Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming it makes me smile :)
ALSO: just so you know I am probably changing the title of this story so don't be confused if you go looking for it and it's a different name. This is because I'm going to start a new story which is far more deserving of the title. This is a great opportunity to favorite and follow either my account or this story!
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Slowly, the grand oak door of the entrance hall creaked open. It remained ajar for a few seconds before once more swaying closed. There was a faint tap of feet against stone the echoed in the entrance. Voices rose from the Great Hall, but there were only a few. It must be fairly early still.
Harry climbed the first set of stairs underneath his invisibility cloak, and then turned down the hall, almost immediately walking into a group of students. Harry quickly backed up and pressed himself against the wall. His eyes widened as he realized who it was.
"So, Moony, about that charms paper—" a tall, handsome boy grinned as he nudged a slightly shorter, sandy-haired boy next to him.
"No, Sirius."
"No what?"
"No, I am not writing for you."
"What about—"
"No, I'm not letting you copy either."
"James—"
"No."
"C'mon, I can't ask Peter, he's barely been paying attention in class either."
The trio turned a corner, and Harry could no longer hear their conversation. Harry so desperately wanted to follow them and hear more, especially from his father, but he resisted the urge. After he spoke to Dumbledore he could really talk to him.
Harry forced himself to continue walking in the opposite direction of the Marauders, hoping this wouldn't be the last time he saw them.
Eventually, Harry reached Dumbledore's office. The same magnificent white statue stood guarding the entrance. Now what? Harry leaned against the wall, waiting. There wasn't much else to do. He could break into the office by guessing the password, but Dumbledore would likely be at least somewhat taken aback by a stranger standing by his desk.
Harry tugged the cloak off his head and stuffed it back into his pocket. He didn't want to just suddenly pop out of nowhere when Dumbledore approached, he needed to seem as normal as possible.
Just as Harry's legs began to ache from standing still for so long, a familiar sharp click of heels echoed down the halls. Harry looked up to see a younger version of his head of house walking purposefully down the hall. She didn't look at him at first. Harry's hurt sunk a little.
'It is like a pensieve,' he thought gloomly. He sadly watched as she swept down the hall, but as she neared him her eyes finally focused on him.
"What are you doing here?" Professor McGonagall asked sharply.
"I'm, uhm…" Harry didn't know what to say. Should he make something up? Should he tell the truth?
The professor raised an eyebrow.
"What house are you in?"
"H-House?" Harry blurted out nervously. She frowned.
"Are you feeling alright?" She looked at his battered face. "Have you been fighting? Perhaps we should go to the hospital wing…"
"Dumbledore!" Harry stated bluntly. He cleared his throat. "I need to see Dumbledore."
Professor McGonogall eyed him closely.
"The Headmaster is down at breakfast currently, I would recommend speaking with him later this evening as he is very busy — "
"This is important." Harry interrupted. McGonagall frowned.
"What is so important that it can't wait until later today?"
"I, I don't know." Harry shook his head looking down. He should have come up with a story before coming into the castle.
"I think…" McGonagall said slowly, looking him up and down. "You should go to the hospital wing. I will ask Dumbledore if he can come visit you there, but I think the school nurse needs to look you over."
Harry followed the professor without protest, glad that someone else had made a decision about what to do next.
McGonagall led him all the way from Dumbledore's office to the hospital wing as promised. The walk was a familiar one. Nothing had really changed, though he noticed that some paintings were not hung up anywhere and probably had yet to be painted.
She pushed open the door to the hospital wing and waved him inside where Harry was greeted by a friendly witch.
"What seems to be the problem, dear?" She asked leading him to a bed, which he sat down on the corner of.
"I think he got into fight," McGonagall answered for him. "He doesn't seem to know very much, he couldn't even tell me what house he was in."
"Well, that's strange now, isn't it?" The witch pulled out her wand and began waving it around Harry, presumably attempting to assess his injuries.
"What's your name, dear?"
"Harry." Harry answered without thinking. Should he have said something else?
"And what house are you in, Harry?"
"I don't know." Playing off of this forgetting everything had happened thing was all he had going for him.
"Hm, is it Gryffindor? Or Ravenclaw?" She encouraged.
"I don't know."
The witch frowned.
"Well, Minerva, there doesn't seem to be a lot wrong with him that I can pick up, I'm afraid. Apart from the cuts and bruises I can't find anything." The witch sighed.
"Harry, did you eat or drink anything strange today?"
"I-I don't — maybe?" Harry answered uncertainly. The witch turned back to McGonagall.
"The only thing I can think of right now is he somehow took some kind of forgetfulness potion, maybe someone was pranking him. It was probably those ridiculous boys from your house. Mr. Snape is back in here again because of them, you know."
"Again…" McGonagall growled. The witch pulled back the current next to Harry. He caught a glimpse of a green-skinned boy with frizzy hair. McGonagall quickly stepped forward blocking his view and the witch closed the curtain behind her. He could here quiet muttering, but couldn't make out any of the conversation as the witch continued to create small talk as if she was trying to jolt his memory.
"What year are you?"
"Seven." There was no point in lying about that, they could tell by how old he looked.
"Oh, I see, and what's your favorite class?"
"I, I can't remember."
The witch smiled.
"Don't worry dear, it'll all come back. My name is Madam Thompson; if you need anything, just call."
"I need to see Dumbledore." Harry responded hopefully.
"Well, he's a very busy man, but I can call his office and see if he's available. You just relax now, while I look up some potions to see if I can find anything to help you feel better."
Madam Thompson pulled back the curtain slightly, not enough for Harry to see this time.
"Mr. Snape, there's another boy here in the infirmary, would you maybe like me to open this curtain up so you to can chat?" Harry didn't hear a response, but he assumed Snape had shook his head no because the witch sighed and instead spoke to McGonagall next.
"Minerva, I still haven't been able to figure out quite what's wrong with Harry, but he said something about wanting to talk to Professor Dumbledore."
"Yes, I know." Harry heard McGonagall respond on the other side of the curtain. "It was the only detail I could get out of him."
"Well, it might be a good idea to bring him down, I don't think we're going to get much farther without him unless I can figure out exactly what potion he consumed." The witch smiled at Harry as she closed the curtain again before leaving his bedside and heading into her office.
"Get well soon, Severus." McGonagall came back through the curtain.
"You too, Harry." She said curtly before leaving the ward.
Harry sat for a few seconds in silence before taking off his shoes and reclining onto his bed. He hadn't realized just how tired he was until his head touched the pillow. Within only a few minutes, he was fast asleep.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Harry…" A hand gently shook Harry's shoulder. His eyes fluttered open and focused on the witch in front of him. Madam Thompson smiled warmly.
"I have someone I'm sure you will be happy to see."
Harry looked up and immediately sat up in bed. Dumbledore stood at the end of his bed in splendid dark purple robes. Madam Thompson smiled again before conjuring up curtains around his bed and walking away.
"Hello, Harry." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm alright, sir." Harry answered honestly.
"I heard that you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, sir, you see…" Harry paused for a second. "I-I don't know what happened exactly sir but… I wasn't here and then… I was."
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore said puzzled.
"I don't remember, sir. I just… woke up next to the lake."
"Hmm…" Dumbledore muttered thoughtfully. "This is a very peculiar situation, Harry. You see, before coming down to see you, I checked the school records to see your past grades, what house you were in and such. And it was so strange because there were no records there at all."
"None, sir?"
"None at all." Dumbledore frowned. "Not a single record matched."
Harry looked down at his sheets, unsure what to say. Should he tell him that he was from the future and it made perfect sense that there was no record of him attending the school yet?
"However, despite there not being any record of you attending here previously, perhaps you were educated elsewhere? Madam Thompson told me that you had said you were a seventh year."
Harry shook his head. "I'm not sure, sir."
"Harry, could you hold out you left forearm please?" Harry rolled up his sleeve and exposed more bruises. Dumbledore took out his wand and muttered unfamiliar spells. Nothing happened.
"Well then," Dumbledore said, lowering his wand. "I think the best course of action is to keep you here for now."
Harry's eyes lit up in excitement. He could meet his father.
"And it seems also best to have you continue your education here until we find out where you really are supposed to be. Of course this means you must be placed in a house." Dumbledore summed the Sorting Hat and placed it on his head.
"Hmm… Quite a mind…" The Sorting Hat muttered into Harry's ear. "Quite a cunning mind to be exact… Intelligent, but not right for Ravenclaw… Perhaps Slytherin?"
Once more Harry found himself faced the possibility of his rival house. He was about to open his mouth to protest when the Sorting Hat interrupted.
"Ah, but we have already been down this road haven't we?" Harry froze.
"Good luck, Mr. Potter." the Hat whispered before shouting "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Congratulations, Harry." Dumbledore said warmly. "We will get you some new robes soon, though I won't have you moved into your dormitory for a few days. I think it would be best for you to stay in the infirmary until you have recovered better. I don't think you should join classes just yet either."
"Uhm, sir," Harry said. "I haven't got a wand. I don't know what happened to it."
"Well, don't worry about that." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I will have someone take you to Diagon Alley, I'm sure you are in need of some other supplies as well."
"I, er, don't have much money on me either…" Harry said quietly.
"Don't worry, Harry. We will take care of it."
Harry felt rather guilty as the Headmaster wished him well and left his bedside.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Professor McGonagall looked up from her parchment as she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in." She called. Dumbledore stepped through into her office and closed the door behind him.
"Good afternoon, Minerva. I have some news about the boy you found outside of my office this morning."
"Were you able to find out who he was?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"No, he doesn't seem to have ever been here before. There are no records of him ever being a student here or even setting foot in the building, yet he knew where my office was." Dumbledore said stroking his long greying beard.
"Do you think he's a Death Eater?" Professor McGonagall asked seriously.
"No… I honestly don't," Dumbledore replied. "I checked his arm and there was no mark."
"Did you interrogate him under a truth serum?"
"I don't think the world hasn't gotten to the point where we can't trust anyone, Minerva. The boy does not come across to me as someone associated with dark magic. Besides, he was placed in your house."
Professor McGonagall looked a little taken aback by this, but nodded nonetheless.
"Do not worry, I'm not throwing precaution to the wind either. I am keeping him in the hospital wing for a few day under Guinivere's watch. Hopefully she might find what is disturbing his memory."
"I still think he might be lying…" Professor McGonagall muttered looking down. "His memory is probably just fine…"
"Let us have some trust in Harry until he has done something to prove us otherwise." Dumbledore looked at her knowingly. She nodded shortly.
"I will leave you to your grading, I will see you at dinner."
Dumbledore left swiftly, the door closing quietly behind him.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Review please!