The future becomes the past (5)
So forget what I had said in the last chapter. With new ideas popping in my mind, I have decided to extend the memories arc. The pairing for Tonks with Bill and Fleur has been scrapped. I was in between Yes and No but when my favourite author commented No, there was no other option. Since I want it to keep in the group, I only have Fred, Charlie, and Remus left. Remus is a No, Charlie will have a very small arc, so that leaves Fred as the last option.
What do you guys thinks about this? Do leave a comment.
HERMIONE GRANGER aka "JEAN"
The next memory that she put in was of the breakfast in the great hall when Angelina had confronted Harry for getting detention.
"Please pay attention to Professor McGonagall. She did not enquire why Harry got into detention, and just plain away blamed him, didn't listen to him, and took off points for no reason. It is the same pattern she had been following since the first year. For all of her words and speeches, she never listens to us with her mind always already made up. She blamed him for losing anger, conveniently not remembering that he was being called a liar in public and by everyone, was getting punished for speaking out the truth, and had a small issue of a Dark Lord and his followers after his life. Instead of showing sympathy, she further punishes a teenager who is already suffering. I told her about the Blood quill the day after one of Harry's detention, but she said there was nothing that could be done. Do not forget that she had also not done anything in the last school year when nearly the entire school was against him, and in the first year, she deducted 50 points for each of us for being out of the bed in the night, when the Twins only get a deduction of 10 points for the same thing, multiple times. Harry has skipped over it, but in the first year, our House's behavior, which she never noticed, for that point loss was enough for me to consider leaving Hogwarts."
"And she is the Deputy Headmistress. I don't know Jean, but every memory is just convincing me a little more to transfer Hermione to a different school." Her mum observed after a moment's silence.
She stopped Hermione when the young girl seemed ready to argue and looked at Dumbledore to do something. Fortunately, the Headmaster looked prepared for it.
"I know my words might not mean much, Mrs. Granger, But I promise you that things will change. It was my responsibility to ensure that such things did not happen, which I failed in the past and the future, as we can see. But, this will not happen anymore."
Dumbledore hesitated for a moment and then spoke up after looking at all six of them, his voice filled with determination.
"For a long time, I have made plans and dealt with everything with only one goal in my mind, ending the threat of Voldermort. And now, I see that I looked over too many small things that matter, things that could have been prevented."
He then pointed at six of them.
"With their arrival, I believe I can finally step away from the responsibility Magical Britain always expect me too. I..."
It seemed that her mum's words had shaken something deep inside the Headmaster, as his voice had turned hoarse.
"A long time ago, I had made a promise to myself that I will never take a life, no matter what. I broke that promise when I joined the war against Grindewald. After it ended, I repeated the words of promise once again, but this time, it became a magical vow. Since then, I have given everyone as many chances as I can to save them. My inactions have been for the same reason. But... no more, Mrs. Granger, I can promise you that, No more..."
It happened in less than a second. Dumbledore's control over his magic slipped and engulfed him in a swirling tornado. She jumped from her seat, spells forming to raise shields. A person like Dumbeldore's wild magic would destroy everything that it might consider hostile. But before the spells could leave her wand, a solid brown shield formed around the swirl, stopping the wild magic. She didn't have to look to know that it was Harry who was responsible, as it was one the Potter family spells he had started using some time ago. But even with all of Harry's power, the shield seemed to be straining and bucking against the onslaught.
Everyone stared at the scene, frozen in their seats and not running away as they should be doing. But before she could shout at them, Fawkes, who had flamed out some time ago, reappeared right over the swirl and dived into it. For a few moments, the only sound in the room was of Harry's shield straining, and then the swirl disappeared with a flash. When she was finally able to see again, the scene generated a sort of relief inside her.
Albus Dumbledore's entire being was glowing with power, and even Fawkes was lit up with magical flaming fire. A moment later, the Headmaster's eyes opened, and the glow disappeared. She knew everyone had held their breaths, waiting for a reaction from the Headmaster. After a few moments, Dumbeldore reacted by sitting down on a conjured chair and smiling at them.
"I apologize for that. It has been a long time since I lost control. Mr. Potter, thank you for raising the shields. I believe things might have gone very wrong if you had not done it."
"No problem, Professor," Harry replied a little warily. She could understand why her best friend was doing so. The Headmaster looked very different from what she could remember. A sort of energy seemed like flowing through him, and he looked a little younger, she thought.
"Please continue, Mrs. Granger-Davis."
Not knowing what else to do, she started the next memory, her eyes fixed on the Headmaster, who looked strangely cheerful.
"We... I mean, I had an idea about training ourselves since Umbridge was not doing anything. Voldermort was out there and would come out in the open sooner or later. We managed to convince Harry to teach us, and a few days later, met with some fellow minded students. And so formed the Dumbeldore's army, a student group that would go on to produce the Witches and Wizards who were best of their generation in fighting."
The pride that had entered her voice, broke up at Sue's next words.
"And by the time we left, there were only nine members out of the original 30 left alive, from which one had his mind snapped due to torture, one had turned traitor, one had become a ruthless werewolf hunter, and two had ended all communication with us. We never knew, but the end of Dumbeldore's army had started the day it was formed."
She could see that everyone was staring at Sue, maybe trying to understand what they meant. A few moments later, she spoke up.
"We later found out that Umbridge had learned about our meeting. She brought another decree the next day, banning all groups and organizations, but we continued on. Soon it was clear that she was reading Harry's mails when Hedwig showed with signs of being attacked one day."
Hedwig, who was perched on one of the spare chairs, hooted angrily, and a moment later, both Harry's replied at the same time.
"No, she won't."
They both looked at each other before hi-fiving. Shaking her head, she continued.
"Dobby told us about a place to train, and we started a few days later with Harry teaching us the disarming spell."
Madam Bones interrupted her with a curious voice.
"That seems a very fundamental choice of a spell, Mrs. Davis."
It was her wife who replied, although the sarcastic laugh was unnecessary.
"It was, Madam Bones, and that should tell you what the level of our schooling had been till now."
Harry nodded too, speaking up next.
"Tracey is right. I remember that more than half of the members had trouble casting it on the first day."
"And later, it became the signature spell of the group members." Tracey teased. Harry flushed a little, as it was the truth. Members of DA's were known for using Expelliarmus as the opening salvo in fights and duels.
"We all were in jubilant mood for a few days, with the thrill of defying Umbridge right under her nose. But, she struck back eventually. In the next Gryffindor vs. Slytherin quidditch match, Malfoy provoked Harry and the twins so much that they attacked him. Umbridge banned all three of them from playing and confiscated their brooms. Things continued deteriorating with Umbridge observing Hagrid's class, daily new decrees, and tightening of rules by her."
She looked at Harry with a teasing smile, who was glaring at her, knowing what she was about to say.
" It improved slightly for Harry when he got his first kiss."
Daphne and Sue both admonished him when he showed a middle finger at her.
"But then, a few days before Christmas, Harry had a dream."
Ather her signal, Harry added the memory in the Pensieve. Since it was of a dream, the memory was blurred most of the time, but everyone got the gist of what was happening.
Ted Tonks's voice was full of astonishment as he enquired.
"Was it real? Had it happened just as Mr. Potter had dreamed it?"
"Yes, Mr. Tonks. Professor Dumbeldore was able to confirm it and send help. Mr. Weasley was rescued to St. Mungo's, and Harry and the Weasley's left for Sirius's home. After that incident, you unknowingly added another point of torture for Harry's Professor. At your command, Snape started teaching Harry occlumency. After the war, we found that he had chosen the most challenging method to teach. He just shouted at Harry to clear his mind and then attacked his mind with full power. I don't know what you were thinking, Professor. The trust you have in Severus Snape has ruined so many things that it's difficult to repair even with our time travel."
Dumbeldore, even though looking a little guilty, had quite a firm tone in his questions.
"May I know what ruined things are you talking about, Mrs. Davis?"
She started to answer, but Daphne stopped her.
"Later, Professor. It will all become clear soon."
Sharing a look with her wife, she agreed with Daphne and started the next memory.
"The day after Harry had his first lesson, Voldermort made his first big move. A mass breakout was organized at Azkaban, with ten famous deatheaters escaping the prison."
She hesitated for a moment, but after a nod continued.
"Among the escapees were Bellatrix Lestrange, Rudophus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, and... Augustus Rookwood."
The handle of Madam Bones' chair snapped under pressure, while the woman in the question was frozen in her seat. She could understand why the ordinarily unflappable head of DMLE had reacted so badly. August Rookwood had been the one who had killed Madam Bones' brother and Susan's dad, Michael Bones. He had been murdered with his wife in the Bones manor brutually, and their body parts had been scattered all around the property. It had been one of the worst carnages of the first blood war. When Madam Bones relaxed after a few moments, she continued.
"The Ministry blamed Sirius for the breakout due to his relation with Bellatrix. In Hogwarts, Umbridge started getting more active, with a clear goal of removing one of the teachers. Both Hagrid and Trelawney were placed on probation. Soon after, Harry and I met Rita Skeeter in Hogsmeade, where I made her interview Harry for the truth of what had happened the night of the final task."
"Made her, Mrs. Davis. I don't think anyone had ever made Rita Skeeter do something." Harry's father in law observed with amusement in his voice. She flushed a little before answering.
"I did, Lord Greengrass. She has a secret which I uncovered. It gave me a little say in matters."
This time it was Daphne who interrupted her.
"A little say she says, huh. Anyway, that interview was one of the most brilliant steps these two could have taken. Everyone started talking about it when it was published. People began believing Harry a little more, even those who had been making fun of him since the start of the year."
It was clear that most of them wanted a little more explanation, but she continued on.
"We three didn't realize at that time, but after that interview, the victims of deatheaters suffered a lot of harassment."
Sue had already put her memory in the Pensieve and played it. They all saw subtle reminders of her parent's death by unknown students, casual dropping of Rookwood's name around her, discussion about the death eaters around her and Neville in the library, and an assault on her as she was walking back to her dorms telling her that she would suffer the same fate. Sue's voice was haunted as she spoke.
"It became a daily routine for us. Strange and hidden voices shouting at us, reminding us of our place and what it will be when Voldermort won, Goyle's assurance that he will own me, and much more. And it was not just the Slytherins; there were more than a few Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs mixed into the attackers. We all started moving in groups, and a duel took place nearly every hour we were out of our dorms. The teachers could never find anyone guilty, and the perfects were made powerless by Umbridge."
She could see Harry trying to calm down, with Daphne helping him. He had always blamed himself for not noticing what was happening in the fifth year and how his interview had contributed to it. Once Sue had stopped, she took over.
"A few days later, Umbridge decided on the name of the teacher who would be fired, and Professor Trelawney was the victim. But she was partially unsuccessful in her effort. She managed to fire the Professor, but could not remove her from the castle, as Dumbeldore kindly reminded her. He also stopped her from appointing a new teacher, having already arranged for one. Firenze, a centaur, joined Hogwarts as our latest Divination teacher."
Lord Greengrass once again observed in an amused tone.
"That must have gone well with her. She hates everything she terms as 'Halfbreed', and centaurs are the perfect magical for the category."
"Yes, Lord Greengrass. The disgust on her face had been apparent, but she could not do anything at that time. But a few days later, she had her revenge. One of the original members of DA turned traitor and informed her about us. She had called Fudge along with Aurors and caught us in the act. We might have gotten away with the help of Dumbeldore and Shacklebolt, but one of our mistakes caught up to us. We had written the names of all the members on a list, which had the title as Dumbeldore's Army. It was precisely what Fudge believed was happening, and he had the proof now. But the Headmaster took the blame and went on the run."
Harry spoke up with a smile on his face.
"Wait, Jean. They need to see the memory of that. It's too good not to be included."
Agreeing with her, she added the memory of the confrontation in the Headmaster's office in the Pensieve. When the memory was over, it was Brat who summarised what her own thoughts had been.
"That was badass, Professor."
Dumbledore ignored the admonishment by Mrs. Davis, his eyes twinkling once again.
"It was, wasn't it."
Fawkes let out a tittering laugh, which was followed by most of the people in the room. Once everybody had settled down, she continued.
"Things got a lot more worse after Dumbledore left the school. Hogwarts became Umbridge's personal Kingdom, which she ruled as a dictator. An Insquiorial squad was formed under her, mainly comprising of Slytherins, sho acted as her henchmen. You can understand how they were by the example that points were taken from me daily for being a 'mudblood' as Malfoy liked to call it. Not that it went too smoothly for Umbridge. Her tenure as Headmistress was filled with pranks and actions against her. Everyone was involved, from teachers to ghosts to even Hogwarts itself. Despite being appointed as Headmistress by the MinistryMinistry, which was an illegal appointment, by the way, she could never get access to Headmaster's office. Things might have settled down a little, if not for a big mistake made by the Headmistress. She caught the twins somehow, and decided to whip them as a punishment publicly. Filch, the caretaker who should have been thrown out of the school a long time ago, was quite eager to do so. But both of their plans failed, for they forgot who they were dealing with. Fred and Goerge summoned their confiscated brooms and left Hogwarts, proclaiming their education was complete."
The entire Weasley family looked amused and a little prideful at this. Well, everyone except Mrs. Weasley looked ready to launch in one of her tirades, but Ron stopped her in between. They would have to talk to the Weasley Matriarch soon.
"Mum, Fred, and George were more successful than anyone else in the family. So please... just don't."
His mother looked like she did not know what to say. To avoid a scene, she started speaking again.
"Things were quite fun for a few days after their escape. The recently vacated position of a chief prankster had too many aspirants for it, and Umbridge and her minions suffered due to their attempts. Whether she was angry or was it preplanned, we do not know, but she decided to apprehend Hagrid. When Prof. McGonagall tried to intervene, she was hit by four then four stunners at the same time. Hagrid still managed to escape, and Professor was taken to St. Mungos. Umbridge didn't know, but she had crossed a crucial line that day. For all her faults, Minerva McGonagall is a respected figure in magical Britain. Umbridge did many disgusting acts in her lifetime, but her painful and prolonged death had this event as the main reason behind it. "
Taking a deep breath, she moved on to the next and one of the most prominent fifth-year memory, which Harry had entered in the Pensieve at her signal.
"During our final O.W.L exam, Harry sort of fell asleep in between and had another dream. He saw Sirius being tortured by Voldermort in the Departement of Mysteries. Based upon our previous experience, it was clear to us that Voldemort had captured Sirius. Since there was no way Harry could be stopped, five of us decided to accompany him to the MinistryMinistry. We got into a little scuffle with Umbridge before leaving, but managed to ... distract her attention. Harry was able to tell Snape about what he had seen during our engagement with Umbridge. I don't know whether Snape was unable to contact the order or he failed to understand what Harry said, or what I believe what had happened, he did the bare minimum since it was Sirius who was Harry was worried for. Because even though we had informed him about it, the first order member reached the Ministry for nearly five hours."
"Right on time, but a little too late," Harry observed in a tense voice.
"Thank you, Hermione. I will take it from here on."
She wanted to protest, but since her best friend looked too determined to argue so, she passed on the controls.
HARRY POTTER
Jean's words had made him realize things that he had never considered. The fact that Snape might have been indirectly responsible for his Godfather's death sent a wave of anger through him. He knew even Daphne was affected by it when her hands tightened around his. After taking over the controls of Pensieve, he looked up.
"There is no explanation or background I can offer before this memory. I request that you watch everything that happens before asking any questions. You all should get quite a few answers by the end."
After receiving a nod from everyone, he started the memory. As the memory Harry entered the Ministry, he leaned towards Junior.
"You will learn a lot of things in this memory. I will explain everything soon, just keep your calm till that time, okay."
Junior, whose eyes were fixed in the memory, nodded after taking a glance at him. He then leaned back and continued observing everyone. When the part came where Sirius died, Junior sprang from his seat, trying to stop Sirius from falling. He managed to stop him from hitting the Pensieve, but Junior's reaction after that. He thought about pausing the memory but then decided to let it go on.
Voldermort and Dumbledore's fight brought a lot of reaction from everyone, but not as much his memory of Voldermort possessing him. He could see that Andromeda was observing Junior closely, her eyes flicking between the memory and Junior. She must have known about the Horcrux, because a moment later, her eyes went wide and she looked ready to scream. He shook his head, telling her not to say anything. Fortunately, no one except Dumbledore and his wife noticed anything. Junior was still sitting like a statue, but he could feel the magic rapidly pulsing around his younger self. Signaling his wife to move Munchkin and her family away from Junior, he raised a full-strength shield around the young teenager. He had to get Junior out of the trauma they had inflicted on him, or his magic might lash out uncontrollably. But no matter what he did, Junior face remained blank. He was about to give up and apprate them out when Hedwig flew down towards Junior. He was astonished when she ignored the shields and dropped down on Junior's shoulders. This act got his attention, but the young boy's face was still completely blank. He had no idea what Hedwig did, but a few moments after she started rubbing his face, a tear appeared on Junior's face. Soon the boy started sobbing deeply. Pulling down the shields, he gathered the young boy in his arm, trying to console him. By now, someone had stopped the memory, and everyone was looking at them. As much as he wanted to give Junior some rest, they had to go through the rest of the memories today itself. A few minutes after, Junior had calmed down enough and was ready to see the rest of the memories. His mother in law had also switched seats with Munchkin and was now holding a tired-looking junior in her arms, which surprised him much. He couldn't remember trusting a person who was nearly a stranger, like that when he was young.
His eyes snapped back to the memory, which had been resumed by Jean. When the memory finally paused at Dumbeldore's admission of not giving him the Perfect's position, an eerie silence spread in the room. Everyone's face had paled, especially the youngsters. Hermione seemed to mutter something under her breath while Ronnie had closed his eyes. Ginger and Brat's eyes were fixed on Junior, while Munchkin was as still as a statue. Despite what his wife had said earlier, he knew that there was a chance that might come to them to carry on. It was the primary reason behind the decision to show the memory to everyone, even the youngsters. Junior's warbling voice caught his attention. His younger's self was looking at Dumbledore with disbelief and quite a lot of anger.
"You knew?"
Knowing what Junior was talking about, he looked at the Headmaster, wanting to know the answer himself. He had never managed to get the complete answer in his past, but now, he might. It looked like Dumbledore might not answer, but then, his wife entered into the topic, her voice calm the entire time.
"I would like an answer to that too, Headmaster. Why did you not leave my husband at any other place? There must have been places where he would have been safe and not abused. And before you deny it, that was precisely what happened. Vernon and Petunia Dursley did their best, in their own words, to 'Stamp' out his freakishness. Harry has not shown what they did to him, but forcing a child to work the entire day, making him live in a cupboard, striking a pan on his head, making him cook at a very young age, and much more was done to him. Everything of which could have been avoided if only you had done something. So answer this, why did you place him there?"
When the Headmaster still did not speak, Madam Bones also joined in.
"You stood in the Wizengamot and told Harry was being raised in a safe and happy place, when you knew it was not so. Did you lie to every person that calls you a friend, Dumbledore?"
This time the Headmaster answered.
"No, Amelia, I had not known that his family would do such a thing..."
Surprising him, and maybe a few others, Munchkin cut off the Headmaster.
"But you knew there was a chance, didn't you?"
The Old man finally looked up, straight at him.
"They were your family, Mr Potter. I did not know that in your home..."
He shook his head but could not answer before Junior did so.
"They are not my family, Headmaster. They are my relatives, that's all. That's not my home; it never was."
The Cry of 'no' from Dumbledore made most of them jump from their seats, but he asked all of them to calm down.
"The blood ward has not broken, Headmaster. It was always transferred away from the Dursely house this morning."
It took the Headmaster the only a few seconds to understand what he was saying.
"How, Mr. Potter?"
"I have no idea, Professor. It's a very unique ward, created by my mother's sacrifice. No one had ever managed to research upon it, so what it does and why it does, is a mystery."
"For now," Jean added under her breath. But, before anyone else could say anything, Munchkin spoke up, her eyes fixed on the Headmaster.
"You have still not answered the question, Professor. Please, do so."
"I am interested in the answer, too, Professor Dumbeldore. In fact, my entire family is." Arthur Weasley spoke up from his seat, his hands wrapped around a shaking Percy Weasley. The other family's added their interest too, but it was not until Jean's mother added their piece that the Headmaster was ready to answer.
"You owe it to him, Mr. Dumbledore. For everything he has suffered because of your decisions, he has the right to know why you allowed it."
The Headmaster stared at all of them for a long time before releasing a deep breath.
"The night Voldermort attacked the Potters, I was defending Hogsmeade from an attack. When Fawkes told me that there was something wrong with the Potters, I sent him to take Sirius and check on them. But, it did not happen. With my attention diverted, one of the spells managed to reach dangerously close to me. Fawkes intercepted the spell because he will choose to protect me first, no matter what I say or want. It was a dark magic spell that left him in a reborn state. I sent Hagrid to check upon them, as another wave of Death eaters had appeared around me. My instructions were to bring them to me, as I knew Voldermort was looking for them. At that time, I had no idea that the Potters had been betrayed or that their secret keeper was Peter Pettigrew.
When Hagrid brought Harry to me, I left him in his and Poppy's care and went to Godric's Hollow. All I found a ruined house and a burned cloak, which I believed was Voldemort's. With James and Lily's body missing, which I presume were destroyed in the explosion..."
He had not been paying much attention to the Headmaster's words, his thoughts moving upon what to share next. So it took him a few moments to understand what the Headmaster had just said. But when he did, everything inside him froze. He couldn't control the anger as his voice thundered out.
"What the bloody hell do you mean that my parent's bodies were missing, Dumbeldore?"
REVIEW REPLIES
thunderofdeath97:- Yeah, sorry, my bad. I had made her a Mckinnon in the initial draft, and then changed it in final. Why is Ron way out of the league. Well, even in the real world no one is out of anyone's leagues, and this is a fictional world.
Guest:- Whoever you are, yeah not adding three way realtionship.
Shadowdrake:- Thank you for your words. Getting what I think everyone deserves is one of the idea behind the fic's writing.
Fvdv123:- Harry/Daphne and Ron/Susan is defintely happening, no matter what, because I love Harry Daphne too much, and Ron/Susan are someone I have big ideas for. Hermione Tracey and Bill fleur might have a good chance of happening, although they would have their own problems.