Harry Silver

“Thank you again Ma’am,” Harrison said as the nun helped unload their belongings onto the trolleys in the station.

“Nonsense my dear,” The nun said with a smile, “Any friend of Harrys is a friend of mine.”

They finished loading their belongings onto a single trolley, neither of them had a significant amount of personal possessions, and placed the two owls on top. The ensemble got a few strange looks but British politeness forbade anyone from actually stopping and saying anything to them.

“Thanks again for the lift,” Harry said to the nun.

“It would have been cruel otherwise. Now Harry I know you said you’ll likely spend the holidays at this new school but you’re always welcome back should you choose otherwise. But until then, have a good term and work hard!”

Harry thanked the nun and she watched as he and Harrison disappeared into the thrall of Kings Cross station.

“So according to the muggleborn handbook Snape gave us we just walk through the barrier between platforms nine and ten right?” Harrison asked.

“Right,” Harry said, “It advised to take a run up to it on your first try.”

“You can go first…” Harrison mumbled as they approached said barrier.

Harry simply gave him a lopsided grin before jogging through the barrier. The moment he was through the all too familiar sounds of the Hogwarts Express filled his ears, the smell of oil and steam ran into his nose and the brilliant sight of the train took up his vision. He slowed for a moment to appreciate it, even after all these years his stomach was riddled with butterflies at the scene.

A moment later he heard the surprised gasp of Harrison behind him. Harry had to suppress a snort as the sheer unbridled awe on Harrison’s face, his slack jaw and wide eyes as he took in the Hogwarts Express.

“You want me to take a picture?”

Harrison’s jaw snapped shut and he glared at Harry as they pushed their carts forward. The nuns had insisted on making sure the pair were early and it showed in how deserted the platform was. Only a few families were scattered about saying goodbye to their children. As Harrison took in the whole scene Harry made mental notes of everyone he could see, The Greengrass’s, a family Harry had never dealt with before, The Diggory’s, a strong potential alley if Harry could keep Cedric alive and of course The Malfoys, the further he could keep away from them the better.

A few people glanced at the pair, it was unusual to see two lone students after all, and Harry noticed Harrison pull his fringe down in an attempt to cover his scar. He sighed to himself, he knew he was exactly the same but the quicker Harrison got used to the attention the better.

The pair clambered onto the train with more difficulty than most due to their combined small stature. But eventually they found a compartment and through a little rigorous teamwork managed to haul their trunks away.

With a sigh they took a seat opposite each other and both ideally watched out of the window as the platform started to fill with wizards and witches. Harry had to push down a few emotions which crept up as he spied several people he’d watch die in his own timeline. As the platform quickly became a bustle Harry caught a few words that floated through the open window.

“Did you hear? Apparently Harrison Potter will be attending this year!”

“Potter? Man, I wonder what he’s like.”

“Maybe we can be friends with him!”

Harry watched as Harrison squirmed in his seat, trying to make himself as small as possible. Feeling more than a twinge of sympathy Harry got up and shut the curtains on the compartment door, hopefully that would keep the riff raff out from gawking at Harrison.

“Thanks Harry,” Harrison said with a small smile as he opened up a book in front of him and started to read.

Harry just smiled and fished his dairy out, clicking his pen and starting to make further notes about the upcoming year. All in all he figured he didn’t need to alter the timeline too much at this stage, nobody died or suffered significant injuries this year so really all he had to do was guide Harrison through the year as best he could.

As they sat in comfortable silence the door to the compartment slid open.

“Hey George I think- Ah no, this one is occupied too.”

Harry had to stop himself leaping out of his seat as Fred Weasley looked at him and Harrison briefly before his eyes lit up.

“No way. George, get in here! There’s another set of twins!”

Harry and Harrison frowned as another clump of red hair appeared in their doorway.

“We’re not twins,” Harrison said with a slight frown.

Both the red heads' faces fell.

“Aw man,” Fred said, “So you’re just ordinary brothers?”

“We’re not related,” Harry clarified as George’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Are you sure?” He said, “Because if you match the hair and eyes you two are practically identical.”

“We’re not brothers,” Harry and Harrison said in perfect unison.

Fred and George looked at them suspiciously for a moment before Fred spoke, “Alright… keep your secrets. Anyway, I’m Fred!”

“I thought I was Fred!?”

“And that’s George!”

Harrison snorted slightly, “I’m Harrison.”

“And I’m Harry.”

This time both Weasley twins narrowed their eyes at the pair.

“This is a joke right?”

“Because as the esteemed jokester kings of Hogwarts I’d have to give it a bad review.”

Harrison raised an eyebrow, “Jokester Kings? Is that the best you could come up with?”

“Oh!” Fred said, suddenly affronted, “And I suppose you two could come up with something better?”

“The Prankster Kings has a better ring to it,” Harry commented and Harrison nodded in agreement.

“Alright that’s it!” George snapped, “What are your names brothers-who-aren’t-brothers? So we can put you at the top of our victim list for the year.”

“Harry Silver.”

“Harrison Potter.”

The twins' eyes bugged out as they completely ignored Harry and focused on Harrison.

“No way…”

“Ahem… Perhaps declaring a prank war on The-Boy-Who-Lived on his first day isn’t the best move dear brother.”

Harrison cringed at their words, “Please don’t call me that.”

To their credit the twins withered slightly under Harry’s intense glare and how uncomfortable Harrison looked.

“Fair enough.”

“We’ll just refer to you as the Unofficial Twins!” 

Harry and Harrison glanced at each other in confusion but before either could voice their protest at the nickname the Weasleys Twins disappeared.

“They seemed… odd,” Harrison commented with an amused smile

“I think it’s a twin thing,” Harry said with a shake of his head.

As they returned to a comfortable silence the train started to move forward. Harry glanced outside and watched as they weaved their way through the suburbs of London. He briefly wondered where Ron was but shook his head of the thought, Ron would be more than fine on his own.

Harry wasn’t sure exactly how long had passed by time there was a knock at their compartment door but they’d left the grey buildings of London and were now moving through the green fields of the countryside.

Both boys looked up from their respective books as the compartment door slid open to reveal a pretty young blond girl. She had fair skin and pale blue eyes that scanned the room with trepidation. Harry’s expression fell as he recognised the girl, Daphne Greengrass, eldest daughter of the richest family in wizarding Britain, the Potter, Black and Malfoy fortunes combined didn’t even come close to matching that of the Greengrass vaults. A feat they had largely achieved by remaining neutral, no matter how dire the situation got for either side.

“Excuse me,” Daphne said with a smooth and well practised voice, “I apologise for the intrusion but the compartment I was originally in contained an insufferable brat. You two seem like far better company, would you mind if I joined you?”

Harrison glanced at Harry who shrugged.

“Of course,” Harrison said with a friendly smile, “Miss…?”

“Heiress Daphne Greengrass,” Daphne said, eyeing the two carefully.

Harry frowned but before he could question the confusing greeting Harrison gasped slightly and dived into his rucksack. Daphne and Harry watched in slight amusement as he rummaged around before pulling out a large book, he flipped through the pages which Harry noticed all had notes and bookmarks in them. Finding the page he clearly wanted, Harrison scanned said page before getting to his feet to greet Daphne. As he did Harry glanced at the book title.

Pureblood Traditions of Wizarding Britain

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Heiress Greengrass. I’m Heir Harrison Potter.” Harrison said and took a bow, awkwardly stopping at an angle that wasn’t quite a low bow but was more than a slight gesture.

Daphne’s eyes widened briefly in surprise though she quickly recovered and eyed Harrison up and down, “Your bow is a little too low.”

“Ah… I thought because we’re not in the Sacred Twenty-Eight…”

“That was correct however your um… defeat of The Dark Lord moved you up, you now sit comfortably above the Parkinsons and Notts but just below the Shaklebolts and Abbotts.”

Harry blinked at the strange display, not following any of it.

“Uh… what just happened?” He asked as Daphne and Harrison took back their seats opposite him.

“Ah right,” Harrison said, flustered slightly, “Remember that book Professor Snape gave us on The-Boy-Who-Lived? It mentioned how I was Heir to the Potter name, I did my own research and discovered there’s kind of a system like how Lords work in the muggle world and I’m one of them. I figured I should probably read up on it all and not make a fool of myself and managed to owl order this guide.”

“You weren’t aware of the practices growing up?” Daphne asked, her face failing to mask her surprise.

“Ah no,” Harrison confessed, blushing with embarrassment, “I grew up with my muggle relatives.”

“I see.” Daphne said in a way that made sure not convene how she felt about muggles either way.

“Wait… Why did you bow and she didn’t?” Harry said, pointing an accusatory finger at Daphne which caused the girl to frown.

“There’s a hierarchy,” She snapped back at him, “It’s not set in stone but the Greengrass’s rank among the top families along with the Malfoys and Averys. The Potters, while in the upper echelons, sit further down the hierarchy.”

Harry simply rolled his eyes, he had a vague idea of all this from his previous timeline but never found it important, “Sounds like a bunch of hogwash politics to me.”

“It's tradition and it's how our society is run!” Daphne insisted, her temper showing slightly, “And what, pray tell, family do you belong to?”

Harry gave her a wide toothy grin, “Family? What would I do with one of those.”

He finally appeared to have caught Daphne off guard as her ice cold expression fell and was replaced with awkward shock. As Harry basked in his achievements he felt a crumpled piece of paper hit his head. He turned to glare at Harrison who just rolled his eyes.

“His name is Harry Silver.”

“Silver? That isn’t a name I recognise.”

“I’m a muggleborn.” Harry said and watched Daphne carefully.

“Curious,” She said, “I’ve never met a muggleborn. Pleased to meet you.”

Harry nodded politely and the pair fell into amicable silence as Harrison seemed to let out an audible sigh of relief. All three returned to their books (a potions book for Daphne, defence book for Harrison and his own diary for Harry) as the time passed by in silence.

That was until there was a bang at the compartment door, like someone had punched it. All three glanced around at each other before the bang repeated.

Harry closed his book and got up to investigate (to the slight alarm of his companions) and pulled the door open. As he did he caught a large green object moving swiftly into the compartment. With a fast swipe of his arm Harry caught the object in his hands and raised it out in front of him.

“I have a toad!” Harry declared proudly, causing Daphne and Harrison to glance at each other in concern.

“Ew,” Daphne said and scowled at the green blob of flesh in Harrys hands like it had personally offended her, “Get it out of here.”

“That’s pretty rude,” Harry said with a frown.

“It’s a toad.”

“It has feelings.”

Daphne rolled her eyes and returned to her book as Harrison spoke up, “Maybe it’s someone's pet?”

Harry nodded and stepped out of the compartment, “Probably, I’ll see if I can find its owner. You crazy kids don’t do anything too insane until I’m back.”

Daphne stared at him as Harry closed the door and he was just able to hear her say, “Is he… ok?” before snapping the door shut.

Harry made his way down the train, glancing in various compartments as he went, at least he knew exactly who he was looking for. A few people looked at Harry curiously as he passed by with the toad croaking happily in his hands but without a lightning bolt scar on his head most simply ignored him.

Eventually Harry’s ears were filled with an all too familiar voice, “Excuse me, have any of you seen a toad? Neville has lost his.”

Harry smiled and opened his mouth to respond when another noise made contact with his ears, it was a noise that scratched his very soul, that made his skin crawl and fists clench as it caused his face to form into a deep frown.

“A toad? Who still has a toad as a pet? I assume it’s all you could afford Longbottom?”

Harry glanced into the nearby compartment to find Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger standing just by the doorway, Neville looking embarrassed and Hermione looking rather aghast at words of none other than Draco Malfoy. The blonde prat appeared to look even more smug in this timeline as he sat flanked by his usual cronies Grabbe and Goyle.

“What’s wrong with a toad?” Hermione huffed and despite Harry knowing this wasn’t his exact same Hermione he felt his chest swell at her words, “I read that they’re incredibly useful in potion making.”

“Oh is that why you have one Longbottom?” Malfoy snickered, “So that you don’t blow up you cauldron every other lesson?”

Huh, Harry wondered if maybe losing Trevor during the summer of their second year was why Neville had always remained abysmal at potion making. Before the argument could devolve further Harry walked into the compartment and cleared his throat.

“Hello. I have toad.” He said and held aloft Trevor like he was the Triwizard Cup.

“Trevor!” Neville exclaimed and grabbed the toad from Harry as Hermione gave a relieved sigh.

“Oh good, we found him.”

“Excuse me, why are there a bunch of idiots in my compartment?” Malfoy asked with a deep scowl.

“That’s not a very nice way to speak about your two friends.” Harry said and Crabbe and Goyle blinked in confusion, maybe it was because they didn’t know what friends were.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes and got up off his seat, “Do you know who I am?”

“A prat?” Harry offered and heard Neville suppress a snort.

“Let me guess?” Malfoy drawled, “A muggleborn?”

The word was laced with so much disdain even Hermione frowned. Harry however just gave Malfoy a wide smile.

“Yep! And I’m even an orphan to boot!”

To his credit Malfoy seemed unfazed by Harrys admission and simply scowled even deeper than Harry thought possible on another human being.

“Well then, let me give you some advice. Muggleborns are nothing here while I am everything, pureblooded wizards rule our society while the likes of you and blood traitors like Longbottom are at the bottom.”

Harry felt his fists clench and became very aware of the cold chill of his wand in his back pocket. Part of him wondered if he’d be expelled for stunning Malfoy on the train, another part wondered if muscle memory alone would be enough to cast the spell he was thinking of.

“S-Shove off Malfoy,” Neville managed to stutter but his meekness only caused Malfoy to snicker.

“Come on,” Harry said with a glare at Malfoy, “Let's leave before we catch this guy’s greasy hair.”

“How dare you! You-!”

Malfoy’s rant was cut off as Harry firmly shut the compartment door. 

“What a rude boy,” Hermione said and crossed her arms, glaring slightly at the door.

“He’s always been that way,” Neville mumbled before turning to Harry with a shy smile, “Thanks for finding Trevor by the way, my nan would kill me if I lost him on the first day.”

“No problem,” Harry said and beamed at the pair, “I’m Harry, Harry Silver.”

“I’m Hermione Granger. I’m also a muggleborn!” Hermione held out her hand with a smile which Harry shook with vigour.

“Ah… I’m Neville Longbottom.”

Harry smiled at both and pointed his thumb back the way he came, “If you two fancy we have our own compartment with no blonde prats, though I think everyone is just gonna sit and read.”

Predictably Hermione’s eyes lit up in a near perfect imitation of Dumbledore at the mention of books, “Oh that sounds wonderful! I’ve been meaning to finish Hogwarts: A History for the second time!”

“Ah.. sure,” Neville said, much quieter than Hermione.

Harry led the pair down the train before they returned to his original compartment. Sliding the door open Harry stepped through and indicated to his new guests.

“I bring the fruits of my labour!” Harry said as he slid the door shut behind him and the four other students looked at each other cautiously, “This is Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger.”

Neville and Daphne made eye contact as Neville bowed slightly though not as much as Harrison had, “Heiress Greengrass.”

“Heir Longbottom.”

Hermione glanced between the two with confusion while Harrison’s eyes widened and he fished out his pureblood guide book. Getting to his feet he flipped through the pages as he frowned, “Hello Heir Longbottom, I’m Heir Harrison Potter- um… let me just…”

“The Longbottoms and Potters have been allies for generations, you never bow to each other.” Daphne supplied with a bored tone as she returned to her book.

“Oh,” Harrison said and put his book away, smiling in relief, “Well it’s nice to meet you Neville. And you too, Hermione.”

“Oh… Yeah,” Hermione said, frowning slightly, “What was all that Heir stuff?”

“Wizarding Politics,” Harry said as he collapsed back in his seat, everyone else shuffled into their own seats, Harrison and Daphne opposite the other three, “Apparently these three are heirs to great empires or something.”

“Oh!” Hermione gasped, “I think I saw something about that in a book I read…”

“Muggleborn?” Daphne asked, glancing over her book.

“Yes I am,” Hermione said, squirming under Daphne’s gaze.

“Two in one day,” Daphne said with an amused smile, “I’m all but a blood traitor.”

“Um…” Hermione said and looked to Harry for help.

Harry sighed and reached into his bag, shuffling around slightly before pulling out the muggleborn guide Snape had recommended, “Here, apparently this isn’t standard reading for muggleborns but it's a useful guide. It doesn’t shy away from the darker side of wizarding society.”

Hermione practically ripped the book from Harry's hands, eager to devour new knowledge and started to flip through its pages. Harry chuckled and leant against the side of the train, content to observe the passing scenery. Once again the time passed in silence with Harrison, Daphne and Hermione all reading while Neville seemed to be enjoying the calmness as he patted Trevor.

Said silence was eventually broken by Hermione and a very disgusted-

 “This is BARBARIC!”

Harry glanced over to find her staring at the page with a look of disgust and he peered over her shoulder to read what chapter she was on, “Ah, betrothal contracts.”

“They’re not really all that common these days,” Daphne said without looking up from her book, “Only the very old and prejudiced families practise them. The Malfoys have been trying to get my father to agree to one for years, I think they’re finally on the verge of giving up.”

“Everytime I misbehaved as a kid Nan used to threaten to set one up with the Parkinsons.” Neville said with a shudder, Hermione however failed to see the humour in it.

“That’s completely backwards!”

Daphne finally looked up from her book and frowned, “You don’t have betrothal contracts in the muggle world?”

“Not for a few hundred years,” Harrison said.

“At least in Britain.” Harry commented.

“Interesting,” Daphne said, mulling over the information for a few moments before returning to her book.

Hermione huffed and returned to the book as Harry sighed, “As someone who has done a bit of research on all this Hermione, you’re going to have to accept a lot about the wizarding world is stuck in the past.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Hermione mumbled as she glared down at the pages in the book.

Harry was glad she didn’t catch Daphne’s eye roll, he supposed the muggleborn revolutionist and pureblood princess were never going to be the best of friends.

Hermione turned out to be quite the fast paced reader (unsurprisingly) and had fully read the short guide by the time the trolley lady knocked on their door. For the first time Harry fully understood how Ron had felt for all those years. Something in his chest withered as he watched Harrison, Neville and Daphne pull out large stacks of gold Galleons, even Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out a reasonable handful of coins. If Harry remembered correctly the pound to galleon exchange rate was fairly generous and Hermione’s parents made a pretty sum in the muggle world. She might not have been sat on the sort of fortunes that old wizarding families were but Hermione had always had more than enough money growing up at Hogwarts.

Harry tried not to think about it and returned to observing the outside world. A moment later he felt several things fall into his lap. Looking down he had a Pumpkin Pastie, a few chocolate frogs and a cauldron cake. He glanced up to find Harrison smiling at him with his own pile of sweets and chocolate, at Harry's questioning look he just shrugged. Before Harry could say anything more a box of Berties Every Flavour Beans appeared in his vision.

“For uh… finding Trevor for me,” Neville said with a shaky smile and Harry gladly took the box.

“Thanks Neville.”

With their books down and piles of sweets and cakes on their laps (for the boys, Hermione and Daphne had only bought a pumpkin pastie each) the conversation soon picked up. It mostly consisted of Neville and Daphne trying to explain wizarding culture to Harry, Harrison and Hermione. Well, it was more Neville trying to answer Hermione’s never ending stream of questions with Daphne providing the odd snide comment here and there. Luckily Hermione was too engrossed in gaining new information to be offended. From what she was saying Harry was fairly confident Daphne had nothing against muggleborns however deemed the wizarding world far superior to the muggle one (even though it was evident her knowledge of the muggle world was a century or two out of date).

“So your parliament isn’t elected?” Hermione asked, scandalised at the lack of democracy, “And what about your Prime Minister?”

“I assume you mean The Minister For Magic,” Daphne said with a sigh, visibly tired of explaining everything, “But yes, they are elected through public vote. The Wizengamot however is made up of aords from ancient houses, heads of ministry departments or those gifted seats for great feats in the wizarding world.”

Even Harrison had to frown at that explanation, “That seems awfully corrupt.”

“Perhaps,” Daphne confessed, “But there’s always been a reasonable amount of variation in the seats, it’s difficult for one group to ever gain control and The Minister does wield substantial power over it as they’re also the ones who select the heads of departments.”

“I hated it when I was younger,” Neville said, “But Gran pointed out that our world is different because people have varying levels of magical power. You have to let the old powerful families have some kind of position otherwise they’d constantly try to push their way in through force.”

Hermione's brow furrowed in thought, it was clear she venomously disagreed with the structure but was intelligent enough to understand why the system worked the way it did. The question was whether her unshakable morals would allow for such a system to exist, regardless of its usefulness. Eventually she seemed to decide to simply huff and not make a decision either way.

“So what houses does everyone think they’ll be in?” Harry asked in a very obvious attempt to change the subject, it seemed to work however as even Daphne’s eyes lit up slightly at the thought.

“Well my mother was a Ravenclaw but my father was a Slytherin, I do enjoy reading and learning however… I’m not sure I could survive in a house full of bookworms.” She said and glanced at Hermione.

“Better than being in a house full of snakes.” Neville whispered through it filled the cabin and Daphne turned to glare at him.

“And I suppose you want to be in the house of reckless idiots?”

“At least Gryffindor hasn’t produced any Dark Lords.”

“That’s not true,” Harrison said and interrupted the pair before the argument could devolve any further, “The muggleborn guide told us there has been at least one Dark Lord in the past 500 years from every single Hogwarts house.”

“He’s right,” Hermione said as she flipped through the pages of Harry's copy (which he suspected he was never getting back), “Plus I read that You-Know-Who had supported from all walks of life, so you really shouldn’t discriminate and besides, they’re only school houses, they’re hardly the most important aspect of our lives.”

Harry nearly snorted at the flabbergasted looks Neville and Daphne were giving Hermione, he always thought it was odd how much emphasis the wizarding world put on their school houses, perhaps it was down to their being only one wizarding school but as much as Harry loved Gryffindor he wasn’t sure they were actually any better than the other houses, even Slytherin.

“I think I’d just be happy to be in any of them,” Harrison said, looking a little dejected.

“Please,” Daphne said, “You’re the Boy-Who-Lived, you’ll be worshipped regardless of which house you’re in.”

“I wish people would stop calling me that…”

“It’s you isn’t it?”

“No,” Harrison said a little firmly, glaring at Daphne, “I’m Harrison Potter, that's it.”

“That’s not it and the sooner you deal with that the better it’ll be for everyone.”

“I think Ravenclaw wouldn’t be too bad a house,” Harry said, he was getting good at these obvious subject changes.

“I was thinking the same,” Hermione said, “Gryffindor seems like the best but this book points out every house has negative traits.”

“My whole family has been in Gryffindor but knowing my luck I’ll be lumped in with Hufflepuff.” Neville said and sagged in his seat at the thought.

“I don’t think Hufflepuff sounds too bad,” Harrison said with a shrug, “It’s the house of loyalty and integrity right? Those seem like good traits to me.”

“I suppose,” Neville replied, looking a little less meek about the whole situation.

The conversation continued for the rest of the journey with Harry and Harrison managing to work together to keep the topics away from anything too controversial. Slowly the sun began to set and Hermione and Daphne stepped outside as everyone changed into their robes. The train pulled into the station and the corridors were instantly filled with students of every shape and size. Last time Harry had been at the back of the train were the crowds thinned but this time they were near the front and in the sprawl of limbs, robes and being prodded by wands Harry’s small frame was moved away from the rest of the group and he all but collapsed onto the platform.

“First years! First years over here!”

Luckily even amongst a group of seventh year Hufflepuffs Harry spied Hagrid and quickly made his way over to the gathering first years. He’d lost his friends but that was fine, he knew everything that was going to happen anyway.

At the boats to Hogwarts Harry clambered into the first free one he could find, he was joined by Susan Bones who gave him a small smile and soft hello along with (unfortunately) Grabbe and Goyle who chose to ignore the other pair in the boat and somehow managed to squeeze into the small seat together.

Harry allowed himself a small smile as the castle came into view, Susan and many of the other students around him gasped in awe at the sight, mesmerised as the boats came into dock at the foot of the castle.

As the first years tried to keep with Hagrid who took at least three steps at a time Harry somehow found himself re-joined with Harrison whose face was almost comical.

“This is amazing,” He whispered to Harry who simply nodded.

Eventually they made it to the doors of the great hall where Hagrid handed them off to McGonagall. As the deputy headmistress gave her speech about houses Harry looked over the gathered students, trying to identify if there were any changes like the figure had warned him there might be. He already knew Malfoy was the same and  he noticed a clump of red hair he assumed belonged to Ron and several other people he knew.

The sound of the doors of the great hall closing broke Harry from his trance and he realised the first years had been left alone to chat amongst themselves.

“I still think someone might send me home,” Harrison grumbled and Harry nudged him.

“We’ll have none of that around here.”

Harrison rolled his eyes as a loud voice managed to ring above the crowd.

“Is it true Harrison Potter is here!?” Ron Weasley yelled and Harry had to suppress a curse, he had forgotten how insufferable first year Ron was.

Harrison immediately reached up to cover his fringe and Harry casually stepped in front of him, blocking him from most people’s view. As the crowd all frantically looked around he saw Hermione with her mouth halfway open, however it appeared Daphne had realised what was about to happen and growled something at the girl who promptly snapped her mouth shut with a blush.

“You know they’re about to read your name out in front of the entire school right?” Harry whispered to Harrison, making sure nobody overheard them.

“I know but… just let me have another five minutes.”

Harry shrugged and before anyone could identify The-Boy-Who-Lived the Hogwarts ghosts quickly distracted the gathered group. It wasn’t much longer before McGonagall returned and the nervous group of first years made their way into the great hall.

Well, nervous except for Harry, he figured he was just going to end up in Gryffindor again so took the time to look around the great hall and for the first time noticed a few changes in the student body though nothing too dramatic so far. A quick glance up at the staff table also told him nothing had changed there.

Harry listened patiently to the sorting hats song, practically feeling the nerves pouring off Harrison next to him. And then the sorting began.

Harry watched the scene unfold for the second time with Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones went to Hufflepuff. Slowly Harry watched his classmates be sorted to every house he expected. As he watched them part of his chest squirmed, he’d watched some of these people die, he wouldn’t fail them again. 

Eventually Hermione was called up to the stall. The hat was placed on her head and the waiting began, Harry couldn’t be sure but it felt like it was taking longer than the first time around. According to Hermione her sorting had very much been like his, the hat had leaned towards Ravenclaw but Hermione’s ideals and sense of justice had meant she insisted the hat put her in-

“RAVENCLAW!”

“Huh!?” Harry gasped, luckily the cheers from the room meant nobody but Harrison heard who looked up at him with an amused expression.

Harry shook his head and clapped along with the rest of the room, that was unexpected but he could work with a Ravenclaw Hermione. The Golden Trio might not come to fruition the same way but it wasn’t the end of the world.

Shortly after Hermione, Daphne was sorted into Slytherin, her face void of any emotion as she gracefully hopped down from the stool and made her way over to the table who all greeted her with warm (and some fake) smiles.

A few more students were sorted and then Neville stumbled his way to the front. The hat fell atop his head and Harry waited, Neville had nearly taken as long as he had the first time round so-

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

Harry’s eyes bugged out and he nearly forgot to clap, with each unexpected sorting Harrison looked at him more and more strangely. At least Malfoy’s sorting went exactly the same as before, as did the next set of names until finally…

“Potter, Harrison!” McGonagall called and the hall erupted into hushed whispers.

Harry saw Harrison take a deep breath before making his way forward, more confidently than Harry had. The hat fell over his eyes and Harry could practically feel the great hall take a collective breath as everyone leaned forward in their seats. As the time passed Harry went from the calmest in the room to the most panicked, Harrison would end up in Gryffindor right? It was the Potter house, his house. It made the most sense and going forward would-

“HUFFLEPUFF”

“FUCK!”

Someone next to Harry jumped at his curse despite the near deafening roar of the crowd as several Hufflepuffs leapt onto their seats and danced with joy. Harry turned to the person next to him and gave an apologetic smile before he frowned slightly. Said person had bright pink hair and was glaring at him. He suddenly realised this wasn’t a first year he remembered yet something about her seemed familiar. 

It took a few moments for the hall to calm down and then it was Harry’s turn.

“Silver, Harry!”

Harry practically marched up to the stall, a determined scowl on his face as the hat fell on his head.

“I KNEW IT!”

Harry nearly toppled over as the hat bellowed directly into his ears.

“What? Knew what?”

“HARRY POTTER! I KNEW I HAD SORTED THIS LOT BEFORE!”

“Wha- Wait? You know!?”

“Of course I know!” The hat ranted, clearly not pleased with Harry's actions, “You think you can mess with time and I wouldn’t notice!?”

“But you’re a hat!?” Harry thought, his face scrunched up in confusion.

“I’m part of Hogwarts!” The hat snapped, it sounded rather offended, “And Hogwarts is far too powerful a place to not notice what you did Mr Potter.”

“Hogwarts knows!?”

“Obviously! How do you think you got on the school list this year? You weren’t born in this timeline, Harry Silver didn’t exist until a few weeks ago. You’re lucky Dumbledore doesn’t actually check the list otherwise he’d realise you were a last minute add on.

“Why do you sound so angry?” Harry asked as the hat continued to rant in his ear.

“I’m not angry.”

“Oh.”

“I’m FURIOUS!”

“AH!”

“Do you know what my existence consists of? I spend 364 days a year sitting in the headmasters office listening to him ramble on to himself. Then, for one joyous day a year, I get to delve into young minds and sort them into houses. Each year brings a new set of students and challenges. Except now, because of you, I’ve already sorted this lot and the next 6 lots after that! It’s like reading a book you’ve already finished!”

Harry huffed in the seat, “Well if it’s so boring why are you sorting everyone in different houses! Why isn’t Harrison Potter in Gryffindor?”

“Because unlike when I sorted you, Harrison Potter has already made a friend who he’s fiercely loyal too, hasn’t had people telling him non-stop how great Gryffindor is and has decided his main priority is to protect the few friends he has!”

“Oh…” Harry said dumbly, he’d never considered that even this early on his actions would already have such an impact on things.

“Oh he says! OH?” The hat continued to shout, Harry was starting to get a headache from it all, “You casually rip apart space and time and act like you cast a simple charm, did HE not warn you the timeline would change?”

“Well yes but-”

“Not even Merlin was so callous as to rip apart the fabric of reality!”

“Well if it was such a terrible thing to do then why was it so easy!?” Harry snapped, sure the ritual had been difficult to complete but it wasn’t like it had required years of preparation.

“Because you’re Harry Bloody Potter!” The hat practically screeched, “Any other wizard would have died! But not you! Not The Master of Death, Wielder of The Elder Wand and Boy-Who-Lived! He should have never plucked you out from the timeline if you ask me, you’re a loose cannon!”

By this point Harry had been on the stool far longer than anyone else, in fact by most calculations he was now the longest student to get sorted in nearly two centuries. Whispers had started to spread around the hall as people speculated what had gone wrong, had a squib made it in by accident? Even the teachers started to look nervous as McGonagall kept glancing at Harry. Only Dumbledore continued to smile, seemingly intrigued by the whole thing.

“Well I’m not Harry Potter anymore am I?”

“Your blood remains the same Mr Potter,” The hat said, starting to calm down slightly, “Harry Silver may be your new name but your magic is still that of Harry Potter and the magical world will respond as such.”

“What does that mean?” Harry asked, that didn’t exactly sound convenient going forward.

“It means you do not belong here Mr Potter,” The hat said solemnly, “Quite frankly if he hadn’t protected you the way he did when you arrived you would have been torn apart by all manner of magical creatures due to the way you stand out.”

“What do you mean he protected me? I thought he just kinda… grabbed me from the timeline?”

“He did but… To put it frankly Mr Potter you have an aura that reeks of death, while no wizard or mortal will be aware of it there are magical creatures that will see it.”

Harry sighed, “Great, just when I thought I could pretend to be a normal muggleborn.”

“You are anything but normal Harry Potter.”

“Yeah yeah, can you just finish and put me in Hufflepuff?”

“And what makes you think I’m going to sort you into Hufflepuff!?”

Harry frowned, “So I can guide Harrison?”

“Absolutely not!” The hat insisted, “You’d tear that house apart within the week! You’re far too dangerous for Hufflepuffs.”

“Fine then!” Harry growled in his mind, “Just stick me back in Gryffindor and I’ll work out the rest later.”

“Oh no, we tried that before and look where it got you,” The hat replied and Harry’s stomach dropped.

“No no no, don’t you dare!”

“Ha! Not so bold now are you!”

“Don’t you- Hey! HEY! YOU LISTEN TO ME YOU PIECE OF FABRIC, I’LL BURN YOU TO ASH YOU ANCIENT SON OF A-”

“SLYTHERIN!”

Harry had to use every ounce of willpower he possessed not to let out a string of curse words and mask his face as he unleashed one last torrent of abuse at the hat before McGonagall took it off his head with a relieved look, thankful he had finally been sorted.

The cheers of the room were far more dimmed than when Harrison had been sorted, in fact most of the students (and a good chunk of the teachers) weren’t even clapping rather whispering about the lengthy sorting. All the slytherins made sure to clap politely however as Harry walked over to their table, slightly numb and in shock. He saw the way each one of them was looking at him, calculating who he was and what sort of threat he might be to their hierarchy.

As he walked past the table Harry saw Malfoy and his cronies glaring at him and he quickly walked past that group, he noticed Daphne sat at one end of the table looking at him with no expression but opposite her sat a girl who was practically beaming at him in a very unslytherin like way. She had long brown hair and brown eyes against a backdrop of tanned skin and she was also the only student in the hall cheering for him. Harry made a beeline straight for the girl and sat down next to her.

“Welcome to slytherin,” She whispered to him with a smile which Harry attempted to return given his current state of mind.

“Thanks.”

The attention of the hall quickly turned back the sorting hat and with the attention drawn elsewhere Harry finally let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. At least there wouldn’t be any more surprises for the day.

“Tonks Nymphadora.”

“AW COME ON!”