Chapter 20:
Spirit of Time
As the realm continued to break down, Voldemort and Harry were transported to another realm. This one was bleak and desolate. Voldemort looked over at Harry and asked, "Where are we, Potter?"
Harry said, "I'm not for sure, yet, but if we are where I suspect we are, then we're dead."
Voldemort looked at Harry suspiciously, "What are you talking about, Potter? We're not dead."
Harry shook his head, "Not yet, but unless we work together we will be."
As the two of them stood staring off into the nothingness that surrounded them, a spirit began to materialize before them. Harry swore loudly, "Damn. This is bad."
The spirit finished materializing, and began to speak, "The two of you have shown a blatant disregard for the sanctity of time. Now, you must pay the price."
Voldemort snarled, "Who do you think you are, spirit? I am Lord Voldemort, and I do not take lectures from pathetic entities like yourself."
Harry reached over and slapped Voldemort in the side of the head. "Are you crazy? This is the Spirit of Time, Tom. He's the manifestation of one of the controlling influences of magic. We're in his world, and we have to play by his rules."
Voldemort froze as the impact of what Harry had said hit him. "We're in one of the Spirit realms?"
Harry nodded, "Of course. You interfered with time, and so did I when I tried to stop you. You knew there would be consequences to going back."
The Spirit of Time interrupted them, "While I am particularly enjoying the argument that the two of you are having, I have other things to do with my time. Since the two of you are stuck here forever, then I will have plenty of time to observe you later." Then, the Spirit of Time disappeared from their sight.
Voldemort turned to Harry and said, "It seems that the two of us have no choice but to call a truce."
Harry replied while gritting his teeth, "I am well aware of that fact, Tom. Since the two of us came in together, then the only way for us to leave is together."
Voldemort nodded, "We might as well begin by you educating me about Spirit Realms. I know that you have combed my mind for all my knowledge, and I have no clue how to leave here. So, if you know how to get out, then tell me."
Harry sighed, "The only way for us to get out of this realm is to track down the Spirit of Time and convince him to give us the opportunity to fight our way out. Hopefully, the idea of watching us in combat will amuse him, and he will give us the chance. If he refuses, we could team together and destroy him to get out, but that would break down the entire sequence of time, and we would never get back to where we wanted to go."
Voldemort waved his wand and conjured a carriage for himself. He climbed onto it and waved his wand again, and it began to move. He looked back over his shoulder and said, "Coming, Potter?"
Harry sighed once again, "Do I have a choice?" Harry waved his hand and conjured another carriage. He jumped aboard and it began to follow Voldemort's carriage. The two of them journeyed for what seemed like days before finally encountering the Spirit of Time. Harry leaned towards Voldemort and whispered quickly, "Whatever you might be thinking, keep your mouth shut. The Spirit of Time knows that you are the one that started this mess in the first place. Let me do the talking."
Voldemort's eyes flashed with fury at being spoken to thus, but seeing how he knew Harry to be right, he said nothing. Then, Voldemort nodded curtly to signal that he would comply with Harry's terms.
Harry turned back towards the Spirit of Time as they approached and said, "Spirit of Time, we have come before you to beg for a chance to redeem ourselves."
The Spirit leaned back in the air into a reclining position and said, "Well, proceed. I am anxious to hear what idea you might have."
Harry took a deep breath before beginning to speak, "We think that we should be tested in combat by you. If we can succeed in the tasks that you put before us, we should be given our freedom. In essence, Spirit of Time, we are challenging your wits with our power."
The Spirit of Time laughed uproariously, "My, you certainly are a bold one. I will accept your terms. However, I will need time to prepare the challenges that the two of you will face. Also, both of you must succeed in defeating the challenges or neither of you will go free."
Harry nodded, "We accept your terms, Spirit of Time."
The Spirit of Time nodded, "Remain here until I return. Then, I will present you with the first challenge." The Spirit of Time vanished from the sight of the two wizards once again.
Harry leaped from his carriage, and vanished it with a wave of his hand. Then, Harry sat down on the ground with his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and drifted into a meditative state.
Voldemort interrupted his thoughts by asking, "What are you doing, Potter?"
Harry replied easily, "I am meditating."
"Why?"
"What else do I have to do until the Spirit of Time returns? I might as well prepare myself for the battle ahead." answered Harry.
Voldemort conjured a plush seat for himself and sat down. He leaned back and settled himself for the wait ahead.
The two wizards sat, each lost in their own thoughts awaiting what was to come. In Harry's case, this meant his thoughts were focused upon memories of a certain fiery young red head that had captured his heart. In Voldemort's case, this meant that his thoughts were focused on how he was going to manage to kill Potter once the two of them had concluded this despicable truce. Power was the only thing that mattered, and Voldemort was determined that his power was to be absolute. Harry was just as determined to stop this, but he knew that focusing his entire life around stopping Voldemort would not allow him to truly enjoy life, so he kept his thoughts centered on more pleasant matters.
Finally, the Spirit of Time returned. He clasped his ethereal hands together with glee and said, "I have prepared the challenges that will await you. Now, we must go."
Harry and Voldemort followed the Spirit of Time until they reached two Firebolt broomsticks. Harry's eyes lit up in anticipation at the same moment Voldemort's eyes darkened with fury. Harry asked brightly, "So, what do we have to do?"
The Spirit of Time said, "I have prepared three challenges for you. If you complete the first, then I will tell you what the second is. The first challenge is a series of riddles. Between the two of you, you only have one chance to answer the riddle. If the answer you give is wrong, then you have failed, and you will remain here forever. Shall we begin?"
Harry looked over at Voldemort, who nodded for Harry to continue, but muttered under his breath, "This is ridiculous. I am the Dark Lord. I do not have time for kid's games."
Harry muttered back to him, "In this realm, we have nothing but time. So, get used to it. If we are going to get out of here, this is what we have to do." Then, out loud to the Spirit of Time, Harry said, "Spirit of Time, we are ready to hear these riddles."
The Spirit of Time replied, "I will give them to you one at a time. To receive the next riddle, you must correctly answer the one before it. There a total of five. Here is the first. What can't you see that is always before you?"
Harry sat down, and began musing aloud, "What the heck does that mean? You can always see things that are before you, unless they are invisible, but surely that couldn't be the answer. There aren't always invisible people in front of you."
Voldemort snorted, "You're pathetic, Potter. To think that they say you are one of the most brilliant students to come to Hogwarts is a joke. It is a time riddle, Potter." Voldemort turned to the Spirit of Time, "The answer is the future. Next riddle."
The Spirit of Time laughed gleefully, "Excellent. The next riddle is this. What starts with "e" ends with "e" and contains only one letter?"
Voldemort stood bewildered at this one. Harry chuckled, "You haven't had contact by Post in a long time, Tom. The answer to this one is an envelope."
The Spirit of Time cackled, "That's two. Three more to go. The next one goes like this. What do you break by saying just one word?"
Voldemort snorted, "This one is child's play. The answer is silence."
The Spirit of Time crossed his arms and said, "It seems that my riddles aren't challenging you enough, but since your name is that of our subject, I suppose that I should have expected you to be a master. The next riddle is based on Muggle principles of transportation. Two planes take off at the same exact moment. They are flying across the Atlantic. One leaves New York and is flying to Paris at 500 miles per hour. The other leaves Paris and is flying to New York at only 450 miles per hour because of a strong head wind . Which one will be closer to Paris when they meet?"
Voldemort turned to Harry and growled, "You have had contact with the Muggle world much more recently than I, Potter. Figure this one out."
Harry replied, "It has to be a play on words somehow. Unless you knew the distance between the two cities, then this would be impossible to answer. Riddles don't require knowledge that is out of the ordinary to be answered, so there has to be a trick to it." Harry asked the Spirit of Time, "Could I hear the riddle again?"
The Spirit of Time nodded and repeated the riddle. Harry grinned, "I get it. If the two of them are meeting, then they are at the same place. The answer is neither. They are both the same distance from Paris."
The Spirit of Time nodded. "Very good. The final riddle is the hurdle you must pass to reach the second challenge. Each of you will be forced to make a statement to me. If you lie, I will kill you. If you tell the truth, I will kill the other wizard with you. Now, what do each of you have to say to me?"
Harry and Voldemort turned to each other in bewilderment. Voldemort asked, "Do you have any clue what to say?"
Harry replied thoughtfully, "It has to be a paradox of some kind. Something that would force him into inaction. Otherwise one of us will be killed, and the other will be stuck here forever."
The two wizards sat pondering this for some time, until it seemed that the Spirit of Time was starting to get impatient. "If the two of you don't answer soon, then I will just kill both of you, and end this."
At that moment the answer came to Harry, and he smiled. He whispered in an aside to Voldemort, "Just say exactly what I say to him, and we will be fine." Harry stood up and walked towards the Spirit of Time. "You will kill me."
Voldemort echoed him, "You will kill me."
The Spirit of Time reared, "You are the first wizards to ever get the correct answer to this riddle. On to the second challenge." The Spirit of Time motioned for the two of them to grab the broomsticks. "The second challenge is an obstacle course that I have designed. The object is to pass through this without being knocked from your broom. If either of you fail, then you shall remain here forever."
Harry nodded, "We get the picture."
Voldemort growled, "We have a problem, Potter."
"What is that, Tom?"
"I haven't ridden a broom in over thirty years."
Harry chortled, "Well, just retrieve the information on how from my brain."
Voldemort entered Harry's brain to find the information on broom handling pushed to the forefront of his brain. Voldemort could not resist the temptation of trying to dig farther into Harry's brain to attempt to gain some information that would aid him later. However, upon trying to delve farther into Harry's mind, Voldemort found himself being forcefully thrown to the ground by the defenses in Harry's mind. Harry snorted, "That was stupid. You should have known that I wouldn't be that lax with you in my mind."
Voldemort snarled, "Whatever, Potter. Let us continue with this ridiculous endeavor, so that I might return to my minions."
Harry swung a leg over his broom, "Let's do it then." Voldemort followed suit, and the two of them rose in the air until they were level with the Spirit of Time.
The Spirit of Time pointed, "There is the entrance to the obstacle course. You may begin whenever you are ready. Remember, if you fall from your broom, then you are disqualified, and you will remain here forever."
Harry looked over his shoulder at Voldemort, "Let's get this over with, Tom." The two wizards darted into the obstacle course. Both of them were met with heavy opposition the moment they entered. Two Chinese Fireballs began following them breathing fire at the tails of their broomsticks. Harry began hurling Conjunctivitis Curses over his shoulder with his left hand while attempting to guide the broomstick to dodge the various obstacles that kept appearing at the last minute in front of him. Not to mention, the fire from the dragon behind him was causing a great deal of difficulty. Voldemort was sticking close to him, and using his wand to cast Reductor Curses and Explosion Hexes at the objects in front of him. At one point during the duration of the obstacle course, Harry caught himself thinking, 'Its too bad Tom had to turn to evil. The two of us actually make a good team.' Harry immediately shook that thought out of his head. The fact remained that after this was over, the two of them would be enemies once again, and they would both be trying to kill each other. After what seemed like hours to the two overtaxed and exhausted wizards, they finally emerged from the obstacle course. They both landed their brooms, and Harry collapsed onto the ground saying, "I need a nap."
Voldemort sank down weakly beside him, "For once in our lives, Potter, I actually agree with you."
The Spirit of Time chose that moment to appear before them. He laughed with glee, "That was extremely entertaining. Although, I must say that I never expected the two of you to make it out of there."
Harry sighed as he laid back on the ground, "I'm happy that we disappointed you."
The Spirit of Time continued, "Are the two of you ready for the third challenge?"
Harry let out a long breath, "I assume that we are as ready as we will ever be."
The Spirit of Time smiled, "Excellent. The third task is for the two of you to defeat clones of yourselves in combat with swords." The Spirit raised his hands above his head, and two bolts of lightning hit the ground. As soon as the haze cleared from the lightning strikes it became apparent that where the two bolts had struck the ground, there were now standing two replicas of Harry and Voldemort. Each of them were slightly yellowish in complexion, so that they could be differentiated from the originals. Both of them were holding dueling swords in their hands, and were standing in dueling stances at the ready.
Harry sighed as he stood up, "This is not going to be fun."
Voldemort stood up beside him, "No, it is not. However, I do not intend to die here."
Harry replied, "Nor do I." Both of them conjured swords, and squared off.
The Spirit of Time interjected, "That will be the last magic that the two of you are allowed to do in this challenge. Your clones will perform no magic either." He clapped his hands together, "You may begin."
As soon as the second clap faded away, the two clones sprang into action. Harry and Voldemort were ready for them, and the duel commenced. Harry went one on one with his clone version, while Voldemort did the same with his. After about an hour of matching each other blow for blow and parry for parry. Harry said aloud to Voldemort, "This is never going to work. We can't defeat ourselves. We have to duel the other one's clone. That way there will be a way to surprise them."
Voldemort grunted his assent. So, Harry took a moment to gauge the time it would take to switch, and yelled, "Now."
Voldemort rolled away from his clone, while Harry did a back flip over Voldemort as he rolled away. This left Voldemort's clone swinging at nothing, and he was completely off balance to attempt to counter the blows Harry immediately rained at him upon landing from the back flip. It took only seconds for Harry to slip past the clone's guard and land a mortal wound.
Voldemort did not fare so well against Harry's clone. Harry's clone was in a better position to prepare for the switch, and immediately began hacking away at Voldemort. Voldemort was forced to assume a defensive stance, and attempt to keep Harry's clone off of him until Harry could finish Voldemort's clone off. Harry did so and then turned his attention to his own clone. While the clone had all of Harry's skills and powers it was impossible for him to stand up to the assault from both of the wizards in front of him. It was only a matter of time before they began to nick blows past his guard, and as he slowly wore out from the constant assault, Harry finally scored a major wound under the arm, and caused the clone to drop his sword. Voldemort quickly took advantage of this and plunged his sword into the clone's chest. Then, he turned to the real Harry, "Our truce is over. Your death will make this one seem kind and compassionate, Potter."
Harry smiled, "We shall see, Tom. We shall see." Harry turned to the Spirit of Time, "I believe that we have fulfilled all the requirements that you made of us. It is time for us to return to the present."
The Spirit of Time nodded, "I have enjoyed the display of entertainment that you have shown me, Mr. Potter. I have a reward for you." He switched his glance over to Voldemort, "You may go." Voldemort disappeared in an instant to ride the eddies of time back to the present.
Harry asked, "What reward do you have for me, Spirit of Time?"
The Spirit of Time waved his hand, and the spirits of Lily and James materialized before Harry. James grinned as he glided up to Harry, "You have done an excellent job thus far, my son. I am proud of you."
Lily smiled, "We love you, Harry. Remember that."
Harry smiled as tears sprang into his eyes, "I know, Mum. I love both of you very much."
Another voice intruded on the scene, "Are those tears I see, Harry? It seems that you have grown up somewhat since I have been gone."
Harry's face lit up even more as he spun around to the source of the voice, "Sirius?"
Sirius grinned, "In the flesh."
Lily frowned at him, "That was a horrible joke, Sirius."
Harry and James chuckled. James said, "I think that the Marauders enjoyed it, Padfoot. So, you will have to ignore my beautiful wife, who has no taste in humor."
Lily glared daggers at her husband, but said nothing. Harry asked, "So does this mean that I get to be a Marauder, now."
James nodded, "As soon as we come up with a Marauder name for you."
Sirius asked, "So, what is it going to be, Prongs?"
Lily answered for the three men as they mused, "I think it should be Goldenwing."
James' face lit up, "Hey, that's good. Lily, I'm impressed. That was really a great name." James and Sirius turned to face Harry and said in unison, "We now dub you Goldenwing, a true Marauder."
Harry bowed, "I accept this honor, and as soon as I finish with Tom, I will do everything in my power to return the fear of Marauder pranks to Hogwarts."
James grinned, "That's my boy."
Sirius laughed, "I always told you that your spirit was hiding behind Lily's sense in that boy."
Lily smiled, "At least he inherited some sense from me. His father definitely didn't have any."
James protested, "I resemble that, and so does he." James pointed at Sirius as he said this.
The Spirit of Time interrupted them, "I am afraid that your time is over, Harry. You must return to the present. Voldemort has a head start on you. If you would like to have anything left to fight for, you must return to the present now."
Harry nodded. Tears sprang into his eyes once again. He said to the three spirits standing before him, "I will see you again, one day. I promise. Until then, I love you all."
The three of them said together as Harry faded from sight, "We love you, too, Harry."
This was the last thing Harry heard as he was swept away in the river of time as it progressed back to the present.
A/N: I have mentioned the story A New Beginning by James Potter's Lily Flowe before. I am going to do so again. I would really encourage all of you to give it a try. The link is in my favorite author's list. I know she would appreciate readers and reviewers. Thanks to all my readers.
US HP FAN: Why Voldemort is alive again should make a little more sense in the next chapter. Thanks for the review.
Vegita43: Killing him now would have been too easy, and a little too convenient. Thanks for the review.
Croberts: I'll try not to. Thanks for the review.
Lunawolf: The booming voice coming out of nowhere seems to be my trademark. Thanks for the review.
Lord of Darkness13: Yes, the Spirit of Time brought Voldemort back. Thanks for the review.
Goddess of war and wisdom: Thanks for the review.
Dragonstorm316: Voldemort still has some tricks up his sleeve. Thanks for the review.
Sambow 24: Thanks for the review.
FairyDust29: It will make a little more sense later. Thanks for the review.
Yugioh/Potter/Pokemon fanatic: I think all of your questions were answered in the chapter. Thanks for the review.
Jaws: There are going to be thirty chapters. Thanks for the review.
Kate potter13: Thanks for the review.
Volleypickle16: Thanks for the review.
MuggleNet27: Wrong timeline. Bellatrix is still alive in the real timeline that Harry is trying to return to. Thanks for the review.
Lucugirl07: If you're having dreams about my story, then I must be doing something right. Thanks for the review.
Tempest Dragon: It has arrived. Thanks for the review.
Cathy-Ann: No, there isn't. Thanks for the review.
Maria: You didn't really expect me to make it that easy on Harry. That would be boring. Thanks for the review.
Silverhawk4: It is going to go back to normal. Thanks for the review.
Lil Ole Me 97: Sorry you didn't have it figured out, but at least this way you don't know what is going to happen. Thanks for the review.
Gilly Loves Smut: Whatever he wants it to be. Thanks for the review.
HappySnakesRule: Voldemort still being alive will make more sense later. Thanks for the review.
Sassy-fras flower: Thanks for the review.
Laen: He's going to die, eventually. Thanks for the review.
ExpectoPatronum: Yes and no. You'll see. Thanks for the review.
Blind Faeri: Thanks for the review.
Aalikane: I still think that I could take him. Thanks for the review.
Hunta: Thanks for the review.
HermioneGreen: He gets to go back to his timeline. Thanks for the review.
HPGWFAN: That he could do, but to save his father and Sirius would be to take them away from his mother, not to mention it would upset the natural order of things since they had been dead for so long. Thanks for the review.
Blue Eyed Baby91090369: You shall receive more. Thanks for the review.
Plasterwork: My apologies. The chapter was a short framework, and the previous chapter got fifty reviews. I don't plan the length of chapters ahead of time. Thanks for the review.
Cicatriz: When you work fifty hours a week, go to school two days a week, and still manage to update your story three times a week, you can lecture me about laziness. The Creatus and Realmus are a stretch, but I was pressed for time. Thanks for the review.
RLupin1003: Thanks for the review.
Lourdes: Irrelevant. Harry still meddled with time. Thanks for the review.
HP-wannabe69: Don't worry, I've already killed him once. I wouldn't do it again. Thanks for the review.
Harryp123: Thanks for the review.
Danny Boy: Thanks for the review.
Blip-dragon: Thanks for the review.
Darak: Thanks for the review.
Johsonlam: They were. Thanks for the review.
Fireboy: Thanks for the review.
Gharienne: It will be explained later. Thanks for the review.
Maclir: You'll see. Thanks for the review.
Mad Scientist II: Thanks for the review.
Tatie: Thanks for the review.
Post-Scriptum: No worries. Thanks for the review.
Warmaster ed: I do the best I can: Thanks for the review.
Athena kitty: You'll see. Thanks for the review.
Froggyy1: I always try to do my best. Thanks for the review.
Finally: I'm not a girl. Thanks for the review.
Mr. Random: No promises on a sequel. Thanks for the review.
Elain Potter: It should make more sense after you hear Harry's explanation of what happened. Thanks for the review.
SilverWarrior: That was two of the spells that Harry was worried about Voldemort finding. And even Harry was surprised that Voldemort managed to hide the information away in his brain. His powers are growing. Thanks for the review.
Bluemoon52292: Rotting your brain. Thanks for the review.
PlasmaFyre: The third spell is not an enhanced Imperious Curse. That would be useless because the spell is based on a battle of wills, and Harry's is still stronger. The third spell will be used by Harry at a later point. Voldemort never finds out about it. Thanks for the review.
DigiBonds: I'm glad. Thanks for the review.
Kirby Chirby: Thanks for the review.
Ranko-kun: I like the phoenixes, too. Thanks for the review.
David Banner: Wasn't David Banner the Hulk? Thanks for the review.
Dust of a Phoenix: Thanks for the review.
Fire Starter: Yes, Harry returns to Ginny. I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for the review.