Harry Potter: Back to the Beginning Chapter 1- Discovering Hope

Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, including quotes or excerpts from any of the Harry Potter books or movies.

Has it really been a whole year since the battle of Hogwarts? It's been seven months since everybody he loved was killed. Back when everything seemed to be changing for the better. Harry thought this through while brooding in a chair at Potter Manor, his ancestral home.

He inherited his home (and many other houses), when Sirius and his parents died. He also inherited heirlooms and a large fortune in gold. Yet, none of this mattered to Harry. All he did every day was wake up, eat, finish paperwork, and sit down to torture himself with memories of everyone he loved.

He still remembered the memorial they had five months after the battle. There had been over a thousand people in attendance, including most of the survivors and family of people who fought in the war. The memorial was meant to be secured and peaceful, it was everything but.

Less than a hundred, you said a thousand just a moment ago, had lived. Ever since then, Harry had been trying to move on. He was an Auror, an Auror who was capturing Dark Wizards. His numbers captured were starting to catch up Mad-Eye Moody, until he was put on suspension.

Whenever he was depressed, he would look at the photos of his best friends and fiancée. He didn't want anything to happen to them, so he kept them safe in his family vault. To him, those pictures were worth more than all the gold in his vault. He decided now was a good time to see them again, and off he went to his vault at Gringotts.

He changed into some casual wizard robes which he thought would make him blend in with other wizards. He told Kreacher he would be out for a while and left.

He apparated into an abandoned alley next to the Leaky cauldron; he placed a charm to change his hair brown and make his scar vanish. He didn't want to be noticed at all. After all he'd been through, he didn't care about anything, including the annoying people who tried to find out more about him by asking him rude personal questions. He was just getting on with his life, or at least trying to, even if he hadn't been doing a good job of it before. He walked through the Leaky Cauldron, not attracting any unwanted attention, and made his way past some wizards who were enjoying themselves in Diagon Alley, since it had been rebuilt. It still didn't feel the same. He kept walking until he reached Gringotts, climbing the steps until he found himself in a large lobby with goblins walking around, reading ledgers and clipboards. Once he got through the goblins and other wizards and asked for Gripper, his new family vault goblin to take him down, casting his disguise aside.

Gripper was a short goblin that had replaced Griphook after he died. He was happy to work for someone who owned one of the biggest vaults at Gringotts.

"Lord Potter, come to take another stroll down memory lane?"

"Yes. The battle was exactly one year ago," Harry sighed.

Gripper replied, "Well, let's not waste another minute." Gripper had lost friends when Voldemort had tried to recruit the goblins. When they resisted, he had had his Death Eaters hunt them like wild animals.

During the entire ride through Gringotts, Harry thought of the people who died trying to defeat Voldemort, and the people who died celebrating their brave friends and family members. He thought of those who rested in the Hogwarts graveyard.

"Mister Potter, we are here," Gripper said, snapping him out of his trance.

"Thank you. Give me about two hours," he told Gripper, who was used to him being there for long periods of time. He used his hand to open the family blood lock, which would detect access to the vault. Every single part of the vault was shining from the gold on the shelves, stacked to the top. Coins piled onto the floor, spreading the floor with their glitter.

In an instant he didn't have control of his body. It felt similar to the Imperius curse, but this was different. He didn't feel euphoria, just an urge to keep moving. He heard a light ringing in his ear- he assumed this was what was controlling him.

"What's going on?" he asked, although nobody was there. His body moved slowly to the back of the large vault-the farther he went, the older the artifacts were. Harry himself had never been this far back.

Finally, he stopped at the shelves filled with coins. His hands moved of their own accord, throwing them out until they reached a book covered with dust. As soon as he held the books in his hand, he regained his composure. As you can imagine, Harry had lots of questions, and nobody to answer them. Might as well try to find out what the book is about, he thought. After all, somebody had wanted him to find it.

He wiped the book with his sleeve, ripping the layer of dust on it off. Below, there was a medium sized book, with the symbol of the deathly hallows on the cover with gold decorations. He brought the book back to his father's desk, which had been brought to his vault upon his death. He attempted to open the book, but it was locked. He ran his hand over the cover, and when he touched the center of the book, the lock sprang open to reveal a note.

Hello, my heir. I am Ignotus Peverell, youngest of the Peverell brothers and holder of the Invisibility cloak. You have been found to be worthy of this contents of this book and the information it holds within its pages. Continue with care- this book can save lives.

Harry was baffled- Ignotus Peverell had written a book which had called to him, it could tell him things that hardly anybody knew. He opened it and began to read the first chapter.

The veil was one of the most complicated things that my brothers and I ever worked on. It was made to please Death, for sparing us that fateful day and giving us use of our relics, or the Deathly Hallows. But it is also for another reason, for when one is the master of death, one possesses the ability to go back in time, and combine one's younger mind with that of one's present mind. However, in doing this, one must keep in mind that not only is one saving lives, but changing them as well. Not all effects are known, but we believe that it may alter the new timeline.

Harry couldn't breathe. If he found the resurrection stone and got the wand, he could save everybody he cared for and everybody who died. This veil had killed Sirius, but could be used to bring back his loved ones.

Until you have all three hallows and are the master of death, these pages will be blank.

At least now I have a new mission in life; the rest of the time he spent there, was planning on what to do. The book couldn't give him anymore help, finding the stone would be tricky, but he could get to Hogwarts easily as today was the anniversary for the Battle of Hogwarts and could pay his respects as well including visiting a certain dead headmaster who had the elder wand. He also pulled his bottomless money bag out and filled it with plenty of gold.

"Are you ready to go, Mister Potter, sir?" asked Gripper as he opened the vault door.

"Yes, excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know what time it is," Harry asked, hoping to have plenty of time to get to the graveyard before the service.

"A quarter to twelve," Gripper replied, pulling out a gold pocket watch. Classes would be ending soon. If he could hurry, he would arrive just before the last class for the day started. For once, Harry had hope- for himself and for a better world.

After walking back to the Leaky Cauldron, he put his disguise back on. He apparated to the Three Broomsticks, still hopeful he could save his family and friends.

"Kreacher," he called, walking behind a booth so no one would notice the old house elf materializing before him.

"Yes, Master Harry," Kreacher replied.

"I need you to take this to Donald Crawford, the head of the Auror department, and I've told you it's just Harry." He told Kreacher as he wrote a note on some spare parchment with a quill. He was asking for three week's vacation for health reasons.

"Right away, Master Harry," Kreacher said as he popped out.

He exited the Three Broomsticks and entered Hogsmeade. The place looked slightly different, with some new buildings replacing those that were damaged. People were taking amongst themselves. Harry gathered they were talking about the service. He stopped to buy a variety of flowers with other people and started walking towards the front gates, taking off his disguise again.

"Hagrid, is that you?" He asked as he saw the large half giant pass by carrying some dead animals.

"Harry, tha' you? Haven' seen yeh in a while," Hagrid said as he unsealed the front gate.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he replied, a little guilty. For a long time, he had been keeping his distance from his friends, always sulking.

"It's all right', but I'm guessing you're here to see everyone else," Hagrid said, referring to everyone who died.

''Yeah, any chance you can guide me to the graveyard? For old time's sake?"

"Yeah, sure, Harry," Hagrid replied as they talked about Hogwarts and how Buckbeak was doing. Once they arrived, Hagrid had to leave to check the rest of his traps.

Once Hagrid was out of sight, he ran until he reached the grave yard. Not everyone here died at the battle. Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna were buried here, but had died at the service. Harry took out a pendent that was broken into six pieces. When put together, it revealed a picture of them smiling. They had split it between them after they died. When they died, Harry had gotten all the pieces back and never removed it. He placed flowers at each tombstone, but made sure to save the roses for Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna. A lily for Snape, a white tulip for Lupin, and a pink tulip for Tonks. When he finally reached Dumbledore's resting place, he studied the tomb until he noticed the Deathly Hallows symbol carved at the base of his tomb.

Time for step one, he thought as he raised the cover to reveal Dumbledore, resting with the Elder Wand in the middle. He had left it here for safekeeping, but now he needed it back and replaced it with a sunflower.

After restoring the tomb back to normal, he started to walk deeper inside the dark forest. The Elder Wand responded to him just as well as his other wand, and began chanting, "Accio, Resurrection Stone," over and over again. He walked through the forest over and over again until he realized he couldn't summon the stone. He was ready to give up hope as he leaned against a tree and saw something shimmer against the tree's overgrown roots.

He quickly seized the Stone. He finally had all three Deathly Hallows. He was already the Master of Death. He then brought the book from his cloak and began reading as a new chapter appeared.

If you are reading this, then you have all three Deathly Hallows, but be careful as having all three attracts dark magic. This chapter is optional but very dangerous. When done right, it allows one to copy memories and skills of people. One can send it to the past as well as either the help of a potion. Furthermore, it is of no matter whether they are alive or dead. However, they cannot have been without life for more than three years. We are not entirely sure of the full effects of the potion, so use with caution.

Harry thought carefully about this. Having the memories and skills of other people could come in handy, but the book said it was dangerous. He was starting to have doubts about this. Is it really worth it? As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he agreed anything was worth his friends, and began reading the list of ingredients

Polyjuice Potion, Mandrake Restorative Drought, wormwood, a bezoar, a Calming Draught, Drought of Peace, Felix Felicis, Pepper Up Potion, Invigoration Drought, and a memory strengthening potion.

Oh, no, he thought as some would take some time to make, not to mention the difficulty it would take to prepare. And the only time he had ever had Felix Felicis was when he won that small vial from professor Slughorn. And Slughorn is in class right now, he thought as he quickly stood up, putting on his Invisibility Cloak and ran as fast as he could to the Potions room, trying to keep his cloak from falling. He had a few close calls with Mrs. Norris and other students who were sneaking around. He arrived at the dungeon, where Slughorn was just starting to take attendance. He quickly took off his cloak and entered with feigned casualty.

"How's my favorite Potions teacher?"Harry asked with fake cheer.

"Harry, my boy, what brings you here?" Professor Slughorn said happily, probably thinking that he had Harry in his collection of important people.

"It's been a year. I came to visit everyone," he said grimly, before plastering a smile on his face. "Don't mind if I watch the class do you?"

"Of course not" Slughorn said happily. No matter the reason, he was always glad to see an old student of his.

"We are actually having the same contest for liquid luck," Slughorn said as he explained what potion they were brewing that day.

Perfect, he thought, as soon as class begin. Everyone was nervous that no one could even get through the first step correctly. Harry gave some advice, but not much. As class ended, everyone looked disappointed "Now, class, don't be too disappointed. Only two people could ever accomplish the correct drought and one of them is in this room right now," Slughorn said, smiling at Harry.

Once the class was empty, Harry stood up to help Slughorn clean up. "Professor? I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Of course, my boy, anything," replied Slughorn, draining some cauldrons.

"Well, you see, I'm working on a few experiments that my mother was working on before she died, and I was wondering if I could buy some of them off you, since you are one of the best potion masters in the world."

"Of course, what do you need?" Slughorn asked after running through the list.

"Well, Harry, these are some powerful potions, but of course, anything for one of my best students," he said cheerfully. This way, Slughorn could make a quick profit and get into Harry's good graces.

After he finished purchasing the potions, Harry hastily thanked Slughorn and ran to the seventh floor corridor, pacing in front of a wall, thinking, I need a place to make a potion. Soon, a door opened in front of him, filled with cauldrons and Potions ingredients. He began reading the instructions and diagrams.

"Here goes nothing," he said to himself, and he began preparing the potion. A/n: sorry it took so long here is a new version of chapter 1, thanks to my new beta reader: The-Delectable-May-Reach .