What If? By Spunky
Summary: What would have happened if Hagrid had given Harry to Sirius that fateful Halloween night? Misunderstandings, pranks and a very mad Hermione.
Disclaimer: If Harry Potter was mine, would I be writing Fanfiction? None of this belongs to me so everyone else can battle it out arguing that it's theirs. Let me know who wins.
Author's Note: Let it be known that the characters in this story are alternate universe characters. They will behave differently then they do in the books because they have lived their lives differently. However if they act differently, reasons will be give for their change in behavior. They are not Out of Character (OOC) in this story because the situation is different. I have done my best to make the behavior changes realistic. Everything up to when the Potters are killed is the same as is described in the books.
I solemnly swear I am up to no good!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was ten years later and the last day of fourth grade for Hermione Granger. She was eagerly awaiting the summer courses she was planning to take. "Advanced Calculus" had an excellent reputation for being a thrilling class, also "An In-depth Study of Earthworms" looked exciting. She had already memorized the textbooks and answered all the questions. She only hoped it would be enough. She didn't want to fall behind.
Next to her sat her rulebreaking brother. Mrs. Snyder had insisted on seating the class in alphabetical order, much to Hermione's dismay. Chad was always distracting her and breaking her concentration. Because of him she had only gotten a 99.9% on her last test. Her lowest grade ever. Needless to say, she had gone home and studied for six hours.
Speaking of her brother, it looked like he was about to get himself into more trouble. Hermione watched as Chad reached into his bookbag and took out what looked like a peanut butter jar. Chad unscrewed the lid and reached inside and took something out of the jar.
"Chad Granger!" Hermione whispered, "Don't you dare do anything or- or- I'll tell on you!"
Chad just smiled and continued with his mischief making. He reached in front of himself and set the mysterious object on the girl in front of his back, Sylvia Addington. Sylvia had black curly hair and was known for being very stuck up. Hermione watched as Chad counted to himself,
"3..." Chad whispered.
"Don't even think about it! Mum told you she wouldn't ignore it if you caused any more trouble!"
"2..."
"I'm warning you Chad!"
"1..." Chad's lips curled into a mischievous grin.
"Chad! Stop it!"
Chad frowned. As of yet, Sylvia had not noticed the object in her hair, so Chad began counting down through fractions. "1/2..."
"Miss Granger!" exclaimed the teacher, shocked. "Are you talking during a lesson?"
"1/4th..."
"No Mrs. Snyder. I mean, yes Mrs. Snyder." Hermione hurried to explain herself. "But, it's not my fault. You see-" Hermione glanced sideways at Chad.
"1/8th..."
"I never thought I'd see the day, Miss Granger, when you of all people would interrupt my class."
"1/16th..."
"But I can explain! You see-"
"1/32nd..."
"See me after class Miss Granger. I am sure you have a reasonable excuse, however I do not wish to waist any more class time so if the class would please turn to page 357 we will begin reading."
"1/64th..."
There was rustling as the fifth graders hurried to open their texts.Hermione opened hers as well but she kept glancing over at Chad and Sylvia.
"1/128th..."
It was then that the thing jumped down from Sylvia's hair and onto the desk in front of her.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Several things happened at once. The class whipped around to see who had screamed. Sylvia flew up like she had sat on a firecracker and began to run around the room screaming Apocalypse. Mrs. Snyder, ran after Sylvia trying to calm her down, the whole while tripping over her 2-inch, thin, high healed shoes and a long, tight, and gray skirt.
"What's going on?"
"Who screamed?"
The scream had attracted other teachers and the doorway began to fill. The teachers that arrived took one look at Mrs. Snyder chasing Sylvia and entered the classroom to try to help calm everyone down. The classroom quickly filled with curious teachers and students, who had heard the scream and run to help. Soon each person had approximately a square foot of ground to call their own.
Everything would have turned out all right if only Hermione's third grade teacher, Mrs. Peterson, had not climbed upon Sylvia's desk for space. The desk, being a good thirty-five years old, gave way and Mrs. Peterson fell. She was caught by Mr. Kemper, the physical education teacher. Mr. Kemper tripped on the remains of the desk sending Mrs. Peterson flying into the open paint supplies that were going to be used for a project later that day. After a moment of shock, the paint splattered Mrs. Peterson began tearing after Sylvia and Mrs. Snyder (whom she must have thought responsible for the mess), knocking down the students and teachers in her path, until everyone in the entire room had been sent to the floor.
Someone in another part of the building must have thought that someone had caught on fire because at that moment the fire alarm went off. The people who had just arrived tried to hurry back out the door and to their classrooms to evacuate the classes but the room was so packed and the door was so small that it took a good eight minutes to evacuate the classroom. By that time the firefighters had arrived at the school and they rushed inside to put out the nonexistent fire only to be met by a crazed, painted, Mrs. Peterson who startled them so much that the fire hose they had been carrying was accidentally turned on and drenched the hallway.
Meanwhile Hermione, who had evacuated quickly like she was supposed to, stood quietly in line outside of the school waiting to be counted for attendance, but she was about the only one doing so. The two kids in front of her were talking excitedly, and the two kids who were suppose to be behind her were talking to some kids in Mr. Perry's fifth grade class.
"What do you think it was?"
"It's got to be a real fire. They wouldn't have a fire drill on the last day of school."
"I heard that there are blood sucking squirrels in the school!"
Chad was- where was Chad? Then Hermione spotted him. He was in the process of scaling the side of the school. In his mouth was a stick that she had often seen him carrying around. He was never obvious with it but weird things always seemed to happen when he had that stick. Nothing good happened either. Chad reached the top of the school and raised the stick above his head. Suddenly it started snowing. In June. Everyone gawked at the snow for a minute or so, then Chad raised the stick above his head again and the snow stopped. Hermione stared at him dumbstruck. She was certain that she was the only one who had seen Chad start and stop the snow. She stared as he stuck the piece of wood back into his pocket and scaled back down the building. One thing was certain. Her brother was stranger than anyone gave him credit for.
Just as Chad rejoined the line of students that Hermione was apart of, Mrs. Snyder, who was still trying to calm down Sylvia, walked past. Hermione heard a snatch of what Sylvia was saying to Mrs. Snyder and the four words her ear intercepted were enough to make her turn green.
"It was a frog!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry dashed off the bus, then turned back and gave a final bow to his peers who were watching through the window. Hermione followed closely behind, berating him about something to do with a frog. It had been the last day of school and he had gone out with a bang. That summer Harry was turning eleven so Harry assumed that he would be going to Hogwarts hereafter. Sirius had warned him that since no one knew where they were it was unlikely that Harry would start at Hogwarts right away, but what did Sirius know?
Mum was waiting at the door for them. "How was your last day of fourth grade?" she asked.
"Oh, it was great!" Harry replied.
"You didn't get into any trouble did you?" Asked Mum, "I warned you this morning that if you pulled another prank like the one last week..." Mum trailed off.
Harry was about to open his mouth to say that he had been a perfect little angel but Hermione was quicker. "He put a frog on Sylvia's back and the firefighters came because someone thought Sylvia had caught on fire and pulled the alarm, and during all the commotion Mrs. Peterson got pushed into the open art supplies." She said in a superior tone.
"Chad, is this true?" Mum asked.
Oh, well, thought Harry. I might as well milk it for all it's worth now. "Ma'm, yes ma'm." he replied in a solder-like tone while bring his hand up to his head as though he was saluting her.
Mum sighed but there was a slight smile on her face that she was attempting to hide. "I don't
know what on earth to do with you. You're incurable. Go head on upstairs and put your backpack away then come back downstairs. I've got brownies in the oven."
Harry clunked up the stairs calling for Sirius. "Orian!" he called, "I'm home!"
Sirius's Anamagus form came skidding into Harry's bedroom and hopped up on his bed. There was a pop and Harry's Godfather was standing in front of him.
"How was your last day of school Harry?" Sirius asked with a grin.
"Two words." Replied Harry with a smile, "Hermione is furious."
"That's three words."
"So?" Harry shrugged.
"And just what did you do to make Miss Hermione so mad, Mr. Potter?" Sirius asked in a fake reporter tone and holding an imaginary microphone in front of Harry.
"Me?" Said Harry playing along, "When have I ever done anything make anyone mad? I'm a perfect little angel. Everyone knows that."
The two maunders broke into a fit of laughter.
Mum called from downstairs, "Chad! Brownies are ready!"
"Come on!" Said Harry, "Let's get some brownies. I'll slip you some under the table."
"Race you!" Said Sirius. And with a pop Sirius turned into Orian and raced downstairs with Harry at his heals.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Professor McGonagall climbed the stairs of Hogwarts to the top of the highest tower. The hallway was filled with cobwebs as no one ever used the stairway, save herself. Once a year she climbed the stairs to the door with the Hogwarts crest on it.
Mivera whispered the password and the door swung open to reveal a bulky book. The book was ages old and as she opened it to the appropriate page large amounts of dust rose into the air. In the pages of the book were written the new students for the year. She took out a quill and began to copy the names down. Some she knew but some she didn't. She continued to copy down the names until she came to one in the P's. Potter.
Harry James Potter.
Mivera had forgotten that this was the year James and Lily Potter's son was to start at Hogwarts. The only problem was no one knew where he was. Sirius Black was raising him somewhere. It had been made clear many years before that Sirius had not been the Potters secret keeper. Peter Pettigrew had been the one who betrayed them. But no one could find Sirius to tell him that he could live without fear in the Wizarding world.
Hogwarts would be a student short this year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Grangers were sitting down to dinner a few days later. Hermione was going on about the class that she had started that day, something about worms. Or was it snails? Harry wasn't paying attention. Who cared about it anyway? He buttered his croissant and bit into it.
"As I was saying," said Hermione, "The earthworm is an extremely interesting animal. Did you know that if you cut it in half it will continue to live as two smaller worms? Also, much like the flower, the earthworm has both the male and female parts for reproduction but it still takes two earthworms to reproduce. I find that fascinating."
"Oh, yes." Harry replied sarcastically. "That's the most exciting thing I've heard all week."
"You just don't appreciate the usefulness of Biology." Hermione retorted.
"Of course I do." Harry said reasonably, "I just don't see what's so exciting about worms. I mean, they're slimy, round, wiggly little things that birds like to eat and taste like chicken."
"Yuck! Chad Granger that is repulsive! I'm eating!" Hermione was turning a slight shade of green.
Harry kept going, just a little more and Hermione would be sufficiently grossed out.
"Or you know what really tastes good is goldfish. All you do is-" But Harry couldn't continue because Hemione jumped out of her chair and ran from the room. Harry sat back in his chair and smiled.
Another job well done. It was almost too easy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione hurried out of the dining room and to her bedroom. Chad was so disgusting! Absolutely sickening! Where he got his pranks was beyond her. Her parents never encouraged anything like that. Never.
Hermione plopped down on her bed, laying her head on her pillow. 'Wait a second.' Hermione thought. 'My pillow.' Hermione reached up behind her and felt something creamy and smooth laying on her pillow and covering her hair. She slowly turned around and sure enough there was shaving cream covering her entire pillow from corner to corner. There was a slight imprint where she had laid her head a moment before. Hermione hurried over to the mirror to checked the back of her head. Her bushy hair was covered in shaving cream.
Hermione opened her mouth and yelled, "CHAD GRANGER YOU ARE AN INSUFFERABLE PEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Chad dashed into her room, followed closely by Hermione's parents.
"Which trap did you set off?" Chad eagerly.
Hermione's jaw dropped. "Which trap did I set off? WHICH trap? HOW MANY TRAPS ARE THERE?" Hermione was furious. She rarely let Chad's pranks get to her but she was defiantly mad now.
"Well," Chad said, ticking each item off on his finger as he thought of it, "There's the trick chair, the shaving cream on your pillow, the cockroach in your desk. The missing lightbulb in your closet, the fake bugs in your shoes, and I think that's about it. No, wait. Didn't you notice your books are missing?"
"Chad," Hermione said, carefully separating each word. "Get, your, pranks, out, of, my, room, right, now, and, get, back, my, books!"
"Well," Chad thought about it, "All right, although I have to say I didn't do too bad for a half hours work."
Hermione turned to her parents, "Do something with him!" she pleaded.
Hermione's father was about to open his mouth to say something to Chad when an owl flew in Hermione's window. It was a large tawny owl. The Granger family watched, stunned, as the owl landed on the bed and stuck its leg out to Hermione showing her a piece of paper tied to its leg. Hermione quickly untied the piece of paper from the owl's leg and the owl flew away in the sky. Hermione looked down at the piece of paper and was suprised to discover that it was not just a Piece of paper, but a letter. More specifically a letter addressed to her. The paper of the envelope was an odd type of yellowish parchment and the letter was addressed in green ink. Hermione tore the letter open and looked at the enclosed piece of parchment. It read:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Dupreme Mugwump, International Canfed. Of Wizards)
Dear Miss Granger,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Since you are muggle-born, I will be arriving to explain the Wizarding World to you tommrow.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Hermione gasped and looked up to her parents. "It's a letter to me." she exclaimed, "It says I've been accepted to a Wizarding school called Hogwarts! I don't believe it! Do you think it's real?"
Hermione's dad came up and looked over the letter. "Hermione, honey, I think this is someone's idea of a joke. I really don't think-"
"Can't we at least try?" Hermione interrupted, "The letter says they are sending someone tommrow to explain everything. This sounds like such an exciting learning opportunity! A whole new experience!"
"Hermione-"
"Please Dad!?!?"
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try."
"Thank you Dad! Oh my! This is so exciting! I wonder what you learn in a magical school."
Hermione's mother said, "Well, congratulations, Hermione. I hope this is true." Hermione watched as her mother's eyes trailed over to Chad who was now staring slack-jawed at her.
"Well," Mother asked, "Aren't you going to congratulate your sister?"
Chad just scowled.
"Chad." Mother reprimanded.
"Congratulations Hermione." Chad mumbled, and he hurried out of the room.
Hermione looked around and beamed. She was going to Wizarding school.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sirius the dog was laying on Harry's bed upstairs in the Granger house when Harry fumed in. Sirius quickly changed into his human form.
"Guess what?" Harry spat, "Little Miss 'Muggle' Hermione just got a Hogwarts letter."
"She did?" Sirius responded good natured, "Good for her." When Harry didn't respond he asked unsurely, "It is good for her, right?"
"Oh, it's great for her. She's thrilled. 'An exciting learning experience' is what she's calling it. The problem is, there's only one owl and one letter and they were both for her."
"Uh-oh."
Harry plopped down in a faded blue overstuffed chair in the corner of his room. "I wish I could go to Hogwarts. I mean, all those stories you told me about when you went there makes it sound brilliant."
Sirius paused a moment to reflect on the current problem. First of all, Harry needed to go to Hogwarts. Sirius had tried to teach Harry as much as he could but there were some things that Harry couldn't learn with just a wand, like Potions and how to fly. Besides there was the whole experience of Hogwarts. The Quiddich games, being around other wizards your own age, visiting Hogsmeade. Oh, why hadn't he gone straight to Dumbledore and told him that Peter had been Lily and James's Secret Keeper? Or better yet, why couldn't he have been their Secret Keeper. He should never suggested Peter. Everything seemed to backfire on him. Sirius wished that for once everything would be simple but it didn't look like that was going to happen.
" Sirius?" Harry broke into Sirius's train of thoughts.
"Yes Harry."
"What's going to happen? Is there anyway I can go to Hogwarts?"
Sirius sighed "I don't know Harry. I don't know."