18 - Summer Interlude
15 July 1996
Black Castle
“Alhena?” Hermione peered around the library door, spotting her friend at the large circular table. “What's had your attention for the entire weekend?”
“Timeline of events. Skeeter fucked it up in Friday's Evening Prophet,” Alhena muttered. “Plus she showed absolutely zero respect for the named parties.”
Hermione came closer, scanning the mass of papers.
They were mostly editions of various magical newspapers - British and not - dating back to 1900. Several crumpled sheets of parchment also showed that the draft of the article Alhena was working on wasn't the first, second or even fifth draft. It was somewhere in the vicinity of the sixteenth draft.
“Are you sure you want to publish all that?” Hermione gestured to the more grisly details of all the various cases.
“Skeeter went for the jugular on the Potters and Longbottoms, and barely even covered the rest of the victims.” Alhena was irked by that. “Plus Dolph and Bastan are at St Mungo's and I have little else to do.”
“Fair. Can I help?” Hermione sat down.
“Make a timeline, summarise the relevant articles, and include what edition they are from, please.”
Between Alhena and Hermione, they made swift work of the necessary research snd writing. And that evening’s Evening Prophet was rather thick.
‘A Correct Timeline of Events: What Actually Happened to the People Who Were Named in Dumbledore’s ICW Trial’
by Alhena Black-Peverell & Hermione Granger
‘We all heard it on Friday, the 12th of July 1996. Dumbledore went to trial at the ICW and Lady Magic was invoked. But what actually happened to all the individuals whose names came up during his trial? Here is what we could find in sources from the time the named events actually occurred.
‘Following events in a chronological order:
1. Arianna Dumbledore, in 1899. In the 13 July 1899 edition of the Daily Prophet, the death of Arianna is reported as accidental causes from a miscast spell. This can be changed to magical manslaughter considering Dumbledore's confessions during his trial.
2. Marcus Gaunt, in 1908. Marcus was the older brother of Marvolo Gaunt. According to the 28 January 1908 edition of the Evening Prophet, he was found at the junction of Knockturn and Aria Alleys, having been hit with a swift-acting, unknown curse, and died in St. Mungo's. It was listed as a murder.
3. Julietta de Alba, in 1925. Julietta was a Muggleborn attending Hogwarts from 1917 to 1922, when she disappeared 3 weeks before ber OWLs. Her death was reported in the 11 August 1925 edition of the Wizarding Herald. Her death was a combination of torture and the Obscurial that had formed as a result of it finally lashing out at the source of its torment. She was listed as a casualty of war.
4. Merope Riddle née Gaunt, in 1926. While her death was not reported by wizarding newspapers until 15 January 1935, her date of death can be confirmed as 31 December 1926. She died of natural causes, following childbirth, but if it was not for Dumbledore's meddling, she would have lived.
5. Marvolo Gaunt, in 1932. Marvolo disappeared while on a trip to Greece in 1932, but his remains were not found until 28 May 1975, following a tip-off the ICW received from Carina Gaunt-Haydon. The few scans that could be done on the remains indicated that he was likely hit with the Killing Curse from behind in a case of what was essentially premeditated murder.
6. Aurelius Peverell and Alexandria Peverell née Albescu, in 1939. Their deaths were reported in the 5 November 1939 edition of the Wizarding Herald, to international outrage. Alexandria had been eight months pregnant, which only contributed to the gruesomeness of their murders.
7. Tom Riddle Sr, Tomas Riddle and Mary Riddle, in 1944. Not very much is known about the Riddle Murders beyond that the Killing Curse was used and that it happened in the summer of 1944. However, a recent reexamination of evidence has suggested that one of the perpetrators may have been Robert Ogden himself, based on magical signatures.
8. Morfin Gaunt, in 1944. While Morfin did not die until 27 August 1984, he was arrested and handed a life sentence for murder in Azkaban on 20 July 1944, without being given a chance to defend himself.
9. Fleamont Potter, in 1976. He died during a Dragon Pox outbreak, which was rather unusual as he knew how to brew the vaccine. His death was reported in the 15 August 1976 edition of the Evening Prophet.
10. Charlus Potter & Dorea Potter née Black, in 1977. They were killed in the chaos of a Death Eater attack on Diagon Alley, and their deaths were reported in the 1 January 1978 edition of the Daily Prophet.
11. Carina Gaunt-Haydon, in 1979. Carina Gaunt-Haydon’s disappearance and death have been covered in the 2 October 1979 and 2 October 1995 editions of the Daily Prophet, respectively. She was a victim of Jamie Holmwood, the infamous Kent Necrophiliac as he's been called. Dumbledore suggested her as a victim.
12. James Potter and Lily Potter née Evans, in 1981. This has been reported to the nth degree since 1 November 1981, but the true details have never been made public. Dumbledore considered them an obstacle as they were the last adult Peverells at that point in time besides Voldemort himself.
13. Tom Riddle Jr, aka Voldemort, in 1981. He is widely considered the Darkest Dark Lord in a few centuries, but his path into darkness - where he had once been the charming and intelligent Prefect and Head Boy of Hogwarts wih humble beginnings in a Muggle orphanage after his mother's death - is at the hands of Dumbledore, who not only blocked the young Mr Riddle from accessing any and all opportunities towards success and renown time after time, but also used illegal mind magics to force the creation of the unstable, psychopathic monster that later became Voldemort.
14. Frank Longbottom and Alice Longbottom née Fortescue, in 1981. This has also been reported ad nauseam since 2 November 1981. While initial reports speculated that the damage inflicted by the late Mrs Lestrange were too great to be reversed, new research has revealed a potential way of reversing it in a recently unbanned potion. We hope for the best for them.
15. Irma Selwyn, in 1983. Irma was one of the original members of the Walpurgis Group in the British Wizengamot - a group that stood against Dumbledore time and time again in the realm of politics. Her death was reported in the 27 May 1983 edition of the Evening Prophet, and the cause of death was listed as consumption of poisoned chocolate, which is odd as her ring would have warned her of it.
16. Algernon Mulciber, in 1984. Algernon was another member of the Walpurgis Group, and very well known for his polickes suggesting a stricter enforcement of the Statute of Secrecy. The Evening Prophet of 11 December 1984 reported that he had been hit with a fast-acting spell while exiting the Wizengamot Courtrooms that very afternoon. Recent investigation has shown that it may have been the same spell as the one that was used on Marcus Gaunt in 1908.
‘We hope that this is a more detailed insight into the true occurrences than what was provided earlier.
(For reprints of the named articles, see pages 2-10.)’
“Morgana’s mercy, you two didn't hold back very much,” Sirius muttered, looking a bit green around the gills.
“The truth takes precedence,” Alhena muttered into her soup.
“...point.”
19 July 1996
Black Castle
“Whoa, the letters are early this year! Don't the OWLs take longer to mark?” Hermione frowned down at the envelope.
“Your OWLs come with your book lists,” Thomas said helpfully from his spot to the left of Alhena. “They take around two weeks to mark, so if they come later than that, it's because of the book lists.”
“Oh.” Hermione was nervous to open hers, watching Ron and Harry eagerly open theirs before making eye contact with Alhena.
“Scared?” Alhena smiled slightly.
“Terrified, Black.”
Alhena chuckled. “What is the best thing that could happen?”
“Straight O’s and a Conditional Mastery or two,” Hermione muttered.
“Worst thing?”
“I flunked everything.”
“Most likely thing?”
“I passed everything with some Os and As but mostly EEs.”
“Not so bad, is it? Open it.” Alhena smiled.
“Only if you open yours,” Hermione retorted.
“Gladly.”
They opened theirs at the same time, scanning the results.
‘OWL Results of Alhena Melania Carina Black-Peverell
‘Passing Grades: O = Outstanding, EE = Exceeds Expectations, A = Acceptable
Failing Grades: P = Poor, may repeat, D = Dreadful, may not repeat, T = Troll, may not repeat
Ancient Runes O
Arithmancy O
Astronomy O
Care of Magical Creatures EE
Charms O
Defence Against the Dark Arts O
Divination O
Healing O
Herbology O
History A
Muggle Studies O
Potions O
Spellcrafting O
Transfiguration O
‘Congratulations, Ms Black-Peverell. You have qualified for a NEWT in all of your OWL subjects, and scored in the top 3rd percentile of your year.’
“We have a genius here,” Sirius said with a whistle, nabbing his sister's OWL results.
“What are you considering taking at NEWT level?” Thomas asked Alhena, ignoring Sirius’ antics.
“I'll drop Astronomy and History in favour of doing Alchemy and Spellcrafting full-time,” Alhena responded after a bit. “They're subjects I can relegate to the self-study section of time anyway.”
“I'm amazed you have free time to begin with,” Sirius teased.
“Spirit induced insomnia makes for a lot of free time when I should ne sleeping.” Alhena shrugged.
At the end of breakfast, Orion loked around with a small smile. “What do you say to a shopping trip in Place Cachée?”
Place Cachée
Several hours later saw Alhena shooting Orion a mildly murderous glare over the rim of her coffee cup at one of the cafes dotted around the French Magical District. “Next year, I'm making the trip alone. By Circe, I have not been dragged around this much in one day since I was eight!”
“Apologies. I have not been here in a while.”
“That's quite obvious, Father.” Alhena shook her head. “Please, just refrain from taking us all on a wild little trip through the district in the future.”
After the coffee, they set out to the bookstore. Orion had left it for last, knowing that with four bookworms in the group - Alhena, Hermione, Remus and Thomas - they could be there for a while.
They all set off with baskets in hand, the teens getting their textbooks first before scattering in different directions. Neville went to the Herbology section while Ron went for the comics. Harry decided to browse the Defence section, while Hermione headed for the History section and Ginny headed for the Divination section. Alhena? Alhena predictably headed for the Runes section.
She had been browsing and adding books to her basket when she spotted a tall back-clad figure out of the corner of her eye and looked up.
It towered almost as tall as the floor-to-ceiling mahogany shelves, its robes absorbing light with the intensity of a black hole. Its face - if it had one - was obscured by a dark, heavy hood. And there was no sound.
Indeed, it made no sound as it silently turned and walked - glided? - down the next aisle. Alhena’s heart pounded wildly as she scampered after it, only to see nothing for a few seconds before a sudden pain lanced itself through her mind, forcing her to her knees.
Black and white robes. Laughter. A crow flying overhead. The Peverell crest idly turning in the air. Colourful ribbons stark against pale skin. Music. A bonfire. Mead. A feast fit for the gods.
“Claim what is yours, Daughter of the Stars, before it's lost to you forever. The gods will bless your union, should you wed before Beltane.”
Alhena's hazy vision refocused on Sirius' worried face for a split second before the world went black as she fainted.