Author Note

I'll handle reviews later I'm trying to stay focused on my writing this weekend.

Crossworlds 1 - Harry Potter

Part 51

The Great Hall. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Summer had come to a quick end and the new school term started with nothing interesting happening at all in the magical parts of this country. At least as far as I knew and since I had many friends in the Ministry of Magic I was being kept well informed.

There had been no signs of any Death Eaters in action, no activity over at Riddle Manor, and nothing was going on at the Ministry that seemed worth worrying about. I was keeping an eye on things, but I didn't stay on alert as that would just add needless stress to my life.

I had my own life to be concerned about. Aside from my normal school activities, I would if things went to plan be entering the Triwizard Tournament. Hopefully, I would be selected as the Hogwarts champion. Even without that, I had plenty of research and lots of spells to practice, so I would be keeping busy.

Then there were my new Prefect duties. Aside from the quick meeting on the train, so far I'd only been required to patrol the train and keep an eye out for trouble. Thankfully my patrol had been peaceful aside from some runts who had clearly been given too much sugar, they had been running up and down the train. I'd needed to corral them into a compartment.

Thankfully the Weasley twins had not returned to Hogwarts, and since they were the biggest troublemakers around their absence greatly lowered the level of chaos any authority figure would have to deal with. I was glad that those two were gone. Their own house might find them amusing, but they were bullies to everyone outside of their own house.

I would soon have to escort the newest members of the Ravenclaw flock up the tower, but for now, I could enjoy the feast and get used to the fact that the Bright Lord Dumbledore would never again sit at the head table upon his fancy golden chair.

Professor McGonagall sat in the big chair, one more tasteful than Dumbledore's, and she wasn't the only person who had changed seats up at the big table.

Due to some problems with finding a new Transfiguration teacher, the governors had agreed to let Professor Lupin take McGonagall's place as both head of Gryffindor and the Transfiguration teacher. As long as his furry condition remained somewhat of a secret his job was secure.

I had thought that Siruis Black would become the new DADA teacher, and have duelling become part of DADA, only he'd refused the job. Something the governors had mixed feelings about as the man had never explained why he didn't want the title of professor.

Even I didn't know why Black had refused the job either, it was odd as he seemed to enjoy teaching and had worked closely with Lupin, even covering for his friend's absences around the full moon. Perhaps he wanted to spend more time training his godson or maybe he'd been entrusted with the hunt for the Horcruxes by Dumbledore.

What mattered was that his refusal had resulted in the Ministry sending one of their Aurors to the school. The new DADA teacher was a wizard called John Dawlish, a veteran Auror, who had acted as a bodyguard for Fudge and others. I didn't like him at all, something about him made my skin crawl.

"We'll need to keep an eye on him," I said to Hermione.

He might just be a bigot as I had seen him sneer at Flitwick while we were eating. I knew from the books that Dawlish was loyal to the Ministry and had been willing to work under Voldemort's puppet Minister. How much of that had been fear and how much of had been him being another Pureblood inbred asshole I didn't know.

He was the DADA teacher and if the books were anything to do by he was going to try to kill Harry Potter at some point. Although without the curse on the job that wasn't a certainty. Lupin hadn't infected or eaten anyone and he'd been here for years.

"I think we should be more worried about Hagrid and those Blast-Ended things that appear in the book" she whispered "Dumbledore isn't around to protect him anymore, and if the Ministry finds out he's doing illegal breeding they might use it as an excuse to throw him into Azkaban".

Since Hagrid was a half-breed he would face harsher punishments for breaking the law than a pureblood witch or wizard. The Care for Magical Creatures teacher knew his beasts, but he didn't understand the importance of student safety.

These days governors weren't content to simply meet a few times a year and let the headmistress or headmaster deal with things. If Hagrid started sinning against nature they would sack him and the DMLE might even get involved.

"I'll go down in the morning and have a quick word with him," I decided.

If John Hiddleston found that Hagrid was breeding creatures then Tom Hiddleston would have to visit as both a concerned guardian and as a school governor to set things straight before the friendly half-giant got into trouble.

There would be many eyes and ears in the school this year, and I didn't want anyone to have reason to pay too much attention to the goings on around here in case they found out something irregular about me.

"Professor Hagrid is nice" commented Luna.

Which I took to be approval from her as for the man he was here and not looking burned so it could be that all the changes in the timeline had made sure that he wouldn't be breeding any abominations. I would still go and check so as to avoid nasty surprises.

"Hopefully, things will be quiet until the other schools arrive," Hermione said.

I don't recall much happening in the books that would be of concern to us until the foreign students arrive and the Goblet of Fire is lit. There's no Moody here for Barty Crouch to replace even if Crouch Junior were still alive. He wasn't because Junior was one of the Death Eaters I'd killed when I attacked Azkaban.

The new Headmistress stood up to make the expected start of year notices. Despite the change in seats she'd done the Sorting, I figured she just enjoyed it and would keep performing the role, and it wasn't as if it was much work.

I ignored the notices about the Forbidden Forest being out of bounds for students, nor did I care what items Mr Flich the Caretaker found to bunsuitablele, it wasn't as if I'd ever let him catch me doing anything or let him remember it even if he did.

When the witch informed those who didn't already know about the upcoming Triwizard Tournament the whole hall was filled with noise. It took a while for everyone to calm down.

Soon she shared the fact that there would be no Quidditch season this year was announced and I was half expecting a riot to start at this point, but things settled when the teacher mentioned that we'd have special matches against the other schools.

"The students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive, at 6 p.m. on Friday, October the 28th" we were told "The Goblet of Fire will be lit after the feast. Unless you are over the age of seventeen you will need permission from your parents to compete and only those who have passed their OWL exams will be allowed to enter".

This meant that most of the school couldn't enter and they expressed their disapproval of the situation. The new Headmistress ignored the moaning and carried on doing her job.

"The champions will be chosen on Monday the 31st. There will be no classes on that Friday afternoon or the Monday afternoon" she finished by saying.

Soon all the students were discussing the news as we were sent off to bed.

"Is that why you did you your OWLs a year early?" asked fellow Ravenclaw 5th-year Prefect Cho Chang.

I didn't reply right away as we had to collect the first years and guide them to the tower once the feast was properly finished.

"Yes," I answered, "I found out about the contest from my cousin. He's helping the Ministry organise some of the behind-the-scenes stuff".

Cho huffed.

"You could have told me" she complained.

I didn't see why I'd have done that.

"We've never been friends, and I have no desire to help you," I said

"Besides, the contest doesn't begin until Halloween if you get your parent's permission you could sit your exams before then and enter".

A lot of students overheard that and suddenly seemed in a rush to get somewhere, as if their parents would allow them to enter even if the Ministry could handle that many exams before Halloween.

"You don't need to worry about getting lost," I said to the first years "It happens to everyone until you get used to the castle and you'll learn fast. We all did".

I had a bit more to say to them.

"We'll be waiting to guide you back down for breakfast in the morning and other students can help guide you around," I told them.

We headed up the spiral staircase to Ravenclaw tower and we stopped outside the door. Luna and Hermoine followed the group from the rear so as to make sure that no one wandered off due to being distracted.

"This is the entrance to our common room," I informed the new students "To get in you must answer a riddle. If you can't then you have to wait for another student to figure it out".

The door knocker gave me the riddle.

"What kind of room can you eat in?" I was asked.

That got some blank looks from most of the people with me.

"A mushroom" I answered.

Cho seemed amused.

"He always gets them right away," she said to the younger students.

I got the feeling that I'd be pestered about the riddles by the younger students for quite some time to come.

We headed inside and I let one of the older prefects take over as they explained the sleeping arrangements. I was directed to one of the prefect's rooms, it was little more than a cupboard with a bed in it, but it was near the door and the younger students would know where to find me.

As for me, I was going to read for a while, enjoy the hot chocolate I kept in a thermos and then go to bed.

(Line Break)

Potion's Classroom. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Since I was only taking four classes, DADA, Potions, Charms and Care of Magical creatures then I didn't have to get out of bed most mornings, or at least not very early. My afternoons were a different story and today I had double potions. That would keep me busy from the end of lunch until the end of the school day.

"Ah John, good you're here," greeted Professor Slughorn "I was pleased to hear from your head of house that you'd passed your OWL and would be starting Potions at NEWT level this year".

No doubt Flitwick had bragged about my success to the other teachers, and my success would mean Slughorn paying more attention to m as he had an eye for talent.

"Hope I'm not late," I said.

I looked around the room and saw a small class made up of students from every house. This was to be expected as, like Transfiguration and Arithmancy, Potions had a high requirement you had to meet to enter the NEWT level class. Add to this the fact that the number of students was much smaller in the older years and there weren't many of us here.

"Not at all," said Slughorn "Please join us".

He'd properly cover for me if I turned up with a hangover. Not that I intended to test that.

"Now who can tell me what potions I have on display?" the teacher asked.

The one that smelled of familiar perfume and old books had to be a love potion.

"That one is Amortentia," I told the other students "It's supposed to smell different to each person. Its smell will depend on what you are attracted to".

Slughorn was pleased bt my explanation and the teacher awarded me a few house points.

"Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is recognizable by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen and by the fact that its steam rises in characteristic spirals" he informed the class "The potion does indeed smell differently to different people,e according to what attracts them. What do you smell, John?".

I didn't want to answer this question, but everyone was expecting me to say something.

"That has to be the perfume of a certain female friend of mine," I said "And there's a hit of the smell you get large libraries".

Slughorn was satisfied with that and invited others to get a whiff. Cedric Diggory reported that he smelled perfume as well, Cho Chang's I assumed, and broom polish, and that made sense as he was a Quidditch fanatic.

Before long the other brews on display were named. They were Polyjuice Potion, Veritaserum, the Draught of Living Death, and the smallest bottle containing the luck potion, which only I could also identify.

"Felix Felius, know as liquid luck," Slughorn told the class "A powerful potion, toxic in large amounts, and if you get it wrong it becomes a deadly poison. This small vial contains enough for a whole day of good luck".

He must do this for every class starting NEWT level potions.

"Use of this potion during any sporting event, be that a Quidditch match or a duel is illegal" he warned "Other than that, it can help with many endeavours, as the winner of our little contest will discover".

He had everyone's total attention.

"You will work alone and pick a NEWT level potion" he was now saying "One that you are confident that you can brew during today's lesson. The best potion will win my little prize".

Figuring that history could repeat itself I got to work on the Potion of Living Death. Cortana provided me with Half-Blood Prince's instructions which were superior to that of the school's text.

"Powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood" I muttered to myself.

I would also need Valerian Sprigs, some juice from a Sopophorous Bean and Wormwood

"Whose perfume did you smell?" Diggory asked me rather randomly.

I didn't know what to make of that question. It wasn't as if the Hufflepuff and I were friends.

"That's rather personal," I said "What business is it of yours?".

Given that I only hung around with two girls it wasn't as if it would be hard to guess.

"Ced is worried about your late-night patrols with Cho," another student told me.

Oh, so he was jealous.

"Chang isn't my type" I assured Diggory "Besides I have a girlfriend, well we're dating at least".

My fellow 5th-year Prefect would be far too high-maintenance for me. As for Hermione, I wanted to wait until she turned 15 before we became a formal couple as it made me feel less like a sex offender.

"If Cho loves you then it won't matter who she patrols with" I added.

Diggory seemed to accept that and got on with his work. I was glad as I really didn't want to deal with any high school drama. I came here to learn magic and acquire power not to get involved in the unimportant lives of background characters.

Time passed and I followed the instructions. Remembering to crush the beans rather than cut them so that I could get more of the juices out of the beans. That seemed to make a big difference.

History did repeat itself with Slughorn saying that it was "so perfect one drop would kill us all" this was an exaggeration because it is a sleeping potion, not a poison.

"Professor I know that using this potion during an official event is against the rules," I said as the classroom emptied "But what about during a selection process that takes place before the vent begins?".

He knew exactly what I was talking about.

"The only rules about putting your name in the goblet concern your age, your qualifications and permission" mentioned my teacher "There's nothing about taking potions, but I wouldn't use it all at once if I were you, and it would be best not to tell anyone. I certainly won't".

He was right, the Ministry might decide that it was against the rules even though I had helped to write the rules and there was nothing in them about potions. My actual concern was that Slughorn might let it slip that I had the potion.

"You should have been in Slytherin" stated Slughorn as I made my way out of the lab.

Lucky for the snakes I hadn't been or a few of them would have met bad ends by now.

(Line Break)

Grounds. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Wotcher, John," said a voice I'd not heard in some time.

I'd just finished helping to direct the younger Ravenclaw students out of the castle as we were meant to be in place ready to receive our guests. The time between the opening feast and tonight's feast had been hectic for everyone. Even the prefects had been kept busy going over the school to make sure that everything was prepared.

The castle had never looked so clean. Every suit of armour, trophy and other decorative pieces of metal had been polished to the point we could see our reflections in them, every cobweb had been removed, and every bit of dust swept away.

Even the students were being kept to higher standards as uniforms were checked, and behaviour that might reflect badly on Hogwarts was being harshly punished. The new Headmistresses was not going to let the school be embarrassed as it often had been before Dumbledore had died.

Thankfully for the students, Professor McGonagall was no Madam Umbridge so things hadn't gotten worse than the docking of house points and an increase in detentions. Although there had been a lot of sharp words and some serious frowning by the heads of the four houses.

Another change had been an increase in security. McGonagall either didn't have the desire to keep the Ministry out of Hogwarts affairs as Dumbledore had or she hadn't even tried. Hence why we had a few Aurors about, although they'd only recently started appearing with any regulatory.

The school being busy meant that I'd not gotten around to finding out of Dawlish was up to anything. I'd kept an eye on the man, and I'd questioned Harry Potter about how his DADA lessons were going, and so far the man just seemed to be a Ministry lackey, as I'd seen during my own DADA lessons But I would not trust the man.

"Wotcher, Tonks" I replied.

So not to be rude I gestured to the two girls who were walking with me.

"Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, this is Auror Tonks," I introduced "She was in her last year here at Hogwarts when I started".

I'd left a pause between Auror and Tonks to make it clear that I knew her first name and I just wasn't going to speak it.

"Auror Tonks, these are my friends, Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood," I said.

Of course, it was Luna who had to comment on the fact that I'd missed out on speaking Tonks's first name on purpose both times.

"Why did you pause between Auror and Tonks?" she asked "Are we supposed to guess her first name or doesn't she have one?".

I wasn't foolish enough to use her first name.

"It is forbidden to call her anything other than Tonks" I explained.

The Auror found this amusing.

"He's right," she said "Terrible things happen to people who dare speak the name my mother cursed me with".

There was no time to discuss this further, or for me to ask if Tonks was going to be around much, as the visiting students soon began to arrive.

"Look up in the sky!" shouted an excited first-year student "It's a bird".

"It's a plane!" called out another.

I couldn't resist.

"No, it's Superman!" I declared.

Only a few people got that joke and it was soon forgotten as the visiting students from France came closer to the castle. Given how they arrived I didn't blame people for being distracted by the French students.

The size of a large house, the powder-blue Beauxbatons carriage was drawn by a dozen flying horses, each the size of an elephant or at least somewhat close.

It was a good thing that Hagrid was still on staff (due to changes in the timeline he'd not been breeding any abominations here on school grounds) as he might be the only member of staff who could handle such impressive creatures.

I was pleased that I'd gotten a chance to be here when the French students arrived if only because it allowed to me see the powerful beasts in person. Now I would be able to take their form if I chose to.

The Headmistress of Beauxbatons got nearly as much attention as the students who followed her, or at least the female ones did. Not all of the Beauxbaton students were female, but they certainly got more than their fair share of attention. The short skirts certainly helped with that.

When I locked eyes with Fleur Delacour, who I'd fucked while pretending to be Tom Hiddleston despite her still being in school, she actually stopped to stare at me for a moment. This made sense as John Hiddleston looked a lot like his cousin and she would have noted the resemblance.

"Slut" I heard Hermione whisper.

Did she know I'd had sex with Fleur as my older self or did she not like the fact that the older and arguably more attractive girl had been giving me a looking over? I couldn't recall if I'd ever told her about that encounter. I would have to ask Cortana if I had as she would recall.

As for Hermione she didn't need to worry, the Veela allure was like the Jedi Mind Trick it only worked on the weak-minded. Granted my base form was more vulnerable to the allure because I was a teenager, but I'd devoted a lot of time to mastering the Mind Arts. I would not be controlled by some schoolgirl.

While the visiting French headed into the castle we students were treated to the sight of what looked to be a ship from the age of sail appearing over the lake after some fog had covered up the body of water for a few moments before fading away. I was reminded of the ghost stories I'd heard as a child about ships filled with damned souls hiding in the fog.

"I wonder how they moved it to the lake?" pondered Luna.

A good question. One that I had no answer for. I should find out as it could be interesting to learn how to move something that big without anyone seeing it. The ship's arrival had been different than in the book/movie for some reason, and that also caught my interest.

Before long the Drumstrang students disembarked and headed towards. While Victor Krum had come to take part there was no Igor Karkaroff to visit Hogwarts as I'd dealt with that dark wizard a while back.

Just as I'd had with many dangerous people before they could cause me and society some major problems. I'd become so successful at doing so that I didn't have anyone else to go after. Which meant less time spent coming up with plans.

This was mostly a good thing as there were now far fewer dark wizards in the world, but on the downside, it meant I had no to make plans against. I'd killed most of the Death Eaters and those left were in hiding in places beyond my reach.

Or that had been the case right up until I spotted Draco Malfoy among the Drumstrang students. I'd screwed with that brat's Sorting, for no real reason other than because I could, and gotten him Sorted into the wrong house.

Rather than attend Hogwarts as a Hufflepuff I'd heard that he'd been sent to Drumstrang. Turns out it was true and for some reason he'd been brought to Hogwarts despite him being too young to enter the tournament.

This brought a smile to my face because if Draco was here then his parents were likely somewhere still in Europe and he should know where. I badly wanted to end the life of Lucius Malfoy, to take his wand as a trophy and his life so that he could no longer spread his bigoted ideology.

I wouldn't make a move too soon, but before the tournament was over young Mr Malfoy and I would be having words down in the Chamber of Secrets. Hopefully, that encounter would allow me to find out where the remaining Death Eaters were hiding out.

(Line Break)

The Great Hall. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"We'll start with the part of the castle you are most familiar with," I said to the visiting students in practised French "This is the Great Hall, where the students come together for meals and sometimes simply to spend time studying".

So far I was failing to impress the French-speaking students who could be bothered to listen to me, not all of which were attending Beauxbaton, a few Drumstrang students who at least looked as if they understood me had decided to tag along after I'd offered a tour during breakfast the morning after they had arrived.

It was a Saturday and I had nothing more important to do with my time. I'd gotten up early so I'd figured that I might as well try to be hospitable to our guests who were not being made to feel welcome.

So far few of the Hogwarts students had even made an effort. They were treating the visitors as if they were if not an enemy, then at least people to be careful around. Somewhat understandable given that they were strangers, but it wasn't going to reflect well on the school and since I was a governor I was supposed to care about stuff like that.

A few of the Hogwarts students had already totally misunderstood the whole point of the Triwizard Tournament if last night's welcome feast had been anything to go by. A few students acted as the Drumstrang visitors were no better than the Death Eaters.

The coming events weren't just about one school proving itself better than the others, at least not only about that, it was about making connections with the people who would in a matter of years be running their magical governments.

Since I planned to do some travelling once I was done with this school and Magical Britain as a whole, a day that was rapidly approaching as I felt that I'd done all I could in this small nation.

"Hogwarts is a large castle with seven levels and the only thing keeping it together is magic, because of all the magic the castle is bigger on the inside and contains rooms known to disappear and reappear," I told the visitors. "It is believed that are around about a hundred and forty-two staircases, some of which move, so please be careful if you decide to explore on your own".

There were rumours during my second year that a student called Sally-Anne perks had simply disappeared one day. She'd been in classes with Hermione and one day she'd not turned up Charms. The official story was that her family had moved, but I couldn't help wondering if her body would turn up one day.

"The school was founded by the four most celebrated wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin" I went on to say" And to this day it is regarded by some as the finest wizarding school in the world".

I could tell that few of the foreign students believed that. This place had gone downhill when Dumbledore was in charge. At least our new Headmistress seemed to want to run things more effectively.

"Hogwarts Castle is more accurately known as the most haunted location in Great Britain, being home to many ghosts" I informed the students.

As if to help prove my point several ghosts wandered by.

"I'll show the transfiguration department" I was now saying.

Hogwarts had a good reputation as a school for transfiguration and that department would show the school in a good light.

"Hiddleston what are you doing?" asked a student.

One of the more vocal Hufflepuffs, Zach Smith I thought his name might be, seemed annoyed by me talking to our guests.

"I'm about to offer our visitors a tour of the castle" I explained, switching to English "Would you like to join us?".

Smith tried to look tough in front of his friends.

"You're betraying the school" he stated.

Why were idiots allowed to breed?

"The term 'international cooperation' went right over your head didn't it," I said "We're supposed to be making friends".

Smith didn't even consider my words.

"You should support Hogwarts, stay away from them" he demanded.

This boy both amused and annoyed me.

"I'll support Hogwarts by winning the tournament as the school's champion" I stated "Actions matter, not words".

From this point on I ignored the child, but there was nothing he could do about that other than sulk.

"Let's start the tour," I said, in French "Before Smith's stupid infects us".

People are supposed to get smarter when in school, not dumber.