War sage.
A vote for keeping things close to cannon as possible then.
Damien's knowledge wouldn't be rendered useless if things derailed its not just his knowledge of future events that's useful (and he has Luna to help him with that anyway) and keeping totally in line with the cannon time is impossible anyway but Damien's knowledge about the past and present is just as useful even the future changes a lot.
A W (Guest)
A vote for total derailment then. And as for what else you said you forgot about the Horcrux in Gringotts and the one that is inside Harry
Potter. Harry would have to die to make Voldemort's spirit fade away. And the prophecy suggests that only Voldemort can kill Harry and vice versa.
I do like your idea about Potter falling in line behind Damien. I can see Granger making friends with Damien because they are both smart and having someone who knows that burden to talk is always nice. Ron would be the problem but he wouldn't be to hard to get rid off.
Of course doing that would draw Dumbledore's attention which could be bad.
Selias
Well the real Moody might end up teaching the students the curse as it was Dumbledores idea. Although with the Outcast newsletter reporting everything to the parents that might not happen anyway as the curse is illegal after all.
Well if Wormtail dies or gets locked up and Damien stops Crouch at the World Cup then Voldemort's return would be greatly delayed which would give Damien time to deal with the other Horcrux. As for the romance I'm thinking of starting it now but having it move forward slowly as there is no need to rush things. The Yule ball would be a good time to heat things up between Damien and Luna.
Douchiesnacks
You'd think Christians wouldn't let their kids be groping at 12. And another vote to derail cannon.
Lord Edric
Not so helpful on the romance department there as I don't know what freshmen means.
And a vote for not derailing things until the World Cup. That won't be hard as unless society totally breaks down nothing stops the World Cup final.
No warning Moody but I already thought of a way around that.
Dumbledore does need to die. I'm sure I can think of a way to that will let Damien get the Elder Wand.
Redthebattler
So a vote for not totally derailing things. No warning of Moody and let Wormtail live.
Dumbledore isn't that worried about Damien right now. The Headmaster sees Damien as a possible problem later because he is smart, rich and powerful but Dumbledore also tends to see the best in people so if Damien does start to get involved more in his school life Dumbledore won't worry so much. Damien won't have that much influence until after he turns seventeen so Dumbledore knows he has years before he needs to do anything about Damien.
Hell all he did with Tom Riddle was keep an annoyingly close eye on him and he had a lot more to worry about with Riddle as Damien isn't a bully like Riddle. Dumbledore knew Riddle was trouble from the moment they met he doesn't see Damien the same way he's just concerned that Damien might start experimenting out of boredom.
Although I can see Dumbledore thinking Damien could end like Grindlewald who I don't think was ever as messed up as Riddle and may have been corrupted by overusing the Dark Arts since it doesn't seem like he spilt his soul like Riddle did.
I like the idea of there being a prophecy about Damien. No idea what such a prophecy could be about but the idea tickles me. If you can word a good sound prophecy I'll use it.
The First Gothic. Book One. A Wizard In Training. Part 14.
Hogsmede Village. Scotland. The Wizarding World.
There was Hogsmede weekend at the end of every month, or if the end of the month was a holiday it was the weekend before term ended, this ensured that the town had plenty of time to prepare for the arrival of a small army of rowdy teens and a large enough break in between their visits in order to recover.
Over all this arrangement ensured that the town got enough business to survive but not as much that drove the quiet life seeking inhabitants away.
It was also a nice break from the school work which for me wasn't that much harder even though I was now in third year but it was still enjoyable to get out of Hogwarts and I'd be able to do that a lot more often now that I could visit Hogsmede one weekend a month.
I was also enjoying the company. Luna and I were now official dating which really just meant holding hands a lot, at least for now, but it was pleasant none the less and neither of us felt any need to rush things given that we both knew we had plenty of time.
Luna and I were in the company of Neville who was tagging along or in order to give us a tour of the tiny town much to Ginny's annoyance but I had already gotten her a gift in the hopes that she'd forgive Luna and I for skipping a year and thus leaving her behind. My cunning plan was to give her some chocolate and then give her some space I was sure that'd she calm down. She had a fiery temper but like anything that burned too hot her temper burned out after a while. She'd forgive us soon.
"And that's the Shrieking Shack" Neville explained as he continued playing tour guide "Its suppose to be the most haunted place in Britain".
Which was completely untrue. The Shack wasn't even haunted. It had actually been used to contain the werewolf Remus Lupin during the full moon while he was attending school. I wondered if he was still using it or just locking himself in his office while the under the effects of the Wolfbabe potion.
"Actually Hogwarts is the most haunted place in Britain" I told Neville.
And it would remain so since I still hadn't figured out a way to exorcise ghosts. I'd found a few books that supported my idea that ghosts stuck around if they had a place to stay but the only know way to get rid of them was to destroy the place they were connected to. So if I wanted to get rid of Binns I'd have to destroy the school.
The again perhaps my plan to make him think the school had fired him would succeed. Some of the books suggested that a ghost would let go of this world and move on if give sufficient reason. For example if the Grey Lady were to forgive the Bloody Baron they would both be able to move on but that didn't seem likely.
From my studies of Binns he did indeed seemed to be attached to his job rather than the castle so making him think he didn't have the job should send him on his way.
But I'd been procrastinating, trying to avoid doing that and I now had an excuse not to at least what with the Headmaster having taken notice of me. At least the other Outcasts seemed to understand that and with it now being almost impossible for all four of us to met it seemed that the group wouldn't last much longer. Not unless we dropped Ginny and as Neville was rather found of the red head so that didn't seem likely to happen.
Perhaps once Black was either dead, captured or exonerated things would settle down enough for us to start meeting and plotting again but for now keeping things on the down low seemed to be a good idea.
I noticed that Neville seemed a bit put out about not having information Luna and I didn't. Aside from being an expert on the subject of Herbology Neville didn't have much in the way knowledge to contribute to the group and with Luna and I both skipping a year he was bound to feel a little stupid.
"How about taking us to the shops" I suggested "I've never been shopping here I don't even know what stores there are".
Neville brightened up at once and began talking in great lengths about what could be brought here in Hogsmede. I'd long ago learned how to look as if I was listening to Neville while actually not hearing a word he said so I was free to think about my problems and concerns.
My main concern these days was Dumbledore. I suspected, although I had no proof, that he was keeping an eye on me. Because of this I'd purposely kept my distance from the Golden Trio despite sharing a few classes with them. It would have been nice to extend my circle of friends to include Potter but I couldn't risk it as long as the Headmaster was alive.
It was a shame really as from what I'd observed he could really do with someone like me in his life. He suffered from the same lack of confidence that had almost crippled Neville's magical abilities and his so called friends weren't helping. Granger was always undermining his belief in his own intelligence and Ron the prat encouraged him to do the least amount of work possible. Watching the three of them action made me wonder how the Boy-Who-Lived had survived this long.
Still even if I couldn't help the future Chosen One directly then I could should be able to aid from behind the scenes even if Dumbledore was keeping an eye on me. But to do that I had to decide what I was going to do about Wormtail. It was tempting to kill the rat ,who hadn't as of yet been 'eaten' by Crookshanks as Weasly and Granger weren't fighting about it. Which meant that 'Scabbers' should still be in the tower. I could easily ask Ginny to get the rat for me and then one spell later the traitor would be gone.
I could also expose him publicly which could led to Sirius Black becoming a free man but that would be more tricky.
I'd not only have to get my hands on the rat but I'd also have to keep him contained until I could get Wormtail exposed. Perhaps I could even arrange a meeting with the Minister and dump Wormtail right in his office.
Although I didn't know how I'd explain my actions if I did that. It might be simpler all around if I just got Scabbers in his cage and had my House Elf drop him off on Madam Bones's desk with a note explaining what was going on. Of course then I'd have law enforcement on my ass which is never pleasant.
Killing the rat was starting to look really tempting but I also really wanted to see Sirius Black go free as that might get Potter away from this horrible excuse for a family.
Then again with Dumbledore around the only way was getting free of his relatives was if they were all dead. It was tempting to kill Potter's 'beloved' Aunt and Uncle but I suspected that the Blood Wards would actually protect Number Four Privet Drive from an attack by me. Although I suppose that this wouldn't stop me as I could always get to them when they weren't in house.
Potter only need his Aunt alive after all so I could just get rid of his Uncle and Cousin. I would never kill Dudley as despite my intense dislike of bullies he was still a child after all and I wasn't sure if I could actually kill even Vernon Dursely.
But perhaps I wouldn't have to I could just lock him somewhere. Or maybe I could put him under some sort of mind control and then have him confess his crimes of child abuse to the police.
A smile cross my face as I remembered a way to get rid of Vernon and Dudley Dursely with ease.
Back on the Discworld the Librarian had taught me the trick to navigating L-Space which was a part of the universe where all libraries met or at least libraries over a certain size did. It wouldn't be to hard to dump Harry Potter's Cousin and Uncle into a library somewhere on the Discworld.
I'd need my House Elf to actually get the Muggles to the library. Tizzy might even be able to transport the two Muggles directly to the Discworld as she knew where it was but I personally wanted to do it. Plus my Elf might protest if she discovered I was exiling to people best to not let her see that part.
Also I wouldn't be able to use wand magic to force them through L-Space but I could use an ageing potion to make myself look older and threaten them. I'd need them intimated as navigating L-Space was tricky I didn't want the Muggles messing it up.
Perhaps I could use my Fire Sphere spell Fireballs were good for scaring people and even if I was detected I would only get a written warning I could live with that.
As Neville led us into the Three Broomsticks I recapped my plan. I'd exile Vernon and Dudley to the Discworld. Then I would work to expose Wormtail which should get Potter out of Privet Drive and even if it didn't Potter could handle his Aunt.
"I'll get some drinks" I said to Luna and Neville.
I waited in line and tried to come up a plan to deal with Wormtail. I could use a summoning charm to get the rat. Then I'd need a unbreakable cage to hold him in.
If I remembered right there was a spell that tell if any humans were around. The book had that an Animagus would show up when using such a spell when in their animal form. I could have Luna test this on me when I was in my fox form.
So I could then have my Elf drop the rat in his cage with a note telling them that I used the spell and discovered that the rat was a human hiding as a rat. I'd have to make sure that Wormtail didn't see me so a disguise would be needed be. Thankfully House Elves could move around unseen so no one would see Tizzy drop off the rat.
Then Madam Bones, who was the honest sort according to her Niece, would have Wormtail in custody which would be proof of Black's innocence.
The Ministry might try to cover it up and nothing might chance for Potter but if I got rid of the two male Durselys then at least Harry would only have to deal with his Aunt. Perhaps their disappearance would even convince Dumbledore that Number Four Privet Drive wasn't safe.
Once I got to the bar and showed off my gold, which got me good treatment from the staff, I rather impressed a couple of older Hufflepuff girls who were hanging around the bar by buying them a round of drinks.
It took a few moments to realise that their tops had been rather low cut for the weather and that they both were rather well stacked. I was vulnerable to power of boobs again and it had cost me some gold. Damn my hormones. I really hoped that Luna hadn't notice me checking out the bosoms around here as she wasn't very well endowed in that department. Not that it matter as her I found her petite form rather attractive and it suited her, but girls could do silly things when they thought their boyfriends were eyeing other girls.
When I got to our table I noticed that Luna was reading her menu upside down which meant that she wasn't in this time line right now, at least not mentally, so she wouldn't be getting involved in any discussion.
"What's got you so happy?" asked Nev as I sat down.
I hadn't realised that I was still smiling.
"I'm young. I'm magically gifted. I'm academically successful. I'm very rich. And I have girlfriend who loves me" I said as an answer "so I should be happy".
Neville didn't share my joy so I inquired as to why he was less than cheerful.
"Why so glum, chum?" I asked.
"I was just thinking about what I have to happy about. Its not much" he explained.
That statement was incorrect and I explained why.
"Your doing a lot better in potion classes now that Snape is gone" I reminded the teenage boy "your rich too and you at least you have a grandparent around I don't have any family left"
Well not in this reality.
"So really your doing okay" I insisted "so don't be glum, chum we both have reasons to be love our lives and your Mum and Dad wouldn't want you to be sad".
It seemed as if no matter how much better off you are than those around you can always find ways in that they are in fact better off than yourself.
I'd cheered Neville up a bit but I found myself wishing that I was doing it because it was the right thing to do rather than the fact that I just wanted keep Neville happy so he would remain easy to manipulate and remain to of use to me.
To distract myself from such thoughts I looked over my menu. Wizard food wasn't that different from what my Nan would cook for me back home. Lots of stews, pies and potato dishes. I was rather found of Italian food myself but the chances of getting a Pizza in the Wizarding World were laughable. Even my House Elf couldn't just make the food I wished for appear and it wasn't as if she could stop at a Take-A-Away for a nine inch meat feast.
I hid my snigger about the other meaning the words nine inch meat feast could be used to describe and I wondered if anyone would get the joke. I didn't think anyone would given the Victorian sense of humour in these parts so I kept the pun to myself.
"Hey Nev how about a trip to the Muggle world during the Easter holidays. I'm really craving some Muggle food".
Once we'd ordered I explained to my best friend about junk food and he seemed very interested in trying some.
The House Elf made food was good but trying new things was the spice of life and all that.
I spent the time it took for our food to arrive discussing the amusements the Muggle world had to offer. It was easier to explain them than I had expected.
Neville grasped the concept of a film rather well as I explained it using terms he understood. Wizards had radios and moving pictures so the idea that a series of moving pictures could be shown to tell a story wasn't that hard he also understood that a radio could be used to provide music for the story or if done correctly.
Granted this would only explained those old black and white films they use to show with someone playing the piano as a backing track but it was the best I could do. At least it would prepare Neville somewhat for our planned trip to the cinema.
The food came and I slid the pudding I'd ordered for Luna across the table. Once my girlfriend returned to this part of the space-time continuum she be hungry as using any sort of magic, even purely mental magic, burned up lot of calories. This was how Luna remained so skinny even while eating obscene amounts of sugar.
It was also how Neville had started to lose weight. Now that he was using a wand meant for him his spell work was vastly improving and he was using more magic and thus his body weight was dropping.
This also explained why Crabbe and Goyle were so big. They could use magic but they ate too much and were rather bad at using spells. I'd heard that they were so bad at spells that they were going to have to repeat a year.
It seemed as if Slughorn wasn't going to cover for them like Snape had. Not surprising really as Slughorn only really cared for the students who looked as if they could get somewhere.
It was clear that Crabbe and Goyle weren't going to be very successful but they were Purebloods so they would likely end up with some sort of government job assuming that they didn't simply support themselves on their family money.
In fact if they weren't Purebloods they'd of been kicked out of Hogwarts I was sure of that. If I was more willing to risk Dumbledore's attentions I'd already be working on a way to get them kicked out.
As I enjoyed my steak and kidney pie (which was made with kidney beans not actual kidneys something I had worried abou for a few seconds) I noticed that Granger and the Ginger Prat were sitting quite close by and they were sort of looking in this direction as if they were looking at someone only they could see.
Potter was under his invisibility I guessed. I didn't think they were spying on me but they were talking efforts not to look at me and Granger did seem to be whispering something in the direction of the table I was sitting at.
Slowly I took my wand out and cast my favourite privacy charm. There were adult Wizards around using magic and having chats so even if someone monitoring the equipment that kept track of those under the trace it would just show that someone had used a privacy charm in order to hold a private chat near to me. But I doubted that underage magic was tracked when school was in session and it would be simply impossible to track all the spells being used in Hogsmede so I should be fine. I would have to remember to be care over Easter however as while the Ministry might turn a blind eye to me using spells in places were Muggles wouldn't be they would not be happy if I did magic with Muggles around.
It was then that I remembered that I'd destroyed a horcrux using fiendfyre while in a remote area. I'd gotten no warnings then and I should have as fiendfyre was a very dangerous spell. Perhaps the Trace wasn't on me at all. Would anyone even notice if it wasn't?
I'd have to test it at some point over Easter to make sure but for now it didn't matter.
"Potter is here under his cloak" I told Neville "do you think I should expose him?"
Nev shook his head.
"Nah it might be funny but he's not suppose to be here they won't expel the Boy-Who-Lived but it might just end him up in detention for the rest of the year".
True and there was no need to inflict such a fate on the future Chosen One he'd never done anything bad to me after all.
Luna returned to the present and was delighted to discover I'd gotten her some pudding my kindness earned me a kiss on the cheek was sweet. Neville made a joke about being a third well but I countered by pointing out that we could just invite Hannah to join us as she was his arranged bride to be.
That shut him up fast.
Luna then made some odd comment about us being watched and just for a second I would of sworn that I felt someone move behind me but the presence was quickly gone.
I wasn't worried as none of us had said anything that three teenagers shouldn't have been saying. But I had to wonder if Potter had been spying on us or if he was just moving around slowly in his invisibility cloak in order to avoid being caught.
"Come on let's get to the shops" I said to the two other Outcast members.
We'd be much harder to overhear if we stayed on the move and stuck to the crowds. Plus my gold was burning a whole in my pocket and now that I had a girlfriend to spoil I really wanted to spend some money on her.
Who'd ever of imagined that I would be eager to go shopping. Wonders did indeed never cease.