I do not own the rights to Harry Potter books or franchise.
Harry had to choose a seat until the Sorting was over. That part was nerve wracking. He was going to be in Gryffindor so it might be best to sit with his own house. But he wanted Slytherin to be part of the whole so maybe he should give them some sort of public approval now. And he had never been particularly close to Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Maybe he should work on changing that this time around?
Once glance at the High Table, specifically at Snape's sneer and glittering black eyes, made up Harry's mind for him. Snape had already decided that he was James Potter version two. While that was useful in dealing with Sirius or Remus, it would only cut him off from his mother's best friend.
Slytherin it was.
"Budge over" he ordered Malfoy.
Draco looked surprised but moved as asked which left Harry sitting between Draco and Daphne Greengrass and across from Theodore Nott.
"Harry Potter" Harry offered Nott his hand across the table.
"Theodore Nott." He looked nervous and vaguely weedy even at eleven. His handshake was limp.
Harry nodded and settled back to watch the Sorting. Hagrid grinned and gave Harry the thumbs up. There was a lot less chatter at the Slytherin table then Harry remembered there being at the Gryffindor table on the first night. That might have been partly due to the silent and vaguely gruesome presence of the Bloody Baron. When he joined their table he settled himself more or less between Harry and Draco. Everyone at this table was quite certain that Professor Dumbledore was mad. They were less certain that this was a good thing.
Dumbledore was conducting the twins' funeral procession when, with an almighty wrench and a shower of black sparks, the Elder Wand freed itself from Dumbledore's grasp. It flew across the room, a sizzling black comet accompanied by little surprised sounds of hundreds of children. Harry's right hand shot up into the air, his fingers curling around the middle of the burning length of the wand. Thunder crackled through the room as children shrieked and flinched around him. The wand stopped glowing black. Instead gold and silver sparks burst from the wand's tip. Harry automatically slipped his hand down the length of the rod until he could hold it properly. With a flick and a swish Harry made the end of year banners drop from the ceiling – one pair of banners for each house – amid a shower of red and green and blue and yellow sparks. At the back of Harry's mind the Elder Wand's song joined with his own wand's song, a beautiful duet filled with happiness and self-satisfaction.
It was official: the wands remembered everything that had happened in the previous timeline. And they were not going to pretend otherwise.
Harry gazed around the Great Hall. The other students were staring at him with a dizzying mix of awe and fear and excitement. Snape's eyes were narrowed and smoldering. The other professors looked indignant (especially McGonagall) and speculative (especially Flitwick). And Dumbledore… Harry shivered. Not a good way to start his first school year.
Around him, hundreds of students – all of the children from every house – shouted and laughed and cheered. At least he seemed to be popular this time around.
Draco wished that the other Slytherins would hurry. Harry was in trouble!
Not that he cared about Harry. Because he didn't. Harry just didn't have anyone else to look out for him. And his mother had told him – no, asked him to look out for his cousin. If Harry had his own parents, Draco would expect them to look after him. But they were long dead and if things were different, his mum would expect Harry's parents to look after him. That was all.
He definitely didn't like Harry or anything.
It's just that everyone looked so grim – even Professor Snape! –and the Headmaster looked scary. Like he was planning to duel with Harry or something. Which was stupid.
Merlin! Why couldn't these people walk faster?
It was ten whole minutes before they got to the common room. Draco ignored the welcoming speech and headed straight for the fire.
No floo powder!
"Crabbe! Go get your emergency floo powder!"
"I don't have –"
"Stop lying and go get it!"
Crabbe lumbered after a helpful second year. Draco memorized the face. He or Harry owed that second year a favor later.
"I don't see why you care" Zabini drawled.
"He's only in trouble because he sat with us" Daphne Greengrass insisted. "Dumbledore would have laughed at that prank if Harry Potter had been sitting at the Gryffindor table."
Crabbe lumbered back with a small wooden box. Draco snatched a pinch and threw it into the fireplace.
"Malfoy Manor, father's study!"
Draco stuck his head into the fireplace. Even as his father's study spun into focus, Draco started shouting "Father! Father"
His eyes lit on a familiar figure. "You! Dobby! Go get my father!"
Crack!
A few moments later Draco's father apparated into the room.
"Draco!"
"Harry's in trouble!" Draco blurted, interrupting his father. It was done rarely and even more rarely forgiven. But this was an emergency! His father stilled. "The Sorting Hat wouldn't Sort him! And then Professor Dumbledore's wand decided to be Harry's wand instead of Dumbledore's! And then the Heads of Houses marched Harry to the Headmaster's office! And Daphne says that no one would care about the wand if Harry hadn't chosen to sit with Slytherin House until the adults could figure out what to do with him. And –"
"And why are you coming to me with this?"
Draco gaped. "Father… Mother said that I was supposed to look after Harry. But I can't fix this!"
"Go back to your common room Draco."
Draco's face fell. "Yes Father."
Draco backed out of the common room fire. Harry was doomed. And worse, everyone had seen his father deny him! How was he going to make anyone –
The fire flared green. Lucius Malfoy then Narcissa Malfoy stepped through.
Draco beamed.
"I would thank you to return my wand, Mr. Potter."
Harry was in the Headmaster's office, surrounded by the four Heads of Houses and the Headmaster.
"It's not your wand Headmaster" Harry replied as politely as possible under the circumstances. His hand tightened on the wand. "It's mine."
Dumbledore's eyes narrowed. So did Snape's. Everyone else just look scandalized.
"Mr. Potter!" Mrs. McGonagall scolded. "You cannot steal another wizard's wand!"
"I didn't steal anything!"
"Then give Professor Dumbledore his wand back!"
"It's not his wand!"
A magical yank on the wand toward Snape. Harry tightened his grip and refused to let go, his mind darting back to a prophecy and an older Lucius Malfoy. Harry dug in his heels. Elder Wand clenched in his hand, Harry slid across the carpets toward Snape until Harry braced a foot against one of the heavy, squashy armchairs.
Harry flicked his other wand, his phoenix feather wand, at Snape.
Nothing.
Merlin! He needed to practice his wordless magic. The wandless kind would be good too.
Snape smirked. Harry glowered at him. It was Snape's fault! That was the exact same hateful expression Harry saw in most of his classes with Snape for six years! It was an automatic response!
Snape positively gloated.
A flicker of Snape, lying on the floor of the Shrieking Shack, dying as he desperately looked into Harry's eyes. Lily Evans' eyes. Snape, crying like his world had ended after Harry's mum had died. And Dumbledore taking advantage of that.
Harry stabbed his phoenix wand at Snape sharply.
"Expelliarmus!"
Harry misjudged the strength of his spell or maybe he expected Snape to fend him off. Either way, Professor Snape slammed backward into the wall behind him, his expression surprised and pained. There was a squirm of guilt in Harry's chest. It took a bit of juggling to catch Snape's wand and pocket it without dropping his own wand.
If there was one person who should never be associated with the Elder Wand, it was Severus Snape. He died over that the first time through even though he had never truly belonged to it.
While the other professors gaped, Harry hurried toward Professor Snape.
"Professor Snape" he said. "I didn't mean – are you okay?"
Snape's glare knocked Harry back several steps. So much for Harry's bold new start with Severus Snape.
"Fine" he gritted out as he staggered to his feet. His face was tilted downward but Harry thought he saw a grimace. "Despite your best efforts."
Harry bit his lips as the squirm of guilt became a full grown snake.
"Mr. Potter" Professor Dumbledore said not unkindly, however the twinkle was missing from his eyes. "What makes you believe that my wand is not, in fact, my wand?"
Harry refused to let either Professor Dumbledore or Professor Snape catch his eyes. That way lay legilimency.
In the silence, the door to the Headmaster's office banged open.
Everyone – even Harry – turned to stare as the Malfoys strode into the room as the epitome of fair-haired snobbery and class.
"Harry" Mrs. Malfoy said warmly. "We received word from Draco that you had a difference of opinion with the Sorting Hat and the Headmaster."
Harry stared. No one had ever even offered to protect him from the Headmaster in his previous life. No one had ever even considered that he might need protecting from the old man. Not even the Weasleys or Sirius. In his heart of hearts a warm little spark burst into existence.
God help him, he was beginning to love the Malfoys!
Dumbly Harry nodded.
"He keeps trying to steal my stuff."
Merlin! Could he sound stupider? Or more petulant? He sounded like someone's spoilt little brat.
Mr. Malfoy had the grace to incline his head as if Harry's whine sounded even vaguely intelligible. Maybe he had experience deciphering Draco's whines. Oh, that was no good. He was supposed to be Draco's friend this time around.
"While I always enjoy visits from members of the Board of Governors, I fail to see how any part of this matter involves either of you" Dumbledore said.
"I want them here!" Harry said fiercely. Because at this point the enemy of his enemy was definitely his friend. "Narcissa Malfoy is my cousin." He glared at Dumbledore, careful not to let the old man catch his eyes. "She's listened to my concerns and looked after my interests far better than anyone else in this room has."
Professors Flitwick and Sprout appeared to be generally scandalized. Professor McGonagall flinched guiltily. Professor Snape's expression was blank. And Professor Dumbledore was twinkling again.
"Mr. Potter, I believe that there has been a fundamental misunderstanding between us. Let us begin again. I am Headmaster Dumbledore. I was a great friend to your parents."
Harry edged away from Dumbledore – and toward the Malfoys.
"What does that have to do with me not being Sorted or my wand?"
"It is merely a helpful bit of background."
Harry nodded. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind."
"Let us steer away from the apparently touchy discussion concerning my wand, shall we? Let us instead discuss your Sorting or lack thereof."
"I'm not organized enough for Hufflepuff and I don't want knowledge for knowledge's sake so Ravenclaw is out. I'll be good in either Slytherin or Gryffindor."
Professor McGonagall sniffed sharply at that. Professor Snape snorted.
"Let us ask the Sorting Hat for its opinion." Professor Dumbledore smiled that twinkly smile, pulled a wad of battered and patched fabric from his pocket, and plopped the hat on his desk.
"I can't Sort him" the hat whined. "I won't!"
Professor Dumbledore frowned. "Mr. Potter must attend Hogwarts. His magic is certainly strong enough that he requires proper guidance."
"I don't concern myself with things like that. I just do the Sorting. And I will not Sort Mr. Potter."
Harry blinked and tried to look innocent. Everyone, except the Slytherins in the room and Dumbledore, appeared to believe it.
"Why not?"
"You know that I've already Sorted you!"
"Have not!"
"Have too!"
Ooohhh… What did it say about him that he enjoyed shouting childishly at a hat? Hermione would smack him for this if she were still seventeen and kind of scary in a comforting way.
"You didn't shout a House name for me!"
"Because you've been Sorted!"
"So shout the same name again!"
"I can't!"
"But you just said that I've been Sorted!"
"You were!"
"If you know that then you know what house I was Sorted into!"
"So what? I'm not shouting GRYFFINDOR for someone who already heard it onc – Morgana's sagging tits!" If a hat could glare, the Sorting Hat was glaring at Harry. "You tricked me!"
Harry shrugged. "Not really. I just liked yelling at you."
"Hmmph!"
"So the boy is a Gryffindor." Lucius Malfoy's face and voice were calm with no hint or inflection of amusement. Somehow Harry still got the impression that he was laughing at them all. Especially him. "Now what is this business concerning a wand?"
Professor McGonagall outlined what happened at dinner with short, crisp sentences. She ended with, "And while Mr. Potter's summoning of Professor Dumbledore's wand will no doubt earn him immense popularity with the school's pranksters, it is a serious offense! Especially since he refuses to return it!"
Harry glared and opened his mouth – probably to shout.
"Harry?" Mrs. Malfoy asked, her tones politely enquiring and not pleading or officious like Hermione's used to be or careful and cool like Ron's were. Most importantly, she seemed to be starting with the belief that Harry was right and Dumbledore was inherently wrong. It was calming in a way that Harry had never experienced before. He was still boiling with anger and resentment but it was… easier to control. "We would very much like to hear your side of events."
Well… No point in mentioning how he ended up with the Elder Wand to begin with, was there? Better save that for… later. Much later. Like after he had already killed Voldemort.
"The wand started singing to me as soon as I walked into the room. Dumbledore had to hold onto it all throughout dinner. When he was showing off by conducting the school song for the Weasley twins, it got free. Then it came to me like my phoenix wand did. Erm… The banners and the sparkles were a spur of the moment thing."
"The wand chose you?" Lucius asked delicately.
Harry nodded.
"You didn't Summon it?" Narcissa asked.
Harry shook his head.
"This is ridiculous!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "One wizard's wand simply does not leave him for another wizard! The wand chooses the wizard and that's the end of that!"
"This isn't the wand that chose Dumbledore" Harry protested. "He took it off of someone else. He can't even hear it sing."
"Wands don't sing, Mr. Potter" Professor Sprout interjected for the first time.
"Mine do." Harry narrowed his eyes at her. "They both do. If either of them broke, I'd feel it."
Both of his wands hummed their agreement at the back of his mind.
Lucius Malfoy sighed, as if much put upon and bored.
"Why don't we put the wand on a flat surface" Professor Flitwick suggested. "If it flies to one wizard over the other that is the wizard that the wand has chosen. Courts resolve disputes over wand ownership that way every day."
"There's no need for that" Dumbledore said as he popped a lemon drop into his mouth. "As we are all aware, I have owned that particular wand for years. Harry, give me the wand and all of this foolishness will be forgotten."
Harry slanted a look at Professor Flitwick. "Is the desk okay?"
The professor eyed the space critically. "It will be if you and Professor Dumbledore stand on either end of the room."
Harry nodded. He moved to gently place the wand on Dumbledore's desk then edged backwards until his back bumped against the left wall of the office. He was standing next to Professor Snape.
Dumbledore stood where he was.
"You're cheating! Professor Flitwick said that we have to stand back at either wall."
"I have had quite enough of this nonsense" Dumbledore said. There was a strange glint in his eyes and a steely tone in his voice. "I will no longer indulge you Mr. Potter."
Dumbledore held out his hand for the wand.
It stayed on the desk.
Dumbledore wiggled his fingers at the wand. The Elder Wand grudgingly rolled toward the edge of the desk nearest to Dumbledore.
Outraged, Harry thrust his hand out for the wand. "I'm still your wizard!"
The Elder Wand vibrated for a moment then shot off the desk. It literally flew toward Harry. A moment later it slapped itself into Harry's outstretched hand. This time it emitted a happy little rain of green and red sparkles. In his mind, the wand's song soared triumphantly. It wanted Harry and Harry wanted it. Harry was its wizard and it was Harry's wand. There was a sense of satisfaction from the wand as if it already planned to live happily ever after with Harry and the phoenix wand. Harry laughed.
A wizard who would die when he chose to and a wand that sooner or later always murdered its unwanted owners.
Harry grinned goofily down at the wand in his hand. "We match."
The Elder Wand trilled its agreement at the back of his mind before it resumed its duet with Harry's original phoenix wand.
"Regardless of whom the wand originally belonged to" Lucius Malfoy drawled. "It seems to have decided that it wishes to belong to Mr. Potter. I believe the current price for a wand at Ollivander's is seven galleons."
"I have that" Harry said cheerfully. He dug through his pockets for his coin bag. With studied distraction, honed during years of pretending to study with Hermione while actually daydreaming, Harry dumped Snape's wand, two chocolate frogs, a cauldron cake wrapper, and half a packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans into the professor's hands before he found his coin bag. Snape sneered but shoved his wand and all of Harry's pocket debris into his own pocket. For his own part, Harry cheerfully counted out seven golden Galleons then placed them on the Headmaster's desk.
"I believe that accounts for all of this evening's business" Lucius interrupted smoothly. "Come Harry, allow us to walk you to Gryffindor Tower while your professors debrief."
Harry nodded. Wands in his pocket, he left the room with Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.
"Thank you for coming" he said on the revolving stairway. "Dumbledore probably would have stolen my wand and swept everything under the rug if you hadn't."
"Respectable witnesses are sometimes the best weapons against powerful opponents" Narcissa gently agreed.
"Thank you anyway. You didn't have to come." As soon as they were free of the stone gargoyle and a decent distance down the corridor, Harry turned on the Malfoys. "Did Draco really call you?"
Mrs. Malfoy smiled. "Of course he did, dear."
"And you just dropped everything and came to help me?"
"I put my glass of single malt on a side table before we left" Mr. Malfoy said sardonically.
"Why would you do that?" Harry asked, genuinely bewildered.
"Because we're family" Narcissa said.
Harry stared at them, helpless and suspicious in the face of such declarations. Eventually he shrugged and turned his attention to Hogwarts which was whole and magical and unbelievably tall. Harry scowled. Was he really this short as a kid?
Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy were trading significant looks as they walked but they stopped when they got to the portrait of the fat lady.
"Well this is it" Harry said awkwardly. "Good bye. Again."
"Try to stay out of trouble dear" Narcissa said fondly.
"Or at least make a larger effort not to get caught" Lucius added.
With another wave from Narcissa, they were gone. Feeling awkward and unbelievably short, Harry banged on the fat lady's portrait until someone swung the portrait open. It was Fred Weasley.
"Er… Looks like I'm a Gryffindor. Let me in?"
Fred laughed and pulled Harry into the common room.
"Look at this!" He shouted to the room filled with people. "We got Harry Potter!"
Harry grinned.
At breakfast the first day Draco looked well rested but seemed to teeter between manic energy and terrified stillness. Harry made sure to catch his eye and wave. Draco sniffed and tossed his head but looked less likely to run screaming from the room. Harry did not get lost the first day of classes and he used a spare moment to charm Mrs. Norris bright purple with wiggling pink polka dots. It was just a bit of silliness but he was just so happy to be back at Hogwarts with everyone – even that evil old cat. Filch's screams actually echoed throughout Hogwarts. Harry had thought no one knew it was him but Lee Jordan and the twins grabbed Harry around the neck and ruffled his hair and congratulated him on his first prank at Hogwarts.
"Who said that was my first?" Harry asked.
"Right!" George exclaimed. "How could we –"
" – forget about Dumbledore's wand?"
"Who said that was my first prank?" Harry asked again, grinning. From a certain perspective, this whole serious business was one giant prank on Dumbledore and Voldemort. Merlin knows, Harry's Sirius would have laughed himself sick if he knew.
"What'd you do?" Fred demanded.
Harry shook his head. "If I tell you where's the fun in that?"
Classes were deadly dull. Harry meant to take notes and pay attention but it was honestly so boring that he could barely remain awake. He ended up doodling snitches and brooms as he wondered if Professor Flitwick would notice if he took a nap.
"Mr. Potter" Professor Flitwick said kindly during the practical portion of the class. "I understand that you are still adjusting to this environment but please try to pay attention during your professors' lectures."
"Can you teach me how to do that charm wordlessly?" Harry asked on an impulse. "Or wandlessly?"
Professor Flitwick blinked. "I don't think –"
"I can already do it with my wand. See?"
Harry quickly performed the charm perfectly. The tiny professor bounced with delight.
"Oh excellent Mr. Potter! Five points to Gryffindor!" The professor smiled kindly. "If you're serious about your request please see me during my office hours. We can go over the theory together at least."
Harry nodded. "Thank you professor."
Harry found himself asking Professor McGonagall the same question during Transfiguration when she came around to observe them practice the matchsticks into needles transfigurations.
"See me after class, Mr. Potter."
It turned out that wordless magic was easier to learn than wandless magic in both disciplines. And both professors were more than happy to allow Harry to practice the first day's charm and transfiguration lessons with them. He did not manage to perform either piece of magic wordlessly but neither professor seemed to expect him to be able to. They both recommended further practice and some outside reading on wordless and wandless magic. On the bright side the same theory and skills seemed to apply to performing all wanded magic wordlessly, wandlessly, or both.
Of course Dumbledore could not leave well enough alone. After classes he called Harry into his office. Harry went, his left hand clenched around the Elder Wand in his pocket. He was going to have to find some place secure to hide it.
Dumbledore looked far less friendly than he ever had at any point in the previous timeline. Harry wondered if he should have asked Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy to join him in the headmaster's office.
"Mr. Potter, a very serious issue concerning the wards around your aunt's home has come to my attention" Professor Dumbledore said gravely.
Harry blinked. That was… unexpected. Harry had thought Dumbledore was going to harp on about the Elder Wand again.
"The wards around your aunt's house were created by your mother using a very rare form of magic" Dumbledore continued. "They are there entirely for your own protection. Harry, I must ask what has happened this summer to deactivate your mother's wards."
The time twist. Apparently, there were more side effects than Harry had originally thought. Was he still technically an adult then? Would the trace recognize him as an adult?
Harry shrugged. "I don't know."
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at Harry. "Does it have anything to do with the Malfoys?"
Harry startled. Professor Dumbledore thought that the wards going down was somehow the Malfoys' fault? The flash of triumph in Dumbledore's eyes made Harry's stomach sink. It was exactly the same expression as after Harry had told Dumbledore about what happened in the graveyard. Whatever Professor Dumbledore was thinking was not anything good for Harry.
"Harry, while the Malfoys may seem kind and generous, they do not have your best interests at heart. You must trust me in this. They were no friends to your parents. They were on the opposite side of the last war. I am one of your family's oldest friends. I have only your best interests at heart."
It required a valiant effort on Harry's part not to roll his eyes. Plotting to kill someone could rarely be considered acting with an interest in that person's best interests.
"The Malfoys have nothing to do with the wards around my aunt's house. They don't even know where I live!"
"Did they never offer to bring you home, Harry?"
Well… yes. But Harry had not accepted.
"They never went anywhere near my aunt's house."
Already Harry could feel his grip on his temper beginning to fray. Abruptly, Harry got to his feet.
"Professor, if there's anything wrong with my mother's wards, the Malfoy family has nothing to do with it. They've only done what I've asked them to do for me."
"When dealing with Slytherins such aid always comes with a price, Harry."
'They aren't the only ones. I'm probably not the first Slytherin to Sort himself into Gryffindor.'
"May I go, Professor? I have a lot of homework."
"Of course Harry. But my door is always open, should you wish to talk."
Harry nodded and hurried from the room. Angry and restless, Harry did not immediately head back to the tower. Instead, he wandered through the hallways until he found himself standing in front of Snape's – Professor Snape's – office door.
Harry gulped a few deep breaths.
There were things that he wanted to say to his Snape – I'm sorry I was such a brat. I'm sorry we were all such brats to you. It wasn't your fault and you didn't deserve it. My mother wouldn't have blamed you for that night. I blame Wormtail. You made mistakes but you tried to fix them. Dumbledore used you, is using you now, and he'll use you up – but no longer could.
There were things that he should say to this Snape – I'm sorry about the spell last night. I didn't mean to hurt you. Please, let's be friends – but thought that maybe this Snape would not want to hear them.
And over it all he remembered that cloying miserable feeling of worthlessness and guilt and hopelessness that he associated with his Professor Snape's memory. It had been an act of sheer determination for Professor Snape to get out of bed in the morning. Harry did not know what to call that feeling but whatever it was, Professor Snape felt a lot of it over Harry's mother. Or seemed to feel more of it after she died. Whatever the cause, he did not deserve to be treated so cruelly by… well, any of them.
But what did Professor Snape need Harry to say?
Harry rapped on the door.
"Enter!"
When Harry walked, Snape's lips curled into a sneer.
"Mr. Potter your lesson is not until Friday."
"I'm sorry!" Harry blurted. "I didn't mean to hit you so hard!"
Snape stilled. "But you do not regret assaulting school personnel?"
Harry shuffled his feet. He recognized that pleasant, silky drawl. Nothing good ever came of it in Harry's experience.
"I regret hurting you" Harry said carefully. "But I don't regret holding onto my wand."
"I was not hurt! And you have no right to that wand! If you truly believe that wand is owed to you then you are as arrogant and self-important as your father!"
Harry winced.
Not good. He had somehow still managed to insult Professor Snape. And how could he have missed how much Professor Snape trusted Dumbledore? It was obvious! Aside from anything else, Professor Snape allowed Dumbledore to hold him together and direct the course of Snape's life! Of course he would have more regard for Dumbledore than James Potter's son. He really was an arrogant little fool.
"Did you know my father?" Harry asked, hoping that his tone was innocent and curious enough.
"I knew him much to my own misfortune" Snape sneered. "I have yet to meet a more arrogant or less deserving human being in my life."
Harry winced again. The old impulse to fight and shout and argue with the vicious professor surged. It was an effort to push it down enough to think even semi-clearly.
"Then you must have known my mother" Snape's sallow skin became chalky. He actually looked physically ill. "Did you like her better?"
"Get out!" Snape roared. "I have no more time for you to waste with your idle questions!"
Harry bolted from the room.
So much for winning friends and influencing Snape.
