Venus

110- Dumbledore's Army: The Dark Side Of The Demob

From Rita Skeeter, bestselling author of The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, comes the all new book, Dumbledore's Army: The Dark Side Of The Demob, which will delve further into the well kept secrets of Dumbeldore's Army and it's members

Extract from: Chapter 4: The Secondary Leaders

Venus Marlene Black-Weasley is certainly one of the members of Dumbledore's Army with an interesting story.

Marred by tragedy in her early life, after her birth mother, Marlene McKinnon, was killed by Death Eaters and her birth father, Sirius Black, was wrongfully accused of killing twelve Muggles and sent to Azkaban (more on this in chapter 15), Venus was placed in the care of Molly and Arthur Weasley at the request of Albus Dumbledore.

To this day, the reason for Venus being placed in the Weasley's care is unknown to the wider wizarding world, but rumours have been circulating ever since it was revealed who Venus really was. Many people have speculated, that Dumbledore knew something about the girl that we do not, why could she not be placed in an orphanage? Rumours are that (even at such a young age), the girl was widely effected by witnessing her mother's death, so much so that she was dangerous for most to be around.

Venus (then just known as Venus Weasley) began her education at Hogwarts in 1992, the very same year that her adoptive sister Ginny was implicated in the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. Venus became close friends with the beautiful (but rather dense) Mali Young.

In the summer of 1993 Venus's father, Sirius, escaped from Azkaban prison (exactly how, is still unknown to the public, although speculation is that he somehow transfigured a Dementor into a gerbil), thought the school year of 1993-1994 Black was sighted at Hogwarts, once by Venus herself, although the girl has refused to speak of the experience to anyone except her closest friends.

It was at the end of her second year that Venus's life was to be forever changed after a near fatal Werewolf attack. No longer the beautiful girl she had once been, Venus's face was now marred with scratch marks, and her fate was sealed as she was bitten by the wolf (a certain Mr Remus John Lupin, whom Venus herself is now close friends with- how she ever forgave him. We will never know).

Venus's condition was kept secret from everyone (even the ministry itself) by Albus Dumbledore, which once again leads us to question the morals of 'the greatest wizard this century', as we can be sure that parents had the right to know that their children were living with a Werewolf.

Nevertheless, Venus returned to school the next year, and began to show an interest in Neville Longbottom. The two attended the Yule Ball together (what exactly happened at this ball? See page 574), and developed a close friendship (although many reliable sources put this friendship down to Venus bewitching Neville, as it is clear to many that such a person as Neville Longbottom could never be friends with someone with as many troubles as Venus) It is unknown if Venus kept her lycanthropy a secret from Neville, but it is unlikely, owing to many reports of how close the two were.

That summer, Venus was one of many to witness the infamous 'Third Task' of the Triwizard Tournament, during which Voldemort rose again.

Venus returned to school the next year, only to immediately get on the bad side of Deloris Umbridge (then Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts). Venus is reported to have loudly called the woman, 'an old toad, who should be left to die in a pond!'.

Dumbledore's Army was formed this year, under the pretext of the teenagers learning to defend themselves, and Venus was one of the first to join.

That Christmas, Venus's adoptive father (Arthur Weasley), was attacked by a large animal (what it was? We are still unsure, but one thing we do know is that Arthur was found in the Department of Mysteries. Which begs the question, what dangerous creatures do the ministry keep in there?) and placed in St Mungos.

Venus was one of the members of the DA who was involved in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. During this battle, Venus was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. The aftermath of this has been widely speculated, but Hogwarts students of that time have reported that Venus suffered episodes in the months that followed, leading many to believe that the attack unhinged the already delicate girl.

At the end of her Fifth year, Venus was once again involved in a battle against the Death Eaters, the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, in which Albus Dumbledore was killed.

The school year of 1997-1998 will go down in Hogwarts history as the year that Hogwartians fought for their lives. But prior to the Battle of Hogwarts, Dumbledore's Army was reformed.

In the absence of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Venus, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom stepped up as leaders of the group. Eyewitnesses have described how Venus fought back against the Carrow sibilings, and refused to obey them.

But it wasn't long before Venus's secret was to emerge, in November, Alecto Carrow discovered that Venus is a Werewolf, and very quickly the whole school came to know. Venus placed Alecto Carrow in the hospital wing, having attacked the woman whilst in her Werewolf form. This attack (Venus was of course reported to have been taking Wolfsbane at the time), lead to many believing that Venus had gone mad. This belief was only strengthened as she disappeared for three weeks in the aftermath. To this day, no one is entirely sure what happened in those three weeks, but many believe that Venus spent her time trying to kill the Carrow sibilings.

Venus returned to Hogwarts for the Battle of Hogwarts. During the battle, Venus was subjected to the Homophus Charm, which forced her to reveal her Werewolf form. She savaged Amycus Carrow (making him identically scarred to his sister) and is credited with taking down the infamous Werewolf Fenrea Greyback.

After the battle, Venus returned to Hogwarts to complete her studies and achieved high grades in all of her NEWTS (a result of special treatment, surely).

After graduating from Hogwarts, Venus attended the weddings, of her father, Sirius Black to Ophelia Fawley (nee Jones) (both of whom having suffered tragic losses of spouses earlier in life) and of Ron Weasley to Hermione Granger (Harry Potter's faithful sidekicks).

Venus became an advocate for Werewolf rights, releasing her book 'A Werewolf's Tale' (mediocre writing at best), and working closely with the ministry to adapt Werewolf laws.

The next year, Venus attended the wedding of Harry Potter to Ginny Weasley (a union that broke young hearts all across the country- but is it really as happy as advertised? See chapter 7).

Venus then began working at Hogwarts (along with Neville Longbottom, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin) as Transfiguration Professor. Soon later, Venus's half-brother, Alphard Black II, was born (is Venus resentful of the fact he had a happy childhood with Sirius present- of course she is!).

The next year, the shock announcement that Venus and Neville were expecting their first child (Halley Alice Longbottom) came. Four years later, Venus gave birth to twins (Nysa Frank Longbottom and Nova Marlene Longbottom).

Venus and Neville remain unmarried to this day, leading many to question how strong the union of these two well respected Dumbledore's Army veterans are, and still begging the question- how stable can Venus really be if the father of her children refuses to marry her.

Hey guys! Be sure to go and vote for Venus in the people's choice category of The Cherry Awards (you can find the book in my Awards 2018 reading list). I would really appreciate the votes!
Remember to vote, comment and be amazing!
~Em xx