Chapter 2

Remy's banishment to the cupboard lasted for a long time, all the way up until the beginning of summer vacation. While it got claustrophobic at times, it gave her lots of time to come to terms with everything and get used to her new body. Being eleven years old again was very odd, to say the least. Sometimes, she would reach out to grab something only to fall short due to her short arms. On the bright side, her back pain was gone, as well as the constant migraine that she had been too busy to have gotten checked out.

Other than getting used to her new body, she also took the time to plan manically for the future. She had even written down a small bullet points list of the plot of the Harry Potter books. The handwriting was atrocious, but in her defense, she didn't have much light to work with. All in all, she rated her productiveness in her cupboard a four out of five, a way higher score than her entire time at the university.

Once the Dursleys ended her banishment, she checked the mail fervently every day in hopes of intercepting the Hogwarts letter. She had to make sure Vernon doesn't get his hands on it this time. She had debated the merits of doing the whole song and dance with the Dursleys and Hagrid, but in the end deemed it not worth it. While funny, antagonizing the Dursleys had swiftly gotten boring, and Remy had more important matters to attend to; the future of the wizarding world, for one.

The days seemed to drag on and on, and Remy was growing impatient. While Dudley had gaming consoles and friends to entertain himself with, Remy had nothing except for future planning — something that she had gotten terribly sick of after so long of doing nothing but that in the cupboard.

She spent most of her days drifting about aimlessly and occasionally trying to force out some magic and failing. She checked the mail constantly, to the point where the mailman had recognized her and would greet her every day. And yet, every day, she was disappointed. Nothing interesting was happening, and boredom was consuming her. The only other entertaining event that had occurred was Dudley showing off his new Smelting's uniform. Oh, how she wished she had her phone or her laptop back.

On a certain Thursday, she entered the kitchen to the sight — no, smell — of Petunia doing god-knows-what with a washing bin. It seemed like a somewhat interesting gap in her sea of mundane days, so she went to check it out.

"What …" Remy had to turn to take a deep breath of fresh air before continuing, "what are you doing, exactly?"

"Can't you tell?" she huffed, only to cough a few times after inhaling some of the poisonous fumes. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old clothes for your new uniform."

"New uniform, huh?" Remy leaned in closer for a better look, ignoring the watering of her eyes. From what she could tell, either an elephant shed its skins in the washbasin or she was mixing cement. "I don't think I'll be needing that, so I think for both our sakes, you should just throw that out."

"What nonsense. Of course you'll be needing this. For Stonewell high, remember?" She squinted at Remy suspiciously.
"If you say so." Remy shrugged. If Petunia wanted to torture herself with smelly elephant skin, who was she to stop her?

Exiting the kitchen, Remy's keen hearing picked up on a small noise in the living room — the noise of today's mail being delivered.

"Get the mail, Dudley," said Vernon.

"I'll get it!" Remy shouted before Dudley could respond, scrambling to the door. There, next to a postcard and a brown envelope, was a thick yellowish letter addressed to one Harry Potter. A surge of excitement went through her, and she stopped herself from cheering loudly. Quick as lighting, she scooped the letter up and shoved it down her shirt before anyone could see. Then, almost as an afterthought, she picked up the other mail and passed it to Vernon as nonchalantly as possible.

Vernon grunted when he received it. Remy stayed long enough to watch him rip open the brown envelope before walking back to her cupboard.

Once she was safely inside and away from prying eyes, she turned to her envelope. There was a purple wax seal with the Hogwarts logo, and her heart pounded with anticipation. While she already knew what was inside, it was still something else to actually have it in her hands.

Hands trembling, she slowly opened it, careful to preserve the parchment as much as possible. She was sure to keep it as a family heirloom for the rest of her life. Pulling out the letter, she reverently read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Owl? She wondered. How was she supposed to owl back? Perhaps the owl that had brought the letter here was still around for her to send the letter with? Tearing a sheet of paper out of her spiral notebook, she slowly wrote with her best penmanship a note containing her response and hurried outside. Vernon and Dudley looked at her with a funny expression as she dashed past them, but thankfully didn't stop her.

Throwing the front door open, Remy was relieved to see a huge barn owl perched on the mailbox. Uncertainly, she handed over the scrap of paper she had grasped in her fist. The owl immediately took off with it, hooting across the sky.

Remy watched it go, feeling an odd mix of relief and awe.

She had done it. She was going to Hogwarts.

Now that all the Hogwarts affairs were in order, she was now ready for the second phase of her planning.

She pulled out Harry's best notebook, for she knew from now on she would have to make very intricate plans, unlike the broad ones she had made during her time in the cupboard. While she did have the power of foreknowledge on her side, she couldn't be sure that Voldemort will act exactly the same way as he did in the books.

First of all, she needed to get out of Privet Drive, blood wards be damned. It wasn't that she couldn't handle the Dursleys — she had had much worse bosses than them back when she worked in retail — it was that she needed to be able to practice magic over the breaks. The most convenient way to achieve that was to free Sirius and then go from there. That by itself shouldn't be too difficult — she just needed to convince Ron to give her "Scabbers" and then go to a professor. It would be preferable if she could remain anonymous in this, for she wanted to avoid being in the spotlight for as long as possible.

Secondly, she would have to steal the sorcerer's stone and hide it until Quirrell left. Not the best plan, but she didn't want to go to Dumbledore. If she showed her hand too soon, he would no doubt shut her entire operation down. With her foreknowledge, getting the stone shouldn't be too much of an issue, she just needed to learn a bit of magic first.

Lastly, regarding the Horcruxes, there wasn't much she could do as an eleven-year-old. She would try and get the diadem, the diary, and the locket, but again, she wasn't sure how soon she wanted to show her hand. She wouldn't have a way of destroying them anyway, unless she got the basilisk's fang early on.

Rudimentary plans made, Remy gladly put down her pencil and wrung out her sore hand. Being locked up in the cupboard the entire time really put a damper on her physical progress, but plan wise she was pretty set.

By her estimations, Hagrid or some other professor will be coming for her in a few weeks' time. She was rather excited for the verbal smackdown on the Dursleys that will no doubt occur once they realize her living situation. Crackling to herself, she laid back down on her mattress.

Her rough estimation turned out to be correct, and on a Saturday at one pm sharp, a loud knocking sound was heard in the living room.

Petunia had been the unfortunate one to open the door, and a loud screech could be heard at 1:01.

Curious as to what had caused the chaos, Dudley and Remy came out to take a gander.

A lady was standing at the doorway fully decked out in wizarding robes. It was probably McGonagall. Remy felt a small stab of disappointment that it wasn't Hagrid, but it went away as soon as it had come. It seemed as if some things have already changed.

Remy flounced over to greet her, eager to make a good impression. But before she could get a word in, however, Petunia was already trying to drive her off.

"You ...! Your sort aren't welcome here. Now get out of here before I call the authorities." She made a move to slam the door. However, much to her horror, the door refused to budge no matter how much force she put in.

"Who is it, Pet?" Vernon asked, gambling over to see. His expression morphed into one of rage as soon as he saw, and he roared, "Get out of my house! You lot aren't welcome."

"… As I was saying." she continued, face pinched. "I am Professor McGonagall and I'm here on behalf of Headmaster Dumbledore in regards to Harry's schooling." Just like how it was described in the books, she wore a severe look. The harsh expression seemed to drive fear into Petunia, and she wavered ever so slightly. "If I may, I'd like to come in and have a talk with Harry."

She pushed Petunia to the side and strode in.

Petunia made a strangled sound, and Vernon quickly moved to block her.

"Now see here, this is private property and I am forbidding you entry." His face had grown dangerously red and looked to be on a verge of a heart attack.

Dudley looked at her curiously, and Petunia glared at him before he could say anything.

"I am only here to talk to Harry. I don't wish to linger in your ... company any longer than I have to." Her eyes scanned the room until landed on Harry and the scar on his forehead. "What have you been feeding the boy? He looks positively malnourished."

"We feed him plenty," Petunia said, her face coloring. "You ought to be grateful we are giving him a roof over his head and clothes over his back. We didn't have to."

"I'd rather not have any of those things than have to live with you," Remy said in a neutral tone.

"Why you...!" Vernon looked fit to explode. "Get out of my house," he roared. "Out!"

McGonagall looked very done.

"I am here to take Harry shopping for school supplies," she said. "We have already received his confirmation letter to Hogwarts."

Petunia paled several shades.

"Hogwarts? Don't be ridiculous, the boy is going to Stonewell. We've spent so much time stomping the freakishness out of him, and we aren't about to let you corrupt him."

"James and Lily's son going to a muggle school? Why I…!" McGonagall's voice hitched, and she looked offended.

Remy decided it was time to intervene and have a little fun, while also getting some pity points from McGonagall. Widening her eyes to feign innocence, she turned towards McGonagall.

"Did you know my parents? My Aunt and Uncle said they were killed in a drunk car crash. Is that true?"

McGonagall looked faint.

"No, Harry," her voice had gone surprisingly soft. "Your parents were very good people. They died saving your life. Did your Aunt and Uncle really not tell you anything?"

"No, not really. Also, is Hogwarts really a school for magic and wizardry? I saw it on the letter." She smiled inwardly. This was going well for her.

"NO, HARRY!" Vernon bellowed. "There is no such thing as magic, don't let the freak get these lies in your head. They are lies, lies I tell you!"

McGonagall looked furious. She got out her wand with a flourish and uttered a single incantation. Vernon opened his mouth, but nothing came out. The expression on his face was priceless, making Remy wish she had a camera on her. Petunia looked horrified, while Dudley just looked confused, as always.

"Now, we can finally have a constructive conversation. As I was saying, magic is real, as you just saw. Your parents were magical as well, that's why you got the letter to Hogwarts."

"Wow, that's a cool trick." She didn't have to pretend to be awed. "When we went to the zoo, I made the snake's glass vanish and it got out. Was that magic too?"

"Indeed. In the magic world, we would call that accidental magic. As your studies progress in Hogwarts, those occurrences should decrease as your control gets better."

She glanced over at the Dursleys. "Now, shall we go to Diagon Alley? It's a place where wizards shop for magical supplies, and where Hogwarts students buy the items on that list in your letter. I can explain more to you once we get there."

"Sure thing, I'll just go grab some of my stuff."

She had packed all her belongings in a backpack in preparation for this visit. There was no way in hell she was going to hang around here for the rest of the summer, she had had enough for a lifetime. Since she planned on freeing Sirius, there would be no reason for her to come back at all unless something went awry.

Turning around, she crawled into the cupboard and quickly slung her backpack on her back. Bidding a silent farewell to her crappy shelter for the last few months, she returned to the living room.

McGonagall was looking at her with a slightly disturbed face.

"Was that your storage room?"

"Nope, it's where I live." She shrugged, feigning nonchalance to maintain her innocent image. "Look." She opened the cupboard door to show her the inside.

Her face got even more stern, so much so that even Remy felt alarmed.

"Harry, why don't you go outside for a bit? We can leave right after I have a little talk with your aunt and uncle."

"Okay." She hurried out, giving the Dursleys a small wave while cheering internally. She had done it.

Pressing her ear against the door, she tried her best to eavesdrop. Unfortunately, McGonagall seemed to have thought ahead and had casted some sort of noise-canceling charm preventing her from hearing anything. Disappointed, she sat on the front steps to wait.