A/N: Thanks a lot for the reviews! You have no idea how much that means to me that someone reads and appreciates my writing!
Chapter 6: Job Offer
When Harry awoke, he felt slightly disoriented. For one short moment he had the feeling as if he were in the Gryffindor dorm, but then realized that, yes, he was at Hogwarts, but no, he was not in the dorm of the Gryffindor Tower. As a matter of fact, he did not even know which part of the castle their chambers were in.
Suddenly wide-awake, he pulled the curtains open and left the bed. When he stretched, he noticed that he was still wearing his torn clothes from the day before. He sniffed the air and grimaced, thinking that a shower would not be the worst idea, and went through the door that led to the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later, when Harry emerged from the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist, he felt completely refreshed and ready for everything the world, or rather, this time, might throw at him. Disgustedly, he threw his destroyed robes over the chair in his room and then noticed new clothes and black robes on his now made bed. He shook his head smiling. He would never tell Hermione how much he missed the service of the House Elves in his life after Hogwarts.
After having changed into the clean clothes, he left his bedroom, hoping to find his friends already waiting for him. When he stepped into the common room however, he found it completely deserted. So, either his friends were still sleeping or already gone. Harry doubted the latter, so he assumed that they must have been even more exhausted than he had been and were still happily snoring away.
But he had not the patience to wait. Waiting would result in thinking and thinking would result in having dark thoughts that he would rather not have. He needed to do something, something to keep his mind off things like that, something like… His gaze had wandered out of the window and stopped on the Quidditch field.
Harry felt the wind rush past his face and he could not help but smile brightly, as he soared up and down on the borrowed broomstick. It was just an old school broom, really old in his opinion, because his own Firebolt, which he still held dear, even though there were already much better broomsticks on the market, would not be invented for another thirteen years or so. He did not even know the brand of the broomstick he was now using, but it was better than nothing. It had been a really long time since he last had the chance to fly for fun. Flying at neck breaking speed and performing incredible stunts had always helped him to relax. He would just forget everything around him and enjoy this feeling of freedom.
~*~
James Potter was sitting at his wife’s side in the hospital wing, looking down at her sleeping form and the sleeping baby in the small crib next to her bed. He still could not believe it. He was a father. He had a son. Those last nine months he had been looking forward to this moment and now that the baby was really born… It was beautiful “ his son was beautiful. The small feet, the small hands, the unruly mass of black locks on his head that were so much like his own and the green eyes that he had inherited from Lily. He could not wait to see his son make his first steps, hear him say his first words, see his reaction when he receives his first Hogwarts letter and see how his son grows to become a man.
James only hoped that this would happen in a world, where they would not have to fear a Death Eater attack any moment. He wanted his son to grow up in a world free of Death Eaters and free of Voldemort and he would do anything to make this work.
After wiping a strand of red hair from his wife’s face, he got up and walked over to the windows. Ever since he had spent his first night in the hospital wing “ which had been a quite reoccurring event, due to several accidents during Quidditch matches and training and also other accidents “ he had grown to love the view he had. He had always tried to choose a bed at a window, so that he could have a clear view over the Quidditch field. He had loved to watch other teams train and had used this chance to analyze their moves for the coming matches. This was the reason why most of those strange accidents happened that had put him there, this and the fact that he would not need to go to classes.
But this was the past and as much as he wished that things would still be as easy as they had been there, he could not go back. Going back in time and making some things different or better, or maybe just reliving the best moments, was only wishful thinking. The Time Turner could only be used to go back a couple of hours and it was also illegal to use this to change the past. His main concern at the moment were those four strangers. He did not believe that they were innocent and he could not understand how Dumbledore could assume this. They were hiding something and he, James Potter, would find out what it was!
The sun was already setting and James slowly started to feel more and more tired. He had just nodded off now and then at his wife’s side, but other than that, he had not slept for more than thirty hours. So he first thought that his eyes were betraying him, when he saw the black blur zooming back and forth, up and down on the Quidditch field.
He rubbed his eyes and readjusted his glasses, before he took another look. There was indeed someone out flying, but who would be here at Hogwarts at this time of the year? Sirius had told him a couple of hours ago that Dumbledore had offered the strangers to stay at Hogwarts as long as they wished to, but could it really be one of them? He squinted against the upcoming darkness and focused on the figure on the broom. He could make out the long black hair their leader was sporting and scowled. What was he doing out there? Who had given him this broom?
James turned around sharply and left the hospital wing in a hurry. It was time for answers!
~*~
Harry did not know how much time had passed since he had mounted the broom nor did he care. He only knew that it had been a really long time since he last had that much fun and only vaguely registered that the sun was already setting. First when he saw some movement on the ground, he stopped. Due to the darkness, he could not recognize the person and decided it would be better to find out who it was, before he got into trouble. Maybe he should have asked someone before simply taking a broom.
One last time Harry used everything the broom had to give and sped down at an amazing speed, before he softly touched the ground. First then did he recognize the person he had seen. He would have expected anything from facing Mr. Filch to a disgruntled flying instructor, but now that he was facing James Potter yet again, he did not know how to react.
Harry dismounted the broom and tried to hold the gaze with his father, who was glaring at him.
James did not know what kind of reaction he had expected from this stranger, but he was surprised by this one. It seemed as if this young man, who had been so bold only a couple of hours ago, was suddenly being intimidated by him. So maybe now he would get some answers.
“What are you doing here?” He noticed how the young man’s gaze flickered to the broom and back to him. Then something in his green eyeshardened and his back straightened.
“Flying. Is that a crime?” After having first been surprised, he now had gotten his confidence back.
“Who gave you the broom?”
“No one. I took it with every intention of bringing it back.”
“Does Dumbledore know that you are here?”
Harry shrugged. “Doesn’t he always know what’s going on in his school?”
“You seem to know a lot about Hogwarts.” James eyed him suspiciously. “But I’m sure that I have never seen you here before. You must be what? Four, five years younger than me? That means that I must have, if not known, at least seen you at Hogwarts.”
“James, this is enough,” Dumbledore’s firm voice interrupted him. The Headmaster had appeared a few feet next to them seemingly out of nowhere, now wearing dark purple robes and hat. He cast an amused glance at the broom in Harry’s hand and then back at the two young men “ father and son. Now that he had the chance to compare them directly, he had to admit that the resemblance was astonishing. Even though the younger of the two was wearing his raven hair longer and had Lily’s eyes, he was an exact image of his father. He wondered when James or one of his friends would see this. He turned to Harry, trying to avoid speaking his name. “Your friends have awoken and are now waiting for you in my office.”
“Sorry,” Harry mumbled. “I didn’t realize how late it already is.”
“No need to be sorry. I understand that one has to relax from time to time.” Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled at him knowingly. “Oh, and James. Lily asked about your whereabouts. It seems as if you disappeared quite sudden.”
James grinned slightly sheepishly at his old Headmaster and ran a hand through his already unruly hair. “Then I think it’s better when I go back to her.” He shot one more glare at Harry, before he returned to the hospital wing.
When James was finally gone, Harry released a deep breath. “Thank you, Headmaster,” he sighed. “I did not know that he could be that insistent.”
“Did you not…” The twinkle in his eyes had become stronger again, as if he knew something he found humorous and it unnerved Harry slightly. “Whatever, I think we should not let your friends wait any longer, don’t you think?”
~*~
Harry followed Dumbledore through the halls of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, after he had brought the broom back, to the old Headmaster’s office. Not that he would not have found it by himself. He had, after all, walked through these hallways quite often during his school years and spent way too much time in Dumbledore’s chambers.
After having taken numerous turns and having climbed several of the moving stairs, they stopped in front of the gargoyle that was guarding the entrance to the office. Dumbledore gave it the password (chocolate chip cookies) and the door to the spiral staircase that would lead up to the office itself opened. Harry walked after Dumbledore up the stairs and stepped behind him through the last door.
There were four comfortable chairs in front of the Headmaster’s desk, of which three were already occupied by Ron, Hermione and Draco. Harry smiled at them apologizing and slid into the last one, while Ron was grinning, Draco smirking and Hermione was giving him her well-known look of disapproval. Harry, feeling slightly as if he were back in school and he and Ron had yet again broken some school rules, grinned back.
Dumbledore watched this exchange amused and sat down as well. They reminded him a lot of the Marauders, though they were unique in their own way. “Sherbet Lemon?” They shook their heads in unison. “Not? Well, then I think it is time to move on to more serious matters. While you were resting, I did some research on the spell that Voldemort used on you and when you first mentioned it, I thought it was familiar, and indeed, I found many references to this spell, but mostly in history books.
According to those books, a dark wizard, who wanted to use it to get some of his enemies out of his way without having to engage them in a real fight, invented this spell about five hundred years ago. It was only cast by him once or twice and then never again, because there hadn’t been another wizard for five hundred years with this kind of power. There are two facts known of this spell. The first is that this spell transports everyone it is cast upon to the past, but not like the Time Turner. It is written that the spell Proferre Tempus creates a new timeline so that whatever influence the travellers have on the future events, it would not change anything in the present of the caster.”
“Excuse me, Professor,” Hermione interrupted him. “But does this mean that our appearance here doesn’t affect the time we came from, but that by coming here, we actually only change what is going to happen in this time?”
“Sorry, but I don’t understand what you are talking about class,” Ron mumbled, shaking his head.
“Really Weasley, sometime I don’t know if you’re really that stupid or if you just act like this. What they mean is that if we killed Voldemort here in this time, he would still be alive in the time we originally come from. It’s really not that hard to understand,” Malfoy sneered at him.
Dumbledore noticed the strange look that passed Harry’s face for the split of a second, but wisely ignored it. “Both Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy are right. No matter what you do in this time, it will not change anything in your present. The other fact is, and I regret it deeply to have to be the one to tell you this, that up until now there is no way known to send the time travellers back to their time.”
“This can’t be true!” Harry suddenly yelled. “There has to be a way! I can’t just stay here while Voldemort is still out there in our time with no one to stop him!”
Dumbledore looked at the young man sympathetically. In contrary to the young man’s friends it seemed, he knew what this meant and why he was so upset. “Mr. Potter, I know that this comes to you as a shock, but I promise you that I will do anything in my power to help you. My guess is that no counter spell has been found because no one has been looking for it. Maybe we even find a way to return you to the exact moment he had cast this spell.”
“And what do you suppose we could do now?” Hermione asked, still a bit taken aback by this sudden revelation. She was, however, sure that Dumbledore would stay true to his word. She never had had any reason not to trust him, so why should she doubt him now? Ron and Draco seemed to be thinking along the same lines. It was Harry she was worried about. She remembered the changes in him that had started in their sixth year, after Sirius death. At first, she had been happy about his newly won dedication to studying, but later her worries had gotten stronger and stronger. It almost seemed as if Harry wanted to be the one to defeat Voldemort once and for all. Of course, she could understand him, but she also could not forget that other people had lost family and friends because of the Dark Lord, too. Harry did not seem to think so, because his striving to become better and better so that he would be ready, when he was to face Voldemort, had become an obsession, leaving almost no time for fun. She had hoped for so long that they would finally defeat the Dark Lord so that Harry could start living again. She wanted the old Harry, her old friend back, though she knew that he would never be the same again after the war.
“Well, while you are staying here, I would like to offer you some jobs here at Hogwarts. Due to the war and retirements, I fear that I’m in desperate need for some new professors in the coming school year. Does anyone of you have any teaching experience?”
“Mmh,” Hermione nervously fidgeted with her hands. “In my time I teach Transfiguration here at Hogwarts.”
Dumbledore raised one eyebrow, but kept his questions for himself. They would tell him what he needed to know when they thought that the time was right. “Very good, Miss Granger. So Minerva would be able to help more in the war. Would you also take over the responsibility of being Head of Gryffindor?”
“I’d love to.” Hermione beamed at the Headmaster, grateful that she would be able to do something she knew she would be good at.
“I’m glad that you’re satisfied. Mr. Weasley, I also need a new flying instructor, since the last one retired last year.”
“Sounds good,” Ron sighed with relief. “Do you maybe also need Defence Against Dark Arts teachers? Because both Harry and Malfoy would be qualified for this job. Both of them are Aurors, and good ones at that, and Harry already taught his fellow students in a defence club from fifth to seventh year.”
“So, did he? Fortunately, the spot is open, as well as the position as potion teacher and Head of Slytherin House. But I would also like to hear what Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy think about this.” Dumbledore’s eyes again held the infamous twinkle in his eyes.
Draco scowled. “Teaching with Potter? Never!” When he noticed the looks the others were giving him, he heaved a sigh. “With all due respect, Sir, but Potter and I barely manage not to kill each other during our missions, so I don’t think that we should teach together. However, the position as potions teacher sounds interesting, as well as Head of Slytherin. I can assure you that I received an O in Potions in my NEWTs and I was in Slytherin myself. So that leaves the spot as defence teacher for Potter.”
“Very well,” Dumbledore smiled at them. “Mr. Potter?”
“I have nothing to say, except ‘thank you’, Headmaster. I don’t know how we could ever repay you for your generosity.”
“You could repay me by doing a good job and teach your students everything they need to know. There is, however, one more matter that needs to be discussed. It’s about your identities. I don’t think that it would be a problem for Miss Granger to use her real name and I’m sure that Mr. Weasley could easily pass as one long-lost member of the Weasley family, even though I think that we should let Arthur in on your true identity, so that he could confirm that you’re a Weasley.”
Ron swallowed hard, but nodded in agreement.
“Good… Mr. Potter, when you agree, I would also like to let your father in on this. He’s still very suspicious of you and sooner or later will find out the truth anyway. This would also enable you to keep your name, as he could also say that you’re a cousin of him or something.”
“Okay, I guess.” Harry had a bad feeling about this. Not especially about that his father knew who he was, but more about the questions that were bound to come and to which Harry would not know how to answer. How do you tell your parents that they would die?
“Now that leaves Mr. Malfoy… I think you do understand the necessity of changing your name. It is common knowledge that your father allied himself with Voldemort and if it reaches him that a Malfoy is teaching at Hogwarts he would surely send someone to investigate and we cannot risk that the knowledge that Hogwarts harbours a couple of time travellers leaves these walls. Do you have any suggestions?”
“As a matter of fact, I have…” Draco ignored the surprised looks the others were giving him and continued with a smug smile on his face. Did they really think that he had not thought about this? “I was thinking about Eirian Draconis. Eirian is my middle name and means silver. And I chose Draconis as last name, so that my companions could still get away with calling me Draco. They only have to be careful about calling me Malfoy,” he said this while throwing a side-glance at Ron, who was still having the hardest time accepting Malfoy into their group. So Draco treated him with the same hostility he received from the redhead.
“Very well, Eirian Draconis. We will have a staff meeting tomorrow and then I will introduce you to the other professors.” Dumbledore looked at the fireplace in his office thoughtfully. “But now we should call Arthur Weasley and James Potter and inform them about the current situation.”
Ron and Harry looked at each other, both thinking the same “ how would their fathers react?