Hey guys, second chapter of the series.
Hermione was the one to wake up first. She woke up in a daze, and then remembering what had happened, suddenly went into Mad-Eye's CONSTANT VIGILANCE mode. She scanned the place around her. It looked to her, a perfect copy of King's Cross Station, just with a mist covering all its surfaces. No, actually it looked as if the mist itself was forming the Station and there was still little work to be done to make it complete. It looked just as Harry had described his meeting place with Dumbledore when he was struck with the Killing Curse in the forest. She found no one there except Harry and Ron, both of whom she woke up as silently as she could.
"Harry, this is the place you told us where you met Dumbledore after being struck by the Killing Curse in the Forest, isn't it?" she asked.
Harry looked around and came to the same conclusion as her, it seemed.
"Yeah, sure looks like it," said Harry, still in a daze.
Ron was looking around the place in complete awe, as if it was a great thing that they had got to experience.
"Harry, do you think Dumbledore will be the one coming this time, or will it be someone else?" said Ron, with a flicker of hope in his eyes which both Harry and Hermione understood was for the chance of seeing Fred again.
"To be honest, mate, I really don't know who comes now," spoke Harry with a touch of sadness, and perhaps longing, in his eyes.
As if on cue, an ethereal voice drifted towards them.
"Do not worry Ronald, you shall get the chance of seeing Fred again, very very soon," spoke the voice.
"Wait, does that mean that we all are going to die?" asked Hermione with a lot of frantic worry in her eyes.
"Do not worry, this is but an intersection, and as there is given a choice at every intersection, so will be given here," said the voice.
"Does that mean that we can go back and fight the Order of The Serpents?" asked Hermione in her curious voice.
"Of course you can, my dears, but I think that you will find the other option more lucrative," said the voice.
"Well I certainly don't find Death lucrative," voiced Ron with a touch of queasiness in his voice.
"I never said the other option was Death. It is something far better than it," spoke the voice.
"Well you say to give us options, whereas you don't even show your face. How are we supposed to know who you are?" said Hermione.
"I am Atropos, the Goddess of Fate," said the voice.
Immediately a figure appeared in front of them from thin air. She looked every part the Goddess she said she was. She seemed to radiate an aura of calmness around her, which probably helped calm down some of the anxiety of the group.
"Well, you claim to be the Goddess of Fate, if you are, then tell me, do you know who runs the Order of the Serpents? Who is their financial backer? Who manages their operations? From where do they get their leads?" asked Hermione.
"In order to answer all your questions, Hermione, that vile organization is run by the junior Death Eaters of their time, which include Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe and many others who were recruited after the War. As to their financial backer, I guess here you are asking who made the Talisman, it was made by Voldemort himself. Technically, the original design was Voldemort's, and he made it almost fully functional by the end of the War. Then Malfoy and Nott made improvements and made it fully functional, which is the reason you didn't find any leads about the materials, because they were traded before the defeat of Voldemort and no one thought to look at those records." All three of them looked abashed at that, how could they have missed such a thing? "As to their leads, they have various sources, mostly within the Ministry, from whom they source their information. I hope this helps answer your questions, Hermione?" said Atropos.
"Umm... Well yes it does," said Hermione.
"None of the Gods is happy with what has become of Wizarding Britain. So we decided that it was in everybody's best interests if we took a step which would help eradicate this suffering and misery," said the Goddess, smiling, "So we decided to tweak the lines of fate a little and send you back in time."
"How can you send us back in time? There will be so many paradoxes? And the only way to travel through time is with the help of a time turner, that too for a very short period of time with so many restrictions. It isn't even possible-" Hermione began firing questions at the Goddess who just smiled at her.
"Calm down Hermione. There is no need to panic. When you go back in time, your mind stays the same, the world shifts around you backwards. So there will be no paradoxes or any other issues. Does this appeal to you?" said Atropos, still wearing a smile.
"Well yeah it does, but how do you-" said Hermione, still eager to know more.
"I'm sorry but you'll have to hold your horses for now as we don't have much time left to stay here in the in-between," said the voice with an air of farewell, "you all will be going back to the time when you all were together, your first ride of the Hogwarts Express, which, I believe should give you enough time to discuss anything important. Farewell and Good Luck."
1st September, 1991
Harry woke up to the sound of Hermione's voice (a much younger Hermione it seemed). He was sitting in the Hogwarts Express, Ron by his side and Hermione standing in front of him.
"Harry, are you alright?" asked Hermione.
"Yeah Hermione I'm fine."
"Ok. Well I still can't believe that we have actually travelled back in time," spoke Hermione.
"Yeah mate, I never thought I would be able to see Fred again," said Ron with joy dancing in his eyes.
"Yeah, I too never thought I'd even see any of them again," said Harry.
"Well, we need to work hard to ensure that none of them die this time round," declared Hermione with determination.
"Yeah, the first person to die was Quirrell. Almost everyone thought he was guilty. But what if he wasn't, what if he had been forcibly possessed by Voldemort?" asked Harry.
"That may be true, mate, but how do we prevent his death?" asked Ron looking towards Hermione for answers.
"Well, the main reasons of Quirrell's death were the burns and the spirit of Voldemort leaving his body. We can only take care of the burns part, it will literally be up to fate whether Quirrell survives Voldemort leaving his body." said Hermione in her explanatory sort of voice.
"Oh, and we also need to do something about Sirius as well. He most definitely can't be allowed to stay in Azkaban that long. It is bad enough that he's had to stay these eleven long years," said Harry.
"Ron, Scabbers!" warned Hermione.
And she warned at just the right moment because Scabbers (or more accurately, Pettigrew) was trying to open the glass of the window just enough to let him escape. However, because of Hermione's warning, Ron caught him before he could escape and Harry stunned him before he caused any other problem.
"Thank you Hermione. Otherwise, we would have a very important asset," said Harry.
"After all it is my duty. I don't know how any of you would have without me," said Hermione, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Of course 'Mione. That is why you are loved by all, isn't it?" spoke Ron.
"Now now, as much as I would like to dwell on those things, we have work to do," said Harry.
"One second Harry, Muffliato." And then she pulled down the blinds. "Yeah, now we're safe and secure from prying eyes or ears." said Hermione.
"Anyways, we need to decide one important thing, whether we stick to events as they were in our original timeline or do we do them as per our convenience?" asked Hermione.
"I don't think that it is a question that can be answered just like that, and I think you know that, isn't it why you asked now, so that we begin working on it soon enough?" said Harry.
"Yes Harry, because if we don't plan everything, chaos will descend," said Hermione.
"First of all, as you both seem to have forgotten, we need a safe place to discuss everything, right? We can't discuss everything in the common room or our dormitory," said Ron.
"Ron, I think the best place to meet would be one which doesn't exist," said Hermione, in a cryptic voice.
"A place that doesn't even exist. Honestly 'Mione, how can we meet somewhere which doesn't even exist?" asked Ron, completely bewildered.
Harry, however, had caught on with her and said, "It is a brilliant idea Hermione, and if we set it to not allow anyone to get in while we're in there, then we can never be found."
"Will any of you explain to me what are we talking about?" asked Ron, still not understanding.
"She's talking about the Room of Requirement, mate," said Harry, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh yeah. And perhaps we can set the room to open near, no, why near, we can set it to open right in our dormitories. If it is possible though," said Ron.
"Wow Ron that's a really good suggestion," said Hermione, beaming at him.
"Always the air of surprise," said Ron.
There was a knock on the door.
"Hermione, where did you come back?" asked Harry.
"Oh! I came back when I was just walking away with Neville," said Hermione.
"So this must be Malfoy," said Ron.
Harry stood up and opened the door. Sure enough, there was Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway, along with his two bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle.
Draco said, same as last time, "Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes, it is me," said Harry.
"This is Crabbe and this is Goyle," continued Draco in his arrogant voice, "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
Thankfully, Ron did not laugh this time, so Draco proceeded with his boasting, "You'll soon find that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter," he said, looking pointedly in Ron's direction, "You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."
He then extended his hand to shake Harry's, while Harry was in a dilemma whether to take his hand or not.
In the end, after a few seconds of thinking, Harry shook his hand, but said, "I guess I'll take the risk and be friends with both sorts, you never know who turns out to be an ally, do you Draco?"
It seemed that Harry had stumped the eleven year-old Draco with his words as he just looked at Harry in confusion and left. Harry closed the door, redid the charms and sat down again.
"Harry, what were you trying to do?" demanded Hermione.
Harry didn't answer Hermione's question at once, he once cast Muffliato over the door.
Then he said, "Just trying to be friends with him and, hopefully, beginning the first step in reforming him."
"Mate, do you still think he can be reformed, even after what he did during the War, and after it?" asked Ron.
"I think that he still has the potential to be reformed, till the time Voldemort returns, I will try to reform him and if he's reformed until then, and joins our side, he could be one of our biggest allies. And if he isn't, then at least I'll have the satisfaction that I tried," said Harry.
"That's very good thinking and sound logic, Harry," praised Hermione.
"Thanks. Anyways, who do you think we should let in on this?" asked Harry.
"I think that we should not tell many people as it increases the risks of our secret getting to Voldemort. I believe that, at first, we should only tell Dumbledore and Snape," said Hermione, looking at Harry for confirmation.
However, before Harry could respond, Ron said, "Hermione, why should we tell that slimy git for?"
"Ronald!", reprimanded Hermione, "we should tell him because he was —is— firmly loyal to our side. And he may provide valuable intel to us if he is associated with us. What do you think, Harry?" said Hermione.
"I think that it is a good idea. They, especially Dumbledore, may be able to tell us more about time travel, and what would happen if we don't follow our original timeline," said Harry, looking to Ron for his opinion.
"I think that telling Dumbledore may pay off, but I'm still against telling Snape," said Ron.
"Well if you are so against of telling him, we'll have this discussion again, perhaps with Dumbledore," said Harry.
A voice echoed through the train: 'We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.'
Harry, Ron and Hermione picked up their wands, Ron put some leftover sweets in his pockets and they left the train.
As they stepped onto the platform, they heard a familiar voice and saw a familiar face which they had not seen for a long time, and which nearly brought tears to their eyes: 'Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! All right there, Harry?'
"Yeah, yeah, I'm- I'm fine," said Harry with difficulty.
Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. 'C'mon, follow me – any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!'
They began walking and deliberately ended up beside Neville just as Hagrid called out, "Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec, jus' round this bend here.'
There was a loud 'Oooooh!'.
Harry was the first one to start a conversation with Neville.
"Hey, you found your toad?" asked Harry, though he knew that Neville probably had it.
"Yeah, I have it," said Neville.
"So, what's your name?" asked Harry, even though he already knew it.
"Neville Longbottom," replied Neville.
"So, which house are you hoping to get in?" asked Harry.
"My gran says that she will kill me if I don't get into Gryffindor. So yeah, I'm hoping to get into Gryffindor," said Neville, "Everybody knows, though, that you will obviously get in no house other than Gryffindor."
"Really, that's what they think of me? And how do people know about me?" asked Harry, a little surprised.
"Yeah, people think that you're very brave and Gryffindor-ish. And you have given numerous interviews since you turned five, haven't you?" asked Neville, a little confused.
Harry was shell-shocked. There had been so many interviews, supposedly given by him, which continued for so many years. Not even Dumbledore and Hagrid had even thought to mention that to him, considering the fact that they were the ones who had dropped him off at the Dursleys, and knew that he had had no contact with anyone in the Wizarding World for all these years.
"Sorry to say Neville, but I had never had contact with anyone in the Wizarding World, let alone giving any of these interviews. My first contact in the Wizarding world was Hagrid, when he came at my eleventh birthday and told me all about the Wizarding World, and Hogwarts amongst other things. And can you tell me who wrote all these interviews?" asked Harry, though he had a nasty feeling in his stomach that Rita Skeeter was the one to write them.
"Really Harry, you didn't give even a single interview, Wait, you said that you didn't have any contact with the wizarding world all these years, which means that you were raised in the Muggle world, weren't you?" asked Neville, "And as for the articles that listed your interviews, they were written by no one other than Rita Skeeter."
Then, Hagrid yelled, "No more'n four to a boat!" pointing to the fleet of little boats that carried the first years across the lake.
Harry got into one with Neville, immediately followed by Ron and Hermione.
"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, "Right then — FORWARD!"
They began gliding across the lake, and soon reached the opening in the cliff face, and Hagrid yelled, "Heads down!"
They all bent their heads as they passed the curtain of Ivy.
Hagrid's face beamed with happiness over the heads of all first years.
Hagrid led them up a passageway in the rock, and they came out at last on a patch of smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.
They then walked up a flight of stone steps and emerged in front of a huge oaken front door.
Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.
A/N- Thanks for reading, liking and reviewing the story guys. And I've also taken some lines from the book. If you think you have found one, kindly type it in a review.
I am in a need for a Beta reader, preferably someone who is well-versed in British english. If you are interested, kindly PM me or put it in a review, I'll contact you. Thanks once again