FicWad

Just a word of warning, this story will end up very AU, due to the addition of one extra person to the already established universe. As you read this chapter, what happened in canon and what happened here is being severely altered, with more to come.

Chapter One Uncertain Future:

It had been a troubling night for Albus Dumbledore. In fact, one could make a case that the last decade had been troubling and if one would look back at the signs, they could determine that the Wizarding World had been in grave danger for the past twenty years. Sitting in the chair behind his desk, Dumbledore tapped his wand in an absent minded matter. Rumors had been getting back to him that Lily and James Potter had been murdered by Lord Voldemort. Betrayed by their Secret Keeper, Voldemort was lead to their hiding place and made quick work. More troubling were the rumors that something happened to Voldemort when he attempted to kill their one year old twins, Elizabeth and Harry. The two twins had been recovered from the house just some time ago and were currently getting the medical attention they required. It was a shame that two great people had been murdered by a dangerous dark wizard and even more of a shame that two children were orphaned at such of a young age.

“Enter,” stated Dumbledore in a forced tone of calmness and the office door opened, with Severus Snape walking in, looking flushed and rather ill. “Ah Severus, do come in and take a seat.”

Snape sat on the chair, looking very surly and winced in pain, a fact that was not lost on Dumbledore.

“Severus, what happened to you, you look to be in pain,” remarked Dumbledore.

“You would be in pain too if a great stabbing pain from your forearm was magically amplified throughout your entire body for several minutes,” remarked Snape in an agitated tone of voice. “A group of us had been awaiting the return of the Dark Lord, he had went to finish off the potential children for the Prophecy on this night, the two Potters and the Longbottom boy, but something must have happened. When I had woke up from passing out, my dark mark had nearly faded from sight.”

“Very interesting Severus, it does shed some light of the events of this evening,” commented Dumbledore and Severus just looked at him with an inquiring look. “The Potter Residence had been the subject to an attack of Voldemort. Sadly Lily and James perished.”

“Pettigrew betrayed their whereabouts to them, Headmaster,” responded Snape and Dumbledore seemed rather confused at this piece of news.

“Pettigrew? As in Peter Pettigrew, how could have betrayed the whereabouts?” asked Dumbledore. “I have learned for a fact that Sirius Black was the one that the Potters had chosen for a Secret Keeper, and once the problem is sorted out, I will give this information to the Ministry.”

“As much as I loathe standing up for Black, the Potters switched at the last minute, I just discovered that Pettigrew is the spy, overhearing him gloating about the Potters choosing him,” replied Severus. “I would have told you sooner, but the Dark Lord was keeping a close eye on his followers on this day and I had only learned several hours ago.”

“Severus, I find this information useful regardless of when it’s given and it does make sense, Lily was insistent that she perform the Fidelius Charm herself, perhaps she feared leaks in the Order, an understandable, but unfortunate position to take,” responded Dumbledore, waving off Snape’s words. “We must locate Sirius Black regardless, as he would have known of the switch and knowing that he tends to react on impulse, he may go after Pettigrew.”

“Of course Headmaster, I know better than anyone how Black doesn’t think before acting,” remarked Snape darkly but Dumbledore pretended he did not hear the remark of Snape. Quickly Dumbledore sent a message to the members of the Order of the Phoenix.

“This is Albus Dumbledore, Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potters, yes, the rumors are true, if you see Sirius Black, get him to see me immediately, if you see Peter Pettigrew, quickly pass on the information of the location to me, but do not approach him, I repeat do not under any circumstances approach Pettigrew, he is on the run from both our side and the followers of Lord Voldemort, so he may be dangerous if cornered, all will further be explained in a meeting tomorrow at midnight,” stated Dumbledore, before he sent off his message to each member of the Order. Several silvery shapes shot out in several directions.

“Headmaster, you spoke of a problem that you needed to resolve, might I inquire what that is?” asked Snape, his curiosity getting the better of him and Dumbledore paused, before deciding to tell Severus of the problem, he could use another perspective on this strange and quite frankly unprecedented situation.

“As I’ve told you, Lily and James were killed by Voldemort, but their two children managed to survive, despite serious injuries,” stated Dumbledore. “The best we can determine right now is there was a severe magical backlash in the home and Voldemort may have met his end.”

“May have Headmaster, might I remind you that my dark mark has faded, therefore it is a safe assumption that the Dark Lord has met his end somehow,” commented Snape but Dumbledore looked suddenly skeptical.

“No body, Severus, not even a fragment of a body, even a magical backlash would have left something if Voldemort had just died,” responded Dumbledore. “The Ministry is searching for any bodies found in the area, but so far nothing has turned up. It is highly probable that Voldemort’s soul was ripped from his body and his body was banished to some other plane of existence, as opposed to what normally occurs with the soul going beyond and the body staying, no doubt one of Voldemort’s experiments had caused some kind of mishap during the magical backlash.”

“Is this possible?” asked Snape in a skeptical tone of voice.

“Anything’s possible, Severus,” responded Dumbledore calmly. “But, as for ever happening in the past, I cannot say that I recall any cases similar to what occurred. The most important piece of the puzzle is which child Voldemort attacked that prompted the backlash. Once we determine that, we can determine which child was marked by the prophecy and take the necessary steps to protect the child until they are ready to complete their destiny.”

“Then you truthfully believe that the Dark Lord still exists in some form,” concluded Severus.

“I wish to believe that Voldemort is gone, but while there is no real evidence to indicate that he survived, there is also none to indicate that he met his end,” said Dumbledore in a resigned tone of voice as he rose from his chair. “Poppy is checking over both twins right now, her evaluation should be about concluded. Some further non-medical tests must be run to determine which child it is, before we determine what to do next.”

Snape nodded, as he followed Dumbledore through the exit of the office down the corridors of Hogwarts towards the Hospital Wing. It took several minutes for them to reach the wing. Thankfully, there were only a couple of other students in the hospital wing and they were currently asleep. The pandemonium that would take place if there had been one word that the child that would no doubt be painted as the savior of the Wizarding World was at Hogwarts would be difficult to contain.

“Ah, Albus,” stated Madam Pomfrey as she saw the Headmaster arrive. “I was just about to summon you myself to inform you of the results of the evaluation of my two newest patients.”

“And what would your prognosis be, Poppy?” asked Dumbledore but the Hogwarts Healer just frowned.

“It’s a bit more tame than I would have expected from a magical backlash of the magnitude you described to me, in fact, I would have said without seeing them that they are extremely lucky to be alive, much less in the mostly healthy condition they are currently in,” said Madam Pomfrey. “Other than the nasty gash on the head of Elizabeth Potter, it was just normal cuts and bruises. You would have thought they would have just fallen down the stairs, instead of having a house collapse on them after a backlash. Easily healed for the most part, except for the gash.”

“Why can’t you heal the gash on Miss Potter’s head?” asked Dumbledore, wanting to confirm a theory that had been forming in his mind.

“I’ve managed to clean it up and heal it the best I’ve can, but not completely, it will leave a scar for the rest of the girl’s life,” stated Pomfrey with a resigned sign. “Dark magic is far from my specialty, but even I can detect some dark magic lingering around the area of the cut, that’s preventing it from being properly healed.”

“Perhaps if Severus and I run some tests, we can verify more about this,” suggested Dumbledore.

“The two children are over there, currently sleeping, try not to wake them,” said Pomfrey, returning to her office to allow the two wizards to do their work and Dumbledore and Snape walked over, with two small children lying on beds, wrapped in blankets, with barrier charms around the beds to prevent them from falling to the floor.

“Let’s start with the boy first,” prompted Snape and Dumbledore nodded, even though many signs pointed to the girl being the child of the prophecy, it was unwise to guess on such matters. It was possible that Elizabeth Potter was caught in the brunt of the explosion that may have been caused by young Harry Potter somehow repelling the curse back at Voldemort. Quickly, Severus removed his wand from the sleeve of his robe and waved it over Harry. The boy stirred in his sleep but did not wake. A barely visible black glow appeared over Harry for a split second. It was such that if one blinked they could miss it the glow. A couple more tests had produced the same quality.

“So minor, slight traces on Harry, nothing stronger than being in close proximity to a killing curse being fired off, it will fade in a couple of days” summarized Dumbledore and Snape nodded.

“We are in agreement with that fact Headmaster,” stated Snape as they turned to the Potter girl, the gash that Madam Pomfrey had indicated visible, only having just stopped bleeding “Now, stand back, I need to test the girl.”

Dumbledore gave Snape all the room he needed to commit the tests on the other twin. A dark shade of black began to glow around the young girl. A small gasp, as the magic seemed to be blacker as it got closer to the area where the cut was on her forehead. The only thing darker would have been the black hole. Snape stood their patiently, until the tell tale affects of the dark magic detection spell had faded.

“About what you expected, Headmaster?” asked Snape quietly but Dumbledore looked suddenly grave.

“It is much worse than I feared Severus, this high quantity of dark magic around that curse scar is rather disturbing,” replied Dumbledore grimly. “Be that as it may, it does determine one theory that Elizabeth Potter is the one, the child of the prophecy. I must find it rather surprising, I had assumed that Voldemort would not even bother with her, the two other candidates seemed rather likely to be the one.”

“It may have been just a matter of who was attacked first, Headmaster,” supplied Snape. “Most likely, the Dark Lord decided to just eliminate the Potter girl, before moving onto her twin and then Longbottom. Perhaps he failed to acknowledge that she was a possibility to be a threat to his power.”

“Excellent deduction Severus, it could have been just a matter of making a clean sweep of all the Potters, he just reached her first,” praised Dumbledore. “Now, I wish to test both children in another few hours once more, before we make arrangements for them. We will have to send Elizabeth Potter to Lily’s closest living relative, her sister Petunia. As her death came first and her daughter was attacked next, it would allow me to put blood wards around the house, but only if she is moved there within the next seventy two hours.”

Snape just frowned, he had met Petunia Evans, later Dursley, more times than he cared to remember and gained the impression that she was not fit to care for an animal, much less a child.

“I’m certain that Petunia and her husband will put aside any differences they have to make sure their niece gets the proper care she requires,” concluded Dumbledore to a very skeptical Snape. “They do have a child around the twins’ age after all, if I’m not mistaken and I will tell them everything they need to know in a letter.”

“And what of the other twin?” asked Snape.

“Once we find Sirius Black, I’m sure he’ll be happy to take his godson in,” commented Dumbledore lightly and Snape just snorted, he felt Black was only just slightly more qualified to care for a child than Petunia Dursley. “I had entertained the possibility of putting both twins in the care of the Dursleys, but it may dilute the blood wards.”

Snape nodded, he had read up about such magic very briefly and decided to take the opportunity to pick Dumbledore’s brain while the Headmaster seemed to be in the mood to answer inquiries.

“Why not just give both of the children to Black or another family for that matter, and set up the blood wards there?” inquired Snape.

“Severus, while that may work in theory, I’m afraid it’s not plausible for other reasons that I cannot explain to you now,” remarked Dumbledore. “You must trust me that I have the best interests of both children in mind and the safety for the Wizarding World as well. Just trust me, Severus.”

“You have me convinced, not that my opinion matters much regarding this particular situation,” said Snape in an indifferent tone of voice. “I just hope that you managed to convince others whose opinions do matter to trust your judgment, for your sake at the very least.”

“Yes, this storm will not be an easy one to weather, no matter what precautions are taken,” said Dumbledore, more to himself than to Snape. “Many will not accept the fact that the one who had saved us from Voldemort, at least temporarily, is a witch, such is the unfortunate nature of this world.”

Dumbledore stood there, leading Snape from the Hospital Wing. Elizabeth Potter had been marked by the prophecy, for better or for worse. While Dumbledore held no biases, he did admit that it would be much easier if Harry had been the one marked for many reasons. Still, it was a matter of chance that lead to the least likely of the three probable candidates were marked and after one more test, Dumbledore knew the conclusion that he was likely to come to.

The next morning, Dumbledore sat in his office, about ready to leave to administer one more test on the two Potter twins, before sending them off. What worried him was that Sirius Black still had not been located and for that matter, neither had Peter Pettigrew. Both had fallen off the radar, so to speak. Dumbledore got to his feet, but a knock on his office door prevented his movement.

“Enter!” called Dumbledore and he saw Minerva McGonagall walk in, lead by one of the last people he expected to see, Andromeda Black, who had not been seen in public much after the messy death of her husband, muggleborn, Ted Tonks. From what he last heard, Andromeda and her young daughter Nymphadora went into hiding to escape the wrath of Voldemort’s followers or to be more specific, Andromeda’s sister Bellatrix, who wanted to kill Andromeda and her family for befouling their heritage. “Minerva, Andromeda, might I ask what brings you two to my office at this hour?”

“Dumbledore, I’m going to make this short, I’ve heard the rumors about Lily and James Potter and know that Sirius is supposed to take care of the twins should something happen to them,” stated Andromeda, awaiting for some kind of response.

“I will tell you right now that the rumors are true, they are dead and simply put, the Killing Curse sent towards Elizabeth Potter rebounded back at Voldemort, but whether he’s dead or not is something that we’ve yet to verify,” remarked Dumbledore and Andromeda nodded, with Minerva brushing tears from her eyes, as it began to set in that two of her favorite students were dead. “Both Elizabeth and Harry are currently resting in the hospital wing, I’m going to do one more test on them and send Elizabeth to live with her aunt, where I have set up protections. All I need to do is place her there to activate the charms. As for Harry, I was hoping to send him off to live with Sirius, but he’s currently missing.”

“That’s part of the reason why I have come here,” said Andromeda. “I received a letter today from Sirius, saying that he was going to go and settle an old debt, and if anything happens, he told me to take care of Harry and Elizabeth.”

Dumbledore just looked like he had aged thirty years.

“Sirius has gone after Peter Pettigrew then, he betrayed the Potters to Voldemort,” muttered Dumbledore. “You have no idea how bad this is, if Peter is cornered, he will lash about against him and I fear for any innocent people who are in the way.”

“You mean you’ve heard nothing back from the Order yet?” asked Minerva in an alarmed tone of voice.

“Nothing on either Sirius or Peter,” confirmed Dumbledore. “One more test needs to be done but going off what we know right now, Elizabeth needs to be sent to her relatives where she can be safe and Harry…he needs to be moved as well, because if there are any Voldemort sympathizers that slipped underneath my notice here found out that either twin was here…”

Dumbledore trailed off and they did not need him to continue.

“Albus, they would be perfectly safe at my home, both of them, after what happened to Ted, I had the best protections money can by placed around the house, it took the best Gringotts curse breakers days to break through them,” said Andromeda. “And I know for certain that nothing you could have done in such a short amount of time could have offered the protection that’s around my house and it took nearly a month to get ready.”

“Your offer is appreciated, but the circumstances are too far complicated for me to even begin to explain, Elizabeth would be much safer at the house of her aunt,” said Dumbledore and Andromeda looked at the Headmaster with a skeptical look and Minerva stood there as well, slightly disapproving. “I can’t give you my reasoning right now, but she’ll be protected from harm but your offer to take Harry can be accepted, until the moment Sirius is found.”

“Albus, I must cut in, I’ve sure you know the potential ramifications of separating magical twins from each other at such a young age,” said Minerva sternly.

“I have considered this but sending Harry to Petunia and her husband will dilute any protections around the house, causing them to be broken with a little bit of effort,” replied Dumbledore. “I am certain that there will be no lasting harm done, it’s not been magically proven, just quite a lot of theory generated by circumstantial evidence.”

“Petunia, Dumbledore, you can’t think of sending Lily’s daughter to her,” said Andromeda, who had left Hogwarts just when Lily, James, and Sirius were in their second year and had glimpsed Petunia, gaining a bad first impression. Also, Sirius had written to several times through the years and the depiction of Petunia through her cousin’s words had not been all that flattering. “I don’t know her as well as some do, but she hates magic, out of jealously…”

“Andromeda, I will explain to Petunia that she must care for her niece like she was her own daughter, but I doubt we don’t have much to worry about,” said Dumbledore waving off Andromeda’s protests. “I doubt that Petunia, no matter how much she dislikes magic, would have the malice take it out on an innocent child.”

The look on Dumbledore’s face indicated that his mind has been made up about this matter and no evidence supporting Petunia’s hatred for magic would persuade him from his stance.

Dumbledore sat, what he concluded from those tests, how long the dark aura lingered, it was for the best that the girl was sent to the Dursleys. At least her magic would develop at a much slower and manageable rate that it would be had she knew exactly what she was, perhaps allowing Dumbledore to counterattack the after affects of the Killing Curse.

“She will be safe, you will make sure that no one will harm her,” said Andromeda, who was rather skeptical at the mere thought of sending a young, defenseless magical child was being sent to magical hating Muggles, most likely being forced on them as well. “Promise me and Sirius as well when we find him.”

“You have my word Andromeda that as long as Elizabeth Potter continues to consider her aunt’s residence home, that no one who means her harm will be able to touch her,” responded Dumbledore. “If I’m wrong, if I’ve made a mistake, then I will not fight you if you try and remove her from that place should any harm befall her. It will never come to that, but if it does, you know my stance on the matter.”

Andromeda nodded, but it was a reluctant nod and Minerva also seemed to have similar reservations. She also had heard of Lily’s sister’s hatred for magic and had no doubt that her husband would be no different. Having spoken on the matter, Dumbledore rose to excuse himself from his office to perform the final test, on the minimal chance that he had been mistaken.

Sirius Black walked down the streets of London, keeping alert at any signs for the traitorous rat, his wand drawn. All thoughts were that he would kill him for betraying Lily and James. A small rational part of Sirius’s mind that had not been unhinged by the betrayal had wondered what went wrong that caused Peter to turn to Voldemort. All throughout Hogwarts, Peter was a bit timid, but he stuck by his friends through and through. Then once they left, something happened to change Peter. Sirius had been focused on fighting Voldemort to pay too much attention to Peter, he wished he did, if he had, he might have seen some signs that would have made him think twice about convincing Lily and James to switch the Secret Keeper at the last minute.

Sirius would have time for recollections later, as he saw a very familiar figure move through the London streets. He betrayed his identity when he caught sight of Sirius, before running as quickly as his legs could carry him. Sirius followed, wand drawn, it was a small favor that Peter was never good at Apparation, but he feared that Peter would change into his Animagus form.

“PETER!” bellowed Sirius, he cornered Peter at the end of the alleyway. On the other side, Sirius could hear people going on about their business like nothing had happened. Peter looked at Sirius, his eyes darting from side to side.

“S-s-s-irius, thank Merlin it’s you, I’ve been running from the Dark Lord’s followers, you’ve got to help me, they’re going to kill me,” whimpered Peter, but Sirius stayed alert, Peter was a bit more resourceful than most cared to give him credit for.

“Don’t worry Peter, I’m not going to let anyone kill you,” said Sirius in a calm voice as Peter relaxed suddenly, knowing he could slip out. “BECAUSE THAT PLEASURE WILL BE MINE YOU MISERABLE TRAITOR!”

Sirius moved forward, wand on Peter, but Peter managed to somehow block Sirius’s attack, before moving past him, to the entrance of the alley. Sirius walked forward, as Peter moved closer to the alleyway, before the traitor looked over his shoulder, giving Sirius an apologetic look.

“Sirius, how could you send Lily and James to their deaths, betray them to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?” demanded Peter in a completely staged horrified tone of voice, as he pointed his wand over his shoulder. Sirius threw a curse right towards Peter at the same time Peter pointed one towards a nearby gas pipe.

A loud explosion instantly killed everyone who happened to be in the blast, while injuring several others nearby.

Back at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had concluded the final test on the Potter twins. It gave him all the confirmation that he needed of the identity of the prophecy child. They sat up, watching Dumbledore curiously as they backed off. When they woke up, they began crying, wanting their parents. Dumbledore had to give them a watered down calming draught to help keep them silent, as the spells he had to perform required exact concentration.

“Elizabeth is the child of the prophecy, send word to the Ministry, that she’s the one,” said Dumbledore to Minerva, who nodded before going off.

“What of Harry?” asked Andromeda. “The Ministry is going to wonder why the two twins are being sent to two separate homes.”

Before Dumbledore could answer how he is going to pull that off, Snape entered the Hospital Wing, with a copy of the latest edition of the Daily Prophet.

“Dumbledore, you really need to read,” said Snape, as he handed the paper to the Headmaster, who took it and began to read.

Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Muggles Killed In Magical Explosion in London:

The chaos surrounding the reported fall of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named continued. With several Death Eaters captured last night (see page 7 for details), it appears that the individual who has betrayed the Potters has met a messy end. Sirius Black attempted to murder Peter Pettigrew today once he found out of Black’s betrayal of the Potters. Witnesses stated that Pettigrew had confronted Black about his betrayal and Black, like a concerned animal, lashed out and attacked him. The attack from Black was messy and caused a Muggle gas pipe to explode, causing an effect similar to a combustion curse. It killed Pettigrew and Black, along with twenty Muggles who were unfortunate enough to be nearby, along with several more.

In other news, the whereabouts of the two surviving Potter twins, Harry and Elizabeth are unknown. Rumors state they are at an undisclosed location receiving medical evaluation. This reporter hopes that the savior of the Wizarding World and his twin sister can pull through their condition, they are pillars of home that we need during this desperate time.

Dumbledore put down the paper, his expression darkening.

“Yes, Dumbledore, you were going to send a child to that impulsive dunderhead,” commented Snape lightly. “Now he got both himself and Pettigrew blown up, rather than caring what happened to his godchildren.”

“Severus,” warned Dumbledore, even though he could count on Severus to speak the truth, no matter how harsh it was, but now was not the time or place. “This does complicate matters and add to confusion, because as long as Harry Potter lives, it does not matter how much evidence I give them, they will all assume that he’s the one.”

“Maybe it’s for the best,” said Snape.

“No, misdirection will only lead to trouble, the fact is that Harry Potter must disappear,” said Dumbledore.

“Killing a child is something that I never thought you would advocate, Headmaster,” stated Snape and Dumbledore looked incredulous that Snape even suggested that he would think of such a thing such a thing.

“No you misunderstand me, but the world can think that Harry could not overcome his injuries, he was weaker than his sister,” said Dumbledore gravely, not wanting to take this resort, but as long as the world thought both twins survived, Harry would always be considered to be the one and thus put in danger, with no blood protections to shield him. “That he died due to complications, but his sister managed to survive, Elizabeth Potter is the Girl-Who-Lived, surviving while the rest of her family perished.”

Snape remained silent, despite his misgivings that the Headmaster was playing a very dangerous game, he had no desire to argue with the Headmaster over matters regarding the spawn of James Potter, even if they also were technically Lily’s children. He would deal with them all too soon once they attended Hogwarts.

“I just hope that I can convince Andromeda to perform the blood adoption ritual, that will give us the extra insurance that Harry Potter can disappear from view, without any questions,” said Dumbledore. “It is borderline dark magic, but there is no other choice that can work as well to trick Ministry sensors.”

Snape remained silent. Dumbledore was playing with fire. Snape did pride himself knowing a great deal about both dark magic and magic that was questionable but not illegal. And what he knew was no matter how many blood adoption rituals the boy went to, he would always be who he was born as to a certain extent, especially with a strong tie like a twin. It was much like being disowned, no matter how many family tapestries a person were blasted off of, it did not change who a witch or a wizard was born at.

“Time is short, I must take Miss Potter to her new home to secure the blood protections before time runs short,” said Dumbledore, as he scooped up the toddler wrapped in the blanket, who began to kick up quite a fuss having been separated from her twin.

“Hawwry!” cried Elizabeth, as she looked down at her twin, reaching for him, attempting to squirm from Dumbledore’s arms, beating her little fists on Dumbledore’s chest in a desperate, but futile attempt to get free.

“Lizzie!” shouted the second twin and Dumbledore maneuvered his wand, placing a sleeping charm on her, with Harry turning to Dumbledore, with a hurt look on his one year old face as he watched Dumbledore walk off. “Stop that! Meanie! Lizzie!”

“I’m sorry Harry,” said Dumbledore in an apologetic tone of voice causing the second twin drifted back to sleep. He would awaken several hours later, when he would be sent to live with Andromeda and her daughter. He placed Elizabeth Potter in a small conjured basket and wrote a note. He walked off, the basket levitated by his side, to take the Girl-Who-Lived to her new home to solidify the blood wards. With any luck, he would not be seen by Petunia Dursley or her husband, as it would be harder for them to deny their niece living space if Dumbledore did not confront them in person.

Several hours later, Dumbledore was back in his office, with Harry on his lap. The boy had stopped screaming for his sister finally, at least for right now, but the toddler did not seem to be too fond of Dumbledore whatsoever. At least Elizabeth had been left at her relatives’ house without them seeing Dumbledore.

Andromeda joined them in the office sometime later, looking in a rather anxious mood and casting a dark look towards Dumbledore. She no doubt found out about the death of her cousin and Dumbledore was saddened to come to the conclusion that she blamed him to an extent for not finding Sirius in time.

“I’m here for Harry,” said Andromeda. “I don’t have much time to sit around and chat, I hate to leave my daughter alone with only our house elf, as capable as he may be.”

“I understand, Andromeda,” stated Dumbledore, as he handed Harry off to Andromeda, who seemed to be relieved to be away from the man who took his other half away. “There is only one thing I request for you to do. I will make arrangements for Harry to undergo the blood adoption ritual, so he will be a Black by blood.”

“You want to put a child of not even two years old through that ritual,” said Andromeda. “It’s highly recommended that it’s not used on a child less than five years old.”

“Yes, I know, but it has to be done, I will filter news that Harry Potter is dead,” said Dumbledore. “Naturally, there will be those in the Ministry that will think this is a ruse to hide the real savior and will find an excuse to track down Harry, to make his childhood miserable by hounding him with uncomfortable questions. Do you really wish to put an innocent child through such an ordeal?”

Andromeda sighed. Dumbledore would put her through a guilt trip.

“It can be done at Gringotts, as the goblins would keep the information a secret, no matter what,” added Dumbledore. “Much like the placement of young Elizabeth, it is something that I do not out of desire, but out of necessity.”

“Fine, but if anything goes wrong, I won’t hesitate to tell the Ministry what you did,” said Andromeda.

“And I wouldn’t begrudge you for doing so, now you should return home, the goblins will be sending word in a matter of days,” said Dumbledore as Andromeda walked off with Harry, who remained quiet all the way home. Dumbledore just sat behind his desk, hoping that everything would work out in the end.