Reviews
NazgulBelserion
Hermione does not come off well in this story. Not that she's so wonderful in the books. Anyone who uses time travel just to attend extra classes, and therefore risking paradoxies, is a fool even by the standards of the Wizarding World.
Even if you ignore the dangers of practising the dark arts and morality, being known as a dark wizard can make it harder for the MC to work with other people. The pros simply don't outweigh the cons.
frankieu
I'm glad you like the prank. I rather enjoyed picturing Ron having a temper tantrum about being Sorted into the snake house.
plums
How about you sod off and leave me alone. I write for fun and you have no right to tell me what to do.
Mugen-Muse
Harry's first few years at Hogwarts are going to be much more peaceful than the canon timeline. There's no Draco to bully him, no Ron to get help get him into trouble, the Basilisk is contained, Sirius is already free, and Quirrelmort can be dealt with easily enough by the MC since he can banish spirits using the stone Hallow.
Voldemort will return one day, Fate will ensure that, and the MC can't banish a spirit that is tied to the world via a Horcrux, but Riddle's return will take years and Harry can be prepared by Kol. Also, the MC can help the second war be less bloody by dealing with Death Eaters while gaining some more XP/
Sh4d0wgh0st
Grindlewald was related to Dumbledore?
I don't really see Dumbledore as a Dark Lord exactly he is more of an example of the dangers of Utilitarianism. You'd have to read up on it to understand it, and Utilitarianism does allow someone to commit morally questionable or even harmful actions for a Greater Good. Dumbledore raising Harry Potter up as a sacrifice to defeat Voldemort seems evil, and sure sucks for Harry, however, it saved the wizarding world so calling Dumbledore evil is too simplistic.
There's a moral exercise called the Trolly problem. It goes like this, a runaway tram or trolley is on course to collide with and kill a number of people (traditionally five) down the track, but you can divert the vehicle to kill just one person who is on a different track. Harry is that one person, the five people are the wizarding world, the track is the events of the book series, the person diverting the trolley is Dumbledore.
Morkail
My thinking was that if I actually ever met Harry Potter in school that I'd see something of myself in him, as my childhood was rather crappy a lot of the time, just not at Potter's level, and anyone with a sense of decency would try to help in some way.
I get why his peers don't see the problem, they are ignorant, but his teachers really should have done something. I can only blame Dumbledore and the general foolishness displayed by most witches and wizards for Harry not getting support. Although his adventures in the books would have been less entertaining if someone else kept turning up to help Potter.
While I don't know much about Durmstrang I get the impression that it's harsher than Hogwarts.
"Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these — though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains"— Viktor Krum describing the Durmstrang Institute to Hermione Granger.
So I get the idea that Durmstrang is cold and dark. Add to that it teaches the dark arts and it sounds like Hogwarts under Snape's leadership. Someone with Draco's attitude could end up running afoul of many older students. While the Headmaster is a Death Eater he ratted out some of the others and it's far from Britain so Draco's father will have far less influence there.
Crossworld 1 - Harry Potter
Part 20
Quidditch Pitch. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
I'd never gotten into sports during my first time at school. I'd never had the coordination to play them well and thanks to bullying I'd lacked the self-esteem to really try. But this time things would be different. I would play sports and be good at one of them at least.
Unlike other hopeful students I wasn't doing this to be popular or because I needed some exercise, although the latter was true, my reasoning was that I needed something to do other than attend classes and study because it wasn't mentally healthy for me to spend so much time alone.
Potter hadn't taken me up on my tutoring offer, not yet, and he'd made friends with Neville Longbottom, which pleased me as Neville wasn't as reckless or as stupid as Ron, so I figured he'd be alright for a while and he could find me in the library if he really needed my help.
As my own house, I was keeping some distance between myself and my dormmates, Marcus and Eddie, without cutting them out of my life, and as for Granger had stopped pestering me soon after I'd made it clear that her empty threats wouldn't work on me. I didn't think that would last, but for now, she was leaving me be.
Voldemort was not my concern as he took no action until Halloween and I had planned for that night well in advance. As for Dumbledore, he was no doubt still busy trying to maintain his reputation while waiting for his schemes to play out, and he wasn't petty enough to take out his displeasure on John Hiddleston.
This meant I really didn't have much to do outside of my studies and good reasons for seeking a distraction. As such as time passed and the school Quidditch teams began looking out for new players I headed out to the pitch in an attempt to join the team.
Just because you were on the team last year that didn't mean your position was secured for your whole time at the school, as such there was always a decent chance for new players to join the team even if their roster was full as there could be very talent flyers in the younger years. Something Potter proved.
However, the Ravenclaw Quidditch players that left school during the late 1980s and very early 1990s had been very good and so had held onto their positions for years meaning that now the team needed new blood rather badly.
The team wouldn't have such a need for skilled new players if not for the fact that the class sizes don't remain consistent, something that limited the number of potential players for Ravenclaw's current team, and being the nerd house we don't normally attract the athletic types.
On the plus side, that meant my chances of getting a place on the team were higher than they would be if I were in one of the other houses.
"I'm Roger Davis the new captain," said the leader of the current team.
He was only a third-year and quite young for a team captain. I assumed that none of the older students had been suited or interested in the job. Too devoted to their studies, or like me they might have projects that they were working on. Not that it mattered to me as Davis was a good player from what I'd see and would be a fine enough captain as long as he didn't get too big for his boots.
"Now we need a new Seeker so hands up if you after that position," he said "And show me your brooms".
Given that I was in the body of a 12-year-old boy, and not a large one even I had grown over the summer, taking a spot on the team that required speed over strength made sense and I could afford a very nice broom. Hence why I'd snuck out and brought Tom Hiddleston a Nimbus 2000 as Tom Hiddleston. It was a good broom for a seeker and not too expensive.
"I heard that your cousin brought the school new brooms," said Davis "Don't suppose he'd do that for the Ravenclaw team would he?".
He could, but he wouldn't.
"If he did that it would look as if I was trying to bribe my way onto the team" I pointed out "I want to get in on merit no because the Hiddleston family has gold and even if he brought the brooms later it would look like I paid you for the position".
I wasn't Draco Malfoy after all and Flitwick wasn't Snape. The professor would be upset if someone tried to bribe their way onto the team.
"Having better brooms won't help much if we have a crappy seeker" pointed out one of the older students.
Good to hear a fellow Ravenclaw making a logical statement.
"Yeah you're right" agreed Davis "Still having a new broom does give you an advantage over Chang".
Cho Chang was riding a school broom. A good reliable broom, but I'd selected them with first-year students in mind when buying them as Tom Hiddleston, so they weren't known for their sheer speed. Since Cho had never come across as someone who was lacking in funds I assumed that her parents weren't simply going to pay for an expensive broom unless their daughter was on the team. A sensible thing to do.
"If you're going to test us separately she can use my broom" I offered "It should help to keep things fair".
That sort of attitude was more Hufflepuff than Ravenclaw, and it wasn't as generous as it sounded since, unlike wands, brooms aren't fussy about who uses them. I would never let someone else use my wand like that. I didn't care much for my broom because it could be easily replaced.
"I'm planning on sending you both after the snitch together," said Davis "We only have the pitch for so long and I need more than a new Seeker".
That would give me an advantage, not honourable, but this wasn't Gryffindor either and I'd be foolish to swap brooms because aside from the speed advantage if I made the team I'd be flying on the nimbus and so the team captain needed to see what I could while in this broom.
"May the best witch win" stated Chang.
Before long Cho Chang and I took the skies as the Snitch was set free. Davis's test was simple, the one to catch it makes the team.
"Help me keep an eye out" I requested of Cortana.
The human brain takes in a lot of information, and we don't really process most of it because if he did the sheer amount of data our senses fed us would be overwhelming. So we focus on stuff like threats and what helps us to survive.
Cortana is different she doesn't always see and hear what I do, otherwise going to the bathroom would be rather awkward, but she can use my senses to gather information and she can take it all in. However, she was limited by my senses so I couldn't let her do the work, I had to fly around and try to look everywhere.
"You know me helping you could be considered cheating" she pointed out, and not for the first time "And you seem so fair-minded earlier".
I would have let Chang use my broom if her test of skill was separate and if she made the team over me, and couldn't afford her own Nimbus, I'd have lent her mine because to me Quidditch really was just a sport played by schoolchildren.
"It's just a game" I reminded her "Besides you live rent-free in my skull".
My words were effective and before long Cortana was helping to guide me as we both spotted the Snitch, her just doing it a moment sooner, it was over by the stands and dived for it. Cortana kept track better than I could and used the fact that she was connected to my brain to trick me into seeing a targeting reticle around the Snitch.
Cho either followed or didn't I couldn't tell and I focused on my desire to have the golden ball in my hand while keeping my broom steady.
It's possible to enchant an object so that the Summoning Charm won't work on them, this is done to pretty much anything of value in the wizarding world, but my wandless magic didn't use spells, it was all intent and focus mixed in with feelings. My range was limited and moving anything heavier than a coin was a strain, so it was a good thing that snitches were so light.
The golden ball came flying into my hand and with that, the Seeker position, the only one that really mattered, was mine. Chang was supposed to have the slot so this was another minor change to the timeline, a little chaos for Loki.
"Hiddleston you're our new Seeker," said Davis once I'd return to the ground "Chang you did great so your our backup Seeker and replacement Chaser if we need one".
Ravenclaw team would have defeated Gyiffindor in the original timeline because Potter ends up in the hospital wing at the end of the year. They had no replacement Seeker to take Potter's place and it cost them dearly. Davis was clearly smart enough to have realised such a thing could happen to his new Seeker and this way we were both on the team so that mean fewer chances of any hard feelings manifesting into harmful actions in the future.
"You were really fast" praised Chang.
I figured that spending time as an actual bird really helped with the flying.
"The Broom made a difference," I said, trying to downplay my skill "You can use mine if you need to take my spot".
No sense in making her doubt her own abilities and until I actually caught a snitch, winning us a game, Davis could easily replace me.
(Line Break)
The Chamber of Secrets. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
I gently placed the cleansed locket on a table and used a book to support it before I opened it up. The small portrait of Salazar Slytherin soon appeared, his wife should have as well, but her image still refused to enter the locket because of it being a Horcrux until recently. I really didn't blame her and Salazar was the teacher so I only needed him.
While I could summon Salazar's actual spirit, keeping the departed here caused them discomfort so even if the portrait was more limited, in that it only knew what Salazar had known at the time of its creation and what people had told the portrait since then, it at least didn't mind talking to me for long periods of time.
"Did you make the team?" asked my teacher.
I confirmed that I had.
"Good" praised the picture in the locket "No true Slytherin would be foolish enough to allow themselves to be placed in my old house and you must show loyalty to your house least people suspect your true nature. Showing an interest in the sport, even one as foolish as Quidditch, will allow people to fool themselves into thinking that you are just another young wizard. When your base form is older it will be important to date in order to continue giving people this impression. They must never know the real you".
I'd already assured the portrait that I had that matter well in hand. But it seemed to forget the little details and repeat itself at times. I'd not spent enough time with any other magically animated paintings to know if this was normal or if it was a byproduct of the portrait's sheer age. It could be a result of Riddle turning the locket to Horcrux, as even with another frame to spend his time in the personality of the image could have been affected.
"Students rarely date before starting their fourth year or even fifth," I said to Salazar "This is the start of my second year so I have plenty of time".
I'd read a few fanfics that involved Harry Potter learning from Salazar's portrait while down in the Chamber. The reality wasn't a mentor who could guide me, the portrait was more of a limited interactive teaching tool than anything else, sort of like Binns only this Salazar had more information to offer. It did try to offer guidance and seemed to understand my true nature once I'd explained it, at least somewhat.
If anything I suspected that Salazar's portrait was actually more aware of what was going on than most. That might explain why we don't have these talking pictures ever guest lecturing in our classes. This might just be a result of wizards being foolish enough not to make proper use of their resources but that mattered nothing to me. The cleansed Horcrux was a useful source of information and I would treat it with the care that such a powerful tool deserved and show respect to the memory of such a powerful wizard.
"You have covered much during your study of the mind arts" my kind of teacher was now saying "A shame that I can not test your ability to protect your mind".
I had an idea about that.
"Next year I'll have an ally in the school who should be able to help me," I told Salazar "It might take her a few years for her to learn how to probe minds so until then I'll avoid making eye contact with anyone I suspect of being able to penetrate my mind. I might be able to risk it sooner as she's a very gifted witch".
I imagined that Luna's mind would not be a simple thing to understand as she was both brilliant and a bit crazy, but I trusted her and intended to tell her the truth about myself once she'd matured a bit more.
"Good" praised the portrait "You have matters well in hand".
Yes, things were going well enough. Even Bagshot having the anti-Dumbledore book published early hadn't derailed my plans even if the book hadn't been as effective as I might have hoped.
My success wasn't down to dumb luck, or even due to the foolishness of wizards and witches, although the latter did help, I'd carefully planned out my moves and I moved cautiously when taking action.
"Thank you, sir" I replied.
The portrait seemed to respond better when I used my manners.
"As a reward, I will teach you about the importance of elemental magic," said the image in the locket "I'm sure you know that many powerful spells make use of the four elements, fire, water, air and earth, there are other elemental powers such as light and dark to also consider".
Voldemort used some sort of darkness to attack Dumbledore when they duelled in the Ministry. I had no memory of Riddle learning that spell so it seemed likely that he acquired knowledge of it during his travels before he returned to his homeland and declared himself the Dark Lord.
"Some of the elements are more closely connected to each other than you might think and will work well together," said Salazar "Air and darkness for example. Fire and light are also connected since fire creates light, warmth and provides the spark of life even if fire can be very destructive. Air can feed the fire".
Made sense to me.
"In contrast, fire and water do not mix well, and the earth can stifle the fire" Salazar's image explained, "Darkness and light also resist each other".
The Dark Lord could fly with a broom. I wondered if that was due to his mastery of air and darkness.
"Air is also linked with the power of illusions" I was told "Like illusion the air lacks any real substance".
That wasn't true in the dominion of science, gas is a state of matter just as liquids and solids are, but I could see how in mystical terms that made sense. You can't see the air, only its effects on the world as such it can seem less real.
"Your power of illusion means that spells of air and darkness will be more attuned to you than spells that use the elementals of fire or earth" Salazar let me know.
The four classic elements were important in the wizarding world. The Triwizard Tournament involved the four elements. The dragon was air and fire, the lake was the water, and the maze was the earth. Even the four Hogwarts houses had some connections to the elements even if members of that house didn't always align with the element or that house's chosen virtues.
Ravenclaw House which prided the mind, something else that was considered insubstantial and its effects hard to see while also being powerful, was clearly air, Ravenclaw blue was the colour of the clear sky. Its symbol? That of a flying bird. Another connection I had to that element.
Godric's house was fire and its main colour was red. Fire is fearsome in its wrath as is the gryphon. Fire is often connected to passion and members of that house are known for being reckless, to let their emotions guide them. They also can be great warriors and fire is a potent weapon.
Hufflepuff was earth as badgers are burrowing animals, their common room is underground, and their earth elemental theme goes well with the values of hard work and loyalty, at least in my mind as Hufflepuffs are solid in their dependability.
As for Salazar's house was water, its common room had high ceiling windows that show the depths of the Hogwarts' lake. And they do care about blood purity, purity is very important when it comes to water. Add to that aquatic snakes and stories of mighty sea serpents and the connection makes sense.
For me having air and darkness as my chosen elements, and darkness elemental magic wasn't always dark magic it needed to be noted, made sense as my favourite magical creature was the Thestral a flying creature that is invisible and considered to be a dark omen of death by those who seem them. In reality, the ability to see them is a result of seeing death not the other way around.
"Air and darkness also lend themselves well to invisibility and other ways of moving unseen," said Salazar "Something you are already skilled at".
Dumbledore with his phoenix familiar, and his command of magical flames in battle, clearly had a connection to fire. Harry Potter is also linked to fire in that he was born in the summer, his name came out of the goblet of fire, and he rides a freaking dragon during the Horcrux hunt.
"Not everything about the element of air is about invisibility or misdirection" Salazar let me know "Command of the weather and using lightning in battle are also aspects of being linked to the element of Rowena's house".
Being able to shoot lightning from my hands would be so cool.
"It's important to remember that connecting yourself to one or two elements doesn't mean you'll be unable to make use of the others even if you never obtain the same level of mastery with them as you do the elements you attune to" Salazar assured me "The rituals I can teach you about are about strengthening your connection to certain elements that suit aspects of your personality and existing gifts".
That made sense. Potter was a great flyer which suggested that he was magically connected to air as well. His lightning bolt scar also suggested that the air element was suited to him.
For me, the fire was unsuitable as a chosen element, because I could be very cold and calculating. I planned my moves I didn't go rushing about. I could be like that, people weren't limited to a few personality traits, it just wasn't normal for me.
"Tell me about the rituals" I requested.
He did as I wished.
"The air ritual requires a thunderstorm in spring" I was informed "It must be done as the air is charged before the storm starts. You must tap into that potential".
It was September so I'd have to wait a while for that one. Lucky for me spring thunderstorms were common enough.
"The darkness ritual must be performed between midnight and before the clock strikes one" Salazar was now saying "It must be done in a place bathed in the dark, my chamber will do. The ritual itself is not complex, you will invite the shadows into yourself and make them a part of yourself. This ritual must be done alone in the dark".
Sounded a bit spooky, but I would not let childish fears stop me.
"It is important to space out such rituals as they can be taxing on a person" I was warned.
I could sneak out of the common room tonight and perform this ritual if it didn't require much in the way of setting up. I listened to the details given by the portrait and soon realised that while this wouldn't be much work, I was going to need a few things. I'd need to sneak out over the weekend after Quidditch practice.
(Line Break)
Ravenclaw Tower. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"It's not fair" complained Hermione Granger.
I had been enjoying my evening in the common room after the training this afternoon and a quick trip to Diagon Alley as Tom Hiddleston. Being the new Seeker required me to attend practice sessions at least twice a week, despite the fact that my role didn't require me to use much in the way of teamwork.
Unlike being a Beater or a Chaser I didn't need to coordinate my movements with anyone else, and there isn't much for me to practise since there's no enemy Seeker for me to worry about in practice match so I just flew around until I spot the Snitch. I felt certain that I could convince Davis to let me sit out one of the weekly training sessions once I'd won a match and I could have Chang practice instead. As an added bonus that might endear her to me if she learned that I'd gotten more involved.
I'd been hoping to spend my evening with a good book and a nice cup of tea, a flask of which I'd gotten filled down in the kitchens, before going down into the Chamber. By the sounds of things that simply wasn't going to happen.
"Life isn't fair," I said, doing my Snape impression.
She ignored that and carried on talking.
"You're smart, but people like you, is it because of that stupid game?" she asked.
That last part wasn't going to win her over any friends.
"Only partly," I told her "Ravenclaw team belongs to the whole house, not just the player so having a good team reflects well on the whole house and it is part of how the whole house is viewed by the rest of the school".
I noticed that more people said hello in the corridors to me now that I was Ravenclaw's seeker and not all of those students were in my house.
"Quidditch is important in the magical world because it's part of what separates us from the muggle world," I said to Granger "Calling it stupid just makes you seem like more of an outsider".
She huffed at me.
"You just don't understand human nature" I explained to the young witch before I got out of my comfy chair and put up a privacy charm that would ensure that anyone trying to listen to this conversation wouldn't actually hear what was said "We're pack animals and people don't like it when you go against the pack".
She didn't understand so I told her to sit down and listen. Which she did.
"When I am in class if a teacher asks a question I never put my hand up because most of the time I know the answer," I told her "Do you?".
She nodded.
"Of course I do," she said "I always know the answer".
And arrogance aside that was part of the problem.
"You know that the teachers know the answer to their questions" I went on to say "What you don't seem to understand is that they are testing the students, but they can't test the class if you're always the one volunteering answers it actually makes their job harder".
The only reason they praised Hermione for answering questions was that it would be wrong to discourage her desire to learn, and house points exist to encourage students to learn in class and work hard.
"Other students might not be sure that their knowledge is correct or complete" I was now telling her "Sure they will learn if they listen to your answers, but you're always diverting the teacher's attention to you. The more attention you claim the less time and energy the teachers have for your classmates who need their help more than you do".
She actually listened to my words and kept her mouth shut.
"So I'm being selfish" she realised.
She didn't like that so I did my best to reinforcements my argument.
"Another thing the teachers do to test our knowledge of their subject is giving out homework" I was now saying "They don't do this because they enjoy marking essays and they only have so many hours in a week so they need to limit how much we can hand in as homework. Have you been going over the limits?".
She nodded.
"The limits don't allow me to add all the information I want to," she said.
I could have pointed out that she was just repeating facts that were already written down in books that the teachers likely had memorised, but saying that wouldn't help me get my point across.
"Again that is selfish," I told the young witch "If we assume that Professor Flitwick teaches everyone, even the NEWT level students, which is possible as the required OWL grade to get into the Charms NEWT level class isn't as high as some other subjects, that means Professor Flitwick is marking the homework of all the students. Every single one".
I paused to sip my rapidly cooling tea.
"He can only spend so much time on each student's work" was what I said next "So when you add more to your essays the extra time he spends on your work has to come from somewhere. That was time he could have spent giving more attention to someone else's work, and because he's running out of time he might miss something that would show him that a student doesn't fully understand something that is important for the exams at the end of the year".
She took some time to let that sink in.
"If you think of your class as a pack of wolves then you should realise that if one wolf takes more than their due, in this case, that would be the teacher's time and attention, then the other members of the pack suffer," I said to Granger "This naturally leads to resentment. This leads to your fellow students thinking of you as a show-off and know-it-all. They will try to push you out of the pack".
Crudely phrased, but hardly worthless to say.
"It also stops them from figuring out stuff on their own and gaining a feeling of accomplishment when they do" I added.
She didn't simply accept my words, nor did she debate them. I could tell that she giving this conversation some real thought.
"This is why you shouldn't offer to help your fellow students so freely," I told her "They see it as you trying to prove your superiority and it's important to remember that you are not a teacher. By trying to teach them yourself you are again diverting them from getting the time and effort they need from the teacher".
That didn't sit well with her.
"But I just want to" she pleaded.
I could understand that and she simply needed to change her methods in order to get better results.
"The expression 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions' has a few interpretations one of which is about how kind acts can lead to unintended negative consequences," I said to the girl "Your efforts to aid your fellow students are kind, but they will only harm them in the long run and it often makes them feel stupid when they compare themselves to you. When people get upset they have a habit of lashing out at the person who upsets them. That's a part of why you get bullied".
I wasn't finished yet.
"It would be better to offer your services as a tutor to anyone you think is struggling" I suggested "And then let them come to you rather than try to force your help on them. If they seek out your help on their terms they won't resent it, or at least they won't blame you for them needing help".
A lot of this might be going over her head as she was 12 at the most, and book smart more than wise, but if she was the brightest witch of her age as some claimed then my words weren't being totally wasted. Besides, I didn't need to sneak out until midnight so I had some time left to spend in talk.
"They wouldn't need my help if they spent more time studying" she insisted.
I used my self-control to stop myself from sighing and walking off. Granger failed to see how she was at fault and it annoyed me. I was far from perfect so I shouldn't judge too much.
"School isn't just about acquiring knowledge and there's more to life than study" I informed Granger "It's important to gain social skills as well and to form friendships. Often in life it's about who you know rather than what you know".
Something I'd learned when trying to find a job.
"Future employers aren't going to care about how many house points you gained or if you are top of your class in your first year" I warned the witch "You need to be able to talk to people, to convince them that you can perform the tasks they need doing. You need to talk the talk and be able to walk the walk. That takes communication skills, and you won't learn them from a book. You need to engage people, go and talk about what interests them, play some games, and you'll see".
I decided to leave her to whatever thoughts she had and head up to my dorm room as she unlikely to follow me up there.