A/N: This story was formerly known as "Hailey Potter and the philosophers Stone," however I've changed the title and re-written the chapters.
Summary: Hailey Potter is no ordinary girl. She's the girl who lived, and with many adventures coming her way, the only way she'll survive is with the help of her friends and family. An "If Harry Was A Girl Story," Fem!Ron, Fem!Harry, Guy!Hermione, Guy!Ginny.
Disclaimer: I do not, and never will own 'Harry Potter,'. J.K Rowling is the rightful owner and I quote, 'J.K Rowling let us play in her sandbox, not steal her sand,'.
Chapter One
Hailey Potter was a studious girl. She enjoyed absorbing knowledge and wished most dearly for a normal life. You see, young Hailey Potter was not an ordinary girl. There were many weird things about her - Freakish as her aunt and uncle would say. It was quite true that the things that happened around Hailey were uncommon and would most definitely shock you. So beware, reader, for what this story contains may not be for your eyes or imagination. Proceed with warning.
Hailey had just arrived back 'home' from school, unfortunately making it after her horrible cousin Dudley. She knew she was in for a good beating once she arrived at her aunt and uncles, but it wasn't her fault that the girls in grade 6 had invited her to play truth and dare. Neither was it her fault she'd agreed. She was usually lonely and sat under a tree to read a book and these were nice girls, what could she say? She'd enjoyed it and promised to play with them the next day.
As Hailey entered the household as quietly as possible-Maybe she could slip in unnoticed?- she was met with the stern faces of her aunt and uncle and the smug grin of her cousin. "Good afternoon, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon..I'll just be making my way to-" she began and was cut off by Uncle Vernon.
"Dudley here believes you made friends. Is that right girl?"
Hailey looked at Dudley, dislike filling her eyes. "No, uncle Vernon, it was a one time thing."
"And thats what you said about last time!" he roared. "Don't you get it girl?! If anyone was to find about your...your..freakishness, how do you think they'd think of us?!"
Hailey bit the inside of her mouth to refrain from retorting back but it really didn't help. "Well I'm sure they'd congratulate you for raising me in such a wonderful way, Uncle Vernon,"
Aunt Petunia attempted to calm down a now purple-faced, livid husband but it was no use. "GET TO YOUR CUPBOARD AND STAY IN THERE!" Huffing, Hailey stormed past her so called relatives and into her cupboard, closing the door behind her. She lost count for how long she'd stayed in the cupboard but twice a day Aunt Petunia would give her water and allow her to use the bathroom and then she'd be locked back up in her cupboard.
Her punishment lasted until Sunday, making it four days she'd been locked up. When she had indeed been let out, she had to get to on with her chores which had seemingly doubled with her 'time off'. When she arrived back to school on Monday, the girls had invited her to play with them again, but she had refused.
"Sorry, I'm..busy." she had told them, and they'd learnt to leave her alone. This was Hailey's dull and miserable life. That was until something interesting happened.
Hailey had switched on her dodgy lightbulb as she groggily stared at the calendar, wondering why she felt today was an important day. She groaned when she saw indeed what the date wrote, 'June 23rd, Sunday. Dudleys Birthday-unfortunately.'
Today was Dudley's birthday. How could she have forgotten? This meant she'd be left at Mrs Figgs house again, and honestly as much as she liked the woman, one could only handle her cats and over date chocolate cakes for so long. Hailey was about to fall back asleep in the blazing heat, when Aunt Petunia began rapping on the door. "Up! Wake up!"
Hoping she'd go away, Hailey pretended to be asleep. Alas, it did not work. "Young ladies don't sleep in! Hurry up and watch the bacon, I want everything perfect on Duddy's special day!" Hailey snorted as she heard, 'watch' the bacon. More like start from scratch and cook it herself.
Putting on her irritating glasses (which had been patched up by sellotape more than one time) and tying up her hair in a low ponytail, Hailey pushed open the door and made her way to the kitchen as Dudley came down the stairs. "Hurry up then, Cousin!" he shouted and waddled down as quickly as he could. Even though Hailey was walking sluggishly, she still beat him to it.
"Hurry up and make my coffee," Uncle Vernon demanded as he read his daily newspaper.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Hailey obeyed, feeling quite hungry and not in the mood to be starved once again. Making her way to the stove she began to cook the bacon whilst in between rushing to make his coffee. Once she'd finished, Dudley stood up and counted his presents, turning a quick shade of red. Hailey who spotted a tantrum coming, wolfed down her bacon and got up to do the dishes so that she wouldn't get caught up in anything.
"35..36. Only 36.." his mumbling turned into shouting. "But last year I got 38!"
Aunt Petunia bent down and attempted to comfort him. "Yes, well, pumpkin you didn't count Aunt Marges one over there, see? And some of the presents are bigger than last year's.
"I don't care how big they are!"
"Okay, okay we'll get you two more while we're out, then? How about that?"
Dudley looked on confused. "So that'll be..30..30."
"38, Pumpkin." Aunt Petunia smiled and as the phone rang she went to answer it. Uncle Vernon chuckled, "Little tyke, want's his money's worth." he ruffled Dudley's hair proudly and then glared at Hailey. "Get your hair cut, girl!"
Gritting her teeth, Hailey finished the last of the dishes and was about to get ready to go to Mrs Figgs house when Aunt Petunia entered looking grim with her arms crossed.
"Ms Figg just called. She can't take the girl, she tripped over one of her cats and broke her ankle." Uncle Vernon became quite flustered.
"Then what the bloody hell are we going to do with her?"
"I suppose we could take her and leave her in the car.." Aunt Petunia began. At this Dudley began shouting over his father, "NO! I don't want her to come! She always ruins everything!"
"She will not be coming! My car is brand new!" They eyed her as if thinking this was all Hailey's fault.
"Hmm..cant't one of your friends take her? What about..Yvonne was it?"
Aunt Petunia shook her head impatiently as she comforted Dudley. "She's in Majorca." Hailey found her chance and spoke up, voicing her own opinion.
"I am feeling quite sick...perhaps I could stay here?" Hailey asked. Her aunt and uncle shared a look before saying, "Absolutely not! And come back to fin my house in ruins?"
"I won't touch anything, I'll sleep all day, I swear!" Hailey pleaded just as the doorbell rang. Aunt Petunia's lips thinned and she nodded before she went to answer the door. The Polkis's were here. Just as she reached her cupboard, Uncle Vernon approached her.
"I'm warning you now, girl. Any...any funny business, and you won't have dinner for a week! Understand?" He threatened, turning an ugly shade of purple.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Hailey obeyed. This was a once in a life time chance and she was not going to screw it up.
"Hurry up, Vernon!" Looking distraught between locking the girl up and getting to the Zoo on schedule, Vernon decided he'd rather not upset his son if they were too late to see the reptile show. So he left a very happy Potter, locked the front door and left.
All the while, Hailey stood there in amazement and slapped herself. Was she in a dream? If so, she never wanted to wake up. She was free for a day, no chores, no bullying, no being cooped up in a cupboard and no mistreament. It was just Hailey. She sat down on one of the stairs, deciding on what she should do before she ran up into the second bedroom. If they were on schedule, then the Dursley's should be back by 3:00 p.m, she had enough time on her hands to do what she liked.
As she sat down in the middle of the piles of junk, Hailey looked around for something useful to eat away her boredom when she caught sight of something on the top shelf. Books. They were covered in dust and looked as though they'd never been touched. Well, knowing Dudley they most likely hadn't been.
Climbing up as high as she could, Hailey stretched out her hand and pulled one of them out. She blew on the cover and wiped away any remaining dust before looking at the book carefully. It seemed to be a fantasy novel, about magic and sorcerers. As she made herself comfortable with a few old pillows, Hailey sat down to read, hours passing by without her noticing. However, she was rudely interrupted by her stomach growling. Normally, Hailey would have ignored this, but then she remembered that she had the whole fridge's contents in her hands (not literally).
Placing the book down, she scurried down the stairs and looked at her run down, old watch. 2:45 p.m it read. Fifteen minutes, that was all she had until the Dursleys arrived. Today had been nice, Hailey thought as she began making a sandwich. It had been peaceful, something Hailey dearly enjoyed. That's it, she declared in her mind, when I grow up, I'm going to move into a nice house by myself and I'm going to read as much as I can.
She ran upstairs with her half eaten sandwich and took the novel she'd been reading and hid it in her cupboard. She ate the last of her sandwich and then, as her watch read 2:59 p.m, she lay down on her rugged old matress and closed her eyes, waiting with her breath held. The door clicked and the Dursley's could be heard talking.
"That was boring!" Dudley complained. "I never want to go to the zoo again."
"Now, now pumpkin. I'm sure you don't feel that way. How about next year we visit the Adventure Park that recently opened? Vernon dear?" Aunt Petunia said.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm tired, and I'm going upstairs for a nap." He grumbled. As he was passing, he opened Hailey's cupboard door and looked at her "sleeping" form suspiciously before closing the door and heading upstairs. Hailey fell asleep with a small smile plastered on her lips. Life may just be getting better for her.
As the week finished, Summer came and Hailey was once again excited. She'd be going to Stonewall public highschool whereas Dudley would be going to Smeltings. Who knew? She could possible make friends, have relationships and go through the kind of drama teenage girls went through. She wanted to be normal and this was her chance. Hailey had been walking to the kitchen drowsily when a very ugly smell hit her nose and woke her up. Wrinkling her nose, she made her way to the Laundry room where Aunt Petunia was doing...something.
"What's that?" she Hailey confusedly. Petunia thinned her lips but did not allow her eyes to waver.
"It's your school uniform. I'm dying some of Dudley's old things." Hailey frowned and an image of her wearing elephant skin whilst being bullied popped up in her head.
"Right." she said sadly and left for the kitchen, just as Dudley and Uncle Vernon were coming down. "Coffee." her uncle demanded as he sat down, leaving Hailey to scramble to the Kettle and make it for him. Just as she'd finished and handed the mug to her Uncle, the mail slot could be heard opening and then shutting.
"Go get the mail, Dudley." Vernon said as he wrinkled his nose (the smell of the dye had wafted in through the kitchen).
"Make Hailey get it."
"Go get the mail, Hailey."
"Make Dudley get it."
"Hit her with your smeltings stick, Dudley."
It was an interesting conversation that made Hailey roll her eyes, like many times before. She bent down and picked up the mail, going through it.
Bills, Bills, Letter from Aunt Marge, Bills and...a letter for Hailey. Her eyes widened and she looked at the kitchen cautiously before heading to her cupboard, throwing her letter in it and going back to where her Uncle and cousin were. "What's taking you so long, girl? Checking for letter bombs?" Vernon chuckled at his own joke.
She handed the mail to her uncle and watched almost nervously as if he were to jump and say, "Give me that letter!" But he wouldn't because he didn't know she'd received a letter. Right? "Electricity bills..Gas bills...Oh, Marge ate a funny whelk. Ah and Water bills." Vernon grumbled as he set down the mail.
Hailey finished her small portion of butter, bread and an apple and headed over to her cupboard. "Girl! Get back here!" bellowed her uncle. Banging her head on the wall quietly, she turned around and went back.
"Yes, uncle?" she asked.
"Have you finished your chores today? I want the house ready for summer, so you'd better start." he said, and pointed to a very long list, with the title of, 'SUMMER CHORES,'. Sighing, Hailey read the first chore, 'Air out the rooms.' and began her day of cleaning. Hours and hours later, as she finished re-painting the fences, Hailey felt like a zombie walking to the kicten. She drank some water, took a deep breath and then flee'd to her cupboard once more. She was certain, this time, that she would receive no interruptions.
As she entered, she glanced at the letter for her and then smiled. She'd been waiting in anticipation to tread the damn letter and finally now, she had her opportunity. Switching her light on and shutting the door tightly, Hailey took a good look at the envelope. There, in the middle, was a big red seal that only nobilities or high ranked people such as the queen herself could use. Who, with such a high rank, could be writing to her of all people?
In the middle of the seal, there were four animals. A lion, a badger, an eagle and a snake. She grew even more curious by the minute and finally tore the envelope open, took out the parchment paper and began reading.
"Dear Mrs Potter,
We are happy to inform you that you have been accepted in Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. You will find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress'.
Hailey frowned and thought about it. Everything about this seamed like a hoax. A prank from Dudley or the Dursleys. But neither of them had this imagination, nor would they ever willingly accept that magic was real. Hailey would, oh how she'd love to attend a magic school instead of Stonewall Public highschool.
Putting the letter on her shelf that was shorter than her arm, Hailey lay down and fell asleep, not knowing what to do. She merely ignored the letter. After all, there was no Hogwarts in Scotland or she would have heard of it. And even if she hadn't, Hailey herself wasn't magical and that was all there really was to it.
Over the course of Summer, however she'd recieved more letters. Somehow hiding them each from the Dursleys and stashing them under her mattress under the cupboard. These people were desperate she thought amusedly. But it was not going to work, she would not go.
Until one ordinary summers day, someone rang the doorbell. Of course, that in it's self was the ordinary part, but as Aunt Petunia opened the door she gasped.
"We want nothing to do with you...lot." she said in horror, looking around and hoping the neighbours weren't watching.
"Mrs Dursley," Minerva nodded sourly. "I'd like to speak with Ms Hailey Potter about the details of her acceptance,"
"She will not be going," and then, as Aunt Petunia spotted Mrs Pallet from next door watching weirdly, she pushed the door open more and gestured for Minerva to come inside.
"Who knows what the neighbours will think," she mumbled, closing the door behind her.
"Thank you," snapped Minerva as she made her way to the living room and seated herself on one of the couches. "Now, if you don't mind Mrs Dursley, but I am running on a schedule and would very much like to take Ms Potter with me to Diagon Alley."
"And why would she do that?" Petunia asked heatedly. "Vernon and I made it clear when we took in the child that we wouldn't hold any of this nonsense. She will not be going."
Sighing in annoyance, Minerva's lips thinned. "Well unfortunately for you, Mrs Dursley, Hailey Potter will be attending Hogwarts. Her name has been listed ever since she was born and there is no stopping the will of Lily and James Potter."
"The girl is going to smeltings lady! I dare say, if she takes one step into your freakish world she will not be coming back!" Vernon demanded, walking inside. He seemed to have been eavesdropping until he decided his opinion needed to be voiced.
"Well, I daresay you'll enjoy discussing all this with the authorities. I really must be going now." Minerva said coldly as she stood up. Right at that moment, Hailey chose to enter. "There you are, Ms Potter. Hurry now, we best be off."
Hailey looked on in confusion and shared looks between her aunt and uncle before saying quietly, "I'm sorry Ma'am, but who are you?"
"I, am Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, of course you do know about Hogwarts?"
"Well, to an extent- Wait a minute. Your..your saying it's real? Everything from that letter, it wasn't a...a hoax?" Hailey asked in bewilderment.
"What letter girl?" demanded Uncle Vernon. "What have you been hiding from us?!"
"With all due respect, Mr Dursley, I'd appreciate if you did not shout at Ms Potter. And yes, it is indeed true. I will explain everything to you on the way, but at the moment we should really be going now."
"Going where?" Hailey asked, as Vernon shouted, "SHE WILL NOT BE GOING!"
"MR DURSLEY." Minerva said loudly, causing him to look at her in anger. "Ms Potter is a witch. She will be attending Hogwarts, and a Muggle like yourself will not be the one to stop her!" With that, she motioned for Hailey to follow and walked out of the house just as Hailey's acceptance letter flew in midair and straight to the professor.
"Wicked." Hailey whispered. "Excuse me, professor, but what's a Muggle? And just where are we going?"
"A muggle is a being that is non-magical. Take my hand and brace yourself,"
Hailey took the Professor's hand and suddenly felt as if she were being squeezed in a tube, with no oxygen or anything. It only lasted a second for when she opened her eyes, they were no longer in Privet Drive, but instead they were in the heart of London.
"Woah.." Hailey muttered, but suddenly regretted it as her stomachs contents emptied out onto the ground. "That's better."
"Come now," Minerva said, and wrinkled her nose from the smell. She opened the door to what seemed to be a non existent bar and they entered. Hailey became so overwhelmed. Everything was so..different to her, if her aunt and uncle saw this pub they'd have a fit!
"Professor, Here for a drink? Something light, perhaps?" Tom, the bartender asked.
"Not quite, Tom. I'm here on Hogwarts business." Minerva made sure not to speak Hailey's name aloud, or else there would have been a uproar of people trying to meet her. As she turned around, she saw her colleague. "Quirinus." she nodded in respect.
"H-hello, p-professor, wh-what are you d-doing here?" he asked spookily.
Minerva lightly placed her arm on Hailey's back and gave a short reply. "I'm taking Ms Potter here to shop for her school supplies. Ms Potter, this is Professor Quirrel, the defense against the dark arts teacher." Hailey's interest was suddenly perked.
"Nice to meet you Professor, I'm Hailey. What kind of subject is Defense Against The Dark Arts? Practical or Theory? Oh! Or maybe both? I'm very excited to learn from you," she said excitedly, taking out her hand to shake. However, the professor merely looked at her hand and backed away.
"Y-yes..but n-not that you need, e-eh Potter?" he said halfheartedly. Hailey frowned and lowered her hand, moving along with Minerva. They went into the backroom which consisted of a brick wall and rubbish bin.
Looking at the professor in confusion, Hailey began to wonder if this really was just a prank. She watched as the Deputy Headmistress pulled out her wand and tapped the bricks in a sort of pattern. Suddenly, the bricks began to move and deform itself until they made enough space for an archway, leading into what seemed to be a village or city of sorts.
Hailey watched in wonder as everything around her was magical, and grinned as the professor said, "Welcome, to Diagon Alley."