AN/
The passage quoted is from the American version of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", Chapter Twenty-three, Christmas on the Closed Ward, page 512. Harry Potter books are the sole possession of J K Rowling and no copyright infringement was meant or implied by the use of this quoted passage.
Chapter 5 : Welcome to Hogwarts
Harry appeared out of the fireplace in a POOF of green flames to find the group gathered around his kitchen table. Emma was typing away on her laptop with Hermione at her elbow, Ron and Rupert, Tom and Draco and Ginny and Dan each had their heads bent over copies of the last three books of the series, highlighting passages and discussing what was relevant to their mission. They all turned toward him, varying degrees of curiosity expressed by raised eyebrows and questioning looks.
"Ready to go see the real deal?"
"Excellent!" "Oh, my!" "Wicked!" "Brilliant!"
"Minerva is anxious to meet all of you and Albus is practically climbing out of his portrait frame; he's like a kid in Honeydukes with a handful of Sickels!"
"He's excited to meet us?!" Emma looked at Hermione. "Does he know about the movies?"
"Oh, yes. Harry has informed him of the popularity of the whole 'Harry Potter' series; apparently he finds it quite amusing and would love to view all of them, sometime." Hermione informed her.
"What did Severus say?" Draco asked.
"Snape?" Dan looked at Draco, puzzled, then turned to Harry. "You insisted they put his portrait in the Headmaster's Office, didn't you?"
"I did. And Minerva confirmed that despite the Carrows running amok that year, Severus was only doing what he had to do; he was fair, when he could get away with it, but really had his hands tied, all things considered," Harry explained. "But his portrait was empty and I'm betting he was down in the dungeons . . . he tends to still do his rounds through the halls."
"Speaking of Minerva, I understand she has spent many a long evening reading ALL of the books to the portraits on her office walls . . . which means she could be a great help with our project; we'll get her input, while we're there," added Ron, grinning. "So, gather up your gear and we'll go for a little visit, shall we?"
"I'll just leave my laptop here," Emma said as she turned it off and closed the lid. "I seriously doubt there's any Wi-Fi at Hogwarts."
"Probably not." Hermione agreed.
X X X
As they emerged from the fireplace in the Headmistress' office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Dan, Rupert, Emma and Tom looked around the familiar room, shaking their heads and trying to wrap their minds around the fact that this was REAL, not a movie set. Rupert walked over to the wall and rapped his knuckles on the stone.
"OW! it's real, alright."
"What are you doing?" Ron asked, coming up beside him, a quizzical look on his face.
"Checking the wall; this is real stone, the one's on the set were plywood, covered and painted to look like stone, but if you rapped on them, you could tell it was a fake wall, hollow wooden sound."
"Very astute of you, Mr. Grint." Rupert spun around and looked up to see Albus Dumbledore smiling down at him. "And welcome to Hogwarts . . . all of you."
"Indeed . . . Please, have a seat," agreed Minerva McGonagall, indicating a circle of chairs, as she sat down. She looked at each 'set' of young people before her, amazed at their similarities. "Now, how can Albus and I help you?"
Harry looked at Dan. "Which should we tackle first, people to try and save or how and when we should mess with the timeline."
"People first, I should think."
"Right, Hermione, you have that, don't you?"
"Yes. We've come up with a list of immediate interventions and then we think, as the timeline changes, the rest might be saved with just the knowledge that they need to be careful of certain situations - forewarned, as it were. Then again, those situations might never happen"
"When we go back," Emma held up the list. "There are two, Broderick Bode and Sirius Black, that are the 'soonest', so to speak."
Rupert raised his hand. "I had a thought on the bit with Bode. You all," indicating Harry, Ron and Hermione, "See Neville and his Gran at St. Mungo's and that plant that strangles Bode later is on his bedside stand."
"Devil's Snare." Hermione and Emma said at the same time.
X
"And look, Broderick, you've been sent a potted plant and a lovely calendar with a different fancy hippogriff for each month, they'll brighten things up, won't they?" said the Healer, bustling along to the mumbling man, setting a rather ugly plant with long, swaying tentacles on the bedside cabinet and fixing the calendar to the wall with her wand. "And - oh, Mrs. Longbottom, are you leaving already?"
X
"Right . . . well, Hermione could stop Neville just as he's leaving and ask him, out of curiosity, if he recognizes the plant - you can't remember the name - whatever. Neville's a whiz at Herbology, he'll recognize what it is and then you can raise an alarm, get it removed. Then Bode can recover and that's one less Death Eater victim. Plus, it'll make Neville look good for his Gran!"
"But won't the Death Eaters just try to kill him some other way?" asked Tom.
"Not if he is 'Obliviated" of the memory of whomever put the 'Imperious Curse' on him. Plus, he could then go on a 'rest and relaxation/recovery holiday'; in other words, hide him until it's safe," Harry suggested, looking up at Albus for any thoughts he might have on the matter. "Could you arrange that, or were you in too much disfavor with the Ministry, back then, to have that done by someone in the Order who works in the Ministry or at St. Mungo's."
"Oh, I think I could arrange to have him 'Obliviated' of that particular memory while he's still in St Mungo's. It will be a bit trickier to arrange hiding him; that idea should, perhaps, come from the 'Auror' office as a 'security issue' type of suggestion. I'll think about that, while you continue, dear boy."
"Now," Harry took a deep breath. "About Sirius and our little trip to the Ministry."
"This is where we have to think of both sides of the story," Ron picked up a piece of paper and referred to some notes he and Rupert had made earlier. "If we start changing too much, too soon, Voldemort will get suspicious . . . he's using the school year and all the mayhem Dolores caused to keep us distracted from what he was doing to Harry with those dreams."
"We need to speak to Severus as soon as we get there and make sure that Harry gets very proficient at 'Occlumency', not only to block Voldemort from knowing what's going on in Harry's life, but maybe even give Voldemort some false images to convince him he's getting his way." Dan was looking at Harry, as he said this. "I'm going to have to do this, Harry, as Severus won't take the word of a fifteen year old, but he might take mine, after he accepts the fact that I'm bringing these instructions back to him from you. I think, when we go back, I will, well, we ALL will have to impose a little 'tough love' on you guys . . . and Severus . . . "
"Did I hear my name?" asked Severus Snape, as he entered his portrait and settled into his chair.
"Hello Professor, been strolling have you?" Harry looked up at his former Potions Professor and smiled. "I noticed your chair was empty when I was here earlier."
"Just conferring with Horace about a few potions for this year's Newts Classes." Severus eyed the others sitting there. "Should I have glasses added to this painting, I'm seeing double."
"No, sir, these are our Muggle doubles, if you will, they portrayed us in the movies made from the Harry Potter books."
"And as a treat you've brought them to Hogwarts?" Severus' eyebrows flew up?
"No, we're going to ask them to go back and help change things, for the better, we hope. So we're here to get your input about our plans."
"Do you think that wise, Harry?" Severus cast a glance at Albus, who smiled and nodded.
"I'm . . . we're trying to save lives, including yours and Albus', among others."
" I see. However, I interrupted you, something about my not believing . . . Dan, is it?"
"Yes, sir," replied Dan, a bit awe struck at facing the real Severus, even in portrait form.
"Well, knowing you, the poster boy for skeptics, I doubt just Dan's word will be enough," Draco added, smiling at his former Head of House.
"Might I offer a suggestion?" Albus remarked, stroking his beard. "Perhaps if you would take a message back to our younger selves, something known only to us, that would convince even you Severus."
"Excellent idea, Albus, " said Minerva. "Let me think, what is something known only to myself that would prove this is going to happen . . . Hummmm."
"While we contemplate our answers, perhaps you could continue with you plan?" The Headmaster reminded them.
"Right, we were on about 'tough love' and how it'll be hard to get some of you to listen . . . like Severus." Dan said, bowing to Snape's portrait, who nodded back..
"And Sirius," agreed Harry, shaking his head.
"And my family," Ron spoke up, poking Rupert in the arm. "Lots of luck with Mum, by the way."
"Remus, Mad-Eye, Tonks . . . any of the Order," Hermione added. Emma rolled her eyes.
"And myself, in particular . . . I won't take kindly to being told I was an old fool, which I was ," Albus admitted. "But, as you will show me the errors in my thinking . . . I'll probably be the first to admit that your plan could help us immeasurably."
"Lots of luck with me, Tom," Draco patted his double on the shoulder. "I was a bit of a git back then."
"BIT of a git?" "Back THEN?" "Gilding the lily, Draco."
"Alright, alright! I get it! I was a royally arrogant, fully fledged, blue balled, thorn in everyone's side, snob of a Muggle hating, pure blood fanatic, copy-of-my-father, egocentric, pain in the arse!" Draco threw up his hands. "Happy?!"
"Really, Mr. Malfoy!" sniffed Minerva. "Epitome of Slytherin ideals would have sufficed."
The shocked look on Draco's face was priceless, until Minerva winked at him and he lost his composure totally, collapsing in a fit of roaring laughter, joined by the others and a majority of the watching portraits.
When they had recovered sufficiently, Ron continued with his thoughts. "Anyway, we have the advantage of knowing all of the Horcruxes and where they are hidden and how to dispose of them. However, I don't think we should start getting rid of them right away, but space them out so old Tom won't notice . . . maybe when he's really angry or really happy, we could destroy one and its effect on him might be shrugged off as overexertion of emotions on his part, not from an outside source."
"And that, girls and boys, is why Ron ALWAYS wins at Wizard chess; strategy is everything!" enthused Rupert, clapping Ron on the back.
"Indeed, Mr. Grint," agreed Dumbledore. "Might I call you Rupert?"
"Of course, Sir," Rupert answered, blushing. "Hope you don't mind if I occasionally call you Michael instead of Albus, though."
"Not a problem. Which brings up a curious coincidence: you young people lost 'your' Dumbledore after the second movie, am I correct?"
"Yes, Richard Harris played you first and then Michael Gambon stepped into his robes, so to speak," Dan replied, with a wry grin. "So when we found out about your death scene in Book Six, we knew we could react properly during the filming of those scenes; just remembering back to the news of Richard's death."
"Which brings us to a BIG sticking point in our timeline," Tom injected. "How do we deal with Severus having to kill you, as you won't be dying of the curse from that ring this time around. Draco might not be helping the Death Eaters get into Hogwarts. It might all be different in your sixth year. Also, should you get through the sixth year without being 'killed'? Is it imperative that you be 'out of the picture', so to speak, for Harry to do his bit? Or should we go 'Hollywood' and fake your death. It might be an advantage having you around to help from behind the scenes."
"My goodness," gasped Minerva. "You all really do know everything about our lives and it appears you all have been doing some serious thinking!" She clapped her hands in delight. "Now you have me all atwitter about the possibilities!"
Harry hadn't seen her this excited about anything since the day she dragged him to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to inform Oliver Wood that she'd "found a new Seeker".
"How in the world are we going to persuade Sirius to NOT come to the Ministry this time, because if he manages to not let Bella knock him backward into the Veil, the Aurors will arrest him or kill him on sight!" Hermione wondered. "He mustn't come to your rescue, Harry; he'll be killed, no matter which way you look at it!"
"It would seem, if I'm understanding you correctly, that perhaps, as we know what's going to happen, as far as the Prophesy is concerned, maybe Severus could come, instead of staying at Hogwarts, and 'help' Bella escape to the Atrium, but then the whole scene with Voldemort will have to take place, in order for Fudge and the other witnesses to see Voldemort, confirming his return." Dumbledore looked over at the young Wizard sitting in front of him. "Sorry, Harry." Harry nodded and waved his hand, indicating he understood what he would have to do . . . again. "And you'd have to think of your parents instead of Sirius, in order to get him to release his hold on your body."
"Considering I already know I have to die again, a little visit in my skull from old Tom isn't that big a deal," Harry replied, as he straightened his legs, did a nonchalant stretch, put his hands behind his head and grinned up at Albus."
"Cheeky, my boy . . . but true. I'm afraid the Prophesy still has to be fulfilled, eventually, but under different circumstances."
"If I did come to the Ministry, instead of staying at Hogwarts, I could possibly keep Bella occupied; she would be dueling with me and not Black, but she'd expect me to let her escape, too, " Severus portrait mused.
"That's one of the possibilities, Professor, that we're going to take with us to present to you. IF you listen to us," Emma added.
"Oh, I know just what I'm going to send as a message, so have no fear, I'll believe you." Severus sneered. "But I want Draco, sorry, Tom, to deliver it; Slytherin to Slytherin."
"I'd be honored, sir." Tom bowed to Severus, while Draco clapped him on the shoulder.
"Welcome to Slytherin House," he whispered, while Tom grinned.
"This is going to be a huge exercise is 'winging it', isn't it?" Ron offered. "Could get a bit tricky. I was thinking, after you all get everything established with this Christmas visit, perhaps we should have you come back and see if we'd need you to have another get together with us, say, during the following summer holiday, after the raid on the Ministry, and see how things are going. When you return to the present, we'll know what changed and what happened and if there's something going really badly, we could fix that, too. I know that would be interfering even more, maybe a bit too much, but a tweak or two couldn't hurt, do you think?"
"Unfortunately, we have to watch that we don't do too much with the Time Turners, as both they and anyone using them, will start to weaken if overextended or overused," Draco explained.
"No-one, to my knowledge, has even done such as massive endeavor as you all are planning, so you will, indeed, be 'winging it', Ronald. Perhaps a later meeting would be beneficial, if we use all precautions available, correct, Draco?"
"I'll do some calculations and give you what our best time frames would be," replied Draco. "Hopefully, learning what we will at the first meeting will be sufficient and when they," indicating Dan and his friends, "return to the present day, we'll have good news for them about how it all turned out and a second trip won't be necessary. Again, it hangs on our believing we can change our fates . . . for the better."
"Ah, yes." Dumbledore nodded. "Remember how hard it was on you when we met on the Astronomy Tower that fateful night of my demise . . . if we could get to your younger self, and your mother, in time for you to make an educated decision, knowing what your future holds, would you do things differently, without hesitation?"
Draco, indeed all of them, sat deep in thought for a few moments. "Well, as that saying goes, and it certainly applies to this whole adventure, 'if I knew then what I know now', yes, I'd do it all differently. So, yes, I think, if Dan, Rupert, Emma and Tom, especially, can be convincing enough, we'll all come out the better for the effort."
"Well said, Mr. Malfoy!" Minerva leaned over and patted his arm, the others nodding agreement. "Now . . . about Dolores . . . "