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Chapter 1: Here We Go Again (A Very Harry Situation, Indeed)

‘In Harry’s timeline, it was Sirius who broke out of Azkaban when he saw Wormtail in the Daily Prophet’s picture with the Weasleys when they’d won the Ministry Galleon Draw. At least with Sirius, he had a noble reason to escape. Umbridge however, nothing good could ever be said about the Toad’s motives…’

Friday 13 August, 1993; Azkaban Prison, North Sea

Azkaban Prison, the mere mention of the name is enough to send shivers of dread down the spines of even the toughest of Magical Britain’s populace. Located on a rocky pile of land in the middle of the North Sea, unplottable to muggle shipping; it’s quite literally the last place anyone would want to willingly go. Not even the local wildlife will have anything to do with the place. The conditions are brutal, and the human guards uncaring at best, abusive at worst; all that coupled with the presence of a race of demons known as Dementors, creatures who revel in decay and suffering, ‘living’ to feed upon all of the good emotions of the prisoners with the promise that if given the opportunity, they get to suck out the soul of the prisoner.

There were three levels within the dank mausoleum that made up the prison, based on the crime a person had committed. The highest level, or the maximum-security wing, had recently been evacuated of all inhabitants for usage within the Department of Mysteries ‘blackhouse’ fungal experiments. For the first time in living memory, those cells were quiet and unoccupied. Down at the bottom was the low-risk prisoners, the ones who committed the so-called ‘white collar’ crimes such as petty theft, fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, or bribery to name a few.

The medium-security was for those who had been convicted of the more serious crimes such as arson, kidnapping, extortion, homicide, or forgery. This is where Dolores Jane Umbridge had been sentenced to four years for her role in the threats made to the High Inquisitor along with the extortion and bribery of highly regarded names within the Ministry. Every day since the damned gate slammed shut, she’d been planning for her eventual return to society.

All she needed was a wand…

Azkaban Auror Charles ‘Brick’ Bricker lived up to his nickname. The man was built like a brick blockhouse and about as unyielding as one whenever someone tried to start a scuffle. He was known to beat the prisoners until they were broken, bloody, and unconscious yet no one, not even the staff, was willing to report him to the higher-ups. Frankly, he loved his job which was a rare occurrence simply because many felt that pulling a rotation within the prison was considered punishment. Brick on the other hand, got to exact the punishment he felt the prisoners deserved and there was no one to stop him. He’d originally been assigned to the maximum-security wing but with the relocation of those prisoners, he’d been transferred down to the medium-security level. As he passed by Dolores’ cell, he peered in to make sure the Toad wasn’t trying to do anything stupid. ‘I almost wish she would. I enjoyed our little ‘discussions’ in the early days where I got to show her the error of her ways.’ “Good morning, Dolores. Did you sleep well? Do we need to refresh your pond water?” He greeted her with a sarcastic laugh that only deepened when he got the reaction he wanted out of the despicable woman. He stood his ground just outside the bars to the cell door as she flailed and reached for him while yelling, “When I get out of here, the first thing I’m going to do is make you suffer for all that you’ve done to me!” She managed to grip the front of his uniform robes and growled at him.

Brick calmly peeled her bony fingers off of his clothes and sneered back, “I would love to see you try, Toad. The only way you’re getting out of here is in a body bag.” He pulled out his truncheon and grinned wickedly as he tapped it against his palm. “I do so love these muggle devices. They allow me to impart justice without leaving any sort of magical trace.” He reached for his keys and unlocked her door.

Dolores glared murderously at him as she stood her ground.

Brick entered the guard shack for his scheduled break, he sighed and poured himself a cup of coffee then settled heavily on the couch and propped his booted feet up on the low table. He idly reached for one of the ubiquitous months-old magazines and discarded issues of the Daily Prophet when his hearing picked up on the sounds of a gate being opened on the speakers. He glanced up curiously since there wasn’t supposed to be a shift change for another three hours and looked over to where the security monitor bank was located. The cup of coffee fell to the floor and shattered as he leapt to his feet at the sight of Dolores opening her cell door and grinning maniacally at the camera. She held up an intimately familiar wand and waggled it before flipping the camera off and waddling down the hallway as fast as she could.

Brick hauled his arse back to the lifts in an effort to stop the Toad from potentially inciting a riot. As he bolted down the corridor; the automatic alarms started blaring, alerting everyone within a two-mile radius that prisoners were escaping their cells. The prisoners were rioting, throwing chairs and tables at the windows, lighting things on fire; all with the intent of causing as much chaos as possible. The on-site Aurors were rapidly becoming overwhelmed as they called in for back-up. Anti-apparition and portkey wards immediately snapped into place while the Dementors swooped in closer hoping that they’d be able to capture someone who strayed too close to the perimeter. On one of the corridor monitors, Brick saw that the Toad was heading towards the docks.

The last sight Charles Bricker saw of Dolores was her evil, wide-mouthed smile as she cast off the line and waved triumphantly back at him as she motored away from the dock.

North Berwick, Scotland; several hours later

Dolores had not been idle on the short journey between the prison and the mainland. She used her pilfered wand to cast a series of obscure charms she’d learned about during her stint as Senior Undersecretary to the Minister that would hide her from any sort of tracking enchantments as well as mask her magical signature. She knew from reading the DMLE reports that the Aurors had usage of a special team of elves to hunt down and return escaped prisoners to their ‘island getaway.’ The only problem was that in order to properly execute the masking, she would need to inscribe the enchantments directly onto her skin. It was a small price to pay in the long run, but one she wasn’t looking forward to. ‘If only I had access to my Blood Quills, they would’ve made the process that much simpler.’ Using her stolen wand, Dolores began etching the first of many runes into her saggy skin; occasionally pulling the wrinkles back to make sure nothing was out of place.

Upon reaching the mainland, Dolores docked the boat and climbed onto the deck, relieved that this part of her journey was over. Taking care not to be seen by either the local magical populace, or worse the roving packs of muggles; she searched for a place to stay until she could get her bearings and plan out her next step. Stealing food and supplies wasn’t an issue for her; it wasn’t like these dirty muggles were in a position to argue. She broke into one shop where she had to cast a stunning spell at the loud elderly muggle who tried to stop her then proceeded to ransack the place; grabbing what she could and causing random damage to the rest of the place to make it look like a simple break-in and looting.

Deciding that rather than heading all the way down to London, she would make her way up north to deal with the first on her list of targets. “Petunia Dursley, your time as High Inquisitor is drawing to an end. Your services will no longer be required.” She let out a simpering high-pitched giggle at her own joke as she bedded down for the night. She would chance an apparition the next morning and hide out near Hogsmeade.

Ministry of Magic; Minister Cornelius Fudge’s office; an hour later

‘Thank Merlin that the Minister has someone with a proper amount of reasoning and intelligence to help guide him into making the correct decision. Had it been anyone else, things might’ve ended up as they did for Harry in the original timeline.’

Cornelius was sweating proverbial bullets when word reached his office of Dolores’ escape. Of all the prisoners currently incarcerated there, she was one of the few he’d hoped wouldn’t be getting out anytime soon. The toadying woman had been the bane of his administration after her crimes had come out during her trial. His popularity and approval rating had taken a major hit and it was only now that he was able to get ahead of where he’d been when the papers reported all that she’d done in the ‘name of the Ministry.’

Amelia strode into his office with a disappointed look on her face, “Minister, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this but the elves have been unable to locate Umbridge. According to the team leader, it seems that her signature has been blocked by an enchantment or something.”

Cornelius sighed heavily, “Yes, she’d mentioned once that she found a way to block them from tailing her. I never thought about why she would want to at the time, but now it’s quite clear. I don’t want her anywhere near the Ministry, Amelia.”

Amelia dipped her chin, “I understand, sir. I’ve gotten reports that she might be heading north to Hogwarts.”

He sat there pensively for a moment, “While I’m sure that the castle can protect itself, I’m worried about the safety of the people within Hogsmeade. What if I were to station a brace of Dementors to watch over the valley?”

She stared at him in horror, “Absolutely not! The last thing we want to do is trot out the nuclear option so soon. Minister, there are other options. Other safer, more politically-friendly options to try before you go for the Dementors.”

He turned his puzzled eyes up to her, “Nuclear option?”

She dismissively waved her hand, “It’s a muggle expression meaning a last-resort, break-in-case-of-emergency way of dealing with a catastrophe. Seriously, we have plenty of other ideas we could run with before the Dementors. First of all, we know that Dolores isn’t all that powerful, magically speaking. If I recall correctly, she just barely passed her OWLs and NEWTs. Second, we could open up the hunt to the general population with the stipulation that if she is seen; the hunters would need to contact the DMLE immediately just in case she tries to reverse the tables and capture them instead.”

Cornelius tilted his head in thought, “Using the populace would save money and spare our Aurors of unnecessary expenses… Okay, Amelia; you have my approval to use this unique method to capture Dolores. Now, do we want to announce it as a capture alive or dead, and what sort of reward are we thinking about?”

Amelia shrugged, “Preferably alive but we’ll accept it if she’s been killed during the capture. As for a reward, I was thinking no more than three thousand Galleons.” She handed him the authorization form. He took it and signed it before hesitating once more. “Sir?”

He thrust it back into her hands, “Let’s just clear this up before too much longer.”

4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey; same time

‘You know the saying that Fate is a bitch? I truly think Fate is a sadistic bitch with no concept of the consequences with messing with people’s lives for any reason other than to take someone from their universe and dumping them into another just to see what happens.’

Briallen Potter was relaxing on a lounge chair in the backyard getting some sun when she heard a crack of what sounded like distant thunder. Growling, she looked up to see how far away the impending storm was when she noticed something strange.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky…

“Huh, maybe it was a car backfiring,” she mused out loud before returning to her self-baking efforts.

A few moments went by before she heard a hesitant, “Excuse me? Who are you and where are the Dursleys?”

Bri thumbed over her head towards the house, “They’re inside the last I saw.” She turned her head and squinted at the stranger only to feel her mouth dropping open in shock as she sat bolt upright.

Standing in front of her wearing clothing that must’ve been originally for a baby whale was a sweat-stained, ragged male version of herself! Bri let out a slight mewl of worry, “You look like I used to! What’s going on?”

The boy slowly shook his head as he stared back at her, “I dunno, but I’m sure we’ve got a problem here. I’m Harry James Potter.”

Bri shakily returned the wave, “I’m Briallen. Briallen Jamie Potter… um, wait here.” She bolted for the sliding glass door and yelled inside, “Aunt Petunia! We’ve got a major problem here!”

Petunia stepped into the kitchen with a bemused expression, “There’s no need to shout, Bri. Where’s the fire?”

Bri turned and pointed at Harry. Petunia’s mouth dropped open as she squeaked, “What the…” Her gaze traveled over the boy’s face and noted that he was watching her warily. “Briallen, go get dressed.” She stepped out of the way to let Briallen pass by her before slowly making her way outside. “Hello, what’s your name?”

Harry narrowed his eyes uncertainly, “Aunt Petunia? Don’t you recognize me? It’s me, Harry Potter.”

Petunia flicked her eyes back towards the house before returning to the confused boy, “I think I need to get someone else to join this conversation first before we go any further. You can come in and have a seat at the table.” She motioned him to enter and pointed to the kitchen table before moving off to grab the phone. She called up Algernon and spoke quietly, “It’s the damndest thing; the boy looks exactly what I would think Briallen would look like if she’d remained as she was before her transformation. Would you please come down and help ascertain what, if anything can be done to resolve this?”

When she returned to the kitchen, she found Harry still sitting in the same place with Briallen joining them, staring at her male counterpart. “So…” she began uncomfortably. Petunia went to the sink to fill a couple of glasses of water and handed one to Harry who gave a small smile of thanks. The other she kept for herself while wishing that she could have something stronger instead.

Harry bobbed his head slightly, “Yeah… so, you’re me? How is that possible?”

Briallen shook her head, “No idea, though if the past two years have been any indication; it’s just par for the course in my life.”

Harry gestured to where Petunia was standing guard and whispered, “Do they treat you alright?”

Bri looked back over her shoulder and smiled contentedly, “Now they do. Until I got my letter to Hogwarts, things were rather rough.”

Harry grunted, “That’s when they moved you to Dudley’s toy room and pretended to care?”

Petunia interjected, “I suggest we wait until Algernon gets here before we go down memory lane.” The doorbell rang just then prompting Briallen to jump up to answer it. She ushered Director Croaker back into the kitchen a moment later. Petunia gestured to Harry, “As you can see, we have a guest.”

Algernon stared at Harry, “Well, this is one for the history books. What’s your name, lad?”

“Harry James Potter, sir.”

“Your age? Birthdate?”

“Thirteen; 31 July 1980.”

Algernon hummed for a moment, “What’s the last thing you remember doing before appearing here?”

Harry’s eyes flicked towards Petunia, “My aunt had just given me another list of chores to do before Aunt Marge was scheduled to visit. I had just stepped into the tool shed when there was a crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning.”

Petunia grimaced at the mention of Vernon’s sister, “I think that’s where things are different. We haven’t had much contact with Marge for the past two years. She and I barely get on, and whenever she did stay here, she would always bring that damned bulldog of hers. I won’t tolerate that miserable animal in my house so when I told her that; she threw a fit and refused to step foot here anymore.”

Algernon nodded sagely, “It seems that that event is the point of departure between our two worlds. Tell me, Mr. Potter; did you receive your Hogwarts letter two years ago?” At Harry’s wary nod, he continued, “Did you receive a set of books along with it?” At Harry’s confused shake of his head, Croaker bobbed his head once again, “That clinches it. I won’t know for certain but with your permission, I’d like to borrow Harry here for a couple of days to ascertain exactly what’s different and what remains the same.”

Briallen glanced worriedly between the adults and Harry, “Will we get him back?”

Algernon waggled his hand, “That is unknown. It might be possible to send him back to his own reality.”

Bri argued, “But if it’s not, he’s going to need to stay with us and probably need to go to Hogwarts too.”

Petunia gently laid her hands on her niece’s shoulders, “Patience, Briallen. Let’s let Algernon figure out the important stuff first.”

Algernon reached into his robes and extracted a quill. He cast a spell on it causing the quill to glow blue for a moment. “Come along, Mr. Potter and let’s see if we can’t solve this mystery together. All you need to do is gently grab the quill.” Harry hesitantly stood up, reached over, and took the quill in his fingers. Algernon nodded to Petunia and Briallen, “Ladies, I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this. If he does need to stay here…”

Petunia nodded resolutely, “Harry’s welcome to stay here until he goes up to Hogwarts.”

With the look of surprise clear on Harry’s face, Algernon activated the portkey whisking them both away.

Two days later…

Hermione had returned from her family’s annual trip to France and had immediately asked to visit her girlfriend. With her parents’ permission, she flagged down the Knight Bus and took the harrowing ride over to Privet Drive. Briallen answered the door with a saucy smile on her face, “Welcome to the Potter Love Nest.”

Hermione giggled and playfully swatted her on the arm as she entered and gave Bri a hug and a kiss, “Prat. How’s your vacation going?”

Nipping at Hermione’s nose, Bri replied, “Better now that you’re here. We did have an unusual situation happen here two days ago.”

“Oh? Unusual in what way?”

Bri lazily gestured towards the backyard, “My alter ego appeared in the backyard while I was sunbathing.”

Eyes wide in surprise, Hermione immediately begged for more information. Bri shrugged, “There’s really not much more to tell. He doesn’t know how he got here; Director Croaker took him back to the Department of Mysteries to figure out if it’s possible to send him home. I’m hoping that if he can’t go home now, he come back and go up to Hogwarts with us. The poor boy looks terrible; kind of like how I used to be before first year. He’s ragged, got the scar on his forehead, and acts like he’s waiting for Aunt Petunia to hit him or something.”

Hermione frowned mightily as she pondered the mystery, “How would that work though, if he does come to stay? He'd be a third year, right? Gryffindor, if I recall correctly.”

Briallen waggled her hand, “Maybe, I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait for Director Croaker to inform us.” The doorbell rang, prompting her to answer it. Standing there was none-other than Director Croaker accompanied by Harry Potter. Bri laughed as she waved them in, “Your timing is impeccable! Come on in. Hermione’s visiting and I’m pretty sure she’d love to meet you.”

Hermione’s eyes grew wide again at the sight of Harry as he entered the kitchen, “Wow, you weren’t kidding!” She rose to her feet and held out her hand, “Hi, I’m Hermione Granger.”

Harry awkwardly shook her hand, “I know. I mean, I know you…um, hi.” He finished lamely and peeked over at Director Croaker who merely smiled knowingly. “Is your aunt around?”

Bri hollered upstairs for Petunia who arrived a few moments later. She took in Harry’s appearance and silently inquired to Algernon who replied, “We were unable at this time to recreate the events that led to Mr. Potter arriving in this reality. For the time being, it’s my recommendation that he accompany Miss Potter up to Hogwarts where he can continue his education until a solution presents itself.”

Petunia bobbed her head, “Fair enough. Okay, did you give him a medical work-up yet? Has he had his shots and all?” She motioned towards Harry’s scar. Algernon confirmed that they had removed the parasite from the scar tissue while the lad had been sleeping. “Then I think a shopping trip is in order. Bri, Hermione, go and grab your purses and meet us at the car. Director, thank you for your help.” Croaker tipped an imaginary hat and apparated out.

The Leaky Cauldron…

Petunia had called Vernon at work and let him know that they’d be out doing some girly bonding time and not to wait up for dinner before loading the teens into the car and driving towards Diagon Alley. After finding a parking space and making their way into the dimly lit pub, she led the trio into the back and tapped on the proper brick with a wand. At the sight of the wand, Harry pointed in surprise, “You’re a witch?!”

Petunia chuckled, “Hardly, no. This wand was gifted to me by Ollivander a couple of weeks ago as part of an experiment to see if Squibs can use wands as long as the wood isn’t too powerful. According to him, the wood is made from American pine and has a Kneazle whisker core. It’s not a strong wand in terms of overall power, but it gets the job done. I haven’t tried out very many spells other than a Lumos charm and to open up the barrier here.”

Harry blinked as he tried to process that information, “I think I’m going to have a strange year.” He noticed that Briallen and Hermione were holding hands, “What’s with you two, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Hermione smirked, “We’re girlfriends.”

Harry frowned as he tried to process that, “As in?”

Bri gestured between herself and Hermione, “As in everything that a boyfriend and girlfriend might get involved with.”

Stacking that surprise on top of everything else, Harry merely bobbed his head in acceptance as he followed Petunia into the Alley. Their first stop was Gringotts; Briallen greeted the guards and curtsied respectfully, “It’s a pleasure to see that the fine Guards of Gringotts are doing their jobs protecting the treasures of the deep.”

The Guard Captain dipped his chin, “It’s a joy to see you again, Miss Potter. Have you had a pleasant summer so far?”

Bri shot him a cheeky wink, “It’s better knowing that you’re doing well.” The captain rolled his eyes good-naturedly and waved them in.

As they passed by, Harry gave them all a confused look and thumbed in her direction, “What was that all about?”

“Miss Potter made herself a spectacle on her first visit to the bank, lightening up our otherwise dreary day with a memorable greeting the likes of which we’ve not heard in ages. Since then, we all hope to be the ones to welcome her to our territory,” the captain explained before returning to his patrol.

The visit with Daggerclaw went as smoothly as one could hope for. Harry was accepted as a member of the family despite being from an alternate universe and given temporary access to the Potter trust vault. Petunia waggled her finger at him, “No funny business, Mister. You’re not allowed to withdraw more than a modest amount for your school things. I will be monitoring your spending and if I see you buying something you shouldn’t; I’ll let Daggerclaw here mete out the appropriate punishment.” She shot the Goblin a conspiratorial wink to his quiet chuckles. Harry’s shoulders visibly tensed at the rebuke. Briallen took his hand and whispered, “Relax, she’s not the same person you remember.”

After the bank, their next stop was at Madam Malkins to get both Potters a new set of school clothes. Harry’s face took on an interesting shade of pink as he overheard Briallen and Hermione discussing the latest lingerie styles while he was getting fitted for his own robes.

When the group entered the bookshop, both girls squealed happily and disappeared inside. Harry followed at a slower pace with Petunia bringing up the rear. He motioned off in the direction they’d vanished to, “I know Hermione’s a bookworm, but is Briallen always like that?”

Petunia laughed lightly, “I guess she has been since getting sorted into Ravenclaw. Comes with the territory, I suppose. Now, here’s the thing; I’ve read the books that described the world you came from and I know that you’d signed up to take Divination and Care of Magical Creatures this year.” At his confirmation, she continued, “Divination is no longer being offered at Hogwarts, and it’s my recommendation that you take something other than Care if you’re not planning on going into the trade.”

“Okay, what’s Briallen taking?” he asked.

“Music, with a focus on guitar, plus an Introduction to Enchanting.” At his widened eyes, she smiled warmly. “She’s quite the virtuoso with the guitar. I’m sure she’ll have no problem with playing a song or two for you.”

Head whirling, Harry wandered into the stacks. He spotted Hermione a couple of times and jumped when Briallen snuck up on him. “Don’t do that!”

Unrepentantly grinning, she shook her head, “Nope, I’m incorrigible according to Hermione. So, which electives are you going with?”

Harry glanced down at the list in his hand, “I’m not sure. I was originally supposed to take Divination and Care, but Aunt Petunia said that the first isn’t offered anymore and recommended something other than the second. How does she know so much about what goes on up there? I thought she hated magic.”

Bri looped her arm into his, “Aunt Petunia’s the High Inquisitor to Hogwarts. She does the job that Dumbledore was supposed to do but didn’t. I think she said we’re all going to get together later to go over everything that’s happened over the past two years but just know that I’m here if you need me.”

He frowned slightly, “What are we then? Are we going to be brother and sister or what?”

Briallen shrugged, “Not sure, but it’ll be a wild ride regardless. Now, about your classes; I’d recommend taking something fun like Art with a serious subject like Arithmancy to keep your brain active.”

When the four weary shoppers returned to Privet Drive, Briallen disappeared with Hermione up to her room while Harry stood uncertainly near the cupboard under the stairs. Petunia saw his hesitancy and motioned upwards, “Take your things and leave them in the guest bedroom for now.”

After accomplishing this, Harry grew curious as to what Briallen’s bedroom would look like. He easily found Dudley’s room (it was as messy as the one from his universe) and knew instinctively where the adults slept. Briallen’s door had her name written on a cute sticker applied to the surface along with another that had a phrase, ‘If there’s no such thing as magic, explain pizza’ in big balloon-like lettering and a cartoon pizza. Hermione answered the door after he knocked twice, “Welcome to the Raven’s Nest, Harry.”

Harry felt his jaw dropping open at the sight of the Tree of Knowledge that Briallen had built after first year, “How…”

Briallen beamed, “Neat, huh? I made it all with magic at the end of my first year. I wrote to the Department of Underage Magic to let them know ahead of time what I planned on doing. They sent me back a really nice letter of thanks. Once it was all done, Daisy applied some enchantments that made sure that all of it would stay permanently.”

He turned to her, “Daisy?”

“Ravenclaw House elf. She’s a friend of ours,” Hermione explained from her perch on Briallen’s bed.

A flutter of wings and a soft bark heralded the arrival of Hedwig. Harry sighed in relief as he reached out to her, “Hedwig, you’re here.”

Hedwig stared at this newcomer in confusion. This chick resembled hers yet at the same time…wasn’t. The magic surrounding both was similar but there was something off about his. She climbed up onto his shoulder and nuzzled his ear and looked into his eyes. Harry stood still and allowed the raptor to finish her examination. “Satisfied?” Hedwig turned to her chick and warbled a question. Briallen replied that Harry was going to be visiting for a while and that a strange circumstance had brought him here from another world. Unsure what to make of this new information, Hedwig flew up to one of the branches in Briallen’s reading tree and settled in to observe.

Harry chuckled at the bird’s reactions, “So, what’s Dudley and Vernon like?”

Bri glanced at Hermione with an odd look, “Well, I don’t rightly now how to explain the differences to be honest. I suppose when they come home you’ll be introduced. They’re not bad people, I guess would be the best short-term answer I can give you.”

Vernon was confused by the newcomer. He remembered what Briallen used to look like before her transformation so this lad calling himself Harry was like déjà vu. “So, explain it to me again. You’re from another universe or something?”

Harry dipped his head, “Yes, Uncle Vernon. According to Director Croaker, whoever or whatever is responsible for the outcome of the universe decided to ‘up the ante’ as he put it to correct whatever changes my older self made for reasons yet unknown.”

Vernon sipped on his tumbler of whiskey, “Why couldn’t…no, never mind. After all the strange things that happened around you, and I guess Briallen too; I’ve recently learned to just roll with the punches. Less of a headache that way.”

“So why isn’t Dumbledore here to sweep whatever happened under the rug?” Harry asked after a moment of contemplation. He noticed their sour expressions, “What?”

Petunia scowled, “Albus Dumbledore has earned the moniker of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named after all the stunts he pulled. Bri? Why don’t you go and get the books for Harry to read. I’m sure they’ll explain things better than we could.” Briallen nodded and hurried upstairs. She returned and handed over the stack. Petunia gestured to them, “The books after second year are pretty much non-applicable anymore given how much has changed after the last two years.”

Briallen began explaining what had happened during both her first and second years as best she could with Petunia jumping in every now and then to fill in some bit of detail the teen didn’t have. A lot of the story gelled with what Harry remembered except for the change in House, Ron’s behavior and eventual expulsion, the disappearance of Quirrell, the revelation that Voldemort wasn’t the only one to experiment with Horcruxes, the problems that Adalricus had created, and so much more. When Briallen described Sandrine, Harry stopped her there, “You mean to tell me that no one at the school has had a problem with you being a Parselmouth?”

Bri shook her head, “Not at all. As a matter of fact, a few of those who have snakes as pets have brought them to me to diagnose whatever might ail them at the time or to ask them what they think of their lives. I don’t speak it very often, but no; I’ve not run into any issues.” She then told Harry about the time that she declared Dean Thomas to be a dark wizard. It took Harry a moment before he snorted in amusement, “I get it. How long did it take him?”

“A couple of minutes, I had to hold up his arm and point to it before he caught on.”

Dudley returned home from his day out with his friends and thumbed over to Harry, “Who’s this?” A quick introduction left both in a state of confusion. Dudley looked over to his cousin and let a sly grin steal across his face, “This is great; I can now have a cousin who doesn’t want to bug me with all of the girly junk you keep bringing up, Briallen.” At her confused look, he brought up the times that she kept pestering him on what to wear or if this outfit looked best with a particular pair of shoes. “Welcome to the nut house, Harry. This girl will drive you crazy!” He laughed at his own joke and at the disgruntled look that Bri was shooting at him. He patted Harry on the shoulder then disappeared upstairs.

Harry watched him go, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this place.”

Friday 20 August, 1993; Dursley Residence, evening

‘It’s a shame that Harry never got to properly meet his godfather and ‘uncle’ in his own timeline. I guess it’s for the best really. In his own timeline, Sirius was the escapee and Remus was a down-on-his-luck werewolf turned Hogwarts professor. Not exactly the best representation of family in my opinion.’

The Dursleys and Briallen let Harry take all the time he needed to adjust to his new surroundings. They couldn’t help but notice the times whenever Harry would stop and just stare off into space as something conflicted with his memory of how things operated in his world. Most of the time, he’d just spend it up in his room reading through the Books that his older self had sent back in time to correct some mistakes. It pained and amazed him just how oblivious he was to the manipulations surrounding him, most of it being perpetrated by Dumbledore. He questioned Briallen at length about all of her adventures at school as she experienced all of the changes that had been implemented in such a short amount of time. “I think the most exciting part was creating the Girls’ Only or GO club. We have girls from all four Houses where we get together to chat, share stories, learn new crafts, discuss feminine issues, talk about boys, school, and our teachers. We even have Moaning Myrtle as a member, though she doesn’t go by the Moaning part anymore. Remember how she was always wailing and crying last year? Well, these days, she’s much more cheerful and outgoing. We also have a pair of werewolves in our group. Well…only Romi is a full werewolf; Susan didn’t get the full effect from the attack.”

“Susan? As in Susan Bones?” Harry asked incredulously.

Briallen nodded, “Yeah; she, Romi, and Colin got attacked by Fenrir Greyback after he managed to infiltrate the school. Susan and Colin get some mild effects, increased aggression and a preference towards rare meat. It’s Romilda on the other hand; she turns into a wolf every full moon. Uncle Remus adopted her and has been teaching her how to bond to her wolf.”

Harry shook his head sadly, “That stinks. I remember Colin always had this camera; does he still have it?”

Bri nodded, “Yeah, that’s how we met. He was out taking pictures as I was returning from visiting Hagrid. We bumped into each other and got to talking. He’s a good kid, though still easily excitable."

Bri practiced with her guitar while he just sat and listened rapturously yet at the same time, he was tense as if waiting for someone to yell at him for remaining idle. She’d notice that he would get startled easily if someone approached him while he was distracted. More than once, she would catch a glimpse of him observing her aunt and uncle as if expecting them to attack him for some tiny infraction. Most confusing to Harry was the fact that this version of his aunt and uncle didn’t really match his impression of them. For one thing, Vernon wasn’t beefy with a thick mustache and no neck. This version was moderately sized suggesting he indulged in pub food a little more than was healthy but wasn’t the human walrus Harry remembered. This version of Vernon was also a lot more patient than his counterpart.

Vernon had just returned home from work and found Harry scrubbing the kitchen floors on his hands and knees. “What happened?”

Harry flinched at the sound of his uncle’s voice, “I’m sorry! I’m cleaning it up as best I can!”

Vernon knelt down and took the brush out of Harry’s hands, “Relax, Harry. I merely asked what had happened. Did you spill something?”

Harry hung his head, “Yes, sir. I spilled some tomato sauce while making dinner.”

“Hmm, well it looks like you’ve got everything in order now, so why don’t you go ahead and get cleaned up. I think I can handle the rest.” He noted the pot on the stove and peeked inside, “Spaghetti?”

Harry sullenly confirmed it, “Yes, sir.”

“Then I think I can handle it.” At Harry’s incredulous expression, Vernon smirked, “Go on.” He shooed the teen out of the kitchen. Once the lad was gone, he shook his head as he carried the bucket and brush into the mudroom, “I hope the other me is burning in Hell for what he’s done to the boy.”

Upstairs in his new room, Harry laid himself out on the bed and stared up at the ceiling trying to make sense of everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks. ‘So much has changed! I wish Hermione was here to help me make sense of it all.’ He could hear Dudley playing a video game and cautiously ventured over to see if he could join in. Dudley grinned and held up a controller, “Come on, let’s blow up some bad guys!”

While they were playing, Harry asked Dudley if his mum still called him ‘Dinky Duddydums.’ Dudley groaned, “Yeah, especially if we’re with her friends or if she really wants to embarrass me in public. I’m thirteen years old and you’d think I was still in nappies sometimes.” He spared a glance at his raven-haired cousin, “So what am I like where you’re from?”

Harry paused the game, “You’re like an evil version of this,” he motioned up and down at his cousin. “You’re always trying to start fights with me, you love to play a game with your friends called, ‘Harry Hunting’ where you’d chase me around the neighborhood and when you caught up to me; you’d all take turns beating me up.”

Dudley grimaced, “I sound like a real berk. Am I just as lousy in school too?”

“You make me do all of your homework while taking credit for it. You’ve scared off anyone who dares to be friendly to me, and you like to beat up the younger children.”

“Damn, the other me better hope he doesn’t meet me. I’ll knock my lights out.” The roundabout way he said that caused Harry to crack up laughing.

“You still go to Smelting’s?” Harry asked him after he recovered.

“Yeah, I do alright there. Nothing spectacular like Bri’s been doing at her magic school, but I’ve been managing to maintain a 3.8 GPA.”

Harry was impressed and said so. “There have been times where I’m not sure if my Dudley even knows how to read. He just sits in front of the telly all day when he’s not out causing trouble with his friends. Piers Polkiss still your friend?”

Dudley tilted his head, “Who?”

“That answers that question. What about Malcolm Baddock?”

“I know him, but we’re not close friends. You know Terry Fletcher?” Harry said he did. “He’s my best friend. He, and his brother Michael as well.”

They heard the doorbell ring with Petunia greeting someone a moment later. “Briallen!” Bri’s door opened as she walked past to answer. Both boys heard her squeal in happiness at the sight of their guests and ran back to grab Harry, “Come on, you need to meet Padfoot and Moony!”

When Harry entered the lounge, Sirius stood up and gasped at the sight of him, “Wow, he looks just like James!”

Remus agreed, “Except for the eyes, those are classic Lily’s. He’s even matched the color too.” He held out his hand, “Remus Lupin. I’m…well, a friend of your parents…or is it Briallen’s parents?”

Sirius didn’t know either, “Meh, he’s a Potter so they’re both their parents, I suppose. Sirius Black, I’m her godfather, and now yours I would reckon.”

Harry greeted both of them, “Godfather? I didn’t know I had one to be honest, and I’d never known either one of you growing up.” He glanced at Briallen for help. She mimed opening a book then held up three fingers. “At any rate, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Bri eagerly turned to her uncles, “So what brings you by?”

Sirius grinned as he pulled out a form from his pocket, “You’re a teenager now and with that comes a parental permission slip allowing you to visit Hogsmeade. We wanted to be here for the Grand Signing!” He pulled out a fancy quill and conjured an ornate writing desk and chair where he signed his name with a flourish before handing it off to Moony who did likewise. Vernon thought their antics were funny so he joined in with giving his signature before pushing it into Petunia’s hands.

“Vernon, it’s not necessary! I’m the High Inquisitor so I would naturally give her my permission!”

He laughed at her indignant look, “But it’s funny! Come on Pet, have a laugh and sign your name.” She rolled her eyes at him and took the quill, “There, you incorrigible man.” He sent back an air-kiss at his wife and a wink at Briallen and Harry.

Petunia gestured to Sirius, “How did you get the permission form?” Dudley came around with a serving tray of tea and began distributing it to everyone.

“I called up to Minnie and asked for one. I told her our plan to embarrass the heck out of Prongslet,” Sirius shrugged his shoulders unconcernedly. He motioned towards Harry, “Isn’t he going to need one too?”

Petunia nodded, “You’re right, I need to call Minerva and let her know.” She got up out of her chair and headed to the phone.

Harry watched in surprise, “You can call Hogwarts on the telephone now?”

Sirius nodded as he sipped on his cup of tea, “Yeah, it’s been like that for nearly a year now, I think. The entire Ministry has telephones, calculators, typewriters, and a few other things I’m not familiar with. I’ve heard that even television sets are making inroads into the homes of the magically-raised.”

Harry shook his head at yet another revelation on just how different their two universes were. He decided to change the subject, “So, Mr. Lupin? What do you do?”

Remus smiled, “I own and operate a campground out near Penzance. Sirius is my assistant and guard dog.” Puzzled, Harry asked what that meant. Remus nudged Sirius who got up and transformed into a large black dog reminiscent of a boarhound before returning to human form. “He’s an Animagus; that is he’s a wizard who can take the form of an animal.”

“Wow, can you do that too?” Harry was amazed and intrigued.

Remus shook his head ruefully, “No, my transformation is involuntary and happens once a month. Shut it, Padfoot.” He leveled a warning finger at his oldest friend who merely let out a barking laugh. “Ignore him, he thinks he’s funny. To be blunt, Harry; I’m a werewolf.” He tensed slightly to wait for the teen’s reaction. When it didn’t come, he relaxed, “I’m happy to see that me being what I am isn’t affecting you.”

Harry shrugged, “Why should it? You didn’t ask to become a werewolf, did you?” At Remus’ denial, he continued, “Then as I see it, I don’t think I have anything to worry about. You obviously don’t plan on trying to convert the others and I heard from Briallen what happened to Susan Bones, someone named Romilda, and Colin Creevey.”

“Romilda used to have the last name of Vane, but her parents abandoned her after learning that she’d been infected. I found out about the attack from Briallen and immediately offered to adopt her. She’s now Romilda Lupin.”

Bri perked up, “How’s she doing? She would’ve gone through another couple of transformations, right?”

Remus nodded, “She’s doing fine; eager to get back to school so she can be with her friends. Susan and Colin spent their transformations with us as well. I think it’s just better that way since their parents and guardians know what security I have in place rather than putting the Creevey parents through the hassle of trying to come up with something on their own since they’re muggles.

Petunia returned, “Okay, Minerva’s been appraised of your situation and that you’ll need to be sorted as a third year. I never did get which classes you’d decided to take for your electives though, so when you get up to the school, you’ll need to let her know.”

“Is Professor McGonagall still the Deputy?”

She shook her head, “No, she’s the Headmistress now. Hogwarts doesn’t really have a deputy per se. I handle most everything that would nominally fall under the deputy category, but my position is a bit more administrative than what is traditionally called for. For example, I can and will handle some disciplinary issues, but for the most part, she’ll undertake that task as it’s warranted.”

After dinner, the family was gathered around the television to watch the evening news when a breaking report announced the escape of Dolores Umbridge from prison. ‘The public is warned that Dolores Umbridge is armed and extremely dangerous. A special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Umbridge should be reported immediately.’

“Hang on!” barked Uncle Vernon, staring furiously at the reporter. “You didn’t tell us where that maniac’s escaped from! What use is that? Lunatic could be coming up the street right now!” 

Sirius shivered, “If this Umbridge person is a witch, she most likely escaped from Azkaban; the wizarding prison located out in the North Sea.”

Petunia laid a gentle hand on his, “I forgot that you spent some time in there, Sirius. Is it as bad as the rumors say it is?”

He looked at her with haunted eyes, “Worse. It’s worse than you can possibly imagine.” The light returned a moment later, “At any rate, it’s unlikely that she’d come here. Most magically-raised don’t know the first thing about navigating the non-magical world.”

Gartmore Village, off A81; same time

Dolores had been forced to perform her first murder to obtain a safe place to hole up for the night. She’d picked the local graveyard caretaker’s cottage and brained the owner with a heavy concrete urn. She dragged the body back to a workshop then dumped it into one of the open caskets. Using her wand, she levitated the coffin and lowered it into a hole she’d carved out then covered it back over so there wouldn’t be any obvious trace.

Back inside the cottage, she rummaged through the refrigerator for something to eat then began going through the man’s wardrobe for a new outfit. While everything was distinctly muggle, beggars couldn’t be choosy. “It’ll have to do until I can get up to Hogsmeade and obtain something better.”

Lying down on the queen-sized bed, she pulled the blanket up and doused the lights.

Wednesday 1 September, 1993; King’s Cross Station, platform 9 ¾

The family of five entered the magical side of the platform amidst the usual cacophony from the students, their parents, pets, and the locomotive itself. Vernon assisted Briallen and Harry with their trunks onto the carriage then stepped back to let Petunia fuss over the both of them. Bri sighed, “Aunt Petunia! You’re going to see us in a couple of hours.”

Petunia wiped away an imaginary tear and winked back, “I know, but I get the thrill of embarrassing you now.” Briallen just huffed about crazy adults and glared at her aunt while Harry just accepted the fussing silently.

Hermione and her parents arrived not too long afterwards. Harry helped the bushy-haired girl with her trunk and greeted her politely before Briallen was able to give her girlfriend a tonsil-searing kiss. “Get a room, you two,” Dudley complained good-naturedly. Bri just flipped him a two-finger salute and continued kissing Hermione.

“Hey, Potter!” Both Bri and Harry turned to see Neville approaching them; a trio of adults following along behind. Breathlessly, the sandy-haired boy waved at his friend, “Come and re-meet my parents!” He eyed Harry uncertainly, “Um, who’s this?”

“Neville Longbottom, I’d like you to meet Other Me. Other Me, this is Neville,” Briallen quipped cheekily to the groan of Harry who held out his hand in greeting.

“Never mind her, Neville. We have a long train ride ahead of us and my story isn’t one to tell on a platform.”

Neville returned the handshake, “Deal.”

After the greetings and another round of thanks for solving the communication issues that Frank and Alice had been experiencing. Briallen asked the important question of how they were able to move around and speak so easily. Alice replied that once the communication had been established, it was a natural progression of questions that led up to figuring out what sort of curse had been set on them. “Once the cursebreakers lifted the curse, our recovery progressed faster until we were provisionally cured.”

“Provisionally?”

Alice nodded, “Yeah, we’re to limit our social interactions and not get too stressed. For example, we’re not allowed back to our jobs as Aurors or retake our seats in the Wizengamot lest we exacerbate our remaining issues.”

The others bobbed their heads in understanding. The train whistle blew so the kids scrambled onboard and waved to their respective guardians as the train pulled out of the station.

Hogwarts Express, heading north…

The door to their compartment opened to reveal a smiling Draco. That smile vanished when Harry leapt from his seat and leveled his wand in the blond boy’s face as he growled, “What are you doing here, Malfoy?”

Draco slightly leant to the side and called out to Briallen, “Bri? What’s going on? Who’s this?”

Briallen rose and laid a comforting hand on Harry’s, pushing his hand down. ”Easy there, Harry. Draco’s a friend in this universe. Take a breath and sit back down.” To Draco, she apologized, “Sorry, things have been hectic at home since he showed up. This is Harry Potter though from another universe. He’s my alter ego, if you will.”

Draco took an open seat and stared at Harry in awe, “You mean like how you were at the start of first year? I remember how you were originally a boy and only became a girl thanks to whatever the Hat did to you at your Sorting.”

Briallen bobbed her head, “Exactly. Except that this Harry comes from a universe in which the Hat never severed the enchantments keeping me from my true self.”

“Wow! So, I’m guessing that you and I don’t get along in your universe?”

Harry reluctantly put away his wand at Briallen’s urging and shook his head, “No, we’re something like enemies ever since I turned down your offer to introduce me to the ‘right sort.’”

Draco snorted, “Yeah, like I’d know anyone like that. I don’t think I like me. I sound like a real ponce.” The door opened once again to let Ginny and Luna drift in. Greetings were given out to the girls who took a seat next to Draco.

Harry pointed to Ginny’s school robes in surprise, “Ginny? You’re in Slytherin?”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, “Yeah, I am. What’s it to you and for that matter, who are you? You sort of look like Briallen.”

Briallen sighed and spared a glance at Harry, “We’re gonna have to announce you to the whole school so we don’t have to keep repeating ourselves. Ginny, yes he does look like me because he is me; at least a me from an alternate universe. We don’t really know how or why he’s here, but for the time being my aunt recommended that we treat each other as if we’re fraternal twins. I’d like to introduce you to my sort-of brother, Harry Potter.”

Ginny waved her hand in greeting then apologized for being so abrupt with him. “Sorry about jumping down your throat like that. Mum’s been an absolute terror since I had my surprise Sorting. She was even worse when I got home for the summer. She kept trying to trip me up into admitting that I somehow hoodwinked the Hat into putting me into the House of the enemy. Daddy finally put his foot down and forbade her from speaking of the subject ever again unless she wanted to join Ron at Aunt Muriel’s.”

Harry accepted the apology, “I heard from Briallen what happened to Ron. I can’t say that I’m all that surprised to be honest. Even in my universe, the past two years he always seemed to be full of himself and eager to jump into whatever situation presented itself without thinking of possible consequences. He managed to get me embroiled in a wizard’s duel against Draco (Draco looked up in surprise) within my first week at school. He was also rather dismissive about classes and learning too. I remember trying to get him to come study with me for a final exam in Transfiguration but he would only scoff and tell me that there wasn’t anything I had to worry about since I was the Boy-Who-Lived and that the teachers wouldn’t dare to fail me because of my fame.”

Ginny grimaced at the mention of her brother, “I guess some things are the same no matter which universe you come from. So what about your love life? Have you found your special someone yet? These two (she pointed at Briallen and Hermione who’d cuddled up) have been making cow eyes at each other since their first year from what I heard.”

Harry tried to change the subject as his face pinked, “Um, I’d rather not talk about it if it’s all the same to you. The person I was interested in was well, it’s rather embarrassing.”

Luna nudged Hermione and stage-whispered in her dreamy voice, “Since you and Briallen are in a relationship, do you think she’d mind if I pursued Harry? I think he’s really cute.” Briallen’s snort of laughter was clearly heard as she responded to her friend. “Don’t ask her; ask Harry if it would be alright.”

Harry closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose to hold off the impending headache he knew was coming.

The group chatted amongst themselves about everything and anything, their voices overlapping each other until it was a chaotic cacophony of noise. Bri nudged Draco, “So what’s happening with your dad? I heard from my aunt that he’s in all sorts of legal troubles after what happened last year.”

Draco coughed lightly, “Trouble is a milder word than what I’d use. He’s up shit’s creek without a paddle according to my mother. She’s taken over as Regent and is working with our account manager to figure out what all can be done to clean house and make reparations to the victims of Greyback’s attack. Then there’s all the dark stuff that he had the elves move to a secret location. I heard that it was Dobby of all things that alerted my mother to what had been transferred to some island near Buckingham Palace.”

“So what’s going to happen to him?” Hermione wanted to know.

Draco gestured in a ‘who knows’ manner, “If he’s convicted, he’s liable to be sent up to Azkaban though since Umbridge escaped, I don’t know how viable an option that is now.”

“Is a conviction not certain?”

Draco waggled his hand, “It depends on how much he’s been able to save out of sight of my mother and our account manager as well as whatever blackmail he’s squirreled away on key members of the ‘Mot.”

Hermione scowled, “That shouldn’t be allowed! How is justice supposed to work if anyone can bribe their way out of trouble?”

Briallen agreed with her, “I know, right? It’s frankly disgusting how some people know how to game the system. Draco, with what you know; is there anything you can use to derail his ‘defense tactics’?”

He shook his head, “No, besides everything I just mentioned, Mother already knows about and will be making contingency plans against.”

Deciding to change the subject, Bri asked Draco if he was looking forward to starting his new electives. Harry overheard and switched his attention to them. He was surprised that Draco had signed up for Magical Architecture and Construction courses. “In my world, you would’ve never bothered taking such…I guess you could call them ‘baseline’ topics. Of course, at my Hogwarts there wasn’t the number of electives you all get to have.”

Draco nodded sagely, “To answer your question, Briallen; I’m looking forward to the two subjects. I’m actually taking Magical Architecture and Magical Construction though I heard that the instructor teaches both classes concurrently. I’ve already read my course books and tried out a couple of the spells at home.”

Bri brightened, “Really? What did you make?”

Draco pinked as he blushed, “It’s nothing grand, to be honest. I just used the techniques to build a couple of birdhouses and feeders.”

Hermione clapped her hands, “That’s awesome! Congratulations, Draco; I’m impressed that you managed to get that far. I remember when I was experimenting with the spells in my Charms text before the start of first year. I kept getting things wrong and causing all sorts of trouble.”

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

‘Good luck, Harry in getting sorted where you want to go rather than what Dumbledore subtly maneuvered you into going. I always wondered while reading the Books where he might’ve ended up if he hadn’t had the soul fragment in his head or had his ears stuffed with the nonsense that Gryffindor was better than the other Houses.’

A decision was made by Harry to just travel up to the school along with Briallen and the other third years despite the fact that he was ostensibly a new student. They rode in the carriages and continued to chatter about who’d done what over their summer break. Harry had been briefly introduced to an agitated Hannah Abbot. When asked what was troubling her, she pointed to the sky, “It’s the full moon which means that Susan, Colin, and Romi are down at Wolf’s Bay right now. I hope she’s doing alright and sad that she’s missing the sorting and feast.” The others commiserated with her, even Harry sympathized the poor girl who was missing her best friend.

Great Hall…

Petunia addressed the students and staff as soon as the last first year had been sorted into their House, “If I might have your attention, please? Thank you. Some of you might’ve noticed that we have one more student to sort and that he looks rather similar to Briallen Potter. I would like to introduce to you all, Harry James Potter. Harry comes to us from another universe similar to our own but different in its own unique ways. The Unspeakables at the Department of Mysteries are attempting to solve the question as to how Harry joined us here, but rest assured that he’s just like any other student. Please be kind and patient should he come to you with any questions or concerns.” She gestured for him to take a seat on the stool so she could place the Hat on his head and get things squared away.

In Harry’s ear, he heard the Hat speak, “Hmmm…well, this is different. It’s been a while since I last had to sort a time traveler!”

“Really?” Harry wondered, “Who was it?”

“I’m not able to share that information, Mr. Potter; I’m sorry but the confidentiality enchantments forbid me from trying. Suffice to say, it’s been at least two hundred years since that occurred.”

Harry relaxed at hearing that, “Okay, so in my universe you sorted me into Gryffindor. Based on what you see, do you think it would be a good idea to send me back there?”

“With logical reasoning like that, I ought to put you with your counterpart in Ravenclaw. Let’s see… ah! You were brash, courageous, had a certain disregard for the rules…yes, you would do well in Gryffindor in this universe as well.”

Harry pondered that, “I’m just wondering what people might think of me if I got sorted into say, Slytherin.”

“I see your dilemma. I can only offer the advice that this world’s not the same that yours is. In your world, you were governed by outside forces who wanted you to behave a certain way. Here, you have no such constraints. Here, you’re free to be whomever you want to be.”

Harry thought hard about what the Hat said, “Now I don’t know what I want. I don’t want to be a Gryffindor because of my universe’s expectations of me, and I don’t want to be sorted into Slytherin for the same reasons. Briallen is in Ravenclaw and I don’t think she’d want me tagging along.”

“Then that leaves Hufflepuff as your only option. It’s as good a House as any of the others, you know. Some would say that the Puffs are duffers, but that’s not true. Hufflepuff is the House of the Generalists. They have the bravery, the cunning, the intelligence but they prefer to not make a scene about what they do have and just work together to acquire the skills of what they don’t have.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully, “Alright then, this makes my decision easier.”

Outside to everyone else…

The students were getting restless while Harry was under the Hat. The time crept upwards to close to five minutes which was the cutoff point where the Hat was required to announce a hatstall. Just as Petunia was reaching out to inquire what the hold-up was, the brim of the Hat opened as it announced, “If you’re sure; better be…HUFFLEPUFF!!”

The whole Hall erupted into cheers and applause as Harry stood, handed the Hat back to Petunia and made his way over to the others wearing the gold and black.

Minerva rose to her feet, “There will be plenty of time afterwards to let you know the general announcements. In the meantime, let the feast begin!” She clapped her hands signaling to the elves down below to begin serving the food and libations.

As they were eating, Harry glanced up at the Teachers’ table and spotted Severus quietly observing him. The dour man nodded once when their eyes connected before turning to speak with Professor Sinastra. Harry nudged Neville, “Is Snape still our Potions professor?”

Neville shook his head, “No, he only teaches the fifth through seventh years. We get the privilege of learning from Professor Abigail Sciuto, she’s the black-haired woman in pigtails to the far right. She’s…well, first off she’s an American from the southern state of Louisiana so be ready for that accent of hers. Second, she makes learning potions fun and exciting. Last year, we learned how to brew a potion that allowed us to breathe fire for a few minutes before the effects wore off!”

Harry was amazed at hearing that, “Really? Wow, I never thought potions could be so interesting.”

Neville bobbled his head, “I know, right? According to the other muggleborns, her teaching style is a cross between muggle science and medieval potions. Trust me, you’ve got to see her laboratory to believe it and even then it’s possible that you’ll still question your sanity.”

Turning the topic back onto Neville, Harry asked the teen which electives he’d signed up for. Neville sighed happily, “I’m going to be taking Advanced Herbology and Introduction to Agribusiness. I want to open up my own greenhouses someday and sell the plants I grow to apothecaries around the world. What about you?”

Harry swallowed a bite of roast beef, “I’m taking Ancient Runes and a French language class. I honestly hadn’t thought about what I wanted to do with my life but Briallen suggested that I take something fun until I figure it out. I’ve always wanted to speak another language that doesn’t cause people to shiver in fear when they hear it.”

Neville nodded in recognition, “Oh, yeah; I heard that you’re also able to speak Parseltongue. I bet you were shocked to learn that we don’t treat those who can speak it with the same loathing that you’re probably used to?”

“Got it in one.” Both boys turned as a bunch of first years started shrieking in fear as the doors opened to allow a mottled blue and black dragon to enter. Harry shot a curious look at Neville who merely shook his head and pointed towards where Briallen was rising to her feet, “The dragon belongs to Hagrid. Her name is Peaches and she acts more like a puppy than a monster.” Sure enough, Bri had taken Peaches by her collar and started leading her back towards the doors which opened once again to reveal Hagrid looking worried. The half-giant rumbled his thanks and hoisted Peaches into his arms and carried her out.

Briallen turned and shared a smirk with Harry, “You’ll get used to her antics.”

After the feast concluded, Minerva stood to address the Hall reminding everyone that magic was not to be cast in the hallways for safety reasons. There was a list of all banned items on the main bulletin board located just outside of the Hall as well as the boards in each of their common rooms. “Finally, I’m sure you all heard the news that Dolores Umbridge managed to escape from Azkaban. How she accomplished this is anyone’s guess but I must stress that if you do happen to see her, do not approach! Instead, run to the nearest adult and have them call in the Aurors while you get yourself to safety. Your life is worth more than hers so no heroics! Now, off to bed with all of you!”

Harry followed the crowd of Puffs down a level and to the left at the junction. They headed down a hallway dominated with portraits displaying food or food preparation. The prefect stopped in front of a stack of large barrels, “This is the hidden entrance to the Hufflepuff common room and your dorms. To enter, you need to tap your wand in a specific pattern on this smaller barrel. If you get the pattern wrong, you’ll be doused with vinegar. The pattern for this week is to the tune of ‘Helga Hufflepuff.’” He demonstrated by tapping out a five-count knock on the appropriate barrel and stepped back to let the door swing open. “If there is an emergency, the door will open without the need to tap the barrel but it’s got to be a verifiable emergency. Forgetting your homework doesn’t count and will lead you to receiving a reprimand from our Head of House, Professor Sprout.”

On the outskirts of Hogsmeade…

While Harry was getting acquainted with the other badgers in Hufflepuff, Dolores looked down upon the darkened valley with the distant lights of Hogsmeade below her. “Time to find a place to build my base of operations,” she muttered to herself as she began waddling down the steep rocky path. When she reached the base, she thought about which direction she ought to take. Her decision was made for her when she spotted a drunken wizard shambling along the road singing off-key to the world. Dolores followed the man to his ramshackle home before aiming her wand at his head and casting a severing charm. His head bounced and rolled under the sink as his body slumped to the floor. Clicking her tongue in distaste at the amount of noise and mess, she waved her wand again and vanished the body and blood before roaming the house, taking stock of what was available. Nodding to herself, she began making plans, “This shall do for the interim. I’m frankly shocked that the Ministry hasn’t sent Dementors after me. It’s what I would do, but then again, Cornelius isn’t the smartest man in the world. He too, shall pay for his betrayal.”

Settling down in the armchair, she gazed out the window facing the castle and began to plan. She had much to do before she could make her move to oust that damned Squib from Hogwarts.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: A New School, A Hidden Toad, and a Quill

Thursday 2 September 1993; Great Hall

After waking up in yet another unfamiliar location, it took Harry a few minutes to find his way around. Fortunately, the bathroom amenities weren’t all that much different from what he remembered from his dorm up in Gryffindor other than the layout (the shower was on the opposite of the room) so he was able to get dressed with minimal hassle. As he exited the bathroom, he smiled wanly at Neville who was waiting to go in. The Longbottom heir was standing there with the classic blank ‘too early in the morning to be doing the things’ expression on his face. “All yours, Neville,” Harry said as he patted the other boy on the shoulder and headed over to his trunk.

He examined his new colors and shook his head, “I sure hope this plan works. Lay low in the House that most people don’t expect much from until Director Croaker can figure out a way to send me home.”

Once all of his morning routine was completed, and accompanied by a still yawning Neville, as well as Justin Finch-Fletchley, Susan Bones, and Hannah Abbott; Harry entered the Great Hall and took a seat at their table. His eyes roved over the sea of faces and spotted his counterpart chatting with Hermione. The latter caught his eye and smiled before pointing him out to Briallen who turned and cheerfully waved at him. Harry merely nodded back before beginning to assemble his breakfast.

Justin poured himself a cup of tea and sipped on it while eyeing Harry who caught the look. “What? Is there something on my face?”

Justin shook his head, “No, it’s just strange to see a male Potter here. I got used to Briallen, I suppose. So how different is your home versus this one?”

Harry paused in his eating to contemplate how best to answer that, “Well… First off, Briallen’s relatives are a lot nicer than mine. My cousin isn’t the intellectual type and at times resembled the combined stupidity of Crabbe and Goyle.”

They both heard Susan lightly cough in laughter, “Don’t let Vincent and Greg hear you say that.”

Harry looked puzzled, “Why not? Are they in Ravenclaw too?”

She shook her head, “No, they’re in Slytherin but both boys are actually quite clever and smart. I heard from the both of them that they managed to get Exceeds Expectations on all of their final tests last year.”

Harry nearly choked on his tea, “Say that again? Crabbe and Goyle? Big guys that resemble gorillas? Love to follow Malfoy around like enforcers for hire?”

Neville patted him on the shoulder, “Not even close. Vince is a actually closet dancer when he thinks no one is looking.” He peered over his shoulder to where the boy in question was nimbly stepping around a brace of sixth years. Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed once more. “Relax; you’ll get the hang of this place eventually.”

“I hope so otherwise Madam Pomfrey is going to lock me in a padded room,” Harry deadpanned.

Neville cocked his head, “Who is Madam Pomfrey?” At Harry’s slackjawed expression, he began laughing, “Sorry, it was too easy to pass up!” He continued snickering as he pulled over the bacon.

Justin laughed along with Neville, “Be nice to the poor lad, Nev or he’ll sicc his other side on you.”

At the Ravenclaw’s table…

Briallen turned back after waving at Harry to idly watching Luna build an interesting breakfast. A smiley face plate of bacon and eggs with ketchup hair plus a bowl of something that started off as porridge but now included raspberries, yogurt, maple syrup, something sparkling purple, and sausage chunks. She focused back onto what Hermione was saying, “…I think you should give Harry a couple of days to settle in before parading him around.”

“I know, but when was the last time you heard of someone’s alter ego in the same place as the original?” Bri countered.

Waggling her peach-speared fork at her girlfriend, Hermione warned her that if she pushed too hard, he might have a meltdown. “How would you feel if someone were to parade you up and down Knightsbridge as a show pony depicting what a commoner looks like?”

Briallen made an indecipherable noise and went back to her eating and observation of Luna who was now organizing an attack using waffle stickmen.

Professor Sprout descended from the Teacher’s Table to distribute their schedules. She paused at Harry’s spot, “Will you need an escort to help you find your way, Mr. Potter?”

Harry glanced quickly at his schedule and shook his head, “No, I don’t think so. It looks like everything is where I remember it to be.”

“Alright, but if you do need it, please don’t hesitate to ask.” She replied then continued down the line.

Harry took one more glance up at the Teacher’s table and muttered mostly to himself, “I think my biggest shock is not seeing Dumbledore or his throne up there or seeing Aunt Petunia laughing and chatting with Professor Snape.”

Between the two days of actual classes and despite his assurances that he wouldn’t need help, Harry got lost a number of times. Not because of the incessant changing of doors, passageways, and the like that the castle seemed perversely pleased about doing, but because his feet seemed to have a mind of their own and ended up in Snape’s class twice. Severus sneered at the teen, “Surely you can find your way a magical castle, can’t you Potter? Are things really that different?”

Harry sighed through his nose, “Old habits, Professor. For the past two years, I got used to taking this route to Potions; it won’t happen again.”

His eyes like pools of ink, Severus glared back, “See that it doesn’t.”

Neville thought it’d be funny on Friday after the latest mistake to tie a leash around Harry’s waist. “If you start to wander off the proper path, I can just lead you back.”

Slowly shaking his head in bemusement, Harry allowed his new friend his laugh, “Yuck it up, Longbottom.” He turned and noticed Susan skipping down the hallway, “Is Susan normally this energetic?”

Neville waggled his hand, “Sometimes, it depends on how close she is to the full moon. Why? Isn’t yours?”

Harry scoffed, “Not in the least. My Susan is actually rather shy when in public and tends to just go with the general flow of the group. It’s probably why she said some not nice things about me being a Parselmouth last year.”

Neville grimaced, “That’s terrible, but one thing you won’t have to worry about here. If anything, I wouldn’t put it past Briallen to speak to you in nothing but Parseltongue just for laughs.”

Pausing, Harry let a small smile ghost his lips, “Now that would be a fun prank.”

Saturday…

Harry wandered the halls looking for something to take his mind off his troubles. If he’d been back home, he could’ve taken his broom out for a quick fly around the pitch but he didn’t have one nor did Briallen like flying all that much, and while the brooms were good here; they weren’t his trusty Nimbus 2000. Sullenly, he trudged back towards the Grand Staircase. His shoulders tensed when he heard Malfoy’s voice call his name, “Hey, Potter!” The blond boy trotted over, “Where are you headed?”

Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Harry asked, “Why do you want to know?”

Hitching a thumb towards the stairs, Draco replied, “I was wondering if you’d like to join the rest of us to hang out in the Room.”

“Which room are you talking about?” Harry asked in confusion.

Now Draco frowned, “Don’t you have a room up on the seventh floor opposite of the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance ballet?”

Still confused, Harry replied, “If we do, I didn’t know. What’s up in yours?”

Draco clapped him on the shoulder and grandly waved, “Anything you can set your mind to! It’s an incredible room created by Rowena Ravenclaw to take the form of whatever the user needs the most. For example, the girls use it as a meeting place to do girly things we mere boys have no earthly business knowing while we guys use it to practice our spells and whatnot. Come on, I’ll show you.”

After climbing all the way up to the seventh floor corridor, Harry watched curiously as Draco passed back and forth three times in front of the tapestry and was mildly surprised as a door appeared in the stonework. Draco stepped up and grasped the doorknob, “Welcome Harry Potter, to the Room of Requirement!”

Eyes wide at the sheer amount of space in the dueling room that lay before him; there was apparently something for all styles of combat from simple stationary targets to hovering discs that required speed and accuracy to hit, to mannequins that shot spells back at the caster. Harry marveled at the amount of magic it must’ve gone into its construction, “This is incredible; but this shouldn’t be here, there’s only the wall between us and the open air.”

Draco shrugged unconcernedly, “It’s Hogwarts, what more of an explanation do you need?” He led Harry back out, “I also want to show you the Room of Hidden Things. Briallen showed it to us and it’s got a bunch of really awesome stuff that’s free for the taking.” He paced three more times and re-opened the door. He grinned at the sight of Harry’s jaw practically scraping the ground at the sight of the towering stacks of discarded goods and materials. “This is where all the elves send the stuff that can’t be reconnected to its owner, stuff that they don’t need and have to store somewhere, and probably some illicitly gained goods. Briallen said that all of the dark stuff has already been cleansed from the Room so you don’t have to worry about being contaminated by anything.” He leant up against an old cabinet with one door blistered by something acidic as he watched Harry wander through the stacks.

Harry turned and let out a genuine grin, “This is incredible…”

Harry had to admit that this Draco was a lot more fun and laidback. True, the aristocratic teen still retained a lot of the same attitudes that his counterpart from Harry’s universe had regarding magical superiority over the muggles, but the way he behaved around the muggleborns was nothing short of amazing. Harry was relaxing with Briallen later and mentioned how strange it was to see Hermione chatting with Draco as if there had never been any animosity over her being a ‘mudblood not knowing her place.’

Bri bobbed her head sagely, “I know, right? I think it was just a matter of introducing them properly and I think I was instrumental in that. Because I wasn’t influenced by Ron Weasley, I offered him a chance to be himself and not be a posturing prick.” Accepting that explanation, Harry sighed as he leant up against the couch back and wistfully commented that he wished he could go fly. Bri frowned, “Why can’t you? The school’s brooms are top-notch these days.”

He rolled his head to look at her, “It’s not the same. I miss my Nimbus.”

Understanding dawned in her eyes, “Ah, right. Well… Are you planning on trying out for a team, or do you just want to fly?”

Harry waggled his hand, “About fifty-fifty at this point. I like the feeling of the competition and the cheers to an extent, but at the same time I also like the feeling of freedom that flying offers me.”

Briallen thought about it for a moment, “In that case, why don’t you speak with Aunt Petunia to see if she’ll allow you to buy a broom? The 2000 model should still be available in the shops, and they’d be a lot cheaper now that the 2001s are out along with the release of the Firebolts.”

Harry pondered this for a couple of moments before shaking his head. At her curious look, he gave her a small smile, “Differences popping up again. I’ve never had to ask Petunia’s permission for something like this before because…

She understood, “Because back home, she would’ve stayed out of your life as much as possible. I get it, I really do; now go ask her instead of moping around.” She nudged his shoulder until he climbed to his feet. Giggling, Bri waved her hand in a shooing motion, “Go before I use a regular broom to sweep you out!”

Dursley residence…

Owing to the fact that it was Saturday, it took Harry a few minutes to remember that Petunia wouldn’t be in the castle so he traipsed back to the Hufflepuff common room and made his way over to where the phone booths were. He checked the sign-in sheet to make sure no one was scheduled to use them (they weren’t) then picked a booth on the end. He dialed the phone number and waited for the line to connect.

“Hello, Dursley residence, Vernon speaking.”

“Hello, Uncle Vernon; this is Harry. I was wondering if Aunt Petunia was home.”

“Sure Harry, one moment while I get her.” Harry could hear his uncle calling out for his wife to answer the phone. “So how are you settling in?”

Harry harrumphed, “It’s been a challenge. I got lost twice going to the wrong potions class because I was used to taking a specific route.”

“Route memory, it happens. Don’t let it stress you out too much. Here she is. Have a good term, Harry.”

Harry thanked him before hearing his aunt speak, “Hey, Aunt Petunia; I was hoping you’d authorize me to buy a Nimbus 2000 so I can go fly whenever I wanted and because it’s a great stress reliever.”

“Hmmm…what’s wrong with the brooms that the school has?”

“They’re not the same. Those are training brooms that have speed and altitude restrictions built into them. The Nimbus was the broom that allowed me to win all of those Quidditch games, if you recall.”

“Are you planning on joining the team?”

Harry hesitated, “If they’ll take me. The Hufflepuff team from my universe was good, especially with Cedric as Seeker. I just need something fast to fly on that I can clear my head of everything that happens around here.”

Petunia was sympathetic, “I understand your problem, Harry. Tell you what, why don’t we wait until Monday when you and I can sit down with Madam Hooch and the Puff team captain to figure out our options?”

Harry bobbed his head even though she couldn’t see it, “I can accept that. Thanks, Aunt Petunia.”

“You’re welcome. Good night, Harry.”

He gave the reply and hung up. Exiting the booth, he wandered around the common room before spotting the area set aside for crafts and games and took a seat next to Susan who was demonstrating how to sew to a curious group of first and second years.

Sunday 5 September 1993; Hogsmeade, Dolores’ hideout

After disguising herself to take a walk through the village, Dolores managed to nick a paper from the stand as she headed back to her cottage. Along the way back, she broke into the butcher shop and stole a whole ham from the cooling storage as well as stealing a couple of fruits and vegetables that were within easy reach from the greengrocer. Once home, she restocked her larder and sat down to see what passed for news these days.

She grimaced and grumbled to herself as she read about the sweeping changes that the muggle devices had been offering plus the increased comforts of home that something called a ‘television’ provided. Her gaze fell upon her mugshot and sneered at how bad she’d been portrayed. When she read how much her bounty was, she nearly blew the roof off with her screeching, “Three thousand?! That’s it?! I’m worth so much more than that piddling travesty!” Slumping back in her chair, she thought feverishly about how and whom to contact to obtain some of the necessary materials to begin her journey to rebuild her previous life. “First thing I need to do is get ahold of Fletcher. Miserable little sneak-thief he is, he’s still my only link to getting those potions.”

Dolores thought hard, trying to remember the floo connection address that she and Fletcher had established illegally that would allow her to leave a message that she needed to speak with him. It took her a couple of tries, both ended up with a dead-end, before she hit upon the correct sequence. “Arrow, this is Requiem. I need to meet with you at the Pig Trough; if you can make it, take Hippogriff with you.” Once that was sent, she disconnected the line and paced around the tiny hovel until she heard the fire flare up again and a dirty, smelly man stepped out of the flames. “Good, you got my message. I have some things I need for you to acquire.”

Mundungus Fletcher didn’t speak at first, there was no need to. He had or could easily get whatever the Toad wanted and knew that she had the funds to pay for it. Where those funds came from, he didn’t know or care. “Whatcha need?”

She handed him a list of clearly illegal potions and ingredients, “The funds for these will be in the usual place. Leave the package there.”

“How soon do you need these?”

“As soon as possible. The longer I have to wait, the higher my chances of being caught by Bones or her lackeys.”

Fletcher bobbed his head as he squinted at her writing. He pointed to one item, “What’s this one?” She took it back from him and clarified that she wanted a potion that would chemically castrate the victim. He made a notation on the sheet and shoved it into his pocket. “Alright, luv; it’s been a real pleasure doing business with you again.” He pinched off a finger full of the floo powder and called out his destination before disappearing into the flames.

When he emerged from his own fireplace, Mundungus extracted the paper and stared at it thoughtfully, “Hmm…all of this would net me about fifteen hundred Galleons. Her bounty is three thousand…turn her in or make a quick coin? Decisions, decisions…”

GO club meeting, that evening

“Ladies! Tonight’s meeting is a discussion on who should have the honor of dating Harry Potter!” Luna cheekily announced to the squeals of laughter from the others. Briallen threw a pillow at the blonde who deflected it and laughed. Luna’s grin was unrepentant, “You should feel happy that we aren’t discussing who should date you, Briallen.”

Hermione immediately wrapped her arms around her girlfriend protectively and leveled an ‘angry glare’ on her face, “Don’t anyone even think about it! She’s mine! All mine!”

“Even in the morning before she’s had her cup of tea?” Millie asked from where she was sitting next to Lily Moon.

Hermione pulled back a bit to look lovingly into Briallen’s eyes, “Even then.” Briallen gave the bushy-haired girl a light kiss on her lips to the ‘swooning’ mock-sighs of the others.

Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head, “Harry’s nice to look at, but it would still be weird to think of dating him. I’d be constantly comparing him to Briallen.”

Bri rose to her feet and puffed up her chest, “Here’s two things that I have that Harry doesn’t so I don’t think you’d have a problem distinguishing the pair of us.” The others snickered at her antics then again as Hermione gave her a playful pat upon her bottom.

“So what’s on tonight’s agenda besides Luna’s longing for Harry?” Someone asked the group at large.

Lavender spoke up, “Did everyone get their permission slips signed to visit the village?” At everyone’s confirmation, “Then why don’t we plan which shops we want to visit first?”

Bri’s hand shot up, “I want to visit Honeydukes! I’ve heard so much about the heart-stopping sweet treats they’ve got there.” Hermione shook her head dismissively at her enthusiasm. Bri whispered in her ear, “What? Just think of the syrups, creams, and other liquidy goodness on offer to make things back in our dorm more…interesting and fun.” The others started laughing at the bright bloom that appeared on Hermione’s face and the glazed look in her eyes.

Lavender called everyone’s attention back, “While we’re waiting for Hermione’s mind to clear of that perversity; I want to take a look into Gladrags to see what their latest fashion selection is like as well as stop into Tinker’s Classic Combinations. I’ve heard they’ve got a wide variety of vintage clothes I could play around with.”

Daphne’s hand went up, “Wouldn’t you be able to find vintage clothing here in the Room?”

Lavender shook her head, “It’s not always guaranteed, besides some of the stuff in here give off some weird vibes.” Heads cocked in confusion at that so she elaborated, “I meant that the colors, the print patterns, and the cuts just don’t feel right and that’s probably why they were abandoned. At least at Tinker’s, you know that someone has worn them in public at some point so they should be alright.”

Padma and Mandy stated that they wanted to check out Tomes and Scrolls to see what other books and manuscripts they might be able to find. Mandy quipped, “I blame Briallen and Hermione for spoiling me to what the muggle world has to offer. The muggles have so many more titles and genres than what the magical shops offer that it makes my head spin with the possibilities.” Briallen gave a jaunty wave and an air-kiss in her direction before dissolving into giggles as Padma poked her in the side.

Tuesday 7 September 1993; Hogwarts, Great Hall, lunchtime

‘The Group’ as they were known as whenever the boys joined the girls of the GO club, gathered at the Slytherin table much to Harry’s surprise. “We’re allowed?”

Draco nodded, “Sure, why not?”

Sighing once more, Harry made a face, “Old habits, I suppose. Never mind, what were you going to say?” He looked over to where Vincent was holding up a cup.

Vince took a sip first, “I was just going to ask if you’d gotten a broom yet like you wanted.”

Harry frowned, “How would you know about that?”

“Bri mentioned it. She said something about you wishing you could just go out and fly without the restriction that the school brooms have. You any good?”

A slow smile ghosted his lips, “I’ve been known to catch the Snitch on occasion.”

Greg looked interested, “Yeah? Were you on a team where you’re from?”

Harry bobbed his head as he snacked on a piece of ham, “Yeah, I got onto Gryffindor’s team my first year thanks to Draco here.” He winked at the blond teen’s look of astonishment. “My Draco had challenged me to follow him up during our first broom training session with Hooch. He’d stolen a Remembrall from Neville after he’d fallen from a wonky broom. After a couple of ineffectual threats made by both of us, he threw it away in hopes that it would smash on the ground but I managed to catch it after a fifty foot dive. Professor McGonagall saw the whole thing and made me a Seeker for the Lions on the spot.”

The other boys’ mouths had dropped open during his story, “No way! First years never make the team! That’s impressive flying, Harry.” Harry dipped his head, slightly embarrassed from the praise. Draco tapped the table and put on a mildly haughty sneer, “You’re welcome, Potter.” Both of them snorted in laughter a second later.

Briallen slid into the space next to Harry and winked conspiratorially as she raised her voice loud enough to be heard throughout the Hall, “Quidditch is such a waste of time and energy. I wish the High Inquisitor would just ban it already.” The Hall immediately erupted into angry yells and shouts for her to keep her blasphemous opinions to herself. Briallen started cracking up, “The Quidditch nuts are so easy to tease.” She poked him playfully on the shoulder, “Have you spoken with Aunt Petunia about getting that broom yet?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, we spoke with Madam Hooch and the team captain about holding another set of tryouts to see if maybe I can get onto the reserve team. I don’t mind if I’m only playing back-up seeing as how Cedric is the starter. If I recall, he wanted to play professionally so I really don’t want to hurt his chances by showing him up on the pitch.”

“So when is the broom going to arrive?” Just as she asked that, the morning mail rush arrived and with it came a brace of owls carrying a long box between them. They dropped it off and swooped out again without stopping for a treat. Upon opening it, the teens’ mouths dropped open at the sight of not a Nimbus 2000, but a gleaming, brand-new Firebolt!

“Urg…” Harry gurgled at the sight of it as he lightly brushed his fingers along the polished shaft and traced the gold lettering, “The fastest broom in the world and it’s mine? I thought…” He stole a glance up at the Teacher’s table and spotted Petunia giving him a smug smile then pantomimed opening a book and holding up three fingers. He bowed his head respectfully before grabbing the broom and heading out of the Hall with nearly all of the boys and the Quidditch fanatics following closely behind.

Up at the Teacher’s table…

Minerva leant over and whispered to Petunia, “I’m surprised that you spent all that money on a broom for Harry, Petunia. What happens when he goes home?”

Petunia sighed, “If he’s able to go home. If he can’t, he’ll need something to use so he doesn’t go barmy from all the differences between our two universes, and frankly, he could use it to practice if he ever wants to try out for the professional teams. The books hinted he might’ve gone that route if it hadn’t been for the second war and Albus’ manipulations.”

At the Quidditch pitch…

Briallen watched as her counterpart put the Firebolt through its paces and got to wondering about an idea that had sprouted after being told by Professor Flitwick that one of the final projects for his Intro to Enchanting class was to come up with a novel solution to an otherwise ordinary problem. She’d wracked her brain trying to come up with such a project only to continuously hit a brick wall. That was until she saw Harry flying around on the broom. A wide grin bloomed on her face; Hermione saw it and groaned, “What evil plan have you got swirling in that devious mind of yours?”

Bri turned that look onto her girlfriend, “You’re complaining? I thought you loved last night’s idea.”

Hermione shivered and got a goofy look on her face, “Yes, the handcuffs were fun…” She cleared her throat and got serious, “Seriously, what are you planning?”

“Remember the American movie ‘E.T.?’” Hermione slowly bobbed her head up and down at the non-sequitur, “Well, I was thinking how much fun it would be if I could get a bicycle to fly. Plus, in the modern world seeing someone walking down the street carrying a broom is going to be a bit more curious than a cyclist. Cyclists are everywhere, dress weirdly in bright colors, and have a language of their own. It’s the perfect cover.”

Hermione frowned in thought, “How would you do the enchantments though? I can’t imagine that you’d be able to copy the ones on the brooms; those are proprietary to the manufacturer.”

Briallen shrugged unconcernedly, “Uncle Padfoot has a flying motorcycle, or did for a while. Maybe I could borrow the arrays from him.”

Saturday 11 September, 1993; The third years’ first Hogsmeade visit

Harry whistled appreciatively as soon as he caught sight of Briallen walking up to the queue line to catch a carriage into the village. His counterpart had gone with a sort-of quasi-librarian aesthetic; a chocolate brown knee-length button front skirt, a pleated front silk shirt with bishop sleeves, stockings in charcoal grey; a pair of tan ankle boots and a country-style patchwork jumper over one arm completed the outfit. Her messy hair had been somehow tamed into luxurious curls and waves. “Wow, I look good as a girl,” he teased her.

Briallen gave him a once-over as well; he’d gone with a basic set of denim jeans that actually fitted him, a simple t-shirt with a dragon logo on the front, his trainers, and a Hufflepuff-colored cardigan. She waggled her finger at him. “You better be careful with that outfit; Luna’s been on the hunt for a date as of our last GO meeting.”

His face scrunched up a bit in confusion, “She’s too young to be going into town though.”

She shook her head mirthfully, “I don’t think she cares. She’s been making comments about how she wants to ‘ravish’ you the first chance she can.”

Harry groaned, “Isn’t this the same Luna who believes in strange creatures no one else can see?”

Bri shook her head, “That would be the Luna from your universe. Mine is the one who had friends straight from the beginning and was never teased for being abnormal. She still believes but doesn’t use them as a social crutch.”

He bobbled his head in understanding, “So she’s acting like a normal pre-teen girl should be acting.”

“Exactly; just remember to treat her the way you’d want to be treated. She’s as much my sister as she’s a friend.” Briallen warned him. Harry held up his hands in submission and promised to be a perfect gentleman if the date should occur.

As they trundled along the road to the village, Harry openly wondered if they’d be safe since Umbridge was still on the loose. Draco overheard and scoffed, “It’s highly unlikely that she’d be stupid enough to hide out in Hogsmeade so close to the castle and civilization.”

Harry gave him an exasperated look, “Escaped convicts aren’t exactly known for their mental prowess, Malfoy. We don’t even know why she escaped in the first place.”

Susan interjected, “My auntie mentioned that Umbridge had been muttering in her sleep before she escaped. She kept saying, ‘She’s at Hogwarts’ over and over again.”

Harry’s eyes immediately drifted over to Briallen who was making cow-eyes at a playfully uninterested Hermione. “You don’t think… I mean, it would be par for the course in my world for some crazed lunatic to be after me.”

Susan shook her head, “I doubt it. From all accounts, Umbridge doesn’t even know who Briallen is let alone want to hurt her in any way. I think it has something to do with the High Inquisitor; from what I gathered from listening to my auntie is that during our first year when Mrs. Dursley took the position, the Daily Prophet ran a story about her which not everyone liked. I’m supposing that Umbridge took offense that a Squib was able to land a potentially influential position and ended up doing something stupid which landed her in jail.”

Harry’s mind began connecting the dots, “So you think that Umbridge is on the hunt for Petunia? Wonderful… I’m surprised that the Ministry hasn’t sent out the Dementors.” He’d read about that particular incident in the third book and shivered at the thought of those demons on the loose.

Susan gave him a knowing look, “Right? Auntie mentioned before we got on the train that it had been a close thing with Minister Fudge, but she managed to talk him down from that route. She said it would be political suicide if he did.”

Understanding dawned on his face, “That’s when they opened it up to the public. I saw that article in the paper. Do you think anyone’s going to be able to find her?”

She shrugged, “Hopefully soon. I shudder to think what sort of trouble she’d be able to stir up.”

At the Hogsmeade carriage depot…

Hidden under a purloined men’s cloak, Dolores silently observed the carriages as they disgorged their passengers and thought about how best to approach the Bones’ girl. Originally, she’d planned on figuring out how to infiltrate the castle but when she saw the carriages, her plans changed. The sight of Susan stepping out of the carriage clinched it for her. She remembered from the back issues she’d managed to obtain that the girl had been infected and was now a werewolf. “How could anyone just let that beast roam free? If I were still in charge, I’d have rounded it up for sale on the black market as a toy to someone of a higher means.”

She glanced up at the sky and rejoiced that the moon was nowhere near full. It would make her job easier if the beast’s senses weren’t at their peak. Dolores checked her pouch containing the aerosolized knock-out potion and the memory blocker. “Now, how best can I separate it from the rest of the children?” Her drawn, wrinkled face stretched horribly as soon as she spotted her quarry entering the bookshop.

Susan and the others had just entered the bookshop only for her to pull up short, causing a bit of a pile-up in the doorway. Hannah gently touched her on the arm, “Susan?”

Sniffing the air, Susan frowned, “Something’s not right here. Everyone head back outside now.” Her sensitive nose picking up a trace of a malevolent presence, heightened even further as she couldn’t see the proprietor anywhere. She slowly spun in place trying to locate its source but couldn’t see anyone. As she started backing up to the door it slammed shut in her face, separating her from her friends. Hannah started banging her fists on the door screaming her name in surprised fear.

Susan whirled back around to face the shop floor and kept her eyes peeled for any sign of movement, “I know you’re here. I can smell you. What do you want with me?”

Unseen due to her disillusionment spell, Dolores sent a stupefy spell at the teen girl only to frown as the bitch jumped out of the way at the last moment and ducked behind a display case. Carefully but skillfully skirting around the counter, Dolores peeked over the edge and spotted her quarry hunkered down underneath. She aimed her wand at the girl and unleashed another stupefy only for it to bounce off a mirror and narrowly miss herself!

Susan scrambled out from underneath the counter the moment the spell bounced off the mirror and ran across the sales floor and disappeared into the stacks. Breathing hard, she looked around for anything that could be used as a more effective means of cover as she drew her wand. Inwardly, she cursed herself for not knowing how to cast the human revealing spell and vowed once this was over, it would be the first thing to learn when she got back to the castle. As it was, she had a severing spell primed and ready to go at the first sign of her attacker.

That sign appeared a moment later when Dolores materialized in front of her, her twisted features grinning malevolently as she gave a sickeningly fake cough, “Hem, hem.”

DMLE, Director Bones’ office, same time…

Amelia’s door burst open as one of her Aurors rushed in yelling that Susan had been attacked in Hogsmeade. She grabbed a handful of powder and threw it into the floo yelling, “Three Broomsticks!” She practically launched herself out of the fireplace on the other side and into the street where a cluster of Hogwarts students and Minerva were standing, “Report!”

Minerva pointed towards the bookshop, “Your niece and a few of her friends entered Tomes and Scrolls when Susan noted that something didn’t seem right. She managed to get them out before she was separated from them.” Amelia motioned for her Aurors to seal off the perimeter of the shop. “According to Miss Abbott, the last thing she heard was Susan screaming the severing charm.”

Hurrying over to the window of the shop, she carefully peeked in and saw to her horror a puddle of blood on the floor with drag marks leading towards the back. Amelia gave a three-count signal before she vanished the door and rushed in, staying low to avoid drawing attention to her entry. “Auntie?” she heard Susan’s quiet voice reaching out to her. “Susan? Where are you?”

Susan slowly stood up, her wand pointing at her aunt, “Tell me about our trip to Morocco.”

Amelia grinned approvingly as she too held her wand in the general direction of the girl, “It wasn’t to Morocco; it was to Manchester to visit the museums. You told me once that you planned on marrying Paddington.”

Susan blushed brightly, “I was four and it wasn’t Paddington; it was Winnie the Pooh.” The slightly embarrassed teen emerged from her cover and rushed into her aunt’s embrace as she began crying. “I was so scared!”

“Are you hurt at all? I saw the blood on the floor,” Amelia replied then called out to her team, “The room’s secure; check the rest of the shop and town.” They heard the acknowledgement from the team lead before returning to each other.

Susan replied, “I managed to get off a cutting curse on her.”

“Her? Who attacked you?”

Susan’s eyes were wide and fearful as she answered between sobs, “It was Dolores Umbridge! She said I was going to be put down like the bitch I am to send a message to you that you can’t protect me all the time.”

With the visit to the village effectively canceled, the students were rounded up and sent packing back up to the school while the entire town was searched from top to bottom by the Aurors. Unseen by all of them, Dolores skirted the edge of town as she hurried as fast she could back to her hovel to hide. As she passed through the property line, she activated a Wizard Notice-Me-Not ward, effectively hiding her location from anyone not on the approved list (which was everyone.) She dashed inside and made sure that the floo was locked down before allowing herself a moment to breathe and check on the wound inflicted by that werewolf bitch. Dolores grimaced at the sight of the line carved into her face that was sure to scar over and counted herself lucky that the teen was such a poor marksman. “Forget about selling her to the highest bidder; I’ll kill that whelp the next time we meet.” She flinched as she dabbed at the blood with a bandage.

Once that was done, she grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a vial of the health restorative potion she bought off of Fletcher, and settled down to watch for any incursions into her territory by the Aurors.

Back at the DMLE…

Amelia had taken a copy of Susan’s memories for analysis and returned to her office after leaving her niece in the care of her friends. Pacing around her office while waiting for the After-Action reports, Amelia wracked her brain trying to figure out how to locate Dolores. In the corner of her eye, she spotted the one person who was rapidly earning herself a first-hand one-way exposé on how the inhabitants of Azkaban fared.

The Daily Prophet’s ‘intrepid’ reporter Rita Skeeter had been skulking around looking for the latest gossip she could use in her next column. Whether or not there was any truth in the rumors she picked up was immaterial to her, as long as it sold well she was happy. Her insides froze when she heard Director Bones’ grating voice call out, “Skeeter! Get in my office now!”

Rita cringed inwardly as she watched Amelia stare unblinkingly at her for what seemed to be an eternity. “First off, stay out of my department. I know you love to look for gossip but the Aurors are off-limits to you. If you want gossip, hang around the cafeteria. The people who work in Sports and Games are your best bet.” Rita looked surprised at Amelia’s suggestion. “The reason I wanted you in here was to give myself plausible deniability and to offer you a secret assignment should you choose to accept it. If you don’t, well I can always call your bosses about assigning you to report on the Azkaban beat.” The look of fear on Rita’s face warmed Amelia’s heart.

“What…What sort of secret assignment?” Rita stammered.

Amelia’s gaze hardened, “I want you to utilize whatever resources and abilities you might have to hunt down and report on Dolores Umbridge’s location. You will not publish anything until I have given you clearance. Once she’s in custody, I’ll even award you the three thousand Galleon bounty she has on her head.”

Rita’s mind swirled at that, “Bump it up to five thousand and I’ll see what I can do.”

Snorting in derision, “Three thousand or a one-way ticket to Azkaban. Take it or leave it.”

Sighing in defeat, Rita accepted the deal, “Any ideas where I can start?”

“She was last seen in Hogsmeade trying to kidnap my niece. Starting there would probably be your best bet. Oh, one other thing; stay away from my niece,” Amelia warned the reporter.

Rita nodded her head as she rose to her feet, “Is there any time requirements?”

Amelia shook her head no, “Just that sooner would be much better than later. Get out.” Rita immediately left leaving a grumbling Director behind her. As soon as her door closed, Amelia scrubbed her face with her hands, “Let’s hope this works…”

Monday 13 September, 1993; Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge’s office

“Ah, Amelia! Have you been able to ascertain how Dolores was able to escape?” Fudge asked her as she sat down.

The burning look of anger on her face was telling in and of itself, “I have and I promise you that heads will roll. One of the prison Aurors, Charles Bricker went into her cell with his wand and his truncheon intent on giving Dolores a beat-down for some imagined infraction. His wand wasn’t in the holster provided for Azkaban guards. The rules clearly state that Aurors are required to LOCK a wand into a holster UNLESS it’s being drawn by the person whose MAGICAL SIGNATURE matches both the wand and holster to PREVENT a SNAFU like this!” At his confused look, she elaborated, “He thought he was the current reigning Top Dog, so why should a mere prisoner be able to fight him and win, right?” Cornelius stammered his agreement. “I swear to Merlin, if I see his face in my office anytime soon, the LEAST of his worries will be having to go through Auror training all over again beginning at the LOWEST rookie or trainee level!”

Cornelius waited for her to finish her rant. “Um, what does SNAFU mean?”

Snorting derisively, she explained, “It’s an acronym for ‘Situation Now All Fouled Up.’ It means that the situation is bad, but that this is a normal state of affairs. There are cruder versions but I think you get the idea.”

Cornelius bobbed his head in understanding, “I’ll have to remember that. Go on with your report.”

Amelia checked her notes, “I’ve got Rita Skeeter sniffing around like she normally does for any clues about Dolores’ whereabouts. If anyone can accomplish this, it’s her.”

Hogsmeade…

Dolores had just finished her appointed rounds in acquiring information and supplies from Fletcher when he let slip that Rita Skeeter had been buzzing around looking for gossip on her. Growling about this latest attempt to prevent her from finishing her mission, she immediately set about installing an Anti-Animagus ward that would stun and incapacitate anyone with the ability whether they were transformed or not. Frowning in distaste at the myriad of obstacles in her path as she dusted off her hands and headed back inside; Dolores turned her attention back to her recent purchase of poisons. She picked up one bottle marked with a skull and crossbones and read the label: sodium fluoroacetate. Given her stance on anything non-magical, the irony of using the muggle manufactured toxin was conveniently ignored as she began humming under her breath. From her research, she knew that: A. there was no antidote, and B. the Healers at Saint Mungo’s had never encountered it before therefore wouldn’t begin to know what to look for.

She tittered evilly, “Such a shame for the last of the Bones’ family to be taken out like this. Such a fine, upstanding family at one point. Pity.”

Wednesday 15 September, 1993; Department of Mysteries, Croaker’s office

Algernon looked up at the sound of someone knocking on his door. “Come in!” he yelled out. Agent 22 walked in carrying a wooden box of indeterminate age. “Whatcha got there?”

“I was poking around the Master List of some of our more obscure projects when I came across a reference made about a quill that had been enchanted to connect with its counterpart in another realm. I got to wondering if that ‘other realm’ meant another universe like the one that Harry Potter came from. I need your permission to set it up.”

Croaker leant back in his chair and pointed to the box, “Is that it? What’s inside?”

Agent 22 set the box on the desk and opened it, “It’s two vertical mirrors oriented at right angles to each other such that the mirrors meet at a vertical line along with a modified quill. According to the notes attached to the project, whatever you write will be mirrored in the other realm. To read what is sent back, you look into the 1st mirror through to the 2nd mirror where you will see the reflected note as you would normally read it, not laterally inverted.”

Fascinated, Algernon peered at the two mirrors, “I’m intrigued. Go ahead and set this up in Miscellaneous Experiment Room A113. Let me know when you’re ready to calibrate it.”

Agent 22 bowed their head, “Yes, sir.” They packed up the parts and left.

Hogwarts, in Susan’s dorm room…

Hannah entered her shared dorm with Susan and spotted a mysterious wrapped package on her friend’s bed. She frowned for a moment, “That wasn’t here this morning.” She glanced behind her as she wondered if it wouldn’t upset her friend if she just took a quick peek. Carefully unwrapping the paper, she lifted the lid to see a delectable array of sweets and cakes. Fretting, Hannah licked her lips at the sight of all those treats. Snapping out of her reverie, she closed the box back up, “No, this is wrong. I shouldn’t be sneaking anything from Susie. She’s my best friend…” Her eyes slid back to the box laying invitingly on the bed, silently beckoning her to sample its wares. “Maybe just a nibble won’t hurt.” She reached in and selected a pretty pink doughnut. She’d just taken the tiniest of nibbles when Susan walked in, “Hey! Hannah!”

Hannah fumbled the doughnut and wiped her mouth, “Sorry! I couldn’t help myself! They just looked so inviting and delicious.”

Giving her friend a dirty look, Susan swiped the box back and shoved it into her trunk. “Come on, we need to study for Charms.”

Thirty minutes into their studies, Hannah wasn’t feeling too good. Her stomach roiled as if she’d eaten a tub of flobberworms and her arms and legs ached. Groaning, she bolted for the loo and slammed the stall door shut just in time for her to start retching into the toilet. Susan entered a few minutes later worried for her friend, “Hannah? Are you alright?”

“Nooo…” was Hannah’s faint moan.

Growing concerned, Susan called for an elf to take Hannah to the Infirmary.

Minerva and Petunia rushed into the infirmary after being alerted by Poppy that one of her patients showed all the classic signs of being poisoned. “I don’t understand what could be the cause. Nothing is showing up in my scans,” Poppy fretted nervously. “For the time being, I’ve got her under a stasis field until I can figure out how to treat her. What about the non-magical world, Petunia? Would they have a way to detect the undetectable?”

Petunia thought hard, “They would need to know everything and everyone she came into contact with for the past couple of days. What she ate, drank, handled, and breathed. We would need to send them samples of her soaps, shampoo, clothes, anything she might’ve touched.”

Minerva called for the Head elf and issued her instructions for everything that Miss Abbott owned to be retrieved and brought to the infirmary as well as an order to check over their food and drink supplies for possible contaminants. When Head elf Wrinkly heard what happened to the poor girl, he promised they would leave no stone unturned until they found the culprit.

Susan rushed into the infirmary carrying the doughnut box, “Madam Pomfrey! The last time I saw Hannah eat anything, it came from this box. She’d taken a tiny bite out of one of the doughnuts before I caught her.”

Poppy took the box and opened it. Inside was the partially eaten doughnut lying seemingly innocent amongst the others. She cast her diagnostic spells but came up empty again. “Nothing to identify the poison. I had so hoped it might be the source. I did detect a sloppy compulsion charm on the box itself though I can’t begin to identify the magical signature.” She began to close the lid. “I’m going to contact both Saint Mungo’s and the Department of Mysteries to see if they can come up with a solution and figure out who would dare to do something so callous.” She strode over to the floo and placed her call.

Petunia knelt down to look Susan in the eyes, “Hannah will be alright, Susan. She’s in stasis right now so as far as she’s concerned, the world around her including her vitals, have frozen in time. You know that the Healers won’t give up until they cure Hannah and send her back to you.” Susan started sobbing in relief and gripped Petunia in a hug before moving to Hannah’s bedside to stand vigil.

When the Healers arrived to transport Hannah to the hospital, Susan begged to be allowed to go with her but Minerva denied her request. “There’s nothing you can do for her there and you’d just be getting in the way. Let them do their jobs while you do yours as a student.”

Minerva’s announcement of Hannah’s mysterious poisoning was held at dinner that evening. “As always, I ask that you keep your eyes and ears open to any hints of subterfuge. We aren't entirely sure but we have to suspect this was an attack perpetrated by Dolores Umbridge for reasons that are still unclear. If anyone knows anything, either from family or friends of their family, please don’t hesitate to inform myself, the High Inquisitor, or Madam Pomfrey immediately. Remember, that information could save a young girl her life.”

Sunday 19 September, 1993; Room of Requirement, Hermione’s birthday party

Harry watched and enjoyed himself at Hermione’s fourteenth birthday party. At the moment, he was taking a break and rubbing his feet from the sheer amount of dancing Luna had begged him to do with her. The energetic twelve-year old had swung him around in some chaotic dance that only she seemed to be knowledgeable about. They twirled and fluttered about it each other seemingly out of time with the music yet at the same instance, catching up on the fourth beat of whatever song was playing. It was crazy yet fun, so he allowed her to continue having her enjoyment. When the last song finished playing, Luna disappeared off towards the refreshment table while he took a seat for a breather. Bri sauntered up to him, her guitar slung over her shoulders, “Hey, Other Me. How’re you doing?”

Harry snorted at the moniker, “Luna’s an enthusiastic dancer; I’ll give her that.” He gestured to the guitar, “You going to grace us with a song?”

She nodded and glanced over at the stage, “I’m just waiting on Anthony Goldstein to get his drums set up.”

“What are you going to play?”

Bri shifted the guitar a bit to sit better, “It’s Elvis Presley’s song ‘A Little Less Conversation.’”

Harry nodded appreciatively, “Can’t go wrong with the King, even if his accent sounds weird.”

Snorting lightly, “He’s an American, they’re all weird.”

Anthony appeared just then holding up his drumsticks, “Found them, let’s get started.” Briallen flashed Harry a smile and followed her friend up to the stage.

While Briallen and Anthony were finishing their set-up, Luna reappeared carrying a couple of cups. “Here, I got you one as well.” She brazenly sat down on his lap and leant up against him.

Rolling his eyes at her impulsiveness, he poked her gently in her side and teased, “Excuse you. I think you’re being a bit forward there, Miss Lovegood. What would the Headmistress say if she saw you taking liberties with a boy from another universe?”

Luna turned her head upwards to stare at him upside-down, “I don’t care. I want to give you some happy memories before you’re sent back.”

Harry nearly choked on the sip of juice, “Wha… How do you know that I’ll be able to go back?”

Luna shrugged which had an odd effect because of the way she was seated on his lap and looking up at him, “I see and know things. Sometimes I can’t explain what I see so I draw them out. I’ve got dozens of sketchpads full of unusual drawings of strange creatures, scenes, people I’ve never met, locations around the world, and even the odd invention or two.”

“And you saw me returning to my universe?”

She nodded solemnly, “Yes, you went through a mirror kind of like Alice in the Looking Glass story.”

Harry was growing excited, “Do you know who or how it was created? When do I go through this mirror?”

Luna shook her head, “I wasn’t shown those parts. You did look a bit older than you do now and you didn’t go through alone.”

Surprised, Harry asked who else she saw. Her eyes swung over to where Hermione danced to Briallen’s music. Harry’s mouth dropped open as he silently pointed at the bushy-haired girl. Luna waggled her hand, “It is but at the same time, it wasn’t her.”

His mind whirling, Harry pondered that, “Do you mean to suggest that my Hermione went through the mirror with me?”

Again Luna shrugged resignedly, “It’s possible but uncertain. I can only tell you what I remember from my vision. The information from them is not always what it appears to be on the surface. Sometimes, those visions contain metaphors for events that have yet to happen or things I would need to learn from.”

Wordlessly, Harry allowed Luna to pull him to his feet for another dance. As he followed her lead, he rejoiced at the thought of being able to go home. Strangely enough, the same thought filled him with a tinge of regret. ‘For all the oddities here; Briallen, these Dursleys, and her friends are starting to grow on me. Could I leave them behind when the time comes?’

Monday 20 September, 1993; Saint Mungo’s Hospital

Hannah’s parents, Minerva, Poppy, and Amelia gathered to hear Hannah’s Healer explain their findings regarding her mysterious poisoning. “At first, we were stumped by her symptoms. Nothing we knew of was working so we reached out to our counterparts out in the muggle world.” Hannah’s mother wept quietly as her husband looked on stoically. “After a detailed analysis, they determined that the doughnut your daughter partially ingested was contaminated with a highly toxic pesticide known as Compound 1080 or Sodium fluoroacetate. It’s lethal to humans in as little as 2 to 10mg/kg. We were fortunate that her friend contacted Madam Pomfrey when she did. If left untreated, death would’ve occurred within a couple of hours.”

Hannah’s mum fainted at that. She was levitated into a bed with her husband by her side. He implored the Healer to continue. “While effective antidotes are unknown, the muggle healers recommended that we start her on a treatment plan of muscle relaxants, anti-convulsants, and mechanical ventilation.”

Petunia touched him on the arm, “When will she get better?”

The Healer shook his head, “We’re not sure at this point in time. The Unspeakables are working as fast as they can to come up with a viable treatment plan to see if they can metabolize the poison out of her body without causing more trouble. As it is, she’s going to face a long road to recovery, if at all.”

Petunia frowned, “Worst case scenario?”

Sighing, the Healer shook his head sadly, “The muggle healers report that 1080 is toxic to all living species, including microbes, plants, insects, birds, and humans. In mammals, it causes birth defects, reduced fertility, and damage to the reproductive system, brain, heart, and other organs. Anecdotal evidence indicates that its use may be linked to an increased risk of developing cancer. I’m sorry, but that’s all I can say until we learn more.” He turned to where Hannah was sleeping, enveloped by the swirling blue energy of the stasis field, “She’ll be with us for a while.”

Minerva asked him if they or the Unspeakables had been able to determine the identity of the magical signature of the compulsion charm on the box. Here, the Healer nodded, “Yes, it was confirmed to be Dolores Umbridge’s signature, and before you ask, Director Bones has already been notified.”

Tamping down on her emotions that were threatening to unleash her inner Scot, Minerva thanked him for his help and information. She allowed Petunia to guide her out of the room, “She’s a dead woman, Petunia. Forget about a trial or sending her back to Azkaban; if I get ahold of her first, I’ll show that Toad why you don’t endanger the life of someone under the care of a McGonagall.”

The Department of Mysteries, the following Friday…

Agent 22 sat at an unassuming desk that had been dragged up from storage and installed in Miscellaneous Experiment Room A113. On its surface sat a pair of mirrors arranged in right angles to each other. A special quill lay on the table in front of him, waiting for one side or the other to begin writing. Taking a fortifying breath, Agent 22 adjusted the mirror ever so slightly until it aligned with the positional calculations indicated by the complex temporal arithmancy required to even attempt this plan.

In the mirror, he saw his hand pick up the quill, dip it into the inkpot and begin to write. ‘This is Agent 22 of Earth 5678-T. Director Algernon Croaker of the Department of Mysteries, commanding. We are looking for the world that is missing a wizard named Harry James Potter, age thirteen. He attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland. The date today is 24 September 1993.’

It took mere moments before he began receiving replies:

‘This is Earth 9641-Z. Director Saul Croaker of the Department of Mysteries, commanding. We have a Harry James Potter on the school’s registry and is currently on the missing persons list. What is your request?’

‘Our world already has a Briallen Jamie Potter who resides naturally in this world. Harry James Potter came to us via some natural episode that we are still unsure as to how, who, or why. We are trying to locate his home universe so we can send him back, if a way can be found.’

‘Understood. Standby while we transcribe his records to see if they match the boy.’

While Agent 22 waited, Algernon watched from the adjoining viewing room, “Incredible. Communication with another universe. Set up a team to investigate this further once we locate Harry’s home universe.” His SIC bowed their head and made a notation on their clipboard. When the alternate universe began transcribing the records they had, Croaker’s heart dropped as he read the information; this universe wasn’t Harry’s.

They’d have to keep searching.

Four hours and a dozen alternate universes later, Agent 22 hit pay dirt. Earth 2558-P finished transcribing their records and it matched all the critical information they required! The alternate Agent 22 even produced a sketch of their Harry that matched what the teen looked like right down to the details of the famous scar and the magical signature that was unique to all witches and wizards.

‘Our universe’s Albus Dumbledore has been searching high and low for the Potter boy since August of this year. He has practically everyone worked up trying to locate him as soon as possible.’

‘Any distinguishing notes suggesting means of teleportation between universes?’

‘Yes, we received multiple reports of a bizarre single lightning strike over Little Whinging, Surrey. Weather reports of the day indicated clear skies and average temperatures for summer.’

Agent 22 glanced hopefully over his shoulder to the viewing window where Croaker stood. Algernon motioned for him to wait a moment while he scribbled out more questions. The list was passed through a slot in the wall since once a person was inside; they had to go through a complicated process akin to setting up a ritual circle in order to leave.

‘My Director wants to know if a request had been put in by Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall for a Time Turner to be issued to a Hermione Jean Granger for use during the 1993/94 school year.’

‘Wait for a moment. We will check.’ Fifteen minutes passed before the quill began scribbling again, ‘Yes, that request has already been processed. Miss Granger would’ve been given her instructions on how to use the device. Is there a problem you noticed that we missed?’

‘It is my Director’s observation that if your Hermione Granger is anything like ours, then the disappearance of Harry Potter will trigger her into researching everything she can lay her hands on regarding time and dimensional travel. We recommend you watch over her just in case she makes a breakthrough.’

‘Is there a burgeoning relationship between the two that would indicate why she would bother?’

Agent 22 again looked back towards Croaker who motioned his permission to reveal the existence of the Books. ‘In our world, Briallen Potter was gifted seven annotated books that laid out the truth behind the life of Harry James Potter, first briefly after the events of Halloween 1981 at Godric’s Hollow in the township of Little Whinging, Surrey then ten years later a couple of days before his eleventh birthday followed by the next seven years which also included Harry’s, Hermione’s, their friend named Ronald Weasley involvement in a second Blood War that encompassed the entire island and took hundreds of lives. It was because of these books; Harry was able to break free of the grossly illegal enchantments that Albus Dumbledore had put upon the Potter heir and revert back to their original form of Briallen Jamie Potter. The Harry Potter we have here is from your universe where he didn’t receive those books. We believe that the relationship between Harry and Hermione was closer to a strong friendship that might’ve evolved into something lasting if not for Albus Dumbledore’s manipulations.’

‘Understood. We will investigate and inform you of our findings. If Miss Granger is as smart as you say she is; we shall offer her whatever materials and help she needs to complete her experiments.’

‘Accepted. We shall keep you informed of our progress on this side. This Agent 22 of Earth 5678-T signing off.’ He laid the quill down, collected up the written conversation, and stood up to begin the close-out process.

Outside, Algernon stroked his chin as he fought to formulate a viable solution. ‘How does one begin to solve such a problem? What could I use to transfer a living being from one universe to another?’ He gathered up his notes and went to greet Agent 22 after the latter emerged from the containment field. As he walked into the room, Agent 22 rose to greet him, “Here you go, sir. Everything we have which was communicated from the other side.”

Algernon thanked his agent, “If you need me, I’ll be up at Hogwarts.”

A short while later…

Harry, Petunia, and Director Croaker met to discuss the latest in the latter’s discovery of how to communicate between universes. While Harry read the transcripts, Petunia questioned Croaker, “If we can send him back, what will you tell your counterpart about the missing Horcrux in his scar?”

Algernon shrugged unconcernedly, “I’ll inform him that it’s standard procedure here to remove all Dark elements regardless of their importance to the home world. Let them figure out what to do from there.”

“Director?” Both adults turned to Harry. “Now that you have made contact, is there a way to send a message to Hermione? I want to reassure her that I’m fine. I’m sure she’s worried sick about me.”

Croaker was amused, “It must be a constant between universes or something.”

“What do you mean?”

He shook his head, “It’s just funny you should mention her. We asked if their Miss Granger had been issued a Time Turner and when they confirmed it; we suggested that they keep a close eye on her and her experiments given that you and I both know how driven she is to solve a problem whenever a mystery or a puzzle presents itself.”

Harry smirked and nodded his head before returning to his reading. He paused once more, “Oh, before I forget; did you know that Luna Lovegood is a Seer? She apparently has had dreams about me and Hermione walking through some kind of mirror to return home like in the ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ story.”

Algernon’s eyes snapped wide open, “Really?” He looked to Petunia who immediately called for Toby. The elf popped in, received his instructions then popped away. He returned a few moments later with a slightly swaying Luna. “Whoa, that was unusual. Oh, hello everyone.”

“Miss Lovegood, we understand from Harry here, that you are an untrained Seer. Is this true? Have you seen a way to send him home?”

Luna bobbed her head as she fingered her shirt hem nervously, “Yes, sir but he didn’t go home alone. He was with his version of Hermione Granger. Both of them were a few years older too.”

Algernon pulled out his wand and a miniaturized pensieve, “With your permission, I would like to examine your memory of this dream.” She gave such permission so he extracted it and dropped it into the bowl. He tapped a couple of rune sequences on the side and dipped his finger in, “I shall return forthwith.” A final tap on a glowing sequence caused his eyes to glaze over and his body to relax.

In the meantime, Luna crawled onto Harry’s lap and wrapped his arms around her waist to Petunia’s amusement. Luna winked at the High Inquisitor, “I want to make sure I get as many cuddles from him as I can before he goes home.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Dear Hermione, Hello from the Other Side!

Friday 1 October, 1993; Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch

‘I’ve been here at school for an entire month and frankly, I’m still amazed at what my life could’ve been like. I think my mind is effectively blown.’ Harry mused as he floated above the pitch on his still-brand new Firebolt. For the first time since he’d re-entered the magical world at age eleven; he’d realized the sheer amount of possibilities that lay before him without having to suffer Dumbledore’s manipulations or the threat of Voldemort hanging over his head. His classes were going splendidly, even potions, which was a constant source of surprise. ‘Who knew that having a qualified teacher who actually enjoyed teaching would make all the difference? Oh yeah, just about everyone who’d ever taken Snape’s class!’ He smirked inwardly at the ‘drooling with happiness’ expression that his Hermione would’ve had after last week’s Transfiguration lesson on how to apply the torsional stiffness equation in spun bamboo so they could build a tower to support the weight of three Hagrid-sized adults in a strong wind.

He’d joked with Neville that back home under Professor McGonagall, they would’ve just stayed with the tried-and-true curriculum learning the Switching spell or the theory of Animagus transformation.

On top of his educational wake-up call; this morning as he observed how integrated everyone seemed, he’d wistfully made a comment about how he wished that his Hermione could be here to experience all of this for herself.

‘Of course then Luna had to go and really mess with my mind by mysteriously remarking that I needed to learn patience and wait to see what the future held. I swear, if she wasn’t so adorable…’ he trailed off and let the ‘threat’ hang ominously. He chuckled to himself, “Yeah, right. Like anyone would be able to threaten her. Briallen would have their guts for garters if they tried.”

“Potter! Come on down, practice is over!” His team captain, Cedric Diggory yelled up at him. Harry’s lips twitched as he nosed over and practically fell from the sky, rolling over, and pulling out at seemingly the last second before coasting to a stop to the open-mouthed astonishment of the rest of the team. Puff Chaser Alden Summers was seen slowly shaking his head in amazement. “Seriously, Potter? A Wronksi Feint? How in Merlin’s name did you only make reserve?”

Harry sheepishly toed the ground and gestured over towards Cedric, “I…well, uh…the other you, you know the one from my universe? (Cedric nodded) Well, he wanted to become a professional Quidditch player so on the off-chance that you were the same; I didn’t want to do so well that the scouts forgot about you and ruin your shot.”

Cedric smiled understandingly, “Well, to answer your question; I am hoping to get signed on by a professional team so thank you for hiding that jaw-dropping talent of yours.” He draped a brotherly arm over Harry’s shoulders, “I appreciate your restraint, Harry.”

Harry shrugged depreciatingly, “S’not a problem, Cedric.”

Beater Anthony Rickett clapped his hands, “Well, now that this mushy stuff is over, I’m gonna head out. I’ve got a DADA essay to finish.”

Harry bobbed his head in agreement as he shouldered his broom, “I’ve got a letter to Hermione I’ve been meaning to write.” The others’ heads perked up as a couple of curious expressions and raised eyebrows could be seen. “I meant my Hermione, from my home universe,” Harry clarified to their bobbing heads.

Hufflepuff 3^rd year boys’ dorm rooms…

After showering and changing back into his regular clothes, Harry traipsed back up to his dorm and settled down at his desk to pen his letter home. He stared unseeingly at the blank paper and contemplated what he wanted to say. He knew he’d have to keep it clean since not only would the Unspeakables on this side see it, but also the ones back home as well as anyone else (read Dumbledore) who would be nosy enough to want to glean from the letter for any possible secrets being shared.

Dear Hermione (and everyone else sticking their broken beak into my private letter);

I want to start this letter off by stating unequivocally that I miss you so much! I miss hearing you laugh, I miss the way you curl up alongside me after classes in front of the fire and quietly read your favorite book. I miss your hugs, and the sweet way you bump against me in lieu of holding hands since yours are always full of books. I miss the way you dive headfirst into lecture mode anytime someone asks a question about whatever we’re learning. I miss the sight of your brilliant smile and the way your eyes twinkle at the mere mention of getting to learn something new. As I write this, I can only imagine the look on your face as you attempt to research a way to bring me home (or you to me.)

My other self, her name is Briallen Jamie Potter and she’s everything I wish I was. She’s vibrant and outgoing; ready to make friends with everyone, intelligent, crafty, and thoroughly besotted with her Hermione. That’s right, Briallen’s a witch’s witch (I think that’s the polite term) which I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at; I’ve been told by the Unspeakables that there’s a mathematical theory where a version of me could end up with just about anyone in another universe. Can you imagine if a version of me ended up with Draco or worse, Snape? Merlin, I think I just barfed a little… Anyhow, Briallen loves to play the guitar, studying, and making friends. I’ve heard her play and I wish playing an instrument was one of my talents too. She’s going to be the next world-touring superstar before long.

This universe’s Dursleys are like a polar opposite to the ones I’m used to. Dudley still goes to Smelting’s but here he’s on the Dean’s List and earning a steady 3.8 GPA. Vernon still works at Grunning’s Drills and is a Senior Vice President of Sales. Petunia, if you can believe it, is the High Inquisitor here at Hogwarts! Strangest part of all of that is they actually seem to care about Briallen, and by extension, me!

It’s been a month since I’ve returned to Hogwarts and let me tell you that our universe has been sorely lacking in so many areas! I’ve made friends in all four Houses, I spend time with people who normally back home wouldn’t give me the time of day or are uncomfortable around me because of my fame.

Hogwarts under Minerva McGonagall is like night and day from what it was under Albus Dumbledore’s tenure. There are more classes in subjects that you could only dream of, new teachers (Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration all have been split to have a second teacher for each.) The new Charms teacher started this week. His name is Professor Alan Hawkridge and get this, he’s a werewolf! He’s nice though not nearly as cheerful as Professor Flitwick. It’s amazing how no one bats an eye at him being a werewolf anymore than they do with me speaking Parseltongue. Oh, another thing, this Hogwarts is outfitted with telephones! That’s right, you could call your parents and speak to them whenever you ever got the urge (and signed up on the availability sheet.) I heard from Petunia that not only does Hogwarts have telephones in all four Houses but the Ministry has also been installing them along with a bunch of other muggle office equipment. On top of that, if that wasn’t incredible enough; Draco’s been telling everyone about the television set that his mother recently purchased and had installed. To hear him tell the story, you’d think that the magical community had landed on the Moon.

Speaking of Parseltongue, my counterpart here is able to speak it and has done so on occasion. Three days ago, I dared her to speak in nothing but Parseltongue just to see how long everyone lasted until they begged her to stop (It lasted until she got to her second class, unfortunately. Our potions teacher, Professor Sciuto asked her to stop because she kept thinking there was a gas leak.) The Hermione here swears she can understand a handful of words, so there’s hope for our Hogwarts as well.  Last year, they too had experienced the mystery surrounding the Chamber of Secrets and you’ll never believe this but Briallen befriended the basilisk that resides there! Her name is Sandrine; I was introduced a couple of days ago when she woke up and decided to take herself out for a hunt to make sure there weren’t any more Acromantulas left (I suspect there might’ve been one or two because she hissed angrily the story about finding a mangled Centaur foal near the edge of their territory.) I tell you, Hermione; the basilisk is an absolutely beautiful creature when not being forced into slavery. The way the light glinted off her scales, she was glorious! I can see why the Hagrid here is so enamored by her. She’s also rather mischievous too since judging from her stories, she gets a cheeky sort of thrill whenever she sees Hagrid; she loves to hiss out innuendos just to make him blush.

Regarding Hagrid, and I’m sure he’s going to be hanging onto every word should you decide to read this part out to the school as a whole; but this one here finally managed to get himself a dragon! Yes, you read that right; Rubeus Hagrid succeeded in his dreams and was allowed to get a dragon. He, just like ours back in first year somehow ‘won’ a dragon’s egg during a drunken night of cards. Unlike back home, Hagrid lost the egg to the Department of Magical Creatures, but in the end came out ahead thanks to Briallen’s insistence that he be given a chance to have his own dragon as long as it was a non-fire breathing type with minimal dangerous personal defenses (like spines or venom.)

So, the Headmistress and High Inquisitor laid down some ground rules before he was allowed to even think of it. First, he had to give up drinking. Second, he had to take summer courses on how to realistically raise a dragon (including time spent on a dragon reserve) and pass it all with a high score. So, when all that was said and done; Hagrid was shipped off to the Philippines to pick up his scaly friend. She’s a puppy of a dragon personality-wise. Her name is Peaches and she’s a two-meter long, winged, non-fire breathing, fruit-eating/hording species of flying reptile. Her coloration is a mottled blue and black and she loves to get scratches, cuddles, and has been known to curl up with the other firsties for some play time.

I’m sure that you’re practically salivating at the idea of taking classes not normally offered. I had originally signed up for Divination and Care of Magical Creatures back home simply because Ron suggested that it would be an easy O as everything else was too difficult. Here, they discontinued the former and recommended that I take something else unless I planned to go into the trade. So, with a fair amount of analysis and consultation with Petunia, I signed up to take Ancient Runes and a French language class. Briallen suggested that I take something to keep my brain active and I’ve always wanted to learn another language.

Classes aside, and frankly there’s so much to cover on that aspect alone that it would probably fill up a letter so big that it would take a hippogriff to transport it; there are some other people changes here too. In this universe, Ron continued to be his snotty, self-entitled self (think Draco but with red hair) from first year and tried to push his views off onto others. He even attempted a failed plot to intimidate Briallen and ended up getting expelled for it. According to the Twins and Ginny here, he’s living with their Aunt Muriel and now working part-time as a laborer for a local grocer.

The Draco here is someone who I actually like. He’s not like the one back home at all. While he does retain the sense of aristocratic superiority, that attitude doesn’t translate over to his willingness to help out on homework when needed. He’s a pleasant sort who greatly surprised me when I saw him helping the other you to understand the nuances of pureblood society for history class. No snide remarks, no insults against our heritage, just a ‘Sure, I can help you with that;’ a pleasant smile; and a welcoming hand ready to offer you friendship.

The other lack of a certain someone here is what’s really making this whole experience enjoyable. I was told by the Unspeakables here not to discuss that particular topic, but it goes without saying that without him; Hogwarts has been a wonderful place to learn.

IF you ever get to travel to this world to retrieve me (and according to this universe’s Luna Lovegood, you will); I can’t wait to introduce you to yourself. You’re identical to each other in almost every way, but whereas you always commented how you’d wished you could make more friends; she has no problem. She’s not as bubbly or chatty as say the Gossip Twins, but this Hermione has an easy-going nature that people just can’t help gravitate towards. Both she and my other self were sorted into Ravenclaw and have surrounded themselves with nearly all of the other girls in their year plus a couple above and below them. She and Briallen formed a club back in first year they dubbed the ‘Girls Only’ or GO club. It’s a sort of quasi-after school special sort of gathering where they talk, giggle, learn new crafts, discuss all things girly, and just in general have a good time. Briallen says they’re non-exclusive since they count Moaning Myrtle and Romilda Lupin as members.

Speaking of Lupin, (his first name is Remus); I didn’t know that I had relatives outside of the Dursleys! Apparently, he was friends with my parents and someone named Sirius Black (if you recall from the papers over the summer, he’d escaped from Azkaban.) Here, Sirius was exonerated from his alleged crimes and eventually took up a working residence with Remus who owns and operates a campground out by Penzance. You should see Briallen with them, it’s a joy to hear her screech and shout with excitement. My only experience with relatives outside of the Dursleys is my Aunt Marge, Vernon’s sister and she’s like the epitome of a self-indulgent, opinionated bitch.

To summarize, I really wish you were here, Hermione. You’d love this universe so much that if you got the chance; I don’t think you’d want to leave. The more I think about it, as long as I’m with you; I don’t think I’d want to either. Keep going with your research and don’t let Ron, Draco, or anyone else keep you from accomplishing your goals.

Love,

Harry

P.S. Luna mentioned something about using a mirror to examine your path. Do you think it has something to do with the Mirror of Erised? She hinted that you should check out the Room of Requirement on the seventh floor opposite the tapestry of the idiot teaching trolls to dance and with Director Croaker if possible.

As a secondary post script to the Unspeakable in his home universe, he asked if there was a way to enchant the letter to cause anyone who didn’t have Hermione’s magical signature to break out in a horrid case of uncontrollable bowel movements. He explained briefly that he suspected that Dumbledore wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself and try to confiscate the letter. Harry finished proofreading and making sure everything fit his mood before sealing it inside an envelope and heading to the Owlry where he found Hedwig laying down the law to a couple of new birds. “Your Majesty, when you are finished with the new kids; I’ve got a letter for you to take.”

Hedwig barked something at the misbehaving owlets and fluttered down to the ledge. She stuck her leg out and held steady while Harry tied the envelope to her leg. “This is going to Director Croaker of the Department of Mysteries to be passed along to Agent 22 in regards to the Universal Mail Delivery.” She nibbled on his fingers then flew away.

Sighing, Harry glanced at his watch and headed off to dinner.

The next day…

Amelia entered the school backed by three teams of Obliviators, Healers, and Aurors. The sight of that many official personnel caused everyone to shift the Hogwarts Rumor Mill into overdrive. Minerva greeted them somberly at the main entrance. “Amelia, it’s unfortunate that you have to give up your weekend for this, but I still thank you all for doing so. I hope we can clear up this situation before too long.”

Bowing her head in supplication, Amelia agreed with the Headmistress. “Thank you and you’re correct, it is a shame. Nonetheless, let’s get this started shall we?”

Petunia padded up to them quietly. Everyone’s eyes tracked downward at the sight of her pink and green striped socks. Minerva was about to point out that she was missing her shoes but Petunia held up a hand, “Sorry I’m late, the Weasley twins thought it’d be funny to apply a sticking charm to random stone floor pavers.” A few of the other adults were heard snorting quietly with laughter. “At any rate, they now have detention and I have the school heading into the Great Hall to await further instructions.” She motioned in the direction of the infirmary, “Shall we?”

While Amelia and her teams followed, Minerva headed back to the Great Hall. As she passed by Fred and George, she spared them with a thin-lipped look of dismay. She stepped up to the podium and rang the chime for silence. “Students, in light of the recent poisoning of Miss Abbott in Hufflepuff, it has been decided by both myself, our High Inquisitor, and Director Bones that each one of you will be scanned for the Imperious curse as well as any compulsions. If any are found, you will be taken to Saint Mungo’s for treatment. Since this is a serious situation, I am enacting my right as in loco parentis to give permission for the scans and results.”

The whole Hall was abuzz with susurrations. Minerva held up her hands again, “We’ll be organizing this based on year groups, starting with the seventh years. Please line up by House and proceed to the infirmary. Thank you.”

Over at the Ravenclaw table…

Briallen understood the reasoning why the students were being taken in the order they were going so therefore she was patient. She pulled her wand out and transfigured a serviette into a checkerboard and used a bowl of mixed nuts as checker pieces then nudged Hermione. Hermione laughed lightly and reached for her first piece and moved it one square. “It’s curious how whoever poisoned Hannah, managed to get into the castle undetected.”

Bri shook her head causing her messy hair to bounce, “It was most likely Umbridge and she probably cursed a student beforehand. Remember the fifth book? She would’ve had no problem casting the Cruciatus on Harry had your other self not intervened.”

A look of dawning understanding passed over Hermione’s features, “Oh yeah, right. I hope the Ministry catches her soon. It’s no fun having the village so close and not being able to visit.”

Bri made a noncommittal noise in her throat, “I don’t really care. If we had to wait until school let out, I can deal with that simply because she’d be the ultimate idiot to attack Diagon Alley.”

Hermione captured two of Bri’s pieces and popped them into her mouth, chewing and swallowing before responding, “She did it with Hogsmeade, you know.”

Briallen waved that away, “Hogsmeade is isolated and sparsely populated in comparison to Diagon Alley. On top of that, the Aurors regularly patrol the Alley as opposed to the one or two trainees here.” She made her move and captured a critical nut allowing her own to be ‘crowned.’ (The nut was swapped out with a piece of fruit.)

Harry joined them a moment later, a concerned expression on his face, “Hey. You need to do something about Luna.”

Hermione gave him a curious look, “Why? What’s wrong?”

Harry turned and pointed out the blonde girl reenacting some strange scene from one of her vacations with her father, “She’s being insufferably adorable in public again. It’s taking all my self-restraint to not go over there and cuddle her until she passes out from happiness.”

Bri started laughing loudly, “You too? You should’ve seen me the summer when I first met her! I read the books so I sort of knew who I was looking for but mere words on a page just doesn’t do Luna Lovegood justice.”

Harry was grinning impudently at a now curious Luna who paused in her reenactment to turn in their direction. “I know, right? I wonder if Hermione has clued into the idea that she should bring Luna into helping get my situation resolved…ooh! Hey, Luna! Come here.” He waved her over and smiled fondly at her as she skipped over and sat down on the bench. “Listen, given your incredible ability to just know things; I was wondering if you were able to connect with your alternate self to pass on a message from me to Hermione.”

Surprisingly, Luna broke out into a classic Mona Lisa smirk and replied, “Perhaps. What would you like to say?”

Harry’s mouth dropped open, “You’re kidding, right? I was kidding! No, you’ve got to be just pulling my leg. There’s no way you could…” he caught the amused twinkle in her eyes, dropped his head, and let out a low groan, “You are teasing me. Luna…”

Luna giggled animatedly as she patted him on the head, “I couldn’t help it! You’re too gullible by half, you know that right? If I had that ability, Director Croaker would’ve snapped me up long before I started here.”

Harry looked up at her and maturely stuck his tongue out at her then waved his hand back towards where she’d finished her presentation. “Did you have fun? What were you explaining?”

Luna barely glanced back towards her friends, “Oh, I was telling Ginny and Colin about the time Daddy and I went to the United States to look for the infamous Minneapolis Shokolade Fairies. They make people cuckoo for cocoa puffs, you know.”

Shaking his head in amusement, Harry called her out on her story, “Luna, I’m muggle-raised and I know that the whole making people ‘cuckoo for cocoa puffs’ thing is a marketing slogan for the American cereal company General Mills’ Cocoa Puffs brand.” Luna stuck out her lower lip and pouted cutely. He tapped her on the tip of her nose and winked, “Nice try though.” He held out his arms and wrapped them around her as she cuddled in with a happy sigh.

In the Infirmary…

Amelia watched as the Healers examined each student as they came in. They’d just finished the seventh and sixth years; now they were clearing out to bring in the fifth and fourth years. She peeked over at her second in command as he checked off each student’s name and House. “Nothing so far?” He shook his head negatively. Grimacing, she called out for the next year group to come in.

Fourth year Hufflepuff Megan Jones was sweating profusely. This in itself was an unusual occurrence as she, like her cousin Gwenog, could stare danger in the face and remain unflappable. She picked at her nails and shifted uncomfortably as the Healer approached with a comforting smile, “It’ll be alright, dear. Just relax and it’ll all be over soon.”

The Healer cast the spell detection scan on the girl and gasped as Megan lit up like a muggle Christmas tree! She stunned Megan immediately and called out for an Auror and Obliviator to come over at once. Amelia heard and rushed over, “Report!”

“I started with this one just like all the others and she lit up in a variety of colors. So far I’ve detected Imperious, obliviation, three different compulsions, and an infertility potion.”

“Merlin’s beard…” one of the Aurors breathed.

Amelia gestured towards the girl, “What’s her name?”

Her second in command scrambled for the correct page, “Uh…oh, here it is. Megan Jones, fourth year Hufflepuff. She’s a cousin to Gwenog Jones, Beater and Captain of the Harpies.” Looks of awe mixed with commiseration bloomed on some of their faces. Waving that last bit off as inconsequential, Amelia immediately ordered the Healer to take Miss Jones to Saint Mungo’s for a full evaluation and curse reversal. The Healer nodded and, assisted by one of the Aurors, transported Megan through the floo.

Pomona had overheard and came hurrying over, “Who was it?”

Amelia shot her with a sympathetic look, “Megan Jones?”

Gasping, Pomona commented that she was a good student, friendly with everyone, and never had a bad thing to say about anyone. “That poor girl; I hope everything will turn out alright.”

“Do you know if she’d been receiving medical care for reproduction issues?”

Pomona blinked, “Can’t say that I do. Why?”

Amelia pointed out the scan results, “She’s currently under the influence of an infertility potion.”

Horrified, Pomona shook her head, “That’s an outrage! I know she has a boyfriend, and her mother likes the lad.”

“What does the boy’s mother think about Megan?” Amelia wondered.

Pomona stared off for a moment before shaking her head, “Nothing comes to mind. Did you want me to ask?”

“No, I’ll handle it. A poisoned potion of that magnitude requires an Auror investigation.”

It took several hours and other than a couple of embarrassed students admitting that they’d taken some wit sharpening potions or a shot of Felix Felicius before a test, everyone else had come up clean. Those who admitted their misdeeds were given a reprimand by Minerva (or their Head of House) and dismissed.

Monday 4 October, 1993; Department of Mysteries, Miscellaneous Experiments Room (MER) A113

Agent 22 transcribed Harry’s letter to Hermione via the newly named Trans-Dimensional Writer Window while Croaker watched on from the observation booth. When he finished, his counterpart tapped his finger to a placard that read, ‘Please wait, we are processing your request.’ They’d come up with this quick response method over the course of the past couple of weeks. Each side had a pre-written set of sayings or questions that they could refer to. It saved time and money on rolls of parchment. His counterpart returned and sat there unmoving, occasionally scratching his forearm. Agent 22 once more wished the mirror allowed them to see each other’s faces, but this communication method was still in its infancy. So far they were only able to see each other’s hands. Who knew where it might go once the number gnomes finished their calculations? He picked up the quill and scratched out, ‘How’s mum?’

‘Ornery as ever. She won’t stop pestering me to get a real job and quit puttering around with magic best left alone.’

Agent 22 laughed and wrote, ‘Mine too, except that she doesn’t have a clue that I’m an Unspeakable. She thinks I work up in the mailroom.’

‘Well, she’s not wrong. You do technically work in the mailroom; it’s just that your letters end up in a really whole other place!’

Both of them shared a silent laugh. Agent 22/2558-P glanced off mirror then got up to retrieve something. As he sat down, he placed another note down and began to write, ‘DC2558-P to DC5678-T; Request transfer of archival file number 8715-67-19B for further evaluation. Our copy is partially corrupted by infestation of Solomon Fire Leeches.

Agent 22 glanced behind him where he saw Croaker nod his head. ‘DC5678-T to DC2558-P; Understood. Message received; file to be transferred by the end of current transmission.’

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, World 2558-P; Great Hall, breakfast time

Hermione felt alone as she sat down to eat her breakfast; granted she always felt alone, even surrounded by the others but these past two months had been especially trying for her. Back in August as the result of a strange disturbance of weather patterns, her best friend Harry had been transported to another dimension. She snorted inwardly, even saying that in her head sounded ludicrous. Ron’s behavior of late annoyed her greatly. The redheaded prat seemed to be under the impression that Harry’d gone off on an adventure without telling anyone, especially Ron, where he was going or how he was doing. ‘You’d think Ron was Harry’s girlfriend or something the way he carries on or gets miffed whenever something ‘worthy of being a Gryffindor’ happens without him.’

She missed Harry terribly and practically screamed with relief and joy when an Unspeakable came to speak with her about her relationship with Harry and the Time Turner she’d received at the beginning of September. It turned out that Harry was not only alive and well in an alternate universe but had also been asking about her well-being. ‘Leave it to Harry to be pulled into the middle of something with no warning or explanation. I guess the legend about the Potter Curse is true and all.’

She looked up at the sound of someone sitting down across the table from her and put on a moue of a frown as she tried to place the face. The blonde Ravenclaw smiled dreamily at her, “Do not fret too much, Hermione Granger. Your wish to reconnect with Harry Potter will be granted soon enough.”

Puzzled, Hermione shook off the eerie feeling the enigmatic girl churned up, “I’m sorry, but what’s your name?”

The blonde continued to stare off to the side as if only peripherally aware of Hermione’s presence, “I’m Luna Lovegood. Some people call me ‘Loony.’”

Now Hermione clearly frowned, “That’s awfully rude of them. How did you know about Harry?”

Luna cocked her head as she stared at Hermione’s face. She felt as if her soul was being weighed. “I see things that others miss or ignore. I find it comes in handy when Daddy and I are searching for the Crumple-horned Snorkack.”

Hermione blinked, “The what?”

As Luna began to describe the creature, all sound within the Hall suddenly vanished. Both girls looked up to see an Unspeakable standing in the doorway. Off at the Teachers’ table, Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet, “Hello, whom are you looking for?”

The Unspeakable’s voice was apparently modulated to sound neither male nor female, “We are looking for Hermione Jean Granger.”

Hermione rose to her feet, “I’m Hermione Granger.”

The Unspeakable strode over and held out a letter and a medallion, “A message for you from Harry Potter. If you have a response, please use this pendant to summon one of us to pick it up.” The whole Hall gasped at the mention of Harry’s letter from the other world. Hermione carefully took both and bowed her head then sat down quickly and opened the letter. Her eyes flicked back and forth as she absorbed and savored Harry’s chicken scratch he laughingly called ‘writing.’ So absorbed was she, she didn’t hear the headmaster calling her name until someone, most likely Ron, chucked a roll of bread at her. It bounced off her head and landed in her bowl, splashing her cereal everywhere to the laughter of everyone else. “Mr. Weasley! Five points from Gryffindor for your atrocious manners!” Minerva yelled out.

Wiping the splashed milk off her robes, Hermione finally picked up that the Headmaster called upon her, “Oh, I’m sorry sir. What did you ask?”

He held out his hand, “I wish to see the letter you received. I must know if Mr. Potter sent along any critical information about his situation.”

Hermione shook her head warily, “It’s mostly just a love letter sir. Nothing you need to see.”

Albus gave her his patented ‘disappointed grandfather’ look, “I’m afraid I must insist, Miss Granger.”

She glanced over at Luna who merely smiled serenely and whispered, “Go for it. He’ll just have to clear his schedule for the rest of the week.” Sighing, Hermione rose to her feet and walked the letter over. Albus dipped his chin perfunctorily and grasped the parchment. Immediately, his hand glowed a pale red which traveled up his arm. The look of surprise flittered over his face as he jumped to his feet and hurried out of the Hall as fast as his aged legs could carry him. In the meantime, Hermione retrieved the fallen letter and winked at her Head of House, “Harry knew the headmaster would be unable to restrain himself so he asked the Unspeakables to charm the letter with an overpowered bowel-loosening hex.”

To her credit, Minerva merely raised an eyebrow, “It’s a shame Mr. Potter isn’t here or I’d award him points for securing his correspondence. Enjoy your letter and day, Miss Granger.”

Luna discretely followed Hermione out of the Hall as the latter headed for the fourth floor where she’d set up a sort of base of operations for the year. There were a number of empty classrooms the bushy-haired third year could use to turn back time and remain out of sight of both her previous self and the other students. As they passed one of the rooms, Luna waved to another Hermione who had been preparing to leave for her classes. Time Turned Hermione stared on in surprise before fumbling with the pendant around her neck.

Hermione entered the third classroom and dropped her book bag on the teacher’s desk. She sank into an empty chair and pulled out the letter from Harry again. She smiled at his opening paragraph, “He misses me! Aww, Harry…”

Luna perched on the edge of one of the desks and swung her legs back and forth, “You know that there’s a room here that a person must have a clear and strong requirement to access. You might be able to reflect on what you desire there.”

Hermione’s gaze tore away from the missive, “Huh? How did you know? I only just got to that part of his letter.” Luna continued to smile mysteriously. Hermione snorted lightly, “You’re starting to intrigue me, Miss Lovegood.” She turned back to the letter, “Oh dear, it seems that the Hagrid in this alternate universe managed to obtain a dragon legally. Poor Hogwarts…oh, never mind. Harry says it’s not that big and acts more like a puppy.”

Further down, she gasped, “Wow, my other self is…well, I hadn’t considered that option though it does sound sort of…nice.”

“The part about you being a witch’s witch?” Luna asked.

Hermione’s shoulders slumped in exasperation, “Stop reading my letter before I have a chance to share it with you!” She gave the blonde a half-smile, “Seriously, how are you doing that?”

Luna giggled, “Dunno, but it’s fun to use at parties and Ministry events.”

Pulling out the medallion the Unspeakable had given her, Hermione worriedly wondered if she ought to contact them so soon. “I want to head up to this room you were hinting about and the one that Harry says is up on the seventh floor, but if it doesn’t exist here; I don’t want to waste their time.”

Luna slid off the table, “It exists. I’ve been inside a few times already. It’s where I can find replacement uniforms after the Nargles steal mine.”

Hermione grimaced at the sound of that and muttered to herself, “I really need to speak with Professor Flitwick about this.”

The pair traipsed up the stairs to the seventh floor and took the dead-ended hallway with the required tapestry. Hermione examined it briefly, “Well, here it is but I don’t see a door. How did you get in, Luna?”

The blonde pointed to the opposite wall, “Pace back and forth in front of that wall thinking about the needing to find the Room of Hidden Things. On the third pass, a door will appear. In the meantime, shouldn’t you be contacting the Unspeakable?”

Hermione nodded as she pulled out the medallion and activated it. “How long before they respond?”

“I’m here now, Miss Granger.” Both girls whirled at the sound of the newcomer’s voice.

Hermione’s eyebrow quirked up, “Time Turner?”

The Unspeakable waggled their hand, “Of a sort. What did you need?”

Gesturing to the wall, Luna stated they were going into the Room of Hidden Things and thought that the Unspeakable should accompany them. “After all, what you find in there might be your crowning glory.”

Despite the hood covering their face, it was clear the Agent was contemplating Luna’s words. Hermione shook off the weird feeling and began to pace.

Inside the Room of Hidden Things…

It was quiet in the Room; the only sounds were faint skittering sounds of what were hopefully mice or small insects. Light seemingly filtered down from unseen windows and gave the place a sort-of ancient abandoned repository of stories long-forgotten. Piles and piles of discarded…stuff towered over the trio as they peered down aisles. Luna casually pulled a thick book from one of the bookcases and settled into an available chair. “I’ll stay here while you go down the aisle to your left, hang a right, go past the life-like stuffed Troll, and take the left hand fork where you’ll find the mirror under a tarp.”

The Agent and Hermione glanced at each other; the latter shaking her head, “Never mind. I know your department love to study the unusual but if you start questioning her, you’ll never be able to stop.”

The Agent chuckled, “You make that sound like a bad thing.” They followed the older girl along the indicated path until they arrived at their destination. The gilded mirror lay right where Luna said it would be. Hermione peeked underneath then nodded, “Yup, this is it. I just saw myself holding the first printing of the Gutenberg Bible.”

“How did you want to transport this back to your laboratory?”

Hermione paused, “I don’t honestly know. I had thought about levitating it, but it might be a bit too unwieldy on the stairs.”

“If I may? Hogwarts, could you send a pair of house-elves, please?” A double pop heralded their arrival. “Gentle sirs, would you please take this mirror to Miss Granger’s laboratory on the fourth floor?”

“Room 412,” she added quickly. The elves nodded, took hold of the mirror, and disappeared with barely a snap of noise. Pleased, she quipped, “Well, that was easy.”

On their way back to Luna, the Agent spotted a tarnished looking tiara perched on the brow of a bust of an ugly warlock. “Miss Lovegood?” they called out to the room at large.

“Yes, that’s the one you want,” they heard her call back, “Please take that to the Veil. It needs to be destroyed despite its historical value.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s not the real one, if that’s what you’re worried about. The real one is safely hidden with the rest of the school’s heart,” Luna replied cryptically.

The Agent boxed up the tiara in a conjured lead box and tucked it away in their robes before rejoining the two girls. Hermione had been examining a stack of slightly burned books and grumbling at the audacity of the miscreants for daring to damage books when they arrived, “All set?”

Both Luna and Hermione nodded. Luna put away the book on the History of the Memory Pensieve she’d been reading and led the way out of the storeroom.

Back in World 5678-T (Briallen’s world), Great Hall....

Two days passed until Harry received a letter from his Hermione. In it, she casually mentioned that his suspicion had been correct in that Headmaster Dumbledore hadn’t been able to resist being nosy and fell victim to the bowel-loosening hex. ‘I heard from the rumor mill that he ended up in the infirmary because the symptoms were so bad and because he couldn’t undo them by himself.’ He felt relief that Luna had helped her find the Mirror of Erised as well as laughing at Hermione’s description of the latter’s incredible ability of knowing things before they happened.

Briallen nudged him, “What’s so funny?”

Holding up the letter, he replied, “Hermione was telling me about Luna’s uncanny ability of knowing. It’s strange, but as I read this, I get the mental image of Luna being a bespectacled nineteen year old teen in the American military nicknamed ‘Radar.’ (He shook himself) Weird…” Bri bobbed her head and went back to plucking the strings on her guitar and made a note in her music journal. He glanced over to what she was doing, “What are you working on?”

“I’m working on the score for a class project in Music class.”

Interest piqued, he peered over her shoulder, “Anything you can share yet?”

Bri shook her head, “Not really. I barely have an inkling of the mood I want to shoot for.”

Leaving her to it, Harry looked around the room and spotted Fred and George Weasley sitting off to the side with their heads together. He got up and headed over to them, “Hey, you two; got a minute?”

George (?) winked at him and motioned for Harry to have a seat, “So what can we the illustrious Twins of Weasley do for our inter-dimensional man of the hour?”

Harry snorted, “Listen, I received a letter from home and my version of Hermione mentioned that your alternates managed to come up with a variant of the Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Bean.”

Fred (?) bobbed his head sagely, “Let us guess, the Every Reaction Bean?”

Surprised, Harry’s mouth gaped open, “That’s…how did you know?”

“The moment you mentioned Bertie Bott’s, it was easy to deduce. We've been working on a similar idea as well.”

Harry huffed in laughter, “So? How good are they?”

George waggled his hand, “Some are good, some need to be improved a bit more. So far, we have about twenty different reactions that we’re confident can be released to the general public. We’re shooting for at least fifty different reactions but we’re having a difficult time thinking of what they could be.”

Harry nodded slowly, “Do you have one for confusion?” At their confirmation, he continued to list out the ones he’d just thought of. “What about hunger? Laughter? Sadness?”

Fred replied that they’d already covered all of the so-called ‘core reactions.’ “It’s the more obscure reactions that are proving elusive. How do you recreate something that defies explanation?”

Pondering that for a moment, Harry brightened, “Have you thought about starting a contest or a poll in the Daily Prophet? Offer the public a chance to pick their own favorite reaction or to suggest a rare or unusual reaction. The winner not only gets a large box of the beans but also their name in the paper.”

The twins held a silent conversation punctuated by moving eyebrows and facial expressions before turning back, “Your idea intrigues us, young Mr. Potter. We thank you.”

Harry took a seated bow, “You’re most welcome kind sirs. It’s a shame that Ron couldn’t be here for this. You could’ve used him as a test subject.”

Fred shifted uncomfortably, “Yeah, we hate to admit it, but the prat did have some uses.”

Ten minutes later, in his dorm…

Harry settled onto his bed and pulled out the letter from Hermione again.

Dear Harry;

I was so relieved to read that you’re safe and being cared for in the alternate universe. You have no idea how envious I am that you got the opportunity to meet yourself and also getting to learn about how a different version of everyone lives. Just thinking about the research possibilities is making my head swirl! From all that you’ve described, things here are positively boring in comparison.

My research into how to bring you home is going fairly smoothly, I suppose. I’m getting assistance from not only the Unspeakables at the Department of Mysteries, but also from Luna Lovegood. You were right about her; she does take some time to get used to her eccentricities. She’s incredibly insightful and if I didn’t know any better, able to see through the barrier that separates our worlds. I’ll admit that I was a tiny bit curious about her abilities so I locked myself up in my dorm room and made sure there wasn’t anyone else around then asked her as quietly as I could to describe the formula for determining the effects of transfiguring a inanimate object into a living object. Normally, this wouldn’t be touched onto until at least third year in Professor McGonagall’s class so I wasn’t expecting a second year to know it.

How wrong I was. When I headed down for dinner, Luna intercepted me and began to recite word for word, the exact formula as laid out in the textbook! You can imagine the look on my face as well as the smug one on hers. After I’m done figuring out how to get you home, I really must remember to start a new project on how to figure out how and what she does to see if it could be replicated.

I tried to replicate Briallen’s friendship with Moaning Myrtle, but unfortunately the ghost and I just couldn’t find a common ground. She says she appreciated the effort but without any real sort of shared interest; the attempt just sort of fell through. I’m not discouraged, I’m sure there’s something we can bond over. If I recall correctly, she was a Ravenclaw before she died so perhaps that’s the angle I could take.

I shared your message about Peaches to Hagrid and oh boy, I think I started him on his own path of sobriety if the sudden rush to dispose of anything alcoholic from his house was any indication! Last I heard, he’s been petitioning the Department of Magical Creatures to take part in some sort of educational exchange. Can you picture Hagrid in school clothes, sitting at a desk and waving his hand in the air saying ‘I know the answer, p’fessor!’ I’m giggling just thinking about it.

Ron is… well, he’s being Ron. There’s really nothing I can say about him that could be construed as earth-shattering. He still tries to get me to do his homework for him and spends all of his free time lazing around with Dean and Seamus, playing chess, or talking about Quidditch. When word came out about your situation, you should’ve heard the fit he raised. You’d think someone had stolen his favorite Chudley Cannons memorabilia or eaten his pet rat right in front of him.

You should see the spectacle that Draco has been displaying ever since the news of your ‘inadvertent adventure’ was confirmed. The arrogant prick struts about the castle as if he’d been the one to get you transferred to another universe. I swear there are times when I’d like to hit him with one of my ‘light reading’ books. Between him and Professor Snape, the Slytherins have been nearly insufferable that you’re gone. Honestly, the thought of the Draco there eagerly telling everyone about the television set his mother got or being pleasant to learn from is tough to wrap my head around.

There’s been no word in the paper here about the location of Sirius Black. It just seems strange that he’d break out of prison now of all times. Professor Lupin was intrigued to hear that he’d not only adopted a daughter but also was the owner of a campground near the beach. Talk about a wonderful way to not only be financially secure but also be able to have a secure and remote location to transform! He was understandingly hesitant to confirm that he is indeed a werewolf. I think I put his mind at ease by suggesting that if his alternate was such a warm and loving person to instantly adopt someone he didn’t know after such a tragic event, then he must share some of those noble traits too.

I wish I could be there to see what that world is like and just how different it is from here. Do you suppose you could send me a list of the classes that Hogwarts offers? I’d like to compare it to ours. I’m proud of you for stepping out beyond what is expected of you by taking the more difficult classes. Ancient Runes is a fascinating subject and the basis of so many of the enchantments we take for granted. What is my other self taking? Do you suppose it would be alright to start up a pen-pal correspondence with myself?

I hate to close out this letter since I’ve got so much to share with you, but I’m pretty sure that the Unspeakables have been monitoring what I write. I miss you so much and hope that you can return home soon.

Love,

Hermione

Saturday 9 October, 1993; Hogsmeade, Dolores’ hideout

Her facial wounds had healed (leaving her with a wicked scar) since her attempted capture of the Bones bitch, but Dolores still simmered in rage every time she caught sight of her face in anything reflective. On top of that, she’d learned that the girl she’d Imperioused had been captured by the Aurors sent to the castle to determine how the Abbott girl had been poisoned. Knowing full well that her time in this dump was drawing to a rapid close, Dolores began to plan out locating her next domicile. In the short time since she’d arrived, her ‘planning room’ aka the combined dining and living room had been slowly covered with maps, drawings of ward placements, and newspaper clippings of everyone who had taken part in her political assassination and imprisonment.

As she slowly traversed the room, her mind worked methodically to pick her next target. “Bones Manor is out; Amelia would be expecting me to visit after what I did to her niece. What about Greengrass? No, they import too much of the ingredients I need for my plans…” Her eyes fell onto the picture of Petunia Dursley. The Squib who dared to sneak in above other more ‘qualified’ people, aka purebloods of standing, to become the Hogwarts’ High Inquisitor. “What about the hovel she calls a home? How much warding could there be around a muggle house?”

The scar on her face stretched menacingly as she let a grin form, “I think it’s time to take a little look-see…”

Dolores did some digging through the information Fletcher had acquired from who-knew-where and found the coordinates to a nearby apparition site. With a moderate crack of displaced air, she appeared on the quiet street and looked around her with intrigue at the general similarities of the orderly row of housing with their neat lawns, “I hate to say it but I’m impressed. The muggles have finally learnt the concept of orderliness if this is how they live.” She waddled down the street to the address listed in her notes. According to Fletcher, the woman who used to live here was a Squib who bred cats and Kneazles but was forced to leave suddenly after it was discovered that she was trying to pass half-Kneazles off as pure breeds.

Dolores took that as a sign of good fortunes for her. She used her wand to unlock the door and took a moment to wander throughout the house. The sheer ‘muggleness’ of the furnishings annoyed her magical sensibilities but she concluded that doing anything about it now was immaterial. She approved of the overall layout and the fact that it was miles above that hovel in Hogsmeade she would be abandoning soon. “Yes, this shall do nicely. Now, let’s see where that damnable Squib lives.”

4 Privet Drive; twenty minutes later

Rather than aimlessly wandering around the neighborhood, Dolores used an illegally-obtained magic scanner picked up by Fletcher from one of his sources in Knockturn Alley. The device would scan in all directions up to a mile away to locate any traces of magical activity, including the so-called ‘passive wards.’ She knew from personal experience that wards, even the passive ones, still leaked a tiny amount of magic while they were in an inactive state. ‘It’s highly unlikely that that miserable woman would even have wards.’ True, the house she’d taken over did have a simple alert set, but Dolores attributed that to the need to keep track of the cats’ comings and goings. Just then the device pinged on a potential target two streets over.

So it was this mistake that saved Vernon Dursley. He’d been outside sweeping up the leaves and lawn clippings when a horribly ugly woman tried to storm the house waving a wand and screaming, “Imperio!” There was a titanic flash of light and a thunderous clap of thunder as the woman was forcibly flung back into the street. Vernon subconsciously ducked then bolted into the house and locked the door behind him.

Vernon raced over to the phone and hurriedly dialed a number. It began to ring as he urged the connection to happen faster, “Come on; pick up the phone, Pet!” When he heard her start to speak, he interrupted, “Petunia! Some hideously ugly witch just tried to attack the house! I don’t know what happened; there was a sound like lightning and thunder as she was thrown back into the street.”

Petunia hurriedly replied for him to stay inside the house and that she’d call the authorities. “Under no circumstances are you to investigate, Vernon! Go hide in the basement until you hear from me otherwise.” The line disconnected with a click. Vernon rushed over to the cupboard under the stairs and grabbed the first thing he could use as a weapon then bolted for the stairs leading to the basement.

Outside in the street…

Dolores groaned as she pulled herself upright and stared in disbelief at the glowing dome protecting the muggle home of Petunia Dursley. “What the…” She hauled herself to her feet and staggered over to the perimeter where she checked the scanner again. “It’s not possible! These wards could rival those of Hogwarts!” She knew she’d have to retreat to her new home soon; the amount of noise generated by the wards as they repelled her would’ve no doubt attracted attention. Plus, she knew she needed time to formulate a new plan of action. Despite her aches and pains of being thrown, she apparated back to lay low at the new house until she could install a copy of the wards she’d used on the old hovel.

Grabbing her bag of healing potions, she managed to find the Master bedroom and laid out on the bed. As she drifted off, an idea swum into existence, “What if I were to get my revenge at the top? Then while they’re all scurrying around in the confusion, I can get myself secured away in the one place I know the auditors never found.” A creepy smile drifted over her flabby face, “Hem, hem… I know the perfect target…”

The Aurors arrived en mass to the Dursley house in a fusillade of staccato cracks; Amelia carefully approached the front door and unlocked it then peeked in and cast a Homenum Revelio spell. She whispered back to her team, “I detect one human downstairs in the basement. No other life signs are present. Team one, sweep for enchantments or other nasty surprises. Team two, cover the backyard. Someone get the perimeter to dissuade the muggles from getting curious.”

Their orders received, the teams spread out. Amelia crept inside and noted the buzzing noise from the hurriedly discarded telephone and replaced the handset back onto the receiver. She poked her head into the kitchen and smiled to herself at the sight of a rack of pots and pans leaning precariously off the wall. “Clever man; one touch and they all fall to the floor causing a ruckus and a warning.” She waved her wand to reattach the rack properly to the wall and moved to the door down to the basement. She was just about to touch the doorknob when her nose detected the scent of something burning. Bending down to get a closer look, she again smiled approvingly at Vernon’s quick thinking to attach something hot to the other side of the knob, thereby turning it into a trap. She glanced back at her SIC and pointed it out, “They may not have magic, but damned if muggles aren’t creative in protecting themselves.”

Amelia knocked on the door and called out, “Vernon Dursley, this is Director Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The house and property is secure, you can come out now.”

Muffled through the door, she heard him yell back, “How do I know that you are who you say you are? I need proof!” Both Amelia and her SIC grinned, they were starting to like this man. “If you are truly Amelia Bones, go get my wife Posy!”

“It’s official,” her SIC chuckled and commented, “We need to hire this man to teach the recruits basic identification and safety.” Amelia nodded as she called for someone to bring in Petunia.

When she arrived, Petunia called through the door, “Vernon? It’s me; it’s safe to come up.”

“Who got drunk and danced on the tables at our wedding?” Vernon challenged her. Behind her, Amelia face-palmed and whispered that Vernon must be channeling Alastor Moody somehow.

Petunia blushed fiercely, “It was my dad and in all fairness, I’d say he did a great job with that Irish jig.”

Vernon’s voice grew louder as if he was right on the other side. A rattling noise jiggled the knob as if he were removing the heat source, “That would be the case if he actually knew anything Irish other than the neighbor who showed up wearing a kilt and nothing else.”

Petunia immediately fired back, “You’re just jealous that she had the legs to pull off the look!”

“Please, that bloke needed to hit the gym instead of the pub.” The door opened to the grinning visage of a relieved Vernon Dursley. Petunia pulled him into her arms and planted a kiss on his lips.

Behind them, they both heard the sound of applause as Amelia stepped forward. “I’m impressed beyond words, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. You have no idea how often our recruits can’t even remember basic safety questions to ask in training simulations; it drives our instructors spare.” She pointed to the doorknob then back to the kitchen, “And I’m doubly impressed with the traps you set up in the short amount of time you had after you called your wife. If you ever get tired of selling drills, come find me; I’m sure we could get you hired to train our future Aurors. Merlin knows they need all the help they can get.”

When Briallen and Harry heard about what happened back at Privet Drive, Briallen had to be restrained from marching down there and searching for Dolores, herself. Hermione solved that issue by straddling Briallen’s lap and planting a tonsil-searing kiss on her girlfriend’s lips. The long sigh and giggle that escaped indicated that Briallen was now in no mood to ever stop. Harry nudged the pair of them, “If you’re going to continue doing that, at least have the decency to get a room.”

Briallen stopped long enough to spear him with a half-lidded look and maturely stuck her tongue out at him, “You’re just jealous your own Hermione isn’t here to give you what for.”

Unfazed, Harry calmly replied, “Yes. Yes, I am but I’m not about to let you guilt me into getting mopey. I’m going to find Luna and see how many times I can spin her around until she passes out.” As he ‘stalked’ away, he heard Briallen call out that last time it took forty spins before that happened.

Thursday 21 October, 1993; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, World 2558-P; Hermione’s Temporal Laboratory Room 412

Professor McGonagall stopped by the room that she and Miss Granger utilized as a sort-of ‘home base’ for her Time Turner usage. She fully expected the ambitious third year to be busily working on her class subjects; what she wasn’t expecting was the sheer amount of ‘redecorating’ that had transpired ever since Hermione learned that Mr. Potter had been teleported across dimensions. Every wall was covered with notes, documents, and Merlin-knew-what else. Even the floor had stacks of books and piles of manuscripts creating pathways to a centralized location where the Mirror of Erised now resided. “Miss Granger?” she called out. A bushy head of hair popped up from off to the left. “Could you come over here, please?”

Hermione took the quill out of her mouth and called back, “Take the pathway in front of you to the first junction then take the one to your right. Follow that around until you get to the Mirror. I’ll meet you there.”

When they both arrived, Hermione quickly relocated a stack of obscure arithmancy calculations to the floor and offered a chair to her Head of House, “Was there something you needed, professor?”

Minerva gave her a stern look as she settled, “You’ve been neglecting your studies, Miss Granger. Professor Snape has been most wroth with your lack of attendance.”

Hermione’s face paled as she snapped her head to look up at the nearby calendar and clock, “Oh, no! I’m sorry, but I just got caught up in my research to retrieve Harry.”

Minerva nodded her understanding, “I’m sure, that is why I was able to persuade Professor Snape to not give you detention. Instead, I’ll be overseeing your next couple of nights while you make up your missed spellwork.”

Relieved, Hermione sank onto an empty chair, “Thank you, Professor.”

Glancing around at the apparent chaos, Minerva inquired how everything was progressing. “You seem to have taken to this line of study most effectively.”

“I think I’ve gotten the basics down on what the muggles call ‘Quantum Mechanics.’” She was about to launch into one of her legendary long-winded explanations but was halted by Minerva’s upraised hand. Blushing, she stammered, “Right. You’re not interested in the nuts and bolts as they say; I guess I’ll leave that for the Unspeakables.”

Minerva gave her a small smile, “That would be much appreciated, Miss Granger. Do you have any idea as to how long until you’re able to put forth your first practical attempt to retrieve Mr. Potter?”

Hermione shook her head, “Not even remotely. I just got done learning the equations to get an inkling of an idea as to how fiendishly complex this all is let alone what purpose the Mirror of Erised plays into everything. I do have the assistance of Luna Lovegood, but her answers tend to run rather cryptic as if she’s being prevented from giving me the information I need.”

Cocking her head curiously, Minerva asked if the lass knew why that was. Hermione stood and began to pace the floor, “As near as I can theorize, if Luna is able to see and understand the true nature of the fabric of time and space; this could lead to the possibility of another, more evil version of herself, being able to do the same thing and wrecking havoc on all other universes around her. By preventing the girl from just blurting out, “You need to do XYZ to achieve your goals;” whatever forces that governs the… I guess you could call it a ‘multiverse’ is then able to slow down or eliminate the threat of mischief or advancing armies hell-bent on interdimensional destruction.”

A heartbeat of silence passed between the two before Minerva barely caught herself from snorting out loud, “I knew you were going to be making waves by the time you graduated, Miss Granger; but I had no idea what could happen if you were given an open-ended topic such as this and free reign to experiment as you saw fit. Does Director Croaker know about your theories?” Hermione nodded distractedly as she continued to pace. “Once again, I’m going to have to endure the laments from Professor Flitwick over why in the world you weren’t sorted into his House when I tell him what you just described to me.”

Saturday, 30 October, 1993; Back in Briallen’s World…

Petunia picked up the ringing phone and heard her husband’s relieved voice, “I’m glad you picked up, Pet. Things have gotten strange around here since that demented toad of a witch showed up here. Remember that batty, old Figg woman’s house on Wisteria Lane? It just blew up.”

Stunned, Petunia stuttered for a response, “Say…Say that again?”

“The whole house just exploded like one of those scenes from the movies. It was the damndest thing too. No one smelled anything like escaping gas either. Just one moment, everything was quiet and peaceful and the next Boom! The police and fire department are here cordoning off the whole neighborhood. I suspect the inspectors from the gas company are going to be arriving soon. Do you think you could contact Amelia and let her know?”

“Definitely! Thank you, Vernon. Just to be on the safe side in case that witch is planning on doing something stupid again; please don’t use the stove or oven.” Vernon promised then bid her good-bye and disconnected. Petunia immediately dialed up Amelia to pass along the message. “Amelia? Did you hear? One of the houses in Little Whinging just exploded. My husband thinks it might be the work of Dolores if his description of her is accurate. Yes, he described her as being a ‘demented toad of a witch.’ If that doesn’t describe Dolores Umbridge, I don’t know what does.” She listened to the other end, “Yes, just apparate to our backyard then follow the emergency vehicles to the site. No, your Aurors won’t be affected by the wards since they hold no harmful intent upon the inhabitants. Okay, good luck.”

She hung up the phone and stared off into the distance, “What the Hell are you up to, Dolores?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: The Toad Strikes Back!

Sunday 31 October, 1993; Hogwarts

Harry entered the Great Hall feeling rather out of sorts. Today was Halloween and based on the past two years, something bad was going to happen. Whether or not it directly involved him, he just had a gut feeling that something, somewhere trouble was brewing and ready to strike. He sat down across from Briallen and gave her a half-hearted smile of greeting. She frowned slightly, “What’s wrong?”

Quietly, he replied, “It’s Halloween.”

A momentary spark of understanding illuminated her eyes, “Oh…yeah. Did you want to talk about it?”

Harry shook his head, “I’ve never been one for sharing my feelings with anyone; not even myself (he gave her a small smile.) I’ve also got the feeling that something bad is about to happen. Do you ever get those feelings?”

Bri harrumphed, “Only for the past twelve years.” She slid over the plate of bacon and took a couple of the best rashers for Hedwig. At the sound of the arriving mail rush, she took note of the Weasley family’s owl, Errol. “That poor bird is still working? They should’ve retired him ages ago.” The two Potters watched as the ancient bird of prey fluttered down over to the Slytherin table and crash-landed in front of Ginny. The redhead sighed as she untied the letter from Errol’s leg and pushed over a goblet of water and a plate of ham slices.

Harry chuckled, “You’d think that without Ron here, they’d have saved some money and could get that new owl.”

Bri bobbed her head in appreciation, “I know, right? Stubbornness, thy name is Weasley.”

Draco sauntered into the Hall with his usual swagger and spotted Harry and Briallen, “Hey, Potter!” He snickered at the look of suspicion on the teen boy’s face. “Not you, Potter; I wanted to speak with Potter.” He exaggerated his bow to Briallen, “So Potter, how you like sitting with Potter?”

Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose as Briallen started giggling, “How long have you been waiting to do that?”

Draco gave a lopsided grin, “Since about ten seconds ago.” He sank onto the bench and began building his breakfast. At Harry’s bemused expression, he pointed a fork-speared sausage at him, “You know what would be hilarious?” At Briallen’s impatient wave of her hand, he continued, “If we could have a meeting of a couple of different universe versions of ourselves meet and have a party. I would title it as ‘The Meeting of the Minds 1993’ (he waved his hand out in a grand arc.) Picture it, four different versions of the most wonderful person in any of the worlds…me! On top of that, can you imagine the sheer amount of chaos that four different versions of the Weasley Twins could create?”

Harry let out a low moan, “Advocating chaos? Who are you and what have you done with the snooty, pureblood bigoted, aristocratic Draco Malfoy we all know and despise?”

Draco laughed, “Maybe in your world. I got introduced to Briallen Jamie Potter (he draped his arm proudly over her shoulders.) She and her friends have been a better influence on me than my parents could’ve ever been.”

Eyeing his cheerful behavior curiously for a moment, Briallen’s eyes lit up, “The divorce settlement came through?”

Draco bobbed his head proudly and let his arm slide off, “Yup! Mum just called me this morning. She and I are completely one hundred percent free and clear of him! He’s not allowed to come within a hundred meters of me or mum, he has to leave Malfoy Manor and find somewhere else to live, and he’s been barred from accessing the Black family vaults for life. You should’ve heard her; she said the moment the verdict was reached, she practically bolted out to the shopping centers to redecorate the manor.”

Briallen grimaced, “I can only imagine what your manor is going to look like. If she’s in that kind of mood, I would brace myself for pastels, lots of lace, and cutesy pictures.” Draco shuddered at the mental imagery that was conjuring up.

Harry snorted in amazement, “What about the family magic or contacting you?”

Draco sucked on his cheek for a moment as he poured cream into his porridge, “I’m not rightly sure, I still retain the ability to remember certain things; but I’m not…hmm, I should call mum about that. I doubt he’d contact me, either. I don’t really have the power to do anything and he’ll be in no position to send letters.”

Bri nodded and waved her spoon at him, “Because he went to prison, right; for his involvement with the Greyback Incident?”

Draco bobbed his head, “Exactly. If I heard mum correctly, he ought to be getting out when my children are graduating from Hogwarts and by then, I’ll be Head of the Family and you can be sure I’ll make it hurt if he tries to do anything stupid.”

Romilda trudged into the Hall and flopped heavily onto the bench next to Draco and faceplanted onto the table with a loud ‘Whump!’  Everyone flinched at both the sound and the realization that the poor girl had just come back from a full moon transformation. Draco reached over and gently caressed Romi’s back, “Rough night?”

“Uh-huh,” was her muffled response. “Bobbi is fun and all, but the trips to and from are getting to be annoying. I hurt in places I didn’t know I had.” Bobbi was her wolf’s name. Briallen began assembling a plate of breakfast for the girl and slid it over to her.

“I thought you’d be used to it by now. This is what, your fifth transformation?” Draco soothed.

Romi shrugged, “According to my new dad, it never gets easier. You just get numb to it all.” She turned her head to face everyone, “I’m just going to lay here until my body becomes one with the table.”

Harry wondered out loud, “Isn’t there some sort of cream or ointment that could relieve aches and pains?”

Hermione bobbed her head as she joined them, “Sure there is, and I’m surprised that you haven’t used any, Romi.”

“I ran out this morning,” she moaned as she tried to sit upright and reach for the milk jug.

“Romilda, I was wondering,” Harry began, “When you transform, is your wolf a raging, blood-thirsty monster or is she pretty normal for a wolf?”

Romi propped her chin up on her hands as she thought about it. “I’d say that she’s pretty cool. Padfoot says she matches me in personality and that I’m relaxed when I’m there. He said that the only time he’s ever seen her get angry about something is when Colin or Susan try to assert their dominance over me.”

Draco turned to Harry, “Why’d you want to know?”

Harry shrugged, “All the stories you learn in school or around about how dangerous werewolves can be if provoked. I figured; why not go straight to the person who’d know what’s real and what isn’t?”

Draco bobbed his head in understanding, “Can you picture what it would be like if her dad was the DADA professor, teaching everyone all about the different ‘dark creatures’?”

Romi giggled, “As much as Moony likes to teach us cubs, I don’t think Dad would have the patience. He says it took him almost a month to teach Padfoot not to put his feet up on the furniture.”

They turned at the sound of fluttering wings and a bark as Hedwig landed gracefully as she could bearing a box no bigger than a deck of cards. Briallen squealed in delight at the sight of it and quickly divested her owl of the load. “You are the best, Hedwig! All Hail the Queen!” She fluffed and praised her tired owl before directing the bird over to the water and bacon. She pulled her wand and tapped the box which grew until it took up a large section of the table. She pried off the lid and let out another squeal of delight at the sight of the folders of music sheets, new guitar strings, and a stack of records. Harry shot Draco a knowing look while shaking his head in amusement, “Once again, I’m reminded that while she and I are technically the same person, this proves we’re completely different. I don’t recall ever being this animated when I received my Nimbus 2000.”

Draco laughed along with him, “I know, right? What is it with girls and squealing?”

Harry tapped his spoon against his chin thoughtfully, “I think it’s a form of communication to the other females in the herd. It signals to them that there’s something worthwhile to investigate and propagate.”

Draco took on a supercilious air, “Ah, yes. I do believe you are correct, old chum.”

Bri just rolled her eyes and snorted in haughty derision, “Boys.”

Over with the Gryffindors…

Luna sat quietly munching on her breakfast roll; her expression could be described as ‘amusedly dreamy.’ Colin nudged her, “What’s so funny, Luna?”

She finished swallowing, “There are others who are not happy with my talent in knowing. They are discussing what to do with me.”

Colin frowned a bit, “I don’t understand.”

She pointed over to where Draco was animatedly describing something with his hands while the two Potters, Romilda, and Hermione laughed at whatever the story was. “Harry had made a joke about me being able to commune with my alternate self from his universe. Then we came up with the idea that there must be a ‘Council of Lunas’ somewhere in the cosmos who meet and decide what is the best course of action for all the variations of me if we decide to do something evil or just plain chaotic.”

He cocked his head in curiosity, “So there’s a consensus that you did something that they didn’t like and are meeting to discuss your fate?”

She smiled dreamily and waggled her hand, “Yes, though at the same time, no. It’s not like there’s a meeting room where the different versions of me are actually sitting around discussing my case, it’s more like a feeling that the universe isn’t too pleased with the assistance I and Harry’s version have given, but I can just see how it’d happen if it did. (Her smile grew wider) I can see an angelic Luna, a pixie Luna, a vampire Luna, even a succubus Luna gathered around an impressive conference desk with a tray of pastries and a jug of hot chocolate. “We’ve gathered here to discuss the actions of Luna 5678-T and her excessive use of CUTENESS to seduce/befriend two variance of Harry Potter and a Hermione Granger with a possible second variant to appear. We fear that Luna 5678-T may also be communing with Luna 2558-P for the purpose of spreading Harmony through the multiverse!”

Colin snickered at her display, “There you go again with being excessively cute. Will the madness ever end?” He put the back of his hand against his head and pretended to swoon then flinched at a lingering ache in his joints and muscles.

She laughed at his antics and puffed up with mock-righteous indignation, “I’ll have you know, that there’s no such thing as an ugly Luna Lovegood! We are the universe’s answer to all things strange, beautiful, and quirky!”

The two of them fell against each other in a howl of laughter.

After breakfast, Harry went out to go fly on his Firebolt; Briallen disappeared up to the Room to practice her music, while Draco joined up with Dean and Seamus to kick around Dean’s football. Hermione mentioned something about heading up to the Room of Requirement in search of a discarded object to help her with a project in Arithmancy class, Luna followed Lavender and Parvati when the former overheard the latter two discussing their plans to design some new outfits with the clothes they’d picked up from Tinker’s and Gladrags. Still recovering from the previous night’s full moon, Romilda joined up with Colin as he headed off to the infirmary to see about getting another pain-relief potion from Madam Pomfrey.

Later that evening, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge’s home, Master’s study; Clarence House (magical section) London

Cornelius had just wished his wife a pleasant evening before settling down in his easy chair in front of a crackling fire, armed with a snifter of brandy and a crossword puzzle book. After a stressful day of administering the magical community within all of Britain, it felt good to just have a couple of quiet moment to himself. He’d just finished jotting down the answer to number fifteen when he thought he heard a muffled noise coming from the floor above him, as if something heavy had just hit the floor. He called out to his wife, “Beatrice?” There wasn’t any response, which in itself was unusual; the woman had the uncanny ability to hear him from across the Mall even if he whispered.

Sighing, he put down the puzzle and rose to his feet to investigate. He headed towards the stairs and called up again, “Beatrice?” Still not getting a response, he pondered for a minute if he should call his Auror guards to investigate before shaking off that feeling, “It’s probably nothing and I’d rather not embarrass Bea if all that happened was her knocking a box onto the floor.” He resumed his climb and poked his head in through the door.

For the moment between that instance and the sight of a rushing green light heading his way, Cornelius wished he’d just gone ahead and called for his guards.

Monday 1 November, 1993; Ministry for Magic, Cornelius Fudge’s office

Cornelius’ secretary, Agatha Simpson had her own puzzle on her hands. Her boss, normally a punctual man, was late. ‘Fudge is never late. Not even when the Floo Network Authority has the system down for maintenance!’ She checked over his schedule once again to make sure he didn’t have any last minute surprise meetings that he might’ve gone to and fretted anxiously. Finally, after waiting another ten minutes, she called down to the DMLE and got Amelia on the line. “Director, this is Agatha Simpson up in Minister Fudge’s office; I’m worried that he might be in some sort of situation. He’s not reported in for work and I can’t get ahold of him at his residence. (A pause) Yes, ma’am…yes…thank you.”

Hanging up the phone, Agatha entered in a command to seal the Minister’s office down as per protocol and waited for a team of Aurors to arrive.

Fudge’s home, a few minutes later…

Master Auror Alastor Moody exited the fire and peered around the room cautiously, his wand at the ready. His magical replacement eye wasn’t picking up anything overly threatening. A half-finished glass of alcohol and a muggle crossword puzzle lay on a side table…nothing seemed amiss other than the fact that it seemed as if no one was home. He cast the Homenum Revelio spell and got two indicators that their quarries were upstairs. Silently, he motioned for the others to head up. They climbed the stairs silently and efficiently as they’d been trained to do, eyes sweeping for any movement, their ears listening for any sound.

Alastor pointed out the door that would lead to the Master bedroom and crept closer. Taking a page from Amelia’s interaction with Vernon Dursley, he carefully scanned the doorknob for any heat source and grunted to himself. He cast a charm that would change the wood to glass and peered through the now see-through door. “Damn,” he quietly muttered.

The room inside was a scene out of a nightmare. Cornelius and his wife had been brutally murdered and displayed in a gruesome caricature of wedded bliss. Surrounding Cornelius was a smoky black and green-tinged fire that flickered with an unholy light as it slowly consumed the body and spread onto the blood-soaked bed. Beatrice’s sightless eyes gazed down at her husband’s flaming head in her cold, dead hands while his chest had been savagely ripped open and his heart torn out. There was blood everywhere with one streak leading up to the wall behind them. A message had been written: ‘You will all burn for allowing the unworthy to roam free!’

Much like the issues that announced the arrest, trial, and eventual conviction of Albus Dumbledore; the morning paper’s headline practically screamed, ‘Minister Cornelius Fudge and his wife found assassinated in their London home!’

Everyone within the Great Hall read their copies in silence with only a slight fluttering of noise from the pages being turned or a quiet whisper from the younger students asking for clarification. Briallen and Harry shared a glance between them. Harry sighed and shook his head, “Remember that feeling yesterday? I think we’ve found out what was causing it.”

Briallen agreed, “This isn’t going to end well.”

Hermione nudged her, “If this is the work of Umbridge, we should be on alert. Do you think the Headmistress and your aunt will activate the castle’s defenses?”

Bri leant back and looked up towards the Teachers’ table where she saw the adults sitting with their heads together in conference, “It looks like a possibility. I would wager that any future trips to Hogsmeade are going to be out of the question.”

Sure enough, Minerva rose to her feet and got the attention of the Hall, “Students, in light of this morning’s announcement of Minister Fudge’s assassination; I will be rescinding all permission to visit the village for the time being until Dolores Umbridge is either caught or killed. Owl mail will still happen as normal, but I urge you to not send for unnecessary purchases and the like to keep the possibility of something dangerous making its way past the wards. I expect your parents to be reaching out to you for reassurance and vice versa, but please keep the number of telephone calls to a few minutes each so as to not overload the lines. Classes will continue as scheduled but should anyone feel the need to talk about their feelings on this event, please visit your Head of House, Madam Pomfrey, High Inquisitor Dursley, or myself.”

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on whom you spoke to, nothing developed beyond reading in the paper about Fudge’s assassination. Amelia had gone on record to state that, “This dastardly act was the predation of Dolores Umbridge, the only known person to have ever escaped from Azkaban. We at the DMLE urge everyone to be alert. Develop security questions to verify your loved ones identities, and if possible, activate your home defensive wards. I am authorizing the increase of the reward for information leading to the capture of Dolores Jane Umbridge from three thousand Galleons to five hundred thousand. Let me be frank, do not attempt to capture her on your own if you have not been certified by the Ministry of Magic or from the International Confederation of Wizards. If you do see Dolores, make a note of when and where then pass that information along to the nearest Auror’s office or satellite station.”

A reporter yelled out their question to ask if Amelia was prepared to send out the Dementors. She glared back, “I will not unleash those monsters upon the populace. Not only because most citizens are incapable to counter their effects, but also because the muggles would be completely defenseless and if they’re provoked, we risk exposure of our world.”

Friday 5 November 1993; Isle of Wight, Carisbrooke Castle, hidden behind magical wards

Sitting high and proud at the heart of the Isle of Wight, Carisbrooke Castle had been an artillery fortress, king's prison, and a royal summer residence. It also held another secret… The cottage and the plot of land it sat on were hidden to anyone of a magical heritage but to the locals, a quiet and rather aloof ‘little old lady’ lived there as the caretaker’s widow. She was occasionally seen visiting the nearby town of Newport’s shops for supplies and whatnot, but by and large, she kept to herself or speaking to one or two townspeople. Several of the local children would swear that they’d seen things flying around or appearing out of nowhere as if by magic. If anyone had thought about it, they would’ve noticed the strange occurrences that seemed to take place around the ironically named ‘Old Witch of Carisbrooke,’ people could be found walking around like zombies then waking up on the opposite side of the island without any memory of how they got there and occasionally bearing unusual wounds. Even stranger were the reports of thefts from homes and businesses that seemed to never trip their respective alarms. The money was never touched, and only certain gaudy pieces of jewelry along with the hard goods such as furniture, clothes, and food.

Dolores waddled into her sitting room, a floating tea service dutifully floating behind her. She settled into her favorite chair and sighed with contentment as her eyes gazed upon the detailed maps, ward schema of various family homes, and her lists of targets. She smiled evilly at one particular list of names and used her wand to cross out Cornelius’ name and picture. “You had your uses Minister, and now you can fulfill your last one as a message to everyone else who dares to keep me from returning to my rightful place as Senior Undersecretary to the Ministry of Magic. I shall purge this world of all those who are…undesirable.”

Her sharp eyes read off some of the other names listed and sneered at their images. “Director Bones, I cannot wait until I have either your hide or the beast you call a niece hanging on my wall. All those times you argued for tolerance or actions that did not fully punish the guilty.” She growled at the memories of all those meetings within the Minister’s office or on the Wizengamot floor. “Augusta Longbottom, you need to be…neutralized, for the same reasons. You are too soft on the befoulers of our society. Giving equal rights to werewolves and half-breeds? Preposterous!”

Down the list she went; she vowed to get her revenge on people like Sirius Black simply because he got out of Azkaban legitimately and was a member of Dumbledore’s vigilante group in the previous war fighting against the ‘natural order of things’; Petunia Dursley for accepting the role of High Inquisitor when she should’ve just stayed out in the muggle world with the rest of the animals. Arthur Weasley made the list for no other reason than for being a blood-traitor. Minerva McGonagall for various past instances of defiance and disloyalty to the government as well as running Hogwarts in a manner that was unseemly to Dolores. ‘All of those newfangled muggle devices, the new teachers, and classes? There was nothing wrong with staying with the old ways!’ Tacked onto the space next to Minerva’s name was Griselda Marchbanks as she’d been the one to approve of hiring Petunia Dursley instead of hiring someone more ‘qualified’ aka a pureblood of proper breeding.

Even Briallen Potter made the list, though her name was almost an afterthought. “Unnatural little blighter, taking up with a mudblood. If it was up to me, she should’ve been sold to an upstanding member of society and taught to behave properly while the mudblood would be sold to slavers overseas.”

She aimed her wand at the list and after a moment of contemplation, added Dirk Cresswell to the list for his role in aiding and abetting the Goblins in their never-ending quest for stealing from influential families. Dolores nodded resolutely, “There. Now, all I have to do is find out who took my position. In the meantime, I can work on my secondary project.”

She turned her attention to a ‘little black book’ that rested on the side table next to her chair. In it were names and contact information on individuals who were uniquely suited to capturing dangerous beasts. She left a message to one of the addresses, “Find and capture the werewolves formerly known as Susan Bones and Romilda Lupin. Their last known location was Hogwarts. Bring them to Baker to be processed. Once completed, send word to Eagle for them to be sent onto market. The funds will be deposited in our agreed upon location. Dispose of any other creatures you come across.” Once that was done, she picked one of the names off her list and began making plans to demonstrate her displeasure for their roles in her downfall.

Hogwarts, the next day…

Harry was feeling pretty good. He’d received another letter from his Hermione outlining her research efforts to bring him home or conversely her to him. She’d included a letter from their Luna who told him in great detail all of the ‘interesting creatures’ that started appearing once Hermione activated the Mirror of Erised. They both wrote about Albus’ efforts to steal their correspondence and the often hilarious results of the protections the Unspeakables applied to the letters before delivering them.

He entered the library and wove his way through the aisles until he arrived at the table where Bri and Hermione were studying at. He sat down and noticed a smudge on Hermione’s cheek, “Um, Hermione?” The bushy-haired girl tore her gaze away from her reading, her eyes slightly unfocused. “How in the world did you get chocolate sauce that far back on your face?” Hermione’s eyes grew wide as she embarrassedly wiped her cheek and blushed furiously. Briallen meanwhile, noticeably shifted in her seat with a smug grin on her face.

Harry recognized the action and rolled his eyes, “Seriously? In the library? What is it with you Ravenclaws?”

Bri sighed happily, “What can I say? Hermione presented a convincing argument about living our dreams.”

“Do I even want to know when this took place?” Harry groused as he faceplanted onto the tabletop.

Briallen shook her head with an impish gleam in her eyes, “No, but if I were you; I wouldn’t lay my face on the table here.” Harry bolted upright with a grimace of distaste to their quiet laughter.

Neville appeared not too long afterwards. He saw the look of displeasure on Harry’s face, “Hello, what’s going on?”

Harry thumbed over to the two girls, “Hermione and Briallen were being disgusting in public.”

Neville looked between the two girls, “Do I want to know?” At Hermione’s saucy grin, he held up his hands, “Never mind. If whatever it was that got Hermione into giving that look, I don’t want to know.” The other three quietly snickered. He pulled out his history notebook and got up to retrieve the necessary texts he needed to do his homework. When he returned, he leant over, “I’m surprised Madam Pince didn’t catch you.”

Briallen slid over a piece of paper, “I got this gem of a charm from our Head of House. The Muffliato charm is a privacy spell created by Professor Snape when he was a student here. Professor Flitwick learned of it back in the late eighties and now teaches it to all of his students. It’s not all that difficult to cast either.”

Curious, both boys leant in to read the spell information. Harry was impressed, “I’m surprised Snape let this be taught to everyone outside of Slytherin House.” The other three looked up at him causing the raven-haired teen to sigh in frustration, “I keep forgetting that your Snape isn’t the cruel, heartless bastard he is in my universe.”

Hermione waggled her hand, “He is and he’s not. Our first year here, Snape was just as you’d described him. I figure it was because he was chafing under the ‘guidance’ of Dumbledore. Once he was set free of whatever obligations Dumbledore had on him, he lightened up.”

Surprise bloomed on Harry’s face, “You just called Snape ‘Snape’ without using his title!”

Hermione rolled her shoulders, “So?”

“My Hermione always insisted on using their titles even when they didn’t deserve them,” he explained.

Briallen sneered, “You need to get yours to lighten up then when you get home.”

Harry harrumphed, “Assuming I want to go home. In my short stay here, I’ve never felt freer than I do now. There’s no Dark Lord after me, I’m taking the classes I want, and I’ve made more friends than I can possibly count. Why in the world would I want to go back?”

Briallen sat back in her chair and stared at him before relenting, “Well…when you put it that way. Of course, the Unspeakables might have a problem with you staying. Who knows what sort of monkey wrench this might throw into people’s plans?”

Neville was pensive, “If you don’t go home, wouldn’t you miss your Hermione?”

Harry bobbled his head, “Yeah, I would but maybe she could come here too? I know that her parents are rather career-oriented. She’s hinted that she was an ‘oops’ baby and that her mother and father are rather distant towards her.”

Hermione paled, “That’s terrible! I know that my parents planned to have me and love me very much. I wonder if she’d be alright with coming here. I know I’d love to have a sister and I’m sure my parents wouldn’t mind having another child; my mum gets wistful whenever she goes through the photo album.”

Bri tilted her head, “Usually right around February, correct? What happened?”

“Mum was pregnant with who would’ve been an older sister, but she miscarried,” Hermione replied sadly.

Harry grinned as a thought occurred to him, “Hey Nev, what if you could meet your alternate self too? I bet it wouldn’t be all that difficult to convince the Neville I know to tag along with Hermione.”

Briallen groaned, “Your idea sounds suspiciously like Draco’s, you know.”

At Neville’s confused look, she explained what happened at breakfast on Halloween. Neville’s face cracked with a large smirk, “Harry Potter agreeing with Draco Malfoy? I’d pay good money to see the results of that if word ever got back to your home world.” The others laughed at the blush on Harry’s face. Neville sobered, “That other Neville never got his parents back, did he?” Harry shook his head negatively. “Hmm, that might be a problem. If he ever agreed to it, someone would have to let him know that they are alive and recovering so it’s not too big of a shock when they meet. Of course, we could just let Briallen here share the news since she’s great at springing surprises on people.” Bri patted him on the arm while giving him a mock-swooning expression which only earned her a playful shove by the boy in question.

Harry pondered that, “Do you remember the technique you used to communicate with them?” Both Neville and Briallen nodded simultaneously. Harry gestured wide with his hands, “Then it’s simple; if or when my Neville goes back, he could take the information with him to revive his parents there.” The others bobbed their heads in agreement with Harry’s simple solution.

Luna appeared ten minutes later, her hair and clothes dirty and in disarray; a streak of mud smeared on her elfin features. Briallen’s eyes widened as she reached for her friend, “What happened to you?!”

Luna frowned as she moved around the table to take a seat, “Nothing, why?”

Bri motioned up and down, “Your clothes look like you went one on one with Buckbeak and your hair looks like it got caught in a tornado.” Despite the seriousness of the moment, Luna couldn’t help but laugh at Briallen’s concern.

“It’s not a problem, I swear. I was playing with the Thestrals and the foals got a little carried away,” she calmly explained. She turned to Harry, “Have you sent your next letter to your homeworld yet?” At his shake of his head, she sighed in relief, “Good. Briallen, I need you to finish that song you’ve been working on. Luna needs it, and soon.”

Hermione touched Luna on the arm, “Why? What happened?”

Luna shifted uncomfortably, “Luna’s being bullied by the others in her House and while she’s able to put on a brave face, I fear that she’s liable to crack under the pressure. I think if Luna could hear that song you’ve been working on, it might give her strength.”

Briallen stared off into the distance for a moment before agreeing. “I can do that. It’s almost finished anyways; I just need to try it out to make sure the chorus flows.”

Neville cocked his head, “Which song is this?”

Reaching into her book bag, Briallen extracted her music notebook, “I started composing what I’m calling Luna’s theme song. Did you ever read Lewis Carrol’s story ‘Alice in Wonderland’ growing up?”

Neville thought for a moment, “Is that the story with the white rabbit always complaining about being late?” At their nods, he did as well, “Then yes, I did read it; at least the magical version. I loved the moving pictures.” Hermione got a contemplative look on her face when he mentioned the magical version. “So what does this song sound like?”

Briallen glanced around at the others then shrugged, “Let’s go to an empty classroom and I’ll play it for you.”

Ten minutes later…

Briallen entered the room where the others had congregated and gently placed her guitar case on the desk, “Just remember that it’s not entirely complete.” She pulled up a chair and got herself situated. Her fingers began strumming the opening chords then began to sing:

“Trippin' out, Spinnin' around
I'm underground, I fell down
Yeah, I fell down…

I'm freakin' out, so where am I now?
Upside down and I can't stop it now
It can't stop me now…
Ohhh

I…
I'll get by
I…
I'll survive!
When the world's crashin' down,
When I fall and hit the ground;
I will turn myself around!
Don't you try to stop me!
I…
I won't cry!

I'll play the game, but I can't stay;
I've got my head on straight, and I'm not gonna change.
I'm not gonna change!

I'll win the race, keep up with the pace
Today's the day, that I start to pray,
You can't get in my wa-ay!
No-ooo!

I…
I'll get by;
I…
I'll survive!
When the world's crashin' down,
When I fall and hit the ground
I will turn myself around
Don't you try to stop me
I…
I won't cry!

I found myself in Wonderland;
Get back on my feet again,
Is this real?
Is it pretend?
I'll take a stand until the end!

I…
I'll get by;
I…
I'll survive!
When the world's crashin' down,
When I fall and hit the ground;
I will turn myself around,
Don't you try to stop me!
I… I won't cry!

When she finished and her magic faded away, nearly everyone was visibly moved to tears. Luna sniffled, “Thank you, Briallen. I’m sure that she’ll love it.”

Tuesday 9 November, 1993; Ministry for Magic, Director Bones’ office

Amelia groaned as she leant back in her chair trying to make sense of the destructive chaos that Dolores was creating. There seemed to be no pattern to her attacks. Just yesterday, there was a bombing at a row of muggle warehouses that supplied goods to the magical shops within Diagon Alley. Sixteen people had been killed in the explosion. The Aurors arrived on scene to find another message burnt into the walls, “You will all burn!”

This morning, she’d received a report of muggles trying to attack the residence of Griselda Marchbanks. They’d been easily dispatched by Griselda who put them down without too much fuss. When the Obliviators and Healers arrived, they found that the muggles had been coerced into attacking due to some rather dark enchantments. The moment that the attack had been thwarted, their brains had been turned into mush.

Alastor stomped into her office and gave her a tight smile in commiseration, “I guess you heard about what happened at old Marchbanks’ place. I’ve got the reports from the autopsies here.”

Amelia sighed heavily as she reached for the first one, “Where the bloody Hell is she, Alastor? I thought everything she owned had been identified and locked down.”

He shrugged a shoulder in submission, “It looks like she found a new place. I wouldn’t put it past her to take over a muggle place and use it as her base of operations. Merlin knows that trying to find something like that would be like looking for a bowtruckle amongst the weeds.”

Over the course of the following week, Amelia’s growing headache had progressed into the ‘Migraine of the Millennium’ as Dolores and whatever forces she was using stepped up their attacks upon the people of Britain with everything from Imperius-induced muggings and thefts to compulsion suicide bombers sowing destruction and chaos. There seemed to be no pattern or target list to the madness. Muggles were being used as mindless weapons against the magical population, inciting fears and panic as calls and owls bearing Howlers were sent into the Ministry to do something to stop the violence.

At one point, she jokingly suggested that maybe they ought to reach out to the muggle military to see if they had anything to track down their missing fugitive. Her Second in Command, Kingsley Shacklebolt looked at her as if she’d grown a second head, “Surely you can’t be serious?”

She speared him with a condescending look, “Of course, I’m not Sirius; he’s in Penzance and don’t call me Shirley.”

Wednesday 17 November, 1993; Hogwarts, after classes let out

Harry jauntily whistled as he strode through the hallways on his way back to Hufflepuff as classes let out for the day. Neville caught up to him as they turned the corner leading to the stairs, “What’s got you in such a good mood?”

Giving his friend a smile and shrug, Harry replied, “I need a reason to be happy?”

Neville gave him a side-eyed look, “For you? Yes since according to you, the universe doesn’t like to see you happy for any reason.”

Harry laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder, “You got me there, but I think that only applies to my universe. Here, I’m free!”

The two boys spotted Briallen giving Hermione a piggy-back ride and hurried to catch up to them. “Are you too good to walk on your own two feet, Your Highness?” Neville teased the girl.

Hermione returned his teasing with a haughty expression, “I’ll have you know, Neville Longbottom that I always treat my servants as I would expect to be treated.” A slow smile ghosted over her face, “I promised Bri an evening of ‘quiet contemplation’ if she’d consent to carrying me around.”

Judging by the hungry look on Briallen’s face, ‘quiet contemplation’ was the furthest thing on her mind at that moment.  She noticed Harry’s French textbook, “I’m pleased to see you taking to the French language course so well. Aside from Parselmouth, I’ve never been one for speaking in another language so easily.”

Harry locked eyes with her, “I want to be ready for fourth year.”

She took this to mean that he wanted to be more proactive in the Tri-Wizard Tournament and with Fleur if that eventuality came to pass and cocked her head, “Do you really think it would happen? If I recall correctly, it was only restarted because he needed a distraction from the other escaping.” Her cryptic responses were confusing Neville who asked what they were talking about. Bri shook her head, “Sorry, Nev but we can’t tell you.”

He flicked his finger between the two Potters, “Is it something that has to do with how Harry got here?”

Harry waggled his hand, “Something like that and yes, Bri. Should I be forced to return to my homeworld, I want to be ready; I may need her to help with an escape plan.”

The group met up again later for dinner. Harry split off from the group when he spotted the Twins and greeted them with a twinkle in his eyes, “Gents, I’ve got a prank idea I think you’d like. It’s simple in concept but hilarious nonetheless.”

Fred waved him to a seat, “Whatcha got for us, young Potter?”

Harry glanced to his left and right before whispering, “How about laying down bubble wrap on the floors then disillusioning it? People would be startled by the sudden cracking and popping noises and unable to locate the source.”

George laughed, “I like that. Now what is this bubble wrap you speak of and how easy is it to obtain?”

Up at the Teachers’ table…

Severus quietly watched as Harry joined the Weasley twins for a moment then grimaced at the sight of the three laughing. Petunia caught the pinched look on his face and gave him a nudge, “What’s wrong?”

He gestured over to the Gryffindor table, “Your nephew and the Twins are planning something.”

She turned to see where he pointing, “I’ll handle this.”

Harry looked up at the sound of Petunia clearing her throat and leveling a glare at the three teens, “I certainly hope you’re not planning on doing something that would wreck your image, Harry.”

He put on an angelic expression that fooled no one, “Who? Me? I would never think of pulling a prank upon anyone.”

She leant down and whispered in his ear, “If whatever you’re planning involves Severus, I want in.” She straightened up and in a louder voice replied, “See that you don’t. I’ll have my eye on you.” She turned and headed back up to the front.

Meanwhile the Twins were staring agog at what they’d overheard, “Do you think she means it?”

Harry watched her go for a moment before turning back with a knowing grin on his face, “Without a doubt.”

Outside on the grounds near the fence…

The team of six werewolf hunters gathered under the copse of trees near a weak point in the castle’s defenses. The plan was simple. Get in, grab the three werewolves and get out without anyone knowing until it was too late. The team lead for this hunt, Ragmar Dorkins, a wanted man in at least seven other countries for a long litany of crimes, checked over his notes once again when his sharp hearing picked up the sounds of hissing. He cast a supersensory charm around him and frowned when he couldn’t detect anything. He canceled the charm and nudged one of his unnamed team mates, “You hear hissing?”

The other man nodded, “Yeah, but where’s it coming from?” Unease began spreading throughout the others as they too, began to look around for the source of the noise. One of them turned to look behind them and immediately fell over stone-cold dead. Ragmar froze when he saw this, ‘There’s only one creature I know of that could do that!’ He pulled out a mirror and handed it off, “Look behind you and tell me what you see.” The moment his compatriot froze solid, Ragmar began sweating heavily as he frantically looked around for an escape route.

It was never meant to be. Sandrine calmly slithered up and scratched him with one of her fangs then sat back and watched as the venom worked its way through the odious man’s bloodstream.

The next day, Petunia cornered the Twins and ‘asked’ them to accompany her to her office. When they arrived, she pointed to a pair of chairs and ordered them to sit. “Now, it has come to my attention that the pair of you are planning to prank Professor Snape. Is this true?”

Fred shook his head, “Honestly, we’re not. If this is in regards to yesterday, Harry came up to us with the idea to use something he calls ‘bubble wrap’ and disillusion it so no one knows where the popping noise is coming from.”

Petunia bobbed her head in understanding. “Okay, well for your information, bubble wrap is a sheet of plastic with tiny bubbles of air used to protect delicate objects for shipping. It’s not difficult or expensive to obtain in any muggle shipping supply store.” She observed them for a moment, “What other sorts of things have you two been developing?”

George hummed, “Well… we’ve been working on a new type of sweet that causes the victim to expel gas to a musical tune.”

Petunia stared at the pair with incredulity, “You’re kidding! Do you have a sample?”

Fred reached into his pocket and extracted a small box then handed it over, “Our latest batch. We’re getting ready to roll them out.”

Carefully sniffing the contents, it smelled slightly of lemons. “It’s a shame that Albus is no longer amongst us. He loved anything having to do with lemons.” She reached in and plucked out one of the brightly wrapped candies. She noticed that they’d flinched at the sight. “What’s wrong with this one?”

George sighed, “We’re still working out some of the kinks with that one.”

“Well, what are they in the first place?”

Fred explained, “Tooty Fruities. They let whomever eats them fart a few bars of a piece of music. Lemons are ‘God Save the Queen,’ the Oranges are ‘Tocatta in D Minor,’ and then we have the Bananas.”

“This is the one you’re having trouble with?” She asked worriedly, the entire concept had a foul air about it.

George rubbed the back of his neck as he explained, “Well you see, the bananas are Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. We’ve been having problems with the cannons.” He shrugged, “We’re thinking about just marketing it as a feature and fixing it in the patch release.”

Petunia dropped the candy back into the box, “Now when you say problem, what kind of problem?”

Fred grimaced and shifted uncomfortably, “Let’s just say that it gives new meaning to the term ‘explosive diarrhea.’”

Slowly shaking her head, Petunia reached for a pad of paper, “I’m assigning you both a week’s worth of detention to be served with Professor Sciuto starting tonight.” At their looks of dismay, her next words caused them to snap their heads up and stare at her with hope, “Be sure to bring with you all of your research data, notes, and samples of these candies.”

Their mouths open in surprise and their eyes slightly glazed, Fred and George stumbled out of Petunia’s office and wobbly wove their way back towards their tower leaving behind a laughing High Inquisitor.

Monday 22 November, 1993; MoM DMLE, Director Bones’ office

At her wit’s end to locate and stop Umbridge’s reign of terror, Amelia surprisingly reached out to Vernon Dursley for his input to help her think ‘outside the box.’ He was at work when his phone rang and heard Amelia’s voice on the other end. He was confused as to why she would call him of all people. “Why me? Don’t you have people who think of unusual solutions?”

He could hear her frustration in her answer, “They’re only used to coming up with magical solutions. I need your help using non-magical ideas. After all the ingenuous traps you put up in your home after Dolores attacked you; no one on my staff, especially the purebloods, ever realized the danger they presented. While Dolores isn’t a pureblood, she was magically-raised which means that she’s extremely dismissive of anything muggle.”

Vernon sat there for a moment thinking hard, “Well, have you tried using owl mail to send a letter with a tracking charm on it? How about one of those portkeys? Attach it to the same letter so in case the tracking charm fails for whatever reason, you can still have a back-up option.” He could hear her scribbling down the ideas. A novel one popped into his mind, “What about that trace thing you have on people’s wands?”

“What about it?”

“Do you have her magical signature leftover from her last medical check-up? The next time she uses her wand, you could have whatever system you use to ping her location on a map.”

Amelia nixed that idea, “She inscribed some sort of enchantment on her skin that prevents her from being detected.”

“When was the last time you tried to locate her using that trace thing?”

Frowning (though he couldn’t see it), she slowly replied, “Not for a while… Why?”

“It’s just that human skin sheds itself periodically. It’s entirely possible that whatever she did is no longer capable of hiding her.” He could hear her gasp of intrigue over the line. “Finally, what about using a team to go through every known magical town on the island, no matter how small to determine where she isn’t. Once that’s done, any magical usage by her would be easy to pinpoint.”

For the first time in a while, Amelia felt a frisson of hope as she thanked Vernon for his assistance. “No problem. Now, if you could help solve my logistical nightmare about shipping a hundred and fourteen centimeter oil drill bit out to the Hutton oil field in the North Sea by next Wednesday; we’ll call it even.”

She commiserated with him, “If it wouldn’t completely shatter the Statute of Secrecy, I’d just send you a cargo portkey. I’ll keep you posted if another solution presents itself. Thank you, Mr. Dursley.”

Tuesday 30 November, 1993; Earth 2558-P; Hogwarts, Hermione’s Temporal/Dimensional Experiment Room 412

Hermione entered the room carrying a package in her hands intent on making viable headway into creating a practical experiment using the Mirror after reading Harry’s suggestion of an idea that his counterpart had come up with. Briallen’s idea stemmed from the concept that maybe the Mirror acted like a gateway between universes and might need a special spell in order to activate it much like in Lewis Carrol’s sequel to the Alice in Wonderland book. Briallen suggested that Hermione ask Dumbledore for the spell he used to transfer the Philosopher’s Stone into it as a trap for Voldemort.

Flashback…

Albus had been reticent about letting Hermione ‘play’ with the Mirror, but the Unspeakable accompanying her gave him no grounds to deny her request. “We will be experimenting one way or the other, Albus. If you refuse to cooperate, we will have no choice than to take Miss Granger and all of her research back to the DoM where you will be unable to snoop as you’ve been doing for the past week.”

Hermione whirled around on her headmaster, “That explains why some of my notes and journals were missing! Headmaster, I want them back. Now!” He tried to prevaricate but the Unspeakable gave him no other choice by the simple expedient of pulling their wand and heading for the door. “If you persist in denying us, we will also inform Nicholas Flamel that you were the one who tried to steal his Stone for your own purposes and not the excuse you gave to him about Voldemort seeking it out.”

Giving the Unspeakable a dirty look, Albus put upon a ‘hard done-by’ sigh and withdrew the purloined books and notes from his desk, “I hope you would reconsider some of your planned experiments, Miss Granger. Experiment 42 and 56 are the paths to the Dark.”

Hermione shot him a derisive sneer as she snatched her journals back, “Only if it doesn’t get me the results I’m hoping for could it be construed as Dark, otherwise I would say they’re justified and necessary. Now, about the spell you used to insert the Stone?”

Albus shook his head once more, “There is no spell. You just need to concentrate about what you want to have happen and the enchantments built into the mirror do the work automatically.”

Present…

As she entered the room, her hearing picked up on the sounds of someone sniffling. Knowing that the only other two people permitted to enter was either Professor McGonagall or Luna Lovegood, and given the fact that McGonagall was highly unlikely going to squirrel herself away in here to have a cry meant that it must’ve been Luna. Hermione found the younger girl curled up in the corner holding onto a torn picture. “Luna?”

Luna started at the sound of her name and wiped away the tears flowing down her face, “Hello, Hermione Granger.”

Hermione knelt down and pulled the younger girl into her arms, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Luna shook her head, “It’s nothing. Just some old memories.”

Noticing the picture, Hermione could see it was of Luna in the embrace of who could only be her mother and understood. “It’s her anniversary today?” She could feel Luna nod her head and sniffle again. She cuddled the blonde to her and rocked slightly back and forth. “I’ve got something that might help with the pain. Harry sent it over along with his latest letter about the other world.”

Luna turned her head to peer up at Hermione, “Is it that music Briallen was working on?”

Hermione let out a sigh, “How… I keep forgetting you do that… yes, it is. Would you like me to play it for you?”

“How? I didn’t know you could play an instrument or can sing.”

Hermione turned away slightly, “May I have an elf, please?” A pop heralded the arrival a female elf. “Hi, I was hoping you might know of an enchanted guitar or other device that could play sheet music as if the singer was there in the room.”

The elf thought for a moment then held out her hand, “Do you have it with you?” She took the sheet music from Hermione and examined it, “Doesn’t look too difficult. I’ll be right back.” The elf popped away then returned carrying an elf-sized guitar. Both Hermione and Luna looked surprised to which the elf smiled understandingly, “We’re not all cleaners or cooks, you know.” She got settled and read through the score once more as she began to play. When the song ended, Luna reached out and hugged the elf before looking skyward, “Thank you, and thank you Briallen Potter.”

Regaining her feet, Hermione walked over to her desk and laid out Harry’s letter. “So according to the theory by Briallen, the Mirror of Erised might be able to operate much like the mirror did in the book ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass.’ The trick, she warned, was determining which reflection we find is the correct one.” She picked up a pair of handheld mirrors she’d bought from a supplier in Hogsmeade recently. “By holding a mirror up to another, you can create the effect of an infinite amount of reflections that fade off into the so-called distance. The arithmancy provided by the Department of Mysteries should tell us which reflection is the correct one we need to connect to.”

Luna watched her friend as she worked and interjected with a question, “But how do you get to see all of those other mirrors if you don’t have a copy of this one?”

Hermione held up a finger as she moved over to the Mirror, “We can get around that by focusing our desire to see the other side. In theory, this should bring up the effect the Unspeakables are calling the ‘Grand Central Station of the Multiverse.’” She peered into the reflective surface and watched as the image distorted itself until the space reflected around her was filled with hundreds, thousands, if not millions of mirrors just like the one she was looking into. Hermione clapped her hands excitedly, “Success!”

Luna stood off to the side so as to not affect their experiment. In her hands, she held the coordinates given to her by the Unspeakable of the appropriate mirror. “From center, it’s the one up fifty-seven centimeters and left seventy-four centimeters.”

Hermione traced her finger up and to the left before touching the targeted location. “Got it.” She refocused her desire to connect with that new mirror and watched in awe as it swelled up to match the framework of hers. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of the other Mirror of Erised still tucked away in the Room of Requirement. “Wow, this is incredible, Luna!” Just then her attention was caught by the appearance of another Hermione as she picked her way through the towering piles of detritus. She tapped on the mirror face which caused the reflection Hermione to stand upright and look around for the sound before resuming her rummaging. Momentarily frustrated, Hermione tried again until she attempted to tap in Morse code to instruct her other self to turn around.

On the other side…

Hermione entered the Room of Requirement not really sure as to what she ought to be looking for. She knew she needed something enchanted to deconstruct for her Arithmancy project. The last time she was in here, she thought she could use the stuffed Troll but it was too massive to bring anywhere. Professor Flitwick reminded her that whatever she used didn’t have to be big or elaborate. “You just need to find something that can be seen from the back of the class.”

As she passed by a collection of portrait frames, she distinctly heard a tapping sound. She straightened up and frowned as she tried to identify the source. Shaking her head at the oddity, she returned to her search. Again, she heard the tapping noise but still could see where it was coming from. A second later, her hearing picked up the sound of more tapping, but this time it sounded as if it was coming in like Morse code. “- ..- .-. -. / .- .-. --- ..- -. -..” She closed her eyes and verbalized as she heard it, “Turn…around…” Her face paled as she slowly spun around. She could feel her eyes growing huge as she saw a reflection of herself waving to get her attention. “What the…”

Department of Mysteries, World 2558-P; same time

Robert Croaker, Director of World 2558-P’s Department of Mysteries sat at his desk slogging through the endless paperwork his department generated seemingly by the hour. He rubbed his face and had just picked up his coffee mug to get a refill when his door burst open as one of his Agents rushed in, “Boss! Hermione Granger has done it! She and Miss Lovegood have successfully contacted 5678-T!”

“So have we, why the excitement?” He reminded his overeager Agent.

The Agent waved his hand dismissively, “She used the Mirror of Erised and the coordinates we provided to establish a connection. According to the message sent via elf, she’s made contact with her counterpart there.”

“Can they see each other’s hands or something?” Robert was now growing more interested.

The Agent shook their head, “Better, they’re able to see each other just as you and I are standing here.”

Thunking the mug down on his desk, Croaker motioned for the Agent to lead the way as he grabbed his cloak.

Twenty minutes later…

Robert and his Agent strode into Hermione’s Experiment Room and paused at the entrance to the maze of…stuff. “Miss Granger? Miss Lovegood?”

Luna appeared a moment later and beckoned them to follow her, “Hermione is currently occupied. We’re not sure if she can leave the mirror unattended for very long.” She led them to the center of the room where the two adults saw Hermione standing next to a podium dragged in from somewhere else and using the double-mirror technique to send and receive messages.

Robert moved over to the side, “Miss Granger?”

Hermione held up a finger to her reflection, “Hello, Director Croaker. I wish you could see this. Oh, damn…wait, there she is.” She wrote an apology for whatever happened. “I keep forgetting to not wish for something else to happen. The Mirror tried to break the connection to give me my wish to let you see what I see.”

“I take it that your counterpart looks like you?”

Hermione waggled her hand, “Overall appearance, yes though she’s wearing make-up and is dressing a lot more relaxed than I would for a school day.” Once more she wrote a question down on the paper and waited for the other Hermione to respond. She saw her counterpart silently laugh and bob her head up and down then respond in writing. She read back the response, “It’s after classes right now and I like to ditch the uniform whenever I can.”

Robert grunted his amusement, “I never liked them either when I was a student. Would you ask her to call for Harry, please?” Hermione wrote down the request then watched as her other self called for an elf.

While they were waiting, Robert asked if she could get the mirror to split itself yet still remain connected to the link she had with her other self. It took Hermione a moment to think about how to word that request in such a way that the enchantments could understand. It took a couple of tries before the surface did as requested. A seam appeared down the middle of the mirror allowing Robert to step up. He waved a greeting to the other Hermione who waved right back. He sagged in relief, “Great, she can see and understand me. Agent, please bring us a couple of chairs. I’d imagine Miss Granger is getting tired of standing.”

The chairs were retrieved and moved into position. Hermione sighed in relief as she sat down. Her other self glanced around and levitated a wobbly 17^th century Baroque-style chair over to sit on. She smiled back at herself and gave her a thumbs-up in success.

On the 5678-T side…

Harry entered the Room slightly out of breath and looked around. “Hermione?” An elf appeared, “Follow me, please.” The elf led him around and down a couple of aisles before he spotted her sitting in front of the Mirror of Erised, “Hey, I never took you for someone who obsessed over their looks.”

Hermione gave him a half-hearted sneer, “Funny boy. You might want to grab a chair yourself.” She motioned over to where she’d gotten hers from.

“Oh? Why?”

Her sneer turned into a grin as she turned back to face the mirror, “You’re never going to believe this.”

Harry’s jaw dropped as he sat down and faced the mirror and saw his Hermione sitting there waving at him, “No way…” Distantly, his mind took in the information that he wasn’t looking at his reflection but that of Director Robert Croaker. He gave a weak wave back, “Can they hear us?”

Hermione shook her head, “No, we can only read what the other writes using this double mirror trick.

Harry desperately wanted to reach out and touch his Hermione, but his fingers refused to penetrate the silvered surface. “Is this for real?”

Hermione motioned to the notepad, “Ask her yourself.”

Taking the notepad, he scratched out a question that only the real Hermione would know. “Which is worse; getting killed or getting expelled?” He laughed lightly when his Hermione flipped him two fingers after she read it.

Emboldened by her success, Hermione peppered Harry with all sorts of questions about what the other world was like. Her heart ached at the sight of his easy smile and bemused shake of his head as he read off her list of inquiries.

HP: Never change, Hermione. I’ve missed seeing you. To give you the basics, I’m doing just fine here. My counterpart here and her family and friends have been treating me wonderfully. You’ll never believe this, but this world’s Draco is a great person and is friends with you!

HG: No way! I guess there really is infinite diversity of personalities out there. Director Croaker wants to know if you’ve noticed anything that would suggest that you’ve altered events in any way or feeling out of sorts because you’re not in your proper universe.”

HP: Nothing I’ve noticed or heard. Are you both aware of the escapee from Azkaban?

HG: Yes, here it’s Sirius Black. Who is it there?

HP: Dolores Umbridge. She’s been setting off terror attacks all over the island. According to Susan Bones, her aunt is having fits trying to figure out how to locate the Toad as she’s been nicknamed.

HG: Director Croaker said he’ll look through his records to see if there’s anything he can find to aid in the search. He said he’ll contact his counterpart through their own mirror. How is Professor Snape treating you?

HP: Surprisingly well. He and I have reached a tentative truce for the time being as long as I don’t target him with any pranks and stay out of his classes if I plan on continuing with Potions after fifth year.

HG: I thought he was covering fifth year. How are you going to be able to stay out of his class?

HP: I meant make sure I don’t accidentally end up in his laboratory like I did a couple of times at the start of the school year. My feet had a mind of their own and took me down there before I realized where I was heading. How are the others treating you and Luna?

HG: Ron is being Ron, as is Draco and the other Slytherins. Luna’s been having a rough time here because of her eccentric views on creatures that apparently no one else can see. Oh, she wanted me to thank you and Briallen again for sending the music. We had an elf who knows how to sing and play the guitar record it for Luna to listen to whenever she needed the morale boost. If I thought it would help, I would immediately transfer her over to Gryffindor to stay with me.

HP: I’m happy to hear that and saddened at the same time. The others and I were discussing the possibility of you, Luna, and Neville coming over here to meet your alternate selves and maybe even staying permanently. I know you’d love to talk shop with Hermione here (Ow! She hits as hard as you do and called me a prat.)

HG: How would that work if we did? What sort of logistical nightmare would that create if it succeeded? What if we couldn’t get back?

HP: Hermione, I know that you’ve been having problems with your parents, as have Luna and Neville with their own. Here, Neville’s parents were woken up and are in recovery. I’m sure they’d love to see him. As for Luna, her father barely recognizes her there. I’m told that the one here is much more active in her life. Here, the three of you could be free of the hassles that have been plaguing you since day one. Imagine not having to put up with Draco and his pureblood supremacy nonsense, having friends in all four Houses, learning subjects not offered there, and best of all; NO Dumbledore or Voldemort!

Hermione glanced worriedly over at Director Croaker, “He’s brought up a lot of good points, you know. I would love to at least try it out if we manage to establish a transfer.”

Robert thought hard for a moment, “One step at a time, Miss Granger. Before we get to that point, I’ll need to speak with my other side to see if the adults on that world would even be amenable to the idea.” The school bell rang in the distance, signaling the end of classes.

Hermione pouted as she reached out and touched the mirror’s surface sadly and mouthed the words, “I've got to go. I miss you, Harry James.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: The Greatest Gift of All

Wednesday 1 December, 1993; Hogwarts Teacher’s Lounge

Petunia entered the lounge still chuckling as she made her way over to the coffee and tea service to pour herself a cup. Filius looked up curiously, “What’s so funny?”

“I just had the opportunity to hear Briallen’s enthusiastic off-key rendition of Elvis Presley’s ‘Hound Dog,’” she remarked, an amused smile still on her face.

Severus shook his head derisively, “I don’t know where she got the idea that she could sing. The guitar playing is one thing, but a singing voice is not one of her talents.”

Unable to resist the jab, Petunia nudged him on the shoulder, “You still upset that you’ve got the voice of a belligerent cow, Sev?” He gave her a dirty look while the rest of the staff snickered at his expense.

Filius turned to him and piped up, “I don’t know why you’ve got a problem with Miss Potter’s singing. She has a very nice and soothing vocal range.” Severus refused to answer and just sniffed disdainfully leading the others to shake their heads in bemusement.

The door banged open as Minerva stormed inside and flopped heavily into an open chair while growling, “There are times where I wish we hadn’t let Argus go.” All heads swiveled in her direction.

“What did the students do now?” Pomona inquired as she took a sip of her drink.

Minerva pinched the bridge of her nose, “It’s the Weasley Twins. They’re apparently doing nothing, and that’s the problem! The pair of them have been walking about the castle doing nothing, and it’s driving me crazy trying to figure out what their game is.”

Petunia snorted, “Maybe that is their game, Minerva. They know that nothing drives someone crazy faster than just giving those damnable wicked grins they’ve perfected. By doing nothing, they’re proving that they’re better Slytherins than most Slytherins.”

Severus shuddered, “I’ll thank you for not giving me that unpleasant thought. The mere thought of what those two miscreants would be like in my House will fuel my nightmares tonight.”

“Well, I have an idea that might bring you some comfort,” Petunia began as she changed the subject, “Between all of the new classes, extracurricular activities, and the music; I realized that we’ve been missing the opportunities to show the magically-raised the joys of the cinema.” She dug into her pocket and extracted a folded sheet of paper, “I think you’ll find an eclectic list of titles that should entertain everyone.”

Minerva held her hand out and took the list. She scanned the titles and frowned slightly in thought, “I wouldn’t be the first to not recognize half of what’s on here. Contrary to popular belief, I do have a life; or I did when I was younger. I remember when the Wizard of Oz was playing in the theater houses for the first time. What a joy it was to see all of those vibrant colors in an era when all other films were shown in black and white.”

Pomona read it over her friend’s shoulder, “I saw that one!” She pointed to the title of ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks,’ “That one would be a great introduction to the students who’ve never seen a movie before.”

Wendy Berger chuckled, “Don’t forget about Mary Poppins. It was a wonderful song and dance movie, even if we do have to put up with Dick van Dyke’s awful Cockney accent.”

Severus groaned, “Not Mary Poppins. I can just picture Potter copying those songs to torture us.”

Filius scrunched up his face, “Wasn’t there a really long word in that movie? I vaguely remember hearing about it back in the sixties from a couple of my muggleborns.”

Petunia laughed, “Yes, it’s supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Thinking of seeing what sort of spell you could create from it?” The gleam in his eye suggested that was exactly what he had in mind.

Minerva tapped the table, “What’s your idea on how to govern who gets to see these movies?”

“I’m proposing that we use the prospect of movie night as a reward for good behavior, a number of points gained over the past couple of weeks, or perhaps earning an Exceeds Expectation in at least three classes. Anyone who doesn’t meet those requirements is not allowed to attend. If they come within maybe a couple of points shy, I’d say let them attend anyway but with a written promise to do better next time.”

Bobbing her head in approval, Minerva next asked when and where they were going to hold said movie night. “I was thinking of holding a showing on Saturday evenings after dinner. As for where,” Petunia thought for a moment before calling out, “Hogwarts, do you have the capability of adjusting the Room of Requirement into a cinema to hold the entire student population?” One of the portraits responded that the Room would take on whatever form was required, hence the name. Petunia sheepishly blushed, “Right, duh…”

“Then I give you permission to find the movies on this list and set it up, Petunia.” Minerva replied.

“Are all of these titles available for anyone to watch?” Filius asked as he took the list to read through. “Addams Family, Addams Family Values, Treasure Island…that one ought to get the boys interested; Gremlins?”

Petunia grinned at the last, “Gremlins should be hilarious and something that our Care and Defense professors ought to be prepared for. I’d wager that many of the students will be asking how to protect themselves from those nasty little blighters.”

“Are they dangerous?” someone asked.

“More mischievous than outright dangerous. Think Cornish Pixies on strengthening potions,” Petunia temporized. More than one adult shivered at the mental image that was conjuring up. “For the adventure-minded, there’s always ‘The Princess Bride’ and ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea.’”

Pomona pointed to one title, “’The Secret of My Success?’”

Petunia shrugged, “It’s a funny story about a talented young man who can't get an executive position without rising through the ranks; so he comes up with a ingenuous shortcut, which also benefits his love life.”

Severus sneaked a peek at the list and sneered, “Star Wars? A bit clichéd, don’t you think?”

“How so?”

He waved his hand dismissively, “Hasn’t everyone used those three on their movie nights already?”

Minerva ‘maturely’ stuck her tongue out at her sour colleague, “Obviously not, if I’ve never heard of it. How do you know of it?” She gave him an incredulous look.

Severus refused to meet her gaze, “I just do.” Petunia had to bite on her tongue to keep from laughing out loud.

The Muggle History professor, Donald Mallard motioned to the last, “I’m looking forward to seeing the Back to the Future trilogy. I especially liked the third and final part. There was this one scene…” He stopped and grinned mischievously at the yells from the others to not give spoilers.

Gryffindor Head of House Eleanor Hathaway stormed into the lounge in such an eerily similar manner to Minerva that most everyone wondered if the younger woman was related in some way. She loudly dragged over a chair and sank into it with relief. “I’ve got a bone to pick with you, Minerva. I don’t know how you ran Gryffindor when you were in charge, but apparently the students feel that they just because they’re Lions, they should get free reign to do whatever they please.”

Minerva let out a loud groan, “What did the Twins do this time?”

Eleanor shook her head, “It wasn’t the twins; it was Seamus Finnegan.” Severus was heard griping that the Irish teen must’ve blown up something valuable with his wand again. “Well, you’re not wrong about the explosion part. I caught the boy trying to ferment and distill rum in one of the empty storerooms adjacent to our common room!” A couple of snickers of laughter were heard which only set her off again, “It’s not funny! The explosion from the unvented gases nearly tore out half of the wall supporting the girls’ side of the tower!”

Abby patted her hand consolingly, “What was his response to the whole thing?”

Still fuming, she muttered, “He said he wanted to see what the real thing looked and tasted like while at the same time try and figure out where his magic keeps going wonky. As if that was a viable excuse to make alcohol in the tower and at his age no less!”

Still amused, Abby openly wondered if she ought to demonstrate the proper method of creating alcohol in her next class. Both Eleanor and Minerva glared at her; the former point blank stated, “Over my dead body.”

Minerva sighed, “I used to think the job of being Headmistress was a glamorous one. Okay, I’ll speak with the lad. Petunia? Would you please call his parents and have them come in for a joint conference?” Petunia nodded her acquiescence.

Great Hall, later…

“…And I want to make sure everyone here understands; these movie nights are a privilege. Any rule-breaking and you will lose the privilege of attending, no matter how much you beg and plead (She shot a glare off towards the Gryffindor table.) A copy of the list of movie titles will be posted on the bulletin boards in your common rooms. These movie nights will be held every Saturday evening after dinner in a special room on the seventh floor. Finding it will not be difficult, just follow the signs. Now, let lunch be served!” Minerva announced to the school at large and sat down to the excited chatter coming up from the students as they began to discuss, plot, and plan to be on their best behavior.

Romilda turned to Harry and nudged him, “Which ones did you ever see?”

Harry shook his head, “None of them. My relatives never allowed me any sort of pleasurable activities like that. Uncle Vernon told me a million times, ‘If you’ve got the extra time to sit and watch a movie, you obviously cheated on your chores.’”

Briallen rubbed his shoulder and commiserated, “That’s not going to happen this time.”

Draco appeared and took a seat next to Susan; his face was unusually anxious, “Susan? I was wondering if you’d like to be my date to the movie night event this Saturday.”

Surprised and a bit touched, she agreed to his offer, “Thanks, I’d like that. Shall we make it a formal event by dressing up?”

Draco took her hand and gave it a gentlemanly kiss, “Whatever my lady desires.” Her eyes flew open at his display as she let out a surprised giggle. He gave her a tiny wink then started building his lunch. Everyone else just stared in open-mouthed shock at what had just transpired.

Harry cleared his throat and mock-pompously voiced, “A Malfoy escorting a Bones to a social event? Oh, whatever would your ancestors say?”

Draco haughtily sneered back, “They would say that I’m not my father and refuse to let his mistakes and bigotry define me. He may have had a problem with the Bones family, but I most assuredly do not.” He nodded decisively then immediately pinked when Susan leant over and gave him a little kiss on the cheek.

When classes resumed, Harry made his way into his French language class and took a seat. The number one rule in this class was that any talking had to be done in French, even if it was just a stilted greeting. The first couple of days were excused by Professor Maxwell simply because no one knew how to speak the language but by this point, the students were expected to be at least proficient enough to give a reasonably pronounced ‘bon après-midi’ (good afternoon.)

Once everyone was seated and had their pens and paper ready to take notes, Professor Maxwell addressed her class, “Bon après-midi’ cours. Aujourd'hui, nous allons passer en revue la feuille de vocabulaire que je vous ai assignée pour les devoirs de la semaine dernière.”

She pointed to Harry to begin reading what he managed to accomplish. His pronunciation, while still horrible, was steadily improving, “Uh… Bonjour comment-allez vous? Je m'appelle Harry Potter et je cherche à acheter de nouveaux singes.” The whole class started giggling at his mistake causing him to stop and frown at his writing. “Wait a minute…”

Professor Maxwell tapped the desk, “M. Potter, en français s'il vous plaît.”

Flustered, he backed up, “yeah…uh, Ouais. Um… Je pense que mon papier a été... uh, modifié.”

She took the worksheet and cast a detection spell on it and smirked, “il semblerait que vous ayez été victime d'une farce. Continuez quand même votre traduction.”

Taking the worksheet back, Harry did his best with reading the translations; only stumbling on a few of the words that had been swapped with something ‘humorous’ and inwardly vowing to get whoever it was that pranked him would pay dearly. He had a number of choices, starting with his female counterpart.

Friday 3 December, 1993; Hogwarts 2558-P, Hermione’s Temporal Experiment Room

Harry wasn’t the only one struggling with his class assignments; Hermione too, was experiencing her own share of troubles. She’d been singularly unable to focus on her regular classes in light of the incredible discoveries she’d made with contacting the other world so she sought out Professor McGonagall to see if she could get permission to undergo an accelerated education program taught and overseen by the Unspeakable who visited the castle to keep appraised of her progress with the Mirror of Erised.

“It’s no offense to you, professor; but I simply cannot sit through another lesson in Transfiguration waiting for Ronald to pay attention or for Crabbe and Goyle to figure out which end of the wand to hold,” she complained that morning. “Don’t even get me started regarding the level of immaturity in Potions.”

Understandingly, Minerva approved of her decision, “I completely understand, Miss Granger. Far be it from me to hold back such a promising student just to appease the delicate sensibilities of the headmaster who incidentally does not want you to transfer out of a ‘structured learning environment.’”

Hermione scoffed, “You mean he doesn’t want me to have a teacher who isn’t under his command and won’t tolerate him dictating what should or shouldn’t be allowed.” Minerva merely raised an approving eyebrow in response. “So, according to my new professor, we will be covering everything I need to learn to pass my OWLs by the end of the school year in June. I expect that I won’t be able to attend the Quidditch games or spend my free time with the others in the common room.”

“Oh dear, that’s a right shame,” Minerva drawled. “In all honesty, I wish I had the nerve to do what you’re going to be undertaking. If the school had the money, I’d push for someone to be hired to take over the students who are in dire need of remedial training leaving those advanced students for myself.”

Hermione cocked her head, “According to what I saw up in the Room of Requirement, there are entire sections filled with jewelry, artwork, and sculptures let alone the sheer amount of furniture that could be sold.”

Minerva spared her a patronizing look, “And just how quickly do you think the Board of Governors, as well as the headmaster, would be all over that windfall before it even made it into the school vaults?”

Shaking her head at the blatant thievery the alleged heads of the school were willing to perpetrate against the students, Hermione gathered up her bag and thanked her Head of House once again before setting off back up to her Experiment Room.

When she entered, she found the Unspeakable already waiting for her. “Have you been here long?”

The Unspeakable shook their head, “A few minutes. Shall we resume your lesson with Elemental Charms as it applies to weather patterns?”

Several hours, and three subjects later, the pair of them took a break to go over her notes for the next stage to retrieve Harry Potter. Hermione picked up an index card and idly examined it, “I wonder if it would be possible to send something like this as a test subject. We know that the Mirror is capable of handling an object like the Philosopher’s Stone in a sort of quasi-limbo state, so it’s reasonable to assume that a card such as this would be able to transfer over.”

Her instructor/mentor shrugged, “Why don’t we find out? What sort of message will you write?”

She shook her head, “I’m not sure.” She glanced up at the clock and noted that they still had another quarter hour before their scheduled ‘chat’ with Hermione and Director Croaker of 5678-T. “Something simple, I imagine.”

It took her nearly that long to work up a short Shakespearean sonnet:

‘How heavy do I journey on the way,
When what I seek, my weary travel’s end,
Doth teach that ease and that repose to say,
‘Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend!’
The beast that bears me, tired with my woe,
Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me,
As if by some instinct the wretch did know
His rider lov’d not speed being made from thee.
The bloody spur cannot provoke him on,
That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide,
Which heavily he answers with a groan,
More sharp to me than spurring to his side;
For that same groan doth put this in my mind,
My grief lies onward, and my joy behind.’

The Unspeakable, Agent 22, read over what she’d written, “It’s unsurprising that you went with Shakespeare, Miss Granger and appropriate that you should choose this particular Sonnet.”

Sniffling slightly, she rose from the table and approached the Mirror of Erised. Hermione concentrated and brought up the ‘Grand Central of the Multiverse’ then shifted her attention to the proper mirrored destination. As the destined mirror resolved itself, they could see the other Hermione and Director Croaker already waiting for them. Sparing one more glance at Agent 22 who nodded solemnly, she approached the mirror surface and desired for a reflection of herself to take the index card from her hand and deliver it to the other side.

All four watched in amazement as the card seemed to melt into the mirror face like a knife dipping into mercury before rising up out of it on the other side nearly simultaneously. 5678-T’s Hermione carefully reached out and plucked it out of the mirror and read the inscription. With teary eyes, she covered her heart with her hand and bowed her head in commiseration.

The next day, Saturday; study hall before dinner…

Padma had joined Harry at the table in the library where he was busily working on his French homework worksheet. Curious, she peered over to watch him matching words to images, colors, and shapes. “I’m surprised you wanted to take French, Harry.” She whispered quietly to not alert Madam Pince.

He sat up, surprised at the sound of her voice and presence, “Oh, hi. Uh… How come?”

“Because of Briallen, I guess. She’s said that you and she are the same person even though you’re a different gender.” She picked at the corner of her textbook. “She’s stated that aside from speaking Parseltongue, she has no interest in learning another language.”

Harry bobbled his head, “I have an ulterior motive, to be honest. If I’m forced to return home, I want to be able to speak French well enough to help me blend in with the locals if I need to make an escape.”

Padma looked surprised, “Are things really that bad?”

He nodded pensively, “Remember your first year how Dumbledore was? He’s gotten more intrusive over the past year or so. My version of Hermione has been relaying information about what he’s been like and it’s not pretty.”

She reached out and took his hand soothingly, “You let me know if I need to speak with my counterpart there about assisting you with your plans to escape. No one should have to suffer for some lame-brain plan from a crazy old man.”

Harry smile wanly, “Thanks, Padma.” He pointed to her homework, “How’s Spanish class going for you?”

Padma returned with a contented smile, “It’s going well. Professor Torres is easy on the eyes even though he’s a rather strict teacher. I think he has to be just to maintain order in his class, since most of the students are girls.”

He grinned, “Has he mistaken you for Parvati yet?”

She shook her head and laughed lightly, “Not once, though since she’s not taking Spanish as an elective, I’m not surprised. As far as I know, he’s never come across her outside of meal times.”

“Oh? What is she taking?”

“Art with a focus on fashion design, and Modern Muggle Studies.”

Madam Pince put in her appearance to scold them for talking in the library. Harry pointed out that no one would be able to hear anything if they didn’t cross over the boundary he’d set up. The irascible librarian scowled at him before storming off. Harry smirked at her retreating form, “Nice talking to you too!” It was clear that his sound-muffling boundary was working since she didn’t respond. He turned back to Padma and rolled his eyes, “Some people, I tell you.”

She joined him with her own snorts of laughter, “You are such a silly boy, Harry Potter.”

Coming out of the Room of Requirement, later that evening…

Harry later admitted to anyone who stood still long enough that movies were the new greatest thing to happen in his life. They’d just exited the Room of Requirement’s theater after the credits started rolling for the Gremlins movie; Harry was just as energetic as Colin normally was, the way he kept bouncing around the hallway was nothing short of incredible for the normally reticent teen. Bri kept shaking her head at his antics, “Harry, calm down! You’re going to bounce yourself out of the castle if you keep this up. I expect this sort of thing from Colin, not you.”

His excited grin was infectious, “I can’t help it! You were there and yelling right along with everyone else I might add when Stripe started melting in the light. That was singularly gross and exciting at the same time. Did you see the look on Hagrid’s face throughout the movie? I’d bet he thought the Gremlins were just ‘misunderstood creatures.’”

Hermione looped her arm around Briallen’s waist, “Aw, lighten up Bri. Let him have his fun; after all, tomorrow won’t be so exciting.”

Harry immediately sobered, “Why’s that?”

“Oh, no reason,” she airily replied then dropped the punchline, “Other than on Monday, we have a pretty big exam for Potions. Professor Sciuto’s been hinting we’re going to be tested on chemical reaction mathematics.”

Harry groaned and dropped his head, “Do something about your girlfriend, Briallen. She’s such a killjoy, sometimes.”

Bri giggled at his dismay then put his suggestion into action by capturing Hermione’s lips with her own. When they broke off for air, she turned back to her counterpart and winked, “Good enough for you?”

Harry shook his head and sneered, “I can’t wait to see my Hermione again. You two are disgustingly sweet.”

Tuesday 7 December, 1993; Hogwarts 2558-P, Main Hallway leading back from the Great Hall

Luna joined Hermione as the older teen made her way back towards the Grand Staircase with the intent of heading off to her dorm room to change into something more comfortable. Her seemingly distracted air was only misdirection. In reality, Luna was acutely aware of where everyone and everything was at any given moment. Before meeting Hermione, this was a precautionary move since her tormentors were everywhere, lying in wait for her to fall into one of their traps.

Now however, those same bullies refused to come within spellcasting range for fear of what Hermione might do to them if she caught them hassling her friend. Already, the bushy-haired teen put Marietta Edgecombe into the infirmary with a skin rash that refused to be cured by the multitude of foul-smelling ointments Madam Pomfrey prescribed. As to what happened to Cho Chang, well… some people looked good with a shaved head. Professor Flitwick was still at a loss to explain how the perpetrator must’ve gotten into the Tower to be able to pull that off.

“Well, well… look who it is. It’s the Beaver and the Loon,” Draco drawled sarcastically to the dumb grins of Crabbe and Goyle.

Hermione narrowed her eyes as she palmed her wand to face off against her latest aggravation, “What do you want, Malfoy?”

Draco sauntered up and got in her face, “No Potter here to pull your mudblood arse out of danger now, Granger. What I want is for you to leave, as in out of Britain entirely. Best still, would be for you to drop dead so you don’t continue to pollute the air I breathe.”

Hermione raised an unimpressed eyebrow and peered over his shoulder, “No Potter, huh? Who’s that then?”

Draco spun around but didn’t see anyone. As he turned back, the last sight he saw was her clenched fist hurtling towards his face. The sound of his nose crunching under the impact was sickeningly horrifying in a way, Luna would later contemplate. Right now though, it was wonderful sight to see the pompous blond prick crumple to the ground while his two bodyguards stood there dumbly watching the whole scene. Hermione whipped out her wand and cast a double shot of stunning spells at the Dense Duo, causing both boys to join their nominal master on the floor. She calmly stepped over Draco’s insensate body and extracted his wand, forced his hand to grasp the wood handle and whispered in his ear to force off a couple of mildly dark spells that flashed harmlessly into the stonework. She did the same thing to the other two before casting her own obliviation on the trio.

Straightening up, she dusted off her clothes and hands, then took Luna’s, “Come along, Luna. There’s no reason for us to be here anymore.”

Up in her Experimentation Room…

Hermione relaxed in a reclining armchair she’d pulled from the Room, balancing her wand on her pursed lips while watching Luna dance to some music that Briallen Potter had sent over during the last exchange. She turned her gaze to the entrance when she heard Professor McGonagall call her name. “I’m at my desk, professor.”

Minerva appeared a mere moment later accompanied by a scowling Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore, “Miss Granger, we have some witnesses who say you accosted Messers Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Care to share your input?”

Hermione sat upright and leveled a glare on the three adults, “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about, Professor. Luna and I have been in here alone the whole time since leaving lunch. Neither one of us saw those three anywhere in the halls, only in the Great Hall where they were acting like the Gryffindors they claim to hate.”

Severus moved forward a step, “Why you little…”

Albus moved to intervene, his eyes twinkled with a light that didn’t seem to match his patented ‘grandfatherly approach,’ “Now, Severus; I’m sure Miss Granger wouldn’t mind providing her wand as proof. A simple check is all that’s necessary to prove or disprove her claim.”

Hermione calmly handed over her wand to her Head of House, “I trust you with my wand a heck of a lot more than I do with the Headmaster or you.” Luna did the same as Hermione. Minerva cast a Priori Incantatem which revealed the last the six spells used were a Tidy Desk, Mouth Freshening charm, a Lumos, two levitation charms, and in the case of Luna; a music player activation spell. Nothing indicated anything that could back up the claims that she attacked Draco, Vincent, or Gregory. Hermione sneered as she claimed her wand back, “Satisfied? Now, if you don’t mind, we have a lot of work to go over in preparation for our next test. Agent 22 is going to cover explosive reactants for potion testing.” Severus’ glare deepened at the thought of someone other than him providing potions lessons. He spun around and stormed off in a huff.

Albus barely reacted to the implied snub to his Potions Master, “Miss Granger, you were seen having an altercation with the aforementioned boys.”

She scoffed at his accusation, “When aren’t I having an altercation with those three idiots? They know that they have free license to do whatever they want without fear of consequence because you refuse to censure them! I’m done with this conversation, Headmaster. You may leave at any time.” She turned away from him.

Realizing that he wasn’t getting anywhere with her behaving so poorly, he ‘sadly’ shook his head, “I had such high hopes of you becoming the fifth year prefect, Miss Granger. It’s clear to me now that this is not the case.” He was surprised at her vehement anti-authority mannerisms. The previous two years, Miss Granger had long been noted to be slavishly devoted to those in a position of power above her.

She whirled back and shot him a look of deep loathing, “With any luck, I will have been able to succeed in my experiments and be able to send myself to the other world. Harry was right; you are a heartless bastard only concerned with what you want to have happen. Your hubris and lack of compassion for anyone not from an influential family that can trace its lineage back umpteen generations is making this school an absolute cesspool suitable only for those aristocratic purebloods you keep pandering to.”

Minerva jumped in before things could devolve any further, “Enough! Albus, you need to leave right now. You still have tons of paperwork that needs your signature while Misses Granger and Lovegood have homework they need to finish.” She took him by the arm and practically dragged him out of the room and shut the door behind her.

The moment they were gone, Hermione slumped into her chair and sniffled miserably. Luna came over and knelt down in front of her, “Do not fret, Hermione Granger. You are on the right path to accomplishing your goal of reaching Harry.”

Hermione gave her a watery smile, “Thanks, Luna but we still haven’t even attempted a live transfer yet.”

Luna put on the most serious expression on her face, “I know you will succeed. I’ll make sure of it, even if I have to go toe to toe with the force that prevented me from knowing the most direct answer to this problem.” She wrapped her dainty arms around her best friend and gave Hermione a comforting hug. “There are more important things in life than to worry about what’s right for the multiverse; there’s friendship, bravery, and love.”

Department of Mysteries, Trans-Dimensional Exchange; same time

While Hermione was arguing with Snape and Dumbledore, Algernon was holding a written conversation with his other world counterpart about discussing contacting the parents and guardians on both sides to see if they’d be receptive to hosting their respective children for a short visit.

AC: From what I’ve learned from speaking with Mr. Potter, Miss Granger’s parents aren’t the most loving types towards their daughter.

RC: I concur; I’ve already spoken with them and they certainly had no problems with sending her off without any sort of hesitancy. In fact, I got the sense that they were rather relieved that she’d be gone from their presence even if it was for a short visit.

AC: I won’t even suggest you contact the Dursleys there, I’d suspect they’d be even more hostile and cold towards the prospect of Harry returning to their so-called ‘care’ once this situation is resolved.

RC: Agreed. Now, what’s going on with Xenophilius Lovegood? Has he returned with his answer yet?

AC: Nothing yet, but I’m not surprised. He’s supposedly on a fact-finding trip to the Vatican for information of some strange creature no one’s ever seen before. What about yours?

RC: He’s surprisingly okay with the novelty of it all. He wished his daughter to have a pleasant trip and to keep an eye out for something called a ‘crumple-horned snorkack.’

AC: I got the approval from Franklin and Alice Longbottom for your Neville to come visit. They seemed intrigued by the concept that there’s another world out there where they’d never been woken up.

RC: That’s good because Augusta Longbottom has been dragging her feet getting back to me. I think she’s being way overprotective and smothering to the lad but I’m not too worried. From what I understand, Miss Granger has been making incredible strides with her research.

Gryffindor Tower, after the Director’s meeting with his other world counterpart…

“My parents are awake in that world? And they want to meet me?” Neville croaked anxiously.

Robert smiled comfortingly, “They are and do indeed, lad. So what do you say? You feel ready to embark on an epic journey to discover strange new lands? Who knows; you might discover a plant that grows there but doesn’t here.”

Neville glanced around the room towards where his Gran sat looking on, “Gran? You’ve been awfully quiet about this.”

Augusta Longbottom sniffed disdainfully, “I’m waiting to see if you’re like your father and leap to take full advantage of this opportunity.”

Rising to his feet, Neville paced about the room, “What sort of plans are in place just in case I get stuck halfway between here and there?”

Robert nodded approvingly, “Based on preliminary testing, there is no ‘between’ the two worlds. The time it takes to move between worlds is just as fast as stepping through an ordinary door.”

Pensive, Neville gave his tentative approval to the concept. “If Hermione says it’s okay to go, I’ll do it.”

Wednesday 8 December 1993; Hogwarts 5678-T, Great Hall, morning owl post rush

Harry turned at the sound of Susan’s excited squeal and wondered what that was all about. He cast a questioning look at Draco who’d gotten up to find out what was so special about receiving a letter. When the blond boy returned, he replied that Susan had received a letter from Hannah, “It’s a pretty thick looking letter too. She must be covering everything that’s been happening to her during her recovery in Saint Mungo’s.”

Harry bobbed his head in understanding, “That’s right; Briallen mentioned that the poor girl had ingested some kind of poison meant for Susan. Speaking of Susan, you planning on asking her out again?”

Draco let a proud look cross over his face, “I am. If Hogsmeade was still an option, I’d ask her to join me there too. I like this movie night thing; it gives us an opportunity to get to know each other better.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Vincent wandered over and took a seat next to Harry. “I need to find a girlfriend,” he stated without preamble.

Harry coughed from nearly choking on his bacon, “Hello to you too. Where did this come from?”

Vincent lazily gestured around the Hall, “Greg’s fawning over Millie, Briallen’s got Hermione, Susan and Draco are now an item, Luna’s been chasing you; I’m feeling left out.”

His eyes roving the tables, Harry’s gaze fell upon Ginny as a slow grin formed on his face, “What about Ginny?”

Shaking his head derisively, Vince speared him with an incredulous expression, “Are you insane? I’d have to contend with all of her older brothers!”

Draco laughed, “Are you picky about which House she’s in?” Vincent shook his head no. “Then what about seeing if you could get a date with what’s her name in Gryffindor? The tiny thing that never talks to anyone, Roper I think her name is?”

Dean supplied the name, “Her name is Sophie Roper and Vince would be wasting his time. She’s only interested in a boy from her neighborhood. From what she’s said, he’s the son of the local cannery magnate and quite ‘dreamy.’”

Harry chuckled, “For a moment there, I thought you were going to say he’s quite the catch.” The other boys laughed at his pun. He nudged Vincent, “What about Daphne?”

“What about her?”

Giving him a leading look, Harry suggested that perhaps he ought to try his luck with the hottest girl in all of Slytherin. Vincent turned and spotted said girl chatting with Pansy and Tracey, “It’s worth a shot, I guess. Gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure. Wish me luck.” He got up and headed over to the conversing girls. Harry, Draco, and Dean watched as Vincent shyly asked if he could join the conversation then smiled triumphantly when he was invited to sit down.

Harry shook his head, “One more proof of evidence that I’m in a different world. The Daphne Greengrass I knew would’ve never allowed anyone to get near her without some sort of snarky comment made or a full background check.” He turned back to Draco, “I’ve been meaning to ask you, but what’s your opinion so far on your architecture and construction classes?”

Draco sighed in contentment, “I love them. Best decision I’ve made to date and that includes being friendly to your other half and her girlfriend.”

“Really? What’s so great about the classes?”

Draco sipped from his cup of tea, “I got to take a really good look around London the previous summer after first year and again this year. The muggles have incredibly tall buildings made out of steel and glass, are able to create amazing works of structural art, yet there’s absolutely no magic as we know it involved. If they can do all that, imagine what we could do!”

Harry and Dean bobbed their heads in understanding. Draco remarked, “I blame Dumbledore for the state that Magical Britain’s architecture is in. He led everyone into thinking that a pastoral setting was the pinnacle of what we should ascribe to. In the past couple of years, I’ve started thinking that I want to be at the forefront of change to bring in some fresh air to the design of our community.”

That Saturday, while the students were anxiously waiting for the movie ‘The Princess Bride’ to get started; Briallen had been ‘requested’ to play a song to keep them occupied. “But it’s not ready yet!” she complained to Flitwick.

“What about that funny one I heard you singing yesterday? The one about dating muggles?”

Bri cocked her head and hip, “Well, I suppose that might work. It just needs to be put to music.”

“How long would that take you?”

Bri shrugged and chewed on her lip, “Fifteen minutes, maybe?”

He waved her towards the wings, “Then get started. For whatever reason, the projector isn’t working properly and we can’t have this crowd get rowdy.”

Sighing in defeat, she set off to accomplish her task. She called for Daisy to bring her guitar and started matching the melody to the lyrics.

Professor Flitwick stepped up to the podium after receiving word from Bri that she was as ready as she’d ever be. “Students, please forgive the wait while our intrepid teachers figure out what went wrong with the projector. In the meantime, it gives me great pleasure to announce that our very own Musical Maestro, Briallen Potter has a song ready for your enjoyment. Miss Potter?”

Bri sat down on a stool and propped up her guitar, “Alright everyone. This was kind of last minute so don’t blame me if anything sounds out of tune.”

Her fingers began picking out the peppy tune. It was fast and upbeat as she began to sing:

Once upon a time, I went to Wizard School,

Where Houses were assigned, and scarves are really cool,

You saw me, in Herbology, with Dobby-y-y-y!

There’s candles in the air, and romance in the halls

Now Myrtles’ not alone, while moaning in the stalls

We’re snogging, and snogging, glasses foggi-i-ing!

You’re a Huffle-puff, that’s OK with me,

Til I realized, your blood was Unclean…

Cause I knew you were Muggle when you walked in

And you couldn’t cast no spells

But then you brewed a Love Potion,

Now I’m a Stage 5 house-elf!

Malfoy says mixed lovin’ is forbidden

But I can’t control my wand,

Made magic with a non-magician,

Shouting ‘Lumos’ cause you turn me on!

Woah! Ooh!

Struggles, Dating, Muggles!

Woah! Ooh!

Muggle Cuddles, Snuggles!

Slytherin my dorm, so we Horcrux and Chill,

I’m full Petrificus, and I didn’t need the pill

I’m Growling, and Howling, JK Rowli-i-iing!

By the time she was done, the entire audience was practically rolling in the aisle laughing and cheering themselves silly. While many of them didn’t know who this Rowling person was, it was the sheer lunacy and tempo of the song that set them off in an attempt to sing the chorus. Petunia wasn’t the only to send a disapproving glare at Filius who stood there chuckling uproariously and snapping his fingers to the beat.

The crowd applauded Briallen’s impromptu concert as she curtsied and hurried off the stage. She left her guitar with Daisy and joined Hermione and their friends. Hermione gave her girlfriend a kiss, “Excellent song choice, Bri. Draco’s looking confused about his part in the song.” Sure enough, the blond had a perplexed frown on his face as he sought to understand the lyrics while his friends teased him about being part of her song.

Bri giggled, “It’s not my fault! The words and timing just fit perfectly.”

Sunday 12 December, 1993; Dursley Residence, 5678-T

After hearing about the incredible success that Harry’s Hermione had in connecting their two worlds from his wife, Vernon suggested that they should draft a letter to the other world’s authorities about Harry’s version of themselves. They included all of their memories of their conversations, observations, and the lad’s reactions within the letter. In his letter, Vernon was adamant that whoever it was in charge of their police force to ignore whatever Dumbledore bleated about how Harry’s relatives were the safest place for him during the holidays. To him, it was patently clear that the other Petunia and Vernon were abusive and should’ve never been given custody of the lad. Meanwhile, Petunia suggested in her letter, that the Department of Mysteries hunt down and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes to spare Harry from that anguish. “Get him to sign the same contract that Briallen agreed to.”

World 2558-P; Director Bones’ office…

Amelia read the letter from Vernon Dursley and growled at the man’s revelations about her world’s counterpart’s actions towards his wife’s nephew. “I’ll string him up by his short and curlies until he squeals like the pig he is.” She immediately dispatched a couple of Aurors and a departmental cursebreaker to investigate the reported illegal wards that were supposedly put in place around the muggle house. Their instructions were to record anything they found, regardless of whose magical signature they discovered. “If Dumbledore shows up and tries to dissuade you, you are to stun his wrinkly arse and kick it to the side until you’re done.”

Robert read his letter from Petunia and agreed with her assessment. He had his legal team draw up a copy of the contract Algernon had created for his world’s Potter. It was time to get off their collective arses and deal with this pretender to the Slytherin line once and for all.

Thursday 16 December, 1993; Hogwarts 2558-P; Headmaster’s office

Albus had been growing concerned with the way this year had been shaping up. Between the disappearance of his weapon against Voldemort, Miss Granger’s increasing hostility towards everyone, and even Minerva’s growing disdain towards his administration; he was worried that things were moving faster than he could control. “On top of that, I have to deal with Sirius Black’s escape from Azkaban and the Dementors that patrol the school’s boundaries.”

More than once, Remus had stopped by to anxiously inquire if either Harry or Sirius had been safely retrieved, and on each of those occasions, Albus had to come up with another empty promise that he was doing all he could. ‘Which isn’t true, so far as Black is concerned. I’m hoping the Dementors find him before he completes his goal.’ He felt the wards ping, alerting him to the arrival of that damned Unspeakable who’d been instructing Miss Granger in her lessons and helping her solve the mystery of how to bring Mr. Potter home safely.

He grumbled as he rose to his feet, “I better go see if there’s something I can do about their efforts. For the Greater Good, Harry must be returned to this castle and my guidance.”

Thursday 23 December 1993; Hogwarts 5678-T

Harry sat with Briallen to discuss the upcoming Dursley holiday plans. Petunia had hinted that they’d be taking a trip to Paris for a couple of days since Vernon had a conference to attend for work there. Harry was still apprehensive about the idea since the last time his Dursleys had taken him anywhere, it had been the ill-fated trip to the zoo where he inadvertently vanished the glass separating the boa constrictor from Dudley.

“It’ll be fine,” Bri tried to reassure him. “Look, will it make you feel any better if Aunt Petunia had a chat with you?”

Harry bobbed his head to the side, “Maybe. It’s just old habits that refuse to die and besides, they’re not really my aunt and uncle. They’re yours who just happen to resemble mine.”

Bri rested her head on his shoulder and looked up at him, “If you stay here, they could be yours too.”

“As wonderful as that sounds, I can’t imagine Dumbledore wouldn’t try to do something stupid to get me to go back and sacrifice myself for his bloody ideals.” Harry grumbled.

Hedwig fluttered in and landed in front of the pair of Potters. She held out her leg to Harry; he untied the letter attached to it and slid over the plate of sausage links, “As you will, Your Majesty.”

Bri sat up again and tried to take the letter out of his hands, “You’re moving too slowly. Who’s it from?”

Harry held the letter up and out of her reach, “Excuse you, Miss Nosy. I’ll get to my letter when I’m good and ready for it, thank you very much.” He tried to sound stern, but it came off as teasing… which is what he intended anyways. “Ah, it’s a response back from Fleur. I wrote her a couple of weeks ago to ask her father about the procedure about obtaining citizenship in France.”

“Why would you write her and not the embassy?” She asked, scrunching her nose up.

“Because I wanted to get at least a pen pal relationship going with her.”

Briallen shook her head slowly, “But this Fleur isn’t the same as her other world counterpart. If you’re sent back, all that effort would’ve been wasted.”

Harry smirked, “That’s not how I see it. I see it as going straight to the source to find out what she does or doesn’t like; background information about things I’d be too chicken to ask in person or because of that Allure of hers.”

Nodding appreciatively, she gave him a teasing grin, “Nice job, Harry. Who’d have thought you could be so insightful and crafty?”

Ruffling her already messy hair, Harry laughed at her indignant look. “The Sorting Hat, apparently. It wanted to dump me into Slytherin first year.”

Joining in on the humor, Bri commented, “Can you imagine the look on Professor Snape’s face after he found out that the son of his enemy was now a member of his House?”

“I know, right? He’d have no respite from seeing my lovable mug all the time.” He stashed the letter into his book bag. “You going to see the movie tonight?”

Bri checked her watch, “Yeah, speaking of going to see something; I need to head up to the Room to have my weekly check-in with Hermione and Director Croaker of both worlds.”

Harry nodded sagely, “I chatted with her three days ago. She and that Unspeakable Agent were there working on some calculations for who knows what. She wrote that the project is proceeding apace and that she’s looking forward to the live transfer tests.”

Sighing happily for her counterpart, Bri patted him on the shoulder as she got up to leave. She ducked under the trajectory of some kind of glittering yellow monstrosity launched from the direction of the Twins as she headed for the door.

Up in the Room of Requirement…

Bri stepped into the Room of Hidden Things and made her way over to where the Mirror of Erised was stored. As she made her way around a discarded stack of sixteenth century men’s breeches, her hearing picked up the sound of two people whispering to each other. She crept closer and listened carefully.

“Where do you suppose Briallen is?” Asked one voice that sounded suspiciously like Hermione’s.

“I don’t know. Did our Room have this barrel of gemstones?” Answered another who sounded a lot like Luna.

Bri peeked her head around the corner and let out a gasp of shock. Standing in front of the Mirror was none other than 2558-P’s Hermione and Luna! Both girls looked the worse for wear, being covered in soot with wisps of smoke still rising from their clothes which worried Briallen. She stepped fully out into the aisle and called out to the pair, “What are you doing here?! I thought… What happened to the tests?” She moved closer until she could touch them both.

Hermione turned sheepishly and gestured back towards the Mirror, “We ran into a bit of a complication.”

Bri turned to look at the Mirror where she could see the other girl’s Experiment Room going up in flames. Her jaw swung open in shock, “You set fire to your laboratory?”

Luna shook her head vehemently, “We suspect Draco Malfoy was getting revenge for an incident that happened not long ago. We were in there when I started smelling smoke. By the time that Professor McGonagall would’ve arrived with help; it would’ve been too late for us so we took the leap into the Mirror.”

Briallen was floored, “Damn…well, nothing for it I guess. Just wait until Harry finds out you’re here!”

Bri led the pair up to Ravenclaw Tower and past the guardian into her dorm room, “The loo is right through there. Why don’t you both get refreshed before we head back down to the Great Hall? In the meantime… Daisy!” Daisy popped in and looked at the visitors curiously. “Daisy, would you please inform both the Headmistress and my aunt that they’re going to need to come to the Great Hall, if they’re not already there?”

Daisy nodded and gestured to the other two girls, “Who are they? Their magic isn’t quite the same as the other two girls who share their faces.”

“Um, Briallen? Why is the elf speaking like a normal person?” Hermione asked curiously.

Bri held up a finger to hold that question, “They’re from the same world that Harry came from. They escaped after an evil version of Draco set fire to their laboratory.”

Daisy slowly bobbed her head, “Okay. I’ll pass along your message.” She vanished from sight.

Turning back to the other two, Bri explained that she’d learnt back in first year that elves didn’t normally speak like simpletons and only did that because their masters and mistresses seemed to like it because it made them feel superior. She took note that they’d finished getting washed up and gestured for them to follow her. “Let’s go knock some socks off.”

Back in the Great Hall…

Daisy had just finished relaying Briallen’s message to both adults when Harry approached Petunia. “Um, Aunt Petunia? Is it true that you’ll be taking Briallen and me to Paris?”

Petunia smiled back at him, “It’s true, and don’t you worry about a thing. Vernon’s getting your passport done through Gringotts for you so we don’t have to wait so long for the government to issue one.” She took in his hesitant stance, “Are you still worried about us?”

Harry toed the floor, “Yeah, a little.”

She patted an empty chair next to her, “Come and sit down. I promise that you’re going to be just fine and no, you won’t be a burden on us. We’d already planned on taking you with us on this trip.” Her attention shifted to the doors as she spotted Briallen peeking in and looking around before looking behind her for a moment. “What is…” Her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide at the sight of the two girls who entered behind her niece. Petunia’s gaze snapped over to where she knew Hermione and Luna were currently comparing the qualities of pistachio ice cream over mint with a couple of first years.

Bri skipped up to the Teachers’ table, a sly smirk on her face, “Aunt Petunia. Other Me. I’ve brought a couple of presents for Harry this Christmas.”

Harry’s jaw was practically scraping the ground as he took in the sight of his Hermione standing next to Luna. He was distantly aware of the silence that spread like wildfire throughout the rest of the Hall as he stood up and stumbled his way down to them. When he reached the pair, he only had eyes for Hermione and breathlessly asked, “Hermione? Are you really here? “

Hermione smiled brightly as she reached up and gently caressed his face, he leant into her touch, “Happy early Christmas, Harry!”

Infirmary, ten minutes later…

Hermione and Luna were ushered to the infirmary to be checked out by Poppy. Harry refused to let go of Hermione’s hand for fear that she’d disappear like a phantom of his imagination. Petunia and Minerva along with Briallen and her Hermione brought up the rear. Luna appeared a moment later with Romilda holding her hand. When asked why she brought Romi, Luna replied, “We may need her nose to sniff out any deceit.” For her part, Romi appeared nonplussed by the whole thing.

While Poppy was running her scans, Director Algernon Croaker was called for to assess the situation and to alert his counterpart of what had happened. When he found out what happened, Robert Croaker wasn’t thrilled by his world’s Draco’s attempted murder and arson, but calmed down a bit after seeing that both girls were in good condition. “The room and its contents, aside from the mirror is a total loss.” Robert had stated, “Fortunately, Miss Granger has been sending us copies of all of her notes and research so whatever was burnt is recoverable. It’s the mirror I’m most worried about. The metal framework has been scorched and even melted in some areas; on top of that, the reflective surface of the mirror is slightly warped. I don’t know if it’s always been like that, but for the time being, there can be no off-world travel until we can conclusively determine if it can be fixed.”

“What are you going to do with the arsonists?” Algernon asked him.

“Legally, there’s not much we can do because it happened up at Hogwarts and the castle is a separate entity from the Ministry. What I’d like to do is make them disappear into one of our experimentation rooms to study the long-term effects being scared straight has on the teenage mind,” Robert groused.

Meanwhile, Petunia sat down next to Harry and smiled at him, “Congratulations, Harry.”

He sat there holding Hermione’s hand with the smile so bright that it would rival a supernova, “This is the greatest gift anyone could ever receive.”

End of Chapter

French language class translations (I used Google Translate so don't blame me if anything looks out of place):

(Bon après-midi’ cours. Aujourd'hui, nous allons passer en revue la feuille de vocabulaire que je vous ai assignée pour les devoirs de la semaine dernière.) “Good afternoon, class. Today we will be going over the vocabulary worksheet I assigned for last week's homework.”

(Bonjour comment-allez vous? Je m'appelle Harry Potter et je cherche à acheter de nouveaux singes.) “Good morning, how are you? My name is Harry Potter and I am looking to buy some fresh monkeys.”

(M. Potter, en français s'il vous plaît.) “Mr. Potter, in French if you please.”

(Yea…yeah…uh, Ouais. Um… Je pense que mon papier a été... uh, modifié.) “Yea…yeah…uh, yeah. Um… I think my paper has been…uh, altered.”

(il semblerait que vous ayez été victime d'une farce. Continuez quand même votre traduction.) “It would seem that you’ve been pranked. Continue with your translation anyways.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: New Year, New Adjustments, and One Troublesome Toad

Friday 24 December, 1993; Granger Residence, Crawley, West Sussex, England

Dan Granger had just opened up the front door to retrieve the morning paper when his sleep-addled brain vaguely acknowledged the presence of several individuals standing in front of him. He blinked owlishly for a moment until his brain recognized Hermione standing there with a wide grin on her face, “Uh…hi?”

Hermione giggled at her father’s confusion, “Morning, daddy. May we come in?”

He turned to the side, “Uh, sure…” He frowned as a second Hermione moved past him, “Did I miss something?” He closed the door behind him after Minerva entered, and followed them all into the living room. “I distinctly remember only having one daughter.”

Petunia chuckled ruefully, “You do, technically.” She motioned to the other Hermione, “This is Hermione Granger from another universe.”

Dan’s brain finally ground into gear as his face brightened and snapped his fingers, “Oh, yes now I remember. Uh, welcome to our universe, Hermione.” He spared a glance to his daughter, “That’s going to take some time to get used to. Two Hermiones, only one of which is mine biologically…I think.”

Emma came in wondering what all the conversation was about. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of an uncomfortable-looking alternate universe Hermione standing there rubbing an arm. She smiled warmly and opened her arms, “You made it! Welcome home, my dear.” She drew the shocked girl into an embrace then pulled back to look her over. She noticed the hesitancy, “Right, I’d imagine this is a bit of a shock for you as it is for us. So, what’s the situation?” She motioned for everyone to take a seat while their Hermione disappeared into the kitchen to make tea.

Minerva cleared her throat, “Well, Miss Granger of 2558-P is going to be with us for a while until the Unspeakables on her side can repair the Mirror she used to travel here.”

Dan was still frowning, “Repair? What happened to it?”

Hermione hesitated before replying in a quiet voice, “Someone, we’re not sure who, set fire to the room I was using for my experiments in dimensional travel. My friend Luna and I just barely managed to escape before the flames and smoke became too much.”

Both Granger adults gasped in horror, Emma reached out to take Hermione’s hand, “At least you’re safe now, right?” She glanced at Minerva and Petunia who nodded solemnly. “Good. In the meantime, like we originally planned, you’re welcome to stay here with us as long as you like.”

Hermione bowed her head shyly, “Thank you, Mrs. Granger.”

Emma waved that off, “None of that Missus stuff, you can call me Mum too just like our Hermione does. After all, as I understand it; you’re nearly identical to each other. Right? (Petunia confirmed it.) We’re just going to need to adjust to having two Hermiones answer our calls.”

Their daughter returned to the room carrying a tea service and had heard the last part of her mum’s declaration, “I’d thought about that, mum. What if one of us uses the nickname of ‘Mia’?”

Dan chuckled, “I thought you hated having your name shortened?”

Hermione shrugged as she set down the tray, “I do, but this is a special case.” She began pouring tea for everyone.

The Other Hermione spoke up, “I think I should take the shortened form,” She glanced at everyone, “It wouldn’t be fair to this universe to get used to calling her Mia when I’m a visitor of sorts.” The others bobbed their heads appreciatively.

Minerva agreed, “If that’s acceptable with all of you, I can start a student file for you as Mia Granger. I can set it up for you to be sorted into Gryffindor, if you’d like.”

Emma turned to her with intrigue, “Really? I thought it was some magical hat that does the sorting.”

Minerva chuckled, “Well, it’s complicated but the Hat’s announcements are theatrical for the most part. It was enchanted to call out which House a student got sorted back in the days before the automatic Hogwarts Chronicler was created. There used to be a time when the Four Founders would decide themselves where to sort a student then write it down in the school’s journal. Over time as they left or died, it became apparent that there needed to be another way to do things. After one of the headmasters who succeeded the last Founder forgot to journal which student went where; the Chronicler was tied to the Hat’s announcement.”

Both Hermione and Mia sat there with an identical contemplative expression on their faces. Seeing the two girls with the exact same expression on their faces caused the adults to crack up laughing. Minerva waggled her finger at the pair, “If you start stereo-speaking like the Weasley Twins…”

Hermione grinned, “Would we…”

Mia finished, “…do that?”

Minerva groaned out loud while Petunia sat there rolling with laughter.

“So how’s Harry taking your presence, Mia?” Emma asked with a twinkle in her eye as a blush bloomed on her new daughter’s face.

Hermione laughed at her new sister’s embarrassment, “He’d been acting like she’s the second coming of Morgana, herself. Until we left to come here, he wouldn’t leave her side. It was so adorable!”

Dan laughed and sent a sigh heavenward, “I finally get to hold the ‘stern father interrogating the prospective boyfriend’ speech.” Hermione squealed in mock-outrage as Mia’s blush deepened and Emma shook her head derisively. He finally relented with a smirk of his own after a moment, “I’m kidding. I promise to not go so hard on him.”

Petunia spoke up, “If Mia is anything like Harry is, there’ll be a period of adjustment not unlike a foster child, Mr. and Mrs. Granger; so I’d recommend taking the time you have together one step at a time.”

Emma nodded understandingly, “Much like how it is with nervous patients at our clinic. Don’t worry; we know how to put our charges at ease.”

With that, Minerva and Petunia took their leave and disappeared with a swirl of magic from a Portkey. Dan went to retrieve the paper like he’d originally intended while Emma took both girls upstairs. “For the time being, you’ll be sharing with Hermione until we can get the spare room cleaned out and set up for you. I’ll be right back with the spare cot.” She headed off to the storage room.

Mia smiled wanly, “Thank you.” She looked about the room nodding to herself, “It’s not too much different from my room.”

Hermione had just removed her shrunken trunk from her pocket and resized it back to normal and stored it near her closet. “It’s probably not all that different, except that I doubt you have pictures of Briallen in a place of honor.” She jutted her chin towards her dresser where a collection of frames stood.

Mia snorted in amusement as she took a seat in the chair in front of the window, “No, I don’t. I…I’m frankly surprised that I never considered the possibility that I’d be interested in other girls. I don’t know why given the number of other mirrors I saw in the Grand Central.”

Hermione took a spot on her bed and gave her other self a mock-serious look, “So, we need to get some stuff worked out here. I’m a lot more laid back about my intensity for studying. Briallen’s been helping me since first year in understanding that we have seven years and then some to learn everything we can about the magical world. It also helps that we have friends from all four Houses to help with the stuff we missed. Now, that’s not to say that you can’t study as much as you want but I’m hoping that you’ll realize that there’s more to life than just books.”

Mia nodded understandingly, “Yeah, I heard that you’re friends with Draco Malfoy of all people. That’s difficult for me to wrap my head around.”

Hermione smiled comfortingly, “Not just him, but also Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, plus all the other boys in Slytherin and all the girls that would’ve ordinarily tormented you are my friends. I remember back in September on the train when Harry was confronted with Draco. He stuck his wand in the boy’s face and practically threatened him. I shudder to think of what might’ve happened if Briallen hadn’t been there to diffuse the situation.”

Mia let her eyes drift around the room before venturing, “What about Ronald?”

Hermione scoffed, “That redheaded waste of oxygen is no longer a student at Hogwarts. Did Harry write to you about how Ron tried to threaten Briallen with a nasty phone call?” Mia replied that he did. “According to Ginny, he now works as a stockboy for the local grocer for most of the morning then goes back to their Aunt Muriel’s to continue his homeschooling. From what she says, he’s busy from sun-up to sun-down. He’s got no time to goof-off and get into trouble.”

Accepting that, Mia then asked her about her classes, “Which electives are you taking?”

“I’m taking muggle university preparation classes and Advanced Charms with Professor Flitwick. It’s my dream to see if I can correlate the two schools of physical manipulation.”

Mia sat up eagerly, “I’ve heard so much about the different classes being offered. I can’t wait to see it in person.”

Hermione laughed lightly and patted her hand, “I should get you a list of the electives they offer now that they have the funding and Dumbledore’s no longer amongst the living. It’ll blow your mind! Oh, another thing on the friends front. Just so you know; Luna’s been actively pursuing Harry. She claims that one way or another, in her words ‘that hunky Harry will be mine!’”

Mia snorted, “Really?”

Hermione broke down in laughter, “No, she likes to yank his chain though. She’ll say strange things, cuddle with him, or drag him to dance with her whenever Briallen plays her music. I’m ninety percent sure she’s doing it for two reasons: one, to take Harry’s mind off the fact that he’s stranded in this universe, and two; because she really views him as a big brother sort of person and therefore fair game for teasing.”

Mia’s eyebrows rose, “So the ‘hunky Harry’ bit then?”

“She’s told me that if she can distract him with some nonsense declarations that will make him blush, she considers it to be a successful job.”

Mia shook her head, “Silly Luna.”

Speaking of Luna…The Rookery; Ottery St. Catchpole, same time

Xenophilius Lovegood opened the door and smiled warmly at the sight of his daughter dusting herself off from the aftereffects of Portkey travel. “Welcome home, Moonbeam!”

Luna grinned mischievously back, “Thank you, Daddy. I’d like to introduce you to your other daughter, Luna.” She pulled her twin from the side and draped her arm over her shoulders. Other Luna mirrored her twin’s cheeky smirk.

Xeno bowed graciously to the silly girls, “Be welcome to our home, milady.” He peered behind them, “Wasn’t there supposed to be someone escorting you both?” Pomona stepped out from behind the Dirigible Plum bush just then with a perplexed look on her face. “Ah, Professor; don’t worry, you wouldn’t be the first to be entranced by some of our wonders.” He waved them all in to the house.

Pomona thanked him, “With your permission, I’d like to come back sometime to investigate your collection in greater depth. Meanwhile, I’ve brought Miss Lovegood of Universe 2558-P as promised.”

Xeno beamed at the girl, “I assume that your travel here was comfortable?”

Other Luna shook her head, “We were almost burned to death in Hermione’s Experiment Room. We don’t know definitively who set the fire, but we suspect that it was Draco Malfoy.”

Xeno gasped in horror then grew darkly angry, “That miserable spawn of a Flobberworm! Doesn’t he know of the danger of trying to burn the daughter of Druids? Just what are they teaching over there?!” He cast a dark look of anger at Pomona who merely shrugged. Other Luna appeared surprised by his outburst and glanced at her twin curiously. Luna informed her that her daddy was much more proactive and protective than the other Xenophilius. “Daddy grieved for mum, just like me, but he knows that I’m still here and needed to be present of mind to take care of my needs.” Other Luna started tearing up at hearing that, prompting Xeno to hold his arms out for her. She allowed herself to be enveloped in a warm hug and broke down in sobbing tears.

“You’re home now, Moonlight. I won’t let my other self or anyone else allow you to come to harm.” He turned to Pomona, “Is there a way to contact the other side? The Malfoy brat needs to be brought to Druidic Justice.”

Pomona shook her head, “As I understand it, the mirror was damaged in the inferno and needs to be evaluated and repaired by their Department of Mysteries. I can still pass your request along to our side though.”

He nodded once, “Thank you and please do. This travesty cannot go unpunished.”

Saturday 25 December, 1993; Granger Residence

Mia woke up and looked around in momentary confusion before her memory kicked in. She let out a quiet sigh of recognition when she spotted her other self still dead to the world, half-draped out of bed with her hair in a tousled mess covering her face. Rising from her bed, Mia padded out to the bathroom to get the first crack at the hot water and to confront the nightmare that was her bushy hair.

When she emerged, she returned to their room to hopefully get dressed in something comfortable. She frowned at the sight of the only clothes she owned and crinkled her nose at the lingering smell of smoke and soot. She turned when she heard her new mum’s voice as she stuck her head in through the doorway, “Mia, honey? Just go ahead and pick something from Hermione’s closet. We’re not going anywhere today.” Emma moved over to where her daughter still slept and nudged her awake.  Hermione slid out of bed and landed with a heavy thump on the floor and groaned at being rudely awakened. Amused, Emma suggested an idea once Hermione managed to sit upright and stare bleary-eyed at her mum. “I thought that we would head out to the shops tomorrow to do a bit of after-season shopping to help Mia adjust to her new home.”

Once the girls were dressed, the family gathered in the kitchen where Dan was already busy making breakfast. “So what’re the plans for today?”

Emma glanced at Mia, “How about we spend the day comparing our two worlds? I’m curious to know what’s different. Hermione mentioned that you’re in a different House than she is?”

Mia nodded as she sipped her cup of tea, “Yes, I’m in Gryffindor, or at least I was. Um… Gryffindor is or tends to be, uh...loud, especially after a Quidditch game. Studying is not high up on their list of objectives and they have the tendency to brag about their accomplishments. Before Harry came here, the running gallows humor was on who would be the latest Defense professor to fall victim to the DADA curse and how they’d attempt to kill Harry.”

Emma gasped in horror, “That’s terrible! No wonder the boy’s been so reticent to share stories. What about your other friends? Did you have any?”

Mia waggled her hand, “Not so much ‘friends’ than ‘acquaintances.’ Until Luna joined up with me this year, I was just on speaking terms at least with Lavender and Parvati as well as the other girls in my classes; but I wasn’t a social butterfly, I suppose you could say. I think some of that hesitation stemmed from my upbringing. My parents have always been results-driven, stressing that getting an education was more important than knowing who the latest boy bands were or the trends in fashion. As a result, I buried myself in my books because at least they were safe. Books didn’t lecture me at length after getting less than a perfect grade in whatever subject I was being tested on.” She sniffled sadly then recovered with a watery smile, “I was so happy when Harry and I became friends after Halloween of our first year. He never suggested that we skive off from doing our homework, he had no problems with just sitting quietly while reading, and even had some wonderful insights on whatever the class subject was.”

Dan placed a plate of a frittata along with a couple bowls of porridge, fresh fruit, scones, jam, and butter. “What about that other boy? Ronald, I think his name is? Hermione here had some trouble with him in her first and second year.” He handed the rest of the plates and silverware to Emma who began placing them on the table.

Mia shuddered as she took an empty chair, “He was just as bad as she made him out to be. He constantly pestered me to do his homework for him and repeatedly tried to get Harry to skive off and do something other than studying. He is incredibly rude to anyone who doesn’t wear the red and gold of Gryffindor, and even then he doesn’t think too highly of our Housemates. He eats like there’s no tomorrow and has zero compunctions about trying to talk with his mouth full. No one wants to sit near him at mealtimes and if that happens, it’s seen as a form of punishment.”

Hermione raised her cup, “Well, that life is behind you now. Here’s to new beginnings and a whole new world of possibilities!” They clinked their cups in salute. “I can’t wait for you to experience your new classes. We’ve got some relatively new teachers and they’ve brought fresh air into our subjects like you wouldn’t believe. (She turned to her parents) Potion classes, for example under Snape were an absolute nightmare. They were located down in the dungeons which could either be sweltering hot or bone-chillingly cold. The lighting was terrible and only illuminated by candles. It really did look like something from the historical records of what medieval laboratories were described as. The man would put the recipe up on the board and tell us to get to making it without providing any sort of instruction or go over any safety procedures.”

Dan and Emma were shaking their heads while Mia grimaced at the memories. Hermione continued to describe what learning under Professor Sciuto was like. “Her classes are the complete opposite. The classroom and laboratory is brightly lit and properly ventilated, the ingredients are clearly labeled and organized; she’ll take us out on field trips to the greenhouses to see what the special ingredient we’re going to be working with looks like before it gets processed. There have even been trips out onto the Black Lake to collect samples from the water column. We then took those back to look at them under the microscope. We’ve also created colloids, played around with gases, and produced simple medicines like aspirin, antacids, and anti-diarrheals.”

Mia sat there open-mouthed in surprise, “Now I really can’t wait to get started with my classes. Professor Snape would’ve taken points if anyone had even suggested the idea that the class could be modernized or deviate from the textbook.”

The Rookery, Ottery St. Catchpole…

Luna entered the kitchen to see her other self poking around in the cooling cabinet. “Good morning, Other me.”

Other Luna glanced back and giggled, “We’ll need to figure out a different name for me. It’s been fun for a while confusing the others by answering to the same name, but in the long run; it’ll just create more problems.”

Luna agreed, “What name would you like?”

Other Luna paused for a moment and tapped her chin, “What if I were to go by our middle name?”

“So, Selene? I think that would work just fine.” She gave Selene a gentle hug, “Are you adjusting alright?”

Selene waggled her hand, “The magic isn’t quite the same here, but I’ll adjust. Until the Unspeakables are able to fix the Mirror of Erised, this will be my home for the foreseeable future. What does daddy have planned for today?”

Luna glanced up towards the direction of their father’s bedroom, “No idea. I would hazard a guess that he’s going to write to the Department of Mysteries to send word to his counterpart regarding Draco’s attempt to kill you. After that, we might hold a Yule ceremony.”

Xeno appeared a little while later armed with an edited copy of their upcoming issue of the Quibbler, “Good morning ladies, what do you both have planned for today?”

Luna gestured to Selene, “We’ve come up with a solution to the identity problem. She will be taking our middle name as her first.”

Xeno bowed his head towards Selene, “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

Selene agreed with him, “Thank you. We also planned to discuss the differences of our two worlds. I’m curious to learn how Harry Potter has been handling living in this universe, especially since Luna here seems to have a crush on him.”

Luna gave her sister a playful shove and squealed that she didn’t have a crush on him. “I’m merely provided a bit of friendship to him until he could go home.”

Selene shot her a cheeky grin and poked Luna in the side, “That’s not how the others saw it.” Luna just harrumphed in reply but her eyes were twinkling merrily.

Xeno was cracking up at their antics and waggled his finger at his daughter, “Just remember, you told me many times that you always wished you had a sister. You’ve got to take the teasing from here on out.”

Dursley Residence

Briallen dragged her carcass into the kitchen and inhaled happily at the scent of bacon frying, “Oh that smells wonderful!” She caught sight of Harry busy at the counter mixing up a bowl of something. She sidled up behind him and laid her chin on his shoulder, “Whatcha making?”

He smiled back, “I’ve wanted to try this recipe I heard about from back home. It’s a breakfast pizza.”

Intrigued, she peered around him at the book on the counter, “What’s in it?”

“Well, the crust is just your standard pizza crust with but with a béchamel sauce. I’m going to use sliced sausage, scrambled egg, tomato, bacon bits, and spices.”

Vernon appeared next following his nose, “What is that heavenly scent?”

Petunia came in just as the pizza was being served, “Are you excited now that your Hermione has arrived, Harry? Got any big plans for this holiday?”

Harry shyly bit into his slice of pizza, “I thought I’d let her get settled for a while before asking.”

Petunia bobbed her head approvingly then teased back as she waggled a finger at him, “Just remember, Hermione’s got her night and day so who knows what sort of lascivious stories she’s going to be telling her about you.” She turned to her niece, “Would you consider sharing the Books with her? If they have to go back, forewarned is forearmed.”

Briallen agreed with her aunt, “If we can get together sometime in the next couple of days, I think that’d be a great idea.”

Isle of Wight

While the Grangers, Dursleys/Potters, and Lovegoods were lazing about after breakfast; another was finding that sometimes being evil wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. Ever since the assassination of Cornelius Fudge; Dolores had been in hiding from the increased Auror presence throughout the British Isles. For the past month, she’d been unable to make any personal progress in sowing her message of hate and retribution to the masses and it was starting to grate on her nerves. That failure translated to her lack of progress with her hit list. Already, she had to abort her attack on the Weasleys ramshackle home when her hearing picked up the sound of voices commenting on how stupid that toad must be if it thinks she’d be able to attack without impunity. Thanks to her paranoia, Dolores had been unable to go get groceries and her cupboard was starting to look a bit empty.

She stared out of her living room window towards the property line where she could see the local muggle constabulary inspect the wreckage of a burnt out muggle car. “I need to get back to finding out who took my job and purging this country of its taint,” she growled to herself as she turned away, blissfully unaware that the people she took for muggles weren’t actually who they appeared to be. She apparated with a crack to one of the smaller towns on the opposite side of the island and Imperioed a random muggle to get her some food while she waited in the shade of the local park.

Outside…

Master Hit-Wizard Charley Blakely placed a package at the base of the mailbox and dug a hole with an ordinary shovel before burying it. He tapped his wand to the activation stud and waited until it glowed green and vanished from sight. He then re-covered the hole then got ready to move onto the next location. The spooks at the Department of Mysteries had ordered him and his team to place these advanced magical usage detection cubes throughout the nation to bolster the National Trace System in their efforts to locate and capture, if not kill, Dolores Umbridge.

Just before he left, his communication earpiece crackled to life, “Falcon to Badger, come in.”

He tapped his ear, “Go for Badger.”

“The spooks are indicating that your last device is already picking up magical usage nearby. Are there any children there?” Young muggleborn children were the biggest headaches they’d come up against since the start of this endeavor. So far they’d come across six families blissfully unaware that their world would be changing dramatically.

Blakely glanced about then shook his head, “None that I can see. Do the sensors indicate how far away the source is and how powerful?” He could hear the sigh of frustration from Falcon coming through the link.

“No, they don’t. I’ll see what I can get them to do about that. Falcon out.”

“You lost?” Blakely turned around to see a real policeman pulling up in a car and lean out the window.

Blakely palmed his wand and shook his head, “No, not lost. Just out enjoying my break.” Judging by the expression on the officer’s face, it was clear that wasn’t being believed.

“Uh-huh, which unit are you with? I know everyone in the precinct here.”

Charley didn’t hesitate, he cast a silent Confundus on the man and ‘suggested’ that there wasn’t a problem and to go back to the station to have a cup of tea. As the officer drove away, he went back to his work enhancing the grid.

Newport, Isle of Wight shopping center…

Charley stepped out of the Starbucks juggling a grande cappuccino with a shot of whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon in one hand and switching his Auror communication badge to the other. ‘Say what you will about muggles, they make a decent cup of caffeine when tea just won’t cover it.’ His eyes automatically scanned the crowd, taking in what everyone was doing or self-absorbed with while at the same time maintaining a polite, yet distant air to ward off anyone from trying to distract him.

He’d just taken a sip of his coffee when his perimeter alert signaled that magic had been detected within a hundred feet of his location. He subtly tapped his eyes with his palmed wand to activate his Mage Sight and noted the person approaching the counter. The target glowed fairly strongly with active magic, and seemed to be acting unusually as if they were magically-raised, stepping out into the muggle world for the first time.

Charley quietly called in the alert to his commanders and changed his location to a spot just behind the suspect to listen in. The suspect, a woman, ordered a couple of drinks plus some snacks and glanced nervously back in his direction. He gave her a bland smile of indifferent acknowledgement and seemingly turned his attention back to the menu board. She paid for her order and moved over to the pick-up counter.

“Boss ordered you to do a coffee run too, huh?” He asked her with wry commiseration as he joined her at the counter.

The woman laughed lightly, “Yeah, I’m the new girl in the office so I guess it’s a tradition for me to do all the grunt work.”

He nodded understandingly, “It’s like magic how the bosses dump all the work they’re too lazy to do on the new people.” He surreptitiously flashed his Auror badge at her. She widened her eyes comically and looked fearfully back at him. He lowly inquired, “I was alerted to your presence when you arrived. Did you use a portkey or apparition to get here?”

“Portkey,” she whispered. “It was supplied by my boss in Transportation.”

“Hornwood still Head of Operations there?”

She nodded, “Yes, sir. Am I in trouble?”

Charley gave her a sympathetic look and patted her hand, “You? No. Him? Oh, yes. Enjoy your coffee and take your time getting back.” He moved off and relayed the conversation with his controllers before heading back out to his patrol.

As Charley left, the new girl from Transportation watched him go and let the ghost of a wicked grin steal across her face, “Dolores is gonna love this bit of information. Even the Hit-wizards are oblivious to our operation.” As she took her cup, she deposited a poison-tainted five pound bill into the tip jar and smiled to herself as she exited the shop.

Unbeknownst to the disguised operative, she’d been tagged by Charley when he patted her hand. Her failure to correct him about the true identity of the Transportation Head raised a huge red flag. The sub-dermal tracking charm would allow him and the Big Board to follow her no matter where she went. After she’d left, he returned and scanned the room again for anything suspicious. His scanner picked up on the trace of a foreign substance within the tip jar. Rather than taking chances that it might’ve just been left by an unsuspecting patron with grease on their fingers, he caused a minor disturbance and quickly absconded with the jar before heading back to base.

Friday 31 December, 1993; Dursley Residence

With her aunt and uncle’s permission, Briallen reached out to the Grangers and Lovegoods to ask if they’d like to share celebrating the arrival of the New Year with her and the Dursleys at their home. Both families agreed; the Lovegoods arriving first via the floo an hour before the start of dinner. With Dudley’s help, he and Harry set up a buffet-style dining arrangement in the kitchen with expanded seating in the covered patio. Harry had called the Underage Magic office at the Ministry to alert them that they might detect some minor magic being used to enlarge an indoor seating area. The agent asked if the family who lived there were muggles and if there were going to be anyone else. “The High Inquisitor to Hogwarts and her family plus myself will be in attendance as will my best friend and her parents and the Lovegoods of Ottery St. Catchpole.”

The agent wrote down the information and thanked him for being proactive in contacting them rather than just seeking forgiveness and making their job all that much harder before hanging up. Harry stood there ruefully shaking his head as he hung up the receiver on his side. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

While they were waiting for the food to finish cooking, Briallen gathered all the teens up in her room so the adults could relax and have their own conversations. She brought out her guitar to the raucous cheers of Hermione and Dudley. Harry nudged Mia, “You’re going to love this.”

Bri claimed her seat and propped up the guitar on her knee, “It’s not Valentine’s Day but honestly, who needs a special day to declare their love for that special girl?” She began strumming her fingers on the strings and began to sing.

“I've got sunshine on a cloudy day;
When it's cold outside
I've got the month of May
I guess you'd say,
What can make me feel this way?

My girl, my girl, my girl
Talkin' 'bout my girl
My girl

I've got so much honey,
The bees envy me
I've got a sweeter song
Than the birds in the trees
Well, I guess you'd say,
What can make me feel this way?

My girl, my girl, my girl
Talkin' 'bout my girl
My girl
Ohh ohh
Hey hey hey

Hey hey hey
Oh yeah

I don't need no money, fortune, or fame
I've got all the riches baby one girl can claim
Well I guess you'd say,
What can make me feel this way?

My girl, my girl, my girl
Talkin' 'bout my girl, my girl, talkin' 'bout my girl
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day with my girl
I've even got the month of May with my girl”

The kids all clapped, Dudley even whistled in appreciation. Hermione jumped up and planted a searing kiss on Briallen’s lips then bowed when Dudley cat-called her. “You’re just jealous that there’s no one here to give you such attention.” Her laughter rang out as both Luna and Selene planted kisses on his both cheeks, much to his embarrassment.

Mia nudged Harry and gestured to the guitar, “You aren’t hiding anything from me, Harry? Do you also share some sort of hidden musical talent?”

Harry laughed and shook his head, “No, I’ve been told that my singing ability is on par with Peaches screeching in protest when Hagrid declares it’s time for her bath.”

Dinner was a wonderful affair with jokes, laughter, and stories being passed around. Harry and the others limited themselves to the Butterbeers that Xeno had brought with them. As he sipped the mildly alcoholic drink, he sighed in contentment, “I could get used to this. Do we really have to go home?”

Selene sank into the spot on the couch next to him, “Someday, we’ll have to. You have a destiny to complete even if you know the outcome here.” She was referring to the Books Briallen had shared with them earlier that afternoon.

Harry let out a low moan of disgruntlement, “At least I signed that contract with Director Croaker for them to do the actual hunting of the Horcruxes. To Hell with what Dumbledore wants me to do. I’m doing what’s right for me, not his idiotic Greater Good.”

They gathered around the fireplace and clock on the mantle as they counted down the last ten seconds. Harry wrapped his arm around Mia’s waist, “Happy New Year, Mia.” At the zero mark, he planted a heartfelt kiss on her lips to which she eagerly returned.

Monday 3 January, 1994; Buckingham Palace, Queen’s office

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth silently read through the latest reports regarding the bombings of several locations throughout her realm. Businesses, rail depots, and even two schools had been targeted. Dozens were dead and hundreds injured from the devastation. The latest was a medical clinic over on Frith Street here in London. The officials running the investigations were confused as there didn’t seem to be any patterns to the attacks, however something tickled the back of her mind. According to the witness statements, the perpetrator of the attacks was a ‘toad ugly woman’ who screamed obscenities about how the muggles would all burn and that it was time to purge the world of their taint while waving a stick at everyone and anything as if directing a macabre symphony. The media had already labeled this lunatic as the ‘Witch of Toad Hall.’ She tapped a special button on her intercom. This one connected her to the magical switchboard within her palace, “Please have Directors Amelia Bones, Algernon Croaker, and their Minister for Magic is to come see Us, forthwith. Ask her to bring any maps she has of the residences of known non-magically raised witches and wizards.”

Twenty minutes later, Amelia and Algernon were permitted to enter and curtsied or bowed to the Queen, “Your Majesty. As requested, I’ve brought the latest map of the concentrations of muggleborns living within London itself.”

Elizabeth glanced between the two and raised a questioning eyebrow, “Where is your Minister?”

Amelia’s face pinked slightly, “Cornelius Fudge was assassinated back on Halloween and we haven’t voted a new permanent one in yet. Elections will be taking place at the middle of this month.”

Accepting that, Her Majesty motioned for her to overlay her maps with that of her own. When the sheets settled, it was clear that whoever was perpetrated these heinous terrorist activities, was clearly a witch or wizard. “The media has already labeled this person as the ‘Witch of Toad Hall’ which leads Us to suspect that this person is magical.”

Amelia ruefully agreed with Her Majesty, “Yes, Your Majesty. Her name is Dolores Umbridge and she escaped from our prison over the summer. We’ve been trying to locate her but given her knowledge of procedures from before her incarceration, it’s been proving difficult.”

“Why were We not informed of her escape before now?”

Amelia refused to look the Queen in the eyes and quietly replied, “We were hoping to keep things in-house.”

“Do you see yourself needing assistance from Our side?”

Algernon shook his head, “I certainly hope not. We cannot in good conscience ask for your assistance as your side is not equipped to handle magical escapees.”

Queen Elizabeth gave him a calculating look, “I think you’d be surprised by what they’re capable of, Director. In the meantime, We are issuing a Royal Edict commanding you to utilize all of your resources to locate and capture, dead or alive, this ‘Witch of Toad Hall’ before We do. If We do have to get involved, We will revoke the Treaty of Separation for cause as it’ll be clear you cannot be trusted to govern yourselves. I am giving you until March of this year to resolve this issue.”

Properly chastised, Amelia and Algernon bowed and left the room.

As the pair returned to Amelia’s office, she related something that Vernon Dursley had suggested a couple of weeks ago. “Mr. Dursley had asked about the tattoos that Susan reported Dolores to be sporting these days. He suggested that they may not be the permanent type, but instead just a topical treatment like that Henna decorative work.”

Algernon rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “So his suggestion was to what? Recheck the boards in case her protection is starting to wear off?”

Bobbing her head, Amelia extracted a bottle of firewhiskey and two glasses from her desk. “Exactly, Susan did manage to graze Dolores with that cutting hex so whatever the Toad applied to herself must be compromised to some degree.” She handed him a tumbler and sipped her own.

“It’s as good a plan as any right now. I hope my counterpart is able to come through with the information about where his version of Dolores would go if given the opportunity.” There was a knock at the door which revealed a waiting Agent holding a file folder. “What do you have for me?” The Agent handed over the folder and left. “Ah, his timing is excellent. This is the listing he’d promised me. Good, it’s been color-coded to show which of our side properties match theirs. Anything in green matches completely, yellow indicates that the address is correct but that the structure is different; and red indicates that neither the structure or address match.”

Amelia could see that the bulk of the listings were in green and yellow with only a couple of reds. She had him make a copy of the report and took it to her SIC, “Dig up all you can about these places. See if any of them match what we know about her properties. Send a couple of scouts out to each of them to see if they’re inhabited. If they are, those scouts need to report in but stay hidden if at all possible.”

She returned to her office and settled in her chair, “So how did your counterpart get the information out of her? I can’t imagine she’d give up that sort of thing if you asked her where she’d go if on the run.”

Algernon laughed, “No, they used what is known as a Truthstone. It’s a flat plate inscribed with a variety of arrays that forces a person to tell the unvarnished truth without any of the side effects that are present with Veritaserum. The person under the influence of the Truthstone are completely awake and aware of their surroundings and answer all questions as if it was the most natural thing to do.”

She sent him a pleading look, “Do you have access to this device? Could we borrow it? It would make interrogating suspects a lot easier you know.”

Algernon smirked as he lifted the glass to his lips, “We do, and let’s see what happens when that time comes.”

Later that evening; Department of Mysteries, Trans-Dimensional Writer Window, Room A113

Algernon sat at the table with the notepad and special quill waiting for his counterpart to arrive. When the other side’s hands appeared, he picked up the quill and began to write:

DC5678-T to DC2558-P: Follow-up inquiry of your Azkaban escapee, Sirius Orion Black III and our Dolores Umbridge. Communication to follow using personal initials; Security code Alpha 19.

AC: How’s it going with your search for Black?

RC: Not well. The man is slippery than an eel and as elusive as a ghost. Do you have any insights from yours that might assist in our search?

AC: Ours suggested that you might want to look in the caves that exist above Hogsmeade. He’s related some sordid stories from his past about taking dates up there for private rendezvous.

RC: Noted. I’ll pass that information along to the search teams. On a positive note, we captured Peter Pettigrew who’d been living as the pet rat to the Weasley family and replaced it with an ordinary garden rat. The young lad who had him didn’t even recognize the switch. Additionally, we retrieved the Diadem Horcrux from the Room of Requirement.

AC: That is good to hear, and will make things easier going forward since you won’t have to put up  with Albus trying to interfere with operations. I take it that the Diary has already been dealt with?

RC: It has. Harry Potter has confirmed he destroyed it during his second year the last time we spoke during which time he signed the contract we sent him to allow us to act as his Hand.

 AC: Good. You might also want to connect with Remus Lupin while you’re investing the caves. He and Black were best friends during their time in school and might be able to help you. Ours here mentioned something about a special map that they created which might be able to assist tracking him down.

RC: Agreed. Just so you’re aware, our Dumbledore has been repeatedly trying to infiltrate the Department to wheedle information out of my agents in his search for Harry Potter. He’s been annoyingly persistent that we fix the Mirror of Erised post haste.

AC: I ought to send you a sample of the fungus we used to incapacitate him while we interrogated the old goat for his misdeeds. Have you checked to see if yours went the same dark route ours did?

RC: We did, but found no evidence that Albus made any Horcruxes.

AC: You should feel lucky.

RC: How goes with your search for Dolores?

AC: Agonizingly slow. Every time we think we’re getting close, she up and vanishes like a fart in the wind. Her Majesty has even gone so far to issue a Royal Edict declaring that we have until March before she moves in with her troops to capture the Toad and revokes the Treaty for cause.

RC: Ouch! If yours is anything like ours, it’s no idle threat. Did our list assist you at all?

AC: It has. Thank you again for that. We found two safehouses we were previously unaware of, a subset of industrial warehouses used to traffic magical creatures, and a printing press with currency paper and ink. We think that the press was intended to be used to destabilize the money values. Our version of Rita Skeeter also located and called in to the Aurors where a couple of slave camps had been set up outside of Wiltshire.

RC: Isn’t that where the Malfoys live?

AC: The Malfoys used to live there. Since Narcissa’s divorce from Lucius and his subsequent arrest and incarceration in Azkaban, it’s been laying derelict. She and her son now live in Redland and from the reports, loving every minute of the modern lifestyle. Narcissa is apparently addicted to a number of muggle television shows, such as the one called ‘Father Brown Mysteries.’

RC: I think I’ve seen that show. Is that one that stars Alec Guiness?

AC: That was the 1954 muggle movie of the same name. The television series features a man by the name of Mark Williams.

RC: I’ll have to investigate. I enjoyed the movie greatly.

AC: On another note, I will be passing along a demand from our side’s Xenophilius Lovegood for Druidic Justice under the Brehon law to be administered on your side’s Draco Malfoy for his attempt to burn his daughter Luna to death pending the completion of your investigations.

RC: I’ll pass it along since we’ve concluded that the Malfoy heir was indeed responsible for the inferno. I’m also hopeful that we can link Albus in with the punishment since the pair was seen speaking to each other twenty minutes before the fire was set.

AC: That’d be a relief if both are removed from the equation. I’m starting to wonder if it wouldn’t just be easier to lure Albus into the department and make him vanish. It’s not like it would be the first time we’ve done that.

RC: Oh, that is a wonderful dream but impractical right now. I’ll see what we can do if the opportunity presents itself.

The two Directors shared some more anecdotal stories regarding interdepartmental issues then signed off.

Tuesday 4 January, 1994; Hogwarts Express, heading North

Draco’s gaze went from Harry to Briallen then slid over to Hermione and Mia before he turned his head to look at Luna and Selena. “Remember what I said about the Great Meeting of the Minds?”

Harry snorted in laughter, “Frightening to think about when presented with the reality that each of us, aside from you, have their doppelganger sitting right next to them.”

Draco spread his hands out, “I know, right? Still, I’m glad that my other self isn’t here. There’d be one less Draco in the…what did you call it, Hermione?” He was looking at Mia who corrected him.

“I’m Mia, she’s Hermione, and the word you’re looking for is the ‘multiverse.’”

“Yes, thank you. That, there’d be one less Draco in the multiverse. I’d personally introduce him to a world of hurt for everything he’d put you through.” He waved a fist in the air and put on an angry countenance.

Hermione reached over and patted Draco on the top of his head, “You’re a good boy, Draco.” He swatted her hand away and smoothed out his mussed up hair to the laughter of the others.

Harry piped, “Hey, what’s this I hear about you getting addicted to muggle television?”

Draco beamed happily, “Mum and I both are utterly besotted with the device. Mum can’t get enough of the…what are they called when it’s mostly drama and character development?”

Harry cocked his head in thought but Bri beat him to it, “Sitcoms? Shows like ‘Keeping Up Appearances’? Aunt Petunia watches that show whenever she can.”

Draco pointed at her, “That one especially! Mum utterly loves that show, that and the Father Brown Mysteries, and of course the news and weather station.”

Selene pursed her lips, “What’s the ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ show about?”

Mia replied, “The sitcom follows a woman named Hyacinth in her attempts to prove her social superiority, and to gain standing with those she considers upper class. Her attempts are constantly hampered by her lower class extended family, of whom she is desperate to hide. Much of the humor comes from the conflict between Hyacinth's vision of herself and the reality of her underclass background. In each episode, she lands in a farcical situation as she battles to protect her social credibility.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Sounds boring.”

Draco waved his hand as if to say, ‘Right?’ “Personally, I love the Mr. Bean show, and of course, the Father Brown Mysteries. The lead actor, Mark Williams, is inspiring.”

“What else have you learned to appreciate about the muggles?” Mia wanted to know.

Draco leant back to think about it, “I think it’s the sheer adaptability they’ve demonstrated since they don’t have magic. Take the television for example, think about what it takes to get from the set design and construction, the actors, the script, all of it and then find a way to broadcast it then finally what it takes to receive the image and sound on the television device itself. It’s staggering to think about.”

Mia waved her hand in his direction, “This right here is the biggest difference between the Draco back home and you. The one back home not only wouldn’t deign to be in our presence unless it was to hassle Harry or myself, but he’d never ‘debase himself’ with learning anything about how the muggles live.”

Draco sketched a seated bow and shot her a cheeky wink, “I live to exceed your expectations, milady.”

Harry swapped places with Hermione and wrapped his arms protectively around Mia’s shoulders while giving him a snooty look, “Mine, you go find your own girl.”

Standing, Draco pompously replied, “I think I will. I need a bit of loving from my Sultry Susan.” He blew them all a haughty air-kiss and sauntered from the compartment to the sound of their resulting good-natured laughter.

Halfway through the journey, their compartment door opened for Romilda to put in her appearance. All the girls gasped at the sight of an angry-looking diagonal scar slashing across her face. Hermione leapt up and pulled the girl into her arms, “What happened?!”

“Bobbi happened,” Romi replied chagrinned, “She was watching Susan and Colin roughhousing when a moth fluttered past and startled her. She swiped at it and unfortunately, she got too close to her snout with her claws.”

Harry couldn’t help it and snorted in laughter. Romi shot him a sneer while Briallen whapped him on the arm. “It’s not funny, Harry. Have you already had it tended to?”

Romi nodded, “Yeah, Dad did his best for the first aid then we took a trip into Saint Mungo’s for some medicated salves. The Healers say that I’ll always have a scar but it won’t be as noticeable as it is now by the end of the month. I’ve got the ointment in my trunk as well as a couple of jars being sent up to Madam Pomfrey.” The door opened once more to let Ginny slide in. She quietly took a seat next to Selene and listened in.

She nudged Selene, “What’s going on, Luna?”

Selene broke out into a teasing grin, “I have no idea, Ginny. You know them better than I do.”

Ginny turned to look at her strangely, “What are you talking about?” That was when she noticed that there were two Lunas sitting next to each other and felt her jaw unhinge and swing open, “You…and she…Whoa!”

Luna laughed, “Now all we need to do is coordinate with the Weasley and Patil twins to sit together and speak in sequence and simultaneously just to drive the Headmistress nuts.”

Briallen’s eyes lit up mischievously as she nudged Harry, “Go. Go find both sets and bring them here. That’s too good of an idea to pass up.”

Harry bowed to his counterpart as he departed, “As my other half demands.”

Hogwarts; Great Hall, Returning Feast

“Welcome back to another semester, everyone. No doubt you all remember the arrival of Misses Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood from the alternate universe known as World 2558-P. Now, to prevent any future confusion as to which girl you are speaking to, Miss Granger of 2558-P has taken the name of ‘Mia’ while Miss Lovegood of 2558-P has taken the name of ‘Selene.’ Please remember this for future conversations.” Minerva finished her speech, clapped her hands to signal to the elves so they could serve the food, and moved back to her seat.

Before anyone could begin serving themselves, Fred and George Weasley stood up, followed by Padma and Parvati Patil, Hermione and Mia Granger, and finally Luna and Selene Lovegood. The Devil’s Carrots started things off by blowing into a register and speaking in sequence. First Fred, “We’d like to thank…”

Then George, “…our illustrious Headmistress…”

Hermione picked up the next, “…for that wonderful…”

Mia winked up to the front, “…introduction. We promise…”

Padma giggled, “…not to make…”

Parvati twinkled her fingers, “…too much of a scene…”

Selene and Luna finished in stereo, “…if you get us mixed up.”

Minerva faceplanted onto the table’s surface and let out a low moan while the other students broke out into raucous applause and laughter. Petunia waggled her finger mock-reprovingly at the group of ‘twins.’ She caught the look of annoyance Severus was giving and rolled her eyes at him.

After the feast concluded, Mia followed Lavender and Parvati up to Gryffindor Tower and found her trunk had already been delivered. She opened it up and pulled out her pajamas then began changing for bed. She noticed that Lavender kept eyeing her. “Is there something wrong?”

The honey-blonde girl shook her head, “No, it’s just… I see you and…” she waved her hand in the direction of the Ravenclaw Tower.

Mia understood, “I get it. You look at me and immediately think of her. I’m not offended, honestly. I hope that we’ll be able to get along for as long as I’m here.”

Parvati hugged her pillow to her chest, “You’ll join us for the GO club, right?”

Mia smiled, “I’m looking forward to it. Hermione’s told me so much about it that it all sounds so fun.”

The three wished each other a good night and settled into their beds.

The next morning, Mia made her way downstairs into the Great Hall for breakfast. In her arms, she had a copy of her Charms textbook with the rest of her school supplies in her bag slung over her shoulder. She took a seat at the Gryffindor table and reached for the bacon. She caught a flash of red hair in the corner of her eye and muttered, “Good morning, Ronald.”

“I’m not sure whether to be flattered that you can recognize that I’m a Weasley without looking or insulted that you think I’m my youngest brother,” Percy answered with a teasing smile.

Hermione’s head snapped up and over as she stammered an apology. Percy waved her down, “It’s not a problem, Miss Granger. We redheads, especially of the Weasley variety, do tend to confuse everyone at first. There was a time when the teachers kept calling me by my oldest brother’s name.”

Mia tilted her head, “Not the second oldest?”

Percy chuckled, “Charlie? Hardly, he was most often than not; always hanging out with Nymphadora Tonks during his education here and his build was much too stocky to be mistaken for him.”

“Thank you for your forbearance then,” Mia squeaked out. “I never really got a chance to ask your counterpart, but what is it that you hope to achieve when you graduate?”

“You mean for a career? It’s my goal to be hired into the legal side of the DMLE and work my way up to barrister. In the beginning however, I plan to work with my father in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. It’s still a part of the DMLE and is, in my opinion, a crucial part in training the Aurors on how to identify what is and what isn’t a muggle-produced artifact.”

Mia was intrigued, “Really? The other Percy was always dismissive of his father’s role in the Ministry. He wanted to get hired straight away by either the Minister’s office or the International Magical Cooperation department.”

Percy bobbed his head, “He’s ambitious. Narrow-minded but ambitious. He would’ve been given the absolute worst jobs imaginable with very little appreciation for the work he’d done. At least with my dad, I already know what sort of attention to detail he requires; and he’s a pretty laid-back boss too.”

Harry ambled over soon after and thumped heavily onto the bench, “I would sell my soul for the powers that be to ban mornings.” Both Mia and Percy chuckled at his grumbling.

Briallen took her spot next to Harry a moment later; both Percy and Mia snickered at the sight of the two Potters acting in synchronization as they built their breakfasts with nary a word spoken between them. Even the act of eating was done in stereo. Percy waggled his fork at them, “Seeing you two doing that, it’s giving me flashbacks to when the twins were younger. They don’t do that as much anymore, but there are still moments when you can see both drinking or eating something at the same time.”

Gryffindor’s Head of House, Eleanor Hathaway came down once breakfast was starting to end to hand over her schedule. “The Headmistress contacted her counterpart and requested the transcripts from your time there. Based on these results, I see no problem with clearing you to continue with the electives you’ve already had, if you’d like to continue with Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. I know that you had originally planned on taking all the electives with the usage of a Time Turner; however I would urge you to give that up.”

Mia smiled nervously, “I didn’t have the Turner on me when I crossed over, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Eleanor agreed with her, “Very well. Here you go and I hope you continue to do well here.”

Harry kept an eye on Mia as she progressed through the day. He was amused at her reactions as she exited the various classes with a dazed smile on her face. When they caught up again for dinner, he asked if her classes were to her liking. Mia gave him a kiss on the cheek, “It’s everything Hermione promised and more! I have never been so challenged in any of my classes prior to this year, even Professor Vector’s Arithmancy class was too easy but now! Oh, I feel like I’m dreaming and afraid that if I pinch myself, this will be all just some sort of wonderful dream. I don’t care if the Unspeakables manage to fix the Mirror; I don’t ever want to return back to our universe!”

Harry sighed, “I know how you feel, and I’m happy you found your place but you and I both know that I’d never be able to stay. At some point, I’m going to have to return home so I can end Voldemort once and for all.”

Mia waved that off, “You signed a contract with the Unspeakables, correct?” He nodded. “Then it’s simple, you live your life the way you want and to Hell with what the Headmaster keeps blathering on about. He had decades to deal with that threat long before it became a public problem but he just sat back and let things develop into the nightmare it is now. You don’t owe him anything, Harry James.”

Saturday 8 January, 1994; Room of Requirement, GO club meeting

“Ladies! I’d like for all of us to give a warm Hogwarts welcome to our newest additions. Miss Mia Granger and Miss Selene Lovegood!” Myrtle announced to the crowd of chattering girls. They all cheered and clapped to the entranced girls. “Let’s start the meeting off with our welcoming chant!”

Mia was nonplussed by the singing (or caterwauling) of the other girls, “Boys are stinky, boys are dumb; girls rule the world, we’re the worthy ones!”

“Does anyone have something they wish to say under Old Business?”

Luna jumped to her feet, “I wish to say that Operation Big Brother is proceeding along splendidly. I think I’ve got Harry right where I want him and proven that a relationship with Mia is his best option.”

Mia snorted in laughter and called out, “That was never in question, Luna! He was always going to be my boyfriend.”

Selene relaxed up against the wall next to Mia and smiled calmly at her friend, “Can you imagine this happening back home? A little soot and flame is all worth it if this is the outcome.”

Mia bobbed her head in agreement, “Right? Oh, how did your dad take it when he learned about what Draco attempted?”

Selene’s smile grew predatory, “Daddy did the seemingly impossible and ended the Malfoy line for good and earned not only two million Galleons in compensation but also the life of Draco as his slave under Brehon law.”

Mia’s eyes went wide as she faced her friend fully, “Spill girl, tell me everything!”

Thursday 13 January, 1994; Department of Mysteries, Trans-dimensional Writer Window, Room A113

DC5678-T to DC2558-P: Follow-up inquiry of Druidic Justice filed by Xenophilius Lovegood of World 5678-T. Communication to follow using personal initials; Security code Alpha 19.

AC: How did the inquiry go? I’d have to imagine that your Xenophilius must’ve been outraged by what he learned.

RC: Outraged would be the mildest term to describe the level of retribution he was demanding from Lucius Malfoy. Xeno was practically spitting nails, three sheets past ‘pissed off’ when he found out the extent of Luna’s injuries. I was there in the Wizengamot when he stormed in disrupting the previous discussion and declared in open court that unless Lucius paid in full right that very moment two million Galleons in recompense for his son and heir’s attempt to murder his daughter, Xeno would declare a Blood Feud and duel the bastard on the Mot floor. I frankly didn’t think he had it in him to get this riled up.

AC: I know, right? Understandable, quite honestly. His daughter is from a pureblood line more extensive and OLDER than the Malfoys. It would’ve been an insult worthy of an honor duel if Lucius tried to pay anything less than a million and a half for Luna’s life, and the Gamot would’ve backed Xeno up on that. So what was the end result?

RC: Lucius tried to argue that it was never proven that his son had anything to do with the fire in that room and that besides the fact it was occupied only by a ‘mudblood.’ I sank his ship by announcing our findings of the investigation that Draco had indeed been the one to start the fire in hopes that Miss Hermione Granger, a newblood, would be killed for the sole reason of being in his words, ‘an uppity mudblood who refuses to learn her place.’ Lucius then tried to argue that Luna would’ve never been harmed if she had just not associated with someone of a lesser class than herself and that by acting as a blood traitor, got dragged into the attempt on Miss Granger’s life.

AC: I bet that went over well with Xeno.

RC: Like a lead balloon. Xeno fired off a bludgeoning hex which, unfortunately in my opinion, was dissolved by the room’s enchantments. In the end, it was ruled by the Mot that since Draco Malfoy was the aggressor, the Malfoy family would be fined two million Galleons and Draco would be sold to Xeno as a slave. The Mot then ruled that since Draco was now a slave, his time at Hogwarts was at an end. The last I heard, Xeno has the teen working out in the fields tending to their garden and lugging rocks to build walls.

AC: Thus ending the Malfoy line. Fitting, in my opinion. Now, if you would be so kind to inform Xeno that his daughter is doing just fine here and fitting in well with her friends and adoptive family. She misses him but begs that he not grieve for her as she’s Seen that she will return home eventually. As of right now, there doesn’t seem to be any prospect of finding a mate but she does enjoy teasing Harry Potter with a stanza from a poem. I think it was, ‘Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove.’

RC: Oh, that’s hilarious. Of course it was no doubt said in her cherubic voice and fluttery eyes, right?

AC: As I understood the conversation, yes. Ah, to be young again.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: Changing the Playbook (How to Properly Hunt A Toad)

Friday 14 January 1994; Ministry for Magic, newly elected Minister for Magic Cygnus Greengrass’ office

Cygnus looked around his new office interior and grimaced at the decorations that had been left in place since Cornelius’ administration. It was so gaudy that he wondered about the late man’s taste and mental state. “Okay, the first order of business is to strip out all of this…nightmarish…stuff and replace it with something modern.” He glanced at his elf assistant as he spoke. “I was thinking of a nice oak desk. Something that would suggest staying power but not so much that it screams that I’m ostentatious. The chair should be padded and match the look of the desk. A simple carpet with a modest amount pile and pattern should be installed plus the usual accompaniment of office equipment for someone of my office. Basically, I want to give the impression that I’m going to be here for a long while but I’m not a flamboyant fop. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

The elf calmly nodded, “Yes, you’re looking for what the muggles would label as ‘modern corporate executive.’”

Cygnus thought about the term then gave his approval, “Get to it then. Anything of the former minister’s should be put up for auction with the proceeds going to Saint Mungo’s.” The elf bowed then vanished. Meanwhile, Cygnus headed for Amelia’s office. He knocked on her door and waited for her permission to enter.

“Come in!” He opened the door and smirked at the look of exasperation on the woman’s face as she slogged through a seemingly endless pile of paperwork. “Minister, if you’re here to give me more work to do, be warned that I’m lightning fast with my wand and don’t care what damage I can do.”

Cygnus held up his hands in submission, “I only came over to see what I could do to help while my office is being refurbished.”

Amelia sighed in relief, “Then you can start by organizing the pile of reports over by where the couch is supposed to be by chronological order.” As he began working, the room became quieter with only the swishing of moving paper or the scritch of a quill being the loudest sound. The silence was broken when she remarked curiously, “I would’ve thought that you’d be speaking with the press about your elevation and campaign promises.”

Cygnus shrugged, “There’ll be plenty of time for that once my office is finished. In the meantime, I would like to have your help in crafting a statement to the public regarding our hunt for Dolores.”

Amelia grunted, “The Queen’s already put us on notice that if we don’t capture her by the start of March, we’re not going to like the consequences.”

He looked up, “How bad?”

“Bad enough that I’d start looking to shore up my ancestral home’s defenses, if I were you.”

“Ouch. What sort of plans have you come up with since then?”

Amelia leant back in her seat and scrubbed her face, “Well, that’s the thing. Dolores already knows all of our procedures in locating and capturing a fugitive. That’s what makes it so difficult to get a handle on this situation. I don’t know what else we can do, to be honest.”

He thought for a moment then brightened, “I’ve got it. What about your counterpart in the muggle law enforcement?”

“What about him?”

Cygnus pursed his lips, “I’d imagine that they have similar problems with tracking and capturing criminals. Maybe they have a solution you’ve never thought of.”

Amelia’s mouth slowly slid open as her eyes went glassy, “That…that’s inspired. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Cygnus continued on that theme, “Then while you’re learning from them, I’m going contact the muggle Prime Minister to get his input for a plan on how his office deals with informing the public about escaped criminals. We both remember what Cornelius’ ideas on information control was like; deny everything until it smacks you in the face then hand out empty promises that something will be done once he gets a clear picture of the situation. Once I have that insight, I had just thought that perhaps I could announce a plan for the Prophet to print. It would of course be a fake one since it’s no doubt that Dolores still reads the paper so I think it’d might be a good idea to lead her into a false state of security with fake information.”

Amelia waggled her finger approvingly at him with a slight twitch of her mouth, “Inspired, Minister; truly inspired.”

Up at Hogwarts…

Briallen plopped down at the Slytherin table across from Daphne and beamed brightly at her friend, “Congratulations, Daph.” Daphne looked up from her breakfast; her mouth was still full so she sent back a confused eyebrow expression. “I was referring to your dad’s promotion to Minister for Magic. Now that he’s achieved that, I was thinking that I can start lobbying with you to get some proper changes made around here.”

Daphne hurriedly swallowed, “Wait a minute! If you think I have that much pull with my father, you’re crazy.”

Briallen held up the piece of paper in her hand, “Wouldn’t you like to hear my proposals first?”

Narrowing her eyes at the suspiciously eager look on her friend’s face, Daphne held out her hand, “I’ll read them.” She took the note and began to read with growing incredulity. “Seriously?”

Briallen laughed, “Why not? Who says my proposals have to be serious?”

“Or even legal,” Daphne deadpanned.

Tracey leant over, “What did she suggest?”

Daphne read from the list, “All boys of a certain age must wear skirts on cold, blustery days to understand the problems that we girls have to go through on a daily basis, all businesses must play your music in public areas, Monday morning classes are to be forever banned…” The others around her began laughing at her growing look of annoyance at Bri’s unrepentant grin. “Forget it, if you want these so badly, set up an appointment with the Minister and suggest them yourself.”

Bri snickered, “Spoilsport. Still, you’ve got to be jazzed about the whole thing.”

Daphne waggled her hand, “It’s still settling in, to be honest. Besides, it’s not like I’m the Minister for Magic.”

They all turned at the sound of a shriek of surprise (and laughter) to see Peaches attempting to push Selene out of the room by headbutting the poor girl in the bum.

Over at the Gryffindor table…

While Selene was valiantly and laughingly trying to dissuade Peaches from laying claim to her (or whatever had caught the dragon’s attention), with Luna giggling at her doppelganger’s predicament while ineffectually nudging the dragon with an apple to distract her, Harry was busy writing a letter to Neville back home.

Dear Nev,

How’s life going? Does the castle seem unnaturally quiet without me being around acting like a trouble magnet? I was sorry to hear that you weren’t able to join us over here in paradise, but I’m hoping that your parents are able to benefit from the techniques that Briallen and your counterpart’s parents and healers came up with (Briallen mentioned that they’d sent over the instructions via the Unspeakables so if it hasn’t happened yet, you might want to find out why not.) As for me, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Hermione is here with me. She’s going by the shortened name of Mia so no one’s confusing her with this world’s Hermione. Our classes are going well, in my opinion. You have no idea how much fun potions is when you don’t have to suffer under Snape. Even Mia thinks so too! You should’ve seen her after the end of her first day here. She was stumbling around looking like…well, a displaced dimensional traveler. The look on her face every time she exited her classes was hilarious and what I’d imagine yours would be if you ever came into proximity with whatever plant you covet the most. Even nowadays, she still has that look. She swears that none of the classes she took back home have ever challenged her the way that these do (which is saying something!)

As for me, I think I mentioned before that I changed my electives to Ancient Runes and Introduction to French language. (If I haven’t, I’m sorry for the confusion.) I have to say that I’m glad that I made the switch. Ancient Runes has the basis in ward creation as well as so many aspects of our magic that it’s a wonder why it’s not in the core class list. You have no idea how relieved I was when no one gave me any pushback over my choices. Without Dumbledore here to give me that annoying grandfatherly attitude of his over what he thinks I should be learning, school has been enjoyable! Even History class has been a blast since we have a living teacher here who goes over points of time that doesn’t always include the Goblin rebellions. Another source of enjoyment that I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned before is the lack of Ron Weasley here. I came to Hogwarts eager to learn how to be a wizard, not laze around all day playing chess. Without him, my grades have skyrocketed and I’m really getting into understanding how my magic works.

So, what’s new on your end? Did anyone ever figure out who or what started the fire in Mia’s Experiment Room? How is the Headmaster reacting to everything so far? I have to tell you, if things continue as they have the past couple of months, I’m not sure if I ever want to go back (I’m pretty sure Mia feels the same way. Luna though has expressed a need to go home. Something she Saw, apparently.)

Sincerely,

Harry Potter

Interdimensional Chaos Traveler

Minerva got up to the podium and announced that tomorrow’s movie night would be shifted to the following week. “Instead, Hogwarts will be hosting what the High Inquisitor calls a ‘Just Because’ dance. It will be open to all year groups, and be held here in the Great Hall. There will be music, food, drinks, and of course dancing. Attire is whatever you want ‘just because.’ You are under no obligation to take part in anything, but I would hope that you’d at least come to socialize even if it’s just to people-watch ‘just because.’”

Bri shared an excited glance at Hermione whose eyes were shining with anticipation, “Formal or casual?” She motioned to the ceiling, indicating the Room.

Hermione tapped her chin thoughtfully, “I was thinking eclectic formal. Something random but fancy thrown together into something that works. It’ll need to be slinky without being scandalous. What about you?”

Bri nodded appreciatively, “I was thinking of the opposite. I want to find something that’ll make everyone’s eyes water from the distracting patterns.” She leant in and whispered, “Whatever we find, they’ll need to be easily removed as I’m going to want to dance with you in a whole different way, if you get my drift.” She gently kissed her girlfriend on the lips then sat up again with a ‘seductive smile’ on her face leaving Hermione breathing heavily and glassy-eyed.

Saturday 15 January, 1994; Ottery St. Catchpole, World 2558-P

Albus ambled down the pathway that led to the oddest-looking structure in the area other than the infamous Weasley Burrow. In a distant corner of his mind, he wondered if Xenophilius was an avid chess player given that his home resembled the castle rook. Mentally, he reviewed what he was there for today. First and foremost on his list was to plead mercy on young Draco Malfoy’s freedom in the hopes that Xenophilius would wake up and realize that punishing a young man with a lifetime of slavery for a simple misunderstanding was not the way for the Greater Good. Upon reaching the gate, he tried to enter but found his way blocked for an inexplicable reason. “Hello? Xeno, my boy I can’t seem to get past the gate.”

Looking around, he found the rune on the gate framepost that would alert the occupants of the house that they had a visitor. A few moments later, the front door opened as Xeno stepped out. The blond man narrowed his eyes when he located and identified who had come to call. “What do you want, Headmaster?”

“I was hoping I could speak with you regarding the disposition of young Draco Malfoy. Might I come in?” Albus replied hopefully.

Xeno sighed heavily and warily approached the gate but didn’t open it. “If you’re hoping you can convince me to release the boy from his court-appointed punishment, just forget about it. I was well within my right to have that bastard killed on the spot for what he did to my daughter.”

Albus gave him a disappointed look, “Xeno my boy, your daughter is not dead. She’s merely in another universe.”

Xeno’s eyes flared as he growled back, “I know that you blithering idiot! I was referring to Draco’s arson to the room she was in. He intentionally set fire to the room! The fact that she survived is immaterial; he intended to cause harm or even death to a daughter of Druids!”

Ignoring the absurdity about druids, Albus pressed on. “I’m sure that young Draco is sorry for his actions. To enslave him is not the way of the Light, however.”

Xeno leveled a hard glare at the man, “It is to Druidic Justice.”

Persistent as ever, Albus tried another track, “Xeno, please see reason. How can I guide him back to the proper path if you insist that he remain in slavery and won’t show forgiveness for his rash actions? What would your daughter think when she learns that her father is a slave owner?”

The blond man crossed his arms over his chest, “He stays, Albus. If there’s nothing else, you should go back to that school of yours and do what you do best, nothing.”

“I fail to understand your reticence in releasing Draco from his torment.” Albus was confused why the man refused to bow to his wishes. Couldn’t he understand that punishing a young heir to an influential pureblood family would only lead to ruin?

“Torment?” Xeno practically seethed, “What about the torment that my daughter faced when she was confronted with the possibility of death by the inferno intentionally set by the brat? If she’d died, would you be so lenient with Draco then? Would you have just pat him on the head and send him to bed without supper? Are you so blind as to what would result if the world found out that Albus ‘Leader of the Light’ Dumbledore allowed a student to be murdered by another with no intent to properly punish them let alone that her death would be the END of the Lovegood family line?”

Albus sadly shook his head, “There are always other options than to head straight for the dark path of slavery, Xeno my boy.”

Holding up a hand, Xeno pulled his wand and cast a patronus message to Draco, “Report to the front gate immediately.” The guardian spirit vanished as it headed out. Refusing to say another word, Xeno maintained a glaring silence while waiting for his slave to arrive. When Draco came jogging up and bowed his head deferentially, Xeno pointed to Albus, “Tell the Headmaster your reason for trying to burn my daughter to death.”

Draco sucked in a breath to slow his heaving chest, “I was trying to cause as much damage as possible to flush Granger out of the room so I could cast some spells at her as punishment for embarrassing me in the hallway and because Granger has no place in Hogwarts. She’s just an uppity mudblood fouling up the magical world with her wild muggle ways. When I saw Luna in there, I figured I might as well put an end to the Lovegood oddity as well. No one would miss her and her dumb creature sightings so it would be a two for one deal.”

Xeno turned back to Albus, “Now do you understand?”

Albus put on his ‘disappointed grandfather’ expression again, “All Draco would’ve had to do once the girls were safe was to apologize! They would’ve shown forgiveness for his brash actions over such a minor slight and potentially had something to laugh about later in life.”

Xeno stood there dumbfounded, “Laugh… wow, you’re really a special kind of stupid, aren’t you? Regardless of how you feel, Albus; I will not be releasing Draco from his servitude. The Wizengamot approved of his punishment themselves.”

Albus drew himself up pompously, “I am the Chief Warlock, Xenophilius. I can have the Wizengamot’s ruling overturned if I so desire. Would you really deny the lad of his family, a home, and education for your own short-sightedness? Your daughter wasn’t even his intended target!”

Xeno placed his hand on the gate frame dangerously close to the defensive ward runes, “Pull that hair out of your ears, Dumbledore and listen closely. Druidic Law and Druidic Justice trumps your 'Leader of the Light' and 'you should forgive' demands. The boy tried to END MY LINE, regardless of whether or not my daughter was his INTENDED target.”

“This insistence of yours that the boy should slave away in your fields is a path to the Dark! Don’t you understand that I’m trying to save you both from those unseemly decisions as the Leader of the Light?” Albus was getting annoyed at having to repeat himself. Xeno was proving tougher than he thought he’d be in the presence of someone of his importance.

"Perhaps, but in this case, you're also a blind fool. Now get off my land before I Floo-call Amelia Bones. Draco, get back to work." Draco bowed his head again and trotted off. Albus refused to give in so easily and opened his mouth to get the odd man to see his reason. “I’m giving you to the count of three before I activate my property defenses, Albus. Do all of us a favor and get stuffed.” He gave the countdown and when Albus still refused to leave, he tapped the rune array on the gate frame. There was a clap of thunder and a flash of light leaving the country road empty except for him.

Satisfied, Xeno headed back inside to complete his editing for the next issue of the Quibbler. Along the way, he stopped by his Ward Ledger and had the enchantments record Albus’ magical signature if he tried to stop by again then immediately bounce him from any point of his property out to the middle of the English Channel then placed a floo-call to the DMLE.

“Idiot,” he grumbled as he resettled in his chair and pulled over the latest reports of Crumple-horned Snorkack sightings.

Hogwarts 2558-P, a while later…

Albus re-entered the castle sopping wet and hopping mad (even though he kept his anger well hidden from outside observers.) Xeno’s defenses had picked him up and dumped him in the ocean off the southern coast of Devon. He had had to swim frantically to get out of the way of a tramp freighter then again to keep himself from freezing until he could snag a nearby chunk of debris and haul himself up so he could apparate back to the school. He hurried as fast as he could; once inside his apartment, he shucked his robes and set the shower water as hot as he could stand it.

Once he could feel his extremities again, he dressed in his comfortable robes of blazing orange and neon green and settled into his chair in front of his desk so he could ruminate on what went wrong. “I simply cannot believe that Xenophilius would be so callous to subject a young lad such as Draco to a lifetime of slavery. There must’ve been something I overlooked. Surely he was exaggerating Draco’s involvement in the matter and besides, young Draco was correct; Granger is nothing more than an uppity mudblood who doesn’t know her place within our ancient society. Once I get them all back, I’ll make sure she learns to respect her betters. I’m certain I can ‘convince’ her parents into signing guardianship over to me then I can do with her what I please. A healthy application of the Imperious curse or perhaps a loyalty potion would change her disposition.”

Back at Ottery St. Catchpole…

Amelia stepped out of Xeno’s floo and dusted herself off, “What was so important that you had me come here, Mr. Lovegood?”

Xeno handed her a vial containing his memories of the encounter and conversation with Albus, “Just something you might be able to use against Dumbledore. He tried to appeal to my sense of fair play so I’d release Draco from service. I argued back that the Wizengamot approved of the punishment, frankly they had no choice; but he declared himself to be above the law and could have that decision reversed.”

Amelia grimaced and shook her head as she took possession of the vial, “What is that idiot thinking? Is he so deluded by his own worldview that everyone should just bend over and take whatever he’s giving them?”

Xeno shrugged, “That’s my thinking, to be honest. I got the sense that he was surprised I wasn’t as scatterbrained as many people tend to think I am.” At her teasing grin, he playfully swiped at her shoulder, “Come on, I’ve gotten better. Besides, when it comes to my daughter; you’d best believe that I will be as serious as anyone that has the threat of Line Theft hanging over them.”

She accepted that, “You have gotten better at realizing that not all mythical creatures are real. It’s just I remember the DoM’s Director commenting that you seemed a bit spacey when you were asked if Luna could visit World 5678-T.”

Xeno thought back to that day then nodded ruefully, “I’ll admit that I was feeling a bit off that day. At any rate, do the Unspeakables know when the mirror will be repaired by? I’m looking forward to seeing my baby girl again.”

Amelia shook her head, “No word yet, though according to Director Croaker who received a report from his counterpart, Luna and her friends are having the time of their lives there. Apparently Hogwarts under Minerva’s guidance is like night and day to the morass that Albus is in charge of. Perhaps when she returns, she’ll share some memories.”

Xeno smiled fondly, “I can’t wait for that day to happen.”

Gesturing to the fields where she had spotted Draco lugging a large rock, “How’s he settling in?”

“Surprisingly well,” he replied, “There were a couple of days in the beginning where he was still mouthy and had an attitude, but a couple of stinging hexes to his posterior shut him up quickly enough. Since then, I think it’s finally sunk in that this is going to be his life until I say otherwise. He’s gotten pretty good at building rock walls and repairing the smaller structures on the property.”

“You let him use a wand?” she asked in surprise.

Xeno shook his head and smirked smugly, “Nope.” He popped the ‘P’ sound. “He’s been tasked with doing all of it without a trace of magic. I did demonstrate how to use muggle hand tools like a hammer, screwdriver, and the like so he didn’t waste time trying to figure it out on his own. Now, while I do force him to work from sunup to sundown, he doesn’t live like an animal. He has his room located next to the garden and gets three square meals per day plus whatever he learns to forage while working. I figure that for the days where the temperature gets really hot, I’ll have him working digging out the streambed where at least he’ll have access to cool water.”

Amelia watched the blond teen struggle to extract a small boulder from the compacted earth, “I’m impressed, Xeno. Maybe I ought to contract with you to oversee something like this for at-risk teens in the future.”

Xeno laughed as he led her into the kitchen, “Never going to happen. I love my operating my magazine too much.”

Back to Hogwarts 2558-P, late at night…

Remus had the night patrol near Gryffindor tower that evening and was approaching the landing in front of where the Fat Lady’s portrait stood when he his sensitive hearing picked up on the sounds of snuffling coming from behind one of the tapestries. He pulled his wand and carefully peeked behind the curtain. Standing there with wide, fearful eyes was none other than the fugitive Sirius Black! To Sirius’ confusion, Remus’ shoulders sagged in relief, “About time you showed up, Padfoot. Come on, you can hide out in my office. There’s a shower and a change of clothes you can wear.”

Sirius slowly crept out and whined quietly in confusion, “I don’t get it. I thought you’d be angrier at me.”

Remus chuckled ruefully, “Yes, well recent events have proven to me that you weren’t the one responsible for James and Lily’s death.”

Sirius perked up, “You caught the rat?”

Remus shook his head, “No, the Unspeakables did.” He led his friend into his office and pointed to the bathroom. “Soap and flannels are on the shelf. Go get cleaned up; I’ll wait out here.”

By the time that Sirius had finished bathing, Remus had returned with a change of clothes. Feeling human again, the two men embraced each other and cried over the loss of their other brother and sister in arms. Remus called for some food to be brought up as well as an elf to take a message to Director Bones informing her that Sirius Black was ready to turn himself into authorities. Sirius gave him a mischievous smirk, “Tell her to bring the paddle. She knows which one I’m talking about.”

Remus rolled his eyes, “Oh, yeah I forgot the two of you were dating back then. I never figured you to be the one who liked being spanked, Siri.”

Giving his friend an over-the-top wounded look, Sirius barked out a wheezing laugh, “Not me, her! She loved being bent over and getting her buns warmed.” He sobered, “How’s the pup? I haven’t heard anything since July when one of the guards talked about his kid’s birthday which was a week prior to Harry’s.” The food arrived, prompting him to start eating.

Remus grimaced, “Well… here’s the thing. Harry’s not here.”

“Not here? As in not in the castle?” He wiped his mouth from the juices from the roast beef sandwich.

Shaking his head, Remus replied, “Not on this world. Somehow, and the Unspeakables still aren’t being clear on it; but Harry managed to get himself transported to a parallel universe over the summer.”

Jaw swinging in shock, it took Sirius a few minutes to process that, “No way. Has anyone been able to get in contact with them?”

Remus nodded, “You ever hear of the Mirror of Erised?” At Sirius’ waggle of his hand he continued, “Well, a student here figured out how to connect our world to the other one using the magic of the mirror. At first, she was merely sending written messages across but a couple of weeks ago, another student for reasons I’m still having trouble understanding, set fire to the room she was experimenting in. The ensuing inferno forced her and another female student to pass through the mirror to the other world for safety. The Unspeakables are evaluating the mirror to see if it can be repaired so the teens can be brought home.”

Sirius’ eyes went dark; so dark in fact that they resembled bottomless pools of inky blackness, “Who. Who dared to do something so heinous to two girls who were only trying to help bring Harry home?”

Remus hesitated, “Before you go haring off, remember that justice has already been served. He’s no longer a student here and has been sentenced to life as a slave to the aggrieved family.”

One of Sirius’ eyebrows rose, “A slave? That means Druidic Justice, which means the family must be the Lovegoods since they were the only ones who practiced that form of magic if I recall correctly. Who was it, Remi?”

“Draco Malfoy.” Remus cringed, waiting for Mount Sirius to explode. Surprisingly, his friend remained calm. “You’re not going to blow up?”

Sirius gave him a low chuckle, “You said it yourself, justice has already been served. Was there anything else that Lucy had to give up aside from his heir?”

“According to the papers, a fine of two million Galleons was transferred to Xeno’s bank account.”

Sirius barked out another laugh, “Ouch. I can only imagine the dinner conversation after that ruling. Cissa’s probably got his nuts in a vise.”

Amelia arrived with a couple of her trusted Aurors to take custody of Sirius. He cheekily asked her where the paddle was. She speared him a dark look, “Don’t push me, Black or I’ll let Shacklebolt use it on your head.” She turned to Remus, “Thank you for capturing him. What has he been told?”

“Just everything since Harry vanished over the summer to the inferno on the fourth floor,” Remus casually replied, “What’s going to happen to him?”

“He’ll get looked over by the medics then put on trial to clear his name. Chances are most likely that he’ll be exonerated and released. When that happens, do you want him?”

“Aww, I thought…” Sirius started but quieted down when she zapped him with her wand. Remus laughed and said that he’d be happy to take the old dog off her hands after the acquittal. She motioned to her guards to escort the prisoner to the Ministry holding cells via the floo. Before she left, she idly mentioned, “You know, the reward for capturing Black is still active. Would you like me to forward it to your vault?”

Remus bowed his head graciously, “That would be wonderful. I have a feeling I’ll need it before long.” She disappeared into the floo with a flash of green flames. Sighing that at least something had gone his way since getting Albus’ ‘invite’ to come teach at the school, he began laying out plans for the future.

Speaking of Albus, he showed up just as the flames died back down again, “Remus? The wards informed me that you had a visitor come through the floo. Who was it?”

Remus felt a ghost of a smile creep across his face, “Just an old friend stopping by to say hello. Nothing you need to worry about.”

The Headmaster gave him a searching look before shrugging it off, “If that’s all it was then have a good night. I’ll be in my office should you need me.” He turned and left the room. Remus pulled his own wand out and scanned the room for any enchantments or listening charms. He found two; one on the coffee table and one by the door, both had Albus’ signature on them. Grimacing in distaste, he transferred both to a piece of rubbish and left them in a nearby students’ lavatory stall.

“Nosy old bastard,” he muttered as he re-entered his office.

Same day, World 5678-T; Great Hall, ‘Just Because’ Dance

The music was blaring, the food and drinks were flowing, and everyone was having an absolute blast. Romilda Lupin was monopolizing Neville’s time by refusing to let go of the bewildered teen as they danced to the music. Luna and Selene finally had to step in after four dances to rescue Neville only to turn around and gang up on him the moment a slow song came up. Bri and Hermione put on quite the spectacle with their eye-watering sartorial choices. Hermione’s dress featured a solid cloak sleeve asymmetrical hem dress in lime green with chrome silver highlights, a plunging neckline with a lace décolletage in blue. She had rainbow print leggings paired with a cute pair of fuzzy bunny slippers. Her hair had been tamed for the night using copious amounts of Sleek-Easy, and a matching pair of ruby earrings and necklace. Draco took one look at her and declared her outfit to be an atrocity that befouled the name of Slytherin. “Bri, take your date back to your dorm and make her take that off.”

Bri gave both of them a dopey look, “With pleasure.”

Hermione held up her hands, “Not yet, Briallen. That’ll come later.”

Daphne snickered and stage-whispered to Millie, “That won’t be the only thing to come later…” Millie gasped in surprise and whapped her friend on the shoulder, “Daphne!”

Bri winked at the girls, “No less true though.”

Briallen’s outfit was no less nauseating. Her outfit looked like the rejects from the fashion department of a clown college. She was wearing crimson red trousers with vertical dark blue pinstripes and double button closures, a pair of shocking yellow suspenders with a Hawaiian hulu girl embroidered on the straps, a ruffled shirt in pale blue and orange checks with balloon sleeves, and a pair of shoes that looked like someone had dipped them in sparkly green sequins. Selene had taken one look at it and declared it ‘awesome.’

The couples danced together before switching partners. At one point, Briallen was dancing with Harry while Hermione was dancing with Mia. Luna and Selene thought that was hilarious and shared a dance with each other.

When Susan entered the room, Draco’s jaw was practically scraping the ground. He inexplicably became very nervous about asking her to dance. Her dress was reminiscent of the 1920s style of gowns in that the dress hugged her burgeoning curves and hinted at the beauty she would become later in life. It featured a scoop neckline in iridescent dark green and gold. A series of descending upward-pointing liquid gold chevrons cascaded down starting at her hips to the hemline and flashed in the light every time she moved. A coil of sequined chains hung from her shoulders and added to the almost sensual swaying and jiggling way she walked. Her hair was piled up on top of her head with a pair of curls hanging down to frame her face. She took a seat near the dance floor and just enjoyed the spectacle.

Draco sat down next to her and gently took her hand, and leant in to kiss her on the cheek, “Dwipplehanger.”

Susan scrunched her face up and looked at him oddly, “What?”

His voice dropped an octave breathily, “You’re my Hornguzzler, Susie B, and you make me want to fweepercheep you.”

Now everyone within earshot was staring at him as if he’d grown a second head. Susan gently laid a hand on his cheek to check his temperature. “Draco, are you feeling alright?”

“Never better.” His eyes were alight with desire.

“Then what’s with the nonsensical words?”

He gave her the lightest of kisses, his lips barely brushing across her lips causing her heart rate to ramp up and her eyes to darken with growing lust. “I wanted to talk dirty to you, but didn’t want to use the ‘usual insults’ so I spoke with Selene about alternatives. Apparently, if the Swedish Snorlats hear those words, they get very upset.”

Meanwhile, Briallen quietly snorted in laughter and whispered in Hermione’s ear, “It’s been a while since Selene’s used her creatures to tease people.” At the sight of Susan returning Draco’s kiss with a searing, passionate one of her own, Bri continued, “But if it works, go Draco and Susan!”

Monday 17 January 1994; Hogwarts 5678-T; Lunchtime

Harry entered the Great Hall with a blanket wrapped bundle in his arms. Nearly every head swung over to him to watch as he walked in and settled down at the Slytherin table next to his counterpart and their friends. Bri watched him curiously and jutted her chin in the bundle’s direction, “Whatcha got there?”

Harry put a finger to his lips, “Shh, I just got the baby to go to sleep.”

Leaning over, Bri peeked over the edge of the blanket and let out a snort of laughter. Cradled in his arms was a very disgruntled looking Snowy Owl. “Aw, doesn’t she look adorable? What are you going to name your new daughter?” She reached in and tickled the underside of her beak.

“BARK!”

Heads came up. Pansy tilted her head curiously, “Bark? Since when does a baby bark?”

The bundle in Harry’s arms squirmed until he relented and let the blanket fall away revealing his prank to the amusement of the others. Hedwig remonstrated him by smacking his head with her wings, barking and screeching at him. “Lighten up, Hedwig! It was just a joke. I thought you of all people would like to be carried around and shown off like the prize you are.”

Hedwig leapt off his shoulder and gave him the cold shoulder, refusing to look at him. Daphne held out a strip of her sandwich meat to her as a consolatory gift, “Boys. Right, Hedwig?” The disgruntled owl grunted once and took the offering then flew up and out of the Hall.

Bri swatted Harry on the arm, “Is this how you treated your Hedwig?”

Harry’s grin was unrepentant, “Yeah, and she loved it.” He sobered after a moment, “I just realized that she got left behind there. How…do you think once the Unspeakables fix the mirror they’d bring her over as well?”

Hermione laughed, “Do you really want two Hedwigs telling you off whenever you do something stupid?” The laughter grew at the sight of Harry’s rapidly paling face. “I didn’t think so. Chances are most likely she’ll get put with someone else who is need of an owl once it’s explained to her that you’re not coming home. If I were you, I’d write a letter explaining this to her as well as picking out a couple of candidates to take her in.”

“Hello everyone.” Everyone turned and spotted Selene standing there with an uncomfortable look on her face. They greeted her and moved to let her join them. “I think it would be best if Hedwig joins me when I go home. I could always use a beautiful feathered friend there who could teach me how to sing like the Wagoian Wind Whistlers.”

Hermione draped her arm over the blonde’s shoulders, “Is everything alright, Selene? You don’t normally bring out the creatures unless something is bothering you.”

Selene blinked then relaxed, “I keep forgetting that this world isn’t the same as mine and that I actually have friends.”

“Who was it, Selene?”

Selene looked down, “Fourth year Slytherin Thomas Dorset. He was calling me names.” All heads swung over down the table to where the boy in question was chatting with his housemates. Pansy stood up and yelled, “Dorset! What the Hell is wrong with you?”

Dorset scowled and looked up at her, “What are you playing at Parkinson?”

She pointed at Selene, “Why have you been calling Selene mean names?”

Thomas Dorset stared at Selene then frowned when he saw that Luna was sitting with Romilda then back again before groaning and facepalming, “I wasn’t targeting her, I thought I was talking to Luna. Luna knows how to give back just as hard as she gets it. She knows I don’t mean the words, I was only playing. It’s not my fault that the pair of them dresses identically!”

Luna turned around at the sound of her name and heard what Thomas had said, “What happened?”

“Dorset mistook Selene for you, apparently,” Romilda explained.

Filius came down and pulled the parties responsible out of the Hall for an impromptu discussion. When they returned, Selene had returned to her normal bouncy spirit while Luna shook her head and glared at Dorset in exasperation. She stopped by where the others were, “Dorset’s going to get a couple of days worth of detention for insulting another student as well as being an idiot for not confirming beforehand who it was he was badmouthing. In the meantime, Selene and I are going up to the Room to find some non-school clothes so she can have her own style.” She took Selene by the hand and led her back out of the Hall. The rest of the girls tagged along to help out leaving Harry, Draco, Vince, and a couple of the other boys sitting there shaking their heads disgustedly at a thoroughly embarrassed Thomas Dorset.

As the girls climbed the stairs heading towards the Room of Requirement, Lavender asked Selene how she was handling her classes. Selene’s face nearly split in two with a beaming smile, “It’s been an eye-opener at how poor the state of magical education had become back home. I have nothing really against my teachers there, aside from Professor Snape who seems to be infested with Wrackspurts half the time, but you can see it on their faces and in their voices that they’re just going by the numbers so to speak. Every year, it’s the same topics covered. My first class here with Professor Berger; I couldn’t believe that she had us putting together a bridge over a gap between two tables using nothing more than little sticks. No magic was involved at first; that came afterwards when Professor Flitwick demonstrated the Sticking charm.”

Nodding her head sagely, Lavender asked the blonde if she understood why it was done that way.

Luna waggled her hand, “I had thought it was to show us how the muggles would do it but then Professor Berger explained it was to teach us how to construct something first to see how it would go together without drawing unwanted attention. Her reasoning was, ‘If you have to build a structure in the muggle world, our sense of whimsy in architecture needs to have context. It wouldn’t do to create a bridge that looks too spindly yet claim it’ll hold the heaviest motor vehicle.’ At least that’s how I understood it.”

Parvati picked up the questioning, “So as you understand it, if I were to build a house that resembled the Burrow with all of its upper levels supported by nothing than a couple beams of wood; what would your response be?”

Understanding shown on her face, “I would say to Mr. Weasley that he’d need to rebuild the house so if a passing muggle saw it, they wouldn’t stop to wonder how that was possible and in turn, it would maintain the Statute of Secrecy.”

Parvati patted her on the shoulder, “Excellent reasoning, Selene. Now of course, if Mr. Weasley has the kind of avoidance wards that Hogwarts has, hiding his house from muggles would be a snap but he doesn’t, does he?”

Selene shook her head, causing her hair to flutter side to side. She giggled, “Over the years there’s been a few times when the Obliviators have had to come out to put things right again. I’m surprised Daddy’s never had an issue.”

Luna replied calmly, “He explained it to me once that it’s because a castle-shaped home isn’t all that out of place for England given our country’s history.” They gathered in front of the Troll Tapestry and took a breather while she brought up the Room of Hidden Things configuration.

Back in the Great Hall…

An elf wearing a Ministry-emblazoned tea towel popped in bearing a letter for Harry. He thanked the elf and opened the envelope. “Hey, awesome! The Unspeakables still have a way to send messages back and forth. I’ve got a letter from my world’s Neville.”

The seat next to him creaked slightly as Neville sat down, having heard his name being mentioned, “Yeah? What do I have to say?” The other boys snickered at the word play.

Harry quickly scanned through the missive, “Well, he says that the treatment plan pioneered by Briallen is working and that his parents are responding. Things are still slow, but they’re improving. Merlin! According to him, it was Draco who set the fire in Mia’s Experiment room that forced her and Selene to travel here. Selene’s fathered stormed the Wizengamot and demanded something called ‘Druidic Justice’ which the Wizengamot agreed to. The end result is that Draco is now the Lovegood slave, was expelled from Hogwarts, and had his wand snapped.”

Draco shook his head disgustedly at hearing that, “Stupid bastard. Brehon law is nothing to trifle with. How did his father handle the accusation? How did his mother react? If she’s anything like mine, Lucius would be in for a world of hurt after the judgment was rendered.”

“Uh, Neville didn’t put down anything about that; likely he didn’t know. He said something that by being a slave, Xeno effectively ended the Malfoy line.” (Draco bobbed his head in agreement.) Harry continued, “I’m not surprised and forgive me for saying so, but the ferret got what he deserved.”

Draco held his hands up, “You’ll get no argument from me. Your universe’s Draco was a real berk and I’m glad I never had the misfortune to meet him. What else has everyone’s favorite plant geek written?” He snuck a cheeky wink at Neville who merely rolled his eyes.

“Neville heard a rumor that Dumbledore tried to stick his nose into the situation to get Xeno to reconsider owning Draco and ‘returning him to the Light’ but Xeno refused and booted him from the property.”

Neville growled, “Figures. It’s apparent that no matter which universe you’re in, Dumbledore’s always got to interfere with something that doesn’t concern him. I wonder if there’s a universe where he figured out that he shouldn’t be a headmaster and instead became a priest.”

Harry laughed, “Can you just imagine that blowhard giving up those fancy robes of his to take a vow of poverty just so he can preach forgiveness?”

That evening at dinner, Petunia stepped up and announced that Movie Night would take place on Saturday and feature the horror genre. There were susurrations from the students as the magically-raised turned to the muggleborns to find out what a horror movie was. Getting their attention once again, she explained how things were going to work. “Rather than showing something modern, this Saturday’s movie will be what the non-magical people would consider to be ‘vintage.’ (She turned and gave Professors Morrow and Bishop a teasing grin) Our first movies will be ‘Frankenstein’ followed by ‘The Wolfman.’ If you have any questions about the content, please see your CoMC and Defense professors.”

Wednesday 19 January, 1994; Magical Arts class

Luna and Selene stepped back to admire each other’s work for their class project. Professor Lyra had her students paint a portrait of someone they admired greatly. Both Luna and Selene had naturally chosen their mother. Professor Lyra walked over to inspect their paintings, “Excellent job you two, but I’m curious as to why you went with the same subject.”

Luna explained simply, “Because when she goes home, she’ll want to take hers along.”

Accepting that, the professor marveled at how talented these two girls were. “I daresay that if either one of you were to put this up in any museum in the world, no one would ever realize it had been painted by a twelve-year old. Luna, I’m assuming you’ll be staying in this world? (The blonde nodded her head) Then I’d like to recommend that you sign up for the Advanced Painting elective when you begin third year with a lead towards a Mastery. I know of several art galleries that are always on the lookout for fresh talent.”

After class, Selene pulled Luna into a nearby alcove, “I had the idea that maybe it’s possible to connect our two portraits across the dimensional divide much like the mirror. If we can figure out how to do that, we could then send messages to each other without needing to involve a fragile mirror or the Unspeakables.”

Luna’s eyes lit up as she bounced on her toes excitedly, “I love that idea! I think it would help our fathers too, give them a chance to have a conversation with someone who understands what the other is going through without someone giving them that weirded out look that so many have tried and failed to hide.”

Agreement made, the two girls hurried off to their next class. Both girls began making lists of spells they needed to learn, such as the portrait animation spell, the spell that allows a painted subject to move between frames, and more before Selene went home.

All that week, the topic of conversation that was foremost on everyone’s mind was the new selection of movies that were being planned to be shown tomorrow. On Friday, Mia and Harry were taking a shortcut through the fourth floor corridor. Mia nudged Harry, “How many people do you figure are going to have nightmares after seeing what’s available in the horror genre?”

Harry grinned and shook his head, “No bets. I think it’s going to fun though, I’ve never seen a horror movie before but it can’t be worse than being forced to seeing Vernon’s bloated carcass coming out of the shower last year.”

Mia gagged, “That’s disgusting, Harry!”

“Think how I felt, I couldn’t look at him for nearly a week after that. Not that I really wanted to anyways,” He deadpanned.

The pair rounded the corner and heard giggles and whispers coming from one of the abandoned classrooms. Both teens peeked inside and were greeted with the sight of Greg and Millie writhing around, embraced in each other’s arms, bum-naked to the world. Mia pushed Harry back and quickly put up a silencing charm around the door and shot him a warning look, “Not a word about what we just saw.”

Harry grimaced, “Definitely not. Merlin, I think I just lost my appetite after seeing Greg’s naked bum!”

Mia giggled as she led them both out of the area, “Yeah, I think we ought to ask Madam Pomfrey for some brain bleach or something.”

Saturday 22 January, 1994; Room of Requirement, movie theater configuration

Movie night as always was a rousing success. A new (at least to the magically-raised) food had been served at dinner that evening before the showing, pizza. Harry reached for the serving spatula to slide a thick-crust slice of pepperoni pizza onto his plate and took a bite. “Heaven. Food of the gods. Pick your adjective to describe how wonderful this is.” On her other side, Luna kept distracting Mia while Selene repeatedly refreshed her slice of pizza to be never-ending until both girls were caught in the act, causing lots of laughter.

Everyone was glued to their seats the moment the lights went down and the picture started flickering on the screen. There was an undercurrent of laughter from those who’d already taken the Dark Creature portion of DADA when the main protagonist purchased a walking stick decorated with a silver wolf's head. The salesgirl tells him that it represented a werewolf, a man who changes into a wolf ‘at certain times of the year’ and that the werewolf always sees a pentagram on the palm of his next victim.

Throughout the movie, various villagers recited a poem whenever werewolves are mentioned:

“Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers by night;

May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.”

Later that evening…

The Council of Interdimensional Hermiones looked out at the latest Hermione to come before them. She was a tall, slender, long-haired girl with glasses and a smattering of freckles.

“Hermione 17, you have been brought before this council as you have been accused of unHermione-like behaviors. How do you plead?” Hermione 3 declared.

“Not guilty?” She asked hesitantly. “Could you please explain what I’ve done wrong?”

“Hermione 47, please read the charges,” Hermione 3 instructed.

“Hermione 17, you are accused of the following crimes: Not using bookmarks to denote your place within your texts, promoting the Dumbledore agenda, and the most heinous and disgusting crime of all! Having physical relations with Ronald Bilius Weasley!” She said in a shuddering almost ready to vomit tone of voice.

“What? He’s a cute guy and really nice. You don’t really know him, do you?” Hermione 17 exclaimed defending herself.

“Please. In the 105 worlds we have explored and encountered, we have yet to find a Ronald Weasley that is kind, generous, loving, caring, or cute.” Hermione 1 scoffed. “You have further ignored the availability and suitability of Harry Potter on the orders of Albus Dumbledore for his nebulous concept of the ‘Greater Good.’ We find you guilty of being unHermione and sentence you to the Chamber of Eternal Tickling until such time as you accept your Hermioneness. Luna 1 and 2, you may have her.” She declared, banging a heavy gavel on her desk.

A pair of identical slender, silvery-white haired girls that seemed to be the embodiment of all Luna Lovegoods in the multi-verse stepped forward with a feral yet distracted smile on their ruby red lips, “Please come this way, my dear. I promise you this won’t hurt a bit.” Luna 1 held a large feather duster in one hand while Luna 2’s belt had a variety of silicone and latex items.

Hermione 17 pleaded as she ran to the edge of the council desk, “Please, wait! I can do better. I love bookmarks, I’ll love Harry Potter. Please don’t send me to the Chamber of Tickles!”

Mia sat bolt upright in bed panting heavily. She looked around the bedroom and underneath the blankets where she saw that she was wearing a spare set of Harry’s pajamas and sighed in relief.

“Mia? You okay?” Harry sleepily murmured as he stroked her back.

“Yeah, just no more late night movies and pizza with Luna and Selene, okay?” She contentedly sighed as she snuggled back against his chest.

“Okay.” Harry agreed in confusion but wrapped his arms around his girlfriend lovingly.

Monday 24 January, 1994; Teacher’s Lounge, after classes

Professor Tom Morrow strode into the lounge and shot Petunia a withering glare, “I’ve got a bone to pick with you, High Inquisitor.”

Petunia looked up from her magazine, “Wha…? What did I do?”

He waggled a finger at her, “You played that Frankenstein and Wolfman movies this past Saturday and now I’ve got students besieging me with requests to find out if any of it is true!”

The other professors burst out laughing, even Severus was seen trying and failing to suppress his amusement. Petunia calmly put down her magazine and looked him in the eye, “I distinctly remember informing you ahead of time that there might be a few movies that would touch on your subject of expertise.”

Tom sank into a chair and groaned, “I don’t know enough about werewolves or necromancy to field their questions properly.”

Severus cleared his throat, “Far be it from me to recommend an idea that might bring about a certain pair of former tormentors, but it seems to me that covering the topic of werewolves might be a certain Potter family friend’s forte.”

Filius gave him a side-eyed look, “Yet you just did recommend them.”

Severus sniffed disdainfully, “Not in so many words or names. In any event, I plan to remain in my laboratory for their duration within the castle. I would also point out that we have three werewolves already in the castle.”

Poppy spoke up, “Miss Bones and Mr. Creevey are not full werewolves, Severus. Only Miss Lupin is, unfortunately.”

Petunia ruminated on it, “I think that’s a wonderful idea, Sev. Tom? How would you like a guest speaker to stop by and teach your classes about werewolves?”

“If it saves me from the over-excited masses of eager students pestering me with their incessant questions about what kind of boxer shorts a werewolf wears after transforming, I’m all for it.”

Wolf’s Bay Campground, Main Office…

It was quiet in the office, January being one of the quieter months for the campground. Sirius sat at the front desk with his feet propped up on the counter while reading a magazine when the telephone’s ringing shattered the peacefulness. He picked up the phone receiver and placed it to his ear, “Thank you for calling Wolf’s Bay Campground, my name is Sirius. How may I help you?”

“Hello Sirius, this is Petunia Dursley. Are you and Remus available to come up to the school any time soon?”

He glanced up at the calendar hanging on the wall. “Yup, we can come up pretty much any time this week. What’s up?”

“We started showing vintage horror movies this past weekend and one of the films was titled ‘The Wolfman.’ Naturally, this caused a rush of inquiring young minds to start pestering our DADA professor for information and he flipped out.”

Sirius barked out a laugh, “Oh, that’s classic! Did anyone pester Remus’ pup?” The other line started ringing in the back office. He heard Remus pick it up.

“Not that I know of. The GO club would’ve most likely shielded her from the worst offenders.”

“Good to hear. Okay, let me square it away with Remus and I’ll get back to you with a confirmed time and date.” He heard Remus greet his daughter on the other line. “Hang on, I think Romi has called Remus for something.”

Remus peeked out, “You want to head up to the castle to help explain what real lycanthropy is compared to what the muggles think it is?”

Sirius held up his receiver, “I’ve got Petunia here asking the same thing. Tell Romi that we’ll be up as soon as we can.” He returned to his own caller, “Petunia, we’ll be there. When would be a good time for you?”

“Any time this week will be fine. I appreciate it Sirius, I think we underestimated the curiosity of the students this time.”

The bade each other farewell and hung up. Remus reentered the room with an amused smile on his face. “Romi was getting swamped with questions about being a werewolf from some of the other kids. Rather than get upset about not being able to answer them due to her inexperience, she called me.”

Sirius bobbed his head as he picked up his magazine again, “Plus we’ll get to see Briallen again.”

The following day, Sirius and Remus arrived at the castle gates and were met at the front door by the Weasley Twins dressed up in the livery of Hogwartian footmen. The pair bowed officiously as Remus and Sirius stepped up, “Sires, we have been given the great honor of escorting you two noble Knights of Chaos and Mayhem to the Chambers of Her Headmistressness, Minerva McGonagall.”

Sirius put on a snooty air, “Very well, lead on gentlemen. Come, Remus; let us attend to the Headmistress.” He sauntered regally after the twins.

Romilda appeared and squealed in happiness as she rushed up and tackle-hugged him, “You came! Now you can answer the question over whether or not a pentagram on the palm of a person indicates whether or not they’ll be a victim.”

Remus was confused, “Say that again? A pentagram?” He shook his head, “Never mind, we have to stop in to see the Headmistress first before we can continue this conversation. Come on, you can walk with me.” He held out his hand which she eagerly took and bounced alongside as he walked to Minerva’s office.

Headmistress’ office…

“Thank you both for taking time out of your schedules to clear up any sort of misunderstandings the children might have regarding lycanthropy. It seems that last Saturday’s movie selection was a bit too much for some.” Minerva explained after greeting the two alumni after they entered her office. Romi took a seat on the couch near the window.

“So what’s this about a movie? Did it cause a stampede or something?” Sirius asked Minerva.

Minerva shook her head, “No, it was a muggle-produced film about a man who became a werewolf. Utterly fantastical in nature, none of it believable from a magical standpoint, but nevertheless, it caused our DADA professor to become swamped with questions by the students who hadn’t yet gone through the Dark Creature course.”

Remus bobbed his head in understanding, “I get it. You need firsthand information to separate fact from fiction?”

She gestured at him, “Exactly. Would you be willing?”

Remus chuckled, “Sure, there’s not much going on down in the campground that can’t wait until we return. Where do you want to hold the lecture?”

“I was thinking about the Great Hall, if that’s agreeable to you.” Both men agreed. “Before we go there however, I feel it necessary to share with you the movie that started this whole thing. If you’ll follow me, I can get you set up in a side room.” She led the trio into the nearest conference room where Filius stood tinkering with the projector. He greeted his former students and started the projector.

During the explanation portion of the movie, Remus was nearly doubled over from laughing so hard, “Oh Merlin, the muggles got it SO WRONG it’s hilarious! A pentagram? If only it was that easy!”

Great Hall…

“May I have your attention, please?” Minerva announced to the assembled students and staff. “It’s come to my attention that many of you have questions regarding lycanthropy thanks to what you saw at last Saturday’s movie night. Many of you know that Romilda Lupin was attacked last year by Fenrir Greyback and turned into a werewolf. Given that she’s only been a werewolf for such a short amount of time, I felt it was necessary to bring in her adoptive father who is also a werewolf and has been since he was five years old to help you separate muggle fantasy from real life. So without further ado, I give you Remus Lupin.”

There was a scattering of applause as he stepped up to the podium. “I just finished watching the movie and let me tell you right here and now, there were so many inaccuracies that it should’ve been filed under comedy rather than horror!” He chuckled at the memory. “First of all, silver has no effect on a werewolf.” He held out his hand to let Sirius drop a couple of Sickles onto his palm then gave everyone a leading look before returning the coins. You can injure or kill a werewolf just like you could with anyone else using spells, hexes, curses, and in the case of Fenrir; a sword slicing his head off.”

A hand went up at the Gryffindor table, “What about the bite of a werewolf?”

“What about it?”

“Is it true that werewolves pass on the infection through bites?”

Remus nodded approvingly, “Very good question, and you are correct. The infection is passed through bites in the skin. As long as the bite wound breaks the skin, that is. A gentle nip similar to a hickey won’t cause you to transform every full moon.”

Another hand went up, this time in Slytherin, “We saw in the movie that Romani woman tried to give Larry a talisman to ward off the transformation. Is such a thing possible?”

Sirius snorted in laughter and leant in, “If that was the case, then every werewolf would be sporting so many charms that they’d never be able to lift their heads.”

Remus rolled his eyes at his friend and turned back, “I concur with Sirius’ answer. There is nothing that can be worn that will prevent a transformation. There is however a spell that will temporarily return a wolf to its human form for a few minutes as well as the Wolfsbane potion that will allow the werewolf retain their human minds until the moon sets and is returned to human form. If you wish to know more about the potion, I’d recommend you speak with either Professor Snape or Sciuto about that.”

The lecture ran on for another hour before all of their questions were asked. As they broke up for the day, Romi glommed onto her dad and chattered on about what had happened since they last spoke. She told him about getting to dance with Neville Longbottom at the ‘Just Because’ dance and how lovely it was. Sirius gave the suddenly nervous teen a protective glare that promised retribution if it was discovered that Neville had been anything other than a perfect gentleman. Remus swatted him, “Leave the lad alone. You and I both know that Romilda knows how to take care of herself, plus she’s got Susan and Colin to back her up if it was ever necessary.”

Sirius chuckled, “Still funny to watch him panic.”

Tuesday 25 January 1994; Ministry for Magic, Public Relations Office

Flashback…

Cygnus had indeed contacted the muggle Prime Minister’s office the day after he’d thought of the idea in Amelia’s office. After setting an appointment and entering the office like a normal person (something that Prime Minister John Major was appreciative of); Cygnus got down to business. “We’ve been trying to locate and recapture an escaped fugitive from our prison since August without much luck. The problem is that our techniques haven’t changed all that much since the forties, and as such Dolores seems to remember the procedures from when she’d been the Senior Undersecretary.”

“So what is it that you wish to know from me?” The PM inquired.

“Frankly, I’d like to know how your side handles the flow of information to the general public regarding escaped criminals. I had the idea that perhaps I could ‘leak’ a plan that would culminate in Dolores’ capture. This plan would obviously be phony but convincing enough for her to eventually make a mistake. So my question and request is would you help explain where we need of improvements or outright revision of our tactics?”

PM Major leant back in his seat and thought for a moment, a small smile growing on his face, “I must say that your humble admittance that you need help is a welcome change from the previous administration. I will help you with this problem by getting you in contact with our own press release people. I’m not sure if they’re aware of the magical world, but they know their jobs.”

Cygnus relaxed the tension in his shoulders, “Thank you, Prime Minister.

Present…

A press release had gone out to the Daily Prophet. In it was Minister Greengrass’ assurances that the fugitive Dolores Jane Umbridge would soon be brought to justice. “Right now as you read this statement, we are mobilizing a joint taskforce with the muggle government and police department to set out traps and monitor the National Trace for any signs of Dolores’ magical signature. We are contacting her former neighbors, living family members, and known work contacts to put pressure on them to report to us if she shows up looking for aid and shelter. We have put word out to the known border Portkey transport sites to keep an eye out for her. Make no mistake, Dolores is extremely dangerous and amoral about whom she hurts in her quest for revenge. Stay safe, and keep your eyes and ears open for any whisper of her whereabouts. This criminal must be brought to justice if we are to sleep safely tonight.”

Wednesday 26 January, 1994; Scotland Yard, Commissioner’s Office

Amelia had contacted her counterpart within the muggle police department to inquire about getting some assistance in updating the magical criminal detection and capture procedures. “I need your help. Our system hasn’t been updated since the 1940s and it’s clear that our fugitive hasn’t forgotten what she learned while in office. I know that your side uses cameras but what happens when the film rolls get used up, do you have someone go around and collect them?”

Sir Peter Imbert, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Force, stared at Amelia for a moment before letting out a sigh of bemusement, “Amelia, these aren’t the traditional still photo cameras that your average person would own. They record moving images and transmit the video to a central location here at the Yard. No film and even if a criminal manages to destroy the unit itself, the video isn’t stored there; not to mention that the destruction of the camera would alert us that something needs to be investigated.”

Amelia sagged, “I…I’m sorry, I didn’t know that. They record everything, right?” At his nod, she paled slightly, “Which means that your officers know about the magical world. Merlin, the Obliviator Squad is going to be busy.”

“Indeed they do, but unless those witches and wizards have been doing something illegal; they’re instructed to just ignore the occasional apparition sightings.”

“How long ago were they installed? How much has been seen?”

Sir Imbert’s smug expression was telling, “They’ve been in place and regularly updated since the 1960s so you’ll excuse me when I say that I find your drive to maintain your Statute of Secrecy to be admirable, naïve but admirable. We non-magical people have known about your side for ages, my dear and there’s no way to put that genie back in the bottle. Not to mention the fact that we have those who couldn’t find work in your community after getting their education that have come back and joined the force.”

Amelia could feel a headache coming on, “They would’ve had no problem telling everyone about us, either. Fine, we’ll put that issue aside. My biggest problem right now is the capture of a magical fugitive named Dolores Umbridge. She escaped our prison a few months back and we’ve been trying to locate her. Her Majesty has given us until March before she steps in and if that happens, our side will lose its status to self-govern.”

Sir Imbert stared dispassionately, waiting for her request. It wasn’t long in coming, “Sir Imbert, would you be willing to help us locate her so we can capture her and return her to prison?” Rather than replying, he picked up a television remote and pointed it at the monitor next to his desk. The television turned on and began the video playback. On the screen, Amelia could easily see where Dolores had been in hiding all this time on the Isle of Wight and the realization of how close they’d been. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Amelia could see Dolores exiting the house and apparate away. Another camera picked up her arrival at an industrial warehouse within moments. “This is a live feed. Once she was identified, the system is then able to scan all of the locations we have under surveillance far faster than we could. With this technique, the only way for Dolores to vanish on us is to apparate from inside a building. There is nowhere on her home island or within any major city that she can go without us knowing about it.”

Amelia sighed heavily and rubbed her temples, that threatening headache had just blossomed into a full-blown migraine. “Do you have an issue with training a couple of my Aurors how to work your system?”

For the first time, Sir Imbert smiled, “I can do better than that. I can assign a team of muggleborns to monitor where she goes and when. They can send you the information allowing you and your team to move in and deal with this wicked witch once and for all.”

“Thank you, Sir Imbert. You have no idea how much your assistance means to me. I feel like everything has suddenly been out of place and out of my control since Dolores escaped. It’s difficult to believe sometimes that the non-magical world is so advanced,” Amelia thanked him as she rose to her feet to shake his hand.

He returned the handshake, “I can sympathize with you, Amelia. I remember reading your History books as they pertained to the creation of the ISS. It must be quite the kick in the pants to learn that those you hid from all these centuries are no longer the enemy and actually have surpassed your own community. Just remember to take a breath once in a while. We’ll get through this and come out stronger for it.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: The Final Moves Towards Capturing the Toad (Checkmate in two)

Sunday 30 January 1994; Room of Requirement, GO club meeting

“Thank you everyone for attending this week’s meeting for the Benevolent Order of Girls Ruling the World,” Ginny announced to a scattering of laughter and cheers. “Tonight’s guest speaker is yours truly, so let’s all give a warm welcome to me!” She curtsied cutely to the snickers and light applause from her friends then sobered up, “Honestly, there is something I would like to say to you all. I may not have said this before but you have no idea how much I appreciate your friendship and inclusion into this club. Between my mother’s constant attempts at coercing me into acknowledging that I somehow managed to trick the Hat into sorting me into Slytherin, Ron’s boneheaded attempts at intimidating Briallen, and the usual garbage that the Twins put everyone through; I think if it wasn’t for all of you, I would’ve snapped and gone on a rampage.” Daphne rose to her feet and pulled Ginny into a warm embrace before dragging the redhead onto the couch where she and Millie were camped out on.

Briallen stood up next, “I have some news that I’m rather hesitant to share only because I’m afraid that the resulting squealing is liable to shatter the windows in the castle.” She stepped back to open a door which appeared just then. She gave Susan a mysterious waggle of her eyebrows which caused the girl in question to tilt her head curiously. “A lost lamb has returned to the fold. Ladies, let’s give a warm and loud Girls Only Club welcome to the one. The only. Hannah Louise Abbott!!” She swung the door open to reveal a broadly smiling and waving Hannah. There was a moment of silence before Susan’s shriek of surprise threatened the integrity of those aforementioned windows. She leapt up and tackled her best friend, chattering rapidly the entire time.

“When did you get back? Why didn’t you tell me before now? How are you feeling? Tell me everything!!” She started dragging the poor girl back to her spot on the floor.

Hannah gave her friend a big hug and laughed at the question bombing, “Take it easy, Susie. I’m alright; the Healers gave me a clean bill of health two days ago. I used that time to spend it at home getting prepared to come back here. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d react just like you did now and besides, this was way funnier.”

Luna piped up with a typical Ravenclaw question, “Will you be able to rejoin your friends and classmates after so long away from your studies?”

Hannah bobbed her head, “Once I woke up and was stable, the hospital staff brought in a tutor to keep me up to date with my classes though I must say that even she was feeling a bit out of her league when the High Inquisitor brought down a sample of the curriculum.”

Hermione nudged Susan and stage-whispered, “Does this mean you’ll have to give your pillow the bad news now that Hannah has returned?” Susan squealed with indignation and playfully shoved her on the shoulder to the general laughter from the others.

Hannah then took notice of Mia sitting next to Lily Moon and Selene curled up petting Mrs. Norris. She flicked her finger between the two, “Um, am I hallucinating or are there two Hermiones and two Lunas?”

Briallen chuckled, “You’re not hallucinating, Hannah. Thanks to a bizarre dimensional incident in which I got my doppelganger in the form of Harry James Potter who is probably roaming the halls doing boy stuff; Mia and Selene are here because Mia managed to find a way to intentionally travel between universes using a magical mirror and some computational assistance by the Department of Mysteries. They were trying to find a way to safely bring Harry home but were forced to come here because their world’s Draco Malfoy set fire to their experiment room.”

Hannah was flabbergasted, “Wow, I get poisoned and shipped off to the hospital only for the world to get turned upside down. What else has changed since I left?”

Bri led her over to an empty chair and sat her down, “That’s a loaded question. How much free time do you have?” The girls began filling in their friend as Hannah’s eyes grew wider and wider.

Later that afternoon…

Harry entered one of the telephone booths and dialed up the number to the Dursley household. After a couple of rings, Petunia answered. “Hi, Aunt Petunia. This is Harry, I um…I had a serious question I’d like to ask you.”

“Sure, what’s up? Is this something I should be up at the school for?”

“No, this is a family-related question. After everything I’ve gone through here, and everything…um, back home; I was hoping I could stay here permanently.”

There was a brief silence on the other end. “Tell you what, Harry; I’ll come to collect you and Briallen then bring you both back here so we can discuss it together rather than over the phone. Go grab Bri and meet me at my office in twenty. Okay?”

“Okay. See you then.” He hung up the phone and dashed off towards the Grand Staircase. Knowing that Bri and Hermione had plans to do some studying together, he got off at the Ravenclaw landing and knocked on the door. The guardian woke up and stared imperiously at him, “You are not a Raven.”

Harry scoffed, “No kidding. Now I know how you were made the guardian with observational skills like that. I wanted to speak with Briallen Potter over a family situation.”

The guardian huffily replied, “Very well. I shall summon her. Wait here.” The animation faded leaving a fidgeting teen standing in the hallway. A few minutes later had Briallen stumbling out of the doorway with a curious expression on her face.

“What’s wrong, Harry?” she asked as she straightened her skirt.

“I had a question for Aunt Petunia regarding my stay here and she said for both of us to meet her at her office in a few minutes,” he answered.

Bri bobbed her head, “Okay, let’s go.”

The pair of Potters arrived with a couple of minutes to spare thanks to having to divert to another route because a couple of fifth years were holding some sort inane competition in the main hallway. Petunia opened her door and welcomed them in, “You both ready?”

Bri switched her gaze from Harry to her aunt, “For what? All I know is that Harry had some sort of question regarding his stay here.”

Petunia relit the fire in the floo, “I’ll be taking you both home so we can hold a family meeting. Vernon went to go pick up Dudley so he could take part in the decisions.” She held out the floo powder bowl to each of them.

A quick trip through the network ended with Harry being shot out of the Dursley fireplace and crashing into the couch. He heard his uncle chuckling, “Ten points for the entrance, we’ll work on your technique scoring later.”

Dusting himself off, Harry scowled at the floo, “I hate magical travel. Everything hates me except for brooms. Brooms love me for some reason.” He followed his uncle into the kitchen where Dudley was already waiting. “Dudley, how’ve you been?”

Dudley looked up from the book he was reading, “Not bad, I’ve got a test on algebra coming up. I’m not looking forward to that. Math to me is like magical travel to you apparently.” He chuckled at the analogy. When both Briallen and Petunia entered, he put his things away.

Petunia gestured to Harry, “This is your meeting, Harry.”

Harry took a deep breath as he fidgeted, “Simply put, I would like to know if it’d be alright with you all if I stayed in this universe forever. After everything I’ve experienced, both back there and in this world, I have no reason to ‘go home;’ especially after all the crap I’ve dealt with from Dumbledore and Voldemort. I have no real family ties except for that world’s Remus and Sirius, both of whom I’ve never officially met.”

The Dursleys glanced at each other; on the other hand, Briallen was beaming. “We’d be able to make you my twin brother officially! I’m all for the idea.”

Dudley slowly nodded, “It would be nice to have someone else of my age and gender to hang out with.”

Vernon brought up a reasonable observation, “That would require us to make some changes as to who sleeps where. We only have so many rooms in this house and if we ever have Marge visit again in the future (He flinched when Petunia shot him a glare); she would need to use the guest bedroom.”

“If that time ever came, Harry could bunk with me,” Dudley offered. “It’d be better than trying to sleep in Briallen’s room with all of her girly stuff in there.” Bri sent a scornful sneer his way and stuck out her tongue.

Harry added in worriedly, “If money’s the other issue, I can pay my way. I can ask the Goblins if I could have my trust vault transferred over.”

Vernon waved him down, “That’s not a problem, Harry.”

Petunia joined in, “Even if the Goblins can’t transfer the money, you’re still tied into the accounts here. But like Vernon’s said, don’t worry about the money. That’s for your future, not room and board. My question for you is; what will you do if Mia has to go back?”

Harry gasped and turned pensive, “I don’t know what I would do, except fight for her to stay. I can only hope that the Dumbledore of my world doesn’t try to do anything stupid.”

Bri scoffed, “Like that’ll ever happen…” Harry gave her a wan smile in response.

Because the option to let Harry stay permanently wasn’t a decision to be made lightly; the group decided that since the teens still had a couple of months left to go for the year, they would shelve the idea for the time being and discuss it again after careful thought when the end of the school year drew closer. Briallen took Harry back up to her room to relax since Petunia decided unilaterally that they’d be allowed to sleep over for the night. Harry stretched out on the bench in Bri’s Tree of Knowledge and worried about the future possibility of him staying. “Do you think they’d let me stay?”

Bri was idly picking through her magazines, “I can’t see why they wouldn’t. You’re as much family as I am, and besides the point that you are me, even though you’re a stinky boy.”

Harry snorted lightly as he chucked a rolled up sock at her, bouncing it off her head to her screech of annoyance. “Thanks, Girl Me. I can’t believe I’m actually saying this but I’m looking forward and feeling hopeful that the Dursleys will let me stay and be a part of their family.”

She beamed at him, “I know, right? It’s odd to hear you say it too since I was you prior to my eleventh birthday.”

Harry wiped his misty eyes and snorted lightly, “I need to write to Gringotts and ask them if they have anything on how to transfer funds from one universe to the other.”

Bri frowned, “Didn’t you hear what Aunt Petunia said about still being tied into the account here?”

“I did, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a separate account for when we go our separate ways after graduation. I had originally wanted to become an Auror like our dad, but now I’m wondering if I should become a professional Quidditch player or something else.”

“That’d be cool. You could travel the world and get to see all of the famous and infamous historical sites! I heard that the magical Library of Alexandria still stands and has the largest collection of clay tablets in existence.”

Harry laughed at her exuberance at seeing ancient books, “You are such a Ravenclaw.”

Bri turned her nose up at him, “You say that like it’s a bad thing. So, if not Quidditch; what else did you have in mind?”

Harry shook his head, “No idea. Definitely don’t want an office job rubberstamping order forms. I think if that happened, I must’ve suffered traumatic brain injuries.”

She laughed at his disgusted expression of that idea. “What about cursebreaking? You’re already taking Ancient Runes with a lead in towards Ward Creation.”

He nodded thoughtfully, “It’s an idea. In the meantime, how’s your Enchanting project going?”

Bri waggled her hand, “I’ve got the components assembled but I can’t seem to get the animation charms working properly. No matter what I do, they end up collapsing after a minute of operation.”

“Would you like a fresh set of eyes to look over your mock-up? I’ve gotten pretty good with Ancient Runes.”

“Okay, but it’ll have to wait until we return. I didn’t bring anything with me.” She gave a triumphant cheer as she pulled out the magazine she’d apparently been looking for and began rifling through the pages for the article she wanted to read.

Tuesday 1 February 1994; Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones’ office

With only a month to go before the Queen’s imposed deadline; Amelia and her team stepped up their game to capture Dolores. Now that they knew where the Toad had holed herself up, Amelia had word sent out to all of the criminal underworld operating within Britain that working for Dolores Umbridge would only result in their arrest and deportation to their home countries (or worse, they could be handed over to the Department of Mysteries for one of their infamous ‘experiments.’) By the end of the first week, the bombings and other terrorist activities funded and controlled by Dolores was down by thirty percent with those numbers continuing to climb. A dozen warehouses and safehouses had been raided and captured, with hundreds if not thousands of Galleons worth of illegal potions, materials, extra wands, and even some creatures caged in pitiful conditions.

Despite generally knowing where Dolores was, Amelia remained frustrated at not being able to penetrate the Toad’s defenses and specific location. While Carisbrooke Castle itself wasn’t very big, it had enough wooded lands around it that made searching all that much more difficult. Add onto the fact that a simple shack could be hidden under a Fidelius or other illusionary charms not to mention having space-expansion charms built into it; it was promising to be a giant mess. “Just where did she manage to get those wards from, Algernon?” She growled one afternoon after another attempted raid failed to breach those same wards.

Algernon shook his head sadly, “No idea. I’ve already put in a call to my counterpart for him to question his Dolores again to see if maybe she had learnt some new tricks. I’m hoping to hear from him in the next day or two.”

Amelia turned back to the bank of monitors she’d had the Metro police muggleborns install in a shielded room. She was grateful that the cameras weren’t bothered by the existence of a Fidelius charm. The problem lay in sending her team out to capture Dolores because of that damned charm. Her keen eyes picked up on the alert that another terrorist cell had just been thwarted with ten dead and two injured. “We’re making headway, but it’s still too damn slow.”

Algernon gently placed his hand on her shoulder, “We still have a month before needing to worry.”

Hogwarts Great Hall, dinner time

When dinner time rolled around, Petunia stepped up to the podium to address the crowd, “Good evening everyone. Tonight’s menu is a bit different than what you’re normally used to. Back home, the non-magically raised have a tradition on Tuesdays for a special treat (several muggleborns were heard quietly cheering.) This treat is known as ‘Taco Tuesday’ and originated in the United States as early as 1933 though the term was officially coined in 1973. Taco Tuesday is a custom in many United States cities where people would go out to eat tacos or in some cases select Tex-Mex dishes, typically served in a tortilla which is a Mexican flatbread, on Tuesday nights. It is popular in many big cities across the nation, and especially popular in the beach cities of Southern California. Taco Tuesday is similar to Happy Hour in that restaurants vary in their participation, hours, and specials offered.

Taco Tuesday is celebrated in other countries in the English-speaking world, such as in Canada, here in the UK and Australia. Similar customs are observed outside of the US. In Norway, the terms Fredagstaco and Tacofredag are used to refer to eating tacos on Friday night. In Sweden, serving tacos on Fridays is common for Fredagsmys. Now, that’s enough of a culinary history lesson! Let’s eat!” She tapped the rune on the podium that would alert the elves to start serving the food. The tables brought in were laid out ‘buffet style’ with various toppings arrayed out in eye-catching colors, flavors, and textures. Each table was divided into thirds with each section having their own topping like salsas, cheeses, meats, etc.

The students began lining up to pick up a tray and a plate while ‘grilling’ the muggleborns on what they could expect to find. Millie snagged Harry, “So what’s all this?” She was pointing to the section that contained the condiments. Harry shrugged, “Don’t ask me. I may be muggle-raised, but the Hogwarts I came from didn’t have this sort of variety.”

Millie frowned then twisted around to look for Briallen, “Bri! What is all this?”

“Food,” was the deadpanned reply. Millie rolled her eyes and shook her head at Briallen’s cheeky answer. Harry nudged her and handed her a sheet of paper, “Here’s a chart of the toppings and suggestions on what to make.”

Smiling, she examined the suggestion for spicy chicken tacos with shredded lettuce, pico de gallo salsa, black beans, chopped jalapeños, and cilantro lime rice. Pursing her lips, she figured, ‘Why not?’

Ginny eagerly peered over the choices and practically drooled as the scent of spices and flavors wafted past her nose, “I bet Ronnie would be kicking himself if he knew what we were going to be eating tonight.” She spotted her twin brothers daring each other to try eating a couple of the jalapeno peppers. Fred’s eyes immediately began watering as he groped for a goblet of water.

Hermione scrunched her nose up, “Yeah, but on the flip side, I doubt he’d be able to restrain himself from making a scene.” She was busily fixing up a shrimp ceviche taco with lime crème sauce and a spoonful of corn salsa on the side.

Bobbing her head, Ginny agreed with that assessment as she reached for the corn tortilla then for the spoon to dish out some spiced ground beef. She layered on a handful of shredded cheese, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream, sliced peppers, and a touch of hot salsa before rolling it up and taking a bite. Her eyes rolled up in the back of her head as she let out a muffled moan of delight, “Oh, this must be what Heaven is like…”

The others around her murmured their agreements behind full mouths.

Draco had gone for the steak tacos on flour tortillas loaded with sliced avocados, chopped onions, roasted corn, sour cream, and a scoop of refried beans on the side. He sat down and looked around at what the others had chosen. Vinnie had gone with a basic ground beef hard shelled taco with shredded lettuce, cheese, diced tomatoes, and sour cream. Greg had decided to be adventurous and picked out a salmon taco wrapped up in a soft tortilla with diced lemon bits, bacon crumbles, fresh cilantro, pinto beans, and for some strange reason, pineapple chunks.

Carefully picking up the piping hot tortilla, Draco took a healthy bite out of one end and nearly had an out-of-body experience. His rolled back eyes and loud moan of incredible pleasure caused everyone nearby to burst out laughing. “Good eating there, Draco?” Vinnie teased him. “Should Susan be worried that she’ll be replaced by a taco?”

Rolling his eyes, Draco wiped his mouth, “She has nothing to worry about, Vinnie. Susan is quite pleased with me.” He sought out Neville who was busy chowing down on his own culinary creation, “Hey, Longbottom!” Neville turned, his eyes curious and his cheeks puffed up with food, “I think these muggles have the right idea when it comes to food. What did you make?”

Neville finished swallowing before answering, “Pulled BBQ pork with roasted peppers, onions, pineapple, cole slaw, and a very spicy green sauce.”

Draco glanced around at all of the clearly happy students, “What do you say about getting together this summer for a Muggle Culinary Tour? We could take a couple of muggleborns with us so we don’t get in over our heads and just eat our way throughout London.”

Neville nearly choked on his laughter, “I had the same idea! We should bring our parents or guardians with us so they can enjoy it too otherwise they’ll never believe us when we come rolling home, overstuffed on incredible food.”

“I can’t wait to get back to our common room so I can call my mother. She’ll want to try this for herself,” Draco commented. “Ever since she divorced my father, she’s been on a tremendous muggle adventure experiencing as much as she can.”

Neville bobbed his head, “You’re lucky. My Gran refuses to accept that this is the modern world and that times and styles have changed. My parents would probably be interested, especially after their incapacitation.”

“Who do you think we ought to rope into acting as our tour guide?”

Neville thought for a moment, “I would think either Dean or Justin. Seamus is a possibility too.” Their conversation drew in the others in their year group as they began discussing plans and ideas.

Over at the Hufflepuff table…

Harry looked up from his dinner when he heard his name being called. He spotted Cedric waving him over. He got up and joined his captain, “What’s up?”

“I’m moving you up to the starter Seeker position for this Saturday’s game against Ravenclaw.”

Harry’s jaw dropped open, “But…that’s your slot!”

Cedric nodded sagely, “Yeah, but I’ve got some family obligations coming up this Sunday and rather than cramming everything I need to do at the last minute, I figured I could do two things at once. So, you up for the challenge?”

Harry gave him a proud grin, “I may not be a Gryffindor anymore but I still have their fighting spirit. I can do this. Cho still their Seeker?” At his confirmation, Harry’s grin turned predatory, “Awesome, if this Cho is anything like her counterpart; she’ll never know what hit her.”

Cedric gave him a wary look, “It’s nothing dangerous, is it?”

Harry laughed, “No, I just know Cho’s tricks to distract the opposing Seeker’s attention from the Snitch. She likes to play all coy and flirty; I just plan on returning that effort back onto her. I’ve been told that no girl is able to resist the Power that is the Potter Eyes.” He fluttered his eyelashes at Cedric who burst out laughing and shoved him away. To prove his point, he called out to Susan and Hannah who were seated nearby, “Hey, ladies!” He gave them a lusty look which caused both girls’ eyes to widen dramatically, Susan actually started to sweat and fanned herself frantically. Harry broke off the look and turned back to an awed Cedric, “See?”

“Damn, now put those away. We don’t want anyone to know about your secret weapon,” Cedric joked. “Does Briallen have this ability?”

“Yeah, but it only works on Hermione apparently.” Both teens laughed and continued to work on their strategy for the upcoming game.

For the rest of the week, all anyone could talk about was Taco Tuesday and the incredible feast that they’d experienced. It got to the point where Severus started taking points away if he even heard the words ‘Taco’ or ‘Tuesday.’ That weekend at movie night, Harry snuggled up with Mia who was tracing her tongue around the base of his jaw. She gave him a heated look that suggested that perhaps it would be greatly appreciated if they were to skip the movie for some enticing ‘sexy time.’ Reluctantly, Harry stopped her before she was able to drag him to his feet, “I need to stop you there, Mia. I love you and all, but I’m just not ready to get up to doing that at this time.”

Pouting, Mia asked him why. He kissed her on the tip of her nose, “If we were to have what you called ‘sexy time;’ chances are that you and I would be parents in nine months. Now while I would rejoice at the thought, I was kind of hoping that I’d be able to reach my twenty-first birthday first.”

“Why twenty-one?”

Harry’s face grew somber, “Because that’s how old my parents were when they had me.”

Eyes tearing up, she pulled him in for a cuddle and a whispered, “I completely understand and yes, I can wait that long.”

Saturday 5 February 1994; Quidditch field

“…and that’s another goal for Hufflepuff! The score is now 110 to 20!” Lee Jordan announced excitedly to the crowd as fourth year Chaser Maya Cinnamore managed to get the Quaffle around the Ravenclaw Keeper. High above, Harry kept an eye on the game whilst simultaneously looking for the elusive Snitch. Just as he was about to change positions, he spotted a glint of light coming from the Slytherin stands and focused in.

Sure enough, hovering just behind Madam Hooch was his prey. Harry pushed the handle of his Firebolt down and rocketed off towards their referee. Harry flattened himself to gain as much speed as possible as the Snitch seemed to sense that it was being hunted and shot off away from the eagle-eyed professor. Behind him, Cho spotted his death-defying dive and gave chase; Harry dove, spun, rolled, and swerved as the Beaters attempted to unseat him while at the same time trying to avoid the Chasers as they began building up to another play.

With the wind whistling in his ears, punctuated by the occasional bits of yelling from Lee, Harry got within a hairsbreadth of the rapidly beating wings. Just as he was about to curl his fingers around the orb, his broom was smashed into by Cho in her desperate attempt to distract him. The Snitch vanished from sight as he fought to regain control of his broom. He scowled at the black-haired girl and flew around trying to reacquire his target.

It took him another fifteen minutes before he was able to spot the Snitch again after the sun had ducked behind a cloud, obscuring the light. Determined, he put as much speed into his attack and managed to snag the flying orb hovering behind the Ravenclaw Keeper. Madam Hooch blew her whistle as the crowd erupted into cheers and applause as the Puffs chanted ‘Hufflepuff for the Win! We rule the school while the others drool!’

Harry descended to the ground huffing and breathing heavy as his teammates crowded around, congratulating him on a successful game. Briallen bounced up and gushed about his flying, “That was incredible, Harry!” She dropped her voice down so no one would be able to easily overhear her, even with the noise, “The books just don’t do this game justice.”

Harry smiled proudly, “Thanks, little sister. I guess we do have our own unique talents; me with a broom with you and a guitar.”

Briallen pulled back and scoffed, “Little sister? How in the world did you think of that? We would’ve been born at the same time!”

Laughing, Harry half-heartedly explained that since he was from the unaltered timeline, that he should be the older sibling. Rolling her eyes and huffing in annoyance, she leveled a finger at him, “Be grateful that I’m in a good mood. Go get cleaned up; you stink and need a shower.”

Harry mock-saluted her, “Yes, ma’am! Right away, ma’am!” He slipped her one of his trademarked easy grins and followed his teammates to the showers leaving her shaking her head in exasperation.

Hermione bounced over and saw the look on her girlfriend’s face, “What’s wrong?”

Jabbing her thumb at Harry’s departing form, “He called me the ‘little sister!’ Me! We’re the same age!”

Hermione cooed at her pouting, “Aw, I know just the thing to wipe that frown off your face. What do you say if I suggest that we go upstairs and ‘study’?”

Bri’s face split with an easy-going smile that matched Harry’s, “Capital idea, my love. Lead the way.”

Wednesday 9 February 1994; World 2558-P, Ministry for Magic, Courtroom Nine

Sirius Black walked easily out of the courtroom as a free man after finally getting the trial he should’ve received back in 1981. Remus caught up with him and began leading him off to the elevators to go register his Animagus form which hadn’t been done due to operational security during the war. “So, how does it feel to walk free?”

Sirius bobbed his head slowly, “It feels…odd, but in a good way. I’ll be happy once I’m safe and sound at Saint Mungo’s where they can clear the cobwebs out of my head.”

“Have you given any thought as to what you want to do afterwards?”

Sirius frowned, “No, not really. Without the pup being here, I’m kind of at loose ends trying to figure out my purpose. What did you have in mind?”

Remus picked at a loose thread on his robes, “I still have to finish out the school year though since I was only brought on because of your escape, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to stay.”

Sirius scoffed, “Snivellus still after the position?” At his friend’s confirmation, he shook his head, “I don’t understand Dumbledore’s reasoning for keeping him in the school. He must know that Snape hates the students that don’t wear green.”

Remus sighed and shrugged, “It is what it is. Anyhow, after the year ends; what do you say to a bit of traveling? Since I received the bounty for your capture, I’ve always wanted to visit the Caribbean.”

Sirius grinned wolfishly, he clapped Remus on the shoulder as the elevator pinged, “Sun, sand, surf, and scantily clad ladies… Moony, I like your thinking.”

Outside the Office of Records…

Narcissa Malfoy stood waiting anxiously for her cousin to arrive. Outwardly, she appeared to be calm and aloof but a closer inspection of her hands would show them trembling slightly. She was there to hopefully catch Sirius in a generous mood and beg for Family Assistance. While hopeful, there was still the undercurrent of tension in light of what happened no thanks to her idiot of a husband and son.

Flashback…

When Narcissa found out Draco had set fire to a room at Hogwarts in an effort to teach a seemingly unimportant mud, er…muggleborn girl; she was livid at her son. When she then learnt that the heiress of the Lovegood family was also in the room, her anger was volcanic. Everyone knew that the Lovegoods still practiced Druidism and therefore followed Druidic Law which superseded anything the Wizengamot upheld. Narcissa knew full well what would occur if and when Draco was found guilty of attempted murder by arson.

“Because of you and the way you taught him to believe he shouldn't have consequences, I have lost MY SON, Lucius. There is also no guarantee I would be able to have another child, no thanks to your little badge of shame on your arm."

Lucius stood pompously and sneered at his wife, "You will not speak to me that way, Narcissa. I am Head of this House and you will respect that."

Narcissa drew her wand and shoved it up his nose as she snarled, "Listen to me, you transplanted French plebian! It was YOUR family who petitioned to marry into MINE, if you remember. If your father Abraxas hadn't had the wealth he did AT THE TIME, there is no way in Hell Arcturus Black would have even CONSIDERED allowing you to marry a Daughter of the House of Black. Did I never mention to you that Sirius Black was one of my favorite cousins when we were younger? And with Arcturus' passing in 1991, whom do you think is now the Head of the House of Black? Do you REALLY want to see what would happen if I petitioned him for help?"

Present…

Narcissa spotted her newly-exonerated cousin as he and the werewolf stepped out of the elevator.  She approached him demurely, “Cousin, would you happen to have a free moment to discuss some familial issues?”

Sirius had an inkling of an idea what she was referring to. “If this is about your son, I cannot overturn the ‘Mot’s decision nor would I want to. As far as I’m concerned, he got what he deserved.”

She gently laid a hand on his arm, “I’m not asking you to do that. I’m asking if you would consider permitting me to petition for the dissolution of my marriage contract to Lucius. He was the one who taught our son to behave as if there were no consequences for his actions. I tried to do my best but Lucius took him away from me when Draco turned seven and turned him into a clone of himself.”

Surprised by her request, Sirius stopped walking and stared at her, “You want to come home? I’m not even sure that I would have that ability. Mother disowned me from the family back when I was sixteen.”

Narcissa shook her head, “Aunt Walburga never had the ability to disown anyone. That ability has always lain with the Head of the House, and in this case since the passing of Arcturus, that position was handed over to you. It was in Arcturus’ Will.”

Sirius turned distant-eyes to Remus who looked pensive. “I will need to confer with the Goblins to see what’s available. Just for my own curiosity, did you ever take the Mark because I will not grant dissolution to a traitor to the Family.”

Narcissa rolled up her sleeves to show her unblemished forearms much to Sirius’ relief. “That’s good. At least someone refused to get branded like a cow. Okay, as of right now, you will be given refuge pending a review of your marriage contract. Unfortunately, I will not step foot within Grimmauld Place for as long as I live and breathe nor do I suspect that it’s ready for habitation. I still need to get cleared by Saint Mungo’s so your accommodations will have to wait unless you wish to take up a temporary location in Diagon Alley or something.”

“I am at your convenience, Cousin.” She bowed her head deferentially.

When Sirius and Remus left the Office of Records, they found Albus waiting for them with a seemingly genial smile on his face. Naturally, both men were instantly on guard. “Albus, what brings you down here?” Sirius started off with.

“I just wanted to congratulate you, my boy on your exoneration and to ask your forgiveness for my oversight in not making sure that you were given a trial back in 1981,” Albus smoothly replied.

Sirius wasn’t buying Albus’ act, “Uh-huh. Was that it?”

Albus cleared his throat, “Um, well…no, I was wondering if you’d be interested in assisting Mr. Lupin here with his classes during his monthly transformations.”

Sirius glanced over at Remus who nodded slightly, “That sounds reasonable, Headmaster. Now, if you’ll excuse us? We have some important work to attend to at Gringott’s.” He’d just started to walk past the old man when Albus waylaid him once more. “Albus, get to the point. Some of us have lives we need to deal with.”

“I was hoping that now that you’re free, you could petition with the Department of Mysteries to bring young Mr. Potter back to our world where he belongs. Where it’s safe.”

Sirius couldn’t help the laugh that escaped, “You’ve got to be joking, Albus! Harry is safer in that world than he’s ever been here. In that world there’s no Voldemort, there’s no dangerous element running amok in the castle, and he’s getting a better education than this Hogwarts has ever provided a student. If I could figure out how to do it; I’d ask the DoM to transfer me there too so I could go back to school to learn the things I wished had been offered in my day.”

Albus implored him to reconsider, “But this world needs Mr. Potter here. That world already has a Potter in it. What about his heritage? The history his family has in this world? Would you really allow the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter to wither away just because its heir wanted to see what lay beyond?”

Remus growled, “You never seemed to care about informing Harry about his heritage while he was under your ‘guidance’ before, Albus. You were supposedly his magical guardian between 1981 and 1991 yet you never visited him or informed him of what he needed to know to navigate our world properly as you should have!”

Albus barely gave the werewolf a glance back, “There would be plenty of time for me to bring young Harry up to speed as they say. I wanted him to have a normal childhood and not worry about the intricacies of our society.”

Sirius scoffed, “And that’s one of the reasons why Harry will be staying as far away from this world as he can. You can forget about me taking up a position as assistant to the Defense professor. I want nothing to do with you or your sanctimonious attitudes. Good-bye Headmaster.”

Remus got up in Albus’ face and growled deeply, “You’ll have my resignation on your desk by morning. I knew you were full of shit when you offered me the position in the first place. Now that Sirius has been exonerated and Harry is properly safe, I’m done with you and your little psychological games.”

As the two men departed, Albus glared at their retreating backs, “This isn’t over yet. I know of more than one way to make sure that young Harry returns to face his destiny.” He turned and headed for the Department of Sports and Games to speak with Ludo Bagman about a tournament that was once the shining glory of the magical world.

Friday 11 February 1994; World 5678-T; Carisbrooke Castle, Dolores’ hideout

Dolores was and had been in a rage ever since the DMLE had begun cracking down on her activities to punish all those who allowed the taint of the muggles to invade Magical Britain. Assassination, poisoning, outright murder in broad daylight…and that was just the magical side of things. On the muggle side, there’d been bombings of schools, churches, businesses; all of it was done to prove to those dirty animals that there was nowhere they could hide from their superiors and that things were going to get worse for them as time went on.

Her empire of terror had grown to the point where she had been one step away from taking out the muggle Queen and installing herself as a self-appointed Governess of the United Kingdom. Then inexplicably, all of the warehouses, safehouses, caches of weapons, laboratories, and more had been seized by the DMLE Aurors and Hit-wizards in a series of lightning fast raids up and down the island nation.

Right now, she was just barely holding her temper down as she listened to the ‘apologies’ from her last remaining cell leader. The former Soviet Union KGB officer told her that aligning himself and his team with her goals was no longer profitable. After the floo call disconnected, she grabbed the nearest object and flung it at the fireplace while screaming her anger at the world. Seething darkly, she glared at the mess then turned and waddled into her central command room aka the former living room. Dolores stared at the multitude of maps dotted with pushpins indicating targets of opportunity for a moment. Her eyes fell upon one such pin as a plan formulated in her mind as a wicked smile stretched across her flabby face, “If I’m going down, I plan on taking as many of them with me. They cannot guard against what they can’t see.”

Same time, Amelia’s office…

Amelia looked up at Algernon’s entrance into her office and greeted him with a relieved sigh, “Have I mentioned how grateful I am that Dolores never thought to use Dementors?”

Algernon chuckled, “Well, she’d have to visit the Gates of Hell to acquire any these days.”

Frowning, she put down the report she’d been perusing, “What do you mean?”

He allowed a smug smile to ghost his face, “What I mean is that Azkaban no longer has any Dementors on station there. I had them moved to the Death Room for transfer back to the Underworld.”

“How did you manage to do that?”

Algernon took a moment to chuckle, “In the history of the Dementors, it had been noted several times that they seemed drawn to the Veil of Death, especially after Kissing a victim. Nothing ever came from it simply because of the lack of interest in what these creatures wanted. Last month, one of my agents took it upon himself to finally communicate with the demons to find out the truth. I can give you the report if you want but in short, the Dementors are able to pass through the Veil after they’ve acquired a victim’s soul. In the old days, they were used as a means of execution for criminals. The Unspeakables of the era would summon them, have them perform the Kiss, then return to the Land of the Dead while they disposed of the body.”

Amelia was morbidly fascinated, “Why on Earth was that ever stopped?”

Algernon shrugged, “No idea. The remaining Dementors were eventually shipped off to Azkaban as a way to store them until needed and then their role evolved into guarding the maximum security prisoners.”

“So we no longer have any Dementors in our employ?”

“Nope. Along with the prison’s contingent of those demons, I rounded up the last of the maximum security lifers and had all of them brought to the Death Room where the Dementors performed their last Kiss and floated through the Veil never to be seen again.”

Amelia slumped in her seat, “Well, that’s a relief! Have you suggested this to your counterpart over in 2558-P yet? If I recall correctly, they still have a problem with Voldemort who would no doubt offer them free reign over territory.”

He bobbed his head, “I have, and he’s working to get it done as well.”

Monday 14 February 1994; Hogwarts Great Hall

All eyes swung over to the doors as Briallen and Hermione entered to the accompaniment of Mendelssohn’s ‘Wedding March.’ There was a brief moment of silence before everyone started either laughing or clapping. Luna, Selene, and Romilda skipped ahead of them tossing handfuls of flower petals into the air. Both teens wore a stunningly detailed white bridal gown complete with a delicate train as they approached the High Table. Minerva gave Petunia a side-eye glance and a loud sigh of exasperation. “Just what do you think you’re doing, ladies?”

Bri grinned impudently, “We’re declaring our love for each other by requesting permission to get ‘married’ here in the Great Hall.”

Petunia took note of the air quotes, “Who would be officiating this wedding, if I may ask?”

Hermione giggled, “Peeves has accepted our invitation to lead the procession, if you agree to it.”

Filius snorted in laughter, “Now I know it’s a prank if they’re using Peeves. Go ahead, Minerva. We all know just how much you enjoy weddings.”

She gave him a dirty look, “Aye, when they’re real and not just some play-acting for the sake of Valentine’s Day.” She turned back to the snickering teens, “I do not give permission to hold your wedding here. Take it up to your club room if ye wish to hold a service.”

Bri and Hermione curtsied together, “As you wish, Headmistress.” They dashed off laughing to join their friends over at the Gryffindor table.

Harry arrived a few minutes later carrying Briallen’s guitar case and handed it over, “You ready?”

She smiled warmly, “Are you?”

He gave her a wan look, “Let’s do this. Mia ought to be here any moment.” The two Potters turned to the doors as Mia made her appearance. Bri stood up and began to play the introduction chords to an upbeat song. Harry took a deep breath and began to sing as best he could:

“Woke up this mornin' feelin' fine
There's somethin' special on my mind
Last night I met a new girl in the neighborhood, whoa yeah
Somethin' tells me I'm into something good
(Somethin' tells me I'm into somethin')”

Mia’s eyes flew open and her mouth dropped as Harry sauntered over while still singing to her. The other muggleborns joined in for the chorus as they could. Harry took Mia’s hands and began to twirl and sway with her as the song continued.

“She's the kind of girl who's not too shy
And I can tell I'm her kind of guy
She danced close to me like I hoped she would
(She danced with me like I hoped she would)
Somethin' tells me I'm into something good
(Somethin' tells me I'm into somethin')”

Up at the Teachers’ Table, all of the women immediately got teary-eyed; Petunia sniffed and dabbed at her eyes at the loving display being performed before her.

“We only danced for a minute or two
But then she stuck close to me the whole night through
Can I be fallin' in love
She's everything I've been dreamin' of
She's everything I've been dreamin' of”

By now, Mia had relaxed into Harry’s embrace and was broadly beaming with enthusiasm and joy at being serenaded and danced with her boyfriend. He finished out the song by giving her a loving kiss upon her lips as the Hall applauded loudly.

Valentine’s Day between Draco and Susan was a lot more relaxed and less noisy than between Harry and Mia. Draco had ‘gone muggle’ by dressing up in dark green denim jeans, an Iron Man t-shirt, and black and white Converse trainers. Instead of his usual slicked back hairstyle, he’d gone with an artfully mussed-up look similar to what Harry normally sported. Susan on the other hand, had shown up for their date wearing something just short of being labeled scandalous and thoroughly inappropriate by the adults. It had spaghetti straps holding up a shimmering holographic fabric that shifted and scintillated in the light pouring in from the windows. The hemline stopped about four inches above the knee and was soft-pleated which meant that as she walked or moved, it flowed and bounced in a seductive way that left Draco panting for air.

The two of them disappeared up into the Room of Requirement after classes ended and weren’t seen again until curfew. According to Daisy who’d kept watch secretly, all they did was dance to some slow romantic songs and kiss each other. Their hands never roamed much beyond each other’s waists and their clothes remained firmly in place.

Luna and Selene decided to jointly tease Neville by wearing short shorts and a tank-top that accentuated their natural physique. Years of roaming the hills near where they lived in their respective worlds had toned and tanned their bodies to a drool-inducing fitness. Neville took one look at the pair and immediately went glassy-eyed. Vinnie swatted him up the back of his head to snap him out of his reverie, “Mate, you’re drooling. It’s not a pleasant sight, you know.”

Neville gestured to where the two Lovegoods were dancing and gyrating to the muggle song, ‘Legs’ by ZZ Top and let out a whine. “You see what they’re doing to me? How am I supposed to maintain my coolness when they keep doing stuff like this?”

Vincent laughed, “No idea, but then my own date is renowned for her coolness.” He smiled fondly as Daphne appeared next to him and took his hand in hers.

She gave a small satisfied smile as she greeted Neville. “What’s wrong?”

Neville gestured again to the Lovegood twins, “Them. I swear they’re doing that to make me lose my mind.”

Daphne saw what the two were wearing and made an ‘aha’ noise, “Then you’d should be on your best behavior, Mr. Longbottom. I’d doubt your mum and dad would appreciate you making them grandparents too soon.”

Neville gulped as he noticed both Luna and Selene wink at him before turning back to their dance as they ground against each other in a seductive way that left the poor teen breathless.

Carisbrooke Castle

Dolores certainly wasn’t feeling the love as she dove out of the way of the stupefy spell that had been cast at her as she scrambled to reach her destination. She’d tracked down where London received its drinking water supply from and snuck her way into the Hampton water treatment plant just before dawn. She was armed with a variety of poisons, and booby traps ready to be installed in a moment’s notice to slow down any potential attackers. In her pack was a pair of aluminum cylinders that when mixed would release a muggle nerve gas called ‘sarin’ that she was assured would cause mass illnesses and even death in the right combination.

Now if she could only reach the pumping station without being killed, that would make her day. “Dolores Jane Umbridge, come out with your hands up! You cannot escape from the law; we have been able to track you no matter where you go.”

Scoffing in scorn at the Hit-Wizard’s naivety, she yelled back, “Not until everyone has been punished for allowing this world to become the festering pit it is today by allowing the muggles to run rampant and unchecked! The impure must be cleansed for our world to survive!”

She shot a nasty curse back towards where she thought the voice had come from and internally crowed with victory when she heard a pained cry for help. She quickly assembled the canisters and twisted the valve handle before rushing over to the pump intake line. She’d just finished screwing the hose up to her canister when she was hit with a piercing hex to her hand causing her to drop the poison and scream in pain and rage. With one last herculean effort, she hit the button that would inject the sarin into the water supply before shooting a dark malevolent glare of glee at her attackers and apparated away.

The next day, Amelia stormed into the Casualty ward of Saint Mungo’s where Alpha team were getting treated for their wounds sustained in the battle with Dolores at the Hampton water treatment facility. “How bad are they?” she asked the Healer on duty.

“One took a bone breaker to the hand; he’ll be fine after a couple days of rest and potions. The rest had minor exposure to the gas she’d tried to inject into the water supply.”

“Tried?”

The Healer shrugged indifferently, “It’s not my department. You’ll have to speak with them.” She thanked the Healer and sought out Alpha Lead.

When she found him, the Hit-Wizard was still breathing through a ventilator mask, “How’re you feeling?”

He snorted noisily, “Just peachy.”

“Can you tell me what happened after Dolores was discovered?”

The Lead sighed into his mask, “We tracked Umbridge to the main pumping station that would allow her to dump the sarin gas we’d been informed about into the water supply for all of London. Curses and hexes were exchanged; we tried to convince her to give herself up willingly, but she just responded with more of that ‘the impure need to be cleansed’ nonsense.” He paused for a moment as a cough overtook him and he wheezed from the effort. “She managed to get those canisters hooked up and primed to be released when Rockwell managed to tag her hand with a piercing hex. She screamed but still managed to get the device hooked up and injected into the system.”

Amelia was horrified, “So there’s sarin gas in the city’s water?” She knew from asking her counterpart for information about it, just how vicious it was.

“As far as I know, yes.”

She bobbed her head, “I’ll need to confirm that. Anything else?” When he shook his head no, she urged him to rest then headed for the door. She arrived at the water treatment facility and asked to speak with the security chief. “I’m looking for information on what happened to the gas that was released into the water supply.”

An eyebrow quirked up, “Are you a reporter?”

“Metro police, sir.” ‘Attaché, but still technically correct.’

The Chief nodded once, “Well, we managed to isolate nearly all of the gas but a little bit did escape. We’ve already warned the public not to use the water for the next three or four days and to avoid any water parks or ponds until a public service announcement is made.”

“Is there nothing that can be injected into the water supply to neutralize it?”

He shook his head, “Nothing we have on hand, unfortunately. Water does hydrolyze it, so in about 80 hours or so it ought to be safe enough.”

She thanked him for his time before heading back to her office. When she walked in, she found Croaker waiting for her. “Whatcha got?”

“A solution to our problems.”

Thursday 24 February 1994; Carisbrooke Castle, Dolores’ hideout

Dolores woke to utter silence that morning. Not even the birds were chirping. The silence was so profound it was unnerving and for a moment, she wondered if she was still asleep. She waddled into her kitchen to make a pot of tea when she peered out of the window and noticed an odd sight of an ornate mirror poised plain as day on her lawn. The morning light glinting off the gilding and made the mirrored surface appear to be made from a strange liquid not unlike the plasma found in pensieves. She ventured outside and carefully looked around in earned paranoia. Not finding anyone or anything in the area, she moved closer and marveled at how intricate the detailing was. Whoever had left it here certainly had an odd taste in mirrors. The inscription at the top was unreadable and the engraved enchantments made no sense to her. She could see her reflection easily enough and reached out carefully to touch the reflective surface. Without warning, her reflection’s smile grew predatory as it lashed out and reached through the mirror, and snagged her hand in its; its fingernails digging into her skin preventing her from pulling free then began dragging her towards it as she screamed and struggled to break away.

Within a span of two minutes, Dolores Jane Umbridge disappeared into the Mirror of Erised and the glade was once again surrounded by an overwhelming silence.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Toad in a Demon Hole, A Moonlit Romp, and a Persistent Bumblebee

Thursday 24 February 1994; Immediately following Dolores’ capture, World 9999-X

Dolores blinked her eyes open and sat up with a low moan. Everything hurt, even places she didn’t think she’d owned. As her eyes focused, she noticed several things. One and most important, she was no longer sitting on the lawn to her hideout. In fact, the vegetation appeared to be a lot more wild and overgrown. She glanced around and spotted what appeared to be the hollowed out and decaying remains of what might’ve been the cottage she’d been staying in but it was too far gone to be certain. The second thing she’d begun to notice was how much cleaner the air smelled and tasted. It was as if all of the smoke and grime created by the muggles had been washed away just like after a rainstorm. She could still hear birds twittering in the branches of the nearby trees and feel a gentle breeze. The grass beneath her still felt the same and the sun was still the same glowing ball of yellow rising in the east but there was just something off about this world that set her mind to unease.

A crunching noise from her left startled her. She clambered to her feet and pulled her wand in defense. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Dolores.” A man stepped out of the shadows from the wrecked building. He was dressed in the nondescript grey robes of an Unspeakable. “The inhabitants of this world don’t take kindly to magic-users, or anyone who threatens their way of life to be honest.”

“Who are you?” She snarled, her wand steadily tracking him. “Why am I here?”

The man sketched a short bow, “I am Director Saul Croaker of World 9999-X. I’m here to welcome you to your Final Punishment after escaping Azkaban and going on your little temper tantrum back home. As for why you are here; I’m assuming you meant why this world and not back home?” At Dolores’ slight nod, he hummed his understanding. “The reason is simple. Your world just wanted you gone Dolores, and the Queen wasn’t too picky as to where you were sent. To that end, the Unspeakables searched high and low for a suitable universe to send you and discovered this delightful gem of a world.”

Dolores’ face was a picture of confusion, “What happened to the castle and the cottage? It was complete the last time I saw it. What’s so special about this world?”

Saul gestured for her to follow him, “All will be explained eventually. Come, I want to show you something. Now, a little background on this world; every universe that splits off from the original has what is known as a Point of Departure. That could be something as simple as someone making a decision to go left instead of right on their way to work. It could be something as extreme as losing the Second World War and being subjugated by the enemy. The latter is what happened here. Now, in your world; the enemy was the Nazis and Grindlewald’s army. Here, it was the Dryad Kingdom. We humans of this world fought the good fight but in the end, the magic known by the Dryads literally rose up from beneath their feet and took over the world. The overgrowth of plant life is a byproduct of that magic.”

When they emerged from the forest, Dolores’ breath caught in her throat. Before, in her world; she could easily see the bustling city of Portsmouth with its naval base and well-developed landscape. Now however… what buildings remained standing were covered and almost obliterated with vegetation.

Saul turned to face her with his cold features, “This is your new home, Dolores Umbridge. Learn to live in harmony with its citizens and you might just survive. Fail to do so and your end will be painful.”

Dolores tried to back up but was prevented by the sudden arrival of several brutish creatures that resembled anthropomorphic trees. She let out a shriek and fell to the ground, “What are they?!”

Saul gave a sigh and shook his head ruefully, “They are Guardians. They’re our world’s equivalent of Aurors. They cannot be intimidated by threats and they don’t hold back if attacked. Listen closely Dolores, there are still humans on this world but they’ve grown up with the belief that the Dryads are the rightful rulers and revere them as if they were gods. You will be educated on how to survive here so don’t think I’m just dropping you into the proverbial deep-end with nothing to grab onto.”

She glared at him, “What’s to stop me from killing you and going back through that damned mirror?”

Saul chuckled darkly, “If you were to succeed, not only would you have to evade the Guardians here, but you’d also have to know what the correct coordinates of your world was, and that’s assuming you know how to operate the mirror in the first place! So this is where I’ll be leaving you Dolores. Good bye and good luck.” He vanished from sight leaving Dolores to look up fearfully at the emotionless expressions on her escort’s faces.

World 5678-T; Buckingham Palace; Office of Queen Elizabeth, an hour later

Algernon arrived at the gates with Amelia and were ushered in to see their sovereign. After greeting the Queen, he set up a pensieve on the desk and loaded his counterpart’s memory of Dolores’ capture and banishment along with his casual explanation of what her new world was like. Queen Elizabeth nodded her head in approval, “Why did you not remove her wand before she woke up, Director?”

Croaker shrugged, “Why deny her the experience of learning what would happen if she did use magic on the inhabitants? I almost wish I could be there to see what would happen.”

“What would happen? Do you know?”

He waggled his hand, “They have a strict set of laws regarding anyone who uses harmful magic, Your Majesty. Depending on the severity, they may be isolated from the others much like what we do for our basic criminals. According to my counterpart there, being isolated from the ‘network’ as he called it is generally seen as a fate worse than death. Everything they do is interconnected in some manner much like the roots of the forest system they’ve got there. Once they’re disconnected, it’s supposed to feel like you’re drifting in a void, unable to interact with anyone even if they’re standing right in front of you. No one sees you, hears you, and in most cases won’t feel you if you were to physically contact them. If their crimes are significant enough, the criminal is taken out to the Wistman’s Wood in Dartmoor and for lack of a better term, bound to a magical tree that behaves much like a Strangler Fig.”

Queen Elizabeth looked thoughtful for a moment; a dangerous glint took shape in her eyes. “Do they have a similar punishment for non-magical people?”

Amelia spoke up, “As it was explained to me, they don’t have a distinction between magical and non-magical. If you’re human, you’re classified as such. The same holds true for Goblins, elves, and the like.”

The Queen nodded to herself then smiled thinly, “We approve of what you’ve done to punish Dolores Umbridge. We offer Our congratulations to you both for coming up with a novel approach to dealing with criminals. Keep this world address handy, I have a feeling that We will contact you about other potential ‘problems’ that need to just disappear. In the meantime, you have earned the privilege to continue your self-governance for the time being.”

Dismissed, Algernon went back to the DoM to continue his chat with his 9999-X counterpart while Amelia went in search of a stiff drink.

A week later…

Dolores sat in front of her ramshackle dwelling and stared darkly out at the people passing by. Not a single person spared her a glance, spoke to her, or initiated any sort of physical contact. It was as if she were a mere wisp of a ghost. She’d been led to this village not too far from Portsmouth and instructed to stay in this…hut, until called for. Her escort pointed out the amenities such as they were and informed her that food and water would be provided. Her first day was one of exploration, such as it was. She demanded to be allowed to buy her own food and supplies, but the guard at her gate merely laughed and refused to let her pass by. When it came time to eat, she was given a tray of something that resembled moss and unidentifiable berries. Again, she went out to the gate guard and demanded to know what they were thinking trying to force her to eat this slop. She flung her tray at the guard and screamed, “This isn’t what people eat! Someone get me a steak or at the very least a leg of mutton!”

The guard visibly restrained himself and told Dolores point blank, “I’ll have you know that the food you were given is perfectly edible. Meat and other foods that come from animals are reserved for only the highest and most revered leaders of our great society. Seeing as how you are at the bottom of that society, I suggest you learn to accept your new place in life.”

Now, she was chained to the house like a common mutt. Not literally chained though, her chain was one of financial and social means. As she’d been initially instructed, there was a hierarchy of society as denoted by the vegetative growths that adorned everyone’s bodies and sometimes faces. The higher ranked you were in society was indicated by the type of plant you wore with pride as a centerpiece. If you were at the highest level, you wore a delicate cluster of lotus flowers while those from the working-class wore something more rugged. The same went for prosperity, the more vegetal coverage across your body you displayed, indicated just how good you were doing. She’d already seen some people practically covered head to toe with plants of all types growing over their bodies.

At her level, being that of a criminal and a transient to boot, Dolores was forced to wear a cluster of some kind of vile-smelling fungus on her face. The fungus didn’t seem to be doing anything malicious like draining her of her fluids but anyone who saw her got this look of disgust on their faces and shied away as if she was contagious. Worse still, the tendrils caused her skin to itch constantly.

Her stomach growled, mostly likely in protest at being forced to subsist on nothing but basic salads, strange mosses, vegetables, and fruits. She was going to waste away here unless she got her hands on a steak or two. First chance she got, she would slaughter something and cook its carcass over a fire! Speaking of fire, she was annoyed to learn that no one was allowed to have a fire to warm their homes as fire was destructive and a talent that humans had lost the right to have due to their own intrinsic violent natures. Instead, they used special crystals mined from the caverns where the Goblins lived. It took her two days to figure out how to get those damned crystals to take the chill away!

“Dolores Umbridge?” She turned to see who’d called her name and let out a grunt when who should show up but this world’s version of Amelia Bones. Like the rest of the human population (including herself), Amelia was wearing natural fiber robes that was supposedly stylish for the era. A patch of Common Bluebell flowers was attached to her left shoulder. Dolores had wondered briefly if the humans of this world had been reduced to the point of savages but was relieved to learn that aside from the bizarre reverence for the Dryads, everyone seemed to be normal. ‘As normal as one could be for a bunch of freaks.’ She seethed quietly.

“Yes, Amelia?” Dolores replied, taking note of the subtle flinch from the other woman at being addressed so informally.

“I’m here to escort you to your re-education cycle. Please do not attempt to escape again.” Dolores grumbled as she hauled herself to her feet and quietly followed her instructions. Yesterday, she’d tried to sneak out of what passed for a government center and escape into the woods surrounding the town. How they were able to track her continued to stymie her. Dolores grimaced at how subservient she appeared to her captors as Amelia led her to the center. When asked if there was any form of floo or portkey they could use instead, Amelia gave Dolores a puzzled look and replied that she had no idea what she was being asked for. “What is a floo? Is that something that has to do with how birds stay up in the air?”

Dolores waved her hand dismissively, “Never mind. It would take too long to explain things to you. Do we have time to stop at an apothecary to get something for this rash I’m sure is developing?” She pointed out the spots that the fungus was irritating. Amelia peered a bit closer and grimaced, “That does seem a bit extreme. When we get to the center, I’ll have someone stop by to evaluate it.”

As Dolores followed Amelia towards the footpath, she turned her thoughts inward, ‘I wonder if apparition still works. If it does, I might be able to get out of here and find someplace where it’s not too overgrown and re-establish myself.’ She was fortunate that she had been able to keep her wand, safely tucked away in a hidden holster on her arm. Time would come though, she’d have her revenge.

Saturday 26 February 1994; World 5678-T, Hogwarts

Following the official announcement that Dolores Umbridge had been captured and dealt with, Minerva conferred with the other staff members and decided to let everyone out of the castle to visit Hogsmeade. She was asked if this included the first and second years to which she said that such a visit was a treat for all. While the first and second years didn’t have any money with them, Petunia dipped into the castle’s on-site emergency vault and withdrew enough money so that each first and second year student would have at least five Galleons to spend on whatever they wanted (within reason of course.)

Briallen came bouncing into the Great Hall ahead of a sedately walking Hermione. She playfully teased her girlfriend, “How can you be so calm? We’re about to go on our first date to the only fully-magical town in all of Britain!”

Hermione pulled her into an embrace and brushed a teasing kiss across Bri’s lips. She breathily replied that if she wasted all of her energy now, she would be too tired to have some fun…later. Briallen’s eyes grew glassy as her imagination ran away from her. “Oh…yeah.”

The pair joined their friends at the Slytherin table where a lively debate was being held about where to start first on their visit. “I just want to be able to see something other than Tomes and Scrolls,” Susan replied with a shudder. “I think I’ve had enough memories of that place to last me a lifetime.”

The bench creaked as Harry settled down next to them, “Morning. Are you all as excited as I am to go to Hogsmeade again? Our last venture there was rather whirlwind if I do say so.” Bri swatted him on the arm and called him a prat. He returned with a teasing grin, “Beating up your older brother, Briallen?”

All eyes swung over to the pair. Vincent cleared his throat, “Brother?”

Gesturing between himself and Briallen, Harry explained that since they were technically the same person despite being different genders, it could be argued that they were fraternal twins and that since he was the one who came from the original timeline; he claimed the spot of older brother. Briallen huffed and stuck her tongue out at Harry while Vinnie rolled his eyes and returned to his breakfast muttering that it didn’t matter which universe they were from, all Potters were barmy.

“So who else is going with a date?” Hermione asked as she sipped her cup of tea and nodding her thanks to Briallen who offered her the plate of sausage.

Draco proudly puffed up and replied that he was taking the most enchanting person in the world. Harry burst that bubble by quipping that taking his rubber blow-up doll with him didn’t count. The others nearly choked on their food or drinks as they dissolved into laughter. The blond responded by throwing a spoonful of porridge at Harry. Before it could devolve into a real food fight, Mia arrived in time to intercept Harry’s retaliation as she sat down, “Behave, you two.”

Harry’s eyes twinkled, “If I don’t, will you use the paddle on me?”

Mia sighed, “You’ve been hanging around your other half too much, Harry. (Briallen threw her hands in the air triumphantly) Keep this attitude up and I won’t go with you to Hogsmeade.”

Harry gave her the puppy-dog eyes, “Please! I’ll be a good boy.” The others snorted in laughter at their antics.

“Good morning, everyone.” Selene’s dreamy voice called out behind them. The others made room for her as she clambered onto the bench. “What is everyone discussing?”

“Who is taking whom to Hogsmeade. Are you going to go?”

Selene bobbed her head as she reached for the waffles, “Yes, Luna and I are planning on tag-teaming Neville.”

Daphne chuckled, “Does Neville know that?”

Selene’s eyes were mirthful as she drowned her waffles in syrup, “Where’s the fun in telling him that beforehand?”

Millie giggled, “Selene, I dare you and Luna to dress identically again just to continue messing with Neville’s mind.”

Selene’s eyes lit up as she grinned widely around her mouthful of waffle.

Their second trip into Hogsmeade was clearly more successful than their previous attempt. Susan had been persuaded by Draco into visiting Tomes and Scrolls so she wouldn’t have the specter of the past hanging over her head for the rest of her time at school. In ‘retaliation’, Susan dragged Draco into Madam Puddingfoot’s tea shop. Judging by the expression of horror on the boy’s face, his visit was going to be a fun topic to discuss (and tease) later.

Neville was seen escorting Luna into Zonko’s joke shop then when they left, he was escorting Selene; not that he realized it. Before they’d gone to meet up at the carriages, both girls agreed that Luna would wear a heart-shaped badge on her jacket while Selene would wear a Union Jack badge. Poor Neville never clued onto the fact that he was being pranked by the Lovegood Twins as they traded off dragging him from one shop to the next. Greg and Millie greeted the pair as they were strolling along the main thoroughfare, “Hey Selene, you having fun torturing Neville?”

Neville frowned as he gave Selene a look-over, “What are you talking about Greg? This is Luna. Selene decided to stay up at the castle.”

Millie gave the tiny blonde girl a smirk, “Are you sure about that, Neville?”

Neville gave Selene the once-over, staring at her face a bit longer. “Positive. I saw her standing in the entrance way waving at everyone, including me.” He turned on Selene, “You are Luna, right?”

Selene’s grin widened as she patted him on the arm, “Of course, Neville. I am Luna Lovegood and always will be.”

Greg and Millie left the bewildered boy and twinkly-eyed girl behind as they continued their walk. As they turned around the corner, Millie nearly fell upon Greg as she started wheezing from laughter, “I don’t know how much longer Luna and Selene are going to be able to keep up this charade. Poor Neville’s head is liable to explode!”

Briallen and Hermione practically ransacked all of the bookshops in town before heading over to Honeydukes to fill up their sweets stash and to see what else they could adapt for their ‘play time.’ Judging by the vacant-eyed, goofy expression on both girls’ faces as they emerged, it was a good thing that girls couldn’t get each other pregnant… When Mia saw the pair, she begged them for one thing, “Just remember silencing charms, alright? Potters are notorious for forgetting those whenever they get frisky.”

Harry scoffed at that, “When have you and I ever gotten to the point of being that ‘frisky’?”

Mia wobbled her hand then conceded, “Alright, I may or may not have heard that tidbit from a couple of people from back home regarding your parents and grandparents.”

He slowly shook his head in bemusement, “Seriously? Who’d you hear those stories from?”

“Our professors. They were young once too, you know. Professor Flitwick in particular told me of the times he would come up on your parents often during their time at school to flush them out of the broom cupboards after curfew. He told me it was easy to know who was in there because when the door was finally opened, there was your mum and dad…”

Harry covered his ears and babbled, “I’m not hearing this! No, no, no!” Mia giggled at his antics then dragged him off to the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer.

Harry could easily say he had a wonderful time in the village just walking around and checking out the sights. He and Mia ended up over where the Shrieking Shack was located. “I wonder why no one has felt the need to tear down this place now that Remus is no longer a student.”

Mia agreed with his puzzlement, “Especially since Romi, Susan, and Colin visit Wolf’s Bay for the Full Moon Runs. I guess it’s just one of those out of sight, out of mind things.” She leant in and planted a kiss on his lips which he eagerly returned. “So what’s your decision about returning home?”

Harry pulled away with a confused look on his face, “What decision? There has never been a moment where I even considered going back. I’m staying for as long as they’ll let me. If Dumbledore has problems with that, he can go get stuffed.”

Over in Hogwarts 2558-P…

The target of Harry’s scorn was currently ruminating at his desk, trying to solve the question on how to draw Harry back to the world in which he belonged in. Albus had found out back when Black had had his trial, thanks to some people who owed him a favor; that the rebellious teen had asked Director Croaker if it was alright if he could stay in the same world as Briallen. Incensed at the thought that his weapon against Voldemort was doing something without his express permission, Albus vowed to himself that he would find a way to bring him home and obliviate the brat until all trace of independence was scrubbed clean from his mind.

“The biggest stumbling block is that Granger girl. Anyone who’s ever seen the two of them together knows that Harry will follow her to the ends of the earth and beyond,” He pondered quietly to himself. “That would suggest that to get Harry back where he belongs, I would need to figure out how to entice her back home. Her fate afterwards is immaterial. I could probably just as easily sell her to one of the influential families as a pot scrubber.”

His gaze returned towards the item on his desk, its crate having been discarded. The Goblet of Fire seemed so ordinary when viewed up close. A rough-hewn lump of wood shaped into something resembling a drinking goblet like the ones used in the Great Hall. Its power lay in the enchantments woven into it by the ancients. No one remembered who created or when but its power was undeniable. Capable of making a choice once given the parameters of the situation, it could not be swindled, bought, or coerced into doing anything other than make a selection. One other feature that had been woven into the magic was that once chosen, the selectee had no choice than to accept their fate lest they lose their magic in forfeiture. Albus’ plan was to use the Goblet to select Harry to take part in the upcoming Tri-Wizard Tournament being held there at Hogwarts next year. His conundrum right now was that he was unsure if that feature was capable of reaching across the multiverse and latch onto Harry’s magic and force him to return.

Tuesday 1 March, 1994; 3^rd year Potions class (Gryffindor and Slytherin)

“Good morning everyone!” Professor Sciuto greeted everyone as they entered the laboratory. “I’ve got a real treat for all of you today. Take your seats quickly and we’ll get started.” Eager to learn something new, her class quickly parked their bums in their seats. Professor Sciuto began pointing out a few flasks on her demonstration table. “This is a bunch of nice and shiny mercury metal, and I’m going to use it to do something that I think is kind of magical. To get started, the first thing I’ll need is some concentrated nitric acid. Then into this, I’ll add a small amount of the mercury metal. Almost immediately you can see it started to react, and the whole thing turns yellow.” Everyone leant in to see it better. “Over the next several minutes, you can see it get darker and darker as well as giving off scary fumes and starts boiling. Can anyone explain why this is happening?”

Several people’s hands shot up immediately, first called on was Mia. “The boiling is caused by the reaction between the mercury and the nitric acid. The fumes are generated by the heat being released by chemical bonds being formed.”

Professor Sciuto nodded, “Exactly. The liquid mercury is being turned into mercury nitrate which would dissolve into the acid. All of the fumes were just a by-product of the reaction; I don’t think I need to stress that breathing it in would be a bad idea. By adding heat through the burner, it’s possible to accelerate the reaction time to make sure that the mercury was fully dissolved into the acid by which you can tell by the way it turns colorless.” She held up the flask to show that it was indeed clear. “I now have a concentrated solution of mercury nitrate which I’ll dilute with cold water. Now I can add the final ingredient, which is a solution of potassium iodide.” This almost instantly reacted and it was turning the mercury nitrate into mercury iodide, which wasn’t soluble in water. “Now, I just need to stir it around for a moment then let it settle through a process known as coagulation. The really dense mercury iodide will sink to the bottom and allow me to pour off the water into a coffee filter.” She gave it a couple of rinses with water. “Normally, I’d let it sit here for about a day to dry out but since I’m a witch, I’ll just use the desiccation charm instead.” She pulled her wand and cast the charm, instantly drying out the chemical into a powder.

She gave everyone a small grin, “Now for the magical part, all I have to do is pour all of it into a dish, and spread it around. I’ll then put it on a hot plate and slowly crank up the heating. As it heats up, it slowly turns a dark red, and when it eventually gets hot enough, it’ll start turning yellow. The yellow part will grow until it takes over completely and the red disappears. Now, what’s really cool however is what happens when I turn off the hot plate. Some of the red coloring starts coming back, and this is happening because the powder is cooling off. This color changing effect based on temperature is called ‘thermochromism’ and I think it almost looks like magic.”

While the students wouldn’t be able to perform the same experiment their professor did, they were given the assignment to make soap. Mia paired up with Draco for this brew and gave him a warning before they began. “If you think about altering this recipe for anything other than cleaning hands and slipping some of it into my bag, I’ll make you regret it Malfoy.”

Draco grinned and nudged her, “Aww, lighten up Granger. If anything, I’d be more likely to slip some onto the Weasley Twins.”

She quirked up an eyebrow. “If that’s the case, I’ll probably help you. Let’s get started.” She began reading the instructions out loud. “Okay, we need a beaker and add about 200mL of water along with about 80g of the sodium hydroxide drain cleaner.” She observed the blond following her instructions. “Stir it to help it dissolve until it’s clear then put it aside.”

He bobbed his head, “Done. What’s next?”

“Get a bottle of regular olive oil and coconut oil from the pantry. You’ll probably have to melt the coconut oil over a low flame. When you have, get a larger beaker than before and pour in about 500g of the olive oil. Next, add in about 100g of the melted coconut oil. Stir it around to make sure it’s all nice and combined.”

Draco curiously sniffed it, “Smells weird. What’s next?”

“Add in the sodium hydroxide from earlier. Don’t just dump it in though in case it splashes.” The moment he began adding it, the oil started reacting and turning a cloudy yellow but because water and oil don’t mix very well, it kind of just sank to the bottom. Mia took the electric hand blender (the room was shielded against magical interference) and mixed it together. “According to the texts, this is a process known as ‘saponification.’” Draco made note of that in his notes to look up later. The mixture slowly got thicker and thicker until it began difficult to continue using the blender. Mia poured some of the blend into a smaller beaker and added in a shot of vanilla essential oil as well as a bit of coconut oil mixed with titanium dioxide and swirled it around until the yellow smoothed out and lightened up some. “This is my batch. What were you planning on doing with yours?”

Draco went back to the ingredients cupboard and returned with another vial, “If we’re going to make soap worthy of pranking the twins, I recommend this.” He handed it over and watched with glee at the look of disgust grow on Mia’s face as she read the label. “Just a few drops of this stuff and presto! Soap that cleans yet still makes your hands smell like an afternoon in Professor Sprout’s class mixing dragon dung.”

Mia gave him a derisive shake of her head, “Fine, but separate the soap out into different batches so you can vary the strengths of the Skatole and be extremely careful with it. I don’t want to get lumped into whatever madness you’re planning because of the lingering stench.”

Draco cackled as he complied, “I can’t wait to see their reaction! It’s a prank worthy of their vaunted Marauders.”

After they cleaned up from their laboratory work, Professor Sciuto announced that their homework was to be a one-page essay on the history of soap-making as well as at least a paragraph or two on what they learned from the process of making soap. “I also want at least two paragraphs about what you learned about the process of thermochromism. Your homework will be due by the end of the week.”

Later that evening…

Fred Weasley frowned at his hands after washing them for the third time already after getting back to his dorm at the end of the fifth year classes had let out. He carefully sniffed them and recoiled at the lingering stench of dung. George popped his head in, “What’s taking you so long?”

“I can’t get the stench of dung off my hands no matter how much I wash.”

George teased him, “There’s a new invention out these days guaranteed to deal with that, you know. It’s called ‘soap.’”

Fred gave him an ironically named stink-eye, “I know that, you moron. I’ve been using soap but my hands still stink.”

George fully came into the room and examined his brother’s hands, “Well, we already knew that dragon dung is notoriously difficult to wash off, but that doesn’t explain why the scent remains. Normally, soap takes away the smell.” He picked up the bar of soap Fred had been using and sniffed it. He reared back and gagged, “I think I found the source.” He dropped it back into the sink and wiped his fingers off on a towel.

Meanwhile, Fred disappeared into the fourth year boys’ bathroom and snagged a fresh bar of soap. After washing again, he tentatively sniffed his fingers and bobbled his head, “It’s not as bad now using the new bar; but Georgie, I do believe we’ve been pranked.”

George agreed with his twin, “The question is, who the perpetrator could be?”

“It would have to be a Gryffindor.” Fred theorized, “No one else would be able to get into the Tower. Common room?”

George opened the door and bowed graciously before blocking his brother and exiting first, “Capital idea.”

Gryffindor Common room…

The twins gazed about the room and aside from the usual chatter and studying, all seemed normal and unassuming. George nudged Fred and pointed to where Mia had camped out on the couch in front of the fire surrounded by several books and scrolls. The two joined her and just grinned wickedly until she let out a huff of annoyance, “I wasn’t the one to prank you.”

“Did we say anything?”

“I could smell the stench when you sat down. Since the third years were making soap today, it’d be logical for you to assume that you’d gotten pranked by one of us. Furthermore, with you sitting down next to me, you’d be likely thinking that I had anything to do with it since everyone else here is afraid of catching your attention. I can only conclude that you’re also operating under the assumption that it would have to be someone within our Tower since no one else is able to get in without an escort.” She propped up her book on her knees.

Impressed with her deductive logic, Fred whispered, “You’re not afraid of us? We were the ones who assisted the DMLE in capturing Dumbledore back in our third year.”

Mia finally looked at the pair of them up and down, a tiny smile twitched on her lips, “Nope, I see nothing to be afraid of. You both know how far you can take a prank before it delves into the realm of dangerous and potentially life-threatening. At worst, I would end up looking like some bizarre amalgamation but I wouldn’t die from it.”

George clapped quietly, “With that sort of logical reasoning, you should’ve been sorted into Ravenclaw. Why didn’t you go that route?”

Mia replied as she reached for a scroll, “Because Hermione is already there and I didn’t want to confuse people more than they already are whenever the two of us get together. Was there anything else? I would like to finish my homework in peace.”

Fred patted her hand, “You may continue, Miss Granger but before we go; do you at least know who dared to fire the first shot and if you do, will you give us a hint as to who the rapscallion might be?”

George added, “Do you have any idea how said rapscallion managed to get the soap into our bathroom without getting into the Tower unnoticed?”

Mia sighed and glanced at the pair of eager teens, “I do know and he’s not a member of this House and in my world he was fond of using his daddy’s public standing as a means to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies. As for how to prime the trap so to speak; consider how the Tower is cleaned when we’re not around.”

As promised, both twins left her alone to puzzle out her message. George glanced back, “Who do you think it is? I think we both know it’s got to be an elf who delivered the tainted soap.”

Fred shook his head thoughtfully, “No idea, George. I suggest we wait until breakfast. Chances are likely the prankster would be unable to contain themselves and start bragging.”

George bobbed his head in agreement before suggesting that they go find out what the lovely ladies of the Lion’s Quidditch team were doing.

Early the next morning, Fred and George got up and prepped a batch of their special hair gel dye and loaded it into the shampoo bottles to be sent down to Slytherin House. What made the dye special was that the color would become more vibrant as the victim got more emotional. Late last night, George had the brilliant idea to seek out Harry and ask him if he knew the answer to Mia’s riddle. Harry broke out laughing and replied that his world’s Draco Malfoy was notorious for trotting out that tired line. “No one believed it after the first couple of uses. Even Lucius himself admitted that he wouldn’t bother to interfere unless the altercation caused his heir to bleed from his injuries.”

Armed with that knowledge, the Twins planned on using a switching spell to swap the tainted bottle’s contents with one from the boy’s bathroom, generously provided by simply asking one of the castle elves to go down and retrieving one. Once the swap was made, the elf would then return the altered shampoo to Malfoy’s bedroom with a bow on top as if he were being sent a gift from home. Fred lined up his wand to cast the spell when George sneezed from the abundance of powder from the gel-making process hanging in the air and jostled his arm. The shampoo gift disappeared as another bottle took its place. The problem was, this bottle didn’t look like something that a teenage boy would use. For one thing, it was pink and decorated with flowers.

“Um, okay. That happened…” Fred looked worried as he carefully examined the new bottle.

George tentatively agreed. “We’ll probably going to be okay as long as whoever’s bottle this was doesn’t try using the new one without checking first.”

Gryffindor Third year Girls’ dorms…

Mia was roused from her slumber at the sound of a horrified screech emanating from the bathroom. Parvati rushed out still sans bath towel and lunged for her wand. Through bleary eyes, Mia could see that someone had changed the Indian girl’s hair to crimson red! She rolled her eyes and muttered that she hoped that the Weasley Twins had their Last Wills all squared away once Parvati found out who dared to mess with her looks.

Lavender came out of the bathroom barely able to suppress the laughter, “It’s a fright. She could be an Indian Weasley with hair that bright.”

Dragging herself out of bed, Mia took a chance to see what kind of damage Lavender was talking about. Parvati stood in front of the mirror angrily vowing to disembowel whoever it was that did this to her beautiful hair. Mia laid her hand gently on the girl’s shoulder and smiled comfortingly, “I think I can help you fix it and not make it so…vibrant.”

Parvati turned to her roommate with anguish in her eyes, “You sure?”

Mia nodded as she ran her fingers through the distraught girl’s hair, “Before I work my magic, have you considered leaving your hair like this?”

Lavender re-entered the bathroom and heard the question, “Why would she do that?”

Mia held up a finger, “Her dark skin tone coupled with the crimson red? I think it makes you stand out and noteworthy, but that’s just me. Now, we could alter things so that the outer layers look like they normally do. Cascading lines of rich, dark black with minute highlights of brown. Underneath that the crimson flashes as she walks, turns, or dances to give a sort of pop and flair.” She waved her wand and cast a charm that would drain away the tainted dye out from the outer layers of hair.

Parvati experimented with moving around, feeling her eyes widen at the bursts of color that flashed in the mirror. Her mouth curved up into a pleased smile. “I like that.”

Lavender’s mouth dropped open, “That’s incredible, Mia! I thought you didn’t care about fashion and beauty.”

Mia sighed as she put away her wand, “Back in my homeworld; that would be true. However, since I’ve arrived and seen what Hermione does with her hair; I’ve reconsidered that mindset of going with just the basics in favor of getting out faster so I can devote more time to studying. As a matter of fact…” She waved her wand at her own hair which caused it to take on subtle copper highlights with the last three inches dyed a luxuriant periwinkle blue. “What do you think?”

Lavender and Parvati’s jaws were practically scraping the ground. “This weekend, we need to hold another GO club meeting to share this with the others.” Lavender pointed to her own hair, “What’s the charm you used to get that effect?”

Mia shrugged, “It’s a basic color-changing spell specifically designed for hair. The incantation is ‘mutare capillos ad casia’ and all you do is just aim your wand tip at where you want the change in color.” Lavender tried the spell and managed to get it just as she pictured it after a couple of tries. Beaming at herself in the mirror, she twisted and turned to examine her new look then pronounced it good.

Parvati flipped her hair over her shoulder and growled, “This is all well and fun, but it still doesn’t reveal who would target me in the first place!”

Mia patted her on the shoulder, “I know who did it and by the looks of it; they pranked you entirely by accident.”

Grand Staircase, a few minutes later…

Mia waited with Parvati, Romi, and Lavender for Padma, Briallen, and Hermione to arrive then filled them in with what happened. Hermione shook her head in derision, “Those two idiots…”

Briallen on the other hand just smiled a sort of grin that wouldn’t bode well for anyone’s mental health, “What if we were to prank the twins back again and blame it on Uncle Sirius and Remus?”

Padma reached out and touched her sister’s hair experimentally. A slow smile graced her features as cocked her head, “Why would we involve them? By the way, Parvati; I like this new look. Now no one can accidentally think you’re me.” Parvati puffed up happily at the sound of that.

Bri shrugged, “When was the last time either of them got to prank someone in the school or in general? I bet they’d jump at the opportunity to test their ‘disciples’ to see how much they’ve learned.”

The girls met up with the others of their club and filled them in on the misdirected prank perpetrated by the Weasley Twins. Bri floated her idea about starting a war with the two idiots and laid out a couple of ideas on how to do that.

Romi raised her hand as if she was still in class, “I don’t want my dad or Uncle Padfoot to get hurt.”

Bri shook her head, “Neither do I so I’m suggesting that we call them up and ask them if they want to participate.” They all agreed so as a group, they decided to head into the Great Hall for breakfast and a strategy meeting.

After classes let out for the day, Gryffindor telephone room…

Romi dialed the number to Wolf’s Bay Campground and counted the number of rings. On the fifth one, she heard the out-of-breath voice of Uncle Padfoot. “Thank you for calling Wolf’s Bay…”

“Uncle Padfoot, it’s Romi,” she interrupted his opening speech.

“Oh, hey pup, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing with me but we of the GO club would like to know if you and dad would like to take part in pranking the Weasley Twins something fierce,” she chirped.

Sirius coughed with laughter, “What did they do to warrant such a reaction?”

Romi snuck a glance over at Parvati who was showing off the new look, “Parvati got pranked by them after they swapped her shampoo out with one tainted with some sort of dye.” The color had faded to a darker hue as the Indian girl had calmed down. This was noticed by the others who were now contemplating the reasons behind it.

“Ouch! I can just imagine the screaming when she realized it. Well, to answer your question; I’d have no problem with the idea but let me talk to your dad before we decided one way or the other.”

Romi bounced in her seat, eagerly hoping that her dad would agree to it, “Where is daddy?”

“He’s in town buying some supplies and won’t be back for another couple of hours. I’ll call you when he comes back, alright?”

She beamed (even though he couldn’t see it) and excitedly thanked him before hanging up. Romi joined the others and relayed what Padfoot had said. Bri clapped her hands together, “Until such time, we should continue to plan our retaliation just in case the two Marauders reject our idea. To the Girl Cave!” She pointed to the Room of Requirement.

Remus called Romi after he’d returned and had a chat with Sirius. To the girl’s joy, he was onboard with the idea and suggested that they all meet that weekend rather than tying up the phone line needlessly. Romi bounced out of the phone booth and rushed back up to the Room of Requirement to tell the others the great news.

The following day, as Fred went to roll out of bed, he found that his blankets had been firmly attached to the bedframe leaving him essentially trapped within them. “Um, George? Can you move?”

“Not really. Can you get to your wand at all?”

“Hang on.” A bit of a wiggle was all he was able to get his arms to do. “Nope, I’m stuck.”

“What should we do?”

Fred thought about it then brightened, “Tolly!” There was a moment’s hesitation before Tolly the Gryffindor elf popped in. It was apparent that Tolly had been sleeping because he was dressed in pajamas and stared bleary-eyed at the pair. Fred apologized, “Sorry for waking you but we didn’t know who the day elf was. Could you find a way to get us out of this? Our blankets seem to be stuck to the beds.”

Tolly grumbled to himself, “Redheads should know how to get out of bed by themselves.” He tugged on a corner of the blanket and pulled it off the bed in one quick swoop. “No magic involved. Simple. Good night and ask for Molly next time. She is Tolly’s sister and Gryffy’s day elf.” He popped away with a mild crack of noise.

Once they were extricated, both boys raced into the bathroom only to be confronted with another problem. The floor had been seemingly charmed to be as slippery as possible. The twins slipped and slid all over the bathroom as they tried to ‘carefully hurry’ about their business.

Great Hall…

Having just barely arrived in time to at least make a quick French toast egg and bacon sandwich for each of them, George noticed that Briallen was grinning broadly at them. “What do you suppose the reason behind that look is for?”

Briallen giggled, “I know who pranked you and I can’t wait to see what you do to retaliate.”

Fred’s eyebrows rose up, “Oh? Who was it pray tell?”

Bri shook her head, “No way, I’m not going to say anything more. It’s up to you alleged geniuses to figure it out.”

Padma had joined them and heard what Briallen had teased, “Bri, it’s not nice to tease the dumb animals.” The Twins scoffed at being labeled ‘dumb animals.’ “It’s simple logic, you know. You can winnow down the list of potential suspects by asking yourselves, ‘Who would be the most likely to be able to pull off a masterful prank without being seen or heard? Someone who knows this school better than the teachers or even you two.’”

As they thought about it, George’s eyes were the first to widen comically with Fred a heartbeat later, “The Marauders are pranking us?! Why would they do that?”

Parvati joined the conversation, her new hair color slowly brightening as she glared at the pair of them. “Maybe it’s because they’ll always champion for those who were innocent victims of whatever idiocy you were attempting?”

George’s face pinked, “Yeah, sorry about that. We were trying to get Draco back for his prank against us.”

All three girls shook their heads ruefully. Bri spoke first, “Don’t bother with Draco. It was most likely a one-off prank thought up on the spur of the moment. The real question is what you plan on doing as an answer to the opening salvo cast by Moony and Padfoot?”

Padma spoke next, “This is your moment, boys. The Marauders are targeting you for what you did to Parvati. They obviously want to see if you’re still worthy of being their disciples.”

Over the course of the next month, Fred and George dedicated their considerable talents ‘upping their game’ and launching the sort of pranks and gags the likes of which had never been seen before. Well, sort of. Neither twin knew how it was being done, but every time they sent something out; it was returned to them and overpowered tenfold. Everything from woolen socks that started off silky soft and progressively got itchier and rolled up under their toes, making it impossible to think straight to gifting them with improved versions of their Tooty Fruity candies. The explosive diarrhea effect the bananas had were now random throughout the batch, as well as being spiked with a potion that would glue their mouths shut leaving the unable to speak unless they slurped up the counteragent which was a bottle of cod liver oil. On Tuesday, the twins woke to find themselves in the middle of the Great Hall wearing floaty little nighties of the sort that wives would wear for their husbands. (Headmistress McGonagall was not pleased to see this.) The twins frantically looked around for their wands but in the end were forced to make a run for the stairs, raucous laughter following them from the Hall.

Another day forced them to contend with all of the suddenly amorous cats that lived within the castle walls as they were chased around by the frisky felines all willing and eager to stick their bums in the boys’ faces every time they sat down.

They were late to class after being unable to unstick their shoes from the floor from where they’d been glued using what they later learned was ordinary muggle epoxy. (The epoxy had to be removed using a solvent supplied by Professor Sciuto but only after the pair groveled for her mercy.) Another morning, the twins discovered that someone had sewn up the legs of their trousers and left them with only a pair of skimpy skirts to wear.

It wasn’t just potions that were slipped to them. George had been tagged with a compulsion spell to make him think that their mother would appear wandering the halls wearing nothing but a bikini and swim fins. Fred was similarly compelled to see Dumbledore doing a pole dance every time he went near the boys’ bathroom regardless of which floor he was on.

Luna provided a charmed button that would randomly appear and disappear in different locations of their clothes and shout vulgarities at the others in the twins’ voices. Every time Fred and George went to look for them, the buttons would vanish.

Food too was also suspect. Mia gifted the boys with a plate of ‘special’ brownies.’ The pair finished off nearly the entire plate before their stomachs started cramping forcing them to bolt for the loo. One movie night dinner, they were given a selection of pies from all over the world. George had just taken a bite out of his empanada when he was overcome with the urge to sing acapella the words to Weird Al’s parody of “The White Stuff.”

“The white stuff
The white stuff

The first one was a sweet one
Second one was a blast
Soon I finished off the bag, ate 'em up real fast
You can see 'em in my teeth
Tell it when I talk
Had so many my pancreas just went into shock

I love the white stuff, baby
In the middle of an Oreo
I love the white stuff, baby
It's the most delicious thing I know

I've had a zillion or two
In my life, they're so right
My teeth are all rotted clear through
But who cares? What else am I supposed to do?

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Oreo
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, the white stuff
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Oreo
What's in the middle? The white stuff

The first time that I tried it
Got a big sugar buzz
Nothing gets me high as that sandwhich cookie does
But I love the filling most
I rub it on my roast
Mix it in with my coffee and spread it on my toast

I love the white stuff, baby
In the middle of an Oreo
I love the white stuff, baby
Take some with me everywhere I go

Might get a pimple or two
Well, so what? It's all right
Now Twinkies and Ding Dongs won't do
All I need... You know what it is

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Oreo
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, the white stuff
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Oreo
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, the white stuff
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Oreo
What's in the middle? The white stuff!”

Over at the Slytherin table, Briallen gave an under the table ‘high five’ to Pansy whose eyes were tearing up from laughing so hard.

The one that really made them shudder was when someone had stolen their wands and replaced them with ordinary twigs from a nearby tree. Severus gleefully announced at breakfast that he had received a package the previous night containing their wands and a note that stated if the twins wanted them, they would have to perform at least two separate detentions (one for each boy) at Severus’ discretion.

The final salvo came when the Weasley Twins couldn’t take a step out of their room before getting hit with a blast from the past in the form of a bucket perched above their door filled with what appeared to be water but was in fact a refined version of their Captive Prisoner potion they’d used on Dumbledore two years ago. Both Fred and George stumbled into the Great Hall adorned with everything they’d touched on their way down. They knelt down before Parvati and bowed their heads, “We give up. What do we have to do to end this?”

Parvati stood imperiously over the prostrated twins, “You can make it up to everyone who has ever had to suffer from your ‘humor’ by providing tutoring sessions for them until the end of the year. Your sentence duration is based on how well they do on their final tests. If they get anything less than an Exceeds Expectations, your time will be extended for another month starting next year.”

Fred sighed as he spared a glance at his brother who nodded reluctantly, “Fine. We have no choice. Will you at least remove whatever it was you did to us this morning?”

Parvati grinned triumphantly, “All you were given was a refined version of that Captive Prisoner potion you doused Dumbledore with. I’m sure you can figure out how to undo it.” She turned and flounced back to the Hufflepuff table where the others were waiting and watching.

Petunia called Remus later that day to ask why they were targeting the Twins. Remus huffed in amusement, “Honestly, we’re only providing technical support. Things are picking up around here for the spring season so we don’t have the time to come up to pull off these pranks. Everything that has happened to the Weasley twins was accomplished by Briallen and her friends.”

Sunday 6 March, 1994; GO club meeting, concurrent with what was happening to Fred and George

Ginny Weasley felt like she was in paradise. True, it wasn’t the first and definitely wouldn’t be the last time she’d feel this way, but today was the beginning of the torment that would rain down upon her elder brothers in retaliation for all of the crap they’d put her through growing up. When she was about five, they’d stolen her dolls and charmed them to say all sorts of nasty things whenever their mother was in the room and in Ginny’s voice no less. As a result, her mum would wash out her mouth with soap and refuse to believe that Ginny wasn’t responsible!

Tonight however, she had a different story she just had to share with the others. “So, as you all know, Ron’s been forced to stay with Aunt Muriel as part of his homeschooling punishment. On the few times that he’s been allowed to floo-call home, Daddy says he always begs to come home to get away from her ‘evil clutches.’”

Hermione looked worried, “Your dad wouldn’t let him come back here, would he?”

Ginny shook her head, “No. As it was explained to me, you only get two chances to be at Hogwarts and he completely blew through both of them.”

Daphne asked what Ron’s other options were if getting away from Muriel was possible. Ginny shrugged, “Well according to Dad, there’s the possibility of Ron becoming an apprentice to either one of the eldest, Bill or Charlie. Bill’s a cursebreaker for Gringotts down in Egypt while Charlie works at the Romanian Dragon Preserve. Both have stated that they would not take it easy on Ron since he brought all this onto himself. He’s already got the basics down magically-speaking from what I’ve heard so it’s not like Bill or Charlie would have to spend their precious free time instructing him on that.”

“So what’s the plan now for Ronald?” Myrtle asked as she floated lazily upside down behind Lily Moon who was giving her an odd look.

“Ron’s going to come home over the summer for a trial basis to see how he does away from Aunt Muriel. If he’s able to behave himself and not act like his old prat self, Ron would be able to retake his classes via owl mail.”

Hermione relaxed with a sigh, “Good, that was not a fun year and a half with him here.”

Ginny gave her a thin half-smile, “Imagine how I felt growing up with him.”

Friday 11 March, 1994; Trans-Dimensional Room A113

Algernon sat at the writing desk and wrote out the starting message to his counterpart in 2558-P that had been established between the two directors of their respective worlds.

AC: So what’s the latest regarding Albus’ attempts to recall Harry Potter back there?

RC: (grumbling sulphurously) The bearded blighter still won’t listen no matter who says that ‘Harry Potter will not be returning.’ I’m starting to wonder if there’s a psychological inhibitor in those damned lemon drops he eats. He’s down here every other day with one more scheme to plead for his return.

AC: What’s the current ploy?

RC: He’s been hinting that the change in magical harmonies between your world and mine will eventually cause Mr. Potter to go insane and turn into an Obscurial.

AC: (laughing hard) As if it was that easy! Magic’s not stupid, from all of our experiments, it knows somehow to give warning signs far in advance to that event actually taking place. Besides, Harry’s relaxed, being well taken care of by the Dursleys, has his girlfriend as well as his counterpart who listens and helps him whenever he needs it.

RC: I know, right? One of my agents even suggested Albus’ behavior stems from the fact that not only did Harry do the impossible but also Misses Granger and Lovegood who succeeded in intentionally crossing the barrier between universes. He’s unable, or perhaps unwilling, to allow anyone other than him to make the big discoveries. If the attention is now on someone else, that would relegate him to the rank of ‘has-been’ and that frankly must be terrifying for him.”

AC: That would explain why he stole Miss Granger’s research notes and was reluctant to give them back. It begs the question if all of his listed accomplishments were true or if he merely stole the ideas and results from other people. I wouldn’t have put it past the Albus of my world to pull a Lockhart and obliviate everyone he could steal from.

RC: (humming curiously) That’s a novel idea. I’ll have to get someone to investigate that possibility further.

AC: So how goes the repair effort on your Mirror?

RC: Repairs are complete. The number crunchers are making a final inspection before they turn it over to the Alignment team to test out whether or not a connection can be re-established. I estimate another month before that happens.

AC: That’s good to hear. Miss Lovegood has indicated that she’ll need to return home before the end of this summer.

World 9999-X; Former site of Azkaban Prison, same time

In a perverse sort of irony, Dolores had fled to the ‘island getaway’ that once held the forbidding tower of pain and misery that used to be Azkaban. Sometime in the past, as Dolores had learned, the Dementors had been sent back to the Underworld and the prison shut down in favor of utilizing the twisted epiphyte-covered life-sucking magical oak trees of Wistman’s Wood.

During one session at the re-education center, she’d managed to slip her captors by requesting to use the ladies’ room and performed an apparition to the first coordinates she could think of. With a resounding crack of displaced air, she landed heavily on the rocky crags near the decayed boat dock that used to service the prison’s ferry to and from the mainland. She stared up at the dark and foreboding edifice and resolved to do better this time. Breaking in was relatively easy; whatever charms had been in place fell away after only a couple of minutes of figuring out which countercharms were needed. The inside was just as dank and depressing as she’d remembered from her own world’s version.

Dolores took over the warden’s office and tiny apartment as her own, relishing that despite its location and depressing décor; it was still miles above that hovel she’d been forced to exist in when she’d arrived. Best yet, she was able to light a proper fire in the fireplace after first checking to make sure that the floo was inoperative. “Right, now food. Where will I be able to go to find food?” A quick scan of the surrounding waters revealed that because the prison had been abandoned for so long and without the negative effects produced by the Dementors, the sea life had returned with a vengeance around the rocky base of the island. She accioed a couple of good sized fish and prepped them for her first real meal in ages before settling down in a refurbished armchair to plot out her next moves.

Unbeknownst to Dolores, the Dryad Council of Elders knew exactly where she’d gone. When you had the entire planet interconnected, it was damn near impossible to hide anywhere and they knew it. The Council rightly concluded that as long as Dolores Umbridge remained on that desolate rock, she wouldn’t be in a position to destabilize the smooth-running kingdom they’d worked so hard to establish.

She could stay where she was for the time being. If she dared to attack them…well, toads get squished all the time now and there wouldn’t be anything the populace could say or do to oppose them.

Sunday 27 March, 1994; Wolf’s Bay Campground, World 5678-T, Full Moon Fun Run

Bobbi was sniffing around the perimeter of the protective area chasing an interesting scent when the wards in her area collapsed. She paused and sniffed the air as she pondered what to do about it. ‘Should she inform her alpha about it or should she venture out to see what lay beyond?’ Ever the inquisitive type, Bobbi decided that a short walk into the unknown was worth the inevitable rebuke later.

She loped along the coastline, occasionally ducking into the brush every time her sensitive nose picked up a scent of prey. Bobbi spared once glance back towards the direction of the campground and whined that if she went back now, she’d never be able to explore this fascinating place again. Dilemma resolved, she continued towards the nearby town with the funny name of Mousehole.

Six and seven year old siblings David and Kimberly Todkins had begged their parents to let them camp out in their backyard for over a week, promising all sorts of outlandish things they were willing to give up in order to get the chance to sleep under the stars. Their dad had helped them set up the canvas tent and even dug a pit in the ground for them to build a small fire! Both kids were overjoyed at the prospect of roasting sausages over an open fire and had to demonstrate they knew what they were doing a couple of days by cooking their food over the kitchen stove.

As they settled around the fire, six-year-old David pulled out the package of sausages and handed them over to his big sister who speared them onto the cooking rods and gave one back to him. Just as they thrust the sausage into the fire, both kids heard a low whimper coming from the bushes. Curious, Kimberly got up and shined their flashlight into the leafy undergrowth. A pair of gleaming yellow eyes shined back as Bobbi slowly emerged from the bush.

Back at Wolf’s Bay…

Padfoot was growing worried that he hadn’t seen Bobbi in the past couple of hours. Normally, the wolf pup would be exploring the beach line looking for holes and burrows to stick her nose into in search of ‘stuff.’ He rose to his feet and patrolled the area, eventually coming to the spot where the wards had collapsed. He transitioned back into human form and began swearing up a storm, “Ah, bloody Hell this can’t…” He returned to dog form and howled an emergency call to Moony.

Moony arrived not long after and motioned that the other two had been safely sequestered in the hut set up for this very reason. Sirius pointed out the collapsed perimeter ward as well as Bobbi’s footprints in the dirt leading out into the forest. He motioned that he was going to go look for her and bring her back. Moony bobbed his head and headed back to the hut to keep an eye on Susan and Colin.

Back in human form, Sirius used the Point me tracking spell to get a general direction Bobbi had taken. He knew from personal experience that canines never move in a single direction when not attacking prey so he ignored all of the indications that she’d wandered off into the brush and back again.

Back at the Todkin’s home…

Ray Todkins peered out of the window to check up on the kids and make sure they weren’t in any sort of danger. Unfortunately, he spotted the furry form of Bobbi creeping up to them as Kimberly stood there aiming her flashlight. He grabbed his fireplace poker and ran out to assist just in time to see the large-ish wolf gingerly reach out and nip the sausage his Kimmy still had in her hands and sit down to munch on it. “Kimberly! Slowly walk back to me.” When she hesitated, he repeated the order more sternly. She backed up while still keeping her eyes on the wolf that was now giving all of them a satisfied wolf-grin and thumping her tail on the ground.

“Daddy, I think it’s just hungry. Can I give it another sausage?”

Ray shook his head, “No, sweetie. I think it’s time for you and David to come back inside. David, head on back now.” David whined about missing out but trudged back inside at Ray’s glare. He took Kimberly by the hand and led her backwards towards the house. Bobbi let out a whine of dismay at losing out to more food and tried to follow them but stayed when Ray brandished the poker.

Once the kids were safely inside the house, though they plastered themselves up against the window looking into the backyard to see the wolf; Ray got on the phone to call the local wildlife management number. Once he finished answering their questions, the doorbell rang. Ray opened it to reveal Sirius standing there with a leash in hand and a hopeful expression on his face. “Can I help you?”

Sirius looked sheepish, “I lost my dog. Have you seen her?” He gave out Bobbi’s description.

Ray scoffed, “You could say that. She’s in my backyard. Scared me and the kids, she did.” He led Sirius through the house and pointed out where Bobbi was sniffing around inside the tent. Sirius grumbled, “Pup’s gonna get it when we get back.”

Kimberly tugged on his arm and pouted, “Don’t hurt her! She was only after the sausage. She’s nice!”

Sirius knelt down, “But she was a bad puppy. She knows better than to wander off much like I’m sure you are with your daddy, right?” He rose up and exited out the back door, “Bobbi!”

Bobbi’s tail stiffened as she backed out of the tent still wearing a colorful pajama top on her head. She whined and woofed back at him as he approached and slipped a leash and collar on her neck. He tugged off the pajama top and tossed it back into the tent and whispered, “Moony’s upset with you. Be prepared to find yourself locked in the hut for the next moon.”

The next morning, Romi stretched and grunted at the now usual post-transformation aches and pains. She padded into the bathroom to get washed and dressed before heading into the kitchen. Remus and the others were already sitting there. She quietly climbed onto a stool and hung her head submissively, “I’m sorry, daddy.”

Remus swallowed his cup of tea. “I’m not mad at you, Romilda. I’m disappointed at Bobbi and how instead of letting Padfoot or I know about the perimeter wards, she went off on her own into unknown territory.”

Colin glanced curiously between the two, “So what happened?”

Sirius thumbed over to Romilda, “Bobbi wandered around until she found a family who had a couple of their kids camping in their backyard. Nothing bad happened other than jangled nerves from the father. She had a couple of sausages given to her by the daughter and nosed around their tent. I tracked her down and brought her back.”

Susan nodded appreciatively, “That was ballsy of Bobbi. So what’s her punishment going to be?”

Remus cleared his throat, “I think that Bobbi will have to spend the next Run in the containment hut. After that, we feel that Bobbi will be restricted to my side until Moony feels she can be trusted to go out on her own again and not wander near the perimeter again.

Both Susan and Colin agreed with that assessment. Romilda sniffled sadly but understood the reason. It really was for her own safety if the public wasn’t put in danger if Bobbi decided to go feral or was compelled to.

Padfoot brought out the ward book that contained the enchantment matrices for the perimeter alerts and put it on the table. His face was pensive as he calmly mentioned, “In the meantime, Moony; you and I need to go over why those enchantments failed when they shouldn’t have. I could’ve sworn we just checked them.”  Remus slid over to examine them while the kids finished their breakfasts. After they were done, they cleared their plates, and scampered off to find something to do before heading back up to the school.

Monday 4 April, 1994; Department of Mysteries, Trans-Dimensional Room A113, World 2558-P

Director Robert Croaker hissed in annoyance at being forced once again by the appearance of Albus who’d come to once again beg him to return Harry Potter to his rightful home. “Albus, I don’t know what it’s going to take to hammer it into your thick skull that Harry is doing just fine in the other universe. Our agents have repeatedly proven that there is no danger to his magic despite the magical harmonics being slightly off to what we would consider normal. Why can’t you just accept that fact and move on?”

Albus spread his hands, “I’m just trying to do what’s right for young Harry. He has family here who miss him and want to make sure that he’s returned to their loving care.”

Robert glared at the old man, “You and I both know that’s a bald-faced lie. Vernon and Petunia Dursley practically rejoiced at being told that Harry had permanently left their home.”

Rather than reply to that, Albus got a serene look on his face similar to the one he used to use on his students who missed the obvious answer. Robert however, wasn’t one of his students. “As for Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, both are completely on-board with Harry’s decision to remain where he is and wish him the best of luck in building a life he should’ve had all along.”

Albus’ serene look turned to one of annoyance, “But that world already has a Potter! Ours needs to return to fulfill his Destiny!”

Robert scoffed, “Destiny? I hardly think so. You just want him back to force him to confront Voldemort at a time of your choosing for your inane ideals. He’s thirteen years old for Merlin’s sake! I know for a fact that you not once provided him with any actual training to deal with a Dark Lord.” As Albus opened his mouth, Robert interrupted, “Don’t even start to give me that bullshit about wanting him to have a normal childhood. I know that you think a ‘normal childhood’ is the environment you grew up in, full of days where life and death hung in the balance, where you never knew if you were going to get fed or have a place to sleep at night. Adults who believed that beating a child is an acceptable method of discipline. Well, I’ve got news for you; those days are long-gone and utterly illegal.”

“What I do is for…”

“Yes, yes; for the Greater Good, yada, yada, yada. I know your history, Albus. I know your secrets. You want a generational war to help eliminate those Heads of influential families so you can push through your twisted legislation for your vaunted Greater Good plans. You and Grindlewald had the perfect plan to overthrow the world, right? He would start a world war to reduce the population to manageable levels while you would hold their children essentially captive for ten months of the year while stuffing their heads full of your alleged greatness so no one would ever dare to question your motives? Sound familiar?”

Seeing the recognition within Albus’ eyes, Robert smirked, “Yes, we know about that. Director Algernon Croaker and I are in complete agreement that no matter what you do or how much you beg and plead; Harry Potter stays where he is.”

Albus tried once more, “At least allow me to speak with the lad. I’m sure I could convince him to return.”

The Mirror activated then causing both men to turn to its face. Robert greeted his counterpart and hitched a thumb at Albus, “He’s at it again.”

Algernon laughed, “Better you than me. I’d be more likely to just dump his wrinkled arse in 9999-X and be done with him and his antics.”

Robert quirked up an impressed eyebrow, “Yeah? What’re the coordinates? That might be the best way to stop the old goat from bothering me all the time.”

Albus cleared his throat, “Gentlemen, I do not believe that this taunting is necessary.”

Algernon grinned widely, “But it’s so much fun! You do remember the concept of fun, don’t you?” Albus just huffed and turned to leave. “See you later, Albie!”

After the persistent pain in their collective arse had departed, Robert turned back to Algernon and shared the contents of his previous conversation with Albus. “Do you think he’ll accept the truth and move on?”

Algernon shook his head, “No, if anything I’d wager he’s liable to double down on his efforts to find something to accomplish his goals. That reminds me, Neville Longbottom was the other potential Child of Prophesy according to the wording uttered by that drunken fraud. Best get the lad and his family under protective custody before Albus realizes this and moves to interfere.”

Robert motioned for one of his agents and gave the order to have the Longbottom parents moved to their infirmary and given all the restorative care available then to send someone up to Hogwarts to retrieve Neville and bring him down as well to be informed of the situation.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: The Race to the Finish Line (Tricking a Toad and an Unwelcome Surprise)

Thursday 7 April, 1994; Hogwarts Intro to Enchanting Laboratory

It was after classes, but Briallen still sat in her stool glaring between the components of her music box and the chart of runic matrices she’d worked so hard on to get her project to work properly. Despite her best efforts nothing was working and it was frustrating her to no end! She’d come back after eating dinner to take another crack at solving her issues but for whatever Merlin-be-damned reason, nothing was lining up the way it was supposed to. The power supply kept shorting out and even scorched the wood of the box in one corner while the dancer matrix kept stopping mid-way through a routine and would flip the figurine out onto the floor.

“Why won’t you work, dammit!” She screeched in frustration and dropped her head into her hands. Growling, she got up and flipped on her portable radio then cranked the volume up as the slightly tinny sounds of Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun.’ She faced the source of her frustration again, propping herself up with hunched shoulders and her hands clenched on the edge of the table.

“Bri?” Her head snapped up at the sound of her aunt’s worried voice. “Is everything alright? Noddy said you were acting a bit…overwhelmed in here (Noddy was the East wing supervisor elf.) She crossed the room and turned the volume down to reasonable levels. “What’s wrong, honey?”

Bri flung her hands at the music box, “It’s not working! I designed everything myself and it should work!” She slumped down and leant up against Petunia, “I’m such a failure.”

Petunia inwardly rolled her eyes at her niece’s dramatics. “I’m sure it’s not that bad as you make it seem, Briallen,” she soothed her distraught niece, “I have to imagine that the first person to ever enchant something felt the same way you do right now and they didn’t have the ability to look up what others had done.”

“What am I going to do?” Briallen whined, “It’s due in June and I still have to write up everything I did to achieve my goal.”

Petunia thought for a moment before brightening, “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t I call Uncle Vernon and see if he has any suggestions? I’ve seen what you’ve done for runes before and they remind me of the sort of electronics that he has to deal with at work.”

Briallen looked hopefully at her aunt, “Really? Thanks, Aunt Petunia.”

Petunia ruffled up Bri’s already messy hair and tweaked the teen playfully on the nose, “I suggest that you pack up and head back up to the Tower. Why don’t you go console your girlfriend? Last I saw Hermione; she was in a similar state to what you’re in now. Try to keep the noise down to a dull roar, please.”

Bri’s eyes glazed over slightly as she let out an eager giggle and began packing up the lab. Petunia let out an amused sigh and headed for the door.

Twenty minutes later…

Vernon answered the phone and greeted his wife, “Hey, Pet! Hearing your sweet angelic voice has made my day.”

Petunia scoffed, “Flatterer. Listen, I was hoping you’d be willing to help Briallen with her school enchanting project.”

Vernon’s voice grew confused, “But isn’t that…magic? How can I help?”

“Some of what she’s been doing resembles electronic design and I know you have experience with that.”

Vernon hummed sagely, “True. I suppose I can, as long as I don’t have to travel up to the school there. Being around all that magic makes me uncomfortable.”

“I know that, and I think that’s fine. Would you also be willing to host a small group and take them on a tour of the company? I want to show the girls of her club that their future jobs don’t have to be limited to what’s currently available.”

Vernon thought about that for a moment. “I like that idea. Grunnings already has a program in place to show teens what is possible in the engineering and manufacturing fields. Will it just be her friends or were you thinking of expanding it to encompass the whole school?”

Petunia chewed on that, “I’ll probably start with just a few of her friends before we get together with Minerva and Charity to potentially flesh this out if it succeeds. Which day would work best for you?”

Vernon glanced at his calendar, “Um, let’s see. How about the nineteenth of May? There’s nothing major being planned to happen there and that should give you plenty of time to discuss it with the administration as well as getting permission from the parents.” The pair chatted for a few more minutes then gave their farewells.

That next day, Petunia entered the conference room for the end of week teacher’s meeting. Ostensibly, this meeting was setup to discuss what was or wasn’t working and to bring any grievances to light (and to inform the others which student had detention.) Realistically, it was a time to just sit around and chat.

“Petunia! I’m glad you made it.” Filius cheerfully greeted her as she entered.

Petunia nodded her greeting back as she headed over to the tea service, “What can I do for you?”

“Do you know if the Crown has any programs in place to help struggling students cope with their transition to living without magic?” he replied, now somberly.

Curious, she tilted her head, “What happened? Who’s giving up magic?”

Minerva scoffed, “Don’t be so dramatic, Filius. No one’s giving up magic, Petunia; several of the magically-raised seventh years want to go onto a muggle university but don’t know how to live without the ability to whip their wands out for everything.”

Petunia’s face grew thoughtful, “I’m guessing that these students were the ones who didn’t opt to take the revised Modern Studies classes? Well regardless, I’m sure there are programs; I’ll contact the government and see what they have. I do have a question that sort of ties into this topic. How would you feel if I were to take a few of the girls from Briallen’s GO club to the muggle world so they can see how a non-magical company operates?”

Minerva pursed her lips, “Why them and where would you go?”

Petunia explained Briallen’s enchanting project issues to the others. “I called my husband who works for a manufacturing company to see if he was okay with showing a small group of magical children that their options for careers aren’t limited to what they’d find in the Ministry or in Diagon Alley. He’s onboard with the idea as long as the group is limited to no more than ten, including interested parental chaperones.”

Charity looked eager to go right then and there, “I like this idea! Do you have a date scheduled?”

“It’s tentatively set for the nineteenth of May. If the interest is there, we can expand upon this with other companies or areas of interest. Then there’s the option of sharing their memories using a projector pensieve at that evening’s dinner to show everyone else who couldn’t go.”

“How would they get to and from there?” Pomona asked.

Petunia sipped her tea, “They would go from here to my home via the Floo then I would drive them using a muggle car to Grunnings where my husband works.”

Pomona frowned, “Does your husband have enough sway with the owner to be doing something like this?”

Smiling, Petunia explained that Vernon’s role in the company as Vice President of Sales put him on par with a Deputy Headmaster of the school. Pomona chuckled, “So no problem then. Okay.”

The other teachers bobbed their heads appreciatively. Minerva cleared her throat, “As it stands, I’ll give my permission but you’ll need to get at least two parents to join in and they have to be magically-raised just in case of accidental magic.”

Petunia nodded affirmatively, “That’s fair. Now, who do we know that can take a day off from work and tour a muggle company without being a bell end about it?”

Monday 11 April, 1994; Azkaban Prison, World 9999-X

In the month since she’d sought to hide out from the Dryad Kingdom and its bizarre inhabitants of World 9999-X, Dolores had refurbished the former warden’s apartment and office and settled in quite nicely. In a world where only a select group of the citizenry were allowed to perform magic (much to her surprise that it wasn’t limited to the purebloods!) Dolores found herself in a lucky situation. To her knowledge, only the Unspeakables were allowed to regularly perform magic and to apparate themselves to and from any location. The rest of the magical population could only exercise their Merlin-gifted talents on special occasions. Children were given some basic instruction to calm their accidental magic episodes; the rest of the time if they felt the pressure building, they were taught to practice meditation or went to sit in specially constructed rooms that would collect the pent-up energies and reroute them into the surrounding Ley lines.

Given her lack of socially-accepted restrictions (as if she would willingly give up magic!); Dolores was able to apparate around the country to obtain, aka steal, her supplies. Sometimes she’d obliviate those who tried to catch her, other times she’d confound them into thinking something else. Either way, it was the suspicion that if she killed the victim the Guardians would attack her; that stayed her merciless wand. She’d just finished raiding one warehouse full of artifacts from before the subjugation of Britain at the end of the Second World War. She had been hoping to find something that would allow her to fight back against her jailers. Just as she was exiting the building, Guardians arrived on scene and began flooding the area with paralytic spores designed as a crowd-control method. Dolores cast a Bubblehead charm on herself to counter the effects and returned fire of her own. Several of the Guardians were cut down in a hail of cutting curses as she apparated away.

When she arrived back at Azkaban, Dolores hurried down to the prison’s wardstone and reactivated the defenses. Long dormant war wards flickered to life and expanded to encompass not only the fortress but also the surrounding territory. Once secure, she waved her wand and banished any of the spores that had managed to attach themselves to her skin and clothing before heading back to her apartment. Tired from her excursion, she promised herself that after a bit of rest; she’d look into coming up with a way to activate those damned wards remotely.

That morning, Dolores waddled into the apartment’s kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. While the pot was heating up, she gazed at the board that held a map of Britain in this Merlin-forsaken world to plan her next strike. Lying in a pile on the table next to her was a few manuscripts she’d recovered from the warehouse that had caught her attention last night before going to bed. She carefully opened the cover to one of those manuscripts and smiled grimly at the inscription that explained the ritual on how to summon Dementors from the hellscape underworld.

Her attention was diverted by the perimeter wards pinging, alerting her that someone was trying to sneak past them. She hurried over to the map that had originally been the warden’s control board and spotted the pesky intruder. “Let’s see who would be so foolish as to try and sneak in.” Dolores took the private lift down to the ground floor and was astonished to find a lone Guardian standing in the middle of what passed for a foyer. The Guardian was a young one she could see if the bright green leaves were any indication. She clicked on the room’s speaker, “Hem-Hem… What do you want? How did you get past my defenses? Your kind is not welcome here.”

The Guardian spun towards the sound of her voice and squinted its eyes, “I have come with a message from the Elders. They are aware of your actions and beseech you again to give up your rebellious ways. We offer you the peace of mind and an honorable place within our society if you would just let go of your anger.”

Dolores scoffed, “I’ve seen how your slaves live. They are nothing more than Squibs! Once proud Purebloods have been forced into being mere servants for your oppressive ‘Elders’ and never able to rise above the filth as nature intended. They are no better than the muggles who infest this planet or the Dryads who enslave them for their nefarious plots!”

The Guardian shook its head ruefully, “The Elders do not enslave. They free all of us from our sins and have brought worldwide peace to our once warring nations. However, if you truly do not want to live amongst us as offered, the Elders have permitted me to ask if you wish to leave this world.”

Dolores paused; this could be an opportunity to be free of this nightmare. “Would you be able to send me home?”

The Guardian shook its head. “Not your homeworld, I’ve been informed. Your homeworld doesn’t want you anywhere near them. The Unspeakables can however send you to another world that has no prior knowledge of you where you can be free to live as you see fit without having to hide yourself away in a decaying prison facility.”

“How long will you give me to think this over?”

The Guardian paused as if listening to someone speaking quietly before answering, “The Unspeakables can give you a week to make your decision.”

Dolores agreed to that condition, “Then I will see you in a week.” She clicked off the speaker and watched with suspicious eyes as the Guardian turned and left. She headed back upstairs where the teapot was shrilly whistling and poured herself a cup of tea to contemplate this new development.

Hogwarts; World 5678-T, two days later, outside of Arithmancy class

Hermione had just exited the class with the others when she heard Briallen’s distinctive electric guitar playing nearby. She turned and grinned widely at the sight of her girlfriend standing in the middle of the hallway, shaking her hips suggestively, and belting out a song no doubt aimed at her.

“Well, I'm hot blooded!
Check it and see,
I got a fever of a hundred and three;
Come on, baby, do you do more than dance?
I'm hot blooded, I'm hot blooded!

You don't have to read my mind,
To know what I have in mind
Honey, you oughta know!”

Still grinning, Hermione sashayed up to Briallen with an impish twinkle in her eyes. She sidled right up alongside her girlfriend and gave her a saucy wink.

“Now you move so fine,
Let me lay it on the line.
I wanna know,
What you're doin' after the show?

Now it's up to you,
We can make a secret rendezvous?
Just me and you;
I'll show you loving like you never knew!”

The others around them paused to take in the impromptu show, some of them even dancing or lip-synching along if they knew the words. Minerva and Petunia watched in bemusement, the former slowly shaking her head, “I should put a stop to this.”

Petunia spared her a look, “Really? I think it’s cute.”

Minerva relented after a moment of watching Hermione dance around gracefully, “Aye, I suppose there’s no harm or anything scandalous.”

As the very public display of affection concluded and the audience applauded, Briallen gave Hermione a kiss on the cheek and gathered up her instruments before allowing herself to be led off to their next shared class.

On the opposite side of the hallway…

Harry entered his French class and slid into an open seat. Opening up a young adult-level fantasy novel, he settled in to read. He started when Professor Maxwell tapped his desk and smirked at him as he realized that she’d already begun teaching her class! “Oh, damn… er, Je suis désolé, professeur ! Je lisais ce roman et j'ai oublié l'heure. Cela n'arrivera plus.”

Nodding her head understandingly, Professor Maxwell replied, “Loin de moi l'idée de vous interdire de lire confortablement en français, M. Potter, mais j'aimerais que vous utilisiez cette attention dans ma classe.” She returned to the rest of the class, “Désormais, alors que les gobelins de Gringotts seront capables de traduire l'anglais dans la langue du pays dans lequel vous vous trouvez ; il est préférable que vous ayez au moins une compréhension de base de la façon d'ouvrir un compte si vous en avez besoin dans une banque moldue.”

As was now normal, once Professor Maxwell had given her class a couple of explanations of situations they might find themselves in, she had a pair of students come up and act as if they were potential customers. Now that he’d had a year’s worth of classes under his belt and he’d recovered after his recent faux pas, Harry comfortably stepped up and spoke politely to the ‘banker,’ “Bonjour. Je voudrais ouvrir un compte.”

By the end of class, Harry approached his professor. “Uh… Professeur, je me demandais si j'allais assez bien pour passer pour un local.”

She snorted lightly and shook her head, “Pas à peine. Vous ne parlerez pas assez couramment pour passer pour un local tant que vous ne parlerez que français pendant au moins plusieurs années. Pourquoi demandez-vous?"

Harry let out a frustrated sigh and scrubbed his fingers through his already messy hair, “J’ai l’intuition que cela pourrait être nécessaire bientôt. Je ne peux pas l'expliquer mieux que ça.”

Saturday 16 April, 1994; Hogwarts, GO club meeting

All eyes were on Petunia as she addressed the girls with an incredible opportunity. “Next month on the nineteenth, I hope to be able to take at least eight of you to join Briallen and myself to visit the muggle world where we will be touring the manufacturing plant where my husband works. He’ll be primarily helping Briallen solve her Enchanting project issues while at the same time give you all an idea of what lies beyond the Ministry or Diagon Alley. There are many different options of employment within a company. There are office workers such as secretaries, office managers, and file clerks. Out on the shop floor, there are an even wider range of job titles, many of which I know you would never have heard of. When we get done with the tour, we shall return back to the school. Additionally, Hogwarts will be hosting a career fair with representatives from all sorts of magical and muggle companies during the first week of June. Each of the muggle representatives will be ‘in-the-know’ regarding magic so there’ll be no need to shield your words. They will be on-hand to answer any questions you might have as well as provide information about what sort of educational requirements are needed for a specific profession.” She pointed to a raised hand from Pansy.

“High Inquisitor, if these companies are all muggle; how are we going to know how to perform the requirements?”

Petunia nodded approvingly, “That’s a good question, Pansy. Simply put, once you graduate from Hogwarts, you will then transfer to a new ten-week course to help you adjust and learn how to live and work in the muggle world. This includes learning what you’ll need to start in your chosen profession. If the position is something that you would need specialized training in, say as a machinist or something; the Crown will assist you in finding a school for you to attend.”

Another hand was raised, “When do we need to call our parents by?”

“I would recommend you call as soon as you get back to your Houses,” Petunia answered to their murmured chatter. “The date is tentatively set for the nineteenth of May.”

The girls were intrigued despite the prospect of even more schooling. Ginny was especially looking forward to it and explained why, “All my life, mum has spent teaching me to become what she views as ‘the perfect housewife and mother.’ I don’t want that and no matter how many times I’ve tried to tell her, she refuses to listen. She thinks that a woman’s place is in the home caring for her husband and children. Even dad’s tried to explain to her that I might want to look beyond the safe confines of the Ministry for a couple of years while I’m still young and energetic, but nope! She gets this weird twitch in her eye and just assigns me more lessons on housekeeping as if learning how to cast a cleaning charm is the most important thing in the world.”

Luna cocked her head thoughtfully, “It could be her desire for you to remain home and safe stems from her experiences during the last war where she lost most of her family. She probably feels threatened every time someone suggests leaving the safety of the world she’s created in her mind.”

Ginny scoffed derisively, “Whatever her reasoning, I don’t care. I want to see what’s out there and if it’s right for me. She’s already driven away my older brothers by being over-protective and smothering, I won’t let her do that to me.”

As soon as the meeting broke up, the girls immediately scampered back to their Houses to call home, hoping that their parents would allow them to take part in the rare opportunity the High Inquisitor offered them.

While the girls were holding their meeting, Harry was experiencing something he hadn’t since his second year back in his home universe. He was standing looking around the spacious interior of Slytherin House. Draco strode up to him with a wide smile on his face, “So what do you think? Grand enough for you?”

Harry slowly nodded as his eyes swept the room taking in all the details, “It’s just how I remember it from back in the other world, even down to the scratch in the floor over by the window looking into the lake.”

Draco clapped him on the shoulder, “Come on, the others are already waiting.” He led the raven-haired Puff down a corridor and knocked twice on a nondescript door. It opened to reveal a curious-looking Vincent whose face turned serious, “Passphrase?”

Draco winked at Harry and replied, “Snape is a plonker.” Harry chuckled at hearing that as he was let in. Inside, the room was laid out with a couple of couches, a dozen chairs, and several gaming tables. Upon closer inspection, a couple revealed themselves to be muggle pinball machines!

Harry thumbed over to the pinball machines, “Really? I would’ve figured that Slytherin would abhor having these things around. They’re muggle, right?”

Vince wagged his hand, “At one point probably, but these have been modified using magic to not rely on electricity.”

Harry followed them in and joined a group of the others at a poker table. “What’s the buy-in?”

Justin greeted him by saying, “Five Galleons. The Rainbow colored chips is one Galleon. Blue chips are five; White chips are ten, and the Reds are worth twenty-five.”

Digging into his money pouch, Harry pulled out twenty Galleons and received a mixed set of chips and settled in to play a couple of rounds. Still chuckling to himself, he remarked that the only things they were missing were a couple of Cuban cigars and a waitress slinging whiskey to the players. Greg laughed and agreed with him. “My dad would have his old ‘war buddies’ come over and do just that, except that he used our elves as waitresses.”

Three hours later and Harry was up by ten Galleons. He was currently holding a staring contest between Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini as the dealer, Dean, dealt out the first set of five-card draw. “Ante up, gentlemen.” All three dropped a blue chip into the pot and watched dispassionately as Dean dealt out five cards to each player. Harry took a look and saw that he had a Hell of a hand. Dean said, “Blaise, we’ll start with you.”

Blaise plucked another blue chip, “I’ll bet five.” Both Theo and Harry called. Blaise tossed out two cards, “I’ll take two.” Dean burnt one card then dealt out two fresh ones to Blaise. “Theo?” Theo took three. Dean turned to Harry who thought for a moment and smirked inwardly as a floating sensation settled over him. “Harry?”

“I’m good with these.” He let that inward smile out as he settled back in his chair. He heard the others muttering around him.

“Gents?”

Theo checked, while Blaise bet two reds. Harry raised another red chip prompting Blaise to raise his eyebrow questioningly. Theo folded leaving the two ‘adversaries’ to stare unblinking at each other. Finally Blaise broke the silence, “I think you’re full of it, Potter. I’m going to raise you everything I have. That’s a hundred Galleons to the winner.” Hand called, Blaise laid out his cards. He had a baby straight of diamonds.

Harry smiled serenely, “I hope you like eating humble pie, because it’s about to be served.” He laid out his full house of Jacks and Aces. The others hooted in surprise while Blaise sat there open-mouthed with Theo laughing his bum off. Sweeping the pot into his pile, Harry cashed out and bowed to everyone, “Thank you for a wonderful time. I’m going to sit the next couple of rounds out and get a drink. Blaise? Cheers.” He doffed an imaginary hat to the still-stupefied teen and left the table.

Later, Harry was still ensconced on the couch, drink in hand when Blaise sat down next to him. Giving his friend a cool smile, he asked, “You’re not still angry about that hand, are you?”

Blaise blinked, “What? Nah, it’s just a game. Where’d you learn to play poker like that?”

Harry sipped his Butterbeer, “Back home. The Gryffindor upperclassmen were notorious for holding all-night poker tournaments after test season. The only requirements for getting in were you needed to be able to buy-in and you had to be at least a fifth year.”

“Then how did you get in?”

Harry snorted, “My fame, of course. Briallen here is the ‘Girl-Who-Lived,’ right? Back home, I was the ‘Boy-Who-Lived.’ I guess some of them wanted to see if I could hold my own in the face of more experienced players. I watched during my first year and asked to sit in a round or two in my second.”

“And?” Blaise prompted him to finish.

Harry’s return grin was predatory, “I swept the floor with some of them. My version of the Weasley Twins were most displeased with me for a couple of months after I had cleaned them out of their savings.”

Blaise scoffed and shook his head, “Those two. They sound almost as bad as the ones here.”

Harry made an indiscriminate noise and took another sip, “They’re alright, as long as someone knows how to rein them in.”

As they sat there, an unnatural chill fell over the room causing Harry to shiver. He turned to see Blaise looking unconcerned and flipping idly through a magazine, “Did you feel that?”

Blaise didn’t even look up, “Feel what?”

Harry glanced around the room, “Like there was someone doing something they shouldn’t and somehow it involves me.”

Blaise snorted, “That’s a weird thing to say. You’re starting to sound like the Lovegood Twins.”

Harry sat back and tried to shake off the feeling, “Yeah, weird.”

Monday 18 April, 1994; Hogwarts World 2558-P, Headmaster’s office

Albus took another look through his notes and research then tapped on the power-up sequence for the Goblet of Fire. It took on an otherworldly blue aura which vanished a moment later. Pleased with his immediate success, he then used his wand to tap on the appropriate matrix that would send out a magical ‘fishing line’ as it were to tag the ‘applicant’ and bring them back to where the Selection Ceremony would be held. In this case, it was his office. ‘This should make the Goblet bypass all known enchantments and concealments regardless of where the Champion is located. After that, all that should be necessary is to activate the recall order which should bring Harry back to my office.’

Albus steeled himself as he entered in the world he’d chosen to be the designated target site. He’d remembered the designation of the world the Unspeakables of 5678-T had sent their Dolores Umbridge to, and theorized that there ought to be a Harry Potter there as well. With one last look-over, he tapped the activation rune.

There was a low pulsating noise as the Goblet seemingly began accumulating power from who-knew-where followed by an intense beam of white light that shot out of the interior of the cup towards the ceiling and passed through without apparently damaging anything. The noise continued to grow for fifteen minutes until it seemed to reverberate within Albus’ head and very being. The portraits all fled their frames for more hospitable climes. A titanic clap of thunder followed closely by a sharp flash of lightning filled the room; when it faded, a strange-looking teen lay on the floor.

Cheering to himself, Albus strode forward to inspect his newest visitor. “Welcome, Harry Potter of another world! It’s good to see that you’ve arrived safe and sound.”

Harvus ‘Harry’ Potter of World 9999-X blinked his eyes open and groaned in pain. He was singed and dazed from being wrenched from his home universe and dumped in this strange looking room. He automatically checked over his status-growth vest with one hand to make sure his daffodils buds and miniature silver grass plumes were safe and let out a sigh of relief after finding each one where they were supposed to be. His glassy-eyed gaze swept the room before it landed on the most bizarre sight yet. A strangely dressed man with a long white beard beamed down at him muttering in the language of the damned. His stomach roiling, Harvus immediately rolled over and barfed up his last meal all over the feet of the gaudily-dressed clown greeting him. Once the last of his stomach heaved up and out, he begged the gods for forgiveness and promised them anything they wanted if they’d only stop the pain.

Albus frowned at being barfed on, waved his wand and vanished the mess. He frowned again when he heard the strange words coming from the lad’s mouth. “Harry, can you understand me?”

Harvus wiped his mouth and grimaced, ““Fy enw i yw Harvus ac ydw, dwi'n eich deall chi.”

“Albus,” former Headmaster Fortescue called out, “I believe the boy is speaking in Welsh.”

“Ah, that may pose a bit of a problem. Dexter, will you be able to translate for us?”

Headmaster Fortescue waggled his hand, “I might. It’s been a while so my translations might be a little rough. (To Harvus) Ydych chi'n gwybod beth ddigwyddodd?”

Harvus thought about his answer for a moment. “Roeddwn i gartref yn paratoi i gymryd rhan yn yr Ŵyl Wanwyn i Artemis pan oeddwn yn teimlo bod rhywun wedi fy nal mewn llinell gwaywffon cryf. Y peth nesaf dwi’n ei wybod, dwi’n deffro yma ble bynnag mae fan hyn.”

Albus didn’t like being kept out of the conversation, “My boy, can you not speak any English?”

Harvus warily watched the old man, “I can. I don’t like to because it’s the language of the Fungi-wearers.” The English sounded scratchy and hesitant to Albus’ ears as if young Harry was unaccustomed to speaking it.

Both Albus and Dexter were confused. “The who?”

Harvus gave both an incredulous look, “The Fungi-wearers? Those who have committed such a terrible crime that the only standard they’re allowed to wear is that of the Stinkhorn fungus species. Anyone who wears those disgusting things are society’s dregs. Don’t you have anything like that here? Speaking of which, where am I?” His head was still slightly spinning forcing him to steady himself on a nearby chair.

Albus looked nonplussed, “Harry, my boy; you’re in my office here at Hogwarts. This world is known undignifiedly as World 2558-P. I brought you here as a test to see whether or not it’s possible to bring my world’s version of you home safely.”

Harvus shook his head at the absurdity of that and groaned again from the action, ““Allwch chi anfon ataf yn ôl? Rydw i eisiau mynd adref cyn i mi gael fy darganfod ar goll. Ni fyddai’r Henuriaid yn hapus pe bai un o’u Acolytes yn diflannu.”

Dexter automatically translated that to Albus who nodded affirmatively, “Yes, I can. Now that I’ve proven that it is indeed possible to bring someone across the dimensional divide; I can send you back. It will only take a few moments.” He set about reversing the process. As the light surrounding the Goblet built up again, Harvus winced then doubled over in excruciating pain. His anguished yells were overridden by the sound of another crack of thunder and flash of lightning; when it faded, Harvus was gone.

Albus joyously danced about his office, “It works! Now I don’t have to pester those damned Unspeakables about getting Potter back where he belongs!” He dropped into his throne, “Ah, it does this old heart a world of good to succeed in something that has never been done before. I think I’ll give it another couple of days to examine the results before I go about bringing Harry here. I’m worried about the injuries that what’s-his-name…Harvus, I believe you said; acquired on his arrival.”

Whistling a jaunty tune from his childhood, Albus began collecting up his notes and research to dig deeper into the enchantments.

Wednesday 20 April, 1994; Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Director Amelia Bones’ office

Amelia sat back in her seat and smiled fondly at the phone call she’d just completed with her niece who’d informed her of the impending field trip to a muggle manufacturing company and the desire to go. Amelia asked who else would be attending and was told that the others were part of their GO club. “Please, Auntie!” Susan had begged, “When else would a witch be able to get a chance to experience a guided tour of something bigger than Diagon Alley or the Ministry?”

Amelia chuckled at the memory as she rose from her chair and headed out into the Auror bullpen. She glanced around before spotting her quarry, “Shack, I have an assignment for you.”

Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt turned in his chair, “Yes, Boss?”

She handed him a slip of paper containing the name and address of Grunnings Drills, “I need you to vet the company and find out the usual safety and transportation sites as soon as you can. Susie’s got a field trip coming up on the nineteenth of May and I want to make sure it’s as safe as can be.”

Shack took the slip and read the address. He glanced up curiously, “Muggle?” At her nod, he turned back to his desk and retrieved a binder. Opening it up revealed nearby apparition points and ran a finger down the list before choosing one and scribbling it down on a fresh sheet of paper. He put the binder back and stood up, “I’ll get going on this right away.” Amelia stepped back to allow him to leave before heading off to the break room to hunt down a cup of coffee and maybe even a donut.

When Shack returned a couple of hours later, he had a curious smirk on his normally placid features. Amelia spotted him and waved him into her office. “What’d you find?”

“Vernon Dursley recognized me immediately and offered to give me a personal tour so I wouldn’t have to waste time skulking around,” he replied amusedly. He pulled out his notes and read them off, “Grunnings Drills is all aboveboard and has had no major issues with the magical world. There were only two low-level employees who had a run-in with the Obliviators after witnessing the transport of a herd of hippogriffs about a month ago, but otherwise the company’s clean.” He made a copy of the report for her and one for the Records department and handed hers over.

“Anything you noticed that didn’t make it into the report?” She inquired as she looked over the official form.

Shack huffed, “If I had known more about the muggle world when I graduated, I think I’d be working for them. Some of the things I saw blew away my notions of what the muggles are capable of. I saw machines making machines, gigantic machines making the tiniest of parts, and all of it without the slightest bit of magic.”

Amelia smiled understandingly, “Sometimes magic can be found even in the places where it’s least expected. Alright, thanks for the assist. You can go back to whatever you were doing before.” Taking her dismissal, Shack left her office and wandered back to his desk. He shook his head at the memories of what he’d experienced today and dimly wondered if it was too late to make a change.

Down in the Department of Mysteries, Trans-Dimensional Room A113…

Algernon stepped into the room and crossed over to where the Mirror of Erised had been permanently installed. He had received word from his 9999-X counterpart about information regarding Dolores Umbridge that the other man thought he’d want to know about.

The image of Saul Croaker resolved itself, “Greetings from 9999-X! How’s everything going there?”

Algernon bobbed his head, “Remarkably stable right now ever since we dumped Dolores onto you. Speaking of whom, I was told you have news regarding her.”

Saul’s face cracked into a wide and toothy grin, “Indeed I do! You’re gonna love this. Dolores will no longer be terrorizing anyone ever again.”

One of Algernon’s eyebrows rose in incredulity, “You didn’t kill her, did you?”

“In a manner of speaking. She’d been running supply raids on several warehouses for food and materials for a while now. The Elders have grown tired of her antics so they sent an emissary to offer her a chance to go somewhere that we couldn’t follow and she’d be set free.”

Algernon’s mouth dropped open in surprise and a bit of horror, “You let her go through the Mirror?!” At Saul’s slowly widening grin, his own face grew suspicious, “What did you do?”

Saul buffed his nails on his robes, “A bit of misdirection is all, really. We made her believe that we had access to another portal similar to the Mirror that would allow her to travel to a new world where there weren’t any ‘evil Dryads’ or their subjugated slaves. In reality, it was a converted hallway that led into our prisoner processing facility. She was gassed the moment she stepped through to knock her out. After that, the techs checked her over for any foreign magics and devices then shipped her over to Wistman’s Wood where she was revived and led to believe that the portal automatically knocks a person out to save them the trouble of becoming disoriented from the transfer.”

Algernon tried to remember the key detail about this Wistman’s Wood. Saul saw the look on his counterpart’s face and clued him in, “The Wood is where we send condemned criminals to be lashed to the epiphyte-covered life-sucking magical oak trees commonly referred to as the ‘Trees of Living Death.’ The condemned spend the last vestiges of their miserable lives being drained of their life energy. The trees will slowly drain them of every last mineral and if they have magic, every last bit of reserve while keeping them conscious and distantly aware of their surroundings.”

Shuddering at the thought of such an existence, Algernon muttered, “That’s a horrible way to die. But it couldn’t have happened to a more rotten Toad. How long does it take on average for a person to die?”

Saul shrugged unconcernedly, “On average? I’d say about maybe about twenty years; longer if they’re magical. I wouldn’t put it past Dolores to still be there fifty years from now. Whether or not she’d still be recognizable and not just a decayed bag of bones is another thing.”

Algernon sighed in relief then snickered out loud, “I just remembered that my Queen had inquired if these trees were available to rent, if you will. She’s hinted that she’s got some prisoners that need to just disappear.”

Saul laughed, “I’ll see what I can do. Anyways, I’ve got a meeting with one of my Acolytes. He was gibbering something about a bearded demon that’d dragged him from his home to ask him questions about a cup.” He gave a jaunty wave and disconnected the line.

Algernon frowned as he thought about what the man had said. “Bearded demon? Nah, it couldn’t be…”

Thursday 5 May, 1994; Hogwarts, Courtyard behind the Greenhouses

Draco stood next to his Magical Architecture and Construction project nervously awaiting his professor’s inspection. He’d worked hard to design and build a relaxing get-away as per the requirements. Each student was given a boundary of 1.5 cubic meters in which to design a place to ‘get away from the distractions of the outside world.’ He was sure that his design would win the quasi-competition that had begun almost immediately. The other students had laid down bets as to whose entry would win with the stakes being that the losers would have to perform all the grunt work (carrying tools, recording measurements, etc.) until the end of the school year.

He took a sharp inward breath to calm his jangling nerves and sighed loudly. Next to him, a burly fifth year gave him a smug smirk, “’Fraid you’re gonna lose, Malfoy? You should be. Daddy’s no longer here to bail your arse out anymore.”

Draco gave him a scathing sneer, “Are you still going on about him? Yes, my father is in Azkaban but he deserves it for the shit he pulled with Fenrir Greyback and who-knows-what else he was involved in over his life. Seriously, move on…” Whatever else he was going to say died in his throat as their professor arrived.

Half hour later…

“Well, Mr. Malfoy; let’s see what you’ve got for us.” Draco blinked stupidly at being caught in a daydream.

“Uh, yes sir. This is my submission for the design challenge. I used a combination of Charms, Transfiguration, Runes, and Potions to get the look I wanted which was ‘Treetop Tent Camping.’” He hurried to open the oak door and gestured for the professor to step inside.

The floor inside had obviously been magically expanded given that the interior dimensions were clearly much larger than it should’ve been. Light and airy wood paneling covered the walls on three sides while the fourth was left open to view the interior spaces. Draco explained his reasoning, “I figured you’d want to see how this was all constructed. The paneling is still there, the wood’s just been transfigured into clear glass.”

The professor nodded his approval for such a decision, “Thank you for anticipating that. I had to ask the others to remove some parts of their design to allow me access.” He continued to wend his way around the room noting the peacefulness and scent of cinnamon from a bowl of potpourri on the table. There was a deeply padded armchair in one corner, a reading lamp hung overhead, a small side table next to the chair, and three large bookcases set up filled with all manner of books and magazines. Next to the door that led outside were a counter, a basic stovetop, and a single cupboard for storing some supplies. A thick, lushly appointed carpet lay underfoot and a large bay window overlooked the courtyard towards the Covered Bridge. “Show me where the controls are, if you will.”

Draco crossed the floor and pointed out the runic control board, “I installed heating, cooling, and lighting runes here, professor. With a simple tap of your wand, you can make it as warm or as cool as you want. I even installed shielding so a person could play a muggle radio in here without worrying about magical interference.”

Nodding, the professor gestured to the only other door in the structure, “Where does that lead?”

“A simple bathroom, sir. It’s got a sink, toilet, and a cupboard for storage. I figured that if someone were inclined, they could spend a couple of days here and if they did, they’d need to use the loo occasionally.”

Jotting down his notes and observations on a clipboard, his professor gave the nervous teen a small smile, “I like what you’ve done here, Mr. Malfoy. You’ve exceeded my expectations greatly.” Draco followed the man outside. “Listen up, the results from my inspections will be posted on the class bulletin board within the hour. In the meantime, you’re dismissed. Enjoy your day.” He left the milling crowd to their own devices.

The boys of 'The Group' appeared not too long afterward, led by Neville who greeted a still-stressed out Draco. “What’s got you so nervous, Draco? Peaches been following you again?” The rambunctious dragon had gotten it into her head that the blond boy must’ve been hiding fruit in his robes and refused to be swayed until she had nosed through his clothes completely; ripping a couple of pockets in the process and embarrassing him to no end.

Draco let out shaky laugh, “No, nothing like that. I just got done showing off my Architecture project to my professor and I think my nerves are still going.” He gestured to the door, “You all want to see inside?” At their eager nods, he led them inside.

More than one boy felt their mouths drop open at the sight of the interior. Harry slid into the armchair and smiled contentedly, “I could easily see myself zoning out here. It’s incredibly peaceful in here and almost like something out of one of those magazines I’ve seen you reading.”

Draco puffed up at the praise, “Thank you, I did take some inspiration from them. There was one in particular where the picture showed a cabin in the Pacific Northwest of the United States somewhere. White puffy clouds drifted past the balcony with the sun either setting or rising in the distance.”

Dean was examining the book selection and commented, “If it was the Pacific Northwest, then the sun would be setting…I think. You’d have to ask either the Granger twins or Briallen to be sure.”

Harry snorted in laughter, “Granger twins, that’s hilarious. This school does seem to be hosting more than its fair share of doubles.” He turned to face Draco, “I’m in love with this hut, Draco. I hope you win whatever the competition is you’re in. If I had the means, I’d hire you in an instant to install something like this back home.”

Draco cocked his head puzzled, “In your homeworld?”

Harry shook his head, “No, I no longer consider that to be home. Home is with the Dursleys in Little Whinging, and I can’t believe I just said that.” The others snickered at his incredulous expression.

Thursday 19 May, 1994; Grunnings Drills, Surrey

Things were relatively quiet over the next couple of weeks at Hogwarts. Classes continued as they had, Briallen put on a couple more impromptu concerts for Hermione and their friends, and Harry got to wow the crowds with his prowess on the Quidditch pitch. Cedric had decided to play the younger teen more often so he could concentrate on coaching from the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Petunia had contacted her counterpart within the muggle Ministry for Education and discreetly inquired about opportunities for magically-raised students who wanted to go to the universities and needed assistance on how to adapt to a non-magical lifestyle.

The day of the GO club field trip to Grunnings arrived. Amelia and Wade Davis, father to Tracey, flooed into Petunia’s office to meet up with the girls and get some last minute instructions on what to expect.

“Just like your visits to the muggle world over the summer, if you have a question; just ask and either my husband or I will be happy to answer it as best we can,” Petunia announced to the eager group. She opened up the connection to her home and instructed them to wait a moment for her to alter the wards. “I’ll let you know when it’s safe. In case of an emergency and you get shunted off to a different grate, the address is ‘The Flower Bed.’”

Amelia held up her hand, “Is there a password to go along with that?” At Petunia’s shake of her head, she hummed her understanding.

After Petunia gave the all-clear, the girls and two parents stepped into the flames one by one and vanished in a whirl of green-tinged magic.

Of those present, the only one who had never ridden in a muggle vehicle before was Amelia. When she raised a questioning eyebrow at Wade, he shrugged and answered simply, “I’m a half-blood.”

The drive over to Grunnings was uneventful, if you could count a van full of excitably chattering and squealing teen girls uneventful. Petunia was greeted by the gate guard and told where to park. She slid the van into the indicated spot and led the group to the front doors where Vernon stood waiting.

“Welcome everyone to Grunnings Drills and Manufacturing. My name is Vernon Dursley and I shall be your guide for today. Assisting me is Valerie Munchwell; she’s a graduate of Hogwarts as well so you don’t have to phrase your questions carefully.”

Amelia’s eyebrows rose sharply, “Miss Munchwell? When did you graduate and which House were you in?”

Valerie smiled understandingly which grew into a teasing grin, “I graduated in 1971 from Ravenclaw. I vaguely remember you, Miss Bones, correct? (Amelia nodded) Yes, I seem to remember this spunky firstie who wore the robes of Gold and Black and repeatedly tried to storm the Lions’ Den in search of adventure.” All eyes swung over to a blushing Amelia who refused to look at them. “I see that you’ve grown out of that mischievousness. Shall we get started? I’ll take the group onwards while Mr. Dursley and his niece sort out her project issues.”

Grunnings Electrical/Electronics Inspection Room

“Okay, Bri; let’s see what you’ve been having problems with,” Vernon began as he led his niece into the room. “Go put your box on the table there and let it start operating.”

Bri did as she was told. She handed him a copy of the enchantment matrix and activated the music box. As before, the power supply shorted out twice before settling down. Then the dancer got about halfway through its routine before being violently thrown from its platform and the whole thing wheezed to a stop. “That. That’s what keeps happening and I can’t figure it out.”

Vernon traced the pathways of the matrices with his finger, “Okay, this all seems to be valid. The next thing we’re going to do is scan this into the computer so it can build a digital reconstruction of the box and allow us to test variations of your design without risking the actual unit.” He put words into action as he fed the schematics into the scanner.

Briallen watched with undisguised fascination at the speed in which the computer software analyzed her enchantment matrices, testing out different connections and variables at an astonishing pace. “Is this normally how fast it runs?”

Vernon waggled his hand, “For something as relatively simple as this? Yes. We do have some schematics where it would take it a lot longer due to the complexity involved.” The computer pinged and displayed a message indicating that it had found a solution to the two primary issues. He punched them up and overlaid them over her original ones. “See? If you connect the pathway from here to there, you would be able to run power without generating those hiccups you saw.”

Bri was gobsmacked, “But how…why would it start up if the power wasn’t connected correctly?”

Vernon zoomed in on the trace readout, “It looks like…ah, it looks like when there’s enough power, the flow effectively jumps over the interruption there. You see there in the corner? The rune wasn’t engraved properly and left a gap between two lines. Thus when power resistance built up, you essentially created a spark gap which would only connect when a threshold was reached. It’s probably why the box would get scorched during operation.”

Briallen furiously scribbled down the explanation in her notebook, “What about the dancer?”

Switching screens, Vernon pointed out that the power problem would scramble the logic circuits. “Every time you turned it on, whatever hard-wired memory of instructions you had would get mixed up until the point where the dancer was ejected.”

Bri grew thoughtful, “Okay, so how do I solve this issue? Should I rebuild everything from scratch or just fix the traces and hope for the best?” She sat there thinking quietly before answering her own question, “I think I need to start over…but, after I experiment with the computer’s suggestions on this one first.”

Vernon nodded his approval, “Good idea.” He gave her an amused twinkling wink. “Would you like to use our engraving machine while we’re here?”

Briallen’s eyes matched his own twinkling excitement, “You bet I would!”

Back with the general tour…

Amelia wasn’t the only one feeling utterly awed by what she’d seen as they were introduced to the machine assembly room. Towering cranes lifted and carried immense electric motors overhead to be installed into equally monstrous frames which would then be transferred to other workstations to have their electrical components put in. It was clearly a carefully coordinated dance of machine and workers that awed even the most jaded of visitors.

Wade nudged Amelia and pointed her to the looks of the pureblood girls, “I get the feeling that shuffling papers or taking dictation in the offices of the Ministry is no longer going to be good enough for them. Not after witnessing all of this.”

Amelia let out a sigh of agreement, “I know, right? Susan used to tell me that she really wanted to be an Auror when she grew up, but now? I agree with your feeling that she’s going to want to be part of all this.”

Valerie handed them a white hard helmet to wear before taking them to a station where a screw jackshaft was being machined by a computer controlled lathe. She had to speak louder over the noise and pointed out how the machine received commands from either the operator via the control panel or from a data disk that was inserted into a special slot. “Some of our machines even have the capability to be connected to the central server which allows multiple programs to be loaded without human interaction.” She pointed to the monitor where the girls could see the rod of zinc-plated steel spinning between two clamps and the cutting tool gouging out the metal. On another monitor, they could see the program running, each line of code scrolling faster than they could see.

After leaving that station, Valerie led them over to where a completed drill assembly was being tested before getting sent off to packaging.

At the end of the tour, Bri rejoined the others who were milling around as if in a daze. The girls were staring off into the distance as they tried valiantly to put what they’d seen and learnt into perspective. Pansy quietly summed it up, “My head hurts. I don’t think I can cope with what I saw back there. Muggles have progressed so much further than what my father led me to believe.”

Hermione gave her friend a gentle hug, “It’s tough to wrap your head around, isn’t it? I had a similar reaction when I got to see my first magical creature or witness the demonstration that Professor McGonagall gave when she delivered my letter of acceptance to Hogwarts. I couldn’t believe that magic was real and thought it had to be a trick of some kind.”

When the group returned to the school, they immediately dispersed back to their Houses to try and unwind from their incredible visit to Grunnings. More than one of the girls vowed that they needed to seriously consider whether or not their original education plan was still the path they wanted to follow.

Friday 27 May 1994; Hogwarts World 2558-P, Albus’ office

It had been several weeks since Albus had had any real success with the Goblet. The first test had been with Harvus Potter of World 9999-X, but soon afterwards as Albus attempted to adjust the effects of being yanked out of another dimension; each successive version of Harry Potter met an untimely end, sometimes gruesomely. The last version had shown up in his office inside-out and bled out on his carpet wailing in pain and terror. It was all Albus could do to send the boy back as fast as he could trigger the activation matrix.

Albus mourned briefly for each failure but eventually shrugged off any concerns he might’ve had about essentially killing half a dozen Harry Potter variants. “Their deaths were unenviable but ultimately necessary for the Greater Good of this world. My Harry Potter needs to be brought home to accomplish his Destiny.”

Outside, Minerva strolled past his office and heard what sounded like someone was playing bowling inside. She leant in and could just make out the sound of Albus yelling up a storm with someone that sounded suspiciously like Harry Potter. Shaking her head to dispel the lunacy of that thought, she resumed her walk, “It’s not possible for Mr. Potter to be in there. He’s safe and loved with his counterpart.”

She glanced back over her shoulder as her hearing picked up the sound of another round of the alleged bowling and snickered to herself, “I hope he’s at least having fun playing with himself.”

Wednesday 1 June, 1994; Hogwarts World 5678-T; Great Hall

Petunia stood by at the ready to welcome each of the representatives from the various muggle companies who’d agreed to attend their first ever career fair. To facilitate ease of material transference, she’d coordinated with Toby to oversee the elves who would visit with the representatives to gather up and bring back whatever was needed, be it the posters showing off pictures of their respective companies and what they offered, to free swag bags filled with samples of products.

The floo flared up as the Crown Wizard stepped out and greeted her, “Ah, High Inquisitor Petunia Dursley, I presume?”

She smiled and bowed her head perfunctorily, “Welcome to Hogwarts, Sir Rowland.” She gave him a sly smile, “I trust your trip up here was smooth and uneventful?”

He chuckled, “Smoothest flight I’ve ever been on, yes. Where do you need me?”

Petunia turned to indicate Head Boy Percy Weasley, “Mr. Percy Weasley, this is Crown Wizard, Sir Thomas Rowland. If you’d be so kind to escort him to the Great Hall and answer any questions he might have?”

Percy bowed his head in respect and gestured to the door, “This way, Sir Rowland.”

After their departure, the rest of the arrivals began stepping through the floo in sequence. Each one was welcomed and requested to wait for the others. “We simply do not have enough prefects to cover all of you.” A few of them raised their hands and revealed that they were in fact Hogwarts Alumni and would be perfectly happy to assist. Petunia cheered immediately, “Well, this is wonderful! Alright then, why don’t you and you gather up as many as you think you can handle and head there immediately? The elves should’ve already brought up your supplies and equipment.”

The designated helpers soon had the others organized and ushered out of her office. When the fire finally died down back to its normal orange flames, she sighed in relief. “Toby?” the elf popped in and looked up at her expectantly. “If anyone else shows up, please escort them to the Great Hall.” Toby saluted cheekily and popped away.

Great Hall…

Bri and the others filtered in and were stunned at the sheer amount of variety being set up for Career Day. Everyone, especially the older students who’d been through previous years when all that was given to them was a handful of pamphlets, was impressed by the sheer scope and opportunities.

“Shall we just wade in and see what catches our fancy?” Millie suggested as she eased past Selene to investigate the section set up for Marketing.

Bri looked over to see Hermione practically vibrating with eager anticipation and cheekily whispered in her ear, “I don’t know why you’re getting all excited. I expect you to stay home and raise our children.”

Hermione stopped and glared half-heartedly at her unrepentantly snickering girlfriend, “Very funny, Briallen and here I thought you’d be the perfect one to stay home since the only useful skill you have is using that tongue on me.” Bri mimed being mortally wounded then quick as a flash, leant in to nibble on Hermione’s neck making her mewl. “Stop that. If you get me going, I’ll be very upset if I miss this career fair.”

Bri’s voice grew low and lusty, “You make that sound like a bad thing. Angry you is so much more fun to tame.” She drew Hermione in close and wrapped her arms around her waist. “I want to do so many wicked things to you when you’re angry.”

Despite the growing warmth in her knickers, Hermione managed to extricate herself from Briallen’s amorous advances and leveled a warning finger at her, “Stop. We’ll play later.”

Eyes wide and eager, Briallen practically bounced on her toes, “Promise?”

Hermione was the one to give the kiss that made Briallen mewl, “It’ll be a night you won’t soon forget.” She drew off slowly leaving her girlfriend practically begging for more before skipping off into the crowd.

Harry eased through the crowd alongside Neville and Draco and made the observation, “This isn’t what I’d expected a career fair to be like here at Hogwarts. Last year, I vaguely remember a stack of pamphlets on the table expounding in the driest terms possible what their respective elective requirements were. This is insane, I love it.”

Draco bobbed his head in agreement, “That happened here too and you’re right, it was downright boring in comparison. I only took the classes I have now because I got the rare chance to take a short tour of London. If I hadn’t done that, I think I would’ve ended up with a useless class like Divination or something.”

Neville pointed to where the booth set up to work in conservation was located, “I think I found my future. I’ll see you guys later.” He disappeared into the throng of people.

Harry smiled after Neville left, “It’s still nice to see him, or at least a variation of the Neville I used to know, find his place in the world. Back in the other world, Neville would be dreading telling his Gran about wanting to go work in a job area that involved plants.”

Draco picked up and read a flyer to become an actuary for the insurance industry and nodded distractedly. He gave the representative a wan smile, “I’m good at math, but my focus is on architecture to be honest.”

“Quite alright, young man. If I recall correctly, the trades section is over there by the Slytherin table.” He pointed off to the left side of the Hall.

Draco thanked him and started to lead the way over, “So what did you have in mind for a future career, Harry?”

Harry sighed loudly, “Dunno, to be honest. Last year, I would’ve probably picked Auror or just being alive long enough to enjoy life given how so many people were after me, but now after all of this here in this universe; I honestly don’t have a clue.”

Draco cheered when he spotted several architecture design companies and clapped Harry on the shoulder, “Well, you’ve got a couple of years yet. It’s not like anyone’s going to drag you back to your homeworld, right?”

Harry snorted derisively, “Let’s hope not.”

Hogwarts 2558-P, same time…

Albus checked and double checked to make sure that this would be the correct sequence to bring Harry back home safely unlike his past failures. “This goes there, link that to this…that should do it. It’s a shame I cannot bring anyone else in here to share in the upcoming arrival of Mr. Potter, but I do believe that everything is ready. Oh, where is that medallion?” He rummaged around in his desk for a couple of moments before exclaiming triumph at finding it. “Good, good. Can’t let Harry get any ideas about disappearing on me again.” He reached out with his wand and tapped in the final activation sequence, “For the Greater Good!”

Back in the Great Hall, Hogwarts 5678-T…

Mia found Harry checking out a flyer listing the opportunities in the field of Veterinary Science. “Hey, Harry. Whatcha got there?” She laid her chin on his shoulder.

He smiled back, “Just looking to be honest. I want to do something that doesn’t involve law enforcement, a mindless drone within the Ministry, teaching, or in Saint Mungo’s.”

Mia laughed, “What about a shopkeeper in Diagon?”

“Yuck, I think that’s even worse. I’m not worried; I’ll find something to hold my interest.”

She tickled his ribs making him squirm out of her grasp, “What about becoming an astronaut? Fly to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond? You know, be like Captain Kirk and explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before!”

Before Harry could respond in kind, the Hall began pulsing with a reverberating noise that seemed to emanate from everywhere at once. The windows started making cracking noises as a rogue wind suddenly sprang up from nowhere. A beam of blazing white light shot down and enveloped Harry, freezing him in place. Mia screamed his name and tried to push her way through the maelstrom to reach him. She reached out to grab his outstretched hand and just managed to brush their fingertips together as a titanic clap of thunder and crack of lightning rocked the castle.

The last words anyone heard was of Harry screaming in pain, “Mia! Save me!”

Translations:

Harry to Professor Maxwell:

English: “I'm sorry, professor! I was reading this novel and I forgot the time. This won't happen again.

French: “Je suis désolé, professeur ! Je lisais ce roman et j'ai oublié l'heure. Cela n'arrivera plus.”

=== 

Professor Maxwell to Harry:

English: “Far be it from me to forbid you from reading comfortably in French, Mr. Potter, but I would like you to use this attention in my class.”

French: “Loin de moi l'idée de vous interdire de lire confortablement en français, M. Potter, mais j'aimerais que vous utilisiez cette attention dans ma classe.”

=== 

Professor Maxwell to her class:

English: “Now, while the Goblins of Gringotts will be able to translate English into whichever country's language you happen to be in; it's preferable that you at least have a basic understanding of how to open an account should you require one in a muggle bank.”

French: “Désormais, alors que les gobelins de Gringotts seront capables de traduire l'anglais dans la langue du pays dans lequel vous vous trouvez ; il est préférable que vous ayez au moins une compréhension de base de la façon d'ouvrir un compte si vous en avez besoin dans une banque moldue.

=== 

Harry to ‘the banker’:

English: “Hello. I would like to open an account.”

French: “Bonjour. Je voudrais ouvrir un compte.”

=== 

Harry to Professor Maxwell:

English: “Professor, I was wondering if I’m doing well enough to pass for a local.”

French: “Professeur, je me demandais si j'allais assez bien pour passer pour un local.”

=== 

Professor Maxwell to Harry:

English: “Not hardly. You aren’t going to be fluent enough to pass for a local until you’ve spoken nothing but French for at least several years. Why do you ask?”

French: “Pas à peine. Vous ne parlerez pas assez couramment pour passer pour un local tant que vous ne parlerez que français pendant au moins plusieurs années. Pourquoi demandez-vous?"

===

Harry to Professor Maxwell:

English: “I’ve got a gut feeling that it might be needed soon. I can’t explain it better than that.”

French: “J’ai l’intuition que cela pourrait être nécessaire bientôt. Je ne peux pas l'expliquer mieux que ça.”

=== 

Harry 9999-X to Albus 2558-P

English: “My name is Harvus and yes, I understand you.”

Welsh: “Fy enw i yw Harvus ac ydw, dwi'n eich deall chi.”

=== 

Portrait Headmaster Fortescue to Harvus

English: “Do you know what happened?”

Welsh: “Ydych chi'n gwybod beth ddigwyddodd?”

=== 

Harvus to Fortescue

English: “I was at home getting ready to take part in the Spring Festival to Artemis when I felt like someone had caught me in a strong spear line. The next thing I know, I’m waking up here wherever here is.”

Welsh: “Roeddwn i gartref yn paratoi i gymryd rhan yn yr Ŵyl Wanwyn i Artemis pan oeddwn yn teimlo bod rhywun wedi fy nal mewn llinell gwaywffon cryf. Y peth nesaf dwi’n ei wybod, dwi’n deffro yma ble bynnag mae fan hyn.”

=== 

Harvus to Albus

English: “Can you send me back? I want to go home before I’m discovered missing. The Elders would not be happy if one of their Acolytes disappeared.”

Welsh: “Allwch chi anfon ataf yn ôl? Rydw i eisiau mynd adref cyn i mi gael fy darganfod ar goll. Ni fyddai’r Henuriaid yn hapus pe bai un o’u Acolytes yn diflannu.”