Line Theft! Iris White

by Cyan93

Lucius creatively tries to stop Harry from inheriting the Black Headship, only just too late. Harry has no idea why or how, but he is pretty sure he once again barely evaded death. If only he didn't have to become a woman to do it... Given recent revelations, he decides to roll with it and tries to reinvent himself to some success. As a she, he figures the prophecy is a dud anyway.

2. Ch 2 Iris White, nice to meet you

2. Iris White, Nice to Meet You

I awoke to the rays of an entirely too bright sun and felt my stomach rumble. "Ugh."

The incongruity of my groan woke me up immediately, and I froze. Lifting my arm reminded me of my new breasts and I cringed. "Ah…" Yes, I am Iris White now. "It wasn't a dream."

No. It wasn't. I snorted in disbelief, not even I could dream this shit up! No, that credit belonged to someone else, someone that would go scott-free because I had no idea who to blame, nor did I want to risk connecting myself to my old identity in order to make them pay.

I needed to get up and move, to get food in my stomach, and buy new clothes and a wand, before finalising everything at the bank.

Throwing off the covers left me naked, and I took a moment to look myself over. This was my body now, after all. The goblins had ensured me it was permanent too, so I had better get used to it. I was flawless, gorgeous, sexy even! It sounded incredibly conceited, even in my own head, but there was no denying it. My skin was without a single blemish, completely new and unused. This was not simply a gender change; I had been unmade and forged anew. My body looked like new because it was new, and I could only assume that all my scars were gone. Everything I could see definitely was, so I was guessing my back was as smooth as a baby's bottom as well, for the first time in well over a decade.

"Huh." Standing up was an interesting feeling, because my breasts bounced up and down, unbound as they were, as a twisted replacement to my missing male appendage. Today was going to be an experience, there was no doubt about that.

Donning a robe with a shirt under it was the best I could do at the moment, and to my surprise, it worked well enough. Everything that needed covering was covered because I had grown smaller, which left my sneakers as the obvious exception. Ah, well, I just needed to ignore that for an hour or so until I had new footwear.

I found Tom at the bar and ordered a quick breakfast, paying immediately.

Tom gave me a second look but didn't say a thing. Breakfast was delicious and filling, so I made short work of it. "Thank you, Tom, I needed that. I'll be buying fitting clothes and getting a new wand today, but I'm certain I won't find it all in a single day. Can I extend my stay for another few days? I can pay immediately."

"Of course, Miss…"

"White, Iris White. It's nice to meet you." I introduced myself with a small smile.

Tom returned my smile and nodded. "If I may ask, what happened to you that necessitates buying everything anew?"

I grimaced and lied out of my teeth. "Place went up in flames. I didn't see anyone or anything, but I'm pretty sure it was magical. I was lucky to wake up when I did, I'd surely be dead otherwise."

He sighed and got a sad expression. "You're lucky then, not many manage to escape. I wish you the best, Miss White, have a nice day."

Tipping my non-existent hat, I made for the Alley.

Clothes were the first must-have, because I couldn't deal with these shoes and the feeling of walking around naked a second longer. Madam Malkin's was my first stop, and the doorbell chimed on my entry.

"Oh my, can I help you, Miss?" Madam Malkin herself asked as she walked up to me.

She had obviously noted my appearance already, so I didn't beat around the bush. "Ah, yes, I'm in need of a whole new wardrobe, as you can probably tell. I brought plenty of money, how much would you say I'd need?"

She shrugged. "So long as you stay with the basics, you could get away with three to four hundred galleons, I'd say."

I nodded. "In that case, I have plenty. Ma'am, I'll be honest with you, I'm pretty much naked under these, and I'd greatly appreciate your assistance grabbing stuff for me to try on. Would you be willing to help?"

Malkin didn't bother to hide her smile. "Oh, of course, Miss…"

"White, Iris White. Nice to meet you."

She laughed. "As you say, I'm Madam Malkin, and I'm glad to help. Let's get you situated quickly dear, come along now. If you're comfortable with it, I could quickly take your measurements in one of the stalls if you strip. I'll start with underwear to end your nakedness after that."

My eyebrows lifted in surprise, but I nodded. "It's not like you haven't seen all of it before."

"Exactly, dear. Now show me what we have to work with."

I dropped my robe and pulled the shirt off to stand before her completely nude, only to find Madam Malkin staring at my skin, prompting an unstoppable blush. "Madam?"

"Oh, so sorry, dear. It's just, I've never seen anyone with skin as clear and unblemished as yours, nor one so skinny." She blurted out. "Ah, let's get you measured."

To my amusement, she averted her eyes and measured me in record time, before making me wait thirty seconds when she arrived with a bunch of panties and bras. "Try these on and tell me what you think."

She knew what she was doing, because everything fit exactly. I wasn't picky with my clothing, having never had the chance to do so before, so I accepted it all with a smile. "This is perfect, Madam!" Shopping like this was almost painless, I really didn't know what Ron had been complaining about.

"That's nice, dear. You'll probably reach a nice C-cup when you stop growing, but these will hold you for a good while. Now, try these and these."

I had exactly no idea what I was doing, so I ended up accepting every suggestion she made, and we were done in two short hours.

She smiled at me tiredly. "Dear, I really do advise you to start taking an interest in your clothes. While I quite like dressing up a lovely girl like you without any resistance, I do think you should develop your own tastes at some point. In a few short years you'll be an adult, won't you?"

That made me blink, apparently, she had noticed, which, duh… "You're right, Madam. I've never really taken an interest, but I know I should." Then I recalled something I heard Lavender and Parvati talk about. "Can I get one of your self-updating mail order catalogues perhaps, with a copy of my measurements?"

That made her smile in approval. "Of course, I look forward to your future selections. Here's the bill."

I paid her seven hundred and seventy galleons, which included a ten percent tip for the amazing service, and bid her goodbye.

"Good luck, Miss White. I don't know what happened to you, but I hope you'll be fine." She said genuinely, making me smile.

"Thanks, Madam. I'm sure I will."

After taking a quick detour towards the Cauldron to drop off my purchases and my wand, I made my way over to Ollivander's. The man seemed surprised to have a customer but recovered quickly enough. "So, what happened to your old wand, dear? I can feel a recent disconnect."

Huh! That was surprising, and perhaps helpful. "I'm not sure, Mister Ollivander, but my old wand no longer enjoys being used by me. I do suspect I know what changed, but I'd rather not share that theory with anyone, if that's alright."

His eyebrow rose and he gave me a short nod. "I won't pry. Now, left or right-handed?"

"Right-handed." I waved that arm once.

"Try this one first. No, not that one. This one? Definitely not." Ollivander muttered softly. That was the start of an hour-long marathon before he finally handed me a wand that shot sparks, but it didn't quite feel right, and my expression showed it. "Something is missing." He decided.

"I agree, but what?" I asked.

The wand maker hummed distractedly. "Great change…" I kept my silence and waited for him to speak again. He stared at my bare hand intently. "Rebirth."

When the man stared intently into my eyes, I couldn't help myself and snapped. "What is it, Mister Ollivander?"

He snorted. "You obviously don't want to share, so I won't ask. I assume you have some meaningful connection to either large snakes or a phoenix, or another symbol of rebirth, given your near matches. Well?"

"I might." I agreed mildly. There really was no obvious connection to make that guess in my mind, but what did I know about wands? "What about it?"

"Well, Miss, I'm missing the ingredients to make you a wand that will fit perfectly, that connects to your magic perfectly. I can sell you this wand, because it is the best fit I have in store, but if you come to me with ingredients that connect to you, I might be able to help you more."

I grimaced. Getting to the basilisk under the school would be way too much of a risk, so that left Fawkes. "What about the phoenix feather from my old wand? Would you be willing to keep quiet if you recognise it?"

Now I really had the man intrigued. "I would. If I recognise the significance and agree with your reasons, I might even be willing to swear an oath to that effect."

With a sigh, I produced the old holly and phoenix feather wand I would not be able to use any longer. "Here."

He gasped. "Rebirth, Miss Potter?"

"Something like that, yes." I admitted. "Not voluntarily, I assure you. It's just my luck. Also, call me Miss White, please."

He carefully took the wand and nodded. "There is a disconnect, yes, but perhaps this feather could do with a rebirth of its own. Yes, adding it to this wand should work. I'd be willing to try if you were, Miss White. It would mean destroying your old wand though, there is no repair possible after I take it out. Oh, and I would require a bit of your blood to bond it properly."

"Yes, please. And I need to ask, since I am emancipated, would you be willing to forgo placing the Trace? I know you need to do that by law, but I really don't need the Ministry to know what I'm up to." I tried.

He winked with a grin. "I don't sense a trace on you now, and since you're clearly not eleven-years-young, I can only assume that makes you of age. I don't need to add the trace to of-age wizards' or witches' wands when they ask for custom work. Don't worry, I can easily see your need and agree with it. As a matter of fact, I swear to keep your old identity a secret as well. Rebirth is only too rare, and I trust you won't abuse my trust."

I nodded dumbly; pretty sure I was missing some context here. My rebirth, as it was, could only have been caused by a potion, which I now suspect was in the pumpkin juice I brought from the leaving feast at Hogwarts, the only thing I was missing from my things. I still couldn't recall what happened just prior to my change, but I don't think this was some cosmic reward as Ollivander seemed to think. Oh well, I decided not to argue. "So, how long until I should come pick it up?"

"If you have an hour, you could come see me work in the back right now. Almost nobody wants to make wands in this day and age, but I'm pretty sure you could be a great one if it interests you." Ollivander offered.

"Sure, I'll watch." I agreed easily. "Just curious, but why do you think I'd be good at it?"

He motioned for me to follow him into the back after flipping the sign to 'closed, back in an hour.' "Well, you have a massive magical presence, Miss White. Plus, I saw you react to the wands and their compatibility or lack thereof long before they hit your hand. That leads me to think you have the sensitivity to magic that's needed to work with wands. If you also have a talent for wandless magic like I expect, you would truly be suited for this work. Why don't you try summoning something wandlessly or light your finger with a Lumos?"

Humouring him, I mentally summoned a nearby tool with Accio and only caught it by reflex when I was shocked to see it work. "Huh! Lumos." And there it was, my finger was glowing merrily. "That honestly surprises me. Nox."

Ollivander laughed. "Rebirth, your magic is unbound and formless, Miss White. If you practise, I wouldn't be surprised to learn you could do every single charm you've ever learned without a wand. Transfiguration is a lot more difficult, but you could do it after learning Free Transfiguration. It's a post-NEWT skill, but it is much more suited to do with wandless magic. Look."

I followed his finger when it drew a line along my old wand, only to gasp as it split open in a perfect split, showing the feather inside covered in some sort of liquid. "What's that?"

"It's the glue that holds it all together, Miss White. In this case, I think I used a mixture of Mooncalf tears and Cerberus spit, both highly magical and cheap to boot. It serves to connect the core to the wood and make sure the hollow inside the wand is filled to capacity, which is important to balance things out."

My smile was completely earnest as I watched him work. He split open the new wand just like before, hollowed it out a bit more, wrapped the unicorn hair around the feather, applied a bit more of the mixture and sealed it all together again with his finger after I cut my thumb to add some blood. The whole thing was done in only a dozen minutes and wandless to boot.

To put it simply, I was impressed. "I thought wandless magic was supposed to be hard."

He chuckled. "Wandless magic needs you to be sufficiently magically dense so that you charge the atmosphere around you enough to make it work. It's why wandless magic is easier when emotions run high because you expel more magic, and it is also easier when done at a shorter distance from your body, because the magic is denser there. If you try something two times as far away from your body, it will be four times harder, three becomes nine, four becomes sixteen, quadratic, in other words. It's something you learn in arithmancy, if you want to learn more."

"It is, in fact, extremely hard to use wandless magic as a form of attack, because those are usually done at a significant distance. Defence, however, is much easier, because the magic only needs to be a bit removed from your skin, and thus easier to maintain without strain. Summoning light items is easier than heavier items, just as distance increases the strain, which is only natural, but the same applies with wandless magic. You are powerful enough that you could do pretty much anything in a circle of a dozen yards around you, but beyond that, I think the strain would make it not worth it."

Damn, this was so educational. "Why don't they teach this at Hogwarts?"

"They do, in seventh year Arithmancy." He countered easily. "I suspect you don't attend those classes?" I shook my head. "A pity. Runes and Arithmancy are so useful, but people get scared or discouraged because other people say it's hard to learn. As if anything worth learning isn't!"

Well, I certainly felt chastised, leading me to blush, which I now did at an alarming frequency. Ollivander noticed and chuckled. "Are you going back to Hogwarts?"

I shook my head with more force than was really warranted. "I don't know. I think it would lead to me being linked to my old identity, and that's something I really can't afford to happen. I suppose I could retake the OWLs at the Ministry and just study at home for my NEWT's, the ones I'm interested in learning, at least."

Ollivander shrugged as he transfigured the wand into a new form, I saw a plant emerge in relief on the outside and grinned. It was absolutely amazing to watch. "I'd be hard pressed to link your looks to either of your parents, Miss White. While you do have the same green eyes and black hair, your face is completely different. If I look closely, I recognise a bit from your mother, especially in the cheekbones, but again, you don't strike me as a Potter at first glance. I don't know how your Rebirth was triggered, but I suspect it severed something from the link to your father to accomplish it."

That was interesting to know, definitely. I had altogether too little information and pictures of my family beyond my mom and dad, with a sum total of nothing about my grandparents at all. Without a female born Potter to compare to, I was unable to confirm his words. "Hmm, I'll take that under advisement. But to be honest, Hogwarts is not a good school these days, so I doubt I'll go back. I wouldn't be surprised if I learned much quicker that way."

"Here's your wand, Miss White. Did watching me work interest you? I have been looking for a successor for years. Even if you only want to learn the craft, I'd be happy to teach you. At least that way the skills would stay in circulation after I die. I think I'll live for another decade or three yet, but I don't know if I'm able to work all those years. Hunting down ingredients is a younger man's game, I can assure you."

I looked at Ollivander and could see he was visibly hopeful to hear me agree to any degree, and I admittedly found myself intrigued. "I think I'd be willing to learn, but I don't think I'd be willing to run this store by myself. If you'd be willing to take me part-time, I can study and take my exams in my own time."

"I'd be very happy to have you part-time, Miss White." He winked. "I'll even forgo the needed Ministry notification until you've got your OWLs at least. Until then, I'll pay you under the table, as it is called. How often would you be willing to help out?"

That question had me stumped. "Ah, let's say three full days a week? I could always change it later. The exam dates would be exceptions, but after that, there should be no scheduling conflicts."

Ollivander nodded happily and pointed to my wand that I was holding. "How does it feel?"

I stared down and realised I hadn't felt a thing. Pushing some magic towards the wand did the trick and formed the connection. It was definitely better than my first wand. I could feel the warmth rushing down my arm and into my belly, and felt it settle before calming down. The feeling was interesting to say the least, and led me to believe Ollivander about my increased sensitivity towards magic. "It's a perfect fit, Mister Ollivander." I sighed happily.

"Always nice to hear, dear." He quipped. "Now, since I haven't heard anything about Mister Potter going missing, I assume you're still settling into your new life?" I nodded. "Thought so. Why don't you get settled first and then come find me on any morning after half past seven, which is when I open up. I'll be happy to discuss workdays then. Also, I think that owl is yours, isn't she?"

I turned around to see Hedwig sitting on the counter. "Hedwig! When did you come in?! How did you even come in?"

Hedwig chirped twice, and shook her head, before tilting it and looking at me curiously. I looked down at myself and chuckled. "Yes, I've changed a lot, haven't I? Don't worry, I'm still me, just a different me."

My owl then swooped down on my shoulder and started playing with my hair. "Nice to see you too, Hedwig. I'm bloody happy I sent you along before we boarded the train. You could have easily died when whatever happened happened!"

Ollivander coughed to interrupt me, and I turned around sheepishly. "Sorry about that, Sir."

"About Hedwig. If you want to stay incognito and without being linked to Harry Potter, she won't help with her pristine white plumage."

I blinked as I realised he was totally right. "Hedwig, would you be willing to be charmed to look a bit differently? I'd give you a few brown spots to look different enough, but you'd still be a really pretty snowy owl. What do you think?"

Hedwig pecked my head and flew back to the counter, before hooting once.

"Really, you'd let me?" Another hoot. "Okay then girl, don't move for a second." I waved my wand and used a colour changing charm that was more hex than charm and would stay unless dispelled. Brown flecks appeared on her feathers, until it was clear that Hedwig was no longer Hedwig. Which reminded me. "Would you accept a different name as well?"

"Hoot, Hoot!" She shook her head and flew off.

I recognised that as an emphatic no and yelled after her. "Okay then, come find me tomorrow!"

Ollivander chuckled. "It's always interesting to see people interact with their familiars, but I think your relationship is one of the more intriguing ones. You mostly understand her, don't you?"

"Yeah, I think that's what happens when you hold long conversations for years. Hedwig's my best friend, Mister Ollivander."

"Call me Garrick, dear. And I suspect that your being good with animals will also help you with this line of work, at least when it comes to ingredient gathering. It's much better to use a freely given ingredient from a magical animal than to pick up or steal it."

"Call me Iris then, Garrick. Now, I think I still owe you some money. Add in a wrist holster and tell me what the damage is."

"Mmm, with the custom work and without the Ministry subsidy, it's fifty-five galleons." He decided.

I didn't argue, because a traceless wand would have been worth triple that to me at this point. Besides, I had no idea what the subsidy was or how much custom work went for. "Here you go, and thank you, Garrick. I'll be sure to find you when I've set up my new home."

"Don't rush and take your time, I'll be here when you're done."

With one last wave of my hand, I left for Gringotts and met with Grinlast, who was practically giddy with excitement. "I hope you don't mind, but I've called for the others we spoke with last time to come here as well, I have some interesting news."

Curious myself, I waved his concerns away. "I don't mind. Do you want me to explain about my wand first, or do you want to wait?"

"Hmm, apple-tree with unicorn hair or phoenix feather, twelve inches, right? How close am I?" Grinlast guessed.

That was impressive. "Both cores and it's actually eleven and a third inches long, but that was an impressive guess nonetheless, Grinlast."

He grinned. "I'm quite sensitive myself. Though it is hard to sense when you're so close. I don't know if you realise this, but you're one strong witch magically!"

I nodded and the door opened, the part about my power was something I was coming to believe about myself too. The fight at the Ministry had completely wiped my friends, but I had been fine except for being a bit winded from all the running. I wasn't forgetting the Patronus thing either, mine was just so much more potent that those of the rest in the DA had been.

"Ah, why did you call us here, Grinlast? Is this about the rumours circling throughout the bank?" Toothpick asked gruffly. "Ragner couldn't come, by the way, but I'll tell him later what happened if it is imperative or funny."

Grinlast nodded. "Mostly funny, but that depends on Miss White here." That said, he turned to me. "I don't know if you've heard yet, but the word is out in certain circles that you've gone missing. We caught a human employee of ours snooping through your records, on which we'd set alarms for just this occasion. Faced with the consequences of his actions, he quickly confessed why he was looking and for what."

I nodded. "What was he looking for?"

"The Order of the Phoenix, of which he is a member, are convinced you are either dead or captured by someone. Dumbledore especially is under the impression you have perished. He urged Bill Weasley to look into the status of your vaults, because Gringotts have automatically updating lineages for vault holders, and it would show a straight line from Harry Potter to you. You see, Harry Potter is magically dead, but Iris White comes from him in a single straight line, with you basically being your own only parent. It doesn't mean your parents aren't your parents any more or something like that, it's just how the lineage updates itself visually in your circumstances. Now, he either loses his job and his vaults for breaking a contract, or he swears a vow to not disclose what he found or just what we want him to say. The question is thus, what do you want him to say?"

This whole situation was giving me a headache. "What would you suggest, you obviously have an idea already?"

Grinlast bobbed his head at that. "I do indeed. I suggest we make him swear to tell his organisation that Harry Potter is dead, but that he wasn't able to see the new vault owner. Your documents would then go under the strictest defences we have, and we set a trap for goblins or humans foolish enough to fall into it. Mister Weasley's vow would also include not to go looking anymore, of course, under direct threat of losing his magic."

"Do it. I wouldn't trust him otherwise. It would be a load off my mind if people thought Harry Potter was dead, true or not. Are you certain this won't lead to my being found out?"

"I'm certain." "As am I," Toothpick chimed in. "The defences Grinlast mentions are impenetrable, and his plans to catch traitors definitely meet with my approval. I'm sure the director would agree with me and grant the use of the strictest security measures. He was rather amused to see such a harsh attempt at Line Theft backfire and is personally invested in your survival if only for the fact that it would disrupt a metric ton of wizard plans."

"He sure does love to mess up wizard plans." Grinlast grinned.

That convinced me. "Right. I trust you to set it up, let me know if you need anything further from me."

"We do, actually." Grinlast said quickly. "Both of us would like to start investing your money with your approval. We usually manage to eke out at around five percent per year, twenty percent of which would go to us whilst the rest goes back to you, it's a standard contract."

I hesitated, and not because of the contract. "You realise a war is coming, right? Wouldn't investing be a bad idea right about now?"

Toothpick snorted. "On the contrary, there's a lot of money to be made from war, and Gringotts has turned that into an artform over the centuries. We know just what to invest in, trust me on that, Miss White. If anything, the upheaval and aftermath would probably increase our profits significantly."

Well, it wasn't like I was going to use the money otherwise. "Let me think about it for a while, at least until I've seen the properties I could live in. If I need a bunch of money to renovate, investing in that takes my preference. I still need to locate those properties too, which I imagine won't be easy even with the coordinates you gave me."

Toothpick shook his head. "Two things, one, we can supply you with portkeys that puts you very near those properties, just not inside the wards, and two, you can't use the money in the Black vault anyway, so investing wouldn't change anything there."

Admittedly, he had a good point about the Black vault, and I didn't realise Gringotts sold portkeys. "Good point. I'll sign the contract for the Black vault then, and I would like those portkeys. On second thought, add one to Diagon Alley too please. Odd though, isn't it, that I'm allowed to invest with the Black money, but not access it otherwise?"

Toothpick shook his head. "The Blacks have different rules about that, because they like their money to earn money. You'd get an additional five percent of the profits dumped in a vault of your choosing, but the rest would be added to the vault you still can't access."

"Makes sense, I guess." I shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

"I'll get started on the vow and extra security and traps then." Grinlast decided. "Do visit me after you decide whether to invest or not, Miss White."

I nodded. "Thanks guys. By the way, I quite enjoy being called Miss White for some reason, but you can call me Iris if you want."

"Thank you, Miss White, but I like the Miss part as well, so I'll keep calling you that." Grinlast said without hesitation. "As will I." Toothpick agreed more seriously.

"Well then, have a good day, I'll see you later." I stood to leave. They said their goodbyes and I left the bank with another five hundred galleons spending money, plus two thousand pounds cash to shop muggle.

Before I went to spend some more however, I used my new wand to gleefully vanish my old muggle clothing and men's robes. I wasn't quite sure where the glee came from when vanishing Harry's wizarding clothes, but I sure did understand where the glee came from when vanishing Dudley's clothes. That was cathartic on so many levels!

Even when almost empty, my old trunk would never even fit this many new clothes, so I just left them on the bed and reminded myself to buy an expanded trunk.

Now it was time to shop, and I was almost giddy about it. I may not ever start to act like the girliest girl, or a girl at all really, but I did quite enjoy buying myself fitting and nice-looking clothing. Given my origins, I would likely never be the most feminine woman around, but I didn't exactly mind that. Hell, I still checked out females and not males, nothing had changed on that front, nothing at all.

That actually took a big part of my anxiety about my change right off my shoulders. I might be a girl now, but I was still myself where it counted. The issue of raising kids and making a family would be revisited years later. That was what I thought, at least.

I left with a spring in my step which reminded me of Luna and came back with dozens of shrunk bags containing muggle clothes, with anything and everything. Yes, I quite liked shopping for clothes, and this time, I made a lot more choices of my own!