CHAPTER 3
Severus breathed a sigh of relief on hearing that any other Horcruxes could be traced. This was something outside his ken and the former Death Eater would not know how to find them otherwise. One thing Severus was certain of, however, was that the Dark Lord would have created more than one. Before dealing with that, however, there was another issue to take care of.
"Please could you check my Dark Mark to see if it can be removed? I believe the Dark Lord linked his marked followers to him magically through the Mark and it wouldn't surprise me if when he dies, we all do, too. Either way, I want it gone, if at all possible. I'd truly appreciate your expertise on this."
Severus rolled up his sleeve and showed his Dark Mark to the goblins. Curse Breaker Sharpspike and Healer Cutwell examined it carefully, running multiple tests upon the Mark.
"You are correct, Master Snape," said Sharpspike eventually. "When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named dies, all his marked followers will indeed die along with him."
Severus looked at the goblin in surprise. "I didn't think the Goblin Nation feared the Dark Lord's name, the way wizards do," he commented.
Sharpspike sneered. "No, we do not fear him. But what better punishment for one who seeks eternal glory than for his name to be forgotten?"
"A fitting legacy indeed," Severus agreed with a smirk. The goblins were correct: there was little that would pain Voldemort more than his name being erased from history.
"The good news is that we can remove the Mark, however, we will not be able to do so today," Sharpspike continued. "Do you know what a blue moon is, Master Snape?"
"I believe it refers to the second full moon which occurs in a single month," he replied, not understanding why this was relevant.
"Approximately," said Sharpspike. "That is a modern simplification of the old definition², which refers to an additional full moon within a single season. In older times, each moon had a name, such as Harvest Moon, and the extra moon was called a blue moon so that the other moons would be moved out of their correct place within the season. What has long since been forgotten is that there is magic in a blue moon and, luckily for you, the next blue moon will take place on the thirtieth of August this year³. Deep below Gringotts a perpetual fire burns. High above this fire, there is a crevice through which the night sky can be seen. When a blue moon shines on the fire, the fire glows blue. Anyone who enters the Sacred Blue Moon Fire with pure intentions will be purified by it and their souls will be cleansed. This fire will remove your Dark Mark, Master Snape."
Severus looked thoughtful. "Will it hurt? I don't ask for myself," he added hastily, as the goblins sneered. The Goblin Nation was a race of warriors and they had nothing but contempt for those who feared pain. "I'm worried that once you remove the Horcrux from Harry, there may still be a residue of lingering after effects — bad dreams, if nothing else. If the fire will not hurt him, I would have him enter it with me, so that he may also be cleansed," explained the concerned Potions Master.
"That is a wise decision," said Cutwell approvingly. "No, Master Snape, Harry will not be harmed. For one thing, your Harry seems particularly innocent, perhaps due to having been raised by house elves. Apart from that, according to our lore, a child can only enter the Sacred Blue Moon Fire at the behest of the parent — they cannot take that decision upon themselves before they reach the age of maturity — and it is therefore the parent's reason for the child to enter the fire that will be judged. Are you willing to be judged on Harry's behalf, Master Snape?"
"Yes, Healer Cutwell, I am," Severus replied firmly. "I know what it is to be discarded by society and I don't want him to grow up damaged and with no sense of self-worth, as happened to me. I want only the best for him."
"Master Snape, you said that you wish to adopt Harry magically? If you enter the Sacred Blue Moon Fire with Harry, with the desire in your heart to become his father, to love him and protect him, then the fire should remake you both as father and son," said Ironfist.
Severus smiled in delight at that thought. "Then that is what we shall do. If you could remove the Horcrux today, we will return on the thirtieth of August to enter the Sacred Blue Moon Fire of the Goblin Nation, with your permission of course."
"Permission is granted, Master Snape," said Ironfist formally, bowing his head.
"The Goblin Nation honours me," he replied, bowing his head in return.
Formalities over, the goblins got down to business. Account Manager Ironfist produced a pensieve and asked Severus to place his memory of the bonding of the Unbreakable Vow inside it. Ironfist and Sharpspike examined the memory and exited the pensieve triumphantly. "You are correct, Master Snape. Master Flitwick did indeed infuse the bonding with goblin magic and we can most certainly unbind the Vow. We will send a team to your home now to prepare the explosion and they will notify us when it is ready, so that the explosion and the breaking of your Vow will take place simultaneously."
Ironfist barked orders and Sharpspike left to set it all in motion. When he returned a few minutes later, he had a crystal with him. "We need you to infuse this crystal with some of your magic. It will be the focus of the explosion and will cause your magical signature to be registered at the site."
Severus grinned an evil grin. "I will be spending the next month in my family's primary estate, which is unplottable and is protected by the strongest of wards, including a Fidelius Charm, of which I am the Secret Keeper, that having fallen to me when I inherited the estate. My magical signature cannot be traced while within the wards. I assume that after I enter the Sacred Blue Moon Fire, my magical signature will change? Excellent! This means that Dumbledore will not be able to use my magical signature to find me. After I have been cleansed and purified by the Sacred Blue Moon Fire, I will then get a new wand which will be attuned to the new me and destroy my present wand, so it cannot be used to trace me either." Severus suddenly sobered. "Unless the Sacred Blue Moon Fire doesn't accept that my intentions are pure, of course. Rennard Prince had better make a Will to ensure Harry's safety should I perish in the flames."
Tapping his finger on his lips, Severus pondered who to name as Harry's guardian. His first choice would have been Filius Flitwick, as he was the only person Severus came close to trusting, but it was likely that with his partial goblin ancestry, the Ministry would not permit Filius' guardianship. Besides, with Filius being an employee of Hogwarts, that would put Harry right under Dumbledore's interfering, meddlesome nose. Minerva McGonagall was too close to Albus Dumbledore and Pomona Sprout too easy-going to stand up to him. Lucius Malfoy was still a dedicated Death Eater, despite his public persona claiming otherwise. Augusta Longbottom might be a good choice, but her son and daughter-in-law were sycophants of James and Lily Potter. Amelia Bones might be a good choice, he thought. She's rising up the ranks in the DMLE and is known to be extremely just and fair. The problem is she would be a single parent in a dangerous job. No, she won't do either.⁵
As Severus continued to think, an idea struck him. Turning to Ironfist, he asked, "Is it possible for me to do a wizarding blood adoption of Harry now and then back it up with the adoption through the Sacred Blue Moon Fire?" Ironfist nodded and Severus continued. "I'll do that then, so that I'll have the right to take Harry into the Sacred Blue Moon Fire with me and so that I'll have the right to name a new guardian for Harry in case it should be needed."
Healer Cutwell produced a vial, which the Potions Master recognised as the blood adoption potion. Quickly adding three drops of his own blood, he went over to Harry. "Would you give me your hand, Harry?" he asked the child. When Harry obediently raised his hand, Severus magically numbed Harry's finger and pricked it with a pin, gathering three drops of Harry's blood into the vial as well."
"Harry-Elf has owie?" the little boy asked curiously, examining his finger. Not feeling any pain, he was not distressed.
Severus waved his hand and the finger was immediately healed. "No, Harry. There's no owie now," he said and the little boy turned his attention back to Dobby and the plush owl, which he had not stopped cuddling since Severus had given it to him. The dark man smiled at the small child. "Good boy," he said kindly, ruffling his hair.
"The blood adoption potion will most likely cause physical changes in him, which could be painful. Seeing as you are going to put him to sleep while you deal with the Dark magic in his scar, I suggest that we give him the blood adoption potion at the same time," Severus said firmly.
"Give him the blood adoption potion first," mused Cutwell. "It will strengthen him and his magic. Harry is vulnerable now because he has no ties."
At a word from Ironfist, Severus had Dobby gather together the toys, which Harry had spread out on the blanket, and replace them in the holdall. Shrinking the holdall and tucking it back in his pocket, Severus then wrapped Harry in the blanket again. With the little boy in his arms and Dobby in tow, he followed the goblins to their shielded ritual chamber. Ironfist made sure to escort the party of three through the passages usually used only by the goblins, so that no wizard would see them.
Once inside the ritual chamber, Severus sat Harry down on a stone altar that was in the centre of the room, while the goblins set up shields to combat any magical backlash that may occur. "Could you tell if there was some kind of curse or charm on Harry to make his parents forget about him?" Severus suddenly remembered to ask.
"No, there was nothing of that nature," replied Sharpspike. "And you are correct that because it is not only his parents who have forgotten about the child, anything of that nature could only have been cast upon him. Nothing of that nature could have been cast on the Potter home either, as it wouldn't work outside the boundaries of their home."
"Could the Dark Lord have placed some kind of modified Fidelius Charm on the boy? No... I can see him so that can't be it."
"You have a Dark Mark," said Sharpspike slowly.
Severus pursued that line of thought further. "So you think something like that could have been cast on the child, with a provision for those with the Dark Mark to register his existence?"
"It's possible, but between your blood adoption of Harry and the ritual of the Sacred Blue Moon Fire, Harry will be reborn and, hopefully, that will cancel any such charm upon the child. If that is what happened," replied Sharpspike.
"But we don't know for sure that's the correct explanation or if we'll be able to cancel it," Severus huffed. "I'll run some Arithmantic calculations and do some research on the Fidelius to see if that's what could have happened. I thought the Dark Lord went there to kill the child but I suppose it's possible he could have intended to turn the boy into a Horcrux instead. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had reason to believe that Harry could defeat him and so, like any Slytherin, he would have prepared a backup plan. The Dark Lord may have figured that if he were in fact defeated by the boy, then turning Harry into a Horcrux and possessing him, using him to return, would be a fitting revenge. Only when the Killing Curse backfired, or whatever it was that happened, instead of possessing him, the Horcrux was somehow deflected and became lodged inside a scar instead. If the Dark Lord planned to turn him into a Horcrux, I can easily see him casting a modified Fidelius on the child in order to protect him — or rather, the Horcrux within him."
"It's a reasonable hypothesis," agreed Sharpspike. Of course, they would never know for sure what happened that night or why Harry had been forgotten but, based on the few facts they did actually have, it was fair to assume that the theory might perhaps be more than mere conjecture.
Severus nodded and turned his attention back to the boy. "Harry, I want you to drink this," he said, handing Harry the vial with the blood adoption potion. "It tastes nasty but you need to be a good boy and drink it. Will you do that for me?"
Harry nodded and took the vial. The little boy quickly drank the potion and handed the vial back to Severus, screwing up his face at the nasty taste. "Icky," he said.
Severus chuckled, and kissed his soon-to-be son's head, before handing Harry a second vial. "One more," he said. With the taste of the first potion still in his mouth, Harry was reluctant to drink the second one, but he had been brought up to be obedient by Dobby and Gillie, whose very nature was to serve and obey, and so, not without a grimace, he took the second vial and drank it. This potion made him sleepy and his eyes immediately began to droop.
"It's all right, Harry," said Severus gently. "You can lie down and sleep here."
By the time, Severus had lain the boy down, he was asleep. Within minutes, the blood adoption potion began to take hold and changes could already been seen in the child. The messy hair that he had inherited from James Potter straightened out to lie flat; his face narrowed and took on Severus' high cheekbones; and he grew visibly taller, right in front of their eyes. Severus was glad to see that young Harry appeared to have been spared both the Snape and the Prince beak of a nose. Severus had been doubly unlucky in that regard! Talking of identifying characteristics, he hoped that Harry's eyes would change to his own black, since no one who had ever met Lily Evans Potter could possibly doubt that Harry's green eyes made him her child. Well, even if they didn't turn black now, perhaps they will when we enter the Scared Blue Moon Fire, he thought philosophically.
When the changes ceased, Healer Cutwell ran another diagnostic on the sleeping child and nodded approvingly. "His magical core has grown significantly. That's good. It will help him expel the Horcrux when we transfer it, as it will fight to stay where it is. Mercifully, it's hold on Harry is tenuous, since it's located in his scar rather than within Harry himself."
Severus felt a wave of terror brush across him. "What would have happened if it had been located within him?" he whispered.
Sharpspike shook his head. "It would have possessed him — an infant could never fight off a fully trained, adult, Dark wizard — and he would have become a monster, a demon."
Severus felt sick. "Is that why you are transferring it to that?" he said, nodding towards an old and broken quill that had been placed on the altar next to Harry.
"It would be better to transfer it to an animal — a mouse or a rat perhaps — and we would then slaughter the animal immediately and completely destroy the carcass. With the death of the animal, the piece of soul would also die. However, I would not dare leave a soul piece in a living container for longer than it would take me to swing an axe. With the Dark Lord's ability to do wandless and non-verbal magic, he would be dangerous even in the body of a mouse. As we need to use this Horcrux to try and locate any others, it's better to transfer it to an inanimate object. A Horcrux housed in an inanimate object can be destroyed by either basilisk venom or Fiendfyre."
"And you've chosen an item that will be destroyed easily," Severus commented.
"Precisely," Sharpspike confirmed.
"A broken old quill, though?" Severus asked, his black eyes gleaming with amusement.
"Does he deserve anything better?" responded Sharpspike sardonically.
No, indeed he doesn't," agreed Severus, his lips twitching as he tried not to laugh. The situation was not really one for humour.
When Sharpspike, Ironfist and Cutwell had finished setting up the area, three more goblins came in, dressed in white druidic robes. These were the holy men among the goblins, the ones who were responsible for the maintenance of goblin lore and rituals and the goblin way of life. Severus was informed that it was better he not be present, in case the soul piece be attracted to his Dark Mark and try to possess him. With his magic already being linked to that of the Dark Lord, he may not succeed in overpowering the soul fragment and it would be disastrous if the Dark Lord were to take possession of someone as magically powerful as he. Severus was politely but firmly ejected from the chamber and he sank down onto the floor outside the door to wait, the loyal Dobby beside him, pulling his ears with anxiety. The chamber was obviously sound-proofed as neither Severus nor Dobby could hear anything. After what seemed like an interminable wait, but could have been no longer than half an hour, the door opened and Ironfist beckoned the concerned father back into the chamber. Severus jumped to his feet and rushed over to Harry, who was still lying on the altar.
"It is done," said Cutwell. "Harry will sleep for a several hours yet but he will be fine when he awakens. Your son may even feel lighter, as though a weight has been lifted from him."
"You're not going to tell me what happened, are you?" Severus asked.
"It's better that you don't know," Cutwell replied. "I don't expect he will have nightmares since he was unconscious throughout, but if he does, I presume you will be able to provide him with a Dreamless Sleep potion?"
"Of course." Severus picked up Harry and held him tight. "Thank you all for helping Harry. I am in your debt," he said bowing deeply to the goblins, his son still cradled in his arms.
"There is no debt for this, Master Snape," said Ironfist, pleased with the wizard's gratitude. "We could not in good conscience have left that abomination in the child."
The goblin priests bowed their heads as they filed out.
"We still need to unbind your Unbreakable Vow," Ironfist reminded him, when the only goblins remaining in the ritual chamber were himself, Cutwell and Sharpspike. "That is for Curse Breaker Sharpspike to do."
Severus nodded. "Should Harry be in here while you do that? I don't want him to be harmed if there's a backlash."
Ironfist nodded approvingly. "You are already proving to be a good father, Master Snape, with your constant care and concern for Harry."
"Thank you," Severus smiled. The new father was surprised by how precious Harry already was to him. Severus felt a warmth run through him every time he thought of Harry as his son, which, despite his extremely limited experience with the emotion, he knew was love for the innocent and unspoiled, young boy.
"Dobby, please take Harry back to the meeting room. Apparate him back; don't walk through the corridors. Please stay with him until I return."
"Yes, Master Snape," said Dobby, his ears flapping happily. The excitable elf could feel that the little boy was no longer tainted by Dark magic and was very pleased that he had put his trust in Severus Snape.
Once Dobby had taken Harry away, Severus was asked to extend the arm to which the Unbreakable Vow was bound. Ironfist and Cutwell erected shields and Sharpspike began to chant in the goblin language. As he did, Severus could feel the bonds of the Unbreakable Vow unravelling. Suddenly, Sharpspike paused and nodded to Ironfist, who barked a command into a goblin communication device. Sharpspike uttered a final, sharp exclamation and Severus felt the bonds snap. The backlash had him feeling slightly battered and buffeted but he was not harmed.
"Thank you," he said, gratefully
Ironfist escorted Severus back to the meeting room. Severus produced the Will, which Ironfist authenticated. The Account Manager made a goblin notarised copy for the Gringotts records and sent the original with a Gringotts eagle to be registered at the British Ministry. Ten minutes later, a charm linking the two copies of the Will caused the copy in Ironfist's possession to glow gold, indicating that the original Will had been registered.
"Dumbledore cannot suppress this Will now that it has been registered," Ironfist said in satisfaction. "As for a Death Certificate…"
"Dumbledore can take care of that," Severus interrupted. "My supposed death won't register automatically at the Ministry. Dumbledore will only be aware something has happened because of the breaking of the bonds of my vow. Since there is no one else who would know or care about the death of Severus Snape, it would be suspicious if it were to be registered. Even Dumbledore won't actually care about the death of Severus Snape," he snorted. "The manipulative old coot will only bother registering the death because he'll hope to gain from it."
"I'll need documentation for Rennard Benedict Prince and his son, Theodore Henry Prince. If I will be renewed in the Sacred Blue Moon Fire on the thirtieth of August this year, then that should be the basis for my new date of birth: the thirtieth of August 1960. Harry's date of birth is to be according to today's date, as the day I adopted him: the third of August 1980. I checked the Prince family tree and discovered there was a second cousin of my grandfather, who had eight children. The entire family was wiped out by Grindelwald. I've created a fictional tenth child who will be Rennard Prince's parent; there's no one left alive who would know that there wasn't, in fact, a ninth child who miraculously escaped the slaughter. Even any friends of my grandfather's cousin who might still be alive are unlikely to remember after all this time exactly how many children he had in amongst all that brood and my supposed parent could be said to have been raised in seclusion by a godparent who is now also deceased. That should be a sufficient background story.
"Is it possible for the relevent records to be filed discreetly at the Swiss Ministry of Magic? Ideally, without it being registered exactly when the documents were actually filed?"
"Indeed it is," replied Ironfist. "Gringotts is on excellent terms with the Swiss Ministry. It may be a somewhat irregular request but if we explain it's on behalf of a wizard wishing to remove himself and his son from Dumbledore's reach, they will be most accommodating, I assure you. Albus Dumbledore is not well-liked outside Britain."
"That's good," said Severus in relief. "Fortunately, I took the precaution of removing Harry's name from the Hogwarts Book of Names, so Dumbledore or McGonagall won't find a record of Harry. And as the Ministry doesn't have automomatic detection of births, marriages, deaths or adoptions but relies upon records being submitted by the appropriate parties, there will be no record of Harry Potter having been disowned and adopted. At most, anyone looking will find a birth record for Harry Potter but nothing to indicate what became of him after that. There will be no reason for anyone to assume that Theodore Prince was once Harry Potter."
"What will the Potter house elves say if they should ever be asked about Harry Potter?" queried Ironfist, wanting to make sure all the loose ends were tied up.
"That Harry No-Name was removed from the Potter home by Severus Snape and no longer exists. They've agreed to say no more. Don't worry, house elves are very good at working around their bonds, while still obeying the compulsion. Hopefully, the assumption will be that Harry died along with Severus Snape," the dark man explained ruefully. "The Potters and Dumbledore will happily believe the worst of me. They won't have any problems thinking I made off with the child."
Ironfist summoned another goblin, sending him to prepare the documentation that Severus required. "May I ask why you have chosen those names?" he asked curiously.
Severus smiled. "For myself, I needed something very different to Severus Tobias Snape and yet still something I could relate to. One thing that no one knows about me — and I am trusting you to keep this secret — is that I am an unregistered animagus. A fox, to be precise. Although I believe it is more commonly used as a surname than as a first name these days, Rennard is an old, Teutonic name meaning fox; and with a slight variation of the spelling, it's also the French word for fox. That makes it suitable for one who was supposedly born and raised in Switzerland, with its multiple official languages. Hopefully, my animagus won't change once I've passed through the Sacred Blue Moon Fire?"
"No, that shouldn't change, although your Patronus might change," replied Ironfist reflectively.
"That would be very welcome. At present, my Patronus is representative of a woman I once loved when I was still in school and I would be very pleased if it were to change to match my animagus form. I included Benedict in my names because even though I barely know the child, I already feel very blessed to have Harry come into my life. Being his father and having the opportunity to start a new life with him is the best thing that ever happened to me.
"As for Harry's new name, Theodore is because, like the name says, he is a gift. Henry is because Harry is a pet name derived from Henry. Harry will be undergoing so many changes in his life, not least of which will be learning to think of himself as a boy instead of an elf, that I think it's important he retain something familiar. However, in case anyone should ever remember that the Potters had a second child, I've made Henry his second name instead of his first name, thus making it of lesser importance. While changing his name as well as his entire life may be too overwhelming at this time, perhaps once Harry feels stable and confident in his new life, he might like to be called Theo or Teddy instead, although I wouldn't force that upon him."
Ironfist nodded in approval. "With that attitude, both towards your new name and that of your son, you will have no problems with the Sacred Blue Moon Fire. It will welcome you and bless you," he said.
"There is one other thing that I request, Ironfist. My Head of House ring will act as a portkey to take Harry and myself to the Prince property in Switzerland but I will need a portkey to return on the thirtieth of August. Once we have cleared the Sacred Blue Moon Fire, I will take Harry back home but I will want to return here the following day, so the portkey will need to be reusable. Between now and the full moon, I hope to retain Andromeda Tonks of the Tonks & Tonks legal firm as my proxy on the Wizengamot. I would like to meet with Andromeda in person here on the thirty-first of August, as it would be too risky to meet with her in person before the ritual, as she would no doubt recognise me and can't know that Severus Snape is still alive."
"That won't be a problem, Mr Prince. We will send you the portkey through our branch in Geneva in good time."
"Thank you, Ironfist. Please deduct all fees and charges relating to today and to the services Gringotts will be providing to me on the thirtieth and thirty-first of August from my Swiss vault."
Ironfist looked up sharply. "Not from your vault here? It would be easier."
Severus shook his head. "I wouldn't want you to be accused of impropriety by withdrawing funds from the vault of Severus Snape after his death."
Ironfist bowed his head. "Thank you for that consideration, Mr Prince."
"After all you have done for me today, it's the least I could do. Now, I have taken up enough of your time for one day," said Severus, looking at his watch, surprised to see that it was not much past noon. The day had been so emotionally draining, it felt like he had been in Gringotts all day. "May I use my portkey here?"
"I will escort you to the secure outgoing portkey room, Mr Prince."
"Thank you, Ironfist," said Severus, picking up the little boy, who was curled up on the floor, wrapped in his blanket and with a cushioning charm beneath him. Dobby, I don't know what supplies and foodstuffs are in Prince Manor — I don't believe there any surviving Prince elves — so please would you go and get food for the next couple of days, while we get organised. If you don't know what Harry's current favourite foods are, then feel free to ask Gillie. I'd like to tempt him with something he enjoys eating."
"Yes, Master Prince," said Dobby, nodding.
"Very good, Dobby," said Severus approvingly, hearing the little elf use his new name.
Dobby popped off and Severus followed Ironfist to the portkey room. It made sense that outgoing portkeys could only take place from a designated room, otherwise anyone trying to rob the bank or cause other mayhem could easily portkey out from anywhere within Gringotts, something which the goblins would never permit.
Holding tightly to the sleeping boy, Severus placed his hand underneath Harry's, so that Harry would be touching Severus' Head of House ring. A murmured activation phrase and the new father and son were whisked off to Prince Manor in Switzerland.
.o.O.o.
² washingtonpost dot com / blogs / capital-weather-gang / post / blue-moon-one-small-mistake-an-accidental-folklore-for-the-sky / 2012 / 08 / 31 / f6a96a22-f36f-11e1-adc6-87dfa8eff430_blog dot html
³ fullmoon dot info / en / fullmoon-calendar_1900-2050 dot html
⁴ The concept of the blue moon fire came from an old movie I saw very many years ago. I remembered very little of it — unfortunately, neither the title of the movie or who was in it — however, thanks to the lovely people here at FF, it's now been identified as She (1935, remade 1965), based on the novel by the same name, by Henry Rider Haggard (1887). Thank to everyone who helped me.
⁵ There is a common assumption in FF that Susan Bones lost her family in the first Voldemort war and she was therefore raised by her Aunt Amelia. That may very well be the case. However, my perception is rather different. When Edgar Bones is first mentioned, Mad-Eye Moody is showing Harry the photograph of the Order of the Phoenix from the first Voldemort War and he says that "Edgar Bones and his family" were killed. (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 9.) Moody doesn't say that one daughter survived and, given that Amelia was a colleague of his before he retired, I would have thought he would have been aware of her having to raise a niece who was the same age as Harry, and would therefore have mentioned it. Furthermore, after Voldemort broke out his most notorious Death Eaters from Azkaban (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 25) much attention was paid to those pupils who had lost family at the hands of the Death Eaters, in particular, "Susan Bones, whose uncle, aunt and cousins had all died at the hands of one of the ten." I would have thought that she would have been more likely to have received attention for having lost her parents and siblings, if that were the case, than for having lost her aunt, uncle and cousins. Finally, when Amelia Bones was killed by Death Eaters, she was described as a middle-aged woman who lived alone (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 1). Not a middle-aged woman who lived with her niece, or whose niece was away at boarding school, but who lived on her own. Therefore, my perception of the Bones family is that there were three siblings: Amelia, Edgar and one unnamed brother, and it's that other brother, whose name we don't know, who is Susan's father.