u/gabaii2

Hagrid was beaming at him, large and imposing in robes the color of the universe, with sparkles woven through his beard.

Snape was uncanny, his hair tame and well-kept, dressed in pearlescent white. He was quiet, and beneath his blank expression lingered the faintest trace of kindness.

Tom Riddle was the most unnerving of them all, bearing the age and appearance he had when he first died in ’81. He wore a black Muggle suit, his hair slicked back with strands of gray, and there seemed to be genuine sorrow in his eyes.

> Sirius wakes James first, and James sees a chance to get rid of Harry. He tells Sirius to leave Harry at a Muggle orphanage, then creates a fake body through Transfiguration. Since the body was supposedly struck by the Killing Curse, no autopsy is performed, and it is buried quickly.

> Harry bounces between foster homes because of accidental magic until a Muggle-born wixen takes him in. Having suffered similarly as a child, the wixen fosters magical children lost in the system. Harry may arrive there at any age.

> The wixen may or may not blood-adopt Harry. If not, it would help if Harry were not an identical twin.

> Harry may receive another name, unless he keeps “Harry” because it was stitched onto his clothes or bracelet when he was left at the orphanage.

> Lily is consumed by grief. After Snape’s trial and return to Hogwarts, she confronts him. She does not know he delivered the prophecy, but she is devastated, angry at James’s behavior after Harry’s death, and blames herself — if she had agreed to give Harry away, he might still be alive. Needing someone to blame, she turns on Severus. During their conversation, Severus apologizes and confesses the truth. Lily does not forgive him and leaves.

> Severus tries to resign from Hogwarts afterward, but Dumbledore pressures him into staying. In the process, Severus reveals that Harry had been believed to be a Squib and that Lily blamed herself for his death. Dumbledore later speaks with Lily and reassures her that Harry’s death was not her fault.

> A few years later, once the wizarding world has stabilized somewhat, Dumbledore retrieves Voldemort’s wand and performs Priori Incantatem. He realizes the wand’s last three spells do not match the official story of that night: two Stunning Spells and one Killing Curse, rather than one Stunning Spell on Lily, one Killing Curse on Harry, and one Killing Curse on the WBWL twin. Remembering Harry’s presumed status as a Squib, Dumbledore begins investigating.