HOWL'S HOGWARTS LEGACY AU-TOBER - DAY 7
AU-tober - Day 7 : Genderswap AU
Location: Hufflepuff Dormitory, Hogwarts
I woke with a gasp, sweat clinging to my hair and shaking like I’d just run through a blizzard. For a moment, I thought everything was normal. Hogwarts, my bed, the quiet hum of the castle at night…
And then I looked around. Not my dormitory. Hufflepuff, yes, but not my room. The golden and black banners swayed faintly in the candlelight, unfamiliar beds lined up neatly along the walls. I sat up… and froze.
The long nightgown I wore slid across my shoulders, soft and flowing, but not mine. I dared not move, my eyes locking onto the reflection in the window of someone I didn't know yet looked like me, but more, feminine.
My hands trembled as I explored the fabric of my clothes and then my own body. Everything was… different. Attributes I didn’t recognize, yet somehow familiar. My face burned with embarrassment at the realisation. I was in a girls body.
A voice startled me, soft and concerned: “Olivia? Are you okay? Still having nightmares?” Poppy and Imani stood in the doorway, eyes wide with concern. My throat closed. For a heartbeat, I couldn’t speak, terrified of hearing the sound of my own voice.
When I finally opened my mouth, it came out trembling, delicate, a melody I barely recognized as mine. “I… I think something is wrong with me…”
They looked at me intently. Their faces were serious but not judgmental. I felt the tiniest flicker of relief. I could trust them. And so I told them everything.
The ring. The universe-jumping. The gender swap. Every moment of chaos and fear. They listened. Their silence wasn’t skepticism, it was understanding.
Imani finally stood, brushing her hands together. “I believe you. And if what you say is true,” she said, eyes steady on mine, “then we probably have to wait for the ring to activate again.”
I nodded, grateful beyond words. She sat back down beside me, eyes intense. “While we wait, tell us more about your side of the universe and the worlds you visited.”
And so I did. I spoke of futuristic cities, heroic battles, pirates, masked balls, and terrifying prisons. We laughed, we gasped, we marvelled. Imani braided my hair as I spoke, her fingers gentle and steady.
Poppy nestled her niffler in her lap, eyes shining with amazement at every detail. It was like what I imagine a girls’ night would be, and for the first time in what felt like ages, the sorrow and grief of the previous world faded, replaced with warmth and laughter. I was about to confess my love for a certain someone, my heart hammering, when a soft glow began to pulse from the ring on my finger.
I smiled at them. They understood. They wrapped me in quick, fierce hugs before the world shifted, and I was gone once again.
Imani Scamander belongs to @old-man-enjoyer ~ Thank you for letting me borrow her ! ♥