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By all rights, Holly Potter and Alex Kann's story should have ended at age eleven. She was a witch, he was a Muggle; their worlds weren't meant to overlap. But fate—or rather, Alex's entrepreneurial streak—had other ideas. When he realizes that Wizarding potions could be a goldmine in the Muggle world, the childhood friends reunite to run an underground magical business. Between smuggling brews, surviving school, and juggling friendships and relationships, Holly and Alex struggle to keep their partnership (and their sanity) intact.

Set in an Alternative Universe that moves the timeline closer to the present day, this Potter Verse fic follows a Female Harry who befriends an OC Muggle at age seven. Thanks to Alex's Squib mother, Holly gets an early introduction to the Wizarding World. But Alex's family has secrets of their own, and navigating the blurred lines between magic and Muggle life won't be easy—especially when running an illegal potion ring.

Cleaved by StarsandSunkissed can also be found here on FFN.


This fanfic contains examples of:

  • Abusive Parents: Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon do treat Holly slightly better than their canon counterparts treated Harry, in that she has a proper bedroom and it's made clear they have never lifted a hand to her. That's not to say they're not abusive, though — she's always treated as The Un-Favourite compared to Dudley which leads her to spending most of her free time at the Kanns.
  • Adaptational Badass: After Ron's wand begins to fail in second year, Holly and Ron practice non-verbal spellcasting years before it's introduced in canon.
  • Adaptational Intelligence: After the events of second year, Ron decides to minimize his Brilliant, but Lazy traits and put more effort into his studies, particularly in Ancient Runes.
  • Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: It seems that Holly and Ron are headed this way after the events of second year.
  • Adaptational Skill: Ron is very good at Ancient Runes, implied to be a combination of childhood skill, the events of second year, and the summer before third year Egypt trip.
  • Artistic License – Economics: Galleons. The exchange rate from galleons to pounds is noted to be variable, and no more than fifty thousand pounds can be converted into Galleons every six months.
  • Ascended Extra: Colin Creevey, Fay Dunbar, and Tracey Davis are quickly becoming this.
  • Awesome, but Impractical: As per canon, wandless magic. It is extremely difficult unless hundreds of hours of practice are put into the spell, which is best done the Boring, but Practical (i.e., wanded and verbally) first. It's noted that going from performing spells wandlessly to performing them verbally can cause an overpowered and often detrimental effect.
    Holly drummed her fingers on the wooden table. She pointed a finger at her empty bowl and concentrated. The downside to going from verbal and wanded magic to non-verbal and wandless was that it reduced the potency of the spell, and she had to put in a lot more effort to get the same result. The bowl finally rose.

    Holly had had a bad habit of overpowering her spells. The same amount of power that would gently lift an object wandlessly, sent it careening into the ceiling with it. Whether it was because of the magic of Hogwarts or the wandless magic she had gotten used to before, she had no clue. It wasn't until mid-October that she was able to fine-tune how much focus she put into her spells.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Holly goes down to the Chamber of Secrets to rescue Ron, who received the diary instead of Ginny.
  • Deconstruction: For several tropes, including:
    • selling magical potions to Muggles, and why it's not as easy as it may seem.
    • Squib discrimination.
    • Muggles being aware and informed about the Wizarding World.
  • Black Market: Holly and Alex's business, Eternal Elixirs - which sells magical potions to Muggles under both governments' noses, counts as such. Subverted in the sense that the Kanns are at least trying to get legal documentation before making sales.
  • Everyone Can See It: Ron's crush on Holly, especially after second year. Hermione even tells this to Holly's face.
  • Fantastic Caste System: Discussed in chapter six:
    Older Boy: I thought Fay was a pure-blood?
    Older Girl: Her father is, but her mother is a half-blood—her mother's parents were two Muggle-borns, you know—so she's still a half-blood, technically.
    Older Boy: That makes sense. The Dunbar family isn't part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight anyway.
    Older Girl: Oh please. The list changes every septennial, and besides, a family has to be at least five generations pure-blooded in order to maintain their place on it.
    Older Boy: Five generations?
    Older Girl: Yes. Let's say a person starts off Muggle-born, right? Any child they have will be half-blood technically, but they'll still grow up having Muggle grandparents—
  • Friendless Background: Averted due to Holly befriending Alex at the age of seven.
  • Gender Flip: Harry is born a girl in this universe.
  • He Cleans Up Nicely: Ron when under control of Tom Riddle's diary.
  • Inciting Incident: Rhea (Alex's younger sister) accidentally drinking a toxic substance is the impetuous for Holly and Alex creating Eternal Elixirs.
  • Locked Out of the Loop: Subverted, as at least Ron, if not Hermione, is aware that Holly has a Muggle friend but is unaware of the depths of their friendship.
  • Loophole Abuse: Holly learns pre-Hogwarts that she can direct her accidental magic into deliberate wandless magic, so long as she doesn't use it in front of Muggles that are not a Secret-Keeper. She continues this during the summer after starting at Hogwarts to get around the Trace.
  • Muggle Born of Mages: Barbara Kann, Alex's mother, is one of these. Alex and Holly eventually find her hidden memorabilia of the Wizarding world.
  • Muggle with a Degree in Magic: The Kann Family, who are aware of magic thanks to Barbara and Holly.
  • Mundane Fantastic: The Kann Family towards the magic they see in their midst.
    Holly: Snake fangs ready?
    The potion they were brewing bubbled on top of the portable gas stove, like a big pot of stew. The kitchen had become their brewing station; all over the counter, textbooks, notebooks, cutting boards, vials, knives and potion ingredients, Muggle and magical could be found.
    Alex: Almost...
    Holly: You're grinding it too fine. I need coarse powder, not dust.
    He was taking the ingredient prep rather seriously. Probably to avoid another kitchen disaster - it took weeks to clean the ceiling after the last one.
  • Noodle Incident: The Great Cooking Disaster of 2004, thanks to Alex's Lethal Chef tendencies.
  • Point of Divergence: Several.
    • Harry is born as Holly.
    • Holly befriending Alex.
    • Ron receiving Tom Riddle's diary instead of Ginny.
  • Reed Richards Is Useless: Averted, as Holly and Alex bring the one part of the Wizarding World that can be used by Muggles – Potions – to them, albeit illegally.
  • Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Alex's reasoning for defying the Statute of Secrecy by forming Eternal Elixirs. Holly is less so, but she still agrees that wizards shouldn't keep their potions to themselves when so many others could benefit.
  • Secret-Keeper: Twofold:
    • The Kann Family for Holly (and the wizarding world in general).
    • Holly and the Kanns keep the inner workings of Eternal Elixirs a secret from both the Wizarding and the Muggle world.
  • The Stations of the Canon: Averted early on, as it's implied that Holly, Ron, and Hermione did not go after the Philosopher's Stone in their first year.
  • Super-Senses: Holly, for brief moments.
  • Wizarding School: Unlike canon, it's stated that there's at least one other wizarding school in the UK (Avempace Academy of Magic), albeit a minor, non-famous one.
  • Wizards Live Longer: As per canon, remarked upon by Ron in chapter six, though the exact lifespan is unknown.

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