A/N: It hasn't been very long since I posted the last chapter, but I'm really getting into the story! Expect me to start posting regularly now, or at least until I get writer's block again. (Which tends to happen to me a lot.) I decided to post the next two chapters at the same time.
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CHAPTER 3: The Return
"Oh my!" said Moody. "Harry Potter!" Harry looked around the room and seemed very confused as to where this Harry Potter was. Dumbledore moved closer to Harry and stared into his eyes.
"Ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc, ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc, ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc," Dumbledore muttered. Everyone watched with interest. Harry's face slowly began to reshape itself as Dumbledore continued muttering. Slowly but surly, Harry was regaining control of his movements, but it just wasn't enough to bring him back fully. Harry looked exactly as he should, but his face quickly snapped back to that of Jerald Whinterston after a brief look of pain flickered.
"It's just as I feared," Dumbledore said sadly. "Someone's controlling Harry. They can manipulate him to do or look however they want. It's called the Etal Upinam curse."
"But who would do that, Professor?" Hermione asked. "Voldemort's gone; Harry killed him."
"Please, Hermione. Call me Albus; I'm not your professor anymore. And I don't know who would do this." Dumbledore said.
"Er-Albus- what if we all said . . . whatever it was that you were saying before at the same time? Would it have more effect?" Hermione asked.
"I hope so. Let's try it," Dumbledore suggested. "First of all, think of a happy memory you have of Harry. Now, repeat after me: Ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc."
"Ecnar"
"Ecnar" they all said.
"Trouy"
"Trouy!"
"Fotu"
"Fotu!"
"O'"
"O'!"
"Emoc"
"Emoc!"
"All together now!" Dumbledore shouted.
"Ecnar! Trouy! Fotu! O'! Emoc!" They all shouted.
"Louder and with more enthusiasm!" Dumbledore told them.
"ECNAR! TROUY! FOTU! O'! EMOC! ECNAR! TROUY! FOTU! O'! EMOC!" They all yelled very loudly. Harry's face began to change again, but this time, it stayed as it should. It was working! Harry looked around and a smile spread across his face. That was probably the last thing any of them expected to see. When it seemed as if Harry was finally back to normal, they stopped chanting.
Tears were coming down everyone's face. "Thank you-thank you all so much!" Harry managed o choke out. "You have no idea what it was like, not being able to control anything you do . . ." Harry trailed off. As if on cue, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all came together in a very emotional hug. They all just stood there, not letting go of anyone else, for fear that it wasn't really happening.
"Oh, Harry . . . I missed you so much . . . You have no idea how hard it was for everyone without you." Ron said. Everyone started crying, even Moody who didn't even know Harry shed a few tears. The three let go and Harry went over to Dumbledore. They embraced as if Dumbledore were Harry's grandfather.
Neither of them could think of anything to say, but each had a look of admiration in their eyes. Harry moved on to Fred and George.
"Hey, my favorite beaters!" Harry exclaimed.
"Aw, come 'ere!" Fred said. Harry hugged both him and George.
"So I see that money's come in handy," Harry whispered to them.
"Yeah, thanks a lot for that, Harry. It's good to have you back." George said.
"Sorry to break up this little reunion," said Moody, "but we seem to be attracting quite a lot of attention." He pointed towards the window at the front of the shop, where quite a large crowd was attracting. They were all pointing at Harry with looks of disbelief on their faces. "I do believe that all of that shouting drew them here."
Dumbledore went out the door to explain things to the crowd, which was beginning to turn into a mob trying to break down the door.
"As most of you have noticed, a young man whom you recognize is standing in that shop. Everything will be explained in the Daily Prophet on Friday. Until then, please be patient. Do not mention this to anyone, and go about your normal lives. Oh, and if anyone here is from the graduating class of Hogwarts from between years 1990 and 2000, please stay for just a few moments longer." Dumbledore said. Most of the crowd dispersed, whispering amongst themselves, but a few remained. They were looking around excitedly.
"If at all possible, please get to Hogwarts as soon as you can. Please tell anyone else you know from Hogwarts to do the same. That is all." Dumbledore turned and walked back into the shop and performed a spell that blacked out the windows, leaving the people outside feeling very peculiar indeed.
"Harry," Dumbledore started, "I wonder if you could tell us who did this to you."
"I would, but I don't know."
"When did the person first begin controlling you?" Dumbledore asked.
"I'm not exactly sure." Harry turned to Ron. "That day I left, That's the first time I started being controlled. I could still kind of control myself, but not much. I could manage to say goodbye to you, but I couldn't tell you what was happening. It was like the person was in my mind was filtering what I was saying."
"Harry, would you mind if we went to the castle and you explained everything there? It would be a great deal of help for me, seeing as it is still the school year, and I have students I must watch over." Dumbledore said.
"That's no problem."
"Would it be too much trouble if we came?" Fred and George asked. "We could close the shop for the day."
"Of course you may. Ron and Hermione may come as well. Can everyone here apparate?" Dumbledore asked. Everyone nodded.
"Before I defeated Voldemort, the person controlling me taught me how." Harry said when he saw everyone's astonished faces.
"Okay, let's go." There were seven small pops and the room was now empty.
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CHAPTER 3: The Return
"Oh my!" said Moody. "Harry Potter!" Harry looked around the room and seemed very confused as to where this Harry Potter was. Dumbledore moved closer to Harry and stared into his eyes.
"Ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc, ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc, ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc," Dumbledore muttered. Everyone watched with interest. Harry's face slowly began to reshape itself as Dumbledore continued muttering. Slowly but surly, Harry was regaining control of his movements, but it just wasn't enough to bring him back fully. Harry looked exactly as he should, but his face quickly snapped back to that of Jerald Whinterston after a brief look of pain flickered.
"It's just as I feared," Dumbledore said sadly. "Someone's controlling Harry. They can manipulate him to do or look however they want. It's called the Etal Upinam curse."
"But who would do that, Professor?" Hermione asked. "Voldemort's gone; Harry killed him."
"Please, Hermione. Call me Albus; I'm not your professor anymore. And I don't know who would do this." Dumbledore said.
"Er-Albus- what if we all said . . . whatever it was that you were saying before at the same time? Would it have more effect?" Hermione asked.
"I hope so. Let's try it," Dumbledore suggested. "First of all, think of a happy memory you have of Harry. Now, repeat after me: Ecnar trouy fotu o' emoc."
"Ecnar"
"Ecnar" they all said.
"Trouy"
"Trouy!"
"Fotu"
"Fotu!"
"O'"
"O'!"
"Emoc"
"Emoc!"
"All together now!" Dumbledore shouted.
"Ecnar! Trouy! Fotu! O'! Emoc!" They all shouted.
"Louder and with more enthusiasm!" Dumbledore told them.
"ECNAR! TROUY! FOTU! O'! EMOC! ECNAR! TROUY! FOTU! O'! EMOC!" They all yelled very loudly. Harry's face began to change again, but this time, it stayed as it should. It was working! Harry looked around and a smile spread across his face. That was probably the last thing any of them expected to see. When it seemed as if Harry was finally back to normal, they stopped chanting.
Tears were coming down everyone's face. "Thank you-thank you all so much!" Harry managed o choke out. "You have no idea what it was like, not being able to control anything you do . . ." Harry trailed off. As if on cue, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all came together in a very emotional hug. They all just stood there, not letting go of anyone else, for fear that it wasn't really happening.
"Oh, Harry . . . I missed you so much . . . You have no idea how hard it was for everyone without you." Ron said. Everyone started crying, even Moody who didn't even know Harry shed a few tears. The three let go and Harry went over to Dumbledore. They embraced as if Dumbledore were Harry's grandfather.
Neither of them could think of anything to say, but each had a look of admiration in their eyes. Harry moved on to Fred and George.
"Hey, my favorite beaters!" Harry exclaimed.
"Aw, come 'ere!" Fred said. Harry hugged both him and George.
"So I see that money's come in handy," Harry whispered to them.
"Yeah, thanks a lot for that, Harry. It's good to have you back." George said.
"Sorry to break up this little reunion," said Moody, "but we seem to be attracting quite a lot of attention." He pointed towards the window at the front of the shop, where quite a large crowd was attracting. They were all pointing at Harry with looks of disbelief on their faces. "I do believe that all of that shouting drew them here."
Dumbledore went out the door to explain things to the crowd, which was beginning to turn into a mob trying to break down the door.
"As most of you have noticed, a young man whom you recognize is standing in that shop. Everything will be explained in the Daily Prophet on Friday. Until then, please be patient. Do not mention this to anyone, and go about your normal lives. Oh, and if anyone here is from the graduating class of Hogwarts from between years 1990 and 2000, please stay for just a few moments longer." Dumbledore said. Most of the crowd dispersed, whispering amongst themselves, but a few remained. They were looking around excitedly.
"If at all possible, please get to Hogwarts as soon as you can. Please tell anyone else you know from Hogwarts to do the same. That is all." Dumbledore turned and walked back into the shop and performed a spell that blacked out the windows, leaving the people outside feeling very peculiar indeed.
"Harry," Dumbledore started, "I wonder if you could tell us who did this to you."
"I would, but I don't know."
"When did the person first begin controlling you?" Dumbledore asked.
"I'm not exactly sure." Harry turned to Ron. "That day I left, That's the first time I started being controlled. I could still kind of control myself, but not much. I could manage to say goodbye to you, but I couldn't tell you what was happening. It was like the person was in my mind was filtering what I was saying."
"Harry, would you mind if we went to the castle and you explained everything there? It would be a great deal of help for me, seeing as it is still the school year, and I have students I must watch over." Dumbledore said.
"That's no problem."
"Would it be too much trouble if we came?" Fred and George asked. "We could close the shop for the day."
"Of course you may. Ron and Hermione may come as well. Can everyone here apparate?" Dumbledore asked. Everyone nodded.
"Before I defeated Voldemort, the person controlling me taught me how." Harry said when he saw everyone's astonished faces.
"Okay, let's go." There were seven small pops and the room was now empty.
