Unofficial Portkey Archive

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and related characters are the property of JK Rowling, various publishing companies, Warner Brothers, etc. I'm not making any money from this. If I was, I'd probably get a newer computer or something.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I apologize for the long delay in posting the next chapter in this sequel. As to why it took so long to update - I've been busy both at work and on a couple of side projects related to this story arc.

As I was reviewing all my old files for Keeping A Promise and getting them "FFN Ready" to match their posting rules as I posted this story at Fanfiction.net recently, I noticed quite a few minor grammatical, punctuation, formatting, and capitalization errors and inconsistencies in that story.

Since in my "Real life" I do Software Quality Assurance (including checking for those very items) it really annoyed me that I had so many errors in my own work. So, to make a long story short, I started working on cleaning up these errors in KAP with the goal of updating the story on FFN.

And, while I was at it, I decided to go "all out" and make the resulting file have the "look and feel" of the US Scholastic edition hardbacks - including chapter illustrations for each chapter, etc. and making it into a PDF. I'm just finishing that project up, and then, if possible, I will attempt to do a refresh of each KAP chapter here on Portkey to match the latest typo corrections, etc. I made during the project. Finally, as you can see with this post, I'm also updating this sequel on Portkey as I'm doing that. So, stay tuned!

Many thanks to Steve Vander Ark and his staff for their wonderful research that is fortunately still available at www.hp-lexicon.org. In this chapter I used some of the timelines there such as this one: http://www.hplex.info/timelines/essays/timeline_potters.html/ along with other articles that are quoted and referenced in this chapter.

Chapter Four

A Promise Remembered

Now that she had the undivided attention of her progeny, Hermione took a deep breath and began her story. "I suppose it all started, chronologically at least, when I started reading a series of French comic books about the Gauls and the Romans starting when I was about six years of age. If you recall, my maternal grandfather and his family all lived in France until my mum went to dentistry school in England and met my dad. I spent lots of holidays in France with my cousins when I was younger, and I read their comic books while I was there.

"One of the main characters in the series was a big, strong guy with bright red hair who was also famous for his voracious appetite. For some reason I really fancied him, especially since he was so good at beating up the mean Romans who were picking on my Gaulish ancestors. At least that's how it looked to a young girl on holiday in France in the late 1980s.

"Then, as I got older, I also came to realize a sad truth. Lily, you especially may not believe this now, but in England back then people with red hair like you, your aunt Rose, and the rest of the Weasley family were referred to as `gingers' and were the subject of ridicule, teasing, and outright discrimination. Even Prince Harry of Wales, who was born third in line to the British throne when I was a very young girl, admitted as he got older that he was bullied on occasion because of his ginger hair. More than one famous woman publicly stated that they would never date a `ginger', even if he was a prince. I, however, always fancied Prince Harry too, even though I was almost exactly 5 years older than he was. I always felt sorry and somewhat possessive of him." She half-whispered, "Don't tell my husband, but thanks to my father I even had a `Property of Prince Harry' shirt at one time in my life," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Eventually, it got to the point where anyone else I met who had red hair was automatically someone I wanted to make my friend, especially ones who were being teased or looked like they had a rough life. You know me, always looking out for the underdog."

James looked at his sister and rolled his eyes as he coughed into his hand something that sounded like "house elves" and she giggled in return, drawing a stern look from Hermione.

Lily looked puzzled, though. "Grandmama, so what does a young girl's obsess...erm ...interest in people with red hair have to do with the books?"

"Be patient, young lady. I'm getting there. Besides, you can probably figure out what happened my first day on the train to Hogwarts. You recently read the first book, right?"

Lily stared off into space for a moment, recalling what she had just read a few days earlier. Before she could say anything, James blurted out, "Let me guess... you fell in love with Ronald Weasley on the train that day, didn't you?"

Lily gasped as she recalled what she had read about their first meeting on the train that day and looked quickly at her great-grandmother, hoping for an outright denial... but it didn't come.

Hermione blinked her eyes and was once again caught up in a memory. Finally, with a embarrassed grin on her face, she said "Well, not exactly THAT day, but let's say it didn't take long for me to get a massive crush on him after meeting him. I mean, honestly... here, in the form of Ronald Bilius Weasley, was nearly everything that I had fancied up to that point - while I admit he wasn't anywhere near as strong as Obelix, he was a red-haired, tall, thin, and gangling boy wizard with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose...who, as I found out at the feast later that evening, was also a voracious eater with atrocious table manners.

"Ah, I was smitten... but I was also very shy about such things so I didn't let on. Later, it became obvious as I got to know him that he was insecure and aware of his lack of status in the Wizarding world, mostly because he was Harry's friend."

"Yeah, what about Grandpapa? What did you think about him back then?" Lily asked.

"To tell you the truth, not much at first. I knew quite well who he was, of course, when I first laid eyes on him - I had read all about him in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century well before we met, you know. Since I knew I'd probably be meeting him at school, I promised myself that I would NOT be a `fan girl' and fall all over him like, I assumed, the other girls would do when they met him.

"Besides," she said quietly, "he wasn't all that much to look at when I first met him. Unruly black hair, ill-fitting clothes, worn-out trainers... no, I was definitely not interested in him romantically...and, to tell you the truth, I was a bit scared of him. The fact that he, as an infant, had defeated the most evil wizard of our time and no one had figured out exactly how that happened was rather disconcerting if you think about it. So, obviously, there were rumors going around back then that he must have been evil, too.

"However, after a couple of well-documented incidents that happened that first year at Hogwarts I was very glad that he was one of my best friends, and I knew from then on that he was a great wizard and that I would do anything to protect him or to help him, but I still didn't fancy him."

Now it was James' turn to be puzzled. "But Grandmama, from what I just read in the books, it looks to me like you didn't ever really LIKE Minister Weasley, either. You and he were always fighting or arguing about something. I'd be willing to bet that if I picked up any of, let's say, oh, these first five books, randomly opened it to a page where you and he were mentioned as having a conversation, then most of the time it would describe a fight between you or mention how upset you were with what he was doing or saying at the time."

It was Lily who responded first, grinning as she spoke. "Silly little brother, don't you know ANYTHING about puppy love and young girls? The fights were a way for you to flirt with him to get him to notice you, weren't they? And, the expressions of disgust were because you were hoping that he would listen to you and maybe learn some manners and tact. You were trying to fix him, weren't you, Grandmama?"

Hermione nodded. "Guilty as charged. Remember, this first time I was both infatuated with him and an immature little girl, and Ron, well, Ron was..."

"Clueless?" Lilly suggested.

"Clueless." Hermione agreed. "Still is, to be honest with you. I don't know how Lavender puts up with him even now. Even though she's not always the sharpest knife in the drawer herself, I'm sure there have been many days when she wants to beat her dear `Won-Won' over the head with a stick to get him to recognize something that's staring him in the face. But, they had twelve children together, so I guess they must have found something they both liked in each other that kept them together all these years."

She blushed as she realized how that last sentence must have sounded. "Erm... well... that didn't come out right... but you know what I mean." James and Lily both snickered in their hands.

"Now where was I?" Hermione said. "Oh, yes... falling in love with Ron pretty much at first sight and trying to get him to just notice me. I was quite the pathetic thing, wasn't I?"

"Well, yeah," James said, grinning at Hermione, "but what does a case of puppy love between Hogwarts students have to do with Albus Dumbledore hexing a Muggle?"

"Patience, James. I'm getting there. Well, as you recall from the books you read, we went on that way for a few years. Over that time I had grown up some, and so had Harry, while Ron and I had our ups and, mostly, downs, over things as silly as Crookshanks chasing what he thought was his family's pet rat. Even though he hurt me emotionally many times I still held out some hope that one day he'd notice me as more than just a bushy-haired boffin who let him copy her homework assignments from time to time when he was desperate.

"But then, during our original fourth year, things started to really come between us. First, I was quite upset with Ron when he basically abandoned Harry after the incident with the Goblet of Fire when his jealousy and greed got the better of him, and I was even more upset with Ron when he wouldn't even ask me to the Yule Ball until nearly the last minute. And even then he managed to both insult me and hurt me significantly in the process." Lily saw a flash of sadness in Hermione's eyes.

"Yet, somehow, we still managed to stick together as friends. Honestly, looking back on that time, if Harry hadn't been there to keep us both apart and together during our first four years together, I'm sure we would have gone our separate ways by the end of that year. Looking back on those days, I also realized that Ron was starting to show some interest, albeit in a very juvenile way, in Lavender even then."

Lily grimaced. "Oh, yes...the fourth year book mentioned that he asked her if he could `look at Uranus', if I recall. It's neither original or witty, to say the least," she said dryly.

Hermione chuckled and nodded in agreement, then said, "As it was, when I said good-bye to Harry at Kings Cross that year, I drummed up the courage to do something I had never done before with Ron or Viktor Krum or anyone else, no matter what others may have written about me. I gave Harry a kiss on the cheek. I justified it to myself by reminding myself that he had just experienced something horrible and he needed something to cheer him up, which was all true. But I also was slowly starting to realize that I had enjoyed my time with Harry that year more than with anyone else. As we walked and talked together, I really started to get to know him as a person...and a friend.

"Even then, though, if you had asked me directly who I fancied at that time, I would have still said Ron would be the one for me. Which is why, when Harry taught Dumbledore's Army the Patronus charm during fifth year the first time around, my Patronus was an otter, a member of the weasel family, and not the doe it is now."

"But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's see... oh, yes... it was the summer before our first fifth year when I started noticing something wasn't quite right with Albus. Some of the decisions he was making, especially with regards to Harry's health and well-being, were really making me question his sanity, not to mention his true feelings about Harry. Remember, Harry had just witnessed the return of Voldemort AND the death of a classmate, and in response, Albus deliberately isolated him by banishing him to the Dursley's."

Her aging voice began to sound more agitated as she continued. "In the previous summers, Ron and I had always sent him birthday packages and letters on our own, but this year he actually forbade us from having any contact with him without his permission. Not only that, we could only send messages after Albus reviewed and censored them heavily. As you recall from your reading, resulted in such useless scribbles as `We can't say much about you-know-what, obviously. . . .' `We've been told not to say anything important in case our letters go astray. . . .' `We're quite busy but I can't give you details here. . . .' `There's a fair amount going on, we'll tell you everything when we see you. . . .'

"The uncertainties and perceived lack of support from his closest friends after Cedric was killed nearly drove Harry completely barmy. By the time I was finally able to talk to him downstairs in this very house right before the start of school that year, his personality was almost unrecognizable, all thanks to Albus's self-enforced sentence of solitary confinement."

Hermione almost spat these last words out. It was obvious that the years had not softened her resentment over Harry's blatant mistreatment and abuse during the summer before their fifth year. Then she smiled wistfully and said, "As I saw how unfairly he was being treated, and how unconcerned and clueless Ron was about how his supposed best mate was being treated by Albus, well, I think that was what moved me even further along the path of falling in love with him. I just didn't admit it to myself yet…that didn't happen until I returned home at the end of fifth year as you read in the first part of the first scroll."

Lily interrupted. "But Grandmama, didn't Grandpapa Harry have to stay at the Dursley's all summer to refresh the ancient magic that was protecting him? That's what Albus said all along, wasn't it?"

"Well, sort of. Actually, Harry and I came to realize that that wasn't quite the truth, either. Do either of you remember exactly what Albus said to Harry? No? Well, word for word, he said, `While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refuge. You need return there only once a year, but as long as you can still call it home, there he cannot hurt you.'"

Lily's eyes widened as she realized the truth. "So, all he had to do was return to a place he could call home, once each summer to remain protected?"

"Right in one, Lily! To be safe, we think that he would have had to spend at least one night there each year, but surely nothing more than that, and possibly not even that much. You see, each year after his eleventh birthday his permanent address on file at Hogwarts and with the Ministry was at that house, and he never took all of his belongings with him each year so he had a permanent `presence' there, indicating to all and sundry that that address was where he called home.. at least until the end of our first fifth year."

"Then, why did Albus make him stay there so long each summer? According to the books, he was always mistreated there, and he was always isolated from..."

Hermione finished Lily's thought. "...from everyone and everything that would be of help and comfort to him. His birthright as a wizard, his friends, ties to his family heritage and property, everything. The answer to that question, my dear great-granddaughter, is part of the key to this whole story. And, as with many things that end up being earth-shaking, it all started out with an event so mundane, so commonplace that it's generally not worth noting. Just as happened to Harry and Ron on the Hogwarts Express going to school their first year, two young men, both with promising lives as wizards ahead of them, were introduced one summer many years previous and quickly became great friends."

James quickly blurted out, with noticeable pain in his voice "Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore, right? So, that whole story in the last book was true, then? I was honestly hoping that..."

Hermione smiled sadly at him as she finished his sentence for him, "...that a `hero of the Wizarding World' wasn't also a very close friend to a Dark Lord? Believe me, I understand. Can you imagine what a shock it was to us at the time when we first heard about it? Harry especially took it hard at the time, and at first he wanted to dismiss it completely, especially considering the source of the information. But, unfortunately, that part of Rita's book can be thought of as true, depending on... well, you'll find out more about that later. However, that isn't the worst of it. In fact, Rita never even touched on the worst part of that story. I don't know if she didn't know about it, or if she was saving it for her next tell-all book after she got out of Azkaban, but..." Hermione's tone and countenance both turned darker as she continued to speak. "...but... Albus' story gets worse. Much worse."

She paused, and looked with sadness at the children. "James and Lily, are you sure you really want to know the rest of the story, even if it will most likely completely change how you feel about a number of famous people you may consider heroes, including Albus Dumbledore...and most likely, your great-grandparents? You may end up finding that Harry and I are not all that innocent in this whole affair, either. So, how about it? Would you rather stop here or do you want the whole truth... the truth from our perspective, anyway?"

James and Lily both were taken aback by Hermione's grim statements and the stern look on her face. They looked at each other for a second, looked back at Hermione, and then nodded slowly. "Yes, Grandmama... we want the truth."

Hermione smiled slightly, but Lily noticed the smile did not reach her eyes as she muttered quietly, "Sometimes I'm not sure I want to know the truth...even after all these times I've repeated the story," as once again she gazed off into space, her eyes unfocused once more.

After a slight pause, she shuddered slightly, blinked, and turned to her audience with a determined sigh. "Well, so be it. As someone once said, `Once more into the breach, my friends.' Do you recall the letter from Albus to Gellert that Rita quoted in that book? Here, let me find it for you. James, could you hand me the seventh year book? Yes, the one with the large locket on the cover... that's the one."

James picked up the book that he had just finished reading not that long ago and handed it carefully to Hermione as he thought for a moment. "You're talking about that `greater good' letter, right?"

"Mmmhmmm" she muttered as she started thumbing through the pages. "If I recall...let me see...it should be about half way through the book... ah... here we go. Lily, would you be a dear and read it out loud for us? My eyes are not what they used to be." she said as she handed over the book.

Lily cleared her throat and began to read.

"Gellert -

Your point about Wizard dominance being FOR THE MUGGLES' OWN GOOD - this, I think, is the crucial point. Yes, we have been given power and yes, that power gives us the right to rule, but it also gives us responsibilities over the ruled. We must stress this point, it will be the foundation stone upon which we build. Where we are opposed, as we surely will be, this must be the basis of all our counterarguments. We seize control FOR THE GREATER GOOD. And from this it follows that where we meet resistance, we must use only the force that is necessary and no more. (This was your mistake at Durmstrang! But I do not complain, because if you had not been expelled, we would never have met.)

Albus."

Lily put down the book while the weight of those words hung in the still air in the attic room. Finally, she cleared her throat and asked, somewhat plaintively, "Grandmama, he really didn't feel that way, did he? I mean, later on in life? Please tell me that this letter was just the ravings of a powerful, but immature young wizard who didn't know better, right? I mean, even Grandpapa Harry's father, James, was pretty rough around the edges when he was that age. He ended up turning out all right, didn't he, little brother?"

James, who was always proud when anyone spoke well of his famous namesake, smiled broadly. "Yeah, and I doubt even James at his worst would have considered something this.... well, AWFUL, right? I mean, Albus is seriously advocating the use of force to `seize control' over Muggles! And he claims it is `for their own good'? What was he thinking?"

Hermione sighed once again. "James, that's pretty much what I thought..., at first. But, as we've found out more and more about this wizard that we knew as Professor Albus Dumbledore, a slightly barmy old headmaster, we've learned that not only was this letter a 100% accurate summary of his deeply held beliefs even after he defeated Grindelwald, it also drove him, when the time was right, to act accordingly. Now let me continue... it won't be any easier."

Lily, who looked like she was about ready to make another comment, saw that Hermione was not interested in any more interruptions and nodded.

Hermione continued, "So, as I was saying... Albus, even after he had to delay his plans due to Grindelwald's overzealousness, continued to look for ways to implement his plan to `take care' of all the Muggles, whether they wanted it or not. He was always on the lookout for new allies in his quest... which, by the way, is a big reason he later went to visit a London orphanage in the year 1938, where he made the acquaintance of one Tom Marvolo Riddle. Albus had sensed that Tom was destined to be a powerful wizard, but soon after he got him under his wing at Hogwarts he could also tell that, because of his extreme hatred for all things Muggle, Tom would never agree to the basic premise of Albus' plan - that Wizards would be the rightful, yet benevolent, rulers over the Muggles. Tom, of course, would only want to have that power over Muggles if he could use it to abuse them and torture them for what they did to his mother and to him.

"Albus kept focused on his plan, though, dealing with Tom over the years, trying to keep a close eye on him as much as possible when they were at Hogwarts, but realizing that he was also a danger to the master plan. Eventually, things came to a head in the form of a prophecy about a young boy before he was born, which led to the death of his parents at the hands of Lord Voldemort on Halloween night of 1981. That part of the story you are both quite familiar with, of course, even before you read that first Muggle book. However, that book doesn't say what had been going through Dumbledore's head ever since he learned of Harry's miraculous survival."

James noticed Hermione's jaw muscles tightening involuntarily as she began her next sentence. "Basically... Dumbledore had a brainwave and decided then and there to use the recently orphaned Harry... as a type of cat's-paw."

"A... what?" James said blankly. "What is that? Some type of charm? A potion ingredient?"

Lily shook her head. "No, James - a cat's paw is...well, it's a rather old term for a stooge... a chump... a tool... basically it's a poor sap who is set up to do something that someone else wants to accomplish but they don't want to get their hands dirty personally. So, you're saying that Albus set up Harry this way? How?"

Hermione looked as if she were eating a lemon as she responded. "Albus' quick flash of `brilliance' was that Harry, now without any living blood ties to the Wizarding world, would allow him to finally implement his plan. He guessed correctly that Harry, the `boy who lived' would always be a hero in the Wizarding World, well, except among the Death Eaters, that is. But, Albus wanted the Muggles to feel the same way about Harry. He decided that when the time came, Harry would become an emissary to the Muggles, with Albus calling the shots from behind the scenes, at least at first. Then, as they accepted the new arrangement, Albus would step forward and reveal himself as the true power behind Harry, allowing him to rule over both worlds...all for the greater good."

"Bu... bu... but... " James sputtered in frustration. "The Ministry would never allow that, would they? Didn't someone try to stop him? The poor kid had just lost his parents in a very violent and obvious manner - didn't any wizard in the area try to at least protect Harry when all this was happening?"

Hermione's formerly tightened face immediately relaxed into a happier expression. "Yes... there was someone... Harry's first and fondest, always faithful, wonderful friend. You read the book... you know who it is, of course."

"Hagrid? But wasn't he one of Dumbledore's greatest supporters? In the books, wasn't he always saying how great a man Albus was? In fact, wasn't he the one that handed Harry to Albus the night he went to live with the Dursley's? Some friend he was!"

"Yes, all that is basically true. Remember, though, that while Hagrid was loyal to Albus for his own very good reasons, he was just as fiercely loyal to Harry from the moment he first laid eyes on him. And, Harry loved him like a father...well, more like a VERY big, very hairy uncle, but you know what I mean. Some of Harry's earliest happy memories were of Hagrid taking him away on Sirius' flying motorbike.

"You see, Hagrid sensed right away that Harry was in danger - he just didn't know exactly who from until much, much later. So, when Albus directed Hagrid to rescue the child from the ruins of the Potter home, Hagrid was more than willing. If only he had known the truth back then and, instead of respecting Albus' request, he had just taken Harry and the bike right back to his godfather Sirius, well, let's just say we wouldn't be having this conversation and a lot of people's lives would have been changed - for better or for worse."

James interjected. "So, what happened then? Albus had this idea to have Harry serve as some kind of puppet emissary and placed him among Muggles to raise him. What does all this have to do with the books and Ms. Rowling?"

Lily, who had been quite pensive for some time, finally seemed to come to a conclusion as she heard James ask his question. "Now...wait a minute...now that I think about it, there's something that has been bothering me all along. How come no one at Hogwarts has ever made mention of this Rowling person before? I would think that someone with her kind of published knowledge of the Wizarding world should at least be referenced in our Muggle Studies classes, right? At least as a warning of what can happen if the Secrecy laws are violated? But, until I saw these books, I've never read or heard a thing about her…or these books. You say they are Muggle published books, and Grandmama, you know I've loved reading Muggle books since I was little, but now that I think about it, I don't recognize the name of this publisher... Bloomsbury... never even heard of it."

"Ah... so you are finally starting to catch on, are you? Hermione chuckled. "I didn't think it would take you long to start seeing the inconsistencies. Well, that's what happens when people start messing with timelines... paradoxes are a natural result. Come on... you've also read the first scroll. What other `elephant in the room' can you point out? We've just been talking about him."

James surprised everyone (including himself) by answering first. "Wait a minute... you're right, the first scroll does mention Grindelwald, too... but he definitely wasn't a childhood friend of Dumbledore. He was involved with.... let me think... yeah, there was something about the `excess powers'.... ah...here it is." James had picked up the unsealed scroll and skimmed through it looking for a section near the beginning. "Ah... here it is. It's when you first went to the Leaky Cauldron after you had changed into Harmony and you were talking to Tom, the innkeeper. Would you like me to read it?" Hermione, who was trying to cover an inadvertent yawn, nodded and he began.

"Tom's eyes lit up as he said, "Oh, yes, Miss! You're young enough that you don't remember back in the old days, when G…ggg… Grindelwald was in power. Sorry, Miss, even now it is hard for me to say his full name! Now that he has been defeated these many years, I still remember the terror of that time. It was horrible how much the Muggles were affected by what he was doing, even though they thought it was those fellows, `Hister' and `Moosie' something, and some emperor bloke overseas, wasn't it, that was behind that big war of theirs. What did they call it, the excess powers of World War 3 or 4 or something…?"

The Muggle history student in her had to chuckle as she realized how separated the Wizarding and Muggle worlds really were. To have World War II, and the Axis of Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito mis-remembered, even forgotten, by a member of the Wizarding world who was there at the time was very telling. <Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.> Hermione thought to herself, as she remembered the quote from George Santayana. <That's another thing I'd like to change. The Wizarding World has many things it could learn from and teach Muggles, even without violating the Secrecy laws. I wonder if this is part of why Voldemort was able to get established again so easily. Wizards may have thought that Grindelwald was more of a threat to Muggles, so they didn't consider that they were affected, too. Then, when Voldemort came along, they may have thought that they were safe, because he was mainly going after Muggles and Muggle-borns, so everyone else would just have to lay low for a while until things settled down.> She paused, as she realized that Tom was still talking while she had been thinking.

"-so Albus tracked them down and defeated old Grindy and his followers. Back in 1945, it was. I remember it like it was yesterday. It took two attacks, but finally they all were destroyed. Muggles were told that it was some kind of new weapon that had killed all those people over there, but actually the Muggles were killed by a very nasty dark curse that was tied to Grindy. When Dumbledore attacked, first Grindy's right hand witch and her group, and then, a few days later, Grindy himself, the curse they had bound to their life force was released. Albus couldn't find a way to stop it, although he tried so hard to come up with another way in those few days between the two attacks. Caused quite the big flashes, di'n't it! I know Albus blamed himself for all those Muggle deaths for years afterwards, but considering how many had died already and how many more would have died if Grindy hadn't been stopped, eventually he figger'd what he done was necessary. Sometimes you have to make unpleasant decisions to bring about a greater good, eh, Miss?"

"Thank you, James. Now would you please read the note at the bottom of that section?"

He searched the scroll for a second, and then began reading aloud again.

"If you want to speculate on just who Grindelwald could represent historically, here's a possible candidate… Note that he was accused of being a `half-blood' himself…and was considered a very efficient killer, being charged by Eichmann with organizing the details of the `Final Solution.'. The only problem would be that Heydrich was assassinated in 1942, not the 1945 date listed for Grindelwald. Hmmm…maybe he moved on to take another identity by that time?"

After a short pause, Lily said quietly, "Well... whoever that Heydrich person is, that's definitely not describing the same person as Rita wrote about in the last book. And neither one of them is a completely accurate description of the Voldemort that we learned about in our History of Magic class."

"You're right, Lily. Nor is either one necessarily the same person that Ms. Rowling was first writing about when she started the series. As the series of books became popular, she was invited to participate in a number of interviews with members of the Muggle press, fans, and television hosts, among others. During our travels, Harry and I came across a particularly helpful Muggle website in our research that, unknowingly, documented this discrepancy. I'm sure the person who recorded this information never realized just how important his careful documentation would be to us. Anyway, here's the reference article that talks about Grindelwald. Remember, this was after the seventh book was published.

Deathdate: 1998; killed while in Nurmengard Prison by Voldemort (DH23). Grindelwald's fate in Deathly Hallows directly contradicts a statement by J.K. Rowling in 2005 that Grindelwald died in 1945.

Hermione continued, "We checked the reference he quoted, and found that it was a transcript of an interview that Ms. Rowling had participated in around two years before that seventh book was originally published:

JKR: I'm going to tell you as much as I told someone earlier who asked me. You know Owen who won the [UK television] competition to interview me? He asked about Grindelwald [pronounced "Grindelvald" HMM…]. He said, "Is it coincidence that he died in 1945," and I said no. It amuses me to make allusions to things that were happening in the Muggle world, so my feeling would be that while there's a global Muggle war going on, there's also a global Wizarding war going on.

ES: Does he have any connection to --

JKR: I have no comment to make on that subject.

[Laughter.]

MA: Do they feed each other, the Muggle and Wizarding wars?

JKR: Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Mm.

MA: You've gone very quiet.

[All laugh; JKR maniacally.]

MA: We like when you get very quiet, it means -

ES: You're clearly hiding something."

Both teens leaned back in their chairs, clearly confused. James spoke first. "But what does all that mean, Grandmama? How can Grindelwald's character and background as described by Ms. Rowling change so much between 2005 and 2007? According to Ms. Rowling herself, these two people with the same name have different personalities, descriptions, and death dates? In fact, why are there seemingly two different descriptions, histories, and futures of a lot of the people in the books and the first scroll - especially you, Grandmama? Why are you described as changing personalities to the point you're a completely different person - with even a different middle name - after the fifth book? Why are these books written by an author and published by a Muggle publishing company that Lily hasn't heard of, especially if it did as well financially as you said this one did?"

Hermione yawned again sleepily and it struck James immediately as to how exhausted and drained she looked. Instead of answering the question herself, she deferred to her great-granddaughter. "Lily, you remember the diagrams I showed you earlier. Do you think you can answer your brother's questions?"

"Erm...well...yeah... but I'm afraid he'll want to call for a healer from St. Mungo's after he hears my theory."

Hermione unexpectedly burst out laughing. "Oh, never mind about that, dear. Harry and I have already gone the rounds with the senior staff there on this subject to the point that their official policy is to never discuss anything except medical treatments with any of the Potter family. They've determined that it's better for everyone that way. A Muggle author named Arthur Conan Doyle once said. `Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.' Go on Lily - tell him your theory."

Lily nodded, looked into Hermione's eyes in a last-second attempt to gather some strength, took a deep breath and said, "As far as I can tell, James, the only theory that eliminates all the `impossibles', as Grandmama reminded me just now, is that these books are `not from around here'. They must have come from different reality - well, you could call it a timeline, I suppose - than the one we live in now."

The next sound that was heard in the attic was James' chair (not to mention James' head) hitting first the bookshelf, then the floor, very hard.

"James! James...are you all right?" James thought that Lily's voice had a slightly panicked tone to it as he tried to clear the stars out of his head.

"I'm fine, Sis... just a bump, that's all." he said as he stood up quickly and righted his chair. "I suppose it's my own fault - I've experienced that enough times at Hogwarts to know that it's not a good idea to lean back in a chair during a lecture. But you must admit, what you just said is pretty startling. Grandmama, is what Lily said...true? And I still don't understand why the Wizarding world doesn't know about all this."

"Paraphrasing what someone said `a long time ago', `what Lily told you was true... from a certain point of view.'"

James repeated the obvious correct response, though he didn't know it. "A certain point of view?"

Hermione continued the quote she had heard many times from when she was a young girl. "James, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view." Since it was obvious by their blank stares that neither of her great-grandchildren had any idea of what she was talking about, she continued answering James' question. "Over time, we've found that the best way to `keep the peace' and let everyone in both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds live their lives as happily as possible is to, well... it's best to keep them as ignorant as possible of certain truths."

Next, it was Lily's turn to bring an old memory back to Hermione as she unknowingly quoted familiar dialogue. "Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it."

Hermione thoughts had turned immediately to a scene from another old movie favorite. <Must have come from all that time I spent with Harry catching up on all those old Muggle movies we missed while we were on the run back in our seventh year. Those were our first dates after the Battle of Hogwarts.....> Then, she responded in the only way she could with that lead-in. "No, Lily and James. As you grow older, you'll realize that a person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Seventeen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Seven hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and seven minutes ago, you knew that there were no such things as alternative timelines. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."

She yawned widely again, then glanced at the large clock in the corner and said "Speaking of that, I think you two children are getting tired, so I think it's a good time for you to take a bit of a break. You've heard a lot of things here so far that are shaking up your view of the world. I think it's a good time for you to go downstairs, grab a bite to eat, maybe take a quick nap or play a game of Exploding Snap with Fred, and then we can meet back here in a few hours after supper and I'll try to answer some more of your questions. Just remember to not talk about anything you've read or seen up there with any of the family while you're downstairs. In fact, it's probably best if you just put it out of your mind completely for a while. Does that sound okay to you?"

James and Lily nodded and went downstairs, each lost in their own thoughts.

Author's Notes: Dumbledore's "Greater Good" letter in this chapter is from "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore", in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, page 357, Scholastic, Inc.© 2007)

JKR's full interview that includes the information about Grindelwald was originally available at http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-3.htm, but sometimes when I have checked the link the server has been down. I assure you that this is an accurate quote, though.

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