Did anyone else think it strange (in OoTP) that Aunt Petunia seemed to know infinitely more about the wizarding world than previously thought? Did anyone else think it strange that a howler was sent to Aunt Petunia? Did anyone else think it strange that we know very little about Harry's ancestry and this mysterious Mark Evans to whom we are introduced in Book 5?

I sure did.

So if my name is Albus Dumbledore, and I need to protect The Boy Who Lived and his only living relative is a squib named Petunia... (Yes, I know she's supposedly a Muggle, but hear me out.) Could a nice Fidelius charm make the whole wizarding world forget about her and her lineage? After all, if this were done not even she would be able to reveal to Harry that her parents were not Muggles but wizards. Why would I do this? Perhaps Lord Voldemort killed Harry's grandparents, and James and Lily survived in one of their three miraculous escapes from Voldemort. If there were many death eaters looking for Harry, one would need the world to forget about his ancestry. But can a Fidelius charm keep other secrets besides a location? I would think it could.

Here's what we know about Harry: He is 1/2 blood. One would initially conclude that his Dad was a pureblood and his mother of muggle decent. However, nowhere on that tapestry of Black did I see any Potters. What we did see, however, was a Weasley. We also saw plenty of other good wizarding names on the tapestry, yet no potters. If the Black name is so ancient, it would be only a matter of time before a Potter would join the family. What if James was a 1/2 blood, and for kicks (use of the Sorting Hat and Fawkes), lets say his mom was a wizard of the Dumbledore lineage. And let us say that the house of Evans is also a 1/2 blooded wizarding family, making Lily a 1/2 blood and Harry also a 1/2 blood.

What contradicts this? Well, in Snape's worst memory he called Lily a mudblood, but a Fidelius charm is like a memory charm that works on everyone, so it is possible that the Evans were wizards and Petunia was a squib. We'll find out in Book Six.

Finally, many people think Harry could speak parceltongue through the powers transferred from Voldemort, but what if his great-great-grandfather happened to be named Marvolo, thus uniting the house of Gryffndor and Slytherin in some twisted manner? And because I'm dead set that Luna Lovegood is the woman for Harry, wouldn't it be cool if she were the ancestor of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw? Food for thought.

6/12/04