Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me. I'm not making any profit off of this.
What If Snape Died? – Chapter 10 – Curiosity
"Well kids," announced James happily, "You all did great today! Next Saturday, I'm going to start teaching you how to block unfriendly spells." James had been very impressed with how well Harry, Neville, and Hermione had been doing in their weekly lessons. "You can go play for a few hours if you'd like. Just don't get in any trouble."
"Of course not, Professor Potter," replied Hermione politely. "It's a privilege to be here, and I wouldn't want to abuse it."
Alice smiled. "We know you won't, Hermione. It's Harry and Neville we're worried about."
"Mum," pleaded Neville, "You know we'd never…"
"Intentionally get caught?" suggested James with a smirk. "You know the rules, where you can and cannot go. So be good today. We could use a break."
After the kids had left, Alice turned to James with a worried look and asked, "Are you planning on teaching them the Protego charm?"
James continued smiling. "Yes. We've been having them learn spells from first year through fourth year to test their magical potential. They've been able to do them."
She looked uncertain. "I know they've been doing well, but the shield charm requires a lot of magic behind it."
James shrugged. "I want to challenge them, specifically Harry, so that they'd build up their magical strength much faster than they would otherwise."
She raised her eyebrow at her boyfriend. "You could challenge them with any other charm. Why are you concentrating on defense?"
James' ears went pink. "Er, well, because that's my subject. Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"You can do better than that, Professor Potter," Alice argued, looking him straight in the eyes. "I think you're hiding something from me."
His cheeks were getting pink. "You're right. I am hiding something from you." He took a deep breath as he saw her frown. "I think I will end up telling you about this, but I'd like to keep it a secret for now. All I can say is that I have a reason to want Harry to be very good at defending himself as soon as possible. Will you trust me?"
She gave him an appraising look before giving him a small smile. "Well, Mr. Potter, I suppose I can let you keep your secrets…for now. Just don't try to lie to me again."
"Yes, dear," James grinned at her.
-WISD-
In the meantime, Harry, Hermione, and Neville were wearing winter coats, gloves and hats as they played a game of tag by the lake. Hermione had just been tagged by Neville when she announced, "I think it's time for me to go home."
"You just sayin' that cause you're it," accused Harry, who appeared slightly upset she was ending the game.
"No, that's not it, Harry. I promise!" assured Hermione, almost on the verge of tears. "Ginny's coming to my house today to spend the weekend, and I've got to meet her."
"It's all right, Hermione," replied Harry desperately. "It's all right. You don't have to cry." He then hugged her and said, "I'm not mad at you."
Hermione, who'd never been hugged by a boy before, blushed as she hugged him back. "Thanks, Harry."
-WISD-
After they'd walked Hermione to Professor Potter's office and said goodbye as she stepped into the fireplace, Neville mentioned, "I've got to take care of a plant mum got me. Wanna help, Harry?"
Harry, who was not interested in plants, answered, "No thanks, Neville. I'm gonna explore this castle."
"You shouldn't do that, Harry. You heard your dad. You'll get in trouble!"
Harry smiled mischievously. "Only if I get caught."
-WISD-
After Neville had left Harry, the Jr. Marauder made his way toward an area near the library that he'd never been to before. He walked past the library entrance, making his way down a corridor until he stopped in front of a tall suit of armor. He noticed a nearby door, so he tried the handle, and found that it was unlocked. He walked into what appeared to be an unused classroom.
There were desks and chairs against the walls, and an upturned wastebasket. He had this funny feeling that he shouldn't be there. He was about to leave when he noticed it, propped against the wall facing him. It was a magnificent mirror that looked as though it didn't belong there. It was as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top, but he couldn't read it.
He walked up to take a look at himself. What he saw shocked him. He saw himself being hugged by his mummy, with his daddy standing behind them smiling. The boy sat on the floor and started crying. He didn't know what trick was being played on him, but he knew what he saw wasn't true. He saw his mummy die, and knew she wasn't coming back.
He didn't know how long he sat there crying in front of the Mirror of Erised before he heard footsteps behind him, and an unfriendly voice shouting, "Harry Potter! What are you doing here?"
He was about to respond when he felt a hand grab his right arm and force him to stand up. By the foul smell of the man, Harry could tell it was Mr. Filch, without looking. "I was…"
"Your father's gonna here about this! I say that professors should keep their little kids like you chained up in the dungeons when they're not with them!" Filch practically dragged Harry to his office and pushed him inside. As he was pulling a key ring out of his pocket, he hissed, "I'm gonna lock you in here until I get your father! Don't touch anything, you little brat!"
"But I…" The door was slammed, and Harry could hear the lock turn. Harry's face was tear-stained and he was scared, but that didn't take away his curiosity. He looked around at the messy office, but what caught his eye was a sign on a drawer that said, 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.' He didn't understand all the big words, but he did know what the word Danger meant.
He immediately walked over, pulled open the drawer and found what appeared to be an old parchment. His eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he saw that. He grabbed it, put it in his pocket excitedly, and closed the drawer. He made his way to a chair in the room as he thought to himself, 'Could this really be the Marauder's map that Dad, Padfoot, and Moony talked about? They said it had been taken away by Filch.'
He decided not to tell his dad about it, but to sneak his mum's wand as soon as he could to try to activate it. He remembered when Uncle Sirius had bragged about how you say, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' to make it show the map and all the people. He smiled to himself as he thought of uses for the map. When the door opened, he immediately frowned, afraid of the punishment his dad would give him.
James walked into the office ahead of Filch, and he didn't look happy. "Come with me, Harry," was all that he said.
Harry hung his head down. "Yes, sir."
-WISD-
After they walked to their quarters, James asked with a concerned look in his face, "Harry, why did you go into that room?"
"I-I didn't know I couldn't. It wasn't locked," he pleaded.
James took a deep breath. "I suppose you didn't know. I told Mr. Filch that he should lock that door if he doesn't want anyone to go in that room. Since you didn't know, I'm not going to punish you, this time." He then looked at his son's tear-stained face with concern. "What did you see in that mirror?"
-WISD-
While James and Harry were talking about the Mirror of Erised, Ginny was just arriving at the Granger residence. Hermione had flooed to Diagon Alley from James' office. Ginny had flooed there with her mother from the Burrow. Mr. and Mrs. Granger had driven to the area and met the girls, at which point Mrs. Weasley left them and went home. They'd gone out to lunch at a nearby restaurant, where they began to know the red-headed four-and-a-half-year-old girl.
"So, Ginny," asked Mrs. Granger as they waited for their order, "What's it like to be the only girl with so many brothers?"
The girl looked like she was thinking hard for a few seconds before answering. "Sometime it sad an' borin' when they don't wanna play wit me, but at least I don't get hand-me-downs like my brothers," she answered, smiling.
"I see," replied Mr. Granger with a slight smile. "What do magical girls do for fun?"
"Well, we go swimmin' in the pond, playin' with Gryffindor and Slytherin dolls." The girl smiled. "I always have Godric Gryffindor win and send Salazar Slytherin far away. A lot of girls have started reading story books about Harry Potter, but I don't need to read them. I know the real one. My friend Luna says they're gonna make dolls of Harry Potter." Ginny chuckled, "She also said that they'll actually be some kind of monster in disguise. I like Luna, but she believes some strange things. My mum says that I should ask her before I believe something Luna says, but I shouldn't say she's wrong."
"Then Harry really is as famous as 'Modern Magical History' says he is?" asked Hermione.
"Yep," agreed Ginny. "I thought it was bad the way everybody was cel, cel-e-brite-ink when his mummy died. But everyone was so happy You-Know-Who was finally gone. I don't know how anyone can be so mean like him an' the Death Eaters. Last year, they killed Luna's daddy cause he wrote something in the Quibbler, a magazine that he owned, about You-Know-Who really bein' a half-blood orphan named Tom Riddle. Luna told me about it. I don't know if what he said about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is true or not, but they killed her daddy at his office. She just lives with her mum now, and her mum sold the Quibbler.
"How sad for the poor girl," remarked Mrs. Granger, frowning. "I certainly understand why everyone was happy to be rid of that maniac."
At that moment their meals arrived at their table, saving them from more discussion of Voldemort.
-WISD-
When they got to the Granger's house, Hermione asked Ginny excitedly, "Have you ever played a video game?"
Ginny looked confused. "A what?"
The two spent a few hours playing Donkey Kong on the Atari 7800. Ginny was fascinated by it and declared, "I got to tell Daddy all about this!"
-WISD-
Author's Note: In the books, Luna's mother died when Luna was nine – now she's four – and in this universe, she might not do the experiment that killed her.