Re: Harry/Ron/Hermione/Draco
Why is it you never get hunches about good things like an ancient scholarly tract's discovery or a new line of shoes at Twilfitt's?
Are we sure you lot aren't just rubbish at clues?
Right.
So, Time magic alone couldn't do something like this. I'd already considered the possibility of Death magic being used as well. But, what you're suggesting is a likely amalgamation of experiments with anything from fertility spells to Blood magic, Familial magic to compulsion spells...plus whatever was done to fix it, which seems likely to have contained elements of Time, Death, and possibly even Thought magic, although I also wouldn't rule Love out as a component, either. On top of that the possibility something went wrong in casting, was left unfinished, or reacted with the inherent magic of the castle in an unforeseen way.
This is going to take resources, Harry. Hogwarts' library is extensive, but it doesn't contain nearly enough on these subjects. What you were all able to scavenge from the residences is a hodge podge that still needs a good deal of sorting. But, if you think Hermione and I were working on the spell together, then I need to go to my parents' estate. If I was still living in a flat in the city, I'd have gone there to do any work I couldn't safely do at the Ministry. We're all too thorough or paranoid to have left much behind, but better a wasted trip than not finding something we might need.
If you can find more pieces of the puzzle as to who and why, that will help, too. Someone should take all those back issues of the papers you collected and go through them with a fine tooth comb looking to any and all possible leads as to what the actual socio-political situation was. Other than the younger generations' observations, that's our only source of information right now. Until more clues can be found.
I'm going to need to call consultants other than my team in as well, Harry. There are too many people here with a background in esoteric magic of some kind not to use them. Dumbledore, Snape, both your sons, your father and his friends, Draco's father, Regulus Black. Also others in areas that might be useful are my sister, Marlene, your mother, and Roxanne. So, I need you to give me the official story because I assume we're not telling everyone the whole truth.