Venus Potter – The Rock

This story has already proven more popular than my previous attempt with Young Justice.

Summary: Venus was different and that was a good thing. Who wanted to be normal anyway? Only thing is Venus never knew how different she really was until she became 11 and was given a way out, away from her Very Normal family.

Venus is a neutral name with three in-canon origins: Plant, Mythology and Astrology.

Thank you WhenDarknessComes and Philosophize for reviewing this story by the time I began this chapter. I have replied to you individually, but also want to say publicly your suggestions have been received and I am considering them. ORKCHILD, here is the next chapter you asked about.

I have a pet peeve that I am going to work around in this chapter, I hate knowingly writing in broken English so after the change, when the house elves speak normal, they are actually speaking elfish, not house elf English.

Chapter 2

Thunder clapped outside of the window as Venus lay on her bed. The young girl was beyond scared. She wanted to go crawl in bed with her aunt and uncle, only she was more afraid of her uncle than the thunder outside. Not that she could even attempt that anyway. Her door was already locked from the outside.

Venus knew why her aunt locked the door and hid the key where no one in the house other than her and Venus would look. Not too long ago Vernon Dursley had brought one of his business associates with him. The man was staring at Venus throughout dinner.

When Venus was sent up to her room when curfew arrived the man followed her up, supposedly to head to the toilet. When the man opened her door and ripped her night shirt Venus screamed. Petunia rushed up and stood between the man and her niece. The man left soon after and Vernon had the gall to blame both Venus and Petunia for losing the deal. Later Venus would learn that the man had planned to do to her. She and Petunia came to the solution of locking her door when curfew came.

There was a rattle at Venus's door and she retreated under her bed she didn't want to be found, who knows what would happen to her if she was found. The door opened and from her hidey-hole under the bed Venus sighed in relief. It was Petunia. She was carrying a pair of earmuffs which she gave to Venus. She said it was to drown out the sound of the thunder because her scream woke up the house.

Although not a comforting gesture, Venus took whatever she could get, whenever she got it.

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Venus frowned, why would that specific memory pop into her mind at this time? She all but forgot that night and how she felt until her aunt gave her the earmuffs. Perhaps being confronted with the home she could have grown up in brought back that scared six year old she was back then. Cree had left her in the garden and popped away. Venus sat down on a swing chair that overlooked a patch of roses. She sighed as she calmed her nerves. She didn't want to appear vulnerable when she entered the house.

The house was big, bigger than the Dursley's house. Just from the front Venus could already see four bedrooms. She assumed that it must've been because it was an ancestral home and the Potter family might have had great numbers. It was clear she was the only one left.

Wiping at her eyes Venus walked towards the door. The ring on her finger began to vibrate before the front door opened. When she stepped into the house she saw Cree standing in the middle of the floor and pointing her fingers at something then snapping them. She realized that she was cleaning the hall.

"Thank you Cree, the house looks lovely." The house elf smiled at the praise. "However, I would like to do my own room, some organized chaos and what not. You have my permission to clean it today though." Venus smiled. She somehow knew that the elf wanted to make sure the house is clean and safe. "Now how do I know where's what in the house?"

"Little Mistress Venus is listening to the ring. The ring is guiding Little Mistress Venus when she is entering room." Cree supplied.

"Thank you Cree, but could you not call me Little Mistress please. You are as much part of the family as me."

"House elf is burning in ears if we is not respectful." Cree said. "Maybe we is calling little mistress, Missy Venus?"

"Better I guess, also can you begin teaching me your language, I noticed that you speak a broken sort of English."

"Humans is not able to speak elfish, humans is not have the right parts to be talking elfish."

"Even so, I would like to learn the language so that you and Summa can speak in it, instead of broken English." Cree blinked.

"Missy Venus be standing still please. Cree is going to open Missy Venus ears to be understanding languages of magic." Venus felt magic wash over her and settled in her ears. "Can you understand me Miss Venus?"

"Yes thank you Cree." Venus could still hear the language that sounded like a flowing river, but she could understand it now. "Please tell Summa to also speak elfish to me, if you see her before I do."

Venus walked to the room on the left, before she entered she heard how Cree debated with herself and asking why magical humans never thought about asking elves to open their ears like she did with Venus. Venus smiled. She must just be weird that way.

The ring spoke inside Venus's mind revealing that the room she entered was the reception room. This is where guest would arrive via floo and apparition if they were invited to do so. If they showed up uninvited then the room would encase the intruder in an amber substance until the lord or lady of the house releases them or banishes them. Venus blinked that was quite informative.

Venus walked over to the fireplace and noticed that it was large enough for an adult to step into. It was the entrance to the floo. She needed to get a fresh batch of floo powder. She passed the fireplace and walked the far wall. On the floor there were double lines with symbols lining them. She realized that the symbols might be runes that allowed only this section to allow apparition. She brushed over the runes and actually felt the magic on them. Ward exception line the ring provided.

Venus exited the reception are and entered the next room, the ball room. On each side of the hall there were tables lined up with chairs on top of them, with a dance floor/stage in the middle. The room is magically expanded and was able to expand more if the need would arrive. This room was used to host parties between allies. Venus rolled her eyes, the room was mostly boring.

The next room was the kitchen and house elf room. The kitchen, like the ball room had the potential to enlarge depending on the amount of food that needed to be prepared. Summa was here and the kitchen was already cleaned she was working on chopping some strawberries, most likely from the patch outside, into small pieces.

"Miss Venus welcome," Cree had already relayed the message to Summa it seemed. "I am busy making strawberry jam. It goes well with scones."

"Thank you Summa, would you please make pasta for tonight, it will only be the three of us so just make enough so that it doesn't waste. My money pouch is in the entrance hall."

"As house elves we don't carry money around when we shop, we only snap our fingers when we do the purchase and the coins come from the vault, it worked that way for generations, long before any of us were born." Summa smiled. "Should I also get some Butter beer? I recall you liked it the first time Miss Lily allowed Master James to give some to you."

"Sounds odd, but I will try it, thank you Summa. May I have a look in your living quarters I am busy exploring the house and want to see every part of it?"

"You may Miss Venus." Summa smiled then returned to her jam making.

The house elf room was small compared to the rest of the house. It had two comfortable beds and an en suite bathroom. At least they would stay clean. Some personal items were scattered around the room and on hooks on the one wall there were several uniforms for them to wear. Venus smiled, she might redesign the outfits a bit later on, but it was good for now.

Exiting the kitchen there was a door leading down to a cellar. The wine was stored here as well as a fully stocked potions lab. The lab was a fairly new addition, when her mother moved in. The cool air of the cellar was perfect for brewing potions it seemed. Not that Venus would know, it was merely guess work.

On the other side of the hall there were three doors. One was a family room, there were a few couches and chairs scattered around the room and could easily be moved around the fireplace for family time, Venus wiped a tear from her eye. The second door was a study. Inside there were a huge desk with a bookcase behind it. The bookcase wasn't filled with books like Venus thought it would, it was filled with statues of all kinds, artworks in their own right. Venus went to pick up a raven statuette. When the statuette was lifted the bookcase split in the middle and revealed a path down to the basement level.

Venus walked down the path and found what she thought was the centre of the grounds. There was a large stone dial in the centre. Walking over to it she felt her ring vibrate on her finger. Then the room lit up and revealed a lot of symbols on the walls. Certain symbols weren't lit though, as were their counter parts on the dial.

"I wish I knew what this meant." Venus said out loud. She didn't get anything from the ring, it was clear this was to be passed down from generation to generation.

Suddenly a book appeared on the dial. The title was Potter House Rune Wards. The book had an extensive description of all the runes in the room. It was classified as family magic and not extended to the rings for safety reasons. Venus compared the runes that wasn't lit to the book and found it was to make the house unplottable and to hide it in plain sight, similar to something called a fidelius charm. The other had to do with the guest acceptance in the reception area. Venus activated two of the runes, the one in the reception area and to hide the house, if she made the house unplottable, she was afraid that Athena wouldn't find the place. She needed to ask the owl when she arrived.

The next room was a large library. The room had several rows of books all lined up. There was even a desk to write notes on and a comfortable reading area on the far side. Venus walked up to the desk and picked up the lone book left on the table, it turns out it was written by her father. She glanced at the title and thought it will be fun to read it. The book was called The Marauder's Guide to Animagus Transformations, an obvious play on the famous books by Douglas Adams. She turned it around and sure enough there in bold friendly letters was written DON'T PANIC. She pocketed the book and made her way upstairs, she had a lot of time to read the books. The other doors on the bottom floor were the guest restrooms and ladies powder room, and coat closet with a self sorting and recall rune edged into the door frame. Venus didn't need to see them though.

Venus wasn't prepared for what she saw down the hall. It was literally a hall of doors, according to the ring all the doors were rooms for various family members and guests, each with an en suite bathroom. To the right of the hall were the guest rooms there were fourteen of them, seven to a side and a window at the end of the hall. To the left there were thirteen doors, six to a side and one at the end of the hall. The thirteenth door was the Head of House's room.

Then there was the single room in the middle of the hall directly across from the stairs, the mail room. Venus entered this room and there on a perch was her snowy owl, Athena already waiting for her. Venus greeted the bird and asked her if owls could find an unplottable location. It turned out they could.

"I noticed there are symbols, or rather runes, around the window, I could ask my ring, but as an owl I feel you might explain it better." Athena stared into Venus's eyes and Venus understood instantly. "So absolutely no foul mail could do harm to me or those living here if it passed through that window, interesting."

Venus laid out some food and water for Athena and left the room after saying goodbye to the owl. One thing she noticed was that there were runes on the floor too. It cleaned the room of any unpleasantness left by owls that come and go. Technically house elves could do that, but who wants to clean up after an owl. The runes were perfect for it.

When Venus reached the end of the hall to the thirteenth room she was met by Cree who informed her that the Head of House room is cleaned and ready to use. She was surprised how long she took with the tour of the house. She entered the room and smiled, finally she was home.

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The first night in her room Venus read the book her father wrote, she had asked the elves to gather the ingredients for the potion and began sucking on a mandrake leaf. There was a fresh crop growing out in the green houses at the back of the house. By the end of the month there was an electrical storm and the rest of the process could continue.

Now, with only a few days left until the train was scheduled to leave, Venus was ready to attempt her first Animagus transformation. According to the book, after you transformed the first time, which had to be a full transformation, you can, with practice transform parts of your body into the Animagus form you would take. With a deep breath Venus focused on her magic and soon she felt her body shift. No longer could she feel her arms and legs and when she opened her eyes form the focus she could see in more vivid colors. She went over to the mirror and admired her form. She was a big snake with horns on her head and a jewel on her forehead. She read about this species, a horned serpent.

Having confirmed her animal, Venus focused on what she knew about the species. She had a jewel so she focused on lifting, into the sky, she effortlessly started to float. She then focused on not being seen and soon her appearance vanished in the mirror. With a smile in her heart she transformed back into herself, only she was still in the air and invisible. She focused on landing on the ground and being seen again, both worked perfectly. She decided that she should add those notes into her father's book.

Having completed her transformation, Venus focused solely on her lower body and only transformed it. She smiled as her legs transformed into a tail and she slithered out the room, just to get a feel for it, before she changed back and went to find the house elves. She asked them to look her Animagus form over and they found that she had a scar on her belly scales in the form of a lightning bolt. It was more or less in the same are as her scar would be in her normal form, over her navel.

"Cree, it says in the book that Animagi needs to be registered, could you possibly take me to the Ministry of Magic to get registered?"

"I would be honored," Cree said and soon the two of them were in a side street across from a broken down payphone. "You need to make sure there are no muggle coins inside the slot and then pick up the phone and dial the word Magic, 6-2-4-4-3."

Venus followed the instructions and when the voice on the line asked what she was there to do, she told them it was to register her Animagus form. A pendant fell down and she pinned it to her robes, she had decided to wear that morning should her transformation be a success. There may not have been a spell to reverse the transformation, but Summa said that she was able to reverse it with elf magic.

"You's be needing to go to the wizard to be checking you's wand." Cree spoke in English. Venus understood that is was because there were other witches and wizards around.

"Thank you Cree, I will call you when I'm ready to go home or need anything beyond the galleons in my pockets." Cree vanished and Venus made her way to the security wizard.

"Your wand and reason for visit please?" The security asked. Venus handed over her wand and the pendant. The guard placed the wand tip on a parchment and it glowed registering the signature "Go to the elevators, sixth floor and to the office at the end. Ask for Victoria Winfield."

Venus went to the correct floor and door where she had to wait, since Victoria Winfield was busy with another registration. The man was animated. Venus had to give him that. He had shaggy black hair and, once she saw it, piercing silver/blue eyes, almost celestial. After several minutes of filling in forms he changed into a big black dog, a German Shepard with a full shaggy black pelt, just like the human version. Victoria took a picture of the dog and asked the man to turn back.

"I really do apologize that you were forced to register, I imagine it was exhilarating to be unregistered. There won't be any repercussions, given your circumstances." Victoria told the man as she walked him out. She then saw Venus. "May I help you Miss –"

"Venus Potter," Venus said standing up. "And I am here to register my Animagus form." The shaggy haired man gave a bark of a laugh. It didn't sound contradicting more like amused.

"Personally I wouldn't register, but St. Mungo's caught me as Padfoot and forced me to come and register once I was discharged." The man bowed down to Venus's level. "My name is Sirius Black."

"You are my Godfather," Venus said. "I remember your name from the will reading, so the goblins got you out of Azkaban?"

"That they did, pup, and I heard it was thanks to you." Sirius then turned serious. "I also heard from them that you are living on your own, and before that you stayed with your relatives, which your mother forbade. Mind if I come along with you? I might not be much to look at, but I am your legal guardian."

"I don't know, I guess that will be okay, as long as we keep some distance between us." Venus bit her lip. "My house elves can take us to my house once I'm done here, Mr. Black."

"Am I the only one here that find this unbelieving?" Victoria seemed to get over her shock and totally missed the exchange between Venus and Sirius. "You are what eleven years old, how can you be an Animagus?"

"I assume you know how to become an Animagus, Miss Winfield?" Venus asked. "I assume they won't let you work in the registration office any other way." Victoria blushed.

"I am an Animagus, an otter." Victoria said, finally.

"The place I stay at, alone, had the best change for a speedy process, not to mention that lovely storm at the end of July. It also has a cellar that was setup as a potions lab, so no sunlight to affect the potion. And the spell might be a tongue twister, but I had no issues reciting it." Victoria looked down. An eleven year old just put her in her place. "I could've kept it secret, like Mr. Black did, but thought better."

Over the next few minutes Venus answered every question asked and filled in the needed forms, she then turned into her Animagus form and Victoria took the picture. About half an hour later both Venus and Sirius received there Animagus licenses and they left the Ministry.

Once they reached an isolated spot Venus called both her elves and asked them to take Sirius and her to Potter House. There Sirius got settled in. He didn't have much to his name, other than a few odds and ends that he asked an elf name Kreacher, to fetch for him. The elf was foul and Cree and Summa hated him. They set up a defense to block him access to the house after he left.

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Although she was a registered Animagus now, Venus wisely chose not to reveal her secrets to even her godfather. She had asked Cree to bar him from her room while she was in there, the elf couldn't fault her. They however did speak up in his defense, since both elves knew Sirius meant Venus no harm. Venus confirmed this when she turned invisible and floated behind the man while he thought she was in her room. He just wanted to make James proud after he messed up the last ten years.

On the day, Sunday, she had to go to the train station she was ready to ask her Cree to take her, but she was pleasantly surprised when Sirius was waiting for her by the door. He offered to take her to the station on his motorcycle. He had retrieved the machine from the groundskeeper of Hogwarts just the previous day.

Soon Venus was sitting in the sidecar, her trunk shrunk down inside her enchanted messenger bag. She refused to buy the offered beaded bag most girls favored. The boyish messenger bag was just the key for that. They took to the skies by the time they reached the middle of the long driveway and became invisible, thanks to a horned serpent's jewel acting as a source. It was also what made the bike fly. Normal means, like what the Weasley family used according to Sirius, would not work on it and would eventually turn the bike sentient.

They landed on an abandoned street and drove the rest of the way to the train station. They were relatively early, only the muggleborn students arrived with McGonagall by the time Venus and Sirius arrived. Sirius greeted the older witch and wished her a good day before he took Venus onto the platform. Venus noticed that a bushy haired girl was giving her an odd look.

It wasn't like she was wearing something outlandish, Venus was dressed in a pair of jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. Her wand was in her boots in a magic neutralizing sheath. The sheath was one of House Potter's inventions, it is just a normal sheath with runes etched into them and charged. The sheath prevents the wand from being summoned. It also prevents external/accidental magic from reaching the wand, and in a case that it does absorbs the discharged magic. Cree also sewed the runes into her and school robes' sleeves. Sirius placed Venus's trunk on the rack above the seats and undid the shrinking charm.

"Now be a good girl and don't do anything I won't do." Sirius said.

"From what I learned, the shorter list would to not do what you would do, unless you are encouraging me, an impressionable young witch, to break the rules." Venus was trying to hide the smirk that was threatening to overwhelm her face.

"No, no, you're right, that would be the sensible thing to say," he winked at her. Venus rolled her eyes. After Sirius left there was a knock on her cabin door. It was the bushy haired girl. She was biting her lower lip.

"I'm not saving place for anyone if you want to sit down." Venus offered. The girl sighed in relief.

"I'm Hermione Granger." The girl introduced herself.

"Venus Potter, and just for the record, events of my life has been mostly made up." Venus smiled. "I found an entire section of Flourish and Blott's with fictional books that has been passed of as fact. I have never even met a centaur, how can I be romantically involved with one."

"I have to admit that I was curious how a girl, my age, could do all those things." Hermione blushed, "However I was hoping we could be friends. That was why I wanted to sit here."

"I would like that," Venus smiled, "My aunt treated me like a living doll my whole life, I couldn't make friends."

The train started to fill up after that. As Hermione and Venus talked they were interrupted a few times, first was a pair of girls. One had layered blond hair and the other was a brunette with short hair and glasses. They were looking for a girl named Lisa who was saving them a seat. Next was a set of twins looking for Lavender. Another pair of girls asked if they could join them in the cabin. One had blonde hair and pigtails. The other was a red haired girl, Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones. There was only one other interruption, a girl named Su Li, she was looking for an empty cabin, she wanted to be alone so that she could meditate.

The train soon started moving and the girls settled into conversation. They talked about their families and their instances of magic growing up. When Venus mentioned she was an Animagus and showed them her license they were in shock, especially Susan.

"It should theoretically be impossible to become an Animagus before training up a bit." Susan said. "And then there is the exact set of circumstances, I guess all of that could be achieved from say June or so, but still. I thought you needed some skill in transfiguration to achieve the transformation."

"Not exactly, although the theory is taught in transfiguration during third year, according to my father's book," here Venus pulled out The Marauder's Guide, she handed the book to Hannah who passed it to Susan and then to Hermione. "The actual magic behind it is completely different."

"Don't Panic is written in large, friendly letters on the back," Hermione whispered. "Did your dad base this on any specific book?"

"Since my mother was muggleborn, I would guess he did base it on Mr. Adams's books, loosely." Hannah and Susan looked confused. "Douglas Adams is a muggle writer who wrote a series of books known as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe.

"My father might have used it as inspiration, he was busy with another book too, but it is only about a quarter of the way written, according to Mr. Black. The book would've been called The Marauder's Guide to Not Getting Caught. So far it only outlined a parchment that could be used as a map in a certain area with every person that was in that area. They called it the Marauder's map. Apparently they made one and it was confiscated in their fifth year."

"That could be dangerous in the wrong hands," Hermione said.

"That is why I locked it up in the safe only the head of House Potter can open." I don't want it to be released to the public and Mr. Black knows it."

"Isn't Lord Black your godfather or something, why do you call him Mr. Black?" Hannah asked.

"That is why I don't call him Lord Black. It was either Mister or Lord. He chose Mister." Venus shrugged.

The girls had a blast the rest of the trip to Hogwarts and put money together. Hermione didn't have magical currency so Venus exchanged it for her, and bought a bunch of treats from the lady with the trolley together. They all got ready when the voice announced they would be at Hogwarts soon. The girls all looked at the odd scar over Venus's navel, but respectfully didn't talk about it.

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Stopping the chapter here, thank you for reading, I would love to receive reviews for this chapter, I loved reading the reviews and answering them. I tried to include the suggested characters in this chapter, but I couldn't find a way to fit the other girls in for more than a glimpse. Hannah and Susan were easier to include since Hufflepuffs get along with mostly everyone.