Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything

Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything (5)

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Chapter Five: The Other Secret Keeper

"No, Harry. Voldemort was made to believe that he had rid the world of two of his biggest enemies. The truth is, Harry, Hermione, James and Lily Potter, your parents, are still very much alive."

This new revelation made both teens stare open mouthed at their Headmaster. Learning that they were brother and sister was enough of a shock, but now this? Hermione saw that Harry seemed too overwhelmed to speak, so she herself spoke up. After all, they were now her parents as well.

"But, Professor, how can that be? On that Halloween night, Voldemort had killed Harry's...our...father, and then proceeded to kill our mother, after she had refused to stand aside. It was by her death that Harry gained the blood protection that has kept him alive since that time. I've looked it all up. For familial blood protection to work, a parent must die in their place. Only by making such an altruistic act can the spell be triggered. So, if they aren't dead, how could this have happened? How could Harry have survived the killing curse that night?"

Hearing Hermione's familiar logical tone of voice caused Harry to regain his senses. She was right, how else could Harry have survived if his parents hadn't died to protect him? Dumbledore merely rested his head upon his fingertips again.

"It was no secret that James and Lily were placed into hiding before she had given birth. That face was known by the rest of the Order, as well as their friends including, and most importantly, Peter. His last minute appointment of being secret keeper meant that he was given no opportunity to find out what other preparation had been made for their safety. No, instead he was too caught up in his elation of being able to deliver to his master the lives of his greatly feared enemies, something he was positive would gain him rewards he could only dream of. However, when Voldemort arrived at the Potter residence, he believed that he was catching them quite unaware. How very wrong he was."

Harry was beginning to feel lost again.

"What do you mean, Professor? How was he wrong about that?"

"Ah, that, if I do say so myself, was one of my most intelligent plans. And that, as I've said before, is saying something. Lilly and James were possibly the two most proficient wizard and witches in the Order in certain fields, Lily with her charms, and James in his defensive spells. This meant that they were both often called upon to undertake in very dangerous missions for me, and made them privy to things that no one else knew. When they were forced to go into hiding, we made sure that it would be assumed that I myself would be their secret keeper. It was then believed that I had told them to choose someone else. At the time, there was a belief that Sirius might be on the side of Voldemort, while some believed that Remus being a werewolf made him not at all trustworthy. I had full confidence in the both of them, as did James and Lily, but we were all agreed that Peter was the weak link of the chain. His cowardice and fear made us believe that he was the spy for the Death Eaters. Lily and James made it seem that they trusted him and they performed the rite of the Fidelius Charm that would make him their secret keeper. When Peter then ran to his true master, he believed that he was giving him the information he required to allow him the opportunity to slay those that alone could prevent his reign of darkness. Instead, he fed Voldemort exactly the information that the three of us hoped he would all along."

Harry and Hermione were staring wide-eyed at their Headmaster. Later, they would wonder why their mouths were so dry. Harry blinked.

"But, Professor, if you knew Pettigrew was the spy, why not force him to tell you where Voldemort was?"

Dumbledore shook his head but remained smiling.

"What information do you think Peter could have told us? Do you honestly think that Voldemort would have trusted Peter with anything of consequence? Would you? No, he did not hold him in that high of regard at the time. We needed Peter to believe that he had succeeded in finding out what none of his more trusted Death Eaters could, the whereabouts of the one who he sought so desperately."

Hermione was now the one to blink.

"But, sir, he did tell him. Voldemort came and killed Harry's...our...parents that night, didn't he?"

Again, Dumbledore shook his head and continued smiling.

"No, he did not. Peter did indeed tell him the location of Harry, but that is all. For you see, someone else had become James and Lily's secret keeper after all. Lily had already supplied Harry with the blood protection he needed. If she herself had made the charm's trigger to be her own death, it would have only served to protect Harry. By expanding it to protect the both of you, she was able to make the trigger something else entirely. As I have said, love comes in many forms, and all of them are as powerful as the next. Two people were indeed killed that night, but not the two he believed he was killing.

It was no secret what Voldemort would do after hearing what he had of the prophecy. We knew that he would come after Lily and James, and to do so he would need to have their secret location revealed to him by their secret keeper, which Peter believed himself to be. However, what he didn't know was, he could not because someone already was the secret keeper for them. The ceremony that was performed was a farce, but fortunately Peter was never the brightest galleon in the vault, so he never suspected a thing. He quickly ran to his master while Lily and James departed to take up their actual location elsewhere. By the time that Voldemort arrived in Godric's Hollow, replicas of Lily and James were in place, along with a very real Harry."

Harry felt he was being set further adrift again.

"But, who was it? Who would die for me besides my own parents?"

Dumbledore's kind smile faded.

"The two deaths were necessary for the protection charm to be triggered. As I said, love comes in many forms. Lily and James had many close friendships, as you know, and it was the sacrifice of two of them that ensured the survival of the two of you. There would have been many others that would have died in their place, but only two of them possessed the ability to do what must be done. The two of you are now only the sixth and seventh people in the world to know this now, but, on that night, we saw the loss of Theodore and Andromeda Tonks."

Both teens once again found their mouths hanging wide open. Harry shook his head as if that would clear his mind.

"How can that be? She's talked about them! They can't be dead!"

Dumbledore gave a sorrowful sigh and nodded.

"Nymphadora is a tremendous asset to the Order because of her loyalty to it. Haven't you ever wondered how someone with her...'coordination issues' became an Auror and Order member so young? It was in part due to her own parents sacrifice to the war against Voldemort. They were the only two people who could do it, you see. Polyjuice potion would not have fooled someone with the knowledge of Potions that Voldemort has. Charms would have also been useless. No, it had to be those with the ability to change their features without the use of any form of magic. You see both of Nymphadora's parents had the ability. Andromeda lied when she told her family that she was marrying a Muggle, in order for her to escape the man they wanted her to marry, Antonin Dolohov. When the two of them agreed to give their lives in exchange for the protection of the entire Potter family, and the possible destruction of Voldemort, the altruistic action was enough to trigger the protection that Lily had set up for the both of you. Sadly, the destruction of Voldemort was not attained, but the protection came about none the less, and for that their lives were not lost in vain by any means."

Hermione gasped at the idea of Tonks losing her parents like this. She had never let on, and had in fact made it seem that she did have very much alive parents. She had always thought of Tonks as a bit dotty, but now realized that she was much more shrewd than she could have believed. Still, it all seemed like an awful lot to believe.

"Professor, what you're saying then is that Harry's...I mean...our parents knew that Peter was the spy all long, or at least strongly suspected it?"

"Correct."

"And that they made him believe that he was their secret keeper, knowing that he would tell Voldemort, bringing him out in the open?"

"Correct."

"And that, in reality, someone else was the secret keeper, and that they were both safely hidden elsewhere?"

"Correct."

"So, instead of them, you had Tonks' parents impersonating them, and their sacrifice triggered the protection for Harry and I?"

"Correct."

"And that the reason Harry was left there alone with the most powerful dark wizard of all time was because you knew that, under the protective charm, he wouldn't be able to kill Harry."

"Correct."

Hermione chewed on her bottom lip while she processed the information in her mind.

"What if Voldemort hadn't come alone? What is he had brought Death Eaters with him? Couldn't they have killed Harry instead?"

Dumbledore shook his head once again.

"I was entirely positive that Voldemort would come alone. You have to remember that Voldemort believed Harry to be the one thing that could bring about his downfall. Would you want to bring along people you didn't trust to destroy such a person? Would you want to show these people what you believed to be the only thing capable of your defeat? You have to keep in mind that Voldemort trusts no one. No, this was something he could want to do on his own. However, I did plant the urge in Hagrid's mind to be there when I detected Voldemort's presence in the house, just in case. I did not anticipate Sirius showing up as well, and I am regretful that he was forced to believe that his best friends were dead, but there was nothing to be done about it. Voldemort had to believe that he had killed them so that they could go underground and continue their work for the Order. As I've said, only myself and one other person knew they were alive, and not the two of you know it as well.

Harry had heard enough.

"If they're still alive, where are they? Tell me! I want to see them right now!"

Dumbledore shook his head.

"I cannot tell you that, Harry."

Harry was on his feet again in a flash and the entire room started to vibrate.

"WHAT? What do you mean, 'you can't tell me'? If you don't tell me where they are right this second, I swear I'll..."

Dumbledore grabbed the pensieve that was sliding off his desk due to the vibrations while Fawkes gave another startled cry and flew about in panic.

"Harry, please, you must settle down! It isn't a question of me not wanting to tell you, I simply cannot. Only their secret keeper could tell you their location."

The vibration in the room stopped as Fawkes returned to his perch and Hermione got up from her position under the desk.

"Then tell me who the secret keeper is! I'll force them to tell me where they are if I have too!"

Dumbledore placed his pensieve back in the middle of the table and wiped a bit of sweat off his brow.

"There is no need to force anyone into anything, Harry. However, we will be in need of my pensieve. You see, the person who your parents made their secret keeper sixteen years ago is here with us right now."

Harry's anger flared again.

"You just said that you weren't their secret keeper!"

Dumbledore quickly held up his hands in hopes of calming Harry down before he could rend the office in two.

"I spoke the truth, Harry. No, the secret keeper is sitting next to you, not opposite you."

Harry unclenched his fist and looked wide-eyed at Hermione. For her part, Hermione didn't think she'd ever felt so confused.

"Me? How can that be? I would have only been a year or so old. How could I have been their secret keeper?"

Dumbledore's warm smile reappeared.

"You would be amazed at what a child may retain. Do you see now the lengths we went to in order to keep all of you safe? Before you were placed in hiding, Hermione, your parents made you their secret keeper. There is no age restriction on doing so, and you were then immediately taken to safety afterwards, knowing that you would one day come to Hogwarts. You see, most wizard's and witch's use adults as their secret keepers so that they might pass on the information for them if need be. However, your parents did not want the information to surface until you were of age and safe. We also knew that I could extract the memory when the time was right, and thus keep your parents safe until then. Voldemort would believe them to be dead, so there would be no one to look after them. However, now that you are both of age, I feel it is time that you did know where they are. So, Hermione, if you would allow me to extract the memory from deep within your mind, you will both find out their location as last."

Hermione had seen what Dumbledore had done to extract his own memories and leaned forward to allow him to do the same to her. Brushing aside some of her bushy hair, the Headmaster extracted a thought strand and placed it into the pensieve before him. Instantly, a rather aged stone tower appeared, causing Dumbledore to burst out into laughter. Harry and Hermione both looked at him questioningly, not getting the humor that this evidently caused. Once he stopped laughing, the Headmaster wiped the tears from his eyes and composed himself.

"Only the two of them would think of such a thing! They truly are the limit."

Harry and Hermione continued to stare at him in obvious need of an explanation of some kind.

"Oh, sorry, I should explain. You see your father's mother was part of a large magical family from Ireland. In fact, I believe you are distantly related to Seamus Finnigan. Anyway, as you know, James had a gift of gab and was extremely popular with the ladies. Well, this caused your mother to claim that, when he had kissed the Blarney Stone, that he had accidentally swallowed some of it. Apparently that gave them an idea because they are indeed both hiding inside Blarney Castle, just below where thousands of Muggle Tourists tramp around."

Harry stood up and pushed the cake plate toward Dumbledore.

"Right then, make this into a Portkey and send us there. I want to see them."

Hermione also got up and placed her hand on the former Portkey as well.

"Yes, I want to see them as well. Send us both there so we can meet them."

Dumbledore made no motion to comply.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, and I must ask the both of you to never attempt it either. Your parents are in hiding for a reason and you going to them now would draw too much attention to them. For now, you must content yourselves that your parents are alive and well. When the time is right, I promise you will be able to see them."

Harry's anger rose up again.

"I'm getting sick of hearing about 'when the time is right'. When exactly is that? When will the time ever be 'right'? Eh? When exactly is that, Professor?"

Dumbledore grabbed up the cake stand and his pensieve before Harry had a chance to destroy them. Fortunately, no strong vibrations were felt this time. It seemed Harry had finally got the hang of controlling his unintentional power spikes.

"Harry, Hermione, please believe me when I tell you that there will be a time when this will all be behind us, but until then, we must do everything we can to protect ourselves, and that includes your parents. Indeed the very reason they had to be placed into hiding was to protect them as they worked on a successful way to defeat Lord Voldemort. As well as protecting the two of you."

Harry's eyes narrowed.

"Sir, please, Hermione and I..."

Dumbledore raised a hand to cut him off.

"You must not interfere with their work. As I said before, these plans were initiated before the two of you were ever born. They knew that the separation from the two of you would be extremely difficult, but they also knew that it had to be done. That is one of the reasons that I placed these memories under a time lock. The temptation to tell you the truth would have been too much for me I am afraid, especially with as fond as I have become of the both of you. However, I will send them word that I have talked with you both and told you about the second prophecy, as well as the truth about your parentage. But please, you must both promise me that you will not go searching for them, agreed?"

Dumbledore looked pointedly at the both of them and waited for their response. Harry wasn't sure he wanted to agree, but a look from Hermione made him realize that the Headmaster hadn't led them wrong before, so he would go along with it. The two of them nodded their heads as Hermione squeezed Harry's hand and smiled at him.

"We won't interfere, Professor. You have to understand though, we've just learned that they're alive, and yet we still can't see them. Can you at least tell us what the two of them are working on that is so important? What have they been doing for the last fifteen years?"

Dumbledore smiled back at Hermione and the twinkle returned to his sky-blue eyes.

"I understand how you both feel. I would love nothing more than to see my own parents again. Of course, with the way I felt when I got up this morning, I may not have much longer to wait. However, I digress. From the moment that Lily and James went into hiding they, along with one other Order member, has been working on the countless theories and experimentations in the hopes of bringing about the end of Voldemort. During this time, they received only the barest of information about the two of you and your lives. That may seem cruel, considering the way you in particular were being treated, Harry, but can you guess how they would have reacted to finding out how the Dursley's were treating you, or how hard it was for Hermione to adjust to her sudden discovery of her magical powers? As you can well imagine they would have wanted to come out of hiding, just as the two of you wish to go see them now. No, they were simply told that you were both alive and, for the most part, well."

Harry scoffed.

"Alive and well? Is that what you'd call my childhood with those people? You make Hermione and I sound like lab rats instead of human beings!"

Dumbledore managed to hold everything down on his desk as the vibrations started up again.

"I am sorry, Harry. If there was any other way we could have done it, we would have, but there wasn't any. The advances that your parents have made have been crucial to our fight against Voldemort and his followers. And you must also keep in mind that without your mother's blood protection, you would both be dead now. Harry, you would have died that first Halloween night, and Hermione, you would have died that fateful night in the Department of Mysteries."

Hermione gasped.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the curse sent to you was quite enough to kill you, despite it being non-verbal. From the accounts I have received about what happened, you were hit with a rather extreme and very much banned version of the Severing charm that should have torn through your internal organs with ease. It would have been something comparable to the non-verbal and wandless ability that Harry has been showing by causing the room to shake, and for my thick oaken desk to split. Had you not been with Harry at the time, with your brother, you would have certainly been killed. It was his love that saved you, just as your mother's love had saved him."

Hermione absently ran her hands over her chest and stomach. Madame Pomfrey had said that the wounds had been very bad, but she had pulled through fairly quickly. She had never thought of why that was. She was brought out of her thoughts by Harry's arm going around her shoulders to hug her. The sensation of it made her feel safer and helped clear her head. Dumbledore smiled at the two of them embracing and chuckled.

"Yes, you have both cheated death much sooner that any witch or wizard ever should be forced to do so. After going into hiding, your mother set about studying every research book on effective charms that she could get her hands on. She will be very proud to hear of your own determination, Hermione. You truly are a credit to her. She has since come up with many charms that have and continue to have benefited us in our fight against the evil we face. She has also been of great help in the removal of many other dark curses that have saved numerous lives, many of them their fellow Order members."

Dumbledore now turned his gaze from Hermione to Harry.

"As for James, well, whereas Lily is the expert in the field of offensive charms and the removal of curses, he is the authority on defensive spells and concealments. In fact, one of the reasons that Number 12 Grimmauld Place remains a place of security is thanks to his concealment charms and superior defensive spells. Lately, James has been working on a way to keep closer tabs on the two of you, but I have reminded him, just as I have the two of you, that it would be very dangerous if he were to be found out. Unfortunately, James can be rather...hard headed."

Both Harry and Hermione smiled as they both thought simultaneously that the other had inherited that trait from him. Harry then remembered something Dumbledore had said earlier.

"Professor, who is this 'one other' person that knows where my parents are? Have they been working together all this time?"

Dumbledore's smile faded again.

"That, I'm afraid, I cannot tell you. Only the person themselves can do so, and I am not that person."

Harry didn't care for this answer, but got the impression that there was no more he could get out of Dumbledore about the matter. He would ask about it more in the future, however. Another thought then struck his mind as he wondered whom the person must be, causing him to turn his gaze again from the Headmaster to his sister.

"Hermione, I know what problems I had growing up, but what about you? What kind of trouble did you have when you first discovered that you could do magic?"

Hermione sighed and gave a sad little smile.

"My problems started long before that, Harry."

Harry's face became concerned.

"What? I thought you always said your parents..."

Hermione shook her head.

"No, Harry, it wasn't anything that they did. They were, and are, wonderful parents. No, my problems were with the rest of the world. From my first year in school, all the other kids treated me like an outcast. My parents had money, so the in-crowd thought I should be one of them, or at least their parents did, and I was one of them for a little while. I knew they were all shallow and spoiled, but I wanted to have friends like everyone else. Well, after my grades would come out and I would take more and more advanced classes, the other girls all decided that I was too much of a geek for them, and they stopped talking to me. My own parents kept telling me they were just jealous, but it still hurt me a lot. By the time I was ten and the skirts of the girls who made fun of me started to catch fire for no reason, and the boys who pulled my pig-tails suddenly found themselves hanging upside down on the monkey bars, well, it all just further cemented my position as the Queen of the Freaks. I tried to hide my abilities, trying to eliminate at least one thing that set me apart from the others, but it was no good. And trying to tell my parents about it was awful. I tried to tell them about the changes I was going through, and how I was scared and confused, but it didn't seem to get through to them. Instead, my mother got me a book on 'becoming a woman' and my dad cried. When that owl showed up with my letter, it was like I was finally being rewarded for my perseverance. It was like my life up to that point had been a trial that I had to pass before I could be accepted for who I am. Of course, even after I came here it took a while to gain that acceptance. I tell you, if Ron hadn't talked you into saving me from that troll in first year..."

Harry choked.

"What's that? What did he tell you? I was the one who noticed you were missing, I was the one who talked him into going to find you!"

Hermione's smile turned into a frown.

"Why that...he...he said he was the one who had to talk you into it. He said you were scared to death and cried! I can't believe he would tell me that! Why would he do such a thing?"

Harry smirked as realization dawned on him.

"When exactly did he tell you this?"

"Last year, why?"

"Has he ever said anything about what happened while you were petrified in second year? Anything about how we figured out it was a Basilisk, and how we knew it was using the pipes?"

"Well, yes, as a matter of fact. He told me about that last year as well. He said that he used to sit next to my bed all night and found the note in my hand while he was holding it. He said that you thought he was stupid for being there, and that you said it was useless for...oh."

Harry's smirk turned into a full smile as he saw the realization flash before her eyes.

"That lying little toe rag! He was just saying that stuff to make me like him! I cannot believe him! I bet he was even lying when he said you told him that you thought my arse looked big in my Yule Ball gown!"

Harry's smile faded as fast as Hermione's had.

"WHAT? That wanker is going to get his wand shoved so far up his..."

"Ahem!"

Both teens were pulled out of their fantasies of violence towards Ron when Dumbledore cleared his throat in a very Umbridge like way.

"Forgive me the interruption, but I thought it best to stop the lynching of your mutual best friend before it started. You must not be too hard on Mr. Weasley. Love makes even the strongest of men do daft things at times. Whether it is using white lies to impress, or to try and hold them at an arm's length in an effort to protect them, we are all victims of love's momentary lapses of reason. Now, I believe that the time to return you both to the Burrow is approaching. But, before you go, I wish to impress upon you both again that you must not to go in search of your parents, or to tell anyone at all, including Mr. Weasley, that they are still alive. You may, if you wish, tell your closest friends about your being brother and sister, but please do keep it between as few people as possible. Voldemort has eyes and ears everywhere and will not hesitate to use any information that he can use to bring about more death and destruction. Please, promise me that you will be careful, both of you."

Harry and Hermione nodded and vowed to do as the Headmaster said, despite what they both felt they would rather do. Dumbledore beamed at the both of them.

"Excellent. Now, I think there have been enough revelations for one evening. Alas, it is even now going on four in the morning. I can only imagine what Molly will think if she discovers the two of you are gone. You must tell her and Arthur I apologize for taking you without notice like this. I will explain it to them myself when I see them later today. Now, I need the two of you to grab onto the cake plate again and I will return you from where and whence you came. Portus!"

The cake plate glowed for a moment and then returned to normal. Both Harry and Hermione grabbed onto it and prepared for the return trip to the Burrow.

"Harry, Hermione, I cannot tell you how happy I am to finally be able to tell you the truth tonight. I am also glad that you understand the need to keep your parents safely hidden away. I promise you; there will come a time for you all to be reunited one day. Now, if you are both ready, on the count of three then. Oh, and there is just one other thing I must tell you."

Both teens looked at Dumbledore expectantly.

"Yes?"

"Happy Birthday!"