Letter Universe, pt. 1

Harry waited fifteen minutes until he was sure Ginny wouldn’t return. He put on his cloak, then Apparated to Diagon Alley. The crack from his Apparition resounded in the early morning quiet of the street.

The street was deserted. A few months ago, homeless witches and wizards would’ve shivered in the winter weather, but with the Ministry back on its feet and under new order, many centers were provided for those displaced by the Second Wizarding War. 

Harry, under the cover of the invisibility cloak, spun the Time-Turner to September 17th, 1981. The street was dim, and many shops were closed. An old woman sat nearby, holding a sign that read, “Squib. Lost Everything in the War & have no Family. Please Help.” Harry reached into his pocket, then stopped. His influence had to be controlled, limited. As much as it clawed at his insides, he could only interfere in the minimal way he planned.

The Leaky Cauldron was dimly lit, outside and in. The bar was empty at the time (four in the morning) except for the bartender, whose head rested on the counter. Harry, expecting something to be wrong, quickly approached, until a snore signaled that the man was alive. Harry set one of the two letters in his pocket down on the counter, then sat down in the back and began to wait.

An hour and twenty-one minutes later, a cloaked figure hurried down the stairs, rousing Harry from his doze. He stood, still invisible. The woman noticed the bartender and like Harry, checked to see if he was all right. Then she noticed the letter, reading the print on the front: “Raven Faralyn.” 

Harry watched as she looked around, stowed the envelope in her cloak, and hurried out the door. After a couple minutes, Harry left the Leaky Cauldron, then Apparated to the Shrieking Shack. He traveled nearly ten years in the future to the first of September, 1991, at six in the evening.

He went through the tunnel, out beneath the Whomping Willow, across the grounds, and to the front entrance of the school. 

The first years had reached the shore, where they gathered before Hagrid. Harry got out of their way, searching the faces for — there he was. A young Harry Potter, nervous and excited.

Hagrid knocked on the towering doors before them. Professor McGonagall opened them, then led the first years inside. Harry slipped in last. He cast the Muffling Charm on himself before hurrying up the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. He could only remember the password to the common room because the first day at Hogwarts was so important to him. 

“Caput Draconis!” 

“Who’s there?” The Fat Lady asked, peering around. But she had already swung open.

Harry went up to the boys’ first year dorms and left the letter on the proper bed.

Harry’s return to Hogsmeade lasted forever, it seemed, as his greatest worries found a way of snaking into his mind. He set his expectations for improvement extremely low, so he wouldn’t be disappointed if this new future didn’t work out. He Apparated on the edge of the town and spun the Time Turner to eight at night on 2 July, 1998. 

He pulled his wand out from his pocket and pointed it so it grazed the invisibility cloak. Hogsmeade looked as it had when he first visited in his third year, but when he peered into the Hog’s Head, he saw himself, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, all around his own age, sitting at a table. A journal rested in the center of the table.

Harry stepped to the side of the Inn and stowed the invisibility cloak in Hermione’s purse. “Accio journal!” 

The journal crashed through the window and flew at Harry. As soon as he caught it, he Apparated into the Shrieking Shack. 

Harry cast a Cushioning Charm on the floorboards and sat down. 

“Lumos!” He opened the journal and two letters fell out. He unfolded the first and read,

Dear Raven, 

Go to Hogwarts right away. If you don’t, you will die within a couple of hours — I can’t tell you how. In order to save yourself, go to Dumbledore and ask for the post of History of Magic. You can do good again by replacing Professor Binns and properly teaching Hogwarts students about the past. This way, they can make positive changes, just as you have. 

Hogwarts is the only place you will be safe. 

Sincerely, 

An Old Friend

Harry had found out a little about Raven when he’d read Regulus’ journal. For one, she had been sorted into Hufflepuff. That surprised him, at first, but it made sense; he considered her most prominent traits to be loyalty, honesty, and tolerance, her bravery not as outward as Lily’s had been. Raven still went into the Dark Arts, only she became friends with Regulus instead of Severus, as Harry would’ve guessed. She rejected the Dark Arts in her sixth year, after Regulus got his Dark Mark. She was forced to distance herself from Regulus, but they talked in secret whenever possible. 

When Voldemort’s treatment of Kreacher led Regulus to betray his Dark Lord. He visited Raven, who ran a home for runaway families, students, and adults in Wales. The Brecon Beacons National Park, away from the center of the War, had been her home since Hogwarts, and nearly forty people lived around the property. Raven, aided by those old and well enough to travel, would help Mudbloods and blood traitors escape and move to the refuge. 

Raven and Regulus lived together for a couple weeks before he had to leave. Regulus didn’t tell her that he was trying to destroy a Horcrux, instead he left her instructions that, due to a charm, would only make sense if she knew about Voldemort’s Horcruxes.

Harry had dug through his boxes of newspaper clippings and letters to find out what happened to Raven after Regulus was killed. The Daily Prophet, in an attempt to reconcile the public, published heroic and heartwarming stories about witches and wizards in the War. Someone who lived in Raven’s refuge submitted a story about her. Through this, Harry found out that after Voldemort was presumably killed, Death Eaters went after her. Ever since she left the Slytherins in her sixth year, she must’ve been on their List. 

September 17th, 1981 was the day Raven would’ve been killed by Death Eaters. Harry needed a a way for her safety to be guaranteed without having to continue to live in hiding, while also living a better life. Harry knew she’d had an interest in History of Magic, and would no doubt teach with a Hermione-esque consideration of how the Wizarding community ought to consider history’s connection to the present. 

The letter matched what he’d written in content but not form. Harry had charmed the letter to have different handwriting than his own, but the letter was in his handwriting. It was on the same paper, as far as he could tell, so what’d happened? Had his other self discovered that he had written the letter?

The pace of Harry’s heart increased. He unfolded the letter he’d given his first-year self and saw it was once again in his own handwriting. 

Dear Harry Potter,

There is something you have to know in order to improve the life of possibly the bravest man I’ve ever known. 

You saw him at supper, sitting at the staff table next to Professor Quirrell. He had a hooked nose, black hair, and you might already know he has a reputation for loving the Dark Arts. His name is Severus Snape. Your scar hurt when your eyes met, and you might misinterpret the look he gave you for hatred. But he doesn’t hate you, or at least eventually won’t; he actually vowed to protect you.

I should start from the beginning. Professor Snape was born to a witch, Eileen Prince, and a Muggle, Tobias Snape, making him a Half-Blood, like you. Severus’ father was an alcoholic, and abused both Severus and Eileen. Severus’ parents were very poor and couldn’t properly care for him. He didn’t have friends. As a result, he started learning the Dark Arts (the kind of magic Voldemort uses). You might wonder why Severus chose this path when you had a similar childhood and turned out fine. There are a few differences: Severus’ abuse went to a more severe respect. His parents didn’t feel inclined to keep things clean. His mother prostituted herself at one point, his father worked for little pay at factory. While you and Severus were both an only child, you didn’t know you were a wizard. Severus always knew he would one day have power over the society that had wronged him. He was just waiting. 

Amidst this all, when they were both nine years old, he met Lily Evans — your mother. The two became best friends, and although Severus was sorted into Slytherin and Lily into Gryffindor, they remained best friends. Meanwhile, your father James and Severus grew to hate each other. James was madly in love with Lily, but Lily didn’t return his feelings, primarily because James and his friends bullied and pranked many students at the school, especially Severus. They hated each other for their abundance/lack of looks and confidence, respectively. Severus hated that James always harassed Lily and still had a better chance of ending up with her, while James hated that Lily was closer to Severus, despite being on his way to becoming a Death Eater (a follower of Voldemort). 

Severus was increasingly miserable because of James’ bullying. Later in school, Sirius Black (your father’s best friend) almost killed Severus, but James saved him. This only intensified Severus’ hatred, because he hated being indebted to his worst enemy. 

Severus was also miserable because his efforts to impress Lily with the Dark Arts weren’t working. He was in love with Lily. He had fancied her for years, probably since they met.

I understand that’s strange to find out, especially from a stranger, but it explains how he will feel about you. He’ll dislike you because your dad won in the end. The tension between Severus and Lily culminated, to the point that he called her a Mudblood (an insult meaning dirty blood, since Lily had Muggle parents), and they were no longer friends. Although he regretted it, Severus had made his choice. Lily made hers; she was seeing James by seventh year. They married, and had you. 

Severus no longer had any ties to the good side, and joined Voldemort’s forces. He overheard a prophecy that he delivered to Voldemort, concerning Voldemort’s one threat — you. Only, he didn’t know it was you (and therefore Lily and James) who was the subject of the prophecy, until after relaying the message. He begged Voldemort to spare your mother’s life. Then he begged Dumbledore to protect your mother at the cost of his allegiance to Voldemort. In the end, Lily got in the way, and was killed. Severus’ allegiance was sealed. He vowed to protect you, the last trace of your mother. 

From then on, Severus has been a double agent against Voldemort. Only Dumbledore knows that Severus’ loyalty is certain because of his love for your mother, and his resulting realization of the horrible power of the Dark Arts. All of this happened, mind you, well before he was twenty-two. 

His purpose in life now is to protect the Wizarding World and in larger part, you, in Lily’s name. In a sense, he’s alive because you are. And he wants Voldemort dead for what he’s done — if there’s a chance of him being alive, of course. 

I am telling you this so that you don’t waste time and hatred by assuming that Severus is working for Voldemort. Dumbledore promised Severus he wouldn’t tell you (or anyone) why Severus is good, just that you should trust his word that he is. 

Professor Snape has grown to be closed off, cruel, and unfeeling. While you see emotions as an advantage, he sees them as a disadvantage, as they can be exploited by Voldemort and only lead to pain. Expect him to treat you unfairly. He wants to hate you, but before long he won’t, not really, even if it seems like he does. And he might seem to hate everyone, but that’s because he, in part due to self-hatred and years of abuse, has no motivation to express kindness and compassion. 

In short, trust Snape. If you can do that, his life will not end as pointlessly.

You probably want to keep this quiet, but you can trust your best friends. Use the journal I gave you to keep track of your school years, then bring it with you to meet me on August 2nd, 1998, at the Hog’s Head. 

Signed, 

Anonymous. Harry Potter?

“Anonymous” had been crossed out, with “Harry Potter?” written in its place, and in his handwriting. So he had found out. There was nothing to do except read the journal… 

4 September, 1991 

I don’t know what I should write. I told Ron, and he still thinks Snape is rotten. I don’t know what to think, especially after Double Potions. I said nothing to Snape, which confused him, I think — he was trying to start something with me. I want to ask Dumbledore about the prophecy, to make sure it’s true, and so he can clarify some things. 

And yesterday the Daily Prophet reported that the same vault (number 713) Hagrid had emptied on my birthday had been broken into. What use would anyone have for the grubby little package that had been inside? Hagrid is keeping quiet about it…

8 September, 1991

Harry had written something about Raven:

…History of Magic used to be taught by a ghost, Professor Binns, whom nobody liked, as he was incredibly dull. Professor Faralyn is much different; I never considered how long the Wizarding World has existed and how many problems it has. Mainly because of her I think it’ll be one of my favorite classes. 

Hermione, a sort of know-it-all in my year, has been nearly late to classes on multiple occasions because she stays behind to talk to Faralyn… 

Harry stopped at a line about Quirrell. He had briefly described him as “suspicious.” In the original timeline, Harry considered Quirrell to be strange, but harmless; certainly not suspicious. There was a definite shift in time now. Still, at first, the events continued to occur as they had before: 

1 November, 1991

On Halloween, there was a troll in the dungeons. We heard that Hermione was in the girls’ bathroom after we upset her (she’d overheard Ron making fun of how much time she spends with Professor Faralyn). Ron and I came just in time to stop the troll. Snape, Quirrell, and McGonagall showed up, and we would’ve been in big trouble if Hermione hadn’t lied to cover us. I suppose it’s natural that we’re friends now… 

5 November, 1991

I happened upon Snape and Filch, who were trying to fix up Snape’s leg. If I hadn’t read the letter, maybe I would’ve assumed that he had tried to get past the three-headed dog. But it couldn’t be him, and Hermione agrees (I showed her the letter). She suggested we show Dumbledore (she and Ron then bickered over this for a time) and eventually we did. 

You were telling the truth. Dumbledore seemed shocked when I showed it to him, but he confirmed its truth. Dumbledore made us swear to not tell a soul, especially not Snape. 

12 November, 1991

First Quidditch game

I lost control of my broom halfway through the game. Hermione saw that Quirrell and Snape were muttering something and staring at me — 

Harry’s heart thudded. What would spotting Quirrell change? 

Hermione was brilliant, she set his cloak on fire; then I was able to catch the Snitch. We told Hagrid, who couldn’t think of much of a defense for Quirrell. He let it slip that he got the dog (Fluffy) off a unidentified Greek man, and that the dog is guarding something. Hagrid also mentioned that Nicholas Flamel is involved. Ron’s brothers, Fred and George, who are Beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, now have it out for Professor Quirrell… 

Without worrying if Snape would catch them, it seemed the trio was more free to search for Flamel. There was another thing —

Hermione asked Professor Faralyn about Nicholas Flamel — apparently all she would say was that he was an alchemist, which reminded Hermione that she’d read a book on alchemy that mentioned him. 

Now we know the Sorcerer’s Stone is what Quirrell is after.

12 January, 1992 

So much has happened since I’ve last written; I haven’t had the time to write it all down.  

Here’s what happened: After the Quidditch game, I overheard Snape talking to Quirrell, threatening him. After Snape left, I followed Quirrell; he had gone in the other direction. It was hard to see in the dark, but Quirrell took off his turban and spoke to himself. I thought I heard another voice and movement on the back of his head.

I flew back to the castle and told Ron and Hermione. We didn’t know where, when, or how to investigate until, for Christmas, I received an invisibility cloak. We fit underneath the cloak and snuck off to Quirrell’s quarters. There, he revealed Voldemort, who had been living under his turban. Voldemort/Quirrell tried to kill us, but — and this happened very quickly — when Quirrell touched me, he burned. After he touched me I blacked out and didn’t wake up until a week later.

Everything was bound to diverge now. Harry read through the rest of the year, and mentally compiled everything that had changed. Due to his trust in Snape, the trio had dealt with the Stone and Quirrell much sooner. This meant that their relationship was different — less built on working together, solving mysteries, but more on normalcy. Harry did better in school, and was able to help Gryffindor win the House Cup. His relationship with Dumbledore was stronger, brought together by Harry’s outing of Quirrell and the letter he’d received. 

Harry wondered, as he often had before, whether all this was an improvement. He continued on to his second year. 

3 July, 1992 

Tomorrow I leave the Dursley’s for the rest of the summer. They argued about me going, in private, of course, but ultimately decided if I were gone they could go on tour around Europe and not worry about a babysitter.

15 July, 1992

The Burrow is fantastic, and so are the Weasleys. 

Harry read through the pages about his stay at the Burrow. During his stay, he grew close to everyone, especially Fred and George. Ginny, too, spent enough time with Harry to start to lose her nervousness around him.

Harry continued on to read about the initial events of the school year, which seemed familiar — hearing voices in the wall, being suspected by students, and annoyed by Lockhart. When Colin Creevey was petrified (instead of Mrs. Norris), Harry wrote about suspecting Malfoy until Hermione brought it up with Professor Faralyn, who told her a little about the Chamber of Secrets and that Malfoy’s bloodline did not connect with Salazar Slytherin. She didn’t know anyone who’d be an heir. 

In the original timeline, Harry only occasionally noticed that Ginny was acting strange, but he regarded the instances as disconnected, and didn’t care to find out the reason behind them. Perhaps now that he’d spent the summer with the Weasley’s, he cared more:

…also wonder if Ginny is okay. She isn’t really approachable, and I don’t know if it’s my place to ask, but since coming back to school she seems to be acting strange…

Harry’s desire to skip to the end grew constantly, but he persevered. 

20 December, 1992

Professor Faralyn also received a letter; from the same person, too. 

When Hermione was having tea with her, Faralyn sifted through her things to find a particular document. A letter fell out of one of her books.

Hermione saw that the letter was familiar and told her about my letter. Faralyn asked to see me immediately, so Hermione sent me to her office.

The Professor told me some of her story. She came to Hogwarts after receiving a letter that told her she would be killed if she didn’t go. The handwriting matched the one in mine. 

She told me she knew Snape better than most Professors. She had been sorted into Hufflepuff, but spent more time studying the Dark Arts with the Slytherins. They were mere acquaintances then; she was closest to Regulus Black, who was apparently the brother of my father’s best friend, Sirius Black. That made me wonder why I lived with the Dursleys instead of my dad’s best friend. Professor Faralyn appeared uncomfortable at this; she told me he was imprisoned, but wouldn’t say what for.

She didn’t seem to want to talk about my dad, either. All she would say that he was a bully until later in school, when my mum started seeing him.

My letter, overall though, upset the Professor. She expressed more emotion than other professors at Hogwarts, but never weakness. It was awkward seeing someone cry that I don’t really know, especially a teacher, because I didn’t know what to do. She told me she’d guessed about the abuse, even his infatuation with Lily, but didn’t realize how the effects of both had lasted. 

When Professor Faralyn recovered, she looked at the letter again and realized something. “Look at the writing. The letters, specifically. They look too similar.” No one could write their letters the same way over and over again, she figured.

There was a knock on the door. We noticed then that it was after curfew. The invisibility cloak was in the pocket of my robes. Faralyn answered the door; it was Snape. Behind him was a nervous and uncomfortable Hermione. She’d stayed in the Tower to work on homework, and he’d caught her on her way back to Faralyn’s office. 

‘Did you ask to see Ms. Granger after hours?’ Then Snape noticed Professor Faralyn’s blotchy face. ‘What happened?’ And he spotted me. ‘What is Potter doing here?’

I went to the door, not knowing whether Professor Faralyn would have a good lie. ‘We needed help with our essay.’ 

Snape raised an eyebrow, then looked at the table where the papers were laid out. He stepped forward, but Faralyn stopped him. This affirmed Snape’s suspicion that they were lying and he strode past them.

‘Accio letters!’ Faralyn said, and before he could pick the papers up, they shot to her. 

But Snape had recognized the letter addressed to her. “Isn’t that the letter you were sent before you came here? What’s the other one? Why are you showing Potter?” 

“Sir, the Headmaster didn’t want you to read it.” I realized too late that what I said would guarantee that Snape would read it. 

Snape froze, betrayed. His face red with fury, he approached us and snatched the letter from Professor Faralyn. 

Hermione and I began to inch out into the corridor, but Snape ordered us to sit down, so we reluctantly went and sat at Faralyn’s desk.

When Snape finished the letter, he looked up at me, then strode out of the room. Professor Faralyn told us to go back to our dorms, leaving in pursuit of Snape.