Harry James Potter was fully expecting to reappear in the forbidden forest and fulfill his duty to defeat lord Voldemort.
He could feel the cool ground beneath his fingertips and found himself reluctant to open his eyes. Harry kept his breaths shallow and quiet afraid that someone would realize he was alive. He tried to listen for those around him but all he found was silence. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself quite alone in the clearing.
Harry shot upright in alarm looking up into the bright sun that shone through the leaves and onto him 'Alright' he told himself, ignoring the building panic. 'I must have been away for a while, that's it, I'll walk back to Hogwarts and rejoin the battle'.
This attempt to reassure himself did not stop him worrying after the fate of his friends facing Voldemort. He couldn't fool himself of the feeling that something was not right. The forest felt different. His last year at Hogwarts had been one of impending darkness and the castle along with its grounds and the forest had reflected this gloom and sense of wrongness. This forest however seemed bright, alive and untouched by the war around them. It felt somehow younger he mused looking at the trees.
Harry gathered his belongings; he had with him: the elder wand, his broken holly wand, the resurrection stone enclosed in the ring and the necklace Dumbledore had given him. Within his backpack were his tent and supplies for camping, a few potion supplies, the photo album of his parents and friends along with the invisibility cloak.
Harry found himself walking up to the castle, his gaze unfocused as he had walked this path many times before, it was when the time came to dodge the whomping willow that he finally made the realization something was profoundly wrong here. It was gone.
Harry was absolutely bewildered, he could understand if it had been damaged in the battle but the willow had completely disappeared, no sign of it and the ground untouched where it should have been. Not only that but the rest of the castle and land were similarly unaffected. He had not one hour ago seen the castle in ruins but here it stood in its prime and robust. The sight of this made him only more determined and he arrived at the front doors only to be stumped by the line of men and women of all ages that were queued there.
They waited patiently in a clear line, all dressed smartly while seeming to peruse through books and talk amongst themselves, as if in wait for something. To say Harry was surprised by the sight of these people would be like saying you were surprised to wake up with a murderous killer, knife in hand, hovering above your bed.
He was baffled, flabbergasted and astounded by the events of the last one hour of his rebirth into the land of the living. Although preoccupied with the immense seriousness of this situation he couldn't help but feel under dressed and embarrassed at his own state in comparison to the people around him. Harry was wearing trousers that were so faded they were more rags than actual clothing, his shirt covered in holes and burns and he didn't even want to think about what his normally unruly hair would look like now. His shoes were worn and patched and the only thing he was remotely satisfied with were the pair of woollen socks he had knitted himself when sitting in a tent with Hermione, starving and awaiting the battle. They were a rich brown with cute little sparrows scattered around in an even pattern.
It was around his time when people around him began to notice his state and the few around him rushed to help.
"Excuse me Sir, are you in need of assistance!?" Questioned a smart older gentleman, seeming more shocked than Harry had been at his presence. The man's graying hair blew wildly around him as he frantically attempted to sit Harry down somewhere, inspect his wounds and call for help all at the same time.
"Honestly Sir, I really am fine, I am uninjured really! No assistance needed" Harry Reassured the man forcefully, afraid of the man gathering even more attention as people further down the queue began to turn around. He prayed to Merlin, any force that would allow these people to ignore him and was relieved when eventually they seemed to settle knowing that the man was taking care of him.
"Thank you, Sir I seemed to have crashed on my broom" Harry informed the man, realizing that it would not bode well to mention the war here. He did not want to get sent to St Mungo's for delusions.
"Well I must say you do seem alright but if you need any help please ask" Insisted the kind man and Harry smiled in gratitude for the man's aid.
"Actually Sir, would you mind awfully lending me your newspaper? The hit to the head seems to have muddled me a bit, could I question the date?" Harry asked, rubbing his head for good measure. The newspaper was thrust in his face in what Harry deduced was an affirmative from the man and Harry forcefully searched the paper for the dates and titles while occasionally pushing his hair which now reached his shoulders out of his eyes.
"Well Sir, not to worry. My name's Hemric Osbourne, I assume you too are here for the defence against the dark arts position?"
Harry found himself nodding in detached approval before finally seeing the date 3rd of July... 1957. "What the fuck" he mumbled. He Searched again before sighing, resigned that this was in fact not a prank and began to wonder how the hell he would get back to his original timeline. Realizing what he had previously been nodding in agreement to, Harry was yanked out of his thoughts and looked up in time to see the man, Hemric bid him goodbye as he was led into what Harry assumed was the interview for the teaching position.
Harry, quickly thinking of his options, decided that Albus Dumbledore would still be alive at this time and so he would wait here for the time being and hope he would be able to have a meeting and explain his situation to his previous Headmaster.
That truly had been a decent plan Harry later thought to himself exasperatedly as he fought off the inordinately strong and vicious birds that were attempting to eat Hagrid's crops. Harry while waiting in line had seen the outline of Hagrid's large form across the yard in apparent struggle against something. He could see others further up laughing haughtily at the part giant's thrashing form and frowned in disapproval. Harry, overcome by the sight of his friend Healthy and somewhat happy in contrast to the hurt and tearful face in the forbidden forest raced towards him before he could consider the oddness of his actions to those around him.
Harry when reaching Hagrid's side helped fight off the crows that were attacking Hagrid's crops and disturbing the creatures in his gardens. Harry couldn't help but coo at the puppy version of fang as he attempted to scare them away with his small but ferocious bark.
Tired of dodging, Harry decided on a different method. He used the avis charm to conjure small sparrows similar to the ones on his socks to fight off the crow. Hagrid's beaming smile of thanks caused a warm feeling to emerge in Harry. The giant's joy increased tenfold and a burly laugh escaped him when the conjured birds began to flock around him covering him in dozens of birds as they ate seeds from his coat and hair.
Harry too laughed loudly and merrily at this. He felt some of the extreme tension he had been carrying drain from him at the familiar feeling of laughing with a friend. This was cut short however by the silent presence coming up behind him. Used to the sharp reactions of war Harry cast a silent stupefy at the person behind him while enacting a wandless protego to protect himself and Hagrid. He turned to find himself looking into the stunned youthful blue eyes of one Albus Dumbledore
Albus Dumbledore had just finished another interview for the Defence Against the Dark Arts post and again while qualified this person did not seem to have the ingenuity and spark he was looking for. Albus was looking for a partner to cover the post while he taught transfiguration. He had recently defeated Grindelwald in battle and he wanted someone well versed in the art of defence to teach.
He couldn't help but feel that people were too dependent on himself and aurors during Grindelwalds reign, the students needed a capable professor to teach them responsibility of the dark arts and to properly instruct them on how to protect and defend themselves. Albus forced a bright smile onto his face and stepped out of the doors to welcome the next candidate yet found everyone's attention on Hagrid and a mysterious figure battling some crows in the distance.
He too was entranced by the commotion as he watched Hagrid attempt to beat away the birds waving his large fists and the figure skillfully dodge the crows as they attacked him. He began to walk towards his friend Hagrid to offer assistance when the figure effortlessly summoned sparrows from his wand to chase away the birds.
Dumbledore was intrigued now, the figure seemed to be wearing rough and scruffy clothing looking like he had just emerged from the battlefield. Despite his appearance he appeared completely relaxed and carefree next to Hagrid. Dumbledore chuckled lightly on seeing his cute woollen socks with little sparrows and silently watched as the two laughed as the real sparrows conjured from the man's wand surrounded Hagrid.
Dumbledore opened his mouth to question the man on who exactly he was when a silent stupefy was shot at him which surprised him barely managed to deflect and looked up in question at the man before him. A barely audible gasp was released from his lips at the striking and fierce look on the mans face and Dumbledore swallowed thickly as he peered into beautiful and wild emerald green eyes for the first time.