Chapter 6: The Journey from The Witch's Hump

The last two months had been rather tedious. Evan had started his new teaching job and unfortunately was starting to feel more and more like Snape each time the bratty teenagers thought they could get away with ignoring him, skipping class, or setting things on fire. That had lasted a few weeks before he gave in and tried channelling his more commanding professors - McGonagall, Lupin and sadly, mostly Snape. After a few false starts, more than a few threats and one notable case of whispering 'boo' in a girl's ear each time she ignored him for a week, the classes fell into line. Evan hadn't quite realised how well behaved the DA had been, and wondered how much had been a side-effect of his fame.

Alan was doing well enough at his new school. He'd finally made some friends, but was still a bit of an outsider. Something that the young wizard's inherent, unplaceable oddness didn't help with. Having a pet snake had scored points. Whenever muggles came over Gizmo (he refused to carry mail for a week after Al suggested naming him Snowzer) was sent to roost in a bird box in the backyard. All the magic stuff was kept in an expanded cupboard under the stairs. Evan was still negotiating for a magical builder to install a basement.

But today Evan had more important things to do. He dressed in something of a stereotypical burglar suit since that was more or less what he was up to this evening. Though was it stealing when it was merely in safe keeping for you? Didn't matter, tonight was the night, his greatest obstacle - Dumbledore - was away in Athens on ICW business and Evan could out-sneak any prefect. Even better Al was staying at a friend's place. As he headed out Evan remembered what Hagrid said about Hogwarts being the only place safer to keep something than Gringotts. As the only successful thief of Gringotts, Evan decided to put that to the test. Grinning - somewhat madly - Evan turned on his heel.

The lane from Hogsmeade to the Shrieking Shack was quiet and empty as Evan scurried towards the town. First thing after apparating he'd covered himself with as many disillusion, distraction and silencing charms as he felt necessary.

The sleeping town of Hogsmeade was dark, only a few lights here and there to guide his feet. It was not surprising that Honeydukes was closed and locked. He did wonder how often the owners upstairs were woken up by students sneaking in or out. A couple of quick charms and the door opened for him.

Evan slipped through the shop, its basement and into the secret tunnel. It seemed much smaller returning as an adult. Nevertheless he pushed on, reaching the base of the ramp underneath the statue. A wand tap and a whispered "assendium" both turned the ramp into a set of stairs and created a crack of light where the hump would open.

When he reached the top Evan gently lifted the hump, looking both ways in case there was anyone there. There wasn't. Still silently, he began to worm his way out of the hump. Only to discover that he had grown too much since third year and got stuck with just one shoulder out. With a huff, Evan shifted into his falcon form before somewhat ungracefully fluttering out into the deserted corridor.

Rechecking his disguise charms, Evan headed off for his first target, two floors below. Hopefully Filch wasn't in his office, Evan felt severely in the dark sneaking around Hogwarts without his trusty map.

Descending the last staircase and rounding the avoided corridor where Filch's office hid, Evan was dismayed to see light seeping out under the door. He needed to get Filch out of his office, but how? If only he had the twins here to provide a distraction. Or some Decoy Detonators. Or even some Dungbombs. Evan considered returning to Hogsmeade a pilfering some from Zonko's but decided against it. Simpler was probably better.

Evan quickly walked to the nearest shortcut and soon found himself in the fifth floor west wing. He retreated as far as he could and still see one of the suits of armour. Evan couldn't remember when or why he learnt this jinx, it was pretty useless. Spells moved at different speeds but generally quite fast. Not this one, it travelled at a slow walk, and merely shoved whatever it eventually hit. Probably from James or Sirius, mysterious shoving of people would be their kind of thing.

He took careful aim at the suit of armour and whispered "tardpulsum". All that showed of the jinx was a slight ripple in the air. After a couple of seconds to ensure it was on course, Evan retreated back to Filch's office. Just as he exited the last shortcut he heard the deafening crash of a suit of armour falling over.

Immediately the door to the office slammed open.

"Peeves!" yowled Filch before he marched off in the direction of the echoing armour. Mrs Norris followed eventually, but not without sniffing the air in Evan's direction. Her lamp like eyes drifted over him three times, never quite pinpointing his invisible form before slinking off after her master.

The door to the office was still open, so Evan stepped into an office he'd been in once before. He was after something much more important than unexpected blackmail. Evan quickly found Filch's precious filing cabinets of confiscated objects - specifically the four drawers marked 'confiscated and highly dangerous'. Unsurprisingly it was locked. This time Evan opted for muggle lock picks since a squib wouldn't be able to open them if they needed magic. But he doubted Filch was above getting Snape to booby trap them against magic.

The lock on the cabinet was very basic and shortly done with. Judging by the labels on the front, Filch helpfully filed his trophies by date. Evan opened the '74-'79 drawer - only briefly noting it was three times deeper and five time longer than it rightfully should be. Keeping an ear out for Filch's return, he rummaged through the drawer and quickly found the parchment. The map looked much less interesting than the rest of the contents. A quirk Evan was sure caught the twins' attention. Why would Filch confiscate a blank piece of parchment after all?

First target in hand, Evan closed the drawer. He was unable to relock it with his picks and decided that the risk of it being noticed before he left was less than the he was willing to pay the price of possible Snape conceived pain.

Now he had a quandary, he couldn't disillusion the Map because then he wouldn't be able to use it, but people were sure to notice a floating piece of parchment. So Evan did what anyone fearing being caught with something they want to keep without it being discovered, he shoved it under his jumper. Fortunately, it appeared the Disillusionment Charm still worked, though Evan thought his midriff looked more visible.

Just as he was mentally congratulating himself, Mrs Norris came through the still open door. Evan froze, as her eyes again passed over him. He couldn't just wait for her to go away, and Filch would return any moment. Quickly as he dared, Evan snuck past the cat and slipped back into the corridor. He didn't pause though, since he could see the light of Filch's lantern coming round the corner. Instead heading the other way into the dungeons.

Three corridors and a tapestry later, hidden in a secret passageway, Evan felt secluded enough to withdraw the Map from under his jumper and unfold it. Whispering the password, he smiled as ink blossomed and the walls and halls of Hogwarts appeared. A well practised eye slid over the Map, noting where all the patrolling professors and prefects were. None on the seventh floor or approaching it at the moment. One last check for the office's location and that Dumbledore was still not in attendance, and Evan headed for the Headmaster's office.

He wasn't sure where his next target was exactly, it had been given to him last time, but he felt it was either in the Headmaster's office or his chambers. If Dumbledore had a house it might be there but Evan doubted it. Planning this night he'd considered going to the Room of Requirement first but decided that the Cloak was a greater priority. Both because he needed it more and because the Diadem wasn't going anywhere.

The journey to the gargoyle took a lot longer since Evan paused frequently to check that no one was approaching. But eventually he was reached the gargoyle. Standing there, it occurred to Evan that with the Headmaster away it might not open at all. Not having visited that frequently, bar his sixth year, he wouldn't know. Maybe he should have asked James. Evan shrugged, wouldn't know unless he tried.

Twenty three failed guesses later, he was starting to fear that it was deadlocked. But McGonagall would need access as Deputy wouldn't she? Unless she had her own password. But hers were much more diverse. Trying the few he could remember he lost his patience and reverted to guessing sweets.

"Ice Mice. Pepper Imps. Sho-" Evan stopped midword as he realised the gargoyle had actually moved. With one last check of the Map, the interloper started up the stairs.

At the same time the stone gargoyle jumped four feet to the right, almost eighteen hundred miles away a silver bearded man jumped out of bed. Albus wasn't sure what had woken him. All in all, he'd been having a terrible night's sleep, he'd only just gotten back to sleep after being woken up two hours ago when he was awoken by what seemed like repeated pokes to his rather ticklish ribs. And finally what felt like a mild electric shock. With a sigh he threw his azure and lime dressing gown over his purple pyjamas, and reclined in the armchair of his hotel room.

He wondered what it was. A repeatedly failed assassination attempt? He certainly didn't fell any malevolent magic in the room or at work. A little passive legilimency found no awake minds within reach. Not much magic worked long distance, especially without a token of some sort. Long distance. That was key. What was he far from? Many things. England, home, Hogwarts.

Albus jumped to his feat again at the self induced shock that someone was breaking into his office!

"Fawkes!"

His phoenix was the only way of getting there in a reasonable amount of time. Even he, Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock, couldn't just whip up an international portkey. And the trip to England took a good fifteen minutes anyway.

Where was his familiar? The bird didn't just not come. He might be contrary and like to hide his slippers but he didn't just ignore him. At least not unless he could do it in person. In avian.

Albus wasn't aware of any way of preventing a phoenix from going where it willed, but that didn't change the fact that whoever had broken into his office obviously had managed it.

A sharp twirl and flick of his wand clothed Dumbledore as he hurried for the hotel's apparation point. He needed the next portkey to England. Five minutes ago.

Evan had been lucky that the resident he'd forgotten about remembered him. He'd barely taken three steps into the office before the fiery bird squawked and flitted over to perch on his supposedly invisible shoulder. Fawkes leant forward and engaged Evan in a staring contest, piercing him even more keenly than Albus' eyes ever had.

A minute passed before Fawkes let out a soft trill and rubbed Evan. He flapped back to his perch and tilted his head as if in question.

"Nice to see you again, Fawkes," Evan said, receiving the same trill and look. This was their first actual meeting, but Evan couldn't shake the feeling that Fawkes knew exactly who he was, Fidelius or no Fidelius. "Ah, do you mind not fetching Albus? I'm not ready to talk to him yet."

The phoenix bobbed his head.

"Brilliant, thanks," Evan said, stroking the bird once more. "Now if I was Albus and I wanted to hide something I thought was a clue to my deepest desire, where would I put it? Oh well, simple first. Accio!"

Nothing stirred. Except a couple of portraits which appeared to be having more and more difficulty pretending to be asleep. Now that he remembered their presence, Evan was surprised they hadn't said anything about his. On closer inspection... Damn, someone's done a runner. Constant Vigilance! Evan quickly cast a middling binding spell on the portraits, keeping them in frame and a couple of the strongest locking charms he knew on the door.

Ten minutes of fruitless searching, including Albus' chambers (Evan wasn't quite sure he wanted to know how the Marauders learned to get there), Evan admitted he wasn't going to find it. Time to enlist some help. Especially since it sounded like Snape was cursing the door.

"Fawkes, could you show me where Albus hid what he's keeping safe for me?"

The phoenix looked at him and shook his head. Evan wasn't sure that meant he didn't know or felt he'd betrayed his familiar enough for the evening.

"Worth a shot," Evan said to himself, before removing his charms and looking up at the former Headmasters and Headmistresses, "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure you're all curious as to why I've come here tonight so you might as well stop faking."

Immediately, there was a cacophony of exaggerated yawning as the portraits pretended to wake up.

"So then?" asked a grave Scotsman that Evan didn't recognise.

"Well, I know how you like to gossip, so I'm going to share with a select group who can then pass it on to you."

At the mention of 'gossip' many of the suspicious faces turned positively hungry.

"What's the test? I hold the record for most points given," gushed one rotund witch.

"The test is, do you know what I'm looking for?"

There was some mumbling before the unfortunately familiar voice of Phineas Black drawled, "And how do you expect us to guess?"

"Aren't you going give us any clues?" a reedy voice called.

"It's a family secret, passed down father to son."

Evan heard a faint intake of breath behind him but resisted the urge to turn around. If the portrait wanted to speak he would.

"An heirloom?" "Why would Albus have someone's heirloom?" "What kind of secret?" The portraits asked again before Phineas cut across them, "Well, boy, what's your last name?"

"I'll tell you," Evan said, thankful that portraits didn't count as living souls, "but I warn you, you won't be able to tell anyone who doesn't already know. If Albus found out who I am, I'm pretty sure I'd drop dead. Vows are tricky things."

"Come on!"

"Potter. My last name is Potter."

The response was more or less as expected, many different forms of disbelief, from laughter to anger. Evan only caught a repeat of the intake of breath because he was listening for it. This time he turned around.

There, quite high and to the left of Dumbledore's desk, stood a man leaning forward, as if he could reach out and get a better look. The same hair, most of the face. Eyes that oddly reminded Evan of Dumbledore. Evan raised his wand and waved it twice, first binding the portraits and secondly deafening them.

"They won't hear us."

"You're not James."

"Part of me is. I'm his son, I'm Harry."

"I may have hung here for almost four centuries but I know it hasn't been long enough for Harry to grow up. You look like James, but he's dead."

"My mother died and still saved my life and saw me grow up. I had to follow her example when my son was in danger. I was offered the chance to come back, in time that is. And to do what I need to do I need the Cloak."

"You say you're a Potter, you even look the part, but I need proof."

Evan raised his right hand, where the Potter Ring became visible, "I am Lord Potter and I wear the ring." A soft golden light flowed from the ring and over him, settling over his heart. It dimmed and reformed into a crest of arms - depicting an overflowing jug, borne by a stag and a griffin.

Headmaster Potter looked down at his own robes where his matching crest had shone in response.

"I, Sir Charlus Percival Potter, recognise the new Lord Potter." The glows faded. "It's in his desk, third draw on the right, fake bottom I think. Albus tries it out every now and again, you know."

Evan followed his great-something-grandfather's instruction and the cloak was there. Hidden under a fake bottom. He didn't put it on, but pocketed it instead.

"Now I feel stupid."

"Does a young man good to be reminded of the fact. I'm going to be visiting my other portraits from now on and I expect a proper explanation of all this."

"Fair enough," Evan replied. There was an airy chime.

"I take it you don't want to meet Albus?"

"No, I'd rather not."

"Well that chime went off because the Headmaster as returned to the country. And it won't take him long to return to the castle."

"You're right. Thank you for all your help," Evan gave a little bow, then turned to the door. "One last thing, I don't suppose there's a secret exit I could use? Don't really want to duel anyone tonight."

Charlus seemed to ponder it, then gave a smirk. "Well since it's Professor Snape, I suppose I can understand your hesitance. He is a unsavoury fellow, isn't he? In the Headmaster's Chambers, go to the wardrobe and push the doors open and you'll find a passage to the fifth floor."

"Thanks again, Grandpa!"

Evan heard a faintly amused "Of course Lord Potter" as the door closed behind him. Halfway down he paused and reapplied his disguise charms. Sure he had the Cloak now but Dumbledore had admitted to being able to see through it. Hopefully the layers of disguise would hide him. As long as the layers of magic didn't attract his attention. Evan mentally swore. Didn't matter, he knew less magic wouldn't work.

He paused briefly behind the gargoyle. He had gotten the Cloak, and that was the more important thing. Did he have time to get the Diadem? Charlus was right, it wouldn't take Albus very long to arrive. In fact, Evan glanced at the Map, he was striding up the driveway right now. But getting in again would be much more difficult.

There was a reason that the Sorting Hat placed Evan in Gryffindor rather than ignoring his pleas. Truth was Evan wasn't nearly as Slytherin as he sometimes feared he was, but he could have been. However, fundamentally he wasn't. As demonstrated by the fact that rather than finding a window and flying to the passage under the whomping willow; Evan threw himself under the Cloak, stuffed the Map under his shirt and sprinted for the Room of Requirement.

As soon as he saw the painting of the troll ballerinas, Evan started chanting "I need the Room of Hidden Things" repeatedly, as he ran back and forth. No sooner had the door appeared than he slipped through it.

The Room was filled with aisles of discarded and forgotten junk, stretching off into the distance. Sadly the room had never quite worked the same after Goyle's misadventure with Fiendfyre. Though Neville, the Room's expert, reported it had been healing.

Evan immediately began searching for the Vanishing Cabinet, which he remembered being very near where the Diadem rested. It quickly became apparent his panic was effecting his memory, since he could see any sign of the Cabinet. Perching himself on a long lost barrel of elven wine, Evan racked his brain on where it had been. He'd seen when he hid his potion book in the cabinet, and then used it to mark where.

He jumped back up, he'd gotten the cabinets confused. Spotting a dusty broom resting nearby, Evan grabbed it to speed up his search. He was looking for blistered cupboard and five legged skeleton. After a few minutes flying back and forth, Evan saw it and the Diadem on the bust next to it. He didn't even bother to dismount, grabbing it as he flew by. He headed for the exit as if Fiendfyre was chasing him again.

Dismounting at the door, Evan tucked the Diadem in his pocket and checked the map again. There were a lot more dots scouring the castle than when he arrived. Evan guessed that first thing Dumbledore did after arriving was organise a search of the castle. He'd be safe waiting them out here, no one could enter the Room unless they knew what it was being used for. But he'd be stuck here all night, Evan remembered that it'd been three in the morning when the professors finished the search for Sirius. Considering that it was probably about that time now, they wouldn't be finished before daylight. And Evan would probably have to wait until curfew tomorrow to make a secret getaway. Which he could do, except at some point Al would wonder where he was.

Evan traced his finger over the Map, particularly the secret passages to Hogsmeade. The Willow wasn't an option, Filch knew of the ones in the dungeons and first and second floors, and the one of the fourth floor had caved in. Wait, not yet it hadn't. He traced a finger from the blank seventh floor corridor, down to the mirror on fourth floor. Definitely closer than the one-eyed witch.

Next destination chosen, and with one last check of the Map, Evan headed back into the castle. The first corridor was empty, but Evan passed Professor Flitwick on the sixth floor as he ducked between shortcuts. The secret staircase took him down to the fifth floor where it hid behind a tapestry. He was above to push it aside when he saw the Map out of the corner of his eye. Two dots were very close and if not for the line between them, Evan would've thought they were talking. Professor McGonagall was on the other side of the tapestry. Wondering why she was just standing there, Evan cautiously pressed his ear against the back of the tapestry in hope of hearing something.

"Nick, check the passages on the left, I'll check the right."

With that little warning, Evan brought his wand up in time to surprise the professor when she pulled back the tapestry. No time to even gasp a warning, all she saw was a half invisible form, a wand pointed at her chest and a red light.

Her stunned body fell backwards, entangling in the tapestry and pulling it from the wall. The red flash and ripping fabric caught Nearly-Headless Nick's attention to turn to look.

"Minerva!" he cried, before looking both ways along the corridor, "Show yourself thief! Or are you such a coward you can't?"

Evan stepped carefully over and around McGonagall's stunned form, breathing "I'm sorry." He didn't bother to respond to Nick's taunting. He needed to keep moving, he already heard the paintings fleeing to summon someone. With his luck it would be Dumbledore.

He hadn't made it halfway to the end of the corridor when that passing thought turned true. Who else but Albus Dumbledore would appear out of a passageway no more than thirty yards ahead of him. Evan saw Dumbledore's slight frown as he surveyed the sight of a half wrapped, fallen McGonagall. More importantly, his eyes didn't quite slide of Evan's invisible form. The charms seemed to be holding, for now. Slowly, Evan began to edge past Dumbledore.

"What happened here?" the headmaster asked as he walked cautiously towards his deputy's still form.

"We'd just decided to share checking the passages off this corridor. I didn't see it, but Minerva pulled back the tapestry and was immediately stunned."

"I see," Albus replied, crouching beside MacGongall, "Ennervate."

"Albus! The intruder!"

"Yes, what did you see?"

"When I opened the staircase, his wand was pointing right at my heart. He was hard to see, only half there. Uh, my head."

"Lie back, Poppy will be here soon." Dumbledore stood, and raised his wand and swished it. "Hard to see?"

Evan was just sneaking around the corner when he felt the swooping, shadowing sensation of the revealing charm he remembered from the Rookery. He had no doubt that Dumbledore knew where he was, and instantly started sprinting for the mirror. He barrelled down another secret stair, and it was only a hundred yard dash to the mirror.

After seeing him duel in the past, Evan really should have realised how fast Dumbledore was on his feet. He maintained his lead, but didn't manage to extend it. He was soon charging down a corridor with an oval, full length mirror hung at one end. Desperately asking the Map for directions on opening the secret passageway. The Map obliged and Evan only looked up just in time to stop himself crashing into the mirror.

He raised his wand, ran it around the mirror clockwise, said "inspeculus", and circled it back anticlockwise. There was a peculiar feeling of vertigo, and his reflection swam, before disappearing. The image in the mirror was much the same, though on reflection/closer inspection it seemed to now be a window. Evan's reflection was gone, replaced by a decelerating Dumbledore.

Fearing that the Headmaster would be able to open the passage even if he'd didn't know how, Evan hurried down yet another staircase. As the spiral descended much further than Evan thought necessary, he realised that he wasn't sure where the tunnel went. It headed in the direction of Hogsmeade but the map didn't show where.

The tunnel was much straighter than the rabbit run to Honeydukes, and thankfully tall enough that Evan could stand up. It was also wetter, and Evan twice stepped in ankle deep puddles. The journey to Hogsmeade also seemed shorter, but he wasn't sure how much of that was because of the more direct path. Eventually the tunnel ended in two doors, one of which seemed solid stone. Both had carvings, the stone of a scantily dressed veela like woman, the wooden a handsome, shirtless man.

The stone door didn't even have a handle, making Evan's choice for him. He pulled open the other door and was surprised to see a ladder. With a shrug, he began to climb, quickly reaching the top where he found a mirror hanging behind him. Shuffling to face it in the cramped space, Evan tried to deduce how it worked. Curious, he touched it and the image wavered, changing into what looked like an empty restaurant bathroom.

Guessing it worked the same way as the other mirror, he circled his wand, said the password and circled the other way. Nothing happened. He sagged back against the ladder, it couldn't have a different password could it? He wasn't even sure what inspeculus meant, it sounded like something to do with spectacles not mirrors. Drawing circles in the air it occurred to him that he was on the other side of the mirror. He leant forward to test his theory and was rewarded when circling anticlockwise first resulted in him standing at a sink.

He threw the cloak back on and made his way into the restaurant, hoping no one would pay attention to the door. Evan was surprised to find the 'restaurant' was none other than the Three Broomsticks. He could see why it caving in had upset the twins so much. He invisibly slipped across the crowded room and waited by the oak front door.

A short wait and he was out into the crisp early morning air. He walked down the lane to where he'd first appeared before disappearing with a crack.

Author's Notes:

Surprise! I'm not dead. Though this story may be dying. I'm going to keep at it off and on, but I make no promises. A couple of minor edits have been made. Expect to see a deluge of unrelated plot bunnies in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully setting them somewhat loose will get me more in the mood to finish this. It is mostly plotted, just got to write it.

Yes, Evan should've made the Room of Requirements into a secret passage, but then he wouldn't have been chased out of the castle by a geriatric.

I will just take a moment to answer a couple of points brought up in people's reviews:

The plan is for this to be wrapped up quite quickly. Evan's future knowledge has lead to an unbalanced playing field (for now). So don't expect a full account of Al's years at Hogwarts. In fact as you may have deduced from the chapter titles, I hope to finish this in seventeen.

On the subject of pairings, I don't see this story lasting long enough for the kids to get to that point. And even if does, neither Evan/Ginny (way too creepy) or Al/Ginny will be happening. I have an idea about Ginny I'm still toying with. Evan might find someone, if Al gets his way. It's admittedly weak so far, but the main interactions I was interested in exploring were Evan, Al and Sirius'.

As for the prophecy, yeah, it's contrived, but that's just Fate being a whiny witch trying to get what she wants.

Nefra – you give me too much credit, that explanation was more of a retro-active handwave than anything else.

George17 – I'm going to cop-out and say that Fate was working to ensure Pettigrew's escape. Maybe portkeys are harder to block or something? Yeah, I'm not happy with it either, but I'm not that concerned.

And I can't believe you would condemn occasional silliness, it's good for the soul.

Next up: The Consorting Rat