The Ties that Bind
It had been the most unpleasant feeling of his life. He hated this form of travel. 'Apparition sucks' he thought to himself. He had been put under a body bind by Dumbledore before he could even realise. They had taken him somewhere. He had landed quite uncomfortably. He watched as they placed him on a chair and tied him to it, magically of course. Then Dumbledore removed the body bind.
"Who are you?"
"No one of consequence." Harry spoke with determination.
"I doubt that." Dumbledore eyed him crossly. Harry had a feeling that he was trying to read his mind. Well not reading it in Snape's words but accessing information.
"Who are you?" The other man Newt Scamander asked softly. He looked tired.
Harry realised that there was point in stalling as they would use veritaserum anyway. "Harry Evans." Before he could add Dumbledore spoke.
"You are lying."
"I am not."
"Yes, you are Mr" he paused for a bit. "Potter."
Newt looked at Dumbledore as if he was crazy. "Potter. He can't be a Potter."
"He is. I searched his mind."
"Yeah. I am Harry Potter. I am from the future."
To say Dumbledore was surprised would be an understatement, while Newt looked scandalised. He turned to Dumbledore.
"Oh come on."
"It was you who broke all the time turners at the ministry."
"Yeah. I don't how, but I travelled back in time."
"When are you from?"
"1995."
"What happened? How did you end up here?"
"I don't know. Me and my friends were fighting Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries. I cast a spell so did one of them, the spells collided and it caused a chain reaction that blew up all the time turners. There was blinding flash of light. And the next thing I remember is a voice telling me to do what I have always done. The right thing. I could change things and save many lives. That my existence was assured. When I asked who was he. The voice said that it was the realest thing about life. That I should look for its objects." Dumbledore had been listening without even reacting but when he heard the last part his eyes widened in shock. "The Hallows." He whispered slowly.
"What did you say Albus?"
"Nothing. Tell us more about your time."
"Well, you defeated Grindelwald in 1945. You got lots of awards and stuff. You discovered twelve uses of dragon blood. You were the most powerful wizard of all time till he came."
"Till who came?"
"Voldemort. He started gathering followers, death eaters. He hated muggles and muggleborns. His agenda was blood purity. He and his followers killed many. You founded The Order of the Phoenix to stop him. There was some prophecy. It pitted me against him. So he sought me and my family and he found them. He killed my father and my mother. But when he cast the killing curse on me it rebounded and almost killed him."
"That is not possible." Newt said in disbelief.
"He offered my mother a choice. He asked her to move away, but she refused. So he killed her. But he couldn't kill me."
"Why?"
Dumbledore spoke slowly. "Love. Your mother's love gave you a protection that he couldn't overcome. What happened afterwards."
Harry narrated his entire life story to them. What happened at Hogwarts in all his five years. He did not even miss minor details. After he had finished all three of them sat in silence till Newt spoke.
"Albus I will like to speak to you alone."
They both moved to a corner.
"Do you believe him?"
"I don't know Newt. Some of what he has said makes sense."
"But come on."
"My gut tells me he isn't lying."
"Oh merlin I can't believe this. Well lets go talk to him then."
They both moved back to the hall where Harry was chained.
"Well we have situation here Harry."
"You think."
Dumbledore smiled slightly.
"When does this Voldemort start his quest?"
"He will join Hogwarts in 1937."
"We got some time."
"No, I will end it. I just have to find out where he is."
"You are going to kill a child." Dumbledore stared at him in disgust.
"He cannot be saved." Harry said.
"Everyone deserves a chance."
"This chance thing of yours is what cost many people their lives in the future."
"We are not going to kill a boy. No matter what. But we have other things we need to discuss. We need you to go to Hogwarts, to complete your education. I think you will have to give your OWLs again. If anyone asks tell them that you were home schooled but your parents passed away recently. I will pull some strings. If you are lucky you might get to meet another Potter."
Harry sat up a bit straighter at this. He had a relative who was alive.
"Who?
"Fleamont Potter. He is at Hogwarts. He will start his sixth year this September. We need you to be prepared. I believe you will have a great role in our future. I will untie you now." He moved forwards and removed all the chains. Harry massaged his wrist.
"I will look into Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"Thanks Professor."
"Newt will take you back to Leaky Cauldron."
In the next few weeks he met Dumbledore and Newt many times. Newt seemed an interesting fellow, a bit shy. He kept on practising. He was taken to the Ministry so he could take his tests. His exams went exactly as they had gone the previous time. The defence and charms paper however had gone better than last time. The last step was meeting with the Headmaster and getting sorted.
Newt came to pick him up. Harry had mixed thoughts about going to Hogwarts. He was excited to go back to the castle and learn magic, but felt sad when he realised that none of his friends would be there with him. Both Armando Dippet and Dumbledore were in the office. Armando Dippet had medium sized curly hair. He was a lot shorter than Dumbledore. Though broad shouldered. He extended his hand.
"You must be Harry Evans."
"Yes, sir." Harry said taking his hand.
"Well your test results came in. You have done well. Two Os, four Es. Which subjects would you like to take?"
"I would like to take Defence, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions and Herbology."
He chuckled, "You want to become an auror I see. But I am afraid that will not be possible, my boy."
"Why not?" Harry had not given his career a lot of thought but becoming an auror seemed right to him.
"The herbology teacher only takes the students who have got an O. I am sorry I cannot help you there."
"Ok." Harry tried not to speak. He had not expected this.
The headmaster saw Newt and his pleasant expression changed instantly.
"What are you doing here, Mr Scamander?"
"Nothing. Just came to drop Harry off."
"Huh."
Harry saw the exchange take place between the two men. It felt weird, as if something was out of place as if he was missing something.
"Well now we should go ahead with the sorting."
The hat was placed again on Harry's head and about a minute later it once again yelled Gryffindor.