Wieder Erlebte
Dear Reader,
This doesn't agree with the canon. Peter is dead, James is alive (thus, Harry has wizard friends already and very different views than he has in canon); Sirius never went to Azkaban. The title means "Lived again" in German, which I thought oddly fitting for Harry in this case. The rest of the story you can read in my profile; just follow the numbers after the titles. I don't think you'll really need it to understand this, but in case you do, there it is.
Disclaimer: Alles gehört J. K. Rowling. The letter I started off with is an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone.
Note: because this is a serious AU, I can basically do whatever I want! Therefore, don't be shocked when things go crazy or out-of-order.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of
WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: A
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted
at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please
find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no
later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
August 3rd
Hi, Harry,
Did you get your Hogwarts letter yet? I got mine yesterday (you should see how jealous Ginny is). Do you want to meet in Diagon Alley the 27th? I'm going to try to sneak off for a bit, maybe take a few steps down Knockturn Alley, just to see what's there.
Ginny heard a story about you on the wizarding wireless yesterday. She still hasn't shut up about it. Girls.
Anyway, use Errol to send your reply. Your dad's owl doesn't get along with Ginny's cat.
Ron
August 4th
Ron,
I can't meet you in Diagon Alley. Dad's too busy to take me and he won't let me take the Floo to public places anymore. I think he thinks I'm going to get lost again or something. Ditto for Clara. One of Dad's old friends is bringing me around to get my school things (he works at Hogwarts).
Tell Ginny I said hi.
Errol's a useless lump of feathers, you said so yourself. But far be it for me to disturb- what's her name? Orangeade? Your sister is off her nut.
Harry
August 6th
Hey Harry,
Where do you get off making fun of my sister, scar-head? And the cat's name is Marmalade, not Orangeade, as well you know. At least she hasn't named the chickens yet.
I guess I'll see you at King's Cross on September first.
Tell your dad to stop working so hard.
Ron
August 7th
Ickle Ronniekins,
Boy, I'm in a foul mood. Clara and Dad are being disgustingly gushy. They think I don't notice, but I do. Dad brought her flowers for her birthday, and she's still wearing some them in her hair. And they keep making kissy-faces at each other when they think I'm not looking. It's put me off my food. Gross. I've had to take refuge in my room.
I'm afraid to tell my dad to stop working so hard. He's the Minister of Magic, for Merlin's sake! I don't
want the government to fall apart. He did take today off though, but I'm starting to regret it due to said gushiness.You can take this as my promise that I am never going to fall in love. Dad's acting like a total prat. Mum- Clara, that is- is nice, but she's, um, a girl? I don't know; sometimes it seems as if they get worked up over the littlest things. Very confusing. I wish I lived at the Burrow; men definitely outnumber the females there. Clara is more than enough for the both of us to handle (not in the fleshy sense, but in the she-has-Dad-whipped-like-cream sense).
I'm not even going to respond to your scar-head crack. That's so below you. You can do better. Bring it on.
The Boy Who Whined
(PS: See, even I can do better than 'scar-head.')
August 17th
Dear Whiny,
Ginny says 'scar-head' sounds a lot better than The Boy Who Whined. I win. Ha, ha.
Then she threatened me (my little sister! Threatening me already! She's growing up!) and said that if I ever told you that, she'd feed me to Marmalade. That cat has killer instincts, I'm telling you. She probably knows already that I've told you. I better be careful.
Percy got a Prefect badge by owl post. Did I tell you? He won't shut up about it. Fred and George hid it when it arrived, but he got suspicious when he didn't get his Hogwarts letter and Mum bullied them into giving it up. He's shaping up to be another Head Boy. The shame of it all.
Anyway, your mum and dad are nice people, even if they get gushy once in a while. At least your parents like each other. My mum and dad are always fighting over things like did the twins get too many detentions this year. Honestly. Of course they didn't. They're brilliant; they hardly ever get caught.
Sorry it took me so long to get a reply back. The twins ordered another Magically Complete Mischief-Maker's Chemistry Set and Errol had to recover. I don't see why they couldn't have waited a few weeks and just bought it in person. Or at least, I didn't, until I noticed it said that to make the purchase you had to be accompanied by an adult.
Just a couple weeks now. I can't wait. Fred and George make Hogwarts sound like Avalon or something. Percy makes it sound like boot camp. I like Fred and George's interpretation better.
Tell your mum and dad hi for me.
From,
Ron
August 20th
Dear Ron,
Mum saw your last letter and decided to give me a lesson in proper letter-writing for when I go away. Just great; I haven't even left the house yet and I'm already being taught. She's also trying to teach me a proper grammar charm, which is a great idea when I don't have a wand! Spectacular. Ooh, apparently I can't just write that by itself. That's interesting. And I left off your address at the top, which you need for the Muggle way of doing things. (Force of habit; Mum does a lot of things the Muggle way. I'm not supposed to begin a sentence with 'and,' either.) It doesn't matter; Errol knows where you live.
One week 'til you get your things in Diagon Alley and two days until I get mine. Dad says I'll like his Hogwarts friend. I just want to know what the guy does. He's not a teacher; Dad would have told me if he was (I think). Then again, my Dad's not always exactly forthcoming with information.
That's all for now,
Harry
August 22nd
Hey Harry,
By the time you get this letter, you'll have already been to London and back. How unfair. Tell me everything. Wait, don't tell me anything. I'll see for myself in a few days.
Your mum's nutters. It's just a fact of life. If she weren't crazy, she wouldn't have married your dad. If she weren't crazy, she would have stayed far, far away from the both of you. You're dangerous.
Did you meet anyone in the alley? More Hogwarts students, I mean.
Oh! Percy's shouting that he wants to use Errol. Guess I'd better send this off, then.
Ron
August 23rd
Ron,
Diagon Alley was amazing! I mean, I've been there before, but not just before Hogwarts (and, thus, Quidditch season). It's too bad we're not allowed to bring brooms to school this year.
Anyway, I met Dad's friend- his name's Rubeus Hagrid, but everyone calls him Hagrid. He's the gamekeeper at Hogwarts. The guy is
huge! Massive. He makes your dad, my dad, and all your brothers look tiny. He about wrung my hand right off when we met.We went to get my school robes first. There was a boy in there who was talking about Hogwarts like he knew everything about it, and he's only going into first year! I wonder if I'll be very far behind. It doesn't really matter, I guess, I will just have to catch up. Dad won't tell me much about Hogwarts because "You have to experience it for yourself." The most I ever got out of anybody was when Uncle Remus, Uncle Sirius and Aunt Allya told me about a couple of adventures they had saving the world from evil. (But I don't think we can believe them. I mean, they were only kids!) Do you believe this guy, he asked me right off if I was Muggle-born, just like that. I mean, that's kind of rude. He didn't even ask my name and already wanted to know if my parents were "our kind." People like that tick me off. Then he asked me what they do for a living- as if social status is everything! I just told him my parents work at the Ministry and asked about his. It seemed like the only thing I could do. The guy wouldn't tell me about his parents. I wonder why.
Then Hagrid and I got ice cream from Florian Fortescue's. We went to the Owl Emporium (I bought an owl, a white one; she's the one delivering this message with Errol. Her name is Hedwig.) and to Ollivander's, where I got my wand. I don't know if I like Mr. Ollivander. He's kind of… creepy. He remembers every wand he ever sold, though. He remembers my mother's wand- my birth mother, I mean, not Mum (Clara). I wonder who else remembers her. Dad doesn't talk about her much. I wonder if he's forgotten.
We got the rest of the stuff- books, potions supplies, and so on, and then we had to go to Gringotts so he could pick up something for the Headmaster. By the time we got back I was totally zonked. Good thing your owl didn't come until this morning, or else I would've been too knackered to write back when I got it.
I just read over what I wrote and realized I can't send it. Too much information. This one goes in the bin.
Harry
August 30th
Hi, Harry,
Your last letter was really short. In a bit of a hurry, were you? Or was Diagon Alley a lot more boring than you'd planned?
I tried to get away from Mum for a few minutes to see Knockturn Alley, but no such luck. She's watching me like a hawk. How does she do that, with seven children? She always knows when one of us is up to no good. How unfair.
Hedwig, huh? You're as crazy as my sister. Maybe crazier. Ouch! She bit me! (Hedwig, that is; not Ginny.)
Hope you get this letter before the first. If not, Hedwig will find you at King's Cross, I'm sure.
See you in a couple days,
Ron
September 8th
Dear Mum and Dad,
Hogwarts is cool. How come you never told me about this stuff before?
On the train on the way here, Ron and I were talking in a compartment when two other kids came in, a short, round-faced boy and a girl with very bushy hair and a bossy voice. She said, "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one." (Neville turned out to be the round-faced boy.) Then she went on about how she'd tried some spells already and they'd all worked. I thought you weren't supposed to do magic until you got to the school? How did she do that? She must be Muggle-born; she doesn't know any better.
When we got here, we got sorted (Gryffindor) and then we had a feast. The bossy girl (her name is Hermione Granger, so she's definitely Muggle-born) ended up in Gryffindor too (this was after Ron said, "Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it."). Ron's in Gryffindor too, of course.
My classes are all okay, except for Potions, which is stupid. The teacher for that class, Professor Snape, hates me with a passion. I haven't even done anything yet! I guess he hates all the Gryffindors, though, because he keeps taking off house-points for no reason. He's so unfair!
Hermione has turned out to be a know-it-all. All of the teachers love her except Snape. I guess she needs that, because as Ron sees it, none of the other students like her at all. It seems sort of mean for him to say that.
Fred and George (Ron's older brothers) keep going on about some legacy of marauders that you're involved with. (Their friend Lee has a tarantula. Bleargh, as Ron would say.) How come they get to know and I don't? Spill it, Dad!
Flying lessons start on Thursday. That's with the Slytherins. I hope I'm not too bad at it. You keep saying that I'm a natural and I hope you're right, because the last thing I want to do is make a fool of myself in front of Draco Malfoy. He's a Slytherin and he really, really doesn't like me. He's also always talking about his adventures on his broomstick. He picks on Neville a lot.
Uh oh. It looks as if I might be late for Astronomy. I have to go!
Harry
September 10th
Dear Harry,
Severus Snape is a professor? Tell me you're kidding. I knew him when I went to Hogwarts. He didn't like Gryffindors then, either. Some things never change. Has he washed his hair yet?
Don't worry about the flying lessons… I'm sure the first one is over by now, anyhow. I'm sure you did your House proud. If not, well, you can't excel at everything.
Try not to judge people by first impressions, Harry. They're not usually very reliable. Allya read your letter and she said you'd better keep your eye on that Hermione or she'll wriggle out of the stereotype you've set her in. Don't ask me what that means. She's so cryptic when she gets all Divination-y.
Have fun trying to control Ron's temper around the Malfoy kid.
Love from Mum and Dad
Hey Sirius,
You'll never guess who the Potions professor is. Hint: he's a slimy git with an overgrown nose.
James
Prongs,
You have got to be kidding me. That stinkpot, at Hogwarts? And a professor, no less?
Like father, like son.
Sirius
September 11th
Dear Mum and Dad,
Enclosed is a permission form for me to play Quidditch. Apparently flying lessons went better than originally expected. Can I be on the team? Please?
Here is what happened on Thursday:
We were outside with Madam Hooch and the school brooms, which could do with replacing. She chided Malfoy because he'd been holding his broom wrong for years. I thought that was going to be the highlight of my day, but I was wrong.
Neville flew too high and fell from about twenty feet up, breaking his wrist. Madam Hooch said, "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.'"
Naturally, when they were gone, Malfoy started making fun of Neville. Parvati (she's in Gryffindor) told him to shut up, but Malfoy's stupid girlfriend Pansy just made fun of her for it. Then Malfoy saw Neville's Remembrall- he forgets things a lot, so his gran sent him it to help him remember when he'd forgotten something- anyway, Malfoy picked it up and took off, threatening to throw it into a tree or something. He can fly pretty well. I wish he couldn't. He's such a - I don't know, I'm tempted to use Ron words.
I know I shouldn't have gone after him (Hermione yelled, "No! You'll get us all into trouble," so I don't know what Aunt Allya's on about, she is too a know-it-all goody-goody) but he made me so
mad and I couldn't just let him lose Neville's Remembrall. I told Malfoy I was going to knock him off his broom if he didn't give it over, but he threw it into the air- I thought it was going to break; it's glass, after all.But, I caught it about a foot from the ground (don't worry Mum, I could feel what I was doing and I was not in any danger) and got off my broom just in time to hear a yell. "HARRY POTTER!" It was Professor McGonagall. Boy, was she mad. She kept saying things like, "Never, in all my time at Hogwarts," and "How dare you- might have broken your neck." I thought I was going to be expelled.
Instead, she got Oliver Wood out of Charms, he's a fifth-year. He's also the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. I get to be the Seeker! If you sign the form that is. They even ordered me a broom, a scholarship sort of thing I guess for being the youngest player in about a century (or so Wood says).
Please, Mum? Please?
Love from,
Harry
Dear Dad-
Malfoy tried to get me expelled again that day. I didn't want to tell Mum what happened though, because you know how she worries. He challenged me to a wizard's duel- don't be mad, you'd have accepted if you were me, I know from Fred and George and Uncle Sirius. Only, when Ron (he was my second) and I went to leave, Hermione was in the common room. (She has a pink fuzzy bathrobe. Hilarious.) She followed us out of the common room, trying to get us not to go to the trophy room for the duel. Only, the Fat Lady had gone on a visit and so she couldn't get back in! We found Neville outside, too. He had forgotten the password after his trip to the hospital wing and couldn't get back in. Both of them ended up following us to the trophy room.
You'll never guess who came in just then. Actually, you might- it was Filch, the janitor, and his cat Mrs. Norris. (Where'd she get her name, anyway? Honestly. Oh, sheesh, I sound like Hermione.) Well, Filch scared Neville, who started to run, tripped, and dragged Ron down with him. They hit a suit of armor and it made such a racket, I thought we'd be expelled for sure. The four of us kept running. We went through a secret passageway behind a tapestry and came out near the Charms classroom. We thought we were safe, as long as we could get back up to the Tower.
Not so. Peeves was right behind us- you know, the poltergeist? He said "Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty," and then yelled "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!" So we ran again. Only this time, when we found a door, it was locked. Lucky that Hermione followed us, I guess (but don't tell Ron I said that) because she knew the charm for unlocking the door. Actually, maybe it wasn't so lucky. We got on the other side and there was a three-headed dog there. I thought I was going to die. When we got out again (which was very, very fast) Peeves and Filch were nowhere in sight. What a relief. And, the Fat Lady was there when we got back to Gryffindor Tower. So, I'm not expelled. But, Hermione is very mad at us because we nearly got her expelled and didn't even notice the trapdoor the dog was standing on. She thinks it's guarding something. She has a point, but I'm not going to tell Ron that- he'll pitch a fit.
Anyway, don't be mad at me. It's not my fault that Malfoy's a stuff-faced git.
Love,
Harry