Chapter Text
Blinding light was the only thing that filled Harry’s vision when he came to his senses. He moved to remove his glasses so he could rub his eyes but discovered they weren’t resting on his face as they usually were. Gradually, shapes began to form. Arches, signs, benches and a railway track. Harry had been here many times before, but it was never this clean, this pure. King’s Cross Station was empty, was this what death felt like? Standing in a place which was both familiar but devoid of anyone or anything that would provide the subject with any sense of comfort.
A noise behind him made Harry realise he could move and he turned towards the sound. What he saw stood out against their surroundings but still made perfect sense. It looked like a pale white newborn covered in blood. He recognised it of course. Voldemort’s homunculus. The horcrux. It appeared like it was struggling to breath. Panting and gasping, groaning and gurgling. Harry stepped towards it upon which it noticed him. Its beady red eyes which belonged to no child looked at him with immeasurable hate and disgust. He stared it down in equal fashion. He couldn’t determine how long had passed before the abomination went still after a final laboured breath. Its body broke down into dust which was picked up by a sudden breeze and carried away from Harry into the aether.
He was finally free.
Turning back towards the edge of the platform he was startled to see a very familiar locomotive had taken its place on the tracks with its bright ruby paint, powerful engine and piercing whistle. It seemed to draw him but Harry could stand and stare.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it, I remember the first time I saw it, I dare say you could say the same.”
Harry went rigid. He knew that voice. It was a voice which featured in his dreams. It went silent in his nightmares. He’d heard in memories and listened to it not that long ago. He turned and almost collapsed.
“Mum?”
“Hello Sweetheart.” Lily Potter smiled at her son. Her son who looked so much like the man she loved but shared her striking emerald orbs.
Harry surged forward and wrapped her in a hug which was eagerly returned. “Please be here, please be real.” Harry mumbled into the crook of her neck.
Lily’s hand came up to stroke his hair whilst the other moved up and down his back soothingly. “I’m here baby, we’re all here and we have so much to discuss, to put right.”
Harry emerged from his mother’s shoulder with a puzzled look on is face, “we? Discuss?”
“Hey buddy, this certainly isn’t ideal is it?” James Potter came up behind his wife and took his boy in a gentle embrace which Harry sunk into.
“Dad,” Harry whispered, “I’m sorry I ever believed Snape’s venomous half-truths, I should have investigated, not just taken his word, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay son, you were deceived, purposely led astray by a man who despised you and tormented you for his own sick satisfaction.” James responded, tightening his grip on Harry to let him know there was nothing to forgive.
Lily looked on with a genuine smile that did little to hide the sadness and anger at the situation her child had to endure. Those who had wronged him will pay dearly, she will make sure of that. Footsteps made Harry look up and grin lit up his face.
“Sirius! Remus!” He threw an arm around both of the Marauders now standing before him with large smiles on their faces. An action that was swiftly reciprocated.
Before he could get into any conversations with them however, a voice chimed in, “Good, everyone is here.”
A figure dressed in a black-on-black suit made himself known to the rest of the group but only Harry seemed mildly surprised at his presence. The man’s grin was both comforting and mischievous, it reminded him a lot of his dad in pictures he had seen.
“Death I presume? Or at least an anthropomorphic manifestation?” Harry questioned, why did that sound so much like Hermione?
“Correct Mr Potter, I am glad to see your mind is how it should have always been, it will make the next steps much easier.”
Harry offered a quizzical look to the celestial being in front of him, not quite aware at the injustices people had committed to keep him under their control.
“All in good time, first let us sit and decide what you are going to do next.” He continued, a sofa and a couple of armchairs appearing across from a desk with another seat behind it.
Everyone took a seat with Death behind the desk, Sirius and Remus in the armchairs and Harry in between his parents on the sofa, each one resting a hand on him to assure him they were there.
“To business young Harry, you have three choices in how you proceed from this moment. You may either board that train and pass on into the afterlife free from the burdens of the living world, you may go back to the time in which you left, defend Hogwarts and those who still fight against Riddle and his army of corrupt lackeys, kill him and watch the world go back to how it was. Or you may be sent further back with a chance to prevent the magical world from falling into chaos, prevent the deaths of innocents and change the course of history forever.” Death sat back in his chair and gave Harry the chance to process the information he had just received.
He had a few queries, “what do you mean the world would go back to the way it was?”
Death had a satisfied look on his face, as though Harry had asked the right question. “I mean to say that the wizarding world will continue its prejudice against muggles and muggle-borns, dark pureblood families will pay their way to freedom as they did before and in a few months shall be in power once again. You will try to fight it of course with the help of your friend Ms Granger and a few reformist families in the Wizengamot. However you shall be betrayed by the Weasley matriarch who alongside her son received the majority of the praise for the Dark Lord’s defeat. She will convince her family to side against you and instead side with the Malfoys and Deloris Jane Umbridge who will seek retribution as Minister against you and your soulmate…”
Harry almost choked when he processed this. “Hermione is my soulmate?” Whilst the outside portrayed disbelief the inside featured lots of fist-pumping and a very happy wizard. Hermione was probably the single most important person in his life now that he thought about it. Why was that easier than before and why does his head feel clearer? She’d been with him through thick and thin and stuck by him when no-one else did. He felt like such a fool when he hadn’t asked her to the Yule Ball in Fourth Year when she was right there.
Sirius was ecstatic, “I KNEW IT!” He leapt from his chair and did a little happy dance as the others looked on in amusement.
Death cleared his throat and continued, “yes, one of many but we will come to that later.” Harry nearly fainted if that was even possible after death and his father lightly thumped his back with a cheeky grin on his face. “As I was saying, you were fighting a losing battle through no fault of your own with the odds stacked against you and the enemy holding the proverbial high ground. In the end, you would have been cast out into the muggle world with Ms Granger and setting foot in any magical area would have resulted in your immediate arrest and imprisonment in Azkaban for breaking the rules of your exile. Without control over your own political affairs and the influence you would have had as a result creates an impossible situation which you had no hope of winning.”
“Right, so that choice is practically meaningless and only causes suffering to those whom I care about most.” Harry summarised. Muggle-borns would be further from equality than ever before. He hated that term, it always seemed as though they were being described as less than human. “What about the other choice where I go back, how far would I be going back to make meaningful changes?” He questioned.
“You will be sent back to 18th September 1990 with all of your current knowledge and more which we will provide you. Do you recognise the significance of this date?” Death asked.
“The day before Hermione’s eleventh birthday, when she’d receive her Hogwarts letter.” Harry whispered.
“Precisely, giving you the opportunity to meet her before the Hogwarts express and establish the foundations of a powerful friendship as well as acting as a catalyst for moments later on. You will have ten months to read your textbooks and provide yourself with a solid reason as to why you know so much magic. To help with this we shall temporarily block the knowledge in your memory until you learn it and cast it in the required lessons at school. This will help ensure no incredibly complicated spells occur earlier on that you wouldn’t possibly know how to do. Feel free to read up on spells two or three years ahead of your own so your arsenal is not completely empty. Unfortunately you will not be able to use your patronus in any encounters with dementors until the end of the year to further this illusion. We also hope that you will bump into Minerva McGonagall whilst in Diagon Alley and this should result in her being the one to retrieve you on 31st July 1991 instead of Rubeus Hagrid. This should also provide you with more basic knowledge of the wizarding world and allow you to seem more competent when you reach Hogwarts.”
“Is there anything specific I need to do whilst in Diagon Alley apart from meeting Hermione and Professor McGonagall?” Harry enquired.
“You will need to ask Minnie to take you to Gringotts so you may learn about your finances and heritage. She as well as many other members of staff at Hogwarts have been potioned and compulsed to either report any matters where you try and gain any sense of autonomy to Dumbledore or not intervene on your behalf when facing injustice from those who despise you. You will need to break these compulsions when you meet her with some discreet wandless magic which you will be taught before you are sent back as well occlumency to rival the greatest at the art. You may also have to do this for most teachers and authority figures. Knowing your political standing will boost you influence as you will be able to use it effectively.” James responded, squeezing his son’s shoulder.
“Indeed, you will learn of the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Potter, Black and Peverell as well as others which we let you discover for yourself. These will provide you with all of the resources you need to complete your mission.” Death continued. “Now to the minute details. Albus Dumbledore is not to be trusted as well as Severus Snape and Molly Weasley. These three have done all they can to reap glory from your achievements and trap you under their control via endless potions. Dumbledore needed you to die to make Tom Riddle vulnerable and in doing so he could kill him and establish himself as the greatest wizard in modern history. He was fully aware of your living conditions with the Dursleys and the danger you faced every year at Hogwarts and did nothing in hopes you would come to him for guidance so he could lead you on a path to martyrdom. He needed you weak, impressionable and loyal to him. Hence the potions as well as binding your magical core. He had Snape brew potions which limited your intelligence and attitude to your studies as well as loyalty potions to himself and Molly Weasley as well as working with her to potion you into falling go Ginevra Weasley. Molly Weasley wanted access to the Potter fortune so she had Ronald befriend you in your first year and told Ginny stories so she would idolise and desire you. She also brewed repulsion potions keyed to Hermione to prevent you from developing a relationship with her as you two were incredibly close. She also worked with Dumbledore to give her love potions keyed to Ronald as well as loyalty potions keyed to Dumbledore as well to prevent her from questioning his authority. The ironic truth is that Ginny is one of your soulmates but the bond was destroyed by her mother’s use of potions because the relationship did not develop naturally. Severus Snape only wished to make your life miserable as a way of getting petty revenge against your father. He saw this as an opportunity to mess with your life and use it to blame you for thigs that resulted because of it. Other’s were also potioned and compulsed. Sirius and Remus were both compulsed not to alert you to your Family’s status in the Wizarding world, Remus was also potioned to fall in love with Nymphadora Tonks and vice versa as this removed two more figures who would help you gain autonomy. Fleur Delacour was also influenced to fall for William Weasley for much the same reason. Many of your other soulmates never got the chance to know you properly nor you them. I stress that this is no fault of your own as Albus Dumbledore controlled your life with little regard to your own well-being, always dragging you off to face danger.”
Hate. That was the main emotion flowing through everybody at this time. Righteous fury burned bright in Hary’s green eyes. How dare they! How dare they control his life and rid it of comfort and happiness and love! How dare they influence the lives of those he considers family, using them as nothing but expendable pawns in their schemes!
Rage morphed into guilt and sorrow, “How could I let this happen?” Harry asked, burying his face in his hands.
Lily wrapped her arms comfortingly around her child, “It wasn’t your fault sweetheart, there was nothing you could do. You will make them pay Harry James, I am sure of it.”
“Quite right Lily, Harry you must not blame yourself.” His family looked on sadly as Harry’s head rose to reveal the remnants of hidden tears. “None of this shall happen again I assure you, that is the point of this chance you are being offered. You shall be sent back with all of your memories as well those removed by anyone not wanting you to learn too much or going down a path they did not want you too. You will be able to ‘learn’ as you were meant to and you will interact with people who can help you on your mission. However, I am afraid you may not prevent every bad act from occurring, the timeline played out that way for a reason. Quirrell must be confronted at the end of the year though the Philosopher’s Stone does not necessarily have to be where he thinks it is. The Basilisk must be released and the students must be petrified unfortunately. Pettigrew must escape to return to his master but Mr Black does not have to remain a fugitive to his death. Voldemort must be resurrected but Mr Diggory does not have to die. Furthermore, apart from the diary, you cannot destroy any of the horcruxes until after he is resurrected less he realises and has his remaining ones moved. When he is in physical form he will be less in tune with them and remain oblivious as he will not be able to see inside your head. From there you are free to make the changes you wish. Also we will send you back with the horcrux as defence mechanism. You will not be killed if struck with the killing curse. Bonding with seven of your soulmates will destroy it however and cripple Tom Riddle permanently. You will also have control over all three Deathly Hallows as the Master of Death and once you obtain them once you have gone back, they will never serve another mortal ever again. You will have cemented your place as the true Master of Death.”
Harry’s head was spinning with all of the information he had just heard. Nonetheless, it was time to get to work, “shall we start on the occlumency and wandless magic then? I should probably receive etiquette lessons from you and Sirius Dad if I’m going to eventually take my seat in the Wizengamot” He asked.
“In good time Mr Potter but first I must leave you for a few moments, I will not be gone long.” With that Death melted into the dark leather of his seat and disappeared.
The moment of silence was broken by Sirius, “Well then, let’s have a chat about the lovely Ms Granger.” He declared with a bright mischievous grin which caused Harry to blush and Lily to lightly glare at him for teasing her son.
Harry took a deep breath and began to tell his family of the moments just before he took an unforgivable to the face.
Harry looked at the engraving on the snitch from his first ever quidditch match. I open at the close. “I am ready to die.” Harry whispered. The snitch opened up to reveal a small stone rising from the centre of the small gold orb and Harry closed his fist around it gently and closed his eyes. “The Resurrection Stone,” he breathed.
Opening his eyes, Harry was met with ghostly pale figures of four of the most important people in his life. He took a few brisk strides and closed the distance between him and the form of his mother. He felt a brief wave of powerful magic crash over him (he later came to realise this as the removal of any potions or compulsions). He reached out to Lily as she did the same but his hand went straight through. They conferred for a short while before fading as Harry continued further into the Forbidden Forest.
Coming face-to-face with Voldemort for what he believed would be the last time should have terrified him. Instead, he felt somewhat at peace with his fate, he was giving his allies the best chance at defeating this monster and he would see his family again. When he closed his eyes and saw his life flash before them, Hermione seemed to be there every time. His life never felt complete unless she was present. He realised that was his biggest regret, never telling her how much he valued her. How much he loved her.
“AVADA KEDAVRA!”
All that filled his vision was a bright white light.
Harry was ready to go. He’d learnt all their was to know about occlumency and wandless magic and was now one of the most proficient in the world at both. Both his father and Sirius had taught him the etiquette required to lead a Most Ancient and Noble House. His mother had given him a letter to take with him which would provide an explanation about how he knew of the magical world before his eleventh birthday. Sirius and Remus had wished him luck and requested that the next time he saw them, to call them both uncle. Death stood to the side with a small smirk on his face that Harry could’ve sworn made him look proud. His father had clapped him on the back and brought him into to a tight hug, telling him to piss off Snape as much as possible but most importantly to be happy.
His mother also grabbed him in a tight hug and kissed his forehead. “Make sure to study hard and do well in all of your classes. Make sure to play lots of pranks on the bigoted junior death eaters. The world needs as much laughter and happiness as it can get. Oh and for once Harry, put you needs before others. Do not give up on anything you want for the sake of keeping your friends happy. If they do not support you then they are not your real friends do you understand. My beautiful boy, I love you so much.” She kissed him one more time on the forehead, stepped back and cupped his face and gave him a watery smile which he returned.
Once she’d let go she moved to stand next to her husband and they put an arm round each other as they both gazed at him with immense amounts of pride and love. He gave them a nod, a grin and then turned and strode through the barrier one would normally use to access the muggle world. He felt a sensation similar to apparition and was consumed by bright light.