Torn Away: Scenes From A Memory
-Hyperion07e
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter."Hello": Speech
"Hello": Spells
'Hello': Thoughts
Chapter Two
Awakening In A New World...
Patrick O'Shannon was not having what many would call a 'good day.' More like a 'good two days.' Yesterday he overslept making him late to a meeting with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, who was defiantly not one of his favourite people. In fact, Fudge was the upper most person on the list of things that Patrick O'Shannon couldn't stand, even higher than Dark Wizards. He could handle those, Fudge was a different headache altogether.
After his meeting with Fudge, he was alerted to Dark Arts activity in the lower portion of Ireland, and since Patrick was the highest ranking Unspeakable hailing from the Irish Isle, he was the one that was picked to lead the expedition into what happened. Exactly 24 hours, and one immense fire fight later, he was making his rounds questioning all of the captured wizards. But first, he stopped in the restroom to recompose himself.
Staring at his reflection in the mirror, he noticed that he was starting to get deep worry lines in his face, not something you would normally see on someone that was 39 years of age. Splashing some water onto his face he proceeded to the next interrogation room, and found himself face to face with yet another wizard who was already dead set against answering any questions.
"Okay, let's make this easy on the both of us", Patrick began, sitting down at the table across from the wizard "Firstly, what is your name?"
"Jack Aslon, and that's all you're getting from me", the wizard exclaimed vehemently. Patrick sighed, and stood up slowly. He then pushed his chair in softly. Aslon looked at him oddly, and then his eyes widened in terror as Patrick picked up the chair and heaved it across the room with so much force that it shattered upon impact. Aslon looked absolutely horrified when Patrick pulled him nose to nose with himself.
"Listen mate", Patrick whispered in a deadly voice "There are over 300 bones in your body. Now, if you don't answer my questions, we will find out exactly how many I can break before you pass out from the pain. Got it?"
Aslon nodded frantically, and as Patrick was about to continue on with his questioning when there was a knock at the door to the interrogation room.
"What", Patrick barked out, as the door opened revealing an Unspeakable.
"Sir, the Heads sent me to tell you there is a situation that needs your immediate attention and you are to report to them immediately in the main conference room", the young agent said hurriedly before closing the door. Patrick looked piercingly at Aslon.
"I'll finish with you later", he said with a slight bit of malice in his voice before he walked out and down to the main conference room. When he arrived he noticed that members of the Department of Mysteries that dealt with Time Travel were present, and so was the head Unspeakable, Alex Warinton, who motioned for everyone (four in all) to be seated.
"Earlier this morning we had an unauthorized time travel incident occur near Hogwarts", Warinton began.
"We immediately dispatched a team", he motioned to the two other Unspeakables besides Patrick present, "who took the time traveller back here for evaluation. After evaluation we learned that this time traveller had used a Time Turner to travel back eight years. However, the Time Turner has broken so it is impossible to return him to his time. It was also determined that this traveller possesses no risk to vastly changing the future. Thus, it has been decided that this traveller is to remain in this time, assume an identity, and live out his life."
"Now, Agent O'Shannon", Warinton said, turning to Patrick, "You are to take care of this. You will help the traveller become acquainted with this time, and set him up on the path of life that he was in before he came back. All right? Everyone is dismissed, O'Shannon, follow me."
Patrick followed Warinton out of the room and down the hallway to a holding cell.
"The time traveller should just be awakening now", Warinton told Patrick, "He was unconscious when we got him, and had to find out information through a modified Legilimens spell. We couldn't glean much, but we know that he is coming back from a war-torn future. However, we feel that you would be the best to impress upon him that he is NOT to tamper with time any more than he is now."
Warinton was about to walk away before he turned back to Patrick to tell him one last thing, "And by the way, he is who you think he is."
Patrick raised an eyebrow before entering the room to find a wizard that could not be more than 17 years old lying on a bed starting to stir. The boy was wearing tattered robes that had obvious traces of spell damage on them. Patrick looked the boy up and down and then he saw the boy open his eyes, which were green. Patrick then took notice of the unruly hair. Getting an odd feeling, Patrick looked at the boy's forehead and got the shock of his life.
Before him was a 16 year old Harry Potter.
Harry studied his surroundings as he came to. Before he could get far though, he was hit with a massive headache and the sudden realization that he had no idea where he was. Just as this realization came to him, he was strikingly overwhelmed with the memories of the battle at Hogsmeade.
'Fighting Death Eaters...fighting Voldemort...Dumbledore dying...heading back in time to stop something...But stop what?' Harry started to rack his mind to try to remember exactly what he was sent back to do. For the life of him though, he could not remember what it was. It was then that Harry noticed that he was being watched. Harry looked up at the man that was watching him, and noticed the man was in extreme shock.
"Er...hello", Harry said, as conversationally as possible, "Would you have any idea where I am?"
"You...you...you're Harry Potter", the man whispered in shock. Harry only sighed, rolled his eyes, and nodded affirmative. The man visibly shook himself out of his trance before taking on a more professional appearance.
"Right", the man said "First of all Mr. Potter, do you know what the current date is?"
"No I do not", Harry replied "I did just travel through time and all."
"Well, first of all, my name is Patrick O'Shannon, and I am an Unspeakable", Patrick said introducing himself "As you can probably guess, you are within the Department of Mysteries. As for the date, it is August 13th, 1988. Now Mr. Potter, how old are you currently?"
"I am 16 years old," Harry answer, taking in the information, and then sensing the next question added "And I was just nearing the end of my sixth year at Hogwarts."
"Well," Patrick said, sitting down at a table which was next to Harry's bed and conjuring up a file folder and quill "I am sorry to inform you that you will be unable to return to where you came from in the future as your Time Turner broke. Therefore, we must make a life for you in this time."
Harry nodded his head in affirmation; he had considered this possibility when Dumbledore had told him to go back. But why did he have to go back? What was the reason that necessitated his Time Travel? Harry was broken away from his thoughts by Patrick clearing his throat.
"Now, before we go any farther, I must impress something onto you", Patrick said turning from a professional to a tone that suggested he was being deathly serious, "You must not change the future in any catastrophic way. You may not halt the progress of events the way that they happened in your original time line. Certain insignificant changes may take place, but nothing major. If you do, it might change you having to come back in the first place, and thus you should not exist in this timeline, however you would. That paradox is calculated to be enough to make the universe collapse upon itself. Do you understand the importance of this Mr. Potter?"
"Yes I do", Harry said meekly, all thoughts of getting Sirius out of Azkaban dashed from his mind. While that would be great, it would be a 'catastrophic change' and he absolutely did not want the universe to collapse upon itself.
"Good", Patrick said, taking on a more friendly tone "Now, we must go over some basics before we can start crafting your life. First of all, do you have any significant abilities that are uncommon among wizards?"
"Yes, I am a Metamorphmagus and a Parselmouth", Harry responded. Patrick's eyebrows rose slightly.
"A Metamorphmagus? Blimey", Patrick said, making a note of this and entirely glossing over Harry's other ability. Patrick ran a hand through his hair before asking another question.
"Have you ever participated in any organized Dark Arts activity?" Patrick questioned, taking out an instrument similar to the one that Harry had seen when he had bought his wand from Ollivander's. Sure enough, it started to take measurements in all thinkable areas of his body.
"No, I have not," Harry answered as the measuring tape-like device apparently finished and rolled itself back up before flying into Patrick's hand.
"Lovely", Patrick responded, making one final note before looking back up at Harry, "Now, seeing that you are a Metamorphmagus, this next part should be fairly simple. As I have already said, you will not be able to use your current appearance or identity because there is already a Harry Potter present in this world. Now, do you have a preferred appearance with your Metamorphmagus powers? We can make that your 'legal' appearance..."
Patrick trailed off, inviting Harry to answer. Harry had but to think for only a moment before nodding his head, and at Patrick's invitation, changed into his preferred appearance.
Gone once again was the black hair and green eyes, the lighting bolt scar, and the short stature of only 5 feet 7 inches. In their place were things quickly becoming familiar: long blonde hair and unnatural silver eyes, tanned skin, and a medium stature of 6 feet 2 inches.
Patrick took Harry in with an appraising look before calmly stating, "You look like a Malfoy."
Harry instantly had a horrified expression on his face, and quickly changed again. Blonde quickly became black, and the silver eyes turned a bright blue, a very unnatural bright blue. All the rest stayed the same however.
"You do seem to have a flair for an appearance that is unnatural", Patrick observed very dryly, writing down a few notes.
"I like to be noticed by my own doings", Harry retorted. Patrick merely raised his eyebrows before continuing.
"Now, as you can probably guess, we also need to change your wand signature, as yourself in the present time must get the same wand that you have, or we will have another paradox on our hands", Patrick said with a small smirk. Opening a box which had just appeared on the table he continued on, "Now, may I see your wand?"
Harry handed him his wand, and watched as Patrick inserted the tip of the wand into the box, which glowed slightly. After the box had dimmed, Patrick took the wand out and placed it on a piece of paper, before handing it back to Harry.
"You should have no problem with wand signature now", Patrick remarked, before leaning back, stretching, and turning the page in the file folder, "We just have a few things left, but we don't need to necessarily finish them now. In fact, I think it would be best if we did not."
Harry raised an eyebrow as Patrick conjured a book and tossed it to him. He motioned for Harry to look at the book, which was entitled How To Become Someone Else: Tips on Changing Your Name and Identity. Harry looked back up at Patrick with a slightly quizzical look on his face.
"We can't have two Harry Potters running around this world, now can we?" Patrick stated quite calmly.
"Point taken", Harry murmured, starting to leaf through the book, but only half-heartedly before looking back up at Patrick again.
"We also need you to take a series of aptitude tests, so you have an official record in this time period", Patrick paused for a second, before conjuring up a second book and handing that one to Harry also, "Since you are past your fifth year in school, you also need to decide on a career path. I would suggest either Auror or even yet Unspeakable for you, based upon your...unique abilities and situation."
Patrick stood up and looked at his watch before yawning.
"Well, I must be off, but I will be back tomorrow morning. Please have your decisions made by then", Patrick stated. Patrick was about to walk out of the door when Harry thought of something that he noticed hadn't been said before.
"What is my birthday going to be?" Harry asked; with all the other details of his life that had been gone over, why hadn't this one?
"Ah, good question", Patrick replied, sitting back down for a moment, "Well normally, for cases like these at least when we are assigning a person a new identity, we create a packet of information that details a person's 'life' down to the most finite details. Their whole background story you could say...including their birthday. I think though, that since you asked I can come up with a birthday on the spot."
Patrick thought for a second, surveying Harry, who just simple intoned, "How about August 13th?"
"Good pick Mr. Potter," Patrick said with a chuckle, "Well now, I must be off. Have a nice night."
With that, Patrick made a tip of the hat gesture to Harry, before walking out of the room and closing the door.
Harry looked at the wall for a moment before sighing and opening the first book that was handed to him, How To Become Someone Else. He noticed as he was reading that the book was specifically tailored to those that had traveled through time and had to assume another identity.
"My life is a bloody circus", Harry muttered to himself as he paged through the book. He finally stopped reading after he got to the part that stated how your name had new identity had to at least slightly match your appearance. Harry took his wand and conjured up a mirror. He stared at it for a few minutes, before deciding, "German."
He then flipped the book through the pages until he came to the section devoted on German names, and then started to look for a name that he liked.
"Adie, short form of Adolf...NO", Harry muttered to himself as he continued to search through the names. He had almost given up hope when he came upon one that stood out to him the most, "Ludwig - pronounced either 'LOOT-vik' or 'LUD-wig,' this name means 'famous warrior' and is a popular name for male Germans...well if that's not me, then I don't know what is. Now for a surname..."
After a thorough search, Harry decided upon a surname that would provide a tie to his 'past' life, the only problem was, he couldn't find anything that would provide either a proper fit, or made sense. It was finally decided that his name could have no significant ties to "Harry Potter." Sighing, Harry continued to narrow down his search until he came to one final one that made the most sense to him, "Waechter - warden, watchman. Perfect, I have been sent her to watch over something...I just can't remember what."
Harry sighed as he closed the book, and wrote down Ludwig Waechter on a piece of parchment that was on the table that Patrick had conjured. Looking at a clock that was on the wall he noticed that it was 11 at night. Yawning slightly, Harry noticed that other book that Patrick had given him, the one on careers. Taking Patrick's advice, Harry turned to the section on the Unspeakables and started to read a vague passage on some of the duties that they carried out.
However, before he could get far into the book, sleep started to overtake him. Yawning once more, Harry marked his place in the book before turning out the light in the room, and going to sleep.
Harry was awoken the next morning by the lights being thrown on and sensing the presence of someone above him.
"Good day to you Mr. Potter", Patrick said with a bit of cheer in his voice. Harry groggily focused his eyes and stared at Patrick.
"Not a morning person are we?" Patrick asked with a bit of mirth in his voice, before handing Harry a potion, "This should wake you up right quick. It's why I'm as awake as I am."
Harry took the potion and quickly downed it, before spitting most of it out. It was hotter than anything he ever had!
"What was that?" Harry questioned, now fully awake.
"Enhanced Pepper-Up Potion," Patrick chuckled before opening up Harry's file again. He raised an eyebrow at Harry's new identity, "German, eh? Well then, Ludwig, choose a career path that you would like?"
"I didn't get too far into looking at the careers, but Unspeakable seems interesting", Harry said. Patrick nodded his head.
"Oh! I almost forgot", Patrick said, conjuring up some clothes and handing them to Harry, who gratefully took them, "Now, Unspeakable, yes, glorious career if I do say so myself. Now, why don't you change your clothes and we will do some academic testing on you in order to give you some academic standing, and also so we can guide you into your career path accordingly."
With that, Patrick exited Harry's room. Harry sighed before putting on the clothes that Patrick had handed to him.
'It's going to be one long day.'
As it turned out, the day wasn't as long as Harry thought it was going to be. As he was going to be entering his sixth year at Hogwarts, he only needed to know everything that a normal sixth year would know. And since he already had advance knowledge of the sixth year curriculum as he had already taken most of it, his modified OWLs went by quickly, and he even managed to score Outstanding or Exceeds Expectations on every subject, including Outstanding in both Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions - which was necessary to be accepted in the Unspeakables.
"So Harry, any questions you have from today?" Patrick asked as he led Harry back to his 'room.'
"Yes, what exactly do the Unspeakables do?" Harry questioned. Patrick looked deep in thought for a moment, before silently motioning Harry to follow him into a room where he cast a couple of silencing charms on it so people couldn't eavesdrop on them.
"I'm really not supposed to tell you much", Patrick said with a serious look on his face, "But, I feel you would thrive in this career, and I have this odd feeling that I need to tell you. We're called the "Department of Mysteries" for a reason. We deal with all the major mysteries of the magical world, stuff that people don't know heads or tails about. It ranges from Dark Arts activities to object research. Now, in the terms of Dark Arts activities, we usually turn those cases over to the Aurors and those blokes. Now, we're also called the Department of Mysteries because EVERYTHING that we do is kept secret unless we decide for it to not be so. We are the only Department within the Ministry that does not have to answer to the Minister of Magic. Does that help?"
Harry took this all in for a second before getting a small smile on his face, "Sounds like fun."
"Oh it is", Patrick said, "But we need to get you back to your room."
Harry leaned back in the bed in the 'holding compartment' that he had woken up in. The next day he would be set up in a room in the Leaky Cauldron, and given just enough money to buy clothes, food, and all the supplies that he needed to attend school. The Unspeakables had also set him up with a small bank account at Gringotts that would always have a minimum balance of 100 Galleons until Harry graduated from Hogwarts as long as, "You don't abuse it", as Patrick had told him.
Harry sighed as he leaned back into the bed. The Unspeakables had also said they would be keeping tabs on Harry so as to make sure he didn't vastly change his future (or what they knew of it), and so he would remain on the right path to becoming an Unspeakable himself.
As sleep overtook him, Harry had but one thought running through his head. The same thought that had been bugging him since the moment that he had woken up in August of 1988.
'Why am I here? Why was I sent back? What was I supposed to do?'
A/N: Toodles.. Review guyzz..