To Save The Future
Wingedhybrid
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of it's characters. This story was adopted by me – the original idea came from Rainbow Stripes.
Chapter 1
Three men, one young, two middle aged, stood weary and ragged, looking out over a silent battlefield. The green grass was stained with blood, charred with curse burns and strewn with bodies from both sides. They turned to each other and the younger of them grinned crookedly.
"We're fucked, aren't we Shade?" He asked brightly.
"That we are, Hunter. That we are." Shade replied. Hunter, otherwise known as Harry James Potter, turned and strode to the peak of the hill, looking out over the horizon at the sun that was just beginning to show itself that morning.
"Well, there is always the backup plan. I have no idea if it will work but we're the last three left, it's worth a shot." He muttered.
Shade joined him and slung an arm round his shoulder as Moony slipped one around his waist.
"When will it take us back to?" He asked as Hunter pulled a gold hourglass with purple sand inside, runes engraved on all surfaces. He held it up to his eye.
"Hmm, with this much sand, I'd say about 1st day of summer before 4th year. Joys, I get to do the bloody tournament again! 'Least I can save Cedric. By the way, bet on the cup final for me, anyone but Bagman. You up for it Sev, Moony?" He asked.
Moony, commonly called Remus Lupin, grinned as Shade, or Severus Snape to most, smirked and nodded.
"I'm ready. Remember, your body will get the muscle after about a week or so but you need to keep training, get used to being shorter. See if you can get kicked out of the house, go spend some money in Diagon Alley. Merlin knows you needed new clothes back then. Write to me when you get there. Good luck." Severus said sombrely.
Harry linked the long chain around their necks and turned his modified time-turner 5 times, sending their minds, memories and magical prowess back to August 1st, 1994.
Harry woke up in his bedroom at Number Four, Privet Drive with a pounding headache. He checked his makeshift calendar on the wall and grinned. He got it right on target. That meant that the Weasleys would invite him over in just over 2 weeks, giving him plenty of time to get everything sorted – and he had a lot to sort out. He sat up, massaging his temples in a failed attempt to rid himself of the headache, and trying to figure out what had already happened.
'I haven't had the dream yet but I've had my birthday, I've got my Hogwarts letter, haven't done my homework and I spend the last week and a half at the Weasleys.' He thought, getting dressed in a pair of overly large ragged jeans and a huge blue shirt – all of which, as most of his clothes, once belonged to Dudley. Hedwig cocked her head at him confusedly ('Probably sensing a difference' Harry thought wiry) as he started to pack his things away in his trunk, making a clean sweep of his room and cursing the thick glasses on his face. In his own time, he had them fixed, along with having some extra features added that helped dramatically with the war. Checking over everything once more, he used his basic wandless magic skills to put a feather light charm on his trunk. Though he was technically underage, he knew that the Ministry would get an alert saying that wandless magic has been used in this area and assume that it couldn't be Harry Potter. After all, what teenager, one who hasn't even been through his 4th year of Hogwarts yet, could do wandless magic? He often used their ignorance to an advantage. He ruffled his hair - just to add that extra annoyance factor for his uncle - and strode out, smiling broadly. He reached the kitchen and his uncle looked up at him with beady eyes.
"Wipe that smirk of your face, boy, and comb your hair. Dudley needs his breakfast." He said irritably.
Harry grinned, swiping some toast off the table. "Why? It's my hair, I'll do what the hell I like with it. And if precious Duddykins needs his breakfast, he can damn well get it himself." He shot back, smirking inwardly as his aunt paled, his uncle reddened and his fat cousin grinned maliciously.
"What did you say boy?" Vernon growled.
"I said that Dudley can get his own breakfast. I'm not a bloody slave! I don't even get paid for doing everything in the house. I think the only thing you've ever bought just for me was my glasses and school books, only because you had to. I'm sick of it: either treat me properly or chuck me out!" He yelled, mentally dancing at the chance to finally say all this. When he was 14, he would never have dreamed of saying anything like this to the Dursleys but he wasn't 14. He was an 18-year-old in his younger body, with experience in war and in death – why shouldn't he stand up for himself? There was nothing the Dursleys could do to him that would be any worse than what Voldemort had put him through already.
Petunia gasped, shocked, and Vernon's face went bright purple.
"All right then, boy! I've had it! You can get out of my house and if you darken our doorstep again I'll make you wish you'd never been born! Go on! You ungrateful little brat! Get your freaky things and get out! And take that ruddy bird with you!" He ranted furiously, rising from his chair and punching him in the face, out of pure anger, surprised when Harry didn't even move.
Harry glared, adjusting his glasses that had become wonky on his face, before sprinting two at a time up the stairs, grabbing his trunk and Hedwig's cage and dragging them back to the hall.
"Goodbye, I hope I never see you again. Don't worry about telling my Headmaster, I'll write a letter to him." He said cheerily before walking out, slamming the door in the now worried faces of the Dursleys. Harry walked down a few blocks to a secluded alley and took his wand out of his pocket, thrusting upwards as the violently purple triple-decker Knightbus came with a crack!
The door opened and Stan smiled. "Oy, It's 'Arry Potter, look Ern. Well then 'Arry, where to?"
He hauled Harry's trunk onto the bus and closing the door, letting the driver carry on.
"The Leaky Cauldron please Stan. Can you keep it quiet that I was here, please? I don't want the wrong sort of people knowing where I am, if you get what I mean." He said, handing 10 silver sickles over to the pimpled teen.
"'Course, 'Arry. Not another word. Jus' take a seat, we'll be right there." Stan replied, beckoning Harry over to a chair.
Harry sat down, making a mental list of what he had to do. He needed to write to Severus and Remus, tell them he was okay and what had happened; write to Sirius and start off the bonding that took place over his 5th and 6th years respectively – also try and think of a way to clear his godfather's name; he wanted to write to Cedric and possibly Cho to become better friends with them, just in case he couldn't save Cedric. He then needed to buy pretty much new everything. Oh, and he had to talk to Ron and Hermione.
The bus came to an abrupt halt and Harry stood, ignoring the call of "Diagon Alley!" from Stan. He nodded a thanks as he grabbed his trunk and cage, hauling them off the bus and through the door to the dingy pub, keeping his head down. No one noticed the scruffy teen walk up to the bar and order a room for 3 weeks. Tom didn't ask questions when he gave him a tub of bruise cream and showed him to room 8, which he was eternally grateful for. He sat on the rickety bed, thinking of everything he needed to buy. He scrawled a quick note to Severus and Remus, knowing that they'd be together as they always seemed to be in his own time, telling them what was happening and where he was, before writing a letter to Dumbledore that went like this:
Professor Dumbledore,
My aunt and uncle kicked me out this morning, I believe their exact words were 'You can get out of my house and if you darken our doorstep again I'll make you wish you'd never been born'. I honestly don't mind, Tom fixed up the black eye my uncle gave me. I've booked a room at the Leaky Cauldron. I promise I'll stay safe. It'll be like last summer minus the supposed mass murderer out to get me.
Sincerely
Harry Potter
He sent it off with Hedwig, before grabbing his Gringotts key and heading to the white marble bank. One of the tills was free so he walked up to it silently.
"Is there a way to have a pouch that I can get wizarding and muggle money from my vault without having to keep coming back?" He asked in an innocently curious voice, handing the goblin his key.
"Of course, Mr. Potter. One moment please." He said, placing the key in a small golden box and chanting something in another language that Harry only caught part of. In the war, he had needed to learn many languages from many different races, including Gaelic and Welsh for some odd reason. Sadly, the language that the goblins spoke was one that Harry had immense trouble learning and, even after 3 years, he remembered next to nothing. The box glowed and when he opened it, the key was resting on top of a black leather pouch with H.J.P. embroidered on in gold.
"That will be 7 Galleons." The goblin said curtly.
Harry pulled the amount out of the pouch and placed it onto the gnarled hands of the goblin.
"Thanks." He muttered, rushing out of the bank.
His first stop was at the trunk shop where he bought a dark wood trunk with 3 compartments, one for his school things, one for anything he might want to keep safe and the last was a large flat with a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, library, study, potions lab, common room and fully stocked auror level training room. It cost him about 500 Galleons but was well worth it. He then went to Madame Malkin's Robes and bought new Hogwarts robes, some training robes, dragon hide under armour, a wand holster, casual robes and a couple of pairs of dress robes all in various colours. After that, he bought what felt like half of Flourish and Blott's with a bottomless, weightless schoolbag and plenty of quills, ink and parchment. The next stop was in Quality Quidditch Supplies, skirting round the temptation of full quidditch sets and just getting himself some new seeker guards. Just as he was going to pay, his eye caught a shining golden snitch in a wooden box in the corner.
He grinned and put it in his arms with the guards. The clerk raised an eyebrow at the snitch before looking up and seeing the scar on Harry's forehead.
"Good luck, Mr. Potter. From what I've heard, you could go national at the rate you're going." He said proudly, handing the shrunken package to the teen.
Harry let himself blush and grinned. "Thanks sir." He slipped into the role of naïve determined teenager and walked out of the shop. He spent the morning and part of the afternoon darting around the alley, purchasing various odd items he would need, even slipping into Knockturn Alley to get a small gold ring that slips on the end of his wand, cancelling the ministry tracking spell and allowing him to do magic over the summer. After all, wandless magic took a lot of energy and concentration.
He also got his eyes fixed, adding the ability to see magical auras, night vision and being able to see through solid things and invisibility cloaks like Moody's eye. These treatments gave his already sparkling emerald eyes a glowing quality, making them even more prominent and, in the words of girls from his time, gorgeous.
He grew his hair out a bit, making it stylishly messy and adding blue streaks so dark you wouldn't see them unless you looked hard. Harry came back to the Leaky Cauldron after finishing his shopping, purchases in the shrunken trunk in his pocket, and grabbed a quick lunch in his room before transfiguring his clothes to fit him and pressing the button on his money pouch to make it look like a muggle wallet before setting eagerly into London to buy a complete new wardrobe.
5 hours, £850 and many eager to help sales girls later, Harry collapsed on his bed, completely exhausted with a mass of new clothes in his trunk on the floor. Within minutes, he was asleep, still in his new black jeans, combat boots and black Rolling Stones band shirt. While he was there, he'd bought an ipod and a mass of CD's, planning to use a few spells he invented in the future to make it work in Hogwarts and let it upload songs without a computer. This time, he vowed to himself, to end things quickly and with as little deaths as possible.
The next morning, Harry awoke early to his snowy owl pecking him on the face. He sat up, absently noting that his body was gaining muscle rapidly and untying the two notes from Hedwig's legs. The first one was from Severus.
Hunter,
It worked! I'm glad you got out, hopefully Bumblebee won't force you back. Test your boundaries and see if your hunting skills are what you used to be, I'm all good but you're only 14 right now, still technically maturing. Moony has made a point of me telling you not to exert yourself too much. Write and tell me when you're back to normal.
Nightshade
Harry knew that 'hunting skills' meant his animagus forms, which he added to his to do list to check. He smiled softly at Moony's warning and, though the parenting of the older man continued to irate him, he was glad that someone cared. He stuffed the note in his pocket and looked at the one from Dumbledore.
Harry,
I don't like the fact that you're not with your aunt and uncle but I suppose there's nothing I can do. I'll spend some time over the year looking for somewhere for you to stay next summer if you cannot go back. I can't make any promises, however, as this year we're going to be incredibly busy. The Weasleys have already written to me about inviting you to the Quidditch World Cup – something I'm sure you are aware of - and I agreed. They will take you to the Burrow on the 21st. Be careful, stay out of danger and keep to Diagon Alley. If you have any problems, owl me or ask Tom to borrow the floo.
Sincerely,
Professor Dumbledore
Harry smirked - Dumbledore had conviniently forgotten to mention the black eye. Harry had forgiven the man for the things he did in his time, but it took a long time. Everything was going well so far. He snatched a self-inking quill and some parchment off the side and began to write.
Padfoot,
How are you?
I'm staying in the Leaky Cauldron now, my relatives kicked me out. If you ask me, it's a good thing. I've managed to buy some new clothes - I plan on burning Dudley's cast offs as soon as I can. There is something I've wanted to write to you about.
In my dreams, I've been having these flashback sort of things, going back to when I was a baby with mum, dad, 'unca Pa'foo' and 'unca Moo'ey'. I'm not sure if they're just dreams or if they actually happened at some point. I'm going to write to Professor Lupin about some of them that are just him and my parents, but tell me, did you seriously get me a live penguin for my first Christmas? Or was it my imagination?
Hope you're okay
Harry
P.S. Hypothetically, what exactly would one have to do to become an official Marauder?
He rolled it up and sent it with Hedwig, getting the next piece.
Moony,
How are you?
Everything's okay with me, I've written to Shade (as you already know) and Padfoot. When's the next moon? Sorry we can't be there with you but I hope you'll have company next summer or sooner. Everything is fine here, I'm in the Leaky Cauldron. I left the Dursley's and I don't plan on going back.
Hopefully, I can stay with you and Shade ...
And don't worry about me, Moony. My powers are growing every day and already I'm feeling stronger than I ever did. I'll try not to exert myself but you know me – just have to keep moving until I drop.
See you soon!
Hunter
He wrote, tying it to a post office owl he'd rented and letting him out the window. He knew that those flashbacks were real but originally they hadn't started till the end of 6th year. He and Sirius bonded a lot over those small memories and the man became incredibly close to him. He watched as the tawny owl flew out of sight before taking his old trunk and slipping down into his new trunk, landing on a small pile of shrunken bags and packages.
One by one he un-shrunk them and used a spell to put them in their rightful places, changing clothes as he unpacked. Soon, everything was put away and he went into the training room, going through various routines of magical and muggle fighting, using various weapons from knives to staffs.
He managed to hold his own but was a little rusty on the physical aspect, he assumed he would get better once the muscle grew. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, calming his racing heart and concentrating. Suddenly, there was a black panther with greenish eyes and a white lightening bolt patch of fur on his forehead. The panther was then replaced with a black hawk and a small foot long black and silver magical sea-python. The python hissed happily before turning back to a smiling Harry Potter.
"Hunter is back in business!" He murmured to himself, taking a quick shower before settling down in the library with a sandwich and a pile of books.
In his old timeline, he never had the time to just sit and read in front of the fire. All the learning he, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna did was in a practical situation, rushed and on the move. He spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between reading books and depositing memories from his timeline in his new pensive. That night, he fell asleep with a smile on his face in the large bed in his trunk bedroom.
Harry spent the next week going over everything he would need for 4th year, keeping in mind he wouldn't do exams, restocking his potions supplies, getting back in shape and just browsing the Alley. He tried to stay out of everyone's way mainly, only occasionally coming across someone he knew. He had a reply from Remus, who was glad that Harry was okay, and that he wasn't at Privet Drive. Harry was tempted to buy a second owl for long journeys but was happy to use post office owls when Hedwig was out finding Sirius. Harry had also written to Cedric and Cho, informing them that he'd heard Quidditch would be cancelled that year and if they wanted to practise seeking they were welcome to join him. Cedric hadn't replied yet but Cho said that she would be happy to, Harry was thinking that he might even be able to involve Krum when they got there. When the war got bad, the two had become good friends and often played against each other to keep their minds off things.
All too soon, in Harry's opinion Harry got a short note from Ron telling him they would pick him up that Sunday at six. This was how he found himself sitting on his trunk, Hedwig's cage on his lap, by the bar at the Leaky Cauldron. Suddenly, the fire flared green and 4 redheads stepped out, smiling cheerily. The twins spotted Harry and waved, coming over to join him.
"My, my, Harry, haven't you changed. Glad to see you got away from that pig of an uncle you have!" Fred said, clapping him on the back and leading him over to Ron and Mr. Weasley.
"So am I. How is everyone?" He asked.
"We're fine, mum's going mental with you here on your own. Hermione arrived yesterday, can't wait till the cup!" Ron said excitedly, moving for his dad to take Harry's trunk.
"Got everything, Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Yup, Hedwig's on a delivery so it's just the trunk and the cage." He said, watching the whoosh of flames as one by one they flooed back to the Burrow. As soon as he was through, only stumbling slightly, he was caught in a hug by Mrs. Weasley.
"Harry, dear, so good to see you. When Ron told us you were at the Leaky Cauldron, I wanted to invite you sooner but Dumbledore thought it best to let you have a week to yourself. You're finally putting some meat on those bones but you're still too thin. Come on, dinner's on the table." She fussed, taking him outside to a table where the rest of the Weasleys and Hermione were seated. Hermione waved and Ginny smiled.
"Hi Harry, you got your eyes fixed." She said.
"Hey Ginny, Hermione, I did, yeah. How were your summers?" He asked, slipping into a seat beside Ron and Fred.
"Great, thanks." Ginny said, reaching over for some potatoes.
"Yours?" She asked.
Harry swallowed his mouthful of chicken and grinned.
"Well, it got a lot better once I was away from the Dursleys." He joked.
Ron laughed. "Harry, these are my older brothers. You know Percy," Harry nodded hello to Percy "This is Charlie, he's the one who works with dragons in Romania." He said, motioning to Charlie who was exactly as Harry remembered first meeting him. Burned, calloused hands, tanned skin and the famous Weasley hair.
Charlie held out a hand. "Hey Harry." He said.
"And that's Bill, he's a curse breaker for Gringotts." Ron said, pointing to the eldest Weasley boy.
Bill copied Charlie's actions and grinned. "An honour to meet the great Harry Potter" he teased.
Harry grinned. "Nice to meet you guys, I've heard loads about you." He replied.
Dinner went on with small conversations, Percy droning on about Crouch and the ministry, Hermione nagging Ron to finish his homework and the quidditch world cup. Harry was relishing in, what was for him, the first Weasley dinner in years. By the end, Mrs. Weasley was clearing up when she reached for her wand and it turned into a rubber duck with a loud quack.
"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY! What have I told you! I thought you got rid of those! I refuse to let you go through with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" She ranted.
The twins backed up and Ron, Harry and the girls left to take Harry's things upstairs.
"What's Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" He asked.
Ginny grinned. "It's the twins' inventions, they've made loads of really cool prank items, they want to open a joke shop when they leave school. Mum wants them to go into the ministry. At the moment they're just doing it by order forms." She explained.
"Some of their stuff is really quite clever." Hermione added, sitting on one of the four beds in the room.
"We're sharing with Fred and George because Bill and Charlie are in their room. Percy gets his room to himself because he's got 'lots of important work to do'." Ron explained annoyedly. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Ah well. Hey, guess what, when I was in the alley, I overheard these ministry guys talking. Apparently Quidditch is being cancelled at Hogwarts this year. Wonder why." He mused to Ron and Ginny.
"Dunno, Dad, Bill, Charlie and Percy said something's going on at Hogwarts this year, maybe it's something to do with that." Ron suggested.
The door opened and Fred and George slipped in, grinning.
"Hey, Harry, you wouldn't happen to have some room in that trunk for a few experiments of ours?" George asked.
"Mum's trying to confiscate them." Fred added. Harry smiled.
"That depends." He said, the twins' faces fell slightly. "Do I get to test them on Slytherins when we get to school?" He asked.
They grinned.
"Of course, we need a tester, we think Malfoy would be perfect." They said together, handing Harry a large box with three purple W's embossed on the top. Harry put it in the corner of his trunk.
"Harry, is that a new trunk?" Hermione asked.
Harry inwardly swore. "Yeah, my uncle punched a hole in my old one." He lied smoothly.
Ron and the twins started muttering curses.
"So, any idea why we've got to have dress robes this year?" Hermione asked, trying to change the subject.
Harry feigned ignorance and shrugged. It was a lot harder than it looked not to tell them everything but he couldn't risk it. "No idea, you're not supposed to need them till seventh year. I think it's all got to do with whatever's going on at school. Guess we'll just have to wait." He said.
There was a knock on the door and Charlie's head poked in. "Bed time, you lot. You've got to be up early to get the portkey tomorrow morning. Mum's got your school lists, she'll get your stuff while we're at the cup." He said excitedly.
They nodded and the girls left to change. Ron went to brush his teeth and Harry caught the twins before they followed. "Ginny told me about the joke shop idea, says it's only on order forms at the moment." He said. They nodded.
"Yeah, we're saving up for premises to buy when we leave school." George said.
"Well, the Potters are loaded, if you ever need any funding, come to me. The world needs a good laugh with all the Voldemort stuff. I might even be able to persuade Messrs Moony and Padfoot to help with some ideas." He said. The twins gaped.
"You know Moony and Padfoot?" They breathed in awe.
Harry nodded. "Yup, top secret though, not allowed to disclose their real names. They've asked me to carry on the Marauder tradition now. You two seem like good candidates. After the cup, I'll talk to you." He said as he left the room to brush his teeth, leaving two stunned Weasleys in his wake.