4- The Happenings: 1991 to 1992
A.N.
Thanks for the reviews so far :D For the disclaimer, we urge you to look at the prologue.
For those of you who have been asking, the crossover universe unites both Harry Potter and a world which was presented to us from 1988 to 1990 – the TV series Beauty and the Beast starring Ron Perleman, Linda Hamilton and created by Ron Koslow. Few books were written about the series, but those of us who were fans fell in love with this romantic story, especially Vincent, a beast with the heart and soul of a poet and a gentle nature. There are some good fanfiction stories under TV Series Beauty and the Beast.
And now, to our tale we shall go...
Interlude 1: June 1991
The letter refused to print with an address.
Harry Potter...
Automatically set up to spit out a warning with any glitch in the process, the unaddressed letter awaited Minerva McGonagall's hand to pick it up and scan it.
This was followed moments later by rapid steps to the Headmaster's office.
"What do you mean 'unknown'?" McGonagall asked Albus Dumbledore.
Dumbledore's face looked older and sadder than she had ever seen it since the days of the Potters' deaths.
"I had devices tracking young Harry since I had placed him with his aunt," he replied in a low tone. "When I came back from the ICW conference two years ago, the devices were sill except for the one monitoring his health. That still shows Harry is alive and well."
"But you have no idea where he is?"
"No, Minerva, I do not. I can only hope and pray that when the call for the Sorting hat goes out that young Mr. Potter will be here to take his place with his age peers."
September 1st, 1991
"Potter, Harry!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out.
The crowded hall fell silent when the name of Harry Potter was called out. However, there was no accompanying movement of a first year to the hat and stool in the front of the Great Hall.
"Potter, Harry!" McGonagall's voice repeated. There was still no response.
Now the buzz of conversation began to rise. The Boy Who Lived was definitely not here at Hogwarts.
"Potter, Harry!" came the third call with no corresponding movement.
The hall was now awash with conversation as McGonagall waited for another few seconds before calling the next name on her list. The rumours would begin that evening fueling speculation for months on the possible and probable fate of the missing Potter heir. And almost immediately, attention would turn to the white haired wizard with too many titles who had assured the wizarding world only ten years before that Harry Potter was safe.
What could he say now?
The World Below, New York City
October 1991, The Hall
"So you've been hiding this underground world from me all these months and even years: without saying one word?" Susan asked her sister as they were rearranging the white bridal gown.
Diana only blushed and tried to bury herself in the details of the dress.
"Diana, he's gorgeous. And his son, what a beautiful child."
"Where did my niece leave him?" Diana asked, looking around for Susan's black haired daughter.
"Oh, she's playing with him and Harry," Susan replied. "Don't move – and don't try to change the topic. I'm just upset that you let us tease you for the past two years about when you would get serious about a relationship and voila, you had to spring this on me without allowing me to tell anyone else about Vincent and Jacob."
"Susan, would they have believed me? Would they believe you?"
Susan now looked pensive as she was adjusting her sister's gown. "No, I doubt it," she finally said, giving a critical eye to the dress. "I'm not sure how long the dress will stay on, sis. Vincent's eyes look like he would undress you right there."
Diana grew pensive as she looked at her older sister. "Susan, if you knew how much pain Vincent had gone through, you'd marvel that he would be willing to love again. And that he would fall in love with me, a thin, bean sprout whose only redeeming features are long auburn hair…."
"Diana, stop that," Susan replied. "I heard Vincent describe you as Raphael's inspiration, a goddess with soulful eyes and a great heart.
"Besides, that young Harry says you're the closest thing to a mother he had ever known. And Jacob already calls you Momma."
Diana's heart was breaking as she thought of all the warmth and love she had received , both from the community, from Father and from the new men in her life. "It's like a fairy tale, Susan, and I am afraid that I will wake up and it will all be gone.
"Besides, they still don't know how to make good coffee down here."
Both sisters descended into fits of laughter at Diana's sudden comment.
"We as a community have experienced joy and pain; wonder and despair. These last few years have seen us plummet into pain and exult with the miracle of new life and new love.
"We mourned the death of a dear and loved friend and shared in the pain of loss. Then we shared in the pain of separation and searching, only to welcome anew the child of that love, Jacob Wells, my grandson.
"We welcomed the arrival of our British visitor who stands here today as witness to the birth of a new love, not forsaking the old, but demonstrating that the heart will go on.
"And now, we stand here, in this chamber, to witness the joining of this woman and this man; two who have given so much to our community and who continue to give today.
"Let us stand with them as they join their lives together: Vincent and Diana."
Interlude 2: October 31st, 1991
For Hermione, the Wingardium Leviosa blowup with Ronald bloody Weasely was the last straw. She had been frozen out of many contacts with fellow students due to her blood status; been annoying to her fellow Gryffindors due to her admittedly bad habits of showing them up as poor students; but today, to be told that she was a nightmare was the point of no return.
She had had such great hopes once she had discovered she was a witch: she would finally fit in and belong. However, she had discovered the phenomena of bullying and hatred of intelligence was the same in the magical world as it was in the non magical one.
Sitting in this abandoned girls lavatory, once the tears had stopped falling, she had come to a sad, but she felt, mature conclusion. She would ask her parents to pull her out of Hogwarts during the Christmas holiday. She would not have too much material to make up in her non magical studies and she thought she would be back on track with her studies by Easter.
The sudden smell which assailed her nose preceded, by only 30 seconds, the entrance of a tall, poorly clad being with only a passing resemblance to a human being. With a shock, she recognized what was pushing into the washroom: a genuine mountain troll.
And she was about to die a very painful death.
Even as she began to back up towards the wall behind her, Hermione couldn't stop her mind reciting the facts that trolls were generally resistant to magic, that they had the intelligence of a cow and that few wizards could survive an encounter with a troll without help. The troll, meanwhile, had entered the lavatory completely now and was advancing on the retreating girl. She had stopped screaming and could only duck when the troll made a sudden swing with his club. She felt the blow more than saw it as the club grazed her shoulder and the force of the hit raised her up in the air before she came crashing down on the floor. Blackness swallowed her seconds later and she did not feel the subsequent collapse of the stall on top of her as the troll's attention was drawn towards reducing the furniture in the lavatory.
Nor did she hear the hexes and curses fired at the troll moments later by the Hogwarts' staff which finally brought it down.
"She is a very fortunate young lady," Poppy Pomphrey told Albus. "How did the troll not kill her?"
"It seemed that it got distracted after the initial hit," he replied, looking much older than his years. This was not a great night for Hogwarts'. "It began to destroy the stalls and unfortunately buried young Miss Granger under some of the debris."
"Well, Albus, she has a broken shoulder, a broken arm and one broken leg," Poppy replied. "All of these injuries are treatable and she would normally be ready to be returned to her dormitory by the end of the week.
"But what I am concerned about is the trauma to her – and what her parents are going to say when she tells them."
"The young are always so resilient," Albus said. "I am certain that with your traditionally high standards of care Miss Granger will make a complete return to health and will be able to put this rare occurrence in a proper perspective."
"Albus, she needs to meet with a mind healer at St. Mungo's."
He shook his head. "And you know as well as I that they would refuse to help her as she is a Muggleborn."
"Then how do you propose to help her deal with the trauma…no, Albus, that will solve nothing."
He had withdrawn his wand as she had been speaking and was even now beginning to make gestures above the unconscious young girl. "This is for the greater good, Poppy: for her, for her parents, and for the school.
"Obliviate."
The World Below, New York City
January 1992, The Lakeside Cavern
The torches along the tunnel walls filled the cavern with an orange glow which was reflected off the pool of water and the faces of the surrounding crowd. The water was as still as the cavern was silent with only the sputtering of the flames making any sound, but the black water reflected the light of not only the torches, but the candles held in the hands of each member of the tunnel community.
"In one of our most sacred traditions, we gather in this place to welcome a new member to our community," the voice of Dr. Jacob Wells, known in the World Below as Father, broke the stillness of the cavern.
"Harry, you came to us in a mysterious way and in great need. You have guarded our secrets, embraced our members and become a member of this community.
"Please join me at the water's edge."
Harry moved forward, his green eyes bright in the candles' light. Four other people moved forward with him, each laying a hand on his shoulders.
"Today, the word came into Diana's office that official approval for Harry's adoption has been received. So today, we welcome you, Harry, officially into our community.
"Normally, when we welcome one into our community in a naming ceremony, our new community member is a baby, unable to speak for himself or herself. However, Harry, you can speak for yourself and you have asked for four people to stand with you as you take your place among us.
Harry's voice was loud and clear, the emotion evident in his tone.
"I call upon my witnesses Joe and Jenny Maxwell. I call upon my adoptive parents Diana and Vincent Wells.
"I call upon you four to stand with me on this day."
Each in turn squeezed Harry's shoulder in response. "We stand with you, Harry," they intoned.
Father smiled at the five gathered at the water's edge. "We welcome a child into our community. We welcome a child with love, that he may be able to love. We welcome the child with gifts, that he may learn generosity.
"Finally, we welcome the child with a name." With that, he turned to Harry.
"I announce my new name for my official adoption as Harry, in honor of my birth parents; as Jacob, in honor of my younger brother and my new grandfather; as Vincent, in honor of my father.
"I claim my name as Harry Jacob Vincent Wells."
Tears could be seen in the eyes of many around the gathered six at the water's edge and in the eyes of the six themselves. Harry had surprised them again: he had requested to keep the choice of any new name quiet until the ceremony this evening.
Harry and his new parents embraced one another before Joe and Jenny copied them. Finally it was the turn of Harry and his new grandfather.
"You have honored me and your father this evening, Harry," Father said, whispering in Harry's ear.
"You've given me so much and helped me begin to heal," Harry replied, tears running down his cheek.
"Welcome to the family, Harry," Diana whispered next.
Harry looked at her strangely and then smiled. "Mom,' he said, trying it out for the first time.
"Thanks Mom…and Dad."
Interlude 3: June 26th, 1992
Albus had never been so happy to see the end of the school year as he was this year. The year which had begun with the failure of the Boy-Who-Lived to appear and the resulting questions from Fudge, the DMLE, the Wizengamot and Rita Skeeter had only continued to go from bad to worse.
He knew he had dodged a few spells this year and still felt his immediate obliviation of the Granger girl following the incident with the troll was one of his more inspired moves. Removal of the offending memory of the horrific experience in the girls' lavatory would surely help the young witch to heal although McGonagall had expressed her disbelief at his action when she had gone on to query her star young lion about coping with the memories.
That despite continued reports that Miss Granger had become withdrawn and hesitant in class and in the school hallways suggested that his treatment of this issue was correct. It was always a wise move for young students to be more careful around magic and Miss Granger's new attitude boded well for her future fitting in with the wizarding world. Now, if he could only think of which pureblood house could benefit from her intelligence and obvious magical ability.
Hagrid had proved to be a major annoyance this year with the near destruction of his hut when his dragon egg hatched and the placing of students in danger with his hunt for whatever was killing the unicorns of the forest. Still, he had managed to quell Ministry attempts to discover the truth to the rumors of the dragon in the school and Hagrid was safe for another year.
The biggest disappointment for Dumbledore was the issue with the Stone. He had held out the existence of the stone at the welcoming feast and his wards had detected numerous attempts to break the security on the door, but with Fluffy the Cerebus in place, no student appeared to be willing to go further. And of course, the test was set up with young Mr. Potter in mind and with his absence, he, Dumbledore, had been forced to intervene to keep Quirrell from seizing the stone. So, one of his first attempts to force a confrontation between Voldemort and Harry went nowhere.
The only things left to do was to clean up the mess of Quirrell's body in the third floor dungeon and to begin the thankless task of searching anew for where Harry Potter would be.
As well, it was time to once again search for a new DADA instructor. Perhaps students would appreciate the good looks and sterling personality of GIlderoy Lockhart...
A/N: So once again, please review :D Whether it be grammar or factual corrections, constructive critisism, or just a sentence saying what you thought, we love to hear from you :) 'Til next time guys :D ~The Writing Warriors