Disclaimer: Well here is my very first fanfic attempt, Harry Potter and the Journey Through Time. I changed it a little bit, by combining the first 2 chapters into one. Hopefully you all will enjoy the story. Please leave some reviews, they really cheer me up and encourage me. For the disclaiming part, none of the characters in this story are mine, unless i create some later, and all the places are not mine either, all of these belong to miss Rowling. Anyway, on to the show, hope you enjoy it.
Harry Potter awoke with a start, memories of his dream flooding back to him. He tried in vain to snatch pieces of it back but all that came were the feelings: sorrow and despair. He glanced at his clock near his bed. It read 12:10. He'd been 17 for a whole 10 minutes. He glanced at his mirror, looking for any differences. Everything was the same. He laughed at his unruly jet-black hair, which covered his lightning bolt shaped scar, the only thing Lord Voldemort had actually given him. All else Voldemort had done was taken away, Harry's house, his parents, and his one chance at a normal life. And now, he could add Dumbledore and his godfather to that list. The Daily Prophet was strewn across the room. On the newspaper, this article was prominent.
"Well witches and wizards of the world, we are sorry to say that another one among us has left for good at the hands of you-know-who and his followers. Albus Dumbledore, Chief warlock, and headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has left us for good. He was well known for his love of muggleborns, or magical people born from two non-magical parents, and was very instrumental in helping the war against lord-thingy. We are all very sad to see him go. But as those of us who knew him know, "to the organized mind, death is but the next great adventure." Rufus Scrimgeour, current minister of magic, has appointed Minerva McGonagall to take over as Headmistress of Hogwarts until further notice. And once again, please take care of yourselves in these dark and dangerous times."
Harry began to think about the path that lay before him. First, he remembered he would have to go to his best friend Ron Weasley's house for Bill and Fleur's wedding. Harry gave a small smile at that thought and pictured his redheaded friend in his mind. Then his thoughts moved on to his other best friend, Hermione Granger. Her bushy brown hair filled his mind for a second and Harry found comfort in thinking of them. Then his mind thought one last time of his ex-girlfriend, Ginny Weasley. His thoughts began to go out of control here. He remembered their first kiss like it was yesterday, the flowery scent of hers clogging his nose and forcing him to give up all his thoughts and worries. He shook his head to get her out of his mind. He then thought of Dumbledore. Tears started to find their way into his eyes. Slowly but surely, everyone around him was dying. Everyone who loved him and tried to protect him. He would be bringing it full circle soon. He would be going to Godric's Hollow to see his parents' grave.
Then he remembered what else Dumbledore had told him he must do. There were still 5 pieces of Voldemort's soul in the world, contained in horcruxes. He had the locket, but R.A.B. had taken it, and he was still no closer to figuring who that was. Then, he needed the cup of Hufflepuff's, Voldemort's pet snake Nagini, and something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaws. And he still needed Slytherin's locket, which R.A.B. had stolen. That brought his mind to their futile effort at destroying that particular horcrux. Had it not been for that adventure, Dumbledore might not have died. Snape might not have killed him.
Harry's emerald green eyes flared up at the thought of Snape. But now was not the time. He needed to get out of his Aunt and Uncle's place. Dumbledore said that after he turned 17, that was it. Ron said he would come by to pick him up around 1 a.m. He suddenly heard a noise down stairs. Harry grabbed his wand, no longer afraid of using it because he was of age. He crept quietly down the stairs, hopping the step that creaked and looked into the living room. There, smiling stupidly with ash all over his face, was Ron.
"Harry!" Ron choked out through the ash. He had just flooed from the fireplace.
"Ron, it's great to see you." Harry truly was feeling happy.
"Happy Birthday Harry." Fred and George has just flooed in as well. The three Weasley brothers were just smiling at Harry.
"Well Fred, you think he's just gonna stand there?"
"Or will he decide to go back and get his stuff so we can leave?" asked Fred.
"Oh…right. I'll be right back."
Harry bounded up the stairs two at a time, careful not to wake the Dursleys. Ron was right behind him.
"Here let me help you with your stuff Harry."
After five minutes, they had everything and went to the fireplace.
"You remember how to travel by floo powder, right Harry?"
"Of course I do Fred."
"No Harry, that's Fred. I'm George."
"Oh right. Sorry George."
"Only kidding Harry. I am Fred."
With that Fred walked into the fireplace, grabbed some floo powder, threw it beneath him, and shouted "The Burrow."
George followed too with Harry's trunk. That left Ron and Harry. Ron went in and left and then it was up to Harry. He looked around one last time at No.4 Privet Drive and thought, good riddance. He threw the floo powder on the fireplace after pocketing his glasses and shouted "The Burrow." The green flames licked his body, keeping him warm and he began to spin, finally landing with a soft thud on the floor of the burrow.
"Happy Birthday Harry!"
Harry looked around. Everyone was there. Bill and Charlie, and even Percy the prat. The twins and Ron. Ginny, with her eyes just twinkling at him. Harry found it hard not to cry. This was his first real birthday party. And Ginny's eyes had reminded him of a certain wizard with half-moon spectacles. Then of course, there were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Tonks, with her bubble-gum pink hair, sitting next to Professor Lupin. Hermione was sitting next to Ron now and she smiled and waved at him. He returned the smile and kept looking. Fleur was also there by Bill. And that was it. Harry was grinning madly, tears of joy running down his cheeks.
"W-w-wow guys. No one has e-ever d-d-done this for me." Harry choked out his sentence in between his sobs.
Mrs. Weasley went to him, but Ginny got there first.
"Happy Birthday Harry" and she gave him a kiss on his lips. Harry felt his cheeks turning redder than Ginny's hair, but he remembered something he had really missed. He finally broke the kiss off and heard catcalls from the twins. Harry then proceeded to have one of the best days of his life. When he finally went to sleep, images of canary creams and birthday candles and a certain fiery redhead were all that filled his head.
Soon after, it was time to attend Bill and Fleur's wedding. Harry had been thinking about this for a while now, the wedding resembling the eye of the storm. His mind was thinking, deep down, about the horcruxes and he realized that if he wanted a normal life, a chance at what Bill and Fleur were doing, he would have to defeat Voldemort first. He looked up at everyone's happy faces and saw Charlie, Bill's best man, giving a hearty laugh. Harry couldn't bear it anymore. It had reminded him too much of a certain black haired man in a photo album back at the Burrow. Tears began to fill Harry's eyes and he walked away. He just couldn't handle it all. He walked out the door, brushed his eyes clean, and walked right into Ginny.
"Harry! I've been looking all over for you. Where have you- what's wrong Harry? Did something happen?" Ginny began to notice the tears starting to stream down Harry's cheeks and led him into the waiting room where Fleur had been earlier.
"I-it's nothing Gin. Don't worry bout it."
"Harry it'll be alright. Hey what classes are you gonna be taking this year?"
"I'm not sure if I'm gonna be going back to school. What about you?"
"Well I'm pulling a Hermione. I'm having to use that time-turner. The one Hermione had my second year never got returned so we didn't break it."
"Let me see it Gin?"
Ginny handed it to Harry and while he was looking at it the door opened. Harry panicked. He saw an old man with long gray hair and a flowing beard. It couldn't be Dumbledore. Harry's fists clenched thinking it was some sort of trick. Unfortunately his hands were still on the time-turner. It broke.
"Ah. Harry. I'm Dumbledore's brother Aberforth. I was supposed to give you this." At this point, Aberforth had held out a piece of paper but Harry had broken the time-turner. The paper flew into his hand and him and Ginny both disappeared.
"Oh dear. This doesn't look good at all. I'd better go tell someone."
Harry and Ginny began spinning around and saw different parts of time. Harry's hand was still clutching onto Ginny's necklace and the paper Aberforth had given him. Finally, they came to a stop and hit the ground. The two got up and dusted themselves off.
"Harry what happened, where are we?"
"I dunno Gin. It looks like… Hogwarts?"
The two began walking and the giant castle came into view. They walked purposefully towards the front door, hand in hand. Ginny was starting to shake and Harry was trying to regain his nerve. They walked through the double doors into the Great Hall. No one was around so Harry led Ginny towards the headmaster's office, whoever it may be. They stared at the gargoyle, having no idea of the password or the date. They began to shout out passwords at random.
"Cockroach Cluster" "Fizzing Whizbees" "Sugar Quill" "Lemon Drop" "Acid Pops" "Canary Creams" "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans" "Butterbeer"
And with butterbeer, the gargoyle sprung aside. The 2 Gryffindors stared at each other in disbelief and walked inside. They sat down in the chair and looked around the room. The portraits of the headmasters and headmistresses past were all sleeping. Harry looked around to see if anyone he knew was there. His eyes landed on Phineas Black and Armando Dippet. That meant Dumbledore was headmaster. He started to reveal this to Ginny when someone walked in.
"Excuse me, hello. May I inquire as to what you two are doing here before school has started and how you got into my office?"
Harry's thoughts reverted back to the Dumbledore he knew. He had to be strong. Ginny gave him a quick squeeze of his hand and Harry knew what he had to do.
"P-Professor Dumbledore sir. My name is Harry, Harry Potter, and this is Ginny Weasley."
"Potter? Any relation to James Potter?"
"Um…maybe. What day is it sir?"
"It is August 31, 1977."
"77?"
"Yes Mr. Potter. 77. Is something wrong?"
"Well you see Professor-."
"Ginny isn't it?"
"Yes. As I was saying I was given a time-turner this year because I had so many classes. And Harry here accidentally broke it. So now we're here."
"How extraordinary." He gazed into Ginny's eyes, and then Harry's. Harry felt him reading his mind, but he wouldn't have known at all if it weren't for his experience with legilimency and occlumency. Dumbledore must be very good. He let him look though, to confirm their story. After awhile, he seemed satisfied.
"Very well then. I shall see what I can do. What year are you two in?"
"I'm in the seventh and Harry is in the seventh too."
Harry shot Ginny a questioning glance but said nothing.
"Alright then. Tomorrow I shall have the two of you sorted and we will work on getting you back to your time. Just how many years did you go back anyway?"
"Twenty."
"Alright then. I shall have a talk with the two of you tomorrow morning before the students arrive. For now you may get some rest. You may sleep in Gryffindor Tower, as it is the closest. The password is currently Fortuna Major. You may go now."
Harry and Ginny walked back to the Gryffindor common room and came face to face with the Fat Lady. They said the password "James what are you doing back so early? And Lily, is that you?" and walked into the common room.
"Harry, is everything ok?"
"My parents are going to be starting their last year…same as me. Sirius will be there too. And Remus. And" Harry spat the last name out, treating it as the filth it is. "Pettigrew."
"It'll be alright now Harry. Come here."
The two held each other close as Harry's thoughts drifted towards tomorrows meeting with his parents. They fell asleep in each other's arms with thoughts of tomorrow looming in their heads. Of when they would see their parents, in Ginny's case, if ever again. A slip of paper could be seen falling onto the floor, lying facedown, attempting to blend in with the carpet.