Prologue

Frank Longbottom, handsome, magically powerful, and well-born, was the best of the best by the Death Eaters' credo. He befuddled his allies and enemies alike by publicly blaming the decline of wizarding culture on 'Mugglification' (a charming term coined by Abraxas Malfoy) and three weeks later naming Lily Potter godmother to his firstborn son. The Order smiled their relief at the young Auror's sudden reversal; the Death Eaters suspected a cunning plot.

Both were mistaken, but the world would never discover it. The Potters and Longbottoms spent half of 1980 and most of 1981 fleeing from refuge to refuge, finally driven to a small village in Yorkshire, where James Potter owned an abandoned and half-forgotten house. Between Lily's ever-brilliant spellwork and the inspired choice of unassuming Peter Pettigrew as Secret-Keeper, they anticipated, for the first time in years, something akin to safety.

Instead, the Secret was betrayed, and the Dark Lord appeared in their new home. Alice Longbottom, the fastest duellist to come out of Hogwarts in twenty-five years, tried to delay him and was instantly killed. Frank rushed to the nursery, unable to Floo or Apparate out, but determined to protect Neville and Harry or die trying.

And since he was Frank Longbottom, pureblood extraordinaire, he was given a choice. He could step aside, hand his son and his cousin over, and he would live. The Dark Lord couldn't know that there was no plot and never had been. Frank believed in the old traditions, and so he supported them; he trusted his best friend, Lily, and so he could think of nobody better to be Neville's godmother. As far as Frank Longbottom was concerned, there was never any choice, and so he died.

1 November 1981 THE DAILY PROPHET Price: 5 Knuts

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Defeated!

Last evening, You Know Who went in search of two couples who carried the distinction of being among his greatest enemies: James and Lily Potter (for the true story behind this unlikely pairing, see June 1976 article Star Crossed Lovers? Potter Heir and Muggleborn Beauty Engaged!), and highly successful Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom.

The Potters and Longbottoms disappeared from the public eye over six months ago, due to an as yet undisclosed threat, and were preparing to hide under the incredibly complex Fidelius Charm (Charms experts discuss on page E3). Sirius Black, a friend and cousin of Mr Potter's as well as of Mr and Mrs Longbottom's, was their first choice of Secret Keeper, but they quickly switched to former schoolmate Peter Pettigrew.

It was a tragic mistake. Pettigrew, who includes among his other secrets an illegal Animagus form (a common rat, see right), has been feeding information to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his Death Eaters for over a year. He betrayed his friends to the Dark Lord, who promptly went to the safe house in Godric's Hollow, North Yorkshire.

Quickly and efficiently, he killed both Longbottoms, and went to the nursery, where the Potters' and Longbottoms' sons, Harry and Neville, peacefully slept. He cast the Killing Curse once again and then, the Dark Lord, for years the scourge of the wizarding world, was defeated by a fifteen month old boy. Harry was physically unharmed by the traumatic experience, but the newly orphaned Neville was left with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead, mark of the day he lived where all others have perished.

12 November 1981 THE DAILY PROPHET Price: 5 Knuts

Potters Receive Guardianship of Boy-Who-Lived!

Today's reading of Mr Frank Longbottom's will settled all controversy. Lily Potter, young Neville Longbottom's godmother, and her husband James Potter, a not too remote cousin of the Longbottoms', were awarded full custody of the boy today.

When asked her opinion on the development, Augusta Longbottom (the late Mr Longbottom's mother) said, 'I'm not surprised. Lily and Frank have had been thick as thieves since the day they were Sorted, and he always got on well with James and Sirius.' With a smile, Mrs Longbottom's mother-in-law added, 'A spirited boy like Neville is going to need more than a lot of antediluvians like us. I couldn't hope for better guardians than Lily and James.'

Perhaps a further reason for their complaisance can be found in the Potters' stated intention to raise Neville with their own son, Harry, at an undisclosed family property. It is rumoured that they are bringing the surviving Longbottoms with them.

14 November 1981 THE DAILY PROPHET Price: 5 Knuts

Black Sheep Returns to the Fold!

Mr Arcturus Black, the ninety year old patriarch of a family widely considered to be one of Britain's wealthiest and most influential (and, it must be said, most eccentric), is renowned for his many philanthropic endeavours, which last year won him the award of Order of Merlin, First Class. Mr Black's announcement of this morning, however, won the attention of the wizarding world for quite a different reason.

Handsome and charismatic Sirius Black lost scarcely any admirers when he was disinherited at age sixteen. The elderly wizard appeared in public today, leaning heavily on the strong arm of his erstwhile grandson. 'We are fully reconciled,' Mr Black said. 'I consider Sirius the best example of what the Blacks are able to offer wizardkind.'

He further explained, 'When people talk of Sirius' supposed repudiation of our family and everything we stand for, they forget that he actually went to live with my favourite cousin. Her part in healing the breach cannot be overestimated.' Sirius said, 'It was really . . . adolescent rebellion on my part. Aunt Dorea helped me to see exactly what I was doing.' Mrs Dorea Potter (née Dorea Black) was Sirius' great aunt, the wife of Ministry diplomat Charlus Potter, and well known and respected for her work in Arithmancy.

Sirius looked livid when the topic of Regulus Black (the younger brother who supplanted him as Black family heir) was brought up, for quite different reasons than might be supposed. 'My brother was murdered by Death Eaters,' the young man said, his voice rising passionately. 'It's not something we talk about, but everybody knows what happened. It was a stupid mistake. Regulus was a young idiot, we all were, and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just a mistake.'

When asked if he would ever consider again disinheriting his spirited grandson, Mr Black declared, 'No, not under any circumstances.' He later added, 'His Black cousins have all proven highly unsatisfactory. Sirius possesses in spades courage, loyalty, intelligence, and talent, all qualities prized in the Black family; now that he's settled down, I could not ask for anything more in an heir.'

The 'unsatisfactory' cousins in question are the married daughters of Cygnus and Druella Black: Bellatrix Lestrange, 30, Andromeda Tonks, 28, and Narcissa Malfoy, 26. All three lovely sisters (once inseparable, now estranged for reasons unknown) are highly respected and prominent figures in the wizarding world. Mrs Tonks has two daughters, Nymphadora, 8, and Danae, 3, while Mrs Malfoy is mother to a son, Draco, 1.

Mr Black declined to elaborate on his statement.

26 November 1981 THE DAILY PROPHET Price: 5 Knuts

Black-Greengrass Alliance!

Menelaus Greengrass, Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, today announced the engagement of his sister Chloe, 21, to Sirius Black, 23. According to both, they have been quietly dating for nearly a year.

'Sirius was meant to be the Potters' Secret Keeper up until the last moment,' explained Miss Greengrass. 'It had been planned since before he looked twice at me, and he fully expected to be tortured and killed immediately afterwards. He couldn't bear to make me a young widow or still worse, a target for Death Eaters and the Dark Lord.'

The jaunty young man whose flippant defiance gave hope to many older and more experienced wizards seems transformed by the trials he has endured. Sirius Black is grave, calm, and collected as he sits with his fiancée, but his dark eyes are haunted. Years as a marked man have indelibly scarred him.

Arcturus Black was unavailable for comments, but his wife Melania virtually bubbled over with excitement. 'We are delighted, of course,' she said with a bright smile. 'Chloe is a breath of fresh air for us.'

'I expect they will be very happy,' declared Black's uncle, Ignatius Prewett. 'Chloe is a good, steady girl, just what the Blacks need.'

With equal sincerity, Madam Greengrass said, 'There's no denying that it's highly convenient for all of us, but that's pure coincidence. Neither family had any idea until the matter was already settled. It was chance that brought them together.'

Apparently, 'chance' more commonly goes by the name of James Potter. 'My mother was Sirius' great-aunt and my grandmother was Chloe's,' Potter told us. 'So of course I knew them both. Since they were accounted "dangerous blood traitors" by the Death Eaters, Sirius and Chloe were ostracised by respectable folk who didn't have their courage. It was the same story with pretty much any young people trying to do the right thing. So I threw a sort of party.' Smiling at the memory, he explained, 'It was at the ancestral estate in Wiltshire, a very exclusive event -- blood traitors of the first order only! Chloe and Sirius met there, danced, talked a bit. It wasn't love at first sight.' Potter rejected all compliments. 'Sirius was preparing to die for me and my family,' he said. 'The least I could do was facilitate his social life.'

Black, asked about hopes for his future with Miss Greengrass, proved that his mischievous side is still alive and kicking. 'You know, every Black in the history of er, forever was in Slytherin, until now, but times are changing. I was in Gryffindor, Chloe in Ravenclaw. Personally, I'm hoping we raise a houseful of Hufflepuffs.'

The Black-Greengrass wedding is set for New Year's Eve.

The happy couple are pictured to the right, surrounded by their loving family. Top row, left to right: Edmund Tonks, Lucius Malfoy, Menelaus Greengrass, Cygnus Black, Ignatius Prewett, Priam Greengrass. Second row, left to right: Andromeda Tonks, Melania Black, Niobe Greengrass, Lucretia Prewett, Cassiopeia Black, Narcissa Malfoy. Third row, left to right: James Potter, Sirius Black, Chloe Greengrass, Lily Potter. Last row, left to right: Danae Tonks, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Daphne Greengrass, Neville Longbottom.

1 November 1982 THE DAILY PROPHET Price: 5 Knuts

Black Secrets -- Tragedy Strikes Again!

Yesterday, cousins-in-law Lily Potter and Chloe Black were, like the rest of the wizarding world, secure in the belief that the menace posed by You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters was over. It was exactly one year since the defeat of the Dark Lord by Neville Longbottom, Mrs Potter's godson, and all the world was celebrating.

All the world, that is, but for a family of four. All were respectable. All were well connected.

All were Death Eaters.

They were Mr Rodolphus Lestrange, his wife (née Bellatrix Black), his brother, and Mrs Lestrange's young cousin, the son of none other than Magical Law Enforcement head Bartemius Crouch.

The last time Mrs Potter and Mrs Black were seen that day, they were talking to young Barty Crouch and laughing. They certainly were not laughing much longer. Their families contacted the Ministry approximately an hour and a half after the women's disappearance.

'Lily and Chloe told us they'd be home at three. They're very organised people, always very together,' said a distraught James Potter. 'When they were still gone by three-thirty, we knew something had to be wrong.'

The truth was beyond anyone's worst expectations. Mrs Black and Mrs Potter were discovered in Knockturn Alley at 4:38, mere moments after their assailants had fled. 'I've never seen anything like it,' said Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. 'The victims were obviously surprised, but they fought like heroes. They probably cast fifteen curses between the two of them before the Cruciatus incapacitated them.'

However, upon their arrival at St Mungo's, Mrs Potter was instantly transferred to another ward. Eight and a half months pregnant, the trauma had induced a premature labour, and nine hours later, she gave birth to twin girls.

Witnesses on Knockturn Alley were surprisingly helpful and the Lestranges, as well as young Crouch, were immediately apprehended. Once found guilty by the Wizengamot, they will be sent to Azkaban for life.

Although Walburga Black, Chloe Black's mother-in-law (and Bellatrix Lestrange's aunt) insisted there must be a mistake, Mr Arcturus Black (the family patriarch) could not claim to be surprised. 'It's not that we thought she was a Death Eater, but she was never . . . normal. Brilliant, of course, but quite disturbing -- even as a child. At the time, it was a relief to marry her off to Roddy Lestrange.' After a pause, he added, 'At least there are no children, thank God.'

Just under a year ago, Mr Black told us that he considered Mrs Lestrange, along with her two younger sisters, an 'unsatisfactory' heir, but refused to further explain himself. One hopes that there will be no such dramatic relevations about Mrs Tonks and Mrs Malfoy (both of whom, unlike Mrs Lestrange, attended the Black Greengrass wedding of last December).

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Cast of Characters

Neville Longbottom, son of Frank Longbottom and Alice Gamp, the Boy-Who-Lived. Ward of his godmother, Lily Potter, and his father's second cousin, James Potter.

Harry Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Evans. Raised alongside Neville.

Arcturus Black, patriarch of the Black family, retired from public life. Reinstated his grandson Sirius as his heir after the Dark Lord's fall.

Melania (Macmillan) Black, Arcturus' delicate wife, Sirius' grandmother, nominal mistress of the house.

James Potter, son of Charlus Potter and Dorea Black. A wealthy aristocrat and Ministry employee, authority of the family.

Sirius Black, son of Orion and Walburga Black, heir to the Black fortune and name, best friend of James Potter, godfather of Harry Potter.

Violetta (Bulstrode) Black, grandmother of Cygnus Black, Walburga Black, and James Potter.

Cassiopeia Black, daughter of Violetta Black. Best friends with Hogwarts year-mate and cousin Callidora.

Callidora (Black) Longbottom, Neville Longbottom's great-grandmother.

Cygnus Black, reclusive son of Pollux Black and Irma Crabbe. Widower of Druella Rosier, father of Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa.

Francis Longbottom, Callidora's son, Neville's grandfather.

Augusta (Cornfoot) Longbottom, Neville's grandmother.

Enid (Longbottom) Algernon, Callidora's daughter, Francis' sister, Neville's great-aunt.

Aristodemus 'Algie' Algernon, Enid's husband.

Chloe and Helen Potter, twin daughters of James Potter and Lily Evans, Harry's younger sisters.

Susan Bones, Draco Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass, Morag MacDougal, Millicent Bulstrode, Hermione Granger, Katherine Rivers, Blaise Zabini, etc, year-mates of Neville's.