Hogwarts' Bucket List

by EraKnight

Chapter 1: Be a witch

Acora Bones had always been a strange child. Raised by her aunt after her parents died in the war, her eccentrics were overlooked. Her aunt Amelia was always working, and the house elves liked her weirdness. Her cousin, when she came over, didn't look deeply into the strangeness but still liked her even if her mother was the opposite.

Part of the reason why her other aunt disliked her was because Acora's father had been a Squib and her mother had been a Muggleborn. Her aunt hadn't been a Slytherin, but in Pureblood families like theirs, even if they were 'Blood traitors', it was thought to be disgraceful to have a Squib in the family.

Because of her parentage, not much was really expected of Acora. She wasn't expected to be a witch. She wasn't expected to get a job. She wasn't expected to be seen or heard.

She had lived her life like that for too long, she had decided.

In her past life, she could remember being a shy girl who only found comfort in her books. Her parents had been rich, and she was expected then to be beautiful, kind, innocent, and perfect. She was expected to paint well, play piano well, and marry well.

What they didn't expect was her to get cancer at the age of fifteen and die of it.

So she was done living up to expectations. She would live her life the way she wanted to live it. She would read as many books as she could, eat as much as she wanted, love who she loved, and be a witch.

She had read the Harry Potter books in her past life, seen the movies. It had been a magical world, and a wonderful escape. It hadn't been her favorite books series, neither was it the most remembered.

She remembered the important things though. Horcrux locations, who would die, how to defeat Voldemort.

And she would defeat him, prophecy or not.

So she watched for the signs that she was a witch. Even if she wasn't, she could still destroy the Horcruxes. At least some of them.

The years flew by, and still no sign. She wasn't even sure she had been born into the right era. There was talk of the Boy-Who-Lived, but no one mentioned his age. Harry Potter seemed more mythical being than human, much less a child her age.

She held onto hope yet. Amelia sometimes told her stories of the past war, and how Harry Potter defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He had been a baby then. Maybe she would be able to change things. She tried to ignore that thought that even if she changed things, Death would want something in return. Someone else. And who was she to play God? She had been reincarnated, that was it. No angel had told her to save them. She just wanted to. It was selfish, but she wanted those bright lights to live.

She was thinking of this late at night when suddenly all the lights in her rooms turned themselves on, brighter than normal. The sudden change in light made her squint, and the lights disappeared soon after revealing a house elf, Raz, in the door way.

"Ah, Young Mistress's magic flared up. Good, good. Madame Amelia was worried. Now, back to sleep, Young Mistress. You have a big day tomorrow," Raz said, bustling into the room to tuck her in once more. Acora let her, knowing that if she didn't Raz would cry. And crying house elves made her cry too.

The next day, May 7, she got up early for her tenth birthday. A year. That was all she had left to wait for her letter. Then she could happily cause chaos in Hogwarts. Oh, the things she could do…

She was shaken from her thoughts as she entered the dining room, where a gathering of people shouted, "Happy birthday!" when she entered. The group mostly consisted of house elves, and neither of her aunts were there, but there was her cousin Susan and she thought that she and the elves were enough.

"You didn't have to come," she told Susan, knowing that her mother disapproved.

Susan snorted. "You're my cousin. Besides, mother will get over it. And dad likes you."

She smiled at her cousin and hugged her tightly, thinking of her little sister from her other life, too tiny and skinny with thick blonde curls and a happy smile, missing a tooth. But Susan wasn't Annie, and she wouldn't try to make her into something that she wasn't.

The rest of the party was nostalgic, her thoughts focused more on the past than the future. She wondered if her family would recognize her now. She wasn't a quiet shy girl anymore. She was loud and outgoing. Her hair was brown instead of blonde, her eyes hazel instead of blue, her skin tanned instead of pale.

She shook those thoughts from her head, and made the decision to live in the moment.

x~x~x

She received her Hogwarts letter a month after her eleventh birthday, and she let herself smile for the rest of the day after sending a quick reply. The next week, Acora and her aunt went to Diagon Alley to get everything she would need for her school year.

They went to the bookshop first. She let her aunt get her school books while she ran her fingers over the other books in the store. There were so many. She had been there before, but her aunt hadn't let her get any spell books. She probably knew more about magical creatures and Herbology than anyone her age. That was just about the only things she could learn about, as she didn't need to see the future. She didn't need anything about Muggles, and she was already good at math. Ancient Runes and Potions were both pretty much magic, as she couldn't make one of them without the Ministry registering it as conscious magic.

Her aunt would only allow her to pick out only one more book, so she choose one on defense spells. She already knew that she would need that, considering the luck of that teaching position.

After that, they went to get Acora fitted for her robes. A boy with bright green eyes and a hidden scar was already being measured, and Acora couldn't help but smile at him. Amelia had looked at him and was staring, but Acora went over to him and offered her hand, ignoring the other boy with silvery blonde hair.

"Hello, my name's Acora Bones. You?"

"Harry. My name's Harry."

She shook his hand firmly. "It's nice to meet you, Harry Potter."

His green eyes widened with shock as she let the seamstress do her thing. Draco turned his own wide eyes towards the other boy, but Harry's robes were already done, and he didn't hesitate to rush out of the shop.

"Who are you?" the blonde boy demanded, sneering at her.

"I'm Acora Bones," she introduced, wanting to be polite. He was rude, selfish, narcissistic, and just a straight up bully right now. She remembered well the one part where he protected the Trio. He was just a scared kid in a bad situation, in a bad family. He was raised to act like this.

She would be his friend, whether he liked it or not.

"I'm Draco Malfoy."

She nodded. "Yeah, I've heard of your father before. Never really seen him though."

Amelia added, trying to be kind as well, "I've seen your father before. You look quite a bit like him, but you have the famous Black eyes. They always have silver eyes. So very pretty."

"Thanks…" he muttered, likely unused to being reminded of that side of his heritage. With Sirius's disgrace and the dying out of that house, no one liked to talk about them. But her aunt was right. Sirius's eyes had been grey too, in the books at least. She wondered if he looked like Sirius. Or even his brother, Regulus. It was a strangely sad thought. Grey eyes apparently meant tragedy, despite their beauty.

"So, what House do you want to be in?" Acora asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to strike up a conversation.

"Slytherin, of course. And you?"

"Any House. They all have their good and they all have their bad," Acora answered with a shrug, flashing a grin at his quizzical look.

"What do you mean?" he demanded, frowning.

"Well, Slytherins are known for their ambitions and cunning. Those are good traits. But there's also this expectation that they'll be Dark, or be Death Eaters. And then with Gryffindors, they're considered brave but stupid. Hufflepuffs, loyal yet weak. Ravenclaws, smart, but annoying and stuck-up. And some are, but most people don't meet the status-quo," Acora explained. Draco had frown throughout the whole thing but nodded, understanding.

"I don't want to meet expectations. I want to do what I want to do. Have fun, live a little."

"Yeah. I suppose that's a good way to see life…" Draco trailed off, and then shook his head. "Some of us have to meet those expectations, though."

"Yeah. I suppose some of us do."

"Done," the seamstress, muttered, having done all that she could. Draco stood up and waved a quick good bye, and left, the bell merrily ringing in his wake while dark thoughts circled through Acora's head.

Acora and Amelia were both quiet as the fitting finally ended. They bought everything else they needed, including potion cauldrons, ingredients, and other various school supplies. Last on the list was a wand.

Entering the shop, Acora felt as though her breath had been taken away. The shop was filled with shelves, and on each shelf was hundreds of wands in different small boxes. A desk sat in front of everything, and a man she knew to be Ollivander stood from it, softly calling, "Good afternoon."

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander," her aunt replied.

"Ah, here for Acora?" he interrupted. "Yes, I remember, very well. Your mother, Elizabeth Bones, her wand was made of cypress wood and unicorn hair, very flexible, ten and three quarters inches long. I do wonder what yours will be..." he trailed off, darting into the shelves of wands, his fingers brushing against certain cases before he snatched them back, muttering to himself. He finally selected a wand, delicately taking it out of its case to hand it to Acora.

"This one is ash wood, phoenix feather core, of medium flexibility, and ten inches long."

The wand in hand, Acora flicked her wrist, and papers along the desk flew straight into the air, causing Ollivander to immediately snatch it back. He began to mutter to himself again as they went through four more wands, until smiling, he handed her a wand that took her breath away. It was a simple wand of pale color, with a handle slightly thicker than the tip as it thinned out towards the end. Spiraling swirls adorned the handle.

"I rarely give out elder wands, but with your situation, I believe it suits," he said with a slightly sorrowful smile as her face paled. He acted like he knew about her secret. Besides that, Voldemort's wand, the Elder Wand, was made of elder. Unlucky, they said.

Interrupting her panicked thoughts, he continued with, "Dragon heart string is the core, from one of the only gentle Norwegian Ridgebacks I know of. The creature died of old age, and another wand has the twin core. She was her trainer, and asked for it to be made to always have a part of her. The length is twelve inches exact, and the flexibility is pliable," he finished, handing the wand over to her. With a sort of strange resignation, she flicked the wand, watching the bright gold and silver sparks erupt from the wand.

Smiling, Amelia paid the wandmaker while Acora plastered a smile on her face. After the thanks were exchanged, Acora clutched her wand, hearing her aunt already leave the shop.

"Remember, rowan will always be friends with elder," Ollivander told her, guiding her out the door.

She nodded, but didn't reply.

A/N: Finally editing after forever. Some of those mistakes were so obvious that I want to go scream, so please excuse me while I go do that.