-8-

As she walked through Diagon Alley, making sure her brother Harry and sister Chloe were keeping Hagrid at arm's length without the dopey brainless oaf realising it, Rose Potter wondered if this was a good plan or not.

When she had begun time travelling back and living new lives to become stronger, she had never truly thought about changing history. Now she didn't care.

Once she had returned from a lifetime in the past, in a different reality, she had researched the different realities after she had, in the 80s, watched Back to the Future, Part 2 and saw the possibilities in alternate timelines; a bit ironic, considering what she was doing, but she had been inspired to look into the past of her life, and looking into the future of the different permutations of her life.

It was truly fascinating how so many different and completely different possibilities could occur if something unexpected crept into the equation, just a small quirk which had the effect of an avalanche.

Harry had stopped wanting parents a long time ago, but that didn't mean he didn't often think about what life would have been like with them; but in some of those realities, he found himself questioning that belief, that hope.

In one reality, he had been born as a girl, the twin daughter of who would be seen as that world's Boy Who Lived, only in that world she had been seen as a squib and was dumped on the Dursley's doorstep, only for the Potter family to be stunned out of their mind when she turned up at Hogwarts.

In another world, Lily and James Potter had an eldest child - as Harry, she had seen several worlds like that, where he was either he or she, it didn't matter, or make a difference - and they were marked by Voldemort, only for their sibling to be declared the child who lived, and they were pushed to the sidelines, only for it to be virtually too late for the discovery to come.

Two surprising worlds that took Harry by surprise were where Lily and James were either accused of being Death Eaters or had become unaligned dark wizards.

In one of those worlds, Lily and James had learnt about a prophecy connecting her with Voldemort (Rose was convinced the prophecy was real in this world as well, it seemed to be a running theme), and they had joined the Dark Lord to protect their children.

Neville Longbottom was the Boy Who Lived in another world, and Lily and James were either on the run or in prison, or even dead because they were believed to be Death Eaters.

In one of those worlds, Rose's counterpart went through hell; not only were Lily and James dead, but their reputations had been smeared over the years by the Longbottoms.

One world that truly hurt Harry the most was the one where she saw a world where she ended up with the Dursleys, while her twin lived in luxury with their parents…only for a little girl to appear on the doorstep, Harry's little sister; in that world, Lily and James survived and one of the Potter twins was the child who lived, and they abandoned Harry and the little girl to their fates.

But the reality that startled Harry the most was the one where he had a sister, a twin sister, who was sorted into Slytherin. Harry had never believed Slytherin was evil, unlike Weasley and several others; one of the deciding factors and reasons why she hadn't gone into Slytherin was simply because many of the children of Voldemort's followers were in that House, and being there would be like living with the Dursleys, always looking over her shoulder.

She didn't want to live like that. Another reason was because of how obnoxious Malfoy was. Rose didn't have the time for Malfoy, who was so boring it was not funny.

But if Rose didn't have anything against Slytherin, why would she have anything bad to think about her sibling?

The pair of them would have lived together for years, suffering from the abuse of the Dursleys. Why would she think her own sibling was evil?

Rose was just eternally grateful that before she had jumped into this world, her counterpart was in the same mind, and they'd continued having an amicable relationship….but there was a catch.

Chloe's personality began to subtly change, but it was noticed by this world's version of Harry. Chloe began mocking people like Neville Longbottom, getting into the spirit of the Houses' rivalries before things started to turn around their Fourth Year (Rose hadn't really bothered jumping back into history and living with another family to spend nearly a decade at Hogwarts, so the Triwizard Tournament did her a favour; seeing that her counterpart was going to be a surprise champion seemed to be a constant and if it happened in Rose's upcoming Hogwarts year, being forewarned was better than going through hell), where Chloe dated Cedric Diggory, the legal champion for Hogwarts.

Cedric died…and Harry was the only witness, and Voldemort returned - now Rose was delighted to be forewarned, and she made it her mission to dig deeper and develop the magical knowledge and skills to fight the Dark Lord when the bastard did return - and Dumbledore took Chloe to his office, and he began putting mild compulsions on her to make her turn against her brother…and it worked. She spent time with the Malfoy family and met Voldemort, beginning her descent into becoming a Death Eater.

Rose had no intention of letting that happen. She had prepared the ritual, and she had jumped back in time and became the triplet of an alternative timeline of that universe, and she had become Rose Potter. As Rose, she had lived with her brother and sister, protecting them, and she had spent the last decade removing whatever spells were on them, but she had made sure they stayed at the Dursleys; as much as she hated history repeating itself, Rose wanted her siblings to know who Figg and Dumbledore were.

She had helped remove the memory charms Dumbledore and two of his followers had put on them a couple of years ago when they had escaped the Dursleys before they had tried to escape when the Dursleys were away on holiday.

Chloe had been furious when she had learnt they couldn't leave, just as Harry was, but Rose had urged them to be patient. They could get away from Dumbledore in time, and that time had come.

For the last few hours, they'd had to watch as Hagrid proved to be a moron, pointing at the different things around him and talking loudly, mocking them all despite the best efforts of the triplets to shut him up. Chloe was decidedly contemptuous towards Hagrid, as was Rose. At the same time, Rose had manipulated Hagrid without the idiot realising it, getting him to confess without realising the bombshell he was dropping, that he was the one who took them to the Dursleys.

The moment he told them, Harry and Chloe despised him. Rose saw the signs. Any hope the oversized lump had in befriending them was shot to hell.

Rose was waiting for her chance, and she got it when Hagrid lumbered up towards one of the goblin tellers, clearing his throat to announce his presence, but Rose had lived enough lives already to know full well that goblins noticed everything.

"Mr Harry Potter, Miss Chloe Potter, and Miss Rose Potter here to make a withdrawal." Such an enormous man could never hope to have a quiet voice. The triplets noticed the other patrons' attention and the way they were chattering while staring unashamedly at the triplets, just like they had before in the Leaky Cauldron, taking in the small, scrawny, scruffy children.

Rose could almost hear their thoughts, These were the Potter children?

The goblin didn't care about the reactions from the rest of the patrons did, he leant over his desk and peered at the triplets. "Ah, and do Mr Harry Potter, Miss Chloe Potter, and Miss Rose Potter have their vault keys?"

Rose spotted the looks on Harry and Chloe's faces, but Rose nodded at them. This was their chance.

Hagrid blundered a little searching for the key, just like he had with Rose originally, but this time he was seeking two more. It took him a while, and the goblin grimaced at the messy pile in front of him, littering his book before he held them up triumphantly.

"Hold on, Hagrid, why does Dumbledore have our keys, and how come we never even knew about our vaults, and we never even received a bank statement?" Rose demanded.

She had enough knowledge and experience of goblins and their ways to know she was putting Dumbledore in trouble. She didn't care.

Chloe looked like she was on the verge of lashing out, "Yeah, and how come me, my brother and sister lived in a filthy cupboard under the stairs while everyone celebrated our parents' deaths?"

Rose blinked a little, but Harry had his say, "Why do you have our keys, Hagrid, and why didn't we know about them?"

Hagrid was shaken by the surprise attack. "Professor Dumbledore gave me yer keys."

Chloe shook her head, and side-eyed Rose slyly, "Y'know, sis, do you think Dumbledore knew we were being abused by the Dursleys, and was helping himself to our money?"

Rose hadn't expected anything so brazen, but she was delighted the avalanche was gaining strength. She turned to the goblin, who was paying them more attention now. "Why did a man we've never met have a key to all our vaults, and did he use them without our permission to get our money? Money from our parents?"

"Can you give us a list of all the money coming in and going out of our accounts, please?" Chloe added.

The goblin was already twisting his jaw furiously, but Hagrid spoke up before the teller could even respond. "Now, Harry, Rose, and Chloe," Hagrid began in that guffawing accent of his, "Dumbledore wound never steal from your accounts."

"We've only got your word for that, haven't we?" Rose shouted. "After all, you dumped us with abusive muggles!" With that Rose tore off her old jacket and blouse and exposed her body. Like her siblings, Rose was covered with scars and bruises, and she smirked inwardly when she saw the shocked reactions from the patrons around them.

Showing their unity, Chloe took off her own top and showed off her own scarred and bruised body. Harry likewise did the same, to the horror of everyone else.

"We never even knew about magic until now, but we did remember seeing people following us, including an old man wearing long colourful robes," Rose said as she put on her clothes again, and her siblings followed suit. "And since you're his lackey, why should we take your word for it Dumbledore never stole from us, from our parents? Can you please check our accounts?" Rose asked the goblin, who waved his hand over the books.

"There has been a monthly withdrawal from your main accounts, and it has been given to a muggle bank account," the goblin reported, sounding displeased. "Did you authorise this?"

Rose shook her head. "No."

"Who's account was it?" Harry asked, but his sisters knew him well enough to know he had guessed.

"The money has gone into an account under the name Dursley."

"So essentially we've been paying for the Dursleys to abuse us," Rose summed up, staring at Hagrid with disgust and contempt. "We never saw a penny of that money. Do you know what it's like growing up in a cupboard under the stairs?"

"Being beaten for things out of your control, or just for the hell of it?" Chloe added.

"We could have had fresh clothes, new shoes, or food instead of having to wear our cousins' cast-offs?" Harry said.

The goblin waved his hand, and a sound like a war drum boomed. "I have been wanting to clarify the charges. You have never heard from Gringotts, you never knew about your vaults? You never received the monthly statements?" The goblin challenged. Hagrid was shuffling now, seeing the grim menace on the goblin's face, and hearing it in his voice.

"Of course, that's why we're lashing out now, right?" Chloe snapped furiously.

"Chloe, take it easy," Rose quickly put a hand on her sister's shoulder before she looked up. "I'm sorry about that, but my sister has a temper. No, we have never even known about Gringotts, not until today. And speaking of mail, we've never even had any. We had a helluva time getting our Hogwarts letters; the Dursleys hate magic, and they have spent the last few weeks trying to destroy the acceptance letters."

A child watching the scene in shock was tugging on her mother's sleeve. "Mummy, I've been sending Harry Potter birthday cards for years. Hasn't he been getting them?"

The adult witch narrowed her eyes dangerously. "I don't think so, sweetie."

"This will require investigating," the teller wrote a note which he waved away with a flick of his hand. He summoned a guard. "Take the Potter children to their family account's manager. Mr Potter, Miss Potter, and Miss Potter, if you would follow Sawteeth."

"Hey, now," Hagrid protested. "Professor Dumbledore told me not to let Harry- I mean, the Potters out of my sight!"

"So, you just care about Harry, why is it, just because you called him the Boy Who Lived?" Rose demanded.

"No, that's not it-!"

"Do you have any idea what that title means to us, to know our brother's famous for something out of his control?" Rose went on. "You've been going on and on about Harry being famous, are you trying to isolate us from him, his own sisters?"

Chloe's eyes widened in horror. Harry gaped in shock, and he swung around and glared furiously at Hagrid. "You bastard!"

Rose took her siblings' hands, and they walked after the goblin. "Come on, let's get away from him. After today we won't see him again."

The goblin teller turned to Hagrid. "This is Gringotts business now, sir," he said, "You may wait for the Potter triplets," he emphasised the word, showing he didn't like the implication of isolating one of them, "over there," he pointed at the chairs against one of the walls, but he couldn't protest more before Sawteeth took the triplets away. When the lumbering idiot tried to follow, Hagrid found himself with several goblins with spears stepping in his way.

-8-

"How about….Beauxbatons?" Harry asked Rose and Chloe.

Rose lifted her gaze to her arguing siblings. Their meeting with Bloodbringer, the Potter family accounts manager, had been more than fruitful. Not only had the goblin taken memories of the abuse they had suffered and noted the mind tampering, but he had employed a curse breaker to remove the spells placed that stopped the mail from reaching them, and they had removed the bindings on their magic.

Dumbledore had placed many spells on them to stop them from getting too powerful and there were also spells on their minds as well, so they would function and act a certain way. Rose had known about the bindings and the spells, of course - she had too much experience not to, and yet she had kept them for this type of occasion.

The news the Potter children were abused, that Dumbledore had restricted their mental growth, and that he had wiped their memories had been released to the public, although much of it had already. The most damning evidence came from the Dursleys themselves, and their house was full of evidence. The magical had stripped the Dursleys of the facts before sending them to the mundane world to be thrown into prison, and because of his actions like setting up illegal marriage contracts, Dumbledore was also thrown into prison. The triplets had received a large chunk of money from different people for their thefts in family heirlooms, among other things. The Potter triplets were currently living in Gringotts, in a guest suite while the Ministry of Magic tried to gain custody of the three children, and it had failed, but what annoyed Rose was how so many of them wanted the children to be raised in a pureblood house. They were given several prospectuses now they were going to a different magical school, as there was no way they were going to go to Hogwarts.

"But we don't speak French!" Chloe protested.

"Not a problem, since magic exists," Rose pointed out, "It should be simplicity in itself to find a spell or potion that could translate languages."

"Okay, we'll put it on the back burner," Harry said, "What other schools are there, Rose?"

Rose passed them a prospectus. "Ilvermorny. It's like Hogwarts in some ways, and has historical links. But they have tournaments near the end of the year, showcasing their skills."

"We have family in the MACUSA, so it would be a logical choice. At the same time, they agreed that we could go anywhere."

"Yeah, but there are other schools."

"As long as we don't go to Mahoutokoro, I don't mind," Chloe handed over the prospectus. "They have a great academic record, but if we used one dark magic spell, we'd be kicked out."

Rose had heard of that, but she had to play dumb. "Why?"

"They have a code that forbids them using dark magic, so if anyone uses a spell by accident, their robes will change colour, and they'd be expelled."

"Seems straightforward, but what other spells are there?" Chloe asked.

Harry held one up. "Castelobruxo," he held it up, "it's a school in Brazil. It's in the Amazon rainforest."

The Potter children had longed to visit other countries, and other lands after reading about the exotic places in the books in the Little Whinging library and hearing about different school places. They had grown up hating the dull, concrete, brick, and garden suburbia of Little Whinging.

Rose's eyes lit up. "Brazil?"

"A rainforest?" Chloe grinned.

Harry nodded. "They teach all the subjects we've seen, but the students learn a lot about magi-zoology and Herbology."

"Magi-zoology, you mean magical animals. That's so cool!" Chloe grinned wider.

"Yeah," Harry smiled back.

"There's a close contender, guys; I found a magical school in Africa, called Uagadou, and they teach wandless magic, but I think going to Castelobruxo will be fun," Rose replied.

"What else is special about Uagadou besides that?" Harry asked.

"Well, it's said that magic originated in Africa, and so their knowledge and magical traditions are more complex and more in-depth than they are elsewhere, but we should decide together. But I think we should avoid European schools, so Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are off the list."

"Yes, yes, as long as we're gone from Europe, I don't mind. I just want to learn magic," Chloe said, "and since the goblins removed those things from our heads, and have ended Voldemort for good, and shown proof he was still alive, it's not like Dumbledore will try coming for us."

"Don't jinx it, Chloe," Harry warned.

"Yeah, don't," Rose said seriously. "Look let's put it down to a vote. Ilvermorny. Castelobruxo. Uagadou."

"Put your hand up if you want to go to Ilvermorny. Be honest," Chloe said.

Nobody lifted their hands.

"Castelobruxo?"

Rose and Chloe lifted their hands.

"Uagadou?"

All three lifted their hands, but as they chatted about the things they would do, Rose was eternally grateful she had helped preserve Chloe Potter's future, and now they would be together and have fantastic lives without Dumbledore pushing them down the paths he thought they should have; Rose would never know what Dumbledore had planned for her, and she did not care.