Sirius Black was confused but had nothing left to lose. Probably no other state of affairs would have left him blindly trusting Xenophilius Lovegood. Especially with tasks that were odd even for the famously eccentric wizard. But, he reflected, the fact that he was here, in a ritual space in a cave near Ottery St. Catchpole, was evidence that trusting Xeno was the wisest choice at hand.
It would never have occurred to Sirius that Azkaban's anti-portkey wards would not stop an animagus in his animal form from being portkeyed out. Of course, he had only spent a day there, but still ... Xeno often behaved as if the laws of magic were arbitrary, but it was still impressive. As a Black, Sirius knew he was participating in a costly and rare blood ritual, but if Xeno was willing to sacrifice to have him go through it, he was eager to pay him back for his freedom.
It seemed to combine things he'd learned couldn't be combined, when he'd been at Hogwarts. Interestingly, the message smuggled to Sirius in his cell included instructions to memorise the entire ritual, potions to chants. It was quite the ritual, it seemed to combine blood sacrifice, time travel, soul magic and exorcism in a way that defied Arithmantic analysis. If Xeno weren't insane, he reflected, he might be the cleverest wizard of their generation.
He felt magic rising up, then incredible pain, then everything went dark. When he woke up, he wasn't in the cave any more, but in a dark, cramped space. He felt completely weak and helpless. He remembered being instructed that he wouldn't be able to speak, but instead should beat his hands and feet in a pattern that completed the ritual. He remembered it, but it was painful and almost impossible to do. Nonetheless, he felt magic rising up again.
For whatever reason, his body was not only utterly weak but highly sensitive to pain. Sirius screamed. Before he blacked out again, he heard a loud voice shouting "I'll give the little freak something to scream about, you see if I don't, Petunia!" and a woman's voice mumbling something like "just a baby."
This time he woke up in a bed, and less weak, but all his joints ached. Sirius had seen various teacher's quarters at Hogwarts, but this one seemed more sumptuous than most. It was probably Horace Slughorn's quarters, he mused. But then he felt something scratchy. He couldn't believe Sluggy would ever grow a long, white beard.
The headmaster couldn't remember being more confused. Somehow, a Death Eater - or worse, Tom Riddle himself, had seemingly kidnapped him, depriving him of the Elder Wand - and everything else — in the process. He was in an enclosed space of some kind. A magical trunk? He heard a giant coming towards his chamber — how had Voldemort gotten enough cooperation from a giant to have one act as a guard? The hole in the ground he was captive in shook with the pounding of the giant. He heard a door unlocking and opening, then felt himself being dragged out painfully by one foot. While his usual aches and pains seemed to have vanished, he felt weak and helpless. It would be a miserable end to one of the Mighty to end up a giant's supper, he complained to himself.
Strangely, the giant looked quite a bit like little Harry Potter's uncle, Vermin or something like it. After the creature stopped dragging him and glared down at him, the headmaster realised he'd made a mistake. It was not giants he was dealing with, but Muggles. Wand-less and tiny and weak he might be, but he decided to act decisively. "My good people," he tried to begin. It came out "Mmma goo pee po!" He felt a stinging pain in his ear. Vermin had snapped His index finger against the headmaster's sensitive ear, causing him to let out an embarrassing scream.
"Shut up, you freak!" Vermin shouted, snapping the headmaster in the face and ears continuously in the process. The headmaster decided to apparate away. Somehow, it failed. He was in a far worse situation than he'd at first reckoned.
The boy freak found himself very far from his cupboard. There was a bright orange crackling thing wherever he was, and its warmth felt wonderful, after how chilly the cupboard could get in November. Still, the boy freak was frightened, hungry, and missed his mother.
Suddenly, a shiny object on the floor of the cave he was in caught the boy freak's eye. Experimentally, he picked it up and tapped on it. A face appeared in the shiny circle - so suddenly, the freak almost dropped the precious bauble. It was the face of a man with white hair and a kind face. "Sirius!" he heard the man say. The freak remembered what that meant. "Pa'foo!" He cried out. The man had the biggest smile the freak had ever seen. It reminded him of when he could find his mother and father. "We did it, didn't we, Harry?" the man said. "I suppose Luna or I will have to watch you until we're ready." Suddenly, the man himself was in the cave with the freak. He grabbed the freak by the arm and then everything swirled around. When it stopped swirling, the freak felt sick.
He saw a nice girl waiting in the little hut he'd been brought to. There was another orange, crackling thing keeping him warm. She looked tiny compared to his mother and father and Pa'foo. The man did, too. "How long before we can bring him To the Rook, father?" She asked. The man said, "My guess is after a week it won't matter, Luna Moon."
The girl turned to the boy freak. "Hello, Harry!" She said. "I am Luna. I hope we will be good friends. No one will hurt you here." Harry didn't sound like papa or mama or moony or pad foot. He wondered where Harry was hiding.
Xeno and Luna had disappeared suddenly and mysteriously. Harry and Hermione were at the Lovegoods' house yet again, still talking with the portraits. Spending the weekend with the Lovegoods had become their routine. Shockingly, the headmaster seemed to be stymied by Xeno, given how he kept Harry imprisoned and under his thumb in the timeline from before. Xeno explained that, as a pureblood, he understood the rules Dumbledore had been violating, and the rights an Ancient and Noble family had. "Plus," he'd continued, "I have a lot of blackmail material on him. He's scarcely what I'd call a leader of the light."
Suddenly, Pandora started. When she snapped back to herself, she said, "You won't go back to Hogwarts. We have a limited time to get our affairs in order before things begin to merge." Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Was this from Pandora being a Seer? Was it just Lovegood eccentricity? Harry saw comprehension dawning on Hermione's face. She looked at Pandora and Harry and Hermione's doubles in horror.
"Harry, your godfather is out of Azkaban and being cared for by Xeno and Luna. He's in no shape to meet anyone, and ... it would be incredibly dangerous for you, in particular, to meet him right now."
At that, she turned to Hermione, who seemed to be understanding what was going on. "The headmaster has decided his own fate when he decided Harry's and Sirius's. Do not pity him."
"But what about ..." Hermione began. "The Minister's Specials?" Pandora finished, looking tenderly at Hermione. "It is, believe me, what they would have wanted. The Minister, too, has decided his own fate."
"But," Hermione objected, "isn't everything a paradox, dangerous, I mean ..."
"First of all, this house is built as it is to be warded against the effects of shifts in the time stream, Hermione. Your older self should explain that when we have the time for pleasantries. Second, as the prime instigators, we will largely be immune to the effects until a certain amount of time forces a merging."
"And what happens then?" Hermione demanded.
"Who knows?" Pandora replied.