Hello. = Normal Writing, Writers Perspective

"Hello." = Normal Speaking

'Hello' = Quotes from Story

"Hello." = Different Languages

'Hello.' = Actual Thinking

Hello = Special Words

/Hello/ = Letter

Chapter Seven
Timed Travel

"Even if it turns out that time travel is impossible, it is important that we understand why it is impossible."

- Stephen Hawking -

A few months into his training had Harry back with a natural mental shield.

It was a bit shaky and easily broken, but at least nobody could see into his thoughts just because their eyes met - even if briefly. Sirius had tested it with his strained Legilimency, which he had to learn in his former Auror training, and found out it was at least stable enough to withstand a few probes. Harry was far from being a master in the art, but it was a beginning.

Harry was training to cement and harden said shield, before laying another stratum over the first one, which was the first step to true Occlumency. Once he had the hardened first layer and the second one up to good standards the teen could begin with hiding his multiple memory-strings behind his shields in his mind-landscape.

Though Sirius said it was not usual for everybody to have an actual landscape. Some got them with years of experience, extensive training, or through family magic. So Harry's was a by product of the double soul fusion, holding triple the amount of memories and experiences. Plus the fact that he had to be centered in his own mind.

Well it wasn't as if he ever had been normal to begin with anyway...

There was another plus to his and Sirius lives: The House of Family Black. Grimmauld Place 12 was keeping them save and sound.

In fact they were so save even Uther, who had later on been connected to the newly established wards, had trouble coming back every time he left. Which was ridiculous on Harry's 18th birthday as he had actually made a delivery for Sirius, as well as getting the-boy-who-lived a gift of his own.

Other than that the two of them had scoured through the first parts of the old Black Library that contained, more or less light labeled, magical books on different magic that could help them in a fight. Luckily the Black family had a lot of books handy. So between the daily Occlumency training, the leaps Harry ran around in the halls surrounding the gemstone in the hidden basement; and the checkups from Uther Prewett, the two trained light, dark or gray spells theoretically and practically.

The fact that there were still some books in the hidden reading room that held even darker magic than what Sirius was willing to teach Harry, had also it's pros and cons. Pro because Harry had already a headache by the end of the first week of them training, con because his knowledge would be limited.

'Huh, seems as if Hermione did rub off on me...' He thought as he stood in front of his godfather with his wand drawn. The entity stood in front of the young man, black mist emanating from his solidified form and holding a wand-like 14 Inch long thing in his right hand, waiting for his godson to make the first move.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry began the fight, they did not bother with proper dueling as they both now were, more or less, war veterans who wanted to fight for their lives. Granted, the spell he used was rather light, but they had agreed to use their whole arsenal, minus any unforgivables.

Sirius ducked underneath the spell, his mist bellowing like a cloak behind him, red eyes fixed onto Harry's still growing frame.

"Reducto!" The blue curse sailed towards the teen at break neck speed. Using his seeker reflexes Oliver Wood had hammered into his muscle memory, Harry jumped out of the way while throwing another curse at the form of his godparent.*

"Sectumsempra!" Luckily Sirius, who had estimated his godsons reaction had a strong shield up in time to block the dark gray curse. Soon the colors of the spells, jinxes and curses filled the air in the re-modeled drawing room, vanishing in shields the two had put up around the remaining furniture. From red to green to blue to black.

They had not lied when they had agreed on their whole arsenal.

As Harry ducked away from a Entrail-Expelling Curse he did not see the stunner headed to his new position and was soon out like a light. Luckily for him the entity had send a reviving charm at his downed form. Soon both sat on the ground, panting heavily.

Kreacher popped into the room, a silver platter in his hands, with delicious smelling food on it, somehow knowing when their battle had ended.

Digging in with delight the two men ate like there was no tomorrow.
During his recovery Harry had developed a rather frightening tendency of gluttony, as if his tummy was a black hole. Due to their connection Sirius unfolded similar eating habits. At their glutton festival Sirius told him about the years the teen had spend in the trance like state of the Puppeteers Sonata, only for said teen to tell the other that he remembered that time exactly, if a bit wooly. Somehow the mind was not as effected as the caster probably would have liked.

"Hmm, I had a feeling that was the case back when I had first told you", admitted the Black while munching on a chip.

"You know Harry, this was not even a true battle. In a true battle everything goes, from prank objects like those swamps the Weasley twins created to dark magical rituals or rune traps. As long as one knows how to go about it one can do anything in battle."

The other listened in to his godfathers speech, a beagle half hanging out of his mouth, still chewing the other half. He knew that. The books on warfare had been clear that to battle meant to kill. Besides he had been rather creative with that Bombarda to the head. Yes, he somewhat came clear with the fact that he had killed Voldemort rather bloodily, even if it took time.

"Oh", there was a thought that hit him in that moment, "Did you read in The Prophet that I apparently am the new Dark Lord?"

It was true, in the last Prophet Uther had bought, the headlines screamed bloody murder about him. Said he was practicing dark arts and that, when he had 'tried' to kill Voldemort with a Bombarda, he had begun to show his evil tendencies.

"Yes, it was hard not to notice. Did you read the part of Ron Weasley overtaking Georges busyness?" He got a negative head shaking. Harry had not read that, as he had thrown away the useless paper after reading the headlines.

"Apparently George was depressed after Fred's death, his Jokeshop was financially nearly in ruins. So Ron helped him 'out of the goodness of his heart', a couple of days ago the lone twin was found dead in his apartment. Apparently suicide, but I call bullshit." The entity took a deep, calming breath, he had liked both twins so much. Harry fared no batter as he crushed his glass of lemon juice in his hand (with a bit of magic), prompting Kreacher to repair the damage and fawning over the teen with the now bleeding hand.

"Anyway, I wanted to discuss with you what we should do once we turn back."

Harry Shrugged at his godfathers question. Expertly ignoring the pain and the fact he was dripping wet, or the fawning elf. Right now he was trying to have as much knowledge as possible so he could defend himself.

"I have no clue. That is if we even turn back. I had my suspicions that what happened was only a dream, but since you know of the same event I suspect it was not. So... if we turn back it stands to question when we would land. Sadly we have no idea when the Harbinger sends us back."

Sirius, this time munching on his desert, nodded along the teens words.

"You are right. But we should at least make an outline for the things we should be doing. We could, for example, train our resistance to the Sonata so we do not end up with it again." He stuffed another spoon full of vanilla mash in his mouth, swallowing it with delight.

"That is a brilliant idea, Sir. Maybe-"

"Did you just call me 'Sir'?"

"Well, it was really more like a shortening of your name." Harry shrugged. "Now, maybe we could find a way to detect those who are under the spell and try to get them out of it. We know for sure that Remus, Tonks, Snape and Fred were under the Sonata, as they ran right to the next best danger afterward - thanks to that stupid second spell. But we need to find out for how long and since when. If we train ourselves to be immune to the song we can pretend to still be under it, so we have an easier time helping those who still are manipulated. Besides, even if they are under that wretched spell we have no telling if they truly are on our side, right? We don't know for sure if people like Ron or Hermione were subdued, as you put it. Either for not wanting to be paid, or for not wanting to be my friends."

The last part was said with much sorrow, it still hurt him to know that his two best friends might had not wanted him for him, but instead for something else.

"You are right, Harry. We need to find out more about the Sonata, if I remember correctly there was something on it in the hidden department of the library." Where they had not been to, yet. "But, we still have to talk about what we do when we get back. I think it would be best to meet up as early as possible." Pointed out the old dog, to which the younger man nodded silently. Seeing his godson's mood, which was a bit dark right now, the entity tried to cheer him up.

"Come on, Ray, we have a book to find." Harry reacted to the quipped nickname a little too late as Sirius fled the room in giggles.

Naturally a few hours later found the twosome in the hidden part of the official Black Library snooping around the books, a heavy stack of already read books placed on the table. Harry sat on the stool next to it. Both were of course made from blackthorn - as if the Blacks would take anything less than absurdly high costing magical wood. In his hand was a tome on soul magic.

"Hey, Sirius, did you know that the myth of Gingers being soulless monsters from hell was based on the fact that the first victim of a Dementor was a Weasley?"

Came the random question that had laid on his tongue since the teen had read the part about the creation of Dementors. Which apparently were wizards cursed by death and magic for their sins with foul, evil soul magic, taking their souls and making them hunger for what they would never possess again.

"Eh? Really? I guess I never really read everything like my mother had wanted me to. Only those I found interesting or as a cover for when she came here to see if I truly was doing what she wanted me to do." Shrugged the shaggy haired male from behind a book on ancient magic.

Sadly they found nothing in those books and moved on to the next two.

Alas, it was a few days, lots of nerves, books, training sessions and headaches later they finally found a clue. By then Halloween had come knocking on the door, with yet another attack on the House by the Order.

Luckily the House was rather vicious when it came to protecting it's inhabitants, breaking wand arms or ripping magic from people; leaving them either dead, near dead or a squib.

Harry felt sorry for the attackers, but Sirius said that it was their own fault, as the House had actually warned them beforehand. Apparently that was why nobody ever was dumb enough to outright attack the ancestral home of the Blacks. Ever.

The only downside to this was that the Order now knew that somebody lived inside Grimmauld Place.

Well, nothing they could do about it now.

On to the book that held a clue to the Puppeteers Sonata.

It was as Sirius had said: To defend from the spell-song one had to have great magical reserves, a strong will and mind or a personality disorder. To become immune to the spell - as it was almost like the Imperio - one had to train their mind and magic, as a strong will was something one had to have naturally or create with very hard work worth half a lifetime.

So Harry had the brilliant idea of Sirius and him practicing with the Imperio to strengthen their resistance to mind control.

"The only difference between the Sonata and Imperio is the fact that the Imperio lets you 'hear' the voice of the caster as suggestive suggestions in your head. Whereas the Sonata makes you believe the suggestions of the caster are your very own thoughts. It doesn't help that one can even project their own, or manipulate the others, feelings with that awful song."

Summarized Sirius for his godson as his eyes traveled the page that described the actual magical song. Which could be played by any instrument as long as the musician was magical and had cast the incantation on the victim and the tool.

"Bloody Hell." Was the only thing that came from the jumbled mess that was the teens mind.

"Bloody Hell, indeed." Grumbled the godfather. "Lets eat something, then get to bed. Tomorrow we start with the resistance and immunity training."

"Alright, but I want to know something", conceded the young male. The entity tilted his head in a questioning manner, prompting the black-haired teen to ask his question. "How does one know if they have a strong will or multiple personalities?"

Humming the mist answered. "There are two methods that I know of to find out if you have a strong will. You can either battle off the Imperius Curse with struggling, or...", Sirius stopped shortly.

"What?" Demanded the last Potter.

"... well... I'll tell you that one when I think you are old enough. Now, with multiple personalities it's not that easy. As far as I know it is something acing to lycanthropy where you don't have your self-control when turned. I don't have a Muggle doctors degree, so I can't really explain it any further." With that the Black turned tail, leaving a curious teen behind. Sadly, no matter how much he questioned his godfather he never got an answer for the part the old dog would not tell.

His reasoning? 'The training needed to start'.

And start they did.

Still training their Occlumency by meditating and the occasional unsuspected mind-probes. Or training their spells and battle techniques - all often put together - they soon infused their resistance training with the battles they fought, demolishing room by room until they were practicing in the entrance hall on a whim.

Kreacher had multiple field days repairing the broken windows, shattered chairs, couches, lockers and cupboards. Not to mention the swamps or dung bombs the two began to use in their rather vicious battles.

One time Harry had ended up with a chicken head and slug arms, due to Sirius inner prankster. Another time he old mud was chased by transfigured female dogs in heat.

It was good to laugh once in a while

Day's of training turned into weeks, the House getting attacked on occasion.

Weeks turned into months as the two destroyed furniture, once even Mrs. Blacks screaming painting with a dark spell.

When months turned into a year, then two, Harry found himself with a mind-shield that was resisting Sirius even stronger probes and sorted memories from three different lives - two of of which he still could not access.

Both had reflexes like antelopes and spell arsenals as big as the Eiffel tower. (Might be exaggerating here...)

Harry, now twenty, found himself up at a height of six feet and three inch and a good muscled body, not to thick, but not to small either. It actually complimented his Seeker build even more.

Sirius on the other hand had finally gotten a grip on his form, now being able to remain in a solid human shape for about a constant month with only a days rest within Harry's hand. He had also gained new abilities.

It was almost as if he was what myths called a wraith. Or a specter.

He could turn invisible at a whim and had (only) slight control over nearby shadows. The one real great ability was his eyes that could detect some magic, almost like the fabled mage-sight.

Both now were immune to the Imperio Curse, sadly both had no idea if that was the case with the Sonata as they both did not want to enslave the other to their will with no idea how to stop it correctly. Besides, they had destroyed the only instrument in the house, the piano, in one of their battles so much even Kreacher had not been able to repair it.

On a darker note:
Uther Prewett had been found dead around Christmas the past year.

The outside world was getting darker, even though the Dark Lord had been dead for nearly two years, Dumbledore's manipulations turned everybody against each other. There was only distrust found, even in Families like the Weasleys.

The last they had heard Bill and Fleur Weasley, together with their child Victoire, had been under cynicism of their Family so much they had to flee the country on New Years Eve. It was pettily reasoned in the Prophet with 'Bill and Fleur were both monsters, one scratched by a Werewolf, the other a born monstrosity'.

Harry and Sirius did not leave the House after that, even thought their previous excursions were ever so brief.

It was a tragedy like no other as the two watched from afar as magical Britain crumbled in on itself. The children of Death Eater's were declared outlaws, hunted and killed in cold blood. The Goblins, Werewolves, Vampires and other Magical beings that could do nothing against their status were hunted down.

Pelt, teeth and other body parts were sold in shops for low prices, potion ingredients or prized trophies to those who could afford them. Gringotts was overtaken by wizards, no money was to be given out to any other being than the owner of the vault, so the duo could no longer send Kreacher to fetch some gold and meals.

The last herd of Thetrals in all of England had been hunted to extinction, the house-elfs were near to that point, just like the Hippogriffs, the Unicorns or other creatures. Hagrid, the friendly half-giant that could have never hurt a fly, had been killed in one of the wizards raids. His head was now on show in the Ministry's entrance hall together with other species, even Muggles. They now were free to hunt, ever since Kingsley had been killed in his position as Minister of Magic by a Muggle.

All in all Britain, or rather the whole of England - not only the magical part - was in a riot.

And it was a riot that nobody was inclined to stop.

Sighing heavily the two turned to their mugs of Firewhiskey they had found in the hidden rooms. It was Halloween once again and they did not feel like partying. Courtesy of what had happened every year on that day. So they sat there, drinking, pitying themselves.

At least until there was a gigantic poof, a white cloud fluffing between their comfortable armchairs where the flask of Whiskey stood on the table, where there laid a scroll now.

Staring at each other the twosome shrugged. One of them picking up the scroll sure that it was no trap, as the wraith had detected no ill intended magic on it, and opened the yellowish paper to read out the following words.

/Alright maggots, listen up!

As I made clear a few chapters ago I will not turn up physically ever again, so the maggot writing this story of yours has come up with a plan to ensure everything she's planned will come to fruition.

So, now I have written this stupid thingy here to tell you to get ready mentally. To leave the reality you know behind to live a second chance. I know it is cliché, but I don't give a fuck.

I can only throw you two so far back. Originally this was planned for only Harry, but the mud just had to butt in. The original plan was to throw Harry back to the beginning of his live, fresh out of his mothers womb, sadly I did not have the power to do that to begin with.

Plus it would be awfully dull. Don't cha think?

So, maggots, instead of throwing Harry fourteen years into the past as I originally planned with the power I collected, I have to divide that power and throw the both of you seven years back. Meaning into Harry's 13 year old body. Lucky for you I can add on a few months so you will end up on the brats birthday instead of Halloween.

You might be right in time to unseal the sea dog. Thought you might need the joystick of doom and it's companions, the cheese cape and the onion ring, on your journey, so you better get them!

Convenient, right?

Well, maggots, it was nice meeting you. Or not. Whatever.

Get ready by Zero o'clock.

Ta-da.

Ann-Mary /

"Okay", said Harry, drawing out the word.
As one the two turned to face the old (blackthorn) clock standing at the wall behind them. It was one minute before midnight. Paling rapidly they realized what it meant.

"Oh shit!" Cursed Sirius shortly, trying to breath deeply in and out as his godson tried the same, as to calm down and get mentally ready. Sadly it did nothing to calm the two. A white light shone bright in the dark rooms of Grimmauld Place Number 12, when it died down Harry James Potter, as well as his companion Sirius Orion Black, had vanished without a trace.

* This sentence sounds so wrong on so many levels... ;)

~ HP ~ OZ ~

Ola, me dear Chikorita's!

This chapter may or may not comes out a little late... sorry.
So the Time Jump happened here, was about time I say. Can't stand it if it takes too long for the plot to twist. Sooo~ What will happen now?

Yes, I get the letter sounds barmy, but it's intentional and I believe you already have figured out what the hell the harbinger is saying. Anybody got the reference to Team Four Star's DBZ Abridged?
Sorry for the tipping errors in the Authors Note in the last chapter, it was spontaneous and hastily written.

To me dear Rewievers

Thanks, me dear Rosalind, I thought there were awfully little to no Fanfictions with semi-sentient Houses; most giving only Hogwarts something assembling to a sentience, others give the poor school too much of a mind. She won't be taking physical form in this Fanfiction, like in some others, but still be responsive. Your Slytherin preference is noted, thought it may take some time until I make some characters appear ;)

If this is such a jumbled mess, me dear Sturmundsterne, would you be so nice as to point out how exactly? Your comment was a bit too short and if my readers don't tell me what they find wrong I can't change that in future chapters. Though I recently read through the first few chapters again and cringed at the errors... yeah, will work on those, but not now. Thank you, none the less, for your critique - it's always welcome. :)

fluff

~ Berry

P.S.: In the next Chapter a new Arc begins!
And I will have to wait for my new timetable to see if I still will be able to post two chapters each month... only from October onward! so there will be one other this month :3