Chapter 8: A new beginning

He reopened his eyes and distinguished three blobs hovering in his field of vision. Slowly, his sight shifted back into focus and at first, he thought that he had only been unconscious for several seconds because as before, he was looking at the faces of his four wizarding friends. But this couldn't be right! He was not on the floor any more, but in a hospital bed with clean sheets and a blanket! He turned his gaze and found that his bed was standing in a large room with stone walls, triangular Gothic windows and a huge Gothic ceiling. "He is coming around", he could hear someone whisper with an unmistakable tone of relief in his voice. All four wizards were positively beaming at him now.

'What…?', he started to say, but Dumbledore put a firm hand on his arm. 'You mustn't speak, Peter, you have been very sick for a long time and you are still very weak and need a lot of rest', he said kindly. But Peter was not to be told off like that. 'I want to know what happened', he insisted. Dumbledore gave a small sigh. 'It is not uncommon for victims of the Cruciatus Curse to regain a state of fragile consciousness, before their mind finally tumbles into the abyss of insanity. That was what happened to you. After you had fallen unconscious, we thought you were either going to die instantly or had suffered mental damage beyond our help. Robert and Harold hastily swept the contents of Grindelwald's desk into a sack they had brought along, while Herbert and I stayed at your side, trying to stabilize you with every healing charm we knew, but it was no good. Your breathing grew shallower by the second and we had to act instantly.

We took you in our middle and disapparated as fast as we could and then brought you here.' 'But where am I?', asked Peter weakly. 'You are in the hospital wing of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Actually, St. Mungo's hospital for magical maladies and injuries would have been a better place, but we could not risk that. School nurse Mary Scapula, ably assisted by her apprentice Poppy Pomfrey, slowly brought you back to health, but it required all their skill and often we doubted, whether they would succeed.' 'How long have I been ill?', Peter asked. 'Today is May, 8th 1945!' replied Dumbledore, 'so you were in a coma for almost half a year, and I can't tell you how happy we all were, when you first began to stir about two hours ago.' Peter shook his head incredulously. 'Almost half a year!', he exclaimed. 'What's happening in the war?', he next inquired eagerly.

'Victory!', Dumbledore beamed back at him. 'This morning, Germany has surrendered unconditionally to the Allies and Russians! Church bells are ringing all over Britain and people are celebrating in the streets!', he continued, still smiling. Peter let his head sink back on his cushion. He could not believe it! Victory, the greatest threat to civilization had finally been defeated. He breathed a sigh of immense relief. 'You have played a great part in accomplishing this, Peter, first as a courageous muggle soldier and then by helping us. Without your invaluable help, we could not have defeated Grindelwald and the war would probably still be going on', Robert McGonagall now said, a note of approval and respect in his voice. Looking at him, Peter now realized for the first time that Robert had exchanged his Highland dress for a bowler head and a pin-stripped suit. He looked very odd in this clothing, but also carried a new kind of authority, Peter had not detected before.

'Grindelwald?', he said incredulously, '…. but it wasn't really Grindelwald, it was that boy…..'. Dumbledore, however, still holding his arm, suddenly intensified his grip and shook his head almost imperceptibly, so Peter fell silent. 'Still not entirely there, are you, Peter?', smiled Herbert Weasley. 'Very unfortunate that we let that assistant of Grindelwald's escape, but it doesn't matter in the great picture, does it now? We caught the main culprit and will track down that boy sooner or later, whoever he was.' Peter still understood nothing, but thought it best to follow Dumbledore's wish and remained quiet.

'Naturally, we can never tell the muggles what you did, Peter', continued Robert McGonagall. All we could do was modify some memories, so the muggles won't be searching for you all over the place. For reasons, Dumbledore will explain later', he was casting a knowing look of mutual understanding at Dumbledore while he was saying this, 'the muggles think, you are dead. Actually you died in a car accident on your way to Aberdeen on the day we set off on our little quest!' 'Dead!!??', exclaimed Peter, 'But….'. Robert McGonagall silenced him with a gesture. 'As I said, the reasons will be explained later', he continued in a voice that sounded half-official and half-amused. 'Are you ready for a little ceremony?', he asked 'because the wizarding community can and will show you its gratitude and sincere appreciation of what you did'. All Peter could mange was a weak nod.

Robert then pulled a long roll of sealed parchment and a small ebony box from his robes, donned his glasses and began to read aloud in a very solemn voice. "By the authority vested in me by the wizarding community, I, Robert McGonagall, 8th minister of magic, hereby award the Order of Merlin (First Class) to first lieutenant Peter Parkinson for outstanding services to wizardkind and unusual courage in the face of the Dark Arts. Furthermore, I declare him an honorary member of the wizarding community now and for all times. Given at the Ministry of Magic in London on March 31st 1945. Signed: Robert McGonagall, Minister of Magic, Herbert Weasley, Secretary for Muggle-Wizard Relations and Harold Potter, Head of Magical Law Enforcement." Having finished, he opened the ebony box and took out a magnificent golden cross on a navy-blue band that was over and over encrusted with rubies and diamonds the size of dove-eggs. Bending down to Peter, he placed it around his neck, while Dumbledore, Harold and Herbert were applauding enthusiastically.

Peter could not believe his ears. 'You are Minister of Magic, Robert?', he asked in a failing incredulous voice, 'and Herbert is Secretary of…,but how….????' 'Fruits of our victory', replied Dumbledore, smiling mischievously. The parchments, potion ingredients and spell-books Robert and Harold brought back with them from Grindelwald's desk were enough to oust Malfoy and his followers from office. Not enough to arraign them in front of the wizard court perhaps, 'he sighed disappointedly, 'but enough to end their political careers. The day, we returned from Germany, I requested a little audience with Lucifer Malfoy and confronted him with our evidence! I am sure, he would have loved to kill me or sent me straight to Azkaban then and there, but instead he signed the letter of resignation which I had prepared in advance and now put before him. It stated that the situation of the muggle war no longer required the extraordinary powers granted to him and therefore abolished every single one of them, including that infamous Neutrality Act. You should have seen his face, when he read that'; Dumbledore chuckled, 'a Malfoy generally prefers giving up a limb to giving up power!' 'It also expressed his sincere desire to resign his office after five years of difficult times in order to spend more time in the country with his family and take a greater part in the education of his son Lucius. Octavian Snape, Lestrange, McNair and the others resigned the next day and also disappeared into the country -and good riddance to them, at long last!', he exclaimed happily. 'I had struck a deal with Malfoy: no official awards and recognition for their services in exchange for my dropping the committee to investigate their behaviour. This should make it impossible for them to ever re-enter politics', he added in a very satisfied tone. The rest was child's play. The new cabinet with Robert as Minister of Magic sailed through the Assembly in one hour without a single opposing vote and, I might add, to the immense relief of the entire wizarding community!' This piece of news left Peter speechless. Was he dreaming or was this real? It felt like the end of a fairy tale, but the wizards' faces told him, it was all true.

'We might even have a more solid case against Crabbe and Goyle', added Harold Potter eagerly. 'Those two idiots had their staff put everything they did in writing, so I think a thorough investigation of their conduct by the department of Magical Law Enforcement is called for', he said, grinning maliciously over both ears. Before Peter could ask any one of the hundreds of questions racing through his mind, however, the door opened and a young short little wizard in blues robes was pompously entering the room.

'Ah Fudge, what is it?' asked Robert curtly, 'can't you see that we are busy here?' 'Ever so sorry', replied the short wizard bowing apologetically, 'but an owl has just arrived from London. Your presence and the presence of Messrs. Weasley and Potter is immediately required at the Ministry'. 'That's what you get for holding office', sighed Robert. 'I am beginning to think you knew what you were doing, when you refused point-blank to join my government, Albus', he added. 'Well. let's get going', he said to Herbert and Harold and both nodded their agreement. The small wizard had remained in the room, obviously hoping to eavesdrop on their conversation. 'Is there anything else, Fudge?' asked Harold tartly. 'No, of course not, ever so sorry', stammered Fudge, moving towards the door. 'Thank you then. You know Fudge, if you keep up the good work, I might even forget the pure-blood admission policy for Hogwarts, you drafted under my predecessor', said Herbert Weasley, grinning. The smile on the little wizard's face suddenly looked rather forced and resembled someone who had just taken a sip from a glass of milk gone sour. Bowing once more, he disappeared from the room.

'Well Peter, this means good-bye for now', said Robert, but I am quite certain we will see each other again before long', he added, casting Dumbledore the same knowing and conspiratorial look as before. All three wizard office-holders vigorously shook Peter's hand once more and made for the door where Herbert Weasley turned and gave him a final wave, followed by the thumbs-up.

For long time after they had left, Peter and Albus Dumbledore simply looked at each other in silence. Finally, Dumbledore began to speak. 'I know what you want to say, Peter, it looks as if we received our honours for the wrong thing', he said, pointing at his own Order of Merlin First Class, dangling from his neck. 'But we have accomplished what we set out to do and only that counts. The wizarding community is once more ruled by a democratic government and I am sure the three of them will do a wonderful job of restoring peace and happiness to all the sorcerers and witches in this country.'

'But how is that possible with HIM still at large?', Peter asked quietly. 'We have to fight one battle at a time', replied Dumbledore, 'true, we let the most terrible dark wizard escape who has revealed himself for centuries, but I daresay, we have taught him a lesson he is not likely to forget anytime soon', he added with a slight shudder in his voice, obviously recalling events in the castle before the others had arrived. 'You know, I still marvel at his ability to recover so quickly and make a dash for it. Young as he is, his dark powers match anything I have ever seen, heard or read about. After what happened to him, most people would be either dead or completely insane without any hope of recovery, possessed by nothing but the will to commit suicide. He therefore remains a terrible menace to the world, but it will be some time before he dares show himself again among other wizards. Reliable sources of mine tell me that he has fled to the darkest parts of Africa to hide, but unfortunately, they were unable to find out his precise whereabouts or future plans.'

Hoping to avoid the one remaining issue hovering between them a little longer, Peter now asked: 'Why didn't you tell your friends about him?' 'Oh', sighed Dumbledore almost puzzled, 'I thought that was obvious. Those three need to stay convinced the main threat is over and dealt with in order to accomplish what they plan to do, which is to restore the wizarding community to some peace by a sound system of government', he continued. 'They could not do that with the constant threat of a nearly invincible dark wizard appearing to terrorize the world at any moment. Therefore, it will be my job to guard wizardkind from behind the scenes to prepare for the day he reappears as he undoubtedly will.'

'Moreover, they are very capable wizards who take great pride in their common sense, therefore I am not entirely sure they would believe us, even if we had told them the whole story. Imagine yourself, telling a fellow muggle that you had taken a stroll down the beach and suddenly met Napoleon. Even close friends of yours would have trouble with that, wouldn't they?' 'A teenage dark wizards with immense powers is something beyond most people's imagination, unless one experiences firsthand what he is capable of as you and I have done…..'

'Which brings us back to the main question who or what these apparitions…..', said Peter, his voice trailing off as if unsure he really wanted to know the answer. 'I think, you know enough Greek mythology to know the answer to that question', replied Dumbledore in a firm voice that made it quite clear that any further argument would be useless. 'Therefore, I suggest, we leave it at that', he continued, a final tone now in his voice. 'One more question', pleaded Peter, however. Dumbledore sighed resignedly and gave a brief nod indicating that he was listening.

'Does what happened mean that you can always summon these things to defeat Riddle, if he should ever turn up again?' asked Peter hopefully. 'No, I am afraid not', replied Dumbledore sadly, 'I took a terrible risk in using that incantation. There are dark powers beyond any human's ability to control and they are one of them. Even their foul offspring, the Dementors of Azkaban, are more than a match for most wizards and the parents are incredibly more powerful and evil', he said shuddering. 'Remember how one of them dealt with the killing curse, Riddle shot at her? No, it was a desperate choice between certain death for us now at the hands of Riddle on the one hand or an almost certain death or ….something even worse on the other' he added quietly. 'But in the second choice, there was some hope, whereas there was none whatsoever in the first! Riddle has killed members of his family and I gambled that the petty sins, you and I committed would be dwarfed by that. 'The Er…', he suddenly interrupted himself, then, after a brief pause went on '…THEY hate such murderers more than anything else as you well know, so I was certain they would turn on him instead of us! How I managed to persuade them to let go off him or why I even tried to do so, that I know not', Dumbledore murmured almost inaudibly. 'Yet there is hope in what happened', he continued, his eyes flashing brightly, 'you know, Peter, not many wizards are capable of performing that spell that summoned THEM! Truth be told, I might actually be the only one who can do it, at least within the last two thousand years or so', he added with a barely concealed trace of pride in his voice. 'So unless Riddle finds out that I do not actually control …THEM, there is reason to hope he will fear that it might happen again and therefore think twice before attacking me again…And in that thought, there is some comfort, isn't there?' Dumbledore said

'But I have answered all of your questions to the best of my knowledge now ,Peter', he continued, 'and frankly-speaking, I am quite tired at present of talking about dark wizards, terrors from antiquity or future threats to the world. I want to speak about happier things. Would it be all right with you, if I got myself a toffee from that inviting-looking box on your bedside table? I think, Herbert Weasley was kind enough to leave it there. Still pondering in his mind what he had just heard, Peter gave him an absent-minded nod. 'Ah', said Dumbledore delightedly, examining the box. 'Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans, a recent invention by Honeydukes, I believe.' He put one of the beans in his mouth. 'Delicious', he beamed, 'lemon drops, my favourite flavour'. He took another one and suddenly choked, his face contorted into an expression of disgust. 'Arghhhh…!!!'. Hands before his mouth, Dumbledore ran towards the huge washing basin in the middle of the room and gulped down a mouthful of water, then spitting it out again. He repeated that exercise several times to Peter's bewildered astonishment. 'Vomit!', he finally choked, 'that bean tasted like vomit! There should be a boundary to what they can do', he cried out exasperatedly, slamming the box back on Peter's bedside table. Peter made a mental note of not touching that box, while he marvelled at Dumbledore's change from a powerful wizard who had just defeated the most evil threat to mankind he had ever seen, to the sympathetic and a bit-strange young man who delighted in sweets.

Dumbledore seemed to have recovered sufficiently to go on. 'Where was I, Peter?' he asked. 'Oh, yes, your future career. You know, it is not entirely true that I accepted no office from Robert. The four of us had a little chat and decided to at last send Armando Dippet into well-deserved retirement -fellow was actually quite happy with it', he continued. 'Anyway, I am now the new headmaster here and it has long been my sincere belief that wizards should know more about the muggles we are sharing this island with. It took some time persuading Robert and Harold, but finally they authorized me to offer you a position on the Hogwarts teaching staff. You would be professor for the newly-added subject of Muggle Studies and I think there is no-one more capable to fill that slot than you!', he added, looking expectantly at Peter.

Professor at a magical school! It took Peter some time to get used to the idea. True, he had always enjoyed teaching, either as a tutor for underclassmen at school and later on in the military. But he knew so little about the wizarding world! He raised this concern with Dumbledore. 'You know, I would be delighted, Albus', he said, 'but will the kids accept me? Will they respect a teacher who can only perform a single hovering charm and knows less about the magical world than anyone of them?' 'I would not worry about that', replied Dumbledore. 'You see, there will be changes at this school. It is quite common that children with magical powers are born to muggle-parents, just think of your own case. And I plan to offer a Hogwarts education to anyone with magical abilities, regardless of whether their parents are muggle factory workers or old wizard nobility! Actually, I think a person like you would make it much easier for the former to get used to this place', he said seriously. 'And don't forget that you have considerable magic in you, albeit untrained and therefore undeveloped. It required very strong magic to wrench Riddle's wand from him with a simple hovering spell and you can take great pride in that accomplishment. Oh and there is one other thing', he added. 'Herbert Weasley has insisted on attending your classes for an entire year, supposedly because the new subject clearly falls under his responsibilities, though I daresay, he looked rather excited himself about the prospect of studying the muggles from someone with firsthand knowledge', he chuckled. 'This way, you will have a fully trained wizard at your side, if students should want to play magical tricks on you. So what do you think?'

Without a word, Peter extended his right hand and Dumbledore, smiling, shook it vigorously to seal their agreement. 'But you'd better go back to sleep now, Peter', said Dumbledore, 'we have already put you through a lot, considering that you only woke up two hours ago, haven't we? Poppy Pomfrey just told me that you will have to stay in bed for at least another fortnight and still take it easy afterwards. But I expect you to have fully-recovered by September, 1st 1945 to welcome a new generation of students to Hogwarts.' Peter could tell, Dumbledore was right. He could barely keep his eyes open and nodded weakly. Soon, he was in a deep slumber that promised further healing and recovery. Smiling, Albus Dumbledore watched him for some time. Then he bent down and carefully removed the Order of Merlin, First Class from Peter's neck and placed it on the bedside table. A satisfied look on his face, he then left the room, careful to close the door quietly.

This is the story of how I became the first professor of "Muggle Studies" at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a position, I have now held for more than 45 years. Before I leave tomorrow, I felt it necessary to preserve these events of long-ago in writing for later generations.

Dumbledore and I have remained great friends and colleagues for all that time, and I owe everything I have achieved to him and his kindness. My proudest moment came in 1952, when I completed my N.E.W.T's (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests), having already scooped no less than ten  O.W.L's two years before, all thanks to the patient coaching of my friends Albus Dumbledore, Harold Potter, Robert McGonagall and in particular, Herbert Weasley. Thus my childhood dream of becoming a fully-trained wizard became finally true and I only wished Jenny could have still been around to share my joy. Though, I still mourn Harold's early death, he at least was still there and my party at the 'Three Broomsticks' was the last time, all four of us were together.

Since then, I have Instructed countless students in muggle-culture and seen many of them grow up to be trusted colleagues like Robert's daughter Minerva or rise to important posts at the ministry like Herbert's son Arthur. I am particularly grateful that in my old age, I even had the pleasure of teaching some of their grandchildren, though I retain some reservations concerning that point in the case of Fred and George Weasley. I don't envy my colleagues who will have to put up with them during the next couple of years.

As was to be expected, a lot of things may happen in the course of almost half a century and not all of them were good. I fought on Dumbledore's side, when our worst fears became true and Lord Voldemort made his reappearance around 1970. I am still overcome by a great sadness thinking of these dark times and my quill quivers as I write this. Lily and James Potter were two of my favourite students and there is little comfort in the fact that their son Harry was responsible for Voldemort's eventual downfall. Apparently, Voldemort had not been listening too carefully to Dumbledore's words in that castle room so many years ago or he would have known what happened to one who used the killing curse on someone protected by the sacrifice of a parent. In my opinion, it is also possible, however, that he already considered himself invulnerable and beyond such threats at that time – and was proven wrong to our good fortune.

Though I often think that we could have prevented all this, if we had not failed so badly at the end of our task, Dumbledore's words in the hospital wing proved correct. Even at the height of his power, Voldemort never dared setting foot into Hogwarts or confront Dumbledore directly. So our victory over Grindelwald was not entirely in vain, since we could organize our resistance from a safe haven and finally remained victorious, albeit at the cost of great human sacrifice.

What grieves me most is the fact that many members of old wizarding families, many of whom I had known as students, joined Voldemort's ranks and contributed to his reign of terror by killing countless muggles. Apparently, their parents have not forgotten the defeat they suffered at Dumbledore's hands and have bequeathed their hatred to their children. Though, I should probably know better, I consider this a personal failure. At least I blame myself more than other teachers, since it was my job to increase mutual understanding between the wizard and muggle community. What the future will bring, none of us can tell, though I take great comfort in the brave courageous behaviour of Severus Snape. If things like that are still possible, there is hope for all of us, even should the dark lord  return one day.

I am now over 70 years old and tomorrow Harold Potter's orphaned grandson Harry will start his magical education at Hogwarts. Somehow, this seemed an appropriate time to go up to Dumbledore's office and hand in my letter of resignation. He accepted it silently and I could tell, he was saddened by it, but made no effort to dissuade me. After all, he is a very exceptional wizard unlike any other I have ever met. I expect him to carry on for many years and Harry Potter will be in his good care here at Hogwarts.

Taking my leave of Dumbledore, I knew, there was either a lot to say or remain silent. We looked at each other for several minutes and chose the latter. I won't deny that some tears may have rolled down my cheeks on my way back to the office, but I knew I had taken the right decision.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, August, 31st 1991.

Peter Parkinson.