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22 June 1991
Harry and Persephone both breathed heavily in the darkness of their cupboard as the sounds of a lock being clicked came from outside the door. Both kept from making any movements as the hippo outside went upwards through the stairs, showering them with small insects and dust from the staircase.
As the cupboard finally stopped shaking due to Vernon's obese frame, a soft yellow light like a bulb shone into existence above their heads, bathing them and the fresh burns on their arms into view.
"That...was exhilarating, making Vernon's plan of tie-up go down the drain literally."
Giving her brother a light swat on his head, Persephone shook her head as she settled her back against the walls of their cupboard. Stretching out her legs in front of her she raised her arms upto eye level and watched the flaking and blackened skin on her forearms with rapture. Blood oozed from some fissures in her skin even as boils formed leaked clear liquid down her arms.
Looking up at her brother Persephone grinned, mirrored by her twin as their eyes glowed neon green with power. Power that seeped through the cracks and burns in their arms before flaring a bright white colour. White filled their vision as the cupboard was absolutely devoid of shadows for a moment.
On their arms they could feel an itch like when an antiseptic was being applied to their wounds. An itch they were comfortably, intimately familiar with as they hissed slightly at the feeling of muscles knitting back together, bursting the boils which had formed due to hot oil and grease being dropped on their arms. She gave her brother a kick on his ribs as the skin finally stitched itself back seamlessly, leaving not a single mark of the injuries.
A second later Harry arms also stopped emitting light as his arms healed up too. A little tired, Persephone crawled forwards and slumped into her brother's arms. Her head on his shoulder, she idly played with his raven locks as she straddled him, finally getting comfortable.
"You knew that the dinner was for a business deal?"
She could almost feel the smugness rolling off her little brother as he answered
"I knew since yesterday when I saw the letter on the dining table when I was cleaning it and then it was the simple matter of getting information from Petunia as she gossiped with the neighbours. And I may have also violated Dudley's little brain after Vernon talked with him regarding how he was to conduct himself. After all that it was a simple of pushing that platter into the sink right when Petunia touched it."
"You are getting a lot of practice at doing that, aren't you?"
"Awww Seph, are you jealous that I can do something with our powers that you can't do?"
"Yes Harry, I am fucking jealous that I cannot peep into other's minds and come across some gross things like I don't know? Marge in her underclothes perhaps?"
Beneath her Persephone felt Harry shudder as gagging sounds erupted from his throat. For a moment Persephone felt sorry for making that memory come up in her brother's mind but then her vindictive side won out and she started giggling madly."
"You really are turning into an evil stereotypical witch now. Earlier you turned that dog into a pile of bones, and now you make me relive my worst memory. Next I see you will brew potions while imagining the demise of Dursleys."
Remembering his words two days later, Harry would slam his head on the doors of this very cupboard at the sounds of his sister cackling madly.
"Oh stop keeping a high opinion of yourself like you don't just go mucking around in people's heads or haven't caused every snake in Surrey to chase around Dudley's gang, Petunia, Vernon or anyone else I don't like. You even caused Piers to become an amputee! What the fuck does that say about you, you bloody antisocial psychopath!"
Cold fingers touched her chin, causing her to raise her face so that she could meet the eyes of the person she loved more than anything in the world. She was close enough to Harry's face that the flecks of neon green speckled along his emerald irises were clearly visible.
His face was more serious than ever and without even noticing, both of them had stopped breathing. Harry leaned forwards even more towards her and suddenly they were both nose to nose.
His eyes still boring into her Harry spoke
"It says that I love you more than anything else. That I care for you so much that I will fucking kill anyone who dares to hurt you whatever be the consequences. Piers broke your arm that day and he also tore your clothes. He caused you to cry so I took his right arm from him."
Time seemed to stop for that eternal fleeting moment as Persephone raised her arms from her brother's back to the back of his neck, never taking her eyes off his slightly gaunt face.
"You are my world sister, the only thing keeping me sane in this hellhole. I love you Persephone Potter, and I will do anything to keep you happy and safe."
Their love and trust for each other was unconditional and utterly unshakable. From as early as they could remember all they both had to their name was each other. The cruelty and psychological abuse from Dursleys over the years had only pushed the twins further into each other's arms to seek solace.
Since that day when they had killed those three men in that abandoned building, something had changed fundamentally in the children's mindset, something which wouldn't have happened if the world had been happy and full of sunshine.
When finally they had reconciled with the fact that they were killers the next morning, there were tears and hyperventilation in droves. Even when they had worked out at the threat of further beatings they were in a perpetual state of shock.
Mature they may have been for their age, but killing was something that would scar even trained cadets for the first time. And then understanding bloomed within their minds from an unexpected source, making them realise that it was either them getting sold off to the local don and become a prostitute or kill of those men and escape from their lives
That single thought stemming from the interview of an ex-serviceman had changed their outlook on things. And now years later, the duo didn't even bat an eye when either of them would kill off animals or break bones of Dudley's gang at opportune moments so that it looked accidental.
The twins knew they weren't normal and they were not right in the head, but they were abnormal and psychopathic little terrors together. And being the only benchmark for normality they had seen were the Dursleys and the thought of becoming like them was repulsive in the extreme.
Leaning up, Persephone pressed her lips against her brother's cheek and then sighed deeply.
"I love you too you moron, now sleep. We gotta get up early tomorrow for breakfast, little Dudders has got his birthday to celebrate."
"I still don't get why our powers don't seem to work over the Dursleys. I wanted to burn Petunia's hand today, but once again nothing happened."
'"Mmm, we will figure that out later. And don't forget that we will be prime suspects if the Dursleys were to die."
"Shut up Seph, stop reading so much of crime and mysteries and sleep now. You look awfully tired."
Burrowing her face further into Harry's neck, Persephone breathed in deeply as her brother's warmth lulled her into a feeling of safety seldom experienced by them. Due to the cramped space and a single mattress provided by the Dursleys, the twins were used to sleeping on each other, usually Harry being the one on the bottom. The rest of sparsely available space was occupied by a folded up blanket, a couple of tattered rags and two boxes filled with Chocolates and other snacks.
Her eyes drooping, Persephone muttered a tired 'Good night' as sleep finally came to her. Above her, Harry looked down at the slightly visible crimson framed face of his sister as he ran his calloused fingers through her hair, removing the knots and clumps formed painlessly as he willed her scalp to become non-responsive like an anesthetic was applied.
As he did so, Harry ruminated on the journey of exploration they had done in the need to do more with their unexplained powers. From the day they had escaped from the men back then, they had continued exploring and practicing with their powers.
After all these years, they were able to levitate and float things as heavy as a desk easily, teleporting was as instinctive as breathing for them now and creating lights didn't even take a thought for them.
Healing was something they experimented and learned about 9 months ago when after a particularly brutal pounding from Vernon both of their arms were broken along the elbow. Amidst the pain and heat suffusing their bodies, Persephone had glowed bright green for a moment and then all of her bones were healed, it hadn't taken Harry much time after that to do the same as Persephone explained to him about her intent to heal herself. That night even though the tear tracks and blood due to the bitten lips were on their faces, they slept painlessly for the first time in many days. Now they could control it, unlike before when they were younger and sometimes their wounds would heal within a single night, and as always they and their freakishness was punished harshly.
Turning flesh into dust, causing burns and cutting things were also among the skills that they could now perform, though the first two always took all of their concentration, and then also they hadn't been able to turn anything more bigger than a small, almost puppy Labrador into dust or burn off some rats at once. Nothing like that evening when they had committed their first kills.
Extinguishing the ball of light laying a kiss on his sister's head Harry closed his eyes. Within minutes he was asleep too, his fingers buried in Persephone's head as he cradled her deeper into his arms, both souls seeking comfort and warmth in this dreary cold world of theirs.
23 June 1991, Reptile Enclosures, A zoo in London
Wide green eyes watched with fascination and rapture as Persephone talke-hissed at the Burmese Python in front of them. Its brown and golden eighteen feet body lay out throughout the glass tank in front of them, the constrictor was hissing back to his sister. And once again defying the norm, they were able to understand almost every syllable hissed by the reptile that was just named by his sister as 'Scylla'!
"Hey Piers! Look, the snake is moving!"
One moment Harry was watching his sister and the python hiss at each other quietly, the next moment he was seeing stars as Dudley Dursley's full weight slammed into him and his sister, making them both fall hard on the cemented floor. The slight burning he felt on his lower back and his elbows cued him on the new scrapes he now had, but he turned towards Persephone to see how she was faring.
Emerald eyes widened in anger at the sight of a broken nose spilling blood continuously along with a broken tooth. He was sure that she had scratches elsewhere too, stinging her like pins. All because an overfed, overweight whale couldn't be bothered to see or think.
Anger like never before flooded through his veins at the sight of the fat tub of uselessness banging on the glass tank along with Piers.
His sister had been talking to someone other than him for the first time in years but Dudley had come and ruined his sister's smile.
And then he felt it, the almost tangible bubbling inside him, the power he had felt it back in that building. Without even knowing how, Harry knew that whatever protected the Dursleys from his and Persephone's powers wasn't upto the task in the face of this.
Glass broke all around in the enclosure, causing widespread chaos as everyone proceeded to run out of the Reptile section. Screams ensued as the snakes and giant lizards crawled out into the open.
Amidst the chaos no one paid attention to Persephone as she healed herself and her brother. Twin pairs of emerald flames locked onto the Dursleys and Piers as they attempted to go out of the door, only to somehow be rebuffed by an invisible wall every time even though everyone else was passing by them and exiting the enclosure without any obstruction.
Harry's gaze landed on a black snake about to sink its fangs into an unsuspecting and terrified Piers. He frowned and walked forwards, hissing at the reptiles all around him.
{Stop!}
Like every time it had happened before, the snakes and other reptiles stopped at once and instead turned towards him. Through the cacophony of hisses, he was barely able to differentiate some understandable hisses. Most abundant were the hisses of {food} and {warm}.
Their family and Piers turned towards them, pressing their backs against the invisible barrier, their skin ashen with terror at the scene of the two freaks talking and trapping them with a few snakes.
"FREAK! STOP THIS MADNESS! OR OTHERWISE YOU ARE GOING TO WISH YOU DIED WITH YOUR PARENTS."
The shake in Vernon's voice was as unmistakable as was the wet patches forming in all of their pants and skirts. Watching the purple colour rapidly blotching across his Uncle's face he wondered if his Uncle's impending heart attack had finally caught up to him or not?
"Harry, I have a pet now and she has got some really great information for us."
He turned from the Dursleys towards his sister, only to almost question his sanity as he saw Persephone with the Burmese Python's head on her shoulder with the rest of its-her gigantic body coiled around on the floor.
His attention on the strange sight was broken as Petunia screamed about 'they were going to get it' and how 'Dudder's birthday was ruined'.
"The giraffe has a strange set of priorities right? Here she is, surrounded by at least seven venomous snakes and trapped with them, yet she is creaming about the dummy junior's birthday."
The screeching stopped at once, more out of shock that she had been spoken back than the realisation of the mortal peril around her. Besides her, all the three males were also looking at Harry in shock at the blatant courage and disrespect he was showing.
"What did you just say? HOW DARE Y-Ack!"
Vernon's shouting was cut off as Persephone raised her hand towards him and with relish squeezed her fist, choking the man more harshly until she dropped her hand back to her side, causing Vernon to fall to his knees as he took big lungful's of air, his face blue and white in equal measure. The other three had stopped making any sound at all, their eyes telling all about how terrified they were.
Harry stalked forwards as his sister fell into step besides him, the python already slithering alongside his sister. He felt their power thrumming beneath their fingers, the pressure now aching to be released.
His eyes landing on the Dursleys, Harry raised his hands towards them and almost sagged down to the ground immediately at the effort it took to even attempt lifting Vernon Dursley off the ground. But his anger fueled him, and the desire to finally get rid of the Dursleys was too strong to be limited by a mere fatigue. He was helped by his sister as they levitated the humans to the center of the room. Piers passed out as soon as he was off the ground, followed soon by Dudley, the shock of so much happening too much for them.
The twins were once again amazed by the amount of concern Dudley as she wailed and ran forwards, draping herself over Dudley's unconscious body and kept on shaking him continuously.
Finally heaving himself off the ground, Vernon glared at the twins as he gasped for breath.
"You stop whatever you are doing, and I may not beat you up for this tonight. Stop this freakishness of yours, I should have beaten you both a lot harder, probably would have stamped that magic right out of you before that crackpot would have come."
Petunia gasped as she turned towards a now wide eyed Vernon, who seemed to realise he had said something which was to remain unknown. As one they turned towards the twins, only to see them barely an inch away from them. They shrieked in surprise but the sound died mid-way in their throats as fiery jade eyes seemed to fill their vision for a moment. Memories of past they had tried their hardest to bury beat into darkness rose up as the twins followed the trail of memories and thoughts interconnected to them and 'magic'.
Seconds later the two adults keeled over sideways, their eyes unfocused on anything as they twitched slightly. Wordlessly the twins turned around and walked towards the exit, the reptiles still in the same positions as when Harry had commanded them to stop. At the threshold Persephone turned around towards the python still following her and hissed
{Scylla, follow us without coming into anyone's notice, everyone will be on the lookout for snakes.}.
A slight nod of her head later, Scylla, the massive eighteen feet long constrictor faded from view, its presence utterly undetectable to naked eyes. Satisfied that her new pet won't get captured, Persephone grasped her brother's hand and squeezed it, a silent reassurance that he was not alone.
Some tension seemed to bleed out of his body and he turned his face towards the Dursleys.
In the wake of what he had learned in his aunt's mind, now there worries of food and fun seemed inconsequential. And so were the Dursleys, if that letter kept in Petunia's wardrobe was anything to go by.
"You guys shouldn't have kept all of this a secret from us for all this time. Drunken drug addicts? Hah! More like people who could have killed you with a wave of their wands. Goodbye Aunt and Uncle, it has been a pleasure to be with you in the last decade."
Moans were the only response he received from the insane couple, their minds utterly destroyed into uselessness by the rage filled, untrained mental assault of the twins.
Having no wish to see their former jailors anymore he hissed a final time.
{Bite and kill them!}
Disappearing from the enclosure to the sounds of excited hissing and frantic scraping of scales against the floor with a small crack, Harry alighted in the living room of 4, Privet Drive. The next moment his sister arrived, and they leapt towards each other. Squeezing each other harshly in an embrace full of happiness and joy, Harry tried lifting Persephone to spin her around but only succeeded in falling to the floor with his sister on him.
Giggling slightly Persephone dropped fully on him, her head nestled within the crook of his neck. Her breath sending tingles across his spine, Harry pushed her off him and stood up.
When he looked at a glaring Persephone on the floor, He rolled his eyes and sat down beside her. For a moment all was silent as what they did sunk into their brains. They had committed murder again, and this time it was not in self-defence, moreover they had killed Dudley and Piers too. But Harry knew that they had to
"We are free Harry, we don't have to do the work around here anymore, don't have to make food only to be starved and we don't even have to get bea-"
"What did you find in Vernon's mind?"
As saddened as Harry was to see the joy on his sister's face be replaced by a cold expression, he knew that they were utterly unprepared for the magical world. And this time it won't be as easy as entering the minds and changing the events enough to escape. And now they had the answer for their powers, Harry was no longer confident in his mind-altering pow-magic.
"Vernon only knew about the fact that our parents were killed by a terrorist and we were to live here till we turned named Dumbledore dropped us here the night our mother died on 1 November 1981. Also, our Hogwarts letter, which is the invitation letter to the school of magic, came this morning but Vernon hid it in the wardrobe before anyone knew about it."
His fists clenched, Harry turned around and walked up the stairs, aware that his sister was following him too. Pushing the door open, he walked to the wardrobe and pulled the doors only to find them locked. Not having the patience to search for the key, Harry raised his hand and wrenched the doors apart at the hinges.
Guided by Petunia's memories, Harry opened the left drawer and dumped all the things in it on the floor. At the back of the drawer an envelope of yellowish paper was present, and above it were two smaller envelopes of the same material.
His hand trembled slightly, the barely weighing envelopes feeling like lead weights in his hands as he brought them out.
"We have to leave Harry, by now their bodies would already have been discovered, and we don't want to get caught up between Police and courts now. Let's just take one suitcase-trolley, pack some food and pounds and run away."
The envelopes clenched in his hands, Harry gave a nod to his sister without even turning back and ran out of the room towards the attic at the back. Removing the door with a jerk of his hand, Harry looked around for the suitcases. Finding a small one just above him he took it down and went towards the Bedroom.
There he found Seph already standing with a few wearable clothes of theirs, a stash of pounds. Stuffing them into the suitcase along with the envelopes the twins ran down. In the Kitchen they took all the bread and cheese they could find along with two water bottles and some canned noodles.
As they were just about to go out of the house for the final time, Persephone stopped Harry with a hand on his shoulders and spoke
"I once read in a novel that the criminal burned down his house so that everyone would think he is dead. Should we do that too? Since the police are going to search for us eventually when people talk about us."
"How did the criminal do that?"
Her emerald eyes shining with excitement, Persephone explained how the man had first sealed the windows with newspapers and tapes, opened the gas valves of the stove and then lit a candle at the farthest place from the stove inside the house.
Watching his sister smile and be so alive in the open, the murder of Dursleys didn't even remotely seem like a bad thing to him now. With happiness and relish reflecting on their faces, the twins set about using the newspapers and the tapes to seal up the windows and the chimney. Turning the gas stove one for all the four burners Harry turned an electric candle on just at the front door.
Shutting the door, they looked one final time at the newspaper and the candle and disappeared with a small sound. Minutes later, 4 Privet drive blew up into flames, nothing but charred walls and wood remaining to show its presence.
When the police would arrive at the house along with an ambulance and a firefighter team, there would be nothing left to salvage. Sometime later the connection between the four bodies liquefied in the Zoo from a disastrous cocktail of several snake venoms and the house blown off the Earth due to faulty gas lines would be made.
After some enquiry Harry and Persephone Potter, children of Petunia's sister would be declared dead too since they were always inside the house and never were seen outside unless for school.
The Dursleys were nothing more than an unpleasant, overbearing and obnoxious bunch of morons in the rest of Privet Drive by the time the embers of their home died out in the night.
They were especially cursed by a sobbing Polkiss family, whose only son of 12 years had gone to Zoo with the Dursleys, only to get killed due to snake bites.
Miles away on a shipping container by the Thames River, Harry and Persephone slept in each other's arms. Unrestricted and unchained for the first time in forever.
A week later, the twins were standing at the entrance of Charring's Cross road from where Leaky Cauldron was visible, one of the most frequented and easy to access entrances for the Wizarding world in London. Watching the dirty and seedy looking door, Persephone asked
"You sure this is the place?"
"Yes Seph, Petunia's had the memory of coming here with our mother and grandparents for our mother's first year."
Humming slightly Persephone followed her brother towards the doorway, remembering the first time she saw her mother's face. The day after they had run away, Harry had looked towards her and then started crying while grabbing her tight enough to cause serious breathing problems for some minutes.
After her coughing had subsided Harry explained that while looking in Petunia's mind for memories related to magic he had come across a lot of memories of their mother and the fact that she was a witch who had gone to the same school they were invited to.
Also their father too had been a wizard, but according to the letter given by Albus Dumbledore, their soon to be Headmaster both of their parents had died on 1 November 1981 due to a terrorist group named Death Eaters. Nothing else was said in the letter other than condolences for Petunia and a safe childhood for the orphaned Potters.
Then Harry looked into her eyes and suddenly she was looking at a redheaded girl who looked a lot like her, except the girl was a healthier and more beautiful type of pale than the emancipated and sickly pale look she sported. Watching the girl wave a long piece of wood, Persephone realised with a jolt that she was looking at her mother.
She watched many more memories within a few seconds, her mother at the age of thirteen or fourteen shouting at a brown haired boy, and then at an older age trying a daring piece of underwear in what looked to be a trial room, showing off her beautiful body. Studying under a nightlight when she was just a toddler, sleeping under a tree with a black haired pale boy and many others. They had cried for some time after that.
"Seph, you alright? You have been staring off for the past minute, do you need something?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I...I am alright! Let's go!"
Holding each other's hand tightly, the twins opened the door and stepped inside, their first steps in the Wizarding World was marked by Harry getting a face full of a pie like thing. As the pie slopped off his face, Harry could feel Persephone shaking besides him as she giggled. Annoyed slightly Harry moved his hand upwards to remove the offending food from his face but before he could so the pie vanished entirely.
"Sorry lad, these boys have gotten a little rowdy over who shook Longbottom's hand yesterday. Hope you don't hold that welcome against me and my pub."
Harry and Persephone both looked towards the voice, finding a little stooped, bald man wearing black robes and waving a thin piece of wood, probably the 'wand' in the direction of the tables, which were suddenly cleaned of every bit of food and drinks spilled on them.
In the dim yellow lighting, the pub looked like something straight out of the medieval era with men in robes talking and shouting all over the place and pitchers of drinks in their hands. A tray was carrying goblets from one table to another by itself, while platters of food floated all around the place. Used to such things due to their own activities with magic the twins turned towards the man and after a nudge from Harry Persephone asked
"I am guessing this 'Longbottom' is a bit of a celebrity around here?"
That got both of them an amused look from the barman who after looking both of them up and down for a moment grinned and walked towards a small bench inlaid into the wall while waving them to follow.
Looking at each other the twins shrugged and followed him to the table. As they sat down, goblets filled with something amber-coloured appeared in front of them along with two big pieces of cake.
They saw the man wave his wand once more as he spoke some words in Latin and suddenly all the noise from the rest of the pub was gone though they could still see the people shouting, chairs scraping against the floor and the goblets and glasses clinking all across the pub.
"Butterbeer, non-alcoholic and amazing to taste, and my special Vanilla-Cinnamon cake. Don't worry about the Knuts, it's on me."
Hesitantly they took a sip each of the Butterbeer, and then drank down the slightly thick beverage in a matter of seconds. Warmth filling every inch of their bodies, the twins grinned at each other as they spotter frothy moustaches on each other's faces.
Setting the goblets down on the platter the twins turned towards Tom and the barman grinned at them as he started speaking.
"Longbottom is the name of one of the most powerful and influential families in Wizarding Britain. Though the Longbottom they were talking about is Neville Longbottom, the boy-who-lived and currently the only surviving heir of the family."
"Why is he called the boy-who-lived?"
"Curious little lass aren't ya? He is called the boy-who-lived because he survived the attack from he-who-must-not-be-named despite his power and treachery from the Longbottoms' secret Keeper. He even killed the Dark Lord that night when he was only thirteen months old at that! He stopped a maniac hell bent on killing every muggleborn and half-blood and is thus a celebrity for us because without him, more than half of us would have been six-feet under."
"He-who-must-not-be-named?"
"And what are a muggleborn and a half-blood?"
"Hmmm, tell me your names first. It will be easier to remember you both for the future too."
"I am Persephone and this is my twin Harry." As Persephone pointed towards herself and then Harry in turn, Tom nodded and pointed towards the cakes which now had a frosting on the top spelling their names.
Eager smiles on their faces, they each took up a piece and ate them ravenously, tasting freshly made cake which far surpassed what they had tasted once from a filched tiffin box belonging to Dudley.
"Now, He-who-must-not-be-named or You-know-who is the way referring to the wizard who was waging war on Britain. He was so terrifying and powerful that none dared stand before him, and those who did were always dead at his feet within minutes. Only Dumbledore was the one to ever scare him off a battlefield but all others were like packs of cards in front of him. We don't speak of his name, because even if he is dead, his deeds live on to this day too in the form of countless graves and pyres."
Ominous in the extreme, Tom's stare into something far-off dissuaded them from asking anymore questions on 'He-who-must-not-be-named'. Deciding to research this man later, knowing him to be connected to the 'Death Eaters' somehow Harry coughed slightly to gain Tom's attention.
As he shook from his daze the barman looked at them for a moment before his expression brightened and he started speaking
"Muggleborns are the wizards and witches born to muggles that is the non-magical folks. They face discrimination and insults from the Pureblood and some of the half-bloods due to their blood status and their way of thinking which according to some is decidedly muggle.
Whereas a Half-Blood is someone born to a pureblood and a muggleborn. Pureblood as the name implies is someone born of pure blood or in other words is born to two sets of wizarding grandparents. Any other questions?"
Mentally reviewing everything Tom said, Harry turned towards Persephone as she asked
"You mentioned 'treachery' and 'Secret Keeper', what is all that about?"
As a frown grew over Tom's face and anger started to emanate from him, Harry somehow knew he wasn't going to like whatever he was going to hear. Call it something of a sixth sense, but sometimes Harry and Persephone both got a sort of precognition or a feeling about how the next event was going to affect them.
"The Longbottom's had hid behind the Fidelius ward, a magic so powerful and obscure that there are only a handful of books with its casting in them. The spell hides the location of the place to be protected as a secret in another person's mind, the secret keeper while wiping off that place's exact location and name from everyone else's memory. Only the secret keeper can lead anyone else to the place after that by telling them the secret, making the Fidelius nothing more than air to get past. It is a show of ultimate trust to make one your secret keeper, and breaking the trust is an act blasphemous enough to get to Azkaban for life."
Taking a breath, Tom waved his wand and glass with water materialized in front of him. As he drank from the glass, Harry looked into the man's eyes and attempted feeling out his thoughts and memories pertaining to 'He-who-must-not-be-named', but he was stopped as Persephone shaked him lightly and subtly shook her head.
"Frank Longbottom, the father of Neville Longbottom trusted his childhood friend and classmate from Hogwarts to be the secret keeper. Alas, he trusted the wrong man, for at the night of Halloween 1981 he lay dead along with his wife while Neville Longbottom was left with his Grandmother and nothing but a scar on his forehead."
Despite his sister's attempts, Harry still invaded the barman's mind, finding an overpowering feeling of disgust and anger aimed at something. Curious, Harry reached out towards the memory only to see a flash of crimson hair before he was back in his body, his hand grasped tightly by his sister as she squeezed it tightly.
Almost sure of who he had seen in Tom's memory, Harry asked in a trembling voice
"A...And who was the secret keeper for the Longbottoms?"
Disgust more potent than anything Vernon Dursley had ever aimed at them came over the barman's features as he snarled
"It was the damn Potter! They had everyone fooled with their friendship and fight against the Dark Lord only to show their true colors at the last moment, though considering their best friend it wasn't that surprising. James Potter was the secret keeper for the Longbottoms and is currently serving a life sentence in Azkaban while Lily Potter, his wife was killed by a mob in Godric's Hollow right after her the news of Longbottom's demise was spread across the country. Her body was hung in the Diagon right outside this pub by one of the men."
For Harry and Persephone, the world stopped when the names of their parents were uttered with such loathing that they both flinched. And then the reality kicked in for them, at the Dursleys they were hated because of their presence. But here they were going to be hated for their name, their parentage and everything else which made them a Potter.
The rapid thoughts came to a stop as Tom rescued speaking
"After that Augusta Longbottom claimed the Potter vaults as a recompense for her family's loss along with the Ministry also claiming a portion of them. The only thing left was the main family vault, since apparently it is against Goblin Laws to give away such vaults, but everything else from the heirlooms to the Personal and trust vaults of the Potter family were claimed and divided. The Potter Manor was under a Fidelius itself, so it has been unseen since 1980. Anything else you kids want to ask?"
Fists clenched underneath the table Harry asked with his nails digging into his psalm, his voice barely kept even by him
"Who was the one who hanged her body?"
"Hmmm, it was Barty Crouch and Lucius Malfoy who did that. Barty Crouch was the then head of DMLE and hates everything to do with Dark Magic while Lucius Malfoy was controlled by the Dark Lord to act as his servant."
'They are dead! Whether it be years from now or decades, they will die!'
While not emotionally attached to anyone besides Persephone, Harry now realised why their mother always screamed 'No' in their dreams. She had sacrificed herself so that they could live, and they would live but only after everyone who killed their mother was dead.
"Well, enough with the history. Don't you kids have shopping to do? Come one I will show you the Diagon Alley."
Their minds unresponsive, the twins followed Tom to the back door robotically. They didn't even notice what Tom did to make the bricks move sideways, folding upon themselves to form an archway. But they definitely noticed when a cacophony of shouts and other sounds blasted into their ears. The thoughts of murder fled their brains at the sight in front of them.
"Dragon spit at one galleon per vial!"
"Playboy's new edition-!"
"Copper pots at one sickle per five liters!"
The Alley was just like another busy street in London, but only with people in robes, vendors with utterly indecipherable and unheard of items and the huge marble structure at the end of the alley.
"Welcome to the Diagon Alley!"
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