Hello all, here's the next Chapter! Episode 3 Part 1.
Chapter 3
Harry sat by his new desk, thanks to Kreacher. He had a lot to think about. Checking the clock he had placed beside a picture of his parents he sighed at the time. It was past midnight but he couldn't stop his mind from wandering.
How could Max control time as if it were nothing? He had confronted her after the Kate Marsh incident and questioned her. Max claimed to have awoken one day in class and suddenly had the ability to control time. She had used it save Chloe the first time she discovered the power.
Okay, next question, Why didn't it affect time outside of the town? Harry figured it was concentrated to Arcadia and only Arcadia. The American Ministry hadn't mentioned anything about disrupted time. Harry seriously doubted they'd let it go on for as long as it had if they had figured that out. Besides Max said that it had started on Monday and that she had used the ability a few times that day. He certainly hadn't been rewound.
This made absolutely no sense, why Max Caulfield? What was so special about her? She had mentioned taking a picture of a butterfly before everything happened. Was there some sort of magical creature that could do this... maybe a relative of the pixie, since their wings were commonly used for the grains of sand in Time-turners.
He'd need to figure this out, he didn't have access to and was really in no mood to read a massive magical creature tomb just for a yes of no answer... Harry froze with a thought. Newt Scamander knew more about magical creatures than any other magical person so far. Was he even still alive? Wait, didn't Luna marry his however many great Grandson?
"Hello Luna, it has been quite a while hasn't it?
I hope you're doing well. I need help identifying a magical creature. Could you perhaps tell me if there is a butterfly looking creature, that could potentially cause a person to access the ability to reverse time multiple times.
I know this is sudden and without any context it can't really be easy but I could really use your help with this.
Miss you loads.
Love, Harry."
Once he finished he read and reread the note to Luna and smiled.
"Kreacher."
A small pop sounded and Harry was joined by his house elf. "Master called?"
"Yes, Kreacher, please take this to Luna Lovegood in the morning. I don't want to disturb her at this hour."
"Yes, Master." Kreature said with a bow and popped away.
Almost immediately Harry felt the pull on his magic once more, it was only a few seconds before it stopped.
"What the hell is she up to now?" he wandered out loud.
Checking his tracking charm on her, he noticed she had just snuck out of the dormitories and headed towards the Main building. Sighing in annoyance he stood and stretched before popping to her location, knowing everyone else wouldn't or shouldn't be awake near that section of the school.
He landed with practised grace and immediately saw not only a shocked and surprised Max but a wide eyed and clearly frightened Chloe.
The three stared at one another for a moment before Harry broke the silence. "Fuck."
"Wha- Wh- What- What the fuck?" Chloe asked her mind racing a mile a minute.
"How did you do that?" Max asked shocked.
Harry ignored their shock and gave the shorter girl a harsh look. "You used that bloody ability again, didn't you?"
Max suddenly looked nervous. "I needed to meet Chloe so that we could..."
"No, no, no... I warned you against using that power until I figured out what the hell it was and what it did."
Chloe seemed to get over her shock enough to speak. "Wait, you were at the diner yesterday, right? Harry wasn't it?"
Harry nodded before turning to berate Max some more.
"Dude, leave her alone. She isn't hurting anyone." Chloe continued defending her friend.
"You don't know that. Besides if I hadn't fixed the train tracks yesterday that would've been a different story." Harry replied hotly.
"Wait, how did you know we were at the tracks yesterday?" Max asked her brows furrowed.
"Are you stalking us?" the blue haired girl jumped in looking murderously.
Harry sighed. He weighed his options for a second before speaking again.
"I'm a wizard, yes they exist and yes so do most of the magical creatures you've heard about in stories and legends. I've been tasked by your Magical Ministry to find the massive disturbance in the area."
Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but Harry beat her to the punch.
"Yes, we have our own Governments, now I've just spoken to the representative I've been dealt and told him that I was still investigating the disturbance. If only because I'm curious about this ability myself and your Ministry would more than likely take, Miss Caulfield here away to conduct a number of tests on her before either killing or wiping away all of her memories of well, everything." Harry told them seriously.
"But wait, why would they do that? I didn't even ask for these powers!" Max stated fear clear in her voice.
"They won't care, you risk exposing our entire community." Harry replied with a shrug.
"What about you though? Isn't telling us all of this going against your codes?" Chloe asked with a frown.
"I plan to erase myself from your memories once I get everything I need." he answered honestly.
"Erase our memories?" Max squeaked.
"It's not as bad as you think. You'd still have the experiences, just... minus my involvement." he answered.
"So you're an actual wizard? Like wand, broom and black cat?" Chloe asked choosing to ignore the invasion of privacy he told them he was about to commit at some point in the future.
Harry nodded and pulled his wand from his wand holder and shrunken broom out of his pocket. The two girls looked at him suspiciously for a second before he waved his wand over his broom and it immediately reverted to it's original size. He then climbed onto it and hovered above them for a minute before landing, shrinking it and placing the broom back in his pocket and his wand to his holder.
"Holy shit..." Max said looking utterly shocked.
"This is fucking trippy." Chloe agreed in her way.
"Now then, explain, just what the hell you two think you're doing at this god forsaken hour?"
The two shared a look before Chloe shrugged.
"I mean adding an actual wizard to our ranks wouldn't be a bad thing."
Max sighed before turning back to Harry. "We're looking for clues, anything that could connect Nathan to Kate and maybe even find a few others who are in on it."
Harry looked between the two of them tiredly. This was supposed to be a simple recon mission not a bloody babysitting one.
"And what do you plan to do with this information?" he asked seriously.
"Take it to the police. Nathan loves to boast that he could get away with anything cause his family basically owns everyone, but if we can get solid evidence then they'd have to do something about him."
Harry was about to try and dissuade them when he was suddenly reminded of Ron, Hermione and himself at Hogwarts. He smiled softly and shook his head, "Fine. I'll help you, but when the time comes..." he told them leaving the rest open.
The two girls nodded seriously and proceeded on the path towards the main building.
"How were you planning on getting in anyway?"
Max paused and turned to Chloe, she obviously hadn't thought about that.
Chloe smiled while looking between them. "Drum roll, please..." she then pull a pair of keys out of her pocket. "I present the spare keys to Blackwell. Thank you, step-prick."
Harry chose to ignore the insult to her, he assumed step-father, and turned to Max who looked positively happy.
"You are such a boss, Chloe! I just... don't want you to get into any more trouble."
"Look at all the trouble dropping in Arcadia Bay. At this point, who gives a fuck any more? We're in it to win it, Max." Chloe said with a shrug.
As they continued on their way Chloe made a horrible time pun which caused Harry and Max to groan in disappointment. They suddenly heard two voices and hid behind one of the bannisters on the campus and Harry simply disillusioned himself and watched with some interest. The girl he had met earlier, Victoria Chase was having a discussion with Jefferson.
They seemed to be discussing some sort of Contest, "Everyday Heroes" or some such crap. Harry watched as Victoria tried to seduce then threaten the man and couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment. As the conversation went... as badly as Harry expected Victoria walked past him her head hung low while berating herself for her stupidity.
"Just when I thought Victoria couldn't get any more evil..." Max muttered to herself.
"Don't judge a book by its cover." Harry said as he appeared before the girls making them jump in surprise.
"Would you stop doing that!" Chloe said clutching her chest while trying to lower her heart rate.
Once she calmed down, Max spoke again. "Did you not see what she just tried to do?"
"If I'm not mistaken didn't you mention that Chloe was simply misunderstood to Joyce? Do you think everyone thinks that way about her?" Harry asked, his eyebrow raised.
"How long have you been following us?!"
"The diner was a coincidence. At least, I'd like to believe it was..." Harry said frowning his brows.
"Let's get going." Chloe urged not really interested in the conversation.
"Besides, Chloe has her reasons." Max added while they headed to the school building.
"And the only reason you can say that so confidently is because you know her. I suppose you haven't really given the same courtesy to Victoria. All I'm saying is, there might be more on the surface."
"She teased Kate until she almost killed herself!" Max shot back.
"And I'm not defending her actions, what she did was truly reprehensible but I don't presume that that's her default nature, everyone has a story. What made her feel as though she has to act the way she does? Why does she put others down even though it has clearly made her unpopular amongst the general student populace? What happened?" Harry provided nonchalantly.
"Well, I don't really care, to me she'll always be a bitch." Max said stubbornly.
"Until she isn't." Harry shrugged.
"Are you done? Cause I think we should start with the principal's office first." Chloe said shortly as she used the one of the keys on the door leading to the secretaries office. One the door opened they entered. "Come on, one more door."
When they got to Well's door Chloe swore loudly.
"What the fuck, the security officer should a key for every door in the school."
Harry looked between the two and pulled his wand. "I've got this." He said before muttering the Alohamora spell and hearing a distinct click before opening the door and motioning inside. "Shall we?"
"Fuckin' A!" Chloe shouted happily before rushing past Harry and Max and began looking through the Principal's computer. Max began rifling through files looking for documents. Harry simply hung back and watched, he wasn't about to get involved in all of this. He was just here to observe.
Harry moved over to the side and sat in one of the chairs opposite the desk while looking around the office.
"Max you'd better come look at this." Chloe said in a tight voice.
"Nathan accused Rachel of bringing drugs on campus? And of course David went with it 'cause he thought Rachel was a bad influence on me." Chloe continued, her tone getting angrier and angrier.
Harry sighed and scratched his chin in thought. This was all very strange, just what the hell did all of this mean? Who was Rachel Amber? What does she have to do with what's happening in this town? He tuned back into the conversation.
"That's just some crazy drawing..."
"It's not a drawing..." Max said with a small whisper. "'Rachel in the dark room'... 'Rachel in the dark room' Over and over again."
Harry got up at this point and walked around the desk to peak at the screen and sure enough, Max was right, repeatedly over and over again, in increasing desperation. 'Rachel in the dark room' was scribbled all over the page.
"What the fuck...?" he whispered in shock.
"This is seriously fucked up!" Chloe said angrily.
They discovered another file of Nathan's where he speaks of David Madsen as if he was some sort of leader. What the hell was going on here?!
"We have to go through his files in the garage!" Chloe said looking at Max with a determined gaze. "Let's get out of here, I'm seriously getting paranoid. But maybe we shouldn't leave without a gift..."
Harry blinked in confusion before Max spoke.
"No, you are not taking the cozy chair."
"Come on, do your powers include mind-reading?" Chloe stopped and blinked in confusion. "Or did you just rewind because I tried to steal the chair? Shit, I'm confused."
Harry stifled a laugh and looked between the two girls.
"It's the powers of best friendship..."
"Christ, that was corny. Can we leave?" Harry said unable to stop himself.
"Jealous of our awesomeness?" Chloe asked with a quirked eyebrow.
"No, I'd just like to get some sleep seeing as how I was assigned this whole thing today and have to already deal with a ton of crap." Harry said with a shrug.
"Fine." the blue haired girl said before turning in her chair and pulled open one of the drawers of the desk. "Whoa, what's this?"
Pulling out an envelope she peaked inside and her mouth instantly fell open. Max looked and whistled.
"Jesus, there must be around seven grand in here!"
"Yeah..." Max agreed before she caught the writing on the front of the envelope.
"There's enough in here to get Frank off my back and to get out of this fucking town."
"I don't know, Chloe. This says it's for the disabled fund." Max said uncertainly.
Harry decided he was not here for moral dilemma's and walked out of the office leaving the two girls to have their discussion, he walked out of the building and looked around. His mind went back to Victoria, what was her issue? The Daphne Greengrass of Blackwell Academy.
His thoughts were interrupted by the voices of the girls behind him.
"We've got one more stop to make." Chloe said with a smirk.
"Am I needed for this little detour?" Harry asked looking between the two girls.
"Depends, how easy is it to arouse you?" Chloe asked with a saucy smirk.
Harry stared between the two girls for a moment before sighing.
"Goodnight." he said turning and headed towards the dormitories.
"Your loss." he heard Chloe call from behind him.
With a shake if his head he disapparated and landed in his room. He moved over to his bed and immediately collapsed on to it. He sighed and before he realised what happened darkness claimed his tired mind.
-Magic is Strange-
Harry woke up the next morning early and stretched before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He rolled out of the bed and walked over to his table, he picked up his schedule and checked his first class. An hour of Art lessons just after 8 am. He did not have much time to get breakfast... unless...
He was broken out of his musing by the vibration of his mirror beside his bed. Walking over he picked it up and spoke the confirmation phrase.
"Mr Potter."
"Good morning, Mr Johnson."
"Do you have any more information for us?" he asked getting straight to the point.
Harry paused for a second before speaking.
"No sir, I have kept my distance from Max, I am currently tracking her movements, but it doesn't seem as though she's done anything to trigger the massive fluctuations lately. When she does I will pass the information on to you." he lied, forcing his expression to remain the same.
There was a pause. "Understandable, carry on, Mr Potter. I expect regular updates."
"Yes sir." Harry said with a nod of his head.
Once the mirror went dark, Harry sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. He summoned his toiletries and decided he would treat himself to a nice hot shower this morning. It had been two years since Harry had to share a bathroom with a bunch of boys, he was instantly taken back... Christ they were loud.
Manoeuvring his way through the towel whippers, the bullies and the... well endowed individuals, Harry managed to make his way to the showers and got into one, turning the water on and began washing his body.
"Hey Nathan! So what's up with you and Victoria?! You tapping that ass or no?"
Harry stopped scrubbing his hair to listen to the conversation.
"You ask me that every fuckin' morning! No, she's like my sister!"
"So you wouldn't mind if I take a shot right?" there was a collective bellow of cheers and whistles. The boy who spoke didn't even wait for Nathan to respond before he continued. "You know what they say about the bitchy ones, I bet she gets freaky as hell!"
A sudden slam caused Harry to actually jump before he heard Nathan speak again.
"Listen to me, if you touch her in anyway I will cut your dick off and shove it down your throat. I fuckin' own you! I own everyone is this fuckin' room! Any one of you try some shit with Victoria, I'll make sure you disappear and that no one fuckin' finds you! So how about it? Who wants to be the next Rachel Amber?"
Finishing with his shower Harry turned the water off and walked out to dry himself off. What he wasn't expecting was to see Nathan standing directly in front of him, the boy sneered at Harry before speaking.
"You heard that, right? I own everyone."
Harry side stepped him and got his towel, wrapping it around his waist before turning back to Nathan lazily.
"I don't know how true that statement is, but I can assure you, Prescott. You. Do Not. Own. Me." Harry responded, emphasizing each word before turning and leaving the shower, deciding to change in his room.
Sighing he checked the time and saw that it was currently 7:30 am and would not have enough time to get breakfast and instead opted to attend his class without for that morning.
He got changed to leave when Kreacher popped in.
"Master Harry."
"Morning, Kreacher, do you have something for me?"
"Yes, Master." the old elf hoarsely replied before handing Harry two letters.
He thanked Kreacher and left the room, deciding to open one of the letters and began reading.
Harry!
I am so happy you're alright, when we hadn't heard from you all day we thought something might've happened. Even though you and Ron assured me that wasn't the case, I still couldn't help but be worried that the break-up with Ginny had taken a toll on you.
I'm glad to hear that the mission's going well, but the fact that you used Kreacher to deliver the message tells me that you're somewhere where you can't use owls?
Anyway, every thing's okay on this side, the Aurors are still tracking down some residual Death Eaters, it's been a massive undertaking especially since we caught Yaxley a few days ago. He's being really difficult, doesn't help that what's left of the Wizengamont is trying to push through a law that allows "prominent members of society" to forego Veritaserum should they choose.
Don't worry though, that was quickly snubbed out and Yaxley should be singing like a canary within the next few hours.
We really miss you here, Harry but we get it. Hope you get to take your break soon, you've never really taken one. But don't forget to send a message through when you have time!
We love and miss you!
Xoxox
Hermione.
Harry smiled and just as he suspected Hermione attributed his escape as an escape from Ginny, but that wasn't true, thankfully. They had talked everything through and came to a mutual understanding of their situation and being happy was a higher priority than making others happy.
He checked the other letter and saw that it was a response from Luna. He would read it and send a reply as soon as he could as he entered the school building.
"Hey, James Bond!"
"Oh, fuck me..." Harry groaned quietly. "Hello Warren." he said louder.
"By the way what you did in the shower, with Nathan, that was so awesome!"
"Not especially, seeing as it was just truth."
"Still, you put that dick in his place, you're definitely on his shit list now, but at least you stood your ground." Warren said with an excited smile. "So, where are you headed to?"
"Art with Ms Koshner."
"Ah, that's on the second floor, I'm headed to the Chemistry class. I wonder where Max is..." he mumbled then looked back to Harry, "Well, whatever. I'll see you later yeah?" he called before jogging off to his class.
Harry sighed and shook his head, making his way to his first class of the day. He did not miss classes at all. Once he found the right room he poked his head in and saw a few student getting their equipment ready. Harry walked in and immediately walked over to the young looking teacher and smiled while handing her his papers.
"Ah, Mr Potter, welcome. Please find yourself a spot, and get yourself some equipment found in the back of the room."
Harry nodded and got himself a large sketch book as well as a few pieces of chalk and pencils. He smiled as he found the perfect place and placed his stand and materials.
"Morning, Victoria, yeah?"
The short haired girl spun to look at Harry, clearly surprised at his willingness to sit next to her.
"Yeah. Can I help you?"
"Not especially, just thought I'd join you here." Harry responded with a shrug.
Before Victoria could speak again the teacher interrupted them.
"Alright everyone, I thought we'd go back to basics and see how far everyone is, so this is going to be a proportion sketch."
Harry nodded in understanding.
"Alright, Caroline, if you could come in please?" she called.
Suddenly a girl wrapped in a gown entered the room and Harry slowly felt his understanding fade and felt a sense of worry fill him.
"Now Caroline, if you would?" she asked the young woman in the gown. Immediately she stood in front of them naked.
"Oh God..." Harry said before turning away.
"Alright class, let's get started shall we?"
There were multiple scratches on paper as people started on their own pieces and here was Harry unable to even look at the model.
"This is the part where you sketch." Came a snarky voice voice from his left.
Looking up he saw Victoria looking at him with a rather dry look.
"I- I know. I'm just..."
"Wait... hold on. No... Please tell me this isn't your first time seeing a girl naked?" she whispered, the humour evident in her tone.
"What, of course not, I just... I don't know, I just don't feel comfortable looking at a stranger naked."
"Well, that's the whole point of the class, so..."
"Yes, I realise this Victoria, thank you."
"So are you going to look any time soon?" she asked, getting back to her own work.
"When I'm ready..."
"That's too bad, she has a really great rack."
"Charming." he responded sarcastically, he did not miss her chuckle before she once more fell silent.
Taking a breath Harry looked up and looked at Caroline who stood before the entire class, starkers, not a care in the world... yeah he couldn't do this without feeling dizzy. Alright, next best thing. He peaked out of the corner of his eye and noticed that Victoria was rather still as she sketched. Perfect.
The class resumed without much hassle. Everyone, but Harry sketching the model the teacher walked around the room assessing the students' work and occasionally offering some advice, that is until she walked around to Harry's side. She stood between him and Victoria and frowned. Harry looked at her and shook his head slightly. Ms Koshner mouthed "after class" and Harry nodded in understanding, he then felt the pull and watched as everything rewound.
"Damn you, Max." he muttered.
Once everything repeated itself Harry nodded and waited for the teacher to move on.
"Excellent, Victoria."
"I know." the girl responded smugly, ignoring the groaning from the rest of the class.
An hour finally passed and the bell rang. Ms Koshner informed the class that they could take their pieces and use it to learn from as they read about anatomy and perspective in their textbooks.
Harry folded his page and was about to make his way to the teacher before Victoria spoke up.
"You get a good look at her rack? Bet you'll be thinking of that later." she said with a laugh before leaving the room with her sidekick, a blonde Harry hadn't yet met.
Ignoring her, Harry walked over to Ms Koshner and was met by a curious glance.
"So, want to tell me why you were sketching a classmate, rather than the model?"
Harry paused to think for a moment.
"I don't- I wouldn't say I'm the most comfortable around people that comfortable. That is to say, I was raised in a very... conservative household."
"Oh please, are you a virgin?" Harry baulked at her question. "Don't give me that look, I'm not stupid, I know what you kids get up to nowadays."
Harry held his tongue when wanting to point out the fact that she was not that much older than himself.
"No, I'm not a virgin, but I don't think you need a reason to feel uncomfortable when it's a complete stranger and not someone you care about."
Koshner sighed. "Listen, I don't know if you've maybe developed a little crush on Miss Chase, but I'm going to need you to participate next time, lest you want a failing grade."
"I understand." Harry said with a nod. He turned to leave before the teacher called him back.
"Let's see your work." she said holding out her hand. Once Harry handed her his work she looked it over and nodded. "This is really good. You should show it to her. I think she'd really like it."
Harry shrugged. "Maybe."
-Magic is Strange-
Avoiding Warren along with Victoria, Harry quickly left the building and headed to his room so that he could apparate to the two Whales. He rushed into his room and focused on the diner before spinning on the spot and landing in the back alley he'd seen the day he went by. But of course it wasn't unoccupied.
"Oh hello!" Harry greeted, his eyes wide as he stared at the homeless woman who stared at where he appeared.
"Why hello there, that was quite impressive." she told him with a small chuckle.
"Sorry, if I startled you..." he said, feeling odd by their casual conversation. Did she not see him materialise from nowhere?
"No, I had a feeling... the air, it changed a second before you got here." she said dismissively.
"Okay, I'm sorry are you a witch?" he asked, his bafflement getting the best of him.
"No, not a witch, but I am poor. Meaning I see way more than people give me credit for." she answered him cryptically.
"Huh. Well, I don't know what to do now." he admitted with a frown. "Usually I would have to obliviate someone after they saw something like that."
"Well, whatever you feel is right, honey." she said with a knowing smile.
Harry pulled his wand but froze. This didn't feel right. No it felt as though something was telling him to let this woman go. Harry lowered his arm and instead pulled out his wallet.
"Here." he said handing her a couple of bills.
She smiled at him and shook her head.
"No, no, please. I know it's not a lot but, everyone deserves a nice hot meal." he told her.
Smiling once more, the woman took the money with a shake of her head and smiled thanking him.
Before Harry left he turned back to her.
"What's your name?" he asked curiously.
Before she answered, he felt the pull, it was much stronger. Max was close.
"I think you'd better go, honey." she told him when the pull stopped.
Not thinking twice Harry nodded and jogged to investigate where Max had gone before he stopped and turned back to the woman, that was weird, she hadn't rewound. Shaking his head he made a mental note and went to look for Max.
As he came around the front of the diner he saw a flash of blue and sighed, moving quickly and ignoring his hunger, for the second time that day he walked over to the R.V where he found Chloe trying and failing at looking inconspicuous.
"What are you doing?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Jesus!" Chloe jumped before whirling on him. "Fuck, okay, Max was right, sneaking up on people, not cool."
"Are you trying to break into the R.V?" he asked with a look of disbelief.
"It's Frank's, we need to see how he got Rachel's bracelet."
Harry sighed. "Where's Max?"
"Right here!" came a voice from behind him.
Turning he came face to face with the tiny brunette who was sporting an outfit that did not look like something she would have in her closet.
"Changing your brand?" he asked motioning to the outfit.
"I think it looks good on her." Chloe said immediately defending her friend.
"I didn't say it was bad, but rather, outside of what she would... usually wear, I believe." he responded.
"You aren't wrong." Max said with a small shrug. "These were Rachel's. Chloe lent them to me."
"Okay, did you get them?" Chloe asked and was rewarded when Max raised a ring of keys. "Great! Now here's a treat for the doggy inside."
"Huh, a dog, hmm?"
"We've got this." Chloe said dismissing Harry's worries.
"On one, ready?" Chloe asked once she turned positioned herself to open the door. Max nodded and Chloe began counting.
Once the reached one they pulled the door open and out came a rather scrappy looking dog which was successfully distracted by the bone and ran to chase it. Max threw it over the R.V and the dog ran after it, they lost sight of it but they definitely heard it as they heard a car screech to stop and the dog let out a sharp, yelp of pain.
Harry turned to Max. "... You'd better go back and stop that." he said leaving no room for disagreement.
Max nodded and held out her right arm and time once more began to reverse, Harry watched as the dog came back around and the bone returned to Max's hand. When all was right she nodded to Chloe who opened the door and Max then threw the bone in the parking lot where the dog happily laid down to chew on.
"Better." Harry said with a nod and followed the girls into the R.V.
Once inside Harry looked between the girls. "So what are we looking for here exactly?"
"Jesus, and I thought my room was a shit hole." Chloe commented with a disgusted look around the R.V.
"You aren't a creepy drug dealer." Max replied looking around as well.
"Frank has issues, but he isn't creepy... At least I hadn't thought so until I saw him with Rachel's bracelet." Chloe commented as she moved over to the driver's seat. "Oh man, could you imagine us cruising down to the Big Sur in this?" she said happily.
"Yeah, and you'd probably want me to kiss you again..."
"I'm sorry, what?" Harry said looking between the two girls.
"Chloe, we're on a schedule. We need clues about Rachel." Max said ignoring Harry's question.
"I know. Just daydreaming." Chloe said steeping away from the wheel. "Okay, you scope out the area and I'll hack his computer for info."
They started looking around, Max pulled a cabinet open and Harry saw her eyes grow eyes before she seemed to be deep in thought. She sighed and pulled out a bloody gun! Wait... Harry recognised the gun as the one Frank had taken from them in the Junkyard. He quickly made his way over to Max to prevent her from reaching Chloe.
"Is that a good idea?" he asked quietly, throwing a cautious look at Chloe who was busy tapping away at the computer.
"I trust her." Max replied with a hard look in her eye.
She walked over to the blue haired girl and smiled, presenting her with the gun.
"Oh, Max you rule! Thank you so much!"
"You better bring it back to David, right away." Max said sternly.
"Yeah, sure, I'm on it." Chloe said unconvincingly.
Max looked worried for a moment before she turned and saw Harry giving a look of disappointment.
They continued looking and finally found an air vent which was suspiciously loose. Once they pried it open Harry and Max found multiple pictures of Rachel looking genuinely happy and happy with Frank. Harry ignored Max's comments on the pictures and pulled out a small black book.
"This must have all of his customers." Harry said holding up the book.
"How do you know that?"
"From everything I've seen about this guy, he doesn't stray far from the stereotype. Little black book in the drug dealers van... I've seen enough movies to know what this is." he responded with a smug look.
Max shot him an unamused look before grabbing the book and headed towards Chloe.
"Find something?" she asked still looking through the computer.
Max hesitated before showing Chloe the pictures and the book. "We found these hidden away in a vent."
Chloe looked through the pictures her eyes narrowing as she went through the pictures of Frank and Rachel together.
"I can't believe she was banging Frank! Rachel straight up lied to my face! Why didn't she say anything?!" she exploded angrily.
"Because she knew how you'd react." Max replied softly. Harry wanted to rub his face at the blunt response.
"Then she wasn't much of a friend, huh?! Just another person who shits all over me! Why does everyone in my life let me down? My dad gets killed, you bail on me for years, my mother gloms onto step-fucker... now Rachel betrays me..."
"Chloe, I think you just to take a breath right now. Nobody betrayed you..."
"Shut up! What the fuck do you know?! You just got here, you're not even relevant to any of this!" she yelled as she stood and stormed out of the R.V throwing Franks keys on the roof of the diner before getting into her car, followed closely by Max.
Harry watched as she fired the engine up and sped passed him barely giving him enough time to move out of the way for risk of being run over. He sighed and looked around. As discreetly as possible Harry pulled his wand and summoned the keys to his hand. Walking into the diner he stood by the entrance and lifted the keys.
"Excuse me? Whose keys are these? I found them out in the parking lot?"
Discreetly looking over at Frank he saw him lazily check his pocket before his face morphed into a look of confusion and he started patting his leg frantically and looked up at Harry.
"Those are mine!" he called out, standing immediately and briskly walking over to Harry. "Where'd you get these?" he asked in a low tone.
"Like I said, I saw them in the parking lot." Harry responded with a shrug.
"Don't fuck with me, man. Where'd you get these?"
"Jesus, are you hard of hearing, I told you. What is with you American's and immediately resorting to violence?! Now if you'd excuse me, I would like to get something to eat and be on my way." Harry told the man shortly. His hunger pushing him to new levels of annoyed.
"Hello, Harry. Here for something to eat?" Joyce asked him once she saw him.
"Hello, Joyce, yes please and if it could be a takeaway that would be great." he told her with a smile.
"Not a problem. What did you have in mind?" she asked him kindly.
"Err, if I could get a burger? That would be great!" Harry told her with a smile.
"One burger to go, coming right up."
Harry smiled and nodded before looking for a place to sit when he spotted Prescott. He narrowed his eyes and made his way over to the boys table.
"What the fuck? Why are you here?" Nathan asked him in his usual aggressive tone.
"What did you do to Kate Marsh?" Harry asked, deciding to be direct.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Bullshit." Harry said instantly. "You were at that party, I'm under no illusion either you or someone you know provided the drugs that were there. That means that one of your little Vortex - or whatever the fuck you call yourselves - members got her fucked up."
"And where is your proof of all of this? You'd better be careful, red coat. This is all speculation and slander. I could have everything you own faster than you could blink."
"Oh this is a witch hunt, Prescott. I know you're involved somehow, and I'll figure it out soon enough. And when I do, I'm coming for you." Harry told him quietly.
"Is that a threat?"
"No, it's a fucking promise. You won't be able to hide behind your daddy's money and influence forever. I've dealt with shit like you before, didn't end well for him either."
Before Nathan could respond, Joyce came over.
"Here you go, Harry." she said handing him the takeaway package.
"Thank you, Joyce." he said with a kind smile, before he turned and shot Nathan dark look to which the boy immediately responded with a glare of his own.
-Magic is Strange-
Once Harry arrived in his dorm room he was greeted by Kreacher who handed him a mirror stating that it was from Luna. Who would have thought that the communication mirrors would be a big as they were?
"Luna Lovegood." he said connecting to his friend.
There was a moment of nothing until Luna's bright blue eyes and sunflower blonde hair appeared on the surface.
"Hello, Harry."
"Hey Luna. So, why did you give me this?"
"To answer your question, of course." she told him with a small giggle.
"Ah, so what can you tell me?"
"So by the description of the creature you told me about, it sounds like a relative of the Tuatha De Danan, magical beings who have been told to have invaded Ireland at some point in history. It's all a bit muddled to be honest. But some do believe that they created the fairies that we know today." she told him with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Ireland? How the hell did it end up in Oregon of all places?" Harry asked clearly confused.
"Like I said it could either be a variation of the creatures or a distant relative."
"And they possess the ability to time travel?" he asked with a frown.
"Among other things, don't forget fairy wings are used in Time-turners, so it wouldn't be a huge a stretch to assume that their cousins possess similar abilities." Luna answered.
"What about the ability to pass that ability to, humans or other creatures?"
"I would think that it wouldn't impossible. Improbable? Sure, but definitely not in the realm of impossibility. I mean, we know that pixies are known to tease and prank unsuspecting creatures and wizards."
"Damn, okay, so, theoretically, if a muggle had access to such abilities, what are the major drawbacks and escalation that could cause?"
"That's a tough question, Harry. Well, theoretically, of course, they would be tearing multiple realities apart, causing a rift between time and space and evoking massive natural backlash. In terms of escalation of abilities, I would say they could theoretically create whole worlds which would try to fit into our own, but not calmly."
"Okay... What did you mean by tearing multiple realities apart?"
"The reason wizards and witches can use time-turners without much backlash is because we aren't forcing ourselves into another reality, we are in an essence forcing ourselves to go back to our previous selves and alter things, to insignificant degree. Our magic merges with our previous selves as to not create a paradox. But muggles don't have that. So they go back and change something major, next thing they know when they get back the world is in ruin, because they didn't adhere to the rules of the universe." Luna said with another shrug.
"Alright, but what about when I went back to save Sirius? Shouldn't that have been a rather big change?"
"True, but you lucked out on that. Since Sirius was already a wanted man who had escaped prison all you did was ensure he escaped the ministry once more. It didn't really affect any time stream, if anything it just redirected it back to the stream from when he escaped Azkaban." Luna answered with a shrug.
"Okay, but that doesn't explain the multiple realities thing."
Luna sighed tiredly. "Okay, so because Muggles don't have magic, they aren't actually go back in time, they creating an entirely new reality around that event. Meaning that if they shoot someone and go back in time, they aren't actually going back to a moment where they didn't shoot that person, they are instead creating a reality where they have yet to make that decision."
Harry thought he was finally understanding what Luna was trying to tell him. "And the reality they left behind?"
"The 'them' that shot that person now has to face the consequences of that action, even if they have no memory of doing it. Who truly knows? But the point stands; that reality now exists when it didn't before. So now that reality is trying to fit itself into our world even though that action hadn't taken place in our reality. You see the paradox?"
Harry nodded in understanding. "So why do I not get affected by this ability?" he asked, dropping the pretence.
"Probably because your magic is following the current reality. So instead of being in a world that shouldn't exist, your magic follows the source of the change and moves along with them."
Harry nodded, he didn't really understand all of it, but he thought it made some sort of sense. Luna spoke again, breaking Harry from his thoughts.
"Harry, I don't exactly know what's going on, but you should really tell this person to stop using that ability, I don't know how many times they've created a reality but the fabric of time and space won't be able to sustain a lot more. They are close to causing a major natural event. For the sake of everyone there, Harry, I hope you're able to stop them."
Harry nodded. "Thanks Luna, I'll definitely do my best. I didn't think it was this serious. I'll get right on that."
"Good, it was nice talking to you, Harry. We miss you here."
"I miss you guys, too. I should be done here soon." he told her with a smile.
"Oh also, could you give that to Kreacher and ask him to return it to me, it's actually Rolf's and I needed to borrow it so we could speak. You should really get your own Harry."
Harry laughed at that. "I did, remember? But there's no filter function on these things, I kept getting calls from random people. Anyway, I should get going, I'll see you guys soon, bye."
Luna chuckled at him a bit before responding. "Bye, Harry!"
Once the call ended, Harry called for the house-elf and informed him to get the mirror back to Luna. When Kreacher had left Harry took a few bites of his burger to please his stomach when he felt a pull on his magic.
But this was different from the other times he had felt it. Harry watched as his hand blinked out of existence for a second. He immediately dropped his burger and looked at his hands in shock and fear.
"What the fuck?!" he cried out. He didn't think twice he immediately focused on the tracking charm he had placed on Max and found her really close. Probably in the girls' dorm. Not thinking twice he spun on the spot and landed in front of the girl to see her focussing on a picture in front of her.
"Max, stop!" he called out.
But it was too late Harry blinked his eyes and found himself standing in a kitchen. He looked around and found that he didn't recognise anyone in the room. There were two young girls, around 12 or 13 and an older man, someone Harry assumed was the father of one of the girls. Harry looked down at himself and noticed that he was transparent. What the fuck was going on?
"I hope the flash didn't scare you, Max. This is a keeper." the man said with a small laugh.
"Max?" Harry said in shock turning to the girl.
"Harry?" she asked looking around.
"Harry? Who's that?" the other girl asked walking over to Max.
"Wait, they can't see me can they?" Harry asked waving his hand in front of the girl's face. "They probably can't hear me either, or they'd be freaking out. But you can... any idea what's going on?"
Max stared at the girl in front of her and shook her head, hoping Harry would understand her.
"Sorry, Chloe. I was just thinking of something else."
"Something or someone? Who's Harry, Max?" Chloe asked in a teasing tone.
Harry blinked in utter shock, the girl who stood before him was Chloe? What the hell happened? This Chloe had light brown hair, no tattoos and a sweet innocent smile. What happened to change her personality so drastically over six years?
"It's nothing, Chloe, swear." Max answered, clearly still in shock about what was happening.
Chloe pouted and stepped back from Max. "Dad, Max's thinking about a boy named Harry and she won't tell me who he is."
"Nope, wait for your mother cause I'm nowhere ready to have that conversation with my girls." the man replied with a small laugh.
Harry blinked in surprise. That was Chloe's dad. He then remembered what she had said in Frank's R.V. "My dad gets killed..."
"Oh shit... is today the day that he...?" he asked Max, knowing he wouldn't need to finish the sentence.
"Yeah." Max said with a nod while looking at Chloe, but the meaning was meant for Harry. "Anyway. Let's help your dad out, yeah?"