MAGIANIMA // Hermione Granger

A Means To An End

"How does that work?" Rosmerta was so interested, so curious it made Atlas sick, why was she so fascinated by the subject? She just wanted her to stop asking so many questions. For her to stop digging for details.

"An immensely complex spell," Flitwick said after clearing his throat, "involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find -- unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!"

And it all clicked into place in Atlas's mind. Sirius Black was their Secret-Keeper, Sirius Black had ratted out Harry's parents to Voldemort, Sirius Black was the reason Harry's parents were dead, Sirius Black wasn't just a serial killer, he was a traitor, he betrayed his best friends and their son, he betrayed her mother who she knew had been working tirelessly against Voldemort, he betrayed everyone. He betrayed her.

"So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" Madam Rosmerta questioned.

"Naturally," Minerva murmured. "James told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself...and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself."

"He suspected Black?" Madam Rosmerta gasped.

"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed of their movements," Professor McGonagall said darkly. "Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to You-Know-Who."

"But James Potter insisted on using Black?"

"He did," Fudge said heavily. "And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed --"

"Black betrayed them?" Madam Rosmerta finished.

"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role, he was ready to declare his support openly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters' death. But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colours as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it --"

"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid said, so loudly that Atlas flinched, "I met him!" he practically growled. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! It was me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! Jus' got him outta the ruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead...an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. I didn' know he'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-Keeper. Didn' know Amaya had bin killed either! Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', he was. An' yeh know what I did? I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!"

"Hagrid, please!" Professor McGonagall tried. "Keep your voice down!"

"How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James, not even Amaya? It was You-Know-Who he cared abou'! An' then he says, 'Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him --' Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's. Black argued, but in the end, he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he says."