Chapter 128: Twenty Years into the Future
Christmas had flown by and the end of the year was drawing nearer. As everyone had expected, there was a deatheaters' attack the day after Christmas in muggle London. Several muggles died and many had their memories modified. Luckily the aurors had arrived in time to prevent any more casualties.
"My new year resolution is going to find ways to defeat Voldemort." James slammed his fist on the arm rest. They had graduated only about half a year ago but it felt like forever. The sheltered student life they used to have felt so far back in their memories.
"Prongs, you're not the only one." Sirius muttered. He threw aside the latest issue of Daily Prophet which was having the usual You-Know-Who headlines.
"I will try again. See you all later." Remus told them. He had been taking time to travel to meet his future self nearly every day, hoping to find a way to get Harry back to the current time so they could join forces to defeat Voldemort together. Everyone knew that Harry was the key person in Voldemort's defeat, if he had done it twice in the future, he must be able to do something now.
"Take care." Arabella said before Remus disappeared from the couch he was sitting on a few seconds ago.
"We better get some rest. It's another long day for all of us tomorrow." Lily suggested. As it was New Year's Eve the next day, most of them would be back to work again as usual.
X
"Moony." Remus called out to his future self who was walking in front of him in the dimly-lit corridor. He had traveled forward in time once again and hoping that things would have turned out different since the last time.
"Who are you?" Professor Lupin looked at the eighteen-year-old boy in surprise. He had come back to Hogwarts since Professor Dumbledore died two years ago and continued to be the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher, with Professor McGonagall's invitation.
"It's a long story. Can we talk in the office privately?" Remus sighed. He knew that he would have to repeat his story nearly again.
"Please take a seat." Professor Lupin eyed the boy suspiciously. There was something oddly familiar about him that he could not pinpoint to.
"Okay, I'm your eighteen-year-old self, coming to the future to seek for your help." Remus started. "You, or we, have the gift of time travel. I need your help to create something to help Harry to travel with me back through time to defeat Voldemort."
"Harry had already defeat Voldemort." Professor Lupin said in a low voice.
"But he had already killed many people along the way. If only Harry could go back in time, to defeat him, imagine how many people's life would have been saved? James, Lily and Sirius, they are my friends. I don't want them to die and I don't want to be at all their funerals." Remus pleaded. He could see that his older self was contemplating what to do next. "I believe if Harry can go back with me, the history will change."
"But how can you guarantee Harry's safety?" Professor Lupin asked. "So many people had died in the process. All my loved ones had left me one after another."
"I can understand that because I'll end up the way you are now twenty years later. That's why I want to change the history. I don't want to lose Stef, I don't want to lose my friends, and I don't want to lead a life of loneliness. I want to change it." Remus emphasized with emotions.
"I tried that when I was your age, and I failed. Sometimes I blamed myself for causing all their deaths. I knew that would happen yet I can't change it. I'm powerless." Professor Lupin stood up and looked out of the window.
"We both know that we're here for a reason, why can't we change the history for a better and happier future?" Remus asked. "I refuse to accept the fact that Stefanie is gone. And I'll get her back even if I need to sacrifice my life."
"I've been trying to find her all these years but to no avail." Professor Lupin turned back to face Remus.
"Remus, for everyone's sake, can we create something for Harry and persuade him to go back with me?" Remus stood up face to face with his older self, who was looking very much older than his actual age, and very haggard.
"I don't know why, but along the way after Dumbledore's death, I kept my powers in this." Professor Lupin took out a triangular disc, with rounded edges. It had a swirl of colors in the middle, mainly orange and red, moving constantly in a circular motion.
"What is this?" Remus asked.
"I've traced back into very distant history and found out that several magical items were created in the beginning of time. One of those was this Light Compass. It was known to hold the element of time, probably dated more than six thousand years ago or even longer." Professor Lupin allowed Remus to take a closer look. "It was a gift from the past." He sat down once again with Remus.
"When did this happen?" Remus frowned. Whatever it was, the origins sure sounded dubious.
"One year ago, I don't know why, but I traveled all the way to the beginning of time. I don't know when exactly it was, but I just knew it when I reach there. A magical voice from heaven gave me the instructions and left this in front of me. He told me to transfer both mine and Stefanie's powers inside. I just followed his instructions; place both our pendants on it there and then." Professor Lupin held up the Light Compass. "And the next thing I remembered, I was back here in Hogwarts, not a minute passed since my departure with this in my pocket."
"What do you think of it?" Remus asked hopefully. This could be their only chance for a better future.
"Honestly, I don't know. I did my research and could not find anything link to this. I can say that this may just be a gift from the Gods above. But it's too late now."
"It's not too late. This may just be the chance for Harry to travel back with me." Remus said suddenly. "No one can live in a dimension not belonging to them and this might just enable Harry to live in my time."
"But I don't even know what exactly this is. It might just be a figment of my imagination." Professor Lupin argued as he kept the Light Compass back in his pocket.
"We need to try. Can we at least get Harry's opinion?" Remus begged. He was really beginning to be annoyed with his own rational self.
"I'm still not agreeable to risking Harry's life." Professor Lupin said firmly.
"Let's get Harry here. I'm sure he will agree with me." Remus was sure of that. James and Lily would do it for me and I'm sure their son would agree too.
"Let's wait till morning then." Professor Lupin sat down once again next to Remus. Silence filled the air and Remus felt asleep within minutes on the chair. Professor Lupin conjured a more comfortable bed and levitated Remus onto it before magicking the covers over him. Why didn't I do something like that twenty years ago? The present might have been different from now.
X
"Harry, can you come to my office?" Professor Lupin called out to Harry.
"Yes, Professor?" Harry turned to Ginny and gave her a puzzled look. "Is something wrong?"
"I'll explain to you in the office. Ginny, you might want to join us too." Professor Lupin sighed softly before turning around. Harry and Ginny exchanged a quizzical look before following Professor Lupin. They walked back to his office in silence, not knowing what to say.
"Harry." Remus called out in surprise the moment Professor Lupin entered his office with Harry and Ginny.
"Hi." Harry greeted the stranger and looked at Professor Lupin in surprise.
"Harry, Ginny, you might want to take a seat first before I start explaining." Professor Lupin took a seat in between Remus and Harry. "Now, this is Remus, my eighteen-year-old self."
"Huh?" Harry and Ginny looked at both of them, wide-eyed.
"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked. "How could-?"
"Listen to me first." Professor Lupin started explaining. "I understand that everything you two are going to hear will sound very absurd, but it's the truth. My younger self is here to seek for help to alter the history." Both Professor Lupin and Remus studied Harry and Ginny's reaction. "I've tried many ways and it ended up – you know – this way, Remus is here to seek an alternative. And I think we may have found it."
"What do you mean by alter the history?" Harry asked.
"That means you, Harry, will travel back to the past with me and help to change the history by defeating Voldemort in the past." Remus put it simply. Both Harry and Ginny gave him a puzzled look.
"I was against this initially, but a voice in the back of my head tells me that this might just be the right thing to do." Professor Lupin said with a sigh.
"So how is Harry going to travel back with Remus?" Ginny asked with a trace of worry.
"Using this Light Compass." Professor Lupin took the triangular disc out from his pocket again. "This holds the element of time and I believe you will be able to travel back with Remus and live in that dimension. Besides, it holds my powers as well as Stefanie's."
"Who is Stefanie?" Harry asked again. There were so many questions bursting in his head that he wanted to ask but he had no idea how to go about doing it.
"She's my first love and Sirius' cousin." Professor Lupin's voice was distant.
"So both of you want me to travel back with er.. Remus.. to defeat Voldemort in the past?" Harry asked. Both Professor Lupin and Remus nodded their heads at the same time.
"Wouldn't that be very dangerous?" Ginny asked. "What if Harry gets trapped and can't return or perhaps something bad happens?"
"I know it's dangerous, and I was against it initially." Professor Lupin clarified. "But if this gives Harry a chance of having parents all these years, and growing up as a normal boy, we may need to risk it."
"Wouldn't the whole situation be kind of strange?" Harry asked. "I mean I just turned eighteen not too long ago and I'm going to meet my parents who are eighteen as well."
"It may be strange. But we're on a mission for it. Harry had been able to defeat Voldemort twice because he was blessed with our powers." Remus added. "Especially Voldemort's power. If he can go back with me, we might just be able to reverse the way everything had turned out."
"Harry, the decision lies in you. We're not going to force to you to make any decision, but we hope that you will be able to help all of us." Professor Lupin said finally. Remus nodded in agreement. Harry turned to look at Ginny for support, who gave an encouraging nod.
"Since this is our only hope, I'll do it. I'll go back with Remus to the past." Harry said firmly after hesitating for a few seconds.
"I'll go with Harry as well." Ginny gave Harry a supportive pat on the back of his palm.
"Ginny, your parents will never allow you to do something like this." Professor Lupin reminded.
"I'll go with Harry wherever he's going." Ginny said affirmatively. If it was in another situation, Remus would have found that Harry and Ginny reminded him a lot of of James and Lily.
"Harry, Ginny, you don't know how much this is going to mean to all of us. But we must consider all the dangers that you two are going to face." Remus said grimly. "It's a bad time back there."
"I don't think what I had experienced in the last few years was any easier than that." Harry muttered to no one in particular but Ginny had heard him clearly. She gave a gentle squeeze on his right hand. "But Ginny, it's too dangerous for you."
"We had face Voldemort together before, what difference is it going to be this time?" Ginny argued.
"Alright." Harry gave in without much argument. "So are we going to pack up and leave now?" He asked Professor Lupin, who nodded in silence.
"Harry, Ginny, thank you." Remus called out just before Harry and Ginny went out of the office. Both of them turned and gave him a nod and closed the door after them.
"Professor Lupin, thank you." Remus said gratefully.
X
"Are you two ready?" Professor Lupin asked Harry and Ginny. They had left two hours ago to pack up and say goodbyes to their friends before returning to his office again. But this time, Ron and Hermione had come along with them.
"Yes." Harry nodded and turned to face Ginny.
"Ron, help me tell mum and dad sorry. I will be fine." Ginny told her brother. "And Hermione, I'll leave him in your care." She gave Hermione and Ron a tight hug.
"Have you two brought everything with you?" Hermione asked again as she pat their backpacks.
"I supposed so." Ginny said almost inaudibly. "Just some basic necessities."
"Go back to 1st January 1979, Potter's Manor." Professor Lupin passed the Light Compass to Harry. "Are you sure of this?" None of them had any idea how this gadget would bring them back through time.
"How do I use this?" Harry asked curiously, holding the Light Compass up and looking through the swirl of colors.
"Place it on the floor in front of both of you." Professor Lupin said automatically as if he had knew how to use it all the while. Harry squatted down immediately and placed the Light Compass on the solid ground just in front of him. Suddenly a strong white light emitted from the Light Compass, and formed a hole in the middle. The light was so glaring that they had to cover their eyes from the blinding light, including Harry and Ginny.
"I think we're supposed to walk in." Harry told Ginny as he caught a glimpse of the hole in front of him despite the glaring light. He held onto Ginny's hand tightly and they walked ahead together. Just as sudden, Harry's owl, Hedwig flew into Professor Lupin's office from the window and followed them into the Light Compass tunnel.
"Hegwig." Hermione caught a glimpse of Harry's snowy owl as it flew pass her. The white light got dimmer and disappeared gradually, leaving no traces of Harry or Ginny, or the Light Compass behind.
"I guess I better make a move as well." Remus broke the silence. "Remus, Ron, Hermione, thanks for all your help." The three of them smiled sympathetically as he vanished into thin air.
In almost an instant, Remus reappeared in Potter's Manor. "What time is it now?" He muttered to himself shaking his head. The hall where he left earlier was now rather dark with a few candles in the corridor flickering. "Where's Harry and Ginny?" He jerked up suddenly in realization. "Oh no!"
He jumped off from the couch and dashed towards his friends' bedroom. "James! Open the door!" He banged on James' bedroom door. "Sirius!" He went straight into Sirius' bedroom as he had forgotten to lock the door. "I need you up this very instant." He conjured a pail of water from midair and toppled it over Sirius' head.
"Moony! I was just having a dream!" Sirius sat upright and shouted angry, totally drenched.
"This is urgent! Get your arse out of your bed." Remus dashed out of Sirius' bedroom and towards Lily's room. "Lily! I need your help!"
"What's happening?" James asked groggily as he came out from his bedroom. Arabella was also rudely wakened up from the din Remus was making.
"Remus, are you alright?" Lily opened the door and found Remus standing outside her bedroom looking quite disheveled.
"Harry is back!" Remus announced, looking at his friends' reactions.
"What?" All of them took several seconds to register what Remus just said.
"What do you mean by 'Harry is back'?" James frowned and scratched his head. It was nearing midnight and Remus was talking nonsense about Harry. Moreover they had to wake up early for work the following day.
"It's a long story. But I'm telling the truth. Harry is really back. He's here in this dimension with us." Remus tried to convince all his sleepy friends who did not look all that sleepy now.
"Alright, Harry is back." Sirius was now leaning against the wall while listening to Remus talking. "So where is he now?"
"That's the problem. He and Ginny are supposed to be here." Remus confessed. "But I don't know where they are now."
"Who is Ginny?" Arabella asked. They were trying to believe what Remus was saying but it just sounded too far-fetched.
"Harry's girlfriend." Remus' voice was filled with urgency. "Most importantly we need to find them now to ensure their safety first."
"Let's go find them now." James was now convinced by Remus and went back to his room to change. The rest of them followed and changed quickly, within minutes they were back at the common hallway. "Let's split up the different levels. We meet in the hall in ten minutes time." All of them split up into different directions.
X
Harry bent down to pick up the Light Compass which was now lying on the snow. He brushed the snow off before keeping it safely in his pocket.
"Where are we now?" Ginny asked Harry, her voice was shivering slightly from the cold weather. It was snowing slightly and they pulled their cloaks around them tighter.
"Godric's Hollow, I suppose." Harry looked around him. There were many mansions lined along the street. It must have been rather late as there was no one else outside besides them. "Keep your wand handy, we don't know what's lurking out there." He said in a low voice. They touched their back pockets to double check for their wand presence.
"Aren't you glad I'm here with you?" Ginny teased in a light-hearted manner. "Otherwise you would be out here in this strange place all alone."
"Of course I'm glad that you're here." Harry put his arm around Ginny's shoulders. "What do you think we should do right now?"
"Maybe Remus will come looking for us?" Ginny suggested optimistically.
"Harry? Ginny?" A female voice called out behind them.