August 6, 1993

Severus was not the best person in the world. He knew this, and did not find that it bothered him all that often. But what had he done to deserve this? Not only was he having to deal with Black two days in a row, but he was going to have to deal with him every day for theentire school year. He must have offended some minor deity in a past life. He could not think of any other reasonable explanation at this point.

Lucius was not panicking. Not at all.

So maybe his heart was beating a little fast, if the slightly pitying look Lupin was giving him was any indication, but really, it was fine. Lord Peverell-Slytherin was just the Master of Death from another universe. Not that big of a deal, really. Oh, and he was also an older male version of Ivy Potter, which threw that entire relationship into even more ambiguous waters than it had already been, and he was using his knowledge of his own world to prevent things from happening in this world, and no, what possible reason was there for him to be panicking right now. None. Absolutely none.

Narcissa had always liked Henry, but she could honestly say that she had not been expecting this. If he had announced himself as the next dark lord, sure. If he had said he was taking over the world, fine. He was a nice young man and he would do the job splendidly. He was Canadian after… Except no, he wasn't Canadian. He was just from another universe entirely. It was a lot of information to take in at once, but the more he spoke the more thankful Narcissa was that he had landed here at all. Because by doing so, it seemed he had prevented a war. A war that in his world had been placed on the shoulders of their children to a great extent, and that, more than anything, filled Narcissa with enough rage that should Albus Dumbledore eventhinkaboutsuggestingthat any of their children eventrainfor a war there would be no place in heaven or in hell that he could hide. Frankly, the Dark Lord should be thankful that Henry dealt with him already. Fiendfyre was the least of the curses Narcissa would be willing to unleash on anyone who so much as dared injure her children. She was a Black by birth, and had been a favorite of both Grandfather Pollux and Uncle Arcturus. She knew the good curses.

Though, admittedly, a dark lord might be a bit much for her to take on, a point that was corroborated by Henry's retelling of the events of his world. So instead of marching into Hogwarts and cursing the manipulative idiot, or marching into Hades to curse the other one, she settled for sipping her tea and pointedly thanking Henry Peverell-Slytherin, formerly known as Harry Potter (she approved the name change), for his great contribution to the societies of two universes. He would be getting the very best Christmas presents for the next century.

Barty watched his friends' reactions with hidden glee. He would refrain from openly his expressing his glee until later, since he didn't want to interrupt Harry's story, but he reveled in the fact that he could see Narcissa's calculating rage simmering just beneath the surface, Lucius's well-hidden panic, and Severus's absolute dread that grew with nearly every passing sentence. Barty knew very well what the relationship between Harry and the Severus Snape of his world had been like, except this Severus did not know Harry like Barty did, and was thus most assuredly waiting for something dreadful to happen to him. Knowing that Severus didn't actually need to fear for his life right now, Barty felt no guilt in enjoying the moment.

He was going to die. That's it. This was how he was going to go. He had lived through one dark lord, managed to make it through by the skin of his teeth by pledging his loyalty to Dumbledore (in a roundabout way that he was incredibly thankful for now), and now he was sitting in front of the most powerful man in Britain, who just so happened to be James Potter's son from another universe. Lily's too, he supposed, but at the moment the fact that Lord Peverell-Slytherin was in fact James Potter's spawn seemed more relevant at the moment. And apparentlyhisdoppelgänger had tormented this "Harry Potter" throughout his school-aged years. Lord Peverell was obviously skimming over many of the details, and whenever Severus's name came up he glanced up nervously and skimmed even more, but Severus could read people well enough even without legilimency to read between the lines of his statements. And it did not bode well for him at all. At least Peverell (don't think about him being a Potter, don't think about him being a Potter), didn't appear to be as curse happy as the Dark Lord or as patronizing as Dumbledore. Severus figured he could deal with that for however long he had left in this world.

And since he was going to die anyway…

"So what is this about a book?"

Barty's grin did not promise anything good. At least Lady Peverell, the doppelgänger of the little first year his Slytherins had adopted (which honestly was not nearly as much a surprise as literally anything else revealed so far today), didn't seem at all bothered by the question or by the implied foreknowledge. The others did not share her serene look.

"You meant to tell me that we have been passing laws based on the suggestions of atwelve-year-old girl?"

Severus sighed at Lucius's tone. He knew it was the overall stress of the day's revelations getting to his friend, and that he was latching on the easiest thing to confront at the moment, but sometimes Lucius voiced his questions and opinions a little too spontaneously for Severus's taste, and no, he wasn't being hypocritical at all. Severus had most certainly been cursed for his sins from a previous life, which explained his recent and thankfully not oft-repeated tendency to act far too Gryffindorish, but what excuse did Lucius have? None, is what.

"She's thirteen, actually," came Barty's oh so helpful remark.

"Hermione Granger inthis worldis thirteen, the Hermione Granger that put together the book is from theotheruniverse and is, or was, twenty-four at the time, or thereabouts," Lupin said.

"Yeah, the time difference is still a little unclear," Black muttered.

Peverell pinched between his eyes. At least Severus wasn't the only one to get annoyed with this lot. Somehow the entire situation felt a little better now. "That doesn't change how old she was at that moment, just how much time has passed there since then."

"Sorry, Mr. 'Science,'" Black said sarcastically, waving his hands.

Peverell glared, and Black backed down. Severus really,reallyneeded to get on Peverell's good side, preferably before he faced the daily torture that would be Black's presence at Hogwarts. Spawn of James Potter or not, that man wasimpressive. Obviously Lily's genes had done something after all.

Harry sighed. Today's rendition of his life story had gone rather as expected, meaning that no one was particularly happy at the moment, but no one had died. Lucius was handling it the worst, if you went by the outward expressions, but Harry was familiar enough with Narcissa to know that she was rather shaken by the revelations as well. He was also fairly certain that Dumbledore would meet a quick but painful demise should he ever find himself facing down Lady Malfoy.

And then there was Snape. Harry had so many mixed feeling about the man. He was doing a fairly good job of reminding himself that this was not the same wizard that had been horrible to him for years and then died while simultaneously revealing that he had been looking out for Harry in such a convoluted way. And this Snape had been much better to Ivy than his Snape (no, that came out exceptionally wrong) had been to him. Perhaps it was her being sorted into his house, and perhaps it was also her being a girl and not resembling James quite as much as Harry had at that age…

Regardless, Harry's feelings were mixed, and though he trusted the man to a rather great extent, he still wasn't sure helikedhim. But he didn't activelydislikehim, and really it was just all confusing and he'd rather not think about it anymore, thank you very much.

But Snape's reaction was making that wish difficult. Because he had reacted. Merlin, had he reacted. Not in a way that would be immediately obvious to most people, mind you, but to someone who understood Snape's background… Snape was equally awed, horrified, annoyed, impressed, exasperated, furious, terrified… Well, you get the idea.

Harry had never seen Severus Snape express so many emotions at once, and he frankly had no idea what to do with that information. He would have gladly ignored it entirely, except the man he was unsuccessfully trying not to think about chose that particular moment to come up to him and start talking.

"Give him time. He hates being caught so unawares."

Peverell glanced his way and nodded. "Draco was always the same way."

"Well, their relation has never come into question," Severus said, glad to see the small little upturn of the other wizard's mouth.

"What can I do for you, Professor?" Peverell asked after a moment. The man might be Lord Slytherin but Severus could see where the Gryffindor side shone through.

"What do you wish for me to do?" Severus could be direct as well, and he would only maybe regret it later. His question did seem to catch Peverell a little off guard though, which, to be honest, surprised Severus himself.

"Why would you think I want you to do anything?" Peverell asked with seeming sincerity.

Severus could think of a good half dozen examples off the top of his head, but he took a risk and leveled a look at the wizard instead. His calculations paid off when not only did Peverell understand exactly what Severus was getting at, but laughed as well.

"Yes, I see what you mean. Believe me, it wasn't originally my intention–"

Or preference, Severus thought.

"–but I couldn't always take care of things inside Hogwarts, and there was no one else I felt comfortable sharing some of those details with."

"And going forward?"

Peverell held eye contact for a long moment, though Severus did not recognize any mental probe. Still, the man seemed to have found some sort of answer, because he finally turned away again, sighing as he did so.

"All I ever wanted was to keep people safe. I had barely landed in this world when I found Ivy, and somehow trying to keep her safe and make her happy kept me from focusing on all the things I lost. There were so many people in this world… People stillalive. Half the people here were dead in my world, along with so many others. But here I could still save them. Protect them. And for a little bit I thought that by killing Voldemort, destroying the horcruxes, that I could do that. But it wasn't enough. I don't know if it will ever be enough." Peverell's voice was barely above a whisper at that point, but his words were piercing all the same.

"Perhaps it is simply fate," he continued, breaking Severus out of whatever reflective moment he was about to have.

"Fate?"

Peverell chuckled, but it was dry and not without a hint of anger. "Fate," he said again. "Everything that keeps happening here. How else would you explain it, all the parallels between worlds. Is it truly possible to change fate? Or do we just spend our lives bringing it about one way or another."

"Perhaps fate cannot be truly changed," Severus said carefully, continuing a bit more quickly when he saw the flash in Peverell's eye. "But perhaps it can be altered just enough."

"What do you mean?" There was bitter anger buried underneath there, but Severus felt it was not truly directed at him.

"I mean, that perhaps some events will always bear resemblance to what you have known, but perhaps they can be adjusted to your advantage."

"I am not the Master of Fate," Peverell said wryly.

"No, but you are the Master of Death," Severus retorted.

"I don't even know what that means, really," Peverell said with another sigh.

"Perhaps it means that if anyone has a chance of going against fate, it would be you."

Peverell's responding grin simply confirmed that idea in Severus's mind.

"And where would you suggest we begin?"

Severus tried not to show his surprise at being asked for his opinion (or inclusion even) on such a matter, but felt he was most likely failing. What was it about this wizard that made it so difficult to control his expressions? Of course it would be Lily's child that would get him acting like a bloody Gryffindor though. It all made sense, really.

"We're thirteen, for Merlin's sake. Surely we can be left unsupervised for an afternoon," Draco complained to the nearest set of ears, which happened to belong to Neville Longbottom.

Said set of ears fixed him a hard stare instead of nodding along and agreeing politely like he was supposed to do. Then a finger was pointed in the direction of Ivy and Blaise, who were currently attempting to build a set of catapults out of enlarged spoons and candy floss.

"Hey, it's not like anything is actually going to happen."

The finger was now pointed at the remaining evidence of their previous activity, which included a few scorch marks on the ceiling.

"It'll come off," Draco said, defending his brilliant idea.

Now Neville was pointing at the one thing Draco didn't have a great argument for.

"What are those?"

"Wolves."

"Yes, I can see that. But what are they doing here?"

"Grandfather sent them."

Harry blinked a few times. "I'm sorry, I'm them?" Because last he checked, Ivy did not have anyone that she called "grandfather."

"Grandfather Zabini," she replied matter of factly.

And suddenly he didn't feel responsible for this situation anymore. It was a very fine feeling indeed.

"SIRIUS," he called out instead. Nope, not his problem.

"This is Dante, and this is Otso."

"Sorry, did you sayOtso?"

"Yes."

"You named your wolfbear?"

"Mmhmm. Really fits him, don't you think? He has such a fierce feeling to him."

"That's because he's a…" Sirius gave up. At least Blaise had named his something respectable.

"And I don't think Ivy should be allowed to name the kids."

Draco literally had no idea why Sirius was telling him this. What was Draco going to do about it? Tell Ivy's future husband to ensure their children had proper names? Of course not. He would be devoting his energy to ensuring his rightful place as their godfather, obviously.

"Sirius," Harry began with false sweetness.

"Hey, Harry. What's going on?" Sirius was not fooled by the false pleasantness.

"Why do I have two wolves in my backyard?"

Sirius knew this was coming, but he only had to hold his ground for the next twenty-six days and then he would be fine. "Oh, that's just Dante and Otso," he said, trying to make it seem like he was merely stating the obvious.

"Yes, but why are they in my backyard?"

"Well, it's a funny story, really," Sirius began.

"I'm sure it is," Harry said, still not giving up on the sickeningly sweet tone that promised eternal pain.

"Well Cesare, you remember me telling you about him, right? Well he decided that Blaise needed a gift, to celebrate the moving forward of Sabrina's and my relationship, and since Ivy is basically going to be his sister now, she gets one too, and I'm fairly certain he is mocking me somehow, but I'm choosing not to dwell on that part of it, and instead focus on what a thoughtful family we'll be marrying into."

"We?"

Sirius frowned. "That didn't come out right. Well the point still stands. We all have a new grandfather, and this is just a little welcome into the family."

"Right. Though you still have not managed to answer the question of why there are two wolvesin my backyard."

"Well I'll be at Hogwarts, and the kids will be at Hogwarts, and they both have pets there already, and Sabrina can't be made to watch them all the time, and she'll be in Hogsmeade with me much of the time anyway, so…"

"Please stop," Harry said, holding up a hand.

Sirius promptly stopped.

"Fine. Somehow I feel that fighting this is a moot point anyway, so I think I'll just cut my losses now–"

Sirius sighed in relief.

"–Ifyou tell me why you think this is Zabini mocking you somehow."

Relief gone. "Must I?" Sirius muttered.

"Consider this my compensation for housing two wolves for the next year."

"Fine…Hecallsmeapuppy."

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

Sirius breathed in deeply. "I said, he calls me a puppy. So I'm fairly certain getting the kids wolf pups is his way of saying that now they all have one."

"All who?"

"Well, Blaise, Ivy, and Sabrina…"

Harry burst out laughing. "Oh, that was so worth it."

Sirius gave him a shove. "Shut up."

"Sorry Padfoot, not going to happen."

Twenty-six days. He needed to last twenty-six days. Then the wolves would be stuck at Harry's house and he would be safe.

"Father, can we get Italian wolves?"

Lucius did not want to know where this question was coming from, but also did not see a way around it. "I was not aware you had an interest in animals. Perhaps you would like to spend some time caring for the peacocks. They are different from wolves, obviously, but all animals require a certain amount of care and work."

Draco's face said more than words ever could just what he thought of that idea. Lucius counted that as a win.

"Alternatively, you could always visit whoever it is that has one."

"Ivy and Blaise."

"The best pet is the one you leave at your friend's house."

Draco did not appear convinced.

August 9, 1993

"Why is this not working? It should be working by now," Ivy sighed, falling dramatically into a nearby chair.

"I just started teaching the patronus charm to you all last week. It is going to take a bit more time than that," Harry said. He really didn't know how many times he was going to have to explain to these four that this was going to taketime.

"Butwhy?"

"Because it's hard. Many adult wizards never master it."

Ivy huffed, still not satisfied. "I don't see how that makes a difference. Magic is magic. Why should some of it be harder than the rest?"

"Well it's about intent, and shaping your magic in the right way to achieve the results you want."

"And why should my age matter? I can read, and I can pronounce the words just fine. My wand is moving the right way even."

"Well magical maturity is…"

"Yes?"

"You know what, I'm just going to go find Remus," Harry said. He and magical theory had never been great friends.

"Ivy," Blaise said after Henry left, "you're still getting it faster than probably anyone else would. You can actually see something coming out of your wand."

"Yours too," Ivy retorted.

"Sort of," Blaise shrugged. "But it's barely a wisp. Yours you can actually tell something is happening."

Neville chose this moment to slump forward and proclaim, "I am never going to get this."

"Sure you will," Draco said. "Eventually," he added a second later.

"I'm not sure why you even included me on the bet," Neville groaned.

"What bet?" Ivy had not heard this yet.

"Who will get it first. Corporeal and not," Blaise explained.

"You're not on the list, because obviously you will get it first," Draco continued.

Ivy rolled her eyes.

"And I shouldn't be on there at all, because I'm not going to get it," Neville finished.

"Of course you will. I had you last for incorporeal anyway," Blaise said.

"Thanks," Neville said dryly.

"But first for corporeal," Blaise added.

"Oh." Neville didn't seem to have much more a response than that.

"How was the lesson?" Barty asked as Ivy came into the room and plopped down across from him.

"I can't get it," she said.

"You do realize it's only been, what, five days since you even started learning it in the first place, right?"

"Doesn't matter," Ivy huffed. "I'm failing and it's not going to work."

"The patronus requires focusing on a happy memory or feeling most of the time," Luna said from behind her book. "It won't work if you're preoccupied with your frustration or anger."

Barty looked between the two for a moment before coming to a decision. "Well, it looks like it's time for feelings, so I'm out. Have fun."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "You're not actually allergic to emotions, you know that, right?"

"You have no proof of that," he called out as he left.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Luna asked. Ivy liked the fact that she knew Luna was genuinely asking, without expectation of an answer one way or the other.

"Yes," she decided out loud. "I think I would."

"Alright." Luna put her book down and moved over closer to Ivy. "What is it about then?"

"The prophecy," Ivy said. "I just… I can't stop thinking about it, you know? I mean, I know you both said it was all done with, but why did it have to be about me in the first place? And why did everyone assume it meant that? It's not like it said, 'Ivy Potter is going to be born and then blow up Voldemort.' It could have meant all sorts of things."

"It could have, yes."

"You think so?"

Luna nodded. "I do. Divination is about seeing possibilities. Time has never been written in stone, and the future is not written at all, so why should a glimpse of the future be anything other than that?"

That did make Ivy feel a little better. "So why did Dumbledore treat it like it was? Written in stone, I mean."

"I don't think anyone could say for sure aside from him. Maybe he saw it as a solution, and stopped looking for another one. People often do, when they find one. Is that what you're really upset about?"

Ivy went to deny it but found she could not. "Yeah," she said finally. "I guess so."

Luna pulled her in for a hug. "I'm sorry they caused you so much pain," she said softly.

"It's alright," Ivy shrugged, not wanting to spend time thinking about the Dursleys now or ever. "It's over now anyway."

"You know he'll do anything to keep you safe," Luna whispered, pulling Ivy closer.

"Yeah." Ivy snuggled into Luna's side. Henry did do a good job of that. "Thanks, Luna."

"Hey Ives, you doing okay?"

"Did Luna tell you?"

Harry frowned. "No? Barty. He said he was allergic and that I could deal with it?" He still wasn't entirely clear on what "it" was though.

Ivy burst out laughing. "He meant feelings. He keeps saying he's allergic to emotions."

Harry relaxed. "Who knows at this point," he said, exaggerating the rolling of his eyes.

Ivy gigged a little more. "Yeah, I'm okay. I talked to Luna."

Harry relaxed further. "Oh, good. That's good. So…"

"So, I was upset about the whole prophecy thing, and I'm still mad at Dumbledore, but I guess it doesn't really matter anymore, right?"

"Of course it matters," Harry said. At Ivy's frown he continued on. "It matters. That doesn't mean you're beholden to it somehow, or that it will dictate your future, but it is part of your life, and a part of everything that has happened. Even when the war is over we still have to pick up the pieces. Life moves on but it doesn't change the past."

Ivy looked at him as if she knew he wasn't just talking about her anymore. To be fair, he wasn't entirely.

He cleared his throat. "Look, I meant to tell you this the other day, but things got a little busy with…" he gestured vaguely to indicate everything, since he didn't feel like bringing up the fact that everyone he knew thought he had taken over the world. "Anyway, I asked Sirius if he would be willing to teach you occlumency, and he agreed, so now I'm asking you if you would be willing to learn." Because he wouldnotforce her to. Not going to happen.

"So Dumbledore can't read my mind?"

Harry felt a small flare of anger that maybe wasn't actually that small and shoved it back down. Now was not the time. Maybe he could make any effigy later. Remus had enjoyed the one of Pettigrew. "That's part of it," he began carefully. "Him or anyone else who would try. It's a useful skill to have."

"But there's more?" Did being doppelgängers give Ivy some weird superpower to gauge his reactions and know what he was thinking? Probably.

"Yes. There are things I would like to tell you, someday. Things you should know, it's just…"

"I need to protect my mind first so no one can find out," Ivy finished for him.

He nodded.

"Like the prophecy?"

"That's part of it, yeah. Dumbledore knows the prophecy, as do a few other people, but it would be best if he didn't know that you know it."

"Do you think he would try something?" Ivy asked. To her credit it was asked without even a hint of fear.

Harry shrugged. "Honestly? No idea. But we know what he's done because of it already, and I have no doubt he has plans. Plans that involve you. Plans that are entirely pointless now, but that's not the point. The point is he doesn'tbelievethey are pointless. He still thinks Voldemort is out there, and unless he can be convinced otherwise, he is going to continue to act as if there is a dark lord to defeat, and as if you are the one necessary to beat him."

"Does this have something to do with the horcrux that was in my head?"

Harry's brain shut off temporarily as he tried to place when he had told Ivythatbit of information. "Yes, but how…"

"Goldfist is very talkative," she said, shrugging. "Says it helps his patients not be so nervous while he's working."

"So he told you abouthorcruxesso you wouldn't be nervous about yourshots?"

"Yeah. So, does Dumbledore's plan have something to do with that then?"

Harry's eye twitched and Ivy grinned. He groaned internally at the realization that she had timed that purposefully. Probably waited until the perfect moment to drop that on him. "Okay yes, it has something to do with that. Dumbledore knew Voldemort was working on, and claiming to have found, a way to be immortal. There aren't really all that many ways to go about it, but I don't know for sure whether or not Dumbledore knew about horcruxes or not. Even if he did, I doubt he knew how many there were. He knows something happened that night, but there were no eyewitnesses, aside from yourself, and memories from that age can't be drawn out through regular magical means."

Ivy looked slightly curious at that but didn't comment, and Harry moved on for the moment. They could have the "oh and if you see a dementor you might remember seeing your mum get murdered" conversation for another time.

"But then you combine that with the prophecy, and now he sees an immortal Voldemort that he is convinced will come back and you, who he believes has some kind of power that will let you defeat Voldemort."

Ivy frowned. "But I didn't. You did."

"I…" Harry closed his mouth. "I guess we both did? I mean when he tried to hit you it bounced back and destroyed him. And then I got all the other horcruxes."

"And he's gone for good now. No way to come back."

"Right."

"So the prophecy is done with? Should we check that?"

"I suppose we could." Harry hadn't actually thought about checking but it wouldn't hurt. Maybe they could remove it while they were at it. He would just need to make sure Dumbledore wasn't alerted to them doing so.

August 10, 1993

"And no magic here because we really will get in trouble," Harry reminded her for the fourth time in the last twenty minutes. It was a point worth pressing.

"I'll be an absolute paragon of childhood innocence," Ivy quipped.

"Draco?" Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Pansy," she replied.

Harry had to settle for groaning internally because they had reached the lobby and there were actual people around. People who were suddenlyveryinterested in their arrival. It was awful.

Lucius would have been able to identify the pained expression on Henry's face from a mile away. The Minister, who was all of two feet away, did not seem to notice, though that was probably part of the reason for the expression in the first place.

"Ah, Henry, how lovely to see you here," Lucius said once he was close enough. The relief was as obvious as the pain had been. "And Miss Potter, always a pleasure."

Ivy rolled her eyes at the formal greeting when no one else was looking and Lucius allowed a small upwards twitch in the corner of his mouth.

"Ah, Lucius, how wonderful to see you here today," Cornelius said, obviously not noticing that Lucius had not actually acknowledged his presence yet. "I was just discussing with Miss Potter here her career goals. It's never too early to start thinking about, you know."

"Indeed. And what brings you to the ministry today?" he asked, turning towards Henry.

A small, momentary flash of panic crossed Henry's face, quickly concealed, but enough that Lucius knew it was something he didn't want Fudge knowing about. Well he was always happy to lend a hand (or a few words) to a friend in need.

It turned out there was no need, as Ivy answered instead. "Well I've never been to the ministry, you see," she said, directing her reply towards the Minister. "And it sounded like such a fascinating place. I would have asked Uncle Lucius to bring me, of course, but we decided on such short notice. It's not all that often we have a free day, you know, and today's schedule just opened right up."

Merlin, the girl was good. Cornelius seemed to eat it right up.

"It is, it is. Such a fascinating place. So many interesting things going on, so many departments to choose from, er, to see. Would you perhaps be interested in a tour?"

"We would be delighted," Ivy said, taking the Minister's offered arm.

Lucius fell behind them alongside Henry. "Perhaps I should join you, seeing as it is her first visit to the ministry, and I'm sure you want to make sure you don't miss anything."

Henry nodded, and the silent plan was set in motion. They would go along with the Minister's wish to give the famous Girl-Who-Lived a private tour of the ministry, while no doubt showing off to everyone present how close he was to her (which was not at all, but Lucius doubted Cornelius planned on actually telling anyone that). Then, once the tour/exhibition had reached a suitable end, Lucius would distract the Minister and Henry and Ivy would make their escape to do whatever it was they came here to do that they didn't want anyone to know they were doing…

Ah. The prophecy. That had to be it. Well perhaps their tour could take a short little jaunt into the Department of Mysteries. Hopefully without anyone questioning their presence there.

"And here you see we have the busts of all the former Ministers. They all have portraits, of course, but it was difficult having them all together as they had a tendency to argue rather loudly. So instead it was decided that busts would be made of each former Minster so that they history could be admired in one place, with a bit less noise."

Ivy giggled. Lucius wasn't sure whether she was giggling at the Minister or at what he said. Maybe both.

"Perhaps, Cornelius, Miss Potter would be interested in seeing something in the Department of Mysteries. She has, of course, expressed an interest in that particular department."

"Really? Well why didn't you say so, my dear. Let's head there right now. Such a fascinating place, the Department of Mysteries. So many things going on there. We can't go everywhere, of course. Is there something in particular you would like to see?"

Ivy appeared to think for a moment, but Lucius could see the calculating glint in her eye.

"I would love to see the time room. Is that where all the time turners are kept? It is so incredible that you can make something like that."

Cornelius preened slightly, even though he personally had absolutelynothingto do with time turners, and would likely not even be able to explain how they worked. Few people could, really, and Lucius was positive Fudge was not one of those people. Still, Ivy looked satisfied by something, so he suspected her word usage was entirely purposeful.

"And is there really a hall filled with prophecies? One of my friends was telling me about it. I never knew there were so many! She is very interested in divination, you see. I don't think I would be any good at it, so I didn't choose it as one of my electives this year. Better to focus on things that interest you, don't you think?"

A few moments later they were standing in the Hall of Prophecies. Clever girl. And if Henry slipped off for a moment unnoticed, well, Lucius didn't feel it was really worth mentioning to anyone.

"You were absolutely brilliant," Harry gushed once they were safely inside. That ministry visit had nothing on some of his other trips, but that didn't mean he had been able to actually relax while they were there.

"I was, wasn't I," Ivy said with false arrogance. "But how did you get it? I thought only the people listed on it were able to pick it up."

Harry cleared his throat. "About that, er…"

"Let me guess. One of those things?"

"If by one of those things you mean something I will tell you all about once you know occlumency, then yes. It is."

Ivy sighed. "All the more motivation, I suppose."

"That's the spirit."

She stuck out her tongue. "And if I have it down by Christmas?"

"Then I'll tell you then."

"Deal. So can I see it?"

Harry pulled out the orb and handed it to her.

"Is it supposed to be this grey?"

"I have no idea."

Ivy shrugged her acceptance. "So do I…"

"Well we already know it, so you could smash it I suppose."

Ivy shrugged and then threw it on the ground. Except nothing happened. Harry looked at the pieces on the ground, looked up at Ivy, looked back at the ground, and frowned. "Well, that wasn't what I was expecting."

"Isn't it supposed to do something?" she asked.

"I think so. Maybe because it was grey. I'm not sure."

"So does that mean it's not valid anymore?"

"I'm going to go with yes. But I thought it would still do something."

"We should probably ask Luna."

"Agreed."

Luna very helpfully explained that yes, that meant the prophecy was done with, ether because it had been fulfilled or invalidated in some way, and no, smashing an old prophecy like that wouldn't do anything. Apparently it was only the current ones that worked that way. But at least they had gotten it and confirmed that it was no longer in play. Harry made a quick mental note to go back sometime and check again, just to make sure there weren't any others. He didn't much care for prophecies, but if there were any he wanted to at least know about them.