‘’There, look!’’
‘’Where?’’
‘’Next to Ron Weasley of course!’’
‘’Wearing the glasses? It can’t be!’’
‘’Did you see what he looks like now?’’
‘’Yeah I know, creepy isn’t it?’’

Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left the abandoned girls lavatory three weeks before. He is still a girl. People queuing outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring, gaping at the new female Harry. He wished they wouldn’t but at this point it he was used to it.

It was evident that he would probably have to spend the rest of his days as a girl unless there was a cure discovered or more information on the mysterious phantom was found. But for now Harry had to deal with the situation even if he hated being a girl. His entire outlook on life was changed by the curse, the environments felt different, and the way people treated him was slightly different. He spent a lot of time in Professor Dumbledore’s office just talking about how he felt and discussing his experiences. No matter how miserable or depressed Harry felt, Dumbledore’s nod of comfort always made him feel warm inside.

Dumbledore had it seen to that a new bed was placed in the girl’s dormitory for Harry which was difficult for him to absorb. The first night was the toughest for him; he lay awake in bed thinking, sometimes quietly sobbing himself to sleep. He felt ridiculous. The Gryffindor girls had not yet accepted him as a girl.

Hermione too found it hard to believe, it was difficult for her too but she stood beside her best friend as always. Ginny couldn’t look at Harry in the eye without turning a sickly pale colour, she found it hard to think that this new girl was Harry Potter, the boy she liked. It was very confusing for her. Harry also found that he was rapidly drifting away from Ron as he spent more time with Hermione. He missed being Harry, just Harry.

The wizarding world knew everything within a few days after Harry had fully transformed. It was the cover story of The Daily Prophet with the headline, ‘’HARRY POTTER: The Girl Who Lived!’’ Reporters fought at the school gates to get some juicy information but Dumbledore shunned them all away. Dumbledore decided that if Harry was to live any sort of normal life that he should go by a new name and be addressed as a ‘’she’’. Of course Harry hated the idea but Dumbledore was right, he had to accept the fact that he was no longer a boy. Harry was now registered as ‘’Heather Potter’’ the fifth year Gryffindor school girl. He felt as if he was being rushed into becoming a new person against his will. He was tempted to just run away from everyone and never return.

Most of the students accepted Heather quickly, maybe it was because they were told to, but Heather didn’t care. She would walk down the corridor between classes and students would stare at her as if she was a freak. When she ate in the great hall she could feel people looking at her and whispering as usual, and when she walked up the steps to the girl’s dormitory she could hear first years giggling at her from behind her back.

However bad the students gossiping was, nothing compared to what the Slytherin’s said to her, they were cruel, heartless and loved the fact that Heather was going through a bad time. Draco Malfoy took particular pleasure in jeering Heather as she walked down the corridor with Ron one day.

‘’I always knew you were fond of wearing skirts Potter but don’t you think this is taking it a bit far?’’ he jeered.

His cronies Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson laughed there heads off.

‘’Just ignore them,’’ mumbled Ron. ‘’It’s only Malfoy.’’

Heather felt as if her head was on fire, rage boiled within her, ready to explode.

‘’Where you going with your new boyfriend Potter?’’ said Malfoy, now following them.

Goyle found this hilarious as he had to lean against the wall to stop his large body from collapsing on the floor with laughter.

Heather spun around, whipping her hair and skirt and marched right up to Malfoy who was chuckling to himself. Heather pushed him feeling the huge decline of her strength for the first time. Malfoy’s smirk vanished as it formed into a cold malicious sneer.

‘’Is that all you’ve got girly?’’ he sneered. ‘’I never thought that it would be possible for you to get any weaker than what you were!’’

For the first time in five years Heather felt helpless against Malfoy and his thugs. Ron stood beside her right shoulder her telling her to ‘’leave it’’ under his breath. She tried to give the dirtiest look possible before Parkinson pushed her, falling back on her behind against the hard stone floor. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle laughed so hard that Heathers eyes welled up. Ron helped her pick up her books and stationary from the ground, also giving her hand up. She felt weak and frail as her knees shook with rage.

‘’Just bugger off Malfoy!’’ sneered Ron as he turned Heather away from Malfoy.

‘’Give her one for me Weasley!’’ laughed Crabbe.

‘’Shut up you idiot!’’ said Malfoy, punching him in the arm.

Heather walked briskly down the dark empty steps that led to the dungeons. Ron followed, calling her name after her.

‘’Are you okay?’’ he asked.

‘’Yeah I’m fine,’’ whispered Heather dabbing her eyes.

‘’You crying mate?’’ asked Ron concernedly.

‘’No, no,’’ lied Heather, unable to understand her new emotions. ‘’It’s probably just the dust.’’

‘’But there isn’t any?’’ said Ron, his eyes widening with concern for his friend.

‘’Just leave it Ron!’’ snapped Heather.

‘’Okay well — I - I better get to — err stuff to do,’’ said Ron. He walked up the few steps onto the corridor turning his head to look down at Heather. ‘’Oh yeah — and err don’t forget that we have our first Quidditch practise later, okay?’’

Heather nodded and Ron forced an awkward smile before leaving.

The day wore on like a dragged out Potions class for Heather. She continued to attend her usual classes and the teachers constantly lectured them about there O.W.L.S. Hermione was stressed as always even though the exams weren’t for another eight months.

‘’Eight months or not, I have to study for these exams at some stage, and you should too!’’ said Hermione.

And that’s exactly what Heather did, she studied. A thing she very rarely did as Harry. She found that her concentration level in class had improved and she actually started to show an interest in her subjects. She assumed that this was one of the very few good traits of the curse.

The day ended with Seamus being sent to the hospital wing after blowing himself up in potions, again. Heather ate in the great hall with Hermione, Ron and Luna before going to grab her newly transfigured Quidditch gear. She then walked down the pitch with Ron, Ginny and Demelza. Heather only realised that the team’s genders were now split in two, three girls and three boys.

She got dressed in the girls changing rooms before kicking up from the ground on her Firebolt. She soared upwards so high that she could see for miles around. She felt the wind caress her cheeks gently, her jet black hair whipping behind her and the air gush through her robes. She felt like Harry again. As she reached high above the Quidditch pitch stands, she looked down and let out a shrill scream. She must have been one hundred feet up in the air and it made her incredibly nervous. She clung onto her broom for her dear life.

‘’Oh my god, I’m going to fall!’’ she squealed.

‘’What do we do Har — Sorry, I mean Heather?’’ shouted Cormac, hovering in the air across from her.

‘’Uh lets s-start with a few laps around the stands shall we?’’ stuttered Heather, nervously clinging to her broom handle.

‘’Are you okay?’’ he shouted back.

Heather didn’t reply for a moment. She looked around herself, feeling the horrifying wave of fear. She swallowed it down, trying to convert her horror to courage but it failed miserably.

What’s wrong with me? She thought.

‘’You go ahead, tell the others, I’ll w-watch you all from here!’’ shouted Heather.

The rest of the team sped around the tall stands throwing a Quafel back and over to each player as they raced. Cormac seemed to lead them. Heather didn’t even watch, instead concentrating on her surroundings. She still hadn’t moved from her airspace. Was this part of the curse? Not being able to play Quitditch? It felt strange to her because of her new size and physique but the fear of heights creeped her out. She ended the practise after fifteen minutes.

‘’Great work team!’’ she said as they all gathered in a circle on ground.

‘’Great work she says?’’ said Dean mockingly, ‘’we barely did a thing!’’

‘’Look, I’m sorry but I —I don’t feel well today!’’ said Heather.

‘’Your losing your touch mate,’’ said Cormac.

Heather knew that Cormac wanted to be captain so he would do anything he could to discourage her. She was beginning to feel intimidated by her own team. Ron and Ginny just stood awkwardly and didn’t utter a word.

‘’We can’t have this happening right now Heather. What with the school tournament coming up, you need to shape up, step up your game!’’ said Demelza, the only one who didn’t say the truth in a rude manner.

‘’Ah come on lads, we all know that it’s that bloody curse that’s done it! Ever since you changed into a pansy girl!’’ said Cormac pointing at Heather.

‘’Right!’’ bellowed Ron. ‘’That’s enough out of you McLaggen!’’

‘’You know its true Weasley!’’ he mumbled.

‘’Fine!’’ shouted Heather, she ripped off her captains arm badge and threw it at Cormac’s feet. ‘’You be captain then!’’ she said tearfully before strutting off.

‘’Heather!’’ shouted Ginny after her.

She walked away feeling foolish as she choked back her tears, swearing to herself that she would not get emotional about it. She went to the dressing rooms and changed back into her grey v-neck school jumper with the Gryffindor crest embedded on the breast, white starched blouse, short dark grey skirt, grey socks and black school shoes. She flung her long, thick black hair down her back, straightened her glasses and made her way back to the common room, fuming with anger. She tried to not to dwell on the thought but it constantly poked at her mind until she reached the library. She plonked her Quidditch gear onto a desk beside Hermione creating a loud thundering echo.

‘’Are you mad?’’ whispered Hermione loudly.

Madam Pince looked startled and looked over to see what the loud noise was. She loomed over Heather and Hermione, looking very cross.

‘’What is all this racket about?’’ she whispered fiercely.

‘’Sorry Miss,’’ said Heather softly.

‘’I thought that you’d know by now that noise is strictly forbidden in the library during study hours?’’ she said looking down over her nose.

Hermione and Heather both gave looks of apology and Madam Pince left them both. Hermione watched Pince until she had disappeared back into the tall rows of bookcases with her trolley of books. Hermione turned to Heather.

‘’What has gotten into you?’’ she said.

‘’I don’t want to talk about it,’’ said Heather as she opened the book, History of Magic: O.W.L.S edition.

The two girls spent the rest of the evening studying hard while the Gryffindor Quidditch team practised with their new captain and seeker, Cormac McLaggen. Once the library closed they walked back to the common room together. The team had arrived back before them. Cormac sat smugly on the couch, proud of his new captain’s badge. Ron and Ginny jumped up off their seats to greet Heather and Hermione.

‘’Hey, don’t worry about Cormac mate,’’ said Ron lowering his voice. ‘’We’ll get you back as captain in no time.’’

Ginny however didn’t say a word to Heather, only speaking to Hermione. Heather noticed this out of the corner of her eye but ignored it as she was trying to speak to Ron.

‘’No its okay, its fine,’’ said Heather moodily. ‘’I’m fine, I did terribly today anyway. I couldn’t look down when I was up so high. It’s best for the team if I’m not part of it.’’

‘’Don’t say that mate, you’re still one of the best seekers out there,’’ said Ron reassuringly.

‘’I think that part of my life has ended,’’ said Heather, looking over Ron’s shoulder to see Cormac leaning back on the chair. ‘’Excuse me’’ she said, moving by him.

Cormac was still grinning, eyes closed and looking very pleased with himself. It annoyed Heather but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of showing her anger towards him.

‘’Cormac, I’d like to congratulate you on becoming the new Gryffindor captain,’’ she said in rather refined yet forced tone of voice. ‘’I’m sure you’ll do the team proud.’’

Cormac opened his eyes and looked into Heather’s.

‘’Thanks Heather, that is very kind of you,’’ he said as he opened his eyes. ‘’You’re a good leader who wants the best for the team and I respect that.’’

Heather was surprised with Cormac’s reaction and was a little taken aback by his sudden manners. She smiled as Cormac praised her.

‘’Thanks,’’ she said softly.

She then turned around to head to the girls dormitory but before she could leave Cormac called after her.

‘’Hey Heather - ,’’ he said, now standing.

‘’Yes?’’ she said as she turned around.

‘’, - I-I’m sorry for calling you a pansy. I didn’t mean that, I was just being stupid,’’ he said apologetically.

‘’Oh - ,’’ said Heather, taken aback yet again. ‘’, — its fine d-don’t worry about it.’’

She smiled at Cormac before leaving the common room and climbed up the stairs into the girl’s dormitory. She felt much better now that Cormac had apologised. If he were still a boy they would have probably feuded for the rest of the school year. She entered her dormitory bedroom where her cosy four poster bed was waiting, dressed and ready to be slept in. There were other girls, dressed in their pyjamas and nightgowns, talking and giggling. But the room fell silent as she entered. Heather just stood at the door, rooted to the spot as they all glared at her. She spotted Hermione among the group of girls. She slid off her side of her bed and walked over to Heather.

‘’Come on, Heather, lets sit down,’’ whispered Hermione. ‘’What are you all staring at?’’ she said looking around at all the girls.

‘’Its fine, Hermione, leave it,’’ muttered Heather under her breath.

Heather walked by Hermione, attempting to act casual whilst trying to ignore the awkward silence. She went into the bathroom to change into her night dress. She had a less girly one. It was quite plain, blue, transparent and quite short. She took off her school uniform and pulled the dress over her head. She then looked at herself in the mirror, looking pale, stiff and worn down, yet, her eyes remained the same as ever, tough and hard. She lifted up her fringe to look at her lightening bolt scar which still remained and then into her eyes, her mother’s eyes.

‘’Harry?’’ she whispered, wondering if the girl in the mirror was truly her.

There was a knock on the door.

‘’Come in,’’ said Heather softly, not taking her eyes off of her reflection.

The door creaked open and Hermione poked her head through.

‘’Can I come in?’’ she asked.

‘’Hmm hmm, yes,’’ said Heather, her voice breaking under the heavy weight of emotion.

She continued to stare into the mirror, half expecting to see her parents by her side. She looked at her bright green eyes, her button nose, her pointed chin, her long shiny jet black hair hung over her chest. She looked over her reflections shoulder to see Hermione close the bathroom door behind her back. She too was dressed and ready for bed. Heather turned around to look at her properly. They stared at each other for a few moments, in silence for words could not describe their feelings.

‘’How are you feeling?’’ asked Hermione.

Heather just nodded as she closed down the toilet lid and sat on it. Hermione remained by the door.

‘’It must be hard for you, what you’re going through,’’ said Hermione, attempting to break the silence.

Heather scoffed, ‘’Yeah I can’t even walk down the corridor without hearing people talk behind my back!’’

‘’It’s not the first time that people have —, ‘’

‘’ — Yeah I know Hermione! I know, but it’s different this time. They have a practically good reason for laughing at me!’’

‘’No one is laughing at you,’’ said Hermione reassuringly.

Heather scoffed again, ‘’My new roommates don’t seem to be too comfortable with me either.’’

‘’It will take a while for people to get used to who — what you are now, you know that,’’ said Hermione in a half raised whisper.

Heather didn’t reply. She looked away from Hermione biting her lip, her eyes shut, and tears trying to escape from her closed eyelids. She didn’t want Hermione to see her crying so she tried with all her might to choke back the tears. She heard the swift ruffling of Hermione gently walking over to her. She touched Heather on the head with her hand, running her fingers through her hair.

‘’Your hair looks a fright,’’ said Hermione in a desperate attempt to change the subject. ‘’You must try and brush it more often,’’ she said.

Heather ignored Hermione’s comment. She opened her watery eyes and stared into a trance whilst Hermione stroked her hair. Hermione picked up a hair brush and began to gently stroke Heather’s long jet-black hair. She brushed it through, pulling out tiny strings of hair and split ends.

Heather began to relax a little better as the brushing was rather comforting. She closed her eyes and said, ‘’That’s actually nice!’’.

Hermione laughed as she stroked the top of Heather’s head. She did this for a few minutes before showing Heather the mirror. Her jaw dropped as it looked much shiner, tidier and longer. Hermione draped her arms over Heathers shoulder and hugged her tight, whispering into her ear, ‘’its going to be okay, you’ll see!’’

‘’I hope so.’’

Heather lay awake in her bed that night thinking about her current situation. She had noticed that she had grown much closer than ever to Hermione since she transformed and she liked that. She thought about how she could no longer play Quidditch, which bugged her a lot. She felt that it was unfair but maybe it had something to do with the rapid body change or maybe her skill just vanished? What ever it was, it worried her a lot. She thought about Dumbledore, she wondered if he was doing something about it, like finding a cure but then again she had to help herself. She wondered if he decided to just let Heather live on as — well - Heather or would he try and get Harry back. All these questions floated around in her mind before drifting into a restless sleep. Falling, falling, falling…gone.

Everything is white, nothing to be seen but blankness. The low distorted screams of hundreds of people grew louder in Heather’s ears. Then, there was fire, burning the flesh of magic-kind and the faint whiff of smoke filled her nose. She looked around, disorientated and confused. She was naked and bare, feeling vulnerable and defenceless.

‘’Where are you?’’ screamed Heather.

Her eyes darted around the blank plains, nothing to be seen, only to be heard. She had no wand or any form of protection, naked as the day she was born. The distorted voices vanished from the airwaves, leaving everything in complete silence, almost like the vacuum of space or deep within the sea. All Heather could hear was her own panicked breathing.

This wasn’t a dream. It was a vision.

Heather looked into the distance, hazy like a barren desert, a figure hiding behind the blur. She began to run, feeling her chest jump and her behind shake as she gained speed, growing closer and closer to the figure. When she arrived to face the person, she noticed that it was herself, her male self, Harry. But he was faceless and as still as a statue. Heather didn’t know why but she asked who he was. The figure began to speak in a cold, hypnotic, whispery voice.

‘’I am Alys,’’ said the distorted voice. ‘’More commonly known as the Emerald Witch.’’

‘’Are you alive?’’ Heather asked.

‘’I am alive in you Harry Potter,’’ said Alys. ‘’I have seen your soul and it belongs to me.’’

The faceless figure began to shake its head rapidly until it was a blur. Heather stepped back, frightened and afraid. Then, suddenly, the figure had transformed into a woman with piercing green eyes. Her beauty was too strong for Heather to handle. This was Alys, the Emerald Witch.

She glided towards Heather like a ghost with her arm outstretched and a psychotic grin across her beautiful face. She leapt onto Heather, pinning her to the ground by the throat, screeching in her face as it took a demonic expression.

Gasping for air, Heather tried to force herself to wake up but she couldn’t. Alys stared into her eyes, ripping her apart from the inside out.

‘’I have seen your soul Harry Potter and it is MINE!’’ she screeched fiercely.

Heather immediately woke up, drenched in sweat and panting heavily as if she had just ran a marathon. She put her hand on her chest, breathing in and out as if she were hyperventilating. For a moment she thought she was dying but she quickly calmed down.

She never had a nightmare so clear, simple yet so terrifying. She looked around the dark room to see the rest of the girls snoozing silently. She wondered how she couldn’t have woken them. She gently slid out of bed and walked down the stairs to the common room. It was dark and the dying fire quietly crackled. She knew somebody else was down there. She would have gone back to bed but she needed to take a short walk. She walked down the rest of the stone steps and swiftly glided to the couches. She saw that the person sitting on the couch in front of the dying fire was actually Ron.

‘’Ron, what are you doing up?’’ she whispered.

‘’I couldn’t sleep,’’ he mumbled.

Odd, thought Heather. Ron was usually the heaviest sleeper in the whole of Gryffindor! She sat down beside him, knees together back straight. Just one of the many feminine mannerisms she ‘’gained’’ from the curse.

‘’Me neither,’’ she said looking into the dying fire.

They sat in silence for a while before speaking. They were both tired and it was very out of character for Ron to miss out on sleep. She didn’t want to ask why in case it was something really personal.

‘’The lads were talking about you earlier,’’ said Ron.

‘’ Well I don’t want to know what they — ‘’

‘’They said you had a great arse? Can you believe that?’’ laughed Ron.

‘’Err no, no I can’t?’’ said Heather, feeling a little disturbed.

‘’It’s a bummer about the Quitditch mate,’’ said Ron. ‘’I mean, what happened? What’s this curse doing to you?’’

Heather didn’t feel like talking about the curse.

‘’Its okay, I don’t really care about Quidditch this year,’’ lied Heather.

Ron chuckled, ‘’Even with a different face, I can still tell when you’re lying!’’

***

Hermione called Heather to get up at seven o’clock the next morning. She groaned as she climbed out of bed, her head pounding from lack of sleep.

‘’The Emerald Witch,’’ she whispered to herself, ‘’could the phantom that cursed me be part of her?’’

She knew what she had to do. She had to try and seek out as much information as possible so as to find a way to tackle the dreaded curse. But she wasn’t going to tell anyone, not yet anyway. She now had a lead to go on and she was more than a little happy to have it.

She picked up her freshly washed and folded uniform and began to undress. She first put on the white starched blouse and then went to the toilet to do her business and clean her teeth. She walked back out to see all the other girls getting dressed. For some reason Heather didn’t feel awkward at all, she just carried on as she felt normal with this. She wasn’t even aroused or fascinated by her surroundings. She then picked up her short grey pleated skirt and pulled it up her legs. She tucked the blouse inside and zipped it up the back.

Heather still couldn’t get used to skirts. She considered them a pain and couldn’t understand why girls had to wear them. Especially during the current weather, her legs would freeze even when walking down the corridor. She always felt restricted when she wore it, unable to run very fast and she always had to fix or straighten it. She also hated the fact that she now had to either cross her legs or keep her knees together when sitting down.

She sat on the bed as she pulled up her grey socks and stepped into her dark brown school shoes, strapping the buckles over. She picked up her gold and maroon stripped tie and tied it around her collar. She left it loose and kept the first button of the blouse open. She then picked up her grey school jumper with the Gryffindor crest embedded on the left breast and pulled it over her head. It still felt strange to her, having breasts, even though they weren’t huge they didn’t help her sleep any better at night. She picked up her school bag and went down to the common room to meet Hermione and Ron for another average school day at Hogwarts.

There first class was Defence against the Dark Arts with their new teacher Professor Snape. He had been juggling both Potions and Defence for the school year so far until they found a replacement for potions. She sat beside Hermione and Ron as usual, looking forward to the class somewhat, which was unusual for her. Snape burst into the classroom and shut every window with the flick of a wand. Every time he did this it always frightened and intimidated the class. He tapped the projector which lit up displaying slides of medieval texts and drawings.

‘’Turn to page two hundred and ninety six,’’ he said darkly.

Everyone opened and flicked through their books to the chapter on Banshees.

The class flew by for Heather as she was successful in answering all of Snape’s deliberately difficult questions. Like Snape always treated Hermione when she answered everything right, he accused Heather of being the new ‘’insufferable know-it all.’’ Hermione looked completely taken aback by Heather’s blossoming intelligence which seemed to grow over the past three weeks. She tried very hard to not look jealous, instead battling Heather for Snape’s attention.

As the class wore on, Heather could feel Malfoy staring at her and it made her quiver with disgust. It disturbed her.

‘’Can anyone tell me what curse is used on a banshee when they are in the middle of their ring of terror cycle?’’ Snape asked the class.

The entire class fell into a deep silence. Dean coughed and Neville squirmed in his seat nervously. Heather raised her hand first followed by Hermione’s. Snape’s eyes trailed around the room, his black eyes lifeless and uncaring. His lip curled.

‘’No one?’’ he said.

Heather and Hermione seemed to be having a competition to see whose hand could reach the highest without leaving their seat. Snape’s eyes trailed to Heather.

‘’Well, well, Mr. Pot — Sorry, I meant Ms. Potter,’’ said Snape deliberately.

The Slytherin’s started sniggering. Heather ignored them as she was trying not to break away from Snape’s intimidating stare. Snape continued to mock her.

‘’You’ve become quite the student over the past month, perhaps something to do with your sudden change of gender?’’ said Snape coldly.

The Slytherin’s tried their best to contain their laughter whilst the rest were just appalled by Snape’s inappropriate behaviour. Heather wondered what Snape had intended by his personal comment but she knew it was uncalled for so she sat sulking with her arms crossed. She wished Snape wouldn’t talk about her problems in front of the entire class but she didn’t expect better of him. He would always treat her badly, even if she looked different.

The large steel bell swung back and fourth, echoing across the castle, the clock tower chimed which meant that all classes were dismissed. The students flooded out of the dungeons, Ron and Hermione tagging alongside Heather.

‘’How, in the name of Merlin, did you get so good at every subject?’’ Hermione asked Heather.

Heather could sense jealousy so she just shrugged. The day wore on slowly but surely as they attended their usual classes, History of Magic, Potions, Transfiguration, and Study of Magical Beasts with Hagrid. Heather continued to perform excellently in each class with her hand up in the air even more times than Hermione. Ron was dumbfounded the entire time.

Once the school day had ended Heather put on her black coat and Gryffindor scarf and made her way up to the owlery, alone. It was a long cold walk, especially up the steps to the old tower which was littered with Owls. She opened the door and poked her head in. A raggy looking black owl flew around in circles at the top of the tower squawking. She recognised the owl so she called it down. The owl soared down the spine of the tower and landed on a post in front of Heather. It had a letter tied to its foot so she carefully untied it, knowing that this particular owl bites! She opened the envelope and pulled out the piece of parchment inside. She began to read.

Dear Harry,

I’m not going to bother with this Heather nonsense because that is not the name that James and Lilly gave you when you were born. I am writing this letter to inform you of a great danger approaching in your life. I don’t want you to alarm you but please meet me in the Gryffindor common room at one o’clock tonight and make sure that you’re alone.

Sirius

Heather felt like her old self as she read her godfather’s letter. He treated her as she truly was. She then left the tower with the letter tucked inside her coat. She wondered what Sirius meant by ‘’a great danger’’. She guessed that she would just have to wait until that night.

Heather then joined Hermione in the library and studied for the next two hours in silence. Ron on the other hand was off with the Quidditch team, training with their new captain. It began to hurt her deep down knowing that they were carrying on without her but books kept her mind off the matter for the rest of the evening.

That night Heather lay awake in bed, waiting, waiting for one o’clock to arrive. It seemed as if the time would never come but with a great deal of patience, it eventually did and she slipped out of bed quietly. She didn’t want Sirius to see her in a night dress so she put on a hoody and jeans. She went down the stairs and called Sirius under her breath.

‘’Sirius, Sirius..?’’ she called.

The fire spat. She turned around to see the fireplace spitting out more embers again. She ran over and knelt to see Sirius’s face form within the ashes and burning coal. His face jumped out, gasping for air and coughing.

‘’Sirius?’’ said Heather, wondering if it truly was him.

As soon as he stopped coughing he began to speak immediately.

‘’Harry? Harry, is that you?’’ he whispered.

‘’Well, yeah, sort of,’’ she whispered.

‘’Merlin’s beard, you’ve changed so much! What kind of mess have you gotten yourself into this time?’’

‘’I didn’t ask for this to happen Sirius!’’ she whispered a little louder.

‘’Shh!’’ hushed Sirius in a low voice. ‘’Now, Harry, I better get to it because I don’t have much time. What happened the night you got cursed?’’

‘’A girl, a Slytherin girl in uniform kissed me, she was — she was - ,’’ Heather didn’t want to describe the girls beauty, ‘’ - I knew she wasn’t normal because she was sort of err glowing. Dumbledore said that she was a phantom spirit from a long dead Dark Sorceress?’’ said Heather.

‘’Do you have any idea who the phantom came from?’’ asked Sirius anxiously.

Heather thought about it and wondered if she should tell him about the dream from the previous night.

‘’Well — I do have an idea but I haven’t checked it out y-yet but I had a dream — well a sort of vision last night. A woman, a woman called Alys was calling to m-me. She called herself the Emerald Witch?’’ said Heather, beginning to feel scared.

Sirius had a look of uncertainty. He groaned and asked Heather more questions.

‘’Tell me Harry, and try to think clearly. The night you were cursed, do you remember anything about the girl that kissed you?’’ asked Sirius, his voice beginning to speed up.

‘’She — she was young, beautiful, had green eyes and blonde hair. I never seen anything like her.’’

‘’Okay, this is important. Think back, was she wearing an emerald diamond pendant around her neck?’’ said Sirius, beginning to sound like an interrogator.

‘’Sirius, I don’t think I could remember -,’’

‘’THINK!’’ hissed Sirius, retaining a low voice.

Heather didn’t like Sirius’ panicked tone but she closed her eyes and cast her mind back to when the girl kissed her up against the wall. It was a sudden flashback. Harry couldn’t stop the girl from holding him as he was frozen stiff. His eyes looked down to see a green pendant draped around her swan like neck, hanging between her blouse collars. He was suddenly brought back to the present.

‘’Yes, yes I can remember now!’’ said Heather excitedly. ‘’She did have an Emerald pendant!’’

However Sirius was not excited. His ashy sunken face hung low and sad.

‘’Harry, I want you to know that this is an extremely rare occurrence in our world, to change genders by the touch of lips is simply - extraordinary — ,‘’ he said sombrely.

‘’ - Yes I know - ’’ said Heather, listening carefully.

‘’, - even though you have completely changed into a girl, Harry I fear that the worst is yet to come,’’ said Sirius keeping his sombre tone honest and pure.

‘’What do you mean?’’ asked Heather, her fear beginning to escalate.

‘’What I mean is that the Emerald Witch is dangerous Harry and that’s all I can say about her, not much is known. And seeing as her phantom roams the world cursing people, I would have no doubt that it leaves some of her darkness within the cursed,’’ whispered Sirius.

‘’What are you trying to s-say?’’ asked Heather hanging on Sirius’ every word, waiting for the truth.

Sirius sighed as he broke the bad news, ‘’a part of Emerald could be —, ‘’

‘’ - Inside me,’’ finished Heather.

There was a moments silence before one of them spoke again.

‘’Yes,’’ said Sirius darkly.

There was another smothering silence as Heather absorbed the news. It deeply disturbed her to think that something else was living inside her but then again it wouldn’t be the first time. She licked her lips and swallowed down the news with difficulty. She cleared her throat.

‘’Is there a cure?’’ she asked.

Sirius didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His expression and silence said it all. Heathers heart fell and something awful sunk down her throat and weighed down on her stomach. The entire common room suddenly began to feel much darker and colder as she received the worst news in her entire life.

‘’But this doesn’t m-make sense - I mean, why me?’’ she asked. ‘’Why is it always me?’’

‘’I wish I knew that answer as much as you do Harry, but I am nervous about these events. To think that a phantom penetrated the walls of Hogwarts is quite - disturbing,’’ said Sirius.

‘’I’m scared Sirius,’’ said Heather.

‘’I’d consider you a fool if you weren’t. Anybody in your shoes would go mad!’’ said Sirius. ‘’Now I must go, I don’t have much time left,’’ he said quickly.

‘’Wait I — ,‘’

‘’, — I have told you everything I know. I’m sorry but you should see Dumbledore more about this,’’ he said quickly. ‘’Your case requires more expert advice than mine. Goodbye Harry and take care,’’ said Sirius warmly.

His face sunk back into the ashes leaving Heather alone, staring into the quenched fire in the hope of him returning. He gave her nothing but bad news. That’s all she had been getting since her fifth year had started. She climbed the spiral stair case back up to the dormitory.

‘’Your case require more expert advice than mine,’’ repeated Sirius’ voice in her head.

Even Dumbledore couldn’t help her. She couldn’t help but cry, knowing that she had to spend the rest of her life a girl, knowing that something dark was lurking inside her ready to unleash itself like a ticking time bomb and knowing that she could do absolutely nothing about it.

***

The mountains surrounding the beautiful landscape of Hogwarts were covered in snow as winter gripped the land. Snow showers were almost constant and Christmas visits to Hogsmeade village were frequent. Three students trudged there way through the snow. Heather, Ron and Hermione covered their faces as the snow storm worsened. They were making their way back from Hogsmeade village after a freezing day out. Their arms were wrapped around there sides to keep themselves warm from the cold.

‘’How did it get this bad?!’’ roared Ron through the howling of the wind.

Neither Heather nor Hermione replied as they were too busy trying to keep warm.

‘’You think they’d have called it off for a day or two?’’ bellowed Ron.

Within another few minutes they were back inside the warm castle toasting in front of the fire. Heather took her shoes off and fell onto the couch. She wore a black winter coat and skinny jeans. Her eyes were shut as she relaxed in her own space. Suddenly somebody coughed. She opened her eyes to a camera flash.

‘’What the —, ‘’ she said.

Her vision focused as she rubbed her eyes to see Colin Creavy standing in front of her, smiling and looking as exasperated as ever.

‘’Hi Harry — I mean Heather!’’ he said, shaking with excitement.

‘’What is it Colin?’’ asked Heather still rubbing her eyes.

‘’D-Dumbledore told me to give you this!’’ he said.

Colin handed a note to her along with the newly processed photo of Heather asleep. Heather looked at the photo of her lying back with her eyes closed.

‘’Ugh I look awful!’’ she thought. ‘’Thanks Colin!’’ she said aloud.

Colin stood for a few moments just looking at Heather. Ron gave him a look as if to say ‘’get out of here!’’. He then left with his camera.

‘’Go on then, open it!’’ said Ron.

Heather opened the folded note and began to read Dumbledore’s emerald green coloured hand writing.

Dear Heather,

Meet me in my office at eight o’clock tonight. Hoping you are well.

Albus

‘’What does it say?’’ asked Hermione.

‘’It just says I have to meet him in his office tonight,’’ said Heather.

‘’What for?’’ said Ron.

‘’I don’t know, it doesn’t say,’’ said Heather.

Eight o’clock that night, Heather crept through Dumbledore’s office door to find his chair empty. The door made her jump as it slammed itself behind her. She took a deep breath of relief. Her eyes trailed around the room looking for any signs of life. She walked up to the desk and stroked the top as she walked around it. She heard a gentle chirp of a bird behind her. She turned to see Fawkes the phoenix freshly reborn as a small chick, sitting innocently on a stand. She was about to rub the phoenix before she heard a sound.

‘’If your looking for Dumbledore, he is up stairs, studying the skies,’’ said the portrait of Eoessa Sakndenberg

‘’Oh, thank you,’’ said Heather politely.

She walked up the metal spiral stair case to the astronomy tower taking each step slowly. When she reached the top she found Dumbledore looking into a telescope. The ceiling gave the illusion of billions of stars twinkling across the galaxy. Heathers eyes sparkled as she stared up at this spectacular scenery. Dumbledore looked up at Heather.

‘’Remarkable aren’t they?’’ said Dumbledore

‘’Beautiful!’’ gasped Heather in awe. ‘’But I take it that we aren’t here to discuss the stars sir?’’

Dumbledore smiled, ‘’No, no we’re not.’’

He walked over to Heather and placed his hand on her back leading her back downstairs to his office. He didn’t tell her to take a seat which probably meant that the conversation would be very brief.

‘’How are you?’’ he asked kindly.

‘’I’ve been better Sir,’’ she smiled.

Dumbledore smiled warmly.

‘’Sometimes I forget just how much you’ve grown,’’ he said softly.

‘’Oh I don’t think I’ve changed that much Sir,’’ said Heather jokingly.

‘’You’re just like you’re mother, incredibly kind, yet, your fathers spirit too lives is also evident,’’ said Dumbledore.

There was a brief silence, then, broken by Dumbledore as his face turned serious.

‘’Heather, I think it would be safer for you to stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays,’’ he said sadly. ‘’I thought it would be best if I told you this in the company of one another.’’

The words were like a dagger through her heart. She didn’t know whether to be hurt about staying in Hogwarts or the fact that Dumbledore called her Heather for the first time.

‘’But, sir, am I in danger?’’ asked Heather.

‘’Yes - ,’’ said Dumbledore grimly, ‘’ - but not from an outside force but from within yourself.’’

‘’From myself?’’ scoffed Heather.

Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and looked at her over his half moon spectacles with a look of concern on his old worn face. Heather wondered if she should tell Dumbledore about the dream she had, about the Emerald Witch.

‘’Sir, does my curse have anything to do with the Emerald Witch?’’

‘’How did you -,’’

‘’She came to me in a dream and said that she was going to take my soul,’’ interrupted Heather.

Dumbledore’s face turned white and his eyes became glassy.

‘’I spoke to your godfather too Heather, and we both agree that there is no cure to be found, yet,’’ said Dumbledore, humming sadly.

Heather put her hand over her mouth as tears rapidly welled in her eyes. She turned away from Dumbledore so he couldn’t see, chewing on her sleeve to mute herself. It was confirmed. She would never be a boy again, trapped as a girl for the rest of his days according to the wisest wizard of the age.

‘’Heather?’’ said Dumbledore softly.

She took a deep breath and after a few long moments, turned around to face him.

‘’Why didn’t you tell me sooner?’’ she asked.

‘’Because I had to search for evidence, that is why I summoned you here tonight, to tell you the truth,’’ said Dumbledore. ‘’I will never keep anything from you Heather, I hope you know that.’’

Heather looked down at her feet, tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked up after a few moments.

‘’W-What will happen to me?’’ she asked shakily.

‘’I don’t think it’s wise to tell y-, ‘’

‘’TELL ME!’’ she roared.

Dumbledore’s face fell, his mouth hanging as the pain of Heather’s shouting hurt him.

‘’The next phase of the curse is already evident in your outburst,’’ said Dumbledore through closed eyes.

Heather couldn’t face Dumbledore any longer so she stormed out of his office, running to the bathroom crying her eyes out. She bent over a sink sobbing and rubbing her eyes as her hair hung down into the sink. She felt angry at herself, she felt angry at Dumbledore and she felt angry about everything in her life. She turned on the taps and splashed her face with water. She looked up at her reflection in the cracked pane of mirror.

‘’Harry?’’ she said to herself pulling up the fringe to reveal the lightening bolt scar.

Suddenly her eye was caught by a certain part of her hair. Among her jet black, shiny long hair was a tiny white blonde streak. Her breathing became panicked as she removed it and held it up to the light. Her eyes closed tight as her hand formed into a tiny fist, clenching the little blonde hair and her teeth gritting in an unnatural rage. Something bad was happening to her.

***

November rolled on, freezing temperatures rising rapidly and eventually transcending into December and before everyone knew it, it was Christmas time. Hermione stressed over tests more than ever and Ron seemed to be practising Quidditch almost every day. Heather began to feel more comfortable as people began to accept her for who she was now, yet, the same air of uncertainty remained.

The girls in her room no longer ignored her. They even began include her in almost everything. She would find herself hanging out with a group of girls at lunchtime instead of her usual buddies and Ron was beginning to feel a little left out and rejected but she did not see this. She felt a little more comfortable in her attire as she got used to wearing a skirt every day and various other female clothing. She found herself taking wild mood swings, especially towards Ron and Hermione often hurting there feelings without meaning to. She would always apologise and tell them that she honestly didn’t know what came over her which was true. She didn’t. Blonde streaks of hair continued to show up in her hair and she had to pull them out every time. She had no idea what was happening to her hair but it could have something to do with her anger problems. She would often wake up angry and remain that way for the rest of the day.

The day came for when the holidays began. Heather had dreaded this day since Dumbledore advised her to stay at Hogwarts for safety reasons. It was very hard for her to stand on the station platform waving goodbye to Ron and Hermione as they left on the Hogwarts Express. She knew that they would they would have a wonderful Christmas with their families but it still upset her to think that she couldn’t join them.

Unfortunately she didn’t have a family and she was to spend Christmas alone for the very first time. As Heather watched the train fade away into the distance, she stood in her uniform freezing, and shaking. She had to get back inside castle. The minute she walked in through the main entrance, the school immediately felt like a ghost castle, literally. Peeves flew out of a suit of armour wailing and laughing manically.

‘’Potter is a girly girl! Potter is a girly girl! Potter is a girly girl! Potter is a girly girl! Potter is a girly girl!’’ he chanted manically.

Heather just ignored him as she didn’t take Peeves very seriously nor did many. The corridors were dead empty, not a soul wandered them. She felt so alone. Dumbledore was gone for the day so she couldn’t go see him and the only students that remained were the ones in the hospital wing. She walked back to the common room and sat in front of the fire. She stared at the ceiling, thinking deeply about many things which eventually led to her parents. She wondered what they would think of her right now. Would they be appalled or proud and accepting? She shut her eyes tight and took a deep relaxing breath. She felt the weight of the world falling off of her shoulders as she relaxed for at least an hour until she dozed off into a dreamy sleep.

The Emerald Witch walked towards her carrying a wand in her left hand. This time she was in full form, looking stunning yet dangerous.

‘’Come to me Harry, come to me and I will make you live!’’ she said coldly.

‘’No!’’ cried Heather. ‘’I’ll never give in!’’

Emerald screeched so loud that it could break a pain of glass. She ran towards Heather producing a flash of green light.

Heather awoke, breathing erratically with panic. She clenched her chest feeling her heart beat pounding uncontrollably. It took her a moment to remember where she was. She calmed down. She sat up and her eye was caught by her reflection in a tea tray. She ran over to look at herself and to her shock her hair was completely bright white blonde!

‘’Oh my — what - what is going on —, ‘’ she stammered as she grabbed her hair from each side.

She ran upstairs to the girl’s dormitory and into the bathroom to look at her reflection. Her hands covered her mouth in shock as she looked at her hair in the hand mirror. It was longer, softer, blonder and her eyes were even greener. She didn’t know whether this was a good thing or not but she looked a bit like the phantom that cursed her. It most certainly wasn’t a good thing. She began to panic as she looked around the tiny bathroom searching for something but she didn’t know what. She walked back and over repeating, ‘’what is happening to me?’’ gripping her hair tightly. She noticed that her body was even curvier and more feminine.

But then the worst thing happened as she looked down to see that her clothes were different. It was a Hogwarts uniform but the colours on the neck line were green and silver. She felt like screaming aloud as she looked at the Gryffindor lion on the crest change into a sliver serpent with the title ‘’SLYTHERIN’’ embossed in silver letters under the crest.

She looked up at her reflection again, her jaw hanging with shock and disbelief.

‘’No!’’ she gasped.