A/N: Final chapter of Part 1.
Part 1
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Albus Dumbledore sat in his office listening to Fawkes singing. He looked over a Hieroglyphic text on transfiguration, looking back and forth from a guide to translate it. His studies were interrupted when a brown owl with white spots flew onto his desk. It dropped a letter and flew off. Dumbledore glanced at the letter to see the sender, but there was none shown. He opened it, noting the handwriting instantly. The way the i's curved and the rigid angles on the r's, was unmistakable. But it couldn't be who thought it was, could it?
He read the contents, holding his breath.
Dear Albus,
I'm guessing that you've already figured who's writing this letter to you. Though I can never make up for the crimes of my past, perhaps I can help clean some of my sins now. Voldemort has returned. He's gathering an army to take over the wizarding world and bring untold suffering to both muggles and muggleborns alike. I hope that in reaching you this letter gives you a chance to prepare for a third war. I wouldn't blame you if you threw this letter in the fire, but I promise I will do whatever I can to help stop the new dark lord from taking over.
P.S. He knows about your wand.
Dumbledore lay the letter on his desk. It really was from Grindelwald. He wasn't completely sure he could trust his old partner, but he couldn't take any chances. He stood up from his desk, heading for the fireplace. But as he grabbed some floo powder from a metal cup, Severus Snape burst in.
Dumbledores turned the potions teacher chuckling. "Well, you seem to be in quite the rush Severus."
Snape caught his breath before speaking. "Headmaster! He's back! Voldemort's back! I don't know how, but he got a new body."
A serious but calm frown crossed over Dumbledore's face. "So. It's true then." He placed the floo powder back in its cup.
Snape's eyes went wide, and he had to do a double take. "You-knew?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Not exactly, but I had reason to believe he might be back. Now I know for certain. Have you heard any news about Gellert Grindelwald, or any prison escapes?"
Snape's jaw dropped. "Ok, how in the world!?..." Dumbledore smiled waiting for Snape to continue. Snape took a second to regain his composure. "There have been 2 major prison break outs. One involving a death eater take over of Azkaban, and the other involving, well, Gellert Grindelwald."
"I see. That would explain a lot." Dumbledore nodded. "Thank you, Severus." He closed his eyes in thought, planning out his next move. He should inform the minister of the situation, but he had to make sure Severus wasn't in harm's way. He had to find another source of the information as a cover for Severus. The dark mark hadn't been reactivated, at least not to the extent it'd been active in the first war, so that wasn't outside proof. He could give credit to Minerva or Alastor, he'd just have to plan with them first. He couldn't tell them the whole details, but they'd be willing to keep a secret if necessary. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. What other sources of that knowledge could he find, that would line up even to show Voldemort had returned? Harry's scar acted in response to Voldemort, and perhaps he could trick one of the death eaters into gloating about the dark lord's return. Grindelwald was an option as well. If Grindelwald caused the ministry to come in contact with Voldemort somehow, the news would be out and Severurs's cover would be safe. The issue was whether he could trust his old friend, though even in that case the risk likely wasn't high. He'd also told the truth about Voldemort's return, he'd have to take the risk for now, and plan from there. He went to his desk and started on a letter.
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Part 2
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Sirius Black is Innocent!?
When talking with the ministry of magic about the capture of mass murderer Sirius Black, reporters were informed that new evidence from an interrogation cleared Mr. Black of all charges. Yes, we're completely serious about this. Reports also claim that Peter Pettigrew, thought to have died 13 years ago, may in fact be both alive and guilty of the charges against Black from that year. However, Mr. Black was found to be an unregistered animagus and is facing charges due to said crime.
Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge was quoted saying, "While there has been a miscarriage of justice that needs to be rectified, we can't simply look over a crime like this. Of course, all charges relating to the murders and escaping prison have been dropped given the circumstances. However, there remains the issue of a crime which carries a sentence of 15 years in Azkaban. Therefore, a time frame of one year of community service will be placed on Mr. Black. After all, this course of action is likely to do more good for the general public than simply locking up Mr. Black for another 3 years. We believe he could be an invaluable asset for capturing Barty Crouch Jr., Peter Pettigrew, and any criminals from the war."
There is now an arrest warrant and bounty of 50 galleons on Peter Pettigrew, who has had his Order of Merlin First Class revoked. Anyone who's able to give information leading to the arrest of Pettigrew, or who is able to bring him in will not only receive that reward, but may also be eligible for an Order of Merlin Second Class. Apparently Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus like Sirius Black, with the ability to transform into a rat.
In other news, Minerva Mcgonagall: Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry will be working with the ministry of magic for the remainder of the year. Her temporary replacement will be Percy Weasley, a ministry agent. This year Hogwarts has 3 notable new faculty members: Dolores Umbridge will be taking over Defense Against the Dark Arts, Molly Weasley will be taking over as Matron of Hogwarts, and Percy Weasley for Transfiguration as previously mentioned. The most notable replacement most likely is Mrs. Weasley, seeing as the previous holder of the position, Poppy Pomfrey, was murdered by Barty Crouch Jr, a known death eater. Crouch is still at large, though there doesn't appear to be any other death eater activity of note. In fact, crime rates are the lowest they've been since before the war.
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Part 3
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Sirius Black, Minerva Mcgonnagall, and Evan Turner walked up to a massive house. Cracked boards ran across a sloped roof covered in moss and rot. The smell of rotten eggs and waste filled the air. Sirius looked at a front door hanging open by a single hinge. For a first job as an auror, this seemed a little intense. He hadn't even gone through the full training and was going after death eaters. Sure he knew he could probably handle this, but that idiot Fudge didn't know that. Or did he?
Mcgonnagall pulled out her wand dispelling a barrier. She then waved her wand and several thuds came from inside the house like falling sacks. Some yelling started up and Sirius recognized one of the voices. "Peter…" He clenched his teeth charging through the front door of the house."
"Sirius wait!" Mcgonnagall called as she and Turner chased after him.
Shadows lined the house, hiding some of the broken furniture. Sirius looked around between the old ornaments on the walls and a broken desk. Then his eyes found his target. Peter Pettigrew looked at Sirius, his eyes wide, before booking it out of the room. Sirius chased him down a hallway as Pettigrew shifted into a mouse, jumping through a hole in the wall.
"Bombarda!" Sirius blew up the wall sending wood chunks everywhere. He morphed, speeding up as he caught Pettigrew's scent. The mouse scurried between the dust and smoke. He hopped down some stairs, as Sirius snapped his jaws. He got closer and closer to Pettigrew, almost within reach, when a red light hit him.
Sirius slammed into a wall, turning back human. He stumbled up to see Pettigrew back to his human form standing alongside Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch smirked at Sirius, whose eyes glared at Pettigrew. Sirius aimed a spell at Pettigrew, but Crouch flicked it away. "I know you must be wanting to see your old friend. But right now, you might want to focus on me." Crouch aimed his wand. "Avada Kedavra!"
"Expelliarmus!" Two beams of red and green clashed as the two wizards fought for control, when Crouch suddenly let himself be disarmed.
"Crucio!" Sirius gasped in pain as Pettigrew's spell sent him to the ground. He squirmed as his vision blurred into an endless red. After what felt like an eternity, he came back to senses. Mcgonnagall was kneeling over him.
"Are you all right Mr. Black." Even with concern covering her face, her normal stern eyes never wavered.
Sirius pushed himself up. "Yeah…" He rubbed out some of the pain in his shoulder. "Felt like I got dumped in a lake of acid." Looking around the room, there was no sign of Crouch or Pettigrew. "Where'd Wormtail and Crouch go?"
"Ran off." Sirius turned to the voice to see Turner.
Sirius turned back into a dog, smelling for Pettigrew. When he caught the scent, he motioned with his head for Mcgonnagall and Turner to follow him. As the scent got stronger, Sirius noticed there was something else in the air. It had a salty, fish like smell, but something was off about it. It was in the same direction as Pettigrew, or at least his dirty rat smell.
The floorboards creaked under him as Sirius moved through the house. Then, the floor beneath him fell. He shifted back to human, grabbing for the ledge and failing. He dropped on an old food sack. "Black!" Turner's voice came from upstairs.
"I'm fine!" Sirius called. "Lumos." A light came from Sirius's wand as he got a look at the cobblestone room around him. Rotten food pierced his nose as he saw the old vegetables and meat, covered in insects. Sirius searched the room looking behind corners for any hidden people. He checked in an old wicker basket, lifting the lid just in case.
"You won't find anyone in those things." Sirius turned to see Crouch smirking at him. He looked around for Pettigrew. "Don't worry. Your friend and those other two won't interfere this time." Crouch pulled out his wand. "Avada Kedavra!"
"Expelliarmus!" Sirius yelled.
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Part 4
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"Black!" Turner yelled at Sirius who was falling through the broken floor.
A soft crunch thudded from below before Sirius responded. "I'm fine!"
Mcgonnagall and Turner were about to jump down after him, when they saw an old man with thick white hair. He had one green eye and one blue eye, and a thin mustache. As he strolled toward them, there seemed to be musical rhythm to his foot step. He raised his wand, closing his eyes as wisps of rainbow fire danced around his arms. A smile formed as he eyed Mcgonnagall and Turner. "Ah, welcome. I've heard quite a bit about you, Minerva Mcgonnagall. Perhaps the greatest witch of the age." The man bowed, aiming his wand at Mcgonnagall. "May I have this dance?"
Mcgonnagall shuddered, while Turner looked between her and the old man in utter confusion. "What?" He raised an eyebrow. "Uh...you know this guy Min?"
"I've certainly heard of Gellert Grindelwald." Mcgonnagall glared at Grindelwald. "Why, and I suppose how, are you here?"
"Quite a valuable bit of information, you're asking for." Grindelwald chuckled. "Very well. If you can defend yourself against me for five minutes, I'd be glad to tell you." He flicked his wrist, sending Turner's wand flying.
Mcgonnagall cast a spell turning several of the boards into a flock of sparrows. They flew at Grindelwald who put up a shield of blue fire. When the fire went out, Grindelwald was surrounded by a ring of water. It shot at Mcgonnagall, hitting a brick wall she brought up. Then, her wand was gone. She turned behind to see her wand in Grindelwald's hand. A laugh came from his sad smile. "Not bad. But I'm afraid that's not enough."
"Expelliarmus!" Grindelwald was disarmed. He turned back to see Sirius Black. "Stupefy!" A red beam shot at Grindelwald who dropped through the floor, leaving a shrinking shadow. Sirius dove for Grindelwald's wand as it shot into the shadow, but missed as the shadow vanished.
Mcgonnagall picked her wand up from the ground. Sirius and Turner to the place where Grindelwald had vanished.
Sirius looked between Mcgonnagall and Turner. "Ok, who was that. And how did they beat you?" He faced Mcgonnagall.
Mcgonnagall's face was ashen. "That was Gellert Grindelwald."
Sirius turned pale. "You've gotta be kidding me."
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Part 5
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Molly Weasley sat at a table looking through a book on healing potions. She'd just gotten through a section on cures for poisons from several common magical creatures. She'd received several books from the Hogwarts library with subjects ranging from blood replacement to removing parasitic algae.
She'd read over 30 books by now. Though she still had no idea how Fred and George had helped Harry after the killing curse incident. Any time she asked they'd mention some nonsense about squid power and fire breathing. She turned to a page on treatment of acromantula venom. "Oh, here we are." She read through the page. "Let's see...while there's no definitive antidote to acromantula venom, there are several substances that can absorb it and remove the venom from the body. Most notably, a potion consisting of manticore horns, pumpkin seeds, and salt water."
As she kept looking over the details, a figure came up behind her and kissed her cheek. She turned around to see a man with red hair Arthur Weasley gave her a mischievous grin. "Well, dear. How's the study going?"
She smiled. "I think I've finally learned how to deal with injuries caused by any common creatures on Hogwarts grounds. Though I still need to look over some more of the common jinxes students might mess around with."
"Fred and George?"
"Fred and George." Molly looked over to a wooden grandfather clock. "Oh, I should go check the oven." She closed the book, running downstairs to the kitchen. The smell of meat, tomatoes, pasta, and cheese hung in the air as she pulled out her wand. She made a lasagna float to the center of the table.
Arthur flicked his wand, plates and silverware shot out of cupboards and drawers onto a large wooden table. "Kids! Dinner!"
Fred, George, Ginny, and Ron came down to eat. As slices of lasagna floated to plates where they sat down.
After the family finished eating, Arthur made an announcement. "All right. Well, it should be in the news tomorrow, but I thought I should let you all know in case. It appears that Gellert Grindelwald has returned."
The entire table was silent for a few minutes until Ron spoke up. "Did you mean to say, Voldemort?"
Arthur shook his head. "No, I meant Grindelwald. Apparently, Mcgonnagall and Black ran into him while hunting down some death eaters."
Fred and George snickered. "So...what? Is he looking to get his butt handed to him by Dumbledore again?"
Arthur shrugged. "No one's really sure what he's after. But he was found in the same area as some death eaters, including Crouch and Pettigrew."
Ron stood up from the table, a deadly serious look on his face. Molly raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"
"To write Harry. He needs to know about this." He left the table heading to his room.
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A/N: Chapter 1 of Part 2 is up. Thanks to everyone who's been following so far. I also appreciate all the feedback, especially nadasnape.