The Difference One Choice Makes
22nd May 1993
Professor Lockhart was a sweating bundle of nerves as he walked along the corridors in the direction of the main castle doors at some pace eager to make his escape as quickly and discreetly as possible.
"I knew I should never have taken this job" thought Professor Lockhart nervously knowing that his failed teaching had very nearly exposed him and his lies.
"Going somewhere Gilderoy!" came a familiar voice that stopped Professor Lockhart in his tracks making him jump slightly.
He turned to see Dumbledore stood by the doors leading into the Great Hall looking at him with a flat look on his face.
Professor Lockhart squeaked.
"Dumbledore… I was just…" said Professor Lockhart nervously before trailing off.
"Why the sudden urge to leave… is teaching not your forte?" said Dumbledore taking a few steps towards Professor Lockhart who spluttered and pulled his wand out keeping it at his side.
Though he knew that even if he was not a fraud as Dumbledore clearly suspected him to be, even if he was a capable wizard he would not be able to do anything against Dumbledore.
"I know what you are Gilderoy… what you have done, and I'm very disappointed in you" said Dumbledore as he got closer to Professor Lockhart with his own wand at his side.
Professor Lockhart spluttered again.
"Magnus Urqhart, Sophia Paxton, Jeremiah Eldridge… three people whose memories you wiped after taking credit for their hard-earned accomplishments, and there are more of them I understand, many more" said Dumbledore sternly as he took another step towards Professor Lockhart.
"You don't understand Headmaster" spluttered Professor Lockhart.
"I think I do… instead of making something good of yourself like myself and my fellow Professors expected you to do in school, you went down the wrong path and stole the accomplishments of other great wizards and witches, and I have to say I am very disappointed with you… I had my suspicions about you before I hired you, I had hoped that a regular teaching job would expose you as the fraud we both know you are while I had Auror's investigating you, and it has" said Dumbledore with a hint of regret in his voice.
Professor Lockhart spluttered and then decided that his last resort was to do something completely stupid.
"OBLIVIATE!" shouted Professor Lockhart waving his wand at Dumbledore.
Dumbledore calmly sent a Disarming Charm at Professor Lockhart with a simple wave of his wand but it had the adverse effect of redirecting his spell blast at his chest.
The force of the overly powered Memory Charm blasted Professor Lockhart backwards into the wall with a bang before he landed face down on the floor.
Dumbledore summoned Professor Lockhart's wand to his hand with some wandless magic as he made his way over to Professor Lockhart.
After a few seconds, the now dishevelled and confused looking Professor Lockhart looked up at Dumbledore with a glazed over look on his face.
"Hello… er, who are you?" said Professor Lockhart sounding confused and almost childlike.
"Oh dear" thought Dumbledore.
"Albus Dumbledore" said Dumbledore kindly as he knelt down in front of Professor Lockhart.
"That's a funny name that… erm, who, who am I?" said Professor Lockhart.
Dumbledore helped Professor Lockhart to his feet causing him to look around in confusion and curiosity.
"Impaled on your own sword it would seem Gilderoy" said Dumbledore.
"Sword, what sword… I don't understand" said Professor Lockhart in confusion.
Dumbledore sighed and placed his arm around Professor Lockhart's shoulders.
"Come Gilderoy… let's get you some help" said Dumbledore kindly.
He started to guide Professor Lockhart in the direction of the Hospital Wing.
23rd May 1993
Professor Dumbledore waited for the Great Hall to be full of all of the students who were anxious to eat their breakfast before going to their first lessons of the day before he got up and walked around to the podium.
"Your attention please!" said Dumbledore loudly and clearly.
It took a few seconds for all of the students to divert their attention from their breakfast to their Headmaster.
He took a deep breath.
"Unfortunately, in the early hours of this morning, Professor Lockhart was taken to St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries after suffering an unfortunate accident last night… as such, he will not be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts for the remainder of the school year and thus will not be returning next year" said Dumbledore.
Cheers erupted from around the Great Hall which caused Dumbledore to smile on the inside while several of the teachers also applauded his words.
Once the noise quietened down Dumbledore spoke up again.
"As Professor Lockhart is no longer your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, I will be subsequently cancelling all Defence Against the Dark Arts exams with the exception of the Owl and Newt exams owing to Professor Lockhart's very questionable teaching methods and subject matter"
More cheers erupted from around the hall with most of the students being glad to rid themselves of learning about Professor Lockhart's books.
"And I will be taking over the teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts for the remainder of the school year" said Dumbledore which resulted in the largest number of cheers so far.
"I can't believe we get to learn directly from Dumbledore, he's the greatest wizard of all time" said Colin Creevey excitedly to Ginny who shared in his enthusiasm.
27th June 1993
Harry flew back down to the ground wiping some sweat off of his forehead, having decided to take a break from playing Quidditch with the Weasley's and Josh Sloper in the backyard of the Burrow while Neville was also visiting for a few days and was sat on the wall watching them never really liking flying.
The three boys had been staying at the Burrow at Ron's invitation for the past two days now and would be remaining there for another two days before going home.
As the other Boys returned to throwing the Quaffle at Ron who was playing as Keeper guarding two makeshift hoops made out of battered old wood.
"Tired already Potter?" said Fred teasingly as he threw their old battered Quaffle to George who caught it.
Harry shook his head after dismounting his broom.
"Give me a few minutes to rest" said Harry as he went to sit with Neville on the wall and watch the Boys play instead.
"Let me have a go Guys?!" shouted a female voice that was getting closer to them.
Harry and Neville turned to their left to see Ginny Weasley walking towards all of them looking up at her Brothers in the sky.
"We can't!" shouted Fred.
"We're using all of the brooms Ginny!" shouted George.
"You've hardly ever flown before anyway, you might hurt yourself!" shouted Ron as he managed to catch the Quaffle thrown at him by Josh Sloper.
Harry sighed when he saw Ginny's face drop knowing that those words hurt her while Neville shook his head in disappointment knowing that he would never exclude his own Brother Frank Jr like Ginny was being excluded.
As Ginny turned around to go back to the Burrow Harry called out to her.
"Ginny!"
She stopped in her tracks and turned to him with curiosity slowly erasing the disappointment that was all over her face.
Harry hopped down from the wall and made his way over to her.
"Here, you can borrow mine" said Harry holding his Nimbus out towards her which made her look at him in shock.
"I couldn't" said Ginny sounding a little embarrassed for a reason Harry could not deduce.
He walked over to her and handed the broomstick to her.
"Go on… go join in" said Harry softly.
Ginny dropped the broomstick and wrapped Harry in a hug which he slowly returned as Neville stifled his laughter.
"Thanks Harry, you're the best" said Ginny nervously before she let go of him with slightly red cheeks.
She picked up his broomstick and mounted it.
"Can you keep a secret Harry?" said Ginny.
The nod he gave her was all that it took for her to share a secret that no one apart from herself knew.
"I've been flying their brooms at night since I was six, they don't even know that I do" said Ginny quietly.
Harry chuckled which made Ginny flush with embarrassment.
"Promise you won't tell anyone" said Ginny quietly.
"I promise… now go and join them" said Harry quietly.
As he turned and walked back towards Neville, Ginny kicked off of the ground taking to the skies to join the game.
"Looks like you've got a fan" said Neville teasingly as Harry jumped up to sit on the wall again.
Looking up, the two saw Ginny nick the Quaffle from Josh Sloper and throw it through Ron's unguarded left hoop catching him off guard.
"How did you do that?!" shouted Ron in shock.
Ginny smirked.
"It was a good shot!" shouted Ginny amusedly.
"You'll have to up your game Ronnikins!" shouted Fred.
"Or you'll make a lousy Keeper!" shouted George.
Ron flushed with embarrassment at Fred's use of his Mother Molly's nickname for him as they continued playing Quidditch.
9th July 1993
"Your paper Mistress" said the feeble voice of the female House Elf making its way towards the table.
Druella looked down at her House Elf and swiftly took her Morning Edition of the Daily Prophet from her.
"Leave" said Druella flatly.
As the House Elf walked away from the table Druella was shocked when she saw the headline on the front page of her newspaper.
DANGEROUS PRISONER ESCAPES FROM THE HIGH-SECURITY WING OF AZKABAN PRISON LAST NIGHT
Below the large headline was a large moving picture of Bellatrix Black who was screaming at the photographer clutching her prison number board in both hands.
BELLATRIX BLACK (formerly MALFOY, formerly LESTRANGE) escaped from the High-Security Wing of Azkaban Prison last night leaving Magical Britain on HIGH ALERT.
Bellatrix Black, aged 41, who was said to be one of You-Know-Who's most loyal followers was sentenced to life imprisonment in the High-Security Wing of Azkaban on the 12th of August 1978 for crimes including, frequent use of all three Unforgivable Curses, Death Eater activity, torture and murder, most notably the murder of her first Husband Rodolphus Corvus Lestrange on the 4th May 1973.
Her former Husband Lucius Malfoy, aged 40, has declined to comment on his former Wife's escape from prison.
The Minister For Magic Cornelius Fudge, aged 60 gave a brief statement to reporters at his press conference in the Ministry Of Magic atrium this morning.
"Bellatrix Black is a very dangerous and deranged Witch who we believe to be armed and incredibly dangerous, anyone who sees her is urged not to engage her and contact the Auror Department immediately. The Muggle Prime Minister has been alerted to this danger and informed the Muggles that Miss Black is carrying a gun (it's a metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other) and has urged the public to inform the Muggle Police (Muggle Auror's) if they see Bellatrix Black"
For more details on Bellatrix Black's crimes (see page two)
For the full article on the murder of Rodolphus Lestrange (see page four)
For Bellatrix Black's involvement with You-Know-Who (see page seven)
Druella slammed her paper on the table with such force that it made her plate and cutlery jump up slightly.
"Juniper!" snapped Druella.
The House Elf in question appeared before her bowing her head.
"Mistress called for Juniper" said Juniper the House Elf dutifully.
"Go to see Barnabus Cuffe and tell him I wish to give a statement concerning my Daughters escape… and if he refuses then tell him he still owes me that favour so he better make some time for me" said Druella icily.
"Juniper will do as Mistress commands" said Juniper the House Elf before she disapparated.
Though it was still early in the morning, Druella stood up and made her way over to her wine rack summoning a crystal wine glass from her kitchen cupboard.
She poured herself a glass of her most expensive French Red Wine and took a large swig as she thought about how best to approach the situation.
29th July 1993
"I hope Mum and Dad can take us school shopping" said Eric taking a break from eating his cereal so he could talk.
Sat around the table with him were Edward, Harry, Euphemia, Jennifer, Andromeda and Ted. As she had done for the last three weeks, Nymphadora had gotten up early to eat her breakfast before everyone else as she was required to be at work early as a newly qualified Auror.
Ever since Bellatrix escaped from Azkaban the five children had been staying with the Tonks's at Alphards Retreat owing to their Parents spending really long hours at work. They would only see their exhausted Parents occasionally when they would come to see them after long workdays for an hour or two at a time before going home to get some rest.
Even Nymphadora would spend most of her time at work, coming home exhausted every day and passing on words of love for the children from their parents.
"I'm sure they will try their hardest to get some time off to take you shopping… but it may be the case that only one of them gets to take you, nearly everyone at the Ministry is working extremely long and tiring hours every day, that is why you're all here with us, so they can have their time at home to rest" said Andromeda softly.
Eric frowned, obviously missing his Parent's having barely seen them in the last two and a half weeks with the only time he saw them being when they would stop by for a quick visit.
"Why don't you and Mum ever talk about Bellatrix Black, even Grandmother refuses to talk about her" said Euphemia.
Andromeda frowned.
"Bellatrix is a sore subject for your Mother, myself and your Grandmother… that's why we don't talk about her" said Andromeda with a hint of sadness and regret in her voice.
Harry sighed and continued eating his scrambled eggs as the table returned to a peaceful silence.
Five minutes later…
As the children finished their breakfast, two owls entered through the open dining room window carrying a total of five envelopes between the two of them. One of the envelopes made a small clanging impact noise as it landed on the table which had Edward feeling excited at what was inside it.
"Dear Mr Black… we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" said Eric, voice brimming with excitement.
"I've got a Hogsmeade permission form" said Jennifer taking the small piece of parchment out of her envelope along with her booklist.
"Same here" said Harry looking down at the small piece of parchment.
Hogsmeade Permission Form
To be signed by the appropriate Parent or Guardian
I do hereby grant permission for Harrison James Potter to visit the magical village of Hogsmeade on the three supervised visits during the school year.
All students are to present Professor Mcgonagall with this signed form on the day of the first Hogsmeade visit on Sunday the 31st October 1993.
IF THIS PERMISSION FORM IS NOT SIGNED THEN THE STUDENT IN QUESTION WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO VISIT HOGSMEADE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
Signed:
"Mum or Dad need to sign it" said Jennifer.
"I can sign your forms for you" said Andromeda.
Harry nodded hoping that Professor Mcgonagall would accept a signed form if it did not come from his Parent's before Edward got their attention.
"I got the Prefect badge" said Edward in slight shock as he looked at the badge while holding it in both hands.
"Congratulations, I know your parents will be very proud" said Andromeda proudly.
"Both myself and your Aunt made Prefect you know, made it easier to sneak around after hours at least" said Ted with a hint of cheekiness in his voice as he gave Andromeda a firm slap on her rear as she got up to clear their plates from the table.
Harry placed his permission form on the table and started to read through his booklist.
Book list (Third Year)
Harrison James Potter will require one copy of each of the following books:
The Standard Book Of Spells Grade Three by Miranda Gowshawk
Intermediate Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts by Arsenius Jigger
The Monster Book of Monsters by Edward Lima
Numerology and Grammatica by Leopold Wakefield
"Not many books this year, just five" said Harry folding up his booklist and placing it back on the table with his permission slip.
"I only have to get three" said Euphemia looking at her own booklist as she sipped her morning orange juice.
"I'll write to your Parent's… find out when we can best arrange a day to do the shopping" said Andromeda as she returned from the kitchen to collect the rest of the plates.
"Why don't you kids go and play in the garden?" said Ted sipping his tea.
1st August 1993
As Ted and Andromeda led the five Kids out of the visitor's entrance into Diagon Alley they saw that things even though the Wizarding World was on high alert with Bellatrix Black being on the run, the only things that were different about the Alley were the wanted posters of Bellatrix and the small number of Auror's patrolling the Alley.
Waiting for them outside of the entrance to Diagon Alley were Sirius and Narcissa both of whom had managed to get a few hours away from work so they could do the school shopping with their children before they would have to go back to patrolling Diagon Alley.
As Sirius and Narcissa greeted their respective children with hugs and in Narcissa's case kisses on the forehead, the sight of two more people entering the Alley had them all looking surprised while most of the shoppers in Diagon Alley looked shocked and in some cases, intimidated.
Walburga Black was now 68 years old and her long black hair was starting to go slightly grey with a few wrinkles on her regal aristocratic face, she was dressed in a black and dark grey dress which she had ordered from France holding onto a black designer handbag.
Orion Black meanwhile was now 64 years old and like his Wife, his short black hair was starting to go grey with most of it being hidden under a black bowler hat that did little to hide the wrinkles on his forehead, in addition to his bowler hat he was wearing black acromantula silk suit robes while using an ornate black wooden cane to aid his walking and conceal his wand.
As some of the shoppers laid their eyes on Lord and Lady Black they either moved away from them or stood aside allowing them to pass.
"Mother, Father" said Sirius icily.
Jennifer and Eric said hello to their Grandparents wondering why they had chosen to come to Diagon Alley with them.
"Sirius" said Orion flatly while Walburga greeted her Son with a stiff nod.
"What are you doing here?" said Sirius stiffly.
"I have business of my own at Gringotts… afterwards we will join you for our Grandchildren's shopping" said Orion curtly.
With that, the two started to walk up the Alley with shoppers moving out of their way, anxious to avoid angering one of the most powerful Wizards on the Wizerngamot.
Once they were out of sight the others started walking along the Alley to start their shopping.
Forty-five minutes later…
Jennifer and Eric were stood outside Eyelops Owl Emporium with Walburga waiting for Orion to exit the store having been told by Orion that he had a special present for Eric.
Sirius of course had wanted to be with them but Orion and Walburga had insisted on spending some time alone with their Grandchildren which they seldom did.
After another minute the Orion Black emerged from the shop with their ageing House Elf Kreacher hobbling in front of them holding onto an owl cage containing a striking grey Eagle Owl.
"Your own owl Eric… I hope you take good care of him, Kreacher!" said Orion with a degree of sharpness to his voice which was directed at Kreacher.
"For you young Master Eric" said Kreacher making his way over to them handing the owl cage though he nearly dropped it when handing it to Eric which drew the ire of Orion.
"Be more careful Kreacher!" spat Orion before clipping Kreacher on the back of the head with his cane which drew the attention of everyone in the vicinity.
As Kreacher fell forwards to the floor a familiar voice shouted at them from outside Flourish and Blott's opposite them.
"Hey, you can't treat that creature like that!"
Recognising that voice Jennifer turned around to see Hermione stood outside Flourish and Blotts with Neville and Frank Longbottom Jr while Hermione's Parents were inside the bookshop talking to Alice Longbottom.
Jennifer quickly made her way over to Hermione while Orion and Walburga Black looked at her with a mix of shock and anger on their faces that someone dared to speak to them in that way.
"Hermione please, just leave it" pleaded Jennifer not wanting to see her Friend be insulted by her Grandparents.
"They can't treat that creature like that, it's just wrong" said Hermione in shock.
"Please Hermione, you don't know what my Grandparents are like… tell her Neville" pleaded Jennifer.
As a nervous Neville opened his mouth to speak Orion Black interrupted him causing him to close his mouth and gulp as the attention from everyone else was solely on them.
"A friend of yours Jennifer?" said Orion testily.
Jennifer turned to look at them.
"Yes Grandfather" said Jennifer politely.
Orion straightened up and told Kreacher to go back to Grimmauld Place.
"Come here girl" said Orion curtly once Kreacher was gone.
Hermione slowly made her way over to the Black's along with Jennifer, Neville and Frank Jr with the latter two looking intimidated by the older Black's.
As they stopped in front of the Black's Orion looked Hermione up and down.
"What is your name?" said Orion stiffly.
Hermione feeling even more nervous and a bit scared gulped slightly.
"Hermione Granger" said Hermione nervously.
Walburga straightened up.
"Are you related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, who founded the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?" said Walburga stiffly.
Hermione shook her head.
"No… I'm a Mugg-" said Hermione nervously before Orion cut her off mid-sentence.
"A Muggleborn… and we thought you knew better Jennifer" said Orion bitterly turning to his Granddaughter with a look of disappointment on his face.
Jennifer frowned as Hermione finally understood why Jennifer told her not to involve herself with what her Grandparents were doing.
"That's enough Uncle… I think it would be best if you were to leave" said Narcissa walking towards them with a stern look on her face.
Orion and Walburga turned to look at their Niece.
"You are causing a scene, and you don't want that do you?" said Narcissa stiffly.
Orion and Walburga glared at some of the spectators who immediately returned to their business.
"Very well… goodbye Eric… Jennifer" said Walburga stiffly before she and her Husband started walking towards Knockturn Alley.
Once they were gone Narcissa turned to Hermione.
"My apologies Miss Granger… I'm afraid my Aunt and Uncle can be terribly rude at times" said Narcissa.
Hermione nodded her head thanking Narcissa before walking back to Flourish and Blott's with Neville and Frank Jr.
"Are you alright Hermione?" said Neville sounding concerned before sending Frank Jr a stern look giving him a clear message to go back inside the shop and let him talk to Hermione alone.
Hermione looked at him and wiped a single tear from her eyes.
"They're just like Malfoy, they hate what I am" said Hermione sadly.
Neville sighed.
"They're worse than Malfoy Hermione, much worse, Orion Black is one of the most powerful Wizards on the Wizerngamot, a lot of people are scared to death of him" said Neville.
Hermione frowned and wiped a few tears from her eyes.
"Hermione, don't listen to them, no matter what they say your amazing, really" said Neville feeling nervous when he said that last part.
Hermione looked slightly shocked at his words before wrapping him in a hug.
"You mean that?" said Hermione in slight shock.
"Yeah" said Neville nervously.
As the two let go of each other Jennifer came over to them.
"I'm sorry about that Hermione, they had no right to treat you like that" said Jennifer.
Hermione turned to her.
"It's okay… I'll see you on the train I guess" said Hermione composing herself.
Jennifer nodded.
"Yeah… sorry but I've gotta go, my Dad's waiting for me and my Brother" said Jennifer before giving Hermione a quick hug and returning to Narcissa and Eric.
"Who was that woman by the way?" said Hermione as Narcissa led Jennifer and Eric towards Madam Malkins.
"That's Harry's mum Narcissa Potter" said Neville as they stopped outside Flourish and Blotts together.
"She called that Man Uncle… they don't look like they are related" said Hermione curiously.
"Yeah… Lady Black was her Father's older Sister I think, at least she turned out better than they did" said Neville.
"Have you known the Potters long?" said Hermione.
Neville nodded.
"Since I was about 4, my Dad's an Auror like his Parent's, we grew up together" said Neville.
"Hermione… are you getting your books?" said the voice of Hermione's 37-year-old curly brown-haired Mother Jean Granger from inside the shop doorway.
"Coming Mum" said Hermione walking towards her with Neville.