Of Shrewness and Wit

Chapter 1

Boarding


Everywhere.

It was everywhere.

She shot a 'Stupefy' towards a masked figure who was brandishing their wand against a blond Hufflepuff student. The Death Eater fell, and the Hufflepuff turned to the witch with a grateful, weary, and strained smile. She smiled back, but it abruptly fell as a green light enveloped her fellow schoolmate.

He was dead, as his body relaxed upwards a bit before toppling over into rubble. A shaky breath left the dark-haired Ravenclaw, cold seeping into her legs, locking her there as if she was hit by the Leg-Locking Curse. The masked Death Eater moved on however, wand pointing towards the frozen witch, no doubt in shock.

"Etta! Move!" she felt herself be thrown with a strong wave of magic to the side, where she crashed, rolling aimlessly across the ground. Her glasses had flown off, and blurry shapes and flashes of magic were moving just as fast as the nervous beating of her heart.

Swallowing, she groped for her wand that laid a couple of feet away from her before casting the Summoning Charm for her glasses. Slipping them back on, she saw the falter of the Order's movements, along with the students and aurors who were determined to end the battle.

And it did.

Suddenly, the fighting ceased in quick succession. Cries of pain, crazed laughter, and the whizzing of spells all stopped.

Etta, the young witch, turned her attention to what had stopped the battle, and she saw hope and admiration in both sides of Light and Dark.

Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort.

Two very similar wizards, yet on different sides of a coin with two tails or two heads.

She watched as the Potter boy shot three rapid spells varying in color, and how his foe, fluidly spun to the side for the first spell coming his way, but then disappeared with the loud 'crack' of Apparition, before reappearing behind Harry. He threw a dark violet curse, smiling wickedly as Harry barely managed to move out of the way.

Etta ran towards the dueling pair, determination replacing fear.

"Harry Potter! Give up you foolish boy and I will spare you and all your friends!" Voldemort cackled, his magical aura getting even more suffocating as he shot more spells towards the young wizard.

"You're a fine liar, Riddle!" Harry shouted, and sent a wave of the 'Avis Oppungo' charm to distract the dark wizard before firing a overpowered 'Expelliarmus'.

Voldemort conjured a quick shield charm around his tall form.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Time seemed to slow for Etta.

Voldemort had moved so very fast, and the Wizarding World that was hoping for a end of the Dark Wizard felt their stomachs drop.

"Harry!" Etta shouted, pleaded actually. She pleaded to Fate to not be as cruel as all the other times she couldn't be there properly. Etta felt acceptance as she wound her form around the messy-haired wizard. Her arms enveloped him in a familiar hug, and she placed a soft kiss on his cheek before her fate became like the late Lily Potter.

The curse had struck its mark, and a Potter died.

Henrietta Lily Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived's only sibling, only companion who understood him the most, who had been there the longest, and was all one would want in a older sister, was dead.

Another Potter, sacrificing herself for the Wizarding World's only hope. A boy she protected so many times because he was her everything.


"Well Miss Potter, I was expecting your brother, but you're welcome too."

The young witch squinted towards the familiar voice, her glasses once again missing as the periwinkle-clad figure

"Headmaster?" She questioned, leaning forward. "Indeed my girl." A aged hand helped her up and she wondered if she was dreaming. Dumbledore was dead, she had seen him fall from the Astronomy tower when her and Sue Li had decided to study cloud patterns outside.

"Where are we, may I ask?" she turned and took in her surroundings, like any good Ravenclaw she started coming up with theories to where she was and why she was seeing the deceased Headmaster. There was only one conclusion, well, actually two conclusions. Either she had sniffed one too many potions, or her mind came up with the illusion of Albus Dumbledore which, in turn was more of a dream.

Dumbledore only smiled with that all-knowing aura and grandfatherly vibes bouncing off of him in waves. "We are in the in-between." he said, "Purgatory." His wrinkled hand gestured to the clean, white space around them that had an uncanny resemblance to the entry hall of Hogwarts.

"Moving on, Miss Potter." She turned to him as he began to walk, bright orange shoes that did not match his periwinkle robes, peeking out as he walked. Etta followed, feeling lost as the halls and walls of the ancient castle was empty. No portraits, suits of armor, statues, or even students. It was unnatural.

As she stared at her former Headmaster in blurry vision, she didn't notice as he lifted a his wand. "Now, m'dear I must ask for your help." A pair of glasses, better than her old ones were conjured onto her face as Dumbledore swished his wand.

"I was expecting your brother, but I think Fate wants you to be in his place for this adventure." His eyes twinkled mysteriously. "Headmaster, if I may ask, where are we?" Etta asked, looking around her surroundings now that she could see clearly now

"Sir, why am I here?"

"Why, Miss Potter, you are here simply because you died." Dumbledore stated as if the news of hearing your own death was the weather.

Etta stopped in her tracks. "Excuse me?" She gave the old wizard an incredulous look.

"Sacrificed yourself for your brother, my dear. I must say though, your brother isn't the only one with a link to Tom Riddle now." He hummed, and continued walking. "That sacrifice brought on strong magic. It's the reason that you're here now actually."

Etta stared at him.

"To put it simply m'dear, the Horcrux that your brother had obtained from Riddle when you were both very young, has transferred over to you." Dumbledore turned to her, crescent-moon glasses making his eyes seem sharp as a hawks as the twinkle that took residence in his eyes were absent.

"My brother had a Horcrux inside of him? You-Know-Who's soul?" She opened her mouth to list out why that could be invalid, but then stopped. Harry was a Parseltongue,yet she was not. You-Know-Who was also a Parseltongue. Harry had a mental connection with You-Know-Who. She did not.

"So this means..?" "This means that you'll be sent to wherever you're needed." Dumbledore hummed merrily, fishing for something in the pockets of his robes.

"Here you go m'dear." The old wizard smiled genially before plopping a single lemon drop into her palm. Henrietta accepted it and eyed the Muggle candy for a moment before popping it into her mouth, mumbling a 'thank you.'

"Do you know where I'll be sent Headmaster?" The older Potter sibling asked, sucking on the tart candy. Bright blue eyes sparkled mischievously and he clasped his hands together loudly.

"Tell me Miss Potter, how would you feel meeting more of your family?"

Etta brightened up at that. "You mean, I get to see my Mum and Dad?" Her green eyes shined with happiness at the prospect.

"I was thinking more along the lines meeting a grandfather or great-grandfather." Dumbledore said, stroking his long beard. Henrietta slightly deflated but was still enthusiastic about meeting a family member. A wizarding family member who didn't hate magic, and didn't stuff two small children into a cramped cupboard because of something they couldn't control.

Her mind whirled with the possibilities of new knowledge about the Potter family. Knowledge that didn't come out of a public wizarding genealogy book that every Pureblood or Halfblood owned in their own library.

"But Professor Dumbledore, why can't I meet my parents?" Etta asked, blinking up at him. Dumbledore continued to stroke his beard, the same grandfatherly smile on his thin lips.

"Because Miss Potter, you will have another time to meet them." They walked in silence for a few more moments, the humming of Hogwarts Hogwarts Hoggy Warty Hogwarts in a jovial tune as the Headmaster kept the same smile on his aged face.

"Sir, will all due respect—" Etta began, but was only cut off by the quick ushering of Dumbledore.

"The train is quite comfortable, Miss Potter. I wish I could take a ride back with you but I must be somewhere else at the moment." The scenery changed to Kings Cross suddenly, still white and clean with the exception of the Hogwarts Express, the red and iron coloring looking out of place.

She turned to ask the Headmaster when they had even arrived at Kings Cross when they were obviously in Hogwarts just moments before, but he wasn't there.

Sighing, she thought of it as another one of Dumbledore's schemes and boarded the train.


yes, I'm starting another story. Yes it is a time-travel genre.

- Henrietta is the name I picked because of the male counterpart "Henry or Henri" which has the nickname "Harry"

- Henrietta will be transported back to the past, and I'm still deciding on what year it should be and I'm generally still brainstorming the next chapter ...