The Tale of Ivy and Ariana

Fandom: H*rry P*tt*r

Chapter 1: The Potter Cottage

I could feel the wards as I stepped over the property line. The Fidelius was a powerful piece of magic, and had it not been for young Peter, I would never have been able to be here in the first place.

The residents of this home may assume I wanted to kill them, but that was far from the truth. The simple facts were, I just wanted to talk. While perhaps the persona I was most well known for stood for everything rotten in the world, the reality was, it was all an act. A hoax meant to draw out the worst elements of their society, making them easier to wipe out. It worked - partially. There were many a wizard willing to kill for the opportunity for even just a bit more power, a bit more wealth.

I cared little for ‘purebloods’ beyond the mere idea of them being ‘better’ being laughable. A wix was a wix, simple as that. Oh how it must have really annoyed ,y alter ego’s servants that one of Voldemort’s greatest foes, Lily Evans Potter, was a mere mudblood.

Ridiculous! Lily was smarter, stronger, and better than many of them combined, and I have nothing but respect for the woman.

No, I was here to make James and Lily a simple offer - to support my true cause.

I walked up the short, cobblestone path up to the front door of the small cottage. I reached up, pausing momentarily to admire my beautifully manicured nails - after all this time, the fact that I could just be a woman still gave me giddy feelings - and knocked three times on the door.

There was a muffled noise from inside, and then the door opened, revealing a dishevelled James Potter. He was gaping at me - after all, the idea of someone they didn’t know showing up probably would freak them out quite a bit, given the circumstances.

“Um, hello? Who are you and how did you find us?”

I gave the man a warm smile (or, as warm as I could manage). “Good evening, Mr. Potter. I wished to speak with you and your wife about a proposal I have for the two of you. As for who I am - I am Lady Ariana Gaunt. I found you because your secret keeper told me where to find you, of course.”

That, unsurprisingly, did not get the man to let me in. Understandable, really. As far as he knew, there was an evil dark wizard out to kill him and his family.

“What’s the proposal, Gaunt?”

“Nothing complicated. I’m intending to take my seat soon, and I would love for you to support me. I feel as though our ideals would align quite nicely.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Your wife is muggle-born and very outspoken about it. I have it on good authority - that authority being one of your closest friends - that you yourself are a strong opponent of so-called ‘pureblood supremacy’.”

“So what if I am?”

Yeah, this wasn’t going all that well.

“Mr. Potter-”

“It would be Lord Potter now, wouldn’t it?”

“Would it?”

He nodded. “My parents are dead. Dragon pox. It was very recent.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I said genuinely. I had genuine respect for both of the new Lord Potter’s parents.

“Why don’t you come in,” he said, seemingly relaxing ever so slightly.

I followed him into the cottage.

I was sitting in an arm-chair, a cup of tea in my hands - provided by James himself. The Potters were sitting on a loveseat, holding hands. They seemed tense, but somewhat relaxed. Over in the corner of the room was a small ritual circle. What it’s purpose was I was unable to discern from this angle.

Lily saw me looking at it, and decided to give me an answer. “We did that to attempt to trap Voldemort should he manage to get to us. A last layer of defence.”

I nodded. “I see. Quite clever, rituals are difficult to counter, even if you’re prepared.” I put my now empty tea cup on the coffee table. “So! To business, then. Simply put, within the week, I intend to make my first appearance before the wizengamot and claim my seat as Lady Gaunt.”

“And you want our support,” Lily said. “That depends on what your goals are.”

“My goals are rather ambitious. I want the wizengamot gone.”

The two wix looked at me, stunned.

“Gone? Like, destroyed?”

I shrugged. “Dissolved. Ambitious, like I said. But while I work towards that end, I do intend to try my best to make things ever so slightly better for the actual people that that governing body filled with decrepit old men is meant to represent.”

“My father was on that council,” James said.

“And he was one of the few on there that I respected.”

“How do you want to improve things?” Lily asked.

“Removing barriers to employment, and even education at Hogwarts, for lycans, muggleborns, various other demihumans.”

“I can support that,” James said.

“I thought so,” I said, smirking. “Peter said as much.”

James sighed. “Can you promise not to tell anyone? About Remus?”

I nodded. “I would not dream of it.”

James relaxed a bit more. “Good. Very good.” He let out a nervous laugh.

“May I be a bit informal?” I asked.

James let out a loud chortle. “Please! This formal talk is driving me crazy!”

I let out a chuckle. “Me too.”

“Call me James,” he replied.

“Lily,” Lily said.

“And you may call me Ariana.”

From there, things turned into more of a social visit. There was still some tension, and I have a feeling they’d be having words with Peter later, but the atmosphere was much more relaxed.

And then things went horribly wrong.

There was a high pitched whine. A series of small pops sounded from the corner where the ritual circle was.

Lily’s eyes widened. “Shit! We forgot to restabilize the circle!”

The three of us leapt out of our chairs. Lily rushed over to the circle to try and stabilise it before it blew up in our faces - literally.

“James! Go get Harry and get out of here! Ariana, do you think you can help?”

I nodded. “I can help.”

While James rushed up the stairs to get their infant child, Lily and I each pulled out our wands. Fortunately, I disguised my wand when I was in my Voldemort persona, so she didn’t realise it was the same one. If anyone were to notice, it would be her.

We cast spell after spell, but the ritual circle refuses to cooperate. The outline and runes were now glowing an angry red colour, spitting out colourful sparks of magic every which way, making it hazardous to get close to it.

Lily moaned in despair. “It’s not working. It’s gonna blow.”

Thinking fast, I turned and bolted up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. I followed the sound of James’ voice as he tried to calm his sobbing child. I burst through the door.

James looked up at me. “Ariana, what-”

“It’s no use, we can’t get close.” Lily due to the sparks. Those wouldn’t harm me, but the ritual was designed to target me. Or at least, Voldemort.

Then there was a loud scream from downstairs.

“Lily!” James yelled.

Baby Harry continued to cry.

“I think I can protect your child,” I said.

James turned to me. “You think?”

I nodded. “Hand him to me. I’ll shield him.”

“How?”

“With my body! I’m tougher than I look.”

James seemed like he was unsure about what I said, but he handed the child to me anyway.

I tucked him into my chest, turning my back towards the door. I knew James wouldn’t survive, or perhaps I wouldn’t. But this child just might.

I heard James scream in agony next to me. I felt the uncontrollable magic wash over me, and I tightened my grip on Harry. I whispered protective incantations under my breath. The pain didn’t stop, but it didn’t get much worse. I collapsed to my knees, gritting my teeth. My ears popped, my heartbeat sped up to an unhealthy rate.

And then, it was over.

Everything hurt. My ears were ringing. I wanted to curl up in a ball and die, but I couldn’t. I had, miraculously, survived. I knew James and Lily wouldn’t be as lucky. I looked down at the child in my arms. There were still tears running down his cheeks. But… he was alive. I had succeeded.

I wanted nothing more but to lie down right there, but I had a responsibility now. This child was an orphan because of me. If I hadn’t started that Voldemort ruse all those years ago, this never would have happened.

I grit my teeth as I stood back up. Every muscle in my body ached. I knew I’d need to see a healer soon, or I would need to construct myself yet another new body, which would really suck after all the effort I put into crafting the body I currently occupied. I cast a few simple wandless healing charms on myself.

There wasn’t a single mark on me. The magic would never have done that. No, it works instead by ripping a person’s soul from their body. Painfully. The fact that I had somehow been able to shield the child in my arms was nothing short of a miracle.

Similarly, James’ skin was unmarked. He had been killed in a manner not dissimilar to that of the killing curse - a curse I was all too familiar with. While holding Harry close to my chest, I knelt down and reverently closed James’ eyelids. I continued through the door and downstairs, giving the same respect to Lily.

Whereas James’ body had been entirely unmarked, Lily’s hands were burned and blackened. Her wand had been reduced to nothing but ash. I continued holding Harry close, keeping his eyes away from the sight of his dead parents.

My fault.

I slumped down on the couch. Thoughts raced through my head. It had been reckless of me to come unannounced. It had been reckless of me to put on my Voldemort act. I had figured, rashly, that if someone had whipped up the Purebloods, they would make themselves easier targets. I was wrong. Many people paid for my mistakes. Two examples lay dead in this very house. All because of me.

The front door banged open, and a man burst through. His hair was dishevelled, his shoes mismatched. He had his wand out, and he levelled it at me.

“Who are you?” he growled. “Why are you hold- LILY!” He sprinted to her side, kneeling down next to her.

“She’s dead,” I whispered. He heard me.

“What… what happened?”

I wanted to respond, but words escaped me. I took a breath, then pointed at the ritual circle. “They- They made that. To trap Voldemort…”

He glanced at the circle. A funny look came over his face. He looked at the child in my arms, then up at me. “Who are you?”

“I’m Ariana Gaunt.”

“Yeah right. The last Gaunt died years ago.”

“The youngest daughter had a child with a muggle. That would be me.”

He laughed. It sounded broken. “Figures.” He took a breath. “How did you two survive?”

“I protected him…”

The man nodded. “Then, I must thank you.” The funny look returned. “Could you look after him for me? Just for a few days. I have something I need to do.” He walked towards the door.

“Wait!” I said. “Where are you going?” I chased him out the door, catching up to him just as he crossed the ward line. I grabbed his arm, but he shook me off. I frowned. “Where are you going?”

“To hunt a rat,” he growled.

“What?” I said. Then it dawned on me. Peter’s animagus form was a rat.

He dissaparated before I could say anything else. I let out a groan of frustration. I returned inside the house, closing the door behind me. I paused once inside. I looked down at Harry again. At the sweet, innocent face. He had fallen asleep at some point.

He had no one left. His parents were gone. That one friend, who I suspected was Sirius Black, had run off to chase after Peter. Leaving this child with me.

I was sure that inevitably, Dumbledore would show his face here. He would probably squirrel away this child to be cared for by someone loyal to him - or worse. I couldn’t let that happen.

I had thought about being a mother before - back before Voldemort, before the war, before everything. I had no idea who with, as men didn’t exactly appeal to me. Perhaps I could have put up with it just the once? Regardless, I had put that dream aside once I started masquerading as a fearsome dark lord.

But Voldemort had to go. Enough pain had been caused by his reign of terror. Plus, I didn’t even like playing that character. Why oh why had I chosen to go with a dark lord instead of a dark lady?

Oh that’s right, because most Purebloods were sexist.

I gently placed Harry down on the couch, then slipped my outer robe back on. I picked him back up, walking out the front door. I strolled down the cobblestone path. After crossing the wardline, I dissaparated, bringing Harry with me.

Chapter 2: unfinished chapter

Is Dumbledore insane?

I, of course, already knew the answer to that. Of course he was. He had always been a bit… odd, and some of his methods and ideals had never made much sense to me. I know I had been a troubled kid, but the way  he always watched me, was always just there whenever something weird happened at Hogwarts… it creeped me out.

This new thing, though? The story Dumbledore was circulating involving the Potters’ death was… a strange one. He wasn’t exactly wrong, sure. Yes, actually, “Voldemort” had been there and had taken their child. But I hadn’t killed them! They died because of a destabalized ritual! Easy mistake to make, sure, but what was the proof that “Voldemort himself” had been there? I’d left no traces behind.

And it’s not like he knew about me from Sirius Black, either.

The news had hit shortly after: Sirius Black, the “traitor”, had been hunted down by one of the Potters’ remaining friends. The confrontation hadn’t been pretty. A street had blown up and twelve muggles had been killed. The only thing they’d found of Peter was his finger.

I doubted Peter was dead. His animagus form was, of course, not widely known, so he could have easily escaped. I also suspected Peter had been the one to be hunted down, rather than the other way around. Sirius Black had been arrested shortly after, and was awaiting trial.

I had chosen to delay claiming my seat as I put my mind towards figuring out how to care for a child. Fortunately, he was old enough to no longer need to be breastfed, which was a good thing since I wasn’t entirely comfortable doing that with a baby that I had basically kidnapped.

That’s what it was: kidnapping. Shortly after I had returned to my home a few miles northeast of London, I had realised that. Sure, I technically had permission from Harry’s godfather, but I had resolved to hand the child over to one of his parents’ friends.

And then Peter disappeared, Sirius got arrested, I had no clue where to find Remus Lupin, and the Longbottoms were in hiding and already had a child themselves.

As for those who were friends with Lily; Severus was, of course, no longer actually her friend and no one in their right mind would trust that bitter man with a child, Marlene McKinnon was dead, and Dorcas Meadowes had been missing and assumed dead for over a year.

So I continued taking care of Harry. Setting up my spare bedroom for him was easy enough. I simply transfigured the bed into a crib and conjured a few toys.

He still was young enough that he regularly woke me up during the night. It wasn’t exactly enjoyable, but I had to put up with it. I owed it to the child.

After all, it’s my fault this happened.

It broke my heart how often he would ask for his mum or dad. It hurt knowing they would never again be able to hold their child, to show him the love he deserved.

Love I never got. I was determined to try my best to show it to him as best I could.

A few days after the Potters’ death, there was some more bad news.

During the early morning hours, aurors responded to a distress call from the Longbottoms, and arrested four people: The Lestrange brothers, Bellatrix Black, and Bartemius Crouch. The brothers were normal Death Eaters, blindly following “Voldemort”. But Bella and Barty? They weren’t just Death Eaters. They knew about my ruse, they had even helped sell it early on.

The four of them were all charged with torturing the two aurors, now driven insane by the pain. I knew the brothers would have, but Bella and Barty? They would never have done it without a really good reason, and never to parents of an infant child. Something was up here. I needed to claim my seat before their trial.

I arrived at the ministry early the next morning. I had brought Harry with me, since I intended to attempt to set the record straight (ish) about his situation, and his presence would make that much easier.

I checked in, then made my way to the elevators. I got a few looks, but no one stopped me.

I had already sent in the necessary documents for claiming my seat the night before, so as soon as I got to the correct level, I made my way to a waiting room near the Wizengamot chambers. I sat and waited. The room was empty, so I sat and waited to be called in.

I didn’t have to wait long before a wizard in green robes directed me through the door to the main room. I stepped inside.

Dumbledore - who was the chief warlock, of course - was finishing up the opening of the session, and then started to introduce me.

“For the first order of business today, we have Lady Ariana Gaunt, here to claim the long inactive Gaunt seat. Does anyone have any objections.” No one said anything. “Alright. Lady Gaunt, please take a seat.”

I was directed towards an empty seat near the back of the room. I sat down.

Harry had gotten hungry, so while Dumbledore introduced a bill to increase auror funding, I got out some food so I could feed him.

One of my neighbours turned to me. “What’s with the kid?” He asked.

I looked up. “Oh, Lord Greengrass. He’s still young, and I had difficulty finding a babysitter on such short notice.”

“Short notice?”

“Yes, I only recently had to start taking care of him when his parents were killed. I had to delay claiming my seat while I figured out what to do, but there are a few things I needed to clear up, as well as some things I wanted to be here for.”

“Such as?”

“Well, for one thing, Voldemort is gone. I stopped him.” Not technically a lie.

The man’s eyebrows rose. “Seriously?”

I nodded. “This is Harry Potter right here. I was there that night.”

He glanced at the child in my arms, who had fallen to sleep after being fed.

“You should tell Dumbledore that. He seems convinced You-Know-Who kidnapped the child.”

I rolled my eyes at the ridiculous moniker the public had given my alter ego. “You know how he is. Once he gets an idea, it’s difficult for him to change his mind.”

Greengrass sighed. “You’re not wrong.”

I smirked. “I do intend to inform the council of Voldemort’s end in today’s session.”

The session continued from there. A few votes on various funding related bills, as well as an attempt by some individuals to introduce harsh legislation against werewolves. That was when I made myself known.

“So, let me get this straight,” I said. “One bad individual, and the whole group is bad? Well that sounds plainly ridiculous!”

The woman who had been explaining the bill, a short woman wearing nothing but pink, scowled at me. “They’re all dangerous!”

“And yet, the only evidence you have for that claim are the deeds of one man - Fenrir Greyback. Are we really to believe that his actions are characteristic of the whole group instead of an outlier?”

The woman visibly shook. “Lady Gaunt, werewolves are among the most vile-”

“Vile?” I asked. “Such a strong word. Does it really belong within a polite discussion of a proposed law? Perhaps those such as Greyback should be arrested, I will never dispute that. The man is a danger to everyone who would ever meet him. But other werewolves? I’ve met a few, Madam Umbridge. Very rarely do they seem to be that. In fact, most, from what they’ve told me, prefer to lock themselves within their own homes during the full moon to avoid hurting anyone. Do individuals such as that truly deserve to be punished for the actions of a man who very well could have been the reason they are in that unfortunate situation in the first place?”

Umbridge seemed a bit taken aback by my words. “Well, there will, of course, be, uh, exceptions for individuals like that who take precautions…”

I held up the parchments with the bill written on it in front of me. “I’ve read through this whole thing, Madam Umbridge,” I said. “I have seen no such exception in place. Perhaps that should be added before this bill is proposed again?”

Umbridge had no response to that, so Dumbledore called for a vote. The vote was close, but by a small margin of five votes, the bill was blocked. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Dumbledore stood to close the session, but before doing so, as per procedure, he asked, “does anyone else have anything they wish to be brought up during this meeting?”

That was my cue. I stood. “Yes.”

There were some murmurs as people turned to look at me.

Dumbledore gestured to me. “What would you like to discuss, Lady Gaunt?”

“This is about the deaths of Lily and James Potter. I wish to clear the air regarding some misinformation over that night.”

There were a few whispers about that statement, but I carried on.

“I was there that night. The Potters had created a ritual designed to capture Voldemort. I was visiting to discuss with them the possibility of receiving their support when I took my seat.” And now for some deception. “I had requested that their secret keeper provide me with the location. We were having tea when Lord Voldemort arrived. Lily and I stayed to fight him, while James went to escape with their child. Voldemort killed Lily and temporarily incapacitated me. I pursued him to their child’s bedroom, but was too late to save James. I put a stop to the dark lord before he could turn his wand on the infant. Shortly after, Sirius Black arrived. I intended to hand the child over to him, but he left before I could do so, telling me to take care of the child.”

“And you expect us to believe this story?”

“I have Harry right here, but I would prefer not to wake him right now. I would have gotten a babysitter, but I couldn’t find one on such a short notice.”

There were some whispers, but I could tell that many around the room were, while not fully believing my story, willing to accept what I said. It wasn’t as though Voldemort would be able to show his face to contradict it anyway, since he didn’t really exist, so I wasn’t worried.

There were, of course, questions.

“Isn’t Sirius Black one of Voldemort’s most dangerous lieutenants? Why would he have just let you take Harry Potter with you?”

I internally scoffed. Sirius was no Death Eater. I should know. “Is he? As I understand it, that was never properly decided in a court of law.” I had read the details of his case already. Sirius Black had been sent directly to Azkaban by Bartemius Crouch Senior, Barty’s father. He was a despicable man, and I had many times been tempted to tell Barty to just kill him.

Dumbledore looked uncomfortable at where the subject was going. “Mister Crouch concluded that the evidence was overwhelming, and no trial was necessary.”

I groaned. “I could cite many examples throughout history of similar occurrences where it was later found that the individual was not guilty of any crimes.”

Some of the other council members were eyeing me warily, so I decided to stop pushing my luck on my first day, but I wasn’t going to give up getting justice for Sirius.

“Regardless of why he left Harry with me, Harry is now in my care, and I promise to do my best to care for him as his parents would have had they survived.”

No one had any more questions after that, so I sat down, and Dumbledore ended the session. We all filed out of the room.

I was getting ready to head back home, when Dumbledore came up to me.

“Don’t think you have me fooled, Tom,” he said.

I scowled at him. “What could you possibly be on about?”

“I won’t be fooled by your little act, Tom.”

I grit my teeth. “My name is Ariana, Dumbledore. But you can address me as ‘Lady Gaunt’.”

Dumbledore scowled at me. “A name I know you specifically chose to mock me.”

I was bewildered. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Don’t play dumb, Tom. Ariana was my sister’s name.”

I sighed. “Look, I need to tell you something very important; that’s just a coincidence. There was no way the person who chose this name for me could possibly have known that.” I deliberately worded that statement to avoid giving away that I had chosen the name myself. It was true, though. I’d had no idea Ariana was Dumbledore’s sister’s name. It hardly mattered; it’s my name too now.

I bid the old headmaster and chief warlock a good day before continuing to the elevators, but apparently he wasn’t done yet.

“You can’t keep pretending, Tom!” he shouted.

Is he actually insane?

Some of the other stragglers were whispering to each other.

“Why on earth could you possibly believe that to be my name?” I replied calmly.

“I know who you are. You’re really Voldemort!”

The whispers ceased.

I knew that I could easily get out of this, but I figured I’d let him continue digging his own grave.

“I am very clearly not, Dumbledore. I put a stop to that monster, or did you not hear me earlier? Are you so incapable of putting aside your theory that Harry Potter was kidnapped by the dark lord, that you’ll accuse anyone who shows up with the child of being Voldemort? Do you understand how completely ridiculous that is?”