12.- The Marauder's decision. Explanations.
After that, Sirius swished his wand towards the castle, and soon after that, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived. At first, they looked angry when they saw the three students out there, but then they became worried when they saw that Harry was crying.
"Sirius, what happened?" Asked Dumbledore.
"A Death Eater, sir." Answered Sirius. "Harry and his friends felt the temporal displacement and came to check it out. They saw him right here."
"Merlin!" Cried McGonagall. "Where is he?"
"Here." Stated Ron, pointing to the rat.
"A rat?" Asked the professors from the past.
"This Death Eaters is an unregistered animagus; he has already managed to get away from us twice." Explained Sirius.
"I see; what are you going to do with him, Sirius?"
"We'll keep him locked up in this jar, and we'll hand him in as soon as we get back."
"Very well."
"Dumbledore, would you mind if Harry spends the night with me? I think we need to talk about a few things."
"No, I don't mind."
They started to make their way back to the school, not knowing that those who shouldn't have known about anything had seen everything. The Marauders followed them, still very shocked. They felt they hadn't understood it right, because by what they had heard, it seemed like that Death Eater was Peter, their friend and fellow Marauder, and that Professor Smith was really Sirius, another of their members. And as if that wasn't enough, there was still Harry. It seemed he was not really James' cousin, but his son, and Lily was his mother. Both were dead because Peter had betrayed them, giving them to Voldemort. All that was too difficult to believe, they needed to know more, so they were going to follow Harry.
When Ron and Hermione started to head towards Gryffindor tower, Snuffles stopped them. He thought it would be better to talk to them too, so the 'four' of them went to the man's office and sat down.
"I suppose you want an explanation." Said Snuffles. "Specially you, Harry. First of all, do you know why Voldemort killed your parents and wanted to kill you, Harry?"
"No, Professor Dumbledore said he would tell me when I was ready."
"Figures." Smiled Sirius. "Voldemort killed your parents and wanted to kill you because you have Godric Gryffindor's blood running through your veins."
"What!?" Shouted Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Yes, James was a descendant from Gryffindor, and therefore, so are you." Said Snuffles while staring at a picture of the Marauders in which Peter was not present. "I don't remember when I found out, I think it was in my fifth year. As you know, Voldemort is the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin, and he especially hates Gryffindors. Even so, he would never have done anything if he hadn't found out that one of Gryffindor's descendants was going to have great power, just as great as or greater than his ancestor. You can imagine what that meant to him, he, who was fighting against death itself, would have to face someone who would be able to kill him without any trouble."
"That's why he tried to kill me? That's why he only wanted to kill my father?" Asked Harry.
"Yes. Voldemort didn't know you were going to defeat him, he only thought that if he killed you and your father, the line of Gryffindor would die and no wizard or witch would be born with the power to destroy him. Then, thanks to that slimy rat, he found out that the one had already been born, and he decided to kill him before his power could grow. But Voldemort erred, he hadn't thought that Lily, a muggle born witch, would be able to destroy his plans."
"She gave her life to save me." Said Harry dully. "Riddle said that was a very powerful counter curse coming from ancient magic."
"Actually, it's the most powerful. To die in order to protect someone is the most powerful ancient magic. Voldemort is a heartless and cruel being, which made him forget the protection that that simple fact gave. That's why, when he tried to kill you, he wasn't able and the curse bounced of and turned against him."
Harry stayed silent, there was too much information, and he was started to feel numb. It was even worse than the time he had found out he was a wizard and everything that had happened because of it.
"But Snuffles, how did Pettigrew know that Harry was that wizard?" Asked Hermione.
"I knew you would be the one to ask about that... You know, I understand why Remus said you were the smartest and most curious witch he had ever met." Smiled the man, making Hermione blush lightly, and Ron laugh out loudly. "There's a simple reason. You know Peter was Voldemort's spy; same as Snape was to Dumbledore... and you also know that we knew there was a spy in our side. We never suspected Peter, which led to the great mistake of appointing him as secret keeper. That meant he always had a lot of information to give to Voldemort, part of that information was Harry's birth.
When Harry was born, both James and Dumbledore noticed the great power hidden in him. And James told us, his friends, about it. You can imagine that Peter didn't waste time to inform Voldemort, which caused him to go seriously against them. That's when we noticed there was a traitor between us. Well, you know the rest."
Harry stayed silent some more time; he needed to understand all that information. But there was something that didn't make sense. All the while, in the jar, the rat had woken up and he was moving restless around its prison, listening intently.
"Snuffles... there's something I don't understand. If I'm such a powerful wizard... where's that power? I've never showed that power."
"Ah, Harry... I don't think you realize what happened earlier." Smiled Sirius. "You not only turned Peter into his rat form and locked him up in a crystal jar wandless, but... don't you remember the golden aura that surrounded you? Didn't you notice the storm you caused?" Harry shook his head astounded. "Harry, your power is still sleeping, hidden within you, or at least it was. It should have started to awaken since your last birthday, and you won't deny that your magical abilities have become much better. Earlier, a great part of it woke up when you became angry, but there's still some left asleep."
"And how long have you known that Voldemort knew where I was?"
"We started to suspect by the end of November, so we started to make arrangements to send someone after you so they could keep an eye on you, and half a month later everything was ready. My job here was to watch you and try to make sure you wouldn't go out while Voldemort was out there ready to attack you. I became worried when I found out about the animagus transformation, and I started to do things so you wouldn't go out with the Marauders. I'm sorry about the times you were ill, those were my fault too."
"I should have known; I never get ill. It was really strange that I wouldn't feel well three months in a row and always on the full moon."
Ron and Hermione left for their tower, and the Marauders used the chance to get out too. They were lucky that Harry called them back when Hermione opened the door, but they didn't stay to listen, they had to make their way back into the tower before Ron and Hermione.
They reached the common room and were just sitting down when the Fat Lady opened again and the other two came in. They seemed surprised to see the Marauders sitting there.
"How did it go?" Asked Lily innocently.
"It was going well." Answered Hermione. "Until Snuffles caught us."
"He caught you?" Said Sirius, pretending that he knew nothing.
"Yeah." Said Ron. "He shouted at us for hours."
"Where's Harry?" Asked James.
"Snuffles wanted him to spend the night with him." Answered Hermione. "I'm going to bed, are you coming, Lily?"
"No, the storm has left me completely awake."
"Us too." Said Remus.
"Ok, good night then." Said Ron and both he and Hermione went to their rooms.
Some time later, after making sure the whole Tower was asleep, the Marauders looked at each other. None of them seemed able to say anything about what had happened. In the end, Peter broke the silence.
"I can't believe it! It must be a lie!"
"I don't know Peter, I'm not so sure about it. In fact, it makes perfect sense." Assured Sirius.
"It does?" He asked.
"Of course. From the beginning they have been very familiar with the school, they discovered Remus' secret in no time, and they found out we were trying to become animagi. They already knew!"
"We have always wondered why they treated you so coldly, and this would explain it." Said James.
"That would also explain why Harry looks so much like you." Said Remus. "Harry looks so much like you because he is your and Lily's son." He added, making the pair blush.
"That means that my parents must know the truth, else they wouldn't have said he was my cousin." Said James. "And Dumbledore probably knows too."
"You do realize that with everything we know we could change the future?" Asked Lily. "We could prevent all those things from happening."
"That's strange." Said Sirius. "If we found out about all this, our future selves should have found out too, but they didn't do anything to change history. That's weird, I at least am not going to allow that things happen that way, why did my future self allow it?"
They all stayed silent for a while, thinking why Sirius, or rather the kind Professor 'Smith' had allowed all that to happen when it was obvious they were willing to do anything to stop it. They didn't realize that at that moment, by asking that question, Sirius had really changed history.
"I think they might obliviate us when they leave. That way no one will be able to change history, no matter how much we want to." Said Lily. "You shouldn't forget that right now James and I could make sure that Harry wasn't born. To tell someone about the future is very dangerous."
"And what should we do? Because I refuse to allow the two of you to die." Cried Sirius, looking at James and Lily.
"We should learn a shielding spell, if we manage to put it up just before they try to obliviate us it won't affect us, and we'll remember everything. But this spell is above the OWLs level." Said Lily.
"Then how do you know about it?" Asked James.
"I was curious about what we were going to do next year." She answered coolly. "We just need to learn it and do it just before the end of year feast. I don't think they are going to leave before that."
After that, Sirius swished his wand towards the castle, and soon after that, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived. At first, they looked angry when they saw the three students out there, but then they became worried when they saw that Harry was crying.
"Sirius, what happened?" Asked Dumbledore.
"A Death Eater, sir." Answered Sirius. "Harry and his friends felt the temporal displacement and came to check it out. They saw him right here."
"Merlin!" Cried McGonagall. "Where is he?"
"Here." Stated Ron, pointing to the rat.
"A rat?" Asked the professors from the past.
"This Death Eaters is an unregistered animagus; he has already managed to get away from us twice." Explained Sirius.
"I see; what are you going to do with him, Sirius?"
"We'll keep him locked up in this jar, and we'll hand him in as soon as we get back."
"Very well."
"Dumbledore, would you mind if Harry spends the night with me? I think we need to talk about a few things."
"No, I don't mind."
They started to make their way back to the school, not knowing that those who shouldn't have known about anything had seen everything. The Marauders followed them, still very shocked. They felt they hadn't understood it right, because by what they had heard, it seemed like that Death Eater was Peter, their friend and fellow Marauder, and that Professor Smith was really Sirius, another of their members. And as if that wasn't enough, there was still Harry. It seemed he was not really James' cousin, but his son, and Lily was his mother. Both were dead because Peter had betrayed them, giving them to Voldemort. All that was too difficult to believe, they needed to know more, so they were going to follow Harry.
When Ron and Hermione started to head towards Gryffindor tower, Snuffles stopped them. He thought it would be better to talk to them too, so the 'four' of them went to the man's office and sat down.
"I suppose you want an explanation." Said Snuffles. "Specially you, Harry. First of all, do you know why Voldemort killed your parents and wanted to kill you, Harry?"
"No, Professor Dumbledore said he would tell me when I was ready."
"Figures." Smiled Sirius. "Voldemort killed your parents and wanted to kill you because you have Godric Gryffindor's blood running through your veins."
"What!?" Shouted Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Yes, James was a descendant from Gryffindor, and therefore, so are you." Said Snuffles while staring at a picture of the Marauders in which Peter was not present. "I don't remember when I found out, I think it was in my fifth year. As you know, Voldemort is the last descendant of Salazar Slytherin, and he especially hates Gryffindors. Even so, he would never have done anything if he hadn't found out that one of Gryffindor's descendants was going to have great power, just as great as or greater than his ancestor. You can imagine what that meant to him, he, who was fighting against death itself, would have to face someone who would be able to kill him without any trouble."
"That's why he tried to kill me? That's why he only wanted to kill my father?" Asked Harry.
"Yes. Voldemort didn't know you were going to defeat him, he only thought that if he killed you and your father, the line of Gryffindor would die and no wizard or witch would be born with the power to destroy him. Then, thanks to that slimy rat, he found out that the one had already been born, and he decided to kill him before his power could grow. But Voldemort erred, he hadn't thought that Lily, a muggle born witch, would be able to destroy his plans."
"She gave her life to save me." Said Harry dully. "Riddle said that was a very powerful counter curse coming from ancient magic."
"Actually, it's the most powerful. To die in order to protect someone is the most powerful ancient magic. Voldemort is a heartless and cruel being, which made him forget the protection that that simple fact gave. That's why, when he tried to kill you, he wasn't able and the curse bounced of and turned against him."
Harry stayed silent, there was too much information, and he was started to feel numb. It was even worse than the time he had found out he was a wizard and everything that had happened because of it.
"But Snuffles, how did Pettigrew know that Harry was that wizard?" Asked Hermione.
"I knew you would be the one to ask about that... You know, I understand why Remus said you were the smartest and most curious witch he had ever met." Smiled the man, making Hermione blush lightly, and Ron laugh out loudly. "There's a simple reason. You know Peter was Voldemort's spy; same as Snape was to Dumbledore... and you also know that we knew there was a spy in our side. We never suspected Peter, which led to the great mistake of appointing him as secret keeper. That meant he always had a lot of information to give to Voldemort, part of that information was Harry's birth.
When Harry was born, both James and Dumbledore noticed the great power hidden in him. And James told us, his friends, about it. You can imagine that Peter didn't waste time to inform Voldemort, which caused him to go seriously against them. That's when we noticed there was a traitor between us. Well, you know the rest."
Harry stayed silent some more time; he needed to understand all that information. But there was something that didn't make sense. All the while, in the jar, the rat had woken up and he was moving restless around its prison, listening intently.
"Snuffles... there's something I don't understand. If I'm such a powerful wizard... where's that power? I've never showed that power."
"Ah, Harry... I don't think you realize what happened earlier." Smiled Sirius. "You not only turned Peter into his rat form and locked him up in a crystal jar wandless, but... don't you remember the golden aura that surrounded you? Didn't you notice the storm you caused?" Harry shook his head astounded. "Harry, your power is still sleeping, hidden within you, or at least it was. It should have started to awaken since your last birthday, and you won't deny that your magical abilities have become much better. Earlier, a great part of it woke up when you became angry, but there's still some left asleep."
"And how long have you known that Voldemort knew where I was?"
"We started to suspect by the end of November, so we started to make arrangements to send someone after you so they could keep an eye on you, and half a month later everything was ready. My job here was to watch you and try to make sure you wouldn't go out while Voldemort was out there ready to attack you. I became worried when I found out about the animagus transformation, and I started to do things so you wouldn't go out with the Marauders. I'm sorry about the times you were ill, those were my fault too."
"I should have known; I never get ill. It was really strange that I wouldn't feel well three months in a row and always on the full moon."
Ron and Hermione left for their tower, and the Marauders used the chance to get out too. They were lucky that Harry called them back when Hermione opened the door, but they didn't stay to listen, they had to make their way back into the tower before Ron and Hermione.
They reached the common room and were just sitting down when the Fat Lady opened again and the other two came in. They seemed surprised to see the Marauders sitting there.
"How did it go?" Asked Lily innocently.
"It was going well." Answered Hermione. "Until Snuffles caught us."
"He caught you?" Said Sirius, pretending that he knew nothing.
"Yeah." Said Ron. "He shouted at us for hours."
"Where's Harry?" Asked James.
"Snuffles wanted him to spend the night with him." Answered Hermione. "I'm going to bed, are you coming, Lily?"
"No, the storm has left me completely awake."
"Us too." Said Remus.
"Ok, good night then." Said Ron and both he and Hermione went to their rooms.
Some time later, after making sure the whole Tower was asleep, the Marauders looked at each other. None of them seemed able to say anything about what had happened. In the end, Peter broke the silence.
"I can't believe it! It must be a lie!"
"I don't know Peter, I'm not so sure about it. In fact, it makes perfect sense." Assured Sirius.
"It does?" He asked.
"Of course. From the beginning they have been very familiar with the school, they discovered Remus' secret in no time, and they found out we were trying to become animagi. They already knew!"
"We have always wondered why they treated you so coldly, and this would explain it." Said James.
"That would also explain why Harry looks so much like you." Said Remus. "Harry looks so much like you because he is your and Lily's son." He added, making the pair blush.
"That means that my parents must know the truth, else they wouldn't have said he was my cousin." Said James. "And Dumbledore probably knows too."
"You do realize that with everything we know we could change the future?" Asked Lily. "We could prevent all those things from happening."
"That's strange." Said Sirius. "If we found out about all this, our future selves should have found out too, but they didn't do anything to change history. That's weird, I at least am not going to allow that things happen that way, why did my future self allow it?"
They all stayed silent for a while, thinking why Sirius, or rather the kind Professor 'Smith' had allowed all that to happen when it was obvious they were willing to do anything to stop it. They didn't realize that at that moment, by asking that question, Sirius had really changed history.
"I think they might obliviate us when they leave. That way no one will be able to change history, no matter how much we want to." Said Lily. "You shouldn't forget that right now James and I could make sure that Harry wasn't born. To tell someone about the future is very dangerous."
"And what should we do? Because I refuse to allow the two of you to die." Cried Sirius, looking at James and Lily.
"We should learn a shielding spell, if we manage to put it up just before they try to obliviate us it won't affect us, and we'll remember everything. But this spell is above the OWLs level." Said Lily.
"Then how do you know about it?" Asked James.
"I was curious about what we were going to do next year." She answered coolly. "We just need to learn it and do it just before the end of year feast. I don't think they are going to leave before that."
