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Second Chances and First Occasions | ||||||
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Category: First Time for Everything Challenge (2019-2), First Time For Everything Challenge (2019-2) Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley Genres: Fluff, General, Romance Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG Reviews: 30 Summary: ***Honourable Mention in the First Time for Everything Challenge*** After Harry survives his second Killing Curse, he makes a decision that changes things quite drastically. Getting a second chance at some of the events in his life, Harry resolves to do a few things right he did wrong on his first attempt. Hitcount: Story Total: 25029; Chapter Total: 3807 |
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It took him several tries of different kinds of sweets — much to Harry's chagrin, he found that his memory for Albus Dumbledore's passwords was not as perfect as he would have liked — before the gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office let them pass. Eventually, though, he found himself on the moving, spiraling staircase he had descended less than a day ago in the ruined castle. His friends and fellow Gryffindors had turned in for the night and he had used his invisibility cloak to walk here undetected, taking it off only when he stepped past the gargoyle. Albus Dumbledore, as Harry had suspected, was still awake and fully dressed, and he found the headmaster sitting at his desk, quill in hand, making notes in what looked like a very old tome. As Harry stepped into the office, Dumbledore glanced up at him over the half-moon spectacles which were balanced on the tip of his crooked nose. "Good evening, Harry," he spoke, raising both eyebrows, "I would ask how you managed to bypass our ingenious security measures in order to find yourself in my office at this unusual hour, but I find that my curiosity extends more into the why of the matter. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?" Harry smiled in spite of himself. Dumbledore was, as always, perfectly calm and collected. He wondered if he would be able to shock the headmaster a bit, just this once. While he had been mentally preparing for this meeting, Harry had decided that for once, he would dispense with all the secrecy and simply get to the point. He had chosen an extremely simple approach. Now was the time to put his plan into action. "Good evening, headmaster," he said, nodding to his old mentor. He then slowly but deliberately pulled out his wand and cast the Muffliato charm to keep anyone outside the office from listening in. The only response Albus Dumbledore gave to this was a slight upward curve of his lips. "Sorry sir," Harry continued, "but there is something we need to discuss and there is someone who definitely shouldn't be allowed to listen in." Dumbledore sat back in his chair and, after motioning Harry into the plush, comfortable chair opposite him, simply steepled his fingers and gazed at Harry with his most penetrating stare. "I will need to use your Pensieve, professor," Harry said, flicking his wand at the cupboard that held the memory bowl. It opened, and the Pensieve floated obediently towards him until it rested on the desk between them. Harry put the tip of his wand to his temple, but then realized that he did not know how memories were extracted. Was there a spell involved? He glanced at Dumbledore, who merely nodded and spoke. "Focus clearly on the memory you want to share," he instructed, "then imagine sending that memory into the tip of your wand. Your wand will then do the rest of the work." It took only two attempts for Harry to begin extracting the most important highlights from the last years, and Dumbledore frowned as he began to catch glimpses of what the memories now flowing into the Pensieve contained. Still, he did not speak, but merely waited patiently. “I’ve got a lot to tell you, Professor,” Harry said when he had extracted the last of the most important memories. Though he knew exactly what he was about to show the Headmaster, he suddenly felt apprehensive. Taking a deep breath, he continued: “I need to show you things. It’s really hard to explain, but please be sure that it will all make sense once you’ve seen it.” Albus Dumbledore, unperturbed, simply nodded. And so, several seconds later, the two of them found themselves stepping through abbreviated scenes from Harry’s personal memories. He had gotten the idea from Snape, whose last ditch effort to communicate the secrets entrusted to him had been the catalyst that brought him to this moment. In the Pensieve, Dumbledore saw first hand how Voldemort was resurrected and how Harry had subsequently escaped with Cedric’s body. Harry’s trial at the Ministry followed the unmasking of Barty Crouch, and was in turn followed by the death of Sirius and the duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore at the Ministry. From there, Harry showed short moments taken from the lessons he had had with the Headmaster, finally showing Dumbledore his own death at the hands of Severus Snape at the top of the Astronomy Tower. All the while, he kept up a rolling commentary. The Headmaster showed little reaction on seeing his own demise, and as Harry’s narrative moved on, they reviewed the locations of all the Horcruxes and how they had been destroyed, culminating in the moment where Harry himself had stood before Voldemort and accepted his own death. As they emerged from the Pensieve, Dumbledore sat back in his chair, breathing uncharacteristically heavily. Glancing at the Headmaster’s face, Harry was surprised to see tears glistening on the old man’s cheeks. While he was not surprised that the memories of the future Harry had just shared with him had shocked Dumbledore, he had never seen the man show such emotion before. Still, he realized that it was a lot to be confronted with, and he kept silent while Dumbledore took a moment to process all he had seen. “Dear Harry,” the Headmaster finally began, several minutes later, “what you have shown me today is remarkable, quite remarkable indeed. I assume, based on the clarity of these memories, that they are not simply visions of the future, but that you have, in fact, experienced them?” Harry nodded, letting Dumbledore talk as he tried to put things in perspective. “Yet you did not show me the outcome of this conflict,” the old man continued, “which implies that the end might not, as Muggles say, justify the means?” “I don’t know how the conflict would have ended,” Harry answered, “because the moment I was hit by the Killing Curse, I suddenly found myself back in Professor McGonagall’s classroom in the middle of the Triwizard Tournament. I think I’ve traveled back in time by about three years, Professor.” The eyes that had twinkled at him so often from behind those half-moon spectacles turned to steel in a slow transformation that reminded Harry of the true power the man across from him commanded. “What you have shown me has confirmed many of my suspicions,” spoke Dumbledore, nothing in his voice betraying the determination showing on his face, “but it has also made me, ah, re-evaluate some of the plans I have been setting in motion. I take it you agree with me that such wholesale destruction, as well as the harm that would come to many of the people you know and love, is not part of a desirable future?” Harry gave a mirthless chuckle, then simply shook his head. “Then, since you and I are apparently older friends than I had previously imagined,” the Headmaster continued, “let us plan the war that Voldemort will lose.” |
| Reviews 30 |
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