Disclaimer: Not mine, and certainly not the first person who came up with a 'little change' difference.
AN: I know it's not my best, especially towards the end, but how can one get better without critique? I'm not planning on going into more detail on this ever.
It's amusing, the little things in life. How much they can affect people. How one person can make a day that's sad, happy. How one person can say something, not realize how profound it is, and the person hearing it never forgetting it for their entire life. For want of a nail. The little details can sometimes have the biggest changes
In one universe, a young Harry Potter had his hand shaken, and was thanked before his aunt pulled him away.
In another, a young Dudley Dursley wanted that stuffed animal. It was big, and huge and he wanted it. Petunia was too busy placating her son, attempting to not walk out of the store with an essentially useless item that would be ignored three days later. She knew her son, after all. And so a young Harry Potter had his hand shaken, and watched as the person popped out of existence.
It was rather odd, Harry thought, that the person was there, and then he wasn't. Young Harry Potter casually wondered if it was a skill they taught at school, for he had yet to attend, and was looking forward to escaping his aunt and uncle's house. If he could disappear like that, he'd never have to see them. He could pop in when they were gone, eat food, and leave. Never be there for the punishment. Oh yes, Harry Potter wanted to learn this skill.
When the first day of school came, and it was focused on something called 'letters' and 'numbers', well, he wasn't impressed. He'd been reading for a long time, being forced to help shop. He could do math very well, having had to pay for items when Dudley just could not be in the store any longer. And although he knew the rules, 'no questions', he raised his hand anyway.
"What else will we learn?" he asked, innocently. His teacher launched into a description of simple math, simple reading, what to expect in elementary school, middle school, and high school. So far, none of it was disappearing tricks.
He was still beaten for asking a question at school.
Dudley and Harry's lives were relatively unchanged, but Harry watched the world carefully. He noticed things, little things, more important things than just disappearing into thin air. Mrs. Figg's eyes followed him whenever she saw him, and he thought he might have seen a hint of sadness in her eyes. He noticed when weird things happened around him, and when they happened around others. He noticed that the library was safe from Dudley's Gang, and that Dudley's Gang picked on the others too. He noticed the hatred in the eyes of the others, when looking at the Gang during class, and he wondered.
After all, weren't the Dursley's united in their hatred of him?
This idea of being loyal to family was farfetched to the young Potter. After all, family beat you and starved you and called you names and made you do everything they didn't want to do. But hating someone, well, that united people. Uncle Vernon had a group of golfers who hated the present Minister. Aunt Petunia and her gossip group hated on the weirdos in the neighborhood. So Harry learned from what he saw, that hatred could unite a group.
He wanted a group. He slyly approached those who had discovered the safety of the library. Just a quick visit, a quick shared complaint about Dudley where no one could hear, and back to his little corner. His corner grew, as the others joined him. They discussed their hatred of Dudley, sympathized with Harry, and talked about their lives.
After a few months of hiding, and becoming comfortable with each other, one person mentioned the weirdness. Lily Moon, soft spoken and quiet, mentioned the time Dudley tripped over nothing and fell in the mud puddle five feet away after chasing her. Lisa Turpin spoke of a time one of her hated cousins had his wrist broken for no reason after insulting her. Slowly, the others admitted the weirdness, and quietly mentioned the other things they noticed.
And as Harry pointed out, knowledge is power. How else would his uncle blackmail his boss? How else would his aunt get Piers Polkiss' mother's beautiful family heirloom? Harry had noticed that having knowledge gave people power. After all, the teachers had power over the students. This being a library, they did research. Or, as much research as young children can do in a library full of fiction stories.
But as Lily Moon said, if the possible has been ruled out, only the impossible remains. She said her mother told her that, before disappearing and never coming home. Mr. Moon said she ran off. Lily Moon cleaned the bloody knife. Secrets were something the group was good at keeping. After all, if more people knew of their weirdness, they'd react the same as their parents.
And so they read the fictional stories, and drew parallels as much as they could (although they were disdainful over any mention of love and family as reasons to protect and fight). They decided that they were mutants, or superheros, changlings or even aliens. Each person had their own story, their own view on how they came to be who they were. And no one argued with each other. After all, what does it matter who or what someone is, when you're united in hatred? The hatred for Dudley was still there.
And they trained. After all, they had powers and one must learn to use everything they have at their disposal. They called themselves Unity, for they were united in secrets and hatred and weirdness. Except for John, who had no weirdness, but accepted theirs. After all, he said, they were better than Dudley, and Dudley wasn't weird. He'd rather hang out with weirdos who hated the same people as him, than people who hated him. But John wasn't useless. His father's brother (who he was never to speak about) was politically well connected. And for some reason, believed in family being a legitimate connection. John didn't say anything, because he needed his uncle, but beatings for existence seemed like a stupid connection.
By the time they reached eleven, they were powerful and ruled the school. Oh sure, Dudley and his gang thought they ruled, but they didn't know that their report cards were lies, that teacher-parent meetings were cancelled. After all, knowledge is power, and if they don't know that their knowledge is lacking, that's less power they have. Unfortunately, that came to an end, as all things are wont to do.
Lisa was the first, who brought her letter to the group after school was out.
"Apparently, we're witches and wizards," she said, disdainfully. An apparent witch came to tell her about a wonderful school, where she could learn magic. The others made faces and groaned appropriately, except for their leader, Harry.
"You should go. Knowledge is knowledge, maybe they know useful information," Harry suggested. The group quieted after that, wondering, pondering.
Soon Lily Moon got her letter, and Harry nearly got his, but knew what it was, so they counted that as a success, and so did Justin, and Cam, and Lucy. That left out John.
Hatred still fueled them, but they were beginning to see a wider world.
"Cam, Lucy, you stay with John," Harry decided, the day before notifications were due. Cam and Lucy had the best family lives of everyone, so they nodded. They wouldn't abandon one of their own. Not when he knew their secrets. Plus, Harry had promised to teach them, and Lisa and Justin and Lily agreed. It was also practical. It seemed the wizarding world was so self-absorbed, that they paid no heed to those who had no magic. This way, they still ruled, and knew non-wizarding things.
Harry, Lisa, Lily, and Justin, with the help of John, Cam, and Lucy, formed a plan based on what they knew of the wizarding world. They would rule this one too. After all, hatred united people in this new world just as surely as it did everywhere else. Unity then split, to Unity against Mundane, and Unity against Wizards.
Some might have believed that a new world would mean new options, or a chance to reinvent themselves, like a bright eyed bushy haired bucktooth girl, but Unity knew better. Hatred spanned everything, why would words be any different?
At Hogwarts, they were all sorted into different houses. Lisa to Ravenclaw to study to her heart's content, and find the downfall of the pride and hate filled wizards. Lily Moon to Slytherin, since Harry Potter couldn't go there. Justin to Hufflepuff, to convert the masses, and Harry to Gryffindor, to subvert their minds. It took them a few years, but they built up their arsenal; Lily learned to collect favors and blackmail, from students in all houses. Justin gained a following in Hufflepuff, said to be a laid back guy (No one in Unity spoke of the death of Piers, for it was a secret). And Harry had a following, who listened to him. Who grew to hate the world as it was, as Harry used what Lisa learned to convert his house.
And seven years later, Unity united again, and looked towards the future. The wizarding world was full of bigotry and hatred, and it wasn't hard to unite students against the ministry. The mundane world was just as corrupt, just as bad. And so they came up with their idea. John would become Prime Minister, Harry would be Minster for Magic, and together they would get rid of all they hated. No more purebloods, no more bullies, no more corrupt officials. It took some years, before John was well on his way, while Harry worked with other magical governments, silently moving forth the great plan that Unity had come up with.
After all, take away the haters, and no one will hate.
It was a bright day when the Wizarding world became known to the public. Most didn't care, but those who did, well, anger and hatred were well understood by Unity. The mundane purists, they were directed to the pureblood purists, told that they were the ones behind everything. The purebloods were given the same lies about the mundane purists. Accidental sheets were left in sight, with names and addresses, and everyone used those sheets to their advantage.
And so the two factions went to war, and wiped each other out. Mostly. Those that survived were placed in prison, magic bound and given life sentences in magically kept cells. No one escaped. A few people commented on how odd that the two groups who should have gotten along didn't, but no one really cared. After all, the people dead were those that everyone hated. (The Dursleys died first, quietly, but it was attributed to purebloods. After all, they were Harry Potter's relatives. Unity wouldn't say any different).
And years went on, and Unity ruled the world. Oh, it looked like they didn't, but knowledge was everything, and knowledge in both words was disappearing. Unfortunate fires, theft, robbery. In the quiet background, Unity and those they let in (mostly their children, for they had learned that lesson early on in life to not ignore the children) ruled. They had more knowledge, and thus more power, than everyone else.
Anyone who disagreed had an accident. Anyone who tried to learn too much broke the laws. Those who cried evil, well, they were just crazy, weren't they? The members of Unity chuckled. Unity had united worlds. How could they be evil?
(And if every person they ever hated ended up dead, well, accidents and old age and mishaps happen you know. So does being an unfortunate victim of random attacks.)
Unity was proud of where they came from, and even if they smiled and laughed and joked, they never forgot their hatred, for that was what united people.
And all that, just because Dudley wanted a stuffed animal. Who'd have thought?