Harry Potter - The Accidental Animagus

Chapter 5 - Welcome to the Family

Albus Dumbledore returned to the Granger residence precisely on time the next day. Dan answered the door and shook his head slightly when he saw that the old man was now dressed in long maroon robes with black geometric patterns on them and a red nightcap.

"Thank you for seeing us again Mr. Dumbledore," he said, shaking the man's hand this time. "Please come in."

Dumbledore entered the house and found it considerably calmer than yesterday, although the children were not to be seen on the lower level. This didn't worry him though, as he had checked and found Harry to still be in residence when he left Hogwarts.

"The children are upstairs," Emma said in response to the unspoken question. "We need to speak with you privately first."

"Of course. Lead the way."

Emma smirked slightly as they led him to the kitchen and again took the position of control with the two of them seated across the table from him.

"How is Harry today?" he asked with a light smile.

The Grangers smiled back, but they were more patronising smiles. "Physically, much better," Emma said. "And he seemed reasonably comfortable last night. He's going to need lot of time to adjust, though."

Dumbledore nodded. He supposed that was the best that could be hoped for. He could assess the boy in person later. Noting the notebook that Emma held open on the table, he said, "I see you have more questions, Mrs. Granger. It's reassuring to see that you are taking such an interest in your daughter's future and wizarding culture." Of course, he suspected more, but this was a time to let them do the talking.

"Yes, we'll get to that in a moment," she replied. She wanted to get the less important (maybe) question out of the way first. "But there was something we thought of last night. My parents died in 1977 under mysterious circumstances, Mr. Dumbledore. They were both found dead in their home in the aftermath of what looked like a gas explosion, but the coroner never actually determined a cause of death. And we also remembered that my mother always had an unusual habit of dressing in robes, but she never mentioned anything about magic that I can recall. Do you know if there might have been some kind of connection?"

Dumbledore stroked his beard in concern. "How unusual," he said. "What was your mother's maiden name?"

"Fawley. Emilie Fawley. My father was Samuel Puckle."

"Hmm, I don't know any Puckles, but Fawley is a wizarding name. However, most of that family was killed in Grindelwald's War."

"Grindelwald's War?"

"You would know it as World War II."

Emma's eyes widened. "My grandparents on my mother's side were killed in World War II. They both died in the Blitz."

"That would fit, then. Mrs. Granger, I believe your mother may have been a squib-a non-magical person born to magical parents. Unfortunately, they are often shunned by pureblood families and leave the wizarding world-even more so before Grindelwald's War, but their magical heritage may resurface after several generations."

The Grangers glanced at each other. That explained Hermione, then.

"As for your parents...I'm afraid that their deaths were no accident, either. Voldemort rarely bothered with squibs who left the magical world, but your description bears all the marks of a Death Eater attack. You have my condolences for your loss, Mrs. Granger. It would appear that you've had several more unpleasant contacts with the magical world than I expected."