Author Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 9. So far that is the most reviewed chapter of them all (currently tied with chapter 3), and I couldn't be happier, considering that I got the 10 reviews in a single day. Special props to the first reviewer of chapter 9, the Guest to the site, who delivered the best (in my opinion) review for the chapter, just for the sheer brilliance and hilarity the response provided to the page. And kudos to samoht for the longest review yet, thanks for the ideas man, a few will be used.
Anyway in this chapter, revelations, of course, shall be made (although they won't be revelations to those who've paid attention to previous chapters). We'll finally see how Hogwarts has changed from canon with Harry's absence, and new players shall come into fruition, in both Zootopia and Harry's world.
On to the chapter!
"Every righteous man or woman is entitled to revelation concerning his own affairs."
-Gordon B. Hinckley
Chapter 10
Changes and Revelations
Harry walked down the corridor on his way to the Great Hall, wondering why he felt so light-headed and off balance. He shook his head tenderly in an attempt to rid himself of the sensation, but it only continued to get worse. He had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he had forgotten something important, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was.
Deciding to ignore it for the time being, he opened the secret passageway he remembered Dumbledore showing him at the beginning of the year, the passageway he knew led to just behind the staff table in the Great Hall. He reached the end of the passageway and come to a halt, waiting for some sort of signal from the professor to enter.
As he listened, he heard the rumbling sound of thousands of students entering, their shoes clopping across the marble floor. As the pupils settled down, he heard a few muffled calls of confusion pierce through the thick wood of the door. Quite quickly, he heard the ringing sounds of a goblet being softly struck by something. The hall quietened down.
"Thank you." said the softened voice of Dumbledore. "As I'm sure many of you sharp pupils have noticed, we have brought out the Sorting Hat, which is to be used tonight for a rather special occasion."
There was a cacophony of hushed whispers, spreading like wildfire across the hall, each probably conversing with their housemates about their theories regarding this 'occasion'.
"I know it may be a little late in the year for Sorting," Dumbledore continued, ignoring the many conversations that persisted. "But I believe you all might recognise the student's name when you hear it."
"He was, regrettably, unable to attend the ceremony at the start of the year for reasons that shall remain undisclosed," he said quickly. "Nonetheless, today he shall start his Hogwarts journey, and be sorted into his house."
The murmuring increased in volume, as Harry could sense more and more students sitting on the edge of their seats, pondering who this person could possibly be. The level of eagerness for the name of the student reached unfound heights, until the Headmaster finally spoke.
"And so, I hope you'll all join me in welcoming our newest student, no matter what house he ends up in." Dumbledore resumed. Harry took that as the signal and gently pushed the door open to reveal himself to the school, slowly making his way to the centre of the room where the Sorting Hat rested on a three-legged stool. He could almost feel the eyes of everyone in the room following him, attempting to discern who he was.
"Harry Potter." Dumbledore finished. The whispers that had once echoed around the room now turned into noisy chatter, with more than a few gasps emitting from the tables. As Harry placed the wide-brimmed, parched hat on top of his head, he heard what sounded to be a firecracker going off, and then silence, before his eyes were met with the dark insides of the hat.
"Interesting." a voice inside his head said. "Yes, very interesting. Plenty of courage, I see. And loyalty to those you love. But... there is something I cannot yet access, hidden in the folds of your mind."
Harry's eyes widened inside the hat. What was it that the hat couldn't access? What was hidden in his mind?
A few seconds passed, with no word from the hat, until...
"Ah, now I see."said the hat in understanding. "You've hidden behind a mask for some time. Underneath the guise you present, there is a need for something. The need for a person who you can trust, a person you can open your heart to."
Harry couldn't comprehend what the hat was saying. He felt the need for a person he can trust? But he had Dumbledore, wasn't he a person who Harry already trusted?
"You... don't yet know?" the hat asked, as if responding to Harry's thoughts. "The old man's spell will complete its' work eventually, but until that time you will need to lay low."
What do you mean? Harry thought to the hat. What don't I yet know?
"I'm bound by the headmaster to not disclose any information to any student," the hat replied sorrowfully. "All I can say is, find people you can trust in this school, and what better place to do it than..."
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted out to the hall.
Harry removed the hat from his head, and was met with shocked silence. For a moment, there was no movement; no clapping of hands, no cheering emanating from any table, just silence.
And then the hall erupted, with a large dissonance of applause gushing from the far left table, accompanied by jubilant cries of "We've got Potter! We've got Potter!" resonating across the table. There were a few roars of outrage from the table beside the Hufflepuffs, mainly from a young redhead boy, but other than that there was no other sound whatsoever, bar from the chanting that reverberated from the Hufflepuffs.
Harry strode towards the Hufflepuff table, and as he sat down, he received a multitude of claps on the back from various people; some older, some the same age as him. As this happened, Harry turned his head to the staff table, and saw that Dumbledore was clapping, but his eyes twinkled with what looked to be confusion, only enhanced by his slightly wider eyes.
Harry chose to overlook this, assuming that maybe the professor was shocked that Harry had gone into Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor like his parents. It was quite common for kids to be in the same houses as their parents, so maybe that was the cause of Dumbledore's reaction. He turned to the rest of the table and waited for dinner to end, pondering what the hat had said.
Room A-113, Zootopia Medical Centre
Hermione gaped at Jake in shock, contemplating what the fox had just said. Not the only one who's died before?
"What-? What do you mean?" Hermione spluttered at the fox.
Jake took another deep breath from the oxygen mask, his eyes never leaving Hermione. He removed the mask from his muzzle once again, and spoke.
"I said exactly what I meant, Hermione." he wheezed. "You're not the only one. There's at least one other who's died, and still lives: me."
At Hermione's befuddled look, Jake continued. "I was born to an old wizard family that lived in Surrey, a small but respectable house." he explained. "I was the youngest of two, and one day, my older brother and I were flying around, trying to see who could go the highest. Next thing I knew, some force knocked me off my broom, and I fell hundreds of feet to the ground."
He took another breath from the mask, before continuing.
"I... died, and woke up in Zootopia." he said, turning to Hermione. "And I'm guessing a similar thing happened to you. Didn't it?"
Hermione looked down, and answered in a hoarse voice. "Yes."
"Now, I'm gonna ask you again, Hermione, and you better tell me the truth." he ordered, his voice sounding a little croaky. "What happened to Nick and Harry?"
"Harry got taken!" she blurted out, knowing she was caught. "Nick and I ran after him, and Nick jumped through this portal thing just before it closed."
Jake's ears perked up and his eyes sparkled, whether in rage or glee, Hermione could not tell.
"A portal?" he clarified, gears turning inside his head. "Do you know who took them?"
"I only heard three voices I recognised." Hermione replied, thinking back to the event. "They were Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape from..."
"Yeah, I've heard of them," Jake said, nodding his head as he made note of this. "Where was the portal?"
"Uh... near the police precinct." Hermione recalled, not yet knowledgeable about Zootopia's streets. Jake sighed, quickly reminded that Hermione was still new to the city.
"When I get out of here in a couple days, could you show me where it was?" he asked. He pointed to the pants he had worn when he had been attacked. "Could you look into the right pocket of those pants, please?"
Hermione did so, though she was in confusion as to why, and pulled out two thin devices that she had never seen before.
"Take one of the phones," he said through the mask. "I'll call you when I get out, and you can show me where they disappeared. Okay?"
"O-okay." Hermione responded, pocketing one. "Where did you get these?"
Jake looked a little sheepish. "They're... part of the reason I'm in here in the first place." At Hermione's look of shock, he added, "Don't worry, just don't tell Judy I've still got 'em."
The door creaked open again, as Judy entered the room once again, carrying a styrofoam cup of water.
"Sorry it took so long." she apologised. "The water dispenser was broken, so I had to use the larger one."
"It's alright, Judy." Jake said, putting on a smile for the grey bunny as he tenderly grabbed the cup from her. "Hermione and I were just talking."
"Really? About what?" Judy asked curiously, turning to Hermione.
"Just about our past." he supplied simply, looking pointedly at Hermione over Judy's shoulder. "Turns out we lived quite close to each other when we were little."
I can't believe it, Jake thought as the two bunnies talked, Maybe my ancestor really did travel between realities. And maybe I can find a way back.
Azkaban, Middle of the North Sea
Nick shivered as another cold presence glided past his cell, and he prepared himself for the usual swell of misery to overtake him. He didn't know what the hell was causing it, but he was definitely grateful Zootopia didn't have anything like it, otherwise he would've gone mad years ago. The feeling passed, and Nick turned his head weakly to Sirius in the cell across from him. Sirius had the same pained expression across his face, but it appeared he had almost gotten used to it in his stay in the prison.
At that moment, a young human crossed in front of their cells, looking nervous as he walked down the hall. As he passed, Sirius seemed to perk up and a small smirk spread across his face.
"Psst." he whispered to Nick. "I've got an idea. Be ready."
The guard reached the end of the corridor and was about to turn the corner when Sirius began to enact his master plan.
"Hey! A prisoner got loose!" he called, deepening his voice. "Cell 98!"
The new guard spun around quick as lightning, and raced down the heart in the direction of the cell. In his urgency, he didn't notice the bony arm reaching through the bars of a cell, snatching his wand from his pocket as he ran past.
Quick as thought, Sirius turned the wand to the cell's lock, muttering "Alohomora." The door popped open, allowing him to slip through and make his way swiftly across to Nick's cell, unlocking it as he did so.
"C'mon," he whispered to Nick, offering his hand. "We ain't got much time."
Nick feebly grasped Sirius's hand, and was pulled to his feet... only to collapse back to the ground as his legs gave way. A faint groan of pain issued from his mouth.
"Aw shit." Sirius cursed, checking the corridor to see how much time they had. Seeing nobody, he turned back to the fallen fox and, with great effort, lifted the 4 foot being onto his left shoulder. He'd made a promise, and he was damn well gonna keep it. He wasn't gonna let Nick rot in here for nothing, especially since he might know where Harry was.
He fireman carried the fox out his cell and down the corridor, turning left at the crossroads, and began alternating between right and left in his quest to figure out this maze of passageways. Occasionally he felt the telltale signs of Dementors closing in, and he quickly backtracked, sometimes missing the beasts by mere inches.
Eventually, he reached the edge of the prison, Nick's weight causing his shoulder to ache. But he was so close to freedom he could almost taste it. Soon that rat who framed him would be his, and he could see the boy that James's son had become. And for the first time in years, hope filled Sirius.
A bolt of red light hit the wall to the side of Sirius, startling the wizard. He jumped to the side of the wall, his instincts from the war slightly blunt, but still serviceable after the years in Azkaban. The wand he'd stolen from the guard was clutched firmly in the palm of his skeletal hand, ready to leap into action at a moment's notice.
"ESCAPEE!"
The cry of the guard reverberated around the prison, and what sounded to be a horde of Dementors began to converge on their location, gliding closer with each passing second. Sirius knew, deep down, that at his current state, he wasn't capable of holding off one Dementor let alone hundreds, and that was without the additional worry of the fox he was carrying.
In desperation, Sirius looked for other options, and found none. He was even beginning to consider running for it when Nick moaned.
"The wall." Nick groaned weakly. "Take down the wall."
Sirius looked at the stone wall in front of him, and realised that Nick could be on to something. It wasn't necessarily a good plan, but it was better than nothing. Bracing himself for the backlash, he pointed his wand at the wall and cast.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
An almighty explosion impacted into the wall, spraying little pieces of shrapnel everywhere, a few even nicking the two's faces, drawing small drops of blood. The resulting hole opened the prison to the outside world, the harsh winds blowing the salty smell of the raging sea below into their nostrils.
"Hope you don't mind water." Sirius quipped, taking a step back. "'Cause you're about to get a whole lot of it."
And as the guards turned the corners, converging on their position, Sirius ran through the hole in the wall and leapt as far as he could, aiming for the water as he twisted head over heels.
"Keep your legs straight when you hit the water." Nick advised faintly, recalling a similar thing happening just days ago.
Sirius obliged, and soon after they sliced through the water, disappearing into the depths of the ocean. And to the watchful eyes of the guards who watched them from above, never to resurface.
The Next Day
Potion Master's Office, Hogwarts
Severus Snape did not truly consider himself to be a very sentimental person, not even a bit. He didn't find comfort in many of the trinkets he had amassed from past years, nor nostalgia as he gazed at the assortment of photos taken prior to his adulthood. None of these found a special place in his heart, except for those from her.
Even after ten long years, he still had feelings for her, though she was long dead and buried six feet under. He still wished he had done something more to help, and possibly kept in contact with her, even after her marriage to the late Potter. A little letter sent here and there, and it was possible that Snape may not have committed the atrocities he had.
But that was all in the past. Nothing could be changed, though he would still be attempting to atone for his mistakes and keep her legacy alive, despite the fact that her legacy was also the spawn of Potter. But to Severus, that didn't matter. A small piece of her was worth any price to him. And if he had to lose his very soul in the process, he would gladly pay it to keep her son alive.
He remembered how he had reacted when Albus had informed him of the boy's perceived kidnapping, and of how the abductor could've been abusing Lily's child. And whilst he was not proud of his reaction, he was willing to do anything to prevent the boy from ever having to experience this possible abuse again, even if it meant suggesting to kill an obviously sentient being.
And after all was said and done, Severus was still as surprised as the rest of the school that the famous "Boy-Who-Lived" had been sorted into the house of dunderheads, Hufflepuff. Any ordinary wizard would've thought that Harry was destined to be in Gryffindor like his parents had been, and though Severus didn't consider himself an "ordinary" wizard, he too believed that the boy would end up in the lions' den. Although, deep down, he had secretly hoped that maybe the boy could've ended up in his house, something he would never admit to anyone even under the strongest Veritaserum money could buy.
But when the boy had entered his first Potions class the day after his Sorting, he could see why the boy had gone to Pomona's house. Severus had observed that the boy was quite humble (something that was surprising considering his father), and helpful to those who looked to be in trouble. It almost seemed as if he was desperate for company, understandable considering everyone else in his house had already sorted themselves into groups and may have closed their group off to the newcomer.
The boy appeared to be slightly clumsy, not the original Longbottom-clumsy but the always-off-balance clumsy. Despite this, the boy never let his misfortune get him down, something that Severus somewhat admired in a person. As he looked back on that memory, the surly Potions Master smiled to himself, thinking that maybe the boy had taken after his mother, despite the appearance that the headmaster had given him, and for that the professor was thankful.
"He's truly your son, Lily." he muttered to himself, taking a small swig of Firewhiskey.
Who knew what the future held for the boy, but Severus could only hope that it would be suitable for the son of Lily Evans.
* SUGGESTIONS TIME: Who shall Harry befriend as "allies"? What happened to Sirius and Nick? And who is this ancestor that Jake alluded to in his thoughts? Comment with your suggestions and/or answers in the reviews section.
NOTE: I will give you a hint as to the ancestor. He's been mentioned before and is connected to Jake's last name (both are in chapter 3).
Author Note: Not the longest chapter, but it's of a respectable size. Apologies for the long(er) wait, this week's just been REALLY busy and I haven't had as much time to write. I am astounded to announce that this story has had over 6,200 views, and is the 2nd most popular HP/Zootopia fanfic on this site so far. Thanks for the support.
As always please review to show even more support, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.