Chapter 3: I screwed up...
Chapter twenty-seven; Entering and Exiting the R.O.T.D
As the new G.O.D, you may find it in your best interest to explore the mortal world to stave off any boredom you may feel in the course of the job. This is especially true in the beginning, as your mind is still attempting process time like a mortal... However, you must understand the gravity of your new situation.
You are not mortal.
Time may pass for those in the mortal world, but you are no longer among their number. Attempting to cling to your past life is simultaneously extremely unhealthy, and incredibly foolish... So, if you're going to the mortal world, you'll need to follow these steps.
Stand in front of a door or window and place your hand upon it.
Concentrate on your destination and visualize it in your mind. You may find it easier, in the beginning, to focus on places frequently traveled by the dead. These places are saturated in your domain and the boundary wall separating the two will be much thinner than normal.
Continue to concentrate on your destination until you hear the door make a thrumming sound and the window changes to show a still image of your destination.
Remove your hand from the door.
Congratulations, you have successfully created a portal to the mortal realm.
In the event, you would like to return to the R.O.T.D.
You must first remove your M.S and return to your natural form.
Then concentrate on the source of your power and will yourself to return to it.
Please, continue reading in Chapter 28; Lost in time for more information.
After following the book's direction and stepping through the door. Harry found himself on the familiar streets of Diagon Alley. Specifically, the door he'd just stepped through was actually the entrance to Ollivanders. Luckily it was sometime after dark, so no one had noticed the tall pale man suddenly leaving the obviously closed shop. Otherwise, the aurors would soon be making this trip decidedly more difficult than Harry had expected.
Harry quickly, but discretely, walked away from Ollivanders and headed in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron. As he did, he noticed his reflection in the windows of passing shops; He was still tall and thin, like his father, but his complexion had faded until it was almost gray. His hair was as dark and unruly as ever. However, the most noticeable differences were his lack of glasses and infamous scar. The scar was already gone before he made his new body and Harry assumed it'd simply faded after his death. While the missing glasses were because his new and improved eyes did not require them.
Harry entered the Leaky Cauldron and quickly glanced around the room. As he wasn't immediately recognized and swarmed with questions, he headed for a booth at the back of the room and slid in.
"What can I get for ya this evening?" Tom, the owner, walked up and asked a few moments after Harry sat down.
"Water, please. And a copy of the today's Daily Prophet, if you have it." Harry replied without looking up from the table.
Harry could almost feel Tom eyeing his still tattered outfit, disheveled hair, and pale complexion. He could only hope that Tom would simply take his order and leave him alone and not start asking questions.
"Will that be all?" Tom asked after a moments pause.
"Yes."
Tom grunted and left, only to return a minute later with a mug of water and a rolled-up newspaper under one arm.
"It's on the house. Just remember to return the paper."
"Thanks." Harry agreed.
After Tom walked away, Harry unrolled the paper and began skimming it for anything pertaining to the battle of Hogwarts... But aside from an article on page three about the new school year starting almost two months ago, Harry couldn't find any mention of Hogwarts.
However, the more Harry looked at the paper, the more uneasy he felt. He didn't know what it was, but his instincts were telling him that something wasn't right.
A few moments later, he figured out what it was. The date was wrong. This edition of the prophet was for October the thirty-first, 1981. So either Tom did recognize him an was pulling some kind of cruel prank on Harry or he'd screwed up and missed his mark by about sixteen years.
"Damn!" His water and the paper forgotten. Harry stood up and raced out the door, almost knocking it down in the process.
Harry heard Tom yell something at his back, but he was far too focused to care.
If it really was Hollowe'en night, and the year really was 1981, then Harry knew what he needed to do above all else.
He needed to get to Godric's Hollow!
Harry landed in a crouch and raced into the still burning house. He knew he was probably already too late to change anything, but that barely caused him to pause as he kicked the front door off its hinges and across the room to slam into the stairs.
While the smoke would have hindered almost anyone else. Harry's new body barely noticed the flames and lack of breathable air as he walked inside and made a beeline for the sole body in the room. On the way, he grabbed a small golden pocket watch off and table and called out for his book.
"How do I revive the dead?" He growled.
As Harry rolled James Potter onto his back to look for any significant wounds, the book flipped open to the relevant page.
For once, Harry was extremely grateful for Voldemort's love of the Avada Kedavra spell. Because if he'd wanted to drag out the duel and torture James, instead of quickly killing him with the death spell then... Well... James would be in for a rough time.
Following the book's instructions, Harry laid his newly acquired pocket-watch on James' chest and placed his hand over it. He willed the watch to show him James' true death date, or the day his soul was ready to move on to its next adventure.
"Yes, Ninety-seven years!" He internally cheered, then continued to follow the book's instruction.
He placed one hand over James' heart and one hand on top of his head.
"Please work."
He willed the body and the spirit to once again become one.
After thirty seconds without a reaction from James, Harry began chanting to himself. "Wake up. Wake up. Please, wake up!"
A few seconds later, James' eyes shot open and he sucked in a deep breath.
"Yes!" Harry cheered.
Before James could recollect himself, Harry quickly raced up the stairs to his old room and threw open the door.
The first thing he noticed, was Lily laying face down on the floor in front of the crib. The second thing he noticed, was the little red-haired girl crying inside the crib.
"Oh... Yeah, I definitely screwed something up."
James Potter watched the pale man dash away through blurry eyes. Then he climbed onto shaky legs and attempted to follow... However, after a single step, he collapsed onto his stomach and wound up having to crawl to the stairs as his legs refused to hold his weight.
While he didn't think the man meant them any harm. After all, he was pretty sure the man had just saved his life. But since the last thing he remembered was dueling with You Know Who, he refused to let this unknown man anywhere near his wife and daughter without James' present.
So after grabbing his discarded wand off the floor, James made his way to the stairs and though he collapsed multiple times and at one point even fell backward down the stairs. He eventually made it to the top and crawled to his daughter Eliza's room.
Inside, James saw the pale man crouched over Lily's unmoving form while Eliza screamed for her mother.
"What..." James grunted in pain as his vocal cords struggled to work. "What are you doing?"
The pale man didn't answer him at first, but he eventually said; "I'm saving her life. I don't know what exactly happened in here, but she's in worse condition than even you were."
James' eyes widened in surprise at the man's voice; It was quiet and almost musical in its tone. But it was also shaky, hesitant, like the man was extremely nervous.
A few seconds later the man's words and not his voice sunk in and James quickly crawled to the pale man's side.
Lily was on her back, so the first thing James saw was the large burn mark on the side of her beautiful face. The next thing he noticed was just how... still, she was. It was like someone had made a life-size doll of his wife and laid it in front of him.
"How?" James asked after a few moments of silence.
The pale man glanced at him through half-lidded eyes, then returned his gaze to Lily.
"The 'how' isn't important at the moment... However, I would greatly appreciate your help with something."
"If it'll help Lils, then I'll do whatever you ask!" James eagerly agreed. His loss at the hands of You Know Who and his inability to heal Lily himself was making James feel incredibly useless.
"Do something about the fire before the house collapses on our heads. Then, you should probably tend to her." The pale man nodded in the direction of the still screaming Eliza.
James cursed under his breath. He stumbled over to Eliza's crib and after whispering to her for a few seconds, lifted her onto his hip. Then he lifted his wand and started using the Aguamenti spell to douse the nearby fires. After extinguishing the fires in Eliza's room, James paused and stared at the Pale Man's back.
"Save the house. I'm not leaving her side until I'm sure she'll live." The pale man said to the James' hesitating form.
James hesitated for only another moment or two, then he nodded and raced out of the room with a now quiet Eliza still on his hip. He systematically went through every room in the house dousing fires. Only when he was absolutely sure that the house wouldn't collapse on them for the time being, did he return to his daughter's room... Only this time, he returned to conscious, and extremely confused, Lily.
"James... What happened?" Lily asked as James walked through the door.
He froze in the doorway and just stared at his wife... His beautiful, and alive wife. James raced across the room and hugged Lily with all the strength his still weak body possessed. He hugged her tightly to his chest and just held her and their daughter in his embrace until it fully sunk in that they were all alive, well, and You know who was nowhere to be seen.
"Lily." James said after ten minutes of sitting in silence.
"Hmm?"
"Was there a pale man with you when you woke up?" James leaned back and looked into Lily's eyes.
"No? Was there supposed to be?" She replied.
James saw the confusion in her eyes and sighed. "Yeah... There was."
He stood up and pulled her to her feet.
"Come on. We'll head over to Grimmauld Place and I'll tell you all about tomorrow." When he saw the frown on her face, he knew Lily was about to protest. So he glanced down at the sleeping form of their daughter and smiled.
"Shh!" He whispered. "You'll wake Liz."
Lily glanced at Liz, then her frown grew even larger.
"Fine, but you will tell me everything! Am I clear, Potter?"
"Crystal, Lils"
