'This is a LOTE'.

A Tale of Two Times

Snatched through time at birth, Harry becomes a time traveller. He discovers this at five when he meets his real parents, and goes to Hogwarts prepared... but he hadn't realised Voldemort had a spy in Hogwarts and was trying to steal a dangerous artefact.

Chapter Ten

Placing Harry

September: 1991

The woman led them through familiar halls, stopping in a smallish room. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall."

She paused, and everyone peered around nervously. "The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the great hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony, because, while you are here your house is like your family. Your triumphs will win you house points, and your misdemeanours will lose them."

As she droned on, Harry's mind faded out, and turned to more important matters, Quidditch for example.

Thinking about his last game with his father and brother, he silently replayed it in his head, but was abruptly pulled out of his daydream when Hermione nudged him in the ribs.

"Harry! We were you listening?" she asked him reprovingly.

He replied with an all too guilty expression. "Uh… no?"

"Is that a question?" she demanded, raising an eyebrow.

He looked away with an over exaggerated guilty look. "Ah… no?"

"There you go again!" she cried in exasperation.

He had the sense to employ his acting skills. "Sorry." However, he had never really excelled in the practical part of drama.

"You're not sorry! Anyway, Professor McGonagall explained what the houses are like-"

She was cut off by the sudden appearance of several ghosts. Even Harry was surprised about that. It wasn't as if there were many ghosts in his time at Hogwarts, apart from Peeves, who technically wasn't a ghost. He had never even been alive, as Poltergeists just come into being occasionally, looking like ghosts, but are slightly more solid, technically, they are just bits of chaos coming together. Anyway, back to the point. Peeves was the only ghost-like creature at Hogwarts in his time, and he hadn't really been expecting ghosts.

As they emerged from the wall, the ghosts didn't even notice that everyone was staring at them, and continued on their conversation.

"My Lord, he is really far too much of a nuisance to forgive, in my humble opinion."

"What have I told you about that? I AM IN NO WAY A LORD!" a ghost wearing robes like what Harry would wear to a formal Knights gathering replied with childish impudence. In fact, he didn't look to be much older than a child anyhow. At most, he could have been Harry's age.

"But, My Lord, you told me yourself, your mother's father was a Lord of this ver–" replied the first ghost, bobbing his jelly like head at the boy.

"And a disgrace to his name, Eduardo! Look at the way he disgraced my grandmother and mother! You can't possibly expect," he seemed to cut himself off mid sentence, and noticed the students.

"Why are you here?"

Not a single person answered him, and Harry was still gaping in shock. What a scandal that seemed to be taking place with these ghosts. He had to find out who the boy was!

His problem didn't last for long. "I," the boy proclaimed to them, "Am David of Goliath."

Another young ghost that Harry hadn't noticed whacked him. "Don't be ridiculous, David. He's my brother, and I am Amber di Kanneley." She smiled widely at them. "You're our age, you know."

"How'd you die?" asked one boy bravely.

"Oh, there was a war and we got in the way when we pretended to be knights." She informed them pleasantly. "It was in this very castle, you know. Dangerous times, then. I had many relatives lost to war." She shook her head in an overly grown up manner. David batted her.

"Move along now," said the sharp tone of Professor McGonagall. She had obviously reappeared while they were talking to the David, Amber and Eduardo, as well as the other unnamed ghosts. "The sorting ceremony's about to start."

The ghosts vanished through the wall one by one, and when they had all disappeared, McGonagall spoke up again. "Form a line and follow me!"

Harry entered the hall with a grin on his face. The familiar ceiling which he had become accustomed to was stunning the rest of the first years. Hermione leaned over to him and whispered, "It's bewitched. Remember, we read about it in Hogwarts, a History."

Hardly any of the other students seemed to be aware of this, but Harry nodded. Hogwarts a History had fast become one of Hermione's most battered books, and she had poured over it for days on end, pointing out things which seemed to amaze her. Harry, however, was rather displeased with the account of the founders lives, and it was fairly obvious that the author hadn't researched this section of the book very well. They wrote that Godric and Rowena only had two children, which was most definitely wrong, as Harry included, there were at least three, and his mother was pregnant again, which meant at least four. They also wrote very little about Salazar and Helga, apart from the fact that Salazar was an evil wizard, which Harry knew to be wrong. Salazar was a perfectly nice man, if you passed over his sadism.

Harry looked down from the ceiling again, just in time to see Professor McGonagall place a four legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she put a familiar looking hat, though it was now frayed almost beyond recognition. It had patches in varying states of fading, and Harry was sure that most of the hat was patches and that very little of the original material remained, if any.

Everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, so Harry stared too.

The brim of the hat opened wide, and it burst into song. Harry was mildly surprised, as it hadn't done that before. It must be a new tradition. He listened closely to the song.

"Oh me, I am the sorting hat,
and I'm here to sort you all!
It's up to me to find out,
Where you belong in this hall

Gryffindor is where you sit,
With Godric who was brave.
And chivalry he cherished,
Until he fell into his grave.

How about old Hufflepuff?
Oh Helga she was oh-so true,
And it's loyalty she treasured,
This house may be for you.

Ravenclaw's another choice
My Rowena, she was quite smart
It was wit that she held closest,
And clever minds held her heart

And last not least is Slytherin,
Held by Salazar the Sly
He valued most his cunningness.
And ability to lie.

So wear me now so I can find,
Where you ought to be!
With one of four that founded
You'll live and learn, you see!"

The whole hall burst into applause, and Ald, who had been panicking whispered to Harry. "I am going to kill Fred and George. They told me that you have to fight a troll!"

Harry almost laughed. Had his rumour really lasted that long? Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "It's funny how they use parchment instead of paper," Hermione commented offhandedly.

'Yeah, it is,' he signed disinterestedly, trying to hint at her to shut up. She took the hint and they turned to McGonagall.

"When I call your name, you will put the hat on your head and sit on the stool to be sorted." She informed them, and hardly giving them a moment to absorb this, she called the first name. "Aagesan, Persephone Lilac!"

"Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table cheered, and Persephone made her way down to sit with them, her cheeks pink with joy. Evidently she was glad to be seen as brave.

A while later there was "Black, Masobelle Stellar,"

"Gryffindor."

While she walked down, a few others were sorted and they came to "Bones, Susan Amelia,"

"Hufflepuff!"

Harry tuned out and in, catching the occasional name (Flamel, Shane Nigel – Gryffindor)

It was nearly Hermione's turn, when something jumped into Harry's mind. Too late to warn the Hat himself, he quickly signed to Hermione. "Mione, I need you to tell the hat from me that it should be extremely careful where it puts everyone, and to look below the surface." The last three words were signed with very sharp movements to signify emphasis.

Hermione looked at him curiously, and her name was called, so she quickly signed back. 'Okay,' and ran to the hat.

A few seconds later, the hat looked straight at Harry, and he could have sworn it winked. "RAVENCLAW!" it shouted loudly.

Hermione ripped the hat off her head, and before she went to the Ravenclaw table, she signed discreetly at him, 'Message delivered.'

Harry nodded lightly to let her know that he had 'heard' her, in a manner of speaking.

"Malfoy, Draco Ignis" Dray walked forward, a small grimace displayed in his aura, and jammed the hat on his head. The hat seemed to be muttering to him for a while, and finally, it opened its mouth wide. "RAVENCLAW!"

Harry grinned, he had hoped that this would be the case, but Dray seemingly didn't feel the same. He was positively green as he removed the hat slowly, and dropped it back on the stool. He slowly made his way over to the Ravenclaw table, and Harry saw him looking hopefully up at the staff table. Harry followed his gaze, and saw a man with greasy black hair and a long hooked nose looking at Dray in disgust.

Harry thought this was a rather odd reaction, after all, Ravenclaw was one of the best houses! (Lopez, Marrok Nicholas – SLYTHERIN!) But then, he supposed, not everyone would agree, and his opinion was slightly biased, due to the fact that his mother was the founder of that house. He didn't half mind Gryffindor either, for the same reason, except that it pertained to his father.

Harry was brought out of his reverie by his name being called. "Potter, Harry James!"

As he stepped forward, whispers broke out like hissing fires. "Potter, did she say?" "Harry Potter? The Harry Potter?"

Then, he saw people craning to get a good look at him, before the blackness of the Hat encased him. 'Hi Hat.'

'Hello, Harrison,' said the hat formally.

Harry wrinkled his nose. 'Excuse me, if you don't mind, but, it's Harry in this time.'

'You'll always be Harrison to me,' replied Hat tauntingly.

Harry mentally folded his arms, 'You didn't call me that before.'

'Stop being so childish'

'Me? Childish? Not at all.'

Hat changed the subject 'I haven't seen you for nearly 1000 years,'

'I bet you have. You just ain't going to say.'

'Well, as you so quaintly put it, 'I ain't going to say'. If my memory serves me correctly, you wanted Ravenclaw this time around?'

'Yep. But no need to shout it out yet, got some things I need to tell you.'

'What?'

'Well, in a while you'll be getting an Ald Weasley. He's not the sharpest knife, but I can fix that, I think he'd do well in Ravenclaw.'

'Weasley's always go in Gryffindor. No-matter what.' Said the Hat stubbornly. 'I can't sort him into a house he won't suit.'

'Oh, but he will! From what I hear, he's a great chess player.'

'Harrison Deogol Gryffindor! I can't sort someone into a house where they won't suit, no matter who says! I only put Hermione and Draco'

'Dray.'

'Fine, Dray then. Anyway. I only put Hermione and Dray in Ravenclaw, and I know that's what you meant, because Hermione would have gone there anyway, and Dray would have been bordering between there and Slytherin. That's where he would have gone if you hadn't mentioned it, because the rest of his family went there.'

'You're a stick in the mud. Can you at least make an effort? Look further in Ald, I know he'd suit Ravenclaw.'

'If you keep going, I'll put you in Slytherin.'

'I get the point, just… try, okay? Not that there's anything wrong with Slytherin, I mean…'

If the hat had had eyebrows, it would have raised them. "RAVENCLAW!" It shouted, evidently sick of the argument.

Harry removed the hat from his head, and made the way down to the Ravenclaw table, which had exploded, figuratively, of course, in cheers. Sitting down next to Hermione, he almost put his hands over his ears. 'They are so loud!' he signed.

'I know what you mean!' she replied. Harry turned to his other side, and saw that Dray was sitting there. "Hey Dray!"

"Hi," he moaned, sounding sick.

"Are you okay?"

Seeing that no-one was watching them, or listening to them, Dray moaned again. "Father is going to kill me," he muttered.

Harry looked grim. "You'll be cool, if your father does get that horrible, just call me."

Dray smiled gratefully, but said no more. Next, Harry turned to the high table. The elderly looking man in the centre appeared confused, as did most of the staff. The only one who looked remotely as though they knew what was going on, was a smallish professor, who was grinning at the hook nosed one in a kind of triumph.

Harry watched the professors for a while longer, marvelling at how different Hogwarts was, yet how much it was the same. Then, casting his eyes around the hall, he realised what was missing. "Peeves," he breathed.

Peeves had obviously been banned from the feast, surely he wouldn't listen to anyone, unless Uncle Sal was around here somewhere…

His train of though derailed when he heard a familiar name being called. "Weasley, Ronald Bilius!"

Ald stumbled forward, and the hat soon came down over his eyes. A few seconds wait, in which Harry had his fingers crossed, before the hat gave its verdict. "SLYTHERIN!"

Harry was slightly disappointed, and judging by the looks on his brothers faces, so were they. Ald himself had turned bright green and looked as if he were about to be sick.

Ald came down to the table, looking slightly confused, and collapsed into his chair across from Harry, while the rest of his table were still applauding him. "I thought I'd be in Gryffindor," he murmured dazedly to Harry, before smiling weakly, and turning back to his own table.

After 'Zzald, Eric Richard' had been sorted into Ravenclaw, McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the hat and its stool away.

The Dumbledore fellow had gotten to his feet. "Welcome! Welcome to a new year here at Hogwarts! Before our feast begins, I'd like to say a few words, and here they are…"

Harry ate for a while, picking out potatoes and lamb, his favourites. He was pleased to note that that quality of the house elves work had not gone down over the time, and chatted animatedly with his housemates for a while.

Starting to feel warm and sleepy, Harry looked up at the staff table again. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore, and the hook nosed one was talking to the short one.

Harry turned his head for a second, missing the gaze of one of the professors, and a sharp, hot pain coursed across Harry's scar. His hand flew to his forehead, and he eyed the Professor's table warily. "Ouch!" he yelped.

Hermione turned to him instantaneously. "Are you alright?"

Rubbing his scar methodically, he nodded. "I'm fine. Just… something weird happened to my scar."

"Oh… that's weird."

"Well, it is a curse scar. Maybe we can find something in the library?"

"Yeah, we'll look tomorrow." Hermione agreed.

At last, the puddings disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet and began to give the start-of-term announcements such as magic not being allowed in the corridors between classes and Quidditch trials. The mention of the Forbidden Forest intrigued Harry, but Hermione refused to come with him when he asked her if she'd like to come with him. There hadn't been a forbidden forest in his time, and he wanted to check it out. As soon as he heard about the out of bounds dungeons on the right-hand side of the castle, his interest perked. Anything that was forbidden was worth exploring though he did frown to himself hearing that the dungeons were off limits to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death. What would they keep in a school full of students that could possibly cause a painful death and why? The rest of the house was looking at each other in unease, as scattered laughter came from other tables, who would be stupid enough to laugh at a death threat?

Harry glanced back up at the head table in time to see the emotions on the teacher's faces become forced. Dumbledore's next words explained this perfectly.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song! Everyone pick their favourite tune and off we go!" Dumbledore flicked his wand and a golden ribbon flew out, hovering in the air for a moment before gracefully writhing into words.

Harry sang to the actual tune that went with the song, grimacing as he did so. He hated this song, but his parents, Aunt and Uncle just wouldn't listen. They had insisted upon making this the school song, despite Harry's valiant protests. Of course, it could have had something to do with the fact that each and every one of them had been less than sober at the time.

Finishing up, Harry waited around for awhile while everyone finished their songs, allowing Slyvia Snider, a first year Slytherin, to finish with her heavy metal rock mix.

Professor Dumbledore wiped his eyes. "Ah, music!" he said. "a magic beyond all we do here, and now, bedtime. Off you trot!" he said. The Ravenclaws followed their prefect, but were stopped before they even got out the hall. Professor Flitwick, their head of house, pulled Harry aside.

"The headmaster wants to see you," he told Harry.

"Alright," he said. "Just a moment, please."

'Mione, headmaster wants to speak to me. I'll be back," he signed swiftly, gave a little wave, and headed off with Flitwick.

They stopped before an unusually ugly gargoyle, which Harry was always mystified by. Why his parents would want such an ugly gargoyle guarding their room was a mystery to him. "Droobles Best Blowing Gum" said Flitwick in his squeaky tone, and the gargoyle sprang to life, and the wall behind him split in two. They stepped onto the spiralling staircase, and slowly ascended in the same manner as an escalator. Finally, they reached gleaming oak door, which had a knocker in the shape of a griffon. Flitwick pulled the griffon, and let it go, making a resounding knock on the door.

It opened silently and they entered. Harry looked around, taking in the changes. It was still large, and still circular, but that couldn't really change that much, but it was now filled with curious noises and funny little instruments, whirring and swirling, emitting puffs of smoke. There was a phoenix on a perch. Harry smiled at it. Then, finished looking around, he turned to Dumbledore, sitting at his desk.

Dumbledore, Harry noted, was an elderly man with a grandfatherly disposition. His long white hair and beard framed a delicately wrinkled face, with many lines of laughter. His eyes were his most stunning feature, they were a bright blue, and sparkled with the light of 1000 candles. Though Harry had glimpsed him at the feast, he hadn't studied him quite so much, and was pleasantly surprised at the life that the old man gave off.

"Ah, Mister Potter." He said, as he motioned for Harry to sit down. Harry took up this offer, and relaxed into a fluffy green chair that had appeared in front of him.

"What would you like, Sir?" he asked in a stiff, formal manner.

Dumbledore frowned and stared straight into Harry's eyes, slightly unnerving him. "Well, Harry, you know that you disappeared from our view when you were five, do you not?"

"Yes, sir," he replied, still in his formal, stiff tone.

"Can you tell us where you went?" asked Dumbledore, frowning at how unbearably polite Harry was being.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm not entirely sure myself, sir. See, I believe I was selectively obliviated, sir. I was allowed to keep my knowledge of what I had learnt of the wizarding word, but I do not know how I learnt it, where I learnt it, why I learnt it or who I learnt it from, sir. All I know is that I was taught it, and when I had been taught the basics of what I needed to know, I was sent to live with a man who I knew only as Uncle Marvin, sir."

Dumbledore had been listening with rapt interest, and was quickly onto 'Uncle Marvin'

"Do you have any idea who your Uncle Marvin is?" he said quickly.

"No sir, not other than that he's Uncle Marvin, sir. I do know that he knows the Traveller though, sir." Harry said, telling the truth. "I've talked with the Traveller myself, sometimes he gave me lessons, sir."

Once again, it wasn't a lie. This was because future Harry often came and taught him things. It was a rather difficult thing to get his head around, so he didn't really think about it too much.

Dumbledore looked pensive. "Is there anything else?"

Harry hesitated for a moment. Could he trust Dumbledore? 'No,' he decided. He hadn't even told Hermione, and she was his best friend, but he hardly even knew this Dumbledore man. "No sir, nothing, sir."

"Alright then, Harry. If anything comes up, don't hesitate on coming here. Oh, and congratulations on getting into Ravenclaw."

"Thank you, sir," said Harry. He had the feeling that Dumbledore was fishing for more information, but wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had outsmarted him. He was, after all, a Ravenclaw. And you couldn't outsmart a Ravenclaw.

So he left with a polite, stiff, "Goodbye, sir."

Revised: January 2006