Chapter 2: Details
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bioshock Infinite, they each belong to their own creators. I'm just playing in the sandpit for a bit.
"With all due respect, that's a terrible idea on how it worked." Elizabeth cut in as McGonagall explained how Harry survived the killing curse.
"Excuse me?" She said dumbfounded as to how she was dismissed with such abruptness. Few people dared do that. Even fewer did it a second time. "How can you possibly say that?"
"Because you're trying to claim that his mother's death saved his life." Elizabeth said with seriousness, she wasn't trying to take away from her sacrifice, far from it. It showed how much she loved her child that she was willing to die to save him but to think that it's what stopped this 'killing curse' from killing him just smelt fishy. "You're telling me that in all this time that this spell has existed, not one parent hasn't thrown their life in the line of fire to protect their child."
"That isn't what I'm saying at all." She protested, though it felt like a weak protest to Elizabeth, with them having spent all their time on this theory, that her sacrifice had protected him they didn't think of any other possible outcome.
"Then are you trying to imply that the other children who died with their parents, that their mothers didn't love them enough to warrant this protection?" Elizabeth asked before reigning in her annoyance. "I'm sorry, but it just doesn't make sense. It makes a great story but it doesn't add up." She said and McGonagall couldn't help but agree with her on it.
"When you put it bluntly like that." McGonagall commented and Elizabeth blushed slightly at the pointed look and the look of mirth on Bathsheda's face. "It does raise some questions."
"I think we may have to dig into that then. Lily was an excellent witch; I wouldn't put it past her to have created some kind of protection to keep him alive." Bathsheda said in amusement. "I just wished the house had remained in better condition, her notes would have been there." She guessed as she tapped her fingers on the side of the chair. "What did you mean when you said he was the constant? What did the twins mean when they said it?" She asked and Elizabeth leaned back, thinking on the situation.
"An infinite number of realities, each slightly different from the other, it could be something simple like a different hair colour on a person, it could be something drastic like a war that didn't end the way it was supposed to." She paused and saw her nod in understanding. "Now those are the variables, the changes that happened that affected everything and caused the different branch. With those branches though, there is always something that is a constant, it could be anything. In this situation it looks like one of the constants is Harry Potter. Something about him that is the same across all dimensions with each dimension shaping his destiny... destiny." She muttered the last word again as she thought about the killing curse tale. Could he have survived purely because of some fate and destiny?
"So in these alternate time lines, he always exists in some way, shape or form?" Bathsheda asked and Elizabeth nodded. "I bet Snape would love that." She chuckled in amusement and McGonagall tried to hide a smirk behind a small cough. Bathsheda withdrew her wand, twirled it around so she was holding the end and held it out to Elizabeth. "Humour me with something for a second." She said as Elizabeth slowly took the wand. "Just hold it in your hand and say 'Lumos' while thinking about light." She commanded gently and Elizabeth nodded her head.
"Lumos." She called and nearly dropped the wand in shock as the end lit up with a white light. "Does this mean what I think it means?" She asked and Bathsheda and McGonagall nodded their heads. Elizabeth stared in shock, this wasn't how it was meant to be, she wasn't a witch! A tear using dimensional time traveller Yes, a magic user… no way. She thought about this for a moment and realised that she'd probably have to look into this more but for the moment she'd go with how it was playing out.
"It means you are a witch." McGonagall confirmed. "How old are you?"
"Current age or what I would be if I wasn't shut in stasis for all those years?" Elizabeth asked and smiled slightly at Bathsheda's chuckling as she took her wand back.
"Let's start with current age." Bathsheda offered as she placed her wand back in her holster.
"I am Eighteen." She said after thinking about it. 1912 was where she had come from. she hadn't aged while in that stasis situation so that left her being around that age. Perhaps she was nineteen, possibly older. She stopped the thought when she realized that it was starting to make her head spin. No wait… she was older than that. "Sorry, I'm Twenty. My mind is still trying to catch up with what happened I think." She said with a small smile, she had wandered in between time, but at least a year had passed. She wasn't sure how much she had aged though. Did she age while she was travelling in between dimensions? Either way, she was around twenty.
"We could..." Bathsheda started but was cut off by McGonagall.
"No." She said seriously.
"But you don't..." Again she was cut off.
"No, I know what you're thinking and no, we can't have her start as a first year, she's too old." McGonagall stated simply.
"Ah ha! I wasn't going to say that; I was in fact going to suggest one of us possibly take her on as an apprentice or as a Teaching Assistant." Bathsheda countered with a triumphant look in her eyes. "She can cast magic, she's completely lost and out of her element in this time, she has no money and we can't just leave her here. Not to mention that power transfer," she added looking back at Elizabeth who was about to speak. "I know you said it most probably won't work for him but surely it would be better for you to be around in case it does happen and he does gain this ability. The last thing we want is Harry breaking everything or even himself with these powers if they do happen to manifest." She explained and Elizabeth conceded the point without saying anything. Just because she believed it wasn't possible for him to access the dimensions didn't make that true.
"But where would she stay? Hogwarts doesn't have guest rooms and I highly doubt she'd want to stay in the teachers wing, the majority of us are a lot older than her." McGonagall questioned and Elizabeth tried to speak but was cut off before she could start by Bathsheda responding.
"She could stay in one of the dorms, she could be sorted into a house if need be to further legitimize it, we have a Head Boy and Head Girl room in each of the Dorms that remain unused year after year if that house doesn't have one of their students selected. She could have her privacy to do what lessons we give her and be able to interact with people more her age." Bathsheda suggested and Elizabeth went to speak but was cut off by McGonagall.
"The amount of work that she would be required to do, combined with the teaching assistant task to mark paperwork and other jobs. She'd be rushed off her feet with little to no time to relax." McGonagall countered, not wanting to shoot down the idea but seeing the problems that would be raised by the situation.
"But what about..." Bathsheda started but Elizabeth cut her off.
"She is sitting right here and can answer the question fairly easily!" Elizabeth called out loudly over the two only to get shushed almost instantly.
"Quiet, we don't want to wake him up." Bathsheda chided lightly and Elizabeth glared lightly in response.
"I can do the work, I like to read, I'm used to working on my own and solving puzzles and I can get it done." She said with a certainty that took the other two by surprise. "I'm here for a reason, the Lutece Twins told me as much. I've got to work out what that reason is and Harry is the focus point." Elizabeth explained, "I want to see where this leads." Elizabeth finished with determination. "Give me the job or don't give me the job it's up to you, I'll probably find my own way up there." She said and again Bathsheda found herself chuckling in amusement at the situation.
"In that case." McGonagall said looking at Bathsheda with a steely look that sobered her right up and found her sitting slightly straighter in her chair. McGonagall smiled seeing the reaction that she could get from her old student. "I think this will be better left in your hands." She said and Bathsheda gulped in joking nervousness. "Your suggestion, your idea, your task to complete. Get her the relevant tools, get her a wand, get her prepared for the new School Year. I shall leave it in your hands to also see that Harry Potter gets his school supplies as well." She said as she withdrew two golden keys from her robe pocket. "Here is Mr Potters key and the key to the School Supply vault, use it to get her equipment prepared." McGonagall ordered and Bathsheda nodded her head as McGonagall stood up. "I must return to Hogwarts and speak to Dumbledore about this development." She finished and disappeared with a crack.
"That was kind of abrupt." Elizabeth commented after a moments silence.
"You gave her something to think about regarding Harry. She already feels that it was the wrong choice to leave him with his relatives back when his parents were murdered and seeing him like this probably reinforced that idea and now you've raised questions on their deaths. It's a lot to think about." Bathsheda said as she stood up herself and brushed off traces of dust. "I'm going to head upstairs and check on Harry for a moment." She said and started walking. Elizabeth sat for a moment thinking on what had happened before pushing herself off of the sofa and following after. the two walked up the creaky staircase and onto the landing as she was led towards the bedroom at the end of the hall. from the slightly open door she could hear the sound of light sleeping and knew already that he wasn't awake. "Hmm, I thought that perhaps he would have woken up by now. That's fine. we'll leave him to rest now. I think it may be best for us to stay here, a familiar place for him when he wakes up before we take him back to his relatives." She stopped for a moment, not liking the idea of returning him to his relatives but not really having much of a choice. "After that, I suppose you can stay at mine. But first I think we need food. Do you think you'll be okay if I head to the shops to get stuff?" She asked and Elizabeth nodded her head. "Excellent, I'll go take care of that now then." She turned, started heading back down the stairs and then paused. "Listen... I know this seems to be happening quickly and it's going to be a bit all over the place for the near future. If you have any concerns about what is going on, any thoughts about anything at all. Speak up and let me know, I'll answer what I can when I can." Bathsheda offered. "Geez, look at me, I'm Twenty-Two and I'm looking after a kid and an adult that's almost as clueless as the kid… no offense. I did not expect this to happen when I agreed to go with Minerva to deliver the letter." She laughed hollowly. "I'm too young to be a parent." She joked raising her hand and pressing the back of it to her forehead in mock faintness.
Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh as she followed her back down stairs. "You don't have to worry about me, I can take care of myself." She said and Bathsheda smiled at her.
"That's good to know, I'm going to be relying on that independence in the future. One teacher probably won't need an assistant all that much, Dumbledore will probably get you floating between classes helping out where possible. You're going to be extremely busy. That's if he even agrees to this... but he's always about second chances so why not a first chance to prove yourself." She continued to almost talk to herself instead of Elizabeth as she headed towards the door. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens next." She said and walked out the front door with barely a glance back.
Elizabeth stood on the stairs in confusion at how Bathsheda acted, she almost seemed to forget everything around her as she started working on ideas. "She did that with me as well." A quiet voice spoke up behind her causing her to jump.
"Harry?" Elizabeth spoke turning to look at the dark haired kid standing at the top of the stairway.
"When she was looking at those... runes she called them, she kept trailing off and talking to herself. Are you Okay?" Harry asked and Elizabeth nodded, walking down the stairs with Harry following behind her back into the living room.
"I'm fine, a bit tired but I'm okay. I think she got me away from there in time." Elizabeth explained.
"I didn't mean to hurt you; I was..." He trailed of, feeling embarrassed about the whole situation.
"It's okay, I don't blame you for what happened." Elizabeth said softly as she slowly guided him towards the sofa and sitting him down, sitting next to him after a moment. "If anything I should thank you, if you didn't go down there, I don't know how long I would have been trapped like that." She shuddered at the thought of being stuck in that box forever, completely unaware as to what was happening around her. "Or worse, someone other than you could have found me and they could have used whatever that was to do unspeakable things. You saved me," she finished seriously and looked at a very embarrassed Harry.
"I still don't know what's going on." He said quietly, "I run away from my cousin and next thing I have a woman telling me magic is real while I'm standing on something magical that almost kills someone. Does this mean my past is a lie?" He asked and Elizabeth looked at him with confusion.
"How do you mean?" She asked slowly, not sure she was going to like how this was going to play out.
"..." He stayed silent.
Elizabeth reached up with her hand, gently turning his head to face him. "Tell me Harry, I won't judge you." She kindly spoke and Harry looked into her blue eyes.
"My Aunt and Uncle told me my parents died in a drunken car crash." He said, his voice barely above a whisper and Elizabeth flinched in shock.
"How could they do that!?" She asked in horror, "Even if it was true, who tells a child that!" She asked aloud looking away from Harry for a moment. "What kind of sick person says something like that to a child?" Elizabeth clenched her right hand into a fist, taking a deep breath she let her hand open up again. She could get angry later. For now, Harry needed some reassurance. "What if I told you that it was a lie?" She asked Harry, the kid tilting his head slightly as she smiled. "Your parents didn't die in a car crash; they weren't drunks or anything else your relatives said."
"What do you know? How can you know?" Harry asked quickly and Elizabeth smiled.
"I was being told recent events and your parents became part of the discussion. They're heroes Harry, you are a hero." She said as she looked away from him, down at her hands that rested in her lap. "There was a bad man, he was killing a lot of people. Your parents opposed him and it drew his attention. They went into hiding but he found them."
"They were murdered?" He said, his voice coming out more as a statement than a question and Elizabeth nodded.
"They died to save you," She explained and Harry's head lowered.
"How am I still alive?" He asked and Elizabeth couldn't help but shrug.
"I don't know, there's theories but no facts." She said and looked at him. "But does it matter? your parent's loved you, there can be no doubt about that, they gave their lives to make sure you lived," she comforted, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What happened to the man who murdered my parents?" Harry asked and again Elizabeth couldn't answer with full details, heck she barely knew the story herself other than the thirty-minute explanation that had been given.
"As far as anyone else knows, he died on that night. the spell that was used to try and kill you, it reflected back and destroyed him. You'll have to ask others for the information because I don't know, this is just what I was told. Perhaps when Bathsheda returns she could explain it in more detail." Elizabeth suggested and Harry nodded in acceptance, it was a lot to take in, going from someone with nothing and being lied about his parent's death to being the child of murder victims, surviving by chance and finding out he had magical abilities. She was surprised he didn't freak out. "Are you okay?" She asked already knowing that he wasn't, his world was being turned upside down around him. Okay was definitely not a word that would be used to describe his situation. He didn't respond, staring off into space as his brain chipped through the thoughts. Elizabeth wished she had something to take her mind off of this at the moment and distract him. She looked around, a bookshelf in the corner, empty and coated in dust, but where that emptiness was, she smiled. A tear. a small one. "Hey Harry," She called as she walked over to it.
"Yeah?" He spoke, pulled from his thoughts looking in her direction.
"Can you see anything here?" She asked testing a theory. The others weren't able to see the tears until her powers had started acting out during the event in the basement but if Harry did receive any of her powers, perhaps he'd be able to see the rift here.
"An empty bookcase... why do you... wait, there's something else, it looks like a cut in the air." Harry spoke slowly as he caught sight of the tear. "It's small, I almost missed it on the shelf." He explained as he stood up, walking over to her. "What is it?"
"It's... complicated," she said after a moment, she had been hoping he wouldn't have seen it. It would have made things so much simpler. "It's called a tear, a window into what could be." She explained a simplified version of it.
"What could be?" Harry asked for clarification.
"Let's take this one as an example. ignore the tear for a second, what do you see with it not there. be specific." She said, folding her arms glancing between him and the bookcase.
"I don't understand but I see an empty bookcase." Harry said and Elizabeth smiled before gesturing with one hand for him to continue
"Be more specific." She pushed and Harry frowned.
"It's a brown, wooden bookcase, three shelves, nothing on it except for dust. What are you getting at?" He asked in confusion at the level of detail she wanted him to go into.
"Now focus on the tear, what do you see when you look at it." she said giving it a slight push to open it wider.
"I see... a different bookcase. I can't tell what colour it is, everything's grey. there's four shelves, it's bigger and filled with books." Harry explained and Elizabeth smiled, she saw the same thing.
"What you see is the same place but different, where the person here only had a three shelf bookcase, the person there chose to have a four shelf bookcase." She unfolded her arms and gripped the tear, pulling it open, the bookcase shifting, changing, where a brown bookcase stood, now a black bookcase stood stocked with books. "Huh, I guess the tear was stocked with books that were relevant for what we needed. Some good luck for change." She mused, hiding the fact that she had probably influenced the tear a little bit. The tears had always been the same to her, almost equal parts alternate reality and wish fulfilment. She pulled a book off the shelf entitled Hogwarts: A History She turned walking back over to the chair and sat down. "You may as well take a book and sit down Harry, Bathsheda has gone to get supplies and then I think she plans to give you and introduction talk about magic. " Elizabeth said and opened the book on to the contents page to see what lay in store. Before she started reading any further though she looked to see Harry looking back between her and the bookshelf. "At the moment it looks like you've picked something up from that event. I can see the windows into other dimensions, I can pull things through. At the moment it looks like you have at least got some basic ability to see it from there." She paused idly glancing down at her right hand and her missing little finger and the thimble that rested on it. "Whether or not you can get more of it will have to be seen over time." Elizabeth finished, turning the page of the book. "Take a seat Harry, she should be back soon." She said again and Harry shook his head.
"But I need to get home, I'm already late as it is." Harry protested, "my Aunt and Uncle are going to kill me." He said nervously, it wasn't literal but he really didn't want to deal with them shouting at him. It was too much of a hassle sometimes.
"I think they may have a plan for that as well. Besides, from the sounds of it, they didn't want you finding out about this." She said gesturing to the book that she was holding. "If they didn't want you to find out about this, wouldn't you want to find out what it is that they're trying to hide?" She asked and Harry let out a small sound of acceptance. "We'll deal with your relatives in time. Let's find out what else they've lied about first shall we?" She suggested with a hint of darkness in her mind. "We can't let them get away with what they've done but we can't confront them without information." She pointed out as Harry picked up a book entitled The Magical Mind: Mastering your mental shields. she raised an eyebrow at that. "Interesting choice." She muttered quietly to herself, if he heard he didn't say anything and so she started reading. The moving pictures caught her by surprise, the first one almost making her throw the book away but she tightened her grip instead as she started to read glancing up at Harry every now and again, his brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to make heads or tails of the book that he was reading.
Time passed quietly between the two as they continued to read and Elizabeth found herself quickly becoming engrossed in the book. Years spent in isolation in the tower in Columbia had left her with quite the ability to speed read and retain the information and this whole new world that was about to open to her was fascinating to say the least. Idly she wondered how he would have dealt with the situation, had he found out about this world. 'Probably tried to burn it to the ground. Heresy and Witchcraft.' She thought bitterly turning another page as the topic shifted to talk about the enchanted stairs in the building.
"Well, if this is how quiet it's going to be looking after you two for the near future, I'm pretty sure I can't complain about it." Bathsheda spoke from the doorway looking in on the two of them, several carrier bags in her hands. "Though I don't remember any books being here when I left." She said glancing at Elizabeth who nodded in silent acceptance that it was her that brought the books in. "Huh, fair enough." She added and turned walking towards the kitchen. "Anyway, who is hungry?" She called out and Elizabeth and Harry shared a look before closing their books and placing them down. The smell of Fish and Chips capturing their full attention as they both realized just how hungry they were. Harry stood up, walking towards the kitchen, Elizabeth following after him. "Fish and Chips is for dinner because my ability to use Housework Charms is non-existent." She admitted with a blush as she brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "So take a seat, enjoy your food and after we'll talk business." She said gesturing to the now clean kitchen table. They took their seats. "Enjoying your book?" She asked Elizabeth who nodded her head.
"The School sounds fascinating; I can't wait to see it." She said eagerly and Harry looked confused. "The Ceiling of the Great Hall, the Enchanted Stairs, all of the Moving Portraits and pictures. It's almost like a fairy tale." She said quite happily about what she had learned before turning serious. "But you need to tell Harry about his parents." Elizabeth said firmly and Bathsheda looked between the two of them.
"Does he know?" She asked and Elizabeth made a non-committal sound in response.
"He knows that they were murdered and that his relatives have lied to him about it but not the full details, I only told him what you told me but I think we both know that something was left out." She said pointedly and Bathsheda sighed.
"It's not something pleasant to tell, I don't know all the details because at that time I was eight... maybe nine at the time. I didn't even know the Magical World existed, though it did explain why my Primary School teacher suddenly lost all his hair..." She trailed off a look of amusement on her face before shaking her head. "Anyway, let's not focus on my misdemeanours." She chuckled slightly seeing the two with amused smiles on their faces before she turned seriously. "There are a lot of question still regarding that night. Elizabeth you asked the one that rarely gets brought up, how did Harry survive when everyone else died. To be honest I have no clue. I could think of possible untested theories that people have come up with and theories that people have tried and well... let's not talk about those results." She said with another hesitant chuckle and a grimace.
"Can you start at the beginning for him? And for me for that matter, I think there's a bit more to the information than what you originally told me." Elizabeth said and Bathsheda sighed.
"Again, I'm not the best one to tell you this. I was a kid that knew nothing of the Magical World when this was happening and it was long over with by the time I truly started to understand what was going on. The Wizarding World was in a war, A Dark Lord by the name of V... Vol... He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." She conceded, unable to say his name. "No one speaks his name, it's a stigma, almost like a curse to speak it. The only one who knowingly and willingly does is Dumbledore. But he was the only one that the Dark Lord ever feared." She explained and Elizabeth and Harry shared an uneasy glance. How dangerous was this man if his mere name caused untold level of terror? "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, You-Know-Who, titles to hide his name. He started a war, a war of blood purity amongst the Wizarding Kind, people you see there is a kind of caste system in the Wizarding World." Bathsheda started and Elizabeth felt her eye twitch slightly. 'Another caste system! I just escaped one flawed system in Columbia!' But she didn't say anything so as not to interrupt the retelling. "The main part you need to pay attention to is that it's ludicrous, a dying tradition and belief about the purity of blood. The Purebloods are the nobles, the ancient families that can trace magical nature through generations of family. Some of them are good people but a lot are... I don't want to speak ill of people even if it is true, bigots and racists and evil." She paused for a moment to have a drink. "Next are Half Bloods, people with a magical parent and a non-magical... or muggle parent, generally good, there aren't that many restrictions on them in the case of jobs, attitudes and other things but there's still a slight discrimination from the old families for not being pure enough." She tapped her fingers on the table, hesitating to start on the next section. "The last of the main three are muggleborns. Muggle being the term for non-magical person." She said and saw Elizabeth's nose crinkle in disgust at the name that was used... or the fizzy drink she had just tried, Bathsheda wasn't a hundred percent certain. She glanced at Harry to see him slowly picking at his food, not really eating much. "Eat Harry, I know you want to hear this but you need to eat especially after what happened earlier." She pointed out and Harry continued eating. "in the eyes of the Pureblood, Muggleborn students are scum. No magical parentage and as they claim, no respect for tradition or the way the world works. I believe it was a Malfoy that claimed that they should not be allowed to be taught magic. Many a Pureblood has believed that philosophy and it causes a lot of tension in the world."
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named capitalized on this, he rallied the Purebloods in a way that few have ever done before. Grindelwald comes to mind but he... his story is different and wasn't built on blood purity. He rallied the Purebloods and created his army known as Death Eaters, with it he also rallied some of the darkest creatures that exist to fight with him. The Man was a Demon, anyone who stood against him died. So many families have been wiped from existence for standing against him or not joining him. Your family was one that opposed him, successfully on several occasion, that drew his full attention." She paused as Harry looked at her intently. "They found out he was coming for them and went into hiding. He found them on Halloween 1981." She paused again, taking a sip from her drink. She really didn't want to talk about this, this was something that McGonagall should have taken care of. "On that night your parents were murdered and then he turned his attention to you."
"Me? Why? I was just a baby." Harry protested, Elizabeth reaching up and putting a hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "Why would he want to kill me?"
"Why wouldn't he? The man was unhinged, he sadistically tortured both people that opposed him and his own allies. Besides, I don't want to sound callous by this but it makes some sort of sense. With you alive after having killed your parents, would you want to leave a potential threat alive to come back in the future to strike you down?" She asked and Elizabeth agreed that the point was valid, it was disgusting, but it was valid. "He turned his wand on you and tried to kill you with the same curse that he had used to kill a multitude of people but it didn't work. It apparently reflected back and killed him, with the only trace being that scar on your forehead." She explained and Harry almost automatically brought his hand up to his forehead here the scar rested, gently touching it. "His followers went to ground, those that didn't try to find him and get subsequently arrested probably spent more than a fair bit of money to keep out of prison, claims of mind control and manipulation saved others, but the only manipulation that was going on was the bribery in the ministry." She finished darkly before sighing. "Again, I'm not the right person to talk to about this, I missed a lot of it and the bits that I didn't miss, well I only got the information through what are no doubt biased sources and my own interpretation of those facts. There's still a lot of confusion and distrust even after all this time." She finished returning her attention to her food as she let the two think about what she had said.
They continued to eat in silence, Harry thinking about his parents, now knowing the truth, or as much of the truth as Bathsheda knew, was lost in thought. The Wizarding world sounded impressive at first, the ability to cast magic, to escape the Dursley's, to make a new life for himself. Already he was having these thoughts but they were now clouded, there was a darkness to the world that disturbed him. He didn't understand the situation entirely but this was one that was concerning to him. Elizabeth was less focused on the Dark Lord and more the blatant corruption in the society. It reminded her so much of Columbia it was scary. Still, someone needed her help and she was going to give it to them. Harry had shown potential in accessing her powers and she wanted to see how far she could take him with it. With the teaching position she'd be able to train him on the side. Along with her studies and other teaching assistant roles. Thinking of this, Elizabeth turned her attention away from her food at looked at Bathsheda. "What will my job require? I'm not really familiar with teaching." She spoke, the majority of her lessons had been self-study or with Rosalind Lutece back when she was younger but the rest. Isolation, books.
"I don't think you'll be expected to do much, Supervise the lessons, mark classwork for the younger years, tasks to ease the burden of the other professors so they can focus a bit more on their NEWT classes." Bathsheda explained. "You'll be doing your own studies alongside the classes so I don't think they'll pile too much of it on you. I think they'll use this year as a test to see if there is any benefit to it. Perhaps give you just the first years work and then if it helps them they may even hire more. Who knows having an assistant with each of the years may give more time for individual help from the Professors. Don't worry about how bad that sounds, the classes aren't that big at Hogwarts. The war left this generation a bit on the small side. Next year though..." She trailed off with a laugh. "I've already seen the list forming on who to invite. It got bigger. like double in size." She said and Elizabeth felt her eyes widen. if she was there for more than a year then her work load would dramatically increase, unless they hired more assistants." She stopped, realising that she had just started repeating herself and got herself back on track. "Tomorrow we'll get supplies, wands, books, clothes, potion supplies." Bathsheda rambled on a list of requirements before pausing, her palm coming up to her forehead with a loud slap of skin on skin. "And I can't believe I forgot to give this to you Harry." She said pulling an Envelope from her trouser pocket and holding it out to him. "Your official Hogwarts Letter." She finished and Harry stared at it.
He had not been able to get it before now, The Dursley's had done their best to keep it away from him, now here it sat, waiting for him to reach out and take it. In the back of his mind a darkness rippled, whispering that it was a joke, that they were going to snatch away the letter just before he could get it. Steal his hopes and dreams, stop him from escaping the Dursley's. He dismissed the idea almost as soon as it appeared and took the letter. He looked at the front of it, his address with his room written in emerald ink, he turned it over, his thumb running over the wax seal with the Hogwarts crest. Absently he noticed someone leaning over to his side to look at the letter and turned his head to look at Elizabeth who had the decency to blush lightly. "What?" She asked jokingly looking between the two. "I never got a letter." She said mock childishly and poked her tongue out at Bathsheda. There was a moment of silence before the action truly sunk in and Bathsheda started laughing at the action, followed by Elizabeth and Harry shortly after. "So, are you going to open it or just stare at the quite nice writing?" Elizabeth teased and Harry responded by opening the letter, pulling it out and beginning to read.
"Dear Mr Potter, 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 the first of September. We await your owl by no later than July 31st." At this he looked at Bathsheda who waved it off.
"We know the circumstances regarding your lack of response, we've already accepted on your behalf." She said dismissively then smiled. "Unless of course you don't want to go." She continued teasingly and Harry shook his head. "That's what I thought."
"For a letter introducing someone to a whole new world, it seems a bit thin. just a 'hello and welcome to the school go buy this.' That doesn't really do much to convince people that it isn't a joke." Elizabeth pointed out. "I'd be dubious about it. I'm pretty sure many others would be as well." Elizabeth pushed and Bathsheda shrugged.
"it's one of those tradition things, the letter hasn't actually changed much in so many years. It was the same back when I got mine. Though normally with Muggleborn students it was followed up by a visit within the day of arrival. The staff are very busy this time of year." She explained, "travelling all across the country to each of the potential students to make sure they realise that yes, it is real and no it is not some clever prank made by their friends. Haven't actually done it myself yet. Heard the reactions can be quite interesting." She said trailing off wistfully, still smiling. "Back to reality." She muttered more to herself than anyone else. "Tomorrow morning we'll head to London and to Diagon Alley, we'll get your supplies and wand and then I'll take you to Kings Cross to show you where the platform to catch the train is." She explained looking at Harry. "After that, I'm going to have to take Elizabeth to Hogwarts so she can meet with Dumbledore and hopefully get things prepared for the beginning of the year. However, I'll come back the day before you go to Hogwarts so that she can experience the trip as well. Everyone should do it at least once." Bathsheda said stopping for a second as another thought pushed to the front of her mind. "In fact I still need to speak to them this evening." She said in realisation. "I have technically abducted you, even if I'm treating you fine. I should at least attempt to speak to them, let them know where you are." She sighed, already in the back of her mind she could tell it was something that she wasn't going to enjoy. The size of Harry showed typical signs of neglect, underweight, hand me down clothing that would put even a homeless person to shame with how badly they fit. He was a member of a Noble and Ancient House and here he was looking like he lived on the street. "There are so many things that we need to cover in the near future." She said to Harry as she stood up, disposing of the rubbish from the table with a flick of her wand, the paper that the fish and chips had come in scrunching up into small balls of paper and launching themselves at the bin. "But, business before pleasure. To the Dursley's I go before it gets too late." She said checking her watch. "Six in the evening, I'm going to guess they're probably eating at this time right."
"Depends if my Aunt cooks or not." Harry said a hint of bitterness slipping into his voice before he caught himself. "I mean, yes, they should be at this point." Harry corrected himself, blushing at the looks he received. "Do you need me to come with?" He asked slowly and Bathsheda shook her head.
"No, you should be fine staying here for now. Elizabeth, do you mind coming with?" She asked, "That way I can have a witness... or someone to keep me under control." She added in a light tone to try and keep everything relaxed and Elizabeth nodded her head.
"It would be nice to get out of this house for a little bit." She conceded.
"I can imagine," Bathsheda agreed with a shudder before focusing on Harry. "You going to be okay on your own for a little bit?" She asked. It was unusual for her, to be looking after someone so long, she wasn't sure what she should or shouldn't be doing, she wasn't sure what the proper protocol or parenting rule was but she didn't see any harm in leaving him alone for a little while.
"I'll be fine." Harry said and Bathsheda frowned slightly but nodded her head. 'I get the feeling that I'll be fine, is going to be his go to phrase with anything that happens,' She thought as the two walked through the hallway and out the front door.
"We'll be back soon, don't open the door to strangers and all those things." Bathsheda called out lamely as the two left the house. Elizabeth paused as she closed the door behind her, taking a moment to breathe in the fresh air before looking around. Looking at the houses if she needed a word to describe the scene it would have been bland. There was little to no variation across the street, Uniform white houses, with Uniform gardens, it screamed fake to her. People acting perfectly normal to cover up something underneath. Like it was all one big play that was going on around them. Moving to the street she glanced back at the house that she had just left, seeing the state of disarray it was in and it made her smile at its vast contrast to the rest of the houses in the street. overgrown garden, shabby paint, curtained up windows, it stood out. Just like she did in the clothing she was wearing in comparison to Bathsheda. "Number Four is down the road a bit. It'll only be a minute or two." She explained as they started walking, the click of Elizabeth's heels clicking on the floor as they walked. "How does it feel to be out of the house?"
"Like a breath of fresh air." She admitted with a smile, resisting the urge to throw her arms up and spin around happily before she pointed to a car. "What's that?" She asked in confusion and Bathsheda looked surprise.
"You don't know what a car is?" She asked and Elizabeth shook her head. "How out of time are you?" She questioned slowly before dismissing it for now. "A car is basically a horseless carriage powered by an engine." She explained and Elizabeth nodded her head slowly. "So keep to the path because I don't want you to get run over now as we make our way there. I don't think either of us would like that outcome." Bathsheda said trying to sound like she was making a joke but also carrying across the seriousness of the situation.
To Elizabeth though, she was side-tracked back to the day where she escaped the tower with Booker and the rift she had opened moments before his arrival and just how close she had come to being injured by a... car. She had seen books which had pictures of cars in before but this was vastly different, almost like they were completely different things all together. She now had a name for the vehicle that she almost let hit her. "What do we do when we arrive at the Dursley's?" Elizabeth questioned as they neared the house. At least if the numbers were anything to go by, at a glance they all looked alike.
"You will probably end up doing nothing, I've seen people like the Dursley's before, bullies that cower at the first sign of danger. I think I can be that bit of danger, don't you?" Bathsheda said with a menacing grin and Elizabeth nodded, not trusting herself to say anything. "Either way, any situation that is already potentially volatile should not be approached without some form of backup or assistance." She said sagely and Elizabeth nodded in understanding as they walked up. "Just let me do the talking and we shall be done and gone before anything truly kicks off." Bathsheda finished, lifting her hand and knocking on the door loudly. The two stood there in silence, waiting for the someone to come and didn't hear anything. She knocked again, louder. "Come on Dursley open the damn door." She muttered under her breath before she heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming up to the door and stepped back slightly as it was flung open.
"Who's there, what do you want?" An angry man, his face a tint of purple practically shouted, Bathsheda leaning back as she felt bits of spittle hit her in the face. She grimaced bringing a hand up and wiping it off.
"Mr Dursley?" She questioned and the glare from the man increased.
"We're not interested in buying anything!" He went to slam the door shut on them.
"That's good because we're not trying to sell you anything or preach anything." She enforced through gritted teeth. "We're here about your Nephew."
"Nephew? Whatever that brat has done is his own damn fault." He snapped and went to shut the door again. Bathsheda brought her wand up and pushed the door back with a wave of magic sending him stumbling back. "You can't do this! This is trespassing, I should phone the police." He snapped, having not registered just what she had done at the angle he was standing.
"I told you, we're here to talk about your Nephew. You interrupted so I had to interrupt you. Now, we are going to talk to him about his schooling for the immediate future."
"You're one of those freaks!" Vernon said, colour draining from his face as he backed away towards the living room.
"I'm sorry... What did you just call me!?" Bathsheda snapped and Vernon jumped back as if burnt. "I assure you Dursley, I am no freak, I am a highly trained Witch who currently is barely holding back against a rude bully." She growled, her wand pointed at him as he backed into the room. The two followed after him, Elizabeth slightly hesitantly as she watched a side of Bathsheda that made her slightly uncomfortable. "Hello Mrs Dursley." Bathsheda spoke almost pleasantly as Vernon stumbled back into his chair, sitting down with a loud thump.
"Why are you here. We haven't done anything wrong with the boy." She protested nervously and angrily at the same time.
"How about not letting him have his letter." Bathsheda said calmly, lowering the wand.
"I will not pay for him to go to some freakish school and learn magic tricks!" Vernon Snapped, moving to rise up again and Bathsheda raised an eyebrow.
"Even though you know it's already been paid for. Or did you think his parents would have left it unprepared?" She asked with disdain. There was something about these two that really tugged at her self-control. Perhaps it was the fact that his son, who was sat on the sofa by his wife was about three times the size of Harry in width, or the fact that between the two of them they probably outweighed a small elephant. Or as Elizabeth was beginning to see as she looked around the room, there was nearly no proof that Harry even existed here, no photo's no schoolwork left to the side, nothing. "He will be attending Hogwarts on the first of September. He will be away for the rest of this evening and most probably the majority of tomorrow." She stated without any chance for them to argue. "When he returns, he will not be punished for it." She said with a serious edge to her voice.
"Can I ask a question?" Elizabeth asked softly, a sharp contrast to the harshness of Bathsheda. "Why is there nothing of Harry around here?" She asked glancing at Petunia Dursley who glared.
"We didn't want him; he was nothing but trouble. He's always disrupting his class at school, he's always causing trouble and with that Freakishness of his I knew it was just going to get worse." Petunia snapped and Elizabeth frowned.
"He's your family. How can you say something like that about him?" She questioned as she focused on the woman, Elizabeth didn't hate people, she really did try to see the best in everyone, but this woman, to be so cruel to her own flesh and blood, to be so hurtful to them. The fact that she was willing to say this to a stranger, to someone who had never met her or possibly will never meet her again, there was no doubt she would be willing to say this to his face as well.
"We didn't want him. It's not our fault that Perfect Lilly Potter went and got herself blown up! Always walking around so smug and arrogant because of her abilities. Look where it got her in the end. We are normal people, living normal lives, we don't want any of their freakishness here and yet your people dropped him on our doorstep in the middle of the night with a note." Petunia snapped angrily and Elizabeth let out a small huh in surprise.
"Is that right." She muttered glancing at Bathsheda who shrugged, the wind taken slightly out of her sails. Not entirely but enough to make her think. No this was not a valid excuse for their treatment of Harry. It was still disgusting what they had done, but to have a child dropped on their doorstep with only a letter and not even checking in. Things were getting stranger the longer she paid attention to it. Anyone could easily see they wouldn't have been happy to take Harry in but to do so without checking in on him. "I'll look after him for the rest of the Holiday." Elizabeth spoke up suddenly, surprising practically everyone in the room.
"You'll what?" Bathsheda, Vernon and Petunia all said at the same time.
"You two don't want him, that much is obvious and the last thing he needs is a negative environment like this. He's eleven years old, he shouldn't be dealing with this." She spoke quietly, a haunted tone seeping into her voice. "I'll take care of him for the rest of the Holiday." She repeated and looked at Bathsheda with determination. "We can still deal with the other stuff, but this isn't a good place for him and for all people involved." She finished and Bathsheda frowned for a few moments before shrugging.
"Fine, at least I don't have to be the responsible adult," She joked trying to ease the tension. "We'll just go get his stuff and..." She was cut off.
"NO!" Petunia quickly and loudly protested. "I mean... I'll get his clothing, this is our house and you've stayed longer than needed or wanted." She snapped and stood up, quickly moving out of the room.
"That's that sorted." Bathsheda muttered still frowning as she looked at Vernon. "But you and me Mr Dursley... we're not, if I ever, and I do mean EVER catch you calling one of our kind freaks or anything derogatory again..." She trailed off with a warning tone.
"How dare you!?" Vernon snapped, his face shifting colours between pink, purple and puce. Idly, Bathsheda wondered whether or not he was actually a metamorphmagus but dismissed that. If he was, would he really hold that form?
"I dare because I know what it's like to suffer treatment like that from relatives. I know what it's like to see children destroyed because their family can't see the wonderful gift that they've been given. A child with untold potential." She snapped. "You owe him your lives, yet you can't see that because you're too busy blinded by hatred. That boy is a hero amongst us. He would have been treated like royalty by anyone in our community. The least you could have done was show him a small bit of love and respect." She finished and Elizabeth, who had been watching her, reached up, gently touching her arm.
"I'll finish it from here." Elizabeth said softly and Bathsheda stormed out of the room to wait for Harry's items. "How you act is your choice. I won't continue to comment on what I have not seen." She started slowly, her eyes locked on to Vernon, piercing blue focused on Grey eyes. "When we leave I just want you to think on this one thing." She paused gesturing at Dudley. "If the roles had been reversed and you and your wife had died." She paused and Vernon went pale.
"Is that a threat?" He tried to ground out and sound intimidating.
"Did it sound like a threat?" She asked in surprise. "It was asked to make you THINK!" She snapped, she was trying to be patient with them but it was difficult, there was just so much hatred it was blinding them. "How would you have wanted them to treat Dudley if you had died? How do you think Lily and James Potter would have treated him if you had lost your life?" She pushed again and Vernon was almost stunned into silence. "Please, I'm not asking you to declare him a second son. I'm asking you to treat him like a human being, to treat him like he's family and not something unwanted that you've been unable to dispose of." She almost pleaded as she looked at Vernon, willing him to understand.
"His belongings." Petunia spoke up from the doorway, her voice quiet and thoughtful. Elizabeth turned to her, walked over and calmly took the battered bag that it was packed in.
"Thank you, we'll be on our way now." She spoke moving carefully past her. "Think about what I've said. Anything could have happened. Anything CAN happen." She said with concern before turning waking out the door after Bathsheda. The two walked in silence, neither saying anything as they made their way back to the temporary lodging. Bathsheda kept glancing at Elizabeth, confusion the primary state in the looks but also amazement. about halfway there, she broke the silence.
"I'm impressed." She started.
"Hmm?" Elizabeth responded, glancing back at Bathsheda.
"You kept calm and collected even when I was getting angry. I was ready to use all kinds of magic with how they were acting and you just stood there and made them think." She explained and Elizabeth blushed slightly at the praise.
"I could have done something drastic, I wanted to do something drastic. I could have shown them exactly what life without Harry could have been like." She explained quietly as they walked past a couple of people.
"Why didn't you?"
"Because there is no definite path to what it would have been like. Harry brings change and variation wherever he goes. I could see several possibilities, not all good and not all bad. I didn't want to take the chance that I'd bring the wrong one into existence, to show them that life could have been better without Harry and reinforce the hatred that they felt. Instead I wanted to see if they could change. There is good in them, they just need to see it themselves." She reasoned and Bathsheda grabbed her arm stopping her as they arrived at the house.
"When you say you can see the possibilities. How do you mean?" She questioned slowly and Elizabeth paled realising that she had said too much.
"It's related to that power. I can see every dimension, every timeline, every possibility, I can't see everything at every time, in fact I try and shut it out. I can pull it into existence, I can go to it and I can take other people to it. I can't guarantee returning to the right one though. There is an infinite number of them and trying to find the one that you came from is the same as finding a specific needle in a haystack made entirely of needles." She explained and Bathsheda frowned as her brain worked overtime to comprehend everything. The theory of Alternate Dimensions existed, even in the Magical World, but it was just a theory and here was someone not only confirming it but claiming to be able to act as a window into it.
"Don't tell anyone else about this." Bathsheda said after several minutes of silence.
"I didn't plan to."
"Good, not that I don't trust you in regards to this, but there are a lot of people on both sides of the field that would kill to have your power. It could shift the balance in the Wizarding World in a way that You Know Who couldn't even imagine." Bathsheda quickly and quietly explained. "There's a saying, you probably already know it. Power corrupts..." She trailed off waiting for Elizabeth to take over and after a few seconds she did.
"And Absolute Power, Corrupts Absolutely." She finished and Bathsheda nodded her head.
"There are so many good people who would be willing to risk it all to try and bring about one of those brighter futures. They would probably be willing to risk it with your power as well, all for a greater good." She said in concern and Elizabeth nodded her head.
"I understand, but there is one person I have to tell." Elizabeth said glancing back at the house. Bathsheda knowing exactly who she was referring to.
"He's already one step above others so far, he can see the rifts, or at least he saw one earlier when I pulled that bookcase through." She explained. "I don't know whether its temporary or not though." She finished before walking up to the door of the house. They entered the house, walking through to the living room and stopped. "I guess he was more exhausted than we realised." She muttered quietly as she looked at the sleeping form of Harry on the sofa. "Can you get him upstairs?" She asked and Bathsheda nodded. Elizabeth walked over, carefully lifting the book out of his hands as Bathsheda started to levitate him to the bedroom he had been sleeping in earlier. Elizabeth looked at the book, Hogwarts: A History "I guess he wanted to learn a bit more about where his parents went." She said quietly and placed the book back on the bookcase. She sat down on the sofa, looking around the darkened room and frowned. Part of her wanted to just walk away. The man she had been chasing was long gone from here and she needed to continue looking for him. Another part of her though, didn't want to leave what was happening here. Harry had few people in the world and she had promised to take care of him to the Dursley's and she was going to keep her word.
She leant back into the sofa, closing her eyes, yawning slightly as she did. Part of her feared falling asleep, afraid that she'd never wake up again. Part of her feared that she would be back in Columbia, none of this having ever happened. She yawned again. Things were getting interesting again.
TBC
When I finished this chapter it was just shy of 10k words, which was pretty good, I've reread it several times and added bits and pieces here and there and that pushed it over the 10k margin. Yay me!
Elizabeth is vague with her powers and downplays them because she's still trying to get a gauge on everything, even with how she spelt it out to Bathsheda at the end there, she was not 100% accurate with the description of her powers. I know this and I'm working with that as I write.
At the time of posting this, one week has passed and I've completed chapter 11. I'm now aiming to do one chapter a week so I'll constantly be uploading them. I nearly failed when I started though, I returned to work and ended up working a 12 day straight across 2 weeks and have barely had the energy to write. So tired.
And yes i realise that Elizabeth would probably realise what a car was but at the same time, lived in seclusion for all those years, even with books and information that were in her tower i do still believe she'd be a bit clueless about certain things. I may have pushed it a bit much with that but it just seemed to flow into the chapter as i wrote