SUMMARY
After spending half his life trying to rid the world of Voldemort, Harry Potter finally succeeds. However, the price has been high. Too high. Unfortunately, when Harry risks his life to go back and 'do things right', something goes wrong.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank…
S'TarKan – It was his story that gave me the idea for this story's starting point. Also, if you want to know what kind of Harry Potter my main character is (they've had similar experiences, losses etc), or just want to read a good Harry Potter fanfic, then read 'Harry Potter & the Nightmares of Futures Past'.
The creators of QUANTUM LEAP and SLIDERS – Anyone who's seen either of these shows might recognise elements of both shows central ideas in this story. The situation my Harry gets himself into was indeed partially inspired by the central features of both of these shows.
This website – For providing a forum where people like me can write stuff that people will actually get to see.
J.K. Rowling – They are her characters after all.
CHAPTER THREE – Happy Family.
"Harry James Potter!" yelled a voice from downstairs. "If you're not down here in five minutes, your breakfast's going to Jo-Jo!"
Young Harry Potter sat up in his bed, rolling his eyes. Why does she always say that? he wondered. She knows that cat doesn't eat normal food. Oh well, I suppose I'd better get up anyway before she sends...
"Wake Up!!!" yelled the two girls as they stormed into his bedroom.
Oh Merlin, thought Harry. Why does Mum always have to send these two?
"Your breakfast..." said one.
"Is getting cold..." said the other.
"And Mum is..."
"Starting to mutter something..."
"About a hex..."
"Involving you..."
"And water..."
"Very cold water..."
"Freezing I think she said..."
"And from Dad's expression..."
"I think the water..."
"Is very..."
"Very..."
"Cold."
"Just in case..."
"You needed reason..."
"To get up..."
"Though personally..."
"We don't think you should get up..."
"After all, this hex of Mum's sounds very..."
"Very..."
"Entertaining," they finished together before leaving Harry's bedroom laughing.
"Why couldn't someone have separated those two at birth?" muttered Harry as he grabbed a T-shirt and put it on. He looked at the calendar on the wall, which told him that the date was the 31st of July – just over a month before he was due to go back to Hogwarts. Leaving his bedroom and walking downstairs, Harry couldn't help but wonder what third year had in store for him. Last year, the Chamber of Secrets had been opened by Voldemort's old diary, which had possessed his best mate's little sister and the year before, Voldemort had possessed the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and had attempted to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Merlin only knew what would happen to him this year.
Just as he entered the kitchen, he did a double take as he remembered the date. 31st of July! Of all the... How could I have forgot my birthday?
"He forgot," said one of the twins, having seen Harry's reaction.
"Of course he did," replied the other one.
"After all, he is a boy..."
"And you can't expect boys to remember other people's birthdays..."
"And their own..."
"At the same time."
"Be quiet you two!" their mother scolded.
"Sorry Mum," they apologised meekly.
"Go and get your father," their mother instructed. "He'll probably be outside with Sirius admiring that accursed motorbike."
"Yes Mum," the twins said quietly.
"Mum? Why are Claire and Caroline so mean to Harry?" a voice from the table asked after the twins had left the kitchen.
Lily Potter looked at her youngest son and smiled. "Oh, they're just being silly. You know they're not trying to be nasty."
"But it's not fair!" exclaimed the red-haired boy. "Just because they need reminding about other people's birthdays doesn't mean they should be jealous that Harry doesn't!"
Harry grinned at his little brother – William always hated seeing other people being made fun of, especially by the twins.
"I wouldn't worry about it Will," said Harry. "I'm just looking forward to seeing those two try the 'twin' routine on a teacher." Ignoring his mother's disapproving glare, Harry continued. "Oh, I so hope they try it on Snape. I can already picture it; Fifty points from Gryffindor for insolence, and for tripling the number of Potters in this school!" he said in a voice identical to that of the Hogwarts Potions Master.
William laughed at this, as did James Potter and Sirius Black, who had just come into the kitchen, accompanied by the twins, who glared at Harry.
After several birthday greetings and breakfast, an owl appeared at the kitchen window with three letters attached to its leg. Claire and Caroline were on their feet in an instant – their Hogwarts letters had arrived along with Harry's third year letter. While the twins read theirs with overwhelming enthusiasm, Harry looked at the booklist, which was refreshingly devoid of any Gilderoy Lockhart books this year. There was an outcry from the twins when they saw this.
"That's not fair!" yelled Claire.
"Yeah!" agreed Caroline. "Why don't we get Lockhart? We'll probably end up getting some boring old teacher now."
Harry rolled his eyes, not noticing his father and godfather's badly suppressed grins – he had told his sisters repeatedly that Lockhart was a clueless fraud, but they refused to listen. Oh well, at least we'll probably be getting a teacher who knows what he's doing this year – I hope. As Harry thought this, a familiar figure entered the kitchen.
"Moony!" said his father as he and Sirius welcomed Remus Lupin and invited him to sit down. "So, how are things? Anything interesting happening in the near the future?" James asked, winking at Lupin.
Lupin grinned, understanding what his friend was getting at. "Actually Prongs, there is." He turned to address Harry and the twins. "As of yesterday, I am now the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
The twins blushed slightly when he said this, hoping no one would tell their godfather what they had just said. Harry on the other hand, just grinned and offered his congratulations.
XxXxXxXxXxX
After the opening of the presents and much ribbing from Sirius about the 'hazards of being thirteen', Harry decided to go out and give the broomstick upgrade kit he had received from his father a try. Taking his trusty old Nimbus 2000 from the shed, he took out a strange looking item and held it against the broom. An orange light reached out from the object and seemed to pulse through the broom – apparently, it was supposed to improve the broom's speed and manoeuvrability.
Five minutes later, Harry put the strange object down and mounted his broom. Taking to the air, he couldn't help but marvel at the fact that his father wanted to buy him a new broom. He had offered a year ago to buy Harry a Nimbus 2001 and had recently offered to buy him a Firebolt. "But I like this broom!" Harry had said both times. And he did – this broom had won him every Quidditch match he had ever played, was reliable and had never let him down so far.
Well, thought Harry after a while, I have no idea how, but that thing seems to've made the Nimbus a lot faster. He decided to see if the broom's agility was any better and performed the backflip into a vertical plunge that had become his unofficial trademark move whenever he played Quidditch. However, as he did so, he noticed something among the trees in the forest – a blue light.
His curiosity aroused, Harry swooped down towards the trees as the light disappeared. Landing gracefully, Harry took a few steps into the forest, stopping when he saw a figure in a leather jacket, leaning against a tree.
-
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Just thought I'd better say a few things…
I've already written the next chapter, barring a few alterations I might make, but I'm going into Hospital tomorrow, so I might not be able to post it for a while.
Before anyone says anything, I know there might be some things that don't quite add up to Canon. That's mainly because I haven't read any Harry Potter for a long time so most stuff (incantations etc) are based on what I remember. Also, I have made up a few things (Piandisk, Locario Toxicis, Pinlimick Stinging Flower etc) so please don't be too harsh if I make any errors, okay?
Cintasia: Concerning Harry's bumping into someone, he's just been thrown into some weird alternate world, had just watched his own wedding and has just realised that someone discovering his presence would not be a good thing. At this point, he's trying very hard not to panic and just wants to get out of the way before he causes any trouble. Unfortunately, his panic causes him to bump into said person. Also, concerning his Disillusionment spell, I am not trying to write a Super Harry story. He may have a lot of power and ability, but his magic is just as susceptible to things like 'Finite Incantatum' as anyone else's. Concerning my original stories, I haven't had any of them published yet, mainly because they aren't finished.