Harry Potter and Time Turner's Gift
Disclaimer: I do not own the amazing Harry Potter series. All rights go to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Books, and Warner Bros.
Author's Notes: This is an edited version of a story I tried writing nearly a year ago. I never got much farther than three entries, but I'm expecting that to change this time around. Also, thoughts will have one quotation mark on either side and actual dialogue will have the standard two.
Prologue (Part 1)
[February 3, 2003]
It was around this time of day that Diagon Alley tended to be quiet enough to the point where it became quite eerie. Each and every shop had closed down for the day a few hours earlier and vacated to their homes although that doesn't mean that there weren't some shady figures walking around at night. This was not the case for Terry Boot who, after a long day of stamping papers in his office within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had just finished a night of drinking with coworkers and friends. Slightly drunk, he traversed the roads of Diagon Alley towards his flat. As he passed the final corner before reaching it, he began to hear footsteps behind him. Not the paranoid type, Terry shook it off and finally reached his door. With a single flick of his wand, the lock released.
"Home sweet home," Terry mumbled, placing his wand on his counter before deciding to manually lock his door.
The very moment he turned to do so, the front wall of his flat burst apart. Debris now flooded the living area, some of it even pinning Terry to the ground. Groaning, Terry looked forwards, trying to spot the perpetrator. It was at that moment that he spotted a man in black robes, the dark of the night shielding his face, standing where the doorway would be, his wand out.
"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Terry asked as he moved his free right hand toward his wand, not wanting to take chances.
The man took a few steps forward, kicking away Terry's wand first and foremost. Pointing his own wand at Terry's head. "I am the Night Watcher."
"The Night Watcher? Who exactly are y-" Terry began to speak but was stopped as a green beam of light flew from the Night Watcher's wand, relieving Terry Boot of his life.
The mysterious Night Watcher let out a sigh, thinking he had been too careless with his actions. After picking up Terry's wand, the man pocketed it and apparated from the area. This was a nice start, but there was still much more to do. Lord Voldemort's mistakes were still not rectified.
[February 4, 2003] (Ministry of Magic- Minster's Office)
Kingsley Shacklebolt looked to the reports sitting on the desk in front of him. Each of them had been taken from witnesses that found the murdered Terry Boot. He sighed, trying to think of a feasible explanation of the event he could release to the presses when they would eventually arrive. The only problem plaguing him was that he hadn't come up with one. Perhaps the Aurors he'd sent to investigate the scene could be able to shed some information on it. Just as he had delved deep into his thoughts, Kingsley shot his head up as four men entered.
"Welcome, Harry," Kingsley greeted, watching as Dean, Neville, and Ron followed. "Did you find anything at the scene of the crime?"
Harry Potter, famed wizard extraordinaire, took a step forward. "Not a thing. Whoever this was, he'd been careful not to leave a traceable magic signature behind. That's very odd considering whoever did this blew away the front portion of the apartment. It takes a lot of practice to do something like that."
"The operation itself wasn't too hard to put together. All of the debris from the front of the apartment trapped Terry, and it looks like he was taken out swiftly with an Avada Kedavra," Ron added.
"We can't be too sure if the attacker will do this to anyone else. There could be a chance that those close to him are in danger as well. I suggest we talk to some of his closest friends," Dean Thomas spoke up.
"Very well. Who would you four talk to?"
Neville spoke up this time. "I remember seeing him spend his time with Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein quite a lot in the Leaky Cauldron for the past few years. He never talked about any family from what I heard, so I'm pretty sure Goldstein and Corner were the only people he spent much time with save for a few people from his job. We should probably start with his school friends."
"I'll leave Harry and Dean to cover Corner while Ron and Neville can keep watch on Goldstein."
The four Aurors were given permission to use the Minister's fireplace for transportation to the Leaky Cauldron and each went one at a time into it at a time, asking for the Leaky Cauldron. Just seconds later, they were each in the basement of the Leaky Cauldron which was out of possible Muggle view.
"I've never enjoyed the whole Floo Power experience," Harry grumbled before wiping dust off of his robes, following the others up the stairs to the ground floor afterwards. "Well, I suppose that Dean and I will stay here. The two of you can go ahead and locate Anthony."
Neville gave a swift nod of comprehension and was prepared to leave before remembering something. "We'll wait just a bit. I'm going to say high to Hannah. She's the Landlady now. Tom retired just a few months earlier."
"Go ahead, Neville, we've got plenty of time. The bar is on the other side of this floor, so I suppose we'll see you later," Harry said.
"Harry, do we have any means of communicating with each other if something goes wrong?" Ron brought up before Harry joined Dean who had already begun to walk away.
Harry turned to Ron. "Just send a jet of sparks into the air. We'll be right over."
With that, Ron and Neville left the Leaky Cauldron, heading towards the shopping district and, ultimately, to Olivander's.
As the others left, Michael Corner left his post behind the bar counter and walked over to Harry and Dean who had just taken a seat at a table near the fire place. He hadn't changed much from his Hogwarts days despite his hair now being held back in a ponytail as well as his ragged bartending clothes of choice. "It's been a while, gents. How's the Auror business been?"
"Same as usual. You know, finding and taking down threats to the wizarding world… and yourself?" Dean ended with a grin.
"I've been fine. It has been different without Terry around, though. Haven't seen Anthony in a while either. Is there something that the both of you are here for?"
"For a start, we'll take two butterbeers," Harry replied, smiling.
"You guys sure you don't want something stronger? Fire Whiskey perhaps?"
Dean laughed. "We're on official Auror business, Michael. Getting drunk on said business could end with disastrous results. We'll stick with the butterbeers."
Michael poured both drinks after taking the order and placed them on the table in front of Dean and Harry. He pulled up a chair and sat with them. "Well, let's get on with it. I'm certain there's something that needs discussing."
"Good guess. We're here to talk about Terry," Harry said, taking a sip of his butterbeer when done.
Dean nodded to Harry. "Do you know of anything that could have led someone to killing him?"
"I don't know anything. The only time I ever saw him was when he'd stop in for drinks with some of his Ministry pals on Friday nights."
For the next few hours Harry and Dean tried to squeeze out every last detail from Michael, trying to at least find some kind of clue towards the assailant's identity. They came up with nothing. Dean and Harry left the Leaky Cauldron not too long after but only found themselves on the move at that time as well. Rising into the air was a jet of red light.
"Damn it, something's going wrong. Dean, let's hurry," Harry began to weave in and out of multiple alleys after alerting Dean.
Just minutes after the initial flare, Harry and Dean reached the launch location but were only in time to see the Night Watcher standing over the bodies of Anthony, Ron, and Neville, the mysterious figure having caught them off guard.
The Night Watcher turned to Harry, his face still covered. "Harry Potter. The one who defeated Tom."
"Who are you?" Dean questioned as he caught up with Harry.
In order to make it so only he and Harry were the only ones standing, the Night Watcher flicked his wand and, at the very tip, a beam of white light emerged. It seemingly grabbed Dean by the leg and hung him in the air momentarily before the Night Watcher flung him into the window of a vacant building. Dean barreled into an assortment of knickknacks and doodads before stopping at the base of the lone counter within the store. With Dean now out of the picture, the Night Watcher returned his attention to Harry.
"I'm assuming you would be asking the same question as your friend did, Potter," the Night Watcher moved his wand in front of his face, pulling it away slowly directly afterwards. The shroud of darkness slowly dissipated. "Do you see who I am now, Potter?"
"Now I recognize you. From the Auror records. You are the elder Avery. When all of the Death Eaters were sent back to Azkaban after the Battle of Hogwarts, you're the only Death Eater that was never accounted for," Harry paused before continuing. "Why the hell'd you just now decide to start causing trouble?"
The elder Avery, who looked to be in good shape for his age, took a step forward before responding to Harry. "I needed time to formulate my plan. Granted, it did take longer than I thought. Especially when you locked up all of Tom's followers. That certainly changed the course of things."
"What exactly is your plan, Avery? And why does the killing of my former classmates have to be involved?"
"I'm not going to indulge upon the more important part of my plan to you, Potter, but I do suppose there are some details I can enlighten you with," Avery interrupted himself with a wheeze prior to continuing. "You see, Tom Riddle, or Voldemort, as he liked to be called after his years at Hogwarts, was a friend of mine nearly sixty years ago in Hogwarts. I'd always followed him as a lackey of sorts, but I veered off from that path after you killed him. Over fifteen years in Azkaban had greatly debilitated my body compared to how it was before. I knew I couldn't be of adequate enough assistance to Tom and simply ran off," Avery finished with another wheeze, it this time developing into a full-on cough.
Harry watched as the old man entered his coughing fit and patiently waited until he was finished. "Well, get on with it."
"Excuse me, Potter. My time in Azkaban hasn't been so kind to me in the long run," Avery finally gathered himself and continued on. "They all thought I had died since I never responded to Tom's calls via the Dark Mark. I felt that the situation was beyond anything I could handle. For three more years, I isolated myself in a cottage off the coast of the North Sea in Dover. That ended once I heard of Tom's death and the eradication of the Death Eaters and imprisonment of their members. At that point I knew someone had to carry out his duties, so I kindly obliged by trying to make myself capable of the feats I once was. I did and here I am."
"Then I guess it's time I get to stopping you before you kill anyone else, Avery," Harry brought his wand up and aimed. 'Expelliarmus!'
'Protego.'Avery shot away the spell, twisting and aiming directly at Harry, flicking his wrist twice and shouting, "Confringo!"
Eyes wide, Harry sped out of the way and dove as the spell came in contact with the building that formerly stood behind him. It exploded, sending shards of glass and chunks of rock in every direction as it also burst into flames. Harry guarded his head as the miscellaneous debris scattered, a stray shard of glass leaving a light cut on his right cheek. He noticed that the damage had managed to work its way into the shop Dean was flung into but decided against checking on him due to the threat that was still about. Gripping his wand tightly, Harry backed away from the flames while also trying to use the smoke to shield himself from Avery. When he felt the time right, he made out the silhouettes of his friends and rushed towards them. Upon arrival, he discovered Anthony to be groggy but still awake. Anthony stood up, trying to ask Harry what was going on.
"Not now Anthony. Get your wand o-" Harry began to order Anthony but was interrupted when a green jet of light sped towards them. "Get down!"
Before he had the chance to do as Harry told him to, Anthony was hit with the green jet head on, falling several feet away and going limp. Quickly, Harry got to his feet and ran to Anthony and tried to survey his body for any sign of life. To his chagrin, he discovered Anthony was dead. Not wasting anytime on grievances, Harry turned his attention back to where Avery had been prior.
"Show yourself, Avery. I know you can here me, coward. Come out and fight me!" Harry called out to his enemy, trying to entice him into fighting.
"Very well, Potter," Avery complied, waving his wand as to move the smoke out of the way. "The next move may be yours."
Still angry, Harry aimed directly at Avery's head. "Bombarda Maxima!"A silver-white light erupted from the tip of Harry's wand, the force behind it causing the entire street ahead of him to tear apart and rise up from the ground.
As the street began to tear apart, the blunt part of the spell continued on its path to Avery. In vain, he attempted to cast a shielding charm but only managed to get it up slightly. Avery managed to keep himself from getting blown apart but still was thrown into the raging storm of built up street debris. When the dust settled, Harry surveyed the damage. Finding no immediate sign of Avery, he ran over to the area he last saw Dean and climbed over the bottom of the broken window pane into what looked like a pawn shop. Harry knelt down to one knee next to Dean after finding him slumped over in front of the counter and checked for any sign of a pulse.
"It's faint. It's there, but it's faint," Harry dug his right arm beneath Dean's left and lifted his friend up. He carried Dean out of the doorway for the shop and set him against the foundation of a still intact structure.
Just as Harry began to go check on the condition of Ron and Neville, he heard the distinct sound of disapparition. He cursed under his breath as he believed it was Avery getting away. Over the course of the next thirty minutes, everyone that was unconscious had regained consciousness and returned to the Ministry with the body of Anthony Goldstein. Due to it being well into the wee hours of the morning, the Main Halls of the Ministry were completely empty which made it easier to drag a dead body and an injured friend to the Minister's Office. Upon entry, Harry and the others were relieved to find Kingsley awake and in the middle of a discussion with Gawain Robards, Head of the Auror Department. Kingsley stopped mid-sentence while talking to Gawain and turned his attention to the men at the door.
"Sorry to interrupt, Kingsley, but we've got a few problems on our hands," Ron said, helping Neville get the body of Anthony Goldstein in the room.
Harry decided to convey the past situation to the Minister."We were talking to Corner and Goldstein for information, but Neville and Ron were attacked by our mystery man. That man turned out to be the elder Avery. Dean and I answered a distress call from Ron, but we were greeted by the sign of the unconscious bodies of Anthony, Ron, and Neville. Avery threw Dean into a window and into a pawn shop. I tried to subdue Avery but failed, and he got away at the last second."
Kingsley took everything in before saying anything else. "From the looks of things, Goldstein is dead and Dean is injured. Gawain, can you take the two of them to St. Mungo's? I'll notify Goldstein's family."
With a nod of understanding, Gawain took hold of Dean and Anthony and disapparated to St. Mungo's. With nothing left to say to the Aurors in front of his desk, Kingsley dismissed them. As they left, Kingsley stood up and paced around in his room before accessing the files in the back of his room. With a simple wave of his wand, files hovered out of their respective drawers and set themselves on top of each other on his desk. It didn't take much searching through them until he found Avery's file and history.
"Iras Avery Sr. Born August twenty-forth, nineteen twenty-six. That makes him seventy-seven at this time. Hm, a friend of Tom Riddle during their tenure at Hogwarts. Imprisoned in Azkaban for fifteen years. No record of ever participating in Death Eater activity after escaping Azkaban," Kingsley spoke to himself as he flipped through the relatively slim files on Avery. "Odd that he decided that now would be the best time to make himself known to the wizarding world. Even odder that he seems to be doing that successfully."
February 25, 2003 (Three Weeks after the Skirmish in Diagon Alley)
Harry sat alone in his office, working on a crossword in the Daily Prophet. It had been three weeks since his short duel with Avery and there had been no sign of the mad man since. The number of assignments had also seemed to die down. Most days were simply spent working on paperwork, organizing files, and just wasting away the day with Ron in Hermione's office in the Department for the Regulation and Control for Magical Creatures. Ginny was away in Dover with the Hollyhead Harpies playing against the Dover Dragons so he was also busy worrying about her safety due to the fact that Avery disclosed the information that he'd been living there for five years in a small cottage.
The day went by slowly, even putting Harry to sleep at one point. As the hours went by and the night slowly dragged in, the people of the Ministry began to slowly thin out in number until only a few people and the cleaning crew was left. Harry looked out of the window of his office, thinking now would be a good time to go home to Godric's Hollow. That is until Gawain Robards came rushing into Harry's quiet office, the lights of the office flickering on as the Head Auror entered.
"Potter, your fiancée, the youngest Weasley, was found dead in the Hollyhead Harpies locker room an hour after the game against the Dover Dragons was supposed to end. There was a note left addressed to you. I'm sorry for your loss, Harry," Robards quickly placed the sealed peace of parchment on Harry's desk and exited just as fast but made no noise as he did so.
Overcome by a mix of anguish and anger, Harry hurled his wand across the room and closed the doors to his office with a passive wave of his right hand. He tore open the letter, tears beginning to well up in his eyes, and read aloud. "Another of my targets is gone. It's unfortunate it had to be the woman you were going to marry. Signed, The Night Watcher."
Harry tore the letter apart, tossing the pieces into the corner of his office as he stood, sending a punch at a wall in anger. Overcome with emotion, he punched the same spot several times. Blood began to drip from his knuckles, and he finally stopped. He slumped over in front of a filing cabinet, continuing to cry.