Shadows in the rain.
Chapter 4 ~~~~~~
Remus, Sirius, the Potters and Dumbledore were all watching him expectantly. Harry gulped a few times and stammered when he spoke.
"Er, I'm not sure what you mean. I thought you knew Voldemort. I mean, you were the one who told me all about him, and you are the only one he fears." He said puzzled. He stared at the headmaster, who looked quite taken aback. At a glance, he noticed that the others looked quite surprised too. Dumbledore told him to continue with his story, please tell them what connection he had with Voldemort.
"Well, I'm supposedly the only one who can defeat him, because of the prophecy, you know. He came to kill me when I was a baby, but failed, and then I met him a few times since I began Hogwarts." Harry had by now figured that in the realm of the dead where he was now, people could take on the appearance they chose, and they were fishing details only he could now, to make sure it really was him. He wondered what he could say to make them trust him. And of course he knew what to say. He turned to the younger people
"Back in third year when you taught me the Patronus charm, Professor Lupin, it turned into a stag and you told me that it was eccentric because my fathers animagus form had been a stag. And Sirius was also a animagus, a large, black dog." He was talking fast, so accidentally spoke of Sirius in past tense, and blushed when he realized his mistake. But he figured that he had said enough by now, so he fell silent and stared at his feet. No one spoke for a long time.
"Who exactly are you? How do you know all this?" For the first time since they came into the room, Harry heard Lily speak. The voice felt oddly familiar, and he realized that she must have been the one in the hospital wing. Harry's insides felt oddly warm suddenly. For the first time since he could remember, his mother had been there when he woke up in a hospital bed. He smiled and stroked back a stray tear that ran from his eye. He grinned. How silly of him to get so emotional. He would now have eternity to be with his parents, and Sirius. He raised his head and smiled brightly.
"It's ok, you can trust me. I'm really me, Harry Orion Potter." He hesitated "This is some kind of a test right, I mean, we're all dead, right?"
Remus chuckled nervously and Lily just sat down. Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"There is something not wholly right about all this. And no, Harry. No one here is dead, and if I may speak for us all, none of us have ever seen you before. The events and people you speak of are also unknown to us. I have two theories concerning this matter; either you are a raving psychopath, or you come from some alternate dimension. I do not know which one it is, you seem quite sane to me, but crossing dimension is very difficult and hardly achievable for a fourteen-year old boy."
"I'm sixteen." Harry told no one in particular, and Sirius laughed.
"What, are you from a family of midgets? I could have mistaken you for a twelve-year old." Sirius said, chuckling. James grinned also but Lily and Remus watched him with a concerned expression.
Dumbledore hit the table with his teacup and the two boys/men immediately shut up. Harry noticed that he Dumbledore shot him a disturbed look as well.
"Stop this nonsense. Harry, I want to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer as truthfully as you can." Harry nodded and Dumbledore continued. "Your parents, who were they?"
For the half-a-hour Harry told Dumbledore his whole life story, from when, and why, his parents were killed and Voldemort vanquished, to the day he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter. Dumbledore had been silent and Harry suspected him of using some kind of a silence charm on the younger people, for they had been surprisingly still.
"And there I was, thinking my parents had been killed in a car accident, when they were actually wizards, killed by a the darkest wizard in a century. I was really surprised, but happy at the same time, I didn't really know what I was in for." Harry stopped and took a hefty gulp of tea. Still, no one said anything, so he continued.
When he told them how he was made the youngest seeker in a century, James, Remus and Sirius's faces lit up, but they said nothing.
Hagrids dragon escapade earned a hearty laughter from all in the room, and the story of the person in the forest got a disgusted gasp. The philosophers stone received surprise, and Sirius actually congratulated him on making it through all of the teachers' wards.
"Another difference. A philosophers stone has never been made here." Dumbledore mumbled.
Harry went on to his second year.
He had never had a better audience. Harry could see the anticipation building up in them as he relived his second year, and they were all thunderstruck upon hearing about the Chamber of secrets. Sirius whooped when Harry defeated the basilisk, and Lily was biting her nails in tension. She let out a small whimper when Harry told them how he had felt himself dying, and looked as though she would have liked to reach out and hold him.
"So this Voldemort transferred some of his powers to you when he evaporated, thus giving you the ability to speak parseltongue." Dumbledore stated to Harry, who nodded. "Please continue. How many years in Hogwarts have you completed?"
"I was starting my sixth year, when I, uh, came here." Dumbledore just nodded.
The tension was even more when Harry told them about his third year. It took a little while for Sirius and James to calm down when he told them he had blown up his aunt. Lily and Dumbledore even grinned.
Remus being teacher earned more laughter. Apparently Sirius and James found it funny even though it was not their Remus. Harry wasn't even sure that this Remus was a werewolf. He looked too healthy somehow.
Lily raved a little when the unjust treatment of Buckbeak was told. There was a shell-shocked silence, which after Lily raved a little more, when Harry told them about the time-turner exploit.
The story about Sirius didn't move them much, James only patted Sirius on the back.
"You must be tired from all this story-telling and it is getting late. How about we continue tomorrow?" Dumbledore asked when Harry was finished. Harry stared at the table before looking the headmaster in the eyes.
"I-I'd prefer not to. It's easier just to get it over with."
Dumbledore furrowed his brow. "All right. Want some more tea before going on? Somehow I sense that you will need it."
Harry accepted gratefully, and asked politely if they would mind not interrupting, it was hard enough to tell without anyone disrupting him every few sentences.
It took him nearly an hour of non-stop talking to cover his fourth year. Everyone were silent except Sirius, who could not hold back an angry grunt when Harry told them about what happened in the graveyard.
The silence in the room was deafening. No one seemed to know what exactly to say, so Harry took a sip of his tea, a deep breath and continued telling them about his fifth year.
Everyone seemed too shell-shocked to speak, but at the end Lily was crying softly and James trying to comfort both her and Sirius who was staring into space. It must be a shock to hear about yourself dying, in a sense.
Suddenly Lily sprang to her feet and jumped at Harry, hugging him tightly.
Harry was aware of everyone staring at them, and it made him uncomfortable. It was comfy to be held, but this wasn't his mother and it made him nervous to have this stranger holding him like this.
"Lily, please calm yourself." Dumbledore was firm, and Lily reluctantly went back to her seat and James put his arms around her. Dumbledore then turned back to Harry.
"This is quite an exciting life you've led. In one year, you manage to experience more then a normal person in her whole life. I have come to the conclusion now by listening to your story, that somehow you have managed to cross the barrier between two worlds. I do not know how, so I'm afraid I can't send you back until we figure out how you got here in the first place. Until then, you are welcome to stay with us. I assume you are not so keen to go back to Hogwarts?"
Harry smiled in relief and nodded. He had been afraid that they were planning to send him back to a place full of Death Eaters.
Dumbledores eyes twinkled at the relief Harry showed.
"There is something I would like you to tell us before we call it a day. I want you to tell me about the rise of this Voldemort."
Harry wondered how much was really different in this world and his. It must be nice for them, no Voldemort. Well, there was a Tom Riddle in Hogwarts, in fact a headmaster there, but here he must have used his powers for good, instead of turning into a megalomaniac monster. He wondered if any of his friends existed here. Maybe they were never born, or if they were, maybe then they didn't even know each other. He shook his head to clear it and started telling them all he could.
"Well, he was a student in Hogwarts about fifty years ago. He was in Slytherin, though he was a half-blood. He is, apparently, the heir of Salazar Slytherin. After he graduated from Hogwarts, with honours," Harry added, "he disappeared and studied the dark arts. Then, suddenly he came back with a masked army called the Death Eaters, and started slaughtering everyone who was not a pureblooded wizard. He killed some of the most prominent wizards of our time, and was at the height of his reign when he was defeated. And now I've come a whole circle."
"Interesting. Does he have another name?" Dumbledore seemed a little agitated.
"Er, most of the wizarding world calls him you-know-who or other alternate names, but his birth name was Tom Riddle."
Everyone paled and his or her eyes widened.
"Albus, so maybe it is he who is responsible for the attacks here?" Remus whispered.
The headmaster shook his head.
"I do not know. We shouldn't out rule that possibility, but we don't know for sure if it is really him. It could be anyone else." He said in a steady voice. "I think Harry has had enough for today. We will talk better tomorrow. Sirius, can you take Harry to the green room? That will be your room Harry, and if you need anything, just ask. Now that you are an accepted inhabitant here you can find your way around easily."
"Imagine the irony if the Vice minister of Magic and Headmaster of Hogwarts turned out to be the one behind all these murders..." James said as Harry and Sirius walked out of the room.
Author notes:
That's it for now. As you have maybe noticed, English is not my mother language, so some sentences may be in a pretty weird order. Just bear it with me :/
I thank you Elebereth and Drusilla for reviewing, I now know what my twin brother meant when he said no thanks to gambling with his friends; he was easily addicted :)
The next chapter should be up in a week, if it isn't, then sometime later. All depends on when we get the bloody Internet up again. I've been using my employers computer for a month now (it's OK, I'm only babysitting :), but it's still pretty infuriating.
Feel free to say anything if you review, I'm open to criticism (if you're going to flame, please do not use only upper-case letters. It only makes you look more stupid, not intimidating)
Chapter 4 ~~~~~~
Remus, Sirius, the Potters and Dumbledore were all watching him expectantly. Harry gulped a few times and stammered when he spoke.
"Er, I'm not sure what you mean. I thought you knew Voldemort. I mean, you were the one who told me all about him, and you are the only one he fears." He said puzzled. He stared at the headmaster, who looked quite taken aback. At a glance, he noticed that the others looked quite surprised too. Dumbledore told him to continue with his story, please tell them what connection he had with Voldemort.
"Well, I'm supposedly the only one who can defeat him, because of the prophecy, you know. He came to kill me when I was a baby, but failed, and then I met him a few times since I began Hogwarts." Harry had by now figured that in the realm of the dead where he was now, people could take on the appearance they chose, and they were fishing details only he could now, to make sure it really was him. He wondered what he could say to make them trust him. And of course he knew what to say. He turned to the younger people
"Back in third year when you taught me the Patronus charm, Professor Lupin, it turned into a stag and you told me that it was eccentric because my fathers animagus form had been a stag. And Sirius was also a animagus, a large, black dog." He was talking fast, so accidentally spoke of Sirius in past tense, and blushed when he realized his mistake. But he figured that he had said enough by now, so he fell silent and stared at his feet. No one spoke for a long time.
"Who exactly are you? How do you know all this?" For the first time since they came into the room, Harry heard Lily speak. The voice felt oddly familiar, and he realized that she must have been the one in the hospital wing. Harry's insides felt oddly warm suddenly. For the first time since he could remember, his mother had been there when he woke up in a hospital bed. He smiled and stroked back a stray tear that ran from his eye. He grinned. How silly of him to get so emotional. He would now have eternity to be with his parents, and Sirius. He raised his head and smiled brightly.
"It's ok, you can trust me. I'm really me, Harry Orion Potter." He hesitated "This is some kind of a test right, I mean, we're all dead, right?"
Remus chuckled nervously and Lily just sat down. Dumbledore cleared his throat.
"There is something not wholly right about all this. And no, Harry. No one here is dead, and if I may speak for us all, none of us have ever seen you before. The events and people you speak of are also unknown to us. I have two theories concerning this matter; either you are a raving psychopath, or you come from some alternate dimension. I do not know which one it is, you seem quite sane to me, but crossing dimension is very difficult and hardly achievable for a fourteen-year old boy."
"I'm sixteen." Harry told no one in particular, and Sirius laughed.
"What, are you from a family of midgets? I could have mistaken you for a twelve-year old." Sirius said, chuckling. James grinned also but Lily and Remus watched him with a concerned expression.
Dumbledore hit the table with his teacup and the two boys/men immediately shut up. Harry noticed that he Dumbledore shot him a disturbed look as well.
"Stop this nonsense. Harry, I want to ask you some questions, and I want you to answer as truthfully as you can." Harry nodded and Dumbledore continued. "Your parents, who were they?"
For the half-a-hour Harry told Dumbledore his whole life story, from when, and why, his parents were killed and Voldemort vanquished, to the day he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter. Dumbledore had been silent and Harry suspected him of using some kind of a silence charm on the younger people, for they had been surprisingly still.
"And there I was, thinking my parents had been killed in a car accident, when they were actually wizards, killed by a the darkest wizard in a century. I was really surprised, but happy at the same time, I didn't really know what I was in for." Harry stopped and took a hefty gulp of tea. Still, no one said anything, so he continued.
When he told them how he was made the youngest seeker in a century, James, Remus and Sirius's faces lit up, but they said nothing.
Hagrids dragon escapade earned a hearty laughter from all in the room, and the story of the person in the forest got a disgusted gasp. The philosophers stone received surprise, and Sirius actually congratulated him on making it through all of the teachers' wards.
"Another difference. A philosophers stone has never been made here." Dumbledore mumbled.
Harry went on to his second year.
He had never had a better audience. Harry could see the anticipation building up in them as he relived his second year, and they were all thunderstruck upon hearing about the Chamber of secrets. Sirius whooped when Harry defeated the basilisk, and Lily was biting her nails in tension. She let out a small whimper when Harry told them how he had felt himself dying, and looked as though she would have liked to reach out and hold him.
"So this Voldemort transferred some of his powers to you when he evaporated, thus giving you the ability to speak parseltongue." Dumbledore stated to Harry, who nodded. "Please continue. How many years in Hogwarts have you completed?"
"I was starting my sixth year, when I, uh, came here." Dumbledore just nodded.
The tension was even more when Harry told them about his third year. It took a little while for Sirius and James to calm down when he told them he had blown up his aunt. Lily and Dumbledore even grinned.
Remus being teacher earned more laughter. Apparently Sirius and James found it funny even though it was not their Remus. Harry wasn't even sure that this Remus was a werewolf. He looked too healthy somehow.
Lily raved a little when the unjust treatment of Buckbeak was told. There was a shell-shocked silence, which after Lily raved a little more, when Harry told them about the time-turner exploit.
The story about Sirius didn't move them much, James only patted Sirius on the back.
"You must be tired from all this story-telling and it is getting late. How about we continue tomorrow?" Dumbledore asked when Harry was finished. Harry stared at the table before looking the headmaster in the eyes.
"I-I'd prefer not to. It's easier just to get it over with."
Dumbledore furrowed his brow. "All right. Want some more tea before going on? Somehow I sense that you will need it."
Harry accepted gratefully, and asked politely if they would mind not interrupting, it was hard enough to tell without anyone disrupting him every few sentences.
It took him nearly an hour of non-stop talking to cover his fourth year. Everyone were silent except Sirius, who could not hold back an angry grunt when Harry told them about what happened in the graveyard.
The silence in the room was deafening. No one seemed to know what exactly to say, so Harry took a sip of his tea, a deep breath and continued telling them about his fifth year.
Everyone seemed too shell-shocked to speak, but at the end Lily was crying softly and James trying to comfort both her and Sirius who was staring into space. It must be a shock to hear about yourself dying, in a sense.
Suddenly Lily sprang to her feet and jumped at Harry, hugging him tightly.
Harry was aware of everyone staring at them, and it made him uncomfortable. It was comfy to be held, but this wasn't his mother and it made him nervous to have this stranger holding him like this.
"Lily, please calm yourself." Dumbledore was firm, and Lily reluctantly went back to her seat and James put his arms around her. Dumbledore then turned back to Harry.
"This is quite an exciting life you've led. In one year, you manage to experience more then a normal person in her whole life. I have come to the conclusion now by listening to your story, that somehow you have managed to cross the barrier between two worlds. I do not know how, so I'm afraid I can't send you back until we figure out how you got here in the first place. Until then, you are welcome to stay with us. I assume you are not so keen to go back to Hogwarts?"
Harry smiled in relief and nodded. He had been afraid that they were planning to send him back to a place full of Death Eaters.
Dumbledores eyes twinkled at the relief Harry showed.
"There is something I would like you to tell us before we call it a day. I want you to tell me about the rise of this Voldemort."
Harry wondered how much was really different in this world and his. It must be nice for them, no Voldemort. Well, there was a Tom Riddle in Hogwarts, in fact a headmaster there, but here he must have used his powers for good, instead of turning into a megalomaniac monster. He wondered if any of his friends existed here. Maybe they were never born, or if they were, maybe then they didn't even know each other. He shook his head to clear it and started telling them all he could.
"Well, he was a student in Hogwarts about fifty years ago. He was in Slytherin, though he was a half-blood. He is, apparently, the heir of Salazar Slytherin. After he graduated from Hogwarts, with honours," Harry added, "he disappeared and studied the dark arts. Then, suddenly he came back with a masked army called the Death Eaters, and started slaughtering everyone who was not a pureblooded wizard. He killed some of the most prominent wizards of our time, and was at the height of his reign when he was defeated. And now I've come a whole circle."
"Interesting. Does he have another name?" Dumbledore seemed a little agitated.
"Er, most of the wizarding world calls him you-know-who or other alternate names, but his birth name was Tom Riddle."
Everyone paled and his or her eyes widened.
"Albus, so maybe it is he who is responsible for the attacks here?" Remus whispered.
The headmaster shook his head.
"I do not know. We shouldn't out rule that possibility, but we don't know for sure if it is really him. It could be anyone else." He said in a steady voice. "I think Harry has had enough for today. We will talk better tomorrow. Sirius, can you take Harry to the green room? That will be your room Harry, and if you need anything, just ask. Now that you are an accepted inhabitant here you can find your way around easily."
"Imagine the irony if the Vice minister of Magic and Headmaster of Hogwarts turned out to be the one behind all these murders..." James said as Harry and Sirius walked out of the room.
Author notes:
That's it for now. As you have maybe noticed, English is not my mother language, so some sentences may be in a pretty weird order. Just bear it with me :/
I thank you Elebereth and Drusilla for reviewing, I now know what my twin brother meant when he said no thanks to gambling with his friends; he was easily addicted :)
The next chapter should be up in a week, if it isn't, then sometime later. All depends on when we get the bloody Internet up again. I've been using my employers computer for a month now (it's OK, I'm only babysitting :), but it's still pretty infuriating.
Feel free to say anything if you review, I'm open to criticism (if you're going to flame, please do not use only upper-case letters. It only makes you look more stupid, not intimidating)