Disclaimer – The world of Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and various publishing houses. The Films are owned by Warner Brother's Studios. I do not in writing this claim ownership over any properties associated with the works of J.K. Rowling. I am merely playing in her backyard while I get these ideas out of my head.

Please note that I am an American, and as such am not entirely familiar with the British version of the English Language. As such I am liable to make mistakes in regards to British Slang and Grammar, I hope you can all forgive me these mistakes?

Author's Notes (A/N) – This is the third rendition of the second chapter. I am proud to say I now have a Beta Reader. As such I would like to thank Sirgoalie11 for his contributions to my continued work on this story!

*Rap**Rap**Rap*

That was the first sound that Harry James Potter heard upon landing in whatever time period that he ended up in. For a brief moment before opening his eyes, he had the distinct fear that he had landed in his cupboard beneath the stairs in the Dursleys home. That was remedied as soon as he opened his eyes and witnessed a room decked out with Chudley Cannon's posters. For another brief second Harry thought he had arrived back at the Burrow, but then something happened that changed his opinion drastically, and, in the process, brought his world crashing down around him.

"Wake up James; you're going to be late for your first day at Hogwarts at this rate." A woman's voice said on the other side of the door to the room which Harry could now clearly see was not Ron's.

Harry sat bolt upright, looking around the room for a second time, sure enough there were Chudley Cannon's posters, but they featured different players than the ones in Ron's room back at the Burrow. He looked for this James person, but not finding the subject of his search he quickly frowned realizing that he was the only one in the room.

Struggling out of the unfamiliar bed that he was sitting in, he went over to the closet where he found that there was a body length dressing mirror in it. When he looked in the mirror he received a shock that scared him half to death. He was looking at an exact duplicate of himself at age eleven, only without the famous scar that had become such an important part of his life. Not to mention that his eyes weren't the green shade of his mother anymore. Since the woman's voice had called out to James, the only conclusion that the now shell shocked Harry could come up with is that he had somehow ended up inside of the body of his formerly deceased father. With that conclusion in mind, he realized that Harry James Potter had officially become James 'Prongs' Potter.

"Bloody Hell, I wanted to influence his life, not live it." Harry said with a groan. This was problematic, originally Harry had wanted to come back in time, confide in Dumbledore about what was going on, help him shore up defenses on James and Lily's home and ensure that Wormtail never became the Potter's Secret-Keeper. Now he figured that he had to get Lily to fall in love with him, convince Snape to hate him, while somehow making it so Snape remains in love with Lily, convince Sirius to be the Potter's Secret-Keeper, and do all of this without letting on that he was from the future. This was going to be a nightmare to pull off, especially since he really didn't know enough about his parent's lives to successfully impersonate either of them. At least ever since having worked as an Unspeakable he has been capable of successfully shielding his mind from most unwanted intrusion. It would take an extended and determined assault from someone as powerful as Voldemort or Dumbledore themselves to get past his defenses.

Going over to his father's trunk, Harry opened it and started sorting through things. He wanted to be sure that he had the one tool that would be indispensable during the coming years, though not as indispensable as it had been during his original run through Hogwarts. Seeing as how he went through all the trouble to ensure that the three brothers had them, finally he found the silvery almost fluid like material of the cloak of invisibility. This magical relic would allow him to move almost undetected throughout the school no matter what. Though strictly speaking he no longer needed the cloak, having long ago mastered the disillusionment charm and being ranked as one of the best at performing it in the world, it is still comforting to note that he had the option of true invisibility if he so desired it. Hopefully with the addition of the cloak to his tool belt, and the spells he had amassed in his time working in his Ministry, he will be able to create the changes necessary to form the best possible future for his friends and family to live in. "I am a Gryffindor after all. And if I don't try to do this to the best of my abilities, I will very likely regret it in the long run." Once he had determined that he had everything that he would need to start his work, he replaced all of the stuff he had removed from his trunk sans the cloak, and closed it. He then placed the cloak into his carry-on bag for the Train, and he then began the process of carrying his trunk and bag down the stairs.

Upon arriving downstairs, Harry was startled to run into a woman who uncannily resembled Bellatrix Lestrange. In an instant Harry's wand was drawn and pointed at her. The startled, and slightly disappointed look she gave him however, caught him off guard – and he was even more disconcerted when a man who looked like an older version of his current body walked into the room, gave him a sharp look, and said sternly, "James, how dare you point your wand at your mother. Put it down this instant."

Abruptly Harry realized that he was looking at his grandmother and grandfather – that was to say, his current body's mother and father. Did that mean that he was more closely related to the Blacks than he had initially thought? He knew there was a Dorea Black on the Black Family tree who had married a Charlus Potter, was it possible that these were they? Dorea Black, if Harry recalled correctly had died in 1977 or 1978. Harry had originally intended to arrive at the start of 1978, but it seemed that he had actually arrived on the day of his father's sorting, which meant that this was 1971. This meant that he had between six and seven years to get to know his own grandparents. To make his situation more awkward, they already knew James Potter intimately, and they probably wouldn't be fooled by anything he, as Harry, had to say.

Harry lowered his wand while sighing and said "Sorry, but I don't suppose you two know Occlumency?" his grandparents started, glanced at each other, and raised their eyebrows.

"James, if this is another of your pranks..." Harry's grandfather started to say angrily, but his wife stopped him by placing a restraining hand on his shoulder.

Harry raised his hands in surrender and said "No, no prank. It's just that I would like to tell you two some really important information. This information could be dangerous for both you and me if it were to become public knowledge. Which is why I am wondering if you both know Occlumency?"

His Grandparents looked at each other with a bit of confusion and his grandfather said, "Yes we know Occlumency, but Perhaps you ought to wait until the Christmas Holidays to tell us, as we are running late for the train; if we don't leave now, we will never make it to Kings Cross Station in time for you to meet Sirius and get on the train."

Harry/James nodded and grabbed his Trunk and day bag, while his grandfather walked up to him and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. They waited for his grandmother to Apparate, then a moment later Harry felt his grandfather's arm twisting away, in an effort to stay rooted to his grandfather, Harry wrapped the arm shouldering the bag around his grandfather at the last minute before the man apparated. In that same instant he clamped his other hand tightly around the handle of his trunk, ensuring that it too followed them along the transit through space. He felt the compression from all sides that told him he was definitely apparating, unable to breathe, and feeling as if there were iron bands against him. He hadn't felt this uncomfortable while Apparating since his 6th year of Hogwarts as Harry Potter, when Dumbledore himself took him from the London Underground to Professor Slughorn's borrowed residence.

After squeezing through the vortices of space, Harry and his grandfather reappeared in a bustling and crowded Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. One of the first things that Harry noticed was a blond girl who looked like a younger version of Narcissa Malfoy boarding one of the forward compartments of the Hogwarts Express; he smiled slightly when he saw a girl that looked like Tonks in her default state boarding the same compartment. Then he had to frown somewhat when he noticed Lucius Malfoy boarding the prefects compartment; this was going to be a hellish first year at Hogwarts if Lucius was a prefect.

While he was thinking that, he heard a whoop and a shout coming from behind him "Oi, Potter!" There was no way in a thousand years Harry would ever forget the individual to whom that voice belonged. Grinning from ear to ear he turned around and saw Sirius Black grinning just as broadly at him.

"Well, well, look what the kneazle dragged in?" Harry said with a smile on his face grabbing Sirius around the neck and giving him a noogie.

Sirius gave Harry a confused look not quite sure how a kneazle would drag him in, until Harry delivered the noogie; then he realized that the other boy had been teasing him. "Oh, har, har, James, shall we load our things?" he asked.

Harry thought for a moment, and then cast a glance around the crowded platform. He soon caught sight of who he was looking for; with a smile, he said "You start with that, I think I'm going to go introduce myself to someone."

Sirius shrugged and said "Yeah sure. But only if you promise to introduce me to her later," punching his friend in the shoulder with a sly grin.

Harry for his part smiled and said "What makes you think it's a 'she'?" to his former godfather. To which Sirius guffawed like there was no tomorrow.

As Harry walked over to another first year, he overheard a woman saying goodbye to her children who were almost all boarding the Express "Now Anna you promise to mind your Sister. And Lindsay, make sure that other girls don't go making fun of your sister, the way that Olive Hornby used to do to me." In response to this two younger girls said "Yes Aunt Myrtle, we know, we know. You've only told us this half a dozen times." This startled Harry, and he had to hide a smile, it appeared that Moaning Myrtle managed to survive to adulthood, which means that his warning to Bolla had been successful, and the Basilisk had not fallen for Voldemort's ploys. Unfortunately, Harry realized that this also meant that his other objective had occurred and he had successfully altered time in a rather significant manner.

He finally made it over to the first year he wanted to talk to, who was wearing a rather run down outfit and who had brown hair. "Hello there," he said, while offering his hand. "My name's James Potter. You look a little lost. Would you like to sit with me and my friend Sirius?"

The boy looked up with a start "Um… yes. I-I s-suppose I would." The young boy started to say, clearly flustered. He then gathered some composure, schooling his features and continued, "My name is Remus by the way. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Excellent." Harry said, pointing Remus Lupin in the direction of the cabin that they would be riding in. "Sirius and I have been friends for a long time. I am sure you and he will get along famously. Also, ignore any claims that Sirius or I are going to prank you. We only prank people who truly deserve it, and I can tell that does not include you."

Remus gave a reluctant nod, and hesitated slightly in following Harry, but did keep up nicely all the same. As the two of them made their way back to where Sirius and Mr. Potter were busy loading the boys trunks onto the rear cabin, Harry saw something that made him stop in his tracks, the oh so familiar greasy hair of Severus Snape followed by a flash of red hair. "Mum," He whispered inadvertently.

Remus' sharp lupine ears caught the whisper, "pardon?" He said, following Harry's gaze.

James' face flushed a deep Crimson as he realized what he had said, "Sorry, nothing. Come on let's go."

Harry then guided Remus up to his grandfather, grandmother, and Sirius. He introduced Remus to his pseudo-parents and in the process learned that they were indeed Dorea Potter née Black, and Charlus Potter. Once introductions were taken care of, he helped Remus load his trunk onto the train car. With that out of the way, he hesitantly hugged his pseudo-parents goodbye and boarded the train followed by Sirius and Remus.

A good twenty minutes after the train started pulling away from the station the door to the compartment that Harry, Sirius and Remus were in opened up, Harry subtly drew his father's wand, it would take some getting used to, but the wand felt comfortable in his hands. He was going to have to find out what the specs were on it though. He then looked up and wasn't at all surprised to see Lucius Malfoy, and the Carrow Twins… 'Oh this is going to be fun.'

"Look what we have here, a blood-traitor, a reject, and a mudblood." Lucius drawled, causing chuckles and giggles to arise from Amycus and Alecto.

Harry glanced over to Sirius and said "Which of us is the reject?" which got a laugh from Sirius a grimace from Remus, and three confused scowls from the baby death-eaters. "Look, unless you want something specific from us Lucius, I suggest you leave. It's not like we've actually done anything yet which you can punish us for. Nor is it like you can actually dock points from us yet, we haven't been sorted."

Lucius scowled at Harry and said "I know that." Drawing his wand and raising it toward Harry.

That was all it took, before he could even think about it, Harry discreetly waved his wand wordlessly performing a summoning charm. The effect of said summoning charm on Lucius was immediate, the words of his spell never came out has he fell flat on his back, knocking both Amycus and Alecto over as his underpants flew off his legs. 'Well, I guess Snape wasn't the only one who never wore muggle Jeans underneath his robes.' Harry thought.

Sirius was laughing; Remus had a stunned look on his face. Meanwhile Harry had stowed his wand and left the underpants on the ground. Lucius was attempting to disentangle himself from Amycus, and Alecto was blushing uncontrollably for some reason.

When Lucius finally righted himself he said "HOW DARE YOU."

Harry shrugged, "It was accidental magic, unless you can prove I actually cast a spell on you, that is what I will claim."

Sirius nodded, and Remus said "He never said any actual words to any spells that I could hear."

"Lucius, come on, they have you. You can't prove he did it on purpose and you know it." Amycus said while urgently pulling on Lucius' right arm.

"Merlin's balls, you got lucky this time, now give me those back." Lucius said, reaching for his underwear, though Harry cast a flawless but silent and wandless levitation charm and sent the underwear floating out of the compartment and down the hall.

"Oh come ON." Lucius said as he ran out the compartment after his underwear, followed by the twins.

When he was gone Sirius and Remus began reclining in their seats. Harry however immediately drew his wand, went to the compartment door, closed it, and tapped the door with his wand saying "Colloportus Tertio Crinem." He knew that the standard locking spell could be overcome by just about any well-read first year. The Third Lock however was more difficult to overcome, and probably only a teacher or seventh year who has been apprenticed would be able to manage it. He then cast another charm, this one to allow their conversation to remain unheard; he pointed his wand first at himself, then at Sirius, and Remus, while chanting the word "Muffliato" three times.

Remus looked like he was going to be sick as Harry brandished his father's wand at him. Meanwhile Sirius had this big goofy grin on his face like he thought Harry had pulled the best prank ever. Truth-be told, in many ways, perhaps he had. But it wasn't the one Sirius was thinking it was.

Sighing Harry sat down opposite the two boys and said "Okay, Sirius I imagine you already know Occlumency, right?"

Sirius frowned at this question and said "Of course I can do Occlumency. But you've known that for years. Why?"

Harry ignored Sirius for the moment and looked over at Remus who had a confused look on his face, Harry sighed again and asked "Remus, do you by chance know Occlumency?" To which the younger version of his old defense teacher simply shook his head in the negative. "Okay then. I suppose we will need to teach you Occlumency then, Remus. It has come to my attention that Headmaster Dumbledore happens to be a Legilemens."

Sirius screwed up his face and said "Really? That's going to make pranking him harder. At least you and I are Occlumens already."

Harry shrugged and said "Yeah, true, but I still wouldn't recommend pranking the headmaster specifically. For one thing he doesn't deserve it. For another, he would find it way funnier if we pranked everyone including him, which means we wouldn't get in as much trouble if we were caught. That said, Remus until you can master Occlumency, I suggest you don't look him in the eyes if you can help it. Doing so will be like inviting him to read your mind."

Remus nodded, as did Sirius – who, however, was looking somewhat intrigued. Harry smiled and said, "Once you master your Occlumency Remus, I have something of relative importance to share with the both of you. And it may quite possibly be considered the single greatest prank of all time pulled off against the one person who is deserving of no less than the absolute best prank that can ever be pulled." To which Remus groaned, and Sirius brightened like he were an LED Flashlight.

Several hours later, Remus looked out the window, and remarked "It's getting dark; we should probably get changed for the Opening Feast."

Harry looked outside and agreed that they were going to be in Hogsmeade very soon. The three of them began changing as the train began slowing down. Once Harry had changed, he removed the security spells he had placed on the compartment.

The train finally arrived in Hogsmeade, and the train carriages that the various students were riding in magically opened to the platform. Once on the platform, as Harry would have expected in his own time, Rubeus Hagrid was calling "Firs' years over here" to all of the new students. Harry guided his friends to the Half-Giant.

Once in front of the towering man, Sirius gave the towering gamekeeper a flippant, "Howdy," and Remus simply stared at the man in unabashed amazement. Harry for his part smiled up at the colossal man and said "All right, Hagrid?"

Hagrid looked confused at being addressed by one of the First Years, but simply nodded. "Alrigh' ye youngins, we'll be on the boats, this way," he said, and led the first years to the boats.

Of course Harry, Sirius, and Remus got in a boat together. One other boy, whom Harry learned was named Marcus Renouté, got into the boat with them, fortunately it wasn't Peter Pettigrew. He was in a different boat along with Snape, Lily and a blond boy.

The boat ride was rather pleasant. In short order they had docked and were walking up the huge stone steps to the castle's entry hall, where they were met by none other than Minerva McGonagall. She looked much younger now than Harry remembered from his time, but she still looked just as stern as she ever had. Meanwhile Hagrid departed from them and made his way into the main feast hall, which was odd, as according to Harry's recollection he had never normally been at the Opening Feasts other than in the official capacity of escorting the first years into the school and in Harry's third year when he was being introduced as the new Care of Magical Creatures Teacher.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few moments I will take you into the Great Hall where you will join your classmates. But before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your Houses. Your House will be like your family while you are here at Hogwarts. Do well here and you will earn your House points. Any rule breaking will lose your House points. The House with the most points at the end of the year will be awarded the House Cup. Now please wait here a moment while I see if the other students are ready."

With that Minerva left the entry hall and entered the Great Hall through a side door. Harry for his part turned to survey the new students. The people he had expected to see were there, along with several who were new to him and one whom he should have guessed would be there. Xenophilius Lovegood, the blond boy from Lily's boat, was standing at a nearby suit of armor gazing up at the cobwebs present near its visor. He looked remarkably like a male version of Luna would have standing there. Harry never really knew when Xenophilius had attended Hogwarts, but the same year as the Marauders was as good a time as any.

While he was thinking that he heard a clacking sound coming from the ceiling. He looked up just in time to see Peeves clapping several Erasers together over the heads of all of the students, Harry's Wand was in his hand instantaneously and he immediately shouted "Protego Maximus" directing the shield over the heads of all of the students. This caused the eraser dust to fall harmlessly on the shield and land on the ground at either end of the entry hall. Peeves looked down at him and said "Ickle Firsties doing spells they shouldn't know, no fair." As soon as Peeves said it, Harry realized his mistake. His battle honed reflexes had kicked in sensing a threat, a minor threat admittedly, but Peeves was still a threat (for all he knew those erasers could have had itching powder or worse in them), and reacted with a spell that would ensure that none of the students got hit with whatever was in those erasers. Unfortunately this forced him to demonstrate magic that was at least three years more advanced than a First Year should know. Remus was looking at him with awe. Sirius was looking at him with an impressed grin. Snape was looking at him with a scowl, which would be the hint that told Harry that the whole of Slytherin House would soon know of this. Lily wasn't looking at him at all. Xenophilius for his part was looking at the dust that was now falling on the ground just to his left. Oddly, there was another girl in the crowd who momentarily looked him dead in the eyes, winked at him, then turned away and somehow managed to disappear into the crowd just a moment after she had stepped behind another student. It was almost like something out of one of those weird Japanese cartoons that Dudley had tried to get Harry to watch after the War had ended.

Minerva came back right about this time, saw Peeves overhead, and noticed the Protego Shield. She cast her eyes over the students and saw that Harry's wand was out. She looked at Harry with a glimmer in her eyes and said "Wherever did you learn to do that spell Mr. Potter?"

Harry shrugged and said "I had excellent tutors." It was stretching the truth; what he didn't say was that most of those 'tutors' would actually be teachers at that school in a decade or two and the rest were already teaching here.

Minerva smiled very tightly and said "Well then, if you would all follow me, the Sorting awaits." She led them into the Great Hall. Many of the first years looked horribly nervous. For his part Harry got a mild shock when he noticed Hagrid already sitting in the seat usually assigned to the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, but otherwise Harry felt confident, having already gone through one sorting before.

Minerva stopped before a stool with a hat on it. She had the student's line up in a row before the stool as she picked up a sheet of parchment "As I call your name out you will come up, place this hat on your head, and be sorted. Once that is done, you will promptly remove the hat and go to your House table indicated by the banner over the table. Slytherin's symbol is the snake and its colors are Green and Silver. Hufflepuff is the badger; its colors are Yellow and Black. Ravenclaw is the Eagle; its colors are Blue and Bronze. And Gryffindor is the Lion; and its colors are Crimson, and Gold." She then awaited the Sorting Hats song…

"A few hundred years past when hats like me
Oft were found. There were four Mages of great
Renown they built this Castle for all time

Gryffindor, his courage saw him through all.
Ravenclaw, her knowledge unrivaled then.
Loyal Hufflepuff, who aids all she saw.
Slytherin canny till the very end.
They shared a thought, desire, a yearning
They initiated the greatest plot
Too teach young sorcerers, so Hogwarts School began!

Each of these four gathered those with like-goals.
For each did have different virtues that
Set them apart

In Gryffindor those with daring nerve would
Be most welcome, they who fight against fate.
In Ravenclaw the quick-witted find home
Solving Eternal Puzzles shall save time.
In Hufflepuff those with steadfast resolve
Would find true friends with whom the light can found.
And in resourceful Slytherin those who
Seek the skies will find their home at long last

While still living in this castle here, they
Could pick their worthy ones from the students
Who would come here. The question'twas how to
Pick when all four were dead and long since gone?

The four dreamed up a plan and Gryffindoor
Gave up his hat. Ravenclaw did enchant
With intellect unrivalled in common
Hats. Thus the Sorting Hat was born.

So put me on and let me see
Just where it is you need to be!"

After the hat had finished its song and everyone was done clapping, Minerva began listing the students by name alphabetically. Among the first students called, Adrian Bartholomew became the first Ravenclaw. After him, Sirius Black was called. There was noticeable whispering at the Slytherin table, as many people were obviously expecting him to become the first Slytherin of the evening given his families history. Knowing how differently it would turn out, Harry found it necessary to hide a snicker. After what seemed like five minutes the Sorting Hat finally shouted "Gryffindor!" provoking noticeable sneers at the Slytherin table, and cheers of affirmation from the Gryffindor table.

Though he was watching for her, he never did see the girl that had winked at him back in the entry hall. Several names went by, most of whom Harry did not know from the previous timeline. Hopefully that would change with his time here, at least with the ones who didn't end up becoming death eaters. However after a short time McGonagall called "Evans, Lily," to which a very shy looking girl, who looked remarkably like Ginny Weasely at this age, but then not so much like Ginny that Harry would mistake her for Ginny, especially since this girl had luminescent green eyes, while Ginny had brown eyes instead, walked up to the chair, picked up the Sorting Hat and placed it on her head, waiting for it to begin sorting her. After only a few seconds the Hat shouted "Gryffindor!"

A few more names went by, but still no wink-girl, and Xenophilius Lovegood was placed into Ravenclaw, which was unsurprising given where his daughter had ended up, Harry only hoped Xeno's fate in school would end up less disastrous than Luna's last years of School during the Second War had been. The Carrows had been especially vindictive towards the student body, not to mention her captivity. Harry took a quick glance over at the Slytherin table and waasn't at all surprised to see the vast majority of the Death Eaters he had come to know in the previous timeline. 'At least Bellatrix isn't here. Thank the almighty for small mercies.'

Remus Lupin was the next of the Marauders to be called up to the Sorting Hat. He ended up being under the Hat for a good eight minutes and seemed to be holding an argument with the Sorting Hat on the merits of each House. Harry smiled at that thought. Leave it to his best Defence Professor to come up with a long winded argument for why he belonged or didn't belong in any given house, it sort of reminded Harry of Hermione. At last the argument seemed to come to an end and the Sorting Hat yelled "Gryffindor!" as well it should.

Minerva called "Pettigrew, Peter," who walked up clumsily and placed the hat onto his head. After only a few seconds the word "Slytherin!" was shouted by the Hat, and the Slytherin table looked at the boy with some disgust. Harry sighed; he had wondered what would happen to Wormtail if he had prevented him from making the acquaintance of any of the Marauders on the train ride to Hogwarts. Apparently his natural inclination was towards Slytherin House. That was good; it meant that there was no way the slimy git was going to worm his way into a friendship with the Marauders. Lily was questionable on the friendship front, especially since she was probably already best friends with Snape, who is a guy who was custom built for Slytherin.

Now it was his turn, he hadn't thought there would be many names between Pettigrew and Potter, and there weren't. Minerva called "Potter, James," and he walked up, picked up the Hat and placed it on his head, seating himself on the stool.

'Well, this is unusual. I could have sworn I heard Minerva call for a James Potter. But you clearly think of yourself as Harry Potter.' The Hat thought into Harry's mind.

To which Harry thought back 'I don't suppose you would chalk it up to the world's best prank ever?'

The Hat chuckled mentally and said 'Calling this a prank is a bit of an understatement don't you think? For one thing you created a Grandfather Paradox using a time machine that I wasn't even aware existed until this moment. You then proceeded, in all likelihood, to break said time machine when traveling to this time period and ended up stuck in your father's body. This is a serious matter young man.'

Harry sighed and thought 'It will be worth it if I can defeat Tom before he really gains any momentum."

It was the hat's turn to sigh 'I will grant you that stopping Tom, based on what you have in your memories, and certain other things of which I have become aware, sounds like a laudable goal. But unrestricted time travel of this sort is extremely dangerous. Any number of unintended consequences could have resulted from your journey back to the Peverell Brother's time period.'

Harry chuckled 'Oh come off it, I've studied time enough to know that generally speaking it is fully capable of course correcting itself in the event that a major paradox would occur. Also there is significant evidence in the books I studied before using the machine that such time travel into the past completely erases the original time line with the exception of the individual who traveled back in time in order to prevent catastrophic paradoxes from occurring in the first place. So don't talk to me about grandfather paradoxes unless you have seen evidence that one actually exists here in the present time line aside from the musings I myself have made on the subject.'

Harry seemed to feel the hat nod, 'fair enough. Very well, where would you like to be Sorted? Since it is clear you fully intend to be Sorted again, and I can't exactly decide this for you. I will however comment that everything you have done up till now strikes me as rather Slytherin.'

Harry smiled 'On the contrary, I used an unknown time travel device which I only partially understood the mechanics behind, to travel over a thousand years in total; nearly died when it broke; and am planning to put down the single most dangerous dark lord of the modern era. That speaks of astonishing bravery in my opinion. I also performed a bit of minor heroic recklessness at least once so far. Sirius and Remus have both been sorted into Gryffindor, they are my friends, and I will do everything in my power to protect them. Same goes for my Mum too, who is also a Gryffindor. It would therefore only really be sensible that I be allowed to join them in Gryffindor so that I can keep a closer eye on them. As such I would very much prefer to be placed in Gryffindor, Especially since that is where I feel most at home and where my friends will be.'

The Hat sighed and said 'Very well…' "Gryffindor!"

Harry took the Hat off and handed it to Minerva. He then made his way to a seat next to Lily Evans, smiling at her as he took the seat. Sirius pulled up next to him and gave him the thumbs up, while winking at Lily. She turned her nose up at them and promptly moved down towards where the Gryffindor prefects were seated. Harry shrugged helplessly to himself and looked at his two friends, whispering as softly as possible, "How long was I under the Hat?"

"Nearly ten minutes." Sirius whispered, patting Harry on the shoulder "Must have been one heck of a conversation."

By this point Severus Snape had been sorted into Slytherin, and the Sorting ended with some boy named Paul Stebbins who was sorted into Hufflepuff. Harry never did find out who the girl that winked at him was, nor did he see her anywhere in the Great Hall.

End A/N – I just wanted to say that the idea to revise the Sorting Hat Song in the manner that I did in today's update was given to me by the Prophecies that Anne B. Walsh (who goes by whydoyouneedtoknow here on ) gives to her eponymous character in her Dangerverse series. What this means is that I revised the Sorting Hat Song so that it is in my best approximation to Iambic Pentameter Prose. Please be warned that I am not an expert when it comes to poetry of any sort, but I have tried my best to make it work.