Hello, and welcome to my first ever HP fic! Believe me I have read a crazy amount of stories relating to our favorite boy who lived and I thought wow this could be fun. So just to be clear this is going to be an AU (because it grants me so much more freedom and because it fits with the story I have in mind). So here I am! Disclaimer: I am merely a muggle playing around in a sandbox that Rowling created.


The summer holidays had just begun and yet Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was not awarded the time to enjoy the break. He had just been contacted by Ludo Bagman, the Head of the Department for Magical Games and Sports, that during the upcoming school year, Hogwarts would be playing host to the Triwizard Tournament once again. It had been several centuries since the last tournament was held and the Chief Warlock had to wonder why the Ministry thought it was a good idea to revive such a deadly tournament now of all times.

Given the more recent events of the past year, with the escape of Bellatrix Lestrange and her numerous attempts to enter the castle in order to kill young Laura Potter, one would think that now was not the best time to host such events with a deranged witch on the loose. Alas, the Ministry had already made up its mind and has already begun preparations for it by informing the other schools that would be competing as well as their respective Ministries.

And so here he sat, sorting through a large pile of letters and forms that need to be signed and read. There had been something else, but he couldn't…

A clearing of someone's throat caught his attention.

"Ah, yes forgive me. I have a lot on my mind." Albus said, addressing the man sitting across from him in his office.

"I understand, Headmaster." The man nodded. "I'm sure you're a very busy man. That's why I was hoping we could finish up this little interview so that I can get out of your hair."

"Of course, of course," Dumbledore agreed as he picked up several pieces of parchment that contained the man's resume. "I shall be direct then. Now tell me Mr. Peverell, why do you want to apply as the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts? I'm sure you've heard of the rumors of professors not lasting for more than one school year. I'm curious to know why a man such as yourself would risk such a thing?"

"Please, call me Septimus." The man said as he adopted a more comfortable posture in his chair. "It's pretty simple actually: I decided that I needed some stability in my life. After travelling extensively throughout the years, nothing quite beats the thought of settling down to call a place home. As for the risks, I don't believe in petty superstitions about a position being cursed. It just sounds like a load of tosh to me."

Albus studied the man a little more closely. He was quite young, along his mid to late twenties. Septimus kept his shoulder length raven hair into a neat ponytail while also sporting a neatly trimmed goatee. His attire was functional: a clean button up shirt under a coat along with some jeans and dragon hide boots, yet the quality spoke of some measure of wealth. Given the man's lineage, evidenced by the Peverell family ring on his finger, it should have come as no surprise that the man was living a comfortable lifestyle.

His exploits were also quite impressive if Dumbledore was reading the man's resume correctly. He found work with Gringotts as a Cursebreaker for three years before heading to the Dragon Sanctuary in Australia in order to become a handler for another three years. After which, he joined the professional dueling circuit and managed to make it to last year's semi-finals before eventually coming here. His former employers also gave him nothing but praise in their recommendation letters.

"Well, be that as it may, might I ask where you finished your education?" Albus inquired. "I must ensure the quality of education my students will be receiving, after all."

Septimus reached down into his bag and pulled out his OWL and NEWT results. "I was privately tutored and was given the chance to take my standard tests in the Ministry."

"Strange, why did you not attend Hogwarts?" Albus prodded. He didn't know why but something about this man did not sit well with the Headmaster. He could not explain it but it felt like he…knew this man for some reason. He had tried to use passive Legilimency on him earlier but to his surprise, the man was an adept Occlumens and not even his surface thoughts were shown. If Dumbledore had pushed a little further then there was a big chance Septimus would notice the mental intrusion.

Septimus merely shrugged in response. "My parents decided that an apprenticeship would be much more beneficial as well as efficient since they already knew a few people that were considered experts in their respective fields. They decided to push me in the direction they considered to be in my best interests leaving me with little choice in the matter."

"I see." Dumbledore said, scanning the man's exam results. As expected, they were more than adequate enough to earn a position amongst the Hogwarts staff. O's for Defense, Charms, and Transfiguration while he scored E's for Potions, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmacy and Runes. "I was not aware that there were still those who carried the Peverell name. Most of your family had either already passed or had married into new pureblood families. I'm honestly quite surprised as you are the first Peverell I've met in a few generations."

Septimus merely shrugged. "My father claimed that we were from Antioch's line of descendants. He couldn't have been too sure but from what he told me, my father thinks that the Eldest brother from the children's stories might not be too far off in its depiction of my ancestor. While a brilliant wizard, he was also human who had needs and in those times, it was not uncommon for men to sire out of wedlock."

"Hmm, and where are your parents now?"

A forlorn expression crossed the man's face. "Sadly, they are no longer with us. We had been travelling to the United States you see for a holiday and our choice of residence at the time was a bit more muggle than my parents were used to. We had no idea that there had been a gas leak in the apartment we had been renting. It all happened so fast, one moment I had been in my room and the next thing I know is a large explosion that rocked the whole complex."

Dumbledore watched as the man had a far-away look in his eyes and his hands clenched into fists. "I had been one of the lucky ones to have survived with only a large burn on my back as a reminder. I was taken to the hospital where, after getting treated for my wounds, I was visited by a couple of Aurors from their Ministry. They keep a close eye on all magical members who enter the country and was no doubt monitoring our progress the moment we arrived. That's when they told me…"

"I apologize for bringing up such a topic." Dumbledore said. While he detected genuine hints of anguish in the man's tone as he spoke, there was a certain falseness in his tale that Albus couldn't place. He would have to verify this at a later time.

"Forgive me, Headmaster, but I hardly think that matter has anything to do with my interview for a job." Septimus said as he seemed to gather his composure once more.

Despite the glowing marks, Albus could not shake the niggling doubt that was gnawing at him. The evidence of the man's whole background and history was in his grasp and yet Albus felt that Septimus was not giving him the whole truth. He was full of contradictions. He weaved a compelling argument about his heritage but it was flimsy at best. Anyone could have simply claimed they were a descendant of an Ancient Family and yet the wax seal of Gringotts as well as the signature of the Goblins in some of his paperwork proved it to be true. The bank would have never allowed him to access his family vault without verifying his identity.

Furthermore, his timing was too convenient in the old wizard's opinion. Why now of all times did he choose to come home after almost a decade of travelling around the world? Septimus could have easily settled down in any of these magical communities and yet here he was, in the place where signs of his return were growing. He'd had to deal with a possessed Quirrell, a Basilisk, and a dangerous escaped convict in the span of three years. Was this man sitting in front of him another potential threat he would have to worry about? He'd rather not burden young Ms. Potter anymore than he had to. The poor girl already had enough on her shoulders.

Coming to a decision, Dumbledore waved his wand over the man's resume and made a copy for himself while he handed the original back to its owner. "After reviewing your papers, I'm quite confident in saying that you are more than qualified to be the new Defense teacher at Hogwarts."

"So, does this mean I have the job?" Septimus asked expectantly.

"Not quite," the headmaster chuckled in response. "You see, while I have the discretion to hire new professors, it is also my intention that the students receive the best education here at this school. As I understand it, this will be your first time as a teacher and as of now I am not entirely convinced. Being able to defend yourself, which I believe you can handle easily, and teaching others to do the same is very different indeed. Therefore you shall have to convince me that you are prepared for the task ahead."

"Let me guess, you want a trial run of how I'll be able to handle a room full of children is that correct?" Septimus sighed, but was nevertheless undaunted. "It should be simple enough. When shall I conduct this?

"Perhaps we should schedule it for the Saturday after the next." Dumbledore answered. "That should give you ample time to prepare the material you wish to discuss. Meanwhile I shall be contacting the Board of Governors as well as a few other individuals who will help me deliberate on your performance."

Septimus nodded and stood up to shake Dumbledore's hand. "I shall see you then. You may put your doubts to rest, Headmaster. That job is as good as mine."

Dumbledore watched the man leave through the door of his office. Truth be told, his intentions had been far less noble than he would have liked. Normally, he wouldn't bother going through all of this to hire a new teacher because as Headmaster, he had the authority to hire new teachers without the need to consult the Board of Governors. He'd make an exception for young Septimus because frankly, his mere presence brought up bad memories for Dumbledore. He reminded the old wizard of another person who had been just as talented and charismatic at that age.

After all, it had not been too long ago that Albus and a younger Tom Riddle had a somewhat similar conversation in his office when he wanted to apply for the Defense position. Had Dumbledore known that his former student would go down a dark path, then perhaps he might have handled things differently. He was not going to commit the same mistake again.


Laura sat in front of her dresser as she brushed her hair trying in vain to straighten it somewhat. She had been slightly successful earlier before her stupid brother had decided to pull a prank on her and effectively rendering her efforts wasted. She sighed in frustration and gave up when it became apparent that her hair was not going to cooperate and simply opted to tie it in a loose and messy ponytail. She checked her reflection in the mirror and frowned once she saw the bags under her eyes.

Normally, she wouldn't have gotten as angry at her younger brother as she did earlier. After all, they pulled pranks on each other all the time and they were all harmless. She didn't know what came over her but something snapped inside of her that made her lash out, unleashing all her anger onto Daren. Perhaps it was due to the restless nights she had been having ever since she got back home. Her scar had been prickling at the most random times and her dreams certainly didn't make things any better. Whatever the case, she promised to apologize to him later.

A tapping sound drew her attention to the window where a snowy white owl waited. Laura opened the window and Hedwig wasted no time as she flew right onto her perch.

"Thanks, Hedwig." Laura said as she fed her some owl treats and took the letter that she carried. The owl nipped at her finger affectionately before Laura retreated to her desk to read Hermione's letter.

Dear Laura,

I know it's only been a week since the term ended but I just wanted to check on you before me and my parents head off to France for the summer. I'll only be gone for two weeks and after that my parents allowed me to spend the rest of the summer with you. The reason for that is after we get home, they'll be taking another business trip for a conference in the States for a while so they decided to let me stay with you and the Potters instead of leaving me alone in the house.

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough. How are you? I'm sure that we're all still shaken up after what happened during the end of term. I mean honestly, I still have nightmares about Bellatrix Lestrange cornering us in the Shrieking Shack that night. I just want you to know that if you ever need to talk about anything, don't hesitate to send me an owl even on my vacation. I'll never let you hear the end of it if you don't write to me this summer even if it's just to tell me how you've been doing.

I don't have anything else to say at the moment but I'll see you soon enough and we can catch up properly then.

Your friend,

Hermione

Laura couldn't resist shaking her head at her best friend's letter. Say what you will about the girl but there could never be a person more caring and thoughtful than Hermione Granger. Ever since Laura had rescued her from that troll during first year, the two had been thick as thieves ever since. Even through dangerous times, Hermione stuck with her through all of it: finding the Philosopher Stone, defeating Professor Quirell, discovering the Chamber of Secrets, slaying the Basilisk, and of course escaping the clutches of the deranged witch Bellatrix.

Laura shivered at the mere thought of her godfather's cousin. The sound of her mad cackle was enough to send a chill running through her. They barely managed to stay alive once she had cornered them in the Shrieking Shack near the end of term. It had only been thanks to Professor Lupin and Professor Snape arriving that she had been forced to flee and the only reason she did so was the fact that more wizards had been coming to apprehend her. Bellatrix had easily managed to hold her own against the two wizards and Laura knew both men were no slouches at dueling either. It spoke volumes of her skills as a duelist that despite her incarceration in Azkaban, she was still a deadly force to be reckoned with.

A knock on her door drew her out of her thoughts as her brother's voice spoke from the other side. "Hey, Laura, mum says dinner's ready."

"I'll be right out!" She replied, folding her friend's letter and placing it in a drawer where all her letters were kept. Most of them were from Hermione but there were a few from her other housemates and friends as well. Neville had written to her twice since the start of summer and had been detailing all of the work he was doing in his personal greenhouse. Susan Bones had written to her as well just to check up on her and to wish her a good summer.

Laura had opened the door to her room and found Daren waiting for her, shuffling awkwardly for some reason. He was a year younger than her and resembled an even mix of both of their parents. His red hair had inherited the Potter curse and could not be straightened no matter what he did. His mischievous grin was noticeably absent.

"What's wrong?" Laura asked as they both made their way to the dining room.

Daren scratched the back of his head. "Well, I just wanted to apologize for, you know, the prank I pulled on you earlier. I didn't know you'd be that upset over it."

In truth, it hadn't honestly been that bad. Her brother had rigged a trap on the bathroom door while she had been taking her shower and once she had opened it, a bucket of slime had suddenly spilled all over her. Sure it was annoying and she had to retake another shower to wash the gunk out of her hair but it had been relatively harmless. Still, her messed up dreams about a dark graveyard and an abandoned orphanage had fueled her anger and she had just blown up at him.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Laura waved it off. It was nice of her brother to be considerate despite her actions. Normally, he wouldn't be this repentant over one of his pranks and even then, it would take a very long talk with mum to wrangle a sincere apology from him. She could afford to let him off the hook just this-

"No, really, if I had known it was that time of the month, I would have planned an even better prank than the one I did earlier. Honestly, that had been just the tip of the iceberg. If I had known I would get that much of a rise out of you, I would have gone all out today."

She immediately regretted every nice thought she had of her brother. He was a sneaky little troll and this injustice must not go unpunished. She swore her retribution would be swift and he would suffer in the most humiliating way possible.

"Ah, perfect timing you two!" Lily Evans noticed them enter the dining room. She was busy placing their fussy two year old sister into her booster seat. "Help me set the table while I deal with this little one."

Her younger sister, Rose, had only gotten fussier once she laid eyes on her two older siblings. She waved at them energetically and greeted them as best as she could. "Dary! Lary!"

Her brother snickered at the pronunciation of her name while he ducked the swipe she made to smack him behind the head. The two siblings set about to setting the plates and cutlery. Daren kept making funny faces for Rose's benefit, much to her delight.

The sound of the floo from the living room could be heard as James Potter arrived from work.

"Hello all! How's my favorite group of Potters tonight?" The bespectacled man entered the dining room after shedding his coat in the living room.

"Hi, dad!" The two siblings greeted their father with a quick hug.

"Dada!" Rose all but jumped up and down on her booster seat as she demanded her father's attention. The raven haired man chuckled as he scooped her up and rained small kisses on her little face as she squealed in joy.

"James! I had just gotten her to settle down." Lily admonished him. "Now, she'll think it's play time again."

"Sorry Lils," James said as she gave his wife a quick peck on the lips. Daren gagged. "It's not my fault she's excited to see her dada!"

The redhead could do nothing but sigh in exasperation as her husband twirled their daughter around. "Fine, but you have to put her to bed. Now sit down, Tilly has been cooking all afternoon and I don't want to let all that food go to waste."

"As you command, my lady." James bowed, causing his wife to roll her eyes but he caught the tiny upturn of her lips and he knew she wasn't really upset.

The five potters then sat down at the table to a small feast that their house elf, Tilly, had cooked for them. The conversation flowed easily between them and they kept the topics light ranging from Daren's latest prank (much to their father's amusement) to Laura's end of the year exam results (much to their mother's pride, were all outstanding). Meanwhile, Rose sat through it all and merely made finger paintings with her dinner.

It was just another day, in Potter manor.


Meanwhile, the telltale sound of apparition could be heard as a wizard appeared in front of a stately looking mansion just a few miles off the coast. He placed his hand on the gate, which immediately identified him as their owner, and swiftly opened to allow him entry.

The man felt the sheer amount of protective wards surrounding the property as soon as he stepped passed the gates. The family home of the Peverells had long been left unused and unattended till a few years ago. However, their magical defenses had held firm and only those who have Peverell blood may enter unless they have been granted permission by the owner of said property.

Septimus entered the manor and just as he expected, a tiny missile came out of nowhere and latched itself onto his leg.

"Master Harry is home! Dobby is most glad to see that master is successful!" The little elf cried out jubilantly.

"What did I tell you about calling me by my real name Dobby?" Septimus scolded him lightly. "We have to be careful because we can never know who might be listening and you might slip up when there are other people around."

"Never sir! Dobby would never fail master Har- Septimus!" The little elf gave a deep bow.

"It's fine Dobby, we're just going to have to work on it." Septimus said as he took out the contact lenses in his eyes that turned his eyes from light blue to a distinctive emerald green. "I think I'd like to eat in the study tonight Dobby."

"Of course, sir! Dobby is bringing your dinner there straight away." And with that said, the little elf popped away to complete his task.

Harry couldn't help but shake his head at the elf's antics. He climbed the grand stair case leading to the second floor and made his way into the study where he spent most of his time nowadays. The young man plopped down on the high back leather chair with a weary sigh. So far, his plans were proceeding without a hitch.

Dobby popped by not a moment later, carrying a rather large tray filled with food. He had gone overboard in preparing dinner for tonight as usual. Still, he thanked the ever enthusiastic elf and tucked into the delicious meal. Even in a different life, some things remained the same no matter what you do. But then his thoughts drifted to a much more grim direction. Yes, it was true that while some of the things in this universe were different some of them remained exactly how he remembered them.

He had been waiting for this moment and he spent the last eight years preparing for it. The events of the last three years proved that despite some of the drastic changes he'd seen in this universe, the flow of events remained constant. Quirell still attempted to steal the stone but he never made the attempt to break into Gringotts. The Chamber of Secrets had been opened but not by Ginny Weasley. And instead of his godfather, it was Bellatrix Lestrange who had escaped Azkaban.

The details were different but in the end, everything that happened to him still happened. He couldn't allow things to progress the same way it did for him in the past. This was a crucial time for the Wizarding World as they had no idea what is about to transpire over the next couple of months. Hard times are approaching and all of those events centered around one thing: Hogwarts.

However, Harry couldn't move as freely as he wished as Harry Potter because he technically didn't exist. In this world, Laura Potter is the Girl-Who-Lived and not him. While he was glad to be rid of the ridiculous moniker, he was saddened to think of another person who shouldered the burden of such a title. He wanted nothing more than to alleviate the looming threat hanging over her head and give her the normal life she deserved.

Coming to a decision long ago, he vowed to change things for good and he would prevent the atrocities that had transpired in his world to happen to this one. However, in order to do so, he needed to become someone else. He needed to become someone who had wealth, power, and influence in order to make a difference. Furthermore, he had to become someone who would be in the right position to act at the precise moment at the place where all of the crucial events would take place. And finally, he had to become someone who would be able to guide the next generation of witches and wizards so that they may be prepared for what is inevitably coming in the future…

And what better way to do just that than as a teacher?


There we go! So tell me what you think. Now I have to be honest that it's been a while since I've read the books so some of my facts might be a little skewed but not too much. I will try to remain as respectful of the source material whenever possible but don't forget I made this an AU for a reason. I don't want things to be an exact copy of cannon so let's see how this plays out.

So tell me what you think and leave a review!

By the way, I'll give props to anyone who can guess where I pulled Harry's alias from.