Title: Strings of Fate
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Nothing Specific, general for first few books.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Hermione, or Luna, or Ginny, or Cho, or... I would buy them all but I am broke.
Summary: Being raised only by his Aunt, Harry comes to Hogwarts not only knowing about the Wizarding World, but with a kind of training no one at the school is expecting.
A/N: I have had some reviews about the Poker Tournament in the previous chapter, so here is some clarification. 1) They were not playing Texas Hold-em. They were playing Tonks Style. Basically a seven card stud with blinds. 2) Regarding 'The Bet'. I have had some people blast me about the bet that I am promoting underage sex. The bet was a marker, and Harry himself did not understand what was going on at first so he is not going to call it in immediately, or for the next few years at least if he even decides to call it in at all. As for the girl herself, she thought she had a near unbeatable hand and it was the final round of a day long Poker Tournament, so she was a bit cocky. As for the Professor, Vector is one of the youngest Professors so she is not a stick in the mud and she thought it was a good joke against Harry, that's why she made her comment. From the way things are treated in the books (teens caught in broom closest together being moved along and not punished and girls having access to the boys dorm), the attitude at Hogwarts seems to be more don't get caught/don't get pregnant. So to conclude, there will be no underage sex and at the moment Harry has no intention of building a Harem, it just so happens that most of his friends are girls.
Harry was sitting in the Great Hall, all in all not totally unexpected on a Saturday morning, but then again he was sitting on the platform that usually housed the Teacher's Table, and he was probably the only male in the entire Great Hall. That's because it was the second Saturday in November, which meant it was the day of Harry's big talk; Q&A and autograph session, or as he had come to privately call it 'The attack of the rabid fangirls'. Practically every female student, except for a smattering of Slytherins, was present, as were Professors Babbage, Vector, Sprout and McGonagall. Most of the girls were down in the main body of the Hall, with only a single representative of The Association of Harry Potter Fan Witches and Professor McGonagall as staff representative.
The event had been going on for about two hours so far, starting with the speech Harry had given about growing up with his Aunt and Cousin, the soft interaction he had with the Wizarding World when he was a child and his meetings with the writers of the sanctioned Harry Potter books. Now they were well into the Q&A section and Harry took a sip of the water on the small table next to him after finishing answering the previous question.
A hand went up in the middle of the room and Professor Sprout made her way to the sixth year Witch and cast a Sonorus on her.
"Marina Tentor." The student introduced herself, the lack of mention of house was a dead giveaway to Harry, who could not see her uniform clearly, that she was a Slytherin. "If, as you have said, even the authorised books are fiction, then why are they utilised under the Harry Potter name, rather than an original character?"
Professor Spout cancelled the spell on the student and started moving towards then next student with her hand up.
"Good question, Miss Tentor." Harry replied with a slight grin. "There are a few reasons for that. Firstly, as evidenced by the attendance here today, there are a lot of people who are fascinated with the idea of Harry Potter, so that was something the authors wanted to capitalise on, for obvious reasons. For my side of things, having authorised fictions under the Harry Potter 'franchise', if you will, allows both my Aunt and myself a measure of control over what is written about me and how I am portrayed. Also, in the last few years, starting with 'Harry Potter and the Siren's Call', Margarite Bethany and Samuel Westron have both instituted a system where, for certain scenes in the book, they give me a rundown of what my character knows at that point and then ask me to make a decision."
"Perhaps you could give us an example of one of those decisions in one of the books?" The fan club representative asked.
"Sorry." Harry replied. "That's a secret I'm afraid. Just consider that any or all of the decisions could be mine. And I do get final approval for all manuscripts before they get published, even if some of the scenes are a lot smoother that I would be in real life."
That caused a wave of giggles to run through the hall.
"Last Question." Professor McGonagall asked. "And if it is another one asking if Harry will date them then the asker will spend time with me in detention instead."
"Su Li, Ravenclaw." She said with a smile.
"Ah yes, the brave girl who inadvertently engineered today's proceedings by asking for an autograph." Harry said with a genuine smile.
"What do you feel is more important, the perception of how you are portrayed through the publication of the Harry Potter books, or the consequences of the actions you take here at Hogwarts?" Su asked.
"I'm suddenly wanting to fire my current PR consultant and hire you instead, Miss Li." Harry said with a soft laugh. "While most people would hardly consider there to be a clear distinction between the two, by far the consequences of my actions here would be vastly more important as those consequences are the result of clear and verifiable actions and thus are not based on conjecture. The thing that must be avoided though is filtering the impact of real actions through the pre-conceived expectation based on either supposition or faulty analysis of theoretical responses."
Harry saw Su, Hermione and two or three other girls, all Ravenclaw, nod slowly at that statement, but almost everyone else looked confused.
"Judge me based on what I do and what I say, not on what you think I am going to do or say based on the Harry Potter books." Harry clarified.
Many more girls started nodding at that and a few even had a 'eureka' moment when they finally got his point.
"Now I think it is time for autographs." Harry said. "As promised, The Hogwarts Harry Potter Fan Club will get the first autographs, everyone else who is interested line up in single file behind them. I will be signing any Official Harry Potter Books or merchandise. If you would prefer a photo, Miss Tonks and Miss Bones will be selling photos off to… your left side of the hall for six Sickles each. Proceeds will be donated to the Dominic Bones Memorial Orphans Fund."
Susan and Tonks had approached the girls of the Hogwarts Harry Potter Fan Club that morning to confirm that they would get first autographs and to see if they wanted to purchase any Harry Potter Photos. The First Year Fan Club passed through quickly, each having their favourite Harry Potter Book and a photo signed. When the last of the fan club passed, Harry looked up and was surprised to see Professor McGonagall was next in line. She had in her hands a bound, leather folder and one of the Harry Potter books.
She placed the folder down on the table and the book next to it. Harry opened up the folder and saw… himself as a baby staring back at him being held by his mother and his father, all three of them waving. Well, James and Lily were waving while James was manipulating baby Harry's hand to wave, while baby Harry stared at his moving hand in fascination. That was just the top photo of an almost overflowing folder. Harry idly flipped over the first photo and was shocked to see a slightly younger Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick both playing with a baby Harry.
"Those are for you, Mister Potter." Professor McGonagall said. "This is for me."
She tapped the Harry Potter book, which he noticed was one of the better written ones and one of the few which did not have him slaying dragons or saving Witches, instead he was helping everyday folk with everyday tasks. It was not the most popular Harry Potter book but it had a cult following, from older Witches in particular. He gave the Professor a special autograph
To Professor McGonagall
The solid foundation for all our futures.
Harry Potter
The Professor smiled when she read the message.
"So like your mother, Mister Potter." she said softly, before stepping away and letting the next person approach.
Harry closed the leather folder and placed it on the floor next to his chair as the next girl stepped up. It took almost the rest of the day to finish giving out all the autographs. There were going to be a lot of female dorm room walls, and Hufflepuff Apartment bedrooms, with a picture of him smiling out at them. Or, most likely, hidden under pillows in the Slytherin dorms.
The photos were good. In the end there had been three to choose from, all taken by Tonks, with careful supervision from the rest of his friends to make sure the Metamorph did not take any embarrassing shots. One, which seemed to be slightly more popular than the others, was just a head and shoulder shot of Harry smiling out at you. The second was a full length shot of Harry slouching against a wall in his School Uniform. The third was a 'top half' shot from just above the waist up with Harry in a simple white polo shirt with a cocky grin on his face and it looked like his hands in his pockets. Tonks had set it up so they had a display version of each photo and would 'run off' copies as they were requested.
Mostly the line moved smoothly, with each person getting up to three signatures, but there were a few 'snags', like when Harry refused to sign one of the Seventh Year Gryffindor's bust, or when Hannah appeared with an entire backpack full of every Harry Potter book ever published, a number of Harry Potter merchandise, all three photos and a huge blush on her face. Harry motioned Hannah to lean in closer.
"Sunset, we live in the same Apartment. Any time you want an autograph, just ask. Pick two items and I'll sign them for you now, and we'll deal with the rest later." He whispered.
Hannah's blush deepened a few shades and she handed over one of the pictures, the close-up, and a Harry Potter t-shirt that had his face and slogan 'What would Potter do?' Harry shook his head gently at the almost chronically shy girl, at least when she was around him.
The next person was an almost fawning Third Year Ravenclaw called Cho. She had a low cut blouse on and was practically trying to throw herself at Harry. She was one of the ones who had asked if he would date her in the Q&A session. Harry was frankly glad when she moved on after he signed two of the sappier Harry Potter books and a Photo, which he did not even want to think about where that photo would end up.
The next person in line was pretty much a shock to everyone.
"So how would you like it made out?" Harry asked in slight confusion. "The Grey Lady, or Helena Ravenclaw?"
"Helena, please." The ghost calmly said as she watched Harry sign the photograph.
Harry just shook his head in wonderment at the mysteries of Hogwarts. He was not sure if it was the fact he was signing an autograph for a ghost, or that a ghost had somehow raised money to by the photograph in the first place that was more bizarre. He watched as Helena concentrated and slowly lifted up the photo and glided away with a serene smile on her face.
TBC…