Harry Potter was sitting at his desk in his bedroom at number 4, Private Drive, deep in thought about the different events of his previous school year. Between his starting the Defense Association also known as Dumbledore's Army, his first attempt at having a girlfriend, his constant torture from both Voldemort and Dolores Umbridge, Dumbledore pretending he didn't know him for most of the year, and most of all, the devastating loss of the closest thing he had ever had to a father and elder brother : his godfather Sirius Black.
Not without an inward grin, he remembered Ron's comment about his ex-girlfriend Cho Chang : « How can a person feel all those things at the same time, I think I'd burst ! » Judging by how he had been feeling for the past week since he had arrived back at the Dursleys, he decided Ron had made a good point and Hermione had been very wrong about his having the emotional range of a teaspoon. He was certainly on the verge of bursting. He abscently pictured his aunt Petunia walking into his room with a brush and dustpan to sweep up his remains. Well, he thought, either I burst or I try to do something about it. The Dursleys were a bit kinder to him now since Mr Weasley, Remus Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody and Nymphadora Tonks had threatened them with the M-word as they were collecting him from King's Cross station. He was having decent meals and was allowed to watch the news if he wanted to. He had even been given one of Dudley's old televisions so that he could watch it in his room and stay out of their way.
One phrase he had heard a while ago came back to him as his thoughts drifted over to the Ministry and its incompetent rulers : desperate situations will bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Which way was he in the process of flipping? Smashing things in Dumbledore's office was so far the ultimate achievement of his temper which had been increaslingly aggravating since Voldemort's return to power. Taking it out on his friends and then on Dumbledore himself without waiting for any kind of explanation had certainly not been the best in him. He wondered if he could find a way to draw out his best side. How could he deal with all this in a sensible way? Now Dumbledore had openly admitted his mistakes to him when he could just have said « Oh well, hard luck, if Sirius had listened to me he'd still be alive wouldn't he? » or « Mr Potter, I'm the headmaster, I have no obligation to treat you differently from the other students ! ». No, Harry thought, if Dumbledore was wrong about something, it was his taking the blame onto himself entirely. He was doing his best in a very tight situation. He had only a few people with him to counter Voldemort and his minions and he had to keep out of sight of the ministry. Sirius's cover as a dog animagus had been blown so there was really nothing for it but for Sirius to stay in hiding. But he didn't have to pursue the train of thought to the end, it was obvious. The only one to blame was Voldemort. Yes, everything, no matter which way you look at it, it all comes back to Voldemort, Tom Riddle, last remaining heir of Salazar Slytherin, or so Dumbledore said...
Thinking of Slytherin made Harry think of the house baring his name and its head, professor Severus Snape. Occlumency ! Snape, his least favorite teacher had tried to teach him occlumency despite their down right hatred of each other. Snape had tried to put it aside to teach him. Harry thought about that for a while. Why did he insist I call him 'Sir' at all times ? thought Harry. Surely I would have done it anyway. Respect for teachers was something they were used to showing without thinking of it. But Snape had also ordered him to cast spells on him whenever the lesson required it. Of course, Harry realized what he should have thought of at the time. Snape just wanted him to understand that the fact that he was allowed to cast aggressive spells on him didn't automatically give him any other special rights such as familiarity in other ways. But why didn't he say so instead of being so mysterious? Maybe because addressing your teacher as 'Sir' should be automatic anyway as should be doing as he tells you without question. This was one unwritten unspoken rules against which Harry, like many teanagers, had always felt an urge to rebel. But why not show Snape the proper respect which his position commands ? Because he is so foul to students outside his own house. « Does that mean you're going to descend to his level ? » asked Hermione's voice in his head. It was her warning to Ron against abusing his prefect position just to get back at another prefect who did. Oh, hang Malfoy, he's not worth thinking about right now !
But Hermione and Ron ? His two best friends...followed close behind by Ginny, Neville and Luna Lovegood. Remembering them all together on the train or planning the DA brought Harry a feeling of light warmth mixed with the kind of gentle joy which follows a particularly long bout of depression. But I led them into danger and they all got hurt. They could have been killed ! We would all have been killed if it hadn't been for the Order turning up and Dumbledore facing Voldemort. And Sirius had died because he had so hastely ridden to the ministry. He had let Voldemort manipulate him into thinking he was holding Sirius there as a hostage. And Kreacher the house-elf had lied to him to substantiate Voldemort's baiting. If Dumbledore or McGonagall had been at Hogwarts he would only have had to go to one of them and they would have done something about it. But why weren't they available ? Because of the new defense teacher the ministry had provided, Dolores Umbridge, who was doing anything she pleased to gain control of every aspect of the sudents' lives. Why had the ministry planted her there and given her so much authority ? They had ceased to trust Dumbledore and wanted to frame him and his supporters so that they could get rid of them legally. Why had they stopped trusting Dumbledore ? Because of Voldemort lying low, the only proof they had of his return was a teenage boy's word. It all came back to Voldemort. Everything which had gone wrong in the wizarding world and in Harry's own life had been because of Voldemort. Voldemort, the Dark Lord whom only Harry Potter could kill. Harry was interrupted from his meditation by his uncle's voice yelling and spitting : « Boy, get down here this minute ! There are those freaks come to see you. Aaaarrrrghhhh ! » Harry jumped up and was out of his bedroom and half down the stairs when his mind had returned to reality. There in the hall stood Remus Lupin, former defense against the dark arts teacher and friend of Harry's father and Sirius, and Rubeus Hagrid, half giant, game keeper and professor of care of magical creatures at Hogwarts. Uncle Vernon was picking himself up off the floor with a hand on his left cheek where, it seemed, Hagrid had just slapped him. « All right, Harry ? », asked Lupin.
« Er, yeah ! », said Harry, « Hello professor, hi Hagrid, nice to see you both ! »
« Harry, do you think you could drop the 'professor' bit. Could you come with us to Mrs Figg's ? Professor Dumbledore and the Minister want a word. Don't forget your wand. »
Harry pulled out his wand to show he had it. He wasn't sure he was ready to face Dumbledore again so soon. It was only a week since the dramatic events at the ministry and their talk in Dumbledore's office. He was definetly not ready to see bloody Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic or whatever he cared to call himself. Oh well, thought Harry, now's the time to show the best in yourself ...if it's there at all, that is. He joined them in the hall. Hagrid put an arm round his shoulders and lead him out the front door and into the street. Lupin said he'd join them later. He wanted a word with Harry's uncle or so he said. On the way to Mrs Figg's house, Hagrid asked Harry : «How're ye doin' then ? »
Suddenly Harry felt how glad he was to see Hagrid. Now that's a real friend all right. Someone he could talk to and would give a grown-up's point of view without treating him like a kid. Harry answered casually : « Not too bad, I suppose. Been doing a lot of thinking lately, trying to understand things... »
Hagrid nodded : «You'll find that time'll help. Once y'ev had chance to reason it all out. An' don' worry about this meetin'. It's nothin' to get worked up about. » They were joined at that moment by Lupin who looked as shabby and as tired as ever. « Well, I've had a chat with your aunt and uncle, Harry. I think they understand now that treating you properly includes using your name and a proper tone of voice. And Vernon knows he'd bloody well better not take Hagrid's cuff out on you. If they put a single toe out of line, let us know, won't you. » Harry just nodded.
They were greated by old batty Mrs Figg who waved them over to the living room. The smell of cats and cabbage hadn't left since the last time Harry had been there over five years ago. Sitting in armchairs in the living room were Professor Albus Dumbledore and, to Harry's surprise, Arthur Weasley. They stood up immediately and both greated Harry with a warm handshake. As they all sat down, Harry and Remus on the sofa (covered in claw marks), Hagrid on a big stool, Mrs Figg came in carrying a tray full of cups of tea and home-made hot buttered crumpets and muffins and scones. She put the tray down on the coffee table and then left to attend to her cats.
Picking up a cup of steaming tea Dumbledore began : « Harry, the Minister and I have important things to tell you. I think we had better get the administrative stuff out of the way first. Minister, if you please. »
To Harry's most pleasant surprise, Mr Weasley pulled two envelopes out of his brief-case. So Mr Weasley was now...... Minister for Magic! They had really got rid of Fudge ? Well this was certainly good news. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling like they hadn't for quite a long time. Mr Weasley finally spoke : « I"m afraid, Harry, that the main reason I have come is Sirius. He made out a new will last June which he left on his desk in his room at Grimmauld Place in case anything happened to him. He has made you his sole heir and has left you everything. That includes the contents of his vault at Gringott's, number 12 Grimmauld Place, an unplottable castle up in the north of Scotland call Hageskoch and his flying motorbike» He paused to let the information sink in. Harry couldn't help feeling awful. He felt tears appear before his eyes. Somehow, hearing this made Sirius's death real and irreversible. He felt Hagrid's hand on his shoulder. Mr Weasley went on : « The contents of the Gringott's Vault are immense. The family fortune assembled over the last thousand years amounts to exactly ten million five hundred and thirty-two thousand seven hundred and fify nine galleons, eight hundred and ten sickles and a single bronze knut. The vault aslo contains several highly valuble items which you will discover yourself when you get there. » Harry felt sick. What on Earth was he going to do with all that money ? He was beginning to understand what people meant when they said that money doesn't make you any happier. He made a mental note to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Mr Weasley continued : « As soon as I was voted into office, I wrote Sirius's clearance so he is no longer considered a criminal by the ministry. And I have already added the twelve thousand galleons compensation to his vault. I have also awarded him a posthumous Order of Merlin First Class and taken away Pettigrew's. You will find it along with the other documents in this envelope. No need to go through them now. It's just important that you have them. And here is the key to his vault and his wand. I thought you'd like to keep it. » Harry put the eveloppe to one side, added the key to his own vault key on a ring in his left trouser pocket. He realized he certainly did want to keep Sirius's wand. It almost felt as though Sirius was with him again in his mind. It made him feel better all of a sudden. And with the relief came what he was most dreading in front of all those men : he burst into tears. He barely heard Dumbledore telling him : « If you don't mind, Harry, we'll leave you alone for a few minutes. Do try the crumpets though, they're simular to those exellent biscuits Professor McGonagall thrives on though you're not supposed to know about that. » Harry found that the little joke helped him to relax and just pour out his excessively entangled emotions which had been piling up and mingling for over a fortnight.
As he finally emerged from the hiccupping, succeeded in drying his eyes and blowing his nose, he began to worry if anyone had heard him screaming. He realized he wasn't alone. Beside him on the sofa sat Nymphadore Tonks, a metamorphagus auror and friend of Sirius and Remus. Without a word she pulled him towards herself in a hug which was very different from anything he had ever had from Mrs Weasley. Before he could place the difference on any particular feature, Tonks had fastened her mouth on his and his thoughts went blank. After what seemed like forever but still not long enough, Tonks released him and said quickly : « I just thought you could do with something else to think about. And there's plenty more where that came from if you need it and much much more. Just don't tell anyone or Molly will start having kittens!» Harry's first thought was something unclear about her being ten years older than him but he decided it didn't matter. What did she mean by 'much much more' anyway ? Then it became clear as she used her metamorphagus powers to make her bosom swell to twice its original size.
The door opened and the others came back in. Lupin sat in an armchair this time leave the sofa to Harry and Tonks who still had her arms round him. Dumbledore said : « The silencing charm on the room is still working so we can get back to business if you're feeling all right, Harry. » Harry felt relieved that they hadn't heard him screaming. Somehow he didn't mind Tonks hearing it. Mr Weasley handed him another enveloppe. « Your OWL results. » he said casually. Harry opened the enveloppe and without reading the letter went straight for the list of marks. He felt he was definetly going to need more of Tonks before long.
Transfiguration : Outstanding 2 OWLs
Charms : Outstanding 2 OWLs
Herbology : Exeeds Expectations 1 OWL
Potions : Outstranding 2 OWLs
Defense Against the Dark Arts : Outstanding, highest performance ever achieved at OWL level in the history of Hogwarts : 4 OWLs
Astronomy :Exeeds Expectations 1 OWL
History of Magic : Acceptable 1 OWL
Care of Magical Creatures : Outstanding 2 OWLs
Divination : Acceptable 1 OWL
And since two Exeeds Expectations OWLs give a total of three owls, the final score added up to seventeen ! Harry couldn't believe it. He not only had the requirments to become an auror, he had done better than Bill and Percy Weasley whose twelve OWLs each were already considered an exellent score. He looked up to find Mr Weasley and Dumbledore grinning but Remus, Hagrid and Tonks all looked rather impatient. Hagrid growled : « Aren't you goin' ta tell us how ya did then ? » Harry just handed him the letter and Remus and Tonks started fighting him for it. He was surprised to have done so well of course but what was the point of it all if he couldn't tell Sirius? Seventeen OWLs? He felt immediatly he'd rather have no OWLs at all and have Sirius back! But, he thought, it has to bring out the best in you. Concentrate on being good. Sirius is dead for heaven's sake! Despising yourself for doing well in exams isn't going to bring him back. Then he remembered that his strong ability at being good came mainly from the way the Dursley's had treated him for fourteen years. This thought suddenly gave him an idea. He turned to Dumbledore and Mr Weasley: "You know, a thought has just struck me!". Dumbledore raised his eyes towards him. Harry went on: "I reackon, for all that I blame the Dursleys, the way they've treated me and all, it seems they abuse Dudley much more." Mr Weasley began to nod very slowly as if certain things had just clicked and become clear. Dumbledore mearly asked: "And how do you make that out, Harry?" Harry thought for a few seconds looking for the best way to put his thoughts into words:
"Well, I was just wondering why I wasn't still raging at everyone at the mentioning of Sirius. Wondering how I could find it in myself to simply blink and push the feelings to one side for the time being. And I realised that it must come from my constantly being good under pain of death around the Dursleys for so many years. I wish I'd found it a year ago though. Maybe I wouldn't have upset so many people with my outbursts. Now Dudley never had to be good the way I had to be because they always let him get away with everything. And look where he is now. Hanging around the park with his gang, smoking joints, beating up smaller children and scaring the life out of girls by trying to lift up their skirts and unhook their bras. He gets hysterical over anything that doesn't go the way he wants it until Mummy and Daddy put it right for him. I think I should start feeling grateful for some of what the Dursleys have taught me."
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he smiled an said: "You have definetly matured Harry. That is the kind of reasoning your mother was good at. And your father began to see it at about the same age too." Mr Weasley seemed all the same to be in two minds about it as he explained: "Well I think you make a good point, Harry, but surely you'd still grab any chance of getting out." Harry, nodding, decided a change of subject was in order.
He suddenly felt he wanted to be with his friends again, even put up with Ron and Hermione's arguments... He hadn't heard from any of them since the end of term and hadn't felt the urge to write to any of them either. He'd dutifully written a note to Remus every three days to reassure him that the Dursleys were behaving themselves. But now he thought friends would be nice to be around. He turned to Mr Weasley: "How are Ron and Ginny and the others doing then?" Mr Weasley let out a heavy sigh: "Ron has developed an interest in acting. Apparently Hermione gave him a book of the entire works of some Muggle playwrite. His name is something like Spearshaker (Dumbledore grinned discretly). Ron has been trying to get us all to help him act out different scenes in the plays. At first it was fun but he's wanting to do it more and more. The twins have started quoting different lines every time they walk past him, deliberatly getting them wrong to annoy him. Ginny keeps going on about how romantic he should be trying to look. And now after driving the whole house up the wall, Ron has made the great announcement that he wants to be an actor. I think it's a great idea but I think it's best that Ron tell you the rest of the story himself. Appart from that, the twin's business is immensely successful. They've been buying expensive presents for all of us including more books of plays for Ron. Charlie is back from Romania and is engaged to be married! And Percy, no longer spying on Fudge for us, has come back home. I think that just about sums up the situation really, the stereotype of one happy family." Dumbledore added "Your friend Hermione is away on holiday in Norway with her parents and their new friends, one Minerva McGonagall and her husband to be, some geezer called Mundungus Fletcher..." He sounded rather amused as he said this. Harry himself thought that Dung was the last person his Transfiguration teacher would be interested in, especially since she was old enough to be his mother. Oh well, he thought, if they're happy together... Dumbledore brought the conversation back to business.
"Harry, I'm going to ask you to take this", he said as he handed Harry an hourglass on a chain which Harry immediatly recognized. It was a time-turner such as Hermione had used in their third year but much bigger. Dumbledore went on. "The minister and I have decided that in the present circumstances it is essential that we graduate you from Hogwarts, make you of age and get you away from your aunt and uncle as soon as possible. This time-turner will take you a certain number of years into the past to a time when the world was free of dark lords and the headmaster of Hogwarts was probably one of the kindest and most competent there ever was. You will complete your last two years at Hogwarts at that time and then return to this time. The time turner is set to function on its own. Keep it in your trunk during your time in that time and put it back round your neck straight after your graduation ceremony. It will then bring you back here exactly ten minutes after the time you leave. We will be waiting." Harry was extremely confused. What on Earth was this all about. But his common sense told him it was probably the best solution and he would be better prepared to face Voldemort when the time came. Two years in a world without Voldemort was an opportunity not to be wasted. He looked up to answer and noticed that Tonks was still hugging him. "Yes, I see it looks like the best way. But I'll need my things..." As if on cue, the door opened and in came two more people each levitating a trunk. One was his own trunk and the other was of an older style. The people, to Harry's surprise, were two of his teachers: professors Flitwick and Snape (!). But he had no time for wonder because Dumbledore seemed more and more intent on speeding things up. "OK Harry", he said, "you will find clothes, shoes and school robes of the time along with school books, other books and items which you might need. I had your own trunk brought over here as well because I think you might want to transfer some thinks across. You know, your invisibility cloak and your marauder's map among other things." Harry opened up both trunks and proceeded to transfer the cloak and the map along with his photo album and his firebolt from his own trunk over to the other one. Dumbledore placed the time-turner round his neck for him. "Just a word before you go. I promise you're going to have a wonderful time. When you come back, you'll understand why these people specifically are here. I tell you again, you have absolutely nothing to worry about for the next two years of your life." "How do you know that?", Harry asked, feeling more confused by the second. Dumbledore answered: "I remember. Now grab the trunk, I'm going to activate the time turner." They all stood up. He then pointed his wand at the time turner round Harry's neck and as it began to spin like a Catherine wheel the room faded away. Before it had completly disappeared he heard Mr Weasley's voice calling after him: "Umbridge got a life sentence..."
As soon as Harry had gone, Dumbledore started flicking his wand about. To everyone's surprise he conjured up a boxing ring, stepped onto it, transfigured his robes into sports ones, conjured up a gong and a hammer which he tossed over to Hagrid and a pair of boxing gloves which he put on and took up the position of a boxer who is about to begin a fight. "Remus", he said, "get up onto the ring, you're the referee. Come on, he'll be back in a few minutes." Right enough, exactly ten minutes after he had left, a taller, older Harry reappeared. He was also wearing sports robes and boxing gloves. He disgarded the time turner and his trunk and stepped up onto to ring facing Dumbledore. They looked at each-other and burst out laughing. Then Harry cried out: "Albus, you old bugger!". And they roared with laughter again and then embraced. The others were all looking at eachother wondering what on Earth was going on when they began their fight and Hagrid remembered to bang the gong.
One evening, a few days later, in the living room at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry began to tell his tale.
His listeners were most of the people close to him one way or another. Gathered around him in the room were the whole Weasley family, Hermione and her parents, Neville Longbottom and his grandmother, Luna Lovegood and her father, Professors Flitwick, Snape and McGonagall with her fiance Mundungus Fletcher, Hagrid, Lupin, Tonks, Moody, Mrs Figg and her elder brothers from oldest to youngest: Aberystwyth, Albus, Aberforth and Arbergrond Dumbledore. He noticed with amusement that though Hermione and Ron now had their arms around each other and Dung kept one hand on McGonagall's waist (maybe just a little lower!), both Luna and Ginny had their arms around Neville and were both kissing him on the cheek more often than was custom for mere friends. Mrs Weasley obviously did not approve but said nothing since she was outnumbered by Mrs Longbottom and Mr Lovegood who both seemed rather amused by it. Then Tonks came and sat beside him and took his hand, lacing her fingers through his. Though he had been in the past for two years, he hadn't quite forgotten the kiss she had given him just over a week ago in the present.
The time-turner kept on spinning for what seemed like a hundred years. When it finally ground to a halt, Harry found himself in the main hall at Hogwarts. It was night outside. Before he could decide what to do, a voice spoke to him from behind. "You should go straight to the headmaster, you know. He is expecting you, I have told him." Harry turned round and found himself face to face with Nearly-Headless Nick, the Gryffindor Ghost. He only just managed to force out: "How do you know?" while gasping in surprise. Nick casually answered: "Ghosts don't need a time-turner to go back in time. Don't keep Headmaster Flitwick waiting. He is a very kind man but he approves of strict disipline." Harry pulled out his wand and muttered 'locomotor trunk'. As he made his way to the headmaster's office, it followed him as silently as did Sir Nicolas the ghost. Nick spoke the password to the door to the office ('pro domo et mundo') and it opened. They both entered and climbed the stairway up to the next door on which Harry knocked. A high squeeky voice called out to him: "Come in, Mr Potter." He saw a tiny little old man sitting at the desk. He looked very much like his charms teacher Filius Flitwick. "Please, have a seat." Harry sat down with a feeling of apprehension but before he could say anything, Professor Flitwick continued: "You are Harry Potter. You have been sent here from some undetermined time in the future in order to complete your schooling and further training in time to face a terrible dark lord. Am I right or am I right?" Harry answered immediatly: "Yes, Sir. I am set to stay in this time for two years." Professor Flitwick smiled and wrung his hand vigorously. "I see in your eyes that you have seen more than most boys of your age. I will see that you recieve the appropriate training during your stay here. Welcome to this day and age, Mr Potter!" Harry had no idea what to think. But he didn't need to because Professor Flitwick went on in a more headmaster like voice. "You will attend classes with the other students in your house and year. You will also have private lessons with me. This is no special privilege. You see, it is perfectly normal for us to welcome students from the future for extra training. It is the duty of the current headmaster or headmistress to see that it is done. Now I would like to know your house, year, OWL results and elective courses taken so far." Harry realized he was expected to answer quickly: "Well Sir, I'm in Gryffindor though the hat seriously considered Slytherin, I'm about to begin my sixth year. I obtained seventeen OWLs inculing four in defense against the dark arts. My elective courses started in third year are divination and care of magical creatures. And I also began private training in Occlumency during my last school year though I'm not particularly good at it." Professor Flitwick listened attentively to every detail and nodded his head. He then told Harry in a somewhat final way: "Very well, the first of September is today, you will begin your sixth year in Gryffindor tomorrow. You will take every NEWT subject in which you passed an OWL. You will most certainly drop divination which is in my opinion a waste of time, though you haven't heard that from me. Your private lessons will be Occlumency with me, introduction to the dark arts with Professor Weasley, your head of house, the study of Ancient Runes with Professor Vanden-Branden, Elementary Healing with Healer Boot and Foreign Languages with Professor Binns. One private lesson per day after class. I will arrange them all and run up your time-table right after you have gone to bed this evening. Have you any experience in duelling?" Harry was still trying to take it all in when that question fell on him. "Yes Sir. I have dueled the dark lord in person though if I got away, it was because I had help. I have also fought dementors with a patronus. Oh, and I forgot to mention I'm a parselmouth." Professor Flitwick suddenly stared at him with his eyes half closed as though assing him. He spoke slowly and quietly but with a strong determined voice: "I see no lie in your eyes. You must be given as much training in dueling as we can give you. I will teach you all I can about duelling. Our charms teacher, Professor Snape will teach you some more advanced spells which are not in the curriculum and Professor Shacklebolt will teach you muggle dueling. Now the important rules for a student in your position. Nobody must know anything about the future. Is that clear? Not even which year you came from. The staff will know about your status but for the students you are a transfer from Saint Andrews Private School in Uganda. Questions?" Harry strained to remember everything that had just been dictated to him. He suddenly thought of one thing which was important to him: "Will I be alowed to practise flying on the quidditch pitch?" Professor Flitwick simply muttered "Certainly, whenever you get the time. Actually, we will be practising duelling on broomsticks at some stage. Now if that is all I would like to call your head of house."
For the next ten minutes, Harry sat in the chair in front of Professor Flitwick's desk pondering over what he had gone through in the last fifteen minutes. Most of the teacher names he had been given sounded very familiar. Was this Professor Snape kinder than the one he was used to? Was Professor Weasley tougher than his descendants? Was this the same Professor Binns who had taught him in his own time? If so, was he a ghost in this time? Then he heard a knock on the door. What Professor Flitwick said next made his heart leap inside him: "Come in, Ron." The door opened and a tall, thin, red-haired man entered. Professor Flitwick rushed over to him and they seemed to have a quick conversation in whispers. Then he turned back to Harry: "Very well, Mr Potter, you may now go with Professor Weasley. You will recieve your time-table tomorrow morning at breakfast with the other students and it will have all your private lessons marked on it. Goodnight." "Goodnight, Sir." Harry answered as he followed Professor Weasley out the door. He noticed his trunk was still following him.
As they were walking towards Gryffindor tower, Professor Weasley began to tell Harry about certain rules which had just been agreed. "As the headmaster told you, no students are to know where or when you're from. You know the cover-up story. But if you wish to let your dorm mates into the secret, you may. They are all exellent students and the most trust-worthy people you could wish for. Last year they admitted a first year into their dormatry. The poor kid was constantly bullied by his fellow first-years because of his coming from a family of dark wizards. But I'm sure he will tell you about it himself. Ah, here we are. Crocodiles and Kettle-drums." The portrait of the Fat Lady opened to allow them entrance. the common room looked the same as ever as did the staircases. They went up the one marked 'boys' until they encountered the door to the six-year dorm. Professor Weasley knocked and opened the door and they went in, the trunk still in tow. They found four sixteen year olds and a twelve year old sitting in a circle around a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. One of them looked as though he had just eaten a disgusting one. They all immediatly jumped to their feet at the sight of the teacher. Professor Weasley simply told them they had a new sixth year Gryffindor student and promptly left them alone to get to know each other.
Harry stood there wondering how to start. It was probably the silliest but most obvious way which he chose: "Hi, my name's Harry Potter. I've come back from the future to do my last two years here in the past." Three of them looked as though they were about to burst out laughing but were too polite to actually do it. It seemed that in this time, good upbringing was more common. Then they stared in wonder as Harry pulled the giant time-turner from inside his robes. Harry decided to tell them the true reason immediatly to get it out of the way: "In my time, there's a terrible dark lord on the rampage and according to a certain profecy, it's up to me to destroy him so my headmaster thought this was the best way to get me trained up quickly enough." They all stared at eachother in an awkward silence until one boy stood up and asked:
-What did you say your name was?
-Harry Potter, answered Harry.
-Well, said the boy, if you're from the future, you're probably related to my descendants. I'm Edward Potter!
Harry accepted the hand which was offered and they took a few seconds to look each other over. Edward Potter had the same messy black hair! And his standing position looked very much like his father in the photos in his family album. Maybe they were related. But he couldn't pursue the matter any further at that moment because they other boys in turn shook his hand and told him their names. Each name caused Harry to jump in wonder internally until he had no idea what was going on. The tall broad one with thick black hair was one Richard Hagrid! The middle-sized thin boy with dark brown hair and a permanent grin was called Romulus Lupin! The tall twelve-year old was called Pegasus Black! But it was when the prefect introduced himself that Harry began to feel like he was going to get someone for this. The prefect was tall, with red hair and a very intelligent expression which looked too familiar to be true, and the name he gave was none other than Albus Dumbledore! Harry, struck down in surprise wanted to say something pleasant but could only come out with: "When I get back to my own time, I'm going to clobber you!" Then they all roared with laughter. He went on: "And I know that the horrible bean you just ate was vomit flavoured and the very next one you will eat will be ear-wax."
And these were Harry's school friends for the next two years. His sixth and seventh years at hogwarts were basically uneventful compared to his first five in the late twentieth century. He found himself invited to join the quidditch team as seeker since the previous Gryffindor seeker had only just graduated. He was also overjoyed by the fact that most of his friends were on the team. Albus and Pegasus were the beaters, Edward was the captain and chaser and Richard was the keeper. Romulus, though not officially on the team, was their main strategist and it was partly thanks to his multiple strategies that they won the cup two years in a row. But it was the two other chasers -girls- which Harry probably loved to death more than any of the others. One was Edward's twin sister! Fiona Potter, prefect and top of every subject, almost engaged to the son of a muggle family the Potters had befriended: Kieth Granger! Could it be?, Harry thought every time he passed her. Of course he had been introduced to her the day after his arrival in the time zone. The other chaser, one Anna McDonald, was to be his first real girlfriend though they agreed right from the start that they couldn't in any way become too attached to each other.
Another very interesting aspect of his stay were the teachers. Their head of house was Professor Weasley who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. His teaching was exellent, based on teaching them mainly how to go about teaching themselves and the importance of learning lessons and doing the homework properly. He was probably the only teacher Harry had ever known who, in all his carreer, had never had to award one single punishment. He never even raised his voice except to cast a spell. The charms teacher on the other hand was particularly tough and quick to lose patience if he thought a student wasn't paying enough attention. He was a tall man with shoulder length blond hair and a look which could drive a person into the ground all by itself. His name was Professor Ignaz Snape and he was also Head of Slytherin house. But for his strong personality, he was also noted for being as fair as he was tough and there was not a single student in the school who wasn't good at charms. The herbology teacher, a dwarvess called Professor Eurgle Brickchewer was most fascinating if you were interested in becoming a research herbologist and very boring if you weren't. This was one class which Harry wished he didn't have to take, though he couldn't help wondering what his friend Neville Longbottom would make of her. He found, when asking her, that she had written a whole collection of text books on her subject and he went about purchasing a copy of each by owl order to take back as a present for Neville. The transfiguration teacher was more like a drill sergent than a teacher. He was a retired auror officer and as such insisted that they call him 'Major Brown' instead of 'Professor' like the other teachers. Though he was as competent as any of his collegues, Harry quickly decided he prefered Professor McGonagall's lessons. With the rigour which she had taught him, he quickly found himself top of that class, even better than Fiona to her annoyance. (Is that why Hermione is like that? He often thought.) Another thing which surprised Harry was that Albus, of all people, was only just average at transfiguration and it was only thanks to practise sessions with Harry that he was able to improve. Harry wondered weather this was how Albus Dumbledore was to become transfiguration teacher later in life! Potions was another subject in which he exelled with a teacher who drove him mad at each lesson with the way she gently patted him on the shoulder every time he was first to finish his concoction. She was medium-sized, slim, dark-haired witch an eye-twirling figure. Her voice sounded like the fairies in tales and her general manner was delicate. She demanded that they call her by her pet-name 'Tiddles' because she 'didn't hold with all this Professor nonsense'! Though it was known that she was married to Professor Snape, every other male being in the castle tended to fall in love with her everytime they caught her eye. And once, during seventh year, when Harry completed a long project with bottles containing perfect polyjuice potion, strong veritaserum and wolf restrainer, the not so strong version of wolfsbane potion, she awarded one hundred points to Gryffindor an kissed him on the cheek in full view of the class. They all hated him for the rest of the day! History of Magic was as boring as it had always been. The teacher was none other than his own Professor Binns. The only difference was that in this time period, he was not a ghost but a real live middle-aged man. Astronomy was taught by Professor Simon Sims, a very handsom man with a great sense of humour who happened to be head of Hufflepuff house. The head of Ravenclaw was the Ancient Runes teacher who gave Harry private lessons to catch up on three years wasted on divination classes. He was called Professor Marc Vanden-Branden and would be just as likely to bark at his students as he would be to take on what he called his Belgian accent reserved for joking. And Care of Magical Creatures was another of Harry's best subjects taught by an old bent witch called Professor Mandy Brocklehurst!
This was not the first person Harry had met who had exactly the same name as one of his previous fellow students. In his year alone, there was a Lavender Brown in Gryffindor and a Blaise Zabini in Slytherin.
Then there were his private lessons. Headmaster Flitwick put him through a great number of different dueling routines while trying to break into his mind. Harry found that he actually had a natural talent for occlumency when shown how exactly to go about clearing his mind an not letting people into his most private memories. Then he was taught legilimency and how to use that in dualing. Professor Shacklebolt, the muggle-studies teacher, taught him the rudiments of boxing and wrestling along with tae-kwondo. Using magic made these skills quicker to learn though just as difficult. The same applied with learning languages. Using magic to boost his memorising capabilities enabled Harry to learn about fifty different languages including Goblin, Gnomish, Troll, Elvish and Giantish which he was looking forward to try out on Grawp. Professor Weasley taught him theory and many varieties of dark spells. Most of these were only dark if used for dark purposes, usually personnal gain. Learning the unforgivables was made possible with buttons transfigured into spiders so that they wouldn't actually harm anything. Professor Snape was impressed at the speed at which Harry mastered the very complicated memory enhancing charm and very quickly had Harry using it regularly along with the quick reading charm. He explained that very few wizards and witches were able to perform them and thoses who were were often singled out as dangerous freaks therefore it was necessary not to show off such skills. He then taught Harry to apparate. Harry was surprised to see that he could apparate and disparate on the Hogwarts grounds even though it wasn't possible. Professor Snape told him that he would find out the reason for that when he returned to his own time. And Healer Andrew Boot who kept the hospital wing taught him the basics of first aid and what to do in certain emergencies. When Harry was ready to go back to the future he was not only two years older but also ten years more mature and more learned than most eighteen year-olds. He sat his Nastily Exausting Wizarding Trials which weren't all that exausting to him and he achieved oustanding marks for every single one. Hermione was going to be very jealous. On the other hand, he was intending to teach her the memory enhancing charm to make up for it. His nine outstanding marks gave him in all twenty-seven Newts. He was delighted to find that his now very close friend Albus had done just as well. And since all good things must come to an end, after the graduating ceremony where he was presented with a great big diploma, he proceeded to the entrance hall. He had his trunk waiting there for him along with all the teachers who had given him private lessons. They had all shaken his hand very warmly except Tiddles who hugged him tight and burst into tears. His friends and ancestors were very sad to see him go. They all embraced him one after the other knowing very well that they wouldn't be seeing him again. Then Albus whispered something in his ear. To this, Harry quickly transfigured his robes into sports ones and put on the boxing gloves which Professor Shacklebolt had given him. Then as he waved goodbye to to them all, the time turner started up and ten minutes later, he was in Mrs Figgs' living room facing a boxing ring with a hundred and forty year older Albus waiting for him to come and take him on.
As Harry got to the end of his story, he noticed that everyone in the room was very moved. Albus, as Harry now called him, broke the silence: "Now I can explain many things to you which concern some of the people in this room. But they are quite private things so I must ask that only the people concerned stay in here to hear them. It will be up to Harry and them to decide who else is entitled to know. I think we shall begin with the Granger family."
Everyone but Mr and Mrs Granger and Hermione stood up and moved into the kitchen to have a cup of tea. Albus turned to the Grangers: "You remember Harry mentioning his great great great aunt Fiona and her muggle fiance Kieth Granger. It just so happens that they are your great grand-parents Mr Granger which means that you are all related to Harry. Hermione, meat your cousin four times removed." Hermione ginned so widely she began to shed tears. Mr Granger immediatly shook Harry's Hand an said: "Well I can only say that after everything Hermione has told us about you, I'm very honored! Maybe this accounts for her being so clever." Mrs Granger was at a loss for words. After a few minutes, Albus went on: "I don't like to rush things but I think its a good idea to get all the news out of the way. There will be plenty of time for celebrating. Could you please ask Professor McGonagall to come through."
As Professor McGonagall sat opposite Harry, he noticed that she was no longer putting on the tough teacher attitude. If anything, she looked immensely proud. Albus asked the most unexpected question: "Minerva, do you remember your mother?" Professor McGonagall seamed to used to Albus asking unexpected questions answered without hesitating: "Just a little I'm afraid. She died when I was five years old. Why?" Albus insisted: "Can you tell Harry what her name was, please?". Professor McGonagall was rather suprised said: "Lesley McGonagall." Albus said: "Can you tell us her maiden name?". To this she just shook her head, then explained: "When she died, I was too young to know about maiden names an such things. Later, when my father remarried, we stopped talking so I never got round to asking him. Harry, this information stays between us, OK?" Harry nodded. Albus gave the answer they were waiting for: "Your mother's maiden name, Minerva, was McDonald. She was Lesley McDonald, daughter of Anna McDonald and one Harry Potter." The next minute was sheer silence with both Harry and Minerva in shock. Albus nodded: "Yes Minerva, Harry here is your grandfather. The grandfather you never knew anything about." Minerva looked at Harry, slowly nodding her head. When she finally spoke, she sounded as though she were wanting to cry: "This makes perfect sense. Yes, strange as it is, it accounts for many things. You see, Harry, when your parents were killed, I did not want you to be placed with the Dursleys. I have been furious with Albus about that ever since even though I knew he had a good reason. At the time I found myself wanting to take you in myself. And as your teacher, I always felt a great deal of responsibility towards you, much more than to other students. And every time I was compelled to give you detention or to approve of your other teachers punishing you, I would feal very guilty. I must say when that cow Umbridge put through those weeks of torture, I suffered with you all the way. I suppose you must call me Minerva now.". Harry, always so anxious to forgive told her: "All right, Minerva, but don't you dare call me Grandad. As for the detentions and so forth, there were never any hard feelings. I must admit I've always had a soft spot for you as well." Minerva, like Hermione, began to cry. Then she leaned over and envelopped Harry in a bone crushing hug simular to one of Mrs Weasley's.
The next peace of news concerned the Weasleys. All it was really was that Professor Ronald Weasley in 1856 really was the great great grandfather of Minister Arthur Weasley. The other detail about that which was an eye opener for Harry was that he was married to Edward and Fiona Potter's aunt Phyllis. So Harry was also related to his best friend. Mrs Weasley was delighted.
The final piece of news was actually a magical item which professor Ignaz Snape had asked Harry to pass on to his own great great grandson Severus. He decided it was the only way to keep from falling into the wrong hands with the ministry declaring it illegal and wanting to confiscate it because they didn't understand it. So Harry was glad to present his former potions master with a Snape family heirloom: the Bassoon of Arbuthnot. Snape had great difficulty conceling his wonder: "This is a very powerful magical artefact. When played competently it can produce immensely powerful magic enabling the player to cast many spells simultaniously. In the midst of a battle, I could conjure ten patronuses in a flash by playing the right sequence of pitches with the right rythm and dynamics. But I haven't played the bassoon since before my own third year. I must practise before I play this." He conveniently forgot to thank Harry for the favour but Harry sensed that the tensions between them had somewhat lessened.
Things were beginning to look better.