Minerva makes a difference.

Chapter 4. Butterfly Effect two.

I don't own the Harry Potter verse. Just playing.

Summary: Professor Minerva McGonagall had been asked by her favourite student, Lily, to watch her sister's home if anything was to happen to them as she feared that the headmaster was planning something for her son. After seeing the Dursleys, Minerva knew she couldn't allow the headmaster to condemn Lily's son to ten dark and difficult years.

And that changes Everything!

HHr MOF Dumbledore.

01/01/21 Beta by alix33. Thank you.

- Minerva makes a difference. -

Then there was Tom.

Tom wasn't having a good day.

Two nights ago Tom had followed the worthless Wormtail to the hidden Dumbledore approved hideaway of his young nemesis who had been prophesied to have the power to vanquish him. Well actually there were two options, a Pure-blood, Neville Longbottom, and a half-blood, Harry Potter. He had chosen the half-blood like himself.

And like any good self respecting dark lord, Tom couldn't allow the boy to live to grow up and fulfil that prophecy. So he killed everyone in that house.

Well he tried.

But the Mudblood had done something that had blown him completely away, literary.

Tom's killing curse had rebounded back upon himself. And the pain. It was pain beyond pain, as he was ripped from his body. It was hours later after the unbearable pain had subsided somewhat, that he found himself less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost, but still, he was alive. What he was, even he did not know. Nothing in all the dark books on the darkest magic he had researched had made any mention of such a state of existence. Even he, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. To further his goal - to conquer death. And now, he had been tested, and it appeared that one or more of his experiments had worked. For he was not dead, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, he was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help himself. For he had no body, and every spell that might have helped him required the use of a wand.

Tom had worked out that he was not a ghost, but a wraith, and he not travelled far from the secret hiding place of the Potters. He had floated into a dark damp burrow in the hope to see if he could possess a snake as he had found them the easiest to control and bend to his will when he had a wand.

Tom successfully possessed the first creature he found and was a little relieved that it could sustain him for a little while. Sadly, his first possession wasn't a snake as he had hoped. No, this burrow was full of fluffy bunny rabbits, and the stupid creature he had possessed was only interested in getting busy making more fluffy bunny rabbits.

Then after a day and night of hot busy fluffy bunny rabbit love, Tom was so overcome with disgust that he wished he was dead.

Really dead this time. The insult to his evil dark lordliness was far greater than the pain he had felt so far.

But Tom should have known to be very careful what he wished for as just after midnight on the second of November, Wraithmort felt overwhelmed by this strange unfamiliar feeling.

Something he had never felt before.

It felt nice, warm and fuzzy.

Powerful and real!

Then it was gone!

And Tom missed it!

Then Tom felt as if he was being squeezed out like a mutant zit. A mutant zit that exploded rather than popped.

Then he felt pain.

It was pain ten times greater than the pain Tom had felt as he was ripped from his body. It felt like part of his soul had been incinerated.

Tom felt enraged at the pain as he fought it, and his rage was so intense that his poor fluffy bunny rabbit host exploded in a ball of blood and fur, releasing the raging Wraithmort and leaving him dependant on his last experiment to keep him in the world of the living.

His dark mark connection to the life-force and magic of his Death Eater Slaves.

Sadly, the enraged Wraithmort would be insane for days from the pain and his inconsolable rage would increase the drain on his branded Death Eaters' life-force and magic. Soon they would be all drained and dead, and Wraithmort would not be long for this world.

But how much damage could his Death Eater Slaves do in the little time they had left?

- Minerva makes a difference. -

The fearful Death Eaters knew something was very wrong with their dark lord, and that their connection to him was slowly killing them as their dark mark slowly burnt black and started to drain their life-force and magic.

They had gathered together in the throne room of Malfoy Manor and sat at Lucius' ridiculously long pretentious dining room table. Usually when the dark lord was present with them, they would sit in silence and hoped with all the hope they had, that the next one their master cursed was not them. But this time they sat in fear as something was very wrong. Three of their number were missing. Karkaroff, Snape and Wormtail.

Lucius Malfoy had attempted to take charge but Bellatrix Lestrange thought better and shut him up with a Cruciatus curse to his nether regions. Draco would never have to share.

"Silence, you curs." Bellatrix took charge. "We can all feel our dark lord's pain and his needs. We need to find him and assist him. We know he is not at the Godric's Hollow, or the old fool would have found him. But there was a second family he had marked for death. The Longbottoms."

"But we need to find the rat, otherwise the Battle Wards of Longbottom Manor will kill us." Her foolish cowardly husband warned.

"Crucio!" She sneered as the fool danced in pain. "Well, let's find the rat then!"

Most of the Death Eaters took the opportunity to escape the throne room and get away from crazy Bella. While the dark lord's Lieutenants remained.

Rookwood spoke. "There has to be something about this prophecy that Snivellus spoke of. I will sneak into the Hall of Prophecies and discover what it really said."

"Good idea, I will come with you." Lucius offered in an attempt to escape Bellatrix, but she wasn't having any of that and cursed him again.

Rookwood smirked as he quickly left. He was so glad Crazy Bella wasn't his sister-in-law.

While Bella grew bored of cursing Slippery, and her useless husband and his twin, and decided to teach her favourite nephew his first curse. The Cruciatus Curse. A good strong Pure-blood curse.

- Minerva makes a difference. -

Rookwood didn't return as he was captured by his fellow Unspeakables as he tried to steal the prophecy. While the other useless Death Eaters never found the rat. The drain on the life-forces of the Death Eaters was growing and they were becoming desperate, and none of them wanted to be the one to tell Crazy Bellatrix the bad news.

So things were not looking good for Tom and his sad miserable band of Death Eaters.

- Minerva makes a difference. -

While Harry was understandably sad with the passing of his parents, he was comforted by Hermione's hugs and the Magical Portraits of James and Lily, his grandparents and his ancestors in the halls of Potter Manor. Dobby, Winky, Padfoot, Moony, Dan and Emma did their best to love Harry and Hermione, and ensure they have a loving childhood with Nimby, Neville and Luna. Hermione quickly settled in to Harry's Magical world while her parents had to make many adjustments to allow their new life to flourish.

And they got busy to make Hermione a big sister.

- Minerva makes a difference. -

And that brings to the close of this little exciting tale of the difference Minerva made for Harry, as what happens next would be another story.

Another exciting Harmony story called; Harry Potter and Hermione Starchanger.

- Minerva makes a difference. -

That just leaves the moral of this story.

To do what was right and not what was easy.

What if Minerva stood up for Harry rather than laying down for Albus. She knew she would never win an argument with Dumbledore. But there is more than one way to skin a ca-, more than one way to skin an old fool.

This crazy world has too many Albus Dumbledores who believe that they have the right to control your life for their Greater Good which doesn't result in anything good for you. They don't understand love, for they always take what they want and never give of themselves. They control you using fear and pride. They use fear as they are afraid that something terrible will happen, or the world will end, or you will die a horrible death, or worse, you will hurt their feelings, if you don't do what they say, exactly as they said, and immediately when they say it. The Dursley took in Harry as protection as Dumbledore had them in fear of a Death Eater attack and they hated Harry for that fear.

And ignorance is not an excuse as that just proves how stupid you are. And worse still, they have the ability to push buttons to interfere and really ruin your day.

But despite our knowledge of the evil mankind can do to each other, a simple walk in a garden will show that life experiences has taught us that in nature we are surrounded by love in all its different aspects and beauty, and regardless of the problems we face, or how dark the night can be. The love of the sun will shine after the storm, and the love of nature starts to grow again despite the damage, as life finds a way to love and live.

That gives us hope for the future.

And that hope for the future needs an enormous amount of love to overcome the hatred.

For hatred always only ends in death and destruction.

We can have a future where we don't walk in fear. We can decide to play our part in if we use love to guide us to do the right thing and not what is easy.

And once in a while opportunities arise to do the right thing and make a small little change to right a wrong that can change everything. Pray that you have the wisdom and situational awareness to recognised an opportunity, and have the courage to make that little change to do the right thing for someone else, and ensure that your Harry and Hermione will have their happy ever after.

- Minerva makes a difference. -

Thank you for reading.

AN: This story grew from a what if. What if Minerva fooled Dumbledore by simply switching the house numbers so that Harry is left at a better home than Durzkaban. Of course it had to be the home of Hermione Granger.

Then what else could happen to really ruin all the plans and schemes of the Master Machiavellian Manipulator.

Once Hermione was involved, there was no limit and the story quickly left Minerva behind. This necessitated a rewrite and the story focused on Harry and Hermione.

So please enjoy the new and improved story Harry Potter and Hermione Starchanger, and please remember that Minerva really did the right thing and made a difference that got us there.

And you can make a difference for your little Harry and Hermione.