NEW CHAPTER ALERT! Just like I promised, here's chapter 21. It's a slightly longer one, well... longer than my usual for this story. Enjoy!

Question : Who was that guy with Lucius at Flourish and Blotts?
Answer :

You will find out eventually. It's an OC! So, not that big of a surprise, but he has a purpose in this story...

John and Jane returned back home from vacation a few days prior to their departure to Hogwarts.

"How does it feel to be a teacher at Hogwarts, especially since you were a student there once?" asked John out of the blue, one rainy evening.

"Once?" retorted Jane grinning.

"You know what I mean," replied John.

"Well, aren't most professors in Hogwarts ex-students? So, in a way, I'm not doing something that is new or unique. But generally speaking, I guess, I am a bit nervous. I'll definitely be one of the younger teachers, if not the youngest. But I have been teaching muggles, so I don't think this will be extremely different to what I have been doing recently," replied Jane.

"How will you treat me?" asked John, and burst out laughing.

"Detention brother dear, detention. Detention is what you'll get if you don't behave yourself," teased Jane.

"Oh, come on, surely you can be a bit lenient to your brother?"

"You mean, I should treat you like everybody else and not let anyone suspect how we are related?" retorted Jane.

"Well, it never hurts to have a bit of fun, does it?"

That remark only earned John a glare from his sister. As they spent their time preparing for a year at Hogwarts, new conversations about their time to come popped up.

"Will you favour the Slytherins as Severus does?" asked John.

"I most certainly will not. Severus can do his thing, and I'll do mine," replied Jane.

"You're not a true Slytherin. If I were teaching at Hogwarts, I'd definitely grant the Gryffindors some leeway," replied John.

"And that's why I am doing what I'm doing, and you're doing what you're doing," snapped Jane.

"Hey... no need to be so rude," responded John.

In a different conversation, "Do you know what you're going to teach them?" asked John.

"Defense against the dark arts," replied Jane.

"I know that," scowled John. "I mean, what will YOU teach them? Do you even have a lesson plan? Or are you planning on embarrassing yourself like a babbling bumbling band of baboons?"

"Wow, it's been a while since I have heard that. And of course, I have a lesson plan. I have discussed all of this and more with Minerva, Severus and Professor Dumbledore," replied Jane.

In yet another conversation, "John..." called out Jane from her room, where she was completing her packing.

"Yeah," said John as he entered the room holding a large and old book.

"What are you reading?" asked Jane.

"You called me here to ask that?" replied John, annoyed.

"No, I called you to ask if you're accompanying me to Hogwarts," replied Jane.

"No, I'll have to transform first. I'll take the train to Hogwarts with the kids," replied John.

"Why do you want to do that?" asked Jane, puzzled.

"Why would I not do that?" retorted John.

"The professors know about us. You don't have to pretend to be someone else more than you have to," replied Jane. This was a side he rarely got to see of his sister. Aside from the teasing, the banter, the friendly trauma, the twins shared a bond stronger than what most siblings had owing to their shared trauma. And hence, whenever a situation came up that was difficult for one, the other was always there to support and provide comfort. And John's transformation was one of them. It was a complicated and difficult process to undergo. Not to mention the risk involved. It was well over a year ago when the twins finally decided to go through with the plan that involved John's transformation. And ever since then, Jane had been apprehensive and uncomfortable with the idea. What also worried her, apart from the execution of the magic, was the tremendous amount of willpower and mental strength required to be a different person altogether. And John knew all of this. He had successfully convinced Jane to go through with the idea. And every time this subject came up, he had found himself required to give his twin reassurance. And the time had come to do it once again.

"Jane... I get that you're worried about this, about me. But you of all people know what confidence does to a person. I'm confident in our ability, in your ability to perform this magic. We've done it more than once, and now we have to do it again. And, since I'm going to do it, I might as well do it properly. All the students take the train to Hogwarts. It is one of those things that everybody does. I have to be a part of it. And to do that, we have to do the transformation here, before I set foot out of this house," replied John. Jane got up and kissed John on his cheek and hugged him tightly. John hugged her back.

"I'll be fine," he whispered. After a minute or so Jane let go of the hug.

"And we're doing this for me, aren't we? It's only right that I go through this for it," he added. Jane gave him a disapproving look but didn't say anything.

And finally, the day of the departure arrived. Once John's painful transformation was complete, Jane left for Hogwarts. Jane had decided to apparate to Hogsmeade, and then head to Hogwarts from there. John on the other hand headed to the station to go to platform 9 ¾, where he was going to board the train. He had reached the platform a good half an hour prior to departure. And hence, he decided to wait at the platform instead of boarding the train. He sat down on one of the seats. He could see a lot of young wizards, some with their parents, some with their friends walking around on the crowded platform. There was one particular young wizard that caught his eye, who was walking around with a camera. He looked like a muggle, so John assumed that he was muggle-born. As John sat and looked around the platform, he got lost in a world of his own, looking back at the past 6-7 years of his life. It was almost midnight that day when John and Jane returned from a quidditch match when they found an intruder in their house. A young girl, about the same age as the twins were. And that night had changed and turned the twin's life completely. In the 6-7 years since then, whatever John had done, was a direct consequence of that one night. He was journeying inwards, through his memories when there was a tap on his shoulder. He jerked his eyes, looked up and saw Hermione standing there with her parents.

"Hey, I called your name twice, where were you lost?" asked Hermione grinning.

"Hey Hermione, how have you been?" greeted John as he stood up and gave Hermione a small hug. "Hello, Mr and Mrs Granger, nice to meet you," he added and shook their hands.

"This one seems different compared to others," whispered Hermione's mother.

"Mom, Dad... this is John. He is... he is in my class. He is... also like me. He found out he was a wizard only last year," stuttered Hermione but managed to introduce John to her parents. Her mother gave her a puzzled look but didn't say much about it. Her parents stayed for a few more minutes, and finally, they left, leaving John and Hermione alone.

"My mother knew I was lying," said Hermione the moment she helped her parents out of 9 ¾.

"About what?" asked John, surprised.

"About you," she replied.

"What about me?" he asked.

"I tell my parents everything. But guess what I haven't told them? You... I obviously wasn't going to tell them about you. But then I saw you, I started stumbling while speaking and she definitely knows I'm lying about something," she replied.

"You're overthinking this way too much. Don't worry about my secret. Even if there comes a time when people think you're lying about something, very rarely are they going to come to a conclusion which resembles the truth. Especially in my case, they'll never think that... well, think that I'm old," he finished. The pair of them spent a few minutes sitting at the platform talking about how they spent their vacation. And soon it was time for the train's departure.

"Have you seen Harry?" asked Hermione.

"No... I think I saw Percy Weasley just a few minutes back, but I haven't seen Ron or Harry," replied John.

The pair of them waited for a few more moments, but once it was almost too late, they boarded the train. They had to walk from one end of the compartment to another, but they finally found a place to sit along with a couple of Hufflepuffs.

A few minutes later, Hermione asked, "Are we sure that they boarded the train?"

"Of course, they would have. Why would you ask such a thing?" replied John, puzzled.

"No reason," replied Hermione.

A few more minutes passed. The pair of them sat in silence, and then Hermione spoke up, "Something strange happened during the holidays, with Harry."

"Something strange?"

"You don't know, do you? Of course, how would you? Silly of me. None of us knew how to contact you anyway," replied Hermione but got interrupted by John.

"Hermione... get to the point, will you?"

"Harry got a visit from a house-elf," began Hermione and uttered the entire story Harry told her, while John listened to her patiently. "... and now we don't know if Harry has boarded the train," finished Hermione.

"You're doing it again," replied John grinning.

"Doing what?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Overthinking! Did Harry tell you he won't come to Hogwarts? No. Then why are you worried about him not coming? It was a crowded day today, just like it always is this time of the year. Just because we didn't see them, doesn't mean they didn't board the train," replied John. Even though he managed to give a satisfactory and confident response to Hermione, he wasn't quite sure of things anymore.

"Why would a house-elf do such a thing? Who did the elf serve anyway?" he wondered. He even took out his watch, the one that told him the live statuses of all the important people in his life. And to his relief, the watch was pointing at 'Safe' for everyone, including Ron and Harry. And once he saw that, he gave the watch to Hermione.

"What is this?" asked Hermione.

"It's a watch. Look at the needles of Harry and Ron," he said, handing her the watch.

"Wow... This is amazing, did you create this?" asked Hermione. She had looked at what John was pointing at. And so, at that instant, her focus was on the watch more than her worry about Harry.

"Yes, I did. It's an idea I got from my dad," he replied.

"Oh, that's great. Harry was telling me about a similar clock he saw at Ron's place," replied Hermione.

"Ron's place? Yeah, I'm sure they would have a similar watch," replied John.

"But why do you have this? And who all are in here anyway?" she remarked and got a good look at the watch. There was a needle, one each for Ron, Harry, Hermione, Daisy and Jane.

"This watch is one of the most useful magical objects I own. It tells me the live status of every single important person in my life," replied John casually. Hermione was staring at the watch intently. She looked puzzled and yet curious at the same time. She remained silent for a few seconds.

"Who are you?" asked Hermione suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"Who are you really? Why are you doing this?" asked Hermione again.

"I am John Smith. There's nothing more to this," lied John.

"You are a much older person than you want the world to believe. You are obviously skilful enough to look this young. You are doing all of this in the name of protecting Harry. But you didn't even know for sure that Harry was in danger when you decided to come to Hogwarts. You always seem to know more than the rest of us. Why do you want to protect Harry? And why is it that you have to be in hiding or live this secretive life? None of this makes any sense," whispered Hermione quickly without taking a breather.

"Wow, Hermione... calm down! The reason I'm here, looking out for Harry is something that I cannot reveal. You should have never known about me; Harry should have never known about me. But what's happened has happened. There's nothing we can do about it," replied John.

Hermione looked at him annoyed but she knew that she wasn't going to get any answers. But just then something came to her mind.

"Where did you go this easter?" she asked.

"This easter?"

"Yeah, when Snape poisoned you," replied Hermione. John looked at her carefully. He had been expecting this question. But not from her, he was expecting this from Harry.

"Why do I get the feeling you already know?" replied John.

"Yes, Harry told me. I just realised after seeing your watch. Why do you have Daisy on your watch?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Daisy... Daisy is Harry's best friend out of school. Our lives could be in danger because of our connection to Harry. The same goes for Daisy," replied John.

"You keep talking about danger. Everything seems fine. What danger could we possibly face at Hogwarts?" retorted Hermione. John remained silent.

"Okay, but why did you have to visit her last Easter?" asked Hermione.

"Why are you asking so many questions?" retorted John with a smile.

"Because I have a lot of questions," replied Hermione.

"My plan wasn't to visit Daisy. My aunt... my sister happens to live a few minutes away from Daisy's house," replied John.

"Your sister is a witch too, right?"

"Yes," replied John. After a few seconds he continued, "You guys don't know this yet, do you? We have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," said John.

"Yeah, I know. Now that Professor Quirrell is gone, there has to be a new teacher. Don't know who it is though," replied Hermione.

"You are anyways going to find out soon. I might as well tell you right now. Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is... Mrs Jane Smith. Or should I say, Professor Jane Smith," replied John beaming.

"Prof... Jane... Smith? You mean..." gasped Hermione.

"Yes," nodded John.

"... your..."

"Yes, my sister," replied John. "But don't tell that to anybody. Actually, don't tell anybody that she's my aunt either," added John.

"Sure," replied Hermione, still in shock.

The conversation between them fizzled out after that. John spent the rest of the journey chatting with the Hufflepuffs sitting beside them while Hermione spent the journey reading a book. John also kept an eye on his watch but found nothing to be alarmed by. It was only when they got down from the train and a few minutes passed, they realized that Harry and Ron had not boarded the Hogwarts express.

"I knew something was wrong," sighed Hermione.

"Well, whatever they are doing, they are not in any danger," sighed John. "They probably missed the train," he added.

But soon the talk of the whole 2nd year was Ron and Harry's great adventurous journey to Hogwarts through a flying car.

"I can't actually believe this. There's no way they'd have flown here, right?" grunted Hermione as she sat down beside John after pacing the common room for a few seconds.

"I wouldn't put it past them," replied John. Hermione gave him a stare, so he continued, "Well, we did see Snape talking to them. And from a distance, they both looked a bit rattled, to be honest."

"I can't sit here. Let's go wait for them outside," said Hermione. They went out of the Gryffindor room and waited for Ron and Harry to arrive. And arrive they did a few minutes later.

"Harry... Ron... where have you 2 been? I've been so worried. And the rumours..." began Hermione but she was cut short by John.

"Brace yourselves for a hero's welcome," said John with a smile and gestured his hands for the 2 boys to enter. The moment they entered, there was a roar of claps and joyous screams. They were being patted on the back, left, right and centre.

"... absolutely brilliant..."

"... that's the stuff of legends..."

"... inspired! well done lads..."

After a good 10-15 minutes, Ron and Harry finally made their way up the stairs where John was sitting reading a book.

After a few minutes, he spoke up, "So, what happened?" he asked.

"We couldn't enter platform 9 ¾. It was just plain wall suddenly. No idea what happened," replied Harry.

"You mean the gate was closed?" asked John surprised.

"What gate?" retorted Harry.

"The barrier between the muggle platform and our platform is like a magical gate. It's always open," replied John.

"Well, then the gate was closed. But it makes no sense. People ahead of us entered the platform without any issues," replied Harry.

"You ok, Ron?" asked John seeing a small bruise.

"Yeah, it's just a bruise. That tree though, it was absolutely mental," sighed Ron. "And my wand is broken... That's it, I'm dead."

"What do you mean your wand is broken?" asked John shocked. Ron handed him his broken wand. John examined it for a few seconds and returned it back to Ron.

"Don't worry about your wand, we'll fix it," said John. The 2 boys were extremely tired and they dozed off almost immediately. The rest of the students went to sleep one by one leaving John as the only one awake. He made his way down the stairs to the common room. He sat down near the fireplace, a book in one hand, his mirror on the other.

"You there?" he whispered.

A few seconds later he got a reply from Jane, "What happened?"

"Do you know the specifics of what happened to Ron and Harry?" asked John.

"No, not entirely anyway," replied Jane.

"Well, I'll catch you up later. But before that, we have a problem. Well, maybe not a problem, could also be a blessing in disguise," replied John.

"What problem? What are you talking about?" asked Jane annoyed.

"Ron's wand is broken. And you need to get him a new one as soon as possible," replied John.

"What? How did that happen?" retorted Jane.

"Specifics later," replied John.

"He has to manage without one for a few days then," replied Jane.

"You do know his wand specifications, right?" asked John.

"Yes, of course, I remember," replied Jane.

"That's sorted then... Good Night," replied John and went back up. He was finally going to sleep peacefully.

Thoughts?
PS - Chapter 22 will be out coming Monday...