Disclaimer: I own nothing that belongs to J.K. Rowling
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Time
Severus paced outside in the sand in front of Ollivander's tin can home, he looked nothing like himself as he looked entirely no-maj with his faded jean shorts, David Bowie tank top with the man himself holding a bejeweled skull like Hamlet, a pair of lime green skullcandy stereo headphones wrapped around his neck connected to a small lime green ipod clipped to the edge of his pants. The music blasted from his headphones for everyone to hear:
"Keep your mouth shut
You're squawking like a pink monkey bird
And I'm bustin' up my brains for the words" - Moonage Daydream, David Bowie
The screech of the door caused Severus to hit pause on his ipod, and he stopped mid pace to face the door that was opening. Ollivander took to the indigenous ways of the camp by adapting their style to Wizards standards. He was wearing robes of leathers with hand painted designs of runes that helped him direct magic better in the climate of a world that was said to be without any.
"So did you find MUSCA, Severus?" Ollivander asked as he examined Severus' appearance.
"No, I did not find MUSCA, nor did I find Ilvermorny or any evidence there ever was a magical school in this world. However, I am not convinced this world is without Magic, I can feel it…everywhere I go. I don't understand how these people blatantly ignore it." Severus took a seat in the folding chair Ollivander conjured for him forgetting he had a water bottle in his back pocket, he jolted up when he felt the crunch and wetness from the water that escaped. He grumbled as he tossed the crushed bottle on the ground.
"So it's not just here then? I can only feel the magic close to the vortex. Are you sure, you aren't just feeling your own power?" Ollivander asked curiously as he sat down in the folding chair he conjured for himself. He called for his tea set consisting of a teapot, two saucers and two tea cups floated out the open window and set themselves down on the small table he conjured between them.
"No…magic is in the air. No one notices it. However, I haven't been here as long as you, Ollivander. Have you explored this world much since you've come here?" Severus asked as he poured them both tea. Both drank it black.
"I told you to call me Galon, we use given names at the camp and Not much. I went out to find MUSCA and when it wasn't there my whole world shattered. I couldn't handle being out with the no-majs, as I lived my entire life surrounded by magic. If the tribe hadn't accepted me as one of their own, I doubt I would have survived in this world. They study magics that predate anything I have encountered active in our world." Galon said as he picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"I don't think it predates us, Galon. I think it works very differently than ours. Whatever is going on in this world, everyone acts like magic doesn't exist. However, if this world didn't have magic, I would feel some kind of resistance when using it, which for me it's been the exact opposite. Like magic is happy it's being used." Severus took his own teacup and took a large sip of his own.
"I thought that was just here…in the vortex. Magic never worked well for me outside of this area." Galon leaned back in his chair taking another sip of his tea. "You look like you have been adapting to this no-maj world."
"I was raised in the no-maj world, and the music in this world seems to be the only thing that keeps me sane." Severus took a large sip of his tea. "I found a DJ that seems to believe there is a curse on the world for them to forget they are magic. She has been doing her own spellwork to overcorrect the issue and has been breaking people free from the curse."
"What does she think the curse is?" Galon asked as he took a sip from his own cup.
"Religion. She specifically connected the dots to all the world's religions and their prophecies. Her equations look almost like arithmancy combined with some kind of coded language that I can't follow. According to her, the belief that 'Jesus, a God made flesh would return' was the combined efforts of all the Gods to obtain their own fleshy bodies so they could change the world." Severus sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
"That seems hard to believe, but I haven't explored the religions of the no-majs, the tribe here keeps stating that the creator has returned to the Earth, do you think she would know anything about that?" Galon placed his cup on the table as he turned to face Severus.
"If we can find her, maybe she would like to meet the tribe and they can discuss it." Severus took a few deep breaths as he stared into his almost empty teacup.
"How did you find this DJ?" Galon made it obvious that he didn't like thinking his friends were wrapped up in this travesty of unending evil. He picked up the tea kettle and filled Severus and his own cup.
"When I couldn't find MUSCA, I was determined to find answers and found my way to a run down library in downtown New York. I was gathering books for my research when I found the librarian dancing in one of the isles as she was putting books on the shelves. I scared her when I tapped her on the shoulder, her headphones fell off her ears and I could hear music she was listening to and it was like nothing I had ever heard before. When the DJ's voice came on, I was captivated, so I asked her what she was listening to and she told me 'Dark Star Radio,' and when she came to her senses and saw the stack of history books I was carrying, she laughed at me and told me it would be better if I did my research on the computer because majority of the titles I was holding were total rubbish in their accuracy."
"Majority of these no-majs belong in the rubbish for how badly they treat people, but that is neither here nor there. When she showed you to the computers did you know how to use them?" Galon shook his head.
"No, and she made fun of me for carrying a walkman around too," Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. This may not be a magical world but the internet works like magic. "It took an hour for her to show me how the computer works, and after spending hours researching this world's history she kicked me out of the library and told me to go buy an ipod to get with the times."
"Ah, I see you have been very busy. You should get cleaned up and prepare for the bonfire, Hawk and Falcon would enjoy your company, and you can tell us all more about this DJ," Galon stood up and patted Severus on the shoulder. "I know this situation can feel overwhelming, but I promise we will find you a way home, it just takes time."
"This world gives me more of a headache than the world we came from, their history seems very much the same as our own…from what I can recall from muggle history." Severus shook his head, "I guess I'll go to my new home for a bit, see you at the bonfire, Galon."
"See you at the bonfire, Severus." Ollivander replied before opening the door to his tin can home, and levitating the tea set back inside it and following it inside.
Severus hit play on his ipod and the music resumed where it left off, as he pulled his headphones up over his ears and walked to the other side of the camp to his own tin can home.
"Keep your 'lectric eye on me, babe
Put your ray gun to my head
Press your space face close to mine, love
Freak out in a moonage daydream, oh yeah!" - Moonage Daydream, David Bowie
"Just sit in this chair, Victoria." Saul said softly as he hugged her. "Let me deal with Albus."
Victoria sat behind Master Croaker's desk, in his leather armchair. She hugged her knees to her chest as she watched her Uncle Saul place a golden mask that covered his entire face before he walked to the door that led them inside the Grandfather clock.
"Come in, Albus." Saul's voice sounded completely different when he wore the mask, it was deeper and outright scathing. "You will not be taking my Goddaughter from me again, Albus."
Dumbledore entered the office and the clock door closed behind him. His eyes scanned the room and when he saw Victoria, his posture relaxed when he saw she was safe. He looked up to Master Croaker like a puzzle piece clicked into place. "I imagine you are still mad at my choice, but I had my reasons, Master Croaker."
"You placed her with MUGGLES, Albus. You went against everything Alesha wished and placed her with MUGGLES. I was supposed to protect her, Albus…now look at her. She is locked in this prophecy business because you dared to go against me." He seethed as he rushed back over to Victoria and stood behind her, massaging her shoulders gently. "If you had delivered Victoria to me, like you were supposed to, we wouldn't be in this mess, Albus." He pulled on the chain of necklace that the Dark Lord gave her, revealing the form of the necklace had changed since they examined it last time; it now looked like an emerald gemstone, surrounded by swirling dark storm clouds crackling with lightning. "DO you have ANY idea what this is, Albus?"
Albus' eyes widened when he saw the necklace had changed in appearance. "Tom, he wouldn't."
"He did, he found it, I don't know how he found it. But he did. He gave Victoria the only thing he wanted for himself. Why would he do that, Albus?" Saul dropped the chain and allowed the stone to rest on the outside of Victoria's robes.
Albus conjured a golden chair and sat down in it, shocked to the core, he clutched his chest. "He couldn't wear it."
"You know why he couldn't wear it, Albus." Saul kissed the back of Victoria's head squeezing her shoulders. "Victoria, you must not show this stone to anyone. You must keep it hidden. Do you understand?"
Victoria scrunched her nose as she tilted her head back and to the side, "How am I supposed to hide it? Notice-Me-Not?"
"No Miss Prince. We cannot hide it, we need to disguise it," Albus spoke softly as he lifted his face from his hands. "It looked like an ordinary gem before."
"I shouldn't have touched it," Saul seethed. "It's my fault it's no longer cloaked. The moment I touched it, it revealed itself to me and I've tried to hide it and nothing is changing it back to the simple gem it was before."
"But why would it reveal itself to you and not anyone else?" Victoria inquired as she looked down to the stone, what the hell is this? Why would the Dark Lord give me something he wanted for himself?
Saul sighed as he grabbed his mask, pulled it off his face and placed it back on his desk, turning Victoria's chair to face him as he kneeled to eye level with her. "I hadn't imagined the next time I saw this stone, it would be around your neck, Victoria."
"I don't understand, if this stone belongs to you, how did the Dark Lord get it? I thought Unspeakables had to keep their identities secret." Victoria lifted her eyes from the stone to look into Saul's eyes.
"Your mother was the last person to have this stone, I don't know how he got it, Victoria. I revealed my face to you because no one could recognize me and I am your godfather, I didn't want you to be intimidated by me," Saul stood up as he looked over to Albus who was silently observing them with a pensive stare. "The other Unspeakables are working on changing the memories of everyone who was present for your exam. There will be no debacle, we have hushed the press and hunted down all the department heads who witnessed your prowess and sworn them to secrecy."
"Isn't that abuse of power?" Victoria looked up to him incredulously.
Albus laughed as Saul glared at him. "The Department of Mysteries has its own jurisdiction, we are not run by the Ministry. We are a separate entity and you are under our jurisdiction as I am actively recruiting you. Your secrets are our secrets and as I try to entice you to our side I get to share some of ours."
Victoria could see clocks ticking in Saul's eyes, "You're not just studying Time, you have clocks in your eyes, you are Father Time…"
"You have two universes in your eyes, Victoria." Saul smirked, "Have you ever wondered why?"
" If you are Father Time, could you have gone back to save my mother?" Victoria asked painfully. Two universes? Is that why they are different colors? Does everyone see my eyes that way?
"I tried…failed many times, it was an event that is catalytic and unavoidable no matter what I tried to change, it only got worse. I couldn't allow the Dark Lord to take you, so we did what we could to prevent that." Saul said softly as he squeezed his eyes shut, as Victoria started to sob full heartedly. "I'm sorry, I couldn't save her, Victoria. Please forgive me."
"Master Croaker, you can only do so much." Dumbledore stated flatly. "You know some things can't be changed."
Saul glared at Dumbledore before sighing and lifting Victoria's chin so she would look to him, "I also tried to stop Dumbledore from taking you to those Muggles, but nothing I did ever changed that outcome."
"I love my parents, and I'm grateful for that life. But leaving them has been the hardest decision I ever made." Victoria said through her tears, that Saul wiped away with his thumbs. I sometimes wish I could still be Hermione Granger, ordinary know it all Granger.
"This is why you made the decision to give Victoria to muggles Saul." Dumbledore replied as he craned his neck, using his hand under his chin, causing a loud cracking sound.
"What do you mean I made the decision?" Saul seethed, as he glared at Dumbledore.
"A different version of you, one that wished to prevent the life Victoria lived in the timeline where you took her into your stronghold." Dumbledore stated. "You were adamant that she would be safest if she was hidden from her heritage completely."
"And yet, hiding it did nothing in the end." Victoria removed Saul's hands from her face, as she hugged her knees, burying her face into them. I lived a lie, and the lie couldn't hold forever.
Author's Note: I appreciate those that read this story. This chapter has been hard to write, I kept trying to give all the secrets in my mind away. Now I'm having issues posting as the new doc doesn't appear when I go to post new chapter. So now it hit A03 first. Please leave something in the little box.
Love,
W.L. O'Fallon