"Bombarda!" Harriet whispered, pointing her finger at the door of her cupboard. Closing her eyes, Harriet tried to see if something felt any different. The stupid school book laid slumped halfway open next to her legs as she sat on the floor. The book said that magic was all inner and how Harriet should be able to feel it and make it do what she wanted it to do. But instead, Harriet felt like a ninny.
"Bombarda!" Harriet whispered again, this time with more force. Her face scrunched up as she focused as hard as she could. And yet, nothing still seemed to happen.
It was the middle of the day, Aunt Petunia was gone and Harriet was still recovering from her injuries that Uncle Vernon had inflicted on her a few days prior. And Harriet was still black and blue, aching from head to toe. She didn't get fancy things like Dudley did when he complained about being hurt. She didn't get medicine when she had a headache.
It was a bitter pill to swallow when Harriet figured out that her aunt and uncle were not the kinds of people who didn't care. They wouldn't even look twice, even if Harriet tried to be as normal as she could. And she couldn't. Harriet refused to be normal, or even be close to average. She was just like her mum, a witch. With magic powers. That refused to work!
Harriet's frustration and anger were amplified by her aching body. She finally pointed at the door with all her might and finally yelled as loud as she dared, "bombarda! "
The door to her cupboard did not explode.
Harriet yelled. She swore. She said things that would have frightened Dudley and Aunt Petunia. Perhaps even Uncle Vernon, although who can say if he even had enough brain cells to compute some of the words that she spoke. Harriet grabbed the book and threw it into the wall. 'Defence Against the Dark Arts Year 7' fell to the ground, as Harriet pulled out another book in a stack that she had been perusing through and it followed the first one. Soon enough, 'Charms Against Evil' and 'Feeling Your Inner Magic (And Destiny)' were flung across the small space.
Harriet yelled and hollered until she didn't have breath for it anymore. She spent days- and what had felt like forever- going through these stupid books and for the life of her Harriet couldn't figure it out. She had magic! She did the thing! She pointed (albeit without a wand) and said the magic words and nothing happened! What else did she have to do? Her mum didn't write specifics about her classes in Hogwarts, she just said that she liked them or that she didn't. And that didn't help at all. Harriet wanted to use it now! She wanted to make the Dursleys to stop hitting her and to leave her alone!
Frustrated, Harriet fell back onto her small mattress and stared up at the dusty ceiling. Then all the rage left her, making her feel empty. Even more so than usual, because she hadn't eaten anything in a while. Feeling drained, she began to think.
Harriet knew she had magic. How else could she explain all the strange occurrences in her life? Or how her Aunt Petunia treated her? She had magic, and that was an actual fact. But she couldn't use it? Her mum always mentioned that having a wand was important. But how was Harriet suppose to get a wand? Were wands actual magic sticks or normal sticks that helped a magic person? Her mum had gotten it at the magic shopping district. The most frustrating part was that her mum never explained where it was! Just in an old bar that people had a hard time seeing it, which was not helpful at all.
Without magic, Harriet felt helpless. It was her safety net that could protect her from the Dursleys. Without the comfort of knowing that she had power that her relatives didn't have, she'd be scared again. The terror that was a gut punch that left her gasping for breath without anybody touching her. Knowing that her uncle wouldn't be afraid of getting rid of her and that if she stepped out too far of line then he'd cut her down. Her aunt was worse, in some ways. Berating her all the time, standing over her while she cooked and cleaned, never she never had a moments peace until Harriet was told to go back into her cupboard with only a slice of bread.
Magic was her defense, and without being able to access it, Harriet was scared.
And there was one thing that Harriet knew now. She refused to let herself be frightened by her relatives anymore. Yes, they were scary, and they did hurt her quite often. But Harriet didn't want them to be able to have that emotional grip that constricted her every move. With magic, she could do anything she wanted! And yet... she couldn't. But that didn't mean that she has given up.
Harriet finally sat up after her tantrum and gazed at the enlarged trunk where it was sitting. The books were still left in a pile, but Harriet didn't bother to put them back. Instead, she softly clambered over to the open trunk and peered down at the books. There were lots of them, her mum was smart. Super smart that she took all the advanced classes. These books were for smart people, and Harriet wasn't quite that intelligent yet. But there had to be something that was easy in the trunk. Her mum had to have kept her old stuff in here. She had even written about her sister Tunie would throw her stuff away if she left it at home.
And so, Harriet began to sift through the books. The nice, and yet strange, thing about her mum's trunk was how weird it was about space. Harriet had found out by accident that she could pull up on the shelves and they'd bring out more shelves of books. Harriet had no clue how many books her mum had but there was so much space that no matter how much she pulled and pushed on the shelves there would be new books every time. Magic was unexplainable. Harriet loved it. And so, Harriet began to peruse through the books, picking up a few to see if there was anything useful in it before she put it back.
There were a few items that caught Harriet's attention. There were three whole shelves just full of magazines. Like, they were packed in there. There had to be hundreds, and when Harriet had finally pulled one out after struggling to get it free, she did not expect to see something that Aunt Petunia would read. Harriet had once or twice accompanied Aunt Petunia to her hairdressers and was told that she was to stay put. Well, Harriet saw these sort of magazines there. Bit bold words at the top, along with a shocking picture of a couple, along with a few words that enticed a scandalous story.
The main differences that Harriet saw were that the name of the magazine was called 'The Quibbler,' and that it had moving pictures. Just like her mum had said. In bold words across the page, it said, 'Jeffery the Dinosaur Stomps Out Dumerufikins!' On the page, it had a big reptile that snapped at Harriet's fingers and roared. Underneath the bold words, were smaller but colorful words in a different typo that said, 'Damn That Dinosaur.'
Harriet flipped through it, but other than some advise on how to keep the snortlaks out of your hair, she didn't find it very enlightening for her cause. But that didn't stop her from putting it into the potentially useful pile. Maybe because she wanted to see what wizard gossip was, maybe she also wanted to look at the pictures that moved and disappeared, but perhaps it was mostly because Harriet thought it would be intriguing to read.
Harriet found very little items in her mum's trunk. She picked through it, pulling out the book and skimming the beginning chapter to see if it would help, but she couldn't even understand the first sentence. What did swishing mean? Charms really had it out for her. And don't even let Harriet get started on all of the defense books that she found. Some of them contradicted each other. One said that garlic would keep vampires away, while another said that the scent was simply annoying but would not sway the vampires from their food. What is the truth? Harriet wanted to know because maybe vampires might attack the Dursleys or something. Not that Harriet would help them, but because she might want to survive as well.
It wasn't until Harriet pulled the shelves down until they stopped. They didn't move any further downwards, and that Harriet figured out that she finally found the end. While the other bookshelves were filled, the last shelf only held two books. One caught Harriet's eye immediately. 'Ingredients and Why They Do What They Do' by E. Weasley. She picked it up, the battered book had clearly seen some days. The pages were dog-eared, and a few pages were loose and nearly falling out of the binding. And yet, when Harriet opened the cover all she could think about how her mum spoke about this book often in her first year. How knowing all about the ingredients had really helped her succeed in potions…
Which didn't need a wand.
Harriet clutched the book closer to herself. Yes, that's right. Her mum had mentioned that potions didn't need a wand! After her first year, Lily Evans only spoke about how Slughorn made her go to his parties. She didn't talk much about potions, only that she made them successfully.
Harriet found her lifeline. She was about to start digging into it when the other book finally caught her eye. It didn't look like the other books, nor the magazines, as it looked like a bunch of pieces of paper that were stitched together. There was some semblance of a cover placed on it, but it was made out of leather. On the outside, it said 'The Marauders Componium For Pranks, Mischief, and General Revenge.'
The revenge caught Harriet's eye because, well. That was what she was pretty much looking for. The homemade book, because it couldn't be anything else than that, was surprisingly thick. Flipping over the leather cover, which bent easily under Harriet's careful hands, she read the beginning page.
'This book is for those who laugh in the face of adversity. For the people who are beaten down for being something that you didn't choose to be. For having laughs with your best friends, even when one of them is bleeding from head to toe. For the outcasted and abandoned, for the ones who have been disowned by their families, and for those who can't get the pretty girl. Those of you who'd wish to learn about the great and powerful Marauders, we invite you to solemnly swear that you are up to no good.
Sincerely, Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, and Prongs.
P.S. My Dearest Lily,
I know this is a rather odd gift to give you on Valentine's day, but believe me when I say I didn't know what to get you. You are the smartest witch in our entire year, and I honestly couldn't figure out what could be the best romantic gift for you. Roses are overdone. They're out of style. Candy from Honeydukes doesn't pass anymore because every girl gets some. But since you're the smartest witch I've ever known, I'd figure I'd give you the book where me and my best mates put our two cents together and made some of the best bloody spells in history. And yes, I do have their permission to give this to you. Sirius said that it was super nerdy that I was giving you a book on Valentine's day, but in reality, I think I won in the idea department this year.
Love,
James Potter
P.S.S. Yes, I did have Moony write this for me. He actually wrote the whole book because he writes like a girl a majestic manly man.'
Harriet felt her breath leave her in a whoosh. She stared at the name, then reached up and touched it. Her fingers gingerly touching and tracing it over and over again. Her dad's name was James.
Her dad's name was James.
She closed her eyes and took in deep breaths. Then let them out, a little shakier than before. Harriet retraced the name again, over and over. Memorizing it. Imprinting it into her memory. So that if one day… one day the Dursley's really do beat her silly, she could still remember the name, James.
After taking a long moment, Harriet opened the leather book to the next page and began to read. After all, her dad said that he put the best bloody spells in history in here, Harriet figured she should know them. The more she read the more confused she began to be. Words were... hard to understand. What did magictolfagious mean? And there were seemed to be insults in every other sentence. But still, Harriet figured that it was because of her lack of knowledge. This must be some college-level stuff. Still, she poured through the book, interested to see what her father had to say. By the end, she had a headache. But one day she'd figure out this book. And whatever it actually meant.
(Spoiler alert: it was cursed to be as confusing as possible. For no Marauder would let just anybody read their spells. But of course, Harriet still read the confounded book anyways.)
(It is quite funny that parallel universes have not been mentioned yet. They do exist. In fact, in the barest sense, all universes are connected enough to consider every one of them to be parallel to each other. However, for the beings that rule and guide the universes, we do not group them all into the same pile of shit and call it good. We can't do that otherwise we won't get paid. Damn capitalism. And damn that dinosaur for making it.
No, in reality, there are a few things about parallel universes that make them different and yet the same. Every time that there is a new universe created, they are still connected to the original universe that they originated from. How they are connected? Well, it's simple, it's time itself. Every universe must have a past. Otherwise, the future cannot be made. For example, how could a dinosaur wipe out so much of reality and create so much misery? Because the dinosaur was in the past. Near the beginning of time, Jeffery the damned dinosaur was able to take fixed points of existence and wipe them out because universes are anchored and interconnected with the original universe. And Jeffery happened to be one of the luckiest bastards who was created in the original universe and used his evil god-forsaken power to destroy everything that was decent. At least potato chips survived the calamity.
That also being said, universes are only created by time moving forward. Every second happens in every universe. Time itself does not slow itself down, it does not speed up, it will not or cannot and so every universe uses the same time to push itself onwards. If one could imagine, if every universe was placed on a line graph, and every new decision that created a new cosmos was simply one line down but still followed the same path. And thus, created the term parallel universes. They do not touch. And they cannot touch. Time itself, a powerful force that cannot be reckoned with, will not allow it.
However, due to the higher-ups demanding we organize things, the term parallel universe also means universes that are vastly different that also follow the same path. How we are able to figure things out whether or not two different universes are considered to be parallel is pretty much a list with boxes to check off on.
Does this universe have unicorns? Check.
Does this universe have three ducks living in a pond? Check.
Does this universe have three llamas that terrorize a neighboring village? Check.
Does this universe have sugar-cane coke product that's only mass-produced in Mexico for a high profit? Check.
Okay! It's parallel.
And so, it is to say that once upon a time Harriet Potter found her mothers trunk. And within hours of opening it, she had it torn from her. That Harriet Potter remembered when everybody else forgot. She let the name of Albus Dumbledore fester the rage within her, and that Harriet Potter found power wherein the Original Harriet Potter did not. Within days, Harriet found where her magic intertwined within her soul and she began to use it to her advantage. At first, it was hard, but magic is like a muscle. It must be used for it to grow stronger and it did.
That Harriet Potter sat in her darkened cupboard, staring at nothing while her relatives sat on the couch with the telly on. Her cupboard had new jewelry, newly installed locks as punishment for the neighbors complaining about strange things happening around them. Aunt Petunia had grown wary, and Uncle Vernon had simply locked up the freak even more.
Harriet Potter stared at the wall in the dark, her hair falling into her face. And during a lull in the television program, the Dursleys began to hear odd clicking noises. Vernon had just enough time to look over to see a lock unlocking itself and hitting the floor as it was removed by an invisible force. He stared, horrified, as the door to the cupboard opened and saw the freak looking back at him. Harriet smiled, baring her teeth in a savage grin.
Does this universe have Harriet Potter? Check.
Does this universe have Harriet reading her mum's journal first few chapters? Check.
Does this universe have Harriet finding the book 'Ingredients and Why They What They Do' at some point before going to Hogwarts? Check.
Does this universe have Harriet ultimately finding a way to ruin Albus Dumbledore's carefully plotted plans? Check.
They're parallel universes!)