Death was nothing. The last image that registered in Harry Potter’s mind was a pretty young woman and a flash of green light and something light and shimmering and beautiful slipping… slipping out from him, and then traveling over him. His eyes tried to follow until the gleaming thing vanished over his head and he could no longer follow it’s path, but his eyes continued their journey… they didn’t seem to want to stop… and rolled back into his head. And that was it. His soul was gone. He was dead.
What he did see, in the darkness, was not death. It was life. He saw images, people. Like a dream. Sometimes Madame Pomfrey, the Hogwarts Nurse, standing over him, a highly sympathetic look on her face. At other times Ron and Hermione’s faces would float towards him, and during those times, he’d try to call out to them, but it was little use and he was enveloped into darkness again before he could realize that he hadn’t managed to utter a sound. A man with white hair and glasses and a ridiculously long beard visited his death dreams as well and Harry had two names to go with the blue eyes that filled him with a strange thing called hope, every time he saw them. One name was Dumbledore and the other, Douglas. But the moment he tried to fit just one name to the man, who of course could not have two names, he would slip back into the black of death. His most frequent dreams consisted of light, blinding light, and pain. Pain that made him scream out at the light, and he tried to move and struggle and escape but something was holding him down, pinning him to his nightmare.
And during all this, the one thing that Harry always understood was that he was dead, and death was not something that could be reversed. And if this was how death was to be, memories and dreams and nightmares and pain then he would go mad very soon.
And just when he was about to give up, by succumbing to his death and madness, it all ended. One day, the images he saw in death did not disappear, but remained, bright and sparkling and he could see every face clearly and he could watch as long as he wished and stare as much as he liked, because the darkness did not call him back. It just vanished. And it seemed the faces that he had seen earlier, instead of being splashed with fear and concern and weariness, seemed now to be marked with laughter and happiness and tenderness. And most of all relief.
Some days later, though Harry could never be sure if the time had passed slowly or quickly, whether it was the same year or the next, Ron and Hermione sat with him, next to his bed in the Hospital Wing and explained, simply, that they were not dead. Harry was still having trouble coming to terms with it. Finding that his friends were whole and healthy had been a shock and he had been afraid that it was just another trick, something like what Samantha had done… it seemed so long ago. Ron and Hermione assured him that they were alive and that he was alive as well. They explained the only thing they knew was this: The only way to escape Salem had been to die. They knew nothing more, but they had been told that Dumbledore would explain.
On the first of March, exactly one month after the day Harry, Ron and Hermione had been sent to Salem, twelve days after Harry’s return and one day after his recovery, Harry, Ron and Hermione were summoned to Dumbledore’s office. It was time for him to explain. He asked them to sit, looking tired and old, but with that same twinkle in his blue eyes, and began to speak.
‘I am sure, that after having experienced Salem, you will want an explanation. I am about to give you that explanation. I ask only that you remain quiet until I have finished “ even now, it is very difficult to remember. The human mind has been manufactured to remember only one life, and my mind is no different. You three have lived your stories in Salem… now it is time for you to hear my part of the story.’
Dumbledore stood up, took a deep breath, and began his tale.
‘Even as a child I can remember myself being interested with history “ perhaps more than interested. I would find certain topics, certain events which would interest me so much that I would become simply obsessed. One of these events was the Salem Witch Trails. I found only mentions of the Trials in the history books kept in my parents’ library, so I went searching for more information. I read about everything, the trials, the accused, the victims, the manner of their deaths, and the theories about poisoned bread written by Muggles, the wizard assumption that Dark Wizards had something to do with the fits the children experienced. I read up on names and dates and places and origins. If it had anything to do with the Salem Witch Trails, I studied it.
‘My parents never tried to stop me. They were used to my obsessions. The Witch Trials were not the first. In fact, they encouraged my reading and learning, knowing that it would aid me in the future. It was not until my nightmares began that they began to regret their decisions. After reading everything on Salem that I could get my hands on, I began to suffer strange dreams and nightmares. They came frequently and were always very detailed. Even now, so many years later, I can still remember them perfectly. Though each dream was different, they had a few similarities. Mainly that each dream took place in Salem, Massachusetts during the Witch Trials and that almost every single dream had the same two people in it. The few that didn’t have both of those people always had one of the two. Their faces were always clear in my mind, whether I was sleeping or not.
‘Being the son of highly intelligent parents was a lucky thing. My mother and father immediately connected my strange, overzealous obsession with Salem and the nightmares and came to the only possible solution: reincarnation.
‘There is almost no proof in the wizarding world that reincarnation occurs. The human brain was not manufactured to recall more than one life and so it is very rare that anyone realizes that they have lived a past life. In edition to this, very few people are reincarnated in the first place and to find a person who has been reincarnated and actually remembers his or her past life would be very difficult indeed. Therefore, when my parents realized that it was very possible that I had lived a past life, they were very eager to help me remember my past life as accurately as I could. They wanted to learn exactly why some people are reincarnated and why others are not.
‘They didn’t use any extravagant means. All they did was buy me as many books as they could find on the topic of the Salem Witch Trials. My nightmares became less nightmarish and more like normal dreams. As soon as I understood what was happening and why, the fear factor in my dreams vanished. I was as eager as my parents to know why I had lived a past life. My parents sat up during the night, and when I awoke from my dreams, they recorded every detail that I could remember. It took a very long time, and a lot of patience, but eventually my mother and father and I had the general picture of my past life, though my dreams never followed any specific order. It was not a story being played out night after night. Just a bunch of jumbled up and forgotten memories being brought out into the open. Sometime we were unable to put the events in any order and we were always sure that some things, a few small details, were missing.
‘After a time the dreams ended. As if my mind was saying it had given us all its information. The excitement of the discovery “ finding out that I had lived in Salem, Massachusetts in a past life “ wore down. Life moved on. I didn’t think very much about my Salem life until years and years later. A day I will never forget. Probably a day you three remember very well. Your first night at Hogwarts.
‘I had, of course, known you, Harry, long before you arrived at Hogwarts. I knew both your parents and when they died, it was I who delivered you to your aunt and uncle in Surrey. It was impossible though, to recognize you for who you were when you were young. I couldn’t have known, the few times I saw you, who you were… where I had met you. But when you entered the Great Hall, along with the other first-years students, I got a shock. Your face brought back another face “ a face I had only seen in my dreams. You, I realized, were one of the two boys who had entered my nightmares so often, all those years ago. You were the only boy who made a continual appearance in my Salem dreams. The other person was Mr. Weasley, but only a very few of my dreams contained him. I was amazed beyond words. I wanted to know what this meant, your appearance at my school “ how you could be here, so young, but still have been in my reincarnation dreams of Salem. Simply, how were you and Ron in Salem then and at Hogwarts now? Had you time-traveled there? Had I perhaps sent you? Unanswerable questions, but I asked them of myself all the same.
‘Six years later, I was in a small pawn shop that is situated near Hogsmeade. I have always enjoyed visiting pawn shops, both Muggle and wizarding pawn shops. They carry the most interesting items at times. During that specific visit I saw a most interesting piece: a small bronze colored amulet, with a button in the middle and the most interesting runes around it. I bought it and left the shop. As I was returning to the castle, I decided to stop at the Hog’s Head and have a drink and a chat with the barman there. Before I left the pub I checked my pocket, to make sure the amulet I had bought was still safe. I returned to the castle and went up to my office and found, to my great surprise, that my pocket was empty. Somewhere between the Hog’s Head pub and the castle, I had lost the amulet. I consider myself quite apt at keeping my possessions safe. I was sure that no one and picked my pocket. There are spells to protect yourself against pickpockets and I had cast them all ahead of time. Visiting the Hog’s Head without such protection is foolish… the people in that pub are not completely honest. So I was sure the amulet had not been stolen, and as my pockets have no holes, I could not have dropped it. I did not return to Hogsmeade to search for it, however. My opinion has always been that if you lose something from your pocket, even after taking all necessary precautions against such a loss, then the object in question has probably left your pocket for a very good reason.
‘I recalled the runes on the amulet, the small button in its center, the fact it was a Hogsmeade weekend for the students as well. And I also found myself thinking about my life in Salem. I suddenly had an idea, a suspicion. If it was proved true, then it would solve a little problem that had been troubling me ever since you three arrived at Hogwarts.
‘Later, I watched, unnoticed, as the students returned from Hogsmeade. I waited. My suspicions were soon confirmed. Three Gryffindors had not returned from Hogsmeade, though I knew they had gone to the village with everyone else. These three students were of course, you three, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger.
‘I returned to my office and on a sudden, unexplainable whim, wrote a letter. A letter to my past self, warning me of your arrival. I sent the letter, just the letter, into the past. Into 1692 to be precise. I did not, of course, have any idea where the letter would be deposited. But I could clearly recall a letter in my reincarnation dreams and I could remember thinking that the letters had been written in a script that looked vaguely like my own, vaguely like Douglas Grant’s. My part, the part of Albus Dumbledore, was now finished. At this point, Douglas Grant’s part begins.
‘Before sending out the letter, I had never known Douglas Grant’s full story. I hadn’t even known his name. As soon as the letter had vanished from my office, however, every single detail of the life I had once lived long ago returned to me and was suddenly fresh in my mind as if everything had happened only the day before. I realized that I had made a mistake in my letter. A small mistake, one that would have dire consequences.
‘In personality, Douglas and I are very much the same. It is something rarely heard of. Since the day my parents came to the conclusion that I was a victim “ if victim is the word “ of reincarnation, many more accounts of the phenomenon have come to light. From studies that have been conducted, it is quite clear that very often the person’s present personality is completely different from their past lives personality. As the soul of both is the exact same, these emotional and character differences are attributed to variations in the upbringings and environments of each person. Despite the differences in our lives, environments, backgrounds Douglas Grant and I not only look similar, but act similar as well, almost as if we are related. Of course, having had the same souls, I should say we are practically akin. As I have said though, this is a very rare occurrence. Probably another reason I was able to remember my past life without the er “ aid, of Veritaserum or hypnosis. But I have digressed. My apologies.
‘When my letter reached Douglas he was busy working with a group of many men and very few woman, all witches and wizards “ we made a group that can be thought of the Order of the Phoenix of 1692. The Order of the Phoenix of New England. We had gathered of our own free will because the New England Ministry of Magic was much too soft, slow and not near as alert as it ought to have been. The Minister did not realize that his job was not only to keep tabs on the witches and wizards living by his laws, but also the Muggles. Our group was extremely busy in 1692. Strange rumors had been spreading about Muggles in Massachusetts, especially in and around Salem, Massachusetts. Muggles who were carrying out hangings “ hangings of witches and wizards. Muggles of that time and earlier times were obsessed with “witch”-hunting. From Ireland to the New World, Muggles had begun a tradition of burning, drowning and hanging people they expected had committed the crime of witchcraft. It was a time during which Muggles were particularly afraid of magic. Usually, though, witch-hunts and the “punishment” of witches was not a cause of worry. Burning, drowning and hanging had no effect “ witches and wizards could easily protect themselves with magic. I am sure all three of you have heard of Wendelin the Weird “ she allowed herself to be caught and burnt forty-seven times in various disguises just to have an excuse to perform the highly enjoyable Flame-Freezing Charm. But we “ my men, women and I “ knew for a fact that “witches” were being killed in Salem. That is, deaths had been reported. There were only two explanations for such a conundrum: either Muggles were capturing and hanging fellow Muggles “ or witches and wizards were hanging Muggles. Either one was a cause for concern. We were unsure which the true answer was until we began to receive reports of strange illnesses, ailments, girls, children suffering in Salem. This “ to us at least “ was suspicious, for the simple reason that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the girls in question. They were neither ailing nor poisoned. We discovered this only a day or two after we became aware of the so called diseases. One of my men, Ben Jefferson, had managed to capture one of the “sick” girls and check her over. He modified her memory after the ordeal. As repulsive as it sounds, even to me, the child came to no harm and it was necessary. We wanted to be sure of what was happening. After learning that the girls were blooming with health, we were sure that somehow, witches and wizards were behind the fiasco.’
At this point, Hermione interrupted. It seemed she could not contain herself. Looking slightly apologetic, she said softly, ‘Sorry, sir, but “ the Ergot theory…?’
Dumbledore didn’t seem to mind the disruption at all. Instead he seemed pleased. ‘Ah, yes. The bread-poisoning theory. Well, as I said, the girls were not poisoned at all. The Ergot theory is flawed. The climate of Salem, Massachusetts did not suit the growth of Ergot in the grain. We know this; sooner or later the Muggles will realize it too. They will still try then, to find out the truth of the mass hysteria the witch-hunts caused but they will never find out the truth “ not when even magic-folk have been kept in the dark.
‘Now, to continue. We “ the Old Order, if you will “ were quite positive that witches and wizards had a hand in the dilemma enveloping Salem. There was no sense in Muggles killing and capturing other Muggles, suspected of witchcraft, when their children were not ill. When there was no reason to fear witches. When nothing was going wrong. Now we needed to know why witches and wizards were hanging Muggles and hiding behind the mysterious ailment excuse. The Old Order decided to head for Salem. We set up a temporary headquarters in betweens the towns of Salem and Lynn, pretending to be workers at the smelting plant in Lynn. We did not want to draw attention to ourselves by staying in, or too near to Salem. We were now dealing with our own kind, not Muggles, and we were not eager to pretend to be Muggles around witches and wizards who by all accounts, seemed intent on murdering all non-magic people. Our magic could only offer so much protection. If the witches and wizards in Salem were practicing Dark Magic, then we had to play our cards correctly, ensure that we did not end up dying in an attempt to do good.
‘It was during our stay in this temporary base that I, as Douglas Grant, received a strange letter, one that had been found in the snow near my cabin. A letter which instructed me to be on the watch for two young men and a young lady who would soon cross my path.
‘I would have been skeptical, but during that time, when I had just discovered that magic-people were busy hanging muggles, that Dark Wizards were growing in number and power, I was running low on skepticism. I felt that nothing could surprise me anymore. After I had read through the letter a few times, I began to believe it. And there was the small matter of the writing on the parchment “ narrow, loopy writing that was amazingly similar to my own slanting script. I decided to do as the letter ordered “ I decided to wait for my young visitors.
‘Ten days later I was ready to give up on the letter, ready to admit that I had been wrong about its authenticity. And then, amazingly, when I least expected it, you appeared. Two of you, I should say. You were one short “ the young lady in the letter was not with you. I was so shocked that for a moment, I forgot to tell Mr. Jefferson that I had been expecting two young men, and he began to shoot at you. Luckily, he was shooting to scare, not to kill.
‘I managed to recover quickly, and stop Jefferson. I invited the two young men into my house, we spoke for a time. They were distraught over a death “ the death of the young woman mentioned in my letter. I was surprised that she had died, and when they told me how, my determination to solve the mystery of Salem grew. I gave you, Harry and Ron, food, a warm bed and the assurance of safety. I spoke to you about a friend.
‘But after you both had fallen asleep, when I went to see my men and explain my actions to them “ I made a mistake. A mistake that changed my destiny “ for better or for worse, I do not know “ but that mistake is the only reason I, as Albus Dumbledore, am standing here, speaking to you today.
‘Reincarnation never meant to be a gift. It is a punishment, a curse. A curse that must have been set at one time or another, perhaps in anger, perhaps in great wisdom. I do not know. There are no records of such a curse. One simple action is all it takes. One wrong word. One wrong step. One wrong thought. An action you were not supposed to take, were not meant to take, should not have taken, but did anyway. It is impossible to predict who will live another life and who will die and begin the next great adventure. Only Fate deals with reincarnation and most people learn from experience that it is impossible to second-guess Fate.
‘As I was saying, after you both had gone to sleep, I went to speak to the rest of the Old Order. They were confused to say the least. And wary. They knew, or suspected that you two were wizards, just like I knew. Neither of you told me that you were wizards, but I could sense the magic in your blood. I am sure that you could sense it as well, even if you didn’t understand what the feeling meant. My friends wanted to know why, how, two wizards could possibly stumble upon our headquarters under normal circumstances. They felt sure that you were both spies for the witches and wizards of Salem. I could not, of course, dispel their suspicions without speaking to them about the letter I received and I was not eager to do so. I simply told them that I knew you were friends and not enemies and that you would spend, at least, the night with us. My men trusted me and they did not question my judgment of you two. However when I suggested that we allow our guests to stay with us as long as you liked, explaining about Hermione’s “death” and your troubles, they vehemently disagreed with me. As much as they trusted me, though they would allow you two to spend the night, they were not at all willing to let you stay with us for long. They did not want either of you to know about our plans and what we knew and guessed about Salem. They were trained to be wary and suspicious, and they insisted that I send you both away come morning. I told them that I could not agree “ it was against everything I believed to send two troubled, weak young men back into a world which had already given them so much grief. I am probably correct in thinking that the men would have relented eventually and agreed to let you, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter, stay. If it had not been for something that happened during the night, when the men and I were all ready to retire to our beds.
‘It was small, insignificant. But it happened. A man in our group, named Lewis Abercrombie, decided to take a quick stroll after supper. He discovered, to his severe shock, that an undersized, ruffled-looking raven was perched on a tree close to the path. There are ways of discovering whether an animal is truly just an animal or if it is an Animagi. But even without spells, the trained eye can differentiate between a normal creature and an Animagi. Their markings and so on, are clear signs. Lewis immediately grasped the fact that the raven was a human in disguise and alerted the others.
‘When they discovered that we were being watched, my men dropped the notion of sending our guests away at first light and decided it was now too dangerous for us, the Old Order, to remain in our temporary base. They began packing immediately and were adamant that I leave our guests asleep and ignorant “ we we’re not to take you. It was you the raven was following, and if it found out about the Old Order our entire mission would be lost. You two were too dangerous to take “ so you would stay. I was against it. The raven clearly meant danger and danger first for you, and then us. My fellows wouldn’t hear a word more on the subject however, and in the end I succumbed to what I suspect is now called “peer pressure”. I said earlier that Douglas Grant and Albus Dumbledore are very similar. But we are also extremely different. If the same situation arose now, I would not make the same decision. Still, I as Douglas decided to do as my fellows instructed and not inform our guests. I left them a bag of food, and the Old Order departed in secret.
‘I was not done with you two, however. As soon as we made it back to Lynn Town, three of men decided to go to Salem Village, where they could live in secret and find out exactly what was happening in the small New England town. Meanwhile, the other people in the Old Order began to search for a new headquarters “ and I decided that I would follow you both. I wanted very much to know why you were being pursued, and by whom.
‘I followed you on your journey, and watched as you reached Muller’s Inn. I realized that the bartender had been changed, but considering that many of Lynn’s residents were leaving, I did not find the new bartender suspicious. You had a conversation with a woman in the pub, which seemed normal enough, but when you came out of the tavern you seemed to be under the impression that you had been speaking to a woman named Rebecca Nurse. My curiosity was aroused. I happened to know Rebecca Nurse, She was not a resident of Lynn Town, but of Salem Village… and she was a much older woman than the young lady you two spoke to. And if the bartender had assured you that the woman’s name was Rebecca Nurse “ then the only explanation was that they were both on the same side.
‘She wasn’t Rebecca Nurse?!’ snarled Harry. He was on his feet; his chair was on the floor, having fallen as Harry sprang up. His fists were curled into balls and he looked livid.
‘No,’ replied Dumbledore, ‘she was not. If I am correct, then she was”’
‘Samantha Becker,’ growled Harry, his green eyes narrowed in hatred.
‘Yes,’ Dumbledore said simply. ‘Rebecca Nurse, I knew, had been hanged in Salem, only days earlier. It seems that overconfidence was Mrs. Becker’s downfall. I cannot be sure, but I think it is safe to assume that Samantha had been waiting for you at Muller’s Inn, wanting to lure you back on the path to Salem Village. She disguised herself, and told you a story that she hoped would eventually make you feel that you had to return to Salem. She gave you only one name, Rebecca, as Ron told me, and when you on a whim asked the bartender if she was Rebecca Nurse, he didn’t know what else to do but confirm your theory “ I do not think Samantha had favored him by telling him the name that would go with her disguise and he was probably under the illusion just confirming something his mistress had told you and Ron herself. It would probably have been better for her and her plans if Samantha had chosen another name.’
‘But… Metamorphmagi can’t change their voices,’ said Harry, still standing and glaring at Dumbledore. ‘She changed into Hermione back… in that place… and she had the same voice!’
‘No, Metamorphmagi cannot change their voices, but potions and magic can. She purposefully did not change her voice when she assumed the form of Miss Granger, hoping to make you realize how you had fallen into her trap, and thus torture you with that information.’
‘Trap?’ asked Ron, sounding dazed.
‘Yes… from what you and Miss Granger have told me Samantha realized that you three would interfere with her plans for Salem and eventually the world, and she was determined to get rid of you in any way possible. When you escaped Salem after Miss Granger’s hanging, she and some of her people followed you. Every person you met during your journey, Harry and Ron, aside from me, was Samantha Becker is disguise. The man Stephen, who Ron tells me first invited you into his home and showed you pictures of the day of Hermione’s hanging and then shot at you, was also Samantha Becker. She hoped to kill you both right there and then, but only managed to injure Mr. Weasley… again, I think it was her own fault that you two escaped practically unscathed… she could not resist torturing you about your friend’s death… she wasted time, and so, was unable to kill either of you.’
‘Why didn’t she just follow Harry and Ron and use the Avada Kedavra curse to kill them?’ asked Hermione.
‘Samantha Becker was being very careful to avoid detection… she did not want the American Ministry to know what she was doing and if she used magic in anyway in or near Salem, or even Lynn, the Ministry would have been alerted. Salem, Lynn and the towns near them were, and are to this day, muggle establishments with a very small minority of witches and wizards. If Samantha had used magic the Ministry would have noticed and investigated, and if they had done that her plans would have been ruined. You saw that she made sure to hang the muggles to death and not use Avada Kedavra to kill them. She did not want the Ministry warned in any way.’
Dumbledore paused for a moment, apparently to see if they had any more questions. When none of them spoke, he continued his tale.
‘It was only when you left Muller’s Inn and began your journey again that I realized exactly how much danger you were in. Whoever was tracking you, had managed to acquire a Hinkypunk, though I do not know how “ Hinkypunks were not native to that part of America.’
‘We didn’t see a Hinkypunk,’ interrupted Harry. He seemed to have forgotten what Dumbledore had said before beginning his story. Harry had resumed his seat, but his face wore a dangerous expression.
‘No, you wouldn’t have. Not only was it an extremely snowy night, if you remember, but Hinkypunks are not meant to be seen. You would have only seen the light it was holding, and even then, you probably wouldn’t have realized that you were following it at all. It is the magic of the Hinkypunk. Unless you know that you will meet one, you will not realize that you are being led by one. The Hinkypunk had been forced to lead you to a lake; a lake which was covered by a very thin layer of ice.’
‘You saw that?!’ Harry said, outraged. He was standing once more. ‘Why didn’t you help?! Ron died”’
‘Ron is alive “ perhaps it was better that he escaped Salem,’ said Dumbledore gently.
‘You didn’t know that he would be escaping at the time!’ Harry half-shouted. Sitting on his chair, Ron looked a little annoyed that they were talking about him as if he didn’t exist.
Dumbledore acknowledged the accusation with a slight nod of his head. ‘You are correct. It was another of my “ Douglas Grant’s “ mistakes. I should have helped. At the time, I was absorbed in my own duties, my own motives for following you “ I could have helped. And I did not. It is, I believe, another reason for my reincarnation.’
‘What happened then? After you watched me trying to save Ron? What happened then?’ barked Harry. Hermione glanced at Harry, looking worried.
Dumbledore continued, ‘You Apparated away after some time… and I had no idea where you had gone. I suspected that you might have returned to Salem, but I was unsure. I meant to find out immediately, by communicating with the men from the Old Order who had journeyed to Salem, but I was distracted by something that happened moments after you left. A group of sopping wet witches and wizards “ if my memory is correct, there were five. Their faces were covered but I could clearly hear their teeth chattering, and see them shivering in their clothes. They were arguing loudly amongst themselves, blaming each other for letting someone escape “ for not killing “both of them”, as they said. They seemed afraid of some sort of punishment from their master… so two decided to return to “base” (to report to their leader I suspect), leaving the other three to search out the one they had missed. I had finally found the people who had been following you since your departure from Salem Village. And I sensed immediately, that all five had magic blood in them.’
‘Why didn’t they see you?’ asked Ron suddenly.
‘I was in my Animagus form,’ replied Dumbledore amicably, before going on. ‘Soon after that I made contact with the three men of the Old Order who had taken up residence in Salem Village. They had much to report. Things were happening in Salem very quickly indeed. Muggles had been all but wiped out; those that still remained alive had been put under the Imperius Curse until they too could be executed. There were also many witches and wizards under the Imperius Curse: those that could not be forced or blackmailed into obedience and had not yet been hanged on the gallows “ yes, Samantha killed even her own kind… like Hermione. The village was now overrun with a group of witches and wizards, whose mission was to wipe out the all the Muggles in existence and any witch or wizard who stood in their way, beginning in Salem.’
‘Why, though? Why kill Muggles? For fun?’ asked Hermione.
‘A prejudice, much like the one that exists against Muggleborns today. Just as Voldemort’s plans involve purification of the wizard race, Samantha wanted to eradicate Muggles and all those who did not have magic blood. During that time, witches and wizards in other parts of the world had been forced to hide their gifts because it was a time when Muggles did tend to believe in magic. By law, witches and wizards who did not live in purely magical villages and towns (which were more than rare at the time), were forced to hide away their gifts and act as Muggles, sometimes for their entire lives. Samantha, her daughter and the few other witches and wizard native to Salem Village would have had to live as non-magic people, never using magic at all. They were not even allowed wands. It was a strict law, with a harsh punishment if broken. It is the main reason Samantha went about killing Muggles in a purely Muggle manner. I must admit, the law was quite unfair. To be stopped from using natural gifts, even in the privacy of your own home, is unjust. It was this law which sparked Samantha’s anger, caused her to begin the process of Muggle-extinction, so that she would no longer have to hide. In a way, she was not completely at fault”’
‘Don’t you dare say it wasn’t her fault!’ shouted Harry. ‘She was evil, twisted! She was a murderer! No one else was going around trying to slaughter every Muggle alive!’
‘You forget than many people, in fact, most witches and wizards in the villages close to Salem did join her. Some felt she had the correct idea, and others were coerced. And no matter what Samantha Becker did, we must always remember… villains, evil, cruel people, are never born. They are made. It is the major downfall of humanity “ as many great, heroic men and women we produce, we also help make an equal amount of tyrants, dictators and criminals. It is our own doing that has led to the downfall of so many civilizations before us and someday we, the wizarding kind, too must fall, because we are unable to make life fair for all; because we create the evil amongst us.
‘As I was saying, after my men reported to me on the happenings in Salem, I decided it was time to call on the Ministry for help. From what the men had said, Salem was on the brink of chaos “ this was now a job for the professionals. I alerted the officials… however, it seemed they were already preparing to go to Salem Village “ someone had used magic. Immediately I rushed to Salem. Why now? I wondered. Why would they use magic now? It seems Samantha had discovered somehow that you three were not only from another part of the world, but also another time. I think that from the type of clothes you wore when you first arrived at her house “ robes “ and the fact that you had wands with you forced her to reach the conclusion that during your time, muggles had been eradicated, as you were not forced to hide your powers or not keep wands.’
‘They had wands “ Samantha and her people,’ said Harry.
‘Samantha, if you remember, was adept in wandless magic, a skill she probably taught herself since she was not allowed a wand. She was indeed a powerful witch. The others, I suspect, managed to get wands from illegal smugglers and such areas. You may recall, Samantha’s husband was a merchant who shipped goods from various parts of the world “ Samantha could have easily had him bring her wands from somewhere they were sold.
‘So “ because all of you were obviously allowed to perform magic freely, Samantha quickly became overconfident, lost the cautiousness she had maintained so well since the start of her plans. She arranged for you, Harry, and her daughter to have a duel, not long after she discovered you had arrived at Salem. I think the duel was as much a celebration as a show of power. Naima Becker had been trained to be the best “ by her mother. If Naima succeeded in killing you, Harry… you who had avoided death at the hands of Samantha’s closest and best group of witches and wizards, then no one would have ever dared to question Samantha Becker again.
‘The duel was just about to begin, when the Ministry finally arrived. They cast a combined spell in their panic and astonishment at what had been happening right under their noses, a spell which killed most people in the large group gathered near Gallows Hill that day. You, of course, remember what happened after that. You, Harry, and Naima tried to escape, but before you could get away you sustained a fatal injury… in the end, little Naima Becker took your life.
‘While that was happening, the Ministry people were busy reviving the few people who had survived their attack, after having lost sight of you and Naima. I had changed form as the Ministry attacked you and quickly ordered them to stop “ I told them simply that you were not enemies. Almost all of the survivors were the few Muggles who had managed to avoid execution and had been under the Imperius curse. The Ministry officials gathered them up and modified their memories”’
‘Modified their memories?’ asked Harry incredulously. ‘After everything they had witnessed, the Ministry just erased all of it? They would have been missing more than a month of memories!’
‘I did not say they erased their memories. Modification usually means altering memories. That day, the Department of Misinformation was first established and dispatched. The employees of the new department modified the Muggle and magical victims’ memories, so that all of them were under the illusion that the town of Salem and surrounding villages had been suffering under a period of Muggle mass mania, as many areas of the world had been in earlier times. The memories of the inhabitants of Salem Village especially, were changed drastically. While residents of the towns surrounding Salem were forced to think only that nearby Salem Village had been conducting witch-hunts and nothing more, the residents of Salem itself spent the rest of their lives with the memories of a group of events that did not occur, but is still found in history books all over the world today. The basics of the story are that sometime in January 1692 a Salem Minister’s daughter fell ill along with other girls in the village. When the resident Muggle physician could find no cause of illness in the afflicted girls, he concluded that the girls had been bewitched. A month or so later, a woman advised the said Minister’s servant, Tituba and her husband to bake a witch cake. A witch cake is composed of rye meal mixed with urine from the afflicted children. It is then fed to a dog. The person is considered bewitched if the dog displays similar symptoms as the afflicted. The woman, it seems, hoped that the cake would help the girls identify who had bewitched them. Only a few days later however, men from the village accused the slave Tituba and two other women of witchcraft. They were arrested under suspicion. After a trial, Tituba, the woman slave confessed to witchcraft. Over time more woman and some men were accused of witchcraft as well, according to the story, some by village people and others by the “afflicted” girls. The first “hanging” took place on June 10th, 1692.’
‘Wait,’ said Ron. ‘The first real hanging took place in February “ not June…’
Dumbledore nodded. ‘Yes, but according to the documents the Ministry forged and memories the Muggle and magical residents were given, the first hanging was conducted on the tenth of June. Samantha held no real trials, only mock ones (I suspect for her own enjoyment… she did like to torture her victims), and there were no written documents proving those “trials” had ever taken place. However, the Ministry wanted to make sure that everything was done “properly”. The first hanging was conducted in June, after (according to the forged story) many accusations, long trials, and imprisonments.’
‘So the American Ministry fed everyone a fake story? Did the people who were supposedly “hanged” even exist?’ asked Harry.
‘Yes, they did. In fact, the Old Order and I gave the names of the people we knew had been hanged. The one hanging that I was unaware of was Hermione’s. I, as Douglas, did not know your friend’s name, because the letter did not specify it and nor did you. I did not know that another woman had been hanged with Hermione until she herself told me. So their names do not enter records. The records of hangings are for the most part, true. Most names on the lists you can find of the victims of the trials are the names of the men and woman hanged by Samantha (both Muggle and magical), like Bridget Bishop, hanged soon after you, Harry and Ron, left Salem, and Rebecca Nurse. Other names, like Mary Easty, are names of witches and wizards who took part in the Muggle-hangings, and were killed when the Ministry arrived at Salem Village. And further names, like Samantha Becker, do not appear on any document at all. Even though she died, the American Ministry was unwilling to add her name to the victims’ list or the list of accused. She was the mastermind “ she was the reason for most of the deaths that occurred in Salem in February of 1692. Even after she died, the Ministry did not want her to be given any pity. She was in no way a victim.’
‘If the peoples’ memories were modified in February, how did the Ministry make them think the first hanging took place in June? They would have gone back to their normal lives by then,’ said Ron.
‘Time-Lapse Memory Charms,’ said Hermione, a look of amazement on her face.
Again, Dumbledore nodded, ‘Exactly. A Time-Lapse Memory Charm adds memories to the target’s mind at preset intervals and removes any memories that conflict with the added memory. For example, as Bridget Bishop was hanged on June 10th, the residents of Salem, on June 11th would have memories of the hanging that took place the day before “ if any person had been, say, doing their washing during the time that Bridget Bishop had been hanged that memory would be removed and replaced with one of the hanging. Or, it is also possible, that the washing memory would remain, and a memory of having heard of the hanging, would be added to the mind. It was a very technical and lengthy procedure. Never has the Department of Misinformation worked on such a large-scale after the Salem incident.’
‘Wait a moment!’ said Harry, realizing something. ‘You’re saying that the American Ministry blamed Muggles for something witches and wizards did?!’
‘Yes,’ said Dumbledore. He might have said more, but Harry interrupted.
‘And you helped them?! You gave them the names of the hanged? Why? Did you have a deal?’ he spat. ‘Maybe something like “ they wouldn’t modify your memory?!’
It looked, for a moment, like Dumbledore had lost patience with Harry, but when he spoke it was in his usual, gentle tones. ‘Douglas Grant and Albus Dumbledore are very different people, Harry. I have said this before. The decisions I made as him are not the decisions I would make as the man I am now. Douglas Grant struck a deal with the American Ministry. He would aid them in their cover-up and they would not modify his memory or the memories of the members of the Old Order. Needless to say, Douglas did not put out the true story. The secrets of the Salem Witch Trials died with him… or they would have if I had not remembered my life as him. All I can say is that everything Douglas Grant did, everything I did, has only made me wiser and stronger “ it has made me the man I am today.
‘The American Ministry was understandably loath to admit that something so horrible had happened right under their noses, because they had not been doing their jobs well enough. Countless murders occurred in February and they were unable to stop any of them. To this day, not a single Muggle, witch or wizard with the exception of the four people in this room, know the truth of what occurred in Salem Village and why. However, the American Ministry did do some good things, for all of wizard-kind. The introduced the Department of Misinformation, which was adopted by our Ministry that very year. And they also relaxed their magic laws, allowing witches and wizards to practice magic in their homes. We can give them some credit: they learnt from their mistakes.’
‘Sir,’ said Hermione. ‘Why exactly were you reincarnated?’
‘As I said earlier, it takes only one wrong action to be forced to live another life. I did three things that justified my punishment, as far as I can see. The first was that I decided, along with the rest of the Old Order, to leave Ron and Harry in the base we had made, without telling them that we were leaving, without explaining that we were witches and wizards, without telling them what we were doing… and without informing them that they were bring followed. The second reason is that when Ron fell into the lake, fell right into a trap, I did not aid Harry in saving him. And the third: I gave the Ministry information. I made a deal with them. I allowed Muggles to take the blame for our mistakes. And I allowed the truth of the Salem Witch Trails to die with me.’
A moment of silence, and then Ron spoke. ‘The amulet that you dropped, sir “ the one that took us to Salem. What did the runes around it say?’
A twinkle became apparent in Dumbledore’s eyes. ‘It had, engraved on it, in runes, a saying. “Death is but the Next Great Adventure.” A saying I am very fond of. It was a sort of a code: it told the only way to escape from the place it transported the user to. In this case, Salem, Massachusetts, 1692.
‘And, sir “ there was a time not long after we arrived at Salem, when Naima experienced a fit… was that real… or…?’
‘In my opinion, Miss Granger, though I was not watching over you as Douglas then, I think that Samantha most likely cast a spell on her daughter which caused her to experience a fit, or something like a fit. By that time, I am guessing that she was aware of the trouble you and Harry and Ron could cause her and her mission and she was eager to have you all killed as soon as possible, before you could figure out what was happening in Salem. In the end, she was forced to settle with killing only you at that time Miss Granger, knowing, I presume, that you were so far the only one becoming suspicious of her. It was also she, I suspect, who planted the Charms book on you. You had told her your name, of course. It was a simple matter of writing it on the inside… you and Harry and Ron were, understandably, panicking during your trial, and did not ask for a closer look at the book Samantha produced. If you had, you would have seen that unlike our present day books, it was written and bound by hand, like all books of that time. That would have made it clear that Samantha had not found that book on your person… but instead made it herself. She was not going to use magic to make it, which would have made it more like our present day books, since that would have alerted the Ministry.’
‘I heard...’ said Ron suddenly, a look of comprehension on his freckly face. ‘When Samantha took Naima into the room “ I put my ear onto the door… I heard her telling Naima that she “had to do it” and that “I can sense trouble in them… the girl is becoming suspicious”, and some other things…’
There was a long silence in Dumbledore’s office as Harry, Ron and Hermione took in what they had heard. Harry was doing his best to keep the rage and the disappointment he was feeling off of his face. Then he remembered something.
‘What happened to Naima?’ he asked Dumbledore.
Dumbledore’s blue eyes focused on him, giving Harry the feeling he was being x-rayed, and he was silent for a moment. Then, he said, ‘She was killed.’
‘Killed?’ said Harry, a cold feeling engulfing him suddenly.
‘Yes. By the Ministry soon, after you died in Salem. As soon as the Ministry found out that a Killing Curse had been performed in Salem, they rushed to apprehend the culprit. They found Naima in her house, with your dead body near by, and instead of arresting her, they executed her immediately.’
Harry’s green eyes looked black with fury. ‘You were with the Ministry “ and you didn’t stop them from killing her?’
‘I did not know what had happened “ I had not seen you ask Naima to kill you. I only found out what had happened to you when you arrived back here at Hogwarts. Even to me, it looked like she had murdered you, and it was the obvious conclusion, considering that she was Samantha’s daughter and you had indirectly led to Samantha’s death.’
Harry stood abruptly. ‘Have you finished?’
‘No,’ said Dumbledore, ignoring the rudeness. ‘As much as you blame me Harry, there was little I could do to help you and Ron and Hermione without changing history.’
‘It wouldn’t have been changing history “ since the history of Salem that we know is a lie!’
‘It would have been changing history. History is not what has been written on paper, but what has happened in the world. However, I admit, that if I chose, I could have brought you back to this time, saved you the horror, and I could have dealt with the repercussions later. I did not. It was my view, and remains my view, that learning about death and experiencing it, makes it easier to face later on. You died in Salem and awoke to find that your friends, your family was waiting for you. That is the lesson I wished you to learn… that death is only the next great adventure. That death is meant to occur, and that fighting it is foolish and dangerous… and that we do meet our loved ones again, eventually. There are many trials in your future Harry, and in yours as well, Ron and Hermione. Though I did not send you to Salem on purpose, I did not bring you back either. There are many horrors in store for you three “ and no real way to prepare for them. By not bringing you back I only hoped to strengthen your resolve to do what is right, no matter how frightening and horrible and difficult… instead, of what is easy.’