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Harry lay on his back on his bed with his mothers locket dangling above him. The bloody thing was taunting him he was sure. He had run some detection charms over it and been shocked to find that the thing was wrapped up six ways from Sunday. Harry flicked through one of the books laid around him but found nothing he hadn’t already seen before.

“What now Harry.” Neville had asked him earlier that day when Harry was dragging his way through some ancient runes homework. “With the plan, what do we need to do now?”

“We have to wait now Neville.” Harry had looked up and met his friends eye with a smile. “Which could end up as the hardest part. But we can’t do anything until some stuff plays out. Bear with me…” Harry added as his friends face fell. “… for now we‘re bang on target. You know the plan.”

In reality the plan was far from on target, in fact it had taken a hideous lurch. It had happened one breakfast not long after Christmas…

“Harry…” Harry looked up from his bowl of cereal at the tone of utter horror in Ron’s voice.

“Yes?” But Ron just pointed wordlessly over at the Slytherin table. Malfoy was holding a broom with a look of utter happiness on his face. “So he has a new broom? We knew his father would buy him a new one.”

“F… ff… Firebolt.” That was all Ron appeared to be able to say. His face was ash white as he fumbled a Quidditch magazine out of his bag and spread it out in front of Harry, his hand shaking as he pointed to a long article.

Harry’s expression went from confused to fearful then moving swiftly to terrified as he read down the Firebolt’s specs. The Chimera was good but there was no way she could compete with the raw power of the Firebolt.

“Does this change the plan Harry.” Harry glanced up and saw that Fred and George had moved down the table. Their usual grins dulled to worried frowns. “I, mean… It‘s a Firebolt.” Harry tossed the magazine back at Ron and shook his head.

“The brooms only as good as the rider. We can still pull this off.” Harry tried to make his voice comforting and steady. He kind of succeeded. “We will.”

But the Slytherin Ravenclaw game gave them ample evidence that even with a bad rider a professional broom still kicks ass. When the snitch finally appeared Malfoy was at the other end of the pitch and flying much lower than it and he had still snatched it comfortably before Cho could get anywhere near it. That, coupled with the Nimbus 2001s the rest of the team had had equaled a devastating loss for the Ravenclaw team.

The most irritating thing was that he really could do nothing right now. They needed to wait at least until after the next match before the plan could progress. Waiting and watching helplessly was agony. When he had been working on the Chimera it had been like there was a big puzzle laid out in front of him and he could work at it until it was finished. Waiting was much harder because there was nothing to do. Yes he had homework and yes some Slytherins had mysteriously had their shoes filled with frogspawn while they dried beside a fire but he had no puzzle to solve. He had tried to concentrate on practicing with his guitar but it wasn‘t enough. Then he remembered the locket.

So now he worked on finding ways to bypass its many charms and spells. Working on that difficult (but eventually solvable) problem kept his mind off other apparently unsolvable problems. Like why he had had part of last Monday twice. Twisting the locket up near the light he tried a few things.

“Lilly. Petunia. Prefect. Open Sesame.” The locket remained locked and he dropped his hands in defeat. At least he had worked out that it was a password and not some other method of opening but that was about all he had discovered. He had thought of swallowing his pride and asking Professor Lupin his advice. The teacher hadn’t known it was a locket but he might have had some idea or at least be able to give him the names of her childhood pets. “James. Sirius. Peter. Rose.” Harry tried then gave up and stuffed the thing back into his pocket.

“I chose an irritating mystery.” Harry growled then rolled over.

And fell twenty feet onto cold stone.
*


“Ouch!” Harry had all the air blown out of his lungs and fell into a fit of coughing before lifting his head from the floor. There was no tower above him and the walls nearby were patched and had gaping holes in them. “Well this is new.” Harry commented as he levered himself up against a wall.

“Yes very much so.” A pleasant lilting voice sounded out of the shadows down the hall. “New, but not finished as yet.” A tall man with a broad beard and a mane of red hair, barely held down by a battered hat, moved into view and knelt down by Harry. His accent was archaic and his clothes matched that description as did the jeweled sword in his hand. A deep suspicion seeped through Harry.

“You wouldn‘t be Godric Gryffindor would you?” Harry said. Hoping for a no.

“You’ve heard tell of me.” The man seemed pleasantly surprised. He whipped his hat off his head then stuffed his sword into it, appeared to rummage around for a moment then drew out a short rod topped with a crystal ball. As he waved the scepter over Harry it emitted a warm light and Harry felt the bruises of his fall disappear even quicker than Madam Pomfrey could have managed. “There, all better.” The man smiled and dropped the rod back into his hat.

“You got a rabbit in there too.” Harry quipped. Falling back on flippancy as the more sane portions of his brain waved little white flags.

“A rabbit? Why would one keep a rabbit in a headpiece.” The founder smiled. “Wouldn‘t it make rather a mess on the head?”

The sparkling eyes reminded Harry of Dumbledore, comforting him somewhat.

“How did you come to be here?” Gryffindor asked as he helped Harry to his feet. “Or more accurately speaking; How did you come to be a good thirty spans above here?”

“I don’t really know.” Harry shrugged. “I was lying in bed trying to open… say?” Harry dug the locket out of his pocket. If anyone could work this thing out…

“I‘ve been trying to work out the password on this thing. You got any ideas?”

Godric Gryffindor appeared to like a good mystery as much as Harry and pulled what looked like a jewelers eyeglass out of his hat before using it to examine the little slip of silver. Without appearing to notice what he was doing he reached into the hat again and pulled out what looked like a Cornish pasty. Munching on it he turned the locket over and over in his other hand. “Have you attempted a peeling yet? It would certainly be effective.”

“Peeling?” Harry had never heard of a charm or spell like that. “No, what’s that?”

“An apple peel.” Gryffindor finished off his pasty and made a dipping motion. “Soak an apple in diviners broth that also has the locket soaking deep within it. Then peel the fruit in one strip with a silver knife. Toss the peel over thy left shoulder and it should form the shape of the password.” Gryffindor handed the locket back. “But you still have not told me how you got here.”

“I honestly don’t know. I‘ve been jumping around in time all this year. Never this far though.” Harry shook his head.

“Truly?” Gryffindor sounded sad for a moment and looked at him through the jewelers glass. His eye fell on Harry’s chest on the left side and he let out a great sigh. “Oh, I am truly sorry my boy.”

“What? What is it?” Harry unbuttoned his shirt and bit back a cry as he saw the massive red scar stretching over the left half of his chest. It was pockmarked and splotchy, almost like someone had spilled acid on him and it had only ate him away where the droplets had fallen. “That’s never been there before! And I can‘t feel it!”

“You cannot feel it because you have not suffered it yet.” Gryffindor bowed his head, a tear blooming in the corner of his eye. “Also you will only see it when you are out of your true time. You are caught in the torrent of ages now and there is no way to survive. It will get worse and worse until the event that caused it in the first place occurs. I wish I had better news little one, but I am afraid you are doomed.”

The two figures stood silently in the corridor. Harry spoke first.

“But if it hasn‘t happened yet, can‘t I stop it?”

“The laws of cause and effect must be followed, even if they do not happen in the traditional order.”

“Well I don‘t buy it.” Harry shook his head and crossed his arms angrily. “I will not eat up this bullshit you‘re peddling. And I want to go back!” Harry felt his rage rising, a burst of accidental magic made a flagstone crack. “I want to go back to my own time, NOW!” Harry pushed his eyes closed then snapped them open. Gryffindor was gone, and the castle was whole again.

“That’s better.” He said to the castle as a whole.

“WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM!”

Harry spun and made shushing noises to quite the fat lady who was now slumped over the back of her chair with her hand over her chest, breathing heavily.

“It‘s alright, it‘s alright. Unguent is the password isn’t it?”

Still staring at him in shock the fat lady nodded and opened for him. Harry went quickly through the empty night-time common room and slipped back up into the third-years bedroom.

Gryffindor’s words troubled him though, even though the whole experience still felt kind of surreal. Should he go to Dumbledore? Would the headmaster help or just say the same thing as his long-time predecessor?

Suddenly Harry remembered something and smiled. He did have someone eminently qualified to answer questions about time and destiny. Grabbing a quill and parchment Harry jotted down a long note to his Greek pen-pal. Originally he only meant to ask about the torrent but as he wrote he began to include everything that had happened since his last letter until the missive was several sheets long.

“Digger will not be happy.” Harry chuckled as he got out of bed for the second time that night. Not wanting to wake the fat lady again after the scare he’d given her he padded over to his favorite window, climbed through it and set off in the direction of the owlery.
*


“Is that a hair growth potion Potter?”

“No sir.”

“It isn‘t?”

“No sir.”

Snape took a deep breath, he was going to enjoy this.

“For the first time ever in my class you are correct. You have not brewed a hair growth potion. You have not even attempted to brew a hair growth potion. Can you explain to me why you have brewed a different potion, from a different book. Brewed what appears to be a diviners broth that is not even on the Hogwarts syllabus. And can you explain why, even when you have chosen your own potion, you have still managed to utterly fail.”

The insufferable boy glanced at the scummy green mess that filled his cauldron.

“I blame society sir.”

“Society?”

“Yes sir.”

“Fifty points from Gryffindor.”

“Well deserved sir.”
*


Almost a week later Harry was out hunting for an apple. He had finally acquired some passable diviners broth by the simple dint of asking any of the marauders if they could puzzle it out. The potion wasn’t that hard, it was just beyond Harry’s abysmal level of skill. Somehow the two sets to twins had puzzled it out. Harry smiled to himself, had he just referred to Fred and George as marauders? Well, they almost were, but Myrtle didn’t like them because they had throw a bucket of slop through her once so they’d have to apologize before they could be officially sworn in.

But now he was tromping through the rain, looking for an apple. Or at least an apple tree, he knew a charm to make it bear a fruit out of season. When he’d read up on the peeling it had said that it worked best when you picked the fruit yourself so Harry had asked Hagrid where all the apple tree’s on the grounds were (the ones on the safe side of the wards obviously). Unfortunately what he hadn’t counted on was that they were mostly small wild trees with fruits not nearly large enough to produce a good peel. He needed a big cooking apple or something.

Harry preformed the charm on another sodden bloom only to be rewarded by another tiny crab apple.

“Sod this.” Harry grumbled and pulled his robe closer around himself. On reflex he checked the skin on his left side, plain and unblemished, to reassure himself that he was still in the right time. His fingers moved to his pendent hanging on its new chain. Pythea hadn’t written back yet, but then it took a while for an owl to fly to Greece and back and Harry had asked Digger to stay there until the seer had a reply for him to save her making four trips.

“I‘m testing one last tree then getting inside where it‘s warm.” Harry stomped through the mud down to a wizened old tree by the lakeshore. And performed the charm one last time.

“Bugger.” More small fry. Harry was about to turn away and walk back up to the castle when he saw a splash of color on the far bank. Scrambling out on the roots of the old tree to get a better look he bit back an oath. There was a little girl lying on the east bank, half in and half out of the bushes near the edge of the forbidden forest. She wasn’t moving and she was facedown in the water.

“HEY!” Harry yelled for anyone listening. “SOMEONE! HAGRID!” But the wind took his words away. “Oh my god. Why does this stuff always happen to me?”

Harry looked around for an alternative option but saw nothing.

“I hate my life.” Harry said before tugging his shoes and robe off and leaping into the dark water.

For a moment the water closed over his head and he breathed in a mouthful of water in shock and terror but he bobbed to the surface and coughed it up before striking out for the stricken figure on the far bank. He had to go a little way out from the bank to avoid the edge of the ward but then he could come back in and eventually dragged himself up onto the far bank.

“I am never doing that again.” Harry breathed as he staggered towards the girl. “No more lakes.”

As he neared the girl the half of her that had been hidden in the bushes came into view and he stopped in shock. She wasn’t a girl at all, she was a centaur. And she had a massive bite on her side, red and scabbed. Harry moved forward and dragged her face out of the water.

“Girl?” Harry slapped her face and tried to listen for breathing. She was still warm. “Wake up!”

Suddenly the centaurs eyes shot open and she coughed up a slew of lake water into Harry’s lap.

“You alright? Hey?”

“Of course, I am alright.” The girls voice was weak but she seemed to be working her legs as if trying to get up. “We are not fragile like humans.”

“Not fragile eh? Looks like someone managed to break you a little.” Harry said, glancing back at the wound.

“Werewolf.” Harry stiffened but the centaur-girl laughed. “It will be gone now.” She pointed at the slightly waning moon in the sky. “This bite is days old. I was just disoriented and I wandered away from my herd.”

“Will you… I mean are you…”

“Infected?” She used the word like a slur. “Of course not. Lycanthropy is a human illness.”

“Shall I get Dumbledore? Or Hagrid?”

“Unnecessary.” She waved a human arm and finally managed to get up on her hooves. “My herd are nearby, I can smell them.”

“You got disoriented before.” Harry followed her as she began to limp off into the forest.

“The bite was infected. It has healed now.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to Hogwarts instead?” Harry pointed back at the castle being rapidly obscured by trees. “It‘s right there.”

“I do not need Humans.”

“Sure.” Harry said mockingly “Because you were picking yourself out of the water just fine by yourself.”

“Shut up foal.”

Harry frowned but followed the lame centaur deeper into the forest. After half an hour or so Harry heard something huge approaching and tensed. But then relaxed as three centaurs emerged from the undergrowth.

“Lachesis!” One of them cried and ran forward to embrace the little centaur. “You are safe.”

“Of course father.” The girl replied irritated and pushed him away.

“We‘ll this worked out fine. I‘ll just be…” But Harry trailed off as the elder centaurs turned to him.

“You!” The largest centaur spat and Harry suddenly found two arrowheads pointed at his neck. “Abomination!”

“Bane, we need to kill him now!” The third centaur said shock and fear dripping from his voice. Lachesis and her father were standing off to one side. “We cannot risk him living.”

“I thought we did not harm foals.” The father moved in closer and reached out for the leaders shoulder.

“He is an exception.” The third spoke. “Do you knot know how aberrant he is? How dangerous?”

“Um…” Harry’s head just kept flicking from side to side, trying to follow the conversation. Running was impossible, he was in their forest. “Is this about the torrent…” But Lachesis interrupted him.

“He saved my life father. The herd has life debt to him.” They did? First Harry had heard of it. The leading centaur had still not spoken but grimaced and lowered his bow.

“For the debt the young one bears you…” He began, his voice deep and malevolent. “… you live today. But heed me foal, if we find you in our forest again not even Lachesis will hesitate to kill you.” Harry looked at the young centaur and saw her give a confirming nod.

“Understood. But the thing is I don‘t know if I can find my way back.” Harry glanced apologetically over his shoulder.

“Damwain, show him to Hogwarts.” Bane was already turning and moving off through the undergrowth. Harry was relieved to see that Damwain was Lachesis’ father and not the third centaur who had been so intent on killing him. Damwain set off the way Harry had come and Harry had to trot to keep up. After a while the silence began to grate on Harry and he decided to break it.

“Why did the other centaurs want to kill me?” Harry asked as he stumbled over a root.

“Not other.” The centaur said curtly.

“What?”

“Not other centaurs. I also want to kill you, but I will keep to the laws of our kind that prohibit harming the young and I acknowledge my daughters debt to you.”

“But why? What have I done to so royally piss off the entire centaur nation?”

“You have done nothing. You merely are.” Damwain shook his head. “As you heard before. You are aberrant.”

“It this about the torrent of ages?” Harry guessed. The centaur looked up and the stars and sighed.

“The torrent? It is at the centre of it.” The centaur lapsed into silence again but didn’t seem angry or anything. Harry decided it was probably alright to ask another question.

“Does the torrent have anything to do with why the werewolves are gathering?”

“What possible connection could there be between those things?” The centaur scoffed. “No the werewolves gather for an altogether different reason.”

“Which is…?”

“Their leader had come.” Damwain sounded angry now. “A man almost as much an abomination as you. He has gathered them here. He seems to think he has some way to enter Hogwarts.”

“Does he?” Harry asked.

“I seriously doubt it.” Damwain scoffed. “The Hogwarts wards have stood against the greatest minds in generations. They will not fall to something little more than an animal.” Damwain fell silent then came to a halt. He turned to Harry and said…

“Leave now.” Harry started, then realized that he could see the castle through the trees. They had returned by a much more direct rout than he had left. “Take Bane‘s warning seriously, to be caught in the forest again means death for you.” And with that the centaur turned and galloped off into the wood.

“Do you think I want to keep visiting the bloody forbidden forest!” Harry yelled after him.
*


“A leader?” Padma leant over the marauders table and spoke just above a whisper.

“That’s what he said. Course he also said I was an abomination.”

“A man who knows what he‘s taking about.”

Harry stuck his tongue out at her.

“Oh be serious!” Hermione chided them. “This is important.”

“You’re telling me. The centaurs want to kill Harry!” Ron said, aghast.

“I meant about the werewolves!”

“But the wards keep them out.” Ron narrowed his eyes. Harry groaned, an argument was about to start. “I think a whole species who want to fill Harry with arrows is more important.”

“Then Harry just doesn’t go into the forest. Which he shouldn‘t be anyway.” Hermione gave Harry a piercing stare.

“If he hadn‘t we wouldn’t know about the centaurs or your precious werewolves.” Ron crossed his arms triumphantly.

“That doesn‘t make it a good thing! We should…” Hermione continued talking as Harry gently stood a large book up on its edge between the arguing pair and the rest of the marauders. The argument safely contained Harry turned and asked…

“Any comments from the non-old-married-couple section of the table?” The marauders grinned (except for Parvati who was moping a little. She hadn’t liked having her illusions about centaurs shattered.)

“I actually agree with Ron.” Neville said quietly and hesitantly, as if waiting to be shot down.

“So do I.” Padma nodded. “There has to be a reason the centaurs want you dead.” Harry was forced to nod, he had never actually told the marauders about the time jumps.

“Well I agree it’s a puzzle.” Harry said shaking his head. “But I‘m really not going to be visiting the forest anytime soon so I think its probably not a problem. Or at least not a pressing one…” Pythea still hadn’t written back. Had Digger got into some sort of trouble? “… so I think we need to focus on the werewolves.”

Reluctantly the marauders nodded.

“Damwain said their leader had come. Which means he arrived some time in the summer Holliday. I doubt he caught the knight bus so how did he get here? And why?”

“Oh!” A noise came from beyond the book barrier and a moment later Hermione pushed it down. “Maybe he did.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” Hermione began fidgeting nervously. “… what if there was a werewolf in Hogwarts castle.”

“Wards would stop it getting in.” Ron said dismissively.

“But if it was already inside the wards.”

“Hermione…” Harry clicked irritably. “… get to the point.” Hermione seemed flustered for a moment. Ron glared at him.

“I think that Professor Lupin is a werewolf.”

The table went silent in shock. Then…

“Of course! It all fits, he‘s ‘sick’ during full moon. His bogart is the full moon! It all fits!” Parvati snapped her fingers.

“I wonder if Dumbledore knows.” Neville said.

“He must not or Lupin wouldn‘t be here.”

“I can’t believe Dumbledore wouldn‘t know.” Neville shook his head. “If we could work it out Dumbledore could.”

“Professor Snape knows.” Hermione added. “He must do, that’s why tried to teach us about werewolves. So we‘d work it out.”

“Do you think he‘s gathered the werewolves.” Parvati said in a hushed tone.

“it’s the right timeframe but…” Hermione began but Harry cut her off.

“No.” The others stared at him. “No no no no no. We’re not doing this.” Harry stated flatly. The marauders stared at him.

“Doing what Harry?” Ron asked.

“I have had enough déjà vu this year without intentionally repeating last year. We. Will. Not. Jump. To. Conclusions.” Harry punctuated each word by poking the table hard. “Last year we went off all righteous against Professor Michelson and we turned out to be dead wrong. We won’t do that again.”

“Harry…” Ron said as if explaining something to a child. “We have a werewolf, we have a gathering of werewolves. That’s not jumping to conclusions that’s putting two and two together.”

“You all think its Lupin.” Harry said it flatly. Most of the marauders seemed unclear as to whether it was a question or not. Ron nodded quickly, Parvati as well. Neville seemed to be trying to avoid being looked at but shook his head, Padma smiled at him and also said no. Harry turned to Hermione. “Two votes yes, two votes no. Ginny‘s at practice and Myrtle‘s not here. You‘re the last un-voted marauder.”

“I…I don’t know Harry.” Hermione faltered. “I don’t really know.”

“No?” Harry stood up suddenly. “Lets ask him.”

“WHAT!” But Harry was already making for the portrait hole.
*


“Professor Lupin listen…” Harry pushed open the door to the teachers office without knocking and began talking as soon as he was over the threshold. “…we know you’re a werewolf.” Lupin went from angry to gob-smacked in a fraction of a second. His mouth began working but no sound came out.

“Actually we didn‘t know for sure…” Harry conceded. “… but I think you just confirmed it for us. Thanks!” By then the rest of the marauders had caught up and were standing in the doorway, speechless.

“So we know you‘re a werewolf, we know the forest currently has a werewolf problem. Naturally certain questions have arisen from this state of affairs namely ‘Are you in any way involved?’. I personally think the answer is no, certain of my friends are not so sure and it would be remiss of me to dismiss their suspicions as they are, after all, not unfounded.” Harry said all this in one breath then stood waiting for an answer. A polite cough made him turn around. Professor Dumbledore was sitting at a table behind him. He did not look pleased.

“You‘re obviously busy I‘ll come back later.” Harry hadn’t moved a single step before the door slammed shut. “Or not.”

“Harry, I am glad you came here.” Professor Dumbledore spoke softly. “It has saved us the trouble of fetching you. Can you please explain why you left the school grounds last night?”

Damn.

“Um… There was a centaur hurt, at the side of the lake. I went to see if I could help. She was face down in the water.” Harry was quick to add. “If I had gone to fetch someone she could have died in the mean time. Ask Damwain, or… or Bane. They were there.” Harry had though centaur-name dropping might lend credibility to his story. In fact neither Dumbledore nor Lupin reacted to his statement.

Suddenly the room darkened, the light from the windows fading into night. Harry quickly checked his chest, the wound was there. Harry looked up too see that Dumbledore and Lupin were still in the room, this time sitting in two comfortable chairs.

“It‘s just…” Lupin began, his voice catching. “… he looks so like him.”

“I know Remus, I know.” Dumbledore was holding a mug of something steaming. It had a marshmallow floating in it. “Have you been watching him?” Dumbledore gestured to a raged piece of paper on the table between them. From where Harry stood he could just about make out the outline of Hogwarts but didn’t want to get closer for fear of being seen.

“Yes. I have.” Was all Lupin said before the room lit back again and Harry was forced to try and remember what had been said just before he left.

“So you see, I kind of had to leave the grounds.” Harry finished lamely. Both professors looked unconvinced. Harry sighed, “Can you at least tell me whether you knew professor Lupin was a werewolf before you punish me?”

“I was aware. It is under control.” Was all Dumbledore said on the matter. “And as for punishment…”
*


“The whole castle!?” Ron squeaked.

“Every square inch of corridor.” Harry repeated to the dumfounded marauder. “With this.” He held up a small hand brush.

“That’s harsh. Especially for Dumbledore.” Ron said shaking his head.

“I have a feeling that they‘re using this one thing they can prove as an excuse to punish me for all the things they can’t.” Harry shrugged, unconcerned. “It won‘t take that long.”

“You‘re taking this awfully calm.” Ron’s brow furrowed. Harry laughed.

“Of all the things currently happening Ron this is the least of them.”

“Oh!” Ron said as if he’d suddenly remembered something. “Myrtle found you a good apple tree. Just left of the gate to Hogsmead.”

“I‘m could marry that ghost!”

Harry went out that day and acquired a massive green apple from the tree. Returning to Gryffindor tower in a rush he set up the diviners broth and dropped first the locket then the apple into it.

“Come on, come on.” Harry urged, looking at the clock. When the needed five minutes were up he fished both items out of the broth and reached for a silver knife. He had to be careful now, a mistake would mean he had to start all over. Slowly, carefully he peeled it in a single long coil that ended up all over the table. He’d cut quite deep so the peel wouldn’t break and now wondered if that was a problem.

“Only one way to find out.” Harry moved so that the table was behind him and threw the peel over his left shoulder. Turning he saw the peel snaking around violently, kinking and twisting as it formed recognizable letters. A long password for an apple peel, it had had to stretch and still only just managed it.

Harry picked up the locket and, with some trepidation, spoke the password. The locket fell open in his hand and he held it up to his eye to get a better look at what was inside. And snapped it shut, dropped it back into the box, locked the box with the strongest charm his suddenly beleaguered mind could come up with, slid the box into his bag, grabbed the peel, tore it up so no one else could read the password then, to be sure, threw the peel in the fire and then sat down.

“I hate mysteries.” Was all he said.
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Ooooo... Mysterious! Please review.

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Disclaimer... blah blah blah...
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“That was amazing!” Ron was yelling as they walked back from the lakeside Quidditch pitch. “She didn’t even let Cedric get close.”

Harry rolled his eyes, Ron would be talking about this all week. The Chimera’s performance had been impressive though, he had to concede. Ginny had slipped past Cedric Diggory, using her brooms improved manageability to body-swerve him, and had left him floundering in the centre of the pitch while she snagged the snitch.

“I mean really amazing.” Ron continued, caught in reminiscence.

“I‘m just glad its over.” Harry sighed and put his hands behind his head. “It means we can move on with the plan.”

“You think it‘ll work Harry?” Padma asked, frowning. “I mean all it takes is for one of them to…”

“It‘ll work.” Harry grinned. “Trust me.”

“Why does that fail to fill me with confidence.”

“Because you‘re a sourpuss.” Harry tutted at her in mock anger then turned to her sister. “You sure about your info.”

“You know me Harry.” Parvati said happily. “It it‘s gossip I know it.”

“Awesome.” Harry grinned and peeled away from the other marauders. “I‘ll go find us our helper.”
*


“Pathetic Potter. Absolutely Pathetic.”

Harry leaned over and looked at the congealed mess at the bottom of his cauldron.

“Oh I don’t know.” He said. “It‘s definitely not a sleeping potion, but it could make a serviceable bathroom grout.”

“Twenty points from Gryffindor for your insolence Potter and ten more for the potion. Honestly potter, having you in this classroom is nothing more than a waste of time and potion ingredients.”

“Just because I can‘t brew a sleeping potion…”

“WE WERE NOT MAKING A SLEEPING POTION!”

“Oh…” Harry flipped to the next page of his book, then back to the one he had been looking at before. “So I wasn‘t meant to add cedar sawdust?” Snape’s rage was actually making him vibrate as he stood in front of Harry’s desk. “How about the sheep‘s liver, was I meant to add that?”

“Potter I seriously doubt a single correct ingredient went into this… this… travesty.” Snape stalked away as Harry moved to clear up his desk. Then he had a thought…

“Water!” He said at the retreating potion masters back. “That must have been a correct ingredient, that’s in every potion!”

Snape turned around, his gaze screamed bloody murder.

“Potter.” The professor growled, grinding his teeth together. “Detention.”

Harry sighed theatrically then stiffened as he felt another painful stab at the back of his brain. He tore his eyes away quickly and mumbled.

“Yes sir.” Snape turned away.

“Occlumency still not working Harry?” Parvati was leaning over her own desk to whisper in his ear.

“I think I was better at it before I started trying.” Harry lowered his head onto his arms dejectedly. He honestly wasn’t that bothered about Occlumency any more but it had reminded him of something else. Pythea still hadn’t wrote back.
*


The day of the Gryffindor Ravenclaw game dawned mucky and wet. A steady downpour that patterned great dark stains across the castles walls and made it look like it was crying.

Harry was a screaming ball of nerves as he sat with the other marauders near the top of the Gryffindor stand. Anything could go wrong, absolutely anything, but that was normal. What was making him so insane was that there was now nothing he could do about it. The metaphorical arrow had left the bow, it would either hit or it wouldn’t, there was nothing he could do.

“Will the rain screw up the plan?” Neville was muttering beside him. “Will the wet? Will…”

“No.” Harry snapped irritable. “It‘ll all be fine.”

“How can you say that?”

Because I’m living in denial? Because I don’t want to disappoint anyone? Because I’m delusional? Because if I actually admitted that there’s a very good chance this could go fantastically pear shaped on us I might just start crying?

“I just have this feeling.” Harry said and tried to grin. “Trust me.”

“Stop saying that.” Padma was grinding her teeth together . “It doesn‘t help.”

“Shh! Here they come.”

“WOOD! JOHNSON! BELL! SPINNET! WEASLEY, WEASLEY AND WEASLEY!”

The team swept onto the pitch, their robes quickly becoming spattered and sodden.

“Here we go.” Thought Harry as he tugged his coat closer around him.

“How much do we need to win by?” Harry heard a voice say below him and looked down. On the row beneath him Colin Creevey was leaning over to talk to Luna Lovegood. “The snitch is worth one hundred and fifty so…”

“We have to have at least twelve goals when Ginny catches the snitch or we lose to Slytherin.” The second year said dreamily. “Ravenclaw have to have thirty seven goals before they catch it. Its as plain as frackswhiskers.”

Harry smiled, how wrong she was.
*


“Another goal for Ravenclaw!” Ginny saw the blue section of the stands erupt in cheers beneath her.

“Sorry Angelina! I was aiming for Hunt!” She heard Fred yell their team-mate shoved two fingers up at him.

“Gryffindor now ahead by just four goals!” Yelled Lee Jordan. “Wake up twins! What are you doing out there!”

Ginny shook her head. Gryffindor had had a comfortable six goal lead but now they were down to just four. And they still didn’t have enough to beat Slytherin. She could see Cho out of the corner of her eye, shadowing her. She liked to do that, Oliver had told her, it was her favorite tactic.

Ginny scanned the crowds through the rain, searching for any hovering glint of gold. The snitch had to come out sometime, not that it would do either team any good. Gryffindor needed another goal and Ravenclaw needed twenty or something. She craned her neck around and saw it. Fluttering behind her, nearer to Cho than to her. Trying not to make it obvious Ginny turned away from the snitch. But Cho must have sensed something was wrong and a moment later had spotted it herself. The older seeker tore after it and Ginny was forced to tail her, cursing.

Ginny tried to get between Cho and the snitch to stop the older seeker. Ginny knew she couldn’t catch it yet, they’d win the match but lose the cup. But Cho wasn’t letting her in, they were shoulder to shoulder with the snitch tantalizingly close in front of them. Cho reached out and Ginny knocked her hand away. So close, Gryffindor just needed one more goal. Cho was reaching again and Ginny shoulder barged her to make her miss. Ginny tried to pull ahead but whatever she did Cho seemed to be able to match her. However hard she pushed Cho seemed to be able to stay just a little bit ahead of her. It was just a matter of time, she couldn’t keep the Ravenclaw off forever. Cho was reaching out again…

“Sorry Oliver.” She thought, and grabbed the snitch. A cheer went up around the lakeside stadium.

“I had to.” She said as she hovered down by her team-mates. “Cho was going to get it. I thought it was better to at least win the match.”

“I know Ginny.” Oliver Wood looked resigned. “I don‘t blame you.”

“Cheer up Olli!” Fred floated past, strangely jubilant.

“Yeah, we didn’t lose to Slytherin. We were only one goal shy, we drew.” George flew around the other side.

“What does that mean?” Ginny frowned. But it was as if a light had just gotten switched on in Oliver Woods head. “What happens when we draw?”

“Hasn‘t happened in over two hundred years.” Fred had his arm on one of her shoulders now and was smiling down at her. “The rule‘s so old they never bothered to repeal it.” His twin came up, placed his arm on her other shoulder and said….

“It‘s decided, once and for all, by a seekers duel.”

Ginny’s eyes went wide and she looked over at the Slytherin stands and caught a cold grey gaze staring back at her. It could have been her imagination but she could have sworn she saw Malfoy mouth the word ‘rematch’.

“Do you know how the Duel works Ginny?” Oliver wood sounded like he could barely keep the joy from his voice.

“We both go for the snitch?” She guessed.

“Not quite, the rules are different than in general play. Specifically the rules for fouls.”

“No magic and no interfering with the other seekers broom.” Angelina said, off to one side. “Everything else is on the table. He could really hurt you up there Gin.”

“Ginny…” Oliver Wood was talking again. “I didn‘t want to ask this of you, but this is my last chance at the Quidditch cup. My very last chance, so catch the snitch or die trying.”

Ginny’s eyes went wide with fear.
*


“Are both seekers ready?” Madam Hooch asked, looking between them. Ginny took her broom from Harry and nodded, he‘d been giving it a last minute look-over before the duel. Malfoy just scoffed. “Very well then.” She opened the box that contained the snitch and held it in her hands. Ginny looked over to see the almost feral look in Malfoy’s eyes.

“On, your marks.”

He’ll kill me…

“Ready…”

Oh god…

“Set…”

I’m going to die!

GO!” She tossed the snitch straight up and the seekers shot after it.

Ginny felt fingers curl into her hair and try and yank her backwards, she kicked out savagely and managed to pull away. The snitch was still shooting upwards and the seekers followed it. Malfoy was scratching and punching at her and she responded by elbowing him in the kidneys. Having six brothers gives you a lot of training in brawling. Malfoy jerked instinctively and Ginny swerved in front of him.

She had to stay ahead, with the firebolt’s power she knew that if she let him get in front she’d never be able to catch up. He swerved left, she blocked him. He swerved right, she twitched in front again and heard him cry out in frustration.

“You shot yourself in the foot Malfoy.” She thought triumphantly. “You can‘t handle that broom at these speeds.”

Once more he tried to pass her and she used The Chimera’s hair-trigger turning power to cut him off again.

“Good girl.” She urged the broom on. The snitch was tantalizingly close. “Just a little more.” But she felt something brush her leg. Malfoy had managed to sneak to her side! In another second he would be in front of her!

With the prospect of losing the cup filling her mind she did the only thing she could think of. She pulled back her leg and aimed with her heel. She just had time to register the shock hit Malfoy’s face.

“Payback snake-boy!” She thought as she slammed her foot into his face as hard as she could. She saw a spurt of blood that was quickly lost in the wind and rain then Malfoy peeled off and spiraled away, holding his face in both hands. “Yes!”

She looked back up and caught sight of the golden ball. Straining up she reached…
*


“YES!” The Gryffindor stand erupted in cheers. Harry even leapt to his feet and yelled himself horse. Not so much for the cup, but for the fact that everything had gone perfectly. Harry and the marauders rushed down the stands and reached the pebbled beach just as the Gryffindor team was landing. Oliver Wood was floating down with his arms wrapped around Ginny whispering…

“Thank you, thank you.” And the rest of the team were clustered around them.

“Se ‘oke ’I nose!” Malfoy was floating down nearby, holding a hand to his face to stem the flow of blood.

“Perfectly legal in a seekers duel Malfoy.” Fred said airily.

Harry just stood their laughing as the Quidditch cup was brought out.
*


Damn.

Professor Snape clenched his hands into fists and he saw the cup being brought out. And Slytherin had been on such a winning streak. He had got so used to the cup being in his office that he even had a little shelf in his cabinet for it.

To have come down to an exact draw, of all the abysmal luck. Then being forced to rely on a seeker that had bribed his way onto the team. The little slip of a Weasley girl had humiliated him. And he could not even blame this loss on Potter (he refused to believe the ridiculous rumor that Potter had made the girls broom).

Then why was Potter looking so triumphant? Snape recognised that expression, he had come to hate that expression all seven years of his time at Hogwarts. The Potter boy caught his eye and shifted to a mysterious grin, then nodded towards the scoreboard. Snapes eyes followed.

What were the chances that it would come to an exact draw? Snape felt a horrible certainty rise inside him. And the Weasley twins who, for all their ineptitude in the classroom, were not bad beaters. But they had performed horribly in that match, hitting or just missing their own team-mates. Stopping Gryffindor from getting that last goal. The Chang girl, missing the snitch three times? Even for a Ravenclaw that was unlikely. Even the last game with Hufflepuff. Cedric Diggory had shown no guile, he had practically shown Malfoy where the snitch was. Of course he had, Snape realised, if the game had gone on too long and Slytherin had won by too much Gryffindor could not have been able to equalize.

Snape’s eyes were once again drawn to the Potter boys green ones.

Legilimens

He cast non-verbally and after a moments resistance a memory floated to the surface…
*


“You know me Harry.” Parvati said happily. “It it‘s gossip I know it.”

“Awesome.” Harry grinned and peeled away from the other marauders. “I‘ll go find us our helper.”

Harry wandered up into the castle. If he was right about her schedule she should be right… Ah!

“Cho! Cho wait up.” Harry trotted up to the older girl, who had just left Charms class. “Been looking for you.”

“Me?” She turned, looking curious. “Why? It can’t be to ask me to Hogsmeade, I know you’re not allowed to go.”

“As if that could stop me.” Harry rolled his eyes. “No, what I was going to say was that I kind of need a favor.”

“What kind of favor?”

“A big one. Listen I‘ve never cashed in on the whole saved-everyone-from-Voldemort-before-I-knew-how-to-walk-and-then-twice-again-in-the-last-two-years thing but I really need your help.” Harry motioned Cho into the now empty classroom and closed the door. “Firstly we need to get some things clear. You can‘t win the Quidditch cup, can you?”

Cho stared at him indignantly.

“I’m just saying you have to win with how many goals? Thirty-four or something?” He knew it was exactly thirty four but he wasn’t gonna say that.

Cho held out a moment longer, then her shoulders slumped.

“You're right, it‘s not going to happen is it. It‘s your fault you know.” Cho pointed at him. “When Ginny broke her broom and didn’t get a new one straight away I thought we were in with a chance.”

“I know.” Harry nodded, not believing his luck that Cho had brought this up of her own accord. “Horrible business that wasn‘t it?”

“Malfoy should be hogtied!” Cho said hotly. “It was disgusting what he did!”

“God I must be the luckiest man on the planet.” Harry thought, then continued out loud. “I agree. And that’s kind of what this is about.”

“How?”

“I want to make it so that Ginny can humiliate him in front of the entire school. Not the whole team, just him. One on one.”

“Harry the teachers won‘t allow a challenge game like that.” Cho shook her head. “And even if they do no-one will come to watch.”

“Not if it happens at a match.” Harry smiled. “There‘s an old rule that says that if two houses tie for the cup the result is decided by a seekers duel.”

“But Harry there‘s no way you can make sure the games will come down that way.”

“I can‘t.” Harry held out a hand to her. “You can.”

“No!” Cho’s eyes suddenly narrowed with understanding. “I won‘t do that! Even for you Harry.”

“You said yourself Ravenclaw can‘t win the cup.” Harry pleaded.

“But we can still put in a good showing.” Cho said primly. “I won‘t throw the match. I’m surprised at you Harry.” She added. “I didn‘t think you wanted the cup this badly.”

“The cup? I don’t give a monkey’s about the cup!” Harry shook his head. “If I did don’t you think I would be telling you to throw the game totally instead of just letting us draw? This is about what Malfoy did to my friend, your friend too after last year, and letting her get even.”

“Ginny doesn‘t know about this does she.” Cho said as if suddenly realizing.

“No. She‘s going to beat Malfoy on her own.”

“I‘m not even sure I can force Ginny to catch the snitch.” Cho said, biting her lip. “She might just pull in front of me until Gryffindor have the goals they need.”

“Two points. One: Fred and George will be stopping Gryffindor from getting that last goal. Two: I built The Chimera especial for this.” Harry grinned evilly. “There’s a little surprise on there that I‘ll remove before the duel. Trust me, she can’t pass you.”

“She did OK in the Hufflepuff game.”

“I removed it for that too.”

“I still don’t know…”

“Well…” Now this is where the little known benefit of having gossip-queen Parvati as a marauder comes in. “… I‘ve already got Cedric Diggory on my side. You know him, right?” Cho’s eyes widened a little and she nodded.

“Well, he‘s agreed to help me. Little thank you for the whole snake-army incident in the cellar last year.” Harry smiled knowingly at the older girl. “If you did want to help us then we should probably arrange for you to meet up with him. Discuss… strategy… and stuff.”

“You‘re a bad person Harry Potter.” Cho shook her head, but she was smiling.

“I know.”
*


Snape tore his eyes away. He could feel the rage bubbling up in his bloodstream.

“You!” He pointed at the boy.

“Me?” Potter put his hand to his chest in feigned innocence.

“You… you… you…”

“Me, me, me!” Potter was grinning in his insufferable way. By Merlin he was exactly like James Potter!

“You will not get away with this!”

“With what pray tell?”

“You know exactly what” Snape strode forward and grasped the front of the boys robes in his fist. “You will not get away with this!”

“Really? And you can prove it how?” Potter smiled and knocked away his hand. “Bearing in mind that Legilimency on students is illegal.”

Oh the Potter boy thought he was smart did he.

“Well Potter perhaps you are correct.” Snape’s anger changed from a raging inferno to an icy, vengeful ache. “But I am still your teacher and I can make your four more years here a living hell.”

“Was that an invitation to take your NEWT class Professor?”

“Potter…” Snape released him and turned away. “… you will regret this. Mark my words, you will regret this.”
*


Harry gulped as the potions master strode away. Perhaps he’d overdone things this time. Harry glanced over at the still celebrating team. No, it was worth it. Whatever Snape did couldn’t be that bad could it?
*


“Do you call this a silencing draught Potter!?”

“I…”

“I DO NOT CALL THIS A SILENCING DRAUGHT!”

“Maybe that’s because you‘re yelling.” Harry said through clenched teeth.

“This is a despicable mess Potter!”

“It‘s only barely started, I haven’t even added…”

“And you won‘t! I will not have any more wasted ingredients!” Snape vanished the contents of Harry’s cauldron. “You will be doing lines for the rest of this lesson James Potter. You will write ‘I will not be an incompetent, pathetic, halfwit and a pariah on this school.’ in the hope that perhaps the suggestion will sink in.”

“My name is Harry.” Harry muttered under his breath but Snape didn’t seem to hear him as he strode away.

Harry motioned to Padma who held out her arm without speaking. Harry groaned, they had barely had fifteen minutes of a two hour lesson. Harry pulled out a quill and a sheet of parchment.

Snape had been making good on his ‘living hell’ promise since the match but Harry was beginning to think that the potions master had more deep seated issues than a simple game of quidditch. The fact that he kept calling him James was a definite clue. Snape seemed to be taking out thirteen years of pent-up, un-sated rage on Harry.

“Thanks dad.” Harry thought sarcastically as he dragged the quill across another line. “Thanks a lot.”

“What are these Potter.” Oh no. He’s back.

“Lines Sir.” Harry had been trying to keep his cool in Snape’s classes. With spotted success.

“These chicken scratchings? This scrawl?!”

“Would you like me to redo them Sir?” Harry had to jump back as his parchment caught on fire and burnt away before his eyes.

“Please.” Snape blew the parchment ashes into Harry’s face before stalking off across the dungeon.

Harry got another piece of parchment out and got to writing.

“How long are you going to put up with this Harry?” Hermione asked him after the lesson. “This is beyond unfair, you should go to McGonagall. Or Dumbledore.”

“And they‘ll ask what I did to get him so angry in the first place.” Harry shifted his bag higher on his shoulder. “And that will lead to unfortunate questions.”

“He‘s right Hermione.” Ron said from the other side, then added to Harry. “Don‘t worry mate, you can drop his class after OWLs.”

“That’s not the right attitude.” Hermione said shrilly. “Harry needs to learn at least basic knowledge of potions to function in wizard society and Professor Snape is stopping him from even participating. You‘ll have to study really hard if you want to pass the end of year exams at this rate.”

“I‘m beginning to think I won‘t be alive that long.” Harry joked.

The marauders laughed but Harry stiffened as he realized the truth in his words. He still had the torrent of ages hanging like a guillotine above him. He hadn’t had any major time jumps lately, just a few minutes here and there. For the love of Merlin why hadn’t Pythea written back?

As if his thought itself had been a spell Digger dropped out of the afternoon sky clutching a letter in his claws. Harry grabbed it and hastily made an excuse to the startled marauders before slipping out onto the grass outside Hogwarts. Harry sent Digger back to the owlery, promising him treats later to thank him for the long trip. His hands shaking, Harry tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

Dear Harry

It is so good to hear from you. I am glad you have taken up my suggestion to learn Occlumency, you will find it a useful skill I assure you. I can easily imagine you with a guitar, wandering Hogwarts or sitting in your common room entertaining the other students with songs and tales. You are good at spinning a good tale you know, I can tell from your letters.

Harry almost scrunched the letter in frustration. Usually he enjoyed letters from the little seer but wasn’t it about time she got to the point?

I learnt to play the harp as part of my apprenticeship here…

Harry quickly looked ahead through the letter, scanning down and down. There was no mention of the torrent or time travel anywhere. Harry fell to the floor in despair, had she simply abandoned him to his fate? She had been his last hope. Pythea’s letter ended without so much as a hint that his own letter had contained the threat of his inevitable death.

I hope it the weather is a pleasant where you are as it is here.

Your Friend
Pythea

Friend? Ha! That was a joke.

“Harry?” Harry looked back towards the castle. Neville had come after him and was not standing just a few feet away. “Are you feeling ok?”

“Yes Neville I‘m fine.” Harry said quietly, but he could feel the lump in his throat and the tears beginning to form in his eyes. Neville’s eyes flickered to the letter still clutched in Harry’s hand but he scrunched it up and stuffed it in his pocket.

“Well defense class is starting now.” Neville pointed back towards the castle. “You sure you‘re alright Harry?”

“No.” Harry pushed himself up and trudged towards the castle. “To be honest I‘m feeling a little… abandoned. Betrayed.” Neville fell into step beside him.

“Anything you want to talk about?”

“Not now. Maybe when it‘s a little less fresh.” Harry pushed open the door to the defense classroom. At least he could be assured of a quiet lesson, Professor Lupin tended to ignore him in classes.

“Well Potter, I see you decided to grace us with your presence.”

Standing arrogantly at the front of the class was Professor Snape. Harry felt like a block of ice was settling into his chest as he sat down in his usual chair, he couldn’t take this right now.
*


Harry tried to hide behind his book as Snape stalked around the class. He could still feel the ice in his chest and the lump in his throat, if Snape provoked him he would never be able to hold back.

“Potter…”

No.

“…Is this your essay?”

Please no.

“Yes Sir.” Harry managed to say while breathing deeply to keep himself under control.

“It displays no insight into the subject…”

Fine, I had no insight.

“…for most of the essay you seem to get Kappas and Grindylows mixed up…”

Did I? Who the hell cares.

“…certain passages were clearly lifted from a textbook…”

They weren’t, they were lifted from Hermione’s essay.

“…and you could not have mangled the spelling and grammatical rules of the English language more if you had tried. All in all…” Snape slapped the essay onto the desk beside Harry angrily. “… a true T if I ever saw one.”

“I‘m glad you made that assessment Sir.” Harry kept his eyes down on the book in front of him. “It‘s the same one as Professor Lupin made.”

“But of course hero Potter doesn‘t need to learn defense against the dark arts.” Snape scowled down at Harry. “You don’t need to learn how to duel someone properly if you and your three little friends sneak up behind them and attack from ambush like cowards.”

I have more than three friends.

“You are arrogant Potter.” Snape continued. “A trait shared by all Potters apparently.”

Oh, so now you’ve remembered who I am.

“You are nothing but a mediocre wizard at best and a worst you are a disgrace and yet you are under the impression you are untouchable. How I wish this class gave me the opportunity to show you precisely how amateurish you truly are.”

“Alright.” Harry set his quill down.

“What?”

The whole class was watching by now.

“I said alright. Show me.” Harry didn’t meet Snape’s eyes but moved out to the front of the class.
*


“Come on Professor.” The Potter boy was just standing there holding his wand and looking at his shoes. “Show me.”

The class was deathly quiet. Not a student dared move or speak. Out of the corner of his eye Snape could see Potter’s little friends, wide eyed and frightened, in their seats.

“Are you serious Potter?” Snape asked.

“Yes.” Was all the boy said.

“You will lose.”

“Try me.”

“You do not have a chance.”

“Try me.” Was all the Potter boy said again but he mouthed under his breath ‘coward’.

Snape felt the anger that was his constant companion rising again as he moved to take a position opposite Potter.

“Mr Hopkins you will count us in.” Snape gripped his wand. He would end this with one spell. The Potter boy was still looking at the floor.

“Um… Three.” The nervous Hufflepuff boy Wayne Hopkins began to count.

Potter was not even in a dueling stance. Pathetic.

“Two…”

Potter looked up suddenly, his eyes meeting Snape’s.

“One…”

A memory floating to the surface, Potter in the Gryffindor common room holding a shining object. Lily’s pendent! He would know that little slip of silver anywhere. Potter bending over the pendent in his hands and whispering something. The pendent splitting open. Looking inside, a picture. Lily Evens bundled up against the snow for a Hogsmeade weekend, the snow even still falling in the picture, and holding her by her shoulders keeping her warm… his own face… himself… that picture had been taken in fourth year.

She had worn it around her neck the whole time. Even after she had married, she had worn it the whole time.

“Duel!”

“Expelliarmus!”
________________________________________


Review please.

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The gerbils made me do it.
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Snape’s wand clattered to the floor but the teacher didn’t seem to have noticed. Harry watched as the potions master fell to his knees on the floor, head bowed, his face hidden by his lank greasy hair.

Harry watched, waiting for the explosion, but none came. Harry, with much trepidation, knelt down and tried to look at the teachers face. Which was why he was the only one in the class to notice the te