Chapter 5
"Be careful of Romilda Vane," Hermione warned him one day. "She's trying to slip you a Love Potion. I overheard her chatting to a bunch of girls in the bathroom about it. They're all hoping they're going to get you to take them to Slughorn's party, and they all seem to have bought Fred and George's love potions, which I'm afraid to say probably work —"
"Romilda Vane?" Al said, frowning. He shot a glance at the girl in the Gryffindor common room. [He also made a mental note to find a viable date for Slughorn's party.] Dark curly brown hair, brown eyes, there was something familiar and unsettling about her— "Shit. She's Joanna's aunt isn't she?"
Hermione looked confused. Of course, she would have no idea who Joanna - his summer rebound with a psychotic tinge - was. The girl who caused his 10th estrangement from his cousin Rose.
"Joanna was my ex-girlfriend," Al explained. "Let's just say that we had a really, really bad breakup."
Hermione groaned in acknowledgement. By now she seemed pretty used to his antics. Although, in all honesty, if Al had to admit, she was a lot cleverer and more understanding than Rose— whom he was technically in a "Cold War' with for the foreseeable future.
But something about Romilda Vane unnerved him beyond simply Love Potions and bad breakups— the latter of which was admittedly his own fault for basically being a dick to her. Hermione looked at him curiously but she also seemed rather peeved. "Anyways, they didn't have the potions with them yet. They were just discussing tactics. Be careful."
"Oh believe me. I will. If she's anything like her niece, I wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole! She almost made me person non grata—" He stopped before he could finish the words 'person non grata in the Gryffindor Common Room,' which was mostly due to the fact that all her friends, and this included Rose, would glare and threaten to hex if they ever catch him set foot there ever again. That revelation would have opened a whole new can of worms that he wasn't really ready to talk about just yet. Plus, him basically being a jerk and two-timing Joanna wasn't exactly a splendid mark on his character and it may cause Hermione to dislike him. So he switched subjects. "Still not making a move on Ron?"
She slapped him with her book, which was a first. "Will you stop talking about that?!"
~X~
"How is my baby brother?" A guy with hazel eyes, brown hair and who slightly resembled his father — and bore the same name — drew him into a bear hug. "Come in! Don't mind the hostile glances from Rosie."
Harry had finally managed to pay a visit to Gryffindor Tower, after all the time spent lurking in the gloomy dungeons. The anticipation made him smile internally. This was where he belonged.
"Yes I will indeed bring my baby brother Albus here and since I already gave you the password, we're both going in!" James declared with bravado.
The Fat Lady, for some reason, glared at him and looked like she was about to suppress a rant.
"Uhhh… why's the Fat Lady staring at me like that?" Harry asked, genuinely curious what his future son had done to warrant such dislike.
"Don't you remember? You had an hour long verbal spar with her last year and boy did she remember it," James remarked, amused. "You even called her a fat whale. She also doesn't like it when people from other houses come here in general, especially if they're little snakes like you and but begrudgingly lets you in because you usually knew the password. Then there's the bad breakup incident. But don't worry little baby brother, I, James Sirius Potter, will always welcome you here!"
So he had named his firstborn son in the future after his deceased godfather.
When they sat down by the fire place, Harry was overwhelmed by a rush of familiarity and comfort. Here he felt much more at home and at ease than with those lunatics down in the dungeons.
"Why are they all staring at me?" Harry couldn't help but ask. Some of those glances were even hostile.
"Well, you see, baby brother, some of them don't like you very much," James explained. "You know what they say here at Gryffindor— I'm the 'Cool Potter,' Lily's the 'Girl Potter' and you're the 'Asshole Potter!' Plus, you know, snakes technically aren't allowed here — but since you're basically one of us by virtue of being related to so many people here, we make an exception…"
"James… I— can we go somewhere private to talk about — I—"
"Al!" Another voice chimed in. It was a girl with red hair and brown eyes. She pulled him into a hug too. "Didn't expect to see you here! How's everything going?" That must be Lily, Harry thought, the younger one of course. (But she looked so much like a younger version of his mother from the photos…) "And don't listen to all the nonsense by James. You're perfectly welcome any time here! Juniper says she'd love to—"
"Juniper has bad taste in men," James interrupted dryly. "Our dear brother would eat her alive."
"What the—"
"Don't say this—"
"Okay, okay, I'm just joking." James held his hands up high in mock surrender. "I'm sure my baby brother the 'Asshole Potter' would make a great boyfriend - to Scorpius!"
"Also, I hope you know, calling me the 'Girl Potter' is extremely sexist!" Lily declared.
"Fine, fine…"
"Guys," Harry interrupted. "Can we talk quietly elsewhere?"
"Awww… what's the matter baby brother?"
"Can you please call me something else?"
"Alright, alright, I'm just sentimental because you barely come here these days, Al. I know I've always liked to joke about you being a little snake but you know it's just a joke right? You're my little brother and I love you all the same!" James declared before pulling Harry into another hug again. James had suffocating hugs, which Lily seemed to notice as she was staring at him sympathetically. (Coming to think of it, it was really weird having two people that had your parents' name and who bore a lot of resemblance to them bantering as siblings instead.)
"I'm not Albus Potter," Harry stated flatly. "And frankly, I'm tired of pretending that I am." He waited for their reactions. They both appeared confused.
James blinked and then proceeded to put his hand over Harry's forehead and parsed back the hair covering his lightning scar.
"Oh so THAT'S what Scorpius was talking about that other night about something shifty going on in Filch's cupboard— wait let's step back a second—"
"I'm so lost," Lily said.
"All will be clear little sister," James declared. "Scorpius — Al's best friend and maybe boyfriend—"
"Oh come on James, get serious!"
"I am Sirius!"
"Oh stop it!"
"No but I'm actually serious, there's definitely something going on between those two. Anyways, Scorpius said that he spotted two people operating in Filch's cupboard and that they were possibly brewing a Polyjuice Potion. I was in a rather compromising position," James explained. "He says there's good reason why you're acting different and that it's probably connected to those two, one of whom Scorpius strongly believed to be Joanna. But he says it's ultimately your story to tell."
"How considerate," Harry remarked, "No but really. This is going to sound very stupid but…"
~X~
"You went into the Gryffindor Common Room? Knowing you might bump into her?! You're not safe there. Also technically you're not safe from Rose either, who has still kept the threat to hex your balls off. Oh Merlin, I need to tell Rose about Joanna too, whoops!"
"As if I'm much safer here. You lot are bonkers."
"Bonkers yet, but none of us were brewing illicit polyjuice potions to pretend to be someone else so we could send my best friend back in time and bring you here!"
"You don't know that!"
"And what do you mean by that?!"
"You heard me the first time— I don't know if any of you guys are involved in this …this bizarre time switch!"
"We were all literally in the carriage when Al went out for a walk and fell unconscious in another cabin and switched places with you! I can prove it! We were all there! I just need a— a — pensieve!"
"I—"
"Never mind, Harry. It's understandable." Scorpius appeared both understanding and despondent. Harry suddenly felt bad again but also confused — how on earth could this considerate guy in front of him be related to that horrible git Draco Malfoy. He had to be adopted. "Harry, I think we should tell present-you what's going on and plan to deal with Joanna. She — or whoever is impersonating her — might be able to tell us the identity of the second person. There's a good chance they may be the one who did this."
~X~
"At my time none other than your father stunned me in a cabin," Harry narrated to Scorpius who was rather surprised. "What— did anyone tell you about our infamous rivalry? Well, mostly he was being a prat but occasionally I reciprocated."
"Well, not much in detail. Dad did say you guys ended up going to the Forbidden Forest your First Year and he once pretended to be a Dementor to scare you, which wasn't particularly nice," Scorpius said while handing Harry another sweet.
"Obviously."
"Anyways, I did some reading about time switches and time travel … took me a long time in the library." Scorpius pulled out a huge trove of notes, which caused Harry to gawk. It was something Hermione would have done. Scorpius seemed rather pleased. "All of the instances were present to past. All of them involved close blood relatives. There was one case in England, anecdotally, with Bathilda Bones. She was sent back in time and switched places with her grandmother. It lasted 3 months. Another case in France, another in the Netherlands, another case in Uganda… oh my, my geekiness is quivering!"
Harry truly wondered how Draco Malfoy would have interacted with Scorpius Malfoy. If they were in the same place and time, the former probably would have relentlessly bullied the latter. They could not be more different. And assuming Scorpius was not putting on some act to be nice while secretly hatching a nefarious plot, Harry could see himself liking the guy some day. The horror! Perhaps Draco Malfoy had indeed changed but the idea of him being good and loving father made Harry shudder.
~X~
The present investigation into the disappearance — no, time switch — of his son had been aided by letters from Scorpius, but progress was still thin.
And by now Harry was really starting to worry. Almost a month had passed and so far the only clue was a letter by Scorpius relaying a secret meeting between two figures brewing policy potions and whispering his name, the Dark Lord and time travel. According to the guy, one of them appeared to be Joanna Vane, his son's ex-girlfriend, who — though their overly dramatic and admittedly nasty break-up was incessantly narrated by James — did not fit in the profile of a suspect otherwise. Still, he ordered his Aurors to investigate around the incident. There was always the possibility that she was either being impersonated or under undue influence.
But why her? Perhaps whoever did this wanted to give this incidence a semblance of cover, make it seem like a vicious act of revenge by a petty ex-girlfriend. But Harry knew of Joanna and as much as her aunt used to unnerve him back in the day, neither of them were the type to dabble in foul dark magic like this.
However, as much as Ron would scoff, Scorpius had indeed handed him proof that none of his son's housemates were likely involved too, with said proof being a memory of their train journey and the lot of them hobnobbing in a cabin, mostly inebriated. (Although this did raise other … ethical concerns on underage drinking that he would have to revisit with Albus. As well as wanton partying.)
Sitting through that was quite a challenge. James was also the rambunctious one in the family and Al more subdued, calmer, more observant, but apparently the calmness did not apply during inebriation. (He had heard all sorts of rumors from other parents and some of them did seem rather concerning, including one where they supposedly sneaked out of Hogwarts into London, confunded a bunch of muggle bouncers and partied shitless — albeit no one could quite prove that they did indeed do such a thing. Not the professors and Hogwarts staff, nor the Obliviators from the Ministry and Harry had way too many other priorities on his plate to care about this. Perhaps it was only a rumor.) Somehow Harry knew that his younger self would definitely feel very uncomfortable among them, although he was sure it would also be pretty hilarious, looking back in retrospect. He suppressed a chuckle at Scorpius' description of the minor misunderstanding in the Common Room. (Although why would they need a bunch of House Elves to brew weird potions via the Hufflepuffs? Some mysteries are better left unknown.)
~X~
Halfway through October — time seemed to fly once Al settled into the dreary routine of school — came their first trip of the term to Hogsmeade. Everything seemed much more tense than in his day, probably because the Wizarding World seemed to be on the verge of war and security measures around Hogwarts were drastically tightened.
That morning, Al stumbled out of bed, hair a mess. Since his father did not use any hair gel whatsoever, Al figured out it was prudent to do the same (even though he could really use some.) When he approached his table, Ron was already there, reading his copy of "Advanced Potion Making." That old book and all the notes scribbled in its margins, the handy hints and shortcuts, have propelled Ron to the top of Potions class. According to that guy, it also contained a few jinxes and hexes. Ron once tried a spell in the Gryffindor dormitory that caused Al to hang by the ankle upside down and it took ages for them to finally reverse it, which was admittedly rather embarrassing if funny too. (Although coming to think of it, that did seem like a fun spell to learn to maybe one day try it on whoever managed to get their hands on Lily. Levicorpus, yes, whoever messes with Lily will get just that. Maybe he'll even teach it to James so they can both do it the same time on one person.)
Ron had never been top of any class before and all of this made him very pleased with himself. Although it did mean that Horace Slughorn was more than eager to extend an invitation to Ron to the Slug Club, which, Al seemed to recall, wasn't the case in the past, at least from Uncle Ron's drunken babblings during Christmas. (Whoops. Divergence created. Had it been his father that was supposed to get that old book?)
"… and then finally, I figured out how to reverse it and he landed back on the bed again!" Ron grinned, sounding pleased with himself and then proceeded to wolf down a bunch of sausages.
Hermione glared in disapproval. "Was this spell, by any chance, another one from that potion book of yours?"
"So what if it is? It's brilliant!"
"So you just decide to try out an unknown, handwritten incantation and see what would happen?" Hermione was displeased. Oh dear. Those two seemed to be on the verge of arguing again. Then again, they always bickered, according to Hugo.
"It was just a laugh! That's all Hermione!"
"It's probably not Ministry of Magic-approved," Hermione lectured. "Also, I'm starting to think this Prince character was a bit dodgy."
"I mean… yeah he probably is," Al added, "Although dangling people by their ankle is kind of- mostly harmless. Ron I certainly didn't mind. So nothing bad happened so technically, it's okay."
"No it isn't," Hermione said. "Also, that is technically bullying."
"Fred and George make all sorts of products doing similar stuff," Ron said, shrugging.
"Well I don't feel bullied. Also it doesn't HAVE to be bullying, maybe it could just be friends having a bit of a banter," Al suggested. "I used to cast itching hexes on friends all the time and one time, my brother casted the Jelly-Legs jinx on me for shits and giggles.
"There's something seriously wrong with your brain," Hermione said, rolling her eyes, "And there's something seriously wrong with that book."
"You just don't like it because now I'm top of the class," Ron declared, half-jokingly.
Hermione rolled her eyes again. That was probably partly true though, Al thought. But it was all very cute.
Then Ginny had approached them carrying a note from Dumbledore. (Did it have something to do with his time switch? Or was it something else important?) Al frowned as he saw that she was previously with Dean Thomas but smiled at her super awkwardly. It would be so weird to flirt with his mother's younger self just to secure his existence but he was starting to think that maybe casing a Furnunculus on Dean wasn't such a bad idea. Although it may provoke Ginny and ruin things in the long run. Oh Merlin, the dilemmas a time traveller faces.
"Why are they still dating?" Al asked for the millionth time on their way to Hogsmeade. "What doe she even see in him?" To which Ron would repeat his claims that it was just a phase and Hermione would roll her eyes again. It was so jarring. He wondered if young mom actually liked that guy though. Perhaps she didn't. Then rinse and repeat. A lot of shops were boarded, he noticed, which seemed like a bummer, but Honeydukes was at least open.
They were all beyond relieved to enter.
"Harry m'boy!" said a booming voice from behind them.
"Hello sir," Al greeted his once and future Head of House amicably. Slughorn was wearing a large furry hat and clutching — of course— a large bag of crystallized pineapple.
The man asked about whether all 3 would show up at his next Slug Club and they all nodded. Al exchanged a few pleasantries with that man. It was strange being at one of those meetings in the past, with people his parents had been to school with. Al had been to a lot of them mostly because Slughorn wouldn't let him miss any — and he didn't exactly have excuses like Quidditch practice to bail himself out — but also because they were actually quite helpful career and networking-wise. But in the past he couldn't exactly reveal too much when chatting around. Ron seemed to find them terribly dreary while Hermione seemed okay with it.
When the man left, their attention turned to those deluxe sugar quills and then they headed for the Three Broomsticks.
~X~
They bumped into a squat, bandy-legged man by the name of Mundungus Fletcher, whom Hermione informed him was both a member of the Order of the Phoenix and all-around scoundrel and smuggler of all sorts of shady goods. Indeed, the man dropped a suitcase, which burst open and it was filled with trinkets and the lot. Al frowned at the sight. Something was off. "Here," he said as he bent over, "Let me help you pick it all up. Don't worry about it."
In the midst of the goods sprawled on the floor, a locket gleamed. It was made of gold and had a serpentine S in glittery emeralds at the front. Al vaguely remembered something about his dad, Ron and Hermione destroying an important locket. By the looks of it, it was probably a founder's relic, Slytherin's locket no doubt, Al had vaguely heard about it from Scorpius rambling about history— and it seemed like something important. It seemed to beckon for him. He swiftly pocketed it before anyone could notice.
"Hang on," Ron said slowly as he held up a silver goblet, "This looks familiar—"
"Thank you!" said Mundungus, snatching the globlet back and stuffing it into the case. "Well, I'll see you all!"
Before they could further react he disappeared.
"Um, did this guy steal all of this?—"
"— from Sirius, yes," Ron nodded, interrupting Al.
"Wait, that's gross! Both the stealing and scavenging from dead people's properties," Al said. "Is… no one going to do anything about it? If my dad were around he'll probably be real mad about it, right?"
Before anyone of them could respond, Hermione frowned. "Harry —no —Al, what's that in your pocket?"
"What in my— oh." He noticed his pocket was probably bulging from the size of the locket. It wasn't exactly subtle. "I took this from that guy." He held out the locket for both of them to observe.
"Oh so you stole this from him," Hermione said with a snort.
"Well, it seemed important," Al explained defensively. "I'm not a kleptomaniac or anything, I promise. I do remember Uncle Ron —yes, future you — being drunk and talking about a locket. This seemed like it. Plus it belonged to Salazar Slytherin. Read about it in the books. Could be important."
"It looks creepy," Ron commented.
Indeed, it was. Just holding it mad Al feel extremely uncomfortable so he slipped it in his bag. "It probably is," Al said. He needed to find a way to destroy it. In all honesty, he had no idea how to. But he thought Dumbledore might. He had to act quickly because the locket was making him feel really, really nervous. Nevertheless, he could not seem too obvious or skittish about being in possession of a potentially dangerous object. He did not need to draw further suspicion or attention from his surroundings. "You know what, guys, butterbeer today is on me! I kind of feel like drinking more."
"Shouldn't we-" Hermione was about to interrupt.
"We have time," he interrupted. Besides, he could really do with some alcohol in his system.
And so they strove to pretend nothing else changed. Or perhaps something did, but that was something to ponder for another day.
~X~
"It's Draco Malfoy who attacked Katie," Albus insisted. "He's a Death Eater."
"Albus -"
"I'm 100% sure - and you know what? I'm going to tell Dumbledore -"
"Albus, you can't just -" Hermione was a little wary about this.
"No, I think they should know. Dumbledore because well, he's Dumbledore and the headmaster. A potential Death Eater wondering around Hogwarts is dangerous. And I don't want to risk anything."
"Well, I'll have talk to that guy eventually anyway about the Locket. We'll need his help in dealing with it," Al said. "Plus, maybe my future knowledge could be of some help in other dangerous incidents. Like that attack on Katie Bell. Which, to be honest, I still don't really understand that much about because I never actually pay attention to History of Magic, but I'll tell him that it's totally Draco Malfoy."
Hermione rolled his eyes again as Al reclined on the sofas of the Gryffindor Common Room. He could understand why mum, dad, James and Lily all liked it. It was a cozy place, although in all honesty he preferred the dungeons because it was a lot calmer when his housemates were not up to something bonkers.
Shortly after the attack on Katie Bell, which resulted in someone else's death, there was widespread panic and a small-scale stampede. Strolling out of the bar in a rather inebriated manner, Al was caught in the commotion, briefly lost to Ron and Hermione and clutching his bag rather protectively to prevent the loss of the Locket. In the midst of it all, he had somehow sprained his ankle and was contorting in pain in a corner before Hermione found him while rolling her eyes. She had made sure that the Locket was indeed still here. (As if he would lose it!)
Subsequently, it turned out that the injury was actually more than a sprained ankle and he actually had to spend a whole night at Madame Pomfrey's for healing. (The Locket resided in Hermione's trunk for safe-keeping.) The bones were regrown and reattached but it would take a while for him to fully recover. For the next few days he had walked with a limp but Madame Pomfrey said it would eventually recover in fortnight. Still, Al debated whether to keep faking having a limp until they figured out how to send him back so he could miss the next Quidditch tournament, which he was not keen on participating. Either way though, his plans on actually leading the Gryffindor Quidditch team through practice were —thankfully —toast.
Hermione was in a grumpy mood and it probably had something to do with the fact that Ron was snogging Lavender again. Seriously what was wrong with that guy? Albus decided he would help get those two together no matter what it took. And he was willing to do a lot of things.
"Well, alternatively I could always just tell Professor McGonagall that Draco Malfoy is probably a Death Eater since she's our Head of House and responsible for our personal safety," Al declared. "Although," he continued as he noted Hermione's rather dismayed expression, " As of now. We should probably… er… be focusing on that." He pointed to Ron and Lavender. At least he tried to lighten the mood.
"Seriously I—"
"You know what, Hermione," Al said, feeling pleased with himself all of a sudden, "We're going to set you up on some dates and make that guy jealous so he'll finally realize his undeclared love for you. And you guys will live happily ever after."
~X~
The meeting with Professor McGonagall could not have proceeded more appallingly. ("Potter, did you seriously suggest the Hogwarts staff put a tracking charm on one of your fellow students?!" she had yelled.) None of his attempts to persuade and reason with her worked.
("Potter, this is a very serious allegation. I know you and Draco Malfoy do not like each other and have not gotten along and I am well aware of his family history — but we do not go around alleging that people are Death Eaters without serious evidence!")
( "But I have serious evidence!")
( "What evidence?")
( "He totally has a Death Eater tattoo on his arm!"Al had sputtered. "Just use a revealing charm and you'll-")
("Enough!")
Consequently this was how Hermione found him. Despondent and staring at the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room. "McGonagall wouldn't believe me," he sighed at her. "Even though the evidence is totally there. Apparently putting a tracking charm on Draco Malfoy was a step too far-"
"You suggested what?! For God's sake, you can't just - never mind. Anyways, I did some more research on time travelers and, apparently, there have been incidences in the past where people have switched places," Hermione announced, switching topics. She pulled out a thick deck of notes.
"Wow, you did this?" Albus looked stunned. His Aunt did not play around.
"Yes, anyways. None of them have lasted very long and were mostly dismissed as dreams. But there was this one case. A man, Maurice Tabuet, 18th century France, was whisked back in time and switched places with his grandfather. Sounds a little similar to your case right? But he was brought back before he could fully understand what was going on. Most people believed he was lying but his discontented wife admitted to dousing him with time dust and casting some spell because she was unhappy with him and wanted him gone," Hermione explained. "She worked at the Ministry of Magic and had the access… but not too long after he switched places with his grandfather, something that confused them both - the situation was reversed. It was less than 2 days so he hadn't had a chance to impact the future. The books didn't say why but most speculated that it was his wife's doing too and that she simply missed her husband after all."
"That … sounds like something for marriage counseling," Albus snorted. "But point taken. So that's the evidence so far? I mean, it could well be true but it also sounds like hearsay."
"Exactly. There's no confirmed case. Just anecdotes. But all of the recorded and suspected cases - there aren't many but it's still enough for me to gauge a pattern - the time switches have all been initiated by people in the future as opposed to the past," Hermione noted.
"So, are you suggesting, I mean this might make sense but - if you're correct, then someone my time decided to make me switch places with my dad. But why?"
Just who would do such a thing?
~X~
"What I'm sayin, Professor Dumbledore, is that… that Draco Malfoy is totally a Death Eater!" Albus exclaimed for the umpteenth time.
Dumbledore's expressions were inscrutable and this made Al nervous. Of course, what could he have hoped to achieve by blurting out whatever semblance of information and evidence he could muster? Perhaps he possessed a credibility shortage. Perhaps the grandiose men of history — such as his namesake Albus Dumbledore — simply deemed his interferences unworthy of consideration. Perhaps—
"Albus Potter," Dumbledore's remarked with amusement as his eyes glinted through his glasses, "Appreciated though your interferences may be, perhaps you would soon realize that altering the course of history would be… unwise."
Whelp. Al never considered himself a wise dude. "That… was profound, Sir." His mind was thrust back to the moment when he, probably very likely accidentally revealed his dad's adventure in breaking into Gringotts during his Seventh Year to the Headmaster. Al recalled that though seemingly inscrutable the man's expressions then were, he had uttered something potentially history-altering. Then there was the fact that Uncle Ron was now top of Potion's Class because of that book and in the Slug Club. He wondered about the Locket too — oh crap. But— but his dad and Ron and Hermione had indeed destroyed a locket— "I think all I did so far was accidentally turn Ron into a Potions prodigy." And the Locket. Something was holding him back on bringing up the Locket.
"… Although judging by your other actions," Dumbledore continued, deep in thought, "You might already have done it. Your last visit to Hogsmede, you nicked something from Mundungus Fletcher who was scavenging over Sirius Black's properties in Grimmauld Place, correct?"
Al nodded. "Oh. Yes. Yes I did. A eerrr Locket. Hermione has it now."
"Well, I was under the impression that the Locket was placed at a different location. A certain cave by the seaside that was an important childhood location for Tom Riddle."
"Oh Merlin's pants!" Al exclaimed. His blood froze. "It was their Seventh Year! No— no— no I messed up! They must have destroyed it then—"