Letters
The Quibbler: Special Investigative Issue
"Who Is the Real Hero?"
By Gray Archilles (February 23, 1990)
Since that fateful Halloween night in 1981, when You-Know-Who vanished, the wizarding community has uncritically accepted the narrative that Harry Potter, then a one-year-old baby, defeated the greatest Dark wizard of all time. But does this story hold up under scrutiny? The Quibbler investigates whether the true hero of that night has been forgotten—or deliberately ignored.
What Do We Really Know?
On the night of October 31, 1981, You-Know-Who attacked the Potters’ residence in Godric’s Hollow. James Potter was killed downstairs, while Lily Potter was found in the destroyed nursery, dead beside the charred crib of her son, Harry, who miraculously emerged with only a lightning-bolt-shaped scar after a month hiding in the woods. You-Know-Who’s body was never found, but the faded Dark Marks of captured Death Eaters, along with further analysis by Unspeakables, led investigators to conclude that You-Know-Who was defeated that night.
But here’s the big question: how could a baby possibly defeat such a powerful wizard? Harry Potter has since been hailed as the “Boy Who Lived,” but was he truly responsible for You-Know-Who’s downfall?
Lily Potter: An Overlooked Protector?
Little is said about Lily Potter, but what we do know paints a picture of an exceptionally talented witch. A Hogwarts alumna renowned for her skill in Charms, she was found amidst the destruction of her son’s nursery. There were traces of Dark Magic in the air and damage far beyond what a simple Killing Curse would cause, as that curse leaves no external marks on its victims. This, more than anything, is evidence that Lily Potter fought against You-Know-Who. Reports suggest her sacrifice was part of a highly complex protective ritual.
But it begs the question: why was the credit for You-Know-Who’s defeat given to a baby who could barely speak, let alone cast a spell powerful enough to shield him from such an attack?
The answer may lie in the persistent prejudices of wizarding society. Lily was Muggle-born, and her status as a woman and “outsider” may have contributed to her role being minimized. After all, it would be easier to glorify a child than to acknowledge that a Muggle-born witch saved the wizarding world using the very branch of magic we so often condemn as dark and dangerous.
The Order of the Phoenix: Forgotten Heroes
To understand the context, it’s important to mention the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization founded by Albus Dumbledore during the First Wizarding War. Comprising witches and wizards, most of them barely out of Hogwarts, the Order played a crucial role in resisting You-Know-Who and his followers, acting unofficially to ensure their movements couldn’t be tracked.
Unfortunately, its members were also the most hunted by You-Know-Who and his followers, as the organization was led by his well-known nemesis: Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts.
The Potters were active members of the Order since their final year at Hogwarts, according to my sources. This, coupled with the Fidelius Charm on their home, indicates their sacrifice was not an isolated incident. Knowing they were targets, why didn’t the Ministry departments coordinate an investigation? And why was the Order largely composed of young, newly graduated wizards and witches, few of whom survived?
Anonymous Order members confirm that their orders came directly from Dumbledore, including instructions to operate independently of the Ministry under the belief that it had been infiltrated by spies. But wasn’t the Order itself compromised? Wasn’t this why the Potters had to hide?
Why did Dumbledore recruit students for the war while deliberately keeping capable adults out? Doesn’t that raise suspicions, especially since Dumbledore claimed he was “busy ensuring Hogwarts’ safety” when asked why he hadn’t directly confronted You-Know-Who? If true, why did he lead those same students on a crusade that resulted in so many deaths?
Who Spread the Story?
An intriguing point is the origin of the narrative crediting Harry. Sources confirm that the Ministry disseminated the news, but no one would disclose who within the Ministry supplied the story. Why choose this version?
The decision may have been strategic: turning Harry Potter into a symbol of hope could unite the wizarding community during uncertain times.
However, it also had dangerous consequences. By making Harry the “Boy Who Lived,” he was thrust into the spotlight, becoming a target of surviving Death Eaters and sympathizers who weren’t official followers but hoped for You-Know-Who’s success. Was this choice made to protect other resistance members? Was Harry deliberately turned into a symbolic shield to obscure Lily Potter’s actions and to protect the adults who fought?
This is a grim perspective: that our leaders may have preferred to make a child a target to diminish the accomplishments of Lily Potter—a woman, a Muggle-born—who defeated You-Know-Who.
Sirius Black and the Curious Trial
Another element to consider is the trial of Sirius Black, six years after the events at Godric’s Hollow. Accused of betrayal and the murder of Peter Pettigrew and 13 Muggles, Sirius was imprisoned without trial. During his trial, rumors circulated that he might have been responsible for You-Know-Who’s downfall.
Sirius, however, denied these claims, stating that by the time he arrived at the Potters’ home, You-Know-Who had already vanished and Harry’s nursery was destroyed, with the child missing. Yet this speculation raises an interesting question: why was Sirius considered a potential hero while Lily was ignored? Does this reflect the same biases of blood status and gender that silenced her contribution? Are we perpetuating the very prejudices we condemn in Death Eaters?
Time for a Reassessment
In light of these questions, The Quibbler challenges the established narrative. While Harry Potter survived something no one else could, it’s time to recognize Lily Potter’s sacrifice as the true act that defeated Voldemort.
The wizarding world owes a debt to Lily Potter, a Muggle-born woman who gave her life for her child and the resistance’s cause. We must also question why we settle for simplistic narratives that often ignore critical nuances.
Should Lily Potter’s name be as famous as Harry’s—or perhaps even more so?
This raises another question: have the stories fed to the British wizarding community by the Ministry and media been deliberately manipulated? Have we all been fed lies? And how long has this been going on?
This is what we desperately need to uncover.
***
The Quibbler wasn’t exactly a famous newspaper, often dismissed as a gossip and curiosity magazine rather than a reliable source of information. This perception stemmed, in part, from the lack of investment and support from influential individuals.
Well, Lyra's investment in the paper ensured that at least one of these issues was no longer a problem. She wrote the article anonymously and sent it to Mr. Lovegood under a pseudonym. With more funding, the paper could produce more prints and be distributed more effectively across the country. Free copies were sent to Hogwarts to attract the attention of students and secure more subscribers.
It didn’t take long for The Quibbler to become a hot topic among the students, especially the older ones. The Slytherin students, who were the most politically engaged, found the content particularly intriguing, as many came from families of Death Eaters or sympathizers. The idea that Harry Potter might not truly be the one who defeated Voldemort but was instead being used as a scapegoat compelled them to write to their own relatives.
There might not have been physical evidence of Lily’s actions, but neither was there any proof of Harry’s. Common sense would absolve the Boy Who Lived of his unwanted fame. Lyra hoped this would help shift attention away from her brother when people were searching for a savior.
Dear Miss Black,
I found your observations on the results of my previous experiments extremely interesting. Your ideas about combining spell magic, transfiguration, and runes are absolutely fascinating, and I am very interested in extending this research if you permit me to do so.
The mere thought of what could be accomplished or created with this makes me lose sleep out of excitement. Spells that could have permanent effects without the magic starting to distort the purpose, as happens with curses, would make many things much safer—for example, magical constructions with internal expansion. Did you know there are cases where expansion magic fails, and the object reverts to its original size? Unfortunately, this means that everything inside the expanded space is crushed, and if someone is inside, that person would die. By adding runes to anchor the spell, we should be able to prevent such tragedies.
Of course, if you allow me to work on this, we would share the profits from the patent of such an invention. This has the potential to earn us an Order of Merlin!
I eagerly await your response,
Pandora Lovegood
P.S.: Your safety suggestions for future experiments make perfect sense, and I will implement them immediately. This makes me feel more comfortable allowing Luna to be near me while I work, which has always worried me a bit. So, thank you for the idea!
Mrs. Lovegood,
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've spent years working on combining runes and magic, although I've mostly worked with wandless magic and, after my father was released from Azkaban, with his help in some tests. I have lots of ideas for what could be done, although I haven't had the opportunity to test them all extensively.
You remind me a bit of a friend I used to have who really enjoyed doing experiments. A real science enthusiast. I think you two would have hit it off if you'd met, unfortunately he's... unavailable. Maybe that's why you and I got along so well? It's nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of who can understand why I enjoy it so much, who understands the satisfaction of creating or doing something that no one else has done before.
I'd be happy to collaborate, but I'd rather keep my name out of it for now. I'll use a pseudonym to avoid attention. If there really is an Order of Merlin involved, you'll be on stage and picking up the prize yourself.
I'm glad my suggestions for security measures were effective. I speak from experience when I say that lab accidents can get pretty painful. I'm lucky that no one has discovered the effects of my biggest failures or else no one would have the nerve to be within 60 miles of me every time I tried something new.
Don't ask what happened because I won't tell you. Trust me, it's better this way.
I have a few ideas for experiments that I feel my dad might not be comfortable letting me try without someone more experienced supervising. Would you mind being the "responsible adult" while I work? I promise it will be interesting enough that you won't get bored.
Looking forward to learning new things,
Lyra Black.
Lia,
Dad said he would go to Hogsmeade to talk to you because you got into some sort of fight. He didn’t go into details, but it’s quite a coincidence because the rest of us got into something here too. We left the old school, but Dad already enrolled us in a new one. We’ll start there on Monday, and I’m a bit nervous about meeting my new classmates, but I think it’ll be fine.
The reason for the fight that got us to leave the old school was that some older boys were picking on Luna. I finally understood what you wanted me to learn, and I have to agree—it’s something you only really get through experience. I’m lucky to have so many good friends because they stood by me the whole time and helped me. Trusting that someone will support me no matter what is something that never would have happened while I was living with the Dursleys, but it’s a good change. A very good one.
After everything that’s happened, I decided to teach Luna how to fight so she can defend herself if something like that happens again. The rest of the group decided to join in too, so now Draco and I need to figure out a way to train all of them. I think it’ll be fun after they get through the first few weeks of grueling training. Their physical condition is awful.
My biggest concern is that Luna doesn’t want to hurt anyone. It’s understandable, but how can I teach her to defend herself if she refuses to fight back? At first, I thought it would be simple, but when I started thinking about how to do it, I realized I learned to fight with you by mixing attack and defense. If I take one out, the other weakens. Do you have any suggestions on what I should do about this?
Tell me what’s going on there too. I feel like Dad’s stories about Hogwarts are a bit too fanciful, and I don’t like staying too close to Molly and Arthur Weasley when you’re not around to listen to their stories.
I feel like they—mostly Molly—want me to open up and, I don’t know, start talking about feelings and crying because my parents are dead. She gave me one of those wool sweaters she makes for her kids, which was a nice gesture, but I’m not sure how I feel about it… I think she should try to help me a bit more actively if she really saw me as her son, don’t you think? I mean, you’re my sister, but you’ve been working hard to get people to stop calling me the Boy Who Lived, and you got me out of the Dursleys and taught me a ton of things. Why do I feel like she thinks sewing a sweater for me and cooking a few meals is all a mother should do? Maybe you and Dad have raised my quality standards too much.
Anyway, I hope you’re having fun and learning cool stuff.
With love,
Harry.
P.S.: I read the article in The Quibbler, and I thought it was amazing. Who is Gray Achilles? I know you exchange letters with Luna’s mum every now and then, so I imagine you might know. I liked that they defended Mum’s memory. I don’t like to think that the things she did have been ignored. She literally died for it, and I don’t want her to be seen as a defenseless victim. Mum killed Voldemort, and I want people to know that! I’ll send a letter to The Quibbler later to thank them.
Harry,
I'm glad you enjoyed The Quibbler's article about you and your mother. Unfortunately, I don't know who the author is, but I'll make sure Pandora delivers our thanks. Whoever thisperson is, I know they want to honor your mother's memory.
Now, I heard about your fight at school and I was proud (don't tell Dad). I know violence is frowned upon, but I'm glad you're not the kind of person who just stands by while others suffer, especially since you had the power to make a change. I'm really proud of the person you're becoming.
My fight here was similar, actually. A friend in Slytherin was targeted by some idiots and I was furious. By the time I found out, my friend was already in the infirmary so I could only make sure it wouldn't happen again. I admit I let my guard down because I didn't think the bullying would go this far, at least not in a first-year female student. I lost my temper and kept thinking it could be you or one of the others... Dad is worried about me, so I'm going to try to hold it together. I should have known this could happen, I should have anticipated it.
Okay, I'll take some steps here and hopefully things will get better.
There's an investigation going on, but I don't think anything real will come of it. The case will be buried and that's it.
This sucks. They should try harder to find whoever did this to my friend.
Anyway, are you going to teach your friends how to fight? Ask Dad for help, he's more advanced than you in combat practices.
As for Luna's problem, I suggest she train stamina and dodge. The first part I'm sure you can do without my instruction, but the second will require some imagination if you don't want to do practical fighting training where she has to dodge real blows. Put her in gymnastics classes at a muggle school to help with flexibility and balance, and also in dance classes. Partner dance! I know this may sound weird, but it will help, I promise! Keep her practicing this until I get home for the holidays and I'll teach her how to use it to defend herself.
Feeling homesick,
Lyra.