A/N : Wow, I'm so thankful for all of your positive comments. I honestly expected some criticism about how out of character some of the characters being. I have an explanation and all prepared for the eventuality, but I hope you can understand why some characters behaved like they did in the story, i mean, different circumstances and all. For example, Harriet is a girl, and therefore people tended to tolerate her more than if she had been a boy. Then, Hagrid didn't get a chance to paint Voldemort and Slytherins in general in a bad light because Harriet wasn't concentrating enough to ask questions, and her better relationship with her family made her need to prove herself in front of her friends (both sides) non existent. In this story, it wasn't Harriet that needed to impress people, but it's the other way around. So, she came off as a very confident girl. That's it for my rants today. Enjoy the story!
Chapter 3
In which Harriet played United Nations, and met the heir of Hufflepuff
Harriet settled back to her seat with a book on Ancient Runes open. She took the book back at the Flourish and Blotts because she recognized some of the runes in the cover of the books from The Lord of The Rings series that her cousin gave her for her 8th birthday. She was fascinated that the runes from the stories were apparently a real script in the wizarding world.
Draco had eyed her skeptically when he saw the book. "I thought we won't learn Runes until third year?" he asked her.
Harriet shrugged. "I think it's interesting." She said as she opened the book to where she left off.
The other children looked at each other uncertainly. The quietness of the compartment drew Harriet's attention from her reading. She found them staring at her.
"Something wrong?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, Cousin, it's just…they're unsure if they are allowed to talk to each other or if you preferred the silence while you read." Draco said, still watching her.
"Oh, you can talk, you can even ask question. We're all friends here, right?" she waved her hand unconcernedly.
"it's just…we don't want to offend you, my Lady" a blonde haired girl, Daphne Greengrass, if she remembered correctly, said timidly.
Harriet hummed and put the bookmark back in her book.
"From the moment we climbed into this train, until we stepped back into the station for Christmas Holiday, please forget about our stations in life. We are eleven years old students, and as such, the same. There's no need to wait for me to talk with your friends. You can all call me Harriet, in fact. None of that my Lady. Outside of school, in front of others, you may use Heiress Potter, because that is who I am." She said with a gentle smile.
"But that doesn't change the fact that you're our Lady" Theodore Nott commented.
"Actually, I'd like it if that information doesn't spread before I can talk to my…Husband" the disdain in her face was clear for all to see.
From what Draco's father told him, Harriet was rather miffed with the Dark Lord, and to avoid all mentions of him, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Lord Harold Potter, and Lord Marvolo Gaunt if he wanted to live long enough to take over as the next Lord and Head of Malfoy Family after his father without being relegated as a caretaker of an animal establishment.
Apparently, his father had gone to ask the Account Manager for the Gaunt and Slytherin family about the (very real) threat from the Little Tyrant, as he called her, and was shown the documents the Account Manager was asked to research before his father came to Gringotts and was appointed as the steward.
It was genuinely an interesting idea, provided that they were on the patron's, or even visitor's side. As a keeper? Not so much. Because his father was the only one in the receiving end of the Lady's temper tantrum, Draco was the only one warned about what to not say in front of Harriet and had to throw a halfhearted glare to the otherwise woefully uninformed children around them.
Fortunately for them, the door to their compartment opened and a bushy haired girl already in uniform poked her head.
"Hi? Does anyone saw a toad? Neville lost his toad." The girl said.
The inhabitant of the compartment winced at the lack of manner. Harriet shook her head and smiled.
"I'm sorry, but we've been in this compartment since the start of the train ride, and haven't seen any toad. You and your friend are welcome to search it here. What is the name of your toad?" she asked politely.
"it's Trevor, but he's Neville's toad." The girl answered and barged in unceremoniously, looking under the seats, making Daphne and Theodore screwed their nose in disgust.
A timid boy followed her in. He froze as he saw the occupants of that compartment and tried to pull on the girl's robe.
"Heir Malfoy, Heiress Greengrass, Heir Nott, Heir Crabbe, Heir Goyle, and…I'm sorry, but I didn't know your name." he greeted as he finally managed to pull Hermione to her feet and reigned her by holding her hand.
"Heir Longbottom" Draco sniffed disdainfully. "What are you doing with this…thing?"
Sensing thing was about to go ugly, Harriet sighed and looked at the boy. His round face was red in indignation, but he looked nervous enough that Harriet took pity on him.
"Your name is Neville, Heir Longbottom?" she asked before anyone else could add something offensive.
The boy nodded, looking at her with a little tremor that looked like fear.
"My name is Hariet, Heiress of the Potter Family." She smiled at him.
Before he could answer, though, his friend interrupted, once again making the other children frowned at her.
"Are you really? Harriet Potter? I read a lot about you from the books!" she shouted excitedly "I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger. It is so nice to meet you, Harriet."
"Harriet Potter? Where?!" a lanky red headed boy barged in the compartment and stopped in front of her. "you're Harriet Potter? The name is Ron, Ron Weasley. Do you really have the scar? Can I see it?"
Harriet sighed as her cousin looked thunderous.
"Yes, I am Harriet Potter, and yes, I have a scar, but no, you may not see it. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger" she answered politely.
"you're going to be in Gryffindor, of course, and you'll be my best friend" Weasley bulldozed, making Draco snort in derision.
Weasley turned to Draco in a flash. "White hair, pasty face, you must be a Malfoy! What are you doing with these Death Eater spawn, Harriet? They must have taken you hostage! Come on, I'll get you out of here."
A spark of magic had them all zapped by electric shocked, especially Weasley, who got the brunt of it by touching her. The smell of ozone and burnt hair permeated through the air.
Harriet stood up straight with closed eyes. One of her hands raised to cut whatever her cousin was going to say, and those close to her could hear her count slowly from one to ten, then to twenty and so on. After she reached forty five, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking around sharply at the occupants of her once peaceful compartment.
"First of all, Mr. Weasley, I do not like to be touched by a stranger. Further, I do not appreciate insults to my family. You are very rude, and as such, no, I don't think I will be your best friend." She said sharply.
Weasley nodded fervently, suitably cowed.
"As I was saying to Heir Longbottom, my name is Harriet, and this is my cousin, Draco, Heir of the Malfoy family. Heir Longbottom, you may call me Harriet. Ms. Granger, while the books wrote a lot about me, if you really think about it, some of the things I was supposed to do were done at the same time, which is an impossible feat. In that attack that killed my parents, which was supposed to be private and not a public spectacle, there were only two survivors, that…thing," she sniffed at using her cousin's word, "and me who was a fifteen months old toddler. Now, which of us had told the author about that event, do you think?"
Harriet laughed long and hard when she read that she was pulling out Excalibur out of the ether and struck Voldemort's curse, making it backfired at him and killed him. How a fifteen months old baby supposed to do feats of advanced magic, let alone holding a sword taller and heavier than her is beyond her. Not to mention that she was supposed to erect a ward rivalling the Gringotts Ward at the same moment.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen. As I said before, when we stepped into the train heading to Hogwarts, until we stepped back on the station for our holiday, we are all students. So, I would appreciate it if we left who we were, who our parents were back at the train station. We can pick those back up after we returned to the station. So, in my presence, there will be no insulting each other. I don't care whose family you belonged to, which house you were sorted to, or what colour of magic do you have, everyone is friends in my presence. You don't like it, you may leave. No one is forcing you here. Here and at Hogwarts, everyone is equal to me, so you will respect each other or stay clear of me. Is that clear?!"
Draco and the other children who originally sat with her murmured their assent.
"Yes, my Lady"
her left eyebrow ticked in annoyance, but she let it slide. Weasley, Granger nodded fervently while Neville smiled at her.
"In that case, you may all call me Neville."
Harriet smiled at him gratefully.
"We have room at our compartments, so you may all join us." She said.
They all sat down and looked up at her. Draco rolled his eyes and started the conversation.
"So, which house do you think you'd be sorted to?"
Constructive Criticism appreciated, Cheers!