DISCLAIMER: That part of this world and those characters you've seen before belong to their Creator: JKR. The rest is mine - although I cannot quit my day job as I make no $$$ from this…
A/N: This story explores some of the gaping holes and unanswered questions from the original books. We know nothing about Hermione or her family prior to September 1991 and little or nothing about her family at all.
Now for another bit of fun I like to have…
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: ANALYSIS OF PROPHECY
SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1988 - ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, LONDON, U.K.
"The One with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches," Harry began, reading from notes that Hermione had retrieved from her book bag. "Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark Him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… And either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives."
"And the two of you have been thinking about it and discussing it with each other?" Sensei asked.
Harry and Hermione nodded. "And using the dictionary a lot," Harry added. "And that book that sounds like a dinosaur."
"A thesaurus," Hermione giggled.
"So what do you think it means?" Sensei asked.
"It's rubbish," Harry said.
"Could mean anything," Hermione added.
"In order to come up with any meaning, you have to assume things."
"To many things."
"For example?" Sensei asked.
"The One," Harry said.
"All we can know for certain it 'the One' is a male," Hermione added. "We have to assume it's a human or, better yet a wizard. For all we know it's a lion."
"Or a dragon," Harry added.
Hermione giggled. "Harry likes the dragon idea."
"And 'power' could mean loads of things as well," Harry said. "All this tells us it the 'One' has it and this Dark Lord thingie knows it not. What kind of power? And the word is even more - ambiguous, Hermione told me - as it could mean a single power or many."
Hermione then began listing things and seemed to be counting off on her fingers. "Physical? Mental? Intellectual? Magical? Economic? Political? Military? Electrical? Nuclear? Athletic? Charismatic? Persuasive? Logic? Er -" Hermione then blushed.
"Sexual," Harry continued reading from their notes, "romantic, comedic, creative, literary, musical, destructive, constructive, deceptive, manipulative, cunning, stealth, love, the ability to make friends and influence people? The list could be endless."
"Vanquish," Hermione went on, "that could have several meanings as well such as: kill, defeat, drive away, scare away, frustrate and it could apply to the physical being, ideas, beliefs, philosophies and who knows what."
"Excellent," Sensei said. "Continue."
"Is the title 'Dark Lord' unique to Voldemort?" Harry asked.
"He used it, or at least his followers did," Sensei said, "but no. That mantle has been placed on many a leader or want-to-be leader of evil witches and wizards throughout history."
"So it could mean a Dark Lord who has yet to show his ugly mug?"
"Indeed it could," Sensei said with a grin.
"And approaches is wooly as well," Hermione added. "I mean honestly? Physically approaches? Is coming soon to a theater near you approaches?"
Harry laughed. "I liked that one."
"Approaches in time? Is growing in his power approaches? Could mean anything!"
"Very good. Next?" Sensei said encouraging his students.
"The next two phrases suggest birth," Harry said. "As in I was born on my birthday. But that too is an assumption. I mean a legend can be born at some other time when others recognize him as a legend, right? There are other meanings as well, but these two result in far different interpretations given the rest of the words."
"The 'One' was 'born to those'," Hermione continued. "This could mean parents. But it could also mean family, clan, community, country, a whole bunch of thoses. So, he could have been given birth physically or metaphysically by parents, family, clan, community or whatever, couldn't he?"
"Thrice is certain," Harry said, "or as certain as any word in this waffle can be - three times."
"Defied him is not," Hermione continued. "Defied has a bunch of possible meanings and him could mean either the One or the Dark Lord!"
"Born as the seventh month dies is perhaps the most clear statement in this entire thing," Harry went on. "The obvious choice is the end of the seventh calendar month. What calendar, though? July as we know it? But what if it's the old roman calendar - that would mean late May or early June to us. What about the Celtic one - early July then…"
"The seventh month in the Celtic calendar, Duir. ends on July 7th in our calendar," Hermione added.
"And all of this assumed a calendar is involved at all," Harry said after smiling at Hermione then sticking his tongue out, to which she replied in kind. "I mean, it could mean the seventh month after some unspecified date of significance other than the beginning of a new year."
"Excellent!" Sensei said. "Next?"
"And the Dark Lord will mark his as his equal," Harry continued. "Well, we know this means some Dark Lord and whoever or whatever the One is, but mark as equal? Is this a physical mark? A tattoo? Is it a sign? A ring? A badge? Or is it more symbolic?"
"As in?"
"Well, let's assume we are talking wizards, which there's no clue whatsoever that such is the case. If a powerful wizard took on an apprentice or declared another his heir or something like that, would not that show that the other might be said powerful wizard's equal in his eyes?"
"Bloody hell!" Sensei exclaimed. "I've been thinking about this rubbish for over one hundred and fifty years and I never considered that! That's brilliant, Harry!"
Harry blushed. "Thank you," he said softly.
"But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not," Hermione went on, "and we are once again faced with the One, the Dark Lord and power, all of which have too many possible meanings. Next bit is the statement that this Dark Lord does not know the power the One has. What does that mean? Lacks knowledge? He does not believe in it? Ignorance? Intellectual incapability of grasping the concept? Does not understand or refuses to? It's over his head? Could this be some non-magical power? Do wizards understand guns, for example?"
"Most do not," Sensei said.
"So it could be technology, couldn't it? But, then again, it could be anything."
"Very good," Sensei smiled.
"And either must die at the hands of the other," Harry went on, "This one seems clear, but it's not. It would seem to define the term 'vanquish' but it does not. The only thing that seems certain is one of them will die and the other will be the cause of that death. The clear reading suggests a duel. That's what I thought at first.
"But then I remembered one of the only movies my Uncle let me see on the telly. It was "The Battle of Britain" about the Germans trying to bomb England and the Royal Air Force trying to stop them. Bombs killed people on the ground, but they were dropped from so high up that the Germans could not see who they killed. Yet did they not have a hand in the killing? Did not the pilot have a hand by flying the plane to London? Did not the bombardier when he dropped the bombs? Did not the fighter pilots when they protected the bombers from being shot down?
"A general plans a battle yet does not take part, does he not have a hand in the deaths that follow? A bad guy hires an assassin to kill a rival, does he not have a hand in that death? I read a book recently on the Norman Conquest. William was losing the Battle of Hastings when one of his archers got lucky and hit Harold Godwinson - leader of the Anglo-Saxons - in the eye, killing him. The Anglo-Saxons soon fled the field. Did not William have a hand in Harold's death? Did not that archer have a hand in the conquest of England? The phrase does not necessarily mean to kill personally, but merely bring about the death of the other."
"Outstanding!" Sensei said. "And the last bit?"
"For neither can live while the other survives," Hermione said. "Harry and I agree this is the only bit that is not totally open to interpretation, but it still has more than one meaning."
"One is that they both will die," Harry said.
"But why the terms 'live' and 'survive'?"
"We figured these words were not chosen at random," Harry explained. "Survive means 'live' as in to be alive physically. I survive so long as I still breathe, right?"
"But," Hermione added, "live can mean far more than just breathing. It can mean to have hopes and dreams and desires and ambitions and have the opportunity to bring them about."
"So we figure," Harry went on, "that what this means is each of them has some plans for the future, but neither of their plans can come about unless the other of them is dead and buried."
"It's the only bit of the whole puzzle that can have a somewhat certain meaning," Hermione finished.
"Put it altogether and what do you have?" Sensei asked almost beaming.
"Honestly," Hermione said, "you can have anything. It is what the hearer wants to think it is."
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Rubbish is what it is."
"Top marks to both of you!" Sensei said.
"How old are you, Harry?" McGonagall asked? Her tone suggested she was clearly impressed with both of the children.
"I'll be eight at the end of July," Harry said.
"I am impressed! I have students ten years older than you who would not have analyzed that nearly as well!"
"Good job, you two," Robert Granger added. Harry and Hermione beamed.
"You taught them that in two weeks?" Rose asked.
"My primary goal is and shall be to teach them critical reasoning," Sensei said. "Do not take things at face value. Stuff like that. They read something and they should look for what's missing and then set off and try and find it. That's how you truly learn! Not by regurgitating what someone else has written but by following the path and drawing your own conclusions from the information. I honestly did not expect that degree of reasoning from them so soon and so young. Gives me hope for the future in this timeline, provided this skill continues to develop."
"And what about your homework?" Rose asked looking at her daughter.
"Sensei has made it clear that our regular school work takes priority over our new magical studies," Hermione replied.
"Her homework is done," Harry added. "And I'll have all my course work for the rest of the year finished in a few days. And Hermione's been helping me learn the math she's learned this year so maybe I won't have to take summer school to skip a year and be in Hermione's class next fall. That's my goal, anyway."
After a pause as the adults all seemed to look at one another for some reason, Hermione asked: "So this Dumbledore believes this Prophecy? I mean it's so vague. What does he think it means?"
"Dumbledore is not the only one," Sensei said. "A spy overheard it as it was made - not all of it, mind you - but none the less. Voldemort, unlike Dumbledore, always had a thing for Divination, so he took it on faith alone, it seems.
"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. That's the bit Voldemort's spy overheard and the bit he acted upon. The Prophecy was made in the fall of 1979. Prior to then, Voldemort only feared two things: death and Dumbledore. But here was a genuine Prophecy that said Dumbledore was not the problem. Voldemort saw this as a sign that he would die and his killer would be a boy born at the end of July of the coming year to a fairly specific set of parents.
"Two young couples fit the bill. They were both Aurors and they had both fought Voldemort in person three times and lived to tell the tale, as it were. The two wives were pregnant and due around the end of July of that year and he knew as much from his spies. Neither they nor he knew if their child would be a boy, and as the One was a male, he bided his time to see. He knew the Prophecy meant nothing - yet - if the children were girls.
"Dumbledore also saw it the same way. Rather then take a wait an see attitude, he immediately sent the two couples off into hiding using all the magic he knew to keep them safe. Whereas Voldemort wished to determine his target, Dumbledore wished to protect his friends regardless. Besides, Dumbledore had heard the entire Prophecy and knew that it was meaningless unless Voldemort 'marked' the child as an equal. The problem was for both families that Dumbledore had allowed or would allow the secret of their locations to leak once if both mothers gave birth at the end of July and both children were boys. He was willing to risk the lives of two entire families to see who Voldemort 'marked' as an equal.
"Frank and Alice Longbottom's son Neville Longbottom was born the night of July 30th, 1980. James and Lily Potter's son Harry James Potter was born the morning of July 31st, 1980. Harry became prime target number one once the two birth announcements were made in the papers on August 1st."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"You were the son of the Heir of Gryffindor and would have been a target for death anyway. Throw in the Prophecy, you were prime target, although as soon as you were dealt with, Voldemort would have killed Neville as well, just to be certain. As evil as that bastard was, he seldom killed people other than his own followers. You and Neville would be different. His attacks on your family and Hermione's and Minerva's had, until then, all been the work of his followers. You and Neville would be different.
"Dumbledore believed that the Prophecy required that Voldemort 'mark' one of the children as his equal. Both couples were living in houses protected by what is known as a Fidelius Charm. The charm creates a protective ward that hides a location from anyone unless the one person entrusted with the location, known as the Secret Keeper, tells them. Even then, unless you are the Secret Keeper, you cannot tell or be forced to reveal the location to anyone. However, the Charm does not prevent the Secret Keeper from betraying the secret if they so choose."
"Sirius Black," McGonagall growled.
"No, Minerva," Sensei said, "not Sirius. You forget Sirius was Harry's godfather and the magic that such status entails."
"The magic would still allow him to betray James and Lily!"
"True, but not if there was any chance that Harry might come to harm. Giving up Harry's location would have been impossible. Even if Sirius wanted to - and he did not - he would have died before a word left his mouth!"
"But he was the Secret Keeper!"
"And who told you that?"
"Albus," her voice then faded.
"Indeed," Sensei said. "As he would. But Black was not the Secret Keeper. True, he was the logical choice. James and Lily wanted him to be it. But, as everyone probably knew or would suspect Black would be the Secret Keeper, at the last minute Harry's parents agreed to use someone else. Thus, Peter Pettigrew was made Secret Keeper. He was a coward and a Death Eater by then. Still, it took him over a year to finally get to spill his secret to Voldemort, still…"
"But Black murdered Pettigrew!"
"I can assure you that the rat is alive and well as an innocent man rots in prison still awaiting a trial that shall never occur."
"How is that possible?"
"Were you aware that James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew became unregistered animagus in their fifth year?"
"What's an animagus?" Hermione asked. Barely a second after she uttered the words, McGonagall transformed into a tabby house cat.
"That is an animagus," Sensei said. "It's really complex magic, but for the few who master it, they can turn into a specific animal at will and back, even without a wand. But, they cannot pick the animal, it's more like the animal picks them. The Native Americans call it the Spirit Animal. For Harry's father it was a stag - bloody brilliant one. Twelve pointer at least. Would have had Muggle deer hunters drooling to take him down! Sirius Black was a large, black, Irish Wolfhound. Pettigrew was a common rat. Fitting in hindsight. The three learned it because their fourth friend was and is a werewolf. As humans, when the full moon arrived, their friend was exceedingly dangerous. As animals, however, he was quite safe and they could keep him company and safe when he suffered through his monthly 'little furry problem' as they called it."
McGonagall transformed again back into her true self. "I find this hard to believe."
"I understand," Sensei said. "You have how many Weasley boys in school?"
"Three. Bill is a sixth year, Charlie a fourth and Percy is in his first," McGonagall answered
"As I recall, a student is allowed a pet or familiar?"
"True."
"But, if we are talking a pet and not a familiar, without special dispensation from the Headmaster, we're talking about either an owl, a cat or a toad, right?"
McGonagall nodded.
"Yet, fair bet, one of the Weasley boys has a pet rat?"
She nodded again.
"Against regulations," Sensei added.
"The Headmaster bowed to allow it, given the Weasley's financial limitations."
"I'm certain that's Pettigrew. No. The Weasleys have no idea. I suggest you inspect the rodent. You will find it is missing a toe on its left paw and a simple magic revealing charm should show that it is not what it seems. Expose the rat and Harry's innocent godfather will be free.
"But, I would advise you do not do this with Dumbledore's knowledge."
"Why not?"
"Right now, Harry is legally dead in the magical world, am I not mistaken?"
"No. He is dead, legally speaking."
"Dumbledore is head of the Wizengamot - the magical Parliament and Court of Law, correct?"
McGonagall nodded.
"When Harry's parents died, there was a Will. In that Will, Sirius Black was named as Harry's legal and magical guardian at law. He would act as Harry's parent. But, two days after the murder of Harry's parents, he was involved in the incident that landed him in prison without trial for the non-murder of the rat Pettigrew. All issues of Guardianship then passed to the Head of the Wizengamot as a matter of law because Harry had no living magical relations. The Potter Will was ignored, as it stated that Harry was to be placed for adoption with a suitable magical family rather than being placed into the custody of his maternal Aunt so long as she remained married to her husband. The Will was 'conveniently' ignored by the Courts, who deferred to Dumbledore on such issues."
"Why?" Harry asked.
Sensei shrugged. "Honestly, I never found out. By the time I seriously began looking into the circumstances of my parents' death, as opposed to simply taking the word of others on it, the key witnesses were all dead. Giving Dumbledore the benefit of the doubt, for I liked the man, the times were chaotic. Black was to have been your guardian, but he was imprisoned without a trial, as was common at the time for suspected supporters of Voldemort. As you were orphaned, you became the Ward of the Wizengamot, which meant for all practical purposes, Dumbledore. And he believed that the circumstances of your parents' death - in particular your mother's - could provide greater protection than any other magical protections known. Your mother sacrificed her life trying to save you, Harry. Your father did as well, but as he had no living relative and your mother did, you were placed with the only blood relative you had left. Dumbledore then created what's known as a blood ward between you and your Aunt. Thus, for so long as you lived with your Aunt, the blood sacrifice of her sister protected you from magical attack."
"A blood ward?" McGonagall asked. "They're illegal!"
Sensei nodded. "But also practically foolproof. Once the ward was set, no one, not even Dumbledore knew where you were."
"That's why!" Harry said. "I've been wondering why no one checked on me!"
"Albus had devices in his office he said were tied into Harry and the Wards," Minerva said.
Sensei nodded. "My guess is he placed certain monitoring charms on Harry before setting up the wards. This would allow Dumbledore to monitor his general health, magic and to allow for him to receive approved owl post in time, without defeating the wards themselves. And let's not forget Mrs. Figg."
"Mrs. Figg?" Harry asked. "What about her?"
"She's a squib - a non-magical born to magical parents. And she's a friend of Dumbledore. She would not have been affected by the Wards so she could serve as Dumbledore's eyes. The wards prevented him from finding you - and any other magical - at least until you obtained a wand. It's a very powerful protection, Harry. My guess is that following the night of the attack, Dumbledore was convinced that Harry, known to magical Britain as 'The Boy Who Lived' was the One mentioned in the Prophecy."
"Why?"
"That scar on your forehead," Sensei said. "Voldemort gave you that when he tried to kill you. He used a terrible curse that always kills its victims, an yet it did not kill you. Moreover, it destroyed Voldemort although no one really knows why. Dumbledore currently believes it was your mother's sacrifice that protected you, but that's not what really happened.
"Mark him as his equal," Harry said.
"Indeed. Prior to that night, Dumbledore did not truly believe that Prophecy. He acted because he knew that Voldemort did and two families - both friends with him - were in danger of being wiped out. After that night, however, he came to believe that the Prophecy was real. That was a mistake as no Prophecy is real - it's truth lies solely within the eyes and imagination of the beholder. His next big mistake was to try and interpret the rest of the Prophecy. Again a mistake. He currently believes - or believed until you were reported dead - that you and you alone could defeat Voldemort. But, he also believes that the final part means you will not survive that battle."
"You mean I have to die?"
"That's what Dumbledore believes, Harry. But no, you do not. In my timeline I did ultimately kill that Voldemort creep and lived for more far than one hundred years following. But, in my timeline, Dumbledore was grooming me to become a martyr. I received little or no real magical training aside from what was taught to all the others at school. He could have seen to it I was trained to defend myself, and to fight. He did not. He all but discouraged it. After all, if I learned to fight, I might not die and he believed I had to die so that Voldemort could be destroyed for good. He was, is and will be wrong in that regard.
"If it were not for the fact that Voldemort believes in the Prophecy himself, you would not be his prime target. True, as a magical heir, you're still high on his list, but you top the list because of that Prophecy. When Voldemort regains a physical body - and he will - he is going to come after you."
"All because of a stupid Prophecy! This sucks!"
"Indeed. But, the one grain of real truth is that you are - or will be - one of the most gifted and magically powerful wizards alive. With training, taking down Voldemort will not be that hard for you. Even without it, I beat the bastard on several occasions, destroyed him physically four times and finally killed him."
"I guess it's a good thing the Prophecy is not real," Hermione began.
"Oh, it's real alright. What it is not is true. For any Prophecy to be true when made the future must both be predictable and set in stone. Neither of which are the case. Every Prophecy ever made that was later said to have come to pass is open to interpretation. Each can be picked apart and proven to be merely a matter of belief and not fact. That does not make them benign. People who act based upon those things, either to ensure they come to pass or to prevent them from coming to pass, create far more disruption than might have occurred had they done nothing.
"This Prophecy is a case in point! Voldemort acted based upon hearing only a part of it. Had he heard the whole thing, and in particular the bit about the Dark Lord marking his equal, I honestly doubt he would have killed your family, Harry. He would have avoided you - and Neville - like the plague for fear of creating the source of his own demise. He was on the cusp of winning the last war when he came for you, Harry. He could easily have found you and sent his minions to deal with you. But, he chose to do it himself thereby causing his own destruction and costing his side that First War.
"Dumbledore did not believe the Prophecy at first, but he knew that Voldemort believed and would come for you. When Voldemort did, when he 'marked' you, Dumbledore suddenly believed in Father Christmas. The actions those two took regarding the Prophecy lit the slow match that in my timeline led to the destruction of the human race. Dumbledore was obsessed with fulfilling the Prophecy. In my time, this blinded him, clouded his judgment and impaired his ability to think clearly, leading to mistakes that fanned the fires to come. Now? Who knows? Harry was not supposed to die - yet. Maybe he will see the truth. Maybe. But I am not counting on it because even if he does, that does not guarantee he will avoid his greatest mistake and the one that most directly caused our doom as a species."
"And what is or was that mistake?" McGonagall asked.
"Later," Sensei said as the two children groaned. "As in this afternoon," he continued. "While I do not need the sustenance of food, the rest of you do. Lunch, and then we'll talk some more."
"Yes Sensei," the two children said in unison.
"I am interested in what you may have to say," McGonagall said. "But Dumbledore is summoning me for some reason. I'll try to get back by one-thirty."
"That should be fine," Sensei said. "It will allow the others a nice, casual lunch. And - er - Minerva?"
"Yes?"
"Not a word to Dumbledore about Harry, please?"
She nodded before leaving the room.
"Sensei," Hermione asked, "who is the magical heir of Hufflepuff?"
"Her name is Luna Lovegood. She was born in early September 1980 and is now seven years old. She lives outside a village called Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon, several hours from here by car."
"So we cannot stop by and see her?"
"Soon, maybe. Soon."