Much to Learn

Harry's head throbbed as he searched through the snow and foliage, discarding in a pile twigs and the broken pieces of furniture that used to be in his parent's home. Of course none of it was ever alive, but Harry still found himself wondering if it felt as lost and out of place here as he did.

"I told you that going inside was a bad idea," Ginny gently chided him as she continued her own search in another area.

Harry sighed, knowing he had this lecture coming, as it was pretty much his fault that they were here, where-and-whenever 'here' was. "I know," Harry acknowledged.

"Of course I knew what that place meant to you, which is why I didn't fight you too hard on it," Ginny continued, "though it was only on the condition that you didn't touch anything that looked fishy at all."

"You're right, Ginny," Harry agreed, sighing again as he came across the broken remains of his broomstick. That was the third one he'd lost, not counting the toy broomstick he had as a child before Voldemort had first tried to kill him years ago, and this one was practically brand new too.

"And now we're stranded who-knows-where because you had to pick up a broken Time Turner," Ginny scolded him, though there wasn't as much heat in her voice as Harry had expected there to be, as much as he deserved.

He suppressed another groan as he recalled the moments that lead to them being here now. He and Ginny had been debating on whether or not he should return to the re-built Hogwarts to complete his education. Ginny pointed out that he practically didn't need to. Harry had accomplished some rather advanced magic during his quest to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes, not to mention the duels he'd engaged with the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself during the seven years that passed since he first learned that he was a wizard. In fact, practically everyone from the Ministry to Flourish and Blots was begging for him (the Boy Who'd Lived, Vanquisher of Voldemort, etc.) to come work for them. Even Mr. Olivander offered him a job in his shop, claiming that he was getting too old to run it by himself, though Harry suspected that Olivander had heard the rumors that Harry had inherited the Elder Wand and wanted to inspect it for himself.

That, in Harry's mind, was the whole problem. None of them wanted him, only the legend he'd become since he'd stopped Voldemort's reign of terror. Nobody, save perhaps Ron and Hermione (and them only barely), truly understood that he'd only gotten through what he had with the help of his friends, a great deal of luck, and because Dumbledore had manipulated the path he was on from behind the scenes. As for Voldemort, it was more like he self-destructed more than Harry doing anything special (beyond destroying the Horcruxes). There was still so much that Harry felt that he didn't know, and he wouldn't feel right accepting his dream job as an Auror, or any other, without anything less than a complete education.

So it wasn't a matter of if he would complete his education, but rather how. On one hand, he couldn't deny the appeal of returning to Hogwarts with Ginny, especially since they would logically be in the same year and maybe even be in the same classes together. On the other hand, he wasn't sure about returning to a place that held so many sad memories for him. Though he'd heard that they'd rebuilt it so that it looked much like it had before, that was still the place where he'd lost so many people that he cared about: Cedric, Dumbledore, Fred, Remus, Tonks and, though he didn't think so at the time, Severus. Though he never seen their ghosts roaming the halls when he was there, to Harry that place was still full of them.

That was what led Harry to taking the trip to his parent's house, where his sad story began, and convincing Ginny to go with him. He would have felt better, and less self-conscious, if Ron and Hermione had came with them too. However, Hermione had her hands full helping the Ministry officials track down her parents and undoing the memory charm she'd placed on them, and Ron went with her for emotional support.

When he'd found the Time Turner, Harry had felt himself drawn towards it, it's unique design convincing Harry it had to be his mother's, and he wound up reaching for it before Ginny could warn him otherwise. When he'd made contact, it began spinning out of control, and a powerful vortex began pulling in everything that wasn't nailed down or stuck in place with a Permanent Sticking Charm. Harry had managed to hold onto the edge of a counter against the pull, catching Ginny as she was sucked back towards him, before the rotted wood broke off in his hand and they were sucked into the vortex together.

His mind returning to the present, Harry felt a moment of relief when he finally found his wand in the snow, and it was intact, but that relief faded quickly when he found Ginny's broken wand right next to it, its halves holding together by its core. "I know, I'm sorry," he told her, "I just thought it might have belonged to Mom, or have been made by her. That's all."

"I understand, believe me," Ginny replied, and the sad look in her eyes as she accepted the broken wand from him broke Harry's heart. Harry swore to himself that he'd recover the Elder Wand from where he'd hidden it in Dumbledore's grave and use it to repair her wand when they found their way back. "Time Turners are dangerous enough when they're intact, though," Ginny continued, "and that one was broken by the very curse that destroyed your home, killed your parents, and would have killed you had it not been for your mother's protection."

"You're right, I was an idiot," Harry admitted as he used the tip of his wand to pick up said Time Turner, which he just located, and slipped it into his mole-skin pouch, "I should have been more careful."

"They shouldn't be fighting like this," Harry thought he heard someone saying in the distance, but before he could turn to look, Ginny placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled sympathetically as she said, "It's all right, Harry. We all make mistakes, the important thing now is to find out where and we are, how we got here, and how we can get back home."

"Did that girl just say 'when they came from', Grandpabby?" Harry heard a soft voice say from somewhere behind him, and this time he was certain he wasn't jus hearing things, "Just who are they?"

"Well I have an idea where we may be able to start getting some leads," Harry softly said to Ginny, and he saw her eyes widen as he adjusted his grip on his wand. Then he spun around, placing Ginny behind him protectively, as he flicked his wand and yelled, "Lumos Maxima!" The tip of his wand then flared into brilliance, and Harry caught a hint of movement at the edge of the clearing. Then as the light dimmed again to a normal brilliance, Harry's eyes adjusted again, but he saw no sign of the speakers. The only thing he found where he saw the movement was a number of rounded, moss topped boulders. Aiming the lit wand into the trees, where he saw a blue glow coming from somewhere within them, Harry called out, "Come on out! We know you're in there, so there's no use in hiding!"

For a moment nothing happened, and Harry started to think that he did imagine the voices and movement after all. Then he was startled when the boulders that he and Ginny had walked into the middle of had themselves shuddered and unrolled to reveal that they were not boulders at all. These creatures (assuming they really were creatures and not merely transfigured boulders) reminded Harry strongly of Dobby, though they looked nothing alike. Sure, the largest one was about 3 foot tall, and their faces looked kind like his, but that was where the similarities ended. These things' bodies were much more rounded than Dobby was, as were their large ears, and their skin still resembled the boulders they had disguised themselves as. They all appeared to be clothed in robes of material similar to the moss the boulders had on their backs, which were decorated with strings of glowing colored crystals, and had sprouts of grass for hair.

One of the creatures, whose thick head of grassy hair, caterpillar-like mossy eyebrows, and grassy mane around his neck that made him appear to be the eldest, cautiously approached them and raised his hand placatingly as he said, "Please, young man, lower your wand. My family and I mean you and your girl no harm."

Though this thing's words seemed sincere, Harry decided to take no chances in the event this was some dark wizard's trick, keeping his wand aimed at the speaker as Harry asked, "Who are you? What are you?"

"My name is Grand Pabbie, and this…" the creature told him, gesturing at the others around him as he said, "…is my family of trolls."

Despite the situation, Harry could not help a short bark of laughter from escaping his lips. These things looked nothing like the trolls Harry had ever seen or read about, though they did somewhat resemble the ridiculous troll dolls Muggles had created for their amusement. "I'm sorry," Harry apologized, "but you guys are the furthest things removed from trolls I had ever known."

"Have you known many trolls, young wizard?" Grand Pabbie asked him curiously.

"Well, I have studied about them while at school, and a few had served as guards of sorts after Sirius Black broke in during my third year, then in my first year I had to fight one in order to save my friends' lives," Harry explained, "In general, they're all big, stinky, violent and dumb, and you guys just….aren't."

"I see. You must have encountered our distant cousins, the Mountain Trolls," Grand Pabbie said in realization, "We are Rock Trolls, and I think you'll find us a bit more capable and talented than our odiferous, violent relations."

"Rock Trolls? I don't think I've ever heard about you guys before," Harry said in confusion before turning towards Ginny and asking, "Have you?"

Ginny shook her head no, though her eyes seemed to be filled more with wonder than caution. Grand Pabbie, however, didn't seem surprised or concerned by this revelation as he told him, "That is because we keep to ourselves, not interacting often with humans, whether wizard or not. In fact, as far as I'm aware, only the royal family of Arendelle and a couple of others are aware of our existence."

"Arendelle?" Harry asked him.

"The land in which you now find yourself," Grand Pabbie explained, "In fact, the royal palace is not far from here, in the center of the town just down the mountain and across the fjord."

Harry found Grand Pabbie's cooperativeness and gentle nature comforting, and he relaxed just a bit as he said, "Grand Pabbie…"

"Please, young wizard," Grand Pabbie interrupted, "call me Pabbie."

The name was like a lance through Harry's heart, the similar sounding name reminding him afresh of the pain he felt at the death of his friend Dobby. Regardless, he lowered his wand arm to his side and extended his other to the Rock Troll, who took and shook it as Harry introduced, "I'm Harry. Harry Potter, and this is my girlfriend Ginny Weasley."

Pabbie smiled kindly as he shook Harry's and Ginny's hand in turn, saying, "A pleasure to meet you young Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley."

"The pleasure's ours, Pabbie," Ginny said with her own smile.

"Oooh, you're pretty!" one of the younger trolls said as she took a couple of enthusiastic steps towards Ginny, "Are you and this young man going to get married?"

Harry thought he saw Ginny's face turn as red as her hair, and in spite of the wintery atmosphere around them Harry felt himself grow rather warm as well. Harry then cleared the tension from his throat, changing the subject as he said, "What did you mean earlier, when you said you guys were 'talented'?"

"Just as I said, Mr. Potter," Pabbie replied, "For instance, I know that you yourself have experienced more pain and suffering in your short life than most people should ever have to in their entire lifetime."

"Well, you don't need a special talent to know that," Harry told him, "Just pick up a copy of the Daily Prophet or one of Rita Skeeter's 'books'…"

"You misunderstand me, Harry Potter. Neither I nor mine has seen or heard of you before today," Pabbie gently interrupted again, "As you had suspected, this is not the time you're familiar with. Though the passage of time doesn't mean as much to us, I imagine that by your reckoning this would be somewhere in the late 1700's."

Harry was shocked by this piece of information. It was Ginny who found her voice first as she asked, "You mean to say that we've been sent over 200 years into the past?"

"So it would seem," Pabbie said as he stroked his grassy mane thoughtfully.

"Then how would you know about us, about me?" Harry asked him.

"That was due to the talent I possess," Pabbie explained, "You see, much like the House Elves your kind regularly use and abuse, we Rock Trolls possess and can perform magic without the use of wands, though our specialty lies in the area of healing and memory magic. Though we generally don't use it to impose on other's privacy, I could not help but feel your pain it was so strong, much like it was when I asked you to call me Pabbie. Sorry for that, by the way. I imagine you knew someone with a similar name?"

Harry took in a shaky breath as he answered, "His name was Dobby. He is….was a House Elf, and one of my closest friends. He sacrificed his life saving mine as he rescued me and my friends from Malfoy Manor."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Pabbie said sympathetically, then he waved his hands and Harry saw a stream of sparkles rise from his head and condense into a cloud before him. As he watched, a scene appeared in that cloud, and Harry saw himself and his friends around Dobby's grave at Shell Cottage just after they'd buried him. As he felt Ginny slip her arms around him comfortingly, much like she had back then, Pabbie continued, "You truly are not like others of your kind, showing such care, compassion and respect for a being others had dubbed a 'lower life-form'. To honor such a person as yourself, and because your pain is so great, I can offer to take that pain away: I can change this memory, as well as your other painful moments, into more happy and peaceful ones before returning them to you if you wish."

For a moment, as his body trembled with the tears he wouldn't shed and the sobs he kept from escaping his lips, Harry was tempted. Then he took a steadying breath and shook his head no as he said, "I thank you for your kind offer, but I must decline. My friend Dobby was brave and noble, and I would not dishonor his memory by choosing to forget or modify it in any way."

Pabbie nodded his understanding, and the cloud of memories returned to Harry's head as Pabbie said, "You truly are a noble wizard, whose wisdom far outstrips his years. If there were more like you in the world, then perhaps we wouldn't need to remain hidden. As it stands to the contrary, however, I must ask that you keep our existence a secret from your brethren, should you manage to return home. I'd send you myself if I could, but I'm afraid we have no talent with that form of magic, and I don't know who does."

Harry had no problem shaking his head in agreement, and he saw Ginny do the same beside him. Harry could see how some unenlightened wizards might misuse the Rock Troll's talents, and Harry had no desire to be the start of that practice.

Ginny then pointed off into the wooded area behind the trolls and asked, "Pabbie, what is that glow over there? Is that the town you mentioned?"

Pabbie smiled as he said, "No, my dear. That's just a stream."

"That's a stream?" Harry asked in surprise and disbelief.

"Yeah, and it's very pretty tonight!" one of the youngest trolls said enthusiastically, and as she gripped his hand with her tiny one Harry was surprised that her skin felt as hard as it looked as she tugged on his arm, saying, "Come on! Come see, come see!"

Harry did not wish to offend them, and if he was honest with himself he was rather curious as well, so he and Ginny followed the group through the trees until they found another clearing near the banks of a stream, which was indeed glowing. Harry had heard about brooks sparkling in the daytime, and he had the opportunity once to experience one while he and his friends were on the run during their quest for the Horcruxes. This was the middle of the night, however, and this stream wasn't sparkling so much as it was glowing blue. "How is it doing that? Is it enchanted or something?"

Pabbie smiled patiently as he said, "No, Mr. Potter, at least not as far as we know. The stream's glow comes from tiny algae flowing in it, which itself glows in resonance with the Northern Lights overhead."

Harry looked up and found the Aurora to truly be dazzling. Of course, growing up in a Muggle household, Harry had known about the existence of the Northern Lights, as well as what caused them to appear. However, reading about them and seeing them first hand were two entirely different things. As he looked, however, Harry saw something else beside the lights that made his jaw drop even as he heard one of the youngest trolls ask, "Grandpabby? What is that up there?"

"Oh my!" Pabbie said in a voice full of wonder, "That, child, is something I have not seen ever since I was as small as you are now, and even then it was a rare sight indeed. That is a very rare species of…"

"Dragon!" Harry cried out as the glowing beast swooped down towards them and he aimed his wand at it while most of the trolls rolled up into boulder form. Before he could think to cast a shield spell or anything, however, the bright blue dragon opened it's mouth and Harry rolled out of the way to dodge the misty breath that came out in passing. Ginny, however, wasn't as lucky, and she stood standing where she was as if Petrified once the mist around her cleared.

As the strange, glowing dragon circled around for another pass, Harry brought his wand to bear again, but when he felt the touch of his hand Harry looked down into Pabbie's pleading eyes as he asked, "Please, Harry, don't harm it. I know what experiences you've had with dragons, but they're truly noble creatures, and especially that breed in particular."

Great, he's just like Hagrid! Harry groaned to himself. Aloud, he said, "I'll do my best, but I can't let it hurt Ginny either." Harry then focused on the dragon, which was swooping towards them once again, and he waved his wand and cried out, "Stupif…!"

Before he could finish the spell, Harry saw a flash of light and felt a severe pain in his wand arm. When he looked, he saw that arm from wand tip to elbow completely encased in ice. When he looked in the direction the blast came from, Harry's jaw dropped once again. Swooping down over the treetops was a beautiful young woman. Sliding down on an ice ramp that formed just in front of her, she had platinum blond hair and was wearing a powder blue dress that sparkled in the glow from the stream.

What stunned Harry the most about her, however, was that she didn't seem to be wielding a wand in either hand. In fact, the ice magic that was creating the slide bringing her down to the ground seemed to be coming directly from her hand, nor did she seem to be uttering any incantations. When she landed, the young woman aimed her hand at Harry, and she fixed her angry eyes at Harry as a ball of snow flurries formed in front of her palm as she tensely asked, "And just what do you think you were going to do to my dragon?"