Chapter 2
She woke up to a start, heaving hard and breathless.
The first thing she noticed was a tickling feeling in her chest, one that swirled and moved fluidly in her upper chest.
The second was that it was a pitch-black sky outside.
The third was the hard gravel underneath her.
The fourth? The fact that there shouldn’t be gravel or darkness and that she shouldn’t be outside.
She really should’ve been smeared into a grease stain on the floor of the museum with newspapers flooding the streets.
Tragic News! Death of young 11-year-old Persephone Flammia on school trip by faulty chandelier!
She looked down at herself to assess the damage.
There wasn’t a scratch on her.
What was there, however, was smooth tanned skin with fittings of beauty marks scattered about where her arm should be.
That isn’t my arm, she thought, feeling lightheaded.
She looked at her leg.
It wasn’t her leg.
She took deep breaths, trying to stop herself from hyperventilating.
Then, she squinted and looked around.
It was so dark that she could barely see a thing, even with the dim streetlights lighting up the street.
'Was I in Heaven?'
It didn’t seem like this was Heaven to Persephone.
If it was where was everyone?
Why was she in a different body?
A wave of grief and confusion and another feeling she couldn't place, perhaps insanity, crashed over her.
Gone. I was gone. She thought. No matter if I was in Heaven or not, I was gone.
It was such an odd feeling, being so untethered and unattached, free of everything no matter if she wanted to be or not. It was funny in a sick way. It was funny in the way psychopaths joked, and sick in the way Persephone was going to lose her absolute mind.
I have lost everyone I know and love all at once. Even fucking Marissa.
She felt utterly numb.
Even the warm tickling feeling, a foreign, almost comforting feeling, dimmed down.
She lifted herself from her sitting position on the curb and started to walk aimlessly, hoping that eventually she’d find a gas station or something and find out what was going on.
It didn’t take long for her to get to a main road. It was much brighter there and she could clearly her surroundings.
It seemed to be a run-down old street with a couple of old houses littering the edge of the road.
Yet, there was a gas station placed a little ways down, the bright sign leading the way.
She ran to the gas station. She couldn’t walk.
The suspense nearly killed her again.
Once she got there, she stopped before the glass door, head down with her chest heaving.
'I really needed to start doing cardio or something,' she thought bitterly.
She looked up and the reflection that looked back shook her.
The face looking back at her wasn’t her face.
It was the face of the Persephone statue, but younger somehow. She couldn’t see the beauty she saw in it before. All she saw was a cruel joke.
Her hair wasn’t red anymore, but a deep dark black that was a mass of curls like her old hair.
Her skin was tan and littered with freckles and her eyes were a dark brown.
'At least my eyes are the same,' she thought.
She was wearing a thin white dress that went down to her knees and made her realize how frigid it was outside.
'Keep on moving. Keep on moving,' she thought.
She put her fingers to her temples, massaging out a forming headache with her face surely her face screwed up.
The man inside the store that she just happened to realize was there gave her a deeply concerned look.
She suddenly realized just how she looked. Like a lunatic.
She blinked twice before opening the door.
She walked over, with a false calm confidence, to the man at the counter.
“What day is it?”
She asked as politely as she could.
“July 20th, 1991?”
The man said confusedly.
Before she could process what he said, the next words slipped out of her mouth.
“You’re British!”
He looked at me in utter bewilderment.
“We’re in England, Miss?”
She gaped at him for a good 10 seconds, before walking out the door as if her legs were on autopilot.
She walked down the street once again, walking aimlessly.
Her mind was going 100 miles a minute and yet she couldn’t form a single thought.
She sunk to a random curb and put her head in between her legs.
'Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Breathe in, breathe ou-'
A screeching noise jumped her out of her mantra and she looked up in confusion.
About 10 feet from her head was a fucking owl with a letter between its beak.
'What the actual fuck-'
She screeched, much like the owl did about 30 seconds ago, but the owl just swooped over her head, making her flinch before it left.
It had dropped the letter on her lap.
She picked it up with shaky hands and promptly dropped it again once she saw the Hogwarts seal, proud and glaring red.
She blinked again, almost certain she was on a prank show, except-
She was in a different body in England, it was 1991 and an owl just dropped her Hogwarts letter off.
'Was I in the universe of Harry Potter?'
She waited for the rush of excitement, but nothing.
There was no childlike wonder or happiness in store for her.
She feared the fact that she just died might be screwing with the part of her brain that dealt with child-like wonder and happiness.
She could be magical, but she just felt the cold air against her legs and wished that she was home.
Her Mom would’ve been ecstatic. She was the one who shoved those books at Persephone from the moment she could breathe, the one who had a Harry Potter marathon religiously every other month.
She missed her so much. Her and Dad.
And honestly, she was slightly praying it was real nonetheless, that she wasn’t hallucinating.
It would at least lessen the sting of dying and being stranded god knows where. Because now, both god and Persephone knew where she was.
And if she was in the world of Harry Potter, if she was a wizard, it at least gave her some semblance of guidelines. The knight bus was the first thing she needed.
It was also a good way to test if this was real.
She also specifically remembered there being beds supplied, and heaven knows she needed a bed.
The trusty book stated that a witch or wizard needed to hold out their wand arm to summon it, yet she didn’t have a clue which arm it was, if she had one at all.
With a shrug, she wildly waved her arms in front of her, hoping something would heed the call.
She stood there for 30 seconds waiting patiently before she cursed at the sky. Her thoughts ran rampant.
'What if you needed a wand to call the knight bus?'
'What if I wasn’t a witch?'
'What if my only sense of direction in this place is fucking stripped?'
She almost died a second time when seconds later the knight bus showed up in front of her.
The fact that this was real hit her and a wide smile overtook her face, igniting the previous spark of excitement that was previously absent.
I was a motherfucking witch!
A pang of guilt hit her in the stomach, and her mood soured. You just lost everything, she thought. How could you possibly be happy? Really, the emotions of a dead 11-year-old were unlike anything you had ever known. Unless you've been a dead 11 year old of course.
She climbed onto the bus full of happiness and guilt and tiredness, completely ignoring anyone there, not out of rudeness but sheer exhaustion, and collapsed onto a bed, falling quickly asleep.
Her eyes shuttered open, to blinding light, as she lifted her head groggily, the events of last night hitting her like waves. Panic also hit, but she calmed herself down.
'Just roll with it Persephone. Roll with it, and breathe.'
A young man around 20ish years old made eye contact with Persephone before shouting something.
“Oi Ernie! She’s awake!”
The British accent continued to jar her.
“Well, Missy,”
The young man spoke jovially, directed at Persephone.
“You came on here in quite an exhaustion, eh? I’m Stan Shunpike, conductor of the Knight bus. Where would you like to be transported?”
This was Stan Shunpike. He was the first character she’d seen so far, and it was definitely going off of books, not movies, for this guy was not the same looks-wise as movie Stan, although they do have the same mad glint in their eye.
“What time is it?”
She asked sleepily. Her head was still not completely in the game.
“8:30.”
He stated plainly.
“What time do shops at Diagon Alley open up?”
“6:00.”
The girl grinned.
“Can I go to Diagon Alley please?”
“Certainly! Ernie, Diagon Alley!”
Stan answered cheerfully.
The bus lurched, and she nearly flew off her seat, while Stan pulled out a newspaper like it was nothing.
She was thrown around a bit before she got the hang of the rhythm of the bus and settled down.
She hadn’t opened her letter, and still really had no money. She thought that Hogwarts might have funds for kids who are lesser off but she really didn’t know how to access them.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
( Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Flammia,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st.
Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall
She touched the letter with disbelief.
She still couldn’t believe it. She also couldn’t believe that they knew her name and that she existed here.
Maybe it automatically added her to a system as soon as she came into this body? She vowed to think about it later.
She moved onto the list.
She scanned it, and at the bottom was a footnote that answered one of her imposing questions.
*We have been informed that you require a school fund. You have been granted access to Hogwarts Vault 289. If you show your designated banker at Gringotts this letter, they will escort you to your vault and instruct you to take out 25 gallons.
Gringotts. The word made her smile because of the surrealness. It was actually unreal.
“Diagon Alley!”
Stan Shunpike shouted as we halted to a stop.
Persephone took that as her cue to get off.
“Thank you Mr. Shunpike!” She yelled as she was getting off the bus.
He grinned.
“Call me Stan, strange kid!”
The bus left and she was on yet another curb alone outside the infamous leaky cauldron.
It was a back alley where the knight bus dropped her off. The only sign of the leaky cauldron at all was an old beat-up sign plastered above an old rickety door.
She headed in, and her eyes immediately started to adjust to what they saw.
It was dark and foggy in the building, but otherwise, it seemed like what anyone would assume was a proper pub.
She scanned the room trying to find her best bet to get into Diagon Alley. She would need a wizard to do it and preferably one who was helpful enough that they didn’t need a story. She wasn’t mentally prepared to cook up a sob story this early in the day.
The bar was a long counter, and there was a tall man who had greying hair and looked particularly cheery and helpful.
Bingo, she thought.
“Hello, could you please help me get into Diagon Alley? I’m a bit confused.”
The man looked at me, and his twinkly blue eyes shocked me.
Apparently, something about her shocked him too because he raised his eyebrows while he spoke.
“Did you get separated from your parents Miss?”
He asked, his voice thick with concern.
Yes, she thought. I got hit but a light fixture and now I’m suddenly a witch. The thought of saying that out loud was absurd.
She debated lying point blank, saying that her parents were in Diagon Alley but she was stuck here, but she decided to stick with the truth, because well, why not?
“No, I am here shopping on my own. I got my letter last night, so I took the knight bus here, but I don’t know how to get in.”
He looked at her with shock.
“Well, where are your parents?”
Now was a good time to lie, she thought.
“They died last year after we moved here from America.”
I’m really too good at this, she thought. My lie even explains my American accent.
He looked at her with sympathy before speaking.
“I’m sorry about your parents. Do you not have a guardian?”
She blinked twice, before deciding on the next thing to say.
“I’m homeless.”
Technically true.
“Homeless?”
He questioned, and looked as if his brain short-circuited before he shook his head slightly.
He mumbled to himself a bit before his face hardened in determination.
He yelled something about shifts to a back room that she couldn’t quite make out.
“What’s your name Miss?”
“Persephone Flammia”
“Well Persephone, seeing as though you’ve never been here before, and you need supplies for school, I’ve taken it upon myself to take you school supply shopping. I’ll obviously have a room prepared for you, at least until you get to school.”
He pinned her with a stern look, daring her to say no.
“You don’t have to-“
His eyes narrowed and she promptly shut her mouth.
Secretly she was so grateful for the offer that she nearly burst into tears. Dying is so damn stressful. She tried to think of the nothing that she owned or had, including a place to sleep, and she could think of nothing better than to stay here, with access to the entirety of Diagon Alley.
A thought struck her head suddenly.
“Your name wouldn’t happen to be Tom, right?”
He looked flabbergasted.
“How did you..?”
“Wild guess.”
She grinned. This was Tom the bartender then.
“Well Mr. Tom, I would greatly appreciate it if you could accompany me!” Persephone said giddily, in a wondrous mood. Thoughts of pretending to be a seer flooded her mind. Really, she could have too much fun with this.
“You can call me Tom, Ms. Flammia.”
Tom said, a warm smile on his face that made him look positively grandfatherly.
“Then you can call me Persephone! Wait no! Call me Persie!”
She said in a rush, her face getting a bit hot as she talked at a rapid speed.
He nodded solemnly, with a twinkle in his blue eyes.
“A fine name indeed.”
The slight posh tone that was added to his voice didn’t go unnoticed by her, and she laughed as he led the way to the back room where she assumed the entrance to Diagon Alley was.
The guilt hit her again, but it was a topic she would press further, later.
He clicked his wand against a couple of bricks in a wild pattern, something Percie didn’t catch at all.
The solid brick wall suddenly shifted and she was left with the most glorious sight she’s ever witnessed.
If she wasn’t sure magic existed, she would’ve been absolutely certain then.
Entire streets were jampacked together with colourful stores and the people on the cobblestone streets were doing casual magic like levitating shopping bags.
The movies did nothing to hold Diagon Alley to justice, the sheer size of it rivalling the biggest shopping mall you’ve ever seen. The number of stores was severely downsized in the movies as well, with stores from everything to beauty stores to stores dedicated to camping.
Everything was sunny and an explosion of colour. If she died again, it would all be worth it after laying her eyes on this absolute heaven.
Tom seemed to notice her awe and chuckled.
“Never seen quite a sight like Diagon Alley, eh? Well, the best course of action is to get your books first which is at the end of the street. Then, since you know where everything is we can head back and spilt up to get everything on the list in under an hour. Finally, we can head over to Ollivander’s.”
He spoke his plan determinedly, with hand gestures pointing to the ways he was talking about.
She felt a twinge of guilt. He probably had a time limit for a break, and here she was talking up his time to get him to help her shop.
She quickly crushed that guilt.
'It’s only this one time.' She reasons with herself.
“Ok! Let’s go! I think we’ve got to go to Gringotts first to get my school fund though.”
She said to Tom, going to walk forward before he put his hand in front of her.
“Uh no. I’ll pay for your school stuff.”
He said with a stern frown.
Percie matched his frown as she looked up at him.
“You’re already guiding me around Diagon Alley and offered me a room a the Leaky Cauldron. Free! I’m not letting you pay for my things when I have a perfectly reasonable school fund waiting at Gringotts!”
She attempted to lecture him, however a twinkle became prevalent in his eyes, which made her falter in the slightest.
“But you’re a homeless orphan.”
He said so carefreely that her jaw dropped.
She quickly shut it.
She then went to argue his extremely weak point but he interrupted her.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with being one, but it does give me a completely free card to spend as much money as I want on you.”
It went back and forth for a while, with Percie finally compromising by agreeing to let him pay half for her school supplies.
She took notice of the smug grin he pointed at her but pointedly ignored it.
They walked down the street, and Percie marvelled at some of the shops.
Magical didn’t even begin to describe them.
Shops filled with colourful animals, joke shops, a quidditch store that was filled entirely with people.
She was so entranced that she didn’t even notice when they got to the bookstore.
It was grand, yet rather dusty, but it was the one shop that she saw that remotely looked like the movie adaptation. A large curving staircase was plastered against one wall, and it led up to the second floor and then extended further to the third floor. To her amazement, books were flying around the store like birds, with employees casually plucking the books from the air and handing them to customers.
Tom led Percie to the back, where rows upon rows of bookshelves were placed.
“Since you’re a first year, books are really half the supplies you need. After that, I’ll go get your cauldron and paper and quills, and you get your animal then we’ll meet up, and head back. Sadly, we can’t get your wand and robes because they are closed on the weekends.” Tom explained, nodding his head like he was checking off a list.
She was bewildered.
“I thought that animal companions weren’t mandatory?”
“They’re not.”
“Well then why am I getting one?”
Tom glared at her.
“Well you have extra money, don’t you? Pets are great. And wicked useful for transfiguration.”
Truthfully there was nothing she wanted more than a magical animal, so she clamped her mouth shut and tried to ignore the rush that was pumping in her veins.
She didn’t remember a single book on the list, so she was stuck trailing behind Tom like a lost puppy as he threw books back at her.
At the end of five bookshelves, she had a stack of books that she could barely see over.
Wordlessly, Tom waved his wand and the books floated midair.
She gaped at the casual display of magic.
“Alright,” he said to her, looking sternly. “The magical companion’s wing is around the corner. It’ll take me around an hour to pick up the rest of your stuff, so don’t be rushed in picking one. Owls are practical, but cats are also good. Just no toads, alright? Reptiles freak me out.”
She nodded solemnly, knowing full well that if she found the one true toad for her she would totally buy it.
The suspicious look he gave her confirmed that he knew it too.
Tom strode to the checkout, quickly placed the books in a shopping bag, and levitated the shopping bag near his head.
He cheerfully whistled as we left the store. Her eyes were still caught on the somewhat nostalgic bookstore, and she promised herself that she would further explore the place later. Who knows the magical skills just waiting to be learned?
Tom saw her lingering eyes as we reached the cobblestone, and he chuckled brightly.
“An academic, are we? Perhaps you’ll make it to Ravenclaw.”
She decided to play it safe.
“What’s Ravenclaw?”
He looked at her in shock before shaking his head. “I forgot you’re from America. It’s one of the houses at Hogwarts. There are four. It’s like the houses at Ilvermorny, the American School.”
She nodded along, pretending that it was all new information to her.
“What are the other three?” She asked.
“There’s Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, the one I mentioned earlier, and Hufflepuff. I was in Hufflepuff back in by day.”
“Cool! And you think I’ll make it to Ravenclaw?”
Percie had taken many house sorting tests back in her day, but the answers were all jumbled. She was genuinely curious about what house she’d be in.
“Possibly,” he said with a shrug. “No one really can predict the outcome.”
She thought about it as we continued to walk towards the magical managerie section. She guessed it was true. Everyone expected Harry Potter to be in Gryffindor, yet he was nearly in Slytherin.
The sudden thought of the protagonist nearly had her stopping in the middle of the street.
It was odd to think about Harry Potter. His name was practically a household name back home for Percie, and she had a particular insight into his thoughts through reading the books over and over again. She thought it was somewhat invasive. It’s hard to believe that him and everything he went through was real.
Her eyes widened as she came to the conclusion that not only is the world of Harry Potter real, but everything bad that happened is real too. Fuck.
“You alright there kiddo? You look like you just got the shock of your lifetime.”
Tom asked me, concerned.
She glanced up and forced a bright smile on her face. This had to be a topic to focus on later.
“I’m alright Tom! Sometimes magic shocks me.”
He snorted.
“Me too kiddo.”
It was silent for a moment, almost peaceful listening to the jumbled voices on the streets. Then, as graceful as a girl dying by a falling chandelier, she tripped.
“Ow.” She groaned on the street way.
Tom just laughed at her as he reached out his hand.
Percie took it, stumbling to get up.
“Well, we’re here! I’m going to go get your other supplies. Pick out a nice pet, why don’t you? Don’t get lost either!”
He then threw a sack of coins at her, and walked away, whistling and laughing to himself.
Subconsciously, her eyebrow raised. Man, wizards were weird.
The realization that he just threw his own money at her hit, and she groaned. She vowed to pay him back.
She looked up at the three-story building, and the sight was so beautiful that her eyes almost watered. They seriously underplayed Diagon Alley in the movie.
Hundreds of different coloured owls sat on perches placed on the building, hooting softly. A bright blue owl in particular had a very low-pitched hoot. Delicate silver cages were placed on the display, with small vibrantly coloured songbirds singing.
It was tempting Percie to get a songbird and look like a Disney princess at all times, but the image it conjured was a bit overkill.
She walked through the door and was shook again.
If you imagined the entirety of Macy’s department store x2, you would have a close estimate of how huge the menagerie was.
Percie’s guess was a heavy use of expansion charms.
The walls were covered in delicately painted trees and fauna that seemed to move and sway. There were so many sections of different types of animals that it made her eyes hurt.
She decided then and there that she didn’t want one of the standard three pets. She would probably see them at Hogwarts, so a different pet would be fun.
She immediately headed over to the kneazle section.
Yet, somehow, SOMEHOW, there was a ‘discontinued selling’ sign on all of the cages.
She dejectedly started browsing.
'Insects? A magical mosquito that does my bidding is tempting, but no.
Rats? Hell, no.
Fat, pink hamster? Possibly.
Parrot? Probably too obnoxious. So high possibility.
Niffler? Fuck yea, highest possibility yet.
Spider? No.
Bats? No.
Fish? No.
Snakes? N-'
She stopped her steady walking pace and peered down at the scaly animals.
They were brightly coloured in yellows, blues, and greens, and the soft hissing was shockingly therapeutic.
She looked at the sign on the cage.
‘Perangila Brazil Snakes: non-poisonous, loyal to owner. Do not pet.’
She secretly wondered how the snakes knew who their owner was.
Suddenly, a deep red snake slithered out of the cage and started to curl around Percie’s leg.
She panicked briefly, thinking it was trying to eat her, and the tickling feeling in her chest seemed to flicker and curl its way down her body. Somehow, her leg was set on fire.
She screamed, and the people around her screamed, but the snake was not deterred, staying firmly on her fiery leg.
The leg was steadily on fire, yet Percie’s skin was not burning. Was this magic? Did I do this? Is that what that off feeling was? She thought in awe.
She was like this for a moment, and then realized that this happened in a store, and suddenly freaked out again.
What happens if I get kicked out of a store? What happens if I get kicked out of Diagon Alley?
“Woah, Woah, Woah, What’s going on here?” A pretty lady with dark skin and vibrant green hair asked the crowd formed.
Apparently, in Percie’s shock, a large group of customers gathered in a circle around her, keeping their distance, yet desperate to get a look at what caused such a commotion.
Her foot was still on fire. Ignorance and bargaining skills are the only ways to go, she thought weakly.
“Umm, excuse me?” She asked hesitantly.
The lady’s eyes zeroed in on Percie’s voice and she took in the scene in front of her. She blinked repeatedly in disbelief. Percie took this as an opportunity to explain herself. “So, your snake suddenly escaped and went around my leg, and I guess I haven’t learned magic yet, so I kind of went into accidental magic survival mode?”
The saleslady blinked again, before groaning and dropping her head to her hands.
“Unbelievable..” she muttered. She smiled a bit strained at Percie. “Sorry, about this, I don’t even know how he got with the Perangila Brazil Snakes, and it’s weird that he’s so clingy. He’s harmless really,” she paused. “Unless you got bit, and then you might develop a fever.”
The crowd started to disperse, and the flames on Percie’s foot died down. The snake was still firmly wrapped around her foot, yet now with a somehow blissful expression on its face. Percie didn’t know that snakes could be blissful.
“Uh, no, I didn’t get bitten,” A thought struck her, and she started to get hopeful. “Um, if he’s not a Perangila Brazil Snake, what is he? Is he for sale?”
The sales lady looked at her in shock. “You want to buy the little demon? Umm, he’s a Peruvian Firebed. They like fire and are fireproof. Their scales are pretty valuable, and they shed them once a month, so mostly apothecaries buy them. They are pretty loyal but temperamental like crazy.” She looked at Percie curiously. “This one is tricky but it seems to like you. They need to live in an area surrounded by fire, but since you probably don’t know any fire spells, you would need a fireplace or an oven.”
Percie could tell that her eyes were gleaming, and the Peruvian snake seemed to be able to tell, because it slowly made its way up to her torso, and nuzzled her hand. So. Cute.
She decided then and there that she wanted this snake.
“How much?” Percie asked, determined.
The saleslady looked at Percie hesitantly. “20 galleons.”
Percie dug into the coin pouch and scrambled for 20 gold coins. She winced when she only came up with 15.
She looked up at the saleslady hopefully.
She narrowed her eyes at the young girl before sighing.
“Alright kid, 15 gallons. I’ll give you a discount since he likes you so much."
Percie beamed at her before shoving the money in her hands. “Thanks, lady!”
She raised an eyebrow at Percie, before mumbling under her breath, “Weird kid..”.
Percie blissfully ignored the last comment and happily walked outside.
The beaming sun hit her face and warmed her body, as she promptly sat down on the small curb and brought her attention to the crimson snake.
He was curling around her arm at this point, softly hissing. She debated the likability of smuggling him under her school robes. A fever-inducing snake was probably not going to make the cut for approved pets.
He looked up at Percie, cocked his head and slightly hissed curiously. She decided that she would totally die for this snake, and that of course he was coming with her.
Just what to name him…
“What in the bloody hell is that Percie?!” A voice suddenly shrieked.
She looked up to see Tom with panic in his eyes, pointing at the snake.
“It’s my pet!”
“I thought I said no snakes!”
“You said no toads?”
“Forget Ravenclaw, you’re a bloody Slytherin.”
He mumbled those last words, and Percie grinned subconsciously.
She wondered how many people she could freak out with the snake…
The snake seemed to agree with her, grinning back.
“Is it poisonous?” Tom’s words brought her back to reality.
“Nope, only fever-inducing!” She said, grinning.
He gave her the blankest stare ever before mumbling about insane kids.
“So do we go back now, or..?” Percie said.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “I wish I could get you some clothes but most clothing stores are closed Saturday, and it’s better to buy it all in one go.” He scanned her, looking up and down. “Veronica probably has some extra clothes you can borrow. It might be a bit big though.”
She nodded along, not really knowing who Veronica was.
“Thanks, Tom!” She smiled at him.
He ruffled Percie’s hair.
“No problem kiddo.”
They walked back the rest of the way in comfortable silence, Percie skipping, her snake softly hissing, and Tom getting repeatedly jump-scared by the red snake.
“Here’s your room, Percie,” Tom said with a jovial, albeit tired, grin.
“Clothes are on the bed, supplies are on the desk, and the fireplace is over there.”
When she told him that her snake was a Peruvian Firebed, he nearly tripped and fell. Apparently, they happen to be rare, and fifteen gallons for one was the discount of a lifetime. It made Percie very suspicious about just how temperamental her snake really was.
Percie gently unravelled the scarlet snake from her arm as she walked to the fireplace. She gently set him down on the carpet in front, and he immediately rushed to the warm flames and curled into a ball.
Something on the prongs of the fireplace caught her attention.
“Hey, Tom?” She asked over her shoulder to where he stood. “What are these symbols?”
He looked to where Percie was pointing. “Those are ancient ruins. They’re symbols that directly have and mean different magical properties. If you take ancient ruins in year three, you’ll learn about them. The ones on the prongs are really simple ones. They mean longevity and a couple of other things I think. They’re there so the fire doesn’t burn out.”
Her attention was peaked. This was a form of magic that was never explained in the books.
“Couldn’t they use a charm for that?” Percie asked curiously.
“Probably, but those have to be renewed often. Technically, the fireplace is a magical artifact since it has ruins on it. Magical artifacts sustain themselves, and only really stop or get messed up when the ruins fade.”
That was interesting to Percie, sustainable magic. She wondered if it was something similar to AI, if it could have a mind of its own if it was self-sustaining. Brooms were probably categorized as magical artifacts, and they could like or dislike a person, could they not?
“Huh,” she said, shocked at a whole branch of magic that she knew nothing about.
Her knowledge of the books only brought her so far, yet somehow farther than anyone else.
Her eyes flickered to Tom, and she briefly wondered if he died at the hands of Voldemort. The idea made her throat choke up.
“Well, good night Tom! I’m going to go to bed, I’m fairly tired.” Percie wasn’t tired at all, but she needed to be alone to think.
“Ok, kiddo. G’night!”
Tom left, and Percie sunk on the bed.
'I know every major thing that’s about to happen in the future.'
The thought had her scared. Everything could be depended on her. If she meddled, she could screw things up worse than they got.
Voldemort could win.
Then she thought to every character that died. Sirius. Remus. Dobby. Fred. Moody. Hedwig. Lavender Brown. Dumbledore. Snape. Maybe even Tom the Bartender.
She couldn’t leave them alone to die. So she needed to be strategic about this.
She stood up and walked to where there was a brand-new quill and parchment on the desk, wonkily, she wrote:
The Plan based on Foreseeable Events
Year 1.
Quill writing was harder than she thought. She made a mental note to buy a pen.
Anyways, if she wasn’t going to affect anything more than necessary, it was better that year 1 remain untouched. There were no major consequences that happened in year 1, and affecting anything could lead to the golden trio not being formed. That would be catastrophic.
Year 2. Also not necessary to affect anything. It would be bad actually, since a Horcrux gets destroyed.
Year 3. Maybe? It could free Sirius, which could prevent his death. But Buckbeak would die. It would be hard to prevent his death while also preventing Sirius, and there was no way of telling if the Ministry would allow a retrial if he didn’t even get a trial in the first place. No one dies in the original book.
Year 4. Voldemort rises. Prevent it? No, he would find another way to rise and it would change what I know and what I can prevent. Cedric dies.
Percie thought about how she could prevent Cedric’s death. She couldn’t easily be in the graveyard since you needed to touch the cup...
An idea struck her.
Year 4. Prevent Cedric from getting chosen in the goblet of fire by cheating and getting chosen instead. Research Goblet of fire and magical artifacts. Go to the graveyard and see Voldemort rise. Maybe get a scar to prove he’s risen since there won’t be a death to prove it.
Year 5. Join the order on the basis of seeing Voldemort rise. Prevent Sirius from dying by preventing the trip to the ministry.
Year 6. Prevent Dumbledore from touching the ring? Maybe claim to be a seer and offer an alternative way. Research touch curses. Prevent Draco from being a death eater. Maybe influence him earlier? If the ministry trip doesn’t happen will Draco be punished? Sneak on the trip with Dumbledore and Harry? Destroy the vanishing cabinet.
Year 7. Participate in raid of Harry. Switch dates so Voldemort doesn’t show up? Frame Mundungus so Moody gets a better partner and doesn’t die? Figure out a way to fix George’s ear. Join the Horcrux hunt. Reveal seer status to the golden trio and tell them where Horcruxs are? Previously get the diadem and destroy/take it so battle at Hogwarts doesn’t happen. Prevent Dobby from getting hit by Bellatrix, go to Azkaban and kill her? Protect Fred, Tonks, and Remus from dying.
Percie looked at the scribbled list, determined.
It was a good start and gave her three years of prep time. She wasn’t naïve about her ignorance of magic, nor was she arrogant and firm in her belief that she could fix everything easily. She didn’t know if this world had a predetermined destiny, which could be a possibility with the existence of seers.
She thought for a moment, before drawing a line and making another list.
Topics of Research:
Magical Artifacts: Specifically the Goblet of Fire
Touch Magic in Magical Artifacts: how to counterspell
Seers: how seeing the future and prophecies work
Figure out the flow of magic in me. Wandless magic affinity? Magic sensitivity due to knowing the differences between a muggle and a magical body?
She would probably add to this list as time went on, but her head was already reeling from all the new information. Writing her thoughts down did help slightly to clear her head, but she was still developing a steady migraine.
With one last glance at the magicked fireplace, she got dressed and curled up in bed. The soft crackling of the wood and the tickle in her chest soothed her to sleep.