[mjk]

Are we only allowed to use canon characters? The reason I ask is that you said we can do stuff that is pre-Philosopher's Stone. But that limits us to the characters available.

So, for example, if we wanted to do something about the Fat Friar's life, could we invent a character or two to help the plot along?

Sorry for the slow response!

You are allowed to use canon characters and make up other characters to help the plot along. Just try to keep things as canon specific as you possibly can. We understand you can't keep everything perfectly since, well, you don't have access to Jo's brain (if you do, please tell us!) and we don't know every witch/wizard in the entire HP Universe.

[mjk]

Hey guys, just a reminder.

Please don't forget that any stories that involve questions/content that are AFTER the Battle of Hogwarts (e.g. clean-up, how characters cope with a death, children, proposals, the school 1 month or more later, etc) will be disqualified. So be careful when picking your question and what your story is.

Thanks! Let us know if you have any questions either through e-mail or here.

[potter2005]

ooooo ok

back to the drawing board for me then lol

so I can write about the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald?

[mjk]

so I can write about the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald?

That's fine since we learned about the relationship in DH. Just remember that the story must remain within PG-13 guidelines.

This post has been edited by mjk: 19 January 2009 - 12:45 AM

[mjk]

The winners for the Story-that-Answers-a-Question have been picked! To read the entries just scroll down or click on the name of the winner to be hyperlinked to the winning entry.

Congratulations to the following winners:

First place: Jerri
Second place: TarsieS
Third place: Laura Keaton

This post has been edited by mjk: 07 February 2009 - 05:44 PM

[mjk]

First Place Winner: Jerri

Who is Mrs. Figg?
How did she get to Harry's Ministry of Magic hearing (1)?

------

Mrs. Figg looked at her best tartan dress and new shoes, and wondered if she should get dressed now. But the shoes pinched her feet and she didn't want to get kneazle hair on her dress. It could wait. Her witch sister would be here soon to fix her hair and make sure she looked her best, before escorting her to the Ministry of Magic to testify at Harry's Disciplinary Hearing.

Probably they would go over her testimony again as well. Experienced judges like Amelia Bones could sense truth and falsehood. Although Mrs. Figg had never seen the Dementors, she had felt their presence clearly. It was so vital that the Ministry of Magic believe her and Harry about the presence of Dementors. It was his best defense for violation of the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy (2).

She had just put the kettle on the stove to boil for tea, when there was a knock at the door. This must be her sister now. But when Mrs. Figg opened her door, it wasn't her sister.

"Dumbledore!" she cried.

"Arabella, we must go at once, " he replied.

"But my carpet slippers, my hairnet, . . ." she protested.

"There is no time. They have changed the hearing time and location. We must go at once. Hold tightly to my arm. Have you used Side-Along Apparation before?"

"Once or twice, with my sister, but - "

"Hold tight, you will be safe with me."

Mrs. Figg had never liked the feeling of Apparation, but this time she was far more worried about her appearance and her upcoming testimony. She had so wanted to look her best, and to consult with her sister about what she should say. Should she tell the exact truth, or claim to have SEEN the Dementors that she had known about using other senses? And, why should they believe anything from someone dressed in an old housecoat, wearing tartan carpet slippers and a hairnet (3)?

Dumbledore went into the courtroom, asking her to wait just outside the door.

She waited some time, then she was called to enter the courtroom.


* * * (4)


After her testimony was over, Percy Weasley showed her to the door and briskly asked her to write the names of her wizarding parents on a card (5). "Hurry up," he said rudely, "I have to get back to finish taking notes." She wrote the names, and gave back the card. He started to read it out loud. "Mr. and Mrs. Maxamillian M-- " he gasped and hastily returned to the courtroom.

Mrs. Figg waited for what seemed a long time. Suddenly Dumbledore strode out of the courtroom. "Come," he said to her and they hurried away. Soon they had Apparated back to the alley behind her house.

"Arabella, I am so sorry I can't come in. You did splendidly. Many thanks. Harry was cleared of all charges. Good day," said Dumbledore. Before Mrs. Figg could say any one of the dozens of things she wanted to say, he had gone. She stood there for a moment or two, thinking. Harry had been cleared, that was the main thing. She walked slowly back to the house.

As she opened the door, she smelt something burning, and her sister rushed up to her. "Arabella," she cried, "where have you been. We will be late for the Disciplinary Hearing. And, why did you leave the house without turning off the stove? The kettle has been ruined!"

Mrs. Figg looked at her sister and her house. Her beautiful tartan dress was on the floor. Mr. Tibbles had pulled it down and was using it for a bed. Her sister was holding the smoking kettle up accusingly. How could she explain what had happened?

"It all happened so fast. Dumbledore came, they changed the time of the hearing. It's all over. And, Harry's fine, cleared of all the charges! Oh, Minerva, I am so thankful it is over. But we had planned it to go so differently."

Arabella Doreen Figg and her sister, Minerva McGonagall hugged each other and laughed and cried a bit, until Professor McGonagall transfigured a sauce pan into a tea kettle. The two sisters sat down and discussed the everything over cups of tea and a tartan biscuit tin full of Ginger Newts. (6)

Footnotes:

(1) Events in this story take place "off the page" in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling, starting in Chapter 7 and continuing through Chapter 8.

(2) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling, Chapter 8 "The Hearing".

(3) Mrs. Figg's description comes from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling, Chapters 1, 2, and 8.

(4) A gap in my story for Mrs. Figg's actions "on page" in Chapter 8 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling.

(5) In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling, Chapter 8 Fudge says: "You'll leave details of your parentage with my assistant Weasley." How this was done is not provided in the book.

(6) Professor McGonagall served this type of biscuits, from a tartan biscuit tin, to Harry in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J. K. Rowling, Chapter 12.

[mjk]

Second Place Winner: TarsieS

My favorite all time question is whether or not Draco really had the Dark Mark during fifth year. I posed this question in my Scribbulus Essay, The Werewolf Only Responds To the Call of Its Own Kind in 2006 and it remains, to this day, an unanswered question. Only Harry is convinced that it is the Dark Mark on Draco’s arm. I always felt – and still do – that the mark was a scratch from Greyback. My extensive documentation and details for that will remain in the essay, however I thought I would enter this little drabble as a plausible scene that we never saw – within a scene that we did see: Draco having to identify Harry, Hermione and Ron when they are captured and taken to Malfoy Manor.

-----

Fenrir’s Mark


“Well, Draco?” said Lucius Malfoy. “Is it? Is it Harry Potter?”[1]

Staying well away from Greyback, and barely looking at Potter, Draco gave a non-answer. Even when his father insisted he come closer, he refused to answer in the affirmative. So far he had avoided obtaining the final stain on his soul – he wasn’t going to give in now. And it all came down to Werewolves.

Draco didn’t know when he had begun to fear the creatures of the full moon; he remembered being frightened even as a young child. So, he had been justifiably frightened down to the hand-sewn soles of his polished boots when he’d been assigned detention in the forest with the Gamekeeper his first year.

He had even known the minute he had seen the teacher in the car on the Express before third year, what he was; it was obvious to someone with as healthy a fear of the creatures as Draco possessed.

Draco’s greatest fear was being bitten.

Draco’s second greatest fear? Getting the Dark Mark burned into his forearm.

He had managed to avoid both so far, but barely.

During the summer after his fifth year, after Potter and his Dumbledore’s army had managed to get his father thrown into Azkaban, Voldemort had seen fit to punish Draco and his mother.

“So, the father has failed once again,” the Dark Lord had stated while circling around Draco in the centre of the circle of the remaining Death Eaters. Draco could see his mother standing stoically to the side, with his aunt’s wand pointed at her neck – ensuring her silence. “I believe that I will see what this scion of the Malfoy clan is willing to do for me in order to redeem the family name.” Draco paled visibly, but made no move to reveal his nervousness. He knew his duty.

Voldemort walked around him several more times without saying anything before finally coming to a halt in front of the teen. “I am going to require several things from you, Malfoy, in order to test your loyalty. You will not receive the Dark Mark until you fulfil all of these requirements to my satisfaction. Do you understand?”

Draco nodded his head as he responded with “Yes, my lord.”

“Good,” the man all but purred. “I’m so glad we are in agreement, this should make things much easier.” He released the rest of the room at that point, except for Draco’s mother, his aunt, and Greyback who stood behind the Dark Lord’s chair. Bellatrix had relaxed a bit, but her wand was still ready in her hand and she watched Voldemort with utter devotion in her eyes.

“I require the use of your manor, Malfoy, for the duration of my campaign against Potter.” He ignored Bellatrix’s sycophantic ‘What’s ours is yours, my lord’.

“And I require a service from you,” he continued. “In order to prove your loyalty and your commitment to becoming a Death Eater, you are being given the task of killing Dumbledore.”

Draco saw his mother twitch out of the corner of his eye, and heard the excited intake of air from his aunt. He kept his head down, barely acknowledging his understanding of the assignment.

“And to remind you of your task, I am going to let Fenrir mark you...” Voldemort chuckled as he saw Draco flinch violently as Greyback came forward, saliva actually dripping from his fangs as he approached the boy. “Hold out your left arm, young Malfoy,” Voldemort commanded. Draco slowly held out his trembling arm, shoving the sleeve up his arm to bare his skin. Greyback leaped forward and dragged several nails deeply over his forearm, forever marking him. Draco screamed as the skin tore and minute amounts of non-lethal venom entered his bloodstream. He convulsively clutched at his arm, as the blood dripped to the pristine floor.

“Let that be a warning to you, boy; much worse is what awaits your mother if you disappoint me.”

And he had disappointed his lord, but somehow the promised retribution had never materialised – perhaps because Dumbledore had died anyways, or Snape had intervened on his behalf; he never knew. He did know that he still did not have a Dark Mark, and he intended to keep it that way. So, he was careful – perhaps if Potter realised that Draco was reluctant to verify his identity, he would remember that in the end and not feed Draco to the proverbial wolves.

“I don’t know,” he told his father.[2]

------

[1] JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, pg 458 Scholastic Hardback Edition, 2007

[1] Ibid; pg 459 – exact quote, not exact descriptor.

[mjk]

Third Place Winner: Laura Keaton

This story answers two questions: 1) What was Voldemort intending to use as a horcrux after he had killed baby Harry? 2) Where was Gryffindor's sword before Harry pulled it out of the sorting hat in Chamber of Secrets?

------

Gryffindor's Relic


Two loud cracks from the back stoop announced the return of the two masked Death Eaters. Voldemort rose gracefully from his high backed leather chair, which had been facing the dying fire, and with an almost imperceptible wave of his wand, opened the back door soundlessly. His minions entered immediately, along with the chilly late October wind. While masked, it was obvious from one's tall, muscular build and that other's shapely curves that it was a man and a woman: Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange. Between them was an unconscious goblin, folded over liked some grotesquely deflated parade balloon. Magic cords bound the hapless creature and blood, sticky and congealed, stained his face and head.

"Where do you want it, my Lord?" Bellatrix asked sweetly, like she was arriving with a freshly baked pie rather than a living being.

"In the basement," Voldemort replied, his voice rising slightly with excitement. He was so close to getting the information he so desperately desired; all that stood between him and Gryffindor's relic was one insignificant goblin.

The Dark Lord followed silently behind his Death Eaters, who dragged the goblin down the stone steps that led to the cellar. The unfortunate creature's feet left two uneven lines in the dirt floor and he was pulled unceremoniously toward the far wall, where his wrists were shackled above his head. Their job done, the two Death Eaters stepped back to allow their Lord to question the prisoner.

While Lord Voldemort didn't usually bother with interrogation himself, this matter was far to important to be left to his underlings. None too gently, Voldemort rapped his wand against the goblin's blood covered head and murmured, "Ennervate," before stepping back.

The captive moaned in pain as consciousness returned to him. As he looked up, Voldemort was satisfied to see his eyes widen in obvious fear and surprise.

"I have some questions," Voldemort said simply, his voice hissing slightly on the plural. "Do you know of a goblin-made sword that resides in one of the goblin owned vaults in Gringotts?"

"There are many goblin-made swords in our possession," the goblin grunted sarcastically. "I have never bothered memorizing each individual one."

Voldemort scowled at the insolence and flicked his wand. The chains around the goblin's wrists tightened, causing the victim to yelp.

"You know this one," Voldemort insisted. "It has a jeweled hilt and the name Godric Gryffindor inscribed on the blade."

"Never heard of it," the goblin lied.

"Maybe this will refresh your memory," Voldemort hissed. "CRUCIO!"

The goblin immediately began thrashing and screaming. After ten seconds, Voldemort pulled his want away, leaving the poor creature gasping for air.

"Which vault is it in?"

"I don't know," the goblin stuttered between gasps. "We have many vaults."

"Don't presume to lie to the Dark Lord!" Voldemort roared, once more bringing his wand to bear. "CRUCIO!"

This time Lord Voldemort didn't lift the curse after a few seconds. Rattling chains mixed with the sound of screams as the goblin convulsed. When he finally removed the spell the goblin was barely conscious.

"What vault is it in?"

The goblin sighed, "2257."

Voldemort knew the prisoner spoke the truth. This was all the information he needed. "Get rid of him," he ordered Rodolphus roughly.

"Wait," the goblin cried, trying in vain to lift his head. "I could help you get it. Those vaults are enchanted so only goblins can enter."

Voldemort rounded on the magical creature. "How dare you presume that I would require the help of a lowly goblin. The powers of the Dark Lord can not be blocked by your inferior magic. I will get the sword myself. Avada Kedavra!"

As the green light faded, the now lifeless goblin hung limply from the shackles.

"Take care of it," Voldemort ordered, gesturing toward the body. His mind was already racing ahead to the vault that contained the precious thing that would become his final horcrux. But first, he needed a murder, one worthy of Gryffindor's sword. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.(1) Voldemort scowled as the words surfaced in his memory. He now knew the one worthy of helping him create a horcrux; he would simultaneously seal his immortality and destroy his only threat. Voldemort paused halfway up the staircase. "And when you're finished, fetch me Pettigrew. Let's see if the information he claims to have is accurate."


------

(1) J.K. Rowling. Order of the Phoenix. Chapter 37.

[sgt_majorette]

First Place Winner: Jerri

Who is Mrs. Figg?
How did she get to Harry's Ministry of Magic hearing?

This is completely adorable, and just the kind of story I love to read --and write! I was so disappointed when Mrs. Figg turned out to be just a Squib after all the fanfic speculation that I stopped reading fanfic. I couldn't think of anything to do with her, but I'm so glad somebody could.

Very deserving winner!

--the sergeant majorette