Harry, Ron, and Hermione shared a curious look, and then they looked up at Professor Dumbledore’s portrait expectantly.
Professor Dumbledore stared down at the three of them. After a split-second of hesitation, he started to tell his story.
“On the night your parents were killed, Harry,” Dumbledore began gravely, “Voldemort intended to wipe out your entire family, eliminating all possible threats. He, however, did not have a crucial bit of information. No, not the fact that your mother’s sacrifice would save your life not only once, but several times, he did not know that even if he had succeeded in killing you, he would not have completely eliminated the threat,” Dumbledore paused, searching for the right words to explain.
“I have struggled with how to tell you this for years,” he continued, “and I cannot say I have figured out an easy way.” Dumbledore smiled knowingly, and somewhat nervously, down at the three. “I see you all have questions already, and if I am correct, Miss Granger has already figured out at least one part of this secret.”
Hermione looked shocked at this statement. She did indeed have a guess about what Dumbledore would say next. What she couldn’t figure out was how it was possible. She chose to remain silent.
“You three must understand that my actions were fuelled by my knowledge of the prophecy. Fortunately, before I died, I took measures to ensure I would be able to communicate with those who have died and do not have portraits at Hogwarts. Because of this, yesterday I was able to go and explain to your parents what I had done. Your mother is still upset with me, but she understands. Your father, however, is quite angry with me. I think that in time, he will also understand, and I hope they will both forgive me. I also hope that the three of you will forgive this old man for the poor choices he made many years ago.” Dumbledore cleared his throat.
“Now, enough excuses. If you will please hold your questions, which I can see you are desperate to ask, I will explain what was done and why.” The former Headmaster paused. Knowing that there was no easy way to break the news, he said simply, “Harry, you have a sister.”
The three of them gasped as one, though Hermione looked less shocked than the other two. Immediately, Harry’s mind burst with hundreds of questions, and he felt a stab of anger, frustration. How could he have not been told? Harry restrained himself, sitting quietly in his seat even as his questions and feelings clamoured inside his head, begging to be acknowledged.
“On the night you were born, your mother also gave birth to a daughter. The girl was born minutes before you. Your parents never knew. There were only three people who were in on the secret at the time: Madam Pomfrey, who took care of your mother during her pregnancy, an assistant healer named Miss Blanco, and me. Just before you were born, I took Miss Blanco, who was working here at Hogwarts at the time, into confidence and I informed her that her services would be required when your mother went into labour. Your parents were never told they were having twins. At the moment of your sister’s birth, I Confunded your parents and quickly gave your sister to Miss Blanco, who Apparated with the baby to a safe location. I lifted the Confundus Charm and you were born.” Dumbledore examined the faces of the young adults sitting before him, noting their expressions of shock and confusion. He paused, hoping to help them process everything they were hearing.
“After your birth, I performed Memory Charms on both Madam Pomfrey and Miss Blanco so that they didn’t remember that another child had been born that night. I brought the child to the Muggle household I had previously picked out for her. I then performed Memory Charms on the couple who lived there, as well as their close family and friends. They were convinced, as were their families and friends, that they were the biological parents of this little girl. I even went so far as to change the of the girl’s official birth records so that she appeared to have been born on a different day and, of course, to different parents.”
Harry sat there staring at the portrait of Professor Dumbledore in shock. Dumbledore’s explanation had only increased his questions. He had a sister. Where was she? Did she know she was a witch? So many questions were running through his mind that Harry, completely overwhelmed, couldn’t have voiced any of them.
“No, surely not,” said Hermione indignantly, looking close to tears. “Professor, please tell me what I’m thinking isn’t true! It just can’t be!”
Professor Dumbledore looked down at Hermione sympathetically and replied quietly, “I wish I could. But judging by your reaction, you have correctly figured out the ending of this sad story.”
Ron and Harry’s faces both clearly showed their confusion. Hermione, however, burst into tears.
“There, there, dear,” said Professor McGonagall. “It will all be all right.” Handing Hermione a tissue, Professor McGonagall settled back into her chair to listen to the rest of Professor Dumbledore’s story. She knew there would be more than tears from the three young adults sitting before her. She knew there would be anger as well. She only hoped they would listen and try to understand why Dumbledore did what he did.
“Er - Professor, could you please explain why Hermione is crying?” asked Ron. As he asked this, he put his arms around Hermione and held her close to him, her great, heaving sobs easing marginally at his touch.
“Well, Ron, Hermione has figured out that she is Harry’s sister. That is why we asked you to come here before Hermione went to reverse the Memory Charm on her parents. Though unlikely, it is possible that reversing one charm could undo the one I placed seventeen years ago. Finding out from me is bad enough, but it would be far worse to find out a partial, confused truth from those she thinks are her birth parents.” Dumbledore readied himself, and Harry was sure he was about to confess something else.
“I originally planned not to tell any of you three the truth. I merely wanted to be on hand when Hermione undid her Memory Charm just in case she accidentally reversed mine as well. However, telling you the truth is the right thing to do. It is something that should have been done years ago. I, being the foolish old man that I was, thought the three of you had enough to deal with without adding to it.” Dumbledore had a pained look in his eyes, and he winced slightly at each of Hermione’s sobs.
“What you must now decide is how to deal with this. We can reverse both charms on the Grangers, or just the one Hermione cast to protect them; they would never know that Hermione was not their biological daughter. I understand your sorrow, your shock, your feelings of betrayal and anger. I have made enough decisions, enough mistakes, that have affected your lives drastically, and I sometimes wonder if you all would have faired better if I had let you fend for yourselves, providing only the slightest help when necessary…. Therefore, I am going to leave the choice up to you three. The decision is rightfully yours to make.”
With this, Professor Dumbledore sat back in his chair with well-hidden apprehension, and he quietly waited for the explosion of questions he could tell were coming.
Ron looked at both Hermione and Harry. Hermione was still sobbing quietly and Harry looked to be in utter shock. Since neither of them appeared to be able to put voice to the questions he knew had to be going through their minds, Ron spoke up.
“Let me get this straight,” Ron began, “Harry’s mum gave birth to twins, and Hermione is Harry’s sister?” At Professor Dumbledore’s nod, he continued. “You hid this from us, from them all these years, never once thinking it would help both of them to know? You never thought that Harry, who has felt so alone all his life, would like to know he had a sister? That Hermione, who has been ridiculed all her life, would have liked to know she wasn’t a Muggle-Born? That her parents were both a witch and a wizard? That she, who had been raised an only child, had a brother?”
Ron’s voice was rising in his anger.
“That doesn’t even cover the minutes of torture I went through when we opened V-Voldemort’s locket.” Ron was still becoming accustomed to using Voldemort’s name. “I thought “ I thought that Harry and Hermione could have had something going while I wasn’t around.” Looking at both of them, he said to them, “But it was only for a moment, when the locket was saying those things. I never really thought that. Honest, I didn’t.”
“I know that Ron,” said Harry quietly. Those were the first words he had been able to speak since Dumbledore had finished his story.
When Harry once again lapsed into silence, Ron continued, standing up as he yelled, “I just can’t believe you kept this from them! You were supposed to be their teacher, their mentor! And from what you just said, you hadn’t planned on telling them!” By this point, Ron’s face was turning bright red with anger.
Ron’s rage over what had been done to them broke through Harry’s shock and Hermione’s sorrow. Both sat simply staring at him, having not expected his display of anger. When Ron seemed to have run out of words, Hermione spoke in a soft, fragile voice.
“Why? Why didn’t you tell us sooner? Didn’t you ever trust us enough to tell us the truth? I don’t understand how you could have kept this from us.” Tears were once again flowing freely down Hermione’s face. She looked up at Professor Dumbledore, who looked like a guilty child caught in wrongdoing. Greatly saddened by the knowledge of his horrible choice, tears glistened behind Dumbledore’s spectacles.
“Part of the reason I did not tell you sooner was the same reason I did not tell Harry sooner about the Prophecy. I cared too much. As I have said, I did not want to burden you with the knowledge. You should have been told the truth, but I justified not telling you by convincing myself it had to be kept a secret for the sake of your safety. Do I believe you could have kept it a secret? Yes, I do. However, knowing the truth and having to hide it from everyone would have been torturous for all of you. Though you are now faced with deciding whether to tell the truth or keep it to yourselves, at least you are not in danger from Voldemort if you decide to tell everyone the truth. It is the danger you would have been in that I used to justify not telling you.” Dumbledore paused to gather his thoughts. Then looking down at Hermione, he continued.
“Hermione, you asked how I could keep this from you. Why I did not trust you enough to tell you the truth. Keeping it from you was not easy. I made my choice when Madam Pomfrey told me Lily was expecting twins. I knew that neither of you would be safe. Sometimes, I fear I chose the wrong child to hide. Why did I leave Harry, knowing the Prophecy? I believed through magic, they could be kept safe. Should I have left you there to die? Would Lily have been able to protect both of her children? All of these questions and thoughts I have considered. However, whatever the answers, I cannot change what I did, though I should have told you sooner.
“As for not trusting you with the truth, this is partially correct, though not in the way you think. I worried for years that Voldemort had access to Harry’s mind, a fact that was proven. I am sure Harry will be the first to agree with me when I say that he couldn’t keep Voldemort out of his mind. Therefore, Voldemort would have known about you, which would have only put you in more danger.” Sitting back in his chair, Dumbledore waited for the questions on how he had managed it. He knew that once some of the shock wore off, the questions about how it could have been accomplished would start.
Who Am I? by mudbloodproud
Chapter Notes: I would like to once again thank my wonderful betas, Harry_Rulz (Lexi), eleven49. I do not own any of the characters, places or things in this story. It belongs to J. K. Rowling. I only get to play in her world. For that, I am forever thankful.