1969 (?) : Lord Voldemort's reign of terror begins.
1980 (July 31st) : Harry is born.
1981 (Oct. 31st) : Lord Voldemort attacks the Potters. James and Lily are killed, Voldemort delayed. Either this night or the next, Harry is sent off to live with the Dursleys.
1991 (Sept. 1st) : Harry's first day at Hogwarts.
I decided against directly putting them in the story – here are Harry's marks.
Harry's O.W.L. ScoresTransfiguration Theory: Exceeds Expectations
Transfiguration Practical: Exceeds Expectations**
*Overall: Exceeds Expectations
Charms Theory: Exceeds Expectations
Charms Practical: Exceeds Expectations
Overall: Exceeds Expectations
Potions Theory: Poor
Potions Practical: Exceeds Expectations
*Overall: Acceptable
Defense Against the Dark Arts Theory: Outstanding
Defense Against the Dark Arts Practical: Above and Beyond.***
*Overall: Above and Beyond
Care of Magical Creatures: Exceeds Expectations
Divination: Dreadful
History of Magic: Poor (concern of illness registered for SIQ by overseer; SIQ led out of exam early)
Herbology Theory: Exceeds Expectations
Herbology Practical: Exceeds Expectations
Overall: Exceeds Expectations
Astronomy Theory: Exceeds Expectations
Astronomy Practical: Acceptable **
Overall: Acceptable
Total: 11 O.W.L.s* Worth two O.W.L.s
** (registered distraction; Ministry of Magical Education review pending. For more information, contact Svish Kabbob, Assistant Minister of Magical Education)
Special notice *** This student scored a perfect score and showed one or more advanced spells for more credit. For more information, contact Assistant Minister Kabbob. This score counts for three O.W.L.s
I know I over-did Harry's scores, but I know little about the British education system. (My half-British friend recently informed me with no small amount of horror that her mother was a Prefect and House Captain. I had thought it was something Rowling put her own twist on. :::looks very sheepish:::)
Anyway, the information I looked up is mostly turning out public school stuff, so I decided to wait until book six. Especially as we don't understand how the O.W.L.s work, and what effect that bonus point will have on Harry's score. Also, I counted the classes up, and unless the other over-achievers used a time-turner, there simply aren't enough classes to get twelve O.W.L.s. There's always the chance that the schedule just happened that Bill Weasley or Percy or Bartemius Crouch were able to attend more classes than normal, but I don't think that makes sense, so I made the core classes worth more.
CHAPTER ONEHarry returned to Gryffindor Tower, and headed up the stairs to the boys' dorm. It looked the same as always with its warm scarlet tones and the sweeping view of the grounds from the window.
Though the sight of his dorm usually made him feel better, with the reminders of his friends and the comforting feeling of being home, this time he found himself wondering. What had this dorm looked like 20 years ago? Had this been his father's room? He tried to do the math… No, his father should have lived in what was now the 5th year dorm, assuming his math was right. (He made a mental note to check with Hermione on that… no, wait, no point in that.)
He opened his trunk and took everything out in great piles, then placing them on the bed. If he was going to go, he should think carefully on what to take with him. He separated the clothing, the books, and the personal objects into 3 piles.
The clothes were easy enough to decide on. He threw almost all of Dudley's old things into the wardrobe, and reminded himself to ask Ron to do something with them – preferably burn them. He packed all of school robes, even the dress robes. He would be going to Diagon Alley in the past, anyway, so he could order some daywear robes, then. He kept all of the sweaters that Mrs. Weasley had hand-knitted for him. To his chagrin, the one from his third year was short, but still fit him well enough, though it was rather tight in the arms.
He painstakingly charmed off all the old indications of being a Gryffindor student. It took a while to get rid of all the patterns on his sweaters and the Gryffindor logos, but he finally did it. He put them in an old box along with the ties. After thinking a moment, he pushed the box under his bed. Hermione had told him once that since wizards had so many charmed hiding places, the usual Muggle ways of hiding objects were overlooked. Few wizards thought to use trick cookie jars, false freezer doors, or – oddly enough – the areas between the mattresses or around the bed.
Luckily, the pointed hats the Hogwarts students were required to have weren't on the old list, so he put those under the bed as well. They were hideous things, in Harry's opinion. Even now, none of his teachers expected them to be worn except on special occasions. He suspected that the teachers couldn't tell the difference between students with the hats on.
Looking through the list, he was happy to see that about half of his books were still standard for Hogwarts, though a few books he needed to get earlier editions of. And some he wasn't going to use at all, such as his Divination book and Potions book. After some thought, he decided to take all of them anyway, after charming a different cover on it. There were undoubtedly recent discoveries documented in his books that he could end up using. To his considerable dismay, Quidditch Through the Ages had not been written until the 1990s, so he couldn't take it back.
He would take the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauders Map. While the cloak was a rare possession, he could keep it in the bottom of this chest. If he absolutely needed to bring it out, it was believable enough that he had received one as an inheritance from an old relative.
The Map, he was sure, looked completely different after 20 years of wear. The edges of the parchment were worn and torn in one or two places, but it was still as useful as it had ever been. The Map was blank, in any case. Perhaps he could charm a basic, but removable drawing of Hogwarts and its main areas. He could tell anyone who asked that that was how he knew his way around so easily, and then no one would be suspicious that he always carried it around. He couldn't let anyone from the past see it, under any circumstances…. He would have to look up more information to add on some more enchantments and maximize its usefulness.
Harry also packed his Broomstick Repair Kit, Sneakoscope, and the lute Hagrid had made him in his first year. He packed his Firebolt and put it in Ron's wardrobe, along with a note for him and Hermione. Shakily, he went through a box full of Sirius's letters, the melted knife, and the cracked pieces of his mirror. Idly, he wondered where the partner was. Lying on Sirius's bedside table at Grimmauld Place, gathering dust?
Steadying himself, he performed both a vanishing charm and a sealing curse on the box, and put it in his trunk.
When he felt the leather surface of his photo album, however, Harry felt his heart sink. There was no way he could take it, was there? Feeling a bit shaky, he opened to the first page. His parents – would they look like this when he saw them again? – waved at him from the photo, with Harry as an infant between them.
Every time he saw them, Harry couldn't help but think of how happy they looked, even Harry himself. Was there ever a time when he felt that content?
Well, they wouldn't have their arms around each other when he saw them, that was for sure.
In the last few pages, Harry had inserted the few pictures he had of Sirius. Sirius's skeletal figure next to a shouting headline, Sirius in an Order picture, making bunny ears behind Mundungus Fletcher, and Harry's favorite – Sirius and him talking over the table in Sirius's kitchen.
Hermione had snapped it when they weren't looking. Harry couldn't remember exactly what they were talking about, but every now and then the picture Harry would grin and Sirius would let out a bark of laughter.
He considered not taking the album, but even if he didn't see his parents in the same light he used to, he still needed them. He would need this assurance that his parents would end up all right, at least for a while. And Sirius….
He shut the album firmly and set it on the night table. He'd talk to Dumbledore about it.
He double-checked to make sure he had everything. It was interesting how his entire life could fit into a medium-sized trunk. Rather sad, too. He then levitated his trunk and headed down to Dumbledore's office.
He had to do his best to stay objective. He could not risk damaging the timeline. Of course, he had fiddled with the idea of changing time, but dismissed it almost immediately. Even if he were willing to do it, he would probably just ruin everything. He tried to think about it logically. If he changed what happened in the past, then his parents might never marry, or one could die, and he might never be born, which would defeat the whole purpose. He was surprised at how selfish he was feeling.
Besides, if he were never born… wouldn't that mean that he wouldn't exist, so couldn't go back to change the timeline again?
And what if he warned Sirius not to go near the Veil? Would that change things? Even if Sirius acted the slightest bit off…. The whole thing was beginning to give him a headache.
When he got to Dumbledore's office, McGonagall, Hagrid, and Flitwick were already there. Dumbledore was involved in a new found bag of lemon drops, and was currently feeding one to Fawkes.
Flitwick seemed to be concentrating hard on charming a pensieve. McGonagall was looking on with her intent gaze, but her gaze moved up when Harry entered.
Hagrid clapped him on the back, almost making his knees give way. Hagrid looked ecstatic and proud, a watery grin on his face.
"You'll do good, 'Arry, I know you will. And think! The chance to see Lily an' James!" Hagrid, of course, had no idea that Harry was half-dreading seeing them. Harry gave him a nervous smile in return. Flitwick seemed to have finished. He nodded to Dumbledore once, looking tired.
McGonagall looked him over once, then nodded. "Good, Potter, good." To his surprise, she smiled, too. "Do try to have some fun while you're there. But don't fall behind on your studies. Oh, and it's perfectly all right if you join the Quidditch team from then; you'll have to get an older broom of course." She laid a hand on his shoulder. "Your parents would be very proud of you right now, I'm sure." She handed Harry his transfer papers.
Flitwick looked on, cheerful as always. In a voice somewhat squeakier than normal he spoke to Harry. "I'm sure you'll do well, Harry. And Minerva's right, your parents would be proud; Lily always was a favorite of mine." With a start, Harry realized how good those words still made him feel.
Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling more than ever. "It is time, Harry. Is everything in order?"
Harry found himself nodding, then caught himself. "There's one thing, sir." He pulled out the album. "I'd rather not leave this behind if I have a choice." He paused. "I was thinking, maybe you could help me." Hagrid laid his hand on Harry's shoulder and gave him another smile. He grunted, "Glad to see you've been keeping that."
Harry shrugged nervously. He felt strangely drained.
Dumbledore looked through the album, brow furrowed, while McGonagall gave Harry a soft look. "I know just the thing, I think."
She took the album and muttered a few words. Suddenly, a golden glow enveloped the book, and shimmered away as she opened it once more. She flipped through to make sure everything looked all right, then handed it back.
McGonagall continued talking as he put it in his trunk. "Now, Harry, everyone looks very different." She went on to describe their altered looks. Apparently, she used a spell that would change the portraits' looks by switching some characteristics with others in the album pictures. "…All the pictures that were taken in recognizable areas, like Hogwarts or Diagon Alley, now look to be in a countryside or in front of a generic room. Your friends still look the same, though. And, of course, you'll be able to see through the spell."
Dumbledore shook his head amusedly. "I don't think Sirius would appreciate being a blonde." Sirius had switched hair with a girl in the background at one of the Quidditch games. While it would've looked ridiculous on someone else, it suited Sirius's great looks.
Harry grinned and thanked McGonagall, moving over to the pensieve. He called Hedwig, who dug her talons into his shoulder.
Dumbledore raised his wand and winked at Harry. "Good luck, Mr. Graham." Dumbledore began an odd chant, and Harry watched as the pensieve swirled. In the back of his mind, faces and locations flashed just below the surface, disappearing and re-appearing rapidly.
Voldemort's leering face…. Sirius's haunted eyes…. A terrified girl, cowering from a troll…. Dudley's gang…. The images came faster and faster and he couldn't tell what he was seeing…
Dumbledore spoke to Harry, "Now, touch your wand to the surface." As if in another world, Harry watched the tip of his wand touch the swirling mass, and he felt the world start to spin away.