Marvolo wanted to hex her. She wasn't giving him any straight answers. Going off on a rant about some alien Time Lord, by Morgana, whoever that was. It was completely irrelevant to his question. He thought he was getting somewhere with her then she went to gush about the Doctor being a fictional character. Here he was thinking she somehow came from the future, which could explain her lack of time sense, but then she had to make a joke of it. That frustrated him to the moon and back.
Merlin, he wanted just straight answers!
Sure he was thrilled that she didn't have a negative opinion about the Dark Arts, magic is magic after all. There is no good or evil, just power and those foolish cowards who are too weak to seek it.
He wanted to know if Lord Voldemort had succeeded in moving the Wizarding World forward, but with her being a muggle born... and only visiting said world only once wouldn't be enough for him. Maybe he could 'convince' her to do some research for him. If Voldemort had succeeded he needed to get back to a safe place, preferably near Voldemort.
He didn't want to be bored anymore!
He reluctantly admitted to himself that she was, currently, keeping the boredom at bay. Even with all the turmoil of emotions she was putting him through.
Merlin, he was getting old.
He hadn't felt that way in years, not since the orphanage. Though, unlike there she was... less annoying. Much less annoying. She threw him off his game with her odd behavior. Who in their right mind names a journal or any object for that manner?
But... somehow it was, nice.
Oddly nice.
That's why he gave her his middle name Marvolo.
He still hated the name of his filthy muggle father, Tom. When she asked his name, he was going to give her Tom, but ... it felt odd. She was pissed off at Tom, his other self. All these years that he's been placed in his journal, he's called himself Tom and his other self Voldemort, but here she was giving him a chance to ...step out of Tom's shadow.
Orphan Tom had to prove himself, fight for himself, mask himself, even once he was in the world he was supposed to belong too, more so after Dumbledore and those stuck up, snooty purebloods. He had to fight tooth and nail, sweating blood his entire life. He never needed anyone but himself. He made those orphans and purebloods know their place, beneath him. He wouldn't stand for anyone looking down on him, never again.
And then there was Harmony, this strange, odd girl.
She baffled him.
She doesn't even know him and treats him like an ...equal.
A ...friend. She sees a journal as a friend. A friend that she would ...'punch' Tom for leaving him behind. He refused to admit whatever he was feeling was anything else besides bafflement.
She was foolish to trust him, a perfect stranger.
She was a puzzle he would need to figure out.
(—)
Wow, just... wow.
That's all that Harmony could think after 'talking' with Marvolo. She did find it sad that she didn't have anyone here who knew her, Zoe, but she was grateful to at least have Marvolo. Its not like she could spill her guts to him, its not like he needs more baggage loaded on him. He wasn't the one transported to a book, er book world. ...He was trapped in a book instead, which could easily be the worst of the two. Which is why she willingly kept writing to him, even telling him all about Doctor Who, he did keep asking after all. It also unknowingly gave her a nice diversion. She didn't know how to answer his question, she would have to check tomorrow when she went back to Diagon Alley, but for now she was tired, like really tired.
She supposed it was from writing way past midnight, she was now '11' after all.
(—)
Her 'parents' had left for the morning, so she quickly got ready. Grabbing all of the money she had scavenged around the house, which surprisingly was over 4,000 pounds. Zoe guessed Harmony had been planning to leave for a long time. Gathering the money and grabbing the Hogwarts letter she stuffed them in the backpack she had, it was easier to organize. Just before leaving the door she glanced at her desk and spotted Marvolo.
Pausing she quickly opened the book to write to her new friend.
Morning, Marvolo.
Good morning, Harmony,
I'm heading to Diagon Alley since my ... she hesitated a fraction of a second but he caught it, parents left. Would you like to come? Funny, now she had parents. He sensed a story for that, but he ignored it ...for now.
It's not like I'd be able to hear or see, so I don't believe it would matter.
...if I drew eyes and ears for you, do you think that would work?
He couldn't answer that. Honestly, a book with ears and eyes that would be ridiculous. It would look ridiculous. So he finally answered,
No.
How do you know? Did some one already try it for you?
No! What a stupid notion. Why would he have anyone give him eyes and ears?!
He thought she'd respond right away, but she didn't. He'd be pissed if she was laughing at him.
Did you hear me?
What? No. How would I hear you? Dread started to fill him.
I taped some paper ears on your cover and back. I'm a little sad it didn't work... you look good as an elven book, I would've gone for Valkin but you can't do the finger thing.
Take them off! Now!
Chill, I'm sorry. I just thought I should at least try, but you do look cute.
He didn't say anything, he was fuming.
Okay, okay. Please don't be angry. I don't have any spells in my repertoire so magic was out. Besides I was thinking of it possibly working like the paper cup and string phone. You don't know till you try it.
Marvolo wanted to argue with her, she didn't have to be so crazy about it!
Besides, now I know your book can't feel. Wait ...can you?
I can't feel if I'm being held or on a shelf if that's what your asking. And why would you try a crazy idea like that? I would at the very least like to keep some dignity!
Sorry, sorry. But I had to try, no matter how crazy an idea is, an idea is an idea, and maybe it can lead to another solution. How else would I know that animal crackers and taco sauce taste good together.
He was repulsed. How can you eat that?!
Easy, how do you know unless you try. Lots of things can surprise you. Besides lots of discoveries came from accidents.
He grumbled, not caring that she couldn't hear him, and if his room in the book just so happened to catch fire, only he would know.
It's too bad I can't find a way to let you hear, but I'm still going to take you. Maybe I could find a book or two that's not on the list. He perked up when she wrote that, at least she wasn't going to waste her summer. Those Slytherin pureblood girls only had boys and beauty on their minds, he didn't want to deal with love and crushes, he'd find a way to send her to an early grave if she insisted on talking about boys.
If we're lucky maybe I can see if I can scan a book or two for you, I'm sure you're bored in there.
Scan?
She missed his reply because as soon as she finished writing she shut the book and gently placed him in his own zip pouch, she didn't want to hurt him as much as possible.
Marvolo on the other hand, wasn't thrilled that his question still sat on the page, she hadn't seen it. That bloody witch ignored him and he raged.
Harmony rushed out the door to the house, enjoying the pleasant warmth coming from her back, it was very enjoyable, who knew they had heated backpacks in this time period. The Jeta Dad got in 2002 had heated seats, she could get used to this.
Marvolo finally calmed down when he got a wonderful wave of magic, deciding to soak up as much as possible, it would be a small form of repayment for her ignoring him.
(—)
Harmony found it very hard to believe that not even one muggle born had ever brought a backpack into Diagon Alley, explaining to the bartender, who kindly helped her again, just what a backpack is, was immensely difficult. She nearly banged her head against the bricks when she finally had to say it was like a trunk for Hogwarts but smaller and his reply was the classic "Why didn't you say so".
The phrase 'kill me now' was right on the tip of her tongue, she couldn't wait to explain what a cell phone was when they finally came out.
The first place she went to was Gringotts, she was surprised at how civil they were, not including their deathly glares and razor sharp teeth. She made sure to be respectful and state exactly what she wanted and why she was there. They were pretty ...'enthusiastic', gaining a new customer, well almost a new customer. To be honest, she suspected that they rather respected that a 'child' wanted to make money rather than spend it. Even naming the bank as her account guardian. The goblin she was working with was secretly amused that she out right insulted the ministry. Harmony didn't notice Ergras's satisfied smirk when she mumbled how the bloody ministry bastards should drop dead and how they're fucking up the system.
Finding out that Harmony was actually the only surviving 'heiress' of Tauris was a pleasant surprise for both her and the goblins. As it turns out, her dad's Grandfather was a squib. Finding out she now has a few thousand galleons to her name and a small property in a rural area was a hidden blessing. Truly.
She may not have been as lucky as those other people who 'might' have been transported into a book, no heir ring for lady Gryffindor or anything special, but she was thrilled to have a place to live away from those people she was forced to live with for the rest of the time before school started, walking on egg shells on a daily basis was agony. And now she could have more money to, invest with. The goblins were much more willing to do investments when she offered them 35% of her earnings, who better to trust the market to than the goblins, especially when there is a profit to be made. She was even surprised when she found out that the goblins had a pretty good handle on the muggle stocks too, and was insistent for them to buy apple stocks, which earned her a raised eyebrow, but Ergras shrugged it off easily.
Honestly, if she had more time, she would have loved to ride the mine carts to her 'new' vault, but she still had to go school shopping and having converted enough of her pounds into galleons while putting the rest in the vault made going there a waste of time. The goblins did tell her her property would be ready to move into by the end of the week. Only three days away, which would give her enough time to prepare and maybe 'stage' a runaway from her parents, its not like the wizards would care, or 'know' for that matter.
Unless she was Harry Potter.
...She cringed at the thought and made a promise to see if she could somehow help him with that, but she wasn't an 'adult' and Dumbledore would happily shove her face in the dirt without blinking. So she'd focus on finding a way to help make his time there, if possible, more bearable.
After leaving the bank she went directly to Ollivander's to get her wand and the man nearly gave her a heart attack, not just from appearing out of no where, again, but damn she nearly expected that Alien to pop out of his stomach ...or his eye... definitely his eyes. That's how freaky Ollivander was for Harmony. She had a ruddy time trying to get her wand, one of the lights blew out with vicious red sparks, and another ended up shooting boxes upon boxes of wands directly at her head, she wasn't ashamed to say she proudly face planted on the hard wood floor, she did treasure her life after all, even if she ended up smearing a few drops of blood on the floor.
Though he was pleased when her wand ended up being one of the rarer wands to find a wizard, "9 and 4/5th inches, Alder wood with a Phoenix feather, quite flexible. Good for nonverbal spells."
Harmony actually earned a smile from the man when she ended up naming the wand. The warmth and thrill the wand gave her when she first held it made her think of only one worthy name, 'Indiana Jones'. Ollivander grinned and said he thought it was an interesting name. It was too bad she couldn't explain the movie to him, she wasn't sure if it was out yet. What surprised her more was when 'Indie' seemed to warm up when she called him that name which surprisingly or 'unsurprisingly' sparked Ollivander's interest, while Harmony was just thrilled to have another companion in this world, one that just felt like a long lost friend.
Her next stop was Madam Malkins, making sure not to forget her school robes. She was amazed with the shop, there were plenty of colors and decorations around it. She was however disappointed with the solid color style, it made everything super bland.
Harmony may not have loved her grandmother's favorite pattern of roses stitched a million times on white fabric but these robes were annoyingly plain. She wanted to add her own style to the clothing be it a mouse or a dragon. She may not be able to sew a dragon from scratch, her artistic sense of drawing was horribly low, but she could easily sew something at the very least. Also she was sad to notice the robes lacked hoods, especially the black robe that had large bell sleeves that looked pretty close to a sith's robe. It was just a lot more affordable compared to the ones she saw at Disney. She knew she would have to fix that and asked Madam Malkin if she knew a good fabric store.
At first the woman was ecstatic that someone seemed interested in her craft and with a large smile, happily directed Harmony to a fabric store that sold fabric and thread gathered from magical creatures. They had spent a good hour on the subject of fabric alone. Harmony had found it fascinating that magical creatures hair had specific magical characteristics and was excited too. "It may be on the bit expensive side, Dear, but well worth the price." Madam Malkin told Harmony as she handed the school robes over to the beaming child.
With a skip in her step she headed over to Flourish and Blotts, buying her school books, Hogwarts: A History, Beginners guide to Runes, Ancient Rune Translation, Magical Theory, Creature Hairs and their Properties, Curses and Counter-Curses (she wanted practice especially with going back to a high school environment, even if she knew how to be a teacher's pet those children could be and would be vicious beasts), Defensive Magical Theory, Magical Mediterranean Water Plants and Their Properties, New Theory of Numerology, The Healer's Helpmate and last but not least Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander.
There was no way she would forget about him, someone who greatly cares about magical creatures.
She would admit she loved animals as Zoe Knight, still does actually but she knew she shouldn't get a pet. At the very least not yet. Not when she was planning to run away soon, though she hoped she could soon, for now Marvolo would be enough, not that he was a pet!
No, she had a feeling he wouldn't like that. Then again nobody she knew would. She was hoping he would be more of a friend, she was pretty lonely after falling into a book herself. At the very least she would be willing to entertain him, solitude was nice, but not when it was for an extended period of time and never knowing if you'll meet someone else.
Even if she was better off, surrounded by people, she was still lonely.
It wasn't her world or home. At least not the one she knew, but she would make the best of it, especially since she could be a child again. A child with magic and wasn't that a bonus.
It was too bad she couldn't use it right now, she knew how to pack, *cough* stuff her backpack to the 'T' but even that wasn't enough. So she had to bite her lip and buy a trunk. To say she earned a look and a tut would be an understatement. Especially when she walked in with a stuffed backpack and a fist full of items, needless to say she was a mess.
She gave the employee a sheepish look, but at least she now knew what she could afford since she practically had everything bought so she could get both the expanding and featherweight charm installed. Planning to add a shrinking charm at Hogwarts to save money and practice.
After placing the majority of her school supplies in the trunk, with the exception of a few books and Marvolo she headed over to Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour to relax and waste a bit more time before forcing herself to head home. She ordered a single scoop of strawberry flavored ice cream and a glass of ice water (which she enjoyed the ice cup holding the water), completely ignoring the odd flavors such as troll toes, she didn't even want to know. Though the fire breath ice cream sounded interesting.
Pulling out Magical Theory, she sat down in the far corner planning to stay out of the way of other customers. Sadly she didn't have a notebook and would have to get it outside of Diagon Alley, but that wouldn't be too bad, 'Harmony' had some leftover school supplies, but note books, pens and pencils were on her 'to get' list. She honestly hoped she could find a fountain pen that looked like a quill just in case quills were required, but she wanted to get away with pens if she could.
But for now she would use Marvolo's journal. She wanted to make a comparison to Magical Theory and what she knows of magic from the RPG's she's played and Marvolo's input would be much appreciated.
Hey Marvolo
Yes Harmony?
Would you mind if I used your journal as a note book, only for today. She added hurriedly. I just don't have one on me right now and I want to take some notes, if that's all right with you.
Marvolo perked up a bit with that. Not only would it be giving him something to do he could check on the progress of wizards and his other self. so he responded calmly.
No, I wouldn't mind. Would it be ideal, for you, if I made sure the ink doesn't disappear? a small sacrifice on his part since the ink was impeded with her magic, but he could still see it.
Actually that'd be great! I planned on rewriting it on some notebooks at home or needing to purchase some tomorrow.
Well then, it wouldn't be a loss of magic on his part. He could read the knowledge with her now and absorb it later, a win-win on his part so he had no complaints, he was more than thrilled on his part.
Until he realized how lacking the information was, she was writing down the most basic of the basic information. He wasn't thrilled anymore, especially since it seemed there was less here than in his first year. The thought of the magical world digressing was practically horrifying for more than one reason.
Then Harmony started another column labeled RPG and separated it into multiple sections. When he asked her about it she told him 'RPG stands for Role Playing Games, they're the equvilance of non wizard magic theories on how magic works and each section is a specific game and their 'rules' on magic in 'their' world.'
He was frustrated when she didn't expand on their world other than, its their world, Marvolo another universe I don't know what else I could say. We come up with it but it doesn't mean they don't exist.
He wasn't too thrilled with the lack of information on that, but she seemed to have enjoyed these 'games' she listed. Since he would ask a question and she would answer or expanded on it, which he found some of the concepts interesting, some similar some not, but a lot of the rules of the games focused too much on the more obvious traits such as elemental power being stronger or weaker to another element.
Though he did appreciate how the game evolved magic, for instance in Tales of the Abyss they could learn different variations of the same 'magic' but with different elements when they stood in an elemental circle. Magic was a strategic part of the game. Each with a strength or weakness, the only part he didn't like was how 'learning' the magic was wrong. Evolution or repeating a specific move so many times did not evolve magic. Repetition would make you faster and increase muscle memory.
Both of them enjoyed the conversation they had on magic so much so that they continued it even after Harmony returned to the place she woke up in. She did mention to him that she took a blood test and found she had a piece of land which she was planning to run away to as soon as it was ready and Marvolo encouraged it, also telling her to work on warding so she could practice magic.
After speaking to Marvolo later that night she ended up speaking to Indie and explaining excitedly where she got his name from. Eventually the wand got tired of her ramblings and blasted magic at her, sealing her lips, much to her surprise. After all Harry's wand never did such a thing... on screen.
You learn something new everyday and when she told Marvolo the next morning, she could feel the book shaking. Instead of getting angry she joined him in his mirth.
(—)
A/N: I know Harry and the Weasleys probably met closer to school, but I want Harmony to have some time to practice magic, and besides canon is a guide line and would get boring if followed 100% of the time, so please forgive me.
Also does anyone know where to find specific info on HP magic like the in and outs? Google isn't helping and there's some really detail fan fictions that seem to go in depth, maybe that's the authors perspective, maybe not. if you see something wrong please let me know.
Please comment and review it helps me improve or see something I missed.
Thanks
P.S. Her wand is special (0.7 +0.7) 0.7, did anyone notice?
