fHarry Potter and the Convenient Plot Device to go Back in Time and Make Things Right

Sorting out the troublemakers

Later that evening

"... unprecedented. I can't understand your allowing this distressing event to not postpone the introduction of the first years into the school."

"Minerva, as you know, the opening ritual is a magically enforced ceremony, and to not go through with it will only lock each and every room of the castle, even to me."

"I still find it highly unlikely that Mr Malfoy would have had enough magical energy to produce enough power to produce the Killing Curse, let alone his compatriots. I still believe that Harry Potter has played a part in this."

"Thank you Severus, I'm aware of your misgivings, however I will not rule that out just yet." There was a short pause here, "Despite these tragic events, there are still going to be three very traumatised children that survived, and we must do our best to help them through this difficult time, isn't that right Mr Potter?"

Harry groaned, his eyes flickering as he opened them slowly, the medicine still coursing through his veins, and he sat up to see three adults staring at him, a kindly old man with twinkling eyes, a concerned but strict looking woman, and finally a hook-nosed man with greasy hair.

"Uhh..." He held his head, still feeling a little dizzy, "What happened to me?"

"Excuse me, Headmaster..." A nurse bustled by him and smiled at Harry, "Here you go, my dear... Drink this, it'll bring your energy back up."

"Umm..." Harry drank, but was gazing into her face curiously, "Sorry, but who are you?"

"I'm Madam Pomfrey..." She tended to his body, checking out every joint in his body briefly with her wand, "Healer of Hogwarts..."

"Hogwarts..." He turned to the man with the long white beard, "Am I at school then?"

"That is correct Harry." He nodded and smiled gently, "My name is Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster."

"Why am I in hospital?"

The sallow-faced man rolled his eyes, "Headmaster, it would be worthless to question the boy now, he is clearly Confounded if he believes this to be a primitive Muggle hospital."

"Indeed, I was not planning on forcing the poor boy to recall these memories just yet. This is Harry's first day of school."

Harry looked down at him, and saw that he was wearing his robes already, presumably someone had dressed him when he was unconscious.

"Am I in trouble?" Harry asked, his face contorting in confusion.

"Not at all, Harry." Dumbledore held out a hand, "The rest of the school is waiting for you to join the first years in preparation for you to join one of our school houses."

"A-Am I the only one left?"

Sensing his worry, Dumbledore shook his head slowly, "No, we postponed it until you were fit to meet them."

"Okay..." Harry got up, and felt his legs waver a little before strengthening, "I think I'm okay..."

The older woman nodded briefly before striding out, beckoning Harry to follow her. Within minutes they were outside a pair of large double doors, where a large number of children were waiting, looking worried and confused.

"I am Professor McGonagall, deputy headmistress to Hogwarts. After this incident, we will shortly enter the Great Hall, and you will face your first test for entering our school."

She encouraged Harry to go into the group, where he met Ron and Hermione near the front, "Hey you two..." He was bright, "What happened?"

"What, you mean you don't remember?" Ron asked in wonder, before grinning, "I'm not bloody surprised, stuff like that doesn't happen every day..."

"Ron, leave Harry alone!" Hermione cautioned him, her eyes rolling dramatically, "Can't you see he's trying to forget about it?"

"Sorry..." Ron mumbled.

Harry blinked at this, not understanding what they were talking, and was about to press them before the doors swung inwards, and McGonagall strode in, her footsteps echoing in the cavernous room.

Shuffling after her, the nervous energy of the children was spreading to the seated students. Harry looked up to see the ceiling shone with stars, but the banners hanging down were all black. He idly wondered why as McGonagall explained about the Sorting Hat.

As the names were called up, he saw Hermione step up anxiously and be sorted into Gryffindor. When his name was spoken, the hall began to murmur loudly, again he didn't know why, but his happy face shone as he approached the talking hat.

However, the moment it went on his head, he felt his head explode and lurched forward in pain.

"My, my... What have we here? An interesting case indeed..."

"So you know..." The steel determined voice came from Harry in a whisper, so that only the hat could hear.

"Of course I do, I was made to judge people by the four founders' principles. How else can I do that without delving into the mind?"

"Then... where are you going to put me you rejected rag of clothing?" The cackling smile reappeared beneath the rim.

"There are only four choices, and you fit all of them, but only one will be suitable."

Harry's face went through a horrid twisting as the three personalities fought to gain control. Moving from a happy innocent smile filled with amazement at the talking hat, to narrowed eyelids with a killing stare and thin lips, and then to wide flitting eyeballs with teeth baring. To all the pupils watching, they were both intrigued and repulsed at the image.

"There's no option left..."

The Hat cleared his throat as Harry grit his teeth, muttering under his breath, "No, no, no, no..."

"SLYTHERIN!"

The room was battered by four simultaneous explosions.

The first was the roar and cheers that rose up from the Slytherin table, gloating about 'getting Potter', though some hisses also came from that region too.

The second was the cry of agony from the other three tables, though Gryffindor was especially loud, believing that Harry would have joined them given the history with his parents.

Another came from the teachers table, where McGonagall and the seething man bolted to their feet and accidentally slamming the table in front of them, both displaying varying emotions of shock and astonishment. Between them, a man with a turban flinched remarkably, falling backwards from the sudden movement.

Nevertheless, these didn't compare to the scream of outrage as Harry hurled the laughing Sorting Hat into the air as his face of fury was red with the light that was now glowing from the tip of his wand, aiming a fiery curse for the article of clothing, the words to incant on his tongue.

"Harry..."

The powerful, yet calming voice of Dumbledore reverberated throughout the Great Hall, sending the room into silence at the same time.

Harry's eyes mellowed to their neutral gaze, and he lowered the wand to stare at the headmaster.

"The Sorting Hat chooses the best house for you. Despite your misgivings, you should at least accept its answer." The Sorting Hat flew gently back onto the seat Harry vacated, "It would also be saddening to see the Sorting end with you, as that Hat is unique and impossible to recreate it after the burning you would have given it."

Harry put his wand away into his robes, suitably mollified, but remembering the wisdom Dumbledore held in his previous life.

"Yes Professor Dumbledore, I understand completely..."

He spoke truthfully and cursed himself under his breath for losing the self-control he had built up for the past ten years or so.

Stalking over to the Slytherin table, the once happy students were now shirking away from the malevolent aura Harry gave off, and he sat with a full two-person gap around him, with no one sitting opposite.

McGonagall coughed once and spoke the next name, bringing back the relative calm of before, though the tension of what transpired before never really evaporated. Through his tunnel vision of rage, Harry barely caught Ron being sorted in Gryffindor.

"Now, before we begin the feast, I would like all of you to remember the loss of three of our potential students, who died tragically on the Hogwarts Express today. Our noble house banners have been replaced for this one day for the lives of Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle."

Harry's grin grew wider as the hall quietened in mourning.

Later that night
Slytherin Dormitory

In the dungeons, the rooms of the Slytherin students lay, and Harry Potter currently had one room all to himself. Given that two rooms in both the male and female quarters each year were opened up for the new first years, out of the five remaining male students, none of them chose to stay with Harry, which suited him fine.

Once he was left alone, he cast a few detecting spells for any watching eyes, traps or just curious pets. Satisfied that nothing was there with him, and using a different spell to the previous one in the cabin room, he sealed the door.

Lying on his bed, Harry set his face in stone, and pointed the wand at himself.

At that moment

"You." Soldier pointed across the room.

"Who, me?" Psycho grinned widely, both arms now free of their bindings, as he skipped in the mental realm.

"Yes." Soldier pulled out a wand, one that was as battered as him, "You have destroyed all the plans. How are we going to kill Voldemort now from within Slytherin?"

Psycho bounded across several parts of the room, crossing in to the old memories of Soldier.

"Feh... As if I give a shit about your pathetic plans. I don't care what happens, so long as I have some fun, maybe get myself a bit of action..." His face leered as he thought of the previous conquests.

"Dumbledore is sure to interrogate us tomorrow, and he will be interested in knowing why we knew so much about Slytherin."

"Bah, we have the backup..." Psycho thumbed over his shoulder at Child, who was still in his playpen, "Just implant that memory you created and Bumblebore won't know what hit him." Psycho laughed loudly, "Besides, with the amount of manipulating you're planning, maybe the Hat was right to put us in Slytherin."

"Say that again, and I will cause you pain..." Soldier glowered.

Psycho stood in his hunched pose, like a tiger about to lunge for its prey, "I'd like to see you try, old man."

Soldier though about it, but turned around in disgust, "No, we need to be ready for tomorrow, Severus might slip us Veritaserum, we can't be certain."

"I told you we should've offed him from the beginning, but noooo, we had to get rid of Malfoy and his goons. Daddy won't be pleased, how are you going to greet him?"

Soldier turned around with a thin smile, "I have one idea that should work."

Psycho nodded eagerly, like an obedient pet, "Good, good, I look forward to it."

Soldier hardened his gaze, "Don't keep control for too long, your actions might upset things even more. I'll be creating the ideal memories for Child, just stay out of trouble. After Dumbledore sees us, we'll get the Diadem."

"So soon?" Psycho stopped his fidgeting for a second, "Are you insane, that plan might kill us, have you thought about that?"

"Yes, a great deal, but as the saying goes, 'What's the worse that could happen?'"

Psycho was about to say something before Child patted the window with mild curiosity, causing both of them to turn sharply.

"That's the first time..."

Soldier strode over to the one-way mirror and placed his hand opposite Child, who sensed the warmth and giggled, following the hand as Soldier moved his own to the left.

"This has already gone on long enough. Child has acknowledged my existence, and his boundaries. Soon he will break down that barrier, and what then?"

Psycho was picking his nose, flicking the bogeys at the glass, "Buggered if I know, the apocalypse?"

Soldier glared at him once more, "We will talk again, until then, keep out of my business."

"Yes, my Lord." Psycho curtseyed mockingly as Soldier left the mental realm.

Back in the dormitory

Harry opened his eyes, and checked his watch, seeing that an hour had gone by.

"The timeline is already shattered, so from here on, the unknown variables would increase. Therefore by adhering to events that already occurred, it wouldn't help due to the changes." He sat up and opened his trunk, "I must sort out the biggest threat here, before moving on."

He stared at the objects inside, and shut the lid, allowing himself to drift off to sleep.

Next day
Headmaster's Office

"Please recount what happened in your cabin Harry."

The happy child seemed sad and began to speak of the events.

The day before

"So, who's in this one then?" The cabin door was flung open by a person flanked by two people.

Frowning at the interruption, Ron and Hermione stared inquisitively at them, only for their faces to become sinister.

"I see, we've found him at last."

The three boys strode in and closed the door behind them, one of the boys muttering a spell, locking the door.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, thinking that this was a little unusual for a welcome for new students.

"My names Malfoy." He held out a wand and pointed it at Harry's face, "Not that it matters, Potter, you'll be dead soon."

Confused, Harry also pulled out his wand, Ron and Hermione moving back into the corner.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh Potter... Haven't you ever wondered where that scar came from?" Draco, grinned as Crabbe and Goyle were casting difficult to hear spells beneath their breath.

"My... scar?"

"Why yes, Potter. Your scar is proof that you killed the Dark Lord, the man who killed your parents!"

"B-but..." Harry's wand arm was shaking.

"No time to pray, Potter," Crabbe and Goyle at this time had both aimed their wands at Harry too, "This time, we're going to finish you off for good this time."

Draco and his two bodyguards were speaking identical words, and Harry held his wand tighter.

"No!"

Present Day

"... and that was all I remember Professor."

"I see, I thank you for reliving what must have been a traumatic experience, Harry." He gestured with his wand and produced a small glass of Butterbeer, "Here, drink this, it will help you to relax."

"Thank you, Professor."

Harry drank it and enjoyed the mild texture as it travelled to his stomach, "But, why did I survive? I thought I was dead..."

"Well, that's one of the most remarkable things, Harry." He looked to the boy's robes, "Would you mind if I cast a spell on your wand, just to see if my guess was correct?"

"Okay then..." Harry produced and handed it over.

"Priori Incantato."

A silvery globe the size of a crystal ball appeared from the tip of Harry's wand, and Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, as I thought. Somehow, you produced a shield charm, and a powerful one at that. Though the Protego charm only protects mild jinxes and hexes, you somehow deflected three Killing curses back at their owners."

"Killing Curses?" Harry asked, looking slightly grim.

"Yes Harry." Dumbledore sighed, "Magic is an amazing subject to study, however there are sides to it that are to do with the Dark Arts." He looked into Harry's scared eyes, "As you now know, your parents were victims of this curse, though you are the only one who survived it. Please don't be alarmed." He added after seeing Harry's face change, "At Hogwarts, you are as safe as can be. Though those three unfortunate boys attempted this, they failed and died. So far, only you, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger and a select few teachers know exactly what happened in that cabin."

"But, I haven't done anything to hurt anybody..." Harry sniffed, his innocence leaving him for a second.

"Harry, it's good to be afraid, but never forget that the present is now. Fear paralyses you from doing anything in life. You alone are innocent in this, and you have nothing to fear."

The door to Dumbledore's office was rapped on impatiently as he looked up at it, "Ahh, I see our guest has arrived much earlier than expected. Come in!"

The door burst open and in strode a snobbish face with cruel eyes, the platinum blonde hair wallowing in the short breeze it took from the four steps to reach Dumbledore's desk.

"Dumbledore, my son is dead. You will pay for this, the Board of Governors -"

"-Will do nothing at all, Lucius. I have your son's wand here, and had it examined by three of our most skilled teachers, myself added on top of that. There is no doubt that the Killing Curse came from your son's wand."

Lucius become white with either shock or rage, but he was stony in his silence.

"Vincent and Gregory's wands were too badly damaged to reconstruct their previous spells, perhaps due to the effective deflection of young Harry here."

Following Dumbledore's hand movement, Lucius faltered at seeing Harry staring up at him in confusion.

"My son... He could not have produced the power for that spell, Dumbledore, surely you know this..."

"That may be so, Lucius, but after testimony from Ronald and Miss Granger, and of course Harry here, I am forced to agree that he did, as well as a plethora of other spells to avoid detection."

Lucius took the broken wand from Dumbledore and his lips thinned, his eyes growing watery.

"Mr Malfoy..." Harry spoke for the first time, "I... I'm sorry... I just didn't want to die..." He sniffed, "I didn't mean to..."

Lucius stared into Harry's eyes, anger visible as well as disbelief, but he turned quickly and reached the door, before speaking again, "You will not hear the end of this Dumbledore. I will have you removed before you know it."

"Very well Lucius, I will await your letters with patience."

The father of Draco left and Dumbledore sighed, sitting back down at his desk, "Harry, I believe it's time for your first lesson with Minerva. I will accompany you to the class if you feel up to lessons."

"Yes sir..." Harry nodded, "I think I need to get my mind off these things and busy myself with other topics."

"A very mature answer, Harry, but make sure you aren't just storing these feelings up within you to be unleashed at another time when you least expect them."

He nodded again but didn't say anything in reply.

Later that day
Lunchtime

The students were filing into the Great Hall, which was now growing louder from the students rushing from lessons that were on higher levels.

Harry walked in calmly after his interesting lesson where McGonagall had turned from a cat to her human form. That class was shared with the Ravenclaw students, and he noticed how the Slytherin pupils constantly tried to stop them from transfiguring a piece of paper into a sheet of tinfoil.

Shifting as he moved into the hall, he grinned as he ignored the people with robes of green markings and sat on a table with a large number of yellow and orange colours. The noise around him reduced rapidly and he only laughed.

"What? Am I not allowed to eat here or something?"

"Not really, Potter..." A tall boy with ginger hair and a badge with a 'P' on it came closer.

"Why, am I not allowed to talk to my friends then?"

Having caught them trying to edge away from him, Harry managed to grab Ron and Hermione around their necks, pulling them closer from his blind spot. They didn't seem too happy, especially Hermione as Harry's hand was drifting a little further down than necessary.

"Well... I suppose, if Ron is okay with it."

Ron was nodding frantically, however it was unlikely he was agreeing to it whole-heartedly, as he was lacking air to breathe in given the strong grip of Harry.

Releasing them, Harry sat opposite them, and begrudgingly the Gryffindors budged up to give him room.

"So... Dumbledore spoke to you then, huh?" Ron asked idly whilst stabbing a piece of chicken from the middle.

"Yeah, I told him what I could remember, it was just weird how they tried to kill me."

Hermione moved closer, knowing that few people knew about it, "But, you produced really advanced magic, you know?" She nodded, "I read up on it, I think it was the Protego Charm."

"Yeah, that's what the old man said..." Harry waved it off and grabbed some Yorkshire puddings, layering gravy on it, "Still, it doesn't matter, they're dead, and I'm alive."

"Harry!" Hermione was horrified, "How can you say that?! That's horrible, they're -"

"They tried to kill me, Hermione." Harry spoke in a deadly tone, but his eyes were still crazy, "I doubt they would let you and Ron live either, no witnesses you understand?"

"I know the Malfoy family..." Ron mumbled between swallows, "They were one of You-Know-Who's followers, fans of the Dark Arts." He shook his head, "My father, he works in the Ministry, said that they claimed they were Imperiused, and forced to do those things."

"But still..." Hermione pouted, "Killing is bad, and it's always sad when someone dies."

"That's true, but when your own parents were killed, you tend to be glad you're alive." Harry took a big gulp of water, gasping after the cool liquid refreshed him.

"They probably would've been sorted in Slytherin," Ron continued, "You-Know-Who came from there, and there's not been a wizard or witch who wasn't bad that didn't come from that house."

"Oh?" Harry raised an eyebrow and paused in his movement, "Are you saying that I'm going to be evil then?"

"N-No!" Ron waved his hands, shuddering at the same time, "You're just, odd... I can't quite say."

"Yeah, you're a little strange, but I wouldn't say you were bad..." Hermione interjected helpfully.

"Mmm... I like compliments from you..." Harry narrowed his eyelids with an agenda, but only succeeding in send shivers down their backs, before devouring three roast potatoes.

Ron grew gloomier as the lunch hour approached its end, "Next lesson is potions, and we're sharing with the Slytherins."

"So, what's wrong with them?" Harry shrugged, "They're annoying, but I can deal with them my own way." His maniacal grin lit up as he withdrew his wand.

"My brothers said that the head of Slytherin teaches potions..."

Harry's face became a lot cooler, "That will not be a problem, I believe I know how to deal with Severus..."

He folded his hands beneath his nose, thinking deeply, whilst Ron and Hermione watched him carefully.

Lower Dungeons

The room was bustling with activity, Gryffindor students were mumbling to one another, the rumours having already spread to all of them about who would be teaching them. The Slytherins were gloating over what would be their best lesson, but some of them were huddled together pointing over at the Gryffindor portion of the room.

This was due to Harry Potter, who was again sitting with Gryffindors and grinning widely at Ron and Hermione, looking forward to the lesson.

"Harry, I don't think the Slytherins will be happy if you stay near us all the time." Hermione whispered to him.

"Bah, who cares about those little shits!" He replied a little too loudly, drawing their attention, "I'll remind them who's boss when I get back."

Hermione was about to shout at him for the language, before the door burst open, and in walked the man who reminded Harry of an oily bat.

He gave his introduction speech, and all the while Harry was grinning, his eyes flitting from the man's robe, to his hands, his books, and the whole area around Snape.

At the point of when he mentioned the 'select few' who would be good in his subject, he glanced at Harry, then raised his eyebrow at seeing the boy's expression.

"Something funny, Mr Potter?"

"Oh, not really," He was looking intently at his head, "I was just wondering, could bodily fluids be used in potions?"

Snape moved his head back, mildly surprised at such a curious question, "Yes, undoubtedly, blood can be used in select potions, not to mention actual parts such as hair used in the Polyjuice Potion. Why the question, Mr Potter?"

"Oh, I understand now, that's why you're producing your own hair grease, it must be truly valuable for you to have your own factory from your very own DNA. You must produce a hundred gallons a day, right?"

The class went deathly silent, and Snape took a step closer, his face turning a mild form of peach, a great difference from his usual pale white skin.

"What did you say, Potter?"

Hermione was red with indignation, yet Ron appeared to be suffering a fit, holding back his laughter. Most of the other Gryffindors were the same; even some of the Slytherins were choking from it all, despite the majority that glared at Harry with anger.

"Sorry sir, perhaps I wasn't clear enough..." Harry folded his arms and leant back in his seat, placing his feet loudly on the potion counter in front of him, unsettling the components for the coming potion, "I called you a stinky, greasy, git... Oh wait, I didn't mention that you stank of shit, I thought it was your natural body odour. Then again, it could be the ingredients in front of us -"

"ENOUGH!"

The desk banged from a spell fired by Snape, his nostrils flaring up enough to see the dark hairs inside peeking out. As the counter bounced up from the impact, Harry's balance was lost, and he fell backwards.

"You will stand and face me, Potter! Twenty points from Gryf- Slytherin!"

Snape's wrath sent pupils skidding away from his line of vision, but the figure that was Harry got up himself, dusting himself down from his impromptu collapse.

"My apologies Severus, I think someone must have Confounded me..."

"Confounded people do not make sense most times, Potter. And you will address me as Professor." Snape's tone wasn't allowing him to argue.

"So, I was correct in those things I said?" Harry raised his eyebrow, "Very well... Sorry for disturbing your lesson, you may continue."

The objection on Snape's lips died away when he realised that he accidentally agreed with what Harry said. Snickers from various students died away as he furiously returned to his desk and began to bark out orders to make a complex potion, glaring at anyone that dared speak up against him.

The class was silent, save for the clinking of beakers, bursting of flames, sizzling of potions and the occasional cry from an exploding piece of equipment, and the hour went by unbearably slow for the Gryffindors, as the Slytherins were favoured above the others.

Once outside of the class, Hermione and Ron circled Harry as they walked to their next lesson.

"Mate, that was wicked!" Ron whispered in awe, "How could you say that to Snape?" Despite his ambivalence over Harry, he felt he had to respond positively.

"Severus required a subtle message to show that I am not so easily pushed about, though I may have gone a little too far..."

"Harry, how could you?" Hermione once more was upset, "You lost twenty points for Slytherin!"

"Yes, you're right, I should have insulted his nose, I would have lost fifty for that. Thank you for reminding me, Hermione."

Harry walked on to the classroom, leaving her standing there, her mouth open and unable to retort to that, and after half a minute, she finally caught up with them.

"Phase One is complete. Phase Two will begin next week."

Harry spoke to himself amongst the hubbub of activity as the two classes split up, the Slytherins hovering outside a nearby classroom as the Gryffindors moved on to another. Ron and Hermione looked at him with mild worry, knowing that this couldn't mean good things for anyone in his way, before joining the rest of their classmates on the trek to another room.

Within minutes, the Hufflepuff students had joined the Slytherins from their Muggle Studies class, and everyone walked into their class, where a quivering Quirrell was waiting, his stammer getting a few chuckles from everyone as he failed to give an interesting lesson for the first day.

Harry Potter sat there, his hands folded on the table, as he glared at the teacher in front of him. He noted how the Slytherins were tormenting the Hufflepuffs, trying to get in their way and generally spoiling their learning.

Harry grinned as he withdrew his wand, ready to cause more chaos.

Author's Notes

Harry is getting what he deserves, but he is also affecting the future already. Things will only get more insane from here on.

Oh, and there will be unexpected surprises later on.

- J