Summary: It's not every day that someone discovers a new corridor in Hogwarts. When Harry does, he lets his curiosity get the best of him winds up in a lot of trouble, not to mention another time. Can he survive attending Hogwarts in the year 1942 with a sixteen year old Tom Riddle? HP/TR SLASH
A/N: The phrase written on the mirror has been changed and the chapter has been edited for stupid errors. ;)
CHAPTER ONE: A TURN FOR THE WORSE
--(A/N: This chapter is written from Harry's point of view.)--
The most interesting things always happen when you least expect them. Take this, for instance. I was merely looking for somewhere where I could be alone with my thoughts, a place where I could have some peace and quiet. Naturally, I thought of the Room of Requirement. So, I was heading down the staircase between the fifth and sixth floors, the one over on the west side of the castle near Gryffindor tower (there must be about a million staircases in this bloody place), when all of a sudden the blasted thing started to shift!
I was already about midway down the stairs—too far down to go back to the top and too far away from the next landing to make it down before it moved—so I just had to hang on tight and allow the staircase to take me away to wherever it was that it was going. Thankfully I was in no hurry; in fact, I wasn't even supposed to be out at this hour—but that's beside the point. Anyway, I had to resign myself to holding tightly onto the banister as I was whisked away, much to my displeasure.
When the staircase finally stopped, lurching to a sudden halt with the groan and grind of wood and stone, I found myself looking down a corridor that I had no memory of. That in itself was a highly unusual occurrence, seeing as how I had thought I'd covered just about every inch of the school using my handy dandy Marauder's Map. This newly discovered corridor intrigued me and so, despite my better judgment, I begin to make my way down the stairs.
I wasn't entirely sure in what part of the castle I was, for the twisting and turning and shifting and swirling of the staircase had gotten me fairly mixed up along the way, but I assumed that I was at the southern portion now, though I couldn't tell for sure. Wanting to make sure that I had, in fact, made a new discovery or at the very least wanting to find out where in Merlin's name I was, I hastily drew the Marauder's Map out of the inner pocket of my robe, tapping my wand against it and whispering, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." My words echoed eerily down the empty stone hallway, which was, I must admit, somewhat creepy. I quickly shifted my attention back to the map as it slowly came to life with a flourish of inky black lines.
Tracing my eyes over it, I found the southern portion of the castle and hastily begin to search for the little black dot labeled Harry Potter. It was closer to the eastern side of Hogwarts than I had at first assumed, but I eventually spotted it, though my situation became even more perplexing when I did. The dot denoting where I was currently standing was situated right smack dab on top of one of the many black lines that made up the blueprint of the castle. "Well, that's strange," I whispered to myself in confusion, starting to question my sanity, "It says that I'm standing in the middle of a wall." And indeed it did. I was just wondering what on earth I should do next when I noticed a new swirl of ink forming at the bottom of the page.
Focusing now on that I began to read what the Marauders had to say on the matter:
Padfoot: Congratulations! You seem to have just discovered a new portion of the castle!
Prongs: And here I thought that we had already discovered anything and everything inside and outside of Hogwarts!
Moony: You might only be able to get there on a certain date or at a certain time. There may be very specific circumstances that have to be met for you to get there.
Wormtail: Maybe it was added on later...What? It could have been...
I stopped reading at this point, figuring that I had already gleaned all of the pertinent information from what Remus had mentioned. Let's see...it's Tuesday, September 3rd, 1996, around eleven o'clock pm...But what could have made the corridor suddenly appear where there hadn't been one before? An-and what if...what if the corridor suddenly disappears and takes me with it?
Turning to look back at the staircase that I had just come down, I wondered warily if I should head back before I could find out the answer to my last question. It was a tough call, but eventually my curiosity won out over my caution, as I turned back around to look down the rather narrow and poorly lit hallway I had inadvertently discovered.
There were several doors branching off of the corridor, all of different shapes and sizes—some were even different colors. Otherwise the hallway was empty, completely bare except for the cobwebs and dust that covered just about everything. Deciding that my invisibility cloak wasn't really necessary here—after all, no one even knew that this corridor existed let alone that I had gone down it—I stripped it off, draping it over my right arm as I tucked the map back inside my robe seeing as how it would do me no good in this uncharted territory.
Shuffling slowly down the hall, my footsteps seeming rather loud in the otherwise silent corridor and my heart beating madly inmy chest, I slowly made my way to the first door on my left, my eyes darting every which way to make sure that I wouldn't get caught, though it was doubtful that I would. Taking a deep breath and twisting the tarnished silver doorknob, I pushed open the rather heavy wooden door, its hinges creaking loudly as I did so. Taking a look inside, I let out an involuntary gasp. The entire room, which was bigger than it had appeared from the outside, was covered from ceiling to floor in the most amazing plant life.
It was like walking right into the middle of a tropical forest or, perhaps, one of the more lush greenhouses that they used for herbology. Looking down, I noticed that the floor underneath my feet wasn't stone like that in the hallway I had just entered from, but a rich soil with a thick layer of undergrowth, and looking up I could see patches of blue sky with bits of sunlight shining through the thick canopy of some exotic looking trees. There were all sorts of flowers of the most vivid shades of red and orange and yellow, and just about any other color you could imagine, the likes of which I had never seen before.
Staring around in awe and wondering what this amazing room was doing in the middle of the 'lost corridor,' I belatedly realized that not only plants were in the room, but also animals. I could see them; small, dark shapes shifting in and out of the trees or hiding amongst the bushes. Thinking back to some of my more 'interesting' Care of Magical Creatures lessons, I quickly made up my mind that perhaps I should leave before I found out exactly what creatures that room contained.
Walking back out into the hallway and closing the door to the 'jungle room' behind me, I withdrew my wand from the pocket of my robe, preparing for whatever might be in the next room I would enter. Continuing along the hall, I came to the next door along the line, this one on the right side of the corridor, though I quickly came to the decision to pass it by. It was rather small and round in shape and, although I wasn't quite sure why, it reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. "I'd rather not go down the rabbit hole, thank you very much," I whispered to myself as I continued on, though I realized that, in a way, the whole wizarding world was very much like "Wonderland" to me, even after having spent five years in it.
The next door was even stranger than the one I had just passed by. It was rather large and fairly wide with beautiful copper colored molding lining it. The door itself was a mosaic of what appeared to be a mixture of glass of all different shapes and colors along with small bits of broken mirror. It was a highly reflective surface and seemed to radiate a certain...something, though I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. It appeared as if it was all lit up, but, looking around, I could find no source of light which would make it shine so; I settled for the conclusion that it must be caused by an enchantment of some sort.
It was breathtaking and I was somewhat in a daze as I slowly reached a hand out for the copper plated doorknob before hesitantly opening the door. The sight that greeted me came as somewhat of a shock, just as the sight of the first room had, although this time it was the simplicity of the room that I found so out of place. For, although the door had looked as if it was fit for a palace or something of the sort, the room that lay beyond was almost disappointingly bare and average, except for a large, gilded mirror which rested along the opposite wall.
The mirror, though, captured my interest as soon as I laid eyes on it. It reminded me of the Mirror of Erised and for a moment I thought that it was, but as I stepped closer I noticed a few small differences. For one thing, this mirror was a bit larger than the Mirror of Erised and seemed far older, almost ancient, though it was in perfectly good shape. There was just something about it...
Moving to where I should be able to see myself in the mirror, I noticed that it didn't reflect my image. After my encounter with the Mirror of Erised, I had expected no less and so was unsurprised by this fact. I continued to stare at the mirror, wondering how long it would take for it to work, whatever it was that it did. When it remained copiously blank after a few more seconds, I let out a disappointed sigh before noticing an inscription engraved at the top. 'MUS PIET EC SON'(1) it read, though I wasn't sure what it was supposed to mean. Well, that was no help.
Deciding that the room must be nothing more than a fancy place to store a broken, old mirror, I was about to turn and leave when I suddenly noticed something odd. The mirror's surface was beginning to swirl and spiral as the image of the room it had been reflecting began to fade into another image.
It looked like the Forbidden Forest...and was that the quidditch pitch? I watched, intrigued, as the quidditch field slowly came into focus, the Forbidden Forest visible in the background. It appeared as if someone was walking to the broom shed, where the quidditch supplies were kept, though it was hard to tell much because everything looked so small in the mirror. It looked almost as if I was viewing the scene from a bird's view, though I couldn't quite be sure.
I moved closer to the image, trying to decipher what it could mean and why the mirror would be showing it to me. Studying the small figure that I assumed to be a student returning from quidditch practice, I absently raised a finger to trace the person's progress across the grounds.
But as soon as I touched the surface of the mirror, I could tell that something was most definitely wrong. For some reason the mirror felt as if it was made of liquid, a thick silvery goo. I tried to draw my finger away at the odd, somewhat disturbing realization, but found that I couldn't. Perhaps glue would have been a better description of the substance, for my finger was stuck and no matter how hard I pulled, I could not get the liquid to let go of me. I tried to pry my finger off, but as I went to grab something to use as leverage, I ended up sticking my other hand into the gooey surface of the mirror, getting it stuck as well.
I was really beginning to panic now. No one knew I was down here; no one would ever be able to find me if I couldn't get myself free! And I wasn't even able to use my wand now because both hands were 'glued' to the mirror. I was starting to feel quite desperate as I continued to attempt to yank my hands out to no avail. And to my horror, it even appeared as if the goo was pulling me in farther!
It was like quicksand, and I found myself unable to resist its pull. The more I struggled, the worse it got, though I didn't know what else I could do. It was covering a good deal of my left arm by now, almost to my elbow, and it had already crept halfway up my right forearm. My heart was beating frantically in my chest as I began to almost sob in frustration, wondering why I didn't just turn around and leave when I'd had the chance.
It was crawling closer now...slowly it drew me in until my arms were both completely entrapped. It was pulling me...further...nearer...until it begin to cover my neck. Helpless tears were flowing down my cheeks by now as I drew closer and closer to my impending doom. It wouldn't be long now before I was completely swallowed up...
I was suddenly completely ensconced in the thick liquid and for one horrifying split second, I feared that I was about to die. But just asquickly as the thought had come to me, I found myselfcatapulted onto a hard, though somewhat squishy surface somewhere...on the other side of the mirror. But that couldn't be right, could it?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, this is kind of weird, I know. I felt like writing a Tom/Harry fic, though, and I had to find some way to get them together. So basically, Harry was just thrown into the past and is going to be spending time with Tom Riddle and getting to know him, etc. Anyways, I hope you liked it so far. I don't know how often I'll be updating (I have quite a few other stories I should be working on), but I will do so eventually.
1) 'MUS PIET EC SON' isthe phrase 'Noscete Ipsum'spelled backwardswith the spacing mixed up(likewith the Mirror of Erised.) The phrase is the more correct Latin translation of 'Know Thyself,' which most of you will probably recognize from The Matrix.