Time Turner Mania!
Maliaphire: Here's the next chapter, I won't bother asking people to review because if I do it won't make any difference and it will just be a waste of space, depressing huh? In case anyone is actually reading; sorry for the delay, I wanted to write a really long chapter (by my standards anyway) before I posted it. here are the review replies:
Aussie Lover: Thanks, I know but I would like to have them as accurate as possible so if I make them really out of character; please say!
Kid Padfoot: Awwww thanks, n thanks for reviewing this story too:D
Swachacker: Thanks I will try and move a bit slower but as you know some people (eg. sibling) complain that stories move too slow. lol
By the way; this chapter takes place right after the end of The Goblet of Fire, chapter seventeen: the four champions, p.252 just for reference
Chapter 5: Mistrust and Illegal Time Travel, Again!
Suddenly a thought struck him; he pulled open the dark red velvet hangings around Ron's bed and said to the angry redhead;
"You don't believe me? Fine, I'll prove it!"
"What do you mean you'll prove it?" yelled Ron in reply.
"The time turner, we still have it remember?" he explained.
"Fine, if you don't think I've got anything else better to do, I'll watch you cross the age line!" Ron ranted angrily. Before Ron had time to change his mind Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak, and searched through his messy trunk till he found the time turner in question; inside another pair of Uncle Vernon's old mustard yellow socks, next to the pair containing the sneakoscope Ron had given him for his birthday just over a year ago.
"How many turns?" he asked Ron.
"Twenty-four that'll take us back to when I went to sleep," he replied sulkily. Harry put the round both of them and grabbed the marauders map as an afterthought before they threw on the invisibility cloak. Taking a deep breath and hoping against hope they weren't about to do something they'd both regret later, he slowly began to turn the time turner back twelve times taking care not to lose count. There was a swirl of colours and he watched as they travelled back through time.
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They were in the dorm last night. What had he been thinking! He and Ron had illegally travelled back in time, just because of a petty squabble. What if they were caught? He was sure illegal time travel could get you an Azkaban sentence, they must not be seen!
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I can't believe Harry is still denying the fact that he put his name in the goblet of fire. Wow, I have just travelled back in time! I could make Harry put my name in too; I can't help wondering; how did he get past Dumbledore's age line? Omigod, we have just time travelled illegally, if we're caught we'll end up in Azkaban, I don't wanna go to Azkaban :'(
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Harry and Ron looked at each other for a second, both having only just realised how much dragon dung the were in (figuratively speaking of course), which may make the reader of this story seriously doubt how they actually managed to get their hands on a time turner in the first place. Ron subtle as always, and stating the obvious as many people have a tendency to do, was first to break the silence.
"We're in trouble,"
"Wow Ron, FIRST PRIZE!" Harry replied angrily, still annoyed at Ron for not believing him. Then Harry asked him, "Is there any way we can use the time turner to go forward in time, back to when we were?"
"I dunno," said Ron truthfully, "I wouldn't want to try in case we get taken even further away from the present and get stuck."
"Great," said Harry emphatically, "just great."
"I guess we'll just have to wait for 24 hours and return to our own time when this timeline meets up with it," Ron said sadly.
"Well while we're here we might as well do what we came to do." Harry mused, "We can't be seen but I can prove it with the marauders map, we can watch the goblet on there."
"Fine, if you want to gloat." Ron replied sulkily. Harry decided there was no use in arguing so they went down the stairs into the empty silence of the common room. They got terribly sore legs even though they had been shifting around constantly to be in the most comfortable position possible, while the invisibility cloak still covered them both.
They watched and they waited, in awkward silence for hours. Both of them were deep in their own thoughts. Then at last it dawned on Ron that Harry had been telling the truth all along. (Maliaphire: He's a sharp one!) He reluctantly apologised to Harry who was just grateful that he and Ron were friends again, accepted his apology.
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When the early hours of the morning came, Ron's stomach told them it was time to eat, and they decided that no harm would come from them slipping down to the kitchens and getting a bite to eat.
As they crept along the corridor, hidden by the invisibility cloak; Harry thought fondly of the fact that this was the very same thing that the marauders had used the cloak for, and found himself wondering whether his father and his friends had ever time travelled illegally or otherwise. (they probably had)
The trip down to the kitchens seemed to take no time at all and they soon found themselves stepping through the portrait door only to be confronted by a surprising but not entirely unwelcome sight. Before them stood Dobby and Winky, wearing not the traditional white tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest but a strange assortment of mismatched clothing.
"Dobby?" Harry asked bewildered, "What are you doing here?"
"Mister Dumbledore has given Dobby and Winky jobs at Hogwarts, Harry Potter sir! He offered to pay Dobby and Winky, so we is free elves earning wages now." Dobby squeaked excitedly.
"That's er … great, Dobby! Ron said with a grin and Harry too offered his congratulations. They talked; Dobby explained sadly to them that Winky wasn't taking life as a free elf very well, Harry and Ron told Dobby how great the Quidditch world cup was and asked Dobby if he liked Hogwarts – even though the answer was obvious. Dobby and the other house elves offered them food and they accepted, careful not to gorge themselves as much as they had on their last visit. About half an hour later they arrived back at Gryffindor tower with both their pockets and stomachs full of food.
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Harry and Ron had managed to find an unused dorm near the top of Gryffindor tower and to kill time they played: chess, exploding snap (keep in mind by this point everyone has gone to breakfast or lessons) hangman, knots and crosses, 20 questions, and after some rummaging in a cupboard they managed to find an old game of monopoly which a muggleborn students must have left behind and Harry preceded immediately to teach Ron how to play the well known (to muggles) game. After a while however they remembered they hadn't slept for quite a long time considering they had been about to go to sleep when they had travelled back 24 hours, so they decided it might be advisable to take a bit of a nap. No one would find them … (FOOLS! MWAAHAHA)
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Harry and Ron woke up suddenly to being squirted by Hermione with jets of ice-cold water.
"Shit!" Harry exclaimed loudly.
"You said it mate," agreed Ron, "we're in it even more now."
"I've been looking for you everywhere," Hermione said, obviously annoyed. "What are you in trouble for? Don't worry you haven't missed dinner."
"Um Hermione, promise you won't freak out, ok?" said Harry slowly.
"Of course not, why would I freak out?" she asked puzzled.
"Well Hermione, Harry and I might have just had a big argument – don't ask what about." Ron said when Hermione opened her mouth. "Harry might have said he'd prove he wasn't lying by showing me something, and we travelled back in time to do that using your time turner from last year."
"WHAT!" Hermione shouted, before promptly fainting.
They revived her by splashing her with water from the tap, because neither of them knew the spell Hermione had used. She lectured them about how irresponsible they had been and told them to hand over the time turner to her so that they couldn't use it unless it really was an emergency. They reluctantly did as she asked, fearful of their lives. Hermione then sighed and walked off. (to find Hammy and GP in his red plane. with sandwiches)
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"Harsh Hermione. It wasn't that irresponsible." Ron said, shocked at Hermione's reaction.
"Yes it was we time travelled illegally, we deserved that. Wow you managed to use alliteration, I never got the hang of that." Harry contradicted.
"Oh is that what it was about? I thought she was doing all that just because we fell asleep allowing ourselves to be found, wait a minute; alliter what?" Ron asked.
"Alliteration Ron, it's a poetic technique – oh, never mind." Harry explained.
"So we have loads of time and nothing to occupy ourselves, what should we do?" mused Ron. "We can't go and fly, or go round the castle or anything, we would be seen… I know! We can go to the shrieking shack under your invisibility cloak, and practice spells – you're going to need them for the tri-wizard tournament aren't you?"
"Good idea, we'll have to be careful though," agreed Harry.
"We'll be fine, careful is our middle name remember - well sort of." Said Ron.
Then with much fumbling and stepping on each other's invisible feet, they arrived at the shrieking shack. They practised Expelliarmus, remembering fondly the time when they knocked Snape unconscious with their three simultaneous spells, as they passed the wall he had hit. Harry practiced a cheering charm on Ron, after Harry had cast his spell rather too enthusiastically and Ron was thrown magically against the wall. They then moved on to a variety of different spells including the same switching spell that Professor McGonagall had warned Neville not to tell anyone from Durmstrang that he couldn't perform.
Eventually however it was almost time to return to the present, and they made the long trek up to the castle ahead of schedule, to avoid getting caught in the crowd that would be partying in the common room in about half an hour's time. They tidied up the sweet wrappers and their game of monopoly in order to be ready to go to the dorm when the time came.
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"This is it," said Harry " time to get in position," They went under the invisibility cloak to the dorm, after checking it was empty on the marauders map, and sat on Harry's bed with the curtains drawn leaving a thin gap where one of them could look through, and waited.
Ten minutes later they heard the noise of the Gryffindors returning from the feast, and the loud stomp of the other Ron's feet as he went up the stairs. Ron quickly moved to spy out of the gap making sure that the invisibility cloak covered him. They listened and Ron watched, their selves quarrelling sadly, very tempted to step in and stop themselves travelling through time. However they had discussed this and realized that this would create a huge paradox, and so they did nothing.
They decided it was safe and opened the curtains, getting off the bed.
"Well, I'm glad that's over," Harry said, "feel like going down to the party?"
"Nah, I'm too tired, you can go if you want though," answered Ron good-naturedly. "It is your party after all."
"On second thoughts, I don't think I will. I'm tired too, and there'll be hell to pay in the morning." Decided Harry.
"Right you are mate, let's get some sleep." Said Ron with a grin.
Maliaphire: Wow it's finished! I thought I would never finish this chapter, now I have cramp in my fingers, ow! By the way I know this sounds really random but Scottish country dancing is really good for cramp! Lucy and I tried it in Germany, and our hosts looked at us like we were crazy, (we probably were) as we danced the haymakers or whatever it's called (the one where you're in pairs and take three steps forward turn and three steps backward, and so on) down the path. lol I'm rambling now. Sorry about the italics they are the mad ramblings of my older brother who managed to read this before i posted it, I don't own tales of the riverbank either, the reason my brother mentions hammy is because he thought my two handwritten Rs in Harry were an M.