Work Text
October 31, 1981
Potter Cottage
Godric's Hollow
Lily Potter stood trembling, her one year old son in her arms. Her husband was beside her, his wand out and pointed at the door. They both knew what was happening. The Dark Lord had finally come. How did he know where they were hiding was a mystery. But he had found them. And now he was here to take away one thing that the couple cherished the most - their son.
But they were ready for the dark wizard. Lily had been thinking and preparing for this situation for a long time now. After months of consideration, of weighing the pros and cons, she had decided that the best way to protect her family was to join the Dark Lord. She was a Gryffindor, yes, but she was also a survivor. And frankly it did not make sense to her to defy the dark wizard just to get slaughtered by the mad man.
It had taken a lot of pleading, begging, threatening and just everything in between to get James to agree to her plan. He was adamant about doing the right thing and not giving into evil. But when Lily had viciously told him off for choosing his moral high ground over his son, he had relented. He realized that they could never get rid of the dark wizard. Even if they ran away or hid somewhere, they'll always be looking over their shoulders. The threat, the danger would always be looming upon them. Seeing as there really was no other possible outcome where they came out alive, he had agreed to join the dark side.
So here they stood, awaiting their fate.
And they didn't have to wait long. Suddenly, with a powerful burst of magic, the front door was pulled open and left hanging from its hinges. The serpentine figure of Lord Voldemort passed through the door and was momentarily surprised to see the small family gathered in front of the door instead of hiding somewhere as he had expected them to.
"Sssoo Potter, have you already decided to sssurrender to me?" His voice was thick with amusement.
Rage colored James Potter's face and he was about to give a scathing reply but to the Dark Lord's surprise, Lily Potter spoke up. "Yes, it's true. We don't want to fight you because we don't have a death wish." Her entire being was trembling as she said this.
"As if you fighting me can ever be a cause of concern for me", Lord Voldemort scoffed.
"That's exactly the reason we don't want to oppose you. So we have come up with a solution" Lily Potter carried on bravely. "A sssolution you ssay..." Lord Voldemort mused.
"We want to join you." The Potters blurted out simultaneously.
Whatever he had expected, this certainly wasn't it. Lord Voldemort looked on in surprise at the couple and then his eyes shifted towards the babe snuggled in Lily Potter's chest. The child that was supposed to be his nemesis, his end. He looked like a fragile little thing that he could break at the snap of his fingers. His fingers twitched with the urge to take out his wand and extinguish the Potter family line once and for all. Eliminate any potential threats or competition.
As if she could sense the malicious intentions swirling in the dark wizard's mind, the woman brought the child even closer to her bosom. "We would like to join your cause. If our son indeed is The Chosen One, then I think it would be far better for you to keep him closer to you then try to .. k-kill him" she chocked.
Lord Voldemort mused upon these words spoken by the woman. It did make sense. If this wretched little boy was destined to kill him, then it was a wise move to keep him close. Maybe the boy could be of some use to him. And how poetic it would be! The wizard meant to kill him, grovelling at his feet. Yes this solution was looking more illustrious by the second.
And so it happened that Lord Voldemort committed his first ever act of mercy and spared the Potters' lives. But it was all for his benefit. His cause.
Meanwhile the Potters felt relieved. They had come relatively close to death but they were safe. For now. They had sacrificed a lot but it was worth it if they got to live another day. But now they had to figure out where to go from here. The small family was pretty sure that they had to now face a lot of hardships and adversities just to get by. But they were ready.
Come what may, but the Potters were not going down that easily.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
October 30, 1994
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hermione Granger smiled as she sat in the Great Hall with her best friends. This was her fourth year in Hogwarts and it just got better every year. The adventures, the exploration, the wonders never seemed to end. She and her two best friends, Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom were known in all of Hogwarts as certified trouble makers. They would always land in some pretty awful and dangerous situations in their quest to unravel all of Hogwarts' mysteries. It usually fell upon Hermione to keep a level head and get all three of them out of these situations. And it wasn't even like they were deliberately trying to kill themselves. They were just a magnet for all things weird and dangerous. Yes her friends were a hazard to her mental peace and physical well being, but she wouldn't have them any other way. She loved them dearly and the bond between them was very strong.
Today was a very special day for the students of Hogwarts. The participants from Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic were arriving today for the Triwizard Tournament. All around the great hall excited whispers could be heard. Ever since the announcement had been made, the tournament was all the students could talk about. And now finally the day was here.
As they sat in the great hall, waiting impatiently and twittering excitedly, the door to the hall was opened and some young women wearing powder blue dress robes walked in or rather, danced in. The girls were more interested in parading their beauty than their magical skills. If they even have those, Hermione thought snootily, watching as the girls performed spells so basic ( butterflies pff! ), even muggle magicians would have no trouble competing with them for parlor tricks. After the girls, walked in the headmistress, who was one giant woman. Behind her walked in several more students, the girls again in powder blue robes and the boys in a more darker shade of blue dress robes. The headmistress greeted professor Dumbledore and the students quickly settled in with the Hogwarts students.
Then the door was opened open again and this time marched in several students doing fancy tricks with fire and staffs. The students put on a spectacular show, Hermione had to give them that. When the theatrics ended, walked in a man who could only be the headmaster along with the Viktor Krum. Hermione could see Ron gaping and cheering for Krum. Following the duo were several other students, all of whom appeared to be younger than the rest. Not one of them looked to be a legal adult, the age requirement needed to participate in the tornament. Weird thought Hermione. As her eyes were observing the young newcomers, suddenly one of them, a boy with shaggy, jet black hair, turned and his eyes found hers. Hermione gasped and flinched involuntarily. His eyes were such a vibrant shade of green. But it wasn't their color that was the most striking feature of his eyes. Hermione had never seen such cold and emotionless eyes. Those eyes on such a young face were really disturbing.
He quirked an eyebrow at her unexpected reaction and their eyes remained locked for a few seconds before he turned and moved further towards the teacher's table. Hermione blinked and shook her head to clear her thoughts.
The headmaster of Durmstrang greeted professor Dumbledore and both exchanged pleasantries. "Albus, you must know Viktor," headmaster Karkaroff said. Dumbledore smiled, "Of course Igor. Young Mr. Krum is quite the celebrity." Headmaster Karakoff then moved towards the group of younger students and addressed professor Dumbledore, "Albus I hope you don't mind terribly, but I took the liberty of bringing some of the younger students of mine. They are not here to participate of course, but rather on an educational trip. These are some of my most promising students and I thought they could benefit from staying in Hogwarts and learning the curriculum." "Of course not Igor, they are most welcome here" chuckled professor Dumbledore. He let his eyes roam over the group of students. Most of them indeed looked rather intelligent. And then his eyes rested on the last student and he let out an involuntary gasp. Those eyes, that face, those features, that hair. He had seen all of these before. On two different people. Two people he had thought to be dead. Died along with the young babe of theirs, the babe called ―
"Harry Potter", he whispered.
Hermione saw professor McGonagall and a few other teachers gasp and look at the boy from earlier, with surprise. She looked around and saw nobody else react to the name. It was almost comical. The teachers were reacting as if they had seen a ghost. Which was really not that of a big deal in the wizarding world.
"Is something the matter Albus?" asked professor Karkaroff, breaking professor Dumbledore out of his surprise induced trance. "No Igor, nothing's the matter" he replied quickly. He waved the students in the direction of the students' tables and sat down on his seat with the other guests.
He let the Ministry officials, Barty Crouch and Ludo Bagman take over the explanations regarding the participation criterias and rules of the tournament. All through it, he sat, lost in the chaos of his own mind, his eyes barely seeing anything other than the features of the people he thought dead, on a boy he thought dead. It was one of his biggest failure. His greatest regret. But here he was, in the flesh, alive and well. But how?
In the raging storm of Albus Dumbledore's mind, one question was swirling the most, demanding answer, demanding explanation ―
What exactly had happened to the Potters?