A/N: If any of you are reading both my stories, you'll notice that for some
reason I posted a chapter for each of my stories today. See, I was
wondering about this for odd reasons that I shall not tell you and I wasn't
sure which chapter to put out first so I put them out at the same time! Go
me!
Gilthas: I put her up to it.
Me: You are my muse.
Gilthas: Yes, and SOME people would do well to remember that.
Me: I told you! Me and Drizzt are just friends! I swear!
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Chapter 7: Old Faces
"Harry! Are you sure you're alright?"
It was the next day and Grander had approached Harry in the halls. Harry knew he must look worn and tired, but he hadn't gotten much sleep last night and it was amazing how much more sleep a teenage boy needed. He had completely forgotten.
"Yeah," Harry assured Grander. "I'm fine. What's up?"
"The Charms teacher, Professor Warwick has just left for the Ministry. He asked if I could sit in for his class since I have a planning period. Unfortunately, the Headmistress had just asked me to teach Transfiguration since Professor Smith just left for home. Her sister is sick."
"Let me guess," Harry said. "You want me to teach Charms?"
"I'd much rather do as the headmistress asked than another teacher."
"I thought I bombed last time I tried to teach. Isn't there someone else?"
"No there isn't, and you didn't 'bomb', whatever that means. You did well. I've never seen Ryan turn in homework before!"
Harry blinked. "You mean that little annoying kid?"
"Yes," Grander said nodding.
Harry sighed. "I suppose I could step in. Kids are going to start thinking I'm a substitute."
Grander smiled and hurried away. Harry set his steps to the charm classroom before remembering he had no idea how to work the computer that would give him the lesson plans. He turned as though expecting Grander to still be there but the corridor was empty.
Harry took a deep breath and headed to the classroom. It was empty when he arrived. All the students were still eating breakfast in the Great Hall. Harry cast a dubious look at the computer before setting in the seat in front of it and pressing the power button.
The gentle whirring noise the computer had been making died down.
"Whoops," Harry said, quickly pushing the power button again.
The computer started again and immediately Harry found himself staring at the desktop. He scanned the monitor and clicked on the icon that said, 'Lesson Plans' Just as he was patting himself on the back for getting that much right, a small window popped up. Blinking in surprise, Harry read it aloud.
"Please insert name and password."
Glancing around the room, Harry typed in 'Warwick' under name and then typed it again under password.
Another window popped up saying it was the incorrect password. Harry clicked the 'okay' button and pressed backspace over the automatically highlighted password. Thinking for a moment, he slowly typed in 'Hogwarts' under password.
The incorrect password window popped up again. Frowning, Harry erased the password again. Typing in Gryffindor, Harry tried again.
This time the same window did not pop up. A small warning window popped up. Harry read it in panic. 'You have typed in the incorrect password. If you do not desist in you attempt to break into the computer, you will be arrested'.
Harry's eyes grew wide. He clicked the okay button again and stared at the computer. What was the password? Reached over to switch off the monitor, deciding it would simply be better to try it without the computer, his elbow hit a button on the keyboard. A loud buzzer began to sound. Completely panicking now, Harry whipped out his wand and hit it hard on the computer, shouting, "Quietus!"
The buzzing was silenced. Harry breathed a sigh of relief that was suddenly stopped. Three people had just appeared in the doorway. He recognized them as three professors.
"Harry?" the Astronomy teacher asked, confused.
"I'm sorry!" Harry said desperately. "Professor Grander asked me to sit in the class because he had to sit in for Transfiguration and he had promised to sit in here too! I didn't mean to! I was trying to get into the lesson plans! It was an accident! It asked for a password and I didn't know it and it started beeping at me!"
The Astronomy teacher took one look at his panic stricken face and burst out laughing. Harry was shocked. Why was she laughing?
The other teachers started laughing too. The Astronomy teacher tried to regain control over herself. "I-I'm sorry!" she gasped. "You just looked so- so terrified! It was hilarious!"
Harry frowned, his panic ebbing away. "It's not funny!"
The Astronomy teacher burst out laughing again. Harry patiently waited for her to stop, regaining control over his emotions. Meanwhile, a light had started flashing over the computer. The students had begun to leave the Great Hall and a few of them had stopped in the corridor to see what was going on. Harry waved his wand irritably at the flashing light. It stopped.
By the time the whole thing was cleared up, the entire class had arrived and was staring at him. Harry felt much more uncomfortable than he had done teaching the previous class.
He cleared his throat unnecessarily to get their already undivided attention. "Er.I'm Harry. I'm going to be sitting in for Professor Warwick. As you all saw, I couldn't get into his computer to see what you're covering so I'm going to have to rely on you. Er.yes?"
A hand was in the air.
"Excuse me, Professor, but people are saying around school that you banished Lord Voldemort yesterday when he attacked Hogsmeade."
Harry shifted uncomfortably. He had never liked to talk about his achievements. "Er.who told you this?"
"It's true, isn't it?" asked a little girl, looking up at him in awe. "I heard he burnt London to the ground!"
"Well, yes, he did-" Harry began.
"I heard only Harry Potter's powers rivaled Voldemort's," said a boy skeptically.
"That's true-" Harry tried.
"I don't think it's the same Voldemort," said one girl matter-a-factly.
"Actually-"
"What are you talking about? Of course it's the same Voldemort!" said a boy, scoffing. "How many do you think there are?"
"Excuse me-" Harry tried to get their attention.
"It could be a copycat," the girl responded.
"Hello?" Harry said, trying to get a word in.
"That just shows how much you know," the boy scoffed.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Class!" Harry yelled loudly.
They continued to ignore him. "But how did they know he was going to attack Hogsmeade?"
"He stood out there forever! They couldn't not know!"
Having enough, Harry pulled out his wand and waved it. Silence fell instantly though they were still attempting to talk. The class blinked.
"Thank you," Harry said. His voice sounded eerily loud. "If we can please turn our attention back to me?"
Harry waved his wand again and a few students made noises experimentally.
"How did you do that?" asked the girl who had thought it wasn't the real Voldemort.
"It's a charm," Harry said pointedly. "Something you came to this class to learn. Last time I checked, it was the teacher who did the talking."
"And how long ago was that?" asked a boy sarcastically.
"About the last time he brushed his hair," muttered his friend loudly.
"No," Harry said, grinning a little. "It was actually much longer than that."
"Excuse me, Professor," asked a girl that hadn't said anything. "I've seen you around school a few times, but nobody's quite sure what you do."
"I'm currently substituting for Professor Warwick," Harry said, trying to change the subject without the class noticing. "If you will all look back up here-"
"But Professor," interjected a boy. "You don't look old enough to be 17! I know, I've got 5 older brothers!"
"I'm older than 17," Harry said before remembering he was stuck in 16-year- old form.
"You don't look it," said a girl skeptically.
"Trust me," Harry said. "Now, back to the subject of charms. Who can tell me what you did last class?"
"We went over chapter five," said a girl promptly.
"And what's in that chapter?" Harry asked, flipping through the book on the desk to chapter 5. "Ah, the history of charms? Er.I never did this."
"What do you mean?" asked a boy quickly. "I mentioned it to my mum and she said it was her least favorite time in Charms. She's way older than you are!"
A few kids laughed. Harry thought of something to say. "Well, never mind that. Today we're going to be practicing Charms. So, wands out everyone."
Everyone looked at one another but no one moved to take their wands out.
"Er." Harry said. "That means remove your wands from your bags."
Casting confused looks at each other, the kids rummaged in their bags for their wands.
When the last kid had their wand in their hand, Harry whipped his out. "Okay, we're going to be covering the summoning charm today. Can anyone tell me what the summoning charm is?"
"It summons things?" said a boy sarcastically.
"That's the about it," Harry said. "Is there anyone in here who can perform it?"
The class looked at each other.
"No?" Harry asked, a little putout. "This is 4th year, isn't it?"
The class nodded.
Harry took a deep breath. "Okay, well, the spell is Accio. Say you wanted to summon a book. Then you could point your wand at it and say the charm, or you could say Accio Book. Either way. Accio Book!"
The book sitting on a girl's desk in the front of the class zoomed into Harry's hand. Harry looked around and saw every kid looking startled.
"Wow," the girl whose book Harry was holding said.
"What?" Harry asked, thinking this was some kind of joke. "It's not that big a deal. It's not like it's really that powerful."
"That's like 7th year magic!" said a boy, staring at Harry. "We're not supposed to learn stuff like that yet!"
"That's not 7th year," Harry said, confused. "It's 4th. That's when I learned. Okay, er." Harry opened the cabinet behind the desk. "Here are some books. Everyone can summon them. Um, everyone to the front of the class for a moment."
The class shuffled to the front of the class, looking apprehensive. Harry waved his wand and the desks flew to the side of the room into neat rows. There were collective gasps from the class.
"What?" Harry asked, irritated.
"I've never seen someone do that," said a girl. "You must be pretty powerful!"
"Er.thanks," Harry said. "But I hardly feel I deserve it. I bet all you professors can do it."
"No, they can't," said a boy seriously. "I've never seen someone who can do it."
At that moment, a girl came bursting into the room. She looked as if she had gotten ready in a hurry and ran all the way here. "Sorry, Professor Warwick!" she gasped. "My alarm didn't go off! I-" She stopped seeing Harry. "Oh, sorry. I thought this was Charms."
"It is," said a girl.
The girl blinked. "What are we doing?"
"Magic," said a boy.
"Magic?" asked the girl blankly. "What does that mean?"
"We're practicing the summoning charm," Harry said. He started to pass out books. "We're practicing on these books."
"But summoning charms are N.E.W.T. level!" said the girl in awe.
"No they're not," Harry said. "They're 4th year. Here, get into groups of three." The class quietly organized into groups. They all stared at him, their wands held loosely.
"Er.now what do we do?" asked a boy nervously.
"Summon the books to you," Harry said. "Remember the charm is Accio."
"Can we see you do it again?" asked a girl apprehensively.
Harry pointed his wand at a book and said, "Accio!" The book flew into his hand. "See? It's easy."
The class looked at their book and there were a few nervous shouts of "Accio!"
Nothing happened. Harry walked around the classroom, correcting grips and pronunciations. By the end of class only a few people managed to move their books at all. Harry sat down at the teacher's desk and absentmindedly twirled his wand between his fingers as he did when he wasn't paying attention to anything. He was thinking hard. The students were very much behind. Only one person had managed to do the charm properly.
He was still sitting at the desk when Grander came it. "Oh, Harry! There you are. How did it go?"
"They don't know summoning charms," Harry said, looking at him.
"Well of course not!" Grander said laughing. "That's seventh year magic!"
"It wasn't seventh year magic when I was in school. It was 4th year," Harry said stubbornly.
"That was quite a long time ago," Grander said pointedly. "Times have doubtlessly changed."
"Clearly," Harry said. "Only one student could perform the charm at all and only a few others could even make their book move."
"They just haven't had much practice," Grander said shrugging. "We don't do a lot of magic in school today."
"Trust me," Harry said. "That much I know." He stood up. "I think that perhaps to give the kids a fighting chance; you should start to teach them magic in classes."
"But I'm History of Magic professor," Grander said pointedly. "We don't do magic in my class."
"They didn't teach it with me either," Harry said stubbornly. "But there's a first time for everything, right?"
Grander took a deep breath and nodded.
* * *
Harry opened his eyes. That same horrible ceiling looked down on him. Harry frowned. He hated that ceiling.
He sat up and grabbed his glasses. He changed quickly into his robes and stuffed his wand into his pocket.
Waving his wand once at the little red light at his feet to prevent the alarm going off, Harry exited his room quietly and without notice. He set his footsteps to the Gryffindor common room.
He stopped in front of a large door where the fat lady had used to hang. Trying it, he found it locked.
It was then that he noticed a small number pad at the side. So they did still have passwords. He pulled out his wand and prodded the little keyboard. It shut off and Harry heard the lock click in the door.
This time, the door opened for him. He blinked in the gloom of the room and realized it didn't have a fire. At one horrific thought, he groped toward the wall and found a light switch. This was wrong in so many ways.
There was a groan from the room. Apparently a student had fallen asleep in the common room.
"It's not morning yet."
"Sorry," Harry muttered and flipped off the lights again.
"Did I fall asleep in the common room again?" asked a voice from the darkness.
"Looks like it," Harry said. He couldn't stop himself from grinning.
Grumbling sleepily, the figure gathered up his books and made for the boys' staircase.
When the room was deserted again, Harry flipped on the lights.
The common room was very different. With the absence of the fireplace, it seemed smaller. The polished stone walls were nearly covered with large Gryffindor banners. Harry saw a large picture of the Quidditch team, holding broomsticks and wearing 3D glasses. Harry frowned.
This certainly hadn't been how it was when he was in school. He had half a mind to blast a fireplace in the wall, but he knew that wouldn't do any good. Besides, he was rather hesitant about fire at the moment.
He shook his head and walked out of the room. His footsteps carried him to Dumbledore's office for the third time since he'd been there. He sat down against the wall.
"Was it this hard for you?" Harry asked suddenly. "Was it really this complicated? If it was, how did you do it? It doesn't make any sense to me."
There was no answer. The gargoyle remained as motionless as always.
Harry sighed. "I don't know how it is I came back," he said at last. "I don't know why and I don't know how. Well, yes. I do know why. Because Voldemort's back and someone has to defeat him, don't they? How is a different story, however."
He leaned his head back against the wall. "I just saw the Gryffindor common room. It's horrible. It really is. It's nothing like it's supposed to be. It's just wrong." He took a deep breath. "I don't want to go through this again, Dumbledore. I kinda wish you were here to help."
The gargoyle behind Harry stirred. Harry leapt to his feet. The entrance opened before his eyes. Blinking, Harry looked up as the moving staircase began to move. It made a scraping noise and it didn't go very fast. It looked like it hadn't been used in hundreds of years.
Harry stepped onto the staircase. A sense of excitement grew within him- something he had not felt since he had arrived. He was going up to Dumbledore's old office!
He stopped in front of the door. Feeling it would be truly horrible to simply waltz in after all those years, but not really expecting a response, Harry reached up a fist and knocked.
Sounds came from inside. First one person spoke.
"Was that a knock?"
A few more sleepy voices answered.
"What are you on about?"
"A knock! There was a knock on the door!"
"Of course it wasn't! No one even remembers this place! Why would they knock? They would just come in!"
"I heard a knock!" Insisted the first voice.
"Well don't just stand there, moron! Tell them to come in!"
"Come in!"
The voices hushed suddenly and Harry slowly pushed open the door.
He looked into the expectant faces of every portrait in the office.
"Well I'll be!" gasped a witch. "It's Harry Potter! Look at his scar! Hasn't aged a day, he hasn't!"
The room erupted into noise. Harry took a step back involuntarily.
Finally one voice spoke above the others. "It's good to see you again, Harry."
Harry looked at the speaker. "P-Professor D-Dumbledore?"
The room quieted once again.
"Good evening, Harry. May I ask how it is you arrived in this time?" Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling.
"I never thought I'd see you again!" Harry said. "You've just been sitting up here the whole time?"
Dumbledore shrugged in his portrait. "There's no where else to go. Do have any idea what year it is?"
"3003, I think," Harry answered.
"Good, now perhaps you could explain to this eagerly waiting crowd of portraits how it is you're sixteen in the years 3003."
"I don't really know," Harry said. "There's a graveyard outside the castle and I woke up in it the other day and the whole thing was on fire! I don't know how or why, but I was sitting in my own grave, Dumbledore. My grave."
"Indeed," Dumbledore said, frowning slightly. "I'm afraid I'm rather a bit off my game, I haven't had anything worth while to think about in quite a long time. Let's see.the graveyard was on fire, you say?"
Harry nodded.
"And do you remember anything about your life before you died but after you were the age you are now.in the other time?"
Harry nodded. "I remember everything. I have no idea about anything though, and now Voldemort's back and he's trying to destroy the world. And this future world is horribly dependant on technology. There's a light switch in the Gryffindor common room!"
There was scattered mumbling throughout the portraits.
"And you're afraid the wizarding world can't defeat Voldemort because they know nothing of magic?"
"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "I'm afraid the wizarding world can't even begin to defend itself against the likes of Voldemort. Defeating him is out of the question."
Dumbledore rubbed his eyes. "Welcome back to the world," he muttered. "This certainly wasn't what I was expecting to hear the second the first person came in here."
"Sorry," Harry said apologetically. "I just don't have any idea what I'm supposed to do. I've taught a few classes here and the students are learning summoning charms in N.E.W.T. year!"
"That's ridiculous," a wizard in another portrait shouted. "Surely they know more than that!"
Harry shook his head. "When I told them we were having a practical lesson, I also had to tell them that we would actually be using wands in class!"
The room had gone rather silent.
"How did you get in here?" Asked a wizard suddenly. Harry recognized him as Phineas Nigellus.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, how did you get in?"
"I dunno," Harry said. "I've come down here twice already and then Grander- the History of Magic teacher-told me that he didn't even know there was a room behind here!"
"That's because no one could get in," Dumbledore said heavily. "When the person who made my portrait.made my portrait, he was supposed to unlock the door and choose a password. He didn't. He didn't even use the door. It hasn't opened since."
"Geez," Harry said, blinking. "Who made your portrait?"
"I barely remember," Dumbledore said, waving a hand dismissively.
"Yes you do!" said a witch suddenly. "It was." she trailed off, her eyes wide. "I mean, I suppose that was the person who made my portrait."
Harry looked at them all, frowning. "Do you really remember and just don't want to tell me?"
"Truthfully?" Dumbledore asked. Harry nodded. "Yes."
"Why should it even matter?" Harry asked. His temper rose again and he stopped, holding it in check. "I mean, they're dead, right?"
"You would think," Dumbledore said heavily.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked.
"Another day, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Not tonight. It would take far too long to explain."
"Just like old times," Harry muttered. "Fine. Don't tell me. But I'm not really 16, remember? I just happen to be in my 16-year-old form. Everyone's treating me like one of the students. They don't seem to realize I'm actually much older than anyone alive today-except for Voldemort. He has a few years on me."
"Not enough to talk about," Dumbledore said smiling kindly.
"So," Phineas said. "Perhaps we could back to the problem at hand that is the complete destruction of the world at Voldemort's hands. There are very few people who get third chances, you know. Lots of people get second chances. Not very many third."
Harry looked at him oddly. "Having trouble staying on topic, are we?"
Phineas shrugged. "I was very bored for 1000 years."
"I can tell."
Phineas scowled.
"So, tell me about Voldemort's previous attacks."
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A/N: Tadda! Did anyone read the chapter of my other story before they read this one? Oh well. There are a few answers in it...
Prd2bAmerican18: Updated!!
Allizarin Sylvain Phyre: I hope this is longer!
sabrina: Thanks!
Padfoot Lover 73: Sooner than expected! But, hey, it was a weekend. I couldn't pass up the chance to post now, could I?
sara*magic: I updated BTBT as well! I like your comparison. Grander has more to him than first sight. Boy, cryptic or what?
Authoress: Hehe! Dumbledore's in a portrait! I don't know about Ron and Hermione, but Dumbledore's back! Who made his portrait? Wait didn't they say something about that in BTBT...?
Me: Thanks for all the reviews! I know this one is posted earlier than I expected it to be, but I'm sure no one has any objections...
Gilthas: Except for you! What did I tell you about posting too many chapters? What are you going to do when all this posting catches up to you and you have nothing more to post?
Me: Roll over and die?
Gilthas: *hits self in forehead*
Me: Okay, press that little BLUE button and review! :)
Gilthas: I put her up to it.
Me: You are my muse.
Gilthas: Yes, and SOME people would do well to remember that.
Me: I told you! Me and Drizzt are just friends! I swear!
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Chapter 7: Old Faces
"Harry! Are you sure you're alright?"
It was the next day and Grander had approached Harry in the halls. Harry knew he must look worn and tired, but he hadn't gotten much sleep last night and it was amazing how much more sleep a teenage boy needed. He had completely forgotten.
"Yeah," Harry assured Grander. "I'm fine. What's up?"
"The Charms teacher, Professor Warwick has just left for the Ministry. He asked if I could sit in for his class since I have a planning period. Unfortunately, the Headmistress had just asked me to teach Transfiguration since Professor Smith just left for home. Her sister is sick."
"Let me guess," Harry said. "You want me to teach Charms?"
"I'd much rather do as the headmistress asked than another teacher."
"I thought I bombed last time I tried to teach. Isn't there someone else?"
"No there isn't, and you didn't 'bomb', whatever that means. You did well. I've never seen Ryan turn in homework before!"
Harry blinked. "You mean that little annoying kid?"
"Yes," Grander said nodding.
Harry sighed. "I suppose I could step in. Kids are going to start thinking I'm a substitute."
Grander smiled and hurried away. Harry set his steps to the charm classroom before remembering he had no idea how to work the computer that would give him the lesson plans. He turned as though expecting Grander to still be there but the corridor was empty.
Harry took a deep breath and headed to the classroom. It was empty when he arrived. All the students were still eating breakfast in the Great Hall. Harry cast a dubious look at the computer before setting in the seat in front of it and pressing the power button.
The gentle whirring noise the computer had been making died down.
"Whoops," Harry said, quickly pushing the power button again.
The computer started again and immediately Harry found himself staring at the desktop. He scanned the monitor and clicked on the icon that said, 'Lesson Plans' Just as he was patting himself on the back for getting that much right, a small window popped up. Blinking in surprise, Harry read it aloud.
"Please insert name and password."
Glancing around the room, Harry typed in 'Warwick' under name and then typed it again under password.
Another window popped up saying it was the incorrect password. Harry clicked the 'okay' button and pressed backspace over the automatically highlighted password. Thinking for a moment, he slowly typed in 'Hogwarts' under password.
The incorrect password window popped up again. Frowning, Harry erased the password again. Typing in Gryffindor, Harry tried again.
This time the same window did not pop up. A small warning window popped up. Harry read it in panic. 'You have typed in the incorrect password. If you do not desist in you attempt to break into the computer, you will be arrested'.
Harry's eyes grew wide. He clicked the okay button again and stared at the computer. What was the password? Reached over to switch off the monitor, deciding it would simply be better to try it without the computer, his elbow hit a button on the keyboard. A loud buzzer began to sound. Completely panicking now, Harry whipped out his wand and hit it hard on the computer, shouting, "Quietus!"
The buzzing was silenced. Harry breathed a sigh of relief that was suddenly stopped. Three people had just appeared in the doorway. He recognized them as three professors.
"Harry?" the Astronomy teacher asked, confused.
"I'm sorry!" Harry said desperately. "Professor Grander asked me to sit in the class because he had to sit in for Transfiguration and he had promised to sit in here too! I didn't mean to! I was trying to get into the lesson plans! It was an accident! It asked for a password and I didn't know it and it started beeping at me!"
The Astronomy teacher took one look at his panic stricken face and burst out laughing. Harry was shocked. Why was she laughing?
The other teachers started laughing too. The Astronomy teacher tried to regain control over herself. "I-I'm sorry!" she gasped. "You just looked so- so terrified! It was hilarious!"
Harry frowned, his panic ebbing away. "It's not funny!"
The Astronomy teacher burst out laughing again. Harry patiently waited for her to stop, regaining control over his emotions. Meanwhile, a light had started flashing over the computer. The students had begun to leave the Great Hall and a few of them had stopped in the corridor to see what was going on. Harry waved his wand irritably at the flashing light. It stopped.
By the time the whole thing was cleared up, the entire class had arrived and was staring at him. Harry felt much more uncomfortable than he had done teaching the previous class.
He cleared his throat unnecessarily to get their already undivided attention. "Er.I'm Harry. I'm going to be sitting in for Professor Warwick. As you all saw, I couldn't get into his computer to see what you're covering so I'm going to have to rely on you. Er.yes?"
A hand was in the air.
"Excuse me, Professor, but people are saying around school that you banished Lord Voldemort yesterday when he attacked Hogsmeade."
Harry shifted uncomfortably. He had never liked to talk about his achievements. "Er.who told you this?"
"It's true, isn't it?" asked a little girl, looking up at him in awe. "I heard he burnt London to the ground!"
"Well, yes, he did-" Harry began.
"I heard only Harry Potter's powers rivaled Voldemort's," said a boy skeptically.
"That's true-" Harry tried.
"I don't think it's the same Voldemort," said one girl matter-a-factly.
"Actually-"
"What are you talking about? Of course it's the same Voldemort!" said a boy, scoffing. "How many do you think there are?"
"Excuse me-" Harry tried to get their attention.
"It could be a copycat," the girl responded.
"Hello?" Harry said, trying to get a word in.
"That just shows how much you know," the boy scoffed.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Class!" Harry yelled loudly.
They continued to ignore him. "But how did they know he was going to attack Hogsmeade?"
"He stood out there forever! They couldn't not know!"
Having enough, Harry pulled out his wand and waved it. Silence fell instantly though they were still attempting to talk. The class blinked.
"Thank you," Harry said. His voice sounded eerily loud. "If we can please turn our attention back to me?"
Harry waved his wand again and a few students made noises experimentally.
"How did you do that?" asked the girl who had thought it wasn't the real Voldemort.
"It's a charm," Harry said pointedly. "Something you came to this class to learn. Last time I checked, it was the teacher who did the talking."
"And how long ago was that?" asked a boy sarcastically.
"About the last time he brushed his hair," muttered his friend loudly.
"No," Harry said, grinning a little. "It was actually much longer than that."
"Excuse me, Professor," asked a girl that hadn't said anything. "I've seen you around school a few times, but nobody's quite sure what you do."
"I'm currently substituting for Professor Warwick," Harry said, trying to change the subject without the class noticing. "If you will all look back up here-"
"But Professor," interjected a boy. "You don't look old enough to be 17! I know, I've got 5 older brothers!"
"I'm older than 17," Harry said before remembering he was stuck in 16-year- old form.
"You don't look it," said a girl skeptically.
"Trust me," Harry said. "Now, back to the subject of charms. Who can tell me what you did last class?"
"We went over chapter five," said a girl promptly.
"And what's in that chapter?" Harry asked, flipping through the book on the desk to chapter 5. "Ah, the history of charms? Er.I never did this."
"What do you mean?" asked a boy quickly. "I mentioned it to my mum and she said it was her least favorite time in Charms. She's way older than you are!"
A few kids laughed. Harry thought of something to say. "Well, never mind that. Today we're going to be practicing Charms. So, wands out everyone."
Everyone looked at one another but no one moved to take their wands out.
"Er." Harry said. "That means remove your wands from your bags."
Casting confused looks at each other, the kids rummaged in their bags for their wands.
When the last kid had their wand in their hand, Harry whipped his out. "Okay, we're going to be covering the summoning charm today. Can anyone tell me what the summoning charm is?"
"It summons things?" said a boy sarcastically.
"That's the about it," Harry said. "Is there anyone in here who can perform it?"
The class looked at each other.
"No?" Harry asked, a little putout. "This is 4th year, isn't it?"
The class nodded.
Harry took a deep breath. "Okay, well, the spell is Accio. Say you wanted to summon a book. Then you could point your wand at it and say the charm, or you could say Accio Book. Either way. Accio Book!"
The book sitting on a girl's desk in the front of the class zoomed into Harry's hand. Harry looked around and saw every kid looking startled.
"Wow," the girl whose book Harry was holding said.
"What?" Harry asked, thinking this was some kind of joke. "It's not that big a deal. It's not like it's really that powerful."
"That's like 7th year magic!" said a boy, staring at Harry. "We're not supposed to learn stuff like that yet!"
"That's not 7th year," Harry said, confused. "It's 4th. That's when I learned. Okay, er." Harry opened the cabinet behind the desk. "Here are some books. Everyone can summon them. Um, everyone to the front of the class for a moment."
The class shuffled to the front of the class, looking apprehensive. Harry waved his wand and the desks flew to the side of the room into neat rows. There were collective gasps from the class.
"What?" Harry asked, irritated.
"I've never seen someone do that," said a girl. "You must be pretty powerful!"
"Er.thanks," Harry said. "But I hardly feel I deserve it. I bet all you professors can do it."
"No, they can't," said a boy seriously. "I've never seen someone who can do it."
At that moment, a girl came bursting into the room. She looked as if she had gotten ready in a hurry and ran all the way here. "Sorry, Professor Warwick!" she gasped. "My alarm didn't go off! I-" She stopped seeing Harry. "Oh, sorry. I thought this was Charms."
"It is," said a girl.
The girl blinked. "What are we doing?"
"Magic," said a boy.
"Magic?" asked the girl blankly. "What does that mean?"
"We're practicing the summoning charm," Harry said. He started to pass out books. "We're practicing on these books."
"But summoning charms are N.E.W.T. level!" said the girl in awe.
"No they're not," Harry said. "They're 4th year. Here, get into groups of three." The class quietly organized into groups. They all stared at him, their wands held loosely.
"Er.now what do we do?" asked a boy nervously.
"Summon the books to you," Harry said. "Remember the charm is Accio."
"Can we see you do it again?" asked a girl apprehensively.
Harry pointed his wand at a book and said, "Accio!" The book flew into his hand. "See? It's easy."
The class looked at their book and there were a few nervous shouts of "Accio!"
Nothing happened. Harry walked around the classroom, correcting grips and pronunciations. By the end of class only a few people managed to move their books at all. Harry sat down at the teacher's desk and absentmindedly twirled his wand between his fingers as he did when he wasn't paying attention to anything. He was thinking hard. The students were very much behind. Only one person had managed to do the charm properly.
He was still sitting at the desk when Grander came it. "Oh, Harry! There you are. How did it go?"
"They don't know summoning charms," Harry said, looking at him.
"Well of course not!" Grander said laughing. "That's seventh year magic!"
"It wasn't seventh year magic when I was in school. It was 4th year," Harry said stubbornly.
"That was quite a long time ago," Grander said pointedly. "Times have doubtlessly changed."
"Clearly," Harry said. "Only one student could perform the charm at all and only a few others could even make their book move."
"They just haven't had much practice," Grander said shrugging. "We don't do a lot of magic in school today."
"Trust me," Harry said. "That much I know." He stood up. "I think that perhaps to give the kids a fighting chance; you should start to teach them magic in classes."
"But I'm History of Magic professor," Grander said pointedly. "We don't do magic in my class."
"They didn't teach it with me either," Harry said stubbornly. "But there's a first time for everything, right?"
Grander took a deep breath and nodded.
* * *
Harry opened his eyes. That same horrible ceiling looked down on him. Harry frowned. He hated that ceiling.
He sat up and grabbed his glasses. He changed quickly into his robes and stuffed his wand into his pocket.
Waving his wand once at the little red light at his feet to prevent the alarm going off, Harry exited his room quietly and without notice. He set his footsteps to the Gryffindor common room.
He stopped in front of a large door where the fat lady had used to hang. Trying it, he found it locked.
It was then that he noticed a small number pad at the side. So they did still have passwords. He pulled out his wand and prodded the little keyboard. It shut off and Harry heard the lock click in the door.
This time, the door opened for him. He blinked in the gloom of the room and realized it didn't have a fire. At one horrific thought, he groped toward the wall and found a light switch. This was wrong in so many ways.
There was a groan from the room. Apparently a student had fallen asleep in the common room.
"It's not morning yet."
"Sorry," Harry muttered and flipped off the lights again.
"Did I fall asleep in the common room again?" asked a voice from the darkness.
"Looks like it," Harry said. He couldn't stop himself from grinning.
Grumbling sleepily, the figure gathered up his books and made for the boys' staircase.
When the room was deserted again, Harry flipped on the lights.
The common room was very different. With the absence of the fireplace, it seemed smaller. The polished stone walls were nearly covered with large Gryffindor banners. Harry saw a large picture of the Quidditch team, holding broomsticks and wearing 3D glasses. Harry frowned.
This certainly hadn't been how it was when he was in school. He had half a mind to blast a fireplace in the wall, but he knew that wouldn't do any good. Besides, he was rather hesitant about fire at the moment.
He shook his head and walked out of the room. His footsteps carried him to Dumbledore's office for the third time since he'd been there. He sat down against the wall.
"Was it this hard for you?" Harry asked suddenly. "Was it really this complicated? If it was, how did you do it? It doesn't make any sense to me."
There was no answer. The gargoyle remained as motionless as always.
Harry sighed. "I don't know how it is I came back," he said at last. "I don't know why and I don't know how. Well, yes. I do know why. Because Voldemort's back and someone has to defeat him, don't they? How is a different story, however."
He leaned his head back against the wall. "I just saw the Gryffindor common room. It's horrible. It really is. It's nothing like it's supposed to be. It's just wrong." He took a deep breath. "I don't want to go through this again, Dumbledore. I kinda wish you were here to help."
The gargoyle behind Harry stirred. Harry leapt to his feet. The entrance opened before his eyes. Blinking, Harry looked up as the moving staircase began to move. It made a scraping noise and it didn't go very fast. It looked like it hadn't been used in hundreds of years.
Harry stepped onto the staircase. A sense of excitement grew within him- something he had not felt since he had arrived. He was going up to Dumbledore's old office!
He stopped in front of the door. Feeling it would be truly horrible to simply waltz in after all those years, but not really expecting a response, Harry reached up a fist and knocked.
Sounds came from inside. First one person spoke.
"Was that a knock?"
A few more sleepy voices answered.
"What are you on about?"
"A knock! There was a knock on the door!"
"Of course it wasn't! No one even remembers this place! Why would they knock? They would just come in!"
"I heard a knock!" Insisted the first voice.
"Well don't just stand there, moron! Tell them to come in!"
"Come in!"
The voices hushed suddenly and Harry slowly pushed open the door.
He looked into the expectant faces of every portrait in the office.
"Well I'll be!" gasped a witch. "It's Harry Potter! Look at his scar! Hasn't aged a day, he hasn't!"
The room erupted into noise. Harry took a step back involuntarily.
Finally one voice spoke above the others. "It's good to see you again, Harry."
Harry looked at the speaker. "P-Professor D-Dumbledore?"
The room quieted once again.
"Good evening, Harry. May I ask how it is you arrived in this time?" Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling.
"I never thought I'd see you again!" Harry said. "You've just been sitting up here the whole time?"
Dumbledore shrugged in his portrait. "There's no where else to go. Do have any idea what year it is?"
"3003, I think," Harry answered.
"Good, now perhaps you could explain to this eagerly waiting crowd of portraits how it is you're sixteen in the years 3003."
"I don't really know," Harry said. "There's a graveyard outside the castle and I woke up in it the other day and the whole thing was on fire! I don't know how or why, but I was sitting in my own grave, Dumbledore. My grave."
"Indeed," Dumbledore said, frowning slightly. "I'm afraid I'm rather a bit off my game, I haven't had anything worth while to think about in quite a long time. Let's see.the graveyard was on fire, you say?"
Harry nodded.
"And do you remember anything about your life before you died but after you were the age you are now.in the other time?"
Harry nodded. "I remember everything. I have no idea about anything though, and now Voldemort's back and he's trying to destroy the world. And this future world is horribly dependant on technology. There's a light switch in the Gryffindor common room!"
There was scattered mumbling throughout the portraits.
"And you're afraid the wizarding world can't defeat Voldemort because they know nothing of magic?"
"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "I'm afraid the wizarding world can't even begin to defend itself against the likes of Voldemort. Defeating him is out of the question."
Dumbledore rubbed his eyes. "Welcome back to the world," he muttered. "This certainly wasn't what I was expecting to hear the second the first person came in here."
"Sorry," Harry said apologetically. "I just don't have any idea what I'm supposed to do. I've taught a few classes here and the students are learning summoning charms in N.E.W.T. year!"
"That's ridiculous," a wizard in another portrait shouted. "Surely they know more than that!"
Harry shook his head. "When I told them we were having a practical lesson, I also had to tell them that we would actually be using wands in class!"
The room had gone rather silent.
"How did you get in here?" Asked a wizard suddenly. Harry recognized him as Phineas Nigellus.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, how did you get in?"
"I dunno," Harry said. "I've come down here twice already and then Grander- the History of Magic teacher-told me that he didn't even know there was a room behind here!"
"That's because no one could get in," Dumbledore said heavily. "When the person who made my portrait.made my portrait, he was supposed to unlock the door and choose a password. He didn't. He didn't even use the door. It hasn't opened since."
"Geez," Harry said, blinking. "Who made your portrait?"
"I barely remember," Dumbledore said, waving a hand dismissively.
"Yes you do!" said a witch suddenly. "It was." she trailed off, her eyes wide. "I mean, I suppose that was the person who made my portrait."
Harry looked at them all, frowning. "Do you really remember and just don't want to tell me?"
"Truthfully?" Dumbledore asked. Harry nodded. "Yes."
"Why should it even matter?" Harry asked. His temper rose again and he stopped, holding it in check. "I mean, they're dead, right?"
"You would think," Dumbledore said heavily.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked.
"Another day, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Not tonight. It would take far too long to explain."
"Just like old times," Harry muttered. "Fine. Don't tell me. But I'm not really 16, remember? I just happen to be in my 16-year-old form. Everyone's treating me like one of the students. They don't seem to realize I'm actually much older than anyone alive today-except for Voldemort. He has a few years on me."
"Not enough to talk about," Dumbledore said smiling kindly.
"So," Phineas said. "Perhaps we could back to the problem at hand that is the complete destruction of the world at Voldemort's hands. There are very few people who get third chances, you know. Lots of people get second chances. Not very many third."
Harry looked at him oddly. "Having trouble staying on topic, are we?"
Phineas shrugged. "I was very bored for 1000 years."
"I can tell."
Phineas scowled.
"So, tell me about Voldemort's previous attacks."
_________________________________________________
A/N: Tadda! Did anyone read the chapter of my other story before they read this one? Oh well. There are a few answers in it...
Prd2bAmerican18: Updated!!
Allizarin Sylvain Phyre: I hope this is longer!
sabrina: Thanks!
Padfoot Lover 73: Sooner than expected! But, hey, it was a weekend. I couldn't pass up the chance to post now, could I?
sara*magic: I updated BTBT as well! I like your comparison. Grander has more to him than first sight. Boy, cryptic or what?
Authoress: Hehe! Dumbledore's in a portrait! I don't know about Ron and Hermione, but Dumbledore's back! Who made his portrait? Wait didn't they say something about that in BTBT...?
Me: Thanks for all the reviews! I know this one is posted earlier than I expected it to be, but I'm sure no one has any objections...
Gilthas: Except for you! What did I tell you about posting too many chapters? What are you going to do when all this posting catches up to you and you have nothing more to post?
Me: Roll over and die?
Gilthas: *hits self in forehead*
Me: Okay, press that little BLUE button and review! :)