"Would it…" Harry's voice sounded hoarse, so he cleared his throat and began again. "Professor, would it be possible to speak to you in private?"
Dumbledore surveyed them for a moment without speaking. As a sign of good faith, Harry put away his wand, followed immediately by Ron and Hermione.
Dumbledore smiled. "Of course dear boy, of course."
With that, Dumbledore swept them out of the Great Hall and off to his office.
The door hadn't even closed completely behind them before the hall erupted in conversation. Many speculated about the three mysterious teens and their sudden appearance, but perhaps none more so than the infamous Marauders.
"Prongs – did you see that kid? He looked just like you!" Sirius practically yelled, and indeed, this was one of many questions circling the Great Hall.
"Did you see how fast they reacted to Dumbledore? It was like they were ready for battle or something! I bet they're excellent duelers," Remus Lupin speculated.
"What was that crazy orange light – and they way they just appeared? Do you think that they're d-dark wizards?" trembled Peter Pettigrew.
"I really don't think so," pondered James Potter. "They looked pretty normal. Hell, they looked more surprised to be here than us! I guess we'll just have to wait until they get back to find out." He paused, and then an evil grin spread across his and the other Marauder's faces.
They clearly had the same thought…
"Or, we could grab the invisibility cloak and find out for ourselves," smirked Sirius.
With that, they tore into the feast, intent to sneak out of the hall the first chance they got, but never ones to turn down the opportunity to eat.
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The Trio currently sat in three squashy armchairs facing a man they thought they would never see again in the flesh.
"So," stated Dumbledore with that incessant twinkle in his eyes, "care to explain what is going on?"
"If I may ask first Sir, what year is it?" asked Hermione.
"1976, and today is the first day of term, September 1," replied Dumbledore.
The three teens looked at each other apprehensively.
"Well, you see sir," began Harry, "we're from the future - "
"Nearly twenty years," interrupted Ron.
"Yes – and we're not entirely sure how this happened – well it was a spell – but we didn't know time travel over such a large time period was possible like that," finished Hermione.
Dumbledore regarded them skeptically. Were they telling the truth? How would he be able to tell without inadvertently discovering something about the future that could drastically alter it?
Just then Fawkes flew in through the open window. Instead of landing on his perch, however, he circled the room once and landed on Harry's knee.
"Hello Fawkes," Harry sighed softly, stroking the beautiful phoenix.
I suppose that answers that question. Dumbledore smiled.
"I see you are familiar with Fawkes already. Phoenixes are not quick to trust, and yet you seem to be on good terms with him," the aging headmaster observed.
"We're old friends," smiled Harry.
Dumbledore contemplated this statement for a moment. "I think the best place to begin in this situation is at the beginning. What are your names?"
"Ron Weasley."
"Hermione Granger."
Harry looked Dumbledore straight in the eyes. "Harry Potter."
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A small food fight had erupted at the Hufflepuff table, which, luck would have it, was farthest from the Gryffindor table and the exit to the Entrance Hall (what a funny coincidence!).
While the professors were otherwise occupied, the four troublemakers escaped the Great Hall and headed for Gryffindor Tower.
"Okay, we get the cloak, head for Dumbledore's office, and see if we can find out anything," James ticked off the parts of their plan on his fingers. It was simple, but no doubt effective.
"Yeah, like where they're from," stated Peter.
"Or how they got here…" added Sirius.
"Or who they are…" interjected James.
"Or why they looked at Dumbledore like they'd seen a ghost," finished Remus.
They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Okay, what's the password?" asked Remus.
They stared at each other.
"Give me five minutes," James said, hurrying back to the Great Hall.
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"Honestly James you're Head Boy. We gave the passwords to the prefects on the train," said Lily Evans exasperatedly.
"I guess I forgot. So what is it again?"
James Potter and Lily Evans had an – unusual – relationship.
For the first five years of their Hogwarts careers Lily had despised James, constantly fending off his advances and trying to stop his more malicious pranks. Over the previous year James had matured quite a bit, toning down his mischief making and nearly eliminating his more arrogant traits. Nearly.
He had also stopped asking Lily out, a fact that was surprising to everyone. Over the course of the year they developed a tenuous truce. They weren't exactly good friends, but they were friends. And yet James had never stopped caring for Lily.
But she wasn't aware of that.
The two hurried through the corridors, making excellent time back to Gryffindor Tower.
"It's felicitas. This isn't for a prank, is it?" asked Lily suspiciously.
"Nope, just some friendly eavesdropping. Wanna come?" James replied good-naturedly.
"No, I'm pretty tired. I think I'll just hang out in the common room," Lily said with a yawn.
"There you are!" shouted Sirius.
"Easy Padfoot, I was just having a nice chat with Lily, as she so kindly reminded me that I already knew the password," James replied, smiling at his friends.
"Well, let's hurry or we won't learn anything about those three people!" Remus grumbled, anxious to get to some good old-fashioned snooping.
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"I take it you are the son of my current Head Boy, James Potter." Harry gave a nod so minute it was almost imperceptible, but no response was really necessary, because Dumbledore continued, "Yes, the resemblance is uncanny. How is James?"
Harry opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and then closed it with a weary look to his friends.
"Perhaps we shouldn't reveal too much about the future if we can help it, sir," Hermione supplied, seeing Harry's distress.
"Yes, of course, but I will need to at least know how you got here, so that I can – if you wish – determine how to return you to your own time," Dumbledore replied, not at all offended that they didn't answer his simple question.
Harry immediately perked up, "Well sir, if you have your pensieve available, we can show you how we got here. Perhaps there's a counter spell that will send us back to our time…"
"What a splendid idea, Harry!" replied Dumbledore jovially. With that he went to his cabinet and withdrew the familiar (to Harry anyway) stone basin, replacing it on his desk. Once Harry had placed the memory of their encounter with the mysterious man, he gestured to Dumbledore to step into the memory and, hopefully, find a way to send them home.
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When Dumbledore returned, it was to find the three extraordinary teenagers sitting on the edge of their seats, staring at him hopefully.
"To answer your first question, the spell that was cast upon you I am familiar with." Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked visibly relieved. However, Dumbledore was not finished, "That spell is rather Dark Magic, primarily because the caster can send any person or object into any time frame, for as long as they want. Obviously this could cause chaos if used lightly, and is therefore a very little known spell with no counter curse. I'm afraid you are trapped here until the spell ends, which would appear to be – from what your attacker said -- one year's time."
Hermione and Ron looked heartbroken. "One YEAR!" they both cried.
Harry simply looked resigned, as if he expected this type of thing to happen to him.
"Well, I must say that what I have just viewed has left me with more questions than answers, such as why you three feel the need to go up against Lord Voldemort." Dumbledore stated after a moment. Seeing them about to protest, he silenced them with a gesture to allow him to continue, "however, I do believe this is one of those very instances where the knowledge could change the outcome of mine and many other people's lives."
Something sparked in Harry's eyes. "Wait, if we're stuck here, we can change things." Harry turned to Hermione and Ron, looking ready to plead his case on his knees. "Nothing's happened yet, we can make everything better!"
"Harry we can't!" cried Hermione, "What if we make things worse?"
"She's right my boy, you should not try to alter your past, even to save lives," Dumbledore agreed.
"Even if it saves yours?" Harry bitterly snapped. Hermione gasped, and Dumbledore looked taken aback. Several of the portraits of old headmasters immediately snapped to attention, forgetting about faking sleep at the shocking news: apparently Dumbledore would die, and probably not of natural causes from the sound of it. It took several moments for Dumbledore to recover himself and quiet the murmurs of the portraits.
"Clearly your heart is in the right place, Harry, and I thank you for thinking of me as worth altering time for, in addition to whomever else you wish to save. I will ask that you do not attempt this. Time is a delicate and dangerous thing. One change that may seem insignificant to you could in turn cost hundreds or thousands of lives, or possibly even wipe you and your friends out of existence. I do not fear death; only a life not lived to the fullest. Death is merely another step in the journey of life, Harry. A fact I daresay from the look in your eyes you've experienced a great deal of."
Here he paused and allowed this to sink in to not only Harry's thoughts, but also Hermione's and Ron's thoughts as well. When a few minutes had passed, he began again. "Do not despair all hope of making your present/ our future better. Perhaps simply by being here, and interacting with others you will have a positive influence. I cannot predict what changes your presence may bring, but I believe that three such kind-hearted individuals cannot be in any one place without having a positive effect on the people they meet."
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James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all squished under the invisibility cloak. They had grown a great deal since they had begun using the cloak in first year, and were now packed in tighter than sardines. They could barely move, and walking required the coordination of a world-class ballet, but they weren't about to let that stop them.
Just as they had finished readjusting the cloak, the stone gargoyle at the entrance to Dumbledore's office jumped back, and the three mysterious teens came down and began walking to Gryffindor Tower. Dumbledore had enrolled them as students and helped them come up with a good cover story, as well as created fake surnames for all three. They were talking quietly about what they should do now that they were back at Hogwarts, the last place they expected to be (not to mention 20 years in the past).
The three teens were speaking in soft whispers, which made the snooping that much more difficult. Not to mention if one of the Marauders so much as scuffed a toe or breathed to loud, the three would instantly cease talking and look around. It was like they were in a constant state of alert. The Marauders had never seen three more paranoid people in their lives.
Hermione began talking after the last time they had stopped, and the Marauders were finally close enough to hear, "I don't know if going to search for the horcruxes is a good idea, Harry. What if Voldemort finds out and tries to stop us, or simply makes new ones after we're gone?"
The mention of the name of the feared dark wizard who was amassing a frightening amount of power had the Marauder's stopping again. She said his name! Most people were too afraid to do that! And what the heck were horcruxes?"
"So what do you suggest we do, sit on our bums for a year?" asked Ron loudly, beating a clearly irate Harry to the punch. The Marauders hurried to catch up again as Hermione shushed him.
"Not at all! I think we can use this time to learn new defensive skills and also useful curses. We can also practice nonverbal spells, not to mention researching where the other horcruxes might be so we have a head start on them when we get back! There's all kinds of things we can do. Like – "
"Wandless magic," Harry said, almost too quietly to be heard. When the other two stopped walking and looked at Harry amazed, the Marauders nearly toppled into them. They were so close they held their breaths hoping the anxious trio wouldn't hear them.
"When Dudley and I were attacked by those dementors, I did wandless magic. Nothing extraordinary, just lumos, but what if we could do it? That could really come in handy," Harry explained. Hermione took a moment to absorb this, then beamed at Harry, grabbing his arm and half-dragging him and Ron the rest of the way to Gryffindor Tower while spouting off various texts she'd read or heard of that could help them with learning the ancient and difficult skill of wandless magic.
They were moving too fast for their eavesdroppers to keep up quietly and soon the Marauders gave up the chase in favor of thinking about what they had heard. Everything about these three teens was intriguing. The more they learned, the more they wanted to know.
Who were they?