Magic Madness: Intertwining Years

by North Gail

The Weasley family wins 'The Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw' two years before they are supposed to, and suddenly there are two Voldemorts running about in Hogwarts. Harry likes having friends, Ron seriously hates Malfoy, Hermione just wants someone to read with, and Hannah probably laughs at Susan more than she should. Oh, and why does that dog keep following Harry around?

1. Prologue: The-Owl-That-Drank

Introduction:

As a general rule in the world of fiction, the protagonist only has to deal with one foe at a time. A built-in PIS, designed to maintain order for us coddled readers.

Well, in the words of Douglas MacArthur: "You are remembered for the rules you break."

(See end chapter for notes)

Presenting:

Magic Madness: Intertwining Years

Prologue: The Owl-that-drank

Arthur and Molly Weasley were not very rich people – and that was a terribly impolite question. In truth, they weren't even stable. If one really tried to look at the glass half-full, he could say they were managing. But no amount of optimism could subvert the facts: slowly but surely, what little they had had left from the late Mr. Prewett, was burning out.

Neither of the two had taken Arithmancy during their time at Hogwarts, but had they, they could have calculated they would run out of money by January 1994. Not that it was surprising, considering there was one working parent, and seven children. No, it was certain, palpable even that the Weasleys would go bankrupt.

Only they didn't. You see life, as life sometimes goes, had different plans for the Weasley family. In July 23rd, 1993 Arthur Weasley won the annual 'Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw.' and allowed the Weasleys financial stability for the next decade or so – enough for all the children to grow up and solve the problem for good.

Only what Arthur and Molly didn't know, and couldn't have known, was that two years prior Arthur was also remarkably close to win the draw.

As it goes, on the day of the draw, a single paper (code named - 'the golden paper') is marked and whoever receives that paper wins the prize. Who gets it? It's simple; the owl carrying the golden paper simply follows the first owl it meets.

It was in the early evening of July 22nd, 1991 that Arthur received a note from his old friend Kingsley Shacklebolt asking to meet him for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron…

Art,

I am returning tomorrow from my trip to Albania to look for the source of the disturbance – nothing but spooky wastelands here.

I was wondering if you'd like to grab a bite at the Leak to catch up?

Shack.

Shack wants to catch up, eh? Arthur thought. Sure, it's been a while.

He glanced at his owl. Errol looked as he always did – Like he ate an interesting muffin in a cafe in Amsterdam and has yet to recover. Suddenly, the owl fell from its stand. After a few seconds it raised its head and hoofed confusedly.

Arthur chuckled. On second thought, perhaps it would be better if I tell him in person tomorrow.

Had he sent Errol that night, Kingsley's response the morning afterwards would have intertwined with the course of the owl carrying the golden letter before the owl of the Notts, thus giving the Weasleys the grand prize two years prior.

6 Hours earlier, an up-to-that-point identical timeline in an alternate universe.

Molly Wesley returned from her daily visit to the food market. Levitating the groceries, she glanced at the family clock to make sure all are where they should be, when her eyes fell on Errol.

Dear me, I haven't given him water since morning. Humming to herself the tune of 'Time Turner Romance' by the Weird Sisters, Molly quickly filled his water tank with fresh water before starting to work on lunch.

Arthur glanced at his owl. Errol looked as he always did – like he ate an interesting muffin in a cafe in Amsterdam and has yet to recover. After a few seconds, Arthur chuckled to himself, quickly scribbled a short note to Shack and sent Errol on his way.

The butterfly flapped its wings. And the storm that stroke changed the fate of the entire world.

A.N notes:

Did I only write this because I was annoyed by how people abuse the 'what if' trope? Mayhaps. So what?

There is only one small change from the canon, and a lot of assumptions on my part, (ones that do not contradict the canon – that being the original Harry Potter Series. I do not know nor intend to pretend to know everything else J.K has ever said), leading to a completely different path from the one we traversed in the original series.

One change means just that – one change. I will not change the nature of characters. Specifically I WILL NOT portray Dumbledore as evil, Ron as stupid, Hermione as emotionless / utterly-hypocritical, and Harry as super-smart / god of magic / with the power will of Bruce Lee / unexplainably knowing who to trust and who not to. Harry will be Harry, Ron will be Ron, and that goes for all the characters – main and side. In the same spirit, OCs will generally not play large parts – because if they are important in the LV-BWL war, where were they in the whole of canon?

That said, I have a different writing style to Rowling, and I don't want to try and emulate her language for the characters (I also can't – I'm not British), just to do a mediocre job at it. So character voices will vary. Additionally, (and obviously) changes in circumstances and chance meetings will eventually cause changes to characters. That's how life works – experiences and people change other people.

In terms of schedule and future plans – I have somewhere between a fourth and a third of the story written already, with most of the rest planned. Will I finish it? I suppose that depends on the interest it will gather.

Schedule Update: I originally planned longer chapters, with one chapter per week. After some retrospect I understood fanfiction websites work in a way that rewards publishing more chapters even if they are shorter. New schedule: Chapter updates on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday! This also means, even with shorter chapters, you get a bit more material per week. Oh, what did you do to deserve such a humble, caring, author?

If anyone is interested of beta-ing, the position is currently open. Please DM a paragraph on your favorite author (or whatever else you want to rant about), so I can measure your English level.

A.N notes at the end of chapters will provide some insight into the assumptions I made about the HP World.

I have a full non censure policy, and that includes not discriminating against haters. So, if you feel unwelcome by the site because… scratch that I sound ridiculous. Anyhow, don't hate! It hurts people. But if you must hate, please hate here. I won't mind.

Let it begin.