The Time Travel Crew

Chapter 7: Pomona meets Dumbledore

On reaching the Headmaster's office, Pomona noticed that Severus was already seated in one of the four chairs opposite a very worried, but very much alive and healthy Albus Dumbledore. Fawkes the phoenix was fast asleep on his perch. And all in all, Pomona inwardly applauded herself at the effort she took not to cry then and there.

Both men stood up as they entered and Severus's eyes widened as he saw Sirius and then he turned his most baleful look at him.

"Ah, Black." he said coldly. "Happy aren't you?... Oh no? The Dark Lord -"

"No!" Lily said to Severus, sounding very upset. "It wasn't him!" Then she turned to Dumbledore, "Professor Dumbledore, please listen to me!"

Harry woke up with a start and started screaming and Pomona couldn't help but admired his act. Playing the role of a baby must not be as easy as it looked like, for one, Harry had to swallow his pride to keep up his appearance. And two, there was probably nothing he would be able to do without depending on his mother or anyone else.

Lily soothed him as Dumbledore nodded and let her continue, his entire posture attentive. Lily waited to speak until Harry was silent again... but before she could open her mouth, there was a loud knock on the door.

"Come in!" said Dumbledore and in came a young, but crisp Poppy Pomfrey.

Without wasting any time in preliminaries, she began checking on Harry first, but Lily was making things difficult, for she didn't want Harry taken from her. It was probably a fear she developed after Voldemort's attack.

Finding Harry unharmed, Poppy turned to check on Lily. A few bruises from her fall to the floor was all. And so, unable to find a reason to have someone spend the night in her infamous infirmary, Poppy left the office probably a little disappointed.

Lily now got a chance to give Dumbledore her side of the story.

"Sirius wasn't our Secret Keeper! We switched to Peter Pettigrew! Peter betrayed us not Sirius! Sirius wanted to create a diversion, so Voldemort and his supporters would follow him so we didn't tell anyone! Sirius is innocent! Please listen to me!"

All the while, Sirius had been still standing, uncomfortably tied up in those ropes he opened his mouth to speak.

"I am not as innocent as you make me look, Lily."

All eyes fell on him.

"Aha!" Pomona cried in mock triumph. "So you admit it!"

"What do you mean, Sirius?" Dumbledore asked gravely.

"I am the cause of James's death! I suggested that we switched to Pettigrew! So you see -"

"It wasn't your fault." Lily said firmly.

"What?"

"It wasn't." Lily said again. "You didn't know...I didn't know...Nobody knew! We thought Remus was the spy not Pettigrew. Don't beat yourself up, Sirius."

There was a few seconds of silence before Dumbledore, who seemed to piece the picture together with the minimal he was given, said quietly, "I believe you, Lily. And that means we have a murderer on the loose. A cowardly murderer who may go to any lengths to keep himself protected. But we will deal with him a little later. Please sit down, all of you."

Pomona saw Minerva conjure another chair and take off the ropes that restricted Sirius's movements and gave him his wand back.

Then she cleared her throat and said sincerely, "My humble apologies, Sirius. I should have listened to Lily... I am very sorry."

"As am I, Mr. Black." Pomona said with equal meekness. She didn't like the way she and Minerva treated him at Godric's Hollow, but could they do?

Sirius was kind and decent enough to wave off their apologies. "That's alright. I would have been surprised if you hadn't accused me, Minerva, Pomona."

Sirius turned to Severus, who just nodded, his face absolutely neutral. Sirius looked surprised, but nodded in return and sat on the chair farthest away from Severus, leaving Pomona, Minerva and Lily to sit in the middle.

Dumbledore waved his wand and summoned a tray with six mugs of hot chocolate and a sipper.

"It's warm milk." Dumbledore said when Lily looked at him questioningly.

Lily picked the sipper and put it to Harry's mouth and Pomona found it very hard to keep a straight face as she imagined Harry's embarrassment as he sipped from it. She made a note to never mention it to the boy in the near future.

Dumbledore then said, "Lily, Lord Voldemort may be out of the way for now. However, he is not dead... He. Will. Return."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked sounding downright horrified.

"Most unfortunately for us, Lord Voldemort - as greedy and power loving as he is - is afraid of death...hence has foolishly built himself a powerful link to this earth."

"How has he done it?" Pomona asked, feigning curiosity and making her mental shields stronger.

"Alas, I must admit I do not know what this link is or where it's located. But when he does return, he will make a beeline to finish what he started."

"H-Harry?" Sirius whispered. "He will go after Harry?"

Dumbledore nodded solemnly and said slowly, putting emphasis on each word, "Lord Voldemort isn't in possession of a conscience and will stop at nothing to get even...I cannot impress upon you the severity of the danger your son and even you will be in. He will be hunted by Voldemort. But even though he is of no harm at the moment, there are many of his followers and supporters running amok who will try to get at you either to avenge their master or in the hope of moving higher in the Death Eater ranks.

Lily looked paler than what she already was.

"W-what can I do?"

"Lily, I am heartily sorry for your loss, but you must remember that you are not alone...I know it will be hard, my dear, but I want you to recount everything that happened...in detail. I want to know what happened, so I can learn of the magic that played it's role tonight and take action in protecting you and your son accordingly."

Lily delayed for a while, adjusting Harry and making him more comfortable in her lap, then she frowned.

"Well, there's not much that I can remember, you see, Voldemort arrived and it all happened so suddenly... J-James told me to take Harry and r-run and that he would hold Voldemort off to give us time to escape... I carried Harry and ran u-upstairs hoping I could open a window and j-j-jump out with Harry." Lily let out a choked sob. "Voldemort k-k-killed J-James and came upstairs."

Lily paused for a moment and composed herself.

"Voldemort seemed to have blocked our every escape and we were trapped. I didn't even have my wand on me. I ran into Harry's nursery and tried blocking the door with a chair and a few boxes...It was stupid, really."

Lily shook her head in despair.

"Voldemort opened it with his wand and I put Harry in his crib and tried to shield him telling Voldemort to kill me and not him. I asked him to have mercy, that I'd do anything. Then Voldemort cast the curse and everything went black.

"When I came too, I was on the floor by the crib and I could hear Harry screaming. Then I saw that monster's body on the floor. I stood up and found Harry unharmed...I was so relieved...I took Harry out of his crib and we sat on the floor for some time. I couldn't focus on anything, it was all blurry until I was made to drink something that tasted like a calming drought. That's when I saw Minerva, Severus and Pomona.

"How did we survive the Avada Kedavra?"

This probably wasn't the exact detailed story Pomona would have liked to hear, but again, Dumbledore pieced the picture and got off his seat and said, "I'm going to make a guess."

He walked around the table, and stood next to Severus and looking at Lily, he held his hands out towards Harry who now was happily sipping from his cup, and said "If I may?"

Lily looked reluctant, but placed the sipper on the desk and passed Harry to Severus, who passed him to Dumbledore. Dumbledore lifted Harry gently and laying him down on his desk, he waved his wand over him, muttering a string of words in Latin. Pomona caught the words, "Priori incantatem" among others. Harry began to glow lightly.

After a minute, Dumbledore seemed satisfied and the glow around Harry disappeared. He lifted Harry again and gave him to Severus who passed him back to Lily.

Dumbledore sat on his chair, put away his wand, placed his elbows on his desk and joined the tips of his fingers together. He looked at his companions with interest and said, "It's just what I suspected...Young Harry has performed accidental magic."

"I beg your pardon?" Minerva said.

"At this age?" Severus said.

Pomona contented herself with a half-open mouth.

"I believe so." Dumbledore nodded. "Young Harry somehow sensed something amiss with you, Lily. Your fright was probably felt by him and he was scared for you. That triggered his magic to set up a protection, most probably an invisible magic absorbing shield, in front of you, knocking you unconscious in the process and making Voldemort believe that you were dead."

Lily seemed astounded, but Pomona knew fully well that the magic was deliberate and wandless. Harry had fooled Voldemort and Dumbledore and saved his mother with two simple wandless spells.

"B-but that doesn't explain how Harry survived too. I mean, did his magic save himself too?"

"No, Lily." Dumbledore said patiently. "Harry was scared for you and you alone, causing his magic to do what it did. But he lived because of you."

"Me?"

"Yes. You were ready to give your life for him. What you called upon to help you save your son was an ancient form of magic - a sacrifice made out of immeasurable love for someone." Dumbledore raised his hand when Lily began to interrupt. "I know you didn't die, but you meant to and that was all it needed. Your love for Harry created another shield for your son, so strong that the killing curse rebounded on Voldemort, leaving your little boy unscathed. Harry now carries the protection from your sacrifice in his blood... It can be said that you have saved each other."

Dumbledore shifted himself into a more comfortable position and leaned behind, placing his arms on those of his chair.

"This simplifies matters and I just might have a perfect solution to keep both you and Harry safe."

"What is it?"

"I am going to place this entire protection using your act of love for the foundation. Now that Harry already carries it in him, I shall prolong it's life. This very powerful charm can be set up if and only if two people of the same blood live together in a place they call home, and it's lifespan varies, for in this case, the charm will last until Harry comes of age and is able to defend himself to the best of his ability.

"You will have to select a new house to live in, for I do not think it wise or safe for you to return to Godric's Hollow. I will set up the blood wards around that house that will seal once you both set foot there. Then as long as both, you and Harry consider your new place of residence as home no harm can befall you or your son."

There was a stunned silence and Lily seemed deep in thought.

Dumbledore spoke again, "Well, is there a location of your choice, Lily?"

Lily seemed to come to reality. She took in a deep breath and said, "My parents house...I-in Cokeworth."

"Are you sure?" Dumbledore said looking at her intently.

Lily nodded her assent. "It's a Muggle populated town with only one wizarding home in a distance."

"And who lives in that home?" Sirius asked immediately.

"A friend of mine." Lily said evasively.

"Can you trust this friend?" Sirius asked suspiciously.

"With my life."

"See what the ra - er - Pettigrew did when we all entrusted our lives in his hands."

Lily stood up and said red faced, "My friend isn't a coward. If you're implying that I'll be betrayed then do away with that thought immediately."

"But -"

"But nothing! Pettigrew has always been one and you accepted him from the beginning for reasons I don't and will never know! I've known this friend from before Hogwarts and though we fell apart for a few years, I know -"

"That's enough." Dumbledore said. "Lily please be seated. Sirius calm down. The protection on the house will not let anyone with evil intent come within a mile of the house. Lily, Harry and I will set off for Cokeworth immediately. I will need a little help with it and I would be happy if Severus would join us on the same, but an entirely different angle of our little mission."

"Why him?" Sirius asked with a mixture of scorn, confusion and suspicion. "Why not Flitwick?"

Dumbledore sighed and said, "Because, Sirius, Filius is currently asleep and I wouldn't want to wake him when I already have someone almost as competent as him with me. If you've forgotten, Lily too is almost as good as Filius, followed immediately by Severus... And Severus will be the only person amongst us aside from Lily who knows how to go about with Muggle shopping, keeping in mind that most of Lily's and Harry's things are probably destroyed.

"Do you know where your key to your vault in Gringotts is, Lily?"

Lily frowned in thought and said, "Oh, yes! I think it's in the drawer of the dressing table in our bedroom."

"I'll disapperate to Godric's Hollow as soon as we leave the castle and get the key." Severus promised. "Though I'll wait for morning to do the most of the shopping, I'll try and get the essentials now."

Dumbledore said, "Minerva, it would be nice if you alert the ministry about Peter Pettigrew. Tell them that he should be easy to spot, but should be handled with caution."

"Er, Professor?"

Dumbledore sighed, probably expecting Sirius to start another argument of catching the rat himself.

"Yes, Sirius?"

"I don't think Pettigrew will be that easy to spot."

"And why is that?"

"He's an animagus, a rat animagus..." And out came the true story of the Marauders and the origin of their names and at the end to prove his point to a disbelieving Minerva, Sirius transformed into a big black dog causing Harry to drop his sipper and squeal in delight.

When the dog became Sirius again, Dumbledore said, "Ingenious, Sirius. However, it looks like there's only one person who will be able to perform the complicated charm to capture Peter for us. I hope Filius will not get too annoyed at being disturbed at this hour. However it isn't too late..."

Pomona realised that it was around ten o'clock the same moment as Dumbledore raised his wand and said, "Expecto Patronum."

To be continued...