ᵖʳᵒᵘᵈ ᵖᵃʳᵉⁿᵗˢ ; ʰᵃʳᵐⁱᵒⁿᵉ

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞

Chapter 9 - Hermione's Parents

Amelia once more had a glass of firewhisky in her hand. That it was only lunchtime and she was at work made her feel even guiltier for having it there. In her defence, Lupin and Black also had glasses containing the same liquid in their hands too - and looked as if they needed it as badly as she did.

Neither can live while the other survives

That was the line right there of this bloody prophecy that hit the group like a bludgeoning curse to the gut, all except the two teens.

She was glad Sirius rather blurted out the question Amelia desperately wanted to ask.

"Harry, how can you be okay with this?"

"I'm not okay. Hearing that though didn't change anything. Actually, it did. The prophecy gave Hermione and me a little hope."

There was no way Amelia was letting anyone else ask the next question. She needed to know where this hope came from, because Amelia certainly didn't see any in this prophecy. To anyone else in the country, including herself, this prophecy would be a death sentence hanging around their neck. What made Harry Potter so different?

"Do you know what this supposed power to defeat him is?"

Glancing at Hermione, Harry nodded before answering. "We think so. They say that knowledge is power, we hope to use our knowledge to defeat him. We know why Voldemort didn't die that night, and are taking steps to ensure he will never have that option available again. Only Hermione and I have that knowledge, and we won't talk more about it until we're out of the country."

It surprised no one that Hermione was in complete agreement with her betrothed. "We understand it's dangerous hoarding knowledge, you just need to look at Dumbledore to see where that can lead. Dumbledore used whatever knowledge he has to form his own agenda, and doesn't tell anyone else what that agenda is. We intend to sit down with you three and go over in great detail what needs to be done to strip away Voldemort's immortality."

The very thought of an immortal Voldemort had Amelia reaching for a refill. Sirius and Remus could have used one too, but were meeting with the Grangers after this.

"Hermione and I won't say how we came by this knowledge, but we've also known we've need help with this since gaining that knowledge. Action was taken this morning that will strip Voldemort of his most wealthy supporters, that news will break in the next day or two. It was done through Gringotts, so you know everything was legal and above board. If Death Eaters are stupid enough to sign control of their vaults over to Voldemort, then enjoy watching them squirm as someone has apparently taken advantage of that access to empty their vaults."

Looking down, Amelia noticed her refill was gone - and she couldn't remember drinking it. Putting her glass away gave Amelia time to respond to that simply unbelievable news. Even then, her response was poor. This really was unbelievable though.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"If you are asking me if the rich pureblood Death Eaters can no longer buy themselves out of a trip to Azkaban, or the pages of the Daily Prophet, then my answer is yes. We might end up owning stock in the Daily Prophet too, amongst other properties and companies. One thing I wanted to assure you of, any dark items in these Death Eater vaults will never see the light of day. They will be destroyed by the goblins."

Amelia so wanted another drink, this time to celebrate. She denied herself though, alcohol was a crutch she didn't want to get used to. Since getting to know Harry Potter however, Amelia had found herself needing support of some kind after discovering just a few of the trials and tribulations this young man had faced - and still had waiting ahead of him.