The Difference One Choice Makes
8th August 1978
"What do we do now?" said Bellatrix Malfoy nee Black in a crazed tone of voice.
The now 26-year-old Witch had fallen far from grace in both beauty and personality. Her curly black hair was now all over the place ending halfway down her back while her once milky skin was even paler. Her once strong, confident personality was long gone as she was slightly manic and delighted in the torture and murder of those she saw as her enemies.
Her 24-year-old Husband Lucius Malfoy whose long blonde hair also looked untidy had a look of slight panic on his face as he contemplated what would happen to himself and his wife if they were caught and charged with the crimes they committed as Death Eaters.
The two were stood in Bellatrix's private bedroom at Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire as they contemplated their next move having heard that the Ministry Of Magic had identified both of them as Death Eaters and were compiling a list of charges for use against the Malfoy's.
Through Lucius's well-placed spies in the Ministry Of Magic Lucius had learned that their fellow Death Eater Igor Karkaroff had given up the names of many Death Eaters including Lucius and Bellatrix.
Shockingly for Bellatrix, her charges included the poisoning death of her first husband Rodolphus Lestrange who Bellatrix had indeed murdered with a full phial of Deadly Nightshade in his sleep having snapped after all of the torture and rape he had subjected her to.
As the thoughts of Azkaban Prison caused Lucius to shudder his attention was drawn to an infants cry from the expensive-looking cot at the foot of the bed which caught the attention of his wife as well.
As Bellatrix marched across the room and scooped up their near five-month-old Daughter Cassiopeia Druella Malfoy out of the cot into her arms. Cassiopeia who took after Bellatrix in looks with traces of black hair and brown eyes kept on crying as Bellatrix cradled her in her arms trying to calm her down.
If there was ever a time when Bellatrix Malfoy looked like the sane witch she was as a child it was when she was holding her Daughter whose presence seemed to banish the insane version of Bellatrix even if it was only temporary.
Once Cassiopeia had calmed down Bellatrix returned her to her crib.
If she and Lucius were sent to Azkaban then guardianship of Cassiopeia would transfer to either her Mother who Bellatrix hated for supporting her Father in arranging two dreadful marriages for her or one of her Sisters who Bellatrix hated even more.
Bellatrix was not sure which of her Sisters were worse viewing the both of them as Blood Traitors especially Narcissa who had fought against her Master and helped vanquish him.
"Master will be back one day though" thought Bellatrix in her mad deranged mind.
No, the thought of her precious Daughter being raised by Blood Traitors was not an option so her Mother would have to do as she and Lucius waited for their Master's return from the confines of Azkaban Prison.
"Our Master is not gone… we have to find him… we, his most trusted followers have to find him… we owe it to him" said Bellatrix in a crazed voice.
Lucius who had no intention of spending the rest of his life in Azkaban however felt different.
While he followed Voldemort out of respect for his seemingly unmatched power and staunch belief in the cause that the Purebloods like himself should rule over both magical folk as well as muggle folk, he had started to have his doubts that Voldemort was indeed as powerful as he made himself out to be.
The man had barely left a scratch on Albus Dumbledore before Dumbledore defeated and ended his life. Even the blood traitor Charlus Potter had given Voldemort one hell of a fight before finally being defeated.
Those two fights had proved to Lucius that Voldemort was not a wizard worth following and that if he wanted to remain a free wizard in society then he would have to do all he could to prove that he was not loyal to Voldemort and acting against his will.
The fact that the Dark Mark on Lucius's left forearm proving his loyalty to Voldemort had faded to the point where it was barely noticeable had further enhanced his belief that Voldemort was gone for good.
He glanced at Bellatrix who was panting with a crazed look on her face.
"I never wanted a murderous widow for a wife in the first place… and if she is so willing to go to Azkaban then perhaps that will help me get rid of her" thought Lucius.
He thought about potential solutions to his situation for several seconds before he settled on a plan.
A plan that would not only help him avoid Azkaban but also serve to remove his wife from his life for good.
By the time Auror's came for Lucius and Bellatrix two days later Lucius had already made himself busy with some generous bribes to several officials in the Ministry as well as enlisting the help of some of his old friends all but ensuring his freedom.
12th August 1978
"Bellatrix Malfoy… you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment in the High Security Wing of Azkaban with no possibility of release!" shouted the proud voice of the 55-year-old, grey-haired Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Sr who served as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
In the end, Bellatrix had been found guilty on all charges of murder, suspected Death Eater activity, torture and frequent use of all three Unforgiveable Curses as well as the murder of Rodolphus Lestrange.
The crazed Bellatrix Malfoy who was chained to a single chair in the centre of the courtroom and dressed in a filthy light grey and dark grey striped Azkaban prisoner uniform looked up at the Members of the Wizerngamot with a look of manic rage on her face.
"The Dark Lord will rise again, Crouch, throw me into Azkaban and I will wait for him, and mark my words when he regains his power he will come for me, his most loyal servant, he will come for me and free me from my chains in Azkaban!" said Bellatrix proudly as the courtroom descended into an uproar.
Narcissa who was sat high in the private viewing seats at the top of the courtroom looked down at Bellatrix with a slightly saddened look on her face at how far she had fallen.
Sat beside her to her surprise and slight unease was Peter who had been watching each of the trials so far with a nervous look on his face though Narcissa could not comprehend why he would be even more nervous than usual. Looking back Peter had not originally wanted to attend the trials but Remus and Sirius had insisted that he attend with them telling him that he owed it to the people they lost to see justice brought down swiftly on the accused Death Eaters.
Also sat in the viewing seats with her and Peter were Sirius, Remus who had only been allowed in the courtroom after Dumbledore had defended his presence, and finally, Druella Black who was looking down at Bellatrix with a look of regret etched on her face.
James meanwhile was occupying the Potter Seat on behalf of his father who was still suffering from Dragon Pox.
The uproar in the courtroom at Bellatrix's words continued before Narcissa heard Barty Crouch Sr call out above the voices.
"TAKE HER AWAY!"
Narcissa watched as Bellatrix was removed from the chains before being marched out of the courtroom with a proud look on her face.
Upon seeing her Daughter taken away for a life sentence in Azkaban Druella Black immediately left the courtroom without another word to Narcissa.
Four more trials came and went with Morgan Mulciber, Augustus Rookwood, Graham Avery and Waldon Macnair being tried for various crimes. Though Mulciber and Rookwood joined Bellatrix with life sentences in the High Security Wing of Azkaban after proudly admitting to their crimes, there was even more uproar in the courtroom as Macnair and Avery were found innocent after claiming to be under the Imperious Curse when committing the crimes they were charged with.
However, when Lucius Malfoy was brought into the courtroom he had a confident look on his face which unnerved Narcissa who deduced that he must be planning something.
As he was chained into the chair one of the courtroom clerks handed a folded up piece of parchment to Barty Crouch Sr who took it from him.
As the Head of the DMLE read through the parchment his eyebrow twitched as he had a look of anger on his face visible from behind the parchment.
Several seconds later a very displeased Barty Crouch Sr put the parchment down and cleared his throat.
"Lucius Brutus Malfoy, the Minister For Magic Millicent Bagnold has decreed that… in light of the circumstances and overwhelming evidence proving that you were placed under the Imperious Curse by your Wife Bellatrix Malfoy nee Black, as evidenced during your interview with Auror's Robert Wilkes and Corban Yaxley… all charges against you have been dropped and you will not stand trial" said Barty Crouch Sr in a flat voice as the courtroom descended into an uproar once again.
"That's bullshit Crouch!" roared James full of anger.
"He's as guilty as the rest of them!" shouted Frank Longbottom from his seat next to James as Lucius Malfoy felt his chains removed before getting to his feet and swiftly leaving the courtroom with a smirk on his face.
Several bribes here and there to high ranking Ministry Officials along with the help of two friends who were also Death Eaters who had managed to avoid detection ensured Lucius's freedom.
The interview had been carefully planned between the three before Corban Yaxley placed the Minister For Magic Millicent Bagnold under the Imperious Curse forcing her to write a letter pardoning Lucius against her will before removing all memory she had of the event.
Also to ensure that Minister Bagnold could not be questioned about it, Yaxley gave her a slow-acting poison rendering her ill enough not to attend the trials and ensuring that she would be dead by the morning with no signs of foul play before she could be questioned about the pardon given to Lucius Malfoy.
Now all he had to do was go to Gringotts after a suitable interval of time to dissolve his marriage to Bellatrix leaving him free to choose another wife who would provide him with a Son and Heir while raising Cassiopeia up to be a suitable Pureblood witch.
After several minutes the chaos in the courtroom was brought to an end as the trials continued.
Multiple trials came and went with differing results before finally Igor Karkaroff was brought in to stand trial once again having offered to name more Death Eaters in exchange for his release.
"Speak Karkaroff… or you'll be shipped back to Azkaban and we will throw away the key this time" said Barty Crouch Sr bitterly as Karkaroff was chained to the chair.
The 24-year-old, nervous long black-haired, Russian Death Eater started to babble about how he knew the identity of Voldemort's spy in the Order Of The Phoenix who passed on valuable information to Voldemort which led to successful raids and the deaths of many people. Hearing this however caused Peter to get even more nervous with his eyes glancing at the exits as if he was looking for a quick escape.
Narcissa noticed this as did Sirius and Remus. Sirius suddenly looked enraged and grabbed hold of Peter's arm while Remus had a mixture of anger and disappointment on his face.
"Why Peter?" said Remus sadly.
"You betrayed us, how could you?" snarled Sirius causing Peter to turn to face him.
"Padfoot, I…" said Peter nervously trailing off.
"Give us the name already Karkaroff!" shouted Barty Crouch Sr clearly having run out of patience.
"PETER PETTIGREW!, he's been a spy for the Dark Lord for over two years!" shouted Karkaroff.
Peter gulped as all of the eyes in the courtroom turned onto him causing him to shrink into his seat slightly.
James was looking at him with a look of anger on his face similar to Sirius and Narcissa while Dumbledore was looking at him with a look of great disappointment on his grandfather like face.
Before he could react everything went black as Sirius hit him in the back of the head and neck with a silent stunner.
Sirius and Remus pulled the unconscious Peter to his feet and started marching him down the steps to hand him over to the Aurors even though the two men wanted to end Peters life right then and there.
As they approached the bottom of the steps they heard Karkaroff give the court one more name.
"BARTY CROUCH!" shouted Karkaroff causing gasps and looks of shock from everyone in the courtroom including the blonde-haired 21-year-old reporter Rita Skeeter who was covering the trials for the Daily Prophet.
Barty Crouch Sr looked on in shock unable to say anything.
His only Son Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Jr who was 19 years of age with short neat strawberry blonde hair sharing his Father's chiselled facial features was already on his feet in the stands with a wary look on his face.
"Junior!" said Karkaroff.
With that Barty Crouch Jr started to quickly clamber down the stands trying to escape before a silent blasting curse from Mad-Eye Moody knocked the young Death Eater off of his feet causing him to land on several stacks of parchment where his arms were seized by two courtroom guards.
As they hoisted him to his feet he struggled and snarled trying to free himself from their grasp as Sirius and Remus pushed Peter towards the two Auror's who escorted Karkaroff into the courtroom.
The Auror's placed magic negating handcuffs on Peter before two more chairs appeared next to Karkaroff's chair.
The Auror's placed the still unconscious Peter in one of the chairs causing magical chains to wrap themselves around him before one of the Auror's woke him up causing him to look around the room in a panic.
"Get your filthy hands off me, you pathetic little men!" shouted Barty Crouch Jr as the Guards marched him over to where his father was looking at him in shock.
Barty Crouch Jr looked up at his Father with a slightly crazed look on his face.
"Hello Father" said Barty Crouch Jr cockily.
Barty Crouch Sr just looked at his Son in shock for several seconds.
"You are no Son of mine" said Barty Crouch Sr voice dripping with shock and disappointment.
Barty Crouch Jr tried to lunge at his Father only to be held back by the Guards who forced him into the other chair so a decision could be made on what to do with him.
Once the courtroom had recovered from the chaos the trials continued.
For his information Igor Karkaroff had all of his charges dropped and was granted his immediate release from Azkaban.
As for Peter and Barty Crouch Jr they were both transferred to Azkaban to await trial.
15th September 1978
Two days after the chaotic trials at the Ministry Of Magic Peter and Barty Crouch Jr were finally put on trial for their own crimes.
Peter was convicted of spying for Voldemort passing on a large amount of information most of which caused the deaths of many people including Charlus Potter, the Mckinnon and Bones families, Benjy Fenwick and Caradoc Dearborn along with the Prewett Twins.
After hearing all of the details of Peter's crimes including the pitiful reason that Voldemort was taking over everywhere believing that the Dark Wizard would make a better ally than his friends and Dumbledore, Peter was sent to the High Security Wing at Azkaban to serve a life sentence without release.
Barty Crouch Jr also received the same sentence after it was revealed that he participated in multiple battles with the Death Eaters as well as tortured over fifty Muggles and Muggleborns during his two years as a Death Eater.
Meanwhile at Hogwarts in the dead of night, the 74-year-old, portly, short grey-haired Head of Slytherin House and Potions Professor Horace Slughorn was sat at his desk in his private chambers with a look of regret on his face deep in thought about something that had been plaguing his mind for the last month ever since he had witnessed Voldemort's defeat at the hands of Dumbledore.
Despite wanting to believe otherwise, Professor Slughorn was sure Voldemort had cheated death and was still out there even though he no longer had a physical body and was in a severely weakened state.
Like the Hogwarts Headmaster. Professor Slughorn also knew the real identity of Voldemort being one of only two people to know this information with Dumbledore being the other.
In September 1938, the then 34-year-old Professor Slughorn first laid eyes on a young 11-year-old Half-blood in Slytherin House named Tom Marvolo Riddle who had magical talent the likes of which Professor Slughorn had never seen before. The Potions Professor had seen great promise in the young student despite the warnings of the then Transfiguration Professor Dumbledore about the unnaturally gifted student.
As the years went by Professor Slughorn watched the young Tom Riddle grow into a model student excelling in all aspects of his school work and magical ability becoming a Prefect in his Fifth Year and Head Boy in his Seventh Year. He also received a Special Awards for Services to the School award in his Fifth Year after turning the Third Year Rubeus Hagrid in as the culprit responsible for opening the legendary Chamber Of Secrets and causing the death of the Third Year Muggleborn student Myrtle Warren in the process.
Though the gifted student was tipped to have a bright future ahead of him with Professor Slughorn offering to help him get a great job in the Ministry Of Magic he ended up working in a menial, underpaid job at Knockturn Alley's Borgin and Burke's shop after graduating Hogwarts for the next six years before he disappeared from the Wizarding World for another ten years.
When he returned to Hogwarts seeking the vacant DADA position he was a changed man and the new Headmaster Albus Dumbledore saw right through him refusing his request without a second thought. Professor Slughorn upon hearing that Tom Riddle was back in the castle as well as hearing the rumours surrounding one of his favourite students had hidden in his office to avoid his former student fearing that Tom Riddle might kill him to keep their conversation about Horcruxes a secret.
One particular memory resurfaced in Professor Slughorn's memory which he found shameful and wished that he had never done such a thing.
"It's called, as I understand it… a Horcrux" said the 17-year-old Sixth Year Tom Riddle.
He was dressed in his Slytherin uniform with his Prefect badge and a black stone encased in a ring on his left ring finger.
The then 39-year-old black-haired Professor Slughorn who was slightly thinner at this age was looking at his model student with a look of shock on his face as he clutched his glass of brandy in one hand.
The two were stood in Professor Slughorn's chambers after the latest Slug Club meeting where Professor Slughorn would meet with students he considered likely to go on to have excel and great careers so he could get some kind of reward or benefit from them in return.
"I beg your pardon?" said Professor Slughorn in shock at what he had just heard.
"A Horcrux… I came across the term while reading, and I… I didn't fully understand it" said Tom Riddle.
Professor Slughorn who still looked shocked remained in his place.
"I don't know what you are reading Tom… but this is very dark stuff, very dark indeed" said Professor Slughorn sounding worried that a student would be reading about something so dark.
Tom Riddle straightened up his posture.
"That's… why I came to you, the other Professors… you see, they're not like you… they wouldn't understand" said Tom Riddle working his charm and flattery on Professor Slughorn.
Had Professor Slughorn figured out what Tom Riddle was doing then he might have done things differently and events would have turned out differently.
"A Horcrux is an object in which a person conceals a part of his soul" said Professor Slughorn finally giving in to his student's curious questions and revealing what he knew about the dark subject.
"But I don't understand how that works Sir" said Tom Riddle taking a few steps towards Professor Slughorn.
Professor Slughorn remained silent for a few seconds debating whether or not to end the disturbing conversation.
"One splits one's soul and hides part of it in an object, in doing so you are protected should you be attacked and your body destroyed" said Professor Slughorn.
"Protected?" said Tom Riddle with hints of curiosity and eagerness in his voice.
"The part of your soul that is hidden lives on… in other words you cannot die" said Professor Slughorn in slight disgust at such inhumane acts of magic.
Professor Slughorn watched in slight shock as Tom Riddle turned and walked over to the fireplace gently touching the ring on his left ring finger.
"And how does one split his soul Sir?" said Tom Riddle.
"I think you already know the answer to that Tom" said Professor Slughorn with a hint of regret in his voice at discussing such dishonourable actions.
Tom Riddle took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
"Murder" said Tom Riddle.
Professor Slughorn managed a small nod.
"Yes… killing rips the soul apart, it is a violation against nature?" said Professor Slughorn.
Tom Riddle kept tracing his finger over his ring.
"Can you only split the soul once… for instance… seven?" said Tom Riddle curiously.
"Seven… Merlins beard Tom… isn't it bad enough to consider killing one person, but to rip the soul into seven pieces" said Professor Slughorn in shock.
He took a deep breath to calm himself down accepting that there must be some sort of academic explanation to Tom Riddles questions.
"This is all hypothetical isn't it Tom… purely academic?" said Professor Slughorn.
Tom Riddle turned to face Professor Slughorn and flashed him a smile designed to charm the Potions Professor.
"Of course Sir… it'll be our little secret" said Tom Riddle successfully charming Professor Slughorn into believing it was an innocent academic discussion.
Professor Slughorn suddenly looked relieved at Tom Riddle's words feeling that the matter was finished.
"If only I had not been so foolish" thought Professor Slughorn sadly.
Thinking about Dumbledore who correctly suspected that Voldemort was still alive Professor Slughorn felt even more guilt and shame for his actions.
Dumbledore had told him not to trust Tom Riddle and he had neglected to listen to his friend and colleague.
"I could've put a stop to it back then, I should've seen through him" thought Professor Slughorn sadly.
Even now he debated confessing everything to Dumbledore hoping that it might put an end to his guilt. After several seconds he decided against revealing his secret feeling that it would ruin his reputation and make people think the worst of him knowing that he shared such dark knowledge with a student so willingly.
Managing to shake his immense feelings of guilt for a few moments Professor Slughorn opened one of the drawers on his desk and pulled a single roll of blank parchment out along with a quill and an inkpot.
He spent the next several minutes slowly writing his resignation letter to Dumbledore explaining that he was finally ready to retire and wished the Headmaster the best of luck in the future. Once it was finished he rolled it up and quickly packed all of his belongings into a single large trunk.
Making his way out of his office he pinned his resignation notice to his door before slowly making his way down the corridor pulling his trunk behind him being careful not to wake anyone in the castle up.
Unbeknownst to Horace, as he entered the main courtyard his departure from the castle was noticed by Dumbledore who was stood atop the Astronomy Tower watching his friend and colleague leave the castle in the dead of night.
"What are you hiding from me Horace, what do you know about Voldemort cheating death?" thought Dumbledore curiously.
He would have approached his friend as he was leaving but even though he knew it was imperative that Voldemort be destroyed once and for all, he knew that Horace would not reveal his secrets just yet and saw that waiting a few years at least was acceptable.
18th September 1978
"This seems to be the one" thought Dumbledore pleasantly as he approached the black wood door to Number Seven Spinners End on this damp Friday afternoon paying no attention to the strange looks he was receiving from the Muggles due to his bright blue wizard robes and matching hat.
The house in question was part of many two-story semi-detached houses in a rough area of Manchester signifying that everyone in this neighbourhood lived in varying stages of poverty.
He gently knocked on the door and waited a few seconds before it slowly opened halfway.
The now 21 soon to be 22 year old Lily Kathryn Evans was stood on the other side of the door with a warm smile on her face at the sight of her old Headmaster. Her long red hair was tied into a ponytail behind her head while she was dressed in a pair of denim jeans and a green shirt.
"Professor… please come in" said Lily stepping aside slightly.
"Thank you" said Dumbledore stepping through the door and past her allowing her to close the door behind him.
Number 7 Spinners End had been where Severus Snape had lived with both of his parents before they passed away two years ago leaving the house and what little money they had left to him in their will.
Shortly after inheriting the house, Lily moved in with him. Severus had proposed to Lily the day after the battle with Voldemort and now they were engaged to be married also planning to start a family now that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were gone.
Lily led Dumbledore through a small hallway into their small sitting room connected to an equally small kitchen.
Though sparsely decorated with minimal furniture unless you counted the large bookshelf along the back wall the room itself had a comforting homely atmosphere.
"Would you like some tea?" said Lily politely as she made her way towards the kitchen.
"Milk with two sugars please" said Dumbledore.
As Lily made herself busy in the kitchen Dumbledore sat down on one of the armchairs admiring his surroundings.
"It was actually Severus I came here to see!" Dumbledore called out after several seconds.
Lily made her way back into the sitting room carrying a tea tray with three mugs, a teapot, a milk jug and a small bowl of sugar.
"Severus, he's upstairs in his lab… I'll go and fetch him" said Lily placing the tea tray on the small coffee table in front of the settee and poured a mug of tea for Dumbledore.
"Thank you" said Dumbledore as Lily handed the mug to him.
"Your welcome… I'll be right back" said Lily.
She walked out of the sitting room back into the hallway and up the stairs.
Walking past their bedroom and the bathroom she came to a halt outside Severus's private potion lab with the door half-open.
Though the potions lab was small, the space was well used with three small cauldrons on top of a fine wooden table while small shelves lined with several small potions bottles lined the walls of the room.
The 21-year-old, long black haired Severus Snape was dressed in a black shirt and denim jeans as he worked on his latest potion adding ingredients as it stirred itself with magic.
While some of her friends were shocked and made comments when she told them that she and Severus were dating since the end of their Sixth Year Lily just ignored the harsh words without a second thought. She and Severus loved each other and Lily never regretted her time with him or the fact that they would be Husband and Wife with their own children one day.
Lily gently knocked on the door getting his attention.
"Sev… Professor Dumbledore is here to see you" said Lily softly.
"What does he want?" said Severus.
Lily shrugged her shoulders.
"No idea… he just said he wanted to speak to you, he's downstairs" said Lily.
Severus used his wand to place a stasis charm on the cauldron containing his incomplete potion before the two made their way back downstairs.
As they entered the sitting room Dumbledore turned to face them.
"Ah Severus my boy, how good to see you again" said Dumbledore in a pleasant voice.
Severus who sat down on the settee followed by Lily nodded his head to the Headmaster.
"Headmaster" said Severus politely as Lily poured two mugs of tea one for each of them.
"I'm not your Headmaster any more Severus, please call me Albus, or Dumbledore or even Professor Dumbledore if you wish" said Dumbledore kindly.
Severus took a sip of the tea offered to him by Lily.
"Okay Professor Dumbledore… what did you want to see me about?" said Severus politely.
"We'll come to that in a little bit… but first I hear congratulations are in order, as we have not had the chance to speak since that fateful night I never offered my congratulations on your engagement" said Dumbledore.
Severus and Lily glanced at each other before she took his hand and squeezed it.
"Thank you Professor" said Lily kindly.
Severus nodded his head to Dumbledore in thanks.
"And when are you planning your wedding?" said Dumbledore.
"28th December, you are more than welcome to attend Professor" said Severus.
"I shall be sure to make time for it… but alas, that is not why I came to see you today" said Dumbledore.
"So why are you here Professor?" said Severus as he sipped his tea.
Dumbledore went on to tell him about Professor Slughorn's sudden retirement which saddened Lily as he was one of her favourite teachers while he took a particular shining to her inviting her to join his special Slug Club.
Severus was offered the chance to become Potions Professor on a temporary basis until the end of the school year where if he wanted to, he could apply for the position permanently.
After a short discussion between Lily and Severus, Severus agreed to the proposition and was told that he could start on Monday morning and would be provided with chambers in the castle for his use.