Bug fixed 22/07/27
Search and preparationsWalking down Private Drive through the heat wave the summer brings, people saw an oddity. Someone clothed in a thick woollen cloak, with a big, crooked nose and pale and clammy skin.
„I cannot believe he is using me as an errant boy. Again. And to catch the Potter brat. Again! Isn't that brat old enough to realize it's stupid to run blindly away? How can that old goat not get it that I don't want to have anything to do with that name. Or Petunia at that. I made that perfectly clear last time" he grins, remembering that time "Bad enough his father managed to snatch Lily from me. My dear Lily. Then the headmaster catches me with that stupid oath when I was at my lowest. And doesn't deliver what I begged him for. Now I have not only to teach stupid brats, but teach Potters and Gryffindors. The least he could do is spare me in my vacation." With a sneer on his face and a faraway look in his eyes, he rings at Private Drive #4.
After a short moment the door opens. "You again! Get lost! You are not welcome. Get lost now or I will call the police!" Petunia spat. Ignoring the harpy, with a wave of his wand he forces entry to the house. "Believe me, I want to be here as much as you want me to be here. But I have as much choice as you have" With a wave of his wand he pushes the door open. He never notices the destroyed door chain. Entering the abnormally normal house he sneers in disgust. "Let's get this over with as fast as we can and hopefully we don't have to see each other ever again. Just tell me where Potter is and I'll be on my way." Dumbfounded Petunia glares at him. "The boy? He is in the attic, probably sweating until death by this weather. Made some crazy deal with my dear Vernon. He pays rent, so he can skim his duties. We don't have to feed him and don't need to worry about him, as if he doesn't exist" she snorts "We have a bet running how long it takes until he crawls out of the attic, begging for water." Ignoring Petunia Severus, climbs the attic ladder, opening the trapdoor even more heat meets him in the face. Sticking his head up he only sees an old mattress and some opened boxes, one of them poured out on the floor, but no Harry. "Potter, are you there?" Looking at the contents of the box more closely he finds old pictures of Lily and her together with her parents and it clicked for Severus. "Harry found pictures of his mother and grandparents and scrammed. Again. He is out their exploring his roots" he snorts "Need Dumbledores tracker". With a flick of his wand he vanishes the remnants of pictures of the Evans family.
He apparates back to Hogwarts, grumbling "I am a potions master. Not a teacher of morons and especially not someone that runs after a Potter" he sits on his desk and knowing Dumbledore is in countless ICW sessions writes him a letter. "Don't care if that spoiled child has problems out their or what problems Dumbledore has with him. I am a potion master. This way it will take him at least two days before he can nag again. Maybe this way I can get some potions in between.
A week later.
„Are you sure we are at the right address here, dear? This place looks like a scenery for an American housewife tv show" Dan mumbles, as he does when he is unsure "or a creepy horror movie in which your wife or neighbour murders you out of boredom" he adds quietly, seeing different people watching badly hidden through their windows.
"Yes daaaad" Hermione sighs "I made sure to write down his address. I simply never needed it, for the wizarding world uses owls. But well, you know. Raised outside of the wizarding world. Was the first thing I did before I realized people have post owls as pets." She ignores her fathers eye rolling and rings the doorbell.
The door opens a slit. Hermione only discerns the woman is tall. "What do you want?" she hisses. "Hello! My name is Hermione Granger and I wanted to talk to my classmate Harry…" instantly she gets interrupted "He left. We are good people and don't want anything to do with you freaks. Remove yourself from this property or I will call the police!" she tries to slam the door shut, but Dan is quick enough to block it with his foot.
"Mam, we don't want to make a scene and we don't want to intrude excessively. But my daughter has questions and you will give her the chance to ask them. Otherwise, I will make a scene, just to inconvenience you. And concerning you calling the police? What will they do? Take 30minutes until they arrive and I make a monstrous scene for your neighbours and before the police arrives, we will be gone. And your neighbours have new stories to spin. And even if they arrive in time, we will say we are sorry and leave. The stories about you and some crazy people at your door remain. What will it be?" Petunias lips vanish as she knew there was no choice "Fine, make it quick and don't cause a sensation" without another word she slams the door to unlock it. Dan turns towards his daughter and whispers "While friendly should always be the first choice to approach someone, some people talk another language and you have to adjust, Hermione." Before Hermione can react, the door opens again. "Come!" Petunia snaps.
"Can I offer you something? Tea maybe?" Hermione wonders what is wrong with that woman, can barely refrain herself from slamming the door into their face, but offering tea. Her father took a place the farthest away from Petunia, either to let her lead the discussion or not to have overly much to do with the woman. Probably both. She clears her throat. "No thank you very much. May I ask where Harry is?" Petunia sneers. "Didn't even know he was gone. Ran away someday. Without some freaks asking about him, I wouldn't have noticed. Thought he was close to dying up in the attic. Don't know where he is now. If freaks wouldn't constantly appear at my door, I would be more than happy that I am finally rid of him. But now I have to constantly some freaks entering my house and ask stupid questions." She tells and adds silently "At least you know how to dress like a normal person."
"That is because I am muggleborn, I understand your sister was too. My father, Dan Granger, is a muggle. Although some theories say that there are no muggleborn but only wizarding children of squibs…" she pauses and recognizes that she was rambling "But you do not care about that, do you? Just tell me what you know about Harry, what happened this summer and why you are so annoyed"
"You would be annoyed too, if people would appear in your living room with a crack, waving sticks around and sending your husband unconscious to the hospital, if he wants them to leave!" she spats and I wait. Although stunning and injuring muggles sounds very hard handed, on the other hand who knows what the confrontation in the beginning was about. "It was a good summer. The freak finally paid rent for the sacrifices we made and we wouldn't have to see him. He had the foolish idea to stay put in his new room and never come out. We were waiting for him to beg for water" she has a smile on her long face "days without him or any freak. It was wonderful, like true holidays" and the smile vanishes "But instead of him coming down that greasy Snape guy came, an old friend of my oh so wonderful sister. That's the first time we even noticed he was gone. Since then, several other people came and searched the house to find a trace of that wastrel. Don't know what they are up to, waving their sticks. Vernon tried to get rid of one of them with a peg leg and a creepy fake eye. But with that stick of him he banished my dear Vernon into the wall" she told them while pointing to a corner with clear signs of what she described. "Now my husband is in the hospital with a broken shoulder blade and for safety reason I gave my boy leave to spend as much time as possible with friends. I would very much appreciate if you could just quietly leave. I have no idea where the freak is and I absolutely don't want anything to do with him. I want peace and quiet. I really not asking much, am I?" she starts with a pleading tone but at the end yells at the Grangers.
Dan observed the woman. The shaky hands and the twitching eye indicate she reached her limit and will explode soon. He decides we have heard enough. "You are right, Miss Dursley. We will not bother you any longer. Come Hermione, we leave."
"But dad. I have more questions than before!" Hermione protests. "Be that as it is. We promised to keep it short. Lets go" Dan drags Hermione out of the house, who has so many questions. Back in the car she lets loose.
"Did you hear what she said? Wizards attacked them. She knew Professor Snape. Professor Snape was friends with Harry's mother and he treats Harry the worst. There is a story. And Harry, why would he need drinks and not food? That sounded weird" Dan sighs.
"I know dear. But as you have seen, there are things that were put on you and Harry did vanish as he told you. Now you have not much options. I am sure he will contact you one way or another. But now we know too, that people already are searching for him, so just say he left you with a letter to say good bye and that's it. He will find his way and you will find yours." He pauses until Hermiones train of thought registers the pause and looks deep into his daughters eyes.
"This is important, so listen closely, I repeat. You will respect Harrys decision to distance himself. I am sure that he will contact you if the time is right. We will not be able to sell our dental clinic this fast, but we will start and I am sure for your fourth year we will be able to enroll you at a better school. Although there are magical ways for Harry to find you, tell me does he have your address?" demurely she answers "he should". "Good. We will leave a change-of-address order on your name. So that letters, the muggle way, will reach you no matter where you live and until then you will concentrate on making new friends and the challenge Harry offered you, is that understood?" he asks with a stern face. Knowing that he only wants to hear one answer. "Understood" she mumbles.
Finally arriving back in Hogwarts, the headmaster directly heads with determined paces to the dungeons. "Severus my boy, what news do you have about our missing student? I trust my deluminator" 'as it contains blood of Harry' he thought to himself "was sufficient to find the boy?"
"Pah. You should not dabble in enchanting, it appears you are not good at it. The device brought us the first few days to different places in London. Had to obliviate the living crap out of the muggles. That is how we came to think he hides behind some unplottable wards. We were about to narrow it down with enough data. Your great deluminator… stupid thing… Well, it stopped working." that the headmaster couldn't believe "But it worked just fine all those years we had to catch him from all those orphanages" he mumbles but Snape ignores his mumbling and continues "My guess is that you are shit at enchanting. Or the wards he is hiding behind are simply better. We tried often enough and could discern the he is – or at least has been – somewhere in the centre of London. But as I said, your device stopped working after a few days of use. Now I have tasked Moody, Mundugus and Diggle to keep an eye for the boy. I am sure he will someday appear in Diagon Alley. That is the only magical place he knows in London. Have even searched Petunias mind for potential old houses of the family. But nothing. I have done my job. Now I have to speed up my brewing so I can handle the jobs I have taken for potions.".
"Oh Severus. You know we need Harry." At that Severus barks "I know of your plans. But mine are different. I want three things in life. The one I want to live is dead. The last one I want dead, you want alive and apparently found. Those are things I cannot change and have done more than enough to support you. The last thing I want is to brew and you are disturbing me." At that he pauses "So. Leave. Me. Be."
The headmaster sighs heavily. "I understand your grudge with James Potter. But you need to learn how to let things go. It does no good to dwell on the past my dear boy. Besides Harry will have to die at some point. You know that as well as I do." With that he begins to leave. But Severus is not done with him "My patience has its limit. I am not wasting more time catching children. I have orders to fulfil. If I don't get my promised quota for the potioneer guild I will lose my licence. I will not give that up, so spare me with missing Potters during the summer!" and he shut his door, just as the headmaster turned to him again.
Waking up I wonder where I am. Remembering the last night I believe I fell asleep while meditating. Leaving the room, I am stumped. Everything looks alike, in I wonder where to go. "Dobby?" he pops in "Good morning mistress" he squeaks. Mistress, huh, that's different. Ironically it doesn't bother me as much as when he called me great master Harry Potter sir. Better say nothing or he begins again with the ridiculous titles. "I would like to take a shower and get something to eat. Can you help me find the right door? I hadn't had any time to get to know this place any better." "We be going up to the house. Follow me, mistress"
Following him I admire what my mother did. This secret cellar and the hideout. Not only managed my mother buying a house on a different name with nobody the wiser. She dug deep beneath the house, added a magic free secret entrance and build a round staircase leading down. It's a very good hideout, because apparently it has enough magical wards to be out of reach of divination and trackers and such. But has less enough magic, so that it does not register as a house of a witch.
The best is the hidden cellar. Connected to the round staircase are many different doors. So far I only know the one leading to a ritual chamber and apparently to a bedroom. But there are at least ten more of what I can see. I wonder what is in there. Walking upstairs Dobby pulls a big leaver and with a loud rattling noise the original staircase lifts up, revealing the house. After leaving Dobby lets the staircase down again and goes another story up. "This is mistress' bedroom. In there is a door leading to a personal bath." At that I lift an eyebrow. I just came out of a bedroom. Dobby seeing it adds "Misses bedroom has windows and sunlight. Bedrooms downstairs are for emergencies" At that I smile. My mother prepared much. And slowly I realize – I can take a shower before Dudley wastes all the hot water. I have my own space and freedom and a mother (kinda) and a houseelf that love me and help me as best as they can.
Undressing I take a closer look at me in the full body mirror in the bathroom. I have a little more than shoulder long, naturally wavy hair, still circling through almost the whole range of colors. High cheekbones and even clearer green eyes – almost shining – together with a small button nose and full lips gives me a feminine face. I would have hit on me, if I weren't so shy.
My skin was pale, but not unhealthy pale. My skin felt velvet-soft and it appears every scar I have ever had is gone. For that change I am really happy about. Looking down I see my budding breasts, followed by a surprisingly thin waist and wide hip. Thinking about it I realize that they are the reason for the new swing I have in my step. And between my legs nothing but a mound and a few hair, also circling through the colors. I stare at my reflection, wondering how my life will be in the future. After a few moments I shake myself awake and force my thoughts away from unsolvable problems. "One step a time" I tell me. With that I take a shower and leave for breakfast.
Just my clothes. I have nothing but the white tunic I wore for the ritual and woke up into. But this was not more than a bit of white wool. And my old clothes from school and from the Dursleys, that Dobby surprisingly already took into my new room, are way to big for my small form. Without alternatives I dress into my way to big Hogwarts robes and leave for breakfast. Dobby appears again and snapes his fingers, my clothes shrink a bit and are almost good.
"Hello darling! How was your sleep?" embarrassment colored my cheeks "I didn't mean to fall asleep, mum!" laughing she answers "That's okay. You will often fall asleep while learning meditation. I mean it is firstly about relaxing. That is why we will do it in the evening and a short time in the morning.
While explaining Dobby popped in and set the table and I begin munching on sweet sweet Treacletart. I visibly enjoy my first bite, don't know why, but it tastes better than any tart I have had until now. Maybe it is the company or the freedom. But it tastes divine.
"We have a few things to do first, Bella. Down in the cellar I have a room with a vanishing cabinet. Those were used a long time ago to travel instead of the floo network, what people use nowadays. The method to create those cabinets was lost a long time ago. But copying a cabinet I saw at Hogwarts I managed to recreate them. The other one is in the Potter family vault. Using it you will be able to get things out of Gringotts without anyone noticing. For now, you can just take some money, in the long run I want you to empty the vault and make a new one under your new name."
I acknowledge that. For I know somehow, I needed to get to money, although I thought I would empty my vault. Thinking about that I wonder "There is a Potter vault? I always thought the vault Hagrid showed me back then was the only things left." "Was in this vault anything but money?" "No, just a big pile of gold" "That's what I thought. Usually, a child of and old house has something akin to pocket money. This way they are trained to learn how to handle money. They can pretty much do with it as they wish. Every year a specific amount is added to the vault, I guess this is the vault you saw. But there is also the Potter family vault.
It is kind of a fall-back vault for the family. Once someone of the family dies, the money and all the possessions – aside from what is mentioned in the last will of the deceased – lands in there. Only the head of the house has access to it. What is left of the home in Godric Hollow should be in their." No one ever told me about that. Why? I would have loved to have a picture of my family or such. Not just the album Hagrid gifted me.
I am confused "No one ever told me about that. Why would no one ever speak about that?" "I don't know dear. Normally someone is appointed as your guardian. He or she should act pretty much like a parent. A guardian is allowed a bit of your money and in return they help you grow and prepare you for life. But I wouldn't worry about that. We will empty the Potter vault in a few days and no one will be able to steal your inheritance."
Conceding her point I let it go. Although if there was someone that stole from me, he will be in a world of pain if I find out. "I would like you to take some money out of the Potter vault and come back. Afterwards you can go to Diagon Alley and shop a bit. But as well as change some of the Galeons into Pound, so you can also go shopping in muggle London. As your magic still has to settle, I would recommend Dobby casting a glamour over your hair, so no one seeing it change."
"I would like you to buy a few clothes and a couple of trunks that are bigger on the inside. As for learning, after the holidays I want you to attend a private muggle school in the morning and teach you magic in the afternoon. Your magical training will be something akin to Hogwarts. But faster. As I only teach you, we will be fast progressing through the books. And I want to do something, that helped me with keeping magic magical." She laughs a bit at that, while I only lift any eyebrow
"Sorry. It is just something I always wondered about the wizarding world. They call it magic. But they don't act like it is truly special. It is a common occurrence for them. But as someone that lived without it takes a lot of fun out of it. It is like a driving license. As a teen you can't stop imagine how it will be once you can drive when and where ever you want. And a few years later it is negligible, for everyone has a car."
"It made me sad to think magic would one day become boring. So, I tried to keep it interesting and always looked for an idea to use magic differently and tried to make this idea reality. Dobby, can you bring the earrings I told you about?" at that Dobby popped in again (when did he leave?) and presented me two beautiful earrings which gem went incredibly well with my green eyes. These are made by myself.
Although I better should say I bought them from muggles and changed them into what they are today. So, they are partially made by myself" she smiles "Without these I would have never broken free from the spells on me or build this house. The idea came to me while in Hogwarts. I saw all those portraits of all those once important people all famous and accomplished witches and wizards. But today they do nothing but gossip with each other. The best they do is point you in a direction, although I imagine they could teach that much"
"So, my first project I did was to make my own portrait and later to find out what aspects could be changed. These for example are what you can call portrait earrings. Not a very creative name, but you get the idea. My thoughts leading to this were simple. Why does a portrait see something with only painted eyes? How does it speak with no real mouth and lungs? And so on and so on. I converted the stone in one of the earrings into a portrait, like the ones you know. It sees and hears everything, like a normal portrait. It only has the capability to speak to its wearer, it is in fact more of a telepathic speech. This way they warned me about the love potions and the obliviations that were forced upon me."
My eyes grow bigger and bigger as she speaks "Stupid me went to the wrong person to ask for help. The one that I asked for help never wanted to help me. He redid all I had broken and thought my will was strong enough to overcome some aspects that were forced on me, so he did it again and added a immense strong compulsion to prevent me from getting suspicions and due to this I took my earrings of. God I still regret that day…" she mumbles.
My eyes are getting teary "I am sorry, mum. I wish I could make it better for you" she chuckles "Don't be, Bella. That is life. You make mistakes, ideally you learn from them. I believe a good life is when you can accept those mistakes and grow better. And if you look at a parent child relationship parents want to help their kids to avoid as much mistakes they made previously as possible. My story may not be the best, but we are here and I can help you avoid as much mistakes as possible. That is why I tell you this story. To know of it and to learn from it. You don't need to be paranoid or something. But I want you to keep in mind, that not everyone is trustworthy and putting your trust into the wrong person can have very dire consequences."
"But changing to a more positive subject. Those earrings helped me immensely and not I want them to help you. Once you are in muggle London, I want you to get your ears pierced and wear those. This way you will be able to talk to me and I can help you." My tears begin to flow again, this time out of being loved. Being loved by a dead woman. I never knew that could feel so good. "I love you, mum!" I cry.
After breakfast Dobby and mums portrait are leading me again downstairs into a big, empty room. Only with a wardrobe standing in it. But of course, it is a vanishing cabinet. "Before you enter, Dobby can you quickly take a look around the bushes in the neighborhood and catch a mouse or rat please?" and he vanishes. "What do we need a rat for?" "This cabinet is a delicate magical artifact. If it is broken, out of what ever reason, you could simply vanish. Therefore, testing it once in a while is recommended. Just sit the rat in a box into the cabinet. Close and open the door. The rat should be gone. Do it again, the rat should appear again and most importantly, the rat should be alive"
Dobby appears again and we test the cabinet. Luckily everything still works fine. I would have felt bad for the rat if it didn't. Appearing on the other side is barely noticeable. I open the door and instantly learn that there are severe differences between the money in my vault and in this family vault. The sheer size of the mountain of gold is incredible. Not to talk about what else could be found in this vault.
From armors that appear to be worn from true knights. All kind of swords, shields, knifes. A fucking library is in here, too. Aside from it a couple of trunks, apparently from my ancestors. Some bottomless bags and some really small cases. It appears to be wand cases? I stand there and stare. My mother chuckles "Come on, it has been almost five minutes now. It is time to get moving. We have a lot todo today. Get over there, grad a bottomless bag and fill it with money. Dobby, would you please take a trunk and fill it with schoolbooks, they should be in the shelf labeled school. Try to fit everything from first to fifth year. And take all the wand cases."
"How much money did you put in Bella?" "I don't know, I just opened the bag, hold it near a pile of Galeons and pushed in. I played a bit with how much I could get into it. Must have been thousands. Are they really bottomless? And how the hell can I get the money out again?" at that my mother snapped a little "Do not curse young lady!" I am shocked and a bit dumfounded "Sorry Bella, I know you had a hard life and this was no bad situation, but a girl is judged harder for misbehavior then a boy. I try to help you to be aware of your language. If you really choose to curse, please feel free to do so. But you start with it and at some point, you curse all the time. This was no bad situation and I want you to be aware of your language." At that I nod, it was not necessary to curse.
"To answer your question, you can get it out easily, stick your hand into the bag and think of what you want. In the enchantment is a summoning charm woven into, this is how you use it. The money, the item, what ever will come to your hand. They are not endless, but it appears so, for they can hold really a lot. But you can stress the enchantment and depending on what enchantment it is, the content of the bag might get lost. It also happens with old bags. So please do not cram more stuff into it. And in the Alley we will buy some new bags. In fact, we will buy a lot of new bags."