Harry Potter and the Past That Never Was

There were still several hours before the meeting was to take place, so Dumbledore allowed Harry to take a school broom and fly around the Quidditch pitch a few times. Flying was always one of Harry's greatest joys, and even with a school broom, he very much enjoyed the feeling of the wind in his face. He darted back and forth, having spotted a butterfly and was pretending it was a Snitch. He chased the unsuspecting creature until he decided he would have easily caught it had it been a Snitch, and then saw Dumbledore waving at him, pointing to the ground. Harry waved back, and then made one more loop around the pitch before bringing himself to the ground just inside the center circle.

Dumbledore and Snape watched him from the stands. Unknown to Harry, they were discussing his near future. He would have fallen straight off his broom if he knew what they were discussing.

"He's been put through so much it is nothing less than a miracle he's managed to keep his innocence," said Dumbledore. "And he will have to go through so much more before this is done."

"There's a limit to how much I can teach him," said Snape. "I must confess I am concerned with how rapidly he seems to be discovering his power."

"How long do you think it will take him to discover the full scope of his abilities?" The headmaster wanted to know.

"It will be a significantly shorter time now that he is beginning to understand he has certain powers," said Snape. "He will no doubt begin to experiment. Further, I'm not even sure what the full scope of his abilities are."

"I believe for the time being, letting him discover things on his own is for the best," said Dumbledore. "He will no doubt tell me when he discovers something. We'll help him to refine what he discovers."

"What do you intend to do about teaching him Legilimency?" Snape wanted to know.

"Definitely teach him," said Dumbledore. "If he feels things are being kept from him, he's much more likely to begin searching on his own. He knows he can do Legilimency, we'll teach him to employ the art properly."

"He's sure I don't like him," said Snape. "And I'm sure he doesn't count me among his favorite people."

"No, that was always going to be the case," said Dumbledore. "He believes you have never been able to get over your animosity toward his father. Seeing what you left in the pensieve only confirmed this for him."

"You were certainly correct in saying he would not be able to resist looking," said Snape. "But I fear we may have pushed him a little too far last term. When he saw me killing you, it was only because of Felix he was not able to land any of his curses on me."

"I must admit I did not think he would chase after you," said Dumbledore. "I expected him to go right to Minerva, giving you the chance to make your escape."

"I hate to be one to say I told you so," said Snape. "But you have been the father figure in his life. His reaction to seeing you killed did not surprise me. He hated me enough to at that point to land the killing curse had he taken the notion."

"Yes, your point is well taken, Severus," said Dumbledore. He began waving for Harry's attention, pointing to the ground once he was noticed. "But you are his most effective teacher. Because he doesn't like you, he will learn to spite you."

"You wish me to continue to ride him?" asked Snape.

"Not as you have," said Dumbledore. "But push him, make it known you think he can do better."

The afternoon wore on with Harry for the most part having the run of the nearly empty castle. What he wanted most was to visit with Hagrid. However, Professor Dumbledore thought it best for this not to happen at least until that evening's planned meeting. After a dinner in which Ron would have been proud, it became time for the meeting with the Order of the Phoenix. Little by little, the participants arrived. When Sirius walked in with Remus Lupin, Harry bolted across the castle and nearly knocked him down as he threw his arms around his Godfather.

"Sirius!" Harry said excitedly.

"Wha.." Sirius said breathlessly, clearly confused as he extracted himself from Harry's grip. "And who are you, then?" He was trying not to laugh.

"Sirius," said Remus quietly. He pointed at Harry's forehead. He looked a bit disconcerted as well.

"Harry?" Sirius asked. "But how can you know me? You were an infant the last time I saw you." Harry was going to have to be careful. From everyone else's point of view, no one knew him.

"What you see," said Dumbledore, walking toward them, shaking hands with Sirius, "is the subject of tonight's meeting."

"Bless my soul," said Sirius, smiling broadly. "It's good to see you Harry."

"I'm happy to see you too." Harry smiled back then looked at Lupin. "Hi, Professor Lupin, It's good to see you again.

"Hello, Harry." Remus extended his hand with a bemused look on his face. "But I'm not a teacher."

"Uhh," stammered Harry, having to stop himself from blurting out the fact he would be a teacher.

"Much to talk about," said Dumbledore. He gestured toward the great hall. "Let's get started shall we?"

The participants of the meeting were Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Hagrid, Arthur Molly and Bill Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alastor Moody, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, and Harry himself. Right from the start, Harry knew he was going to be the center of attention as all eyes in the room were on him.

"Albus," said McGonagall, "is this... is this Harry Potter?" At the mention of his name, the room buzzed with several voices speaking at once. "Is it true?" "Merlin's beard it is!" Were among the comments he could hear.

"Ah yes," Dumbledore's voice rose above the other voices. "This is indeed Harry Potter, which if I can have all of your attention I'll explain exactly why he is here." After a moment or two, everyone fell silent and after a covert glance at him from a couple of people, everyone gave Dumbledore their attention.

"First," Dumbledore started, "due to a fine bit of detective work; we were able to obtain evidence of Sirius Black's innocence."

Sirius nodded with a smile as the gathering of people applauded, Snape did so but only half hearted.

"Now as for the reason I've asked you here this evening," Dumbledore continued. "You're all aware we have been making some rather large plans to give us an advantage over Voldemort and his supporters." A few people nodded. Harry did not have to look to know Moody's magical eye was squarely upon him. "Tonight it's time to enlighten you as to what we have been planning."

"For the past few years, Severus and I have been preparing to perform a time transportation spell for use if the situation becomes desperate." The Transfiguration teacher drowned out the audible gasp in the room.

"Albus!" McGonagall exclaimed. "I didn't think you were serious about all of that. Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"It was... is a long shot, I admit," Dumbledore agreed. "But desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures."

"Times are not as desperate as all that," she countered. "It's simply much too dangerous."

"Minerva," growled Moody, "unless I miss my guess, times will become that desperate and young Mr. Potter here is the result."

"What?" Sirius stood up abruptly.

"Sirius, please," said Dumbledore, "allow me to finish." Reluctantly Sirius sat down but glared at the headmaster as he did so.

"The only one who could come to harm is the one sacrificed if the attempt were not successful," he explained. "I assure you Harry was in no danger."

"And yes, Alastor," Dumbledore said to Moody. "Times will become desperate enough in six years to make the attempt. For those of you who've not worked it out, the attempt will be made." He looked at Harry. "Or will have been made, from Harry's point of view." The air was thick with anticipation.

"So you're saying..." Arthur started but let the question go unasked.

"Indeed, Arthur," Dumbledore agreed. "Our young Mr. Potter is from six years in our future."

"My god!" was the only words Harry could make out as the room erupted.

After everyone quieted down enough for Dumbledore to continue, he did so as if not being interrupted at all. "The idea behind our plan has been to enable us to return Mr. Potter to a time where his memories could give us that advantage. While the exact point in time he would be sent was not known, it was quite a lucky accident he returned to a time before Voldemort could effect a return."

He paused a few moments to let this sink in. "And from Harry's point of view that first attempt is to be made in his first year at Hogwarts, which will begin in six weeks time. While it was already too late to stop the attempt, we already know the form this attempt at returning is to take. And it will be an easy matter to thwart."

"How is he coming back?" Shacklebolt asked.

"Voldemort has already taken possession of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell. He is to attempt to steal the Sorcerer's Stone," said Dumbledore, then looked directly at Molly Weasley. "Rest assured we'll not be letting him near any students. And the stone will be destroyed before any such attempt to obtain it can be made."

For Harry, he was very surprised everyone seemed to be accepting what Dumbledore explained so readily. They fired questions at him which Dumbledore prevented Harry from answering.

"Please," said Dumbledore, "there will be plenty of time to answer all of those questions. We only found out today of this event."

"How did you find out?" Bill asked him.

"When I awoke this morning I couldn't help but notice I was eleven years old again," said Harry. "I got in touch with Professor Dumbledore as soon as I could."

"I don't know much about this spell, Albus," said Moody. "It is just his memories returned to the past. Or did his abilities come with him?"

"That's a very good question," said Dumbledore. "And I'm sorry to say I don't know the answer."

"I've not tried to do any magic today," said Harry. "I don't have my wand yet."

"Since the ability to perform magic is in one's mind," said Snape, "I would think Potter should have the ability to do so now."

"Perhaps we can ask Harry to attempt some magic," said Dumbledore, taking out his wand and handing it to him. "A simple spell will do, I think."

Harry stood with the wand, and started to do a simple levitating spell. Instead deciding to try doing a spell, he should not be able to do as a child of any age. He looked at Sirius, smiled as he remembered seeing him walk through the front door a few minutes earlier and very loudly said, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Almost immediately, an enormous silver stag erupted from the tip of Dumbledore's wand to the great astonishment of everyone present, as it cantered through the great hall before evaporating near the doors.

"When does the Patronus Charm become part of Hogwarts teaching?" McGonagall wanted to know.

"It doesn't really," Harry answered. "Professor Lupin taught me in my third year because the Dementors kept coming after me." He handed Dumbledore's wand back to the headmaster.

"You insist on calling me Professor," said Lupin. "But I am not a teacher."

"Third year, you say?" Moody's magical eye whirred in his head. "If you can teach a third year to do the Patronus maybe you should be a teacher, Remus. Eh?" No one disagreed with that.

"Ah indeed," Dumbledore piped up. "And as it seems I'm going to need a new defense teacher..." Dumbledore was fully aware of Lupin's difficulty in finding work due to being a werewolf.

"I don't think I could," Remus protested. "Every full moon...."

"I've made improvements to a counteracting potion," said Snape. "It should greatly minimize the effects of your transformation."

"The term starts September first," said Dumbledore, looking over his glasses at Lupin. "And I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Oh alright, then." Remus allowed himself a small smile.

"Now that we have that settled," said Dumbledore, "on to the next order of business. We have concluded it will not be in Harry's best interest to continue living with his Muggle relatives. Therefore, we shall need a place for Harry to live."

"He can live with us," Molly chimed in immediately. "Ron is the same age and they can share a room." Arthur for his part was nodding in agreement. Of course, Harry knew of Arthur's fascination for Muggles. He would be bombarded with questions about them. He would happily tell Arthur anything he wished to know.

"Excellent, Molly," Dumbledore said. "That is if it's all right with Harry."

"Ron is my best friend and I've always considered the Burrow more my home than Privet Drive," Harry answered.

"Seeing as this is Order business," said Dumbledore, "we'll divert the wards from Privet Drive to the Burrow, as well as some of the funds needed."

"Oh that won't be necessary," Molly said quickly. "We're glad to do it." She smiled at Harry.

"Be that as it may, Molly," Dumbledore continued with a covert wink at Harry, "we cannot allow you to assume the financial burden for this."

So, Dumbledore had his own ideas about how to get the Weasleys to accept any sort of payment for letting Harry live with them. However, he would not let Dumbledore forget what he wanted to do with the contest they win. He was however a little disappointed, when Sirius did not make the same offer to allow Harry to live with him.

Once the meeting was over, Remus and Sirius remained behind along with the Weasleys. Remus had gone to Snape's office to get a sample of the potion he offered. Snape reasoned it would give him time to modify it before the term began if needed.

"Would I be correct in assuming you were the one with the evidence of my innocence?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, I knew where to find Pettigrew," said Harry. "You figured it out on your own just before my third year. You recognized Scabbers from a picture in the Daily Prophet. So you escaped from Azkaban to go looking for him."

"No one has ever escaped from Azkaban," said Arthur.

"The Ministry doesn't know about Padfoot, do they?" said Harry.

"Ah," said Sirius, looking sheepish.

"But that's why the Dementors were at Hogwarts, they were looking for you," said Harry.

"Why was there a picture of Scabbers in the paper?" asked Bill.

"Oh," said Harry, "Mr. Weasley won a yearly contest. The rat was in the family picture they took for the Prophet."

"So he stayed in his Animagus form all this time?" asked Sirius.

"As far as we know, yes," said Dumbledore. "They were still in the middle of their interrogation when I departed the Ministry this afternoon."

"Well, we better be getting home then," said Arthur. "If you'll get your things, Harry."

"I don't have anything to bring with me," said Harry.

"You WHAT?" shrieked Molly. "What have those Muggles been doing to you? And you're much too thin!"

Harry stole a covert look at Dumbledore who had a bemused look on his face. "I think we'll be taking Harry into Diagon Alley tomorrow," said the headmaster. "He'll want to buy a few things, I expect. In addition, I believe we are going to keep Harry at the castle tonight. It will be best to wait until all the protections are put into place at the Burrow."

"Whatever you think is best, Albus," said Arthur.

"This will also give you time to prepare your family," said Dumbledore. "Security will be very tight at your house as I'm sure you can well understand."

"Professor Dumbledore," said Harry. "Since I'm going to be staying there, can I tell Ron, Ginny and the twins about everything?"

"Not everything," said Dumbledore. "But I think we'll give them time to get used to having you around, then tell them about you. And Bill, if you would inform Ragnok we'll be calling on him tomorrow, Harry is going to need a full accounting of his vault."

"I'll let him know," said Bill.

"Oh Bill," said Harry. "I know a way to get you in good with the goblins."

"Do you?" asked Bill. "Go on, then."

"There's a Muggle company that makes the programs that cause their computers to work," Harry said the name of the company. "If someone were to invest some money into this company..." Harry let the rest go unsaid.

Bill tossed his head back and laughed loudly. "Yes, bringing them a load of profit is the best way to get a leg up with them."

"Isn't that illegal?" asked Arthur. "Something Muggles call inside trades?"

"Dad, these are the goblins we're talking about," said Bill. "They're not the least bit concerned with Muggle rules. And cheers, Harry, I'll be sure to put them right onto it."

"Er, I suppose you're right," said Arthur. "Well we'll be off then, Should someone stop by and get Harry tomorrow?"

"I'll bring him along when we're through," said Dumbledore. "We should have him home around dinner hour."

"Right then," said Arthur, shaking hands with Dumbledore. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"See you soon, Harry," said Molly, smiling at him as they left the Great Hall. Now only Dumbledore and Sirius remained, aside from Harry.

"This has been a quite eventful day, to say the least," said Dumbledore. "And I believe I'm going to take you up on your generous offer, Sirius."

"It's the least I can do," said Sirius. "Plus I have no great desire to stay in that house by myself."

"What offer is that?" asked Harry.

"Sirius has offered the use of number twelve, Grimmauld Place for use as Order headquarters," said Dumbledore. "Well received, as the Order will be meeting frequently."

"I still have to make it habitable, though," said Sirius. "There's no telling what that house-elf has been doing the past ten years. Gone round the twist, that one did."

"Taking orders from that portrait of your mother," said Harry.

"Just how do you know about that portrait?" asked Sirius.

"Can I tell him, Professor?" asked Harry. Dumbledore winked and nodded.

"Because you made that same offer to the Order in my fifth year," said Harry. "The Weasleys and I helped you clean it up."

"Ah," said Sirius. "Well if nothing else, I'm consistent."

"You're not living there yet?" asked Harry.

"No, I'm staying with Remus for the time being," said Sirius. "It'll give us a chance to catch up."

After everyone else had gone, Dumbledore brought Harry to the hospital wing, where he would be sleeping that night. "Get a good night sleep, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

"Professor," said Harry. "I've been meaning to tell you about the Horcrux you and I went to get."

"We'll make sure to get it again," said Dumbledore.

"No, it's not a Horcrux," said Harry. "Someone got there before we did and stole it. They left a note inside the locket, written to Voldemort."

"What did this note say?" asked the headmaster.

"That he took the Horcrux and intended to destroy it," said Harry. "He signed it with the initials R.A.B."

"R.A.B. did you say?" asked Dumbledore. "To my knowledge, the only one involved with Voldemort with those initials was Regulus Arcturus Black."

"Sirius's brother?" asked Harry. "If that's true, the locket just might be somewhere in the Black house."

"That could very well be so, Harry," said Dumbledore. "I'll be sure to tell Sirius to be on the lookout for a locket with Slytherin's mark on it."