I don't own Harry Potter still. However, please enjoy this double-bill.
The Hell of Fourth Year.
Three days later Charlotte was looking around the kitchen/dining area of the windmill, looking at the immaculately clean surfaces and the table with the dark red tablecloth thrown over it with two jugs of ice cool water, charmed to remain at a constant cool temperature and some glasses.
With the clean kitchen/dining room and the tablecloth thrown over and Charlotte herself dressed in a rich purple dress with a House robe thrown over her shoulder with the Potter family shield to show how seriously she was taking this meeting.
Although the Alliance members had responded to the agreement for the meeting with great enthusiasm, Charlotte had read between the lines of the reply and known they had not really liked the thought of the meeting being hosted at her home.
Charlotte's experience in politics was virtually zero, but even she knew when someone wanted to be intimidating. She had heard of dozens of instances when key members in organised crime in London had hosted meetings in neutral locations simply because they didn't want to give too much power to their opposite number, and while she knew she could have asked the same here, Charlotte hadn't wanted to because she had wanted them to know where she stood.
She checked her watch and sighed. She honestly wasn't looking forward to this meeting even if she had arranged it, but she was going to meet the people who could have ensured she was well cared for but had done nothing for her, and even when she had gone to Hogwarts none of them had even tried to make an effort to really get in touch with her although she had no idea if Dumbledore had gone to some trouble as he had with keeping Weasley and Granger with her to make sure the Alliance's children steered clear of her.
There was a chime from the wardstone.
Charlotte sighed and she walked over to the door, wondering how they'd react when they saw the paper sign pinned to the door reading WIPE YOUR FEET and she wondered if they would be insulted. Oh, who was she kidding, of course, they would. But truthfully she was tired of all the dirt the magical world heaped on her shoulders.
She opened the door and she found herself looking at two formidable-looking witches who looked close to age as her former Head of House; one of them had a monocle in her eye and the other had a tall hat on her head with a stuffed vulture pinned to it.
Charlotte knew who the second witch was. This was Neville's grandmother, and judging from her pinched expression although there appeared to be a tinge a worry there in both of their expressions, they were cautious about this meeting. That surprised Charlotte since she hadn't expected that, she had thought they would come here confident they'd have their way. She wasn't sure if the Alliance members had more brain cells compared to Fudge or Dumbledore, but she hoped they did. She was tired of magical stupidity.
Charlotte looked past the two witches and she saw two men. She instantly recognised one of them as Ernie's father not only because of the resemblance between the pair of them since they had the same figures and the facial structures but he also had the same pompous aura she had seen Ernie exude whenever she'd encountered him. She only hoped he was more mature than his son and didn't jump to conclusions like Ernie did if that happened then Charlotte was going to make him wake up very quickly.
The second man was the complete opposite of Ernie and Charlotte wondered how on Earth this Alliance had even been formed in the first place since these people seemed to exude different personalities. This man was clearly Cyrus Greengrass. Charlotte didn't have that much contact with his daughters Daphne and Astoria, but she knew their reputations as the Ice Queen and Ice Princess of Slytherin, and she had seen the same impassive expression in the two girls' the few times she had come across them. Now she knew where they had gotten it from.
But as she studied Cyrus Greengrass, Charlotte wondered what his excuse was; she could understand the girls being Slytherins, but she wondered what their excuse was in general...
Charlotte wouldn't have been surprised in the least if the senior representatives of the Alliance which had been a part of the magical world for centuries were studying her in the least since she had been studying them. Indeed, they were looking at the last of the Potter and the Girl Who Lived. They could see the girl was a blend of her parents given she resembled Lily although she had James' hair colour and they knew she had Lily's emerald green eyes but her remaining eye was covered by a pair of green-tinted sunglasses. With the sunglasses and the short black hair and the cold expression on Charlotte's face, she appeared hard, unyielding.
"Come in," she stepped back and let them into her home.
Augusta Longbottom was looking around, trying hard to keep her disdain for the windmill hidden from the girl who had the power to literally shatter magical politics. The mill was not what she had expected, and she wondered what in the name of Merlin Charlotte had been thinking when she purchased the place and why she wasn't living in a magical property.
She turned to look at Charlotte, only to find the girl looking at her with an eyebrow raised and her mouth twisted. Augusta back-peddled a bit, wondering to herself if the girl knew legilimency since she seemed to know what she was thinking. That was not a good sign. They had hoped the girl would be easy to speak to.
Charlotte took their cloaks and hung them up with a flick of her wand on the coat hangers before she walked over to her seat and sat down. The Alliance members looked aghast as if she had just broken a tenant of some sort. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"We would normally all sit at the same time to show unity," MacMillan senior answered.
Charlotte raised a brow. "Considering the matter at hand, I don't think unity is on the cards," she pointed out and remained where she was and folded her hands looking at the members expectantly.
When they were all seating, all of them askance by the lack of protocol, silence fell over the table while the Alliance members looked at each other hoping for one of them to speak first. This was the first full meeting with the Alliance in years since James and Charlus Potter's deaths at the hands of the Dark Lord and his followers.
For years they had hoped to have Charlotte around so they could show the Potter heiress her responsibilities, only to be shunned. But now things were clear that their assumptions were wrong. They only hoped to repair whatever damage had been caused to the Potter heiress and keep the Alliance going.
They would have preferred being in Potter Manor, or one of the more recognised properties. This windmill was not what they'd pictured, and as a result, they were out of their comfort zone.
Cyrus Greengrass broke the silence first, deciding to see what he could learn from the girl. He had a feeling the girl had brought them here to give her a position of strength. "I have to say, Miss Potter, I was intrigued and amused by the open letter of apology the Daily Prophet printed. How did you manage that?"
Charlotte smirked. "I own 60% of the shares in the Prophet," she answered. "As soon as the article came out, I immediately rescinded them. Like many businesses, the Prophet requires a regular dose of funds to keep going. With my contribution rescinded, the Prophet's resources would be cut in half."
Greengrass nodded in understanding. He regularly ensured businesses did as he told them under the threat of losing his investment, so he understood the technique. "Do you intend to give them back?"
"I don't know, but I've cut out the photograph of Rita Skeeter," Charlotte smirked. "I'm planning on framing it, while I use the rest of the article for other things."
"That's harsh, don't you think?" Septimus MacMillan asked hesitantly, although with a tinge of the same pomposity his son exuded.
"If they had bothered to do their homework, I wouldn't have done it would I?" Charlotte snapped. "What did they expect, that I was just going to roll over and allow it. That kind of reaction led to the loss of my eye, and the fact some of your own children took part in the hell I had to take at that fucking school makes it worse!"
Charlotte calmed herself down with a lot of effort.
Amelia Bones closed her eyes, realising this was not going to be as easy as they had hoped although looking at it from Charlotte's perspective made that abundantly clear. She was about to open her mouth, hoping to make peace with the girl, who was clearly very angry, but Augusta spoke next. "We have many things to discuss, Miss Potter," the old witch said formally, keeping her clear disdain of the muggle surroundings to herself even if they were obvious. "But first I would like to ask you a question; it's been implied you have been aware of the Alliance and yet you haven't said or done anything about it, do you mind explaining that?"
Charlotte sighed. "I don't know where you people got the impression I was aware of the Alliance from the moment I stepped through Hogwart's gates, but I didn't. I also don't understand where this assumption that I had grown up in the magical world came from, although I have a good idea who had spread that rumour around. I didn't find out about the Alliance until last year."
"You never knew?" Septimus whispered.
"No, I didn't. None of your children bothered to approach me either," Charlotte said. "At least not of their own initiative."
"That's not true!" Everyone turned to Septimus MacMillan, who lacked the control to keep the anger out of his voice. "My son told me himself that you didn't want anything to do with the Alliance."
"And who told them that?" Charlotte sneered. "Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger. A pureblood from a disgraced magical family and a muggle-born witch with delusions of grandeur. Both of them are Dumbledore's spies. But even with that in mind, why should I truly care about the Alliance since you were never there for me in the past?"
The Alliance heads looked at each other in astonishment. Charlotte looked around at each face, in turn, to gauge how they took this latest news; al of them was surprised by the sudden revelation although Cyrus Greengrass looked like he was putting two and three together. Augusta Longbottom looked furious that Dumbledore would interfere to this degree in a long-standing magical Alliance, but not surprised. Amelia Bones looked annoyed but unsurprised herself. Only Septimus MacMillan was truly surprised by the revelation.
"How do you know that; I doubt they would have told you?" Bones asked. "And as for the Alliance not doing anything for you in the past, we tried to make Dumbledore and the Ministry allow us access to you, but he managed to block us."
The teenager didn't seem surprised at that news. "Hmm, that makes sense. Whatever Dumbledore had planned for me he didn't want you to interfere in what he had in mind. I can excuse that at least. As for Granger and Weasley…," Charlotte glanced at the woman. "It was little things at first," she said, "I didn't trust either of them, and although Granger became friends later," she sneered at the word friend, "Ronald gave himself away pretty quickly with an obvious lie about how everywhere else on the Hogwarts express was full, and yet if that was the case why did I have a compartment to myself?"
Cyrus shook his head and muttered something about Gryffindor stupidity. Charlotte said nothing since she agreed wholeheartedly.
"In any case," Charlotte went on, "later events pointed out that Dumbledore must have made the two of them my friends; he knew far more about my life than I would have liked. It makes sense they would have kept your children away from me, although they didn't help."
"What do you mean?" Augusta asked indignantly. "I told my Neville to speak to you, more than once-."
"He didn't, Madam Longbottom," Charlotte interrupted, looking at her pointedly through her sunglasses. "I don't know if he told you lies, but you know something it's not my problem, and I genuinely don't care. Neville is a sheep, he follows the crowd because it is easy and safe for him. And none of the others bothered. Neville was a Gryffindor, he was in the best position to speak to you."
"Neville has always been a timid boy," Augusta ground out, clearly unhappy with needing to speak about this as if the problems with her grandson who had little to no self-esteem were to be kept top secret. "He was likely intimidated-."
"Oh come on, don't give me that," Charlotte became harsh now, and she was now wondering if the woman even realised some of the issues with her grandson were because of her own issues, but the issues in the Longbottom family were not her problem since she had her own life to lead and she wasn't interested in holding the hands of other people. "Intimidated, by what? By whom? Granger and Weasley? Neville was in the best position out of everyone to speak to me; hell, we even worked together, for crying out loud. He had so many opportunities to speak to me. Sometimes the spies weren't even there, so don't say he was intimidated!"
Amelia closed her eyes when she saw Augusta becoming more and angrier as Charlotte pointed out the flaws in her grandson, flaws Augusta had done her level best to try to hide. She only hoped her old friend didn't make a stupid mistake since they were on tentative ground as it was.
"Neville had numerous chances to speak to me. I did my best to be friendly with him, but the fact is either he believed the lies Granger or Weasley told him or he simply didn't care. The fact is he's a teenager now, so he has a mind of his own. He could simply have waited until the two morons were out of sight, and he could have told me about the Alliance. On top of that, during this year, he didn't say or do anything when my name came out of that stupid Goblet. The fact is Neville is like the majority of people in Hogwarts."
"Oh, and what is that?" Augustas' voice was tight with rage.
Charlotte picked up on the anger. "If you're going to lose your temper with me, Madam Longbottom, then you can simply leave. I'm not going to have you throw a temper tantrum in my home. And don't think I haven't picked up on your disdain. I can smell it from here, but I do not care about your feelings about it. I live in this windmill because I don't have access to the Potter properties, so it's not my fault. Do you understand?"
Amelia placed a hand on her old friend's arm, warning her not to provoke Charlotte.
Charlotte took notice of the action. "While I can't understand why Neville won't come to me, I can understand why your daughters," here she turned to look at Cyrus, her expression blank, "couldn't; with the hostility between the houses, it's not hard to see why they couldn't have approached, so there is a reason there, although like with Neville Longbottom, they could have found a way."
"I was under the impression you despised Slytherins?" Cyrus pointed out, looking at her with curiosity rather than anger at the flaws being pointed out.
"I am only hostile to people who are hostile to me. I don't care about the divisions between the Houses. I don't care about the one-sided grudges sent my way by finite man-children like Snape, who has already raised a stink about the deal I made legally with the goblins. Or little bastards like Draco Malfoy, who thinks I actually care about the little contests I have with him," Charlotte pointed out.
"Must you swear every time?" Augusta spat.
Charlotte turned slowly to face Augusta. "I find your hostility tiresome. Yes, I do need to swear. It gets my contempt for so many people out there, in the open. Why are you so hostile?"
Augusta took a deep breath. "I am just amazed a family as old as the Potter's would spit on the traditions and the Alliance. You show no respect for anything, do you?"
"Oh, like the magical world showed my family respect when the Ministry seized the house they were murdered in? I had to have an army of solicitors take back what was rightfully mine, but they will never bring," Charlotte had stood up and raced up the stairs, and they could hear her rummaging around for a bit before she came crashing down and threw a heap of photographs on the table, "them back, will it? WILL IT?!"
Amelia jumped at the shout but she felt her heart clench when she saw the photographs of Lily and James and baby Charlotte.
"Don't shove your precious Alliance down my throat, Madam Longbottom," Charlotte hissed like an angry wild cat. "As far as I am concerned, you are getting the respect you deserve, which is nothing. I have known about the Alliance for nearly two years. Two years. You had a chance to find a way of contacting me, but you didn't bother! You also didn't make your own children come to me on their own initiative, so why should I make things easier for you?"
Charlotte calmed down and she sat down with a sigh. "When I found out about the Alliance, and who made it up, I wondered why none of your children had bothered to say a word. And then I remembered how Granger and Weasley had kept me isolated from the rest of the school, although truthfully it was my fault as well."
"So you admit you didn't want to honour your family's traditions?" Cyrus closed his eyes and sighed at Septimus' stupidity. They were here to see what could be done to ensure the Alliance didn't collapse, although after the events over the last few years it was looking more and more likely the Potters would split from it, and that would certainly be something several of their rivals would love.
Dumbledore had spent years trying to make the Alliance see his philosophy, believing the Wizarding world should not change even a tiny bit. In truth, Dumbledore didn't need to do anything to the Alliance to make that happen, not since he had a significant power base in the Ministry, but the wily old fool would love to see the Alliance fall to pieces.
Thinking of the Ministry also made Cyrus think about Fudge, and how the little cretin would love to see the Alliance go, even if he had no idea what would happen if that occurred. Fudge had grown increasingly arrogant over the years since he had risen to power, now he believed there was nothing he couldn't do, blissfully missing the fact he listened to Malfoy or Dumbledore.
Cyrus hated the thought of the Alliance falling to pieces, but he had to admit he could see it happening since Charlotte Potter clearly had no problems leaving it, and likely did not care what the repercussions could be.
"Don't you dare put words into my mouth!" Charlotte snapped, her cold expression deepening. "When I found out about the Alliance, I was amazed, especially when I read the charter, that the heirs or heiresses, would standby another if they were attacked. Imagine my reaction since none of your children stood by me when I was accused of attacking other students two years ago; they could have done that, even if my so-called friends told them I wanted nothing to do with them."
Amelia closed her eyes, once more cursing not only the lack of initiative from Susan but this growing trend among Hufflepuffs to only be loyal to Hufflepuffs. It was a trend which had been growing more and more common since the Hufflepuffs were pushed to the bottom of the pecking order in Hogwarts.
"Also, since my name came out in the Goblet, I've seen how families the Potters have been friendly with over the years, hounded me. Surprise surprise, not only did some of your children either join in, but they also didn't standby me. I want to know why, and don't give me that crap saying I haven't respected my family traditions. Answer me now!"
Amelia and Augusta stared at each other in consternation. "I wish we could give you an answer, Miss Potter," Amelia whispered, thinking about everything she had learnt from Susan about the nightmare that had unfolded this year. "Susan believed that what was going on, being school stuff, as she phrased it, wasn't anything serious and that you would forgive everyone. I didn't understand the logic then since Hogwarts is a place where children forge alliances and friendships, and what happens during your time there can shape your perceptions of others. Susan should have been aware of that, but it's clear she isn't."
Charlotte just stared at her. "What was she thinking when she thought this," she pointed at her covered eye, "and destroyed my eye?"
Amelia sighed. "She acted out of anger," she said simply, choosing not to defend her niece in this case since Susan had placed the Alliance in jeopardy and also threatened a personal friendship with the other family. "The spell she used was magnified by the anger she was feeling."
"I can understand that," Charlotte said, "but if you think I am going to forgive or forget, then you need to see someone. I can tell you, I won't be forgiving anything. I have already called in the loans my family has provided over the years, and I am going to withdraw my family's support from this Alliance.'
"You can't-!" Septimus shouted.
"You don't know what you're doing, you would be condemning your children to disgrace!" Augusta shrilled.
Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "No they won't. I've read the contract and the bylaws. All families can withdraw without threat of reprisals. It was sworn into the Alliance charter, so you stop trying to intimidate me, Madam Longbottom. In any case, my decision was pre-ordained. I wanted to speak to you all so then I can get answers about why I should have anything to do with the Alliance when you have never done anything for me."
Charlotte went to the cabinet and pulled out a pensieve and a number of glass bottles filled with glowing memories.
"What are those?" Cyrus whispered.
Charlotte smiled, showing her white teeth. Everyone looking at her wished she wouldn't smile like that. It made them feel as if they were tasty morsels about to be eaten by a wild beast. "Oh, I am sure you will find them enlightening," she smiled, "and why I have no problem breaking ties with the British Magical Community."
Ten minutes later, the whole group were escorted out by the teenager. The women were crying as the memories they had seen of Charlotte being whipped by a belt, starved, shoved into a tiny cupboard before her time on the streets where she had to encounter terrifying muggle predators who preyed on the vulnerable tried to kill the innocent little girl who'd become hardened as the years had passed.
Cyrus and Septimus were also affected and shaken by the memories, especially since Charlotte had said to them as soon they'd come out of the pensieve that if they had cared so much about the Alliance then they would have made sure Albus Dumbledore had never interfered as much as he had and made sure she was given to her muggle relatives, who were clearly not the right guardians. Which was an understatement. It wouldn't be until later that Cyrus and Amelia would ask themselves how Charlotte had escaped from the Dursleys, but since Charlotte would refuse later communications with them, it was virtually impossible for them to find out.
XXX
"I can't believe we haven't seen her yet!" Ron Weasley was saying loudly to anyone who'd listen to him, but since his voice was so loud it carried all the way to the doors and the Head table, it was impossible for them not to hear him.
Neville sighed as he played with his lunch, far from Weasley as possible. His mind was fixed on the meeting his grandmother was having with Charlotte and the other Heads of the Alliance. He hoped it went well, and that Charlotte would forgive them all, but truthfully he had his doubts since Charlotte seemed to be burning all her ties with Magical Britain. Neville had to admit he had never really did anything for Charlotte, and what made it worse was the girl had been nothing but nice to him. As a result of what had happened with Susan, it had really hit home for Neville the seriousness of what could happen.
"I don't get it," Ron yakked on. "She must know she's allowed back into Gryffindor-."
Hermione Granger tuned the idiot out while she read the newspapers her parents had sent to her since there was a headline which she was studying with a sinking feeling in her stomach.
Ron had already gotten himself in detention with Filch for not being in lessons, and McGonagall wasn't going to get him out. She wasn't going to say or do anything either, especially since Ron had developed this obsession with Charlotte, saying he was going to invite her to the announced Yule Ball, how he was going to date her, how he was going to let her back into Gryffindor, and how he was going to marry her. The way he said it made her worry, since he was verging on obsessive, but Hermione had no doubt Charlotte would either avoid him, or she would curse him. Looking back on their relationship, which they had destroyed unthinkingly, Hermione could honestly say Charlotte didn't really give Ron the time of day even if the redhead's interest in her was obvious although Charlotte was repelled by Ron's greed and general manner.
And that was before you took into account what he had tried to do with Nightstar.
Hermione had been horrified Ron would do something like that, and she had been on the verge of stopping him since she could see him doing the same thing to Crookshanks, especially since he tried snapping Nightstars' neck. The frightened yowls from the cat who was innocent and hadn't done anything wrong except being Charlotte's cat, which in Ron's caveman mind made her guilty, would haunt her for a long time.
Had Ron honestly forgotten how Charlotte had reacted to Nightstar's petrification in second year? Charlotte had gone ballistic when her beloved cat had been petrified. She hadn't really cared much for the other students who were petrified or were scared they might be next on the Heir of Slytherin's list, especially since they thought she was responsible given she could speak parseltongue. But when Nightstar herself was petrified, Charlotte had gone out hunting for the Heir, and only when Hermione herself had been petrified she had found a decent enough clue.
But Hermione would and could never forget the rage she had seen in her best friend's eye. No, she corrected herself, former best friend. Charlotte is never going to trust me ever again, and after everything that's happened, is it really surprising?
Hermione sighed with sadness and she flipped through the newspapers. On top of the Daily Prophet subscription she had, Hermione had asked her parents to send her copies of newspapers that had been recently published in the muggle world so she could find out what was going on in the muggle world.
The newspaper was currently open showing a two-page article of the robbery where an opportunistic thief had killed a group of burglars who'd broken into a jewellery store in London before running away and then vanishing. Hermione read the story carefully, but her mind was on other things so it didn't really register. She was about to turn the page when she was distracted for a second when she had to answer someone's question.
Once she answered it, she turned back to the article and for the first time she caught sight of the murderer who'd stolen the jewellery the other burglars had taken and she went still when she saw for herself the picture.
The criminal had looked up at a nearby CCTV camera, and while their features were masked by the hood of the hoodie they were wearing and was very baggy like their trousers which made it virtually impossible to tell if the criminal was either man or woman. The hood made it just as hard, but the criminal - Hermione had no idea if the criminal had only looked up casually or deliberately, but they had made a mistake but with that hood it made it even harder to tell who they were - was wearing sunglasses in the dead of night.
Hermione looked closely at the sunglasses and the shape of the face that was visible. She checked her watch. She didn't have the time to head back to her dorm and take a look, but she was convinced - really convinced - her theory was right.
"Hermione, come on."
Suddenly she felt a hand grip her shoulder and Hermione sighed, trying to resist the urge to hex the idiot when she heard Ron's grating voice. Why was it now Charlotte was not going to trust or forgive them anymore, Ron constantly felt the need to boss her around?
She stood up, shaking off Ron's hand before she packed her newspapers up.
Ron watched her, looking at the newspapers in disgust. "I don't know why you bother, Herms. We're in the magical world, why bother with muggle stuff?"
Hermione bit her lip before she walked out of the hall with the others. Why did Dumbledore convince me to spy on someone who, despite everything, was nicer than anyone could have hoped? Why did he have to choose this joke of a human being to do the job?
XXX
Later on, at lunch break, Hermione quickly ate something before she headed up to the dorm and she pulled out a stash of Daily Prophet copies that she used for Crookshanks' cat-litter tray. She pulled out the file she had prepared and opened it. Pictures of Charlotte shortly after she had lost her eye jumped out at her.
Hermione had prepared the file to remind her of what had been lost, what she had thrown away. She pushed aside her revulsion when she saw the picture showing Charlotte opening up her eye cavity, and she found what she was looking for. A complete picture of Charlotte with the sunglasses on before the First Task. Picking up her schoolbag, Hermione pulled out newspaper with the picture of the criminal forward and she laid down the other photograph next to it and she traced the outline of the sunglasses on Charlotte's face and then she compared them to the sunglasses from the muggle newspaper.
They were virtually identical.
After reading through the article again, noting how the criminal had shot up the police cars and then they'd escaped down an alleyway. The police had searched through all the bins in case they had made the cliche decision of hiding in bins, but they had turned up nothing. Hermione leaned back, biting her lip thoughtfully. Despite her immediate theory magic had been used by the criminal, Hermione did not have any proof. All she had was a suspicion, but it looked good.
And yet she was sure the criminal was Charlotte.
Hermione let out a slow, dragging breath. She couldn't recall a time where she had ever seen the girl steal anything before, but she had heard last year how girls in Ravenclaw and Slytherin had reported things going missing. She knew Charlotte knew precisely where the Slytherin common room was, thanks to that blunder with the Polyjuice potion Dumbledore had forced her to make after the old wizard had hinted it could have been Malfoy.
But the Ravenclaw dorms, no chance.
Still, she knew better than to underestimate Charlotte. She was cunning, and when she put her mind into achieving something, she would give it her all. In any case, she recalled how Charlotte had handled that grappling hook in the First task. She had done it masterfully as if she had done it before, although why she had, Hermione didn't know since she could have flown over the forest unless the whole thing was to trick the audience into thinking she had something else planned. And what about that winch? Where would she have gotten it, ASDA?
But why would she do this? Had her living on the streets in London made her this way?
Hermione rubbed her face, looking down at the pictures. She could take these pictures to Professor Dumbledore, see what he could do-
No.
She decided against it. She knew she had betrayed Charlotte terribly these years, and she knew it would be a remote chance if the girl ever forgave her. But she wasn't going to betray her again.
Let Dumbledore be damned.
