Chapter 65
"Isn't it odd? Coming in the front entrance." Judith mused. "For once."
Harry shrugged. "I quite liked sneaking in."
"It must be disastrous if they're letting the likes of us. Dealing with deviatory elements as we do to come in through the front door." Ioan looked up at the ceiling of the Ministry of Magic.
"Yes," Harry said slowly, also looking up the ceiling and then down at the floor, momentarily distracted. "That's what's worrying me." He paused. "If it'd just been a normal death, or even a murder they'd have packed the body up and taken it wherever they do."
Judith looked at him curiously. "You don't know where the Ministry takes its dead?"
"I concentrate on removing those that need to be," Harry paused thinking back to his time in the 1970s very briefly. "Disposal is something I try not to consider unless absolutely necessary."
"As do we all," Ioan commented as Harry stepped forward to deal with security.
Harry explained calmly that no, none of their wands would be registered, he wouldn't identify his associates and wouldn't put on a badge. Nor would any of them show him what was within any of the bags that each of them had.
The man was having none of it.
"Mr Potter..." He began awkwardly in an officious sort of way.
"Don't presume to know my name." Harry calmly looked into the man's eyes. He's been annoying as soon as he'd approached. The letter he'd received had said they could proceed in without any obstructions. "You can refer to me as" Harry paused. He didn't quite want to start invoking the Master's namesake, even if it was only a form of address. The Master, what he had done, what had happened, or rather what had happened in the missing film was still something weighing on him. "Sir," he finally said.
"Sir." The man paused and shook his head, leaning into his chair. "The matter is Mr Potter that you can't go barging into the Ministry without." Harry leaned forward gazing in and reaching out with his senses to the man.
"You WILL let myself and my associates pass. You will not impede us. Do you understand?"
The man mumbled something with a dazed look on his face.
"Do. You. Understand," Harry ordered, continuing. "You will obey these orders."
"I will obey...I will..." He had much more of a glazed look on his face.
"When I snap my fingers you will wait ten seconds and then continue your duties, you will obey without question," Harry exhaled slowly. "Good." Harry turned around but found Ioan and Judith just behind him and by his side.
"You really are very good at that." Judith commented idly.
"Government dundridges annoy me," Harry said and snapped his fingers as they walked past.
As they entered the lifts Harry jabbed at the floor number. The letter had the seal of the Ministry although not signed the handwriting seemed familiar though he couldn't place it. Neither Ioan nor Judith recognised it.
Though Judith had made the observation that it was probably a woman who wrote it. Or a submissive man, whatever that meant.
The letter just indicated that they should go to an office on Level 2. "Wizengamot Administration Services" Announced the lift.
"Even that manages to sound like it's produced with steam and fury," Judith mused.
"It's reassuring," Harry said as they stepped out. "She's not as grumpy as some lifts."
Harry led the way down one of the corridors as the letter had informed them. As Ioan and Judith followed, he paused half way down the corridor and pointing at an unassuming door. It had the same 'Department' of text that most doors had along with two letters 'M.I.' in brass on the door, but nothing else to indicate what it was.
Harry reached out to knock but the door was opened before he could do so.
"Harry Potter. I've been expecting you," Said a voice within.
Harry was surprised and for a moment couldn't remember the woman's name before him. It wasn't a slight on her, just a moment caught thinking.
"Susan Bones," he said after a moment's too long pause.
She smiled waving them in and closing the door. "Forgotten me?"
"He's too easily caught musing," Judith commented critically.
"Indeed," Harry agreed. "It's not your murder we've come to investigate I hope?" He could see Judith tense ever so slightly. They hated zombies, even ones that asked to investigate their own deaths. They were annoying.
She smiled briefly as she sat down at her desk.
Harry looked around as they three also sat down. Into chairs set out, so Susan knew they were coming, which was interesting because while he'd come almost immediately after he'd received the letter he hadn't replied.
There was a door that led off from this office, but this one seem to mostly contain filing cabinets and shelving with doors. Very little to indicate what 'Department of M.I.' did.
He was saved from asking by Ioan who did.
"Department of Ministry Investigations," Susan explained.
"Oh?" Ioan looked at her curiously.
"There's been talk of it for a while and I've been rambling around a few different departments," Susan explained.
"Talk?" Harry asked.
Susan fixed him with a look. "Some people don't like you Potter, you and your organisation," she paused. "They don't like me either, the Minister's up for re-election. Ministry Investigations is an attempt by him to seem like he's doing things," she paused and then continued in a hard tone. "I'm not a token anything."
"No," Harry said in a short tone. "Investigating the Ministry?" He asked.
"It's not as obvious as it was in the Voldemort days. But we're hardly a transparent organisation," Susan continued.
"More like gravy." Ioan muttered
"Indeed." Susan rose from her desk. "I should show you the scene. They discovered several things that weren't magic and weren't quite muggle. Your organisation's name was raised as the ones to deal with it." She waved towards the door past them; it opened silently.
-/
Down a set of stairs at the end of the corridor and down two more narrow sloping corridors they arrived at a door.
"Andrew Fuller," Harry was surprised.
"You know of him?" Susan seemed surprised.
Out the corner of his eye Judith raised an eyebrow.
"I visited his office a few years ago," Harry paused.
"But not this office." Judith interjected.
"There's no record of you visiting this office." Susan looked between them. "I assume there wouldn't be."
"Well," Harry began. "Visited is a nice word for it."
"Harry means we snuck in and rifled through the office because he's paranoid and suspicious," Judith continued.
Susan chuckled. "I'm not surprised Harry. But how did you sneak in...?" She looked to Judith.
"I followed him. He draws the fire, I can waltz in like I own the place," Judith answered casually.
Harry rubbed the back of his neck in thought. "When we were at his office, his other office, he was signing his name 'Drew Fuller'." Harry thought aloud to himself. "That's how he referred to himself when I was first made aware of him." Turning he saw Susan had pulled out a notebook; writing in it.
"And where was this office you visited Harry?" She asked.
Harry gave vague instructions, while it had only been 4 years or so ago...sort of there'd been a few detours between 2004 and now.
"Do you have any protections on the room?" Ioan asked his wand drawn.
Susan just nodded and tapped the door, it flashed a cyan, then purple, then black and back to cyan before losing all its colourful glow.
"That would've been ice hot in the 90s," Judith commented.
As the door swung open the smell of must, dust and that familiar though dull smell of something, nay someone who had died and sprayed a good deal of their blood all over the room wafted out.
"The smell of investigation and wonder," Judith sighed dramatically, all three of LPI remained on the corridor side of the door's threshold.
"Have you been in Susan?" Ioan asked.
She shook her head. "I secured the room after the discovery of the substance."
"In a snuff box on the desk," Ioan repeated Susan's earlier summation.
"Thank you Mr exposition. Should I whistle a song by The Who to get us all in the mood?" Judith asked.
"It's a bit dark for sunglasses," Harry said as he wandered into the office.
Judith followed him followed by Ioan. As they stepped into the office the lamps around the room flickered into light bathing the room in the soft yellow of whatever light was within the lamps.
"Well, that's shed light on the situation." Harry smirked at Judith who just shook her head.
"It's much larger than his other office," Judith turned around and looked at Susan who was still stood on the other side of the door's threshold. "And yours."
"If we've not been transmatted or shot at by now I would hazard a guess it's safe Susan." Harry said distractedly as he turned around looking at the room and decided that just near the door was the place to put down his bag, but only after he checked the floor for anything nasty.
Stepping into the room Susan indicated to Harry the desk on which a sizeable snuff box sat.
Harry nodded to Ioan who moved over to check on it as diagnostic spells lit up the room Harry wondered aloud. "What'd you think?"
"Some sort of powdered pepper up potion?" Ioan wondered. "It was against the rules when I played Quidditch."
Judith crouched down on the other side of the desk, which Harry just noticed had a large spray against the wall, which was very likely blood.
Judith sniffed dramatically. "You wizards snorting pick me ups?" She shook her head. "Very dance party."
"It's an interesting spray pattern." Harry observed looking at the spray of what was very likely blood and some brain matter against the wood panelling.
"Very much like a gun to the mouth. Pop." Judith finished with a loud sound affect. "Suicide?" She looked past Harry to Susan.
"That substance is only part of the reason why I brought you in. It's not a pepper up potion," Susan said.
"Wizards don't do suicide?" Judith wondered.
"Not like that. Poison is how they would take their lives. That's how I found some people, who'd talked about aliens. After they" Ioan said with a sneer of the Ministry and wizarding society in general. "had taken their chunk out of the 'deviants'."
"And poison doesn't do this to a wizard?" Judith asked calmly.
"I wish it could," Harry mused longingly. "I mean, that would make our job much easier."
"Nice save there Harry." Ioan chuckled slapping him on the shoulder. "I'll unpack the table and get bagging."
Harry nodded. "Let's bag everything." He turned to Susan. "I guess no one's photographed any of this?"
Harry was surprised when Susan shook her head. "It might not have back when we were at Hogwarts but I made sure." She paused. "I have copies if you need them. I also made sure that the Aurors didn't handle it."
This attracted the attention of the two wizards in the room. Judith was on the floor near the desk where she'd crouched down to be nearer to chair level to muse on the blood splatter spray.
"Oh?" Harry asked curiously.
"Ron's been stomping around the Ministry, ever since the ghosts feeling big about himself," she exhaled. "What happened since Hogwarts?" She asked watching him carefully.
"We grew up Susan, the world did. We matured," Harry exhaled.
"You became friends with Draco Malfoy," she added in a neutral tone.
Harry shrugged. "People change. Time passes. Travel and all that broadens the mind."
Susan made a non-committal noise.
"Not even the Aurors, after Voldemort are free from your investigations?" Ioan asked curiously.
"The Ministry's needed something like it for a while. I realised I had to do it, instead of trying to improve around the edges." Susan admitted. "I-" She was about to say something more when a letter flew in to in front of her. She plucked it effortlessly from the air. "I'm sorry, I need to address some things."
"We know our way around, if we finish before you're back we'll lock up."
Susan nodded distractedly. "I'll also find you the body, and forward you the photos," she said as she left the room.
"You've got to wonder if some wizard heard the term 'air mail' and decided to make it a reality," Judith observed. "Although that would require some creative intelligence."
"They try to force that out of you early on," Ioan commented wryly.
"Or then they try to coerce it out of you later," Harry added and then paused. "Or they slip truth drugs into your tea and attempt to entrap you."
Judith snorted. "No wonder you two are so normal."
Harry frowned as he looked around the office. "I don't trust this at all."
"Paranoid." Judith looked at him.
"But you're right, this guy sent us off on various investigations and now, dead. It's bit odd. But he's working in the Ministry," Ioan wrinkled his nose. "No one who enjoys life wants to work down here."
Harry nodded. "Hermione says the lack of natural light gets to you after a while and Ron..." Harry trailed off. "The last time I saw him he was banging on about how big his fireplace was."
"And how he likes to stoke it and make it all hot," Judith continued with a chuckle. "You wizards." She shook her head. "I think that woman is right though. This is murder that looks like suicide. She's at least got some intelligence."
"She was in the DA with me at Hogwarts," Harry finally admitted, trying to drop it in casually. Judith and Ioan looked at him.
Harry tried to look innocent. "Not everyone was in the DA."
"Your own personal anti-authoritarian army. I do wonder what you'd have gotten up to if Voldemort wasn't out to get you," Judith said as she walked around the room, seemingly testing the floor with her feet.
"I've never thought about it. There's probably multiple alternate universes out there where that happened." As Harry mused distractedly to himself he looked around the room while Ioan pulled out a small trestle table from within one of their expanding bags they'd brought with them.
"I don't think we should touch anything. Not until we doubly check. I don't want something to be a tricky portkey to whisk us away to a graveyard unknown or something," Harry said finally.
-/
An hour later with everything checked they'd found...not much.
"Definitely cleared out, despite what your lady friend said." Judith said as they crowbarred open another of the wood panels. Spells hadn't worked, but they obviously had something within them. They were the perfect place for hiding things.
But the most they'd found were various trace amounts of somethings. More of the mysterious powder that was on the desk in the snuff box.
They'd run it through their scanners and analysers back at his house where they could link up with the British Army's database, try and run it against Torchwood One's database and hack into UNIT and Torchwood Three's databases. If all that failed he and Ioan would have to do some potion identification.
They might need to do it all after all they were in the Ministry, it was highly likely Andrew Fuller had been using something wizardy and untoward to do whatever it was that he had been doing.
Before he was murdered.
He had to be doing something suspicious to be removed in such a spectacular way.
"Perhaps they removed him in such a dramatic way to make sure no one could access his brain." Judith wondered breaking into his internal musing.
"We don't have anything that's effective at reading a dead brain." Harry countered.
Ioan looked up. "That last time we used the mind scanner it worked."
Harry nodded. What he wanted was a mind analysis machine which was close to working. The mind scanner was not as good and they'd got a few yes and no questions out before it cooked the man's brain. In actual fact it had been a corpse when they'd started and had been an even worse corpse when they'd finished. Professor Hawksburn had not been pleased with the state of it when they returned it. She'd actually had many sweary words with them.
"From the state of the wall I doubt there's much left of Fuller's brain." Harry tilted his head to look at the remains of the spray in from another angle.
"What're you thinking?" Ioan asked after a moment.
"If he did actually blast his head off with a spell or if it was something else?" Harry wondered.
"I checked for gunshot residue, just in case." Ioan indicated one of the boxes that they were packing into the expanding bags. "There was nothing there."
"Still, there's plenty of energy weapons and other things that could do something similar."
"Too many questions, not enough answers," Harry sighed. "Come on, just a few more to open up." Harry nodded up to where Judith was.
"Just as long as there's no evil from the dawn of time lurking in these last few ones." Judith glared at the panelling.
"We can only hope," Harry said with a grin.
Instead, lurking in the last, quite heavily nailed shut panels were what looked like a large pile of shellac records.
"You wizards do know there's other old technology that isn't heavy and delicate." Judith said as she passed them down to Harry and Ioan.
Harry looked over at Ioan. "I don't know, could wizards cope with a cassette deck?"
Ioan thought for a moment and shook his head. "Only certain people have record players, some of my friends who're in the league use records players. They're like this heavy. Not everyone likes them."
"Vinyl having not made it into your wizarding chemistry set," Judith mused as she passed down further records to Harry.
"Chemistry having not made it into a wizard's potion making kit," Harry countered, tutting. "Do keep up Judith. We wizards don't concern ourselves with muggle things like chemistry," Harry mocked as Ioan laughed.
They had practically finished packing everything away and Susan still hadn't returned from where ever she had gone to.
Harry was mostly concerned about where the body had gone off to, and what they would do with the body if they got access to it.
He mused he might have to call in a favour to get an autopsy done, a professional one. They could do a good examination, but a professional would be able to give them a better view of it all.
But someone who could deal with the magical and unknown side of things weren't exactly prevalent. LPI was basically it.
He'd learnt some things during his time in the 1970s about examination of bodies and the like, but that knowledge was somewhat not recent. For some people at least.
He hoped to find someone to do a thorough job however. Someone who could give them a lot of samples, more than what they're scraped off the walls. Enough to allow them to run tests through their energy scanners and potion tests.
Maybe Porton Down or Harry Pearce could name someone. Though both of which were still dealing with the fallout from what happened on the Valiant. Assassinations of the US president didn't just happen accidentally, even if the UK had gone through a handful in the last couple of years.
Someone clicked their fingers in front of him. "Caught in thought?" Judith asked curiously.
"As always," he said.
"Too many questions, not enough answers." Ioan repeated Harry's comment from earlier as he considered the room's space.
"Have we missed anything?" Harry also looked around the room again in the opposite direction to Ioan. They've peeled and scraped and wiped away as much of the blood and brain matter that had been sprayed against the wall and the floor.
Judith said she suspected there'd been a carpet or rug in the room that had absorbed a lot of the liquid from the body. But even with their wands lighting up the room and their portable lights it was hard to tell for sure. While the lamps within the room provided light, the room also seemed to suck that light away, preventing them from seeing really very clearly.
It was somewhat frustrating.
"Take a few more photos with the film camera just in case," Harry said eventually. He was glad they'd brought both film and digital cameras. The digital camera was military grade, but he'd not tested it in any magical environment aside from firing a few spells near it. Well, near the first one, which was in pieces, this was the second one he'd barely tested.
The images were showing up when they checked them, but they still had to get out of the Ministry.
Film would survive much better. He hoped. From past experience it would.
They left the door locked as Susan still hadn't returned when they'd finished. It was locked with what Judith claimed to be a spell resistant padlock on it. A simple alohomora wouldn't unlock it. Both Harry and Ioan tried at her insistence.
How was a question Harry was happy for her not to answer. Ioan mused that it would be something like a safe, multiple barrels and certain movements. Or it could be something simple; the lock could've been bewitched. Harry didn't really care, it would stop someone just walking in. But Judith had said it wasn't immune to a brute force attack, but that would hopefully make enough noise to attract attention.
-/
Whilst they were waiting for the lift something happened that almost made Harry jump.
But he'd been crept up on far too many times to be surprised. Judith did it to him more than enough to make him blasé about most surprises like that.
It was a man in dark robes, covering his face who approached them, seemingly from the side of the wall. Where there wasn't any space for him to make an approach like that.
"Mr Potter. It is fortunate that you have found yourself here."
Not so much for Mr Fuller I doubt. Harry thought to himself.
"You should come," he almost ordered as he turned to disappear into whatever nether-region he'd come from.
"Just ignore us, we don't matter to a hooded wizard, are you dome topped under there?" Harry looked over to Judith asking with an expression on his face if she really just asked that.
"Why? What is so important that the Unspeakables need me?" Harry looking at the hooded man carefully, the last time he'd been down into their lair had...led him on something of an adventure. Not all of it good.
"What's so urgent you couldn't send us an owl?" Ioan added drawing the Unspeakable's gaze, or Harry assumed his gaze from below his robes. "League of Paranormal Investigations. We're in the book," Judith added, the Unspeakable glancing over to her.
Harry didn't point out they weren't in any book, he didn't think wizards had an equivalent of a phone book. Maybe there was a Floo Book he wondered brightly to himself.
Maybe he'd ask Daphne when she got back.
"There is something we uncovered while searching for-" He was cut off.
"Uncovered?" Harry asked interrupting him.
"Uncovered what?" Judith clarified as the man hadn't answered Harry after a moment.
"Nothing good, nothing ever good comes from that deep in the Ministry," Ioan mused.
Then the lift dinged, announcing its arrival.
Harry smiled at the doors. "I would agree, very little good comes out of the Ministry. But it has peaked my interest," he said as he stepped into the lift.
"Danger does that." Judith commented with a small smile.
"Coming?" Harry asked Ioan.
Judith shook her head. "We're barely into the excitations and danger, you can't be excited already Harry."
Ioan sighed and shook his head as he joined Judith in walking into the lift.
The three looked at the Unspeakable, who'd disappeared.
"Going down," Ioan muttered as the lift doors closed.
"Naughty." Judith chastised brightly, then more sombrely asked. "How dangerous is the hooded penis man?"
"That depends." Harry began. "Last time I was here was to do with Ginny and the time turners." He paused and gave Judith a hard look. "And it doesn't sound like a band."
"Of raving nutters perhaps." Ioan commented as the lift descended.
"And penis man?" Judith challenged.
"I wish..." Harry trailed off. "Whatever. Hooded penis man," Harry said deciding to give in to Judith's lunacy, it wasn't as though penis man had given them a name. "Would only surprise us if there was something drastic. Especially as we're all allowed down into his lair."
"They're usually very secretive," Ioan commented.
"Not good on security though." Harry mused, thinking of the his childhood past as the lift shuddered to a halt and the doors burst open.
"That, Mr Potter was an isolated incident." A hooded figure was stood waiting.
"Oh look it's-" Judith began, Harry fixed her with a look.
"Still, what is it that you were looking for and why are we here?" Harry asked.
The man turned and began to walk, small lamps lighting his way as he walked along the black tiled corridor.
"Lovely aesthetic, it's sort of modern Gothic chique." Judith reached out trailing her finger along the very clean black tiles.
"Good?" Ioan asked wrinkling his nose.
"Awful, it's almost a pastiche." She tapped the tiles. "Must keep you busy, these tiles would attract dust like cockroaches to dog food."
"What a lovely image." Harry turned back to her.
"I try my best to conjure things for you. Unlike you boys I can conjure things without any phallic waving, chanting or huffing fumes," Judith commented.
Penis man ahead of them pushed open some double doors.
"After the recent upheaval a check was done of all assets within the Department of Mysteries, we found some of our personnel and artefacts missing including- "
He was cut off again. This time by Harry swearing, because of what the room contained.
"Oh," was all Ioan said.
"This is..." Judith began but was halted by something. "It's not a mirror that's going to talk to me about how awful I look is it?" She paused, audibly. "No. That's something else, something..." She trailed off.
Harry turned around and looked at the hooded man. "Explain why we are here in front of the Veil?" He asked, his voice calm, but darkened. His wand was also drawn and pointed at the man. A spell, on his lips and a gun ready to be drawn.
The hooded man ignored Harry's wand, instead he put his arms behind his back in a casual manner.
"The recent upheaval in the world produces ripples. It was felt by those who are used to dealing with time turners." He turned looking around the room.
Harry nodded and while penis man's back was turned shook his head briefly at Ioan and Judith to tell them not to say or do anything.
"Their instruments registered a ripple, an altercation, a jump of," he paused and looked at Harry "chronons. That was the term you used Mr Potter."
"Indeed," was all he said. Harry tried to avoid looking directly at the hooded man or the Veil.
But there wasn't much else in the room to look at.
The hooded man turned back to look at the Veil. "After such an affecting situation on the world we must check all our artefacts within our collection," he paused, then approached Harry in long strides. "One of the Unspeakables came into close contact with the Veil."
Harry held his ground. "He was not pulled in to the Veil?" He asked, his voice tight.
"No." The man answered in a short word. "He was not, he was retrieved by his associate."
"And? You've not just brought us down here to look at your stonework and architecture." Judith commented flippantly.
"No," he said again. "He reported that the Veil had revealed things to him, things that have happened, but not."
Harry blinked as a chill ran down his back. Like a piece of film, cut out. He thought to himself. "And?" Harry prompted.
"Of what he saw, you feature Mr Potter," he paused. "Recognisably so."
Harry wasn't sure what that meant, so asked a better question one that he wanted to know the answer to. "How is it he was recovered? The Veil is fatal is it not?"
The hooded man nodded. "Passage into the Veil is fatal." He paused. "However, the Veil like all things is a malleable article," Penis man explained vaguely.
"There's exceptions to death?" Ioan was incredulous.
"The Veil is not death." The hooded man corrected almost philosophically and continued. "It is the entrance to something not survivable by muggle or wizard."
"And now?" Harry asked.
"It has been excited, persuaded, electrified," he seemed amused by the last word. "By recent events, it was not fatal, for a brief touch, a gaze into" he paused and Harry fancied he was smiled. "Into what is missing."
-/
This was a stupid idea.
Ioan had said it, Judith had called him an idiot and he thought so himself.
The energy scanners, when they worked for the brief amount of time before melting their batteries and overloading – the magic concentration down here presumably. They backed up what the penis hooded man said. That there was a heavy concentration of temporal energy.
He had travelled in time, using multiple methods and been exposed to some pretty complicated energies.
"But this is still a stupid idea. Your thirst for knowledge no doubt?" Judith looked him in the eye as she pulled the straps on the harness she'd dug out of one of the expanding bags they had with them. It was one of their emergency contingency items. Just in case they'd ever need to rappel down somewhere or something like that.
"No doubt," Harry said and the very softly leaned in near Judith's ear. "If something goes wrong find out what penis man knows."
As he leaned back Judith nodded.
Harry looked over to Ioan. "Well?"
"It's stupid Harry," he paused. "You like it. Risking your life. I wouldn't do it."
"That's why you're holding the rope." Harry grinned feeling that flush of adrenaline he so missed whenever it wasn't there.
His excitement was somewhat dampened as he approached the Veil.
It was something he didn't think much of. Not like this.
It had been shorn of its curtains so now it was just something...Harry wasn't sure. Something intimidating and of the past.
Literally of the past. The past for all of them, or the future.
Or maybe both and the same.
It was confusing standing here wondering about these concepts.
He was trying to latch onto what they reminded him of, but he felt like his senses, his perception was being over taken, swamped.
In, not quite the back of his mind, more side along he thought of Sirius, the spell, his...death here.
He fell into the Veil, something no one could return from. Or rather no human or wizard could survive going into. That was what penis man had said.
The hooded man hadn't really explained what to do. Just touch, don't fall in, that was Judith's suggestion.
He looked to the older woman who was watching his approach while also watching the hooded Unspeakable, a careful hawk eye gaze on him, watching him for any move that might suggest something awry.
Harry looked back and made sure Ioan had a firm grip on the rope. They'd anchored it some of their large cargo boxes which they'd affixed to the floor with sticking charms. The room was sorely lacking anything that could be used to anchor the ropes.
"Well," Harry said to himself and stretched out his palm to the shifting ripples of the Veil.
-/
Judith watched as Harry outstretched his palm.
The penis man was also watching them, all of them very carefully. She had taken some cable ties from their cargo box, she'd use them to secure him.
She guessed he would very likely do something, if something happened.
Harry was...Harry was Harry for doing this. The unknown, the 'cut piece of film' gnawed at him. It was the unknown, that jump cut in their perceptions that almost no one in the world even realised was there.
The man liked information, liked knowing things ahead. She could appreciate that.
Understandable, given his experiences, his friends and his enemies.
Time travel was an unruly beast, once tasted it lingered.
When Harry's palm connected with the substance of the Veil it seemed his whole body twisted and convulsed, like an energy pulsed and shifted through his body. He was flung, not forwards into the Veil as they each had feared but backwards; propelled by some energy backwards, over the head of Ioan who was still tensed, having tensioned the rope as Harry approached the Veil. There was an audible noise as Harry, his body limp, yet convulsing, as he impacted with the wall behind Ioan. Judith presumed breaking at least a few ribs, if not more than that.
He fell, crumpling to the floor, convulsing as he did he vomited the contents of his stomach over himself and the floor.
-/
Ioan rushed to Harry, banishing the vomit and pulling him into a recovery position.
This seemed to lessen the convulsions that Harry was experiencing. He seemed to be focusing on doing something, to speak.
"Ioan. Draco. Pensieve. Stun...me," he ground out.
Ioan didn't think, he stunned Harry and let go of the rope he was still holding, gripping with one hand seemingly unknowingly.
He looked to Judith who had already rushed the hooded Unspeakable.
"Go. I'll watch over Harry." She paused as she ripped the hood off the hooded Unspeakable who cried out. "And I will deal with this one."
Ioan nodded and rushed out of the room, he'd seen a fire in one of the anterooms that they'd passed that would be able to contact Draco Malfoy.
-/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/
Everything was black and Harry made to cry out, and then realised that he wasn't on the floor in the Department of Mysteries. He was standing, which was odd, and he was in a room.
He felt around and winced, his ribs felt broken.
"Residual psychic impressions," said a voice that sounded familiar. Harry realised he still had his eyes closed and he couldn't smell vomit.
Both of which were a little odd, because he was sure he'd vomited and that he had his eyes open.
"We detected your psychic exclamation," continued the familiar voice and Harry forced himself to open his eyes.
Looking around he was in a room, it had an...ambiance, something familiar, yet not. The walls were just in shadow, the light was coming from all around, yet from no where, and seemed to deliberately not show the walls.
"Where...?" Harry trailed off as he looked around. There were two people in the room with him. One was stood just about in shadow. She was a woman and he felt she was dangerous, even without being able to see much of her features.
"You're safe," said the other familiar voice as Harry took in his appearance.
He was wearing robes.
These two were familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place them, they were robes, but not Hogwarts robes. They were scarlet and orange and there was a seal on it. Harry was sure he'd seen both the robes, the colours and the seal before, but he couldn't remember where.
"More illicit knowledge no doubt," He muttered to himself without thinking about it.
"Don't worry about that. You experienced a psychic assault and reached out through the vortex," said the man who had a familiar voice, he turned to look at the scary woman. "Across the boundaries that divide one universe from another."
"Another universe," Harry said as he forced himself to focus on the man as he turned back to look at him.
He was...himself.
Sort of.
Harry hoped he wasn't going mad, he was literally talking to himself. Or himself was talking to him.
"You're from another universe?" He asked...himself. "An alternate version of me. Harry Potter," he held out his hand. The other him looked to the scary woman who made the smallest of movements.
"Harry Potter." He smiled, a warm smile, a firm though soft handshake. This Harry had none of the scars, cuts and burns that his hands had. "We were surprised, that a psychic cry could reach us. It's fortunate we were near by."
"In the vortex," Harry said, repeating what the other Harry said. "My psychic mind."
The other Harry nodded. "I am curious how you made contact...?" He looked at him and Harry felt something in his mind.
"Uh..." Harry tried and other Harry raised his eyebrows surprised.
"You are aware...though not..." He trailed off looking back to the woman. The scary woman.
"I..." Harry looked around the room and took a step toward other Harry who looked at him. Harry wasn't trying to get close to other-him he was trying to look at the walls.
They had indented patterns in them and they had a sound. Or the room had a sound. Or something. He was having trouble processing everything.
"This is a TARDIS," Harry said looking around him.
"You have a knowledge of TARDISes?" Other-Harry seemed surprised.
Harry nodded. "TARDISes, Time Agents, time rifts, I've gone through a few of them. Crashed a space ship or two as well, all in the same day," Harry paused. "It was an odd day," he continued rambling.
"We are in a zero room, your psychic consciousness reached out through the vortex. It will keep you safe until your body is able to process your experience," Other-Harry explained. "What occurred? How you came into contact with the vortex? You appear to be from a Level 5 planet, it shouldn't have access to vortex time travel," Other-Harry queried.
"Level 5 planet..." Harry repeated. He'd heard that description of Earth before. Someone had described that...but it was all a bit foggy.
Harry thought and tried to remember how TARDISes worked. "If I think really hard, concentrate, the TARDIS, this TARDIS should be able to pick it up, if we're in a zero room it should be receptive and stuff shouldn't it?" Harry asked looking to Other-Him.
"You are aware of zero rooms?" Other-Him asked, again curious and surprised.
Harry closed his eyes and thought of the Veil, of how he'd seen it when he'd approached.
In front of him an image of it warbled and wobbled into space in front of him.
This made the scary woman step out of the shadows.
"Interesting." Other-Harry said looking, no, studying the image. "It appears to be some sort of gateway or passage."
"Into the vortex." The scary woman finally spoke. Cold would be how Harry thought he might describe her, if he was want to do such a thing. Which he didn't want to do. She both fascinated him and scared him, he wanted to look at her and not. It was all doing his head in a bit. Though possibly this was all in his head, he was talking to himself after all.
Harry wondered if this was what it was like when the Doctor met himself.
"I knew it was a mistake, to do it." Harry decided to explain to himself how he'd ended up here, doing this, whatever it was. Maybe talking about it would help and this other him would be able to offer something of help to him.
"A risk. A stupid idea, that was what Ioan said," Harry explained. "But it promised an explanation. I think I got more," he said as he summarised the time jump and why he'd done what he'd done.
Other-Harry looked at him as he explained everything, every so often looking at the scary woman who'd backed back into the shadows, seemingly to let them talk.
Other-Harry seemed worried.
"I have heard of incidents like you have mentioned. When time loops have been enacted, or paradoxes averted. It is as you say, a cut in a work, torn away from a book." Other-Harry looked to the Veil.
"Could anyone survive passage into this?" Harry asked, this Other-Harry seemed to know definitively what the Veil was and where it opened into. More trustworthy than penis man in the Department.
"No human could survive. It is an unsecured passage into the vortex, the point of transition here. You survived, even touched upon something, a connection with another timeline, another self. Your previous temporal experience."
"No human," Harry repeated.
"A Time Lord can survive passage through the vortex, but it is not something we desire to do unaided," Other-Harry said.
"No." Harry nodded. That felt like it was final, Sirius was most definitely dead.
The Doctor had always been little vague when he'd asked, mostly changing the subject. But this Other-Harry was genuine, Harry wasn't sure how he could tell, but he felt it.
"Toclafane," Other-Harry repeated. "That is not a being as you describe," he continued.
"It's not?" Harry asked.
"The name is of Gallifrey, a tale told to Time Tots. They are concept to frighten. To explain the noise of a pig-bear in the night." Other-Harry smiled. Seemingly at some memory of a story of these Toclafane.
Harry nodded. There was something odd about the way this Other-Harry spoke about some things. That was why Harry had been vague about who was on the Valiant when time did its thing and the piece of film was cut away. Something about Other-Harry, something Harry couldn't quite put his finger on.
Then there was a noise. Very soft. "The Cloister Bell," Harry said, recognising it, impending doom and all of that.
Other-Harry focused in on him as he spoke, as did the scary woman. "You have made contact with something you are unprepared for." Harry felt goosebumps on top of goosebumps trail down his back when she spoke, especially from the shadows.
"Am I unprepared?" Harry asked her, trying to fight off the primal fear that he felt looking at her. There was something, it was almost instinctual, rebelling, that he couldn't place about how he reacted to her.
Other-Harry seemed to be looking at him, staring into his soul. "You have connected with your memories, your timeline your..." Other-Harry seemed to struggle for a word that he might understand. "Biodata," he finally said slightly exasperated.
"I know what biodata is." Harry waved aside Other-Harry's concern.
"You do?" Other-Harry seemed surprised.
"Like time DNA of a person. The Time Lords use it. Faction Paradox basically fetishise it." Harry commented idly and almost jumped out of his skin as the scary woman seemed to wake up.
"Marie?" Other-Harry looked, Harry held a neutral expression as he was pleased at finally learning the scary woman's name.
"It is nothing," she said carefully, though she continued to watch Harry carefully.
The noise of the Cloister Bell echoed through the room, this time louder.
"Impending doom," Harry muttered.
Other-Harry stepped forward. "You will be unprepared for the onslaught of experiences from your connection with the vortex. With this removal of a paradox, and the memories you have connected with." He paused. "I can show you, prepare your mind, going forth you will need to learn."
"I know how to extract memories," Harry paused, closing his eyes, remembering. "I told Ioan to get Draco, he'll bring something to store them in."
Other-Harry nodded. "Downloading your memories into a telepathic vessel will be of benefit. But you have connected with something that cannot be entirely extracted or removed."
Harry exhaled. "I knew it was stupid to touch the Veil." He shook his head as the Cloister Bell rung out again, louder. "Too curious. So how do we do this?"
Other-Harry took his hand. "We wouldn't usually need to touch, physically. But you're not a Time Lord," Other-Harry explained.
"Wha...?" Harry was half way through saying 'what?' when Other-Harry spoke again and Harry was faced with staring into his own green eyes.
"Contact."
As Other-Harry let go of his hand Harry became aware of the dull constant ringing of the Cloister Bell.
"I don't feel..."
"You won't, but it will prepare you. Harry, for what will come," Other-Harry said.
Harry felt a chill pass down his back. While Other-Harry had mostly shown him what to do, in his mind, at least he thought as much there was something that he had worked out about Other-Harry. "You're not just another alternate me, not just from any other universe are you?"
Other-Harry was silent, though watching curiously.
"The robes." Harry shook his head. "I should have realised, seeing them. The robes of a Prydonian. I never thought I'd really see them."
"You are remarkably well informed about Gallifreyan culture," Other-Harry commented.
"The Doctor likes to tell me stories, tales of old," Harry said watching Other-Harry, his alternate self. "You know him?" There was recognition in Other-Harry but Harry wasn't sure what.
"And you know me, something of me?" Other-Harry queried. "What can you tell me, of...me?"
Harry mused, wondered. "I'm not sure if I should, the web of time and all that guff," he said with a smile. "Spoilers etc."
"Spoilers?" Other-Harry looked at him seemingly confused.
Harry rubbed the back of his neck in thought. He didn't know when or where Other-Harry was. Even really, who he was. "Don't worry about prophecies, follow your heart as well as your mind. Don't trust coincidences and be careful around anagrams." Harry finally said.
Other-Harry blinked. "That is very oblique."
Harry shrugged as the ringing of the Cloister Bell got even louder. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"
"I-" Other-Harry started and then everything went black.
-/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/ -/-/-/-/-/-/
Draco walked into the Department of Mysteries, a large box floating behind him. Ioan had flooed him. Harry had done something very stupid and entirely in-keeping with his personality.
Harry at least had the sense to call for him. He had a large unused pensieve.
As he entered the chamber Draco immediately noticed several things. The Veil, an object he had not thought of for a long time. Judith, Harry's associate was to one side with a whimpering Unspeakable who was covered in blood. He assumed the cause of which was from the weapon she was holding. His hands were bound by a muggle device, plastic rope of some sort Draco assumed.
Harry was lying stunned on his side. There was a smell of vomit, despite Ioan saying he had banished it.
Draco set down the box and removed the pensieve.
"Get his wand. He will need it immediately, if he had the sense to call for me," Draco explained calmly as he squatted down to hold Harry's hand around his wand. "Now, prepare to ennervate him," Draco began. "When I give the word," he continued.
Draco made sure he had Harry's fingers on the wand. Whatever Harry experienced he would need to excise the memories immediately. Then they could deal with the physical damage.
"Now," Draco ordered.
Harry's body went almost immediately into shock. "Harry, wake up and focus." Draco ordered. It looked like Harry bit his tongue as his eyes looked around. "The pensieve is here, your wand in your hand."
"Draco?" Harry's face seemed unfocused but Draco felt him take a grip on the wand and begin to extract the memories.
After a few minutes Draco stepped back.
Ioan muttered to him. "That's a lot of memories, isn't it?" He asked watching as Harry continued to pull strands of memories from his head.
Draco nodded. Whatever Harry had touched it had been extreme.
After several more minutes Judith stepped away. "Is he, will he be alright?"
Draco nodded. "He seems to be finishing." He stepped forward.
Harry collapsed slightly as Ioan and Judith rushed forward while Draco clamped a lid down on the pensieve.
"Harry are you?" Judith started.
"Injured," Harry coughed. "Might need a bit of patching up."
"Not here," Draco cautioned Ioan. "Nothing delicate here."
"I think I might pass out soon. Get someone you can trust to treat me, I think I did something quite stupid," Harry said as he collapsed.
"We should get out of here soon," Ioan said looking around.
"I'll just get..." She turned around and cursed. She was sure the penis man had lost enough blood that he wasn't going anywhere.
-/
Harry briefly awoke and realised he was in the Defender. "What?" He said blearily. Judith was driving.
"Drink, water." She said passing him a bottle with a straw in it. "Draco said we shouldn't risk apparating you. Said he'd find someone to treat stupid people."
"Hope he finds someone who doesn't want me dead," Harry muttered.
"That'll be a challenge." Judith said with a smile as Harry blacked out again.
-/
Reality swirled back into focus, mostly sharp and without much of the awful parts.
Harry realised he was back in his house, a man, with a wand was standing over him.
"How stupid have I been?" He asked the man.
"Oh good. You're awake Potter," the man said.
"And you are?" Harry started to try and get up and immediately regretted it.
"Don't get up Harry." Harry realised Draco was seated opposite him with a cup of tea in his hand.
"You raided my fine china," Harry commented looking at the cup and saucer. He mostly only dug it out when Draco visited. Harry much preferred a mug.
Draco sniffed. "I would hardly consume tea from a mug Potter."
"He lowered himself enough to use your muggle kettle Potter," the man seemed amused.
"When Draco wants a drink he'll either raid my liquor cabinet or tea chest," Harry chuckled and then winced. "There's no house elves here to do his bidding."
"No. You live in a very unique setting," the man commented. Not critically, just curiously.
Harry nodded and looked at the man. "I'm sorry, who are you?"
"Might I introduce, Owen Cauldwell, someone who has never wanted you dead Potter."
Harry raised an eyebrow at Draco. "That's good." It felt like raising his eyebrow was the only thing that didn't hurt.
"As to how stupid you've been, that would depend," Owen Cauldwell started.
"Potter can be very stupid at times." Draco commented dryly.
"Please have a seat Cauldwell? Or Owen, or Healer-" Harry was cut off.
"I'm not a healer, not professionally," Owen Cauldwell said as he took a chair next to Draco. "Owen is fine."
"So...?" Harry asked and coughed and immediately regretted it.
"It depends," Owen began. "You were smart enough not to enter the Veil."
Harry nodded. "I know, very fatal." Harry had very vague memories of the conversation he'd had with...himself. But it was all a bit of a mess and a jumble at the moment.
"It is a very dangerous artefact. No one should have been near it," Owen paused. "Especially given recent events," Owen paused again, then looked at him seriously. "You've suffered a lot of physical injuries. Many of them cannot be healed by any significant magic."
Harry exhaled. "Why not?"
"You were injured in an extremely magic rich environment. It is fortunate your associates did not attempt any healing spells whilst down there," Owen paused. "And you were smart enough to get Draco to help you extract what you encountered."
Harry didn't want to ask his next question. "And mentally, psychologically?"
Owen looked at him curiously. "It's not quite within my official skills."
Draco sniffed, it was almost a doubting sound from the other man.
"You don't appear to have suffered any lasting damage, something seems to have ordered and shielded your mind, almost immediately when you made contact with the Veil. At the very least from the backwash of the Veil's magic still present in your system."
"Very thorough, very intelligent Owen," Harry commented as a kettle whistled. "Making more tea?" Harry asked. "I'll have a cup."
Owen rose from his chair. "I'll deal with that. I've got something for you."
As he left Harry looked over at Draco. "He seems capable."
"I've known of Owen Cauldwell for some time. He was at Hogwarts when we were there."
Harry nodded. "I've a vague recollection of him, I thought I recognised his manner."
Draco continued. "He trained at St Mungo's before transferring to some other divisions within the Ministry."
"And you've had your eye on him?" Harry wondered curiously.
"Indeed," Draco said without explanation.
"As long as you think he's capable Draco and that he won't try to kill me." Harry commented.
"Please Harry," Draco waved away the possibility. "Most of the people that want you dead are dead."
"That's the way I like it," Harry commented with a dark laugh, wincing as he did so. That amused Draco, whether it was his comment or his laughing Harry wasn't sure.
That was when Owen walked back in carrying a teapot, which wasn't one of Harry's.
"I have made an infusion that will slowly heal you and soothe the pain." He poured a cup of the rich brown liquid into a mug, which was one of Harry's. "There are no quick magical fixes for your injuries Harry," he explained.
Harry winced as he smelt the infusion. "Smells like woodland boiled." He looked up at Owen. "And I didn't expect there would be. Stupid choices mean you have to live with them."
"Indeed." He sat back down into the chair opposite. "I will leave more ingredients for you to make this and another which will help in your recovery."
"Thank you." Harry sipped the liquid, which was truly awful.
"I'll just wait for you to finish that cup," Owen paused. "Slowly, I am in no rush and will check your progress."
Harry nodded as he waited for the liquid to cool. "Where's Judith by the way?"
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Outside. Moving your expanding bags out of your conveyance. Your prior job before you shook hands with the Veil?"
Harry nodded which made him think. "Owen, are you interested in other work? Not healing me I mean?"
Owen seemed surprised and looked to Draco who shrugged. "It depends."
"Autopsy. When I get back on my feet I need to chase up a body. It's not something I've often needed. But Draco seems to think you've got a unique skill set." Owen seemed unsure. "My organisation can pay highly for your work."
"League of Paranormal Investigations," Draco provided to Owen's quizzical glance. "Potter's little secretive organisation."
"Where I get into trouble and make stupid decisions. Only some of the time," Harry added.
"I will consider it." Owen rose from the chair as Harry swallowed the last of the muck. "Draco knows how to contact me," he said was he waved his wand at Harry.
"Continue with it, it will purge your system and will promote healing in your body, hastening it slightly," Owen explained.
"I thought you said..." Harry trailed off.
Owen smiled. "You can always cheat here and there."
"Make sure when you apparate it's-" Harry suddenly said but was cut off by Draco.
"Yes Potter, we're aware of your property's quirks, I informed Owen when we apparated."
Harry held up a hand in defence and winced. "Sorry, just being careful Draco."
Draco raised him self gracefully out of the chair and patted Harry's shoulder gently. "You should be careful yourself Harry."
"Life wouldn't be interesting if I did that all of the time Draco," Harry replied easily as a flash of memory cascaded its way through his head. It was him and Draco standing on a hill having a calm conversation about something.
As he'd awoken from being blacked out he had been having...it was like the tide coming in and out in between his conversations with Owen and Draco.
However he also felt like his mind was a more ordered than he tried to keep it usually. He presumed it was something from the time spend stunned. It was all still a bit of a blur.
Very possibly the concussion, which he was sure he'd suffered, Owen had seemingly implied it.
Harry presumed he'd been distracted when Owen had explained that.
As he was pouring himself another cup of the awful infusion Draco returned into the house.
"Harry," Draco watched him carefully.
"Draco?" Harry looked at the other man over the cup of awfulness.
Draco seemed to pause for a moment. "You extracted a lot of memories from your mind Harry." He looked at him carefully. "More than anyone should, at our age." He watched him carefully.
Harry closed his eyes. It hurt to think, in fact it hurt to move. Drinking the cup of awfulness he hoped was helping.
"Rush and flow of adrenaline must have stopped me feeling the pain," he exhaled. "It was a connection to the vortex. The Veil."
Draco's eyebrows lifted up. "I see. The same medium through which the Doctor's TARDIS travels." Not a question more, Draco's thoughts made aloud.
Harry would have nodded, but instead he sipped his awfulness. It was helping, as he drank it. "I must commend you finding Owen, this is very helpful."
"Change the subject if you wish Potter," Draco countered. "It will not dissuade me."
"I must be at least looking better if you're taunting me Draco." Harry tried to smirk and found that didn't hurt, much.
Harry exhaled slowly wincing. "They were memories of an alternate timeline," he said finally.
"Like...?" Draco started alluding to one of their encounters in the Doctor's TARDIS.
"Similar. I got it all and now it's in that pensieve." Harry looked over at it. "There was also something else. It's all a bit foggy."
"You wouldn't have been able to extract it all," Draco said calmly, from experience.
"No," Harry said. "I think what remains will give me nightmares for a long time," he continued in a calm tone.
"I can stay, Harry." Draco looked back at him calmly. "Or...Judith said she will remain."
Harry shook his head. "Go, I'm sure you rushed out of your home..." He trailed off, a thought lost. "I think I just want to rest and sleep for a bit."
Draco nodded. "I will return later." He stood and then gave him a stern look. "Rest."
"Yes sir." Harry mocked.
-/
It was late and Harry realised someone had moved him to his lounging sofa near the window. It was also dark, he was covered in sweat and he had the vaguest concept that he'd been shouting.
It didn't surprise him that Judith was sitting and reading one of those 'Harry Potter and the...' books.
"How are you finding Harry Potter and the Prisoner's Dilemma?" He croaked and realised his mouth was dry.
Judith looked at him and nodded to the side table where glass of water lay.
"It's quite good. Fictional Harry's a hit with everyone, their characterisation's a bit out of step with you."
"Fictionalised versions are," Harry said after he'd swallowed some water and looked around. As he was doing so Judith reached forward and placed a plate of sandwiches on his lap. Harry was sure the sandwiches hadn't been anywhere in sight before.
"It will take time, to take control," Judith said carefully.
Harry sniffed in amusement. "My throat says otherwise."
"And your mind?" Judith asked.
Harry inhaled as flashes of memory exhaled their way through his mind. Disjointed, terrifying, yet slowly forming their way into an awful narrative. Like waves.
"Just make sure the waves don't crash you completely Harry," Judith answered his internal monologue.
Before he could speak Judith continued. "Ioan's gone home, time with the wife. Our case can wait."
Harry nodded. "I still think it was the right thing, if stupid to do."
Judith smiled at him. "Of course."
"I just need to work out what happened. A consistent line in my mind and lock it all away...like he showed me..." Harry trailed off shaking his head.
"He?" Judith leaned forward curiously.
Harry nodded to himself. "Strange."
-/
A/N:
The death of Andrew Fuller has been a long time coming, he's actually survived (by not being mentioned) quite a lot longer than I had originally intended.
I'd had a few different suggestions about Harry might get his memories back from different reviewers. But I'd actually had what happens in this chapter planned out for a long while.
With the Veil, this idea has been sitting in my big book of notes for a while because it's one of those things that works fine, if it's just in a magical context. But less so much when it's within the larger Doctor Who universe.
But it was very stupid for Harry to touch it, even given his past experience with time travel.
Other-Harry.
Other-Harry is from another universe. He's also not from the Year That Never Was timeline, nor the timeline that forked off that one, which that other Harry created by his time travel using Omega'a TARDIS.
Other-Harry is another different alternate Harry Potter from a very different universe...
And because I like to do a little bit of cross promotion of my stories occasionally you can read about Other-Harry's life and story in Brother of Kasterborous the first chapters of which I recently posted. Although when Other-Harry encounters Harry it's in an undermined point in that story's future. (Update February 2019: I try to update it on a vaguely regular basis.).
Other-Harry isn't just here as a piece of cross promotion. There needed to be someone to explain what has happened and to help prepare Harry for the stupid thing he's done. Who better than himself to explain alternate timelines, paradoxes and the stuff in between then himself?
But even more so, this is Harry continuing to discover elements of the Doctor's life in his own. Harry's crossed his own timeline in the past (going back to the 1970s), he's now touched and taken in memories, experiences of an alternate timeline and now met an other self, an Other-Harry. Himself but not. He doesn't quite have the 'other selves' that the Doctor has. But there are multiple branches of Harry Potter that he's now encountering and coming face to face with.
Yes, it could have been the Doctor that explained all this, he could have materialised the TARDIS in the Department of Mysteries. But that wouldn't have been as intimate for Harry and his personality development.
Owen Caudwell makes his first real timeline appearance. He like Susan Bones are wizards who appeared briefly during the recent arc and who will appear again.
