Times of Trouble

The world stopped spinning and Hermione quickly pulled the long chain off of all of them with Ron’s help. Harry and Neville did a quick levitation charm on their captured Death Eaters to stop them from falling flat on their frozen faces.

Once that was completed Harry took a look around. They were all standing on a rather cold and deserted moor.

“Lovely place that time-turner dropped us off at," Ron commented, as he cast warming charms on everyone.

“Boys!” hissed Hermione. “Why are you doing magic? We can’t do it outside of school!”

Ron looked at her in disbelief, “How else are we supposed to get out of here? Take a look around, we’ll freeze from exposure before we walk out of here.”

“Oh!” she looked around and turned red as she took in their surroundings. Neville and Harry chuckled.

“Besides,” Neville said, “our magic should set off the traces and we’ll be found by an adult. I think the Death Eaters will easily give us due cause for the magic.”

“If there are even Death Eaters in this future,” Hermione said quietly.

Harry frowned at that comment. True, they'd told the Dumbledores and Grindelwald many things during their last few days in 1899, but had that really changed the future so much as to eliminate Voldemort and his Death Eaters? He could only hope.

"Well, might as well get comfortable," Hermione said as she summoned a blanket and plopped herself down on it. The boys quickly joined her, Harry and Neville lowering the Death Eaters to rest nearby on the cold ground.

After awhile huge and magnificent raven swooped down from the sky. It let out a loud, “Caw!” as it landed and began to painfully change. As Harry watched a very old, gaunt man stood there, a ring on his belt filled with pieces of skin.

“Well, would yeh lookie here, why do yeh keep findin’ me? And if’n I was a bettin man I’da say yeh jus’ came from 1899.”

The four of them just stared at him for a moment, and then Hermione began laughing hysterically. The boys stared at her, wondering what was quite so amusing.

When she caught her breath she said, “Why, hello Preston Turnipseed, I see you’re still alive, though I would’ve expected your mangling of the English language would’ve ended by now.”

He let out his own chuckle, “Why, my dear Ms. Granger, I can speak the Queen’s English when I bother myself to. But, see’n how yeh knew me back when I was but a little tadpole. I canna help but relapse. Besides, it's Auror Turnipseed to you.”

She laughed again, and this time the boys joined in. They weren’t quite sure why they were laughing, but the fact that they were in the future again and that they weren’t being yelled at was hopefully a good sign.

When they all stopped Preston clapped his hands and spoke, “Now then, a few people yeh knew well in the past sent me to keep an eye out for yeh today. I suppose yeh all decided upon a day to arrive. Since yeh four were kidnapped and taken to the ministry by a small group of terrorists only a day ago, yeh picked a good day to return.”

“You mean, these three here kidnapped us?”

“Yes, they took exception to all the changes towards muggleborn policy over the last century. Plus the fact Britain granted refuge to every Skinwalker in the Americas that felt in fear of their life. Let me tell yeh - that almost started the third war between Britain and America, luckily those humanists over there saw reason. They’re also startin to have some issues without us to hold back the nastier creatures. But that’s not important at the moment. I’ll give yeh my autobiography to read later, if yeh want the details. So, back to the Death Eaters, they heard of a weapon that could only be wielded by a pureblood, but caused insanity. So they decided to capture three pureblood ‘traitors’,” he gestured to Neville and Ron, “to use for the weapon. Harry and Hermione here, along with Luna Lovegood, went chasing after them. A fight ensued and I hear there’s a new cyclone in the Department of Mysteries.”

Ron frowned, “You said three purebloods, who else?”

“Oh, who else? Your little sister. But, don’t worry. Ms. Lovegood and Ms. Weasley are safely at St. Mungo’s. We were just waiting for yeh to return. Yeh see, even with all the changes that occurred, we had to ensure the cyclone was created. If we didn’t yeh’d run into yerselves and that might get messy.”

Hermione looked like she was in pain, “So you sent our other selves into the past with some Death Eaters?”

“Don’t worry about them Ms. Granger. Knowing all of yeh, I’m sure they’ll fix everything in their own way. Though, I recommend that yeh come clean with those close to yeh. Gellert said he would tell 'em some of it, but the details are up to yeh.” He pulled out an old, antique pocket watch and checked the time. “Good, it’s almost time. If yeh would all grab a Death Eater and then reach out to take this.” He put the watch away and pulled out several long metal rods.

He attached one each to the three Death Eaters, before holding out a fourth to the four of them. "This one here'll take yeh to where things can be explained. Once yeh're off I'll go process those three." He waved his hand at the frozen Death Eaters.

"Thanks, Preston," Harry said.

Preston let out a snort and gave them an impressive, but amused glare. "That's Auror Turnipseed to yeh. I do believe I have a century on yeh now."

Neville chuckled, "Ah, but we knew you when you were but an excited first year. Didn't you go on about how shocked you were to go to Hogwarts as we crossed the lake? Hard to see that little boy as an Auror."

Preston gave a deep, "Hmph," and pass the four of them the rod as they all chuckled.

It took a bit of finagiling, but eventually the rod was touching all four of them, and a minute later Harry felt a hook in his middle as they went spinning.

They landed in the lobby of St. Mungo’s and Harry looked around somewhat nervously from where he had landed on the floor. So far, nothing looked different.

“Ah, I see you arrived safely this time.”

His head whipped towards the sound of the voice. Standing there was a very familiar old wizard. Beside him were three more people. Two old wizards and an old witch.

“Dumbledore.”

“Yes?” three of them responded. Before they glared at each other.

Harry chuckled, his friends joining him. He couldn’t believe it. They’d done it. There stood Albus, he wasn’t the ‘Greater Good’. And beside him…

He scrambled to his feet. “You’re all alright. Grindelwald?” he asked, looking at the only one that hadn’t responded to Dumbledore.

The old wizard smirked, “I do believe that’s my name.”

The witch, Ariana Dumbledore, looked pointedly around the lobby of St. Mungo’s. “I think we should move out of the lobby. The families are on the fourth floor. We can talk later, once everyone’s reunited.”

“Great idea Ari, always knew you were the smartest of us,” Aberforth Dumbledore said, leading the way to one of the magical lifts.

“Of course, and don’t you forget it,” Ariana said, stepping forward to walk next to Aberforth.

Harry looked over at Albus, a familiar twinkle was in his old Headmaster’s eye. “Harry, I suggest that you and your friend’s listen to my sister. She doesn’t do well when crossed.”

“And she is your Headmistress,” Grindelwald added.

Then the two old men made their own way towards the lift. Hermione and Ron eagerly followed them, it had been over a year since Hermione had seen her parents and several months for Ron. He was also worried about Ginny and Luna. He’d felt bad leaving them in the future. Though he knew these two girls weren’t the same ones, he still felt responsible for any injuries they had sustained.

Harry watched them go before looking over at Neville, “I suppose we should go up there.”

Neville gulped, “You’re right. My Gran is likely fit to be tied.”

“You faced down Donald Longbottom, I’d think your Gran would be nothing.”

Neville smiled weakly, “It’s different.”

Harry didn’t quite know how it was different, but then, he didn’t exactly have a terrifying grandmother. Or any grandmother. So he merely clapped Neville comfortingly on the shoulder and headed to the lift.

Sometimes just understanding that you couldn’t understand was enough.

XXX

Hermione ran into the room and made a beeline to her parents. She hadn’t seen them since Christmas during her fifth year. So many things had happened. She knew she’d have to tell them all of it. About hitchhiking from Poland, living in a laundry, riding a dragon, and, well, all of it. She didn’t want to keep secrets from her only family. Secrets grew and festered. They could cause so much pain.

Smiling through her tears she pulled out of the hug and looked at them.

“Mom, Dad, I’ll tell you everything later. But, just, I need you to know. I was in the past for over a year. And, well, the timeline I was originally on, was different. So, I’m not the person you knew before, not completely.”

Her mom reached out and touched her cheek, “We know, dear. Mr. Grindelwald explained it all yesterday. To all of us.”

She gestured to the room and Hermione looked around. She couldn’t stop from gasping and felt tears running down her face even harder than before.

Neville and Harry stood in the doorway to the room, looking like they’d been poleaxed.

Heading towards them were four people Hermione had never seen before, but it wasn’t hard for her to figure out who they were.

Why hadn’t they ever thought of that before?

She didn’t know, but she was so happy for her two friends. They’d gotten exactly what they deserved.

XXX

Gellert Grindelwald watched Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom be embraced by their parents. Glancing over, he saw that Albus had tears in his eyes. That man was such a sentimental fool, and Gellert loved him for that. Albus had always just wanted to be loved and acknowledged by those he loved, while he himself had always known that he wanted to be powerful. When he was young he had thought studying magic would make him powerful. It had taken him a life and death fight in a small field to realize that true power came from the people around him. Albus had taught him that. As well as many other things.

He’d never seen Albus more powerful than when he was protecting his young sister. He’d never seen Neville Longbottom so competent or powerful as when he was avenging his parents. And as for himself, he’d only ever felt at his best, his strongest, when he had Albus at his side. Whether it was dueling a young Lord Voldemort, aka Tom Riddle, after catching him in a girl’s bathroom with a basilisk - it had been rather fitting when Riddle caught the eye of the basilisk - or personally rearranging the entire Ministry of Magic in Britain and then holding it up to the world as the pinnacle of wizarding government.

Oh, yes, he’d taken the knowledge young Longbottom had given him and combined it with the magnificent ideas that Ms. Granger gave him. The result, when executed by himself and the wonderful Dumbledore siblings had changed the world in marvelous ways. Ariana took Hogwarts by storm. First as a Charms Professor, and later as Headmistress. With her brothers and himself on her side she’d been able to ignore politics and focus on creating the school that it always should have been. The Houses remained, but the Sorting Hat was retired to a museum where anyone could try it on and find their hidden strengths. So many improvements to the curriculum and school safety after Dippet’s forced retirement following the Chamber of Secrets fiasco.

Aberforth had been different. He’d taken affront to being called a paper-pusher and so had refused to enter the Ministry. He’d also had no interest in teaching. He’d wandered around the world for a few years, a rootless vagabond before stumbling upon his own destiny. He’d become a writer. Much of what he wrote was fact, but all of it used with permission. He’d taken great pleasure in bringing in several idiots that had tried to steal people’s stories, like that Lockhart fellow. But, for the most part, his wand stayed holstered, while his quill and legs did all the work. And it looked as if one of his five children would follow on his footsteps. Wulfric Dumbledore was already a world-renowned journalist. Especially after his expose on Rita Skeeter and the corruption in The Prophet.

Gellert had almost started cheering when he read that one. The Prophet had been one of the few places they’d failed to clean up. Wulfric had taken care of that.

Albus and he had headed for the Ministry. As a non-British citizen Gellert couldn’t hold a position, but that didn’t stop him from holding power. Albus handled the public, Gellert handled the private. The two of them were a partnership. They established the Wizarding World Introduction Department. It tracked accidental magic and sent liaisons to the parents of muggleborn witches and wizards as soon as they were discovered. They organized playgroups and field trips, slowly introducing them to their new world. They held seminars for parents about the rights and options their children had. That, combined with a series of important laws revoking pureblood privileges had been Hermione’s best advice.

Ms. Granger had told him she didn’t know about the wizarding world until she got her Hogwarts letter. This Hermione Granger had encountered the world at age four when she accidently made a book fly across the room to her. She met Harry at a play group when they were six. She came to his next birthday party and met Ron and Neville. The four of them were inseparable from the moment the Weasley twins turned Ron’s teddy bear into a giant spider. Gellert grinned at that memory. Those poor twins hadn’t known what hit them. He’d have to find a pensive and share that memory with the time travelers. As well as several other memories. Like maybe the one of Sirius Black marrying that girl, Catherine. Or the one of Ron’s uncles, Gideon and Fabian, winning gold in the team dueling competition of the Olympics three times in a row. Or…

Gellert smiled and shook his head at his foolishness. There were a lot of memories to share. And many of them would need to be shared if the young time travelers were to fit into this new, better world. But there was time for that later, after Neville and Harry got to know their parents.

After all, they had all the time in the world.

Thanks to Harry Potter and his saving people thing.