Got bored of seeing so many samey timetravel stories. There are a handful of good ones, but particularly Reptilia's one is getting tedious. So I decided I would try one of my own. If it gets off the ground, it will touch on arcane timetravel and timetravel by technology. Naturally I couldn't just have Harry pop back to his fourth year, off Voldemort with some witty repartee followed up with swift mortal combat. No, he has to try and rewrite history. His reasons are shrouded in mystery, as is how this came to be – for the moment. This is just Part 1, and I have ideas for a fair bit more which I'll try and put to paper.

ElMarquis.

P.S, sorry for not posting anything for a while, permanently fatigued and trying to trample over various obstacles. That and some of my stuff is being rewritten.

22/09/2017.

1187 AD, Jerusalem, the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

A flag flew proudly in the desert wind. Four crosses arranged in each quarter presented themselves, the quarters behind the crosses differing colours. The gold Jerusalem Cross backed on a dark blue and the white Hospitaller Cross backed on black. In the middle snarled a bloody crimson lion, an infamous emblem. That of the Lion – known as such for his rule of Deir al-Asad.

Below the fluttering banner, the clash of steel on steel and wood sounded through the courtyard. A man in his prime, perhaps thirty years old, sparred furiously with two other fighters not yet out of their teens. The fight fell into a stalemate for a few moments as the fighters evaluated one-another. Then it erupted into barely-constrained violence for a few seconds.

Harry Potter, the son of James and perhaps the only victim of accidental time travel held his sword out at chest-level, diverting probing strikes with diagonal parries, turning his opponent's momentum on themselves. The two opposing fighters circled him like carrion, trying to split his attention as they probed at his defence, steel sliding against steel. The fight climaxed in a few seconds as the three fighters unleashed themselves. Shrewd eyes spotted a tightening of the jaw, a telltale sign that announced one of them was beginning an attack.

Half-swording, Harry formed an impenetrable block between himself and a sword-swing, then pushed forward. Abandoning half-swording for a moment, he seized his attacker by the front of his surcoat, and with a wrench of his mailed fist, hurled him around into the second fighter who crashed to the ground. Then, returning to half-swording, Harry swung around and striking the first on the back of his coifed head with the pommel of his sword, stunning him for a few moments. Grabbing the first fighter's fallen sword, he kicked the second fighter's legs out from under him before he could rise properly, and then laid the tips of the swords in each hand at their throats.

"Boys, boys, what have I told you about indicators of attack?" Harry demanded.

"Not to?" the younger of the two replied questioningly as the swords were removed from their threatening position and thrown onto a bail of hay.

"Come on, up you get." grumbled Harry, heaving first his seventeen year-old second son, Edmund and then the eldest – at eighteen years old – Morcar, to their feet.

Low laughter greeted the result from the onlookers. Harry's third son, Adam, aged fifteen, was stood next to the knight who would foster him in England, Sir William Marshal. Another figure, one Harry had not expected to visit the Lion Halls that day was the gruff, scarred Bailiff of Jerusalem, Prince Raymond Tiberias of Tripoli. A stern figure, he stood behind another child, the young King, Baldwin and his constant shadow, Harry's youngest at fourteen, Edric.

The king was only ten years old, but was tall and well-built for his age. His hair was raven-black, and his eyes the same keen emeralds as Harry had, and the same as Morcar, Edmund, Adam and Edric. The nobles of Jerusalem did not question his parentage, for fear of the man known as the Lion, a man who feared neither God nor man alike. Sibylla, the King's mother, now lounged on a hay bale, arm-in-arm with Harry's gorgeous wife, Melisende of Tripoli, both sipping from goblets of wine. A wicked smirk was exchanged by the two women. One Harry knew well. It was such a look that resulted in Baldwin, for it was not the late William Longsword of Montferrat, nor was Guy de Lusignan the father of his sisters Alice and Maria. Then Melisende gave him a piercing look, and then, ever-so-slowly, licked her lips.

Bards, chroniclers, minnesänger, minstrels, troubadours and trouvères who had come to the Holy Land wrote and sang of the two most beautiful women in the world – or at least in the court of Jerusalem. They sang too of the ardent love held by the Lion of the East, Lord of Deir al-Asad and Master of Baalbek for the Princess of Tripoli. Melisende was a gorgeous creature, lithe and with a golden complexion from the Mediterranean sun that shone on their home. Her chestnut hair glowed, eliciting envy from even the beautiful, haughty Sibylla, raven-haired and paler.

They also spoke of the Lion, a fearsome warrior whose notable contributions to the Crusader cause began in 1157, as a lone, soldier aged no more than 17, who saved the army of Baldwin III from an ambush at Lake Huleh. From there, his career only ascended, and now he was one of the pre-eminent nobles of Jerusalem.

With a peace treaty signed between Baldwin IV and Saladin, it was now down to Harry and his brother-in-law, Raymond, to keep that peace. It was a difficult task, for the voice of Guy de Lusignan resounded with many of the fanatical crusaders in the the Haute Cour, including a good many members of the military orders. It was made all the more difficult by the fact that Raymond and Harry knew that the peace would be short-lived, and was already fragile – and close to being utterly doomed. Skirmishing had been taking place between the Ayyubid Sultanate and the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the day the treaty was signed.

Baron Baldwin of Ramla and Mirabel, with his brother Baron Balian of Ibelin and Nablus, the sons of the late Baron Barisan of Ibelin, plus Baldwin's son-in-law Aimery de Lusignan, the Constable of Jerusalem, a man who was instrumental in side-lining his brother Guy, were perhaps the most ardent in this belief. Their boots sounded on the cobbles as they entered the compound, escorted in by men at arms in the pay of the Lord of Baalbek. Harry's eyes sought those of Prince Raymond, who nodded sharply.

"Clean up lads, we'll dine in the grand hall." the gruff Bailiff growled.

Sat around the table, idly picking at the fruit after their meal, the diners were interrupted as Harry swept platters to one end, and Sir William Marshal placed a huge, rolled up map of the Middle East on the table. Silence fell as all conversation was halted, and the company of one the Queen Mother, the Prince of Tripoli, the Constable of Jerusalem, the Count of Deir al-Asad,his sons, the Countess and two barons turned their attention to the map, and with it the future of their kingdom.

For the first time, Morcar joined the Council of War.

"Baldwin's Peace will soon expire, my lords and ladies. I have no doubt that conflict is on the horizon, and we need ideas." Harry announced, rolling out the map and weighing it down.

"Let Raynald's leash loose." advised Sibylla; "We know the Dog of Châtillon and his habits. He'll force Saladin to make a reprisal. We control where the Saracens strike."

The Dog of Châtillon was a ruthless warlord, master of the southern reaches of the Kingdom. A Burgundian knight with an abiding hatred of the Saracens, he was without principles, without honour, and without restraint.

"Even better if we could split his force." growled Raymond.

"Can we raid Ayyubid territory?" asked Morcar, the youngest seated at the table; "Armies need food, armies need supplies, armies are made of men, who have families and lands they care about."

"These are foreign soldiers, mostly. Egyptians. Inaccessible to raiding parties." Balian shook his head; "We have more limited resources than the Sultan, we must win every fight, and even withdraw from fighting some, whereas he can suffer great damage and simply raise fresh men."

"If he's raised an army of foreign men, my lords, then have we not bled white the lands of Syria?" William Marshal frowned. A man of stern features, leonine and somewhat grizzled, he was over forty years old, a veteran, a tournament champion. Still in his prime, he stood over six feet tall, fully a head higher than most men, capable of striking with terrible power and shrugging off blows that would lay low many lesser men; "If he marches to confront us then it is unlikely he has left much more than a light defending force."

"A spoiling attack. I like it. Have Raynald advance from Kerak on Ma'an, Balian take your forces and advance from Nablus on Ahamant and seize it." Raymond planned; "Combined with Raynald's usual habits, I'm certain we can elicit a retaliation out of Saladin. If he goes for Raynald and Ahamant, the armies of Jerusalem and Tiberias catch him in a pincer and drive him into the desert. Sortie from Deir al-Asad, Tyre, Sidon, Beirut and Tripoli, either besiege Damascus or burn it. Send Bohemund and the armies of Antioch to burn Homs."

"A spectacular campaign would make the cost of the crusades and the military orders more palatable to the Frankish kings." Baron Baldwin mused.

"And to the Cicilians." added Melisende; "They are opportunistic, especially their latest lord. Perhaps his lands could be elevated to a Principality of the Kingdom of Jerusalem."

"We have to damn well stop that Saracen bastard marching another army out of Egypt under the noses of the lords of Oultrejordain." Raymond fumed; "Where was the Dog of Châtillon when Saladin crossed from Egypt into Syria?!"

"Time is on our side brother." Melisende soothed her brother; "The Saracens love nothing more than blood feuds and civil war over power. If Saladin dies, the Ayubbid empire falls apart."

"Send gold to Masyaf, if the Old Man of the Mountain can kill the castellans and bailiffs that Saladin leaves to hold his lands, this stands a greater chance of working." Harry thought aloud.

"It seems we are decided. War. And soon." Harry sighed. He knew it was coming, but he could not bring himself to look forward to it; "Spread the word, muster the armies, let loose Raynald, and I shall keep my ears open in the Arab lands."

Slowly, as the afternoon wandered by, members of the Council of War drifted away until it was just Harry, Raymond Tiberias, William Marshal, and Harry's four sons remaining. A slightly awkward glance was shared by the four brothers, before the eldest and most confident of them, Morcar, stepped forward, speaking for Edmund, Adam and Edric.

"Father, I hope there is some part for us in this." he commented, gesturing to the map, over which Harry and Raymond were still gazing.

"War isn't like the sparring ring, nor even the melee." Raymond spoke before Harry, meeting each of them with level gazes; "Are you ready for it?"

"I've learnt the arts of battle and war for my entire life. I've fought for my life, I've fought for honour, for coin even." Morcar replied; "Both Edmund and I am wedded, bedded and no younger than father at Huleh. We've both bloodied our swords, if not in pitched battle as you have, then perhaps skirmishes."

It was true, Morcar was seventeen, his arms strong, his mind sharp and his gaze shrewd. He was also married to the King's half-sister, Isabella. Edmund was his right hand, the brothers inseparable and one-another's greatest strength. He too was strong, tall and keen of mind. His wife, Beatrix of Courtenay was the daughter of the Count of Edessa.

Raymond, William and Harry shared glances, a brief and hushed discussion was held then the decision was made.

"Morcar, Edmund, you'll have to prove yourselves men grown. You'll ride with me, fight with me, and if the worst happens, die with me." it was once again their uncle, Raymond who spoke.

"Adam, your father has decided you'll remain in my custody. Where I ride, you ride, I will teach, and you learn." William's rich voice announced to Harry's fifteen year-old son.

"It seems I can no longer protect you from the world." Harry smiled wanly; "Nonetheless, Edric, you will remain doing your duty as you have done so dilligently, your duty to the king. He's young, born towards the end of the first conflict with Saladin, and does not remember those days. You will have to guide him and protect him through the coming conflict." Harry paused, then waved his sons away; "Go, sharpen your swords and attend your armour. I fear I must now face your mother and hope she doesn't murder me."

Edric gave him a wry smile. His youngest son did not sit in the shadow of his brothers, and seemed to be forged of steel, nothing but steel. He spoke in quiet, measured terms, leading people to underestimate him. His strength of character had seen him rise above the squabbling morass of the young nobles of Jerusalem before he entered double figures of years, and was now fourteen years old. He was the closest confidant of King Baldwin, and aside from being the King's half-brother, he was his friend, protector, guide and shadow.

Harry sank limply into a chair by the cold fireplace, contemplating the bottom of a goblet. A pitcher of wine lay on a low table next to him, but even contemplating it made his mouth taste like ash. With a sudden burst of helpless fury, he leapt to his feet and hurled the cup into the wall with such force as to crumple it and send it richocheting across the floor. It was stopped by a boot, then a sword thrust through one of the handles to lift it and lay it on a table. Harry's gaze was met by Raymond.

"You can protect children from swords and hunger. But not time." Raymond understood Harry's helpless fury, though he had no sons of his own, he cared for his step-children – and his nephews. He knew that Harry loved nothing and nobody so deeply as his wife and his sons.

"I know, damn you I know!" Harry snapped; "And it stings all the more that they want this. To have a part in this bloodshed."

"All you can do is give them the tools to survive. You've taught them as much as can be taught. They've even practised governance, accounting, trade and diplomacy – the greatest skills of statesmen. To bloody them is all that is left." Raymond sighed, then decided to ram home the truth; "You cannot hide them from the world. You've made yourself great on nothing but steel. They need this, a chance to unleash themselves on the world. Jerusalem needs them, they are its future. When we're dead and gone, it will be they, not us, who lead this kingdom."

"Gods above. And how can I tell Melia that her sons are marching to war." groaned Harry. "Much less that it was at their own demand."

"I'd imagine she'll have some understanding. After all, she's been listening by the door for the last minute." Raymond made his parting comment before sweeping out, scarlet robe and blue cloak billowing behind him.

Harry swung around to gaze towards the door where an ashen pale Melisende was stood.

The House of the Lion of Jerusalem:

Harry Potter of al-Asad (1140*) – Melisende of Tripoli (1145)

Morcar Potter (1169) – Isabella of Jerusalem (1172)

Edmund Potter (1170) – Beatrix Courtenay of Edessa (1176)

Adam Potter (1172)

Edric Potter (1173)

* - Theoretically. 17 in 1157. Actually born 1975, time-travelled in 1991.

Career:

1157 – Battle of Lake Huleh, prevented ambush of Baldwin III of Jerusalem and his army.

1159 – Burning of Cyprus, came into the service of Raymond III of Tripoli, sacking the island of Cyprus to avenge Emperor Manuel I Komnenos's insult of Princess Melisende of Tripoli, to whom he was to grow close.

1163 – Battle of al-Buqaia, Harry scouted and planned an ambush using forces of Amalric I of Jerusalem, the Byzantine Empire, Antioch and those of Raymond III of Tripoli. Gaining renown for this piece of soldiery, he grew closer to his liege lord, Raymond and was awarded command of the Kingdom of Jerusalem's Frankish cavalry for his service.

1164 – Battle of Harim, disaster was partially averted by the judicious and cautious employment of Harry's Frankish cavalry as a mobile strike force and rearguard, relieving surrounded pockets of the crusader army and rallying the army to hold off the Zengid to relieve the crusader positions and rally against being overrun, carrying out a fighting retreat in good order.

1164-1177 – Post Battle of Harim, with the defeat at Harim, a large quantity of the ruling stratum of Jerusalem were captured, creating a void in the feudal structure of the Kingdom. This to Harry's advantage, as he found opportunity to exploit and subsequently rose in stature and power.

1171 – Fall of Baalbek. With interest in carving out his own lands in Syria, Harry laid siege to the fortress of Baalbek, during which the jail, holding Crusader prisoners, fell to their inmates, who slew their captors and flung open the gates. This formed the nucleas of a series of northern Seigneurie quite apart from the fortress-monastery at al-Asad.

1175 – Battle of the Horns of Hama. Intervened in the immediate aftermath of the battle, leading a force of five-thousand heavy cavalry, mostly knights and Holy Orders. Pincer charge down each end of the Hama Valley, striking the survivors of the Zengid and Ayyubid armies with great force, routing the remains of both, and carrying off the baggage train.

1175 – Siege of Karak Noah. Fortified town seized and incorporated into the Seigneurie of Baalbek, followed by the surrounding villages, including Anjar, Kamid al Lawz and al-Muruj. Fortified outposts are constructed around the Beqaa Valley to hold this location against a counter-attack by Ayyubid forces, who are licking their wounds and were to make no further actions for two years.

1177 – Battle of Blanchegarde, part of the Battle of Montgisard. Fighting a reserve force during the battle, when King Baldwin IV employed his personal cavalry in a shock charge that smashed through the Saracen lines and attack the personal bodyguard of the Sultan, Saladin, Harry led his entirely mounted force of two-thousand Frankish knights and sergeants around the battle, striking at their rear, capturing the Ayyubid supply train, the siege equipment and the treasury. Turning his knights on the Ayyubid army, the slaughter ensued with much of the Arab army slaughtered and the rest driven far off into the desert, to starvation and death. This was to crippled the Saracen army for two years.

1177 – Siege of Harim, in concert with Count Philip I of Flanders, captured the fallen fortress of Harim. Dressing men in armour, and bearing banners taken from the killing field of Montgisard, they fooled the Ayyubid garrison into opening the gates and rapidly took the fortress. This was followed up rapidly with the 'Lion's Hunt', as the fortresses of Salqin and Zardana fell to the crusaders.

1179 – Battle of Marj Ayyoun, evacuated the serfs from their holdings in the path of the Saracen advance, poisoning the wells as they went before circling back with a heavy mounted force, raiding the Saracen caravans and supply train. When the Saracen army was encamped at night, Frankish knights and mounted crossbowmen attacked. Throwing burning brands into the tents, cutting down the Saracen soldiery with sword, lance and quarrel, and a firestorm being stoked by the desert winds, around ten-thousand of the Ayyubid soldiers died.

1179 – Battle of Jacob's Ford. With time bought by Harry's raids, the fortress of Chastellet was completed and the army of Jerusalem mustered. Saladin laid siege to the fortress, half his army on each side of the Jordan when barges full of Greek fire were floated down the Jordan and lit. The half on the side of Chastellet, caught between stone walls and the burning waters, were slaughtered by the Army of Jerusalem.

1179 – Strike of the Lioness. With the Saracen army broken and half destroyed, Harry's wife, Melisende of Tripoli mustered a force and laid siege to the fortress towns of Idlib, and then Marre, followed by the fortress of Bara. Taking each one in order, it was decided that, as with Haram, they were ill-located for their needs, were sold to local crusader lords to add to the Lion's War Treasury.

1180 – Cock-up of the Princes. Raymond III of Tripoli and Bohemond III of Antioch march on Jerusalem with the intent of reducing the influence of Agnes Courtenay of Edessa, the King's mother, and her brother, Joscelin III of Edessa. Fearing they have come to unseat him, forcibly marrying his sister, Baldwin IV marries his sister off to Guy de Lusignan despite knowing that she has, for some four or five years, been mistress to the Lion. As a neutral party and at the time, holding office in the Holy City, a parlay is convened between Baldwin's representative, Amalric de Lusignan and Harry, a trusted friend of both the Royal Family and Raymond. Bribed by Agnes Courtenay of Edessa, Harry works to his own agenda. The result is the withdrawal of the two princes and the payment of a fine to the war chest of Jerusalem, and the bribe to Harry is the betrothals of the eight year-old Isabella of Jerusalem to his eldest and of Joscelin's eldest daughter to Harry's second son. Agnes, her marriage to Reginald of Sidon having been anulled some years earlier, marries Baldwin of Ibelin, thus bringing peace about between the court factions of the Kingdom.

1182 – Ransom of the Ayyubid Prince. When Saladin's nephew Farrukh Shah led an army into the Galilee, Raymond and Harry march two separate armies against Farrukh Shah. A feigned retreat into a valley by infantry, hillside archers and a massive double-sided cavalry attack annihilates the Ayyubid force. Shah is captured, and the massed cavalry separates from the main body of the army, swinging south and launching a devastating attack on Saladin's Egyptian army as he is marching it to Syria, having raised it in Egypt. Reinforced by the Holy Orders and the Army of Jerusalem, a significant portion of this Ayyubid force is destroyed. The remainder is harried all the way to Damascus by devastating raids by the Frankish knights, while Melisende takes the opportunity to fortify the Anti-Lebanon Mountain Range, rendering the Beqaa Valley near-impenetrable. A year later, Farrukh Shah is ransomed to Saladin for enough gold coin to pay for a decade of campaigning.

As the results of this campaign cost the Ayyubids some territory and fully a quarter of the two-hundred thousand fighting men, the Sultan, Saladin, negotiated a five-year peace with Baldwin IV for both sides to lick their wounds. This was to prove a mistake as, in the aftermath of Baldwin IV's death, it allowed time for his nephew to be crowned and the two principle warlords of Jerusalem, Harry and Raymond to consolidate the kingdom, fortify and prepare for the inevitable climax of the conflict with Saladin.