Mrs. J.K., Writing from a female's point of view is harder than I thought, I'll get it eventually, if not? Meh, I do this for free, who is going to complain about it?
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When Easter was approaching, I began to think about Sirius Black, if we can get him out of Azkaban, then he can give us protection as our Magical Guardian. But if I do it the wrong way I could get exposed and Sirius killed. Maybe it is time to send some letters, it worked for Gramps.
3 A scruffy Dog with flees and lice.
We discussed it in our corner in the Library, as a cover we had mathematics books on our table and pretended to study, I explained my point of view, "What I see of the future is not always accurate, I get the main line of what is going to happen, but I don't know the motives behind it. Dumbledore, for example, putting you with the Dursleys, was it to hurt you deliberately or does he think that your relatives would be loving and caring so he never checked up on you?"
Harry frowned, "Figs knew how I was treated, if she spied for Dumbledore, he knows. I remember complaining to a teacher about a beating I got and was too sore to participate in PE. That teacher got transferred and I spent a week in my cupboard. Believe me, Hermione, he knows."
I sighed, "Very well, you need protection from his manipulations, the biggest chance for that is to get your Godfather out of Azkaban and be his wards. I told you about him being innocent, the problem is to get him out of there safely. That Ministry doesn't like to get their flaws pointed out, and there are too many that will profit from Sirius Black staying in Azkaban."
I started naming them, "First of all, Dumbledore, he has a hold on you and will lose it to Sirius. Second are the Malfoy's, Draco Malfoy will be the next Lord Black if Sirius stays or dies in Azkaban. Third, the Ministry, once news of it comes out, they are forced to let Sirius go free without a trial, as is the law dated back to the Magna Carta. Last, but I am not sure it is accurate, is Minister Fudge, he was the one that arrested you and was the springboard to launch his political career, Malfoy is bribing him, so he is dancing to Malfoy's tunes."
Harry asked, "What about the police? The Aurors? Are they corrupt too? What if we turn Pettigrew over? Oh! You told me about Crouch Junior, if we deliver them both, they have to believe us and set Mr. Black free."
I shook my head, "If we tattle about Crouch Jr. we have to do that anonymously, how do we explain that we know about it? Tell them I can see the future? I would be locked up and used for their benefit for the rest of my life. Remember, I am a nobody in the Wizarding World."
Harry straightened up, "We do as you did with my relatives, Hermione, threatening the life out of them. House Black is one of the founding Houses, the Sacred Twenty-eight, locking Lord Black up without a trial can be seen as line theft and treason to the Wizengamot. Pull in House Potter and Allies. There was a longstanding alliance between House Potter and Longbottom according to the book Traditional Houses From the Past and Future, we can contact the Longbottoms. The Godfather's Oath! We can use that too."
Slowly I nodded, "That can work, although Lord and Lady Longbottom are in St Mungos, Regent Longbottom has to come to your aid. Neville is our age and will be classmates. The head of the Aurors is Madam Bones, she is rumored to be impartial, she will be hunted down because of that five or six years from now. We have to be careful about how we express ourselves in those letters. Let's write some letters and compare them, then we will pick the best parts out of it and send them away."
Xxxxx
Madam Bones opened her letter,
To the Head of the DMLE,
I regret to inform you that your department and your Ministry are in Fault. Gravely in Fault, I might say. Why you ask? From November 1981 you have an innocent man locked up in Azkaban. The Grave Fault is that he is in there without having a trial or conviction! He was thrown into Azkaban not one day after his arrest. The law dictates he has to get a trial or be released after 29 days, he is there for more than nine years!
It gets worse, Madam Bones, when that man's Grandfather died, he became the Lord of his House! You have an innocent Lord locked up in Azkaban for almost ten years!
Who? You might ask? Lord Sirius Black!
Yes, he is innocent! Lord Black acted as the decoy and pretended to be the secret keeper for Lord and Lady Potter. The real Secret Keeper was Peter Pettigrew. The fact Lord Black shouted that he killed them was of guilt because he convinced Lord Potter to take Pettigrew as Secret Keeper.
You might ask how I know all this, well, I know stuff.
To prove it to you is simple, go to Barty Crouch's house and you will find his Son alive and well locked up in a room under the Imperio Curse. He got his Son out of Azkaban for his dying wife's last wish. They swapped places with Polyjuice, and Junior was out of Azkaban. Junior is a die-hard supporter of Voldemort, so Senior had him imperio'd for years.
Another prove? Peter Pettigrew is still alive, come on, the only thing they could find was a finger? How stupid could you be? No matter how big the explosion was there must be more of him than a finger on the crime scene. I can do more, Pettigrew is a Rat animagus and has been hiding ever since. He is currently the pet Rat of Percy Weasley a fourth-year Griffindor student at Hogwarts.
Now don't go running to Dumbledore, I bet he knows all about it. Why you ask? Lord Black is the Godfather by Oath of Heir Primary Potter! Ah, now you understand why Lord Black is innocent, do you?
Lord Black would be the Magical Guardian for Heir Potter, and Dumbledore has other plans for the boy. Why else would he block the Will from being read? Why else did he hide the boy from our world? I am almost afraid to ask why else is Lady Longbottom, Heir Potter's Godmother by Oath in St Mungos?
Did someone from the Ministry check up on the boy? We do have child services that oversee orphans, don't we? We sadly have enough of them because of that war.
If you must know, Heir Potter was dumped on his Magic-hating Aunt's doorstep at night, by Dumbledore, witnessed by McGonagall and Hagrid, without having the decency to knock on the door!
Until last year Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived was abused, starved, and treated worse than a Malfoy House elf by his relatives! Heir Potter is linked to illegal bloodwards at that place, supposedly to keep the boy safe. That doesn't justify the abuse. Dumbledore knows about it and does nothing to stop it. Worse, he redirected Heir Potters mail, and completely isolated the boy!
Once I found out about it I wrote a letter to that aunt the muggle way and told her what would happen if she did not stop the abuse. Heir Potter was moved from the Cupboard under the stairs to the smallest bedroom in the house.
I found a muggleborn Witch about his age and told her all about the situation, she agreed to phone Heir Potter once a week and after she got her wand she visited Heir Potter once a month in the town's library. That way Heir Potter's life is almost normal. He is still isolated from the Wizarding World, one of Dumbledore's crimes against House Potter.
Here are my demands, Release Lord Black immediately! If he asks for a trial, do it in full public with the Wireless broadcasting it live! Do not lock him in the ministries holding cells, because he would be dead the next morning, on orders of Fudge or Malfoy, probably both. Shelter him at your home or the Longbottoms, these are the only ones I trust for now.
Do the right thing, Regent Bones, because when Heir Potter becomes of age, there will be a reckoning. Line theft aided by the Ministry will be one of the topics.
Heir Potter's address is at Privet Drive 4 Little Winging Surrey. If you can take the boy to safety will be a bonus. Unlock the Will, and expose Dumbledore if you are brave enough.
I will remain anonymous for now, don't bother the girl, I removed my presence from her memory, she thinks it is all her idea.
If nothing is done this week, copies of this letter will go to every newspaper in Britain and the continent. It is not that I don't trust you… Yeah, I am sorry to say I don't trust you to do the right thing.
Mr. Anonymous.
Xxxxx
We took a big risk exposing me, if we waited until Harry's birthday, there would not be enough time for Sirius to recuperate from Azkaban. Telling Harry's Location may be enough to get him out of there, suggesting to Regent Bones to shelter Sirius was a gamble too.
When Othello came back from delivering our letter to Madam Bones, I sent him with another letter to Regent Longbottom.
She opened the letter and read,
Regent Longbottom! I call upon you to honor the ancient alliance between House Potter and yours! Why did you allow Albus Dumbledore to abduct Heir Potter and hide him away? Is the Alliance meaningless to you? Heir Potter needed your help and you abandoned him.
First of all, let me explain the situation, that night on Hallows Eve when the Potters died, the next day Heir Potter was delivered to his Magic-hating Muggle Aunt! Days before your family was attacked! Lady Longbottom is Heir Potter's Godmother by oath, she would be the first choice to take him in. And yet the boy got dropped on the doorstep like a piece of trash at his Aunts.
We send a letter to Madam Bones to set everything in motion and hope that you are willing to give the boy a better home.
Another issue is Lord Black, he did not betray Lord Potter at all, he acted as a decoy, the real Secret Keeper was Peter Pettigrew, a rat animagus, one that is still alive, finding only a finger after an explosion is too ridiculous to comprehend.
Lord Black was put in Azkaban without a trial, one everyone needs to have within 29 days by law. I suggest you or Madam Bones shelter Lord Black or he won't survive, there are too many after his fortune, Malfoy is the major one.
We have given Madam Bones proof that we are telling the truth, for you… you are planning to let Heir Longbottom use his Father's wand at Hogwarts, that is a HUGE mistake! That wand will be fighting Heir Longbottom every step of the way, it is still loyal to its previous owner and won't recognize Heir Longbottom as its Master. Cherry wood and Unicorn tail hair from a Mare is the wand that is waiting for Heir Longbottom at Olivanders. If you love your Grandson, get him a new wand, please.
We prefer to stay anonymous for now, Dumbledore is too powerful for me to cross openly.
Mr. Anonymous.
Xxxxx
That will set everything in motion, it was a big risk, but by exposing Pettigrew and Crouch Junior, we removed two key players from the board and screwed Canon up. The question will be, will Sirius survive?
To let Othello have something to do, we let him get the Daily Prophet and the Quibbler from time to time, a few knuts in a bag and Othello comes back with the paper. Mum and Dad always crack up reading the Quibbler, the Daily Prophet got labeled on the same level as our tabloids like the Mirror and the Sun, it is news but it is worded the way they wanted, FAKE NEWS! Yep, like those.
A day before our Deadline the Daily Prophet screamed bloody murder,
OUR MINISTRY MESSED UP!
Dear Readers!
Yesterday we received a statement from the Head of the DMLE, it said word for word:
We at the DMLE discovered after an anonymous letter, that Sirius Black, the so-called Secret Keeper of Lord Potter was in fact innocent, he merely acted as a Decoy. That was not revealed at his trial because Lord Black never got a trial. How we could have missed that is yet to be investigated.
The anonymous letter pointed us to the real Secret Keeper, Peter Pettigrew, who faked his death and hid as a boy's pet rat all this time.
To prove he told us the truth, the anonymous writer exposed another Crime, Barty Crouch Senior, who switched his dying wife with his Son in Azkaban and kept him hidden under the Imperio Curse.
The anonymous writer claimed all this was done to let Albus Dumbledore claim Magical Guardianship over Heir Potter.
We investigated the accusations and to our shame, we have to admit it was true. Dumbledore put Heir Potter with his Magic-hating Aunt and arranged for the boy to be abused.
That Anonymous writer arranged better treatment for Heir Potter last year and provided information about our world. He never knew about our world, all his mail was redirected to somewhere else.
I, as Regent Bones and Head of the DMLE, have taken Heir Potter under House Bones's protection and given him shelter in our Home. Regent Longbottom made a claim as an ancient ally of House Potter.
To give a fair warning for everyone who wants to claim Regency over Heir Potter, they will be questioned under Veritaserum about their motives, Pureblood or not, and have to swear an Oath to never have been a willing part of the Death Eaters or a supporter of that cause.
We, as a nation and the DMLE, did Heir Potter and Lord Black wrong by trusting the wrong people blindly.
Madam Bones, Head of the DMLE
Regent Bones.
Dear Readers! That is putting the Nifflers in Gringotts! The notorious right hand of You Know Who is Innocent? All these years those Death Eaters were having fun at our expense? Every time we mentioned Lord Black they were laughing about our stupidity! Why didn't we notice Lord Black did not get a trial? Who can put someone in Azkaban without raising questions?
This story will shake our world up completely. We as the ones that are fooled most will keep you posted!
Edited by Barnaby Cuffe, Editor.
Minister Fudge declared, "I do not know all the details, the investigation is still running, it is clearly a mistake from the previous administration!" More on Page 2
Regent Longbottom, Heir Potter was abused for years, someone has to pay! More on page 3
Albus Dumbledore could not be reached for comments, more on page 3
Azkaban, the place to dump your enemies? More on page 4
Who would profit from this situation? We speculate on page 4
Where did our letters go? We guess on page 5
Anonymous letters, in how far can we trust them? TWW reports.
The author of the Harry Potter books claimed, "He still could have defeated that angry Dragon you know."
Harry Potter Fan Club president sighed, "Now we have to write all of our letters again, that will take months!"
Xxxxx
Harry sent me a letter a few days after the events,
Dear Hermione,
THANK YOU!
Thank you dearly, Hermione, without you, I would be stuck in that cupboard without hope. As you asked, I kept your name out of it, I told them I swore secrecy to keep you safe.
I live at Bones Mansion, with Madam Bones and her Niece Susan, she is in our year as you predicted. Neville is visiting every day, so is Hanna Abbot. Sirius is with Gran Longbottom, he is granted sanctuary there and is recovering, I visited him yesterday, he looks awful.
He can already joke about it, "The scruffy dog got rid of his lice and fleas." he said.
They got Pettigrew, and he made a full confession, he even had Voldemort's wand!
My Vaults are audited, ordered by Aunty Bones, I am catching up to learn as much as I can to fit in.
You best not write to me unless it is urgent, my mail gets checked by Aurors for curses and portkeys, I get loads of letters now.
If you have to send a letter address it to Neville, he will give it to me, sign it with Harry's secret helper.
Stay safe, Hermione, I will write every week, and we will meet on the train, I will save you a spot.
Your friend forever, Harry.
Xxxxx
Well, that worked out fine, Sirius is recovering, Harry is away from the Dursleys and is getting educated in Wizarding customs. That is a worry less for me, did we go too fast? Perhaps we did, but we could not stay on the side and let everything happen, Azkaban is no five-star hotel, getting Sirius out of there was a priority.
Dumbledore lost his job as Chief Warlock and his Mugwump gig is canceled too. He called a lot of favors in to keep his Headmaster's job, his credibility is at an all-time low and is walking on eggshells now.
I think we did enough damage for now, Harry will keep me a secret until August, then he will ask Sirius to be my Magical Guardian.
Xxxxx
In the meantime, I aced my last Year in Secondary with one hand behind my back and one eye closed, I could cry at all the offers I got from all the Universities around the World. I got bored and wrote some papers, mostly about future discoveries and how they could be discovered. Planets circling distant stars for example, yeah, that was overkill, now they are trampling on my doorstep. I even mentioned checking the Lenses of the Hubble telescope for defects.
That was not the smartest move, I had to announce that I would get home-schooled until I was eighteen to enjoy adult college life instead of being the little kid on the block. It was hard to swallow to reject all those scholarships, even Dad had second thoughts.
"Are you sure of this, Hermione?" he asked, "Are you willing to give all this up for some backward society that is discriminating against us?"
I sighed, "You heard that Professor, Dad, it will change who I am, it will shorten my lifespan and alter my character, God knows what it will do with my mind. I can not take that risk."
I smiled, "Besides, I found a solution to be better protected, I made a friend and he will ask his Guardian to be my Magical Guardian. That Magical Guardian will take a Vow never to write a marriage contract without mine or your consent. That is the best I could come up with, my friend owes me a big favor and is happy that he can help."
Mum grinned, "The friend that is writing letters to you with that big white Owl?"
I nodded, "I took the Knight bus to visit a friend, and he saw the Knight bus, only Magical people can see that bus. We started talking and I found out he was abused at home. His Aunt and her husband hate Magic and they took it out on them, I reported them to the Aurors. He is in protected custody until his Godfather recovers from his stay in Azkaban."
Dad faced me, "You are talking about Harry Potter, isn't it, Princess? We read that newspaper, you took a big risk without consulting us. Why didn't you include us?"
I explained, "Daddy, if you or Mum reported it that would be disastrous for them and they would do anything to make that embarrassment go away. I reported it anonymously and pretended to be one of them. They can't link it to me, at most I am the girl who phoned Harry and visited him at the town's library. I think it was worth the risk, I will be protected by Lord Black and Harry is a close friend. That makes me safe in that world."
Dad grumbled, "I am still not happy about it, Princess, but you proved that you can make adult decisions, if not for that blasted Magic school you would be going to the States with a scholarship."
I shook my head, "No Daddy, I would go to Oxford or Cambridge, I am too young to go that far away, when I graduate or after my OWLS however, then all bets are off."
You can count on it that I will go to Princeton or Harvard! I wave a stick around for five years and disappear to the States, Voldemort alive or death does not matter. Harry will deal with him.
My papers kept messing the Astrophysics departments up, Black holes, big bangs, strings, I was the talk of the town. The best was predicting millions of Galaxies that are not yet visible due to a lack of proper equipment.
Xxxxx
I graduated with the highest score of the decade, my papers made for extra credit, I let someone else do the speech, an eleven-year-old girl speechifying is awkward for my fellow students, outclassed by a little kid is hard to swallow, even though I made some friends in school, mostly girls I helped to get a boyfriend, but it counts.
I got introduced to Harry's friends at his birthday party, held at Bones Mansion. Harry took me by the hand, "Come, Hermione, these are my friends, First of all, Susan Bones, Neville Longbottom, Hannah Abbot, Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, and Tracey Davis. With these I spent most of my time, they helped me a lot to get to know the Wizarding world and my place in it. Everyone, this is my best friend, Hermione Granger, she is scary smart and helped me escape my relatives."
Neville offered his hand, "Thank you for that, Miss Granger," he said while he brushed his lips on the back of my hand, "Any friend of Harry is a friend of mine. Being scary smart is a bonus in my eyes."
Blaise chuckled when he kissed my hand, "Being smart is a good sign, being scary smart will make you a Ravenclaw no doubt."
Daphne shook her head, "No, Blaise, she helped Harry escape, that is cunning, pure Slytherin, you can tell it by her outfit, it's made to blend in, isn't it, Miss Granger?"
I smiled when I shook hands with the girls, "The Japanese have a saying, a Nail that stands out gets hammered down. Or, when in Rome… be a Roman. Dressing in Robes was a small effort and made me blend in."
Tracey asked, "How scary smart are you if I may ask, Miss Granger?"
I shrugged, "I am offered scholarships from more than twenty Universities from all over the world, once I get my OWLS I leave Hogwarts to study abroad. I want this to get over with as fast as possible."
Blaise smirked, "Ravenclaw I told you! I bet she can cast all first-year spells already."
I nodded, "And second year too. They are not that hard, it is mostly willpower to will the spell into reality. The phony Latin and wand movements are to imprint the brain with the spell, like when you learned to talk, the father shows an apple, see? This is an apple! Then you eat the apple and your brain knows what an apple is and how it tastes. When Dad shows you one the next day, you say Apple!"
A voice behind me said, "We usually explain that to the Newt Classes, Miss…"
I turned around, this must be Flitwick, I answered, "Granger, Sir, Hermione Granger. You should teach it to the first years though, those wand movements are making it needlessly complicated. I can do all those spells without the fancy wand waving. The rest is repetition."
Flitwick looked thoughtful, "That is an interesting point of view, Miss Granger, but not all of our students have a sharp mind like yours, and have to learn it step by step."
Yeah, Crabbe, Goyle, and Ron. I commented, "Don't worry, Sir, I can keep myself busy, I am studying several courses in the normal world."
Susan chuckled, "We are going to have so much fun. Miss Granger, you must teach us your way of doing Magic. Professor Flitwick? Maybe as a research project?"
A man came next to us, and said, "But not right now, it is a party, not a discussion about Magic. You must be Miss Granger, House Black, and Potter are in your debt. Our door is always open for you."
"Thank you for your kind words, Lord Black," I replied, "I saw the need and could help, I consider Harry my best friend, helping him was only natural."
Sirius nodded, "We talk tomorrow after breakfast. Have fun for now."