Harry Potter and the Dark Sigil
Chapter Ten: Upon a Foreign Shore
By: Harry's Mum Lily
Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story but the plot. Hope you enjoy it and thanks again for the reviews. All reviews are welcome and I do appreciate all of them.
Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.
Albus Dumbledore
Chapter 37
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Don't you understand? We're breaking one of the most important wizarding laws! Nobody's supposed to change time, nobody!…Professor McGonagall told me what awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time…loads of them ended up killing their past or future selves by mistake.
Hermione
Chapter 21
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Vague shapes and distant
voices surrounded him. All he could remember was a flash of brilliant white
light and a familiar voice that had shouted No before he was plunged into darkness. He heard a woman's voice full of
firm resolve and a touch of fear talking somewhere high above him. He opened
his eyes and found his mum staring down at him, fear reflected in her eyes. He
wished there was some way he could take the fear from her eyes. He reached for
her and managed to grasp one of her fingers, the one with the silver ring on
it. He held onto it tightly, not wanting to let it go. She looked down at him
and smiled a trembling smile but still the fear remained in her eyes. He looked
around, trying to see who or what else might be in the room but the people
standing around him blocked his view. He heard voices rumbling around him but
could make no sense of what he was hearing. He tried once more to see any
details of the room but he could make out nothing. There seemed to be some
portraits on the walls but there was little else he could see beyond a
bookshelf and a desk. He began to wiggle and fuss until he heard a voice say:
"Let him wander a bit,
Lily. Nothing can harm him here."
His mother released him
and he took his first good look around. He found he was in a huge circular
room, which he recognized instantly as Dumbledore's Office. Everything was as
he remembered it from his visits there as a student. He sat looking around the
room, marveling how strange it was to be looking at the familiar room from the
perspective of a child who was just over a year old. Everything looked enormous
from his position on the floor, even the people. He looked up at them and
noticed for the first time who was in the room with his mother. His mother sat
in a chair, flanked by his father and another man with laughing eyes, which
Harry recognized as a younger Sirius Black. Standing nearby were two other men
that Harry recognized as well; a younger Snape, who was wearing a scowl and
midnight black robes and Pettigrew, whose eyes were darting around the room as
if seeking escape from it, his eyes held a strange blank look that no one
seemed to notice.
For a fleeting instant,
Harry wanted to go over to Pettigrew and demand to know why he'd sacrificed the
Potters to Voldemort's Dark throne, why he'd betrayed them all but even as he
thought to say something, to warn them of the traitor in their midst, he knew
he couldn't. It was against wizarding law to change time and there was nothing
he could do to change the past anyway. He settled with turning his back on
everyone and exploring the room from this new perspective, instead, although
turning his back on Peter was the very last thing he felt like doing. For the
briefest instant, Peter had turned his eyes on Harry and had given him such a
look of mingled fear and loathing that Harry was surprised by it. Why would
Peter appear to hate and fear him so?
"But…he will come for you
and the child…can't you see."
"So be it. If he dares to
touch my child he will meet his downfall. I will see to it…"
Harry was no longer
concentrating on the voices above him for something bright red and gold had
caught his attention. It shimmered just out of his reach on a perch high above
him. Suddenly the red and gold something fluttered from the perch trailing
shimmering sparks. It landed near him and he saw it was a bird.
"Fawkes!" he cried out,
although the word sounded a bit garbled to him.
The phoenix surveyed him
with his bright-eyed gaze and Harry watched him with his head tilted to one
side. Fawkes blinked his eyes and bobbed his head, then tilted it to the side
too. Harry giggled and the two of them stared at one another for a moment that
seemed suspended in time, then Fawkes walked closer to him, nearly sitting in
his lap, and stared for a moment into his eyes. Harry felt a tugging sensation
in his mind and thought he could hear the sound of phoenix song echo faintly in
the back of his mind. Then Fawkes sounded a single bell like note that hung in
the air a moment and bowed at him. Stretching his wings, he flew into the air,
leaving behind a small, downy feather on the floor in front of Harry that cast
a small circle of golden light on the floor.
Harry stared at the
glowing feather a moment and then picked it up. Bright scarlet and gold sparks
shot into the air from it and he fell over backward in surprise, laughing as
the sparks circled around him, trying to swat them with his hands. He lay on
his back laughing and watching the feather, which was now floating above him.
It swirled and dipped and soon it had surrounded him in a cage of light filled
with the haunting melody of phoenix song. He felt his eyes begin to close and
he felt as if he were drifting, falling endlessly downward.
~
Everything around him was
in darkness and a cold wind seemed to be howling all around him. He was
completely alone, there was no one left who could comfort him. They were all gone;
he could feel it in his heart although he didn't understand how this could be.
He only knew that he'd lost them forever. They would never return to him except
maybe in dreams. He had seen them die right before his eyes; he'd heard their
last moments of life right before it was stolen from them by the shouted words Avada
Kedavra. They had died protecting him,
shielding him, saving his life by giving their own in its place. Terrible guilt
and sorrow twisted like a serpent within him. He saw Voldemort's mad red eyes
looking down on him, heard his evil laughter as he slew, saw again the green
light and felt pain in his head as the curse meant to slay him struck him a
glancing blow instead, splintering into shards of red-gold light that struck
Voldemort. He cried out for all he's lost and all he stood to lose in the
future. There was blood on his face from the lightening bolt-shaped cut on his
forehead. He wanted to forget, needed to forget what had happened but he knew
now that he would never be able to. Then he felt a wave of wariness cover him
like a cloak and the memory was washed gently away to return to him only in his
dreams.
~
Someone nearby was singing
softly to him. It was like a call meant to lead him back from the darkness to
which he had fled. From death back to life…
Hear my silent prayer
Heed my quiet call
When the dark and blue surround you
Step into my sigh
Look inside the light
You will know that I have found you
He tried to follow the singer's lilting voice but he couldn't tell from what direction it was coming for it seemed to come for all around him. In the distance he could just make out two couples standing at the end of a long, light filled tunnel. He could hear them calling to him too, but couldn't understand what they were saying. The singing voice seemed now to be coming from behind him while the other voices were ahead of him. Something frightening waited for him if he retreated to the singer, what he wasn't sure of, but he knew he was trying to escape whatever or whoever it was. He felt the need to continue forward, to answer the voices that were ahead of him. He began to walk toward the couples through the tunnel of light. Their voices grew stronger with each step he took, while the singer's voice grew fainter and weaker. He paused at the end of the tunnel and found his way blocked by a misty gray fog that shielded the couples from his gaze, though he could still hear their voices. The singer's voice was now very faint and, like a distant echo, he thought he heard someone say: He's gone.
He turned his back on the
voices at the tunnel's end, feeling suddenly as if he'd left something
important behind but he couldn't remember what. There was something he'd
forgotten, something of great importance. He stood at the gray mist,
irresolute, listening to the two sets of voices that were calling to him
through the curtain of mist. He wanted to continue through the mist, he wanted
the peace they were speaking of, he wanted to rest at last. He was so tired and
felt so alone, yet…
"Something has been left
unfinished and if I stay others will die," he thought but he still couldn't
remember why he thought that.
Then he heard the voices
beyond the mist calling to him but now their message had changed.
"Go back, Harry…You must
survive…" they said and the singing voice was growing stronger again. It pulled
him through the light tunnel and he felt the world right itself. He felt a
searing and burning pain almost like his whole body was on fire. He moaned or
maybe he screamed, he wasn't sure which, and something cold was poured down his throat.
"Awake…awake…" he heard a
soft lilting voice say but he was too weak. His body was in too much pain and he
found himself slipping into the darkness once more, his system unable to handle
the shock of the ordeal he'd been made to suffer.
"I'm sorry, I can't…" he
thought as the blackness closed in around him and he fell into true slumber at
last.
~
"Will he survive?" Sir
Godric asked as he studied Harry's paper white face.
"If his fever breaks and if he survives the next two nights then I would say yes," a tired and red-eyed Lady Rowena looked up at Sir
Godric and he couldn't fail to note the seriousness in her eyes. "Whether he
will awake is another matter."
"We believe we
counteracted the venom in time but his body's been through an ordeal and isn't
as strong as it might have been," Helga of Hufflepuff said quietly as she tried
to administer another dose of the potion to Harry who kept trying to avoid it.
Sir Godric turned to the
tall, blue-eyed healer and nodded.
"We have Salazar to thank
for that, " he said, looking at the corner where the tall potions master stood
wrapped in his bright green cloak.
Lord Salazar of Slytherin
nodded to the women, his dark eyes flashing, gave Sir Godric a brief bow and
swept silently from the room, leaving behind the musty smell of the herbs he
worked with and a heavy tension in the air. The rift between Slytherin and them
had been growing wider this last year, but he'd agreed to help for reasons
known only to himself. The current rumor among the students was that Slytherin
was building a secret chamber within Hogwart's grounds but none of the three of
them really believed the rumor.
Gryffindor looked down at
his future heir and concern flooded his face. Harry was covered in as many
blankets as could be found and they'd conjured magic fires around his bed to
help warm him in the drafty castle but he was still shivering as if with
intense cold. Under the blankets, his body was covered with bandages, which
covered his wounds. Helga had paled when she saw the extent of them and the way
they'd been allowed to fester. She could often cure a wound with a wave of the
wand but these were new wounds over old ones and it would take Harry's body
months to recover from them.
"What kind of monster this
Dark Wizard must be to do such a thing to a mere boy!"
"He is one who seeks to
destroy this child and all he holds dear, " Rowena's eyes grew as sharp as
flint and she glared up at Gryffindor.
Sir Godric nodded: "And
one powerful enough to send him back in time a thousand years to prevent him
from giving his aid in the future battle."
Sir Godric's face grew
thoughtful as he watched Harry's chest slowly rise and fall. His breathing was
becoming more regular and deeper now and some color was slowly returning to his
pale face. His scar no longer stood out as much in his face. Whoever had done
this to Harry was very powerful and had left his mark upon the boy. He'd been
touched more deeply then even he knew by the events in his past. These events
had touched his heart and soul leaving scars not unlike the one on his
forehead. If he couldn't learn from the tragedies of his past… if he let them
consume him. The aura of Gryffindor was unmistakable in Harry but it was shot
through with a darker aura that was nearly as strong. At some point Harry and
his enemy had traded bits of themselves and that could lead to the downfall of
both. Gryffindor continued to study Harry noting that the magical aura around
him seemed to be stronger then any he'd every seen before. Harry Potter had to
be the most powerful wizard that Godric had ever seen.
Rowena and Helga sat nearby;
rolling more bandages for the never-ending supply that was needed in the daily
running of a school on the very edge of civilization. Someone was always
getting hurt. Just yesterday, one of Slytherin's students had gotten into a
fight with one of Gryffindor's over titles and bloodlines, which had ended with
one stabbing the other in the arm with a dagger. Helga could heal almost any
wound but the more damage was done the longer the Spell of Repair took to work.
As they worked, the two women watched Sir Godric, waiting to see what his orders
were. Harry was currently resting in the knight's bed in the circular chamber
he'd claimed as his own.
"He shall remain here with
me for now. It would be unwise to move him now, " said after a moment's
thought.
"That is wise, sir," said
Helga as she looked upon Harry again. "In his condition, he shouldn't be moved
under any circumstances.
"And he will be protected
from prying eyes and Transportation Spells here as well. The protections on
this room are the strongest we have right now. If this Dark Wizard should try
something…" Rowena trailed off, looking knowingly at Sir Godric.
"Then he will be
prevented. Harry must be given time for his body to recover before we send him
back to his own time. We cannot allow him to be captured again," Godric looked
over at his young phoenix, Fawkes, who sounded a soft quivering note into the
air.
Harry relaxed and smiled
as he heard the familiar sound. The strained look on his face seemed to fade
and even more color came back into it. Fawkes drew closer still, fluttering
weakly to Harry's bedside, curious about the new occupant of Sir Godric's bed.
Fawkes was still only a fledging phoenix but Gryffindor was happy to see that
he appeared to be gaining strength. Harry moved his right arm under the
blankets until it was out form under them. A red and gold light played about
his fingertips and Fawkes landed clumsily beside him, a shower of red and gold
sparks falling from his feathers, landing all around Harry and covering him in
a shimmering blanket of light. Fawkes cocked his head and stared into Harry's
face. Suddenly, Harry moaned softly and his eyelids began to flutter. He
grimaces and hissed in pain. Then he mumbled something the others couldn't
understand, his head turning from side to side on the pillow.
"Warn Dumbledore…Voldemort…
attack… Hogsmeade next…" He said in a slightly stronger voice.
"He is awakening…" Helga
said in surprise.
Slowly his eyes opened and
the three founders saw that his eyes were a startling and brilliant shade of
green and that they had a look of intense confusion in them, followed by pain,
sorrow, fear and something else that Sir Godric recognized right away: a sense
of duty. Harry's eyes swept the room as if seeking something or someone
familiar but his face fell, as he found nothing. He looked vaguely at
Gryffindor and wet his cracked lips with his tongue before speaking into the
intense silence around him.
"Where… am…I?"
~
Minerva McGonagall sat
with Ron in Dumbledore's office, waiting impatiently for Professor Snape and
Hermione to arrive. Dumbledore was at his desk, pouring over two large leather
bound books and a smaller volume bound in red leather. She couldn't see what
books they were but by the look in Dumbledore's eyes the books held something
significant.
"Where are they?" McGonagall
thought tensely.
Ron sat in front of
Dumbledore's desk and he was ashen faced, as if he expected to be told that
Harry was dead. McGonagall didn't know any more than Ron did but she expected
to hear exactly what Ron feared to. Dumbledore's face gave away nothing of what
this meeting was about. He'd only said to gather Snape, Ron and Hermione
together and meet him in his office in a quarter hour.
"What could be taking them
so long?" she thought, glaring at the door, willing it to open. Fawkes remained
motionless and asleep with his head under one red gold wing. No one was coming
up the stairs. Dumbledore continued to study the books before him, his brow
furrowed in concentration. Ron sat in white-faced silence; clearly afraid to
say anything for fear what he was thinking was true. McGonagall noticed a very
subdued Hedwig perched on the chair the headmaster sat in. Her eyes had lost
their sparkle and her head hung down. She looked as if she had lost her best
friend.
"Don't even think it. Stay
calm. Nothing is wrong."
Minerva's eyes strayed to a rolled bit of parchment on the headmaster's desk and for some reason her heart began to race. Her thoughts were spinning madly in her head and she couldn't seem to grasp a single one for any length of time. They slide through her mind and over it all she could hear Voldemort's high, cold laughter ringing in her ears, mocking her as it had on the night he'd taken everything from her. She had hesitated in that long ago battle and the moment she had her friends were blasted with a curse, leaving her one of the few survivors of the Battle of Shadow Pass. The echo of that laughter haunted her dreams and even now had the power to make icy fear grip her heart, sending shivers up her spine. Her thought continued to swirl and then one horrible thought surfaced from the maelstrom: Lost…Harry is lost to us now. We have all failed him in his hour of need…
The door to the office
burst open and Snape swept into the room followed by a wide-eyed and shocked
looking Hermione. McGonagall started out of her dark thoughts and Dumbledore
looked up from his perusal of the books on his desk. Everyone's eyes were upon
him now and he held each of their gazes with his own for a moment.
"I have just received news
from Sirius," he tapped the roll of parchment in front of him. "No one has been
able to locate Harry not even by the Tracking Charm that was placed upon him.
The room remained
strangely silent as everyone stared at Dumbledore, waiting for him to continue.
"Sirius even sent Hedwig
out in the hopes that she might be able to find him when others could not but
she returned to Sirius with his letter unread."
McGonagall felt her heart
plummet in her chest; Snape's dark eyes glinted strangely in the candlelight,
Ron and Hermione's faces paled and their eyes widened.
"He's truly gone then?"
Ron's voice, carrying a hopeless tone, sounded unnatural in the silence that
blanketed the room. Dumbledore looked up from the small leather bound book.
"He's been sent back in
time but he is very much alive, at least according to this book."
The room exploded with
voices as the others shouted over each other to be heard. Finally, Hermione's
voice overwhelmed the others.
"How is that possible? No
one is allowed…" she began.
"Nonetheless the fact
remains, Miss Granger, that Harry has been sent back in time, back to several
years after the founding of Hogwarts."
"Why there? What is going
on, Albus?" McGonagall asked her voice trembling with emotion.
"I wish I knew, Minerva, "
he said, worry and fear lacing his voice. "Something must have happened to
cause a spell to…"
"A Time Distortion Spell!"
Snape shouted.
All eyes turned to the
potions master and he grimaced, shaking his head at them.
"That must have been what
the blinding flash of white light was. I thought the Death Eater was just
Apparating away with Harry. One or the other of them must have given the spell
vague not specific instructions to prevent pursuit or else Voldemort directed
the spell for his own ends, probably to eliminate Harry from this war."
"Return to Azkaban,
Severus, and try to find out exactly what happened. We need all the information
we can get if we are to help reverse this spell. If we don't, Harry will remain
alive but he will be trapped in the year 1095 forever. I need not remind you of
what we will lose if he is trapped there."
Snape nodded and left the
room with more confidence in his step then he felt in his heart. The Dark Mark
had begun to burn on his arm again and he struggled with himself, trying not to
touch or rub it, for touching it always made the pain in to worse. He would
find the information Dumbledore sought, even if he died in the attempt. Every
time he returned to the Dark Lord could be his last. He knew he had too though,
there was too much at stake, the very world hung in balance. If Harry Potter
remained trapped in the past then Voldemort's rise to full power would be
unstoppable and he would win. Many would die by his hand and the world would be
once more plunged into Darkness.
The others watched Snape
sweep from the room, noticing his pale but determined face. They didn't know
what he might have to face but they silently wished him luck in his mission.
They all turned back to Dumbledore.
"Are you sure that Harry
is alive?" asked Ron, dreading the answer and yet needing to hear it anyway.
"I am. Look here."
He pushed the small book
across the desk and the trio looked at it. It was a journal.
"The Journal of Godric
Gryffindor," Dumbledore said quietly.
About half way down the
page they found an entry in handwriting, which did not match the rest of the
page.
Sir Godric asked me to write this to assure you that I'm very much alive, though very weak. Voldemort has not killed me or turned me so don't believe anything you may read on that score. The Boy Who Lived still lives and has made a "fifth escape" from him though I would not have chosen this time to escape to on my own. That choice, however, was taken from me. I'll tell you the full story when and if I am able to return. I will not pretend for a moment that this will not be dangerous and I know it may even be impossible for me to return to you. I also understand what we stand to lose should I be trapped and held here forever or until it is too late for my aid to do any good, yet I must stay here until I am fully healed for to attempt a Time Portal spell while I'm still so weak would be inviting death. I will be doing everything in my power to return to you. I cannot allow the Dark Lord to win nor will I ever surrender to him. He has taken too much from everyone and from me. I will not allow myself to lose faith and you should keep some faith as well. Know that I am safe here, for the moment so have no fear. When I am healed I will try to come to you but until then I hope this note will ease your minds. The Boy Who Lived will become the Boy Who Returns. You will see me again. Until then I will be studying here so I may keep up with classes.
Harry Potter, Hogwarts 1095