Chapter 15
To be Whole Again
Last Time
"Did you know Luna is attending detentions with Umbitch." Astoria asked.
"Yes." Harry replied cautiously.
He had only not interfered with the detention before because he knew that Umbridge had only used the blood quills on him in the previous timeline. Because afterall they were illegal and using them on many students would surely increase the chance of the authorities finding out.
"Show it to him Luna." Astoria said in a soft but firm voice, leaving no room for argument.
As Luna lifted her left hand reluctantly and put in front of Harry the atmosphere changed.
The air was thick.
Nonexistent wind started blowing.
Breathing became difficult.
And a pair of bright emerald circles started glowing.
The Defense Against the Dark Art Classroom, Hogwarts, 23rd September 1995
Umbridge was currently sitting behind her desk, having a cup of tea while admiring her kittens on the decorative plates adorning the walls of her office thinking and shuddering in pleasure while thinking about the pain, she had inflicted on the little girl just a few moments before.
' This is just the start. I hope he does make a move, that would give me a good enough reason to bring up false charges, and if not get Potter a one-way ticket to Azkaban, I could atleast get me expelled and his wand spanned. And if this does not cause him to act, it is just an added incentive for me to continue the … detentions.' Umbridge though
BOOM!
That noise blasted Umbridge out of her thought and caused her to drop off the chair in shock. Looking up to see who was the cause of this, she looked up just for her eyes to meet a pair of frighteningly bright emerald green eyes.
Staring into those emerald orbs brought out an emotion she had not felt in a long time... fear.
It reminded her of some of the more sinister rumors she had heard in the Ministry about the Boy-Who-Lived. There had been rumors about his magical prowess, of a power and skill greater than any other student in the castle, more than what he had shown in the championship or the Triwizard tournament
Though, being the woman that she was she just could not back down and just had to make matters worse for her. Umbridge just could not stand the sight of Harry anymore. Her outrage overriding her sense of self-preservation, she stormed over to Potter and jabbed her finger into his chest.
"How dare you!" she bellowed in anger. "How dare you barge in this class, Potter? How dare you barge in my class? I shall see you expelled for this!"
In her anger, she did not notice Potter waving his hand and the doors and windows of the class being closed and being locked by several advanced locking charms, nor did she notice the number of privacy wards going up around them.
"You are finished, Potter! Do you hear me?" Umbridge shouted as she continued to jab her finger in Harry's chest as she continued to rant on. "Your Headmaster will not be able to save you! Your titles will not be able to save you! Your little sluts will not be able to save you! You will be expelled! I will personally snap your wand and throw you out of the castle, you filthy half-breed!"
"Obviously you were not taught respect by your parents as they were too busy being dead! And I say good for us, atleast the world got rid of a blood traitor and a mudblood! I am the SeniorUndersecretary to the Minister for Magic! I control you! I control this School! I…"
She was cut off as a strong hand landed on her right shoulder, startling her into silence.
"Do you feel in control, Dolores?"
She gaped in astonishment as she looked up into the face of the Boy-Who-Lived. And while he was taller and muscular than a normal fifteen-year-old, he was by no means taller or stronger than the average adult; yet as she looked into his face, she felt a paralyzing fear overtake all of her senses. The air seemed to grow thicker around her, and she began to feel a slight difficulty in breathing.
It took her a minute to realize she was not imagining any of it.
The difficulty in breathing.
The wind blowing.
The emerald glow around her.
The shadows and darkness that had covered the classroom.
The unforgiving eyes which no longer resembled a human's eye.
All she could see in Potter's eyes was mythical golden symbol of the deathly hallows in a sea of black.
The air around her kept getting denser by the minute, causing her breath to hitch in her throat. Magic seemed to roll off the monster before her in waves, saturating their surroundings with pure energy. The symbol in his eyes glowed brighter by the second, showing the barely restrained power waiting to be unleashed as the sheer pressure of his presence crushed the very air out of her lungs, her body unable to move an inch.
"Wh-what are you?" she finally croaked out, her very soul trembling with fear she had never experienced before.
"Who, me?" Potter said softly, his hand brushing off the nonexistent dust off of Umbridge's shoulders and his eyes focusing on said shoulders as he continued. "I am Lord Harry James Potter Black, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Man who defeated Voldemort, the Man who defeated a dragon, the current world dueling champion."
Before Potter abruptly looked up into her eyes, with the same intensity and power, but only this time, the power did not seem restrained, it was indeed flowing, flowing like a river.
"And your reckoning."
She gurgled in horrified surprise as she was suddenly lifted into the air and flung across the room to collide against the wall with a sickening crunch.
She rolled on the floor grunting in pain, dimly aware of the slow footsteps that kept coming closer to her. Her eyes fell upon her wand right beside her on the floor.
She picked up the wand as fast as she could, a short and stubby piece of wood, and pointed it unsteadily at the figure approaching her. Her head was still throbbing with pain and a small trickle of blood ran down the edge of her mouth. She said the first spell that popped into her mind. " Avada Kedavra!"
Suddenly, her wand and her wand arm burst into flames.
Shrieking in pain and horror, Umbridge desperately tried to extinguish the flames on her arm, watching it slowly burning her skin and burning her wand into ash as it hit the ground. After desperately trying to extinguish the fire and succeeding, but not before the damage could be done.
Looking up she saw Potter still walking towards her like a predator would walk towards its dead prey. Cradling her burned arm to her chest, Umbridge scampered away from Potter until she hit the far away wall.
"Tch, tch, Madam Umbridge." Harry spoke disapprovingly, with a face that would be used by a disappointed parent. "That's is not the away a ministry employee should carry herself." Slowly drawing his own wand.
"Nor should the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic be torturing students. And certainly not my SISTER IN ALL BUT BLOOD!" Potter shouted out, a wave of magic pushing off of him and obliterating anything standing in its way, pushing Umbridge hard against the wall behind her, slamming her head into the wall.
"You like dishing out pain? Let us see how well you can handle the same pain you dish out." Potter whispered in a cold icy tone that would freeze even the most veterans of Aurors in their place and make them shiver in fear.
"P-please… P-P-Potter… P-p-please." Umbridge whimpered, tears streaking down her cheeks.
" Curcio" Potter whispered out in the same cold voice.
Umbridge screamed in pain as she felt as though a thousand of molten knives had dug into her body. Pain unlike anything she had ever felt coursed through her; she wanted to black out, to die… anything that would put an end to this horrific pain searing though her. Dolores Umbridge drew her legs into her chest and screamed in agony, her voice reverberating throughout the classroom.
Mercifully, her world went dark.
The Hospital Wing, Hogwarts, 24th September 1995
"Ah, finally! You are awake Professor Umbridge."
Umbridge blearily opened her eyes to look into the concerned face of Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts Medi-witch.
"Wh-what happened? Where am I?" Umbridge asked weakly, unable to fully comprehend what was going on.
"Easy there Professor." Pomfrey said soothingly. "You are in the Hospital Wing."
Her eyes fully snapped open in surprise. There were a thousand questions rushing through her mind. How was she still alive? Where was the M... Mon... Monster who attacked her? How did she get to the Hospital Wing? Last thing she remembered was unbearable pain and then darkness.
"The seventh-year students brought you in this morning. They had come for their morning class of DADA when they saw you fainted near the classroom entrance door."
' Though they also did mention they had to move something as heavy as a cupboard blocking the door, only to find they had moved her.' Pomfrey continued in her mind, deeming it irrelevant to tell to the 'poor' professor.
Umbridge hearing it at first contracted into a ball! Pulling her legs up to her chest and looking around in fear, like she was going to be attacked any second now.
Pulling her legs closer to her chest using her arms she waited for…
Wait a minute. The pain. The Cruciatus curse…
Umbridge quickly ran her hands over her body, as if to check if all of her limbs were still attached. Her heart beating wildly inside her chest.
This cannot be possible
It was gone. The pain was gone!
She knew enough about the Cruciatus curse to know that the pain from such a Dark curse simply did not disappear in a few hours. The spell was considered an Unforgivable for a reason. Long term damage was pretty common for those who had been kept under the curse for more than a minute. Even minor exposure to the spell left a great deal of pain and aches over the body. Some even suffered from a complete mental breakdown. Their brain disconnecting their conscience from reality just to not feel pain anymore.
But Umbridge felt nothing. No aches, no pain... it was like she had never been placed under the curse in the first place.
And her hand... she stared at her hand in astonishment. Her previously injured hand was completely healed as well. For all intents and purposes, it was like she had never been attacked in the first place.
She had to get out of here. It was all a mistake... this accursed castle, this Merlin-damned school! She had to get away from all this… from Potter... from that Monster .
Umbridge started to move towards the Floo before she cursed and doubled back to the bedside drawer, where her possessions were laid out neatly.
The sight that greeted her nearly made her pass out of sheer terror.
Lying innocently on the table was a very familiar piece of short and study wood. Beneath it lay a small piece of parchment, with a message written in near, clear script.
I must not tell lies
The Library, Hogwarts, 24th September 1995
Neville was starting to get worried.
He had searched almost the entire castle for his friend but Harry had not been in any of the places he had checked. The Ravenclaw's said that Harry's dorm room was empty, and the Ravenclaws were also trying to figure out where Harry might have gone to after they saw him rush out of the common room last night with a thunderous expression on his face.
Deciding to try a place he thought that he would never have to look for Harry in after the Triwizard Tournament, Neville pushed the door to the library rather roughly. Madam Prince, the evil librarian gave him a withering glare, which he winced at before quietly closing the door behind him. Once the librarian had turned back to her work, Neville began to look around the library for his friend.
All of the study tables were filled with Ravenclaw students, all of them eager to get their batch of homework done before the next day began. Shaking his head, Neville headed further into the stacks of ancient tomes towards the most secluded study tables. There, in the most isolated and well-hidden table, sat Daphne, Tracey, Susan, and Hannah. He smiled a little and walked over to the table, noting how Susan and Daphne quickly ended their discussion as he drew nearer.
"Hey guys." He greeted them casually, "Any of you seen Harry around?"
Daphne and Susan both blushed, leading him to believe that his friend had been the subject of their discussion before he had arrived. Tracey smirked at Daphne before answering.
"No, we haven't, I have a feeling that we wouldn't be here if we had." She replied, ignoring the glares she was receiving from Susan and Daphne. Neville frowned deeply but remained silent. Hannah, sensing his mood darkening, put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, having stood up to comfort him.
"Hey... what's the matter Neville?" she asked. Her genuine concern caused Neville to sigh deeply.
"Have you not heard what happened yesterday?" He frowned again. When he was treated to the same concerned and confused glances Neville elaborated.
"Apparently Astoria pulled Luna into the Ravenclaw common room last night after Luna's detention." Neville started before being interrupted by a shocked Slytherin.
"What? Why was Tori in the Ravenclaw common room? How did she even know where the common room is or what the password to the common room is?" asked a shocked Daphne before muttering "She has been spending way too much time with Harry and the Weasley twins."
"Anyways, the rumor is that Astoria was furious, they are calling her the ice princess apparently for some reason. She pulled Luna up to Harry and they had a small discussion before Harry turned more furious than anyone had ever seen him. He then rushed out of the common room and the girls then went into Luna's dorm room." Neville explained.
The expression on the girls' face went through several emotions, first was an annoyed expression when they heard the new nickname given to Astoria, before changing to confusion as they all just could not guess what would make Astoria angry, before turning down right concerned when they heard how Harry had reacted.
"What could have happened to make him so angry? Did you try to ask Tori or Luna about it?" a worried Susan questioned Neville.
"They did not come out of the dorm room all night yesterday till today morning and whenever I asked one of them, they both said that Harry had specifically asked them not to share the details with anyone." Neville replied.
Hannah suddenly turned towards Daphne and just as she was about to open her mouth and ask something, she was stopped by Daphne with a shake of her head and then saying. "I can try to talk to Tori, but I would not be much optimistic about it. If Harry has specifically requested her not to share something then she will not, not unless father is the one asking her. She just respects Harry too much to betray his trust in such a way. Even if it is me or Susan asking her." Daphne said sadly.
"Then I think the best option is to split into pairs and start searching the castle." Tracey suggested. "We can cover more ground that way."
Everyone seemed to agree to this as they stood up at once and started moving towards the exit with pairs made on instinct.
"If none of us can find him by dinner time then we go to the Headmaster and hope he might be able to find him. I know this is also a break of trust Harry has in us, but you know how he gets when angry, I fear what might happen if we do not find him." Neville said looking straight at Daphne and Susan's retreating back. "I know those two would be devastated if something were to happen to Harry, and I have no desire to see that happen."
While one could see that it had taken Neville a lot of deliberation and strength to make the decision his resolve after making it was strong and unwavering.
Both the girls with him nodded while Tracey put an arm on Neville shoulder and Hannah grasped his hand, knowing they had to do what needed to be done.
"What could have happened?" Susan asked worriedly.
"I do not know, but I am sure going to find out. Idiotic Gryffindors I tell you." Daphne replied coldly.
"Former" Susan corrected, a smirk on her face.
Daphne did not reply, just rolled her eyes at Susan's reply.
"There should be some way to find out where he is. I know he always keeps the map on him, so we cannot use that, but maybe some other way we could use to track him." Daphne kept mumbling to herself, trying to think of a way to track their wayward Boyfriend.
"Dobby!" Susan called out. The little house elf in question popped into existence in the middle of the corridor, a pillow case with the Hogwarts crest his only clothing. The elf looked up at Susan and Daphne and bowed his head a little.
"Mistresses are calling Dobby?" he squeaked.
"Dobby, we need to find Harry. Do you know his general location?" Daphne asked the elf, knowing that the elf was probably crazy enough to have tracked Harry. The elf smiled wide before nodding his head enthusiastically, making his ears flop around madly.
"Oh yes! Dobby is knowing that Master Harry Potter went up to the seventh floo." He suddenly became grief-stricken, "But Dobby is not knowing what room he be in on the seventh floor. Dobby is sorry Mistress."
"No issues at all Dobby, you have been of great help! We might just know where to find him now. Thank you, Dobby, you may go. Come on Daphne, we need to hurry." Susan gently said to the elf before turning around and running towards the great stair case.
"I am so glad he is not in the Chamber of Secrets, otherwise none of us might have been able to get to him." Daphne said as she ran besides Susan up the stair towards the Room of Requirement.
The Room of Requirements, Hogwarts, 24th September 1995
Harry was sitting down, his eyes focused on the sword in his hand, when the two girls barged into the room. He looked up from the gem-encrusted hilt of the sword to look up at the two witches who meant more to him than anything in the world, the girls who he was thinking of the most at the moment, and thinking what was right. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing before returning to looking at the way the light from the fireplace in front of him reflected off of the sword's edge. Idly, he spun the sword. With mild curiosity, Harry raised the blade to inspect the tip.
Of course, it was just a flawlessly sharp as it had always been.
He chuckled a little. You had to respect the goblins; even if it was just for their weapons alone. This sword was most likely older than the castle it now resided in and yet it still performed as if it had been forged yesterday. The various charms on its blade would have to have been very intricate to even keep it from rusting over the years but the way it was just as perfect as the day it was first ready to use just lent more credit to the popular belief that the Goblin forgers must have access to magic beyond that of any wizard alive. A soft cough stole his attention from the blade. He turned his head slightly to see a nervous looking Susan looking down at him in his comfortable armchair.
"Harry? Are you alright?" she asked quietly. Harry waved a hand and two more arm chairs appeared in front of the fireplace, startling Susan.
"Have a seat, Susan. You too Daphne." He called out. Both girls glanced at each other quickly before sitting down in the offered chairs. Daphne frowned a little.
"I'm going to ask the obvious question again; are you alright?" she asked, trying not to sound as concerned as she was. Harry smiled a little before returning his attention to the sword in his hand.
"I'm perfectly fine Daphne... I just needed some space to try and figure somethings out." He brought up his hand to pet Selena's head that was resting on Harry's shoulder, "And Selena here has been a great help in that endeavor."
" You just needed someone to bring you out of that self-blaming phase yet again Harry, though I do admit, it has been decades since you last acted like this." Selena teased.
" I know Selena, I know. It is just that I seem to still cause harm to the people closest to me, even with the advantage of knowledge that I have, but as you rightly pointed out, it is not my decision to make if I should push them away or not, they should be able to make that decision for themselves." Harry replied, but was looking at the girls sitting in front of him with soft, hopefully, and determined gaze.
Before he sighed and looked down before mumbling, "Their decision to make." To this Selena just raised her head and rubbed it against Harry's cheek to offer what silent comfort she could, knowing that her Master was now thinking logically and making the right decision.
"Harry, I am sorry to interrupt and we can leave if you need some more time to yourself. I know we are in a relationship, but that does not mean each of us do not need time to ourselves." Daphne said softly, placing her hand on Harry's hand which was holding the sword of Godric Gryffindor.
Harry sighed once more before looking up to see the two girls and met their understanding eyes. And looked between both of them
"No need Daphne, no need to leave. I have done what I came here to do." Harry replied before offering a soft smile and getting a smile in return.
"If you do not mind me asking then, what happened? Neville said he has not seen you since yesterday and you were furious when you walked out of the Ravenclaw common room last night after Tori and Luna had a talk with you." Daphne questioned gently, while Susan brought her chair besides Harry and lopped her arm and grabbed hold of Harry's arm offering her support in case needed.
Harry just raised his eyebrow and a small smirk played on his face. "Why? Tori did not tell you?" knowing full well that Astoria would never betray his trust, not even for her sister.
Daphne just rolled her eyes, but a soft smile played on her face as the tension dissipated. "You know full well mister that she would never tell me anything if you have asked her not to."
"You mean to tell me that your younger blood sister would listen to me before her elder sister?" Harry replied jokingly.
Daphne just stared at him deadpanned, while Susan's hold on Harry tightened, showing that it went from 'I am here for you' to 'Behave.'
Harry laughed and raised his arms into the air. "Ok ok, I give."
"But before I tell you anything, just promise me that you would not take any drastic actions. I would like to deal with this problem myself." Harry said this while his eyes shinned brightly for a second, letting the girls know he was serious.
After getting nods of approval from both the girls Harry continued.
"Did you know Luna was given a detention by the bitch that teaches us Defense?" Harry asked and growled a bit when describing Umbridge. And while Susan would have been the first to reprimand Harry for his language she did not, because she whole heartedly agreed with that term. Both the girls knew why Luna was given the detention and their jaws tightened, only giving a stiff nod in response.
"Well, it turns out her detention assignment was writing line, a hundred of them." Harry said, which did confuse the girls. Both thinking the same thing. ' What was so bad in that? A hundred lines is not so bad.'
That was what they thought before Harry continued and the atmosphere got cold, but this time not because of Harry.
"With a Blood Quill" Harry growled out.
Hearing this 2 things happened, Susan's hold on his arm tightened further while her blood ran cold, a gasp leaving her mouth and her other hand covering her mouth, looking wide eyed at Harry.
While the other thing that happened was that Daphne's magic started going haywire, anger clearly seen in her eyes, hand gripping the armrests of the chair she was sitting on as her knuckles turned white. Fury etched on her face.
"I will see her in Azkaban for this, AFTER I have had my way with her." Daphne said coldly, a smile on her face that made Susan and Harry shiver.
"No, not yet." Harry said firmly.
This made Daphne's sharp eyes snap towards Harry, and Susan's confused ones aswell.
Harry smiled and that is all that Daphne needed before understanding filled her eyes and she started chuckling. But that only served to confuse Susan more.
"But Harry! I can have auntie come in and arrest that Hag right in front of everyone, publicly for using an illegal object." Susan exclaimed, still not understanding why Daphne was laughing and Harry was smiling.
"Susan, it's safe to say that Harry is bringing out his Slytherin side, and at just the appropriate time." Daphne said.
"Would you both just tell me what you are thinking?!" Susan shouted out, glaring at both Daphne and Harry. She was already angry as her friend had been tortured by a professor and her Boyfriend and her closest friend were now playing riddles.
"You do know that the Minister is Fudge right? And he would do all in his power to keep Umbridge out of Azkaban, afterall that woman might have a lot of dirt on him. So even if he might not be able to stop the charges from being filed, he could and will try his best to keep the woman out of Azkaban; Maybe in the Ministry cells, maybe House arrest, maybe probation, or maybe even just a fine." Harry explained.
"Afterall, Luna is not from a prominent Pureblood family, and she and her father are known to be more… eccentric by the Wizarding population. So, it would be very easy for someone like the Minister to reduce the sentence to a slight slap on the wrist." Daphne continued.
Understanding dawned on Susan's face as she saw where this was going, before even she gained an evil smirk and announced loudly.
"I like it!"
This caused the others present there to descend into laughter and after controlling themselves, Harry just placed a light kiss on her cheek, but Daphne did notice that Harry had made a hesitant attempt to kiss Susan on the lips. Which caused Daphne to start thinking again.
"Harry" Daphne called out, getting her man's attention.
"Based on how fast Umbridge was seen leaving the grounds of the castle and running, and the fact that the DADA classes for the day were proxied, I am guessing you have already started making that woman's life a living hell." Daphne said, waiting for Harry to nod.
After getting the nod in return she continued. "Though that still does not explain what you are doing here. You are obviously not planning the next 'incident' otherwise you would have come to me first thing, nor are you practicing and letting out your frustrations based on the fact that I do not see any destroyed training dummies around. So, what is it?" Daphne asked, "Are you seriously alright?" the concern in her voice clearly audible for all to hear.
This brought Harry out of the jovial mood that he was in, his face turning serious.
Harry sighed before asking Susan to sit in front of him, besides Daphne so he could look them both in the eyes before conveying what he needed to convey.
Once Susan took her seat besides Daphne, Harry started "You know how we talked about each of us having secrets? How for this relationship to work there needs to be no life changing secrets between us? How you both agreed to give me as much time as I needed to come to terms with them and be ready to share it with the both of you?" Harry asked while the girls nodded in return, not wanting to interrupt Harry.
"Well, I think I am ready." Harry said in a determined voice.
"Harry, I know you have been through a lot only from what you have already shared with us, and I know there are somethings you are keeping a secret and while we would like to know them just to understand you better and help you whenever needed, this decision needs to be yours. You need not be compelled to do so because we are forcing you to." Susan said, taking Harry's hand in hers and gently rubbing her other hand on the back of Harry's hand, while Daphne nodded in agreement with what Susan said.
Harry smiled at this.
' I just keep loving them more every minute I spend with them. I just hope…'
"I know Susan, and I lo… appreciate and respect you both all the more for it." Harry smiled, which widen when he saw both of his girlfriends start blushing after they caught on to what he almost said out loud.
"But I think it is time. You both have healed me of my past scars in these last few months alone, more than a decade of solitude could ever do, you both have given me a reason to fight on, you both have given me the courage to fight on, you both have given me space, understanding, your trust, and you both have given me what I desired since I was born… love." Harry said gently looking at both with so much love that even the girls could not help the tears that started welling up in their eyes.
"And now I feel the time has come for me to come clean, so that you could make the decision that is right for you." Harry said, stalling whatever Susan was going to say by raising his hand with a smile.
"Maybe I should have told you earlier, but I was afraid you both would not believe me, or that I would scare you off. I thought that if we became close enough, then maybe you would have an easier time accepting everything I have to tell you. Please believe me when I say I never wanted to deceive you both, I just did not see how I had any other choice. I always planned to tell you everything as soon as I thought you both were ready, and I think you are ready now." Harry said, confusing both the girls, though they did not interrupt him which he was most grateful for.
"And what I have to say is so unreal that even I would have trouble believing it and even though I know you trust me, let me take an oath for my own satisfaction. Please." Harry said and before either of the girls could interrupt, he continued with the oath.
"I, Lord Harry James Potter Black, do hereby swear on my magic and life, whatever I say or any memories I show to Daphne Evelyn Greengrass and Susan Amelia Bones are unaltered and true to the best of my knowledge, this oath shall come into effect whenever all three of us are in the Chamber of Secrets and shall stay in effect until such a time that my familar Selena has deemed my retelling of my life complete. So, mote it be." Harry declared, when suddenly a wave of magic rippled out signifying that the oath was complete.
"Harry, you dumb piece of shite!" Daphne exclaimed, before standing up and glaring down at her boyfriend. Being a Slytherin she knew what repercussions this could have. If her boyfriend even slightly tried to alter the truth when sharing whatever he wanted to share, he could risk losing his magic and life. And while she would not be happy with him lying to her, she would much prefer it over him dying.
Harry seeing her anger just got up and encircled his arms around her in a comforting embrace, before pulling Susan into the same embrace and softly explaining his actions. "I know this puts my life at risk which you both are not ok with. But I see no other way of making you believe what I said will be the truth."
Susan mumbled into his shoulder "We would have believed you Harry, we trust you with our life. Do you think so little of us?" sounding a bit hurt, which was understandable, and for which Harry was quick to soothe the both of them by rubbing his hand on their backs.
"I know Susie, I know. But I had to do it for my own satisfaction, I needed the push to make sure I tell you everything and everything truthfully, because as much as I may seem depressed, I love the way my life is going and I would definitely would not like to die." Harry said with a chuckle, earning a slap on the back of his head from Susan and a weak chuckle from Daphne, Susan not being in a mood for jokes.
"Ok, so enough melodrama, let us start. Selena, could you please also join the girls?" Harry asked out to his familiar.
Selena just nodded her head before wrapping herself around Daphne's arm and resting her head on the armrest of the chair Daphne was sitting on.
Once both the girls were on their seat and both petting Selena on her head, Harry took his own seat before taking a deep breath and continuing.
"I am …"
AN
So, that was the chapter.
Consequences
Harry Angry
A POV of his friends
Destroyed ROR
And now what does Harry have to say
Nanu, here is the cliffhanger that you wanted
Also I know that the oath still might have too many loopholes letting Harry dies but that's the best I could come up with in a short while. Mainly I made it so big because I have seen many a times authors have made Harry make a general oath of the nature and then he literally can not lie or deceive them till he lives or he dies, and that is just stupid on Harry's part. One could argue that same might happen in the oath Harry took in this chapter, but that's the best I could come up with in this short time.
Next up
Nope, no next ups this time. It ended with a cliffhanger for god's sake, I am not going to say what is next obviously.
Chapter 16
To be Whole Again
Last Time
"I know Susie, I know. But I had to do it for my own satisfaction, I needed the push to make sure I tell you everything and everything truthfully, because as much as I may seem depressed, I love the way my life is going and I would definitely would not like to die." Harry said with a chuckle, earning a slap on the back of his hand from Susan and a weak chuckle from Daphne, Susan not being in a mood for jokes.
"Ok, so enough melodrama, let's start. Selena, could you please also join the girls?" Harry asked out to his familiar.
Selena just nodded her head before wrapping herself around Daphne's arm and resting her head on the armrest of the chair Daphne was sitting on.
Once both the girls were on their seat and both petting Selena on her head, Harry took his own seat before taking a deep breath and continuing.
"I am …"
The Room of Requirements, Hogwarts, 24th September 1995
"I am …"
"First, let us move to the Chamber of Secrets, shall we? Just so the oath can be in effect." Harry said abruptly.
The girls who were on the edge of their seats were not impressed and they did let their displeasure be known on their journey to the Chamber.
The Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts, 24th September 1995
"I am Harry James Potter, age fourteen, that much has not changed. However, I am also Harry James Potter, age eighty-five, a man who sent both his and his most loyal friend's souls back in time to their past bodies, all for a chance to change the future." Harry confessed.
Both the girls suddenly became unsteady on their feet and almost fainted. In a blur, Harry moved to their sides in between them to catch them both before they could collapse. Once he conjured chairs for them and had them seated, he knelt down in front of them looking them in their eyes.
Both of them could not see any deception there, but only concern.
"But how? Why?" Daphne asked.
"The how is unimportant for now. Let's just say it involved a ritual and leave it at that. As for why... well, that is a much longer story, which I want to share with the both of you, and that is the reason I took the oath. I know how unbelievable this may sound." Harry answered, looking at both of them with concern and hope… Hope that they would not leave him before hearing everything he had to say and seeing all he had to show.
Both the girls realized that this would be a turning point for them, one way or another. They could walk away from him now and return to the lives they had before Harry came into theirs, but they would always be left wondering. Or, they could take a leap of faith and get a chance at having everything. Deep down, they both knew their hearts had already made the decision for them.
"Harry, that really is unbelievable and even with the oath I do find it hard to believe, but I trust you, Harry. And as far as my choice goes, I am going to stay here and listen to all you have to say, because the last few months of my life have indeed been magical, there was no deception I could see in ANY of the moments I shared with you. I will be here for what you have to say." Susan said gently running her hand on Harry's cheek, letting him know he had no reason to fear losing her.
This caused Harry to tear up, here was a woman he had lied to, he had hidden from her who he truly was, hidden the truth from for a long time even after the moments they had shared, still she was ready to trust him, trust in him, and was ready to give him the chance to explain himself. Though it was not over yet, not till the other half of his heart gave him the same chance. Looking over at Daphne, Harry could see nothing, no emotions on her face, no signs telling him what she could be thinking of.
"Daphne?" Harry hesitantly called out.
Daphne's eyes snapped towards him and what she said just caused his jaw to drop.
"Just tell me you are not some old age pervert and I am willing to give you a chance."
The smirk on her face was there for all to see, the reaction was the jaw drop from Harry and the soft laughter from Susan.
"No, no I am not some old age pervert. I am still not sure why it has happened, but seriously, I think while the souls did merge and I have most of the memories of the future, my personality and maturity is still that of the younger Harry. I think the souls and memories also merged, but the personality that took the driver's seat was of the younger Harry, maybe because of some rules of magic, or that he was, or rather I was in an emotional state, that I am yet to figure out." Harry replied, he was sure of this because the older Harry would certainly would not have been lashing out anytime he was enraged afterall, the older Harry was calculative, smart and a quintessential Slytherin, something one of his wives was proud of, while the other was frustrated with.
After all, an Unspeakable field commander would not show his strengths for all present to see, he would not make such a spectacle in the Dueling tournament as he had made, and someone of his maturity, would certainly not fall in love with a couple of teenage girls… yet again.
One might argue the fact that since he has the memories, he should be matured enough, but there is a lot of difference between knowing what the future holds, and actually experiencing it.
"That's a relief." Daphne chuckled.
"But what about Selena then? If only the souls merged then how did she come here?" Susan asked, petting Selena on the head.
"Well, this is just a theory at this point, but since Selena was yet to be born at this time, I think even her body got tagged along with the trip. There was no guarantee that it would work the way it did, but she was not going to let me take this drastic step without her with me." Harry replied, fondly looking at his familiar, someone who had been with him for decades.
Now that the heavy stuff was out of the way, all three sat back in their chair, a comfortable silence among the three while two of them took the time they needed to process everything said and come up with any questions they had before Harry started his life story.
"What made you come back? Through our talks and everything we shared I can pretty much guess that all three of us were together like we are now, so what made you take this drastic step? And if you came back, why did we also not come back with you? I already know that I would not have allowed you to come back alone unless…" Daphne said, before understanding dawned on her.
Harry simply stood up, transfigured the chair he was sitting on into a sofa and pulled both of his girlfriends to his sides. On instinct Daphne and Susan rested their heads on his shoulders before Daphne took one of his hands in hers and asked softly.
"We died, did we not?"
"Yes, and there was nothing I could do about it. You both died right in front of my eyes and I was helpless as I watched the life leave your eyes." Harry replied, trying his best not to sob, but one could see tears sliding down his cheek, before he was pulled down into a fierce kiss by the redhead on his left.
"We are here now, that is all that matters. And you came back for us, to change the future, for the better. That speaks volumes about you and your character Harry." Susan said gently.
Daphne not to be outdone, pulled Harry down once again into a kiss and rested her forehead against his before continuing what Susan said. "And a lot about our standard. Do not forget about our near perfect standards Susan."
The trio soon descended into a round of laughter.
"So, who is up for movie night?"
"Now, I would like to warn you, this is not something either of you might be comfortable with, and I would like my very best not to recall all the memories and show them to you, so please, let's get this part out of the way in just words." Harry said, while shuddering remembering his childhood. He will deal with his relatives one day, once everything was over.
Harry talked for several long moments on his early life at the Dursley's. He never had a complete, unbroken toy to play with. Never had good crayons, or paper. He never received treats for good behavior, or learning something new. By the time he was five he could read, and count to twenty, but he was never praised for it.
If he made a sound during dinner, he did not get desert. He was only allowed to eat what was on his plate, or what he could reach from his chair. He was not allowed to stand up during dinner or scoot forward to get closer to a serving bowl and they were always placed out of his reach so in the end he could only eat what was on his smaller-than-all-the-others pate.
As young as he could remember, he slept and played in the cupboard under the stairs. When he was punished, he was placed in the cupboard and the lights were turned off, and the door locked. Sometimes he was locked in for a day or two with no meals, and no bathroom breaks. That was usually after showing signs of Magic or speaking out against his so-called relatives.
Daphne and Susan sat horrified to the stories of how their boyfriend was abused before he was even five years old.
"I remember the first time we brought home our report cards. They sat me and Dudley down on the couch and opened mine first. I do not know why, maybe they hoped I had done horrible and could punish me for it, or see bad grades and make me watch while they lavished praise on their idiot son."
"Anyways, I remember my teacher saying I was one of the best students in the class. In any case I do not think they expected their son to be a fat lard, and an idiot. But he did not get very good year end grades, and I did loads better then him. They praised Dudley for trying his hardest and doing his best, and then yelled at me when I pointed out the teachers' comments. "
An hour later Harry had finished the story up to his eleventh birthday. Susan and Daphne were both awestruck at how mature Harry acted after that kind of childhood. A sociopath usually claimed an abusive childhood, this boy...man in front of them was a hero to the Wizarding World, and he was calmly talking about his horrible path.
It took all of Susan and Daphne's strength to not barge into 4 Privet Drive and teach Petunia and Vernon a lesson. They resisted and Harry appreciated the effort.
"My eleventh birthday was probably one of the weirdest and best days of my life. The day I met Hagrid and got my Hogwarts letter and my owl Hedwig. Hagrid showed up at midnight exactly and pounded the door down on this little hut on a rock out in the sea..." Harry told the story of his eleventh birthday, cheering everyone slightly. A happy story for once was a relief.
After the next ten minutes of storytelling found a furious Daphne being held back on the sofa by Harry and Susan.
"LET ME GO! I AM GOING TO KILL THAT FERRET!"
"I think telling her about the possibility that I could have been a Slytherin was a bad idea?" Harry whispered to Susan while struggling to hold back Daphne. To which Susan just gave him a deadpanned look that said 'You think?' before finally hitting Daphne with a mild calming spell.
"Alright, I suppose now that we have gone through one part of my life, we should make an appearance to calm all our friends down before continuing with the good stuff. What do you say?" Harry questioned excitedly, which only caused both the witches to grow more concerned, afterall, anything that Harry was excited for just could not be safe.
"I guess." Daphne replied hesitantly. "The story is not finished, though."
"Not by a long shot." Harry assured her, his excited tone once again causing both the girls to shiver slightly. "There is still so much you both need to hear. When is up to you. We either can continue tomorrow morning or during the next weekend."
"Tomorrow." Both the girls replied firmly at the same time, making him smile.
"Tomorrow, then, as soon as we are able. Here, you keep the cloak, and you keep the Map, this should help you navigate the castle without being caught." Harry said, handing his cloak to Daphne and the Map to Susan
The Slytherin Female Dorms, Hogwarts, 25th September 1995
Daphne woke up gently, the memories of the previous day flooding her as she laid in her bed. She smiled to herself as she thought back to the time spent with her boyfriend, then frowned when she remembered the inquisition she was subjected to the previous night. She, Harry, and Susan were cornered during dinner by Tracey, Basile, Hannah, Tori, Luna, and Neville, all of whom decided they absolutely had to know details. They ended up having to tell them an altered version of what had really happened, they took their friends to a secluded classroom before sharing what had happened with Luna and what Harry had done to Umbridge, and the reason they were not going to let the authorities know about it for a long time.
While this made all of the friends to grow concerned and make sure Luna was safe, they soon turned angry enough to reprimand Harry for going in alone to teach the toad a lesson.
They further continued with the story saying that Harry was just extremely angry and needed to let off some steam and hence had gone up to the Room of Requirements to train, and that is where Daphne and Susan found him and stopped him before he could destroy the Room of Requirements and let off the remaining steam by making out. This caused the girls to sigh wistfully, Basile to look at Harry with a smirk and Neville to cough till his face went red.
Daphne got up out of bed and went to take a quick shower. While she was showering, she thought back to everything Harry had told her about his alternate past. Even the hot water was not enough to prevent her from shivering at the memory of his childhood. No child should have to suffer the way Harry had, and she would be damned if she did not see justice served in its own special way.
She was really looking forward to hearing the rest of his story. She was especially curious to hear more about how they first got together in his original timeline and what their relationship together had been like. Then again, she was fairly certain that their story did not have a happy ending. She thought back to the reason why Harry came back in the past.
"We died, did we not?"
The notion that she was destined for an untimely death frightened her, but whatever fear she felt quickly disappeared when she remembered…
The Hufflepuff Female Dorms, Hogwarts, 25th September 1995
"We are here now, that is all that matters. And you came back for us, to change the future, for the better. That speaks volumes about you and your character Harry."
Harry had come back for her. How could she not feel safe with someone who had gone to such great lengths just to protect her? She smiled as she thought back to the memory of their first date, the most beautiful and joyous day she had, and a tear of happiness ran down her cheek. She was not sure what to expect from today, but Harry had promised to tell her everything and she was anxious to get started.
Susan dried herself off and went back to her room to get dressed. She put on a simple black skirt with a warm green sweater, then threw on her dark green satin winter robes with the sheepskin lining. More than anything, she wanted to be comfortable today. She applied a bit of makeup and put on her shoes, then went on her way to the Great Hall to meet up with Harry and Daphne, before they could make their way towards the Chamber as today none of them had any classes till lunch.
The Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts, 25th September 1995
As the trio entered the pensive, they found themselves standing in the great hall, the ceiling was dark and dessert was on the long tables.
"Having your last meal, Potter?" they watch as the blonde ferret walked up to the table and taunted Harry.
"I remember this, Malfoy was announcing to all who would hear that he got you expelled and that he is the smartest Slytherin to get the Boy-Who-Lived thrown out of the Castle." Daphne said with a smirk, which caused her companions to start laughing at how wrong Malfoy was.
"You are a lot braver now that you are back on the ground and you have got your little boyfriends with you." The younger Harry said calmly.
This caused Daphne to look at the younger Harry with raised eyebrows, impressed with Harry's reaction to Malfoy trying to get under his skin.
"I'll take you on anytime on my own." Malfoy said. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"
Susan and Daphne were appalled as they watched Malfoy so blatantly rude and tried to edge Harry on using petty insults. They watched as Ron stood up and defended Harry and made himself Harry's second. Malfoy chose his second and them when and where to meet.
"Midnight all right? We will meet you in the trophy room; that is always unlocked." Malfoy said as he and his goons walked away.
"How the fuck do you get trapped and fooled into believing the ferret would even show up? You both did not even know how to perfectly perform a basic levitation charm at the point and you thought fighting a wizard's duel was the way to go?" Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow
"I accept, I was kind of naïve, thinking that he would show up. And I was so angry that I just did not think about what would I even do in a Wizards duel." Harry replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Susan chuckled and tousled his hair while Daphne muttered something about idiotic Gryffindor.
As the memory continued, they saw Harry and Ron make their way towards the trophy room and Hermione and Neville tagging along with them. Once they reached the trophy room, they could not see anyone in sight.
"He's late, maybe he has chickened out." Ron said.
"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner." Said a chilling voice from the hallway. The trio followed Harry and company as they sneaked out of the room and watched as clumsy little Neville tripped over a suit of armor and Harry yelled "RUN!"
They all ran after the kids chuckling and wondering what was going on. Harry and Susan both groaned loudly when the kids ran into Peeves.
"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you will get caughty."
"Pray tell me Harry, why are you not using your cloak to hide ourselves? With how small you all were, all four of you could have fit under it?" Daphne asked.
"I did not get the cloak until Christmas." Harry mentioned
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENT IN THE CORIDORS!"
The memory continued with the kids running off. They heard Peeves being questioned in the background.
"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please."
"All right – please?" asked Filch.
"NOTHING! HA HAA! I told you I wouldn't say nothing if you did'nt say please! HA HA! HAAA!"
Just as the memory continued and the trio followed the kids down the third-floor corridor and into a room that Hermione unlocked using the Alohomora did a silence descend, which was soon broken by a "What?" by the younger Harry, when they turned to see Neville trying to get Harry's attention and pointing to an area behind them. Both Susan and Daphne gasped in union, both hiding behind the older Harry who looked on with amused eyes.
"Merlin's beard! Its toenail is bigger than my head!" Susan shouted.
"You do know that this is just a memory and that fluffy cannot hurt you?" Harry asked still looking amused. Hearing this both the girls did straighten out and came out from behind Harry, but both held onto his hand.
While this was going on, the memory continued of the children rushing out of the room and going back to the common room.
Soon the memory faded.
"What was the Cerberus doing in a school full of children?!" Daphne exclaimed.
"You will see." Was all the reply she got before the scene around them shifted into that of the great hall. But this time, it was decorated for some occasion.
"What… it looks like Halloween." Susan said as the trio looked around the Great Hall when they heard the same sentence that chilled them to their very bones when the first heard it.
"TROLL! Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."
Susan and Daphne watched as the younger Harry and Ron realized Hermione was missing and decided to ditch Percy and go find her themselves. Heading towards the girl's lavatory. They both gasped as they watched Snape rush past the boys in the hallway and then creeping out of their hiding spot only to find a stinking, hulking mountain troll heading into a room at the end of the hallway.
"The key is in the lock, we could lock it in." said the memory Harry, making Daphne look at him like he was stupid, while Susan just chuckled at the innocence the memory Harry was showing.
"Good idea." Said the Ron, but this only caused Daphne to just roll her eyes and Susan's chuckle to turn into full on laughter, all the while Harry rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Just then they all heard Hermione's scream and they headed towards the bathroom. They all entered just as Ron threw the metal pipe at it. And both the girls gasped when it turned and headed towards him.
"I swear, all of you Gryffindors are no better than trolls!" Daphne exclaimed as she saw the troll moving towards her as she was standing behind the memory Ron.
"Come on, run, run!" memory Harry shouted as the Troll roared and raised its club to bash Ron into the floor, just then Harry ran up and jumped onto the back of the beast sticking his wand in the Troll's nose.
"HARRY!"
This shout was not from the memory, but from the girls who were holding onto the current Harry's hand, looking wide eyed, full of fear as the Troll reached around and grabbed the memory Harry and swung him around holding him by the ankles.
Susan had encircled her arms around the present Harry and hide her face into his shoulder, though was looking through half an eye open, while Daphne was frozen in place.
The Troll swung his Harry sized club at the boy and both the girls winced as they looked away fearing the worst. Not hearing a thud or any breaking of bones, they peeked back at the Troll and saw Harry hanging again.
"Do something!" the memory Harry shouted at Ron, just as Daphne shouted the same thing at the younger red head, failing to remember that she was in a memory and could not interact with anything going on.
Another swing at the memory Harry and the girls forced themselves to watch as Harry swung himself into a difficult crunch and the club missed his head by inches.
"Anything!" the memory Harry shouted at Ron before completing another awkward stomach crunch and avoiding inevitable death by the club.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" memory Ron shouted. The girls watched as Harry did another crunch and only miss a fist, the club being held above the Toll's head. Susan screamed yet again as Harry was dropped on his head by the monster after the club fell onto its head, making it sway and fall towards Harry. The memory Harry scooted out of the way, looked up at memory Ron when the dust settled.
"Is it dead?" memory Hermione and Daphne asked as she neared the Troll to get a better look at it.
That is exactly when the Troll let out a grunt, causing both, memory Hermione and present Daphne to shriek before running back.
Daphne looked over to where Harry was chuckling at her reaction and Susan was hiding a smile behind her hand, annoyed she just fired off a mild stinging hex which quickly sobered by Harry and put a smile on her face that was before she quickly sobered up and the memory faded away as the teachers came running into the view.
"I cannot believe you jumped on the back of a Troll! Do you have a death wish?" Daphne asked a little sternly.
"You just… you jumped on the back of a MOUNTAIN TROLL! It was swinging its club at you repeatedly! What were you thinking?" she continued.
While the anger on Daphne's face was there for all to see, Susan and Harry could also see the fear that her eyes held at what could have happened.
Susan stopped Harry from going towards Daphne, but she herself made her way over to her pulling the scared girl into a comforting embrace.
"Shh... It is alright, he is here and he was not hurt. I know it is hard to watch after all the moments we have shared, after the bonds that we have created. But this is something that we have to watch, to know what made Harry, Harry. What caused him to become the man we love today." Susan whispered, making sure Harry was not able to hear anything that was said by her.
"And as you said. Idiotic Gryffindors charge ahead! What else did you expect from Harry. While the hat did say that he would succeed in Slytherin, he had the traits of all the four houses, that includes the brutish bravery of the lions." Susan teased, this time making sure Harry could hear.
This got her a chuckle form Daphne and a deadpan look from Harry, unimpressed with that joke.
Harry continued with explaining about how he got the Invisibility Cloak for Christmas in his First year, and how he and his friends learnt what Fluffy was guarding and that Hagrid was the one who left slip about Nicolas Flamel.
"We were busy searching for information about Flamel when we got a note from Hagrid saying his dragon egg was hatching." Harry said, getting a duo of "What?" s in return.
"You mean to say that Hagrid was keeping a live dragon egg in his wooden hut that was NOT in a dragon reserve and hatching it on the same ground that houses hundreds of children?!" Daphne asked in shock to which Harry could just nod.
"Well, we went down after Herbology and were there when Norbert was hatched." Harry continued as Susan giggled at the name Hagrid had chosen. "But what we did not count on was Malfoy following us and seeing the dragon on Hagrid's table. We did not know why he was not saying anything over the next couple of weeks, but finally we talked to Hagrid into sending a letter to Ron's brother Charlie, who lives and works at a Dragon Reserve in Romania. He came to the school with a couple of his friends to pick up the dragon at midnight on top of the Astronomy Tower. Unfortunately, Malfoy found out about that too, so we had to use the Cloak to cover myself and Hermione, and also the crate with Norbert inside all the way from Hagrid's hut to the tower. Ron had been bitten by Norbert, so he could not come with us, as he was in the hospital wing. We got Norbert to the top of the tower, we even got to see the ferret get caught for being out of bounds by McGonagall."
"I always did wonder what Malfoy was on about when he kept leaving the common rooms at odd times during the night and promising to the house that soon he would get rid of Harry and Hagrid." Daphne said.
"Well, anyways, we sent off Norbert and headed back down to our common room, but halfway there, we got caught by Filch. Apparently, we forgot the Cloak on top of the tower in our excitement of Malfoy getting in trouble and seeing the back of the dragon for good. We both got detention with Hagrid in the forest, along with Malfoy and Neville, who got caught trying to warn us Malfoy was going to tell." Harry continued with the story.
"Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that you were given the detention to go into the Forbidden Forrest at night by the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts when the name of the forest is the Forbidden Forrest?" Daphne questioned slowly, not able to process this information that the teacher she thought most responsible and strict could give such a detention to children no less than eleven years old.
"Bonkers, I tell you. I am going to go Bonkers by the time we reach the end." Daphne mumbled, which caused Harry to laugh and pull her in close and kiss her on her forehead.
Harry then continued with the story of the rest of the detention, and leading up to the day the 'Golden Trio' went down the trap door.
"We figured out that Hagrid had told someone in the pub when he got the dragon egg how to make Fluffy fall asleep and then the same day Dumbledor was 'called' to the ministry. I realized that someone was going to go down for the stone that night, so we decided to go after him."
"And that someone was Quirrell? Based on the fact that we were told he had died the next day?" Susan questioned.
"Yes, it was Quirrell, but we initially thought it was Snape. Well, the first protection in place was Fluffy, which was Hagrid's obstacle. The next one was Sprout's. She placed Devil's snare at the bottom of the hole we had dropped into, so that we would land on the plant. The next one was Master Flitwick's. He enchanted several dozen keys to have wings and fly. There was a big door and a few brooms so I had to fly around and find the right key to the door out of hundreds of keys, finally I caught it and we proceeded to the next challenge, which was McGonagall's. It was a giant chess board." Harry said before stopping for a water break, making the girls more and more restless with the suspense. They knew was happened on a high level, but nothing as detailed as this.
Harry chuckled at their eager expressions before continuing. "Well, long story short, Ron sacrificed his piece as a Knight for me to go on and checkmate the King and go through the next door."
"Weasley truly sacrificed himself? Is that the reason why Gryffindor got the hundred points at the end of the year for the so called 'Greatest Game of Chess that has ever been played'?" Daphne questioned.
"Yep, that is the one. Ron is a master at playing chess, and even though my relationship with him is close to dead due to some reasons you will learn as we go forward. He was a loyal companion, atleast until his jealousy got in the way. And no matter what happened in the future, I still look back to these memories fondly." Harry said, with a small smile on his face.
"I cannot claim to know what happened in the future as we have yet to reach that point, but I can see that you genuinely reflect on these memories with fondness and smile at the friendship you have had with your friends. And even if you can no longer be the same best of friends that you once were, you can still keep in touch with them? Isn't that why you came back in time? To change the future? They have not done the deed they did in future; they are not the person who ended up doing what they did in the future, not yet anyways… But they will certainly end up that way if there is no one to show them the path, no one to guide them, no one to be their friend and support them." Susan said gently, rubbing her hand on the side of Harry's arm. Showing the qualities that got her sorted into the noble house she was in.
"I… I will think about it." Harry promised, looking at Susan with so much emotion. He could not understand how a woman could be so kind, so forgiving, so full of love.
"I agree Harry. Just having listened to the adventures you guys have been on in just this first year has given me enough to know that I owe them atleast a bit in the part they played, keeping you alive. For that reason, if at all possible, if it does not hurt you, then I am ready to give them a second chance. And as Susan said, while it cannot go back to what it once was, that is no reason we cannot be on friendly terms with them." Daphne supported.
Harry looked at her in shock, not having thought that the woman who was unforgiving to anyone who hurt anyone close to her was considerate and compassionate enough to give two strangers a second chance for his sake.
He could not love both of them anymore than this. He really was a lucky wizard.
"Continuing on. The next door was Quirrell's which was a giant Troll. Thankfully it was already knocked out, and we just had to walk around it to the next door. Which opened up into a small chamber with a small table in the center. As soon as we walked past the door, flames shot up in both doorways. The flames to go forward were black and to go back into the troll room were purple flames. On the table were seven bottles, each had something in it, and a piece of paper on the table had a riddle."
"Basically, it was not so much magic as it was Logic. Not many wizards or witches are known to think logically, so this was meant to be particularly difficult. Basically, it said that there were seven bottles, three were poison, two were nettle wine, one would take you through the black flames, and one would let you go back to the Troll room. After Hermione figured out which was which, we decided that I would go on ahead while she went back to get Ron some medical attention since there was only enough potion for one person."
"After I continued on into the next chamber, I walked in to find Quirrell looking in the Mirror of Erised."
"Erised?" Susan asked.
"Yeah, it's a giant mirror that when you look into it, you see your greatest desire...Erised is desire backwards. It had an inscription on the top that when it was read backwards was something like, I do not show your face, I show your heart's desire, or something like that. But he was looking in the mirror, which was the final obstacle, Dumbledore's. He said it was one if his more ingenious ideas. The person who looked into it, had to want to find the stone, but not use it or do something with it. Quirrell wanted to give it to Voldemort, so he could not get it, but when he had me look into it, I found it in my pocket a moment later. Voldemort, who was possessing Quirrell, told him to kill me and when he touched me it burned him. I figured this out, so I reached up and grabbed his face and held on till I passed out. The next day I found out Quirrell was dead and Voldemort gone. The stone was going to be destroyed and Flamel and his wife would finally die."
He looked at the Pensive and pulled his wand out and started putting memories into the bowl.
"I guess we can all go in and watch it, it shouldn't take more than about an hour."
AN
So, that was the chapter.
Yeah, I know I know
A lot of you are going to stop reading because you do not want to re-read the entire Harry potter again. And that is fine. But I am not going to change my decision.
For so long I have wanted to read about the REACTIONS others might have at listening or viewing Harry's life, and so I am going forwards with it.
The next few chapters will indeed be full of them, with a few moments and some minor plot related things.
So, this was the first year
Next up
Second year.