Chapter 1: On the Way To and Trough London
Notes:
This story sat on my hard drive for weeks now and I was a little unsure about posting it while London is in every ones mind right now, but I thought 'what the heck'.
Oh, and please don't take it too seriously. I just had the question as written in the summary and let it roll. This was the result. (Surprised me as well.)
Chapter Text
Harry sat in the boat in front of the huge man he had only met at midnight tonight about five hours ago. The man hadn’t used the little engine like his uncle had when they had come to the rock in the sea. No, he stuck the tip of his pink umbrella into the water and said something and they moved.
Even over the smell of saltwater and ocean, he could smell the man. He didn’t stink, but it was an unfamiliar smell. Part of it he could distinguish. It smelled like burning wood.
Harry was distracted by the sea. It was grey and infinite and as the sky was grey as well, it looked like one turned into the other. Like a watercolor painting done in grey. Was he in a boat in the sky? Or was the sky the sea? The whole journey had a dreamlike quality.
He felt tiny and lost. The man had been nice, but now that he was alone with him, what did he actually know about him?
He shivered in his oversized hand-me-downs where the stupid t-shirt was so big and its collar so wide, it threatened to slip down his body leaving his thin and scarred upper body for all to see. He wrapped his thin arms around himself, to prevent that. At least the wide clothes made Uncle Vernon careful about hitting him. People might notice.
“Yah cold Harry?” Hagrid asked in his loud voice. He sounded kind, but Harry shrunk back instinctively.
Hagrid was at a loss. The boy was not as he had expected at all!
“I didna mean ta scare ya!” Hagrid said, and the boy shrunk even more into himself. What to do?
Better keep quiet, like with a young hurt animal, letting it come to him.
It was a good strategy and Harry seemed to relax again. Unfortunately, Hagrid did not connect the dots from a young hurt animal to a young hurt boy. Dumbledore had assured him that Harry was well loved and so all evidence to the contrary was overlooked by the loyal man. Quite the feat, but there you have it; a prime example of blind loyalty.
When they arrived at the docks, together with other boats, coming back early this morning, they moved quietly to the train station by foot. It was quite a walk and Harry grew even more hungry than he already was. He went to the really disgusting loo at the station, to wash his hands and face and to drink some tap water at least. Better than nothing. He had learned to take what he could get.
Now, that he was back in civilization Harry’s courage slowly returned. With it, his little snarky inner voice started commenting on everything again. He helped the big man, to buy tickets to London and soon they sat on the rather bumpy train to the capital.
Hagrid chatted on about the world Harry would enter now and Harry listened carefully. This went on for about an hour. The other passengers tried to ignore the strange duo, thinking the big man, who needed two seats was telling a fantasy story to the boy, that definitely did not need a full window seat! But the two had gotten into a nearly empty train when their ride had started at the seaside.
After that long with Hagrid being reasonably nice, Harry decided to ask the question he had since leaving the rock.
“Hagrid?”
“Yes, Harry?”
“How did you get to the little island without a boat?”
“Well, a portkey, wha’ else?”
“Uh, ok. And how will the Dursleys get off the rock in the sea?”
“With a boat, wha’ else?” Hagrid looked at Harry like he was stupid to ask all these questions. To him it seemed to be clear cut.
Harry was amazed. Was the man really that thick? Well, nothing to it, “But we did take their only boat.”
“Oh! Didna think of tha’!”
Harry waited for more than that answer, but none came. He stared at the wild man.
Well, Uncle Vernon and Dudley had enough fat to live on for a while, but what about Aunt Petunia? And what about water? Didn’t a human die after 3 days without? He tried to remember the lesson at school, but Dudley had sat behind him and had kicked his chair repeatedly, so it had been hard to concentrate. Even if he found the lesson quite essential to him.
“Uh, will you go back and save them at some point?”
“Why should I do tha?”
Man was that man dumb! Well, Harry would need to inform a constable or someone then. He really disliked his relatives, but he didn’t want them to starve to death on a rock in the sea!
Later! Now they were on a journey to buy Harry’s school supplies for a magical school! Not that Harry really believed that. Even with the information, Aunt Petunia spilled about his mum and the little pigtail on Dudley’s backside. Not even the umbrella drive on the boat was quite enough.
But didn’t he turn his teaches wig blue? And didn’t he regrow his hair overnight? And didn’t he jump up to the roof of a school building? And... wow. Many instances of inexplicable situations flooded his mind. Magic was real! Even if his relatives had insisted that it was not. They adored the ‘normal’ and judged everything by that standard. Normal was good, every discrepancy was bad. Like magic, like a too big man, like talking to snakes.
Harry grinned in remembrance and said, “Hagrid?”
“Yes, Harry?”
“Can all magical people talk to animals?”
“Nah. Wish I could. Yah can talk ta animals?” Hagrid looked quite excited at the thought, but not disbelieving at all.
So, Harry said still grinning, “I talked to a snake once. It said, ‘thanks amigo’ when I freed her.”
Hagrid felt like he was standing under an ice-cold waterfall. Fear and hate rose in remembrance of the hated Tom Riddle, who had been the one responsible for Hagrid’s expulsion, as well as his fear of all things Slytherin and his memories of You-Know-Who’s horrible, horrible misdeeds.
“Ya can talk ta snakes?” He choked out.
Harry had noticed something was wrong, the moment he had said the last sentence. He had very fine antennae for the moods of others, after all. It was an ingrained survival instinct, and the big man was not safe anymore. That was clear!
So, he looked out of the window, noticing they were in a big city already. London, he guessed.
“Do yah?” Hagrid demanded an answer.
Harry nodded slowly. Ready to duck and run, should the man turn violent.
Hagrid stood up abruptly, nearly bumping his head on the ceiling of the train, and said, “I hafta go.”
Harry had ducked away, as soon as the man moved and hid behind one of the passengers, who looked quite uncomfortable.
The train was rather full by now and Harry and Hagrid had been eyed with great interest by most of the commuters. At last, the ones, who didn’t manage to sleep, while on the really bumpy train.
Hagrid moved in the other direction, the other passengers parting for him easily, and disappeared through the door of the carriage. Not to be seen again.
Harry stood there alone. His seat had been taken quickly but he never thought to protest that.
What now?
He looked around.
Every one of the other passengers looked out of the window or slept, not wanting to get involved.
He moved through the people easily to go to look for the man. He had Harry’s letter and ticket, after all!
Harry’s heart was beating hard. His hands felt clammy. He was totally alone, without anything or anyone. Hadn’t he often wished for that? To be free? He just hadn’t thought of the helplessness he would feel then!
When he left the carriage and entered the loud part between the wagons, there was no sight of Hagrid!
The man could impossibly fit into one of the tiny loos, so Harry walked through the whole train, to look for the man. He was hard to miss, after all. But he was gone!
Harry stood at the end of the last wagon, thinking. What did he want to do now? Go, find this wizarding world himself? Ask a constable for help to get back to his relatives? Who still sat on a rock, he remembered. Tell everyone, who he was, or keep quiet?
He was easily identifiable by the scar on his forehead. He would need to hide it. He had often thought of running away and how he would hide his identity. He had even thought of a few names he would give himself. Like ‘James Croaker’, ‘James Evans’ or ‘Sebastian Walker’ if he needed something totally unconnected to his identity. The first two might be too easy.
He decided, he wanted to find this hidden world and look around unbeknownst to anybody. And if it were possible in any form, he would not go back to the Dursleys. That place was no home. Not his home at least! But he really needed to be careful with giving information. His being able to talk to snakes had made Hagrid run and magically disappear!
Ok. Now a plan. He knew his train would end in Waterloo Station and Hagrid had told him, one could walk to Charing Cross Roads from there to the entrance of the hidden world. Supposedly it was a pub called the ‘Leaky Cauldron’.
When the train stopped at Waterloo Station, Harry was one of the first to disembark. He immediately went to one of the boards, to look where he needed to go.
He was actually thankful to his aunt at the moment. She had always expected him, to navigate in a strange place all by himself. She sent him shopping in the next town by bus and such. So, he had learned to read maps rather quickly. Dudley would have been lost, Harry realized.
Ok, so he needed to cross the Thames. The closest way was the Charing Cross Bridge, but that one was for trains and Harry was not sure if pedestrians could use it too. But he was in the middle of London and the next bridge was Westminster Bridge! The on, with Big Ben! He really wanted to see it and so decided on taking that road. He just needed to remember to turn right into Parliament Street and then he would walk by Trafalgar Square as well! He hoped there was a board with a map there as well, but he was quite confident, he would find the way to Charring Cross. He just needed a cap now! And something to eat!
He jealously watched a woman bite into her just-bought sandwich, crunch her face as if she didn’t like it, pack it back in the plastic wrap and throw it away into the trash, right next to Harry! As soon as she was gone, Harry moved like a viper, picking up the food, that lay innocently on a newspaper and quickly moved away, stuffing the wrapped sandwich into his too-wide pocket. Thankfully, it was much bigger than the holes in it.
He followed the signs that directed him to Westminster Bridge and when he was there, he sat on a bench and ate his sandwich, while enjoying the iconic sight of Big Ben and Westminster Palace, and the River Thames.
Whatever happened now, at least he had that moment. A delicious sandwich, no screeching and bellowing relatives, and a historic view.
Harry really loved history. It was the subject he liked most at school, next to math.
After he had finished, he walked across the bridge leisurely, past Westminster, and then in the direction of Trafalgar Square.
At one tourist shop, he walked really close by a stand with caps and snatched a blue one on the lowest tier with the Union Jack on it and stuffed it into his pocket. All while walking.
He was good at this stuff. It was wrong, he knew, but due to necessity, he had learned to steal anyway. He walked off slowly within a group of tourists, which were too busy looking around to care for the child in their midst.
At Trafalgar Square, he ripped off the price tag of the baseball cap and planted it on his head. He adjusted the size and happily walked on. Now he had one new clothing item that did fit, at least!
He looked at the statue of Nelson on its high column. Wow, the Vice-Admiral really was a hero to the British Empire, considering the pedestal he had been put on!
Well, better move on.
He found another board with a map and saw, that he just had to walk to St. Martin Pl. and then the street would turn into Charing Cross Roads.
On his way, he found an abandoned fatty newspaper that wrapped a nearly complete portion of fish and chips on one of the benches! He devoured that, two benches over as, well. There was too much vinegar on the food, but he didn’t care! It was still delicious!
He cleaned his hands on his already gritty jeans and moved on. One Bobby had looked in his direction, so he really needed to leave!
Soon he was on Charing Cross Road and started looking at all the storefronts, theatre fronts, and pubs for the Leaky Cauldron.
After ten minutes of walking, he saw it! It looked quite delipidated and dirty, but Harry didn’t care! He rushed to the entrance and slipped in.
Chapter Text
The Leaky Cauldron was a good place to hide! It was dark, smoky, and dirty. He would fit right in. As long as no one saw his clothes, that was. The men were wearing dresses! Wow! And there seemed to be no electricity. The only light came from a few candles, the fireplace, and the extremely dirty windows.
Harry had ducked into a dark corner and looked around. Magic was everywhere! Like it was the most normal thing! A dirty rag was ‘cleaning’ the tables autonomously, the dishes collected themselves in a big vat and then the vat levitated itself out of a door to the kitchens, Harry guessed. One witch stirred her tea with her finger. But the finger was outside of the tea and many more such inconsequential and amazing things.
And at the bar sat Hagrid! He was drinking from a huge tankard, spilling beer all over himself and his listeners as he waved it around while telling his story, in between huge gulps of the contents of said tankard.
Once in a while, a listener bought him a clear smoking glass of something, that Hagrid knocked back immediately. And then he was breathing fire!
One of the listeners, a twitchy man with a huge purple turban seemed to ask questions and Harry listened in as well. Hagrid’s voice carried very well here, too.
“In da train to London!” He cried out, “I couldna stay in the same place asa dark wizard, right?”
“... child... not...” Harry could not understand the much quieter man, but Hagrid seemed to talk about Harry!
“Waddaya mean, I shouldna have left him? He’s a parselmouth! Said so himself!”
The listeners seemed to agree, so the purple-topped man frowned but answered something.
“I left them onna rock in da sea! I wouldna have gone back!”
The listeners seemed confused and asked more questions while Hagrid downed another smoking drink and belched out fire.
“Dumbledore sent me ta get ‘im. ‘is family was fleeing de letters, he said. Even gave me da boy’s key! And ‘is letter!”
He waved a letter around and pushed it back into his pocket.
My key? What does that mean? Harry watched the drunken people. He noted, that the purple one was the only one not drinking. No. The man was looking at Harry! Directly!
Harry shrunk back into the shadows, heart beating. What should he do?
But the man turned back to the now singing patrons of the bar and waved a stick unseen by all but Harry and 2 keys and 2 envelopes danced over to the man, who pocketed them quickly and then got up. Calling out goodbyes, he walked to the backdoor, stopped, looked back at Harry, and made a short move with his head, as if to say ‘come’ and went out of the door.
Harry decided to follow. He had no better idea, what to do anyway and he certainly could not stay! Hagrid might recognize him.
It was easy, to move unseen through the masses. The people did not seem to be very observant. Well, except the turbaned one.
He slipped out of the backdoor, just when he saw people walk out of the now greenlit fireplace! What?
He turned wide-eyed to the man, who had waited for him and said, “Hi.”
Wow, how smooth.
The man was reading one of the letters he had appropriated and nodded to Harry.
“Harry Potter, I presume?”
Harry was shocked, why did the man know his name? Hagrid must have said it really often!
“Yeah?”
“Don’t be afraid, I have absolutely no problem with parselmouths.”
“Are those people that can talk to snakes?”
“Yes. You don’t know?”
Harry shook his head.
“I see. Are you new to the wizarding world?”
“Heard of it the first time tonight.”
“From that oaf?”
Harry nodded.
“You remind me of myself when I was your age.”
“Did you grow up with... uh... muggles as well?”
“Yes. In an orphanage.”
Harry noted that the whole demeanor of the man had changed and that his eyes looked a little red. But he seemed friendly enough.
“Do you know of your fame in our world?”
“Huh? Fame? Me? I am just Harry.”
“Oh, dear. Come, we cannot stay here. Let us go to the bank. I need to get something, and I have your key, so you can access your vault too, and get some money. Here.”
Harry took the key, which was handed to him. It was golden, small, and had a number stamped into it in very traditional-looking lettering.
He clutched the key in his hand. His pockets had holes and he did not want to lose it!
The man seemed to notice his predicament and waved his stick and a chain appeared from thin air!
Harry looked at it in wonder.
“Put the key on the chain and put it around your neck. It is a keychain, that only you can take off then.”
“Wow! Thanks! What do you want in return?”
“A look at your scar later. Nothing bad.”
“Done. As long as it does not hurt.”
“You are so made for Slytherin!”
Harry looked at the man questioningly but was told, “Later.”
He was shown the entrance to Diagon Alley and the wonders of the street behind it as he was rushed to the bank. A tall, impossible building with strange angles made of white marble, it seemed. In front of the entrance stood two armored beings, that certainly were not human.
“Those are goblins. A proud warrior race, which manages our gold. They are very honorable, so do not disrespect them!”
Harry was thankful for the warning and walked by the stone-faced guards.
They went to a free teller and the man said, “I am Quirinus Quirrell, here on behalf of Hogwarts to collect something out of the vaults and this is Harry Potter, looking to withdraw some money.”
The man, Quirinus Quirrell seemed much meeker now, Harry noted. Like he had at the pup. Must be a mask, he thought.
“Keys, please!”
Harry took off the chain and handed his key to the goblin after a nod from Mr. Quirrell. The goblin studied it and handed it back to him.
“Seems to be in order. And yours, sir?”
Mr. Quirrell handed over the second letter he had extracted and the other key and soon they were off with a goblin named Griphook in a miner’s chart to get their things.
On the way, Harry got a crash course in the monetary system of the wizarding world and Mr. Quirrell collected a small package from his vault. Or Hogwarts vault, or whatever. Harry didn’t care.
When they drove on, Harry had so much fun, too! It was a wild ride now! Mr. Quirrell laughed when Harry threw up his arms when there came to more extreme curves and ups and downs.
“Wheee!”
Even Griphook grinned at the boy’s exuberance!
Harry now had decided to just roll with it. This was the best birthday of his life, and he would enjoy it as long as it lasted!
Harry got a thief-proof bag and a lot of money. Gold!
He asked how much he would get in pounds for one gold coin and was told 5 pounds. That didn’t seem much. But Mr. Quirrell shook his head at him, stopping him from asking more questions, and soon they were back in the lobby again.
Mr. Quirrell asked Griphook if they could rent a room for an hour, where he would be allowed to cast magic and they were led into a side room, that only had some chairs in it.
As soon as they were alone Mr. Quirrell said, “Please take a seat. Now, I would like to transfigure your clothing into wizarding garb, so you will not stand out so much anymore. Would you allow that?”
“Is it reversible?”
“Yes. And I will change it back, should you need it.”
“Should?”
“Yes. You might decide to stay in this world and have no need for them.”
“Oh, ok. They are nothing more than rags anyway.”
“Hand-me-downs?”
Harry nodded blushing.
“No need to feel ashamed. I wore nothing else until I was eleven as well. I hated the stigma that came with it.”
“I do too,” Harry said quietly.
He was told to stand in front of Mr. Quirrell and the man waved his wand, and the much too wide jeans became black fitting slacks. The rope, which had held up the old jeans fell to the floor and soon became an undershirt, which Harry was told to put on. He did so shamefacedly, but the man did not react to his extremely thin body and the scars. As soon as he put the huge t-shirt back on, it was changed... transfigured into one of the black dresses!
“A dress?”
Mr. Quirrell chuckled, “A robe. All wizards wear them. You will get used to them as did I. The wizards that grow up in this world often wear ones that are closed all the way down. Not like ours, which are open from the waist down. They do not even wear underwear underneath, I was told.”
“You are kidding!” Harry lost all of his shyness at the thought.
“No, I am not, really. Anyway. Let’s do your cap and then talk about your plans.”
“Ok.” And soon the baseball cap was a pointy hat! “Ugh!”
“I know, totally out of a fairy tale. I will change it back, later. But here it is a good cover for your scar.”
“Right.”
The last thing is your glasses. I know of a spell that gives you perfect sight for 24 hours. May I cast it?”
“Yes please!”
“Then take off your glasses and stand still. This is a very complicated one.”
Harry did so and one complicated spell later he could see! It was amazing!
“When will I learn that spell?”
“It is not taught at Hogwarts. You normally need a Mastery in Charms to be able to cast it.”
“Wow! You have one?”
“Not officially. I just like to learn and studied up on it.”
Harry was a little starstruck. The man was just so unpretentious! Not like the boisterous Dursleys at all!
“Now, Harry. First of all, I promise, I have no nefarious plans for you.”
Magic settled on the two and Harry just knew that the man had told the truth.
“But I am not a good person, as many people would tell you. I did some bad stuff in my days. I was insane then, I learned. I am in the process of remedying that. But not that all can be repaired. - I just got the necessary tool, to heal myself inside and out.”
“You are sick? The package?”
“In a way, I am sick, and yes, the package. - In ten days, on the night of the new moon, I will do a ritual to help myself and I would like you to attend. Nothing will happen to you; I promise that as well.”
Harry nodded.
“There is more, but I would need your oath of secrecy for that.”
Harry frowned.
“An oath is a very serious thing in the magical world, you are right to be wary. One needs to take care of how to word it. I would like you to swear, that you will not communicate about our talk in this room on this day to anyone in any form unless I allow it.”
Harry nodded. He could do that. “Maybe write it down and talk about it?”
“Sure.”
As soon as Harry was sworn in, Mr. Quirrell said, “My problem is, that I am two persons right now and one of us needs a new body.”
“That’s why!”
The man chuckled, “You noticed?”
“Yes! I thought the milder behavior was a mask!”
“Not quite, the one with the milder demeanor is the actual owner of this body with the name ‘Quirinius Quirrell’ and you can call me Thomas Peverell. It’s not my real name, but one of my ancestors.”
“Are you a demon?” Harry asked interested.
Mr. Peverell chuckled and said, “Many would call me that, but no. I am a human, like you. I am just without a body right now and am possessing Quirinus here. Not a good long-term solution. If we waited too long, a second face would grow on the back of his head, and I would be trapped there under the turban. It stinks too. So not advisable!”
“Ugh, no!”
“But now, thanks to you, I can get a body quite easily and painlessly for everyone. I just need some bones from my parents, but that should be no problem. I know where both are buried.”
Harry was fascinated. It was like s story in a fantasy book!
“Are you the evil one in this world?”
“Yes, I was when I was insane. But not now.”
“Ok.” Harry didn’t really mind. His compass for right and wrong was a little skewed anyway.
“Now my plan was, to teach at Hogwarts, to obtain the tool, but if all goes right, Quirinius will go teach and I will go my way. The question is, what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know! I don’t want to go back to the Dursleys! That I know.”
“Do you want to go to Hogwarts?”
“I don’t know?”
“Would you rather go next year and learn about this world beforehand?”
“Yes!”
“Well, it is possible.”
Mr. Peverell stared into space for a few minutes. Obviously thinking hard.
“First off, we need to hide your magical signature from tracking spells. Don’t worry, you are safe right now within Gringotts. I can cast a spell on you that will hold a few days, I will make you an item to wear, that will change the signature a little long-term. May I cast it?”
Harry nodded. He felt nothing when the spell settled on him.
“Everything else you should decide on, when you have more information, like, do you want to change your identity? Go to another school? The only thing I would suggest is, that after I got my body, you should be put under a spell, which will warp time around you so that it will run extremely slow, while you sleep for a night. To you, it would seem like a good night’s sleep and the outside world will have moved on for about a month.”
Harry looked shocked and asked, “But why do that?”
“To de-age you, so that your birthday falls into September, and you will be invited to Hogwarts next year.”
“Ooooh!”
“And I would have time to get used to my body and do some time-intensive boring things, like finding a home and getting a new identity and such.”
Harry nodded.
“So, my proposal for today would be, we just move to Quirinius home and we get some food into our bellies and plan the next things, like cloth and book shopping, a healer’s appointment for you, and so on.”
“Healer? Like a doctor?” Harry’s nose crunched.
“Exactly. Let me guess, you were told to avoid them?”
Harry nodded.
“Can you guess why?”
“They didn’t want the doctor to know that I am a freak?”
Mr. Peverell’s eyes glowed red for a second, but he answered mildly, “Close. They didn’t want the doctor to know that they are freaks, who mistreat a child.”
Harry stared at the man. He was right! It was true! The biggest fear of the Dursleys was, not to be seen as normal. And being mean to a child, having it live in a cupboard was not normal! Harry knew that much. Harry’s whole world seemed to tilt on its axis.
Mr. Peverell nodded and said, “So if a thought like, ‘I cannot tell a healer’ or ‘I need to keep my living conditions secret’ or ‘I am a freak, I do not deserve that’ enters your mind, you can be sure that you were conditioned to think that. They needed you to think that!”
“Or people would know, how abnormal they are!” Harry beamed at Mr. Peverell. “That makes sooo much sense now!”
The man nodded and said, “Good that you were so quick in realizing that. It took me much longer.”
Harry nodded sagely and said, “But you probably had no one to tell you!”
The man nodded and Harry asked, “So you didn’t know about this world either?”
“No. And I had a similar experience to yours. I told the teacher, who came to invite me to Hogwarts, that I can talk to snakes. From that on the formerly friendly man became serious and disapproving. To prove magic was real, he set my little wardrobe on fire. It contained all of my things.”
“No! Why?”
“I had stolen things from the bullies. In retaliation for them stealing my things. It was a vicious circle.”
Harry nodded sagely again. He might have taken things from Dudley as well. He only took the broken stuff into his cupboard, after the fat boy had discovered a book, he had no interest in, in Harry’s ‘room’ and ripped it apart. From then on, Harry gave the things to others, if they were generic enough to not be identifiable as Dudley’s. Just to have some revenge on the boy.
“I was labeled as dark as you were today. At least I haven’t been left alone on a train! My compliments for making your way here all by yourself, by the way!”
“Thanks! It was great! I saw Big Ben and Trafalgar Square and I ate so much!”
“You found food?”
“Yes! People are so picky! I uh... I found it...”
“No need to be ashamed. I have riffled through garbage bins for food often enough as a child.”
“So, orphanages are really as bad as my relatives said?”
“Not anymore, as far as I know. I don’t even know if orphanages still exist. If your relatives told you that, take it with a grain of salt. – Anyway, we really went off topic. So, what do you say to moving in with us?”
Harry thought it through. Hagrid had seemed friendly, but a little dumb. This man or men were much sharper, and Mr. Peverell had promised, that he had no nefarious plans for him, and Harry knew that this was true. And what was he to do? He didn’t want to go back to the Dursleys, and Hagrid had ditched him. He could ask a Bobby for help, but he would bring him back to the Dursleys, as well. Mr. Peverell was the absolute best choice he had.
“I would like that!”
“Then come. Quirinius has a flat in the muggle part of London.”
Harry nodded and followed the wizard. When they stood before the backdoor of the Leaky Cauldron, Mr. Peverell transfigured Harry’s robe into a fitting t-shirt but left the slacks. The hat became a baseball cap again and his trainers were shrunken and repaired. They now fit perfectly!
“We really need to feed you! Now, I will cast a spell on both of us, so we are not recognized. Everyone will think they know us from somewhere but that we are boring. It would be questioned if Professor Quirrell went into muggle London with a child.”
Harry nodded and watched Mr. Peverell change his clothes into something more appropriate for the normal part of London as well.
Notes:
Well, Harry is lucky, Voldemort is sane in this story. Otherwise his story would have ended here. To be honest, I really toyed with the idea, but I couldn't do that to Harry. - Or maybe I could? Hmm...
Chapter 3: A New Home
Chapter Text
The pub was quite rowdy, so they didn’t stay. Hagrid was laying half over one of the tables, sleeping and snoring loudly.
Mr. Quirrell ushered Harry out and both breathed a sigh of relief, to have left the smelly pub.
“Let’s find some dinner,” the much more mild-mannered man said and led Harry along. “But first let’s leave the tourist area. It’s much more expensive here. The underground is right here.”
Soon they were in a more common part of London and Harry ate his first pizza! It was the absolute best!
Mr. Quirrell told Harry, that he could talk about magic, as he had cast a muffling spell, Mr. Peverell had taught him.
“Do many wizards live in the normal parts of London?”
“You mean the non-magical, the muggle part?”
Harry nodded.
“I know of some. But mostly the ones, that have one or two parents coming from the muggle side. The so-called pure-bloods live in enclaves. Or on unplottable grounds. Just a few have their homes in the city, but those are heavily warded. That means, muggles cannot see them.”
“Like the Leaky Cauldron?”
“Exactly. You have to know, that a few never have seen a car in their life!”
“Uh, then navigating the streets of London would be deadly!”
“Well, we wizards are quite sturdy. We would survive most car crashes. Even as a pedestrian.”
“Wow!”
Later Harry was shown a small room with a newly transfigured bed, just for him. This transfiguration thing was really handy!
Mr. Quirrell had told him, Mr. Peverell needed to rest and showed Harry his flat. It wasn’t big but comfy! And Harry had a real room! And even a pajama and a toothbrush! Best Birthday ever!
Mr. Quirrell had unwound the turban and his bald head saw the light of... uh, night. He told the boy, it was due to the possession in preparation for face 2, while he was getting all the things ready for Harry.
Afterward, Harry fell asleep quickly, totally exhausted after being on his feet since about 6 a.m.
Harry woke up early and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He had a hard time scaling the amounts down, as he was so used to cooking for Uncle Vernon and Dudley, and man could they eat!
He made a quarter of the food, he usually made, but it still was a lot!
Mr. Quirrell was very astonished when he came into his little kitchen, drawn in by the heavenly aromas that had crept into his bedroom.
A full English breakfast was laid out. Bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, grilled tomato and mushrooms, baked beans, and toast! Where did the boy find all this stuff?
And only one plate and a nervous Harry.
‘Tread carefully’ he heard in his head.
“This looks amazing, Harry!”
It seemed to be the right thing to say, as Harry relaxed instantly and beamed at the bald man.
“You like it? Good morning! What do you drink? I only boiled water, waiting for you!” Harry babbled excitedly. Someone liked the fruit of his labor and said so!
Mr. Quirrell chuckled and answered, “Good morning to you too! Yes, I like it, and do you know what I would even like more?”
“Tea?”
“That too, but I would really like it if you got a plate for yourself and helped me eat this amazing spread!”
“Really?” Harry looked up astonished, in the middle of preparing the tea.
“Yes. Oh, you finish that, and I get it. All right?”
“Okay,” was whispered and Quirinius set the table for Harry as well. Napkin and all.
When Harry sat down and waited for Quirinius to dig in, the man did so, exclaiming how good it looked and smelled he was told to dig in as well.
Harry filled his plate with little portions of everything, to get a taste of all the things he had always wondered about, and tears started running down his sunken cheeks, while he ate it all, humming from time to time at the amazing tastes.
‘Let him be, this is the first time he was allowed to eat at the table, it seems. Pretend nothing is wrong. Oh, and get him a glass of milk.’
And so it went. Afterward, they cleaned up together and Quirinius showed Harry the bookcase.
He picked a few books for the boy. Fiction and history books. Muggle and magical. Harry was in heaven.
He was allowed to read on the couch in the small living room and in his own room! He spent about an hour looking through the books, deciding which one to start with. It was a huge history book at the end that made the cut, it had many pictures as well as text in it. Harry loved it.
He had seen pictures in magical books that moved and spent quite some time looking through them, but the text was much better in the muggle book.
At about half past nine Mr. Quirrell said, he wanted to go grocery shopping and if Harry wanted to come.
“Yes!” Harry jumped up and was shown the shopping bags, which had a charm on them to make them feather light and contained slight expansion charms.
It can’t be too obvious, right? If we stuffed the bags with too many items, people would notice. Look like you are lugging the bag around if it is full, yes?”
Harry nodded grinning.
They went to Tesco and got enough, to fill the fridge again, that Harry had emptied. Well, right now it was stuffed with leftovers from breakfast.
Happily, they got back and made some sandwiches out of said leftovers and some lettuce and cleaned up together afterward.
“Do you always get up so early?”
“Yep. I had to get breakfast ready for the walrus and the pig with a wig. But I like cooking! I just like eating as well!”
“Quite understandable. But if you didn’t like to, you do not have to.”
“I really, really do! And now I can experiment too, right?”
“Sure. But there is one rule.”
“Yes?”
“If you cook, I will clean up.”
“And the other way around?”
“Nope. If I cook, you may help but it is not necessary.”
“Huh?”
“Yep. That’s what is normal.” Quirinius grinned at the boy.
“Yeah, Dudders never had to cook.”
“And he will be quite lost when living alone.”
“Ha! Right! So, I still can do the breakfast?”
“Gladly! Just keep the full English one for special occasions.”
“Yeah, makes sense. So, what now?”
“More shopping. You need clothes.”
“But this transfigurations thing would do it too.”
“Only in an emergency. Real clothes are better, and no one can cast a finite on them, and they revert back.”
Harry’s eyes got big, “That would be bad!”
“Exactly. Now come, I know just the store to get everything as quickly and painlessly as possible.”
That evening, Harry asked, if there was a spell to tell where someone was and explained the possibility of his relatives sitting on a rock. He was shown the adapted point-me spell. It didn’t show north, but the direction a person or item was at. Harry was asked to keep it quiet, as it was very powerful.
Then Harry told them, where at the sea the rock had been and where they lived, and Mr. Peverell showed which direction that was.
He then cast “Point me Petunia Dursley” and his wand very clearly showed the direction of Surrey, much to Harry’s relief. Now he could put the Dursleys out of his mind forever, he hoped.
The next day saw Harry and Mr. Peverell visiting the British Museum. Harry was fascinated! There was so much to look at and read!
The wizard in charge at the moment respectively did cast two spells on Harry each morning. The one for his eyes and the scrambling of his magical signature. Even if the latter one only needed to be cast every few days, they decided to play it safe.
Sometimes they went shopping for groceries, sometimes Harry got taught wizarding stuff, sometimes they went to the museum, or the park, or did some touristy stuff. Sometimes Harry read alone in the flat, while the other(s) worked on getting the ritual stuff together. The only thing they tabled, for the time being, was a visit to a healer for Harry. But Mr. Peverell knew lots of diagnostic and healing charms and they brewed healing and nutrition potions! Which Harry then had to take, much to his disgust. They tasted horrible!
Otherwise, they had little contact with the wizarding world, until an owl pecked on their window one week after Harry had moved in and Mr. Quirrell had to leave to go to Hogwarts for something. The headmaster had demanded it.
When he got back in the evening, bringing some containers from the Indian take-out around the corner, he looked annoyed.
“I just spend 5 hours looking for you, Harry. And I could not leave, because Minerva McGonagall was with me. That is the deputy headmistress,” he explained.
“Oh! Where did you look for me? And why a whole week, after I was left on the train?”
“A question I asked as well but did not get a real answer to. By the way, Hagrid seemed to be in the doghouse because he lost you, the key to the vault, and got incredibly drunk, all in one morning. ”
Harry snicked. Served the man right!
“We had to ride the full distance with the train you took. Whatever they thought it to be good for. And asked the conductors, the personnel at the stations, as well as the commuters. Hagrid really made an impression, everyone who had been on the train that day, remembered him. One even said that he was like out of a fantasy film.” He chuckled, “McGonagall was mortified after I explained what that meant. – Nearly no one could remember the boy the giant man had with him.”
Harry snickered. He had no problem believing that!
“The man was dressed outlandish and smelled funny, we were told. Just one old man remembered an urchin, ‘that smelled of hunger’.”
“Hunger has a smell?”
“Yes.”
“Huh, strange that no one noticed it before then.”
“Indeed. Now, the headmaster seemed desperate to find you. Much more so, than other times children go missing. It is not the first time by far! But you are a big name, and it is quite an embarrassment that you got lost when a member of the Hogwarts staff was supposed to watch over you. Especially since he had insisted on Hagrid against McGonagall’s advice.”
Harry nodded in understanding, very entertained by the conundrum the Hogwarts people were in.
“But I learned that the scrambling of your signature works. The headmaster has tried many magical ways to find you, with no success. He only knows you are alive.”
Mr. Peverell grinned, and Harry grinned back.
Chapter 4: Truths and Rituals
Chapter Text
“Now Harry, I have to tell you quite a bit about me and your history and why you are famous. You need to know before you decide to let me do the time warp spell. And you need to know, that you can leave, whenever you wish, with all of your things. I will bring you to Hogwarts or Gringotts or wherever you want to be taken.”
“Is it really that bad?”
“It is not good, that is for sure. I solemnly promise to tell you the truth as I know it, this evening.”
Harry felt the familiar magic of the promise settle over him.
“Just to be clear, this is my, Thomas Peverell’s story. Not Quirinius’.”
Harry nodded.
“I was not born Thomas Peverell, but Tom Marvolo Riddle in the 1920s. You already heard of my time before Hogwarts and my introduction to the wizarding world. And you know about the Hogwarts houses now. I was sorted into Slytherin and thought to be a muggle-born. I had a hard time there until I learned enough to win against the purebloods and establish my place as the Prince of Slytherin. It helped, that I could talk to snakes and learned, that I was a half-blood.
“It was not a happy time, but a very instructive one, as I learned everything I could.
“I was forced to go back to the orphanage over the summers and that was a horrible time, especially the last years, as World War II was raging and hunger is the closest brother to war, next to death.
“So, I learned survival first and foremost in the muggle and the magical world.
“I got more and more desperate as I wanted to live! And I did some idiotic and horrible stuff to achieve that. Now, that one instance, where I let my desperation win, broke something in me. I went insane.”
Harry gasped.
“Yes. It is now obvious that the magic I tried did not make me into some kind of immortal, but also damaged my brain in some fashion. I am quite sure, that I did it wrong, the first time I tried it. But it was too late. I might have found my mistake in casting the spell to make me immortal and never made it again, but as I said, the damage was done. Not that I really noticed, unfortunately. For the first few years, I became obsessed with learning and casting that immortalizing spell again and again. Like a drug addict.
“Later -in the sixties and seventies- I became what is called a ‘Dark Lord’ in the wizarding world. I collected followers and wreaked havoc. All my plans to make the world better, by going into politics were forgotten. I worked with the prejudices of the pure-bloods and took over their agenda: War against muggles and muggle-born people.”
“Uh, and the pure-bloods followed a half-blood?”
“Yes. Very idiotic. Some just enjoyed wreaking havoc or hurting people. Others were true believers. I lost more and more of my mind. And then, in the first months of the year 1980, one of my followers brought me parts of a prophecy. I didn’t take it seriously then. But over one and a half years later, after I fought with the leader of the other side, I became obsessed with it and what it implied.”
“Do you think that leader ...”
“Now, I am sure, he planted that in my mind somehow. The prophecy was made to him. Conveniently when a follower of mine could hear parts of it.”
“What did it say?”
“ ’The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...’ That was all I got. Now I asked myself, who defied me that often and had a child in late July of 1980?”
Harry sat up, eyes big, “Me?”
“Yes. You and another boy called Neville Longbottom. Both your parents were in the group that fought us the most. And they were quite right to do so. Our agenda was stupid. The idea of killing all muggles worldwide... All 4 billion of them. Ludicrous!”
“I think it’s over 5 billion by now. That’s what our teacher said, at least.”
“Right.”
“So, my parents fought you?”
“Yes, they fought insane-me. But after I became obsessed with finding you and the other boy, they miraculously disappeared. I learned later that a secrecy spell had been cast on their property, so only people instructed by their secret keeper could find them. Unfortunately, your parents choose one of my followers as this secret-keeper.”
“Why? Why didn’t they choose one of themselves?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe the magic would not work if the Secret-Keeper lived on the secret property themselves? Maybe they just didn’t think of it? Anyway, the follower that overheard the prophecy begged me to spare your mother, since she had been his childhood friend. He took quite the risk in doing so, as I was really ... how do the muggles call it? I was really trigger happy with the most painful torture spells.”
Harry swallowed.
“Now comes the part I don’t understand. I walked up to the property, intent on killing a baby! I first met your dad, and I stunned him. He was a pure-blood and they were to be cherished. Then I went upstairs and found your mother and you. You were in your crib and your mum standing in front of it, begging for your life. I stunned her as well. I was just standing there, thinking about what to do now. Even insane me had a hard time killing a toddler. Then I saw the reflection of the leader of my opponents in the window, casting the killing curse on my back, and then nothing.”
Harry was at the edge of his seat listening with all his being.
“I ‘woke up’ halfway to the woods, I had bespelled to call my soul to, in such a case. I was without a body, but my mind worked perfectly fine, now, that I had gotten rid of the damaged brain. I spent the next 10 years in the forest. Mainly meditating on all that had gone wrong. At beginning of July this year, a young teacher stumbled across my place and I, desperate for news, possessed him. I told him from the beginning, that I would leave him if he wanted me to but sharing one’s thoughts is very intimate and we became very good friends within a fortnight. From him, I learned that it was said that I killed James and Lily Potter and that I tried to kill you. But I didn’t! But who else? I cannot believe that their own leader would do so!”
Harry still felt the magic of Mr. Peverell’s promise hum contentedly, telling him, it still was the truth, as the man knew it. He knew, how to listen to the magic. He hadn’t known its name before his birthday, but he sure had learned to listen in his younger years.
“Do you think they are still alive somewhere?”
“Possibly, but they would not have left you to suffer at the Dursleys. Of that, I am sure.”
Harry nodded. Unsure of what he should wish for. He didn’t want his parents to be dead! But he didn’t like the idea, of them living a happy life without him either!
“Quirinius told me of the item, that I need to get a good body from coming to Hogwarts, to keep it out of my hands if you can believe it. We suspect, he was sent to give me that information and for me to try and obtain it during the next school year. But maybe it is just a coincidence, that you would have started your first year there and I get the information I need in Albania together with a willing host.”
“Uh.”
“Sounds unlikely, right?”
Harry nodded and asked, “Who is that leader of the side fighting you?”
“Albus Dumbledor, the Headmaster of Hogwarts.”
“Huh? The man that sent a letter with me to my aunt when I arrived there as a baby? The man that said that she needed to keep me? The man that insisted on Hagrid introducing me to the wizarding world? The man, that waited a week to look for me?”
“That man, yes. Now there is another mystery. It is said that I cast the killing curse on you. The curse means instant death. It is said that you survived it miraculously. With only a scar on your forehead.”
“But if you didn’t?”
“Then it begs to question, what happened to you to obtain that scar? I scanned it thoroughly and it is dark magic, that is for sure. It even has a magical signature, which is similar to mine. Not exactly the same, but close. So, someone went to great lengths, to make it look like it was my spell that was responsible.”
“I always thought, I got it when my parents had the car crash, they died in, according to my aunt.”
“Do you want to keep it?”
“No. I thought it was cool before, but if it was just a plot device against you, I want it gone! And I want to know, why I have it!”
“I just know that it was supposed to hurt if I was close. But something disrupted it. Maybe it was linked to the ward, which fell on your birthday around the property of your relatives... “
“What ward?”
“The headmaster told us today, that he had cast very strong wards on the property, somehow linked to your mother’s ‘sacrifice’. We know that this is a lie since I only stunned her. He told us, that as long as you called the house your home, the ward would hold, but that they fell on your birthday. Implying that you did not actually call the house your home.”
“Uh, I think I remember that I thought about it, and I decided not to go back to them when I was alone in London. I think I thought something like, ‘this was never a home for me anyway’.”
“That sounds about right, but who knows with that man. Half of what he says are lies, the other half are manipulations and half-truths.”
“So that is what you wanted to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“And you are sure, if you get a new body, it will not have that brain damage again?”
“Very sure! I also plan, to dismantle the faulty ... let’s call it anchor I told you about.”
“Sounds good.”
“So, you will stay?”
“You want me too?” Harry asked a little unsurely.
“Definitely. Many reasons. I have come to like you, I want to find out, what actually happened, and I want to laugh behind Dumbledore’s back when he desperately looks for you! And your adventure on your birthday caused me indirectly, to find the tool I was looking for. But mainly it is because I like you and feel close to you, due to our shared experiences in our childhoods.”
Harry nodded pleased. He could live with the reasons given quite well.
“Now, I believe it is time for bed.”
Harry grinned and whined playfully, “Oh noooo, do I haaaave to?”
Mr. Peverell chuckled and said, “Off you go, you rascal!”
The evening of the new moon was the 10th of August. Harry and Mr. Quirrell packed everything and the man apparated both of them into the middle of the marshland and Harry was told they were in the Fens. A magical and unplottable part of them. So, no ditches and such.
“Turn around Harry.”
The boy did and exclaimed, “Wow!”
A perfect stone circle stood in front of them on a raised area. In the middle was a huge flat stone, only a few inches high.
They went to it and Mr. Quirrell said, “Thomas will come out now. After the ritual, I will be alone in this body again. You have your portkey?”
“Yes,” Harry nearly rolled his eyes. If all went to hell, he would be able to use it to flee to the London flat instantly. He was told, to make his way to Gringotts then and ask them to help him, the Potter heir. Mr. Peverell had made many contingency plans for Harry. It made Harry feel warm, just thinking about it.
“Harry,” Mr. Peverell nodded to Harry in greeting. Harry had gotten so used to the changes in personality in the last ten days, that it was astounding!
The man unpacked the bag, Mr. Quirrell had brought and set up the ritual. A small pentagram was drawn on the stone in chalk and spelled to withstand rain. Five candles were lit at each point of the five-star and two bones each in every one of the 5 equilateral triangles.
He then spelled a comfy recliner with a roof inside the stone circle but far away from the flat stone.
“Please don’t fall asleep. Hm, maybe the recliner is too comfortable...” He waved his wand and it changed into a chair, which had a roof and bright lights inside. “Better.”
Harry sat down and got out the most exciting book, he possessed. He even had taken a long nap this afternoon, to stay awake now. They heard a faraway church bell and Mr. Peverell sat down in the circle. He got out an uneven red stone, which was pulsing in an inner light, and started chanting while holding the stone.
The stone pulsed in the same rhythm as the chant. It went on and on. Harry knew he had to wait for one whole hour and opened his book. He got quite engaged in the story called ‘Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter’, even if the main character was a girl, it was good! He hummed with the chant, not noticing it, but lending strength to the ritual unknowingly. This way he was distracted by the eerie atmosphere of the night in the Fens.
Just when Ronia and Birk had started living in the woods, the lights of the chair started blinking and he was stung in the backside with a stinging charm! Rude!
He nearly yelled in exasperation, but quickly got up silently and moved to stand in front of Mr. Peverell, who was holding the red stone high above his head with both hands and chanted the last sentences of the long, long text he had shown to Harry. Harry had only needed to learn one sentence and that was much in his mind!
Just after the man cried out the last word, Harry rose both arms in the air and called, “Tom Marvolo Riddle, be embodied again, henceforth!” And pulled both arms down so his hands were reaching towards the man in front of him and light poured out of him into the stone and then there was only brightness. Harry quickly closed his eyes but left his arms outstretched. Even with his eyes closed, he knew, that they needed to recover, as strange shapes moved behind his closed eyelids.
After about 5 minutes -his arms getting quite heavy- he heard rustling and Mr. Quirrell say, “It worked Harry, you can take your arms down now and open your eyes.”
He blinked and saw a tired grinning Mr. Quirrell and a black-robed but barefooted man standing next to Mr. Quirrell. He looked young. Much younger, than he really was anyway. Well, he still was old, like 25 or so. He had black locks and brown eyes, and an aristocratic face Harry believed it was called. And he smiled at Harry.
“You did it perfectly!” The man said, with a new voice, but it still was Mr. Peverell’s somehow.
Harry started grinning and skipped toward the two, who were grinning as well. He then frowned. “Was the stinging spell really necessary Mr. Peverell?”
“You tell me!”
“Well. Uh. Maybe.”
“Does it still hurt?”
“Nah, it was more the shock of it.”
“Right. And Harry, please call me Thomas, or Tom now. I think we are past the Mr. stage.”
“And me Quirinius, or Quirr. Please!”
“Ok, I’ll try, Tom and Quirr. Uh, that is strange.”
Both men laughed.
“All right let’s clean up and go to bed. This new body is tired already!”
The next morning Harry moved through the living room, to find Tom sleeping on the now transfigured couch. He looked fully relaxed and innocent.
Harry tiptoed into the kitchen where he prepared porridge for the three of them. Mr. Q... no. Quirr had reminded him just when they arrived back yesterday, that Tom’s stomach probably needed some time to adjust. So bland porridge it was. They all could season it themselves.
It was a good thing he did. Tom was going nuts about the fantastic taste of Harry’s unseasoned porridge. It was quite funny actually.
And when he tried a blueberry, he nearly cried.
And so, the day went. They stayed in the apartment and Tom got used to having a body again. He got tired quickly and ate small potions and walked a lot. Just because he could. Quirr thought it was a little like a toddler. Sleeping, eating, and always in motion. Luckily, Tom, had the whole digestive system part covered!
The only thing that annoyed Tom, was the fact that he had no wand. And they decided to visit the more discreet wandmaker in Knockturn Alley in a couple of days. They thought about getting Harry’s wand as well but decided against it. They just didn’t want his magical signature to be unscrambled for all to detect during the time he got the wand, since they would have to take the spell down during the time in the wandmaker’s shop.
In about a week Quirr had to leave for Hogwarts, Harry would go under the time warp spell for more than a month and Tom would be ready to brave life on his own.
Chapter Text
Harry woke up and yawned. He stretched, got up, grabbed his repaired glasses, and shuffled to the bathroom and the kitchen. He didn’t find what he expected in the fridge and so made pancakes. He was still rather sleep-addled. Tom ate them now after all. And liked them.
He set the table for 3 and started on his stack, dosing it with maple syrup.
“Good morning, Harry, I see you are awake.!”
“G’morn’ng,” Harry mumbled, and Tom chuckled.
“Hold still,” came the usual command and Harry took off his glasses and Tom cast the two familiar spells.
The man sat down and prepared the tea Harry had made to his liking and ate the pancakes as well. Humming in appreciation.
“I missed those!”
Harry woke up a little more, “I made pancakes the day before yesterday.”
“Well, not to me. It was a little longer ago.”
Harry blinked and looked around, more aware. There were some little changes in the kitchen. Things had found other places to wait to be used. It was still clean but obviously used by someone else.
He looked at Tom and noticed his blue eyes. Hadn’t they been brown? Strange! But then another thought appeared to him, “Quirr is at Hogwarts,” he realized.
Tom nodded.
“And it is late September?”
“The 25th to be precise.”
“So, I slept for ...?”
“Forty days exactly. Just like we planned.”
“Wow!”
Tom nodded, “How do you feel, Harry?”
“Good. Like always. Waking up took a little longer though.”
Tom nodded again and said, “Later I want to cast some diagnosis charms on you. Just to make sure.”
Harry felt the warm pleased feeling welling up again. It was great when someone actually cared!
“So, did you hear from Quirr?”
“Yes, he writes often. He always sends his letters through a letter box we bought at Gringotts, just to be safe. - He said, the school was quite in an uproar about your disappearance. They obviously had hoped you would miraculously reappear at the welcoming feast and your name was called out three times. It was pandemonium afterward. The Aurors were called by one of the first years, which has connections, and everything was turned upside down. Quirr even had to take his Turban off, showing his head full of extremely short-cropped hair to the Auror, that had cornered him in his quatres.”
Harry snickered, “So it is growing again.”
“Yes, luckily. The Auror did feel a little silly after, so we hope she does not tell the headmaster. We have a plan of detecting, if he knows, I possessed Quirr.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yes. He wears a cap underneath, which is enchanted to absorb all spells cast on it and retain them. We can cast a diagnosis charm on it and get a record of which spells have hit it, when, and cast by whom.”
“Wow!”
“It also warms up a little, when a spell hits it. Quirr tells me, it works. It warmed up at least 4 times already. Quirr will come by in three days to welcome you back and we can read it then.”
“Great! What day is that?”
“Saturday, as a teacher he can leave for the weekends if he doesn’t have to make the rounds.”
“Huh?”
“Their way of looking out for the students is to walk the halls of the castle at night and chase wayward students back to their dorms. There is little else interaction with adults, except in the classroom.”
“Wow! That’s a lot of freedom!”
“Quite.”
“But aren’t children homesick sometimes, or need the advice of an adult?”
“Yes, but they do not get that at Hogwarts, except in Hufflepuff, would be my guess. Some of the older students look out for the little ones too in all houses.”
“Will Quirr stay till Sunday?”
“That is the plan.”
“And did the Aurors find anything?” Harry asked curiously.
“Yes, quite a bit. They found a huge three-headed dog in a small room on the third floor, sitting on a trap door. They found the other ‘traps’ and obstacles that ‘protected’ the duplicate I made of the red stone I used in the ritual.”
“You duplicated it? I didn’t see that then!”
“Yes, you and the goblin were waiting in the chart and one can cast magic in the vaults. So I left a similar package plus its contents there, that will hold its form for at least a year,” Tom said grinning. “They only knew that the key had disappeared but found no evidence of thievery. And Hagrid ‘found’ the key again later, apparently.” Tom’s grin turned mischievous. “When they find out the stone, they have been hiding, is a fake, Dumbledore will just assume, his old friend gave him a copy in the first place.”
“When will you tell me, what the stone was?”
“When you are a master in Occlumency.”
“Ugh! Not fair!”
Harry was becoming much more comfortable being himself, Tom noticed, cheering internally.
“Now, let me tell you about what I did during the last month.”
“Oh yes!”
“I am now officially Thomas H. Peverell. Born August 10th, 1965.”
“Congratulations! What does the H stand for?”
“Henry.”
“Oh!”
“Yes, I wanted to honor you, but Thomas Harry Peverell would have been way too obvious. Henry is a very common and good name, so that was it.”
“And what will we do with me?”
“Well, my suggestion would be, we change your name to something Peverell as well. Born September 9th, 1980, we can pretend we are brothers. You could be an unexpected, late arrival to the family. What I would like to do is to adopt you magically into my family.”
“Huh? So, no blood adoption?”
“Blood adoption would erase your birth father from your body. It would be beneficial, as it would change your outward appearance, but I didn’t think, you would like to lose that connection.”
Harry shook his head emphatically and Tom chuckled, “Don’t get me wrong Harry, I would gladly blood-adopt you! But the magical adoption makes you family as well.”
Harry relaxed and smiled, “So I would still be connected to my dad and have a connection to you as well?”
“Exactly. The Potters’ descent from the Peverell family as well so it should be easy. The family magic of the Peverells has accepted me and it will accept you as well. Of that, I am sure.”
“Cool!”
“You just need two first names. Is there any name you would like?”
“Sebastian! I always wanted to be called that if I needed to change my identity! It was Sebastian Walkers, but Sebastian Peverell is even better!”
“Very good. What about Sebastian Antioch Peverell?”
“Sounds good. Why not Ignotus?”
“Because we pretend to descend from the non-existent line of the first brother. Family magic has already agreed with that deception.”
“Oh, ok. Sebastian Antioch Peverell. Sebastian A. Peverell,” Harry chuckled, “I like it! And is far from Harry James Potter!”
“Exactly. And your magical signature will change enough to distinguish you from Harry. I thought, we could say, that on the 31st of July, the Potter magic settled on you in whatever place we stayed then, and we moved here to England because of it, with me as your guardian. Our Parents ... we think about those later.” He waved his hands.
Tom then waved his new wand and the table cleared itself. Some things wandered into the fridge and the dishes washed themselves and the table was whipped with a clean cloth.
“Huh?” Harry looked at the ‘fridge’, “I thought electricity and magic...”
“I confirmed that, by unintentionally breaking the fridge. This is a magical cool box, transfigured to look like the old fridge,” Tom said, looking a little sheepish.
Harry laughed.
“Now, let’s ease into it. Just grocery shopping and relaxing today. And a walk in the park, to get your system going?”
“Yeah! Let’s do that!”
On their walk, Harry asked about the plans for a bigger home and Tom told him what he had been doing the last month in addition to getting a new identity.
“After I got accepted into the Peverell family I inspected the old manor and found it in a rather good condition. Magic is really helpful that way. It was spelled all over with preservation charms. But it really needed an update! Even with magical plumbing available and such. So, the bathrooms and the kitchen needed the most extensive work, but it is done by now. And I might have gone a little crazy with the library. I bought a few books...”
Harry laughed. Tom and his books!
“Just magical ones, or muggle as well?”
“Oh, muggle as well. There are so many good books! Fiction and non-fiction! I also filled one corner with books for your age and up. But there is lots of space left, for your own purchases and presents.”
Harry cheered.
“Even comics?”
“Even those idiotic comics.”
Harry cackled, “At least they are not ‘The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle’!”
Tom scoffed, “Even you have better taste than that!”
“Where is the house then, anyway?”
“Oh, close to Canterbury in Kent. Unplottable, of course.”
“Would the map of England look different, if all the unplottable areas would be included?”
“Oh yes! I have one at home! Remind me to show you later.”
“How much bigger is the land anyway?”
“Hm, by about a third.”
“Wow!”
“Mostly nature reserves for magical creatures and such. Very helpful, as the muggles are really polluting the world! They even would withstand an atomic bomb.”
“You know about those?”
“Yes. I read up on the developments in the muggle world. At least the cold war seems to be over now.”
Harry nodded. He had a nebulous idea of what Tom was talking about. Something about a wall in Berlin and such.
“Did you know, they are digging a tunnel to France right now? Under the sea?”
“Yeah! Isn’t that crazy? Who would want to use that? It is scary!”
“Yes, but ingenious!”
“A channel tunnel!”
“Exactly. Now, for the next few days, how about, we do the magical adoption this weekend, when Quirr is there and tomorrow I show Peverell Hall to you?”
“Yes!”
“Oh, and we must think of school for you now. I thought I home-school for next year, but you need some interaction with your peers. Is there a sport you like?”
“Well, football obviously. I am a good striker if Dudley doesn’t sit on me.”
“Would you like to join a football club for the year?”
“Sure, if they take kids like me.”
“I have no idea but will find out!”
“Cool!”
Things were really shaping up.
“How is Canterbury anyway?”
“Quite historic. You will like it. And we are only an apparition away from London and its perks.”
Harry grinned and then noticed something, “Oh, you are much fitter than you were last month!”
“Yes, usually I go running every morning. I made an exception today.”
“Oh, can I join?”
“You certainly may. I met a few like-minded people here in the park, which showed me the importance of stretching, and such. Very dedicated people!”
Harry snickered.
Tom looked to Harry’s feet, “I was also told how important the right footwear was. We will get you running shoes later, all right?”
“Cool!”
Notes:
The story is nearing its end. The first two chapters were my answer to my own question about the 'what if', after all. The rest is more a wrapping up? Anyway, thanks for all the comments and kudos! They still astound and cheer me immensely.
Chapter Text
A hungry Quirr arrived on Saturday morning in his flat. He had been told not to eat anything and come early. He grinned when he smelled the tell-tale aromas of Harry’s cooking. The boy’s breakfasts were unbeatable, even by house-elves!
“Quirr! You are here!”
Harry ran to him and stood there bouncing and grinning.
Quirinius beamed and hugged the child warmly. Harry stiffened and then melted into his ... uh... friend? Uncle? Whatever.
“Good morning, Harry! It smells amazing! Wow, you went full English breakfast! Even black pudding!”
“Yup! I missed you!”
“I missed you too, Harry.”
“It’s Sebastian soon. Better get used to it! Seb for short.”
“Not Bastian?”
“Hm... didn’t think of that. I like it too. As long as you don’t call me Basti, sounds like a wild animal.”
“Right, and soon the kids will call you Nasty Basty or something idiotic like that. Better stay with Seb.”
“Ugh, ok,” Harry shrugged.
“Seb it is! Where is Tom?”
“I send him, to get croissants. He should be here any minute.”
Crack
“And here he is. Quirr is here!” Harry yelled.
A chuckling Tom came in, nodded at Quirr, and handed a white paper bag to Harry.
“Wow, did you go to France for these?”
“I sure did. Paris to be exact.”
Harry gaped at Tom.
“This looks great, Harry! I am so glad my stomach can stomach everything we cook now!” Tom grinned at the other two, his usually serious face changing immensely. It was like the sun had gone up!
“Then let’s eat!” Harry put the croissants in a little basket on the table and they all dug in gustily. Humming in contentment but keeping silent otherwise.
Afterward, Quirinius groaned and leaned back, “I think I am going to burst now.”
“Better no mint for you,” Tom said dryly.
Harry giggled.
“Did I miss something?”
“Yes, the most disgusting film ever made. Harry loved it.”
“Monty Python’s The Meaning of life.” Harry piped up helpfully.
“I nearly left the theatre. But Harry was in stitches, so I couldn’t.”
“It was a rerun in one of the little movie theatres.”
“Next time we watch a Disney movie.”
“But I cried when we saw Bambi and you said, ‘never again!’, remember?”
“Reading is much healthier anyways.”
Quirinius grinned and said, “I so missed this! I wish I could stay here with you.”
“But you like teaching, and next year I will be there as well!”
“That is true. I just will have to come over every other weekend and in the holidays for this school year.”
“Maybe Tom should teach too, next year, then all of us would be at Hogwarts!”
Tom’s face became thoughtful, “Dumbledore would have conniptions, I love it!”
“If he is still there at least. The wind of change is really blowing hard at him. - Since the Aurors came, many things have changed. The Head of the DMLE -magical law enforcement- has a niece in first year and she turns over every stone. The History teacher has been expelled, don’t fret Harry, he was a most boring ghost, who talked only about goblin wars. It was known as nap time. The Divination teacher had to go, and the Potions teacher is on thin ice - There is even talk about getting the International Department of Education involved. And Dumbledore cannot do anything as he has to withstand so much scrutiny himself. About you, his mismanagement of funds, his highhandedness about laws and rules. It is a pleasure to watch him, right now!”
“Oh wow! And what is it about me?”
“Well, apparently your relatives are in deep shit since someone has been asking questions about your whereabouts. They went to the sea four people and came back three people and never reported you missing. Actually, there is a murder investigation, and your uncle thought it prudent to attack a police officer. He is in a holding cell right now.
Harry laughed delightedly.
“And surveillance pictures and school photographs were unearthed, and questions were asked, about your health and the treatment you received from your relatives. It snowballed from there. Petunia Dursley is being investigated as well, her home is a crime scene, and her son is in a foster family.”
“Wow!”
“And the wizarding world actually took notice. Apparently, a muggle-born first year told an Auror at Hogwarts about the articles in the muggle papers about poor abused Harry Potter being possibly murdered by his family.”
“Ugh, I am so happy that I will become Sebastian Peverell tonight!”
“Yes, it would be very uncomfortable for you there otherwise. No one teaches these kids not to stare and whisper about others. I try, but it is quite hard, me being alone doing that and all. You, teaching as well would be amazing, Tom!”
“But I want the Defense post as well!”
“Well, there is still the curse on the post, anyway.”
“Not for long. Did you bring the diadem, I asked for?”
“The curse is on that thing?”
“Along others, yes.”
“What are you guys talking about?”
“Remember I told you about the magics I did, to become immortal?”
“Yep. You said you would dismantle the first. Is it on that one?”
“No, it’s a later one. But with the Aurors crawling all over Hogwarts, I better take it and dismantle it as well. It is a historic artifact, that I misused in my crazy days. Quirr can ‘find’ it later and give it to Professor Flitwick somewhere public. Dumbledore will have no idea what to make of it. It will confuse him immensely,” Tom said grinning.
“And the first one?” Harry asked.
“I have dismantled it already and absorbed, what I had stuck into it, of my essence.”
“Oh, good. I hope one day you will tell me about it in more detail.”
“When you are thirty or so. I am not proud of the things I did back then.”
Harry grumbled and then looked at Quirr’s turbaned head, “You still wear that thing?”
“For now, yes. Talking of which, let’s look at the spells Dumbledore cast on my head.”
“Oh yes! Come, let’s clean up this feast and go into the living room.”
“Wow, these are many spells! What do they do?”
“They scramble memories, make one suggestible to others, and make one lose their mind!” Tom explained, frowning. “He obviously knew I had been there and wanted me insane and to forget what really happened on Halloween night. But why he actually wants a megalomaniac Dark Lord in this country really confuses me! He had all the power and fame one can have. So why? It makes no sense to me!”
“Can it be, because you are a parselmouth?” Harry asked frowning.
“If so, he is as insane as I was!”
“Or,” Quirr said thoughtfully, “It might be because of your relation to the Peverell family?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because, when the papers announced, that a Peverell had been found, he went batshit crazy. We were all in the staff room, witnessing it.”
“But that could be, because he suspected it to be me, right?”
“I don’t think so. That suspicion came later. It was the name Peverell. I can show you the memory if you want.”
“But what beef would he have with a family, which was thought to be extinct?”
“I honestly have no idea.”
Harry had been sitting there and listened closely. It was such a mystery!
“So did you get any other of the immortality items?” Quirr asked.
“Yes, I got my family ring that apparently is the Peverell family ring.”
“Better not let Dumbledore see it then!” Harry piped up.
“Good thinking. Or have him see it at an opportune moment.”
They all grinned.
“Any others?”
“No, the last two are either unreachable at the moment, or at a place, I really do not want to go to. Let’s leave them there. One is harmless and the other protected very heavily.”
“All right. So was your suspicion right, the first one was done wrong?”
“Yes. It ripped off much more than I planned, and it gained some kind of consciousness. But I absorbed it back, seamlessly.”
“Thank merlin! And how do you feel now?”
“Complete. The rest grew back. And those were really small pieces.”
Harry didn’t understand a word and grew bored, “When will we go to Peverell Hall?”
Tom said, “Now? Let’s pack some food for today and tomorrow and stay there overnight. What do you think? I’d like to do the adoption there, if possible.”
The others agreed at once and they got busy.
It was evening and Harry was now Sebastian Antioch Peverell or Seb Peverell. Tomorrow they would go to Gringotts to get his papers.
The magic of the Peverells had pushed the Potter’s magic to the side and Seb’s Hair had flattened at once and his eyesight had become perfect. With one exception, there had been little change. He still had a heart-shaped face and knobby knees. This had the welcome effect, that the two spells each morning, were not needed anymore, as Seb’s magical signature had been changed enough now, as well.
The only real change had been, that he now had blue eyes instead of green ones, like Tom’s eyes had turned blue after taking in the Peverell family magic, Harry had learned. The loss of his eye color was the only thing Seb really didn’t like about the adoption. Everything else was great! He had a (much) older brother now! They even looked like siblings!
He was sitting by the fire, just letting the new magic settle. It had rushed into him, like it really, really wanted to come to him, and it had filled him with warmth and the feeling of belonging.
The house felt even more welcoming, as well. Ok, the manor, or mansion, or castle. Anyway, it was huge! So many corners and rooms to investigate. Tom said that there were hidden passages as well!
Speaking of Tom, he was showing the Library to Quirr. His most loved room, at Peverell Hall. Seb grinned.
The next year was great, even if his new brother was a hard taskmaster. Seb learned so much! Magical and muggle. He also joined a ragtag football team, for the year in Canterbury. It was more for fun than sport. It was great. And he kept up running with Tom, so he was fit enough for two!
Tom, Seb, and sometimes Quirr had many outings to historic sites and museums, and to the movies as well as some football games, that Tom had suffered through. The highlight was their trip to Stockholm in June, visiting the city and cheering for England in the group phase of the European championship. It was great fun, even if England didn’t make it into the knock-out phase.
They had fully moved to Peverell Hall by now, even if Quirr kept his flat in London.
Seb had seen a healer, but after Tom’s and Quirr’s good care, there was not much more to do. But Seb learned, that going to a healer was ok. So that was that.
And during the year, Seb learned to distinguish parseltongue from normal English. Tom and he spoke it every day, it was their secret language. It was very handy to have!
They had another vacation that summer in France. At the beach and visiting many historic sites, as well. It was so different! Like another spirit ruled this country than the one that ruled England, Seb poetically concluded.
Their last stop was Paris and here Seb got his first wand. At last! It was very beautiful and fit him like a glove, figuratively.
The city was amazing, and Seb swore to come back!
“Wait till you see Rome,” Tom chuckled.
“It cannot be as great as Paris!”
“It is different, but there is so much history there. Sometimes on top of each other. It is amazing! Or Athens. Or the magical parts of Kairo.”
“Good that I am so young, I might be able to visit all of those cities.”
“Right you are.”
“So, will you tell us now? Did you get a teaching job at Hogwarts?” Seb bounced while standing in one place.
“All right, I will tell you. Let’s sit down and get some coffee and a pastry.” Tom had become addicted to French coffee it seemed. And Seb to the hot chocolate, they served here. They planned on getting huge amounts of that stuff to take home.
They all sat with their preferred hot drinks, Quirr stubbornly drinking tea*, Tom cleared his throat and said, “I do have a job at Hogwarts.”
“Yes!” Seb cheered.
“Congratulation, colleague! What subject?”
Tom waited for Quirr, to take a sip of his horrible tea and said, “Muggle Studies.”
Quirr snorted, spat his tea, and laughed, all at once. It was a mess.
Seb nearly fell off his chair laughing. More at Quirr, but well.
When he had cleaned up again Quirr looked at Tom and said accusingly, “You did that on purpose!”
Tom just smiled like a sphinx.
“But seriously, which subject?”
“It really is Muggle Studies.”
“Wow, what a development!”
“Indeed. I think Dumbledore only gave me the job because he was sure I would decline.”
“Dumbledore? But he is not the headmaster anymore!” Quirr exclaimed.
“It was one of his last official deeds as a headmaster,” Tom grinned.
“But why?”
“Because it is a fascinating subject that I studied intensely for a year now. I even have a master’s in Muggle studies now. Not that it was hard. Even Charity Burbage managed to get one. I should show you the defense of my master thesis sometime. Luckily, I had a lot of books with me, to show the old geezers, when they insisted, they knew better. They didn’t even know about the moon landing! I might have scolded them to get actual experts in this field and that the other master’s degrees they handed out were not worth the parchments they were written on.”
“But you still passed?”
“With honors. They actually took my scolding to heart.”
“Good. That Mastery was a joke.”
“And they knew it. They have one year to shape up, otherwise, I will make it public. Internationally.”
“That would really wreak havoc in our community.”
“Yes, that’s why I gave them time to do their homework. More havoc would be detrimental, after Dumbledore’s fall off his pedestal.”
Seb remembered the day, which had started all, and said, “Did you ever see the statue of Nelson in Trafalgar Square?”
“Yes?”
“Wasn’t it, like Dumbledore fell off such a tall column? No wonder everything exploded in his face.”
“Indeed.”
The End
*The only beverage the British were better at making. That and beer, Tom conceded. But wine, coffee, hot chocolate, and even water were better in France.
Small Outlook
Seb becomes a Ravenclaw instead of a Slytherin and fast friends with his classmate Luna, who somehow knows exactly who he is but keeps quiet about it.
He never interacts with the Weasleys, and poor Sirius stays in Azkaban.
Hermione rues that she insisted on Gryffindor, till the end of her time at Hogwarts. She forms a friendship of outcasts with Neville, who has the same regrets. They still are the ones to become prefects.
Ron becomes friends with Dean and Seamus. His rat stays with him for the whole time at school. No one ever wonders why it is still alive. Why should they?
Hagrid disappears together with the colony of Acromantula, which the Aurors had discovered in autumn 1991 and were getting ready to exterminate.
Tom teaches Muggle Studies for 20 years at Hogwarts, really renewing that subject and the wizarding world’s idea of the muggle world. It’s just in time before CCTV cameras can catch a wizard casting magic in a deserted alley in muggle London. Later Tom will go into politics and become Chief Warlock in the Wizengamot.
Seb’s parents really are alive (in Australia) but have no recollection of their life before Halloween 1981, their magic is bound. Only after Dumbledore’s death in 2020 (he dies from a new muggle virus) do quite a few long-term amnesiacs all over the world regain some really trippy memories.
A man called James might rescue a dog in England somewhere then, but that is another story.
Seb somehow inherits all the Blacks owned properties and, to his surprise, Tom finds one of his artifacts in a dilapidated townhouse in London, which they are inspecting.
Tom keeps two of his Horcruxes and dies of old age, his soul anchors die with him. Horcruxes just ensure that one lives their maximal possibly lifespan.
The hallows are reunited, but much, much later by some descendant of Seb.
Notes:
So that’s it for this little brainchild of mine. I know Dumbledore got off way too lightly, but Tom just didn’t want to be bothered. A new leaf turned and all that. At least, the man lived no happy relaxed life as he was in disgrace, with his name in the mud, and he was always looking over his shoulder, expecting Tom to attack him.
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