HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY FANS!
One would think he was used to weird things happening to him every year. Or that he would learn not to stick his nose into things that he didn't need to.
Alas, this was not the case for Harry Potter.
He had gone on a walk to get out of the cursed heat that plagued Little Whinging. While it had cooled him off slightly, he was still bored.
So while he sat on the lone swing that had escaped his cousin's large girth, he wondered what fresh hell he was going to endure this year.
His track record for his school was a rather interesting (and dangerous) one.
First year, rescue a stone from a professor who was possessed by the wraith of the man who killed his parents. Second year, defeat a centuries old snake that was over eighty feet long and rescue a fellow housemate. Third year, rescue his godfather from dementors. Fourth year, go through a rather deadly tournament that he wanted nothing to do with.
As he mused over that, he realized his school years had been rigged. There was no other explanation as to why he was always rescuing somebody.
Why do I end up rescuing something every year? I mean, isn't that kind of redundant?
Seeing no reason to stay around (the heat was coming back twice as strong) he decided to sit in the underpass where it was always cool.
He didn't realize anything was wrong until he noticed that the sound of cars was gone. He couldn't even hear the wind, which was blowing pretty hard.
His senses went onto overdrive. He drew his wand, a holly stick of eleven inches with a phoenix feather as it's core.
Then the darkness came. It didn't belong to the dementors, because he didn't hear any screaming or feel the chill of their presence. Alas that was the only thing he could think of that caused the world to go dark.
Then they came. Men wearing crimson red robes. He felt a chill of apprehension. Something told him that they weren't there to offer him tea and biscuits.
Without warning, they made it impossible for him to attack back. His arms were pinned behind him, and his wand was barely in his hand. The leader removed his right glove. It fell to the ground unnoticed.
"Harry Potter...with my chain of condemnation...I hereby pronounce judgment on you. Your sin is...your power!"
The man who had taken off his glove placed his right hand on Harry's head. He felt something click as the person behind him let his arms go. A circle full of magic dragged him into a dark corridor where the was almost no light. The last thing he saw in that place was a large winged beast that looked like a griffon.
Harry woke up in the strangest place he had ever seen. It looked like a toy box that had been thrown about. He had a nasty headache coming on too. As he got up, he noticed that the ground had a lot of water around. Like he was in a giant puddle or something.
His head was really killing him. His glasses were broken, but that was easy enough to fix.
"Reparo."
The crack mended itself. He seriously doubted that the Ministry would pick up his magic in this strange place.
Seeing no owls come up to him, he knew that there was little chance of someone coming to help him.
"Lumos Maxima!"
The wand illuminated more of his surroundings. It was much easier to see now. He picked a random direction and started walking.
It felt like he had been walking for hours. The wand's light at least kept up his spirits. Every time he had the urge to rest, he sensed something approaching.
After the tenth time that happened, he grew angry enough that he did stop.
A monstrous beast appeared. It charged at him. Startled, he fell backwards into the water. The beast ran right over him, not noticing it's prey had slipped. It turned and Harry realized that he should have kept going and not stopped.
Something massive and black struck the beast. He couldn't see what it was. The beast exploded and didn't return.
Harry slowly got up and looked around. He couldn't see what had saved him. But he did see the direction it came from. He started walking to the North.
He blinked repeatedly. His eyes were watering from the sudden appearance of light. He wiped his eyes, and he could see again. There was a large door, almost like a mirror in front of him.
Here goes nothing.
He walked through the doorway.
Once again, Harry awoke to find a place like an up-heaved toy box. Only this time there was enough light to see around. He peered, trying to find anything that could lead him out.
Something fell behind him, and he slowly turned.
"Meow...it's about time you woke up," said a voice.
Harry tried not to stare, but it was useless.
The voice belonged to a strange man with long black things flowing behind him, two cat ears and a long slinky tail. He had a single red eye that watched his every move. Around his throat was a single red ribbon with a gold bell.
"Who are you?"
The man licked himself like a cat.
"Cheshire. Alyss told me to rescue you, so I did."
"Alyss?"
"The Will of the Abyss."
A white rabbit doll floated downward from somewhere. It was white with a blue coat around it's neck.
The doll giggled, and Harry knew that it something was going to speak to him through it.
"Um...hello?"
"You're a silly boy. Why did you fall here?" said the doll.
Harry looked cross.
"I didn't fall down here on purpose. Someone dropped me down here."
"Would you like to play?"
Harry got up. Cheshire kept his lone eye on him, wary. After Harry dusted off his clothes, he looked at the doll. It had taken to floating around his head. He ignored it.
"What would you like to play?" asked Harry.
The doll seemed surprised with his answer. It seemed to float higher, as if it was happy.
"Let's play with dolls!"
"Okay, where are you?"
Cheshire meowed and his form shifted into a cat. He started to walk, and Harry followed him into another door.
The girl was strange, but not in a bad way. Everything about her was white, even her hair. She had a Victorian outfit that was held up by black strings.
The room she was in was full of dolls. Rabbits, cats, girls and boys. She looked so lonely sitting there. In her hands was the same white rabbit he had been talking to.
"Who are you?" he asked.
She giggled. Her eyes were red in color, but Harry didn't feel afraid.
"I'm Alyss. Let's play!"
Harry didn't know how long he played with the lonely Alyss. Cheshire mostly stayed by her side the entire time. Harry actually felt sorry for her. She was stuck in this strange place with no one to talk or play with. She seemed to think everyone hated her for some reason.
Eventually he knew he would have to leave. Alyss almost seemed sad about that.
"If I knew how to come back, I would. But I have something I need to do back home," said Harry.
Alyss didn't look too happy about that. Harry was hit with a sudden inspiration. He took his wand and said "Lilium."
A bouquet of white lilies appeared from the tip. He gave them to Alyss and her mood brightened.
"A pretty flower for a pretty girl," said Harry with a smile.
"You promise you'll come back soon?" she asked.
"Once I know how, I promise to visit you often," said Harry, his eyes honest.
Alyss came to a decision. She picked up her beloved black cat and held him out to Harry.
Harry took Cheshire, but he didn't know what Alyss planned to do. So when a circle that appeared very similar to the one that had dropped him into the Abyss appeared, he tried to quell his surprise. He had to trust that Alyss wouldn't do anything to him.
He felt something appear on his chest, but decided not to look. The feeling of chains wrapping around his magic bothered him, but he said nothing. Cheshire wasn't too happy about what Alyss was doing, but he loved his master too much to comment.
When the feeling settled, Alyss looked pleased.
"There! Now you can visit me any time!" she said happy.
She walked up to Harry and pushed him back into the door. He felt like he was falling. The last thing he remembered was Alyss smiling at him.
Harry saw the bright sunlight hit him from the window and his only thought was...
I am really getting tired with passing out and waking up in a completely different place.
He felt something small and warm on his lap and looked down. There was a small black cat with a bell around it's neck.
So it wasn't a dream.
He gently petted the cat, and remember it's name was Cheshire. Hedwig was still asleep on her post. It took him a moment to realize that something was off.
Once he cleaned his glasses...which he apparently fell asleep in...he realized what it was.
He wasn't in Privet drive anymore. If he was pressed, he would have sworn he was in Hogwarts.
He blinked and looked around. It felt like Hogwarts. But wasn't it still summer vacation? He looked at the beds around him.
Seamus, Dean, Neville and Ron were all sound asleep. Ron was even snoring. He felt really, really confused now.
He gently picked up Cheshire and went downstairs. The feeling of oddness persisted, because he felt like he was exiting the dorm and entering the common room. Hermione was sound asleep, her head on a book. He found a blanket and placed it on her shoulders.
Then he went to the bulletin board and checked the date. What he saw nearly made him gasp in shock.
The day he went for a walk was July 30th. But according to the calender (which was self updating) it was a week after the tournament had ended. He would be heading back to Privet Dr. in two days.
What the bloody hell? How did I end up nearly two months in the past?
Cheshire yawned on his shoulder. It blinked at him, bored.
Harry made sure no one was awake and placed a silence cone around himself and the cat. No one would hear Cheshire speak.
"Cheshire, what's going on?"
Cheshire turned back into his human form.
"Alyss sent you back in time. She can do that you know."
"Alyss...can control time?"
"Didn't you know? The Abyss is one big time distortion. You can enter it at one point and reappear a hundred years later."
That gave Harry an idea. He was tired of living with the Dursleys every year during the summer. And knowing that it would reach the hundreds by August (by which time the A/C would break down), he had no intention of going back. So he came up with a plan.
"Cheshire, where would you like to go? Anywhere in the world," asked Harry.
Cheshire cocked his head.
"Someplace dry. I don't particularly care about the temperature."
Harry grinned. He had a plan. He went to his trunk and packed everything. Then wrote a letter to Gringotts and sent Hedwig off. She didn't seem very annoyed about being woken up to deliver a letter.
Cheshire sat on his shoulder and cocked his head.
'What are you up to?'
Harry smirked.
"I need a vacation. And I plan on having one."
Hedwig returned just before he boarded the train. She had a letter from the goblins. Or what appeared to be one.
Hermione wasn't too happy about Harry shrinking his trunk and putting it in his pocket (he pointed out that this was the only way he could actually be able to do his homework when he got to his aunt's house). Ron was waiting impatiently for Harry to read the letter.
Instead Harry claimed that something he had eaten at breakfast hadn't gone down well and all but ran to the loo.
Hermione and Ron didn't know something was wrong until they realized that Harry still hadn't come back. And the trolley witch had already come and gone. Hermione became suspicious.
"Ron, Harry's been gone a really long time. You don't suppose he ran into Malfoy do you?"
As if summoned by his name, Draco appeared for his end of the year taunt. He seemed surprised that Harry wasn't in there with his friends.
"Potter ran away?" he said amused.
Hermione's eyebrows shot up.
"You haven't seen him?" she said in shock.
Draco shook his head. He wanted to taunt Potter, not the mudblood. So he went to torment some first years and planned to come back.
Hermione grabbed Ron by the arm and pushed him out of the compartment.
"Go see what happened to Harry."
"Why me?"
Hermione glared at him.
"Because, Ronald, Harry said he was going to the bathroom. And I happen to be a girl as you recall," she said in a huff.
Ron went with reluctance. He really didn't want to walk in on Harry in the loo.
He returned fifteen minutes later in confusion.
"He's not there. And I didn't see him in any of the compartments on the way there."
"Are you sure?" she said, concerned.
Ron nodded. He had double checked with Seamus, who said that Harry had come that way hours ago but hadn't gone past his compartment on the way back. Which was odd considering that the one Seamus was in was right in front of the bathrooms.
Hermione began to panic. Where was Harry?
As the two started to look around for Harry in practically every compartment, said missing person was currently having a long discussion with the caretaker of his vaults.
"I must admit, Master Potter, I never expected to see you here today," said Griphook.
"I was glad that you responded so swiftly, Master Griphook," replied Harry. While he had hated taking the port key, it was the only way he could have slipped away from Hermione without her raising the alarm too quickly. Ron wouldn't have noticed he was missing until the train had reached the station, if then.
"So what is it that you wish to do?"
"I need a vacation. I was hoping you could help me make discreet withdrawals from my vault without alerting Dumbledore to where I am," said Harry.
Griphook seemed pleased by that request.
"While I am glad that you have finally come by yourself, there is someone who wishes to speak to you first."
"Who?"
"Ripfang has been in charge of your acquisitions, which I am sad to say have become stagnant. As caretaker of your vaults, it would be remiss of me not to take you to him."
"Wait, vaults? I have more than one?"
Griphook smirked at him, and explained about his vaults. Harry followed him without question. He left the second office feeling much better about his day.
Ripfang promised to acquire new assets, starting with Grunnings. Harry made a polite suggestion in investing in muggle technology and Fred and George Weasly's soon to be open joke business. It looked to be very profitable.
By the time Harry left Gringotts, the train was halfway to London. Cheshire was in his robe pocket, and Hedwig was delivering another letter to Sirius.
Since he now had some money to splurge, he decided to go shopping. His first order of business was a new trunk, much like the one Moody had been stuck in.
Harry was whistling cheerfully as he placed the new trunk around his wrist. He had splurged on books and potions, which would be put in his new trunk without him having to do anything. He would have to organize them later though. Once he had his new trunk, he went to the shop that Griphook had mentioned. The one that sold both port keys and passports so he could leave the country undetected.
He walked in, grinning.
"May I help you?" asked the shopkeeper.
"I need a passport, survival gear and a port key to Aspen please."
The shopkeeper looked at him shrewdly and began packing everything he asked for. Including a few things that Harry suspected weren't in the usual gear.
He handed Harry a ring and a pair of earrings.
"The ring can translate any written language, the earrings teach you whatever language you are speaking and translate whatever you say into the dialect of the area."
He handed Harry a bracelet.
"Reusable port key. To set it to a new location, go to the nearest shop and have them program a new one for you. The key word is 'Vacation'."
"How much do I owe you?" asked Harry.
"For everything, fifty galleons. If you add another ten I can pierce your ears for you."
Harry handed over the sixty galleons without question. Once his ears were done, he nodded to the man and activated his new port key.
He was gone long before anyone realized he wasn't on the train.
Sirius saw Hedwig coming, and wondered what Harry had to say. When he carefully opened the letter, he stared at it for five full minutes. He double checked that he hadn't misread the thing.
It was definitely in Harry's writing, and the one who delivered it was definitely Hedwig.
"Dear Padfoot,
I am tired of dealing with my aunt and uncle every summer, so I have decided to pull one over on the old goat. I'm heading to Aspen on the first port key I can get. You're free to join me of course, but I am not going to sit around bored out of my mind in a house that will feel like an oven come August.
By the time you get this letter, I will have already ditched my minders Ron and Hermione. No doubt she'll send me a howler the first chance she gets.
Hope to see you on my much needed vacation,
Harry."
Sirius couldn't help the feeling that was bubbling up from his gut. After reading the letter a second time he started laughing like a loon. Remus looked up, wondering why Sirius was acting crazier than usual.
Sirius handed him the letter and Remus looked very much like he was going to tell Dumbledore about Harry's surprise trip. Sirius held onto Remus firmly.
"Don't tell him."
"Why not? Voldemort is back and he goes gallivanting off to another country without an escort?!" said Remus.
"How often does Harry act his age?" asked Sirius in return.
That stopped Remus. Ever since he had first met his cub third year, Harry acted like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He almost never acted like a normal teenager.
This was his first time acting like James at that age.
Sirius cracked a grin.
"Shall we join our wayward pup?" he asked.