Tarot of the Week
Author's Note: This used to be a chapter-fic, Tarot of the Week, but I decided to separate them since they are not related and are from different categories.
To me, the Tower, is a sudden destruction of something, the shaking of foundations. And so here it is. The foundations shook, and the tower begins to crumble. This fanfic seriously took a life of its own.
XXXXX Feb 18, 2018 XXXXX
Week 8: The Tower (Harry Potter)
In one world, Harry Potter pleads with the Sorting Hat to put him into Gryffindor and he goes under various trials and hardships over the next seven years, eventually defeating his parents' killer and becoming known as the Saviour of the Wizarding World.
In this one, the Hat shouts "SLYTHERIN" before Harry can say anything — having seen the cunningness he needed to survive the Dursleys and having sensed a hint of magic from the Slytherin bloodline. And that makes all the difference.
Harry's first year as a Slytherin is not a really good one. His housemates don't particularly like him due to his status of the Boy-Who-Lived, Defeater of You-Know-Who, but he does eventually end up befriending the less-haughty Blaise Zabini. The other three houses outright reject him, especially the Gryffindors, most of which have this notion that he has become a traitor to the Light. Even Ron Weasley, whom he had previously befriended on the train, turns away.
The professors, however, are of different options. McGonagall is miffed that James and Lily's son is in Gryffindor's "enemy" house and is cold towards him. Snape is caught between the bafflement that Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, is a Slytherin, the bittersweet-ness that Lily Evans' son is under his care, and the resentment that he is James Potter's son. Sprout and Flitwick is neutral towards his sorting and is willing to treat Harry as himself rather than his parents. Binns really just doesn't care. Hagrid, however, feels slight betrayal that Harry is a Slytherin, but he does eventually warm up to him again.
Quirrel, or Voldemort, doesn't quite know what to think. On one hand, this is the boy that vanished him eleven years ago and is prophesized to be his mortal enemy. And on the other hand, he is in Slytherin and could potentially become a Death Eater. As for Dumbledore, dread enters his mind at the thought of another Tom Riddle and vows to watch over Harry closely for any signs of him becoming the next Dark Lord or Death Eater. On Christmas Eve, he debates on whether or not giving Harry back his family heirloom is a good idea, considering it is one of the three Hallows. He decides not to.
The dominoes doesn't stop there.
Draco Malfoy doesn't bother calling Harry up for a Wizarding Duel, so he never learns about Fluffy and the trapdoor beneath his feet. He is also not challenged during their first flying lesson, so Harry never becomes the Youngest Seeker of the Century — not that Snape would have allowed him on the team even if that incident had happened.
On Halloween, no one ever realizes that Hermione Granger is in the washroom until it is far too late. She is found that night, alive but sporting broken bones, and is immediately withdrawn from Hogwarts by her parents as soon as her injuries healed.
Without the invisibility cloak, Harry doesn't sneak out at night, so he never discovers the Mirror or Erised and never gets to see his parents for the first time in his memories.
Without Ron and with the self-preserving Blaise as a friend, Nobert the Norwegian dragon is never brought to Charlie Weasley and is eventually discovered by the school months later when Hagrid's hut and its surrounding trees burn down. Dumbledore attempts to stifle down the incident, but gossip is a rampant thing at Hogwarts and some student wrote to home about it. Ministry officials arrive, charges Hagrid with the illegal possession of a dragon, and sentences him to one year of Azkaban.
Without being caught out during curfew, Harry never gets the detention to find unicorns in the Forbidden Forest and never finds out that Voldemort is still alive somewhere nearby.
He also never learns about the Philosopher's Stone.
Near the end of the school year, Dumbledore still receives a message from the Ministry for an emergency meeting and Qurriel/Voldemort still ends up in the chamber where the Mirror of Erised is held, only this time, there are no first-years following close behind. They stand there, in front of the magic mirror, seeing Qurriel handing his Lord the Stone but not actually having it in reality. Voldemort eventually becomes too frustrated to care, shattering the mirror, along with the Stone hidden inside it, and abandoning his host. When Dumbledore arrives hours later, all he finds is a broken mirror and a pile of ashes.
And so, the first year ends.
His summer passes by worse than the last. Harry is confined in his room after Dobby messed with the Dursleys; and the Weasleys never rescued him. It took another letter barrage and the threat of another wizard coming to pick up Harry for Vernon to toss him out of the house. Fortunately for the teen, him picking up his fallen wand led to the abrupt arrival of the Knight Bus, which took him straight to the Leaky Cauldron.
Even without the Floo incident and Knockturn Alley, Harry still ends up on the front page with Lockhart and Lucius Malfoy still initiates a brawl with Arthur Weasley right outside the bookstore. Ginny Weasley still finds Tom Riddle's diary amongst her books and makes a friend, a friend who is very interested in the boy that vanquished the Dark Lord. The Chamber of Secret still opens and Harry is still outed as a Parselmouth.
Hogwarts becomes abuzz with gossip. Some say that You-Know-Who tried to kill Harry due to inheritance dispute. Some say that Harry is secretly You-Know-Who's heir and that the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing is bogus. Some say that Harry is the next Dark Lord. Regardless of the many opinions, they all agree to one thing — Harry Potter is the Heir of Slytherin and he is the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets. Even the Slytherins think so, despite his protests.
With Hagrid still serving his sentence in Azkaban, there is no one to take the blame except for Harry. As more and more become petrified, fear grows within the castle walls. Dumbledore is almost certain that Harry is just like Tom and watches him even more closely. The professors also doubt Harry's innocence with every victim that appears. The students scurry away whenever the dejected boy walks by and the Slytherins eye him with wary respect. Still stuck in his diary, Tom wonders if Harry is his relative and if the story about the Boy-Who-Lived is bogus.
Harry is eventually brought to Dumbledore's office and placed before Ministry officials. Three drops of Veritaserum later, his innocence is proven, but the culprit remains at large. And the pressure from angry and fearful parents causes Hogwarts to close and the students to return home. Aurors scour the castle, but doesn't find anything.
Weeks later, Ginny is found dead in her room with a quill in hand. Healers diagnose the loss of magic as the cause, likely due to exposure to a cursed item, but it is never found. The Weasleys mourn; and somewhere in the world, a resurrected Tom Riddle, with the diary in his possession, roams the world. He refrains from calling on his Death Eaters, deciding to learn more about the world and its changes in the fifty years since he was sealed into the diary. And Harry never learns that Tom Riddle and Lord Voldemort are one and the same.
Due to the tragedy, the Weasleys never goes to Egypt and they never go on the front page, so Sirius Black remains unaware of Peter Pettigrew's whereabouts and never escapes Azkaban.
As for Harry, his time as a Slytherin and the school reject has hardened him, honing his cunningness and self-preservation. Instead of leaving with Vernon at the train station, he takes the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron and stays at the Inn, thus weakening the blood wards. He eventually finds a nice small place up for rent. Without the threat of Voldemort, Dumbledore had never bothered to assign guards, so he never knew about Harry's change in residence. And without blowing up Marge Dursley with accidental magic, he doesn't come under the Ministry's radar; and he lives quite happily in Diagon Alley.
Hogwarts reopens when September arrives. Without Sirius, the Dementors are not stationed around the school and Scabbers never feels threatened enough to run away, so he never meets the shade of Voldemort. No. Instead, it is Tom Riddle who does. Tom refuses to go back into the diary and Voldemort refuses to remain a shade. They eventually compromise. They will both coexist as much as their egos allow, but at any sign of true danger, Tom must return to his former prison. Together, the two genii device a ritual that resurrects the Dark Lord during Halloween. Without their encounter in first year where Gryffindor Harry's touch burns Qurriel's touch, Voldemort never learns that Harry is protected against him and doesn't strife to gain his blood for the ritual.
The loyal Death Eaters trapped in Azkaban howl in delight when their Dark Marks darken; and the cowards outside the prison shiver in fear. Peter, being in his rat form, never discovers the darkened tattoo, so he remains oblivious by Ron's bedside. Snape, on the other hand, immediately goes to Dumbledore. They both know that dark days are ahead.
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, the students still believe that Harry is the Heir of Slytherin and doesn't know anything about Voldemort's return. Draco tries out for the Quidditch team this year and doesn't buy his way into the team since he isn't spurred on without his rivalry with Gryffindor Harry. And without Ron's influence, Harry chooses to take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy rather than Divination and Care of Magical Creatures.
Hagrid is released from prison, haunted and much thinner, a far cry from the jolly fellow he used to be. He also doesn't consort with highly dangerous creatures anymore, too traumatized by the Dementors to even try. So, even though he becomes the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures with encouragement from Dumbledore, all the creatures he brings to class are relatively tame compared to his favourites and are rated as three-stars or below in terms of danger level.
However, this still means that Buckbeak the Hippogriff is considered fair game. Even without Gryffindor Harry, Draco manages to insult him and gets attacked. But this time, there is no Hermione and her handy time turner to save the day. Months later, despite Hagrid and Dumbledore's best efforts, Buckbeak is slain.
Harry still can't go to Hogsmade since he didn't have his permission slip signed, but this time, the Weasley twins do not approach him with the Marauder's Map. He also never learns about his relation to Sirius Black or Remus Lupin. Not to mention, without the Dementors, he never learns the Patronus Spell and his Boggart is being trapped with the Dursleys forever.
Outside of Hogwarts, the Death Eaters gather in secret. There is no need to alert the Ministry just yet. Dumbledore also calls his Order of the Phoenix, but most are sceptical about his claim since the only evidence of the Dark Lord's return is Snape's Dark Mark. Not to mention, they are in a state of willing denial, not wanting to believe that their nightmare is back, and that war is on the horizon. Also, without Sirius, 12 Grimmauld Place remains sealed and their headquarters is another house offered by one of the members.
Knowing that danger is near and that all allies are needed at hand, even if he detests some of them, Snape doesn't out Remus Lupin as a werewolf. A number of students eventually figured it out anyways, but he is still the best DADA professor they had in years, so they don't out him either — the Slytherins for future blackmailing purposes and the other three houses for morality's sake. So, he becomes the first to break the DADA curse.
During that summer, Dumbledore finally discovers that Harry isn't living with the Dursleys, but he is nothing to the boy but his headmaster. Harry refuses to listen and all the headmaster can is to send guards trailing after him.
The fourth year is not herald by a Death Eater attack at the Qudditch World Cup not does it include the Triwizarding Tournament since Voldemort doesn't need an elaborate scheme to forcefully take Harry's blood for the resurrection ritual. However, most of the Slytherins are notably smug, having learnt that their Lord has returned. Harry isn't approached by Voldemort or Tom Riddle, nor does he have unexplainable nightmares, but he would have to be blind, deaf, and stupid to not learn the truth while living in the Slytherin dorms.
Joining his parents' murderer is not in his top priority nor is he self-sacrificial and reckless enough to immediately desire to oppose him. Not to mention, Voldemort has a history of wanting him dead. Instead, Harry studies harder than ever, increasing his repertoire of spells, just in case the Dark Lord appears on his doorsteps as an enemy.
Voldemort doesn't make his first public move until fourth year's Halloween, in which he and his Death Eaters storm Azkaban, freeing his servants and killing everyone else, including a weakened and wandless Sirius Black. His next move is to steal the prophecy from the Department of Mystery. Since he had never used Harry's blood in the ritual, the mental connection between them doesn't strengthen and Harry never gets visions from him. Arthur Weasley dies from snake venom; and the prophecy is obtained. It cements the idea that Harry is his number one enemy in Voldemort and all ideas of recruiting the teen instantly vanishes.
But Dumbledore is a very close second on his Must-Kill list and he is the greater threat. That old fool must die first, before anything else.
Of course, not knowing about the diary, Dumbledore never gets the solid idea that Voldemort has horocruxes, which in turn means that he never encounters the Resurrection Ring and is consequently not slowly dying from a fatal curse. Therefore, he has no intention of committing suicide for the greater good.
All the Death Eater's children are tasked with assassinating the headmaster. They do not quite succeed; and a handful of students accidentally end up in the crossfire and become casualties. However, the one thing they did succeed in is restoring the connection between the two Vanishing Cabinets, allowing the Death Eaters to attack on two fronts, from within and out.
Voldemort and his group of death eaters and magical creatures attack from the Forbidden Forest, luring Dumbledore and his allies outside while the students, especially the younger ones, flee into the castle. Of course, this is a big mistake, because they are met with a strong force of Death Eaters who are led by Tom Riddle.
It is a massacre.
And in this bloodstained and corpse-filled castle, Tom meets Harry, wand to wand.
Without the duel with Gryffindor Harry in his fourth year, they never learn about the connection their wands share, so Voldemort never seeks out the Elder Wand. However, that doesn't matter here, because Voldemort is the one with the phoenix wand and he is outside battling Dumbledore. Tom is the one facing Harry and he has Ginny's wand.
The two dances in the damaged halls of Hogwarts, hurling spells at each other. Eventually, Tom's greater experience and greater spell repertoire wins; and he lands the killing blow. This also destroys the unknown horocrux in Harry's scar, but because Harry doesn't have a pseudo-horocrux in the form of his blood in Voldemort's body, he stays dead.
Outside, Dumbledore is also having a difficult time battling Voldemort. The headmaster is in his hundreds and his sporting a relatively frail body. The Dark Lord's body, on the other hand, is a magical construct and has more stamina. Their battle is long, lasting for over an hour, but Dumbledore tires and doesn't dodge a cutting spell in time. His head separates from his body and both falls to the ground.
The moral of the light side dies with him and it isn't long before the dark side conquers the castle. After that, it is the English Ministry; and then the rest of the Wizarding World.
However, their conflict spills over into the muggle world. Declaring them as true threats, bombs and missiles are launched at the wizards who barely have any defense against them. Voldemort's horocruxes are unwittingly put in the crossfire; and he, too, is eventually claimed by death.
And thus, the European Wizarding World ends, at the hands of the muggles. In the rest of the world, the remaining wizards and witches tighten their defenses and hide away even more.
All of this, because Harry was sorted into Slytherin.
Author's note: Harry was actually supposed to join the dark side or beat both Dumbledore and Voldemort at their game. But this is a oneshot and I got really sleepy in the middle of writing this fanfic. Somewhere along the line, my sleepy mind decided "f*k it, it's taking too long" and it became a genocide.