Author Note

I had plenty of free time this weekend so I decided to write up another chapter.

Crossworld 1 - Harry Potter

Part 38

The Hiddleston Residence. Godric's Hollow.

As the thunder storm began outside I was glad that I didn't need to hold onto my wand to make it light up as I was looking through a stack of papers as I sat up in bed. I'd been able to gather a lot of information on the Death Eaters who were out of Azkaban by sneaking into the Ministry for addresses and then tracking down their properties. Most were too secure to break into without using brute force, say by turning into a dragon and then burning everything down, or a team of curse breakers, so I'd spent some time over the summer studying the homes of my targets trying to figure out their defences.

Since the properties were unplottable I had no maps telling people where the homes were in relation to other places such as nearby towns and villages, and because I'd not been able to get inside the homes I couldn't make special magical maps either. This made it very difficult to plan assaults on the Death Eaters when they were in their paces of residence and I'd not been able to catch any of them visiting places like Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley, they didn't need if they had House Elves to run errands for them.

I lacked the expertise to bring down the kind of protective enchantments that many purebloods could afford and it was going to take months of study even with Voldemort's memories and my powers to learn how to break down such enchantments. The Carrows hadn't been well protected so getting to them had been easy enough, but most of the insane inbred fucks had decent defences thanks to their ancestors.

The lack of maps made it hard to find places not only in this country but also out of it as found out when I'd gone looking for Nurmengard Castle, which had become a prison for Grindelwald after his defeat by Dumbledore back in the 1940s. I'd been able to find the place by taking the form of magical creatures and I was fairly certain I'd be able to break in if needs be.

Having Grindelwald seem to escape would be a nice distraction, Gellert was likely to be harmless given that he'd been inactive for decades and should be quite old by now, but the public wouldn't care about that and Dumbledore would be called to deal with the matter. There was no chance of me actually unleashing him upon the world in case he went about trying to take over again, I'd kill the old Dark Lord if I broke him out as the mere threat of him would be enough, and I didn't want him coming after me.

I'd not bothered yet because if the latest transcripts of Order meetings were anything to go by the followers of Dumbledore didn't know for sure that Tom Hiddleston had anything to do with the dead and disappearing Death Eaters. My actions were confusing people and many thought that I'd killed Snape because I hated Death Eaters not because I wanted to undermine Dumbledore. Others thought I was trying to take down the whole of Wizarding Britain despite my lack of followers.

That was the plus side of having so many needlessly complex plans that were subject to change, they confused the hell out of your enemies, to the point that they couldn't be sure that they even were your enemies. Dumbledore was still trying to find out more about Tom Hiddleston and the Order wasn't having much luck with this as there wasn't much to find out because the Hiddleston family didn't really exist outside some paperwork.

Dumbledore might look like a brave and wise man who challenged the users of dark magic, but in reality, he was more of a Ravenclaw than most people would think. The man liked to have all the information he could get and to deny it to others so as to control events. Without more data on the Hiddleston family, he was having trouble coming up with ways to counter my moves.

I figured the fact that I am not actually a dark wizard was also giving him trouble. I was more grey than dark or light. My main interest aside from my own advancement was to show some chaos and maybe leave this world a better place than when I arrived in it. Since I didn't act like Grindlewald or Voldemort he couldn't predict my moves or hope to counter them.

There was a bright flash and a moment later thunder that seemed loud enough to shatter the windows assaulted my eardrums. Moments later someone was frantically knocking on my door. I quickly hid the papers and put out the light before inviting Granger in as it had to be her knocking so loudly.

"Can I stay here with you?" she requested.

I decided not to be cruel and send her away. The storm was rather intense.

"Sure," I said.

She practically launched herself at me and I soon felt her pressing into me. I could tell that she was wearing the Quidditch jersey I'd given her more than a month ago. I really didn't want to know if she wore anything else as this was already getting awkward for me.

"Scared of the storm?" I asked.

A silly question really.

"This is a scary storm" she replied.

I could understand why even an adult would be intimated by the display nature was currently putting on. Not that I thought about that for long as I found my body, which had the hormones of a fourteen-year-old boy in close contact with that of a thirteen-year-old girl, and I decided to roll onto my stomach so that she didn't get freaked out by what was happening in my boxers.

Despite the awkwardness of this situation, I had more than enough empathy to realise that I should put an arm around Hermione so that she would feel comforted. I felt her go tense for a moment before she relaxed as the lightning strikes began happening further away and the thunder become more subdued.

(Line Break)

The Hiddleston Residence. Godric's Hollow.

"So you're taking both arithmancy and runes?" I asked.

Hermione was just about to start her third year at Hogwarts as such she would soon be doing extra subjects. Unlike me, she'd not been clever enough to avoid having to take on two extra classes. I only took Magical Creatures, and that just meant spending some time outside during the week while listening to the teacher (who would be replaced by Hagrid this year) lecture us about some creature that we would then get to pet and feed.

"Those Owls are best for my career options," she said.

That was not something I could agree with.

"Your career options as a muggleborn are rather limited" I informed my guest as I sipped my tea "So there's really no point in you taking all those subjects. You should just take Care of Magical Creatures like me and study what interests you during your free periods".

As in the main timeline, Hermione had tried to take as many subjects as possible, something she'd told me about already, only she'd had to limit herself to two so I didn't think she had access to a time turner. Either because no one in this universe was stupid enough to give a means of time travel to a teenager or because only the Headmaster's favourites got such favours.

I'd even read fanfiction that had the idea of Granger getting the time turner so she could do so many subjects was not meant to aid in her education, rather it was to make sure she'd burn out and drop out of school, or even erase herself from existence so as to get rid of all too clever muggleborn.

As for me, I didn't get why people thought she was so clever because Hermione mostly just repeated what she got from books and just because she could repeat a lot of memorised information this didn't mean she really understood the material.

Sure she was more skilled than her friends in the books/movies, but Potter clearly had way more raw power and Ron was just lazy. Besides getting a lot of high marks in your exams doesn't mean you are prepared to go out into the real world. Tom Riddle had done far more impressive things during his time in Hogwarts than Hermione Granger had managed.

Perhaps I was too harsh on her. She didn't smart compared to me, but I had a college-level education and many of Riddle's accomplishments were so morally repugnant that Hermione wouldn't have been able to bring themselves to perform them even she knew how.

"What are you talking about?" she asked as we sat and enjoyed the full English breakfast I'd made for the both of us "When Professor McGonagall came to speak with my parents and me before the first year she told us that there were lots of career opportunities waiting for me in the magical world".

I was disappointed in the fact that she still had too much faith in authority figures. She didn't sing Dumbledor's praises because she'd read the book I'd helped to write as Tom Hiddleston, but she didn't yet fully grasp how corrupt or willfully blind a lot of authority figures were in the wizarding world. Even Flitwick who I respected as a teacher and duellist, and yet he was was oblivious to bullying within his own house.

"You must have noticed that a lot of wizards and witches are prejudiced against muggle-borns," I said.

Of course, she had, she wasn't that disconnected from her peers.

"They're just kids in school" she argued "They'll grow up".

If only it were that simple.

"They learned those attitudes from their parents" I was now saying "And those parents run the businesses and all the departments in the Ministry".

Children mimic the behaviour of the adults around them, as such you can figure out what the adults really think and how they act behind closed doors by observing how their kids act. Draco Malfoy was just his father with less tact and shorter hair.

"You can tell Muggle-borns never raise very high just by looking at the staff at the school," I said.

Hermione looked confused and a bit upset upon hearing that.

"What do you mean?" she demanded to know.

It had been clear to me for a while and would have been even if I'd not known all about the magical world before ever stepping foot in it.

"When we got back to the school ask our professors if any of them are Muggle-borns" I suggested, "Or if any of the school's staff that we don't have much contact with are Muggle-borns. People's blood status is a matter of public record, and then there is the Ministry. I looked it up, there's only been one Muggleborn Minister of Magic. Nobby Leach, who was elected back in 1962. Several of the oldest members of the Wizengamot resigned from their government posts in protest of his appointment and he stepped down later due to a scandal that involved Abraxus Malfoy. There hasn't been a Muggle-born in office since then".

Clearly, Hermione hadn't heard of Nobby Leach.

"One of the reasons why Voldemort was able to gather so many followers was that he used the fear of Purebloods have of Muggle-borns destroying their society" I went on to say "Which is ironic considering that Voldemort's father is a muggle".

Again this was something easy to prove since Riddle's full name was an anagram of I am Lord Voldemort and there were records for Tom Riddle at the school.

"My entire life is just built on lies," said Hermione before she started to cry.

I hadn't been expecting this extreme of a reaction. I did my best to comfort her and try to find out what was wrong. This took some time and the making of another cup of tea, so British of me.

"Why do I get the feeling that this isn't just about the bigotry?" I asked.

Even I wasn't that dense when it came to the thoughts and feelings of the female half of the species.

"Over the summer I found out that my parents like to meet up with other couples and engage in adult activities," she told me.

I wasn't surprised and she picked up on that

"You knew" she stated.

I chose my next words very carefully.

"When we went skiing I overheard something odd and then figured it out" I informed her "I didn't say anything because it wasn't any of my business and I didn't want to embarrass you by bringing it up".

I didn't think she'd react well to finding out that I'd looked into the minds of her parents.

"Oh," she said.

She was very forgiving towards me and didn't blame me for not telling her. I might be the only friend she really had so it made sense she wouldn't want to anger me.

"My parents sat me down over the summer and explained to me that my mother can't ever have children, she had a miscarriage when she was younger and they lost a daughter" Hermione was now saying "Because of their... hobby, my father got a woman he barely knew pregnant at some party. She dropped me off at my parent's home just after I was born, and my father lost contact with her soon after".

That actually explained quite a bit about how the Grangers treated her. Hermione would be a reminder of the child the Grangers lost and she wasn't her mother's biological child so Mrs Granger might resent that. At least they didn't abuse Hermione even if they didn't treat her as well as they should. They did try to involve themselves in her life I'd seen them do that and they provided for her, they just didn't love her. The saddest part of all about this was the fact that Hermione did love her parents.

Mrs Granger didn't look much like Hermione, but she did look a bit like her father. Yet her father didn't seem to show her any more attention than his wife. Did he resent having Hermione dumped on him or had he just never bonded with her?

Thinking about all of that made me wonder if Hermione's biological mother was a witch. Which was something I mentioned if only to distract her.

"You think she could be a witch?" Hermione asked, "I just thought she didn't have enough money to care for me or couldn't look after me for some other reason. Maybe she was ill?".

Before speaking further I gave it some more thought.

"I've never really believed that Muggle-borns just pop up" I answered "Magical ability runs in families so it seems to be genetic. I've always thought that Muggle-borns must have a squib or two in the family tree as most of those who are born to magical families who can't use a wand go and live in the muggle world. That or some witch or wizard had an affair with a muggle which they keep hidden because of how poorly so many witches and wizards think of muggles".

There was also the possibility that dark wizards went around raping muggle women, either directly or by making use of enchantments to make them cooperate, and that Muggleborns were the result of this making them half-bloods in reality. I didn't think that could account for all of the Muggleborns given that there are two Creevy boys at Hogwarts, not unless a wizard out there was cuckolding some poor bastard called Mr Creevy.

"Do you think she could be living somewhere in the wizarding world?" Hermione asked me.

That was possible.

"You'd hardly be the first magical child to be hidden in the Muggle world" I reminded the young student "I was dropped off at an orphanage to hide me, or at least that is the theory, and Harry was raised by his muggle relatives, maybe your biological mother left you with your father because she was worried you'd be a target for Death Eaters".

People had asked about my uprising and I'd left them with the impression that I'd been left at the orphanage because my magical parents wanted to hide me. Being a Muggle-born held you back in the magical world and so it was best to be thought of as half-blood.

"The bigots who served Voldemort would go after a witch who was consorting with muggles, and the Dark Lord was very active at that time" I went on to say "But given how my cousin found me when I started attending Hogwarts I doubt your biological mother is living in the magical part of the UK, or if she is then she's not interested in making contact because it wouldn't be that hard to find out about you. Hogwarts doesn't have any other students called Granger and she'd be keeping tabs on the school to see if you turned up. Assuming she even remembers you. She might have had her memory erased".

Hermione still looked depressed as all I'd just spoken about was mere speculation and didn't really change anything.

"Muggle or not, maybe she doesn't want anything to do with me," she said.

Well, that was the most likely possibility. Assuming that she hadn't been terminal ill or something like that.

"People always place too much importance on their bloodlines" I was now saying "Just because you can trace your ancestors back hundreds of years that doesn't make you superior to other people. I mean look at all the great people in history, their parents are barely mentioned in the books and often their descendants are disappointing, and I don't know my parents at all. I never let that stop me from doing anything I want to do. Then there are the purebloods who can trace their families back centuries and some of them look as if they can barely stand upright".

Hermione didn't look so sad now.

"I think I've always known that I wasn't like my parents," he said to me "I threw myself into magic when I found out about it because it separates me from them. It makes me special, but even in the world of magic I'm unwanted".

Hopefully, she wouldn't be like this all year it would be so depressing for the both of us.

"Hermione, try to remember that this is just one small country in a very big world" I reminded her.

Not to mention just one universe of many.

"I plan to do some travelling when I'm seventeen," I told the witch as I began to clear up the breakfast dishes "I'm going to explore other magical cultures and look for lost treasures. You could come with me and just leave Britain behind".

She would have time to consider my offer.

"The magical part of this country is backwards and bigoted, you can spend your life trying to change that and maybe manage to make things a bit fairer, or you can just leave it all behind and make a life for yourself somewhere else," I said, "I'm certainly planning on leaving".

Protection of the world-seed aside there were other worlds out there, more magic to learn, and godlike power to obtain. As for the magical part of this country, without the civil war that ends with Harry defeating Voldemort, I didn't think that any big changes could take place. Too many people were invested in the status quo to allow it.

"What about Luna?" Hermione "Aren't you supposed to marry her?".

I still intended to.

"Luna wants to get out there too," I told my guest "But it's going to be many years before she'll be old enough to marry and I'm not going to wait around at home while she finishes growing up".

This version of Luna wasn't Loony Lovegood she would be fine by herself while she finished with school.

"I guess I could travel," said Hermione "But what about getting a job when I'm older?. I won't even have any A levels".

That wasn't a concern.

"If we uncover some fantastic treasures that won't matter" I assured her "I can fund our travels I have access to do a share of the family fortune and it's far more money than I need. I wouldn't let you live on the streets no matter what happens".

She had other options.

"You could do your NEWTs via the Ministry" I suggested "You can take exams outside of Hogwarts and you might get a job at some low level at the Ministry or maybe you can marry into a pureblood family. You do have options. As for the muggle world, I'm sure there are college courses that don't require you to have GSCEs, and I can afford private tutors if that is what you want".

Hermione came over and hugged, which was surprising.

"I'd like to do some travelling with you" she decided.

She'd still be in school when I left since she was about a year younger than my base and if things didn't work out between us I'd just give her a few million pounds so she could live comfortably for the rest of her life. There was no need for her to worry and I was too fond of her to abandon her without making sure she had some sort of future.

(Line Break)

The Rookery. Ottery St Catchpole.

My motorbike came to halt outside of the house that looked like a tower and as Hermione took off the helmet I'd gotten for her, I quickly checked the magical map I had of this area and found that Potter was visiting The Burrow. The Bright Lord clearly wasn't going to give up in his attempt to have Ron Weasly around to drag down the Boy-Who-Live. I'd decided not to interfere with that again as I'd done for Potter what I'd set out to do and I had bigger issues to deal with.

Before Hermione could question me about the map I placed it back in the pocket of my dragonhide jacket and took out a few gift-wrapped presents. One of which was clearly a bottle of wine.

"I don't think Luna is old enough to drink" stated Hermione.

It wasn't for her.

"Cousin Tom does business with the Lovegoods" I mentioned "He owns the printing press the Quibbler uses and it used to belong to them. The Hiddleston family and the Lovegoods are political allies in a sense, so it would be rude not to bring gifts for the whole family".

I'd also gotten an expensive children's toy for little Helois and something from Europe that I was informed Magizoolists would enjoy for Luna. I could only guess at its function, but it looked like a tool for examining samples, maybe it was meant to let you inspect feathers or bits of fur I really didn't know.

"Hold on where's the picnic basket?" asked Hermione.

She forgot sometimes that we were magical people.

"In my pouches and pockets," I told her "I carry enough food and drink for a party kept wrapped up and fresh thanks to preservation charms".

Rather than discuss it further I knocked on the door of the Rookery and it was answered by Luna who had been expecting us and she was carrying her baby brother around with one arm. She led us into the kitchen that made up the lowest level of the house.

"I see you two are getting along" I commented.

Luna hadn't been a big fan of her younger sibling the last time we'd spoken about him.

"He seems to be making an effort to get to know me," said Luna "And he doesn't drool on me as much these days".

Helios must be over a year old by now, I couldn't recall when he'd been born only that he'd been keeping Luna up at night this time last year. If he could talk he felt no desire to say anything to Hermione or me.

"He's so cute" Granger needlessly informed everyone.

I personally thought he looked like a male version of Luna only younger, which made sense given that the Lovegoods all looked like each, and he was rather adorable.

"Here you go," I told the small human as I handed him his present "It's wrapped in colourful paper that you'll probably enjoy more than the actual gift".

To be fair it was ever nice paper.

"And this is for you," I said as Mrs Lovegood came to take her baby back "Tom says hi and hopes you are all doing well. He's preparing for another trip to somewhere I can't even pronounce".

My other persona had to come up with excuses not to come over for dinner as I needed to be seen in the castle as much as possible as John so that people didn't suspect that I was actually Tom as well and off doing things that were often illegal.

"This young lady is Hermione Granger" I mentioned.

Mrs Lovegood would have heard about her from her daughter's letters home.

"I'm glad my Luna is making friends other than Ginny," said Mrs Lovegood.

The youngest Lovegood decided that he would just hold on to this present and not open it yet.

"Mom doesn't really like how overbearing Molly Weasley can be" explained the younger of the two Lovegood females "She does think it's acceptable for Molly Weasly to disapprove so much about how I am being raised".

Yes, I could see that banshee going on about how Luna should act more like a proper young witch.

"This one is for you," I said while holding out a gift.

Luna unwrapped and then opened the device. She was even able to name it not the name made any sense to me.

"What does it do?" Hermione asked.

The answer surprised me.

"It's used to analyse animal droppings," she said "With this, you can tell whether the poop came from a magical creature or not and how recently it was deposited on the ground".

No wonder I'd never heard of one they must be for the really hardcore magizoologists.

"Perhaps it will help with the Crumple-Horned Snorkack hunts" I offered.

It seemed like a good time to change the subject.

"Are you ready for our picnic?" I asked, "It seemed to be something of an annual tradition with us, and I was sure you wouldn't mind including Hermione".

I turned to address the other witch.

The scenery is very nice in this part of the country" I informed.

I'd sent her a letter informing Luna of my plan to be here this afternoon, but since I owl mail was hard to get an ETA on she might not have gotten the letter before we arrived.

"An afternoon outside with my friends sounds very pleasant," said Luna.

That was what I intended this to be.

(Line Break)

Ravenclaw Tower. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.

"What are you working on?" I was asked.

With no one escaping from Azkaban there were Dementors to worry about this year. Remus Lupin was still teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, meaning that I had indeed broken the curse, and I wondered if that meant when Voldemort returned would he know that someone had found one of his Horcruxes if he found out about Lupin being the DADA teacher for more than one year?

He'd send someone to the Room of Requirement in order to check on the diadem and once he knew that was gone he'd go looking for his other anchors and find them missing too. At that point, he'd know how vulnerable he now was even if he couldn't check on the cup that used to be stored in Gringotts. I imagined that he'd kill Lucius Malfoy once he discovered that the inbred fool had given the diary over to Tom Hiddleston on the order of someone pretending to be Voldemort.

Then Voldemort would send his followers after Tom Hiddleston, which was why I was keeping an eye on the magical map I'd made of Riddle Manor. If Voldemort turned up there I was ready to go burn it down as a dragon if needs be even if I wasn't normally so direct. Fiendfyre might work better if Nagini was made into a Horcrux and I would have to practice it first as I didn't wish to incinerate myself.

"I'm just writing up some lesson plans for Professor Hagrid," I told Luna.

He was the news Care of Magical Creatures professor despite not being at all qualified to teach even if he knew a lot about the subject, and since lessons hadn't started yet I'd gotten a chance to go visit the new teacher so as to make sure he wasn't to do anything stupid as he did with Buckbeak.

Sure there was no Malfoy around, but the school wasn't lacking for purebloods who thought the world and everything in it existed to serve them because there born with magic and had gold earned by their ancestors. Sooner or later some inbred moron would do something stupid and get some poor animal in trouble. It was best to avoid all that and helping Hagrid out should convince Dumbledore that John Hiddleston was a good boy. I didn't want him thinking that I was involved in what he thought Tom Hiddleston was up to and the age I appeared to be could only shield me so much.

"Really can I see?" requested Hermione.

Miss Granger had become even more attached to me since she'd told me the truth about her family, and I didn't mind now she wasn't worrying so much about her school work. She'd become more mellow and had dropped Ancient Runes once I'd suggested it to her so that she could study what interested her during her free periods.

"Sure," I said "Planning out the newt years is the hardest since I don't know what is covered in the exams yet as everyone who has taken the exam has left school. The owl exams don't change much so it's just a matter of making sure the right magical creatures get covered over the 3rd, 4th and 5th year. The internal exams are set by the teacher so the animals most likely to come up in the owl exam can be focused on and covered in the internal exams so as to help prepare. The most dangerous creatures will be handled by the 5th-year students and above".

There were no plans for single lessons rather than I was assigned a number of lessons for each creature that needed to be covered in detail. During those lessons, the care and habits of the creatures would be taught with hands-on experience gained during lessons while homework handled the non-practical parts. There was no need for essays when reading up on each creature would be enough. The student's knowledge would be tested by having them actually care for the creatures under supervision rather than wasting parchment.

"This looks good" praised Hermione "I'm almost regretting not taking creatures now".

Luna would never miss out on taking that subject no matter how much gold a person offered.

"I was worried that Mr Hagrid might not be a good teacher" she commented "He forgets how dangerous a lot of animals can be to people who haven't got giant's blood".

Hagrid didn't have a malicious thought in his head, but he could be careless and blind to the fact that others can mean harm.

"With these plans, you'll be covering flobberworms and nibblers" I promised "We can leave the Hippogriffs for the 5th year students. I'd prefer to leave them to the NEWT students, but they are one of the animals you need to know about for the OWLs".

Even I wouldn't want to be close to one of those creatures to pet it, although I had once gotten close enough to one to be able to fully see it, so I could take its form.

"And I made sure he understands that new magical breeds should only be handled by experts in the field," I told the girls "I heard him talking about crossbreeding and thought I better give him a warning".

After thinking about it I'd somewhat remembered reading about blast ended something or others. I didn't want to have to handle those next year.

"I like how you have the images of different animals moving up and down the timetables" mentioned Luna "You've very gifted with charms".

The animation charm could be used in a number of ways, depending on your imagination.

"I'll drop these off in the morning," I said.

Working on something like this made a nice change from worrying about my plans. I just had to keep reminding myself that I had things well in hand and that John Hiddleston was a Hogwarts student. Dumbledore was Tom Hiddleston's concern and Voldemort would be dealt with by Kol the Red Mage. Since there was nothing important for Tom or Kol to be getting on with I might as focus on John's life for a while.