The Life of Juniper Potter
Prologue
The Giant's Call
A/N-This is an idea that I've been bouncing around in my head for the better part of a month. So without further adu, I present to youThe Life of Juniper Potter.
Full Summary-Juniper Potter faces her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She leaves behind a troublesome past to face a troll, Voldemort, and a well of confusing emotions for new best-friend and everyone's favorite brunette. Femslash Harry/Hermione(Eventual) don't like don't read.
Disclaimer-I in no way own Harry Potter, it belongs to she-who-must-not-be-named.
Juniper sighed as she looked around the dark and dreary cabin. There was water dripping from holes in the ceiling and half full buckets keeping the flood from soaking her and her cousin's cots. Wind assaulted the house so brutally she thought they were going to be blown off the dingy little Island her uncle dragged them to.
It wasn't her uncle's first choice. They had tried to stay at a fairly respectable hotel up north, but her uncle had rushed them out the second the clerk said there were letters for a Juniper Potter. Since the letters were what we were trying to get away from, it seemed to defeat the purpose.
She received her first letter a little over a week ago. Her uncle snatched it up the second she saw it; said freaks didn't deserve mail. She unconsciously grabbed her arm where the bruise she received resided. She progressively got more and more mail coming from different parts of the house. Her personal favorite was when the fireplace started shooting them out like a geyser. The final straw was on Sunday when the house was flooded with them. She preferred parchment over precipitation.
Freak… Her aunt and uncle threw that word around her a lot. She didn't think she looked like a freak. She was skinny, but that was because they didn't let her eat with them. She had to eat the scraps that were left behind. Her aunt was the only one that really left anything for her to eat. The rest of her family ate like pigs, but she always got half a plate of food from Aunt Petunia's meal. She was short too; shorter than everyone else in school. She didn't have clothes, none that were her own at least; she was stuck with her cousin's hand me downs.
She liked her long red hair and green eyes though, even though her aunt hated them with a vehement passion. It reminded her to much of her 'dead-beat mother' as she called her. She couldn't really tell; she'd never seen a picture of her.
Aunt Petunia did everything she could to tame her red hair.'Make it more refined so the neighbors wouldn't think they were raising some sort of harlot,' was her reasoning. She tried putting it into a bun but it kept puffing out. She eventually got frustrated and took a pair of scissors to it, leaving it a dilapidated mess. Juniper cried herself to sleep that night, it was back to the way it was the next morning, and Uncle Vernon thoroughly punished her for her freakiness.
Aunt Petunia always seemed nice compared to Uncle Vernon. Whenever something went wrong, she was the one that was blamed for it, and Uncle Vernon seemed to enjoy corporal punishment. It was always in a place that no one would see the bruises.
While her aunt loathed her and her uncle seemed to hate her, her cousin was the worst of the three. Dudley was the prized child of his parents. They loved him and spoiled him horrendously. His room back home was filled with some of the nicest and most expensive toys they could find.
Dudley was also the biggest bully at their school, and his favorite target was Juniper. He chased away anyone that would try befriend her and led a group of kids in his favorite past time, Harry hunting.
Juniper could usually get away from them. She was fast for her age. She had to be, the thought of what would happen if they caught her terrified her far more than a beating from Uncle Vernon. She still couldn't use her left hand as well as she could before from when they slammed it in the door.
The clock on the wall slowly began to chime. It was officially July 31, her Birthday. She never got a party or a gift from anyone in her family. She was the only one that celebrated her own birthday.
Well… that wasn't exactly true. She always got a mystery gift from someone. It was left in her cupboard with nothing more than a not telling her hide it under the broken floorboard on the upper right-hand corner of the cupboard floor. She doubted if anyone would leave anything this year.
She quietly sang happy birthday to herself and reached under her cot to give herself the card she made. She got to the last verse when she heard a loud resounding bang. The whole house shook a little. It wasn't thunder this time, someone was at the door.
BANG, there it was again. Uncle Vernon started barreling down the stairs with a shot gun in hand. Petunia stood behind him shaking. Juniper didn't know if it was from fear of from the cold. She was poking her eyes over her husband's fairly large form to see what was happening. Dudley was cowering in the corner behind his cot hoping that whoever was at the door wouldn't see him, he failed horribly because Juniper could see rather large rump sticking out from under his bed.
BANG-BANG-BANG, each pound came in time with Juniper's heart beat, fearful of the house caving in. No one else was supposed to be on this Island. It's why Uncle Vernon picked this twig-hut. Who would want to talk to them badly enough to come to this hell-hole?
"Alright then, whoever you are. Leave now!" Uncle Vernon said. Finding his voice an octave higher than what he was used to. He was just as scared as she was.
BOOM, The door was hurled back; splintering from its hinges. Juniper jumped in shock, as did the Dursleys. She looked through the gaping hole to see pink umbrella being closed, revealing the largest person Juniper had ever seen. He entered the shack, pink umbrella still in hand, each step making the shack shake and sputter in protest.
"Sorry about that." The large man said before placing the door against the hole. Holding fast to splinters and broken hinges, the wind died down a bit.
The man towered over Uncle Vernon by a good four feet. He had one of the scruffiest beards Juniper had ever seen, and the hair on his head matched it scruff for scruff, each long enough to reach his massive chest and back. He wore a horrid brown leather coat that was soaked to where it clung to his skin, the tiny umbrella in his hands did very little to stop the rain from pelting his giant form.
Uncle Vernon's face was conflicted. It looked as though he couldn't decide whether he wanted to scream at the giant or cower in fear. The result was a compromise and he just barely managed to stutter a response. Juniper was hiding behind the couch by this point, and Aunt Petunia was behind a support beam by her husband.
"Who the b-bloody hell are you!" Uncle Vernon stammered out. "Leave, now!"
"Boil it out yer arse Dursley." was the giant's response. His voice was gruff with a bit of a Scottish accent. He yanked the gun from Uncle Vernon's hands, tied it into a knot, and promptly handed it back to a very pale Uncle Vernon. What came from the giant's mouth shocked Juniper enough to where she stumbled out from her hiding place.
"Special delivery for a Juniper Lily Potter. Please come out to claim your letter!" The giant smiled as he spotted a girl fall from behind the couch. He walked over, knelt down to eye level and put a hand on under my chin. "You look so much like your mother. James would've been just as smitten with you as he was with his own wife." The giant looked like he was near tears. "Last time I saw 'yer. Ye were nothing more than a wee baby."
"You k-knew my p-parents, sir," she stuttered out. She had had it for as long as she had been able to speak. The giant simply smiled before he wiped the tears from his beard.
"There weren't a better pair out there then Lily and James. Your hair's as untamed as yer dads, but yer the spitting image of your mother in every other regard." He fished out a small box holding a cake. It read 'Happy Birthday in frosting. "I got this fer ya, though I may have sat on it once or twice." He turned and gazed menacingly over to her uncle. "I suppose a cup o' tea would be too much to ask for, eh? It was a very long and difficult trip."
The fear and shock that had gripped Uncle Vernon seemed to wear off at this point and he began shouting at the giant. "Cup of tea? CUP OF TEA! Get out of my house you oafish buffoon. You're breaking and entering. LEAVE! NOW!"
"I'll take that as a no. That's all ye had ter say." The giant of a man looked to the ground and began muttering to himself. "Honestly, I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking, leaving you with this lot. Ye would've done better living with me then with these muggles." Juniper figured he didn't expect anyone to hear him. Juniper heard every word though.
"E-excuse me, s-sir," the giant returned his gaze to the little girl before him when she started to speak. The smile seemed to return post haste. "But, w-who e-exactly are y-you?"
"O' course. Where are my manners? My name's Hagrid, Keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts." Hagrid puffed out his chest as he said this. He seemed extremely proud of the position. Juniper just looked at him weirdly.
"Where's th-that?" she asked timidly. Hagrid just fished a letter out of one of his many pockets and handed it to Juniper.
"That should tell you everything you need to know about Hogwarts." Vernon made to grab the letter out of her hands but Hagrid stopped him the second he made a move. He tumbled down to the couch. Juniper had already started reading
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms. 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 on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerava McGonagal
Deputy Headmistress
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WHICHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
UNIFORM
First-year students will require:
sets of plain work robes (black)
plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.
COURSE BOOKS
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)
by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
by Phyllida Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection
by Quentin Trimble
OTHER EQUIPMENT
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
"I-is th-this some kind o-of j-joke?" She asked. This was a bit extreme for a joke, but it wouldn't be the first time. Hagrid got this really serious look on his face.
"Ye mean ter tell me that she doesn't know anything!" Hagrid shouted to Aunt Petunia. Juniper looked a little miffed at the implications. She knew stuff. Her grades were low because she got punished if she did better than Dudley.
"No, and that's the way it's going to stay." Aunt Petunia finally seemed to find her voice. "You're not carting her off to that freak school."
Hagrid just shot her a dirty look and turned to Juniper again.
"I kn-know some st-stuff, I c-can do r-really w-well in math, a-and I read a l-lot." Juniper mumbled this out as she stared at the ground. Hagrid just smiled.
"Not what I meant, I meant that ye knew nuttin about who you are. WHAT you are."
"W-What exactly am I?" Juniper was officially confused.
"Stop it this instant. You are not to tell her a single word more." Hagrid just ignored Uncle Vernon and pressed on.
"Yer a witch, Juniper." Hagrid then noticed Dudley eating the cake he gave Juniper, and promptly gave him a pig's tail.
Scene-Shift
Hermione wasn't having the best of days. She had just come home from school and wanted to take a shower before her parents saw. They'd react badly and demand a meeting with the school, again. The meeting would end with one of the kids getting scolded, and they'd come at her even harder than they did before.
She had gotten out early for this prank in particular. They had tampered with her locker; rigged it so that she would get a face full of sticky stuff when she opened it. She had no idea what it was, and she didn't really want to, she just wanted it OFF.
She hated school. She loved learning, she loved reading, and she loved trying new things but she hated school, or at the very least, this school. She didn't have a single friend to her name. Those that didn't outright bully her called her a know-it-all and avoided her. The teachers wouldn't even call on her in class anymore! That was her place to shine!
The reason she was going over the summer was for tutoring. No she didn't need tutoring, she was the one doing the tutoring. She wanted to get away from here and for that she needed a scholarship of some kind, and for that she needed as much standing academically as possible.
The water felt good on her face. She was relieved that whatever this goop was, it came off fairly easily. What was weird was how easy it came out of her hair. She would've figured that she'd have to cut it off, but it left her hair as easy as the shampoo did.
She got out and dried off real quick so she could change before her parents got home. She still had to change and get rid of her clothes. If only she co-
"Hermione, you home?" it was the voice of her Mother. Darn it!
"I'm in the bathroom mom. I'll be out in a bit." She looked down and noticed that the clothes she had on were completely clean. Not a speck of the gunk was left. She gaped, thinking how something like this was possible. She finally just absolved that the goop didn't do well with heat and melted off her clothes. That made sense, right?
She dried her hair and threw her clothes back on before leaving to greet her parents. When she got to the living room where they normally met, she noticed that her mother wasn't there. "Where's mom?"
"Talking with someone in the kitchen, Hermione, how would you feel about going to a different school?" her father asked. Hermione got wide eyed. She had been asking to go to a different school for months. They had told her that they didn't have enough money to send her elsewhere and they would have to wait until they could afford it.
"Which school? When do I start? What do I need? What books do I need to read? Did I get scholarship? Is that why I get to go now?" The questions were leaving her mouth faster than even she could understand. Her dad just smiled.
"You can ask the lady your mom is talking with about it. She approached us about an opportunity for you to go to a special school. She said that the school would pay for traveling expenses and the first year of school supplies. You can go in and talk to her about it now."
Hermione raced to the kitchen to find her mother talking to a very stern looking older woman. Her hair was tied up in a bun and she was very tall and thin. She had a few wrinkles and her lips were pursed in a very subtle smile.
"Good afternoon, Hermione Granger I presume." Hermione only nodded in silent approval "Well I imagine you have a number of questions for me, but first I ask that you read this. It's the acceptance letter for the school that you would be attending if you're so inclined." Hermione reached up and took the letter slowly as she said this.
"Dear Miss Granger, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry…" Hermione stopped reading right there. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"I assure you Miss Granger," she reached up and pulled a long piece of wood from her robes. "This is not a joke." She gave it a wave and a rather elegant looking chair appeared behind her. "Would you care to have a seat so we can continue talking?" Hermione's mouth was touching the floor by this point. She very shakily sat in the chair the woman had conjured. "My name is Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts, head of Gryffindor house, and your Transfiguration teacher should you accept."
"Surely there must be some mistake, I mean…" The professor raised a hand to stop her.
"Let me stop you right there. All I ask you right now is a simple question for you to think on for a few minutes. Has anything strange ever seemed to happen around you? A book flying into your hand, things changing color around you for no reason, or perhaps you were walking one place and suddenly ending up in another. These are instances of what we call accidental magic and the determining point of whether or not you are in fact a witch. Has anything like that ever happened to you?" Hermione started to say no, but as she thought the more she realized that a few things like what Professor McGonagall said had in fact happened.
"Some things like that have happened, yes." Professor McGonagall smiled at her reply.
"Would you be interested in attending classes at Hogwarts? You would learn to control your magic among other things." Professor McGonagall noticed that as she said this Hermione's shocked expression started to dissolve.
She started bombarding Professor McGonagall with questions. She was never going back to her old school again!
A/N- The prologue is done. Be sure to review what you have read here today.