AN: I am leaving very early in the morning to go out of town for almost a week, so I am posting 2 more chapters tonight. I will return on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week and will resume posting daily. Thank you to all who have read and reviewed this story. I've been overwhelmed by your kind words. --MS
Chapter 23
THE DAILY PROPHET
Secret Prophecy Finally Revealed
By Rita Skeeter
During a meeting in his office early yesterday morning, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore revealed to those present that he had been keeping secret a prophecy he had heard 15 years before. Without revealing the source of the prophecy, he recited it to those in his office.
Those present were Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, Madam Amelia Bones Head of the DMLE, Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, Amos Diggory head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, his son Cedric Diggory who finished second place in the Triwizard Tournament, Lord Mithrael dina Lothair son-in-law of Queen Thespa of the Elven Realm and father of Harry Potter – winner of the Triwizard Tournament, and six Hogwarts professors: Minerva McGonagall (Assistant to the headmaster, transfiguration professor, and head of Gryffindor House), Filius Flitwick (charms professor and head of Ravenclaw), Pomona Sprout (herbology professor and head of Hufflepuff), Severus Snape (potions master and head of Slytherin), Sirius Black (DADA and Harry Potter's godfather), and Remus Lupin (DADA and Harry Potter's godfather).
In the meeting, Dumbledore was asked by Lord Mithrael why he had not yet revealed the prophecy. Dumbledore said he feared that the boy of whom the prophecy spoke would be used. After receiving a promise from each person to protect the boy, Dumbledore revealed the following prophecy:
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches
Born to those who have thrice defied him
Born as the seventh month dies
The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal
But he will have power that the Dark Lord knows not
And either must die at the hand of the other
For neither can live while the other survives
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord
Will be born as the seventh month dies
After searching the Department of Records, this reporter found that only two Wizarding children, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, were born at the end of July 1980, shortly after the prophecy was made. Both boys had parents who worked against Voldemort.
Alice and Frank Longbottom were aurors who were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange and Barty Crouch Jr. They continue to reside in the Long-term Care Ward at St. Mungos Hospital while their son lives with his paternal grandmother, Augustus Longbottom. James Potter was also an auror, and Lily Potter worked in the Department of Mysteries until the birth of her son, Harry. Every child in our world knows the story of what took place on October 31, 1981.
It is evident that both families knew of the prophecy. The Longbottoms and the Potters went into hiding sometime in October. After their friend, Peter Pettigrew, betrayed the Potters, they were killed and their son, Harry, vanquished the Dark Lord. The Longbottoms came out of hiding, but two days later, Crouch and the Lestranges tortured them.
Harry Potter disappeared the night of his parent's death. It was thought that he was taken to live with Muggle relatives. However, when he returned the Wizarding World to attend Hogwarts, it was discovered that the Elven royal family had adopted him.
Sources have revealed that there is, indeed, a registered prophecy stored in the Department of Mysteries. The prophecy was made by ST and witnessed by APWBD. The subject of the prophecy is the Dark Lord and Harry Potter.
Of the two boys, Harry Potter was the only one marked by the Dark Wizard. To this day, he wears the Lightening Bolt shaped scar on his forehead where the Killing Curse struck him. He is the only person who has ever survived it.
A second prophecy was mentioned in the meeting at Hogwarts, though it was not revealed in detail. Lord Mithrael dina Lothair informed the group that an Elven Prophecy also spoke of a Child of Prophecy who would vanquish the Dark Lord, and that the Child is the same boy referred to in the above prophecy.
It is now clear to all who wondered why our Boy-Who-Lived had been raised in the Elven Realm. It is obvious that those who knew him as the Child of Prophecy were protecting him. They did not trust the Wizarding world to do it, and after what happened to Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory during the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, it seems they were right.
To read about the Tournament and the aftermath, see Harry Potter, Triwizard Champion below and Boy-Who-Lived in Magical Coma and What Happened in the Riddle Graveyard on page 2.
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Severus Snape opened the door to the hospital wing and crept quietly to the screens surrounding Harry Potter's hospital bed. He motioned for Elsbeth to follow him out of the room.
She leaned down and kissed her son's hand, then quietly followed Snape outside into the hallway.
"I have been sent with a message from your cousin, Draco Malfoy," he said. "He asked me to inform you that your daughter is being well cared for, to which I can attest, and for you not to worry about her. Remus Lupin has provided everything that she will need, and Draco is now staying in a separate room with the baby. The entire Slytherin house has volunteered their help, and she has been adopted as the official Slytherin Mascot."
Elsbeth laughed. "Do not tell my son that. He will want her as the Gryffindor Mascot."
Snape smiled at her. "He will have to be disappointed. Slytherin got her first."
"Thank you so much, Professor Snape," she said sincerely. "Please tell my cousin Lolindir and all of your house how much we appreciate your help. It has eased our minds to know that our daughter is in good hands so that we can stay with our son. Please let them know how much that means to us."
Snape bowed his head in acknowledgement. "I will, Princess Elsbeth, and I hope that your son recovers very soon."
She smiled and watched him walk down the hall, his robes flowing behind him.
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Draco Malfoy sat on a blanket under a tree near the lake. Coriel, now 6 months old, sat in front of him, playing with a small stuffed dragon he had given her. "Say Draco," he said. "Come on, you can do it. Say Dra-co. Dra-co."
The baby looked at him and laughed. "Da-da!" she said.
Draco grinned at her. "That's pretty close," he said, lifting her in his arms and laying back on the blanket, holding her over his face. "You want to fly on a broom? Whish! Whish!" he said, moving her back and forth, allowing her to "fly" over his head. She squealed and giggled excitedly.
"You know what?" Daphne said, appearing suddenly and sitting on the blanket beside him. "She looks enough like you that people would think she was yours, if you were older. She could be your daughter or your sister."
"Well, she is my cousin," Draco said.
"About 50 times removed," Daphne said teasingly.
"Not quite that many," he said, sitting up beside her and placing Coriel back on the blanket in front of him and handing her the dragon.
"How's Harry?" she asked.
Draco shrugged. "He could wake up tomorrow or the next day," he said. "Madam Pomfrey seems to think there's nothing to worry about."
"Is it true what was written in the Daily Prophet, then?" she asked.
He looked out over the lake. "Who knows? I'd never heard of the prophecy Dumbledore witnessed," he said.
"What about the other one?"
He shrugged and looked down at Coriel. "Do you think she needs another nappy?" he asked.
"You want me to do it this time?"
"No, that's okay. I'll do it."
He reached into the bag that Remus had brought him and took out a disposable nappy. "Come on, little princess. Be good for Cousin Draco this time," he said, laying her on the blanket in front of him. "She really hates this," he told Daphne. "But she loves taking a bath."
Daphne leaned back on her elbows, watching him talk with Coriel as he changed her nappy. He was becoming more attractive to her the more she got to know him. Who could have ever imagined the Slytherin Prince taking care of a baby?
When he had finished, he sat the little girl on his lap. "I love her ears," he said, gently running the tip of his finger over the top of her small pointed ears. "They make her look kind of exotic, don't they?"
"Yeah," Daphne said. "Of course, I suppose elves are rather exotic, aren't they. You are, Draco. Even before I knew you were partially elf, I thought you looked exotic. Your hair and eyes are such an unusual color. It's quite attractive."
He gave her a sideways look, grinning at her. "Really? You think so?"
She laughed. "Yes, I think so," she said, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. "I think you're very attractive."
Draco covered the baby's eyes. "Not in front of the child!" he said teasingly.
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Two days later, Harry awoke from the coma. He felt tired, but well. That afternoon, Dumbledore and Fudge joined his parents and godparents at his hospital bed. Amelia Bones and Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived soon after.
"Harry, I know you have just recovered from a horrifying experience," Dumbledore said. "But we need for you to tell us exactly what happened at the Riddle Graveyard."
Harry glanced at his father, who nodded. "All right," he said, noticing that Auror Shacklebolt was taking notes.
"When Cedric and I touched the Triwizard cup, we discovered it was a portkey. It took us directly to the Riddle Graveyard. We barely had time to stand before Barty Crouch came out of the mausoleum carrying Voldemort."
"How did you know who they were?" Fudge asked.
"I saw Barty Crouch when the auror removed his mask at the World Cup. I was standing nearby because I had just shot him with an arrow and was trying to decide whether to leave him there or take him to the Burrow."
"How did you recognize Voldemort?"
"It was the face," he said. "The same one that was on the back of Professor Quirrell's head in my first year. That's something that I'll never forget. Besides, when I'm close to Voldemort, my scar hurts. It's the only time that it ever does."
"So, you saw them come from the mausoleum," Dumbledore said. "What happened then?"
"Voldemort asked Crouch if Cedric was 'the boy.' Crouch said, 'No, it's the other one.' Then Voldemort said, 'Kill the spare' and Crouch pointed his wand at Cedric and started to say the Killing Curse. Before he could finish, I raised a shield, and the curse bounced off and struck Crouch in the shoulder, killing him. He dropped Voldemort, and I just worked to keep the shield up."
"Cedric said you sent him to get help," Dumbledore said.
Harry nodded. "I told him to take the portkey back and tell my father where I was and that Voldemort was there."
"What happened after he left?" Dumbledore asked.
"I tried to keep the shield up, but it was hard. He just – Voldemort – just kept staring at me like he hated me. He couldn't move because his body was so malformed, but his eyes kept staring into mine. And then he started making a horrible face, like he was choking or something, gasping for air. Then, his soul left his body and burst through the shield. He said – 'You cannot kill me, Harry Potter. I am immortal, and it is I who will kill you.' And then he was gone. I don't know what happened after that. The next thing I remember is waking up here this morning."
"His soul spoke to you?" Fudge asked.
"Not like we're speaking," Harry said. "I could hear him in my mind."
"How were you able to hear him in your mind?" Fudge asked.
Harry shrugged. "All elves can communicate through their minds."
"But you are not an Elf," Fudge said. "So, how were you able to do it?"
Harry looked at him as though he had lost his mind. "Because I am an Elf," he said. "That is how I was able to do it."
"You are a Wizard," Fudge argued. "You were adopted by Elves, but you are one of us."
Mithrael stood. "My son is both," he said firmly. "He has both Elven and Wizard magic. He walks in both worlds and belongs to both. He is as much Wizard as you and as much Elf as I."
"Now, see here!" Fudge said, standing also and pointing his finger at Mithrael.
"Minister Fudge," Elsbeth said softly. "My son became an Elf through magic that you do not understand. When he became our son, our blood became his, and his became ours. He is our child the same as if he had come from our bodies. He is not just an adopted Elf, Minister. He is a true Elf."
"And what gave you the right—"
"I did," Sirius said. "James and Lily Potter chose me to be Harry's godfather. In their will, they appointed me as his legal guardian. Rather than adopt Harry myself, I allowed Mithrael and Elsbeth to do it because I believed he would be safer and happier in their world. I am still his godfather, and so is Remus Lupin. We are his legal guardians in the Wizarding world, designated by his parents, Mithrael and Elsbeth."
"That could be challenged," Fudge said.
"I don't think so, Minister," Albus said. "You gave your word as Minister of Magic to protect this child from being used. Do not try to use him yourself, Cornelius, or you will find yourself in a very precarious situation."
Fudge turned to Dumbledore, his face red with outrage. "Are you threatening me, Albus?"
"No. I am reminding you of your promise, Cornelius, and how easy it is for politicians to find themselves out of office when their constituents find that they've broken their word."
Fudge glared at him for a moment, then shoved his green bowler on his head and stormed out of the hospital wing.
Harry looked at his father worriedly. "He can't take me from you, can he?"
Mithrael shook his head. "No, he cannot."
Elsbeth sat down on the edge of his bed and took his hand. "No one can ever take you from us, Sethrael," she said, smiling at him. "You are our son."