How I Changed Fate- Chapter 13: Flow of Time

When the break was over classes started up with enthusiasm. The classes started off with my favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts class ever depicted in the Harry Potter series. The boggart class, I had decided that it would be the best to see (because who wouldn't love to see Snape in a dress). Though I was honestly curious as to what the boggart would show me as the thing that I fear the most.

I watched as all my classmates went up and turned their boggarts into something funny. I was placed before Harry and watched as the blob morphed from one thing to the next before it showed me something, I never thought it would. It showed me covered in blood. At first, I wondered why this would scare me but then I saw that I had no scratches on me. I froze realizing what my greatest fear was. I knew that I had to make this funny so we could move on with the class, but there was nothing that could make this better. I ran from the class crying my eyes out missing Harry's turn but knowing that Remus had him.

I spent the rest of the day hiding; I didn't quite understand why I felt the need to hide but I did. I found myself in the Astronomy tower looking out to the world. I don't know how long I was there for but eventually, Draco found me.

"What exactly are you afraid of grá mo chroí*?" Draco asked when I finally noticed his presence.

I took a moment to think of the best way to express it and once I knew what to say I spoke. "Do you remember when we were little and you got really mad at a man who tried to grab at us?" He nodded. "I attacked him. I felt your anger boiling beneath my skin and I lost control. The man had gotten severe burns, broken bones, and was hospitalized for a really long time. Mhamó refused to let me see you for long time after that because I was too in tune with your emotions and allowed them to make me lose control. She told me that if I let others emotion control me then I could end up killing someone I love. She said that I could have killed you. I am afraid of that ever happening."

Draco didn't speak for a while, but when he did, he looked right at me and said. "That day I wasn't angry."

"What?"

"I wasn't angry. I was scared, and worried but I wasn't angry. That emotion that you thought I was feeling wasn't mine. You were angry which means you didn't lose control. Did you go overboard? Yes. But did you lose control? No. You seem to have forgotten how you managed to stop that day. I was the one you focused on so your own emotions didn't kill the guy. I stopped you."

I turned and looked directly at him seeing his smile. "I didn't lose control; I just went overboard?"

"Yup. I was so mad when your Mhamó blamed me for your outburst that I yelled out at her 'if it was my anger that injured that man than right now you would be getting injured too.' She wasn't pleased with me."

I laughed at him feeling happy. Once my laughter finally died down, I leaned into Draco and spoke. "Well at least I now know that I didn't lose control at that time, but that doesn't mean I won't eventually lose control. I still have my fear."

"That's fine, being afraid of something out of your control is completely natural. In fact, being afraid of injuring someone with your powers means that you try harder to ensure that you don't. We are still children learning how to control our magic after all."

"Thanks Draco, you're the best."

"Try telling me something I don't know."

I smiled. "Green isn't your color." He gasped but laughed at my joke. He held me as we were quiet for a long while. I was enjoying just being here with him. I hoped I was lucky enough to have such a person who was so gentle continue to be by my side. Draco was the one to breach the silence. "Harry Potter saw a Dementor as his fear. I never thought he would let such a small thing scare him, after all he defeated, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Why wasn't it the man who killed his parents?"

"How can you fear something or someone you can't remember or have never seen?"

"Isn't that what fear is not knowing something to the point that you can no longer stand not knowing."

"Ah, but also how can you fear something when you beat it already?"

"I see."

I looked at Draco. "What did you see Draco?"

He froze and held me close but still answered. "You dead."

I blink at the obvious nature of that sentence. It was romantic, and I was about ready to punch him for lying to me, but when I looked in his eyes, I knew he wasn't joking around. I could also feel his seriousness due to my powers. I knew that he wasn't kidding. This boy really truly loved me. I stood up and started to walk away. "Where are you going?"

"Draco, I-I know that you truly love me but, I don't think I am ready for that. I know that you will wait for me so, will you please give me time?"

"Louise, I only told you I was afraid to see you dead. I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable, if I did, I apologize greatly. I am willing to wait a lifetime for you; you know that so why did it spook you?"

"It was a bit overwhelming to feel your exact feelings for me and I had to get away from the intensity of it all."

"I see. I forgot that you are still having problems knowing your own feelings versus someone else's. I am sorry Louise."

I smiled at him. "Thank you, Draco, but I promise you I will try to get the hang of it soon so that you can have your answer."

He just smiled back and let me leave I could tell by his smile that he was hopeful.

I managed to make my way back to Gryffindor without much issue but once there Harry cornered me. "I won't force you to tell me anything but just answer me one question: Are you okay?"

I laughed and ruffled his hair. "I am now. I heard that you got a Dementor as your boggart, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered with a small sad smile, "Professor Lupin stopped it before it could harm me. He caught me after class and I asked him if he would be willing to teach me a way to ward them off. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure, I would."

After this encounter the story line of Harry's third year pretty much follow the book. He learns the Patronus, Remus gets ousted as a Werewolf, and Buckbeak lives. The only real difference is how they happened. Even though he learns the Patronus he didn't get to try it on another Dementor since they were gone a month after classes started up again, and this means he will have to keep practicing to form a corporeal one without him actually being in danger. After that I knew I couldn't stray much from the original story line, so I had a conversation with Remus. "Professor Lupin, I know that what I am going to say will seem really mean but you need to know."
"Yes, Miss Regan?"

"I have to out you as a Werewolf."

"What? Why? I have finally managed to have a Full Moon without Wolfsbane, pain, or the taste of blood. I wouldn't be allowed to teach Harry anything else."

"Remus, I told you that I knew how the story was going to play out, and for it to be still on track for next year you can't be a teacher here."

His eyes showed that the wolf was out to play. "Explain further."

I sighed. "Next year is the Tri-Wizard tournament, and the new DADA professor, who isn't what he says he is, will force Harry to join the games. This needs to happen the same way because if it doesn't, I wouldn't know how to protect him."

"Why don't I just leave never to return?"

"Because, if Harry thinks you of all people abandon him, he will never believe in hope again. If I don't oust you Snape will which won't help me in the future."

Remus sighed. "Fine, you may oust me to the public. Just promise me that even if you don't succeed, you won't ever leave him alone."

"I promise." And with that I ousted the best DADA teacher since forever. I felt really bad about it but at least this way he was forced to leave instead of just leaving. The last thing I had to deal with before summer break and the Quidditch World Cup was saving Buckbeak. Since Sirius turned himself in, we, Harry, Mhamó, and I, had to be there because they were also determining Harry's guardianship and many other holes I hoped to fill during this year. Here's what happened during the trial.

The trial was long, and at one point they finally got to the end of it but wanted to make sure it was the truth. "Mrs. Regan could you please persuade Mr. Black to tell us the truth regarding his next testimonies?"

Mhamó smiled. "Of course, I would be okay with it. Mr. Black the whole court including Mr. Potter here would love it deeply if you would share the truth with us."

He nodded and the questioning began. Harry was really confused. "What did she just do?"

"Oh that," I said not sure how to explain, "The words were just for show but she just forced her will of truthfulness on Sirius Black there."

"How does that work?"

"Well you know that empaths have the ability to feel the emotions of others, but what you don't know is that when putting enough power into it, nature reacts to an Elemental Empaths will. Humans are a part of nature as any creature and can be forced into any direction we please. This is why it would be terrifying should we ever side with anyone regarding a war. Imagine, the entire opposite end of war just putting down their weapons and handing themselves over to the authorities. Imagine being able to control the world by controlling one person. It would be a disaster whether it was good or bad in the end."

Harry went silent and we continued to watch the trial. We hear the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, ask a question. "Did you kill James and Lily Potter?"

"Impossible, James and I became blood brothers swearing to never hurt each other no matter what. Had I killed him or his wife I wouldn't be standing here today because my magic would have killed me."

"Were you not their households Secret Keeper?" One of the other Ministers asked.

"It wouldn't have been much of a secret if I was, they used one of our other friends by the name of Peter Pettigrew as their Secret Keeper because I insisted that they pick someone else."

"Why did you attack Pettigrew and murder 12 muggles?"

"I didn't attack him; I ran after him so that he could explain what happened and before I could ask him, he had blown himself up and killed 12 muggles in the process as well as leaving behind just a pinky."

"Why weren't you tried for your crimes earlier?"

"The only crime I actually ever committed was being an unregistered Animagus which I was told I could do within five years of being a legal adult because no one believed me when I said I could do it. When I was captured, I had already scheduled the test for Animagus certification three years before the time limit feel free to look through the records."

One of the younger ministers stood up. "Fellow ministers, I keep track of such records and have already taken the time to check for such proof and have found that he isn't lying because the date of his examination was to be November 10th of that year. Also, in accordance of the law regarding this case he followed the correct way to register himself and had he not been thrown in jail immediately without trial the first time he would have been properly registered on time."

"Why did you escape from Azkaban?"

"I saw Pettigrew's Animagus on the shoulder of a young boy in the newspaper. I needed to know why he betrayed them, so I escaped. Once I had a clear mind and found another newspaper saying that you had caught him, I decided to turn myself in. I did it in the hope of seeing Harry Potter, my Godson."

Mhamó spoke up this time. "We have already talked about the previous question but this one, Ministers, begs the question of whether we have read the wills of James and Lily Potter to confirm Mr. Black's claim of Godfather."

"Why would this matter?"

I answered. "Isn't it because of the fact that being named a godparent would make it impossible to kill the parents or the child that they are a godparent of. Magic would kill the godparent if they did such a cruel thing to a child."

"That," Mhamó said, "and it would also see if Harry could be placed elsewhere besides with his muggle Aunt and Uncle."

"The wills were sealed shortly after their deaths, out of respect for the young hero."

Sirius spoke. "May I know whether I am guilty before we move topics?"

Cornelius Fudge spoke. "Well based on lack of evidence, and since we haven't actually read the wills, and you served way past how long for if you continued to be unregistered you are by law a free man unlawfully punished."

"Thank you Minister. May I request the unsealing and presenting of the wills of James and Lily Potter?"

"We would need permission from a majority of the witnesses to do that, and we only have you Mr. Black so- "

Mhamó interrupted. "My son and daughter, were both witnesses to the Potter wills. I act in accordance to their will regarding all things when it comes to permission on their behalves. I second and third Mr. Black's request."

The Minister sighed. "Since only four witnesses are ever required and three of them have requested, we must honor the request."

The wills of James and Lily Potter then flew right in front of us sealed just like we were told. Harry then spoke, "I can't believe I never saw this before. Why was I never allowed to see this? Has this always been a thing? Why is it just now coming to my attention?!"

"No one was allowed to see this because of all the pain we thought it would make you feel. I guess we never thought that you would want to see it."

The magic of the wills encased the whole room and when it seemed that they couldn't get brighter the seals broke revealing projections of James and Lily.

But just before either of the projections could speak, Dumbledore appeared right there in front of us all along with Narcissa Malfoy. "May I know why I have been summoned here, along with the wills of Lily and James Potter?" He said this with a tone of curiosity and anger. Narcissa remained regally quiet.

Before any of the ministers could speak a Goblin appeared looking regal like a king. "Hello council of Magic Law, may your enemies know only the blood of their kin. It is not often that I, King Arx Viaddearm*(just a cool name for a goblin that I liked), am called upon. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Cornelius Fudge angrily shouted "We have not called any person here except for those that have this case required. We certainly didn't call upon you Albus Dumbledore. The court has called for the reading of James and Lily Potter wills for some reason the 3 of you have appeared. The wills would only require the presence of those that they have something given to them or said to them."

King Arx spoke wisely. "The other reason is that someone is called is when the person who was to enact the will failed to do so and the final witness of the wills didn't come forward to insist in the following of them but let us wait and see. Which is to go first?"

Harry spoke. "I would like to hear my mother's first."

Fudge responded. "Very well, Mrs. Lily Potter would you please speak your will."

The projection gave a small bow and began. "I, Lily Joan* Potter, in sound mind do state that what I'm about to say is what I wish to happen should I die. I hope if I die that this is read to my son before he is old enough to go to Hogwarts. I give all my wealth and titles to my son may he use them well, to my dear friends Lisa and Matthew Regan I give you, along with Sirius Black, guardianship of my son, to Albus Dumbledore I give to you this; leave my son alone or you will regret it all the days of your life. Should my husband outlive me he will raise our son self himself. Otherwise it shall go my dear friends Lisa and Matthew, Sirius Black, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Remus Lupin, and no others. If my sister ever ends up with my son, I will personally try to kill them from the underworld. If there is anything, I have forgotten then it goes to my son. Please let Harry know that I love him."

No one dared to speak after that and the projection of James started to speak. "I, James Fleamont Potter, in sound mind do state that what I'm about to say is true and wish for it to be known should I die. I hope that this will is shown to Harry my son before he goes to Hogwarts so that he might grow to understand his family better. We were never a part of the light nor the dark and I fear that should you not be placed with any of your guardians that either side will try to persuade you into excepting a role of importance. I have heard the so-called prophecy and it doesn't apply to any person. If nothing else know that the Elements cannot lie, trust them to steer you in the right direction. Now that is done now for who gets what. To my friend Remus Lupin, I give you my seat in the Wizengamut until Harry is of age, I am sure you will change the wizarding world for the better. I give all my wealth and titles to my son Harry. Should my wife not out live me my son is to be given to Lisa and Matthew Regan, then Sirius Black, then Frank and Alice Longbottom, then Remus Lupin. Should none of them be able to and their wills do not state for other people to take care of their children then I would like to call in the life debt owed to me by Severus Snape, he will watch and take care of my son to the best of his abilities. On that note I would also like to state that Sirius is my blood brother as of June 1980, and as such would die should he in anyway be a part of mine or my wife's deaths. I would also like to point out that should you question his status as a secret keeper for my house under Fidelius please ask Albus Dumbledore for he was the one to cast the spell thus he would know who our true Secret Keeper is. Should my will, or my wife's, not be followed than I declare that Harry Potter is now an adult and is in charge of himself."

The whole room went quiet at this realization. The first one to speak was King Arx. "I see, this is why I have been called. These wills haven't been followed at all. I can understand that you sealed them, but did you even have them sealed properly by a goblin so that they would be read on time according to the writers wishes?"

Minister Fudge was the one who responded. "None of us knew they were sealed until after they were already sealed and then there was nothing else, we could do. Albus Dumbledore was the one who sealed them, did you even let Mr. Potter know that they existed so that he could make the choice of whether they should be read or not?"

This is when Harry spoke. "Does it matter that no one told me? I think what matters most is that Dumbledore knew what was in them but still forced me to be with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia even after I begged him not to let me go back to them. I guess I should thank you for one thing."

Dumbledore asked, "What is that my boy?"

"I am now an adult, and as such, I refuse to be subjected to the loneliness that being with my relatives gives me and put myself under the guardianship of Mrs. Regan till I am of age. If that is all right with you Mrs. Regan?"

Mhamó answered. "If that is what you wish then I will happily accept you into my household. Minister?"

Fudge answered. "Mr. Potter is right we cannot stop him from his choice to be in your household. There is, however, still the problem of the rest of their wills. James Potter gave his seat on the Wizengamut to Remus Lupin, Mr. Lupin is a registered Werewolf and is thus unable to have a seat on the Wizengamut. Who would you like to represent you in this court?"

Harry looked angry but was a quick thinker. "Mrs. Regan what do you think?"

Mhamó answered sagely, "There is no ancient law that states that Werewolves cannot have a seat, in fact when I was just a small child many Were had seats in the Wizengamut. I have no problem with giving Mr. Lupin the Potter seat until Harry is of age."

King Arx spoke, "I agree, this will settle things with enacting the wills but now I ask this question, Mrs. Malfoy why did you appear?"

For the first time since appearing she spoke. "Simple King Arx, I am a witness to both Potter wills."

Dumbledore shouted angrily, "Impossible they wouldn't ask you to witness their wills because your husband was a Death Eater."

Fudge responded to both her answer and Dumbledore's anger. "Which he was cleared of, but you can see why this is hard to believe. Would you explain your connection to the Potters and why you didn't insist that the wills be read?"

Narcissa gave a loud sigh before she spoke. "When I was younger, I was raised with no idea about blood supremacy. I went to Hogwarts and even as a Slytherin I became friends with Lily. Our friendship was not well known even as we both graduated, few except our husbands knew. Before we even married, I told Lucius that if he could not except my best friend then I wouldn't marry him. This is why I knew he was not himself when he accepted the mark. All of us married couples, in our friend group, got together and witnessed each other's wills be made. Shortly after, Lucius changed and took the mark and everyone was fearing for their lives. When the Potters died, I couldn't exactly come forward with being a witness when no one would believe me even if I did. It took months for the trials and news to die down, but by then they were sealed and no one knew where young Harry Potter was. I figured that one of the other adults mentioned in it, as guardians, already had him so I felt that my coming forward was unnecessary so I didn't."

King Arx spoke. "I understand your situation with coming forward, but you could have come to the Goblins with this. Still I thank you for your cooperation. As I understand it, Mr. Dumbledore, that you hadn't read the will before sealing it?"

I was shocked into silence right then; the Goblin King had unknowingly given Dumbledore an out. I was praying that Dumbledore would slip up, but he didn't. He stated "No, out of respect for the Potters I never opened the wills. I thought that young Harry should open them when he was ready."

He was pardoned for sealing the wills and not sharing their existence with Harry, seeing as he wasn't his Guardian and as a "humble" Headmaster, Dumbledore couldn't tell Harry till he came to Hogwarts and by then he had no reason to assume he had to because he was sure Harry's Guardians would tell him about them. He was also forgiven for Sirius being thrown into jail because he hadn't read the wills stating the impossibility of him betraying the Potters, and though he had performed the charm on the house that, and I quote, "I couldn't possibly know that Pettigrew would turn traitor and trick the world into thinking that he was dead."

With that Sirius was free from Azkaban and Dumbledore swiveled by being arrested.

After that we had a break seeing as Buckbeak's trial was later in the day. We sat together enjoying the warmth of family. Mhamó was radiating happiness, I knew that because she was both trying to test me and trying to contain her excitement. All of us were having lunch to celebrate the day.

Buckbeak's trail ended differently in that the Hippogriff wasn't punished for hurting student since it is a teacher's duty to ensure the safety of their students when it comes to dealing with potentially dangerous situations. Hagrid didn't get in trouble, and he was requested to take classes on how to improve his teaching. Hagrid was also told to put forth a plan of what he planned to teach next year so that should anything need to be fixed he had time to fix it.

Most of the summer was spent getting Harry acclimated to living in a cottage in Ireland.

grá mo chroí= Love of my heart, Mhamó=Grandma. Sorry about the delay my old laptop crapped out on me and then my word processing unit on my new computer was having issues so it took me longer to write this then I intended. I hope all my readers are staying safe and healthy during these rough times. Let me know how you all feel about this longer chapter.