THE TRUTH UNTOLD | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

𝘅𝗶𝘅 | 𝗵𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗱'𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿

'There's nothing you can do!' Gwen cried. She surprised herself at the authority in her tone. 'What Black's done has already happened! Getting revenge or attacking him or anything like that won't change anything! You can't change the past!'

'I don't care, Gwen! I have to hear my mother dying!'

'The Dementors will catch Black!' Hermione said, looking stricken. 'He'll go back to Azkaban and-- serve him right!'

'You heard what Fudge said,' Harry said angrily. 'Black isn't affected by Azkaban like normal people are. It's not a punishment for him like the others.'

'So what are you saying?' said Ron tensely. 'You want to-- to kill Black or something?'

'Don't be silly,' Hermione said in a panicked voice. 'Harry doesn't want to kill anyone, do you Harry?'

Harry didn't answer. Ron and Hermione shared a nervous look.

'Do you, Harry?' Gwen said quietly, seriously. 'Do you want to kill him?'

Again, Harry didn't answer. He stared at the three of them, then said abruptly, 'Malfoy knows. Remember what he said to me in Potions? "If it were me, I'd be hunting him down myself... I'd want revenge."'

'You're going to take Malfoy's advice over ours?' said Ron furiously. 'You know what Pettigrew's mother got back after Black finished with him? Dad told me-- the Order of Merlin, First Class, and his finger in a box. Like Fudge said, it was all that was left of him. The biggest bit they could find. Black's a madman, Harry, and he's dangerous--'

'Malfoy's dad must have told him,' said Harry, ignoring Ron. 'He was right in Voldemort's inner circle--'

'Say You-Know-Who will you?' interjected Ron angrily.

'--so obviously, the Malfoys knew Black was working for Voldemort--'

'--and Malfoy would love to see you blown to a million pieces, Harry--'

'--and he would have been in that inner circle--'

'So were my parents, Harry!'

He fell silent. Gwen was on her feet, fuming. 'They deny it but it's true! My parents were there, during Voldemort's rise to power! They could've killed people for all I know! The only reason I didn't turn out that way is because my brothers shielded me! Did you know that when I was a baby, Edward, at five years old, had to drag me out of a room because there were Death Eaters in my house and they had killed someone?'

The other three were silent. 'I don't remember it, and Edward never told me the full story, but it happened! I witnessed murder! I was a baby in the room and the Death Eaters didn't care, my own parents did not care, that there was a baby in the room as they murdered someone.' She was breathing deeply, her hands trembling with fury. 'These people do not care who they hurt. They do not care who they kill. They're violent, cruel and evil who believe that what they're doing is perfectly OK. Black's one of the worst of them, he's after you, Harry and he'll kill you instantly. None of us are a match for Death Eaters. Going after Black is suicide.'

Silence followed her speech. Harry, still angry, did not respond. Hermione had begun to cry and Ron looked like he had just witnessed a murder himself.

'You saw that?' Hermione said finally, her voice barely a whisper.

Gwen nodded. 'I don't remember it. Felix let it slip once. It was before Lucille was born.'

After a beat, Harry spoke. 'Death Eaters?'

'It's what Voldemort's followers call themselves. I've heard Dad say it.'