Chapter 8: The Sister
Chapter 8: The Sister
1. He did his best to tell her the story of her disappearance, omitting any references to magic. "Your brothers never really got over it. They thought it was their fault, even though they were only thirteen and fifteen. Your parents had two more children after that; a son in 1980 and another daughter in 1981. That's Ginny; she’s my girlfriend. It's amazing how much you look like her..."
Just when Harry thought the most difficult thing was going to be telling Muggle-born witches and wizards that they're magical, I threw him for another loop and made him do THIS. I'm such a meany.
2. Harry shook his head. "Sorry. I'm lost. Am I supposed to recognize your name?"
She seemed embarrassed now. "Oh, listen to me, thinking I'm so well-known. That'll teach me. You have no idea, do you?" He shook his head dumbly.
I also had fun doing this because in this life he isn't famous Harry Potter (though soon he will be INfamous). In this case, Harry has no idea that Maggie is a bit famous (just as he didn't know Hermione was famous). Everyone but Harry gets to be famous in this part of the series!
3. "I mean, you have two auras. Very clearly. One is sometimes stronger than the other. Right now it's the green-tinged one. Sometimes it's the red-tinged one. But I can always see them both. And right now, both of your auras are a little black as well, which means you're holding something back. Not lying exactly, but close."
I fudged things a little bit here. Articles I read about auras attach specific meanings to red or green auras, whereas I was mainly using the colors here to differentiate between Gryffindor!Harry and Slytherin!Harry.
4. When they were ready to go, Bernard kissed her, and Harry pretended he was examining a print on the wall near the door.
This becomes important later, when Harry's trying to track down Maggie in his "original" life.
5. "Sister?" she gasped. Harry heard a rushing sound in his ears as he realized the magnitude of his blunder. Damn! He suddenly realized that he didn't know whether Ginny knew about Annie and Peggy. It certainly appeared that she didn't. In the other life, Ginny found out after she came up from the Chamber of Secrets and her mother blurted it out. Ginny had never been in the Chamber in this life.
Tracking all of the little differences between the worlds and why they were different is key to writing about time-travel. It can also frequently provide opportunities to make the chief time-traveler make horrible, plot-convenient mistakes.
6. "Tempus fugit."
He looked around; he didn't feel any different. He listened for the sirens; he couldn't let Ginny be taken to a Muggle hospital! They weren't supposed to be in London. But suddenly, he realized that he not only wasn't hearing sirens, he wasn't hearing any noise at all. The world was utterly still.
Some people complained about this spell, but I still maintain that the drawbacks it represents adequately explains why its use is not widespread. Harry doesn't know those drawbacks yet, but he soon does.
7. After a few minutes, she waved her wand over Ginny again, muttering words Harry didn't catch. When she was done the wand glowed pale blue instead of purple. Madam Pomfrey breathed a sigh of relief and she looked up at Harry.
"Suppose you tell me what really happened, Potter."
Despite how clever Harry thinks he's been, I didn't want to paint the people around him as utterly clueless. Madam Pomfrey is only one person who isn't taken in by the story he tells about finding Ginny at the foot of the marble stairs, as if she'd simply fallen. I just don't think it would have been plausible for Harry to be able to pull the wool over EVERYONE'S eyes.
8. "She says she saw Miss Weasley's sort of injuries many times when she was in Edinburgh; they are consistent with a person being struck by a Muggle car. She also says that you did in fact find her very quickly; she estimates that Miss Weasley couldn't have been lying there more than a few minutes when you came upon her. Naturally, she could not really have been struck by an automobile, as the nearest Muggle village is several hours away from here, even by broomstick."
Clearly, Harry did not realize how contradictory Ginny's injuries would seem, how impossible it would all be, evidently, due to his having used Tempus Fugit.
9. "You think my sister's pretty, don’t you?"
Ron opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, making his brother laugh out loud. When he did speak, he didn't answer Harry's question. "Why do I think that if I say, 'yes,' you'll decide it's an excuse to pull out your wand, and if I say 'no,' you'll do the same thing?"
Ron always seems to be damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.
10. "You kids think you're immortal because you're young; you find spells in books and try them, not knowing whether they're dark magic or what the long-term ramifications might be."
And now Mr. Weasley's lecture sounds like it could be referencing HBP, especially Harry using Sectumsempra on Draco!
11. "But Potter," Mr. Weasley said, concerned, "where did you learn the dark magic you used?"
Harry squirmed. "I found it in a book of my dad's," he lied.
Ha! More completely unintentional shades of HBP! Except that the Half-Blood Prince was never someone Harry would call "Dad" in canon. ;)
12. When Ginny finally emerged from the hospital wing with a clean bill of health, the only fly in the ointment of his life would be eliminated. And when she was recovered, they could tell Ron and Charlie about their relationship and be open and above-board and happy. As he flew above the pitch, the cold autumn wind whipping his hair about, he felt that until then, life could not possibly be more perfect.
Which means, of course, that readers should now be waiting for the other shoe to drop--and Harry should, too. :D
13. "Aren't you worried about making me so good you won't be able to score on me when we play against each other?" Harry had wondered aloud to him.
Ron gave him a sly look. "Oh, you think I'm showing you everything I've got, Potter?" He shot Harry a grin, which he returned.
It just seemed right to have Harry and Ron bond over Quidditch, once they started to create a tentative friendship (though still calling each other by their surnames).
14. On top of everything else, Draco was convinced that because Cho Chang was Ron's girlfriend and Head Girl, she was going to try to get all of the other prefects to vote for Ron to be Head Boy.
It also seemed about right to me to create the world that Ron had seen in the Mirror of Erised in this universe. Harry saw his family--and his family is why he created this world. So for Ron's mirror-world to also appear here struck me as appropriate (though the universe won't last long enough for Ron to be Head Boy).
15. Harry intercepted another attempted goal before dodging a Bludger heading for his left leg; it grazed his broom, making him fly crazily for a minute until he stabilized his flight again. He swallowed. I should have seen that.
Foreshadowing for the end of the match.
16. Harry didn't see it coming until it was too late; while he was watching his best friend come closer and closer to the Snitch, a Bludger was hurtling toward him. He raised his eyes and finally saw it, turning too slowly, taking the blow on his right shoulder, crying out as he lost his grip on his broomstick; he went one way and his Thunderbolt went the other.
And the foreshadowing comes to fruition. Also--ouch! Oddly, though, some people didn't get that even though Harry was out of commission, Slytherin still won the match. This, however, also reminds me now of the bit in HBP where McLaggen hits a Bludger at Harry (who's playing Seeker) and he ends up in the hospital wing, fantasizing about Ginny crying over him. Eerie!
It's so weird how this chapter had multiple things that seem like references to HBP, but this came out at the end of 2001 and HBP didn't get released until almost 4 years later! And of course, later developments, when Harry and Draco are "on the road" with Riddle's diary are eerily similar to the Trio's traveling adventures with the locket Horcrux. I had no idea at the time!