Octavia

Harper thought the shopping trip had gone very well, both in Diagon Alley and muggle London. She'd gotten all her basic spells books, her wand (11 inches long made of holly with a phoenix core—the twin to Voldie's), glasses, a book bag with a pretty hefty expansion charm on it, muggle clothes, shoes, calligraphy pens, a gramophone, vinyl records and even the typewriter. London had been almost impressive as Diagon Alley. Getting around London with Poppy had been very entertaining. Harper had been very impressed with the subway system in London: fast, mostly clean and easy to understand. Poppy did not like the underground at all and hadn't enjoyed their taxi ride any better. However, Poppy had loved the calligraphy pens and purchased a set for her own. All in all, the only real disappointment had been that she was unable to find a book on wizard etiquette. That was something Steven Pomfrey fixed when he showed her the library and helped her check out A Wizard's Complete Guide to Gentlemanly Conduct by Cleon Martine and Society: How to Behave by Elwyn Post.

The Pomfreys proved to be good people. Poppy wasn't ever going to replace her own mother, but it didn't take long before she really felt attached to the kindly woman. Steven was a bit gruff, but he quickly became her mentor in magic. It had taken her a few days to catch on, but eventually she had cottoned on to the fact that he never did magic. In a tearful private conversation Poppy had admitted that her husband's magic was failing and he was little more than a squib now. Apparently that happened to witches and wizards sometimes in old age and there was no cure. Harper had tried to comfort Poppy as best she could. Afterwards she always made it a point to be kind to Steven and never ask him to do magic. Yet, despite never doing magic himself, it was Steven who was her primary teacher.

One thing she'd never understood from the Harry Potter books was why Harry hadn't read any of his books before school started. He got his books on how to do magic on his birthday at the end of June. He didn't go to school until September. He spent two months farting around playing with Hedwig! Harper couldn't wait. She had her books. She had her wand. She wanted to learn spells already! The only thing holding her back was that she hadn't made the journey on the Hogwarts express. According to Steven and Poppy, and confirmed in Hogwarts, A History, the Hogwarts express wasn't merely a mode of transportation. The train ride was also a ritual. The Hogwarts Express followed a path along ley lines and was supposed to help awaken young witches and wizards so that they could do intentional magic. Before the train was built it had been a carriage processional.

Fortunately the Hogwarts Express wasn't mandatory. It was just considered a jump start and more important for those with weaker magic. It hadn't taken much begging to get Steven Pomfrey to agree to teach her. So she started spending half her half her day reading, another couple of hours talking to him about what she read, and then more time practicing under his supervision. Her first spell was Lumos. She didn't get it the first time, or the second, or the third, but under Steven's patient tutorage she could create a light by the end of her first day. She was a real witch, even if she looked like a wizard.

In the evenings she'd join the Pomfreys and dine with the rest of the faculty and staff. The faculty wing had its own small dining room. During the summer months the custom was that the professors took their meals in their own rooms for breakfast and lunch, but they always ate in the faculty dining room in the evening. She met Flitwick, McGonagall, Filch, Sinistra, Kettleburn and the Vectors: Septima and her daughter Octavia. All of them were very controlled about it. None of them seemed intimidated by her fame and she rather liked that. She was on her best manners in return. After all, being on good terms with the professors was something that might serve her well later. The ones she worried about were gone somewhere. Snape was off gathering rare potion ingredients. Dumbledore was at a meeting of the International Confederation of Warlocks. Quirrell was never mentioned; she was just thankful he wasn't around.

Steven flat out refused to give more lessons after supper. He insisted that she not only did she need to relax and enjoy herself, but that she also needed time to grow into her magic. Since it was on her list to live life, she didn't complain too much. Besides she was growing quite fond of her foster family. After meals he and Poppy settled in to talk and listen to the Wizarding Wireless Network. The music was mostly old stuff, but sometimes they'd let her bring out the gramophone she'd bought and listen to it. They didn't really like anything close to modern, but they did enjoy some of the Beatles. They also talked a great deal. This was the most difficult time for Harper because they sometimes tried to pry into her past. She shared a few stories from her past that she knew from the books, like the time that Harry had used accidental magic to apparate. Mostly she played the abused child card and didn't want to talk about the Dursleys. They soon accepted that she wanted to leave that in the past and the talks became less awkward and more informative. She was able to ask a lot of questions about how the wizarding world worked: what was the Wizengamot, how much power did the Minister of Magic have, why don't wizards counterfit muggle money, and such. It was all very interesting, so much so that the conversations wandered and Harper often forgot that there were key facts she should dig out.

First thing in the mornings she went jogging. She'd started the habit on her second morning back. Seeing London and Diagon Alley had been fun, but she hadn't gotten to take that walk along the lake. After breakfast she'd changed into muggle clothes and gone for a walk. While she enjoyed being outside again, she'd felt restless. Somewhere the walk turned into a jog and then a run. She had been so sick for so long that she'd forgotten the sheer joy of just pushing her body. It had all started at a whim, picking up the pace, then faster and faster. Before she knew it she her heart was pounding, her limbs were pumping and she was running full out. She just kept on until she ran out of steam and collapsed exhausted on the grass. For Harper that first run was just as magical as being apparated or choosing her wand. She wasn't really able to recapture that first wild run. While she had the body of an eleven year-old boy, she didn't have the ability to just randomly play. She needed a more focused activity and running made her feel alive. So she made it a part of her routine to get up and go for a run around the lake. Both Poppy and Steven thought she was a little bit balmy, but they wrote it off as a muggle thing.

Four days after she arrived as she walked back from her morning jog she ran into Octavia Vector. It seemed that Octavia seemed to be waiting for Harper, but Harper had no clue why. Octavia had appeared interested in her at first meeting, but their conversation had quickly run down. Perhaps that was because of their apparent ages. How much did a seventeen year old witch have in common with a muggle-raised boy who hadn't yet turned eleven? Although if Octavia only knew it, they were truly the same gender and almost the same age. Since Octavia didn't know that, what did she want?

Harper offered the waiting witch a smile. "Hello."

"Hello." Octavia answer sounded a bit forced. Indeed there always seemed to be something a little off about Octavia. She was practically her mother's shadow. Certainly there was a family resemblance. They had the same long thin black hair, the same fair skin and the same strong nose, but it ran deeper. They moved alike, talked alike, and Octavia seemed unusually attached to her mother for a girl of her years.

"Um, nice day for a jog." But not a good time to talk. "I think I'm going to go take a shower now, though."

Octavia nodded. "Septima suggested that I should show you around the castle. She believes that you are an important person. As you and I are close in age we should socialize."

Harper suppressed the smirk that tried to form. "I'd like that. I haven't seen much inside the castle yet. I understand it is mostly locked."

"I have Septima's key."

"You call your mum by her first name?"

"Are we beginning the conversation now or did you wish to bathe yourself first?"

"Bath first. Where should I meet you after?"

"I will return with you and wait in the hallway."

As Alice said, curiouser and curiouser. "Fine with me. I'll try to hurry." The Pomfrey's apartment was already starting to feel like her home and she walked in with her usual exchange of greetings.

"Harry, Octavia was looking for you," said Steven once the hellos were out of the way. "She wants to take you on a tour of Hogwarts."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to," added Poppy.

"I do, but is there something wrong with Octavia? Was her mother a Death Eater or something?"

Poppy shook her head. "No, no, nothing like that. Her family is just a little… unconventional. She doesn't usually seek out companionship. Especially not male companionship."

Lightbulb or should that be Lumos? Octavia and apparently her mother were both lesbians. While it hadn't been said, she'd picked up pretty quickly that the Pomfrey's were very traditional about male and female roles. "I don't think I'll have a problem. It's not like she'll give me the dreaded lurgy."

"What's the lurgy?" asked Steven puzzled.

"It's a muggle joke. If I have to explain it, then it's not funny. Don't worry. I'll be fine. I should take a shower first."

A little while later after the shower, and after once again convincing Steven and Pomfrey that she'd be fine, she was meeting up with Octavia again and getting a tour of Hogwarts. Octavia took her duties as a tour guide serious. They started at the entrance and as they went she didn't merely show the castle but related interesting tidbits.

Harper tried to pay attention to the Hogwarts history trivia, but she was more interested in exploring the library and locating the seventh floor corridor that housed the room of requirement. Although all she could remember about the Room of Requirement was that it was on the seventh floor. She vaguely remembered some kind of painting, but that wasn't helpful. She was also keeping an eye out for girl's toilets. The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets would be in one of them, somewhere near the main hall.

Octavia continued her tour talk, but her delivery was off. She had a very stiff and formal manner. Was it because she was pureblooded? So far Harper hadn't done more than glance at her etiquette books. Perhaps that was a mistake, but she had little choice but to wing it.

"Um, Octavia, is this the socialization you had in mind?"

"We are conversing. During the summer months tourists and parents of prospective students sometimes come to see Hogwarts. I've often led tours."

"Then have I done something to offend you?"

"You have given me no cause for offense. In fact, I have noticed that you are very well behaved for a male child of your years. Perhaps that is another reason Septima suggested that I attempt socialization with you." She paused for a moment. "I believe that I am the problem. This is the point in conversation where you tell me that I am strange or weird. Since you are muggle-raised, you may instead use the adjective robotic."

This conversation had to be the weirdest one she'd had since waking up as Harry Potter and that was saying a lot. "I noticed that you were being overly formal, but I don't know that I would go that far. I'm known as the boy-who-lived. I'm pretty strange myself." And Octavia didn't know the half of it.

"That is true."

"Octavia, is there a reason for your overly formal manner of speech?"

"Yes."

Harper sat down on a bench. "Why don't you sit down and tell me about it?"

"As you wish." She sat down. "I have a proud and unusual lineage. I am the eighth incarnation of Tryphena Vector. My ancestor rediscovered the Parthenogenesis potion used by the Amazons of ancient Greece to induce self-pregnancy. Since that time each of us has continued that tradition and we have achieved a kind of immortality." As she spoke, her words grew in conviction and emotion."

Harper frowned. "So you're a clone?"

"Good! You understand the concept. The muggle term clone is close, but not sufficient. As a clone is a duplicate in body, but not in mind. I also spend two hours a day at the pensieve of my ancestors."

Harper frowned. "At what age did you start this?"

"From the day I was born. Septima had to help until I was old enough to view a pensieve on my own. I can tell this disturbs you. This is normal to me. We have achieved Tryphena's dream and achieved immortality. It is comforting for me to be part of a glorious chain that will stretch on and on into the future."

Disturbed was too mild a word. Octavia had basically been brainwashed since birth to be a receptacle for the memories of her ancestors and was no doubt already planning to do the same to her own daughter eventually. This put Poppy's hints into a different perspective. This was apparently known and allowed by the wizarding world. Octavia wasn't acting like it was a huge secret. Poppy had obviously dissaproved, but hadn't done anything. Harper couldn't help feeling that someone should do something. Well, she was someone, but what could she do? "Octavia, why do you want to socialize with me? You're what? A seventeen year-old girl with the memories that go back centuries? Why me? I'm not even eleven."

"You are a notable person, Harry Potter. You are the Boy-Who-Lived. We try to interact with notable people. That is one reason Septima chose to teach here with Dumbledore. He is a notable person as well. We will hand down our memories of you to our future incarnations."

"Oh-kay." That was more than a bit creepy, but on the other hand it was an offer of friendship from a witch that had hundreds of years of memories to draw upon. Friendship? Could it be that simple? By simply being her friend could he work on making her less of a copy and more of her own person? Harper didn't see how it could hurt her and maybe it would even help her. "So by interact, you mean that you want to be my friend?"

"That is correct."

"Alright. I don't know how well this will work, but we can try."

"How do we try?"

Harper found it sad that this girl thought she had achieved immortality, but instead had lost any spark that made her a real person. Given what happened to Voldemort with his horcruxes he wondered if it was always thus. Maybe humanity just wasn't meant to have immortality. "Let's take it one step at a time. You could come jogging with me in the mornings, or we could go swimming, or just explore Hogwarts."

"This meets with approval."

Why did she feel like she'd just been assimilated by the Borg collective?

A/N: I didn't plan to write this much about Octavia. My inital intent was simply not to have Harper be the only child at Hogwarts over the summer. I picked Septima Vector from among the less documented professors. It seemed logical that Septima's child would be named Octavia and everything else grew from there. I'm still working out the details of year one, but let me assure you that Octavia will not be replacing Hermione as the resident know-it-all. I also think in a world filled with werewolves and mixed bloods (Fleur, Hagrid & Flitwick) that there are probably other strange and unusual people out there. Consider Octavia my contribution to the mix.