Sutton couldn't believe her luck. Couldn't believe that she'd ever feel the urge to plant a kiss on the cheek of Albus Dumbledore and then hug him into oblivion. (She'd always seen him as a tad bit irresponsible with children, as it were.) But he'd been a saint with the lack of information she'd given him and told her that she could stay with Hagrid if she helped around the grounds.
It was almost too good to be true. Actually, maybe it was. Maybe the old Headmaster was just keeping her nearby to keep tabs on her and find out her secret. Honestly, she wouldn't put it passed him. Still, she wasn't going to pass up such accommodations, as she had zero other options.
Her last main concern, before leaving Dumbledore's office, had been the issue of meals. The many mentions of Hagrid's rock cakes in the books had sifted to the forefront of her mind. And no matter how vague and casual she'd tried to phrase the question, she'd still noticed the curious gleam her concern had brought to Dumbledore's eyes. He'd assured her that she could join the rest of the staff in the Great Hall for daily meals.
Now she was trekking down a grassy knoll, following an orb of light that was supposed to lead her to Hagrid's hut. She'd been supplied with a small back- wait. No. This is England- knapsack, in which she'd been given a few necessary everyday items and a couple more robes appropriate for outdoor work. She really could almost cry in gratefulness.
Finally Hagrid's hut was within view and Sutton found herself rushing ahead of the now unnecessary orb, and grinning at the pumpkin patch beside the abode. It was a bit small of a structure, she thought, for someone who was part giant, but it seemed homey enough. There were all sorts of plant life around it; she recognized some nettle solely from her time spent on Pottermore.
The stone of the hut seemed only marginally younger than the stones of the castle, with bits of it chipping away and signs of weather wear were clear. And it smelled. There was the scent of vegetables and a new fire, along with what Sutton could only guess as creature. What kind, she couldn't say. It had the musk she'd come to associate with petting zoos and fairs, but there was a foreign tang with it that was new to her.
She knocked on the front door firmly three times and then took a step back and waited as she heard a rustling from inside. Her eyes gleamed a bit as the door opened and she craned her head back to try and make eye contact with the half-giant.
"Oh, er, 'ello."
Hagrid was precisely as Sutton had imagined him to be. Which, was to say, he almost exactly resembled his film adaptation. Even if his face was different from the actor's, she couldn't tell beneath his massive black beard and wild hair. Sutton smiled and threw out her hand.
"Hello! My name's Sutton; Dumbledore sent me!"
She passed the note that had been written on her behalf over unceremoniously and waited again as Hagrid blinked a few times in confusion before taking it and reading it over.
"An assistant," he finally said in awe. " 'fer me? Bu' I ne 'r asked fer one. Don' really need one either, no offense. Did'n think I did ter bad of 'a job 'round here."
"You do a great job," Sutton quickly reassured. "Dumbledore's actually helping me 's hard to get work as a squib, you know."
Yeah, she'd totally decided that was her official cover story now. It was brilliant, if she did say so herself. It explained all the information she had about this world (or at least the knowledge of magic), while also covering up her clear lack of magic itself.
Smooth, Sutton. You're getting better at this.
Hagrid suddenly looked sympathetic. She saw his eyebrows rise up and his mouth twitch down.
"Well, where 're my manners? Come in, come in."
Sutton stepped through the only door to the hut and into a wall of warm air. It smelled earthy, like dirt and musk, joined with the sharp scent of salted meat.
Sutton shuffled forward and sat in the seat offered to her as Hagrid put a kettle on the fire. He moved about the hut and busied himself with readying a couple of tea cups, a small pitcher of cream, and a pot of honey. He placed all the additions and cups on an old, scratched tray and placed it on the round table that took up most of the room.
Sutton smiled in thanks and watched as Hagrid sank into the chair opposite her, watching the fire until the kettle began to whistle shrilly.
"Well, now, so yer here fer a job, then, aye?"
Reaching for her own cup, Sutton added a shot of cream to her freshly poured tea and stirred with a delicate spoon.
"Yup," she said. "At least for a little while. Life's been kinda weird lately. Well, the last year or so, actually. Anyway," she paused to take a sip of her tea, "whatever you need me to do, I'll do."
Hagrid took a large swallow of his own tea and responded initially with a grunt of acknowledgement.
" 'Spose I could use a helpin' han' here 'n there," he said.
Sutton gave him a wide grin at that.
"An' if Dumbledore recommends ye, ye must be 'a good person."
"I try," Sutton chirped. "But, if nothing else, you'll have a conversation partner during the day."
Hagrid just smiled.
Sutton was once again attempting to settle into some sort of routine. Her initial excitement at being in the world of Harry Potter was still helping a bit to keep her ever present anxiety away. It also helped that Hagrid kept her fairly busy. And informed. Any question she asked had him spouting off a jet stream of knowledge about any magical creature they encountered, or about the Forbidden Forest nearby, or wizard life in general. He didn't seem to think it odd that she was asking so much, given that she was supposed to be a squib. But Sutton figured that she could make up a story about her family being ashamed of her and sending her to live with a secret muggle relative if ever questioned about her ignorance.
The lie would be worth it too, because she was getting to learn all sorts of things about Grindylows and Hunkypucks and all sorts of dragons. At her enthusiasm over dragons, Hagrid even let slip that he'd had a dragon, a Hungarian Horntail, named Norbit. He'd spoken fondly of the beast, a tear forming at his eye, and then he came back to himself and made her swear not to tell of the story to anyone.
The first student she actually got the opportunity to see was Ginny Weasley. Sutton had forgotten the books mention of the young girl's stalking attempt.
She was so small and jumpy, Sutton wondered how the girl ever transformed into the Ginny from the later books.
That Saturday Sutton, very much aware of what was about to happen, made it a point to start out for the Qudditch field. It was too early for her liking, especially for the weekend, but she wanted to see all the little magical runts and maybe get to box Draco around a bit for his horrid brattiness.
It really was a shame that she came when they were all still young.
Sutton was adorned in the practical clothes of a laborer, durable and thick and fairly bland in color, and the only shoes she had now were a pair of dragon hide boots.
She wasn't quite sure about the idea of skinning dragons, what with them being so incredibly non-existent to her and all, but figured it must be like cow leather to wizards.
After becoming accustomed to the nicer workwear working for Tony afforded, it was an adjustment to wear such rough fabric regularly.
That cashmere sweater she wore for Christmas sounded nice right about now. Especially in the chilly morning air.
The sun was up but a mist was still settled over the ground as far as she could see. The world still had a bit of that grayish-blue tint to it in the distance, though it was already starting to burn off slowly. The Quidditch hoops soared high above her as she neared the field, and she could now hear the murmur of high pitched voices, when suddenly a deeper voice rang out in the air.
"-our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"
Sutton pushed herself faster as she marched across the grass. This was it! She tilted her chin up and puffed out her chest and tried to generally appear more adult-like in order to do what needed to be done next. Rounding a bend and finally passing beneath high bleachers, she could see two gangs of children forming across from each other.
"-got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. 'I, Professor S. Snape-'"
Sutton slowed her pace a bit, unwilling to be seen just yet, and tried to remember how long this little spitting contest went on for.
Shortly, a flash of red caught her eye and she looked to the side to see two children jogging across the field. One was a boy, tall for his age and thin, with shockingly red hair. The other was a small girl, bundled up warmly with a mass of brown frizz bursting out of a knit hat. Sutton grinned and moved a few steps closer.
Should she interrupt now? Or let things play out?
Shaking her head, she grit her teeth lightly and berated herself.
Of course she shouldn't interrupt things. Not supposed to meddle! Don't meddle! She shouldn't even be here in the first place!
But Sutton still watched attentively as the two children joined the group and took up positions next to a small boy with jet black hair.
Holy mother of wizards! Harry Potter himself!
Oh! And there was a blond boy sneering across from them. Nasty little Draco Malfoy!
"-filthy little Mudblood."
Sutton suddenly sprang into action, reacting on impulse alone. Children were lunging viciously at each other and young Ron Weasley had whipped out his wand with a,
"You'll play for that one, Malfoy!"
Sutton's babysitting experience kicked in and she barked out an authoritative, "hey", but it was too late to stop Ron's curse.
At hearing an outsider's rebuke, the children broke quickly apart, probably fearing a professor, looking around from whomever had called out. Most of the children spotted her, but that didn't stop them from being distracted by Ron beginning to spew slugs onto the grass. The Slytherins began guffawing loudly on the lawn while Harry and Hermione attempted to attend to Ron's poor state. Seeing the trio together tugged at Sutton's heart, and she turned a mean glare at Draco.
How many kids had teased her in school? For not having a dad, for not getting the latest toys, for wearing secondhand clothes?
Her face was suddenly hot
"Draco Malfoy! You nasty little, snot-nosed inbred!"
The volume of her voice and hostile nature of her statement drew attention back to her and away from Ron's belching as wide eyes met her.
"Excuse me?"
Gosh, even his high-pitched little voice was annoying right now, British accent or no.
"You heard me, you little warthog-faced buffoon. Where'd you think you come off making fun of people who may or may not be less fortunate, huh?"
Draco's face scrunched up in distaste and confusion, the field was quiet save for Hermione's murmurings of reassurance and Ron's gagging.
"How do you know my name? I've never even seen you before."
Sutton rolled her eyes, her hands landing on her hips.
"Please. Sneering face, off-putting disposition, albino-like complexion; it's obvious you're a Malfoy."
Her eyes flickered back as she noticed Harry and Hermione trying to help Ron up to his feet, supporting him on their shoulders.
"Now you're lucky I don't report you to a professor for that kind of language," she said while shooting Draco another glare for good measure. "You better watch yourself, you just might regret your series of bad life choices one day."
Draco opened his mouth to respond, but Sutton turned flippantly on her heel and marched over to Ron before he could get a word out.
"Here," she said. "Let me help."
Ron, already tall for his age, was almost as tall as she was and she had to heft him high up on her shoulder to support most of his weight.
"Oi! It's her again!"
"C'mon, Fred!"
Sutton groaned under her breath then yelped in surprise as Ron spat up another slug. It dribbled out from his lips and squelched as it plopped onto the ground near her feet.
"Oh man, that is sick, kid," she said. "Too bad it didn't quite work on its intended target."
But Ron wasn't much in the mood for having a conversation about where his spell went wrong.
"Who're you," a small, curious voice suddenly spoke up from her side. Sutton looked down and grinned as she saw the messy-haired Harry Potter. His eyes were green like they were supposed to be!
"My name's Sutton," she said. "I've been helping Hagrid around the grounds this year."
"Hagrid has an assistant now," Hermione questioned.
"Uh, sorta. I needed a job and Dumbledore was nice enough to let me stay."
She could suddenly feel the presence of more bodies behind her and shot a look backwards. The twins were following and sparing her curious expressions. There was a little flutter in her gut because she was pretty sure they weren't supposed to be heading to Hagrid's at this point.
"You're not supposed to be here," she blurted out.
The twins raised a brow in sync and looked at each other.
"I do believe that's the second time she's said we're not were we're supposed to be, eh George?"
"Quite a curious thing to say to two blokes you don't know."
Her face reddened again against her wishes. Ok, well, at least now she knew that George was on her left and Fred was on her right. Now if only they'd start wearing name tags.
They finally made it back down towards the forest were Hagrid's hut, with a new extension of bed and bath just for her, was located. But as they neared the hut, Hagrid's door suddenly opened and Gilderoy Lockhart came waltzing out. Harry looked panicked and urged everyone into the cover of a nearby bush. It was ridiculous how they were all attempting to cram behind the small amount of foliage.
They hid as a disgruntled Hagrid saw off the narcissistic wizard; Fred and George were even huffing in annoyance behind her. The only one who didn't seem put off entirely by the man was Hermione, but Sutton knew that the girl's fascination with the man wouldn't last long.
Thankfully.
They all emerged like a small mob from behind their foliage after Lockhart was a safe distance away. Hagrid looked over at the noise of Ron vomiting another slug.
"Oh dear, well, let's git him inside, then."
Sutton dropped Ron down on a chair next to the fireplace, and Hagrid passed the suffering child a large bucket.
"I'm afraid there's nothing to do but let it run it's course," Hermione said sadly.
"It wasn't very bright to attempt a curse like that with a broken wand," Fred snorted.
"Even if Malfoy did deserve it," George said more darkly.
Hagrid's dark eyes scanned over the group.
"What 'append? Why'd he try an' curse tha' Malfoy boy?"
Quite frankly, Sutton wasn't exactly interested in the commencing conversation about wizard vulgarity. If anything it would only serve to simultaneously anger and bore her.
Chamber of Secrets hadn't even been her favorite Potter book!
But, alas, she was trying to make the most of it. She had half a mind to find a rooster and just chuck it down the tunnel in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
It would save a lot of time and trouble. Hmm.
She busied herself with helping to prepare some tea and adjusting a few chairs. The twins she watched out of the corner of her eye, because they only listened to Hermione and Harry enough to make sure they were telling the story straight before directing their focus to her. She groaned under her breath and scrunched up one side of her face as they moseyed over to her once again.
"So, you ready to tell us how you know our names yet?"
If Sutton had successfully been able to keep tabs on the two, this one ought to be Fred.
"We've got all year to figure it out if you're not," George added. "Plenty of time."
Sutton narrowed her eyes at the two and jabbed a teaspoon in their general direction.
"Listen, it's not a big deal, ok? I-I heard a couple of kids talking before you found me. They, uh, mentioned your names and the word 'twins'. It wasn't a big leap to make."
The twins both lifted a brow in disbelief.
" 'cept you weren't near anyone before we found you, were you?"
"Not unless you were chatting with Filch. But he's never been too much of a conversationist that I've seen."
"A bit touchy, actually."
Sutton found herself with one hand on her jutted hip as the teaspoon hung limply between her fingers. These boys would be the death of her. How had she messed up so quickly? At least in Star Wars they only thought she was weird.
"How would you even know who I was or wasn't around, huh? That's right. Flipped it on 'ya."
"Well, we do have a bit of magic, unlike you."
"Fred!"
Sutton let loose a laugh that spoke of a much grander joke than the jab Fred just gave. She got odd looks from everyone in the room, and tried to wipe at her eyes and cut the laughter short.
"Oh, you have no idea," she agreed. "Not a lick of magic. Not even a bit."
She just didn't mention that she had a bit of something else. If she wanted to, she could mess everything up. She could decide she believed that Voldemort was actually misunderstood and enjoyed tap dance, that Dumbledore was actually a bit more malicious than depicted, even that Hermione and Harry should get together instead of Hermione and Ron.
Huh, they did always seem closer in the books. Harry was always nicer to her and they didn't fight nearly as much as Ron and she did. They also had more in common, both having lived in the muggle world.
Sutton mused to herself as she let her gaze linger about the room. Harry was still telling Hermione that Draco was a stupid git, and the small girl looked up and gave him an appreciative smile before blushing lightly.
The air around her was almost sizzling with electricity that only she seemed to notice. The world actually seemed to tilt for a moment that sent her stomach fluttering.
Sutton snapped to attention.
Nope, nuh-uh. Stop it! Stop over-thinking things! What are you doing? You will be the master of destruction and then no one will like you!
Her face was a bit cool as she turned back to the twins and tried to act like she hadn't possibly ruined this world's future. George seemed to notice her change of mood.
"You ok? Is something wrong?"
Good merlin! Did she have to closely guard every stray thought and idea? Was the slightest slip in consideration going to have world changing repercussions? Anxiety swelled in her gut at the thought that she might've just messed something up.
Hermione ends up with Ron, Hermione ends up with Ron, Hermione and RON.
Most people were Ron and Hermione shippers, right? That had to count for something if their belief helped fuel this whole stupid power thing. Plus, J.K. believed Ron and Hermione were the only ones for each other! The author herself wouldn't change her mind on something like that! The stance of the founder of this world had to keep it a bit on track, right?
"Just fine," Sutton finally managed to respond. "Just as solid as one of Hagrid's rock cakes!"
Luckily, the twins were sufficiently distracted when Ron, finally getting a good look at her, exclaimed bluntly,
"Merlin's beard! Are you a -blech- bloody clone of Hermione from the future?"
Hermione and Sutton both reached protectively up to their hair at the same time.
The children didn't linger long after Ron finally recovered from his slug spewing. It was, after all, a Saturday and she wouldn't imagine them feeling inclined to tarry at Hagrid's hut for the whole of it. She didn't really feel like hanging out at Hagrid's, and her's she supposed, hut for the entire day. Which was nothing against the loveable Rubeus himself, but a week of actual manual labor and no real modern amenities was becoming tiresome. It would be nice to get away for a few hours.
Gosh, she even missed JARVIS! He always had great take-out recommendations and let her know when that one boutique had sales.
She didn't even have a phone now. The magical folk would hardly even know what one was.
Hagrid looked like he was about to wander off on his own anyway, so she jumped to ask him a question before he left.
"Hagrid? What do I need to do if I want to go into town?"
Hagrid turned from where he'd been shrugging on his jacket and pegged her with a curious expression.
" 'm not sure what yer mean."
"Well, like, do I have to wait for a certain weekend? Or do I have to sign out or something?"
When he began chuckling lightly Sutton figured that was the only response she needed, but let him speak anyway.
"As fer as anyone 'ere is concerned, yer an adult. You can go in 'ta town whene'r ya like, so long as it don't interfere with yer work."
"Awesome, thanks." Sutton shuffled her weight from foot to foot. "That's all I needed to know. Now if you don't mind, there's a few galleons burning a hole in my pocket! Bye!"
To avoid any further embarrassment on her behalf, she darted from the hut and hurried down the lane towards the main gates. There was one road into this place, and the kids in the third movie had walked to Hogsmeade, so it couldn't be that hard to find.
Despite the lack of a warm sun, the weather was fairly nice for fall and just fine for walking. After a few minutes Sutton found that she warmed up rather well and the cool breeze didn't bother her so much. The gray sky actually reminded her of home. Washington home. Home where space ships and aliens, wizards and magic spells were fictional and things made sense.
She hummed a happy tune as she walked, one her mother would sometimes whistle while doing chores around the house after a full day at work. Rolling hills, rich and green, spread out on either side of the little dirt road and it was beautiful.
She'd always wanted to visit Europe someday. She supposed now she was getting to do it for free.
She'd made it to the actual Hogwarts before she'd even gotten to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida.
Life was funny like that, she supposed.
By the time she saw a small cluster of buildings growing in the distance she was hungry enough for lunch and a certain infamous drink. There were a few wizards and witches bustling around the town as she entered it herself. It was probably a lot more busy when the school children came for a visit, but she enjoyed the lazy, easy-going energy that Hogsmeade exuded currently. It allowed her to take in the sights and the shops without the anxiety of a crowd.
And were there ever things to see!
The town was the adorable, quaint type that you find in old Europe, unchanged and stout. There was old architecture if she'd ever seen it, with hand-painted wooden signs and cobblestone streets. The whole town was basically just a long road with the shops on either side, which made it infinitely more easy to navigate. It was a bit cooler in town, surprisingly, so she marched purposefully down the road until she recognized an old sign reading, "The Three Broomsticks".
Sutton grinned to herself and pushed the door open.
It was a warm space. The people inside didn't turn around to stare at her for being a stranger like they did in old westerns, so she felt a bit more comfortable as well. The floors were old and wooden, with a fire place on one side of the room and tables filling the space in between. There was a bartender cleaning glasses behind the bar and a few open stools off to the side. Sutton shrugged off her jacket and took a seat at a small table in the back of the room. It didn't take long for a waitress to find her way over and ask what she wanted.
Wait, was it a waitress? Or the owner? She wasn't sure.
Sutton was quick to order a warm meal, shepherd's pie, with a butterbeer. Her mouth was already watering as it was just being in the pub. It had a warm smell, full of different meats and spices, but wasn't off putting in the least.
When the food did arrive, it didn't fail to disappoint. And she had butterbeer! Honest-to-goodness, authentic butterbeer! It was served to her warm with whipped cream on top, and had a lovely, almost cream soda-like taste. Which was weird, because the idea of a warm cream soda had never sounded appealing to her. But this drink was able to pull it off.
"Wizard food," she muttered into her mug. "Figures."
After her meal, Sutton left the amount of coins that the menu had listed the food as being. She really had no concept of what the conversion rate was, so she just had to trust the listed price as fair. Besides, it's not like they instantly knew that she was a mugg-er-squib, just by looking at her. So they couldn't just give her some altered menu made for ignorant customers.
Back outside once again, Sutton wandered around Hogsmeade leisurely. Each shop was lit up warmly from the inside, yellow light spilling out onto the street. The small coin bag in her pocket clinked quietly as she strolled. There wasn't a lot in it to spend, but she was fine with window shopping. And getting one or two things couldn't hurt. It wasn't like she had a lot of bills to pay at the moment or investments to make.
Finding her hunger satisfied for the moment, Sutton let herself into Tomes and Scrolls and let the musty scent of paper and leather surround her. When she'd opened the door, instead of a bell, a light melody briefly played to announce her presence that only added to its charm.
There were so many books!
The store wasn't large by her standards, nothing like the Barnes And Nobles she was used to, but there were books crammed in every corner. They were stacked in piles as tall as she was! And they were the leather bound kind that looked great on shelves and even better when held. She even spied scrolls laying about.
After greeting the store owner she milled about, turning over piles and digging in the backs of bookcases. Eventually, she settled on a tome called, Managing Magical Beasts (And Winning Them Over), and another titled, Living As A Squib In A Wizard's World. If she had to stay in this world for any extended period time she might as well learn a thing or two.
Leaving the bookstore she popped into Honeydukes for some chocolate frogs. It was her equivalent of entering Willy Wonka's factory.
Oh gosh, she really didn't want to universe jump there.
There were so many bright colors and shelves upon shelves of sweets. She also couldn't stop herself from grabbing a few other candies to sample, like exploding bonbons, some cauldron cakes, and a sugar quill.
With her books and candy, she decided she couldn't afford to spend anymore at the moment, and window shopped a bit longer to delay going back to the school. But later, with more money, perhaps she'd come back and nose around Gladrags Wizardwear and Madame Puddifoot's. It was was something to look forward to. It was really hard to live at the same place that she worked.
But return she did, it was starting to get later in the day and she didn't want to miss out on dinner. If Hagrid so much as heard her stomach rumble, he'd insist on making her something and then Sutton would have to pretend to enjoy it.
Gosh, she loved Hagrid, she really did. His cooking was just not something to be desired.
As luck would have it Hagrid was not in the hut when she returned, so she dropped off her purchases and started the trek over to the castle. There were students still loitering around the grounds and enjoying their day off of studies. She smiled at a couple and continued on her way to the Great Hall. The staff table was served the same food as the children were, but had the option of more mature drinks. Sutton didn't really go for wine and mead, but she did enjoy drinking her beverages from a goblet.
Sutton was in the hall leading to the Great Hall and nearing the scent of a warm meal when she felt a chill go up her spine. A long, dark shadow was cast over her causing her to freeze.
"Miss Regan."
Sutton hesitated, swallowed, and forced herself to turn around. Fortune had favored her this week up until now, and she hadn't run into Snape since that first day. It also helped that she worked mainly outdoors. With his complexion, she assumed he didn't see much of outside world.
"Professor Snape! Oh, h-hey." Snape's face remained frighteningly blank. "What-what's, how can I help you?"
Snape folded his arms beneath his robes.
"Miss Regan," he droned, "do tell me, what was your brother's name? I don't believe I've encountered another...Regan in any of my classes."
Sutton felt herself instantly clamming up.
"Oh, no? Weird. Huh. Well, we don't have the same last name, actually," she blabbered. "And we also look nothing alike. Different dads and all. Probably why he got the magic, am I right? Ha!"
Unsurprisingly, Snape did not appear to be amused.
"His name?"
"Look, I wouldn't want him being...discriminated against, you know. Not that you would ever do that, of course, and- would you look at that! Dinner time! I think Hagrid 's calling me! Gotta go!"
With that, she darted passed the pillar of black robes and dove for the safety of the Great Hall. Surely there would be people in there to buffer Snape's interrogations. Luckily, there were a few other teachers, and Hagrid, enjoying their evening meal, but as she took her seat Sutton had the uneasy feeling that encounters with a suspicious Snape wouldn't be totally unavoidable in the future.
Because you've been so great at dodging the wonder twins, she admonished herself. Of course you can handle them and Snape. No problem. None at all.
...You're screwed.