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.
September 1178
"Harry!" The girl greeted him wearing the most brilliant smile that Harry had ever seen.
"Nice to meet you," he replied, hesitantly returning the smile.
"Did you really come from the future?" The girl sounded excited, before she shook her head. "I'm sorry; that was a stupid question, looking at your clothes. Being able to travel through the sands of time is just amazing though."
"Absolutely incredible," Harry agreed. "Did Hogwarts tell you what she wants us to do?" He cast her an uncertain look.
"Only that she wants us to remedy several things in different times in the past and in the future," she replied, only to trail off, when Hogwarts suddenly spoke up.
"Minerva and Harry," the castle addressed them in her gentle voice. "My older self has, in fact, multiple ideas for you, of which I am only partly privy. I suggest that you first travel to the morning of the first of September 1000 and attend classes there in the time of my founders until you have at least taken your OWLs. Afterwards, or even earlier, you should visit my older self again to enquire about your exact tasks. You need to at least be able to apparate by then though."
'To apparate?' Harry wondered, however, knew better than to ask what it meant.
"All right, Hogwarts, thank you very much for your advice." Minerva spoke up. "Will the Founders know about us though?"
"Yes," Hogwarts replied, reassuringly. "I have instructed my younger self to tell them about the two of you and inform them about your arrival."
"Thank you, Hogwarts." Harry let out a sigh of relief.
"You are very welcome, dears," Hogwarts replied, gently, and instructed them, "Now place your hands against the wall, so that I can take you to the past."
Minerva and Harry swiftly complied, however, before Harry could utter the date, Minerva quickly grabbed his left hand with her own. Apparently noticing his questioning look, she said in a soft voice, "Just to be sure that we won't become separated on the way."
"All right," Harry replied, admitting to himself that he felt much safer, too. "To the morning of the first of September in the year 1000 please," he told the castle, and an instant later, he felt the same strange movement, which he had experienced earlier.
September 1000
As soon as the movement stopped, Hogwarts spoke to them, sounding even younger than before. "Hello Minerva and Harry, welcome to the time of my founders. This is Ceridwen Hufflepuff, our Runes professor. She will help you adjust to this time."
Only now did Harry realise that a young woman was standing there smiling at them. She had light brown hair and emerald green eyes like himself, and he could not help liking her at first sight. 'Oh, that's the adult whom Hogwarts mentioned earlier,' he recalled, feeling very happy to meet the witch.
"Hello Minerva and Harry," Ceridwen greeted them. "As I'm Helga Hufflepuff's younger sister, the four founders have entrusted me with your secret. I hope that's all right with you."
"Of course," Harry and Minerva replied, simultaneously, exchanging a glance of surprise. "Thank you for helping us," Minerva added in a soft voice.
"Thank you, dears. I will quickly show you to your rooms," Ceridwen continued, "and then we should head outside, as the students are just arriving on the grounds. After the welcoming feast, I'll take you to the headmaster's office and introduce you to my sister and her friends."
While they headed through the empty corridors of the castle, which looked exactly like in the future apart from the fact that all the moving paintings were missing, Ceridwen continued speaking. "Since Harry is the heir of all four founders of Hogwarts, all four of them are going to become your guardians. However, as I have more free time than my sister and her friends, because I'm not a head of house, I'll help you with everything. Later in the afternoon, we should go to Hogsmeade and buy proper clothes for the two of you. For now, I will just transfigure your clothes and cast a charm at you to adjust your English to our time."
By now, they had arrived on the grounds, and Ceridwen finished her tirade, before she quickly waved her hand over them a couple of times.
"Ceridwen seems really nice, but I'm glad that we're together," Minerva whispered to him, when the older witch went to join the adults, causing Harry to full-heartedly agree.
"Me too," he whispered back, smiling as he realised that he felt extremely comfortable in the girl's company. 'It must feel like this if I had a friend. Perhaps she is my friend, although we've only met today,' he thought, somehow feeling very happy.
To Harry's surprise, the students arrived just next to the castle together with their parents. 'Oh well, they surely don't have trains yet in this time,' he thought and eagerly listened, when Godric Gryffindor greeted the students and their parents, before he motioned everyone into the Great Hall for the Sorting.
"Do you think they will sort us again?" Minerva whispered to Harry.
Harry shrugged. "I've no idea, but I just hope that the Hat will sort us together," he finally whispered back.
'How strange,' he thought, when Rowena, who was calling the first-years from a long list like Professor McGonagall had done in the future, called out, "Minerva McGonagall." 'In my time, Professor McGonagall called her 'Minerva Potter', or was that a hallucination? I'm fairly sure that it was her though.'
To his relief, the Sorting Hat sorted both of them once again into the Founders' quarters, admitting to him that he had been instructed by Hogwarts to do so. 'This castle is scary,' he told Harry. 'If she's not contented with my choices of the Sorting, she sometimes even kicks me from my shelf in the headmaster's office.'
Still chuckling at the Hat's antics, Harry joined Minerva at the Ravenclaw table, deciding to speak with her about changing tables at every meal.
HP
After lunch, Minerva and Harry headed to the high table, where Ceridwen was sitting together with the four founders.
"These are Minerva and Harry, our time-travellers," Ceridwen immediately introduced them to her colleagues.
"Welcome to Hogwarts in the time of her founding," Ceridwen's sister Helga was the first to greet them, casting them a smile that rivalled Ceridwen's.
"We're very happy to have you here," Rowena added.
"I suggest that we move to my office, as we have many questions to ask you," Godric informed them and proceeded to lead them to the headmaster's office.
'The fourth professor seems very grumpy,' Harry thought, as he trailed behind everyone else, while Minerva was deeply engrossed in a conversation with Ceridwen. 'I must remember to call her professor in class,' he told himself, recalling that she had emphasized that they could call her Ceridwen in private.
He was brought back to reality upon entering the headmaster's office, where the most beautiful bird that he had ever seen attracted his undivided attention. Without considering what he was doing, he stepped in front of the animal's perch and addressed the bird.
"Hello there, you're a very beautiful bird," he said in a soft voice, causing the phoenix to let out a series of happy trills.
#Hello young nestling, how nice of you to come and visit me. I'm not just a bird though, I'm Fawkes, a fire phoenix. Will you please pet my crown feathers? I'd like that.#
"Of course," Harry replied in a soft voice, completely forgetting about his surroundings, as he stood there gently caressing the phoenix's head.
"Harry," Minerva's soft voice reminded him of where he was, and Harry quickly uttered an apology to Fawkes, before he sat in the empty chair next to the girl.
"I'm sorry," he said, only now realising that the adults were observing him in what seemed to be clear amusement.
"Don't be sorry, my boy," the headmaster was the first to speak up. "I'm glad that Fawkes seems to have taken a liking to you. Usually, no one but myself is able to communicate with him."
#I shall be the nestling's familiar for a very long time.# Fawkes let out a series of pleasant trills, before he flapped his wings and made himself comfortable on Harry's left arm, craning his head towards the boy's right hand.
"Brilliant," Minerva uttered, when Harry once more began to caress the phoenix's crown feathers.
"You must be a phoenix Animagus in the future; otherwise, you would not be able to comprehend his babbling," Godric informed him.
Harry looked at the founder in absolute amazement. 'That would be so cool,' he thought, feeling very happy.
"Excuse me, sir, will you teach us the Animagus transformation?" Minerva enquired, sounding extremely eager. 'Somehow, she reminds me of Hermione,' Harry thought, as he recalled the eagerness that Hermione had displayed during the train ride and the welcoming feast in the future.
"Of course," Godric promised, grinning. "We will teach you many things, however, first of all, we'd like to hear from you about yourselves and what Hogwarts told you in the future."
Minerva and Harry exchanged a glance, before Minerva motioned for Harry to commence.
"My parents died when I was a year old, and I've grown up with my horrible muggle relatives," Harry hesitantly began to speak. "I only learned that I'm a wizard a month ago. Yesterday, I came to Hogwarts, and the Sorting Hat sorted me into the Founders' quarters," he explained, only to add, "together with a Minerva Potter, however, she somehow vanished right after the welcoming feast. Oh well, Hogwarts then told me that she wants me to fulfil several tasks together with Minerva."
"Did she give you a reason why she wanted Minerva to join you in this task?" Rowena spoke up, looking at the two eleven-year-olds with apparent curiosity. "While you're the heir of all four of us, Minerva is only a third-degree cousin of Godric's brother."
Harry smiled. "She told me that Minerva was the most brilliant witch who studied at Hogwarts in one thousand years after Ceridwen, and that we would need Ceridwen as an adult," he explained, inwardly groaning when he felt himself blush.
"Wow, thank you, Harry," Minerva said in a soft voice, and her cheeks changed to a soft pink colour.
"Did Hogwarts tell you anything about your tasks yet?" Godric enquired.
"No sir," Harry replied, thoughtfully, giving Minerva a questioning look. "What was it that she told us we should know before returning to the future even before our OWLs?"
"We should be able to apparate," Minerva supplied, helpfully. "Well, in contrary to Harry, I've known that I'm a witch for my whole life. However, my mother was married to a muggle, and he hated me with a passion, especially after my mother died two years ago. Therefore, I'm really happy that I don't have to return there anytime soon."
"You won't ever have to return there," Harry said, softly. "In the future, I have a whole vault full of money, so that we could easily rent or buy a place to live if the need arose."
"Thank you so much, Harry," Minerva replied, giving him a broad smile. "That's very reassuring."
"Nonsense," Salazar suddenly growled. "As the heirs of us, Hogwarts will always be your home."
"But I'm not an heir," Minerva spoke up in a barely audible voice.
"You will be Harry's bonded in the future and as such count as our heir, too," Rowena informed her in a soothing voice, causing Harry and Minerva to stare at the witch with long, black hair in curiosity.
"You must know that Rowena is a Seer," Ceridwen told them. "She has seen many visions about you and your future and can give you some advice if you're uncertain about what to make out of Hogwarts' tasks."
"Very well, that means that we're going to teach you Apparition and the Animagus transformation during the weekends and the holidays," Godric spoke again. "Is there anything else that would be useful for the two of them, which is not covered by our usual classes?"
"Telepathy," Minerva voiced. "I think it might become useful if we could communicate by telepathy, considering that we might end up in a time where we encounter unexpected problems."
"A good point," Ceridwen immediately supported the idea.
"Yes," Godric agreed.
"And Potions," Salazar added, sounding as grumpy as before. "I wish to test if at least one of them is adept enough to assist in my research. If so, I'd like her or him to bring some future Potions books to this time, as I'm sure that they have cures for at least some illnesses which are incurable in our time."
"Very well," Helga spoke up. "Since you have Potions classes on a daily basis anyway, I'd like to ask you to consider if you'd be willing to assist Salazar in his lab. You do not have to do this. Only if you're really interested," she instructed the children in a firm voice, causing both of them to nod in relief.
'Salazar is really scary,' Harry thought. 'His wife is much nicer, and yes, it would be really cool if I could just exchange my thoughts with Minerva. Great that the founders agreed to teach us.'
"Before we release you into Ceridwen's care, we'd like to cast a charm at the two of you that will automatically change your spoken English to the language that is used in the time where you find yourselves in extension to the charm that Ceridwen cast at you earlier," Rowena said, when the conversation was about to end. "Will that be all right with you?"
"Oh, yes please," Minerva was the first to reply. "Although I love the English that Harry originally spoke. It sounded funny, and somehow, it fit him so well."
Harry cast her a bewildered look. "Yes please," he told Rowena, who chuckled and hurried to successively cast the spell at Minerva and him.
HP
During the following months, Minerva and Harry attended classes together with the other first-years and had private lessons with the four founders and Ceridwen in addition. While Rowena taught them the Animagus transformation, Salazar instructed them in Telepathy, Godric took them outside the Hogwarts wards to teach them how to apparate, and Helga and Ceridwen informed them about all kinds of secrets within Hogwarts. They got to know everything about the secret passages, which the founders had built during the ten years since the founding of the castle; they learned about passwords, methods of communication with Hogwarts and even heard that it was possible to apparate within Hogwarts.
"Excuse me," Minerva asked in bewilderment. "Why does Godric always take us to Hogsmeade to try apparating then?"
Helga let out a long sigh, before she explained, "Only the founders and their heirs are able to apparate within Hogwarts. Ceridwen here is an exception, because she helped us build her, even if she doesn't count as a founder due to not having her own house. In the future, you will at some stage bond to Harry and thus receive all the privileges, which the heirs have."
"Oh, all right, thank you so much for clarifying this," Minerva replied in a soft voice, causing Harry to nod his agreement.
HP
While Harry quickly realised that he found Potions very intriguing and loved to brew, even if Salazar remained grumpy and was outright frightening at times, Minerva was especially interested in Runes, which was taught by Ceridwen.
It was at the beginning of the Christmas holidays, when all students but Minerva and Harry had travelled home and Harry was assisting Salazar with a research project, that Salazar suddenly asked, "Potter, would you mind travelling to the future to buy some future Potions books?"
Harry stared at the Founder in shock. 'Oh well, Hogwarts would surely take me to my own time for that purpose, but I'm still not able to apparate,' he thought, when a sudden idea crossed his mind.
"Sure, Professor, I can do that, but why don't you accompany me, sir? We could travel together, and you could just see for yourself which books you wish to have."
Salazar cast him a look of what Harry interpreted as uncertainty. "Maybe we could visit my successor as Potions Master in your time," he suggested, causing Harry to stare at the Founder in shock.
"Oh no, I don't think that would be wise. I only attended the Sorting, but the professor already seems to hate me, and the older students have told me that he's an absolute git," he replied without considering the matter, before he suggested, "We could just travel to Diagon Alley without bothering the professor."
'Oh no, was it all right to say such a thing?' he wondered, hesitantly looking at the founder, who was wearing a grumpy expression and had yet to react to his outburst.
"Let's go to Diagon Alley without bothering anyone at Hogwarts in the future then," Salazar finally replied, grinning mischievously. "I have to fully rely on you though. I know nothing about the future."
"That's all right, sir," Harry reassured the Founder, who had become his mentor during the three and a half months since his arrival in the past.
The two wizards decided to leave right after breakfast the following morning.
"Be careful and try to be back right after leaving," Minerva instructed Harry in a soft voice, causing him to smile.
"I'll be careful," he reassured her, not noticing how Rowena, Helga and Ceridwen grinned in amusement at their small exchange of words.
tbc...?
... only if there is interest in this story. Thank you for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please continue feeding my muse. Any ideas, suggestions or opinions are welcome.