Harry Potter shoved away from his History of Magic essay in disgust. Laws against time travel- where did Binns come up with topics like these? Harry would have even preferred Goblin Wars. There was nothing more painful than to think of all the things he would have changed, if he could. Going back to the philosopher's stone- even to his childhood- sometimes it felt like Harry's life was nothing but regrets. Now, though, the loss of Sirius was like salt in old wounds. Even the old, dulled aches- lack of family, friends whose first loyalty was for another or who didn't exist at all, the thought of no one caring, at the end of the day, for Harry himself- seemed to burst open and become more painful at the thought of Sirius.

Harry supposed he couldn't really blame Binns' essay for his pain. He had only even started it in desperation for something to take his mind off things. Glancing around, Harry could see evidence of his apathy covering the room. His bed was unmade and also almost unslept in, though he had been "home" for more than a week. Only exhaustion could force him to slip into dreams, he did not try sleeping until he could not help it. A tennis ball and the dents in his ceiling spoke of mindless hours of boredom and grief. Hedwig's cage was empty. She had been sent to the Weasleys some days ago, only to return with a note that said Dumbledore had refused permission for owl post to him. He had sent her back, rather than force her to stay with him in his current mood.

Harry tipped the wobbly old desk chair back upright, and returned to his essay. Unlike Ron, who had access to a small collection of extracurricular books for his essay from his family (not that he used them), or Hermione, whose collection of books was more extensive than the entire Weasley family's and necessitated an expensive library trunk to bring to school with her, Harry was restricted in material for the essay to the topic to the short section, not even a page in length, that appeared on the topic in his textbook.

Harry read over the section again, pushing thoughts of his own regrets and wishes for a means to manipulate time to the back of his mind. The little Occlumency he had managed helped him in this task. Trying to keep his temper and grief in check in recent days was better Occlumency training than any Snape could have devised, had he actually been trying to teach Harry. Reading the section with a clear mind confused Harry this time.

Harry didn't fancy that he knew a lot about time law. His only experience with time travel was in third year- no, he wasn't going to follow that train of thought. Nonetheless, he thought it might be very difficult to catch someone who was manipulating time covertly. The small summary of Wizarding Law bore that out.

There were restrictions on the use of time turners, enforced by very complex intent wards. It was the wards, not a paradox, that would kill a time traveler who interacted with their past self in any way. Theorists believed that it was impossible to form a paradox anyway- such a thing would doubtless split off a new parallel universe. Harry did not realise until that moment how close he had come to death that day. Had he seen and recognized himself, his past self would have been Obliviated of anything to do with the encounter, and his future self would have died instantly, turned into pieces so small that even Unspeakables would be unable to reconstruct his body. After reading the punishments for stealing a time turner, Harry was glad they had been smashed by the Death Eater's body in the DOM, lest he have been tempted, and taken them without thought.

However, on the topic of time travel without a time turner, or with one outside of Ministry control, the law said nothing. Harry found this odd. Surely, if the Ministry could create a time turner, so could another inventor. Even if the materials for one were somehow monitored, Harry couldn't see that stopping Voldemort. Why weren't they more worried about that? He found the answer in another section of the book.

"Any magic is governed by intent, by the castor, the creature, or the potion master who created it. Time magic is the only exception- the only known application of time magic is the time turner. All existing time turners were created by Merlin Ambrosius himself from the freely given lives of the last of the Greater Elves, and warded with the current restrictions in place. All other potions, creature effects, and spells have been replicated, with enough raw magical power and willpower. An enchanted item allows someone without access to that kind of power and will on a regular basis to replicate the effect, but it is still an effect which could be gained through other means. In spell creation terms, the results are repeatable. Not so with time turners. For whatever reason, intent and will alone cannot replicate the effects, and the loss of the Greater Elves prevents a stab at repeating the same ritual."

Harry read that and wondered if it was true. There were no recorded attempts in the book, as there were for other magical objects of historic significance, such as the philosopher's stone. Oh, well, back to the essay...

Several hours later, predawn grey light was flooding through the threadbare drapes and bars of Harry's room. He put the finishing touches on his essay and set it aside with a yawn. It wasn't great, but it would do. It wasn't as if Binns regularly graded essays, anyway. Aside from the year-end exams, Harry had never received so much as one graded assignment back from him. Also, Harry had no intention of taking the subject into NEWTs, so the grades, provided they were passing, were not overly important for his future career.

As he yawned and moved over to the bed, he could not help a growing yearning to do it over again. If only it were possible to manipulate time without a time turner... creating an alternate universe where things went better sounded very appealing right now. He wasn't so sure he wanted to live in the one he was in now, and wasn't that a depressing thought? He started his Occlumency exercises, but gave up when he was unable to clear the yearning from his mind. It was perhaps an opening, but Voldemort already knew Harry regretted aspects of the past, so it was unlikely to provide him with any new information. He went to sleep still feeling the soul deep yearning for change, for the chance to do things better.

He awoke to a new world.