Disclaimer: Harry Potter is NOT mine! I do not own any part of the wonderful world that JK Rowling created, aside from copies of the books and films. I am just having some fun in Rowling's magical playground. Also, as this is a fanfiction, it is obviously not canon, so I am not going to always follow the canon that JK Rowling has created, I am going to create my own fan-canon as that is what fanfiction is all about.
The group was silent as Charlus Potter led them from the Kiln and into his study/office. The room was much like the office that Harry and Hermione had occupied in Grimmauld Place; a large wooden desk dominated the room, with large windows behind the desk, giving the visitors an excellent view of the backyard but at the same time shrouding Charlus Potter in shadow making it difficult for people to see Charlus' face. Tall bookcases covered both wall, filled with books and scrolls, and Harry could see that Hermione was visibly restraining herself from going over to the bookcases and start reading. It did make Harry feel better seeing Hermione act more like her old self but when Charlus sat down behind the desk, Harry could feel the tension grow in the room.
"Have a seat, all of you," Charlus said, gesturing at the chairs and sofa that also were in the office. While the sentence was spoken gently and calmly, it was obviously an order, one that Charlus expected to be followed quickly. James and Lily sat together on a two-seat couch, one of a pair in the office. Sirius, Remus and Peter dropped down onto a larger leather couch while Harry and Hermione took the other small sofa.
Charlus opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a ¾-full bottle of an amber liquid. He set the bottle down on the desk and then grabbed a glass.
"Dad?" James asked.
"One moment James," Charlus said, pouring himself half a glass of the drink and taking a sip. "Ok, you all want to know the full story about Dumbledore and the Grindelwald War, well here it is. First, we need to go back to the beginning, I went to Hogwarts during what the Muggles the Great War, and during that war, magicals around the world learned that muggles had advanced far more than any had believed them able too. And that terrified people. Not since the Inquisition had muggles instilled such fear in the majority of magicals, around the world." Charlus paused to look at Lily. "Lily, you should be glad to be here in Britain, even though you face some prejudice for being muggleborn, rather than another country."
"Glad?" Lily snapped. "How can you…"
"Let me explain Ms. Evans," Charlus said, a hand raised. Lily didn't look happy but she nodded after James put a hand over hers. "Britain, for all its faults, is not the most anti-muggle society in the world. In fact, it is the United States that have one of the most anti-muggle societies, stemming from this very time period."
James and Lily, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Harry and Hermione were all stunned to hear this.
"Of course, this isn't common knowledge here in Britain," Charlus explained. "While many magicals believe we have the upper hand over the muggles in regards to transportation with Apparition, Floo travel, Portkeys and brooms, but the muggles have far surpassed us when it comes to long-distance travel. Their planes can make a trip from London to New York City in five, six hours, much faster than any broom toady. And witches or wizards can't Apparate over such a vast expanse of water. That distance between Europe and the New World severely limited the advancement of magical society over there, and after the Great War, the few magicals who fought in it and returned told their fellows the horrors of war and how advanced the muggles had come in killing each other."
"Even here in Britain, after the Great War, many wizards told stories of weapons that could kill hundreds in mere seconds," Charlus said. "They also reported of vast armies that the muggles had, thousands upon thousands of men. The fear that if those weapons and forces were ever turned against magicals, we would be wiped out grew, and America had the most extreme reaction. It is a crime there to interact with a muggle in any way."
"You can't be serious!" Hermione cried. "What about muggleborns?"
"There are muggleborns but when they enter school they are fully integrated into magical society," Charlus said.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked, a dark feeling filling the pit of his stomach.
"They are adopted by an assigned magical family," Charlus said. "And then the child's family has their memories erased to preserve the National Statue of Secrecy as they call it."
Hermione and Lily looked horrified while Harry, James and the Marauders looked like they were going to be sick. Hermione began to shake in her seat, her face draining of all color. Harry instantly pulled Hermione to him and she began sobbing into his shoulder. Harry, noticing the concerned looks from the others, just shook his head.
"It's ok Juliet," Harry whispered, stroking her hair.
"Harry," Hermione wailed. "How…how could I?" she stammered. "How could I do that to them?" Hermione started sobbing again, her shoulders hitching up and down as Harry tried to calm her down by rubbing her back and hair.
Harry looked up at the others again, and asked, "Is there a place I can take her so she can calm down?"
Charlus nodded. "James, can you show them to a guest room, and I will have Anne bring her a Calming Draught," he said.
"Thank you," Harry said as he picked Hermione up in his arms, bridal style. James handed Lily over to Sirius and had Harry follow him out of the office.
"This way," James said to Harry as he led Harry down the hallway. "You can lay Juliet down in here." James pushed open a door at the end of the hall; it was a small bedroom with a queen bed and dark wooden furniture.
Harry carried a trembling Hermione through the door and laid her gently down on the bed. "Harry," Hermione whimpered as Harry slowly slid her from grasp.
"Don't worry Hermione," Harry whispered. "Just get some sleep. Everything will be fine."
"Patrick, we should get back to my dad's study," James said. Harry nodded, and with reluctance cast a gentle Sleeping Charm over Hermione. She quickly succumbed to the charm and Harry followed James back to Charlus' study.
"Will Juliet be all right?" Lily asked, her puffy eyes as red as her hair when Harry and James sat back down.
"I don't know," Harry admitted.
"Why did she react like that?" Peter asked.
"Juliet was very close to her parents," Harry said. "And being a muggleborn she can't believe that anyone would tear a family apart like that. I can't either, there has to be a different way."
"Fear makes people do very strange things," Charlus said. "Are you sure you want to hear more?"
"Yes," the group said as one.
"Very well," Charlus said. "Of course, after the Great War or the First World War, there were those who sought to take advantage of this fear. And Gellert Grindelwald was the most successful. Now, most of his rise is shrouded in secrecy and shadow but I know this, this Voldemort character is nothing compared to Gellert Grindelwald."
The Marauders were stunned at Charlus' admission; Harry just narrowed his gaze at Charlus. He knew how powerful Voldemort had become, how dangerous he was, and to have someone say that Grindelwald was even more powerful than Voldemort was quite a claim.
"You all don't believe me," Charlus said. "That is understandable, you never met the man. And I thank Merlin that you never will. Grindelwald was someone that could take one look at you, and dissect your very being with just that one look."
"You met Grindelwald?" James asked.
"Not face to face," Charlus said. "But we have jumped ahead in the tale. Grindelwald took advantage of the isolation that our world suffers from to travel around the world, studying the darkest of magics and gathering followers. Then in 1932, Grindelwald reappeared in Germany as an advisor in a quickly growing political party, the National Socialist German Workers' Party."
"The Nazi's?" Lily asked. "So the rumors were true, Grindelwald worked for Hitler."
"It was more like Hitler was controlled by Grindelwald," Charlus said.
"But Grindelwald hated the muggles, why would he work with them?" James asked.
"Because Grindelwald was smart," Charlus explained. "He knew that the muggles outnumber magicals over 1,000:1, and if magicals were to try and take over, they would be wiped out. So he joined the Nazis and stoked the flames of war, hoping to reduce the numbers advantage that the muggles have. He knew that the wizarding world would, for the most part, ignore what they deemed a muggle war. Once the war had gone on long enough, killing off enough muggles, Grindelwald would then lead the magical world out of the shadows to assume what he believed magicals rightful place in the world was, rulers of the world."
"That's insane! He couldn't possibly think that the muggles would let that happen?" James explained.
"You have never been in war son, none of you have," Charlus explained. "It is something that you will do whatever it takes to never experience again. And muggles are no different. However Grindelwald underestimated the muggle ability to kill each other, and the fact that more magicals fear muggles than want to rule over them."
"What does that mean?" Lily asked.
"While there were plenty of people who followed Grindelwald in his quest for a magical utopia, there were more who were afraid of what the muggles might do if the plan failed," Charlus said. "And Grindelwald's plan also needed the support of the entirety of the magical world. And he did not have it."
"Why? Why did he need all magicals to support him?" Peter asked.
"Peter, don't you remember what my dad said," James said. "The muggles outnumber magicals 1,000:1, we would have no chance against the muggles."
"Oh right," Peter said, scratching his head.
"Dad, did you fight against Grindelwald?" James asked.
A shadow crossed over Charlus' face. "I did," the elder Potter said. "Though I did not fight the man directly, I fought against his followers and men, so I know exactly what I am talking about when I say that Grindelwald was a much greater threat than this Voldemort will ever be. Grindelwald nearly brought about the end of the magical, and muggle worlds, and the experiments that he performed were truly unspeakable. Ms. Evans, you probably know of the muggle atrocities that the Nazis committed?" Lily nodded. "Well what Grindelwald did would make those look humane."
Lily's face paled so rapidly that Harry thought a ghost had more color than she did at that moment. Harry guessed that he didn't look much better, he knew a bit about the muggle World War II, mostly because he wanted to learn as much as he could about warfare; muggle or magical.
"After Hogwarts, where I met your mother, I joined the Ministry, and became an Auror like my father, and my older brother had been," Charlus said.
"Uncle David?" James asked.
"Yes," Charlus said. Harry blinked; he had never heard Sirius or Remus mention that his father had an uncle, though Sirius and Remus didn't tell Harry much about James anyway. "David was born ten years before I was, and he was my hero. David was everything my father wanted in a son and Heir; strong, both physically and magically, smart and good looking. David graduated from Hogwarts as Head Boy and went right into the Auror Academy. He fought in the Great War, and when he came back, David was a different person."
"What do you mean?" James asked.
Charlus sighed, a look of pain crossing his face. "David became very fearful of the muggles, and their advancements in technology. And he feared that one day those weapons would be turned on witches and wizards."
"Wait, are you saying that he became a follower of Grindelwald?" James asked.
"No, never!" Charlus roared, slamming his fist on his desk, causing the group to jump back in surprise. "David would never join or follow that monster. No, David became a strict isolationist, he didn't want anything to do with muggles in fear that they would discover our world and destroy it. He even approached my father about speaking in the Wizengamont about a Bill that had been put forth that would 'safeguard the magical world' as he put it. But all it was, was a bill legalizing the abduction of muggleborn children, like the States had done."
The group was horrified; Lily was paler than ever while Sirius, Remus and Peter all had turned green. James however had turned red with rage.
"How could a Potter even think of supporting such a thing?" James bellowed. "I can't believe that a member of this family could even think that supporting that was a good idea. It goes against everything this family has stood for, for generations."
"James, sit down!" Charlus barked. The scion of the Potter did so, only after Lily had taken his hand. "Time were different then James, the world had just gone through the bloodiest war in history and there were many that felt that the muggles bloodlust would be turned on witches and wizards."
"But Grandpa didn't agree with the Bill, did he?" James asked.
"No, he did not," Charlus answered. "My father believed that one day the two worlds would collide and be known to one another, and if witches and wizards hid away until that time, they would be attacked and most likely be destroyed by the muggles. He felt that witches and wizards needed to leave the shadows in such a way that the muggles would not be frightened, perhaps a naïve dream but one that he hoped would come to fruition."
Charlus paused as he took a sip from his drink. "Of course, my brother did not like this," he said, "and left home. David moved to London, which was quite ironic since he came to fear muggles but he felt that the best way to convince those who disagreed with him was to gather intelligence on the muggles, to show evidence that they were getting ready to attack the magical world. The greatest regret my father ever had was not making more of an effort to reunite our family."
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"David moved out in 1923, and he and my father never spoke again," Charlus said. The group was stunned. "I tried to get them to reconnect over the years but it never worked. My younger sister, Eliza, also tried to reunite the family but it didn't work. Eliza was the apple of my father's eye, and my brother loved her as much as anyone. Eliza was seven years younger than me, and idolized David as her gallant big brother. She had only just graduated from Hogwarts when David moved out, and had no idea why David was leaving. When the muggles' World War II broke out in 1939, the relationship between my father and David was nonexistent. David had believed that it was only a matter of time before the muggles discovered the magical world, especially with Grindelwald spurring things on. And then…"
"Then what Mr. Potter?" Lily asked.
"The Blitz," Charlus said. "The Battle of Britain. One day, Eliza was visiting David in London when the Germans bombed the city. While the wards around Diagon Alley were able to protect the Alley from muggle attacks, but followers of Grindelwald aided this particular raid and the Alley was specifically targeted. The Germans had bombs filled with Greek Fire jars that could break through the wards protecting the Alley. And that raid destroyed the apartment building that David was living in while David and Eliza were there. It was that raid that propelled the British magical world into the war. Before then the Ministry had ordered that no witch or wizard to fight in the war in fear of breaking the Statue of Secrecy. But after that raid, it was obvious that Grindelwald was using the Nazis to target his enemies."
James grit his teeth and his hands were clenched into fists. Lily put a hand on James' fist while Sirius put his hand on James' shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
"So that's why you joined the war? To avenge your brother and sister?" Remus asked.
"Yes," Charlus said. "And no. Did I want justice for my brother and sister? Of course, but I also wanted to fight, I wanted to prove to my father that I was just as capable as David had been as Heir. So I joined up with a special division of the Aurors that would be trained up in warfare, sabotage and espionage. It took a full year before enough of us were trained up to the standards required, and we also needed a way to get onto the continent. The Nazis and Grindelwald's forces controlled the entire coast of France and the Netherlands, denying us any safe place to land."
"What about Portkeys?" Harry asked.
"They couldn't be trusted," Charlus said. "Like Apparition, you need to have seen the place you are taking the Portkey too, or have someone create the Portkey that has been there before. The French believed that the British had abandoned them by not joining the fight when Germany and Grindelwald invaded, and so they wouldn't provide us with trustworthy Portkeys."
"So how did you get to France then?" James asked.
"It wasn't until after the invasion of France by the Allies that we were able to get into France safely," Charlus said. "And once we did, it was all or nothing."
Harry watched as his grandfather closed his eyes and breathed out sharply through his nose. It was a gesture that Harry was very familiar with, one that he himself used to clear his mind of unpleasant memories.
"Did the Headmaster join you Mr. Potter?" Remus asked.
Charlus' eyes snapped open and he looked up at the Marauders, who all shivered under the elder Potter's harsh gaze. "No, he did not," Charlus said. "Dumbledore, who was still just the Transfiguration Professor at the time, refused to take part in the war, saying that we shouldn't involved ourselves in the muggles' war. He claimed that if we got involved, the Statue of Secrecy would be broken and the muggles would discover us."
Harry hid his frown at his grandfather's description of Dumbledore. It wasn't that Harry didn't agree with Charlus' assessment, it was that Harry knew the real reason why Dumbledore hesitated to join the fight against Grindelwald. And it made Harry's opinion of the Headmaster fall even farther than it already was. Dumbledore had once told Harry that the truth was a beautiful and terrible thing, Harry thought that Dumbledore believed that because Dumbledore couldn't handle the truth or the realization that he had been wrong about things, especially the death of his sister, Arianna.
"But the Headmaster had to know that if Grindelwald continued on, the Statue of Secrecy would be broken anyway," Lily said. "Why wouldn't the Headmaster want to stop Grindelwald as soon as possible?"
"I do not know," Charlus said. "But because of Dumbledore's reluctance to join the fight, I will never see the man in the same 'golden' light that many do. Do not get me wrong, Albus Dumbledore is a very powerful and wise man but he is just that, a man. And a man can make mistakes, and Dumbledore has made his fair share. Never forget that."
The Marauders and Harry nodded. Charlus met each of their eyes to insure that each of the young adults understood his message.
"When did Dumbledore finally join the fight?" James asked. To the younger Potter, it was difficult to wrap his mind around the idea that the Headmaster could be wrong about anything but James trusted his father.
"It wasn't until reports reached the Ministry that Grindelwald had raised an army of Inferi and was conducting his horrendous experiments on muggles and magicals alike. It was only then that Dumbledore decided to leave the safety of Hogwarts and join the rest of us fighting."
Remus blinked at the distaste in Charlus Potter's voice as the older man spoke about the Headmaster. Dumbledore was the man who allowed Remus to attend Hogwarts even though Remus was a werewolf; the Headmaster had made it possible for him to have a life outside of being a raving, rabid monster.
"Remus, I know you idolize Albus Dumbledore," Charlus said, noticing the young man's pensive and slightly disbelieving look. "And he did a wonderful thing for you, allowing you to attend Hogwarts but do not lose sight of the fact that Albus is a man, just like you or I. He can, and has made mistakes." The young werewolf nodded but to Harry's gaze, didn't look truly convinced. Harry felt a surge of sympathy for Remus, remembering how jarring having his view of Albus Dumbledore shattered had been.
The door to the office opened behind the group and in walked Anne.
"How's Her…Juliet?" Harry asked immediately.
"She is asleep right now," Anne said. "I have given her a Calming Draught so she should sleep for some time."
"Thank you," Harry said.
"Of course," Anne said with a smile. "When you are all done, I will show you to her room." Harry nodded to his grandmother before she left the office.
"So Dad, when the Headmaster joined the war, how did it go? It was easy right?" James asked with a grin. But that grin died when his father gave James a look that Harry could only describe as one someone gave a child when they were telling the child bad, heart wrenching news.
"No James, it was not easy," Charlus said darkly. "War is never easy, and especially with a group who do not all trust one another. Trust is the most important thing you can have out on the battlefield, without it, you are doomed."
"Who didn't you trust?" Harry asked, thought he felt as if he knew the answer already.
"Dumbledore," Charlus said. "Now, it was not for reasons you all might think. We all trusted Albus Dumbledore to fight with us, and to help us but he was an outsider to our group, a replacement. Dumbledore hadn't been there at the beginning, during training or in the beginning of our campaign. It is something you cannot understand unless you have been through combat, though James, you and Sirius as Auror partners will understand it better than most. When you are in combat, you can only trust your training and the man next to you, and if you don't trust the man next to you, your attention will not be fully focused on your opponent, and that can get you killed." Sirius and James looked at one another, and they could see what Charlus was getting at.
"Dumbledore joined my unit in August of 1944 while we were in Paris," Charlus said. "He choose our unit because we were the best. And of course, he thought that because he had been asked and begged by the Ministry to join the fight, he could just come in and take command," Charlus paused as a fond grin crossed his face, "that didn't go over well with the men."
"What do you mean?" Remus asked.
"The men did not appreciate this replacement coming in and trying to order them around," Charlus said. "It didn't matter that Dumbledore was magically stronger than the others, he hadn't been fighting with us. Just because someone is strong doesn't mean they have the right to order others around. However, I will say this about Albus, he learned quickly enough to follow orders, and he was vital in several battles in keeping our unit alive." Charlus paused to take another sip of his drink. "The winter of 1944 was a brutal one, one of the coldest winters on record. Grindelwald knew that he was on the verge of losing the war, and committed much of his remaining forces to a surprise attack in the hopes of delaying his defeat. Trolls, giants from the mountains far to the east, werewolves, an army of Inferi and his own followers, they all tried to wipe us out. And without Dumbledore, we all would have been killed or worse that winter."
The Marauders and Lily shivered at Charlus' words, Harry's thoughts turned inward as he recalled the duel at the Ministry that Dumbledore had against Voldemort after Sirius' death. It was the most awe-inspiring and terrifying sight that Harry had ever seen, to have witnessed the full power that both Dumbledore and Voldemort each wielded. And to hear Charlus speak about Dumbledore's magical prowess in such terms was interesting.
"When Grindelwald's offensive was finally defeated in early January of 1945, we began to make our way toward Germany and Grindelwald's fortress of Nurmengard. It was slow going since we had to keep our activities hidden from the muggles and Grindelwald was growing more and more desperate by the day, and he also had no compunction of taking control of the muggles to send against us," Charlus said, a shadow falling over his eyes, a shadow that Harry knew quite well. "It took us four months of near-continuous fighting to reach Nurmengard, and then things got worse and more difficult."
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"It turned out that Grindelwald had been holding back a large amount of his most ardent followers, and many of his creations, just for this occasion," Charlus said. "Our company, a force of one hundred wizards and witches, stormed the castle, against a collection of Trolls, several Giants, an army of Inferi and around fifty of Grindelwald's remaining Knights. Our job was to punch a hole through the defenses so that Dumbledore could defeat Grindelwald, and we did our job."
"You were there dad?" James gaped. "You saw the duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald! What was it like?"
"I was there James," Charlus nodded. "But I did not see the duel, I was too busy trying not to be killed by several of the Knights. I saw some lights flashing high up in one of the towers, and then everything went quiet. Soon after that Dumbledore returned, limping and disheveled, and looking as if he had seen a ghost."
"What about Grindelwald? What about his body?" Sirius asked.
"Dumbledore didn't say," Charlus said. "Only that it was done."
"You didn't see the body?" Harry asked, knowing that Dumbledore had not killed Grindelwald.
"There had been too much death already," Charlus said. "And too many of my comrades and friends had been killed by that man's forces to care about his rotting corpse."
Harry nodded at his grandfather, realizing that Dumbledore had either lied to Charlus and the others, or had convinced them that he had killed Grindelwald.
"So that was it?" Sirius asked, sounding disappointed that Charlus' tale had ended.
"Yes Sirius, that was it," Charlus said. "Not all tales end in massive battles, or with dashing heroes rescuing damsels in distress. Real life is not like the fairy tales you've read about. And the sooner you realize that, the better off you will be."
"Dad, do you think you would help us train then?" James asked. "You are right, we hardly know anything about fighting in an actual battle, that attack in Diagon Alley was nothing like what the Academy prepared us for." Sirius nodded alongside James.
"I will think about it," Charlus said. "I need to know that you are ready," he raised a hand to keep James and Sirius quiet, "it is not a question of age but maturity. Now, I think it is time for dinner. James, why don't you and your friends go help your mother? Mr. Daniels, would you mind waiting a moment? I would like to speak with you about your female friend."
"Oh, of course Mr. Potter," Harry said remaining in his seat.
"Close the door behind you James," Charlus asked his son. James nodded with a questioning glance back at his father. The door clicked shut, echoing through the room as the Head of House Potter gazed at Harry. Harry met the gaze of his grandfather evenly; though he also felt the hairs on the nape of his neck begin to stand up.
"Who are you?" Charlus asked bluntly.
"What do you mean sir?" Harry responded with his own question. "I am Patrick Daniels."
"Don't play me for a fool boy," Charlus growled, his wand appearing in his hand and pointing at Harry across the desk. Harry kept his hands on the arms of his chair, he could feel a heavy weight settle over him, one that he recognized as the wards of the Potter home pinning him in place, just like at Grimmauld Place. "Who are you?"
Harry swallowed as he tried to come up with a way to keep his identity a secret but when Charlus rose from his seat, wand in hand, and with barely a twitch, ropes appeared and wrapped around Harry, securing him to his own chair.
"I will not ask again," Charlus said. "You will tell me who you really are or I will contact the Aurors."
"Ok," Harry said, sagging in his restraints. "Though you are probably not going to believe me, I know I wouldn't if it hadn't happened to me."
"We will see about that," Charlus said. "Now start talking."
"My name is Harry James Potter, son of James and Lily Potter, and I was born on July 31st, 1980," Harry said, looking directly at Charlus.
Charlus' wand twitched as his eyes' widened in shock. Whatever he expected this wasn't it. "So you are my grandson then?" he asked.
"Yes," Harry said.
"What happened? Why did you come back in time?" Charlus asked, releasing Harry from his restraints.
"That's it, you believe me!" Harry gasped.
"I do," Charlus said, sitting back on the edge of his desk. "The wards in here would have informed me if you had been lying. So why did you come back? How bad was it?"
Harry sighed. "Bad, we won but the price was too high," he said. "And we both knew that nothing would change, in fact things had gotten even worse."
"What happened?"
Harry hesitated, he wasn't sure how much to tell Charlus but something was telling Harry that he could tell his grandfather everything. Charlus was not Dumbledore, he was a Potter. "It will be difficult to explain," he began, "but Voldemort nearly takes over everything in 1981. He then succeeds in 1997 but is defeated for good in 1998."
"Explain?"
"Sometime in 1980, a Prophecy was made that a child at the end of July would have the power to defeat the Dark Lord," Harry said.
"You?" Charlus asked.
"Me," Harry nodded. "On Halloween 1981, Voldemort killed my parents before turning his wand on me. However, because both of my parents sacrificed themselves for me, Voldemort's curse didn't kill me. Instead it rebounded and destroyed his body."
"Destroyed his body, not killed him," Charlus said, to which Harry grinned without humor.
"Yes, he wasn't killed," Harry said. "He had done something that prevented him from dying. He returned in 1995 and then was able to take over the Ministry in 1997. But I was somehow able to kill him for good in May 1998. Except the Second Blood War left much of the Ministry dead, and those who survived were not on our side. The Ministry turned on my friends and me; they murdered my godson and his grandmother just because they were in the way. After that, my lone surviving friend, Hermione, and I used a Potter family ritual to go back in time."
"Hermione? Is that Juliet's real name?" Charlus asked. Harry nodded.
"But we were only supposed to go back to 1994, to stop the Second War," Harry said. "But I think that Fawkes, the Headmaster's phoenix supercharged the ritual and we both ended up all the way back here in 1978."
"I see," Charlus said. "So what were your plans when you realized you had returned to this year?"
"Destroy the devices that are keeping Voldemort from being killed, and then wipe out the Death Eaters once and for all," Harry said. "We want to stop the war from ever happening."
Charlus sat down behind his desk and pulled out another glass. He filled both glasses and pushed one over to Harry, whose restraints had vanished. "So my son does manage to woo Ms. Evans?" he asked with a rye smile.
Harry nodded, with a smile of his own. He took a sip of the drink, coughing slightly at the burn down his throat. "So then Mr. Potter…"
"I think you can call me grandfather, Harry," Charlus said with a chuckle. "Though when in public, it would be prudent to use Mr. or Lord Potter. I have a feeling that you do not want my son, his friends or your mother to know about your and Hermione's real identities, correct?"
"Yes," Harry said. "Hermione and I had planned to do what was needed by ourselves, in hopes of keeping the timeline unchanged but…"
"But you realized that you will need help," Charlus finished. Harry nodded. "Some advice Harry, do not shoulder a burden like this by yourself. It will crush you. I can see that you have dealt with heavy burdens in the past, and shouldered them well but I give you my word that I will do all I can to help you and Hermione. As I said earlier, I have seen enough of war and I will not see another tear my family apart."
Harry sagged in his seat, relief pouring off his body. "Thank you grandfather," he said. "We do not trust Dumbledore or the Ministry to help us without trying to take control or just plain screw it up. And we cannot allow Riddle to catch word of this."
"Do not worry Harry, there are those who do not blindly believe in the Headmaster," Charlus said. "Of course it won't be easy but I promise that we will insure that the future you escaped from will not happen. Now I think that it is time for dinner, I can smell my wife's excellent cooking. Come along grandson, saving the world can wait until after dinner."
Harry chuckled and rose to follow his grandfather out of the office and to join the others for dinner and a new hope for the future.
A/N: Well there you have it, the newest installment of History is Written, I hope you all enjoyed it. I really liked writing this chapter as it allowed me to delve more into a part of JK Rowling's world that is not fully formed. We know so little about Harry's ancestors and the First Blood War, the desire to write about that is really what I wanted to explore when I started writing this story. I hope you all enjoy my creation of this hidden part of the history of the Harry Potter universe. Til next time,
SlyNinjaKnight