Erased and Replaced

Part 1~Elijah

"Kill the spare."

"Avada kedavra!"

"Cedric!" Shooting up, Harry looked around the cartage. Voldemort wasn't here. Slowing his breath, Harry placed his hand on his heart, feeling the calming thump beat through him.

Where was he? Looking around, Harry noticed that neither Hermione or Ron were here. They could have gone to a Prefect meeting but they wouldn't leave him on the floor, would they?

A jostled stop told Harry they had arrived at the castle. He would have to find them later, for now he needed to get in. Jumping up he exited the train, everything felt off. He couldn't put his finger on it, it just felt off.

People were glaring at him, but he had expected that. Saying Voldemort was back was going to come with backlash, he expected that.

But something else was off... Hufflepuff was hanging out with Slytherins. Ravenclaws, Hufflepuff and Slytherins were all hanging around each other... like equals. And Gryffindors... they were being ignored, glared at.

What was going on? Was this his fault? No, even with their hatred of him, they wouldn't suddenly become friends with Slytherins.

Nothing was making sense right now!

"Hey, there, you lost?"

Spinning, Harry turned to look at a boy about the same age as him. He had short ginger hair that was combed back slightly. He had freckles covering most of his nose and cheeks and a pair of round glasses resting on his ears. Was he a Weasley?

"I... I'm not sure," Harry mumbled pathetically.

"You are Harry, right? Dad told me we were getting a new transfer student. My name is Elijah." Elijah stuck out his hand for Harry to take.

Harry looked over Elijah, taking every action he took, his eyes being drawn to the green shield over his heart. Slytherins hated him, that was a common fact. Why was this one being so nice? He knew Harry's name, he said that Harry was a transfer student. What is going on?!

"Come on, we need to get to the great hall so you can be sorted," Elijah grabbed onto Harry's wrist and dragged him forward. They joined two others, two Harry recognised, Luna and Neville.

Luna looked exactly the same as last time he had seen her, dirty blond hair, blue Ravenclaw uniform that brought out her eyes. She wore rainbow swirly glasses letting her see one of her many invisible creatures and had a stack of magazines in her arms.

Neville on the other hand was different... He had the same outward appearance, blond hair and pale skin, but his posture was... strange. He looked more frightened than usual- and that is saying something. He had a dancing cactus in his arms and was wearing a Hufflepuff uniform.

"Harry, these are my friends, Luna and Neville," Elijah introduced, throwing his arms over their shoulders. It was weird to see a Slytherin so comfortable with one of the other houses. Elijah didn't act like the Slytherins he knew.

"Umm... Hi," Harry greeted lamely, unsure of what to do. He hoped either would recognise him, someone would. However from their curious eyes, he guessed they didn't.

"Hello," Luna greeted back cheerfully, "Quibbler?"

Harry felt a scene of familiarity rush over him, one he was grateful for, at least Luna hadn't changed. "Yeah, sure." He gave her some money from his pocket and looked over the pages.

"I wouldn't take the stuff in there too seriously, as much as I love Luna, she has a tendency to sprout nonsense," Elija explained, receiving a small glare from Luna.

"No, I actually like the Quibbler. Lu- an old friend of mine used to sell them too. We would talk about it together," Harry defended, cursing himself slightly from the slip up. He might not know what was going on here but that didn't matter. It's probably just a weird dream.

Luna seemed happy with Harry's answer as she started to lecture him on one of the pages. Elijah and Neville both shook their heads and let the new addition to the school learn first hand why you don't ask Luna about the Quibbler, but even after they arrived in the great hall, she had yet to scare him off. Maybe he would do well here after all.

Elijah let Harry stand by Snape, noting Harry's uneased expression at the head of Slytherin house and deputy head of the school.

As they left Harry to his fate, the Gryffindor got a chance to look around himself. Everything seemed the same, but there were noticeably fewer Gryffindors. It took a while to find the missing Griffins. He spotted a few in Ravenclaw and some in Hufflepuff but the majority of his old house mates were in Slytherin. This school was starting to crept him out.

At least the teachers hadn't changed. Professor Sprout was in her usual yellow pumpkin shaped outfit. Professor Flitwick was sitting, tiny as ever. Hagrid was towering over everyone, being the usual loving man he was. Professor Trelawney was being... her usual self, eating even though no one else was. And Professor McGonagall was sitting on the left of Dumbledore.

Then there was her. But Harry knew she was coming. Her pink outfit was a crime against his eyes, her toad like face standing out in the crowd. Yep, definitely Umbridge.

Now all that was left was for Dumbledore to take his chair at the head of the table, but when the doors opened, and a smooth apology was announced, it wasn't Dumbledore. Even though he looked older, and had a calm smile on his face, that is not a face Harry could forget. That was Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort.

Harry was in a state of shock as the new first years were sorted into their houses. He couldn't think. Why was Tom here? Why wasn't anyone saying anything? Where was Dumbledore?

Snape had to push Harry to get him out of his thoughts, "I said, 'Harry Potter.' Sit on the chair and I will place this on your head." Even though the words were harsh they lacked the usual bite of Snape's common remarks. Everything felt out of place.

Harry slowly sat on the stoll and let Snape place the hat on his head, he didn't know what was happening but this was not the time to start shouting.

"Right so, not Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. That is obvious."

Harry almost jumped off the chair, but at this point he was used to the old hat interrupting his thoughts. "What is going on?" Harry interjected, forming the words in his mind and sending them to the hat who responded back in the same telepathic way.  

"Why are you asking me? Your heads a mess by the way, ever think about clearing this place up once in a while? So, you're not from around here are you?"

"What do you think? You can look at my memories."

The hat let out a loud laugh, forgetting to do it telepathically and letting the staff and students hear the assument in his voice. "True, true. My other self seems to be a bit darker than me. Oh, well. I think it's time for you to get a perspective, boy-who-lived." Before Harry could ask what the hat meant, it bellowed out his answer for everyone to hear, "Gryffindor!"

Harry let Snape take the hat off his head and walked over to the familiar table. He couldn't help but notice that the claps he received were polite, not excited. The Gryffindors were looking at him weirdly, but that was a challenge for a different day.

Umbridge gave her speech and they ate. Harry was annoyed that he would have to wait until the prefect could take him to the chambers but the second he was free , he collapsed on his bed and went to sleep.

This is all just a weird dream. He'll wake up back at Grimmauld with Sirius and Remus and this can all be forgotten.

This is just a weird dream!

...Right...?