Disclaimer – The world of Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and various publishing houses. The Films are owned by Warner Brother's Studios. I do not in writing this claim ownership over any properties associated with the works of J.K. Rowling. I am merely playing in her backyard while I get these ideas out of my head.

Please note that I am an American, and as such am not entirely familiar with the British version of the English Language. As such I am liable to make mistakes in regards to British Slang and Grammar, I hope you can all forgive me these mistakes?

Author's Notes (A/N) – I want to say right off the bat that I will be disregarding J.K. Rowling's default conversion rates for Galleon's to Pounds Sterling. This is because J.K. assumes that a galleon is equivalent to 4.93 Pounds Sterling, which is a tad bit low for several of the things that actually have prices in Galleons. There is no way the grand prize for a tournament where you had to among other things, fight Dragons, was only 4,930 Pounds (or 7,350 US Dollars), that isn't even hazard pay for fighting a full grown Nesting Dragon. This is why I am taking the opinion that the base price of 5 Knuts for a Newspaper in 1990 determines the value of the Wizarding Economy. A Newspaper in 1990 cost between 0.20 and 0.50 US Dollars. That means that a Knut would equal about 0.02 Pounds, a Sickle 0.58 Pounds, and a Galleon 9.86 Pounds, prices fluctuating depending on inflation.

It had been nearly a full 17 years since the Battle of Hogwarts concluded with a victory for the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army. Thanks to the efforts of the renewed Ministry of Magic with Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt at the helm the Death Eaters had been completely routed. That isn't to say that there aren't elements of darkness still at large. The Werewolves still prowl, the Vampires still stalk, and the Giants still crash. But for the most part the world is at peace.

On this fine Saturday morning, Auror Harry Potter was making his way down Diagon Alley heading to the newly opened "Ystafell Fwyta yn y Lôn Lletraws" a rather fancy Welsh Diner. Upon entering the store and walking up to the concierge table Harry states "I believe you have a table for me under the name of 'Weasley?'"

To which the hostess responds "Oh yes! Lady Weasley is right this way, if you would follow us."

"Hello Hermione, how are you today?" Harry asked his bushy haired friend when he arrived at the table and was given a menu.

"Oh about the same as always, it always amazes me how I was able to go from a Muggle-born nobody into a proper Pureblood Lady in just a few years." Hermione harrumphed at the fact that she and Harry were sitting in the ritziest seats at the establishment.

"Yes, well you are technically family with Lord Potter-Black. So that by itself grants you some privileges." Harry groused.

"Oh I know, but still, half these people wouldn't have paid any attention to me a a decade or two ago. Now they are all lining up to pay homage or something. Anyways, I would appreciate it if you would give me your report." Hermione cut right down to business.

"Right, as was outlined earlier this month, we went to Wales primarily to investigate rumors of illegal manufacture of international portkeys. What we found however was the wholesale international shipping of dark artifacts on a scale I haven't seen at least since Voldemort's reign."

"Do you think that means that we have a new Dark Lord on the rise?" Hermione asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised, but if we do, he's clever. The operation was almost completely off the radar. We only got as much as we did because someone within the operation snitched on them. If it weren't for that fact alone, we may not have even been able to get that much. These International Portkeys were using a new kind of magic that completely bypasses the National Boundary Wards. It's going to be a dickens to figure out a way to stop these." Harry explained.

"I assume you handed one over to the Unspeakables?"

"Yeah, right after I made it back to the Ministry my first stop was to the public administration office for the Department of Mysteries to drop one of these portkeys off. They said they would get working on new ward emplacements for the national boundries ASAP. But there is no telling how long that would take."

...

Right as Harry was finishing explaining this, a loud whining noise began to be heard from all corners of the Alley, and then Sirens started wailing as the Ward emplacements for the Alley started being assailed by a massive influx of energy.

"What the…" Harry said, immediately going for his wand. Hermione also grabbed her wand. The two of them cautiously made their way towards the exit of the restaurant that they were in, and that was when it happened, the Wards around the alley completely failed.

CRRRAAACKOOOOM!

Glasses shattered, and windows blew inward as the concussive force of the blast from the wards failing was unbelievable. Harry immediately grabbed Hermione and threw her to the ground with his body over her protectively.

Once the impact passed the real fun began, as people's wands began exploding one by one. Harry's Holly and Phoenix Feather wand shattered in a rather impressive explosion. And just as it did, Harry began having a seizure as magic began coursing through his body.

Hermione seeing what was happening with Harry, immediately went over to grab him and put him in a position so that he would not injure himself. But in doing so, whatever magic that was coursing through Harry, began coursing through her as well, and she too began having a seizure.

The two of them passed into unconsciousness as the world around them continued to dissolve further into chaos.

Harry awoke with a groan, and looked around at his situation. He was in a small cramped enclosed area that he didn't recall falling unconscious in. The last thing he could recall he was in a diner with Hermione...

***RAP***RAP***RAP***

"Get up! GET UP!" Petunia Dursley shouted through the door to wherever Harry now found himself. Groping around Harry was able to find a string that attached itself to a light, and was able to turn it on...

"Oh for crying out loud; what the bloody hell?" He was in his old cupboard, in his hand-me down clothes, and on the shelf were his old broken glasses. If this was a dream, it was a god awful one. If however, this was reality, he needed to figure out what the heck was going on and quick.

Slowly getting up, and reaching for the door to the cupboard, Harry suddenly heard what sounded like a stampede of Erumpent's running down the stairs above his cupboard, with one large thwack on the stair directly above the cupboard, followed by a "WAKE UP POTTER, WE'RE GOING TO THE ZOO!" from his cousin Dudley. This confirmed for Harry the date as being one June 23rd, 1991, Dudley's 11th birthday.

Upon exiting the cupboard, Harry made his way to the Kitchen and was directed by his Aunt Petunia to "Finish making the breakfast, and don't burn the bacon." which is exactly what Harry did.

Meanwhile in a small town house in Crawley England, Hermione Granger awoke in her room after apparently having fallen asleep for a nap. Which is odd, the last thing she remembered was checking on Harry who had fallen into a Seizure. After a quick look around the room, and a look in her bureau's mirror, Hermione had been able to determine that she appeared to be around eleven years old again. Fortunately it appeared that she had already made her trip to Diagon Alley as her wand was laying on her bedside table.

After grabbing her wand, Hermione went downstairs in search of a Newspaper. After determining the date, she now realized that it was entirely likely that some form of Time Travel was involved in whatever caused her to be in her current time period. She also knew that whatever it was that caused the Wards to fail in Diagon Alley back in the previous time line was so powerful that it could not be of earthly origin. With her mind made up, Hermione decided she needed to do some research into what could possibly have caused the phenomena that occurred sometime in the future.

Some hours later, Dan and Emma Granger arrived home to see their daughter waiting patiently on the living room couch, "Mum, Dad, do you think we can go to London tomorrow? I would like to pick up some research material for one of the subjects at Hogwarts, along with some mundane books on the same subject. PLEASE!" Hermione managed to sound desperate.

Dan chuckled and looked at his wife "Well I don't think that should be a problem, we usually have the Clinic closed on Mondays anyways."

with a smile Hermione allowed her parents to get ready for the evening and prepare dinner. Meanwhile she continued reading her textbooks reviewing on what she would need to know for the first term of Hogwarts. It's not like she hadn't mastered all of this information ages ago, but it never hurt anything to review every once in a while.

Harry was forced, yet again to accompany the Dursley's to the Surrey Zoo. It was never his idea of fun. But it gave Harry plenty of time to think about his predicament. He was fairly certain that he wasn't dreaming at this point. It had been far too long to be a dream. Unfortunately, since it was rapidly appearing that this was in fact reality, Harry was going to have to figure out what he was going to do, because that would mean that Voldemort was alive again. It would also mean that the Horcruxes needed to be found and destroyed again.

On the plus side of course it meant that Sirius, Remus, and Dora were still alive. But at the same time it also meant that Sirius was in Jail, and Remus had yet to meet Dora, or if he had, it was when she was a little girl and he was still in school or a young man. The other question is what happened to the old time line? And was he the only one here?

Harry was fairly certain that whatever sent him back in time, it had something to do with whatever caused the wards to fail in Diagon Alley. Unfortunately, unlike Hermione, Harry had absolutely no clue as to what could possibly have caused such a severe ward failure on the scale of Diagon Alley's wards. It had to be some sort of massive magical backlash. But the amount of energy required to create that kind of back lash, would have drained several Witches and Wizards dry.

At about this time Dudley was clamoring to go into the Reptile House. Harry for his part didn't really want to go there, for he feared that his parseltongue ability had returned with the travel back in time. Unfortunately Vernon grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and shoved him in the direction of the Animal House. Once inside Harry did his utmost best to act disinterested and to mind his tongue so that the Snakes had little or no reason to speak to him.

That said, most of the Snakes in the Reptile House did find Harry oddly interesting. Fortunately there was no accidental magic, and the Dursley's had no reason to take their wrath out on Harry today. It was a quiet sort of affair that saw the Dursley's and Harry back to Number 4 for the rest of the evening.

The next day, in Crawley, Hermione awoke, got dressed in some casual clothing, and grabbed her wand placing it in a day pack that would allow her easy access to the wand if she absolutely needed it. She went downstairs and had a nice quiet breakfast with her parents. After all that was taken care of the Grangers piled into their car for the hour or so long journey to London. Their first stop of the day was the Leaky Cauldron followed by a stop at Gringott's Bank.

Now normally Dan and Emma would walk up to the Money Changers so that they could convert their Muggle money into Wizarding Money so that Hermione could have a little spending money while shopping at Diagon Alley. However Hermione led them up to one of the Tellers instead. Once the line presented them to the Teller she said "Hello, I was wondering if I could speak to someone here about performing an Inheritance Test?"

The Goblin looked down at her in a rather scrutinizing manner and said "We don't normally go about administering this test to Minors, much less Muggle-Borns. May I inquire as to why you wish to have this test administered, and if you have parental consent to perform this test?"

Hermione looked taken aback at the claims of the Goblin, fortunately her years as Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were going to pay off here as she responds "I really don't know what business it is of Gringott's as to why I wish to have the test administered, but I assure you once the test is administered, I am absolutely confident that Gringott's will be most pleased to do business with my family once again. As for if I have parental consent?" Hermione looked askance of her mother and father.

"If you feel it is best honey." Emma said.

"Very well, if you all will follow me," the Goblin said, as he placed a 'Station Closed' sign up on the teller's desk that he had been manning.

Once in a private room, the Goblin withdrew a rather large piece of parchment, and a silver knife. He then handed the knife to Hermione, and placed the parchment within reach of the girl. "If you would please prick your finger, and let the blood fall on this parchment. Then we shall see what your magical lineage happens to be."

Hermione did as asked. It took several minutes before names started appearing on the scroll. And after about 100 names appeared, the name of the person Hermione had been expecting to appear showed up "Beatrice Ravenclaw" followed by "Rowena Ravenclaw" the list went on for several minutes, but at those two names the Goblin let out a rather loud harumph.

"If you will excuse me, I need to refer this to a higher official within the Bank as I am not cleared to deal with a Customer of your stature." The Goblin said, as he exited the room.

After about ten minutes passed another Goblin entered the room "Hello, my name is Forthook, I am the Goblin in charge of the Ravenclaw Vaults." The Goblin said as he came around and looked at the inheritance test that was still spitting out names.

"Well, it seems that you have a long history in Wizarding Britain, and the wider world. It should be interesting to note that our records of your family cease around the 1500's when a Squib was the last member of the Ravenclaw Line to be present in the Wizarding World for several generations. It would seem people in that family just stopped producing Magical Offspring until now." The Goblin explained to the Grangers.

"Um, excuse me, but why did the previous Goblin say that he wasn't cleared to deal with a family of our stature?" Dan asked, he was having a hard time following what was happening here and wanted clarification on this matter.

"Simply put, as your daughter is now the Heiress to the Ravenclaw family name. That makes her one of the richest and most influential Witches in Wizarding Britain. Among other things, she partially owns Hogwarts Castle, and the Ministry of Magic Building itself."

"It's really simple Daddy, Rowena Ravenclaw lived approximately one thousand years ago, was one of the people that built Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and was extremely influential in Wizarding Britain at that point in time." Hermione continued with the Goblin's explanation.

"Just how rich are we talking here?" Dan asked.

The Goblin waved a hand and produced a parchment and handed it to Dan, on the parchment were the banking statements for the Ravenclaw Family Vaults. The Goblin said "The current exchange rate is approximately 9.86 Pounds Sterling to the Galleon." at hearing this Dan's eyes bugged out. He handed the parchment to his wife.

Emma did some quick mental computations and dropped the paper on the table, before looking at Hermione and saying "You're a multi-billionaire!"

Hermione for her part just smiled at the Grangers and said "Look at it this way, now we will never have to work another day in our lives if we don't want to!"

Both Granger parents just stared at their daughter like she had grown polka-dots.

Hermione now serious looked at the Goblin and said "I was wondering, how difficult would it be to get the best security wards that Gringotts has to offer, without relying on the Ministry of Magic to monitor these wards, and how expensive would these wards be?"

The Goblin actually laughed. "Lady Granger, as the sole heir of the Ravenclaw name, you have Gringott's at your disposal when it comes to setting up Wards on your home. Godric Gryffindor wasn't the only friend of the Goblin Nation. Lady Ravenclaw was as well. We will do this for you free of charge at any home you wish, unless said home is larger than a typical manor house."

"Wow. That is a splendid offer. Thank you." Hermione said.

"All you need to do is remain in your home during the work detail. We will need blood samples from each of your parents, as well as any guests you wish to allow permanent entry into your home. Any guests you wish to allow temporary entry to your home will need to be set into the central Ward Stone by you, which is a simple process that our Warding Expert can teach you when he sets up the Wards." The Goblin explained.

"Thanks. I think that is all of our business for today. If you could get someone to show us down to the Ravenclaw Vaults, I would appreciate it."

"Very well, I will get Griphook to assist you, and you will need the Clankers, if you will come this way." the Goblin led the Grangers to the carts while calling for Griphook.

"Mum, Dad, I think perhaps it might be better if the two of you stayed up here for now, you are still new to the Magical World, and if the inclusion of Clankers on this trip down to the Vaults is any indication, then there is something that will be at the very least heard that you may not want to see, or hear." Hermione told her parents.

"Oh and what can our daughter face that we can't?" Dan asked with an air of machismo about him.

"Real, live, Dragons." Hermione said with very little humor.

all the bravado and color drained out of Dan's face rather quickly at the thought of his little girl facing down a Dragon at the tender age of eleven. Emma wrapped Hermione in a hug and said "Please do be careful, but you are right, because we don't have Magic, there is no way we would be safe near a Dragon." She then grabbed her protesting husband and pulled him away from the cart as Hermione climbed in and signaled that she was ready for Griphook to get underway.

A good twenty minutes later, Hermione had returned with a bag full of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. The family then made their way to Flourish and Blotts so that Hermione could get the books she wanted. It was a curious Dan who noticed that all her books at Flourish and Blotts had to do with either Astronomy or Astrology.

Once back in Muggle London, the Grangers drove to one of the largest bookstores in London, and Hermione yet again went off and collected as many books as she could find. This time just on Astronomy, and several books published by the ESA*, noticing this Dan had to wonder just why his little girl was so interested in Stellar Phenomena.

With everything purchased, the Grangers made the drive back to Crawley, and Hermione settled in to try to figure out what exactly had caused the wards in Diagon Alley to fail so completely.

Back in Surrey, Harry awoke to yet another wonderful day in Dursley Hell. If Harry had to spend another 7 years living with these people, he wasn't going to be happy about it.

Harry had just finished making the Dursley's their breakfast, when the mail arrived. The Dursley's were too busy eating to bother with the mail, so Harry went to get the mail. And that was when he saw it. A little parchment envelop with green writing addressed to:

Mr. H. Potter
The Cupboard Under the Stairs
Number 4, Privet Drive
Little Whinging, Surrey, England

Harry couldn't believe it. Quickly he tossed the letter into his cupboard being as quiet as he possibly could, and then casually took the rest of the mail into the Dursley's. Once breakfast was concluded Harry exited the Kitchen and went into his cupboard. Yes, there was no mistaken it now, this was his Hogwarts Letter.

Gently placing it inside his shirt in such a manner that it won't be dislodged, Harry exited his cupboard, and left the House, making for the Park. After checking to make sure that Dudley didn't follow him, Harry raised his Wand Arm.

CRACK-HONK-OOOM

"Welcome to the Daybus, your method of travel for the busy Witch or Wizard. I will be your conductor, Howard Gatsby. And where will you be off to this fine day?" the Conductor of the Daybus asked harry.

"Yes, I was hoping to get a ride to Diagon Alley so that I can get my School supplies?" Harry asked.

"Ah, sure, that will be no problem. I reckon then that you don't have any Wizarding money at the current time as we are in Muggle Britain?" Howard asked.

"No, not currently, but payment shouldn't be a problem. You can charge it to the Potter Trust Account at Gringotts." Harry explained.

Howard's eyes briefly grazed up towards Harry's scar, and then a look of understanding overcame his eyes. "Aye, we will do that then. Well then lets get you aboard and get you off to Wizarding Britain!"

And with that Harry made his second first step back towards his home of the Wizarding World.

A/N: the ESA stands for the European Space Agency, which was/is the European equivalent to NASA.

I know this chapter is short, but I mainly wanted to introduce everything I was trying to accomplish with this story. I promise the next couple of chapters will be a bit longer.