Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away...
There was a king named Albus, who was very old and respected by all. Or rather, nearly all.
King Albus lived at the Hogswarth castle, from which he ruled the entire kingdom of Hog. He was a good and fair king, and the people loved him. He had many friends, among the peasants even, and one of his good friends was Arthur of Burrow. Arthur of Burrow and his wife Molly lived in the village of Hogsmeade, which was not far from the castle. Arthur and Molly had many children. Their oldest sons Charles and Bilius were both being taught in the arts of smithery overseas, and their son Percival was training with the Bishop in the Hogsmeade church. Arthur and Molly had two more sons, Frederick and George, whom Arthur had not yet found suitable occupations for, and they were currently making themselves known as the jesters of the village, much to Molly’s chagrin.
A few years after George and Frederick were born, Molly gave birth to another son, whom she called Ronald. But when Ronald was only two years old the poor boy had been running around trying to catch the butterflies circling his mother’s laundry, and suddenly he had disappeared from the village. Molly was heartbroken, and Arthur with the help of the villagers had searched everywhere for Ronald - except in the Forbidding Forest. It was dark and foreboding, and it was said that no one who had ventured in there had ever been seen again. Furthermore there were rumours that a big, hairy monster had been spotted in between the trees, so the villagers concluded that if the child had somehow ended up in there, there was no hope of him ever returning. Little Ronald was now considered dead, though Molly would never give up hope.
The youngest of the Burrow children was a girl; her name was Ginevra. She was only one year old when her brother had vanished, but not long afterwards she had been taken up to the castle with the other young girls in the village, where they would be taught the customs of a lady and tutored in the skills of reading and playing musical instruments, talents which might help them one day secure a high standing husband. Although Ginevra was of questionable background, she was placed in high regard at the castle because her father was a close friend of the King, and so she was treated like a noble child.
Albus also had friends overseas, who visited him often. He wanted to visit them as well, but he needed someone to take his place while he was gone — which, if he intended to visit all his friends, could take him decades. Finally after long and careful consideration he decided on his good friend Lord James of Godricshollow. James used to work in the King’s service as one of his personal knights, and he was without a doubt the most skilful bowman in the entire Hog kingdom, being widely renowned for his ability to hit any target. But then he got married and decided to retire from service, and he and his wife Lady Lily now had two young children, a boy and a girl, who were twins. Albus knew that James would be willing to help him out, and that he and his wife were good and fair and thus would rule the kingdom well, so he sent a messenger along to ask them. James was quick to reply that it would be his pleasure to help out the King in any way possible, so Albus made his preparations, and left the country later that year.
James had announced that he was on his way, and the castle was awaiting his arrival. But what no one knew was that James was not the only one the message had been delivered to. When Albus had asked for a messenger, his faithful servant Sirius Blacksmith had immediately stood to attention. He had set out towards Godricshollow, happy that he would soon be seeing his old war friend James, whom he had attended knight’s training with. But Sirius was attacked by the sleazy Peter Wormtail, who had taken the message. Peter was a follower of the evil Prince Tom Riddle, who was after the throne of Hog. Peter had taken both Sirius and the message to Lord Voldemort, who had immediately thrown Sirius into the Azka Tower. Then he had demanded that Peter take the message to James. Peter had questioned this, but you do not question Lord Voldemort’s orders. The message was delivered, and Lord Voldemort put his evil plan into action...
James of Godricshollow received the message from Albus, and immediately responded to the King’s request. But his wife Lily had her doubts.
“It was not the usual messenger,” she had said.
“You are right,” James had replied, “I would have liked to see Sirius. But Peter was my helper after all, and I was pleased to see him again after all these years.”
“All these years where we have not heard a word about him! Where he has been, who he has met... James, I am not happy with this.”
“My dear wife, Peter is part of the Order of Maraud, we can trust him. Do not worry, everything will be alright.”
And so it was that James and Lily departed from Godricshollow. With them they took their son Harold. Their children were not two years of age, and James and Lily were travelling light, and could only bring one child with them on such a taxing journey. After much consideration Lily and James decided to let their daughter stay at the Godricshollow Castle with her nursemaid until her third birthday, by which time James would have settled into his throne and be able to travel to Godricshollow and bring her to Hogswarth safely. Lily held her daughter and cried, kissing her and promising her that she would be reunited with them all as soon as it was safe for her. James looked on sadly, he loved his children equally and would prefer not to leave either of them behind, but the difference between his children was that while his son would cry for his mother whenever she left the room, his daughter was much more independent at this stage and was perfectly comfortable with the nurse. Lily had argued that this was exactly why they should bring her, because she might not remember her mother when she finally got to see her again. But James soothed her, assuring her that their daughter loved her and would never forget her. Lily finally relented, after all she would not have agreed to leave little Harold behind either, and she did see the sense in choosing to bring him along.
The journey went without troubles, until they reached the outskirts of the Forbidding Forest. Lord Riddle himself was waiting here with his army! The battle was fierce. But it was James and Lily against about ten of Riddle’s soldiers and Lord Riddle, and James quickly realised he would not be able to win against them. “Lily! Take Harold and run!” he had shouted, and the last thing he saw before Riddle pierced him with his sword was Lily running into the forest.
Lily ran frantically deeper and deeper into the forest, crying and cursing Riddle, and praying for her baby’s safety. But she did not get far, because she had reached the bank of a river, the water rushing by far below her. Lord Riddle came up behind her then and she gasped. “You do not have to die,” he whispered in her ear, while pointing his sword at her heart. “Your husband is dead. Join me, Lily... marry me. I will rule this kingdom, and you will be my queen.”
Lily had tears streaming down her face, remembering James and the time they had spent together. “Never,” she whispered.
Voldemort hissed, and pressed the blade into her skin.
“You could live, Lily. Just let go of your child. We cannot have James’ offspring at my court, you surely understand.”
‘My child... Perhaps he does not know I have another child,’ Lily thought desperately. ‘Please do not let him find out... hide her, please let her be gone when he finds our home,’ Lily prayed.
“Did you hear me woman?” said Riddle impatiently. “You get to live. Just give me the child!”
Lily looked at her son, hoping against hope that he would survive somehow, and slowly drew in her last breath.
“No.”
What happened next was not clear. But James and Lily’s son had disappeared that day, believed to have died. The bodies of Lily and James were dumped into the river, and later discovered by the fishermen of Hogsmeade. And Tom Riddle had taken James’ place on the throne of Hogswarth. He had ridden into the castle, and before anyone knew it he had taken over and plunged the whole kingdom into darkness. Poor Ginevra of Hollow was now a prisoner in the castle, a human shield for Voldemort against the people.