Summary:Holly Potter wasn't planning on becoming a mind reader or shapeshifter, that was just an accidental side effect of being a witch.
Now, becoming an academically inclined thief with a penchant for badassery? That was fully intentional.
Notes:Inspired by Hazel Potter: The Girl Who Lived To Kick Ass by Sar_KaluInspired by Holly Potter and the Midlife Crisis by EnigmarisChapter 1: A butterfly flaps its wingsSummary:Tea is spilled, Holly accidently reads a mind, impulsively makes a world-altering decision, and finds her calling.
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextTo say that Holly Potter was having an unusual day was something of an understatement. Not that it was unusual for her guardians to yell at her. That was quite normal. So was getting hit.
No, what was unique today was Uncle Vernon's exceptionally bad mood. The words weren't clear, but between hits he was blaming her for something.
You see, earlier that day something happened. Something so ordinary and mundane it seemingly wouldn't matter at all. But like the butterfly flapping its wings and causing a hurricane, this action changed everything.
Today Vernon Dursley accidently bumped into his boss and spilled tea on him.
With his boss in a bad mood Vernon failed to receive a promotion hours later. Naturally, Vernon Dursley blamed this on freakishness from that girl. So he went home and took his temper out on her. Violently.
And after he beat Holly she triggered accidental magic that would change her life forever.
---
As Uncle Vernon stomped away, Holly was suddenly filled with an overwhelming desire to know why. Why did she get blamed for everything? Why did they hate her? Why did she have to live in the cupboard? Why was such a freak? Why was Dudley treated so much better?
Holly stared up at her aunt, wanting nothing more than to pluck the truth from her aunt's mind. The moment that thought occurred to her, she felt a rush of something, and her head was filled with knowledge that wasn't hers. Foreign thoughts flooded her mind and she had her answers.
Her Aunt hated her because she had magic and so did her parents. Not what Holly was expecting but it explained why odd things happened around her.
Holly looked up to see her Aunt rubbing her forehead. Knowing she needed to get out of sight, she forced her body upright and hobbled back into her cupboard. Better to escape now before she could be blamed for anything else.
Back in the cupboard, she wrapped her arms around her legs and thought over her new knowledge.
The Dursleys hated her, that she had already known. It was obvious. What was new is knowing why. That she had magic and that made her an inhuman freak to them. That Aunt Petunia hated her because, even though she couldn't admit it, she was still jealous of her sister. That she would never be good enough.
And that it would never change.
They would never love her.
Once she accepted the truth the next step was obvious: she needed to get away. Her 11th birthday was only 3 weeks away and, unless her aunt's memories were wrong, her Hogwarts letter would come before then. In a couple months she'd have a new place to live and be taught to use her magic.
Holly felt strangely calm waiting in the dark. She took off her bloodied clothes, wiped the drying blood off her face, and put on clean ones. There was a cool feeling slowly spreading through her body and it relieved her pain. Probably magic somehow. She didn't understand but was grateful. Soon after the feeling faded, her body felt normal.
Once she heard Aunt Petunia start making dinner she crept out of her cupboard, grabbing what few clothes she did own in her arms. She stuffed them into one of Dudley's old backpacks, grabbed his coat, and moved into the master bedroom.
Holly opened her Aunt's jewelry cabinet and dumped everything into the backpack. She knew it was pointless to take since she couldn't pawn it, but she was feeling petty. She snagged the cash from Uncle Vernon's wallet, crept back downstairs, and out the front door.
She started walking towards the bus stop, elated in the knowledge she was free.
(Arabella Figg watched Holly Potter leave and, in an act of compassion, decided to cover for her. She knew that poor girl was abused. Knew she was starved. That, no matter what Albus said, she'd be safer anywhere else. She knew Holly would be alright, her Hogwarts letter would be coming soon. She'd get help there.
She watched as Holly Potter walked off into the night, knowing she may have already chosen to never return.)
---
Holly spent the next 2 weeks wandering the streets of London, honing her mind reading skills. It took a week for her learn how to passively scan the surrounding people for bad intentions or if she'd caught their attention. It'd kept her from getting caught stealing food several times already.
By the second week she'd refined her technique into what she called "skimming": stealing a tiny portion of a person's memories and knowledge without leaving any obvious gaps. Taking more would help her learn faster but leaving large gaps would be too suspicious. Especially now that she knows exactly how paranoid the government types are.
Plus, it'd make her feel bad if she took too much and left someone clueless.
A week before her 11th birthday she was woken up to an owl pecking at her face with a letter tied to its leg.
"Ok ok, message received" she muttered and opened her letter as the owl took off. It was only addressed 'Holly Potter'. Probably for the best, they'd probably be worried if it was accurately addressed: 'Holly Potter, homeless bum'.
The letter didn't tell her much she didn't know from her aunt, but it did have directions to the wizarding shopping district.
Sometime later she was standing in front of a grimy door only she could see, wearing a newly stolen baseball cap. She felt stupid using it to disguise herself but her stolen memories from a SHIELD agent insisted it worked. She knew it'd be smart to keep a low profile in a new environment.
She still felt stupid.
She stepped through the door and surveyed the room. It was badly lit, with long tables and few people. On one side there was a loud drunk distracting people. Grateful nobody was paying her any attention, she made her way to the back, nodding to the barkeep as she passed. As a man opened an archway in the backroom, she barely stopped staring in time to duck through after him.
The street was bustling with people wearing odd robes, some of them clearly school shopping too. Shops lined the street advertising sales on everything from brooms to cauldrons to newt eyes. At the end of the street was the building her letter specified as Gringotts, the goblin-run Wizarding bank.
'Well, better get some money first' she thought and started making her way.
While skimming knowledge from minds, Holly had learned bits from thousands of minds, in all manner of jobs. As she learned from lawyers' minds what wills and trusts were, something occurred to her: 'If Aunt Petunia's memories were right and my parents were murdered, shouldn't they have left a will or instructions behind? Somehow I doubt they wanted Aunt Petunia to raise me'.
Holly waited patiently as the goblin teller finished working on his documents before he looked down at her "Yes?"
"Hello, I was hoping to access a vault today," Holly stated, trying to not to look worried.
The goblin gave a subtle sigh before asking, "key please."
"I don't have one. My parents are dead and my guardians hate magic." All (technically) true.
At that the goblin began looking interested "Name?"
"Holly Potter."
The goblin simply narrowed his eyes slightly. "We'll need to confirm your identity, come with me."
She followed the goblin past the other tellers and down a hallway led into an office. She sat down in a chair as another goblin rummaged behind his desk, sliding a piece of parchment and knife towards her.
"Three drops of blood on the parchment," Holly complied, mentally grumbling about how a thumbprint would work just ask well. She watched in awe as the blood soaked in and inked words started appearing on the page.
Holly Lily Potter-Black (Born July 31st, 1980)
Parents: James Fleamont Potter and Lily Potter nee ́ Evans
Blood Adopted by Sirius Arturas Black (Godfather)
"Your identity has been confirmed, Miss Potter-Black. How can Gringotts help you today?"
Holly stared at her parents' names, ignoring the rest. She hadn't known them before, her relatives refusing to say anything about them besides insults. For the first time in her life, they felt real. Not nameless people being slandered by her relatives. She wanted nothing more than to hug the parchment to her chest and cry tears of relief. But she was here for a purpose.
"I'd like to make a withdraw from my account."
"Your parents died without leaving a will. All their accounts and assets are under your control. Which account would you like to withdraw from?"
Oh, duh. Her parents probably had separate accounts for their savings and retirement and junk. Better start with the basics.
"Can I get a list of my parents accounts and assets?" she asked.
Five minutes later she was staring at the desk now covered with papers listing her families' various properties, investments, and a list of accounts with startlingly large numbers next to them. Even with her stolen accounting skills she was overwhelmed.
Oh wait, she had someone to ask for help.
She made sure to check his nameplate before asking "Mr. Gronuk, in your professional opinion, is there anything that requires my immediate attention?"
Apparently that was the right thing to ask because he immediately started detailing ways to update her investments. Ten years of sitting stagnant put a dent in her finances but she was still wildly rich. When Gronuk offered Gringotts services to manage her investments she gave her permission.
"With that handled, there's a separate matter that you will likely wish to rectify." He passed her a sheet, Metamorphmagus ability blocked standing out at the top. "If you were raised by muggles then it was likely blocked beforehand to preserve the Statute of Secrecy."
"Metamorphmagus?"
"Shapeshifting, in muggle terms. It is an inheritable trait you received from your godfather's bloodline after being blood adopted."
Oh. Apparently shapeshifting is a thing and she can do it. Weird, but awesome. What else... oh yeah.
"I have a godfather? Where's he been my whole life?" Holly asked.
"He has been in Azkaban, wizard prison, for 10 years." Oh, well that's a solid excuse.
"I'd like it unblocked. Can I get some school supplies from my vaults too please?"
---
Several hours later Holly walked out of Gringotts blissfully happy. Goblins, she decided, were the best.
Gronuk had found her what she'd forever call the Trunk. Not only did it belong to her mother, but it had a full apartment inside and a self-cataloging, searchable library with unlimited shelves. It was instantly her favorite possession.
(She may have squealed a bit when Gronuk showed it to her.)
Now it was filled with hundreds of books and other supplies from her vaults, shrunken, and safely hidden in her pocket.
She finished the rest of her school shopping in a happy daze, not the slightest bit bothered when the bookseller gave her an odd look for buying far too many books. Who cared if he thought it was weird for an 11-year-old to buy several basketfuls of books?
Even an unnerving encounter with Ollivander while buying her wand didn't dent her mood. Sure, him staring at her for several minutes before bringing out a specific wand (holly and phoenix feather) and making an odd face as the wand lit up in her hand was uncomfortable.
Even more unnerving was Ollivander muttering "you will do great and terrible things" with no further explanation as she left. But that didn't matter. Now she had a wand!
She walked out of the Alley with her Trunk in her pocket, a bottomless backpack on her back, and a spring in her step.
That night Holly unshrunk her Trunk, took the longest shower of her life, and fell asleep instantly on her giant bed.
She woke up the next day, feeling ready to take on the world. Cracking her knuckles, she felt a cheshire grin forming. "One month of complete freedom. Time to have some fun."
Notes:Holly's moral beliefs summarized in one meme: Link
POV Ms. Figg this chapter: Link
This is going to be a long fic, covering Holly's Hogwarts years, post-Hogwarts to Avengers time, then continuing past that. So get comfortable, enjoy the read, and feel free to tell me what you think about it.
Why would Lily Potter have a trunk like that? 3 reasons really:
1. James and Lily started dating during 7th year
2. James was stupidly rich, in love, and wanted to woo her knowing her love of books
3. A trunk apartment offers far more privacy than a broom closet
(This thought won't occur to Holly for several years but she'll be mortified when it does)
Chapter 2: Year OneSummary:Holly goes to Hogwarts and quickly gains a reputation, but not the one anybody expects of her.
Notes:Credit to Rowling for any direct quotes
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextThe month before Hogwarts was undoubtedly the best of Holly's life. She had hundreds of books to read through, free reign to practice her shapeshifting, and an unlimited number of minds to learn from. Even getting food was easy once she'd stolen several pickpockets' memories.
She knew she shouldn't enjoy it but, well, it always gave her a thrill.
Strictly speaking she didn't need to steal at all. She had altered her appearance to an elderly lady and taken Aunt Petunia's jewelry to a pawn shop. Holly was shocked at how much money she was paid. The clerk probably thought she was dying. Regardless, imagining Aunt Petunia's shrieking about her shiny things being pawned brought a smile to her face.
Even better was buying herself some properly fitting clothes. She finally got to choose what to wear and was loving the freedom. She went on a shopping spree in her excitement, made even better knowing she was using the money from Aunt Petunia's pawned jewelry.
The excitement wore off fast after realizing how tough it was to find truly comfortable clothes. Especially with pockets. She knew she could use her shapeshifting to fit into anything but that probably wasn't good for her long term. It was her first ever shopping trip, she was not going to compromise. It took a full day at the mall but by the end she finally had a proper wardrobe.
Holly spent most of her days reading at busy intersections, passively skimming the minds of the bustling crowds. She made sure to be extra light-touched on any government types. She knew exactly how bad it'd be to catch their attention. Any foul people had either vital information or all their job skills stolen, plus a severe headache as a parting gift. Every night she went back to her trunk apartment exhausted and fell asleep immediately.
She was disconnected from everyone and everything. Able to live her own life however she wanted. She needed nobody and nobody needed her. The complete freedom she had was incredible, she didn't want to give it up.
As the term neared, Holly considered not going to Hogwarts but decided against it. She couldn't practice magic on her own because of the Trace. How was she supposed to practice magic over the summer if it was tracked? That, she knew, she'd remove as soon as possible.
Another problem is that she was apparently stupidly famous.
Several of the books she'd read detailed her exploit of somehow killing a Dark Lord as a baby. It was ridiculous. If there were no witnesses who decided had that it was her that did it? The more she read the more certain she was that most wizards were touched in the head. Whatever the truth was, she sent Gronuk after them to sue for her share of the profits.
She was deeply grateful for that stupid baseball cap disguise for working during her shopping trip. Being recognized would've meant attention and getting questions. Both things to be avoided in her opinion.
---
Holly arrived at Kings Cross early, determined to go unnoticed. She was wearing a face slightly different from her own. Her normally blood red hair was cherry blond and straightened from her usual messy curls. Since her scar was apparently infamous, she'd tried to alter it but couldn't for some reason. She resentfully donned her stolen baseball cap again to cover it. Altogether, Holly was certain she'd be unrecognized while vaguely similar enough if she had to shift back to normal quickly.
Holly walked through the train station, easily spotting the other magicals.
'Why are they using luggage carts? The shrinking charm is a 2nd year spell? And seriously, why not send their owl ahead? They stick out like Uncle Vernon at the gym. Are people blind or are wizards that dumb? There must be some heavy memory modifying charms on the whole station.'
Internally muttering about the cluelessness of wizards, Holly claimed an empty cabin and pulled out a potions book to read. Soon enough she was sucked into the book, only vaguely hearing people settling in next to her.
Most 1st year potions seemed useless. What was the point of a potion that turned her head into a pumpkin? Or made someone forgetful? Why would she need herbicide? Or to remove boils?
It wasn't until she read about more advanced potions that she realized what they could be capable of. That didn't make memorizing complicated steps fun though. What she did find interesting was reading about the various ingredients' interactions.
Potions wasn't her favorite subject, that'd have to be either Charms or Defense, but it was interesting and useful. Transfiguration seemed like normal magic tricks until it got more advanced, especially since it was hard to make it permanent. Astronomy was interesting but not useful outside of creating potions and divination. Herbology was interesting and useful but she'd rather not lose a hand to a plant. History of Magic was fascinating as a subject but reading about wizards oppressing other races wasn't good for pleasure reading (learning that Thor and Loki were real made her pinch herself to make sure she wasn't hallucinating). Flying on a broom sounded like watching natural selection in action.
After a few hours she ducked out to the bathroom to put on her robes and started reading again before anyone in her cabin could say anything. Mentally thanking social norms, her attention was consumed by the potions book again until she felt the train slowing.
As she got off the train she followed after the giant man and got into a boat with three other kids who looked too nervous to talk. As they set sail she started mentally grumbling again.
'Is this more wizarding stupidity? Whose brilliant idea was it to cross a freezing lake in August on a dinghy?'
A second later she had her answer as she saw Hogwarts across the lake. 'Oh, now that's worth it.' Even the chatty boats in the front were silent, except one particularly talkative girl, staring at the towering castle in awe.
As they disembarked Holly made sure to stay towards the back. The absolute last thing she wanted was for somebody to notice she could shapeshift. She knew it was rare and planned to keep that advantage secret for as long as possible.
When they reached the top of the stairs a severe looking woman appeared and Holly listened in.
"My name," the severe woman told them, "is Professor McGonagall. I am the deputy headmistress here at Hogwarts and the head of Gryffindor house. There are four houses at Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall continued on, not allowing for any questions to be raised, "Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. While you are here, your house will be like your family, your triumphs will earn your house points, any rule breaking will lose them. The accumulation of house points will earn your house the House Cup at the end of the school year in June."
Professor McGonagall paused and Holly looked around at the nervous faces around her. She knew she probably should be nervous too but she wasn't. She was here to learn magic, so long as people weren't annoying she didn't care where she was sorted. Plus, she already knew she could thrive living on her own. She didn't need help from anyone here.
"Before you are sorted into your houses, I might suggest that you straighten yourselves up," Professor McGonagall finally stated, "wait here."
As nervous chatter broke out and two boys distracted everyone by arguing, she ducked her head and let her magic change her back to her natural appearance. A second later several ghosts appeared from the wall, further distracting anybody from noticing her.
When the door opened and Professor McGonagall led them inside it quickly became apparent just how famous she was. Even in the back of the pack the surrounding tables were already staring at her.
"It's Holly Potter!"
"Look, there she is!"
"She's so short!"
It was obnoxious and Holly did her best to stare straight ahead and watch as a ratty old hat sang a song. Soon students began getting called forward to be sorted.
'So it's a magical personality test? That's not too bad. Wait…. If it gets in my head will it tell everyone that I ran away? That I'm a thief?'
As panic started to consume her, she heard "Holly Potter" and walked up, ignoring the whispers breaking out behind her. She sat on the stool and felt the hat placed on her head, a voice started speaking in her mind.
"Hmm, difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, a good mind, quite hardworking and cunning."
"Thanks? Are you going to tell everyone I ran away?" Because that would be a disaster.
"Oh no, you're doing rather well for yourself on your own. 'sides, couldn't even if I wanted too. Now... where to place you?"
"Isn't that your job to figure out?" His whole reason for existence, even.
"HA! Yes and no. For most it's obvious where they belong. You though, you could go into any of them. You're more courageous and academic than most, rather cunning, and accepting of others even if you don't realize it yet."
"I get to choose where I go?" Didn't that defeat the Hat's entire purpose?
"Those like you do, although it's usually only between two. What it depends on is the traits you value, not solely those you have."
"I just want to study magic and not have people bother me." That's it. Nothing else.
"I'm in your head you know. No matter how much you deny it to yourself I know that you want more. Slytherin would help you gain power and continue to flaunt authority. Gryffindor would fulfill your sense of adventure. Hufflepuff could provide the companionship you secretly long for.
"You've been in too many heads. I just want to learn magic in peace." Honestly, the hat must be losing it. She didn't need anyone else. Didn't want anyone else to have to care for her.
"Very well. But do try and make a friend or two. RAVENCLAW!!"
"Damn you Mr. hat!" she thought, making the hat laugh.
Holly felt the sorting hat lift and saw the Ravenclaw table briefly look shocked before cheering erupted. As she made her way down she noticed the other tables looked... surprised? Gryffindor looked vaguely betrayed for some reason. Did they assume she'd be sorted there? Eh, so long as they didn't bother her she didn't care what they thought.
Sitting down at her new table, she let them congratulate her and zoned out the rest of the sorting. She startled along with the rest of the 1st years when the food suddenly appeared and quickly filled her plate. When everyone started interrogating her she did her best to brush them off. When one boy didn't get the message she simply pulled out her potions book and ignored him.
---
Unfortunately, the feast was foreshadowing for the first few weeks of the year. It seemed everyone felt like they could interrogate her or wanted to be friends. Even her roommates were like that. Whenever it happened she'd ignore them and keep reading. When one boy got offended and started yelling at her she put him in a leglocker hex.
Thankfully her reputation for being aggressively antisocial spread quickly after that.
---
Her first couple months of classes were fascinating. She was tied at the top of her class in everything except herbology (Neville Longbottom was bizarrely good with plants) with an annoyingly talkative girl named Hermione Granger as her only academic competition.
Sadly, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was useless. Or at least pretending to be. There was something weird about him. Her scar hurt around him sometimes, so she tried to avoid him as much as possible.
To compensate Holly was self-studying and practicing spells in an empty classroom whenever possible. She needed to find a better place though after accidentally leaving a scorch mark on the wall with an overpowered incendio.
There was something weird about potions too. Snape would constantly pick on her asking advanced questions even though she always got it right. He somehow managed that while avoiding looking at her entirely.
Even though he clearly wanted to glare at her.
The result was him glaring at whoever happened to be sitting next to her that day. I'd be funny if she didn't feel bad for whoever partnered with her that day. The few times they did make eye contact he was visibly unsettled and wouldn't call on her for the rest of class.
As for History of Magic, Holly realized during the very first class that it was better spent self-studying. For some reason Granger looked scandalized at her for ignoring Binns but she didn't care.
Especially not when she beat Granger on the first paper they got back.
The rest of her professors were great though. She was learning loads and consistently the first or second to succeed in the practical lessons. Professor McGonagall gave her barely perceptible smiles whenever Holly perfectly transfigured something. Professor Flitwick nearly fell over when her feather shot up and hit the ceiling.
(In the professors' break room, they'd say: "Holly is nothing like Lily and James, but they wouldn't need her to be." "She's identical to Lily but with James' untamable curls." "She has all her parents' skill and power; thank Merlin she isn't a prankster too." "The Potter brat clearly inherited her father's arrogance.")
It was during the Halloween feast that Holly's routine was disrupted. As usual, she was reading a book the table, ignoring everything else. At least, she was until everyone started screaming and firecrackers went off. She looked up in time to see Dumbledore shout "Prefects, lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!" Mentally shrugging, Holly followed her house back to Ravenclaw Tower and kept reading on her bed.
It wasn't until the next day that she heard about the troll. The halls were filled with whispers that it had badly injured Granger. Holly may have disliked the annoying girl, but she was glad Granger wasn't dead. Plus, wanting to beat Granger motivated her to study harder.
'Hmm, maybe Granger would try harder if I told her that? Competition is good for growth after all.'
Hermione was lying in the Hospital Wing and absolutely miserable. She had come to Hogwarts excited to learn magic and meet people who finally understood her. She had always been an outcast, even in primary school. Always too smart or too weird.
Now she was an outcast at Hogwarts too.
'I don't understand, why wouldn't everyone be excited to learn magic? What am I doing wrong? How can I prove to people that I belong here?'
She was distracted from her spiraling thoughts when a fluttering paper crane landed on her lap. She picked it up, trying to figure out what charm had been used before seeing 'For Granger' written on the wing. 'Oh, it's a note. But who would send me one? Maybe it's another apology from Ronald? He did nearly get me killed.'
Glad you aren't dead. Being the Top Student would be meaningless without competition.
-H.P.
She stared at the note in shock, trying to compose her thoughts. Holly Potter was a thorn in her side and infuriated her like no others could. Ronald Weasley was insensitive and annoying. Draco Malfoy was a spoiled bigot.
But Holly Potter was worse.
Worse because Hermione was jealous.
Holly had no friends but clearly didn't care. Seemed to prefer it even. Nothing fazed Holly, not Professor Snape's harassment, not Draco Malfoy, and certainly not other students. Everyone seemed in awe of Holly, even when she ignored them. Nobody told Holly off for always reading during meals. The professors liked Holly despite her antisocial behavior. Holly didn't have buckteeth and untamable hair.
Even in academics, Hermione was losing. She'd never had her marks beaten before.
Suffice to say, Hermione was having something of an identity crisis.
Yet, Holly was the only one to send a note. Ronald Weasley had visited earlier with his Prefect brother behind him to quickly stutter out an apology but that was all. The only other person who cared was the girl that infuriated her. The rest of her time in the Hospital wing she was in turmoil before finally reaching a conclusion.
She still disliked Holly of course. But... maybe Holly wasn't an enemy. No, if Holly saw her as competition that made Holly her rival. She'd never had a rival before but she refused to lose.
Holly was wandering the halls, glad everyone was gone on Christmas break. Her classmates had long learned that she didn't care to know them, but they still gossiped whenever they thought she couldn't hear. It was annoying. Now she had all the time she wanted to read and wander the castle. She'd been meaning to find a better place to practice spells after all.
It was then she came across something she'd never seen before: a small creature cleaning a suit of armor and wearing a…. pillowcase?
"Uh, hello there?"
The creature squeaked and turned around. Its huge eyes opened even wider once it looked up at her face and its eyes flicked up to her scar. "Honored to meet you Miss Potter! I is Tilly."
"You know me?" she reflexively asked, realizing the stupidity of it a second too late.
"Of course Miss Potter! All house elves of Hogwarts know of you."
"There are more of you? I've never seen any." Tilly was rather distinctive after all.
At this Tilly seemingly preened, "Tis the mark of a good house elf to go unseen. We is being in the kitchen making food and cleaning at night."
Holly was about to ask another question when inspiration struck. This was the perfect chance! "Tilly, do you know of any rooms in the castle that I could practice spells in?"
"The Come and Go Room would work! Wizards be calling it the Room of Requirement because it becomes whatever you need." Incredible.
"That- that's perfect! Can you show it to me?" If she didn't ask now there was no guarantee she'd ever see Tilly again.
Ten minutes later Holly was looking around the Room. One full wall was filled with spell books of all subjects. The other had target dummies at the end of a firing range. The last wall had a fireplace with a few comfortable looking desks and panoramic windows. It was perfect and instantly Holly's favorite room.
"Tilly, you're the best." Most helpful person she'd ever met, no contest.
After several minutes of Tilly crying happy tears and promising to visit her in the kitchens, Holly started eying the bookshelves.
What later surprised Holly nearly as much as the Room of Requirement was that she got a gift for Christmas. It took her a minute to realize that it wasn't a mistake or addressed to someone else. There was a cryptic note written in obnoxiously curly writing and an invisibility cloak.
Her father's invisibility cloak.
Eyes burning for some reason she didn't care about at the moment, she wrapped it around herself, watching in awe as her body vanished. She fell asleep wrapped in the Cloak afterwards, hugging the tangible connection to her father closer.
---
Holly spent the remaining months of her 1st year using every free moment to study and practice in the Room. She worked through the 1st and 2nd year curriculum and even started learning 3rd year material. Every new spell was practiced at the range until perfected. Every interesting book from the Room was added to her personal library in her Trunk.
After a copy of Moste Potente Potions burned her hands (Madam Pomfrey looked suspicious but didn't ask questions) she learned to detect curses and remove them first. Even with the occasional cursed book slowing her down, Holly still took several hundred books for her Trunk library.
When some of the other students started trying to figure out where she constantly disappeared, the Room got even better: it created secret entrances all over the castle. The new secret entrances at the base of Ravenclaw tower and near the kitchens were lifesaver. With hidden entrances by all her classes she could appear just in time and disappear immediately afterwards.
(Holly wouldn't know for years but there was a betting pool over where she was disappearing to. Rumors spread and even the professors were curious. When a certain pair of twins with a secret Map were unable to find her, the infamy only grew. Dumbledore simply chuckled and declared it one of Hogwarts many mysteries but inwardly he suspected the Cloak was involved.)
When she wasn't studying she was looking into ways to avoid the Trace. She learned it was tied to the national runestone network through her wand so it seemed obvious: she needed to learn wandless magic. All her books made it sound extremely difficult and it certainly seemed that way to Holly.
At least, until she mentioned it to Tilly. After a few months of Tilly's lessons Holly was able to cast a few 1st year spells wandless with the incantation.
The aimed spells were harder at first. After all, a wand wasn't just an amplifier but an aiming tool as well. How do you aim when there's nothing to aim with?
She tried shooting spells from her palm and it worked but was inaccurate. Same thing with "flicking" spells. What she found worked (after trying to use finger guns) was that simply pointing was the best.
It was enough that Holly would feel safe on her own.
Of course, she was still researching how to remove herself from the Trace entirely. It wouldn't be easy. It was tracked using the national runestone network and was secret for obvious reasons. She was making progress learning Ancient Runes though. It was only a matter of time until she broke it.
When exams came Holly practically waltzed through them. She had spent the last six months studying more advanced topics after all. On her way out of the exam room Granger glared at her and Holly simply smiled back. She'd noticed Granger looked more motivated since Halloween. It seemed her note had worked. Holly still managed to beat her scores of course but it made her try harder.
Holly spent the end of year feast in the kitchens with the elves.
(She never heard the announcement of Professor Quirrell's death and wouldn't learn of it for years. In fact, she completely forgot he existed until she saw the new Defense professor the next year.)
After boarding the train Holly read her way back to London. Watching others unload their luggage, Holly again wondered why they didn't simply shrink their massive trunks. As the other students embraced their parents Holly walked past them without a glance.
She wasn't jealous. Really. She didn't need anyone looking after her.
(She ignored the tiny voice in her head saying it might be nice to be looked after.)
---
A few hours later, Holly was disguised and riding the channel train. She'd been in enough minds to know about the European Union's invisible borders. For Holly it meant freedom. Several months of going anywhere, learning anything, and complete anonymity.
And if there was a pickpocketing spree wherever she went? Well, who would ever suspect the Girl-Who-Lived?
Holly drifted through France, quickly learning the language from the surrounding minds to blend in. After only a week she found the wizarding district and shopped her way through it. She found an excellent bookstore and bought far too many books on advanced topics. Unfortunately, the French clerk seemed suspicious of her 12-year-old appearance and she left quickly. She made sure to physically age herself up after that. After another week of sightseeing, Holly wandered her way into Germany to do it again.
In every country she made sure to find the magical shopping district and buy plenty of books. (It was rather convenient how Galleons were used internationally. It was the first bit of logic she'd seen among wizards.) Holly wandered eastward, changing her appearance often on her meandering path through Europe. First she went north, wandering through the Nordic countries. From there she started moving south through Eastern Europe until she was on a Greek beach looking out at the Mediterranean. Several weeks and (making sure to keep her distance from ongoing civil war in the Balkans) a few wizarding districts later, Holly passed into Italy.
If a small fortune seemingly disappeared from a mafia safehouse while she visited? Well, nobody knew about that except herself and the Italian branch of Gringotts.
In a back office of the Italian Gringotts branch she dumped out the massive pile of bills onto their desk. In response to goblins' stare she grinned widely, "It's crazy to me what thieves leave laying around. They don't seem to understand that money belongs in a bank."
The goblin glanced down before a matching smile slowly spread across his face. "All too right, Miss Potter-Black. How can Gringotts help you today?"
Holly walked out soon after with her money deposited, Gringotts implicit blessing to bring twice stolen money to them, and once again quite pleased with Gringotts customer service.
Holly wandered her way back towards Britain, making a detour through Spain and Portugal to shop along the way. Two days before the term started Holly passed back into Britain.
Naturally, the first place she went to was Diagon alley for some last-minute shopping.
She took one look at the booklist and scoffed. Seemed like another year with a useless Defense professor. Skipping the required Defense books entirely, Holly instead bought several advanced books on curses and their counters, along with another on dueling.
After buying a few new sets of robes she left the Alley, ready for her 2nd year.
Notes:This chapter in one pic: Link
Holly's denial summed up: Link
With how aloof and oblivious Holly is here's really no believable way% she'd get involved with the Stone plotline. It makes for a quick year but I can't think of a way to make it work. Don't worry, second year will be action packed.
Malfoy's never directly named because he's a non entity to Holly. She's too apathetic to his existence to care about his attempts at bullying. That means no midnight duel, no finding Fluffy, no researching what its guarding.
In canon it was Harry that realized Hermione was still in the bathroom. Without that there's no rescue, no moment to bring the golden trio together. Sorry Ron fans, but he's a non entity to Holly too, at least for a bit.
(EDIT 4/20/24: Dobby's glaring absence is intentional. It'll take a looong while but when Dobby does finally appear Shit Will Go Down.)
Chapter 3: Year TwoSummary:A chamber is opened, Holly makes questionable decisions, and sleep exhaustion makes her silly.
OR: This is where canon goes to die.
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextOnce again Holly was back on the Hogwarts Express, reading her way there. A few 1st years in her compartment tried to talk to her but stopped after she blocked them out. Good thing they didn't seem to figure out her identity.
She rode the carriages (that were pulled by impressively ominous looking winged, skeletal horses for some reason?) to the castle and, to the surprise of nobody, read her way through the announcements and feast. Holly walked out with everyone else and fell back into her old routines.
Sadly, most of the new 1st years hadn't gotten the message beforehand that Holly was famously antisocial. It took the 1st years a few weeks of being ignored for most of them to leave her alone. When one particularly annoying boy with a camera kept following her, he was quickly put in a full-body-bind. After a few times he finally backed off, much to Hollys' relief.
The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was, as she'd previously assumed, completely useless. Worse than useless even.
There was really only one good thing about him.
Watching Lockhart fumble his lesson with the pixies was hilarious. Watching Granger trying to defend him afterwards was even better. Lockhart being useless didn't matter to Holly, it was beneficial even. After all, she knew the entire 2nd and some of the 3rd year Defense curriculum already, along with a few more useful advanced spells. The fact his assignments were a joke gave her more time to self-study.
What was annoying about Lockhart was him constantly picking on her. He constantly tried to have her play along while reenacting scenes from his book. The first time she refused he seemed furious for a split second before brushing it off to save face. Thankfully he left her alone after several blunt refusals.
It unnerved her though and she tried her best to avoid him whenever possible.
In potions Snape still randomly asked her advanced questions. It seemed that now he was transitioning to asking her 3rd and 4th year material. Grateful for her summer reading, Holly kept up. She hadn't gotten an answer wrong yet and she wasn't planning to. They were at something of a stalemate and Holly was not going to be the one to break first.
She did stumble in on bullying in the Ravenclaw dorms one time. Only once because Holly had them all in a bodybind before they noticed her. Before the would-be bullies hit the ground, she'd already turned to walk away without a glance back.
(For Holly it was hardly worth mentioning. For Luna Lovegood, Holly was like a merciful mother dragon swooping in to save her. She knew she'd talk to Holly in time. But not now. Holly had too many wackspirts in her ears to hear anyone right now.
But one day though, Holly would be able to hear and Luna would be there.)
---
The first month and a half passed in a blur of study and spell practice, only interrupted by classes, visiting the elves, and meals. It was all pleasantly routine. Dodging the stalkers trying to find where she disappeared to was normal at this point. She answered questions in class, got perfect scores, and enjoyed Granger's scowls whenever Holly beat her at anything.
There was something unusual though.
A tiny feeling of something wrong.
It was subtle enough that Holly couldn't tell when it started. She first noticed it walking into the Hall for lunch one day: a faint unsettling feeling, like being watched. As the weeks went on the feeling grew. The hairs on her arms would stand up and her stomach flopped.
Now she'd randomly be walking into the Great Hall or to class and her stomach would roll after feeling the vile presence passing.
A week before Halloween she started trying to track it down. Whatever it was was unnatural and vile. It had to be destroyed. Her mind wandered as she stalked the halls trying to chase the feeling. Was it somebody's mind? Was it an artifact? Maybe a Dark creature? It certainly didn't belong in Hogwarts. This was more important than studying for now.
She stalked the halls day and night chasing the foul presence but was struggling to pinpoint it. She lost hours of sleep every night but hardly noticed, she had greater things to worry about.
She knew the house elves could help but she decided against involving them. It'd feel like she was taking advantage. This could be dangerous, she refused to let them get hurt by taking the easy way out. They'd risk their lives in over eagerness to help. That would be unacceptable.
For some reason nobody else seemed to notice it. Was it because she could read minds? Or maybe because she'd felt cursed objects before? But why couldn't the professors notice it? Was she going crazy?
Whatever the cause was, Holly had a bad feeling about it.
It was on Halloween that Holly heard a strange voice and her gut feeling confirmed.
The Chamber of Secrets has been opened.
Enemies of the heir beware.
The second Holly saw it she knew, just knew, that whatever she'd been chasing was responsible. It had petrified a cat and wrote that message. But what could possibly do that?
When Granger interrogated Binns in class later about the Chamber of Secrets Holly was grateful.
So, Salazar Slytherin apparently left behind a monster for his heir to kill off the "unworthy" students. But who was the heir? Voldemort himself claimed to be but he was dead, allegedly because of her. The only confirmed descendants of Slytherin, the Gaunt family, were also dead. Could it be an imposter?
She redoubled her efforts in tracking the foul presence. If the beast was being controlled by the Heir then the presence must be them. Who else could possibly have such a foul presence? Every free minute was spent either researching magical creatures or roaming the halls under her cloak.
If her grades slipped or Granger learned a spell first in class she hardly noticed.
That wasn't her priority now.
---
A couple weeks of constant searching later and Holly had her suspect. She'd walked past a redhead 1st year walking alone and nearly threw up at the feeling of wrongness. She invisibly stalked the girl afterwards, observing her behavior.
It was strange- the girl, a Weasley apparently, looked rather sick. Her eyes had dark bags, she hardly ate, and was overly twitchy. She was isolating herself. Did she have a guilty conscience? Holly's stolen experience recognized the signs of blackmail or some other form of coercion.
Her suspicions were supported when Holly realized the vile feeling wasn't coming from the girl. It was certainly surrounding her, but she wasn't the source. The source was something else. Something she carried around, slowly infecting her. Even if she was being blackmailed, Holly still needed to confront her.
After a week of stalking Holly was ready to make her move. As the Weasley girl walked down a deserted 2nd floor corridor after curfew Holly struck from behind. Her silencio hit but the Weasley girl dodged her stunner and turned around. Her eyes were red, face twisted in anger as she started flinging spells far faster than any 1st year was capable.
'Possession, why didn't I consider possession? Stupid, stupid, stupid!'
All Holly could do was dodge the incoming spellfire. Her opponent didn't even bother to undo the silence. Hadn't needed to dodge or shield a single spell. Didn't need to since Holly couldn't stop moving to fire back.
Every instinct and stolen bit of fighting experience told her she was outmatched. Hopelessly and completely outmatched. It hadn't even been ten seconds and she wouldn't last another five.
As Holly barely ducked a bright green spell, she knew she only had one chance.
If she failed she was dead.
She dodged another nasty looking spell and conjured a wall of thick fog, blocking sight completely. It'd only take a second to dispel and she desperately hoped that was enough. She extended her mind to the vile presence and attacked.
It had solid mental walls, far above anything she'd encountered before. But her life was on the line. In a battle of willpower Holly Potter lost to nobody. It was caught off guard, its shock palpable through its defenses. She took advantage, desperately battering its mental walls, refusing to submit and die. She'd taught herself mind reading. She wasn't about to lose to a random evil artifact. She pounded and scratched and screamed at its mental walls until finally, finally a fissure formed, and she broke through.
Holly entered its mind and was horrified at what she found.
It was alive. A fragment of a soul with its own will and memories. A piece of Voldemort, of Tom Riddle. With every memory she stole she learned something new. Useful or horrific and sometimes both. Her stomach was twisting, threatening to come back up but she couldn't let it. It disgusted her but she needed these memories.
It was the only way she'd ever beat him.
After a moment that felt like both instant and an eternity, Holly finally finished stealing the memories of Tom's Diary horcrux. She stood up on unsteady legs and stumbled forward. Her head was pounding, suddenly filled with 16 years' worth of foreign memories. She wanted to sleep. She needed to sleep. But she couldn't, she knew what she had to do first.
(Holly couldn't stop to think about how close she'd come to dying. How that was a Killing Curse that she barely ducked. How it was pure luck she wasn't dead. How her attack only worked because Diary Tom was still weakened and caught by surprise. How exhausted and sore her body felt. How her stomach felt mutinous at everything she learned.
If she stopped to think her body would give out and that was unacceptable. Not when there was more to do.)
She banished the fog and made her way forward. The Weasley girl was unconscious but stirring slightly. A quick stunner stopped that. It'd be far too difficult to explain, especially with the migraines they both had. She crouched down and searched through her pockets, pulling out Tom's Diary.
Holly stood back up, leaning on the wall to keep her balance. "Tilly?" The elf appeared instantly, her eyes widening at the scene. "She was possessed but is free now. Can you put her into her bed?"
The two of them disappeared, Tilly reappearing a moment later looking concerned. "Can Tilly be helping with anything else Miss Potter?"
Holly glanced down the damaged hallway. It was covered in scorch marks and bits of rumble. Several torches had been blasted off the wall and a suit of armor was laying in pieces.
"Can you get me a rooster somehow? Then maybe clean up the hallway? It's a complete mess."
Till nodded and disappeared again. Holly wobbled over to her Cloak, inspecting it for damage and pleasantly surprised when she found none. She stuffed it back into her pocket, struggling to stand up again.
Tilly reappeared then, pushing a disgruntled rooster into her arms. "Thanks Tilly, you're amazing." The elf tearfully hugged her, snot getting onto her robes. After promising to visit the kitchens Tilly popped away.
Holly silenced the angry bird and stumbled her way to the 2nd floor bathroom under the Cloak, leaning on the wall the whole way. She wanted to stop and throw up in a stall, but she couldn't. She had another purpose here. She looked at the sinks and hissed it open. One disgusting slide ride later she landed in a pile of bones.
"Now this is some cliché shit. Honestly. I bet even you agree, rooster." She lifted the silenced rooster to her face. It tried to caw but no noise came out, then somehow glared at her. "Glad to hear it buddy. Now remember, if you don't caw we're both dead. Good? Good."
She stumbled over the bones, nearly dropping the angry rooster and falling several times. She opened the door to the main chamber and scoffed, "What kinda person makes a massive sculpture of their own face? Fucking wizards, that's who." She surveyed the room trying to figure where best to go.
If she nearly fell asleep standing up that was nobody's business but hers.
...And maybe the roosters.
She walked closer to the giant sculpture before stopping a vaguely safe distance away. She closed her eyes and hid the angry rooster behind her back. 'There's no way I'm using that pretentious password Tom used.'
$Oi, basilisk! Come on out!$
Shockingly, it worked. She heard the statute's mouth grind open and scales moving over the stone floor.
$Who dares to address the noble Salazar-$
The basilisks' words were cut off when Holly pulled out the rooster and jabbed it with her wand to undo the silence. Naturally, it immediately cawed in anger and pecked her hand.
The pain from her hand was drowned out by the basilisk screaming its' death throes. The stone floor shook and Holly dropped the rooster to cover her ears trying to block out the noise. It screamed and flailed around in a moment that seemed far longer. Finally, there was one last tremor before the Chamber went silent. Holly waited a second and opened her eyes.
In front of her was the massive coiled form of the now dead basilisk. Each scale was dark green and the size of her hand. Its eyes were foggy and lay with its mouth open. Dozens of fangs the size of her forearm were visible in a mouth larger than her.
"Ok, just destroy the horcrux and go. Don't trip and impale yourself. You got this." She slowly walked up to its mouth, adrenaline temporarily pushing back her exhaustion.
She slammed the Diary down on a fang, watching as ink suddenly flooded out. When the ink finally stopped, she pulled it off the fang and made her way to the entrance. She glanced back at the corpse.
"Hmm, probably should sell that to the goblins. Bet I could get some badass armor out of it too."
Back at the entrance slide she glared at the now usable stairs and spent the entire climb up cursing Slytherin. She walked out of the bathroom and, on a whim, spelled a message onto the wall across from the first.
The Chamber has been closed, the heir handled, and the basilisk is dead.
Enjoy
"There, that sounds suitably ominous but still informative. But where'd the rooster go?" She looked around for a second before shrugging.
Her last fully conscious action was dropping the Diary under her message. After that it got fuzzy, but she was vaguely aware of stumbling back to Ravenclaw tower. It was a miracle she didn't encounter any patrols.
Holly was too tired to realize the Cloak wasn't on but still in her pocket.
She collapsed face first onto her bed, somehow managing to close the drapes as she fell. Exhausted from her fight, she fell asleep immediately.
Notes:This chapter in one pic: Link
Holly's calm, rational response to events
Obviously Holly can't beat the Diary in a duel, she really would've died in a couple more seconds. Now, attacking his mind? Slightly better odds there. Especially since I imagine a teenage Voldemort would be arrogant enough to focus on Legilimency first, not Occlumency. Add him still being weakened, in a 11/yo body, and extremely surprised, and she's got a decent chance.
The idea of Holly stealing the memories of the Diary is what originally inspired me to write this. She'll know everything a teenage Tom Riddle knew but no more. Don't worry, this won't instantly solve her problems or let her brute force her way through everything. She'll still struggle a ton.
(Don't worry, Dobby's glaring absence is intentional. It'll take a looong while but when Dobby does finally appear Shit Will Go Down.)