Hogwarts Time
by Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.


With mixed feelings, eleven-year-old Harry Potter walked towards Professor McGonagall, who held out the Sorting Hat, ready to place the magical artefact on his head.

'I just hope the Hat will be able to sort me at all,' Harry thought, frightened that the Hat might realise just how much of a freak he was.

'Of course I'm going to sort you,' a small voice suddenly penetrated his mind. 'You're Hogwarts' special child and I have exact instructions from her what to do with you.'

Before Harry was able to stomach the information, the Hat shouted into the Hall, "Founders quarters."

'What?' Harry thought in disbelief. Like in a trance, he handed the Hat back to Professor McGonagall.

"Leave it to Potter to think himself of something special even on the occasion of his Sorting," he heard someone at the high table hiss in a low voice, and when he looked up, he saw a male professor with long, black hair cast him a menacing look.

"Just take a seat at any of the house tables and come to see me after the feast." Professor McGonagall's voice was gentle, and Harry nodded in relief.

He was just about to turn towards the Gryffindor table, from where he heard Hermione call his name, "Harry, here!", when he noticed that the professor paled visibly upon consulting her list with the names of the new first-years.

"Minerva Potter," she called out in a remarkably thin voice, before a girl who slightly resembled the professor stepped forward.

'Where did she come from?' Harry wondered, feeling fairly certain that he had not seen the girl earlier.

With a combination of relief and surprise, he realised that the Sorting Hat once again shouted, "Founders quarters."

"Sopho, please properly sort our students," an old wizard with a long white beard lightly admonished the Hat.

'He must be the headmaster,' Harry thought, recalling that Hagrid had spoken about the old wizard with great respect.

"That is exactly what I am doing," the Hat replied in a no-nonsense voice, causing Harry to inwardly chuckle, before he became distracted when his classmates began to introduce themselves. He did not even notice which table the girl chose to sit at.

"Who is the professor with the long, black hair?" he asked the twins, who were sitting opposite of him.

"Ah…"

"… that's Professor Snape…"

"… the Potions Professor…"

"… and an absolute git," the twins informed him in a funny sing-song that made Harry chuckle.

'And apparently, he seems to hate me,' he thought, inwardly groaning, as he felt himself reminded of his Uncle Vernon.

HP

After the feast, Harry hesitantly walked up to the high table, wondering where the girl was, who had been sorted into the Founders' quarters together with him. However, she was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a ghost came to hover right next to him.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter. How nice of you to join us on this fine evening." The headmaster greeted him in a friendly voice. "Do you have any idea why our Sorting Hat placed you into the Founders' quarters and where these quarters are, if they exist at all?" he then enquired, giving Harry a sharp look.

Harry lightly shook his head and replied in a small voice. "No sir. I'm sorry, sir."

"Harry is the owner of Hogwarts and as such entitled to live in my parents' quarters, to where I'm going to take him now," the ghost unexpectedly came to his help.

Harry cast the ghost a grateful look and bade the professors good night, before he quickly followed the ghost out of the Great Hall.

"Hi Harry," the ghost greeted him in a soft voice, once they walked up a small flight of stairs. "I'm Helena, a daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw. I trust that you've heard of her."

"Only just a little bit," Harry admitted. "The other girl spoke about her earlier. She's the founder who charmed the ceiling of the Great Hall, isn't she?"

"That's right," Helena replied, pleasantly, just when they arrived in front of a portrait of two witches and two wizards.

'Are these the Founders of Hogwarts?' Harry wondered, staring at the portrait in amazement.

"Put your hand here, so that the painting will recognise your magic," Helena instructed him, and Harry quickly complied. "The next time, they'll let you in just upon seeing you."

In complete amazement, Harry followed the kind ghost into a large hall, from which beautifully decorated doors led into small rooms.

"Welcome to the Founders' quarters," Helena said, smiling. "Over here is your room, and I suggest that you get a good night's sleep, before you explore the other rooms in the morning. I will show you around, and I need you to speak with Hogwarts first thing in the morning. She told me that she has several tasks for you to fulfil. I will also introduce you to my mother and her friends tomorrow."

"All right," Harry replied, feeling utterly confused. "Good night, Helena, and thank you for everything," he added, before he retired to his room, glad to be able to go to bed and quietly ponder the events of the evening.

'I'm the owner of Hogwarts?' he wondered, recalling what Helena had told the professors earlier. 'That's impossible. Maybe I'm not even supposed to be here. Perhaps everything is a mistake. I wonder where the girl is who was sorted right after me. Her name was Potter just like mine,' he thought, whishing that he had thought of asking Helena about her.

HP

When Harry woke up in the morning, he felt extremely excited. 'I'm at Hogwarts, and Helena promised to show me the Founders' quarters, before I have to attend classes,' he thought and quickly readied himself for the day, glad that someone had brought all his luggage into his room during the welcoming feast the previous evening.

"Good morning, Harry," Helena greeted him, as she swept into the room. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," Harry replied, eagerly, and quickly followed the friendly ghost out of his room.

"I'm supposed to take you to the Parlour, which is the only room, where we can freely communicate with Hogwarts without placing our hand against her wall," Helena explained, as she led him through an open door into a slightly smaller hall.

"Hogwarts, I've brought Harry Potter to you," she said aloud, while Harry curiously let his eyes wander around the room, which was equally beautifully decorated like the other parts of the Founders' quarters that Harry had seen so far.

"Hello Harry," a voice, which sounded like the voice of a kind, old lady, suddenly addressed him.

"Hello Hogwarts," Harry replied, unsurely.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, my boy. I have been waiting for you to come here for a long time," Hogwarts continued to speak. "In fact, you are the first heir of all my founders, and I have several tasks for you."

"Tasks?" Harry blurted out in confusion. "I'm sorry, Hogwarts, but I'm only a first-year, and I've only known that I'm a wizard for four weeks."

"That is fine my boy." Hogwarts sounded very gentle. "As I said, you are the first heir of my founders, and there are a couple of things which I need you to remedy throughout my history. First of all, I need you to travel to the year 1178 to fetch eleven-year-old Minerva McGonagall to this time. Afterwards, I shall give the two of you further instructions."

"Minerva McGonagall?" Harry asked in confusion. "Isn't she the Gryffindor head of house in this time?"

To his surprise, Hogwarts let out a small chuckle, before she explained. "This time's Minerva McGonagall is a distant cousin of the Minerva McGonagall about whom I am talking. You must fetch Minerva to this time. She is going to be your partner for a long time. Among all the witches who attended Hogwarts during the last one thousand years, she was the most brilliant witch, maybe apart from Ceridwen Hufflepuff, who will be a valuable ally as an adult, and Minerva will not be missed in her own time, as she did not marry and have children. Together, you shall be able to fulfil my tasks and remedy several aspects of my history."

"Excuse me, Hogwarts, but what kind of tasks are these, and are you sure that I'll be able to do any of them? I'm only a first-year, and my first classes are only going to commence this morning," Harry replied, feeling extremely uncertain at the prospect of having to do chores of which he did not know anything.

Chuckling again, Hogwarts reassured him, "Do not worry, my boy. You will do fine."

"Hogwarts," Harry asked, hesitantly, "how am I supposed to travel to the year 1178?"

"Just place your right hand against my wall anywhere in these quarters and tell me the exact date to which you wish to travel," Hogwarts advised him. "In this case, you want the second of September, 1178, early morning. I shall make sure that Minerva will be in the founders' quarters to meet you at that time," she promised, making Harry sigh in relief.

"Hogwarts," he nevertheless felt inclined to ask, "is it all right for me to do this now? Won't I be in trouble if I don't attend classes first?"

"You will be fine, Harry, and no one will know," Hogwarts reassured him. "You will be able to return before the beginning of your first morning class, even if it might take you one hundred years or more, before you are going to be back." Her voice was barely audible, almost as if she had merely been thinking to herself and not talking to Harry.

'I want to attend Hogwarts and study magic now though, not only in one hundred years,' Harry thought in confusion, when he walked up to the wall placing his right hand against it.

"Think of the time to which you wish to travel." Hogwarts' instruction was gentle, but nevertheless, Harry did not really like it.

He let out a long sigh before uttering, "To the second of September, early morning, in 1178 please."

Without as much as a forewarning, he felt a strange movement that engulfed him, causing his surroundings to blur and finally vanish from the sight, before the movement slowed down and finally stopped.

September 1178

When his vision cleared, Harry realised that he still found himself on the same spot as before.

"Hogwarts," he spoke up in a small voice, "did I manage to travel to the past?"

"Yes, my dear boy, you arrived just at the right time," Hogwarts replied, and Harry noticed that her voice, even when equally friendly as before, sounded much younger than in the future.

All of a sudden, he realised that he was not alone in the Parlour. A girl of about his own age was sitting in one of the comfortable looking chairs observing him with apparent interest. She had shoulder-long brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, from which she was smiling at him.

'The girl from last night,' Harry realised, recognising her with a combination of surprise and shock.

tbc...?

... only if there is interest in this story.