Summary: Harry Potter is just an eccentric school boy with some unusual talents. Lord Peverell-Black, on the other hand, is a magically and politically powerful man with the world at his fingertips and a war at his doorstep. [Time travel, no pairings.]

Shards of Time: The Master of Death

Chapter VIII
The Meeting

"One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though...betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope." - Steven Deitz

Dumbledore's office looked just the same as it always had throughout the many years Harry had visited there, although, of course, all of the objects which Harry had rashly destroyed during his fifth year were still there. As per usual, the headmaster's claw-footed desk sat at one end of the room while the walls that didn't contain windows were covered in the portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses. Most of them were awake, though some were snoozing.

Behind the enormous desk sat Albus Dumbledore, his long silver hair splayed out around him and his blue eyes twinkling fiercely. "Welcome, Harry," he greeted jovially. He then gestured toward the chair in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat. And don't worry; you're not in trouble."

Harry did so, sinking into the familiar chair that he'd sat in so many times over the years. Instead of relieving his fears however, Dumbledore's words only made him tense up even further. If he wasn't in trouble, then why did Dumbledore want to speak with him? He hadn't summoned him to his office the first time around...

As Harry sat nervously before Dumbledore, the older man studied Harry. The boy was nothing like he expected. Sure, he looked like just a normal, albeit small, first year boy, but everything else about him screamed that this wasn't the case. He walked with a strange confidence—not arrogance, as Snape would claim, but a confidence in his abilities, a belief that he could easily handle anything thrown at him. He easily interacted with those around him, but at the same time there was an odd maturity about him that made him stick out. He acted much the same as upper year students did while tutoring their juniors.

Above all however, it was Harry's eyes that caught Dumbledore's attention. Those eyes...they didn't belong to a child. They were jaded and spoke of wisdom beyond his years, of a difficult past, and of a person who had seen far too much in their life. Dumbledore had only seen those eyes on a few people, and most of them had been war veterans who were many times Harry's age.

For the life of him, Dumbledore couldn't figure out exactly what had happened to Harry that had caused the boy to turn out like this. He seemed to have had an all right time growing up, and this idea was only increased by the confidence that Harry seemed to hold. But then what had caused him to become as mature as he appeared to be? What had caused him to grow up so quickly?

There was no doubt in Dumbledore's mind Harry Potter was an enigma, one that he swore to figure out, no matter what the consequences.

"Sir?" Harry began hesitantly. "Why did you ask to meet with me?"

Dumbledore's benign smile widened, giving away none of the thoughts within his mind. "Well, I wanted to finally meet you, of course!" he replied jovially. "Your parents were dear friends of mine. It's amazing how much you look like them; you have James' face and Lily's eyes."

Harry smiled tightly. "Thank you, sir. What is it that you wanted though?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Ah, a bright one I see. Yes, you're right; I didn't call you up here just for that." Dumbledore sighed, his smile falling away. He suddenly looked much older than he was. "There are some...matters...which have come up that regretfully involve you." Without another word, the elderly headmaster handed Harry a letter made of thick parchment that was bound with a golden silk ribbon.

Harry took the letter, his brow furrowing in confusion. Of all the things that he'd expected to happen upon entering the office, being given a letter was not one of them. And seeing Dumbledore's grave face only increased his confusion. With no small amount of trepidation, Harry undid the ribbon, opened the letter, and began to read. In curling, flowery letters, it read:

Lord Potter,

Due to your heritage you have been given a seat on the Wizengamot in the Family division. Though your presence is not required, your seat and vote are highly regarded and the Wizengamot would gladly welcome you to its chambers. The next meeting is to be held on Septembers 15th. We expect your presence no later than 14:00.

Sincerely yours,

Lord Richard Adair

(Lord of House Adair, Chief Familia, International Magical Commerce Chairman, Head of the Magical Artifact Preservation Committee)

For several moments, Harry stared blankly at the letter before him, his mind working overtime to process its short but concise contents. He was being offered a spot on the Wizengamot? The Wizengamot? His face still blank from shock, Harry looked up at Dumbledore, who smiled sadly.

"Yes, Harry," the older man said tiredly. "You are indeed the Lord of House Potter. You see, while far from being amongst the oldest, your family is still quite old and has been respected for many years. Over time it eventually earned a place on the Wizengamot council. This seat has been in your family for many generations and has now been passed down onto you."

Harry felt his mouth opening and closing several times as he struggled to say something. Either ignoring or just not noticing his difficulty, Dumbledore continued.

"You must understand the gravity of this situation, Harry," he said. "Under normal circumstances you would not bear the mantle of Lord of House Potter until reaching your majority at the age of seventeen."

"Do you know why I've gained the title?" Harry asked quietly.

Dumbledore paused for a moment, his hands folded before him. "I..." he began slowly, "I suspect that it is because you are the last of your line."

Harry nodded, outwardly seeming to accept the explanation, but on the inside he was fuming. 'Bullocks!' he thought angrily. 'I'm sure that there have been many others who were the last of their line and they've never become the Lord or Lady of their house until their majority! And you know it too!' Granted, Harry knew the real answer to his question, which was part of the reason why he was so pissed off at Dumbledore's reply. Were they back to the lies and the half-answers again? Why couldn't he have just outright said that he didn't know?

He wondered if he'd ever be able to trust Dumbledore. He didn't want the blind trust that he'd had when he was a child, just the natural trust between two human beings. And it was made all the worse by the knowledge that Dumbledore honestly thought he was doing the right thing.

"Before you ask any more questions, I'd first like to explain to you exactly what this Wizengamot is and how it works."

Harry quickly pushed his anger away as curiosity took over him. He didn't understand why he was being invited to the Wizengamot, so hopefully this would make everything much more clear.

"The Wizengamot is a body within the Ministry of Magic that makes decisions regarding laws and acts as a high court. It is separated into three divisions: the Ministry division, the Warlock division, and the Family division. Each division is made up of 25 people—75 total—and has a single elected leader.

"The Ministry division is composed of the heads of the seven departments in the Ministry of Magic and a group of eighteen people chosen by the heads—two for each department head and four by the Ministry of Magic himself. These departments are the Department of Magical Games and Sports, the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, the Department of International Magical Cooperation, the Department of Magical Transportation, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the Department of Mysteries, and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Wizengamot itself is technically a division of the last department. The leader of the Ministry division is always the Minister of Magic. He is also the one who conducts the Wizengamot meetings.

"The Warlock division of the Wizengamot is made up entirely of people elected to the Wizengamot. These people come from all walks of life and help to diversify the Wizengamot. The leader of the Warlock division is called the Chief Warlock. I currently serve that position.

"The Family division is the division that you'll be joining. It is composed of old pureblood wizarding families, hence its name. The seats held by those in the Family division are hereditary—the only hereditary seats in council. The leader of the Family division is called the Chief Familia—familia is Latin for family—and the current leader is Lord Adair. As you can see, he's the one who sent you that letter."

Harry paused for a moment as his mind quickly processed all of the information he had just been given. He hadn't known that the Wizengamot was split into three divisions. When he'd stood before the Wizengamot when he was fifteen, it'd just seemed like a mass of people.

Finally, he spoke up. "How often are the elections held?"

Dumbledore's eyes widened momentarily in surprise, though he managed to smooth out his expression quite quickly. "The elections for the Warlock division are staggered every three years with five people being removed/elected each time. The Chief Warlock and Chief Familia are elected for their respective divisions every two years."

Harry nodded. He only had one main question left, "How often are Wizengamot meetings held?"

Dumbledore thoughtfully tapped the side of his nose. He hadn't expected Harry to so easily be able to process the information that he'd given him—most children wouldn't be able to. But this was good; it meant that he was bright and caught on to things quickly.

"Well," Dumbledore began, "The Wizengamot is split up into two terms: The Summer Term and the Winter Term. The Winter Term begins on September 1st—today—and ends in December on the Winter Solstice. The Summer Term begins on March 1st and ends in June on the Summer Solstice. During the months between the two terms (January, February, July, and August) the Wizengamot is in recess and no meetings are held.

"During each term there is one meeting held each month, which translated to four meetings total per term, plus the opening and closing meetings. These meetings are held on the 15th of each month. These meetings are generally held for discussion and it's during them that laws are presented, voted upon, and either passed or declined. In between these meetings trials are held—as I said before the Wizengamot is the high court of the Ministry. Trials are optional for those on the Wizengamot to attend, except for the Warlock division."

Again, Harry nodded. This meant that he'd probably have to leave school once a month for the main meetings. Harry looked back up at Dumbledore and nodded firmly once more.

"Thank you, Professor."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Of course, Harry, of course. Do you have any more questions right now?" Harry mutely shook his head. "Well then, I have just one question for you: Do you accept your family's seat on the Wizengamot, knowing the responsibilities that you'll be given? You'll also have to begin managing your family's accounts, you know."

Harry paused for a moment, sincerely thinking about it. He hadn't wanted anyone to find out about his "age" but it seemed that he had no choice. Accepting the seat, however, meant that he'd have at least some sway in the Ministry. Harry had already planned to get some sort of political hold the Ministry, and this was the perfect legal way to do so. He would know what was happening in the Ministry, and in the world.

"Yes," Harry said softly. "I accept."

Dumbledore beamed at Harry, though on the inside he was frowning. Truthfully, he wasn't sure whether he had wanted Harry to accept or not. While it would teach the boy a lot about responsibility and prepare him for what was to come, he was still just an eleven year old child. Dumbledore had to admit to himself though that the boy seemed to be ready. He was far more mature than he should be at his age, so maybe having a seat on the Wizengamot would help him in the long run.

Dumbledore stood up, walked around his desk, and then while humming a joyful tune under his breath began to pull several books off one of the many bookshelves that littered his office. Once he had a pile of the ones that he wanted Dumbledore placed them onto his desk in front of Harry.

"These are some books that I believe shall help you," he told the young wizard jovially. "I suggest that you try to read at least some of them before the 15th. Speaking of which, on September 15th I'll take you to the Wizengamot myself directly after lunch."

Curious, Harry peeked at the titles of the books that Dumbledore had given him. They all seemed to be about politics and law. Among them were ones such as Legislative Guide to Proper Use of Magic, Extraordinary Trials in History, Law and Literature, Ancient Law, and Magical Misdemeanors in the Modern Law.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Sir, why are there books here about the 'proper use of magic'?" he asked.

Dumbledore smiled sadly. "Harry, you are technically of age now in the wizarding community, even if you aren't actually 'of age'. Though you probably don't know about it, students under the age of seventeen are not allowed to use magic outside of school. Since you're of age however, this restriction does not apply to you. I am giving you these books to show you what the law is regarding the use of magic. I expect, and certainly hope, that you'll be responsible enough to use your magic wisely."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said with a smile. Though he'd read some books about politics, these books would definitely help him to prepare further.

As Harry began to leave, he came face to face with Fawkes on his perch next to the office door. Harry paused for a moment, staring at the bird, and then, with a small smile on his face, approached him. Fawkes trilled lightly as Harry gently pet his head.

"Ah, fascinating creatures, phoenixes," Dumbledore said from behind Harry. "This is Fawkes. I've had him for quite some time."

"He's beautiful," Harry murmured. He leaned closer to Fawkes then and whispered so quietly that not even Dumbledore could hear, "Could you bring me the Sorting Hat?" If his suspicions were correct, Fawkes would do so.

Fawkes trilled in response to Harry's question. The young wizard couldn't figure out whether he was actually replying or not, but he smiled anyway.

Harry glanced back at Dumbledore only once as he moved toward the office door. "Good night, Professor." And then the door clicked shut behind him

Into the now empty room, Dumbledore whispered quietly, "Good night, young Harry." Fawkes only stared at him.

"So?" Ron asked when Harry entered the Gryffindor common room later than evening. "What did Headmaster Dumbledore want?"

Ron, Hermione, and Neville had all been waiting for Harry in the common room. Almost as soon as he'd stepped inside they pulled him into a corner and began to question him. Harry glanced around at the three curious faces—it still felt weird to have a young, nervous Neville as a part of the group—and sighed. He had no reason to hide what had happened from them, especially since everyone would probably learn about it soon enough.

"I..." Harry hesitated, unsure how to word his sentence. "I've been made the new Lord of House Potter..."

Instantly, three faces gaped at him in pure shock, Ron and Neville more so than Hermione.

"But— but—" Neville stuttered. "You have to be seventeen for that!"

Harry shrugged uncomfortably. "I know. Not even Dumbledore understands why I've been given the title, though I believe that he suspect that it has something to do with the Killing Curse." That was the only logical explanation, after all.

"Are you going to be on the Wizengamot then?" Neville asked hesitantly.

Hermione's brow furrowed in confusion at the unfamiliar word. "Wizengamot?"

Harry nodded mutely at Neville and then turned to Hermione. "The Wizengamot is the high court of the wizarding world," he told her, using his new knowledge of the government. "It proceeds over trials and passes laws."

Hermione still looked confused. "But why would you be on the Wizengamot?"

This time it was Ron who jumped to answer. "All of the really old wizarding families have a seat on the Wizengamot," he said. "Once Harry became the Lord of House Potter he automatically inherited his family's seat." Ron paused for a moment and then suddenly exclaimed, "Wait! This means that you're going to get out of school once a month! Mate, that's so unfair..."

Hermione ignored Ron's grumbling and just continued with her questioning. "Does that mean that you'll a seat when you're of age, Ron?" she asked. "And what about you, Neville?"

Ron's ears turned scarlet and he mumbled something along the lines of "no". Neville meanwhile, nodded shyly.

"The Longbottoms have had a seat for a while," the young boy elaborated. "My gran is serving on the Wizengamot right now."

Hermione nodded her understanding and then fell silent. Harry recognized the expression on her face as meaning that she was going to be doing quite bit of researching in the future.

The next few days of classes passed by quickly. In all of Harry's classes they were starting off purely with theory, so Harry didn't really have to worry about how he would do on the practical part until next week.

Harry had, however, had to deal with the staring and whispering of the other students. It may have been just the same as it had been the first time around, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. He'd gotten too used to just blending in, to the other students easily accepting his presence as normal. Harry desperately hoped that they'd settle down soon.

Harry had also taken to spending quite a bit of time in the library to Hermione and Terry's joy, Ron and Draco's annoyance, and Susan and Blaise's amusement. He was researching a lot about wizarding culture, politics, and history, as well as magic. Already he'd started formulating a list of spells that were advanced but wouldn't be too strange for a first year to know.

On Friday morning Harry was surprised to find two owls—Hedwig and a tawny brown post owl—drop off letters for him. The one that Hedwig delivered turned out to be a not from Hagrid, inviting him over for lunch the next day. Harry smiled warmly and penned back a reply. He'd go up to the Owlery later and send it off to Hagrid since Hedwig and the second owl had long since left. The second letter was thick and had Gringotts official seal on the back. Harry immediately slipped the letter away, knowing better than to open it in public.

After breakfast Harry and his friends whipped off to Potions. They only had double potions that morning and then had the rest of the afternoons off.

In Potions they were making a simple boil curing potion. Harry was surprised to find that, due to his increasing skill over the years, the potion was incredibly easy for him to make. Being paired with Draco—who seemed to be naturally talented with potions, to his surprise—only made it that much easier.

Harry was also astonished to find that while Snape was still very critical of his work, it was different kind of critical than he was used to. It wasn't so much of nitpicking as it was a careful examination of the actual quality of his work.

This time around Neville managed to avoid blowing up his cauldron, thanks to Theodore. Due to this Snape didn't really pay attention to him, so Neville's fear of the man didn't start to build as it had in the original timeline. With any luck this would mean the Neville would have at least a bit more confidence to start out with. Already Harry was starting to notice a difference between this Neville and the one that he'd originally known. Who knew that just having friends could have such an impact in such a short amount of time?

When the class was over Harry and Draco handed a sample of their finished potion to Snape, received their homework, and then left the room.

As they walked out of the dungeons, Ron groaned. "That greasy bastard wouldn't leave me alone the whole class period!" he grumbled.

Instantly, Draco glared at the boy, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists. "Well maybe if you'd actually paid attention to your potion—"

Ron stopped and turned to glare at Draco. The blonde stopped as well and they engaged in a bit of a staring—or glaring, rather—contest.

"I would pay attention if Snape didn't bloody lurk so much!"

At the same moment Ron and Draco swiftly drew their wands and pointed them at each other, still glaring.

Hermione quickly stepped up to the two. "Don't fight!" she hissed. "Dueling is forbidden in the halls!"

Simultaneously, Ron and Draco turned to the bush haired witch. "Stay out of this!" they both yelled. Hermione jerked back, surprised by their reaction. She continued to stare for a moment as the boys turned their glares back on each other before letting out a huff and stalking away, grumbling something about "immature boys".

Harry then stepped forward, hoping to get at least a slightly better reception. "Come on, guys," he said while grasping their wrists gently and lowering their arms. "She's right; don't fight here. And definitely not over this." Harry let out a sigh. "Draco, ease up a bit on Ron—Snape is kind of unfair to Gryffindors. And Ron, you should pay a bit more attention to your potion; if you're not careful it could explode."

Draco and Ron lowered their wands, but Ron's ears turned even further red and he turned his glare on Harry.

"Oh, sure, take his bloody side!" Ron exploded angrily.

Harry sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm not taking sides, Ron. I just—"

"Whatever," Ron snapped. He turned around and stormed off.

Harry let out another sigh. It was so difficult to deal with his friends when they acted like such...children! Yes, they were in fact children, and yes Ron had always had a bit of a temper, but it was still difficult. Like dealing with mere shades of what his friends had grown to be. He was already starting to miss the Hermione who had had more patience and had acted like a mediator whenever he and Ron had a row.

"Look," Harry said tiredly to the rest of his friends. "I need to go to the Owlery. I'll meet up with you all later." With a small wave, Harry left his friends and hurried though the halls of Hogwarts.

It only took Harry a few minutes of navigating through Hogwarts to finally reach his destination. Harry couldn't help but smile when Hedwig hooted at him from up in the rafters.

"Here girl," Harry murmured quietly while holding out his arm. Without a moment's hesitation the snowy owl sailed down from her perch and landed on her owner's outstretched arm. She hooted once affectionately and then stuck out her leg, apparently already knowing what Harry wanted.

The dark haired wizard chuckled softly. "Good girl," he said as he gently pet her plumage. He was still marveling at the fact that Hedwig was back with him once again. It almost felt like some strange dream, but he knew without a doubt that it was all real.

Mutely Harry tied his reply onto Hedwig's leg and then let her take off. He stared out the open arches as Hedwig soared through them, watching her until she disappeared out of sight. He released a sigh as he leaned against the cold stone, his mind racing with thoughts and doubts. Finally he managed to push them all away, just in time to remember the second letter in his pocket.

Harry's eyes widened and he quickly pulled out the letter from Gringotts. He paused then, just before opening it, and then pulled out his wand as well. He wished that he also had the Marauders' Map with him, but until he managed to get it again he would have to improvise.

"Homenum revelio," Harry murmured quietly. He waited for a moment but there was no reaction, meaning that there were no people in the immediate vicinity. A few flicks of his wand later and there were also a few repelling and privacy charms on the Owlery so that he would not be disturbed.

Once Harry was sure that he was secure, he carefully opened up the envelope. To his surprise there turned out to be two letters inside, the second one in another envelope. Harry shrugged and just opened the first letter.

The letter turned out to be from Ragnok, asking to meet with him even earlier than they'd arranged. Harry stared at the letter for a moment, his mind whirling. The only reason why the goblin would ask for this was if something had gone wrong. Though wearing a frown, Harry simply sighed and continued to read. The last part of the letter said that the second envelope had been given to them, to forward to him.

Harry's frown deepened as he turned his attention onto the second envelope. He instantly realized that the letter, with its thick parchment and the golden ribbon holding it closed, looked just like the one that Dumbledore had given him.

Moving quickly, Harry pulled the envelope open and let his eyes scan across the message. True to his suspicions, it was from Lord Richard Adair and was almost exactly the same as the first one he had received except for several differences: it was addressed to Lord Peverell-Black and stated that he now had the seats for both the Peverell family and the Black family.

Harry's mind began to race. He hadn't even thought about the other families he was head of having seats on the Wizengamot, though in hindsight it should have been obvious. The Black family was said to be far older than even the Malfoys.

'This is turning out perfectly!' Harry thought as a grin began to curl at the corners of his mouth. He now had three seats on the Wizengamot, and with such names as the ones he had, he was going to have considerable political pull.

Suddenly Harry frowned. There was only one major, glaring problem: How could he go to the Wizengamot as both Lord Potter and Lord Peverell-Black? He was only one person. Harry sighed, but pushed the problem away from the time being. He had until fifteenth to figure out an answer. Though, granted, that was only a week away...

Harry let out another sigh and let his head hang down. He had absolutely no idea as to what to do.

Damn.

Harry stayed in the Owlery for another twenty or so minutes, letting his mind wander. Eventually his thoughts turned to the meeting that Ragnok had requested for that very evening. He'd have to sneak out and also figure out some way to bring the vanishing cabinet that resided in the Room of Requirement with him.

The major problem with that, however, was that he still didn't have Gryffindor's sword. He had hoped the Fawkes had understood him and would be able to bring him the hat, but it seemed that his thoughts had been wrong. He'd have to figure out some other way to get the sword...

Harry let out a sigh and was just about to leave when suddenly a ball of flame burst into existence just in front of him. Harry leapt back, instantaneously drawing his wand from his pocket. He needn't have worried though, as just moments later the fire dissipated to reveal Fawkes.

Harry took a moment to gape at the phoenix before him, half because of his sudden appearance, half because of what was clutched in his claws: the sorting hat. Harry relaxed and slipped his wand away, a smile coming to his face.

Fawkes trilled lightly, flew over to Harry's shoulder, and then dropped the sorting hat into Harry's hands. As Harry's smiled widened in delight he gently stoked Fawkes' plumage.

"Thanks, old friend," he murmured.

Harry reached into the sorting hat, hoping desperately that he was still enough of a Gryffindor for this to work. He let out a relieved sigh when his hand closed around cool metal.

After pulling Gryffindor's sword out of the hat, Harry thanked Fawkes profusely. He still wasn't sure about exactly what was going on with the phoenix, but he was satisfied to merely accept the help for the time being. Fawkes trilled once more, picked up the sorting hat, and then disappeared in another burst of flame.

Harry sighed as he stared at the sword in his hands. Now that he had it he would be more than ready for his meeting with the goblins the next day. All that he had to do now was manage to slip away.

Thank Merlin for Apparition.

An hour later found Harry in the Great Hall with his friends, eating lunch. They were at the Slytherin table at the moment, so Draco and Theodore were with them as well. Ron was currently at the Gryffindor table, having refused to sit with all the Slytherins.

Upon leaving the Owlery Harry had shrunk Gryffindor's sword and put it in his pocket. He'd then made a quick trip up to the Gryffindor common room and stashed the sword in his tightly locked trunk.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione said once lunch began to end. "Didn't you say that you were going to visit Hagrid?"

Harry nodded to her and then suddenly turned to Draco. "Do you want to come?" he asked. "I don't think that you've properly gotten to meet him yet."

Draco sniffed imperiously, a slight sneer coming to his face. "That oaf? You're going to visit him?"

Harry frowned at Draco, causing the boy to suddenly freeze up, as if just realizing what he'd said and to whom.

"Hagrid knew my parents," Harry told the blonde. "And besides, he's the groundskeeper!" he added in an excited voice. "He must know everything about Hogwarts' grounds!"

Draco paused for a moment, considering what Harry had just said. "Well, perhaps," he said out grudgingly.

Harry felt his grin widened. "And you haven't met him yet either, right? Then you won't know until you do."

Draco didn't look happy at the revelation of this logic, but nodded in agreement. Harry had to stop himself from sighing aloud. He was glad that he was slowly starting to change the blonde's view, but he'd never known that the boy would be so stubborn.

Before long lunch was over and Harry and his friends began to drift out of the Great Hall. Since they didn't have to meet Hagrid until three, they had several hours of free time. The boys wanted to go outside and enjoy the day, but Hermione was almost demanding that they start on their homework. After watching an increasingly heated argument between Ron and Hermione in amusement for several minutes, Harry finally stepped in.

"Hey, if we do get started now on our homework then we can get it done before the weekend," he stated. Ron swung around to glare indignantly at him, but Harry just smiled amiably back. "Think of it this way," he continued. "Once it's done you'll have the entire weekend to just relax and have fun. Plus, after going to Hagrid's we can spend some time exploring the grounds."

Ron expression turned into a frown and he averted his eyes. Sensing his stubbornness, Harry's smile strained slightly. Had Ron always been like this? Sure, both he and Harry had always been reluctant to do their homework and such, but surely they'd both understood the reason why Hermione had always forced them to work. Harry was starting to feel for the Hermione that he'd known more and more.

"Hey Ron," Harry interjected, an idea popping into his mind. "Do you want to play wizarding chess later, after we visit Hagrid?"

The distraction worked perfectly and Ron immediately brightened up. "Yeah!" he exclaimed. "I love wizarding chess. I'm really good at it too, you know. None of my brothers can beat me!"

Harry smiled softly as Ron began to ramble on. Now there was the red headed Gryffindor that he knew.

By the time dinner rolled around, Harry was mentally exhausted. He had spent the two hours before meeting Hagrid in the library with his friends, including Draco and Theodore. They'd managed to get most of their homework done, yes, but they'd also spent half the time arguing. Or, rather, Ron and Draco had spent half the time arguing and throwing insults at each other. Harry was actually beginning to miss the shy Ron that he'd met on the train a week ago.

Despite hostile environment, they'd managed to get quite a bit done. Harry himself had breezed through his homework faster than even Hermione. Having memories of six years of schooling really helped, to the point that the work was mostly mind numbingly boring.

At three Harry and his friends had made their way down to Hagrid's hut. The half-giant had been pleasantly surprised by the amount of people and had joyfully welcomed them all inside, including Draco. They'd then spent the next hour and a half talking to the man and avoiding eating his rock cakes.

Harry let out slow breath as he finished up his dinner in the Great Hall. That night would have to sneak out of Hogwarts and get to Gringotts. The difficult part of this would to be getting out and then back in without getting caught. He wasn't sure just what type of wards Dumbledore had around the school, so he could only hope that they weren't ones that would detect his presence. But it was a risk worth taking.

In the end Harry had to wait until that evening before getting a chance to leave. He slipped away from his friends in the Gryffindor common room and headed up to the dormitories with the excuse that he was tired and wanted to go to sleep early. Once there he pulled the curtains around his bed close, placed a disillusionment charm on himself, and then placed a lock charm on his curtains. With Gryffindor's sword placed securely his pocket, he snuck out of the dorms.

It didn't take Harry too long to reach the Room of Requirement. After making sure that no one was around he quickly walked back and forth in front of the seemingly blank stretch of wall three times before slipping inside the door that appeared.

The inside of the Room of Requirement was incredibly messy, just as Harry'd expected. Piles and piled of junk filled the massive cathedral-like room for as far as Harry could see. All of it was things that'd been lost or placed there over the centuries.

Harry easily navigated through the mess. It had been only hours before he'd "died" that he'd last been there, so he definitely remembered where the vanishing cabinet was. This proved to be true as after only just a minute the large wooden cabinet cane into view. Harry grinned happily not only at it, but at Ravenclaw's diadem which sat next to it.

Harry reached out for the Horcrux only to pause as a sudden thought came to his mind. Voldemort was already in the school via Quirrell. What if he came to check up on the diadem? If he found that it was missing he would automatically suspect that someone knew of his Horcruxes. He would then go to check on the others and, well...Needless to say, that wouldn't be good. He could easily hide the ones that Harry didn't have yet so that no one would be able to find them

With a sigh Harry let his hand fall. As much as he hated to, he would have to leave the diadem here for now; he could collect it after his first year. There was the possibility that the diadem could be moved, of course, but he would just have to take that risk. He would have to trust that the timeline would follow its original path in regards to it.

Harry instead turned his attention back on the vanishing cabinet. He circled around it once, making sure that there was nothing leaning on it, and then turned to face an empty stretch of floor.

"Kreacher!" he called out.

With a crack the elder house-elf appeared. "Master Black, sir?" he croaked out.

Harry gestured to the cabinet beside him. "Please take this to Grimmauld Place," he said. "Once there wait for me to call you again. When I do, bring the cabinet with you."

Kreacher nodded eagerly. "Of course Master Black sir. Kreacher will wait!" And with that the elf touched the vanishing cabinet and both he and it disappeared with another, louder crack.

Harry let out a breath of air and then began to stride out of the room. Now all he had to do was get out of the castle without getting caught. That part would be aided by the disillusionment charm that he still had on and liberal use of the homenum revelio charm. Thus in only ten or so minutes Harry managed to safely get out of the castle and onto the grounds.

The first thing that Harry did was to head over to the edge of the Forbidden Forest near where Hagrid's hut was. He needed to speak with Xiuhcoatl, the Brazilian boa constrictor that he'd freed, partially because he hadn't gotten around to it yet, partially because he thought that the snake might be able to help him with something.

A few feet into the forest where Harry had directed the snake to go, he paused. "Xi?" he called out. "Xi, are you here?" For a moment nothing happened and Harry was beginning to wonder if the snake had wandered off, when suddenly something dropped down directly in front of him.

Harry let out a yelp and stumbled backward, quickly drawing his wand as he did so. His expression changed from surprise to a glare, however, when his eyes finally focused and saw that it was Xiuhcoatl who wan dangling in front of him, hanging from a branch up above. The snake looked highly amused, though Harry wasn't quite sure how he could tell.

"Xiii," Harry whined in annoyance.

Xiuhcoatl let out a snake's version of a laugh, which sounded like a strange, strangled sound to Harry's human ears. The boa constrictor then allowed himself to drop further from the branch so that he could wrap around Harry's shoulder.

"There's much to eat here," Xiuhcoatl hissed into Harry's ear, "But also many predators. The magical horse-men patrol the forest daily."

Harry started in surprise. Horse-men? Hmm, Xiuhcoatl must mean centaurs. He then paused to process that information. He'd known that the centaurs patrolled the Forbidden Forest, but not that they did so close enough to the edge for Xiuhcoatl to see them. Why did they feel the need to? Surely it wasn't just because Voldemort visited the Forest from time to time.

Xiuhcoatl tightening around his shoulder pulled Harry from his reverie. "Thanks you for that information," Harry told the snake. "However, I'm afraid that I'm not just here to chat. There's something that I need to ask of you..."

"Speak, and I will listen, Speaker."

Harry hesitated regardless. "Can...Can you sense wards? You said that you can sense wizards and magic, so I thought..." Harry trailed off, waiting for a reply.

Xiuhcoatl tilted his head to the side, considering the question. "I...believe that I can," he answered finally. "There is a magic that permeates the air here, but it stops at the gate that we passed by a week ago when you brought me here."

A grin came to Harry's face. Xiuhcoatl could sense wards then. It was useful to know that the anti-Apparition wards stopped at that gate. He'd figured as much, but had no way to know for sure.

"Can you tell me how far the wards go into the forest?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Not from here," came the reply. "I would have to go further in, until I could no longer feel the magic."

Harry considered his options. The Forest was dangerous, which made it a bad idea even though he'd been in it many times before. The gate was much safer, but it was also the front entrance—which meant it could be watched, or have additional wards that checked who passed through it. There was always the secret tunnels that ran between the school and Hogsmeade though, he thought. They'd served him well in the past.

But then... It was already getting late and those tunnels were back up at the castle, while the forest was right in front of him.

"Then I guess we'll just have to explore the forest," Harry said at last. This time at least, he amended to himself. It shouldn't be too far anyway, according to Xiuhcoatl. He'd be fine.

Xiuhcoatl nodded his agreement and then Harry began to walk forward, deeper in the Forest. He eventually had to light up his was with a lumos charm when it got too dark to see. Even then it was still only possible to see a few feet in front of him.

After what must have been a half an hour they still hadn't come to the edge of the wards. Harry was starting to get a bit despondent when he abruptly noticed some light shining through the trees up ahead. He was wary, but soon relaxed when, upon closer inspection, it turned out that the light was just moonlight that was shining brightly though a clearing up ahead.

At the edge of the small clearing Harry paused. It wasn't smart to go out in the open, not in the Forbidden Forest. Harry was just about to take a detour around the clearing when Xiuhcoatl suddenly spoke up, his tongue flickering through the air.

"Here!" he hissed. "The magic ends here and the air goes empty."

Harry blinked in surprise and turned back to the clearing. This was where the wards ended? A smile sprang to his face. Perfect; he'd easily be able to remember this clearing to Apparate to and from.

Before Harry could take even one step into the clearing however, he suddenly caught movement from the cover of his eye. Harry's head snapped around to stare deeply into the forest, but as far as he could tell there was nothing there. Still, the feeling that he was being watched wouldn't go away. It was like and itch between his shoulder blades and it was starting to make him—and Xiuhcoatl, for that matter—jumpy. He was suddenly remembering that Voldemort would visit the Forest during his first year.

Quite suddenly there was a snap of a branch behind him. Harry spun around immediately, his wand raised and a spell on his lips. But before he could do anything he froze, staring in surprise and more than just a little fear at the sight before him.

A/N: To preemptively answer a few questions that will probably come up:

No, no one is going to figure out that Harry is from the future. They just believe that his whole age thing is some sort of side effect of being hit with the killing curse. This will be explored in more detail later in the story.

Yes, there's a reason why Fawkes is helping Harry other than "yay, plot device!". You'll figure it out when Harry does, although thinking a little bit about the nature of phoenixes might give you a hint.

Yes, Xiuhcoatl has a near-human level of intelligence. Technically this is physiologically impossible for an animal, but so is the near-human level of intelligence that Fawkes, Nagini, and the basilisk (and even Hedwig, at times) showed in canon. From that we can assume from that magical animals are naturally capable of higher feats of intelligence than their mundane counterparts. (And thereby I should also note that most other snakes that Harry would run into would have very base intelligence)

Yes, there's a reason why the "Lord Peverell-Black" letter was forwarded through Gringotts. It will be brought up in a couple chapters, for reasons that will be clear at that time.

And finally, there's been some questioning about why the Ministry is recognizing Harry as two people when the titles are all belong to one person. I'll say what I've pretty much always said before: Everything is this story has an explanation. You can try to figure it out, or find out when Harry does.

Edit: A reviewer has pointed out that the vanishing cabinet was not broken until Harry's second year, when Peeves drops it. Since I completely overlooked this, I have two options: To ignore that part of canon or go back and write the broken cabinet out of the story. For the moment I'll be doing the former, but if I do rewrite parts of the chapters, I'll announce it.

[Shi]