Chapter 6 – A Turn of Events
Lord Voldemort was furious; no, fury was too mild a term to describe what he was feeling in that moment. The brat Potter had defeated him! He, the omnipotent Lord Voldemort, had more power in a single finger than that child could hope to possess in a lifetime!
His rage had boiled over when he discovered the theft of the cup from Gringotts. In a desperate hunt, he found the other Horcruxes missing as well! Fuelled by hatred and wrath, he led his loyal followers in one final brutal assault on Hogwarts. He would dismantle the last of Potter's protectors and finish the boy with his own hands.
Everything was going perfectly: he could hear the screams of the wounded and dying, the cries of pain from Potter's friends and the Order's "chickens," and the victorious shouts of his followers. Then, suddenly, everything changed. He felt a great power awaken within the castle, a power rarely matched. And this power was destroying his followers! He could feel the connections linked to their marks fading, something that only happened upon their death.
Voldemort's fury knew no bounds. That power should be his! How could it serve the other side? But then, abruptly, it vanished as if it had never existed.
He was still pondering this when Potter appeared in the clearing where he and his servants were stationed. That damned brat was about to die! With a sense of destiny, he cast the killing curse at the boy, sending him crashing to the ground like a lifeless puppet. But then, pain struck him.
"Damn you, Potter, even in death you haunt me? How dare you!" His thoughts were chaotic, yet everything ceased. He was victorious. Potter lay dead at his feet, and soon he would extinguish the last vestiges of those who opposed him.
He commanded the giant to carry Potter's corpse and began his march towards the castle. How he relished witnessing the man's pain over the loss of his friend.
Everything changed; just when it seemed over, the defenders of Hogwarts found renewed strength. And then... Potter stood up! That accursed boy! Hadn't Voldemort killed him enough? Was fate not satisfied?
Furious, he hurled insults at Potter, but his words stung. Enraged, he aimed the Wand of Destiny at the boy and cast the quickest killing curse he had ever unleashed. Yet it rebounded and came back at him.
Voldemort knew he had no Horcruxes left; he was well aware. Death was upon him, and there was nothing he could do. With absolute rage, he bade farewell to the world of the living, clinging to one last hope. In his final moments, he saw profound sorrow on Potter's face, deeper than any he had seen before, even on the faces of mothers whose children he had brutally murdered before their eyes.
Potter would suffer. He didn't know why, but this satisfied him.
Break
He opened his eyes. He was confused. He had died, right? So why was he still in the world of the living?
He quickly realized he was in his study at the Riddle House in Little Hangleton. But how was this possible? Even if he had remaining Horcruxes, he should have remained as a spirit, yet here he was with a body!
One thing was certain. He would kill Potter. He had thwarted him long enough, and his end had come. He didn't understand how he had survived but would soon.
Grabbing the map on the wall where he marked all his followers' meetings, he came to a shocking realization. The last meeting was dated Saturday, July 31, 1995. A fleeting thought crossed his mind, and he quickly cast a temporal spell. It was August 6, 1995. He had travelled back in time. Voldemort couldn't fathom how it had happened. Time travel wasn't something one stumbled upon; it had to be actively triggered, like with a Time-Turner.
A cruel smile crossed his face. He knew much more than he did at this moment, and destroying Potter would be much easier. The boy wouldn't even know what hit him. He called Nagini through their mental link and was shocked. She wasn't there! Not like in an alternate universe where she had never existed, but as if the link had recently broken, like the death of his precious serpent-turned-Horcrux!
An uncontainable rage consumed him, and a wave of crackling magic enveloped him, reducing everything around him to ashes. Could it be that Potter had also travelled back in time?
With a thought, he disapparated to his ancestors' shack in the forest near the village. The discovery of the missing ring tripled his rage. A powerful curse reduced the shack to splinters, and the Dark Lord, now blind with rage, headed towards the cave. Finding the medallion missing erased the last shred of his sanity as the poor cave bore the brunt of his fury. The ceiling collapsed, debris filled the lake, and Voldemort retrieved what remained of his inferi for other uses.
He knew the diary had been destroyed and that entering the Lestrange vault at Gringotts or Hogwarts wouldn't be easy. He was convinced, though, that Potter had already reached those Horcruxes. His anger was immense.
With a thought, he disapparated, reappearing at Malfoy Manor.
Lucius's screams under the Cruciatus Curse brought him a flicker of joy. He vented his fury on the blond for allowing Potter to destroy one of his Horcruxes before forcing him to grant access to his family library. Roaming among the ancient tomes, he quickly reached the section dedicated to soul magic. It was small, containing only a handful of books, but it was something.
Break
He had found it. He had lost the Horcruxes, yes, but this ritual seemed interesting. It would summon an entity beyond mortality and allow him to make a pact with it. Perhaps he could regain immortality somehow!
He quickly sent his followers to gather the necessary components, and within hours, he was ready. Sealing the entrance to the ritual chamber he had created at the Riddle Manor behind him and setting up specific wards to ensure he wasn't disturbed, he began the preparations.
Within half an hour, he was done. The last drop of blood landed in the centre of the intricate rune circle, and everything stopped. For a moment, he thought he had failed, but just as a peak of irritation swept through him, everything calmed.
An unnatural calm and silence filled the room, even erasing the sound of his own breath. Wisps of shadows began detaching from the corners, accumulating in the circle and taking form.
In a few moments, a new creature took shape within the runes, something Voldemort had never seen before. It appeared vaguely humanoid but lacked specific features like limbs and a face. It was simply the size of an average adult, composed of countless intertwined shadows, and it began to speak. "Did you summon me... Tom Marvolo Riddle?" Its voice was inhuman, harsh and metallic like metal scraping against stone.
Voldemort felt a surge of anger at hearing his true name spoken and prepared to curse the creature. The problem was that he couldn't move a muscle. His body was literally paralyzed in a steel grip that didn't even allow him to blink!
"Do not try, foolish mortal! Do not even think of harming me, thus losing the little use I find in you, Tom Marvolo Riddle."
"Wh... who are you?" he asked. He had never stammered before, yet in front of this thing, he couldn't even articulate two words properly.
"It is not for you to know, Tom Marvolo Riddle. We have a common goal. To destroy Harry Potter. Know only that the foolish mortal has touched things he should not have touched; seen things he should not have seen; delved into powers he should not have learned to know. I am the representative of a series of entities that want him dead for this. No, they want him obliterated down to the last shred of his miserable soul! But being immortal, we cannot interact directly with the mortal plane. Not without unleashing things you cannot even imagine. Do you seek immortality, Tom Marvolo Riddle? Well, we will grant it to you. On the condition that you destroy Harry James Potter."
Voldemort was perplexed. How had the brat managed to incur the wrath of such entities? He wasn't nearly strong enough to even remotely attract their attention!
"To do so, we have some things to tell you and to ensure. Potter is not nearly as weak as you expect; in fact, in his current state, he could likely remove you from the equation without much trouble. But we will fix that. Tearing your soul to shreds as you did not only remove much of your sanity but also your power. We will restore your soul, recovering the missing pieces, and you must swear never to shatter it again. Otherwise, immortality can never be guaranteed to you."
Voldemort pondered for a moment. He was furious—he was very sane! Furthermore, he was the greatest and most powerful wizard in the world; Potter couldn't defeat him even in his dreams! Yet if these entities stated such facts, there had to be a foundation. "If I accept," he said, his voice regaining its firmness, "how would we proceed?"
"First, we will restore your soul. Then, we will grant you a form of partial immortality, enough to protect you from Potter's attempts to kill you. Once you've destroyed him, you will gain complete immortality."
A thunderous laugh erupted from Voldemort's chest as he stared intensely at the creature. "Proceed!" he declared arrogantly. "In no time, I will have Potter's head for you."
Immediately, he was subjected to the most excruciating pain he had ever felt. It felt as if his body was being torn apart at the atomic level only to be rebuilt from scratch. But the pain was too profound to affect only his body; he knew that his very soul was screaming in torment.
After what felt like an eternity, everything ceased. His mind was clear, like a pristine expanse of white marble. His thoughts were fluid and free, and for the first time, he chastised himself for the stupidity of many of his actions.
Even calling himself Voldemort now seemed ridiculous, though he would maintain it in front of his subordinates. After all, no one dared call him by his name.
The power he felt was intoxicating. He hadn't felt this powerful in decades. He had the impression he could take the world in his hands and crush it, like a ripe fruit ready for harvest. He looked at the creature in front of him with awareness and slightly bowed his head. He was no longer arrogant enough to underestimate it. He was surely facing the representative of many divine entities. He didn't know why Potter had drawn their wrath upon himself, but he knew he wouldn't make such a foolish act.
Tom Marvolo Riddle swore never to tear apart his soul again, and the creature witnessed and bound the oath.
"Let's move on to the next step," it said. It snapped its fingers, and he felt something envelop him, like a cool yet piercing breeze.
"No mortal can end your life now. Fulfil your duty, and I will know. Only then will you see me again, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Be cautious with Potter." The two exchanged a final look before the second vanished. A last whisper followed him before fading completely.
"Fail... and your soul will be erased forever... Tom Marvolo Riddle."
Break
Tom Riddle soon discovered he had changed. Gone was his serpentine body, a result of the advanced fragmentation of his soul. What remained was his childhood body, as if he were still twenty-five years old. Only his eyes betrayed his true identity, filled with a reddish glow.
Even his servants must not discover what had happened. He proceeded to perform a series of Transfigurations on his body, presenting himself as he appeared when known as Lord Voldemort. Then he began to gather his thoughts.
He had to be cautious with Potter; the creature had warned him. He had already made enough mistakes with the boy, costing him dearly. He was fortunate and would not underestimate this new opportunity.
He needed to retrieve the prophecy... moreover, something else crossed his mind: "The Deathstick... I know where to find it."
Break
Nymphadora Tonks gathered her thoughts.
She vividly remembered the Battle of Hogwarts, the duel with her mad aunt... her end. The pain from the curse she suffered was the worst she had felt until that moment. But not as much as what Harry endured, seeing that expression on his face before dying had devastated her. She had tried to tell him she loved him and not to worry about her, but it was in vain.
Everything became so blurred and distant... until all her senses failed her. She thought she was dead, she surely wasn't, yet she woke up.
She had done so in her old little apartment in London, bought during her Auror training. At first, she thought she was in the afterlife or something, but when the latest edition of the Prophet caught her attention, she turned pale. August 6, 1995, "Shit!"
Soon she confirmed that yes, she was still alive and yes, she had gone back in time. Coincidentally, it happened just on the first day she had seen Harry in her timeline.
The very thought of her beloved Harry, her soulmate, the person she cared about more than anyone else, brought her a world of sadness. Who knew what he was going through in his time. With her dead, he would have been devastated.
Dora felt an unfillable void. She couldn't feel her soulmate anymore, and it hurt her. Today she would see his counterpart, but she swore to herself she wouldn't betray her Harry with him. Would she become his friend? Probably. Would she protect him? Certainly! She knew much to bring about the downfall of the dark bastard, and she would do it.
She would tell the headmaster about the Horcruxes and everything she remembered, trying to hasten the end of the man who endangered all of magical Britain.
Then, she would probably reunite with her Harry...
She didn't go to the headmaster immediately. First, she needed to think and organize how to explain everything adequately, she would do it as soon as possible.
The first thing she wanted to do was make sure the Harry of this period was alright, then she would proceed.
The thought of her parents suddenly overwhelmed her. She had lost them during the war, and now they were alive!
She Apparated quickly to their house and threw her arms around them, crying.
She didn't tell them everything that had happened to her, but she apologized for her prolonged absences in recent years due to her work.
While waiting for the Order's summons, taking advantage of a room her mother had set up in her parents' house for training, she began to test her magic. Her knowledge was more extensive than it was in this period, but she wanted to test her power.
Casting long chains of spells and undergoing various exercises in different areas, Dora confirmed she was as strong as she was before dying, if not a bit more. Maybe her power had also travelled back with her? She didn't know.
One thing was certain though. Her Metamorphic abilities weren't responding properly. Her heart was afflicted by her recent loss, and her appearance reflected her emotions. She tried, even intensely, to change. Nothing. She could obtain the appearance for a few seconds only to revert to the same. She wondered how she would play with Hermione and Ginny during dinner, changing her appearance to entertain them. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she would succeed? She would think about it later.
Receiving Moody's Patronus, she Apparated to the Order's headquarters. After some preventive directives, the vanguard was on its way to Privet Drive, soon followed by the rear guard.
Privet Drive was different. The light was on, Harry was in the living room, and he had already packed his belongings. A thought of intense hope crossed her mind. "Is it possible that he has also come back?" Unlike her beloved, she did not ruthlessly suppress that thought; instead, she clung to it.
Not much time had passed since losing her Harry, and the hope of seeing him again had not yet faded. After all, she knew he was still alive, even if in another timeline.
She watched him closely, and something set off an alarm in her mind. Dora knew her Harry better than anyone else. For years now, their minds had practically fused together, and each could read all the thoughts of the other.
No matter how hard he tried to mask his emotions, and no matter how he could fool anyone else, she was a different case. She immediately read on his face that he was hiding something, yet she couldn't ask him a single question, surrounded as she was by the other Order members who wanted to hurry to the headquarters.
During the journey, she couldn't look at him, otherwise, she would attract undue attention and surely make a mess. She was already clumsy by nature, looking back from her broom would surely harm her. Who knows, maybe she would crash into something or the like.
They arrived at number twelve Grimmauld Place, and Mrs. Weasley sent Harry away.
One of the boring Order meetings awaited her. No matter how hard they tried, they weren't doing much to counter Voldemort's rise, she was well aware. Just as the meeting became boring enough to put her to sleep, everything happened.
Unlike the others, she sensed his presence as soon as he crossed the threshold of the room. She subtly turned her gaze and gasped. He looked as if he were sculpted by the gods themselves, his eyes sparkling with power while a faint aura surrounded him. A hint of anger crossed his face, making him seem the epitome of resolve personified.
It was her Harry; Dora was practically certain. She didn't need to hear the prophecy flowing from his beautiful lips like a chant, something the Harry of this time would never know. She didn't need to see Voldemort's horrid Horcruxes rolling along the table to cement her resolve further. Even his voice was firm and convinced as she had rarely heard it.
Break
What she had witnessed was the most fucking fantastic thing she had ever seen. Her Harry was incredibly strong, he had literally kicked Dumbledore's ass, making it look easy.
Not that anyone didn't doubt at times. She clearly heard his wrist snap as he charged at the headmaster's avatar without fear. Dora doubted anyone else would have been willing to do that. Even she was intimidated by the creation like never before, and she had faced the dark bastard himself.
Then she saw it. Her love had pulled out something that made the headmaster's avatar look like a toy, and he defeated it in literally three moves.
Dora wanted to jump on him, hold him tight, and kiss him until they were both out of breath. During the duel, she had sometimes let her emotions slip and had seen it. Pain, deeper pain than she could ever imagine. It emanated from her soulmate.
In those moments, she wanted to hold him, tell him it was all right and that she would never leave him again. She was eagerly waiting for a moment when she could pull him aside and tell him everything, that it was all right, that she loved him and always would.
"Harry, which was bloody brilliant!" Sirius shouted. Her cousin quickly ran to her Harry, enveloping him in a tight embrace. Dora could see the flicker of pain in her Harry's eyes as he hugged his godfather.
Her love swiftly restored the dueling hall, which had been nearly unrecognizable from the clash, making it look effortless. Seriously, he put everything back to its original state with just a snap of his fingers! Where had he learned wandless magic? When had he become so strong?
Soon, the entire Order was back in the kitchen, and the few who had weakly opposed Harry joining the Order were quickly silenced.
She had never seen Mrs. Weasley so quiet.
"What we need to do," Harry began, "is find the remaining Death Eaters. If we eliminate them quickly, Voldemort won't have enough support to rise again as he did last time."
There it was. Dora knew Mrs. Weasley wouldn't be silent for long. "Harry Potter! What are you talking about? Eliminate them?"
"Mrs. Weasley, I know what you think. If we kill them, we're no better than they are. But we can't just keep stunning and binding them. They'll keep escaping and killing us. If we don't put an end to them, we're just waiting to be massacred."
Dora saw the headmaster nod slightly, and she, too, agreed with her Harry. Although she didn't relish it, she believed Death Eaters needed to be killed. She had never convinced her boyfriend to do it because she didn't want to strip away his innocence so quickly, and she had promised herself she would do it for him. Alas, life had been cruel. She was sure that after her death, he had changed completely. Right now, she just wanted to comfort him so much...
"You're right, boy," her mentor grumbled. "Many here didn't fight in the first war. They didn't witness all the terrible things those bastards did. You've got a strong look in your eyes, I'm ready to fight alongside you."
Sirius also nodded vigorously at Moody's words, followed by her and a few other wizards.
The meeting resumed and concluded quickly. Harry kept asking simple questions, making the whole Order look like a bunch of amateurs. There were things they were doing so wrong...
Finally, he tossed a set of carefully crafted, handwritten dossiers towards them. She recognized the handwriting—it was his.
"And what are these, Harry?" Sirius asked. "I took the liberty of doing some research on the Death Eaters. In these, you'll find everything I've gathered. I advise you to keep them in mind, as I've also found a lot about their fighting styles. Even if they hide behind those damn masks, sometimes just a single curse can reveal your opponent."
The meeting ended, and many left the room. Most wizards and witches returned to their homes, while only she, Remus, Sirius, Harry, the Weasleys, and Mundungus remained.
Mrs. Weasley quickly went upstairs to fetch the kids while Sirius began an intense conversation with Harry, asking him as much as possible.
Dora didn't have the heart to interrupt them and take Harry away, not when she saw the hint of peace cross her beloved's face as he listened to his godfather.
Knowing her love was alive and they would soon be together again, she was confident she could regain control of her powers. She quickly restored her hair to a sparkling bubblegum pink, her favourite, and bounced over to Harry and Sirius, sitting down next to them.
Moments later, Mrs. Weasley returned, bringing Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and the twins. Immediately, she saw Hermione rush to Harry and hug him, with Ron quickly joining the duo.
"Harry, where have you been?" "Why didn't you come to us as soon as you arrived?" Dora could see a flicker of annoyance cross Harry's face at his friends' approach.
He awkwardly broke free from the hug and said, "Ron, Hermione. Did you miss me enough to not write me any letters? But let's drop it. Dinner is almost ready; there's no point in souring our mood before eating."
Mrs. Weasley, indeed, had already prepared the dishes with Ginny's help, and now she was setting the table.
Everyone quickly took their places, and although she wanted to sit next to her Harry, she resumed her usual spot between Hermione and Ginny, conveniently right across from him.
She looked into his eyes, and their gazes locked. He was so tired... It seemed like a burden heavier than a mountain weighed on his shoulders. She wanted so much to hold him...
Though she was a rather assertive woman, Mrs. Weasley's cooking was delicious. Dora would admit that without hesitation. She started making funny faces at Hermione and Ginny's command, and for a moment, she burst with joy when she saw a small, amused twitch at the corner of Harry's mouth. She would have given anything to see him smile.
Not the smile he had during the duel with the headmaster, ready for an interesting fight. But a real smile, one of those smiles that made her want to capture it on paper and frame it, so she'd never forget those features.
Dinner concluded. Her cousin refrained from making the comments he had last time. After all, Harry seemed to know more than them.
"I'm tired," said the man on her mind. "Sirius, can you tell me where I'll be sleeping?"
"Of course, Harry. The room on the right at the second landing."
Her soulmate thanked him, wished everyone goodnight, and quickly left the kitchen, presumably heading to the room indicated.
Dora couldn't miss such an opportunity. Just as Mrs. Weasley began with, "You heard Harry, everyone off to bed!" and chaos erupted in the kitchen, she quickly slipped out of the room and hurried after Harry.
She swiftly entered a narrow room, crossed through other rooms via a passage Sirius had once shown her, and peeked out from a peephole overlooking the staircase her love was now ascending.
Letting him pass by for a moment, she quickly reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder. He turned sharply, staring at her. Their eyes met as an intense look bounced between them, and Dora saw her beloved's shoulders slump.
"We need to talk," she whispered, as if not wanting to break the quiet that enveloped them for a moment.
He nodded weakly, letting her pull him into the room where she had been, before the door to the stairs was sealed behind them.
Author's Note
And that's another chapter done!
I bet you didn't see that coming! As for Tonks, maybe you did, I had left a few hints in the previous chapters. But Tom, now that was a surprise! I wonder if anyone of you expected something like that.
The next chapter is the one many of you have been waiting for! The big reveal! How will Harry react when he discovers his Dora is alive and with him? Let's find out together!
Something's beginning to emerge... maybe we're starting to understand something behind the time travel? Who knows!
Now Harry will face a real challenge, and I guarantee it won't be a walk in the park for him. Hold on tight!
My first two major points of view besides Harry. The POV will mostly focus on Harry, but sometimes we'll have transitions to other characters, like we saw in this chapter.
Thank you so much for reading, following, and reviewing!
Regards from Landar!