Agents of Discord

by KittyrinnAiko

Chapter 9: Art of War

When Uncle Vernon returned, Nova knew full well what the long thin package was.

*“Found the perfect place!” Uncle Vernon announced sounding very enthusiastic. “Everyone out, come on, time’s a wasting.”

Nova was greeted with cold damp air when she climbed out of the car and was glad she’d dumped a bunch of heavy jackets in the car along with some camp gear and sleeping bags. She quickly put on one of Dudley’s old warn-out jackets and zipped it up. Her hair was messy and the long strands were under the jacket so that anyone looking at her expecting to see Harry Potter would see Harry Potter.

“No time to waste, there’s a storm forecast for tonight.” Dudley and Petunia just looked on in trepidation as Vernon pointed out what looked to be no more than a big rock way out at sea.

Together they gathered up their things and headed down to a dock where a toothless old graybeard who had a heavy cloak that was as gray as the evening mist waited by a rotten old longboat.

“This Gentleman has agreed to lend us his boat,” Vernon announced as the old man cast his eyes towards Aerie. Whether or not his eye caught the presence of a small black cat was uncertain.

“I’ve some rations, all aboard,” Uncle Vernon said. What he had was a shopping bag full of crisps of all things. Fortunately, Nova had been gathering food items from every stop they'd made that had a store. She’d no intention of going any hungrier than necessary.

Into the boat, they went along with their gear, Pushed off, and away they went with Uncle Vernon at the oars.

Several times did the sea threaten to swamp the boat, and a good thing it came with a bucket. Nova spent the entire trip bailing. At last, they’d made it to the island which proved to be considerably larger than it had looked from the far shore. Up on top of the islet on a moderately flat bit of turf stood a small ramshackle cabin. Up over the craggy shore, they clambered, up the face of the escarpment, until finally, they reached the cabin. It wasn’t much to look at. The boat ride had been freezing and the inside of the cabin was not much better. The wind whistled through cracks in the walls, the fireplace was damp and devoid of anything. The structure was typical of old English cottages, timber framed with wattle and daub siding. The daub had worn off in many places and stone had been used to sheath the outside from the weather. It had two rooms in it. There was a bed in one room and in the other a sofa, table, and four rather rickety old wooden chairs. Uncle Vernon began handing out the crisps, but then Nova stopped him.

“I’ve been scrounging along the way,” Nova informed him as she opened up a pack and started handing out sandwiches and juice drinks. She then took the crisps and piled them in the fireplace.

“Hey, I was going to eat those?” Dudley protested.

“Would you rather be warm?” Nova asked as she got out a bundle of kindling. This was placed on the crisps which she lit with a match. Potato chips (crisps) being full of grease light really good. It only took a moment or two to get a nice fire going onto which Nova placed more wood. Nova also produced a couple of battery-powered lanterns which helped dispel the gloom considerably.

“When’d you learn you could do that?” Uncle Vernon asked suspiciously.

“From a book. I spend a lot of time in Libraries,” Nova replied as she produced her cot from another bundle. Now if Nova had been pulling far more out of the packed luggage than what should have been there, the Dursleys chose to ignore it grateful they were for everything she’d brought. The cot was set up in the far corner, onto which she rolled out her sleeping bag. Dudley got the old battered sofa that was in the main room and was glad he was for his own sleeping bag. And of course, Mr and Mrs Dursley got the bedroom with its moderately decent bed.

Some old blankets were found in the cabin which was hung up on the wall in places where the wind was the worst, and then Nova headed for the door.

“Aerie?” Uncle Vernon questioned.

“I’m going to see if there is any wood stashed outside,” Nova offered. “I only had enough to start the fire.

“I suppose there’s no way they could get to us here,” Vernon said cheerfully.

“Meaning they’ve got us exactly where they want us. Now we wait.” And with that, she opened the door and went outside to leave him in his realization that they were exactly where their unseen opponent wanted them.

Sure enough, there had been a stash of wood under an old tarp. It looked damp, but it was firewood. Nova gathered up an armload and brought it in. This she stacked to the left of the fire. She then went back out and brought in another armload and stacked that on the other side of the fire. On her third drip, she dug out what looked to be the driest, went back inside, and added that to the coals of the now dwindling fire.

It wasn’t ideal, but at least no one would be suffering from hypothermia that night.

“I’m bored!” Dudley protested bitterly.

“That’d be the part they never tell you about in adventure stories,” Nova offered as she headed for the door once more.

“I think we have enough wood,” Aunt Petunia offered.

“I just want to secure the tarp over the wood pile outside. Otherwise, it’ll be wet and useless.”

Sure she wanted to secure the wood, but she also wanted to get a good look at the islet before it got any darker. Nor was she surprised to see a familiar alicorn who just happened to be her near double.

“I probably shouldn't transform, just in case the use of magic is detectable,” Nova offered as she approached. “Nova Silverwood I presume?”

“You presume correctly. They can’t differentiate types of magic, but they can detect its use.

“And we secured your boat a little better. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Listen, something I should tell you, I spent a lifetime as a human. You see, I am Princess Luna’s actual daughter in my dimension. When Night Fall happened, I found myself transported to a human world. In that world the story of Harry Potter was fictional. That’s why I expect Hagrid to show up at midnight. Dumbledore is fixated on Harry Potter and this whole incident is designed to manipulate both the Dursleys and myself.”

“I see. And I am well aware of Dumbledore’s present obsession. It would seem your ending up out here was certainly no coincidence,” Nova Silverwood offered. “You’ve been to Gringotts, what exactly did you do there?”

“I’d guessed that I might still be Sirius Black’s goddaughter in that Dumbledore likely wouldn’t have realized Harry was Aerie, and I had a key given to me by discord. And I doubt he's Harry's guardian either. The key turned out to be for the Black family vault and Discord has done a mighty fine job of making sure Aerie Potter had an actual past. This tells me his fears are probably well founded. My Moonie located Helga Hufflepuff’s cup by looking for dark cursed things. It was in the Lestrange family vault, and she transferred it to the Black family vault.” Nova stopped held out her hand palm up and produced a blue flame.

“Foxfire? You can use fox fire? That’s more than I’ve ever been able to do and I can do quite a lot.”

“I can. The cup was a Horcrux, and thanks to Discord’s manipulation of reality,” she moved her hand to her forehead and pulled back her hair to reveal a lightning bolt scar, “I discovered that I can purify the soul fragments. I purified the cup. Took all I had, but I did it. Shattered several gems in the process but otherwise, it’s intact and can be repaired. I returned the now soul-free cup to the Goblins on the condition they keep it secret and well hidden. They also asked me to return any other items I might find. When I’m done with them, that is. I gave them some of the gems as well, to replace the shattered gems, gems Discord gave me. The cup is technically theirs, and they were happy to get it back.”

“I think I know where the fragment in your head may have come from. Any idea where the others might be found? You did indicate that there might be more?”

“Kreacher may have one at Grimmauld Place. It would be an old locket. There’s one in the school and one that may be found at the Gaunt family estate. Anyone going after it would need to be really careful, and don’t touch it. It’d be the old man’s ring.”

“I’m kind of on the outs with Kreacher, and if I tried to go snooping about in the school it’d be too suspicious. - I married into the Black family a while back but got excommunicated along with all my supporters. As for the Gaunt estate, I’m not even sure where to begin.”

“Let me guess, you saw Riddle for what he was, and they saw him as a new messiah.”

“I see you understand the human world quite well. And yes, they ate up that pure blood bull shit.”

“Well if you get a chance to get at the locket it opens to Parseltongue.”

“Right now you may be the only member of the Black family with access to the house. Sirius doesn’t dare step foot on English soil. Can you speak it?”

“Fluttershy taught me Snek speech. I figure it's close enough. I don’t actually know how to find the house though.”

“Of course, she would know. And we can worry about the house later.”

“Listen, Discord said I was to contact you when I was ready to go home again, the only thing is, I’ve got a feeling I may be stuck here for a good long time. I know that Malfoy Senior has one, but I’m very doubtful we’d find it if we were to go looking for it.”

“You are expecting it to come to you I gather.”

“Next year. If his actions hold true to the books in my human world, he will dump it into Ginny Weasley’s book bag next year. An act that nearly cost her her life in the books.”

“But as you are already forewarned, you’ll be able to intercede early. I see. Still, though, it means you’ll be stuck here for the duration.”

“Which is why I want out of Dursley Manor.”

“Afraid there is nothing left but a hole in the ground.” Nova Silverwood had to think for a moment. “Dumbledore is not your magical guardian. Neither is he Harry's. Sirius is. Which you guessed right about. Sure, Dumbledore tried to get Sirius convicted without a trial but I put a stop to that. Just don’t expect Sirius to show up any time soon because he’s in exile thanks to Dumbledore’s manipulations. Dumbledore claimed guardianship of Harry but never filed figuring that’d be the best way to stymie anyone who dared challenge his claim. You can’t challenge a ruling that never happened and you saw what happens if anyone tries to file for guardianship.”

“Only you spirited oni chan away,” Aerie offered with a grin, and Nova Silverwood just had to smile. “I should be getting back in, just one thing before I go. I’m really suspicious the old man who provided the boat was Dumbledore.”

“He is. We’ve been watching your every move, remember.”

“Good. Now so long as he doesn’t leave I’ll be able to do my power play.”

“Power play?”

“I’m going to refuse to go to Hogwarts so long as the Dursleys are my guardians. Something tells me he needs a Potter in Hogwarts, any Potter.”

“And you know what he’s up to, don’t you?”

“I am the clever little fox girl while in the human world, that I am. That’s why Discord sent me. Now, I need to get inside before I start sprouting fur to stay warm.”

Nova returned a short time later to a rather gloomy household. Shook the damp off herself and stood in front of the fire to dry out. Dudley was occupying himself with a Gameboy he’d brought along that still worked, but Vernon and Petunia were just sitting on the sofa feeling gloomy. Outside the storm blew up a riotous wind which made the occupants inside wonder if the cabin might blow away at any moment.

It was pitch black outside now and Nova was just sure she could hear Sirens singing.

“I’m going to bed,” Nova announced once she was sure her clothes were dry. She put a couple more chunks of wood on the fire, went over to her cot, sat down, took off her shoes, and climbed into her sleeping bag.

“You’re sleeping with your clothes on?” Dudley asked.

“I’m expecting a rather rude visitor in the middle of the night. Also, I intend to say no. Oh, I will eventually say yes to Hogwarts, but not until after I get what I want.” And with that, she turned away from them, closed her eyes, and just ignored anything said from that point on. Getting to sleep had proven easy. After all, she was worn out, and it had been a long day.

Nova woke with a start. She looked about to orient herself, still in the cabin, the fire was nearly out, thunder rolled outside, and Dudley’s snoring might just as well be thunder on the inside. She let out a sigh, got up, put her shoes on, and went over to the fire. Once there she pushed the coals together with a poker and put fresh wood on top. Turning she spotted Dudley’s watch. The dial was lit suggesting he may have been playing with it in his sleep. It was almost midnight. Oh, wouldn't it be grand if pinkie were to show up and give her a surprise party? After all, from midnight on it was her birthday. Well, Aerie’s birthday, but so long as she was in this world, she was Aerie. Or so it seemed. A concept that didn’t really bother her as she’d been a Mrs Nova Arthol for many years, oblivious of the fact that she’d ever been a pony. Moonie was still on the cot, her lamp-like eyes peering out at Nova.

“By any chance did you manage to save the letter that actually had the correct name on it just in case?” Nova whispered. Moonie crossed her kitty paws and nodded.

“You precious darling,” Nova praised. “Just keep hanging onto it just in case they call my bluff.”

The sound of heavy feet trodding up the meager path registered in Nova’s ears. Showtime, I guess, she thought to herself. Her keen inner fox senses told her that an enormous person was approaching. A rather fun foxy prank struck her mind as she hurried over to the door. She was able to sense the man’s movements, and as she knew what he was going to do went right up to the door, just off to one side. The side nearest the doorknob.

There seemed to be a moment, a sort of pregnant pause where even the storm was holding its breath.

Boom! Went the sound of the big man’s fist upon the door.

Boom! Went the door once more. Dudley startled awake.

“Return fire you scurvy dogs!” Dudley shouted as he bolted up. “What? What was that?” Aerie?!”

“Who’s there?” Vernon shouted as he came out of the bedroom with a shotgun in his hands. “I’m warning you! I’m armed!” His eyes went wide at the sight of Aerie swinging the door open, an enormous boot flailing in the doorway, followed by an earth-rocking thud.

“That was wicked!” Dudley shouted. From his vantage point, he’d seen everything, the door swinging in to reveal a very large man attempting to kick the door in, losing their balance and careening over backward.

“I did say there’d be a rude guest,” Aerie offered with a smirk. Hagrid was now laid out flat on his back, his feet in the doorway.

“Oi!” Nova shouted. “You there! What’s this now?! What do you mean by pounding on the bloody door in the middle of the bloody night!? Don’t just lay there, get up and explain yer-self.”

“Aerie, that you?” asked the big man. He pulled his feet out of the doorway, rolled over, and got up. He attempted to brush himself off, but it didn’t really do much good. What Nova could see of his face was almost completely hidden by a mop of hair and a great bushy beard and mustache.

“Hurry it up, you are letting all our hot air out and cold air in.”

Hagrid stooped down and even twisted a bit so he could get in the door. As for the Dursleys, they were gobsmacked, to say the least. Here was this huge man, and mild-mannered Aerie had just emasculated him.

“Couldn't make us a cup of tea… could you?”

“Would you like me to get out the good china too?” Nova asked sarcastically as she shut the door.

Hagrid strode over to the sofa where Dudley was presently sitting still in his sleeping bag. “Budge up”

“Dudley, stay where you are. No need to move for an uninvited guest who comes calling in the middle of the bloody night.”

Hagrid stopped right where he was. Things were not going the way he’d expected.

“There’s the fire if you want tea… afraid we are short on drinkable water and things to heat it in.”

“Ah, a fire… you have a fire?” He looked about only now realizing how much nicer the place looked from when he and Professor Dumbledore had picked it out. In fact, it was downright homey.

“Aerie used bags of chips to start the fire,” Uncle Vernon offered smugly. At that moment he was actually proud of Aerie. He still had the shotgun but had the sense to have the barrel pointed at the ceiling.

“Used the chips? Boy, now that is clever of you, eh, Aerie? Is that a muggle thing? Not that you’re a muggle. It’s just muggles can be so clever. Aerie, *las’ time I saw you, you was just a baby. You look a lot like yer dad, but yeh’ve got yer mom’s eyes.”

“I demand that you state your business,” Uncle Vernon said through gritted teeth.

“Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune.”

“I’d thank you kindly to be more respectful,” Nova corrected. “A great prune he may be but he’s my guardian and I’ll thank you to remain civil.”

Hagrid cringed noticeably. This encounter was not going how Dumbledore had predicted. He’d been about to reach over and grab the gun Vernon had, but now he wasn’t too sure if he should.

“I brought something,” he offered and began rummaging about in the pockets of his great black overcoat. “A very happy birthday to yeh… I might've sat on it. It’ll still taste all right.” The package he produced did indeed look like it had been sat on.

“That is quite alright, and I’m sure it tastes great, but you needn't bother as you sir, are a complete stranger to me and I do not accept treats of any kind from strangers.”

“Quite right,” Petunia stated. “It’s not proper or safe for a child to take anything from a stranger.”

“Perhaps it’d be best you tell us who you are and the real reason you came calling in the middle of the night?” Nova prompted the big man.

“But Aerie, I’ve known you since you were a babe?” Hagrid countered.

“A claim that just about anyone could make, I’m afraid,” Aerie pointed out. “But tell me then, where were you all the times Dudley and his friends got it into their heads to go Aerie hunting and I’d get beat up? Where were you all the times I cried myself to sleep in my cupboard? Where were you all the times I desperately needed a friend because Dudley actively drove my friends away? Did you even know? Know that I’d been relegated to little more than the family pet? And I dare say that many a family pet is better treated. Where were you? You say you know me, but you were never there for me, and now… now you come calling in the middle of the night. And it sure kind of looked to me like you’d fully intended to kick the door down. An act a scofflaw would do. You, sir, are no better than a cutthroat in my eyes at this moment. Now out with it. What’s your true reason for calling in the middle of the night?”

“I… I brought you your letter, from Hogwarts,” Hagrid explained. He then rummaged about and produced an envelope. Once again it said Mr H Potter. “I heard that the Dursleys weren’t letting you have your letters. Go on, take it then.”

“I’m terribly sorry, but it seems that there has been a mistake here,” Nova informed him. She made no attempt to take it, and the Dursleys were unusually quiet.

“Mistake? Oh, No mistake. Aerie, don’t cha know what you are? Yer a wizard Aerie.”

“Um, no. I kind of feel like I may be missing some vital qualification to be a wizard.”

“That’s the Dursleys talking. You are a wizard, Aerie.”

“No, a witch perhaps, Maybe even an enchantress, but not a wizard. I’d need a set of balls to be a wizard, would I not? Also, that letter is addressed to ‘H’ Potter, and my first name starts out with ‘AE’ leaving me to think that you’ve mistaken me for another. I could be a witch. I suppose. But not a wizard, and not this H Potter you seek.”

“A witch?” Hagrid’s brain was desperately trying to catch up.

“I’m a girl. No balls. None at all. Hell, I’m not even old enough to have a pair upstairs.”

Hagrid just gave her a confused look. His mind was going a mile a minute as he tried to recollect everything he knew about Harry Potter never realizing that the person in front of him was at that moment picking his mind for those same memories. One thing that was evident from those memories is that James and Lilly never once trusted him enough to let him even so much as touch the baby.

“Perhaps we should start again. Hi, my name is Aerie Lilly Potter. What might your name be?”

“Hagrid, Rubeus Hagrid.” Hagrid was beginning to sound worn down.

“Ah, now we are getting somewhere.” Aerie gave him a warm smile. “A quick question if you may. Who’s idea was it to send letters via the stove exhaust and fireplace?”

“Ah, that was my idea…”

“Figures.”

“Professor Dumbledore thought it a grand idea so we hooked the house up to the Floo network.”

“Mr Hagrid, do you know what happens to paper that lands on a lit gas stove? No, I suppose you don’t. Do you know what happens when paper goes spewing out of a fireplace that has a fire in it? A fireplace that hasn’t been properly charmed to prevent accidents? No, I suppose you don’t.”

“Ah, it’s not gana do no harm.”

“Those blasted letters burned the house down!” Mr Dursley bellowed.

“What?” Hagrid was even more confused.

“The letters ignited, and then spewed out into the house,” Nova informed him. “The place was gutted. There is no home to go back to.”

“But that can’t be true, can it?”

“Gone,” Dudley supplied as Nova went to the fireplace. “Everything is gone.”

“Now, let’s see…” Nova picked out a small piece of charcoal that had rolled free of the fire and gone out. “My name is spelled,” she offered as she stood up and started writing on the wall. “A, E, R, I, E. And that letter you have in hand is addressed to a Mr H Potter, as were the letters that burned our house down. You and Professor Dumbledore have destroyed our lives over a fucking letter addressed to someone who we never even fucking heard of!!” Not entirely true, but Hagrid would never know. Aerie took a breath and let it out slowly, followed by writing out ‘I am a girl’ on the wall followed by ‘girls are not addressed as Mr’.

“Now that we’ve cleared that up, by any chance do you have a way to communicate with this Professor Dumbledore?”

“I was to send him a letter by owl,” Hagrid offered and hurried over to the table. He sat on a chair only to have it collapse. Sitting on the floor would have to do.

“I want you to tell him what you did to our house. Tell him that we expect compensation. A new house and the Dursleys can provide a list of everything that was lost in the fire. I expect those items to be replaced. And I want you to tell him that so long as the Dursleys are my legal guardians, I am obliged to say no to going to Hogwarts.”

“Not go to Hogwarts?” Hagrid stated sounding stunned.

“Well, if I had been allowed to stay with the Finch-Fletchley family I’d already have my letter. Justin has his. Hermione Granger has hers. But as I am a member of the Dursley family I have to do as they ask.”

“Since when do you ever do as you are told?” Petunia scoffed.

“I cook your breakfast, help clean the house, and for ten years a cupboard was good enough for me while Dudley got two rooms.

“Petunia, dear, this is politics,” Vernon whispered to Petunia. “She knows what she’s doing.”

“Hagrid, you tell Dumbledore that so long as I am a member of the Dursley family, there will be no Potter in Hogwarts. And no amount of harassment is going to change that.”

Hagrid quickly penned out a letter and retrieved a small owl from his pocket.

“You keep an owl in your pocket?” Dudley asked.

“Like you are any better,” Nova chastised.

Hagrid gave the letter to the owl a short time later and chucked it out into the storm. Nova decided to climb back into her sleeping bag, and Hagrid figured he’d get out his kit to make a pot of tea while they waited.

When Dumbledore got the owl the handwriting was already on the wall in regards to his career at the ministry thanks to the house fire, and Professor McGonagall had actually sent him a howler. Hagrid’s letter had been the final nail in Harry Potter’s coffin. Or to be more precise, there had never been a Harry Potter in the first place. The child’s name had been Aerie all along and inquiries of the Ministry of magic had proven that it wasn’t some ruse. There was no evidence that Harry Potter had ever existed outside of a narrative he’d invented.

He, Professor Dumbledore had made a horrible mistake. Still, though, Aerie was the child the Dark Lord had marked as his equal, and prophecies didn’t always go as planned. Trelawney really had been the perfect stooge, but it was looking like if he’d hope of salvaging anything, he was just going to have to let this girl have what she wanted. Dumbledore had to admit that the Potter child really hadn’t been any safer at the Dursley residence. That was just a little white lie he’d tell just to put people off. The downside was that his reputation was going to take a big hit. Not that he couldn't fix it with a little effort. Tell everyone he’d lied to protect the girl. Had there ever been a Harry Potter, he wondered. After all, the name in the book had been his doing. Well, not like anyone would ever find out.

Back at the cabin, Hagrid was pulling all manner of things out of his pockets to include a brown bottle from which he took a pull on and then put it back. A tea kettle, a skillet, and some sausages that looked to have lint stuck to them were also produced from his overcoat. The kettle was hung from a hook and swung over the fire, and the sausages were soon in the skillet which was placed on a grate over the fire, the aroma filling the air as they began to sizzle. From there he sat down on the floor in front of the fire while taking another goodly pull on his bottle. Nor would that be the last time he’d take a drink from that bottle, which had Nova wondering if there might be an expansion charm involved.

“Sure you don’t want anything?” Hagrid asked.

“I’m good,” Aerie offered from her cot.

“Don’t touch anything.” Uncle Vernon warned softly as Hagrid was stabbing at sausages to get them out of the pan a short time later.

*“Yer great git o’ a son don’t need fattenin’ anymore.” Hagrid scolded, and then offered some sausages to Nova.

“No, no thank you,” Nova replied still in her corner. For all she knew, the things were ground pony. Sure she ate meat, but she was particular about what kind of meat. No bovine or equine. “Sir.”

“Suit yer-self then.” He replied. Nothing seemed to be working out how he’d imagined. “Call me Hagrid. Everyone does. Leastwise up at Hogwarts. You know all about Hogwarts, o’ course.”

“Only because I found out from friends. Mr and Mrs Dursley never told me anything. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is.”

“Sorry?” Hagrid barked causing Nova to cringe. He then turned his eyes to the Dursleys who shrank back from him. “It’s them what should be sorry, not you. Knew you weren’t getting yer letters, sorry about what happened to the house, but not being told nothin' about Hogwarts, fer cryin’ out load! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?”

“I, um, don’t actually remember my parents.” Nova offered, which would have been true enough for the real Harry potter. Harry had been intentionally kept in the dark concerning his past. “I was just a baby after all.”

“You… oh. Sorry.” His anger seemed to subside as his train of thought went flying off the track and down an embankment to explode in a fiery ball of special effects. Of course, she wouldn't remember, she wasn’t even a year old yet you big horned wart slug, he thought to himself feeling like a great big git. “And you know nothing of yer parents?”

And then Nova decided to take a risk. “Only that they were murdered, and that I should be wary of strange men offering me things when we hadn’t been properly introduced by someone I know and trust.”

Hagrid definitely counted as a strange man. But then Hagrid doubled down and waved one of his big beefy hands. “But you know nothing about our world? My world? Your parent’s world? That is, beyond the little you learned from friends.”

“Isn’t it this one?” Nova asked being deliberately obtuse. Not that he’d know. “I mean, don’t we all share the same world.”

“What? No. The magical world. Aerie, yer famous.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Well, you are. Well, not by yer correct name, no. But you are. Sort of.”

“So what am I famous for?”

“Why you are the boy who lived. Save in that yer not actually a boy. The thing is when you know who…”

“Who? I’m afraid I don’t know who,” Nova interjected.

“The Dark Lord. Yer mom and dad were famous. Let's just say in certain circles.” Hagrid reassured her. “They were among the few who’d stand up to him.”

“Stop, I forbid you to say anymore!” Uncle Vernon demanded.

“Her mother and father were heroes and you never told her.” Hagrid bellowed. His gaze would have caused far better men to quail, but Vernon somehow managed to hold his ground.

“And why should I? Isn’t it bad enough they were murdered?” He wasn’t exactly sure when Aerie had found out since they’d preferred to say it had been an accident, but if she knew, it didn’t much matter. She knew. Granted what she’d said about being briefed by Her Majesties Secret Service, that was looking like a distinct possibility.

“Yeh never told her? Never told her about the letter Dumbledore left for her? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An’ you’ve kept it from her all these years?”

“And why should we?” Petunia said finding her backbone. “Heroes?! Heroes?! They holed up in a little stinking cottage and got murdered. How does that make someone a hero?! And you lot... You lot left a baby out in the cold on a November morning before anyone was up. Aye, and chilled to the bone when I found her too. Why should we tell her? And if I’d a mind to do so I’m certainly not going to tell her about her crusading parents taking on the world and getting themselves killed when she’s not even out of primary school yet. Why do you think we’ve been throwing away those letters?! To keep her safe from the likes of you! You who comes calling the middle of the bloody nite like a thief spouting off nonsense about a boy who's famous for no other reason than having survived. It's a twisted world you live in where surviving a brutal attack makes a body famous.”

“Aerie’s a witch. And I’d wager a damn good one too,” Hagrid protested. “And that comes with things like accidental magic when us magic folks are little.

“Like in superstitions, black cats. and voodoo dolls,” Nova supplied just to be cheeky. There was silence in the hut. “Dancing with my clothes off in the rain? Livin la Vida-Loca? OK, never mind.”

“You’d better not go dancing with your clothes off if you know what’s good for you,” Aunt Petunia scolded.

“Ah, yes on the first, sort of, not so much on the latter that I’m aware of,” Hagrid offered. Let’s just say Hagrid was never invited to those kinds of parties. Quite possibly for their own safety as no one wanted a certain something swinging about. “Aerie, ‘ave you never had anything really strange happen?”

“This whole trip,” Nova said dryly.

“Well you can do magic, real magic, and you’ll be quite good at it because your parents were.”

“Tell me about my parents?” Nova requested. She figured that as long as Hagrid was here and agreeable enough, she could milk him for information.

Uncle Vernon on the other hand had other ideas. Neither he nor Aunt Petunia wanted Aerie to know anything about the wizarding world and insisted they’d protect her. It was right about here that Hagrid pulled out a pink umbrella and zapped Dudley’s backside for trying to sneak a morsel of food. Nova chastised both Hagrid and Dudley. Hagrid for the deed, and Dudley for even thinking about wanting to eat something of questionable origin and nature. Aunt Petunia agreed. Dudley’s condition would worsen in the night thanks to a little push by Nova that caused Dudley to slowly transform so that he was more pig than boy. Being threatened with a pink umbrella once again proved sufficient enough to shut up Mr and Mrs Dursley who along with Dudley had decided to retreat into the bedroom at this point.

Hagrid told her all about how Aerie’s parents had defied ‘you know who’ as he preferred to say -granted that Aerie wouldn't have known who ‘you know who’ was if she’d really been Harry Potter and not a stand-in who already had a really good idea what was going on. Even so it took a bit of wheedling to get Hagrid to say the name Voldemort. She’d even managed to get him to tell her about the Order of the Phoenix. Nova knew all too well how easy it was to get information from a loose tongue if you knew the right questions to ask.

A sharp rap on the door suggested someone or something was outside, so Nova decided to get up to investigate, and sure enough, there was an owl outside who was more than happy to come in out of the rain. The owl had another letter, and this time it had the correct name on it. Inside was her invitation to Hogwarts along with a letter promising everything she wanted.

“Well, if he holds up to his end, I’d say I’m going to Hogwarts,” Nova announced.

“Well then, I’d best send another letter to Dumbledore then, and let him know that we are good to go,” Hagrid announced. His tone carried a sense of relief. He went over to the table, got out another piece of paper, and then started scrounging for his quill.

“Here.” Nova offered while holding out a gleaming white feather a moment later.

“Ah, yes, that’ll do. Where’d you find that? That’s a good one, that is.” He said as he took hold of the feather.

“I, ah, found it on the way.” Nova offered. Hagrid had been so preoccupied he hadn’t seen her pluck one of her own feathers. It’d been a loose one that had been bothering her, and glad it was finally out.

“It’s a lucky find. It’s a pegasus feather.” Hagrid offered as he produced a large knife to cut the tip into a pen. “A rather pretty one I betcha.”

“If that’s about me, make sure you put my full name down.”

“Yer full name?”

“Like how it says on my letter.” Nova offered, handing him the envelope. “Just so we are sure there are no more mix-ups.”

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

Aerie Lilly Potter has her letter.

Taking her to bye things ta-marrow.

Weather's Horrible. Hope yer well.

Hagrid.

When he’d finished he rolled up the slip of parchment, put it in a tube, strapped that to the owl, and chucked the poor thing out the door once more to brave the night.

“Well then, I guess it’s time for a little shut-eye.” Hagrid offered and went over to the now unoccupied sofa.

“Nova tossed a couple more chunks of wood on the fire and returned to her cot to see if she couldn't possibly get a bit more sleep.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk taking in an early morning breakfast when Hagrid’s second letter came in through the open window. Dumbledore let out a sigh when the little owl landed right in the middle of his porridge. “Well, that’s done it then.” He muttered as he reached over to take the message tube off the owl. He pulled out the parchment, unrolled it, and was satisfied that Aerie had now agreed to come to school. He had of course chosen to return to Hogwarts after sending out his reply to Hagrid.

Dumbledore had a lot of fences to mend. Granted he’d no intention of giving Aerie everything she wanted, but then again, he did owe the Dursleys a new house after that disaster. And it had been a disaster on multiple fronts, the ministry was outraged over his use of his position to essentially firebomb a muggle home, and there were calls for his resignation. Sure it wasn’t intentional, but that was the result. Meanwhile, there was a picture of the chamber below the house, now an open pit, on the front page of the Daily Prophet. Little did he know that it was also on the front page of the London Times and about a dozen other papers. Fire exposes find.

Dumbledore reached out for the list of incoming students and started scanning through it. There was one, and only one Potter. As expected. Both his eyebrows rose up quite a bit when his mind finally registered the name. Sure he’d seen the name but hadn’t paid any attention to what his own eyes were telling him. He drank down a good portion of his tea while thinking he was going to need something stronger and looked again. Aerie Lilly Potter. There was no Harry Potter.

Dumbledore’s chair clattered to the ground as he rushed out of his office. Down the stairs he went, through the corridors, and up the winding stairs that would take him to the Admittance book, that official, self-updating registry of incoming students. Quickly he flipped back to find Harry Potter’s name. Of course, it would be there, he’d cheated the system and written the name in the book of admittance himself thus ensuring Harry’s name would be entered. It’d been a rather clever job of forgery and the admittance book hadn’t rejected it thanks to some rather clever spell work. The ‘boy’ had only been a few weeks old at the time, and the registry never allowed a name to be added until the individual was around the ages of ten to twelve. All depending on the magical development of the individual. Older students were becoming more common these days, and it was exceedingly rare for anyone’s name to be added before the age of ten. Dumbledore had cheated the system in order to show people that Harry’s name was indeed in the book.

Dumbledore looked at the name with a look of horror. The enchanted quill had run a long thick line right through the name.

Dumbledore was stunned. Harry’s name had been scratched out and with it his last hope that Harry Potter did indeed exist. He cast a finding spell and discovered Aerie Lilly Potter in among some of the more recent entries. A variety of questions began to pop up in his mind. Had the boy who lived been a fraud all along? Had he died and, no that couldn't be right, his tracking spells were still good… weren’t they? Had he placed the tracking spells on the wrong child? Had Hagrid retrieved the wrong child?

Dumbledore wanted so desperately to grab at something. So back down to his office he went. He was quite out of breath as he inspected the various magical devices that let him know if Harry was happy or sad. Or what kind of health he was in. They all showed Harry to be healthy, just a bit anxious, and moderately murderous. Which were perfectly normal readings. Dumbledore had placed his spells on the child Hagrid had retrieved. Had the Potters lied about the gender of ‘the boy’ suggesting they hadn’t fully trusted him, or could this girl be a twin the Potters hadn’t told anyone about? Might Hagrid have simply retrieved the wrong baby? One thing Dumbledore could be certain of was that Harry Potter if he had ever existed, was long gone.

“What have I done?” Dumbledore said softly, went to his chair at his desk, and sat heavily. The realization that Dumbledore himself had marked the Potters by ensuring that name was entered into the book, and bragging about it, struck hard. Aerie was a girl, and therefore the prophecy could not have been about him … her, at all. Harry was gone with a simple line of enchanted ink and with him all Dumbledore's plans and aspirations. Had Harry Potter been nothing more than his own concoction, he asked himself? Had the Potters told him Aerie and all he heard was Harry because that’s what he wanted to hear? A boy to sacrifice for the sake of a prophesy he himself manufactured?

Once news began to leak out it would shake the wizarding world to its core. As for the prophecy, it now fit any number of individuals whose families had defied the Dark Lord.

Comments

[harts fire]

and so Dumbledore's plans are slowly burning to the ground.. hold on let me grab a can of fuel to help ,,,,put out the fire.

i love this chapter ..

[badninja]

I hope the real chosen one will be Neville.

[Da Fennec]

Depending on the type of news day coupled with the 'find' under the house Dumbledore will be lucky if its only a dozen other papers within a few days. The only saving grace will be over time it wouldn't be on the front page.

Wonders about other Wizarding papers while we've only seen 'The Daily Prophet' and 'Quibbler' can't help but wonder if there aren't other papers in US and other locations

[Da Fennec]

11344445 Well in the canon of the books it could've been

[KittyrinnAiko]

11344514
Nevil killed the snake.

And I hear his relatives grow a mighty fine pipeweed.

[Da Fennec]

11344642 He did at that though is that how history will play out in the future? Only the author might know at this point

[KittyrinnAiko]

11344729
I might not even bring the snake in as a character. Nagini was like a last-minute Horcrux. One that was extremely risky because it insured Riddle's mortality should all the others be destroyed. Which begs the question, did he have feelings for her? Why did he intentionally choose a living Horcrux knowing the danger?

[Wagooigi]

11345056
Nagini was a human turned snake thanks to a curse(I think) turned into horocrux plus nagini who btw was a familiar basically tommy boy's Hedwig so really due to those facts it's your choice personally I would just keep her in as she is evidence of voldies's desperation to stay alive as he felt the pain of his horocruxs being destroyed one by one so it makes sense to keep nagini.

[Wagooigi]

11345056
Also that Nagini's death was a defining point for Neville as he proved his bravery as remember he always felt he didn't belong in Griffindore at all and was always afraid by not adding nagini you take away that defining moment in the story.

[KittyrinnAiko]

11345105
Neville will have his moments.

It's just that, Nagini may never factor in given the way I'm approaching the story. I've got a headcanon that Voldemort must have a whole body before he can split his soul again. Nagini wasn't made into a Horcrux until after Voldemort's Horcruxes started getting destroyed. And Petter is presently a rat in a cage. Granted that even though rats can chew through quite a bit, it could take a while, and without Petagrew to help Voldemort, Voldemort isn't likely to get his body back any time soon.

If Aerie can obtain and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes he's done. There's just one snag, canonically it's Dumbledore who locates the ring.

[Wagooigi]

11345856
Ok fair but what about the cursed human bit or is that just fanon?

[KittyrinnAiko]

11346150
You'll need to be a bit more specific. Nagini had a blood curse responsible for her turning into a snake. And then there are all the people who are werewolves with no cure. Even Quirrel is cursed by Voldemort's possession of him. Fandom has cursed just about every character at some point.

[uis]

Weather's Horrible. Hope yer well.

Hope yer as well

[Kentavritsa]

11376710
Now, wouldn't this have been the perfect line for this missive?

[Oblivionwalker]

I just love how dimbledork is having a near full mental breakdown.

[Dontar]

re-reading from the start yet again and I saw this

On her third drip, she dug out what looked to be the driest, went back inside, and added that to the coals of the now dwindling fire.

I think that should be third trip

>.>

half asleep and finding typo's left by the Typo Daemons