Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter 3.
Hogwarts
Harry Potter was currently en route to Hogwarts, this time by a train. In his compartment were three people, Ronald Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. Ron's parents were wizards, like him, and Hermione was bought up in the muggle world, also like him. But the two seemed almost opposite to each other despite their shared similarities with Harry. Neville was silent so far, the loss of his toad having visibly upset him. Harry sympathized with him; he would be equally upset if he lost Hedwig.
Harry found out from Hermione that even school textbooks portrayed the defeat of Voldemort as an act carried out by his glorious one-year-old self; they seemed to forget that two adult wizards also lived in that house. Granted, they were killed before Voldemort targeted him. Still, Harry felt that assuming he was the one who caused Voldemort's death was ridiculous. Well, maybe not as ridiculous as him obtaining godhood through a lottery, but still.
Speaking of godhood, he was asked to try and increase his following without explicitly revealing his abilities during his time in Hogwarts. Easier said than done. He wondered how stupid he would look, trying to convince others of the existence of a god of glue without a shred of evidence.
Hermione was telling Ron that the spell he used on his pet rat Scabbers most likely was not a real spell when the compartment door opened.
"I heard Harry Potter is in this compartment." A blonde-haired boy announced as he entered the room. He seemed to recognize Harry from the clothes shop and made the connection from their conversation earlier. "So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," Harry replied carefully. He did not like the boy the first time they met, and that wasn't likely to change, seeing that the boy was accompanied by what looked like two textbook bullies. He wasn't judging a book by its cover, but he knew a bully when he saw one.
"I'm Draco. Draco Malfoy." He said, sticking out his hand. Ron sniggered at the name, and Malfoy's face went dark.
"What do you find so funny, Weasley? I mean, it's obvious you are one, from the red hair and torn robes." Draco made an expression of distaste as he eyed Neville, somehow recognizing him as well. "Your company leaves much to be desired for, Potter. Some of those who attend this school are simply better than others. If you don't want to be associated with the wrong sort, I can help you." Malfoy looked pointedly at his hand, which was still extended to shake his.
Harry wanted to say a lot of things to the boy, but he had found that it was often better to ignore people like him. There was nothing that infuriated them more. He turned his head towards the window, seemingly dismissing Malfoy.
"The weather looks nice, doesn't it?" Harry remarked.
Hermione caught on fast. "Yeah. Too bad there are some rainclouds."
"I don't see any…." Ron trailed off and realized Hermione's metaphor. "Oh, yeah. I don't think they'll make it rain, though. Might rumble a bit and leave."
Harry heard a furious snort and a flutter of robes, and the boy and his friends walked away. He heard a muttered "I won't forget this…" as the boy exited the compartment.
Neville looked at the three of them in awe. "That was brilliant!"
Harry smiled, Hermione giggled, and Ron started laughing like a maniac.
Harry was glad to learn that Hermione, Ron and Neville would be with him in Gryffindor house. His parents were in Gryffindor as well, so he was happy to be part of it. As he unpacked his baggage from his bed in the Gryffindor dormitory, he remembered that he had carried his mobile phone from Olympus. It would look quite ordinary to anyone who saw it. Still, the phone was apparently made of technology way beyond the imagination of humanity. Thankfully, Peitho had demonstrated how the phone could be used. He could communicate it in a manner similar to telepathy, with just a thought. It just needed to be close to him for it to function.
The phone seemed incredible to Harry. Since all gods could communicate telepathically, the phone's main function was not to make or receive calls. It acted as a repository of information, giving him access to any knowledge he had the clearance to see. It was called 'Limited Omnipotence'. Even as a minor god, he was authorized to access a significant amount of knowledge. He was about to test out how much information it could provide him by asking about something his mother had talked about. He could not ask her about it earlier because of the limited time he was allowed with them.
'What is a prophecy?' Harry thought first to get more clarity on the subject.
'A prophecy is a prediction of a future event as foretold by seers. The accuracy of the prophecy depends on the seer's gift and how the subjects of the prophecy decide to act based on it.'
'What was the prophecy my mother was referring to?'
'The system cannot retrieve an answer based on the present question. Try rephrasing your query.'
'Is there any prophecy that concerns me?' Harry tried.
'Harry Potter is the subject of one prophecy.' The system replied.
'What is the prophecy?'
'The original prophecy made by human Seer Sybill Trelawney to human wizard Albus Dumbledore on April in the year 1980 on planet Earth in the English language is as follows:.'
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
Harry frowned. It was not him who vanquished Voldemort. Does that mean the prophecy became invalid?
'Did this prophecy become invalid?'
'This prophecy became partially incorrect on the 31st of July 1991. Reason: Ascension of the subject of the prophecy to godhood.'
'Why 'partially?''
'Harry Potter's status as a god has removed the mark of the dark lord from his soul. The subsequent portion of the prophecy is thus invalidated.'
'Why do you refer to Voldemort in the present tense?' Harry suddenly remembered Hagrid mentioning that Voldemort may still be alive.
'Voldemort's soul has not passed to the realm of Tartarus and still resides in Earth. Thus, he is considered alive.'
'Why is his soul still on Earth?' Harry asked frantically.
'Higher clearance required.'
'What?!'
'Higher clearance required.'
'Why?'
'Information restricted by will of Hades.'
That did not bode well.
'What did you mean when you said my status as god removed Voldemort's mark from my soul?'
'Voldemort performed a ritual which caused a fragment of his soul to be attached to the soul of Harry Potter. This was removed on the ascension of Harry Potter to godhood.'
'What is this ritual?' Harry asked with trepidation.
'Higher clearance required.'
Harry groaned in frustration. He had half a mind to ask Hades about this but thought better of it. Hades was a major god and had already done him a huge favour by allowing him to see his parents. He must have had a good reason to restrict this knowledge.
'Where is Voldemort now?' Harry tried.
'The soul of the human dark wizard known as Voldemort is currently possessing the body of Quirinus Quirrell, Professor of Defense Against the Dark arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland.'
Harry looked at the phone in shock. The darkest wizard was possessing the body of the supposed teacher of Defense against dark arts! He needed to let the teachers know, but how could he convince anyone? Taking Voldemort head-on was also out of the question. He may be a god, but all he could do was stick and unstick things. Voldemort was apparently a wizard who performed a ritual so forbidden that Hades restricted its knowledge even among gods. He needed more information before proceeding.
'Tell me everything significant about Voldemort.' Harry asked.
'Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as Voldemort, the Dark Lord, He-who-must-not-be-named and You-know-who. Species: Human. Subspecies: Wizard. Planet: Earth.
Born: 31st of December 1926 at Wool's Orphanage, London.
Parents: Tom Riddle Senior and Merope Riddle née Gaunt. Both deceased.
Tom Marvolo Riddle spent his childhood in Wool's orphanage in London….'
The device went on for an hour detailing every noteworthy aspect of Tom Riddle's life. By the end, Harry knew more about him than what he could stomach and could not get a wink of sleep that night.
Harry was glaring at Ron's mouse as they reached the first class of their first day of school. He received information on some of Voldemort's surviving followers from his D-phone (or Divine phone, as it was unimaginatively called). He also learned the truth about his godfather, Sirius Black's incarceration. It came up quite coincidentally when he asked about more details of how Voldemort came to know about the prophecy.
He learnt that the real culprit who betrayed his parents was masquerading as his friend's rat. He had a half-cooked plan to expose Peter Pettigrew as the traitor he was. But he wasn't sure whether or not he should risk it.
As he walked into the Transfiguration classroom, Harry stared at the cat sitting at the teacher's table. He wondered if it would eat Scabbers, and the traitor would get what he deserved. But that would mean Sirius would not have his name cleared. He couldn't let that happen.
As Harry and Ron seated themselves, the cat jumped out of the table and transformed into Professor McGonagall. Harry jolted up, recognizing the Animagus transformation from the description given to him by the D-phone.
"Do sit down, Mr. Potter. Although I must commend your reflexes." McGonagall said wryly.
A few students snickered. Harry sat down, a bit embarrassed. He wasn't expecting to encounter an Animagus so soon, but this could definitely work in his favour.
As the class progressed, Harry ironed out the details of a plan that could help trap Pettigrew. It was a fortunate coincidence that McGonagall had decided to introduce the subject of transfiguration with an Animagus transformation.
"Now, are there any questions on today's class?" McGonagall asked.
Before Hermione could get a chance to raise her hand, Harry's hand shot up. McGonagall's lips curved upwards in a small smile.
"Yes, Mr Potter?"
"Professor, I had a question about the Animagus transformation that you showed us."
"I appreciate your curiosity, Mr Potter. But the spell is quite advanced, and it would be quite impossible to attempt until you are at least N.E.W.T level." She remembered James showing an immediate interest in the transformation as well. 'Like father, like son, I suppose.'
"Ah, but that wasn't what I was curious about, Professor. How would one know if an animal is an Animagus or not? I mean, your transformation looked flawless."
"You flatter me, Mr Potter." The Professor said, smiling. "But there is a very simple spell to detect the presence of an Animagus, or indeed, any concealed human." As McGonagall said this, Harry noticed Scabbers making a frantic attempt to escape. Harry willed its legs to stick to the ground, and the rat could not move an inch after that. McGonagall eyed the rat suspiciously, not missing the fact that it tried to escape the moment she explained about the spell to detect humans. Somehow, it seemed to have gotten stuck on the ground, almost as if its legs were glued there. She wasn't sure how that could be since she hadn't seen any student take out their wand.
"The spell to reveal human presence is Homenum Revelio!" She made a simple wand motion. Immediately, a colourful mist surrounded Scabbers. Thoroughly alarmed, she made another wand motion, and a red jet of light slammed into the rat. Scabbers stopped twitching.
"Scabbers! What are you doing to him?" Ron exclaimed. He had just noticed that his rat was on the ground, lying as if it were dead.
"Don't move, Mr Weasley! Homorphus!" She ended the sentence with another wand motion, which resulted in Scabbers growing to an enormous size and transforming into a man. The man had a mousy look and a smudge of brownish hair. His hands and legs were glued to the ground, and he yelled out in pain at his skin stretching but refusing to move from the spot it was glued to. Somehow, the transformation seemed to have revived him.
"Peter Pettigrew?!" McGonagall was aghast. The students started to panic. Deciding quickly, McGonagall shouted "Stupefy!" and Pettigrew ceased all attempts at motion again. She ordered the students back to their seats and made a complicated motion with her wand. A silver cat shot out of it and disappeared through the wall.
"Mr Weasley, it seems your rat was an Animagus." She said, shock still tinging her voice. Ron had gone pale in horror upon seeing the rat turned into a man. "I assume from your reaction that you had no knowledge of this?"
Ron shook his head mutely, still shocked to silence.
A second later, a bright red fire lit up a space near the room's door, causing a few students to scream. As the fire vanished, Albus Dumbledore stood in its place. Harry quietly released Pettigrew from the ground, and he fell sideways like a toppled rock.