For the Want of a Horse-shoe Nail
For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost
For the want of the horse, the rider was lost
For the want of the rider, the battle was lost
For the want of the battle, the kingdom was lost
And all for the want of a horse-shoe nail
Disclaimer: I own the rights to nothing of the Harry Potter stories, movies, merchandise, sexy underwear, or other paraphernalia, which are owned by J.K. Rowling and her associates – I am definitely not her, nor them. I have written this for my own entertainment and hopeful the amusement of some others as well. I have invented some characters of my own, so any blame for those does rest with me. Absolutely no money being made in any fashion at any time from this exercise in ravings of a lunatic.
Rating: T. Seriously AU. Warning, some character deaths, some character bashing. Horcruxes
Chapter 6: Consequences
Sirius Black arrived at the office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. With a private smile, he thought that this was the first time he had ever entered the office without the expectation of a major detention.
Filius Flitwick, the new Headmaster, welcomed him, and offered him tea, or something stronger. Over glasses of firewhiskey, they talked over the years past, first while Sirius and his friends had been at school, and then the war and years since.
Then Flitwick stunned Black, by offering him a teaching position at the Scottish school - he admitted that the Marauder's skill at charms and potions had been admired (at least confidentially, while publically disapproving). As Flitwick himself had taken the Head opposition, he would not have time to teach charms as well, and as a trained Hit Wizard, Sirius would be well-qualified to teach Charms, Potions, or Defense. As Snape and the rest of the Death Eaters had disappeared and possibly died (those who weren't actually executed), he needed a new Potions teacher as well, and as always since Voldemort had cursed the post, he needed a new Defense teacher for the year.
Sirius thanked the diminutive wizard profusely, but pointed out that his first priority was to find Harry Potter and see to his well-being, as he had sworn to do, and had failed at the task. He asked if Filius had any idea where to look.
Flitwick nodded sadly, and said he hated to lose the talent, but Harry was now living in southern France, adopted by Minerva McGonagall. This shocked Sirius, who took a long sip on his glass and admitted that, as he had not been able to look after Harry, Minerva had been the next on Lily's list, and he was glad that she was able to do so, but was surprised that she had left Hogwarts. To Flitwick's amusement, Sirius admitted that he had always considered her as a permanent part of the castle, and had long suspected that she was one of the original fixtures of the place.
As Sirius rose to leave, Filius extended his hand, and said that his offer stood, and that if Sirius would reconsider, Hogwarts would welcome him back into its halls.
Last year, Ron Weasley had been Harry Potter's best friend. This was of course, after Hermione Granger had left Hogwarts under what to Ron were suspicious circumstances. He had accompanied Harry through several dangerous adventures, ending up being strangled by Devil's Snare until, for some reason, the plant quit and let them go after they both went unconscious. Why the plant had not killed them, as the books said was its wont, was a mystery to all concerned.
Like most other dark-ish wounds, the scars from the Devil's Snare still showed around Ron's neck.
Ron found that, without Hermione's constant nagging about homework, he was actually enjoying his lessons, other than Professor Snape's potions classes. However, even in those hated sessions, he was doing well. His passive-aggressive behaviour was a thing of the past, except when his mother was around.
He also found that, without Harry Potter being seen as the one always leading the way, his past exploits had gained him a lot of respect. After all, he had faced a troll the previous Hallowe'en (although it must be said that the encounter was less heroic than the rumours made out). The scars on his neck showed that, with Harry, he had repeatedly faced danger and survived.
Having grown up with five over-achieving brothers and one 'precious' sisters, Ron had never felt himself the centre of attention, much less respect. This was now changing, and it felt good.
He noticed that the girls at Hogwarts were starting to mature in ways that were becoming interesting. He also found that some of the girls, and not just Gryffindors, were starting to eye him with some interest. This did not harm his self-esteem at all either.
So it was that he found himself waiting for his turn to try out for the Gryffindor House quidditch team. Oliver Wood was starting to worry about his NEWT exams, still a year away, and was looking to get a reserve keeper to be ready and experienced enough to take over once he graduated at the end of the following year (to hopefully go on to play professionally). Ron had played keeper in his family's pick-up games for years and wanted the spot.
Of course, he was being teased mercilessly by his twin brothers who, although being shoo-ins as the beaters for the team, still had to attend the try-outs.
The three boys were them startled when a short red-haired girl came out of the changing rooms carrying one of the team's brooms. Ron asked Ginny what she was doing there. The twins were a little more pointed in their comments about how ickle Ginny couldn't possibly be wanting to play with the big boys.
She responded that, just as Ron had played at home, so had she, and if she could play on a children's broom, she expected to do better on a school-class broom. As Harry was not at Hogwarts this year, the team was short a seeker, and she was going to try out for it. And if the twins didn't like it, they would find that she knew all their tricks and had a few of her own that they would probably not enjoy learning, so they could either back off or suffer the consequences.
Fred and George started to say that she was too young and it was too rough a game for her, when her temper flared. She pointed out that, as they had been teasing her and beaten her up (more tickling than anything more serious) since she was born she could put up with all the hazing from the other teams. Due to her small stature, she was more maneuverable that any of the other students trying out for the seeker position, and if Harry Potter could play in his first year, why not Ginny Weasley! And to reiterate her earlier comments, they could take their brooms and place them in shady areas, or words to that effect.
Ron unwisely commented that she was being stupid comparing her ability to Harry. He knew she had been 'in love' with Harry all her life, because of the stories their mother had read to her, but that didn't make her a seeker.
As Ron got up after being hit hard across the head with Ginny's broom, she pointed out that Ron kept telling the family how Harry hated his reputation and nickname, and that he wanted to be acknowledged for what he had done, not just who he was. She pointed out that, if that was the kind of man Harry was (well, boy), then if she was ever going to catch him (smirking at her brothers at this) or rather succeeded in their mother's exceedingly obvious plans to put them together, she had damned well better have some accomplishments herself. She could fly and she could play, and even if she didn't end up with Harry at the end of things, at least she would have some fun on the journey!
She also pointed out that their mother seemed really keen for Ginny to get together with this marvelous hero, but from what she had seen, Harry was this scrawny kid who was nothing like the knight on a white horse that she had been told about. She figured that their mother was in more need of the image of a Hero than she was.
After the try-outs, for the second year in a row, Gryffindor had a first year student as their seeker.
July 23, 2011
Hermione Granger was sitting in the Blue Lagoon geothermal pool north of Reykjavik, smearing the blue mud over her face and unseen through the opaque waters, on her swelling belly and slipping her muddy hands inside her bikini bra to smear the mud on her breasts as well. The muggle Icelanders claimed that the mud had therapeutic values, and it actually did have magical healing properties.
Marie-Claire, her healer (and former classmate at Beauxbatons) had told her that she was carrying a healthy little sister for James Robert (named for his grandfathers) and Elspeth (from Minerva McGonagall's middle name, and also the Scottish variant of her mother's name). Jim-Bob was looking forward to the new member of the family, but little Ellie was confused about why Mummy had eaten the baby so it was in her tummy.
Hermione was on assignment from the Bureau des Inconnus et des Choses Etranger (The Office of Unknowns and Strange Things), in the Ministre des Magiques in Paris. As she was now fluent in five dialects of Trollish, her superiors had thought she would be an excellent ambassador to the Icelandic trolls as well, as it was thought likely that Icelanders spoke a similar dialect to the Scandinavian trolls. The Norse had like with trolls, if not harmoniously, and least peacefully, for many centuries. Several summers, she had secretly returned to the mountains around Hogwarts and had become good friends with Marshy, who she had met twenty years before, who was now nine meters tall, and the matriarch of her tribe.
She had been hired after graduated from Beauxbatons with letters of recommendation from her Headmistress and several of the professors. Her experience communicating with trolls in the Jura and Pyrenees mountains, as well as from Scotland, had been unique, and during her interview for the position of researcher, it was pointed out that, being from a muggle background and these experiences, she had a good grasp that things might not be what they seemed at first. This was an attitude that would be of great value to here in the French equivalent to the Department of Mysteries in London.
Her sojourn to Iceland had been successful, to the extent that she had made contact with the local trolls, and after they had laughed at her Norwegian/Scottish accent, the troll's matriarch welcomed her to their lodgings under the glacier. The cave had been heated by the country's geothermal heat, but Hermione had still suffered from mild frostbite.
The fact that she was very pregnant at the time was taken by the trolls as evidence that she was no threat to them, and this was a factor in the matriarch's welcome. This was also a factor in the spreading of the medicinal mud on her body in the lagoon, as one of the effects was to ease her stretchmarks.
However, for all the pleasant heat of the pool's mud treating her frostbitten fingers, she looked forward to getting back home to the Mediterranean coast
October 4, 2025
Minerva McGonagall sat on the veranda of her villa in the Pyrenees Mountains, looking out at the crescent moon in the west. Her birthday party still continued inside the house, but she was taking a 'breather', out on the porch.
It was her one-hundredth birthday, and the villa was crowded with people who she had come to love or had been important to her. As was the case at all such parties, there were some missing who were no longer there, or just could not come due to other pressing commitments. Life happened while you made other plans.
She loved the mountians. When she was young, she loved the old song 'These are My Mountains', and she would hum it to herself as she trekked through the hills of her homeland. These mountains were not those she grew up in, but she had come to love them as well in the years she had taught at Beauxbatons.
It had been ten years since she was last in Scotland. She had travelled under a strong glamour spell, which was prudent as she found that there were still those who were resentful of the changes which had started the year she left Hogwarts taking two of the most promising students away from Britain. Some still blamed her for the changes.
She had often wondered about that. In all the years, when she met and spoke with the centaurs about the prophecy more than three decades ago, they still refused to say who exactly it had been that they saw as necessary to leave Hogwarts. They only would say that the one who left was pivotal to the flux of time and destiny. At the time, she thought it was young Hermione Granger, as the young witch was the first of those she knew who she was instrumental in sending 'into exile'. Other times, she mused that it had been Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Hated-His-Nickname, and at other times she flattered herself that it had been she herself. After all, she was the one who told off Dumbledore, and led the two students to leave, precipitating some of the changes.
She sipped from her glass, and smiled. Harry Potter had gone into the wine and whiskey business after graduating, and had hired her, his godfather and an old friend of his family to consult. As Minerva and Sirius were animagi, they had extraordinary senses of smell, and Harry felt that this sense (and their experience with Scotch whiskey) would be very useful in the blending of the various products. Remus Lupin, to Minerva's knowledge, was probably the only werewolf who ever got a job because of his enhanced sense of smell in his were form.
For her centenary birthday, Harry had given her a rare case of 'The Auld Alliance', which was the first of his Scottish style of whiskey produced in France. She smiled as she recalled the legal trouble Harry had gotten into from the authorities for originally trying to label it as 'Scotch'.
Once Harry was away from Hogwarts and Severus Snape's abysmal teaching (if it could be called that), he showed a remarkable gift for potions, and Minerva had needed to stop herself from comparing Harry to his mother who had been a gifted potioneer. He also showed a love of gardening and viniculture, and had told her that when he was growing up, working in the garden was among the only peace and happiness he ever had with his relatives, because they left him alone to do his yardwork.
Between his skill with plants and potions, and a bit of financial backing from some people, Harry had become noted in his new trade. During one of his many visits with her, he commented that a lot of people expected him to use his fame to return to England and go into politics. He had concluded that this career path sound like as much fun as rubbing sand into his eyeballs.
Minerva was called back into the villa to blow out candles on her birthday gateau (also prepared by Harry who had also learned to cook (also a time when he was not bothered, as it might affect the outcome of his efforts, and after a few burned roasts and spoiled puddings leading to tummy upsets, the Dursleys left him alone there as well). A number of the guests, led by Sirius and Remus, were standing around with fire extinguishers claiming that one hundred candles constituted a fire hazard.
Minerva looked around the room at four generations of her students, many of whom were now her dear friends, and blew out the candles.
August 30, 2059
The Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sat in the staff common room, sharing a bottle of well-aged Single Malt Firewhiskey with some of the staff. They were just wrapping up the final meeting of the summer, preparing for tomorrow's influx of the new and returning students, and were taking a last break before the madness resumed.
Sirius had been on staff for over half a century, and had taken over as Headmaster after Aurora Sinistra had retired ten years before. Aurora had taken over when Filius Flitwick had resigned the post to return to teaching, seven years before his death.
Having a glass of American made 'Scotch' tickled Sirius' sense of fun, as Professor McGonagall (Athena, Minerva's great-great granddaughter-in-law and Sirius' sister-in-law) thought it heresy to bring any such abomination into Scotland. Harry had discovered that the peat bogs of the Pacific Northwest and the barley from the inland states provided suitable raw materials, and as the Scots didn't appear anxious to produce the wizarding drink, he had decided to fill the gap, and having developed a taste for the highland style of tipple, decided to combine the styles – it had taken him some years to perfect the firewhiskey version of the malted liquor, and in spite of Harry's denials, Sirius suspected him of eventually sneaking into Ogden's under his father's old invisibility cloak to steal the secret.
Sirius had taken Filius' offer, after he had checked up on Harry's whereabouts and health, and spent some time in France looking after him (well, helping Minerva McGonagall with raising him). Once Harry graduated from Beauxbatons, Sirius found himself without something to occupy most of his time. He had ended up returning to the place which had been his home for seven of his formative (and happiest) years. He married one of Minerva's granddaughters (over the elder witch's half-hearted objections) who he had met while in 'exile' in France, and their kids had taken some looking after as well, but he needed something more to do.
On his taking up teaching Defense, the curse appeared to be broken perhaps through the effective death of Riddle who had cast the original curse, and he continued in that post for many years until he was promoted to Head. With the disappearance of Snape during the purges (whether voluntary or assisted was unknown, but Sirius thought it likely his old enemy had been helped along) Filius had made him Head of Slytherin House, figuring that this would promote a more congenial mixing of the houses, and his prankish nature and cunning would help restore the House to its ancient glory. In addition this had the effect of teaching some of the residual pure-blood believers that unacceptable behaviour had unpleasant consequences.
He and Filius had collaborated on several projects, and calling in some help from his old friend Moony, they managed to create what was now known as the Head's Map, which now hung proudly in the Headmaster's office. Having heard Harry's stories of his year at Hogwarts, and Minerva's comments of how Snape's hatred of James had poisoned his relations with the boy, Sirius used the map and his own skills to make sure that any pranking was of a harmless kind. The bullying that had been prevalent during Dumbledore's last years was a thing of the past.
When she retired from the Aurors after thirty years of active duty, on his taking up the Head position, Sirius had hired his cousin and Marauder-in-law, Nymphadora, to replace him as defense professor.
Looking at his glass again, he reminisced about his godson, whose distillery had produced the amber liquid therein. Harry's vinyards in France and in Oregon (on the west side of the Three Sisters volcanoes), took full advantage of Harry's skills. The one good thing about Harry's upbringing by the Dursleys was his experience in tending their gardens – in looking after the yard, Harry had time to himself that did not result in the harsh treatment that otherwise marked his time with his relatives.
Sirius had seen to it that Vernon Dursley had been 'inconvenienced' for his actions, and for the rest of the man's life, he had needed to keep a bathroom plunger handy, as every toilet he ever used tended to back up.
When he had arrived at Beauxbatons, Harry found his classes in the school's vinyards and the enology portions of the herbology courses were his favourite times at the school. He also proved to be his mother's son, and a genius in Potions. Combining his two talents and favourite courses seemed to be the perfect future.
Since leaving school and attaining his majority and inheritances, Harry had invested in a winery in France. With further investment from Sirius, as well as the Delacour family and his adoptive 'great-grandmother', and his own abilities, he eventually bought the property, and it was turning out wines of great repute, renaming the farmhouse winery 'LeGrange' in honour of his first friend. As his fame as a winemaker grew, Harry was asked to consult for, and eventually invest in, a group of properties in the States. For the US operations, he added the distillery, as he had years before at the French facilities, and was making fine brandies as well as the liquor currently (and temporarily) residing in Sirius' glass. The Hogwarts head table often features wines from Harry's French and American operations, including the world's only red champagne-style 'Pure-Bloods' Folly' brand (although it could not be legally called Champagne).
Sirius looked forward to the sorting ceremony the next day. It would be the first time Harry had set foot in Great Britain since he left sixty-seven years before. He and Hermione were coming to see their eldest granddaughter be sorted – Sirius expected them to come back when Minerva Potter graduated as well, but perhaps only then, unless one of Harry's other descendants decided to accept Hogwarts' invitation to attend. Even with the reforms put through over the years through the Diggory, Bones, Weasley (Percy), Greengrass, and Weasley (Ginny) administrations at the Ministry, Harry had a lingering and deep distrust of British society, and some of the Ancient and Noble Families in particular (at least those who were not thoroughly culled in what were now being called The Great Purge).
Tossing back his drink and then waiting until the steam cleared, Hogwarts' Headmaster returned to his quarters to sleep and wait the coming days.
Author's Note - Re birthdate of Minerva McGonagall:
According to Wikia, and based on JKR's statement on Pottermore (viewed as canon by many), Minerva McGonagall was born October 4, 1935. However, according to the Harry Potter Lexicon (HPL), quoting the transcript of J.K. Rowling's live interview on ," , 16 October 2000, at the time of the point in the stories of the interview (assumed as 1995), she is stated to be 'a sprightly seventy'. That would make her birth year 1925. Also JKR says that MM started teaching at Hogwarts in 1956, indicating that she qualified as a teacher when she was either 21 years old, or 31 years old.
I find the idea even the most accomplished witch would be teaching at supposedly the best school of Witchcraft and Wizardry only three years after her own graduation rather implausible. As an apprenticeship usually lasts several years, followed by years at a Journeyman level, to attain a Mastery by 21 sounds rather unlikely, even for a very gifted person.
As both come directly from JKR, both can be regarded as canon. I choose to use the 1925 year for the reason above, and if you want to fight about it, be my guest (which if you are reading this, effectively, you are), but you will be showing up for the battle on your own.