Into a new world

Disclaimer: None of the characters you recognise or that are from the Harry Potter world are mine. All belong to the fantastic JK Rowling. The bits highlighted are taken from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

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Chapter 13: Just another day at Hogwarts

2nd September 1994

The storm had blown itself out by the following morning. However, the ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy, heavy clouds of pewter grey swirled overhead as Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione examined their new timetables at breakfast. A few seats along, Fred complained to George and Lyas (who George was still ignoring) about the age barrier and tried to figure out ways to combat it.

"Today's not bad … outside all morning," said Ron, who was running his finger down his timetable, "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, and Care of Magical Creatures … damn it, we are still with the Slytherins …."

"I am interested to see how the new Blacks are in class. Will they be like Uncle Sirius or like Lucius Malfoy?" Neville whispered conspiratorially as Quillian Black took a seat next to Lyas at the Gryffindor table.

"Who knows, no one knows anything about them, they must be Uncle Regulus and Uncle Rigel's kids. I didn't know they existed before last night." Harry replied taking some toast of his own.

"Then Double Divination this afternoon," Ron groaned, looking down, ignoring Neville completely. Ron was well knows to hate Divination and it was his least favourite subject, apart from potions.

Harry was about to agree in dismay until he saw that he had double Arithmancy instead; his dismay deepened. Arithmancy was hard from what he saw of Hermione's notes and he was coming into the subject a year late, and with the expectation that he could do it.

"You should have picked something else or dropped it then, shouldn't you?" said Hermione briskly, buttering herself some toast, "Then you'd be doing something sensible like Arithmancy like Harry and myself."

"You're eating again, I notice." Ron shot back, watching Hermione add liberal amounts of jam to her buttered toast.

"I find there are more effective ways to go about house-elf rights."

"I could have told you that," Ron muttered into his own toast, and Harry bit back a laugh, at least this is familiar.

There was a sudden rustling noise above the, and a hundred owls came soaring through the open windows, carrying the morning mail. Instinctively Harry looked up and was surprised to find Hedwig coming to him. Errol came in for the Weasley's crash landing in Ron's bacon sandwich, which made Ron very annoyed.

Harry focused on Hedwig, who landing softly on his shoulder, and Harry took the white envelope from her and opened it.

Before I start, if this is not Harry James Potter, it will blow up in your face within 5 seconds. If I wasn't confused and the correct owl went with the correct letter, then, Hi Harry. Please read this in private or make sure no one else is reading it with you.

Harry looked around him and saw all of his friends preoccupied with their owl letters or their breakfast.

By now, you'll know about the Black cousins. Try and be nice to them; they may come across as stand-offish but try with them, please, for Uncle Sirius. They are coming from a hard situation, and know no one. Speaking of Uncle Sirius, he is beside his mind about the public return of his brothers, nieces, and nephews. Please write to him about how your getting on, he would love to hear from you (but don't tell him I sent you).

I also know that you may be feeling overwhelmed, but Harry, you can do this; I believe in you. Please don't try anything stupid with this tournament, I'm pretty fond of all my family members, and that includes you. I know you are underage, but I am putting nothing past you.

Your mother wants to speak to you in her chambers tonight, so please make sure you go after dinner. I believe the potions offices will look very different without your Uncle Severus' things in them, he always knew how to make everything look gloomy.

Also, Ron will be called to the headmaster's office after classes today or tomorrow, your mum will explain it all when you speak to her.

Remember that I'm always here for you, and I know we aren't the closest, but please come and talk to me if you need to or just to catch up. And don't forget about your Uncles; they will be mad if you fail to catch up with them.

I love you, son,

Your father.

Harry noticed all the veiled messages within the letter, reminding Harry about the world he was in. Harry had longed his whole life for this sort of letter from a parent, and having it in his hands was overwhelming. That paired with his mother being just up the hall sat talking to Remus and Severus was a lot to deal with. Especially when he had to keep it all hidden. He suddenly felt eyes on him and looked up to see his sister give him an encouraging nod and smile. Maybe he wasn't so alone after all.

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Herbology in greenhouse 3 was the first class of the year for the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff fourth years. Harry was paired with Hermione as Professor Sprout showed them the ugliest plants he'd ever seen. Indeed they looked less like plants than thick Black giant slugs, protruding vertically out of the soil. Each was squirming slightly and had a number of large shiny swellings upon it, which appeared to be full of liquid.

"Bubotubers," Professor Sprout told them briskly. "They need squeezing. You will collect the pus –"

"The what?" said Ron, sounding revolted.

"Pus, Weasley, pus," said Professor Sprout, "and it's extremely valuable, so don't waste it. You will collect the pus, I say, in these bottles. Wear your dragon-hide gloves; it can do funny things to the skin when undiluted, Bubotuber pus."

Squeezing the Bubotuber's was disgusting but oddly satisfying. As each swelling was popped, a large amount of thick yellowish-green liquid burst forth, which smelled strongly of petrol. They caught it in the bottles, Professor Sprout had indicated. By the end of the lesson, they had collected several pints.

"That'll keep Madam Pomfrey happy," said Professor Sprout, stoppering the last bottles with a cork. "An excellent remedy for the more stubborn forms of acne, Bubotuber pus. Should stop students resorting to desperate measures to rid themselves of pimples."

"Like poor Eloise Midgen," said Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff, in a hushed voice, "she tried to curse hers off."

At this point, Harry tuned out the conversation until the bell rang, signaling the end of class.

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Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville walked down to Hagrid's Hut for their Care of Magical Creatures. It turned out that they were dealing with Blast-Ended Skrewts, that only Neville seemed excited about. Harry found this lesson incredibly weird. For one, Draco wasn't there, seconf Pansy wasn't a Slytherin but a Gryffindor that actually seemed to like Hagrid, and third Seamus was the one being mean and a general nuisance. Byron hung back, saying nothing, just doing the work quietly and without comment, and occasionally laughed with Lisa Turpin, the only one he didn't flat out ignore. The Blast-ended Skrewts looked like deformed, shell-less lobsters, horribly pale and slimy-looking, with legs sticking out in very odd places and no visible heads. There were about a hundred of them in each crate about six inches long, bumping and climbing blindly over each other. They also, unfortunately, gave out a potent smell of rotting fish. Every now and then, sparks would fly out of the end of Skrewt, and with a small but it would be propelled several inches forwards.

Even Neville was put off by the smell. Still, he didn't complain, unlike Lavender and Pavarti who were now Slytherin's (although they didn't act much different when they were Gryffindors).

"Well, I can certainly see why we are keeping them alive,' said Seamus sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

"Just because they are not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione Snapped, "Dragon's blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"

Harry, Ron, and Neville started to grin before Lavender retorted, "Your brother Charlie would, wouldn't he Weasley? Oh no, sorry, turns out he hates you all anyway."

Ron started to go red and was ready to say something back when one of the Skwerts fired directly at Lavender, causing her skin to burn. This directed the attention away from Ron, allowing him to calm down. Hagrid signaled the end of the lesson, and on the way back up to the castle, Hermione whispered to Harry, "Good job in directing the Skewt."

Harry grinned at her in thanks.

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After Lunch, where Hermione disappeared to the library for most of it, Harry headed down to the Arithmancy room, meeting Hermione outside. He had no idea how he would get through this, especially since he is coming into the second year of his study of it, and he hadn't had any knowledge at all.

Thankfully Professor Vector reviewed the basics taught in the previous year, and Harry found he actually had the aptitude for it.

During dinner, Ron was called to Dumbledore's office. He opted to take Neville with him, which initially hurt Harry before he remembered his meeting with his mother.

Professor Potter's office was in the same place Snape's (or Uncle Sev's) office was in the other world, but it couldn't look more different if it tried. It waswas cosy and warm but not too hot. She was sat behind her desk but stood up when Harry walked in.

"Ah, Harry, good to see you. Come on, let's go into my quarters." Harry never thought he'd be in the private quarters of the potions office, but here he was. The quarters were cosy and warm with a fire in the grate. "How has your first day been?"

"Are the wards up?"

"Ah, I nearly forgot!" his mother exclaimed, waving her wand to erect the wards. "They are now."

"It was alright, I guess, weird at times." Harry then went on to explain his lesson with Hagrid and the Slytherins.

"Lavender, Pavarti, and Seamus were Gryffindors in your world?" She questioned, disbelief clouding her voice.

"Yep, it was weird seeing them be so mean to us. I mean, Lavender always was mean to Hagrid but not us."

They talked easily for a while longer before Harry mentioned that Ron had been called to the headmaster's office.

"Ah, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. It seems Charlie Weasley is coming to Hogwarts as a dragon trainer."

"I don't see what the big deal is?" Harry said, confused.

"You forget that in this world, he is known as a supporter to the death eaters."

"You say known?"

"Well caught. Charlie is, in fact, a spy for an organisation called the order of the phoenix. One that was made when I was in Hogwarts. Although Voldemort is no longer a threat, his Death Eaters are, and we decided to keep the organisation running. Charlie is a member and sacrificed his relationship with his family for such a cause."

"Does Ron know?" His mum shook her head, "Why are you telling me then?"

"Because Charlie will be at Hogwarts in a few months,"

Harry interrupted her, "Wait, why is a dragon trainer coming to Hogwarts?"

"Don't interrupt me, Harry. It is rude. He is coming as one of many different trainers on hand just in case a task is Dragon related. Anyway, he is coming to Hogwarts, and he will need to speak to you privately, and contrary to popular belief, you can trust him and what he tells you. He will contact you through Uncle Sev, and when he does, you'll need this to meet him." Lily turned around and picked up a very familiar item that Harry had not seen since he fell into this world.

"The invisibility cloak." Harry breathed, taking it from her, the familiar silkiness fell through his fingers in comfort. "I didn't think I'd see this thing in this world."

"You had access to the cloak?" She asked, confusion clouding her face.

Harry nodded, "Dumbledore gave it to me the first year, although just left it by my bed without a note. I know his handwriting anywhere, though."

"Please don't be stupid with it, Harry, and keep it a secret, you can tell your friends but not your siblings. They will be mad I gave it to you and not them."

"Will you want it back afterward?"

"Depends on how you are with it. If it's a complete disaster, yes, you can keep it if you are responsible. And as you know it exists, I do have the Mauarders map and do check it often."

Harry sighed, "I'm going to miss having that."

"We are in an interesting situation Harry. Because I haven't raised you, I've raised a boy that is parallel to you, but you are way more independent, are more streetwise, you have been through a lot. And it's clear that you are used to going it alone, but Harry, you don't have to here. You have me; you have your family. I know you are used to your friends being everything to you, but you have other people who adore you."

Once Harry left she returned to her office to do some paperwork.

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Authors note: I am going to do a double upload today, this chapter and another one that is set at the same time, but you'll understand when you read it. Thank you for all the support I have had for this story. I have two reviews I want to address: the first was recommending me to read another story with a similar premise, implying that I had copied them. The idea for this story was all my own, but you will find with fan fiction and other fantasy novels, that the same ideas get repeated in a different way. Saying that, I am not saying I am the first person to write about an alternate reality, just like there are many stories and the marriage law for example, but equally I am not in any way copying another story. The recommendation I hadn't even seen before I wrote my story, but it is clear that they are two very different fics. The second review I didn't understand (which could be me being stupid) but if you are that reviewer please email me. It was talking about me not sticking to our real life laws. But one, I am not a lawyer and everything I write is AU, so I can't be expected to know everything about law, and I am British not America. Two, this is a fic, it's not historical fact, so if I get it wrong, please tell me but understand I'm a British Psychology Graduate who loves writing and I will get stuff wrong. But saying all that, I didn't mention in that chapter anything about wills (which is what I think the review is about, in fact I don't think I mention them at all in this fic so far). So anyway, please clarify with me so I can change it.

Thanks for sticking with me. Much love to you, Abs xx