A/n- I edited the chapters so I could post this on fictionalley, but the
mods are being overly difficult about my spelling and grammar. I read this
three times! Arg!
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Chapter 2
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Harry's mind started racing. Tom Riddle. Standing in front of him. Thoughts were racing through his head. His mortal enemy, standing in front of him. Maybe he didn't know who Harry was. But he didn't want to find out, either way. The best action was just to act normal. "Yes. I must act normal and cordially with the man that killed my parents" he thought.
Harry stood up and held out his hand. "I'm Harry Granger." (It was the first thing he thought of, considering what Hermione would say if she was in the situation with him.)
Harry looked down at his robes, they were filthy, and he began to busy himself by trying to look presentable. He started to wipe off his sleeves, trying to remove some of the dust that had collected on them, but had only accomplished making himself sneeze. "Time travel is a very messy business," he thought to himself.
Tom let Harry finish, and then gave him a very stern look. "What are you doing on the train still? All the students have already started to board the carriages. Come on, I'll take you." Tom said this in an almost brotherly way, which started Harry. He had expected his future enemy to be cruel, or hostile. But he wasn't. he was almost.kind.
Tom led the way to the carriage, and spent the whole journey up to the large castle in silence, obviously in conflict with himself. Harry was glad of this because it meant that he didn't have to answer any uncomfortable questions about how he had gotten on the train in the first place.
"How /have/ I gotten here?" Harry thought. He deduced that what he had mumbled under his breath must have actually been a charm. "And the irony of it all is that the charm sent me to Hogwarts fifty years ago. Why not when my parents were here? But no, it is better this way. I can't change time; I must get back to /my/ Hogwarts before I do any lasting damage that could change future as I know it. And the only way to get back is to ask Dumbledore."
The carriage finally came to a halt, and Tom slipped out, without another glance back to Harry. "A bit moody, isn't he?" Harry said out loud as he walked the familiar path to the Great Hall. Harry took a seat in the far corner of the Gryffindor table, and hoped that no one would notice him.
Unfortunately Harry had missed the sorting, but soon the wonderful smells of a Hogwarts feast filled the air as the tables magically filled with food. Harry ate without saying a word, and no one even noticed that he was there, because most of the Gryffindor table seemed to have their attention on a red haired boy who was swinging his hands, telling a story that most of the listeners found quite funny.
After Harry had shoved himself full of food, which was quite less than normal ("time travel must be bad for your stomach" Harry deduced), a frail man stood up at the staff table. Harry could have hit himself with stupidity. Dumbledore wasn't the headmaster, Professor Dippet was. "This could lead to some problems" Harry said, no more than a whisper.
The professor gave Dumbledore's usual speech, but without his sense of humor or his lively smile. The man was obviously growing old, he seemed weary and his eyes were tired. Dippet gave the hall a look which showed that he didn't trust himself to say anymore, and the rest was understood. The headmaster was dying and dark forces were growing stronger, even after the defeat of Grindelwald. These things made the poor headmaster's eyes become glazed for a moment, before he sat down.
The prefects lead the students out of the hall, and Harry managed to duck out of the way. Harry thought back to his second year, and he remembered that Tom had said Dumbledore was the transfigurations teacher. Harry silently retraced his steps until he came to the transfigurations classroom, praying he would find Dumbledore in there.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a familiar pair of eyes looking up at him. The face was younger, and his usual gray hair was auburn, but it was Dumbledore all the same. The professor stared at Harry for a moment unable to understand who the boy was who was standing in front of him. Harry began, "Sir, I need to talk to you."
Dumbledore looked into his eyes. "I guessed as much. Are you a first year here? You look too old, and I didn't see you at the sorting."
Harry looked back at the professor, surprised. Harry's Dumbledore seemed to be all-knowledgeable; it almost pained Harry to see his mentor uninformed. "Oh, my name is Harry Granger, and, er, well, you see, want to hear something funny, well..."
Dumbledore's curt words, "Stop babbling, boy, and get out with it" interrupted Harry. "I have much to do, as you may notice. But, I would like to help, if you would tell me."
Harry looked slightly relieved to be stopped, and cleared his throat. "I came from the future and I don't know how to get back there." This would have been very surprising to Dumbledore, if he had understood what Harry said, but Harry was so scared it came out, "IcamefromthefutureandIdontknowhowtogetbackthere."
Dumbledore looked at him blankly, "Could you repeat yourself? I didn't actually catch that" he said.
Harry breathed again. "I'm from the future. I don't know how, but one minute I'm there, and the next minute I'm here. When is here, anyway?"
Dumbledore looked at him, eyes twinkling, and gave Harry a small calendar he produced from his desk; it read 1946.
"So," Dumbledore started. "We have a time traveling visitor. And where, pray tell, do /you/ exist?"
Harry looked surprised at him. "Well, professor, you know just as well as I do that I exist right now. Why else would I be standing here?"
Dumbledore gave a little laugh. "Ahh, you are a student, to have come up with an answer as worthy as that!"
Harry blushed. "I am a student at Hogwarts, fifth year. My friend Hermione and Ron." Dumbledore held up a hand, signaling him to stop.
"Do not tell me anymore. You know the laws of time just as I do, I must not know of the future, and you must not change the past!"
Harry sighed uneasily. "But what if your changes could make the future better? What if they could save thousands of lives?"
Dumbledore shook his head, his auburn hair shaking with it. "No. It doesn't matter, even the best intentions are wrong. Fate has already planned out everything, we cannot change her master plan."
"I understand" Harry said meekly.
Dumbledore nodded, and then looked at Harry. "How did you get here anyway? Did you use a time turner?"
"No sir, I mumbled something under my breath, what was it, oh yes, /peragrosemel/ and out of all the things in the world, it sends me back in time. I really don't need this, I mean, I'm already trying to be mur-" Harry stopped himself before he could release any information about his predicament with Voldemort. He seriously doubted that it would matter anyway, because from what he had already seen, Voldemort did not exist yet, only Tom.
Dumbledore looked worried, the last time Harry had seen him this nervous was after the Triwizard Tournament, when he had told him of Voldemort's revival. "Well, you might be here for a while. The peragrosemel charm, I have never heard of it, so I cannot help you."
Harry looked up at him in disbelief. "You have to know what to do! You always know! I need to be back in my time, I need to be protected!" Harry's face went white after he realized what he said, and he slid into a seat. "Ugh, can I just erase your memory and start this conversation over?"
Dumbledore smiled, it was the first smile Harry had seen since he had started the conversation. "You can trust me, boy. I like you. I don't know why. Why don't we go to the headmaster's office, and explain your predicament to him."
Harry followed silently, still in shock about what could have been compromised about the future.
~*~
Chapter 2
~*~
Harry's mind started racing. Tom Riddle. Standing in front of him. Thoughts were racing through his head. His mortal enemy, standing in front of him. Maybe he didn't know who Harry was. But he didn't want to find out, either way. The best action was just to act normal. "Yes. I must act normal and cordially with the man that killed my parents" he thought.
Harry stood up and held out his hand. "I'm Harry Granger." (It was the first thing he thought of, considering what Hermione would say if she was in the situation with him.)
Harry looked down at his robes, they were filthy, and he began to busy himself by trying to look presentable. He started to wipe off his sleeves, trying to remove some of the dust that had collected on them, but had only accomplished making himself sneeze. "Time travel is a very messy business," he thought to himself.
Tom let Harry finish, and then gave him a very stern look. "What are you doing on the train still? All the students have already started to board the carriages. Come on, I'll take you." Tom said this in an almost brotherly way, which started Harry. He had expected his future enemy to be cruel, or hostile. But he wasn't. he was almost.kind.
Tom led the way to the carriage, and spent the whole journey up to the large castle in silence, obviously in conflict with himself. Harry was glad of this because it meant that he didn't have to answer any uncomfortable questions about how he had gotten on the train in the first place.
"How /have/ I gotten here?" Harry thought. He deduced that what he had mumbled under his breath must have actually been a charm. "And the irony of it all is that the charm sent me to Hogwarts fifty years ago. Why not when my parents were here? But no, it is better this way. I can't change time; I must get back to /my/ Hogwarts before I do any lasting damage that could change future as I know it. And the only way to get back is to ask Dumbledore."
The carriage finally came to a halt, and Tom slipped out, without another glance back to Harry. "A bit moody, isn't he?" Harry said out loud as he walked the familiar path to the Great Hall. Harry took a seat in the far corner of the Gryffindor table, and hoped that no one would notice him.
Unfortunately Harry had missed the sorting, but soon the wonderful smells of a Hogwarts feast filled the air as the tables magically filled with food. Harry ate without saying a word, and no one even noticed that he was there, because most of the Gryffindor table seemed to have their attention on a red haired boy who was swinging his hands, telling a story that most of the listeners found quite funny.
After Harry had shoved himself full of food, which was quite less than normal ("time travel must be bad for your stomach" Harry deduced), a frail man stood up at the staff table. Harry could have hit himself with stupidity. Dumbledore wasn't the headmaster, Professor Dippet was. "This could lead to some problems" Harry said, no more than a whisper.
The professor gave Dumbledore's usual speech, but without his sense of humor or his lively smile. The man was obviously growing old, he seemed weary and his eyes were tired. Dippet gave the hall a look which showed that he didn't trust himself to say anymore, and the rest was understood. The headmaster was dying and dark forces were growing stronger, even after the defeat of Grindelwald. These things made the poor headmaster's eyes become glazed for a moment, before he sat down.
The prefects lead the students out of the hall, and Harry managed to duck out of the way. Harry thought back to his second year, and he remembered that Tom had said Dumbledore was the transfigurations teacher. Harry silently retraced his steps until he came to the transfigurations classroom, praying he would find Dumbledore in there.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a familiar pair of eyes looking up at him. The face was younger, and his usual gray hair was auburn, but it was Dumbledore all the same. The professor stared at Harry for a moment unable to understand who the boy was who was standing in front of him. Harry began, "Sir, I need to talk to you."
Dumbledore looked into his eyes. "I guessed as much. Are you a first year here? You look too old, and I didn't see you at the sorting."
Harry looked back at the professor, surprised. Harry's Dumbledore seemed to be all-knowledgeable; it almost pained Harry to see his mentor uninformed. "Oh, my name is Harry Granger, and, er, well, you see, want to hear something funny, well..."
Dumbledore's curt words, "Stop babbling, boy, and get out with it" interrupted Harry. "I have much to do, as you may notice. But, I would like to help, if you would tell me."
Harry looked slightly relieved to be stopped, and cleared his throat. "I came from the future and I don't know how to get back there." This would have been very surprising to Dumbledore, if he had understood what Harry said, but Harry was so scared it came out, "IcamefromthefutureandIdontknowhowtogetbackthere."
Dumbledore looked at him blankly, "Could you repeat yourself? I didn't actually catch that" he said.
Harry breathed again. "I'm from the future. I don't know how, but one minute I'm there, and the next minute I'm here. When is here, anyway?"
Dumbledore looked at him, eyes twinkling, and gave Harry a small calendar he produced from his desk; it read 1946.
"So," Dumbledore started. "We have a time traveling visitor. And where, pray tell, do /you/ exist?"
Harry looked surprised at him. "Well, professor, you know just as well as I do that I exist right now. Why else would I be standing here?"
Dumbledore gave a little laugh. "Ahh, you are a student, to have come up with an answer as worthy as that!"
Harry blushed. "I am a student at Hogwarts, fifth year. My friend Hermione and Ron." Dumbledore held up a hand, signaling him to stop.
"Do not tell me anymore. You know the laws of time just as I do, I must not know of the future, and you must not change the past!"
Harry sighed uneasily. "But what if your changes could make the future better? What if they could save thousands of lives?"
Dumbledore shook his head, his auburn hair shaking with it. "No. It doesn't matter, even the best intentions are wrong. Fate has already planned out everything, we cannot change her master plan."
"I understand" Harry said meekly.
Dumbledore nodded, and then looked at Harry. "How did you get here anyway? Did you use a time turner?"
"No sir, I mumbled something under my breath, what was it, oh yes, /peragrosemel/ and out of all the things in the world, it sends me back in time. I really don't need this, I mean, I'm already trying to be mur-" Harry stopped himself before he could release any information about his predicament with Voldemort. He seriously doubted that it would matter anyway, because from what he had already seen, Voldemort did not exist yet, only Tom.
Dumbledore looked worried, the last time Harry had seen him this nervous was after the Triwizard Tournament, when he had told him of Voldemort's revival. "Well, you might be here for a while. The peragrosemel charm, I have never heard of it, so I cannot help you."
Harry looked up at him in disbelief. "You have to know what to do! You always know! I need to be back in my time, I need to be protected!" Harry's face went white after he realized what he said, and he slid into a seat. "Ugh, can I just erase your memory and start this conversation over?"
Dumbledore smiled, it was the first smile Harry had seen since he had started the conversation. "You can trust me, boy. I like you. I don't know why. Why don't we go to the headmaster's office, and explain your predicament to him."
Harry followed silently, still in shock about what could have been compromised about the future.