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Harry Potter and the Ritual of Love's Memory | ||||||
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Category: Post-HBP Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, General, Romance Warnings: Death, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Violence Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 259 Summary: After the horcrux hunt implodes leaving most of those Harry loves dead, he starts a new life with a few fellow survivors far away from wizarding Britain. But the discovery of an ancient ritual that promises to send a single memory back in time sparks hope that maybe things can change. Dark ending to DH followed by a tweaked retelling of GoF through DH. Harry/Ginny. Friday updates. Original Timeline Voldemort's Victory - Chapter 1-5 (Feel free to skip if you don't like major character deaths) Tenochtitlán - Chapter 6-9 New Timeline Harry's 4th Year - Chapter 10-28 Harry's 5th Year - Chapter 29-68 Harry's 6th Year - Chapter 69-Current Hitcount: Story Total: 169586; Chapter Total: 1341 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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Harry stuffed the parchment from Dumbledore into his pocket before knocking twice on the headmaster's large, wooden door. It felt strange to be summoned to this office, despite how many times he had visited for various meetings. Other than in the Advanced Defense class, he hadn't spoken to Dumbledore since the night of the ill-fated foray into Gringotts. A nervousness crept into the back of his mind after being beckoned to enter. Adding to his trepidation was the fact that he didn't have any idea what the meeting was about. The parchment had specified the time to meet and that Professor Flamel's husband, who Harry supposed also went by Professor Flamel, would be joining them. He didn't know the History of Magic professor at all, which made him even less sure of what the meeting's purpose could be. Upon stepping into the room, Harry saw that Dumbledore was already joined by Professor Flamel. He sat in a chair positioned opposite the desk from the headmaster with an empty seat next to him. Harry slid into the open chair quietly, acutely aware of how unsure of himself he felt. He also noticed that the curtains in front of the portraits of former Hogwarts headmasters had been drawn. "Good evening, Harry," said Dumbledore kindly. "I am pleased that you accepted my invitation to meet." Harry nodded and attempted to smile in return, though he doubted it looked genuine. The memory of Kingsley's righteous anger and a disconsolate Remus weighed heavily on him. Dumbledore remained poised, steepling his fingers upon the desk. "Professor Nicolas Flamel, at your service," came the ancient man's shaky voice as he extended a frail hand for Harry to shake. "I owe you a debt of gratitude for your heroic defense of my old stone." His hand didn't feel as warm as Harry expected, and he had to be careful not to squeeze too tightly out of fear he might crush the elderly man's brittle bones. "It's nice to meet you, sir," murmured Harry, unsure of how to act around someone who'd lived more than 600 years. "I've enjoyed your wife's Defense class." "Ah, that does not surprise me in the least," he replied with a broad smile. "Perenelle is the most extraordinary person I have known over these many years, so I do not doubt her class is exceptional." Despite Harry's conflicted feelings about meeting with Dumbledore, Professor Flamel's earnest awe at his wife proved disarming. The man looked almost wistful for a moment, as if the mere thought of his wife had transported him well beyond the walls of the headmaster's office. "Albus has asked for my aid in a special project that he assures me will be well worth our time and effort, though he has not been forthcoming with nearly as many details as I would have liked. Am I to assume that he has not provided you with a thorough explanation, either?" Professor Flamel glanced from the rather surprised face of Harry to Dumbledore's slightly pink cheeks. "Nicolas, I meant no disrespect," assured the headmaster, looking a bit embarrassed. "Some of the crucial details were best left until the three of us could speak together more freely." "Of course, of course," retorted Professor Flamel dismissively with a wave of his hand. "But does that mean you are going to divulge your intentions straight away, or should we prepare ourselves for a lengthy soliloquy?" Harry had rarely seen Professor Dumbledore look flustered or as if he was not in control of a conversation, but the frail man across from him seemed impervious to the headmaster's attempts to steer the conversation onto less challenging footing. Harry nearly failed to contain his snicker as Dumbledore massaged the brim of his nose in mild frustration. "Nicolas, you see straight through me, as always," he sighed. "I will admit that our project does require a brief preamble-" "Why am I not surprised?" interrupted Professor Flamel with a knowing tone, a longsuffering expression on his face as he glanced at Harry. "Perhaps it would behoove us to begin with the pertinent details. Harry, would you be so kind as to explain your run-in with your rogue memory? It serves as the basis for our endeavor." Harry nodded and spent five minutes recounting how he'd been beset with the feeling that his mind was on full alert before witnessing the golden strand of memory enter through a window and collide with his head in the common room. This took longer than the story usually lasted because Professor Flamel was keen to ask a myriad of questions that interrupted the retelling. Dumbledore also listened attentively, reading Harry's face when he reached the part about waking up in the hospital wing with a new memory implanted in his brain. Though the headmaster apparently trusted Professor Flamel with the knowledge that the memory existed, he cut Harry off before he could describe the memory fully. "Based on what Harry remembers from this new memory, both in terms of what he can see within it and the conversation he engages in, it is clear that it hails from the future. Or, perhaps, a future." "Fascinating!" exclaimed the professor, who had scooted to the edge of his seat during Harry's tale. "Have you viewed it within a Pensieve?" At this, Dumbledore chuckled. "The rogue memory has proven unwilling to be removed. Harry's attempts to bring it out to the basin were unsuccessful-" "And I'll wager you attempted to pry it out yourself!" accused Flamel with a grin, wagging a finger at the headmaster as if he were a parent scolding a stubborn child. "Yes, indeed. It proved quite obstinate, flinging me clear across the room." "Now that would have been a sight to see!" he chuckled, his almost mischievous smile reminding Harry of Professor Flitwick's excited outbursts. "I surmise that the contents of the memory are to remain secret, at least for now. Otherwise, you would have allowed young Mr. Potter to divulge them already." The headmaster nodded, but this did not appear to dampen Professor Flamel's spirits even a little bit. Instead, he rubbed the top of his smooth bald head and grew more ponderous. "I see, I see… And you'll want me here to help him work through the challenges of studying such a unique memory, of course. Terribly tricky, but it certainly could have merit. I wonder if it shall end up too powerful to control and blow us all up in the process…" Harry watched the old man talk to himself with no regard for either of the others in the room for a few moments, becoming slightly nervous at the mutterings about difficulty and danger. "Sir, I'm confused. What's this all about?" asked Harry when Professor Flamel seemed unlikely to cease his musings. "An excellent question," replied Dumbledore with a smile. "Nicolas is best known for his alchemy, but living for nearly seven centuries has also given him ample time to explore other branches of magic far more deeply than those of us enjoying shorter lifespans. His prowess extends to the taxonomy of spells and even the creation of new magic-" "I most certainly do nothing of the sort!" interrupted Professor Flamel, broken from his thoughts by the headmaster's description. "The hubris of the idea of creating magic is astonishing! Magic is all around us, woven into our very being. We can no more create magic than we can manufacture energy!" Dumbledore's frustration was visible. "I was going to say your prowess extends to creating new magical spells that harness the innate magic of our world in novel and exciting ways." Nicolas considered the point and gave a small shrug. "An oversimplified explanation, but it gets the job done. You were saying?" "Yes, I was attempting to convey that your endeavor will be to help study the contours of Harry's rogue memory. Perhaps through a bit of research, we may better understand the means of conveyance used to direct it to this time and the circumstances under which the memory was sent. We know so little about this magic that Harry has experienced; I thought it likely that your keen senses might illuminate some of the memory's mysteries. Such a powerful memory may prove to have more uses than we have yet to ascertain. I know not what types of magic it may have an affinity for, whether defensive, offensive, or something beyond our reckoning, but I believe these answers are worthy of pursuit." The small man hopped up from his seat and began walking about the office in a tizzy, muttering things like "I'll need to revisit Gamp's revised works…" and "How to best manage the wand motions?" Harry cocked his head as the professor scurried about for almost a minute before abruptly exiting the office through the double doors without a word of goodbye to either of the wizards he left in his wake. With a confused expression plastered across his face, Harry turned to look back at the headmaster. "Nicolas Flamel is one of the most brilliant minds in the entire magical world, but Merlin knows he takes some getting used to," said Dumbledore, shaking his head. Now that it was only him and the headmaster in the office, the sense of unease that Harry had felt when entering began to return. His shoulders tensed slightly and he rubbed his knees with his hands without meaning to do so. If Dumbledore noticed the change, he made no mention of it as he continued. "Though I am quite pleased with the progress you have made in learning to defend yourself, I believe it worthwhile to outfit you with more options than you currently possess. I do not yet know if this course of action will prove decisive against Voldemort, but I believe it worth leaving no stone unturned. "Still, I would like to offer you the choice of what to do. If you consider the option set before you worthwhile, I believe Professor Flamel would be quite pleased to aid you in an attempt to harness the power of your rogue memory. If you believe this course of action to be unnecessary, you are under no requirement to pursue such magic. I will gladly inform Nicolas if your answer is negative. The decision is yours." The headmaster lay his hands flat on the desk and peered at Harry with an earnest look on his face, waiting for his student's answer. Though he had grown by leaps and bounds over the past year in his ability to defend himself in a duel, Harry was well aware that he was still nowhere near equal to Voldemort's prowess. Despite Dumbledore's framing of the project as an option, Harry felt as if there was really no choice to be made. He needed any advantage available, and an opportunity had been presented. He thought of the look of concern on Professor McGonagall's face when he had requested to add Care of Magical Creatures to his schedule and her warning that overloading oneself with NEWT classes was inadvisable. Hagrid's joyful expression when he and Hermione had joined his class in the second week flashed in Harry's mind, too. Even with a sense that he was making a mistake by doing too much, Harry couldn't find it within himself to turn down the offer. If Dumbledore and Professor Flamel thought some new and powerful magic might be gleaned from his rogue memory, he didn't dare turn them away. Without meaning to, Harry heaved a sigh. "Sure, that's fine," he replied quietly. "What do I need to do?" "Excellent!" exclaimed the headmaster, not making note of Harry's reticence. "I will coordinate with Nicolas regarding a weekly time during which the two of you may meet. I am quite pleased that this has all worked out so well; I must say that he and Perenelle are working out even better than I had originally hoped. My hope was that they would both have a positive influence on your education and training, which already seems to be the case!" "I had a question about that," interjected Harry, his conversation with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny pressing into the forefront of his mind. "Back at the end of my first year, you told me that the Philosopher's Stone was going to be destroyed and that the Flamels were going to die." "Indeed, I did tell you that," admitted Dumbledore with a serene look on his face. "Nicolas and Perenelle did destroy the stone once I returned it to their possession." "But how are they still around if the stone is gone?" asked Harry. "The Flamels created more than enough Elixir of Life to last them several years," explained the headmaster with a knowing smile. "Had they not, they would have never sent the stone away for safe-keeping to a place beyond their reach. They have stored enough to sustain them for a few more years while sorting out their affairs. All the more reason I was so pleased to have convinced them to spend a school year here at Hogwarts. Our need for both of their aid in your training convinced me of the wisdom of pursuing their services and the fact that one of their pupils would be the young man who risked his own life to protect their life's work made for a convincing argument." A twinkling in Dumbledore's eye gave Harry the impression that the headmaster was rather proud of the accomplishment of securing the Flamels as professors. Knowing that they were choosing to teach with some of their last bit of time on Earth further cemented Harry's belief that studying the memory with Professor Flamel was important, even if it added significant strain to his already-full plate. "Alright, well… I'm not sure if Professor McGonagall mentioned it, but I added Care of Magical Creatures to my schedule. I'm not sure when Professor Flamel will have free to study the memory, but I wanted to make sure it didn't conflict with Hagrid's class." The headmaster's smile faltered for the briefest of moments. "As I understood from our meeting with Professor McGonagall last term, you had decided to forego the course in order to focus on other subjects. May I ask when this plan changed?" "I had been thinking about it over the summer a bit, but I really decided during the first week of classes. Ron said that there were only four students in the class. I really do enjoy Care of Magical Creatures, especially with how much Hagrid has improved it in the last few years. I wanted to support him and I enjoy the class, so I figured it was worth the extra stress of adding a sixth to my schedule. Hermione joined, too, though that's also because she thinks it'll help her with a job in the Ministry someday." "I'm sure that the decision delighted Hagrid," replied Dumbledore quietly. Harry got the feeling that the headmaster was not terribly pleased about this change. "He has long credited you and your friends with his greater success as a professor. Though an extra course is certain to complicate matters for you in some ways, I have no doubt that you will find a way to manage it all. I will discuss scheduling with Nicolas and endeavor to ensure your meeting times do not coincide with your bevy of classes." "Thank you, sir," added Harry, unsure whether the headmaster had more to discuss than the memory. For a moment, he thought Dumbledore might dive into a new topic of discussion, but the wizened old man stood up from his chair and gestured toward the door. "I am looking forward to seeing how your skills progress in Advanced Defense this term and learning about what you and Nicolas uncover with regard to your memory. Should you require my assistance, please do not hesitate to ask." Harry gave a quick nod before exiting the office. Once the wooden doors closed behind him, he released a long breath before hurrying down the stairs to the corridor, excited to leave the office behind and return to the common room. ~RLM~ Friday lunches with the other Defense Club leaders weren't exactly the same as the previous year for Harry, even though he still looked forward to them. He enjoyed talking through how to make their meetings both useful and fun, even though sometimes they got bogged down in the details. By their last meeting of September, Harry had mostly gotten used to the absence of Cedric. Without the Hufflepuff, the group turned to Harry for more of the leadership of the group than he would have liked, but Cho was swamped with her seventh year classes and her position as Head Girl. Hermione helped drive a fair bit of the discussion during their meetings, but she was also mired in prefect duties and more homework than anyone without a time-turner could be expected to accomplish. Blaise's presence, on the other hand, was taking more time for Harry to sort out. It wasn't that he was out of place within the group, and he often had helpful contributions to their conversations. Instead, Harry felt like it was just hard to get a read of the Slytherin. Everyone else's motivations were simple and made logical sense: A war was building outside of the castle walls and they wanted to prepare themselves and others to defend themselves. Blaise had other motivations. Despite his best efforts not to overthink Blaise's inclusion, Harry often wondered what was really going on in the Slytherin's head. The matter-of-fact way he described the attacks reported in the Daily Prophet or whispered about by other students made it seem as though he was unphased by the turmoil of the war. Even so, he had done a remarkable job of increasing the amount of his housemates who had signed up to join the Defense Club. "Flit said that he'll be busy with Frog Choir stuff that week, but thinks that McGonagall would be the next-best person to talk to about doing that many fire spells for our meeting," explained Cho, her voice still slightly raspy from her quidditch practice the previous evening. "He also suggested we ask Madam Pomfrey to attend to help deal with any burns. Sorry about not asking him earlier, I've just been so swamped this month…" Hermione groaned in agreement. "The start of this term has been brutal. I feel like I'm already behind on everything. Don't worry about talking to Professor McGonagall. Maybe I can stay after Transfiguration to ask her about helping with the Inferi meeting." "You're both up to your eyeballs in responsibilities," laughed Blaise with a smirk toward Hermione. "I'll run the idea past McGonagall on Monday. There's no use piling more things on your plate until you crack up. I wasn't daft enough to take eight NEWT classes, so I've got a bit more time on my hands." She let out a grateful sigh. "Thanks, Blaise. With how things are going, I could have just as easily forgotten all about it." "I've got prefect rounds on Sunday, so I could check in with Madam Pomfrey while I'm out watching the halls," offered Ron. "One less thing for you two to worry about." Both girls expressed appreciation, though Harry thought Cho seemed a bit frustrated as she looked back toward Blaise. Nonetheless, there was a buzz of excitement within their group as they looked forward to the first official meeting of the Defense Club the next week. Professor Flitwick had already finished setting up the gauntlets for the four years and had left the version that served as an entrance exam for Advanced Defense up for anyone wanting a challenge after completing the seventh year track. Despite the challenge of juggling so many responsibilities, Harry was filled with eager anticipation about the first meeting of the new term. |
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