The Changed Timeline
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC! Time travel!
Finally, the voice became clearer, and the foggy cloud took on the form of a ghost. "Merlin," Harry gasped, as the ghost began to speak.
"Welcome to the revival of Merlin House. I am very glad to have three heirs of mine joining this ceremony, as Merlin House can only exist with an heir of mine as head of house. Sopho, please do your work."
The Sorting Hat straightened itself and began to sing.
"You all know me, so I will spare you my song,
I don't want to ask you. I'll tell you what's wrong.
As Merlin has told you, there are five houses at Hogwarts
and not only four – as you thought from long time onwards.
It's not only Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw;
No, there is also our Merlin House you know.
But you think Merlin House is for whom?
We are all sorted – so what will you do?
I'll tell you what I'd do with you.
In Merlin House, I want some of you too.
With that he began to call names of students from different houses.
Amelia Bones
Lily Evans
Stephanie Field
Alice French
George Graham
Fred Hampton
Remus Lupin
Stephen McKenzie
Otto Meyer
Alicia O'Brien
Harry Pane
John Ryan
Michael Smith
Severus Snape
Nathalie Spears
You have until Christmas;
Think well and tell us:
What will you do?"
With this appeal, the Sorting Hat became silent, and students and teachers applauded.
HP
Dumbledore rose from his seat and thanked the ghost of Merlin as well as the Sorting Hat and said, "Dear students, as you've heard, the Hat has named fifteen of our midst whom he would like to have in Merlin House. As you've already been sorted when you entered Hogwarts, you're not obliged to transfer to Merlin House, although I'd appreciate it. However, even if you change houses now, you'll still partly belong to your old house, for example regarding your participation in the Quidditch team, your head of house or your use of the common room. You still have all the rights which you had before. Head of Merlin House will be myself, but you should rely more on your old head of house, because I'm not always available. From the next school year onwards, there will be more students in Merlin House, and I hope that I'll have a new head of house for you by then, but I can't promise that just yet."
He paused, as huge applause arose upon his announcement, before he continued after a moment. "Please think it over carefully and inform either your head of house or me of your decision before the beginning of the Christmas holidays. If you have any questions, please come and see either Harry Pane as the youngest heir of Merlin or me, or our head girl, Lily Evans, or our head boy, Severus Snape. Of course, you can also ask my wife, Professor McGonagall-Dumbledore. They all know as much about Merlin House as I do and will be pleased to help you." He clapped his hands twice, and food appeared on the tables. "Now, this was enough talk for tonight – please tuck in."
Harry remained deep in thoughts, recalling whom the Hat wanted to transfer to Merlin House. 'It doesn't seem to make much sense to transfer seventh years, does it?' he wondered. 'I hope that Severus and Remus both join us though. Lily probably has to transfer due to being the heir of Merlin. Hopefully, she'll accept the post of head of Merlin House next summer.' He was startled when Remus suddenly spoke to him.
"Harry, are you all right?" his friend queried in apparent concern. Seeing Harry nod, he asked, "Do you know what you're going to do? Will you transfer to Merlin House?"
"Yes. And you?" Harry returned the question, smiling.
"I don't know; it's a bit all of a sudden," Remus replied, thoughtfully. "Lily, will you transfer?"
Lily smiled at Harry and Remus and said, "Yes, I will."
Later, when Lily, Severus and Harry walked back to their rooms, Harry asked Severus the same question. "Severus, what are you going to do? Will you transfer to Merlin House with Lily and me?"
Lily glanced apprehensively at Severus. "It's a difficult decision, but as it's only the last half year, why not?" Severus replied, smirking. "You know that I'm probably going to be head of Slytherin next year, don't you?"
"But that doesn't matter. Even if you transfer now, you've spent more than six years in Slytherin, so you are more than qualified to be head of Slytherin," Lily argued.
"When my two best friends go, I'll have to go as well. Let's do it together," Severus replied, giving Lily a soft smile.
HP
Harry was finally allowed to return to classes, with the stern instruction 'But only classes, no Quidditch or anything strenuous until after the holidays,' a week before the beginning of the Christmas holidays, just on Monday morning as the end of term tests started. He was exempt from all tests, because he had missed so many classes, but could try to do them if he wished. On Saturday, Poppy had agreed for Lily to bring her notes, so that Harry could slowly commence to catch up, and Harry had used the two days to read through the complete notes of six weeks of classes. On Monday, they had tests in Transfiguration, a written test in the morning and a practical in the afternoon, and he had no problems with either part. After dinner, he met with Severus and Lily for an extra Potions tutoring lesson to study for the test, which was due on Friday.
At breakfast on Tuesday morning, a large brown barn owl flew down just between Harry and James. James took the letter and realized that the owl, which belonged to his parents, had brought another letter… for Harry. With a very surprised look, he handed the letter over and proceeded to read his own.
Harry was astonished too, but before he could even take a look at the letter, James cleared his throat and said, "My parents are inviting Harry, Lily, Severus and Remus for the Christmas holidays. Sirius is coming anyway, but would you like to come home with me?" He looked questioningly at the other Marauders.
"Wow, that's cool," Harry was the first to answer. "I'd like that very much." Inwardly he beamed, 'I'm going to get to know my Grandparents, that's so cool'.
Lily agreed. "I'd like to go too; I hate my own home, so I already decided to stay here, but I'd like to come with you very much".
Remus also agreed to go.
"That's fine; now we only have to ask Severus. I hope he'll come too," James concluded.
"Oh Merlin, we're running late; we have to be in the Charms classroom in five minutes if we don't want to miss our tests," Sirius suddenly spoke up, and everyone left in a hurry.
Lily and Harry used the Potions tutoring lesson to ask Severus about the Christmas holidays, but Severus declined and said, "When you go, I'll use the time to visit my mother, as I haven't seen her for a whole year; I was only going to stay so that Harry wouldn't be alone over the holidays."
Harry did not have time to read his grandfather's letter until after curfew when he was back in his room.
Dear Harry, it said.
With Professor Dumbledore's approval, I have told my wife about you and she would very much like to get to know you. Therefore, I have asked James to invite you and his other friends to our home over Christmas and we would appreciate it very much if you could come. We know that we cannot let anybody know of our connection, not even James, and we have also sent a letter to Professor Dumbledore and asked for his approval to have you here over the holidays.
Best regards from your (other) Grandparents, Harold and Luisa Potter
HP
At breakfast on Wednesday morning, McGonagall came over and told them that Dumbledore would like to see James, Remus, Lily and Harry straight after their Care of Magical Creatures test in the afternoon. When they entered the headmaster's office, McGonagall was there as well.
Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling, when he began to speak. "I've received a letter from the Potters, James' parents. They're inviting all of you to visit them over Christmas. Severus has already declined because he wants to go home for a week and research a potion for Harry during the second week. So I'd like to ask Lily, Remus and Harry if you want to go home with James."
The three glanced at each other, before Remus replied on everyone's behalf, "We've already discussed the matter, and we'd all like to go."
"Lily and Remus, you may go, but please tell your parents about it," McGonagall informed them. "With regard to Harry, I've spoken to Madam Pomfrey and she told me that she can't give her approval at the moment, because he has not fully recovered yet. She told me to ask her again on Friday evening."
Harry groaned. 'I'll just go,' he thought. 'They're just too over-protective.'
"On the other hand, I know the Potters very well and I'm sure that they'll be able to look after Harry, so I'll try to convince Poppy, but I cannot promise anything," Dumbledore replied in a calming voice.
Harry was on the verge of tears and quickly left the room without another word. He went straight up to Merlin House, sat on a sofa in the common room and tried to concentrate on the notes for his tests in Herbology and Defence Against the Dark Arts. He did not even bother to go back in time for dinner and went straight to his Potions tutoring with Severus and Lily. When he returned to his own room just before curfew, Madam Pomfrey came to his room, very angry with him for missing dinner, and gave him a nutrient potion, but he could not care less.
HP
On Friday morning, the Marauders were discussing the upcoming holidays. The Hogwarts express was going to leave on Saturday morning, and from Kings Cross they intended to take a Portkey to Potter Manor.
"On Tuesday, we'll have the full moon," Remus spoke up. "Are we going to do something?"
"We can spend the night in the park if you want, however, we have to tell my parents about it if we spend the night outside," James replied, immediately.
"I hope they let me go with you, I don't want to stay here all alone," Harry said darkly.
"Oh Harry, I hope Pomfrey lets you go; maybe Dumbledore will be able to convince her," Lily said worriedly.
James added, "Last night, I received a letter from my parents, and they promised to write to Dumbledore that they of course would look after Harry if he was ill, and so maybe we still have hope."
HP
Fortunately, Dumbledore and the Potters were able to convince Madam Pomfrey, especially after Mrs. Potter travelled to Hogwarts in order to learn a few spells from the healer that she could use in case she needed to check on Harry.
The train ride was uneventful; the six friends shared a compartment und had a lot of fun. When they arrived at Kings Cross, they called the Knight bus, which took them to Potter Manor in one big jump.
Harry was very excited when they arrived at Potter Manor. He had never heard about the house and noticed in surprise that it was almost as big as a castle. 'Did it still exist in my time?' he wondered. It was a beautiful manor surrounded by a grand park. As soon as they entered the house, they were greeted by two house-elves, who Mrs. Potter introduced as Tipsy and Tapsy. They took immediately care of their luggage.
"Remus and Harry, would you like to share a room or to have your own room?" Mrs. Potter asked suddenly, while the students were looking around. "I'm asking because James and Sirius have their rooms where they always stay, and we have two more rooms on the same floor, one of course for Lily. So you can either stay together on the same floor or have your own rooms on a different floor."
Harry glanced at Remus. "Shall we share a room?" he asked, smiling.
Remus returned the smile. "I'd like that," he replied in a soft voice. "I mean we've shared a dormitory at Hogwarts for a long enough time."
"All right," Mrs. Potter said, contentedly. "Then James and Sirius, could you show your guests their rooms please? And Harry, you might want to rest for a while; I'll send someone to wake you up for dinner in about an hour."
When they reached their rooms, Lily grinned at her son and said, "Maybe she's not so different from McGonagall," causing Harry to groan in annoyance.
HP
James showed them all their rooms, and Harry was completely amazed at the beautiful manor. Remus and he were staying in a large room with two huge four-poster beds with dark blue curtains and a big window with a spectacular view of the landscape. He could see a huge park with even a lake. The room was gorgeous, and he liked it immediately. Finally, they all ended up in Remus and Harry's room, lying or sitting on the two big beds. Harry was very grateful to be together with his friends. Moreover, although he already missed Severus, he hoped that maybe he would be able to get his parents at least a little closer together during these holidays. After a while, Mr. Potter came to escort them down to the kitchen for dinner.
"Normally we use the dining room when we're having guests," his wife said when they arrived in the kitchen, "but as you'll be staying for your holidays, I think you shouldn't feel like guests but consider this place as your home, so we'll just eat in the kitchen."
Harry could not help it, but dinner reminded him immensely of the Weasleys. His grandmother's cooking was very similar to Mrs. Weasley's and he tried hard to eat a little of everything in order not to attract any attention. After Mr. Potter had told them a lot about Potter Manor and about the Potter family who were direct descendants of Gryffindor, which Harry had learned in his second year, he asked the children what they were planning for the holidays. As if they had only waited for a start signal, James and Sirius began to try to outdo each other with many good ideas how to use the holidays. Lily, Remus and Harry had to try hard not to laugh too much. When James suggested going for a walk in the park after dinner, everyone agreed immediately.
HP
The five friends spent the next morning exploring the manor. There were about thirty rooms, each of them as large as the room which Harry and Remus shared, almost rivalling their dormitory in Gryffindor. Everyone was impressed by the huge library; it was much bigger than the one that Harry knew from Grimmauld Place of the future. After lunch, Harry was told to rest, so they decided to spend the afternoon in Remus' and Harry's room doing their homework and looking through the Charms books which Remus and Lily had brought. They were keen to finish the charms for the map in order to get the map complete upon their return to Hogwarts.
"James?" Sirius suddenly asked, "Do you have the map with you? I'd like to know if we can see who's at Hogwarts even when we're here."
James gave him a pensive look. "That's a dammed good question," he commended his friend, as he pulled the map out of his pocket and showed it to his friends.
"Oh Merlin, Dumbledore is walking around in his office," Lily said, giggling.
Harry was stunned. 'I didn't think that the map would work from such as distance,' he thought in surprise. "James, I think we should use a charm so that the map is only accessible using a password," he suggested and explained, "You have to say a password like for example 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' to have the map show something, and if you don't know the password you'll just see an empty parchment."
"Yes, Harry is right," Remus agreed immediately. "We can't run around Hogwarts with the map in our pockets like this. Everyone would be able to use it. So that's the next charm we have to look for," he said in determination.
For the next thirty minutes, there was silence, and Harry almost fell asleep, while everyone else was feverishly searching through the books. Suddenly, Lily shouted, excitedly, "Here, look at this. That's what we're searching for, isn't it? It's called the Himitsu charm." She showed the book to Remus and James, who curiously read the text to which she was pointing.
tbc...
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