(Raven's POV)
"I will." Professor Snape said taking the book called 'Raven Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' "Chapter 1: The Girl Who Lived, oh great I can already tell this will be a happy chapter." He said sarcastically before clearing his throat and began reading...
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Private Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.
"Too bad, normal is boring as shit! Trust me I would know." I said with a smirk on my lips.
"Watch your language, young lady!" Molly Weasley yelled at me. Remus rounded on her.
"Raven, isn't your child, Molly, and even if she were, you shouldn't be scolding her in front of everyone!" Remus said glaring at her.
"and I believe that's one of the rules set out for us before we started reading these books!" Professor Flitwick scowled. As soon as he was sure there wasn't going to be anything more said, Professor Snape, cleared his throat and began to read again.
Mr. Dursley was a director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors.
"What are Drills?" Asked Bill to me quietly.
"A muggle tool made to make holes or put screws into things. It's a very boring topic."
"I see Petunia hasn't changed much." Professor Snape said. "She used to spy on Lilly and me before we went to Hogwarts for the first time. She didn't like nor trust me one bit. Of course, that hatred towards me turned towards her sister as well." He explained when he saw the looks of interest on all of our faces
The Dursleys had a small son named Dudley and, in their opinion, there was no finer child anywhere.
Everyone who had met Dudley groaned at the mention of him.
The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.
"And what pray tell us, is so wrong with the Potter family?!" Remus asked getting angry for the first time during this whole reading.
"Good question, Remus. I'm sure it'll tell us." I said scowling at the book in Professor Snape's hands. Taking that as a sign to continue Snape did just that.
Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible.
"Is that even a word?" Malfoy asked confused.
"No, Heir Malfoy, it is not, and besides like I said normal is boring anyway. So, I'm glad to say that I'm not like them in any way shape, or form."
"Here, here. Raven." Fred said.
The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew the Potters had a small girl, but they had never even seen her. This girl was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.
At the sound of this, Fler was furious. "A child like what?! Raven is one of the smartest, most kind children I have ever had the pleasure of knowing! I would be honored for my child to be at the very least friends with Raven!" I blushed.
"Thanks, Fler. That means a lot to me." At that Snape started to read again.
When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up the dull, grey, Thursday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his highchair.
Mrs. Weasley narrowed her eyes dangerously at the sound of the way Dudley was behaving.
None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.
"What?! Are you kidding me?! No one saw that!" An unnamed Ravenclaw nearly screamed. "Are these people blind?!" I giggled.
"I wish, but maybe it was just that one day," I said.
At half-past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house.
"If any of you acted like that..." Mrs. Weasley started, disgusted by how Dudley was being raised.
He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.
It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar — a cat reading a map.
"MINNIE!" Remus yelled as everyone else covered their ears to prevent damage from being done to them.
"Why were you there, Minerva?" Professor Snape asked raising a single eyebrow.
"You shall see." Professor McGonagall said stiffly.
For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen — then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Private Drive, but there was no map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must've been a trick of the light.
The whole room except for the more serious of the school erupted into laughter. "Is he seriously that dumb that he thinks a map can be a trick of the light?" George asked between fits of laughter. No one was able to answer him whether it's because of their laughter or they didn't have an answer for him.
Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Private Drive — no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town, he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.
"Man, this guy seriously needs to get out more, if that's all he's thinking about," Charlie murmured. Everyone nodded in agreement.
But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes —- the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man looked older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt — these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it.
"Well, it's official... he's a dumbass." Mr. Weasley said shaking his head in disappointment at my relatives. Mrs. Weasley was about to say something, but Snape started reading again before she could.
The traffic moved on a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills.
Everyone sighed, annoyed that his mind was once more on such a boring subject.
Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important phone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road
"WAIT!" I yelled sitting up from Fred's shoulder. "He WALKED!?" I asked nearly in shock that my uncle was walking across the road.
"Why is that so surprising, Miss. Potter?" Professor Snape asked me, raising a single eyebrow.
"Because, he NEVER walks unless absolutely necessary, like at the zoo or something like that. This has to be the start of the Apocalypse!" At that Professor Snape looked at the next sentence and sighed.
"I don't believe so, let me continue reading that sentence, so that I may calm you down."
to buy himself a bun from the bakery.
"Ohhhhhhh, that makes more sense. Never mind. Crisis averted." I said rubbing the back of my head. Oliver sighed, shaking his heads with a smile on his lips.
"Oh, Raven what are we going to do with you?" I turned to him with a smile on my face and shrugged.
"That's up to you, my sexy former Quidditch Captain" I said with a wink and I curled up into his side to finish listening to the chapter. This raised some eyebrows from a particular Marauder and dog.
He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the bakers. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.
"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard—"
"—yes, their daughter, Raven —"
"Oh, it's that day…" Charlie said, just then realizing what was going on. Everyone looked down, well everyone except Professor Snape, who seemed to be trying to figure out why we were learning about these Muggles.
"Miss. Potter?"
"Yes, Sir?"
"You don't perhaps live with these muggles do you?" Everyone who didn't know of my summer life looked over at me questioningly. I nodded, knowing that I wasn't going to be let off with not answering him. Professor Snape sat up straighter taking a deep breath before letting it go.
"Good heavens… What have I done?" He asked, I'm sure more to himself than anyone else, but I still heard him.
"It's alright Professor, I don't blame you for how I'm treated."
"I don't mean that, Miss. Potter. We can discuss it more later if you so wish." I nodded.
Mr. Dursley stopped. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them but thought better of it.
He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking…no, he was being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name.
"Actually, Miss. Potter, you are the last Potter in all of existence." Professor Dumbledore explained with a sad smile on his face. I looked down at my lap.
"Is there a way I could see my family's family tree?" I asked.
"I'll get it after these books," Dumbledore said smiling at me.
"Thanks."
He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a daughter called Raven. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his niece was called Raven. He'd never even seen the girl. It might have been Rachel. Or Rae.
"He didn't even know your name?!" Malfoy asked getting angrier by the second. I shook my head.
"I didn't even know my own name until I went to primary school, Heir Malfoy," I said scowling. "I always thought it was either 'girl' or 'freak'."
"WHAT?!" Remus asked clearly doing his best to keep Moony at bay.
"Yeah… sorry I never mentioned it before. I just didn't know how." Growls were coming from the two canines in the room.
"Am I to assume correctly that we have permission to introduce these muggles to Moony on the next full moon?" Remus asked me.
"As much as I would love that, I don't want anyone in this room to end up in Azkaban, sorry."
"That makes sense, but we will be taking them to court if we find out they mistreated you with you as the main witness to their crimes." Madam Bones said. I frowned but I nodded, nonetheless.
There was no point worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her —if he'd had a sister like that… but all the same those people in cloaks…
He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.
"Sorry," he grunted, as a tiny old man stumbled and almost fell.
I was shocked once more… "He actually knows that word?!" I asked. Everyone looked at me worried.
"Apparently, Miss. Potter." Professor Snape said smirking at me.
"Well… I'll be damned. I had no idea." I said with a small smile on my face.
It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passerby stare,
"Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"
And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.
"Wait, was he able to get his arms all the way around your uncle?" Fred asked curiously, looking down at me. I shrugged.
"Not sure on that, but I'm guessing no," I said with a small laugh.
"But it'd be funny if he did," George said laughing loudly.
Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.
"How can you not approve of imagination?!" A Professor I did not know asked. "You need it for most spells!" There were nods throughout the room.
As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw — and it didn't improve his mood — was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. it was sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.
"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly.
"That won't do anything except make her angry," Lupin said chuckling.
The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.
"Told ya," Lupin said smirking.
"No one doubted you, Remus," I said laughing. Remus rolled his eyes at me.
Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.
Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over diner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't").
"That's awful! They should be nipping that in the bud now before he gets worse!" Mrs. Weasley yelled.
"I agree, Mother, however… It's too late to nip it in the bud I'm afraid." Percy said shaking his head in disgust at how Dudley was raised.
Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:
"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"
"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early — it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."
Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? A whisper, a whisper about the Potters…
Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er — Petunia, dear — you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"
As he expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.
Everyone except for a select few in the room growled at that, it was also very clear to everyone that Moony was close to coming out. I sat up and walked over to Remus and sat on his lap, letting him wrap me up in his arms.
"If this is bad, wait until I get there," I said to everyone, looking down. This did not calm anyone down completely, but it calmed them down slightly.
"No," she said sharply. "Why?"
"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls… Shooting stars… and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today…"
"So?" Snapped Mrs. Dursley.
"Well, I just thought… maybe…it was something to do with… you know… her crowd."
Everyone growled at how he must've sounded when he mentioned Lilly and the rest of the wizarding community, especially Padfoot, Remus, and me.
Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead, he said, as casually as he could, "Their daughter — she'd be about Dudley's age now wouldn't she?"
"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.
"What's her name again? Rachel, isn't it?"
"Raven. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."
"Well, good thing no one asked you, you bitch!" Professor Snape yelled. "Sorry, I had heard your name was a choice of your mother's, and I'm very defensive of your mother." He apologized blushing slightly.
"Lilly did name her, and we don't blame you, Petunia is the worst muggle you could possibly meet, if we could we would all kill her for what she's done to both Lilly and our little Raven," Remus said smiling for the first time at Professor Snape since I've known the two of them. Which for some unfathomable reason made me smile as well.
"Professor…" I started hesitantly. "Would you mind telling me stories of my mother, Remus can tell me stories of my father, but not much about my mother, and you seem to know more about her, so… I was just hoping… it's okay if you don't want to…" At that Professor Snape held up his hand to stop me.
"I would love to, Miss. Potter." He said smiling. I nodded.
"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."
He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.
"That's because I was waiting for something, well, more like someone." Professor McGonagall said smirking.
Was he imagining things? Could all this have something to do with the Potters? If it did… if it got out that they were related to a pair of — well, he didn't think he could bear it.
The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly, but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind…
"If that were true then why on earth did they say in their will to place me there, or was their will even read?!" I asked, glaring at Professor Dumbledore. At that, everyone turned towards him as well. He seemed to be sweating profusely and gulped.
"Well, you see, my dear…
"No, don't you dare call me that! Why did you place me there? It's a simple question!" I yelled. Once more he gulped.
"I wanted to keep you safe from his followers that were still out there."
"And you didn't trust anyone who's in this room to do that?" I asked.
"Of course I trust them, but they don't have your mother's blood so blood wards wouldn't have worked on them…"
"Blood wards don't work if the one administrating the ward is not being treated well, and the book has been telling us that these people would not be doing that if Raven were to show up on their doorstep, so don't lie to us, Dumbledore! Why'd you really put her there?" Charlie who had been mostly silent for the whole reading said getting angry.
"And if you continue to lie, I will be forced to administer a truth serum. Don't think I won't, Headmaster." Professor Snape said also glaring at Dumbledore, who sighed.
"Fine… I did it not only for the blood wards which I knew would break after ten years, but I also did it so she would be obedient for the greater good of getting rid of Voldemort when he came back. I didn't think that anyone would send the truth of her school years and her life before each year to us. My friends, you must understand I did this for the greater good." He confessed. I was livid, and by looking around the room, I wasn't the only one. There were only three amongst us that weren't in the same boat as me. I turned to the younger two of the three.
"So, did you two know of this?" I asked disappointment dripping from my voice. The two I was speaking to were none other than, Ron and Ginny Weasley. The third had been Mrs. Weasley. They looked up at me, not with tears or sadness in their eyes nor regret, but glee and pride.
"Yeah… we knew, so what? It's not like you can do anything to us right now with the rules placed on us before the reading started." Ron said smirking. I growled lowly in my throat.
"I may not be able to kill you, Ronald Weasley… but I can still do bodily harm to you, without killing you," I said taking out my wand and was about to use a spell I never thought I would ever use until, Remus, sensing what I was about to do, took my wand hand and slowly lowered it for me.
"Cub… let's finish these books then we can take them all to court and have them dealt with, legally. Alright?" He asked as he gently took my wand from me. I was in tears as I nodded. "I'll hold on to this, go sit with the Fred and George." I nodded and went back over to my two destined mates, but as I was about to sit Mr. Weasley came over to me.
"Raven, would it make you feel better if I banish the three of them from my family so that you may wage a magical family feud?" Mr. Weasley asked me.
"It's up to you, Mr. Weasley. I don't want to cause you any more grief."
"Raven, I don't want them in my family, if this is how they're going to treat you." At that, I nodded.
"Okay, but only if it's something you wish to do," I said. At that, Mr. Weasley took out his wand and held it up like a sword.
"I, Arthur Weasley, lord of the Weasley family hereby disown and expel Ronald Bilius Weasley, Ginevra Molly Weasley, and Molly Weasley nee Prewett from the Weasley family. So, I have said, so mote it be." After he finished speaking three bright lights were captured from the three Weasley's and withdrew what looked like their Weasley magic because each of them had a 'W' within them, which caused Ginny and Ron to pass out and Molly to just slump in her chair from exhaustion, but she perked up whether quickly.
After that was taken care of, Madam Bones quickly used a full body bind on Dumbledore leaving his mouth able to move. Percy quickly took away all four of their wands and held onto them, shaking his head. With that done, Remus handed me back my wand, and Snape started to read once more.
He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on —he yawned and turned over it couldn't affect them….
How very wrong he was.
Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.
A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched, and its eyes narrowed.
Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.
At this point, Ron and Ginevra had woken up and cheered when the name of their former family's savior was mentioned. At this, however, Bill cast a silencing charm on the two of them as well as his former mother, just to be on the safe side. "Sorry about that, continue Professor Snape." At that Snape smirk at Bill and did continue.
Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome.
Dumbledore, who was still bonded with the curse, simply smirked, and said. "Oh I realized, I just didn't care." At that everyone else, but the three former Weasley's glared at him.
"Just be quiet, Dumbledore, or we'll silence you as well." Madam Bones said glaring at the man she once held the utmost respect for. At that Dumbledore grumbled, but otherwise stayed quiet.
He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."
He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest streetlamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again — the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer until the only lights left on the street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.
"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."
He turned to smile at the tabby, but it was gone. Instead, he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn in a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.
"How'd you know it was me?" She asked.
"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."
"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," Said Professor McGonagall.
"Dear Merlin, Minnie… what were you doing there all day?" Remus asked.
"I knew that the headmaster wanted to place Raven there, and I wanted to see if it was an appropriate place for her to live, as it turns out, it was not, and I'd like to say… I'm sorry for not trying harder to keep you from those Merlin awful people, Raven. If I'd known his true reasoning for putting you there, I would have taken you away from that doorstep after he had left and taken you to a more appropriate home to live in. One your parents would have approved of." I simply nodded at her explanation.
"I'm glad you at least tried, Professor, but I do wish you had taken me away before they had found me," I said, still curled up in Oliver's arms. She simply smiled at me sadly.
"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."
Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.
"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," She said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursley's dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls…shooting stars…Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent — I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."
Everyone who knew the man Professor McGonagall was talking about, laughed. "Too true, Minnie, too true," Remus said with a grin on his face. "Although, none of us had much sense that day, even though we should have, given the circumstances." He said turning serious and looking at me. It was then that I realized what everyone had been celebrating and I grew angry, but Oliver , seeing this, quickly started to soothe me.
"It's okay, Raven. We're all here for you. Not everyone was celebrating. Remember your primary godfather, he went after the man that caused it, even though everyone thinks it was him, and Remus was mourning the death of his friends and out searching for you constantly after your godfather was sent to Azkaban. So, don't you worry, not everyone in this room was celebrating." Oliver said to me. Fred and George nodded along with everything Oliver had said, making me smile sadly.
"Thanks, guys, it makes me a little happier knowing not everyone was celebrating."
"You can't blame them," Said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."
"I know that," Said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors."
She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared, at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"
"It certainly seems so," Said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"
"A what?"
"A Lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."
"No, thank you," Said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone —"
"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this You-Know-Who nonsense— for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched,
As did everyone else in the room, except Raven, Dumbledore, and Snape (who was reading and didn't even hesitate when it came up in the book). "Raven, how many times does it say his name in these books?" Remus asked me, to which I just shrugged.
"No idea, Professor, no idea. All I know is that it's more than twenty altogether."
but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."
"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."
"This is true, as much as we all hate to admit it, it's true," Bill said glaring at his former headmaster. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."
"This is also true, seeing as Parseltongue is a blood trait, but other than that, you're too noble to use them, or so we thought," Charlie said also glaring at Dumbledore.
"Only because you're too — well — noble to use them."
"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."
"TMI, Dumbledore!" I yelled covering my eyes. "I did not need that mental image…" I groaned leaning more on George's shoulder, making everyone laugh. "It's not funny."
"Miss. Potter, I'm sorry to say, but it is quite funny." Professor Snape said smirking. "Though I must agree with you as well, no one needs that mental image, and I saw those earmuffs, they were horrendous, be lucky I 'accidentally' put them into a potion and made said potion blow up." He continued smirking all the way. I laughed at that.
"I'm grateful, Professor. I don't think I could stand it if I knew what they looked like."
"Trust me you're not the only one," Snape said smiling at me.
Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"
It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.
"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lilly and James Potter are — are — that they're — dead."
Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.
"Lilly and James…I can't believe it…I didn't want to believe it…Oh Albus…"
Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know…I know…" he said heavily.
Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's daughter, Raven. But — he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little girl. No one knows why or how, but they're saying that he couldn't kill Raven Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke and that's why he's gone." Dumbledore nodded glumly. "It's true?" Faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done…all the people he's killed…he couldn't kill a little girl? It's astounding…of all the things to stop him…but how in the name of heaven did Raven survive?"
"We know now, that it was love, and you just keep loving the way you know how Cub," Remus said smiling at me. I nodded at my Third Godfather.
"Will do, Remus," I said smiling as well.
"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."
Professor McGonagall pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must've made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"
"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"
"I've come to bring Raven to her aunt and uncle. They're the only family she has left now."
"That's not true and you know it, you old, manipulative coot!" Surprisingly this was said by none other than the Potions Master in the room, Professor Severus Snape. "He told everyone in the Wizarding World that you were in a loving wizarding home, but never told anyone which home it was, and now we ALL know that that was a lie. Why, if I had known I would have gone over there to get her and take care of her myself, and never treated her the way I did when she had come to school." Professor Snape said. I could tell he was close to tears. I bit my lip to keep it from quivering.
"Professor Snape, can you please continue?" I asked in a small voice.
"Of course, Miss. Potter."
"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand her! She'll be famous — a legend — I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Raven Potter Day in the future…"
"Please tell me there isn't a Raven Potter Day?" I asked scared for the answer. Moony chuckled at me.
"Not a chance kiddo, but they sure as hell tried. I believe it was Fred and George who found the papers for it and threw it into a lighted fire so that no one would ever find it again." He said smirking.
"Yes, it was. However, at the time we thought it was an accident because they were just kids fooling around at the Ministry on Parents Bring Your Child to Workday, let's just say that was the last time where we had a day like that." Madam Bones said also smirking at the Twins in question.
"We take full responsibility for this event," Fred started.
"Even though we do not recall it." George finished.
"Anything to keep little Raven happy." They said together, smiling.
"I'm not that little!" I yelled.
"There will be books written about Raven — every child in our world will know her name!"
"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any girl's head. Famous before she can walk or talk! Famous for something she won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off she'll be growing up away from all that until she's ready to take it?"
Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes —yes, you're right, of course. But how is the girl getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Raven underneath it.
"Oh, god. I hope not!" Oliver said grabbing me suddenly and pulling me fully onto his lap. Everyone gave him weird looks, me included only I was blushing madly because I felt something hard on his lap.
"What? I'm not having a pedophile anywhere near, my Raven." He added.
"I'm sorry, you're Raven?" Remus said clearly close to letting out Moony.
"Professor, it'll be explained in a later chapter of this book, if you still wish to talk to him, I understand. Okay?" Remus turned to me and nodded.
"We will be discussing this later. Got it!"
"Yes sir. Understood."
"Hagrid's bringing her."
"Oh, thank Merlin!" He exclaimed wrapping fake sweat from his brows, making myself and Remus smile.
"You think it — wise — to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"
"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.
"Just not with my secrets when he's drunk," I mumbled to Viktor and Fler. "You'll find out what I mean later," I explained when they gave me questioning looks. They all nodded at that.
"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to — what was that?"
A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky —and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.
"Is that Sirius Black Motorcycle, Remus?" Snape asked my third godfather.
"I wouldn't know Professor Snape. I wasn't there. All I know is that Black no longer has it, as far as I'm aware at least." Remus said looking down at Padfoot with a grin. I too looked down at the dog and rubbed his head affectionately.
If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild — long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.
"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?"
"I think we'd all like to know that," Remus said grinning at our half-giant friend.
"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got her, sir."
"No problems, were there?"
"No sir — house nearly destroyed but I got her out all right before the Muggles started swarming around. She fell asleep as we were flying over Bristol."
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby girl, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over her forehead, they could see curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.
Everyone in the hall cooed at the thought of baby me… including some Slytherins. I buried my head into Oliver chest further to get rid of my blush of embarrassment. He, of course, just chuckled at my antics.
"Is that where —?" whispered Professor McGonagall.
"Yes," said Dumbledore. "She'll have that scar forever."
"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"
"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well — give her here, Hagrid — we'd better get this over with."
"That fact about that scar, Headmaster…TMI," I said to Fler she just nodded in agreement, as did Viktor, Oliver, who all shuddered at the thought of it.
Dumbledore took Raven in his arms and turned toward the Dursley's house.
"Could I — could I say goodbye to her, sir?" asked Hagrid.
At this, I teared up, walked over to my big half-giant of a friend, and hugged him. "It wasn't goodbye, Hagrid. It was, 'see you later." I said to him smiling up at him.
"Thank you, Raven. I never thought of it that way."
He bent his great, shaggy head over Raven and gave her what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.
For effect, Padfoot decided to do the sound effect for everyone, causing everyone to laugh, including the ministry officials and teachers. "Thanks, Padfoot, I think we all needed a good laugh," I said grinning down at him. He just gave me his wolfish grin like always.
"Does he understand you, Miss. Potter?" Madam Bones asked cocking an eyebrow at me.
"Why yes, he does. You'll understand why at the end of the third book. I'm not about to ruin it for anyone." I said also grinning. This just earned me a nod.
"Shhh!" Hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"
"And the motorcycle didn't?" Bill asked me. I giggled at that.
"I would not know, I was only fifteen months old at the time," I said shrugging.
"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it — Lily an' James dead —and poor little Raven off ter live with Muggles —"
"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Raven gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Raven's blankets, and then came back to the other two. for a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.
"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."
"I did anything but that, my dear." Professor McGonagall said to me with a sad smile on her face.
"That makes me a little happier, Professor. Thank you, for everything." I said. "And I do mean everything. From that night to today." That made her give me a small smile as she turned towards Professor Snape who continued to read at that point.
"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'd best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall —Professor Dumbledore, sir."
Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar, it rose into the air and off into the night.
"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," Said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.
Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner, he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their streetlamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange, and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the steps of number four.
"Good luck, Raven," He murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.
"Trust me, this year I'm going to need all the luck I could get," I said under my breath, but everyone around me heard anyway and we (the three former champions, and Oliver) ended up in a group hug together.
A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Raven Potter rolled inside her blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside her, and she slept on, not knowing she was special, not knowing she was famous, not knowing she would be woken up in a few hours' time Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put the milk bottles, nor that she would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by her cousin Dudley… She couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices "To Raven Potter — the girl who lived!"
"He left you there?! On the first of November, fourteen years ago, with no protection, ALL NIGHT!?" Asked slash screamed half the population of the Great Hall.
"Yeah, he did," I answered calmly. "And that's not the worst of it, wait until the next chapter," I said just as calmly. At that Heir Malfoy came up to me seemingly nervous.
"Um…Potter…Did you really not know about Magic or anything about this world when we first met in the robe shop?"
"That would be correct Heir Malfoy. When you mentioned the houses and quidditch, I had no idea what you were talking about, I had to ask Professor Snape, about them." Malfoy nodded.
"Then am I right to assume you did not know you insulted me when you did not take my hand on the train when we met again there."
"I did? I apologize, I did not mean to. I didn't mean to take it, because I did not see you as a friend, but I did not mean it as an insult." Once more, Malfoy nodded.
"Then, may we start over?" At this, I smiled.
"Of course," I said holding out my hand. "Hello, I'm Raven Lilly Potter, what's your name?"
"Malfoy, Heir Draco Malfoy, it is a pleasure to meet you, Heiress Potter," Draco said taking my hand and kissing its knuckles. "By the way, that's how you greet someone and introduce yourself if you are the same status as them in the Magical world. I'm willing to help you with things like that if you wish that is."
"That'd be wonderful, thank you, Heir Malfoy."
"Please call me, Draco."
"Then you may call me, Raven."
(Remus' POV)
As Raven was talking to Draco, I walked over to Oliver Wood and cleared my throat. "We need to talk, young man." Oliver looked up at me and then down at the dog with me who seemed to be glaring at them. He gulped but nodded, nonetheless. The he got up and followed us outside the Great Hall.
Once there, Padfoot shifted back into Sirius with his arms crossed over his chest. "So, tell us kid, what was that with Raven during the chapter?" He said getting right down to the nitty-gritty. The young man in front of us sighed, looked at each other than at us.
"She's my soulmate, I know she is only fifteen. I'm willing to wait for her, however she does know about it, as she got her inheritance test done before her first year here. I'll also wait until she's an adult in both Muggle and Wizarding worlds to do anything more than snogging, I will swear it on my magic if it'll make you both feel more comfortable."He explained to the two of us. Sirius and I sighed knowing he meant business if he was willing to swear on his magic.
"That won't be necessary kid, we can tell you truly love Raven. Just don't pressure her into anything she's not comfortable with. She's had enough problems with stuff similar to that, as it is." Sirius said giving them a small smile.
"I completely understand, Sir," Oliver said. With that Sirius shifted back into Padfoot and we re-entered the Great Hall and returned to our seats.
(Raven's POV)
Soon, Professor McGonagall stood up at the podium and cleared her throat.
"Now that Headmaster Dumbledore has been charted off to the dungeons here in the school as a holding cell for the rest of the reading of the books, so he can be charted of to Azkaban for his crimes against Raven Potter. I do believe it's time to start reading once more. Who'd like to go next?"
"I will, Professor McGonagall," Draco said raising his hand and smiling, and not his usual smirk but a real smile, which surprised me.
"Alright then, here you go." She said handing the book to Draco.