Rose Dursley: The Girl Who Lived

1. The Boy Who Changed

In a quiet little village, a young mother was putting her son to bed.

"Goodnight, Harry," said Lily. "Sleep well."

Harry gurgled at his mother. She smiled, then kissed his forehead and pulled the blanket over his body. She then slowly backed out of the room, watching as her son drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound from downstairs. Lily turned to look, and she saw her husband coming up the stairs.

"It's him," cried James, frantically. "He's found us."

A bolt of green energy hit James in the chest, and he fell down dead. Lily screamed and stepped back in fear as a dark figure started to walk up the staircase. She saw him climb over the body of her dead husband and come ever closer. Lily stepped back into the room to protect her son.

Voldemort walked into the room, his wand raised, he stared at the baby in the cot. He swished his wand and sent the bolt of green energy towards the baby. But when he did, something unexpected happened. The bolt rebounded, and struck Voldemort. In a flash, Lily was dead, and Voldemort was no more.

Harry laid crying in his cot for a long time. The loud noise had scared him, and he called out for his mummy to come and soothe him. But she did not come to him.

Eventually, a man entered the room. He was pale and dressed in black. He ignored the crying baby, and went instead to where Lily was laid on the floor. Snape lifted her to his chest and sobbed.

After a few moments, Snape laid her back down. As he stood up, he turned to look at Harry. Then Snape wiped the tears from his eyes and ran from the room.

Harry was alone again for a short while, and was still crying when someone else entered his room. This was a big scruffy giant of a man. Hagrid looked around at the mess for a moment, before he reached into the cot to pick up Harry. Then he carried the baby outside wrapped up in some blankets.

Meanwhile, far away, Dumbledore and McGonagall are standing waiting in Privet Drive. As they waited quietly, Hagrid came into view, flying in on a motorbike and sidecar. He came bumping to halt in front of Dumbledore.

"Evenin' Professors," said Hagrid.

"Is that Harry?" Dumbledore said as he peered into the blankets. "Is he okay?"

"Aye. He had a bit of a cut on his forehead, but alright apart from that," said Hagrid.

"Well, hopefully he will be safe here," said Dumbledore.

"I hope you don't mean to leave him with these muggles?" McGonagall asked. "I have been watching them all day, and they're not nice."

"It has been decided, Harry needs to be hidden away for his own safety," said Dumbledore. "We can not be sure if Voldemort is truly dead."

"Of course, whatever you think is best," said McGonagall.

"But I am not sure if even this will be enough," said Dumbledore.

"What do you mean?" Hagrid asked.

"Voldemort knew to look for the boy, so he must be aware of the prophecy," said Dumbledore. "We need to do something more to disguise Harry from Voldemort in case he returns."

"What else can we do?" said McGonagall.

"I've been thinking. There was a spell that I used to know when I was younger," said Dumbledore. "You can use it to change a person's gender."

"Could that work?" McGonagall asked.

"Voldemort would be searching for the boy that lived," said Dumbledore. "But Harry would be the girl that lived. He would never be found."

"That's ingenious, that is," said Hagrid. "Voldemort would never find him."

"Okay, stand back," said Dumbledore.

Dumbledore pulled out his wand and cast the spell on Harry. His features softened and became more feminine. The effect seemed subtle on someone so young, but the boy was now a girl.

"So Harry's a girl now then?" said Hagrid peering over to get a closer look at the bundle of blankets.

"Yes, though perhaps we should not call her 'Harry' any longer," said Dumbledore. "A female name would seem more appropriate."

"How about 'Harriet'," said Hagrid. "That's a girl's name."

"Yes, but Harriet Potter seems rather obvious," said McGonagall, and she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well how about something flowery?" said Hagrid. "Like his mum, Lily."

"Yes, that sounds like a better idea," said McGonagall.

"Hmmm, there were some rose bushes in their garden when I got there," said Hagrid. "So how about 'Rose".

"Rose Potter. Yes, that sounds nice," said McGonagall.

Dumbledore strokes his beard thoughtfully. "There was something else," he said. "I'm not sure she should be a Potter. I think she should be a Dursley."

McGonagall gasped with shock. "You mean the child to be made into a muggle?" she cried.

"No, no," said Dumbledore. "She will still have her natural skills in magic. She will just be raised as a muggle."

McGonagall shook her head in despair. "These Dursleys are the worst kind of muggles, and you want the child to be brought up as one of them," she said.

"She must be kept safe," said Dumbledore. "I don't believe we have seen the last of Voldemort."

"Well I hope you are wrong about that," said Hagrid.

"As do I, my friend," said Dumbledore. "But go back to Hogwarts now, we can take care of the rest."

Hagrid nodded his head and climbed back onto his motorbike. Then he kicked it to life, and he flew off into the night sky.

Once Hagrid was gone, McGonagall picked up the bundle of blankets and walked towards the front door of number 4, Privet Drive. As she did Dumbledore followed behind her and pulled out his wand.

"I was going to leave a note, but perhaps a little memory charm would be more effective," said Dumbledore.

When the Dursleys answered the door, Dumbledore obliviated them. Dumbledore then gently explained to them that they had a daughter called Rose, and that they loved her greatly.

Once Dumbledore was happy that Rose would be safe, him and McGonagall left her behind and went back to Hogwarts.