Author's Note: Hello again everyone. Here's chapter 7 and I can't believe I'm over 20,000 views and over 250 favorited. I seriously didn't think so many people would like this. Anyway -picks up pizza- on with the show!
Chapter 7: Mindscape.
*Harry's point of view. *
The week following the dark mark being shot into the sky was a nightmare for Harry. Especially the first couple of nights while he tried to put his mindscape together. While he had naturally built occlumency shields courtesy of Beatrice. They only helped to keep out people using passive probes and help to keep his emotions somewhat in check. In order to have full complete protection of his mind, Harry had to rebuild his mindscape from scratch. Which was both fun and annoying.
Without a mindscape, in place to keep his darker memories locked up, he was subjected to some of the worst nightmares. One was so bad he woke up screaming and if he had a wand that worked someone would have died that night. Luckily his holly wand no longer worked and when he tried to use it, it just knocked him on his ass. Something Ron found hysterical and Mrs. Weasley dismissed as him overstressing from all the studying he was doing.
Harry got back at both of them. First, he wrote a letter to Dumbledore to appease the great lord of the light and whatever he might have heard. This also got Dumbledore to get Mrs. Weasley off his case. Something she wasn't really happy about, not that Harry cared. Ron, he dealt with on Tuesday when he shut the moron down at his own game. The funniest part about that was Ron had taught Harry everything he knew about chess in Harry's original timeline. When the shock of the loss wore off Ron had his typical temper tantrum about it. It resulted in some accidental magic that set his dad's shed on fire. Ron got grounded from playing quidditch until next summer for his behavior. Mrs. Weasley tried to fight this, but Mr. Weasley had put his foot down.
The next big fight happened on Thursday when Ginny ripped into Hermione. Ginny accused her of stealing Harry from her. She had seen Hermione put her hand under Harry's shirt on Tuesday and proceeded to watch them more closely. This led her to see a few hugs and when Harry kissed Hermione on the cheek in thanks, Ginny blew her top. Hermione spent the next hour arguing with her about it until Harry stepped in. Ginny had chosen to confront Hermione when Harry decided to go for a quick fly with the twins just to stretch and take a short break, with Hermione's approval of course. When the three of them walked in the house and heard the screaming, Harry rushed up the stairs to find Ginny and Mrs. Weasley arguing with Hermione.
"ENOUGH!" Harry shouted drawing attention to himself. "What bloody hell is going on here?" Harry asked and Hermione was so upset she didn't even correct him, Mrs. Weasley did though.
"You watch your mouth young man." Harry had to use every ounce of restraint he had not to roll his eyes.
"Hermione, what is going on?" Hermione quickly filled him in, and Harry glared at Ginny who shuddered and backed away.
"Ginny, I told you before you're Fred and George's sister. There will never be a day where I don't see you as anything other than that. Just like I will never see Hermione as anything more than my sister in every way but blood. So, do yourself and everyone else a favor and let it go." Harry took Hermione's hand and lead her downstairs where they grabbed their books and went outside to study.
A little while later Bill came out to talk to them.
"Hey Harry, can I talk with you guys for a minute?" Harry nodded and Bill conjured a chair to sit on. "About what you said to Ginny…" Harry sighed and held up his hand to stop Bill.
"Look, Bill, I didn't say what I said to be a git I said it because it's true. Have you ever seen a picture of my mom and dad?" Bill just stared at Harry for a moment before shaking his head. "My dad looks just like me but with brown eyes instead of green. My mother, however, was a redhead with green eyes. What do you think a daughter of the two of them might look like if she got my mom's hair and my dad's eyes?" Harry waited for Bill to get it and thankfully it only took a second or two before his eyes widened.
"She would look pretty similar to Ginny huh?" Harry just nodded and while this wasn't true about why he wasn't interested in Ginny it was a great way to get Bill on his side. Bill would see the reasoning in this logic and try to dissuade the rest of the family from encouraging Ginerva to keep trying. Bill nodded and started to get up, but Harry stopped him as an idea popped into his head.
"Hey Bill, out of curiosity what were you told about Ginerva's first year?" Bill raised an eyebrow at Harry.
"That's another thing, Harry, why do you call her Ginerva?" Harry grinned as he chuckled.
"I started that because I was hoping to deter this whole infatuation, she has with me. I figured that if I acted like an annoying older brother it would help make it easier. Except unlike her other older brothers, I'm not afraid of her." Harry continued to grin while Bill just looked at the house for a moment. Eventually, he sighed and turned back to Harry.
"You've never seen her throw a Weasley tantrum." Harry wanted to correct this but couldn't since doing so would reveal things he shouldn't know. "Anyway, what were you saying about her first year?" Harry turned to Hermione who looked at him slightly confused.
"You did hear that Ginerva was taken into the Chamber of Secrets, right?" Harry asked as he turned back to Bill whose face had turned pale.
"The Chamber of Secrets is real?" Harry growled slightly as he thought about how Dumbledore must have wanted to cover this up. Hermione must have sensed Harry's anger and proceeded to tell Bill all about their second year. Bill was looked so pale by the end of it that Harry was sure some of his red hair had turned white. Eventually, he spoke and his voice was slightly cracked. "Why did you bring this up?" Harry sighed as he looked at the house again.
"There have been…moments. Where when I called Ginny Ginerva that it looked like her eyes flash red." Bill's eyes widen in shock. "I might be mistaken but I've seen it a few times." Harry hurried on as Bill looked like he might rush into the house and start scanning Ginerva. "Plus, she might just have minor metamorphmagi power that allows her to change her eye color. But I don't know if your parents took her to see a mind healer. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that possession isn't something to joke about." Bill nodded at this but had never taken his eyes off the house. "Look…Bill." Bill finally turned to look back at Harry. "All I'm saying is maybe you should look into it or start trying to see if you can get her eyes to do that for you. It is possible that I just imagined it, or she could just have a unique talent." Bill nodded and eventually he stood up and vanished the chair he conjured. He started back towards the house but stopped and turned to look at Harry.
"Thank you for saving my sister and for not being a git about her infatuation with you." Harry nodded and smiled at Bill who returned it before walking back into the house.
"Do you really think she's got some sort of Metamorph talent?" Hermione asked and Harry turned to look at her seriously.
"No." Was all he said before going back to the book he was reading. Hermione didn't ask him anymore about it and Harry was grateful for that. The whole situation was frustrating as hell for Harry as he wanted nothing more than to rip into her mind himself. Not to mention she had started using the compulsion ward on him because of the whole name issue. The first time that happened Harry nearly snapped and attacked her. Luckily his familiars held him back again. Harry had tried to get Hestia to find the ward stones so he could disable them, but for some reason, she couldn't track them down. According to her, they seemed to keep moving and she could never pinpoint them.
After several hours of study, Hermione decided to take a bath to destress while Harry went to destress in his own way...by dealing with Snape. When Harry got back, they got right back into studying and eventually fell asleep on the couch.
Well unfortunately for them it was Molly who found them the next morning and when she did, she went postal. They were right in the middle of a screaming match when Mr. Weasley came down and silenced everyone. Mr. Weasley turned to Harry first more than likely because was the calmest of the three, on the surface anyway.
"Harry, what happened?" Harry took a deep breath as he shook his head.
"Mr. Weasley, Hermione and I were up late last night studying. We passed out on the couch together. Obviously, nothing happened since Hermione and I don't see each other that way." Mr. Weasley held up his hand to stop him as he turned to his wife.
"Molly I told you to leave them alone. They are not your children and you cannot order them around like this. They clearly didn't mean to fall asleep that way so leave it alone." He then turned away from her cutting off anything she was going to say. Harry was continually surprised by this since the last time around Mr. Weasley usually let his wife take the reins. Maybe that was just because in all of those occasions he agreed with her on some level. This time, however, it was clear he didn't and had no problems telling her so. "The teachers will be here in a few hours why don't you two get cleaned up. Then you can grab a quick bite and have one last cram session before the test." Harry and Hermione nodded and rushed up the stairs to do just that.
After getting cleaned and dressed they came back down to find a very subdued Mrs. Weasley making breakfast. She looked like she was at a loss of words. Harry couldn't blame her since he was pretty sure this was probably the first time Arthur had ever disagreed with her so much. Harry tried not to grin as he tucked into breakfast.
After they finished eating, they went back to the living room to study. Hermione had been left speechless with how quickly Harry had caught up to her. When they started doing practice tests and he was getting equal if not better scores than she was. Harry was worried that she would be angry with him. To his great surprise, she was actually thrilled for him and seemed to be taking it as a challenge to work even harder.
Eventually, nine am came and the fireplace flared up as three teachers walked out of it. Harry recognized his head of house easily and the emotions had at the sight her were strong.
*Flashback. *
Harry had just walked past the gates of Hogwarts and started towards the black lake. A part of him still hated that this was pretty much the only place he could go to clear his head. Harry had just started to sit down when someone cleared their throat behind him. Harry spun around with his wand in his hand ready to strike. Luckily, he saw who it was before he fired.
"Nice to see you haven't lost your reflexes, Mr. Potter." Harry rolled his eyes at Professor McGonagall.
"After everything I've been through, I doubt I'll ever relax enough to not have that reaction." Professor McGonagall frowned at him.
"Follow me, Harry." She turned and headed towards the castle. The use of his first name stunned him for a second before he got up and followed her. Eventually, she led them to the headmaster's office, but they didn't stay in the main part. She led him into her living area and told him to sit down. As he got comfortable, she produced a tea set and two cups. "How do you like your tea?"
"Umm two sugars and a small amount of cream." She made it the way he wanted and then handed him his cup. Harry took a few sips before she spoke again.
"How are things going for you?" That was all it took, and Harry unloaded on her. Everything from the war to Auror academy came out. Harry had been there for hours talking to her. She only interrupted him a few times but mainly spoke whenever he asked a question. When he finally stopped his voice was hoarse and he felt like a weight had been lifted from him.
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall." She actually smiled at him which surprised him.
"Harry here in this room you can call me Minerva or Aunt Minnie if you prefer. That is what your mother called me despite my protests. Now though, I honestly miss her calling me that." Harry smiled at her as he nodded as he stood up and stretched.
"I should get going. I'm sure someone is worried about me." McGonagall rose with him and walked him to the gates in silence. When Harry walked through the gate McGonagall called out to him.
"Harry…" Harry looked back and he noticed she seemed to be hesitating. "If you ever need to talk…or just unload." Harry started to smile at her before he looked up at the sky.
"You know the tea today was delicious. If I can manage to escape next Sunday, do you think you could manage to make it again?" She smiled brightly at him as she nodded. Harry returned a smile before turning and continuing to walk. Eventually, he called over his shoulder, "See you Sunday Aunt Minnie." He then turned to disapparate but not before seeing the smile on her face.
That was how their Sunday ritual of tea and talk started and lasted until Ginerva captured him and locked him in that godforsaken room.
*End Flashback. *
Harry took a second to steady himself as he turned to look at the other two who he assumed were the teachers here to test him. Professor Babbling was a young plain-looking witch with brown eyes and long dark black hair. She was wearing midnight blue robes and while she looked like she was uninterested in what was going on, her eyes were shining with giddiness. Professor Vector reminded Harry of a slightly younger version of Professor McGonagall. She was a very strict looking witch with long brown hair and dark green eyes. She was wearing blood-red robes and was looking at Harry with a very critical eye. Almost like if he failed her test, she would make him regret wasting her time. After introductions were given the teachers sealed off the kitchen and the testing began.
*Hermione's point of view. *
Hermione was in a panic as she watched Harry take the tests. While she knew he worked harder this week than she'd ever seen him work on anything, even quidditch. This didn't stop her from being a nervous wreck as she paced in front of the barrier.
"I don't know what you're worried about. He's Harry Potter, he's probably gonna get accepted in based on that alone." Hermione laughed as she turned to glare at Ron.
"Ron those two women in there may look nice but they are just as strict as McGonagall and Snape. Especially Professor Vector, she won't show Harry any mercy. Her tests are the reason that her class is one of my favorites!" She turned back to watch Harry and didn't notice Ron roll his eyes and glare at the kitchen.
*Harry's point of view. *
After finishing the very last answer on the second test he quickly looked over it one last time before handing it to Professor Vector. Harry looked at the clock and was surprised to see it was only ten forty-five. He'd managed to get both tests done in an hour and forty-five minutes. He probably would have been done sooner but he insisted on double-checking each question. He stood up to stretch as the two professors graded his test.
"Professor McGonagall, can we talk outside for a minute while they grade my tests?" Professor McGonagall blinked at him slightly confused but nodded as they headed outside.
"What seems to be the problem mister Potter?" McGonagall asked as Harry continued to stretch. Harry waited till they arrived at the fence to the property.
"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking me to Diagon Alley today. I'm having issues with my wand. Mrs. Weasley refused to take me saying that it was all in my head." Harry sent a slight glare at the house as he said this.
"What's wrong with your wand?" Harry pulled it out and cast the Lumos spell. The first time it had barley sparked, so Harry tried again and this time it lit but fizzled out quickly. Getting annoyed he put everything he had into and shouted.
"LUMOS!" His wand actually started to perform the spell but eventually, the tip exploded, and he was knocked off of his feet. Minerva quickly helped him up despite her shock. "See what I mean. It just stopped working for me."
Minerva rolled her eyes at Harry. "Clearly!" She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Very well I shall take you and only you to Diagon Alley today. This will not be a shopping spree. We are going to get what we need and leave, understood?" Harry nodded as he grinned at her.
The back door to the house flew open as Hermione rushed out at full speed. She tackled Harry in a hug knocking him to the ground.
"YOU DID IT! YOU'RE IN! YOU GOT PERFECT MARKS ON BOTH TEST!" Harry was laughing and he swore he heard Professor McGonagall chuckle. The two professors came out and both of them were smiling.
"We look forward to having you in class Mister Potter. However, I offer you a word of warning. We do not tolerate any slacking off in our classes. If we think for one minute your slipping back into your old ways, we will throw you out, understood?" Professor Vector asked as Hermione let him stand up. Harry smiled seriously at the professor and saluted her. She and Professor Babbling nodded to him before they went back into the house.
"Shall we tell Mrs. Weasley we're leaving?" Professor McGonagall asked and Harry started to hesitate, but Hermione saved him.
"Don't worry I'll tell her you just hurry up and go," Hermione said as she took off for the house. Harry and Professor McGonagall walked outside of the wards where she told him to grab her arm and they vanished with a soft crack.
-Scene Break-
When they landed, Professor McGonagall was slightly surprised to see that Harry wasn't even fazed by the apparition. The two of them walked into Ollivander's and the old man seemed slightly surprised to see them.
"What can I do for you today Mister Potter?" Harry pulled out his wand and showed it to him.
"That was from a Lumos spell." Ollivander's eyes glazed over for a moment and then they started to glow like there was a fire in them as he examined Harry's wand.
"I always knew you were a tricky customer. I think for you it would just be better to make a custom wand. Follow me please." He tossed Harry's old wand into the trash can as he headed into the back of the store. Harry looked at Professor McGonagall who motioned for him to follow as she sat down on the chair. Harry nodded and followed the old wandmaker to his back office. Once there the measuring tape started measuring him again.
"Now then Mister Potter have you ever channeled your magic before." Harry nodded and Mister Ollivander smiled. "Excellent! That will make this go so much smoother." He dismissed the tape measure and pulled out a blindfold. "Put this on and hold out your right hand." Harry did as he was told and waited for further instruction. "Now focus your magic and have it call out to a type of wood." Harry had barely started to do so when he felt two rectangular-shaped objects land in his hand. "Extraordinary!" Mr. Ollivander quickly took what landed in his hand. "Now do the same thing but focus on a core for your wand." Again, Harry did this and what landed in his hand this time felt like a glass bottle. "Oh my…" Harry took his blindfold off and looked at the bottle. It was full of black string-like things that seemed to be beating like they were alive. "Thestral Heartstring… Oh my…" Harry looked at Mister Ollivander.
"Are you okay sir?" His question seemed to bring the man back to his senses.
"Y-yes…I am fine. I shall have your wand ready in three hours." He quickly took the bottle from Harry and then pushed him out of the office, slamming the door as he did so. Harry walked up to Professor McGonagall who looked at him for his new wand.
"He said it would be three hours."
"THREE HOURS! What the bloody hell are we supposed to do for three hours?" Harry grinned at her as he resisted the urge to correct her for her language.
"Simple, we go and attend our other appointments." He turned and walked out of the shop before she could respond. Harry started down the street heading towards Gringotts.
"Mister Potter what appointments are you talking about?" Professor McGonagall asked when she caught up to him.
"Well, one is the official reading of my parents will at one pm." McGonagall tripped and lucky for her Harry caught her so she didn't fall. "Aww, Professor are you falling for me?" McGonagall narrowed her eyes at Harry and looked like she was torn between smacking him and laughing.
"What did you mean your parents will. It was lost before they died." Harry chuckled as he started walking again.
"No, it was actually sealed away inside of Gringotts. How and why is something you'll find out in a few minutes when we get to our first appointment." Harry quickened his pace as they marched up the steps of Gringotts. Harry needed to get inside on the off chance someone had tipped off Dumbledore. While he had back up plans in place, he didn't want to use them unless necessary.
"And what is out first appointment exactly." Harry turned at gave her his lopsided grin.
"It's a meeting with someone I've decided to trust over everyone else in this world." Harry then walked up to the nearest teller who wasn't busy. "Sir?" The goblin looked up from his paperwork with a confused expression on his face. "My name is Harry James Potter. I have an appointment to use a sealed and warded room." The goblin looked through several of his papers.
"Ah yes, Mister Potter. One moment please." He got down and left Harry and McGonagall for a moment. When he came back, he motioned for them to follow him. When they reached the room, the goblin ushered them inside. "Remember you only paid for two hours. Finish whatever you need to finish by then or you'll be charged for an additional hour." Harry nodded to the goblin who slammed the door shut. Once it was shut the roomed glowed brightly for a moment and then it dimmed but still had a slight glow to it. There wasn't much to the room. It was a white box with nothing in it except for two comfortable looking chairs.
"So? Where is this person, Mister Potter?" Harry grinned at her as he took a seat in one of the chairs.
"I would have thought the answer to that was obvious," Harry said as he motioned for her to sit in the other chair. As the realization hit her, she slowly walked over to the chair and sat down. "Now Professor do you know anything about Legilimency? I mean can you perform it?" Harry added quickly not wanting to insult her intelligence. She nodded and he smiled. "Excellent! Now normally you'd never be able to get past my Occlumency shields but I'm going to allow you access. So, if you would please." It was obvious that she didn't like the idea of using Legilimency on a student and it was clear she was about to protest it. "I know the idea of using such magic on someone leaves a bad taste in your mouth. However, please understand what I need you to know you must see for yourself. It's too dangerous for me to even say it out loud despite being in a sealed room. The only place I feel safe telling you what I need to tell you is inside my mindscape." Harry could tell she was trying to find a way to argue but eventually, she sighed and pulled out her wand.
*Minerva's point of view. *
Minerva was about to cast when suddenly she paused.
"Why me?" Harry gave her a genuine smile.
"Because no one in my life has been fairer to me than you. You've never acknowledged the boy-who-lived crap. You ignore the rumor mill and if I screw up you have no problem letting me know and punishing me for it. You've done more to turn me into the best wizard I can be than anyone else in my life. You're the reason I want to be a teacher. For you, I have nothing but trust and respect, so let me trust you with my greatest secret." McGonagall was looking at Harry like she'd never seen him before. How could he trust her like that when she had so willingly allowed Albus to leave him with those awful people.
"Harry there is something you should know." She started but Harry held up a hand to stop her.
"I already know what you're going to say, and I've already forgiven you for it." Minerva blinked at him in shock. "Please join me in my mindscape and everything will be explained, I promise." Harry smiled at her again and she nodded to him.
Minerva raised her wand and cast "Legilimens." The moment she did she felt her mind being pulled rather forcefully into Harry's. As she was pulled, she saw layer after layer of mental defenses. The first layer she saw was a large steel sphere that seemed to have contained his entire mindscape. Surrounding it seemed to be a cloud of confusing surface thoughts. Past that was a layer filled with some of the largest dragons she'd ever seen. The biggest of them all had to be the Horntail that stood on top of another sphere in the center. The thing that made it even more terrifying was that it had three heads. The dragons all sniffed at her as she flew past them. The next layer contained a large chessboard like the one she made in his first year. All the pieces stepped aside as she flew towards them, saluting her in the process. The next layer threw her for a loop since it was Hogwarts in all its glory. She flew right through the front doors and up the stairs. At first, she thought she was heading towards the Gryffindor common room but to her surprise, she was pulled towards the dancing trolls' tapestry on the seventh floor. She then flew through an open door across from the tapestry that she'd never seen before.
Once inside she stopped flying and it took her a moment to regain her bearings. When she looked around, she nearly had a heart attack at what she was seeing. She was right in the middle of the most terrifying graveyard she'd ever seen. It was littered with tombstones and she could see a mausoleum at the center of it. Around the entire graveyard seemed to be large stone walls with grim reapers every few feet. A loud slam caused her to spin around to see Harry closing a gate she must have just come through. Harry turned and smiled at her before pointing to the mausoleum. Minerva looked at it for a second and when she looked back Harry was gone.
"Well, at least he was kind enough to point me in the right direction."
Minerva steeled herself and began walking towards the mausoleum. As she did, she noticed little glowing orbs that seemed to float around each headstone. One of them lit up a name on the stone and Minerva felt her heart stop as she saw it. To her shock, it very clearly said Albus Dumbledore. On instinct, she reached out to the tombstone and the orb flew into her hand. When it did, she saw a very clear memory of Albus standing on the astronomy tower surrounded by Death Eaters.
Then Severus walked up and as Albus pleaded, "Severus, please…" Severus fired a killing curse at him, launching him off the tower. The memory ended and Minerva was clutching her chest terrified at what she had just seen.
After a few moments, Minerva took a deep breath and continued to make her way towards the Mausoleum. She did her best to ignore the other tombstones but every once and a while she saw one that caught her attention. One of them being Lavender Browns. Against her better judgment, she touched the orb and saw her lying on the ground getting savagely attacked by Fenrir Greyback. It skipped forward after Sybill broke the werewolf's head open with a crystal ball. Minerva couldn't help but feel some pride fill her until the skipping stopped and found Lavender being covered with a white sheet. Her heart felt like it shattered at the sight of one her cubs dying. As she tried to blink away the tears, she found herself back in the graveyard.
"What the bloody hell is going on. I know for a fact that those two individuals are still alive. Yet those memories are clearly real. Mr. Potter, please tell me what is going on." Harry appeared but merely pointed to the mausoleum and vanished.
Minerva took a few minutes to steady herself and then continued to walk forward. She tried again and again to ignore the tombstones, but names kept calling out to her. Fred Weasley, Neville Longbottom's had really shocked her, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Sirius Black, Cedrick Diggory, and the final tombstone she came to read Harry James Potter. Her face stained with tears she reluctantly touched the orb. She then watched as Ginny explained everything that happened to Harry. She felt hope rush through her as Hermione broke in to save him only to have it dashed when Ronald Weasley appeared. When she heard the words, "It's okay Hermione. I'm more than ready to die." Minerva lost her will to keep going. She felt herself about to collapse when someone steadied her. She looked expecting to see Harry only to see Lily Potter smiling at her.
"It's okay Aunt Minnie. You're almost there." Hearing Lily call her Aunt Minnie gave her the strength to stand on her own. Lily smiled at her and nodded towards the mausoleum before vanishing. Minerva took a deep breath and took the final steps towards the building.
As she reached it the doors opened for her and when she walked in, she was surprised to find that Harry wasn't there. Instead, she found a silver-haired woman with purple robes and chest armor holding a scythe smiling at her.
"Do you know who I am Minerva?" She asked and Minerva wanted to shake her head no, but she knew who she was. Her magical presence was more than enough to confirm it for her.
"You're Death, aren't you? Is this how I'm supposed to die. By a heart attack caused by all of those visions?" She asked trying her best to remain calm. The woman laughed at her.
"Oh of course not Minerva. To be honest the day I come for you is going to be the scariest day of my life I'm sure." Minerva felt herself relax slightly but not by much. "Those memories were only meant to help you accept what I am going to show you and tell you." Minerva nodded yet was very terrified about what was happening. "Please come closer and call me Beatrice. My best friend whose mind you're in does, so you should as well." Minerva blinked in shock at that. Harry Potter was best friends with Death?
"And how on earth does a fourteen-year-old boy become best friends with Death?" Minerva asked as she walked closer but still kept at least five feet between them.
"Simple, by having enough near-death experiences and actual deaths to meet me a bunch of times." Beatrice tapped her scythe on the ground and several images appeared around them showing all the times Harry nearly died and actually died. The ones that bothered Minerva the most were the ones caused by the Dursley's. She let out a very audible gasp of horror as Vernon struck Harry across the back with his belt. Harry couldn't have been more than five years old.
"Please…no more…" Minerva closed her eyes trying her best not to let those images be burned into her mind forever.
"I'm sorry Minerva but you need to see this to understand." Minerva glared at Beatrice.
"TO UNDERSTAND WHAT?! THAT I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON FOR HAVING EVER HAVING TRUSTED ALBUS DUMBLEDORE! FOR CONSTANTLY STANDING BY AND DOING NOTHING WHILE MY GREAT GODSON HAS GONE THROUGH ABSOLUTE BLOODY HELL!" Minerva collapsed to her knees as she cried. At some point, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and when she looked up, she was shocked to see Harry smiling at her. He pulled her into a hug and let her cry on his shoulder. "This is wrong! I should be comforting you not the other way around." Harry chuckled as he held her tight and rubbed her back.
"Maybe but I'm a Potter and Potter's help people. Besides, I know you didn't know the full truth of what had happened. You were told I was safe and unharmed. The fact that I showed up every year acting like nothing was wrong didn't help matters. So, please stop punishing yourself and instead be the amazing person I know you are. I need the teacher who will smack me upside the head for not getting this crap right on my first time through." Minerva couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her as she let go of him and took a step back. After Minerva was able to calm down, she turned to Beatrice who had been watching them silently.
"So, what exactly is going on?" Beatrice smiled as Harry disappeared.
"Harry is on his second run-through of his life. I brought the thirty-seven-year-old Harry back to his body last Friday. That's why he has memories of things that haven't happened yet. After Harry defeated Voldemort for the second time, the control and manipulation Albus started got the better of those who were helping him. They started trying to do what he did, but they were much more deluded about it. Things really spiraled out of control when Harry found out he couldn't have kids. That's been corrected this time around though I doubt things will proceed the way they went last time." Minerva's head was spinning from the information.
"Why am I here though?" Beatrice smiled at her.
"Because Harry is only fourteen again and after a week with Molly Weasley, his mind is somewhat already back in that setting. He still thinks like a man in his thirties but sadly he is limited to what he can do because he's only fourteen. Harry can't run around commanding or demanding things get done. Most people won't even listen to him because of his age. So, he needed someone he could talk to and unload on. I told him to pick someone who he could trust no matter what and he chose you. He has a great deal of respect for you."
Beatrice tapped her scythe again and several images of an older Harry having tea with her in her office appeared. Each one showed the two of them talking like old friends as Minerva felt all these memories flow into her, she felt herself growing to respect Harry not as a favorite student but as the man she now knew he would become. The final memory was an image of the Amycus Carrow spitting in McGonagall's face. Harry appeared from underneath his invisibility cloak looking like rage incarnate. "You shouldn't have done that. CRUCIO!" Amycus was blasted so hard that he was slammed into the wall and rendered unconscious. The vision faded and Minerva shook her head.
"Ever the gallant one." She chuckled and Beatrice laughed.
"Trust me you have no clue! Harry is the very definition of that word." The two women continued to laugh until Harry cleared his throat as he reappeared. The two women got control of themselves and Beatrice continued. "There is another reason you were chosen instead of someone like Sirius who Harry loves like a father. Can you tell me what the difference between the Ginerva Weasley you know and the one you've seen in the memories aside from age?" Beatrice asked and Minerva thought about it for a minute.
"The one I know hasn't done anything wrong yet?" Harry and Beatrice beamed at her.
"Exactly! As much as Harry loves Sirius, if he saw any of these memories, he'd rip all of these people apart. You, however, are smart enough to see that these people can't be punished for things they haven't done yet. Harry nearly slipped when he first saw Ginerva ." Beatrice tapped her Scythe again and Minerva watched Harry first interaction with Ginerva after he came back.
Minerva turned to look at him, "It looked to me like you were about to kill her."
"Believe me, Aunt Minnie, I want nothing more than to do that. That woman spent years torturing me for that fact that I couldn't have kids. Can you honestly tell me that you wouldn't have been the same with someone who tortured you for so many years that you lost all track of time and any will you had to live?" Harry asked her and she shook her head at him before walking over to him and pulling him into a very tight hug.
"No, I would have killed her." Minerva stared at Harry for a moment. "You said you still want to kill her?" Harry nodded and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?" Harry raised an eyebrow at her but stopped and seemed to be thinking about it. Eventually, he stopped thinking and the look he gave her terrified him. It was all Lily's rage in a single look, and it made her wish she was anywhere else.
"Because the three of them ruined the lives of the people I care about. They sent Hermione to Azkaban after forcing her to kill me. They made George get a boring job at the ministry. Wasn't losing Fred enough of a punishment for him? No, not according to Mrs. Bloody Weasley. I'm gonna love shutting the three of them down and denying them everything they want and if they cross the line again, I'm gonna be standing there ready to cut them down without mercy."
"And the rest of the Weasleys?" Harry gave her a lop-sided grin.
"The way I see it one of two things are going to happen. Either they turn on them and try to stop them or they will just distance themselves from them. Mr. Weasley is the only one who's probably going end up with the worst of it. Either he'll divorce her, or she'll start using potions and spells on him. If that happens, I will do everything in my power to free him."
"So, you don't hate them?" Harry shook his head as he sighed.
"No, I don't. But I have to keep my guard up around them on the off-chance Mrs. Weasley manipulates them with lies or places them under control spells and potions." Minerva nodded as she smiled at Harry.
"Just like your mother you are. James would always get revenge if someone did something to him. But Lily would only attack those who harmed those she cared about. If you hurt someone she cared about." Minerva shuddered at the thought. "Yes, I think I'd rather face the Dark Lord than your mother when in that state." Beatrice and Harry laughed at her.
"Trust me when I say that when this is over Harry is going to be even more terrifying." Minerva looked at Beatrice for a few moments before looking back at Harry.
Harry beamed at her, "I was head of the Auror corps at the ministry and when I walked into a room full of dark wizards. Most would just throw down their wands rather than fight me. The only reason Ginerva got me was that I was so distraught over finding out that I couldn't have the big family I'd always wanted." Harry looked away from her as he said that last part. Minerva was about to say something, but Harry shook himself and turned back to her grinning.
"Okay time to leave. We've got two more appointments to get to. See you back in the room." Minerva saw him snap his fingers and she was gently launched out of his mind.
*Harry's point of view. *
When they were both back in the warded room and out of Harry's mind. Harry couldn't help but grin at his Aunt Minnie.
"So…Aunt Minnie are you okay after that?" He asked and she thinned her lips at him.
"Well, I can say for a fact that you've taken a few years off my life. Now, what are these other appointments we have? Also, you are to never call me Aunt Minnie while at school understood?" Harry smiled as he nodded and stood up.
"Of course, Aunt Minnie." Harry headed to the door and knocked four times. The dim glow on the room vanished and the door opened. Griphook was standing there waiting. "Hello, Griphook. Can you take me to my next appointment?" Harry asked and Griphook nodded. "My next appointment is with the goblin healers. To deal with my malnourishment and poor treatment from the Dursley's." Harry saw her look at him in shock.
"What you know what they did to me."
"Yes, I'm shocked that you're having goblins heal you…wait goblins have healers?" Harry laughed at her.
"You slept through Binns's class too, huh?" Harry laughed harder as she blushed slightly. "Yes, they have healers and they are very good but very expensive. They hardly ever treat witches and wizards but on occasions will if you have the right amount of gold. They can fix things you didn't even know was wrong. I'm not trying to knock St. Mungo's or Madam Pomfrey, but these girls are amazing." Harry said as they walked through the door that led into a hospital-like ward. Several of the female goblins in the room heard his statement and a few of them gave him fanged grins. A matron who looked a lot like a female version of Griphook walked over to them.
"What seems to be the cause of a human being brought here?" She asked and Griphook grinned at her.
"The human wants the works. Says he wants you to scan him and fix whatever is wrong with him."
"But do try not to break my award-winning smile. My account manager will be doing that later." Harry said with his lop-sided grin as both goblins stared at him. Slowly they started to give him evil smirks before Griphook asked.
"Do I need to get the arena ready?" Harry nodded and then he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Please tell me you're not going to be doing what I think you are, are you?" Aunt Minnie asked and Harry looked back at her with an evil grin.
"Depends on whether or not my account manager has gotten cowardly in his old age." Harry laughed as Aunt Minnie groaned and the two goblins laughed with him.
"I doubt you will find any cowardness in him," Griphook stated and Harry turned to show him the power and fire in his eyes.
"Good." Was all Harry said and it got both of the goblins to take a step back in shock. Eventually, Griphook turned to the female goblin.
"He's all yours Niphook. I have an arena to prepare." Griphook left them and Niphook directed Harry to the nearest bed where he laid down on it. She began waving her arms over him as she chanted in her native tongue.
"Wow, you've been through quite a bit, haven't you?" She asked and sounded impressed.
"Well, you know what they say, what doesn't kill you makes your enemies tremble in fear." Harry laughed at the look on Aunt Minnie's face.
"All of this should be able to be fixed with ease. The only question is do you want to keep the scars or remove them." Harry saw the look Niphook gave him and he knew what she was thinking. To goblins scars were the sign of a warrior. They were something to be proud of no matter how you got them. Harry gave a wicked smile.
"I'm gonna keep them for now, but do you think you could heal them enough that they get the cool faded look to them?" To Harry's surprise, Niphook gave him an actual smile that beamed with pride.
"I might have to scan you again. Are you sure you're not a goblin in disguise?" Harry laughed as he shook his head.
"No, but if I ever find out I am I'll be sure to come and court you." Harry gave her wink and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Mind your tongue, Mister Potter. Flattery gets you nowhere with our kind." Harry narrowed his eyes and he leaned in close to her.
"Are you implying that I would fail to show up to court you without a bloody head on a pike? You insult me, Madam." Harry leaned back on the bed in mock hurt. Both Aunt Minnie and Niphook had their jaws dropped. Harry busted a gut laughing. He was interrupted when Niphook snapped her fingers and straps came out and tied him to the bed. One went through his mouth that prevented him from talking. Harry relaxed into the straps and just stared calmly at Niphook. Harry wasn't sure but it seemed like this unnerved her a bit.
"Brace yourself, Mister Potter. This is going to hurt!" Harry nodded and she started as he stared a spot on the ceiling. She was right it hurt alright, but Harry clenched his fists and bit down on the leather strap in his mouth. While it was painful it was nothing next to Voldemort and the red-headed bitch. Like all the pain he'd ever felt in his life he would lock it away in his mind. Then when he met people like Voldemort, he would throw all of it at them without restraint.
Author's Note: Gotta love Pizza and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. As always, I look forward to all your wonderful comments.
Fanfic Recommendation: 'Harry Potter And The Summer Of Change.' By lorddwar. This is a Harry/Tonks fic and takes place after Sirius's death. Tonks helps Harry get stronger and eventually the two start a relationship. Harry becomes an unspeakable and I personally love the way the person portrayed the department of mysteries. It's a complete story in desperate need of a sequel. But that doesn't take away from how good the story was.
Second Recommendation: 'An idiot's love' by I'mjusttryingtofindmyway. This is a complete one-shot about Harry and Tonks. This was by far one of the craziest emotional roller coasters I've ever read. So good at the end though and I was very satisfied with how it all turned out.