colleen wanted to find a few special things that she wanted to keep with her as well. Except for a few photos, she really didn't have anything of her parents. She wasn't much of a packrat. She tended to travel light, only taking what she needed to school. Now that her parents were gone, she was regretting not having some remembrances of them.
Colleen knew that if she told Hugo what she was doing, that he would come help her, and he would do it gladly, with a smile on his face, no matter how boring and depressing it was. She really didn't want to bother him with this. It was just something she had to do. Hugo spent so much time making her feel better, holding her when she cried, and just being there. Colleen felt like she did nothing for him. Colleen knew it was because he loved her, and she loved him, but she still felt she should be able to do something for him.
That wasn't the only reason she was hoping to be up and working before Hugo got up. Since the incident in the woods, Colleen had managed to avoid discussing her attempted use of the Cruciatus Curse against Peter Skeeter. She knew Hugo wanted to talk about it, but she just didn't. She knew she couldn't avoid it forever, but she could at least try.
As Colleen stepped out of the stairway into the Common Room, she knew sparing him from her depressing plans was going to be impossible.
"What are you doing up so early, Hugo?" asked Colleen with a sigh, as she walked over on front of the couch.
"There you are, I was waiting for you, love," said Hugo with a smile as Colleen sat in his lap and hugged him.
As much as Colleen didn't want him to spend his day helping her, she did really want to see him. "You could write a book about saying the perfect thing at the perfect time," said Colleen with a smile. "You are the most absolutely perfect boyfriend in the world. Do you know that?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," said Hugo with a smile before he gave her a good morning kiss. "I thought we could have breakfast, then meet Luna and go through your parents' things."
Colleen smiled. "Fine," said Colleen. "I'm done arguing with you."
"That's good, because before we go to breakfast, I want to talk about what happened in the woods on Valentine's Day," said Hugo. "Every time I've tried, you change the subject by snogging me into forgetting about it. As much as I really do enjoy that, we do need to talk about what happened. Snogging won't make it go away."
"All right," said Colleen in defeat. "I know I should be sent to Azkaban for using that curse. Are you going to turn me in?"
"No," said Hugo with a chuckle. He looked into her eyes for a moment. He knew what he had to do. "Before I ask you why you did it, I'm going to tell you a story."
"All right," said Colleen with a smile. She snuggled down against him and put her head on his shoulder. "Tell me a story."
Hugo told her what happened in the Durmstrang Common Room while Lily was healing her in her room on Christmas Day. He told her how he almost used the Killing Curse and how he thought he was going to Azkaban. Hugo also told her about his talk with Sirius.
"You were going to kill him?" asked Colleen. She was shocked. "For me?"
"Yes," said Hugo with a sigh. "I was. It was wrong. I was so upset about what he had done, and how much it would hurt you that I snapped a little bit. Now, why did you try to use the Cruciatus Curse on Peter Skeeter? I know how upset you were about the story he printed after the funeral."
Colleen pulled back a little and looked away from Hugo. He gently turned her face back to him and looked into her eyes.
"Hugo, my parents died because of me, because I had Anna's necklace," said Colleen sadly. "Someday, I intend to avenge them. I thought I would start with him for what he did."
Hugo took a deep breath. "Colleen, revenge isn't the answer," said Hugo. He reached up and gently cupped her cheek in his hand. "It won't bring them back."
"I know, Hugo," said Colleen as tears began to fall from her eyes. "What else can I do? I can't do anything else."
Hugo held her while she cried. When she stopped, he pulled her back and gently wiped her tears away. "We'll talk about this more," said Hugo. Colleen nodded. "Promise me, you won't do anything like you did in the forest again." Colleen nodded again. Hugo kissed her, and then smiled at her. "Come on, let's go to breakfast, we have a long day ahead of us."
Hugo and Colleen headed to the Great Hall. That early on a Saturday, the Great Hall was nearly deserted. Among the few people who were up, were Carly and a very sleepy Albus.
"Good morning," said Colleen and Hugo as they sat down across from Carly and Albus. Carly had a huge plate of food in front of her, and was eating heartily. Albus was eating as well, but he looked like he was still half asleep.
"You two are up awfully early," said Albus with a yawn.
"Looks like you are too," said Colleen with a laugh.
"I told him to stay in bed," said Carly with a grin. She continued in a whisper "A half hour ago, I got a sudden craving for eggs, pancakes, bacon, and pickles. Just because I'm eating for two at odd hours doesn't mean he has to get up too."
"Come on, love," said Albus with a grin and a yawn. "You have to do all the hard work, the least I can do is keep you company." He leaned over and kissed her cheek and mustered a weak smile.
"You really do look beat, Al," said Hugo.
"Well it was a late night," said Albus. "Carly had a craving for ice cream and chocolate frogs during the night."
"Didn't Winky bring them for her?" asked Hugo.
"Yes," said Albus. "I sat up with her while she ate. I wanted to keep her company."
Colleen noticed a dreamy smile on Hugo's face. "What is it, Hugo?" asked Colleen.
"Nothing," said Hugo. He couldn't tell her he was thinking how much he would like to be sitting up with her while she had cravings some day. He loved Colleen, but he wasn't quite at a point to start talking like that.
Hugo and Colleen started to eat their breakfast. "What are you two doing today?" asked Colleen of Albus and Carly.
Albus didn't reply. He had fallen asleep leaning on his elbow.
"After breakfast, he's going back to bed," said Carly with a laugh.
Hugo and Colleen continued eating breakfast, while Carly and Albus headed back upstairs so Albus could get some sleep.
"Hi," said Luna as she walked up to the table. "Colleen, I see your plan to spare Hugo from helping us today has failed."
"Yes," said Colleen with a laugh. "My perfect boyfriend will be helping us out today."
Hugo smiled. "Perfect, that's me," said Hugo with a laugh. "How much is there to go through anyway?"
"There are twelve large crates," said Luna. "A lot of that is clothing though. It shouldn't take that long to get through it all."
After they finished breakfast, they went to where the crates had been put. It was an office that once belonged to Argus Filch. The crates were larger than Hugo had expected, but he knew they would get through it.
Colleen was rather reluctant when it came time to open the first crate.
"Are you all right?" asked Hugo.
"Yes," said Colleen, though it wasn't really the truth. "Let's get this over with."
They started going through the first crate. It was mostly full of books from Colleen's father's library. Most of them were about archeology, but there were other books on a wide variety of topics. There was one book she was looking for, and she found it. Years ago, her father had written a book on archeology. He wrote it long before Colleen was born. She wanted to have it. This was one he had signed.
"What are we doing with the rest of the books?" asked Hugo.
"Give them away I guess," said Colleen sadly. "I hate to do that, but I don't have anywhere to put them."
"We can put them in storage with all the furniture," said Luna. "I have plenty of storage space in the attic."
"Yeah," said Hugo. "You told me you were interested in archeology. You might need them someday. Besides, someday you'll be able to put them in the library of…your home." He had almost said 'our' home. He wanted to. Hugo wasn't quite there yet.
"I guess so," said Colleen, trying to hide her smile. She could tell Hugo wanted to say 'our' home. He couldn't but she felt good knowing he wanted to.
They continued to go through the boxes. Colleen found a box of all her things from her room in the house in Germany. There were a few things that she kept out, but the rest was packed for storage. They went through box after box. It almost seemed to Hugo like Colleen was more upset after each crate than as she went through them. Luna noticed too. Finally after several hours, they got to the last crate.
"Colleen, is there something specific you are looking for?" asked Luna.
"Kind of," said Colleen with a frown. "I was hoping to find my mother's diary."
"Oh," said Hugo. He knew that a diary was a very personal thing. It wouldn't be replaceable if it were lost.
"When I was little, I used to go into my mother's room and look at her diary," said Colleen with a smile. "Of course I couldn't read it then. My mother used to tell me that it was all about me, and she would…leave it to me when she was gone. I didn't really understand that then. I was hoping to find it." Colleen's smile had vanished and she was fighting back tears now.
Hugo pulled Colleen into a hug. "I'm sure it's in the last box," said Hugo.
Colleen pulled herself together and pulled away from Hugo. "It really doesn't matter," said Colleen with a halfhearted laugh. "I wouldn't be able to read it. I'm not strong enough to read it. I would just cry."
"I'll hold you while you read it," said Hugo with a smile.
"Wow, he really is the perfect boyfriend isn't he," said Luna prompting laughter from all three of them. It lightened the mood considerably.
"Come on," said Colleen with a sigh. "One to go, and then we can all go do something else. Anything else would be more fun."
They opened the last crate. About half way through the crate, Colleen gasped.
"Here it is," said Colleen as she picked up the diary. Colleen looked it for a moment then sighed. "I wanted to read it so badly when I was little."
"And now you will," said Hugo putting his arms around her.
After they finished, the three of them ate lunch together. Colleen kept her mother's diary with her as they ate. When they were done with lunch, Hugo and Colleen headed toward Gryffindor Tower.
"How about we go to the Room of Requirement?" asked Colleen.
"Sure," said Hugo. "You can start reading the diary."
"I was thinking more like snogging," said Colleen with a sigh.
"As much as I would love to, if you put it off, it'll only be harder later," said Hugo sympathetically.
"I'm really tired of your being right all the time," said Colleen with a laugh. It was true. This was something she really had to do and Colleen knew it.
Colleen turned the Room of Requirement into the bedroom she slept in as a little girl, and curled up on the bed in Hugo's arms. Colleen took a breath and opened the diary.
Colleen found that her mother had started the diary when she found out she was pregnant, and had written about once a week. She didn't write a lot. Most of the entries took the form of short notes to Colleen. At first it was about how her pregnancy was progressing and how she felt. Then after Colleen was born it was about the things they did together as Colleen got older, and her thoughts about her daughter.
It was very hard for Colleen to read, she loved her mother so much. The diary was filled with her mother's love for her. Colleen knew her mother loved her, but it was different to read how her mother felt in her mother's own words and in her own handwriting.
Colleen cried a lot, but Hugo lovingly brushed away her tears and told her it was all right. Even through the tears, Colleen was very glad Hugo had not let her put it off. She really enjoyed reading the diary in spite of the tears.
They had started around one o'clock, just after they had lunch. Hugo didn't even tell her as they missed dinner completely. Before she knew it, it was nearly nine o'clock. That's when Colleen noticed what time it was.
"Hugo, you should have told me," said Colleen. "You must be starving. For that matter, I'm starving, too."
"You seemed to be enjoying it," said Hugo with a smile. "You haven't been crying so much the last few hours, so I wanted to let you keep going."
Colleen turned to him and smiled. "Let me just finish this entry, then let's see what we can find for dinner," said Colleen.
She turned back to the diary to finish reading the entry. Colleen turned the page to find the last few lines of the entry. She was about to close the diary, when she noticed something on the next page.
"Hugo, there is an entry here written in Runes," said Colleen. Colleen quickly flipped through the rest of the diary. She didn't see any other Runes.
"That's odd," said Hugo.
"What do you suppose it means?" asked Colleen curiously.
"I don't know," said Hugo. "I don't know how to read Runes. I do know someone who does though, and I'm sure she'll translate it for you."
Hugo and Colleen went to Gryffindor Tower. Rose wasn't in the Common Room and Colleen checked and she wasn't in her dorm room either.
They decided to see if Albus and Carly new where she was. They went up to their dorm room and knocked on the door.
"Come in," came Carly's voice.
Hugo opened the door. He wasn't expecting what he found. Ginny, Hermione, Rose, Lily, and Carly were all sitting around talking.
"There you are, Colleen," said Lily. "We were looking for you earlier. We decided to make it girls' night."
"Hugo and I were reading my mother's diary in the Room of Requirement," said Colleen. "I'm sorry I missed it."
"The night's still young," said Ginny with a smile. "We've got food if you're hungry."
"Mind if I grab something to eat, before I leave you girls alone?" asked Hugo with a grim. "We missed dinner."
Hugo made himself a big plate of food and headed for James and Danny's Common Room. Albus was with them, as he had been thrown out of his room for the evening, and Tommy was there as well.
Colleen sat down on one of the beds, next to Lily to join in girls' night.
"Are you sleeping all right Carly?" asked Lily with a smile.
"I am sleeping fine," said Carly. "Poor Al is exhausted. I get cravings during the night, and he sits up with me while I eat."
"You're lucky, Carly," said Hermione. "When I was pregnant with Rose and Hugo I had to get my own food during the night. A stampeding herd of Centaurs couldn't wake Ron in the middle of the night." They all laughed.
"Can I ask you something, Carly?" asked Colleen softly.
"Sure," said Carly.
"What's it like being pregnant?" asked Colleen. She was holding her mother's diary. They all seemed to connect the question.
"It's wonderful," said Carly with a smile. "I know later it will get harder. My back and feet don't hurt yet, and I'm going to get huge. But it will still be wonderful." Carly thought she understood the look on Colleen's face. "Is this about your Mum's diary?"
Colleen nodded. "My Mum wrote about how great it was when she was pregnant with me," said Colleen with a sad smile. "I was just curious if it was like that for everyone. I would like to be a mother some day."
"I'm sure you will be," said Hermione with a smile as she pictured herself holding her grandchild.
Just then, Colleen remembered why she and Hugo came up to the dorm in the first place. "Rose, you can translate Ancient Runes, right?" asked Colleen.
"Sure," said Rose.
"My Mum wrote one entry in her diary in ancient Runes," said Colleen. "Could you translate it for me?"
"Of course I can," said Rose. Colleen opened the book to the page with the Runes on it and handed it to Rose.
Rose looked at the page, and then began to translate the Runes.
October 13, 2017
Anna Mueller died tonight. She knew the end was near when I went to see her today. She gave Colleen her necklace. That was very nice of her. She was such a nice woman. I'm going to miss her.
Anna asked me to do something for her. She gave me a letter for her daughter Elena. Anna said she hasn't seen her daughter since she was ten years old. That was seventy-two years ago. I can't imagine not seeing Colleen for so long. Colleen is going to go away to school in two years, and it's going to be so hard to be away from her.
Anna said not to let anyone know about Elena. She said she sent her away with Albus Dumbledore in 1945 because she was in terrible danger. She wouldn't tell me why she was in danger, but I could see in her eyes that she was not exaggerating. I guess I must believe her since I'm writing this in Runes to make it harder to read. I'll hide the letter in the back cover of my diary until I can locate her. It won't be easy. Anna said Elena went to live in Britain. I promised I would try, so I will.
"Oh my God," said Ginny. "That's Elena Grindelwald. Harry has been having Kingsley and Hanna search in Germany, but she's not there, she moved to Britain."
Rose handed the diary back to Colleen. Colleen turned over the book and opened the back cover. She found a slit in the paper on the inside of the leather cover. Colleen drew her wand and pointed it at the slit. "Accio letter," said Colleen. The letter slid out into her hand.
"Here," said Colleen, handing the letter to Ginny. "I think Professor Potter needs this."
Harry was in his bedroom sitting on his bed. He was going over everything he knew about Grindelwald, his castle, the Sword of Souls, Voldemort, and the Death Eaters current activities. He was trying to find something helpful. He wasn't having any luck. Staring at all his notes and reports wasn't going to make them make any more sense, nor would it help him get the Sword of Souls.
Kingsley and Hanna had no luck finding Elena Grindelwald. Every lead was a dead end. Harry needed a lucky break. Harry didn't know that the break he needed was about to walk into his quarters.
"Harry," called Ginny from the living room. "Come out here we've got something you need to see right away."
Harry went out into the living room, and found Ginny, Colleen, and Rose there.
"Hi, Ginny, girls" said Harry when he saw them. "What's up?"
"Colleen found something about Elena Grindelwald in her mother's diary," said Ginny. "I thought you would want to see it."
Rose read the passage from Colleen's mother's diary to Harry.
Harry stood in amazement for a moment. Professor Dumbledore took Elena Grindelwald to England. How was that possible? Harry thought back. Dumbledore didn't know Voldemort would return. Sirius had told him that when he came back from the dead. Dumbledore probably didn't know about the Sword of Souls either, at least not that it was real. If he helped to hide Elena Grindelwald, he would have had no idea she had the second half of the key to Castle Grindelwald.
"That explains why we haven't been able to find her in Germany," said Harry as he took it from Ginny. "Did you open the letter?"
"I tried, but it seems to be magically sealed," said Ginny. "Elena Grindelwald is probably the only one who can open it. The question is, how do we find her now?"
"I think I have an idea about that," said Harry. "Rose, Colleen, thank so much for your help, I really appreciate it."
"Do you need the diary?" asked Colleen biting her bottom lip nervously. He could tell she hoped the answer was no. "If you do, it's all right."
"No, I don't," said Harry with a smile. "Thank you, though."
Harry left them and headed for Hermione's office. Along the way he ran into Sirius.
"Hello, Harry," said Sirius. "Where are you off to?"
"Come with me," said Harry. "I'll explain on the way."
As they walked, Harry explained to Sirius about the letter in Colleen's mother's diary.
Harry pushed open the door to Hermione's office. No one was there. It was late and all the portraits were asleep. Harry and Sirius walked into the office. The candles and lamps lit as soon as they entered. Hermione had allowed all of the Potters, Weasleys, and their friends, unrestricted access to her office at any time, so they could get to the floo in emergencies. Hermione's office floo was the only one connected to the floo network.
All the former Headmasters and Headmistresses were asleep in there portraits except for two of them. Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape were chatting.
"I think you're wrong, Albus," said Professor Snape. "The Ballycastle Bats will win the championship this year if they can just beat Puddlemere United."
"Severus, I still say Pride of Portree will win it all," said Professor Dumbledore. "Hello Harry, Sirius. How are you?"
"Hello, Professor Dumbledore," said Harry. "Professor Snape."
"Potter," said Professor Snape. "Black." Snape spat the words out like they were old chewing gum that had lost its flavor.
"Charmed as always, Severus," said Sirius his voice full of loathing.
"Professor Dumbledore, can you tell me where to find Elena Grindelwald?" asked Harry. "I know you brought her from Germany to Britain in 1945."
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I've never heard of Elena Grindelwald," said Professor Dumbledore.
"How is that possible?" asked Harry. "I've found a letter Anna Mueller wrote to her daughter before she died. Anna Mueller claimed you took Elena to Britain."
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I've never heard of Anna Mueller," said Professor Dumbledore.
Harry wasn't sure what to think. "You're sure you've never heard of either of them?" asked Harry.
"Heard of who?" asked Professor Dumbledore.
Harry and Sirius looked at each other, both puzzled at the question. "Professor, Harry just asked you about Elena Grindelwald and Anna Mueller," said Sirius slowly.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I've never heard of Elena Grindelwald," said Professor Dumbledore. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I've never heard of Anna Mueller."
Harry and Sirius looked at each other again. This was very strange. Harry asked the obvious question. "You're sure you've never heard of either of them?" asked Harry.
"Heard of who?" asked Professor Dumbledore.
"Something is wrong, Sirius," said Harry softly.
"I've never seen a portrait do this," said Sirius confusedly.
"You two are mental giants aren't you," said Professor Snape disinterestedly. "Don't you to know anything about portraits?"
Sirius who detested Snape for more reasons than Harry could count took a step toward Professor Snape's portrait, but Harry grabbed his arm.
"Professor Snape, I'm afraid I'm not that familiar with the finer points of portraits," said Harry. "I know the basics, but I am guessing there is more. Can you explain what's happening?"
"I suppose so, since you asked nicely," said Professor Snape a glint in his eye told Harry he was enjoying the fact that he had an opportunity to talk down to them. "Have a seat."
Harry and Sirius each sat in a chair. Harry could tell how much Sirius didn't like this, but he was holding his tongue.
"Now class," said Professor Snape in his most condescending tone. "Today we will learn about portraits." Harry could see Sirius tense, but Sirius didn't say anything. "Now, as you know, a witch or wizard upon their death can leave their memories and personalities in a portrait. The portrait is not their living self, but is their personality and memories only. When talking to a portrait, you are getting the approximate response you would likely get from the actual person based on there personality and memories."
"We know that," said Sirius angrily.
Harry put his hand on Sirius's shoulder. "Professor Snape, we do know all that," said Harry. "Can you tell us why Professor Dumbledore's portrait doesn't seem to remember that we asked him about Elena Grindelwald and Anna Mueller?"
"I was getting to that before Mr. Black so rudely interrupted me," said Professor Snape in an even more condescending tone than before. "A portrait will only have the memories a witch or wizard wants their portrait to have. They can also have it respond to certain questions in a certain way. It seems Professor Dumbledore wanted his portrait to not be able to say anything concerning those two people or to discuss them at all."
"That makes sense," said Harry with a nod. "If he helped to protect Elena Grindelwald, he wouldn't want to give away her location, nor would he want to give away Anna Mueller as Grindelwald's wife. Thank you Professor Snape." Harry bit the inside of his lip before he continued. "I really appreciate all of your help."
Snape eyed Harry for a moment. "You…are welcome," said Professor Snape. Harry and Sirius stood and turned back to Professor Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore, I need to find someone," said Harry. "I am pretty sure she is in Britain. Do you have suggestions on how to find her?"
"What do you know about her, Harry?" asked Professor Dumbledore.
"I know her name," said Harry. "I know her mother's name and her father's name. I know she was born in Germany in 1935. I know she came to Britain in 1945 and I know she has a birthmark in the shape of a dove on her left shoulder. I can't really use her name or her parent's names. She is in hiding, and using any of the names could tip someone off as to whom I am looking for. She wouldn't have entered the country through proper channels, so if the Ministry has a record of her, I am sure she used an alias. That's about it I'm afraid. I almost forgot. I have some letters and a journal that belonged to her parents, but there is nothing about her location in them. I'm hoping to give them to her."
"That is an awfully difficult problem," said Professor Dumbledore thoughtfully. "I can't really think of a magical way to find her, however I do have a suggestion. You could take out an advertisement in the Daily Prophet. Just say you are looking for a woman born in 1935 in Germany, who came to Britain in 1945 and has a very distinctive birthmark. Say you have an inheritance from her parents, and if you think you are this person to send you the specifics of the birthmark."
"And by not including the shape and location of the birthmark, you can use that to make sure she is who she says she is," said Sirius.
"Professor Dumbledore, you're a genius," said Harry. "Thank you so much."
"Anytime, Harry," said Professor Dumbledore with a smile.
Harry and Sirius left the office.
"What now, Harry?" asked Sirius as they walked down the hallway. "The only thing Marietta Edgecombe would run in the Daily Prophet for you is your obituary."
Harry grinned. "Now, Sirius, we put Professor Dumbledore's plan into effect with a little help from some of our friends," said Harry.
