Chapter 10: Year Three (V)Summary:Holly takes months to realize the obvious, scandalizes the population for entertainment, has an emotionally constipated yet touching moment, and makes questionable decisions when left alone.
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextAfter Christmas break life continued as normal, albeit with minor changes.
At some point, Holly wasn't sure when, she and Granger started actually talking to each other. She wasn't sure when or how it happened, only that one day she realized they were in the middle of a conversation about how clueless wizards could be.
They didn't talk outside of class or study together. Didn't do anything besides talk in class sometimes.
It… wasn't unpleasant.
Granger wasn't interrogating her or being annoying. She didn't look annoyed when Holly beat her in practical lessons anymore. She was even helpful sometimes!
The more she thought about it the more it weirded her. It was in March when they were walking back in from care of magical creatures and Holly finally asked.
"Granger, what's going on here? How come you don't care if I beat you in class anymore?"
Granger stopped with a disbelieving expression. "Honestly Holly, for someone so smart you're truly oblivious sometimes. We're friends."
As if Holly wasn't already shocked, she continued. "I saw on the train ride that you're hiding your skills, downplaying your talent. Even holding back you're still beating me. I- it took me time to realize that I won't always be the best, but that doesn't make me bad at something. So, I still try my best even when you constantly do better."
"I don't know why but you do it but surely have a good reason." Her expression softened, "And Holly, my name's Hermione. We're friends after all."
With that Gra- no, Hermione, walked away leaving a dumbfounded Holly behind.
---
The political firestorm was still dominating the news months later. The scandal of Sirius being innocent and Fudge's incompetence was a major story after all.
Of course, it helped that Holly had hired the goblins to persuade the newspaper to keep the scandal alive. It was fun watching her classmates slowly recognize how incompetent their leaders were. Maybe they'd grow cynical enough to demand change when they were older. She wasn't getting her hopes up though, for now it was entertaining and she had piles of gold to spare.
Eventually her manufactured scandal got results: the minister was sacked and replaced by someone named Amelia Bones. She didn't particularly think the new minister would be any better but according to Sirius she was competent.
(Apparently she was also an old flame of his which she'd rather not have known.)
Her letters with Sirius had become slightly more meaningful as well. Sirius understood now she wasn't a prankster or sociable like her parents had been. Seemed fine with it even. He'd already known she was a metamorphmagus too. Even knowing that one comparatively small secret felt like a weight off her shoulders.
Hearing that, Holly decided to take a risk and tell him life at the Dursleys wasn't great. When he started asking too many questions she changed the subject to officially becoming friends with Hermione. Thankfully it seemed to work.
Or at least, that's what she thought.
A month before the end of the term Sirius dropped a metaphorical bomb on her: he offered to let her live with him.
Naturally, this caused Holly to panic.
While the rest of her potions class was panicking over their imminent OWLS she was worrying over her summer plans. Sirius was nice, he'd promised not to be overbearing and everything. She knew he'd try his best to care for her.
(And wasn't that a weird feeling. She… thought she might like it? Maybe. She wasn't going to rely on him of course. That'd be crazy.)
But Sirius didn't know she'd run away. How living with him meant no more world tours or pickpocketing sprees. No more practicing magic on her own. No more plotting to kill Adult Tom. How it meant the loss of her complete freedom.
Some of those fears went away when Sirius said they could do whatever she wanted that summer. Even specifically said he could tutor her if she wanted.
With that her mind was made up: she wrote back Sirius agreeing to stay with him. His reply had teardrop stains and fireworks fired from it while opened. Oblivious to the entire great hall staring at her, she pocketed the letter with a smile.
Her exams, as expected, were pathetically easy. In transfiguration she transfigured her teapot into a tortoise with a gem encrusted shell. In charms her cheering charm was perfect, not too strong or weak. History of Magic was dreadfully boring but easy. Muggle studies was annoying because the exam was at least 50 years outdated. At least the potions written exam made her think a little.
The potions practical exam was… odd. The examiners were strangely interested in meeting her, several of them even shaking her hand. Brewing the requested Wit Sharpening potion was easy. She made an alteration with the ginger roots that had examiners looking oddly excited. When they came to talk to her afterwards, she thanked them and speed walked away.
The exam in defense was fun being an obstacle course. It was all going smoothly until the end with the boggart.
The trunk opened and suddenly Holly was staring at herself.
Boggart Holly was covered in blood and grime. She was stuck in the fetal position, her limbs bound in thick manacles with a magic inhibiting collar around her neck. Her hair was matted, her naked body clearly little more than a skeleton even beneath the filth. All her fingers were chopped off, leaving her hands bloody stumps.
Boggart Holly opened her eyes and Holly faltered. They were glazed over, filled with defeated resignation. The muscle around her emaciated jaw twitched and Holly knew, just knew, what she was about to say.
(That she was powerless to stop anything. That she'd failed and given up. That all her efforts were useless.)
Before boggart Holly could say anything, Holly shouted "Ridiculous!" and suddenly a cat was playing with boggart Holly's exposed tongue while she blushed.
Holly laughed and turned away only to see a very concerned looking Professor Lupin staring at her.
'Shit! He's going to tell Sirius! Gotta distract him quick!'
"I can cast a corporeal patronus if you'd count that for extra credit?"
Somehow, her pathetic attempt to change topics worked. Professor Lupin blinked twice before asking "You can?"
Jumping at the chance, she thought about complete freedom and robbing fools blind. One incantation later and there was a translucent raven perched on her shoulder. She looked to see a visibly shocked Professor Lupin staring at her patronus in disbelief.
Before he could overcome his shock, she sprinted away yelling "thanks for the extra credit!"
---
A week later and she was staring at her exam results while riding the train back. Her potions score wasn't back yet, but she'd aced all her other exams, getting above 100% in several. Which really made no sense whatsoever but seemed like typical wizard nonsense. Pointing that fact out to Hermione had them comparing scores.
"Honestly Holly, I think you set a record. That's not even mentioning how you took an O.W.L. as a 3rd year! What was it like?"
She shrugged, "I mean, I kinda just did the exam and brewed the potion? It made me think a bit more than the other exams."
For some reason that had Hermione staring before she started shaking her head. "Only you Holly, only you."
Back at Kings Cross, Hermione ran off to her parents after promising to write. Holly watched until she heard someone clearing their throat and she turned around.
Sirius, looking far healthier than before, was waiting with a massive smile across his face.
"Hey Prongslet, nice to finally see you again"
He suddenly wrapped her into a tight hug and-
'Oh. So this is what that feels like.'
She slowly wrapped her arms around Sirius and buried her face into her chest. If her eyes started watering it was because his shirt was dusty. Very dusty.
Eventually they pulled away, both of them wiping their eyes.
"Your shirt is dusty."
"I think a bug flew into my eyes, what a terrible time for that."
They smiled at each other before Sirius threw an arm over her shoulder and they started walking out together. After a second her blissfully happy moment was interrupted by him dropping another metaphorical bomb on her.
"Unfortunately, there's the bad news: I have to drop you off at the Dursleys' for two weeks." Before she could argue, he continued. "Trust me, I hate it too. But you staying there, even for only two weeks, renews the protections Lily gave you."
"Protections?"
"Blood wards. It's why you grew up there. So long as you consider that house with your mother's blood home you're safe there. That's why it wouldn't be renewed with me even though I blood adopted you. Or so Dumbledore says."
As they got into a taxi Holly was lost in thought, oblivious to Sirius inwardly panicking at her apparent silent treatment.
There was a lot to consider. It certainly explained why she was raised there instead of with any wizarding family.
Holly had never thought about how she ended up at the Dursleys but in hindsight it was obvious. Of course it was Dumbledore. Who else had enough influence and didn't despise normal people?
But that meant he knowingly left her with a hateful family. The marauders all knew her mother was on bad terms with Petunia. Dumbledore certainly knew. Maybe he didn't know they were abusive, but he certainly should've at least checked in annually. Hell, he never even noticed she'd run away.
At least she'd escaped from them.
Which was a whole other issue: the blood wards were gone. Which meant Sirius dropping her off at the Dursleys was pointless. But she couldn't exactly tell Sirius that without saying she ran away. Which meant, sadly, she'd have to play along.
Hopefully he wouldn't try to talk to the Dursleys. Or at least, not before Holly altered their memories.
When their cab stopped in front of number 4 Privet drive, they got out, Sirius looking rather nervous.
"I know you'd rather not be here but-"
"It's fine Sirius. I'll seeya in two weeks at your place."
One bone crushing hug and apparation later Holly was left alone on the sidewalk.
Holly quickly broke in (she had forgotten how loud Petunia could screech) and modified the Dursleys' memories to make it seem as if she never ran away. After stealing Petunia's jewelry again, she walked out, a wide smile on her face.
(She knew she'd be back again one day. Petunia still had memories about her mother and grandparents after all. One day she'd take them for herself, along with all the Dursleys memories of her, leaving them forever questioning their own minds.
Sadly, she couldn't do that until she was of age. After that all bets were off.)
Holly clapped her hands together and let herself smile wide. "Two full weeks of complete freedom. Time to make the most of it."
Notes:If Holly and Hermione's character development feels skipped over that's fully intentional: I feel its very on brand for Holly to take months to realize she has a friend.
I haven't explicitly mentioned this but the reason why OWLS and other acronyms aren't always punctuated is because Holly doesn't know they're an acronym. Anytime it's Holly talking/thinking it will be written as OWLs but for other characters its O.W.L.s
Similarly with titles, professors she respects get 'professor', ones she likes get their title capitalized, and those she doesn't won't have title mentioned at all. This is subject to change over the course of the story as her opinions of them change (or if I make errors).
Chapter 11: Summer 1994Summary:A certain (not yet) pirate gets a cameo, Holly earns a new epitaph, Sirius lives up to his name, and Holly has a personal revelation.
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextNick Fury, junior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, was reading an intelligence report, trying and failing not to be impressed.
In the last 14 days there had been 14 high profile robberies concentrated around London. One every day. Each of them targeting various wealthy individuals implicated in scandals.
Every one of them was a complete mystery. No clear points of entry, no witnesses, no security alarms tripped, nothing. Some of them had even been while the owners were home, but they'd heard nothing.
The only evidence was safes left hanging open and empty, bank accounts hacked, assorted valuables missing, and (strangely enough) several personal libraries gone. Simply vanished into thin air.
It was like the burglar was a ghost.
Nick's first thought was insurance fraud but it didn't fit. They would've had to coordinate it ahead of time, and even then, they couldn't make their valuables vanish without a trace.
After the first week the newspapers were calling them "The Phantom Thief." Rather theatrical but somehow accurate.
Thankfully he wasn't the agent in charge of tracking them down. That job seemed doomed to failure.
But he was interested. A master thief could make a good S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
All the while he had the strangest feeling. That, somehow, he was certain he'd meet them one day. He didn't understand it but he knew to trust his gut.
Meanwhile, Holly was walking down a London sidewalk reading a newspaper with a smile.
'The Phantom Thief' hmm, not bad. I mean it's not great but it could be worse I guess. Maybe next year I could leave a calling card? Something to consider.'
She walked up the steps and knocked on the door of Sirius's flat, letting herself in when she heard a yell.
The inside looked exactly like she expected. That is, like a bachelor pad of someone who'd only lived there a few months. Mostly empty with mismatched furniture and scattered takeout boxes. That wasn't concerning.
What was concerning was an unusually serious looking Sirius at the table reading the newspaper. The same newspaper detailing the exploits of The Phantom Thief.
Suddenly nervous, she went with the simplest way to break the tension. "Well you're looking Sirius today."
Sirius smiled but didn't laugh.
'Oh god oh fuck, he knows.'
"So I decided to drop in and check on you at the Dursley's a few days ago. Only, you weren't there. Hadn't been there in some time. Although your relatives seem to believe you have been for some reason."
Oh no. "That's strange."
"Very strange" he agreed, "they were rather confused about where you were. Although, what Petunia was quite clear about was blaming you for her missing jewelry."
"You know most wizards never read the muggle news? Funny story, I was walking around London worried out of my mind about you when I saw the paper. And I thought 'that couldn't possibly have anything to do with Holly, could it?' So I went to check and sure enough, your scent was there."
Here it is. He was going to throw her out and expose her. Why was she so stupid to believe he'd care about her?
"Now I'm wondering how you didn't get caught doing underage magic because, last I checked, you're only 13."
She was caught. No point in playing dumb. She still couldn't outright admit to it though, that'd be evidence against her in court.
"Well, hypothetically, I would have broken the Trace first. Hypothetically, I would also have practiced the necessary charms and wandless casting." At his shocked expression she extended her hand and summoned his newspaper to it. She tossed it back before continuing.
"Hypothetically, I would shift my appearance beforehand and be extremely careful not to leave any evidence behind. Hypothetically, I would also only steal from those I personally confirmed were deserving of being robbed."
"Hypothetically," a serious looking Sirius replied.
"Of course," doing her best "I'm an innocent little girl and model student" expression, eyes wide and blinking rapidly, hands clasped in front of her. It must have been good because Sirius's lip twitched and he started laughing.
And Holly had no idea how to handle that.
"Merlin, Hogwarts is lucky you didn't go Slytherin. You would've eaten those poor kids alive." His expression sobered again, "I can't say that it's a good idea or that I like it but I'm glad you're being careful. Hardly any wizards read muggle news, so I doubt most will ever hear about it. Those who do will assume it's a muggle thief. And I won't be telling anyone otherwise."
His serious face suddenly flipped into excitement. "And wandless magic at your age! It's incredible! I knew you were good from Minnie and Remus, but they didn't mention anything about that! I-"
"I'd like to keep that a secret for now, just like being a metamorphmagus. Better to be underestimated."
Sirius paused, looking worried "Ya know, you could give an old boss of mine competition for the most paranoid person I've met. Is there anything I should know?"
Now there was a good question.
'Should I tell him something? He agreed not to tell anyone I'm a thief, that's worth something. Obviously not a major secret, but maybe a minor one? Something that won't lead him to discover any other secrets. Nothing dangerous I've done either. Something he can sympathize with.'
Well, there was a clear choice.
Holly broke eye contact to look at the floor before she answered. It felt easier talking without seeing his expression. "I ran away and lived in my mum's old Trunk for a while. Then I stayed at Potter manor last summer."
There was complete silence for a moment before suddenly she was being hugged.
"I'm never going to kick you out. I love you kid."
They stayed like that for a while, Holly's face buried into his chest. Eventually they broke away, both trying and failing to subtly wipe their eyes.
"Your bachelor pad is dusty."
"Mhm, complete mess. Tons of dust in the air."
Only then Holly had a Brilliant Idea: they didn't have to stay here! She liked Sirius but his bachelor pad was, well, a bachelor pad. Not exactly ideal.
"You know, I had Potter Manor cleaned up. No dust there. Plenty of space too, you could teach me some spells and we could practice dueling."
Then it was Sirius' turn to look floored. She knew it'd be tough for him to return. He'd lived there before with her father after all, the place was probably bittersweet for him.
Eventually he managed to choke out, "I… I think I'd like that."
One apparation later and Holly was watching Sirius wander the halls of Potter Manor in a daze. He'd greeted Flory like an old friend, shoveling the offered biscuits into his mouth. Occasionally he'd point out various places, where they'd pulled pranks or liked to relax.
When they got to the dueling room he whipped out his wand with a cocky smile. "Show me what you've got Prongslet!"
Holly, after a brief second of debate, decided to take him seriously. Sirius was a former auror, this was a great chance to learn from an expert. He could give her proper feedback. Plus, he already knew she was downplaying her skill at school.
Besides, now that she thought about it she'd never dueled anyone other than Diary Tom. Which, well, she wasn't sure what that said about her. The fact was she didn't have a good measure of her skill level.
She flicked her wand into her hand and immediately began silently shooting minor jinxes at Sirius. His cocky smile dropped and he focused on defending himself before deciding to seriously fight back.
Suddenly she was at the end of his barrage, barely ducking spells. He pressed his advantage, forcing her back. She ducked a stinging hex, sidestepped a tripping jinx, and she fired back a stunner but was hit by another spell that made her hang upside down.
Sirius conjured a cushion before unceremoniously dropping her. Once she sat up he began, "That was pretty good, better than I'd expect from someone your age. You're great at dodging and have good aim. But I'm guessing you've never practiced with someone?" At her nod he continued, "The spells you chose don't let the wand movements flow together smoothly. Duelists use a technique called 'spell chaining' to string together spells so they can cast faster."
"Your other weakness is that you always dodge." At her confused expression he explained, "obviously you don't want to get hit. But always dodging makes you predictable and struggle to fire back. That's why shielding or countering can be better: they let you retaliate sooner."
'That… makes a surprising amount of sense. More than I'm used to from wizards. Or maybe it shouldn't be surprising that the one thing wizards seem sensible about is how to fight each other.' Shaking off her cynical thoughts she raised her wand again.
"Want to go again?"
Sirius, the mature adult that he was, sent a farting jinx at her.
---
They fell into a domestic routine together with shocking ease after that.
Every morning Holly woke up early and ate whatever delicious meal Flory provided. After that she'd have a couple quiet hours to read (she sympathized heavily with Gandalf trying to destroy The One Ring) or plot while Sirius was still asleep. Things tended to get louder once he was awake.
Some days were spent binging classic movies at Sirius's flat. The Princess Bride had Sirius crying his eyes out as she pretended not to notice. Back to the Future made Holly desperately hope wizards were incapable of time travel. Both of them loved Star Wars, with Sirius looking a bit too interested at the idea of Luke fighting his father.
Holly wasn't going to analyze that. She was too busy thinking of a way to mimic force choking someone.
Other days were spent out and about in either normal or magical Britain. Sirius was clearly loving his freedom and trying to make up for lost time. He rushed from place to place, buying anything that caught their attention. After seeing posters for the DOOM game he immediately bought it to play together. It was fun and Holly was already creating a new mindscape section based on it.
Sirius made the mistake of pranking her once. During lunch one day she suddenly sprouted fur and whiskers. She silently set her glass down and slowly turned towards a laughing Sirius.
His laughter died quickly and changed to a nervous smile when he saw her death glare. With a nervous laugh he asked, "has anyone ever told you you look just like Lily when you're angry?"
After a few seconds of strained silence he gave her the antidote and promised no more pranks.
Their duels got longer and longer as Holly continued to improve. She still couldn't beat Sirius when he was serious, probably not even if she started using the really nasty curses he didn't know she knew. But she was getting better. According to him she had potential to be the best at Hogwarts. She wasn't sure how good that really was but the praise was nice.
(In the back of her mind she knew dueling wasn't nearly that important to practice. It wouldn't hurt to know of course. But it had a glaring weakness: it was strong at close range, but any longer than roughly 40 feet and spells became too easy to dodge. A gun would be more effective in most fights. Especially if they don't see you first.
Wizards may be offended by the idea of shooting someone in the back but to her it was common sense. No point in being "honorable" with lives at risk. She'd totally pull an Indiana Jones and shoot a Death Eater in a duel.)
She got her potions OWL results mid July and was rather happy seeing her above perfect score. Seemed like Snape couldn't find any excuse to fail her. Sirius saw her results, let out a high pitched squeal, and gave her a bone crushing hug while saying how proud of her mum and dad would be. Sirius must've been wearing a dusty shirt again because her eyes started watering.
Sirius's face when she pulled out the Marauder's Map was priceless. Before he could start reminiscing she mentioned her brilliant idea: why not make a new and improved version? Sirius, no matter how much he denied it later, squealed in delight hearing that.
Working together on a new and improved map was interesting. She would need to be at Hogwarts to finish it but it was a good start. Seeing how complicated it was put in perspective just how impressive a feat the original map really was.
Of course, the fact Sirius kept distracting her with stories of his school days made it better.
When her birthday came around Sirius nearly drowned her in gifts. Mostly books again (primarily focused on potions for some reason), all of which were significantly more advanced this year. That wasn't surprising.
What was surprising was Hermione sending her a book on warding. She already owned it but still, the gesture was kind. Holly mentally made sure to figure out Hermione's birthday and return the favor.
Towards the end of the summer she started getting weird headaches from her scar. It was concerning but Holly didn't risk telling Sirius about it. She'd already purified 4 horcruxes, if Adult Tom had stuck to his teenage plan he'd have 2 more and his wraithlike main soul.
(Speaking of which, Holly needed to visit Gringotts alone but Sirius was hard to slip away from. She'd have to sneak out while at Hogwarts.)
(She thought it said something that it was easier to escape from a supposedly impenetrable wizard castle than away from a single watchful guardian.)
---
A week before the term started Sirius dragged her out to the Quidditch World Cup. Holly wasn't sure what to think of the campsite other than that it was packed with wizard nonsense. And that wizard tents were awesome.
They made their way to what seemed to be the V.I.P. section and settled in. For some reason the Weasleys were there, alongside what seemed to be bureaucrats and the wealthy. Sirius had a brief confrontation with a pretentious looking blond guy before he settled in to make conversation with the others. She zoned out, only vaguely hearing them talk about how some bureaucrat was out sick.
What did catch her attention was when dozens of women ran out onto the field and started dancing. She ignored the pressure against her occlumency barriers and stood up to get a better view.
They all had silvery blond hair and were devastatingly beautiful. Inhumanly beautiful.
'Must be Veela then. Impossibly beautiful women with an allure that attracts people who are… oh. Oh. Well shit.'
Holly had been in enough heads to recognize what attraction felt like. She skipped over denial and went straight to panicking.
She abruptly sat down, thankful Sirius was still too distracted by the veela to notice.
'Well Holly, seems like you're attracted to women too. Does this change anything?' She thought about it for a moment. It… really didn't change anything did it? She already didn't care what anyone thought of her. If nobody approved she wouldn't care in the slightest. Well, except Sirius but she had her own doubts about him being completely straight. Hermione mattered a bit too but Holly doubted she'd care.
'Hmm, guess I panicked for no reason then.'
The rest of the game passed quickly with Holly hardly paying attention. As they walked back to their tent Sirius was still raving about the game. It wasn't until they were back on the tent he remembered to ask what she thought.
"That was the first quidditch game I've ever watched." She shrugged, "I don't see what the excitement is about. Anyway, goodnight Sirius."
Behind her Sirius stood silently for several minutes wondering how she could be so indifferent to quidditch. He loved her but there were some things he'd never understand.
Notes:Holly's mental state going forward: Link
Thoughts on Holly's thief name? I like 'The Phantom Thief', just imagine a calling card of a cartoon ghost wearing a thief mask with a money sack over its shoulder.
I made Holly bisexual because as a straight(?) guy it's easier to write. Plus Holly being a disaster bi creates the potential for a few fun plotlines I have in mind.
My original plan for this summer was Holly and Sirius going on a world tour but I decided against it. With Holly opening up to Sirius it means she can expose Potter Manor and her true skill level.
Plus, Holly knows she wouldn't be able to pickpocket or steal memories with Sirius around. It'd raise alot of awkward questions, plus it'd expose Holly being able to speak at least a couple dozen languages or any other random crazy knowledge she has. Better to get as much training at Potter Manor with Sirius as she can.
Chapter 12: Year FourSummary:Holly startles people with her Holly-ness, is slightly unnerved by Hermione, makes an irrational decision, and is screwed over by a certain Cup.
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextHolly was standing on the train platform, trying and failing to pry herself out of Sirius's hug while he sniffled into her hair.
"-and you've got the mirror, right?"
"Sirius, I'm going to be fine, stop crying."
"How dare you accuse me of crying? Can't you tell it's raining? Terrible day for it." Her words must've gotten through though because he let her go and crouched down so they were eye to eye. "Now this should be an interesting year for you. Lemme know if any boys mess with you so I can curse them. And remember: don't do anything I would do. Got it?"
Thinking about how even Sirius hadn't done anything as crazy as she already had made it easy to agree.
Speaking of boys, she looked down at her shoes to make getting the words out easier, "um Sirius, it's uh, kinda not only boys you should be worried about."
Sirius didn't hesitate before responding. "Well tell me and I'll curse them all the same. Nobody but the best for you Prongslet."
And just like that, suddenly it was raining on her too. She hugged Sirius again before wandlessly clearing her face and boarding the train.
Eventually Holly managed to find Hermione sitting in a compartment and let herself in. After placing a repelling compulsion on the door she settled in, taking out a book to read.
"Holly! How was your break?"
"Pretty good. Practiced dueling with Sirius, went to World Cup, and veela made me realize I'm a bit gay."
After several seconds of silence Holly looked up from her book to see Hermione attempting to process everything. Seems like she overwhelmed her. Or maybe she was about to get interrogated? Either way, she waited for Hermione to get her thoughts together.
After several more seconds of silence she finally spoke up, "I thought it was illegal to do magic outside of school while we're still underaged. Shouldn't the Trace detect it?"
"The Trace is intentionally designed to be racist Hermione. Since it can't detect who cast spells it functionally only applies to muggleborns and some halfbloods." At her furious expression Holly decided to trust her with a secret (while maintaining plausible deniability of course.) "Also, hypothetically, I may have figured out how to break the Trace on myself. Hypothetically, would you want yours broken too?"
Hermione looked dumbfounded for a second before her lips twitched in amusement. "Hypothetically yes, I'd like that. Anyway, did you hear about those robberies?"
Thankfully Holly was mentally prepared enough to say something noncommittal to keep Hermione talking and avoid suspicion. They didn't keep talking for long after that, instead reading their books in a pleasant silence.
After getting off the train and their carriage (still pulled by winged, skeletal horses for some inexplicable reason) Hermione grabbed her arm. "Where are you going?"
"I always skip the feasts to eat in the kitchen instead. They're annoying and they never announce anything important. Although this year Sirius said they're bringing back the Triwizard Tournament." She didn't think it mattered much but by Hermione's expression she disagreed. "Come on, I'll tell you about it in the kitchens."
After introducing Hermione to the kitchen elves (and preemptively stopping her angry moral outburst with a whispered "research first, righteous anger later") they stuffed themselves while Holly slowly answered Hermione's questions.
"The triwizard tournament is going to be here this year but who cares? Only idiots would enter into a deadly tournament. I've got better things to do this year." She reached into her backpack and pulled out the partially completed updated Map. She spread it out on the table between them and watched as Hermione recognized what she was looking at.
"This is what I'll be focusing on. You want to help?" It took Hermione a few seconds to process her words but once she did her hair was bouncing as she enthusiastically nodded. And just like that, Holly knew her year was off to a good start.
---
Unfortunately, she still had classes to go to.
Fortunately, she was actually interested in what was being taught for once.
In Herbology the plants were apparently going to be considerably more dangerous this year. Oh joy, what fun. She wasn't Neville Longbottom, Herbology wasn't interesting to her other than potentially how useful they could be. Or knowing which plants may kill her.
What did have her perking up was when Professor Sprout mentioned how some useful plants could be found found in the Forbidden Forest. She hadn't gotten to explore it yet after all. She knew that'd be changing sometime soon.
In Care of Magical Creatures Hagrid introduced monstrosities that had the entire class looking wary. Hagrid was entirely too enthusiastic as he explained he had no idea what they ate and they'd need to find out.
She made eye contact with Hermione as both of them understood what that meant: Hagrid had created a dangerous new hybrid species and decided it'd make good practical lessons for students. It was a rather blatant reminder that the kind half giant had inherited the seemingly genetic cluelessness of wizards.
Muggle Studies was notable for hopelessly useless it was: apparently they'd spend the entire year talking about nonmagical transportation methods.
Fascinating.
Charms and Transfiguration were boring as hell. She knew all the theory already. Could already do the whole year's material silently. Maybe wandlessly too if she practiced. That'd be interesting to try when she was alone later.
At least potions made her think. Snape was as obnoxious as ever. He questioned her until nobody besides her could answer. Then kept going. By the time he finally started his lecture on everlasting elixirs the other students were sending her odd looks.
It was unpleasant, which made it reassuringly normal.
Defense Against the Dark Arts however was a different story entirely. The new Defense professor, "Mad Eye" Moody was an grizzled older man who seemed to have a rather obvious case of post traumatic stress disorder. Which, while he was clearly an expert, he wasn't suited to be a teacher.
It seemed wizards had no concept of mental health other than "madness" because he clearly wasn't getting treatment. For as annoying as he was she pitied the man.
At least his classes were informative, albeit unnerving.
When he explained that they'd be covering the Unforgivables she had to fake wariness to cover her interest. She'd been waiting to research more before trying them out properly. This was the perfect chance to learn about them in a controlled setting.
She was probably the only one excited about hearing how they'd get to experience the Imperious Curse. It was invaluable since she couldn't exactly cast it on herself. Asking Sirius would result in an exceptionally awkward conversation. And while she tentatively trusted Hermione she doubted she'd be willing.
Her excitement faded when she saw the curses demonstrated firsthand.
Watching that spider dance under the Imperious was haunting. Its twitches under the Cruciatus were horrifying. And the Killing Curse… she wasn't how to feel about it.
She knew that the exact method of killing someone wasn't particularly important, barring unnecessary cruelty of course. The Killing Curse was efficient. An instant and painless death. Rather merciful considering how horrifying other curses could be. She'd been planning on killing Adult Tom and the Death Eaters for over a year now.
Practicing the Killing Curse had seemed logical.
But seeing that burst of green brought a sense of familiarity. Recognition of that distinctly malevolent green.
(A shade of green uncomfortably close enough to her eyes that she subconsciously darkened them slightly.)
The barest hint of a memory. Of screaming and a flash of green light.
She hadn't know exactly how her parents died before. It… complicated her feelings about using the spell.
Hermione, sensing her mood, offered to eat lunch together in the kitchens and work on their Map. After a couple hours she was feeling back to normal and promised herself to return the favor.
---
The rest of the week continued without much excitement. Snape was obnoxious, 1st years were annoying, Sirius complained about missing her, professor Moody mentally unstable, her mindscape development was slowly progressing, and Hermione her constant companion in class.
She still snuck out to spent time alone in the Room of course, but was considering showing it to Hermione. She would love the Room. They'd be able to practice together more efficiently than alone.
As for telling Hermione about her other secrets? She was considering sharing minor ones, like being a shapeshifter or her Trunk library. But for the major secrets? She'd be keeping those to herself barring exceptional circumstances. Hermione would want her to get help or ask how she knew everything and then there'd be questions.
Plus Hermione didn't know occlumency.
Oh wait, she could teach Hermione. She really should do that.
It was the second week when Holly was watching professor Moody call students up to try resisting the Imperious Curse. Only Hermione was able to even slightly resist it before giving in a half second later. Everyone else was dancing or singing as commanded. Finally it was her turn and she walked forward, fully raising her occlumency barriers.
Holding his wand like an orchestra conductor, he pointed it at her and with a spoken "imperio" a false sense of tranquility touched against her mind.
It felt like a pleasant embrace trying to encircle her mind. She knew that if she lowered her mental barriers she could let the curse take hold like a comforting hug. But this wasn't Sirius hugging her. It was a mental unstable professor trying to make a fool of her.
With that pushed away the warm fuzzy feelings and raised a single eyebrow. "Is that really the best you've got?"
Professor Moody took a second to get over his shock before turning to the stunned class. "See that? Potter fought it off! Now here's someone with force of will! Very impressive."
She walked back to her seat, ignoring how the entire class was still staring at her. Maybe throwing off the curse entirely was too much and she should've downplayed it?
'Shit, I probably just gave away the fact I know occlumency too. That's not good. Hopefully I'm old enough now that it's not too suspicious.'
Others got called up but nobody else managed to visibly fight it. Was it really that tough? Or was occlumency that helpful? Whatever the case, it seemed she was the outlier.
After class Holly handed over several books on occlumency to Hermione. "Here, those go over how to defend your mind. If you learn it well I might just show you something cool."
Hermione meanwhile was too distracted staring longingly at the stack of books.
"Oi, earth to Hermione." She snapped her fingers several times before Hermione's head snapped up and glared at her. "Learn to defend your mind and I'll show you where I hangout."
As expected, Hermione responded to being challenged. Unfortunately, she didn't take the bait. "Oh? Is the personal hideout of the great Holly Potter really so valuable?"
Holly leaned in to whisper into her ear, "I'll show you my personal library." If the full body shudder was an indication then that was motivation enough.
She leaned back to see Hermione staring at the occlumency books again. "I'll give you a few weeks to learn before I check your progress. Sound good?" And just like that their agreement was made.
---
Several weeks later Holly was sitting in the great hall, slowly playing with her food she was too nervous to eat. It was an odd feeling. She didn't like it.
Today was Hermione's birthday. She'd realized it a few days ago after accidently hearing Hermione thinking about it and panicked. She knew she owed Hermione a gift since she'd gotten one from Hermione before.
But how was that supposed to work? She'd asked Sirius but he was no help, only telling her to "get her something meaningful." She internally panicked more before finally snucking out to Diagon Alley to buy Hermione something.
After much debate she'd bought a few interesting books (making copies for herself of course) and plenty of school supplies. It seemed like something Hermione would appreciate.
The night before she'd snuck into Gryffindor tower and left the gifts by Hermione's bed. Now she was waiting for Hermione to come down for breakfast and see if she'd messed up somehow.
She was pulled out of her worrying when she was suddenly tackle hugged by a blur of curly hair.
Hermione was talking incomprehensibly fast but Holly understood the general idea. She cut her babbling off by sticking a hand over her mouth and making eye contact.
"You're welcome. Happy birthday Hermione."
With another crushing hug Hermione left in a hurry, probably to read her new books.
Holly quickly finished her breakfast, oblivious to the majority of the schools shock at the spectacle.
---
Holly slowly recognized over the next several weeks that Hermione must have appreciated her birthday presents more than she'd anticipated. Hermione had redoubled her efforts on helping finish the new Map and learning occlumency.
She'd been shocked when Hermione suggested breaking into the anchorstone room of Hogwarts. She'd known they'd need to to finish their map but had been expecting Hermione to resist. Only instead she had been the one to suggest it.
This newly dedicated Hermione seemed freer, more attached to her than to authority.
It was a tad unnerving.
Not that she'd ever tell Hermione that. Her newfound loyalty meant she'd be less likely to ask awkward questions Holly wasn't ready to answer yet. But that didn't make it any less unnerving.
Together they snuck into Hogwarts's anchorstone room and stared in awe.
The anchorstones of Hogwarts were a masterpiece. Each massive block of quartz was a dozen feet tall, arranged in a stone circle the size of Stonehenge. Every inch of them was covered in glowing runes, all undoubtedly carved by the Hogwarts founders themselves.
This, she knew, was what made Hogwarts one of the most magically powerful buildings in the world. The amount of raw magic they harnessed from the ley line convergence running underneath was insane.
The Hogwarts founders might've been pompous (and completely insane in Slytherin's case) but there was no denying they were brilliant. It was their anchorstones that kept Hogwarts standing and in good condition even a millennia later.
By unspoken agreement they both silently examined the room, desperately wishing they had a camera. Eventually they found the sections for future additions and chiseled the required runes in for their map.
With the raw data provided by the anchorstones all they'd need to do was properly interpret it.
It took several weeks of painstaking effort but finally their Map (Holly wanted to name it either Big Brother or Sauron's Eye. Hermione wanted to call it Hogwarts Integrated Security System, or H.I.S.S., and was offended when Holly laughed at her suggestion) was working.
Names were color-coded for professors and by student's houses. They could sort by year level, search for a specific name, and even see where someone had been for the past day. Learning from the Rat debacle, there were symbols labeling anyone as animagi if they ever transformed on Hogwarts grounds. For extra security there was even an alert every time one of the secret passages were used.
Privately, Holly thought wizards should be embarrassed their Map-which only took a couple months effort to make-was better security than anything Hogwarts had ever seen.
Together they watched the icons of people and ghosts drift through the halls. After a bit they saw two icons go into a broom closet together and quickly folded away the Map.
Hermione's progress with occlumency was impressive too. Her mental barriers were still exceptionally weak of course, but they'd be enough to detect someone trying to read her mind.
They were lounged out in an abandoned classroom as Holly tested Hermione's occlumency progress. It was right after she deemed Hermione's barriers sufficient the girl finally spoke up.
"How are you using legitimacy without eye contact Holly? All of those books said you need it to get anything more than surface thoughts."
"I wouldn't pay much attention to most of the supposed restrictions they say exist in magic. Magic is intent made manifest, most wizards just have too many preconceived beliefs to believe anything new can work."
"Like how they say wandless magic is impossible for all but the most powerful." She raised an open palm and made a ball of light appear in her palm with only a thought. She looked over to see Hermione's shocked face illuminated.
"They haven't realized they're surrounded by masters of wandless magic: house elves. But since they see house elves as unworthy of their attention they're overlooked. All I did was ask a friendly elf for some lessons."
"That's why I don't respect the so called 'Wizarding World' in general. The majority care more about someone's pedigree then having common sense. Between that, the inbreeding, their useless government, and regular civil wars, it's no surprise their society is in decline."
She finished her rant to see Hermione looking completely overwhelmed. Which, well, wasn't exactly surprising. In hindsight her impromptu monologue sounded suspiciously like a revolutionaries' recruitment speech.
Before Hermione could ask any awkward questions about potential future revolutions she decided to redirect the conversation.
She pulled out her shrunken Trunk and unshrunk it. "As promised: my library." She lifted the lid to expose the ladder and gestured for Hermione to go first.
The rest of her night was spent watching a dazed Hermione explore the countless rows of bookshelves. She knew exactly when Hermione discovered the catalog and searching system from her shriek of excitement.
The next day when Holly showed Hermione the Room she had to forcefully drag Hermione out to go sleep. Thankfully the girl was too exhausted to be fully aware and question how Holly dumped her onto her own bed in Gryffindor Tower.
After dropping off Hermione she made a quick stop in the 5th year boys room to return the Marauder's Map. She left it, along with a stack of galleons and a note on the twins nightstand, leaving before she could get caught.
(In the morning the twins shared identical looks of shock upon seeing their missing map returned along with more money than they'd ever owned. Their shock only grew as they read the note.
Dear Twins,
I wasn't expecting to need the Map for that long so here's some money to make up for it.
I noticed your business plans last year and I'm interested in investing in due time.
Don't waste your time looking for me, I'll contact you.
(No pranks to find me either or else you'll learn why Padfoot himself is afraid to.)
Cheers,
A Marauder's' Child
"I think I'm in love Forge"
"Me too Gred, me too.")
---
In hindsight, Holly realized waiting to sneak out to visit Gringotts until after their Map was done was pretty stupid. At least Hermione wouldn't say anything.
Probably.
Either way, she snuck out to Hogsmeade, shifted her appearance a bit, and apparated away to Gringotts.
Once she was seated in Gronuk's office he wasted no time on small talk.
"Miss Potter-Black, I presume you're here for an update on your commissioned search?" At her assent he continued, "we managed to breach the defenses of the cave this summer. Inside was a duplicate of Slytherin's Locket with this note inside."
To the Dark Lord
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.
I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.
"R.A.B.?"
"Regulas Arturias Black, your godfathers' late brother. He was a known death eater who disappeared during the war."
'Well, that certainly complicates things. There's no way to know whether he managed to destroy it or not. Which means I have to keep looking. I could ask the goblins to search for it but then Sirius would find out and things could get messy. Although… Sirius would probably know where to start looking.'
'Should I ask him? Sirius deserves to know about his brother. He'd want to know. But there's no way I can tell him without explaining about the horcruxes and stealing Diary Tom's memories. And probably the basilisk too. He'd lose his shit, put a tracking charm on me, and make me stop my horcrux search. Or he'd be horrified at the things I've done. I… I can't risk that.'
'I'll tell him once I've exhausted my other options.'
After paying Gringotts for the horcrux hunt and giving them a healthy tip, she quickly snuck back into Hogwarts and collapsed into her bed.
She slept badly that night, tormented by nightmares of Sirius accusing her of lying to him.
---
Soon enough it was time for the other schools to be arriving. Holly stood in formation outside with everyone else, wondering why they supposedly all needed to be there.
Holly was barely paying attention as a large flying carriage (pulled by pegasi of all things for some reason) landed.
Even seeing the obviously half giant headmistress of Beaubaxtons get out didn't faze her. It wasn't until she felt a familiar pressure against her occlumency barriers that her eyes focused on the arriving students, to one striking girl with silver blond hair in particular.
'Oh. Well then. I guess she's part veela. Ok Holly, you are going to use this opportunity to practice your occlumency. You are not going to obnoxiously stare at her like everyone else. You can do this. You can.'
She was too distracted motivating herself not to perv out to care about the other school arriving. At least, until she saw a vaguely familiar face leading the incoming students. It took her a minute to search her stolen memories before she figured it out.
Igor Karakoff, former death eater and apparently the headmaster of Durmstrang.
Either wizards had no concept of a background search or the whole blood purity nonsense thing was even more popular over there.
She wasn't sure what was worse.
Eventually they settled into the great hall (she hadn't wanted to bother going but Hermione argued it'd be worth watching how champions were chosen) and Dumbledore began his speech detailing the tournament.
She didn't like the man but damn if he couldn't hold a crowds' attention.
When he explained that underaged students couldn't enter she nearly fell over in shock. Wizards having safety precautions? It was a very pleasant surprise. Hopefully that would stop dumb kids from risking their lives for prize money.
She zoned out for a while, only tuning back in at the end as she anxiously waited to escape the crowd.
Dumbledore looked uncharastically grave as he wrapped up his speech. "You will have the full weekend to enter your names to compete. Do not do so lightly. Once your name is drawn there is no backing out."
"On a happier note: it has been suggested to me that this weekend would make an excellent chance for our visiting students to explore Hogsmeade village. I do personally recommend Honeydukes' sweets, a little sugar never hurts. Now, off to bed!"
It wasn't long afterwards that Hermione found her afterwards reading in the Room. She sat down in a plushy chair opposite, looking far too excited. "I can't believe the Triwizard Tournament is restarting, and right here at Hogwarts! What do you think Holly?"
Without bothering to look up from her book she replied, "I think young, desperate people are going to risk their lives for the prize money and fame. Not exactly a good reason in my opinion. Besides, why is it a school tournament? Wouldn't it be more interesting to watch older, more skilled people compete?"
Holly finished reading an entire page before Hermione broke the silence. "That makes an alarming amount of sense. Which is probably why."
"Exactly. Wizards are idiots. Now come on, show me your occlumency progress." And with that she unceremoniously poked at Hermione's occlumency barriers as they struggled to keep her out.
---
The following weekend was hardly worth remembering. She spent almost all of it holed up in the Room reading with Hermione. Hermione seemed to be doing her best to read through her entire Trunk library in record speed, needing Holly to remind her to stop and eat.
It was an odd feeling trying to take care of someone else but seeing Hermione's outraged expression whenever she was dragged away to eat never failed to make her laugh.
It was on one of their food trips to the kitchens she heard some Durmstrang boys talking about several boys from their school had gotten completely wasted at Three Broomsticks. Apparently one even woke up naked across town.
Clearly they had sent their best.
Monday's classes flew by and soon enough they were all in the great hall (Hermione had forced her to come again) as names were about to be drawn.
She watched as the first name shot out and an attractive older boy from Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory apparently, walked up.
Following him was the beautiful veela girl, Fleur Delacour, was selected from Beaubaxtons.
Finally a third name, Victor Krum, was called and for some reason he received an extra loud response from all schools.
Dumbledore went to start speaking again only to pause and turn as an unexpected forth name popped out. He looked at the note for a second before flatly calling out, "Holly Potter."
Instantly everyone in the room was staring at her.
As for Holly? There was really only one proper response she could give to that.
"Fuck."
Notes:This should be obvious by now, but here's Holly's skill distribution summarized: Link
Also, Holly bribing Hermione pictured: Link
Any suggestions one what I should call their new map? I'm still undecided on what to call it other than wanting it to be a reference or play on words both Holly and Hermione would appreciate.
I didn't realize until writing this but I think in canon both Hermione and Ron's birthdays are never explicitly celebrated. No gift giving or any mention between the trio. Am I too sleep deprived and missing the obvious or is canon Harry that oblivious/shitty of a friend?
Credit to White_Squirell's series Arithmancer-Verse for the description of the Hogwarts anchorstones. Excellent series btw, highly recommend.