"Remember," said Remus, once he'd gotten Sirius to calm down enough to continue, "I got most of this from the twins and some follow-up conversations with my fellow professors."
"You'd better just tell me." Sirius said. "It can't be much worse than what I'm imagining."
Remus smirked. "In Harry's first year Albus hired Voldemort to teach Defence of the Dark Arts."
Sirius's mouth dropped open. He snapped it shut. "He did what?"
"To be fair to Albus he hired a man called Quirrell; Voldemort just happened to be possessing him."
"And Dumbledore didn't know?" Sirius asked, shocked.
Kreacher popped in and delivered a tray with a bottle of Firewhiskey and two tumblers. He disappeared again.
Remus poured Sirius a drink and handed it to him before he poured himself one and retook his seat. "We'll come back to that excellent question later but let me explain properly."
Sirius nodded reluctantly.
"The first story the twins told me was actually about Harry getting on the Quidditch team. Apparently, in their first flying lesson, Malfoy stole something of Neville Longbottom's and took off with it when Hooch was absent. Harry went after Malfoy and when he tossed the item, Harry caught it. Harry has a very low tolerance for bullying."
His old friend gave Sirius a pointed look and Sirius had the grace to blush.
"I wouldn't call what we did bullying; it was pranking." Sirius muttered defensively.
"Pranking the whole school into being green for a day wasn't bullying," Remus agreed, "arguably, hexing Severus constantly just because he and Lily were friends and she wouldn't give James the time of day until our sixth year crossed the line. And I would very much advise that you confess to Harry. He'll respect you more for owning up than insisting that what you did wasn't bullying."
Sirius nodded slowly, although he chafed at both the criticism and the advice. "So, I saw Harry playing Quidditch," he said, changing the subject rather than arguing, "he is brilliant."
Remus's expression softened. "He is, isn't he? And apparently Harry almost falling off his broom is a tradition. In his first game, Quirrell, or rather Voldemort, jinxed his broom trying to kill him."
Harry had almost been killed by Voldemort in his first year? Sirius downed the Firewhiskey and coughed violently when it hit the back of his throat.
"Hermione Granger thought it was Severus and set fire to his robes…"
Sirius almost choked on the laugh that bubbled up. If he hadn't already liked the young witch who had helped Harry save him, that piece of news certainly would have done the trick.
"…and in doing so inadvertently stopped Quirrell – Voldemort." Remus gulped down his Firewhiskey. "The twins then told me it wasn't the only time Harry tangled with him."
Sirius reached over and poured them both another drink. "For the record, this is worse than I was imagining."
"Well, the second tale is worse than the first and it isn't even the last." Remus said, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Apparently, Hagrid got a dragon egg and it hatched. Harry and his friends got Charlie Weasley who works at a dragon reserve to come and take the dragon in a midnight smuggling expedition. Unfortunately, they got discovered, lost a tremendous number of house points and had to serve detention. Minerva gave the detention to Filch who got convinced by Hagrid to give it to him – no doubt it was Hagrid's way of trying to say sorry for getting them into trouble."
Sirius waited for Remus to continue impatiently.
"He took them into the Forbidden Forest ostensibly to search for an injured unicorn. Harry came across the wraith of Voldemort drinking unicorn blood, and ultimately had to be rescued by a centaur." Remus said.
Sirius carefully downed his second drink. "Well, at least we know he's actually still out there. Voldemort, I mean."
Remus grimaced. "That's not the end of it, Sirius. Harry and his friends worked out that Albus had hidden Flamel's infamous Philosopher's stone in the school and that Voldemort would be after it to get immortality. When they realised Dumbledore was off the grounds at the Ministry, they went to check on Albus's protections, realised they had been breached and went after the potential thief."
"Don't tell me." Sirius slumped back and closed his eyes. He was getting a headache.
"Harry and his friends got past all of the so-called traps and Harry stopped him. The twins didn't know how Harry stopped him because apparently Harry has never talked about it and Hermione had stayed back to look after an injured Ron. What they do know is that at the end of it, Quirrell was gone – dead I suspect given the possession – and Harry…he was in the infirmary for days."
Sirius opened his eyes to see Remus downing his drink. "So, to recap, my godson goes to Hogwarts, supposedly the safest wizarding place in Britain, and survives three encounters with Voldemort in one year?"
"Not to mention, Albus bloody hiring Voldemort and hiding an artefact in the school that was bound to attract him." Remus added tersely.
It was a good point. It led to other good points such as whether Albus Dumbledore had lost the plot entirely…
"You'd better tell me about Harry's second year before I decide to just down the whole bottle." Sirius said, topping them back up.
Remus sighed heavily. "Well, firstly, I believe it relates to one of the items on your blackboard." He pointed his wand at the section entitled Horcrux Hunt and Destroy, and put a strikethrough one item. "Harry has already dealt with the diary."
Almost an hour later, Sirius finished listening to Remus telling the tale of Harry's rescue of Ginny Weasley and shook his head in disbelief. He took one deep breath after another trying to get hold of his whirling emotions. His godson had almost died – again!
"Are you OK, Padfoot?" Remus asked.
Sirius saw that he was regarding him with wary concern. He gestured vaguely at his friend. "I'm just…"
"Trying not to freak out?" Remus completed. "I think I hyperventilated for a good ten minutes."
"About which bit?" Sirius asked tersely. "The bit where Harry is a Parselmouth like Voldemort? Or the bit where the whole school turns on him?" Although in the abstract the twins dubbing of Harry as a Dark Lord was slightly humorous. "Or the bit where he almost gets eaten by Acromantula? Or the bit where he almost gets eaten by a bloody great basilisk, saving some idiotic girl who should know better than to write in a diary that talks back to you! Oh and let's not forget battling with a soul remnant of old Voldepants himself! Again!"
He was yelling by the end of it.
Remus looked at him with raised eyebrows.
Sirius took a deep breath and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Sorry, Remus. It's just…"
"No, your reaction pretty much mirrored mine after the twins finished telling me." Remus said with a smile. "I did however miss out the idiotic girl section since the idiotic girl in question was a Weasley."
"You always were the diplomat in the group." Sirius said, letting some of his anger drain away; the rest he refocused. "I can't believe Dumbledore wasn't aware of what was going on!"
"Ah, yes. It makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Remus said thoughtfully. "After all, as soon as Fred, or was it George, anyway as soon as one of them mentioned petrification, I immediately began thinking…"
"What creatures can petrify another living being?" Sirius nodded briskly. The same thought had occurred to him during Remus's retelling.
"Not to mention that Slytherin is associated with a snake mascot and since it was clear that the monster was hidden in Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets…" Remus sighed. "I got basilisk before the twins got to the spiders bit."
"Well, you were also the most intelligent of us in the old days, Moony." Sirius joked.
Remus smiled again and they shared a moment of camaraderie tinged with the sadness for all they had lost.
"Anyway," Remus cleared his throat, "I did question Minerva and Pomona after my session with the twins wanting to know why they hadn't discovered it was a basilisk earlier. Albus had told the staff apparently to focus on the students and their classes; that he had an investigation well in hand."
Sirius lurched out of his chair.
"They believed him and made no effort to investigate on their own." Remus frowned. "I don't believe Albus knew exactly where the Chamber was or how to get into it, but I do think he knew that the monster was a basilisk and that Voldemort must have possessed someone in his school again in order for the Chamber to be opened. In some respects, I think Albus was truly doing his best to solve the problem although I abhor his decision to continue as normal putting the students' lives at risk. So, do I think he set-up another showdown between Voldemort and Harry? No."
Sirius stopped pacing and faced Remus, realising what he had implied. "You think he deliberately set-up the showdowns in Harry's first year?"
Remus picked up his discarded Firewhiskey and sipped it. "I've had more time to think about this than you, Padfoot."
Sirius looked at Remus and recognised the look on his face all too well. "I'm not going to like this either, am I?"
"No," Remus said bluntly. "Perhaps you should sit."
Sirius glared at Remus but sat down again.
"Imagine for a moment that you're Albus. You know the common story of the Boy Who Lived told to every child; that Voldemort attacked the Potters, James and Lily died but Harry didn't; that somehow the Killing Curse rebounded off Harry and killed Voldemort. You believe the story to be mostly true but you don't know for certain how Harry survived the Killing Curse although you have theories, and you don't know for certain that Voldemort is dead although again you have theories."
"And if you have theories, you have to test them." Sirius mused.
"Exactly." Remus pointed at Sirius. "Ten points to Gryffindor. So, let's assume Albus keeps his ear to the ground and becomes convinced that Voldemort is out there in a wraith form but trying to find a body."
"The whole Philosopher's stone thing was a trap to establish whether Voldemort was alive or not, wasn't it?" Sirius put things together quickly. "Maybe it wasn't even the real stone."
"I doubt it was and I'm fairly certain the protections were more for show than anything else since, with respect to Harry and his friends, they were first years and able to overcome them." Remus said. "No, I think Albus's plan was fairly simple: bait a trap for Voldemort and see if he showed."
"Only he used both the stone and Harry as bait." Sirius felt his anger stirring again.
"Yes, Albus used Harry as bait." Remus agreed softly. "After all, why else would he wait until Harry was at the school before setting the trap?"
Sirius shivered, chilled by the thought.
Remus gave a huff. "I'm sure that Albus never anticipated Harry trying to protect the stone from Voldemort directly but I think he knew that there was a possibility that Voldemort would attack Harry if there was an opportunity – and if it happened it would allow him to assess his theories about Harry."
Sirius surged to his feet again.
"Sit, Padfoot." Remus ordered crisply. "I'm certain that Albus believed the risk was minimal – Voldemort certainly couldn't attack Harry too overtly without drawing attention – but if an encounter between them occurred…" he sighed, "I'm sure Albus thought in his arrogance that he had the advantage and would be there to step in before anything serious happened. And quite honestly, it isn't just Harry he risked; he placed an entire school full of children at risk with this scheme especially when you consider that Voldemort possessed a teacher."
"Do you think Albus knew it was Quirrell?" Sirius asked, throwing himself back in his chair.
Remus shrugged. "I find it hard to believe that he didn't suspect but I think Albus got too caught up in his grand plan. He wanted to catch Voldemort red-handed trying to get to the stone, fake or real."
"And because of that Harry almost ended up dead." Sirius muttered darkly.
"True and it brings us onto Albus testing theories about Harry and how he survived the Killing Curse." Remus said. "There are three which I'm sure Albus has considered: one, Harry was able to reflect the Killing Curse under his own power probably accidentally in self-defence; two, Lily did something just before she died to protect Harry; three, it was a combination of both."
"I'm going to say for the record that I'm not happy Albus tested Harry." Sirius stated indignantly. "He had no right…"
"I agree," Remus said soothingly, "but intellectually, I can appreciate Albus's curiosity. Aren't you curious?"
"I'm just happy he survived, Remus." Sirius said firmly. "Bollocks to how!"
"And there speaks the Gryffindor." Remus complained. "Honestly, if you can work out how Harry survived the Killing Curse then what can you do with the information?"
"Apply it to others if possible." Sirius replied promptly. "OK, OK, I see your point. So what did Albus conclude from his testing?"
"I don't know," Remus admitted, "but personally I think Albus ruled out number one fairly quickly after Harry's arrival at school."
Sirius frowned. "Why? Harry is a powerful wizard. He was doing magic as a baby! He has a corporeal patronus at thirteen, Moony!"
"Maybe but, DADA aside, he's a solid if unremarkable student for the most part." Remus asserted. "Some of that I think is the company he keeps; Ron is very average and Hermione is too good."
"You think he's deliberately placing himself so his friends don't get jealous?"
"I'm not sure it's deliberate per se, but yes. I would also say having worked one to one with him that some of his power might be suppressed." Remus sighed. "Probably because of the muggles. If he learned as a child that magic was bad and doing odd things was bad then…"
Sirius waved a hand to indicate he'd gotten the point. "So, you think Albus took a look at his grades and ruled out Harry himself as being the cause of his survival. You think Albus decided Lily had done something."
"I do." Remus coughed and looked slightly abashed. "And I know she did."
"You know how…what? What did she do?" Sirius demanded, leaning forward.
"I don't know exactly," Remus qualified, "but she wrote to me just before I left for my last mission, asking my advice on something she had found in an old Runes book covering Witch magic. It was a protection spell. It required the blood of the child and the blood of the mother to arm, and the mother's sacrifice of her own life in protection of the child to activate. It creates, for want of a better explanation, a protective blood ward around the child attached to its very skin. The one who killed the mother would never be able to touch the child without penalty."
Sirius stared at Remus shocked. "Merlin, Remus, that sounds…"
"Like borderline dark magic? That's what I wrote back to her. I told her it wasn't illegal as it wasn't on the list of banned magic but it wouldn't go down well if she used her own child's blood in a spell outside of familial magic." Remus rubbed a hand through his hair. "There were specific conditions that had to be met regarding the sacrifice too – in particular, the attacker had to kill her in order to specifically get to the child. It was a long shot. Lily wrote back telling me that she would do everything she could to protect Harry. That was the last letter I received from her."
"Wait," Sirius said, "you said that the attacker – Voldemort – would have to kill her because she needed to be removed to get to Harry specifically?"
Remus's eyes widened, realising the implication immediately. "You think…well, it makes sense if the spell worked, but…Voldemort was after Harry?"
"Did they ever tell you why they went into hiding, Moony?" Sirius asked. "James just told me that Dumbledore had received some information and they thought it was a good idea."
"They told me the same thing but…" Remus tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. "The Longbottoms went into hiding at the same time didn't they? Because of the same intelligence? Neville was born around the same time as Harry…but why would Voldemort target the children unless…" he stopped abruptly, as the pieces of the puzzle slid together suddenly. "What if there was a bloody prophecy?"
"I know who could probably answer that." Sirius said dryly. "Not that he will."
"No, if Albus thought there was a prophecy, he'd keep it close to his vest." Remus growled angrily.
Kreacher popped back in with a tray of food for dinner and they both fell silent lost in their own thoughts as they focused on the meal.
"OK," Sirius said, pushing his plate away and reaching for the pumpkin juice, "so let's recap what we know."
Remus nodded. "James and Lily went into hiding because of information that Albus provided to them. We assume this is a prophecy probably concerning Harry." He pointed his wand at the plan on the blackboard and added an item 'Check with the DOM whether a prophecy for Harry is registered.'
"Peter rats them out and Voldemort tries to kill…" Sirius swallowed against the hard lump in his throat, "tries to kill Harry but Lily protects him with this old blood protection spell. Voldemort is…defeated but not killed."
"I don't think it was the blood protection alone," Remus corrected, "I think the curse hit the ward, and while it couldn't stop it, it slowed it down enough that it gave Harry time to reflect it back at Voldemort. The scar is where the curse effectively came into contact with the protection otherwise it shouldn't have left a mark."
"I thought you said Dumbledore ruled out Harry's power as a cause?" Sirius asked confused.
"I'm sure Albus did," Remus stressed, "I, on the other hand, take into account that Harry showed signs of being a very powerful wizard before that moment, and I take into account that he's likely repressed his power since in order to live with the muggles without further incurring their wrath. Of the three theories on why Harry survived the Killing Curse, I plump for the last, that a combination of Lily and Harry enabled it."
"Well, I would never bet against you so…" Sirius waved his hand majestically at Remus, "moving on, I stupidly give up Harry to Hagrid, get framed by the rat and hoisted off to Azkaban."
"And Albus places Harry with his aunt, his closest living relative." Remus shuddered.
"And the closest blood relative." Sirius added thoughtfully. "You know Lily placed blood wards on her sister's muggle house – said after the attack on her parents that she wasn't taking any chances with what little family she had left whether her sister wanted the protection or not."
"Really?" Remus blinked. "You're thinking something which is usually not a good thing." He prompted when Sirius remained silent.
"What if Dumbledore examined Harry and realised there was a protection based on blood surrounding him and got the wrong idea?" Sirius posited. "What if he assumed the blood wards around Petunia's house had been placed there for Harry in case something happened to Lily? An extension of the protection she'd already placed on him?"
"Magically it would work," Remus said, turning over the idea in his head, "Lily's blood in both wards…both protective in nature…possibly Harry residing within the house enabled the blood ward around it to be maintained otherwise it would have needed Lily renewing the protection every year. It's entirely possible that the Dursley house is the safest place for Harry from a magical perspective."
"Well, bugger that." Sirius said forcefully. "It obviously isn't the safest place for Harry from every other perspective."
"Agreed," Remus said. He narrowed his eyes as Sirius pointed his wand at the blackboard. 'Review wards' appeared.
Sirius got to his feet, restless again. "Where were we on our recap?"
"Albus placed Harry with Petunia…"
"And left him in exile in the muggle world for ten long years." Sirius shook his head. "I don't think I'm going to forgive him for that."
"I'm not sure I'm in a mood to forgive him either." Remus muttered. He pushed himself out of the chair and walked over to the blackboard. "Harry turns eleven, gets his Hogwarts letter and Hagrid reintroduces him to the wizarding world."
"Badly."
"Quite." Remus said. He added a section to the plan entitled 'Education' and wrote another item to the growing list: 'teach Harry wizarding culture, etiquette and his heritage.' He cleared his throat. "Harry goes to Hogwarts where Albus tests him to find out more about how Harry survived the Killing Curse and wrongly assumes it is down to Lily's protection rather than any outstanding ability on Harry's part." Another item appeared under 'Protecting Harry:' 'research Lily's spell.'
"Harry defeats Voldepants again," Sirius added, "and Dumbledore gets his proof that Voldemort is alive in some form." He walked up and tapped the horcrux section. "And we know why."
"Although probably at that point in the timeline, Albus doesn't as there are a number of dark rituals that could have anchored Voldemort to this plane." Remus murmured. "No, Albus doesn't find out until Harry's second year when Harry destroys the diary horcrux." He sighed. "It's possible Albus is out searching for others."
Sirius shrugged. "If he is he's not made much progress. I have the benefit of Reg's note so have an idea of the number. I have the locket horcrux and can get my hands on the cup one if I seize the LeStrange vault. We'll need help to find out how to dispose of them and track down the three missing ones but I'll be damned if I'm going to Dumbledore."
"You don't know how to dispose of them?"
"I know how to create a horcrux – that was part of the Advanced section in Dark Arts my father made me learn, but disposing of them…no. I guess I can ask Harry how he did it."
"The Unspeakables might know." Remus offered. "You have 'conquer the Ministry' under your 'Take Over the World' section. It wouldn't hurt to use them nor the DMLE come to that – they should be informed that Voldemort is still a viable threat and I suspect Albus hasn't said anything to them."
"Let's come back to that." Sirius said briskly, twirling his wand, "OK, so after Harry's second year, Albus knows how Voldemort stayed alive-ish. Then I realise Peter is at Hogwarts and, well, we know what happened next; I ended up having to be rescued by Harry and escaping on a hippogriff."
Remus patted his shoulder. "But you've stayed, Sirius. You haven't allowed Albus to run you off again." He pointed at the blackboard. "This needs some work but it's a solid plan to get Harry away from the Dursleys and try to protect him in the future." He turned to his friend, determination shining in his eyes. "I'm not going to let Albus run me off either. Whatever you need, Padfoot; I'm in."