Harry Potter

Harry drawn by Blop OoOo — Cover creator: Elfangor

## Appearances

**Harriet Potter** ("Harry" to her friends and family) is the protagonist of the *Rigel Black Chronicles*. Because of her halfblood blood status, she decides to switch places with her cousin Archie Black when she is eleven years old so that she can attend pureblood-only Hogwarts and study Potions in his place. During the school year, she becomes **Rigel Black** and studies under Professor Severus Snape.

## Profile

### Appearance

Harry is described to have a "mop" of black hair, which she cuts into "close-cropped locks" before attending Hogwarts in her first year. She has delicate facial features, which make her look like a pureblood boy, and relatively thin lips. She also wears glasses to fix her eyesight. Her eyes are a bright, vibrant green, though in her first year, she wore grey colored contacts to match Archie.

Before her second year, she created a variant of the Polyjuice Potion that lasted much longer than the typical one hour. The potion used a blend of her own features and Archie's, which gave her slightly sharper features, grey eyes that were typical of the Black family, a slightly thinner bottom lip, and less messy hair. She took the potion after leaving her family and before meeting her friends again after the summer, preventing the change from happening overnight for anybody involved. She also used a voice-altering charm to sound more masculine. Given that the change was semi-permanent, she wore green colored contacts and fake glasses when resuming the role of Harry. To distract from when her facial features change, she pushes her hair back to expose her forehead instead of wearing her typical hairstyle of bangs.

Harry's true self, beneath the Polyjuice, is one hidden to the world and to herself most of the time. However, when her modified Polyjuice wore off in the middle of her third year, she discovered that she resembled Lily more than usual: she had a rounder face, soft cheeks, a slightly fuller lower lip, and surprisingly bright green eyes. Her body had physically matured somewhat, and she was at least an inch shorter than her Polyjuiced self.

Ever since Harry and Archie took the modified Polyjuice to look like each other, their uncanny resemblance to each other despite not being closely related did not go unnoticed. Over the first Christmas break during second year, their family pointed it out once they saw them next to each other. A number of other people, including Caelum Lestrange, Bill Weasley, Lucius Malfoy, Theodore Nott, and Fred and George Weasley, also noticed the striking similarity. During their third year, Sirius Black suggested that perhaps Archie had inherited a latent Metamorphmagus ability that caused him to imitate Harry due to being attached to her. Harry and Archie decided that this was a good cover story for why they looked the same, and spread the rumor around until it was accepted by most people.

### Personality

According to Krait, she is fast and reliable.

#### Habits

She dices her stalks from root to tip, without discarding any of the ugly bits.

### Skills

Harry is, above all, a consummate potions brewer, beginning her interest at the age of four and developing a single-minded devotion to the art long before reaching school age. She arrives at Hogwarts with a nigh-encyclopedic knowledge of common potions ingredients and elementary brewing and safety practices; under Professor Snape's tutelage as Rigel Black, she learns about more advanced techniques such as consciously imbuing potions with magic, multi-layered brewing, "indirect" stirring with wandless magic, and ultimately the volatile but innovation-prone art of free-brewing with a goal instead of a recipe. Under her own name, she pioneers a new "shaped imbuing" method, where a potion is imbued with a partially formed spell instead of raw magic, resulting in a more persistent spell not dependent on the skills or magic of the drinker.

Harry's sometimes challenging circumstances have then pushed her to learn a number of skills unusual for her age. Her magic's poor control and sensitivity to her emotional state leads her to begin studying Occlumency, and while she is by no means a master of it, she is able to set up basic defences in her mindscape. She also discovers an apparently unique ability to pass through other people's magical cores, gaining backdoor access into their minds. Her childhood fear of losing control has also led her to completely suppress the usual magical aura that magic-users radiate; in order to maintain the ruse and prevent anyone from recognising that Harry and "Rigel" both have no aura, she has learned how to project a falsified one. As a result of the combination of strength, wildness, and learned control, she is able to use wandless magic quite freely, merely "asking" her magic to perform the desired task.

From the beginning of her schooling, Harry has also taken on an extremely high official or unofficial course load. She spends time in the library learning material four years ahead of her classwork in order to keep her deal with Marcus Flint, learns French from a house-elf to strengthen the possibility of someday claiming to be from the Continent, self-studies Healing in order to maintain the pretense of being at AIM, and in her third year, takes on twelve classes at once with the aid of a Time Turner. By the end of her fourth year, she has more or less covered a complete Hogwarts education, despite not having the qualifications.

After encountering the violence that sometimes erupts in the Lower Alleys, Harry begins receiving fitness and self-defence training from her "uncle" Remus Lupin, and later from Leo. By her fourth year, she is skilled enough to win her first two brackets at the Alleys' (illegal) free-duelling tournament, and later to win the bracketed duelling contest at the Triwizard Tournament. Her duelling style relies partly on her extraordinary magical reserves and above-average physical endurance, but mostly on creativity and trickery, from hastily scratched runes, to apparating around the battlefield, to a large reserve of enchanted items, to performing blood magic with a carelessly discarded drop of spit. Her "uncles" are able to recognise that she isn't Archie when they see her fight in the final Triwizard Task.

Best brewer in the Alleys, according to Krait.

### Possessions

* Platinum knives for potions (from Archie, Remus, and Lily for her 10th birthday)
* Fire-proof, water-proof, and corrosion-resistant boots
* Basic Healer's kit (from her parents for Christmas 1991, given to Archie)
* Platinum stirring rods (from Remus Lupin for Christmas 1991)
* *Occlumency: Fortresses of the Mind* (from Archie for Christmas 1991)
* Friendship bracelet made of unicorn hair (matches Draco's and Pansy's)
* Manually updated pureblood wizarding genealogy (from Draco for Christmas 1991)
* Book intended for keeping secret information about other people (from Pansy for Christmas 1991)
* Pureblood etiquette book (from Pansy for her 12th birthday)
* Old, elegant watch (from Archie for Christmas 1992)
* Firebolt (from James and Lily for her 13th birthday)
* Hairclips for when she decides to (temporarily) grow out her hair (from Lily Potter for her 14th birthday)
* Book on Animagi (from Sirius Black for her 14th birthday)
* Potions bottles with custom labels for Potter's Portable Protection Potion (from James Potter for her 14th birthday)
* Two-way mirror, to communicate with Archie (from James and Sirius for her 14th birthday)
* Holster (from Draco and Pansy for her 14th birthday)
* *Self Transfiguration* (from Sirius)

## History

### Childhood

Instead of going to school, Harry was tutored along with Archie as a child. Her mother taught her to read, and Remus taught her History, Maths, Social Organization, and introduced her to Potions. He gave her her first-ever Potions kit, which allowed her to learn about Potions before attending school.

When Harry was six years old, she, Archie, and Neville Longbottom had a playdate at Grimmauld Place. While out of earshot of the adults, Harry suggested the three of them go play in the attic, even as Archie reminded her that they weren't allowed. However, the two of them often played there anyways, treating it as their own private clubhouse. Together, they made their way up to the attic, with Harry unlocking the door easily with her magic. They played in a carefree manner, and Harry's magic protected her as they did, lifting her out of harm's way when she almost fell on a set of swords.

While arguing over their future Hogwarts houses, a rude portrait of a Black ancestor interrupted them and derided them. The portrait told Harry that she would never go to Hogwarts, and she became so enraged that she set it on fire. The man inside the painting begged for mercy, and Archie and Neville hid, terrified. Eventually the painting was destroyed and the remaining fire returned to her, at which point Harry found her friends. She was shocked to discover that it was the fire they were afraid of, not the painting.

Archie thought it would be best to tell his father, but Harry was afraid of the trouble she'd get into. She insisted that Neville and Archie not tell anyone, and her magic took action, sweeping them up with a fog, erasing their memories of the incident, and rendering them unconscious. Harry was even more scared at that point, and cried until Sirius found them. Believing that they had touched some sort of cursed artifact in the attic, Sirius told Harry to get her aunt Diana.

Later, Harry overheard Sirius explaining what he understood of the situation to Neville's father. When Sirius said, "Whatever did it needs to be taken out of this house, before it hurts someone else," Harry took it to mean that her magic was dangerous and was filled with self-loathing. Her magic tried to comfort her that night, but she told it to go away and not come back. As she went to sleep, she wished, too, that she could forget what happened so that it never happened again, and indeed she did. Ever since that incident, Harry had been afraid of her magic, and her magic's power, for reasons that she didn't even remember.

### First Year (1991-1992)

Harry exchanges place with her cousin, Arcturus "Archie" Black, to go to Hogwarts, even though she is a halfblood, for the chance of being Severus Snape's student. She goes to Slytherin where she meets Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. She also meets Marcus Flint who knows Archie, and so, discovers that she is not a pureblood. He doesn't make the link with Harry Potter and thinks that she is some halfblood from the continent. For keeping her secret, he asks her to do his homework.

Harry has some problem with her wand and can't do magic. When it comes to the attention of Snape, a confrontation happens where she shows all the extant of her magic. He then accompanies her to Ollivander so she may have a new wand. This is how she gets the Phoenix Wand, which seems to have a mind of its own, answering to her will before she gets the spell right.

From the first week of school, Harry becomes the victim of Lee Jordan who wants to make sure that she won't go into the pranking business like her "father". He tries to kill her at the Halloween Feast with a tablet that changes her drink into acid, but she is saved by Hannah Abbott. For his final attempt, he tries to take away the sensation from her potion-making hands with a crab-like insect his father bred. Her magic goes haywire and saves her, putting Lee into inconsciousness. The events of the start of term are then related to her friends, and her teachers, Snape and Minerva McGonagall.

Coming home for the winter break, Harry and Archie understand that for the Ruse to truly work, they have to become "one" person, learning everything the other learn. In the same time, Harry discovers that she is a parselmouth.

[To be continued…]

## Family Tree

*Note:* The following family tree may not display correctly on mobile devices.
For full sources, please refer here.

[1] Harry says in The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 2 that her grandmother was Archie's great-aunt "or something". In Harry Potter canon, Dorea Black would be Archie's great-great aunt, so this relative could also be a grandparent of Sirius Black.

## Appearances

*Note:* All chapters in which Harry made an appearance were told from her perspective.

**Appearances**
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 2
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 3
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 4
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 5
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 6
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 7
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 8
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 9
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 10
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 11
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 12
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 13
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 14
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 15
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 16
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 17
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 18
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 19
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 20
* The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 21
 * The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 1
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 2
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 3
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 4
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 5
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 6
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 7
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 8
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 9
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 10
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 11
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 12
* The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 13
 * The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 1
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 2
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 3
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 4
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 5
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 6
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 7
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 8
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 9
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 10
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 11
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 12
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 13
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 14
* The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 15
 * The Futile Facade: Chapter 1
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 2
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 3
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 4
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 5
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 6
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 7
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 8
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 9
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 10
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 11
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 12
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 13
* The Futile Facade: Chapter 14
 * The Malignant Masquerade: Chapter 1
* The Malignant Masquerade: Chapter 2

## Notes

1. ↑ At the end of her third year in The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 15, Harry calculated that she was fifteen, about twenty-four months past her thirteenth birthday. This would put her at sixteen at the end of her fourth year.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 5
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 12
3. ↑ The Futile Facade: Chapter 12
4. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 4
5. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 14
6. ↑ The Futile Facade: Chapter 10
7. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 1
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 1
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 3
10. ↑ The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 11
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 8
12. ↑ The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 6
13. ↑ The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 1
14. ↑ The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 2
15. ↑ The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 4
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 10
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 2
18. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 7
19. ↑ The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 12
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 16
21. ↑ The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 9
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 The Futile Facade: Chapter 4
23. ↑ The Futile Facade: Chapter 6
24. ↑ The Futile Facade: Chapter 5
25. ↑ The Ambiguous Artifice: Chapter 14