Change of Pace
Written by Shaun Garin
Disney owns Mary Poppins. J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.
The murmurs were far and wide; Harry Potter was no longer under the family register.
He had also subsequently vanished from the Dursleys as soon as his seventeenth birthday hit, and he had took everything with him. No forwarding address, just a subsequent appearance in the Ministry of Magic to remove his name from the family register and leave.
People expected that he had went out to fulfill his role as the Chosen One, or possibly he had vanished to a remote tropical island with pina colada in hand. No one could say for certain. His family and friends, all extended of a sorts were worried, but they got regular correspondence from the AWOL Boy-Who-Lived assuring them that they were fine. People speculated who the other person in the They in all of his letters were was unknown, but most assumed it was Remus Lupin for the man had vanished as soon as Harry did.
It was to their belief that was shattered when Remus turned up with Hawaiian lei around his neck and wearing the magical equivalent of a loud flower print shirt, shorts and flip flops.
September First opened up the term and no Harry Potter. There was a running bet that he was going to show up all of a sudden in a furiously amazing turn of events.
It was to their surprise that he had simply SNUCK IN.
Hermione Granger was the first to find him as he had mysteriously appeared to the left of the Creevey Brothers and had been eating dinner beside them with the Creevey's sniggering at something he was saying.
Harry's appearance was different to say the least; old Victorian-age clothing coupled with a fashion trend towards the neo-modern age, he carried a carpet bag and he had an umbrella that had a talking dog head that encouraged him on pranks and had a sharp wit.
Once the shock of him actually being there was done, people asked him the big question on their minds: Where Had He Been?
Harry replied, "With my Aunt on my mother's side."
It turned out that Lily Evans had quite the extended Muggle Family, and there were people all around who were willing to take him in. It was just for the most part that he never encountered them for the Dursley's fear of him "contaminating" their relatives. It was not like the Potter line that had subsequently died out with James and the last war.
One of these aunts happened to be a very famous witch. While a muggleborn was not uncommon back in the day, this woman was very OLD to say the least; much older than Albus Dumbledore. It was she who took him in, and they spent the summer together helping troubled families.
It was to people's surprise that Harry Potter popped his umbrella, caught the wind and floated up the long stairwell to Gryffindor Tower.
A change had come over the boy as well. He was unfailingly polite, and often displayed strengths that were uncommon in the magical world. He could leap into paintings, change flowers, sing and dance all at the same time.
When asked of his new last name, it sent shockwaves through the Magical World. After all; who didn't know about the famous Mary Poppins, the most powerful witch of her generation?
When Voldemort heard about this, he decided a long vacation was in order. Preferably in Hawaii. And a change of name. And face. And possible followers too.
Potter was bad enough; he mused as he packed his suitcase and tossed on a hooded t-shirt and shrugged on flip-flops and shorts. But a Poppins is worse.