Author Notes
I just wanted to say thank you for the reviews, favourites and followers I've gotten for this story. This support is what keeps me writing.
Reviews
Alan
Thunderbirds sound awesome. They are magically linked to the air as phoenixes are creatures of fire. They might be equal in power just different.
plums
Tonks isn't on the list of companions and I don't want to drift too far from the CYOA setup this early in the series.
This story is going to be a long one so there's no rush for the MC to become stronger. But I do have a habit of waffling on about unimportant things for that I can only apologise and suggest that you stop reading my stories.
kasukager
He's the angel of a trickster god he has to spend some of his time causing chaos. And I think you mean hypocritical, not hypothetical unless you mean he's working on theory? Everyone's a hypocrite at times.
ZhaWarudo
The only limit to his shapeshifting is that he has to see the living creature in person before he takes its form. So there's no size limit. He could become a living starship if he sees one.
Winning matters. Prize money if nothing else. I skipped over the contest because it doesn't actually matter to the story.
Mugen-Muse
Maintaining a friendship with Tonks is however possible.
Dumbledore doesn't need to fall just be weakened enough that his plans don't screw up the MC's plans. The book was a good first step I just had it brought out earlier because everything was going too smoothly for the MC.
That was not how he plans to deal with Ron. As you'll see in this chapter.
Crossworlds 1 - Harry Potter
Part 19
Hogwarts Express. On Route To Hogsmede.
"Just be polite and give short answers to any questions" I advised Harry Potter as we made our way to Slughorn's compartment "The teacher we're about to meet is a friendly sort, and he runs a sort of club for students that he thinks will go far. He won't be expecting much from you since you haven't even started school yet".
The Chosen One did not look happy and I figured that I knew why.
"Your fame is just something you're going to have to learn to deal with," I told the young wizard "People at school will lose interest in time and you'll find people who can see past it, but for now you don't have a choice but to grin and bear it".
Potter would one day have to take control of his life and deal with his fame or it would be used against him as it was in the books. If I did decide to help him with that then I had some ideas already. That was something to discuss when he was older.
I gently knocked on the door to Slughorn's compartment and I waited until someone invited us before I opened the door. I let Potter go in first before I followed, closing the door behind me.
"Ah, Mr Potter and Mr Hiddleston" greeted the old and also the new potion's master of the school "I'm glad you could join us".
Slughorn had either used his own magical powers to expand the insides of the carriage without affecting the outside or someone had done it for him. I knew this because there was now a large and fancy looking table here, one too big for a compartment, along with many comfortable looking chairs and even an entire crystal chandelier suspended above our heads, the sight of which made me want to grind my teeth.
The wand wavers possessed the ability to alter reality as they pleased and what did they do with it? They used it to show off. To impress people. They used it to make parties and other social gatherings more comfortable.
In contrast, I always hid my true power and worked to expand it. These people were content in their limited mastery of magic and ignorant of how fragile their world really could be.
Despite this, I didn't really dislike Slughorn as he was simply making the best of his situation and trying to ensure himself a comfortable lifestyle. I figured that if he wanted to he could be Minister for Magic right now, he had the connections, and the ambition, he simply lacked any desire for the role. He saw himself as more of a mentor than a leader.
Truthfully we were somewhat alike in that way as I too planned to groom certain people for potential roles only I cared for more than my own comfort.
Slughorn was already chatting with Potter, acting as if they were long time friends. The young wizard would be the pride of the teacher's collection of important magical people. That I'd been invited to join his club was something that made sense as Tom Hiddleston was becoming more famous all the time and the Professor liked to make contact with students who were related to famous witches and wizards.
Looking around the table I saw that Susan Bones, whose aunt was head of Magical Law Enforcement, sat quite close to Slughorn. Neville Longbottom, whose parents were famous Aurors, was sitting opposite me once I took a seat, but I didn't know anybody else other than Belby. But I assumed that they all had important parents and such.
"Marcus," I said with a nod towards my classmate.
I'd not spoken to my fellow Ravenclaw since the end of the last term and we'd not exactly been close then so I decided not to be overly friendly.
"John" he greeted back
The exchange soon caught the attention of our host.
"Oh so you know Belby?" asked Slughorn.
Indeed I did, and I knew all about his famous Uncle who didn't get along with Marcus's father because of their disagreements on the treatment of werewolves. Marcus' father was in the round them and wipe them out camp from what I'd gathered.
"We're in the same house and year," I said.
Slughorn seemed pleased by this news. Most likely he'd realised that it would be easier to keep track of the two of us if we could be found together in classes or our common room.
"I'm sure you all know about Mr Potter," the teacher said the group "For those of you who don't know the young man who came in with him is John Hiddleston, cousin and adopted child of Tom Hiddleston, who aside from being one of richest wizards in the country is the co-author of Madam Bagshot's new book".
Slughorn was old enough to remember when Albus Dumbledore wasn't the Headmaster, Chief Warlock and defeater of Grindlewald. He was also smart enough to know that Dumbledore was not the source of all wisdom and light in the magical world.
"Word has it that both Tom and John are bachelors" added the Potion's Master "I imagine there are quite a few young witches who wouldn't mind a Hiddleston for a husband".
My arranged marriage didn't require me to stay single and it was informal so no one knew about it outside of the Lovegoods, some magical zoologists and me. Also since it was a verbal agreement it wasn't legally binding something that many a witch would realise. Thank goodness that Tom Hiddleston isn't around much to be bothered by such things and John was protected by Hogwarts most of the time. Being at school put up a barrier between myself and the rest of the Wizarding World.
I figured that soon all the girls at school would know that the heir of one of the supposedly wealthiest wizards in the country was in school with them. I actually didn't know how the contents of my vault measured up to the likes of the Malfoys, as the goblins didn't give out that kind of information, but enough had slipped out to start some interesting rumours.
"We're reasonably well off," I told everyone "It's not like we live in a mansion or anything fancy".
Well, we could do it, It was just that as Tom Hiddleston I'd decided not to. Smaller properties are cheaper to maintain and attract less attention.
Hopefully, none of the witches in the school would try to make any sort of play for the girlfriend position for a year or two. I doubted any of the girls looking to snag a rich husband would try anything until I was older.
However, that might not stop them from trying to make friends with me now so they would be in place later to make a play for the post of girlfriend later on. I simply didn't wish to be distracted by their silly games when I had so much research to be getting on with. Apportation, my combination of Apparition and Portkeys would take years of work.
I pushed those thoughts aside for now and tried to look as if I wasn't concerned by tucking into the food set before me. Slughorn introduced each of us to the other students some of which I might be meeting again should they make it into the Slug Club. I got the feeling that my membership wasn't in question in fact I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to refuse.
Not that I would refuse membership if offered. It would be a good idea for me to start making contacts if I was going to live in this world for most of the next decade. I was going to be wealthy enough not to have to work for a living but I could imagine it being easier to travel around the world if I had people in the Ministry on my side.
"I assume that you're replacing Professor Snape, Sir," I said to Slughorn "My cousin mentioned that you were the Head of Slytherin House as well. Will you be taking up both of your old positions?".
Slughorn seemed pleased that someone had asked.
"Yes after what happened with Servus Snape, who I'm not surprised had a break down given that he was never teacher material, the Headmaster needed a replacement quickly," the old wizard told us "And the governors have started taking more of an active role in staffing. They were quite eager to have me return".
Snape and Dumbledore would know that Snape didn't really get drunk in public and proclaim his allegiance to the Dark Lord, but they couldn't disprove it either, so our now former Potion's Master had to retire from public life. I felt a bit bad about framing him in such a way, but he'd been a threat to my plans and the security of my mind.
For a while, everything was mindless chatter and a good lunch. I didn't mind the food (the pheasant was rather good) but I really found it hard to focus on the discussions. It was clear that Slughorn was picking out those he wished to groom for success that he could benefit from and I should have paid attention to what he was saying since gaining his patron might be important to whatever plans I came up with later but I found it hard to focus on the chatter.
Not that it really mattered. Cortana would remember every word spoken and tell me about it later if I needed to know. I could spend my time going over ideas of what to do if something went wrong with my latest prank. I planned to do something that would really shake up the timeline in order to appease Loki so that I could spend more time studying without the god of mischief getting annoyed with me.
It should be highly amusing.
(Line Break)
Great Hall. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.
"I can't believe you're really going to this" Cortana whispered in my mind.
This prank was well planned out. I'd spoken to the spirits of the Founders more than once over the summer, so I knew all about the magic that made the Sorting Hat work and that combined with my powers should make a fine offering for Loki's amusement.
The first years hadn't arrived yet and wouldn't until we were all seated so once the Deputy Headmistress brought in the Sorting Hat I had a window to act within. I made myself vanish using an illusion that simply convinced people that I wasn't there and then I took out my wand.
After that, I began casting a few spells on the Sorting Hat, spells meant to confuse the enchanted object so that it wouldn't realise that something was wrong with the Sorting until after it was finished.
If questioned the Sorting Hat would know that it had been tampered with, but there's no system in place to re-sort a student, it can't be undone because the Founders tied the Sorting into the very workings of the school. If not for this I'm sure that someone would have tried to dismantle Slytherin House since it has become a breeding ground for dark wizards in recent decades.
There was no way a student could be blamed for this as the magic involved was just too complex and no one would see me messing with the Sorting Hat which was now magically silenced and would be until the Sorting started. I just needed a little more time to cast the correct spells on the magical object.
In theory, I should be able to do this every year, but I'd decided against that as it would increase the chances of me being caught. I'd considered trying to get Ginny Weasly into Ravenclaw for easier access to the diary Horcrux, only that seemed unnecessary since there were other ways.
I'd also considered just silencing the Sorting Hat and putting an illusion over it, only that wouldn't work as the magic of the school responded to the Hat, since it spoke for the Founders whose magic still made this school work.
However, I could control the Hat and didn't need the dark arts to do it as the Founders knew how to control it and Salazar's portrait in the cleansed Locket had been happy to share with me exactly how someone who wasn't a Founder could subvert the Hat using the magic I'd learned. The old serpent liked those who were willing to break the rules as part of a cunning plan.
The method I used would only work on the Sorting Hat because it was programmed, for lack of a better word, to respond to certain magics, as the Founders had been allowed to override the Hat which they had started using towards the end of their lives and before Salazar had left the school. That had happened much later in the wizard's life than many living now would assume.
Before long the Deputy Headmistress entered the hall with the new crop of students and because the Hat had been Confunded it just gt on with its job as if nothing had happened and would do until I chose to override its choices. Which wasn't something I intended to do until certain students were called forth.
I kept my hand hidden as The Sorting began because I would need my wand for such delicate work.
"Abbott, Hannah"
The young witch took her place on the stool and the Hat did its work.
"Hufflepuff!"
"Bones, Susan"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Boot, Trevor"
"Ravenclaw!"
"Brocklehurst, Mandy"
"Ravenclaw!"
"Brown, Lavender"
"Gryffindor!"
"Bulstrode, Millicent"
"Slytherin!"
"Corner, Michael"
"Ravenclaw!"
"Cornfoot, Stephen"
"Ravenclaw!"
This was when I changed one of the Hat's choices.
"Crabbe, Vincent"
"Hufflepuff!"
I hadn't been able to resist, and the unexpected Sorting got a few reactions.
"Davis, Tracey"
"Slytherin!"
"Entwhistle, Kevin"
"Ravenclaw!"
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Finnigan, Seamus"
"Gryffindor!"
"Goldstein, Anthony"
"Ravenclaw!"
"Goyle, Gregory"
"Slytherin!"
No sense in letting Malfoy have both of his minions with him.
"Granger, Hermione"
"Ravenclaw!"
I had to hide my reaction as I'd not intended to break up the Golden Trio. I knew that Granger went into Gryffindor because she wanted to be in the same House as Dumbledore so it seemed possible that she'd heard that the Headmaster wasn't all he was cracked up to be and that must have been enough to tip her into Ravenclaw House.
"Greengrass, Daphne"
"Slytherin!"
"Hopkins, Wayne"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Jones, Megan"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Li, Sue"
"Ravenclaw!"
Longbottom, Neville
"Gryffindor!"
I took note that this batch of students was larger than my own. I really should look into the birth rates of Muggleborns and compare them to those who came from magical families. Muggleborns might be descended from squibs or maybe they popped up more often when fewer people were born to magical families?
"Malfoy, Draco!"
This Sorting was one I'd been looking forward to.
"Hufflepuff!"
The look on the boy's face made me so happy that I planned to use this memory when I began learning the Patronus charm. I'd considered putting him in Gryffindor, but I couldn't be that cruel to Potter.
"Wait until my father hears about this!" he yelled out.
Wow, he actually does yell that in real life.
"Potter, Harry"
I could actually hear him muttering "Not Slytherin" I took pity on the lad since his life had not been an easy one and made sure he'd go where he was supposed to. Godric's House would be very happy to have him.
"Gryffindor!"
"Weasley, Ronald"
This one I had to mess with. Potter would be better off with someone else as a best friend I figured and I could help bring that about. Besides without Granger's overly active work ethic, there was no one to counter Ron's laziness
"Slytherin!"
Weasly began to throw a tantrum demanding to be re-sorted yet the Deputy Headmistress remained firm since she knew that wasn't how the Sorting worked. I figured Neville Longbottom could easily replace Ron as Harry's friend who knows about Pureblood stuff. I wondered who would be their third? No doubt Fate would sort it out.
"You will either join your house or I will call your parents. They will have to come to pick you up and take you home" warned the strict teacher "It's Slytherin or you don't attend Hogwarts".
Weasly actually refused to sit at the snake table and so he was made to go wait back in the entrance to the Great Hall. Even Draco had only stomped his feet as he made his way over to the Hufflepuff table.
Zabini, Blaise, managed to get Sorted despite Weasly having a hissy fit.
"Slytherin!"
Once that was handled and the whispering died down Dumbledore began giving out notices and he introduced Bagshot as the new History of Magic teacher. I was well aware that Quriellmort was already here and wearing his turban so Dumbledore's plan to test Potter seemed to be in place. Assuming that I allowed this to come to pass.
(Line Break)
Great Hall. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.
"Have you heard the news?" I was asked.
I didn't even realise that the question had been directed at me until I sat down at the table and found out that Edward "Eddie" Carmichael had started chatting to me over breakfast as if we were old friends. Perhaps in his mind, we were.
"No, I haven't" I replied.
I didn't need to request any further information as another Ravenclaw I was familiar with freely offered it.
"Two of the new students have already gone home" Marcus let me know "The youngest Weasly never even made it down into the Snake Pit and I heard that Dragon Malfoy got pulled out by his parents after one night in the Badger's Burrow".
Snake Pit is what some students called the Slytherin dorms and Badger's Burrow was the Hufflepuff's part of the castle, the Gryffindors lived in the Lion's Den. I'd have to get Ravenclaws to start calling our tower The Eyrie as the Bird's Nest, Bird's Cage or The Aviary simply wasn't grand enough.
"I guess a dragon was too big for the Burrow," remarked Eddie.
Hermione Granger had to speak out of turn.
"It's Draco Malfoy, not Dragon Malfoy" she corrected.
I sighed and did my best to hide my frustration at the interruption.
"Draco is another word for Dragon," I told her "It comes from the Greek word drákōn, which means serpent or dragon".
With that name, it's not surprising he should have gone into Salazar's house and I knew that the Black family, of which Draco's mother was a member, liked to name children after stars and constellations.
Given that the Weasly family lived in a house called The Burrow you think they'd be fine with being Hufflepuffs. Poor Ron would have to be homeschooled since I doubted that his family could afford to send him elsewhere.
"Malfoy will be on his way to Drumstrang soon enough I bet," I said to my classmates.
Eddie and Marcus looked confused by what seemed to be a leap of logic. I couldn't be certain I was right, but I would put money on it.
"The Malfoys are a dark family and Drumstrang actually teaches the dark arts" I explained to my classmates, "They don't accept Muggleborns there so I can see Lucius Malfoy sending off his spawn to the school to keep him away from the common people".
Draco mentions in the books that he would have gone to Drumstrang if it hadn't been so far away and there's a lot of prestige involved in going to one of the better magical schools in the world. There are only about 11 magical schools worldwide that are even worth knowing about and while Draco could be homeschooled I doubted that his parents wanted him around that much.
"Something was up with that Sorting," said Belby "I heard that the Hat has broken down".
No doubt the staff knew that someone had tampered with the Hat and if anyone was going to get the blame it would be the guy with Voldemort on the back of his head.
"Your cousin's book is right, this place really has gone downhill since Dumbledore took over" mentioned Eddie.
At this point, Granger couldn't keep her mouth shut.
"Dumbledore is a great Headmaster!" she declared.
She had too much faith in authority figures despite her having been placed in Ravenclaw's house being proof that she'd didn't have total faith in Dumbledore. Unlike her canon counterpart.
"Okay prove it" I demanded "My cousin has evidence of what he says. Present some evidence of your own, find proof that Dumbledore has improved the school in some way, or keep your opinions to yourself".
She wisely kept her mouth shut.
"Mudbloods" I heard Belby mutter.
Despite my self-control, I couldn't help glaring at him.
"I used to be a Muggleborn" I pointed out "Is that why you ignored me?".
He stammered for an answer and since I'd lost my appetite I decided to go for a walk before classes started. Belby was a product of his upbringing and too young to fully understand that he was wrong, but that didn't mean I had to sit around and listen to him parrot his father's words.
(Line Break)
The Library. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy.
I found the Boy-Who-Lived hiding behind a stack of books while sitting at a table. He was alone and did not look at all happy. I didn't recall him being much of a reader in the books/show, but in this timeline, he didn't have Ron around to distract him from his work.
"Doing okay Larry Trotter?" I asked.
Harry Potter looked up at me and looked confused. We'd met before so he knew that I knew his name.
"My name's not Larry Trotter," he said.
I knew that. I was attempting to be funny.
"Of course, I know your name," I told him "I just figured that you're sick of people whispering stuff like "That's Harry Potter' and pointing at you, so I thought I'd give you a break and not use your real name".
He didn't get why this would be amusing and it wasn't the best effort I'd admit.
"Anyway Gary you didn't answer my question" I reminded him "How are you doing? I know this place can be overwhelming".
He sighed.
"People keep following me around and talking behind my back" he complained "I haven't made any friends. It's not fair that everyone expects me to be this great wizard when I don't know anything".
Poor lad. Perhaps he could do with a bit of mentoring.
"If you need help with your school work I do know a place that we can use to study without interruption," I told him.
I would have spoken more on the subject, but I got interrupted.
"How did you stop being a Muggleborn?" Hermione Granger demanded to know "You're either a Muggleborn or you're not".
What a rude little girl. Here I was in the library clearly in conversation with someone and she just comes over.
"My life isn't any of your business" I stated.
With that, I walked deeper into the maze that was Hogwart's library in the hopes that either she'd lose track of me or be transported somewhere far away via the use of L-space which as any Pratchett fan knows can only be accessed when you are surrounded by this many books.
As for Potter I could track him on my map and talk to him later. I planned to take him to the Room of Requirement and began training him in the spells first years needed to know so that he'd soon get ahead of his peers. It wouldn't be a bad idea for me to go over the material again and I planned to train Luna next year so it would be good to get some teaching practice in.
Also, it wouldn't hurt if the Chosen One thought we were friends as then he was unlikely to become a threat to me. I didn't want Dumbledore thinking that we were friends so we would have to meet in secret.
"Don't walk away from me" she insisted "Answer my question".
I stopped and turned to face her. Which had the effect of reminding her that I was older and bigger than her. Hiking over the summer both as John and Tom Hiddleston had done me a lot of good.
"You are an ill-mannered little girl" I stated "You can't just go around trying to force information out of people who don't know you. You need to be polite. Introduce yourself first and then request what it is you want to know".
She found her courage soon enough and huffed.
"I'll tell Professor Flitwick you were mean to me" she threatened.
That was amusing.
"Then I'll tell him that you were following me around and pestering me for personal information that you only know exists because you were eavesdropping over breakfast. You'll end up in detention".
She clearly wasn't used to people using her own methods against her. She expected the teachers to be on her side. The idea that the teachers would be on someone's side worked to throw her off balance. She couldn't even formulate a proper response. She just stuttered and stormed off. That seemed to be a habit of her year group. I was sure that when mine had arrived at this school we'd been more mature.
I moved on in search of any books on magical travel, something I needed as my knowledge of Portkeys was rather limited. I could have asked the librarian, but I didn't want her to know exactly why I was looking for books on travel.
As I looked around Harry Potter made another appearance in my life.
"That Hermione girl is scary" mentioned the Boy-Who-Lived.
We were less than a week into term and already I'd made an enemy of a woman who would turn into a powerful witch in a matter of years. Not my best move and at this rate, she'd never be a potential travelling companion, although this was early days, and I might be the one sending her to go cry in the bathroom on Halloween. I best make sure that didn't happen as Harry might not notice her absence if they weren't in the same house.
"All girls are scary," I told him "Best to avoid them".
I'd grown up with two sisters I knew how much of a nightmare they could be.
"Do you know anything about the flying classes?" I was asked.
Given that we had better brooms now flying classes should be easier and Potter had no trouble when on the old crappy school brooms.
"Just listen to Madam Hooch's instructions" I advised "She's taught hundreds of students how to fly properly".
I had a bit more to offer.
"You know I'll be going to tryouts for the school's teams next week you should do the same thing and try to pick up some tips" I suggested "They don't let first years play, but you can learn something by watching".
Since Malfoy had gone that meant no one would mess with Longbottom's Rember Ball, or whatever it was they were called, and Neville shouldn't fall off one of the Oakshafts anyway. Which meant Potter shouldn't end up on his house's team until next year when he could try out like everyone else. Not that this was a bad thing given that Voldemort tries to kill him during his first proper match and Snape wasn't around to save him.
"I don't think I'll like flying" commented Potter.
He didn't have anything to worry about.
"Your father was a good flyer," I told him "He was a Chaser when in school. That's like being on offence in a football team. The Chasers score the goals. He should still have an award in the trophy room if you want to go check it out".
He was gone before I'd realised that the lad was on the move. I'd forgotten how quick children could be when they really wanted to go somewhere.
At least now I could go back to my books. I really did need to find more information on Portkeys.
