Chapter Four

Disclaimer: My bid was officially rejected so I'm still not the owner of the Harry Potter series or anything that you recognise. I'm going to raise my bid and try again if at first you don't succeed.

Was really beaten up by Covid but I think I'm officially in round the corner. Still have some residual effects but I'm more or less up and about. This chapter gave me so much more trouble. A lot of exposition happens but after this, we are going to see some real progress happening. We're getting into the story. was really difficult finding a spot to cut the chapter so it's a bit longer than usual but not by much.

For a brief second Hermione's brain completely shut down, later if asked she wouldn't even be able to explain why maybe it was the off the cuff nature of the remark maybe it was the unexpected nature of the statement may be indeed it was simply the fact that the actual embodiment of death had such a plain nickname. She sat there for a few seconds mouth agape before she briefly shook herself and then continued. "Well…"

"Tony" The dark-haired God interrupted.

"Yes Tony, as well as this I am aware that while Harry here is from further forward in time than I am, though he has yet to say how far, judging by his apparent age I'd say at max 5 years"

At that Thanatos gave a brief nod.

"I can assume that means we succeeded and defeated Voldermort. However, something must either have gone wrong or wasn't completely satisfied as there is a plan in place to go further back and fix it. For this plan to succeed he needs help as he won't be able to do it on his own. Based on what he has told me it must be someone that he trusts"

Right as she said that Hermione noticed something flash across Thanatos' face and in the corner of her eye she saw Harry briefly tense up. While she wanted to question the reactions she was in the middle of her answer and didn't want to lose her train of thought.

"Furthermore, as he chose to come to me at a very specific time and went as far as to show me his apparent death in my time, whatever is planned needs me to be aware of very specific information. Most likely the fact results of the Horcrux hunt, or maybe just the locations of them. So we must still be going after them still, but as he made a point of pointing out certain 'deficiencies' in Dumbledore's plan it stands to reason that we will either be in opposition to him or not necessarily allied with him. He also mentioned some restrictions that he will be under so I am assuming a part of my assistance will be due to not being under the same restrictions that he will be under. Did I leave anything out?"

"Brilliant" Thanatos breathed with a wide smile. "I'd say you did quite well, even picked up on some details I'm sure the boy wonder over there left out" He chuckled for a second and then looked at Harry. "Why don't you go over some last-second details with Chloe and her sisters. Make sure the Crone is ready as well. I'll clarify the rest of the details with Ms Granger here and we'll catch up with you"

Harry glared back at Thanatos for a long few seconds before breathing out a resigned sigh and standing. "You know they hate it when you call them that and I'm definitely telling them" he replied petulantly before turning and walking to the same door Thanatos had entered through. "I know what you're planning and I'd prefer you didn't" he threw that last line over his shoulder as he disappeared through the doorway.

"You'd think he'd lighten up a bit, when you're more broody than death you know you have problems" Thanatos quipped before the smile vanished instantly from his face. "But then again when you find out the ones you called your closest friends have betrayed you and have been keeping you on a leash leading you to your death it can really spoil your day" As he spoke the temperature in the room plummeted.

"B-betrayed" Hermione stammered blood rushing from her face at his words. "Who?"

"Uh-huh," Thanatos hummed thoughtfully. "I mean what would you call reporting on him behind his back to Dumbledore the man who directly led to his death. All those times you Dumbledore would ask you details and information about Harry's actions and thoughts you never once considered that you were betraying his trust" he tilted his head with a quizzical expression.

When she simply sat there stunned he shrugged and continued.

"Well, when I first came to him with the proposition for this plan and asked who he could trust to be the one to help he immediately suggested you. Apparently, he felt you were the most trustworthy person he knew. To say he was shocked when I enlightened him to a few points is an understatement. I mean the summer after the fourth year you left him to wallow in self-guilt at Dumbledore's orders; the fifth year you stand by as he was tortured as the great Dumbledore thought it was best; the sixth year you basically turn your back on him over a book; third-year granted is fifty-fifty your intentions were good over the broom but you did betray his trust, him and that Weasly boy were right pricks over it though held that grudge for much longer than necessary. Oh, he had his moments for sure, and we spoke about his own flaws in great detail." He shrugged with a wry grin. " But I did have to ask him if he could trust you to go through with a plan that may end up with you in conflict with Dumbledore if you're apparently already in his pocket. Eventually, he decided that there wasn't really anyone else that would fit the bill. I'm hoping that he was correct, was he?"

Hermione sat there in shocked silence, her thoughts were all over the place creating a confusing tapestry of disconnected thread.

'Betrayed Harry… her. No way, but could she have. She had often told Professor Dumbledore about Harry and followed his advice. But he knew best, right?'

'But' another thought answered back. 'Look where that led him, did the Professor have his best interests in mind'

'What we need to decide is whose side we are on. Dumbledore or Harry'

Without hesitation she answered her own thoughts. 'Harry, of course, he's our first and best friend. After everything we've been through together we trust him most of all'

Nodding at her conclusion she opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by Thanatos waving her down. "Well, I see you've come to a satisfactory answer but it's not for me to hear. The important thing is that you know, and to be honest it's much more entertaining to not know whether or not you'll betray us in this going forward." He laughed once more, a long barking laugh. "The important thing going forward is for you to know why you're necessary, now as you've previously stated Harry is going to have a serious restriction going forward any idea what it could be?"

Taking a second to think it over she frowned. "No, I'm not sure"

"Well at this point you've learnt about the Deathly Hallows correct"

Hermione slowly nodded, having an idea of what this could imply but not wanting to jump to conclusions.

"I'm sure you're also smart enough to realise the whole Master of Death thing is nonsense. I dare any mortal to try and master me" Thanatos smiled darkly. "It's just a dumb rumour started by mistranslation, unfortunately. The truth of the matter is that owning one of the Hallows makes you eligible for being chosen as my champion. Think of it as an interview requirement, collecting all three basically guarantees you the job, most deities, avatars, and embodiments have their own methods of choosing champions and I thought this would make things easier for me"

There was a quick pause as he sat back looking slightly annoyed.

"Now unfortunately even one such as I have certain rules that I have to follow I cannot directly interfere with the mortal plane. If Death was to just go on a quick walk through the planes the number of people who would just keel over would be problematic you know. This does mean certain snake faced cowards manage to flee from me for far longer than I'd prefer but such is death. But the real crux of the issue is that as my champion there are certain benefits that Harry has available to him but he is sort of acting on my behalf and if I send him back to take action it could be interpreted as me interfering."

Hermione nodded as she could follow the logic though it seemed kind of convoluted and full of loopholes.

Noticing the uncertain expression on her face Thanatos nonchalantly shrugged. "The rules are mostly unwritten and quite fluid and we mostly keep one another in line. But, to keep to the spirit of the rules I came to an agreement with some of my associates and so Harry gets to go back into his younger body but most of him will be 'locked' away for want of a better word. Accessible in times of need but for most of the time he will be his younger self just with most of his newly acquired personality traits, some things will bleed through but mostly he will have some 'nudges' or a certain drive to do things that he wouldn't have done otherwise. That and of course the added magic of his older self will go back and as he would still be my champion he would be able to call the Hallows to himself."

"Okay" Hermione agreed, seeing why she was necessary. "So that's where I come in. I'm not directly related to you so I can take action without you being held accountable and as I'll know the plan I can ensure Harry follows these 'nudges'"

"Indeed" he nodded sagely. "Though be forewarned that as you'll be merged with your younger self you may find yourself acting and reacting more like your younger self. We don't know to what extent but it shouldn't be too much of an issue."

Here Hermione frowned again, not quite happy about the idea of that but unsure as yet of which year they were going to so not sure how bad it would be.

"So Ms Granger, now you know the restrictions, here's the plan"