CHAPTER 3
The Headmaster's office was already crowded when Hermione entered it at ten o'clock. "Ah, Miss Pevensie," he said cheerily as she entered. "The meeting room is already set up—my personal house elf is overseeing it now—so would you mind escorting everyone here to the room, while I wait for the rest of our guests to arrive?"
"Of course, Headmaster," she smiled. "If you would all follow me?"
Hermione led everyone out of the Headmaster's office and a short way down the corridor. Seeing the door to the Room of Requirement was in place, she opened it and led everyone inside. "Please make yourselves comfortable," she bade them all politely.
"If Missy is here, Tappy will be goings now," squeaked the Headmaster's elf.
"Of course. Thank you for waiting for us, Tappy."
The elderly elf bowed to Hermione and disappeared with a pop. She turned around to see the guests all looking quizzically at her. Glancing quickly around the room, she saw that those who were present had all come from outside the school. 'The Headmaster must have decided to ask the staff and students to arrive after everyone else,' she surmised.
"I'm Maia Pevensie," she introduced herself. "I'm apprenticing with Charms Master Flitwick."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, my dear." Hermione looked at Molly Weasley, who was smiling warmly at her, with Arthur sitting next to her, and could barely restrain herself from running over and hugging the couple who had been like second parents to her.
Next to Molly, were a couple of red-headed, identical young men. 'These must be Molly's brothers, Gideon and Fabian,' Hermione concluded. Seeing them brought an ache to her heart, since at first sight they reminded her very much of their nephews, Fred and George Weasley.
"I don't remember seeing this room before," one of them observed, looking round curiously.
Hermione immediately got the impression that they were rather more familiar with the castle than most students, like the Marauders and the Weasley twins from her time. 'Harry, Ron and me, too,' she admittedly wryly to herself.
"The castle does have a habit of redesigning itself," she said blandly, shrugging her shoulders as she looked innocently at the Prewett twins.
Fortunately the door opened again before the twins could question her further, and the Headmaster came in with the Hogwarts contingent. Once everyone was sitting comfortably, the Headmaster stood to open the meeting.
"I'd like to thank you all for coming today. I shall explain briefly what this meeting is about and then we can discuss things in more detail. As you all know, Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters are causing havoc in the wizarding world and the violence they are using is escalating. I have formed an organisation called the Order of the Phoenix, to assist in countering Lord Voldemort and his followers when the Ministry is unable to do so. All of you here today are either already members of the Order or are sympathetic to its cause."
"So why are these two slimy, evil, Slytherin gits here?" Sirius Black demanded, pointing at Severus Snape and his brother, Regulus, who were sitting quietly in a corner, no doubt wondering much the same thing themselves. "I don't know what you think you're doing here but get out before I hex you both!"
"Now, now, boys," the Headmaster began when Hermione interrupted, having no patience with Sirius' histrionics and wanting to head him off before he could build up a full head of steam.
"Headmaster, if I may?" she asked politely.
"Of course, my dear," he answered and she turned to the Marauders.
"For your information, Mr Black, I asked the Headmaster if he would be kind enough to organise this meeting and to invite all those here today," she said sweetly, before continuing with rather more venom in her voice. "Unlike what you just did, I didn't dictate to him, I merely asked him if he would consider inviting these people and then I left it to his discretion. Who are you to question Professor Dumbledore, Sirius Black? What right do you have to challenge the Headmaster—in his own school, no less!—as to who he may or may not invite to a meeting of an organisation which he heads? Regulus Black and Severus Snape are here with the Headmaster's agreement. Little though you may want to accept this, while they may be Slytherin, they are most certainly not evil gits. Quite frankly, Severus Snape is worth a dozen of you!"
By the time she finished, Hermione was nose to nose with him. Several people in the room were trying hard not to laugh at the sight of Sirius Black cowering in his seat while being faced down by the petite witch. Others, like the Prewett twins, were laughing openly, while Severus and Regulus were astonished at being defended by this fiery witch with whom they had never even so much as spoken.
Hermione took a deep breath, looking round the room. "I apologise to you all for my rudeness. However," and here she looked back warningly at Sirius and his friends, "we have a lot to cover today, so if you keep interrupting, I will silence you for everyone else's sake. I'm sure no one wants to be here all night, because of your lack of control."
"That won't be necessary, Miss Pevensie," said a man who looked so like James Potter that he could only be his father, Charlus¹. "If my son and his friends cause trouble during this meeting, I'll silence them myself," he declared, looking sternly at the Marauders, who all gulped nervously.
"Thank you, Mr Potter; I appreciate that," she replied, smiling gratefully at him, before to her seat. "Professor Dumbledore, would you be kind enough to introduce Lady Hogwarts and then we can begin the meeting?" she asked.
"How do you know about her, young lady? That information is privileged. Only the Headmaster, the Deputy Head and the Heads of House are aware of this," Professer McGonagall questioned with a disapproving frown.
"Lady Hogwarts introduced herself to me, Professor. She wants to participate in this meeting. In fact, she is the one who decided this meeting was necessary, I just made the request on her behalf," Hermione explained, to Professor McGonagall's great surprise.
"Who's Lady Hogwarts? Is she the heir to one of the Founders?" asked one of the Prewett twins cheekily.
Professor Dumbledore sighed. "My Lady? Would you be kind enough to join us?"
A moment later, the silvery Patronus-like form of Lady Howgarts appeared.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as Professor McGonagall explained, this is restricted information and should not be discussed outside this room…"
"That will not be a problem, Headmaster," Lady Hogwarts interrupted. "I have placed wards to ensure that nothing that will be revealed during this meeting can be spoken of outside this room or your office; and the only people who can inform anyone not present here today of our discussions will be yourself and Miss Pevensie."
Albus nodded in acknowledgement and continued his explanation. "When the Four Founders built Hogwarts, they imbued the castle with magic. You are all familiar with the moving staircases and many other examples of magic within this castle but what you don't know is that Hogwarts is sentient. Lady Hogwarts is the spiritual embodiment of Hogwarts and she is normally revealed, as Minerva has said, only to the Headmaster or Headmistress, their Deputy and the Heads of House. However, somewhat unusually, she also has a strong connection with Miss Pevensie."
"It could be said that Miss Pevensie is my Champion. Nay, the Champion of the very wizarding world. The Founders foresaw a time when war would so destroy the wizarding world that it would be in danger of disappearing completely. They gave me the power to bring one person, who would have the knowledge and magical ability needed to avert this disaster, from the future back to the time when I deemed would be the most auspicious."
"Lady Hogwarts, this cannot be. We cannot change the timeline. Terrible things happen to wizards who meddle with time," Albus declared severely.
"And sometimes, terrible things happen to wizards who don't!" Hermione snapped. "Believe it or not, I do actually agree with you, Headmaster, but I've seen the future and it's not pretty. Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Ministry, Diagon Alley, St Mungos… everything wizarding has been destroyed and there are very few magicals left in Britain. The wizarding world in this country has been decimated. Of the people in this room now, only myself, Mrs Tonks, Professors McGonagall and Sprout and Mol… Mrs Weasley survive. Many of you die within the next four years. The Founders planned for me to return to this time, Headmaster, and just by virtue of my being here and having interacted with people of this time, the timeline has already been irrevocably changed."
Dumbledore blinked at the last comment. This had not occurred to him but the young woman was undoubtedly correct that her very presence had already altered the timeline.
"I trust the Founders, Headmaster, and I trust Lady Hogwarts. If they feel it's necessary that I meddle with time, then it must be so—regardless of what penalty magic may enact upon me as a result," she assured him solemnly.
"You are prepared to accept consequences to you personally?" Albus regarded her sombrely.
"Yes, Headmaster, I am. My goal is to end this Blood War as quickly as possible. Whatever happens to me after that, I accept."
"And you think you can stand up to Death Eaters, little girl?" sneered Alastor Moody patronisingly.
"I know I can, Auror Moody. I've been fighting this war since I was eleven years old," she replied. "If you wish, I'll duel you, together with any two other people in this room that you care to select, right here and now to prove I can take care of myself. If you would care to add a duelling area to the room, my Lady?"
"Not now, my Champion. If you wish to duel Auror Moody after the meeting, however, I will gladly provide the duelling arena you require. As for you, Headmaster, has it not occurred to you that perhaps Miss Pevensie has already paid the penalty? You will understand more after she completes her story and you have learned what she has lived through since the age of eleven, I assure you."
"Thank you, my Lady," Hermione bowed her head to Lady Hogwarts in thanks, before addressing the room at large. "I could just tell you what is needed to defeat Voldemort and we could all go home but Lady Hogwarts has advised me that I need to tell you everything. I'm going to give you an outline of what happens in the next couple of years—I can't tell you in great detail as technically I've not actually been born yet and so didn't live through it—and then I'm going to jump forward to when I'm eleven and start Hogwarts. You'll see everything in shocking, sickening detail. Lady Hogwarts will be able to project memories, not just from myself but also from other key players in the war, for you to see. The reason that I have asked all our non-Order guests here today is that you all either played a major role in fighting this war or else were affected by it significantly.
"Before I begin, however, I must ask Lady Hogwarts if she can detect the Dark Mark when present in Hogwarts?"
"Of course, my Champion."
"Can you please identify and restrain anyone in this room who has the Mark? And remove any glamours hiding it? If any of them should happen to be an Animagus, please also erect wards against Animagus transformation."
There was a flash of light and then Lady Hogwarts spoke. "It is done."
Hermione glanced quickly around the room and saw that as she expected, the only person bound with restraints was Peter Pettigrew. She walked over to him and with a silent spell severed the left sleeve of his robes, to reveal the Mark.
"Are there any others in this school with the Mark?"
"Outside this room there are two who are already marked and one who is not yet marked but who has given his commitment to become marked after he comes of age, which he will do shortly. Those three and Mr Pettigrew are the only Death Eaters currently in Hogwarts. There are many who support their ideals but you need worry only about those four²."
"Thank you, Lady Hogwarts. Is there somewhere secure that Pettigrew can be confined until we are finished here and Aurors Moody, Shacklebolt and Bones can take him into custody?"
"Indeed there is, and I guarantee none will be able to access his cell until I release him from confinement."
Another flash and Peter Pettigrew was gone, leaving his rather stunned friends behind.
"I'm sorry; I know how close you were, but I had to make you all aware that he is a marked Death Eater," Hermione said to the remaining Marauders.
"What do you know? Peter was probably forced into taking the Mark. He won't do anything bad, he doesn't have it in him," said James stonily.
"Oh, believe me, the Peter Pettigrew I know is no innocent," Hermione said grimly. "Just one last thing before I begin: Mr Lupin and Mr Snape, I must apologise to you both in advance as I will be revealing things about each of you that you will undoubtedly consider deeply private. Unfortunately, I can't tell this story without revealing those things and I truly apologise most sincerely for the embarrassment and discomfort I will no doubt be causing you."
Severus nodded stoically in acknowledgement and Hermione sighed, regretting the need to expose his secrets, as she knew that he would find the experience completely humiliating.
"I need to begin with some back history, beginning with one Tom Marvolo Riddle." Hermione drew fiery letters in the air. Then, with a flick of her wand, they rearranged themselves into I AM LORD VOLDEMORT. Ignoring the gasps, Hermione continued to explain the background of the man that so many feared.
"Tom Riddle is a Half-blood. His mother was Merope Gaunt and his father a Muggle who lived near the Gaunts. The Gaunts were the last direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin but they were so inbred that they were all practically imbeciles and little more than Squibs. Merope added new blood into the line by wedding a Muggle, thus giving birth to an intelligent and magically powerful son. Merope, who was somewhat unprepossessing in appearance, in addition to being a simpleton, trapped Tom Riddle Senior with love potions and he eloped with her. During her pregnancy she either regretted dosing him or else simply ran out of potion and had no means to obtain or brew more. Once the potion was out of his system, Tom Riddle Senior immediately abandoned Merope and returned to his home, justifiably claiming that he had been tricked and trapped. Merope died during childbirth in a Muggle orphanage, but lived long enough to name her child after his father, Tom Riddle, and her father, Marvolo Gaunt.
"Tom Riddle grew up in that orphanage but there was always something different about him. As a young boy, he already knew that he could do unusual things—not knowing this to be magic—and he consciously used this ability to harm other children in the orphanage. He mostly kept his nose clean while he attended Hogwarts as I believe he knew that Professor Dumbledore was keeping an eye on him, and so was made Head Boy in his seventh year. It was he who opened the Chamber of Secrets—yes, it does exist but you need to be a Parselmouth to open it—and let out the beast that killed Myrtle, the ghost who haunts the second floor girls' toilets. The school was going to be closed after her death as it was deemed too dangerous for Hogwarts to remain open with the monster roaming free. This meant that Riddle would have to return to the orphanage, although he usually stayed at Hogwarts during the holidays. He didn't want to go back there so he framed Rubeus Hagrid, who was subsequently expelled, and the school remained open. I know Hagrid doesn't have quite the same concept of danger that the rest of us do with regard to magical creatures but he wasn't responsible for the opening of the Chamber and the death of Myrtle. Amongst his intimates, Tom Riddle was already using the name Lord Voldemort in school instead of his Muggle father's name, although, ironically, he created his new name from the letters of his despised Muggle name, and after school he immersed himself in the Dark Arts until he emerged as Lord Voldemort and began his Blood War.
"Now, let's skip forward to this time. The wizarding world is very much at war and in the House of Slytherin we have one who has a certain similarity with Tom Riddle in that he is the son of a Pureblood mother and a Muggle father. His home life is horrendous, far worse even than Tom Riddle's was in the orphanage. This boy from a poor and abusive background has had to struggle to find his place in a House of bigoted, supercilious snobs. His time in Hogwarts has been no better than his home life. Four boys, who are equally bigoted in their own way, have bullied him mercilessly ever since they met him on the Hogwarts Express at the start of their first year. They bullied him for no other reason than they felt like it and the staff did nothing to stop this."
"Harmless pranks, Miss Pevensie."
Hermione noted that Severus was crimson with embarrassment and this drove her to speak more bluntly than she perhaps might have done otherwise. "No, sir. Harmless pranks it most definitely was not! Once or twice could perhaps be deemed harmless pranks. Seven unrelenting years of constant, merciless bullying is unforgiveable. In my timeline, this escalated until two things happened this year that had serious and long-lasting consequences³. The first was when James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew attacked Severus Snape and humiliated him in front of the entire school. Lily Evans came to his assistance but, unfortunately, she unintentionally added to his mortification. Angry and humiliated, he lashed out at the nearest person—Lily—and told her he didn't need the help of a Mudblood. He regretted it as soon as the words were out his mouth but Lily never forgave him or spoke to him again, despite him going to extraordinary lengths to apologise to her."
"Well, that's a foul epithet," she sniffed haughtily.
"And that justifies you never speaking again to a man who has been your friend since childhood? Since long before you started Hogwarts or even knew of magic? It's just a word, Lily. It only has the power you give it," Hermione explained to the indignant girl.
"And what would you know about that? You're a Pureblood. You've never suffered the prejudice I have. I could never forgive anyone who called me that," the red-headed witch cried.
Hermione laughed harshly. "Really? For your information, I was a Mudblood to the people of my time, too. My grandmother was a Squib who married a Muggle. When my mother didn't have any magic, Granny decided not to tell her about the wizarding world. Granny died before I got my Hogwarts letter and, not actually having ever witnessed any of my bursts of accidental magic, she didn't know I was a witch and so had no reason to tell me about the wizarding world either. I believed until just a few days ago that I was Muggleborn. I was called a Mudblood not once, but continuously, practically from the time I entered the wizarding world. I can never get away from that word, so I decided to own it instead of letting it own me."
Hermione wrenched up the sleeve of her shirt and cancelled the glamour. Lily stared in horror at the word 'Mudblood' carved into Hermione's arm in angry, red letters. "That was done with a cursed knife," she explained quietly. "The scars will never heal or fade. I know it's a foul word, Lily, but it really is only a word and it can only hurt you if you let it. If you can never forgive, if you can't show understanding or compassion, you put yourself at risk of becoming cold, unfeeling and merciless. It's a short step from there to becoming inhumane and Dark. Forgiveness shouldn't be given without cause, it must be earned, but when someone shows true and geniune remorse, as Mr Snape did, then don't deny them absolution."
The room was deathly silent as Hermione stood up, needing a break to compose herself. "Excuse me for a moment," she said and crossed over to the table of refreshments set along the side of the room, coming back with a jug of pumpkin juice and a glass. "My throat is getting parched from all this talking." She poured herself a glass of juice and took a sip as she willed herself to calm down.
"The second event involved Sirius Black trying to kill Mr Snape. Remus Lupin is a werewolf. Professor Dumbledore offered him a place in Hogwarts and made provisions to keep him safely confined during his transformations. The Whomping Willow was planted the year he started Hogwarts. Underneath it is a tunnel that leads to the Shrieking Shack, where Remus is secured every full moon. Remus' friends worked out about his furry little problem, as they call it, and decided to do what they could to help him. This led the three of them to become unregistered Animagi back in their fifth year. James Potter is a stag, Sirius Black is a Grim-like dog and Peter Pettigrew is, appropriately enough, a rat. They're safe from Remus when in their Animagus forms as even if he did bite them, they wouldn't be infected with lycanthropy, so they spend the full moons with him. I believe that his transformations are easier on him with the company.
"Sirius, however, decided to lure Mr Snape to the Shack on the night of the full moon. Deliberately and with malice aforethought. Sirius never regretted this act as, apparently, the mere fact that it was Mr Snape was sufficient justification for attempted murder in his mind. Nor did Sirius ever stop to think what might happen to the Headmaster for taking such a risk in allowing a werewolf to attend Hogwarts if Remus had damaged Mr Snape in any way while in werewolf form. Sirius did not even seem to care that Remus would likely have been executed like a rabid animal had he bitten—or worse, killed—Mr Snape. Mr Snape was saved by James, who hadn't known of Sirius' plans, but Mr Snape, understandably given their history, never believed in James' innocence. When this incident was brought to his attention, Professor Dumbledore's main concern was to protect Remus. While I don't disagree with that as it certainly wasn't Remus' fault, I disagree very strongly with the way in which he did it. The Headmaster treated Mr Snape as the villain instead of the victim. Instead of showing even the slightest smidgeon of care or concern to Mr Snape after his ordeal, Professor Dumbledore threatened Mr Snape with Obliviation if he ever tried to tell of what had happened. The Headmaster never punished Sirius because he couldn't do so without the reason for the punishment going on record, so he did nothing.
"That night, Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore created a Death Eater. If the Headmaster had explained that Remus was innocent in this and had asked Mr Snape to keep quiet instead of threatening him, if he had come up with some other reason to punish Sirius, if he had shown a terrified and traumatised young man even the slightest degree of compassion, things might have been different. As it is, Professor Dumbledore essentially told Mr Snape that he is utterly worthless in his eyes, and the lack of punishment only reinforced Sirius' belief that he had done nothing wrong. The Death Eaters had been trying to lure Mr Snape into their ranks but his friendship with Lily had caused him to resist. After that night, and with nothing else to lose, it's hardly surprising Mr Snape chose to ally himself with the only people in the wizarding world who had ever shown him even a modicum of courtesy and respect. The blame for Severus Snape taking the Dark Mark lies solely with the Marauders and the staff of Hogwarts, who failed abysmally in their duty of care to one of their students."
Hermione noted that Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout were all looking rather shame-faced and she paused to take another sip of juice and gather her thoughts. "After school, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Pettigrew, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Marlene McKinnon, Benjy Fenwick, Caradoc Dearborn and Dorcas Meadowes all joined the Order of the Phoenix. The war escalated and the next few years were spent fighting. There were many deaths, with whole families being wiped out. Messrs Prewett, unfortunately, you were both among those killed but you went down fighting and took five Death Eaters with you.
"Molly Weasley wasn't an active member of the Order because of her duties at home—I'm sorry to spoil the surprise and tell others your news, Mr and Mrs Weasley, but you'll all learn this later in the story in any case as I'm afraid most of your children are an integral part of my story. Mrs Weasley is currently expecting again and will give birth to twin boys, Frederick Gideon and George Fabian on—appropriately for a couple of pranksters—April Fools' Day next year. She will then have another boy, Ronald Bilius, on the first of March 1980 and, finally, a girl, Ginevra Molly on the eleventh of August 1981."
"Seven children?" Molly whispered, looking shocked.
Hermione nodded with a Cheshire Cat grin. "And every one of them wanted and loved. In the meantime, James, Sirius, Frank and Alice all became Aurors. James and Lily married, as did Frank and Alice. Lily and Alice later gave birth to baby boys round about the same time. Neville Longbottom was born on the thirtieth of July 1980 and Harry James Potter was born the day after. Neville, by the way, is very much a mixture of his parents, while Harry is the spitting image of James, apart from his eyes, which are Lily's. Harry, Ron, Neville and I were all in the same school year and Ginny was in the year below us. We were all sorted into Gryffindor—all of your children were in Gryffindor, Mr and Mrs Weasley—and Harry, Ron and Ginny were my best friends, although we became close to Neville as well."
At this news, smiles could be seen all round the room. Babies were always to be celebrated.
"Why are you in Ravenclaw now if you were sorted into Gryffindor previously?" Professor McGonagall asked curiously.
"I was nearly a hatstall, Professor. Much like yourself, the Hat debated between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. It preferred Ravenclaw for me but ultimately chose Gryffindor because that was my preference at the time. This time round, I decided to let the Hat and Lady Hogwarts guide me and they chose Ravenclaw because they said I would be better off being free of the rivalry and antagonism between Gryffindor and Slytherin. I loved being in Gryffindor but after all I've been through, I think that I would prefer the calmer atmosphere of Ravenclaw this time, even though it means you will no longer be my Head of House. You were a mentor to me and we developed a strong friendship."
Minerva smiled at the young woman. "I understand that Professor Flitwick has given you permission to use the Ravenclaw common room? I'm extending the same permission for the Gryffindor common room, if you'd ever like to spend time in your former House."
"Thank you, Professor. I appreciate that," Hermione smiled back.
Hermione began to tear up as she began the next part of her tale. "The Ministry was on the verge of falling and the war lost when something unexpected happened on Halloween 1981. A few weeks before Harry and Neville were born, Professor Dumbledore interviewed a potential new Divination Professor. The Headmaster had been considering discontinuing the subject altogether and met with her only out of courtesy. The meeting took place in the Hogs' Head and, unfortunately, was overheard by a Death Eater. Sybill Trelawney's gift as a Seer is limited but she did make two genuine prophecies that I'm aware of and the first was made that evening. The Death Eater only heard part of it before he was ejected from the building. I'm only going to tell you that part now—I'll be telling the story as it happened, so some things may not make sense until later, but if I start jumping around, then I'll end up forgetting something important.
"The part of the prophecy the Death Eater heard was: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies⁴. That prophecy could have referred to either Harry or Neville, as those criteria applied to both the Potters and the Longbottoms. When the Death Eater told Riddle of what he had heard, Riddle immediately made plans to kill both boys. Mr Snape was horrified when he realised this meant that Lily was now an even greater target and he immediately threw himself at Professor Dumbledore's mercy, changing his allegiance to try and save her. The Potters and the Longbottoms both went into hiding.
"I don't know the details of the Longbottoms' protections, I'm afraid, but I imagine that if they were under the Fidelius, then Madam Longbottom was probably their Secret Keeper. James and Lily chose Sirius as their Secret Keeper but Sirius and James chose to treat it like some kind of schoolboy prank. Sirius decided he was too obvious a choice and persuaded James and Lily to change their Secret Keeper. That in itself was not a bad decision but, unfortunately, instead of choosing someone like Professor Dumbledore, who is the only person Riddle ever feared, they chose Peter Pettigrew.
"They didn't consider Remus because it was known that by this time that there was a traitor in the Order, although it was not known who the traitor was. Remus was on a secret mission to the werewolves and was under suspicion, as it was thought that the Alpha of the werewolf pack may have forced him to betray the Order.
"So James and Sirius decided that Peter was the last person that anyone would think could be their Secret Keeper and while I appreciate they didn't know then that he was the traitor, they did know that there was a reason why he was the last person anyone would think could be the Secret Keeper. Even if Pettigrew hadn't been a traitor, if he had been captured by Death Eaters who were looking for Sirius, how long do you think he would have held out under torture before giving up Sirius or admitting that he himself was the Secret Keeper?" she asked, looking at the boys inquiringly. "Sirius would have died for you, James. Peter Pettigrew led Riddle right to your door. That was on Halloween 1981. Harry was fifteen months old. Lady Hogwarts, could you show Harry's memory of that event, please?"
"How much can a fifteen month old baby remember? How can he even understand what he's seeing?" asked Dorea Potter curiously.
"It was in his subconscious memory. After that night, he frequently dreamed of a green light coming towards him. Then, when we were in our third year at Hogwarts, he had a few close encounters with some Dementors and every time one got close, they drew his worst memories to the surface and he recalled this incident," Hermione explained gravely.
Lady Hogwarts displayed Harry's memory of his parents being killed. Rather than a pensieve, her depiction of the memory was like a holographic projection displayed in the centre of the room for all to see. As the memory advanced, everyone looked horrified. None of the people in that room doubted Hermione's story any longer; the memory was too compelling to dismiss.
When the memory ended, Lily was sobbing quietly and James was holding her tightly. Hermione cleared her throat apologetically and continued the tale.
"Sirius had gone to see Pettigrew that night. When Sirius couldn't find Pettigrew, he knew something was wrong. Sirius went straight to James and Lily's cottage in Godric's Hollow but arrived too late. Sirius took Harry from the ruins of the house but then Hagrid arrived. Hagrid had been sent by Professor Dumbledore, with instructions to take Harry. Sirius was Harry's godfather and was the person named in James and Lily's wills as Harry's guardian should anything happen to them, but Professor Dumbledore decided that Harry would be better with Lily's narrow-minded, bitter, jealous, bigoted sister, Petunia, and her equally narrow-minded, dim-witted, bull-headed, ill-tempered, bigoted walrus of a husband, and took it upon himself to deliver Harry there, depositing him on the doorstep like an unwanted parcel in the middle of the night. A rather cold night, from what I understand. Professor Dumbledore didn't even have the courtesy to knock on the door and give Petunia the news of her sister's death in person but instead just let her find out from a note.
"Sirius, unfortunately, was so conditioned to follow Professor Dumbledore's orders that he didn't object and meekly handed Harry over. Instead of insisting on taking care of Harry as was his right as Harry's godfather, instead of considering that he might be wanted for betraying the Potters to Riddle and therefore handing himself into the Department of Law Enforcement with a demand that he be interviewed under Veritaserum to prove his innocence, in his usual impetuous and unthinking manner, Sirius immediately went after Peter. Pettigrew was prepared for this, and well, Lady Hogwarts, please could you show their confrontation?"
After viewing this memory, Hermione continued. "Sirius was mad with grief and blamed himself for James and Lily's deaths, because it had been his idea to change the Secret Keeper. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have occurred to any of the geniuses involved to leave proof of who the real Secret Keeper was in case something went wrong. Thanks to the successful deception, everyone knew that Sirius was the Secret Keeper and so because everyone knew it, he was sentenced without a trial to life in Azkaban.
"As Riddle had now been declared dead, it was deemed safe for Frank and Alice to come out of hiding. However, Riddle's Death Eaters were frantically trying to find out what had happened to their Master. Knowing that Riddle intended to visit the Longbottoms after the Potters (I presume he intended to try and torture Madam Longbottom into giving up the secret of Frank and Alice's location) but not knowing why Riddle had targeted the Potters and the Longbottoms, four of his most rabidly fanatical followers decided to pay Frank and Alice a visit. Neville escaped unharmed but Frank and Alice were Crucioed into insanity. They spent the rest of their lives in the Janus Thickey Ward of St Mungo's. Madam Longbottom used to take Neville to visit them regularly but they didn't know who he was. The four Death Eaters…" Here she looked apologetically at Andromeda Tonks, "Rodolphus, Rabastan and Bellatrix Lestrange, and Barty Crouch Junior, were captured and were also sentenced to Azkaban for life. You'll note that they who had committed countless atrocities were all given a trial, unlike Sirius. Even Bellatrix, who was the most infamous and evil of Riddle's followers, was given a trial."
"Why? Why was Harry taken to Petunia?" hiccupped Lily.
"Apart from the fact that Sirius was in Azkaban and Frank and Alice were incapacitated?" Hermione asked drily. "Harry became known as The Boy Who Lived. Harry survived the killing curse although no one knew how, and in surviving, he destroyed Riddle. At least that's how the general populace perceived it. What they failed to consider was that in actual fact Riddle's defeat was your doing, Lily. You sacrificed yourself for your son and in so doing placed ancient protections upon Harry, presumably with the assistance of some kind of ritual that you had undergone in advance. After all, I'm sure you weren't the only mother to beg Riddle or his Death Eaters to take them instead of their children. That's what mothers do! When Riddle tried to kill Harry, the protections activated and the Killing Curse rebounded onto Riddle. The only visible remnants of him were his robes and his wand, which I believe Peter took when he departed your home in Godric's Hollow. To all intents and purposes, it appeared that Riddle had been completely destroyed."
"Appeared as though he had been completely destroyed?" asked Madam Bones shrewdly.
Hermione nodded but did not go into details. Amelia perceptively let the subject drop but asked another question. "I notice you keep calling him Riddle, not Voldemort?"
"Over time, the wizarding world will become terrified even of saying the name Voldemort. Professor Dumbledore used to say that fear of a name causes fear of the thing itself and that we should therefore not refrain from using his name, but there were very few people who dared speak it, all of whom opposed him. Riddle knew that and later placed a taboo on it, using it to try and catch those few who were willing to stand up to him. I'm not scared of the name itself but I am wary of the consequences of breaking the taboo. Harry had followed the Headmaster's lead in using Voldemort's name and he was so conditioned to using Voldemort's name that he accidentally used it one day after the taboo had come into effect. The results of breaking the taboo weren't something I'd care to go through again. I don't want to get into the habit of using the name Voldemort but I don't mind using the name he despises instead," she explained.
Hermione looked at Dumbledore who nodded in acknowledgement of the message she was conveying and then continued her story. "Harry was raised by Petunia and Vernon Dursley. He was neither wanted in their home nor was he treated well. Harry wasn't abused physically—I don't believe they ever actually hit him and he certainly wasn't timid and cowed, the way abused children usually are—but he was barely fed and he was never given new clothes, only tattered cast-offs from his cousin who was the size of a baby whale; nor was he given books, toys or anything else a child should receive. Harry was actually kept in a cupboard until he received his Hogwarts letter and he was treated like a house elf, doing all the housework, while their son, Dudley, did no chores whatsoever.
"Seeing that Harry's Hogarts letter was addressed to Harry Potter, The Cupboard Under the Stairs, Petunia and Vernon panicked, thinking they were being watched by wizards and moved Harry into Dudley's second bedroom, which was essentially a junk room for Dudley's broken and discarded toys. Harry had a broken bed and a tiny wardrobe. That was it. He had no friends in primary school because Dudley wouldn't let anyone befriend him. Dudley used to go 'Harry Hunting' with his friends and would beat him up if they caught him. Dudley also did everything he could to get Harry in trouble with Vernon and Petunia and at school, so that Harry would be punished. That usually meant being locked in his cupboard for long periods of time, with bread and water once a day if he was lucky.
"Ironically, the Dursleys didn't need to worry that they were being watched by wizards, since no one ever bothered to check on Harry and make sure he was all right in the entire time he lived with them. I believe Professor Dumbledore arranged for a Squib to live nearby and keep an eye on him but either she didn't know what was happening, or she didn't think it was important to tell Professor Dumbledore about the way Harry was being treated, or else Professor Dumbledore chose to disregard the information in favour of the magical protections awarded Harry by living there. Harry may not have been protected from his relatives but Lily's sacrifice enabled Professor Dumbledore to activate blood wards to protect Harry as long as he lived with Lily's blood. Regular inspections, such as are undertaken in the Muggle world, would have gone a long way to making Harry's life better, Professor," she said sternly.
"Harry was brought up ignorant of magic and of the fact that he was a hero in the wizarding world. He entered Hogwarts completely unprepared. It didn't help that he didn't receive a personal visit from Professor McGonagall, like Muggleborns usually receive; I know Harry wasn't Muggleborn but he was most certainly Muggle-raised and he would have benefitted enormously from that visit.
"Neville, in the meantime, was raised by his grandmother. Unfortunately, the knowledge of what had been done to his parents and the weight of the expectations laid upon him to be like them, made him quite timid and shy. He was rather unconfident and showed little signs of magic as a child growing up. Being half drowned and then thrown out an upper storey window by his Uncle Algie to see if he would bounce wasn't exactly designed to make him any happier about magic than seeing his parents' insanity had," Hermione commented dryly. "When Neville got to Hogwarts, his lack of confidence was made worse by Madam Longbottom's determination that he should use his father's wand to honour Frank. Unfortunately, the wand wasn't suited to Neville at all and so he rather struggled with magic during his early Hogwarts years and, consequently, his self-confidence problem worsened. I wonder if Alice's wand might have suited him better," she mused. "It wasn't until his fifth year that Neville finally began to come into his own."
Hermione took another drink before beginning to talk about her school years in detail. "As I said, Harry, Ron, Neville and I were all sorted into Gryffindor. I didn't fit in much at first. I was commonly described as the brightest witch since Lily Evans Potter. I was also a bit bossy and as our Potions Professor and Head of Slytherin House, Severus Snape, described me, an insufferable know-it-all."
Hermione smiled impishly at him as he registered his shock at her words. "You were the youngest Potions Master to qualify in centuries," she told him. "You didn't particularly like teaching—in fact, I rather think you hated it!—but you were caught between two Masters and you had no choice in the matter. Riddle wanted you in Hogwarts to keep an eye on Professor Dumbledore, while Professor Dumbledore, when you changed sides, had bound you with Unbreakable Vows, which meant you couldn't leave until he freed you. You were sworn to work to the defeat of Riddle and to protect Harry. That meant the best place for you was at Hogwarts, partly so you could easily report back to Professor Dumbledore on Death Eater activities, partly so you could give Riddle selective information about Professor Dumbledore and partly so you could be here for Harry. You did indeed do everything you could to protect him but Harry never realised. It was more than your life was worth to let anyone realise you were protecting The Boy Who Lived. You had to be seen to be advancing the Pureblood agenda and you were horrendously biased towards your House. All Heads of House are to some extent but you deducted points from everyone else, especially Gryffindors, pretty much just for breathing, and gave points to Slytherin for the same reason. You had to do that, though, as your House was full of junior Death Eaters, all reporting back home on everything that happened in Hogwarts.
"Once we started Hogwarts, something significant, and usually dangerous, happened to Harry at the end of every school year and on most Halloweens. Ron and I weren't always involved but, more often than not, we were. Unfortunately, despite what most people wanted to believe, Riddle wasn't dead or destroyed and once Harry arrived in Hogwarts, Riddle began to resurface. In our first year, Professor Dumbledore, in his infinite wisdom…"
"Show some respect, Miss Pevensie!" snapped Professor McGonagall.
Hermione ignored her. "In his infinite wisdom, decided to use the Philosopher's Stone as bait for Riddle, placing it in Hogwarts. In a school, of all places! The Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, Quirinus Quirrell, was possessed by Riddle's spirit at that point, although none of the staff seemed to notice this, not even the Headmaster, despite the fact that they all knew him quite well as he had previously been the Muggle Studies Professor. Riddle was determined to get the Stone in order to try and regain a corporeal body. On Halloween, Quirrell let a troll into the school. I wasn't at the Feast as I was in the bathroom, crying and considering asking to be withdrawn from Hogwarts. I hadn't made any friends yet and I was miserable. That culminated earlier in the day with Ron making a nasty comment about me and that was the final straw. The students were all sent back to their House common rooms—even Slytherin, despite the fact that the troll was supposedly in the dungeons!—but Harry realised I didn't know about the troll and he and Ron came looking for me. Lady Hogwarts, could you show this incident, please? From when Professor Quirrell entered the Great Hall that night, and in Harry's perspective?"
Again, Lady Hogwarts displayed the memory and at the end of it everyone was in shock. Molly and Lily were crying at the sight of their yet to be born sons in such danger and Professor McGonagall was looking horrified at how close to death the young girl in her charge had been. "You were all extremely lucky. Those boys should have told a Professor instead of going after you themselves," she said severely.
"That's probably true, Professor, but it simply didn't occur to Harry because he'd never in his life been able to go to an adult for help before entering Hogwarts. Harry had essentially been on his own since he was fifteen months old. Ron, perhaps, should have known better but he was a bit heedless back then."
"Where was Remus during Harry's childhood?" James asked suddenly.
"Remus was overcome with grief at the loss of three of his friends at the hands of another and spent the next several years wallowing in misery. Professor Dumbledore assured everyone that Harry was safe and cared for, and he kept Harry's exact location secret from the wizarding world. Remus thought that Harry was growing up with a loving family and didn't believe that as a werewolf he would be given custody anyway, so he agreed not to be a part of Harry's life when Professor Dumbledore requested it. Remus trusted Professor Dumbledore to do what was best for Harry. In truth, Professor Dumbledore wasn't entirely wrong, as Harry may well have grown up to be a spoilt brat otherwise, and the blood wards engendered by his living with Lily's blood certainly did give him some degree of protection, but it's a shame that the Dursleys weren't monitored."
"Why couldn't we hear your name properly in that memory?" asked Alice curiously.
Lady Hogwarts explained. "Miss Pevensie wants to protect her younger self, therefore, she undertook a ritual to change her name and date of birth magically, thereby separating her from her younger self. As the name used in these memories is no longer hers, it cannot be heard and understood."
"So you're not really a Pevensie?" asked Professor Dumbledore with a frown.
"Actually, I really am a Pevensie. My Squib grandmother was born a Pevensie. I'm the last remaining adult member of the family with magic, although my grandmother and mother, both Squibs, are still alive in this time. When I changed my name, I took my grandmother's birth name of Pevensie.
"Back to the story, sir. The Philosopher's Stone was hidden in a room on the third floor, with protections which were tailor-made for Harry, Ron, Neville and myself to get through, although Neville didn't actually join us on that particular adventure. I believe they were meant to be a test for us, but honestly, sir! Protections on an item Riddle would happily kill for, that first years can pass? Really?
"We didn't actually know about the Stone until later in the year, although Professor Dumbledore did mention in the Welcome Feast that the corridor was out of bounds. When the troll was let into the castle, Professor Snape went to check on the stone and was bitten by Hagrid's pet Cerberus, Fluffy, which was the first protection. Harry saw Mr Filch helping the injured Professor Snape and immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion that Professor Snape was trying to steal whatever was hidden there. We already knew about Fluffy because Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy and his wife, Narcissa Black, and the arrogant, entitled, spoiled brat that Harry fortunately didn't become, had tricked Harry into being out after curfew one night, and when we were running away from being caught by Mr Filch, we accidentally encountered Fluffy.
"During the course of that year, there were a number of other incidents. Harry was the youngest Seeker in a hundred years. Even I think he's a remarkable Seeker and I have no interest in Quidditch whatsoever. During his first match, his broom was cursed. Ron and I noticed the curse and we saw Professor Snape staring at it and chanting something. We didn't realise that Professor Snape was chanting the counter-curse but assumed that he was chanting the actual curse. You really did act like an obvious villain," she said apologetically to the younger Snape. "It was a perfect cover for your real allegiance. I sneaked along the stands and set fire to your robes. You were the wrong victim but the real culprit—Quirrell, of course—was knocked over during the excitement and the curse ended. Harry caught the snitch, by the way, if anyone's interested. He practically swallowed it, but he caught it.
"Later, Hagrid was conveniently given the opportunity to buy the one thing he'd always wanted by a strange bloke in the pub. Namely, a dragon's egg. Hagrid ended up telling the stranger all about Fluffy without realising he was being carefully milked for information. After Norbet, or rather Norberta as it later turned out, was born, Harry, Ron and I persuaded Hagrid to give up his pet baby dragon and we contacted Charlie Weasley, who was working as a dragon tamer at a reserve in Romania. Charlie arranged for some friends to collect the baby dragon surreptitiously and, again, it involved being out after curfew.
"Draco Malfoy managed to find out what was happening and arranged for myself and Harry to get caught—Ron wasn't with us as he was in the infirmary suffering from an infection due to bite from Norberta. As we couldn't tell Professor McGonagall why we were on top of the Astronomy Tower at midnight without getting Hagrid into serious trouble, we all ended up with detention, together with Neville who had tried to come and warn us. Hagrid felt bad about it and requested that he supervise our detention himself. It took place in the Forbidden Forest, of all places. The Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason and no one questioned the sanity of four first years having detention at night in there, supervised only by a man who wasn't allowed to do magic," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Something had been killing unicorns and Hagrid wanted to investigate. He divided us into pairs, taking one pair with him and sending the other paor off with his dog, Fang. I like Hagrid very much but he has no concept of danger and that detention was completely inappropriate. Something seriously dangerous was in the Forbidden Forest and he had a bunch of first years who barely knew any magic help him investigate. Not only that, but he sent two of them off on their own!
"During the detention, Draco ran off in fright, leaving Harry alone. Harry saw a mysterious shade drinking unicorn's blood, with a person he couldn't identify as they were hidden under a cloak and hood, addressing it as Master. He didn't realise it was Quirrell, since Quirrell always stuttered badly when teaching and this person didn't stutter at all. It was extremely dangerous and had Harry been seen and captured, he would have been killed on the spot. I have to say, Headmaster, that much as I respect you and your staff, the negligence and lack of concern for pupils' safety in this school is criminal."
Professor Dumbledore looked as though he was about to challenge Hermione's assertion but wisely decided to remain silent. Hermione was holding her tongue at present and not giving her full and unvarnished opinion of the dangers she and her friends had experienced during their time at Hogwarts, however, she was not certain how restrained she would be if the Headmaster tried to deny culpability in face of the memories she was showing, even though it was the older Dumbledore who had actually been responsible and not the man sitting opposite her now.
"During the Christmas holidays, Professor Dumbledore arranged for Harry to find the Mirror of Erised, which he later used as one of the protections on the Stone. Hagrid also kept dropping pieces of information accidentally, which just made us ever more curious. Eventually we managed to piece it all together and work out what was being hidden in that corridor. We also suspected that Professor Snape was going to steal it and when Professor Dumbledore was summoned to the Ministry one evening towards the end of the year, we realised that would be the perfect opportunity for anyone who wanted to steal the stone. We went to Professor McGonagall but we were only in first year and she wasn't yet familiar with the phenomenon of our always having a dangerous escapade at the end of the school year. Professor McGonagall therefore dismissed our concerns, especially as we were blaming Professor Snape, not realising that we were accusing the wrong person. Had this happened a couple of years later, she would probably have taken more notice of us.
"My Lady Hogwarts, please would you show everyone Harry's detention in the Forbidden Forest and then the night we went after the Philospher's Stone? Please begin the incident with the Stone from our encounter with Neville in the common room." Looking at Frank, Alice and Augusta, Hermione explained, "Neville chose not to accompany us for valid reasons and he showed a lot of courage in standing up to us."
"Of course, child," Lady Hogwarts agreed.
At the end of these two memories, everyone was once again horrified. Professor McGonagall had been bristling every time Hermione criticised the actions of Professor Dumbledore or his staff but seeing those memories silenced her and she had to admit to herself that Hermione made good points about the dangers.
"What... what was that at the end?" James asked in consternation.
"As I said, Professor Quirrell had been possessed by the spirit of Riddle. Thanks to the protections Lily had placed on Harry, Riddle couldn't stand Harry's touch. Quirrell was little more than an animated corpse at that point anyway, as there was no way Riddle could or would leave his body without killing him in the process, and when you added the complication of Lily's protection working against him, his weakened body couldn't handle it and burned up, allowing the spirit to escape once again. Harry later asked Professor Dumbledore for an explanation but the Headmaster declined to give one at that time.
"Sir, I know that you are trying to win this war and to do the best thing for us all, but you should know that your propensity for not sharing important information made things much worse. The war could have been over much sooner and many of those who died might not have done so if only you had been more open with people, especially Harry. Your intentions were good but you really must remember that you are only human and you're not infallible," she told him sternly.
Professor Dumbledore looked at her abashedly, the twinkle gone from his eyes, and nodded once in acknowledgement.
.o.O.o.
¹ It's unclear if Charlus and Dorea Potter are James Potter's parents. In this story, I'm subscribing to the theory that they are.
² Most of the Death Eaters are either older than Snape and the Marauders or we don't know their ages. Regulus is a year younger than Snape and the Marauders and from the information that we do have, we can extrapolate that Barty Crouch Jr is probably a year younger than Regulus, though we don't know that for sure. In this story Peter is already marked and Barty Crouch Jr is in the same year as Regulus. In canon, Snape hung around with Mulciber and Avery when in school, so I'm putting them in his year and all other Death Eaters (apart from Pettigrew, Snape, Regulus, Barty Crouch Jr, Avery and Mulciber) have either finished school or didn't attend Hogwarts in the first place—Dolohov and Karkaroff quite possibly attended Durmstrang, for example. I've placed Barty Jr in sixth year because that's the year the students turn seventeen and come of age, to allow him to take the Dark Mark before Hermione's plans come to fruition.
³ In canon, Severus called Lily a Mudblood, thus ending their friendship, in fifth year and I believe the event in the Shrieking Shack took place later, in sixth or seventh year, but this is AU, so I'm moving both incidents to seventh year.
⁴ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 37