The Secrets of the Past
Chapter 4: He's Back!
"Some things never change." thought Miranda. "It's so good to see you, Professor!" said Miranda as she went over and hugged Dumbledore.
"It is good to be seen, my dear. Although I must say you certainly are hard to track down. Never in all my years have I had such difficulty finding one person." said Professor Dumbledore.
"Well, apparently not that difficult. Otherwise you wouldn't be standing if front of me now, would you?" asked Miranda playfully.
"Ah, touché. You have definitely kept your wit about, I must say." chuckled the professor.
"I guess all those years of practice have finally paid off. Well, enough of these silly little games. What brings you to France now?" asked Miranda.
"Hmm…yes my reason now. I assume that you had received my letter earlier today?"
"Yes, I have. You said something about a situation. What sort of situation?" inquired the now curious witch.
"One that I'm afraid we have feared for years. You see…" said Dumbledore, but was interrupted by someone yelling.
"WHERE IN THE BLOODY HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! Do you have any idea what time it is? You say that your going to be home at a certain time and then…" bellowed Christine who was standing in the mirror right by the door.
"CHRISTINE!" shrieked Miranda.
"What? Oh! Professor Dumbledore,…forgive me. I…didn't see you." said Christine who was now turning a bright pink.
"That's perfectly alright. How are you this evening, Ms. Christine?" asked Dumbledore.
"Oh, I'm fine. Er…Professor, what are you doing here? Not that you need a reason to come. I mean you're more than welcome to. It's just…why at this late hour?" asked the embarrassing reflection of Miranda.
"He was just about to tell me until, you started going through one of your little drama queen moments." said Miranda.
"He, He. Oops! Sorry! My bad." said a Miranda sheepishly. Miranda let out a disgusted sigh and rolled her eyes at her reflection.
"Will you excuse me for a moment, Professor? Oh, and please make your self at home." said Miranda as she walked out of the living room into her bedroom. As she passed the mirror, she motioned for Christine to follow her. When she got into her room, Christine was already in the full-length mirror, hanging her head.
"How many times have I told you? Huh? How many times have I told you not to throw one of your little tantrums when I have a guest, hmm?"
"I'm sorry! I didn't know that he was going to be here. What is he doing here anyway? I thought you covered your tracks?" asked Miranda with a puzzled look upon her face.
"I did, but this is Dumbledore were talking about. He sent me a letter today talking about some situation that has come up." said Miranda as she changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of sweatpants, a tank top, and a hooded sweatshirt.
"What could that mean?" asked Christine.
"I don't know. But from the look on his face, it doesn't sound good."
When Miranda returned to the living room, she found Dumbledore sitting on the loveseat that was nearest to the door looking at a muggle magazine. "Interesting." is what he said about some article that was in it.
"Sorry about that. She's been a little melodramatic lately." said Miranda
"It's quite alright, Miranda. In fact I rather missed hearing your Christine's little shows." said Professor Dumbledore who could now see Christine start to turn pink again in a small mirror picture frame.
"Would you like some tea, Albus?" asked Miranda.
"If you are offering, then I shall accept."
As Miranda started to make her way to the kitchen to make the tea, she remembered whom she was with. So she pulled out her wand and muttered a spell. Suddenly a hot teapot, sugar, lemon, cream, and two cups appeared on a tray that was set on top of her kitchen counter. "Wingardium Leviosa", she muttered and the tea tray then started to float in midair. Miranda then used her wand to direct the tray to her coffee table.
"Here you go professor." said Miranda as she offered Dumbledore a cup.
"Thank you. I hope you didn't think that my presence should interfere with your normal what of life."
"Sorry?" asked Miranda with a questionable look upon her face.
"Your use of your wand, I mean." said Dumbledore as he added some sugar to his tea.
"Oh, that. I just didn't feel like waiting forever for the tea to be done. Now, …um Albus, what exactly are you doing here in Paris?" asked Miranda as she sat down on the couch across from Dumbledore.
"Well, like I stated before, there has been a problem that has recently developed. One that involves the school, and its students, and especially…Harry."
"Harry? What…what's wrong with him? Did…did something happen to him? Is he all right? Is he hurt?" asked Miranda as her voice started to rise with concern.
"Harry is physically fine, my dear." ("Physically?" thought Miranda) "But psychologically…well that's another story. You see, Harry has recently been through a terrible ordeal." With that said a worried look came across Miranda's face. Dumbledore tried to form words to break the news easier to her, but he couldn't find them. "Well I guess there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. Harry…was attacked along with another student a couple of weeks ago."
"Attacked? By whom? What happened to him?" asked Miranda as a sudden fear started to rise in her that made her stomach drop.
"This past school year, Hogwarts hosted the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Harry and the other student, Cedric Diggory, were competing in the final task and they both had won the competition. But when they grabbed a hold of the cup, they were then transported to a graveyard in Hangleton."
"Transported? You mean someone transfixed the cup into a Portkey?" inquired Miranda
Dumbledore nodded his head and continued his story. "There they were confronted by their attackers; but unfortunately Cedric was killed. They then took Harry, tied him up, and used him to perform a spell to restore one of his attackers to his original form and power."
And ice cold sense of fear started to rise in Miranda. She felt her stomach start to twist and turn as she thought of the wizard who attacked Harry. "Albus wh…who was the wizard?" asked Miranda wishing, hoping, that Dumbledore wouldn't give the answer she feared.
"The spell was meant for the dark lord himself…Lord Voldemort." said Dumbledore with a heavy sigh.
CRASH was the sound that came when Miranda dropped her teacup.
"V…VOLDEMORT? VOLDEMORT! He's…he's back? But…I thought that…I mean…" said Miranda as a wave of panic came over her. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and started to take in what Dumbledore had just told her.
"How could this have happened? When I left, Voldemort had barely enough strength to stay alive!" exclaimed Miranda.
"Voldemort has actually been trying to come back into power more these past couple of years. He even tried to get a hold of the Sorcerer's Stone." A surprised look came over Miranda's face but was dismissed when Dumbledore responded, "But it was destroyed."
Miranda then stood up and started to pace behind the couch slowly. A million thoughts and memories flooded her mind. All of them seeming like a nightmare, one right after the other. Destruction, chaos, and especially death haunted her memories. The thought of Voldemort with his snake like nose, bright red eyes, and the sound of his raspy voice, made her skin crawl and sent chills down her spine. After a few minutes Miranda looked over at Dumbledore who was looking at her waiting for her to respond.
"Where is Harry now?" asked Miranda.
"He's with the Dursleys now, but he will be moved soon in order to keep him and the Dursleys safe."
"What exactly did Voldemort do to Harry, when he had him?"
"Voldemort used Harry's blood to make the potion that brought him back." said Dumbledore with a tired look on his face.
"Oh well that's just great!" said Miranda in a sarcastic and frustrated tone. "Now that Lily's curse is gone, Voldemort can get him and finish him off."
"How did you know about that?" asked Dumbledore is a surprised tone.
"I kind of figured that that was the reason why Harry didn't die that night, and why he has the scar on his forehead. Lil gave her life to save him. A mother's love will always protect her child." said Miranda with a look of sadness on her face. The memory of her two friends almost brought tears to her eyes. "How did he escape? I mean if Voldemort had him tied up, why didn't he just kill him once he was back to his old self?"
"Ah, well Lord Voldemort wanted to um… humiliate Harry even more so he untied him and forced him into a duel. The only problem was that Harry did fight back and to Voldemort's surprised used Priori Incantatem."
"The Reverse Spell? But how can that be? I though that that was only possible if.."
"If the source of Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand came from the place, which they do." said Dumbledore as he finished Miranda's sentence. "The wands connected and the shadows of the victims of Voldemort's wand came out and helped him."
"You mean Harry saw his parents? They spoke to him?" asked Miranda in a surprised whisper to which Dumbledore nodded. Miranda started to envision what Harry must have felt and the look on his face when Voldemort subjected him to the torture of the Cruciatus Curse. The thought of it made her sick and a rage of hatred and anger started to rise in her. After a few minutes of trying to suppress her anger she continued her questioning. "What is Voldemort planning now?"
"Voldemort and his supporters have made several threats on Harry's life and on several wizard families. They have even threatened to attack Hogwarts and submit the students to endless tortures. That's why I have come to you. The threats are becoming more and more likely to come true. We have already set up some more security measures, but I was wondering, well hoping really, that you will come back with me and help protect the school. Just incase Voldemort and the Death Eaters do manage to break the security." said Dumbledore.
"Me!? You want me to come back to England? Back to Hogwarts? Albus are you sure you want me? I mean I'm honored but,…are you sure you want me?" asked Miranda.
"Yes I am quite sure."
"I'm sorry Albus,…but…I can't. I can't go back to England. I mean…no offence though, but have you lost your mind? Do you even remember the last time I was there?" asked Miranda in a slightly raised voice with a puzzled look on her face.
"Yes, Miranda I'm well aware of what happened." said Dumbledore in a dignified tone.
"AND YOU WANT ME AROUND CHILDREN?! After what I did?! Isn't there anyone else? What about the Ministry?" asked Miranda with a pain expression.
"The Ministry refuses to believe that Voldemort has risen again. Cornelius doesn't want to listen to the truth." said Dumbledore
"Fudge? He's the Minister of Magic? When did that happen? On second thought don't answer that. I don't want to know how someone like Cornelius Fudge ever became the head of the magic world. But isn't there anyone else? What about Barty Crouch? Moody?"
"Mr. Crouch died a few months ago. His son, who everyone thought was dead, killed him and joined up with Voldemort and helped him get Harry. Moody was suppose to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this past year, but Crouch's son kidnapped him, and used the Pollyjuice Potion to disguise himself as Moody in order to get close to Harry." sated Dumbledore
"Well who else do you have helping you?" asked Miranda who was desperate to try and think of someone else who could take her place.
"Well there is Professor McGonagall, Arabella Figg, Mundungus Fletcher, Corky Bluntter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and…"
"Whoa! Wait a minute, did you say Sirius Black? But…that's impossible! Sirius is in Azkaban Prison!" exclaimed Miranda.
"He's not in Azkaban anymore. He escaped about two years ago." said Dumbledore.
"HE DID WHAT?!!!! HOW IN THE HELL DID ESCAPE FROM THE DEMENTORS?! There's no way he could've gotten away from them! It's impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible, my dear. Sirius has been on the run and has kept in contact with Harry." said Dumbledore with a smile on his face.
"WHAT?! Harry knows? He knows about Sirius being his…godfather and all?" asked Miranda who could now not contain her anger when Dumbledore simply nodded to her question. "I'll kill him! I'm going to kill him!" said Miranda in a cold and dark tone.
"I'm surprised, Miranda. Of all people I though you would be thrilled to hear that Sirius is free. I mean after all he was your…"
"HE KILLED JAMES AND LILY!!! HE BETRAYED THEM BY TELLING VOLDEMORT WHERE THEY WERE HIDING!! He was there SecretKeeper! He was James's best friend! He's the reason why Harry doesn't have any parents! Not only is he liar and a backstabber, but a murderer as well! Or have you forgotten that he killed Peter and all those muggles the next day!" screamed Miranda as her rage poured out of her. She could feel a power in her starting to rise that was dark and very powerful. She walked over to one of her windows and tried to get a hold of herself. "I should have killed him back then!" she said as she looked out the window at the night sky. Dumbledore could see that she was very upset and noticed that the tea set started to shake and move slowly across the coffee table, even though no one was near it.
"My dear, Sirius Black is innocent. He didn't do it." said Dumbledore.
Suddenly the tea set stopped moving and Miranda then turned around, and looked at Dumbledore as if he had gone mad or was on some sort of drug. "What are you talking about Albus? Of course Sirius did it. I was there! I was one of the first Aurors to arrive on the scene. I saw what he did! He blasted Peter away leaving nothing but his robes and one of his fingers."
"Miranda, he didn't kill Peter." said Dumbledore as he reached into his robes and pulled out an old newspaper clipping. "Here, you ought to take a look at this."
Miranda took the old clipping and saw an entire wizard family smiling up at her. "It's a picture of Arthur Weasley and his family, so?" asked Miranda who was now confused.
"Look at his son's shoulder. Anyone look familiar to you?"
Miranda looked at each of their shoulders, until she came across Arthur's youngest son's shoulder. There on shoulder was a little tiny rat. As she looked at the rat more closely, she noticed that one of its toes was missing. She studied it a little bit more, until the truth finally hit her. "Wormtail?" she said in a very surprised tone and looked over at Dumbledore. "He's…he's alive?! But…how? Why? Why would he be hiding for so long? Unless…"
"Peter was the Potter's SecretKeeper. Sirius convinced James to change the keeper to throw off Voldemort, and his supporters at the last minute. Unfortunately it turned out that Peter was the betrayer. He confronted Sirius in the ally, and used his wand to make it look like Sirius killed him and the muggles, while he transformed into a rat and slipped into the sewers. He had been hiding out with the Weasley's for years. He was the one who helped Voldemort perform the spell that brought him back into power, too."
A look of shock stayed on Miranda face as she started to feel her legs give way. She went and sat down on the couch. She played the events of Peter's "death" and what happened to Sirius in her head. The look on Sirius's face when he was placed in Azkaban, the things she said to him, everything came back to her as tears started to form in her eyes. "Oh my God! What have I done? What have I done!" she said as she placed face into her hands.
"You didn't know Miranda. No one did. You can't blame yourself for what happened." said Dumbledore as he sat down next to Miranda and placed a comforting arm around her.
"No, you don't understand, Albus. You weren't there. You didn't see the look on his face when I told him all…all those things." croaked Miranda. "I've…I've hated him for so long. I can't believe I did that to him. I didn't trust him. I…I didn't even try to listen to him. And all this time,…all this time he was completely innocent?"
"My dear, it's past now. What's done is done. There is nothing you can do to change the past, but you can make amends now. Please come and help us."
"I can't go back now. Not after what you just told me. If…if I go back…I don't know if I could face him, or Remus, or Harry again. After everything I've done…no I can't go back. I won't ruin their lives anymore."
"Miranda, do you know what your friends told me to tell you? They told me that they would like for you to come back. And that if you couldn't come back for yourself, well then to come for Harry's sake."
"I suppose Remus told you that. He always was did have a way with words."
"It wasn't Remus who said it. Sirius told me what to tell you."
"He did?" asked Miranda with a surprised look on her face.
"Yes, he did." said Dumbledore. He could see that there was no hope in changing Miranda's mind tonight. "I can see there is no need to continue on tonight, so I shall start to make my way back to Hogwarts tonight. But if you decide to change your mind, I shall be at the Ministry of Magic on Saturday at one o'clock. I do hope you change your mind. It really was lovely to see you again. Say good-bye to Christine for me, and please, be careful."
"You know me Professor, I always am. Safe journey, Albus." said Miranda as she went over to Dumbledore and gave him a hug.
"Good-bye Ms. Starmenter." said Dumbledore, and with that he disappeared from Miranda's apartment with a nice little pop.
As Miranda stood there in the middle of her living room, she could see that Christine was in the mirror near the door, looking at her with her arms crossed.
"Don't even start, Christine."
"I wasn't going to say a word." said Christine with her arms raised to show her innocence.
Miranda's mind was now racing, with a million thoughts. She still couldn't believe half the things Dumbledore had told her only a few minutes ago. A voice inside her was telling her to go, but her head was telling her not too. For so many years, she kept away from the place she once called home, thinking that she could protect the people there she loved more if she stayed away from them. She continued to blame herself for everything that had happened. But she knew that Dumbledore was right, there was nothing she could do to change the past.
She walked over to her bookshelf that stood next to the window and pulled out a dusty old leather bound photo album. She then turned on her stereo that was located on one of the shelves, and sat down on the couch and began to look at the photo album full of pictures of her and her friends. She came across several group pictures of her, Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter when they were all at Hogwarts. She also saw a picture of the Gryffindor Quidditch team that James, Sirius, and herself played on when they were there. As she looked at all the pictures and remembered the days that they were taken, Miranda started to feel her eyes sting with tears. It only seemed like yesterday that these pictures were taken. As she came across some pictures from James and Lily's wedding, and a couple of shots of her and Sirius together, she remembered how it felt to be as happy as she was in the pictures. By the time she came across some pictures of the day Harry was born and on the day of his christening, she couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She closed the album and laid down on the couch, listening to the music, and cried herself to sleep.
find me here
speak to me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
you are the light
that is leading me
to the place where
I find peace again
you are the strength
that keeps me walking
you are the hope
that keeps me trusting
you are the life to my soul
you are my purpose
you are everything
and how can I
stand here with you
and not be moved by you
would you tell me
how could it be
any better than this
you calm the storms
you give me rest
you hold me in your hands
you won't let me fall
you still my heart
and you take my breath away…
(Lifehouse: Everything)
***********
"Where are they? I know they're somewhere around here." said Miranda to herself as she tried to make her way through a dark, thick forest. She climbed through and over limbs and roots of trees, searching for someone. "I have to get there before it's too late." she thought.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, she came to clearing and a horrific sight that shook her soul. Standing before her was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry being taken under siege by Voldemort's supporters and death eaters. There were flames coming out of the North and West towers of the castle, and large whole was in part for the East wall of the school. Small bodies were scattered all through out the grounds. Dementors were scurrying around the lifeless bodies trying to find new victims to perform The Kiss on. The sight, screams, and smell of death made Miranda feel as if she was going to be sick. As she ran through the horrible battlefield, she drew nearer to the lake. At the edge of its shore stood several figures. Nine of the people were standing in a straight line side by side to one another with their hands tied behind their backs. Five of them were adults, three were teenagers and one was a very large hairy man. Standing before them were three men, two of which had on dark robes with their hoods up; but the one standing in between the other two was none other than Lord Voldemort himself.
"Did you people really believe that you could defeat the great Lord Voldemort? Foolish people, no one can stop me. I'm invincible!" laughed Voldemort in his raspy voice.
As Miranda drew closer, she recognized most of the people standing in front of Voldemort to be Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Remus Lupin, Professor Dumbledore, and Sirius Black. The other adult she couldn't make out his face, and she didn't recognize two of the teenagers, one of whom was a girl and the other was a boy with red hair. But as she laid eyes on the third teen, her heart jumped into her throat. She didn't need to see his face to know who owned the messed up black hair. "Harry!" she whispered.
"Soon the world will be mine to control. Unfortunately none of you will be there to see it. So now I bid you all adieu. So much for the great Harry Potter. Avada Kedavra!" shouted Voldemort, and jets of green light shot through the air and hit each of the people standing before him. One by one each of their bodies hit the ground with a loud thud.
"Long live Lord Voldemort!" laughed Voldemort as he looked at he bodies of his fallen victims.
"NO!" shouted Miranda. As she looked around she realized she was no longer at Hogwarts, but in her apartment in France. The sun was just starting to come up and the first morning rays stretched across her floor.
"It was a dream. Just a dream." she whispered to herself as she tried to catch her breath. But it didn't feel like a dream. Miranda had this nagging feeling in her stomach that told her that it was more than a dream.
"I can't go back, not after what I did to them." she told herself. As Miranda got up from her couch, she realized that she dropped the photo album. When she picked it up, she saw the page that the album was opened to. On it was a picture of her holding Harry as a baby. She closed her eyes and remembered the last time she saw her godson. He was so small and innocent in her arms and she remembered how he made Lily and James so happy.
"Andy I want you to promise me something." said Lily.
"Sure, anything Lil. What is it?"
"I want you to promise me that you'll protect Harry if anything should happen to James or I."
"Ah, Lily, don't say that. Nothing is going to happen to you or James."
"Promise me, please Miranda. If anything should ever happen to Harry…" said Lily in a distressed tone.
"O.k., o.k. I promise. I promise I'll make sure that Harry stays safe."
"Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"And you'll never know cuz I'm not going anywhere. Lily,…you, Jay, Harry, Sirius, Remus, Peter…you guys are like my family. I'm not going to let Voldemort destroy our lives."
"Miranda don't go getting any ideas now. You know what happen the…"
"I know Lil. But I can promise you this, I would die before I let that bloody bastard harm one hair on that boy's head. Besides, he my godson for crying out loud. You know I'll protect Harry, no matter what."
With that, Miranda snapped out of her daydream. She was now filled with a sense of determination after remembering the promise she made to Lily all those years ago.
"I promise Lil. Not matter what it takes." she said to herself as she went over to her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed a number quickly and noticed that Christine what in the mirror by the front door.
"What are you doing now?" yawned a sleepy Christine.
Miranda motioned to her to wait a second and talked to the person on her cell phone. "Hello, I'd like to book the first available flight to England, please."
"ENGLAND? We're going back?" asked a shocked Christine.
"We're going back." said Miranda with a smile on her face.
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A/N- Oh, I wonder how Harry's going to react when Miranda comes to town. I guess you just have to wait and find out. I'm sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up. I've been busy with finals and getting ready for summer. But now that I'm on vacation, I'll try to put out as many chapters as I can. I hoped that you liked reading this chapter. Keep the reviews coming! I really enjoy reading them.
Disclaimer- If you are looking for someone with a lot of money then keep on looking cuz I have none. I mean come on I don't even own a cell phone or car. I'm a poor little high school student who is just glad that her finals are over with. It's all J.K. Rowling. She created the whole thing. I'm just giving my own version of her story.