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Holly Evans and the Spiral Path
Chapter 34: RECAP years 1-3

As we're beginning the 'fourth book' of the story, I figure a spoileriffic summary is in order.

SPOILERS

BELOW

THAT

LINE

THERE

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Holly Evans actually began life as Harry Potter. Lily Evans changed the spell provided to her to protect her son's life by sacrificing her life AND soul, so that now Lily's soul inhabits Harry's body alongside Harry's. As no memories were brought along in the merging, the result was a unique personality in a female body with perhaps an accelerated maturity. In compensating for this change in expectations, Albus and Minerva took the newly-formed Holly, accelerated her growth several months using an Incubation Bath and fed her early language skills from Minerva's childhood so that Holly could be later presented as Harry's elder sister born secretly (out of wedlock, perhaps). Holly is raised by the Dursleys while the Wizarding world sings the praises of the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, who everyone knows has been sequestered by Dumbledore for his safety.

YEAR ONE:
Holly Evans begins at Hogwarts being shorter than average, with long black hair and an appropriately caustic attitude for someone raised by those who despise her. She walks through the early events of the Harry Potter story with slight exceptions- she kills the Mountain Troll by stabbing it in the neck with a piece of splintered wood framing transfigured into steel, and negotiates for Snape's indifference to her in exchange for the troll's body parts. Holly aids Hagrid when he buries the dead unicorn in the forest (keeping a sample of unicorn blood for herself) and after being Crucio'd by Quirrelmort she shoves the Philosopher's Stone into his mouth and uses a magic-enhanced punch to shatter the Stone, causing Quirrel's head to explode. All this time she writes to 'Harry' in a journal provided to her by Professor McGonagall that is supposedly linked to one in Harry's possession. The linked journal is actually in Minerva's possession and was enchanted by Dumbledore to prevent any but Minerva or Holly from opening it, or finding it for that matter.
[The chapter contents for this entire story is essentially what is written in the journal.]

YEAR TWO:
Second year events proceed more or less like canon until the girls try to sneak into the Slytherin dorm. While waiting outside the entrance under the Invisibility Cloak, Holly witnesses Marcus Flint leading Penelope Clearwater under the Imperius Curse into the dorm, where she is sexually assaulted by several Slytherin boys (and later Obliviated of the attack). Holly tries to alert Percy Weasley of the impending crime but both he and Holly are Obliviated of the event by Gilderoy Lockhart. Lockhart didn't account for Holly having transcribed these events into her journal before her Obliviation and so Holly takes revenge against Flint under the guise of 'the Spider'. Holly and Hermione's subsequent experiments in Polyjuice brewing lead to some mishaps- Holly has an allergic reaction and Hermione's body and mind are made cat-like. While recovering in hospital, H&H begin to explore a notebook sent to Holly by Perenelle Flamel that covers aspects of the Mind Arts including Legilimency, Occlumency and the Memory Charm, as much of that knowledge was developed by Perenelle herself. During the rest of the year, events leading to Ginny's entry into the Chamber of Secrets proceed apace, though the girls also discover that Albus Dumbledore has dosed the Valentine's feast with a Loyalty potion. When the Basilisk pertifies Hermione, Penny Clearwater is slain in a possible act of suicide. Upon realising that Hermione's research (and idle wordplay) reveals that Tom Riddle = Voldemort, Holly is again Obliviated by Lockhart as he tries to claim credit for the discovery of the threat to the school. In the subsquent voyage into the Chamber Lockhart attempts to Obliviate Holly and Professor Snape to enable his escape, but is unsuccessful against Holly as she is wearing the Sorting Hat (named Adrian) at the time. Holly beats Lockhart savagely until his skull shatters, and then proceeds to confront Ginny, the Basilisk and the Riddle diary. Holly knocks out Ginny and cleaves apart the Diary with Gryfindor's blade but she is envenomed and crushed in the coils of the Basilisk as she thrusts Gryffindor's blade into the Basilisk's brain. Fawkes recovers her body and cries over it for hours as Pomfrey works to rebuild Holly from the wreckage left barely alive after the battle. Holly heals quickly, though her hair has changed color to a burgundy red. During Hermione's petrified convalescence in hospital (before and after the confrontation in the Chamber of Secrets), Holly is taught basic medical spells and has two revelations- the first being that Holly is in love with Hermione and the second is that the battle and subsequent reconstruction of Holly's body has changed her biology so that she is now some sort of hybrid creature. Holly begins collecting the eggs she periodically spawns in trios, in hopes of one day finding out what she has truly become. In negotiations with Albus Dumbledore and Lucius Malfoy, Holly endows the Muggleborn Educational Fund with profits from Snape's rendering of the Basilisk corpse; she also regains possession of Gryffindor's blade and hires Dobby as her House-elf in order to save his life. Dobby bears the Betrayer's mark on his cheek, leading elves and most shopkeepers to treat him as Untouchable but liberating him from some Elf-based magical restrictions.

YEAR THREE:
Holly's summer is plagued by nightmares and her tolerance for the Dursley's typical abuses breaks in an argument with her Uncle Vernon's sister Marge. Fearing that her release of accidental magic will lead to her permanent Obliviation and removal from magical society, Holly runs away, led by Hedwig to the Granger's. Professor McGonagall catches up with Holly at the (empty) Granger's house and moves her to spend the rest of summer living in Diagon Alley. During her time there Holly makes friends with a suspiciously knowledgable ice cream vendor named Florean Fortescue and is nearly raped under the Imperius by Walden McNair in Knockturn Alley. Holly escapes McNair by poking out his left eye, stealing his untraceable ashwood wand in the process. Reconnecting with Hermione, Holly becomes distraught of ever finding love with her friend as Hermione seems by all scans of her memories to be heterosexual. Florean convinces Holly that sexuality is not a switch but an adjustable continuum, and then gives her some odd chocolate-cinnamon ice cream that he calls 'Chocolate LeStrange'.
Third year commences and after encountering Dementors and learning of the effect of their continued presence around Hogwarts, Hermione devises the founding of a school-range radio station to be run by the Weasleys (all of them!). Hermione's other innovation for resisting the Dementors' effects is for dorm mates to share beds, which Holly leverages to slowly seduce Hermione until they finally come together as lovers at the end of November. The road is not an easy one. Holly quickly realises Hermione is using a Time Turner to attend an unhealthy amount of classes and convinces Hermione to share the device. Holly uses the Turner to save Hermione's life from a potentially lethal prank by Pansy Parkinson in Potions. Holly also suffers in hospital when she saves Cedric Diggory from Dementor assault during a Quidditch match. During the match, Holly commands the Snitch to fly into her hand using bird-speak, an act for which the Ministry and school ban her from competitive play for life. H&H also learn with the Weasley twins of some of the history of the Marauders and of Lupin's Lycanthropy. The four students revive the Marauders as a magical innovation club.
Hermione's decision to allow Holly to engage her sexually comes with a cost- Holly is implored to try out dating a boy. Her one-day relationship with Dean Thomas ends when he uses a personal talent for wandless vocal Compulsions to make Holly perform fellatio on him. Holly snaps out of the control in time to keep Dean's sperm for her egg-incubating purposes and threatens to viciously harm Dean is she ever hears of any other girl succumbing to his 'vocal date-rape trick'. Holly and Hermione's subsequent experiments with alchemy yield a success: Newt- an animate lizard-shaped blob of ink that acts as Holly's daughter, confidant and stenographer. Newt has a fully realised personality and 'achieves rapture in writing about sex', so is often found to encourage loving relationships for her mother. She also inherited some artistic talent from her father and thus is able to draw and design quite well.
Over the holidays, Holly and Hermione continue their sexual relationship under the nose of Mr. Granger's homophobia. They experiment with the Strange Chocolate ice cream and other sexual magics until Hermione experiences an orgasm of transcendent power, causing her heart to stop. Holly is only able to revive Hermione by using the Cruciatus curse. Moments after Hermione is revived and finally confesses her love for Holly, they are arrested for use of an Unforgivable Curse. Professor McGonagall bails them out and puts Holly on nightly 'ethics detentions'. During the following month the girls perfect their Patronus Charms while Hermione and Remus Lupin work on the Animagus revealing potion and a variant of the Purging Draught meant to restore Holly's humanity (or at least her mammallian reproductive capacity). Just prior to their test for Animagus talents, Holly encounters Luna Lovegood acting quite forward towards Holly and proclaiming that Hermione had betrayed her, though she corrects herself once she realises it is still January and attempts to Obliviate Holly of her slip of the tongue. Holly stuns Luna and takes her to Pomfrey, missing a chance to confront Hermione and Remus on what she suspects is a Lolita-like tryst (actually just potion brewing, though Hermione is harboring a crush on the werewolf). Upon testing the potions Hermione is revealed to still be under the influence of her previous cat-ification as her Animagus form is a combination swan-feline (a grey and white cat with wings). Holly initially appears as a rook (a small, intelligent crow) but then morphs into Harry. Hermione's mental acrobatics can no longer reconcile her reluctant lesbian activities, Holly's dual existence and a recently-applied Compulsion from Luna to distrust and reject Holly, so Hermione runs off. The revelation of Holly's true nature forces 'Harry' to sideline working out Hermione's issues in order to confront Professor McGonagall, looking for answers. Minerva takes a Vow to speak the truth whenever they meet in private and keep secret was is discussed, even if to do so would violate other oaths she has taken. After learning much about the past and present, Holly as Harry travels with Remus Lupin to Gringott's Bank hoping to access some of the Potter family resources. They discover that the entire Potter fortune has been embezzled since James' death by collusion between the goblins and unnamed pureblood nobles with influence in the Ministry. The goblins offer to restore some of the lost fortune and thereby cancel an accumulating debt related to Harry's Trust fund, if Harry is willing to sign Holly's life over to the goblins. Deferring any decision on the matter, Harry leaves the bank with the remains of that year's Trust fund allocation (only half of the total expected, despite Holly being on scholarship since the defeat of the Basilisk) and the Evans strongbox. Within the Evans box Holly finds papers for ownership of the house in Godric's Hollow, the founding of the common House of Evans and clues leading to Lily's secret lab. Remus and Hermione's Re-humanizing Draught causes Holly to expel many half-formed eggs and rebuilds her body once more, such that she appears to be in her late teens with a fully-developed chest. Her previous hybrid body hadn't developed body hair or breasts, making the change both sudden and provocative for Holly and the general populace. Holly retains the ability to become Harry at will and her reproductive system returns to normal function and pH. Holly and Remus return to the school where arguments between Holly and Hermione create a rift; Hermione accuses Holly of using magic to seduce her into sexual perversion. Holly Obliviates Hermione of the revelation about Harry and they break off their relationship.
To aid in dealing with Holly's dual existence, Professor McGonagall brings in Auror-Cadet Nymphadora Tonks and offers to act as Holly's Godparent. In their first meeting, Holly entreats the metamorph to help her in her troubles and Tonks makes a Wizarding vow to do so. Tonks (who Holly renames Natalia) reveals that some of Holly's nightmares are actually leftovers from Obliviations from the summertime, when her nightmare-induced antics caused 5 separate visits from the Obliviation squad. Natalia aids Holly in uncovering those memories and the ones Obliviated by Lockhart and also releases the protections in Holly's mind about 'Lily's Madhouse'. The Madhouse is a secret lab and living space containing the bulk of Lily's journals and research materials. It provides a safe place to hide as it is protected by the Fidelius Charm, cast by Lily and bound in Holly as the Secret-keeper upon her death. Ironically, the Madhouse is situated underneath a servant's house at the edge of Nott Landing which used to be Potter Manor before the Nott's manipulated the Ministry bylaws to take over the residence illegally.
Returning to Hogwarts, Holly violently interrupts Hermione and Pansy Parkinson in Hermione's bed. Pansy is there seeking protection and sympathy, as she has desperately engaged Hermione to help her escape regular physical and sexual abuse by her House-mates. This is a Punishment assigned by the Slytherins to 'correct' Pansy for her overreaching prank against Hermione. Hermione devises a scheme where Pansy will use a coin linked to two others to call H&H for help the next time she is being assaulted, at which point the girls would find a way to rescue Pansy using an authority figure to cover Pansy's involvement in the plan. Pansy believes that she will be killed by Slytherins old and new if she is caught revealing secrets like the Punishment. Despite their agreement to aid Pansy, Holly and Hermione once again part angrily over Holly's treatment of Pansy during the planning.
Returning from a second trip to the Madhouse, Holly and Tonks are confronted by Albus who has realised that Holly is aware of her origins. The Headmaster was tipped off when the Goblins sent Harry a letter offering to restore nearly 5 millions of Galleons lost to their manipulations in exchange for legal control over Holly's life. During their conversation the Headmaster acts confused about essential facts of Holly's upbringing, leading Holly to conclude that he may actually be going senile.
Pansy is forced to activate her coin later that day, leading Holly into a trap where she is captured, brought to the Slytherin 'Punishment Room', flogged until naked and sexually groped. When Marcus Flint orally molests Holly to the point where she is choking, Miles Bletchley attempts to end the incident, lowering his concentration on Holly's restraints enough for her to gain the upper hand. She emasculates Flint, uses a captured wand to dismember the other rapists (leaving Bletchley alone) and finally uses Gryffindor's blade to cleave away the top of Flint's skull. Holly arranges to Time Turn in order to plunder the Slytherin library and Obliviate herself of the trauma, as she is convinced by way of a set of predictions from Professor Trelawney that she is doomed to be jailed soon. Holly doesn't want to remember the rape while stuck unprotected from the Dementors at Azkaban. During her trial, Holly negotiates with Minister Fudge, Director Bones and Albus Dumbledore for a limited sentence and a clean record by revealing the details of the rape using a Pensieve built into Perenelle's Notebook. The stored memory of the rape also includes mention of Secret Ministry Policy #12: Bright Witches Must Be Dimmed; a more than century-old conspiracy to systematically suppress ambitious witches. The policy was uncovered by Perenelle Flamel, in answer to which she created the Unspeakables section of the Department of Mysteries and their Time Turner internship-candidate program. Director Bones maneuvers to make copies of these memories as backup and forces Fudge to accept a maximum penance of three months for Holly and the option for her to return to Hogwarts if Holly maintains an unreasonably high standard of grades. (Time from Animagus day until Flint's execution = eight days, time in court = four days). Incidentally, an earlier court appearance rules that Holly's use of the Cruciatus on Hermione in January is an unprecedented Forgiveable Use of an Unforgiveable Curse.
Holly escapes from Azkaban nine days after her interrment with help from Tonks. Together they replace Holly with a Simulacrum made from Harry's sperm, one of Holly's hybrid eggs and several rare ingredients. As Sim-Holly was brewed under duress, she deteriorates quickly after a week of activity. Tonks is convinced to take weekly Azkaban duty to allow her to feed Sim-Holly booster doses to maintain her life, but as a very physical being Tonks' mind is incapable of resisting the soul-sucking effect of the Dementors. Delving into her mother's research and using a special device invented by Lily that uses a Time Turner to 'dilate' time as much as tenfold, Holly completes a focused crash course in Mark-making. Holly works out a way to use a variant of Riddle's Dark Mark to make her own Mark on Tonks, thereby protecting Tonks' mind and granting her some of Holly's situational awareness and detachment. Holly's variation takes advantage of another of Lily's innovations, a modification to a binding rune circle to form a spiral, allowing the binding to be updated without having to recast it. Holly also integrates elements of Eastern lore learned from Padma Patil to enhance the binding strength and grant additional benefits to the bearer of the Spiral Mark.
Holly visits Hogwarts secretly in Harry-guise while working out the last issues with the Mark, eliciting Hermione's advice on the Spiral and saving Buckbeak from execution by Walden McNair during the trip. Tonks admonishes Holly for her excursion, saying that she never intended to simply free Holly, only keep her in prison but away from the Dementors. Holly marks Natalia with the Spiral at the culmination of 'some really excellent sex'; both witches are capable of being effectively male or female, and they have considerable lust and affection for each other so end up exploring every possible variation until they are comfortable with their desires and preferences. Minerva attempts to pre-empt the Marking but instead ends up confronting Holly about her choices to date. Holly lays out the collage of injustices against her that have brought her almost to the point of declaring war on magical society. Minerva convinces Holly that her extreme philosophy would result in mass chaos and death, and implores her to use the time at the Madhouse to consider what she really wishes to accomplish. Holly spends the rest of her prison term in the Madhouse having frequent sex and learning Auror combat techniques with the nymphomaniacal Natalia (Tonks). Holly also learns about Lily's personal history and advanced magic from Lily's research materials whenever Tonks is at work and engages Hermione in a correspondence posing as Harry, in which she learns of Hermione's growing semi-friendship with Pansy Parkinson. The Time Turner Gyroscope extends Holly's time in the Madhouse from ten weeks (actual) to ten months (time experienced), all told.
Towards the end of her stay Holly discovers the true meaning of Lily's sacrifice- Lily realised that Peter Pettigrew was a Death Eater and scoured his brain for information about the Death Eaters and Tom Riddle. Lily knew Riddle was coming to kill Harry and that she had to sacrifice herself to save him and defeat the evil bastard. These revelations convince Holly (and Minerva) that Sirius Black is innocent. Holly completes her prison term by returning to Azkaban for the last five days, where she kills Sim-Holly bare-handed and then relives the horror of it again and again. Holly returns to Hogwarts in Minerva's company and arranges with Hermione, Tonks and Remus to capture Sirius- the Animagus has been roaming the Forbidden Forest since the beginning of the school year trying to capture or kill Wormtail. Holly's plan unfortunately provides Wormtail the opening he needs to escape and is further confounded when Severus Snape ambushes the ambushers. Holly's night-vision goggles provide Holly the opportunity to defeat and capture Snape, free her friends and rescue Sirius, who has lapsed into a near-permanent dog-state after a dozen years resisting the Dementors. After negotiating with Snape to stop hindering them, Holly is captured and brought to Albus' office where she wakes up under the influence of Veritaserum, being questioned by Minister Fudge and Director Bones. Holly confesses more than Fudge is comfortable having publicly known so Fudge orders her to turn over Sirius or be Kissed. Holly escapes the room and is rescued from the roof by Hermione flying Holly's Nimbus, but their subsequent escape is cut off by the legion of Dementors haunting the school. Holly entreats Hermione to use the transcendental orgasm for a super-Patronus and even reveals the truth of her Harry-ness to break through Hermione's anti-lesbian Compulsion (a second mind modification that exceeds Luna's anti-Holly hex in power and influence), but Holly/Harry is forced to apply the Imperius Curse to make Hermione save their souls. When Fudge, Bones, Albus and Natalia find the couple, it's Harry that asks why they were assaulted by Dementors, much to the Minister's embarassment. Holly later meets with Director Bones to sort out her legal status so she can return to being a student. Holly makes an announcement in the Great Hall upon her public return to studies that Sirius Black believes he's innocent and has regardless fled the UK having lost track of the real criminal, Peter Pettigrew. Holly also reveals to the assembled students that Sirius Black 'may actually be my father'. If this were verified to be true, Holly would be poised to inherit enormous power in both money and status in magical society.
The end of the year finds Holly meeting with Minerva about her future. Holly indicates that her learning has advanced to the point that she'd make a credible Auror if she didn't have a criminal record. Holly plans for her and Hermione to take their O.W.L. exams the following year as they will both chronologically qualify due to their Time Turner use. Holly also notes that Natalia will be finishing advanced Auror training over the summer and has started up something with Remus Lupin as a form of therapy for the emotionally-repressed werewolf. Lupin is planning on taking Sirius away from England so they can work at releasing his human brain once more, so therapy all around, really.
After the end-of-year feast Holly is confronted by Albus Dumbledore who argues that now is the time for Holly to disappear in favor of Harry. Holly disagrees, indicating that both her personalities could have value, moreso if Albus would share what he knows about what they are facing. Their discussion ends on a sour note, as Holly defiantly escapes the Headmaster's office once more.
During the trip back to London on the Hogwarts Express, Luna uses a Bacchus Poppy to induce Holly and Hermione to enjoy one last lesbian encounter; she feels guilty for causing their breakup and saw that Hermione wasn't fixing things between them despite having thrown off Luna's Compulsion. Focusing past the intoxicating pollen, Holly pins down that Luna has feelings for Holly but also that Luna needs to deliver a 'message from Fate' - a series of visions that knock Holly unconscious. Holly wakes as the train arrives in London, and asks Neville about the flower. Affected by a smidge of the pollen, Neville dips Holly into a stylish snog to the cheering approval of the entire platform. Holly sends off Neville with a forgiving wave, and hands over Hedwig to Hermione. Holly's card-reading predictions from Trelawney the previous winter included one last warning, that an important woman in Holly's life will die before her next birthday, and Holly wants Hermione to have a way to contact her in case there is trouble. Just as Holly turns to make her way to the Madhouse, Albus appears, Apparates them both to Little Whinging and applies a powerful Confundus, suggesting that Holly needs to stay at the Dursleys and practice being Harry.
Ready? Steady....

Go to the next chapter.