A/N: I know this chapter maybe be a little rushed, but I tried to make it a t least somewhat detailed, and I'm sorry if the grammar bothers anybody, but I'm, not sure about the beta thing, I don't know how it works, and I would have to pick somebody trustworthy to do it for me so please give it time! This storey has a long way in the coming still…
I hope its lone enough for you who have complained about its shortness (I know how you feel, I hate waiting a long time for a short and pointless chapter as well) but this was a fairly important chapter, and the next chapter will be on James, and Harry's pov. SO I have to hope you all will enjoy and please review if you're kind (I'm sure you all are regardless of review or not but still…smirks)
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, and this is really annoying.
Chapter 19: Revelations and De-ja-vu
Harry froze.
He was pretty sure his mouth was dropping open and closed like a blubbering fish.
In circumstances like this though; it was certainly acceptable.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing, if he was seeing it. It could have been a trick of light- a big trick of light. Or it might have been a trick of Voldemort's, to try and get him to convert sides.
Like that would ever happen.
Whatever it was though, it was anything but funny.
Sitting before him were (or had to be) imposters of his father, his mom, Remus, and – he choked on his own breath – Sirius.
He noticed angrily that Dumbledore was just standing off to the side, looking fairly calm. If he had set this up as something to cheer him up he really needed a trip to St.Mungos – and he definitely would have no respect for the old man in that case.
"What…Who? Is this some kind of sick Joke?" he finally managed to croak out at the calm Dumbledore, who he also distinctly noticed looked slightly younger…
"I assure you Harry, this is no joke"
Harry didn't like the tone of his voice – nor did he like the constant stares he was receiving. Didn't they know it was rude to stare? Especially if you were disguised as an orphans dead parents! How sick!
"…Harry?"
Harry spun around in a sudden seethe of anger. The man imposter of his father had just said his name like a long lost relative – something he certainly was not! And he suddenly found himself feeling sick with anger, and disgust. Who would play such a trick on him? He thought Dumbledore was better then that. He thought the old man would understand. But he bluntly seemed to refuse to confess to this – joke- as he referred to it as. So obviously he didn't.
"Don't talk to me!" Harry lashed out at the unsuspecting man "I don't know what you are playing at, but you are certainly not my father – who is dead by the way! - So quit acting like it!"
The man to his surprise seemed deeply cut by his words, but Harry didn't care. If the man had no respect for the dead, then he certainly had no respect for the man's feelings.
He turned his back on the hurt looking man. He couldn't bear to look at him or any of them any longer. He refused too. He just had the awful feeling, like he was actually shouting at his parents. He refused to let it hurt him though, because they were not his parents- it wasn't possible. People didn't come back from the dead. Especially looking like that hadn't aged a day since they died. How sick.
"What are you playing at?" he grounded out.
Dumbledore almost seemed surprised that Harry was shouting at him. Why should he be? Didn't he understand what harry was like by now, after almost 16 years of knowing him. A thought pushed from the back of his mind, and he remembered the Dursley's, his encounters with Voldemort, his nightmares, and his secrets… No, Dumbledore definitely did not understand him. That would probably be because he never told him though…
"Harry" he began if he almost didn't know where to start "…I think you better sit down for this, it may take a while"
Harry bluntly took a seat, still refusing to acknowledge the others in the room. He was more pissed at the moment then he had been in a very long time. Not since Bellatrix had hit Sirius-
He chocked down a sob. He would not think about his beloved Godfather right now… He refused to dig up old wounds that couldn't be healed. That hole would never heal. It would also stay open, waiting to be dug up from time to time…
He was beginning to get inpatient though, he wanted to hear what Dumbledore had to say about this, and by Gosh it had better be good.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. How very Dumbledore. "I will start Harry from the beginning." Harry snorted, well that might just be a good place to start, you know, he always could start at the end as well, it doesn't really matter does it? He has all the time in the world doesn't he? He can always post pone destroying the basterd of a Dark Lord till later… actually that doesn't sound like a bad idea…
Dumbledore began to speak again, and Harry snapped himself back to attention. "It all began, one morning when I went down extra early for breakfast. I find it's better without a whole crowd of students swarming you in the morning"
Harry quirked a brow, he still had no idea where this was going…
"…When I arrived, I was met with a aparation looking thing, that shockingly resembled…me,"
Harry found his voice now to interrupt "Err…Sir?"
"Yes, Harry?"
"What is… what is an aparation?"
Dumbledore looked pointedly at him. "Ah, a question that I was expecting wholeheartedly, but unfortunately have no sufficient answer as of yet. All that I can tell you about these aparations Harry, is that they are ghost like figures that show us things."
Harry leaned forward slightly "What kind of things, Sir?" he had to admit, the old man had managed to snag his interest once again.
"All we have on them is a strong hypothesis Harry" he reminded mildly "We believe it shows us scenes from the past… and future"
At the mention of the past, Harry was reminded of the imposters sitting behind him. His turmoil began to bubble again…
For some reason, he got the impression that the imposters were extremely hurt by his behavior. He had not idea whatever for, Harry was sure they would act like him if in his position too!
Nonetheless, it irked him to no end.
For what reason he wasn't sure. Maybe it was the fact that they looked so much like his dead parents that it actually felt like he was mistreating his actual parents. It was silly he knew, but he couldn't shrug off the awful feeling…
"As I mentioned earlier, these aparation like figures showed us things. I was met with the scene of and older me battling with a prank that had been pulled to turn my hair blue," he chuckled softly. "Not that I minded, it was actually interesting to see what my hair would look like other then white…" He looked over Harry's shoulder at what Harry assumed to be the imposters. "…Not that it hasn't been done before,"
A couple snorts were met with this comment, and Harry frowned more. Now they were impersonating the marauders' pranking! How much more impersonating were they planning on?
That feeling tugged at his stomach again, and Harry struggled to bring his thoughts back to the present.
"…I felt it appropriate at the time to note the Order of the Phoenix, of these occurrences. As simple minded and harmless they seemed, we still had no info on them, and I felt it safer to approach with caution."
Harry was a little more mildly interested now. He still didn't see how these aparations explained the weird things that had been happening that day, or the sick people sitting behind him. Nevertheless he listened to Dumbledore's explanation.
"It wasn't till after we had gathered most of the Order members, and the school together in the Great Hall, that we indeed had another Apparation… This one much more mysterious,"
Harry was on the edge of his seat now as Dumbledore calmly took his time taking a sip of his tea. How he sometimes couldn't stand the man…
"…Sir?" he prompted. He hated sounding inpatient but the Headmaster had a way of sidetracking and taking his time in bad situations.
One of them being now.
"Yes, I know where I was now." Dumbledore began again thoughtfully "You see Harry, the mysterious thing about this aparation was that one of the figures looked remarkably like James…"
Harry felt his face go a shade of brilliant red. He would not let his anger get lashed out on the mention of James…
A shifting in the office reminded him of the fake behind him. Again, a very sick joke.
"We assumed, something which I remind you can always be a dangerous thing to do" he took a deep shuddering breath again, only resulting in reminding Harry that he wasn't 25 anymore. "…That figure was related to him, and we were correct in our assessment that the figure was indeed one of that named Harry Potter,"
Harry was no totally and utterly confused.
"Come again?" He quirked in confusion.
Dumbledore chuckled. "The figure was in fact …you"
"H-how could it have been me? Wouldn't I have known about this? You mean people were watching me? What was I doing? Who was with me? Was I alone-,"
Laughter rang behind him and Harry was once again reminded of the other company he wanted to forget. Swallowing rather painfully, Harry managed to concentrate on moré important things then the opposing fakers.
"I assure you Harry, it was in-fact you, as the other two figures you were with, called you Harry, therefore giving us the clue that it was indeed you,"
Harry quirked a brow "Sir? W-what did I do? Who were the others?"
He sighed, "You apparently seemed to be in front of the other two, we guessed that you were more like the ring leader, much like Sirius and James,"
Harry huffed. Did he always have to mention his dead relations? What was with Dumbledore anyways? He seemed rather off…
Another thought stuck Harry, wouldn't Dumbledore already know what status he and his friends were?
Things seemed to be getting weirder and weirder as the day grew on…
"As for who the others were? We learned that they were named Ron Weasley and Hermione"
Harry tried not to gawk at the Headmaster. Was he completely nuts? Wacko? Or whatever the new fad word was now for insane. How could he not know who those two were? Maybe the apparitions made the image of them more blurry or something… It was the best solution he could come up with at the moment anyways.
"These images" Dumbledore began again. "Were sitting at the Gryffindor table, arguing rather loudly about something a that sounded suspiciously like homework and quiditch…"
Yep, Harry definitely remembered that day; it was the day that he got into the fight with Hermione about the Sirius thing, which he was still sensitive about.
How, kept running in the back of his head though.
How could they have seen this? Dumbledore was there the morning they had that argument! He even remembered speaking to him briefly afterwards.
Why did it seem like Dumbledore was surprised by what they did?
And why didn't he see these apparitions before? Wouldn't he have been included in this 'meeting' that the school had? Or the order must have mentioned it somewhere… but he couldn't come up with any answer for that.
Maybe he was in the hospital wing. He mused reasonably. It would make up for a better excuse of him not knowing, then the rather more painful one of just being lied too.
A shiver ran down his spine that people might have possibly been using these apparations to spy on each other… did they watch him change? Having nightmares? doing homework? Or thereof lack of homework?
He still couldn't understand though is why he didn't see any pf these apparitions as they were so called…
It would be pretty hard to cover up a ghost like figure.
He forced himself to hear what Dumbledore had to say next.
"…These aparations happened rather frequently over a period of time, each time being watched by somebody, and showing something if not of the past, the future"
Harry nodded his consent that he heard what Dumbledore was talking about, all the while his brain was still going 100 mph…
"Then something happened which shocked us all" he started again. Harry snapped back to attention.
"We received an urgent call from the ministry" he informed the surprised Harry. "About an Apparation on…level 9"
Harry chocked back his gasp. What! He couldn't mean they watched the scene from the department of mysteries last June…
He shivered rather outwardly at the memory of that place. The memory of the brains attacking Ron… the prophecy…Hermione's' still body… and the veil…
Those images would always be etched into his head. Never leaving, never seeping away…--
"These figures looked suspiciously like Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione and 3 others we did not recognize at the time"
Harry was now totally utterly confused and angry. How come Dumbledore was pretending he didn't know what happened that night? Why was he still playing this ridiculous game? It wasn't funny! His face should have been able to tell he was far from amused.
"We followed these figures through the maze of the department of mysteries…"
Harry still couldn't believe Dumbledore had dared talk about that place in such depth to him nonetheless after all that had happened. He should have known it was a touchy subject to him! And having a fake imposter of his Godfather behind him no les.
"…We finally followed them into a room called the prophecy room…"
Harry felt his breathing get shallow…
"…They were surrounded by death Eaters…"
Harry's heart was quickening…
"…Running in all directions with a certain prophecy and spells everywhere…."
Harry was getting lost in a hazy maze. Dumbledore was not repeating that nightmare in his face…
"…To a room with a large dark veil…"
Harry was now holding his breath…
"…And watched Sirius fall beyond it…"
That's it.
He lost it.
Goodbye sanity.
"STOP IT!" Harry roared at the top of his lungs, jumping in the air angrily "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! – YOU-CANT- STOP IT! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE!"
Yelling wasn't enough again, as he started flinging stuff everywhere. The memory of last June popped into his head, but he angrily flung it away. He deserved every bit of this anger…
The imposters flinched as a glass orb came flying over their heads, and Dumbledore watched in sadness almost as Harry started flinging his possessions. Why he was sad of all emotions harry didn't know, it was his fault he got harry that mad… he should have known…
Finally Harry had enough, even throwing wasn't good enough anymore, he needed out- away from these people, away from it all, and away from the insane Headmaster…
He reached for the door and pulled.
De ja-vu, it didn't open.
Shit.
"Let me out!" Harry screamed at the silent old man. Why he had to repeat such worthless things he never knew, but this was the last straw. He could feel the tears burning at the corner of his eyes…why did they have to torture him like this? He hated it. He hated them.
"No"
The simple word only brought more frustration and sadness. Feeling at a loss, Harry just gave up and crumbled to the floor; tears rolling freely down his face. Why couldn't he just live a normal life with normal parents, normal friends, normal wizards witches, whatever you wanted to call it! He just knew he would rather be anybody then himself at the at moment in time.
"I want you to listen to what I have to say first, this may be the only chance I get"
Harry slowly looked up, and found himself face to face with a determined Albus Dumbledore.
"What if I don't care about anything you have to say?" he whispered quietly. "What if I don't want to hear what you have to say!" he finally shouted again, his anger getting the better of him once more.
"Because" The headmaster said steadily "There is something extremely important in the message I 'am trying to tell you, that if you do not know- will be very susceptible to danger"
Harry was now fully back in attention, his nerves getting the better of him. "Huh? Danger? But I'm at Hogwarts" he reminded mildly.
"While you are at Hogwarts, you shall be safe" he repeated. "But let me finish my story and I shall tell you why, there is a reason I had to tell you about the ministry."
Harry found himself nodding dully, not really caring where this went as long as he could escape to his dorm after for an extremely long nap.
"Please take a seat, Harry," The aging headmaster offered. Harry caught the command in the offer rather then a polite gesture and took a seat.
The room was still in shambles, and Harry tried not to feel awkward when the other people stared at him in the room, but still, they had no right to throw that in his face, he countered with his arguing head forcefully. No right…
Dumbledore in question finally took a seat after wiping some shattered glass off his chair much to Harry's embarrassment. The headmaster took no noticed of Harry's reddening face, and preceded to stare him rather boldly in the eyes. Not something that made anybody real comfortable mind you, especially when it was Dumbledore in question.
"The arrival of all the commotion brought in many questions form unwanted ministry officials." He continued gravely "Of course, it was nothing a simple obliviate couldn't fix, but it suddenly occurred to me what a problem this was becoming, and how much bigger this situation was then I thought…"
Harry was confused now; didn't he think it was a big problem in the first place? What made seeing him at the ministry any worse? He already knew what happened obviously.
"…We proceeded afterwards to my office, where 3 others and I came to discuss matters, when the most extraordinary thing happened"
Harry had a feeling he knew what happened.
"An Apparation of you appeared." He said to confirm Harry's suspicions. "And the events that leaded after those appearances were very peculiar indeed…"
Harry gulped. He couldn't possibly be talking about the after math of the ministry…
"…You preceded to throw my things…"
Harry felt like de ja-vu all over again, his brain was getting rather overloaded.
"…Discussed the passing Sirius…"
His breath was getting caught again, and he distinctly wondered if he ever had asthma. It seemed to happen to him a lot, and the Dursley's would never care to take him to the doctor… now that you mention it- harry did'nt really remember ever being to the doctor.
"…Discovered about the prophecy…"
Okay, now he was severely pissed and feeling faint. Dumbledore always had to go and remind him about stuff he knew was touchy to Harry! What was the old man thinking? Was he totally out of whack? And why did he keep pretending and going along with all of this? He already knew what happened in the office! So did Harry! Shit! Dumbledore was even their at the ministry fighting… non of this was making any sense as the conversation went on…well more like one sided conversation but who cares.
"…And that about leads up to the important facts" He brought up. "There are some major details we will need to discuss with you later, but now, I have something huge I will have to inform you before I can let you leave."
Harry snapped back to attention, his dizziness was fading away now…
"Harry" he began slowly, as if debating his words "…You have traveled back in time"
Harry blinked at those words and felt the dizziness come back full force. The questions that rang in his mind before he could comprehend anything was 'how?'
Then he fainted.
All the while, nobody noticed the fat grey rat scuttle around the corner…
A/N: so what did ya think? Muahahahaha! Sorry for the big plot build up and cliff hanger, but the next chapter is really when the ball gets rolling and I hope you do have patience for me typing it out, I will probably start after this is posted, or after I write this really lol but the next chapter will reveal quite a few things, and if you have any questions do not be afraid to ask… I don't bite… usually… GRINS
R&R please!