The last 3 days had gleaned very little information for Albus
Dumbledore. No matter how often he told himself that Harry was ok
he couldn't help but worry deeply for the missing teen. He knew that
he was alive at the very least and sure that he was not in the
clutches of Tom Riddle, had he been he would surely know by now.
Severus had gotten very little useful information from Crouch Jr who
was unaware of what the plan entailed after Harry was transported to
the graveyard. He was finally taken into custody by Amelia Bones
and nothing had been shared about his fate. Dumbledore was sure
that when Fudge became aware of the Azkaban escapee he would
use every one of his resources to sweep all existence of the man
under the proverbial rug.
A large part of the last few days had been spent both answering and
avoiding questions about the fate of both of the Hogwarts
champions. It was not that he was unwilling to answer the questions
but he wanted to be sure of all the facts before he shared the
information he had. He simply wanted to make a solid statement that
could not be easily dismissed. He knew the uproar he was going to
cause would be quite the spectacle and put himself in a very
sensitive position. Again Fudge would do all he could to reassure the
public that everything was fine and would resort to character
defamation without hesitation to hide the return of the Dark Lord.
Thus Dumbledore had spent part of the last few days putting
together his contingency plan. He knew he would lose favour with
many people but he knew he had to prepare them as much as they
would allow for the inevitable conflict that was on the horizon.
Yes, the last few days had been difficult but Albus Dumbledore had
not been idle, in fact he had been at his most busy in many years.
Currently, he was stood at the podium in front of the teachers table
at the leaving feast and had the room's undivided attention. There
was no need to raise his hands to signal for silence as everyone in
the Great Hall had been rather subdued after recent events for
whatever personal reasons they had. He let out a long breath before
addressing his audience.
"Welcome to the end of year feast" He began neutrally. "I wish we
were celebrating what has been overall a successful year. We have
had the pleasure of two other schools for the majority of our term
here this year and it has been a pleasure to host them. I would like to
thank Madame Maxime and the currently absent Headmaster
Karkaroff for making the journey here and sharing our grounds and
castle with us" He finished clapping towards the foreign students and
the remaining staff member eliciting a subdued round of applause
from the Hogwarts students and staff alike. "Now I know you have
been patient the last few days in regards to the fate of the Hogwarts
champions".
His speech was cut off by the students murmuring to each other, so
he raised his hands to silence them, to which they obliged.
"Both champions took the cup at the same time so the result was a
draw between Mr Diggory and Mr Potter" he informed the room.
The murmuring began briefly again but stopped as quickly as it
started all knowing that the headmaster had not finished.
"However both champions upon touching the cup were transported
to another location far away from Hogwarts where tragedy struck" he
explained sadly.
The students at this point looked both confused and concerned.
"There is no easy way to say this but Cedric Diggory was murdered
by Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter, as of 3 nights ago, is missing
and his current condition is unknown" he finished sadly.
The shock was so much that all failed to react to the use of the Dark
Lords name. The reactions in the room were very mixed.
The staff were simply horrified.
The Gryffindor table had expressions of complete and utter disbelief.
The Ravenclaws looked both saddened and contemplative.
The slytherins had the most mixed reactions. Some looked terrified,
some completely neutral and others entirely gleeful.
The Hufflepuffs were simply inconsolable. Cedric was popular with
all in his house and his loss was felt across its entirety. Aside from
the gentle sobbing emanating from some, the room was stone silent.
Very little of the feast was consumed and it was an entirely silent
affair, all lost in their own thoughts. The silence continued as they left
the hall broken but was broken by a comment from a 6th year
hufflepuff student.
"I bet Potter had something to do with it, he probably sacrificed
Cedric to save himself and then joined You-Know-Who" He muttered
to his friend quietly, but the sound carried to all around in the silent
entrance hall.
Everyone froze at his statement, many looking disgusted at his
accusation.
Before anyone could reply a blurred figure broke through the crowd
and punched the offending boy on the jaw eliciting a sickening
crunching sound before he hit the floor.
Standing over him was a murderous looking Neville Longbottom
rubbing his already swollen hand.
"You stupid bastard" He roared. "Harrys' parents were murdered by
that prick, why the fuck would he join him?" He finished trembling
with rage.
"What is the meaning of this Mr Longbottom?" A sharp voice cut
across the hall.
Turning to face the voice Neville was faced with the entirety of the
staff, many looking surprised at the reaction of the usually passive
boy.
He swallowed deeply but stood firm.
"This moron accused Harry of turning Cedric over to Vol-, Voldemort
and then joining him Professor McGonagall" He said not wavering
under her stern glare.
Her eyes softened slightly but her lips were still tightly pulled
together in a thin line.
"Be that as it may we do not resort to Neanderthal measures to
demonstrate our distaste at somebody else's opinion. We are
civilised people Mr Longbottom, you would do well to remember that"
she scolded him. "That will be 20 points from Gryffindor and had this
not been our final day here you would be serving a week's detention"
She finished.
"And that will be 50 points to Gryffindor" the voice of professor
Sprout cut in "For showing great loyalty to a friend and defending a
fellow students honour when he was unable to" She continued.
"Some members of my own house could do with showing the same
loyalty as Mr Longbottom here, and Mr Bradwell?" She said
addressing the grounded boy. "You and I will be having a
conversation about such a slanderous accusation. That will be 50
points from Hufflepuff". "Mr Potter and Cedric" She choked back a
sob at his name, "had become very good friends throughout this
year and there is no doubt in my mind that Mr potter would not have
done anything intentionally to put Cedric in danger, you would all do
well to remember that" She finished before walking away clearly in
tears.
All in the entrance hall made their way to their respective common
rooms, pondering what they had been told.
Tomorrow they would head home for the summer for some much
needed space and time away from the castle. All knew the coming
months would change things in their very world and had a lot to
digest and think about.
(BREAK)
Albus Dumbledore returned to his office contemplating the reactions
of the students to his announcements. He knew that word would
reach parents and the general public by morning and the
repercussions were likely to be quite dire for him. But he only cared
for the truth and he had only given the truth as he knew it.
He was broken from his musings by a gentle tapping on the window.
He opened it to a very beautiful black eagle owl with very observant
amber eyes. The red envelope snatched his attention away from the
regal looking creature and he sighed as he removed it.
"And so it begins" he murmured opening the howler.
He was surprised to not hear the usual screeching that came
accompanied with such an envelope but a gentle, strong and
dignified voice spoke a little above a regular speaking volume.
"Potter is safe and sound, you have my magical vow", the voice
sounded.
Once finished a silver glow surrounded the paper sealing the vow
and then burst into flames leaving not even ashes in its wake. The
owl flew out of the still open window, its message delivered and job
completed.
Dumbledore frowned. He was sure he knew that voice but simply
couldn't place it. He was however feeling much more at ease
knowing that Harry was in fact safe and had that knowledge sealed
in a magical vow.
He sunk into his chair behind his desk, carefully picked out a lemon
drop from the ever-present bowl and sucked at it as he continued to
ponder the events that were unfolding around him.
(BREAK)
Harry was feeling a mixture of emotions. He was confused, relieved,
grateful and nervous at the same time. He hadn't been told anything
personally about Arcturus by Sirius but he had said that his whole
family were dark and supported Voldemort.
Before he could arrange his thoughts into any form of coherent
speech the man next to him spoke.
"I bet you're wondering why I saved you hmm?" Arcturus questioned.
"Tell me boy, what do you know of my family?" He asked over
steepled fingers, his eyes alive with a gently penetrating stare.
Harry considered his answer before speaking; he did not want to
offend the man next to him.
After a moment he decided honesty was best. It was no secret that
the Blacks' were considered a dark family by all accounts.
"Sirius told me that you were all dark and supported Voldemort" He
said simply flinching slightly at the impassive face that looked back
at him.
"Ahh yes, my idiot grandson. I can see why he would say that and he
would be correct for the most part" he replied. "Most of my family are
supporters of him, hell even I was at one time" He said to a surprised
and slightly panicking Harry.
"What changed?" Harry asked nervously.
"The very thing we have been discussing" He answered, "Family" He
finished simply.
Harry looked confused but before he could ask the question Arcturus
answered.
"The last two wars have all but decimated the Black family" He
started. "We have lost many on both sides of the conflicts. Yes,
believe it or not some fought for both Grindelwald and Riddle and
some fought against them. My older Brother Perseus and my father,
both for Grindelwald and both died, my brother in battle and my
father murdered because he refused to fund the effort further after
his death" He continued. "After that I became disillusioned with the
war and the ambitions of Grindelwald. I figured that being a Black
meant nothing to him and knew that if he was to succeed our way of
life here would change for the worse. So at 17 years old I became
the head of the family, a position I was never meant to have nor had
I ever wanted it, I had long ago accepted that it was not my destiny"
Arcturus explained.
Harry listened with rapt attention to the man.
"My brother was 13 years older than me so I never really knew him
he had already left school by the time I was aware of much and had
joined Grindelwald" the older man continued. "But I was always told
that blood is the most important thing in the world and that stuck with
me, even to this day" he added seriously. "I hated Grindelwald for
what had happened to Perseus and for what he had done to my
father. I wanted revenge".
He laughed a hollow laugh that reminded Harry of Sirius and how he
sounded when he spoke of Pettigrew.
"Anyway, I will come back to that part in a moment" He said coming
out of some clearly deep thinking. "Needless to say after the
Grindelwald years the Black family started to thrive again in the
peace. Our numbers were still quite few but our family was growing
to what it had once been. That was until the first rise of Tom Riddle"
He finished with a distasteful sneer. "Many of my family rallied to his
cause and I could see a repeat of the last conflict, only this time it
was much closer to home and I knew it would be worse for us so I
personally opted to stay neutral, but foolishly allowed the family to
make their own choices knowing that if I forbade them there would
be an internal conflict I couldn't cope with. Many of the family, my
son Pollux namely, had already long since been allied with other
dark pureblood families; the Malfoy's and the Lestranges" He spat
distastefully "being the more prominent ones and were set to solidify
the relationships through marriage. I gave too much freedom to the
family and I certainly paid the price for my laxity" He mused almost to
himself.
He shook his head.
"After Grindelwald fell I certainly didn't expect another Dark Lord to
rise so quickly, certainly not in my lifetime" He continued. "Needless
to say, the war once again tore my family apart. My grandson Sirius
was the only one who stood against Riddle and all of the others
followed him quite fanatically. Pollux died early on in the conflict
leaving Druella a widow who has since lived alone in isolation.
Narcissa is still married to that prat Lucius and stuck with nothing
more than an even more moronic version of him in her offspring.
Bellatrix was sent to Azkaban and is still there and Andromeda
married a muggleborn and fled the family as soon as she could. My
son Orion was weak and simply allowed his wife to run his
household to her own ends. The only thing she achieved was
causing Sirius to flee the family and Regulus being a fanatic just like
her" He said almost to himself once again.
Seeing the confused look on Harrys' face he elaborated.
"Regulus was Sirius' younger brother; he was quite the talented
wizard" He said. "We will come back to him later" He finished.
Harry just nodded at the revelation of Sirius's brother and waited for
Arcturus to speak again.
"The one loss I truly struggle with was that of my little sister Dorea"
He continued suddenly betraying sadness in his eyes. "This is where
your part in this comes Mr Potter" He said and was again wearing
his impassive mask. "Tell me young Potter, what do you know of
your family?" He asked with what appeared to be a little amusement
in his eyes.
Harry thought carefully before he answered.
"Not very much sir" He admitted shrugging his shoulders.
He had long since learnt not to ask about his family it was after all a
taboo subject in the Dursley home.
"I know my mum was a muggleborn and my Dad was a pureblood"
He finished lamely.
Arcturus looked quite annoyed at Harrys' lack of knowledge. He
could not believe that the boy knew nothing of his family. Blood was
important, had he not been told anything?
"Is that all you know?" He asked stiffly.
"Yes sir" Harry replied. "I was raised by muggles and they hate
magic, they told me my parents died in a car crash and no one has
ever told me about my Dads family before" He said looking both
apologetic and upset.
"Has Dumbledore never said anything" Arcturus asked already
knowing the answer.
"No sir" Harry replied quietly.
Arcturus looked even more annoyed, enough to allow a scowl to
pass over his mask of neutrality.
"Well then I guess it's time to learn about your blood Mr Potter" He
said. "I can't tell you much about your Father, I met him numerous
times of course mostly when he was younger and when he and
Sirius visited before he fled. And I'm afraid I know very little about
your Mother, only that she was a muggleborn but she was a very
talented witch by all accounts" He finished.
Harry was hanging on to his every word, no one had ever made any
effort to tell him about his parents and until now he hadn't realised
just how much he had missed out on.
Arcturus was clearly pondering the best way for him to proceed so
Harry remained silent while the older man was thinking. Eventually
he stirred from his thoughts and continued.
"I can tell you much more about your Grandparents than I can your
parents as I knew them well enough" He said thoughtfully. "Do you
know anything about them Potter?" He asked, suspecting he already
knew the answer.
"No sir" Harry replied again feeling quite stupid by now.
For a split second Arcturus looked simply murderous before slipping
back into his neutrality.
"Ok, then I will tell you everything I know and then you will
understand how and why we are where we are now" He stated. "We
will start with your Grandmother Dorea" He said with nothing more
than pride and fondness in his eyes and voice.
Harry, though emotionally rather obtuse, could see that the woman in
question meant very much to the man.
"Dorea was my sister, a year younger than me" Arcturus began
again. "She was a very gifted witch and quite different from the rest
of the Black women. She was quiet and caring even before my father
was killed and after that she became more so, she was particularly
protective of me. It was me who took care of her after my father was
gone. Actually I think she took care of me more" He added. "She
eventually became a healer much to the surprise of everyone
besides me. It was just in her nature and I'm very proud of what she
became" He finished, his grey eyes sparkling gently in the firelight.
"It was an even bigger surprise to everyone that she married your
grandfather Charlus" He continued, looking quite amused. "I've
never told the story of how they became married, it's very personal
and I'm sure they only shared it with those close to them" He
explained. "It is safe to say however, that had my father lived your
grandparents would have never been together. The Potters' and the
Blacks were always too different and there had never been a union
between the families" he stated matter-of-factly.
He looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking himself from his
reverie.
"Dorea would have been forced to marry into a darker family against
her wishes, so in a way my fathers' death was a blessing in disguise.
Dorea was not inclined towards the family politics and any marriage
arranged by my father would have been a very unhappy one for her"
He said with a slight frown adorning his face.
"Now, your Grandfather was an honourable man, as tough as they
came and respected by all. We found ourselves in similar positions,
he also having lost his father at a young age; he was killed by
Grindelwald personally" he clarified.
'So I have lost more than just my parents to dark lords' Harry thought
to himself sadly.
He was pulled from his thoughts again as the man spoke further.
"Charlus was the same age as myself and we went to Hogwarts
together, I of course was in Slytherin as expected and he in
Gryffindor. I had been told about the Potters growing up and your
father certainly did not coincide with what I had been told. He was
neither arrogant nor full of himself. He was a very gifted wizard,
observant, quiet, very intelligent and extremely formidable with a
wand. He learnt the family magic from a young age and simply
became a fierce warrior in his own right. At his prime even
Dumbledore would have been very reluctant to cross wands with
him. That would have been a very interesting battle" he mumbled to
himself.
To hear that his own Grandfather was on par with Dumbledore
certainly surprised the teen.
"We had very little interaction at school even then the house
separation was prevalent but we did share the occasional class and
competed against each other in the school duelling competitions and
I'm not ashamed to admit he made me look like an amateur and I
was certainly no slouch, gifted in my own right" He said shaking his
head. "Charlus was not taught to duel he was taught how to fight by
his father, there is a big difference" He added. "We weren't friends
but we were never at odds, we respected each other very much and
for the most part kept our distance. We would share little more than
a passing greeting in the corridor. That was until our fifth year" He
said frowning again.
He sighed deeply before explaining.
"Dorea was in the year below us and as I said rather quiet, to the
point others thought that they could take advantage of her or that
she was an easy target" He said shaking his head again with a look
of annoyance. "It's probably easier if I show you" He said suddenly
coming to a decision. "Elgar" He called loudly.
There was a quiet pop as a reasonably aged house-elf appeared in
the room.
"Master called for Elgar?" The Elf asked.
"Yes Elgar, can you bring me the pensieve please" He replied, and
with that the elf disappeared with another pop.
"Do you know what a pensieve is Potter" He asked.
"Yes sir" was the answer he received.
"Good" He replied. "That will save me explaining it".
The elf appeared again holding a very ornate stone bowl which he
placed on the bedside table before disappearing again having
carried out his task.
Arcturus drew his wand and placed it to his temple and removed a
silvery strand which he immediately placed in the bowl. Harry stood
and joined him and one after the other they plunged face first into the
surface.
They appeared in what Harry immediately recognised as the
Slytherin common room which looked very similar to the way it had
when he had been there during his second year. The room was full
of students talking quietly but the older ones were clearly studying in
various groups scattered around the room.
Harry saw a much younger looking Arcturus sat at a table by himself
surrounded by a vast amount of parchment which he was studying
intently.
Suddenly the room became very silent. Harry turned to look towards
the door and saw a boy stood in Gryffindor robes with his arms
wrapped around a clearly distraught girl wearing the robes of
Slytherin.
The boy was tall and fairly well built with the tell-tale messy hair of
the Potter males. His eyes were a deep brown and Harry could
immediately feel his presence and understood why his Grandfather
had been so respected. The fact that he had just walked into the
snake pit and none had tried to confront him added to that image.
The girl he had in his arms was very beautiful and regal looking. Her
very long and thick black hair was put up in an elaborate fashion and
her eyes were similar to her brothers, only a shade or two lighter.
She had a petite nose which matched the build of her physique and
very soft looking plump lips.
The sudden silence gained the attention of the younger Arcturus
who, at seeing his sister in the arms of the Gryffindor, raced across
the room looking both angry and concerned.
"What the hell is the meaning of this Potter?" He asked in a no
nonsense tone.
Everyone in the room was watching the unfolding events with
unwavering interest.
Charlus raised his left hand in a non-threatening manner in an
attempt to placate the clearly confused boy.
"Black" He greeted the other boy with a simple nod. "I was walking
towards the library when I came across your sister being attacked by
4 7th years from my house. She is ok, I got there in time" He added
quickly seeing that Arcturus was about to explode in fury. "She really
is fine, just a little shaken and I dealt with the perpetrators personally.
I couldn't leave her like this so I brought her back after she told me
you'd be here" He finished.
"I'm surprised you didn't join in" A voice muttered from the corner.
"You Gryffs are all the same, thinking you can do what you want
when you want".
Charlus' eyes suddenly became alight with a very intense fire and he
stared in clear fury at the offending boy.
"You would do well to remember Stebbings, that I have never
attacked anyone in this castle let alone in this room. In fact I have
done nothing but defend anyone who is attacked for no reason and
many of them are in this very house. So you will kindly shut up with
your stupid opinions when they do not include me" He finished still
glaring at the boy, who gulped loudly and remained silent after
hearing murmurs of agreement from his fellow housemates.
Charlus turned to look at Dorea who had stopped crying by now and
he smiled a reassuringly at her before guiding her to her brother.
"It's OK" He said "Your brother will look after you now" he added
handing a reluctant looking Dorea back to her brother who took her
in his arms.
Dorea looked at Charlus with a soft, delicate smile. "Thank you
Potter" She said quietly.
"It's Charlus to you, my lady" He said with a slight bow and a similar
smile before turning his attention to Arcturus.
"Now that your sister is safe I will take my leave" He said. "But first"
he drew his wand from his sleeve causing many in the room to mimic
his action cautiously. "I Charlus Henry Potter swear on my life and
magic that I will not reveal the location of the Slytherin common room
nor will I reveal the password used to enter the room, so mote it be"
He finished being surrounded by a very bright golden light.
He turned and left leaving a shocked Slytherin house behind him.
They had clearly been concerned that the whole of Gryffindor would
now know where their common room was and they would have to be
much more alert and vigilant.
The memory ended and Harry along with Arcturus, were deposited
back into the cosy bedroom they had begun in. Arcturus sat back in
his chair lost in thought as Harry sat on the edge of the bed lost in
his own. It was Arcturus that finally broke the silence.
"That was the day that I gained the respect I have for your
Grandfather now. Not only did he save my sister but he protected the
rest of our house with his magical vow" He began again. "It wasn't
until a few days after that I learnt that the seventh years who
attacked Dorea would spend the next 2 weeks in the hospital wing
recovering from what Charlus did to them" He said amused. "Charlus
lost his prefect badge and was given detention for the rest of the
year, but that didn't faze him, he did what he felt was right as he
always did and cared not for the consequences" He concluded, the
respect evident in his voice.
"Dorea became enamoured with Charlus and he was very taken with
her too. I would often see them exchange looks and the occasional
smile but they both knew they could not pursue any form of
relationship, neither of our families would allow it so they remained
apart. At the time even I would have been hard pushed to approve of
them despite how much I loved my sister and respected Charlus.
The wizarding community would have been in uproar if a Black and a
Potter were to be together, it would have been completely
unacceptable" He finished shaking his head in his usual way.
"Anyway" He continued. "The last couple of years at Hogwarts were
tense. The threat of Grindelwald separated the houses further the
closer the conflict came to our shores. Many supported him,
particularly in my house, and many opposed him. It created a conflict
within Hogwarts and there were a few quite ugly incidents.
Eventually we graduated and all went our own ways to carve out our
futures. Charlus went to run the family businesses in his Fathers
absence, who was away fighting against Grindelwald and his army
and I was training to join the duelling circuit not expecting things to
change so quickly and drastically" He said looking thoughtful.
"Dorea was in her final year so I went to America to train. I had been
there for 6 months when I received word of my brothers' death and
my fathers' murder. I returned home immediately to tend to the family
businesses and took up the headship shortly after. I mentioned
before that I was angry and I wanted revenge. The family deaths
were only truly a small part of why I became so angry, I was angrier
that I had to take over the family and put my dream on hold. Duelling
was what I was always best at and had always wanted to have that
as my career, not having to be responsible for the family. The war
had really heated up and the danger of it spilling on to our own land
had never been greater. The way of life here was becoming more
and more in peril and I knew what would happen to me and my
family if Grindelwald was triumphant here. I was angry and worried. I
worried for Dorea more than anyone else I knew what those animals
would do to her given the chance so I acted rashly and decided I
would fight. Dorea begged me not to go but against her wishes I
went anyway" He said sadly.
He paused again reflectively.
"The war was fought on two fronts" He continued suddenly. "There
was the muggle side and the wizard side. Grindelwald was pulling
Hitlers' strings and controlling the muggle side while we fought
against the wizarding army he had amassed. I found myself at
Normandy where the battle lines had been drawn and attached
myself to a group of French freedom fighters. I stayed disguised
hoping that if the war went badly I would be able to salvage
something in the aftermath" He said unashamedly. "One of the
Blacks at some point had been an unspeakable, so I used the robes
to hide my face knowing the hood could not be removed by anyone
except me. It wasn't long before I saw action and realised my
mistake in trying to be anonymous" He said grimacing. "I was
completely out of my depth, here let me show you" He said again
extracting another memory. "This is my first fight and the day your
Grandfather