A/N: Sorry! I am sooooo sorry this took me so long. And it isn't even a terribly long chapter either, but I do hope you'll forgive me. I have been job hunting (I finally found a job and I hate it and want a different one as soon as I can find it). Anyway, this chapter is slightly longer than usual. I think I may have contradicted some things I said in earlier chapters in this one (I know for a fact that I said earlier it has been 18 years since Harry left the wizarding world and nobody looked at the years or bothered to correct me because it is actually 16 years…) Anyway, I will eventually fix earlier chapters so they all are correct.
Hope you like this chapter and have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend-I'm going to Las Vegas with my sister and brother-in-law and another friend!
A Project
Angela and Courtney were both late to breakfast the next morning due to how late they had gone to bed. As they rushed over to the table Professor McGonagall passed them their time-tables. As Courtney grabbed a muffin and started buttering it, Angela gazed over her schedule.
"Oh, great. Today I have Mum first. Then Muggle studies, that means you have Mum back to back for two periods. Then there's lunch and after Double Charms."
"Double charms?" Courtney asked.
"Means we have it twice as long with another house—looks like we have Charms with Ravenclaw. Hurry up, we shouldn't be late first day of school."
Courtney examined her schedule briefly before gulping down some pumpkin juice and followed her friend out of the Great Hall.
"Welcome to History of Magic. In this class, you will learn about the history of our society." Professor Granger said after taking attendance, "This term you will also be doing a history project on any witch or wizard you choose. I expect your witch or wizard to be chosen by next class. Now, since I don't want everyone to do the same person, it is on a first-come first-serve basis. If you want to do your project on Harry Potter, write me a paragraph on why you want to do your project on him and I will judge the best reason." Then she launched into a semi-interesting lecture about the forming of the British Ministry of Magic.
Courtney groaned as she flexed her hand. Her muscles were cramped from writing a ton of notes in Professor Granger's class. As Angela packed up her things to leave class and go to Muggle studies Courtney said, "Meet you at lunch?"
"Oh, no, sorry. I'm eating lunch with Mum today. She asked me to come to her rooms," Angela apologized, "but we'll see each other in Charms."
"Oh, ok." Courtney answered as Angela left for her next class.
As other muggle-borns filed into the classroom Professor Granger erased what she had written on the board and started to put new notes up. When everyone had entered she closed the door and walked over to the front of her desk and, leaning against it, addressed the class.
"In this class you will get an introduction to the Wizarding world. We'll cover recent history and current events as well as giving you a background in the current pop culture of the wizarding world.
"The first thing that we will study will be the First and Second Dark Wars, as they have been the major factors in development of the Wizarding world as it exists now.
"This class will have very little homework, you'll have less than your fellow students in Muggle Studies, because you have the advantage of being immersed in the wizarding world so you will learn this information quicker.
"I am a muggle-born myself so I know how confusing some things can be when you first enter the wizarding world, so if you have a question, just ask."
"Now," Hermione sighed and launched into lecture-mode, "the First Dark war started in 1971 with the rise of Voldemort. We'll go into the history of Voldemort later, but right now you just need to know when it started. Voldemort quickly gained followers, whom he called Death Eaters. Voldemort's goal was to eliminate Muggle-born witches and wizards, as well as half-bloods, and then attack the muggle world itself. Many scholars have compared Voldemort to Hitler.
"Voldemort commenced a series of attacks between 1972 and 1981 that decimated those who opposed him. Albus Dumbledore led the forces that opposed him. Hogwarts ran normally as a school but it doubled as the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, the ruling body of the Light Forces.
"Voldemort fell in October of 1981. Exactly why it happened is mostly still a mystery. Voldemort had made the Potter family his main target at the time. A spy among Voldemort's forces reported this fact to Albus. Lily and James Potter along with their infant son Harry went into hiding use a charm called the Fidelius Charm. The charm hid their whereabouts from Voldemort by hiding it in one person. The secret keeper betrayed the Potters and Voldemort attacked them. Lily and James Potter were killed, but Voldemort's curse ricocheted off Harry Potter and struck Voldemort. Voldemort did not die, but he was thrown from his body and lost most of his powers.
"Lily Potter died for Harry and so it is presumed that her sacrifice partially shielded him from the curse. However, there have been many instances in the past of people making the same type of sacrifice, where the other person still died, so there had to be something else about Harry Potter that prevented the curse from killing him. Nobody else has ever survived the killing curse.
"After Voldemort fell, the wizarding world as a whole decided to pretend it had never happened. This was unfortunate because Voldemort was not, in fact, dead. Had more been done following his fall, it might have prevented him from ever returning. Voldemort returned in 1994. That was the beginning of the Second Dark War, which lasted until 2005.
"One of Voldemort's followers helped him gain a new body. To gain that body he used blood from Harry Potter, who was then almost fifteen. Voldemort commenced attacking the wizarding world with more ferocity than during his first reign. The attacks were brutal, it was a very dark time in my life, as well as well as the lives of most of the other professors. Many family members were lost. Voldemort was finally defeated for good in 2005, right at the gates of Hogwarts.
"This is a brief history, and we will be going into further depth later. Right now, does anyone have a question?"
A girls from Hufflepuff raised her hand, "Who finally defeated Voldemort?"
"Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore together."
A boy from Ravenclaw raised his hand and, once the professor had acknowledged him, asked "One of the guys in my room was saying that Harry Potter disappeared years ago. Where is he?"
Hermione sighed, she knew this question would come up, it always did.
"Harry Potter has not been seen in sixteen years. He left the wizarding world after the final battle after he and the Headmaster killed Voldemort once and for all."
"Why did he leave?" asked the same Hufflepuff girl who had asked who had defeated Voldemort.
"Harry Potter was accused and convicted of a crime when he was fifteen. He was sent to Azkaban. Azkaban is a wizard prison situated on an island and it is guarded by aurors .* When Dumbledore's spies heard that Voldemort was planning on attacking Azkaban, Harry Potter was moved back to Hogwarts. That was in 2005. A few months later, he was proven innocent when he helped Albus defeat Voldemort.
"Harry Potter left the wizarding world after that. He had spent ten years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
"The justice system has been completely overhauled because Harry Potter was not the first person to be sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit. You remember I told you about the Potter's secret keeper? Well, the man everyone thought was the secret keeper was actually framed for thirteen murders and sent to Azkaban. He broke out after twelve years and was proven innocent in 1995."
A Slytherin boy raised his hand, "Who are all these people? Like the spy, the secret keeper and the one who everyone thought was the secret keeper?"
Hermione sighed, neither Sirius nor Severus would like this, but the children would find out anyway, "The spy was Severus Snape, your Potions teacher. The secret keeper was named Peter Pettigrew, he was killed in battle in 1999. The man who everyone thought was the secret keeper, and who spent twelve years in Azkaban, was Sirius Black, your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
After answering a few more questions, Hermione dismissed the students to lunch. She slowly made her way to her rooms, where Angela was supposed to meet her. Once again, she contemplated what it meant to teach the children a skewed history.
Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. The phrase rang in her mind.
Sirius had been the most vocal against the idea of softening the story for the children, but eventually, even Sirius had caved in. They were protecting the younger generation.
A voice in the back of her head said softly, no, you're too ashamed to admit your mistakes.
Hermione shook her head and picked up her pace as she neared her quarters.
Courtney sat in the library at lunch, researching Harry Potter. She wanted to learn more about him, not just because of what she had learned that day, but because of her wand core.
She found it strange that there was almost nothing in the library about him.
She recalled that the Professor had told her in Diagon Alley that Harry Potter had been framed for murder, yet she had not stated this fact in class, nor did any of the books she could find indicate this. She sighed and opened yet another book. It didn't make sense! If Harry was as great as they claimed, then why would he completely leave the wizarding world, just because he had been sent to prison? Of course, that was horrible, but you weren't tortured in jail.
Or at least not in muggle jails. The thought brushed past her thoughts and she sat bolt upright in surprise, was that the reason? Had something happened to Harry Potter in prison, that it was impossible for him to remain in the wizarding world? But what? Professor Granger had indicated nothing of the sort.
Well it wouldn't be too far fetched to assume they hadn't told the whole truth-the library's suspicious lack of information concerning Harry Potter was testimony enough that they were trying to hide something.
She sighed and closed her book. Perhaps there would be something in the newspaper archives. She examined editions that were older than herself and, to her frustration, found a few editions not archived. They were editions from winter and early spring of 1995, and from late spring 2005. Probably, she reasoned, the precise periods when Harry Potter had been arrested and exonerated.
The bell clanged startling her and she hissed in annoyance as she grabbed her books and ran to charms.
Professor Weasley raised an eyebrow as she came clamoring into the classroom, "Glad you could join us Miss Barnes, have a seat. I won't take points off this time, but I will next time you're tardy."
All of the Gryffindors breathed in relief as Courtney nodded embarrassed and sat next to Angela. They proceeded to then learn the Levitation charm- Wingardium Leviosa.
After class she and Angela walked back to the Gryffindor Tower discussing their first day.
"So why were you late to Charms?" Angela finally asked.
"I lost track of the time in the library."
"What were you doing in the library one the first day of school?" her friend asked pointedly.
"I was looking up some stuff for my project for your mother's class!" Courtney defended herself.
Angela rolled her eyes and simply answered, "Mum's going to love you." Then she started talking about her muggle studies class and all the fascinating things she had learned.
"And guess what! Muggles have this thing called the inner-net that they use to communicate and find information. Professor Creevey was telling us about it! Do you have an inner-net?"
Courtney giggled at Angela's enthusiasm and then answered, "It's the internet, not inner-net. And of course I have the internet at home. Everyone does. My laptop in my room has a wireless connection and I have a webcam to go with it."~
She had lost Angela with her first sentence and so she had to explain what a laptop, a wireless connection, and a webcam all were.+
Angela was very excited about all of it and continued asking questions as they went to dinner.
After dinner they both sat down in the common room to work on their homework. "So who are you doing for your project?" Angela asked as she flipped through her Wizard's Compendium of Famous and Infamous Persons, trying to get an idea.
"Um…well, I want to do my project on Harry Potter."
Angela snorted, "Good luck. Everyone wants to do him."
Her tone of voice surprised Courtney.
"Why do you say it like that? Do you not like Harry Potter?"
Angela sighed, "I don't get what the big deal is. I mean he didn't defeat Voldemort the first time and he only helped the headmaster the second time. Then he just disappears making everyone miserable, creating a big fuss."
"'Making everyone miserable'? What do you mean by that?" Courtney asked, confused.
Angela sighed again and turned her full attention to Courtney, "Mum and Dad both knew Harry Potter. Mum won't tell me anything about how well they knew him, but it was obviously quite well because every time she talks about him she looks like she's about to cry. I don't like her crying and it is Harry Potter's fault she does."
Courtney nodded thoughtfully, filing this information away with the rest of her admittedly limited knowledge of Harry Potter.
The next morning, even though she didn't have history for another two days, Courtney handed Professor Granger a slip of parchment with a few sentences on it explaining why she wanted to do her project on Harry Potter.
As I am Muggleborn (it read) and have very little background knowledge about the wizarding world, I wish to do my history project on Harry Potter as he has obviously been a central figure in recent history. Secondly, since everyone seems to think it so strange/amazing/wonderful that my wand is brother to his I was planning on finding out more anyway, I may as well get credit for it in class.
Courtney had almost put down a third reason-to fill in the suspicious gaps in the books she had read, but restrained herself thinking that perhaps they would forbid her to do it if she told them she suspected they were keeping secrets.
When she entered the history classroom for the next class, she was nervous. Would she be able to do the project she wanted?
"Alright class, please turn in your project proposals. At the end of class I will tell you who has what assignment. Today you will be reading chapter two out of your text while I look through your parchment."
The class groaned when she told them they would just be reading that period, until she said casually, "or you could take a pop quiz…" there was a flurry of books and pages.
Courtney distractedly read the chapter-not even realizing that it was about Wizarding Law-as she thought about whether or not she would be able to do her project on Harry Potter.
She didn't even stop to think why it had become such an obsession-why she cared so much about it.
"Ok class, only a few of you will get your first choice. Kyle Hall, you'll have to choose a different wizard, Katie Corcoran asked for Merlin first. Caleb you too will have to choose another wizard, Angela requested Victor Krum first. And Gary Patil, Henry Brooks and Megan Stratford, you will all have to come up with a different proposal, Courtney Barnes got Harry Potter."
Courtney could barely restrain herself, she felt like leaping up and shouting triumphantly.
The other three looked disappointed, but not devastated, unlike Caleb who was shooting murderous glances at his cousin.
Who was Victor Krum? Courtney wondered as Megan raised her hand and asked who had gotten Harry Potter in the other classes.
Professor Granger sighed and answered, "Well, I've only had my Ravenclaws so far-Charlie Longbottom got it in there."
Courtney tried to recall what Charlie Longbottom looked like-she remembered a short-somewhat oriental- boy. She remembered Angela telling her that he was the youngest of three-the older two of which were both on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.
As class ended, Hermione called to Courtney. When the rest of the students had left the professor addressed her.
"I am glad you have such an interest in Harry Potter, but since you are Muggleborn and don't know, I should tell you this. I know Angela is planning on writing to Viktor Krum and get a personal interview and many other students whose subject matter is still alive are planning on doing something similar. I recommend you not try to contact Harry. He doesn't take kindly to any contact with the wizarding world," Hermione paused a moment as if deciding to say her next thought or not, but then continued, "Before he left he warned that anyone who tried to contact him would be sorry. Many have found out the hard way."
Courtney was curious, what had happened, and so she asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Hermione sighed, "Eleven years ago I wrote to him, he didn't answer. Five years ago I wrote again and he did answer. He didn't write a letter, he sent me two curses. One that made it impossible for me to talk for two weeks and the other that made it impossible for me to use my hands properly for a month. So you see, I recommend you not write him, the consequences are not fun."
Courtney carefully filed this information away for future retrieval and nodded thanks to her teacher before heading off to her next class.
The entire next week Courtney could hardly concentrate in her other classes because she had become so involved in finding out anything and everything about Harry Potter. She found out the names of some people who had known him on the Gryffindor Quidditch team- Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet all obligingly wrote her letters of what they remembered of Harry. She asked Angela if it would be wise to approach her parents and Angela begged her not to, because it would upset her mother. Courtney finally agreed and instead tried to set up a time to talk to the headmaster and some of the other teachers.
The Muggle Studies professor-Dennis Creevey- was particularly helpful to her in providing a picture or two of Harry from his early teens.
The first time Courtney glanced at one of the shots she gasped at the black hair and green eyes of the boy with a scar on his forehead. The facial structure was different, as was the body build, but there was a strange resemblance between Harry Potter and her little brother.
Still though, Courtney was not satisfied. She was not getting the information she wanted. There were gaping holes. Courtney found it rather odd that no one else seemed to be aware of this fact. Then she realized that the students who grew up in the wizarding world couldn't see it because it had always been that way and the Muggleborn students didn't care enough.
But Courtney wanted answers.
A clue came by accident one evening while she was in the library doing some research on magical beasts and their properties as they pertained to potions. In one of her texts- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them-she came across the entry for lethifolds. They had no use in potions and, infact, seemed to have no practical use at all. However, she was puzzled as she read the entry detailing how it was discovered that the Patronus charm could drive away the beast.
What did the Patronus do? What was it originally used for, if not specifically developed for use against the lethifolds?
She found a book on advanced defenses and looked up the Patronus in the glossary for a short description.
Patronus Charm:
Incantation:Expecto Patronum
Note: This is an extremely difficult spell to learn. Many adult witches and wizards have trouble casting this charm.
The Patronus was developed for defense against one of the darkest creatures known to wizardkind-the dementor. The Patronus forms a shield of good between the castor and the dementor, rendering the dementor's powers useless and sending it fleeing. The difficulty in this spell comes from both the amount of power it requires and the force of will it requires….
The short paragraph went on for a few more sentences and then gave a reference to what page and volume in such-and-such series more information could be found on. Courtney closed the book, confused. She had never heard of a dementor.
She scoured her defense books and came up with a few references to other books. Unfortunately, only one was a book not in the restricted section. She decided that was better than none and went and found the book in question- Facing your Fears and Worst Memories.
The book focused on defending yourself against boggarts-which they had learned the basics of in defense already, and dementors.
She quickly skimmed the pages on dementors until a paragraph on the history of Dementors in Britain caught her eye.
Since the defeat of Grindlewald the dementors, who served that Dark Lord have been used to guard Azkaban and the worst criminals of the wizarding world.
Courtney quickly flipped to see when the book had been published-2003.
She then read what exactly the dementors did to a person. This was definitely information that was being kept hidden from the students. Dementors made people relive the worst moments of their lives. To be guarded by them…she shuddered. It would be torture! It would be maddening!
She sucked in her breath as she realized she had just found the answer. It wasn't that Harry Potter was angry because he had be falsely accused and imprisoned-it was the fact that the prison was torture for him! He had felt betrayed because he had been in the worst possible misery for ten years!
But why hide this? She suddenly wondered, Why was it so important that no one know what really happened to Harry?
The answer popped into her head before she had pondered too long, Society didn't want anyone to know how awful it could be to its own.
It reminded her of something she had heard, she wasn't sure it was true or not. Immediately after World War Two the Germans had refused to tell the younger generation of what had happened during the war. They had not wanted their children to know about the Concentration Camps, and their own barbarity. However, those children had made a point of searching out the most barbaric of their deeds and publicly trying the ones responsible.^
She sighed. She knew she was on the right track with this latest research. She confirmed it when she realized that none of the books on Azkaban mentioned anything besides Aurors guarding it. It was only one obscure reference in a book on the dementors themselves that tipped her off. No wonder no one else knew. Other people had of course read that book, but that sentence would have meant nothing to someone not so focused on the story of Harry Potter.
Closing the books and re-shelving them all she gathered her things and headed back to the Gryffindor tower, wondering what to do now. She needed the whole story and she knew she would not get it from the people she had already talked to-she wouldn't have been surprised if there was a law against telling the truth in this matter.
That night she couldn't sleep. She sat up thinking, and finally she came up with a solution and dropped off to sleep.
The next morning she awoke early-despite her late bed time- and wrote a letter, disregarding Professor Weasley's advice.
Dear Mister Potter,
My name is Courtney Barnes. I'm a first year at Hogwarts…
*Hermione isn't exactly lying here. Aurors now guard Azkaban, but they don't tell the children that when Harry was there it was guarded by Dementors. This is pretty much what the entire wizarding world teaches, to all children, not just muggle-borns.
~Well, I really have no clue how technology will have advanced in twenty years, but hey, phones have been around for more than 100 years and we still have them don't we? I guess the internet can last thirty.
+Yes, Angela has inherited her Grandfather Weasley's love of anything Muggle and she has not been raised exposed to the muggle world because Hermione has not been in much contact with the muggle world herself.
^I mean no offense with this. I am not even sure it is true or not-I think I remember hearing something like that once upon a time. If this passage offends you I apologize. If you feel the need to correct me, please do so. Thank you EvilDime for a suggestion on clarifying this statement.