Imprisoned in the Past

Head's Office, Hogwarts, 12/3/1993, 19:14

Albus sat behind his desk pondering the events of the past few months wondering if the worst was still yet to come.

After the violence perpetrated against the wizarding world on Halloween, a feeling of fear had fallen over the wizarding world.

Truthfully Albus couldn't blame them, the attack on Saint Mungo's in particular had sent a chill down his spine. Albus was just pleased that the Reaper had shown up before things could get any worse and he hoped the Reapee would be there in the future as well.

Albus had seen more dark lords in his lifetime than he cared to admit, but none of the other dark lords had ever done something so cowardly as to attack a hospital before.

There was also the fact that Arabella Figg had been murdered that same night which saddened him beyond words. He had sent her to live in Surrey years ago when he had placed young Harry Potter with his aunt and uncle. He had intended for her to watch over the boy but Harry hadn't even stayed there a year before Sirius had taken custody of him ruining Albus' plans for the boy. Arabella had decided to stay in the home Dumbledore had acquired for her and Albus was quite content to let her stay there.

Albus was ashamed to admit that he hadn't checked on her in years and had been caught by surprise when Alastor delivered the news that she had been killed along with Harry Potter's aunt and uncle. The death of the Dursleys was another surprise, it still baffled him how Voldemort had learned of their existence in the first place. The manner in which all three of them were murdered was horrific and Albus only hoped their murders were captured soon, if anyone deserved to be sent through the veil, then the monsters who murdered Arabella definitely did.

There was some good news to be had, mainly the capture and interrogation of quite a few death eaters at some of the other Halloween raid locations. Granted the ministry hadn't learned much new information but they had succeeded in taking quite a few of them off of the street which was a small victory.

Unfortunately, for every piece of good news, there was also some worse news. Severus had recently informed him that Voldemort planned to have Narcissa Malfoy assassinated very soon. Albus was already making plans to warn Harry so he could alert Lady Malfoy of the danger.

Albus had also put an end to the imperius curse that was placed on Elphoas at Voldemort's resurrection which was a load off of his mind. He had been using Elphias to feed Voldemort misinformation for years now but after the attack on Halloween, he knew that it was time to free his old friend from the curse. Elphias had been a liability to the order for a while now so it was a relief to return him back to his old self.

Now Severus was once again their only link to Voldemort but Albus was confident that would be more than enough for the time being. Truthfully he was tempted to have Severus step away from spying, they were quickly getting to the point where his position as a spy was no longer necessary.

Pushing those thoughts to the side, Albus looked over the papers scattered across his desk. This was the intelligence that Miss Snyde had sent back with Nymphadora a few weeks ago. He had Kingsley and a few of his international contacts checking the information provided but so far, it was all above board. This information had been a tremendous help especially for working abroad where it was much more difficult to know who was trustworthy.

Albus was almost certain that this war was coming to an end, the signs were all there if one knew what to look for.

Firstly, Voldemort had lost most of his contacts abroad which had cut down the influx of recruits. The number of his non-human allies had dwindled down to a group of vampires living at Tom's headquarters and finally, his recruits in Britain were on the decline after the attacks on Halloween.

Unfortunately, this meant that any restraint Tom had been using would be gone now. The attacks on Halloween were proof of this fact. Dumbledore was almost certain that there were more attacks like the attacks on Halloween coming very soon.

Albus already had order members keeping an eye on the usual targets, though he doubted that Voldemort would go for something so obvious again. But after what happened at Saint Mungo's, he wouldn't rule out the possibility.

Albus was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a knock at the door and he lazily flicked his wand causing the papers on his desk to stack themselves and fly back into the manila envelope. Albus placed the envelope into his desk drawer before calling out, "come in, Harry."

Albus watched as Professor Peverell stepped into the room looking thoroughly wrung out.

"You wished to see me, Albus?" Harry asked as he took the seat Albus gestured to.

"Yes, I have received word that Lord Voldemort has ordered the death of Narcissa Malfoy. You are the best placed to pass along a warning to her," Dumbledore explained.

"Do you know when this is supposed to happen?" Harry asked giving the headmaster an inquiring look.

"Before the new year but we have no exact date," Dumbledore answered.

"Lovely," Harry muttered staring out of the window as if thinking something over.

"The order may be able to help protect Lady Malfoy," Dumbledore offered.

"I may take you up on that, depending on how Cissa wants to handle this," Harry answered distractedly, still seeming to be lost in thought.

"You don't believe she will want our help?" Albus asked.

"No, Cissa may want to deal with this in her own way," Harry admitted.

"Well please let her know that the offer will stand," Dumbledore said.

"I will pass along your message," Harry promised.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said as he popped a lemon drop into his mouth.

"No, thank you for warning me," Harry said before standing up.

"It's the least I could do after your help at the hospital," Albus shrugged.

"Assuming that I was there," Harry chuckled.

"I am almost certain that you were," Dumbledore beamed.

"You could be right, good night Albus," Harry said before making his way to the door.

"Good night Harry," Albus whispered as the door snapped shut behind his care of magical creatures professor.

After reading the information from Miss Snyde, Albus was certain that Harry Peverell was indeed the Reaper. This changed very little as he had suspected it for years and Albus could not deny that the Reaper had done more to end this war than the order and the ministry combined. True he had left a trail of corpses behind him but all of the men and women the Reaper had killed were monsters in their own way.

Albus stood from his seat and walked toward the stairs leading up to his quarters intent on turning in for the night. He was certain that sleep would be in short supply in the coming days so he thought it best to get some rest while he could.

Hogwarts Grounds, 12/11/1993, 12:21

Harry was just checking in on the herd of hippogriffs for his O.W.L class for the coming week. He had brought them to a paddock near where he usually held his classes the day before and seeing as he had a few minutes before he had to go down to the village, he figured he'd stop in and check how they were settling in.

"I hoped that I would catch you down here," a familiar voice called across the grounds catching Harry's and the hippogriffs' attention.

Harry turned to see Newt strolling towards the paddock, a wide grin on his wrinkled face as he took in the hippogriffs.

"Fancy seeing you here," Harry chuckled

"I was in Hogsmeade and figured I'd stop in and see what creatures you were working with," Newt said as he bowed to one of the Hippogriffs.

"I'll be heading down to the villages shortly, I just stopped in to make sure the hippogriffs were settling in," Harry said as the hippogriff bowed back to Newt.

"These are wild hippogriffs?" Newt asked as he patted the creature's beak.

"Yes, Hagrid had a male and three females he kept in the forest. In his absence, they have multiplied into a sizable herd," Harry beamed as Buckbeak trotted over and nuzzled Harry's shoulder with his beak.

"Extraordinary," Newt muttered.

"Fortunate is what I'd call it. This means that I don't have to negotiate with the damn reserves every time I want to show my classes hippogriffs," Harry beamed as he stroked Buckbeak's head.

"I would love to observe them in the wild," Newt mused.

"They have taken over the clearing where the acromantula colony used to be," Harry shrugged as he made his way to the edge of the paddock.

"I shall have to visit them soon," Newt mused as he followed Harry out of the enclosure.

"You should, that whole area feels so much more alive without those dreadful spiders sucking the life out of the forest," Harry admitted as he spotted a line of students making their way toward the gates.

"I can only imagine," Newt said before tossing the hippogriff he had just been petting a dead ferret.

"Care to join me for a drink at the Three Broomsticks? I'm on chaperone duty today," Harry offered.

"I would love a gilly water," Newt agreed.

"I'm rather fond of Rosmerta's oak-matured mead, myself," Harry admitted as the two of them began trudging through the ankle-derp snow towards the cleared path that led to the gates.

"It is quite good but a tad strong for someone of my age," Newt chuckled.

"It does pack a bit of a punch," Harry conceded.

The two of them walked down to the village in companionable silence as students darted past them on the path, no doubt eager to get to the village. It had started to snow again.

Harry couldn't help but smile as they stepped into the village, he couldn't help feeling like he had been sucked into a Christmas card. The little thatched cottages and shops were all covered in a layer of crisp snow and many of them had Christmas trees visible in their windows; there were holly wreaths on the doors and strings of garland wrapped around the lampposts, there were strings of ever-burning candles wrapped around the massive fur trees on outskirts of the village and carollers were singing in the village square. This combined with the atmosphere of hundreds of students moving about from shop to shop, their laughter carrying back to him and Newt as the two magizoologist made their way towards the Three Broomsticks.

"You know, this place hasn't changed much since I was a student," Newt commented.

"I'm not surprised, the wizarding world doesn't like change," Harry mused as they stepped into the pub.

"No, it does not. You should have heard my grandfather go on about that horrible muggle contraption that the ministry was forcing the children to take to Hogwarts," Newt chuckled.

"You mean the Hogwarts Express?" Harry asked as the two of them took a seat at a table near the door.

"I do indeed, the ministry made it mandatory for all students to take the train the year before his first year," Newt explained.

"Bet a bunch of those old purebloods hated that," Harry snorted as Madam Rosmerta came to stand by their table.

"Something else that never changes in the wizarding world, I'm afraid," Newt agreed.

"What can I get you two?" Rosmerta asked giving them both a cheerful smile.

"A gilly water and a club sandwich, if you please," Newt beamed.

"Fish and chips and a glass of mead," Harry added at her inquiring look.

"Good choice, I'll have that right out," Rosmerta said as she wrote down their order on a notepad.

"I've heard that the horned serpent that you healed finally laid her egg," Newt said as the barmaid left them to fill their order.

"Really, I was planning to visit the reserve last summer but I couldn't find the time," Harry admitted.

"It won't hatch until next summer," Newt assured him.

"I would love to see a horned serpent hatchling," Harry mused.

"Just don't try to bring it home with you like that basilisk," Newt warned.

"She was a stowaway," Harry defended.

"I've heard," Newt said looking very amused.

"I take it that you'll be coming out of retirement to document the new hatching?" Harry asked.

"Of course, though it will probably be my last field trip. I am getting far too old to go traipsing around the world anymore," Newt admitted.

"Can't say I blame you," Harry said as their drinks floated over to the table.

"I hear you got caught up in that mess at the Magpies game last May?" Newt said giving Harry a curious look.

"I did," Harry said simply.

"Since you're here having a drink with me, I assume everything worked out?" Newt chuckled.

"More or less," Harry shrugged, a dark look crossing his face

"This little war is getting pretty nasty," Newt sighed before taking a drink of his gilly water.

"It's only going to get worse before it gets better," Harry predicted.

"It always does," Newt agreed as a group of third-years entered the pub.

"I guess you've seen quite a few of these wars in your time?" Harry questioned turning to look at his former mentor.

"More than I would have liked," Newt agreed.

"One is more than I would like to see," Harry pointed out.

"I said the same thing in nineteen twenty-six," Newt said.

"What do you know about vampires?" Harry asked as their food hovered over to land in front of them.

"Bloody infuriating creatures the lot of them. Trying to figure out their motives is damn near impossible," Newt answered after thinking on the question for a moment.

"I've been approached by the leader of the vampires to get her coven passage across the pond," Harry said before taking a bite of fish.

"Where to, exactly?" Newt asked warily.

"Mexico," Harry admitted.

"They must be hoping to join that lot from the Pandemonium coven," Newt muttered before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"She said the vampires ran a bar," Harry shrugged.

"Oh they do, muggles go in for a drink and are never seen again after the vampires get a drink of their own," Newt explained.

"Why hasn't MACUSA put a stop to the place?" Harry questioned.

"Honestly, they're doing the world a favour. Most of the muggles that visit that place are the worst of the worst, murderers, rapists and bank robbers," Newt shrugged.

"I take it they haven't been turning them all?" Harry asked.

"No. Vampires usually behead their victims when they want to avoid creating hordes of new vampires," Newt explained before taking a deep drink from his goblet.

"So they only make more when they want to," Harry mused.

"Exactly. They are far too smart to create too many vampires, it draws attention to them which is counterproductive if they wish to hunt without wizards interfering," Newt elaborated.

"So the events of last year were not common?" Harry pressed.

"No, vampires rarely go about turning hundreds in a single area," Newt agreed.

"I thought as much or they would quickly hunt their food out of existence," Harry said.

"What are they offering for your assistance?" Newt asked with undisguised interest.

"Information that could end the war for good," Harry said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Newt snorted.

"It's taking time to make the arrangements with the muggle government, I have to fly them out with tons of dirt," Harry admitted.

"If you need any help getting them out of Britain, just let me know," Newt offered.

"Thanks but I think I can handle getting them out of the country," Harry waved him off.

"If you're sure," Newt shrugged.

"I really do appreciate the offer but It would be best if I go it alone. Where I'm going is far too close to Peru for my liking," Harry said, giving Newt a grateful smile.

"Well be careful," Newt sighed before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I always am," Harry chuckled as another group of students passed their table.

Harry looked around the pub to try and clear his thoughts. Idly he noticed his younger self enter the pub with Hannah Abbott holding his hand. The two third-years seemed lost in their own little world as they made their way over to a table where Draco and Daphne Greengrass were seated.

His younger self's choice of girlfriends was not news to him but it still blew his mind considering how badly he had gotten along with the Hannah Abbott from his own timeline. The early years particularly the second and fourth years had seen tensions quite high between Hufflepuff House and himself.

Harry turned back to his food chatting about inconsequential things and had fun speculating how large the horned serpent hatchling would be when it was born.

Harry was very pleased that Newt had paid him a visit and he couldn't help but feel bad they didn't get together more often.

After they finished their meal, Newr excused himself and promised to visit after the new year while Harry began to walk around the village. The air was quite crisp and a cold breeze was blowing in from the north making it necessary for Harry to cast a warming charm over himself.

Fortunately for Harry, the outing to Hogsmeade turned out to be quite uneventful minus having to break up a scuffle at the sweetshop over the last pack of chocolate cauldrons. Near four o'clock Harry began to go from shop to shop shooing the straggling students back up to the school before making his way up himself to check with Filius that all of the students had returned.

An hour later and Harry began making his way to the gates pleased that the day had gone so smoothly. True thinking like that was always tempting fate but he had been prepared to fend off another attack today and he was relieved that had not been necessary.

As Harry stepped through the gates and prepared to apparate home for the evening, he couldn't help thinking that today had been one of his better outings to Hogsmeade.

Seaside Cave, Ireland, 12/15/1993, 03:31

Voldemort thought about the short missive he'd just read and felt unimaginable rage coursing through him.

He had come to this tiny little cave to assess his assets or more importantly, check the state of his army of inferious after leaving them to their own devices for over a decade. The inferi were all in perfect working order, the potion he'd filled the lake with had done wonders to prevent their bodies from decaying as he'd hoped it would.

No the problem he'd run into was when he'd checked the basin where he'd stored his horcrux and found a locket that wasn't his sitting at the bottom! It took him little effort to channel magic into the rune etched into the underside id the basin that drained its contents leaving the fake locket lying in an empty basin.

To the Dark Lord,

I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.

R.A.B

Voldemort recognized the handwriting of one Regulus Arcturus Black, a boy who had once been a promising death eater. Voldemort had thought that Regulus was just a scared child who had fled the country back in seventy-nine when he was tasked with killing his older brother Sirius but now he realized that other factors were involved in Regulus' defection.

This made Voldemort wonder how long the Blacks had been angling for his downfall and if he had ever truly had their loyalty at all. Bellatrix had defected and she had been his best and there was once a time when he had thought she was his most faithful. Voldemort pushed those thoughts aside as an even more troubling thought popped into his mind.

'What if the other anchors were found as well?'

Voldemort pocketed the locket and made his way over to the boat. Once he had taken a seat in the tiny vessel, he tapped his wand to the boat's bow, making it begin to glide back across the underground lake.

He had one other hiding place that he could still access and it was on his way home and he planned to check on one of his older anchors.

He would order his people to start moving the inferi from this cave over the next few weeks. Now that there was no anchor in this cave he could use all of the inferi on other tasks. Though he hardly considered this a consolation prize considering how precious his anchors were.

Voldemort began to ponder ever more painful ways to punish the Black family for this attack on his anchors as the boat glided back across his lake of inferi. He realized that he already had plans in the works to have one of the infamous Black sisters killed but now he wanted to take care of the entire family!

Hogwarts Express, 12/19/1993, 14:45

Harry watched the snow-covered countryside pass by the train's windows as it sped south towards London.

The winter holidays were upon them and it felt as if the last month had gone by in no time at all. After Gryffindor's loss to Hufflepuff, Wood had been running them ragged in extra quidditch practice. Harry in particular had been practicing dodging bludgers and improving his situational awareness. Harry took it all without complaint, knowing that his lack of awareness was a big factor in their last loss. The only thing he wasn't very happy with was the school broomstick he was having to use until he could talk to Sirius about getting a new one.

"Plotting on getting yourself a Firebolt again?" Hannah asked in a teasing voice from her place beside him.

"I would love one but at this point, I would just be happy with another Nimbus," Harry said as he glanced over at her.

"I bet. So what are you doing over the holidays?" Hannah asked.

"We're going to the Malfoy Yule ball," Susan answered before Harry could speak.

"Of course you are, anybody who's anybody will be there," Draco smirked.

"He's only saying that because his mother has no choice but to invite him," Daphne quipped.

"Silence Greengrass," Draco drawled, shooting her a look of annoyance.

"I never get invited to any balls," Hermione pouted.

"You're hardly ever in the country over the Christmas holidays," Harry pointed out.

"Fair point but it would still be nice to be invited," Hermione sighed.

"So you can politely refuse?" Draco snorted.

"Well yes," Hermione agreed.

"Absolutely not. No one declines an invitation to a Malfoy function," Draco exclaimed sounding affronted at the thought.

"Can't have you bruising his delicate ego, Hermione," Susan giggled.

"Poor bloke couldn't handle the rejection," Harry agreed, earning him a whithering glare from Draco.

"I hope you plan on asking me to dance this year, Harry?" Hannah asked.

"Be prepared for him to step on your toes," Susan warned.

"Don't listen to her, I'm an excellent dancer," Harry said before throwing a boogie flavoured every flavour bean at Susan.

"He certainly likes to dance with my mother quite often at our functions," Draco said causing Harry's face to flush crimson.

"And your Aunt Bellatrix," Daphne added, looking very amused at Harry's reaction.

"Well you'll only be dancing with me at the ball," Hannah said, giving Harry a pointed look

"Of course, I will," Harry agreed.

"Unless Missus Lovegood shows up to the ball," Draco grinned.

"Sod off, Malfoy," Harry scowled.

"That hit a nerve," Susan said as the compartment door slid open to reveal Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood holding stacks of magazines.

"Hello you all, Luna is selling Quibblers and I offered to help her," Ginny said as Luna held up a copy of the Quibbler.

"This is a special issue," Luna said in her usual dreamy tone.

"What's so special about it?" Hermione asked with interest.

"Mummy did an article about aerobics with lots of photographic demonstrations, the boys seem to love this issue," Luna said sounding pleased.

"How much?" Harry asked causing Hannah to glare at him and Draco to cough in order to conceal his laughter.

"Two sickles" Luna beamed, oblivious to the trouble she had inadvertently caused.

"I think we'll pass," Harry said, very aware of Hannah's eyes boring into him.

"Don't speak for me, Potter," Draco exclaimed as he dug two sickles out of his money pouch.

"Draco doesn't want one either," Daphne said giving Draco a pointed look.

"Wow Harry the wrackspurts are all around you," Luna said softly.

"What are wrackspurts?" Harry asked unable to hide his amusement at the look Daphne was giving Draco.

"Invisible creatures that fly in through your ear and make your brain go fuzzy," Luna explained.

"If they're invisible then how can you see them?" Hermione asked, sounding sceptical.

"The air around a person's head shimmers like a heat haze making it easy to spot," Luna answered without missing a beat.

"Don't start with the creatures, Luna," Ginny sighed.

"My housemates do get mad at me when I talk about daddy's creatures," Luna mused.

"I know. Now come on, the sooner we sell your stock of Quibblers, the sooner we can get into that box of chocolate frogs," Ginny said, practically dragging the quirky Ravenclaw towards the door.

"We have some here if you're that hard up," Harry offered.

"No, we still have half of the train to go," Ginny waved him off.

Harry watched the two second-years leave their compartment already plotting on how he could get his hands on one of those Quibblers.

"She is so strange," Hermione muttered as the compartment door slid shut behind the two second years.

The Lovegoods are all a bit...odd," Susan said.

"Luna's year mates were really mean to her this year," Hermione said sounding troubled.

"I heard about that, the other Ravenclaws were stealing her stuff until Professor Peverell got wind of it," Daphne said, sounding almost gleeful.

"Is that why Ravenclaw lost three hundred points in one night?" Hannah asked with interest.

"Yes. From what I heard, Professor Peverell found her walking barefoot through the forest after Halloween and was furious when he found out that all of her shoes were missing," Daphne explained.

"Professor Flitwick was the one who docked all of the points," Hermione added.

"Serves them right," Draco shrugged.

"I have to agree," Hermione nodded.

"Well, enough about Lovegood, any word about the starting matches of the world cup?" Harry asked hoping to change the subject.

"Ireland versus France will be the first match," Hannah answered.

"From what I hear, Ireland will be a tough team to beat," Draco exclaimed.

"I only care about that beater," Susan giggled.

"If you mean Quigley, he is one of the top beaters in the Irish league," Harry said.

"He knocked out three of the Tornados players with a single bludger at the last match," Draco added.

"How is that even possible?" Hermione asked.

"Ever heard of pinball?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Hermione nodded.

"Same concept, he hit their centre chaser in the head with a bludger and it ricocheted into the Tornado's beater before bouncing off his head and hitting their left-wing chaser in the face," Harry explained.

"He set a record for most teeth knocked out with a single bludger hit," Hannah added.

"That's absolutely barbaric," Hermione exclaimed.

"It can't be any worse than boxing or that insane professional wrestling on the tele," Malfoy shot back.

"The wrestling is fake," Hermione pointed out.

"I saw muggles hitting each other with folding chairs during the last match I watched," Draco argued.

"Well they don't knock each other's teeth out," Hermione shrugged.

"They can't grow them back though," Daphne pointed out.

"Never mind that who do you think will win the match?" Hannah asked before Hermione could reply.

"Ireland," Harry and Draco said in unison.

"The French seeker is much better than Lynch," Hannah pointed out.

"Maybe but the Irish chasers are all phenomenal... provided they can work together they may be unbeatable," Draco opined.

The rest of the trip revolves around speculation about the quidditch world cup matches much to Hermione's consternation. Harry couldn't help but wish that most of the matches weren't taking place while he was at school but he had the final to look forward to and Sirius had already promised to take him to that match.

As the train began to pull into the station, Harry prepared to begin the process of convincing Sirius (and Amelia who would be much harder to convince) that he needed a new broom that was much faster than his old Nimbus, or at the very least talk them into getting him a Nimbus two thousand and one.