"No, Albus. This is wrong," Aberforth said.

"Sorry, Abe, but my hands are tied," Dumbledore said.

"What? You are going blind over Greater Good dragon shite!" Aberforth exclaimed.

"It has to be done, brother. I don't understand what you and some others see that is bad in it," Dumbledore said.

"The whole thing is nothing but crap! It will destroy us! Think sensibly, brother. Our population already has somehow survived..."

"By mixing itself with filth!" Dumbledore roared.

"You call them filth? I can't believe why you are acting so weird all of a sudden! You and I both know that blood purity means nothing as long as the pupil is magical. So what if we have half bloods and muggleborns? At least the population of our kind has increased," Abe said.

"I see you still fail to see the trust I want to put over you for my plans. Well then, if that's the case then...," Dumbledore reached under his robes and took out his wand.

His brother didn't move. He had always been bullied by his elder brother but he worried a little.

"What's going inside that head of yours, brother?" Abe asked calmly.

"Something I am forced to do to you. Imperio!" Dumbledore said and the next moment, Abe's eyes went wide and he became sleepy. Dumbledore then took out a vial from his robes and pluck a hair from his head and put it inside it. A fizzy sound occurred and he shook the vial. "Drink this, brother. You have to die for me."

00000

Dumbledore woke up with a gasp.

Once again, he saw something that looked more like a real thing than a dream. What was happening to him? He saw his brother and himself talking and he put an imperius curse on Abe and then gave him polyjuice. He also noticed he and his brother looked a few years older than now.

He scratched his head and ran a hand over his long beard when he felt something very very powerful inside his office. The kind of magic he felt was something he had never felt before but it still appeared not to be so strange.

Quickly getting himself off his bed, he waved his hand and his faithful Elder Wand came flying to him as he caught it mid wave and then a flick and the entire room got brightened up with light and at the same moment, many wards got erected.

"CLANK!"

A shattering sound soon followed and all the wards Dumbledore had erected just now were gone. Someone had tore right through them. And the wave he felt that time was something indescribable. He opened the door and came out in his office and saw nothing had been touched and the wards he had over things he deemed were important and had to be kept away from each other, had not been disturbed.

Fawkes was shivering.

Dumbledore went over to his faithful bird and stroked his feather. The bird soothed a little when his master touched and caressed his feathers but his fear was clearly visible. Dumbledore had never ever seen his phoenix scared, let go the way it was scared right now.

Whoever it was that had just been inside his office and in his room, was someone very dark and powerful. And his magical signature seemed to be similar to someone Dumbledore couldn't get his head to think of at the moment.

Strange things were happening and he couldn't understand why. First, his plans for Potter were somehow holding itself up as the boy ruined every approach he made and then this. He didn't know why but he felt a shiver running down his spine. Something was not right, that was for sure. But now, this?

00000

Christmas had gone by and so was the New Year. And Harry, Hermione and Gohan had their luggage packed and were ready to go. Gohan had brought Hermione to the Gryffindor Castle from where they would all head to King's Cross.

"Did any of you saw the Prophet?" Hermione asked.

"That thing is still published?" James asked.

"Well, unfortunately, yes. And it's chief writer Rita Skeeter has a personal vendetta against Harry," Hermione said.

"Urgh! Don't make me remember it, Hermione," Harry said. "Anyways, what's in the news?"

"Well, they found out that Sirius has broken out of Azkaban and the entire ministry is going nuts over this fact," Hermione said.

"It was expected. But they can't find him here," James said.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione," Lily said, "This castle is older than Hogwarts and its wards and shields are far stronger and complex to crack. If I remember better, than Charlus had once told me that no one but only Gryffindor himself could bring down the wards permanently. So we are safe."

"Oh," Hermione said.

"Alright now, hurry up. We are sorry we can't come to say goodbyes no matter as much as we want. But your train will be leaving in half an hour," Sirius said.

"We know, Sirius. At least it's not like the Weaselys, who were always late and because of them Hermione and I were also late," Harry said. "Love you, mom, dad and Sirius."

Kisses and hugs were shared and once done, Harry and Hermione hold on to Gohan and the next moment the three were gone.

"I still don't understand how Gohan does it," James murmured.

"He's half alien, James," Lily said. "And believe me, as much of a powerful guy he is, our Harry will need his help in the coming future. I don't know why but I am not getting a good feeling about it. And Hermione's intelligence is, you know, very important. I don't know how our boy grew up at Petunia's, but he would definitely need her presence."

"And did you notice the way Hermione and Gohan stole glances at each other?" Sirius said. "I just hope Harry finds someone who is right for him."

"Well, that will be good, but I won't allow any marriage to take place while they are this young. They must graduate first," Lily said.

"Yeah. We know that, thanks, Lily," James said.

00000

The three appeared in an empty section of King's Cross and made their way towards the barrier and ten minutes later, they were pushing their trunks under the seats of a cabin they had selected. Once everything was done, Hermione locked the door and applied several privacy charms on it so nobody could eavesdrop.

"We need to plan something before we go into the Chamber of Secrets and kill that basilisk," Hermione said.

"Yes. And I am worried about its deathly vision. Last time, I was lucky because of Fawkes. This time he won't be there," Harry said.

"I don't know whether you guys noticed this or not," Gohan said, "but don't you think it's a bit weird that Dumbledore knew this the entire time that there was a basilisk inside Hogwarts and did nothing about it? I mean, he should've sent his phoenix to help you down there because he knew there was a basilisk. Then why did he wait for fifty years? Hagrid was thrown out of Hogwarts and his wand was snapped. And if Dumbledore was doing all this because of that prophecy, then remember this that you weren't born back then. Not even your parents were born that time. So why didn't he do something about it?"

"You know, he has a point," Hermione said as she thought over Gohan's words.

"You mean to say, he remained blind over the fact that there was a basilisk in Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Absolutely. And even if he didn't knew it then, than there could be a chance that he might've come to know about it a few years later. But he still kept it a secret from everyone and because of that Martyle died and many were petrified," Gohan said.

"You know, I am starting to get scared from him. Dumbledore's plans seems very deeply webbed," Hermione said.

"He's a master manipulator and a great strategist. I am definitely sure that he would've taken the credit for defeating Grindlewald during the Second World War," Harry said.

"How can you say that?" Hermione asked.

"Don't you know? His older wand, the one which he got from Ollivander's, was basically a transfiguration wand. It wasn't meant for duelling and Gellart had the Elder wand at that time. And no matter how great of a duellist Dumbledore is, it would've taken him everything to defeat his old friend," Harry said. "Either that, or he might have taken the credit of it just like Lockhart."

"Which reminds me, he will be our Defence teacher next term," Hermione said.

"We don't have to worry about professors, Hermione. Remember, we are here on a mission. A lot has already been changed because of us and I don't know why, but I am not getting a good feeling about all of this. Too much of a change will definitely cause a lot of paradox. And you know what that means," Gohan said.

"We know that. I am just thinking how the magical society will look when we all return back to our original timelines," Hermione said.

Twenty minutes later, the train gave a final whistle and began to move. As usual, the Weaselys were seen running on the platform and somehow boarding the train as it left the platform. Ginny was also there and she looked sad. But Harry didn't give much thought about it. He was suspicious about Ginny's involvement in Dumbledore and Molly's plans because now that his thinking was clearer, he remembered how out of nowhere he had fallen for her in his sixth year. He had never fancied a girl before except for Cho from whom he had broken up over a lie, thanks to Umbridge. However, they remained friends after that when Harry came to learn that Umbridge had used Veritaserum on her to get out answers. He had then apologised to her and so did everyone else as well. And they had decided to stay friends because the relationship was awkward for both of them.

Then out of nowhere, at the start of his sixth year, Harry suddenly fell for Ginny. And even more surprisingly, neither Molly nor Ron shouted and hexed him for that. They, instead, readily agreed over the relationship. Harry had seen how protective Ron was of her sister and so were Molly and the rest of the Weaselys. Arthur had said nothing, like always but it seemed he was fine with it. Percy wasn't present when this thing was discussed in front of the Weasely clan. Harry had also seen Ron hexing Dean a lot when he had a relationship with Ginny but when Ron came to know about Harry having an affair with his little sister, after little drama, he had agreed. This had greatly shocked Harry because Ron was very stubborn to begin with. The fact that he had agreed so easily and without much of a fuss was still a shock to Harry even now.

He had always seen Ginny like a little sister of his own. He had always wanted a younger sibling but knew that wasn't possible. Maybe he could've if his parents were alive then. After saving Ginny from the Chamber, Harry had seen her more of a sister than as a source of his infatuation. But he hesitated to tell Ginny about it as he was afraid he might hurt her sentiments. She was badly in love with him from the very first of her years.

Sighing, Harry looked inside the cabin as he retreated his eyes from the window. Hermione had already taken out a book and it was sitting on her lap as her eyes were constantly moving over the lines. Gohan was sitting beside him and was busy in his own world of thoughts. An unknown smile came up on Harry's face when he looked at Gohan. This boy had brought back his parents. This boy had freed his godfather from the hell itself.

A few hours later, the trolley came and Harry bought enough for everyone, and a bit more for Gohan who thanked him sheepishly. Harry and Hermione chuckled at that and the journey continued. Then Harry's mind drifted over to his long time nemesis, Draco Malfoy.

He still couldn't forget the look of sorry on the face of that Slytherin when Draco had his wand pointed at him in the Room of Hidden Things. Also, when he came back in the past, he noticed Draco seemed a bit afraid when he was telling Harry to befriend him. How could have he not noticed that fear in Draco's eyes before? After all this, Harry began to think whether Draco was doing this on someone's order or what? Draco had always appeared a little insecure and was a bit more afraid near his father.

Something really fishy was going on which Harry couldn't point his finger at.

00000

The train stopped with a slight jerk and outside, it had been dark. Harry, Hermione and Gohan had already changed in their school uniforms though they would have to open it after the welcome feast already. They got up and took responsibilities of their own trunks and other stuff. Harry had already told Hedwig to fly over to Hogwarts and hence, he hadn't brought the cage with him. He had left it back at home.

Getting off the train, they walked over to the line of carriages and they all could see the thestrals. Neither of them was surprised at that. They had seen a lot of death in their previous timelines. Gohan helped keeping their luggage in the carriage after which they all boarded in. No one saw Ron though the twins and Percy could easily been seen. And honestly, they didn't care.

The carriage began to move at its random pace and twenty minutes later, they were heading towards the entrance of the castle when Gohan stopped suddenly and his eyes narrowed. Both Harry and Hermione noticed that.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"I don't know why but I feel the presence of something very very dark and powerful," Gohan said.

"Is someone here, in the castle?" Hermione asked.

"No. It's just a trace. I mean, whoever it was is gone now but his ki is still present here. I have never felt anything like it before. And this does not appear to be good at all, guys," Gohan said.

00000

"Tell me you both see Dumbledore?" Harry asked as he moved his attention back on his plate of food.

"He looks extremely worried over something. I can try reading his mind but I don't think I will be because of his Occlumency shields. But I'd still give it a try," Gohan said.

"Be careful. He can catch us," Hermione said.

"My technique is a lot different than Legillimency, Hermione. I can read minds without looking in that person's eyes. But as much skilled an Occlumence Dumbledore is, I would hardly be surprised if he realizes someone's attempting to read his mind. But don't worry, he won't be able to know who did that," Gohan assured her.

And then he concentrated for a moment and then appeared normal. His eyes were wide with shock but he regained his casual composure quickly in case Dumbledore suspects him to be the one who have read his mind. And the old man had quickly turned up his shields when he felt penetration his thoughts and looked around.

00000

Dumbledore was solemnly eating from his own plate at the staff table, thinking about his dreams and what he had felt that night in his room and office when he felt someone probing inside his mind. He quickly raised up his Occlumency shields and looked up from his plates at the students. He also looked over to the professors but everyone seemed normal.

00000

"You found something, right? I saw it on your face," Hermione said slowly, keeping her voice down so no one else could hear them.

"Remember I told you I felt something when we entered inside this castle?" Gohan asked and his two friends nodded in response. "Well, I wasn't the only one. Dumbledore felt it, too, a few nights ago while he was asleep. I couldn't get anything more because he soon put up his mental shields."

"Could this be because of some sort of a paradox that might have been created because we a literally changing the timeline," Harry suggested.

"I don't know. But this thing," Gohan said as he pointed at himself and at Dumbledore, "It means something. And believe me, what I felt was too powerful for even me to handle. I think I can handle it but there's no telling whether what I felt was the real power or just a part of it. but it was dark and strong. And it felt dirty."

00000

Classes began from the next day. The three got a little busy with it, Hermione to be more precise and postponed the plan of taking the basilisk out for coming days when the term would come to an end. That would be better because then they might return home after killing the basilisk. Also, they needed its fangs to destroy the Horcruxes. The sword of Gryffindor wasn't needed anymore. Mostly because it could only destroy the horcruxes due to its impregnation with the poison of the basilisk.

Things were looking normal and Dumbledore hadn't bothered them. Snape looked pissed at those three because as per Gohan, he had tried reading their minds during potions which Gohan doomed for him. Neville joined them during meals and sometimes while they were fooling around. He was clearly happy to have found some friends. The three were also happy for him, especially Harry who was his god brother.

Finally came the time of exams and Hermione went on her previous version of being a bookworm. Though she knew what questions were going to come for the exams but she couldn't help but dug herself under piles of books. Harry and Gohan left her for that and busied themselves in their own chores and errands. They also studied a bit but not much. Harry helped and told Gohan what questions were going to come and he studied only those and then he was done. Though it felt a bit wrong but he couldn't help it. a little bit of a mischief was welcomed.