Disclaimer: I own none of the things you already know of.
Harry Potter and the Smallest Change.
Chapter 10. 3rd Year, Part 1. 1993.
Harry, Holly, and Susan met up with their friends on the train. The trip was uneventful, and the first few days of school were the same. Harry picked up two elective classes, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy.
During breakfast on the third day of school, Harry noticed Neville sitting between Ron and Hermione. The Boy-Who-Lived hung his head low and played with his food, like he had done the previous few mornings.
Shrugging, Harry turned back to his conversation with Susan.
Later that day, in Ancient Runes, Harry sat next to Hermione. The bushy-haired witch shifted every few minutes, uncomfortable.
'I can go sit somewhere else if you'd like?' Harry asked, his voice only a whisper.
Hermione turned at stared at him.
'No, no, that's not it. There's something that I don't understand is all.' She admitted and Harry smiled.
'About what?' Harry asked and Hermione sighed.
'Neville is struggling to understand why he's not as good as you.' She said, looking at him with a question in her eyes.
He gave her a small smile before he turned back to watch Professor Babbling point her wand at a drawing of a rune on the board.
'It's because Neville spends his free time playing chess and relaxing.' Harry said from the corner of his mouth.
'And you don't?' Hermione asked.
'I spend my free time training and studying.' He chuckled at her stunned expression, he watched Professor Babbling at the front of the class who narrowed her eyes at Hermione.
'Miss Granger, please pay attention in class, rather than stare at Mister Potter.'
'Mister Potter, can you stay behind, please?' Professor Flitwick called as the rest of the class rushed out of the room for lunch.
Harry shrugged and smiled at Susan.
'It's okay, I'll see you guys at the Great Hall in a few minutes.' He said and Susan nodded.
'Don't wait too long, Holly will eat all the food on you again.' Susan grinned, then followed the rest of the class out of the room.
Harry chuckled and threw his supplies in his bag.
He moved to the front of the room and stood in front of Professor Flitwick.
'Yes sir? How can I help you?' Harry asked.
The little Professor flicked his wand and a thick, dusty tome shot across the room from a shelf and into his raised hand. Flitwick held the hefty book out to Harry.
'I apologise Mister Potter, between the events of last year and the usual hectic pace of life in this castle, I was never able to give you those Duelling lessons that I promised you.' The diminutive Professor admitted.
Harry took the solid tome in both hands and looked at it. It didn't have anything written on its cover.
'Sir, what is this?' he asked.
Flitwick chuckled.
'Mister Potter, it's an apology. This book was given to me by my mentor, back when I started my apprenticeship under him. This tome contains everything from spells to strategy. It even has a section on muggle psychology.' The Professor said, then tapped a long fingernail on the dusty cover.
'I will not be able to provide those Duelling lessons to you any time soon, there are family issues that will occupy any free time I may have in the near future. This is an apology for not keeping my word to you.' Flitwick said.
Harry shook his head.
'Not at all Professor, you don't need to give me this. I will be here for a few more years, hopefully we'll get the opportunity in the future.' Harry said and held the heavy tome out to the Professor.
'Nonsense Mister Potter. Take the book, learn from it, master the skills within. Then, perhaps when my family matters are resolved, you will get those lessons. I expect you to have mastered that book by that time.' Flitwick said and Harry nodded.
'Yes sir, I will, I promise.' Harry said and tucked the dusty tome in his book bag.
That night, after dinner, Harry made his way to the Room of Requirement. Once inside, he plopped down on the chair in front of his desk and opened a notebook from his pocket.
He skimmed through the pages, an hourglass, a silver bracelet, a pair of mirrors. He stopped at the mirrors and put the notebook to the side, open to display his notes on the communication mirrors.
Monday morning arrived and Harry sat at breakfast with Holly, and their friends. Susan leaned close to him to whisper in his ear.
'Harry, Justin has been staring at you for the last few minutes.' Her voice soft and Harry glanced at Justin Finch-Fletchley.
The dark-haired boy whom Harry had never spent any effort in getting to know, even though they shared a dorm, stared at him with an intensity that sent a shiver down Harry's spine.
'You know what? I think he did that last week since we got here too.' Susan whispered, and Harry nodded.
Harry leaned forward. Justin sat beside Luna, only a few seats away.
'Hey Justin, what's wrong?' Harry asked.
Justin shook his head and blinked his glassy eyes, he shook his head again. Harry wondered if the other boy had been crying.
Harry cocked his head and Justin sighed.
'I just wanted to thank you Harry, for killing the Basilisk at the end of last term.' Justin said, and the Great Hall fell silent.
Harry blinked, noticing the silence of the Hall. He sighed and looked over at Neville, who wore a look of shock.
'I didn't think anybody knew about what happened down there.' Harry admitted before he quirked an eyebrow.
'Who told you what happened?' Harry asked and Justin's glassy eyes looked panicked for a moment before he chuckled.
'It was just the most realistic of the rumours.' Justin replied.
Harry scoffed.
'Me killing a thousand-year-old Basilisk was the most realistic rumour?' Harry asked in a deadpan, which drew a few chuckles from students around the Hall, all obviously listening to their conversation.
Justin narrowed his eyes.
'It was true though?' the dark-haired boy pushed.
Harry sighed.
'Yes, but there were Professors and Neville there too, so it wasn't all me. It was more of a team effort.' Harry explained, and the inhabitants of the Great Hall stared at both Harry and Neville.
Harry sighed again.
'It's almost as if nobody has heard of people doing impossible things before.' Harry pointed out Sir Nicholas as the ghost drifted past the Gryffindor table.
'Ghosts. Professor McGonagall can turn into a cat at will. Will you all please stop being so surprised by seemingly impossible things?' Harry said loud enough for the Hall to hear.
Weeks passed by and Halloween arrived. Harry missed the feast again as he was in the Room of Requirement.
On Monday morning, after his run around the Black Lake, Harry sat in the mostly empty Great Hall. Susan sat on one side while Holly took the other.
'Do you know what happened?' Susan asked, and Harry groaned.
'Seriously? Again? It had better not be a Troll or another mysterious message.' Harry growled, and Holly stifled a giggle.
'Dad is here investigating what happened.' Holly said and Harry ran a hand through his hair with a groan.
'What happened?' he asked.
Susan blinked at him while Holly rolled her eyes.
'A muggle man entered the Great Hall last night, covered in blood and admitted to killing someone.' Holly started; Harry stared at her.
'The Professors took him away, and I sent dad a letter about it. He was there an hour later with a dozen Aurors, that's all I know.' Holly explained.
Harry groaned and turned to Susan.
'Why does something always happen on Halloween?' he asked, and she shrugged.
'Just lucky I guess?'
Harry scoffed before he turned to Holly.
'Dad will have everything under control.' He said, and she nodded, worry still in her eyes.
Harry reached out and took her into a hug.
'Both of you, stick close to me if possible until Dad figures out what happened.' He murmured, seeing Susan nod out of the corner of his eye, and felt Holly nod into his chest.
James entered the Great Hall a few minutes later and motioned for the three to join him while he stood in the massive doorway. Once they approached him, without a word, he turned and led them to an abandoned classroom nearby.
Once inside the abandoned classroom, James turned toward them, his face grim. He pulled three mirrors out of his robes and held them out for the three students.
'Take one of these each. They're communication mirrors. They will connect you to each other, as well as Me, Lily, Sirius, Amelia, and Remus.' James said, his voice low.
His grim look darkened.
'We will implement passwords from the next time we meet until told otherwise and I want you three to follow that rule with each other too.' James said, and Harry frowned.
'What are the passwords?' Harry asked, and James nodded.
'They will change depending on the situation you're in. We'll keep them simple, so you remember them. At the start of the conversation, you say a colour and that colour changes depending on your situation.' James said and ran a hand through his hair.
'If everything is fine, use Blue. Use Green if you are concerned. If you are in danger, say Orange. And if there is a person within hearing range that is dangerous, use Red.' James explained and the three nodded.
'Can you remember the code words for the four situations?' he asked, and they nodded again.
James sighed.
'I admit I can't tell you guys everything, but what I can say is that the man was indeed a muggle. He was under the Imperious Curse.' James said, and Harry gasped.
'He'd been forced to take a specific potion that reacts lethally when taken with Veritaserum. The man didn't survive questioning.' James sighed and ran his fingers down his face.
'Before using the Veritaserum, the man could only answer specific questions we asked, and this was because of the Imperious.' James finished, his gaze settling on Harry.
Harry frowned and cocked his head to the side.
'Why?' he asked, and James let out a humourless laugh.
'The one controlling the muggle did this to taunt us.' James admitted.
'I don't know why the mystery person did this, but the fact they could pull it off scares me.' James said and Harry reached out, he placed a hand on his father's shoulder.
'We'll be careful, Dad.' Harry said, looking over to Holly, then to Susan, then back to James.
'Can you make a Marauders Map for Susan and Holly? I haven't used the one you made me this summer very much, but it's still on me at all times.' Harry said and pulled a piece of parchment out of his robe pocket.
James smirked. He pulled out a map for each of the girls.
'Harry will run you through how those work.' James grinned, then looked grim once more.
'Be safe you three.' James said, as pulled them into a hug.
After classes that day, the group sat in the Library, studying.
Harry had a stack of books around him, each related to mental magic. He couldn't find anything specifically related to the Imperious Curse in particular. He looked up from his pile of books to see the girls each working on their homework.
'Does anyone know if the Imperious Curse acts at all similar to the Veela Allure?' he asked.
Susan shrugged. Daphne narrowed her eyes before she nodded.
'From what I know about the Curse, willpower is needed to resist it, a stronger willpower than the caster, anyway. But only one person can be controlled at a time by a single caster.' Daphne explained, and Harry nodded as he scribbled in his notebook before he tucked it back in his pocket.
Daphne put down her quill and leaned forward.
'What is the notebook for?' she asked.
Harry took it back out and handed it to her.
'I use it to keep track of all the ideas I have for different projects.' He explained, and her eyes widened as she flipped through the pages.
'Are you working on a time turner?' she asked, her voice a little higher than normal.
Harry nodded.
'I am trying to design one that goes back further than a few hours.' He scowled, missing the incredulous expressions on the girls' faces.
'So far, my calculations would make the time turner bigger than a house.' He admitted.
Luna peered over Daphne's shoulder, eliciting a flick on the girl's nose from the Slytherin.
Luna turned to Harry.
'What are your thoughts on the bracelet?' she asked, her dreamy voice absent for the moment as her sharp eyes held his own.
Harry grinned.
'I was trying to make it block the Veela Allure.' He admitted, which earned a smile from Holly, Susan, and Hannah, and a scowl from Daphne.
'But the more I research, the more it looks like it could protect from other forms of mental attack, like the Confundus, Compulsion, and Memory Charms. Even the Imperious.' He rambled before he paused, looking around at the girls staring at him.
'What's wrong?' he asked.
'You're such a nerd.' Holly grinned before she stood.
'Harry, come with me for a moment.' She ordered, and Harry blinked before he shrugged and stood.
He followed Holly as she walked away from the table.
Once the two were away from the table, with no one around, Holly turned on Harry.
'The Time Room's effects are getting obvious.' She declared.
'How?' Harry asked, frowning.
She looked him up and down, quirked an eyebrow and pointed at a table of fifth year Ravenclaw students.
'You look like a fifth year.' Holly said.
Harry looked down at himself, then over to the fifth year Ravenclaws, then back to their own table.
He sighed.
'Yeah, I think you might be right.' He admitted. She rolled her eyes.
'Of course I'm right. How old are you now, anyway?' she asked.
Harry ran a hand through his hair before he dragged his fingers down his face in thought.
'Um, probably around fifteen, maybe a bit more by now.' He admitted.
She sighed.
'Harry, you're being reckless.' Holly scolded, and his mouth became a thin line.
She froze, looking into his eyes.
'The Room of Requirement isn't on our maps.' She breathed.
Harry groaned and rubbed his eyes.
'How many other rooms do you think aren't on the maps?' he asked, and she paled.
Harry placed a hand on her shoulder.
'Remember your pendant and your mirror wherever you go.' He warned, and she nodded.
He took a step toward their table, but stopped as she held his arm near the elbow.
'You should tell Susan about the Room, she's family.' Holly said, and Harry sighed, nodding.
'Yeah, you're right, I should have told her from the start.' He agreed before they returned to their table.
Daphne handed his notebook back with a smile.
Ginny dropped her quill on her half-written assignment with a sigh.
'Can anyone help me with my transfiguration?' she huffed.
Hannah grinned and swapped spots with Luna, and sat next to Ginny.
'What are you struggling with?' she asked.