FAN FICTION AU AND TIME TRAVEL
Flipped
Summary
Female Harry Potter (Juniper) wins the war but the cost is too much so she performs a ritual and performs dimension travel after much research when she is 24. Her counterpart is Cordelia Faye Black, the daughter of Altair Black and Adelaide Malfoy. Has memories of both the worlds. Lives in France. When Juniper (Harry) seeps into consciousness, she is 14. Born on Beltane. Thus even though she is a girl, she has a high standing among the Blacks. Has gone to Beauxabatons for her first three years. Born on May 1, 1927. Start school in 1938. Goes to Hogwarts in 1942. Meets Tom Riddle. (Romance and power play)
Disclaimer: The characters and the world in the story belong to J.K. Rowling. I am not earning any profit from it.
Note: I have been a fanfiction reader for quite a lot of years before I gave this fic a shot, so if you see any ideas seeping in that I do not openly acknowledge, just let me know and I will add the credits. I have read too many to keep a track of them but I will try my best.
1) The idea of totems belongs to Catsarecool who is writing A Maurader's plan .
2) The basic idea of dimension travel comes from Hollow Thunder, Vital Lightning by Aariya07. You will see quite a few similarities in the first couple of chapters but it diverges after that.
3) Harry was born a girl as Juniper Anastasia Potter. Everything is as it is in canon except for her romances. This is not because I don't read slash or like it. You will see a lot of them in my favorites but because I don't think that I could do justice to that genre and because I want to do this. If you do not like such fics, do not read. Please do not flame. I will welcome criticisms, I know I am not perfect, just don't meaninglessly bash me for nothing.
For your references
"Talk"
"Thought"
"Parseltongue"
Chapter 1: The Eyes Have It.*
Tom's POV
There was an unusual chatter among the Slytherins today. Tom noticed it as he settled on the Slytherin table in Great hall. He had noted the same on the train ride too but he had ignored it in favor of being able to do magic again. Blacks and Malfoy had an air of anticipation around them. He quietly observed that even Longbottom looked gleeful. It was unnerving. Won't his followers tell him if something was to be expected?
He threw Abraxas a questioning look.
"My and Orion's first cousin, Cordelia is transferring from Beauxabatons to Hogwarts, my lord. She will be in our year." He swiftly informed, "We were banned from speaking about it from her father and our family heads up until now. She never took the train."
"And why has that resulted in all you acting so…brazen" Tom trailed off." And why the need for secrecy?"
"She is fairly renowned my lord and well liked among the pureblood circles. She…She will be a sight to behold." Abraxas said carefully.
Tom understood that he wasn't allowed to say beyond that but Tom became contemplative.
Another Black and Malfoy progeny could be useful to the cause,
But he also thought about the other details Abraxas gave. They told so much...and so little.
He was shaken out of his reverie with the shadows dancing behind the high table. His eyes narrowed.
"What house do you think Cordelia will be sorted in?" Tara Rowle began.
"She will be a Ravenclaw, her love for knowledge is astounding." Alphard beamed proudly.
"May be not cousin, She is at times too nice…" Walburga chuckled.
"She seemed like a Hufflepuff to me. What with her quiet demeanor?" Evan Rosier added.
"A Black in Hufflepuff, you jest, Rosier." Lucretia said pompously.
"Cousin Corrie is a Slytherin through and through. The fact that no one here can predict her indicates to that." Orion shook his head at all of them.
"I agree with Orion." Abraxas said, eying all of them, "Cordelia is a Slytherin,"
The sorting of first years had almost come to an end.
"We have a special circumstance this year, a transfer student from Beauxabatons, Please welcome Ms. Cordelia Faye Black. She would be starting her fourth year here." Dumbledore said with his usual twinkle in eyes.
The shadows parted and stepped out the most beautiful creature that Tom had ever laid his eyes on. Her everything was just right, not just right, and perfect, no, beyond perfect. But what drew him in was her eyes, a glowing green like emeralds.
She was elegant. She almost glided across the floor instead of walking. She was far more graceful than any pureblood in Hogwarts, more elegant than even him.
There was great commotion in the Great Hall. The elite purebloods seemed to have recognition but yet they were awed by her. The others too were whispering, giggling, pointing…
She came to the front, curtsied to the Professors and then to the general audience. All her cousins acknowledged her with a tilt of their heads. Then she bowed to the hat and softly asked, "May I?" but it was heard throughout the hall.
The teachers were eating it up. Such manners, such courtesy. Even Dumbledore looked happy with her and he, in general, was a bit careful around Slytherins. She was not a Slytherin yet but tradition dictated that a Black would go to Slytherin just like Lucretia had proclaimed. The others were idiots for even thinking that a well, respected pure-blood heiress from a long line of Slytherins whom everyone respected would be anything but cunning.
The hat looked amused and it inclined its top to say yes. She gently took him in her arms and placed him on top of her head and sat on the stool. She smiled a bit. Tom wondered what the hat said.
"SLYTHERIN" The Hat called out a few seconds later.
She again with great care and gentleness removed the hat from her head and graciously handed him over to Dumbledore and thanked him. Then again curtsied to everyone and glided towards the Slytherin table and came and sat in between Orion and Abraxas.
"I thought you would go to Ravenclaw cousin." Alphard was disappointed.
"Do I sense disappointment there, cousin?" She smirked at him, her voice melodious.
"Of course not, Alphard just does not like the fact that he did not peg you correctly. But he was at least not far off as Evan here, he said you would be a Hufflepuff." Dorea smiled at her.
"Strange..." Her sly smile was intact.
"Ha, told you...Cordelia is a Slytherin through and through…" Orion looked smug.
"Of course, you did cousin. You would say that simply because you could not stand the thought of me being anywhere else." She raised a brow then she threw a quick smile at Abraxas, "Abe, I am sorry I could not make it to the train. You know how Mother worries. She wanted Father to drop me till Hogwarts which he did. But if all is well, I am allowed to take the express with you all at Christmas, which I have been told we are celebrating in Britain this year. I am hoping for a white Christmas." Riddle was drinking in her voice, she did not have the French accent, but there was a strange tingling in his body as she spoke. He noted that the others felt it too but her cousins seemed to be used to it.
"Of course, Corrie. Aunt Adelaide's worry over you does not need any elaboration." Abraxas responded with a same easy smile.
She waved to a few more people at the table. She knew Rosier, Tara, Aimee Parkinson and quite a few others. Renatus Lestrange seemed to have some something against her.
"I am afraid that I don't know you." She addressed him softly and with a tinge of formality just like she addressed the purebloods.
He contemplated about whether he will have to demonstrate his power and show her her place as well after she looked at him in disdain for being a halfblood or mudblood.
"My apologies, I did not mean to offend you." She added just as softly as before. Her voice was music and silky, a tad bit more than his and her bright green orbs did not help the situation.
He shook his head," Apologies from me Ms. Black, I was thinking. I am Tom Riddle." "And here it comes." He thought.
Nothing happened. She gave him an easy smile and proceeded to say," As you perhaps know already, I am Cordelia Faye Black. I remember Oree mentioning you a few times. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise, Miss Black." He returned with a small smile. His mask in place and inside, he was furiously thinking about how in the world she did not call him names? Every pureblood in Slytherin had until they saw him speaking parseltongue.
He threw Abraxas a questioning look. Abraxas shrugged, helplessly.
"She deserves some attention." He decided in his head. He would wait and watch.
Cordelia's POV
Next morning, Cordelia woke up early as was her routine. After everything was done, she looked at the time. Breakfast would begin in a few minutes.
Slytherins had a single room per person. It was a fairly large room, though one-eighth the size of her chambers in the Black Chateau with a huge four-poster bed in the center. The window was completely glass and had the water of lake as the view. It was eerie and mysterious. She loved it. She had brought a three compartment trunk for regular use. One library, one walk in wardrobe and one storage room that contained everything from her potion ingredients to her broom to everything else.
She took in her surroundings one more time and then went down to the common room.
She was about to step out of the common room, when she heard a soft, silky voice,"Ms. Black."
She turned around to find Tom Riddle, "Good Morning Mr. Riddle." She greeted him, "I was just going to the Great Hall or trying to anyways. Father and my cousins described it enough, I thought I should be able to find my way but if you are going that way, I would not say no to some guidance," she requested him.
He nodded.
"He is so sinfully handsome with those ebony hair and those midnight blue eyes and sharp, aristocratic features and high cheekbones. But there is this something, something dark about him that coats his very being." Cordelia mused.
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you transfer?" He asked as he led the way.
"Beauxabatons is nice, I am partial to it but it seems a tad bit frivolous to me, if you know what I mean. I went there as my mom wanted me too, but my entire family attends here and well if I dare say, I missed all of them. As annoying and overbearing they are, I am quite fond of them." He could sense her smile.
"So how are you finding Hogwarts?" She prompted.
"It is exceptionally gratifying but, at times, the classes hold some people back ..." He replied quickly.
"In what sense since I compared coursework. Hogwarts is a little advanced than Beauxabatons." She queried.
He gave her an assessing look. She raised his brow. He did not enlighten her.
"Here we are Ms. Black."
"Ah Mr. Riddle and Ms. Black. Early I see. Good...good."Dippet beamed. They sat down quietly. She did not make any more attempt at conversation, neither did he.
"Corrie!" A voice called out to them in a few minutes
"Ian..." She stood up and hugged Sebastian Longbottom, her other cousin with a beam.
Tom's POV
When she said that Hogwarts was advanced, he knew that she was probably not worth his time. She was just that, a looker. She did not have the pureblood arrogance. On one hand he was pleasantly surprised that she did not discard him just like that for having a muggle surname. On the other, he thought of her as a weak minded muggle loving fool.
He stopped his conversation with her there and then. She was nothing special.
Then he saw her with Longbottom. Hugging him. In the great hall. He almost sneered.
She excitedly chattered with the Gryffindor while the rest of Slytherins came.
She happily said goodbye to Sebastian Longbottom and made way back to her breakfast.
"What electives are you taking Cordelia?" Abraxas asked.
"Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical creatures. I also put in a request to study healing over the weekends. The Mediwitch will teach me on all weekends except for Hogsmeade. The muggle studies curriculum is way behind and Divination could not fit into my timetable." She chanted in a monotone, buttering her toast.
"Muggle studies?" Walburga rose her brows.
She did not answer but just gave another of her smiles.
If Tom was any less dignified, he would have rolled his eyes.
"Here are your timetables Mr. Riddle, Ms. Black, Mr. Black, Mr. Rosier..."Slughorn came and began distributing timetables.
"We have Transfiguration first, Oh joy, Dumbledore." I clenched my fists and quietly left.
Cordelia's POV
"I had riddled Tom Riddle. He is so confused about me. After the morning display, he had likely discarded me as not being of any use to him. Well, classes will change that. Thankfully, I have had a lot of time to settle my memories and merge both my identities and now I can use both my sides to live a life."
She had sworn not to hold back, between her future self and current prodigious self, she was quite an accomplished witch. She was also very lovable and smart, and had good instinct and reflexes, with an immensely large magical core and aura.
"Well I cannot use my aura until my magical maturity, shame, it would have been interesting to watch Riddle's reaction to it." Random thoughts trailed inside her head.
She made way to Transfiguration, trailing behind Orion and Abraxas.
She beamed at Professor Dumbledore, who twinkled his eyes and took her place.
They were transfiguring large falcons into huge pots.
It was an easy task considering falcons were not mammals.
Dumbledore explained bits, which she tuned out. She could do this in her sleep.
Tom's POV
Riddle was trying to tune out Dumbledore. The material in the class was not exactly new for him. He had managed this transfiguration at the end of his first term in third year.
That was when his eyes fell on the newest addition to their year. He was baffled to see that she looked bored too, a tad bit more than him.
As soon as Dumbledore finished his lecture, she glanced around and almost lazily waved her hand and completed the transfiguration.
"So she is not a complete Neanderthal! But she said that curriculum here was better?" Tom Riddle was momentarily confused.
But then he looked at his Falcon and realized that the newbie had beat him at being the first to complete the task. He waved his hand elegantly and transfigured it. It did take a slight effort. His magic was rusty after living with those distasteful muggles.
Dumbledore did not note it. He was busy helping out Hufflepuffs.
After becoming satisfied with his work, Tom resorted to watch her once again. She was flicking her wand, changing the color of pot but then one of her smiles came on her face, and she gently waved her wand in a complicated knot of sorts and softly muttered something. The pot turned into an intricate piece with carvings over it. It looked like snakes and something else. She watched it with interest and then again waved her wand in a flourish with a look of mild focus and the carvings began to move. Her face split into a grin.
"She animated the carvings. Impossible! Animation is not taught until the near end of fifth year and it is basic at the most." Riddle thought furiously.
Riddle had tried his hand at it. He could do it, albeit with a little effort. But the fact was this chit seemed to have same magical prowess as him.
Dumbledore noted it and raised a brow. "Twenty Points to Slytherin... I dare say I have not taught animation yet."
She glanced at him, her grin intact, "I taught it to myself, Professor. It is not all that hard."
"Indeed, Ms. Black, my class will not be much of a challenge to you in that case." Dumbeldore pointed out.
"Oh no, Professor, I am sure I will learn something all the same, but I would appreciate it if you could allow me to utilize one-half of the hour to read up ahead. Transfiguration only, of course." She hopefully asked, making her green eyes bigger.
Dumbledore thought for a moment, then nodded.
She had played him and he had believed in her sincerity.
Riddle narrowed his eyes, "Who was this girl?"
Cordelia's POV
"Dumbledore allowed me to research ahead. This means that I can find more about this metamorphmagus ability that Juniper had and Cordelia seems to have too. And I can research on animagus too." Several possibilities went through her head.
She could feel Riddle's eyes on her. She was just too sensitive to his presence to not figure it out. She had to help him, but that meant she would have to get him to spill some secrets, which was easier said than done.
It was in the evening that an interesting conversation happened. Abraxas and Blacks collectively informed her about the Slytherin hierarchy with Tom Riddle at the top, since he was the heir of Slytherin, direct in line and well he was magically too powerful. Everybody seemed to be wary of him. Orion and Abraxas worshiped him. Walburga was a bit perturbed by his muggle origins, Dorea was a bit skeptical about him and Alphard seemed to think that he was a bit mean and Lucretia seemed to defer to him but otherwise lacked an opinion.
She shrugged at them indifferently but subtly reminded them to keep her parseltongue abilities under wrap. It went without saying that her other abilities were not supposed to be revealed as well.
Her cousins loved and adored her so they would not betray her and even Walburga was tied down by family loyalty.
Cordelia's POV
She was sitting down in the common room, quietly listening to Alphard's chatter with Anastius Zabini while reading one of the rare Egyptian tomes from the Black library on warding.
Her completed Transfiguration essay and Arithmancy research paper outline lay rolled in front of her.
Tara Rowle and Aimee Parkinson sat around her, lightly gossiping.
"We need a seeker. Burke is too large for the position now. Even Flint thinks so and they are mates."Anastius said passionately.
"But there is clearly no one here to take the thing. Marius is too ...I don't know. The first and second years aren't as good, they need more experience. We don't have any guy." Alphard said miserably.
"You can always try women, you know." Cordelia said lightly.
Anastius slouched his arm and looked at her contemplatively.
"Is there some kind of rule that you cannot ask girls to play for Slytherin?" She arched her brow delicately.
Her soft words had piqued interest, even Tom Riddle was looking at her.
Cordelia Black's opinions mattered a lot in the circles so all the seniors were looking at her.
"Skirts in Quidditch field, Cordelia! We are civilized women, we do not play some sport!" Walburga sneered.
Cordelia did not even spare her a look, "Your assumptions tire me at times Burga. Not all women are preening peacocks that are waiting to be wedded and bedded. I am sure some women here do enjoy a ride on broomstick! But perhaps Slytherin is unique in some ways that I do not want to know. Farewell." She said, picked up her tome and left to her room. Silence pervaded everything as she left. Her tone had not lacked the music, but her words were sharper.
Tom's POV
Tom Riddle looked intrigued. She was nothing he expected.
He looked at Orion questioningly.
"She looked unconcerned about the hierarchy, my lord." He whispered softly.
"Of course, she did. I did not expect any less..." Alphard scoffed.
Riddle glared at him.
"She is fiercely independent, my lord, but very courteous. She never said a word against you. I don't think she would. She does not let authority affect her but she never has been careless about it. She would not do anything. That is what Alphard meant. "Abraxas quickly said.
Riddle still looked murderous.
Just then, Cordelia walked in on the tense atmosphere, she was reading a letter and she was clad in a Slytherin green nightgown that hugged her slender figure. Every male eye in the room roamed over her tantalizing silhouette. She looked up at the tense silence, her eyes immediately flicked to Riddle, then followed back to Alphard, and her lips curled into a smile.
The common room watched in anticipation.
"Mr. Riddle, it is terribly rude to talk behind somebody's back." She casually said fixing him with a look. Her green eyes were unreadable but her small sly smile was still teasing him, "And Alphard, as much as I admire your loyalty, you should realize and learn how to articulate yourself properly. One does not want to send the wrong message." She looked at Alphard.
"I will leave you to convene." She said and picked up a roll of parchment from where she had been sitting.
Tom Riddle's glare intensified but he did not say a word.
She looked at him with mild interest and gave her usual smile, turned around and left.
"Well, you officially have my attention, Ms. Black." He hissed in parseltongue, and took pleasure in how the rest of the room shivered. "Dismissed." He said meaningfully.
She did not seem even slightly intimidated by him. She had not dismissed him but she had not kowtowed to him as well. As if she was evaluating him. Just like he was. She seemed unusually perceptive and observant, almost matching him in the abilities. He now understood why she was so popular in the pureblood circles. She was mysterious and yet charming. She had the loyalty of his inner circle and respect of the rest of the house. They did not say anything but he knew. Thus, she was also a threat should she choose to oppose him.
Charismatic, she had the trust of Dumbledore and in the astronomy and Arithmancy lecture in the day, she had the professors hanging on her every word, whenever she did chose to speak. Otherwise, she seemed to prefer the quiet but she was not afraid of voicing her opinions. She was extremely pleasant at the exterior, much like him, all he had to know was her facade and motives. She was quite adept at magic and lessons, far advanced in the subjects, with such insightful and meticulous questions and she got a pass to read ahead in every single class, because it barely took her any time to finish up the tasks set aside. He should have thought of that, asking permission to read ahead.
She was challenging, for the first time in Hogwarts, he was at par with somebody in something and he liked it. It gave him anticipation. He was assuming that the day's performance would follow up in the rest of subjects. Her cousins, though loyal to him, found themselves unable to tell him anything apart from her being a prodigy. Family magic was truly unique. He was still researching in the possibilities of him accessing the Slytherin totem. He had to first find the chamber, though.
Riddle shook away his thoughts and climbed up to his room, determined to find his legacy.
*= The title of the chapter is taken from the name of a short story by Ruskin Bond.
To all those who followed and favorited, thank you. Your support means a ton. The Prologue was a test run of sorts. I have the story planned in my head till their 5th year's Christmas and I have things written till Christmas 4th year. I will most likely not abandon the story because I do not like people who abandon stuff. But I am in College and things are hectic so the updates might come a little slowly or shorter than what the initial updates might be like. I was thinking that I will keep Saturday evenings as the day and time to update, unless I update it early in the week. Let me know if you have other ideas or questions, whether to the update or to the story. Thanks again.
ALSO, the family tree of Cordelia is on my profile.
