41Chapter 2: A New Era
"It seems he is suffering from a massive case of magical exhaustion. I've never seen anything like it!"
"We need to call in some of the specialists for this job! I think Professor Dumbledore would also be interested in this one. This kid's magical reserves are humongous, and he still managed to deplete it."
A door opened with a bang. Footsteps. "Gentlemen, gentlemen, please don't worry. I'll be sure that Poppy takes good care of this young man. Have a nice day you two." The third voice ushered the first two away somewhere.
"Of course, Professor. Have a nice day." A whoosh of Floo powder signaled the departure of the first two voices.
Those voices Harry did not recognize, but from the way they were talking about him, he guessed they were Healers. The third voice sounded so familiar. He felt that he should've known that voice, but he just couldn't remember it...
Dumbledore! That third voice was Dumbledore! It couldn't be! He's dead!
Harry's eyes burst open and he leapt out of bed, wand summoned from the table beside the bed into his hand.
His eyes were focused on his mentor and his mentor's eyes were focused on him.
"Well, hello young man. That was some impressive magic there. What's your name?"
The question caught him off guard. His mind worked furiously to remember the last few memories he had, which was of the battle...the rift! That's it! The rift took him somewhere, and it seems that the line from the prophecy, "correct the universe", meant to help a different universe to defeat Voldemort!
"What's the date?" Harry demanded.
"Why, I believe today is the 21st. "
"The month?"
"August, last time I checked," Dumbledore replied, his eyes twinkling the same as always.
"And the year?" Harry was most anxious to find out the year.
"1978. Do you have memory loss, my boy?"
"No, I guess I just forgot the date..." Harry trailed off, as he realized his excuse was pathetic. His thinking went back to the prophecy. If he was to be deposited into a different universe, shouldn't the date be around the same as the time he left? Perhaps it isn't a different universe, but a different timeline...Yes that's it, Harry mused.
An uncomfortable (for Harry at least) silence ensued. "May I ask your name, sir?"
"My name is Harry Pot-" Harry stopped and covered his pause with a cough. He couldn't say Harry Potter, because he didn't exist yet! "My name is Harry Porter."
As soon as he finished speaking, what Dumbledore said a few moments ago burst back into his head. '1978! That's my mum and dad's last year at Hogwarts!'
"Are we at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore?"
"Yes we are, Harry. May I ask how you knew my name? I'm pretty sure I didn't introduce myself."
"Well surely you don't think a man of your stature would remain unknown, do you?" Harry replied with a smile on his face.
The old professor returned the smile and stared into Harry's eyes. Harry felt a small brush on his mental shields and immediately brought them up to full power.
"An Occlumens. How impressive. Who taught you?"
"I taught myself, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to read my mind."
"Sorry. In times as dangerous as this, it is a necessary caution to determine who is friend and who is foe."
"There's no need to worry. I am a friend," Harry said.
"Do you mind if I ask how you managed to use up so much magic? You were out for nearly three days."
The first thing that came to Harry's mind was to tell the truth. but then he decided it was better if he played dumb. "Sorry, but I really have no idea."
"Hmmm...very well. Another thing to look into. How old are you Harry? You look like a seventh year, but I have never seen you before, and I take pride in knowing my students. And you look a lot like James Potter. Would you happen to be related to him?"
Harry really wanted to meet his parents and the Marauders, and he knew Dumbledore would invite him to Hogwarts if he told the aging professor that he was 17, while in fact he was 18. If he said 18, there was no way he was going to have a chance to meet his future parents.. "I'm 17, and I'm not related to this James Potter, sorry."
Dumbledore continued the questioning. "Where do you go to school then?"
Pretending to be nervous, he replied, "I was tutored by several different teachers, and I live with my muggle relatives who hate magic, since my parents were killed when I was 1..."
"That's terrible. My condolences. Perhaps you should come to Hogwarts, where you can procure a wonderful education," Dumbledore suggested.
"Sorry sir, but I don't have any money left to pay for tuition..."
"Not a problem Harry. There is a fund for students who cannot pay for tuition. I'll apply you as a student, and you'll have to get sorted later."
The Sorting Hat! It could read minds, right? Harry's mind sped as he thought of ways he could avoid putting the hat on, but unfortunately, none came.
"Now, why don't you go off and explore the castle a bit before it is time for dinner, which will be held in the Great Hall? I'm sure it will be a good idea for you to get acquainted with the school, or else you'd be lost like a first year. If you need help finding your way, just call for a house-elf," the old Headmaster claimed with a twinkle in his eyes.
Quite frankly, Harry was pleased with this dismissal, since he would have time to reminisce about the great times he had in this castle before it was overrun by Voldemort's Death Eaters. He slowly limped his way out, since he was still a bit exhausted from his major magical exhaustion. He was refilling quickly, but he still needed another day before he was fine.
Neither saw the smirks that adorned the other's face as Harry left.
Dumbledore was having a great day, even though the past week wasn't so good, despite the fact that his current position in his office lead people to believe that he was tired, with his fingers pressed against his forehead and his eyes cast downwards.
First, the bumbling Minister Fudge passed a law that allowed Dumbledore almost free reign of the Ministry, since "such a venerable hero of the Wizarding World would be able to contribute" to fight the menace that was his old student, Tom Marvolo Riddle. Second, his Order of the Phoenix group were successfully taking out said menace's lackeys, the Death Eaters. And finally, a powerful new pawn had come into play, perfect for Albus to mold and use. His wandless powers and the depth of his magical exhaustion which showed had large his magical core was, coupled with his amazing regeneration rate and simple naivety would make him the perfect fighting machine. It would only take some time to completely mold him into Albus' pawn, and then the boy would eventually be disposed of, so that the "great hero Dumbledore" could claim the credit of defeating this newest Dark Lord.
Harry strolled around Hogwarts a bit, visiting the Gryffindor common room (it was summer, so no passwords were necessary), the Great Hall, the Quidditch stadium, the locker rooms, even some of his favorite broom cupboards! He was so lost in thinking that he didn't realize he had bumped into someone until his arse was on the ground, and papers were fluttering about everywhere near him.
"Oh shit, sorry!" he exclaimed as he scrambled to his feet to help whoever he knocked down.
His breath was literally taken away as a beautiful, petite redhead with amazing emerald green eyes came into view. Mum!
"James Harold Potter! Watch where you're going you clumsy foo-" the redhead yelled before coming to an abrupt stop. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, "I thought you were someone else."
"It's no problem. Sorry for bumping into you. The name's Harry Porter." He held out a hand to the redhead in front of him who would later end up married to James Potter.
"Lily Evans," she replied, after shaking his hand. "Hey, what House are you in? I'm a seventh year Gryffindor, and I've never seen you around."
"I'm a new student, and I'm gonna join your year. Haven't gotten sorted yet though."
She bent down to pick up her books, when she noticed that he was still standing and he was watching her. Hmph, you'd think he'd help me pick up my books after he bumped into me, she huffed irritably, and was about to tell him so when he interrupted her.
"You do know there is a little something called magic right?" he said with a wave of his hand, which caused the books and various papers to go flying back into her hands.
She was too stunned by his casual use of wandless magic to be embarrassed about forgetting about to use magic to clean up the mess.
"You know how to do magic without a wand? Where'd you learn it? Was it hard? Can you teach me?" she asked in quick succession with a squeal while bouncing up and down with joy.
Up, down, up, down...Stop! You sick bastard, that's your mother!
But she's younger than me!
So? She's still your damn mother, you sick pervert!
Shaking his head to clear his mind of his internal argument, he replied with a casual "Maybe."
Finally stopping her bouncing, Lily regained her wits enough to ask a question. "Hey, since when did we have transfer students?"
"I'm not a transfer student," he replied, "I've just been tutored privately and this is my first year to go public." His heart was hurting with such a use of a blatant lie to his future mother. "Hey, wait a second," he blurted out without a thought, "why are you here at Hogwarts? It's summer, so shouldn't you be at home or something?"
"Nah," she responded, waving his concern off. "Didn't you know that students who wish to are allowed to stay over the summer, even though most choose to go home?"
"Nope, never knew about that one," he said, stunned by the implications, since it meant that he could have stayed here at Hogwarts and never would've had to go back to the Dursleys' back in his own time.
Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he asked if Lily would mind showing him around, since he wanted to spend some time with who would later become his mother.
"Sure," she answered brightly. They started their tour with a trek to the Gryffindor common room.
On the way, Lily told Harry all about her life and friends.
"I'm a muggleborn, and I lived with my parents until I got my Hogwarts letter. When my sister found out that I was a witch, she turned from a loving big sister to a hateful bully. My parents, of course, never knew about what the things she said to me, but it hurt a lot...Anyway, on my first day, I met my two best friends Alice Dorea and Angelina Black. Alice is dating Frank Longbottom right now, and Angelina is single."
'Black?' Harry thought. He would have to find out her relation to Sirius later.
She continued on. "I also met four boys who later became the Marauders. They're just a group of bullies who like to play pranks on people, especially Slytherins. James Potter and Sirius Black are the two more popular members, and they're extremely immature. Peter Pettigrew is a snivelling little boy who happens to worship Potter and Black, and the last member, Remus Lupin, is the normally-level-headed member of the group. He's also the only smart one. Oh yes, before I forget, what classes do you plan on taking this year? If you were tutored, you probably didn't get a chance to take your OWLs and..." Lily stopped, realizing that she was blabbering.
Harry, amused by her sudden change of subject, replied, "Don't worry, I already took the OWLs, and I got an O on the four core subjects (DADA, Potions, Charms, and Transfigurations) and O's on Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, so I'll be taking the NEWTs for those classes." Of course, Harry only started Arithmancy and Ancients Runes in his sixth year in the future and he was tutored by Dumbledore. He got to take the OWLs for those two classes later on, and the grades were at least true. Yes, even Potions.
Lily let loose a squeak. "NEWTs! I forgot! Oh Merlin, what am I gonna do, I gotta study, oh no, oh no..." She was blabbering and had to slap a hand on her mouth to stop talking. She's just like Hermione, Harry mused, and the thought of one of his two dead best friends brought tears to his eyes,
Lily, not noticing the tears, continued on. "Sorry, but I kinda got carried away for a second..."
"You sure you're not a Ravenclaw?" Harry asked with a smirk, the previous tears wiped from his eyes before Lily could notice.
She scowled at him before she asked about his life. In response, he told her about how a Dark Wizard killed his parents and he was left with his Muggle relatives, who hated all things magical. He told her about how his uncle thought that beating him would get the freakiness out of him, and his many uses of accidental magic on his horrible relatives. The story brought tears to Lily's eyes, but Harry continued on. He also told her about how his Godfather was also killed by one of the Dark Wizard's followers, and she was reduced to sobbing for how bad his life was. He concluded his story by telling her about how he got tutored after receiving the inheritance his parents left him, and what his training entailed. That impressed her greatly.
Ten minutes later, they reached the Gryffindor common room and the pair entered. The room was exactly how he remembered it; decorated in red and gold, with a small fire lit in the fireplace. The place was very homey, and contained many comfortable couches and only two tables for work to be done. There were two marble staircases, each leading to the guys' dorm and girls' dorm. Lily pointed to the girls' staircase, and told Harry that her room was up that way. She also explained how guys were not allowed up the girls' dorm, in any house. Lily used an example of James and Sirius attempting to sneak up in their first year. She was laughing too hard to properly explain what happened. Another thing to find out about later, Harry thought.
The two left the common room and decided to visit the other three. The Ravenclaw common room was exactly what Harry imagined it to be. Basically, a library. Not as extensive as the school library, but a library nonetheless. The Hufflepuff was more homey than the Ravenclaw common room, but not as warm and comforting as the Gryffindor one. Finally, Lily reluctantly led Harry to the Slytherin common room. It was the same as when Harry visited in his second year: cold, dull, and bleak. Like Azkaban, Harry thought, without the Dementors.
On their way to dinner at the Great Hall, Harry asked a question that was bothering him for some time. "How come we didn't run into anyone else?"
"It is summer vacation, silly. Besides me, only Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew are still here," Lily responded.
"Did someone call our name?" a voice yelled out from behind them.
Harry turned around at the yell, and there, in front of him, stood the three people he never expected to see again. His father James Potter, his godfather Sirius Black, and his second godfather Remus Lupin.