Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

The letter ended there. It seems incredible that Dumbledore —

It didn’t say anything, but the implication was obvious. Most likely, Bathilda Bagshot had told Lily about Dumbledore’s past, the very things Rita Skeeter was about to reveal. Even without the second half, the contents of the letter were enough to touch a nerve. No wonder Harry was so lost. This was his mother’s letter, revealing interesting stories from Harry’s first birthday, Lily and James’s peaceful life while hiding from Voldemort, and the traitor Peter Pettigrew.

All of this, while concealing some crucial information, also tugged at Harry’s sensitive nerves.

He desperately wanted to know, but no one, not Dumbledore or Sirius, would tell him.

These memories, so profoundly important to Harry, seemed far too ordinary, so commonplace that they had been easily overlooked.

“Harry,” said Evan, as though he had a lot to say but didn’t know where to begin.

“I’ve looked everywhere, but I couldn’t find the rest of the letter, and I didn’t find the photo,” said Harry, his voice still hoarse.

“Maybe Sirius took it.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. The room upstairs is a mess. Someone must have gone through it before me. I’m not sure if it was Sirius, though he had no reason to do it. Perhaps it was Snape. He might have come back looking for information on the Order.”

Harry still didn’t know that Mundungus Fletcher had been stealing things from the house. Although Evan had warned Mundungus when he bought the house-elf’s body, he doubted the warning would have much effect. For a thief, the temptation of the old Black family home was simply too great.

Sirius had never cared about such things. The only house-elf watching over the house wasn’t there, and the place was filled with silver and priceless antiques.

Mundungus would even disguise himself as an Inferius to get his hands on loot; the odds of him passing up such a treasure trove were virtually zero.

No wonder Kreacher had been off this morning, muttering things like Sirius was a spendthrift, clearly upset.

There was no need to tell Harry about these things. He was already in a bad mood, there was no sense in giving him more to be angry about.

“Harry, if you want to know the rest of the story, you can ask Sirius,” said Evan, offering a reasonable suggestion.

“I will. I’ll have a serious talk with him. But before that, I’d really like to meet Bathilda Bagshot,” said Harry. “She’s mentioned in the letter, and Ron’s Great-Aunt Muriel mentioned her at the wedding yesterday. She also knew the Dumbledore family. It would be interesting to talk to her, wouldn’t it?”

“In a way, yes,” said Evan. He knew what Harry was thinking. “You’re still planning to go to Godric’s Hollow?”

Harry had already brought it up during their summer planning: he wanted to visit the place where he had been born and where his parents lay buried — Godric’s Hollow, the famous wizarding village. But in the later discussions, the idea had been set aside. There was no real point in going there now.

Neither the search for the keys to the treasure of the Four Founders of Hogwarts nor Voldemort’s Horcruxes involved that place.

On the contrary, Voldemort might already suspect that Harry would want to go there, and Death Eaters could be lying in wait. Going to Godric’s Hollow now would be extremely unwise. In fact, Evan doubted that even if they did go, whether they could actually meet Bathilda Bagshot was very much in question.

“I want to know the truth, Evan!” said Harry, seeming hesitant to look at Evan, but his voice grew louder. “Bathilda Bagshot knows a lot, and it’s essential that I meet her. I want to find out for myself, to understand everything, not just do what you all keep wanting me to do — pick and choose what to believe.”

Indeed, finding out for himself would be far more reliable than hearing what Evan, Sirius, Auntie Muriel, or Rita Skeeter said.

Even if he learned nothing at all, visiting his parents’ graves would still bring Harry great comfort.

Ultimately, it would be Harry himself who would face death. Even if Evan knew a lot, she couldn’t replace him, or even offer much help.

“I’m not doubting you and Sirius, Evan, but do you think I can remain indifferent after knowing these things?” Harry continued, still not looking at Evan. “I know you and Hermione have always opposed me going to Godric’s Hollow. It may be dangerous, but it is very important to me.”

“All right. After we find Hufflepuff’s treasure key, we can go,” Evan finally said. “I’ll convince Hermione. And I’ll also tell you everything I know about Dumbledore’s past, so you can judge the truth of it for yourself. But first — look at this article.”

“What is it?” Harry asked in surprise, taking the newspaper Evan handed him.

“The latest issue of The Daily Prophet. The Ministry’s new policies are in it —they seem to be planning to interview Muggle-born wizards. But that’s not the point. What matters is on page three: an extract from Rita Skeeter’s new book, about Dumbledore’s family,” said Evan. “I was reading it before you came. It mentions Dumbledore’s parents, his sister, and Bathilda Bagshot. If you want to investigate the past, I think this is a good place to start.”

As he spoke, he pointed out the passage to Harry. After Percival Dumbledore’s arrest, the family moved from Mould-on-the-Wold to Godric’s Hollow. There, no one knew the Dumbledores’ history. They could ignore the stares and the shame Percival had brought, and begin anew.

In Rita Skeeter’s words: Like Mould-on-the-Wold, Godric’s Hollow was home to a number of Wizarding families, but as Kendra knew none of them, she would be spared the curiosity about her husband’s crime she had faced in her former village. By repeatedly rebuffing the friendly advances of her new Wizarding neighbors, she soon ensured that her family was left well alone.

“Slammed the door in my face when I went around to welcome her with a batch of homemade Cauldron Cakes,” says Bathilda Bagshot. “The first year they were there I only ever saw the two boys. Wouldn’t have known there was a daughter if I hadn’t been picking Plangentines by moonlight the winter after they moved in, and saw Kendra leading Ariana out into the back garden. Walked her round the lawn once, keeping a firm grip on her, then took her back inside. Didn’t know what to make of it.”

It seems that Kendra thought the move to Godric’s Hollow was the perfect opportunity to hide Ariana once and for all, something she had probably been planning for years.

The timing was significant. Ariana was barely seven years old when she vanished from sight, and seven is the age by which most experts agree that magic will have revealed itself, if present.

Nobody now alive remembers Ariana ever demonstrating even the slightest sign of magical ability. It seems clear, therefore, that Kendra made a decision to hide her daughter’s existence rather than suffer the shame of admitting that she had produced a Squib. Moving away from the friends and neighbors who knew Ariana would, of course, make imprisoning her all the easier.

The tiny number of people who henceforth knew of Ariana’s existence could be counted upon to keep the secret, including her two brothers, who deflected awkward questions with the answer their mother had taught them: “My sister is too frail for school.”