Chapter 97
Tales from the Past
Note from J.M. Jackson: Sorry for the delay, once again Real Life tends to be annoying. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
With Katie having been taken to St. Mungo's and with a dozen or so students having been in Hogsmeade, the whole school was aware that she had been attacked. Rumours flew around quickly, about being cursed, or coerced, or even how Katie had always been a 'dark witch' but the result was that there was a tense feeling in the air, which reminded Lily of her second year and the Chamber of Secrets.
Lily had been studying the materials that Crouch Junior had given her to read about Fiendfyre, although she found her thoughts often trailing to Professor Dumbledore and her concerns for him. Her primary focus, however, had to be figuring out who attacked Katie. The fact that they had a lead was something, but would Sirius and Remus be able to find out anything from Borgin? A part of her doubted it, but she hoped they would.
With Lily and Ginny going to Dumbledore's office for their next lesson, they were both curious as to what they'd be learning about next.
"Maybe about his birth or something else? I'm not entirely sure why this is so important," Ginny admitted. "I know Voldemort is human like the rest of us but learning more about him makes him almost seem more… human, if that makes sense."
"It does. I mean, there's just… something weird about learning more about Voldemort," Lily said. "But knowing our enemy could help understand him, I guess. If we can understand him better, we can figure out what his next moves might be. He's got to be hurting at the moment given all the losses he's suffered."
"That'd likely make him more dangerous, though," Ginny replied, as they neared the gargoyle statue.
"Which means we need to get stronger," Lily concurred, before giving the password that she had been sent by Dumbledore. The statue began moving upwards, giving Lily and Ginny access to the staircase.
After knocking and being granted entry, Lily and Ginny weren't surprised to see Barty Crouch Junior also waiting for them.
"Good evening, Miss Potter, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore greeted, with his usual, charming smile. "I understand you've had a busy time whilst I've been away, on multiple fronts. You witnessed Katie Bell's attack?"
"Yes, sir," Lily confirmed. "How is she doing?"
"She is currently in a stable condition at St. Mungo's, being cared for by the best med witches there. It is fortunate she only touched the necklace with the smallest amount of skin; any bigger of a hole, and she would not have survived. Fortunately, Professor Snape was able to prevent the spread of the curse, before meeting with yourself and your friends," Dumbledore explained.
"Has there been any news on how the necklace got to Katie, sir?" Ginny asked. Dumbledore looked at the two of them.
"On that front, I believe the two of you, and your friends within the Order of the Dragon, have had more luck than we have. Your uncles, Lily, visited Mr. Borgin, but he claimed not to know anything, other than offering to purchase the necklace to keep it out of the hands of any other unsuspecting children. I believe Sirius would have placed it directly into Mr. Borgin's unprotected hands if not for Remus," Dumbledore replied.
"Can't say I blame him. Whoever did this is a dishonourable bas…" Crouch begun but cut himself off. "Person," he added, glancing at Dumbledore, who smiled at him for the effort.
"Were you able to find anything further?" Dumbledore asked the two girls.
"Not yet, no," Lily sighed. "We suspect that it had to be a student behind it, since they knew enough to try and sneak it past using something Mr. Filch might not have scanned, but it was also a clumsy attempt, since Mr. Filch tends to be strict about items brought in and out of the castle… so whoever it was didn't know him well enough to know how serious Mr. Filch is taking his job in helping to protect the students."
"Indeed. Argus has taken a stern position on safety this year, for which I am thankful to him. He has caught a number of students attempting to smuggle in certain items. Nothing dangerous, only things such as love potions or trick spells," Dumbledore explained as he stroked his beard. Lily smiled; ever since her second year, she had made the effort to be nicer to Mr. Filch, and his cat, Mrs. Norris, both of whom had been friendly to her in return. She had even been warned by Mr. Filch in the previous year to be careful around Umbridge.
"I believe it," Lily agreed. "I'm just sorry that this is happening. I need to know how someone's doing this."
"So do I," Dumbledore replied solemnly. "In the meantime, today we'll be taking another trip into memories, but this time, they will be mine. First, however, I want you to see something."
Dumbledore led the group to the Pensieve, and took a vial that contained, Lily noted, a memory. She still found it impressive that such a thing was possible.
"Last time we met, we discussed Merope Gaunt. After her father and brother were imprisoned, Merope left the family home, and created a love potion. I suspect it was Amortentia, which does seem to be the potion of choice for many," Dumbledore summarised. "Thankfully, only weak imitations made by rowdy and, forgive me saying, inept students have been confiscated by Filch." He added with a humourless chuckle.
"So, Merope made Voldemort's father obsessed with her?" Lily concluded with a frown forming between her eyebrows.
"And fell pregnant before too long?" Ginny added, with a matching scowl.
"Indeed," Dumbledore confirmed, not hiding his delight in how fast the two students were putting together the pieces of the puzzle.
"Actually, that explains a lot," Lily commented after a moment's silence.
"Oh?" Dumbledore asked, and she noticed that Dumbledore shared a quick glance at Crouch.
"In Professor Slughorn's class, we discussed Amortentia, which was, indirectly, the cause of the Witch Trials here in the UK," Lily replied. "Professor Slughorn said that a baby born from someone under the influence of Amortentia will be unable to love."
"It sounded so… horrible," Ginny shuddered. "Lily told me about what she'd learnt, and we wondered if something like that was the reason Voldemort is the way he is."
"Indeed. It is the most likely explanation, and a reasonable one. Could you be feeling pity for him?" Dumbledore asked, though there was no judgement in his voice, just curiosity.
"No, definitely not," Lily shook her head. "He may not be able to feel love, but that doesn't determine whether someone is good or evil. He chose to be evil. Although it's clear he sees himself as some sort of liberator rather than evil, his actions over his reign of terror suggest that he doesn't understand love, otherwise he wouldn't use his lack of it as an excuse for his actions."
"Aye, you've hit the nail on the head there, lass," Crouch agreed, with something akin to a smile shadowing his face. "When I was younger, I was blinded by what he said. Many were; that's the danger of a believer. If someone genuinely believes in what they're doing, they can make plenty of arguments for their cause."
"With the whole blood purity and racism amongst a majority of the pure bloods, it wouldn't have taken much convincing, right?" Lily scoffed, folding her arms over her chest.
"No, sadly it wouldn't have done," Crouch confirmed. "With the way he spoke back then, many were willing to follow him, or at least not oppose him. He was a very manipulative influencer, and an extremely powerful wizard to boot."
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Now, the first memory I want you to see is a brief one," he said, as he used his wand to conjure up an image from the Pensieve.
The image of a man appeared from the liquid, whom Dumbledore informed them was Caractacus Burke. Burke spoke of buying Slytherin's locket for ten galleons.
"He only gave her ten galleons?" Lily asked, disgusted.
"Burke wasn't known for being generous," Crouch commented as he watched the twirling memory play. "He was one of the most tight-fisted people that ever lived. I met him a couple of times, couldn't stand him."
"Many share that same sentiment," Dumbledore replied. "I was able to convince him to share these memories before he passed away, when I was researching more into Lord Voldemort. After Voldemort had apparently died, I knew he would return, so knowing more of his past would be an asset. There was much that wasn't known of him despite his very public actions, so I studied hard."
"And this is what you're teaching us now?" Lily inquired.
"Parts of it, yes. I will be honest with you, and I ask you not to share this with anyone. You already know of the Prophecy, that you are the one destined to defeat Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore said. "I have looked into this many times, and there is no question that you are the only one who can destroy him. Asking you to do this, however, is something that I was hesitant to do, since you are so young, and do not deserve to live with that."
"Knowing I have to kill him, completely… yeah, that's not something I'm looking forward to doing," Lily agreed, with a badly suppressed shiver.
"And for that, I am thankful. I have taken lives, when forced to do so, and the first time I did so was the hardest. Taking a life is something that should never be done lightly," Dumbledore suddenly looked much older, the usual twinkle in his eyes fading.
"He's right about that. I don't know how many people I've killed, Lily, but I remember the first time I took a life," Crouch said softly, looking at Lily and Ginny as he leant back in the chair he was sitting in. "I had just joined the Death Eaters, and we had been sent on a mission by Voldemort. Bellatrix Lestrange was there, as was her husband Rudolphus, as well as Augustus Rookwood. Voldemort had located someone who he had been tracking, an Auror, Lucinda Barnes. She, and a group of others, were working to convince the Giants to stop supporting Voldemort."
"Yes, I had been the one to suggest the mission," Dumbledore said softly. "We hadn't expected anyone to find out."
"This was after Pettigrew had joined Voldemort; he had learnt of the mission, and informed Voldemort," Crouch explained.
"The more I hear, the more I want to hurt him," Lily said bitterly.
"An understandable view, but not one I would encourage, purely for your heart and soul," Dumbledore told her.
"He's right on that one, Lily," Crouch said. "In any case, I was eighteen, and this was about a year or so before he killed your parents. I hadn't taken a life before, and I'd been helping to plan missions up until then. When we found Lucinda, she and her team defended themselves well, but I was able to sneak around behind her whilst Lestrange and the others distracted her team. I begged Lucinda to leave; I had gone with her to Hogwarts, and I didn't want to kill her. She tried to save me, and might have done, if not for Lestrange."
"What happened?" Lily softly asked. Crouch sighed.
"Lestrange took down two of Lucinda's team, and she snapped, and attacked me. I dodged her attacks, and tried to stun her, but the fight was intense. I was forced to kill her to save my own life. I watched as the life left her eyes, and I saw… I saw how she felt betrayed by me. I don't blame her; I did betray her. We had gotten along well enough at Hogwarts, she had been in Ravenclaw, the same as me," Crouch explained, his voice tight. "The second life I took was… easier, I suppose, but that first time… it's never something you forget. If I can help it, Lily, Voldemort's life will be the only one you take."
"Thank you," Lily said, smiling sadly at the man, as Ginny reached out to hold her hand.
"We do appreciate you sharing these events," Ginny added with a degree of empathy that made Lily's heart surge in her chest. "It can't have been a comfortable thing to do, living with those memories."
"I'm just sorry I caused you so much trouble in your fourth year," Crouch said.
"You also helped save my life that year, by making sure I was stronger. You wanted me to be better; you could have made me weaker, but you didn't. You made sure I was ready for anything," Lily pointed out.
"A fact I have pointed out to you multiple times, Barty," Dumbledore said. "If I did not believe in you, I would not allow you to teach Lily, or indeed any of the students."
"And you helped ensure we could throw off the Imperio curse," Ginny spoke up again, her hand still warm and strong around Lily's. "I think a part of you wanted to help us survive."
"You were kids, I've never believed kids should fight in a war," Crouch admitted. "I made mistakes, costly ones. You shouldn't have to face the same choices I did."
"Which is why you've been teaching us how to survive, and how to win," Lily said. Crouch allowed a small smile to grace his face.
"I appreciate that, Lily. You've got the kindest heart I've ever known," Crouch said.
"Indeed she has, a fact I am very proud of," Dumbledore agreed. "Now, for the main reason for our meeting tonight; the memory we shall be visiting tonight is my own, which was the first time I met Lord Voldemort, when he was a child going by the name Tom Marvolo Riddle," Dumbledore explained, before preparing the pensieve, which they all entered.
Lily was surprised by how Riddle as a child looked. He seemed to be unassuming, and calm, yet despite that, Lily could practically sense the darkness emanating from him. The group watched as Past Dumbledore explained about magic, and about the school.
"Did you know he would turn out evil, Professor?" Lily asked softly, knowing the people in the memory wouldn't hear them but feeling compelled to keep her voice quiet, nonetheless.
"Alas, I did not have the gift of sense that you do," Dumbledore replied, confirming Lily's thoughts of whether Dumbledore could tell what she was feeling. "I wish that I did; perhaps I could have done something different. But there was something about him that made me feel uneasy, so I vowed to watch over him at Hogwarts. I failed to do as good a job as I hoped. At the time, I was merely the Transfiguration professor."
Dumbledore sighed softly, before continuing. "In the Nineteen Thirties, Grindelwald was beginning his rise to power, and so our Defence Teacher was needed elsewhere at certain times. I did not know why, but I suspect that he was trying to prevent the rise of the man. Sadly, he failed, but that isn't exactly relevant. What is important is that there were times when I was asked to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, but I taught only a few classes. I was also elsewhere at times, but again, that isn't important for this lesson."
"I remember seeing when Riddle accused Hagrid of setting loose the beast in the Chamber, and how he made everyone believe it was the spider, Aragog. He certainly had a way with words because it was him all along with the basilisk," Lily recalled. She smoothed her thumb against Ginny's finger, hoping to provide silent support for any negative feelings that the fiery haired girl may feel at the mention of the Chamber.
"Yes, Professor Dippet summoned the Ministry of Magic, and whilst Hagrid wasn't charged with the crime of murder, he was expelled from Hogwarts, and his wand snapped. I was able to convince Armando to allow Hagrid to remain on as Groundskeeper. Our current Groundskeeper at the time was coming close to retirement, and Hagrid had nowhere else to go, with no parents or family. I helped construct his hut, where he has lived ever since," Dumbledore explained.
"And because Riddle was a top student and well liked, it was easy enough for him to convince others of Hagrid's guilt," Ginny said bitterly. She gently squeezed Lily's fingers.
"Surprisingly, he even spoke at Hagrid's trial, stating that Hagrid would never knowingly harm a student, that he shouldn't be jailed, as he never wanted the beast to harm anyone. Yes, Hagrid stopped him from killing the creature, but Hagrid was a gentle person," Dumbledore quoted. "With all of that, the Ministry agreed, and spared Hagrid, but ensured he was expelled for stopping the beast's destruction."
"Now he's learning magic, which is good," Lily said. "When you were talking to Mrs. Cole, she mentioned a few incidents. Did you find out more about them?"
"Nothing concrete, since no one was able to provide evidence, and the other boys in the orphanage weren't even sure if they believed what happened themselves. There was a story of dead pets, or being forced to caves when on a field trip, just things that induced immense psychological terror," Dumbledore explained.
"Which was why you had a bad feeling, but not being the headmaster at the time, there wasn't really anything you could do," Crouch surmised.
"Exactly," Dumbledore confirmed, as they looked at the scene in the Orphanage. "Tom was a quick study and was never caught doing anything wrong when at Hogwarts, but I was suspicious, so I did keep an eye on him as best I could. There is more to discuss about his time at Hogwarts, but for now, I want you to consider everything we've discussed tonight, and think about motivations; what he wanted back then, and how he chose his course of actions," Dumbledore stated.
"We will, Professor," Lily and Ginny promised at the same time. Dumbledore smiled at them both.
"Then, until next time, I believe we will call it a night. Barty, would you escort them both to the Gryffindor tower please?" Dumbledore asked.
"Of course," Crouch agreed, leading the two out of the office.
When the three of them were a distance from Dumbledore's office, Crouch took a quick detour and pulled them into a classroom, where the three sat down.
"I'm guessing you've got a few questions," Crouch said, looking at them nodded.
"What you said the last time you taught us, about Fiendfyre. Are you any more certain about your concerns?" Lily asked. Crouch hadn't told them about his suspicions, but Lily was trusting him to tell them when they needed to know.
"I don't have any more proof, but I'm fairly confident in my assessment. I've managed to get a book for Miss Granger to study, but she needs to make sure no one else sees it," Crouch said. "You won't know about it, and I'll explain more soon, but tell Miss Granger to study Horcruxes using this book, and none other. She's to tell no one about it."
"What's a Horcrux?" Lily asked, confused, and concerned. The word somehow tasted bitter on her tongue.
"It's a very dark object, and it's dangerous. Tell no one else of this either," Crouch warned them solemnly. "What you need to know is that if I'm right, and I believe I am, then your quest to destroy Voldemort is going to be a lot harder than any of us thought. It's why I'm teaching you to use Fiendfyre."
Crouch stared at the two for a moment before he sighed. "I want Granger to study it but tell her that she's not to share anything until we meet as a group again, and I want her to know everything in the book I'm giving her. I know I'm asking a lot, of all of you. I'm asking you to trust me, and that's a big ask, after everything, but I promise you, I have a reason for not telling you everything all at once."
Lily looked at Ginny, who nodded at her. Lily retook Ginny's hand, with a small smile, and returned her attention to Crouch. "We do trust you, sir," Lily said. "Just promise us we'll know everything soon."
"You will, I promise," Crouch said. "I want Hermione to study everything first, because I know she will be able to explain everything better to all of you than I will. My knowledge is… not as in depth as I'd like it to be, something I am remedying, so I want to be aware of everything as well."
"We understand," Ginny said kindly. Crouch smiled and patted their shoulders.
"I'm thankful to you both, for your helping me, and for your faith in me," Crouch said. "And I'm proud to be able to teach you. Now the book, I've had to sneak it in, though your Aunt Minerva has allowed me to do so. I didn't want her to think I was doing anything untoward," Crouch told them, with anothersmall smile. "Winky," he called out.
Lily was surprised to see Winky appear out of thin air, but unlike the last time she had seen the house elf, Winky was clean, wearing smart clothing, and smiling, and carrying a large book.
"Master Barty, I have brought the book you asked for," Winky squeaked.
"Wait, how can House Elf magic work in Hogwarts?" Ginny asked, staring at the house elf with shock and awe in her face. "Could anyone be brought in using it?"
"No, not anymore. That was something that Dumbledore ensured couldn't happen when I first suggested it at the start of this year. He hadn't considered the possibility, but as I've said before, I consider more angles than anyone else," Crouch replied. "You've got a very sharp mind, Ginny, to have picked up on that."
Lily smiled as Ginny blushed at the compliment. "Thank you," she said.
"Winky, you look happy, and better than before," Lily complimented.
"Master Barty helped, when he was freed by you, Miss. He came and asked me to work for him. It was my pleasure to serve," Winky explained.
"I'm glad you're here, Winky," Crouch said, smiling at her, causing Winky to grin. Crouch handed the book that Winky had brought to Lily. "Tell MissGranger to study this carefully. Not even Dumbledore can know, although I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he might already have his own suspicions of how I'm helping. The reason I say this is he gave me a task to do, but the results of which he didn't want me to tell him, so I think he's happy to let me continue, whilst he only suspects."
"Why, though?" Lily frowned as she asked the question.
"Now that, I don't know. As good a Legilimen's as Voldemort is, he has nothing on Dumbledore, so I doubt he'd reveal anything," Crouch said. "But there is something happening that I don't know about. He's been having secret meetings with Severus Snape, and his hand… I've done some research, and so far, there's only one thing I can think of that could have caused it."
"What's that?" Lily asked, feeling a cold chill run down her back.
"I suspect a deadly curse that has been contained to his hand. I could be wrong, but I doubt it," Crouch looked at the ground, and sighed, before looking backat Lily and Ginny. Lily could see tears welling up in the man's eyes. "If I'm right… and I hope to Merlin I'm not…"
"What?" Ginny urged softly. Crouch took a breath, before continuing, delivering perhaps the worst news Lily could ever have heard, something she had always thought would be impossible. She hoped it was, but the way Crouch spoke… she prayed he was wrong.
"If I'm right… then before this school year is over… Albus Dumbledore could be dead!"
