Today was Tuesday, November 1, 1981.
The sky was dark and gloomy, with heavy clouds hanging low. It was hardly pleasant weather.
But today was a grand occasion, the likes of which the Wizarding World hadn't seen in decades, perhaps even a hundred years.
Wizards and Goblins alike joined in the celebrations, staying up all night to mark this historic moment.
A newborn had not only survived an encounter with the notorious Voldemort, but had even stripped the terrifying Dark wizard of all his power, leaving him to flee in disarray.
The miracle sent shockwaves through the wizards of Britain, as if the oppressive gloom that had hung over them for so long had finally lifted.
Everyone raised a glass in celebration, and secret gatherings rang with the refrain: "Bless the child who lived—Harry Potter!"
For a time, wizards across the country even proposed declaring today "Harry Potter Day," to celebrate this remarkable miracle every year.
While the wizards were still only discussing the idea, the Goblins had already taken action, making this day an official Goblin holiday.
As though they, too, had feared Voldemort and rejoiced at his disappearance.
In truth, though, it was only a coincidence.
In the eyes of other wizards, Voldemort was someone who must not be mentioned. Even speaking his name aloud filled people with fear.
But to the Goblins, Voldemort was, at most, just a more powerful Dark wizard.
Would the wizards choosing a new ruler really change their widespread prejudice and discrimination against Goblins?
If it would, there wouldn't have been four Goblin Rebellions throughout history.
So they didn't care whether Voldemort had fled in disarray, or whether a certain wizarding newborn had survived him.
What they truly cared about was the death of another wizard.
A fifth-year transfer student at Hogwarts.
A legendary wizard who had vanished from history, yet lived in the 1890s.
A guardian of the Wizarding World who wielded Ancient Magic.
A great wizard who had single-handedly crushed the Fourth Goblin Rebellion.
A fearsome wizard who had, all by himself, wiped out most of Britain's poachers, Dark wizards, Goblins, and dangerous Magical Creatures.
If wizards today were afraid to say "Voldemort," calling him "You-Know-Who" instead,
then even history hadn't dared record the deeds of this legendary wizard, for fear that one careless act of his might erase the entire history of Britain's Wizarding World.
And with the Goblins unwilling to speak of him and the wizards unwilling to ask, nearly a hundred years had passed since the Fourth Goblin Rebellion of 1890. Now it was 1980.
Though the Department of Mysteries' secrecy had delayed the news by a year, at last, today, they had learned the tremendous news that brought such relief—
This legendary wizard was dead.
Before you continue