Spoilers: All Harry Potter books and associated canon information
Summary: Set 50 years after the down fall of Lord Voldermort. This is the story of life two generations after the fall of Lord Voldermort, how has the magical world recovered? How has life changed? What has happened to our many loved characters? Has the wizardry world learnt their lesson or will evil prevail once again? The romance may have failed between Cho Chang and Harry Potter 50 years ago, but what happens when a new generation of young wizards and witches emerge? This is the story of Cho Chang's granddaughter Kym Wong and her friends at Hogwarts.
Notes: I've told the story to follow canon as closely as possible.
Beta Reader: Draquia (thanks a million :D )
DISCLAIMER: OC belongs to me, while the Harry Potter universe and its associated characters belong to JKRowling.
"Oh shoot, can't believe I overslept!" a 5'7 Asian girl of olive complexion muttered to herself as she rushed into the kitchen. She grabbed a piece of toast hovering in mid-air that Mrs Wong was magically transferring to one of four plates laid out on the kitchen table.
"Remember to be back before dinner! We're going to your Gran's!" Mrs Wong shouted towards her daughter as she ran out of the kitchen as fast as she ran into it.
"I will!" her daughter boomed back as she nearly knocked into Mr Wong, who was just paying the owl a few knuts and sickles for the Daily Prophet. "Mornin' dad," she said as she swerved around her father.
"Slow down Kym, are you sure you know how to get Diagon Alley the muggle way?" Mr Wong asked peering over his frameless spectacles.
"I'll be fine, I've done it a dozen times. Bye!" Kym continued her rush out of the house and into the quiet morning street. It was a sunny Sunday morning and most wizarding families have chosen to have a nice sleep-in. Kym jogged down two streets until she reached the bus stop which would take her to London from her small, magical village. At times like these she wished she knew how to apparate, though most days she enjoyed the quiet ride to London as she took in the scenery around her.
Her village of Bloomsdale on the outskirts of London was approximately an hour away by muggle bus transport. According to her parents it was one of the many villages recently founded in Britain since the downfall of modern time's most dangerous wizard, Lord Voldemort, some fifty years ago. As the population of wizards and witches increased exponentially, and to uphold the International Statute of Secrecy that was long ago established, existing magical communities expanded and newer communities were eventually created as more magical families lived together in close proximity. According to Kym's grandmother, magical folk often used to say that the number of wizards and witches were falling and would eventually die out if not for muggle marriages. If it weren't for muggles and muggle-born wizards and witches marrying so-called "pure-blood" folk, many wizarding families would have long ago died out. Since the defeat of Lord Voldermort, a new era of leaders and a new generation of witches and wizards had emerged. While traditional pure-blood mentalities still existed, the magical population at large were now more tolerant of not just muggles, but also of other magical creatures which were traditionally oppressed.
Kym looked at her watch - a muggle watch that was - that was given to her as an 11th birthday gift some five years ago by her muggle grandfather, who was a retired architect. He also had a keen interest in collecting watches, and upon the discovery of the existence of magic, magical watch-making had thoroughly intrigued him. The watch that was given to Kym had a chain made of pure silver and a round analogue clock to match. If her watch was right, she was 2 minutes early. This bus stop was only one of two bus stops found in Bloomsdale serviced by muggle buses. Kym looked down at herself, making sure she was still neatly dressed after frantically running through several streets. For an Asian girl, she was slightly taller than average, and with the regular Quidditch training at Hogwarts, she maintained the slender built required for being Chaser on the Ravenclaw team. Unlike some other young wizards and witches, she knew how to dress reasonably well in muggle clothing, as Kym's mother was a muggle-born witch herself. Mrs Wong made sure her children could walk out of the door and into the muggle world without getting peculiar looks. She combed through her trademark silky black hair with her fingers, evening out any stray strands of hair. Kym, like her father before her displayed a strong resemblance to her dear grandmother, who many had told her was a fine-looking witch in her day.
The bus arrived not long after and she boarded it, handing over a few muggle coins to the driver and proceeding on to finding her fellow Ravenclaw housemate and best friend.
"Kym! Over here." a brown, wavy-haired girl beamed and waved eagerly at her. Kym beamed back and hurried towards her friend as the bus began to chug forward.
"Chloe!" Kym sat next to her best friend and gave her a quick hug. She had known Chloe Stretton since they were in first year. Kym had found Chloe lost and wondering around trying to find her way to the Herbology greenhouse on their first day at Hogwarts. Kym, who was better with directions, guided them to the right place just before Professor Longbottom started their first lesson. "How was China? I've missed you!"
Chloe grinned at her friend, "It was amazing! I never knew Chinese Magic was so fascinating. And the sights were just amazing. Walking though Xi An Dao was like travelling back to ancient China." Seeing Kym's puzzled look, Chloe explained. "Xi An Dao is Shanghai's equivalent of Diagon Alley, if you like."
When you looked at Chloe, you could tell she was mixed blood. Her father was Archibald Stretton, a ministry official in the Department of Magical International Affairs who had met Chloe's mother when he spent 3 years in China, working as magical ambassador for the British ministry of magic. At the time, Chloe's mother was working as a translator for the Chinese ministry of magic. They had fallen for each other, so when Mr Stretton had to return to England, they decided to marry and her mother moved to England with Archibald. As with many Eurasians, Chloe displayed a certain quiet beauty. She was fortunate enough to inherit her father's height and her mother's kind smile. Somewhat opposite to Kym, Chloe preferred the safety of the solid ground and would rather avoid riding on a broom at all cost. She'd much rather be engrossed in the latest novel by Madam Rosemary Grey or pick up an age-old book written in rune and spend several days translating it.
While Kym loved to get away from the books when she got a chance, she was nevertheless sorted into Ravenclaw. The ancient Sorting Hat knew that within her mind and soul, she had a passion for learning and overcoming challenges with an intelligent mind. However, her love for Quidditch was embedded in her from a very young age. She had begun to show signs of magic as a toddler and her grandmother and Uncle Terrence, being avid Tutshill Tornados supporters, introduced her to the game. Uncle Terrance had given her a toy broom when she was a toddler and she thoroughly enjoyed zooming in the air, admittedly only 2 feet above the ground. She had enjoyed that feeling of flying for as long as she could remember. Her grandmother Cho Chang, being an ex-Ravenclaw seeker, had enthusiastically explained the finer points of Quidditch to her eldest granddaughter from the age of seven. Back then, her grandmother still had the vigour and the time to spend actively playing Quidditch; when she wasn't busy with Healer duties at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
The remainder of the trip on the bus was spent talking about wizardry in China and how different it was to Europe. During her trip, Chloe had met her grandparents and cousins for only the second time in her life. The last time she had visited her extended family in China was when she was ten years old, just before being admitted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"The stuff they learn at school is rather different. I had a look at my cousin's books and things, they learn about ancient Chinese herbs we've never heard of, magical creatures that only exist in China and their divination is one of a kind. I was never fond of that waffly subject, but the Chinese have quite a handle on it." Chloe explained excitedly. Kym came to accept this as her friend's "ready mind" and "wit and learning" that the Sorting Hat often recited in his sorting songs.
"Well, these ancient herbs you saw might now be found in Aunt Charlotte's apothecary, when she came over for dinner the other night she was just telling my parents about some Chinese herbs that just got approved from the ministry for importation into Britain," Kym informed her friend, who had a particularly keen interest in Herbology and ancient things, living or dead.
Aunt Charlotte had carried on Kym's great-grandparents' apothecary business in Diagon Alley, and over the generations Chang's Asian Apothecary had grown into quite a name in the trade of herbs and potion ingredients. Her Aunt Charlotte, unlike her grandmother, had a keen interest in the herbs and ingredients found in Kym's great-grandparent's shop, so instead of handing the business to Kym's grandmother, who was the only child and was far more interested in remaining a healer, Kym's great-grandparents showed the ropes to Aunt Charlotte.
"Oh, before I forget, I got something for you from China," Chloe rummaged around her handbag and pulled out a silver charm bracelet, "I bought this from this famous temple near where my grandparents live. My cousins tell me the wizard priest there is pretty powerful and the charms are really strong. This charm brings good luck in love to the wearer."
Kym smiled, "You aren't worried about me are you? I'm fine you know, it's not like Claude and I broke up on bad terms or anything."
"I know, but still. You were together for months, before you two broke up because he was leaving for Germany," Chloe reasoned, then chuckled, "though I'm sure Chase is happy you and "the Slytherin", as he likes to put it, aren't together anymore."
Chase Weasley, the son of Hugo Weasley and grandson of Hogwarts headmistress Hermione Weasley, had the traditional Gryffindor dislike of Slytherins, no doubt built into him from a young age, having come from a family of Gryffindors. Though secretly Kym and Chloe suspected he was simply jealous of Claude being Head Boy and so academically talented. While Chase came from a family of intelligent wizards and witches, his marks were never quite as high as he would have liked. Nathaniel Potter, Harry Potter's grandson, was much more tolerant of Slytherins than his cousin and best mate. After all, his own father, Albus S. Potter was a fellow Slytherin with Aunt Rose during their days at Hogwarts. One could say Albus and Rose lead a new generation that did their best to create a bridge between the traditionally disliked Slytherins and the rest of the houses. After all, some of the best wizards and witches stemmed from the noble house of Slytherin, and not all were "evil" as it was commonly perceived.
"Chase just doesn't like Slytherins, he's never wanted to see Claude's good side anyhow," Kym shrugged. "And I'm fine, really. If fate has it, when he comes back in 2 years; if we're meant to be, then we're meant to be."
Kym and Claude had met in Potions Club during Kym's 4th year, but whilst Claude was a shy sort of person who kept to himself, they got along well through their mutual passion for potions. Over time their friendship had grown into something more, and Claude made several attempts to initiate a romantic relationship with Kym before succeeding. Not because Kym wasn't interested, but because Claude was too bashful to ask out a girl.
While Kym was quite upset the few weeks after their break up, she pulled herself back up as she once again found the Quidditch world as a source of her escape and comfort. Chase's antics and Nate's comforting words when Chloe wasn't around helped her break up recovery a whole lot more than she would let on to the boys. To further cheer Kym up, the three friends had gone to two Quidditch matches this season, one in support of the Tutshill Tornados, the other in support of Chase's favourite team; the Chudley Cannons, who had improved over the decades from its dismal state some 50 years ago. Even though Nate, like Chloe, preferred the safety of the ground he still enjoyed the exciting game, especially when his older brother and sister were Quidditch rookies themselves, having just recently graduated from Hogwarts a few years ago.
"Glad you think so too. This should get you excited though," Chloe pulled out a pocket-sized book from her handbag and handed it to Kym. The book was titled A modern guide to the ancient European game of Quidditch. Kym gave her a quizzical look.
"It's a popular book in China at the moment, having only just caught on to the popularity of Quidditch within the last half century. I got you a translated version. I flicked though it, it talks about Quidditch in China and tactics, that sort of thing. Not my fancy but I think you'll love it," Chloe said, and then rolled her eyes, "My little cousins are crazy over Quidditch and they thought - me being British and all - I must have known all about flying on brooms."
Kym simply laughed and hugged her friend once again for being so thoughtful. It wasn't long before the bus stopped in London and they began their short walk to The Leaky Cauldron, where they said hi to the kind landlady Hannah Abbot, who was their Herbology professor, Neville Longbottom's wife. In the last 50 years, the number of shops in Diagon Alley had multiplied and the number of people carrying out their daily shopping in this Wizarding stretch had also increased dramatically. Furthermore with less than 2 weeks away from the new semester at Hogwarts, letters had already arrived at the doorstep of each current and future Hogwarts student. Young children could be seen chatting excitedly to their parents about which shop they wanted to visit to ready themselves for their new life at Hogwarts. Some children and teenage wizards and witches could be seen crowding around Quality Quidditch Supplies, admiring the new Comet 520 racing broom that has been the hot topic in Which Broomstick this past month. Kym glanced at the broom on their way to Gringotts and was quite tempted to buy it. But she reminded herself that the Nimbus 3000 she received as a birthday present from her grandmother three years ago when she made the team in her third year had served her well to date.
Upon reaching Gringotts and being served by goblins, both girls went their separate ways to their family vaults to cash out for the day's shopping needs. While Kym's great-grandparents came from humble beginnings, over the years the Chang family, now the Wong family, had built up a significant sum of money to allow themselves to live a comfortable life though sheer hard work and endurance.
After the visit to the bank, they walked further down the alley until they reached a majestic, yet antique looking building that seemed to be as big as Gringotts itself; excluding the underground vaults of course. This building was the National Library for Wizards, Witches and Warlocks. Kym had to return a few books she had borrowed several weeks ago when she'd come to the library with Nate. Upon entering, there was a long reception desk to the right where books were seen to by the librarians before being taken out of the library. If books were overdue, it was these librarians who would be sending howlers to give you an unpleasant reminder. Shelf after shelf of books lined the hall and these shelves reached as high as the ceiling. At the centre of the library were tables and chairs for people to enjoy a quiet read. On the second floor more books were found, but it also contained a section that held all the possible magazines and news papers published in Britain and a small collection of popular foreign magazines and papers for the more well-read.
Kym proceeded to the librarian's desk and pulled out three thick books from her handbag. If one had not known she was a witch, one would wonder how on earth she managed to fit them in her relatively small handbag. The bag was personally bewitched by her mother to allow her to carry a load much larger than what it was perceived to carry. It was given to her as a 15th birthday present last year. She also took out her library card for them to "update" so to speak. The card had all the book titles written on it and the status or due date of the books. This "updating" essentially involved removing the books that had been returned from appearing on the card and adding on books that had been borrowed to the card.
"Kym! Chloe!" The two girls heard a call from behind them and turned around to see Nathaniel Potter beaming at them. Chloe rushed up to hug her good friend whom she also hadn't seen since she'd left for her holidays some four weeks ago.
Kym smiled and asked, "Returning the books from last time we were here?"
"Nah, I followed my dad to work today, helped him out a bit at the office and he let me off earlier than expected. Thought I get away from the summer heat in here until it was time to meet you girls and Chase," Nate explained. Out of all his siblings he looked most like his father Albus Potter, who took after his father Harry potter. Nate had his grandfather's piercing green eyes and jet black hair that was hard to keep neat. He was lanky and wore half-rimmed rectangular glasses. He was very unlike his cousin Chase, who was stocky; the build of a beater with trademark Weasley red hair and freckled skin.
"This fortnight's Practical Potioneer," Nate smiled as he handed Kym the magazine, he, like Kym enjoyed Potions, and whoever had the most recent copy of The Practical Potioneer would often lend it to the other. "There's someone familiar in there that I thought you might want to read about." He hesitated. "If you're up for it."
She curiously grabbed the magazine and started to flip through it as they made their way down Diagon alley. They had planned to meet up at Wilkin's Corner House for lunch prior to shopping, and knowing Chase, he would arrive on the dot, if not earlier. As she read snippets of articles here and there, Chloe told Nate about her trip to China. Some ten pages into the magazine, a picture of her ex-boyfriend smiling at her with his brilliant blue eyes made her stop abruptly in her steps. The article was on Claude Rosier.
This month's feature article is a very special one featuring the newly appointed apprentice to the world-renowned German potioneer, Adalrico Brauer. He is a fresh Hogwarts graduate who competed with hundreds of young wizards and witches across the British Isles and Europe for the much sought after two-year apprenticeship with Brauer. It has been over ten years since the last British wizard was honoured with this opportunity. Claude Rosier, Slytherin and Headboy at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was born to a muggle mother and wizard father. One could not say he came from humble beginnings as no doubt many will know the infamous Rosier bloodline. However, Claude stemmed from the less bloody lineage, as his great-grandfather had defied family tradition and married a muggle woman. He was thus disowned by his parents and had his inheritance stripped from him.
Despite his family's bloodstained and scandalous past, Claude grew up into a fine wizard who was well respected by teachers and students alike at Hogwarts. One could say he represents a new generation of Slytherins who do not harbour age-old thoughts which many would associate with being a Rosier....
The article spanned two pages and went through certain details of his life, family and future career.
Conversation between Nate and Kym ceased when they realised they friend had stopped dead in her path and was intently reading the magazine.
"I guess you found the article on Claude," Nate said carefully. Chloe raised her eyebrows at Nate and moved closer to read the article Kym was so fixated on.
Once Kym had finished reading the article, she smiled a small, if not slightly sad smile. She had not spoken to Claude since the last week of Hogwarts. They had discussed the impending problem of Claude winning the apprenticeship and moving to Germany for two years, at least, to learn from the potioneer they both so admired. It was as clean as a break up could be, and it was inevitable. Neither believed in long distance relationships and the only thing left to do was to end it. They had vowed to remain friends, but Kym had voiced her wish say her final farewell and good luck to Claude when they broke up, as she did not think she could hold it together if they were to continue seeing each other before he left for Germany in the middle of the summer holidays. It was her second relationship, but her first serious one and the break up, at the time, impacted on her greatly. She was just glad she had the summer holidays to get over it.
"Thanks, Nate. I think I needed that. I must say, there were bits and pieces about him he never mentioned." Kym paused, "But with a complicated family like that, I can imagine what it must be like."
"Claude isn't a bad guy, especially as far as Slytherins go. Chase has his own age-old Weasley traditional views," Nate chuckled, "and before I forget, I have to drop by my dad's office to drop off a package he told me to pick up."
Kym looked at her watch, it was nearly 11.30am - the time they set to meet for lunch- and said, "Chase is probably there already."
"I'll go and meet him, so he doesn't complain about how late we are throughout lunch. You two go ahead to meet Nate's dad," Chloe said and off she went to Wilkin's Corner House.
Kym and Nate turned right down another lane to arrive at Phoenix Publishing, Nate's father's book publishing company. It was only the second time she'd walked through the oak doors of this double storey building. The first was when Mr. Potter published his mother, Ginny Potter's biography, some two years ago. Kym, being the avid Quidditch fan she was, through Nate, got to attend the exclusive book signing and interview of Ginny Potter. Ginny had led a colourful life that was often in the press. Not the least because she was the wife of the famous boy-who-lived, Harry Potter, but also for being a celebrated player for the Holyhead Harpies in her younger days, before becoming a senior Quidditch correspondent for the Daily Prophet and was often asked to guest star in Quidditch programs. Nowadays, she spent more time at Phoenix Foundation being involved in their many projects.
Kym followed Nate past the receptionist, who nodded at them, and walked up the stairs to Mr. Potter's office.
"Dad, your package," Nate said as he walked through his open office door. Mr Potter looked up from the thick pile of parchment that he had previously been reading so intently and scribbling on here and there.
"Nathaniel, thanks. Ah, and this must be Kym, if memory serves me." Albus Potter smiled as he addressed her. He removed his spectacles and placed them on the parchment in front of him and then began rubbing his temples.
"Good morning Mr Potter, you memory serves you very well." Kym greeted him and smiled.
"You must be off to meet Chase?" Albus enquired, "Better be off, he has a habit of being on time."
"It's alright, Chloe's gone ahead to make sure he doesn't complain. Well, I'll see you back home for dinner, don't work too hard dad." Nate said.
"And you don't spend all the sickles and galleons I gave you this morning." Albus warned his son as he left with Kym. "See you later."
Thanks for comment and critique. Next chapter, Diagon Alley.