The Magical World Exposed
by Healer Pomfrey

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

Warnings: COMPLETELY AU! If you don't like this, just stop reading and write your own story more to your liking.

Albus looked at the parchment with interest, only to stare at it in disbelief. There were two entries with 'The Leaky Cauldron', two others with 'The Grangers' home', however, the six newest entries dating from the previous evening listed 'Unknown destination'.

'What?' he thought in disbelief, only to realise in shock, 'Maybe they travelled to a building which is under the Fidelius charm. But they're Muggles. I wonder who's helping them.' He grabbed a bit of the Floo powder and stepped in the fireplace to return to his office, feeling very much frustrated. 'The magical world has been exposed, and Harry Potter has vanished,' he thought in annoyance, as he let himself sink onto the chair behind his desk.

"Things are being taken out of my hand," he told his deputy, who had been waiting for him in his office, before he explained about his findings. "I can only wait and see if Harry will come to Hogwarts in twenty months' time."

"Albus, I won't pity you this time," Minerva replied, seeming strangely calm about the matter. "Everything that happened is your own fault, even the exposure of the magical world, because you sent Harry to these stupid Muggles instead of allowing me to raise him at Hogwarts.

"You can be glad that Harry is alive at all," she then added, pensively. "Considering that Arabella told you Mr. Dursley was in hospital and Petunia said he was in prison for nineteen years and it was Harry's fault, Mr. Dursley was probably imprisoned for hurting Harry."

"That's true," Albus had to admit in shock. "I didn't even think of that, but considering that he got nineteen years, maybe he did as much as try to kill the boy. Minerva," he added, pensively, do you believe that I should retire from my position as headmaster?"

"No Albus," Minerva replied, without even having to consider the matter. "However, I think that, as the head of the Wizengamot, you should enquire why the Ministry of Magic did not act much earlier. I thought the Minister was in touch with the British Prime Minister. He should have known about Mr. O'Brien's class as well as about the three children's display of underage magic. In my opinion, he's the one who needs to retire, not you."

"Maybe you're right," Albus replied, pensively, adding, "Too bad that Fawkes is close to a burning day. Otherwise, I could send him to Harry and find out where he is."

"Albus!" his deputy and best friend scolded him, glaring at him. "Harry will be safe for the time being. So please just leave him in peace."

'Oh well, instead of trying to find Harry, I should better find out who's responsible for this mishap and fire them,' he decided. Asking Minerva to once more look after his office, he stepped into the fireplace, resolving to continue his search for Harry again after Christmas.

HP

The O'Briens and the Grangers spent the whole morning discussing various topics with Harry's parents. They finally decided that Annette should teach the three children Muggle primary school knowledge, while they would try to find one of Lily's and James' friends to instruct the children in magic. In the worst case, Lily and James would teach them themselves from their portrait.

"Harry, write a letter to Sirius Black and Remus Lupin and ask them to come and visit us here," James instructed his son. "Add this address, written by Hermione, and ask them to destroy the parchment right after reading it."

Lily rolled her eyes in apparent annoyance. "Only write to Remus, Harry. We'll ask him about Sirius, and we'll just teach you a charm to place on the parchment so that it vanishes into thin air as soon as it has been read. It's not that difficult," she spoke up and proceeded to teach the children how to charm the parchment with the address.

While Hermione and David practised the charm, Harry wrote his letter, wondering how he would be able to send it to his parents' friend. When he voiced his question, his parents told him to go and buy an owl at the next opportunity.

"For now, you can ask one of the elves to deliver your letter," James added.

HP

As soon as Gina had delivered the letter, the children began to wonder when Remus Lupin was going to arrive, causing the adults to inwardly groan.

"Why don't you go and explore the manor?" Annette finally suggested, causing the three to dash away, closely followed by Trouble and Purry.

"She behaves more like a dog than a cat," Annette laughed, "probably because of being raised by a dog."

"I can't thank you enough for giving my son such a nice family," Lily spoke up, smiling at the O'Briens and the Grangers.

"He's a son to be proud of," Annette replied, returning the smile.

HP

Just a few minutes later, Remus Lupin arrived at Potter Manor and was led into the dining room, where he explained what had happened to Harry's godparents.

Harry liked the man immediately. 'No wonder that he was one of my parents' best friends,' he thought, feeling incredibly happy that he was now able to get to know his parents and their friends.

"Sirius was not our Secret Keeper," Lily spoke up, seemingly horrified. "It was Peter. As much as I always disliked Sirius, he wouldn't kill anyone."

"What about the thirteen Muggles and Peter?" Remus replied in a grave voice. "We won't be able to clear his name, even if he wasn't your Secret Keeper."

"That doesn't sound like something Sirius would do," James spoke up, pensively. "Maybe Peter arranged the whole thing to get Sirius into trouble. As a rat Animagus, he could have easily vanished from the scene."

"That maybe," Remus agreed. "However, as long as we don't catch Peter alive, there's nothing that we can do for Sirius I'm afraid."

"Peter?" Pomfrey asked, as she entered the room, having heard Remus' last sentence.

"Peter Pettigrew," Remus explained and told the healer everything about the Potters' change of their Secret Keepers.

"But they only found a finger of Pettigrew," Pomfrey replied in apparent surprise.

"Well, he might have cut it off before transforming into his rat form to feign his own death," James said, matter-of-factly. "Who'd notice if a rat was missing a toe?"

"A rat that's missing a toe?" Pomfrey blurted out, alarmed. "Well, it might be a coincidence, but Percy Weasley's rat is missing a toe. I'm sure because he was in the hospital wing for a week recently, and that rat drove me nuts."

"I'll ask my colleague to check on Mr. Weasley's rat, as soon as the students return to Hogwarts," Pomfrey promised in a firm voice. "She or I can easily confirm with a spell if it's a real rat or an Animagus." She remained pensive for a moment, before she added, "Professor McGonagall knows the Weasleys well. Maybe she'll be able to pay them a short visit to check on the rat right away. Before I return to Hogwarts though, I'd like to check on the two boys."

"David and Harry, why don't you take Healer Pomfrey with you to your room for a moment?" Annette suggested and rose from her chair to join her sons and the healer.

She observed in concern how the healer waved her wand over David multiple times, muttering to herself, before she turned to Annette.

"There's a healing spell, which I can cast at David to help improve his situation. However, I might have to re-cast the spell on a yearly basis. We'll have to keep an eye on him."

"Please go ahead," Annette said, looking at the healer in expectation.

Pomfrey once more waved her wand over David, uttering an incantation, before she gave him a piercing look. "Do you feel differently?" she enquired in a soft voice.

"Much better," David replied, immediately. "Thank you so much, Healer Pomfrey."

"You're welcome," the old witch replied, smiling, before she turned to Harry casting a series of diagnostic spells.

From her expression, Harry already knew that the news was going to be bad. 'I'm still a freak,' he thought, inwardly groaning.

"I'm afraid that there's nothing that I can do about Harry's lung," the healer said, pensively. "I'll do some research and speak with a friend at St. Mungo's," she promised, explaining, "the wizarding hospital. Maybe they'll be able to invent something, be it a spell or a potion, before Harry is going to come to Hogwarts." Apparently realising that the boy looked at her with anxiousness, she gently patted his arm. "Don't worry, child. If you're really careful, you'll be fine."

"All right, thank you Professor," Harry replied in a small voice.

With that, the healer returned to Hogwarts, promising to send Professor McGonagall to check on Percy Weasley's rat and inform the O'Briens about her findings later the same day.

HP

In order to distract the children from the questions when the healer would come back and if she was going to have good news for Harry's godfather, Remus took them into the Defence room, one of the rooms for practising magic.

Harry was very excited, just like his brother and their best friend. 'He's going to properly teach us magic,' he thought, feeling very happy.

"Harry, you must be careful to not overdo it," the older wizard warned him, causing Harry to inwardly groan, before he began to teach them a few easy spells, beginning with the Expelliarmus spell.

The children had much fun, especially when they were allowed to try using their newly learned spells on Remus, which was almost impossible, since the older wizard was always able to dodge their spells. They did not even realise how the time passed and let out a collective sigh of annoyance, when Annette came to fetch them for lunch.

HP

It was a few hours later that Pomfrey returned with McGonagall in tow. The O'Briens and the Grangers, who all knew the Transfiguration professor from 'Hogwarts: A History', greeted the professor with enthusiasm.

"Professor, I hope you have much time," Hermione blurted out with apparent enthusiasm. "I have so many questions."

The professor smiled at the excited children. "Unfortunately not," she then replied. "I'm needed at Hogwarts today, because our headmaster is going to be stuck at the Ministry of Magic at least for the rest of the day." She let out a long sigh, before she continued, "The Minister of Magic has been released from his duties today, and Professor Dumbledore as the head of the Wizengamot has to organise the selection of a new Minister. We only got away for an hour, asking the Potions professor to oversee the headmaster's office on my behalf."

"Excuse me, Professors, did you find out something about the rat?" Harry asked, eagerly, giving the old witches a hesitant look.

"Yes," Pomfrey replied, smiling, while McGonagall pulled a wooden rat out of her robe pocket. Turning to Remus Lupin, she explained, "This is Peter Pettigrew."

Remus reached out and took the rat from his former teacher, before he thanked the two witches profusely. "What do you recommend us to do?" he then asked.

"I already discussed the matter with Poppy and Severus, and we believe that it would be the best if you called Tonks and Shacklebolt here, two Aurors," she explained to the Muggles and the children, "and tell them everything. If you attended a trial stating that Mr. Black was not the Secret Keeper, you'd have to prove it, and if you don't want to alert people to the fact that you're residing at Potter Manor, you can't prove it. When the Aurors can speak with Lily and James though, it will be accepted as a fact by the court. They'll know what to do."

Everyone agreed to speak with the Aurors like the professor had suggested, and McGonagall leaned into the fireplace in the entrance hall, showing Tonks a small parchment which Hermione had quickly written in her meticulous hand-writing.

HP

To the children's excitement, a young witch with green hair stepped out of the fireplace, followed by her colleague.

'They seem very nice,' Harry thought, observing the witch with interest.

The two Aurors listened to what McGonagall told them, before they confirmed with the Potters that Peter Pettigrew had been their Secret Keeper. Afterwards, they changed Peter Pettigrew back into his human form and questioned him under Veritaserum.

'He's disgusting,' Harry thought in disdain. 'Somehow, he looks a bit like Uncle Vernon. Oh well, he's probably going to end up in prison as well.' He inwardly sighed in relief, when the man with the missing finger was forced back into the form of a wooden rat.

"Thank you all for trying to help Sirius," Tonks finally spoke up, glancing around. "Most of you won't know this, but he's my cousin, and I never believed that he was guilty of what they said he did. I think that we have enough material to clear his name. However, the court will neither listen to children, nor to non-magical people, let alone to a werewolf. Minerva, will you..."

"I'm sorry," McGonagall interrupted her, sighing. "Albus mustn't know about Harry's whereabouts, and if he knew that Poppy and I knew where he was, we'd be in a lot of trouble."

"I understand," Tonks replied, nodding pensively. "In that case, it's probably a good timing now, maybe even the best possible, as each of the candidates for the minister's position would surely be ready to assist in a trial that is supposed to gain publicity all over the magical world, which the trial against the person responsible for the Potters' death definitely will."

"Who exactly are the candidates?" James spoke up.

"Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Bones and Professor Dumbledore," McGonagall replied, smirking.

"Ask Weasley then," James suggested. "Let's leave Dumbledore out of this. He's done too much harm already."

tbc...