Part 19 - The Headmaster's Roll Book

Despite the harm Dumbledore had done to the professor with his former bindings on the ghosts, Binns cautioned the boys about making assumptions especially when they were uncertain of the timeline. "Without proof, without evidence, there is no way to tell if you have a correct history or complete fiction." Though he agreed that the boys' memories of innocent times being hidden or changed was damning, Binns suggested Harry ask a lawyer about the custody papers.

Only the knowledge of how the ghost had been constrained by Dumbledore for half a century kept the boys from arguing the point. Harry did begin to assemble a time-line, and list of questions that needed to be answered. Neville began looking for safer alternatives at least for the revealing half of the portion, as well as some method to tell if someone had consumed the potion duo before. Even if it was the Room of Requirement, the toxicity could kill Mrs. Longbottom nearly instantly, and death wasn't something leaving the Room could cure.

"The easiest way to do this would be to owl a hospital in France." Neville declared after looking through his third book.

Harry set down his quill and stretched. "You wouldn't think it would be too hard to do, after all muggle doctors find out all kinds of stuff with blood and urine samples. Since it's an accumulation, it should be present somewhere."

It took a minute for Harry to realize that Neville was staring at him in shock.

"Neville?"

"Muggle doctors take samples?"

"Yeah. Even the animal doctors make you bring a stool sample to be checked out. Vernon's bloody sister is always stopping by before she goes, so I can collect it for her. Even though she lives more than an hour away."

Neville shook his head. "Wizarding doctors don't take samples."

"Probably a way they can test it without taking it then."

Neville still looked stunned. "Taking a sample would be very taboo. Back in the Dark Ages dark wizards would often con muggles into giving up their blood for dark rituals by getting them to use leeches. It's forbidden by the healer's oath to take blood from the body."

Harry shook his head. So in other words, this buildup might be able to be detected by something as simple as a urine test."

"No wonder there are no muggleborn healers at St. Mungo's."

"What?"

Neville sighed, "Gran tried to get muggleborn healers for my parents. She thinks they might be in danger from Death Eaters, so every few years Gran makes a big stink about wanting a muggleborn nurse at least."

"Neville, I think we need to write the French hospital for more than a detection potion."

"What.. No." Neville shoved himself up from the table and began pacing.

The room popped a bunch of books near Harry, seeing the first was a travel book for Wizarding France, he began looking in it for hospital information. Harry began with the medical emergencies section then went to the educational, and then the wizard or miracle section. He soon had a list of 23 places that might be good sources for medical expertise.

Neville soon returned to the table. "What do you have?"

"Some addresses. But given the information blackout, I don't know if they are even allowed to tell us if they have a cure. There might be a muggle treatment that might help as well, but I don't know enough about that to judge."

"Someone would have mentioned something, right? If my parents could have been cured… Someone would have mentioned they should be taken to France or America if there is a cure…"

Harry remained silent, just placing the list of French places near Neville, and began on the German.

oOOOo

It took a while for Harry to convince Neville that they couldn't go mail the letters immediately. They still had 'six months' of studying to do, and their research in the room could only help whatever the answers from the foreign doctors Neville had selected to write to may be. The room had aided Harry in this creating an out box by the door. Harry put the Pals he had created to give away on the table, along with some of their shopping lists. Neville had put his first five requests for information, he had decided to first write to wizarding medical schools, and to the wizarding hospital at Lourdes. Apparently, miracles occurred to wizards there too, though some thought it an intense site of accidental magic. And there was a larger than normal contingent of aurors stationed there, according to the guidebook, to keep skeptical wizards from playing with muggles.

The boys continued their studies. Workouts in the morning and evening were interspersed with bursts of discussion about their returned memories. Their studies of mind magic were derailed for a couple weeks, until the room began making each of them write journal entries each night, hijacking their pillows until they wrote something. For this the boys were glad to use the room's supplies, as they wanted no physical record. Talking with each other or Binns was just too hard.

Months passed, and though the boys had put weekends of leisure into their schedules they accomplished more than before.

After five months the room once again prepared practice OWLs and this time the boys topped every subject. Though Harry found himself wondering if their History OWLs would really have come out as well with a Ministry grader. They both had used all the allotted time, with all the citations they had added for their answers. They then started on NEWT level work that was commonly used as bonus material for the OWLs.

ooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo

Six months came to a close. The room removed all the things that they couldn't bring out of the room with them, making it quite simple for the boys to pack their belongings. Preparing their mail was another matter. They had decided, to package all the Pals, and mail them as soon as they left the room, along with the other things they needed to mail. Neville plucked out the frog and cat Pals he'd chosen and made for his parents from the pile, as Harry pulled out the rabbit that he had made a near twin to the one his Aunt kept in her room.

Given all the manipulations he'd been subjected to, Harry had grudgingly agreed with Neville that his Aunt might be under some negative influence. Harry had agreed to see if Hedwig could slip in the Pal unnoticed. If she succeeded, the worst that could happen would be that his relatives were the same as always. Harry charmed the Pal with a compulsion spell, to put it in a cupboard if anyone tried to bin it. Neville charmed the boxes and collars of the Pals for his parents with compulsion charms for them to be delivered to his parents right away.

Harry had sacrificed more ragged clothing to make boxes for the Pals. They thought having the Pal burst out of the box would be enjoyable for the kids, so the Pals had to be scrunched up a bit to fit. However, when the Room finally provided them with the source for their mailing list, the joy at packing presents vanished quickly.

Harry had pulled out parchment and paper, to write address labels with, and keep a list of who got a Pal. The book had been provided open to the key page of the book. One look from the color key to the black list of names told Harry that even this wasn't going to be easy. "Damn."

"What now?"

"Professor!"

The ghost glided over, from his writing desk, "Yes?"

"When do professors get to see the Rolls Book?"

"Never. It is one of the most prized secrets of Hogwarts, few Headmasters have been known to even share it with their Deputies. This Headmaster certainly has not."

"The Room has…"

"What has Dumbledore done, Harry?"

"Either all the infants born…" Harry flipped through the rolls, finally finding their own class. "There are only 40 some in our class right?"

"Yeah."

"There are twice that many names in here, and they are all black. And the key says that that means pureblood."

"What?"

"There are any number of charms that change ink color," Professor Binns added.

Harry flipped to the front of the book, followed his finger down the index page, then flipped to the back of the book. "Supposed to be an index of alterations…."

Neville resumed copying the letter that was to accompany the Pal, this time addressed to the guardian, with a compulsion to give the toy to the child. These they would be using for the older muggleborns, since they thought it less likely for parents to give their sons plushies.

"Damn him." Harry pulled out his wand and cast a simple finite. "The Founders put in a color key, as a measure to help prevent child abuse, and Albus Dumb-as-a-door destroyed it, because he objected to their color scheme."

"What?"

Binns sped to his desk, writing furiously.

"All children in orphanages or non-family homes were to glow orange, all muggleborns brown, half-bloods green, and purebloods black." Harry turned the page, "All children who are being neglected or abused are to glow red. When at Hogwarts, children are to be gray, unless in danger, then purple."

Harry flipped to the page where the members of their class were. "Bloody Hell!" Harry nearly dropped the book.

"What?"

"Half are gray, but Neville…" Harry turned the book to show his friend, "The rest are orange and red."

Professor Binns took the book and quickly discovered where the addressing spells where. Neville cast a variation, that gave them a list of all the Red names, with their address, guardians, name of parents and whether alive, and whether they were receiving any wizarding education, and then the same for the orange, and finally brown. Over the next few hours, Binns read the book, while the boys soon came up with a list of the worst orphanages and foster homes in Britain.

They then began packaging Pals for the red names, all were to state homes or muggle homes, so they placed strong compulsion charms on the letters. The orange names they prioritized for the young in muggle housing, then the older, and ran out before they reached the end of second year.

"It ends with our year again, Harry."

"The orange list?"

"Both the red and the orange. The browns seem to end with school age. And all the names on the red and oranges have at least one Wizarding parent, usually not the guardian."

"I believe I can clarify this, Mr. Longbottom," Binns interrupted. "The book eliminates all that do not attend from the rolls after age 16, which I can only speculate ties in with the OWLs provision."

"So they are legally deemed squibs and are no longer candidates for Hogwarts."

"And possibly that is why they are no longer listed, as I have not discovered any facility to discover, even for statistical purposes the historical number of students not enrolled in any magical school. Enrollment in another school or an apprenticeship without attending Hogwarts would remove the child from the rolls as well."

"May I see the book, Professor?" Neville asked.

At the ghost's nod, Neville recast the ink color spell Dumbledore had logged using, then cast the brown only addressing spell. As the third name came up, still skipping the same members of the age group as before, he ended the spell. "There are no muggleborns that are not in a wizarding school."

"Malfoy was right. Dumbledore is destroying the purebloods."

"Harry."

"Not only the purebloods, Mr. Potter."

Harry grabbed the list of orange names, shuffling to their class. "Deatheater fathers with muggle mothers, probably rapes, only about seven names. The rest of these... one pureblood parent at least, both deceased, orphans." Harry flipped to the next class, "Mostly muggle mothers, and muggleborn fathers actually, with only muggle guardians."

"From reading the Roll Book, it seems that the only real pattern is that only muggleborns have a hundred percent response rate. The current Headmaster notes deeming this important enough to the safety of students to use the strictures used during the Burning Times. Though no headmaster had used them since 1870."

Neville said, "And Squibs are such for two generations before being deemed muggles."

"What happens to the money?" Harry asked.

The other two swiveled to look at Harry. He raised his hands, "Yeah, I know, maybe he's just shy of orphans since Riddle. But since we have no way to know how long he hasn't looked for the other colors beyond the first letter.. And he has taken money from my accounts…"

"That is something I will research, Mr. Potter. Before 1940, the accounts would simply be held in trust until a descendent proved worthy. The Wizengamot may have changed the law. As they did the status of squibs."

"Well, you coming up with that, Harry, makes me think my thinking he might just want more muggleborns because they know the least about the wider society, wasn't as cynical as I could have gone. Thanks."

"Always glad to let you be the optimist, Nev." Harry gathered up the lists. "Professor, I think you need to add a story on the book to the ones for the Quibbler."

"I need only interview the past Headmasters' portraits. I do find it highly unlikely that none of them advised the current one as to the function of the colors."

"Harry, are you still up to leaving now? Or do you want to spend another night?" Neville asked. "Either way, we should add to the Pals materials order."

"One last nap here I think. I think we should also send complaint letters to the Child Welfare officials to check out the kids in red."

"Shouldn't we try to get rid of Dumbledore?"

Harry ran his hand through his hair, "Even if the Professor here, finds out that he did know about the reds and oranges, I think everything you said before still applies." Harry raised a hand to stall Neville's protests. "There are still too many deatheaters in the Ministry. We'd likely get someone worse than Umbridge. And this is going to be hard to prove as a deliberate act, even if the portraits testify."

"I know. But if what is happening to some of these kids is worse than what happened to us..."

"We'll write muggle authorities, charm the letters to make them take them seriously. We can copy the list and charms and tell Professor Flitwick and Madam Bones. They should be able to offer them the chance to be wizards again."

"And see if we can send them to school in America."

Harry looked surprised.

"Hey, we both know they'll learn more and be safer anywhere but Britain, and in America they speak English."

Harry laughed, "You've never watched television. They speak American: elevators, cars, and all. I wonder how muggles and wizards get along there though..."

"Well, I actually went to Salem when I was ten..."

And next time, they will actually make it out of the Room of Requirement!