Disclaimer – The world of Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and various publishing houses. The Films are owned by Warner Brother's Studios. I do not in writing this claim ownership over any properties associated with the works of J.K. Rowling. I am merely playing in her backyard while I get these ideas out of my head.
A/N: It has come to my attention that some people think I shouldn't be portraying Hermione and Harry in as mature a fashion as I am if I plan on having Dumbledore be a "Manipulative Bastard." Their concern is that if I portray them in this way, Dumbledore may figure out that they are Time Travelers. My answer to this is to point out that even in the books Hermione was incredibly smart. Also, I would like to point out that in our own REAL world there are kids that are younger than Harry and Hermione who are attending College or who are College Graduates due to the sheer intellect these people have. Dumbledore is smart enough of a man that he is aware of people with this kind of raw intellectual ability.
Also I would point out that he has never met Hermione Granger before the last chapter, and the last time he was around Harry was when Harry was less than 2 years of age. For all he knows both 'children' have genius I.Q.'s and there is no reason for him not to think that Harry could have a genius I.Q. when Harry's Mum was considered the "brightest Witch of her generation" much the same way that Hermione is, and James was no slouch in the intellect department either.
A/N 2: I have gone back and corrected the error where I called Crawley, England "Crowley" instead.
The Morning of August 31st dawned to find Harry and Hermione working on packing their trunks for school. Hermione had of course placed an Undetectable Extension Charm on each of their Trunks for obvious reasons. Thanks to this Hermione has been able to pack the entirety of her quite massive library inside the trunk, including all her muggle books as well as her collection of school books. She had also taken a few trips to Diagon Alley to pick up a few extra books not on School that would help her and Harry during the research that they would very likely need to do in the coming years as well as a complete set of Wizarding Law Books, and the complete comprehensive rules to the Triwizard Torunament.
Harry for his part had packed very little other than his school supplies. He still hadn't collected his stuff from Potter Manor, or the Potter Vaults that would be of most use, and it wouldn't have been advisable to have his inheritance test right off the bat as it would have set off way too many alarm bells for Dumbledore. No that would likely have to wait a few years.
While this was happening Emma walked up to her daughter's room and entered it, when her daughter acknowledged her presence Emma said "Hermione, knowing that you and Harry have come from the future, and that you have both completed your education in that timeline, do you absolutely have to go back to School in this timeline? Wouldn't it be better to stay here and be safe at home?"
Hermione sighed and tried to gently explain "Mum, Harry and I have to go back. If we don't there will be things that happen that will culminate in a war between the two hard-line factions of the Wizarding World. Dumbledore is the leader of the faction normally referred to as the Light Wizards. On the other side is his polar opposite a man named Tom Riddle, who calls himself Voldemort. I have already explained about that man. However if we do not go back this year, it is highly possible that Voldemort will get his body back this year and go on a rampage in the Wizarding World that will not stop until he has completely destroyed the Wizarding World. Harry and I mean to stop him as quickly as is humanly possible. We also have to figure out a way to prevent that Gamma Ray Burst, which can only be done if we get to speak to the Centaurs in the forest on the grounds at Hogwarts."
"Well, when you put it like that, I understand that you really must go back. But promise me that you will both be careful." Emma said.
"Mum, I was the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in my earlier life. It was my job to make sure that the bad guys don't get away with their crimes. I intend to continue doing that job. Harry was one of my Aurors, and probably better at his job than the legendary Alastor Moody, who is currently the single best Auror on record. Though Harry is probably not as paranoid as Moody. Oh and an Auror is basically a Magical Cop." Hermione explained to Emma.
"Oh, well I guess that would mean that the two of you know how to take care of yourselves then?" Emma asked.
"Yes Mum, we certainly do," Hermione said with a smile.
Meanwhile in the Hogwarts Teachers Conference room, Dumbledore arrives to find the entire Board of Governors minus Hermione Granger waiting on him to start their postponed meeting.
"Right, Gentlemen and Ladies, I would like to tell you that this meeting can not progress at the current time as not all the members of the Hogwarts Board of Governors are here." Dumbledore said by way of introduction.
Lucius was not having this "Well then, go and fetch the remaining members post-haste."
"Unfortunately I cannot do that, as the remaining member is behind exceedingly powerful wards and I am not on the invited list, nor am I welcome in her home. However she will be arriving at Hogwarts tomorrow with the rest of the Students." Dumbledore explained.
"A Student is a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors, preposterous." Lucius drawled.
"Unfortunately Lucius it is true. The student in question is the new heiress of Rowena Ravenclaw's family. As per the Hogwarts Charter, the heads of the founders families, which this girl is, are all guaranteed positions on the Hogwarts Board of Governors. To deny her a vote would see you all stripped of your magic."
Lucius became even more pale as he realized the implications of this. "What do you propose then Headmaster?"
"I propose that we postpone the meeting until tomorrow night, at which time she will have arrived and we can go ahead as planned." Dumbledore stated.
"A capital idea." Augusta Longbottom said.
"I will make rooms available for your use until tomorrow if you wish to stay here."
Several of the Governors agreed to these arrangements and decided to stay in the guest wing.
The following morning the Grangers plus Harry arrived at King's Cross an hour early at Harry's request. Once they arrived and had parked Dan walked off to find some trolley's for the kids' luggage. Meanwhile Emma rounded on the two children and said "You know I am going to miss having you both around terribly much."
Hermione walked up to her Mum and hugged her saying "I'll miss you too Mum."
Harry doesn't hug Emma, but he does extend his hand and shakes hers saying "It has been a real pleasure living with you this summer. The experience has been truly enlightening and a lot different from anything I had ever experienced before. Thank you for that."
"Of course Harry, you are welcome in our home anytime, and I expect to see you at the Christmas Holidays." Emma said to the young man.
At this point Dan had returned with two trolleys and the four of them loaded the luggage. Hedwig had of course been allowed to fly on ahead to Hogwarts so that nothing would look overtly suspicious to the other Muggles. With everything loaded the four of them made their way to the Platform Barrier.
"Mum, Dad, this Platform is protected by Anti-Muggle Charms. Harry and I will have to go on without you. I will miss you both, and look forward to seeing you at the end of the fall term." Hermione said while hugging her Mother and Father one last time.
Harry shook Dan's hand and then the two of them crossed the barrier to the platform one at a time.
On the other side of the barrier they discovered that at this early in the morning only about 10 or 12 students and their families, including themselves had made it to the platform so far. Taking the lead Harry made his way towards the Express Car that contains something he only discovered when he was exploring the Potter and Black Family Vaults in the previous timeline. In this Car was the personal compartment of the Marauders.
Hermione of course knew all about this compartment however had never seen it. Harry easily found the compartment as the compartment was heavily charmed. It had among other things a notice me not charm that all of the descendants of Prongs, Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail as well as the men themselves were all keyed into. It also sported an enlargement charm on the interior of the compartment, not to mention a connection to the Potter Family House Elves for snack purposes.
Once there Harry invited Hermione into the compartment, and allowed her permanent access to the compartment.
It was now fifteen minutes till the time that the Hogwarts Express was due to leave, and the Weasley's were only just arriving. Harry and Hermione were at the window of their compartment watching their faces, what they saw didn't necessarily impress them. Ginny was looking around with a rather hopeful look on her face. The twins looked both smug and hopeful at the same time. Ron looked bored out of his mind, and Percy, well Percy looked like he had a broom handle up his rear end as usual. But it was Molly that had Harry and Hermione worried. She was looking absolutely thunderous, as if something had not gone to plan.
"Reckon she was expecting to see me out in King's Cross and was planning on helping me through to the platform?" Harry asked.
Hermione looked pensive and said "That is a distinct possibility."
"I don't know if I am going to want to go over to the Burrow this time around. How about you?" Harry asked.
"Well considering what Ron was like after we discovered I was rich. No I don't think so. Yes I stayed married to him for the children's sake. However that Git just wouldn't leave well enough alone." Hermione explained.
"At least Ginny knew I was rich right from the off. However now that I think about it, marrying a glorified fangirl probably wasn't the smartest move on my part." Harry said.
Hermione nodded in agreement.
After the Weasley's were onboard, Harry excused himself from the compartment and went in search of the Twins. When he found them he said "Hello boys. How would you like to ride in the single best compartment in this train? One invented by my father and his three friends, the greatest mad geniuses to have ever attended Hogwarts."
Fred and George listened to Harry's proposal calmly not completely comprehending what the boy was saying at first, at least until he said that their were four friends, and that they were mad geniuses. As soon as they figured that out they slowly broke out into twin Cheshire Cat grins while vigorously nodding their heads in assent.
Harry led the twins back to his compartment and said the password to allow them access "Welcome to the Marauders Compartment of Splendiferous Wonders!" and watched as the twins faces had an effect like curtains being drawn back across their eyes as the compartment became visible to them complete with Hermione sitting inside reading Bram Stoker's Dracula for the 15th time this year alone.
Once inside the Twins began a rapid fire assault of questions about the Marauders and anything about them without giving time for Harry to respond.
Harry immediately cast a silent Silencio on the Twins and watched as their questions kept coming for about 10 seconds until they realized they had a silencing effect on them. "Okay guys, my Dad was Prongs. They pulled some really great pranks while they were at School. However Prongs and Padfoot could also be real jerks at times. If you need any verification on that fact just ask Professor Snape about James Potter sometime, I am sure he would set you straight. Also, I would like to point out that you really shouldn't idolize Wormtail as he betrayed my father and mother to Voldemort." Harry explained. He then lifted the Silencing Charm.
"Wormtail was Sirius Black?" the one Harry assumed was George asked.
"Actually, no, Sirius Black was Padfoot, and Wormtail framed Sirius Black for his own crime. Wormtail was Peter Petigrew." Harry said.
"How do you know this?" The one who Harry thought might be Fred asked.
"Simple, I have seen my Parents Will which states that Peter Petigrew was their Secret Keeper, not Sirius Black, despite what was commonly believed." Harry explained.
The twins nodded slowly in comprehension. Then they asked "So who is Moony?"
"That I am not at liberty to say at the current time, as his identity is a little more of a touchy subject." Harry said.
Through all of this Hermione had been listening rather quietly, but she had chosen this opportunity to speak up, "Boys, I was wondering, you seem to know an awful lot about the Marauders based on the questions you were asking, how is that? It's not like the Marauders actually advertised who they were."
"Oh, we found something of theirs in our first year." George said.
"I suppose though that it rightfully belongs to Prongsling here, now doesn't it?" Fred said.
"Prongsling?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, because you are the son of Prongs, your Mum would be Prongslette." George said.
"Ugh. Just give me whatever you found." Harry said.
George promptly began searching through his robes and produced a ratty piece of parchment. "Here, hold your Wand up to this and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' and watch and see what happens."
Harry took the map and proceeded to do as instructed. The Marauders Map became visible. He quickly scanned it and said "Hey Hermione, looks like you were right. They are planning to hold a Board of Governors Meeting today."
Hermione glanced over Harry's shoulder to where he was indicating and saw Lucius Malfoy in Guest Suite #12. She also noticed Augusta Longbottom and Neville Longbottom on the map as well. "Oh crap, I had forgotten she was a member of the Board."
Harry quickly looked for a female member of the board and noticed who Hermione was talking about "Yeah, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to strip her of her magic. You're going to have to go to that meeting after all."
"So uh, guys, what are you talking about?" Fred asked.
Hermione blushed and said "You guys have to promise not to tell anyone until we are ready, but I am the heiress of Rowena Ravenclaw."
The twins simultaneously said "Wicked!" and then agreed not to tell anyone until Hermione was ready to show the fact.
"Mischief Managed." Harry said while tapping his wand to the Marauders Map. The Twins goggled at how he knew to turn the map off without prompting but figured that it had something to do with who his father was. Harry then said "I would like as many sugar-free sweets as the Potter Elves can manage as soon as possible." Hermione smiled at Harry for remembering her parents strict orders not to eat too many sweets while at school.
It only took a few seconds, but sweets by the dozen started flooding the compartment.
Later that evening the train had arrived at Hogsmeade. Harry, Hermione, Fred, and George exited the Marauders compartment and made their way off the train. Once on the platform the Twins made their way over to the carriages. It was then that Harry and Hermione both noticed that they could each see the Thestrals this time around, which was hardly surprising.
Harry and Hermione made their way over to where Hagrid was calling for the first years. Instead of riding in the boat with Ron, the two of them ended up together in a boat with Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis. As a result not much had been said between the four of them on the ride up to Hogwarts.
After Minerva McGonagall explained Hogwarts to the First Years, Harry and Hermione had both agreed that the law of averages dictated that either Ron Weasley, or Draco Malfoy was going to cause a scene. Sure enough, not even twenty seconds after the doors to the antechamber had closed behind Minerva, Draco strutted up to Harry and Hermione with the Twin Duffuses behind him. "My name is Draco Malfoy, you will soon find that some Witches and Wizards are better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." Draco stuck out his hand to shake while sneering at Hermione.
Hermione chuckled and said "Just because a person is a Muggle-Born doesn't mean they are in any way a bad Witch or Wizard."
Meanwhile Harry swatted Draco's extended hand away and said "What would I want to make friends with a Blood Traitor like you for?"
Draco bristled at the insinuation that he was a Blood Traitor, however he walked away with as much of his pride intact as he could manage.
Hermione leaned over and whispered to Harry "Nice touch; that will end up in the rumor mill for at least a month."
Harry laughed and said "Yeah, I thought that would get to him."
At this point Minerva walked back in and led them out so they could be sorted. After the Sorting Song Minerva began calling names. When she got to Hermione's name on the list she paused for a moment while looking at the list and then looked up at Hermione and mouthed "I'm sorry," before calling "Granger-Ravenclaw, Hermione."
Upon hearing this Hermione thought to herself 'Bloody Albus Dumbledore.' meanwhile a chorus of whispering had erupted around the Great Hall centered especially heavily at the Slytherin Table. Hermione walked up to the stool as proudly as she possibly could and placed the Sorting Hat on her head while sitting down.
"Well, this is unusual, I haven't sorted a Time Traveler in several years. I think the last one I sorted was Herbert George Wells," The Hat said into Hermione's mind in a laughing voice.
"You mean H.G. Wells was a wizard?" Hermione thought.
"Oh yes, who do you think invented the Time Turner Miss Granger?" the Hat said "Now on to business, I see that in your earlier life you were a Gryffindor, and that you demonstrated exceptional courage on several occasions. I also see that like all members of the Ravenclaw line you show extraordinary intellect. I would like to ask your advice on where to sort you, as you have already been sorted once, I can not simply sort you into the same house again. So where would you like to go this time?"
Hermione thought about this for a while and had to acknowledge that Gryffindor probably wasn't the house for her anymore. There was also no way that Slytherin would accept her, and although she has the hardworking nature of a Hufflepuff, she does not have the trait of undying loyalty that would be required for that house. "I imagine it would be best to place me in my ancestors house. Plus if you place me there I can keep an eye on a future friend who is very likely to get sorted into that house next year." Hermione explained.
"Very well then." The sorting hat said "RAVENCLAW!"
Hermione took the hat off and walked over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down next to the other first years.
Several minutes later Minerva called Harry up so he could sit his sorting, causing whispers to break out once again. Harry casually walked up to the stool and placed the Hat on his head as he sat down.
"Two in one night. Now that is a record." The Hat said into Harry's mind by way of introduction.
Harry shrugged and went straight to the crux of the matter, "I know you are going to say that I would do well in Slytherin. However I absolutely refuse to be placed in that House. I also do not wish to be in Gryffindor this time around, as such I ask to be in the same house that Hermione just joined. I realize I may not originally have been the best of students, however I now have several decades worth of extra knowledge on my side, and the concentration skills of an adult wizard. I feel I will do better in school this time around."
The Hat gave a small nod and then shouted "RAVENCLAW!"
Harry took off the hat and placed it back on the stool as he made his way over to the Ravenclaw Table and sat down next to Hermione.
Dumbledore was livid, he had planned for Harry to be in the same house as his parents, and now the lad was in Ravenclaw House. This was truly unacceptable, unfortunately there was little the Headmaster could do, the Sorting Hat was the last arbiter on what House a student belonged in. Despite his rage, the Headmaster was able to reign it in and go ahead with the pre-feast statement he had planned once the rest of the students were sorted, standing he said "I have a few words to say before we eat, and they are: Nitwit, Blubber, Odment, Tweak! Now tuck in!" and with that the Headmaster sat back down to enjoy his portion of the meal.
It was with the Headmasters statement that the Ghosts decided to float in, though one ghost in particular had floated down from the ceiling, having watched the sorting from up above the Great Hall. This ghost made her way casually over to the Ravenclaw First Years, where she struck up conversation with Hermione, "Pardon me, but did I hear Professor McGonagall correctly? You are a Ravenclaw?"
Hermione looked up at the ghost, realizing who this was she responded "I am descended from Beatrice Ravenclaw, daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw. Why do you ask?"
The ghost looked supremely pleased, "It is a pleasure to have you in our house, I was in life the sister of Beatrice Ravenclaw. My name is Helena, I am a distant relative of yours."
Hermione smiled at the ghost, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Helena, my name is Hermione."
"I look forward to great things from you young one!" The ghost said with great pride in her newly discovered relative, as she sat down next to Harry and began talking to Hermione about all sorts of things.
As the meal concluded Dumbledore stood and began his start of term notices, "Now that we are all fed, there are a few announcements that I would like to give you before the start of term tomorrow. Firstly, students are reminded that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to all students not accompanied by a teacher. Secondly, our caretaker Mr. Filch would like me to remind you that a list of all contraband items and substances is in his office on the ground floor, please be so kind as to make note of this list. And lastly, it is extremely likely that the third floor corridor on the right hand side will be out-of-bounds starting tomorrow afternoon."
Dumbledore gave all the students a few moments for this to sink in before he continued by saying "Now if the Prefects would kindly escort the First Years up to their dormitories, although I would appreciate it if Miss Granger would stay behind, I will see her returned to her Dormitory before the last Curfew for the night."
Harry and Hermione smirked at each other, and then Harry said "See you later Hermione," while he got up to follow Penelope Clearwater up to the Ravenclaw Dormitories.
"Yeah, later." Hermione said as she walked over to join the Headmaster at the Head Table.
"Miss Granger if you would follow me, we have a meeting with the Board of Governors to attend to." Dumbledore told her.
"Of course Headmaster." Hermione allowed.
Once the Headmaster and Hermione arrived Dumbledore started the meeting off "Sirs and Madams, please allow me to introduce Miss Hermione Granger of House Ravenclaw. She is the rightful heir of that house and as such she is entitled to her position on this board and all the privileges associated with it."
Hermione curtsied as he concluded his introduction, something she learned that was expected in Pureblood Society back in the future.
Lucius looked on Hermione and he was fuming. How could they afford a mudblood this privilege, it was sacrilege. Still he couldn't say anything at this time because the Headmaster was here, and she was arguably richer than him based on the research into her assets that he had Narcissa perform the previous day.
Once everyone was seated and introduced Dumbledore got right down to business, "Gentlemen and Ladies, I would like to ask the use of the School so that I might do a favor to Lord Nicholas Flamel. He has requested for the protection of one of his assets within the school, and I would like to place it on the Third Floor Corridor under the most severe of protections. I am prepared to place that corridor out-of-bounds to all Students for their own protection."
Hermione listened and considered this statement, and then decided to act, "What is this item you wish to place in a school with over one hundred children of varying ages and maturities Headmaster?"
Dumbledore looked at the girl incredulously and said "That is entirely inconsequential."
Hermione shook her head "I am sorry Headmaster, but that is a false assumption. You are suggesting hiding something in this School behind what I can only assume are deadly wards if they require that the corridor remains out-of-bounds to the students here. I want to know what could need such severe wards as this, and if this item would be endangering the students safety simply by being in the school. Would this item for example, just by being here, attract nefarious people to the school who wish to acquire the item for their own purposes? I can only assume the answer to this question is yes since you are planning on placing it behind such severe wards. This also proves problematic because the younger and less mature students such as those in my year, and certain older students such as the infamous Weasley Twins, would disregard your warnings and go to that Corridor simply because of the thrill of putting their lives in danger. Headmaster I cannot in good conscience agree to housing such a valuable object behind such dangerous wards in the school. If it is really that important to you, then place it in your office or some other secure place and then put that site behind the Fidelius Charm and house it there."
Dumbledore was flabbergasted, this girl had no concept of how important it was to have the stone out where it could at least potentially be discovered, however Augusta Longbottom spoke up saying "I am inclined to agree with Miss Granger. I do not want my grandson attending a school were something dangerous is easily accessible to him."
Several other members of the Board of Governors, especially those with children attending the school readily agreed with this statement. Lucius seeing that the tide was against Albus in this decision decided to lend his support to the decision not to house the, whatever it was, in the school's third floor corridor, bringing the decision to a unanimous conclusion.
Dumbledore was livid, but he knew better than to say anything about this matter. He would have to discuss his options with Nicholas the next opportunity he had available to him.
Hermione pleased that her plan had worked, moved on to the main business she had wanted to discuss this evening, "As Heiress of the Ravenclaw Estate, I am entitled a place on the Wizengamot. Minister Fudge kindly agreed to grant me this place if I am able to attend the Wizengamot Session that will be held tomorrow during the first day of classes. I intend to attend that meeting, as such I need permission so that I can miss classes tomorrow. Can this be arranged for me for tomorrow and for any other future sessions of the Wizengamot that I need to attend which fall on a school day?"
Augusta Longbottom was swift in saying "I will speak to Minerva about it after the meeting."
After that most of the rest of the business for the evening had to deal with the Schools finances and other stuff that was of little interest to Hermione at the current time. Once the meeting concluded Dumbledore led Hermione back to Ravenclaw Tower, once outside the tower he began explaining how the door to the Common Room worked, however Hermione simply placed her hand on the door knocker which promptly clicked open. Helena who had waited inside the Common Room for Hermione noticed the dumbfounded look on the Headmaster and glided over to inform him as to what probably had just happened...
"As the Heiress of Ravenclaw House, she has complete and unlimited access to all Ravenclaw Sectors of the School, Headmaster."
Hermione walked into the common room followed by the Ghost, while Dumbledore walked away sighing in defeat.