Chapter 1
The headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, was sitting in his office lost in thought. Having been in charge of a wizard's school for decades, Albus thought that he had seen everything that children and adolescents could throw at him. However, even the century old defeater of Grindelwald was unprepared for the trio consisting of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley.
Going by their backgrounds alone, the three were as different from each other as they could be. Hermione Granger was an only child who had been raised by muggles. With a sharp academic mind and thirst for knowledge, Miss Granger had high grades amongst other students in her year. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of her social life, as her loyalty to professors and strict resistance on anything remotely close to breaking the rules left her with little friends.
By contrast, Ronald Weasley came from a large wizarding family as the sixth out of seven children. With a strong desire to stand out combined with feelings of insecurity regarding his siblings, Mr Weasley had a craving for a chance to show that he's just as worthy as his elder siblings, all of whom had carved a name for themselves in some shape or form. Mr Weasley's desires however, did not match up with his work ethic; this was shown through his schoolwork, which was less than stellar.
Finally, there was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. Despite his wizarding world celebrity status, Mr Potter had been raised in the muggle world, much like Miss Granger. As a result, Mr Potter did not act like a stereotypical arrogant celebrity, despite what some may say otherwise; on the contrary, the boy was quite taken aback by the fame he had in a world that, month prior, he knew nothing about. His humble nature likely stemmed from (if Albus' hunch was correct), his rather unpleasant childhood, a fact that brought the headmaster close to tears. While he would like nothing more than to move young Harry to a more accommodating family, the blood protection his aunt Petunia offered was ironclad; no wizard would harm Harry Potter at Privet Drive.
Shaking himself from his grief, Albus returned his train of thought to the topic at hand. Until recently, nothing had indicated that the relationship between Mr Potter, Miss Granger, and Mr Weasley were anything more than schoolmates. Although the two boys had become fast friends, their desire for fun and games clashed horribly with Miss Granger's rigid work ethic. No one amongst the staff would guess the three would befriend each other.
No one would have guessed that a troll would have gotten into the castle on Halloween night either.
The incident involving the troll was handled without much incident. Although three students had been in danger at the time, they had defended themselves handily, a most impressive feat considering the three students were first years. Although the children had gotten a reprimand for placing themselves in danger, they were nevertheless awarded points for their bravery, loyalty, and, in Minerva's words, "Sheer dumb luck."
As surreal as that night had been, it was downright tame compared to the results it produced.
Given that they were the three students at the center of the incident, Albus supposed that it would only be natural that young Harry, Hermione, and Ronald would develop a bond shared from the adrenaline of the event. However, the three children did not just develop a bond; they went above and beyond.
According to reports from the professors, the morning after the incident, the trio had begun acting as if they had been friends for years, rather than schoolmates who had just met a few months ago. On top of that, they were almost always in the company of each other, only separating for bathroom breaks and sleeping in the dormitories. Even then, it wasn't always a guarantee the trio was where they were supposed to be. Several of the prefects had claimed that they'd seen the students in question out well after hours, huddled in abandoned classrooms and engaged in conversations that were too muffled to have been overheard. Such reports were not unheard of, however Dumbledore had noticed that the prefects seemed to find the three in multiple places at the same time.
How were the three moving so fast? Apparition didn't work inside the castle, so were they using some unknown movement charm?
Albus popped a lemon drop into his mouth, savoring its sweet-sour taste as he considered the secrets of the three children. Perhaps they were doing some extra studying? Another change that had occurred was the increased intelligence the three showed. Ever since the troll incident, the grades of the three mysterious first years had skyrocketed. Even Mister Weasley, who had only put forth the bare minimum at the start of the school year, was now well on the way to earning the highest grades ever earned by a first year student.
The other professors' reactions to the three's sudden improvement varied. Minerva, for example was torn between pride and fury, as while Harry, Hermione, and Ron were able to flawlessly execute any transfiguration she threw at them, they only stayed to demonstrate their talents once before leaving the classroom afterwards. Other professors such as Filius and Pomona had tried to get the three to help out other students who were struggling; their attempts were met with limited success, as all three had seemingly developed a sense of apathy and impatience to go with their new smarts. Severus, naturally, remained unmoved. Albus had a sneaking suspicion that the three could have been knighted by King Arthur himself, and Severus would stubbornly maintain that Harry was his father reborn, and that his friends were his evil minions.
The Headmaster's musings were interrupted as his office door was thrown open, revealing a worried and agitated transfiguration professor.
"Minerva? Whatever is the matter?" Dumbledore asked, concern leaking into his tone.
"Albus, we've got to hurry! I've just received word from Hagrid that Miss Granger, Mister Potter and Mister Weasley have all entered the forbidden forest!" Minerva gasped while trying to catch her breath.
Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up at this revelation. The Forbidden Forest? Aside from the occasional Care of Magical Creatures class and rare detention, the forest was off limits to students, and with good reason; there were numerous creatures that lurked among the numerous trees who wouldn't hesitate to attack adolescents with a limited knowledge of magic. What in Merlin's name were the three thinking? Were they under the assumption that, just because they subdued a mountain troll once that they would be capable of taking on the inhabitants of the entire school forest?
Had he perhaps been too lenient with them after all?
Albus quickly clapped both cheeks and rose from his desk. The time of musings and reprimands could wait. Right now there were three first year students who were in serious danger.
"I understand. Minerva, kindly gather Filius, Pomona and Severus, and meet me by Hagrid's hut."
The headmaster, the four heads of house, and the gamekeeper trudged cautiously along the path of the Forbidden Forest that Hagrid's boarhound Fang had sniffed out. Although five fully trained wizards and a highly qualified magical creatures expert might have been more confident in other situations, right now the group was extra vigilant, especially after Hagrid mentioned that the trail Fang found led in the direction of Hagrid's old acromantula friend Aragog and his colony. This news was especially distressing; acromantulas were of the highest classification at XXXXX due to their human-like intelligence and lethal venom. If this Aragog truly had as much offspring as Hagrid claimed, they would be in for quite a fight.
Nevertheless, the professors steeled their resolve and trudged onward (reluctantly in Severus' case) toward their destination, expecting three scared children and a horde of giant spiders waiting for a battle.
What they found instead was the scene of a massacre.
The giant layers of webbing created by generations of acromantulas had been shredded into tiny pieces, a remarkable occurrence given that acromantula silk was said to be stronger than steel. As further proof that this was the lair of Aragog, numerous acromantula corpses littered the area. Strangely, every body in sight was in remarkable condition; there were no noticeable physical markings on any spider, which almost gave off the impression that the acromantulas had died of natural causes.
"Merlin's beard…" Filius squeaked in awe. "W-who could have done such a thi-"
"ARAGOG!"
The heartbroken cry of the gamekeeper interrupted the charms professor's statement, before the giant man ran further into the clearing, perhaps hoping to find his old friend was still alive.
"Headmaster."
Dumbledore turned to look at the potions master. "Yes Severus?"
The hook-nosed man had knelt down next to one of the dead acromantulas, and was carefully examining the cadaver while wearing dragon hide gloves.
"Take a look at this."
At his colleague's request, Albus knelt next to Severus, curious as to what the man had found. Without missing a beat, the head of Slytherin house gently turned the spider head toward the headmaster, and pried its mouth open.
Dumbledore immediately understood the significance. Acromantula venom was very similar to saliva; although much more deadly than its benign counterpart, it was still a substance that the giant spiders secreted quite frequently. Even after death, an Acromantula should still have some of its venom left around its mouth area. The fact that this spider (and its fellow arachnids most likely) had not one drop of venom on it proved that something was wrong with the scene of the crime.
The acromantulas weren't just killed; every drop of their venom had been siphoned away.
"I will go ahead and look for Hagrid," Minerva stated with a determined gaze. "I don't approve of his hand in creating this colony, but the spiders were still his friends. He needs support right now."
"We should all go together," Pomona said. At her colleagues' questioning looks, she explained, "Whoever was responsible for this is clearly very dangerous. Numbers are crucial in this situation."
Dumbledore nodded and stood up, but before he could do anything else, a large object flew overhead and impacted the area with a thud. Fearing it could be an attack from the mystery assassin, the five professors whirled around with their wands at the ready, only to once again be shocked by the scene in front of them.
The large object that had impacted the earth was the unconscious form of Hagrid, and walking calmly into the clearing were the three missing students that the staff had been looking for in the first place. However, in that moment the three didn't look like children. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all carried the look of seasoned warriors who had faced numerous battles.
A large multitude of questions were brimming at the tip of the headmaster's tongue. However, before he could open his mouth, Severus beat him to it.
"I should have known we'd find Potter and his henchmen out here," the potions master spat with his customary sneer already in place. "Typical Potter arrogance, believing they're so much better than-"
But that was as far as he got as, moving as one, the three children raised their hands and pointed at Severus. As fast as thought, the head of Slytherin house was trussed up in velvet bandages from head to toe, resembling, for all intent and purposes, a mummy wrapped in purple gauze.
The remaining four non-incapacitated professors looked at the trio in shock. Fighting off magical creatures like trolls and acromantulas was one thing, but suddenly mastering wandless, non-verbal magic at the age of eleven? As if sensing the questions threatening to burst from the teachers' mouths, Ron strode forward.
"Sorry about the constant scares. However, Hagrid would never listen to us after seeing our work here, and it's clear Snape would let his hatred against Harry's dad deafen him to any explanation from us."
Had this been a traditional muggle Saturday morning cartoon, the four professors' jaws would have dropped right down to the floor. Mr Weasley, although not barbaric, was certainly quite informal given his young age. However, at that moment he had not only talked in a mature, reasonable tone, but he had also given several valid points as to why Hagrid and Severus needed to be subdued. Could this have something to do with their mysterious change?
"Follow us," Hermione said, turning on her heel promptly. "We'll explain everything at our base."
Base?
A short time later, the adults and children were sitting in a clearing in the forest that had clearly been renovated. Instead of grass, the entire flooring was covered in paved stones draped in a thick crimson carpet. Further out towards the clearing's border were walls in the process of being built. Glass panels with intricate artwork lay in a neat stack toward the clearing's Northern end. In the center of the area were a couple of plush sofas surrounding a table bearing bowls of fruit. Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat on one sofa while Professors Dumbledore, Minerva, Filius, and Pomona sat in the other, with an unconscious Hagrid behind, and a still bound Severus propped up on the side.
"I hope you find the decorum to your liking," Harry began, leaning forward with his hands clasped. "Unfortunately, our castle isn't quite finished yet."
"Ah, I see; I completely understand of course," Dumbledore responded, eyes twinkling. "May I inquire as to the reason for your architectural endeavors?"
Ron, who had been leaning back in the sofa, gave a small shrug at the question. "Nothing too philosophical really. We were just bored is all. You know what they say: 'when in doubt, build a castle in the forest.'"
"I'm pretty sure that's not how the saying goes," Pomona muttered under her breath. The Herbology professor's moment of snark seemed to have sparked something in her Transfigurations colleague, who burst forward in a passionate tirade.
"Alright, I think enough is enough! Explain yourselves immediately you three: what's going on? What are you doing out here away from school grounds? Why did you kill those acromantulas? And how in the feck did you learn both wandless and nonverbal magic?!"
Hermione responded promptly, not put off in the least by her teacher's outburst. "Well in order: the three of us are building our own castle, we're off Hogwarts grounds because it already has a castle, acromantula venom sells for a pretty galleon, we need the money from the venom for building supplies, and practice."
Her patience worn to its last legs by her student's cheek, Minerva looked ready to strangle the bushy haired girl at any moment. Only the reassuring pat on her arm by her close friend Albus managed to calm her down.
"To elaborate on what Hermione just said," Harry broke in, acting as though his professor had not started yelling out of the blue, "The three of us have been practicing for a long time. We've had a lot of time on our hands; lifetimes that is."
Filius' eyebrows scrunched together in confusion before his eyes lit with realization. "Time travel?"
"Correct," Harry confirmed, before letting out a sigh, "It's quite a long story, but to make it brief, Hermione and I had been about to use a time turner in our third year to help save the life of someone important. At that moment however, Ron let out a burst of accidental magic due to injuries he sustained that not only destroyed the time turner, but enveloped and drew us into a space-time tunnel that we've dubbed a 'time gate.' When we opened our eyes, we found ourselves on the morning of November 1st, the morning after the day the three of us became friends."
"That's quite a hard story to swallow," Minerva mused, her previous anger forgotten. "Still, that doesn't answer the question of your new magical prowess. Even if we accepted that your tale was true, a third year student shouldn't have the strength necessary to take on an entire colony of acromantulas, let alone use magic without a wand or incantation."
Harry gave a bark of laughter, although there was no humor in it; instead, it sounded tired with a hint of resignation. "If you'd been paying attention before, I said we had several lifetimes of practice. This isn't our first trip through time. Ron, Hermione and I have been through these loop so many times, we've almost lost count."
"It doesn't matter what we do in the timelines," Hermione continued from where Harry left off. "We could unite the wizarding world under a banner of acceptance for all, or we could side with the death eaters and conquer the muggle world. We've explored every option and every possibility. There is no 'correct path' to follow; when we die, we'll wake up on November 1, 1991, as if nothing ever happened."
Sensing that Hermione had said her piece, Ron piped in to finish the explanation.
"That's why we're just having fun now. Being a hero or a villain gets boring after the first several hundred years or so," Ron took a breath, ignoring the horrified gasp coming from Pomona. "Doing whatever we want without the stigma of following the rules makes for a much more fun time loop. Plus, it also lowers the risk of death."
"Death?" Filius inquired. "From my understanding, you live through these loops of time indefinitely. Why would death inspire fear in you?"
"Because these loops have brought us together in more ways than one," Harry replied immediately. "Our fates are intertwined: when one of us dies, the others will follow instantly. You may have noticed that we stick together a lot? Getting a killing curse in the back does inspire paranoia. Anyway, you have no idea how many battles and opportunities we've lost because one of us kicked the bucket," Harry let out another tired laugh.
There was silence from the professors; even Snape had stopped his struggling to stare at the children with a combination of scientific fascination and horrified terror. Deeply engrossed in the trio's exposition himself, Dumbledore was suddenly hit with a realization. "Your story is quite compelling. However, may I ask why we are suddenly stuck to our seats?"
Minerva, Filius, and Pomona suddenly realized that none of them could rise from their sofa.
"Oh that. Well, we needed to keep you occupied while our advanced obliviation rune had time to charge. As it turns out, the truth is quite adept when it comes to stalling," Harry said casually, as if nothing out of the ordinary occurred. "Don't worry we're not planning to kill you; we just can't have our secret leaking out. Plus, our castle building is going along smoothly, and we really don't want it interrupted."
With that, the time traveling trio stood, chanted an ominous verse, and pointed at the immobilized teachers, causing a circle of concentrated magic to surround them.
"Good night Professors. See you again next loop."
(A/N): This story was inspired by the Naruto fanfic "A Lifetime of Chances" by TheWanderingDelusion. While reading it, I wondered what would happen if Harry and his best friends were in that situation, and thus this idea was born. More to come soon!
