Echoes of Betrayal

With a wave off gesture, John said, "Don't worry about it; you will have the information you need when you go back.

"Now..." said John, before Harry interrupted him again.

"Go back?" asked Harry, still stunned. "What do you mean, 'go back'?"

"In a minute," said John, acting a little exasperated. "Let me get through this."

He rustled his papers about a bit and said, "This is what actually happened... and, you'll want to listen to this without interrupting, because there's a lot you don't know."

Harry just nodded.

With a grunt of acknowledgement, John explained, "Themis, the Goddess of Prophecy... amongst other things... gave Sybill Patricia Trelawney a prophecy to be uttered in front of that idiot, Albus Wulfric. With the prophecy, after your parents were killed, Albus Wulfric was supposed to see you safely to your godfather, Sirius Orion. Then he, Sirius Orion and Remus John... plus others they would eventually bring in... were supposed to work to prepare you to do well in Hogwarts, and give you enough knowledge to hurt Tom Marvolo at the graveyard in Little Hangleton. That would be the first blow that would make that silly Riddle boy fear you.

"Instead, Albus Wulfric took you to live with the last people you should have ever gone to... the Dursley family. There, because you were poorly nourished and treated, it led to your magic being damaged. Not a lot; but enough to make a difference. He didn't know your magical self would be harmed, but he did know you'd come into the magical world and look up to him as a grandfather figure, instead of the teacher he should have been.

"Next, his whole 'learn to forgive' philosophy stems from his fear that it was he who killed his sister. It wasn't. But his 'learn to forgive' philosophy is more him asking others, including his sister, to forgive him for killing her. It's messed him up; and the Fates didn't think it would have that big of an effect on the man. And helping you reach your destiny was supposed to assuage his guilt and let him think he's atoned himself. So, that one's on us.

"It's that philosophy," John almost snarled, jabbing his index finger down on the papers before him, "that's led to the huge rift between Slytherin and the other houses, especially Gryffindor. It's also led to so many joining Tom Marvolo's little army, when they never would have done so if they'd been properly punished for their infractions while at Hogwarts. They'd have learned there were consequences to their actions."

With a sigh, John sat back and rubbed his temples for a moment. He said, "But, that's not your problem to fix. The thing you have to do... no matter how hard it is... is let him die when the time comes. You are not to interfere as that is his time."

"What?" asked Harry shocked. "But... aren't I already dead? And so's he!"

"We'll get to that in a minute," said John. "Further, if you do interfere and he doesn't die; he will be a thorn in your political side until he'd otherwise pass on about fifty years later. If that happens you'll be facing yet another so-called dark lord and, again, die before your time.

"Now we come to the other problem children that interfered in your destiny... Molly Jillian Weasley, Ronald Bilius Weasley and Ginevra Molly Weasley."

"But," stuttered Harry. "Ginny's..."

"Shush!" said John. "Let me finish; then you'll have time for questions." Once he saw Harry had calmed down and nodded, he continued. "Ginevra Molly grew up listening to her mother read her bedtime stories about Harry Potter. From a very young age, her mother basically indoctrinated the poor girl into believing she would, one day, marry Harry Potter. That was her plan.

"That termagant, Molly Jillian, was raised a Prewett. And, the Prewett's had money. It was nothing compared to the Potter fortune, but it was more than enough to leave them wanting nothing. As a student at Hogwarts she set her sights on one Arthur Septimus Weasley, thinking his connections with the Black family through his mother would see her well taken care of. So, she dosed the poor young man with a love potion to... ensnare him.

"Her problem was that Arthur Septimus wasn't as ambitious as she thought he would be. He's quite happy making a modest living as a minor Office Head within the Ministry in their Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. Part of that is because of the love potions she keeps dosing him with. So, the Weasley's, while an otherwise loving family, are quite poor in comparison to others even though they're actually considered middle class. And, for Molly, this just won't do.

"She had hoped to get the whole family to aid her in seeing young Ginevra Molly ensnare you. However, Arthur Septimus is too honest a man to be involved in something like that; William Arthur loves his little sister, and would do just about anything for her, but believes in working hard and honestly to get what you want; Charles Septimus is only interested in his dragons; Percival Ignatius is too law abiding for her; and the twins, Frederic George and George Frederic, follow in the footsteps of their big brother, William Arthur – except they're a lot less serious. The only two who would aid her in her quest are her daughter and her youngest son, Ronald Bilius.