A/N – Okay, I forgot the disclaimer on the first chapter, but it should be obvious that I own nothing. JKR is my hero – and I'd really, really like to be like her (rich, famous, talented, beautiful...etc.) ...but I'm not so far gone that I believe I AM her, so don't sue me, okay?
Also, please read and review (I'd really appreciate ALL reviews!), but if you flame me, understand me when I say I am a natural redhead, and proud of it...and the Weasley temper doesn't have ANYTHING on mine. CQ
Chapter Two: The True Story
"You want me to...what?"
"You heard me, Miss Kennedy."
"But why?" she was confused. He really hadn't asked her to convince the non-magical world to hand over their children as some sort of... sacrifice to this war?
"To be trained."
"A children's army? Are you insane?"
"It has been suggested, but no, I don't believe I am," Harry smiled at her. "Try to understand..."
"Oh, I am trying! In case you aren't up on your European history, a children's army marching to the Middle East has been tried before, you know. It didn't exactly work out as planned!"
"Please, I know this sounds odd..." Harry sighed. "It sounds a damned sight more than odd, actually. But please, just listen for a moment."
She quieted, then watched him expectantly.
"The year that children of our world turn eleven, they move on to a higher level of education. Up to this point, for the most part, they are home educated. The reasons for this are many, but most of all, we do not want our children to be...corrupted by the non-magical world. In your world, children are taught to 'grow up' and stop believing in things that are considered... well... silly, childish. That childish belief in magic is natural to all children. The difference is that our children are never taught to NOT believe. It's a very important element. That is why some muggle children are able to adapt their natural magical abilities – where others would simply dismiss it and stop using it.
"Some of these children are selected for a very exclusive education. Places like Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang...there are nine exclusive wizarding schools worldwide. Many more wizarding children go to community schools, or are home taught.
"Despite what the books say, there are very few muggleborns in schools like Hogwarts. This is not because of some silly prejudicial view on bloodlines. The fact is, muggle children are losing their ability to train their magic at a younger age these days. Your children have lost their innocence. This is something that in the wizarding world, we guard viciously. It is our children's one great strength, after all.
"This is not to say that it doesn't happen. It's more of a nurture versus nature thing. All children have magical ability – it just seems that if it is not encouraged at an early age, as comes naturally in a wizarding household, it gets left behind.
"Most of the muggleborn wizards and witches were, in fact, raised in homes where their curiosity and natural creativity were encouraged. This seems to have a great effect later on magical ability.
"If we can source muggle children who have not been discouraged, we may be able to train many more than we would otherwise be able to. Even if it is in basic charms and spells – even if it is just defensive spells. Imagine the difference we could make – how many lives might be saved..."
"But if we train adults to use..."
"I don't know if adults could be trained. I don't know if it's even possible. Every year in age takes away more of the likelihood that they can believe enough, that their minds are open enough to accept what must be taught."
Harry looked at her, his eyes so very sad...but determined. She could feel an electrical charge coming off of him, he was obviously feeling very strongly about this.
"We need the children. They will be our strongest chance."
Maura thought for a moment, then nodded, quickly, decisively. Harry let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding.
"Fine," she said. "But I want to know."
"Know what?" he asked.
"I've read the books. You're telling me that they are mostly fiction... I want to know the true story, what really happened. I have questions."
"Of course you do," Harry sighed, but he was smiling. "You're a reporter, right?"
"Did they really refer to you as 'the boy who lived'?" she asked straight out after a moment of thought.
Harry seemed surprised by her first question, but settled into his chair, getting comfortable. He knew, from his interviews with Rita Skeeter over the years, that this would take a while.
"Among other things, yes."
"Did you really only find out you were a wizard when Hagrid came for you?"
"There is no Hagrid, and I wasn't a wizard until I graduated Hogwarts."
"What?"
"Hagrid doesn't exist. Albus Dumbledore came for me. My aunt and uncle raised me, knowing nothing of the magical world. My mother was a muggle, not a famous witch. My father was a wizard, but I don't know if my mother knew or not. Perhaps at the end. You can't really be attacked by Death Eaters and not know something is up.
"My parents were killed by Voldemort in an attempt to get to me. There is... was... a prophecy. I was destined to be Voldemort's downfall.
"In 1980, when I was eleven years old, my aunt and uncle received a letter, inviting me to be a student at Hogwarts. When they learned that it was a boarding school in Scotland, they assumed that they could not afford the fees and simply dismissed it. I was slated to go to the public school in the village.
"Were they abusive... cruel to you?" she asked softly.
"They were... inattentive. My cousin was born to them late in life, and they doted on him. He was... difficult. They had a lot on their hands with him. My presence in their home was insignificant."
"You didn't live in a cupboard under the stairs?"
He smiled ruefully, "No. But I did work hard, which only managed to instill a strong work ethic in me, and the belief that you get nothing for nothing. I wasn't used to... affection, and it was no great loss to me, or them, when we parted ways."
"Is there a Diagon Alley?"
"Yes. I will take you there tomorrow, if you wish."
"Is there a Hogsmeade?"
"Yes, although it isn't called that. It is protected by many charms and spells to keep it from being discovered by the... non-magical community."
"The Dursleys..."
"Before you begin searching out every Dursley in England, let me tell you that their names were changed in the writing of the book. I can only suppose that the author didn't want any... difficulties, shall we say, with real people recognizing themselves in her stories. Also, my cousin's name wasn't Dudley....although he was a bully."
"Was?" she picked up on that quickly.
"There isn't really a restriction on underage magic, either," he smiled. Maura nearly laughed. Harry Potter obviously had a wonderful sense of humor.
"So, when Dumbledore came for you..."
"My aunt and uncle were hesitant to let me, at eleven years old, leave with a complete stranger who looked like something out of a King Arthur tale, much less let him take me away to Scotland to a school that no one in the muggle world had apparently heard of. They were, well, suspicious, to say the least."
"I can imagine."
"Dumbledore convinced them that he was who he said he was. I can only imagine how, as I wasn't allowed to be party to the conversation. Nevertheless, I paid an unexpected visit to Diagon Alley that day, and then ended up in Kings Cross Station on my way to boarding school in Scotland."
"Is there a platform 9 ¾?"
"Of course."
"Do you access it by walking through a wall?"
"Not exactly," Harry grinned. "Suffice to say that those who are meant to be on the train find their way to the appropriate platform, and those who are not, are pretty much oblivious to what is going on around them."
Harry was still smiling. He was enjoying this conversation, perhaps more than he had enjoyed any conversation in a long while. Maura Kennedy had a very sharp mind, and he was very much enjoying her questioning. She certainly wasn't asking the questions he had expected.
"The Hogwarts Express leaves Kings Cross Station at eleven in the morning on September the first, like clockwork?"
"Well, the transportation that is commonly referred to as the Hogwarts Express leaves from Kings Cross Station. All those expected to attend Hogwarts are expected to be there by eleven in the morning on the first of September."
"You're being evasive," she accused.
"I know," he responded. This is like duelling, he thought, only with words. "But the mode of transportation to the school has very little to do with what we are doing here, now."
"Fine, for now." she responded. She looked over at Ron Weasley, who was reading a book in a chair in the corner. As if sensing her regard, he looked up, his intense blue eyes sparkling. To her surprise, he winked at her. At that moment, she knew he was no more reading than she was... he was very much listening to their conversation. She looked around to find that they were the only three in the room. Apparently, the others were not interested enough in their conversation to stay.
"You met Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger on the Hogwarts Express the first year."
"Yes."
Maura thought for a moment, then smiled. "Is there any such thing as a chocolate frog or Bertie Botts Every Flavour bean?"
Harry laughed outright, "No, there isn't. However, some wizard shops sell sweets that are not available in the muggle world."
"When the sorting hat told you you were in Gryff..."
"There is no sorting hat. We were sorted based on our academic achievements to that point and a rather intense round of personality tests. We were given our house information before arriving at the school."
"No sorting ceremony?"
"No. Although there was a rather spectacular feast, as I remember it. That, however, could very well be my memory playing tricks on me. Food had never been in much abundance at my aunt and uncle's home."
"It was a bloody amazing feast, Harry." Ron's voice spoke up from the corner.
"Yes, I rather remembered it that way." Harry thought for a moment. "I remember eating until I felt like throwing up. Everything tasted so incredibly good, and it was endless."
"Co-ed dorms?"
"Absolutely," he grinned again. Ron snorted in the corner.
"Draco Malfoy..."
"What about him?" Harry's grin was suddenly gone.
"Does he exist?"
"Oh, yes."
"He's your nemesis?"
"I wouldn't call him that. He was more of an...irritant."
"He was a right pain in the ass, you mean!" Ron said from the corner. "Annoying little git..."
"And did Mad-Eye Moody really change him into a ferret?"
"Not much of a change, that." Ron piped up.
"No," Harry's sparkling eyes danced over to his friend and back. "He merely made him... bounce."
"Did you save the Philosopher's Stone in your first year?"
"Such as it was, yes."
"There really is a Philosopher's Stone?"
"Was. Yes. It was later destroyed."
"And the things you had to get past to get to it?"
"All there. And before you ask, Quirrell was possessed by Voldemort, and he had... well, the turban was in place for a good reason. The Mirror of Erised was there. That scene in the books is quite accurate, actually."
"What about the Chamber of Secrets?"
"Pretty accurate."
"Except that ruddy snake was more like two hundred feet long." Ron spoke again.
"Oh, and there was no Gilderoy Lockhart. I have no idea where he came from."
"Was Ginny Weasley really contacting Tom Riddle?"
"Yes," a voice spoke from the doorway. Ginny entered the room and sat down in a chair opposite Harry. "I was. And it was indeed through an enchanted diary. I have read that book, too. From my perspective, it's very accurate."
Maura turned to Harry, "And you saved her?"
"Well..."
"Yes, he did. If it weren't for Harry, I would have died in the Chamber."
"Can I see it?" Maura asked suddenly.
"See what?"
"The Chamber."
"It's been sealed," Harry said tightly. "Some students tried....well, it's been permanently sealed. Even I can't access it."
"And later? Did you set Dobby free by tricking Lucius Malfoy into giving him one of your socks?"
"There is no Dobby. There are no such things as house elves." Harry said quietly.
"And it's been a good many years since anyone was stupid enough to try to pull one over on old Lucius," stated Ron dryly.
"Maura, many of the magical creatures featured in the books don't exist. Some do, but they are few. Any that are presented as 'common' certainly aren't real. Goblins and centaurs for instance. House elves."
"And Sirius Black?"
"You're not serious!" Ron laughed. "Come on, "'Sirius', the Dog star?"
"I have no godfather," Harry said, amused. "At least, that I am aware of. There was no 'prisoner of Azkaban', unless you count Peter Pettigrew, who was indeed the person responsible for giving up my parents to Voldemort's minions. He went to Azkaban for that. I believe he was released that year, but he went running back to Voldemort. So far as I know, he wasn't an animagus, nor was he ever Ron's pet."
"Perhaps," Maura was rather overwhelmed. "Perhaps you could just tell me what did happen? Starting, of course, with your third year?"
"Nothing much happened in third year," Harry frowned, trying to remember. "The ministry was becoming a bit of a pain, and I remember Cornelius Fudge held some inquiries that year into things he should have just stayed out of, but overall, our third year was pretty uneventful."
"We spent too bloody much time in detention with Snape to get up to anything," Ron stated from his corner. "No, third year was quiet. It was the next year that all hell broke loose."
"The Triwizard Tournament."
Ron laughed uproariously, "Yeah, that."
"What?" Maura asked.
"Look, Maura," Harry leaned forward in his seat. "It's all about creative license. None of what you read is really... well, it's all based on actual events, but..."
"Harry," Ginny spoke. "Why don't you just tell Maura what you remember and allow her to interpret it?"
Harry nodded. "Well, in our fourth year, we had an inter-school exchange. It wasn't a Triwizard tournament. I have no idea... well... anyhow. While we were playing host to two groups from the other European schools, we had a... well, I suppose you could call it an inter-school competition."
"But no dragons, right? They don't really exist," Maura offered.
"Oh, they exist," Ron laughed. "But you'd have to be around the bloody bend to let one, much less four, within a hundred miles of a school full of half-trained kids... or you might call it a ruddy buffet."
"Dragons do exist, Maura, but no one would be stupid enough to involve them in a competition. The competition as it happened that year was for a prize...a goblet full of gold. The goblet wasn't portkeyed. Cedric Diggory and I weren't transported anywhere. The confrontation with Voldemort happened on the school grounds."
"Tell me."
Harry sighed. "I entered the competition on a dare. It was stupid, but you know that the members of Gryffindor house are selected in part on their supposed bravery...well, mine had been called into question by someone who I didn't like very much, and being fifteen, and full of hormones, and and idiot to boot, I put my name in. It was only supposed to be for 17 year olds and up, but somehow the judges missed the fact that I was only fifteen."
"Wanted to see what the boy who lived could do, the stupid gits," Ron grumbled. "You should never have been there."
Harry smiled, "You say that now, Weasley, but that isn't what I remember you saying when I got my duelling schedule."
"Well, I was fifteen, too. We were both stupid, hormonal teenagers."
"The competing was done in the form of a wizards duel. Each duel was judged by a panel of aurors from the Ministry. At the end, they decided the final duelling schedule by points. The two top point scores dueled, and the two bottom point scores dueled. Then the two winners were to duel for the prize. Victor Krum and I were the two top duelists. While watching our duel, Cedric Diggory was hit by a curse meant for me."
"Victor Krum killed Cedric?"
"No. An official from Durmstrang...it was assumed that he had been put under the Imperious curse...there was no way to tell afterwards."
"That was a suicide mission if ever I saw one." Ginny stated.
"Every auror from the Ministry there, and he's sent to take out Harry? Bloody right, it was a suicide mission."
"You killed him?"
"No. When he missed me, he tried again, and was... well, forty separate stunning spells taken all at the same time has much the same effect as any killing curse. Voldemort knew that anyone attempting to eliminate me in that arena would be in the middle of a very bad place, even if they succeeded. Surrounded by Ministry officials and aurors, and several hundred nervous, half-trained, pissed off and scared students...well, it wouldn't be very smart for him to send in a Death Eater. He got hold of one of the minor officials from our brother school in Eastern Europe and...we assume it was the Imperious curse. Any of his Death Eaters that are suitably high up to be willing to walk into an almost certain death situation to do his bidding had far more knowledge than Voldemort could risk, if somehow they were caught and questioned."
"And Cho?"
"Cho Chang? What about her?"
"The whole thing with Cedric?"
"She was never with Cedric, really. She just..."
"She just needed an excuse to get near Harry." Ron stated. "And was the type to use just about anything, even pity, to get there."
"It was over before it started, Ron. And it was twenty years ago."
"Where is she now?"
Ron and Ginny froze, then glanced nervously at each other. Harry studied his clasped hands before he looked up at her.
"Voldemort...assumed she was important to me. It's unfortunate that his informants were mistaken."
"So you didn't face Voldemort directly in your fourth year?"
"Oh, yes, he showed up. We had a bit of a difference of opinion. He didn't expect me to be as strong as I was, and he ended up leaving before it got too far along."
"Harry kicked his ass in a duel behind the school while everyone was distracted with Cedric." Ron clarified. "He's a bit modest, our Harry."
Harry continued to study his hands, silent.
"And then?"
"Then I told him I would kill him or die trying, that nothing would ever stop me until one of us was the victor, and he was through hurting the people I cared about. In that, at least, I was wrong. He took exception to my... determination. And left."
"And the next year? Professor Umbridge?"
"Oooh...." Ginny growled. "That woman!"
"Most of what is in that book, about fifth year, is reasonably accurate. Close enough to not matter, anyhow. However, this house never belonged to the Black family, there is no screaming portrait, Sirius never existed and Remus is not, nor has he ever been, a werewolf."
"But he sure is amused by the fact that he is in the books," laughed Ginny. "And he is a bit of a wolf, at times!"
"So...."
"They don't exist, Maura. Nor do vampires...at least in the form that the muggle world thinks of such things."
"Harry, I'm getting the impression you're not too..."
"Thrilled? You're right. I never wanted any of this. I'm not particularly thrilled that I not only have to face a lifetime of being 'the boy who lived' in the wizarding world, but that my fame precedes me into the muggle world, as well."
"Then why?"
"Albus was..." Harry started, then stopped.
"Dumbledore was determined that Harry's story be told in the muggle world," Ginny said when it was clear that Harry wouldn't, or couldn't, continue. "He said something at the time about needing to set the stage. He didn't exactly...consult Harry."
"Ah," Maura suddenly understood. "Well, he was right."
"What?" Harry looked up at her. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean, Harry, is that there isn't a kid in the Western Hemisphere who wouldn't die a thousand deaths for the opportunity to become a wizard...just like Harry Potter. That is what we want, isn't it?"
