A/N: Some VERY IMPORTANT explanations for the story.
Heley started her 7th year at Hogwarts with Hermione, Ron, Draco and company. Actually, they were supposed to have finished Hogwarts last year, but they didn't because of the war. Remember, Hermione and Ron dropped out to help Harry. Now that the war ended, they must attend their last year of school once more and properly get their diplomas. The other students chose to do the same thing. Actually, I borrowed the idea of re-starting the 7th year from PhoenixSoar, author of "Unorthodoxed Matchmaker".
Let's see things like this. Because of the restriction Dolores Umbridge put on the teachers the year before, the teachers couldn't teach what they were supposed to teach to the students. In a way, in the teachers' judgment, the students didn't get the level of knowledge they were supposed to have because of the teaching restrictions. In a sense, it was illogical to let the students pass their school year or graduate when they didn't have the required knowledge level. The parents were informed of the situation and they gave their support to the school staff. The students were given two options. Those that passed the school year under Umbridge's control could choose to proceed to the next grade, or re-do their previous grade in order to acquire the proper level of knowledge. Graduating students were given the same choice. They could leave Hogwarts or re-do their last year. Surprisingly, almost all the students (but not all of them) chose to redo their previous grade. That's how Heley, Hermione and Ron are able to re-do their 7th grade with all their friends. And yes, they are eighteen.
By the way, I suggested you to read PhoenixSoar's story "Unorthodoxed Matchmaker". It's really good. It was from there that I got the idea for this story! XD
And now, the secret behind Heley Potter and Harry Potter unveiled to you! Enjoy!
Fallen & Risen 6. Secret of the Past, part 1
Previously…
It was finally Heley's turn to participate in the Sorting Ceremony.
"Potter, He-…! COUGH! " The small Charms teacher choked, thinking he had read the name wrong. No! He must have read wrong. There was no way that name could be on the list. Nervously, he searched his list again, but he hadn't been mistaken. It was really that name. He shakingly read it again.
"Pot-Potter… Heley…" he stuttered.
In the Hall, a commotion followed professor Flitwick's call. All the students stopped talking, wondering if they had a hearing dysfunction, before they broke out into a clamor, discussing this new turn of events.
"Did… Did he say Potter?" a Ravenclaw asked.
"I certainly heard him say Potter," a Hufflepuff said.
"Potter? Like Harry Potter?" a Slytherin boy asked.
"Not Harry Potter. Heley Potter, you dimwit!" his Slytherin friend retorted.
'Heley Potter…? Could she be… Does Potter have relatives?' Draco wondered, frowning.
Heley ignored the commotion and stepped in front of the Hall. All the eyes in the Hall were fixed on her. Even the ghosts stopped flying around to watch and the portraits gave up all pretensions of being occupied in order to stare. The silence in the Hall was so heavy and so intense that even the god of Death would feel ashamed. Heley calmly sat on the chair and waited for professor Flitwick to put the Hat on her head. But he didn't. Heley looked at him, an eyebrow raised in confusion. The small teacher was looking intensely at her, his eyes filled with emotions. He must be hallucinating, he told himself. Heley stared at directly into his eyes with her green orbs as if to call him back to his senses. Professor Flitwick snapped out of his daze and, with a trembling hand, slowly put the Sorting Hat on Heley's head. Immediately, the Hat's voice spoke in her head.
"Ah! Here we meet again, Miss Heley Potter," the Hat said. "Or should I say Mister Harry Potter, as you were known up to today?"
Heley only smiled.
'Thank you for keeping my secret during all these years.'
Flashback
Ministery of Magic. Office of Kinglsey Shacklebolt, minister of magic.
Minister Shaklebolt was receiving a guest. His guest was Harry James Potter, the Saviour of the Wizarding world. Though the Dark Lord was vanquished, the war didn't really end. Harry Potter wanted to put a total end to the war.
"Minister Shacklebolt, the only way to stop the remaining Dead Eaters from causing more disasters is to remove the purpose of their anger and desire for revenge," Harry said in a sad voice. "There is only one way…"
The silence took place again for a minute. Then, Harry turned to face Shacklebolt.
"Minister Shacklebolt, Harry Potter must die."
Shacklebolt looked intensely at Harry.
"Harry Potter must die," Harry repeated again.
". . ." A heavy silence settled in the room.
"Harry," Shacklebolt slowly said, his eyebrows fused together, "are you sure really sure you want it this way?"
"Yes, I am absolutely sure," Harry answered. Shacklebolt took a deep breath, closing his eyes.
"Harry," the minister spoke again, very seriously, "are you aware of the consequences of such a decision? The consequences for the wizard world and, more importantly, the consequences for your friends and for people who care for you."
". . ." Harry hesitated. "Yes…" he muttered.
Shacklebolt closed his eyes, breathing deeper again.
"Besides, it's time for Harry Potter to disappear," Harry continued. Harry rolled up the sleeve of his shirt, showing the red, triangle mark under his arm. "The spell Dumbledore performed on me has been wearing off since the day he died. Its original color was a vivid burgundy red. But now, it's hardly visible. It won't be long until the mark will disappear and everyone will know the truth. So, I thought I could use this chance to put a real end to everything."
Shacklebolt didn't say anything, his eyes fixed on the pale mark under Harry's arm. Then, he turned around to look outside his window, thinking. Harry didn't interrupt him. After a long moment, Shaklebolt turned back to Harry, sighing.
"Very well, Harry. If this is your decision, then I will respect it," Shacklebolt said.
Harry smiled.
"Thank you, minister."
"Ashley!" Shacklebolt called. Shacklebolt's secretary immediately came in, shooting a smile at Harry along the way.
"Yes sir! How may I help you?" Ashley eagerly asked.
"Bring me that box," Shacklebolt ordered. Ashley's eyes widen.
"You really mean that box?" Ashley asked, more excited than ever.
"Yes."
"Right away, sir!" Ashley saluted and disappeared in a loud Pop!
About fifteen minutes later, Ashley apparated back in the room, his clothing and hair covered in spider webs and dust. He was so dirty that a pool of grey dust had formed at his feet. In his arm, Ashley carried an old looking box with many protection charms placed on it.
"Cough cough cough! Sorry for taking so long, sir… Cough cough cough! It took more time then I had expected… Cough cough cough! …to remove all the protection spells of the room. Cough cough cough! Here it is, sir… Cough cough cough!" Ashley put the box on Shacklebolt's desk, causing dust to fly into air and suffocate everyone.
"Cough cough cough!" Harry coughed violently, giving himself the vivid impression that his lungs were attempting to jump out of his torso.
"Cough cough cough! You can leave now. Cough cough cough!" Shacklebolt told to his secretary. "Cough cough cough! And take a bath or Scourgify yourself before coming back! Cough cough cough!"
"Cough cough cough! Yes sir… Cough cough cough!"
Ashley left the office, a concerto of coughs and flying dust trailing behind him.
"Cough cough cough! Now, where's that wand…? Cough cough cough!" Shacklebolt muttered as he searched on his desk. "Cough cough cough! Can't see anything with all this dust…" He ran his fingers on his desk one more time. "Ah! Cough cough cough! I got it! Cough cough!" With a flick of his wrist, the dust instantly disappeared, leaving the air clean and breathable. "Ah! This is much better!"
Shacklebolt took the box.
"What is it, minister?" Harry asked.
"The key we need to unlock your secret," Shacklebolt said. "When Dumbledore performed the charm on you, I retrieved your real birth registration. I was the one who wrote it and I put a Use Restriction spell on it. Only I have the right to retrieve it. After that I made a copy for the Ministry record and put the real one under a Secret Guardian charm. We need this key to unlock the charm."
With the point of his wand, Shacklebolt touched the cover of the box. Concentrating hard, he began chanting some incantations. His wand glowed a light blue light color at its extremity. After what seemed to be hours, Harry heard a small click from the box.
"Finally…" Shacklebolt muttered.
He put his wand aside and flipped the cover open. Inside, he took out a blue crystal ball the size of an egg with a frozen red flamed on its middle. The Minister left his desk and walked towards a big, empty wall, running his fingers over the plain surface.
"What are you doing, sir?" Harry asked, rising an eyebrow.
"I'm looking for the keyhole," the Minister answered without stopping his search. "It has a bad habit to change place whenever its fancies. Pretty nasty keyhole, I might add."
"Huh?" Harry stared blankly at the boring wall which had nothing special decorating it. No frames hanging, to wallpaper, no painting. It was only a plain and boring wall.
"I know it's a boring wall. It also bores me every time I see it, which happens to be everyday," Shacklebolt commented as he continued to run his fingers millimeter by millimeter on the wall. He was now crouched at the foot of the book shelf. "This keyhole is very capricious. It won't accept sharing the wall with anything, not even with an innocent little painting. I once hangued the portrait of my mother on the wall. The keyhole got jealous. It didn't show itself for months. Nasty temper! But since the wall is so boring, no one would want to look at it for more than one second. And that's perfect because this wall has a secret… Ah! I found it!" the minister exclaimed.
The minister pushed his finger into the wall, making a small hole. Then, he took the crystal ball and placed it in front of the hole. The flame in the crystal stirred. From the crystal ball, some lines appeared on the wall and a door was drawn on the boring wall.
"Now, follow me, Harry," Shacklebolt said as he opened the door and walked in. Harry followed him in.
Shacklebolt took the crystal ball with him. Once both of them had crossed the door, the wall closed itself and the drawing disappeared, leaving again a boring wall. On the other side of the wall, Harry looked around him, but saw nothing. Everything was pitch black. Shacklebolt hold the crystal ball up to his eye level. The flame turned blue and danced inside the crystal. The minister released the crystal and it floated by itself in the air. Soon, it started to moved and floated away.
"Stay close to me, Harry. If you make one wrong step, you might fall in a black hole and never come back again," Shacklebolt said.
Harry nodded, understanding. They followed the crystal ball for what seemed to be hours for Harry. Finally, the crystal stopped in front of an iron door with a dragon carved on it. The minister put his hand on the body of the dragon. Recognizing the magical signature of the minister, the dragon eyes shined red and the door opened. Shacklebolt and Harry stepped inside.
It was a big room with thousand and thousand of shelves covered with books. Shacklebolt raised his wand over his head and called out, "The Potter family birth register."
A book flew out from nowhere and Shacklebolt caught it. Next, all the bookshelves disappeared, leaving only a black room. Then, a table appeared in front of them. Shacklebolt put the book on the table and opened it. Flipping through many pages, he stopped at the latest record he had written in himself.
"Here it is, Harry, your real birth registration" Shacklebolt said, handing out the paper to Harry.
Harry carefully took it and read it. Seeing his father's and mother's named, he brushed his fingers on their signatures, tears glittering in his eyes and running down his face.
"Dad… Mom…" Harry muttered, picturing his parents in his head. He saw his parents smiling at him. More tears chased after the first ones.
"Harry…" Shacklebolt softly called him. Harry hastily wiped away his tears.
"I'm ready, minister," Harry firmly said. Shacklebolt nodded.
"Very well," Shacklebolt replied. He took back the birth registration and put it on the table. "Now, give me your hand."
Harry did as he was asked. With his wand, Shacklebolt made a small cut on Harry's finger, just enough to have a drop of blood. Taking the crystal ball, he made Harry touched it. When the blood touched the crystal, a symbol appeared inside. It was the same mark as the one under Harry's arm, but its color was brighter. On the birth registration, the same symbol also appeared on the center of the paper.
"Take the crystal in your hand," Shacklebolt told him.
Harry did as he was told. Immediately, the crystal began shining brilliantly, making Harry and Shacklebolt to cover their eyes from the blinding light. From the crystal, Harry felt a wave of magic rushing up his arms through his fingertips. Rapidly, the wave made his way up to his heart and invaded it. Harry had the impression that something had broken inside of him, that something had been lifted up somewhere inside his body. Next, the magical wave ran through the remainder of his body, up to his head and down to his toes. Harry felt like he had many doors inside him and the wave of magic had unlocked them all. Lastly, Harry felt the mark under his arm completely disappear and the magic stopped running through him, evaporated with the mark. Then, the crystal broke into a thousand of pieces and disintegrated into the air.
When the light faded, Shacklebolt and Harry opened their eyes. The minister stared blankly at the person standing in front of him, not saying anything for minutes. Then, he spoke.
"It's really done now… Harry Potter is dead…" the minister muttered.
The two of them looked down on the birth registration on the table. The red triangle symbol there disappeared too. They saw the name of 'Harry James Potter' fade away and another one appeared.
Heley Jane Potter
It was the real name Heley's parents gave her.
A/N: That was the part 1 of the secret. Part 2 is for next time. See you again!