Harriet Potter and the Guardians of Atlantis Part 2: Harriet Potter and the Holy Grail

Rating: T for violence, language, and some suggestive dialogue.

Chapter 1: A New Start

September 1st was a very busy day in the magical world. People all over the country hurried to King's Cross station in order to not miss the train to Hogwarts. Technically Hogwarts was Unplottable, so it couldn't be put on a map. Without some magical means of transportation, it was very difficult to reach. However, for years the standard had been the same. Every magical child was expected to ride the Hogwarts Express.

Harriet supposed it was a very nice magical train, though why they had a magical train instead of sending them all to Hogsmeade through the Floo had eluded her until Sirius had explained why. "The entire thing was designed to get wizards used to muggle technology back in the 1830's," he had said, "Of course it's very dated muggle technology now." Which to Harriet, summed up the conventional magical attitude towards Muggles in a nutshell. Generally well-meaning, but also rather harmful and almost universally out of date. Hermione had read the story of how they'd stolen the train (which of course they had done rather than purchasing it legally) and Harriet was utterly unsurprised by the lack of ethics of the magical government when it came to the rights of muggles.

Helen and Robert Granger were giving Hermione their last goodbyes until Christmas at least. She'd never really been separated from her parents before for an extended period of time, and the Grangers weren't taking it well. Sirius, on the other hand, was relatively level headed about Harriet leaving. Of course, they had spent months and years being separated. Sirius was pretty confident of Harriet's ability to take care of herself, especially in an environment like Hogwarts. Still, Harriet hugged her godfather goodbye. She knew well enough not to take those she cared about for granted.

"Mum, Dad, I need to find a seat on the train," said Hermione.

"Don't worry Mr. and Mrs. Granger, I'll look after Hermione," said Harriet. Sirius tried to suppress a laugh, while Helen Granger looked a bit doubtful.

"I'm sure you will, Harriet," said Robert seriously, "All right, off with you, before we start crying again."

"You don't need to look after me you know," Hermione said as soon as they were out of earshot.

Hermione was wrong of course. She was very smart, but she hadn't spent very much time in the magical world at all. Harriet knew that for the first year or so at least she'd need support, if only to deal with the pureblood bigots who were sure to give her trouble. Not that Harriet felt Hermione couldn't handle herself, but there was no reason for her to go through that alone.

Still, there was no need to tell Hermione all that. "I just said it to get things moving," Harriet lied adroitly.

They found seats in an empty compartment in the middle of the train. Hermione had wanted to be near the front, but Harriet rolled her eyes. "Don't sit near the prefects unless you have to, Hermione."

"But I want to be a prefect!" protested Hermione.

"That's all well and fine," said Harriet, "But even if we aren't doing anything wrong, I don't like being watched. And remember, 6 of the prefects are from Slytherin. They might punish a muggle-born for no reason at all."

Hermione gave a frustrated sigh, "Some parts of magical society are just... just… disgusting."

Harriet nodded in agreement. "Yeah," she said.

A few minutes after claiming their cabin, the train started to leave. Shortly afterward, Ron Weasley walked in. "Mind if I share this cabin?" he asked.

"Of course, you can sit here Ron!" said Harriet, "This is my friend, Hermione Granger. Hermione this is Ron Weasley, Ginny's older brother."

"Pleased to finally meet you," said Hermione.

"You too," said Ron, "Hey Harriet, did you see the score of the last Cannons match?"

"Yes," said Harriet, "They lost."

"But only by 20 points," insisted Ron.

"That is pretty good for the Cannons," said Harriet, "I guess you're lucky that Quidditch leagues don't have relegation."

"Rele-what?" asked Ron.

"It isn't important," said Harriet smoothly, "Actually, I like the Cannons against Puddlemore this year. Puddlemore needs some serious help at keeper and seeker."

While it was true that Puddlemore needed help, it was a lie that Harriet liked the Cannons against them. She just didn't want Ron to feel too bad.

"Yeah!" said Ron excitedly, "That's what I've been telling Fred and George, but they keep saying I'm mental."

"I assume you're talking about Quidditch," said Hermione.

"What else would we be talking about?" asked Ron.

"Hermione is a muggle-born, so she doesn't know much about Quidditch," said Harriet.

"That is NOT an invitation to spend the rest of this train ride talking about Quidditch," said Hermione.

"I didn't plan on it," said Harriet, "But Ron and I did have a correspondence regarding Quidditch handicapping you might remember."

"Yes, I remember, considering that I did the maths for that," said Hermione.

"I didn't forget," said Harriet, "I just know you didn't consider it that important."

"So, what are we going to talk about?" asked Ron.

Harriet felt a stab of mischief coming on. "Bras?" she suggested. Ron's face went red and Harriet broke out laughing.

"Honestly Harry, there's no need to embarrass the poor boy," said Hermione.

"Sorry Ron, but you should have seen the look on your face," said Harriet as her laughter died down.

Ron grinned sheepishly, "I'm still a bit unused to being friends with girls so I wasn't sure how serious you were."

"So, have you read your coursebooks yet?" asked Hermione, "They're very interesting. And I've heard that there are a lot of curriculum changes this year."

"Yeah, my dad was talking about those," said Ron, "There's a bigger emphasis in the first two years now on theory. Not that they won't be teaching us practical magic or anything, but they want to teach us magic that emphasizes basic magical principles. It sounds kind of boring actually."

"I think that's a wonderful way to start," said Hermione.

"I agree with Hermione," said Harriet, "With the basics down early, we'll be able to learn more, faster, later on."

"That's a good thing I guess," said Ron very unenthusiastically.

Hermione gave Harriet a significant look. Harriet just shrugged in reply. Ron was a more or less decent bloke. But both Hermione and Harriet had just left an accelerated learning program. They were going to be ahead of the curve a bit from the perspective of their study habits.

"Don't worry, Ron," said Harriet, "If you need help, we'll be able to give you a hand."

"We will?" said Hermione.

"That's really nice of you," said Ron.

Hermione was looking at Harriet accusingly now.

"What? I said we'd HELP," Harriet put a strong emphasis on the last word, and Hermione finally understood. Harriet wasn't about to just give Ron the answers. Well not unless the situation demanded it.

Their conversation continued in this manner for a while. It quickly became clear that Ron and Hermione had very few interests in common. That being said, they both seemed to have a very similar view of the world in terms of morality and ethics, even if Hermione's understanding of it was a lot more advanced than Ron's. But generally speaking, they really rubbed each other the wrong way.

However, it was just when Harriet began to think about what to do about this that a unifying figure came to solve the problem. Draco Malfoy barged into the compartment, flanked by two large boys.

"Draco!" said Harriet quite ebulliently, "Welcome to the compartment of the mudbloods and blood traitors. What can we do for you?"

Ron stared at Harriet, stunned that she had used the word Mudblood. Hermione just giggled. Sirius had made it clear that the insult wasn't worth fighting over, and instead, they should turn it into a badge of honor.

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Stay out of my way Potter. I won't warn you again."

"Oh, push off Malfoy, you're all talk," said Hermione.

"Shut up Mudblood," said Draco angrily.

"It's as if he doesn't get that the word doesn't offend us," said Hermione to Harriet.

"Probably the result of a genetic defect in the Malfoy line. Congenital stupidity," said Harriet.

"What the hell are you talking about?" demanded Malfoy.

"They're insulting you, and your family," said Ron, acting faux helpful.

Draco snarled, "Talking about shameful families, aren't you a Weasley?" he said bitingly.

"It is pretty shameful that as purebloods they are related to the pureblood bigots. Like the Malfoys," said Hermione, "But they can't help that."

"And don't they make up for it by actually going out of their way to, I don't know, be decent people?" said Harriet, "I know it's a foreign concept for you." Harriet stood up to face Malfoy.

"What is your problem Potter," said Malfoy angrily.

"Your father is a monster who trapped me in a hellhole with my bastard of an uncle who constantly abused me," said Harriet calmly, "And you've constantly insulted my best friend. So please, don't try to play the victim here."

"Fine," said Malfoy, "Crabbe, Goyle, come on." And with that, he was gone.

Ron looked at the two girls. "That was brilliant. You girls need to give me lessons on how to put a Malfoy in his place."

Well, they all had one thing in common.

XXXXX

An hour later, Ron had fallen asleep as Harriet and Hermione had discussed Hogwarts: A History. Hermione seemed to love that book, and Harriet could see the appeal. It was a link for Hermione to a place that she had never been, but would soon be central to her life. Harriet was struck by just how little was known about the founders, however. They had been major figures in their day, and virtually all information about them came second hand. The only contemporary accounts of the earliest days of Hogwarts had been an autobiographical essay written by Merlin (who had been part of the school's first-class) which was depressingly short, and Percival's incomplete memoirs.

Then a nervous-looking boy came into their compartment. "Have any of you seen a toad. His name is Trevor."

Harriet shook her head, "Sorry," she said.

"Do you need help looking for him?" asked Hermione.

That was so like Hermione to volunteer like that. Harriet smiled slightly.

"That would be great," said the boy, "I'm Neville Longbottom by the way."

"Hermione Granger," said Hermione.

"Harriet Potter," said Harriet.

Neville's eyes bulged.

"Please don't," said Harriet, "I hate that. Just call me Harry, treat me normal, and we'll get along fine."

"R-right," said Neville.

Soon Harriet and Hermione were hunting down the corridor of the train looking for a toad. Harriet suspected that if he was on the train, he'd find his way to Hogwarts regardless of whether they found him or not, but she had managed to get restless enough that she was willing to do just about anything to walk around for a bit.

As they were walking, she saw Percy, patrolling with his prefect's badge.

"Hey Percy, have you seen a toad?" asked Harriet, "A boy named Neville's missing one,"

Percy shook his head. "I haven't seen one, but I'll make sure to hand it into the Head Boy if I do."

"Thanks, Percy," she said.

"Who was that?" asked Hermione.

"One of Ron and Ginny's older brothers," Harriet replied.

They came to the next compartment. There were three girls inside, two of them twins.

"Hello!" said Harriet as she opened the door, "We're looking for a toad."

"We handed one to a prefect," said the girl who was not a twin, "One Penelope Clearwater."

"Great!" said Harriet, "She'll make sure that toad gets back to his owner."

"I'm Sue Li," said the girl who'd spoken before.

"I'm Parvati Patil," said one of the twins, "and this is…"

"I'm Padma," said the last girl, "Patil."

"I'm Hermione Granger," said Hermione extending her hand to the other girls in turn.

Harriet sighed inside. "And I'm Harriet Potter."

Parvati seemed surprised, but neither Padma or Sue did.

"The scar is sort of a giveaway," said Sue.

"Right?" said Harriet, "But everywhere I go it's all, 'Harriet Potter! It can't be!' It's annoying."

"I bet," said Padma.

"So, what house do you think you'll be sorted into?" asked Sue as she gestured for them to sit down.

"Ravenclaw for me I think," said Padma.

"I'm not sure," said Parvati, "I'm just terrified I'll end up in Hufflepuff."

"Gryffindor almost certainly," said Harriet, "I tend to charge ahead without thinking."

"Which is sad, because she's good at thinking," said Hermione, "I'm thinking either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw for me, though I wouldn't mind Hufflepuff. At least in Hufflepuff, you get lots of friends."

"I'm thinking Ravenclaw," said Sue Li, "I probably wouldn't do well in Slytherin. I wouldn't put up with the bigotry well I think."

"Yeah, I'm not big on Slytherin either," said Harriet.

"If I get sorted into Slytherin, I'm screwed," said Hermione as she pointed at herself, "Muggleborn."

The other girls nodded.

Harriet found herself liking these girls. They were all fairly clever. Padma and Sue were both extremely brainy, and while Parvati wasn't quite as book smart, she was friendly and tended to pick up on small social cues more easily. While Hermione began discussing the finer points of some potion's theory with Padma and Sue. Parvati had begun to talk about fashion.

"I do like the new styles this year. Last year's new robes were cut like my grandmother used to wear," said Parvati.

"Ew," said Harriet, "I don't follow wizarding fashion that closely, but that just sounds unpleasant."

"You have no idea," said Parvati. Harriet wasn't that interested in wizard fashion, but soon Parvati was asking her questions about muggle fashion. That at least Harriet knew a little about. She described a few different types of muggle fashion. When she described a bikini, Parvati actually blushed.

"And muggle women just wear them? In front of everyone?" asked Parvati.

"Well it's mostly at the beach," Harriet admitted, "It isn't that bad when everyone else is wearing just as little or less."

"Muggles are weird," said Parvati.

After a few minutes of that, Harriet and Hermione decided to leave. They figured that Ron would get very confused if they were gone when he woke. But they made a point of remembering to get to know those other girls better.

When they got back to their compartment, Ron had awoken, but only a few minutes before. When Harriet mentioned seeing Ron's brother Percy, Ron scowled. "He's had his head up his arse all summer since he learned he was becoming a prefect."

"Ronald!" chided Hermione, "Language!"

Harriet just laughed.

XXXXX

As the train approached Hogsmeade station Harriet and Hermione kicked Ron out of the compartment so that they could get into their robes. Soon both of them were in their neutrally coloured Hogwarts robes. They'd change to the colour of their house once they were sorted. Harriet suddenly began to worry that she wouldn't be sorted into the same House as Hermione. She was surprised that she hadn't considered that possibility before. And suddenly, it terrified her. Sirius had (of course!) refused to tell Harriet how the sorting happened.

"Everything all right?" asked Hermione, noting her friend's distress.

"Sorry," said Harriet, "I just realized we might be sorted into different houses. It would probably be all right, but I'd rather be in the same house as you." She gave Hermione a helpless look.

"You know, if I do get sorted into Ravenclaw, you might too," said Hermione, "You can be pretty smart when you work at it."

"I know," said Harriet, "but I'm not sure I'd be happy in Ravenclaw."

And there was nothing Hermione could say to that.

Soon they let Ron back in so he could change. By the time he finished the train was pulling up at Hogsmeade Station. Grabbing their luggage, they made their way off of the train.

The light was gone as they disembarked, and lanterns lit the platform. There in the middle of it all was a giant of a man yelling, "Firs' years this way."

Harriet, Hermione, and Ron left their luggage with the rest of the first year luggage, and Harriet ran up to the huge man. "Hagrid!" she yelled happily.

"Harriet!" yelled the huge man just as excitedly, "Good ter see ya again! You've grown since the last time we met."

"We'll catch up as soon as I have the chance to get away!" yelled Harriet. Hagrid had been a good friend of Sirius and Remus. A lot of her happiest and earliest memories were of Hagrid telling her stories of magical creatures while she sat on his knee.

Hagrid soon led the first years down a dark path to the lake, where a fleet of boats waited for them. "No more'n four to a boat!" yelled Hagrid.

Harriet, Hermione, and Ron found a boat and climbed in. Suddenly Neville ran up behind them and climbed in as well.

"Thanks for the help with my toad," said Neville, "I heard you told the prefects that it was mine."

"No problem," said Harriet.

"Ron this is Neville Longbottom," introduced Hermione.

Ron nodded and extended his hand. "Ron Weasley," he said.

Suddenly the boat began to move across the water. It came out of the small harbor, and then they saw it. Hogwarts. Covered in lights, it was a magnificent sight.

"Wow," said Hermione.

"That barely does it justice," said Harriet, "But yeah."

The boats came into another small harbor with a boathouse. A path led up to the lower entrance into the castle. The first years climbed the steps carefully, as it was rather dark, but there were plenty of torches to light the path. Soon they found themselves ascending through the castle until they stopped just outside the Great Hall.

Professor McGonagall came out and briefly explained the house system for those who might not know. Harriet knew what was going on, and McGonagall wasn't explaining anything she didn't know. Unfortunately, it was just one last chance to be alone with her worries.

And then the doors opened, and they were in the Great Hall. And the ceiling looked like the night sky! "It's enchanted to look like the outside sky," said Hermione knowingly, "I read it in Hogwarts: A History."

The rest of the school was already seated in their houses. At the front of the hall was the staff table, and in front of that was a stool with a hat on it. And that's when Harriet realized the sorting would only require them to put on an enchanted Hat. Harriet wondered if you could argue with it.

McGonagall led them up to the front. The staff was looking at them from the table. Harriet recognized Severus Snape, who sneered at her when she nodded to him politely. She also, of course, recognized Hagrid and Morgan. But in the center of the table was the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Harriet had met him before, but despite his unimpressive demeanour, Harriet had come away from meeting him with a strong impression of him. Now he looked down at the new students, his eyes glowing with joy, as they prepared to be sorted.

"Abbott, Hannah," said McGonagall, and so the sorting began. Whatever happened, Harriet resolved herself to be calm.

"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat, prompting cheers from the Hufflepuff table.

Hermione was fairly early in the sorting, so her name was called relatively quickly. She went up to the stool nervously, and sat down, with McGonagall putting the hat down on her head. The hat seemed to take a moment, and Hermione's face scrunched up a bit as if she was talking to it. Finally, the hat shouted out "Gryffindor!" and Harriet felt a surge of relief. Which was replaced by dread almost immediately. What if she didn't make it into Gryffindor?

Sue Li was sorted into Ravenclaw rather quickly, and Neville was sorted into Gryffindor after a lengthy session with the hat. The Hat didn't even finish sitting on Draco Malfoy's head before sorting him into Slytherin. Later Padma was sorted into Ravenclaw in relatively short order. The Hat took a little longer with Parvati, finally sorting the surprised girl into Gryffindor.

"Potter, Harriet," said McGonagall. The entire hall buzzed with excitement. That wasn't helping Harriet's nervousness. Harriet sat down and Harriet plopped the hat down on her head.

"Let's see what we have here. Oh my, you are an interesting one. Lots of loyalty, courage, and not a bad mind. And ambitions too. You want to change the world and destroy a dark lord. How very Slytherin of you," the Hat projected into her head.

"Don't you DARE!" thought Harriet, "Hat or not, I will give you a good wringing if you sort me into Slytherin."

"Oh, just for that maybe I should do it," said the Hat.

"No way you can make your decisions that way," thought a defiant Harriet.

The hat seemed to sigh, "It seems clear to me what your dominant trait is. Courage, but the dumb variety."

"That was actually what I was going for," thought Harriet before she realized that admitting that might not be a great idea.

The hat just seemed to laugh. "Fine,"

"Gryffindor!" it yelled, prompting the entire Gryffindor table to erupt in the most enthusiastic cheers of the evening. The Weasley twins were yelling "We got Potter!", and it took a moment for McGonagall to get everything back to normal.

Harriet went and sat down next to Hermione. "I knew there was nothing for you to worry about," said Hermione.

Harriet shook her head as if she was shuddering. "Nothing to worry about? The damned hat tried to sort me into Slytherin."

Hermione laughed, then remembered herself and shook her finger at Harriet. "Language," she chided, though her heart wasn't in it.

Harriet sighed. "I wasn't joking Hermione. It really did."

Hermione shrugged. "Well, it didn't."

Harriet had to admit that was true.

Finally, the sorting got to Ron, who was immediately and rather brusquely sorted into Gryffindor. He sat next to Percy, diagonally from Harriet. The last child to be sorted was "Zabini, Blaise," who found his way into Slytherin.

Albus Dumbledore then stepped up to the lectern which had suddenly appeared in front of the staff table. "Thank you, everyone," he said, "I have a few announcements before our start of term feast. First I would remind everyone, but especially the first-year students, that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all students. Second, I would like to introduce two new teachers. Remus Lupin has taken the post of History of Magic Professor. He will bring a modern historian's perspective on Magical History."

There was intense clapping at this announcement. Binns was a very unpopular teacher.

"Also I would like to introduce Morgan Solaire. She is a curse breaker, and she recently removed the curse on the Defense against the Dark Arts position, which she now fills," said Dumbledore, too polite applause.

"I'll believe it when I see it," said Percy to Ron quietly.

"Also, our curriculum has changed a great deal this year," said Dumbledore, "Some classes have been renamed, and a few requirements for the O. and N.E.W.T.s have changed. We will do our utmost to accommodate any requests for help, especially from our fifth and seventh-year students, who may face some anxiety due to O. and N.E.W.T.s."

And with that, he led them into singing the Hogwarts School song. It was a silly song, but Harriet liked it. The best part was that everyone got to sing at their own tempo and to their own tune. Harriet sang it in a very low monotone, but she had to admit that the twins' dirge was pretty good as well.

"And with that, let the feast begin!" shouted Dumbledore, and suddenly the tables were covered in food.

Harriet didn't need any encouragement. She dug right in.

XXXXX

After the feast, Percy led the Gryffindor first-years to Gryffindor tower. The journey required them to go up the Grand Staircase, which had moving staircases. Hermione was a little shocked at the moving staircases.

"Isn't that massively inconvenient?" she asked Percy.

"Some of the time," he said, "Other times it is very helpful. Of course, there are other staircases, so you can always just avoid the Grand Staircase if you are in a hurry."

WInding their way up to the seventh floor, they made their way down a side corridor, soon finding themselves in front of a portrait of a fat lady.

"Password?" she asked.

"Caput Draconis," said Percy. The door swung open.

Inside was the common room. It was a cozy feeling, with a large roaring fire, lots of windows, and covered in red and gold. Percy began lecturing about the common room, which Harriet largely ignored. But then he pointed to the two stairways in the room.

"Boys dormitories are up there," Percy pointed, "Girls are up there." He pointed at the opposite staircase.

Harriet didn't wait for more. She was the first up the stairs. Unfortunately, the sign for the dormitory on the first level up the stairs said "The Second Years."

"We're on the TOP," said Harriet resignedly as Hermione came up behind her.

After some time, they made their way to the top floor. There were a dormitory and bathroom on that floor, the dormitory being slightly further up the stairs from the bathroom. Sure enough, this dormitory was labeled "First Years." Walking into the dormitory there were six beds arranged in a circle around the room. Each bed had a surrounding curtain for privacy. Their things had already been moved up here, and Harriet noted her bed was right next to the door.

Soon the other girls came in. Parvati arrived with another girl named Lavender Brown, while shortly thereafter two girls named Fay Dunbar and Sally-Anne Perks walked in. The girls introduced themselves to each other.

"So how are the showers set up?" asked Lavender.

"We poked our heads it there," said Sally, "There are six stalls,"

"That'll make things easier," said Hermione, "We won't have to fight each other over them each morning."

"I think that the number of stalls changes magically depending on how many of us there are," said Harriet.

"Are the boys allowed up here?" asked Parvati, "I wouldn't want one of them walking in on us. Not that I'm expecting them to try that quite yet."

"They can't even climb the staircase," said Harriet, "Though I wouldn't go over to the bathroom in the nude if I were you. If a boy does try to climb the staircase it becomes a slide, and you'll slide all the way to the bottom."

Most of the girls grimaced. "Good to know," said Fay, "I assume the same happens if we try to climb the boys' tower?"

"Nope," said Harriet, "It doesn't."

"Well it's nice that they can't follow us up here," said Lavender.

"Well…" started Harriet, and the other girls gave her a quizzical look, "I said that they couldn't climb the staircase, not that they couldn't get up here. According to my godfather, my dad did manage the feat, but he never told Sirius how he did it."

"Well that's just wonderful," said Parvati.

Harriet shrugged. "If a boy does get up here, we'll just hex him until he leaves."

The girls all nodded. That was all there was for it.

They talked for a few minutes about the trip and the things they had seen that day, but in truth, they were all tired. Soon they had all changed into their sleepwear and were climbing into their beds. Hermione had the bed right next to hers. "Good night Harriet," she said.

"Good night Hermione," Harriet replied. She fell asleep almost immediately.

Author's Note: And Harriet is back! I have been busy with Christmas and all but I have a backlog of updates and I am ready to go with this. Chapter 1 was just the necessary scene setting, Chapter 2 will start setting up the nitty gritty details of world building, but after that we'll be off! I plan to update this story once a week. I have actually created a fairly elaborate backstory for Arthur, Morgana and the Founders. I also have a one shot planned at some point that would cover Morgana's original attack on Hogwarts. That isn't coming for a while though. I would probably publish that after Part 3 or 4.

Just a heads up, the rating on the later stories will be increasing to M. Part 3 is done and will probably remain T rated. Parts 4 and 6 could go either way right now, but Parts 5 and 7-10 will definitely be M rated. I might just up the language in part 4 and 6 just to keep the rating consistent, but only if I can do so organically.