A Stolen Past

Correspondence

For the next several weeks, Hedwig had very little time to do anything other than fly back and forth between Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys, delivering letters.

Dear Ron,

I realize you're angry with me, but I need you to hear me out. You're the only one on the outside that I feel like I can trust, so I'm going to have to ask you to keep this quiet. I've lost my memory. I can't remember anything from the time I was ten until the beginning of this past summer holiday. That's why my last letter was so vague: I honestly don't remember who you are. Sorry.

The weird thing is, I keep having these dreams that turn out to be real - that's how I found out about you. During the Christmas holiday, I dreamed about hiding something under a floorboard in my cousin's second bedroom, so I went upstairs to look, and I found an old letter from you. The letter said to send a reply with Hedwig, and I only just found out that Hedwig is the snowy owl that's been hanging around me for the past several months. That's why I haven't written before.

I'm sure you understand why I can't tell you where I am just yet: I can't trust anybody. I literally had somebody try to kill me three times last term, and I can't afford to take any chances. If I'm satisfied with your answers to my questions, then we'll go from there.

Questions:
Who are you, and how do we know each other?

Who am I?

Who are Hermione and Dumbledore? (Are those even real names, or are they some sort of codenames?)

Have you ever made weird stuff happen? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you haven't.)

What's a "Muggle"?
Write back soon,

Harry

P.S. What's a Howler?

* * * * *

Dear Harry,

I can't believe how much time I just wasted writing my reply. I wrote about three feet about who you are and the things we've done together - way more than I've ever written for a class - but Dumbledore made me promise not to send it. He said that giving you too much information like that might do more damage to your memory and make it harder for you to ever remember anything. I can answer specific questions about things you've started to remember, but I can't just tell you everything the way I wanted to. He did say that I might get to tell you later, though - after we're sure why you lost your memory in the first place.

Anyway, I can't believe your memory's gone! It's crazy! I take back everything I said in my last letter about you being a prat. Really, I just want my best mate back.

Now to answer your questions:
1) I'm Ron Weasley. We met at King's Cross Station when we were getting ready to board the train to school for our first year. I live in Ottery St. Catchpole, and I have five older brothers (Bill, Charlie, Percy the Prat, Fred, and George), and a younger sister named Ginny. Fred and George are twins, and they're the pranksters of the family.

2) You're Harry Potter. Your parents were James and Lily Potter, but they died when you were about a year old. You were "raised" by your aunt and uncle, but all they really did was lock you in the cupboard under the stairs and ignore you. I'm not really sure what you're looking for with this one. Sorry.

3) Hermione and Dumbledore are both real names. I had to "accidentally" drop a big blob of ink onto your last letter so that Hermione wouldn't be able to read that part - she can be a little touchy about that sort of thing sometimes. Anyway, Hermione Granger is our other best friend. She's in the same year as us in school, and she's by far the smartest person around. She can be a bit of a bookworm, but she's helped us break the rules plenty of times, too. Albus Dumbledore is our Headmaster.