Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. Nor have I attempted to steal her work or ideas. That would be not only illegal, but unthinkable.
A/N: I'm doing some reconstruction, the story is generally the same, I just changed Alivia's name to Olivia because I like it better. I only spelled it with an A originally because it would match Angelina's name sort of, but realized I didn't like it. I also added some more detail, and fixed some spelling/punctuation issues. I'm also really into astrology now, so I'm trying to base a lot of the personalities on that. If you've got anything to contribute, please do so!
If you've got time to leave a review, I would love it! I love reviews because they make me want to write more, otherwise I'm blind to whether it's a good story or not, so please review.
The Daily Prophet...
As the 30th Anniversary of The Second War approaches, the hunt for the memories of the surviving participants and families begins. The Ministry of Magic wants to obtain the personal accounts, experiences, and life stories or persons and families directly affected by The Second War. These memoirs may be used for History of Magic studies at Hogwarts School or Witchcraft and Wizardry and/or in our own historical archives at the Ministry of Magic.
"Our mission at the Ministry of Magic is to preserve the memories of those who fought in The Second War who have made the liberties we so enjoy today possible. It is crucial that these recollections are obtained so that Wizarding communities across the world will be grateful to those who fought for generations to come. As the elderly who were affected begin to die off, we've realized the importance of preserving the accounts and look forward to obtaining as many as possible while it is possible," says Magical Historian Terry Boot.
Any donations of memories would be greatly appreciated and may be sent in via parchment, vials or flasks, or tape recordings (a type of Muggle tool used to record voices).
Thank You.
For your daily Horoscope courtesy of Professor Trelawney, turn to page 5.
As an aspiring magical historian, the assignment given to my rising sixth year history of magic class not only seemed like it would be easy and fun, but also highly educational and potentially priceless. The task was simple, interview a family member, friend, or someone else we know about their experience in The Second War. I was beyond excited about the assignment, and upon returning home from school during the Summer holiday, I immediately began searching for a fresh quill and some parchment. I already knew without a doubt whom I would ask to be my interviewee. My mother, Olivia Thomas. She herself was directly involved in the war. Though she would mention her encounters offhandedly at times, I either was too nervous to ask her for further details, or didn't think of the war as a highly important event due to ignorance of the ordeal.
After our brief end of the year lesson in History of Magic, I was thoroughly interested and even a little obsessed with the idea of a live personal account. The war changed the lives of my parents, especially my mum. Her parents were killed during the war, so I've never met them. It's been said by my Aunt Angelina that the war was how my dad noticed my mum in the first place. After that last history lesson, I also became curious about how exactly my parents got together. At Hogwarts, they were in the same year and house, but hadn't begun to date until after the war. I wonder how that would happen. Perhaps her account would help me get Dan Finnegan to notice me. But, that wasn't something I wanted to argue with myself over at the moment, I had business to attend to...
I bounded excitedly down the stairs of our house, trying to gain some composure before my mom thought I bought all the sweets from the trolley on the train back home again. My brothers and and sister weren't home. Which was even better for me, I had my mother to myself. I took a calming breath before turning the corner into the kitchen.
"Mum?" I asked, shy but determined.
"Hm?" She answered while flicking her wand towards the cabinet, summoning ingredients while the dishes washed themselves.
"I was just wondering..." I suddenly got slightly unconfident. My mother was a generally happy, kind person, but if you ask her the wrong question, or worse, give her the wrong answer, she could become quite frightening. Aunt Angelina was surprisingly the same way, though older by a few years. My mother was more stable that her sister though, probably due to her astrology sign, Taurus.
Ever since my first astrology lesson I found the subject fascinating, and frequently played my cards accordingly. I know that my mother is patient but when she gets angry, she can hold a grudge for a while. I know that my dad would always be there to listen, though he rarely puts up with talk of 'nonsense', making sure I make 'the right choice'. Aunt Angie listens, keeps my secrets, is strong and perceptive, but is prone to angry outbursts. Uncle George, is well, Uncle George, and my siblings are the last people I'd go to for help in life. Sean makes horrible choices, to the displeasure of my dad; Francine does
everything with or because of Roxanne; and the twins, though fraternal, are always doing something together to make themselves heard, when as obnoxious as they are should be seen and
not heard. Alas, I generally only have four major adult influences.
I realized the likely hood of my mother being peeved or uncomfortable was unlikely, so I summoned my courage and went through with my plan.
"I was just wondering if you would be willing to tell me about your experience in the second war..." I heard my own voice get smaller as I spoke, something I noticed that happens to my mum's voice sometimes when she and dad have a row.
She beamed at me though, "I thought you were never going to ask and I'd have to beat you into a chair to listen when I'm one hundred and ten. Let me just get dinner started," Her eyes wrinkled in the corners a little though her face was quite young and she flicked her wand towards the ingredients-they started to mixing together into a large cauldron immediately-then towards the stairs, murmuring "
Accio School Stuff!" I heard some vague rummaging somewhere upstairs and a box a little larger than a shoe box came zooming down the stairs and into my mothers outstretched left hand, showing off her recreational Quidditch skills. My mum then flicked her wand again towards the stove and a kettle began to make tea. We sat down at the large wooden table in the dining room, my mum pulled her legs into her chair, crossing them before jumping with a start, almost like a twitch.
"Almost forgot...
Accio Muggle Tape Recorder!" With another vague rustle from upstairs, the recorder came zooming around the corner. "This will be much easier to record with, it's a long story, so writing it by hand with a quill will be long and tedious and you'll be able to use this for extra credit in Muggle studies.
My dad, Dean Thomas, is Muggle born -well, his dad left his mum when he was a baby so he doesn't really know- so we have a lot of Muggle items around the house that pureblood Wizarding families don't usually have.
"Okay, where should I begin?" Questioned my mum, already clearly excited.
"At the beginning...when the war started. You were just a kid right? Exactly how old were you actually? How did you even get involved?
"Well, I suppose it all began to brew during fifth year, after Harry Potter claimed V-v-voldemort, had returned..."
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