The Malfoys find their fortunes have changed. Snape received unwelcome guests. Albus' luck runs out.
1996 Fall term
1st July 1996
Dear GG
My son has been approached by friends of his father tasking him with a dangerous undertaking. My sister reassured me they know what they are doing but I am not so sure. My son is still underage and will be until next year. I do not believe my little dragon knows what he was getting into. I would love to cut and run, but my husband is currently in Azkaban. We fear for his safety should we disappear to the Continent. Then with the blasted Mark, my boy can be tracked down. My son is not a killer. I think they expect him to fail and get killed.
Lady M
Summer 1996
Dear Lady M
Or dear, looks like your menfolk have proven themselves to be a tad lacking in the brains department. How fond is the lad of his Vater? Will there be any major issues if you change your title to Widow? I do believe a sixteen-year-old is mature enough to know what he is getting into – unless there is some pretty girl or boy involved. Pesky hormones at that age you know. Let the boy make his own mistakes – or you might want to cast about for someone to help you protect him. A trusted family member or friend perhaps?
Yours sympathetically
GG
15th July 1996
Dear GG
I think I am totally screwed this time. I finally landed that cursed DADA post, just when I started feeling I have a purpose to my life. Then two witches turn up at my door with a mission I cannot refuse. Well, if I refused, I will likely be scooping my entrails off the rug, courtesy of dear Bella. Well, I am to help my godson with an impossible task – killing his headmaster. This is on top of the cloak and dagger business I am already engaged in. My godson currently hates my guts, and I am the last person he will run to if he has a problem. Little prat is more likely to make a mess of the task and get AK-ed for his pains.
Halfblood Prince
Summer 1996
Dear Prince
Your doom is nigh. Do not touch Albus Dumbledore. He's mine, you hear! Oh, do relay that to your godson. Danke.
Grindelwald
31st July 1996
Dear GG
Wotcha, I met this cool guy at a family gathering and I think I am in love. He is a good deal older than me, dirt-poor and had a Muggle mom. My dad's Muggleborn, so no issues there with blood purity and what not since my mom already got blasted off the family tapestry. He is currently jobless due to the Werewolf Act. Did I mention he is a werewolf? I am an Auror and truly, I think the Werewolf Act is grossly unfair. I hear he made a good teacher if he kept on top of his Wolfsbane regime. Should I make my feelings known as he is awfully shy…
Sassy Girl
Summer 1996
Dear Sassy Girl
Oh-la-la, c'est l'amour.
You are only young once. Go for it. Make mistakes. Elope, just do not do any blood-binding. Not only illegal but inadvisable with a sufferer of lycanthropy. Otherwise, no major issues for the kids. It is a myth that lycanthropy is hereditary. It is a different thing for shapeshifters. That trait is hereditary and dominant in North American tribal wixen and certain Asian clans.
GG
15th August 1996
Dear GG
Our go-to wandmaker has vanished! What shall we do with wee Betty going to school soon. We cannot understand it. Ollivander was an institute. We came to Diagon Alley for the school shopping to find his store shuttered. The insides look like a dump. Wands everything. Do you think something might have happened to the poor old dear? More importantly, what's wee Betty to do for a wand now? We do not have spares. I doubt she can share with Ruthie as they are two years apart…
Frantically yours
Mother Goose
Summer 1996
Dear Goose
There are other wand-sellers. If you dare venture into Knockturn Alley, there is a dingy shop selling second-hand goods. You might be able to find a suitable wand there. Or you might get a one from the corner table at the Leaky Cauldron. Do have the child test the wand out as I will not put it old Borgins to palm off a twig as a wand.
GG
P.S. Has anyone reported suspicions of foul play?
31st August 1996
Dear Gellert
I fear I have made a major miscalculation. The gist of the matter is that I have been cursed by a Horcrux created by Voldemort. Sorry, old chap. I could not resist the Resurrection Stone… It will likely end me within the year, but there are so many Horcruxes out there that need to be destroyed. If only we had more time… The boy is not yet ready… The enemy has made his move. Alas we are unable to win the giants or werewolves to our cause…
The matter of the Horcruxes must remain secret – the boy is not yet ready for the truth. He is one himself…
Your liebling always
Albus
Fall 1996
Dear Albus
Tell me you are lying! Dummkopf! What have I been warning you about all this time? Surely the great Dumbledore is not going to be done in by some two-bit curse cast by a shade of wizard… Do not make me rue being defeated by you! You better give the boy all the necessary information – nein – all the information he needs for the task. The support too. Get the Ministry in, the Aurors, your precious Order of bird fanciers and the ICW. Win over the goblins if possible. I fear with the way wixen have treated giants and werewolves, is it a surprise they turn their sights to a snake-faced tyrant as saviour?
How do you expect me to continue without you to regularly deride and insult? I am weary of this.
Gellert Grindelwald
31st October 1996
Dear Gellert
Perhaps I grow maudlin in the face of approaching death. I have sent a request to the ICW to bring forward your parole hearing. It is currently under review. I fear that with things as they stand, it might be hard to convince them to allow you a visit to your aunt in Britain. Our new Minister has been cracking down on suspected Death Eaters, but I fear it is too little, too late. My Potions master has managed to slow the curse with his concoctions, but it is not a cure. I suspect some of my older students have already fallen prey to the Death Eaters' ideas and might be trotting between classes wearing the Dark Mark. I know you would suggest lining everyone up in the Great Hall to check for the Mark, but I fear a moment of childish folly or misguided familial loyalty is not worth life in Azkaban. The teachers will have to report them if they are caught.
I am doing my utmost to guide Potter in my last days. He knows about Tom's origins now. I regret that I was unable to guide Tom onto the path of Light. There was too much darkness in him even them. I hope that even if I should fall, Potter would be able to take up the task he was prophesized for.
Yours sincerely
Albus Dumbledore
Winter 1996
Dear Albus
You nincompoop! For the last flipping time, get someone who is at least of age to do your work. The prophecy's nothing more than the ramblings of a drunken tosspot with the makings of a ventriloquist. Even if real, it smacks of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your well-intended manipulations probably caused this entire mess in the first place! Haven't you learnt by now that most teens are angsty, impulsive berks with a shocking lack of good sense? Ja, I admit we were over-hasty with that blood pact. I will not be surprised if your precious boy-saviour calls it quits and goes over to the dark side. I suppose he could start by hexing a school bully to bloody shreds in the lavatory.
Was this Tom so handsome a lad you did not find it in yourself to transfigure him into a toad when you had the chance to? Hell, you could have adopted him and shipped him over to Abe's for the summer. I bet Abe would sort out any lingering darkness in him as a teen. Yes, I suggest your Ministry nip the little Death Eater wannabes in the bud. If you do not wish to dump them with Dementors, I suppose you can make use of the dungeons below my tower. I mean, it is a waste of space with so big a castle for a house-elf, a single prisoner and a handful of guards.
Ex-Dark Lord Grindelwald
P.S. I promise not to indoctrinate them to my Greater Good.
Author's Notes:
After that bad news, is it any wonder Gellert is in no mood to write as GG? The poor bloke was enjoying himself in a sense with his advice column.
Danke – thank you in German.