Harry Potter & The Black Sacrifice – Chapter 12

Harry Potter & The Black Sacrifice

Post 14: The Hidden Memory

Chapter 12

The Hidden Memory

Peter Pettigrew had no way of knowing if he had ever been this scared in his life, but if he had to guess, he was sure that this moment would be in the top 5.

He was being led from his cell in the ministry to a courtroom in the basement, to hear his official sentencing before being taken to Azkaban. 2 aurors were flanking him on every side, for a total of 8. Peter had been averaging 50 or so death threat Howlers a day, and they were taking no chances.

They arrived at the courtroom and the two aurors in the front guard, Shacklebolt and a new initiate by the name of Rahgente Gadfly, led Pettigrew to the chair in the center of the room and forced him to sit. Immediately, the chains attached to the chair sprang to life and bound Pettigrew to it.

Rufus Scrimgeour was sitting where Cornelius Fudge had sat in judgement of Harry Potter some two years earlier. He had a stack of papers in his hands that he was currently skimming through very quickly. On Scrimgeour's left side was Percy Weasley; on his right was Minerva McGonagall. They were the only members of the Wizengamot present.

Scrimgeour finished his final readthrough of the sentence and stared down at Pettigrew. "Peter Pettigrew," he began.

Pettigrew looked around at the aurors, then around the room. He looked back at Scrimgeour. "That's me, right?" he asked, his voice trembling.

Scrimgeour nodded. "You sit before this council today to hear sentencing for the numerous crimes you have committed against both the magic world and the non-magic world. The fact that you do not remember these crimes does not excuse you."

Scrimgeour motioned for the two aurors to leave. Once they were gone, he turned his attention back to Pettigrew, with disgust in his eyes. "Upon the conclusion of this meeting, you will hereby be removed to Azkaban prison, where you will stay until you die." Pettigrew stiffened at these words, but he remained silent. "Since you have been tried and convicted in absentia, this council has agreed that you deserve to at least hear a list of the crimes you are being sentenced for."

Percy stood up and put on his glasses. "Peter Pettigrew, the list is as follows. Bear in mind that this is not a complete list of the crimes we suspect you of; merely the ones we had enough evidence to convict you for."

Percy spent the next 15 minutes reading off the list of offenses that Pettigrew had committed. Peter was genuinely shocked by each of them.

Percy concluded with "And finally, using your position as secret keeper to betray Lily & James Potter's location to You-Know-Who, which resulted in…"

Pettigrew interrupted him. "Potter… I know this name!" he said excitedly.

Scrimgeour, who had been going over his notes again, looked up in surprise. "Do you mean to say that your memory has returned?" he asked skeptically.

Pettigrew frowned. "No.. I just know this name alone… Potter.." He kept mumbling to himself, a puzzled look on his face.

"Maybe your conscience won't let you forget the most despicable of all your crimes," growled Scrimgeour. "Finish reading Weasley!"

Percy cleared his throat and cast a frightened look at Scrimgeour. "Which… ahh..resulted in the murders of the Potters, and the attempted murder of their infant son Harry…

Pettigrew would have jumped out of his seat at that point had the chains not held him down. "Harry!" he shouted. "Harry Potter! This name… I …"

Suddenly Pettigrew went as limp as a rag doll, his eyes glazing over. "I must speak with Harry Potter," he said, in a voice that was not quite his own. "I must..speak..with.. Harry Potter…!"

McGonnagal, Scrimgeour, and Weasley all exchanged incredulous looks as Pettigrew repeated himself 4 more times. "Enough!" Scrimgeour finally shouted. This seemed to bring Pettigrew out of his trance. "Exactly what do you need to speak to Harry Potter about?"

Pettigrew screwed up his face in concentration. "I…. I don't know!"

Scrimgeour relaxed. "I'm sure you don't," he said mockingly. "If you're done spinning tales, I'd like to get this over with. Being in your presence for this long will require at least 3 baths when I get home! Weasley!"

Percy cleared his throat again. "And the attempted murder of their infant son Harry. Peter Pettigrew, this concludes your sentencing. Do you have any questions about the list that I have just read to you?"

Pettigrew was having a hard time concentrating on Percy, but he shook his head.

Scrimgeour nodded. "Fine. The aurors will now take you to the lobby of the ministry, where they will apparate with you to Azkaban. KINGSLEY!"

Shacklebolt and Gadfly once again entered the room. The chains binding Pettigrew dropped to the floor. Pettigrew was visibly shaken now, not with the knowledge that he would soon be in Azkaban, but with the frustration of the fragment of a memory which had surfaced. He had no idea who Harry Potter was; only that something inside of him was practically ordering him to find him and speak to him. Of what he was supposed to tell him when he found him, Pettigrew was clueless.

The 8 aurors and Pettigrew made quite a show for the press photographers that were waiting for them in the lobby. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator, Pettigrew found himself being assaulted by both questions and flashbulbs.

In the ensuing chaos as the aurors prepared to apparate, nobody noticed a stooped cloaked figured making his way through the photographers. This figure slowly made their way to the front of the crowd, and found himself face to face with Pettigrew.

Pettigrew tried to make out a face behind the cloak's hood. All he could make out though was a wicked smile. Pettigrew looked down to see that this figure had their wand out, pointed straight at him. He gasped and tried to push through the aurors on his other side.

Kingsley noticed this, then noticed the cloaked figure and their wand. He began to shout for the others to notice, but before he could…

"Latitum Memoriteratus!"

A jet of baby blue light shot from the figure's wand straight to Pettigrew's forehead. Pettigrew blinked in surprise and stumbled backwards, but he appeared to be unharmed.

By the time Shacklebolt looked back to the person in the cloak, they had already apparated away. Shacklebolt looked back over to Pettigrew. Pettigrew was rubbing his forehead, confused.

"Are you hurt?" Shacklebolt asked gruffly.

Pettigrew shook his head. "No… just… no.. I'm fine."

Shacklebolt looked around to the other aurors. "Latitum Memoriteratus? Does anyone know what that spell does?"

The aurors, and everyone else who had heard him (including several photographers) shook their heads no. Shacklebolt nodded. "Okay, well now's not the time to worry about it. Aurors, apparate to Azkaban on my count. 3…2….1!"

…

"There's been more than just a removal Pettigrew's memory," said Minerva Mcgonagall. "Something, some bit of information is locked away in his mind, and it was placed there deliberately. And it seems only Harry Potter could have unlocked it."

Remus Lupin had his face in his hands. "Somehow I doubt it, Minerva," he said. "He latched on to something he thought would buy him time. He was just trying to delay his trip to Azkaban. Scrimgeour was right to not listen to him."

Minerva surveyed Remus with concern, and a little apprehension as well. "The moon will be out in 3 hours Remus. Shouldn't you be… locking yourself up soon?"

Remus pulled his head up and grinned. "You're right. But I would hear of Pettigrew's attacker first. Did anyone get a look at him?" Minerva shook her head. "13 of the nosiest photographers in London and nobody gets a look at this guy? How did he get so close in the first place?!"

"We're still looking in to that," said Minerva. "It seems nobody even remembers seeing him until he had his wand in Pettigrew's face."

They heard a pop and a door opening, then Arthur Weasley peeked his head into the kitchen at 12 Grimmauld Place, where Minerva and Remus were conversing. "Ah… it seems you're already talking about what I came to ask you about." He was looking at Minerva. He sat down at the kitchen table. "Tell me everything."

Minerva sighed. "Perhaps we would do well to call a meeting so that I do not have to tell this story 14 different times!"

As Arthur and Remus were nodding their agreement, several more pops were heard outside. "Maybe we don't have to call a meeting after all," said Arthur.

The entire Order of the Phoenix (except for Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was still taking care of business at Azkaban, and Hagrid) were now pushing to get through the front door first.

Once everyone was seated snugly in the kitchen, Minerva did a head count. "Who are we missing?" she asked.

"Hagrid," Fred, George, Ron, & Hermione said simultaneously.

"I'll call him," Molly Weasley said. "He may be on his way here already though; he never did learn to apparate, poor Hagrid."

Molly marched out to find the fireplace. "I'll go ahead and start without him," said Minerva. "As you may have heard, there were some rather odd occurrences at the ministry today…"

She began by telling of Pettigrew's odd trance, and ended with the strange spell that the hooded figure had cast, and Pettigrew's lack of a reaction to it.

Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Charlie Weasley spoke up. "It's the same line he gave us when he was disguised as Snape," he said. "He said he needed to speak to Harry then too."

Remus nodded at this. "The two are connected, though not like you may think they are Charlie. Obviously, whoever had him Imperiused at the inn in Ravenclaw wanted him to get close to Harry. Pettigrew was panicking during his sentencing, and I think he just latched on to the only thing he could think of – the thing that made us sit up and take notice at the inn."

"So the trance was faked too then?" asked Hermione. "That seems like quite an elaborate ruse for someone as dense as Pettigrew."

There were murmurs of agreement at this. Remus merely shrugged. "Who knows what goes through someone's mind when they're being sent to prison?" he said. "I'm more interested in the spell that was cast on him. Latitum Memoriteratus.. has anyone ever heard of this?"

Every head at the table was shaking no. Remus frowned. "I want someone at Azkaban watching Pettigrew," he said. "If the effects of that spell start to manifest, I want to know about it right away."

Arthur nodded. "I'll ask Kingsley to arrange it," he said. "It'll need to be done quietly, but I'm sure he can pull some strings."

Minerva looked around the room. "Is there anything else?" Everyone shook their heads. "Okay then, until next time…" Everyone stood up to leave.

A thought suddenly struck Hermione. "Wait!" Everyone turned to look at her, and she blushed. Minerva raised one eyebrow, amused.

"Yes, miss Granger?"

"Umm.. well I just was wondering if… does anyone know of anything significant about the year 1726?"

Hermione was greeted with a sea of stares, some amused, some annoyed, all confused. All but Tonks, who merely looked curious and a little frightened.

Alastor Moody spoke up first. "A rather odd question miss Granger… may I inquire as to its inspiration?"

Hermione begin to sputter as she searched for a reason that sounded real. Surprisingly, Ron came to her rescue.

"Hermione is thinking of writing a book about Hogwarts," Ron said. "Kind of a less stuffy version of Hogwarts: A History. The kind students will actually want to read." Hermione smiled as she kicked him under the table.

Minerva didn't believe this, but she decided not to press it. "So why 1726?" she asked. "What makes you ask about that year in particular?"

Again, Ron answered. "Just before the school year ended, she interviewed all the school ghosts," he said, a little too quickly. "3 of the ghosts were happy to oblige, but the Bloody Baron wasn't forthcoming at all. He did tell her that he would talk to her if she did some of her own work first. He told her to research that year in particular!"

Hermione grinned unconvincingly. Nobody was going to believe that. She looked around the table, but surprisingly, rather than disbelieving looks, she got many thoughtful looks as the Order of the Phoenix tried to remember anything significant about 1726. Suddenly, everyone started talking at once.

"Is that the year that Nicolas Flamel swam across the English Channel?" asked Bill Weasley.

"I'm zeenking zat's when ze Centaurs invaded Paris," said Fleur De La Coeur.

"Is that the year Knocturne Alley opened?" asked Molly Weasley.

"It's the year Arcturus' Gate was created," said Tonks timidly.

"I'm sure of it, that's when goblins let a thousand nifflers lose in London," said Moody.

"No wait, wasn't it…" began Arthur, but Hermione interrupted him.

"Wait," she said. "Tonks, what did you say?"

With a sigh and a downward glance, Tonks said "Arcturus' Gate. It was created in 1726."

Only Arthur and Moody seemed to know what Tonks was talking about, for they were both wearing the same stunned expression; everyone else just looked expectant.

"And what exactly is Arcturus' Gate?" asked Hermione.

"I'm not sure what this has to do with Hogwarts," began Tonks, "but it is an extremely dark magical object created by an ancestor of mine." Tonks shuddered. "It was created to be used in a ceremony which, to the best of my knowledge, never occurred. Or at least never occurred successfully."

"What is it?" asked Ron. "What is it a gate to?"

Arthur and Moody exchanged glances with Tonks. When Tonks still hadn't answered after nearly a minute, Arthur spoke up. "You were there Ron. You were there the day Sirius fell through it."

"The veil?" asked Hermione. "That thing has a name?" Tonks nodded. "What was the ceremony that it was intended for Tonks?"

"That part I never found out," said Tonks. "My mother was never one for fairy tales at bedtime; I used to hear instead about all the horrible things the Black family had done." This was greeted by a lot of odd stares. "You know, so I wouldn't end up like them!

"Anyways, nobody outside of Arcturus' closest inner circle knew what the Gate was meant for," she continued. "But one thing that did get passed down – if the ceremony had been successful, the Gate would have been closed off once it's purpose was complete." She looked over at Hermione and Ron. "Obviously, the Gate is still open."

"So some 18th century nutter intentionally created a gateway to the land of the dead?" exclaimed Ron.

Tonks nodded. "And I don't think it's a coincidence that dear old Arcturus died that year," she said. "We don't know anything for sure. But my mother was convinced that Arcturus was killed by this ceremony going badly."

The table was silent for a moment. Then Hermione spoke up.

"That's interesting… but you're right, I don't know what it has to do with Hogwarts," she said. Tonks nodded in agreement "Unless anyone can think of anything else, I guess I'll just keep reading." She looked around the table, but nobody else seemed to have anything else to add. "Okay then! Umm.. Remus, can I speak with you privately before I leave?"

Remus looked surprised, but he nodded. "As long as it's quick," he said, and gestured skywards. Hermione gasped, and nodded.

Everyone said their goodbyes, then Hermione led Remus up to the room which had been hers and Ginny's two years before.

"Have a seat, sir," she said. "I need your solemn promise that what I'm about to show you stays with you. Absolutely nobody, including other Order members, can know about this."

"Hermione, I…"

"Yes or no."

He sighed. "Fine, I promise."

Hermioned nodded, satisfied. She then turned her attention to a corner which, as near as Remus could tell, had nothing in it. "Harry…"

Harry was already taking off his invisibility cloak when she said this. Normally he would have been ecstatic to see Remus again, but after hearing Tonks' story his face was very grim. Remus, however, looked ecstatic enough for both of them.

"Remus," he said. "It's great to see you. Now listen to me very carefully…."