iii. what do you mean, now?

"Crystal."

Línnea clapped her hands together. "Wonderful!", she exclaimed mock-happily and with a really huge fake-grin.

"Ok, let's get to Mrs. Figg. What do you know about her?"

"Well, she's a squib who lives near where the Dursley's live. And she's in the Order", Harriet shrugged.

Línnea raised an eyebrow. "That's all? So you don't know that she was actually positioned to keep watch over you and report to Dumbledore?"

"What? Until I was 15 I just thought she was the crazy old cat lady that lived in the neigbourhood. After that, squib was added, but that's it. It's what everyone in the neighbourhood thought. And she babysat me when I was little." She scrunched up her nose. "Made me look at all the pictures of her ugly cats. Wait. Does that mean, Dumbledore knew about my situation?"

"I'm afraid so. You'd have to be brainless not to notice such an obvious case of abuse, so I reckon Mrs. Figg told Dumbledore all about it at first, but was told not to do anything. Anyway, you may not know it, but Petunia isn't as cruel as you think she is."

"Wait, what? Línnea, that woman called me a freak half my life, made me do the household since I could walk, and never batted an eye when Dudley and Vernon beat me up!"

"Yes, but think about it. Has Petunia ever hit you?"

Harriet thought about it. "No…"

"Thought so. Anyway, she may not be related to Lily, or be very fond of the idea of magic, but did you know why this was? Why Petunia became such a bitter woman?" Harriet shook her head. "Because she asked Dumbledore if she could come to Hogwarts too. He denied, and since then she's hated Lily."

"Ok, fine. But what does that have to do with anything? Wouldn't that be the perfect reason to hate me? She hates her adoptive sister, hates magic, and hates me, who is connected to both of it."

"Maybe, but if you had a sister who could go to a school you weren't accepted in because she could do something you couldn't, and thus hated her since you were 13 years old, making her life miserable with insults and the like, would you still hate her child so much that you'd hit and basically enslave her in your home, just because your sister died and left you her child?"

"No!", Harriet almost shouted. She had experienced what it was like, she didn't want to be like that.

"See? And I just told you that Dumbledore rejected her request to study magic. If you were Headmistress, would you have accepted or rejected her?"

Harriet thought about it. On the one hand, the Slytherins might give her trouble for being a muggle, but on the other hand, if she was in charge of Hogwarts, a lot of things would be different. And besides, muggles could learn stuff like Arithmancy, Herbology, Potions, and other stuff that doesn't require a wand. She could also learn the theory in the subjects that do require the ability to do magic. Any muggle could excel in magic school without having magic. She told Línnea so.

"Now, if that's the case, then why did Dumbledore reject her? Did he just fear for the Slytherins hurting her? Couldn't be, because he could do something about it. Or did he fear about the general opinion of the public? Who the hell cares about that? He may not hate muggles and muggle-borns, but if I am right, he does think that people without magic are worth less than magicals."

"Really?"

"I'm sure. Did you know that Dumbledore was in a relationship with Gellert Grindelwald and only left because his sister died in a duel between them and his brother Aberforth? They never knew which curse killed her."

"But- but that's unbelievable! Why would he be in a relationship with Grindelwald if he didn't support those views?" Harriet's face cleared up. "You don't mean…"

"I mean exactly that. Dumbledore has had those views when he was young, and there is no way they completely vanished. He's been taught about muggles and magic since he was born, you'd think he���d made up his mind at a young age. He didn't have those views because he didn't understand muggles, but simply because he thought himself above them. He may not think they needed to be killed, but sure didn't do anything about his ex-lover killing them for fun. It was all just about the 'Greater Good'. If you asked, he'd probably say something along the lines of 'Grindelwald is defeated. Sacrifices must be made. If we tried to save every single person caught in the crossfire, Grindelwald may still be lurking around.'"

Harriet was taken aback. She had always thought of Dumbledore as some kind of saviour. Sure, most people thought of her as one, too, but that was different. Dumbledore had a long list of things he'd done, and a few titles to prove his fame. He's supposedly the perfect example for the Light wizard. But if that was what comes from it; him making out with a Dark Lord and maybe even killing his sister. And then putting an orphan into an abusive home. But then Harriet thought of those memories she saw about Tom Riddle. He was an orphan with no friends, hated or feared by everyone because of his ability to talk to snakes. And then along came Dumbledore, telling him about that great new world with magic. It was so much like her own life. Tom too was sent back to where he was hated every single year, no matter how much he protested. Tom was a Slytherin, and Harriet had almost been one; she then decided to not let her views influence the Sorting Hat's decision. If it wanted her in Gryffindor, fine. If she'd be a Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or even a Slytherin, so be it.

Tom and Harriet also were both half-bloods and came from a long line of pure-bloods. Really the only obvious difference between them is their gender and views. And now that Harriet thought about it, if it had all went just a little different, if Ron hadn't told her about Slytherin being the sign of all evil, if Malfoy hadn't been such a prat, if she'd seen through Dumbledore's game from the very beginning, if she'd actively defended himself from the Dursley's and all the other children, she just might have gone dark and miserable, hating all that is associated with her pain; namely muggles and Light Magical people.

"I just remembered something about Tom. He and I, we are so similar, if things went only slightly different, if Dumbledore had made just one more wrong thing, I might have gone dark. I might have been the next Dark Lady."

"Exactly! And this is why I don't even want to know what Dumbledore thought when he put you with them. And-" She frowned. "What if you found out about all the bad things he did to you?"

At that moment, a memory struck Harriet.

—

"How could you do this to me, Dumbledore?! You knew all those years what they did to me, and you did nothing! You say you have my best interests in heart, yet you don't even make an effort in trying to get Sirius freed! Your hands aren't tied, Dumbledore! You're Headmaster of Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot! If you can't do something about it, no one can!"

Dumbledore shook his head at Harriet's outburst. That was so not what he imagined her third year to end. "I am so sorry for what I am about to do, Harriet."

Then, he lifted his wand to point it at Harriet, whose eyes had widened at the stick pointing in her face. "Obliviate."

—

"I-" Harriet took a deep breath. "I actually did find out about it. In third year, I found out that he knew about my treatment with the Dursley's, and I got mad because he lied about not being able to free Sirius. He- he obliviated me."

Línnea promptly stood up, muttering insults to Dumbledore that Harriet couldn't quite catch.

"So, is there something else about my childhood, or can we get started on first year?" Línnea didn't hear it. "'Nea? Línnea? LÍNNEA!"

Línnea snapped out of her daze and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry…", she muttered. "What was that again?"

"I said, 'Is there something else about my childhood, or can we get started on first year?'"

Línnea smiled grimly and nodded. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Harriet and said, "Let's get this over with.

"So, first year…I guess we need to go a bit earlier. Your Hogwarts letter."

"What about it?"

"Didn't I tell you not to interrupt?", Línnea asked.

"Ok, ok, sorry."

"Thank you. Anyway, muggle-borns get a Hogwarts letter and a Hogwarts representative to explain it. Yes, you may not be a muggle-born, and grew up with muggles, but still. Dumbledore knew you didn't get your letter, but instead of looking into it, he just sent double the amount of letters. Of course it's going to upset the Dursley's to have hundreds of letters in their home on a Sunday.

"And then, Hagrid? I like Hagrid, I really do, but would you send a half-giant unable to keep secrets or do magic to an 11-year-old child to explain the magical world? His loyalty is outstanding. And he didn't even tell you where to go for Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters! I bet that was Dumbledore's and Molly Weasley's doing!"

"Molly?"

Línnea rolled her eyes annoyed. "Who in their right mind yells about a fractioned platform number and muggles around hundreds of muggles? And you went to them and asked how to go there."

"So, you're saying that they planned for me to hear them and ask them how to get onto the platform? But why?"

Línnea shrugged. "So you'd make friends with Ronald."

"That again? Can't you just give it a rest? He's my husband. I-" Harriet stopped. Did she really love Ron? She was dead, her body didn't really function anymore in the real world, she was free from any outside influence, potions and spells. As she saw from Tom, spells couldn't affect her. So why did she doubt her love for Ron now? Línnea said something about love potions, but would he really? Harriet didn't feel the usual warmth or tingling feeling or electric shock while thinking of him, so what does it tell her?

"-love him?", Línnea inquired, quirking her lip into what looked like a smirk. She knew what Harriet was going to say and why she stopped.

Harriet sighed. "No…I guess you're right about that love potion. But what does that have to do with Molly?" She thought about it, unconsciously going into the following years, slowly getting where Línnea was coming from. All those adventures, and Molly always there to comfort her, and Ron's jealousy, and when Hermione was accused of playing with her heart, the dirty looks they were getting for supposedly being lesbian. The challenges in first year. If they could get around them, why not Voldemort? In second year. If Hermione could figure it out, why not Dumbledore? In third year. Dumbledore didn't want to free Sirius, so why would Fudge? Fourth year. If Harriet knew something was going on with Moody, why not Dumbledore? In fifth year. Why would he want Snape to give her Occlumency lessons? And why did Dumbledore only come to help them when Sirius was already dead? In sixth year. Why would he want Snape as DADA professor. And why wouldn't he go to that cave alone? She was 16, for Merlin's Sake! Far too young to be doing that. Maybe, if Sirius didn't die, she wouldn't know the prophecy now. Seventh year. They had so few informations. And then Ron suddenly left, again accusing her and Hermione to be lesbians and running off in a fit of jealously again.

It all suddenly made sense. But the love potions, Harriet still had no idea what that was about, so she asked Línnea.

"Honestly, do you really believe Ronald could brew a love potion without any outside help?"

Harriet snorted at the thought.

"See? And why wouldn't she want you to marry her son? I mean, they don't have much money. You, on the other hand, are so rich, if you died, all that money would go to them. And then, they could be the ones to brag about having the Girl-Who-Lived as their wife, daughter or sister-in-law. How could you not realise?"

"Ok, fine. It does make sense. But did the others know? Or was it only between Molly and Ron? And, does that mean that Ron was really only hanging out with me for my fame? Does he even love me?"

Línnea sighed. "No. The others didn't know. It was solely between those two. And yes, Ron only cared for your fame. Didn't you realise when he accused you of bragging about that fame in front of him, just to make him feel bad every time you wanted to give him anything?"

Harriet nodded. Línnea started talking again. "Should we continue on with first year?"

Harriet shook her head. "No. I understand. I get it now. All those adventures we got up to. They were planned. Because if we could do it, why couldn't the adults do it? It was all planned, all along. And Dumbledore wanted me weak and trusting towards the person 'saving' me from the Dursley's. But he didn't want me living with Sirius or something, so he just didn't free him and didn't do anything until he was dead. The year after, I was only good for watching memories and getting the one from Slughorn. It was nothing but a game! A test, so to speak! No preparations, just test me every year and when Voldemort turns up, test me again! Something else, Línnea?"

Línnea thought about everything. She then shook her head. "No. Only that you have to remember what we just talked about. Don't tell Dumbledore or any of his lackeys about what I just told you. That you went in time should either be held completely secret or be confidential to only select few people. And since you're planning on getting a new identity, what better method to do?"

"I guess you're right. So, we're done?"

"Yep!", Línnea said, popping the 'p'. "I think you can go now."

"What? Now? Like, now now?"

"Good luck, Harriet!"

"Wait! Línnea!"

But Línnea disappeared. As did everything else around Harriet, as it got dark and Harriet fell unconscious.