1. A Desperate Plan
Lucius Malfoy pondered his latest conundrum, which wasn't even the fact that he was going to Azkaban for failing to get the prophecy and getting caught wearing a Death Eater mask, though that was on his mind as well, of course. No, he'd be getting out of that hell soon enough, with his Master back in a body of his own.
The main problem he faced now were his debts, and the likelihood of that mongrel Black having designated Harry Potter as his blasted Heir. With Black as a fugitive, he was in no position to take up his mantle as the Lord Black, giving Draco the opportunity to usurp the position upon reaching his majority, because that happened sooner for him than it did for Harry Potter. With Black free, or dead, as was the case, his Last Will and Testament came into play, and there was no way to stop it from being read. If that Will named Harry Potter as his Heir, then the Malfoy Family was fucked! Blast Bellatrix for murdering that mutt!
After almost bankrupting himself to keep him and his friends out of Azkaban after the war, he had been taking out loans from other purebloods on the premise that he would pay them back with interest after his son took up the mantle of Head of House Black, with its plentiful vaults. Without that, he would have no way to pay those debts, and his Master was also depending on him to finance the upcoming war! Failure meant death at best, weeks of torture and then death at worst, for him and his family.
The only options he had now were killing Harry, or somehow removing him from the succession completely, both were difficult if not impossible to achieve from behind bars. Killing Harry Potter was altogether too difficult in the first place, because he had actually been trying for years already, failing to even come close to the boy's residence. Attacking him at Hogwarts was difficult for obvious reasons as well.
That left the option of removing him from the line of succession, which was hard. If only Harry Potter hadn't been a boy or had a Black in his ancestry in the first place, then all this wouldn't have even been an issue! The Black Family bylaws prevented a girl from inheriting after all.
Wait, that was it!
There was a way to turn a boy into a girl, it just happened to be an extremely difficult potion to make, what with the insanely restricted and expensive ingredients. He had the recipe in a book in his office though, and Narcissa was allowed a visit this very afternoon.
The potion would strip the boy of his Y-chromosome and copy the X-chromosome and switch him to female in a very painful hour. His body would destroy and rebuild itself as her body, and it was very much a one-way trip.
Yes, perhaps all was not lost just yet. If Narcissa came through, he needed to have a fool proof plan ready. That gave him just an hour to plot, which should be more than enough. Lucius smirked as the pieces fell into place. Severus would be the linchpin, and very likely to assist when he realised just what the result would be. Yes, he would have a plan ready in time, it was almost too easy. The only thing he needed was a lucky break in the availability of the very ingredient responsible for allowing the change in the first place. What he needed to be available was Basilisk Poison, a tiny amount, sure, but there was no substitute possible. It was either that or nothing.
He sincerely hoped that it could be done.
-..-
Severus had a thoughtful look on his face as Narcissa Malfoy left his quarters via the floo. The recipe he now held in his hands was new to him, but nothing suggested it wouldn't work. He actually had the wherewithal to produce this potion, all he needed to do was decide.
The sheer desperation of the plan did nothing to diminish its brilliance, and he had to admit to being curious, even anxious to see its results. Being the Potion Master he was, he knew this would not turn Potter into a copy of his mother. No, it would only reverse his puberty and kickstart another while switching his gender in a very painful and excruciatingly long hour. But still, it would greatly amuse Severus to destroy the Potter boy's life, not to mention put Lucius in his debt big-time. The Dark Lord would undoubtedly hear about it as well, even if Lucius was planning to keep it a secret, and he would suspect Severus' role in an instant.
The only part missing in the plan was the delivery method, but Severus had that covered as well. He had so often used a switching spell that he could do it wandlessly these days, so long as the distance wasn't too great.
Basilisk venom was the only ingredient he could not get on the market, black or not, but the headmaster had given him a tiny vial's worth three years prior, one that would exactly fit his need, give or take a drop.
He had the ingredients spread out before him and realised his decision was already made, because for one, he really relished the challenge of making a new potion, and secondly, it would mess up the life of a boy he truly hated with a passion. Ah yes, in addition, the gratitude of the Malfoy family coupled with the likely credit from the Dark Lord would also be very helpful in the future.
With a vicious looking grin, Severus grabbed a cauldron and started the brewing process.
The venom came up short half a drop, but by his estimation, it would only serve to protract the conversion process, and he really didn't care about extending Potter's likely incredible pain. Why, it almost made him giddy to think about it! Pampered Potter could do with an attitude adjustment.
While he had given a vow to keep Lily's child alive, his actions now did not break that vow, because he would make the potion perfect, and his intent was to have him survive the conversion. It wouldn't be half as much fun if Potter died, after all, and he really didn't want to break his vow and die. Harry Potter would live, or at least not die by his hand.
He completed the potion in the middle of the night, it had been a lengthy brew and normally he wouldn't start something like that in the evening, but he needed to administer it before Potter left the school, and today was the last day to make that happen, so he had powered through his fatigue in order to complete it.
At breakfast, he walked past Potter and switched a bit of pumpkin juice with the contents of the vial in his pocket before casually walking on and taking his usual seat and starting a conversation with Minerva, who noticed his fatigue even through his glamours.
Minerva's intervention prevented Severus from seeing Harry bottle the pumpkin juice and put it in his bag for the trip back, but he would surely learn about it later.
He looked up to see Harry stand up and leave, which immediately induced a mild panic attack that was only covered by his immense skill in occlumency. He dearly hoped that nobody else got into contact with that potion, and cursed Potter for this lost opportunity and potion work!
Severus never thought about the possibility that Harry took some food and drink for consumption on the express like many students did before boarding the train, for the simple reason that he hadn't had to think about such things since he was a student himself, and that was a lifetime ago in his mind.
-..-
Harry always thought the train-ride on the express was a waste of time, and definitely ill-thought out. For one, there was no cart that sold drinks or food, only a trolley-witch who sold candy. CANDY! Who could survive an eight-hour long trip on just candy!
The second part was the trip itself. Magic made long-distance travel almost trivial, and yet they used a very time-consuming train to take hundreds of children cross-country. It made absolutely no sense at all beyond adhering to tradition, something the magicals were very hung-up about. To his great relief, Hermione had been very quiet during the ride, and Ron was already home after leaving Saint Mungo's. Reading and even sleeping a bit made the hours pass quickly.
When he left the train and noticed the Order members harassing his aunt and uncle, he sighed in frustrated disappointment. Didn't they understand this would only complicate things? Definitely not, going by how proud they sounded when they told him that it was all for his benefit. His smile was very brittle, when he said "thanks." Not that the Order members cared to notice that little detail.
The absolute certainty in their faces made it hard to resent them for making his summer harder, but he still managed. The Order of the Phoenix was guarding his home twenty-four seven, and yet they had never seen fit to do anything for his benefit, not even when Petunia screamed that he wouldn't be getting any food again, and that he was getting locked in his room for a week. That alone told him how little they truly cared for his well-being, only their orders from Albus Bloody Dumbledore. They probably thought it would be easier to keep him in one place if he was locked in his room.
Now Sirius was dead, and nothing would change. What's more, Dumbledore had dropped the prophecy on him, so he had that going for him as well. Slated to murder a Dark Lord, nice gift to hear just after losing his Godfather and his only chance at a better home.
His friends were no better of course, they followed their orders just the same. He almost laughed out loud bitterly when he had visited the Hospital wing and overheard Ginny tell Hermione how they were disappointed in the lack of Harry's planning in the attack of the Ministry, because surely Dumbledore had taught him better? Hermione's answer made him glad that he hadn't made a sound, however, because he really needed to hear it.
"I don't know, Ginny. I know Dumbledore said he was training Harry, but I haven't seen any evidence for that. I just hope your upcoming relationship with him next year will be what you expect. Harry has nothing in common with the image you have of him from reading those books. I may not like Harry all that much, but I think I know him well enough to say that."
"I'm sure Dumbledore has plans for that as well, we only need to follow them, Hermione." Ginny had answered. "Besides, why would you need to like Harry, be glad you don't hate him."
That particular conversation told him a lot about his 'friends' and Dumbledore. He knew now for certain that which he had only suspected before, he was a pawn on a chess board, and he had almost no agency to speak of.
Dumbledore maneuvered him at the Dursleys and actively controlled his entire world at Hogwarts, including his friends. He had long since figured out that Dumbledore had to have known about all his adventures beforehand and had purposefully chosen to let Harry deal with it all instead of doing anything himself, so that was no surprise, just additional evidence.
This newest piece of information disturbed him however, because he was slated to start dating Ginny, his biggest fangirl. Hell no! Not if he had anything to do with it. His feelings being what they were, he would have to be subjected to some kind of behavioural modification in order to even look at her like that, probably love potions or something similar. That was rape in his mind, plain and simple, and he would be damned if he just accepted that!
The thing was, he had long since figured out that Molly Weasley's care packages were ideally suited to be filled with potions, because he had no way to check for potions in the muggle world, let alone if the Dursleys took his wand again. If he was hungry enough, he almost didn't have a choice except to eat those offerings or starve. That was a problem he did not have the solution to as of yet, and it worried him a lot.
Having so much time for thinking, coupled with paranoia had put that idea in his head, and he had at first felt guilty for even considering the possibility. Now though, he figured it was all too likely to happen.
With Sirius gone, Harry was truly alone once more, and he needed to figure out a plan of action yesterday. He had overheard Ginny and Hermione yesterday, and now he was going back to Prison Drive number four. He was basically already too late to set up something to prevent him from starving, but he had to at least try.
"I'll be fine, Remus. See you when I'm sprung, yeah?" He waved Remus off, who didn't even seem to acknowledge the wording. "Alright, Harry, be safe, you hear!"
Harry shook his head at the stupid request. How was he supposed to do that? Besides, he'd likely be watching me invisibly without doing anything to help him again. What right did he have to say anything like that in the first place?
He turned to find Vernon purpling with suppressed rage and followed mutely as they turned to walk to the car. "Get in and be silent. We have heard enough Freaks speak today." Petunia ordered him as he entered the car via the back door.
He got thirsty thirty minutes in and remembered the pumpkin juice he had stored away. It tasted funny going down, but he was too late to do anything about it, since he had chugged it to quench his thirst.
The feelings of his gut moving and stabbing needles shooting in his groin area immediately sent him into a blind panic, and he groaned loudly. That turned to a screaming fit when the sensation increased tenfold and spread out all over his body. This was worse than Voldemort's Cruciatus in the Graveyard, no doubt about it!
Screaming wasn't going to help him, on the contrary, but the pain was too great! His lungs heaved to get additional oxygen before he expelled it again in another wave of excruciating pain.
Time passed in this fashion while Harry fought to keep his sanity, and he never even noticed the reactions of his aunt and uncle, not until it was too late.
The last thought Harry had was fear for his life as he got shoved out the door of the car after his uncle had stopped, a short feeling of weightlessness as he fell, followed by the thud of his trunk impacting right next to his head. It was a miracle his neck bent the right way as his body finalised its journey.
Mercifully, he lost consciousness not a second later.
-..-
Petunia sat shaking in the passenger seat, her features drained of blood as her mind replayed what happened not five minutes ago. "Vernon, you remember that letter from the Freak's Headmaster? I think we should move houses, immediately."
Vernon grunted lividly, he was actually shaking in anger whilst driving, which was not helping his ability to drive in a straight line. He shot a glance at his wife of seventeen years and the anger spiked again. Always had he advocated getting rid of the Freak and moving away, but only now did she agree? He was under the impression it was too late by far, and it was one hundred percent her fault. "Think they'll let us then, Pet?" He asked angrily.
Petunia's mind reeled with the implications, but she was done doubting herself. "We'll have to be circumspect. Get everything ready without saying a thing to Dudders or Harry when they inevitably put him back, and when he leaves for that school again, we leave as quickly as possible."
"If he lives." Vernon grunted darkly.
He was right, there was a definite possibility of Harry not surviving whatever the hell that unnaturalness was that had just started happening to him. Petunia had been caught off guard by his painful scream, but that was only the start of it. What bothered her was not his pain, but what she could see was causing it.
Just the sight of it told her that whatever it was surely wasn't Harry's doing. Nobody would voluntarily go through a horror like that. Nobody!
Harry had been decaying in front of her eyes, before reforming again abruptly for a moment until the cycle started anew. His flesh had been rotting and turning to ash before new muscle, meat, skin, and bone grew from the remainder. Small spots did this over and over again in front of her disbelieving eyes, moving a fraction of an inch each time, completely unmaking and remaking Harry in some devilish horror scene. When his eyes dissolved and reformed, she herself had screamed in terror, and that was enough to make Vernon pull over on the side of the highway in a conveniently placed emergency lane pit stop.
She hadn't even argued as Vernon lifted the ever-screaming Harry and tossed him from the hill the road had been built on, before tossing his stuff after him. Vernon's hand had sunk into Harry's hip like it was putty, and that had thrown off the throw, almost causing Harry to land on his neck and killing him. The trunk landing inches from his head was the next near-death experience for Harry, but both Petunia and Vernon had been far past caring about his welfare at that point. They had turned their backs right as the creepiest scream imaginable belted through the air in an explosion of black smoke.
One shared look had them hightailing it out of there as quickly as they could to get as far away from Harry and any possible witnesses as they could. With the way the road sloped down quite steeply in a straight line, it was highly unlikely for any passers-by to spot him though, and as far as they could tell, nobody had seemed to care. They might hear him scream as they passed by, but who would stop a car on a highway? Most people would feel bad but drive on, and perhaps call the police with a tip if the guilt was bad enough.
The adrenaline had taken another dozen minutes to leave her body as they drove at a speed that was well above the speed limit, but Vernon was obviously still under the effects of the fight and flight hormone, as evidenced by his clenched fists, sweaty white forehead, and intermittent shaking.
Vernon tried to switch to a different lane when a car sped past way beyond even their speed, causing Vernon to swerve violently and sending them spinning towards a lorry. Petunia didn't even have the time to call out a warning when half of their vehicle was crushed beneath its wheels, leaving her flying through the front window in an explosion of glass as Vernon's lower half was turned to a bloody paste in an instant.
She didn't know it, because she had lost her consciousness when passing through the window, but Petunia flew over the side rails and rolled down the side of the road much like Harry had, only a lot faster. In what would later be called a miracle on the news, she landed perfectly to avoid being doubled over and only broke a knee and elbow in her rapid fall. The head wound gave her a minor case of amnesia that the doctors expected to clear up within the month, but she'd be out of the hospital in three short months, so there was that.
-..-
Harry woke up feeling simultaneously better than ever and drained beyond belief. He merely breathed as he stared up at the sky, seeing perfectly without his glasses for the first time since he had drunk Polyjuice in second year. As best as he could tell, he was either dead or dreaming, because nothing else could explain the breasts that he had to pump up with every breath, or the fact that he no longer had balls or an accompanying cock to speak of.
In fact, this was remarkably like Polyjuice, but somehow, he knew he wasn't that lucky.
His memories made no sense, since the last he could remember was driving back to his private prison with his aunt and uncle. There was a glaring lack of explanation for his becoming female between then and now, and he was in no rush to figure it out. Honestly, he was almost too tired to think about it!
The feeling of his sensitive new nipples chafing against his cotton shirt finally convinced him to start moving. He was also missing a couple hours of memory, and the sun was sinking fast. "Time to get up."
His voice was nothing like before and altogether girly, though he should really have expected that, given his new body.
"This is messed up, and what the hell am I supposed to do now anyway?" He grimaced.
None of the clothes he wore fit him anymore, which was logical. They were already too big when he was still a boy, but it seemed changing into a girl had made that even worse. Standing up made his pants drop to the floor, despite his clearly wider hips… He had a belt, but the holes didn't reach far enough to keep the pants up.
"Shit!" He swore. "Why is it always me?!"
He paused, deciding to take stock. First, he was a female now, with everything that came with it, and surprisingly, he had somehow lost his scar as well. His hair was still black, and the mirror in his trunk showed that he still had his green eyes, but now the shape of his face was more rounded and slenderer, very feminine and completely sexy.
In fact, the honest surprise his reflection wore as he first saw it could only be called adorable. Damn, he was in big trouble. A nervous giggle coming from his own lips prompted him to start moving.
Any clothes he had were worthless, except for the robes he had outgrown from last year, so he put those around his shoulders and was happy to see it cover him nicely. The shirt had limited use as a make-shift bra by binding it around his chest and stuffing more clothes up; his sneakers and pants were barely enough to hold that up correctly. It was the best he could do at present without using magic, and it was a shit solution.
Basically, he looked like an idiot and needed new clothes immediately!
"Can I even call someone for help?" He asked himself. Well yes, but would that help him? In the short term, definitely, but it would also immediately put him back at Prison Drive and under Dumbledore's thumb. That was enough to make him rethink the whole issue.
He still had his wand and Gringotts key, and that led to the first smile since waking up. Not a soul would recognise him if he just rented a room at the Leaky Cauldron, that was for sure!
Carefully dragging the trunk back up the hill, which sucked because it was much heavier than he remembered it being, and he was tired as fuck, he made his way to the emergency stop and raised his wand.
A loud pop announced the arrival of the Knight Bus, and he was greeted by the disapproving glare of the bus boy. "Look Miss, even you should understand that calling us on the muggle highways is not something we appreciate. Then again, we are here for the stranded witch and wizard, and you definitely look stranded. So, promise to not do it again and tell us where you need to be."
"Ah, sorry about that. It shouldn't happen again. Exceptional circumstances can certainly be claimed today. Can you take me to Diagon Alley? I should have a few galleons on me to pay."
He nodded, and the driver didn't wait for him to get situated before pushing in the gas, throwing him clear through the air and knocking off his shoes. The bus boy nodded his head at Harry's ineffectual glare and tipped his hat. "Sorry 'bout that, but we needed to leave the highway. Notice-Me-Not can only do so much, you know."
Grumbling a bit got cut off abruptly when I realised I sounded more cute than angry, and I nodded to make him look away. "Right, I'll go look for those galleons then."
The robe I had been wearing at the train still had my purse in it, so I located it with little trouble. "Here, have an extra because of the trouble I caused you."
"Why, thank you, Miss. Much appreciated!" The bus boy grinned.
Thirty minutes later, I had rented a room in the Cauldron, dumped my trunk, and then found myself staring at an unimpressed Goblin. "I'm telling you, I'm Harry Potter!" He hissed, trying to avoid being overheard. "I don't know what the hell happened to me, but surely you have a way to test if I am who I say I am?"
"Hmm," the goblin's frown turned into a grin. "I'm willing to let you try, but it would cost you twenty galleons."
"Whatever it takes!" He agreed.
The next half hour saw a multitude of goblins come in when my identity as a Potter was verified using every method known to Gringotts.
Ragner, not to be confused with Ragnok, who was the Director of Gringotts, had been incredibly amused by it all. "I suspect line theft was the intention, since you very conveniently cannot take up the Black Headship anymore, as confirmed by account manager Toothpick."
Grinlast tapped the table. "Luckily, the Potter family has no such limitations, so you are now Lady Potter, even if you don't have a first name yet."
Toothpick spoke up for the first time after he had fallen silent ten minutes ago. "I have good and bad news, Lady Potter. Sirius Black's Will has not yet been read, but I know what's in it. You were emancipated upon his death, whether the Will was read or not, which made you Lord Potter and for a short time, Lord Black. The point I'm trying to make is simple, while you can no longer be considered Lord Black, or Lady Black because only a male can take up Headship, you did inherit for a short while, and so your first male offspring will be eligible to take it up after you. That effectively makes the presumed attempt of line theft useless, even if they somehow manage to convince the majority of the Wizengamot. Gringotts' treaties ensure that they cannot force us to change House inheritance, so you don't have to worry about a thing. We won't even be required to hand over your identity, nor will we do that anyway. Gringotts Bank loves to annoy wizards when they feel the need to lord over us, and the Wizengamot certainly annoy us enough to qualify."
Harry, who was no longer Harry due to some quirk of magic, frowned. "And what does all this mean for me, specifically?"
Toothpick shrugged. "You can't do anything regarding the Black Family, except withdraw up to five thousand galleons a year, and live in the houses."
"You can, however, do whatever you want with the Potter legacy, though the only thing you have left is about forty-five thousand galleons in your trust vault and another two hundred thousand plus assorted items in the family vault. There are no houses left."
"Huh, what houses are you talking about, Toothpick? I only know about a house on Grimmauld street, London, and that is under a Fidelius."
Toothpick consulted some paperwork before speaking. "One apartment in London and a plot of land with a two-story house in England, particularly the West Midlands. Lots of trees around to guarantee privacy, and pretty decent warding, the paperwork says. Both are still on the floo network. I'm sorry to say that the permanent portkeys to visit the places are locked in the vault you can't enter, and because you're not on the allowed floo lists, you need to approach the property physically to pass the wards and key yourself in."
"Alright, thank you for telling me. I'd like the detailed information before I leave so I can make attempts to visit those places, but I think the details about my assets are clear. I do have more questions, though they are unrelated to banking. If you're willing to hear them?" They nodded one by one. "Alright, question one, do I still need to get my OWLs and NEWTs before I can do magic, or does my emancipation and forced transition bypass that somehow?"
Ragner spoke first. "Heh, because you're new, so to speak, you'd need to establish your identity before you can do anything like get a job, but doing magic should not be a problem. Unless perhaps, you've used your old wand since changing."
"Ah, I've summoned the Knight bus and opened the way to the Alley from the Cauldron, would that count?"
"Nope, spells only. I implore you to never use that thing again, since it would send a signal to the Ministry and alert them to the fact that your magical signature has changed. That would draw all sorts of attention you don't want or need. You need to figure out a new name first, buy a wand second, and then come back here. Gringotts would be a perfect intermediary to establish you as a new witch at the Ministry. Then you could do your tests at the Ministry or enrol at Hogwarts again, whatever you'd like better."
"Wouldn't registering myself as a Potter immediately turn all eyes on me?" I asked.
"Definitely." Grinlast agreed. "But you could just pick any old name and register at the Ministry with that. Gringotts will know you have more last names, but they don't have to."
I sighed, but there was no time like the present. "Hmm, Evans would be too obvious, turning it around gets Snave, which is way too similar to Snape for my tastes. What else, I could use Harris, a common muggle name as a way to connect to Harry. Sure, why not. That leaves a first name, and perhaps a middle name. First a flower, and Lily second. Holly, Rose, Jasmine, Iris, Dahlia, Azalea, Marigold, Heather, Violet, Clover, Willow, Aster… Hmm, let's keep it short, Iris will do. That makes me Iris Lily Harris. Will that work?"
"Why not use White as a last name, it's a nod to Black and both irises and lilies come in white." Toothpick offered.
I smiled as I rolled it over my tongue, Sirius would definitely have approved. "Iris Lily White it is. Thanks, Toothpick."
"Right, when you get your wand, come back here and we'll get you registered. Your new magical signature is registered to your vaults, so unless you need gold, we're done here." Grinlast decided.
"I could use a few hundred galleons actually, I need a completely new wardrobe, a wand, and more. Can I take that from the Black vault, Toothpick?"
He nodded. "Yes, that's no problem."
When I finally breathed the fresh air outside Gringotts again, the sheer scope of the changes my life had undergone in the past twenty-four hours impacted me, and it was all I could do to stay upright and not cry my eyes out.
Again, someone's plan to mess with my life had forced circumstances upon me entirely outside my control, but at least I inadvertently messed up those plans by retaining the right of succession I never even knew of. If this was my new life, and it definitely seemed to be, the only choice I had was to live it.
That fact percolated through my mind until I finally got enough of a grip to make my way up to my room in the Leaky Cauldron and crash on my bed where I immediately succumbed to my tiredness. I barely had the presence of mind to strip before closing my eyes and drifting away.
