One Fate Leads To Another

Chapter 1: Childhood friends

I am Alice Dumaine. My nineteen-year-old soul is confined within this nine-year-old body. I was not time travelling, no, although Madame Dumaine always thought I was out of their time, which in fact I was. To be frank, my presence was not just out of the time, but out of this world, for all that surrounded me is a fictional world, one that was renowned in my time, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I should be ecstatic that years of birthday wishes had come true. I am here, walking the magical land. I will one day meet the golden trio, study in Hogwarts, or even get to see the Dark Lord. Most importantly, I'll have a chance to save Severus Snape, my favourite character, along with others who suffer from their miserable fate.

But you see, there is a slight error. I have always assumed that I would be taken to the time when the chosen one went to Hogwarts. This is sadly not the case, because Harry Potter wasn't even born yet.

How did I find out?

When I first caught myself in this bizarre situation, I was waking up to an unfamiliar ceiling. Madame Dumaine said she found me seeking refuge from the snowstorm under her doorsteps. The magic which flowed inside me kept me alive, but it was also melting the snow upon its contact with my skin. To prevent any muggle from suspecting anything and thereby risking the exposure of the wizarding world, she kindly adopted me.

Madame Dumaine was a middle-aged woman with a decent appearance and modestly dressed. She seemed to know everything about housework magic, whether it's cooking, mending clothes, or cleaning. I assumed she was a married woman. Her voice was gentle and pleasant and her manners elegant. She was very likely raised by a lady and a gentleman, I presumed.

By now you might have guessed from the context as well as her name that Madame Dumaine was a witch who originated from France. Yet, she managed to speak without a foreign accent. She was married to an Englishman, but she lost him to Death a few years back. After that, she moved to this house.

My recent arrival seemed to have altered her way of living. She was going to send me away after I got better, but something has changed her mind.

Madame Dumaine began to teach me everything she knows, not just spells, but also the political tension and conflicts in the wizarding world, "to prepare me for the dark and dangerous future", as she often told me.

I've learnt a brief history of this world. She always complimented me for what a smart kid I was, but what she couldn't possibly have known was that I cheated with my previous knowledge of this fictional world, not to mention that my soul was indeed nineteen already.

Our relationship was unlike ordinary mother and daughter.

Sometimes, she was my private tutor, sometimes a nanny, and most often just a companion whom I've learnt to trust.

I might appear like a young kid, but she saw me as equal and gave me mutual respect, which was rare and hence precious in any given circumstance.

She sensed that I was not at all familiar with anything here, but she didn't once ask me about my past. She simply kept me in and fed me with information. I, in return, would respect her privacy and refrain from inquiring about her past. Both of us knew that it was best not to touch each other's sore spots.

Then there came a day when Madame Dumaine said I could leave her apartment and explore the neighbourhood.

I stepped outside, only to find myself surrounded by brick houses of a unanimously dull design. I was the only one walking the street, probably because the streetlights were barely luminous. For one, this did not seem like a well-off neighbourhood.

I decided to turn around soon after I got out, only to find that Madame Dumaine's house was the second-to-last building in the street. As I hurried home, I rushed to the living room just to take a sip of warm tea. It's chilling out there, and I meant more than just the weather.

"It scares you a bit, didn't it? The Spinner's End," said Madame Dumaine from the other room.

"I beg your pardon?" That name had recalled a blurry memory. There's an important man associated with the Spinner's End, but I drew a blank.

"The Spinner's End, cold bricks, empty houses... I was frightened by this place when I first got here too, but you'll get used to it."

Wait a second. As my body was warming up, I could recall the story of this place. Wasn't it where Severus Snape lives?

"These houses can't all be empty," I said doubtfully, as I knew very well that beyond those walls lived my favourite character from the entire Harry Potter series.

"You're right, some are not. The Snape family lives next to us. Ah yes, they have a boy just your age."

A boy just my age?

It couldn't be Draco. He had no reason to live in such a cold and damp alley. "Then that boy whom she has mentioned must be young Severus Snape!" I thought to myself.

It seemed like I would be classmates with Severus, Lily, and the Marauders instead of the golden trio... This was not what I had daydreamed about.

I could not help but wonder what changes would I cause to this world. I planned to befriend young Severus Snape. But what's next?

That night, I could barely get any sleep. The butterfly effects! Of course I'd have to consider that. What would happen if I showed up before Lily Evans did in Severus' life? What effect would it cause? Would my existence give rise to a future in which the dark forces win? These questions kept me up all night long.

I wandered to a nearby slope by the river the next day. The sunlight fell gently on the grass. Unlike the Spinner's End, it was warm and comforting. This could be a good place to practice new spells.

"Engorgio," I whispered. The fallen pedal grew to the size of my palm.

"Reducio," then it turned normal again.

In three months, I have familiarized myself with this new environment and learnt a few spells. The basic ones took me days to learn, while some took me weeks. Madame Dumaine did not teach me magic from the beginner's level. She was rather spontaneous.

Other than practising spells, I also went there to think about my plan to influence the future of the wizarding world.

I still haven't figured out in what way I would exercise influence on this world yet. I've imagined different scenarios, where I played different roles in some of the most crucial events. However, without any actual contact with any character, I was unable to picture a valid plan.

In the end, I realized that all those calculations were futile and gave up overthinking.