PRIORI INCANTATEM by Arianna Waters (read with me .TXT) 📖

Talk — With Dumbledore, and the Dursleys

 

(A/N: Instead of rotating the first part of this chapter around Harry, I’m just writing in third person P.O.V., Harry being absent from the scenario.)

The weird group — containing Remus Lupin, Sirius Black in his animagus form, Lily and James Potter hidden under the invisibility cloak — made their way to Dumbledore’s office.

“Acid Pops,” Remus spoke the password, to which the stone gargoyle step aside, giving them entrance to the spiral staircase.

“Albus Dumbledore!” it was Lily who cried out his name, as James threw back the Invisibility Cloak, and Sirius turned back to his human self.

“I’m aware of the reason you all have come here,” began Dumbledore, holding a hand to stop them from speaking, “but you must give me a moment to inform you of a particularly good news.”

As Remus nodded, Dumbledore continued — “Thanks to the statement given by Ms. Jorkins . . . Sirius, your name has been cleared off from the crime they held you guilty of. She has given, under the effects of Veritaserum, and hence undertaking a truly dangerous task, a full account of her meeting with Peter Pettigrew, and informed the Ministry of his actions. No doubt, Fudge has seen to it to gain trust of Ms. Jorkins, so that she mustn’t reveal to others that Voldemort might have actually come back — but yes, you’re a free man Sirius, and tomorrow the Daily Prophet will carry the news. You might be summoned at the Ministry for another trial, but —”

“Congratulations Sirius,” Remus said, smiling widely.

“I won’t say anything. I have yet to hear of what exactly happened, to send Padfoot to Azkaban. And that gives me another reason to be mad at you, Dumbledore,” James said.

“Ah, you can yell at me as much as you want,” said Dumbledore. “I personally believe that I deserve being shouted at for all the mistakes I’ve made . . . but here comes the complex part of what I told you just now.”

“Let me guess,” Remus began. “At the trial, they are going to question Sirius under Veritaserum, and you’re afraid they might ask him about you, and what you’re planning against the Ministry.”

“I’m afraid you’re right, Remus,” said Dumbledore.

“We can use the antidote to Veritaserum,” said Lily promptly.

Dumbledore smiled. “How do you know about that Lily?”

“Well . . . it was — er — a private discovery — by me and Severus.”

“Ah, yes,” Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes. “No one knows about it except you, Severus, me and now all the people present in this room. I can trust either you or Severus to prepare it, and I’m afraid he is unavailable for the task at the moment, so I’m counting upon you for that.”

“Of course, Professor Dumbledore.”

“You can call me Albus now. You are no longer a student at Hogwarts.”

“Right — er — Albus,” said Lily.

“You mean to say —” began James, forgetting his anger momentarily, “— that you discovered an antidote to Veritaserum somewhere in first five years at Hogwarts?” He, Remus and Sirius were all looking at Lily in some sort of awe.

She nodded, blushing slightly.

“So, if that is settled,” James spoke, as he remembered the real reason why they were here, and trying hard to keep his voice at a normal volume, “Can I know why the bloody hell was my best mate sent to Azkaban, and why was my son sent to live with those Dursleys?”

All four of them glared at Albus, though Remus and Sirius did so only in regard to Harry being sent to his relatives.

“Well,” Dumbledore began. “You see — you had changed your secret keeper without telling me — or anyone else for the matter.”

“Yeah,” said Sirius. “It was my fault. I asked them to make that rat their keeper. And we did not tell Remus because — well —”

“—you thought I was Voldemort’s spy,” Remus spoke quietly.

“Sorry mate,” said Sirius and James.

“No, it’s alright,” Remus said.

“So . . .” Sirius continued, “That night, I went to the place he was staying at. It was empty, and there was no sign of struggle. I was worried. I went to your house at Godric’s Hollow. It was in a terrible state. I went inside . . . I saw . . . you . . . lying there . . . lifeless. . . .”

“It’s alright Padfoot, I’m back now,” James said, as he placed a reassuring hand on Sirius’ shoulder — who was looking completely shaken.

“I went upstairs, hoping to see Lily and Harry. . . . The nursery door had been blasted open . . . Lily was lying there . . . dead . . .”

“Its fine, Sirius,” Lily said in a gentle voice.

“I could not bear to see what had happened to my godson. As I turned on my heel, I heard him crying. He was crying for you Lils,” Sirius said. “I thought it was a miracle he had survived. I picked him up. He was sobbing so much . . .  asking what the bad man had done to hurt you.

“Hagrid came . . . asked me to hand Harry over to him . . . he said it was Dumbledore’s order . . . they were taking him to a safe place . . . I reluctantly agreed . . . gave him my bike.”

He sighed. “I went after Pettigrew to kill him.”

“You didn’t,” cried James.

“Yes, I did,” said Sirius. “I went on searching for him. After three days, I had him cornered in a muggle street . . .”

“But you didn’t manage to kill him. We saw him that day,” Lily said.

“That’s the thing,” said Sirius. “He shouted out to the street how I had betrayed you guys to Voldemort.”

“NO!” James and Lily cried.

“That’s not the end of it. We had always thought of him to be dumb and daft, hadn’t we? He turned out to be a Slytherin in disguise. With his wand behind his back, he blasted the whole street, killing twelve innocent muggles . . . he then cut his finger off, transformed into a rat, and escaped into the gutters. He faked his own death.”

“What?” cried Lily.

“That moron!” James yelled. “You did not believe it Remus, did you?”

Remus Lupin could not look at James in the eye.

“No Moony! Please don’t tell me you actually believed that Padfoot betrayed us,” James cried.

“What else could I have done,” Remus spoke in a low voice. “All the evidence pointed to him. I didn’t know you had swapped the keepers. On the top of it, after Pettigrew’s little show, he stood there on the street, laughing maniacally like a madman.”

“What else could I have done?” said Sirius. “That rat had outwitted me.”

“Dumbledore, you didn’t!” Lily spoke in a pleading voice.

“I’m sorry,” Albus Dumbledore said.

“What?” yelled James, standing up. “All of you believed that the man — who has always been a brother to me in all but blood — best-man at my wedding — Harry’s godfather — betrayed me! I can’t believe it!” He started pacing around Dumbledore’s office. “You Dumbledore, you knew what Padfoot was to me. How could you just believe some cock-and-bull story and let them send him to Azkaban?” He paused for a second. “You —Remus! How could you not trust him?”

“We didn’t trust him either, Prongs,” Sirius spoke.

“What happened at the trial?” asked Lily. Everyone became quiet as James looked up at them as well, questioningly.

“I didn’t get a trial,” said Sirius.

“You mean to say — you got a life sentence in Azkaban — without a trial?” James all but yelled, as he kicked Dumbledore’s desk. “Stupid morons — gits!” he muttered under his breath, along with another hundred curses and swear words as he upturned a chair in anger.

“Well?” he questioned, looking accusingly at Remus and Dumbledore.

“What?” asked Remus.

“HARRY!” James yelled. “What did this crazy old fool did to my son? Why didn’t you take him if Sirius was not available? Surely, you didn’t think that just because Padfoot was his godfather—”

“I tried,” said Remus. “Ask him!” he said pointing to Dumbledore.

“You better have a good reason to think of sending my baby to my wretched sister, that is, without counting that he was abused there, or I’m going to hex you,” said Lily.

“There is actually a good reason why I sent Harry to your sister,” said Dumbledore. “But I’m afraid I didn’t know he was being abused there.”

“So you send a baby to a muggle family,” James shouted, “but you do not think it important enough to check how he is being treated?”

“I’m really sorry for my mistake,” said Dumbledore.

“Mistake my hat!” cried James. “Your little slip caused my son fourteen years of misery, to put it lightly. And what reason do you have for sending him to the Dursleys?”

“Lily sacrificed herself for protecting Harry,” Dumbledore began. “She thus performed an ancient magic, giving him protection from Voldemort and his followers till he comes of age.”

“And what exactly has it got to do with Lily’s sister?” Sirius questioned.

“Well, you see Petunia is Lily’s only living relative now, hence she shared the blood which flows in Harry’s veins. As long as he called his aunt’s sister his home, the protection would remain in place.”

“So,” Remus spoke, “you’re telling me YOU are unable to save Harry from Voldemort?”

“No,” Dumbledore quietly replied. “But I couldn’t have been with Harry round the clock. Lily’s protective charm was the best thing he could have asked for. Another thing is — that night, when Voldemort tried to kill Harry, the spell backfired, destroying him — all due to Lily’s charm. He became popular overnight as ‘The Boy Who Lived.’ I did not want this fame to get to his head, so I thought it would be better so send him to the muggle world instead of sending him live with some wizarding family.”

“I don’t care!” James yelled. “You haven’t seen what he went through. You haven’t even considered it a responsibility to know how miserably he spent the first eleven years of his life.

“He knew nothing about magic, nothing at all! He was in a belief that his parents were drunkards and got themselves killed in a car crash!”

“Hagrid told me about that,” Dumbledore said. “But I had written a letter to Petunia telling her about the circumstances when I left Harry on their doorstep. I had really hoped she would explain everything to him.”

“A letter?” Sirius yelled. “You left Harry outside their house without even meeting the people he would be living with, with just a LETTER?”

“He lived in a small cupboard under the stairs,” Lily screamed. “He slept on a thin blanket! He polished Vernon’s shoes and did other chores when he was three. They made him cook when he was five. They let his son beat him all the time, and you feel it’s nothing? He might be just another boy for you, but he is my son! And you had no business ordering him to the Dursleys when we had clearly made Sirius Black his godfather, when you didn’t even consider checking upon him even once!”

“I admit it was a grave mistake,” said Dumbledore. “What is done is done. I owe you all an apology and I will do everything within my reach to make up for my mistake.”

“Go and apologize Harry if you mean it,” Remus shouted, surprising everyone.

“I will,” Dumbledore said with his head bowed.

“Now, give us some floo powder, we owe those gits a visit,” Remus said, once more acting out of his character.

Before Dumbledore could say something, Sirius said, “Now don’t you dare to tell us not to go, or not