The following morning, when they went down to the Great Hall, Dumbledore was standing at his owl-shaped stand ready to make an announcement. Eddie could only guess what…
"Where were you two last night?" Ernie asked Eddie and Lily inquisitively. Lily began to explain but was interrupted.
"Settle down," Dumbledore told the school in what was more indicative of Michael Gambon's portrayal of Dumbledore, following the untimely death of Richard Harris. Dumbeldore sounded strict and severe.
"You'll find out," she whispered quickly to him.
"I have an —" he hesitated for the briefest of margins, "an announcement to make. Incidentally, it does relate to the fact that Professor Quirrell is not at breakfast with us this morning."
His tone soon changed into that which Eddie more associated with Harris' Dumbledore, kindly and approachable.
"But before we reach that aspect of my intrusion upon your fine meal, there are some house points I need to award."
"To the following students: Thomas Hewett, Edward Pattinson, Nathan Turner, Sean Stephens, Natalie Rogers, Lily Jackson, Victoria Parker, and Claire Davidson, for exceptional bravery rarely seen from first years, in the face of threats, challenges, and mortal peril, and for protecting a powerful magical object while doing so, I award one hundred points each."
As each house was receiving points, applause broke out in every corner of the hall. There seemed to be a delay in taking in this fact, and a lot of entirely lost and confused faces could be seen. Some did not join in the applause, but stared with an open mouth, in shock at what could have warranted such a large number of points awarded.
"Now, for the circumstances of their actions -" he hesitated again. "Please, sit down," he added, noticing some of the students had gotten up to clap, finally realizing what had just happened.
"This past year, as very few of you know, Hogwarts has been home to the Sorcerer's Stone. For those of you who do not know what it is or why it is important, I shall explain. The Sorcerer's Stone exudes a magical substance known as the Elixir of Life, which allows the drinker to become immortal."
Whispers broke out like tiny fires all across the hall. Dumbledore continued.
"It appeared that Professor Quirrell had a secret ambition. Quirrell attempted to steal the stone for himself, but was thwarted by these eight with the help and aid of Professor Snape. Thank you, Professor."
Dumbledore paused again, to allow Snape to receive some applause of his own, and in those few seconds Eddie noticed something. Dumbledore had not mentioned Voldemort. This was probably due to the fact that it would cause a needless panic.
"Now then. There is absolutely nothing anyone has to be worried about. Quirrell has been dismissed and has been sent off to Azkaban, and the stone has been destroyed. Back to your feast, everyone!"
Ernie leaned over the table, "Mate, what was that all about?"
Eddie whispered, "Get the rest of the Hufflepuffs in our year in the Room of Requirement at six o'clock."
Ernie raised a brown, but Eddie shook his head. He didn't wish to discuss it here.
Eddie went to tell the rest of the Fateful Eight, so that they'd be ready as well.
The rest of the day seemed to fly. Eddie spent most of it just hanging out in the common room, staring at the plants and trying to process the situation. At five thirty, he got up and left the room, headed for the Room of Requirement.
When he got there, he was glad to see he was the first, so he could create a peaceful environment.
Give me the Hogwarts grounds, he thought. And so they appeared.
When the rest arrived, he assembled the Fateful Eight on one side, the Hufflepuffs on the other. Him and Lily stood in the middle.
Eddie took a deep breath. He believed he trusted every single one of them. "Listen… I'm not from here."
"What do you mean?" Hannah asked. "We know you're from America."
"No, nothing like that. I mean… I'm not from this universe. I'm from an alternate universe where all of this is fiction, and so are my friends." He indicated the Fateful Eight behind him. "We're on a mission. In our universe Harry Potter is the main character in a seven book series, the first of which is taking place now. Harry survives the Killing Curse in this universe, obviously."
Several long seconds passed before Susan spoke.
"Uh….what? Are you sure whatever went on with Quirrell didn't do any damage? Any mental damage?"
Eddie laughed. "No, I'm fine, believe me. I know it sounds ridiculous."
"That's actually kind of cool," said Ernie. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I didn't think that you'd believe me. I mean, I'm also from the future, so even Justin here doesn't know about iPhones and PlayStations. The year is 2019, to be exact."
"Whoa."
"Just don't tell anyone, okay?"Eddie asked. "I really don't want-" he paused, unsure if he was to proceed. He swallowed and continued. "I really don't want Voldemort capturing me and torturing me for information. Yes he's alive," Eddie said to the shock and astonishment of the Hufflepuffs, "he has survived through Horcruxes, which are...well, too complicated to explain now, anyway. He was possessing Quirrell. You know how Dumbledore said Quirrell acted of his own accord? He wasn't. Dumbledore just didn't want to scare you."
"What?! You mean to tell me-" Ernie began. Susan, for her part, had frozen up completely. Eddie remembered that she had lost family at the hands of Voldemort's Death Eaters and mentally slapped himself upside the head for being so insensitive.
"Ah- Susan, I'm sorry, I- forgot it was a sensitive subject."
"No- no, it's all right," she said with a weak grin. "I'll- I'll be fine…"
"Well," Eddie, trying to reassure her, continued, "this will make you feel better-Harry kills him eventually."
"Eventually! When?!"
"May 2nd, 1998, to be precise. He fully regains his body at the end of fourth year, and after the Minister ignores him for a year out of fear for his job…he ends up taking over in seventh year."
"But Dumbledore can stop him, right?" Wayne asked.
Eddie bit his lip. How should he put this? Doing it with Dumbledore was easy, as he knew he was close to his time. But with first years, not so much. He remembered how Harry thought Dumbledore would live forever, so, he figured that they would react just the same, if not worse, to his death. He took a deep breath.
"Actually…. no. Dumbledore dies in the sixth book. Snape kills him."
This stopped the rest of the Hufflepuffs cold.
"Snape?" Ernie asked. But he's a teacher."
"Yeah, and he's also a triple agent."
"Don't you mean double?" Justin asked.
"No, triple. Snape's story is complicated, you won't really understand. It's actually the most complicated in the series. Just remember that even when he does it, he's still on our side."
"So, Eddie…" Justin asked. "You said Harry Potter kills Voldemort, right? But he's not...here. How are we supposed to kill him?"
"That's our mission," Lily said, speaking up for the first time. "We've got to destroy Voldemort's horcruxes and kill him because Harry can't." At this Eddie watched everyone flinch for the umpteenth time.
"Why do you say his name?" Megan asked. "Why?"
"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," Eddie told them. He knew Dumbledore quotes like the back of his hand. He took a deep breath. "Well, thanks for not freaking out."
"Mate, we're still trying to comprehend this," Ernie said.
"I wish I could have told you less bluntly," said Eddie, clapping a hand on Ernie's shoulder. "Sorry."
"Nah, it's okay, just..give me a minute."
"Just remember one thing, you're certainly not fictitious here. Everyone's fiction in some reality."
After that tiny shock, the school came back down to normal. Eddie was taken aback briefly when he realized he still needed to train for the final Quidditch match of the year, and as they didn't have a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, he used those lessons for extra training. Often he would simply use the Room of Requirement, but occasionally, if it was warm enough out he would go to the actual pitch and practice. Finally, the day came.
The standings read thus:
Hufflepuff 2 wins, 0 losses
Slytherin 1 win, 1 loss
Gryffindor 1 win, 1 loss
Ravenclaw 0 wins, 2 losses
Ravenclaw was clearly out of the running, but so too was Gryffindor, because even if Gryffindor won and Hufflepuff lost, Hufflepuff would finish ahead via a tiebreaker. It was Slytherin they had to worry about. If Slytherin beat Hufflepuff, they would both finish at 2-1 with Slytherin getting the tiebreaker. And so it was with these stats in mind that Eddie marched down to the pitch. He had quite the memorable morning, with Professor Snape greeting him like this-
"Well, Pattinson, now that you've defeated a Dark Lord, a little game of Quidditch should be no problem for you, should it?"
Eddie smiled. Snape wasn't stupid, he was a Legilimens. He was making a direct reference to the Sorcerer's Stone movie because he'd seen it in Eddie's mind.
"No, sir," he chuckled, returning the grin.
Before the game, Terry gathered his team in the changing rooms.
"Alright team. No matter what happens on that pitch, I have to say I'm proud of you for this season. Especially you, Ernie and Eddie. There's a reason they didn't let first years fly before this year, and you've stepped up a lot. Let's have fun, and try to come away with a win, alright?"
The two teams walked out on to the pitch, and in what had become a custom with the members of the Fateful Eight, Sean and Eddie wished each other luck.
Madam Hooch released the balls, and off they went.
Eddie was performing admirably for his part, scoring four goals, and Hufflepuff led, 100-40. However, that's as good as it got for the Badgers, because shortly after the fourth goal, Sean caught the Snitch, much to their dismay. Final score: Slytherin 190, Hufflepuff 100. The cup belonged to Slytherin for the eighth straight year.
Before Eddie knew it, he was sitting in the Great Hall for the end of year feast. The banners that were hanging in the rafters were not colored, as Eddie had made a request to Dumbledore to start doing a surprise reveal every year of the House Cup champion. Dumbledore had obliged.
"Sit down," he instructed them.
"Now, to our older students, you may notice a little change in decoration. I thought it an excellent idea to reveal the House Cup winner in a more dramatic sense, as you can see-" he indicated the wall behind him- "the stones that keep track of house points have been removed. Now, before I blither on any longer, the winners. In fourth place, with four hundred seventy seven points...Ravenclaw House" A smatter of polite applause followed.
"In third place, with five hundred eleven points...Gryffindor House." Louder cheers.
"In second place, with five hundred twenty one points...Slytherin House!"
What happened next was nothing short of pandemonium. All rising at once, it seemed, the Hufflepuffs were on their feet, chanting, cheering-this was the first Hufflepuff house cup win since 1974. All Dumbledore had to do was make it official.
"And in first place...with five hundred and fifty five points…Hufflepuff wins the House Cup!" He clapped his hands, and the blank white banners evolved into that of the black and yellow color scheme of the Hufflepuff crest, emblazoned on the top with the house mascot, the badger.
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The hardest thing Eddie had to do was pack up.
He was staring at his suitcase, knowing that this day was coming, but he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to. Finally, he relented, and headed down to Hogsmeade Station with the others.
"So, back to the Leaky Cauldron, then?" he asked Lily when he met her at the platform.
"Yep," Lily sighed.
It was at that moment that a letter materialized out of thin air and fluttered into Eddie's very surprised hands. He caught it and opened it. It was written in fine red cursive.
Eddie,
Firstly I want to congratulate you on a successful first year. Most of the others I've tried have failed. As such, I want to reward you and your friends. Because you've expressed your distaste at returning to the Leaky Cauldron, I've given you a house in the country for which you can spend your summers. The address is listed below- it's in a Muggle village, so no need to worry asking for directions. I've also noticed that you and Lily spend the most time out of any of the "Fateful Eight"- nice name, by the way -with your housemates, so this house is close to Ernie, Hannah, and Justin's. This house also provides food and drink, so you need not worry about cooking. I hope you enjoy it, and I wish you luck in your future adventures. Once again, my congratulations to you.
Yours sincerely, the Bringer of Balance.
Eddie passed the letter around for the rest to read. They high-fived each other, and then they boarded the train, excited for another year.