~~North Wind Rising~~
Author's notes: Hey all. Due to the encouragement of some of my friends, I have been compelled to write a story based on the ever-delicious movie Chocolat, which of course, stars the ever-delicious Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche, which I'm sure many people are already aware of. This story, however, has nothing to do with the storyline JKR has made, and so, is A/U (alternate universe). This means that Harry is not the Boy-Who-Lived, *ahem* is not dead (from OotP), Dumbledore is not headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Voldemort is not hell-bent on taking over the world and killing muggles.
The fic has a totally different plotline and the characters have all been sorta tweaked to my liking, sorry to say. Harry, Hermione, and Ron have not yet met, (just to clear up some confusion) and the world is as normal as it our world can be.
For now. *evil laugh*
I don't own Chocolat, of course, so I can't really take credit for some concepts that I incorporate into my story, but I can recommend the movie to whoever may be reading this, because it really is a good film. It was nominated for five Oscars, I think? But, alas, didn't win.
Really, I don't own Harry Potter either, and I'd hope that that much would be obvious.
Warnings: None, really. I'll try not to swear too much, but I'm not promising anything. If there are any questions, feel free to ask, and I'll do my best to explain, though I'm not even sure that I have a firm grasp on this story…
Comments and criticisms are much appreciated.
Enjoy!!
~~ stripes
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Chapter One: The Inevitable Winds.
In the quaint little town of Hogwarts, Diagon, the sun had just recently set quietly behind the lush green hills of the horizon. The moon, now in its element, high up above the earth, had begun to wane.
The birds had chosen to take shelter in their nests early tonight, tucking their heads under their wings, burrowed safe deep within the thick foliage of the tall trees littering the village. And the leaves themselves whispered amongst each other excitedly, as they quivered softly, for they could feel the stirrings of Things to Come.
The clouds had begun to roll in; covering the blackening sky with their thick wool, shrouding the pale glow of moonlight…and the night was silent. All that could be heard was the occasional chirp from a lonely cricket, or a hoot from a restless owl, or the increasing squeaks of the rusty old weathervane arrows, from their place upon the Hogwarts' rooftops, as they twirled.
This meant that the Wind was arriving.
In her cozy little apartment in the middle of Hogsmeade District, Hermione cast another anxious look at her balcony window, and the darkening skies overhead.
While sitting in her cushy armchair in front of a crackling fire, Hermione Granger was in no danger at all of getting caught up in the foreboding storm. But still, as the young woman chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, one couldn't help but worry. As hard as it was to admit, the schoolhouse had definitely seen better days, and the coming rainfall was sure not to do a speck of good.
Hermione sighed and averted her eyes from the troublesome scene of graying clouds.
It was best not to worry about it, she supposed; her energy could be spent on other more worthwhile projects and anyways, one couldn't control the weather. The rain would drop down to the earth whether her schoolhouse was dilapidated or not.
The brunette picked up another set of papers. This one was written neatly: good for Susan. Obviously her mother had begun to take a sudden interest in her daughter's slipping English grades, when the girl had been warned with the hovering of a very fat F.
// What It Means To Be A Good Citizen
by Susan Bones, class 3
April 21 //
The school mistress sighed. She was starting to regret ever assigning this type of thesis for the children's essays. Independent thought and moral development were all well and good, but sheet after sheet of homework…as Hermione read and graded accordingly, she found herself feeling more and more helpless, and depressed, even.
At least the students were creative.
Well. She wouldn't go that far. Truthfully, she meant that the majority of the kids all had an impressive vocabulary, so they had managed to say the exact basic thing their fellow student (and practically every other student in the class, for that matter) had written in a completely different set of words.
Hermione scowled. Was this a huge conspiracy? The whole town was out to do her in, she was sure.
Ok then, if she was in the mood of being sort-of-brutally honest with herself –
She had assigned the purposeful theme in hopes of figuring out what kind of slapstick pile of horse dung the so-called "over-doting" parents had been feeding into the innocent minds of their children.
In all fairness, it wasn't really their fault, Hermione mused. She bit the end of her pen.
It was all so misleading, really. It was amazing that there was such a place like Hogwarts, such a safe, sweet little town that was of no great importance to the world but was there all the same (oh, those type of places) still existed. That was what the town appeared to be on the outside. When you got right down to it, one could reason that the town really and truly was like that, at heart. But all the goodness and friendliness had been murked over, as Hermione knew very well. It was that kind of thing that a stranger would never notice firsthand, but someone new coming to stay would begin to realize it slowly, like a flower's petals uncurling in the heat of the sun. Except Hogwarts' truth was not at all beautiful.
Oh, the town in itself was fine.
Bordered by a few gently sloping hills, the village was not overly populated, yet it retained a charming serenity about it, from its lightly cobblestone pathways to the flower gardens adorning people's lawn. The houses were rather too close together for Hermione's tastes, but it all added to the endearing quality that was Hogwarts. Beautiful woods edged both sides of the town, and dirt roads, worn from the transportation of passing travelers, ran along the edges of the thick forests. A blooming square of shops stood in the midst of it all, nearly dead centre of the whole area, where all the village streets would eventually lead up or down to. It was simple and elegant, and Hermione adored it.
But so terribly close-minded, everybody was.
She was now referring to the people.
// A good citizen's first duty is to protect their township, and to keep it clean and safe. This means taking care of children, attending church weekly, and doing good stuff for the comunity while keeping wicked things out.
A good person, which a good citizen must be, you see, can show pity and compassion, and is helpful to others, but not to the people who do not deserve it. //
In Hermione's opinion, everyone on Earth deserved a little kindness when their luck was down. But the town, it had been taught to judge before you learn, and to see in order to judge. See the outside appearances, she corrected herself. The people of Hogwarts were all so terribly misled.
If Miss Granger had to point fingers at someone to blame all of the horrible prejudice and stereotypes that the people of Hogwarts were in habit of calling forth, she would automatically respond clearly and doubtlessly: "Lucius Malfoy."
The dear mayor.
The dear mayor had done something very special to the inconspicuous town in Diagon. He had managed (how, Hermione couldn't even begin to imagine, nor did she want to) to wrap an invisible blindfold over all the townsfolk's eyes and ears, smothering things like sympathy and empathy and good ole fashioned decency. Oh, it was all so terribly complex, but then again, it wasn't. But Hermione despised it, and had hatefully dubbed the stupidity, if one could call it that, as a virus, one that plagued the general population of her plain little town. She, as far as she could tell, was the only one that seemed to have not gotten pulled in by the cursed tides of misleading lies.
She supposed one could classify the problem as a 'fear of God', but somehow in Hogwarts, the righteousness that was associated with the Almighty had been twisted just so, that it was really a 'fear of Lucius Malfoy'. The result? All the village people were deathly afraid to do things, say things, or even think things that might upset their church, which in itself was controlled by the puppet strings of the mayor. All things sacrilegious and blasphemous were avoided, like sinful pleasures and foul words, but the situation had gotten to a point where anything that Mayor Malfoy did not approve of were deemed 'unholy' and they would perhaps be mentioned as fleeting words in a prepared sermon at church (which in itself was written practically on Malfoy's whims), and then, like obedient dogs, the villagers would treat the newly stated 'wicked thing' like the plague.
Hermione wondered very much how Lucius Malfoy retained such a dignified, respected reputation when he was blatantly a cruel, scheming devil who was addicted to power. Hermione somehow always felt, since she had taken up her teaching job over three years ago and was therefore still the most recent resident of Hogwarts that had set up a permanent home, that she was the only one who could see him for who he was.
It disgusted her.
An example, if you will: the mayor had not liked the homeless clogging up the alleyways, so the minister had labeled them as 'proof of Satan's cursed disease' the following Sunday. There soon were no people looking for some temporary shelter roaming in Hogwarts' streets. Such situations of obvious cruelty as this were common here, and Hermione couldn't do much to stop it. She was powerless against City Hall.
// The valew of a citizen is deemed through the mayor of the town. A good citizen will obey their mayor, the royale family, and there God. //
Good Lord, Hermione grimaced, as she circled the spelling and grammatical errors. The girl had classified a mayoral position as practically equals to kings and queens! Malfoy had the whole town wrapped around his little finger.
If there was only someway - or someone – to loosen the ties, then sever the string entirely from his grasp.
Oh, yes, Hermione certainly had tried once. Attempted, and had failed. It was part of the reason she became a schoolteacher and opted to stay in Hogwarts, to maybe get through to the fresh, eager minds of the youth, the next generation, to make them see that they were being played with more than a guitar at a folk festival.
But no avail.
She had been threatened, first with a cleverly written letter she received in the mail, warning her to teach less 'controversial' topics in the classroom or she would be dismissed, and then, when she did not let up, she had been faced with an eviction notice to her apartment, at which point she knew that if Lucius Malfoy had anything to say about her situation, (which he did, of course) she might've been exiled from the town completely.
// Good people are not wicked, and have pure thoughts and do not create unneccesary trouble for their township or for themselves. This is wise, as my mother says. We all have our own place in the werld, and it is not in our right to meddle with out pisition Being a good citizen sometimes means sacrifice, and sometimes happyness must be put behind other pryoritees. This is something I was taught as a baby.
A good citizen must respect the rules and order of the werld. I think that you would not have to work too hard to be one, but as long as certain manners and people are obeyed, you should be fine. //
Balderdash.
They simply couldn't think for themselves. Why were they all so weak?
Blast and phooey.
Hermione put down the paper. She hadn't the heart to mark it now, when she was in such a nasty mood. The children did try their best after all, and she was not one to judge. If she had grown up in this gentle little village, with its friendly looking houses that cast long, sinister shadows, she doubted that she'd be in a better mental state than these children were presently.
The young woman glanced again at the window, noticing that the trees had begun dip heavily, their leaves dancing wildly and braches thrashing against the stone bricks of the buildings, and the chilled air was blowing quite fiercely.
She clucked her tongue in annoyance and straightened the pile of submitted homework on her desk. She'd have to finish them another day. It was getting late anyway, she was tired, and tomorrow did not promise to be sunny. Hermione stretched and yawned. She stood up, tossed some water onto the fire and headed to her bathroom; mind focused on a soft warm bed and sleep…she could worry about the essays, the shape of the schoolhouse, the mayor…later…save it for another time.
As the winds raged outside, the clouds loomed over the shingled rooftops, and they crackled ominously with impending doom. The people of Hogwarts were snuggled deep under their covers, sleeping contently, and all the windows in the town were shut tightly against the terrible weather.
As the night wore on, the winds did not let up. The houses creaked and groaned under the strain of the force, and the trees desperately craved a rest from their constant swaying. All the nocturnal animals had become quiet, and all the weather vanes swiveled in one direction.
The prevailing North Wind brought the cold and frost, the clouds, and the occasional thunder crack or lightning flash, but it did not bring any rain. It was not that type of wind, really, and so brought no storm to the sleepy village of Hogwarts.
It did, however, bring the tidings of quite something else.