Harry Potter and the Cookie of 1942

Chapter 5: Time

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"You know, Neville, we've stolen Hagrid's job," said Harry testily as he struggled with the magical gardening tools. They all seemed to have a mind of their own, which did not seem to approve of sixteen-year-old time travelers. At least, they didn't like Harry. Neville seemed not to have any problems.

"We have? how so?" the round-faced boy asked as he easily uprooted several weeds at once.

"Well, he was expelled at the end of his third year. That is, the end of this school year. I told you that Voldemort framed him for opening the Chamber of Secrets -- well, Dumbledore arranged for him to stay on and help Ogg, and eventually become the Groundskeeper himself. Ogg stayed on for several years, I know, because Mrs. Weasley said she remembered him when she was a student. But if Ogg already has a helper when -- or if --that happens, I don't know what Hagrid will do. He won't have anywhere to go."

"Come on, Harry. Dippet said we were on probation for two months, and then he'll let us be Sorted. Then we'll figure out how to stop You-Know-Who, save Moaning Myrtle, prevent the Death Eaters from existing, and go back to our own time. Our parents will be alive and ... sane, and we'll all be happy. It'll work, you'll see."

Harry got a dark look on his face. "I don't know if time can be changed, Nev. See, I never told you this, but I've traveled in time before. It was at the end of third year. Hermione had a Time Turner, that's this thing that can take you back a few hours at a time. She was using it to take more than one class at a time, and then on the night after exams we used it to go back three hours and save Buckbeak and Sirius Black from being executed."

Neville blinked. "Somehow, Harry, with all you've done that doesn't surprise me." He chuckled. Harry was still frowning. "What's the matter?"

"Well, it's complicated. See, the first time I lived those three hours I saw myself standing across the lake, casting the Patronus charm. It was so strange, and at first I thought I was my dad. Then when Hermione and I went back and lived those three hours again I realised it had been me all along. And I went out and cast the charm, saving myself and Sirius from the dementors." Neville looked confused. "Don't you get it? I saw myself. So we technically didn't change what had happened. Everything we did the second time had already happened the first time. So if we hadn't used the time turner...no! There are no would-have-beens, Neville. Time is absolute. You can't change it. Whatever happens, happens. We do have choices, but once we make a choice it's set. Even going back in time to change it will only make it come out the way it already happened. That means something will prevent us from killing Voldemort here, and Myrtle will still die."

"Then your parents will still be killed, and mine will be tortured, no matter what we do?" Harry just stared at the ground.

Neville felt despair creeping up on him, and determined to fight it. "But hey, maybe since we didn't travel by time turner, it'll be different. I don't know what brought us here, and it could still be possible to change things. We can't just give up, Harry. We have to try. And we don't know how long we'll be here, so we ought to do something soon." He grinned. "And we know who's the best one at sneaking around and finding out things that he ought to leave alone, don't we?" He slapped Harry on the shoulder.

After another hour of companionable shoveling, Harry's head went up like a dog that has scented a rabbit. "Quidditch!" he said happily. Neville looked around and saw that the Quidditch stands were starting to fill up with students. Harry went off to ask Ogg if they could watch the game, and then they cleaned up and headed for the Quidditch Pitch.

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Author Note: Please review! I hope you get my theories on absolute/relative time. For more fascinating stuff on the subject, read Madeline L'engle's "Swiftly Tilting Planet" (relative time)and Anne McCaffrey's Pern series (absolute time).

Characters mentioned in this story so far:

1996
6th yr G: Harry, Neville, Ron, Hermione
others: Fred & George

1942
2nd yr S: Olive Hornby
3rd yr G: Algie Fletcher, Rubeus Hagrid
6th yr G: Neville's gran, Benjy Fenwick (Grub), and Zippy
6th yr S: Tom Riddle
7th yr G: Mouse (HG), Ice, Elfin
7th yr R: Wilson Longbottom (HB)
unknown: Myrtle
teachers: Dippet, Dumbledore, Mardin
others: Ogg