Chapter Text
As I opened my eyes a large blue screen showed brightly above me.
You have died
“A fuck.” I said, with less emotion than one might expect. If the big blue screen was to be believed, then I really didn’t feel all that bad about it. Weird.
The words on the transparent screen flickered and new ones appeared.
You have been given one chance at another story
Which will you choose
I moved forward, barely aware that I had been standing. As I got closer to the screen the words changed again and suddenly a list flashed forward. I scanned across the words and was surprised to find that they were all book titles- all of which I had read.
“So… I choose a story?”
The screen flashed again.
Yes
I nodded slowly. “Okay…. So I choose a story, and whatever one I choose I get to be a part of?”
The screen flashed again but displayed the same word; yes
“Alright so I’m dead, and now in this afterlife I get to jump into a story that I read while I was alive? I know I should be more freaked out about this, but I’m just gonna go for it. This is probably just the intro to someone’s fanfic anyway.”
The screen switched again and this time it went back to the book names. Scanning through them again I crossed a series of books all listed together and I felt my heart start to race. Oh, I knew what I was going to choose.
“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban!” I called out triumphantly.
Is that your final choice
“Hell yeah! It's by far the best in the series.”
The screen flickered again and a new display showed. At the top it read choose who you will be. I looked at the new list below the title, and it seemed that everyone that could exist in the story was listed, from Harry all the way down to Crookshanks. I tapped my chin, scanning again through the names.
“Can I go into the story as myself?” I asked to the all knowing screen.
Yes but there will be limitations
“Limitations? Like what?”
As an outsider you will have a greater impact on the outcome of the story
Mmmm, that didn’t seem like a limitation. The words changed again.
If you make too many changes, the ending of the story will change
“Ohhhh, so you’re saying if I mess with the story then Harry might not defeat Voldemort?”
Yes
Hmmmm… so the limitation came because if I didn’t hold back then I might ruin the happy ending. Not that the ending of Harry Potter was so happy, but they did defeat the bad guy. If Harry didn’t end up killing Voldemort, or worse was killed himself, then I could basically destroy the whole wizarding world….
“I still would like to be myself though… maybe if I just choose to be in a different year than Harry Potter then there won’t be any problems. Actually yeah I think that’s a good idea- I didn’t want to have to be 13 again anyway.”
When I turned my focus back to the screen I noticed that it had changed to a character stat page- which was so fucking cool. It was like real life dead Hogwarts Legacy or something.
Similarly to a video game there were only so many traits that could be applied, which was a bummer but whatever. I reached out to try to mess with the dials and the magical blue screen was apparently a touch screen. As I moved things around I noticed at the bottom a little section that was titled family.
“Family? Like, I have a chance to have a whole new family? Uh I don’t know if I really want that… I mean I’m coming in at 15 and I feel like that would be kinda weird… can I just be like an orphan or something?”
You choose to have no family
“Yeah, I mean I had a great one while I was alive- and I feel like it would be a disservice to try to replace them.”
As soon as I finished talking the screen changed and my mouth dropped open. Suddenly I had a LOT more stat points to give out. Apparently not having a family was going to set me back or something and this…. thing…. needed to compensate for that. Whatever, that was fine.
When I finished my stats I was basically top tier. I was maxed out on spell work, beast connection, potion making, money, health, stamina, and flying. I actually didn’t care that much about flying but I had the extra points so I figured I might as well. Once I finished building the strongest version of myself the screen switched again. On the top of the screen it read character descriptions and basically just listed everything physically about me or what would be the 15 year old version of me in this story.
Name: Juniper Gray
Age: 15
Birthday: January 18th 1978
Eye color: Dark blue
Hair Color: Sandy Blond
Skin Color: White
Nationality: American
Height: 5’ 2”
Weight: 110Ibs
The only thing that wasn’t filled out was the last section that said; House
“Oh is that like my Hogwarts house? Do I have to choose it now? I was hoping that I would get to be sorted.”
The character description went away.
You choose to be sorted in the story
“Yes.”
This choice will change your backstory
“Change my backstory? How?”
The screen didn’t move. No answer apparently.
“Well I still want to be sorted if that’s fine. I’m okay if it changes my backstory.”
The screen went back to the character description, the section labeled house now with a question mark. I looked over it all again, feeling satisfied with everything that I saw. I held out a double thumbs up and watched the screen flicker again.
Once entering you cannot make any changes to your story
Are you satisfied with what you have chosen
“Yup! I mean, I didn’t get to make any choices before starting my last life so this is already way better. Or wait, did I make those choices and just not remember?? Is this the matrix???”
The screen flickered. No
Once entering the story your life will begin again and will end at death
So did that mean I could keep on living even after the book ended?? Or did that mean I was just going to die at the end of the story??
Entering the story as yourself means you may make choices that change the story's outcome
You have three warning before the ending will no longer play out as written
From the corner of my eye I saw something start to glow, and looked down at my arm. A bright blue light, similar to the light the screen gave off, now glowed on my outstretched forearm. When it got too bright to look at I closed my eyes and turned away. As the blue faded I turned back to see three perfectly made squares tattooed on my arm. Or, at least they looked like tattoos- maybe that was just like my skin changing or something.
If you make a choice that may alter the story an X will be placed in a box
Once all three boxes are filled then your story will no longer follow the pre written path
“Wait, why have three boxes? Isn’t that technically only two warnings? If I get a third then that means things will be changed.”
The screen went blank.
No
“Oh… so after the third one nothing changes, but any choice after that can change things?”
Yes
“Oh okay cool, I got it now.”
Are you ready to begin your story
I sighed, looking down again at my arm. Three, technically two, warning. I could make two big changes in this story and not fuck things up too badly. I truly hoped that it wouldn’t even begin to be a problem. Since I planned to be two grades ahead I shouldn’t have any trouble keeping enough distance from the boy who lived to stir up trouble- right?
“I’m ready!” I called out confidently.
I watched in amazement as the blue screen started to dissipate, pixels starting to break off and float away. Then I looked down and saw that my body was doing the same thing. Piece by piece I was turning that same shade of blue and floating away. I closed my eyes tight, not sure what to expect next.
After a long moment I opened them again and gasped as my new surroundings hit me. I was standing on a street corner, the darkness of the hour dissipated by a singular street lamp. I looked around, totally confused, noticing that my arm was outstretched. As I pulled it back I examined the long piece of black wood that held tightly in my grasp. Was this a wand? It was so basic looking it reminded me of those kiddie magician wands.
Before I could do much else there was a loud bang that made me jump and grabbed my attention. All of a sudden there was a bright light being carried by a triple decker purple bus. I watched in awe as it moved up towards me- I had never even seen the classic British red tour bus, let alone the Knight Bus!
As the large vehicle came to a stop, I watched with amazement as a teenage boy stepped out.
“Welcome to the night bus, emergency transport to the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening. Now where is it you would like to go?”
Still shocked, it took me a moment to answer. With the pause Stan dropped his air of formality and looked me up and down. His eyes lit up a little as he registered my presence, and it gave some weird vibes.
“Ah I’m surprised to see a pretty girl like you out stranded- you looking for somewhere to stay?”
Ew. The pedo vibes were enough to jog me back to this reality. Seems some males were the same no matter what story you were in.
“I have a place to stay thanks, I’m just looking for a ride to the Leaky Cauldron.”
“Well then step aboard,” The guy said with a smile. He held his arm out towards the entrance of the bus.
“What do I owe you?”
“Ah this one is on the house- maybe it will make you want to use our services again.”
Stan winked and I had to force bile from coming up. This guy had to be at least 19 right- possibly older? And he was hitting on a 15 year old… didn’t matter who you were or what you looked like, if you did shit like that you were gross. Only date people in your school kids.
Before stepping forward towards the un-inviting smile I checked around me. I didn’t have any bags with me except for, it seemed a small side bag around my shoulder. With nothing else to grab I moved forward, stepping as far away from the purple uniformed guy as possible.
Everything inside the bus was just as I imagined; the high ceiling, the wonky driver, the beds as seats, the black haired boy- I did a double take. It seemed that the start of my story had dropped me at least three chapters into his-
“Ah that’s Neville Longbottom,” Stan said, coming up behind me and making me jump. “Don’t worry he don’t bite.”
Lowering my head I moved quickly away from the conductor and towards the bed he gestured towards. It was one ahead of the nervous looking 13 year old, and way too close for comfort. I felt my heart hammer in my chest.
Everything had happened so fast- I hadn’t expected Harry Potter to already be on the bus! Well really I hadn’t thought anything at all. Even the location of the Leaky Cauldron had just come out naturally and without much thought. But that was his destination, a destination we were apparently traveling to together.
I clutched my wand tightly in one hand, the other strangling the strap of my bag. My heart was beating so forcefully I was barely even able to feel the bus start to move forward. I needed to get a hold of myself!! This was my life now!
But it wasn’t just the fact that one of my all time favorite stories was unfolding before me. It was also the three black squares that were inked onto my arm- the top of one poking out from my sleeve. I had chosen my age as a buffer from getting too close to the boy who lived and now as fate would have it he was right behind me. Not only that but we were going to be staying in the same inn because I didn’t know anything in London outside of Harry Potter references.
“So you meeting up with someone?” Stan asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Uhh no, just going to get my school supplies.” I probably should have lied and said that I was meeting up with someone, but hopefully the fact I was still in school would deter him enough.
“School supplies? You’re not tellin me you’re still in school??”
“Yup. Definitely still in school.” I had to suppress a grin watching the horror cross his face. At least he had the decency to be appalled by his own behavior.
Stan mumbled something about needing to wake up another traveler, and moved quickly up the stairs to the side. I chuckled as I watched him go, glad that there wasn’t going to be anymore cringy flirting to deal with this ride.
“Do you go to Hogwarts?” A voice sounded behind me. I turned to see a nervous looking Harry who seemed to have let the question slip out accidentally.
I really shouldn’t talk to him… but he looked so out of place. If things really played out as written, Harry had just blown up his aunt, run away, seen dog form Sirius Black, and then got picked up by the bus. It seemed like maybe he needed a distraction from his troubles, or at least a friendly face outside of Stan’s…. Going to school with him was her life now anyway- she needed to learn how to interact with him occasionally while sticking to the story.
“I will be.” I replied with a smile. “This will be my first year.”
I watched the nervousness fade away and turn into curiosity, his eyes looking bright behind his circle glasses.
“Your first year? You look older than eleven though.”
“That would be because I am. I’m fifteen actually.”
“Fifteen? Then how will this be your first year at Hogwarts?”
I paused for a moment, not really sure how to answer the question. I had yet to figure out my back story. Seems I needed to be vague.
Steps sounded overhead and Stan reappeared, followed by a tired looking wizard. The bus came to a halt, and the man left. Once the doors were closed the bus sped off again. Stan turned to us to let us know our stop was next, and then went up to the driver in an attempt to avoid more awkward conversations. I turned back to Harry.
“Think of me like a transfer student. And what about you? I’m assuming you go to Hogwarts?”
“Yeah I do or erm I did..” The black haired boy looked down, the previous worry coming back to his face. Awe, poor Harry, didn’t realize he was the main character yet. You can never get rid of the main character.
“Well I won’t pry, we all have our troubles.” I held my hand out. “My name is Juniper by the way. Yours is Neville right?”
Harry’s cheeks flushed pink as he reached out to take my hand.
“Y-yeah” He stammered, looking embarrassed.
The bus stopped again, arriving at the Leaky Cauldron. Stan re-emerged from his hiding place to walk us to the door. As the two of us stood, I turned quickly back to Harry, flashing him a smile.
“Hey maybe I’ll see you around? And if I do, you can let me know your real name.” I winked at him as I turned to leave.
Without any extra luggage I stepped quickly out into the night. As I reached the pavement I saw just off to the side a stout man wearing a bowler hat. I nodded politely towards The Minister of Magic and then quickly hurried off towards the inn. The interaction with the main character on the night bus was enough for me- there was no way I was getting involved in this next mess.
--
I was more than a little surprised when I woke up the next morning, the birds chirping outside of my room as my wake up call. It took me a moment to remember everything as I sat up, looking around my room in the Leaky Cauldron. When it all came back a huge grin grew on my face- I was really here!
Really here as in the Wizarding World, not so much the Leaky Cauldron. Sure this place was iconic in its own effect but like, it wasn’t that nice. I had just gotten a basic room, even though it seemed I had more than enough money to get the nicest room they had.
When I went inside the previous night I had taken a moment to look through the bag at my side, wondering if the wealth I had cranked up in my stats was in there. To my surprise the first thing I pulled out was a gold coin, and basically an endless amount followed. The bag seemed to be an undetectable extension charm of sorts. I wondered if there was anything else other than money inside, and as soon as I reached in next it changed from endless coins to a single paper.
As I pulled out the page I saw that it was an opened letter which read;
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Due to your particular circumstances, we will be preparing a place within our program so that you may begin your 5th year of study. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September.
With my acceptance into Hogwarts and a bag full of money, I moved happily forward towards the front desk of the Inn. I made arrangements to stay in a room for the rest of the time until school, which according to the calendar on the desk was three weeks. With what I assumed were Galleons, I paid for my stay and followed the worker towards my room. As soon as I was in I jumped onto the bed and promptly fell asleep. Yeah I was super excited about everything, but that excitement took its toll.
When I woke the next morning that same energy was back- and continued for the rest of my stay at Diagon Alley. Everything about being in this magical shopping center was great, and looking around at all the shops had already fulfilled so much of my fangirl heart. Seriously if I died before I even made it to Hogwarts I could die happy- this place was that cool. Universal Studios just could not do it justice.
As I walked around the shops, collecting all I needed for the upcoming year, I was almost totally without worry. Most people didn’t even bother to notice some random girl walking around, and thankfully there were no more Stan Shunpikes to deal with either. Yes the only thing that had me stressed at all was- Harry Potter.
Since the boy was no longer worried that he was getting expelled, he seemed to be a lot more eager to talk. Initially I had planned to try to avoid him as much as possible, because I wasn’t really sure how much I could interact with the main character before I did something that was deemed an interference. Unfortunately though he always seemed to always catch me when my guard was down. The first interaction was just the first morning, when I was trying to enjoy my breakfast in peace.
“Good morning-” Said a chipper voice. As I turned to see who was talking I choked on my drink and ended up spitting it out across the table.
Harry, who was looking rather content before, now seemed a little bit wary. He looked towards me, and then over the table which now held the contents of my mug.
“Sorry-” I coughed, trying to regain some semblance of composure. “My drink went down the wrong pipe.”
“Uh that’s alright,” Harry said awkwardly, looking again over the mess I had made. “Is it alright if I sit down?”
“If you can find a dry one then go for it.” I said, coughing more as I tried to clear out whatever was left in my throat. Once I had cleared it all and could breathe fully again I turned towards the boy, who was sitting rigid in his seat across from me.
“You seem more relaxed than you did last night; did a good night's sleep send away your worries?” I tried to send him a reassuring smile, if only to try to let him know I wasn’t about to choke again. I also decided to push the mug away for good measure.
“Actually things got sorted out last night so yeah I am feeling better.” He showed a small smile.
“That’s good to hear. So does that mean you can tell me your real name now?” I leaned forward and raised an eyebrow towards him for dramatics. I hoped maybe my theatrics would make him laugh, but instead he just blushed. Man it was way too easy to tease 13 year old boys.
“Oh, yeah sorry about that… How did you know anyway?” He asked, looking away, his cheeks still pink.
I shrugged. “You just don’t really look like a Neville.”
Harry gave a small chuckle, that was more just blowing air out of his nose- which I totally counted as making him laugh.
“I’m um, I’m Harry Potter.”
The way he said it was almost like he was bracing himself for impact. Seems the effects of people finding out who he was had definitely made an impact on him. Poor kid. Well I wasn’t going to make a big deal about it- even if on the inside I was fangirling like crazy to hear the Harry Potter tell me his own name. Legendary.
“Nice to meet you Harry.” I said with the most calm smile I could muster. “Do you remember my name or should I introduce myself again?”
The boy looked a little shocked- probably surprised to be able to say his name for the first time since realizing he was a wizard and not have the other person freak out. He stared at me for a moment more, but then seemed to remember himself.
“Oh uh, you said it was Juniper right?” A huge grin broke across my face.
“Yup! You can call me June though.”
Harry smiled. “Okay, nice to meet you June. So you said yesterday that you are going to Hogwarts right?”
“Yup!” I said, reaching out towards my drink. I may be really pushing it trying to take another sip, but I was ready to risk it.
“And as a 5th year? How or erm can I ask how that works exactly?”
I took a long drink from my mug, glad of the excuse to not talk. Thankfully I had come up with some semblance of a story before heading down this morning. I wasn’t sure if there was actually a backstory I needed to follow, or even how I would find out if there was one. I figured it would be a good idea to have something to say for questions like this though.
“I guess you could say I’m like a transfer student.” I said slowly, bringing my mug back down to the table.
“Oh, yeah I guess that makes sense. So did you go to a magical school somewhere else?”
“Something like that,” I said with a smile. “I did study magic in America, but not from a school like Hogwarts. And that’s all I’d really like to say on the subject.”
“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to press-”
I waved my hand at him, dismissing his apology.
“It’s fine, I get you’re curious. I’m sure you won't be the only one.”
There was a moment of awkward silence between us as Harry seemed to struggle with whatever he had been feeling.
“So you’re from the states?” He eventually asked, which made me smile.
“Yup! New to Europe, new to England, and really new to this whole wizarding community as a whole. This is kind of my first time being with other people with magic.”
“Oh really?? So this is your first time at Diagon Alley?” He looked pretty excited. “Do you want me to show you around??”
How was I supposed to say no to Harry freaking Potter showing me around Diagon Alley for the first time? Tampering with the story or not, there was no way I could turn that down. Nothing important happened in this part of the book anyway so as long as I steered clear of sensitive topics I figured things should be good.
And for the most part things were okay, but I started to feel nervous that if we continued to spend more time together, it wasn’t going to stay that way. I mean, the more time together meant the likelihood that I did something to fuck it all up went up as well right? It was just simple math.
So after the first day, although it had been a lot of fun, I had to start trying to avoid Harry Potter. I didn’t want to be rude though, so I thought I’d plan to see him at least once a day. It didn’t really matter though because all my efforts couldn’t seem to fight against the protagonist. He found me everyday on his own, even when I was trying my best to be invisible. He always seemed to catch me off guard by popping up when I didn’t even realize he was around.
As time went on it seemed he found me at the most opportune times as well- opportune for him that is. About a week out from term starting, when more people started showing up, Harry seemed to find me right when his other classmates were around. One time I had been looking at books tucked away in a corner at a bookstore, when the lightning scarred boy made his greeting. When I looked up I saw he had turned to talk to Seamus Finnegan, who had apparently been standing right by me.
By the last day of my stay I had been introduced to what felt like Harry’s entire year at school. Well, okay maybe at least most of the Gryffindors. Harry had been more than willing to make all the introductions, which was kind of stressful but also fun. Meeting the actual Neville Longbottom had been easily manageable, but mostly because he hadn’t said anything. When Harry had gestured towards me the other boy had just straight up frozen, not able to utter a single word.
I was hoping that maybe I would meet someone in my same grade before school started, but it wasn’t working out. After seeing Harry for the first time I realized that the movie actors I had in my head for each of the characters were not actually what they looked like. Some looked close, like Neville looked a lot like young Mathew Lewis if he was blond, but it was still not the same. That being said, I had no idea what any of the 15/16 year olds from Hogwarts looked like.
Well technically that wasn't true- I knew that if I saw the Weasley twins I would be able to recognize them, but I hadn’t seen them either. Thinking back on the plot of the 3rd book, the Weasley’s didn’t get to Diagon Alley until the day before they needed to leave for the school- which evidently was today.
June: Never Ending Story- Limahl
Harry: We Didn’t Start the Fire- Billy Joel