Disclaimer: This story is provided by the author 'as is' and does not contain or represent any expressed or implied ownership of any fictional characters and/or creatures created by J.K.Rowling.
"Voldemort," Harry whispered.
However, Voldemort didn't look to be in a position to reply. He was in what appeared to be a half-baby, half-snake form, which Harry recognized from the dream as well. Not only did Voldemort look extremely nervous at Harry's presence, but he seemed to barely be able to hold up his wand.
It's a trick! Harry's mind insisted, and he loudly called, "Expelliarmus!"
Voldemort weakly performed the countercurse, but didn't manage to put enough power behind it to block Harry's spell.
After he caught the wand, Harry looked back down at Voldemort, who was sitting helplessly on the floor. Puzzled, Harry cast, "Avada Kedavra" at the semi-reptilian form. Green light rushed forward, and Voldemort slumped to the floor. Harry quickly cast his practiced barrier around the pulsing black apparition which emerged from the dead creature on the floor.
Slowly, Harry pulled the barrier in on itself. Centimeter by centimeter, the enclosure shrunk, and Harry was yet again amazed by the ease of what he was doing. Still, he kept at it, and almost effortlessly closed the barrier completely. He could feel Voldemort still there, but there didn't seem to be any way to interact with him. So Voldemort still existed – but in a way, he didn't exist. Content that Voldemort wouldn't trouble anyone again, Harry thought It is done.
Suddenly, a burning sensation came from his hip. Recognizing what was going on, Harry again pulled Dumbledore's talisman from his robe pocket. Yet the amulet didn't seem to be content to shine and give off heat, and was dramatically increasing in size. Soon it was too heavy for Harry to hold, and he was forced to drop it on the floor. The amulet grew to 2 meters across, and was no longer shimmering in different colors, but appeared to be a pure white. Crackling light blue streams arched across its hallow center, and Harry felt a stream of air coming from behind him.
The stream quickly grew to a torrent, which was being sucked into the portal. The jet tugged at Harry, pulling him towards the gateway as well. He slipped and fell to the ground, trying vainly to hold onto something, but failed and was pulled into the crackling portal. Hesitantly, Harry opened his eyes. The inside of the portal was unlike anything Harry had ever seen. There were colors that weren't meant for human comprehension, and sounds which were somehow infinitely complex, yet almost understandable. Harry felt his head swimming, but just before he lost the battle to hold onto his sanity, he felt something flat hit his face. Hard.
Harry cautiously opened his eyes and saw that he was lying on a stone floor. He warily got up, and heard a voice call from behind him, "Excuse me, but what are you doing here?"
Harry turned around, to see an amazing sight. Dumbledore. And he appeared exactly as he did when Harry attended Hogwarts. "Albus?" Harry asked, amazed.
"Harry?" Dumbledore asked back, apparently as shocked as Harry was.
"Wait a minute," Harry said, mostly to himself, "I'm the one who travels back in time?"
"Travels back in time?" Dumbledore asked curiously. Harry fumbled around in his robes and handed Dumbledore a bit of blue parchment.
+7018.45 days
55° 25' 03" N
2° 43' 29" W
Little Hangleton
Riddle Manor
Sitting Room
-0.00 days
51° 30' 17" N
0° 06' 48" W
London
Ministry of Magic: Department of Mysteries
Underground Chamber
Dumbledore examined the parchment, and Harry explained, "You said I needed to track Voldemort traveling back in time, that he would release himself from the Sphere of Madness. What's going on?"
Dumbledore stood and thought for a minute, obviously trying to figure what was going on. Finally he looked up and slowly said, "I'm afraid that you're the one that must open the sphere."
"What?" Harry asked, alarmed.
"You must open the sphere," Dumbledore repeated. "It was never Voldemort who traveled back in time. It was you."
"But… the death eater attacks," Harry sputtered, "all of that – it's because I release Voldemort myself? No!"
"You must, Harry," Dumbledore replied softly, "Otherwise history will reshuffle."
"Reshuffle?" Harry asked, ashen at the recent developments.
"If you cause a paradox with history, killing your grandfather or such, history reshuffles itself. It is unclear exactly what will happen, but it's easily possible that the world will change to a reality where Voldemort is in power. His being free for twenty years is negligible against what could possibly happen if you don't release him."
Harry finally conceded and slowly walked towards the black orb, which was shimmering darkly in the center of the chamber. Harry cleared his mind and with all his might whispered, "Permissi Communatatis." He achieved what he hadn't been able to do two decades ago, and the sphere broke down into a dark filmy ash, which was tossed around when Voldemort's spirit quickly fled the chamber.
"Where will you go?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry's jaw fell. It was too much. "I don't know," Harry lied, already realizing what was coming next.
"You must hide. For twenty years," Dumbledore said softly
Harry weakly nodded, and whispered, "How do I leave?"
Dumbledore gave an encouraging, yet sad, smile, and said, "You can apparate. I haven't put the wards up yet."
Harry, trying not to think, apparated out of the building and ended up in a nondescript landscape he didn't recognize. It didn't matter anymore. Harry collapsed on the ground, horrified. He was 'the other one' that Ginny had talked about. He was the leftover from traveling back in time. The full realization hit him – he couldn't see his wife. She was 16 years old right now. He couldn't disrupt time – otherwise Voldemort might come back to power. He had finally bought the world freedom from Voldemort, but at the cost of 19 years of exile from everyone he ever knew. Harry set off across the countryside. The price wasn't merely high. It was unspeakable.
---
Well, the story's finally finished!
I mentioned there were two little quirks with the book – they have to do with the author. Salle du 'Dumb-Bore'. Salle du is French for 'Room of the'. Hence 'Room of the Dumb Bore' – the history of magic classroom. However, 'Salle du Dumb-bore' is an anagram of Albus Dumbledore – the headmaster himself wrote the book.
You can see that this is really only one half of the story. The other half is Dumbledore's – how he found the older version of Harry in the chamber, how he deduced from Harry's comments what had happened, and how he steered Harry into fulfilling his destiny (just not the way Harry had thought).
Full points to Kim for his prediction on who opened the sphere!
Lakergurl: Well, I imagine Ginny's would be beyond mad, finding that Harry somehow aged two decades in one morning.
DragonLord: Yeah, the Legion should hopefully get going a little faster now.
A big thanks to all those reviewed! If you like this story and haven't checked it out already, take a look at 'Harry Potter and the Legion of the Shadow'.