Chapter 3 – 1st July 1988
After his surroundings had darkened, and Harry had fallen into a deep enough slumber, he suddenly felt himself being lifted by his rear end.
He couldn't see what was happening to him clearly enough, like when he was awake. Whatever this was, he was either dreaming or remembering something.
A pair of healthy feminine arms in a maroon jumper were wrapped around his waist. A few strands of dark, red hair covered her shoulder.
The person carrying him brought him over to a woman with a strong jaw, a thin mouth, a pair of kind, dark violet eyes and a head of curly, light brown hair.
"Harry, this is Andromeda," spoke a sweet, girlish voice, almost like his mother's. "Andromeda Tonks."
"It's Andi, dear," Andromeda corrected, pinching his cheeks. "Call me Andi."
"Anyuh," Harry babbled, sounding like an infant, about six months old.
Maybe this was a memory. A memory that only really powerful magic could make him recall.
"Now, why don't we introduce your little boy to my little girl," Andromeda suggested. "How about it, Harry? Would you like to make a new friend?"
Harry's infant self giggled loudly as Andromeda gently poked his belly.
"I think so," Andromeda laughed.
Andromeda led Lily and Harry into her living room, where a little girl, about eight years old, was seated on a brown yarn carpet, playing with a set of jointed figurines with removable clothes, plastic musical instruments, and toy vehicles large enough for them to fit.
The antenna television was playing in front of her, showing some type of music-based action series she was clearly playing along with.
"Nymphadora!" Andromeda called.
The little girl huffed as she dropped her toys and stomped her way over, making an adorable pout. She had a heart shaped face, a short, bubblegum pink bob, and a pair of twinkling, dark violet eyes.
"Mother, If I told you once, I've told you a thousand times!" she whined. "Call me 'Tonks'! Just Tonks! I hate that other name!"
"Nonsense," Andromeda dismissed, shaking her head. "It's a perfectly lovely name. Be proud that it'll be with you for the rest of your life. Now, come and meet Ms. Lily's baby."
Little Tonks rolled her eyes at her mother's dismissal and even when she laid eyes upon Harry, she didn't show much interest in him.
"Nymphadora," Lily began. "This is my little boy, Harry…"
Baby Harry giggled again as both his mother and Andromeda gently tickled the sides of his mouth.
"See, even Harry likes your name," Andromeda insisted. "And he'll prove it… say 'Nymphadora', Harry…"
"Taaackshhhh," Harry gurgled, holding out his arms.
Lily giggled over Andromeda's expression; She seemed to forget that babies didn't speak at six months old.
But Little Tonks looked suddenly all aglow over the way Harry addressed her. She quickly, but gently grabbed the baby from Lily's arms and laid him onto the sofa.
"So, someone finally got my name right?" she teased, sticking out her little index finger.
"Taaackshhhh," Harry repeated, giggling and grabbing her finger.
Little Tonks squealed with delight, tickling Harry's cheeks with the finger he grabbed, wrapping her other arm around him in a squishy, tight hug.
Lily and Andromeda watched them both from over the sofa's back, looking quite delighted, though neither could quite understand what their Nymphadora heard from Harry.
"See?" she pointed out, "Ms. Lily's baby's got it… and he's mine! All mine!"
She kept squish-hugging and tickling the baby, then laid him back upon the sofa, making him laugh as she switched her nose to a quacking duckbill.
Whatever this was, it had to be a memory, because more visions of Baby Harry and Little Tonks started filling Harry's subconscious.
The early ones took place either on their couches or carpets. Tonks would keep making Harry laugh by changing her nose, into everything from a pig's snout to an elephant's trunk.
The elephant's trunk seemed to be the favourite, since Tonks could use it to tickle Harry and shower him with kisses at the same time. Eventually, she got the idea to switch her ears to elephant ears and add peek-a-boo to their routine.
When they finally took their play outside, there was still snow on the ground. Tonks and Harry would be pulled all over their back gardens in a small, plastic toboggan with a pulling cord at the front by a fair-haired, semi-bearded man with a slightly rotund belly and a pleasant voice.
This was Tonks' father, Edward, more affectionately known as 'Ted'.
When spring blossoms replaced the winter blankets, Tonks would crawl across the backyard, carrying Harry upon her back, changing her nose to a horse's snout and whinnying.
When she was strong enough, Tonks could carry Harry upon her shoulders, switching her ears, nose and mouth to a monkey's.
By the summertime, Harry had developed more of a sense of coordination. Tonks had decided he was ready to advance to hand-clapping games.
But the strongest memory came near the very end of the whole montage;
By the time of his first birthday, Harry was gifted his first broomstick by his goateed, long-haired godfather, Sirius Black.
It was a toy broomstick, that could levitate only two feet off the ground. Tonks joined him for his first ride, though she was just barely too tall for it, since her feet were shuffling near the bottoms of the grass in the garden.
When Tonks' feet veered too close, she tripped off the broom, rolling around in the dirt, getting it all over her face, limbs, and whatever she was wearing.
The trip sent little Harry flying two or three feet in the air, before Tonks expertly caught him after her third or fourth roll.
Lily, James, and Ted stood on the sidelines, laughing and smiling proudly, while Andromeda ran over to her daughter, pulling her up and fretting over her now unkempt appearance.
After this, the memories started to recede; there weren't as many and whatever came up was mostly more of Harry and Tonks' play.
But during the very last memory, she was holding him on her lap, while he tried playing with her hair.
Lily rushed over to Tonks, urgently requesting Harry back. But Tonks tightly clung him to her, whining for her to stay away.
Andromeda ultimately had to take Harry and return him to his mother, much to Tonks' displeasure. She gave another pout before her mother pulled her back up to say goodbye.
Lily stretched Harry out as Nym gave him one last kiss upon the cheek.
"Should your father and I make the wedding preparations when he's bigger?" Andromeda teased.
"Mum!" Tonks whined, stamping her foot.
The last memory ended in laughter before everything turned to black again. Now, Harry was more still than he'd ever been while he was sleeping.
But when Harry felt himself stirring again, he felt a number of aches in his head. He must have been hit harder than he thought by the collision.
Perhaps it was also because he felt sorrow to see Tonks fade to the back of his mind again. He was quite pleased by the amount of affection she had given him, and amused by her embarrassment when her name was brought up. Not to mention when her parents brought up her marriage prospects.
Suddenly, he begun hearing more voices, most of which were not familiar.
"You said you were going to question him!" Shouted one voice.
"No, I said I'd take care of him," Reiterated another voice.
"You saw how we found him," The first one persisted.
"He's just a boy!" The second one pleaded.
"He popped up out there unannounced!" A third voice lambasted. "There is a penalty for that!"
"He was completely unarmed," The second person interjected. "Not even a wand in his pocket…"
That last comment instantly jolted Harry's eyes wide open. When he sat up, he noticed he was lying in a spring-supported infirmary bed, covered in a duvet itchier than the ones in the Hogwarts Infirmary.
Surrounding his bed was a group of wizards in hooded greenish gray cloaks. There were no silver masks on their faces and their cloaks were much lighter than the Death Eaters'.
They seemed trustworthy enough, Harry decided as he rubbed his forehead.
"Who are you?" Harry croaked out.
"Unspeakables," the owner of the second voice replied. "We found you in a graveyard in Little Hangleton after we were alerted to a temporal anomaly there. All traces led us directly to you."
Harry was still half asleep and in such a headache, he narrowly missed the second third of what they'd explained. The 'temporal anomaly' portion, to be more precise.
"You said I was without a wand?" Harry creaked urgently.
"I'm afraid so," the First Unspeakable confirmed. "You were only holding what was left of it. Whatever you cast, it burned through half the wood, though strangely enough, its core survived."
That unspeakable removed from its sleeve the Phoenix tail feather that made up Harry's wand core. To Harry's surprise, the feather was completely intact, like it had been freshly plucked.
"I would hold onto that if I were you," the First Unspeakable advised, handing it back. "They could make you another properly-fitting wand with it."
"I will," Harry promised, still sounding croaky.
Holding a piece of his now-destroyed wand reminded him of his third year, in which his Nimbus 2000 broomstick was shredded to pieces by the Whomping Willow tree.
"Drink this," instructed the Second Unspeakable.
He handed a glass of a thin, bright pink-orange liquid to Harry, who accepted it with caution.
"Pumpkin juice?" He guessed.
"Not quite," the Unspeakable replied. "It's a headache potion mixed in with orange mango cordial and sparkling water. A little experiment they've put together to satisfy muggle-bones and half bloods."
Harry took a small sip initially, but as it hit his tongue, he began feeling quite a bit better. After he finished, the second unspeakable took the glass back and then handed him a small vial.
"What's in here?" Harry asked.
"Veritaserum," the Unspeakable explained. "Otherwise known as truth potion. We'll need to ask you a few questions, so that we may verify your identity, origin, and establish a verdict."
"Identity?" Harry puzzled. "You mean, you don't recognize me?"
"If you expect us to recognize someone whose features keep changing, then no, we do not," the Third Unspeakable interjected.
"Wait, what do you mean 'features keep changing'?" Harry queried.
"Will you please take the serum?!" the Unspeakable requested impatiently.
Harry shrugged as he finished the vial in one gulp, before turning back to face the unspeakables.
"Now then, young man," began the Second Unspeakable. "What is your name? In full; first, middle, and last?"
"Harry James Potter," he exhaled, though not without eliciting a few gasps from the unspeakables.
He let them whisper amongst themselves a bit before the second unspeakable clear his throat and snap them back to the task.
"What do you remember yesterday's date to be?" the First Unspeakable continued.
"The 24th of June 1995," Harry answered, attracting some louder muttering. "Why?"
"How did you travel back in time?" the Unspeakable clarified.
"I…" Harry hesitated. "I traveled back in time?"
"Seven years exactly," the Unspeakable specified. "The date is now the 1st of July 1988. When we found you, you were unconscious. We kept you here for the last week."
"Merlin…" Harry gasped, clutching his head again.
The only time traveling he'd ever done was with the use of Hermione's time turned the year before. And that was only for traveling a few hours prior.
At this point in real time, his old self was just going on eight years old, the same age Tonks was when first they met.
"Now, how did you accomplish this?" the Unspeakable continued.
"I don't know," Harry insisted. "One minute I was dueling against a revived Voldemort, then I got blowback and next thing I know, I meet my parents in the realm where souls part, and they send me back here…"
The Unspeakables chattered over Harry's answer, louder this time, but the Second Unspeakable ended it with what sounded like, 'More on that later'.
"Did you have a time turner with you?"
"No," Harry denied, shaking his head.
"What was the last spell you used?" the First Unspeakable requested.
"I… It was a spell I got wrong," Harry replied. "I think I split the incantation… something like… Reverso Septannus! Yes! That was what I'd said!"
There was a brief pause before the Third Unspeakable asked the next question
"What was your intention with this… spell?"
"I don't know," Harry admitted, lowering his shoulders. "I was so out of energy; I could barely think straight. I'd been hit with the nastiest Cruciatus curse that probably scrambled my brain."
Again, the three Unspeakables deliberated briefly before turning back to Harry.
"Do you take Ancient Runes at Hogwarts?" the Second Unspeakable asked.
"No," Harry declined. "I have a friend who does, but I don't… Why do you ask?"
"You are aware of the etymology behind those words you used in your incantation?" the First Unspeakable queried.
"Hardly," Harry dismissed. "Reverso, that's got to mean 'reverse', right? As for Septannus… it sounds like Latin, like the coda on the Hogwarts crest."
"It means 'seven years'," the Third Unspeakable explained. "There's a similar spell which can reverse a single hour."
"We have reason to believe that you have created a new spell," the Second Unspeakable added,
Harry was in complete disbelief now; he'd heard how dangerous spellcrafting could be, but the only time travel he'd ever done was far from authorized.
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Harry defended.
"We realize that," the First Unspeakable assured him. "But since you've caused no major interferences yet, we're willing to let you off with a warning…"
"Good," Harry exhaled, collapsing back into the bed.
The unspeakables let him take a minute to catch his breath before going back to business.
"So, what's the verdict?" Harry requested. "What do we do about this?"
"Well unfortunately, there is no way to send you back," the Second Unspeakable sadly revealed. "The majority of time spells and turners can only reverse for the moment."
"No!" Harry cried.
He didn't want to have to sacrifice even more people he loved; Ron, Hermione, and all his other friends were only seven, eight, or nine years old at this point in time. Sirius was still in Azkaban, Remus and the Weasleys would not have met him yet, and it was before he was supposed to start Hogwarts.
"But…" the Third Unspeakable interjected, "You seem to have a way around all of this… You know what a Metamorphagus is, don't you?"
"Has this got to do with what you said about my features always changing?" Harry requested.
All this talking was giving some much-needed energy to his brain. But he'd nearly forgotten that he was starting to ask questions like that so spontaneously.
The Third Unspeakable took a small hand mirror from his robes and offered it to Harry. Glancing at his reflection, he realized he'd somehow switched to greenish grey hair and black eyes.
When his eyes widened in shock, they immediately switched to pin and his hair to canary yellow.
"We're you aware that you had this ability before?" The Third Unspeakable requested.
"No," Harry requested.
"Then it seems showing us your default appearance would be out of the question," the First Unspeakable resolved. "You have not yet learned to control your newfound abilities."
"I could tell you what I really look like," Harry offered, closing his eyes with a sigh. "Everybody else tells me I look me just like my dad… jet black hair, thin face, with my mum's eyes…"
"Like this?" asked the First Unspeakable.
Harry was about to ask, 'Like what?', but when he opened his eyes, the Third Unspeakable held up the mirror. He found that his face was back to its original state.
"Yes…" he whispered, gently running his hands over it.
"And don't all the book about you mention a thin, lightning-shaped scar?" The Second Unspeakable reminded him.
Harry took a closer glance in the mirror, only to find that the scar was no longer there. It was nothing more than a thin, white line.
"It must have disappeared when Voldemort hit me with both curses," Harry deduced.
He explained the whole story to the Unspeakables, from how Voldemort was revived to when he was hit with both curses to his meeting with his parents in the parting and his discovery of the prophecy and how Voldemort made him a horcrux.
Harry couldn't see the Unspeakables' faces, but he expected that they were a mix of both shocked and horrified.
"Well?" Harry requested.
"I think we've heard everything," the First Unspeakable decided. "Give him the antidote."
The Third Unspeakable secreted another vial, which Harry downed the minute he took it. His throat was dry from talking so much and any liquid would have done well.
"Number Two, The Third Unspeakable commanded. "Get Dumbledore, he must hear about this at once…"
"But he hasn't even met me yet!" Harry reminded them.
"He'll have some sort of plan for what to do about this," the First Unspeakable explained.
"Besides, you were quite injured when we found you," the Second Unspeakable pointed out. "You need serious medical treatment and St. Mungo's is out of the question. Your existence must be kept secret until you have a new identity."
The Second Unspeakable quickly took off to fetch Dumbledore. Harry tried to lean out of the bed, but the other two Unspeakables held him down.
"Easy mate," the First Unspeakable warned him.
"You just keep laying here, we'll wait with you," the Second Unspeakable promised.
"Actually, that reminds me," Harry realized. "Where am I now?
"The Time Room in the Department of Mysteries," the First Unspeakable replied.
He stepped out of the way, as Harry discovered he was in a long room, cast in a dancing, sparkling green light. Bookcases were lining the walls, filled with clocks of every variety on the left and time turners on the right.
At the far end of the room, next to a door with a marker, there stood a desk. Upon it rested a bell jar, containing an egg, which a baby Hummingbird hatched out of. Very quickly, the chick grew from its maximum size until the colors of its feathers faded. By this point, the whole process appeared to reverse itself at the same speed, until there was only an egg in the jar again
Harry could faintly read the sign on the door, but he made it out to say Hall of Prophecies
"Okay, you've had your look," replied the Second Unspeakable. "Now close your eyes, we need to keep this place secret."
Harry sighed and did as he was told, but he could tell there was more to this than keeping a department secret.