Anything in this chapter taken directly from the books is written in bold.
Warning: This chapter may be a bit of a bore to those readers who prefer planning and action.
The Time Travel Crew
Chapter 3: Justin loves a good story
Justin had always enjoyed his childhood, but when he was asked to join the eight others in Snape's office, in their mission to right what was wrong, he decided that there was nothing wrong with a second childhood. His job was to keep an eye on his fellow Puffs and Justin knew that they meant Zacharias Smith in particular.
But when Harry began giving an account of You-Know-Who's parents' romance, he had to admit Harry was doing a great job at catching everyone's attention.
Harry shook his head in exasperation and amusement and resumed his pacing.
"Tom Riddle junior grew up in the orphanage and, unknowingly fulfilling his mother's desire, looked just like his father. He never cried as a child, but had an amazing control over his magic... and using it, he could punish the other children whenever he wished. He had a habbit of stealing their most precious possessions, things of monetary value not sentimental, mind.
"There was this cave near the sea-side that Riddle would visit, and he once gave a right scare to two of his fellow orphans. They were so terrified, they refused to tell anyone what happened...I think he magicked them there, because it was difficult to get there without magical means.
"Then Albus Dumbledore arrived to the orphanage when Riddle was ten, brought him his letter and made him believe in magic by setting his cupboard on fire. Dumbledore made Riddle return all the things he'd stolen from the other children.
"Riddle told Dumbledore that he could punish the other children when he liked and that he was a Parselmouth. Riddle also told him that he thought his mother to be weak for dying.
"Dumbledore offered to take him to Diagon Alley, but Riddle said he'd go there by himself, if Dumbledore gave him the directions. Dumbledore gave him the school fund and told him to ask Tom, the bartender to help him get to Diagon Alley. Riddle wasn't happy that the Bartender's name was Tom as well, in other words, he didn't like sharing his name or anything else.
"It was because of these admissions that Dumbledore kept a close eye on Riddle and again, it was because of these admissions that Dumbledore was the only person whom Voldemort was scared of.
"Ollivander sold Riddle a Yew and Phoenix wand. Riddle was sorted into Slytherin and started at Hogwarts as a brilliant student, earning the sympathy of many teachers, you know, being such a talented, good looking orphan. Dumbledore, however, wasn't fooled.
"On searching through the library, Riddle realised that it was his mother who was the pureblood and not his father, as he had believed before he found himself to be the only surviving heir of Slytherin.
"It was during his school days that he took out the 'M' from Tom, the 'A' from Marvolo and the 'I' from Riddle, he then interchanged the remaining letters of his name and he designed himself the name Lord Voldemort. It was a name he vowed to make everyone fear.
"In his fifth year, Riddle was made a prefect. It was then that he found the chamber of secrets and let out the Basilisk that was hidden there by Slytherin himself, letting it lose in the plumbing system of Hogwarts.
The Basilisk was given instructions to kill or petrify Muggleborns. Then came the unfortunate day when Myrtle Warren, a touchy Muggleborn girl decided to cry in the girls bathroom because a certain Olive Hornby teased her because of her glasses.
"She heard Riddle speaking to the Basilisk in the same bathroom and opened the door to her stall to tell him off for entering the girl's bathroom, but Riddle ordered the Basilisk to kill her with its stare. Then he closed the chamber and pinned the blame on a third year Hufflepuff, Rubeus Hagrid who was then looking after an Acramentula called Aragog."
"That's our Hagrid!" Neville said equally shocked as Justin.
"Exactly." Harry said.
"Is Rubeus his first name." asked Draco.
"Yes." said Harry. "Now stop interrupting and let me finish the story."
"So you do admit that it's a story." Justin said smugly.
Harry smirked good-naturedly and steamed on.
"Hagrid was expelled without any further inquiry, but Dumbledore believed him to be innocent and persuaded Armando Dippet, the Headmaster then, to let Hagrid be trained as the Gamekeeper of Hogwarts.
"Soon after, he visited the House of Gaunt in Little Hangleton, still at the age of sixteen. By then, I believe, Marvolo Gaunt died, soon after his release from from Azkaban, probably due to lack of care...or with the shock of hearing that his daughter had married a Muggle.
Voldemort spoke to Morfin who was released from Azkaban long after his father. Morfin let himself and his shack grow into a deplorable state. He was wearing that ring, the second of the two expensive heirlooms, when Tom Riddle junior stunned him and stole his wand along with the ring.
"Tom Riddle junior then entered the Riddle Manor and killed his father and his grandparents with his maternal uncle's wand and returned back to the House of Gaunt where he altered Morfin's memory, making him believe that he killed the Riddles. Morfin died in Azkaban.
"I am not sure when he did this, but Riddle searched through the library again and found a book on Horcruxes. A Horcrux is a form of magic that can be used by only the most hate-filled persons. You see, to make one, the wizard has to kill someone in cold-blood, without any remorse.
"Then he has to say a certain incantation and a piece of his soul breaks off from the whole thing and latches itself to the container the wizard desires to make a Horcrux.
"Now as long as there is a piece of the wizard's soul somewhere on this earth, he can never truly die. The only way the wizard can have his soul back in one piece again is by showing some remorse and that can destroy him at times.
"If his Horcrux is destroyed, that piece of his soul simply doesn't exist anymore and the soul in the wizard can never be whole. If his Horcrux is destroyed and then he is killed, he will suffer for eternity, for without a whole soul, you don't expect to enjoy a well deserved and peaceful death.
"There are a few ways of destroying a Horcrux. A powerful diffindo or bombarda or even a reducto cannot destroy something so well protected.
"You need to use things that magic can't repair easily, the Basilisk's venom, the Avada Kedavra and Fiendfire are such examples. Nothing or rather almost nothing escapes the Avada Kedavra, nor can anything stand a chance against Fiendfire. But the effects of Basilisk venom can be countered by Phoenix tears only.
"Back to Riddle, he being Riddle, wanted to make sure there was no chance of him dying and for that he needed to know if there was a way of creating more than one Horcrux. The books told him how to make a Horcrux but not how to make more than one. So very skillfully, he approached his potions Professor, Horace Slughorn and wormed the information out of him using his charm that no one, save for Dumbledore, could ignore.
"Slughorn was so shocked with the question that he gave an indirect answer and Voldemort knew that he could make not just one Horcrux, but seven, the most powerful number. I know how you feel, I was just as disgusted then as you are now.
"So, Voldemort had a diary that he turned into a Horcrux for killing Myrtle Warren. He used Peverell's ring to make another Horcrux for killing his father...Now pay attention, Riddle used things of value to make Horcruxes and he made Horcruxes only after specific significant murders.
Myrtle's murder, though being a Muggleborn, was significant to Riddle, because it was his first murder...Then came his father's and grandparents deaths...Riddle began collecting supporters in school itself.
"Then using his irresistible charm, Riddle wheedled out the location of the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw from her daughter, Helena Ravenclaw, the ghost of the Ravenclaw tower, also known as the Gray Lady. She told him that she had hidden it in a hollow tree in a forest of Albania.
"Riddle finished his seventh year as the head boy and began working at Borgin and Brukes. There he began learning the Dark Arts.
"Before that, I think he asked Armando Dippet for a teacher's job, but Dippet told him kindly that he was too young and that he needed more experience.
"He befriended a certain Hepzibah Smith a descendant of Helga Hufflepuff. She was so taken by his mannerisms that she showed him the Hufflepuff cup. She also showed him the Slytherin's locket that she had purchased from Borgin and Brukes, the same locket sold to that shop by Merope Gaunt nee Riddle.
"Riddle killed Hepzibah by feeding her poison and he altered the memory of her house-elf, pinning the blame on her. He stole both, the cup and the locket and sent a piece of his soul into the cup for the murder of Hepzibah. Riddle then killed a homeless Muggle - his first murder of a Muggle - and made a Horcrux of the locket.
"He then went to Albania and procured the diadem. He killed a peasant there - his first murder in a foreign country - and made his fifth Horcrux. Now, his features began to change, he didn't look as handsome as he used to and his eyes were bloodshot.
"A little later, he realized he couldn't keep all his Horcruxes on him, they'd all be destroyed at once. So he decided to hide them...in different places. That cave near the seaside which he used to visit as a kid became the hiding place of the locket. He had some mechanisms put on it which is not important for us. I'll explain why later.
"Now Voldemort took the Diadem and visited Hogwarts and took it to the Room of Requirements, where he hid it. He did this under the pretense of asking Dumbledore, who had just become Headmaster, for a job as the DADA professor.
"Dumbledore didn't want to give him any form of power over his students and he refused, but he suspected Voldemort was here for some other reason. Aberforth Dumbledore informed him that some of Voldemort's supporters who called themselves Death Eaters were waiting for him at the Hog's Head.
"Voldemort left and gave the Hufflepuff cup to Bellatrix Lestrange and instructed her to keep it in the Lestrange vault at Gringotts, telling her to keep it safe. He then gave his diary to Lucius Malfoy for safekeeping.
He at some point of time before, after or while hiding the other Horcruxes took the Peverell ring and put it in a golden box and hid the box under the rotten floorboards of the House of Gaunt with a lot of dark enchantments on the house and a deadly curse on the ring.
"Then began Voldemort's reign of terror. He wanted power and he wanted blood purity, despite himself being a half-blood. In 1980, Voldemort heard half a prophecy made by Sybil Trelawney, though, I don't think he knew who the Seer was.
"All that he heard was, 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...'
"What he didn't hear was this, 'and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...' Voldemort soon found out that the prophecy named two boys, one was, obviously me the other was you, Neville."
Justin shook his head, his mind reeling with the information that rained generously into his ears and began painting a clear picture in his mind. And it was through the fuzziness that he saw Snape staring at his teacup. Harry simply walked to the table, sat down and placed his good hand on Snape's forearm and gave it a sqeeze. Snape simply nodded.
Harry sighed and turned to Neville who looked absolutely stricken. "Neville, I-I'm sorry. When Dumbledore told me about the prophecy, for a moment I just hoped that that boy was you."
Neville shook his head with a snort and fiercely said, "I would have done the same thing if I was in your place, you git! What're you apologizing for? Anyone who was destined to kill or be killed by that monster would have tried to see if there was a way out!"
Before he could go on, McGonagall said, "Why did Voldemort choose you?"
Harry said miserably, "Because I am a half-blood...just like him."
Justin noticed Snape staring at his cup as though his life depended on it. Harry's grip on the his forarm became stronger...What was it that happened to make Snape, of all people, so upset? Oh well, it wasn't any of his business, was it? And they would tell him about if it was important. Justin pushed down his curiosity as his Hufflepuff loyalty set in.
Harry continued, "Voldemort began searching for us, but we were under the Fidelius charm, until one of his secret followers, his spy, Peter Pettigrew was made our Secret Keeper. Pettigrew told Voldemort our address and...a-and on Halloween..."
There was silence...Harry just screwed his eyes shut...No one said anything. Neville placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and they remained in silence for a while.
Harry pulled away, opened his eyes staring unseeingly at Justin who was sitting opposite to him, and spoke in a quiet monotone, "He killed my Dad, who asked Mum to take me and run, Dad said he'd hold him off. Voldemort laughed and killed him first.
"Mum ran upstairs...to my nursery, because Voldemort blocked every escape route. She begged for my life, told him to kill her instead of me... told him to have mercy, that she'd do anything...He told her to stand aside but she refused and then he killed her, then turned to me and he cast the Avada Kedavra. He intended to make his seventh and last Horcrux after killing me.
"Mum's love acted like a shield that threw his curse back at him and instead of dying, his spirit, thanks to those Horcruxes, painfully ripped from his body and he fled far away from Godric's Hollow..."
There was more silence. "When I was small...I could only remember a lot of green light and a terrible pain in my forehead...When Hagrid told me the truth on my eleventh birthday, I began to hear a cold, cruel, high-pitched laugh everytime I thought of that green light...Everytime the dementors come close, I hear my mother's pleads.
"On the night of last Christmas Eve, I went into Voldemort's mind at the same time he recalled everything...and I saw everything...right from seeing my Dad entertain me with some colourful smoke to Voldemort being ripped away from his body... "
Snape placed a hand on his shoulder, whether to comfort him or to bring him out of his reverie, Justin didn't know. But it worked, both ways. Harry shook his head and turned his attention back at them.
He said, "Voldemort remained in hiding for years, until he came across Quirrel who willingly accepted him as his master. On the thirty first of July, nineteen ninety one, Voldemort ordered Quirrel to rob Gringotts to aquire the Philosopher's stone to help him, Voldemort get his body back.
"Listen, Voldemort required the elixir to only get a body, not to be immortal...the immortality part was the work of the Horcruxes. Voldemort didn't want to depend on the stone or on the person willing to make the elixir, so Horcruxes were a better option for him.
"Quirrel failed, because the vault had already been emptied by Hagrid. Voldemort was angry and now decided to be with Quirrel at all times, and to do that Quirrel let Voldemort share his body. Quirrel was that year's DADA professor, and being right under Dumbledore's nose, he had to hide Voldemort's face that was sticking from the back of his head. So, he wore a turban.
"On Halloween, Quirrel on Voldemort's instructions let a troll loose in the castle in the hope of creating a diversion so he could steal the stone, and if it was possible, let the troll kill me. But he failed again.
"He then tried to kill me on my first Quidditch match by jinxing my broom, but, he failed yet again. He knew how to get past all the obstacles that lead to the Philosopher's stone, except one, Fluffy, Hagrid's three-headed dog. Then one night in Hogshead, while Hagrid was drunk, Quirrel and Voldemort, disguised as a hooded figure, pried the answer out of him, giving him a dragon's egg in return.
"Then in order to sustain Voldemort for some more time, Quirrel killed a unicorn and drank it's blood - he had been doing it for a while.
"Now, all he had to do now was wait for Dumbledore to get away from the castle, so he sent Dumbledore a fake letter that asked him to hurry to the Ministry, and when Dumbledore left, Quirrel tried to steal the stone. But he died before he could do that and Voldemort fled to a forest in Albania."
Justin noticed how Harry didn't bother to give himself credit for stopping Voldemort from getting the stone. He shook his head at the idiot's humility and since nobody commented on it, Justin stayed quiet too.
Harry said, "While he was in Albania, Lucius Malfoy slipped Riddle's diary into Ginny Weasley's old Transfiguration book. Ginny used that diary as a friend, because it would write back to her.
"She began pouring her soul into the diary and soon Tom Riddle fed some of his soul to her and slowly managed to possess her, making her open the Chamber of Secrets yet again. The Horcrux was trying to slowly pull Ginny's life into itself so he could come out of the diary. But before this happened, the diary was pierced with a Basilisk fang and Ginny was saved.
"Then in June, nineteen ninety four, Peter Pettigrew, as a rat, met with him. Voldemort managed to possess a huge snake, whom he called Nagini, and, using her poison and some other things, Pettigrew helped Voldemort get a form, like some sort of a raw-skinned child. While hiding there, Pettigrew came across Bertha Jorkins who was on a holiday.
"Voldemort realized that she had been obliviated. He tortured her until the obliviation charm broke and she told him that Barty Crouch Junior hadn't died but was hiding in his father's home, that he wanted to help his master, but his father wouldn't hear of it, that his mother and he switched places and she died in Azkaban, while regularly consuming Polyjuice potion.
"Bertha Jorkins was in no shape after that torture and Voldemort killed her and probably fed her body to Nagini. They went to hide in the Riddle Manor, that was left abandoned by everyone save for the caretaker Frank Bryce, whom Voldemort killed and put the seventh piece of his soul in Nagini.
"Then he used his father's bone, his servant's flesh and my blood and he got his body again. He claimed that my blood with my Mum's sacrifice would make him strong. Little did he know that he made the second biggest mistake of his life, the first being his stepping into Godric's Hollow.
"Voldemort then probably went around to make sure his Horcruxes were safe and then he stayed in hiding for a year, during which he tried to retrieve the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries where he failed for the umpteenth time.
"But it was during this year that Voldemort didn't only know that he had passed on some of his powers to me, but he also realised that we shared a connection that he used once, but never dared to use again. He also managed to learn from Lucius Malfoy, that his Diary was destroyed. In revenge, Voldemort gave you, Draco, the Dark Mark and the order of killing Dumbledore.
"But Dumbledore had a mission of his own. He arrived at Little Hangleton and after breaking through all those barriers, he entered the House of Gaunt.
"He found the ring, but the moment he put the ring on his finger, the curse that Voldemort put on it took effect and Dumbledore would have died hadn't you, Severus, contained that curse in his hand. But Dumbledore had only a year to live, he didn't want to die in pain and embarrassment, so he asked his most trusted man to kill him at the right time.
"Once Dumbledore was dead Voldemort set back on his old mission - killing me. But before he could do that, Ron, Hermione and I found out that Sirius's brother, Regulus Black, with the help of his house-elf Kreacher, procured the locket, but Regulus died in the process.
"The locket was then left at Grimmauld Place by Kreacher who was unable to destroy it and fulfill his master's last wish. Mundungus Fletcher stole it after Sirius's death and gave it to Umbridge in exchange for his arrest.
"We took it from her and Ron destroyed it with the sword of Gryffindor - the sword was covered with Basilisk venom, er, the Basilisk, the one from the Secret Chamber, was killed with that sword. Then we broke into Gringotts and stole the Hufflepuff Cup and Hermione pierced it with a Basilisk fang.
"Then was the Ravenclaw Diadem that was destroyed by the Fiendyre that Crabbe set in the Room of Requirements...Then the snake Horcrux was destroyed by Neville and after a bit of wand juggling, Voldemort died. But there was yet another Horcrux that was made unintentionally, that Voldemort himself unknowingly destroyed..."
Harry paused dramatically and then slowly raised his index finger and pointed to his scar and at the same time he said:
"Me."
To be continued...
Hello Everyone,
Don't say it...I know this chapter is boring. I also know that there hasn't been much emotions shown by the other members around Snape's table.
I also know that there this chapter is just based on facts, but I needed a base, so when I change POVs to the other members of the story, it isn't often written as, "Harry had told them that..." or "According to Harry..."
And also, [whisper] I'm rather proud of this chapter :)
I also known that putting the story in Justin's POV wasn't very suitable, but I needed to include him, to get his character out (Though, I wasn't able to do that good a job) and I found this the most suitable chapter.
At first I had written it in Snape's POV but I had already written it in his POV in the first chapter.
The next chapter will hopefully bring out the characters of the crew.
And speaking of the facts, if you find anything missing and out of place, please let me know.
Now, I was asked by a guest whether the pairings would be the same as in cannon or whether they will change. To tell you the truth, I haven't yet decided. But as the story progresses, I will get an idea of the pairing.
I hope you are all safe.
Take care!