Into a new world
Disclaimer: None of the characters you recognise or that are from the Harry Potter world are mine. All belong to the fantastic JK Rowling. The bits highlighted are taken from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
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Chapter 15: Confrontations and Complications
4th September 1994
The past two days passed without great incident unless you count Seamus melting his sixth cauldron in Potions. Harry's mother seemed to have endless amounts of patients that Harry was amazed by. News had gotten out that Quillian Black had left Hogwarts, and rumours ran wild as to why. Some people believed that the Vampires had claimed him for some mysterious reason. Other's thought a cult was after him (which was ironically not too far out of the realm of possibility, Harry had found out that from his mother). Other's believed he was a werewolf, and still, others thought he was a part of some mass conspiracy. Harry didn't really understand this rumour but knew it involved the Bulgarian government and many Graphorns.
Harry had managed to avoid visiting Remus and Severus, but he knew he had to soon; his friends were becoming suspicious. Draco also spent a lot of time with his house, which wasn't uncommon but avoiding the Gryffindor's like the plague definitely was. Ron hadn't explained to Harry why Dumbledore wanted to see him the second day back. In the time since Ron had become very forlorn and quiet. Although he gave no more information than what Harry's mother had already told him, Neville had quietly explained what he knew.
Harry was very excited for Defense Against the Dark Arts that morning, but he was the only one. All of his friends had had Remus Lupin as the Defense instructor their whole time at Hogwart, so they had never had a bad or less than an excellent instructor. But, on the other hand, they hadn't experienced Quirrel or Lockhart or Snape (and a much grumpier and meaner Snape than they are used to). So while Harry could barely contain his excitement, only Neville seemed remotely interested in the subject.
They made their way up to the DADA room slowly, "I can't believe we have to endure such a good lesson with the Slytherin's." Harry said honestly, secretly glad the Remus teaching them was the one he was used to.
"I've never understood what you like so much about it," Ron replied, "It nowhere as good as Care of Magical Creatures."
"I like Care of Magical creatures, but I like dueling and learning how to defend myself more."
"I'm with Harry." Neville replied, "Plus, as much as I love Hagrid, Remus is a much better teacher."
"As flattering as I'm sure Professor Lupin would find that assessment, he will not be happy if you are late to his lesson due to dawdling." A smooth voice drawled from behind them.
Harry winced, "Of course, Professor." Upsetting Snape on the first week of lessons was not something Harry thought was a good idea. Especially not when he actually acted decently.
"And Harry, my office at 7, please." Then, at Harry's mournful expression, he added, "Don't need to look so dire; it's not a punishment." At that, he walked away.
"Is everything okay between you guys?" Hermione asked, clearly concerned, "You'd usually have visited him by now."
'Ah Hermione, the only problem is he treated me like a git, a different world that I'm from, and now I'm expected to treat him like the Saviour of the universe.' He thought but actually said, "Between homework, seeing mum, and everything happening with Quillian, I've just not had time." He knew the explanation was lame, but it was the best he had.
Thankfully by then, they had walked to the defense room. Harry made it so he was the last who walked into the room, allowing his friends to take their usual seats so he could take the one that was left. He slid into the seat next to Neville when he clearly left a seat for him, and Ron and Hermione sat down behind them.
Remus was already behind the desk facing the students.
"Welcome to your fourth year of Defence Against the Dark Arts. The first two years, we built a foundation for the subject. Last year (your third year), we mainly focused on dark creatures. This year, we will be focusing on dueling and how to do it effectively." Excited whispers filled the room, but Remus put his hand up, and silence fell, "Before we start, I have to warn you. Dueling can be very dangerous, so you will only use the curses and jinxes I allow for that duel. If I ask you to only disarm, you obey. If any student disobeys my orders or severely hurts another student, you will be disciplined. This is, of course, only for this year. When you are a NEWT student, you will be allowed to use any curse you know as long as it's not illegal. That requires trust, so I expect you to build it. Some of you may already know some of the curses, jinxes, and spells I teach. Use that lesson to become as good at it and as powerful with it as you can. The most simple of spells can and will save your life. Can anyone tell me any dueling spells? Shout them out."
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted.
"Stupefy!" Neville said.
"Bombarda!" Seamus called.
"Config!" Hermione added.
"Wonderful!" Remus cut in, "Today, we will be starting with one of the most basic ones. Expelliarmus." A groan escaped the class, "I know, I know, but we need to cover the basics first. So let me explain some background." He went on about the history, uses, wand movements, and incantation. Once he was done, he said, "Okay, now pair up, and practice! I'll come around and help out here and there." He moved the furniture once everyone was up.
Harry paired with Neville and found he was pretty talented, with his own wand and not using his father's old one.
"I don't know how useful this spell is," Neville said once he was disarmed by Harry once again.
"It has saved my life more than once," Harry replied, not thinking before he realised what he said and winced.
Neville looked at him strangely, "How? Your life has never been in danger."
"Well, you know, it saved my life from Seamus a few times?" But, unfortunately, he mistakenly posed it as a question instead of a statement.
Neville didn't seem to notice, jumping instead on another mistake Harry made. "Finnigan, since when did you call him Seamus?" Harry was getting himself into a deeper hole with no idea how to get out of it. "You've been acting weird since summer, you and Draco. I ignored it, as did Hermione and Ron, but I think you have an explanation for us."
"Boys not here." Remus came up behind them, making them both jump. "You have an audience."
They turned and found Seamus trying desperately to look like he wasn't eavesdropping, and Ron and Hermione also watching. Thankfully no one else had noticed.
"Have this conversation outside of this room, away from prying ears."
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Harry managed to avoid answering his friend's questions until his free period before dinner.
"Harry, stop putting this off. We need to talk." Neville said after waiting for 10 minutes for Harry to speak.
"Fine, but not here," came his reply as he carried on with his DADA homework.
At this point, Hermione stood up and snatched the book he was reading from him. "No, now."
Draco, at this point, walked over to where they sat in the library. "What's wrong with you lot?" He said, frowning at the tense atmosphere.
"You and Harry are hiding something, and it's time to tell us what. But, unfortunately, Harry seems to think that ignoring the issue will make us forget." Neville answered emphasising that last word."
Draco sighed and put up a muffliato charm and other privacy charms around them. "Fine, let's talk. But, Harry, you aren't shirking this responsibility."
"I've already gone through this with my siblings. I don't want to go through it again."
"Grow up, Potter," Draco answered, letting some of the old hatred seep in.
"I don't know where to begin." Harry said honestly, not before glaring at Draco, "Are you trying to make them more suspicious?"
"I don't think it's possible to make us more suspicious, Harry. So let's start with why you two act like you can barely stand each other."
"That's because we barely could. When we grew up, we had a rivalry, partly due to being on opposites side of the war, and partly because we just didn't get on." Draco responding.
Hermione's brow creased in confusion, Neville barely moved, his hand clenching the only sign of distress and confusion, and Ron had his mouth hanging open.
"You both grew up here with no rivalry, and there was certainly no war." Neville recovered first.
"Not true." Harry cut in simply, "You see, we," he gestured between him and Draco, "Aren't from this world. We aren't the boys you grew up with. We are from an alternate reality, where most of the adults in this world either weren't alive or we didn't know. My parents are dead; I grew up with my Aunt and Uncle's who hates magic. Draco was raised by his biological parents and was placed in Slytherin. Uncle Sev hated me or strongly disliked me anyway. Voldermort is alive, and I faced him three times in my life. So yes, we are different. I didn't grow up pampered, with loads of friends and family, and Draco and I were on opposite sides of the war."
Neville's mouth now joined Ron's in hanging open. A heavy silence was thrown over them. Hermione looked like she was trying to speak and didn't know what to say.
"And Finnigan?" Hermione said finally.
"Is one of my friends and is in Gryffindor, as was Lavender Brown and Pavarti. Pansy Parkinson, Zabini, and Nott are all in Slytherin with Draco. We only call each other by our first names because we had to keep appearances."
"Who else knows?" Neville said quietly.
"All the Marauders and their wives, my siblings, Lyas, and now you guys."
"So it's just you two from this other world then?" Ron said finally.
Draco and Harry both shook their heads, "No. Uncle Remus and Uncle Sev are from our world too." Draco responded for the two of them.
"I knew something was wrong with Uncle Sev!" Neville exclaimed. "He seems way more reserved."
"We, er, didn't get on in the other world." Harry said slowly, "In our world, my Uncle Sev was bullied by the marauders, and they never became friends, so he took his frustration out on me. And he thought I was spoiled because I was the Boy Who Lived." He finished bitterly.
"You will have to explain that," Ron said, cutting in.
So Harry did, starting with his parent's death. Draco added in relevant bits but, for the most part, stayed quiet.
After he was done, Harry collapsed back into his chair, exhausted after the conversations.
His friends were quiet for a long time until Hermione broke it. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"We were told to keep it a secret from you guys. Our parents said the more people know, the more danger we are in." Harry answered.
"That, and Harry and I weren't sure what our relationship was like with you guys. Obviously, I wasn't friends with you in the other world, and I alone have changed the dynamics a bit. And from what I understand, Neville, you weren't as close with Harry in this world either."
"What are you saying that we aren't trustworthy?" Neville asked, looking so much more tired.
"Not at all," Harry cut in, "But Neville, you are very different in this world. As Draco said, we wanted to figure out the dynamics first. That, and my parents didn't want me to tell anyone else, the amount of people who know is already a lot. They said it would be increasingly dangerous the more who knows. So we trust you guys, but you can't even talk about this unless privacy charms are up. Mum and I accidentally didn't put them up once, and my siblings ended up finding out."
"Why is it such a big deal that nobody knows?" Ron asked.
"We are here because someone tried to kill us; switching realities is something only a Time Keeper can do. Considering that none of us are the Time Keeper, that is the only option left."
"But why didn't it kill you?"
Harry shrugged, "No idea, I wish I knew, though."
"We could research it?" Hermione perked up, "I'm sure the library has something in it."
Ron groaned, "Of course, your solution would be the library."
"You two at least are exactly the same," Harry chuckled. "But I need to go and meet Uncle Sev. I've avoided him long enough."
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7pm came way too fast for Harry, even after the complicated conversation Draco and himself had with their friends. He knocked on the professor's office.
"Come in," Severus called as smooth as ever. When he saw Harry, he added, "Ah Harry, I'm glad you didn't boycott."
"I wanted to get away from my friend's endless questions." He answered honestly.
"Uncle Remus told me that they were getting suspicious."
"Yeah, we ended up telling them."
Severus nodded, "It was a matter of time, I suppose."
"I have a question that came up in our conversation." He waited until Severus nodded before continuing, "Do you have any theories as to why we are here. From what I understand, we shouldn't be alive right now."
"You are right, in that, only with a Time Keeper should we have made it alive. However, I do believe I have a theory as to why. I have spoken to your parents about whether, if this came up, they would be comfortable in me sharing it."
"Did they agree?" Harry said urgently.
"They did, on one condition. The condition is that I can tell you whatever I know and will keep you updated if you promise to not research it for yourself. If you are found to be researching it, we will stop sharing information with you. You won't find any books on it in the library anyway, not even in the restricted section. Is this clear?"
Harry nodded, clearly disappointed, "Can I share it with my friends?"
"You may share it with Draco, Neville, Ron, and Hermione. Outside of them, no."
"That's who I meant anyway. I don't want to have to keep more secrets from them."
Severus nodded, "I understand. Now, what I am about to share with you will be difficult to hear, and I need you to not shut down when I tell you."
"I won't, Uncle Sev, I promise."
"Good. Now, have you ever heard of Horcruxes?" Harry shook his head, "It's an incredibly dark piece of magic. Normally, when someone kills another person, their soul fractures; this fracture just sits in the soul apart from the rest but not fully removed. A Horcrux is when someone places this piece of their soul is usually an inanimate object. This means the person is immortal until that object is destroyed, which is hard to do. But doing this dehumanises a person, as their soul is fragmented. When it is whole, the soul is stable, but it isn't anymore after a Horcrux. Does any of this remind you of someone?"
"Voldemort," Harry said immediately.
Severus nodded, "Exactly. But Voldermort didn't do this once; he did it several times. In this reality, he made 6; in our world, he made seven. However, the seventh Horcrux was made unintentionally, and it's believed that Voldermort didn't even know he had made it."
"It's me, isn't it?" Harry sounded defeated, "I have a piece of him in me."
"It is you, but I'll get to that in a minute. When he tried to kill you, you were protected by powerful magic that came from your mother. When she died as a loving sacrifice for you, her love protected you, which is why we believe you survived. Voldermort's soul had split so much by then that when he killed your mother, his soul split again. It latched onto the only living thing in the room, which was you. But, when we traveled here, I believe the Time Keeper wanted to kill you and transport the rest of us here for some reason, but instead, the process killed the Horcrux hence why you survived."
"So I no longer have the Horcrux?"
"We'd have to check, but I don't think so."
"But wait, if most of the Horcruxes were inanimate objects, why was I created?"
"When you create a Horcrux, you not only have to kill, but you have to perform a spell. This spell makes it possible for an inanimate object to be a Horcrux. When the final Horcrux was made, for an inanimate object to become the Horcrux, Voldermort would have needed to say the spell. As he didn't, the only place it could go to was to a living thing, which was you."
"That doesn't explain why you, Uncle Remus, and Draco came with me, though."
"As I said, as I am not a Time Keeper, I'm not entirely sure. But in speaking to you, I wonder if any of us would have survived the transfer without the Horcrux. Either option is possible. Either they wanted to kill you and use us in some way, or they intended all of us to die in the process."
"Is it possible that Voldermort is the Time Keeper because this sounds like him?"
"It is possible, as we don't know whether he is even a Time Keeper. It's hard to know for sure. But if it wasn't him, I think it was one of his lackeys. If it wasn't, I don't see the point in risk of transfer or why they'd want us four dead specifically."
"Does this mean that we won't be going back?"
"Again, I don't know. As you no longer have the Horcrux, or I don't think you do, I'm not sure how we'd get all of us back safely. We need to find a Time Keeper we trust in order to find out."
"I don't know whether to be relieved I don't have the Horcrux, sad that I can't go back, or grateful that I'm stuck here. My life is so much better here, but in some ways, I miss the other world too."
"It's normal to have complicated feelings about this, Harry. It's a complicated situation."
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Authors note: I know this update was so long in coming, but between moving jobs, changing sleeping patterns (as I was on nights, and then early mornings), driving theory and lessons, therapy, church and bible study, I just haven't had the time to write. I know I got a review asking when I'd update the story, but don't worry. It may take a while to write a chapter and complete the story but I will. Let me know what you think will happen next. As always please review, and keep this on your alerts so you know when I update the story. Much love to you all, Abs.
