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Chapter Text

“I’m Harry freakin Potter. I don’t think I should be possessing people. In my experience, only bad guys possess people,” Harry snarled from his seat.

“You’re not really possessing someone. You would simply be taking over an otherwise dead body.”

“Now we’re getting closer to inferi and necrophilia which makes me even more uncomfortable with this idea,” Harry muttered, crossing his arms defiantly.

The man hummed gently, but didn’t necessarily disagree. He steepled his fingers under his chin and frowned at Harry, “Honestly, you aren’t taking this as well as I expected for a man who already died once before and returned to life. Not to mention the supposed savior of your people. In my experience, saviors are normally a touch calmer and all-knowing.”

Harry felt his anger rising, fists clenched at his side. He knew his voice was rising as well, but he could do nothing to stop it, his emotional intelligence growing little since his high school days.

“You think I’m not taking this well?? I’m simply taking an auror call when I see a purple light. I feel the burning pain. My chest constricted. I felt the pain. I felt myself die. There’s no question that I died, and yet when I woke up, instead of finally being reunited with my parents and loved ones, I’m back into another freaking train station. And instead of Dumbledore, I meet you. WHOEVER YOU ARE. CLAIMING TO BE A BLOODY ANGEL. I don’t know how long you’ve been watching my life, but I don’t think there’s very much angelic about it.”

The “angel” looked nonplussed, “I assure you that I am certainly of the heavenly realm.”

“Yeah, and I”m a house elf,” Harry snorted at the man in the boring grey business suit.

The angel stood up sharply, his chair making a screeching sound on the floor as his pals went flat on the desk, “Shall I give you a taste of my angelic qualities?”

“Have at,” Harry muttered.

Then Harry found himself scrambling backwards in shock, unable to understand what had appeared before him, even with magic. Where a middle aged, average in every appearance man had sat before him, suddenly a warrior stood. Easily 8 feet tall with giant white wings spreading out from his shoulders, full centurion style armor with a double edged sword hanging from his waist.

Harry steeled himself, “I’m a wizard, bloke. I may not know what spell or potion or trick you just used, but it doesn’t mean you’re an angel.”

“Perhaps I can use the same trick that Order of the Phoenix used to use? Telling you a secret I shouldn’t know?” the man/angel offered.

Harry shrugged, “Alright I guess. I’ll at least consider it.”

“Dudley and his friends: Piers Polkiss, Malcolm, Dennis, and Gordon used to play a cruel game of chasing you that you had dubbed Harry Hunting. They often chased you and beat you up,” the man said simply, though not unkindly.

Harry found himself recoiling again even as a flush spread of his neck. He had never told anyone about that, least of all what he used to call it. Even Hermione and Ron had been left out of the know, just that his home life had never been exactly good.

The angel went back to the cubicle he had been sitting at inside the train station and flipped a few pages.

“What do you want?” Harry finally asked.

"I am Carver, one of the Lord's angels," Carver said.

"What do you want with me? If I'm dead, shouldn't I be on my next great adventure?" Harry asked.

“We’ve already been over this. Things didn’t go right. Dumbledore is evil and manipulating things. You need to go back and change things. Keep magic from being destroyed. Your original body will still have a soul while your older body is dead, so we are compromising by sticking your current soul, memories intact, into a body that was dying. Once the soul has passed on, but before the body itself shuts down, I will transplant your soul,” Carver explained again.

"Why are you letting this child die? For that matter, why not save all dying children?" Harry demanded.

"That would be beyond my abilities. The children's deaths are fixed points in time. The only reason I can send you back is because I have special permission from my boss, and, even then, the child will still die. I'm only saving the body, not the soul within," Carver said.

Harry had a hard time swallowing this new bit of information, but he thought he had the gist of it. The kid is still going to die, Carver wasn't stopping that. The Dementers had taught Harry that a body could survive without a soul. Carver was going to take that soulless body and put Harry's soul into it.

"How will this help? Hermione once told me that time travel is incredibly dangerous," Harry asked.

"This isn't like that type of time travel. You wouldn't have to fear changing the future, that's the whole reason for sending you back. Also, it will create a minor paradox," Carver said.

Harry recoiled, "Aren't paradoxes bad?"

"Normally, but we want this paradox. Even though your body won't physically be marked, your soul has still been marked by Voldemort. By sending you back, we cause the prophecy to have ambiguousness. The prophecy could be talking about either you or the other Harry," Carver said.

"So I could take on the responsibilities of the prophecy," Harry mused.

Carver nodded, "I know that doesn't sound appealing, but it wouldn't have to be like last time. You don't just have to change your personal life; you can save so many lives."

Harry agreed, "I've gone through war once. I may physically be young, but I have the soul of an old soldier. That's probably why I went into the Auror corps. My hero complex is still very active, and it wouldn't let me deny this chance to save lives."

"One more thing, you will be given the gift of sight, so no one questions your strange knowledge of the future," Carver said.

Harry frowned, "No! The last seer I knew gave the prophecy that cursed me to my horrible life."

Carver tried to explain, "This wouldn't be like Professor Trelawney's prophecies. In fact, you would not be giving prophecies. You would be a very basic seer. You might have the ability to see tomorrow's weather or other small things. It is just a cover for the knowledge you already have."

"Couldn't I just keep my knowledge hidden?" Harry asked.

"Do you really want to spend your entire life as a lie? Besides, eventually someone would have to get suspicious. This gives a story you can tell your family and closest friends. You would want to keep even the knowledge of being a seer a secret from everyone else," Carver said.

“A family? I'd have a family. I still don’t like it though,” Harry muttered.

“Yes, yes, yes. Let’s get you into your new monk body,” Carver announced, snapping his fingers.
—------------------------------Time Break—-----------------------

Chökyi breathed his last after a sickness ravaged his body.

Less than a minute later, Harry took his first breath in Chökyi’s body. His now brown eyes blinked carefully. Though Carver had healed the body enough to survive, Harry still felt the ache of the fever.

Clenching and unclenching long thin fingers, Harry tried to adjust to this body. It all felt slightly off, like walking through a living room after all of the furniture had been moved a few inches to the side.

Eyebrows furrowed and a sneer twisted Harry’s lips at the thought that this might be how Voldemort felt when he would possess a body. Was Harry any better than Voldemort at this point?

Trying to push the thought away, Harry tried again to simply focus on the new body. It was weird, while he was still him, he also wasn’t. It was only his soul in the body, but the body itself gave impressions to him. Memories. Muscle memory, brain memories.

He knew a new language now, syllables running off his tongue with ease, though he could also remember English.

Hundreds of hours of prayers, the ache of knees long bowed. He hadn’t lived the life of Chökyi, but the memory of it was available to him.

“This is bloody weird,” he muttered to himself in English, choosing Ron’s favorite curse in memory of him, even if he had been a poor friend. Harry even had his suspicions now that he was looking back that perhaps Dumbledore had been helping orchestrate even that friendship.

A monk came rushing in with a towel in his hand, ~“Chökyi, are you feeling better? I was worried you might die!”~

His new brain identified the Tibetan and translated it, while he was already replying in the same language, ~”Yes, I believe so.”~

~”I’m so glad. Let me wipe your face,”~ the other monk replied, ~“If you are well enough, prayer starts soon.” ~

Harry soon learned that prayer was a large part of his daily life. Only eight days into this new life, he felt himself frustrated.

“Carver!” he yelled in English after he had set off by himself into the mountains, supposedly for more prayer.

The angel appeared by him silently, not using Apparition then, “Yes, Chökyi?”

“Ugh, that’s still taking a lot to get used to, even if the body automatically looks up at the name. I still mentally think of myself as Harry.”

“These things can take time. What did you need me for though?”

“How am I supposed to do anything while I am stuck in the body of a monk living in the HImalayan mountains?” Harry demanded.

“There were few options. You had to go into a dying magical child, so you would still be able to wield magic and not burn up the host body. Only so many magical children die a year, you know. You also had to go into a child who was close to the correct age. Plus, it had to be a child who was inconspicuous enough for this to work. Finally, this death occurred the farthest back in the timeline. The original Harry Potter is four years old,” Carver explained once again, no lack of patience.

“But I feel useless!” Harry cried.

“Take the time to train. Grow strong. Currently, you need to get back down the mountain before the other monks worry. We will find ways for you to help,” Carver urged him.

Harry grumbled the entire way back down the mountain. He was in a fine temper tantrum the rest of the day as well, fiery temper as strong as it was after fifth year. There were few years that Harry hated more than waiting around feeling useless.

Not to mention his godfather had already spent three years in Azkaban and the original Harry had spent three years with the Dursleys.

Harry grumbled through dinner, and through evening prayers and he was still grumbling as he went towards the hot springs to get cleaned up.

“Bloogy monks in the freaking Himalayans with bloody hot springs,” he at least mumbled low enough the monks couldn’t hear him, plus in English, which they didn’t know he spoke.

At that moment, his foot slipped on the mossy and damp rocks. Arms grabbling for anything to break his fall, they caught sharply on a large rock. The weight of him was enough to dislodge the rock.

Apparently, the rock had long been hiding a rather hot stream of water.

As burning water poured down over him, Harry didn’t even have time to scream before he was dead.

He opened his eyes to the white of the train station and glared at Carver.

“What the what?” Carver muttered, staring back at him.

“Why am I dead? I was only there for eight days, and I didn’t even get to do anything!” Harry yelled.

Carver flipped through his pages, “Ahhh here it is. While I had permission to send you back, it seems other forces were not happy. Good old Fate trying to keep the balance. Your newly possessed body was supposed to have died. It wanted that to happen no matter what. Balance.”

“Balance,” Harry stared blankly back at Carver.

Carver grinned sheepishly at him, “No worries though. We can’t send you back again, don’t want double paradoxes, that was once and done, but we have plenty of time before the original you starts Hogwarts. We’ll go with the next available body. Second time’s the charm.”

It wasn’t the charm, actually, Harry would like to have that noted on the official record.

That time, he was an eight year old boy in London, muggleborn. The original Harry Potter was still four. It was going well the whole three months he was there, right up until his new dad had him help hold a bucket of paint on an eight foot step stool.

“Lean a little this way,” Thomas said, urging Carl (Harry) to lean more toward him.

“Maybe you should do a bit of the leaning on your ladder,” Harry muttered lowly, but obligingly did as asked.

“Woah!” Thomas cried as Harry’s ladder swayed slightly, he shot out a hand and stilled the ladder. “Alright there, Carl?”

Harry was slightly shaken, “Yeah, I’m good. I might get off the ladder though.”

“Come on, now, that wasn’t that big of a deal. You’re fine,” Thomas laughed. “Don’t be a sissy.”

Harry scowled, “No, I’m getting down.”

Too late though. A screw had been slowly backing out of the folding mechanism in the ladder. Not immediately noticed, it had fallen out when the ladder lurched. As Harry shifted his weight, the ladder folded shut on him.

Harry lost his footing and fell headfirst to the concrete floor below.

He glared at Carver in the white train station, “Are you telling me that eight bloody feet took me out? That’s barely enough for a concussion.”

“Well, face first, with the right angle, it can be deadly,” Carver shrugged.

The third and fourth possessions did not go well either.

Third time, he died from wetting the bed with a faulty electric blanket. That one hurt too. In the shock, he fell out of bed just right.

“450 people die a year falling out of beds,” Carver comforted him.

“I’ll just start avoiding beds in the next life then?” Harry threw up his hands.

Fourth time, he was killed walking under a coconut tree and hit on the head.

“Invest in helmets maybe,” Carver said, flipping through his stack of papers, “Says here about 150 people die a year from coconuts, so I mean, could’ve happened to anyone.”

Fifth time, he was strangled by his own necktie, while in a crowd packed so tightly he literally couldn’t even raise his arms to adjust it.

“OK, that one I don’t believe really could have happened to anyone. The original Harry Potter is now seven years old. We’ve spent years putting you into different bodies just for Fate to eventually fix the balance and kill the body after all. I do think we’re making progress though. You were in that last body for almost a year,” Carver said.

Harry shrugged, “Fate is running a show Final Destination style. We were able to get a few things accomplished. Other Harry is no longer with the Dursleys at least. I do feel that dying so many times could be negatively affecting my psyche. Any who, who have we got this time?”

It was becoming easier to swallow what his life had become, a random parasitic soul.

"This time, you would actually be one of your classmates, same year and all. Butterfly effect is kicking in. This classmate didn’t originally die, but you didn’t know them much. They transferred to Beauxbaton in your fourth year. Due to changes you’ve made in this timeline, the classmate is getting ready to choke on candy in a playground. You would be the only child of your parents. They had a lot of trouble with the pregnancy, so they are fairly doting. The death of their only child almost kills them. Also, they lose their heir, and their family dies out after their deaths," Carver paused; "If you were to do this, you'd only be helping them."

Harry recoiled, “This feels different. What do you mean one of my classmates is about to die? This isn’t a stranger. I thought I was supposed to be helping!”

“You are helping, but remember, paradoxes, changing the future, you don’t know everything that will happen. These things have wide impacts.”

Harry thought. Anger rose in him, then went back down. Carver was right. He’d made his choices, and this classmate was going to die either way now. Might as well use the body. It would put him super close to the original Harry this way.

“Fine, let’s do it,” he said in a resigned manner.

"One more thing before you go, the name of the child is Lisa Turpin. You'll be a girl now," as Carver snapped his fingers; he could see Harry's furious face. 'I think he's rather mad with me.'

—-------------The morning before Lisa’s death—----------------------

When Darlene Turpin woke on the sunny morning of October 18th, she knew something was going to happen. And not a good something, but a terrible, horrible something.

She knew better than to try and explain the feeling to her husband. He just wouldn't understand. And she couldn't just ignore the feeling. The women of her family were long known for having a strong woman's intuition. Why, her grandmother had been registered by the Ministry of Magic as a very low level Seer.

Darlene had just decided that she would spend all day inside, with her family, when she heard her princess waking up. As soon as she heard Lisa opening her bedroom door, she remembered that she'd promised to take her daughter to the new all magical park.

'Maybe I can convince her to wait for another day, even tomorrow. She might not even remember that we were supposed to go today,' Darlene thought to herself.

"Morning, Mum! When are we leaving for the park?" Lisa called as soon as she saw her mother.

Darlene worried through breakfast, she fretted on the way to the park, and she absolutely panicked when she got to the park.

When Robert noticed that his daughter wasn't having much fun because of her mother's overbearing, he decided it was time to intervene.

"Dear, you're being sort of overbearing," he said to his wife.

The look she gave him made him think of an angry dragon. He decided to try a different approach.

"It's just that you haven't let Lisa off of the bench the entire time we've been here. Isn't the point of going to a park to play?" he asked.

Darlene sighed, "I suppose you're right. I just have this feeling that something horrible is going to happen."

"Perhaps you're worrying too much. Lisa’s seven years old, she's not a sickly baby anymore," Robert said.

"You're right, you're right," Darlene sighed. "Lisa, why don't you try out those swings? Just stay in eye sight please."

Lisa let out a whoop of joy as she ran over to the swings. She knew her mother and father would soon get into a discussion about boring grown up stuff, and she'd be free to explore more of the park. She happily played on the swings for a while.

Trying to distract his wife, Robert asked, “What do you think of Dumbledore’s newest law?”

"Would you be referring to the new law that is disguised as a way to help werewolves, but will actually lead to their registration and confinement?" Darlene asked.

Robert nodded with a grim look on his face. He had a brother – thought dead by the general populace – who was actually a werewolf in hiding.

"I doubt the law will pass. He managed to pass several confinement laws by using the ignorance of half-bloods, but the purebloods have gotten the truth out enough that this one shouldn't pass," Darlene said.

"Excuse me, but my wife and I couldn't help but overhear and we were wondering what you were talking about?" asked a gentleman sitting next to the Ogden's.

Robert and Darlene shared a look before Robert started talking, "Dumbledore is always passed off as some sort of benevolent grandfather, but he's actually very manipulative. It's a well-known fact, or used to be, that purebloods will occasionally marry a magical being to keep the bloodline pure. This is done to prevent inbreeding if I can be so bold as to just out and say it."

Darlene picked up, "Dumbledore has been passing laws to confine magical beings. Beings like centaurs and vampires, who used to be known as magical beings, are now being called magical creatures. They're losing all rights. Soon they'll be treated like a pet dog."

"We believe this is done in an effort to control the magical world. The purebloods would be controlled as most of us have some sort of magical creature in our bloodlines. The muggleborns are being kept completely ignorant. Did you know that Dumbledore has removed any introductory classes from Hogwarts? He's keeping muggleborns ignorant. Those two groups combined would be enough to overpower any opposition from non-ignorant half-bloods," Robert said.

The other couple had recoiled in disgust.

"Of course, I'd heard from my mother that there used to be a class on wizard customs and a class for muggleborns, but I'd never really wondered why they were removed," the man said.

"Yes, the largest part of this plan uses ignorance. If everyone knew that they were slowly being oppressed, an outrage would break out," Darlene said.

"Is that why there isn't a class on wizarding law at Hogwarts?" asked the woman.

"Yes, you can't oppose a law you don't know about," Robert said.

Eventually Lisa looked up to see that her parents and some of the other adults seemed to be in the middle of a discussion. She happily headed for some of the other park equipment.

She soon found herself by a slide that some older boys were sitting on. None of them seemed to be using the slide; they were just sitting on it and eating candy. That wasn't fair! It was the only slide around, and they weren't even using it.

Lisa marched over, "If you're not going to slide, why don't you let others use it?"

The boys looked at her in surprise. One of the older boys said, "Hey kid, scram. We're using the slide."

"No you're not. You're just sitting on it and talking," Lisa retorted.

The boys glanced at each other, "Here kid, I'll give you some candy if you just leave us alone."

Lisa thought about it. Her mother had always told her not to take candy from strangers, but this was a teenager, not an adult. Plus he was eating the candy too, so it couldn't be harmful.

"Alright, if you give me some candy, I'll leave you alone," Lisa said.

The boy gave her a handful of candy. It was a mixture of hard candy and soft gummies. She hesitantly ate one gummy before cramming more candy into her mouth. The candy tasted really good!

She happily headed for the merry-go-round before she started choking. She'd tried to swallow a gummy, but she accidently swallowed a hard candy too. She fell to the ground clutching her throat. The candies completely filled her throat, and she couldn't even call out to help. As her vision turned to black, she saw a boy run over to her.

Carver, in a younger form, rushed over to the dying girl. He knew he would have only seconds to heal the body after the soul left before the body also died. He knew the instant the soul left and he quickly set to work healing the body. He had a wand out to make it look like he was just a normal first or second year wizard.

He completely healed the body and mostly had Harry's soul into the body before he called for help. He quickly cast the CPR charm at the ground in case someone used Prior Incantum on his wand.

"Help! Please someone help me! Help!" he shouted.

People started running from all over the park. Lisa's parents rushed to her side when they recognized her.

"What happened?" her father demanded.

"I saw her clutching at her throat and realized something was wrong. I ran over and found out she was choking. I cast the CPR charm at her, but I don't know if she's ok," Carver said as he made himself seem frantic.

"We've got to get her to St Mungo's!" the mother called.

The little girl was quickly picked up and taken to the floo entrance at the Information Center of the park.

Carver grabbed the father's arm along the way, "Do you think I could come along? I'm just so worried that I didn't do enough…"

The father looked at Carver with sympathy, "You did all you could, which I'm thankful for. You may have saved my daughter's life. You'd better come along though; I'll make sure you get off of any charges for underage magic."

"Thank you sir," Carver said as they ran to the floo entrance.

When Harry first opened his eyes, he knew by the blinding light he had to be at some sort of healing facility.

'Why do doctors insist on blinding their patients?' he wondered to himself.

When he turned his head and saw a man and woman ('Darlene and Robert Turpin, his new parents,' his mind supplied), he remembered what was going on.

"Are you okay, darling? Does anything hurt?" the woman rushed over to his bed.

He (he supposed he should really start referring to himself with feminine pronouns since Harry was now a girl) gestured vaguely to her throat, which did ache.

Her father lifted a cup of water from the bedside table and helped her drink a little bit. The water helped her throat not to hurt as much and she was able to talk, "What happened?"

"Apparently you choked on some candy," said a healer. The healer waved his wand over Lisa/Harry several times and seemed pleased with the results. "We sent out aurors to capture the teenagers. We've now taken their statements."

"How did you know who I got the candy from?" asked Lisa/Harry (she supposed she also needed to refer to herself as Lisa, because the Lisa/Harry stuff was giving her a headache).

"This young man, who saved your life, told us he saw some teenagers giving you candy," her mother said.

Lisa looked over to see a very different Carver smiling at her. The first Carver she met looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. This Carver was probably eleven or twelve. He was wearing a t-shirt and worn jeans.

"I'm just glad you're ok," Carver said. She rolled her eyes at him when her new parents weren’t looking.

As soon as she'd gotten home that first day, she'd barricaded herself in her room.

She'd grabbed between her legs before screaming into a pillow. It was true, Harry was now a girl.

Little Harry was gone!

"Am I interrupting something?" a voice asked. Lisa looked up to see Carver, back in his older form, at the foot of her bed.

She'd jumped out of bed and started hitting him with her tiny fists. "I'm a girl, you tosser! Where was that in the plans?"

"I'm sorry, but Lisa Turpin was the only available body.”

"This is so weird. Way weirder than possessing someone I had never met before," Lisa muttered. Carver rolled his eyes. "How are you even here? I thought I wasn't supposed to see my guardian angel."

"That was before you knew who I was. Now that you know you have a guardian angel and who I am, there's no sense in my remaining hidden," Carver said.

Lisa nodded before thinking of something else, "So are you still the guardian angel of…uh…the other me, or what?"

"Another angel was assigned to him. At this point, your souls are very different. Your soul is scarred and older. I am assigned to your soul, so another angel had to be assigned to Harry."

"So you're the Carver I know, not some Carver from the past?" Lisa asked.

"I traveled back in time with your soul if that is what you're asking," Carver said with an amused expression.

Lisa walked over to a mirror and examined this new body. She hummed to herself as she took it in. Brown hair with just a touch of a deep red. Much more brown than auburn, but the red tint was there. It was cut to where it just brushed her shoulders. Pale green eyes from large, wide set eyes. An upturned nose.

A jolt went through her.

The eyes weren’t bright, Avada Kedavra green and the hair wasn’t her mother’s fiery red, but this body looked like it potentially could have come from James and Lily Potter. Or at least maybe a cousin.

Lisa Harriet Turpin, her mind whispered at her.

“No bloody way,” she laughed.

“What?” Carver asked from where he had been fiddling with knickknacks on the dresser, looking over at her with questioning eyes.

“My middle name is Harriet. I could go by Harri in this body. That would fix the issue of learning to go by a new name,” she laughed.

Carver frowned, “That’s gonna get confusing with the original Harry.”

Lisa shrugged, “I’ll spell it with an i at the end. You know, I actually like this body. It’s the first one that feels like maybe it could be me in the future, not just me possessing someone else’s body.”

The original Lisa must have been a very passive girl. Harry already had known a bit of that just from how unremarkable she had been during his school years. He couldn’t even remember an interaction with her past the sorting and occasionally seeing her in the hallways.

It didn’t feel like she had left much of a strong memory on this body the way he had experienced with some of the bodies.

Less like he was trying to override the deep emotions and memories that ran in a body with a strong soul, fiery personality.

This body also seemed to welcome his plans.

It felt like the mind was pulling up memories of his temper and magic and smiling. A light was lit up.

“Ahh, this is a soul that wants to maximize this body, not simply exist,” it seemed to whisper to him.

Or maybe he’d died too many times. Possessed one too many bodies and he’d stopped being bothered by it.

“Not really possession,” Carver muttered near him, still fighting over a technicality, and Harry grinned.

This one he meant to keep. He’d fight Fate not to have this body die.

Harry Potter was now seven year old Lisa Harriet Turpin, and she needed to tell her parents to start calling her Harri.

Away from the Dursleys was a seven year old Harry Potter.

At Hogwarts was the ancient Dumbledore, surely aware that something had changed, but he couldn’t possibly know about Harri.

And for the moment, Harri needed her first priority to be rescuing a certain dogfather of hers.

Chapter Text

“I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but I’m not sure this is the best time to have an angel in my bedroom,” Harri muttered under her breath while getting dressed, remembering the time she had said similar words to Dobby, though as Harry, in a different life.

Her heart panged at the reminder of the loyal elf and his death. Carver’s face softened slightly at the pain on hers, and she wondered if guardian angels could read minds.

“Shall I come back later?” he asked.

“Well, what did you want?” she asked suspiciously, trying to braid her hair and failing spectacularly.

"Are you ready yet dear?" her mother called through the closed door.

"Shortly!" Lisa dropped her hair and turned towards Carver, “Well?”

“Just a reminder that you’ll be seeing lots of your old classmates tonight. Do you have a plan?” Carver said.

“Yeah, my plan is to wing it,” Harri said, trying to tug on tights. Her right foot stuck halfway through the tight even though her left leg was almost in the foot spot. She toppled over into the bed.

Her mother pushed lightly on the door, walking over to Lisa while laughing softly. Her eyes went right over Carver without seeming to notice him at all.

“What’s gotten into you dear? You’ve seemed so clumsy recently,” Mrs. Turpin said.

“Nothing, nothing,” Harri tried deflecting, “Where are we going again?”

“Birthday party,” Mrs. Turpin said again. “Let’s go then.”

“Don’t forget that I do not have another body to place you in if this does not work out,” Carver called to only her ears.

“Fun…” Lisa said.

A wixen birthday party pre-Hogwarts seemed to be prime socializing time. She hadn’t thought much about how pureblood and half blood children without strong muggle connections seemed to just all be homeschooled or privately tutored. It meant there were celebrations every month. Chances for the children to mingle.

She found a spot near the food and grabbed a slice of treacle tart.

New bodies had new tastes, but some aspects were more a part of a soul than her taste buds. Plus, she was determined to like some things regardless of her body. Even if she had to train herself to like it again.

She ducked as a flame spread out from one of the buffet warmers, almost engulfing her. Treacle tart held tightly in one hand, she scuttled backwards on the floor a few feet and glared up at the food table.

“Rude, Fate,” she muttered under her breath.

Several adults rushed over, but the incidence was largely ignored, as they always were.

Constantly avoiding near death situations did give her the general appearance of being entirely more clumsy than she truly was and she glared at the adult female scolding her for playing with the magical fire.

Shoving a bite of her treat into her mouth, she fled from the food.

Finally, she squared her shoulders and looked around the crowd.

Carver was right, she recognized many of the faces.

At least she could still scoff at Draco Malfoy preening like a peacock with Parkinson, Goyle, and Crabbe around him. He seemed to be telling a story, arms waving more than she remembered from Hogwarts.

Hannah Abbott, the birthday girl, was smiling with the Greengrass girls, apparently friends as children before they were sorted. Or could they have been friends at Hogwarts and Harry had just missed it her first time around?

“Lisa, hello” a voice said.

Harri turned, “Hello Morag. I’m thinking of going by Harri now, for my middle name. What do you think, Morag?”

Morag MacDougal blanched slightly, “Hairy? Like you have too much hair?”

“For Harriet. Could you tell the others too please?” Harri asked.

“Uhm, sure, I guess,” Morag gave her a questioning look before moving away. Harri felt only relief, memories swirling of Morag not always being the nicest girl.

Harri thought she might feel eyes on her, and her light green eyes scanned the room as she tried to figure out who was watching her. It took her an embarrassingly long time to spot the dark complexion of Blaise Zabini watching her with a half smile and lidded eyes.

She frowned at him, and his smile spread further.

He sauntered across the room, seven years old same as her, but the rumors about his mother spread through her mind. Hadn’t Hermione once said the woman had seven husbands who had all tragically died and left her large fortunes?

"Do you need something Zabini?" she'd asked when he was close enough.

He'd leaned closer, voice musical with a thick accent that made her have to listen closely to understand, "I'll fix your outfit if you stay with me for the party."

"What?" she stared at him, certain that she’d misunderstood him despite listening closely. 

He rolled his eyes, "Your shirt is untucked, your hair, what you call it, boo? No, bow! Your hair bow is falling out. And one white thing on your ankle is up higher than the other. You look a mess instead of a proper Pureblood lady. I don't feel like talking to everyone, but I cannot seem antisocial. What is your English phrase: I help you, you help me?"

Lisa looked into his eyes. She suddenly realized that just because Zabini had been trained by his mother to seek out attention and benefit from it didn't mean that he necessarily enjoyed it.

"First, do you mean one sock is higher than the other?" He nodded as she pointed to the white thing around her ankle. That clarified, she held out her hand, "Deal!"

His smile had seemed a bit hungry as he shook her hand, “I’ll have to have you for dinner one day this week.”

“Sure, I guess,” she muttered. She followed him to a corner where his hands did expertly fix her hair while he directed her on how to fix the rest of her outfit.

Later that week, he did send an owl with an invite.

“Can I go?” she asked her parents.

Harri had quickly learned that nice pureblood families didn’t exactly shrug, but their appraising looks at each other were close enough.

Her father said, “Nice enough family. More money than they know what to do with. I suppose you can.”

Stumbling through the floo, she gaped up at the view before her.

Blaise laughed at her, “This is just our British villa we deal with. Shame you can’t see the Italian one. That one is actually nice.”

“Maybe some other time,” she tried to pick her jaw up from the floor.

“We shall see,” Blaise smirked again.

“Amore, Non dovresti giocare con il cibo,” a musical voice said.

Harri was pretty positive the woman approaching was the most beautiful woman ever, beating even Veela. She sauntered to the children with Blaise’s same smooth, dark skin and large doe eyes. In fact, Harri wondered if Blaise had been conceived by some weird form of asexual reproduction, because she couldn’t find any features that would have come from his father.

Signora Zabini was elegant in a way that Blaise was simply young. Long dark hair flowed down her back and her dress seemed much too formal for overseeing her son’s playdate.

“Sorry, ma’am, I don’t speak Italian,” Harri said, remembering that the woman had said a phrase as she approached them. 

“How unfortunate,” she said, “Still, it is what it is.”

Blaise immediately led her to a screened in room, “Did you bring a bathing suit?”

“Yep!” Harri said happily, eyeing up what looked like a steaming pool.

“Good, good, go ahead and jump in. I’ll get a house elf to bring us snacks,” Blaise backed out of the room gracefully and Harri happily followed his directions. The magical hot tub was almost painfully hot but Harri sunk down until just her head was sticking out, letting out a deep sigh.

Blaise came back and fiddled with setting stuff out on a side table.

Harri shifted slightly in the tub, but didn’t want to say anything that the water was almost too hot, “Are you getting in?”

“In a minute, just opening the cheese,” Blaise said.

Harri felt sweat bead on her forehead. She considered fanning herself with a magazine she spotted nearby. 

“What flavor is it?” she asked.

Blaise came over and peered at her intently, like he was watching for something before smiling. She smiled back, trying to seem like a grateful guest.

“Mozarrella di bufalo, but I think the main dish is nearly ready,” he said.

“What’s for dinner?” she asked, rising out of the tub slightly.

“You are for dinner,” he repeated.

“No, I meant what are we eating. Never mind, probably lost in translation,” she said. She couldn’t remember talking to Blaise in her previous life but his English had to have gotten better by Hogwarts time. “You know, I think I’m gonna get out of the hot tub. Do you have like a swimming pool too?”

“Hot tub?” Blaise looked intrigued despite himself.

“Yeah, this pool is like super hot, so we call it a hot tub?” Harri replied.

Blaise sighed as Harri completely left the pool and pointed at a larger pool nearby. Harri smiled at him as she jumped into that pool, happy to cool off.

“You need to be quicker next time, amore,” Signora Zabini scolded her son as she walked by the doorway, “Supper is ready now since the first dish did not cook as expected.

Blaise frowned at Harri, “Are you blessed by Lady Magic?”

“What?” Harri asked.

“You are constantly avoiding death. Like those flames at the party?”

“Ohh, no, not blessed. Maybe cursed by death?” Harri offered.

Blaise stared at her seriously before nodding slowly, “Blessed and cursed. Cursed by death yet saved by Lady Magic. I might not have you for dinner. I need to observe you more closely.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but if you’re observing me, don’t you mean you will have me over more often, no that you won’t have me for dinner?” Harri asked him.

“If that is how you wish to word it, Lisa,” Blaise shrugged a single shoulder before heading off for supper.

“It’s Harri actually, for my middle name,” Harri called after him.

Blaise was a bit strange, but Harri was surprised to find she liked him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Four years later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Turpin family exited the floo at the Leaky Cauldron. Harri stumbled a bit and then scowled as she attempted to fix her twisted tights. Tights had to have been created as a torture device; four years later, and they could still trip her.

"Lisa Harriet, stop messing with your tights! Honestly, it looks like you're grabbing yourself. And don't even think about touching your hair!" Darlene called as she crouched down to her daughter's height. Darlene wasn't a tall woman by anyone's standards, but Lisa was positively tine. Most people thought she was eight or younger instead of eleven.

Darlene glanced over her daughter with worry, perhaps she needed more protein? With a sharp jab of her wand, Darlene fixed Lisa’s tights. As she started to put her wand away, she noticed an errant strand of hair and waved her wand to fix that too. She started to look over her daughter again when Mr. Turpin caught her eye. He shook his head with an exasperated sigh, so she nodded and put her wand away.

Harri gave her parents a gentle smile before walking to the counter.

"Mr. Tom, what's today's special?" Harri asked him.

Tom sent her a conspiratorial smile, "I assume ya'd be asking for ta dessert special?"

Harri sent him a look of fake surprise, "Is there any other sort special?"

Tom laughed, "Today's special is blueberry pie."

Suddenly glassy eyed, Harri looked over his shoulder, "A blue special to match a blue and rainy day."

Tom looked at the sunny window in confusion while the Turpins shared a worried look. More and more, Harri had been having these episodes. Normally small things like the weather or where a missing animal would turn up. Inevitably, they all ended up coming true.

"Perhaps it'll rain later, but it looks a'right now. How about a slice of pie?" Tom said as he turned to grab the pie.

The Turpins grabbed Lisa and started to push her towards the corridor, "We're in a bit of a hurry. Maybe it'd be better to stop and chat another time?" Harri frowned as she realized that she had concerned her parents by having an episode in public.

Tom leaned towards them as he lowered his voice, "Wouldn' be much of me place to go talkin' abou' a little girl's abilities. She's as safe here as she is in Diagon Alley." He slid a plate of warm blueberry pie in front of Harri, the scoop of vanilla ice cream on top just starting to melt. "Don' look so serious, what could be wrong when there'd be warm pie."

She gave him a small smile before glancing at her parents. Mr. Turpin motioned for her to sit as he gave Tom a serious look. She climbed onto the bar stool and started to dig into the treat. Life at the Dursley's had ingrained a worry that food could be taken away at any time, so she was never one to deny a good dessert.

Tom met Mr. Turpin’s stare evenly, "You don' need to look so serious. Lots of people travel through the Leaky Cauldron, but I'm not one given to gossipin'."

Mrs. Turpin placed her hand on Mr. Turpin’s shoulder. Seers ran in her family, and she was more comfortable with the idea. Slowly, Mr. Turpin was accepting the idea. It wasn't that he doubted the existence of seers, more so that he was worried about the future of his daughter. Seers were often taken advantage of.

Tom smiled as he saw Lisa Turpin dig into her blueberry pie. He quietly poured tea into two glasses for the older Turpins, who both nodded their thanks to him as they watched their daughter.

Darlene looked slightly exasperated, "Honey, it's not going to run away. Try taking breaths between bites."

Robert just looked amused.

Few children realized until they were older that old Tom wasn't just a bar tender; he was also Keeper of the Entrance. Not any entrance, the entrance to Diagon Alley of course. And one of his most important duties as the Keeper was to recognize magical children. That way, if any children were to try running away or someone tried to kidnap them, he would notice and get help. He knew not to let children leave the Leaky Cauldron unattended.

He could still remember Lisa’s first visit, when she was just a baby carried in her mother's arms.

The Turpin family wasn't old and rich like the Malfoy's or Black's (and honestly Tom thought it probably just meant less inbreeding), but they were still a pureblood family. Darlene Turpin had a Wizengamot family as the only child of her father’s line, and Robert Turpin had his own Wizengamot seat. Lisa was set to inherit two Wizengamot seats unless her older parents had more children.

Poor Lisa, she would be fought after when she came of age, especially if anyone realized she was a Seer. Some scoffed at the magic, but plenty of the old families would welcome such a gift.

Tom wasn't too concerned about the Turpin family though. They seemed to have a good heiress. He was worried for the Malfoy family with its spoiled heir or for the Crabbe and Goyle families, not a brain cell between the two.

He leaned over the counter to fill a wizard's butter beer but stifled a laugh as he glanced back at the Turpins. He passed Lisa a napkin to clean the blueberry filling from her face. He was glad in a way that she wasn't as serious or uptight as most Purebloods. In Tom's opinion, the Wizarding World was entirely too serious. That's probably why there was a new dark lord every few years.

Sure, Lisa had gone through a phase about four years back when she seemed slightly withdrawn and upset, but she'd quickly seemed to bounce back. Tom had long since explained that phase away with the near death experience she'd had. It was lucky that children could recover from such things so quickly.

Lisa now seemed to be happy. In addition, she was always willing to give a hand to someone in need. Tom had seen times when a witch came in struggling with packages, and Lisa had offered a hand.

Extraordinary clumsy, but kind.

Yes, Tom felt, the Turpin family would be alright.

Ten minutes later, even though the weather was scheduled to be sunny and clear all day, the Turpin heard the gentle prattle of rain on the roof of the Leaky Cauldron.

Harri felt something in her chest tighten as she saw her parents communicate without words over her head. Harry had taken over Lisa’s body four years ago. Four years of constant love and affection. It had been weird to get used to at first. It was good that she had experienced years with Molly Weasley and that brood, or she would never have been able to handle it. The time with the Turpin’s had changed Harri a lot. She was starting to become more comfortable with hugs and other physical forms of affection. A safe environment so reminiscent of those first few years at Hogwarts before the war started back up was also changing her. She felt happier. It was strange to have parents who cared, a family who loved her. Somehow, she felt that the stakes would be much higher this time around when she had a home to return to.

Sometimes the bond she was starting to form with her parents made her worried. She truly cared for them as her own parents, but she also knew what would be coming soon. Should she try to sever that bond to protect them? Perhaps she should, but Lisa also knew that part of her second chance was having a real family with parents who cared for her. It made more sense today why Carver put her with the Turpins. This was Lisa’s chance to fix her life. She wouldn't let Voldemort ruin that.

As the brick archway formed, Harri found herself smiling as she took in the Alley. The Alley was the first magical place she could remember visiting, and she always regarded it with fondness. She looked around at the bright shops and clearly magical sights.

A woman in a tall, pointed hat waved her wand at several packages. The boxes floated in the air and shrunk – one by one – before drifting into her large carpet bag.

At Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, a new table and chairs popped into existence to accommodate the crowds of back to school shopping.

Harri happily walked with her parents through the massive doors of Gringotts. She wondered if the goblins were trying to compensate for their shortness by making everything else humongous. Perhaps Harri should try that…

Then she frowned as she noticed several strange markings at the bottom of the doors. They looked sort of like the ancient runes that Hermione had once studied, and she wondered why she'd never noticed them before, carved right below the normal inscription.

After a dizzying ride on the carts, Harri felt it was pertinent to keep her mother inbetween her rather green looking father and herself.

Walking out, Harri had to blink several times before she could completely register the situation. A large crowd, complete with paparazzi was blocking the alley. On the steps of the bank, she could see over enough people to see a small opening in the middle. Standing there was what seemed to be this version's Harry.

She was surprised at how different he looked. She remembered herself being small and shy at that age, this Harry had clearly taken nutrient potions, and he stood confidently at a good height for his age. In fact, he almost seemed to be basking in the attention.

In place of baggy castoffs of Dudley, Harri could tell that he was wearing well-tailored, expensive robes.

Probably the biggest difference would be his hair. Harri had always had long hair with longer fringe; this new Harry had a short haircut. His black locks were carefully gelled into messy spikes that clearly showed off the famous scar.

"What's going on?" she asked a random woman who was craning to get a glance at the center of the crowd.

"Haven't you heard? Harry Potter had come out for his school shopping! Why, there hasn't been a Harry Potter sighting since Christmas!" the woman said.

Harri felt herself start to worry. One of the first things she'd done was to change Harry's living situation. An anonymous letter to the Ministry had been all that was needed to get the Ministry to investigate Harry's home life. She knew that they hadn't been seriously investigating, mostly just looking for an excuse to see their precious savior several years before his Hogwarts time, but the loose investigation had soon turned serious. Harry was quickly removed from the Dursleys (who were sent to a muggle prison) and sent to live with a very nice Pureblood family that had no other children.

Harri could vaguely remember someone telling her in her previous life that the family had been one of the Order's financers, though they hadn't actively fought. So she knew that Dumbledore had used his typical manipulations to get Harry into a family that he could control. And she'd of course heard of the Harry Sightings. Several times a year, Harry would go for highly publicized visits to popular wizarding places like Diagon Alley, but she'd never actually seen one.

Now she worried about what had happened to Harry. How could he be so different in such a short amount of time? Was everyone going to be different?

"Horrid event, showing that boy off like a prize pig," her mother complained.

Her father seemed to be contemplating things, "They say that the boy enjoys it, and his pictures would certainly suggest that."

"Then he's become an arrogant pig," her mother drawled. That was clearly the end of the discussion, so the Turpins began the slow process of sneaking around the edge of the crowd.

Harri couldn't believe this! She'd never expected her parents to be part of the group that had started all those rumors about her.

On the other side, they spotted a beautiful Italian woman and her son. The pair was charming their way through the crowded streets, winks and flirty grins seemed to be coming nonstop from the two.

"There's Blaise and his mother," Harri pointed.

"I swear there must be some veela in them," her mother murmured with a shake of her head.

"Not nearly blonde enough," her father countered as he took in the two.

"Perhaps some sort of Incubus blood?" her mother continued.

Harri shook her head at the two, but she was grinning. Her parents refused to believe that the Zabini's were completely human, and given their pureblood heritage, it was completely possible that they had married some sort of seductive creature. It would certainly explain the aura of pure sex that surrounded them at all times.

“Hello dinner,” Blaise greeted her, and she laughed at him, a long standing joke between them even as his English had gotten better over the years. He didn’t laugh back as she hugged him, and she shook her head at him. It was at least a joke to her.

She giggled when she saw the expression on her mother's face when Darlene was forced to kiss cheeks with Signora. Zabini, her typical greeting.

"I'm so glad that Blaise noticed you on the Gringotts' steps, we've been searching all through the crowd. I so hate crowds," Signora. Zabini exclaimed.

"She doesn't actually mind; she's already gotten three floo addresses and at least five invitations to supper," Blaise stage whispered to Harri.

Signora. Zabini sent them a mock glare, but she wasn't able to hide her grin for long, "Actually six invites, amore, but really, I’m not counting."

Not even Mrs. Turpin could hide her laughter after that. The group quickly set out for shopping.

"I'm hoping to keep this visit brief, mostly just to visit. The majority of Blaise’s items were owl ordered, but it is a tradition, no?" Signora Zabini said.

Mrs. Turpin nodded, "We were planning on a more leisurely trip, but we've changed our minds since seeing the crowds."

Signora. Zabini shook her head, “Ahh, you mean what they're doing to that poor boy. A little attention never hurt anyone, but someone must teach him to handle that attention. A bit of class."

The Turpins quickly agreed, "He seems quite spoiled."

Then she remembered the actions of Harry. Could her getting Harry away from the Dursley's really have changed him that much? Or was something else going on here?

Their first stop was to send Mr. Turpin to Flourish and Blotts with strict orders to buy the school books and not dawdle.

"Of course, he'll probably come back with as many books for himself as for the children," Mrs. Turpin conspired with Signora. Zabini.

Then they went to Madam Malkin's. Blaise and Harri already owned an entire collection of casual robes, but they would each need robes for Hogwarts and the Hogwarts uniform. Luckily, Madam Malkin had their measurements on file, so they only had to have a quick fitting to double check neither had grown before ordering what they wanted and she would owl it to their houses. Harri was happy that she convinced her mother to buy her three pairs of slacks. Mind you, her mother also bought her seven skirts and gave her strict orders that the slacks were only for the occasional use.

Blaise was the only one to leave the pet store with a pet; Harri wanted Harry to have the chance to create the memories she'd had with Hedwig – she knew, probably as part of the minor seer abilities that Carver had given her, that Harry would still get Hedwig – and she couldn't imagine getting another pet.

The pet store was empty except for Harri’s group, but she could've sworn that she could hear other voices. After looking behind the aisles filled with cages of Kneazles, toads, magical rats, magical garden snakes, and seeing no one, she wrote it off as her occasionally catching the sounds of the people passing outside.

The Apothecary was as creepy as she remembered it. Dark lighting cast shadows over the cut up animal parts. The horrible smell nearly made her gag, a mixture of rotten eggs and rotten cabbages. Giant barrels of beetle eyes stood next to shelves filled with hearts, spleens, and kidneys of various animals. Different bundles of dried herbs or feathers hung so low from the ceiling that Harri feared it must occasionally brush the heads of buyers.

In another part of the store, shiny cauldrons were stacked according to size, and knives of varying sharpness hung on the wall. With a shudder, Harri pointed out a jagged knife with a sign next to it that read:

Poison Knife
Cast iron specially treated in Hag's blood
Perfect for all your poison making needs
Guaranteed sharpness for 100 years

Harri quickly grabbed a pewter cauldron and filled it with the different things she'd need. She was happy to leave there as fast as possible.

Outside, they met up with Mr. Turpin who was carrying a small bag; Harri figured it made sense that he would shrink all the books, plus her mother now wouldn't know until they got home how many books he'd bought for himself.

"Alright, the last stop is wands," Mrs. Turpin murmured after a quick check of the Hogwarts' supply list.

That stop was the one that worried Harri the most. Would she be put with the holly wand? She wasn't sure where the Harry Potter group had gone; Harry could have already taken that wand. Ollivander had had such trouble finding her a wand the first time, what if he couldn't find her a different wand? What if he eventually just gave up and declared that he would be informing Hogwarts that she clearly wasn't a real witch.

Ducking her shoulders, Harri followed in last.

Blaise took over ten wands to find the right one. Still not many compared to Harri’s first go around.

“Dragon heartstring, yew wood,” Ollivander finally announced.

The adults parted to push Harri forward.

“Ahh Lisa Turpin. I did your parents wands as well,” Ollivander said, her parents waving their wands lightly.

“Yes sir, but I'm going by my middle name, Harri,” she said, looking into his bulbous eyes.

“Second Harry of the day then. Let’s try cherry with a unicorn tail feather, like your mother,” he said at first, but it exploded sending splinters directly at Harri’s eyes. She ducked at the last second, avoiding a certain death.

She coughed at Ollivander’s face, “Sorry, it happens.”

“Alls well that ends well, I suppose,” he muttered, looking a trifle pale.

That wasn’t even the only wand to try to kill her. It took many wands, but they eventually found one that would work. It didn’t warm to her like her original holly wand had, this one being a holly wand with a dragon heartstring, but it would work without killing her.

Probably.

Though she was relieved to have found a match, and she wanted Harry to have the original holly wand, she was also disappointed to lose her original wand.

Sometimes this new life felt like a cheap copy of her original life. Would she spend all of her years watching Harry get the better product?

Was she a copy printed from too little toner?

Chapter Text

There were times when raising Lisa had been a bit trying on her parents. When people asked if she had always been so headstrong, Mr. and Mrs. Turpin always shared the same look. Their faces took on a bit of a despairing look, with plenty of exasperated love. Despite that, no amount of prodding could get them to tell others the event they were thinking of.

The event in question happened four years ago, only about two months after Lisa’s near death experience.

As far as her parents were concerned, that brush with death had woken her seeing abilities. They just didn't realize how strong of an ability it was until this particular morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Four years in the past, Harri is seven~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a quiet morning. Darlene sipped her tea as she read the morning paper. Robert was winding his wrist watch.

At the same second, they looked up and met each other's wide eyes.

"The wards!" Robert yelled.

"Lisa left!" Darlene had exclaimed.

Both of them were tied into the wards surrounding the house, and they had felt the influx as their daughter's magical signature disappeared.

Panic descended.

Darlene jumped to her feet and rushed to her daughter's bedroom. Robert headed toward the play room. When they met back in the kitchen still missing their daughter, Darlene's hand grasped at her chest and she started to cry. Robert pulled at his graying hair and stalked over to the fireplace. He had a pinch of floor powder in his hand, ready to call the chief of the Aurors, when they both paused.

Their daughter's signature had reappeared in the living room, but someone was with it.

Darlene raced through the hallway, Robert at her heels. As she went through the doorway, she grabbed at her daughter and tucked her against her side, pulling them back away from the rough looking man.

Robert immediately pushed his wife and daughter behind him and turned his wand on the intruder.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

The man flung his greasy, elbow length hair behind him and started to laugh.

"Who am I? Who am I? Perhaps a dog, perhaps a man," The man barked out as he laughed, his voice scratchy and rough from disuse.

"What do you want with my daughter?" Robert demanded.

The man just kept laughing, his voice getting higher and higher, until a red beam hit him and he fell over on the floor.

Robert turned angry eyes on his wife who shrugged unapologetically as her wand sent out more spells that wrapped the man in ropes and tied him to a chair.

"Clearly you weren't going to get any answers from him," she said.

"Mum, Dad, this is Sirius Black! He's actually innocent," Harri chirped.

Two sets of incredulous eyes turned on the seven year old.

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Turpin asked in a strangled voice.

"I had a dream last night that he didn't do it, and he didn't even get a trial, and I was so mad that I asked Pogo to take me to Azkaban, then I went and found him, and brought him back because I knew you would make it all better," she shot them a blinding smile.

"Pogo?" Robert repeated.

The House Elf in question popped into existence, shaking all over, "M-m-master called?"

Darlene turned her gaze on the elf who squeaked, "Did you take my seven year old daughter to Azkaban?"

"Pogo is sorry, but little miss was saying she had to go, and there was no rule saying Pogo couldn't take her to Azkaban," the elf cried. "Should Pogo punish herself?"

Robert sighed, "No, Pogo we've never asked you to punish yourself, but we will need to reevaluate the rules."

The family settled onto the couch, all three staring at the body laying tied up on the floor. Wild black hair streaked with less grey than Harri remembered spread out around his head. Even asleep, the body twitched like it was being tortured. It was clear that Sirius was not having pleasant dreams.

"I don't understand, what do you mean that the infamous Sirius Black is innocent?" Mrs. Turpin asked finally. 

Harri started to share the cover story she had developed over the last two months. She couldn't believe that Carver had refused to rescue Sirius right away, and it had taken her two months since her placement in this body to create a good escape plan for her godfather.

"I had a dream he was innocent. He didn't even receive a trial! And he's the head of an ancient and noble wizarding family! So I knew I needed to rescue him right away. I left a raccoon in his place, and the dementors didn't seem to notice the difference. Can we keep him?" Harri asked.

"The raccoon?" Robert wasn't sure he was following.

"Don't be silly, Dad, the raccoon needs to stay in Azkaban. I want to keep Mr. Black of course," Harri said.

The Turpins shared a look with each other.

“He’s not a dog, darling, I don’t know that we can just keep him,” Darlene replied. 

Harri laughed at them, getting ready to explain Sirius’ animagus form. 

Which was basically the story of how they got their very own pet mass murder psychopath. At first they were going to send him to the ministry, but their seven year old daughter could potentially be sent to jail for a prison break. After all, who would believe it was the seven year old who had broken out with the man yet the ministry was highly incompetent.

So they hid the murderer in their house.

At least, that's what the Turpins thought until they started looking into things. It turns out that at least part of their daughter's dream had been true, and Sirius was never given a trial of any kind let alone a fair and honest one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A large, pure black dog jumped onto Harri’s bed, slobbering on her face and sheets.

“Gross, go away, Sirius,” she grumbled, pushing him away.

He jumped back to the floor before transforming into a man, “No can do pup, it’s the day! Train ride to Hogwarts, sorting tonight!”

She sat up quickly, before yawning and rubbing her eyes.

“Up late?” Mrs. Turpin asked as she drew back the curtains around the room and shooed Sirius away.

“Too excited I guess,” Harri lied as she thought back to Carver’s visit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I have two items of importance for the evening. Behold, I brought an article for you,” Carver announced, slipping a bit into what Harri called his KJV speech.

“A bracelet, that’s pretty I guess,” Harri said, looking over the bracelet, “I’m kind of not really a girl, you know right? I mean, I have a 23 year old man living inside me. Or I mean, I am Harry still even though I am also Harri now. This isn’t coming out right.”

“It’s not just a bracelet,” Carver kindly ignored Harri’s downward spiral as she tried to explain she still thought of herself with male pronouns half the time. “It’s a focus.”

“That’s good, I’ve always been told I don’t have a super long attention span,” Harri said.

“No, a magical focus, like your wand works. This is not traced though by the ministry, as it is much older than the ministry. From a time before wixens were so set on using only wands. They are perhaps the easiest focus for your kind, but they are not the only option,” Carver explained.

Harri looked at the bracelet with much wider eyes then. It was made of two strands of gold, twisting into a design, perhaps Celtic? Somehow, she wasn’t surprised to find a small emerald in the very center of the design. It wasn’t very large, and it was shaped a bit like a teardrop.

“If we could use other things for magic, why have I only ever heard of wands?” Harri asked.

“The various ministries would be at fault. The tracking charms and even to some extent charms such as the prior incantum charm largely only work on wands. The wood really holds to such things. Plus, wands are the most reliable, as I said. Most anyone with a bit of magic can get a wand to perform. Other focuses can be particular. Requires more work. I don’t perform wixen magic, but I use my sword as my focus for my cherubim powers,” Carver explained. “Angels have vaults at Gringotts too, for they serve all kinds of magical folk. It was in our vaults, and I thought it might help you. There’s one other thing I must do before you face Dumbledore. Shields around your mind.”

Harri nodded in understanding. For years, she had been trying to learn Occlumency. While Snape was a jerk who hadn’t taught her properly, it turns out Harri really just sucked at the mind arts.

Angels in general were born with natural Occlumency shields, Carver had said to help them not to be manipulated by the fallen.

Carver had been unable to teach her to shield her mind, so he would be placing angel shields around her mind to protect his own secrets in her mind.

He reached his fingertips to her forehead. When they connected, she felt like she was falling.

Landing harshly, she looked around.

It looked like her room in the Dursleys house, the smallest bedroom. But her cupboard door was inside the bedroom as well.

“Where are we?” she asked in a whisper, afraid the Dursleys were lurking somewhere close.

“Your mind,” Carver said, and Harri looked around with a sharper interest. This tiny room was how she had chosen to represent her brain? Wow, maybe she should visit a therapist?

Then she noticed the cracks all through the plaster, golden cracks spreading out almost in a pattern. She touched it, and shuddered at the feeling.
“What are these?” she asked.

Carver stepped closer and examined them. Reaching out one hand, he touched a line and it started to glow. She cried out as her mind world seemed to tilt slightly. He immediately drew back his hand.

“This isn’t good,” he muttered.

“What?” she demanded.

He sat cross legged on the worn hardwood floors, and she slowly followed his lead. She looked around the room again and noticed signs of decay. Spots of black mold crept up some of the walls. A few of the floorboards were buckled up.

“Dumbledore is a master manipulator. He did several things throughout your life to guide you as he saw fit. For example, remember how I told you that I had removed the Parseltongue binding that he had placed on you set to be triggered by Voldemort’s death? He didn’t want you to have any appreance of being dark even though the Horecrux living inside you had imbued your growing magical core with the gift and it didn’t just disappear after Voldemort died. He gave you some of his powers, even accidentally,” Carver said.

Harri nodded once.

“It seems that Dumbledore at some point had installed a safeguard on your mind, so to speak. A guarantee that, with so many similarities to Voldemort, you would never go down the same path. Or better put, he could do something about it if you did,” Carver said slowly and gently.

It felt a bit hard for Harri to take in a deep breath, “What do you mean?”

“He implanted a spell around your  magical core. It must have been at a very young age, for it has become twisted and grown into your magic like a scarf tied around a growing tree limb,” Carver said.

“I’m confused,” Harri admitted, though she had a sinking feeling that she might not be as confused as she wished.

“He must have a phrase, or perhaps a spell, that he can trigger. It would factory reset you, turn you into a Dumbledore loving puppet. It’s so wrapped around your magic and your mind, that it would completely control you,” Carver said.

“But you can remove it, right? Cut it out, now!” Harri cried.

Even the thought was too much.

It felt like those years of being locked in a cupboard at the Dursley’s, but worse. The thought that with a single word, Dumbledore could completely control Harri. Could take away her ability to make her own decisions.

It was her worst fear.

A fear of being controlled. It was such a strong fear of hers that she was literally able to throw off the Imperious.

Her breathing became tight.

She felt violated.

Controlled already.

Dumbledore had wrapped chains around her magic and her mind, the two parts that were the most inherently hers. So much herself that they had to have been implanted into a new body and his control had been brought along. The old man had suppressed parts of her own magic with his.

And she had never known.

He had always been able to do what he liked with her.

“Calm yourself,” Carver said sharply. “This is beyond my abilities. I will place the shields around your mind as planned, but the golden chains will have to be handled at a different time by someone better with human minds.”

Harri forced herself to calm down, shoving all of her emotions and thoughts into a corner of her mind to be processed at a different time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She did the same thing now, pushing all emotions and thoughts away, thankful that Carver had still been able to place shields around her mind. They wouldn’t stop the control from Dumbledore if he activated it, but no one could currently read her mind.

Down in the dining room, Remus smiled at her while Sirius fairly bounced in his seat. Harri smiled back at him.

The werewolf had received a letter out of the blue four years ago being informed that he was hired for a tutoring position for the Turpins. He had been confused, but excited to look into the possibility of working as tutor instead of a lumberjack in the Canadian wilderness as he had been doing.

When he arrived at the Turpin house, a nice brick building with a large porch, he stepped up to the stoop, tugging the sleeves of his second hand suit trying to make them the inch longer he really needed.

He was not expecting the door to be opened by a face that was supposed to be rotting in prison.

"Moony!" The voice that he heard in his nightmares called and tried to hug him. His hand started grasping for his wand, cursing himself for being a trusting fool and tucking it away in a pocket. Remus finally grasped the wand and was trying to tug it out when a red light from behind Sirius hit him. There wasn't even time for a strongly worded complaint before he was hitting the ground.

"Again, dear?" Robert asked mildly.

Mrs. Turpin shrugged delicately, "If experience with this crazy ordeal has taught me anything, it's stun first, explain later."

When Remus woke up, tied to a chair, his first instinct was to use adult language. He nearly bit threw his tongue in an attempt to stop when his eyes adjusted, and he saw the small child sitting across from him.

"Wow, I've never heard that before," the kid whispered, giving him a look of open admiration. Remus blushed because he was truly a gentleman and normally would never have used such language around a kid.

Regardless, the kid didn't seem to be tied up, so Remus tried to warn her, "Quick, I need you to get help! There's a crazy guy here who wants to hurt us."

"That hurts me Moony, really it does. You think I would hurt a kid?" Remus shut his eyes and groaned. It was too late then. Sirius had somehow escaped and was about to kill the last remaining member of the Marauders.

"Oh, please stop being so melodramatic in your head. I'm not going to kill you," Sirius rolled his eyes and plopped down on the ground next to the kid, groaning as his joints cracked.

The kid giggled, and Sirius shot her a fake glare, "I'm not old."

"Sure you're not," the kid replied.

An elegantly dressed woman stepped around the back of Remus' chair.

"My apologies for the subterfuge in bringing you here, Mr Lupin. We could think of no other way to get you here. Though, I truly do need a tutor for Harri. Perhaps I could look at your resume after this?" The lady told him.

Remus nodded at her with his mouth gaping open, not fully comprehending all her words. His brain had finally lost it. The following conversation ended up being shorter than the one Sirius and Harri had done with her parents.

"He's a rat. He was the secret keeper. All they found was a toe," Sirius had said.

"What do you mean you weren't the secret keeper? Everyone knew you were the secret keeper!" Remus replied.

Sirius learned in close even though Remus tried to lean back away.

"Exactly. Everyone thought I would be the secret keeper because James and I were the closest. Plus, no one would think scared little Peter was the secret keeper. It was the perfect prank. Only Peter turned out to be the traitor," Sirius cried.

Remus let out some adult words, "Of course, you all thought I was the traitor, so it would have been the perfect ruse."

"Sorry mate," Sirius said mournfully.

Remus shrugged, all he could do with how he was tied up, "Eh, I thought you were guilty for six years and let you rot in Azkaban. Fair enough."

Sirius explained a few more things, but Remus was already pretty convinced by that point. Harri had to smile when they finally released Remus, and the two shared a dramatic hug.

Then Sirius socked Remus in the face.

"That's for letting me rot in Azkaban for six years!"

Remus punched him back, "Yeah well none of this would've happened if you hadn't thought I was the traitor!"

Then Mrs Turpin was shuffling Harri out of the room as the two grown men started crying.

"Sometimes we have to give people space," she explained.

Now, Harri smiled fondly at the two men who had spent the last four years living with the Turpins. Remus had officially taken on the position as her governor, and Sirius had been half pet dog and half pet Pureblood. Sadly there wasn’t much they could do to prove Sirius’ innocence without Pettigrew. Without him, they were worried the ministry would try to hide any mistakes or even just Kiss Sirius to be on the safe side.

Harri stumbled out of the floo entrance later that day and swept her gaze over the train station. Behind her, her mother stepped out of the floo with a great deal more dignity, not a speck of ash on her. Her father followed last, also stepping out gracefully, Harri’s trunk shrunk and stowed in his pocket.

Harri spun in circles, trying to take in all the sights. The train station with the magnificent gold and red train bustle with activity. This time around she spared a glance at the train. Why was it only red and gold? Where was the fairness in only representing one house?

As she watched other pureblood and half blood families step out of the floo gates while muggleborns appeared through the wall on the left, she wondered why the Weasley's hadn't just taken the floo route. Their house was connected to it, and it was rather strange of them not to. She sighed as she realized it was probably a ploy of Dumbledore's to make sure she was friends with them.

Determined not to let the past mistakes of others bother her on this glorious day, she spun to her father. The day she was able to return to her first home, to Hogwarts, had to be the best day in her life.

"Thanks for carrying the trunk through the floo, but I guess I should take it to get on the train," she mumbled as Mr Turpin magically expanded it again.

"Not so fast, Lisa, we purposely came early so we wouldn't have to rush our goodbyes," her mother scolded her.

"But Mum, I promised Blaise that I would save us seats! And it’s Harri now," she whined.

"No buts," her mother said as she wrapped her only daughter in a hug. Harri made a face and pretended to be embarrassed but she was sure to give her mother an extra tight squeeze before she left for school. Harri still wasn't completely used to having caring parents, but she was going to miss them during her several months at school. As she gave her father a hug, she realized that she might finally have a reason not to stay at Hogwarts during the holidays.

After saying goodbye many times, and saying love you even more, and promising to wear skirts more than she wore pants, she gave her parents a final wave and finally climbed onto the train.

She quickly found Blaise in a compartment by himself. He laughed when he saw her struggling with the trunk that was almost longer than she was tall, and watched as she struggled to stow it away.

"Honestly, your family is entirely too emotional for a true pureblood family," he drawled in his Italian accent.

She grinned and rolled her eyes, "Clearly we're starting a new trend for pureblood families."

"Pureblood traditions are not trends, they have literally been in place for generations," he complained.

"Definitely time to change stuff up," she offered.

She laughed when Blaise brooded. Since they were close to the end of the back of the train, where the lavatories and the small compartment for staff was, they were one of the first that the trolley lady stopped for. Once Harri had bought Blaise a large amount of toffees as a peace treaty, an excited buzz filled their compartment.

Harri couldn't believe that after all her waiting she was finally on her way back to Hogwarts. She could finally start really changing things!

A while later, the quiet was abruptly broken. Their compartment door was tugged open and a sniffling sound could be heard. Blaise and Harri exchanged glances before edging their way closer to the door. On the other side, Harri spotted Neville Longbottom, round cheeked and slightly chubby again, crying. She would never forget that he'd lost his toad on the original trip to Hogwarts, but she was slightly surprised that it was him and not Hermione going around knocking on doors. She realized that his compartment must be close, and he just hadn't reached Hermione yet.

"Hello, can we help you?" she asked him gently. She remembered the great man he had become by the end of the war with Voldemort, but she hoped that he could become that person again without having to go through all that.

He blushed and tried to talk, but his words weren't clear for several minutes because of his crying. Harri waited patiently.

"I l-l-lost my toad, and I-I just g-g-got it as a gift from my uncle, and he'll be s-s-so displeased if I can't find it," he finally stuttered out before breaking into tears again.

Harri felt a new sympathy for Neville, this toad was from the same uncle who had dropped him out of a window for no reason except to try to 'scare some magic into him' (Which of course was impossible anyway. Neville either had magic or he didn't. If he hadn't had magic, he simply would have been a flattened pancake; his uncle's actions wouldn't have awakened some latent magic). She shuddered as she wondered what his punishment would be for losing a gift from that uncle.

"Have you checked the ahem, lavatories? Toads like cool, dark, damp places, and I think the loo covers every one of those," offered Blaise.

"That's brilliant!" exclaimed Harri, "c'mon Neville."

She practically dragged Neville to the loo, Blaise following at a more sedate pace.

"You check the boys; I'll check the girls," she said.

As she walked into the girl's loo, she noticed with vague annoyance that the girl's lavatory smelt better than the boys, as always. She found the toad in the second stall. As the toad looked emotionlessly at her, Harri made a face at it. There was no way she was going to reach into a toilet to rescue a toad.

She walked back into the hallway to find the boys waiting for her. Neville looked hopeful for a moment before seeing her empty hands.

"I need your help. I found the toad," she said.

Neville cheered while Blaise watched her carefully.

"If you found it, why don't you have it?" he asked.

"Because nothing is going to make me reach into a toilet, not even your toad, no offense Neville."

Neville shrugged, already looking much happier, "I understand that, but what should we do. I can't imagine any other girl would want to go toilet diving."

Harri snorted, "That's why I'm going to hold the door open while you two go in and rescue the toad, but first-"

Harri stopped a passing seventh year and asked him to transform a quill she had into a cage.

"Perfect! Once you guys catch the toad, we'll put him in here," she explained.

Blaise glared at her behind Neville, but she ignored him to return Neville's almost blinding smile.

The rescue of the toad went smoothly, and the three first years were soon on their way back to their respective compartments.

Then someone bumped into Neville, “Watch where you’re going!”

“Sorry, H-h-harry,” Neville stuttered out.

“Whatever, Longbottom,” Harry Potter spit out, and Harri watched the other version of herself in fascination.

“Yeah, be careful not to get in our way,” Ron Weasley was confident enough to shove at Neville, and the poor boy stumbled backward. With a luck that rivaled Harri’s own, Neville managed to trip over an older student’s hat box. Neville’s arms windmilled as he tried to gain his balance, Harri reaching out to try to grab him, but her hands missed.

She fell into Harry, and they both locked eyes as it felt like getting shocked. Her teeth gritted slightly, her skin feeling like it was buzzing even though a supernatural feeling of calm descended over her.

They missed the fact that Harry fell right into a stack of trunks, and the top one burst open, a set of potion ingredient vials falling out and breaking, pouring some kind of liquid onto the floor of the train. It spread incredibly quickly, burning a hole through the floor.

Neville tried to scuttle backwards, but he was too slow, and the floor started to break away beneath him. His robes caught on a piece of the floor while he dangled over the speeding train tracks.

Neville started screaming.

Chapter Text

Neville was screaming. 

Harri jumped into action while Harry and Ron backed away, pale. 

“It was an accident,” Harry was saying, finally starting to move forward, but Harri was already reaching out. 

“Grab my hand,” Harri told Neville, sliding on her stomach towards him and reaching out one skinny arm. 

“I can’t reach it,” Neville whimpered. 

“Stretch, yes you can!” she told him. 

The train rattled over the tracks, nothing but open air and eventually grasses below that. Harri wondered absently, if Neville didn’t grab her hand, would he be killed hitting the tracks or falling to the ground? Was there some sort of magical protection keeping students from falling out? 

Neville stretched towards her. 

Their fingers finally connected, and she yanked with all her might. Luckily, Harry had noticed, and grabbed her, pulling her back onto the train along with Neville. 

Neville cradled his arm to his chest, crying slightly. The hole was still open, and Harri felt a bit sick to her stomach. She suspected this was another pass by Lady Fate at reclaiming Lisa Turpin’s body and Nevile had simply had almost as bad of luck as herself and got dragged into it. 

They had attracted quite a crowd. Students were whispering around them and pointing. Ron seemed to be trying to spin it like Harry was actually a hero, rather than just saving a person from a situation he had created. 

“Did you see how Harry pulled both of them back onto the train?! He just can’t stop himself from saving others!” Ron was saying, and several people were suddenly giving Harry admiring glances. Harry puffed out his chest slightly. 

Harri scoffed and rolled her eyes. 

“Alright, now, everyone back to your compartments. We prefects will fix this situation,” Percy’s pompous voice cut in, and Harri reluctantly went back to her compartment, Blaise following along. “Come on, Longbottom is it, we’ll call the infirmary, looks like your shoulder might be dislocated or something along those lines.”

“That was-”

“-wicked, little-”

“-Gryffindor,” familiar redheads called out, throwing arms around Harri’s shoulders. 

“She won’t be in Gryffindor,” Blaise remarked dryly, still flipping through a fantasy novel. Harri marched up to him and poked him in the chest, “Yes?” 

“Don’t you yes me! Why didn’t you help?” she demanded. 

“I thought you were a strong, independent person who didn’t need help?” he remarked. 

“I said that about opening a jar of pickles, not pulling first years back in from a train!” 

“Perhaps you should be more specific. I was simply giving you opportunities to foster independence.” 

“Foster independence! Look who’s been practicing their English. More like you didn’t want to get your fingers dirty.” 

Blaise scoffed at her, “That would hardly have been dirty. Letting him fall to his death actually seems more foul in the eyes of the common folk.” 

The twins had raised eyebrows, “Lovers spat in First Year? Impressive. Fear not Independent One! We shall spread tales of the princess in shining armor. See you in Gryffindor after the feast, princess!”

Harri stared after them with narrowed eyes, “I swear, they better not start calling me that in public.” 

Blaise looked at her, “But they can call you that in private?” 

She swatted at him, but he was already prepped for it and had ducked out the way. 

Off the train, Harri gave Hagrid a giant smile as she passed him. Without thinking through her actions, she gave him a big hug around the leg.

F "'Ello there? You al'ight?" he called down to her.

"Yeah, sorry! Just excited to be here," she looked at the ground as she realized that Hagrid wouldn't know her.

Despite not knowing her, Hagrid gave her his trademark smile, "Everyone's happy to be ah Hogwarts. If you ge' too homesick, you and your friends can always stop by my hut for tea."

She smiled at him while Blaise pulled her into a boat.

"Stop hugging the riffraff! You have a reputation to uphold!" he hissed under his breath.

With a jolt, the small boats pulled away from the shore. Harri stared in amazement around her. The lake and the surrounding land looked exactly like it had in her memories. It was strange to see Hogwarts looking so whole and undamaged.

As she looked around, she spotted Neville in a boat near her. While he was a bit pale looking, he didn't look any worse than that. Apparently Madam Pomfrey had been able to patch him up quickly. She wondered if he had even been taken off of the train. Sometimes she forgot how amazing magic was or how easy it was to heal most wounds when you have a trained Medi-witch around. It was a whole different ball game when it was just her, Hermione, and Ron alone in the middle of the woods.

She looked back towards Hogwarts. The windows were lit up with the glow of candles. There were no gaping holes in the walls or towers torn down. She felt her shoulders square up. This time would be different!

Inside the castle, McGonagall addressed the First Year students.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-the-term banquet is about to start, but, before you can take your seats, you must first be sorted into your House. There are four possible houses that you could be sorted into; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. Each house has its own strengths and noble history. Outstanding witches and wizards have come from each House. Your House will be something like your family while you are at Hogwarts. You will take classes with your House; you will spend your free time in the common room of your particular House. Your triumphs will be marked by points given to your House; any rule breaking will be punished by the revocation of points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will be awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope that each of you will be a credit to whichever house you are sorted into."

Listening to the stern professor, Harri felt the first trembling of worry start to slither into her stomach. She was a new person this time around with new fears and concerns. Would she still be sorted into Gryffindor? If she was sorted into another house, how would she handle it?

“Don’t look so worried, both of your parents were in Ravenclaw. Where else would you go? Though you aren’t particularly diligent or studious,” Blaise whispered to her. 

She raised her eyebrows at him, “Where are you expecting to go then?” 

“Slytherin I would expect. Cunning, ambition,” Blaise said. 

“Cunning?” Harri asked him. 

“I am exceedingly cunning; you are simply blessed by Magic,” Blaise grumbled. 

“What do I have to do with your cunning?” she asked him in bewilderment, turning back as she heard Hermione whispering near her. 

The bushy haired girl spoke loudly enough to interrupt all the conversations around her, "I read about this in 'Hogwarts, a History.' The secret of how they sort students has been a mystery for generations. It's only after the students are sorted that they get to know."

"That one'll be a Ravenclaw for sure," Blaise whispered to Harri. She smiled as she thought of how many people over the years had said that about Hermione.

A little further back in the group, Harri heard a loud voice talking, "My brothers told me that you have to fight a mountain troll to be sorted."

Harri could almost physically feel Draco's sneer as he turned around, "Please, like parents wouldn't complain when their children don't even survive the first day. Besides, mountain trolls are stupid. It wouldn't be smart enough to sort us."

Ron's face started to get red, "Well do you know how they're going to sort us? If not, why don't you just shut up."

Draco looked over his fellow first year, "Red hair, stupid expression, you must be a Weasley."

Ron's hands fisted at his sides, and Harry stepped forward, “Yes, but we know who you are too. Pale hair, pale skin, trying to not even need a Death Eater mask, are you Malfoy?”

Draco’s face paled even further in anger as he glared at Harry Potter. The two boys were about the same height. They looked a bit like opposites, same height, but Malfoy’s pale white features and Harry’s dark features, grey eyes glaring at green. 

Harri looked at the group with worry. Had a group of First Years ever gotten in a fight on the night of the banquet before? Luckily, Professor McGonagall chose that moment to return. As the door opened, all the First Years turned to look at her.

Professor McGonagall seemed to feel the tension in the room, so she took a moment to give all the students a particularly stern glance before finally nodding.

"Please follow me," she instructed.

Harri looked in awe around the Great Hall. It was amazing to see Hogwarts back to its original grander without the scars that marked it after the war.

As she waited in line, she wondered how her luggage made it to the dorms. She had a few items stashed away in there as going away presents from Sirius and Remus that potentially shouldn’t be jostled too hard. Now Harri worried about how they transported the luggage into the dorms. She knew lots of students left their animal cages on the trains with the rest of the luggage, but how was it brought into the castle?

While she knew it was probably the house elves, she had a sudden mental image of Snape making trip after trip to the train and carrying the heavy trunks into the castle. She hid a grin as she wondered if Dumbledore had ever used something like that as a punishment for the grumpy potions master.

Looking around, her grin disappeared as she met the eyes of many children who were ghosts in her old life.

So many had died in the last war, fodder for a power struggle between two men old enough to be their grandfathers or great-grandfathers. 

In front of her, McGonagall stood with the old sorting hat. All whispering stopped as it opened its brim and started singing. She clapped along with the other students as he finished.

"Abbott, Hannah," was the first name that McGonagall called.

As the small girl walked off to Hufflepuff, Harri felt the first stirrings of nervousness inside her. She felt fairly certain that the Hat would sort her into Gryffindor, but she was slightly worried that it might reconsider its original opinion that she would be good in Slytherin. After all, everything she was doing was very secretive and cunning. Would that be enough for it to feel the need to place her in Slytherin?

She felt a hand slide into her pocket and grab her own hand. She looked over at Blaise.

He shrugged minutely, enough that the others probably wouldn’t see, “You just looked very worried, dinner.” 

She grinned slightly, Blaise could be strange, but she believed she had grown on him. Even if maybe he was more nervous than he was letting on and he was using her for his own comfort. 

He leaned in to whisper to her, "Just please try not to go to Gryffindor. It would be so bothersome."

Harri glanced over at the new version of Harry Potter. He seemed to be basking in all the attention, smiling at the Gryffindor side of the Hall. There was no doubt that he would be in Gryffindor. Before, she'd thought it would be cool to be in the same house as the new version of herself, but after the events of the day, she wasn't sure anymore.

She paid attention when McGonagall called "Granger, Hermione," but the bushy haired girl went to Gryffindor same as the last time around.

"Macmillan, Ernest," McGonagall called. Harri suddenly perked up as she realized that her turn was coming up soon since her name was now Turpin. 

"Hufflepuff!" yelled the hat.

The hat barely touched the head of "Malfoy, Draco" before it yelled Slytherin. The silver and green table clapped politely.

Harri didn't remember much of Roger Malone (Ravenclaw) or Lily Moon (Hufflepuff), so she was relieved when she heard McGonagall call, "Nott, Theodore."

She watched as Patil, Parvati went to Gryffindor and immediately started talking to Lavender.

Then Perks, Sally-Anne and finally it was time for Harry.

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little-hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?

"The Harry Potter?"

She noticed that the boy seemed slightly more nervous as he walked by himself to the Sorting Hat. Then the Hat was dropped onto his head, and she could see as much as anyone else. She remembered the first time she had talked to the sorting hat in her last life, but there was no way of telling what they were saying now.

Was it possible that Harry would end up in a different house? What kind of changes would that bring?

She fidgeted until she heard the Hat yell, "Gryffindor!"

She sighed in relief, but also a bit of regret as the black haired boy strode over to the red table. All around her, the Hall erupted in the loudest cheer yet. The Gryffindors went crazy while Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw clapped politely. The Weasley twins were yelling, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

She waited for McGonagall to call her.

“Turpin, Lisa!” 

Harri felt very small as she walked to the Sorting Hat. She was even shorter than she had been last time. Before the Hat fell onto her head, she heard the Weasley Twins, "She'll definitely be a Gryffindor!"

" Oh what do we have here? I've already sorted you once," the Sorting Hat spoke into her head.

" Yes, you put me in Gryffindor, and I think I'd like to go there again," she demanded.

" Hmmm, and what would you do if I simply refused to sort you again, you bossy little thing?" the Sorting Hat said.

Harri felt her blood run cold, " Could you do that?"

The Sorting Hat seemed to hum, "I certainly could if I wanted to; however it would not be good for you. On the other hand, you are a different person this time around, so I suppose I can sort you again."

" Am I a different person?" she asked. She'd been wondering that herself since she was first placed in Lisa Turpin’'s body.

" Think of reincarnation. If a lawyer reincarnates as a butterfly, would you still say they were the same person?" the Hat asked her.

" Not particularly," Harri replied.

" It is the same with you. Your soul has traveled with you, but you are a different incarnation of yourself. You are not held to make the same decisions or have the same character that you did the first time around. We are made by our experiences, and you will experience very different things," the Hat mused, " But enough of that! I am here to sort you, not to have counseling. Now as to your request for Gryffindor, you are quite brave; however, I would say you are being quite cunning."

Harri groaned, "I know, but I'm not sure that going to Slytherin would help me the best. I have to save these people, and they might not trust me there."

The Hat paused, "Ahh I see your deepest trait now. Such loyalty to this community even though they've betrayed you so many times. So much loyalty to this school and your new parents. Better be Hufflepuff!"

Harri felt dazed as she handed the hat back to McGonagall and headed to the yellow table. Hufflepuff? It was the one house she'd never even considered for the hat to put her. This was going to change everything.

She settled into the Hufflepuff table in-between some of the other first years. Looking down, she noticed that the patch on her robes had automatically changed to the yellow and black of the house.

She was going to be interacting with people on an everyday basis that she barely even knew.

Glancing down the table to look over her new housemates, she caught a flash of dirty blonde hair that she knew. She leaned over to look, and there was Cedric Diggory. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked at him. The first person she knew died in the second war against Voldemort. His death had always affected her, in a way that many of the deaths after him had not, but here he was alive, a happy third year. Now, he was in the same house as her. He would be sharing a common room with her. 

What was she going to do? She really didn't know any of these people. And now, no one was going to take her seriously! No one would actually think a Hufflepuff could save everyone!

Then she stilled for a minute.

Colin Creevey had always been underestimated because of how small and friendly he was. Mind you, he was pretty harmless for most of his Hogwarts career, but he had proven himself to be a true Gryffindor during the war.

House elves were often overlooked, yet they had helped her time and again. They had been a tool that she had even used to rescue Sirius from Azkaban. 

Perhaps…just perhaps, this could be an advantage instead of a crutch. 

Carver had told her to create a plan. 

Harri smiled slightly as a harebrained, half thought out plan settled into her mind, and she knew that was the path she would be taking. 

She was interrupted from her musings by one of her classmates leaning over to her, "Aren't you the one who rescued that Longbottom boy on the train? What're you doing in Hufflepuff?"

The others looked at her with questioning eyes. She wasn't sure what to say, so she just shrugged. After all, she wasn't completely sure either why the Hat had chosen to place her in Hufflepuff.

“Well, I’m Hannah Abbott, did the sorting hat say you were Lisa?” the girl smiled shyly at her. 

Harri smiled back, “Yeah, but I prefer to go by my middle name, Harri short for Harriet.” 

Lily Moon wrinkled her nose slightly, “Why would you go by that over Lisa?” 

Harri smiled at her though the smile was more forced now, “I just like it.” 

Turning from the curious eyes, she turned back to the sorting.

Harri turned back to her classmates, trying to subtly observe them before the sorting ended and they had to talk. Unfortunately, her subtle observing skills weren't always the best, and the girl next to her smiled back at her.

Then there were only three students left to be sorted. The first two went to different houses; Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Then it was Blaise's turn.

She tried to smile at her friend as he walked by, but she couldn't catch his eye. She watched with the rest of the Hall as he was made a Slytherin. On his walk to the Slytherin table, he again didn't catch her eye, and she felt her heart sink a little.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He beamed at all the students with a twinkle in his eye. Harri wondered if the mental shields Carver had placed on her mind were holding. If they weren't, she'd know soon enough. She mentally thought of Dudley as a toddler taking a bath. It was a memory that had long haunted her mind, and might as well share it with Dumbledore if he could read her mind.

Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how much she wanted to scar Dumbledore), his eyes passed right over her without pausing. He must not have found anything weird.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. The girl next to Harri asked the general table, "Did he have a secret message behind that or is he a bit-?"

“He’s a bit strange,” one of the older students agreed.

The boy on the other side of Harri leaned over, "A bit mad, but a genius! Please pass the carrots."

Harri grabbed the carrots as she shrugged. The girl looked shocked.

"But, but, they were empty a second ago? How'd the food get there?" she asked in amazement.

"Magic of course," Harri smiled at her. "I think it's pretty amazing too."

After that, there wasn't much talking except for the passing of food as everyone dug into the food around them. The Fat Friar, who couldn't eat and wasn't much interested in it, started a conversation from his spot among the First Years.

"So – new Hufflepuffs! Great house to be in for sure! I'm sure you'll all be a great help in gaining house points. Course, I'd prefer for anyone, but Slytherin to win this year. They've won for six years in a row! The Bloody Baron' is becoming almost unbearable."

"Who's the Bloody Baron?" a First year boy asked.

The Fat Friar glanced towards the Slytherin table where Harri saw the horrible looking ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was sitting next to Malfoy, the same as the first Sorting. Harri smirked as she noticed how uncomfortable Malfoy looked.

"He's the Slytherin house ghost, same as I'm your house ghost," the Friar explained.

"Why would they pick someone so scary?" asked the girl Harri knew to be Susan Bones.

"How did he die?" asked Justin Finch-Fletchy.

Harri felt her eyes glaze over and her mouth open without her control, "After killing someone he shouldn't have, he killed himself."

An older student peered at her, "How would you even know that?"

Harri snapped out of her seer trance and shook her head, "Just, you know, magic."

The older student frowned, "Well I don't know anyone who asked him, so I bet you're just lying to seem cooler."

Harri shrugged, "I didn't say you had to believe me."

The student opened his mouth to reply when she noticed none other than Cedric placed a hand on his shoulder, "Alex, leave it be. She's just a First Year."

Harri huffed at being called "just a First Year," but she turned away from the student and back to her classmates. She hoped she didn't have a lot of trances like that or else her Seer secret would get out pretty quickly. At least most of them seemed to have thought she was just making up a story and hadn’t noticed the glazed eyes she knew she got during Seer trances.

Harri glanced over to Harry. She was surprised to notice him sneak a couple pieces of food into his robe pocket. During his first year of elementary school, he used to sneak food from school to have it when the Dursley's decided to lock him in the cupboard for days without food. She remembered doing it all her years at Hogwarts the first time around.

It was surprising to see Harry still have that habit. Based on his other actions that she'd seen, he didn't seem like he'd have any food issues. 

When everyone had finished eating, the food disappeared and a vast array of desserts covered the tables.

Harri helped herself to a generous helping of treacle tart and listened to the conversations around her. The students seemed to be talking about their families.

"My auntie raised me. She works in the Ministry, so we were always over there growing up," Susan Bones said.

"I'm half-and-half," Hannah said. "My mother is a pureblood, but my dad is a muggleborn."

Harri listened with interest, "If you married a pureblood, would your kids be considered a pureblood?"

Hannah shrugged, "Depends on who you ask. Most documentation would accept that as a pureblood, but companies for employment or such prefer at least three generations of wizards before they consider the kids pureblood."

"I had been down for Eton. Mother was disappointed when I told her I'd rather go to the magical school. Ten generations of my family had gone to Eton before me," Justin spoke up.

"What's Eton?" Ernie McMillan asked.

"A school for non-magicals," he replied.

"You mean muggle," Ernie said. Justin nodded in agreement.

Feeling warm and comfortable, Harri was glad to be back in Hogwarts until she glanced at the Head Table. Looking there, she remembered several problems she had to deal with. The first was, of course, Dumbledore.

The man looked like the night sky with his blue robes with stars all over them. She'd rarely met another wizard who dressed like that. Despite his ridiculous appearance, it wouldn't do for Harri to underestimate him. He may be a manipulative and controlling old wretch who had screwed with her life repeatedly, but he was a powerful old wretch. Harri just felt relieved that Carver had offered to put mental shields around her mind to protect from any Legimency or mind altering spells like Obliviate.

Secondly, off to the side of the Head Table were Quirell and Snape. Those two were two separate problems. First, she had to find a way to defeat Quirell without revealing herself to Dumbledore or allowing Harry to go through the same trials. Plus he reminded her of the fact that all of Voldemort's horcruxes still existed.

Susan followed her gaze and groaned when she spotted Snape. Alex, Cedric's friend, noticed.

"Heard about Snape, have ya?" he asked Susan.

"Yeah. Supposedly he hates everyone who isn't a Slytherin. The parents who work with my mum are always telling horror stories about things he's done to their kids," she whined.

Alex nodded, "That's true. Unfortunately, you all are in Hufflepuff. The only group he hates more are Gryffindors. He's sure to take off more points than any other teacher, but don't worry. None of us older kids will get mad about that. We understand that Snape's a prick and you probably didn't do anything wrong."

Harri frowned in thought. She still wasn't sure what to do about Snape. In the end, he saved her life many times and died a hero. But he had a horrible attitude. He was a bully. She wondered if there was anything she could do to change his life. Maybe even Snape deserved the possibility of a second chance. A real second chance, not Dumbledore’s version. But Sirius and Remus would hate it if she did give him even the slightest chance. 

Before she could think much more, Dumbledore seemed to sense that everyone was finishing up. He stood up for the second time that evening.

"Now for some more housekeeping, I have several more announcements to make since we are all fed and watered," he called. "Our caretaker, Filch, would like me to tell the students that he has a growing list of forbidden items posted on his office door. In addition, the Forbidden Forest is as always forbidden."

At this point he seemed to focus on the Weasley Twins who looked decidedly innocent. With his eyes twinkling, he turned back to the rest of the group.

"Finally, I must announce that the Third Floor Corridor is strictly off limits under penalty of death. Good night, and have a great first evening back at Hogwarts! You are dismissed."

This time around, Harri didn't laugh thinking he was joking. She glanced at the older students at the other end of the table that looked completely confused. She could tell that he hadn't explained anything to them. Seeming to shrug it off, the seventh year Hufflepuff prefect stood up. He motioned at several other students.

"Hello, I'm Aleco Rivingston. I'm Hufflepuff's seventh year male prefect. This is Megan McKenzie, she is the seventh year female prefect. If you have any issues, you can come to us for help," he proceeded to introduce the other prefects which made up most of the group. "Ok now Megan and I will lead you to the Hufflepuff common room. Follow me!"

Harri stood with the rest of her year mates and followed the prefect in a large clump. Instead of heading up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower as she was used to, she followed them down the hall. While the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw dorms were both in towers and Slytherin was down in the dungeons, the Hufflepuff common room was on the ground level a ways from the kitchens.

With no small amount of curiosity, Harri watched as the Prefects approached what seemed to be a simple stone wall at the end of the corridor, similar to other such walls throughout the castle.

"Alright, listen up!" Aleco told the First Years. "This is the entrance to the Hufflepuff common rooms. Notice the paintings on either side of the wall with a blank section of stone in the middle. They are a landmark to allow you to know that you are at the right place."

Glancing over, Harri noticed that there was a painting of a blonde haired man on the left and a blonde haired woman on the right of the wall. They smiled and waved at the students.

Megan took over from Aleco, "Our common room is password protected. The password currently is "Yellow Gold;" however, we also have an emergency key in case you didn't hear about the password change or you can't remember it. All you have to do is start at the female twin. Go to the left three stones and tap your wand once. Then go down three stones and tap your wand again. Finally, go three more to the left and tap your wand a final time. It's pretty similar to the doorway at Diagon Alley. The entrance is trained to automatically recognize the wand of any Hufflepuff. It won't work for anyone from another house."

Demonstrating how to open the entrance with her wand as she was explaining, Megan tapped on the appropriate stones. Harri was amazed to watch the stones seem to fold back on themselves into a doorway about 5 foot by 7 foot. She piled into the corridor with the rest of the students.

A sloping dirt passageway sloped gently downwards into a round room. With several hallways leading off on each side, Harri felt like she was in a literal badger's den.

Unlike the bright reds and golds of the Gryffindor common room that excited a person and screamed of adventure, the Hufflepuff common room seemed to scream of comfort. The walls were done in gentle shades of yellow and tans. The furniture was mostly light honey colored woods and overstuffed black couches. Several cream armchairs were set throughout the room. The couches and armchairs were covered by a variety of yellow and black throw cushions. Many of them were oversized and clearly meant to be used as floor pillows to provide additional seating.

Scattered throughout the room were a variety of different houseplants. Harri recognized spider plants and creeping vines like her Aunt Petunia used to keep as well as many others that she didn't recognize.

Towards the top of the wall were many round windows. They looked out onto gently waving grass. Directly across from the entrance hallway was a large fireplace. The wooden mantle was decorated with badgers. Above the mantle was a still life painting of Helga Hufflepuff, founder of the Hufflepuff house.

Harri surprised herself by loving the room instantly. She'd expected to miss Gryffindor more, but she felt like she was really starting to realize that she had a clean slate to start over instead of constantly being bombarded by reminders of what she'd lost and the betrayals she'd suffered.

"Ok, girl's dorms are down to the left and boys' dorms are to the right. Aleco will show the boys while I show the girls," Megan called.

Harri and the other first year students followed Megan down the corridor on the left. Megan stopped at the first door, but Harri noticed more as the hallway continued back. She figured they were probably for the other years.

Megan opened the door with a flourish to reveal a smaller round room. Inside were six full size beds. Each bed was covered with a patchwork quilt. Harri ran her hand over the quilt of the bed she was standing beside.

Megan smiled at her, "The quilt you pick will stay on your bed all your years at Hogwarts. When you graduate at the end of your seventh year, you'll get to take it with you as a reminder of all the years you spent here."

"Do the other houses have something like that?" she asked even though she already knew that answer.

"I don't think so. Helga Hufflepuff, the founder of our house, was famous for wanting to make every student fit in. The rumor goes that in the first year of opening Hogwarts, two of her students didn't have any sleeping linens, so she decided to make them their own quilts. Of course, she couldn't single out just those two, so she made all the students in her house one. She was so touched by their reactions that she decided to make it a tradition. She knew that sometimes students would come to Hogwarts without a happy home, so she wanted to make Hogwarts their home."

Harri frowned, "But who makes the quilts today?"

Megan shrugged, "I'm not really sure, but it's probably part of the crew that makes the meals and washes clothes and sheets. Or it's just part of the magic of Hogwarts."

Harri wondered if the quilts really were made by the House Elves. She'd have to ask sometime.

"Alright, are there any questions? Ok, settle in and get a good night's sleep. You'll get your class schedule tomorrow morning at breakfast. Feel free to come talk to me if you have any concerns," Megan announced as she walked out of the dorm room.

Harri found her trunk and other luggage at the end of the bed she was standing beside. As the other girls walked through the other doorway in the room to explore the bathroom, Harri relaxed onto her bed. 

Despite things continuing to be different from how she expected, she was happy to be in the Hufflepuff house, and she was even happier to be back at Hogwarts. 

Chapter Text

The next morning, Harri woke up at 5:30am. A leftover habit from her time at the Dursleys that had never gone away. She scowled at herself. So many habits from the Dursleys had never really left. Still, at least this was a good habit. There was something so soothing about the hour or so a person can get alone when they wake up early. By 6am, she was ready for the day.

She sat on the edge of her bed for a minute while her roommates slept on. Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones both snored lightly, though very differently. Hannah’s was a steady loud rumble while Susan seemed to be almost singing in her snores, whistles and chirps mixed in. Harri smiled lightly, reminded suddenly of Neville’s snoring and Dean’s talking in his sleep. After six years at Hogwarts, the roommate situation was comforting instead of annoying. 

Throwing a book bag with only a couple quills and a pot of ink over her shoulder, she wandered down to the common room. Harri couldn’t remember much of the Hufflepuff schedule, so she was curious to see just how different her new schedule would be. 

She stopped abruptly when she noticed a person sitting in an armchair by the fireplace. Cedric looked up and smiled at her.

"Hey, you're that little First Year who got in a fight with Alex, aren't you?" when she just stared at him, he laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you. Alex gets in fights with literally everyone."

Harri scowled at him, "I don't think it was a fight. He accused me of lying, but I didn't even do anything. And I'm not little!" She turned on her heel and started walking towards the entrance.

Cedric jumped up and followed her. He laughed again when he spotted her at the end of the dirt hallway staring at the wall.

"Hey, hey, I didn't mean anything by it. That's just who Alex is. And I'm sorry I called you little. You are clearly just a snack size. Hors de vour instead of the entree.”

“Is that meant to be an apology?” she stared at him in confusion, “Because you’re actually just making it worse.” 

“I’m so sorry, huge one, do you think you can ever forgive me?"

She frowned at him, understanding that he was more mocking her than actually apologetic, but there was an undertone that made it seem like he was joking with her, not being cruel, "Maybe if you tell me how to leave this infernal common room. Or are we stuck here until a certain time?"

He smiled a lopsided smile at her, "That's a very Slytherin tactic. They normally don't tell the Firsties how to leave the common room, so they have to wait until one of the prefects is awake to lead them. Luckily for you, I happen to be awake even if I'm not a prefect."

Harri watched as he leaned over and tapped on a stone in the middle. The entire wall folded back like it had the night before to reveal the exit.

Marching slightly, Cedric grinned down at her. She scowled back at him, amazed that she had ever been upset over his death. She started walking confidently towards the Great Hall.

He gave her a sideways glance, "You must be good at directions to remember your way so well from just last night."

She blushed and slowed down, "Well I guess I'm pretty observant."

After that, she allowed him to seem like he was leading the way, but a glance his way revealed his smile which seemed to suggest he didn't believe her act. Harri scolded herself for not being more careful. Remembering her way from the common room to the Great Hall wasn't a big deal, but she needed to be careful so she didn't reveal how well she knew the castle. People might get suspicious.

Entering the Great Hall, she made a beeline for the Hufflepuff table, Cedric settled across from her. She filled up her plate with food before she paused to look around the room. There were very few people in the Great Hall at the early hour. She knew that most students would arrive around 7am, so they'd have plenty of time before the end of breakfast at 8. There were a handful of students sitting at the Ravenclaw table and one student sitting at the Slytherin table. Unsurprisingly, there were no students sitting at the Gryffindor table. After all, they weren't exactly known for being super studious.

Up at the High Table, the muggle-studies professor and Professor Sprout were sitting there.

Cedric motioned towards Professor Sprout, "That's our Head of House. She'll be around in a bit with the schedules."

Harri nodded at him as she took a bite from her eggs. They ate in silence as the Hall started to fill up. She noticed when Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table because of the loud thud as she put her giant stack of books on the table. Harri shook her head while Cedric gave a low whistle of shock.

"What's she planning on doing with all of those books? It's only the first day!" Cedric said in an outraged whisper.

Harri shrugged, "So I don't need all those books?"

Cedric shuddered, "I've seen wixen pass their NEWTs with smaller books."

At that point, she noticed Cedric's friend, Alex, walking towards them. She scowled at him. To her utter outrage, he ruffled her hair as he took a seat near her. She scowled even more when they both laughed at her angry face.

"It's like making a kitten angry," Alex said in a laugh to Cedric.

She turned in a huff back to her food. It's not like she really minded messy hair after a lifetime as Harry, but it was the principle of things.

Soon the Hall was filled with students all talking and eating. Harri had forgotten the conundrum that occurred when the Great Hall was filled.

Eventually the pleasant and plump professor walked over to the Hufflepuff table where the first years were mainly grouped, "Hello, I am Professor Sprout, and I am the Head of the Hufflepuff house. If you have any issues, do not be afraid to come talk to me. Now, I have some schedules for you all."

She called out the students names and handed them their schedules. She paused when she got to Harri’s name, "Ahh Ms Turpin. I heard what you did on the train. That was a very brave thing to do."

Harri blushed and looked down at her schedule. Professor Sprout moved on and the First Years started discussing their schedules.

"Charms with the Gryffindors this morning. Double Transfigurations tomorrow," Hannah said.

"Look, we don't have potions until Thursday!" Many of the First Years breathed a sigh of relief.

"How bad can Professor Snape really be? He can't be that bad if Dumbledore hired him," Justin questioned.

Harri looked away so she didn’t reveal too much for supposedly never having the man as a teacher. Luckily there was a seeming unending stream of older students all sharing their worst moments with Snape. 

Overall, she felt pretty pumped for her classes. After all, she had the mind of a 32 year old auror, how hard could some first year classes really be? She walked down the halls with the rest of her classmates. After the incident with Cedric this morning, she made sure to stay in the middle of the pack.

As they filed into the classroom, she noticed that they had gotten there before the Gryffindors. She watched the red and yellow group as they filed into the classroom.

The Gryffindor students were shouting over each other, occasionally giving each other playful shoves and pushes. She'd never realized before how loud the group could be. She didn't agree with stereotypes, but it seemed like the houses were set up to support stereotyping the students.

Flitwick started the class the same way he had last time. When he got to Harry's name, he squeaked and fell off the stack of books. Harri laughed with the rest of the students this time around, but she noticed that Harry didn't laugh. He smiled, but the smile somehow didn't seem to reach his eyes.

The professor quickly got the class back under control, "Hello, today we will be working on a simple levitation spell, Wingardium Leviosa. We will begin without our wands, simply practicing wand movements and pronunciation."

Harri waved her hand with the rest of the class, feeling incredibly foolish. This was the simplest magic she knew, the first spell she had ever learned. Since she wasn’t focusing too hard on the practice, she couldn't hear the Gryffindors from across the room, but she could see from their actions that Ron and Hermione were starting to get into a fight.

"Ok everyone, I believe you are ready to try on the actual feathers," Professor Flitwick announced.

With a flick of his wand, feathers flew from a box behind him. One feather went to each student.

Harri smiled as she waved her new holly wand, excited to be performing her first official, Hogwart's spell.

"Wingardium leviosa," she pronounced clearly.

And watched as…

Absolutely nothing happened.

"Wingardium leviosa!" she said again with more force.

Again the feather stayed motionless.

She had to try it five times before the feather rose. Professor Flitwick gave her five house points for being the first to succeed. She smiled at him, but frowned at the feather. What was wrong with her, she should have been able to do the charm on the first try? She looked at the new wand, turning it over in her hand, looking for any cracks or deformities in it. It appeared completely perfect, even polished in this lifetime. Could switching from the original holly wand to a new focus have somehow affected her magic? What if she was never able to use the new wand correctly, and her magic was crippled for the rest of her life?

It wasn’t that her magic felt absent, it just seemed a bit wild. Or slippery. Like she was giving it a direction and perhaps like it was slithering just out of reach. 

There wasn’t enough treacle tart in the world to bribe Harri to interact with her classmates for the rest of the lesson. Harri’s mind was miles away. As the students filed out of the classroom, she watched Hermione and Ron yell at each other. She could see the tears in Hermione's eyes, but she wasn't sure what she could do to help her. Plus she was distracted by the worry over her wand.

Instead of heading with the rest of her classmates to the common room to hang out before their next class, she turned down a side corridor by herself.

Harri whispered to herself, " To the Room of Requirement."

Once she had arrived at the correct floor, she paced in the corridor three times. A door appeared that she walked through. Inside was a small round room that seemed like a mixture of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff common rooms.

After shutting the door, she stood in the middle of the room.

"Carver," she said. She'd learned that she didn't need to yell for the angel to hear her.

Right on cue, he appeared in front of her in his typical suit and tie, "Yes?"

"Something's wrong with my magic! I couldn't even do a basic first year charm! Does it have something to do with this wand?" she held the holly wand out to him.

He sighed, "It is your first day of class, why would you be able to do the charm on the first try?"

Harri stared at him like he was crazy, "Because I've been doing magic for 2o some years?"

He shook his head, "Your last body had been doing magic for years. Harri just started practicing magic today."

Harri tried to understand what he was saying, "…what?"

“You have tried spells at your parents house when Remus and Sirius have let you, and the spells were incredibly slow to work, though they were basic spells. Some didn’t work as they were supposed to,” he reminded her. 

“Sure, but I figured that was from borrowing their wands. My magic has never worked well with different wands, same as most wizards. Neville is a bloody good example of that,” Harri cried out as she ran a hand through her long auburn hair and paced. 

He sighed before sitting in one of the armchairs the room had provided. He motioned for her to sit down as well.

"There is nothing wrong with your focus. Do you remember how hard magic was to learn at first? That is because your magical core has to get used to being manipulated in a set manner. With accidental magic, the magic just explodes out of the children. Using wands and incantations requires the magic to be used in an organized manner. Instead of bursting out, a strand of magic is pulled from the user and through the wand. It is used in a specific and understandable way. It takes a lot of practice for the magic to get used to being pulled out in a delicate strand like that. That is why spells can explode. The magic accidentally comes out in a burst instead of the needed amount."

Harri nodded, "Ok that makes sense, but why can I suddenly not do magic?"

Carver snorted, "You can perform magic. You made the feather rise didn't you?"

"Yeah, but it took a lot of work. It was like I was learning it for the first time again," she whined.

"That's because your body is learning it for the first time," he replied. "The magical core of Harri has not done magic before, so it has to be trained like every other first year."

"What about the magical core with my soul? Didn't it come along," she asked.

Carver nodded, "Your case is quite special. Your core started being special clear back the first time around when Voldemort tried to curse you and accidentally embed a Horcrux in your forehead. This infused some of his magical essence into your core. And since you were so young and your core still developing, your body easily absorbed that magic and turned it into your own. That is how you got your own ability to speak to snakes. It literally became a part of you. In addition, your body fought during those first few months constantly with the magic of the soul fragment. Because your core was connected to your body and soul so deeply, it won, but the fighting stretched the core. This combined with the magic resulted in a very enlarged core."

She interrupted him, "What does that mean, that I was like a superhero among wizards?"

He rolled his eyes, "No. It just meant you had more magical reserves than some. Think of muscles. A weightlifter has more muscles than a stay at home mom who watches soap operas. Your levels were higher than average, but they weren't superhuman. All of your professors certainly had larger cores than yours, especially, because you still had to use your core and grow it more."

She nodded, "Ok that makes sense. But what happened when my soul was put into this body?"

"Your ability to talk to snakes shows that you didn't just lose your core. Instead, your core was mixed with the core of the body," he said.

"Woah, I can’t talk to snakes anymore!" she said.

He looked at her with wide eyes, “Oh dear, I may have forgotten to mention that I removed a few blocks on your magic.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“Listen, there was so much happening and you were already panicking, most unfortunate in a savior. It was part of Dumbledore controlling you, I suspect. He couldn’t have his golden boy appear dark after destroying Voldemort. So he placed blocks on your magic to suppress certain abilities. It wasn’t like the mind control element, entwined in your magic and mind from being placed at such a young age. They were placed after puberty, and I simply removed them when I took you from your original body,” Carver said. 

Harri stared at him for several minutes, “So that’s why I heard voices in the pet shop?” 

“Certainly,” Carver agreed. 

"So then, moving right along, is this the same thing that happened with the Horcrux with my magic?" she asked.

He frowned and shook his head, "No, the Horcrux was never meant to mix with someone else. It is meant to reside in an object until someone activates it. At that point, it is meant to take over the person and turn them into a copy of the original creator. There is no mixing, just beating into submission. In your instance, you took on the role of the holder of the Horcrux. It merely resided in you. Because of its dormant status, your body was able to absorb some of its abilities, but it would likely have removed all essence of yourself if it had been awakened. Honestly, the fact you speak Parseltongue is actually probably more of a sign that the Horcrux had been subtly preparing your body to be overwritten by Voldemort."

He took a breath before continuing, "This time, your soul inhabited the body of Lisa Turpin. Because it was done with angel magic and not Dark magic, your core merged with Lisa’s core to create a whole new core. At this point, your magical core is relatively large. That is one of the reasons you had issues using a wand. Your core is about the size of an average adult wizard’s core. Normally by the point it reaches that size, it is well trained and used to being used with a wand. In your case, it is still wild. It is extra difficult for you to pull up the small strand needed for a focus."

Harri still felt confused, "So because the cores combined and created a new core, it needs training on how to work just like any other core?"

He nodded.

"So it really is like I'm a first year student?" Harri felt outraged when he nodded. "It's not enough to turn me into a little girl? Now I'm not even super powered or anything?"

Carver shrugged, "This is an important reality check. You have more power than most first years, true, but certainly nothing impressive like Dumbledore or Voldemort. Worse, you lack a lot of knowledge. Despite having the mind of a twenty-two, you don't know that much about magic."

Harri glared at him, "What do you mean?"

Carver looked away, "How much time did you spend studying? Did you learn all you could and as many spells as you could?"

Harri thought through her last life, "Well Hermione did a lot of the spell research. I just asked her whenever I needed help."

"Your OWL scores weren't exactly impressive and you never even finished your years at Hogwarts. I bet there are seventh years that know more spells than you do, let alone Voldemort," he told her.

Harri felt herself pale, her hands tightening around the arms of the chair she sat in. She'd thought this second chance would be almost easy, especially since she'd already beaten Voldemort once. She’d always known that most of her misadventures had simply worked out due to circumstances or fate rather than any special abilities on her part. 

Carver nodded, "I can see that you are starting to realize your issues. You knew that there was a Dark Lord going after you personally. Why wouldn't you have learned all you could in a chance to stop him?"

Harri shrugged, "I don’t know. I was literally in a magical school. I should have done more.” 

"Don't beat yourself up too much, Dumbledore wouldn’t have wanted you to become too powerful. Perhaps because there were so many similarities between yourself and Tom Riddle? Plus you were friends with Ron-the-eternal-slacker Weasley. Dumbledore wanted you to be easy to manipulate. A super smart, talented savior would've been much harder to control," he said.

Harri felt a bit better about herself, but she was still mad, "I still acted like a fool. But this time will be different. It just might be more work than I was originally planning for."

Carver rolled his eyes again, "Honestly, I can't believe you sometimes. You just assumed you were gonna be this super talented witch without doing any work."

Blushing, she looked down at her toes. When she heard him start laughing, she couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, I am the Chosen One," she mumbled, “I thought being outrageously talented and powerful was just part of the job description.”

This just made them laugh harder.

"Alright kid, better head back. I'm sure someone will start looking for you soon," he said. She nodded and headed back into the hallway.

As she walked, she tried to think through a good plan. She blamed her deep thought processes for the reason she screamed like a little girl when someone tapped on her shoulder. Turning around, she spotted an unfamiliar black haired Slytherin behind her. Based on his height, she guessed that he was at least a fourth year student.

"What's a little Hufflepuff first year doing walking around alone on the fifth floor?" he sneered at her.

She frowned at him, "What's a little Slytherin doing wandering around the hallways alone?"

He smiled, "Maybe looking for a student to tease." He pulled out his wand and started to cast a spell at her. Reacting on reflux, she swung her fist at his face before he could complete casting. At the same time a spell hit him from behind.

"Ouch!" she yelled, shaking her fist out in pain. She was surprised to watch the Slytherin turn firetruck red as his feet swelled up. Behind her, a familiar redhead walked towards the two.

"Are you OK?" the Weasley twin asked, kneeling down to her height level. She didn't have a chance to reply when she saw the robes of a professor walk around the corner of the hall.

"Cry," the twin whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Harri focused on the pain in her hand to start crying, but she wasn't sure how much good it would do when she realized the professor was of course Snape.

"What is going on here?" he demanded as he noticed the crying first year, angry Gryffindor, and unconscious and obviously cursed Slytherin.

Harri decided in a split second to try Hermione's method from the troll

"He was trying to attack me!" she blurted out, best lies being rooted in the truth. 

"Excuse me?" Snape asked. The twin was looking at her like she was a bit crazy too.

"I got lost and then he came up behind me and threatened to…to… do stuff and he was casting a spell, so I tried to punch him but it didn't work very well," she held out her hand that was rapidly bruising and swelling. It looked like one of her fingers might be broken. "Then this guy came along and he cursed the other student before he could attack me again!"

She could feel Snape reaching to read her mind as he stared into her eyes, so she noticed the surprise in his eyes as he met her shields. Recovering quickly, he turned to the twin.

"Even if that is so, you have clearly gone overboard," he snarled. The twin smiled back at him innocently.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for cursing another student. Ten points from Hufflepuff for physically attacking another student. Come with me, little brat so we can get your hand fixed up," Harri and the twin shared a delighted grin that he hadn't even assigned detention. Snape waved his wand at the Slytherin who started to wake up with a groan. Snape the Slytherin a harsh glare who paled, staring up at his Head of House. “I will deal with you later.” 

Robes flaring with his typical style, Snape called from half way down the hallway, "Now, chit!"

Harri held her hand as she ran down the hallway.

"No running in the halls, two points from Hufflepuff," he said.

She frowned at the ground. Her hand was starting to throb. She was almost certain one of the fingers was broken.

Snape led her to the Hospital Wing. Harri couldn't see Madame Pomfrey anywhere, but Snape walked to the medicine cupboard confidently.

"Sit on a bed there," he ordered her as he grabbed several potions. "Madame Pomfrey is out for the day, so I have been left as the temporary healer."

Just the thought of it seemed to make him even madder and his scowl deepened. It didn’t give Harri much confidence either, having no idea the tall man had experience with healing. He placed several potions on the end stand and held out his hand. Gingerly, she held her hand out to the professor. She was surprised when he grabbed her wrist in a firm, but gentle manner. She had to remind herself that she was no longer Harry Potter, the potions professor's most hated pupil.

He waved his wand at her hand and she felt the bone healed. She gasped involuntarily at the sharp pain of the bone moving back in place, but it then felt immensely better. He immediately released her wrist before handing her the potions that she swallowed. She grimaced at the nasty taste of them.

Harri hadn't been completely sure how she was going to handle Snape, but she'd had a vague idea that perhaps could work out and might even be fun. Focusing on every memory she had of Colin Creevy and Dobby, she decided that this was the best time to start that plan. 

Jumping off the bed, she attempted to wrap her arms around the surly potions professor, "Thanks so much professor!"

He pushed her off with a few muttered curses. She smiled up at the angry professor.

"Ten points from Hufflepuff for accosting a professor," he snarled. She continued to smile at him, entirely unrepentant. His glare was enough to make most first years cower, but Harri had seen worse. 

"It is not wise for such a small first year to be wandering the hallways alone. Make sure that you stay with your classmates from now on," he said.

She nodded at him though she felt annoyed at the small comment. She wasn't that small!

"Alright, you are healed, away with you!" he snapped as he turned dramatically and escaped went into Madam Pomfrey's office. Harri hopped off the hospital bed and headed back towards the Great Hall. At least the Hospital Wing was close enough to the Great Hall that she probably wouldn't be asked too many questions for knowing her way. 

As she walked out of the Hospital Wing, she noticed Professor McGonagall standing by the doorway with a smile. She wondered how much the stern professor had seen, but shrugged it off. If her plan was going to work, this was only the beginning for the professor. 

While Harri was making her way to supper, Cedric felt a headache starting right behind his eyes. A pounding, throbbing headache. One of those blasted Weasley twins had just come over to the Hufflepuff table to talk to the older years. Cedric had overheard him telling the fifth year prefect that he had just saved the smallest first year he'd ever seen from a Slytherin on the fifth floor. As the twin was describing the way the girl had acted, Cedric knew immediately who it had to be.

"Personally, I think she got sorted into the wrong house. You should've seen the way she punched him. Definitely a Gryffindor to me," the twin said.

Cedric knew what it was like to feel like you were sorted into the wrong house. The Sorting Hat often took personal preferences into account. He was a perfect example, his father had been a Ravenclaw and his mother had been a Hufflepuff. Because of Cedric's outgoingness and adventuresome spirit, the hat had wanted to place him in Gryffindor. Cedric's parents had often told him that only the foolish went to the red house, so Cedric had begged not to go there.

Cedric was also loyal; he had enough loyalty that the Hat willingly sorted him into Hufflepuff even though the hat told him that he would fit into Gryffindor too. 

It occasionally happened to other students too. They didn't always fit with all the expectations of their houses.

Cedric had no doubt that that's what must have happened with Harri. Everyone had heard of her saving Neville on the train. Plus the incident today.

Normally, Cedric tried to mind his own business, but he'd made it his business to try to help the other students who weren't placed into quite the right house. Plus, Harri was so tiny that her bravery was just going to get her in trouble.

Cedric leaned his head on the table. There was also the matter of last night at the banquet when Harri had talked about the ghosts. No one else had noticed, but Cedric had seen the way her eyes had glazed over as she talked. He wasn't sure if it meant anything special, but he had this vague itching at the back of his mind that he knew more than he could remember.

And when she'd walked down this morning, she had seemed very confident, as though she had prior knowledge about the castle. 

Cedric wasn't sure what exactly was up with the First Year, but he felt like he should probably help her.

Alex frowned at him, "Dude, stop trying to think so much. You look like your brain is going to explode. When's the last time you even started up your brain?"

Cedric threw a piece of toast at his friend and smiled. Eh, things weren't too bad yet. How much damage could one wild First Year cause anyway?

Chapter Text

By Saturday, Cedric regretted ever doubting the chaos the small first year could cause.

In the first week alone, Harri had proven that she was absolutely insane. It was the only semi-logical explanation for her bloody insane behavior.

On potions class Thursday, she'd gotten detention for hugging Professor Snape. The Hufflepuff first years had spread the story to the entire table about how she'd walked up to Snape as class started and attempted to wrap her arms around him. As he pried her off of him, he'd yelled, 'Detention for assaulting a teacher."

She'd simply smiled at him and skipped back to her desk. Despite him being even more horrible than he usually was to the Hufflepuffs, she hadn't seemed upset. Three other Hufflepuffs had gone to Professor Sprout after class crying, but she'd waved goodbye to him as she left.

In addition, she had broken years of Hogwarts tradition by sitting at the Slytherin table. Cedric remembering watching in fear along with the other Hufflepuffs at the table at lunch as she'd sat at the Slytherin table at lunch on Wednesday. They'd waited for the Slytherins to tear her apart.

Instead, the older Slytherins seemed to completely ignore the small first year. After all, she wasn't a Gryffindor so they must have decided she didn't deserve immediate death. Cedric had watched as she talked to another first year (after asking around, he discovered that the first year was Blaise Zabini). Their heads were close together, and they seemed to be in the middle of a tense discussion.

After five minutes of talking, there was a pregnant pause. Then, Harri just threw her arms around the disgruntled Slytherin. He rolled his eyes, but gave her one squeeze before pushing her off him. She had simply laughed as she stole some toast of his plate and left.

Plus, there were all the incidents with Professor Quirrell. On Tuesday, she had dropped her books right as he walked by her. Cedric wasn't there, but he'd heard about the way he'd tripped on the books and she'd tripped on him. She'd managed to end up sprawling over his head, knocking his turban off in the process.

Then in class, she'd tried to walk up to his desk with her homework. Apparently she'd tripped on the leg of a desk and ended up falling into him as he walked around checking homework. Despite being tiny, she'd managed to knock him over again.

Speaking of Quirrell incidents, this had to be the funniest one yet.

"She's a wild one," Alex whispered to him at the table as they watched her get lectured by two of the professors. Cedric nodded in agreement.

She'd been trying to practice her charms work at the table when her levitation charm hit the head table instead of the plate she seemed to have been aiming for. Professor Quirrell's turban had flown high into the air. As everyone laughed at his startled appearance, Professor McGonagall immediately called her to the front.

"You aren't even supposed to be practicing charms at the table! What if you had accidentally lifted someone's full glass of pumpkin juice and spilled it everywhere?" she scolded the first year. "Are you even listening to me, young lady?"

Indeed, Harri seemed to be staring intently at Professor Quirrell's head and turban.

"Now, McGonagall, th-th-there was no harm done. I-I-I'm fine, and everyone got a good laugh," Professor Quirrell said with a smile.

Professor McGonagall humped, but walked away. Professor Quirrell turned to go, but Harri stopped him with a question, "Why do you even wear a turban professor?"

Quirrell looked at the turban still held in his hands, "Well, I think it makes me look rather da-da-dashing."

Harri walked around Quirrell once staring at his head before nodding at the professor quite solemnly, "It hides that your head isn't perfectly round."

Professor Quirrell seemed to almost die laughing as Cedric buried his face in his hands with a sigh. Alex watched the two with a gaping mouth, "She's loony, she is. Who talks to a professor like that?"

When Harri sat back down, she glared at her plate. Alex wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Cheer up, short stuff. You didn't even get in trouble, and no one's mad."

Harri seemed to scowl even more.

"I just don't understand," he heard her mumble. He considered telling her that he didn't understand the First Year either, but decided it was best to focus on something else.

Harri had been having a long week.

First she found out that she wasn't some super powered First Year, and she'd actually have to relearn all her abilities. Plus Carver had woken her up to the fact that she hadn't even been all that impressive as an adult when she had been one.

She'd realized that she needed to try harder, so she had a plan of actually doing studying and research like Hermione had in her previous life. She didn't want to depend on others.

It was a solid plan, but she hadn't found time to actually go to the library and start researching.

Plus, she'd had to figure out what was going on with her and Blaise. She knew he was probably upset that she had gone to Hufflepuff, but she hoped he still wanted to be friends. She'd realized pretty quickly that she didn't seem to fit in all that well with her classmates. Most of them were very typical first years. They were scared by a lot of things. Unlike the Gryffindors, they didn't seem to have any desire to go exploring after hours or break rules in general. They reminded her of a brood of sheep.

So, Harri had tried unsuccessfully to catch Blaise's attention in the hallway between class, but he seemed to be ignoring her. Eventually she had enough and decided to attack him at lunch.

"So, why are you ignoring me?" she asked as she sat next to him.

He looked up at his book and leaned in closer, "Harri! You can't sit here, this is the Slytherin table!"

She shrugged, "Drastic times call for drastic measures. So why are you ignoring me?"

"I'm not ignoring you," he frowned at her.

She frowned back, "Yes you have. You haven't talked to me since the sorting."

He dropped his voice as he leaned a little closer, "I'm trying to help you out. None of those Hufflepuffs are gonna want to be your friend if you're seen with a Slytherin. I figured you'd prefer being friends with your classmates."

Harri stared at him in shock before throwing her arms around him.

"Oh thank goodness that's all it was. I thought you hated me since I got sorted into Hufflepuff. Besides, I think my classmates are already scared of me!"

Blaise rolled his eyes at her, "I'm not even going to ask why they're scared, it's not like you're particularly frightening."

Harri laughed, "We can catch up on Saturday in the library. I wanna hear all about your first week. Bye!"

He tried to stop her as she grabbed the toast off of his plate. He scowled as she walked away. When he reached to grab more, he realized that the food had disappeared.

Despite the other problems, Harri was certain that the biggest problem was Quirrell. She'd had this whole plan of getting rid of the Dark Lord first thing in the semester so she'd have the entire year to focus on other things.

But when she tripped Professor Quirrell in the hallway and made sure his turban fell off, she was shocked to see a perfectly smooth head. He was lacking the protruding extra face that he was supposed to have under the turban.

At first, she'd assumed that he'd somehow had an opportunity to cast a hiding charm on the face, but both of the other times she'd done it, he still hadn't had a face. Plus, he seemed completely unconcerned by the turban falling off.

After asking around, she'd discovered that this Quirrell had spent the entire summer at Hogwarts. He had never gone on a trip to Albania, so it wouldn't make sense that he had Voldemort on the back of his head.

But if he didn’t have Voldemort preying on him; why was the man stuttering and suddenly teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts? 

Harri scowled at her plate despite Alex trying to reassure her.

"I just don't understand," she mumbled to herself.

If Quirrell wasn't possessed by Voldemort, what was going on? Was Voldemort still in the school? Had he stayed hidden in Albania this time around? Was Quirrell a bad guy? Again, why the sudden stutter this year??

Harri felt more overwhelmed than she had since the first Wizarding War. What was the point of going back in time if she didn't know what was going on anymore and couldn't stop things?

Later that evening, after hanging out with Blaise for a while in the library, Harri went into an empty classroom.

"Carver," she called.

Instantly, the suited man appeared, "Yes?"

"I have a problem. Everything is changing. Quirrell isn't even possessed by Voldemort, but the third floor corridor is still off limits. I never know when something will be changed and when something is the same! How am I supposed to change things if I don't even know what's going to happen?" she cried.

Carver looked entirely unperturbed, "I believe most humans don't know what the future will be, but many of them still manage to make a difference in the world."

She glared at him, "Yeah, but I thought the whole point of me coming back was to help the future?"

He shrugged, "You have already started to change the future. Your very presence changes things. You have a choice to either use the changes for good or for bad."

Harri threw her hands up, "You didn't give me all the facts when you sent me back!"

Carver smiled at her, "I told you everything. It's not my fault if you didn't listen well enough."

Harri left the classroom in a huff. She'd had grand dreams of being amazing this time around, but that clearly wasn't going to just happen. She was quickly realizing that she'd have to work really hard if she didn't want people to die.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice the monster at the end of the hallway. When the lights started to flicker around her, she glanced up and stopped in shock at the creature.

At the end of the hallway was a swirling mass of black. It seemed to have tendrils of black smoke that went around itself and occasionally reached a thin wandering strand out. The tendrils came off of it in all different directions and thicknesses. As it took a step towards her, the lights near it flickered.

Harri’s breath caught in her throat. She'd never seen anything like it, and she wasn't sure what to do to stop it.

She was reminded of a cross between a boggart and a dementor.

In addition to causing the lights to flicker, it also seemed to make the corridor colder. She noticed the way that the tendrils started to look less distinct and more like smoke. The corridor became darker and more hazy.

Harri found that it was hard to breath and see as it got closer, as though its smoke was filling her brain.

She shook her head to clear her mind and forced herself into a defensive crouch.

What could she do? She didn't know much magic. She tried sending a transfiguration spell at the monster and watched in amazement as the spell went straight through the being. It was as though it was a ghost.

At that thought, she looked at it closer.

"Are you a ghost?" she asked.

A head shaped blob of smoke appeared towards the top of the monster and shook its head no. As though to demonstrate that it was real, a tendril grabbed the sword off the suit of armor in the corridor. The tendril started spinning the sword in the air.

All of a sudden, it started running towards her. She gasped and ducked her head under her arms.

In a last minute cry, she yelled, "Carver!"

Suddenly a light blasted into the hallway as a form appeared in front of her.

Harri was amazed to see a very different Carver than the one she had gotten used to during the last four years. She was reminded of when she first met Carver, and she didn't really believe that he was an angel. She had dared him to show his wings. The 30 foot wing span and brilliant white color had startled her.

She now realized that Carver must have hidden most of his real form. Instead of the 30 year old business man in a suit, a warrior stood in front of her.

He was easily 7ft tall, with the snow white wings spread out across his back. He was dressed like the old drawings that Harri had seen of angels, in a white knee length tunic. Strapped to his hip was a sheath.

He suddenly swung his sword and it seemed to cut through the smoke blob. With a shriek, the monster seemed to dissolve in front of her.

After watching the monster until it had completely disappeared into a pile of sand, he turned to her.

She watched in awe as he sheathed the giant sword. It was much larger than Gryffindor's sword that she had used in second year. It wasn't until the sword of completely sheathed and the corridor returned to normal color that she realized that the sword had been giving off a bright light.

In silence, Carver's wings melted into his back and his clothing changed from a medieval knight to a regular businessman again. He even shrunk down about a foot to a more normal height.

Harri gaped at him.

"Did you see that Siqsa?" he demanded.

Harri kept staring at him until he grabbed her arm.

"Harri, you need to tell me right away. Did you see the Siqsa?"

Harri shook her head, "What's a Siqsa?"

Carver looked over her shoulder, "A smoke demon."

"Is that what that thing was?" she asked.

Carver suddenly looked very angry and very worried, "So you did see it then. I couldn't believe that you actually saw it until I heard you yell for me."

"What was it?" she asked.

"A demon. You never considered that if there were angels, there would also be demons?" he asked her.

Harri shook her head, "I didn't even believe there were angels until I met you, and I've been pretty busy since then."

Carver rolled his eyes, "Honestly, you've had four years."

Harri ignored this and considered something else, "Why could I see it now? Have they always existed?"

Carver looked around and sighed, "We need to go somewhere more private. Hold onto my arm and close your eyes."

Even with her eyes closed, Harri felt the flash of light. When Carver told her she was safe, she opened her eyes. She seemed to be in the middle of the Forbidden Forest.

"How did we get here? You can't apparate on Hogwarts grounds," she said.

"It's not apparition, it's a form of angel magic," he said.

Harri shook her head and tried to understand what was going on, "Why have I never heard of different forms of magic before?"

"What about Dobby the House Elf, or House Elves in general. They have their own form of magic. Angels also have their own form of magic. You've never heard about it because we normally hide our presence from witches and wizards, really humans in general," he sat on a fallen log across from her. Assuming that meant this would be a long conversation, Harri sat on a stump.

"You shouldn't have seen the denom. It should be hidden from you like all other angels and demons have been hidden thus far. I'll have to ask some others of my people, but I am worried that using my magic to bring your soul back and being in communication with you may have opened your eyes to the other realm," he murmured.

Harri stared at him, "What does that mean?"

He looked her in the eye, "All of the hidden parts of the supernatural realm will be shown to you. The veil over your eyes may be damaged."

Harri leaned back and groaned, "As if Voldemort wasn't enough, now I have to deal with angels and demons too?"

Carver looked apologetic, "I apologize. You are a special case, and I didn't realize that I may be damaging your immunity by continuing to show myself to you. Since you knew about me, I didn't think it would hurt to stay in communication."

Harri suddenly thought of something, "Hey, when I was at Diagon Alley, I saw some strange symbols on Gringotts. Are they connected to this? Plus I've been seeing them other places. When I was on the boat going towards Hogwarts, I thought that I saw some runes that I'd never seen before. I had meant to ask you and I kept forgetting."

"You've been seeing the ancient runes and you didn't think to tell me! That means the damage is probably too set to do anything," he cried.

Harri stared at him, "Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, I guess angels must have their own form of the Statue of Secrecy, but I won't tell on you."

Carver snorted at her, "No, we don't have a Statute of Secrecy. This is a much bigger deal. The demons will be able to sense that you can see them, so they will start to come after you."

"What?"

Carver nodded, "We can tell when there is one with Sight around us. Occasionally a human is born with the natural ability to see into our realm. Normally they don't live past their fifth birthday, because they are hunted in droves and their guardian angel quickly becomes overwhelmed."

Harri felt herself start to panic, so she grabbed onto a leaf near her and started to shred it. Keeping her hands busy helped.

"You mean more creatures like that will come after me?"

"If they were all just smoke demons, we would be fine. Much stronger and more dangerous demons will start coming after you. Supposedly eating someone with the Sight not only tastes delicious, but offers the demons a power burst," Carver looked displeased at the whole thing, as though he was talking about eating a disgusting piece of trash instead of eating a human being.

"So what can I do? My magic went straight through the monster," she asked.

Carver nodded, "Demons, and angels for that matter, are impervious to the magic of wizards. Occasionally, a spell will slow them down such as the patronus, but it won't destroy them. Your best option would be angel magic, but a witch can't use angel magic."

Carver suddenly paused as he thought about something. He shook his head before his eyes suddenly started glowing and he looked over Harri.

"What have I done?" he asked.

"What?"

He shook his head, "I believe that I may have affected more than I originally planned to. When I put your soul into Lisa’s body, I had to touch your soul to direct it into the body. In addition, I had to use magic on you to make the transfer hold. I believe that my magic may have affected your magic core."

Harri hoped that didn't mean she wouldn't be able to do magic anymore, "What does that mean? I could still do magic, is that going to change?"

He shook his head, "No, your magic should be fine. Again, I will have to talk to come of my colleagues, but I think you may be able to now perform angel magic."

Harri finally smiled, "That sounds awesome. Finally a bright side to this mess. Maybe part of that magic the Dark Lord knows not?”

Carver shook his head, "You don't understand what you're talking about, I can’t see this as a benefit. Besides, we don't know for sure and we have no way of testing. You will shortly be missed from the castle. For now, your best bet is to use a physical weapon against the monsters. Plus, there are not enough coming after you yet, that I can't just handle them. It will only be later on when there are many powerful ones that I may get overwhelmed.

Harri looked at Carver in confusion, "I don't have any weapons I can use unless you plan on me using Gryffindors sword?"

Carver looked thoughtful, "That idea may have some merit, but it wouldn't be logical for now. I have a spare knife on me, you may use that."

His knife was only about a foot shorter than Gryffindors sword had been. When Harri grabbed the holt, she struggled to even lift the knife, let alone swinging it. She looked at him in aggravation.

Looking sheepish, Carver laughed at her once, "I forgot how small you are. Hold still for a second."

The knife in her hands shrunk until it was as long as two of her hands. It was still heavy, but not as much. Harri experimentally tried waving the knife once.

Carver looked at her arms, "We will have to work on your physical strength if you're going to use weapons more. And please put the knife away before you kill someone."

He handed her a sheath and helped her to strap it to her thigh. "Better not to let anyone see this," he warned. She nodded in agreement. She could only imagine what Susan or Hannah would do if they saw a knife strapped to her thigh. Professor Sprout would certainly end up involved.

Carver grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look him in the eye, "I am sorry that I have removed your veil from your eyes. Do not worry about this though. I am capable of keeping you safe. We will begin training during winter break when you can get away from the castle. If you ever feel scared, just call for me."

"What if someone hears me call for you?" she asked.

Carver looked away again, "The demons normally don't come around crowded areas. If there is someone with you or portraits nearby, just stay silent. I will take care of it."

She nodded. Harri was starting to realize that she'd have to trust Carver.

"Close your eyes and hold onto my arm again," he ordered her.

In another flash, they were back in the hallway at Hogwarts. Harri started to head towards the Hufflepuff common room. As she walked away, she spotted Carver standing in the middle of the hallway watching her. On a sudden impulse, she ran back and hugged him.

"I'm not mad at you," she declared before turning around and running towards the common room.

As she ran, she suddenly collided with a Ravenclaw prefect, "What are you doing out? It's almost curfew!"

"Sorry I got lost!" Harri lied swiftly.

"Come along, I'll bring you back to your common room," she said.

That evening, Harri tried to come to terms with everything that had happened. Not only was she the chosen one of the Wizarding world (though the new Harry Potter could also fulfill the prophecy), but she would now be hunted by demons.

She felt fairly overwhelmed.

That night, Harri had a strange dream where Voldemort was chasing him through the corridors of Hogwarts, and Harry was back in his original male body. 

"Give me the stone!" Voldemort had demanded  as he chased the boy. Suddenly, Harry came to a dead end corridor. When he reached the end, he turned around to face Voldemort, but he turned into the smoke demon.

He tried to send spell after spell after him, but nothing worked. The demon seemed to laugh as the tendrils reached out to grab her.

As it grabbed him, he felt his body shifting and twisting back into a girl’s body. 

Harri woke up with a start. His heart was racing, and he was breathing heavily.

Wait, no, he was back in Lisa’s body. He was a girl currently. 

She looked around the dorm room and spotted her dorm mates sleeping peacefully in their own beds.

She felt herself absently stroking the knife under her pillow in reassurance.

Harri grabbed the quilt on the end of her bed and pulled it up to her chin. She wondered if the soft quilt had a permanent calming charm cast onto it. She felt herself start to relax though she suspected she lay awake in the bed more of the night than she slept.

When Harri woke up the next morning, she could not remember all of her dream, but she felt more sure than ever that Voldemort was still hidden somewhere in the castle or on the grounds, even if he wasn't with Quirrell.

Chapter Text

Cedric looked back at Harri, then he turned his head back towards McGonagall. 

He turned back to Harri. He was starting to turn back to McGonagall when she spoke.

"Diggory, I don't have time for you to have a mental breakdown. Please do that on your own time," she commanded.

"But Professor! I must be going insane! I thought you just said that Harri was going to be the new reserve Seeker for Hufflepuff?" he shrieked (though he would never admit that it had been slightly high pitched).

"Well it's not like she could be the Gryffindor reserve seeker," McGonagall told him.

He looked back at Harri but groaned when she shot him a brilliant smile.

"What did she do this time?" he asked the professor, already regretting asking.

At that Professor McGonagall shot the First Year a stern look who quickly hid her smile, "I was in my office grading papers when what should I see but Ms. Turpin performing a perfect Wronski Feint? By the way, she did this at the first flying lesson when Hooch was not present. If I hadn't been so impressed, Ms. Turpin, I would give you detention for the rest of the school year. Do you understand me?"

Harri nodded quickly, "Yes, ma'am."

"Despite that, she showed amazing potential. Since you and I both know that Professor Sprout trusts my opinion on Quidditch," Cedric nodded, it was well known that Sprout supported them but was fairly hopeless about the ins and outs of the sport, "I convinced her to add Ms. Turpin to the Hufflepuff team as a reserve Seeker."

Cedric felt faint, "I guess that's good."

McGonagall nodded to him, "I expect you to put Ms. Turpin through the works. She needs to earn this. Now, I already regret what she will do to my team in a few years, but I would do anything to see the Slytherin's lose the cup. Snape is getting almost unbearable to face. Are we understood?"

This time Cedric and Harri both nodded. As McGonagall walked away, Cedric turned and stared at the extra small First Year, who grinned up at him.

"You're going to be the death of me aren't you? I'm going to have a heart attack because of you!" he wailed dramatically, grabbing at his chest. Harri just smiled.

"See you at practice! Wait, when is it?"

"Thursday at 6pm," he said emotionlessly as he watched her practically skip away, still holding onto his chest for good measure.

"Great!"

Time passed quicker than Harri had expected. Before she realized it, it was already time for the Halloween Feast.

She glanced at her fellow students. It was very gratifying to even be allowed to attend the feast. Snape had finally stopped giving her detentions for hugging him. Three weeks of detentions had done nothing to change her behavior, and she figured he was probably done with trying to stop her.

Snickering slightly at the memory of Snape arguing loudly with Professor McGonagall that there must be something he could do about the obnoxious first year, she asked Justin to pass her the mashed potatoes.

He handed them to her, but he along with the other First Years shot her wary looks as they leaned slightly away from her.

Harri frowned at that. It seemed that her strange actions including (but not limited to) hugging the professor that all Hufflepuffs as a unit normally hate as well as occasionally going into a Seer trance had placed her on a similar level to what Luna Lovegood would be when she went to Hogwarts.

Shrugging, Harri turned away from them. She had Blaise as a friend and saving the future was more important than being popular.

A loud voice cut through the room, "Seamus!"

Turning slightly, she saw a cloud of smoke rising from the Gryffindor table. Seamus looked rather apologetic as Harry jumped to his feet. It seemed that this time around, Seamus' exploding juice had gone all over Harry. The Boy-Who-Lived stormed off of the room in a huff.

"That boy's as bad as Malfoy," Alex shook his head.

Harri nodded in agreement, but she couldn't help but wonder about the other Harry. He acted as spoiled as Draco, yet, she occasionally saw something in his eyes that spoke of a different person. She hadn't even bothered to look for it until she caught him sneaking food from the Great Hall out of the room every evening. It was always food that would last for a while. She could remember doing that her first year too. Hoarding food because of times before when she knew she'd have to go without. She wondered how much of the new Harry was just a mask.

She continued to look over the Gryffindor table. Hermione wasn't there again and now Harry was gone. Would a troll still be let into the castle?

As though some god could hear her mental thought process, Quirrell suddenly banged open the doors of the Great Hall.

"T-t-troll in the Dungeon! I need help!" he yelled.

She noted that he didn't pass out this time around.

"Curious…" she whispered.

"Prefects, take the students back to their dorms! Teachers, with me. Quirrell, lead us to the troll," Dumbledore ordered. The prefects quickly started herding the students back to their dorms.

As the Hufflepuffs filed out of the great Hall, Harri noticed Ron walking with the rest of the Gryffindors. He didn't seem to remember Hermione at all. Harri thought that Harry had been the one to remind Ron to go save her the first time around.

It looked like it was on Harri to rescue the other first year girl.

First she'd need a distraction. What was the fastest way to create mass confusion?

Harri tapped on Cedric's sleeve, "Cedric, aren't the Slytherin dorms in the dungeons? And we'd have to get pretty close to the dungeons ourselves."

Cedric paled. With a curse, he rushed up to the prefects. What followed was mass confusion as the entire group of Hufflepuffs came to a grinding halt. Students were running into each other. Prefects were sending off messages to teachers and Slytherin prefects. None of them could figure out who was the right person to contact.

In the midst of the confusion, Harri slipped into a secret passage that happened to be in that hallway.

She followed along it until it was close to the girl's bathroom. Leaving the secret passage, she followed along the hallway. Her nose crinkled automatically from a horrible odor as she got closer to the bathroom. It smelled like a muggle Port-a-John at a hugely popular event sitting under a blazing hot July sun.  The troll was definitely down here.

Suddenly, she turned a corner and came face-to-back with the troll. Ducking back into an alcove, she felt relieved that something had distracted the troll so it hadn't seen her.

Then she heard the crying student and realized exactly what had distracted it. With several large steps, it swung its club into the door of the girl's bathroom, ripping it off its hinge. With its big head ducked slightly, it walked into the girl's bathroom and Harri heard a shriek.

Repeating Cedric's curse, Harri ran into the bathroom. Hermione was cowering between two sinks as the troll leered over her.

Harri reacted on instinct.

"Hey stupid!" she yelled as she shot an expelliarmus at the troll. It was a good thing she'd been practicing some common spells.

The troll turned as though in slow motion to the new addition. It blinked once at Harri.

Then it opened its mouth and leaned in towards her. It roared loudly enough to make the mirrors rattle on the walls.

Harri waved her hand in front of her face, "Dang, your breath is horrible!"

The troll roared again, and Harri stepped out of the way swiftly as it swung its club at her.

Harri hadn't thought much of a game plan. She'd actually been hoping that maybe Hermione wouldn't even be in the bathroom. Now, she couldn't even do what she'd done the first time around because the troll was still holding onto the club. She stepped out of the way as the troll swung at her again, taking out a row of stalls.

Hermione was still cowering by the sinks and didn't look like she'd be much help.

Suddenly she remembered the knife that Carver had given her. She was still wearing it.

"Trolls, trolls. Do they have any weaknesses?" she muttered as she was forced to dive out of the way again.

"Their eyes and groin area!" Hermione yelled across the room sounding like she was just reciting from memory.

Harri blinked at her in surprise, she had been talking to herself but that was useful information.

Glancing at the troll, Harri immediately crossed off the idea of trying for the eyes. There was no way that she would be able to get up there with any amount of precision with Harri's own height. Plus, the troll might swat her as she tried to jump on them.

Plan B it was.

She slid the knife into her hand and stood facing the troll. When the troll put one foot forward and lifted the giant club above its head to slam it down and make Harri Jelly, she dove between its legs. She slid on her back and lifted the knife high above her as she went. She could feel the knife slice through and then suddenly stop as it got lodged inside the troll. Harri let go of the knife. The force of her dive and the smoothness of her robes made her slide until she hit her head violently on the bottom of a sink.

With stars of pain, Harri managed to watch as the troll grabbed itself and sunk to the ground. Blood was pooling at its feet. Harri winced in sympathy even though she was now a girl. She could only imagine the pain the troll must be in.

Harri closed her eyes and breathed for a second.

Unfortunately, she was not destined to be allowed peace for her aching head.

"What happened?" Professor McGonagall asked in a rather high pitched voice when she looked into the room.

The other professors looked just as shocked as they looked around the room. A troll was lying in a pool of its own blood with one First Year student cowered in-between sinks and another First Year student laying against the base of another sink.

Harri tried to think of something to say when Hermione stepped forward.

"Professors, it's my fault. I asked Harri to go to the bathroom with me, and we didn't know that there was a troll loose. It came into the bathroom, and Harri protected us," she whispered.

Snape raised eyebrows on the First Year, "And how did you manage to take down a full grown troll?"

Harri blinked as she tried to focus on the three Snapes in front of her, "Why are there three of you? Are you a triplet?"

Snape scowled but Hermione took another step forward, "Please sir, she hit her head really hard. I don't know if she's ok."

"Quite right, Ms. Granger," Dumbledore took control. "I would be quite surprised to find two First Years students unharmed after taking down a troll."

He glanced around the space, "Quirrell, I know your specialty is trolls. Why don't you stay and help me dispose of the troll. Snape, I seem to remember that Ms Harri is particularly fond of you. I'm sure you won't mind escorting her to the Hospital Wing. Minerva, I'm sure you'll want to escort Ms. Granger. I'll send a patronus to the other teachers."

His eye twinkle was going full force as he glanced at Snape who turned with a furious scowl towards the semi-conscious First Year. Waving his wand, Harri floated in the air beside the irate Potions Professor. Now that she knew the students were safe, the Professor allowed a slight smile as she guided Hermione behind him.

"Snapey, sir, you're floating," Harri said in astonishment.

"Actually you are the one floating. Be glad you are injured. If you ever call me that again, I will personally send you to the Hospital Wing."

"Whatever you say, Mr. Snapey, sir," Harri tried to salute him, but her hand had issues finding her forehead.

"Honestly Severus, you can't threaten the poor Hufflepuff."

Before even opening her eyes, the sharp smell of soap and sanitization alerted Harri to the fact she was in the Hospital Wing.

"Are you awake?" she heard a boy ask her.

She groaned as she opened her eyes to Blaise sitting nonchalantly beside her, "What is with the white walls and bright lights? Do they want to cause another injury by blinding me? Is it all a ruse to keep me here forever?"

Blaise snorted at her, "You face a full grown mountain troll, manage to knock yourself out after successfully defeating it, and you're concerned by the lighting?"

Harri shrugged with a smile, "Yeah I guess. Why don't you look more concerned for me?

"You brought this on yourself. What were you even thinking facing the troll alone? What a Gryffindor thing to do. Honestly, I'm disappointed in you."

"She wasn't completely alone, I was there too!" an affronted voice sounded on Harri's other side.

Raising her eyebrows slightly, Harri was surprised to see a bushy haired Gryffindor on her other side.

Smirking slightly, Blaise said, "And what exactly did you do?"

Harri watched in fascination as even Hermione's hair seemed to bristle with indignation, "I told her where the weak spots are on a troll!"

"Sounds more like a Ravenclaw than a Gryffindor. Spouting off information and then standing back and letting others take the risks," Blaise drawled.

Hermione blushed slightly and opened her mouth to retort.

Harri took that opportunity to jump in, "Guys, my head kind of hurts."

Hermione looked abashed and Blaise glanced over her, finally showing some concern.

They both started talking to her in a softer voice, "Pomfrey says you gave yourself a concussion hitting the sink. You've been out all night."

"She wants to hold you for the day to make sure you're ok. Don't worry though, I'll grab your work for you."

Blaise rolled his eyes, but Harri gave the girl a thankful smile.

Soon after that, they headed out. Later that day, Harri got a surprise visit from Professor Quirrell.

"V-v-very i-i-impressive, taking down a full grown mountain troll alone. E-e-especially for a First Year," Quirrell looked as though he couldn't imagine doing anything scarier as a First Year.

"Well, it wasn't that impressive. I knocked myself out in the process," Harri said honestly.

Quirrell laughed as though she was trying to be funny.

"S-s-still, you show great p-promise in Defense Against the D-d-dark Arts. If you ever want to stop by my office with any questions, you are welcome to," he told her.

Harri looked at him suspiciously. The stuttering professor gave her a smile. Harri squinted her eyes slightly trying to spot any hint of Voldemort.

Slowly, she nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."

He laughed again, "Y-you're quite unusual for the B-b-badger house."

Harri shrugged, "I think being unwilling to abandon another student is one of the most important qualities of a Hufflepuff."

Professor Quirrell seemed to be considering that as he wished for her quick healing and went on his way.

Harri sent another suspicious look at the back of his turban for good measure.

"Note to self, find a way to look through enchantments like Dumbledore can. Then I'd know for sure if the turban was somehow enchanted to hide Voldemort," she muttered to herself.

The day in the Hospital Wing passed quickly, and Harri was soon back into the midst of school again.

Life hadn't changed too much, except she now had another friend. Many students gave the three children weird looks when they sat together to study at the Library. After all, none of them could remember ever seeing a group with a Slytherin, a Hufflepuff, and a Gryffindor.

Without Harri as the nucleus, the group never would have worked out. In some ways, it reminded her of the Golden Trio in her previous life. However, compared to the quiet aristocracy that Blaise had been bred into and trained since birth, Hermione seemed more like the loud one. On the other hand, they were both serious about their school work in a way that Harri wasn't used to. Hermione felt that she had to prove herself and tried her best at everything. Blaise's mother expected him to be in the top of his class, so he did his best as well.

For some horrible reason, Harri found herself being dragged to the library a lot. She complained about it, but appreciated it on some level. Without the other two's urging, she never would've had the motivation to actually begin her training.

Harri was surprised to find that she was at the top of her class year in all her classes on the practical portions. Hermione, Blaise, and Draco along with two Ravenclaw students trumped her in theory, but the taste of being on top had given her a desire for more.

Away from the laziness of Ron and free of all mental blocks, she found herself starting to learn more and quicker.

She had made it a personal goal to be in the top five on the end of year exams.

Harri made her way to the Gryffindor table to sit with Hermione for lunch. She still wasn't friends with the Hufflepuff First Years, so she normally sat with Blaise or Hermione if they were there at the same time. She hadn't convinced either of them to sit at the Hufflepuff table or all three sit together, so she normally switched on a rotating basis. Malfoy and Blaise gave her scandalized looks the entire time she was sitting at the Gryffindor table.

Neither of them had been there for breakfast, so she had sat alone. Yesterday, she'd had dinner with Blaise, so now it was Hermione's turn.

They'd both rolled their eyes when she'd tried to explain the system to them.

"Want to go down in pranking history?" one of the Weasley Twins asked her. She was in between one of them and Hermione.

"I don't particularly feel like being the object of ridicule at lunch today," she replied.

They looked slightly disappointed.

She turned towards Hermione who was reading a large book, "What are you even reading? I'm pretty sure it weighs more than you."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but the Twin looked at it speculatively, "I'm not sure it is by itself. Wait until you see the other books she has with it. Combined, they might be twice her weight."

Harri squinted at it, "Really, her robes dwarf her. I doubt you realize how little she really weighs."

"More than you for sure," the one twin laughed at Harri's affronted glare, while the other picked Hermione up.

"What are you doing? Put me down!" she shrieked with her limbs flailing at suddenly being in the air.

The other twin grabbed the book and balanced it in his hands.

"Switch!" the first twin yelled and they each tossed their person or book at the other twin. As Hermione flew through the air, her foot caught two goblets and knocked them over.

"I think you're wrong wittle Firstie,"

"The book feels like,"

"It weighs less," they said together.

Harri laughed as several other Gryffindors stood up. It seemed the pumpkin juice Hermione had knocked over had spilled onto several laps. Hermione frowned as she walked away to get cleaned up. Not only had juice gotten on her, she also had a bit of lunch on her robes where they had dragged through plates.

"Oi!" Ron yelled as he stood up. "Watch what you're doing! Some people are trying to eat."

Harry frowned at Hermione walking away, "Why can't you be more careful?"

Harri glared at him, "Look who's talking."

Harry turned his frown on her, "I wasn't even talking to you. Stay out of it."

"Come on, Harry. Let's just go clean up," Ron pulled his friend away.

"Yeah you better run," Harri muttered as she stared after them.

The Twin next to her threw an arm over her shoulder, "Careful, people might start to think you're a Lion with words like that."

Harri frowned at him, "And why didn't you defend Hermione? She's part of your house after all."

The Twins leaned closer to Harri.

"Look, we don't want to be rude," one started.

The other finished, "But Granger can be a bit annoying."

"She's such a goody-two-shoes."

"She's just going to tattle when we try to play a prank."

"I'll be surprised if she doesn't tell McGonagall what we did here at lunch." They finished with a decisive nod.

Harri frowned before she was struck with brilliance. She remembered how Hermione had changed by the end in a lot of ways. She'd appreciated the Twins and their ability to cheer people up in the middle of a horrible situation.

"Why don't you work on changing her then?" she asked them.

"What?" they stared at Harri like she'd grown a second head.

Harri rolled her eyes, "No listen. If she continues the way she is, she's only gonna get worse. You know how she is with classes and teachers, she's sure to be a Prefect one day. Then she'll have the power to get you in trouble. You need to corrupt her before she has that power."

The Twins shared a speculative glance, "Continue, wittle Firstie."

"Convince her that she enjoys jokes. Honestly, everyone likes a bit of laughter. If you get her on board, then she could help you to get away with stuff. Plus, she's completely brilliant already. She would only be an asset," Harri explained.

One of them snorted, "There's no way that Granger would ever go for pranking."

Harri nodded, "She definitely wouldn't go for humiliating someone or making them feel bad. But maybe if you did something that was funny without hurting anyone? Or maybe even if you went after some of the bullies? You'd probably have to talk to her and figure out what would work. Everyone likes a different kind of joke. If you could get Hermione to like jokes, you'd probably be the best pranksters in the world. It's practice for getting the largest crowds with your jokes."

The Twins shared a look again, "We will consider your proposition."

They left the Great Hall whispering together. Harri smiled to herself.

She grabbed a piece of toast off of a nearby plate and a piece of bacon off another as she stood up from the Gryffindor table.

"Hey, give that back!" she ignored Lavender Brown as she headed toward the Room of Requirement.

She had a two hour break before her next class that afternoon. She'd been spending all of her spare time that she wasn't at Quidditch practice or with her two friends training in the Room of Requirement. This time around, she actually worked on all the spells in her textbooks until she'd mastered them; instead of only focusing on the ones that seemed cool or more powerful.

It was amazing to realize how much more she could do and how much magic built on itself. It was becoming a little easier each day to do new spells. Plus they made more sense. She wondered why Hogwarts didn't have a class just on magical theory and why magic worked.

"I'll look that up next," she told herself.

Two days later, it was time for her first Quidditch match on the Hufflepuff team.