Harry Potter: Return of the Death Walker

by WhiteDevilMGN

After a thousand Years of death and isolation Harry Potter will perform a ritual on his search of peace and slumber only to return back to when it all began. With knowledge and experience no ten year old should possess and his memories in a jumble Harry must ready himself and the world for the War that is to come. Further plot to be detailed inside. Lemon Multi:Harry

34. Chapter 34 :: Stealing Time

Status Update: Guess who got their google-docs and C Drive recovered. PS, still trying to recover my discord info, I'm still alive Scott and I miss working with you. To everyone else, the nearly lost chapter, Chapter 34. Enjoy

beta'd by :: ScottKen

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Chapter 34 :: Stealing Time

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By the time Ginny had managed to leave the pitch, the chaos that had ensued was settled and tensions had finally settled. Harry's absences played a large part in that. The declaration he made upon his departure had them all unsettled but none more so than Draco and his associates.

Ginny felt it was because it finally hit them, the truth that they never once saw Harry retaliate to their preferred methods. Until today, they had only seen him run or evade their aggression. This day, however, they saw a glimpse of the Potter, she only knew of from Harry's tales.

And this worried her and was what drove her onward.

A Harry Potter, powerful in his restraint, no longer restrained.

Death Walker… until now she didn't understand how deep that past he experienced was rooted in his subconscious.

She had a feeling Harry didn't know himself how much his past weighed on him.

Rushing faster she passed her fellow classmates in the dorms and straight for Harry's trunk. His room recognizing her presence opened itself to her, his wards acknowledging her and dropped for her. Entering she didn't see Harry, much as she expected but unlike what she had hoped, inside his trunk, Harry was nowhere to be found.

"Harry?" Ginny asked with a slight quiver in her voice. Drawing her eyes from one side of the room to the other, Ginny noticed Harry wasn't there.

"Harry?" she called again to no response. "Where could he be?" she asked as her eyes glazed over the piece of paper on his desk. With eyes widening in excitement, Ginny rushed to the desk and opened the parchment. Placing her wand tip onto the paper she whispered, "I sure hope this works. I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

At first, nothing happened but slowly black ink emerged from the parchment, taking the form and shape of a map. A grid of rooms and halls took form as well as names of the occupants within said rooms and halls.

"For once your screw-ups worked out." Ginny mumbled out with a grin. Looking over the parchment with frantic speed, she searched for the name of Harry Potter.

However not once, or twice, nor three looks over could reveal Harry's location. Ginny clicked her tongue in irritation. "Damnit. Where is he?" she asked aloud.

Pacing for a second and growing more worried by his sudden departure, the thought of him leaving the school crossed her mind several times. Looking up to the cupboard in his room, she bit her lip and took a chance. Stepping inside she closed the door and counted to five before pushing her way out.

From the inside nothing seemed to happen but taking that step out showed that it did as it should have.

Ginny stood in the lavish penthouse suite in London. Yet Ginny didn't take the chance to marvel at the view as there still was no sign of Harry to be found. What's more, the door to the suite was still sealed shut, locked by both magic and key.

Harry hadn't left via the cupboard nor did he show up on the map.

And then it hit her. "Could he be…?" she muttered aloud before rushing back into the cupboard.

Far in the depths of Hogwarts, across from the portrait of dancing trolls and before the hidden door that was a blank wall, Ginny stood. Pacing three times she held a single thought in her mind.

"I want to talk to Harry, I want to talk to Harry, I want to talk to Harry."

After the third time, she turned around and there the door stood. With a quick fist punk/pump of success, she reached out and opened the door.

The first thing that hit her was the smell of rancid corpses and decay. The second was the smell of blood.

Flinging her hand to cover her nose she cautiously walked inside and found Harry standing in a large gymnasium sized room with no distinguishing features aside from the copious amounts of blood that covered the surfaces of the walls, floor, and ceiling. On the ground, numerous husks of what appeared to be cremated corpses surrounded Harry who stood motionless, covered in blood from head to toe.

Ginny stood frozen, her eyes wide with worry but before she even moved Harry spoke to her.

"It's funny." He said, his voice morbid and barely audible to Ginny. "When I saw the truth in the Mirror of Erised, I came to a realization that I wasn't my old self nor my younger self. I didn't travel back in time. I simply erased all that happened before while my mind anchored itself to my body sometime after I was born. I didn't travel back in time, time continued onward and I along with it. But even then, I still ignored it. I thought I was starting anew."

His shoulder shrunk as they started to shake. Suddenly Harry started laughing which quickly escalated into a horrible degrading sound. Like a madman who had lost everything, he stood there in self depriving madness.

"I can't change it. Even now, I'm still that monster I was before." Harry cried out after regaining control of himself.

Suddenly stopping, Harry's head fell forward, hanging low on his shoulders before it shot back up again with a roar of anguish. Screaming out in maddening hatred, Ginny could feel the pain and hatred he held, and all of it aimed at himself. Even as she covered her ears from the cry she walked closer.

As if that one cry robbed him of all his strength, Harry collapsed to the ground surrounded by the corpses of ash.

"I couldn't use the mirror since it was gone, so I came here. I asked it to show my true self. And it did." Harry almost whimpered out. "I saw me, I saw that thing I was-became… am."

Ginny's mind was working a mile a minute, trying to think of what she should say but then it hit her, the smell.

It smelled of rotted leather and burnt flesh. The sickening sweetness of lime and maple however was the only thing that gave away that the burnt remains were something inhuman.

With a soft smile, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Yeah. You saw what you feared was the case and you retaliated, but that doesn't mean you're a monster."

Harry froze as his shoulders tensed but he relaxed into her arms at her words. "Come on Harry, you know magic isn't perfect. Those things aren't you."

"But they were." Harry mumbled out.

"No," Ginny said firmly, getting up and sitting down in front of him. Placing her hands on his cheeks she directed his eyes into hers. "You told me what you were, what you did, but not once did you ever kill out of hate or malice. You're still the Harry I love. The Harry who tucked our children in at night, who worked hard to care for us. The same Harry who is determined and courageous to the point of insanity. The same Harry who, for better or worse, I wronged and who gave me a second chance."

"I was wrong." Harry shouted at her. "I wanted to kill him, to hurt him." His eyes fell to the floor. "I almost did, that desire…"

"I'm the same." Ginny said, interrupting him. Looking into his eyes Ginny smiled. "I'm the same. When he threatened you I wanted to curse him. I was about too. Yet you said not to so I didn't. You didn't need my help so I didn't do it."

"But I did." Harry muttered.

"Is Draco dead?" Ginny asked firmly as she silently and discreetly cleaned up the mess around them; vanishing ash, blood, and dirt alike with a waving of a wand.

Looking at her in confusion he muttered, "No…"

"Then you killed him?"

"No." Harry said quietly again.

"Then we are the same. Draco was an ass so it's normal to want to blow a bone breaker curse down his throat. Wanting to kill him doesn't mean you're regressing Harry. If anything it means you're staying true to yourself."

Hugging him again, tighter this time, she whispered into his ear, "It means you cared enough to want to kill him, it means you love Hermione enough to act." Pulling away she smiled at him, "And from what I've seen you've been holding back far too much."

Placing her hands on his, she smiled warmly. "Don't worry so much. You're still the man I love and if you ever begin to fall down that path again, I'll be there to help pull you back."

Harry stayed still but slowly a smile crept across his face, small as it was his eyes rose and nodded at her. "Okay."

Ginny smiled seeing that Harry was back to his regular self. "Now then, you got me all hot and bothered with that declaration against Draco, and I'm not going to let you back down. That brat needs a good spanking and I think it's time you stopped holding back. So? What are you going to do?"

Harry didn't answer, nor did Ginny push for him to answer. Sitting still, within her embrace, he quietly sat in contemplation. The fear that gripped his heart, which had loomed over him since his awakening, slackened and for the moment Harry, freed of that burden, enjoyed the freedom that came with it.

Relaxing into her, Harry smiled even as his legilimency confirmed what he already knew in his heart.

For better or worse, Ginny would never leave him alone again… and as he thought about it, neither would he leave her.

"I think I'm going to go through with my threat." Harry said with a small grin that could send chills down even a veteran's spine.

"Your threat?" Ginny asked.

Harry chuckled in response. "Yeah," he said, pulling from her embrace to stand up from the cold floor, leaving her to stare up at him. Turning down to smile at her, his eyes shone with renewed courage.

"What do you say to helping me dismantle the Malfoy empire?"

Ginny didn't answer. She simply smiled with a shit-eating grin. Offering his hand he pulled Ginny up from the floor when she accepted it.

"So how do we do it? Breaking down the Malfoy's? It can't be easy."

"Actually, it should be." Harry said with a hint of arrogance in his confidence. "The Malfoy's must have some pretty incriminating skeletons in their closet, finding it should be simple enough, but if they buy their way out that would be a problem, so first we need to dismantle their monopoly on the market."

"Monopoly? You mean their control over the potion market, right?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," Harry answered, "but, not just the potions market, I mean all their investment, their holdings, everything that they make money off of legitimately. Some shops and businesses we can simply buy out or take over completely, but others will require us purchasing a majority share of the holdings to strip the Malfoy's name bare."

"That's got to cost a fair amount of gold though. How are we going to get it? You don't have access to the Potter fortune, right?" Ginny asked.

Smiling in response Harry quickly focused more seriously on the problem at hand. "No, but even if I had that it wouldn't be enough. My current funds put me at about half the Potter fortune right now. Even if I had it, we'd need at least twice if not three times as much to pull this off as quickly as we need to. Which brings up another problem." Harry admitted.

"What?" Ginny asked, "Do you mean, time?"

Nodding Harry explained, "If we take too long, the Malfoy's can double down and act to protect their assets. If that happens this will become a full-blown war with the English economy as a proxy. For my plan to work, we'll need to go about this quickly. We'll need to blitzkrieg their foundation and strip it quickly enough that the Malfoy's won't be able to respond. Not only that, but we need to do it fast enough for them to do so without realizing who is responsible."

Ginny frowned, realizing just how big a problem this was. "So not only are we short on funds, but also time."

"Funds aren't an issue." Harry said through his facial expression showed no shortage of hesitancy to act. "At least… not if we get 'that', assuming it's still buried there."

"What?" Ginny asked.

Biting his thumb in both contemplation and doubt, weighing the options of going through with the easy solution at his disposal, Harry ignored Ginny. Ginny however was not going to remain ignored. Grabbing his head and nearly ripping his head off his neck, turned him to stare at her.

"STOP THINKING AND JUST DO IT!" she shouted firmly at him, eyes raging like fire.

Harry was left breathless as those small eyes lit a fire inside him. Leaning into her grasp he broke free Kissing her passionately. Pulling back, he enjoyed the blush of fiery red that took over her cheeks and the breathless look on her face.

"Thanks." He said leaving her gasping like a trout out of water. Collecting herself she smiled happily and sultry at him as he regained his momentum.

"So?" she asked.

"Well, if I'm selfish and completely ignore the prospect of destroying the economy via inflation. Then money isn't a problem. We'll just need a helping hand from the greatest and most forgotten alchemist in the world."

The way Harry said it told Ginny he was enjoying not telling her what he had in mind, but the confidence he showed while saying it told her he was sure it wouldn't be a problem. "So, all that's left is time."

Harry sobered quickly and nodded. "Yeah, I don't know how we can move quickly enough on our own to pull this off. Even with unlimited money, we'd still need a lot more manpower to pull my plan off. If I could do it myself it would take a few days at worst, but I can't leave the school without raising suspicions."

Ginny crossed her arms in contemplation. "So, it's not really time, but manpower… no it's both." Placing her thumb and forefinger on her chin she tapped her chin as she racked her brain for any solution to help Harry.

"…needing to be in two places at once… it would be easy if we had a time-turner."

Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Time-turner?"

Ginny similarly looked back at him in equal confusion at his own confusion. "Yeah, wouldn't that solve the problem?"

Harry shook his head. "Not sure, first time I've heard of a timer-turner before."

Ginny could only gape at him. "But how… oh right, we kinda destroyed all of them back when we snuck into the ministry that one time." Ginny said, realizing the cause of his confusion. "There probably weren't any timer-turners in the future and were forgotten over time."

Harry nodded but pressed her to explain. "So? What's a time-turner?"

"A device that allows a person to go back in time. Its use is heavily regulated by the ministry."

Harry's eyes grew wide as he heard this. Time magic was highly unpredictable and dangerous. Thanks to his interactions with the naturals of his past and his curse he was acutely aware of how intertwined time and space were to each other. Manipulating space was demanding, requiring incredibly potent magics to pull off, however it was possible. Transfiguration, being the simplest form of special magic was proof of its widespread use. Time magic, however, affects an object's time itself. What wizards failed to realize was the energy released by altering an object's time was immense.

Even something unchanging such a rock, was constantly under pressure from forces like gravity and friction. The more you tried to undo its time, all of that energy accumulated and was released in the magic itself.

Backlashes from even simple uses of time magic were disastrous. Harry knew this for sure. He had attempted to use such a backlash to erase himself from existence after all.

"Wait, wait, wait! Are you sure you have your facts straight? The Ministry is in control of devices that use Time magic?" Harry asked in a hurried panic which surprised Ginny.

"Y-yeah." She nodded out.

Taking a deep breath Harry tried to collect his nerves as several worse case scenarios played out in his head.

"Okay…" Harry said, hiding the shakiness of his voice surprisingly well. "What exactly does a Time-Turner do? How does it work?"

"Well, it's a small necklace-like device that when you spin the hourglass on it, it sends you back in time. If I remember correctly, with each turn you can go back one hour, but it's heavily regulated since when you go back in time you risk bumping into your past self, which could cause major problems and is extremely dangerous."

Harry perked up at this. "Hold on, you can see your past self? You're sure?" he asked.

Ginny nodded slightly confused at the hopefulness in his voice. "Yeah, it's a major problem with them. At least Hermione said so anyway."

Harry placed his head in his hand and began to chuckle before outright laughing, quickly ending with a sigh of relief.

Ginny looked confusedly at Harry's reaction and was about to ask before Harry apologized.

"Sorry, sorry. I was worried for a moment there. Time magic is a highly destructive and dangerous field of magic. One misstep and you could destroy half a country without intending too. When you said the ministry had time magic I almost panicked there. Good thing you were wrong, If the Ministry had access to time magic we'd all be screwed."

"What do you mean I was wrong?" Ginny asked with indignation, pouting a bit since she hadn't said a single false statement.

"Relax Ginny, I'm just saying you and Hermione were misinformed."

"Misinformed?"

"If time-turners really did turn back time, then there would be no reason to be concerned with bumping into oneself. Time magic affects time, not space. In order for there to be a double, then the individual's time must have been kept constant." Harry explained.

Ginny just stood there staring blankly which elicited a sigh from Harry. "If you went back in time, your physical body would have gone backwards with you, basically you'd be back in your own body at whatever time you traveled to. What you described is commonplace spatial magic."

"Not that I don't believe you Harry, but how can someone go back in time without using time magic?" Ginny asked skeptically.

"Ever heard of the theory of special relativity?" Harry asked. Seeing Ginny's head shake in denial he explained, "It's basically a famous theory that proves the connection between time and space. I could get into the complexities of it all, but the theory suggests that time travel is possible when one goes faster than the speed of light."

"Speed of light?" Ginny asked, having no knowledge of the subject, finding light to have speed was something very difficult to comprehend.

"Later." Harry said curtly, "The point being is, a Time-turner is exactly what we need.

"Well good luck getting one," Ginny said, crossing her arms in a simmering pout. "The ministry keeps them all under lock and key. They're not going to give them to just anyone. Plus even if you did get one form them, everyone would be able to piece together that you used it to attack the Malfoy's businesses. They aren't going to sit back and let that slide."

Harry could almost feel the smugness coming off of Ginny, but she did have a point. "Do you know who manages the time-turners? Or where they are kept?"

Caught off guard Ginny blatantly answered, "The Department of Mysteries. Why?"

Harry smiled and Ginny quickly caught on. "You can't be… Harry, you're not thinking of stealing from the Ministry of Magic are you!?"

Harry walked past her towards the door as he said. "You said it yourself, all the time-turners were destroyed when we invaded the ministry last time. My goal is to preserve magic, no matter what." Turning around he let a grin cross his face. "I'm going to recover one of those magics before they're lost to history again."

"Harry, hold up! Do you really plan to steal from the Ministry of Magic!?" Ginny shouted in utter disbelief.

With all seriousness, Harry turned to Ginny. "I watched a world burn and all the culture and magic of the wizarding world vanish before my eyes. I might not remember if it happened, but I know I saw it and I remember seeing the result with my own eyes. You told me the Time-turners were destroyed and that the Ministry holds all of them under lock and key. Even if we don't do anything, it's just a matter of time before they're lost to time again. If it helps me in my personal goal, all the better, but I won't sit back and do nothing when history could repeat itself all over again."

Ginny stood there in silence as Harry was about to leave. Grabbing his harm, Harry turned to tell her to let go, to not stop him, but one look in her gaze silenced those demands.

"I'm coming with you. What can I do?"

"Ginny…"

"No!" Ginny cut Harry off. "I'm going to help; I'm going with you."

"Even if going actually prevents you from helping? Even if going means you'll hinder me?" Harry asked coldly.

Ginny froze, biting her lip in hesitation before she replied, "Yes… even if I'm a hindrance… I don't want to be left behind again."

Harry stayed silent and then smiled. "Alright." He said, pulling out a piece of paper. After writing a few things on it he handed it to Ginny.

"I'll go get the things we might need from my trunk; you try to find these items in the room of requirement. Once you have everything you think you can get from here, come to my trunk and we'll discuss our plans for success." Harry commanded her.

Ginny went to grab the sheet but when she pulled to take it, Harry held firm. Looking up in confusion she was glared at by Harry's serious gaze. "If you go, you will do what I tell you to do. If I say stay hidden, you stay hidden. If I say jump, you jump. Give me any reason to believe you'll be a danger to yourself; I'll knock you out, tie you up, and lock you in my trunk. I won't lose you again. Got it?"

Ginny was about to teasingly retort with 'kinky.' but the hard-cold stare halted her dirtier impulses. "Okay." She muttered. Harry let go and left the room, gathering one solid breath, Ginny left as well, pacing three times in front of the blank wall.

Harry meanwhile was racking his brain over all the potential problems that could happen if the situation went south. They were going through with it regardless of the risks. Like he said, he wasn't about to leave such potent magic to be destroyed later on, and considering how things were looking, there was a chance history would repeat itself in some form or another.

Should history repeat by his own hands, at least it would be in the effort to secure a magic that had at once been lost to time.

"Though it would suck if I was responsible for destroying them again." Harry mumbled to himself.

In his hurry to gather what he needed, Harry didn't even notice Daphne and Tracey sitting in the Slytherin common room.

A very red and green Daphne.

At any other time, he would have noticed the sickened expression of Daphne and Tracey's look of concern over her friend.

Harry, however, didn't even register that look far into the future, nor what it would mean.

Grabbing everything he could possibly need. Harry placed everything out in a large spread on his bed.

Thirty-six potions; ten blue ones, four green ones, five yellow and orange ones, and six white and black potions, all held within vials almost as long as an adult male's fingers.

Two vests lay spread out above and below the displayed potions, each one with metal plating on the chest portion with additional pouches atop of the metal frame, each large enough to house said potions above.

Two additional cloaks, one which was his semi-successful attempt to replicate his trusty cloak of invisibility, and the later being a prototype vanishing cloak. Unlike the robes he wore which had the same effect on the interior portion when magic was pushed into it, the prototype was Harry's attempt to make a portable version of the vanishing cabinet. This particular success was linked to a large storage base, in one of the abandoned lockers of London's port.

Then there were the note cards attached to a metal ring. Disposable spells. Magic imbued notecards that when activated could replicate certain spells. Lumos, Aloramora, Bombarda, to name a few could be cast on the paper then remotely activated for partial results. The power was limited, but its remote activation could prove useful.

Lastly, there was a case and pouch for small rudimentary items. Knives, paper, quills, pens, pebbles, and a few warding stones, rope, just to name a few.

Carefully looking over each article for any irregularities or discrepancies, when he was finished reviewing his possessions, Ginny had arrived with the small collection of items he requested.

Magic vibrating dice, pocket-sized foe mirrors, Tarot Cards, extendable string, rocks, and silver cutlery.

"Why do you want this stuff? The foe glass I get, but tarot cards? String with a golden band at the end? Cutlery? What use could this stuff possibly have in helping us break into the ministry?" Ginny asked.

"Several things." Harry said flatly, with a serious and disinterested tone which gave Ginny a short measure of amusement. It was like seeing Harry off before a big mission except far more focused and serious.

"Alright, I got the materials almost prepped, hurry up and stripdown and lay on the bed." Harry ordered.

Ginny flashed red and froze, covering her essentials subconsciously at his calm and hard tone. "Y-you could have at least taken me out for dinner first." She managed to get out recovering from her shocked state.

"It's a precaution." Harry said having not once turned around to look at her. Grabbing several inkwells and brushes, Harry turned around and placed them on the bedside table, which actually happened to be a small bookshelf with numerous documents stuffed inside.

"If you're coming with me, I'm going to make sure your chances of survival are at their highest."

Pointing at the bed Harry repeated, "Strip and lay down."

"Back or front?" Ginny asked hesitantly as she slowly convinced herself to strip down.

Harry paused for a moment with a quill in hand tapping his chin, "Front. I'll start with the back first then finished with the front."

"What exactly are you going to do to me that requires me to strip naked?"

"I don't need you naked." Harry said while focusing on the ink inside the glass well in his hand, checking it for impurities. "So long as your abdomen is exposed you can keep your knickers on. I'm going to place an array on you that will permit you to draw magic from me in case you need it.

Looking down at her knickers, she hesitantly pulled them down, seeing as they were covering a good deal of her waist. She wasn't sure, but she didn't want to obstruct whatever Harry was doing.

"You can say no, you know." Harry said over his shoulder. Ginny just then realized that during the whole time, he didn't once peek at her or look at her when he spoke so far. Ginny smiled and felt grateful to him for caring as he did.

"I figured it wasn't an option." Ginny retorted.

"Sorry." Harry said, dropping his cold mannerisms as he began to display the worry and stress that was hidden behind his actions. "I guess I fell back into old habits. You can say no, this just happens to be the most efficient method we have to work with. Time is short and the most effective way to make sure you're safe is to supply you with the power needed to keep yourself safe… that and having you powered up would keep me safe as well." Harry explained with the latter statement as an afterthought.

Smiling softly Ginny let go of her robe which was still on her shoulders, more or less keeping her warm. As it pooled to the floor Ginny thought back to when they had their honeymoon. Harry had also been a worried mess back then too. "You can look, and thanks for telling me that although it's a little late." She said with a smirk.

Turning around Harry saw Ginny close up, her pale skin glistening in the light of his candles.

"Sorry, I just figured you would stubbornly insist on going… I don't want to see you hurt."

"I can take care of myself Harry." Ginny said with a frown.

"Yeah, we'll see about that. Can you lay down?" Harry asked.

Doing as he requested, she laid down on his bed, it still held some warmth from earlier that morning.

It was really nice, feeling the warmth of his bed once again. In the midst of nostalgia, Ginny was unprepared for the brush in Harry's hand to make contact with her back. The soft-touch and chill of the ink sent a shiver up her spine forcing her to bite down a squeal of surprise.

"Hold still if you can." Harry said as he dragged the brush across her back and backside. In large swirling arks he carried the brush up the back of her legs and across her cheeks. Once he hit the base of the spine Harry began to mutter to himself.

"The flow of magic radiates through the body. Celtic magics use this flow to extend beyond their mortal bodies. Drawing power from the astral lines and light of the sun, the myth of the moon carries the purest form of sunlight, reflecting only its magic in the peak of midnight's dawning."

The brush traversed up her spine with meticulous care.

"The spine is the buttress for all powers, the keel that suspends the basket of magic."

The brush halted at the base of her neck before the swirling form was drawn at the base of her skull splitting in two directions down her arms. With a nudge, Harry hinted at her to turn over and with a slight hesitation, she spun around.

Two lines from the center of her back were drawn over her shoulders into a spiraling helix down her front between her undeveloped breasts.

"The stomach is the reservoir of chi, the pool of magic. In multiple cultures, it acts as a dam to prevent the overflow of power."

Raising the brush up off her after making a large spiraling formation ending at her bellybutton Harry started writing strange symbols along the lines he just drew.

"The druids were not the only ones to draw upon the flow of power in the world. The Chinese and Japanese were known to utilize this trait of magic. The Chinese used this flow offensively; the Japanese used it defensively; both drawing in from without to fortify the structure, the order of things. These traits are symbiotic, and can guide power from its external source down the natural flows turned new."

Pulling the brush away he looked at his work carefully, causing Ginny to feel a bit warm and bothered by his gaze even while knowing he wasn't looking at her. She did see him struggle every now and then and knew he was trying his best to focus on the task at hand.

While she wanted to celebrate that truth, she settled for a smirk.

"Looks good. Brace yourself." Harry said before spinning her around roughly and placing his wand tip at the back of her spine.

"Wha-AAHHH!" Ginny shouted out as a sudden flash of warmth overcame her. Like a flood of lukewarm water twice as dense as water should feel, Ginny began to feel it surrounding her, swallowing her whole. But just before that happened, it receded and the warm slowed to a mild stream inside her, following the lines made by Harry earlier.

"What was that?" Ginny asked.

"That was my magic entering you unabated." Harry explained. Not exactly the response he expected but still a sign that his efforts bore fruit.

"You could have warned me!" she complained while rushing up to look at her new markings which were slowly vanishing into her skin. "It felt like I was being swallowed by something."

"Honestly I wasn't sure how it would feel to you." Harry admitted. "First time I tried performing a spell like this one."

"Wait! That was your first attempt?"

"Not exactly…" Harry drifted off as he put away the ink and spent brushes. "Think of it like building a fire from scratch, you need to gather wood and create a spark to make fire. Putting it all together requires foreknowledge and skill to do." Harry turned around briefly to point at her new tattoos which had already begun to disappear into her skin, returning it to its former creamy untainted complexion. "All I did there was basically completing the knowledge portion that I needed firewood to fuel a fire. It wasn't even as complex as gathering firewood."

"I don't quite get it," Ginny admitted, "But I think I understand."

Ginny had her concerns but she didn't have to worry. Of course, Harry wouldn't risk her life using experimental magics. He knew it would work. Looking down at her arms she saw the last of the ink disappear. This magic was something basic to him, not even worth acknowledging.

"

"Besides, if I did warn you ahead of time what you might feel, you could have braced yourself for it which could have hindered the forming of the connection. That feeling is important, remember it since it's what you'll need to think of to draw on my magic." Harry said with a grin.

"It also means I have a large reserve of magic compared to you, so this works out." Harry mumbled to himself, although Ginny managed to overhear him.

"What do you mean by 'connection' and how would that tell you that you have a larger reserve of magic?" Ginny asked with honest curiosity.

Harry once again pointed at her skin. "The tattoo I drew on you can be thought of like a pipeline connecting you to me. It's a one-way pipe that allows my magic to flow into you." Harry explained. "The fact you felt overwhelmed proves my magic was vastly larger compared to yours. You still have the same capacity you did as an adult, right? If you think of magic like a large body of water, then yours would be a very large pond or lake. The feeling of drowning or benign consumed is the same as water from a larger body flowing into a smaller one. Like a dam, in a way my magic was swallowing you in the same way water would overflow a smaller dam if a larger dam poured its contents into you."

"Huh…" Ginny thought to herself as she started getting dressed. "And this is safe for you?"

"Yes…" Harry said, pausing for a moment before correcting himself. "I mean, so long as you don't try to pull magic from an empty well in any case."

"Hold up. Then that means I could hurt you if I-" Ginny started with mounting concern but was interrupted by Harry.

"More importantly, do you have your wand?"

Ginny rolled her eyes with a silent, 'do you really have to ask', kind of look.

"Good." Harry curtly said heading towards the large cupboard, "Then let's see if you can use it." Harry stated as a hint of a grin threatening to appear. Without waiting for a response Harry just carried on as he walked into the cupboard, closing it behind him.

Taking his disappearance as a sign to follow she too entered the cupboard and exited out into his penthouse flat.

Glancing at Harry, Ginny saw him tapping something by the kitchen and was startled as for a flash of a second the whole of the room shook and exploded into a network of light. Like a malicious and intertwining spider web, a network of glowing red lines burst into existence, clinging to the walls, floors, ceiling and even furniture. Consuming and devouring every inch within its reach, encasing and expanding out to what might have been the whole building with a thunderous flash and roar.

Ginny looked around in stupefied confusion, unsure what was happening. Despite the tremor and noise, neither her ears nor body felt anything from the display, in fact, the whole of the world didn't seem to even notice.

Wand in hand and her heart racing, Harry answered her unasked question. "I just activated the protective wards of this place. Nothing short of a tactical warhead can so much as reach us here." Harry produced an almost sinister grin as he added, "The same could be said for the reverse. No sound will get out, no one can enter. In short, we're completely isolated and can throw spells around without worry."

Harry spun around and without courtesy or warning a flash of red whizzed toward Ginny who although shocked was able to dodge in time. Harry continued his onslaught without any consideration for Ginny as she cried out words of confusion and denial towards him through the maelstrom of magic fire.

"Fight Ginny! I need to know what you can do!" Harry shouted as he cast his repulsion spell to launch Ginny's cover, which happened to be a couch into her threatening to scoop her and smash her into the windows.

Ginny managed to dodge again just in time as the glass shimmered with bright red ripples of light which repelled the couch into the ceiling. Ginny watched as the couch broke into several pieces upon bouncing off the ceiling and into the floor. Another spell whizzed by her nose waking her up from her shock. Turning to Harry she saw him pointing his wand at her and she shrieked as he cast a shrinking charm on his shirt. The sudden shrinkage squeezed her chest uncomfortably but got the message across. He was toying with her.

"Fine then Potter. You want a fight… Stupify!" she shouted, triggering a flash of red sparks and light to burst from her wand toward him.

Harry successfully dodged the stunner with ease, sliding out from behind the side table that he was using with cover.

Harry watched as the glowing red light slammed into the table shattering it to bits. His eyes wide with silent approval.

'Bloody hell.' Harry thought to himself as he refocused his evasive efforts, dodging and lunging out of the way of every spell Ginny fired. 'If even one of those hits me I'll be in serious trouble.'

Harry thought as he cast a silent levitating spell on the carpet lifting it up sending Ginny backwards causing another stunner to shoot into the lights hanging from the ceiling to explode into a thousand shards of glass.

'Still, it's pointless if they don't hit. A Stunner this potent is impressive, but as its a visible spell, it might as well be a fancy light show."

Seeing the glass and thinking quickly Harry caught the shards with his wand and pulled the glass around him forcing it to orbit his person while Ginny shredded the carpet into ribbons, spitting out Diffindo after Diffindo in no mild frustration.

Ginny found herself becoming more pissed off that Harry hadn't so much as taken a shot at her since she was down. He simply stood there, confident and stoic, flaunting the power he had over her without so much as a bead of sweat in her favor. Completely forgetting she was trying to stop Harry from attacking she was now fully bent on making him take her seriously.

Raising her wand, she practically jabbed it toward him and flash after flash shouted a barrage of stunners at Harry until a swarming wall of red flashes of light assaulted him.

However, at this point stunners were pointless. Much like Harry wanted, the glass floating around him made the spell ineffective. Each shard intercepted the sparks of red light, bursting upon contact utterly obliterating the shards of glass so nothing remained. Ginny could cast all she wanted but so long as Harry was able to track her wand movements there was no chance a stunner would hit him.

All the same, while he wanted to see her cast another spell, Harry had to admit he was thoroughly impressed that Ginny, while physically eleven years old could pull enough power into her spells to utterly obliterate the glass shards like she was doing. To pull off that feat with a stunner was unimaginable and required a huge pool of power to pull off.

If nothing else, she didn't lack power in her spells. However, her single-minded focus and temper was a problem that he'd need to consider.

Ginny was growing impatient and with her anger and frustration boiling over, she finally gave Harry what he wanted. Tired of the glass shards intercepting her spells she poured her magic into a new spell.

"Reducto!" A spark of white light flashed and in a second had already made its way towards Harry. Harry, having already heard her mind chant the spell before she even said it had already rearranged the glass shards into a shield, resembling a seven-layered rose flower, each petal overlapping the others around it supporting them while acting independently. The light burst upon contact with the glass defense but instead of simply breaking down several of the petals, the entire structure disintegrated to Harry's surprise and the light hit him square in the chest. The contact sent him flying backwards into the empty bookcases behind him.

With great force, the bookcase caved in and in a grand display of destruction and chaos broke apart burying Harry under its wooden remains and hard-covered contents.

The sudden success had caused Ginny to stare blankly as her mind caught up to her actions. The sudden realization dawning on her that she had in all likelihood seriously hurt Harry.

Now in a panic, Ginny screamed at the sight of Harry bloody and beaten amidst the rubble of his bookshelves.

"HARRY!" she screamed, clawing at the wooden fragments in a mad dash to dig him out. Eventually, she heard a rough cough and Harry pushed a beam of wood that came from the top of the shelf off of himself revealing his face to her. Despite a few scratches and bleeding wounds, he was all right. In pain, but all right.

"Harry! I'm sorry, I didn't think. I was frustrated and angry and then…" Ginny started to sputter out, but Harry raised a hand to halt her.

"It's fine." He groaned out. "I wanted you to hit me with your best. Hehe- Ow. Damn, you hit like a truck. Are you really eleven?"

Ginny held back a laugh as she raised her hand to hold it in. "Are you really asking me that?" she asked sarcastically. "Seriously Harry, what was all that for? Why'd you attack me all of a sudden."

Getting up with a grown Harry felt his bones ache in pain. Ginny really did hit like a truck, one filled with cement at that. "If I didn't you wouldn't have gotten serious would you?" He asked while stretching, checking to see if all his limbs worked as intended. Harry noticed he had several fractures and possibly a broken hip. Nothing combat critical, and nothing a potion couldn't cure over a week. A pain killer or nerve agent and he'd be set to fight again.

"I needed to know what you could do in a combat situation." Harry said a-matter-a factly.

"You could have just asked for a demonstration? Or maybe what spells I could do."

"If I did that, then I wouldn't know just how potent your spells truly were, what habits in combat you might have, or the fact that you lose your cool when things don't go the way you want them too." Harry listed off.

Ginny had the decency to blush a bit but didn't like it. What Harry said was true but that didn't mean there wasn't a better way.

"Even so-" she started to argue but Harry interrupted, "We don't have time to try out other methods. This was the quickest and most efficient." Harry started turning to look her straight in the eye.

"I'll take you with me, but you'll do exactly as I say. I'll have you sign a contract to work around your tendency to get tunnel vision when things don't work your way. If worse comes to worst, I'll need you to leave when I tell you without any backtalk." Harry demanded.

Looking at his hand Harry felt his own weakness looming over him. Ginny had displayed the kind of power he once wielded with easy. In his current body, he couldn't unleash the full force of his magic, not without ripping himself apart. "If I thought I could keep you safe I wouldn't have you run… so please, let's compromise with you coming but leaving when I tell you too. I can handle myself… but I'm not yet able to save us both." Harry said softly and with great remorse.

Ginny was going to argue but nodded in understanding. This was a lot for him to take in. For someone who wanted to keep everyone he cared for safe, having her join him was a major improvement from when they were together. She could settle for meeting him halfway. Just like he didn't want to bring her into harm's way, she didn't want to leave him alone or behind. Both of them would have to meet the other partway.

"Alright." Ginny said reluctantly.

"Thanks." Harry said. "Now while I get patched up, what do you know about the Ministry's department of Mysteries layout.

Peeking out around the corner of the large stone building beside him, Harry glanced both ways before crossing the intersection. While the effort might have been pointless, Harry wasn't about to test the effectiveness of his cloak's invasive properties on a ten-ton automobile.

That and he was feeling overly conscientious since he felt like he was being watched upon leaving his apartment with the cloak.

Still, while under the cloak, no one else but him should have been able to see the two of them under it, so he was pretty sure he was just being paranoid but that seed of doubt still lingered.

Seeing no cars were approaching Harry nudged Ginny's breastplate and the two moved in tandem under the cloak.

Harry truly had to thank Ginny for her wonderful memory of the night they worked together to invade the ministry. For starters, while she lacked the knowledge and understanding of the magics involved she had a strong understanding of how the ministry worked. Something far more valuable to Harry than any magical foreknowledge.

The plan was simple, sneak in, enter the DoM, acquire a time-turner, get out. Harry being the more athletic and combat-experienced one, would draw the attention of any attackers once inside, while Ginny would keep her power hidden under his cloak, taking out anyone she could get the drop on.

They knew the layout, had adequate equipment and preparation, and to top it off the best and most broken cloak Harry had ever seen. The job should, that is if he was correct in assessing the ministries response to an intruder, be far easier to pull off then one would first think.

Ginny, once again, was a wellspring of knowledge, which gave Harry plenty to work with and a basic understanding of how the ministry should react. If he was right, at worse they'd only have to fight ten or fifteen individuals if things went south. Of course, his assumptions could be far off the mark, but Harry wasn't worried. He was overly cautious and had several advantages over the ministry, surprise and initiative being the biggest ones.

The two approached an abandoned phone box.

"This the one?" Harry asked?

Ginny nodded. "Yes. Let's get in."

Harry nodded, and carefully opened the door and entered the small phone box.

Inside Ginny was about to reach over and turn the dial but Harry grabbed her wrist.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"We have to wait." Harry stated.

"Why?" Ginny asked with a hint of annoyance. "If we don't dial 62442 we won't be able to enter the Ministry."

"You said that dialling the number prompts the operator resulting in both passes being deployed and the box to descend into the ministry. We need to let someone else do so, else we reveal that we're here." Harry explained.

"What are the odds of that happening? This isn't the main entrance, what idiot would use the back door to the Ministry?" Ginny asked in annoyance.

Harry smirked as he recalled her stating this was the visitor's entrance but he didn't have the chance to say it aloud.

At that moment Harry and Ginny were almost startled as two men appeared and opened the abandoned telephone box.

"Hurry up Arthur! We need to hurry and get those reports done today or the department will really be up in Morgana's tits this time." A slouching and pudgy dwarf of a man declared in a high pitch voice."

"Yes, Yes. Bubkis, I'm well aware." Arthur Weasley said while just barely managing to get into the booth, nearly losing his balance, when in reality he was subconsciously avoiding Harry and Ginny under the cloak in the booth.

Arthur Weasley quickly gathered himself, holding onto an impressive mountain of papers while his associate closed the door and dialled the numbers needed. Both stood with an overwhelming scent of sewage on their bodies. The stench was overwhelmingly potent, and Harry was glad that the contract he had Ginny agree to force her silence while within earshot of others, aside from himself. While he had the contract written up to keep her temper in check in case he made a mistake or got hurt, it was also helpful right then since even with his discipline threatened to break under the potent aroma.

"Wait, wait. The spell Bubkis, the spell. We can't go in smelling like two swamp trolls." Arthur interjected. As the man fiddled with his wand, the dial whirled back into place and a cool mellow male voice sounded from the speaker. Harry found this intriguing since Ginny said the voice would be female.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Er-" Arthur said while struggling to hang onto the mountain of papers in his hands. "Arthur Weasley, Bubkis Genscree. Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, returning from raid…"

Mr. Genscree apparently at that time managed to pull out his wand and cast an aromatic charm of some kind that alleviated the smell of sewage waste from their persons, including Harry and Ginny.

"Thank you, welcome back Mr. Weasley, Mr. Genscree." The cool voice said with a bit of a rasp at the end. Much like the voice, this time around no badges were deployed nor was a message given to report to the security desk. Instead, the floor shuddered and they four slowly sank into the ground.

Harry wondered if the lack of badges was due to the fact that they weren't visitors and were returning. More so, was the different voice a sign that the voice wasn't magically automated but a physical person?

As the phone box floor descended, Harry and Ginny both showed visible signs of relief but remained still and silent, not wanting to provoke the situation quite yet.

The rattling came to a halt and the gates opened as the voice wished them a pleasant day.

Arthur and his associate rushed forward in a hurry and Harry, now free to speak, was about to remark upon Ginny's earlier statement but she cut him off first.

"Don't say anything, Potter." Ginny bit out with a healthy red hue of embarrassment across her face.

Harry couldn't help but give a shit-eating grin in response which for Ginny was almost as bad as him actually saying it.

"Bloody hell Dad." She bemoaned to herself but sucked it up as Harry tapped her breastplate, singling them to move.

"Let's go." He muttered softly and the two carefully walked their way towards the open atrium. Since it was the middle of the day, most of the fireplaces on both sides of the hall were lit a bright green but only a few burst alight with meter-high flames to have a witch or wizard step out.

'Slow part of the day…' Harry thought. 'We could probably make use of the end of day rush to escape.'

According to Ginny, the ministry's department of mystery acted as a separate and isolated section of the ministry. So much so no one above knew what was going on down there. If so, Harry rationalized, then any problems below probably wouldn't reach up near the entrance. If that was the case, then even if they made a racket down below, it would only pose a problem in the department and not the ministry.

"Over there." Ginny whispered as she pointed over his shoulder towards a pair of golden gates that had just opened up to release a group of wizards from the floors below.

Harry nodded in understanding even as he quickly glanced around to take note of any potential issues upon their attempted escape.

His eyes were almost drawn to the golden statue in the center. Harry couldn't help but notice and cringe at the arrogance of the design, propping the wizard, or human, as a saviour and guiding figure with all the other non-human figures looking up in awe of the golden figure. The design was bad enough, but Harry could see it was worse than it looked. As an alchemist, Harry could see the slight deterioration of the other statues, notably the house-elf. They weren't gold but copper. The wizard was gold.

Harry bit his lip while suppressing the desire to utterly destroy the statue.

If it was just a gold statue alone, he'd be okay with that. Any artist could use any material they wished for their canvas. But this was a message. By using gold, they were stating a level of divinity. A perfect being in alchemy was considered golden and precious just like the metal. Their use of copper, and earthly elements used in grounding formulas was a show of mortality.

"Wizards depicted as godly…" Harry whispered to himself with venom spitting from his voice.

"Harry?" Ginny asked curiously.

Harry pulled his eyes away from the statue and taking a calming breath muttered silently, "Nevermind… let's hurry up to the lift."

Rushing into the lift they pushed themselves to the side, minimizing their presence both to allow ease of access in and out of the lift and to reduce the chance of any officials accidentally bumping into them.

Harry was the one to push the button nine through the cloak and the lift rumbled into action, clanking away as the golden metal gate closed and dropped them downwards into the depths of the ministry.

It took only a few minutes and being lucky, no one else attempted to get onto the lift. Once they reached the ninth floor the same cool voice from above announced, "Department of Mysteries."

Stepping out cautiously Harry and Ginny looked around, making sure no one was nearby.

Much like Ginny said, there was hardly any security past the lift, just an empty hallway lit ominously, or perhaps lazily, by candlelight every few feet.

"Looks like the coast is clear." Harry muttered looking around carefully. "Okay… 'Red' you're up." Harry said, stepping out and handing over his cloak completely to Ginny.

"From here on out, I'm the bait and you're my backup. Sneak attacks only and avoid flashy spells if possible."

"I know Harry. I'll be sure to keep moving. Are you sure you can follow me under this cloak? I mean, won't I be invisible?" Ginny asked, wrapping herself in the cloak.

"No worries." Harry smiled, fully able to see her even through the cloak which shimmered with partial transparency to his eyes. "I'll be able to follow. Take the lead, and provide cover by flanking any hostels."

This might have been a heist, but Harry was ex-military. He had no illusion that they were over their head should they try going in not expecting a firefight. Harry didn't have the knowledge of what kind of protections existed in the ministry nor if those protections could be subverted by his cloak. Thus why Harry proposed this plan of attack, after all, and the enemy will focus more on what they see rather than what they can't. Even if there was evidence of more than one target.

Ginny nodded, pulling the robe over her head. While Harry pulled back his watch and pushed a few buttons until it showed a digital timer. "Okay, one hour... set." Harry muttered, pulling out a vial of greyish brown sludge from his robes. Kicking it back in one go Harry held down the need to barf and waited a second as the potion took over.

Slowly his skin began to bubble as if his muscles were being boiled from underneath his skin, slowly shifting his physical features. His skin began to darken and warp until he ended up with the appearance of an old man who survived a bad case of Leprosy.

"That's gross." Ginny said from under the cloak.

"The potion or my face?" Harry asked.

"Can I say both?"

Harry smirked, "Sure, but first let's get going."

Ginny began to run down the corridor towards the single lone black door, Harry right behind her on her left. Just like they planned they would open the black door. According to her, the door opened to a magic room that rotates to inhibit intruders from getting back out. Considering the lack of tracking magic and guards in the room, Harry had to believe that the unspeakable didn't feel the need for greater security than that. Or maybe they didn't think anyone was stupid enough to steal from their department.

Regardless Harry was ready, flicking his wand he opened the door with it while sending a tag flying onto it, just as Ginny was upon it.

Just like she said, the room was a large circle with numerous black doors, all identical with no distinguishing features to identify them. Unlike her tale from long ago, this room wasn't unoccupied. Two hooded figures stood there in large oversized grey robes; their faces hidden in the shadows of their hoods. Harry couldn't help but be reminded of dementors upon seeing them but that didn't bother him.

Before the two figures could even respond Harry had already acted from behind Ginny. Attacking the one on the left, Harry pulled out two of the blue vials in his robe and whispered under his breath as he threw them.

"Lic Lac Lalac Lilac…"

The grown wizard summoned his wand, being faster than his associate.

'What in blazes!?' 'Intruders?'

They didn't utter a word, but Harry heard their thoughts as openly as if they had spoken them. They were confused. Good, this gave Harry the initiative. The vial began to glow bright blue as Harry finished his chant.

"Lic Lac Spiritus!"

The two figures were blinded by the brilliant flash of blue as the vials shattered, their contents glowing and flowing like spears of water towards the figure on the left. Hitting him square in the chest he was forced backwards into the wall where the blue glowing liquid froze instantly binding him to the wall.

His mind went silent, unconscious, Harry focused on the last target.

'Damn it! I need to cast a spell… bombarda!'

Harry heard the remaining man's mind struggling to find a means to stop Harry, but his response was too slow. Harry ripped a tag from his keychain and bit into it. The letters glowed as Harry pointed his wand using his magic and wand to amplify the effect of the tag.

In a grey flash, the man was thrown back as if a dump truck had hit him. His mind was silent, unconscious… no dead, Harry thought making a judgment call based on how to body remained semi-rigid on the floor.

"That was a bit much." Ginny said aloud, careful not to call out his name.

"That shouldn't have been in there..." Harry said, spitting out the paper he was biting on. "How was I supposed to know it was a battering ram hex?" he complained aloud while he muttered to himself, "I thought I separated the charms and hex's last week, did I miss one?"

Taking a look at the man Harry sighed as he walked away from him, thinking to himself, 'Guess he was just unlucky... and I was careless.'

"Now we just pick a door, right?" Ginny asked, keeping to a corner of the room.

Harry looked around and thought quickly. That was their plan… but…

He looked over at the deceased figure. There was another option available now…

"Not yet. Cover me." Harry said, racing over to his body.

Tapping his pulse, Harry made sure of his condition. Harry raised an eyebrow in shock, there was a pulse… he was alive. "How?" Harry wondered aloud but looking over the robes noticed a slight glow shimmering from inside their robes.

'Crap,' Harry thought. Some kind of warning, an alert? Or perhaps some kind of life preservation device.

If he was dead, Harry would have just ripped the knowledge from his mind, but this complicated things. Now he had to rush and had to tread carefully if he didn't want to permanently damage this individual's mind.

"H-Harry… look at his arm." Ginny stuttered out in shock.

Doing so, Harry spotted a black tattoo of what looked to be a skull. Pulling his sleeve up further Harry revealed what looked to be a skull with a snake protruding from it.

"T-the dark mark…" Ginny all but whispered.

Harry turned to her. "Dark Mark? You mean the mark You-Know-Who used?"

Ginny nodded, "Yeah, that's the one."

Harry grinned. "That makes this easier."

"What do you mean-" but Ginny was stopped by the sight of Harry grabbing the man's head, his fingertips sinking into the man's skull.

"HARR-" she clamped her hand over her mouth, silencing her from saying his name.

Ignoring her shock Harry pressed forward. "Now then, let's take a peek." He muttered as images flashed through his mind. Like a garden rake, ripping up soil and dirt pulling roots out in tight bundles of intertwined growth, Harry disregarded the wellbeing of the man beneath him. His body twisted and turned in response to the violent invasion as synapsis fired off sporadically.

In a mere moment Harry saw everything. His daily life, his twisted life and beliefs. His magics, secrets, and desires. In seconds Harry held the man's very mind within his fingertips, literally.

Pulling his hand back he removed his fingertips from his skull, yet they were not alone. Tight silvery bundles of thoughts, like roots expanding into the ground, clung to his fingertips. Pulling them taut Harry placed a hand on the man's chest, and pulled hard, the roots struggled, resisted, strong and with a fierce grip they held firm to the fertile ground they called home.

But Harry was stronger. With a single tug, a sharp snap sounded, and all the strands broke free from the mind they called home. Dangling from his hand, Harry clutched the shimmering web of silvery memories firmly between his fingers.

Harry pulled out a large beaker from his robe and dumped the netted mess inside it before putting it away. It would take years to sort through all of his memories, at least those that remained, but he could do that later over time. With a Pensive, it could take a few months but no matter. Harry got what he needed.

While the invasion of his mind revealed little more than an assortment of sporadic images, Harry saw enough of what he needed to see. Pointing to one of the black doors Harry told Ginny, "The time room is there, get ready."

Ginny bit down the words in her mouth. The sight was brutal, but she should have expected that. Harry told her about his past, what he'd done. This man was his enemy, their enemy. A man who swore an oath to that monster.

"Understood." She said reassuringly. In truth she didn't feel bad about what Harry did, but now she knew what lengths Harry was willing to go in order to accomplish a goal. Why he was afraid of letting loose.

Harry opened the door and to his surprise, there were eight figures waiting in the room. Instantly several spells were shot at him. Flashing, sparking, and blazing violently Harry was caught flatfooted but not unprepared. Lunging down and behind a table, Harry dodged the incoming spells.

This time however the Unspeakables were prepared and outnumbered them. Harry was forced to move constantly rushing from table to table as spell after spell flew at him. Several stunners, an attempt to bind him. Harry used paper notes from his keyring to intercept several spells in mid-flight, the air glimmering like a shiny bubble where the contents floated in stagnant space.

Seeing Ginny in position, Harry raised his wand and shouted. "Lumos!" A burst of light blinded the room, touching every shadow in their midst. The golden cloaks and shining trinkets reflected the light off themselves adding to the effect of the spell. Unable to see they couldn't aim, but Ginny was already in position to shoot.

"Stupify!" she shouted, a powerful flash remained swallowed in the blinding Lumos as it nailed the closest target and threw them into another with enough force to knock him out and destroy the shelfs behind them. Harry wanted to reprimand her for the use of the spell, but considering they were mostly blinded, he could see no reason she should use her trusty go-to spell.

'Fuck, I can't see.' 'Was that a girl? I can't see' 'Is there more than one of them?' 'Why is it always the eyes!'

Harry smirked. "Just like I thought, no discipline at all. Wizarding folk in this time period-"

Harry pulled out two yellow and orange vials and threw them into the air. 'Pyro Pyris, Phospis Firess Pyre…'

"GET DOWN! Pyro Pyris Spiritis!" Harry shouted toward Ginny.

Hitting the floor hard, Ginny dodged in time as the four vials shattered and the two liquids exploded in a blazing explosion. The flash alone almost blinded her but through it, she could see a strange substance like charcoal encasing and petrifying two of the robed figures who couldn't dodge quickly enough. Harry pulled out four of the silver knives he pocketed and using his wand to levitate them dipped each into a vial of green. All four of the green liquids were absorbed into the silver like a sponge and careful not to touch them Harry controlled them from his hiding spot behind a bookcase filled with clocks and small books that depicted objects growing and shrinking in a loop.

With a flick, the silverware flew outward whizzing through and around the tables, shelves and objects that littered the room. One of the wizards noticed the two heading his way, shouting a warning to his coworkers but it was no good. The other two were hit, the knives impaling into their legs. Instantly the two stiffened up and passed out.

Harry smirked; the green substance was a potent magical nerve agent. While their minds were active, their magic and bodies would remain paralyzed in that position for five hours. On the plus side, because of the potion, the knife wounds couldn't bleed out, so no casualties to be worried over.

"What the hell." The last remaining robed figure groaned out in complete dismay at the situation just as all motor functions ceased as Ginny's stunner hit him from behind. Making him fall unceremoniously to the floor, Ginny, having not gotten an all-clear from Harry moved again, never standing in the same place at a time. Harry moved quickly, turning his gaze over everything in the room he was almost dazzled and suckered in by the multitude of artifacts, most of which he knew nothing about which left him wanting to know more.

"Focus." He reprimanded himself. A quick look at the destruction left a content smile on his face. The damage was widespread and several artifacts lay in ruin and others utterly destroyed.

"Good," he thought, "save me the extra trouble."

Shifting his gaze, he found what they were after, a time-turner. Grabbing one, Harry accidently latched on a second. Not willing to waste time untangling it and seeing no harm in possessing a spare Harry threw both into his cloak and watched them vanish into the shadows of his robe. "Done. Back." Harry said quickly.

Rushing to the door Harry took position beside it, back to the wall. Harry pulled out two foe mirrors and slid one over to Ginny who was now beside him on the other side of the door.

Looking into the mirror Harry could make up twenty misty figures, obviously more of the robed men but clearly not close enough to identify them.

"Twenty-some enemies. Red, do Foe Mirrors display the position of our foes in relation to their reflection in the mirror?"

Guessing Red was a cover name for her based on his use of it earlier as a joke Ginny responded, "I'm not sure. I only know the image becomes clearer the closer your enemies are to you or something like that."

Harry nodded in understanding. While the mirror wouldn't show their exact position he could make an assessment of their distance based on the clarity. Returning his gaze to the pocket-sized round mirror, Harry looked over again and noticed that of the humanoid cloudy figures, a few existed as misty geists, barely human. Of those that were human, he could almost make out their faces, still too far away to be clear. They weren't approaching then. Most likely taking a defensive, possibly ambush position around the door. Their clarity showed that from his position they were likely split into three groups as the forms showed three separate forms of clarity.

"Okay. Positions of twenty-some hostiles waiting in ambush…" Harry concluded with a calm focus. While Ginny sat, she slowly became more anxious. Harry's cold focus was keeping her calm but the sudden realization of what would happen if they were caught was finally starting to catch up to her. Forget imprisonment, her dad would lose his job, they'd likely be expelled and lose their wands, not to mention…

"Red." Harry called out firmly. Ginny, while shaken, looked over to him. "I came prepared. We'll make it through this." He said confidently. "If I was alone, this would be tough to get out of… but with you here, we have the advantage. Stick to the plan. I draw their attention, you take them out when able."

The embers in her eyes, whittled down by fear, quickly sparked with reassurance at his words. So calm and assured, she couldn't help but believe them. Looking at Harry she could see that even with her there, he was certain they would make it untouched and unidentified.

Harry looked up at her for a moment, in a further dive to reassure her. "Don't forget, I said I'd show you how useless items can be useful. Give me a second." He stated, with a hint of eased mockery, at whom she wasn't sure of.

Ginny watched as Harry pulled out the ward stones he had as well as the rocks she got for him. With his quill Harry dipped the quill tip into the vial with the white liquid in it. Harry scribbled several markings on them, all of which looked like gibberish to her but were clearly doing something as the letters glowed as he wrote them down. No, it wasn't the words, it was the white liquid. The liquid was simple glowing ink?

Ginny started to get more worried but instead decided to talk to calm her nerves. "I know I shouldn't talk but… I need to ask something." Ginny said hesitantly.

Harry smiled. He knew she needed to distract herself as he worked, the worry and stress was becoming too much nor did she have the same confidence in their plan as he did. In truth it wasn't their plan rather his ability to pull off their plan that was. Knowing more would help bolster her faith.

"Before, that lilac lick stuff… what was that?"

"A key incantation. Magic that draws on spiritual magic, or ambient magic if you want, requires the use of a key phrase or incantation. Useful stuff actually; Not particularly potent on its own, but highly reactive and powerful with a properly prepared medium such as certain potions. They're useful since they don't use magic that leaves a traceable magical signature."

"Where did you learn something like that?"

"Would you believe a young girl?" Harry said with a chuckle at the look of dismay Ginny gave him through the cloak. "I'm serious… sort of. Technically she was a vampire of two hundred plus years of age, but she only looked to be twelve, pushing fourteen if you want to stretch it. Technically I stole the spell work from her. I'm just a thief and copycat really, it's nothing like the original. A cheap parlor trick compared to what she could do."

"Really?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

"Really, she wouldn't even need these at full power. She'd be able to freeze the ministry over and just waltz right in and out, easy as that." Harry bragged with a hint of amusement. Evangeline McDonald, the most powerful vampire he ever knew. Saying she could freeze the ministry was a flat out lie. At her peak that teasing girl could turn all of London into a glacier.

Ginny watched as he pulled out all the remaining blue vials. The ease at which he spoke and described everything helped greatly to calm her nerves. His own confidence was clearly rubbing off on her.

"Not only that, but it becomes more powerful the more mediums there are." Harry said with a plotting grin. "Eight Arctic Catalysts remaining, three of the Pyro catalysts and reactive agents left, I used up the nerve agents I made but I can still use the knives. The reagent should still be potent for a few more minutes after being exposed to open air, so let's use that too." Harry muttered to himself waving his wand, drawing the four knives out of their targets and returning to him. They didn't flinch or move, and the blood didn't flow out of them either, stagnant or still like the owners themselves.

"I have four ward stones, and now I have decoys to deploy them with. That should give me two minutes tops against twenty, easy." Harry strategized aloud. That was more than enough to overcome this crisis, but Harry was an overly cautious type, especially with Ginny beside him. Even though she hadn't gotten the chance to do much, Harry wasn't really giving her the chance to. Strike first, hard, and permanently. If she didn't have to do anything else, that would be perfect for him, but Harry knew this wasn't going to be the case for what was behind that door.

Pulling out the extendable string Harry focused and using the levitation spell warped the string's ends into two coils shaped like large pears. Looking around Harry spotted two wands and smiled, levitating them towards himself Harry rapped the string ends around the wands and pulled out two cloaks.

Ginny watched in amazement as two humanoid figures appeared, each holding a wand.

With a discerning eye, it was easy to realize they were fakes but in a critical combat situation, the illusion of multiple persons was an edge Harry planned to exploit. Harry smirked, even if they were hit by spellfire, but being composed of string they'd take no damage. He grinned at the thought of how effective the psychological damage would be, making the enemy sloppy on the other side of the door.

Harry palmed the six black vials in his hand. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to use them, and bringing six was excessively overkill, but he would use them if things got too hairy out there.

Pulling out the tarot cards, Harry had to hide his shock and amusement at what he had brought with him. Just holding the pack of cards, Harry knew they would work to serve the task he'd use them for in just such a situation, but of all the cards Ginny had brought to him, she brought that man's cards to him. He remembered finding them before, but left them behind in the room of requirement due to the fact that no spirits existed within them. Yet how ironic, that which he disregarded as mere copies seemed to respond to his need as he held them in his hand.

Harry smiled and began to shuffle them, pouring his magic into them. Placing them in a diamond formation upon finishing he set them up with one up top, two beneath it, three below that, and two then one again until the diamond shape was made, with card size gaps spaced out between them. "Okay, fakes you may be, but let's see what we can do…" Harry mumbled. "Ancient cards of Crow show me visions now, show me who stands in my way." A sight glow shimmered around the cards and Harry flipped the first one with a smile. Even fake, they still held quite a lot of magic within them. The first card, much like the others was blank, empty, with no image to identify them with. Only a border with an iconic sun and moon symbolism with a banner at the bottom depicting the name of the card.

"Watery… water..." Harry thought. Water… Why Watery… Watery was the card of flows, ebbs and change. His opponent was change? No that wasn't it…" To his surprise, an image of the moon entered his mind as he looked at the card. "the moon? Watery does reside under the moon's influence. The moon… the moon." Well, that didn't help him at all.

Harry quickly flipped the three remaining cards. Sword, Shield, Libra. Harry bit his lip, that wasn't good. Seeing these cards, his adversaries were likely… Aurors. Pretty straightforward; they were the sword and shields of justice or at least their society's justice.

Harry's head drifts up to gaze at the door, his eyes staring well past its black wooden form. 'So~ if this is true… then any predictions we make on how the ministry will respond would only turn out wrong…' Harry thought to himself.

Turning back Harry flipped the bottom card, the last card, as he tried to divine their objective. The Lock. "No hidden meaning there." Harry chuckled to himself. Gathering the cards Harry shuffled them and, with the cards sitting on his palm asked, "Show me the means to escape this trial." A faint glow emanated from the cards and Harry picked up the top card from the deck.

"Loop."

Harry sat there, waiting for some vision to grant him insight, yet none came.

Well, that was insightful. Harry complained. Still, twenty-one was useful and supported his hypothesis with the foe mirrors. At least he had an idea of how many stood in his way.

Getting up Harry took a breath and readied himself.

"Red. When I open the door, relive the feeling of being swallowed and cast the strongest spell you have straight ahead when I tell you to." Harry instructed, standing up, side by side with his fake puppets. Ginny nodded and also stood up.

"At me." Harry said, a message to stand and stay behind him.

Ginny did so as Harry began to chant, eight blue vials held firm between his hands, his wand strapped to a band around his wrist, hidden in his sleeve. "Lic Lac Lalac Lilac…"

Flinging the door open, Harry cast away the eight vials while simultaneously levitating the ward stones up along with his fake glowing stones. His two puppet decoys charging ahead stirring up further confusion. Ginny did as instructed but couldn't help but stare in amazement at the number of objects Harry could levitate at once.

The chaos was instantaneous.

To his surprise, the attackers did not only wear grey robes. There were more flashily dress figures amongst them. Two in particular drew his attention. A dark-skinned bald man and a grouchy old geezer with a spinning blue eye, the latter of whom had just arrived and had his eye squarely on Harry.

Harry smiled and pocketed that knowledge for later.

'Aurors' Harry thought as twenty-four spells slammed heavily against his ward. Harry braced himself against the light show but smiled as the barrier held. So, the cards were right. And here he thought the department of mysteries kept to themselves.

No matter.

"He's levitating ward stones, Blast them first!" The man Harry could only assume was Mad-Eye shouted to his colleagues.

'Damn', Harry thought, 'they figured that out quickly enough.' But it was too late, and Harry grinned.

"Lic Lac Spiritus!"

Harry unleashed the full might of the eight remaining vials, the liquid flowing in eight large waves that took out the flanking enemies around him. Simultaneously Harry moved his puppets behind them, slipping in one, yellow and orange vial pair into both of them.

The Aurors were in complete disarray as they watched their flanks get knocked back and swallowed in a flow of ice that exploded outward covering a third of the wall on both sides of the round room.

The remaining Aurors, still focused on the door but seeing the two figures zoom out they started to shoot at them. Several spells hit, but doing nothing to stop their advance, the panic rose within them as Harry made it look like they were about to cast spells. Panic set in as several Auror's freaked out at the invulnerable foes before them.

"Nothings working!" "What are they…"

"Idiots, they're fake!" Moody shouted, seeing through their illusion, but it was already too late.

The decoys had diverted their focus and Harry had his chant finished.

"Pyro Pyris Spiritis!"

The blast, while smaller than the one inside the time room, was strong enough for the result Harry wanted. The blast pushed the remaining forces closer together, right into Ginny's line of fire. "Now!"

Ginny pointed her wand over his shoulder while Harry cast a powerful blinding Lumos. Drawing magic from him, she felt the sensation of being swallowed overwhelm her. Pouring that feeling through her wand she shouted, covered by the shouts of pain and shocked Aurors and Unspeakables, "Reducto Maxima!"

Harry watched as the two senior Aurors, Moody and the bald man responded impressively quickly, summoning a barrier to intercept the spell. The aftershock, however, took even a veteran like Harry by surprise.

The blinding flash and explosion sent a storm of air flowing past them, tearing up and throwing the contents of the Room of Time all over the place. Like a hurricane it left nothing untouched as several shelves shook violently, threatening to drop their contents to the floor.

When the shockwave died down. Harry quickly registered the situation. Fourteen frozen and out, ten blown back but still combat-capable. Woozy and disoriented, but capable.

They needed to move.

"At me." Harry shouted, ever so grateful that his voice was changed due to the potion he took. Glancing at his wrist he still had thirty minutes till it wore off. Plenty of time for them to escape. Ripping a tag from his keychain again, Harry bit into it in order to remotely activate the nearby tags in his proximity.

On the other side of the door they first entered, the small tag Harry placed earlier glowed, triggering the stored unlocking charm.

The door opened and Harry seeing it charge for it, Ginny right behind them. Passing through it, Harry waved his wand closing the time door and slammed their exit behind him. If the room spun to confuse intruders, and with the grey robes knocked out and encased in ice, then they should have a few minutes to prevent pursuit.

Running to the lift, Harry threw one of his remaining stones at the up button.

Harry felt his blood go cold as it hit the button, but nothing happened. Ginny had a similar thought. "H- I think they shut down the lift" She cried out on the verge of panic.

Harry ripped off several notes from his keyring and placed all of them on the gate along with a vial of the yellow reactive agent. Taking several steps back, Harry activated all the spell tags at once and shielded Ginny behind the ward stones still floating around him. The blast was enormous as several bombarda spells worked in tandem with the volatile liquid.

However, the smoke cleared to show the lift destroyed but the gate completely unharmed from the blast. They were still caged in.

This was bad, Harry thought. He honestly didn't think the ministry would be so involved with the department considering the isolation and secrecy involved with their work. Shows what they knew. Wishful thinking on their part. They were trapped. If the lift was down, then likely all transportation out was also likely shot. Portkeys, Apparition, all blocked.

Harry was racking his brain but could think of nothing. Slowly his mind drifted to his prediction. Even if fake, they held some resemblance to the originals.

"Damnit, how is Loop supposed to help me out?"

Ginny however was also working hard, not just to keep calm but also figure out a solution. Hearing Harry's words she slowly thought up a simple solution. "Loop? Like a continuous loop? We're locked in. We got in easily enough… before… before… time…loop, HAR-gah!"

Ginny gauged on her words as magic forcibly prevented her from saying his name.

"What?" Harry asked understanding she had an idea.

"Loop. As in a time loop."

Harry's eyes grew wide as saucers and he grinned. "Can you cast a disillusion charm?"

Ginny nodded. Harry pulled out the time turners. Careful to untangle them slowly so as not to damage them. A stray thought alerted him to the Aurors behind them. Quickly pulling out a black vial, Harry threw it hard towards the black door. The vial shattered on the door and the liquid vaporized into a mist. Casting the locking charm on the door, the black mist reacted to the spell and began to meld the door into the surrounding environment.

Both wouldn't buy them much time, but in tandem, they should buy enough.

With help from Ginny, Harry finished untangling the chain and letting Ginny cast a disillusion spell on it he placed the other into his robes.

Opening the cloak, she pulled Harry in with her, and Harry levitating the chain around them pulled the hourglass towards him.

The Ministry was fine when they entered almost thirty minutes ago, and they left the team almost an hour ago… One hour was perfect.

Turning the hourglass within the golden ring that held it in place, Harry watched with Ginny as the glass began to spin, faster and faster until finally the world around them accelerated backwards. Blurs of motion flew past them as three figures rushed past them from the lift and then ten more figures ran by, all Aurors. Then he saw them and then sporadically one or two robed figures and then… stillness. Looking around Harry saw no change or hint of danger.

Looking around Ginny nudged him and Harry got her meaning. Bringing the golden chain and hourglass into the cloak with them he held Ginny close as the moment of truth arrived. Pushing the button, the lift arrived as though nothing had happened. Getting into the lift under the concealment of the cloak Harry still levitating his ward stones pulled them into his pocket and used one to push the button for the main entrance.

Two minutes later, they were out in the streets of London.

Ginny looked out at the city in stunned silence…

"We did it?" she said out of breath.

Harry nodded under the cloak with her as the people actively moved to avoid them subconsciously.

"We did it…" she said again with a grin.

"Told you we could." Harry said, earning himself a charley horse to his arm. Well earned if you asked him.

"Now what?" Ginny asked quietly.

Looking at the clock, they had jumped exactly one hour. One turn, one hour. Simple enough Harry thought. "Now, we kill time for us to leave my apartment and return to Hogwarts, before anyone notices we're missing and so no one can connect the dots to what we just did."

"Hey Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Couldn't we have used your cloak to just warp our way into your trunk?" Ginny asked.

Harry just looked at her and started to laugh. He couldn't help it. He had the perfect escape method and he completely forgot. "Yes Gin… assuming the ministry didn't have any spatial protections that cut off distance based magical movement." Harry said with no small humor. Considering the time turner was successfully stored and retrieved it was likely still connected, but there was no guarantee they would be safe if they used it.

"Oh…" Ginny said feeling a little better at Harry being more intelligent then she gave him credit for. She honestly thought he'd simply forgotten like she did.

As they walked back to his apartment a thought accrued to him. When they got back to Hogwarts, they'd need to create some alibis to fool the school as a whole. Specifically Dumbledore and Snape. Both of whom could use mental magics.

Harry paused for a moment in thought. "Gin… How good is your Occlumency?"

"Good, but I think I could use some work, maybe a pop quiz from my darling husband."

"Alright, but we have to go back to my apartment first to get back to Hogwarts so we'll need to keep an eye out for our past selves." Harry explained as it suddenly dawned on him.

'So that's why I felt we were being watched…" he thought with a smirk. 'Guess my instincts were right.' he finished with a smile, feeling more confident now than when they left.

They now had the time they needed. Now it was just a matter of gold. Harry just hoped the wizarding world didn't suffer too much from inflation.