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Chapter Thirty Nine: Dumbledore’s Dismay

The crowd watching the third task was in a hush as Harry Potter laid motionless, his clothes soaked with his own blood just outside the maze for the Triwizard Cup Third Task.

Ginny rushed down the bleachers, not caring about who she had to knock down to get to her boyfriend. She only cared about getting to Harry. In her mind, it seemed like a matter of life and death.

“Out of my way!” yelled Ginny showing several people over who were looking down at Harry. Didn’t they know Harry was hurt? She had to get to him.

Other people poured into the field, including Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, himself. Both had looks of shock on their face as if they were unable to figure out how Harry had gotten into this state. Dumbledore especially detested not knowing about what exactly was going on because the old man was used to having his hands into everything.

Barty Crouch Junior, under the guise of Mad Eye Moody, rushed into the field. He didn’t know how the brat managed to survive his encounter with the Dark Lord, but Crouch vowed to deliver the final crushing blow on Potter. His Master would be pleased. He could see Dumbledore and the Minister attempting to get through the droves of students pouring onto the Quidditch Field in an attempt to get a better look at Harry.

Harry’s eyes flickered open, as he winced in pain. He was barely conscious, all of his nerves felt like they were on fire from blasting through two Anti-Apparation wards, he had a ringing sensation in his head as well. Yet Harry was still breathing, still living, even if it was just barely.

He saw Moody coming to him but Harry just remembered something. That really wasn’t Moody; it was Mr. Crouch’s son. Voldemort’s talk about a faithful servant at Hogwarts in the graveyard slowly brought Harry’s memory back to something that he had seen and Crouch Junior memory charmed out.

“C’mon Potter, Hospital Wing,” growled “Moody”.

“No,” muttered Harry definitely.

“Now Potter, you look like you’ve been through hell and back, I need to get you to the Hospital Wing,” said “Moody”, preparing to get Harry off along so he could kill him for the Dark Lord.

“I don’t think so Barty Crouch Junior,” muttered Harry before weakly shoving Crouch off, but Harry could barely move as is.

“You’re coming with me, boy!” yelled Crouch Junior dragging Harry off by his arm. Harry could barely fight back.

Lily Potter managed to get through the field and saw her son being dragged off by Mad Eye Moody or what looked like Mad Eye Moody. Lily could smell a rat a mile away and she dropped her little anti-matter field, making sure the hood on her robe was pulled up to obscure her face, as it wasn’t quite time to reveal her presence yet. She cast a quick spell to detect a disguise and sure enough, this Moody was a complete fake and was using a Polyjuice potion to mask his appearance.

“Stop struggling boy, it will be a lot quicker for you in the long run,” growled the fake Moody but Harry felt severely weakened and couldn’t keep this up too much longer. Thankfully he didn’t have to.

“Drop him,” said Lily in a dangerous voice.

“I don’t know who you are woman but…” started the fake Moody but he never finished.

“Stupefy!” yelled Lily, knocking the imposter out with one spell. He fell to the ground, cracking his head but Lily really didn’t give a damn, especially if he was a Death Eater. Harry staggered around but Lily cast a spell to make her son slowly slide to the ground so he didn’t injure himself “Harry, don’t try to move. I need to get you up to the Hospital Wing”

Harry’s eyes flickered shut. He didn’t even know if he wanted to move. Every time he breathed, intense pain shot through his body.

“What happened?” asked Ginny rushing onto the field, looking frantic before looking down at Harry who looked completely worse for wear.

“Voldemort,” muttered Harry in a pained voice before fading into unconsciousness again.

“I knew something like this would happen,” said Ginny, who looked about ready to start sobbing. “Why did this stupid bloody tournament even have to happen?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” replied Lily quietly, as she conjured a stretcher before slowly levitating her son on the stretcher, trying to cause him as little pain as possible.

Daphne, Theodore, Hermione, and Hailey rushed over, finally having pushed their way through the crowd.

“What happened?” asked Hermione looking frantic at her friend’s battered and pained form on the stretcher before seeing the hooded figure that was Lily standing over Harry anxiously. “Who are you?”

“Later,” muttered Lily as Daphne, Theodore, and Hermione looked confused at her presence and could not figure out how was beneath the hood.

“Let’s get Harry back to the school before Dumbledore…” started Ginny but she winced as Dumbledore walked up to the scene, surveying the scene before curiously looking at the hooded woman.

“Hello,” said Dumbledore in his faux grandfatherly tone of voice to the hooded woman. “Do you mind if I ask who you are?”

“Yes, I mind Dumbledore!” snapped Lily through gritted teeth, using every bit of self control she possessed not to hex the old man straight into another time zone. And Lily did not really possess too much self control to begin with, so this raised the difficulty level of controlling her temper.

“Well…why is my Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor currently on the ground?” asked Dumbledore, looking at the fake Moody while attempting to strain to remember where he had heard that voice beneath the hood before. It sounded extremely familiar to Dumbledore but he was at a loss to remember who it belonged to.

“Maybe because he’s really a Death Eater in disguise,” said Lily. “Really Dumbledore, for the so called leader of the light, you need to pick your teachers a bit better to make sure they don’t have any ties to Lord Voldemort.”

“How do you know he’s a Death Eater?” asked Dumbledore.

“Polyjuice Potion,” said Lily simply, pulling the hip flask out of the fake Moody.

“How do I know you’re not a Death Eater?” asked Dumbledore challengingly. “Why don’t you take off that hood to show your face to me?”

“When the time is right,” said Lily, beginning to take Harry up to the school but Dumbledore raised his wand.

“If you won’t take that hood off, girl, I’ll take it off for you,” muttered Dumbledore in a commanding voice, waving his wand in an attempt to rip the hood off but Dumbledore heard a large bang and found himself being blasted back several dozen feet. The hood remained up, obscuring Lily’s face.

“You really shouldn’t have done yet,” muttered Lily, taking Harry up to the Hospital Wing with Ginny, Daphne, Theodore, Hermione, and Hailey following them, along with the Turtles and Master Splinter slowly creeping up to the school in the shadows so they did not become detected by anyone.

Little did anyone know that a certain black dog, who had been watching the third task safely in the Forbidden Forest, also walked up to the school. He was curious as to what exactly was going on even if it meant risking getting caught by the Minister of Magic himself even through Sirius doubted that Fudge could catch a cold.

Dumbledore winced in pain, wondering who would dare disrespect someone of his power and stature. After all, he was the most powerful magical entity that ever lived and no one could ever match his power. Dumbledore decided to follow the group up to the school, to see what exactly was going on. After all, Dumbledore had the right to know due to the fact he was Dumbledore.

Snape sighed in irritation, watching the Headmaster go up to the school. In all the confusion, Dumbledore didn’t further restrain the Fake Moody. Snape had a hunch that something wasn’t right with Moody, even more than usual but he didn’t have a chance to bring it up with Dumbledore. The Potions Master watched as Moody slowly changed back into his normal form.

“Barty Crouch Junior,” muttered Snape in surprise. He thought Crouch died in Azkaban many years ago but apparently he had cheated death.

“My word Snape, this must have been the scoundrel that took out of the other three champions, leaving Potter’s path clear to the Triwizard Cup” said Cornelius Fudge, surveying Barty Crouch Junior’s fallen form. “His father must have caught on to the fact that he was still alive and was silenced. Potter and Crouch Junior must be working together to insure Potter won the Triwizard Tournament. That’s who put his name in the Goblet of Fire. I always knew Harry Potter was a no good Dark Wizard, especially with his alliance with those unnatural Turtle freaks and that rat. Well that will end tonight as he’ll be sent a Ministry containment facility where he’ll be given treatment. I say, he will be re-taught in proper pureblood mindset, one that the Ministry must approve of. Then he will be shipped back to his rightful family, Vernon and Petunia Dursley.”

“And what of Crouch, Minister?” asked Snape, attempting to keep his expression neutral to hide the disgust at the Minister’s stupidity.

“Oh that, well he’ll be given the Dementor’s Kiss of course,” said Fudge nonchalantly. “Can’t have someone that dangerous about, especially someone who had deceived the Ministry about his death now can we?”

“Indeed,” said Snape in an indifferent voice but due to the Dark Mark on his arm, he knew Lord Voldemort had unfortunately returned but the Ministry would most likely try to pass that off as the delusional ramblings of Harry Potter.

“I do say, where did Dumbledore run off to, Severus,” said Fudge.

“Up to the school if I’m not mistaken, Minister” said Snape calmly. “Mr. Potter apparently needed to take a trip of the Hospital Wing.”

“Thank you Severus, you’ve been most helpful,” said Fudge. He would be able to call a team of Aurors to capture Potter and bring him to the Ministry Containment Center for treatment. After all, the boy must have gotten himself in a nasty spill in that maze, despite Crouch’s assistance, not that Fudge cared exactly what happened. All he cared about was raising his public approval rating by capturing a potentially dangerous Dark Wizard before he gained too much power.

This would be Minister Fudge’s finest hour if he played all of his cards right.

In the Hospital Wing, Harry laid on the bed, moaning in agony.

“I think I should reserve a permanent bed for you Mr. Potter,” muttered Madam Pomfrey absentmindedly, as she shuffled through her cabinet.

“My nerves….on fire,” screamed Harry as Ginny lightly touched his head which seemed to ease Harry’s pain slightly.

“What happened?” asked Daphne looking concerned.

“Yeah what could have caused this,” said Theodore.

“One word,” said Ginny. “Voldemort.”

The others winced in terror and Ginny was surprised at the fact she said the name without really thinking about it, much like Harry had many times.

“Oh this is horrible,” said Hermione looking at her friend’s pained expression in shock. “He did this to Harry. All of this.”

“I think so,” said Ginny grimly. “We’ll know better when Harry had enough time to wake up and tell us the story in detail.

“Here, Mr. Potter, this should relieve your pain enough that breathing doesn’t cause pain,” said Madam Pomfrey, tipping a vile of light blue liquid down Harry’s throat. “I’ll be back in a few moments to check if the treatment is working.”

Harry shuddered for a minute before moving himself slightly.

“Well my nerves don’t burn anymore, they just slightly sting,” said Harry quietly.

“Harry, can you tell us what happened?” asked Daphne.

“Yes,” said Harry in a weakened voice. “The Triwizard Cup in the center of the maze was the Portkey. It brought me to this graveyard where I was attacked from behind by Wormtail with a stunner.”

Lily, who had remained quiet since she arrived up at the Hospital Wing, made an angry noise by Harry’s side at the mention of Wormtail that caused Hermione, Daphne, and Theodore to stare at the hooded figure weirdly.

“Anyway he tied me to a gravestone before doing this weird ritual thing that used his father’s bones and Wormtail’s own hand. He took blood from me,” said Harry, being pained to remember. “He summoned all of his Death Eaters and gave a long droning speech before allowing me to be untied. He gave me back my wand and we dueled. I was on the losing end of the duel until I managed to use Slytherin’s Blade…”

“So that was your secret weapon,” said Ginny quietly and Harry nodded in confirmation.

“I lit Voldemort up like a torch, fat lot of good it did me as he continued to attack me despite being barbequed to a crisp by the Blade and I eventually found out that I couldn’t maintain hold of Slytherin’s Blade for more than a few minutes at a time,” said Harry. “I managed to get Voldemort pissed off and he ordered his Death Eaters to subdue me. I threw myself behind a row of gravestones which they quickly blew apart. Thankfully I managed to use the time they spent blowing up the gravestones to get myself out of there and you know the rest.”

“So how did you get out of there?” asked Hailey. “I didn’t see any Portkey on you when you came back to Hogwarts and I have your Amulet right here. So how did you get from here to Hogwarts?”

Harry paused. He was going to shatter a belief that was thought to be true for quiet some time.

“I apparated into Hogwarts,” said Harry as if it was an every day occurrence.

“But, But, But, But, Apparating in Hogwarts, is, the, but, Hogwarts: A History, but, but, no this can’t be…” stammered Hermione before throwing her hands up into the air in defeat and continuing in a meek, quiet voice. “I think I need to sit down.”

Hermione sat herself down in her chair, her legs slightly crossed, rocking back in forth with a disturbed expression on her face.

“Harry Potter just Apparated into Hogwarts, Harry Potter has just broken one of the most ancient laws of magic,” muttered Hermione while rocking back in forth in the chair with the disturbed expression plastered upon her face. “Harry just proved Hogwarts: A History to be an utter and total fraud.”

“I think you broke Hermione, Harry,” said Daphne with a grin upon her face.

“Shut up!” snapped Hermione which caused Daphne to slightly back off.

“Harry, is there any other surprises that you might want to lay upon us?” asked Theodore.

“I’m not quite sure how much Hermione can take,” said Harry.

“Then do tell Harry,” said Hailey with a mischievous smirk on her face after looking at Hermione who was still muttering underneath her breath.

“Well before I even thought about breaking through the Hogwarts Anti-Apparation field, I also had to burst through an Anti-Apparation field created by Lord Voldemort himself,” said Harry.

“You broke through--an Anti-Apparation field—created by—“ started Hermione before throwing her hands up into the air. “I give up. I’m no longer surprised at anything you do Harry, because you clearly have shattered many laws of magic already tonight and survived a fourth encounter with V-v-v-Voldemort.”

At that moment Dumbledore walked into the Hospital Wing, looking at Harry with a curious expression on his face.

“Hello Mr. Potter, I must say you looked like you went through a terrible ordeal tonight when you came back from the Third Task,” said Dumbledore in a faux kindly voice, with a twinkle in his eyes that Harry wanted to stab out with a fork. “I would like to ask what in the world happened.”

“Voldemort’s back, the Magical World’s in grave danger, case closed, now you could you please leave so I could continue my private conversation with my friends,” said Harry quickly without a breath. He wanted as little to do with Dumbledore as possible.

“Voldemort’s back, as in Lord Voldemort,” said Dumbledore with a curious expression on his face. Dumbledore believed the Potter boy one hundred percent, as there could have been no other way that Potter could have gotten in his current condition other than an encounter with Lord Voldemort. It seemed as if Tom did find a way to resurrect himself. Of course Voldemort could now keep Potter out of Dumbledore’s hair so Dumbledore could concentration on his own plans.

“That’s what he said, Professor,” said Ginny. “You have all the information that you need to know.”

“Yes I suggest you inform the Minister of Magic so he might be able to do something useful for a change although I doubt it,” said Harry.

“Now listen here, Mr. Potter, I believe I should get a more detailed explanation of the events that happened. After all, I’m only looking out for your best interests,” said Dumbledore in his fake grandfatherly tone of voice.

Hailey held her stomach, she could barely hold in her laughter at absurdity of Dumbledore’s last statement.

“Best interest,” said Harry, raising his right eyebrow. “If I remember correctly, I’ve spent the last four years at Hogwarts fighting for my life. Whether it be teachers with Voldemort growing out of the back of their head, Basilisks running through the hallways unchecked, Dementors attacking me, and the best of them all. This is completely brilliant, Professor. The fact that I got myself entered into the Triwizard Tournament by a Death Eater masquerading as your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He managed to trick the Goblet of Fire, sticking my name in the Tournament and tonight, Lord Voldemort, he came back. He took my blood; he resurrected himself to his former terror. We dueled, he nearly killed me back thanks to the survival instincts that I have been forced to develop thanks to this deathtrap you call a school, I managed to escape and that’s where we are tonight! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, DUMBLEDORE?”

“I fail to get your point, Mr. Potter,” said Dumbledore.

“In my four years here, you have shattered every illusion that Hogwarts is the safest place on earth due to your inaction,” said Harry through gritted teeth. “Well, I’m not going to stand for it any longer. Voldemort’s back and it’s all your fault.”

“I couldn’t have…” started Dumbledore but Harry held his hand up. For once Dumbledore didn’t know the resurrection of Voldemort was coming but the Boy-Who-Lived didn’t care to listen to Dumbledore’s side of the story.

Dumbledore’s thoughts onto how to control this situation with Harry was cut off when Professor Snape came into the Hospital Wing.

“The Minister of Magic is on his way,” said Snape to Dumbledore. “He says he is going to have Potter arrested for the events of the Triwizard Tournament tonight and sent to a Ministry containment center.”

“The hell he is,” muttered Harry, trying to stand up but wincing in pain. His body wasn’t completely better from tearing through the two Anti-Apparation fields.

“That might not be the best idea, Severus,” said Dumbledore. “Apparently Voldemort has returned tonight.”

“Yes, as I’ve been trying to tell you for the past few months, Headmaster,” said Snape. “My mark has becoming clearer and more defined. Obviously it has become its clearest only an hour ago which is likely when the Dark Lord made his return.”

“Yes, I can see it now,” said Dumbledore. “You know what you need to do Severus.”

“Yes, Headmaster,” said Snape in a resigned voice, hoping that Voldemort was in a good enough mood to ask questions before shooting first.

“I’ll get in contact with the usual crowd and the Order will be reformed,” said Dumbledore. “Also, we’re going to have to fetch the real Alastor Moody, as he is likely still alive because the imposter needed a steady supply of Polyjuice Potion to keep up his charade.”

Snape nodded in agreement, while bracing himself for what he had to do. Due to that stupid Vow he foolishly took instead of going to Azkaban, he always had to stick his neck out in the name of that manipulative old coot.

A few seconds later, Fudge and a group of Aurors marched down the halls of Hogwarts.

“Well Headmaster, I’m here to take in the Potter boy,” said Fudge.

“Will that be you or your goon squad, Fudge?” asked Harry from inside the Hospital Wing. “Because let’s face it, you don’t have the guts to take me on without a few extra wands backing you up.”

“How dare you Potter?” stammered Fudge, his face turning red in anger. “I’m the Minister of Magic and I should be respected.”

“We can talk about Mr. Potter’s situation in a couple of moments, Cornelius,” said Dumbledore. “Right now we have a bit of a more pressing matter to discuss.”

“And what could be more pressing than that teenage delinquent sabotaging the Triwizard Tournament?” asked Fudge challengingly.

“Whether you want to believe it or not, Lord Voldemort has returned to power on this night,” said Dumbledore coolly. “He’s the one who has had Barty Crouch Junior under his command to put Harry’s name in the Goblet of Fire. He is responsible for the events of tonight and piecing this together with the disappearances of Bartemius Crouch and Bertha Jorkins, it all makes sense.”

“Maybe to your twisted mind, Dumbledore,” said Fudge. “Maybe you are prepared to accept the word of this delinquent but I, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, is more intelligent than that and will not be so easily fooled by the ramblings of some twisted, misguided delinquent. The boy consorts with mutated freaks; he has been twisted and contorted behind the bounds of reality. He believes that Sirius Black is innocent of all charges. He’s a raving lunatic Dumbledore and you are willing to accept his word.”

Fudge paced up and down the corridor in front of the hospital wing.

“Voldemort has returned Minister, whether you want to believe it or not,” said Dumbledore. “I suggest that you take steps to properly warn the public of the terror that is about to unfold.”

“The public doesn’t need to hear the ramblings of this lunatic delinquent!” screamed Fudge. “You don’t have any control over me Dumbledore. I will not be your little puppet on a string, I am the Minister of Magic and you will respect me.”

Lily rose to her feet for a second before sitting back down.

“I don’t know how exactly I can reveal myself,” muttered Lily to Hailey.

“Well you better figure out something in about thirty seconds,” said Hailey frantically.

“Why?” asked Lily curiously.

“Because I’m changing back,” muttered Hailey. “That glamour charm you put on me before the school year is wearing off.”

“Oh boy,” said Lily as she watched her daughter’s hair start to lengthen before turning into a deep shade of auburn, sticking up in every direction before her eyes turned green.

Fudge turned his head and backed off.

“And what is this?” asked Fudge pointing to Hailey. “That girl didn’t look like that a few seconds ago.”

Snape looked at Hailey with an unreadable expression on his face but Dumbledore looked as if he saw a ghost.

“Lily Potter,” muttered Snape in shock.

“No, not quite,” said Hailey shaking her head in amusement at Snape’s bewildered expression

“Who are you girl?” asked Fudge in a commanding voice. “I am the Minister of Magic and you better answer me…”

“More importantly who are you?” asked Dumbledore, pointed to the hooded form of Lily Potter.

“I am the reason that you will not be taking Harry back to the Dursleys,” said Lily raising to her feet, pulling her wand out.

“Just who are you?” asked Fudge. “And why do you think you have a right to say where Potter goes?”

“If you must know,” said Lily before pulling back her hood revealing her face to Dumbledore, Fudge, and Snape.

Hermione gasped in terror before looking at Harry, Hailey, and Ginny who didn’t seem too surprised at this revelation. Daphne and Theodore’s eyes went wide, as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

“Lily,” said Dumbledore in a slightly shaken voice. He knew he had heard that voice earlier somewhere and now it was all clicking in Dumbledore’s head. “I must say it’s nice to see you…alive.”

Lily just nodded her head, her hand still firmly clasped upon her wand.

“What is this madness!” yelled Fudge. “Lily Potter is dead. She’s been dead for fourteen years. Granted, there has never been a body found but there have been extensive magical tests that…”

“I am very much alive Fudge,” said Lily with a dangerous glare in her eyes. “Really, the fact that you’re Minister of Magic speaks for the recent decline of quality for the Ministry.”

Fudge looked at Lily with disgust.

“I don’t believe it,” said Fudge in a skeptical voice.

“Well there’s one way to find out that she’s telling the truth,” said Snape quietly. “Veritiserum.”

“That’s a regulated Ministry substance and the Ministry will not be spending valuable money on this circus,” said Fudge before turning to Potter. “Potter, you are crafty, after all you were sorted into Slytherin that reason but no ruse will allow you to escape being sent back to Vernon and Petunia…”

“He was never supposed to go there in the first place, Fudge. Certain people discredited mine and James’s wishes,” said Lily before shooting Dumbledore a very hateful glare. “There was a whole list of magical families that weren’t pureblood fanatics to send my son to if Sirius Black somehow couldn’t perform his duties as godfather.”

“Just as well because Black was a murderer, killing all these people and along with betraying the location of Lily and James Potter to You-Know-Who,” said Fudge.

“Some Minister, you can’t even say Voldemort,” said Lily, causing Fudge to wince at the name. “Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldemort. It’s just a name, it’s not like I’m about to get struck down my lightning by saying it. And for your information, we switched Secret Keepers. Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper and not Sirius.”

“I refuse to hear any of it,” said Fudge.

“Fine, I’ll make you believe what I have to say is true,” said Lily, reaching into her robe pocket, before pulling out a vial of clear liquid. “This is Veritiserum. There is no way I’ll be able to tell a lie when I use it. If you won’t believe me at my word, Minister, I’ll have to use this Veritiserum to make you believe. ”

“It’s also a restricted Ministry substance and it’s illegal for you to possess something like that,” said Fudge his face a deep shade of red.

“Not under American Wizarding Government guidelines,” said Lily. “Since the States is now my home, I’m not subject to your little Ministry guidelines and neither is Harry or Hailey for that matter.”

Fudge felt trapped. If this was truly Lily Potter, then his plan to contain Potter would go up in smoke as he did not want to risk a full scale war between the British Ministry of Magic and the American Wizarding Government. While Fudge was confident that the British would win due to the fact that were the oldest magical government in the world, having a war over something as trivial as this would cause his popularity rating to go down the drain.

“Just the bloody potion then,” said Fudge in a defeated voice.

Lily sat herself in the chair, before putting the required three drops in her mouth to tell the truth.

Fudge stepped over, preparing to act as the reluctant interrogator.

“What is your full name?” asked Fudge.

“Lily Anne Potter,” said Lily in a monotone voice

“Do you have any siblings?” asked Fudge.

“One older sister, named Petunia,” said Lily in a robotic tone.

“And what is your opinion of Petunia?” asked Hailey, causing Fudge to shoot her a hateful glare at invading on his turf.

“I think she’s a conceited bitch who his prejudiced against anything and everything magical,” said Lily in monotone. “She could use a bit of psychological counseling and I feel she isn’t fit to look after any children, much less my son. “

“Well the potion was properly brewed,” remarked Snape.

“Very well then,” said Fudge. “Who was the Secret Keeper when you put the Fidelius Charm on the house at Godric’s Hollow fourteen years ago?”

“Peter Pettigrew,” replied Lily without a second’s hesitation.

“Surely you mean, Sirius Black,” said Fudge.

“No, even through that was the original plan,” said Lily. “James and Sirius both agree to switch to Peter. I did so reluctantly but I was very skeptical about whether Peter could handle being the Secret Keeper. Not due to the fact he’d willingly betray us but the fact that he wasn’t as magically strong as the rest of us and someone could torture our location out of us.”

“So Black wasn’t the Secret Keeper?” asked Fudge.

“No,” confirmed Lily causing Fudge to look sickened. Word of this could not get out or Fudge’s approval rating would take a plunge.

“Did you tell anyone of this new arrangement?” asked Harry, looking at Dumbledore who looked rather disturbed that Harry thought to have asked that question.

“Really, I don’t think that’s relevant..” started Dumbledore but Fudge held up his hand so he could hear what Lily had to say.

“I told Albus Dumbledore the afternoon before Voldemort attacked us,” said Lily.

“Dumbledore, you knew and yet you lead me on, thinking Black had betrayed the Potters,” said Fudge in a disgusted voice. “While Black is still guilty of murdering Pettigrew and those twelve Muggles until further evidence can be shown, he is cleared of the crime of betraying the Potters. As for you, Dumbledore, you and I will be having a talk in a few days as to whether or not you can handle running a school full of children due to your advanced age. As for You-Know-Who coming back, I still refuse to believe it due to the fact it’s so absurd. Good day to you all. ”

Fudge turned to his Aurors, motioning for them to follow them as he left.

“Well, I better go now, since I have all the information I need,” said Dumbledore in a worn voice. Lily coming back from the dead had messed up Dumbledore’s well laid plans of sending Harry back to the Dursleys. “Come Severus, we need to talk about your mission.”

Snape and Dumbledore walked out of the Hospital Wing.

“So, Mrs. Potter, how exactly did you manage not to be killed by Voldemort,” said Hermione looking intrigued.

“Call me Lily…Hermione, isn’t it” said Lily. Hermione nodded in confirmation “And that fact is a long story. It all started when…”

Lily told the same story she told Ginny and Harry that night at the TCRI building nearly a year ago.

A couple of nights later, after Harry had healed up enough to get out of the Hospital Wing, Lily lead Hailey, Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Daphne, and Theodore into an empty classroom. The Turtles and Master Splinter had already been sent home after managing to visit Harry briefly once in the dead of night but it was too difficult for any of them.

“There’s something important I need to tell you all,” said Lily quietly. “It’s the reason why this entire mess between Harry and Voldemort started in the first place…”

“First of all, is there anyone here that can overhear us?” asked Hermione looking around. “Because this seems to be rather important.”

“Nothing except this black dog lying on the…” started Harry before trailing off recognizing who exactly the black dog was. “Hello Sirius.”

The dog had turned into a man who had a confused expression on his face at the presence of a certain person in that room. Sirius Black looked at Lily in shock, wondering if he had hit his head and was hallucinating that he was seeing dead people. He knew something had been up with that hooded figure on the day of the Third Task but he couldn’t manage to get to the Hospital Wing on that day to further investigate.

“Could any of you tell me what in the hell is going on here?” asked Sirius in a confused tone of voice, looking completely bewildered at the situation before him.