A Different Halloween

Chapter 34

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Sirius left Gringotts with a smile on his face, it was hard not to smile when you were greeted with the sight of Diagon Alley once more bustling with witches and wizards going about their everyday business. Both he and James were still on leave from their auror duties as they struggled to decide what they wanted to do with their lives, now that the war was effectively over. Barty had rounded up every death eater named in the on-going interrogations, the resulting trials were proceeding at a fast pace.

Snape's trial was tomorrow and then the whole country would discover just how big a bastard one Albus 'too bloody many middle names to remember' Dumbledore actually was. Both he and James had plenty of other offers of work but would probably wait until after Christmas before making any life-changing decisions. Neither was required to work for monitory reasons so there was no rush.

He would need to find a new flat, Sirius Black was not going back to the flea-pit of a hideaway he'd been laying low in. There would always be a room for him and Remus at the Potters but he also wanted his own place, with enough room for Remus too!

The goblins had just informed him that his mother had now discovered who was the current head of the Black Family. He actually pitied the poor goblin who was left to give her that bad news. He would continue to financially provide for her and ensure she had a roof over her head but that was all, Sirius wanted nothing more to do with his mother. When she passed away, he intended to sell Grimmaud Place and everything inside it. Preferably without ever having to set foot in that monstrosity of a house ever again. Perhaps, by then, house prices might be back up, there was rather a glut in the market at the moment with death eater mansions being sold off as part of their punishment.

Sirius was intending to buy some presents today, to celebrate that they all came through this war in one piece and just for the sheer hell of it. He originally wanted to buy his godson a toy broom to replace the one that was lost when Voldemort destroyed their cottage. That idea had been quickly vetoed by James, he didn't want Harry zooming about the house while Dudley was able only to sit and watch. Both Potter parents had no intention of hiding the differences between the boys, they just wanted to wait until they were old enough to understand those differences.

Sirius had to respect their reasoning and, when he spotted the little brightly coloured tricycles in the toyshop, was able to live with that decision. One of these would also give Dudley a much-needed opportunity to begin burning off some of his excess weight. Sirius dreaded to think what size the boy would have become if Petunia had raised him. Another few things caught his eye as 'uncle Paddy' enjoyed being a big kid in the toy store. Better still, he was a big kid with gold to spend on little kids who would appreciate the gifts.

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Peter White was having a super day that he didn't think could get any better, he felt he could leap tall buildings with a single bound. The death eater trials had Prophet sales soaring and today, Severus Snape served up the esteemed Albus Dumbledore as their new main course for tomorrow's edition. There would be a feeding frenzy as their readers devoured every detail of Dumbledore's dramatic fall from grace with their breakfast. The Wizengamot were waiting to hear all the cases before passing sentence, their guilt was no longer an issue since they had confessed to their crimes under the influence of veritaserum. The Prophet's campaign to strip them of their wealth in order to provide protection for everyone else had gathered so much momentum that it looked certain to become law. If not, their current government better be able to supply them with a very good reason or they wouldn't be the government for too much longer. It probably was this grand mood that encouraged two of his junior reporters to bravely risk entering his office.

"Mr White sir, we have something we think you might be interested in."

Peter couldn't even remember the names of the young man and woman who were now trembling in front of him, he bade them to sit down as he decided to listen and give them the benefit of his experience. The young man bravely soldiered on while the girl appeared ready to flee if Peter so much as raised his voice.

"With all the death eaters being arrested and the resulting trials, we were allocated the job of researching Voldemort's origins. We think we may have found him and it could be very big. Our research focused on Hogwarts, Slytherin actually. We researched all the wizards in a fifteen year period that is generally considered to correspond with his supposed age. We were looking for someone who disappeared without trace and came up with a few names. My partner here loves muggle word puzzles and is always scribbling in the corners of her parchment, she came up with this!"

Peter was then handed a piece of parchment that had Tom Marvolo Riddle and I am Lord Voldemort written on it, his eyebrows shot up immediately as the implications hit home. "Are you trying to tell me that Wizarding Britain has been shitting itself for years, terrified to say a bloody anagram? I assume you have more information on this Tom character, otherwise I'm going to become most upset!"

He glanced at his partner before answering. "He was an orphan although that's not quite true. His mother was a witch who died giving birth to him in an orphanage he never left until he went to Hogwarts, the father listed on his birth certificate was a muggle. His mother's brother then wiped out the father and both his parents when the boy was in his sixth year at Hogwarts. The mother's family were old purebloods, dirt poor though and not very bright. Both her brother and their father died in Azkaban."

Peter felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "This would make the feared Lord Voldemort a half blood bastard! Also, if I heard you right, anyone who could object or sue over this story is already dead?"

Both young reporters nodded enthusiastically.

Peter had intended to give them the benefit of his experience, that time had now come. "Ok, we have the bones here of a great story. What we need to do now is put some flesh on it to make a sensational story. His mother was innocent, taken advantage of by an unscrupulous muggle! No, scrap that. We don't want to create any sympathy for this bastard."

Both young reporters watched in awe as their editor stitched the story together in his head. "His mother was plain, piss-poor and desperate for a better life than the one she saw in front of her. She used a love potion on the handsome young muggle and they ran away together, love's young dream! She became so enamoured with her new life, the delusional young girl convinced herself that her new life was real and forever, she stopped giving him the potion. He was out of there quicker than a rat escaping down a sewer, unknowing that she was now carrying his child."

The two young reporters were scribbling this down like mad when the girl stopped, gathered her courage and made a suggestion. "Mr White sir, do you think the young Voldemort could have killed his father and grandparents, then framed his uncle for the murders? The two families lived quite close to one another."

Peter was impressed. "Wow, that's really stretching things. I love it! You could really go places with an imagination like that, but you will have to develop a personality and attitude to match. There is no such creature as a successful shy reporter. What's your name?"

"It's Rita sir."

"Well Rita, I'll give you and this young man first crack at this. We're leading tomorrow with Dumbledore's downfall, the next day will be full of the follow-up to those revelations. After tearing down one icon, on Saturday we're going to destroy the legend of Voldemort. By the time we're finished with him, if he dares to return, the public will throw rotten fruit at the dark lord. Get me official documents, all the records you can and there must be pictures out there somewhere. He may be already dead but the Prophet is going to be remembered as the publication that killed him off for good!"

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