Chapter 1
'Amelia, how many times have you read that book?' Mrs. Grace asked, laughing as she looked at her daughter who was sitting on the opposite couch.
Amelia glanced up from her book and smiled at her mother.
'Harry Potter is the greatest thing ever written,' her father mocked her before she could say anything.
She rolled her eyes at him before looking back down to her book. It wasn't her fault she needed to read the whole series at least once a month. She opened the first page of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone and smiled as she saw the familiar words. She was home.
As she read through the chapters she began to feel her eyes drooping. She forced herself to concentrate but she just grew more tired. The words began spinning and she felt herself fall forwards.
The next thing Amelia knew she was standing in the middle of a very strange alley. She clutched her book to her chest as if it would keep her safe. People bustled by her and she noticed they were all wearing robes and pointed hats instead of jeans like a normal person. She frowned and surveyed her surrounds. It looked familiar.
'It should look familiar,' a voice said.
Turning around she saw a man standing behind her. He was hunched over and wearing black robes with a black hood over his face, blocking her view of what he looked like. She felt a chill run down her spine.
'And why should it look familiar?' Amelia asked, forgetting her mother's rule of never talking to strangers.
'I thought you read that book as if it were the bible. Don't you recognise where you are?'
She frowned at him before looking around. Of course. She was in Diagon Alley. But she couldn't actually be. It wasn't real. It must be some sort of Harry Potter World, like the one in Orlando.
'And I thought you were a clever girl,' the man said in a disapproving voice.
'Who are you?' she asked as she started to feel afraid of him.
'You don't know me. You never will know me. Let's just say I'm a friend,' he told her.
'You don't look or sound like a friend.'
'Why? Because I'm wearing a hood? I didn't want to frighten you, my dear.'
She shivered. A part of her wanted to know why his face would frighten her but she thought it would be rude to ask.
'What's your name?' she asked instead.
'Just call me Derek.'
Amelia raised an eyebrow. That name certainly didn't suit him.
'Is that your real name?' she asked suspiciously.
'Of course not,' he answered, laughing.
She sighed. 'Where am I? What am I doing here? How did I get here? Take me home.'
'You're in Diagon Alley,' he told her, only answering one of her questions.
She frowned at him. 'I am not. Diagon Alley only exists inside a book.'
'What would you say if I told you that every book ever written actually existed in another dimension?'
'I'd tell you you're crazy,' she said, already thinking he was more than crazy.
'Of course I'm crazy. Nobody interesting is sane. But my point still stands. When people write books, worlds are created,' he told her patiently.
'That can't be possible. Then completely awful worlds and awful people would exist,' she tried to explain to him.
'And you think your world is so perfect?'
She frowned at him. 'No, but it's better than The Hunger Games.'
He seemed to smile slightly. 'You are aware that The Hunger Games is actually set in your world's future, right?'
She paused. 'You're saying that's our future?'
Derek shrugged. 'Possibly. Or perhaps it's another book that's set in the future.'
She glared at him, not believing him. 'What about all those books that are set in my world? Like A Series of Unfortunate Events or The Fault in Our Stars?'
'Parallel worlds.'
She sighed in frustration, running out of things to persuade him he was wrong.
'And how do you know all this?'
'Someone has to make sure all these worlds don't collide,' he simply said.
'Aren't I doing that? I'm in the world of Harry Potter when I clearly don't belong here,' she told him, going along with his insane ideas just to make him happy.
'But that's because I brought you here.'
'And why would you do that?' she asked.
Derek appeared to frown. 'I need your help.'
Amelia laughed. 'I thought you were some powerful god who controls all these worlds. Why would you need a little girl's help?'
'I never said that. And you seem to be quite the expert in the world of Harry Potter. At least from what I've seen.'
'You've been watching me?' she asked, her heart speeding up.
'Of course,' Derek answered in confusion. 'How else would I decide if you were acceptable for the role?'
'What role?' she asked, starting to get annoyed.
'There's been a problem. Someone from this world somehow got into our headquarters and found and stole the books. They know everything and they'll make sure that Voldemort wins and Harry dies,' he said seriously. 'But once Voldemort succeeds he won't just stop at obtaining this world, he'll keep going until every world is under his control.'
Amelia paused. Was this guy serious? Did he actually believe all this? More importantly, did Amelia believe it? While he'd been talking she'd been looking around. Nothing seemed fake. She'd been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and while it'd been amazing, it was nothing compared to this.
'You're starting to believe me,' he noted.
She looked back and him and rolled her eyes. 'Let's just say I do believe you. What do you expect me to do?'
'Stop him.'
She stared at him. 'Stop him? How?'
'You know the books off by heart. Watch Harry closely and make sure he doesn't get killed. This person won't want to do anything drastic. Straying too far from the written books could collapse the world,' Derek explained.
'Why not just get J.K Rowling to do it then? She knows the books better than me.'
'Authors should never be in the worlds they've created. It would cause them to go insane,' he replied. She had a feeling he was speaking from experience.
'How would I watch Harry? I'm not a witch, I wouldn't be allowed in Hogwarts,' she said feeling a little depressed at that thought.
Derek laughed slightly. 'You're in another world. The rules change. You'll either be a witch, a squib, or a muggle.'
'And what'll happen if I'm a muggle?' she asked, wondering if he'd just kill her off if he found out she was useless.
'Go to Ollivanders and try a wand,' was all he told her.
'What about money?' she asked.
'There's some in your pockets and there'll be more in there.' Derek pointed behind her. Turning around she saw he was pointing to Gringotts.
Amelia turned back to ask another question but found he was gone. She began to panic. She was in a strange world with no idea what to do. The whole universe basically lay in her hands. Taking some deep breaths she walked slowly around Diagon Alley, looking for Ollivanders. As she walked she began getting some strange looks and realised that she was dressed in muggle clothes. Frowning, she decided to fix that as soon as possible.
She finally found Ollivanders and walked in, still clutching her book, and feeling nervous.
'Good afternoon,' greeted an old man with wide, pale eyes.
'Hello,' she greeted, feeling shy.
'Muggle-born I presume?' he asked as he eyed her attire.
Amelia nodded and noticed he was staring at her book. She suddenly realised that the book had "Harry Potter" written largely on the front. She flipped it around; thinking a picture of Dumbledore on the back would be better than a picture of Harry and the Hogwarts Express on the front. Luckily, Mr. Ollivander chose to ignore the book.
'Which is your wand arm?' he asked.
She held out my right arm as he whipped out a measuring tape. Just like Harry, he measured the oddest things; shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and round her head.
As the measuring tape – which was measuring magically on it's own – worked away, Mr. Ollivander searched through the shelves for a suitable wand. He smiled as he finally found one and brought it over to Amelia. The measuring tape fell to the group as he gently took out the wand.
'Dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Rather sturdy,' he informed her as he handed it to her.
As she gripped it, she felt a warmth she'd never felt before. The warmth trickled into her fingers and she felt the urge to flick the wand. As she flicked it, a stream of red and gold sparks flew out, dancing around the room.
Mr. Ollivander smiled proudly. 'Ah, yes. I have a knack for choosing the correct wand on the first try. As you're muggle-born I'm sure you don't know that the wand chooses the wizard, so you can't just buy any wand that tickles your fancy.'
She smiled politely at him, pretending she had no idea, as he wrapped away her wand for her. She paid him seven gold galleons and thanked him before exiting and making her way straight to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. She didn't want to draw any more unnecessary attention to herself.
'Hogwarts?' a squat witch, who Amelia assumed was Madam Malkin, asked.
Amelia nodded as Madam Malkin brought her to the back of the shop and stood her on a stool. She slipped a robe on Amelia and began pinning it to the correct length. As she worked away the door opened again.
'I'll be fine on my own, mother. Just go look at wands,' an annoyed voice said.
Amelia looked behind before turning back around quickly.
'Hogwarts,' Malfoy told Madam Malakin in a bored tone as he stepped up on the stool.
He glanced over at Amelia and she couldn't help but stare back. Reading about a character and then seeing them in person was sort of creepy. He had a pale, pointed face and his pale blue eyes stared back into Amelia's.
'What house do you want to be in?' he asked breaking the silence and looking at the Hogwarts crest on her robes.
She paused. Did she really want to get on the wrong side of Malfoy be telling him Gryffindor? It would be helpful if she had him as an ally.
'Slytherin,' she lied. It had the desired affect and made him look impressed.
'It's the best house. I'll be in Slytherin as well of course – all my family were,' he told her as he looked at himself in the mirror.
He turned back to Amelia and examined her face. 'I assume your parents were a witch and a wizard. Wouldn't it be awful to be muggle-born?'
She nodded slightly, glad he hadn't asked if she was muggle-born and simply assumed she was a pureblood.
'You're done,' Madam Malkin told her suddenly.
Amelia sighed with relief and stepped down from the stool. Malfoy nodded a goodbye to me as her as she paid for her robes. She smiled slightly before speedily making her way out of the shop, regretting lying to him. Wondering where to go next, she took out her book and flipped to the page where the supplies list was.
She spent the majority of the rest of the day shopping for the supplies; quills and ink, books, cauldron, telescope, brass scales, and potion supplies.
She walked out of the final shop with her supplies and suddenly frowned. If today was the day Malfoy and Harry were getting their supplies, that meant it was a month until the Hogwarts Express left. What was she meant to do until then? Before she had even fully thought about it, she felt the familiar dizziness. Her eyes drooped closed and when she opened them again she was no longer in Diagon Alley.
Amelia looked around, confused as to where she was. There were a lot of people rushing around and shouting to one another, which only made her confusion worse. Steam covered a lot of her vision and she squinted, trying to see where she was.
'Perhaps you should look behind,' a voice suggested.
Turning around she saw the creepy guy from Diagon Alley – AKA Derek. Beside him was the Hogwarts Express. She blushed, feeling embarrassed for not having figured out her surrounds earlier.
'Well you were only squinting at a wall, it's not your fault you couldn't tell where you were,' Derek said as if trying to reassure me.
'I don't think I like the way you can read my mind,' Amelia told him as she glared at him.
'Who said I could read your mind?'
She rolled her eyes and ignored his question. 'What am I doing here? School doesn't start for a month.'
Derek looked around. 'Then what's everyone doing here?'
She frowned and looked at the students boarding the Hogwarts Express.
'Did I time travel?'
He shrugged. 'I assumed you wouldn't want to spend a month doing nothing. Now if that's all.'
Before she could even answer he had vanished into thin air. She glared at where he had been standing before sighing. She had never even gotten a choice on the matter. What if she didn't want to save the universe?
She dragged her luggage – which had been conveniently packed for her somehow – onto the train while trying not to think about how annoying Derek was.
'Need any help?' a voice asked.
She looked around and saw Fred and George Weasley grinning back at her. She must have looked startled because one of them – they really were identical – said, 'Don't worry. The first day is the worst. From then on, you'll love Hogwarts.'
She smiled back slightly.
'I'm Fred by the way,' he said as he lifted one of her trunks. 'And that's George.'
They lifted her trunks into an empty compartment for her as she followed them unsurely.
'Thank you,' she told them as she tucked the last of her luggage into a corner of the compartment.
She turned around but only one of them was left.
'Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!' George suddenly called from somewhere else on the train.
Fred grinned at her and waved goodbye before running down to find his twin. She sat down feeling exhausted. She didn't know how to act around characters she knew every detail about.
A round-faced boy suddenly poked his head in and turned red as he muttered, 'You don't mind if I share this compartment with you, do you?'
'Not at all,' she said smiling at a boy she assumed was Neville.
He looked pleasantly surprised and went and sat down opposite me.
'I'm Neville Longbottom.'
'I'm Amelia Grace,' she introduced herself.
'You must be muggle-born,' a voice suddenly said from the compartment door.
A girl stood in the doorway with frizzy hair and oversized teeth. It didn't take a genius to realise that Hermione Granger was standing in front of her.
'Why'd you say that?' Amelia asked in interest.
'I've read all the history books on the wizarding world,' Hermione told her as she sat down. 'And the surname Grace isn't mentioned. Of course you could be half-blood but since you looked particularly nervous I just guessed you were muggle-born. Was I right?'
Amelia stared at her in astonishment and nodded her head in silence.
'I'm muggle-born as well.'
Amelia spent most of the train journey listening to Hermione talking of all the books she'd read and all the different spells she'd learnt. She only stopped when Neville suddenly began wailing that he'd lost his toad. At once Hermione went to try and help him find it. Amelia decided it would be a good time to change into her robes.
As she walked back towards her compartment after changing she passed a compartment where Fred and George were sitting talking excitedly to a boy their age. Fred suddenly caught her eye and beckoned her in. Feeling awkward, she slowly walked in.
'Sorry for rushing off like that. Harry Potter was having trouble lifting his luggage,' George told her. 'Defeats the Dark Lord and can't even lift one trunk.'
'I'm Lee Jordan,' the other boy introduced, ignoring George.
Amelia smiled awkwardly. 'Amelia.'
A box sitting next to Lee suddenly moved slightly. Amelia stared at it, wondering if she'd imagined it. Lee laughed at her expression and opened the box causing Amelia to shriek slightly.
'Not a fan of spiders?' Lee asked in fake concern.
Amelia narrowed her eyes at him. 'That is not a spider. That is a monster.'
The tarantula moved its foot upwards and began to climb out of the box. Amelia took a step back, knocking into the compartment door. Lee laughed but moved to close the box just as the train suddenly lurched to a halt and the tarantula fell out of the box and crawled towards Amelia. Screaming, she jumped onto the seat and refused to get down until it was placed safely back into the box. As it was reluctant to be caught, this took a rather long time and as a result, the four were nearly the last one's off the train.
Amelia shivered slightly as the cold hit her. She looked around for Hagrid but with a sinking heart realised that they must have already gone down to the lake. The twins seemed to realise this at the same time.
'Must've already gone down,' muttered Fred before turning and smiling brightly at Amelia. 'Not to worry, I'll bring you down myself.'
'Won't you get in trouble?' Amelia asked as she followed him through the dark.
His teeth gleamed in the dark as he grinned wider. 'Doubt there's a second when I'm not in trouble.'
Amelia was beginning to wonder if he actually knew his way down when the path suddenly opened on to the edge of the great black lake. Amelia could see the boats already in the middle of the lake. Looking up, Amelia saw Hogwarts perched upon the top of a mountain.
'Get in,' instructed Fred as he went down to a few of the remaining boats.
Amelia got into one of the boats and was surprised when Fred pushed the boat out and suddenly hopped in himself.
'I'm pretty sure you're not meant to be in the boat,' Amelia said. 'Aren't they just for the first years?'
'Was one of your parents a witch or wizard?' Fred asked instead of answering her question.
Amelia shook her head, which caused Fred to stare at her for a moment.
'How do you know they're only for first years then?'
Amelia blushed and looked away. She'd have to be more careful.
'Read it in a book,' she muttered but knew he wouldn't believe her.
'Mind your head,' he told her as they reached the cliff. Amelia was thankful he didn't push the subject.
Ducking her head, the boat carried them through a curtain of ivy and down a dark tunnel. The boat finally stopped when they reached some kind of underground harbour. The other students were just getting out as they arrived.
'Oy, you there!' Hagrid suddenly shouted. Fred froze. 'Is this your toad?'
Amelia looked around and realised that Hagrid was talking to Neville and not Fred. She looked back to Fred who grinned at her. They followed Hagrid up some flights of steps until they reached a huge, oak door, which he promptly knocked on.
Professor McGonagall answered and brought them through to the entrance hall where they were given a speech about Hogwarts. Amelia didn't listen; she'd read it so many times that she could've said it in her sleep. She kept glancing at Fred, wondering if he'd get in trouble.
'I'll sneak out now,' Fred whispered to her as they walked through the Great Hall. 'Hope to see you in Gryffindor.'
As the first years walked down the Great Hall, Fred ducked his head and joined the Gryffindor table. The nervous first years gathered around the front of the hall and listened to the hat sing.
'When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,' McGonagall said and suddenly a wave of panic hit Amelia.
She hadn't gotten an acceptance letter. Was she on the list? What if she was left standing in the Great Hall? She wasn't even a proper witch; she'd been a normal human in her own world before all this had happened. She looked around feeling panicked, and tried to think of a way to escape. Her eyes suddenly caught Dumbledore's. He smiled gently at her and winked. Amelia paused. Did he know?
'Grace, Amelia,' McGonagall's loud voice suddenly called.
Amelia pulled her gaze away from Dumbledore and walked shakily up to the hat. She sat down and stared at the Gryffindor table where she saw the twins give her the thumbs up sign before the hat drooped over her eyes.
'Hmm,' said the voice of the hat in her ear. 'Almost definitely Ravenclaw, but…'
Panic once again began to set in. If she was in Ravenclaw she couldn't possibly keep on eye on Harry. It had to be Gryffindor!
'No!' hissed Amelia.
The hat paused and seemed to take a second to read her thoughts.
'Ah,' it suddenly said. 'I see. But are you sure? You may regret it.'
Amelia frowned. There was no other way she could make sure he wasn't murdered.
'If you insist,' the hat murmured before shouting, 'GRYFFINDOR!'
Feeling a sense of relief much like the relief Harry would feel moments later when he was also sorted into Gryffindor, Amelia skipped down and sat down at her house's table. The rest of the sorting went by fast until finally it was Harry's turn.
Like the rest of the hall, Amelia stared at him as he was sorted. He was just how she'd imagined him to be with his wild hair, startling green eyes, and look of nervousness. She watched his look of relief as he walked towards their table, and she clapped with the rest of her house. Her eyes suddenly met his and once again a panic attack began.
She glanced down at her table, not wanting to look at him. An Amelia Grace was never mentioned in the books. A girl with dark brown curly hair and dark blue eyes was never mentioned. She shouldn't be here. That meant she could never interact with Harry or any of his friends because it never said she did in any of the books.
She frowned. But he'd have to notice her eventually. She remembered how Derek had said that too much changing of the original book's structure would cause the whole world to collapse. She glared at her plate in front of her. How could he just send her in here without warning her?
Amelia ate her food with lack of enthusiasm. Her nerves in her stomach weren't allowing her to eat much anyway. How was she supposed to watch Harry if he could never speak to her or even see her? She looked around sadly as she watched the entire school sing together. Hogwarts would be a rather miserable place if she couldn't even interact with any of the main characters.
She made sure to be the last to walk behind Percy in order to be avoided as he led them to their common room. However she was surprised when she was dragged away by Professor McGonagall.
'Professor Dumbledore would like to see you,' was all she said as she led Amelia towards Dumbledore's office.
Amelia felt her stomach twist. Would he tell her they'd made a mistake? That she didn't belong here? Or perhaps he'd demand to see her acceptance letter.
They suddenly stopped in front of a gargoyle.
'Sherbet Lemon,' McGonagall said to the gargoyle looking slightly annoyed that the headmaster had made his password so ridiculous.
The gargoyle moved, revealing a circular stairway. McGonagall nodded, indicating Amelia should go up. Feeling her legs shake, she forced herself to walk forward. The stairs began moving as she walked up them. Finally she reached a door. She knocked lightly, hoping he wasn't in.
However a low voice answered, 'Come in.'
Amelia pushed open the door, revealing a room she'd only ever read about. Dumbledore was always one of her favourite characters and normally she'd have been delighted to see his office, but she could barely concentrate on anything as he motioned for her to sit down on a chair in front of his desk.
She sat down and looked at the ground while he stared at her for a few minutes.
'Was there something you wanted?' Amelia finally asked, looking up. She felt brave and rude both at the same time.
Dumbledore smiled slightly. 'You seemed nervous at the sorting ceremony.'
Amelia swallowed. Was he going to ask for her acceptance letter now?
'Everyone was.'
Dumbledore smiled again. 'That's true, though I see no reason to be. However not every student looks nervous through a magnificent feast. You also happened to be the only one not joining in singing.'
Amelia frowned slightly. Was this about the acceptance letter at all?
'It must be a lot of pressure for you,' Dumbledore noted.
Amelia looked at him, feeling startled.
'Do you know?' she blurted out.
'Know what?' Dumbledore asked, smiling.
Amelia looked at him, knowing he was lying. Perhaps he wasn't meant to know. Dumbledore's smile suddenly vanished and he looked at her seriously.
'I'm not meant to know about these things, however I'm gifted in finding out things that people would rather were never found out, if I do say so myself,' Dumbledore said lowly. 'I fear this may be our only time to talk and it's limited. I'm sure spies will be sent once they find out you've been sent here. Whatever you have to ask me, ask quickly.'
'I don't understand,' Amelia began, trying to figure out what he meant. She thought only one person had the books. Had the person told others? But wouldn't that be dangerous, considering the more people who knew, the more likely the world would collapse in on itself.
'You will someday,' Dumbledore said smiling in a knowing way. 'Now talk quickly.'
Amelia racked her brain. She had a million questions, but which would she ask?
'I'm not mentioned in any of the books,' she said slowly, trying to think of how to explain.
'You want to know if by talking to the characters in the books will affect the world?'
Amelia smiled, feeling thankful he understood.
'I shouldn't think so. From what I've studied, books are more of a rough guide to what should happen. If one more character is added, I don't think it would make a difference,' Dumbledore told her. 'Provided you don't change major events.'
Amelia paused. Derek seemed convinced that the books needed to go exactly according to plan or else the world would collapse. Dumbledore noticed her hesitation.
'You may have been told differently. I won't lie and say I'm right. Nobody knows for sure. It's very difficult to study the worlds. However you can't help anybody by observing and not involving yourself.'
Amelia smiled back at Dumbledore, feeling slightly reassured. At least she wouldn't have to live like a hermit now. There was a sudden knock on the door and Dumbledore's face darkened.
'I'm afraid our time is up. I am no longer any help to you.'
Without waiting for an answer, a man walked in. Amelia stared at him wondering who he was. He had dark black hair, almost black eyes, and was dressed all in black. She had never read about any character with that description.
'Thank you very much for the sherbet lemons,' Dumbledore suddenly said, smiling brightly at Amelia. 'My love for them seems to have gotten around.'
Amelia forced a smile. 'You're welcome. I better be getting back to my common room. Goodnight, headmaster.'
Dumbledore smiled at her as she briskly walked from the room, not making eye contact with the strange man. She didn't have a good feeling about him. She arrived outside the common room just as Fred and George were walking out. They grinned at her.
'Shouldn't you be in bed?' George asked her.
'Shouldn't you?' she asked, smiling.
'Pranking beats sleeping,' he told her. 'But shh, don't tell anyone. It's a secret.'
Amelia rolled her eyes and walked through the open portrait hole. She made a mental note to get the password off someone. Percy glared at her as she walked in. He opened his mouth to speak but Amelia cut him off.
'I was talking to Dumbledore.'
He looked at her in shock. 'What would he want to talk to you for?'
'I promised not to tell,' Amelia said just to see Percy's reaction.
'I am a prefect! I should be notified of these things!' he told her in an outraged voice.
Amelia shrugged her shoulders and walked up the stairs to her dormitory, smiling. Her trunks had already been delivered and she was thankful to find that somebody had put her book in her trunk. She frowned, wondering if the person had read through the book.
Amelia lifted out the book and sat on her bed. She sighed, preparing herself for a long night of reading through it, marking off important events. She settled into a comfy position and wondered what she'd gotten herself into.