Harry James Potter tapped his foot impatiently as the step he stood on slowly spiraled up the headmistresses' office.

"Good evening Minerva, how can I help you?" he greeted.

"Well, Mr. Potter," she replied, always siding with formality, "I came across something quite unusual this evening."

"That concerns me?"

"I believe so. You see Mr. Potter, it is quite common knowledge that Hogwarts keeps detailed lists of its student, marked down by magic and enrolled from birth. However, not many know that it has been the long tradition that the current headmaster or headmistress keeps a record of all those who teach here as well. At any rate, you and I both know Albus always did tend to be a bit more eccentric." She smiled softly.

"I quite agree" piped in his chuckling portrait from behind her.

"This always led him to be quite thorough with his entries, even specifying every professor's jam preferences, but there is one individual a bit undermarked, and a touch suspicious to say the least."

She slid the worn scrolls over to Harry who scanned them quickly.

'Benjamin Harrison' it read in flowy print. 1977-1978. DADA. Prior residence: Canada. Other Information: orphan.

"That's it. All it says. The only other thing it includes is this photo. Now look closely at his forehead, it's quite peculiar" She handed it to him.

Harry squinted at it. On the man's smooth, tan forehead, right under his hairline was an odd disturbance on the flesh. Though it was hidden under a glamour charm, it seemed to be a scar. His scar he realized suddenly. Harry was sure of it. After all, he had seen it in the same spot on his head in the mirror, every day of his life.

"What does this mean!?" He demanded, though he truly already knew.

"Harry," she said more kindly, "I think you managed to go back in time."

"But Minerva!" He protested, not willing to accept it. "Time travel that far back is not even possible! Even time turners have a limit of a couple hours. How do you even know that is me!?"

Professor McGonagall flashed him a stern look over her wire-framed spectacles.

"Mr. Potter, we both know, however disguised, that that is you. And it just so happens to be I found something quite interesting hidden beneath a false bottom in the desk this morning."

She pulled from the drawer a long, golden chain. Dangling from it was an hourglass pendant similar to the one Hermione owned in third year. However, it appeared to be a great deal heavier, and larger than it. Etched into it beside a small lever were the words 'forward' and 'backward'.

Harry still did not want to believe it. Though he was tingling in excitement at the thought to meet his parents and to see both Remus and Sirius whole and happy, for he had quickly figured 1977 would be their seventh year at Hogwarts, deep in his hear he had an aching desire that he should leave the past buried in the past.

"Doesn't this seem a little too good to be true? Too convenient? The Universe is rarely so lazy," He argued.

"Mr. Potter, do hear me out," she said purposefully. Harry relented and sunk back into his chair. "There are two main beliefs as to the workings of time. The first is that the future is ever changing. Every choice you make can split reality, and interference to the past can have a drastic effect on the point in time we are currently in now. Bumping into a stranger and spilling his coffee could lead to the change outcome of a war. Walking into a store and purchasing an item off the shelf could prevent someone from meeting their wife. However, we both know from your rendezvous at the end of your third year that this view does not hold water, leading us to the second opinion. It states that time is concrete, and solid. If you were to travel to the past you would end up bringing about events that were meant to happen! For all we know you could have been the reason for your own birth!"

Harry swallowed slowly. "But what about Ginny. Even if I was to agree to this, I can't leave her! Certainly not pregnant and with an 18-month tornado of a child."

"But you'd return to the same moment you left from. Though it would feel like a year to you it would only appear to be an instant to me," she countered.

"I understand that, but wouldn't there still be the possibility of me dying there? I can't risk the chance of leaving my family without me. They're all I have left."

"Mr. Potter! I insist you stop grasping at straws. Like the greatest Auror in England would die from a teaching position!" She gazed intently into his eyes. "We both know you can handle Voldemort. You defeated him even years ago, and you've come such a long way since then. No one is more knowledgeable at practical defense than you. This is their last years in the safety Hogwarts provides, before they will spit out into the unforgiving, harsh mess we know as the First Wizarding World. They need your knowledge, they need your skills, and they need You.

"Fine. I'll do it," he relented. "Give me till morning to gather my belongings and explain to Ginny. I'll return promptly at 7."

Professor McGonagall nodded. She straightened her robes suddenly all business once more and walked Harry to the door.

"Good night Minerva"

"Thank you. You too. And do try and get some sleep."