Dumbledore watched Harry and Nott for a while, adjusting his spectacles over and over. It makes Harry's blood boil. Mary was right, he was going to ask them to use legimency but they wouldn't really have any choice.
"Good morning dear students. I hope most of you had a good night regardless of our evening and the news it brought." Dumbledore started with a fatherly tone, trying to coerce them into his point of view. "As you all know, I linked us together to avoid the sharing of information outside this castle. Once this next generation is safe and sound in their own timeline, we will all forget everything. In the meantime, perhaps, we could share memories and changed what can be undone."
"Bastard" Fred and George murmured. Of course, students and teachers alike had all come to the conclusion that the future was not bright and that the dark lord had gained power. And each one, for various reasons, was set on small changes. Saying no would set 80% of Hogwarts students on their backs and prevent them from gaining the teachers' trust.
"Time travel is dangerous only small actions can be taken to avoid creating more sorrow." Nott was cautious, trying to politely warn the headmaster to not go too far. "If we do agree, I think it would be safe to take a turn and even ask who is willing. Myself, being the heir to The most ancient and noble house of Nott will not let you invade my mind." Nott's voice was laced with pride and venom on the last part; proof of his legacy and upbringing.
" I have nothing to hide, I will do it." Came Ron's respond seconds after. Of course. Ron couldn't bear the sight of the Nott's heir, and took a certain pleasure in always going in the opposite direction.
"Thank you Mister Weasley. Miss Winter, as stated, sharing the burden would be easier, if I remember correctly, you are not related to a pure blood family." She felt Harry going still, she was trapped. Hermione was the other possibility but they knew he was interested in her because he saw Snape in her memory and because she was previously seated with Slytherins. "I will do it." Was her resigned response.
"Great, great. Mister Weasley, I will let you finish eating." She saw Dumbledore's wand pointed in her direction, and without warning, felt a pressure on her mind.
They were in Hogwarts library, it was mostly empty, only a few students were seated and studying. There was the young black-haired girl again, she looked a bit older, and was absorbed in a book. She had Ravenclaws' robes.
They saw an adult version of Severus Snape coming toward the younger girl's table. Seeing a shadow on the page she was reading, the girl looked up at her teacher.
"Miss Winter, while I do think curiosity is the way to greatness, I think hobbies help ease the mind and digest information. I hear today is the Quidditch trials for the Ravenclaws, I think you will find yourself enjoying a seeker position."
The girl looked perplexed at her teacher. Her eyes were a bit rounder, showing surprise, and she was slightly biting her lips in hesitation.
They saw Snape make a hand gesture, and the book closed shut, the girl was pushed off the chair.
"Yes professor" was murmured by Mary before she took off in the Quidditch field's direction.
There were a few Ravenclaws in ordinary robes listening to students wearing quidditch's uniforms. She waited until the end of the speech to go to the captain.
"Good afternoon" she started seeing he hadn't noticed her.
"Did you not listen ? Get in line according to the position you want." Was the sharp reply she received.
"I did but I was sent by Professor Snape and I do not know what a seeker is." She responded shyly. She had her hand behind her back to maintain a confident posture.
"Is this a joke ?" The captain was outraged. "Snape is the head of Slytherins." Mary slightly frowned, not understanding the point of stating the obvious. The captain, seeing she wasn't going to leave easily, sighed and took a walnut-sized gold-coloured sphere with silver wings out of a box. "You are supposed to seek and catch the golden snitch, this little thing. You have to catch it before the other team. Now, go in line."
There were three candidates for the seeker position, including Mary. The position had been held by a seventh year last year. The first one to catch the snitch was the next seeker.
Mary was fast and skilled on a broom, that was quite obvious in the memory. She happily went toward a shocked captain with the snitch in hand. "Professor Snape was right, this is a lot of fun." She mentioned to him while giving him the snitch and the broom.
As she was going back inside the castle, she heard him shout "Winter, you are the seeker. Practice is every Sunday morning."
She stopped when she spotted another student; her eyes glitched; she had something in mind. The boy was probably around her age, with untidy jet-black hair and Gryffindor's robes. "Harry Potter" she called. The said boy looked at her questioningly. "You are Gryffindor's seeker, right ?" A small nod was the only reply. "Would you teach me the rules about Quidditch ?" Harry was caught off guard. He vaguely knew who Mary was, Hermione had raged in the train about Mary being first and Hermione second in their year. He knew of her but had never spoken to her. Why was she asking him for help ? Was this some kind of joke ? "Why?" He heard himself say. "The captain surely thinks I am an idiot for asking what a seeker is. I do not want the team to think I am some dumb muggleborn. You did not know of Quidditch before becoming a seeker too, so I thought you might be willing to explain." There was a pause, she could see Harry was gauging her; he tilled his head to the side. "I help you with Quidditch, and you help me with potions ?" Harry was met with a bright smile and a handshake.
Noise began to fade and everything became blurry, shards of visual could be seen spinning around. The wild round stopped and they divided into another memory.
Harry and Mary were both at the top of the astronomy tower. They looked fairly the same; this memory wasn't old. Harry was wearing muggle clothes, a blue long-sleeve shirt and a grey pant. Mary was wearing a simple green long sleeve dress. Harry had a locket of heavy gold with a serpentine S in glittering green stone inlay on the front in his right hand. "The note was left with the locket. It's a fake." Harry gave Mary a piece of paper, she carefully took it and read it out loud.
"To the Dark Lord - I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. - R.A.B" Mary frowned ,"Who is R.A.B and what are Horcrux?"
Mary and Harry's faces started to blur and shards of memories could be seen while the wild round was set.
"Harry, the twins and Mary were in the Prefect's bathroom. The water was running and the bath filled. Harry was carrying a gold egg and septically looking at the bath. He gave the egg to one of the twins and started to get rid of his shirt and pant but kept his underwear. He then went into the bath and made a gesture asking for the egg. "You have to put it in the water." Insisted Mary
"So you went to Nott for advice on the egg." Started slowly Fred "Nott told you or showed you what to do ?" Continued George with a grin.
"He showed me obviously, I told you about what it is and you know I would not have tried it without Harry." Came the sarcastic reply, like a whip.
"Yes, yes ... so were you clothed or naked ?" Fred continued mischievously. Harry made a plaintive noise, betrayal visible in his eyes.
"We were clothed." She answered through gritted teeth. "Are you going to emerge the egg or not ? The next task is in a few days."
Once more, the surrounding went blurry.
They were in a rounded dorm room, filled with windows : Ravenclaws surely. Beds were attached to the wall, positioned in a row, separated by a pillar. It was the middle of night, most of the blue curtains were shut and few viable windows were dark.
In a bed, Mary and Harry could be seen lying down, sleeping. Harry had his foot next to Mary's head and his own Gryffindor's blanket. He was struggling with a nightmare, his body tense, and detached in sweat.
Mary was awake because of Harry's restless sleep. Her hand gently stroked his shoulder to awoke him; the strokes grew harder until Harry finally opened his eyes. "Mister Weasley" was the only thing he said before his eyes tilted under his eyelids. Mary gently caressed his forehead while hushing "I'm going to get McGonagall."
Mary's voice became distant and everything disappeared in smoke.She felt a foreign presence applying pressure on her mind.
They were inside a vault in Gringotts, full of gold and galleons, golden goblets, a Pensieve, jewellery and various shelves abundant in objects and treasure. A woman with thick, sleek, black hair, dark eyes and pale skin was seen entering the vault. She was followed by a tall, slender boy with sleek blond hair, and ice grey eyes. "Mary" the boy whispered "look there is a Pensieve". The woman clicked her tongue, "Ronald, the Polyjuice won't last forever, just look for Helga Hufflepuff's Cup." The boy grouched "It's the Black's vault, a family close to You-Know-How, there is a Pensieve with memories and you don't want to watch them!" The woman paused her search to come next to the boy. "The vials are addressed to Astrée Black; is that you ? No, I don't think so. Leave it." She said sharply and then made a motion to get away but the boy took her arm. "It's from someone called Regulus, isn't he Sirius' death eater brother?" She vehemently shook her arm and he let it loose "I don't know and right now I don't care. We are going to be in big troubles if we do not get out as Draco Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange so hurry up!"
The pressure became stronger, so strong that she wondered if someone was not crushing her brain. Without even realizing it, she started screaming.
Her skin was burning, the room was too hot. She felt something warm and thick flow down her nose. Harry's hand was pressed on her back to prevent her from falling.
Suddenly, the tension on her mind disappear and her temperature dropped, leaving her freezing.
Her eyes snapped open when she heard the Headmaster worries voice. "How many Horcruxes are there ?"
George angrily rose from the bench "Is that why you were pushing ? Hoping to see every Horcrux and then what ? Place all your pions and win the match ?"
"Mister Weasley, we do share your concern. Nevertheless, may I remind you that Miss Winter and your brother have agreed to this." George worked his mouth a couple of times as if trying to wake himself up. McGonagall had always been in her student's treatments. These words were out of the ordinary. The professor hadn't taken kindly to the future's these students depicted, and she couldn't process the Horcrux. Such a dark and foolish act. She knew, deep down, Albus's actions were wrong but they needed all the clues they could get to stop the dark lord.
"If you are so interested in these Horcruxes you should have a word with Slughorn." Was Fred deadly reply.
At the professor table, Slughorn lost his composure. He tried to avoid Albus' and Minerva's glares by watching his Slytherins. How useless tho, his students were are looking at him. Some had a pleasant expression on their faces, supports are Yon-Know-Who. Some had a surprised and slightly disgusted expression. Others, were unreadable, like marble statues.
Slughorn had like Tom, he was a brilliant student, his favourite at the time. As a teacher, he was always enthusiast when he could indulge student's curiosity. Curious students were great wizards. Had he suspected what Tom would grow to become, he never would have indulged him and answer his question. He was ashamed of his act and what it seemed to have produce. "Horace, would you mind having a cup of tea later ?" Slughorn nod toward Albus, silently agreeing to a later explanation.
"I will do it. It is Horcrux you are after, right ? You are going to have more insight with me than Ron." The twins were baffled by Harry's proposition. "Harry, I think this dangerous. Going through your memory is too much information. Mary's were a lot and Ron's are not going to be an easy ride either... but yours, it's madness." Hermione's tone was smooth, trying to make him understand the implications. They were supposed to be selective in what they shared and the changes minors to avoid. Errors could result in Voldemort being even more powerful, their birthed being prevented, more death.
Mary was silent, a tissue up her nose, and her eyes fixated on her plate. If she disagreed, she would have told him straight away. If she agreed, she also would have said so and reply directly to Hermione. Harry knew her attitude meant I did not want you to do it but you are right. He moved his gaze away from her and toward the teachers' table, catching his mother's worried face, and nod to Dumbledore.