The Ultimate Question
By Oberon
The day of the first task was fast approaching. In fact the first task will be upon him the next day. To say that Harry Potter was feeling prepared was an atrocious overstatement. Still, Harry has until the morning to get the Accio spell right so he wasn't exactly panicking at the prospect of facing off against a Hungarian Horntail. More precisely he was feeling a slight ting of fear, mixed with a drop of excitement and stirred by a overwhelming apprehension that's he's walking into a firing squad - which by the way had traded in their guns for a flame thrower.
"Hello, Harry" someone called from behind him. He was so preoccupied with the second task that he must have missed someone while he passed by.
"Hay," Harry waved politely to the girl. He didn't know who she was. Just another 7th year, Harry thought. But she's... Harry was suddenly lost for words and at the same time found his palms sweating. The 7th year's hazel green eyes stared back at him.
"Harry, I been waiting for you." the mysterious girl flashed Harry a smile. "Now that we can be alone," she stepped closer, caused Harry's heart to skip a beat.
It was around supper time and everyone had congregated to the great hall. Hermione and Ron had left earlier while Harry was the last to leave the Gryffindor common room.
"I have something to tell you." She was right next to him, so close that Harry could smell the shampoo that she uses. Wicked Witch Platinum, Harry thought absent mindedly. Cho Chang uses that, or so Harry had heard.
She leaned closer, almost next to his ear.
"I'm your biggest fan," she whispered sweetly. Her soft voice was musical. The girl's robs brushed against his as she pulled away. Harry felt timid for some reason despite the girl's short stature. In fact she only had 2 inches on him at most.
Could... Could this be happening? Harry was scared and frightened at the same time. All thoughts of dragons and spells left his mind.
"Ah..." a whimpered.
The mysterious girl twirled a stray golden lock of her hair and continued to smile.
"And since I'm your greatest fan I have something for you. Something to show my support and appreciation for all the things that you have done for the wizarding world." She reached into her rob; all the while Harry's eyes followed her hand without blinking.
"This is for you," she presented Harry with something from her out stretched hand.
It was a silver egg, about the size of a real.
"Wha…What is it?" Harry asked curiously.
The 7th year smirked. "You'll find out. When the time is right."
"Anyway its supper time and I got the munchies so see ya Harry," the mysterious girl gave Harry a wink and left for the Great Hall.
Looking at the girl's back while she turned the corner, Harry could very well sympathize with Ron when the redhead said the girls from Beauxbaton looked better from behind. The bushy eyed boy couldn't help but compare the mysterious 7th year with Fleur Delacour as she made her grand entrance. Certainly in both instances he found himself sweating and his heart beating wildly.
Potter managed to recover his mind enough to find his way to the Great Hall before something decided he had gone missing. When he got there Harry looked everywhere for the mysterious girl but she was no where to be found. She was no Gryffindor, Harry was sure at least.
Later that night Harry was examining that egg she got from the girl earlier. It was not a real egg that much was for certain. It was heavier like it's made from real silver. And it had 3 seams that split down the middle like it was meant to open up like a flower. Harry was just about to open it when he realized how tired he was. He stayed up till 2am practicing the Accio spell. If he didn't get any rest it wouldn't matter if he summoned a Firebolt or a Cleansweep. He's going to be too tired to out fly the dragon. Harry tossed the egg into his trunk and promptly forgot about it.
---
"Do it now," the drifting voice of James Potter whispered.
On cue, Harry pulled his wand upward with all his might and severed the mystical connection between his and Voldemort's wands. The ghosts swarmed Voldemort in a cloud of wraith to take revenge on their killer. It was just the distraction Harry needed to reach Cedric's body.
"Accio" Harry summoned for the Triwiard Cup which came flying into his waiting hands.
As Harry felt the now familiar tug of his navel, he had just enough time to hear Voldemort's disappointment quaintly expressed by a proclamation of "NO" screamed at the top of the bald man's lungs.
---
Harry could hear their accusations even though no one ever said a word on the matter. There were whispers of course, especially after that article published by that Skeeter woman, but people always tend to stop whatever they were saying while Harry was around. It didn't matter to Harry though, all that was important was that Ron and Hermione believed him and they did. But, with a heavy heart, Harry had to look forward to another summer with the Dursleys - Dumbledore had insisted that he return to his aunt and uncle. He had almost finished packing his school materials into his trunk.
"You could have saved him you know."
"It's you…" Harry recognized the speaker. It was the beautiful girl from beginning of the year. She was here, in Harry's dorm, right next to the door.
The girl smiled. "I'm so glad you remember me, Harry. And here I thought you have forgotten all about that day."
Harry suddenly had a sinking suspicion that he indeed had forgotten something very important.
"I overestimated you Harry. I thought you could puzzle it out. It would seem that I'll have to be more... blunt the next time."
"Wha... What are you talking about?"
"Cedric, you could have saved him if you paid attention to anything else besides Quidditch and your rep." The girl saw the sad look on Harry's face. "Come, I'll show you."
The mysterious girl pulled out her wand and pointed it at Harry's trunk. From the depths of the trunk something flew up to hover in the air.
"Oh, that..." it was the silver egg she had given him.
"Let's go take a bath, Harry"
Harry was in the prefect's bathroom again, this time with a girl. He suddenly felt very awkward.
"Ah... so, what's your name?" Harry remembered that he didn't actually know anything about his companion.
"Why, Harry, I'm you." she replied.
"Excuse me?" Harry asked. She just smiled.
"Fine, don't tell me if you don't want to." Harry said in a huff.
They waited for the tub to fill.
"Here you go, jump in."
Harry blushed.
"It's ok, I wouldn't look." she turned around, her back toward him.
"Promise you wouldn't peek?" an embarrassed Harry asked.
"I promise. Look, I'll even keep my eyes closed if it makes you feel any better."
"Alright," Harry disrobed in a hurry. A moment later he jumped into the bath water and felt at least partially covered. He felt even more awkward than when Mertle was here. He hoped to Mirlin that the ghost wouldn't show up like she did last time.
He took a deep breath and stuck his head into the water. The silver egg opened up exactly like the golden egg that held the clue for the second task. In the water he could hear a voice clearly, but this time there were no rhyme.
Harry Potter, during the third task Tom Riddle will appear.
Peter Petigrew will be with him.
Bring a spare wand; hide it on you until Peter cut his hand.
Use this knife and cut through the bindings.
Hex Peter then attack Voldemort when he's most vulnerable.
The egg stopped and began to stretch. It transfigured itself into a muggle pocket knife.
Harry let himself float back to the surface, shaking the mush of hair from his eyes.
"You knew!" he called out. "You knew and you let Cedric die."
"No Harry, you did." she replied calmly, her back still to him. "I thought it would become obvious to you as its purpose after the second task. I was mistaken."
Harry was shaking, he have never been so angry in his young life - angry at her, at Voldemort and at himself most of all.
"Who are you?" Harry asked again now it seems the answer is even more important. I must tell Dumbledore, it was apparent to Harry.
"I'm you, Harry. Or to be more precise, I am what you can be. Although that seems very unlikely right now."
"I... I don't understand." How could I be a girl?
"This is the form I took in order to infiltrate the Death Eaters. A combination of muggle surgery, magic and alchemy." She looked herself over in a nearby mirror. Gently, she stroked the spot on her forehead where the scare should be. "Wonderful thing, this plastic surgery. I even had the scare removed which also severed the connection between me and Voldemort. And Dumbledore sad it can't be done, Ha. However, afterwards I couldn't return to what I was before."
Harry stammered. "Why didn't you use polyjuice?"
"Too easily detected. I could not take the chance of it wearing off in the middle of something important."
The thought that he had to do all those things made Harry want to hurl. "You mean I have to go through this to defeat Voldemort?" Harry was filled with questions. Why didn't Dumbledore defeat him?
"No, Harry, I went through this to get close to Voldemort because I CAN beat him..."
The thought of Cedric's death occupied his mind - the flash of green light that so easily ended the Ravenclaws life and the life of his parents. I could have saved him, Harry realized. The power was in my trunk all along. I was just too weak to take it.
"Teach me how to beat Voldemort." he will make things right for Cedric and for his parents.
"I'm sorry, it's impossible for YOU to beat him. You have failed that test before and you'll fail it again; you're failing it right now. Chance favors the prepared mind, Harry."
Harry puzzled over the other's words. He didn't understand.
"Didn't you come back form the future to help me?" he asked the other self.
"No, this is an experiment. The grand experiment into the ultimate taboo! Temporal Engineering!" she declared. She turned to him, eyes full of passion. "When you were but a baby left at the Dursley's doorsteps, I came to you. I hexed you, made you stupid - just enough to turn Harry Potter the genius into Harry Potter the average Joe. I wanted to see the effects of intelligence on fate and destiny given that the soul and everything else is the same. So far you died each time."
"What about Cedric," Harry whispered.
"He dies too."
The year before, Harry and Hermione had traveled to the past using the Time Turner to save Sirius and Buckbeak. In one of those rare occasions Harry actually remembered what Dumbledore sad when he warned him about messing with time.
"Dumbledore sad terrible things happen to wizards that try to change the past."
"I have ascended beyond the limits of time. When this experiment is over I will usher in a new golden age. The greatest wish of mankind will finally be realized!" she turned to leave, deciding that she had done whatever she needed to. "Goodbye, Harry Potter. I'm very interested to see how you would fair now that you know of your inevitable death."
She was at the door when the younger Harry called out.
"Wait."
"There is one thing I'm still curious about."
"Yes?"
"If you weren't going to help me then why did you give me the warning about Voldemort?"
She paused for a moment, deciding how to answer that question. "It was part of the experiment. I wanted to see the effectiveness of timeline restoration attempts at different points after the initial split." That was the best she could do.
Harry was speechless; he had no idea what his other self had just sad.
"Got 'a go now Harry, I hear the elves are surviving crusants for the end of year feast." with that she walked away, twirling a lock of golden hair and putting on a big smile while humming the Hogwarts school song.
Harry stayed in the water for some time. His skin turned pruney and wrinkled.
Later that day when Dumbledore came to him, Harry couldn't quite swallow the elder wizard's attempt to cheer him up. There was something he could have done to save Cedric's life.
----
Somewhere hidden from the world, Lord Voldemort felt a slow burning rage. He laughed.
"That's my boy, Harry." it will be all that more satisfying when he finally breaks the boy-who-lived.
But for now the image of a young woman drifted into his mind. She was beautiful and graceful, not very tall but certainly well proportioned in her expensive robes. Her eyes clearly showed a fierce cunning intelligence that lay underneath.
She was important to Potter, the Dark Lord could tell.
The girl would make an excellent toy.
The Ultimate Question: Why Harry Potter is a few sandwiches short of a picnic?
Or
How come J.K. Rowling can't write?