Reclaiming Time
Chapter One
It was dark as Harry snuck out of the dormitory underneath his invisibility cloak. He saw Ron, Ginny, and Hermione leave the common room. Probably to report to Dumbledore, he thought bitterly. He wasn't completely stupid and had noticed little things after second year. He had finally pieced it all together after a little research. The Weasleys had been reporting to Dumbledore from the beginning. The only ones he trusted weren't in on it were Mr. Weasley and the twins. Mrs. Weasley had been a Prewett, rich and spoiled until she had married into the Weasleys. Harry was sure it had been a nasty shock for her when her husband decided to leave auror training and work in the lowly department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. All Mrs. Weasley wanted was for the Weasleys to be respected and influential. Bill, Charlie, and Percy had all gotten well-paid jobs with the Ministry. Bill wasn't just a curse breaker for Gringrotts. It was his job to negotiate with the goblins and obtain treasures, claiming entire tombs for Britain's Ministry of Magic. Charlie not only worked at a dragon reservation in Romania, but he was also Britain's representative on the International Committee for Expulsion and Execution of Dangerous Beasts. Percy of course worked more directly with the Ministry. Ron and Ginny both reported to Dumbledore, as his supposed best friend and assumed love interest. Hermione, Harry knew, had only become part of it at the beginning of their third year. In exchange for betraying Harry, Dumbledore got permission for her to use a time-turner to take extra classes. Hermione probably believed she was doing what was best for Harry. Even after the time-turner was taken away, she continued spying on him for Dumbledore.
Harry was immensely satisfied that he had completely trashed Dumbledore's office. Harry viciously hoped that the many silver instruments he had broken were irreplaceable. Harry laid the blame of last night's events at Dumbledore's feet. Of course, he blamed Voldemort and Bellatrix as well, but Dumbledore was at the top of the list. Everything could have been avoided if Dumbledore would've told him what was going on. Harry didn't believe for a second that the old bastard had kept him ignorant out of love. This had been a test, just like every other year. Sirius' death had probably been a bonus. Dumbledore needed to test his little weapon. Harry didn't doubt Dumbledore wanted Harry to kill Voldemort, but he suspected that the Headmaster wanted him to die as well. Harry knew he was on his way to becoming magically stronger than both Dumbledore and Voldemort. If he defeated Voldemort, he would be celebrated as an even bigger hero than Dumbledore. They would probably want him for Minister of Magic. Dumbledore was getting old and even if he wasn't going to die anytime soon, Harry knew the wizarding world would be ready to replace him.
Harry crept out of the school and into the Forbidden Forest. He took off his invisibility cloak and put it in his pocket. From his other pocket, he pulled out a time-turner. He had impulsively snatched it in the Department of Mysteries when no one was looking. It was a good thing he had because the rest of them were later smashed in the battle. He turned it twelve times. He watched as the world around him rewinded. It was now almost four hours before Hermione would lead Umbridge into the forest.
He walked further into the forest until he spotted what he was looking for. A well-placed cutting hex killed the animal. He cast some more cutting hexes at the carcass as he waited for the smell of fresh blood to attract a thestral. Soon enough, he saw a thestral and waited patiently as it devoured the animal. He mounted the beast, re-covering himself with his cloak, and told him his destination. The sensation of flying could not quell his anxiety. If everything went pear-shaped, Harry would have to witness Sirius fall through the veil to never come back. He was hopeful that his plan would work though and Sirius wouldn't die.
Outside of the Leaky Cauldron, Harry got off the thestral and asked it to wait for him. Being invisible made it easy to slip into Diagon Alley and Gringrotts unnoticed. When he got up to the counter, he asked to speak to someone in private. He wondered idly if goblins could see through invisibility cloaks as he was lead into a private room. He took off his cloak.
"Mr. Potter, is there something you wished to discuss?"
"Yes, I want to know if I have another vault besides vault one thousand two hundred twenty-six."
"Mr. Potter, were you not aware that vault is merely a trust fund until you came of age?" Harry shook his head. "Your guardian should have explained this to you."
"Who is my guardian?" Harry asked, with a sinking feeling.
"Albus Dumbledore is your legal and magical guardian. Although you live with your relatives, your magical guardian is responsible for tutoring you before Hogwarts and teaching you pureblood customs."
"Tutoring?"
"Yes, of course. Even if you attended muggle schooling, you still had to be taught pre-Potions, Runes, some basic theory, and simple exercises that would reduce magical outbursts known as accidental magic."
"I never even knew about magic until I got my Hogwarts letter," Harry said calmly, though his eye twitched. "So I do have another vault?"
"Vaults five hundred ninety-two, six hundred thirty-three, and eight hundred seven are the Potter vaults. There is also a vault in Lily Evans' name, vault nine hundred ninety-four. Your godfather transferred one of his vaults to your possession a year after his escape from Azkaban, vault eight hundred twenty. You cannot touch the Potter vaults until you come of age, including all properties. Dumbledore is closely monitoring your trust fund. Your mother's vault and your godfather's are the only two you can access freely. Altogether, you have five billion, three hundred twelve million, four hundred thousand, and forty-one Galleons, thirteen Sickles, and two Knuts."
Harry gaped. "How much is in my mother's vault and the vault Sirius gave me?" he managed to ask when he found his voice.
"Seven thousand, three hundred and eight Galleons, nine Sickles, and twenty-two Knuts is in your mother's vault. Vault eight hundred twenty contains one billion, seven hundred thirty-one million, two hundred sixty thousand, one hundred and six Galleons and twelve Sickles. Do you wish to visit the vaults?"
"I don't have time actually. Is there a way to get money faster?"
The goblin smirked at him. "If you have enough gold there is. We have just developed a new way of withdrawing money." The goblin handed him a small velvet bag with the Gringrotts crest on it (a sword impaled on a chest of gold with runes for wealth and longevity surrounded by an emerald dragon). "This bag withdraws money straight from its connecting vault. It can also switch between currencies: Galleons, pounds, Euros, francs, marks, and dollars. The limit is one million Galleons at one time. There is also a five percent fee for every transaction over five hundred Galleons. We are only giving these to our best clients."
"I'll take one then."
"It only comes in black, but you can replace the Gringrotts crest with the Potter crest," the goblin informed him as he handed Harry a form to fill out. "Put the vault number you want it connected to, any extra charms you want on it, and sign. Do you want your crest on it?"
"Can I see what my crest looks like?"
The Potter family crest had a large eagle with a serpent winded around its talons perched on a knight's sword glinting with runes for strength and rebirth etched in the metal. The colours were bronze, silver, and a deep red. He chose to add the crest as well as anti-stealing wards, a self-shrinking charm, an illusion spell to make it appear to be a wallet whilst in the muggle world, and decided lastly on a charm that made the crest invisible unless he wanted someone to see it. A good precaution, he thought.
He carefully navigated through Diagon Alley, invisible underneath his cloak, avoiding the various shoppers and occasional Order member. He had learned that at least two of them were patrolling the area at all times at Dumbledore's instruction in case of an attack. If Harry were spotted here, it would bring a lot of trouble down on his head. One would follow him, the other would get Dumbledore, and the old man would probably look into his mind and obliviate him. He would not allow him to have thoughts of independence and mistrust towards him. Dumbledore never took chances with him. Not only did the backstabbing trio of idiots stalk him, but an Order member also followed him at all times. An Order member had no doubt followed him through every trial: the sorcerer's stone, the chamber of secrets, chasing after Sirius, the graveyard, and even at the Department of Mysteries. There had always been someone watching, never bothering to interfere. At times, he felt he was sure Dumbledore himself had been there and done nothing until it was too late.
He took off the invisibility cloak when he reached the safety of Knockturn Alley. He smiled grimly at the irony that he considered himself safer with the whores and cutthroat bastards of the dark alley than with Dumbledore's people.
He calmly strolled past Borgin and Burkes, entering a bookshop further down the alley. He kept his hood up, his head down and didn't speak. The man behind the counter didn't speak either. He just set out the books Harry had pre-arranged to pick up. Harry paid the man, adding an extra hundred or so galleons for his silence, and put the books in the bag he'd brought with him. The bag shrunk again as he put it back in his pocket. The books were very rare volumes on Occlumency, Legilimency, Necromancy, Alchemy, Dark Arts, and a copy of Moste Potente Potions (there were five in existence including the copy from Hogwarts, which Harry knew Dumbledore gave to Hermione). His next stop was a pawnshop of sorts with various dark artifacts and valuables. He quickly searched the store for anything remotely useful and purchased a 20-compartment trunk that had wards that blocked the detection of magic from the Ministry (violating several regulations). Ten of the compartments interconnected to form living quarters with several spacey rooms. He would have to furnish it himself and find a way to remove what he was sure were bloodstains. While he was looking at a set of scales that appeared to be made out of human bone, a loud ruckus in the back of the store attracted his curiosity. The shop owner rushed through a door behind the counter that said 'employees only'. Harry moved quickly, catching the door with his hand before it could shut all the way. He looked through the crack and stifled a gasp.
A cage was in the middle of the room with its door hanging lopsided (one of the hinges had melted off). Flying around the room, knocking things off shelves, was a creature that Harry guessed to be a chimera. It had the sleek body of a jaguar, leathery wings of a thestral, a dragon's tail, and two heads. Flames burst from the mouth of the lioness and Harry saw it had poisonous-looking fangs. The other head, a hippogriff, was breaking glass jars with its beak with obvious amusement as the shards rained on the wizard's head. The creature's tail whipped out and knocked several stacked boxes over. The man cursed and quickly sent a spell at the beast, hitting it in between the eyes of the lioness.
The hippogriff screeched angrily as its counterpart shook off the spell, the lioness making an agonized sound between a snarl and a hiss.
"Stupid human," a voice hissed with contempt.
Harry was startled that he could understand her, but recalled that most chimeras were part-snake. He tried to convince himself that buying an illegal hybrid chimera was a very bad idea, but he couldn't stop thinking about the advantages of having a chimera in battle. An inhuman scream issued from the beast and Harry realized the poor thing had been forced back into the cramped cage, which was fixed and re-enforced with spells.
"How can I help you?"
The man didn't sound helpful at all, nor did he look it towering over him with his wand pointed straight at his heart.
"I couldn't help but noticing your rather interesting chimera. How much do you want for it?"
"I'm auctioning it off. The current bid is five hundred ninety-three thousand galleons."
Harry bid six hundred thousand galleons and left quickly with his shrunken trunk in his pocket, entering the neighboring store. It just so happened to be Knockturn Alley's apothecary. He bought two vials of Felix Felicis, also known as luck potion. He then purchased all the standard ingredients he needed to brew every potion from first to fifth year curriculum and some of the more rare ingredients. He also bought new lab equipment including solid gold and silver cauldrons as well as five extra pewter ones of various sizes, thinking of converting a room in his trunk to a laboratory. Next, he found a shop that had no sign, name, or advertisement and curiously entered the grunge building. He discovered it to be owned by a weapons dealer. Swords, daggers, knives and other weapons cluttered the store. Many of them were cursed. Harry bought a sword that reminded him of Gryffindor's with rubies inlaid in the hilt although this one had a wyvern etched into the metal. He also bought a pair of enchanted daggers despite the shop owner not knowing what spells were on them.
His last stop in Knockturn Alley that he'd been most anticipating and putting off until last was at Gautier's, a private wand-crafter. Gautier was older than Ollivander and had a very fierce glare. Harry placed a rich amount of galleons on the counter. Gautier's expression changed immediately and he motioned Harry into the backroom.
"You are here because you do not seek a pre-made wand of low-caliber, but a unique powerful tool perfectly attuned to your goals," the man said as he cleared off a table and placed a box of woods on it. It was not a question. "Come, sort through the wands until you find one that feels right in your hand."
Harry went through holly, cedar, ash, oak and all the traditional Celtic woods very quickly with no result. The man grinned at him predatorily and set a much larger box in front of him. Harry sifted through the woods with both hands, trying over a hundred it seemed before getting a result. He turned back to Gautier with two woods, one in each hand.
"Two wands," the wizard chuckled, "no surprise there. You have a very powerful aura. The stronger someone's magic, the more likelihood that they are suited for more than one wand. An interesting choice of woods too, the one in your left hand is Lignum Vitae. Merlin himself carried a staff of that type of wood. It is associated with positive magicks and represents the end of strife and a new beginning. In your right, you hold Italian Olivewood. It represents the balance between the spiritual and physical world and rebirth. I suspect you will make good use of it."
Harry was instructed to hold his wand in his palm and wave it over the various cores until he felt a pull towards one. The Lignum Vitae pulled him towards a unicorn hair taken from a foal. Gautier didn't seem the least bit surprised and informed him that with such a positive wood it made sense for it to match to a core of purity. It took longer to find a match for his Italian Olivewood, but it settled on a chimera scale. He couldn't help but be reminded of the hybrid chimera as Gautier went on about how rare and powerful it was. The next step was to determine if he needed stones or crystals for his wands. Gautier was positive that he would, but Harry hadn't known stones were used in wands. He held the Lignum Vitae and unicorn hair again and let it guide him. A dark green stone with blood-red specks was its choice.
"A bloodstone," Gautier informed him. "Legend tells that they were formed from Christ's blood hitting the earth. They are very strong in power, healing, and protection and symbolize justice."
A jade stone was chosen for his other wand. Gautier had a strange excited expression as he told him jade was a powerful stone assisting in accessing the spirit world. Harry watched as the man shortened and shaped both woods and Harry instinctively stopped him at eleven inches. The cores went into the woods and then the stones were sealed at the base of the wands.
Harry pocketed both his wands and left Gautier's, re-covering himself with his invisibility cloak. He checked the time and made a quick stop at Knockturn Alley's owl post. He attached the vial of luck potion with a note to Sirius urging him to drink it. The thestral was still waiting outside the Leaky Cauldron. Harry mounted it and instructed it to take him to the Ministry of Magic.
At the telephone booth, he dialed and when it asked for his name and business he snapped, "I don't give a fuck, just let me in to save Sirius." He was amused at the badge, which read 'Idon Givafuk, serious rescue mission.' He downed his vial of Felix Felicis and entered the Atrium.
It was empty, just as it would be in half an hour when his past self got there with Neville, Luna, and the traitors. He had no doubt the Death Eaters had already hidden themselves in the Department of Mysteries, waiting to spring the trap. He took the lift down to the ninth floor and faced the same door that he had entered before. He suppressed that thought and memories of his haunting dreams to the back of his mind and entered the rotating room of doors. He tried several, marking them with the temporary spell Hermione had used, before finding the one with the veil. He ignored the whispers from beyond the veil, which he had figured out was a gateway to the spirit world. He sat in the farthest corner from the door and pulled out one of the books he'd bought, searching for the right spell.
It was almost an hour later, when he was sure the door would burst open any moment that he found what he was looking for. The spells were illegal, of course, but he didn't care overly much. The State of Living Death was the first spell. It would stop a person's heart, essentially 'killing' them, without harming the soul. It used to be practiced in mediwizardry before someone decided that any form of killing someone for any reason was inherently wrong. The second spell was especially dark. It would remove a person's soul from their physical body.
The door opened and he saw himself enter, followed by closely by the Weasel, Weaselette, Know-It-All, Luna and Neville. "Who's there," he heard himself ask. He frowned as he saw Hermione look at the veil with disdain. She did know what is then. No wonder she had been trying to hurry him out of the room. Dumbledore had put her in charge of making sure he didn't know anything that he shouldn't. He was relieved when he saw himself finally leave. It was disconcerting to watch yourself in the past.
He sat back and practiced the wand movements of the spells repeatedly with his new olivewood wand. He prayed that it would work. He stood up, placing a sticking charm on his invisibility cloak so that it wouldn't fall off and prepared himself for the battle that was about to began. He added a silencing bubble to himself at the last moment and just in time as he winced when he saw himself hitting the stone. Past Harry was in poor shape, shaking like a leaf. He stood on the dais and refused to hand the prophecy over. He watched as Neville bravely entered the scene, trying unsuccessfully to stun the death eaters. Harry couldn't help himself from moving forward when Neville was put under the Cruciatus by Bellatrix, but stopped himself from doing something rash just in time.
Sirius, Tonks, Kingsley, Lupin, and Moody joined the fray and it turned into a fierce battle. Harry had to dodge several curses and the people themselves, all while keeping track of Sirius. He snuck up on his godfather and withdrew some of his blood into a vial with a quick spell. He was very relieved that he'd given Sirius that luck potion when none of the spells from the Death Eaters had made contact. Harry noticed an unfamiliar wizard appear out of nowhere, confirming his theory about being followed. The man was aiming spells at not only the death eaters, but also Neville and Past Harry. He saw Past Harry pass the prophecy to Neville, dodging out of the way when one of Dolohov's spells missed Sirius and nearly hit him. When he looked again, the unidentified Order member had sent a cutting hex at Neville's robes. He kept a leash on his anger, sending a simple stunner at the man. He must have had orders from Dumbledore to make sure the prophecy was destroyed. There was probably more to the prophecy than what Dumbledore had told him. When Dumbledore entered the battle, Harry was glad that the old wizard couldn't really see through invisibility cloaks. That had just been a lie to keep Harry from using the cloak to get by him. Finally, he thought, as Bellatrix and Sirius were the only two still dueling. When the second stunner hit Sirius, Harry acted.
"Terrenus Nex! Singulus Animus," he whispered the incantations. He guided Sirius' soul into the crystal that he held in his hand as his godfather's body fell through the veil. Past Harry tried to rush after him, but Remus stopped him. Harry noticed that Dumbledore wore a look of satisfaction before it disappeared in an act of weariness and grave sorrow. He watched Past Harry chase after Bellatrix, and the room soon emptied except for Shacklebolt and the imprisoned Death Eaters. Harry bid his time observing until the ministry aurors, Dumbledore, and Fudge soon crowded into the room.
"Dumbledore, why do you have Lucius Malfoy in this thing," he gestured wildly with his arms, "with these Death Eaters? Release him," Fudge demanded.
"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Minister. Lucius Malfoy is a Death Eater. He was stunned during the battle, in which he fought against Harry Potter alongside his fellow Death Eaters," Dumbledore said patiently.
"Preposterous. I'm sure Lucius has an explanation."
"I'm sure he does, but it would not be the truth." Fudge turned an amusing shade of purple as the aurors took Malfoy and the other Death Eaters away, presumably to Azkaban.
When the last person left the chamber, Harry climbed onto the dais. He took the vial of Sirius' blood and poured it over the veil. It felt as if a vicious burst of wind cut into him and when he opened his eyes, he realized the veil had parted. Careful not to touch the veil, he used a simple summoning spell. Sirius' body flew out of the gateway and landed on the stone at his feet. He released Sirius' soul from the crystal and sent a prayer to whoever was listening as he renervated him.
A few minutes later, Sirius stirred with a loud moan. "Bloody hell, what happened? Harry?"
"You were dueling Bellatrix, she stunned you and you fell through that veil. The veil killed you and your soul was trapped in the spirit plane. I went back in time, killed you, and removed your soul before you fell through the veil. I used your blood to open the veil and summoned your body, released your soul and here you are," Harry summed up very quickly.
Sirius was gaping at him. "What do you mean you went back in time and killed me?" His voice sounded rather shrill.
"Um, well I had stolen a time-turner and I used it after you died to come back and save you. I had to kill you so that the veil wouldn't and remove your soul so that you wouldn't be trapped," Harry repeated awkwardly.
Sirius blinked. "Thanks. I think. Does everyone think I'm dead?" he asked with sudden interest.
"Yes. Sirius, we can't tell anyone you're alive. Well, maybe Remus, but definitely not Dumbledore," Harry said worriedly.
"Why would I tell Dumbledore? He would keep me locked in that damned house for another year, out the way," Sirius spat bitterly. "He'd prevent me from taking you for the summer and send you to the Dursleys. If he did 'reward' the two of us by having you stay for the last week of vacation, his order of the chicken and everyone else would make sure we didn't spend time together."
"You're smarter than I thought." It slipped out without his meaning to.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean," Sirius protested. Harry ignored him.
"My 'friends' have betrayed me, spying on me for Dumbledore. He told me the prophecy, though I suspect not the whole thing. He expects me to fight for him, Sirius. He wants me firmly under his control until I can kill off Voldemort. He's been manipulating me from the start."
"What?" Sirius jumped up and started pacing. "I don't care what a bloody prophecy says, he has no right!"
"Calm down, Sirius. I'm not going to let him manipulate me anymore. I have a plan. I'll tell you about it later. Right now, we need to get out of here."