Flagitious Essence

POP.

The orange swirling and spinning around their heads came to a stop. Lileth had a strange feeling in her stomach, as if she was just flung around in the air like a rag doll. Groggily getting up, she rubbed her eyes and moved back the annoying brown hair away from her face. Harry a few feet behind her began stirring as well let out a painful groan as he landed flat on his face. Lileth brushed the stray dust off her robes and pulled her hitched up skirt back down and turned to face him. The vague image of him grabbing onto the time tuner and placing it over his head was still fresh in her memory, despite a nauseous time travel.

“Idiot! Why’d you grab hold of it? Now we’re both stuck here!” she shot, glaring at the boy in front of her who had his glasses on lop-sided due to the fall. Harry stiffened but then returned the glare in her direction.

“We’re not stuck here, now there’s two of us the quicker we can find out what the horcruxs are-” He cleaned the lenses of round glasses with the end of his robes and began looking around wildly . “-Where’s that letter anyway?”

Shrugging her shoulders, she looked at her surroundings which appeared to be some sort of classroom as there were tables and chairs scattered around the room. It looked similar to their modern day Hogwarts Classrooms but this one was empty and there was no distinctive way to tell for which subject. At the front there was a large desk for the teacher but only Harry and Lileth were present in the room.

“Now what? We just walk out and start introducing ourselves?” She sighed, glancing at the boy who looked just as dumbfounded. Before either could continue to ponder on the matter the wooden door burst open. For a split second Lileth thought they hadn’t travelled back in time at all but just got knocked out and woke up in a different room. Once again, Dumbledore stood and smiled at the two just as he had done a few minutes ago. However, she noticed a difference in his appearance, he looked younger and his beard was not completely white, his robes were not of majestic colours like gold and silver but deep red and brown. The only similarity was his smile and blue twinkling eyes –oh, and he also held
the letter in his hands.

A look of panic crossed Harry’s face and Lileth glanced back unsure, was the 1943 Professor going to recognise them?

“Um, hello?” She smiled weakly not giving away anything in case Dumbledore actually did not know who they were. He looked quite calm as if people often fell through time and landed in his class.

“Hello, Miss Smith” Dumbledore said and nodded at the two who came closer to his desk where he sat down. In his hand was the letter, it was open, within was a single sheet. Lileth wondered if any had gone missing because remembered the envelope being quite thick.

“Hi Professor...could you tell us what year this is?” Harry asked still a bit dizzy from the landing.

“1943, and the date is September 1st, you two are right in time for the new school year.”

“The letter –have you read it?” said Lileth.

Dumbledore nodded at her question and opened up the folds of the parchment. On it was his own handwriting 50 years on from where they were now.

“Yes, I have. I was just about to leave to head off for the feast when you two appeared in my classroom. Quite a nasty fall you took-“ He looked at Harry “-Also, a letter bounced right out of your hand Miss Smith so I went to take a look at it. Extraordinary words written...I would have never thought my future self to send two pupils into the past –let alone become Headmaster of Hogwarts!” He laughed and Harry let out a grin, despite being the greatest wizard in their eyes Dumbledore was as modest as ever.

“Unfortunately Peeves thought it amusing to scare a few first years into running out of the castle, so I had to see to that outside and when I returned you two got up. Quite a challenge I’ve set out for you, well my future self at least.” He looked sombrely at the letter, the Dumbledore they were talking to now was a much softer man who would later have more authority. Although, he did still have an aura of power which came off him naturally, being
Dumbledore.
“Sir, you know about the horcruxs?” Lileth asked trying to read off the neatly slanted words on the letter.

“No, I’m afraid I have no idea what horcruxs are at the moment, the letter describes them as dark objects related to the student Tom Riddle. I have to say I have been suspicious of that boy ever since he came to Hogwarts. The letter also clearly states you will be attending classes as 6th year students and need to be sorted into houses...again?” Frowning he agreed to the request.

“Again? Why, there’s no need we have our houses –Gryffindor” Lileth didn’t like the idea but Dumbledore would have had a reason behind it, maybe to be closer to Riddle? But the chances of her in Slytherin were low, as long as she had a say.

Once again a frown returned to the old man’s face and he stared at Harry as if he finally noticed him there.

“The letter mentions Miss Smith, but not you. Why is that?” Dumbledore quizzed Harry who became slightly red at the comment. Great, a hole in the plan already thanks to his heroic antics.

“He wasn’t meant to come; he kind-of placed the time turner over his head in the last second.” Lileth injected, looking crossly at the boy next to her. The time tuner did not escape like the letter, she felt it safely cold against her neck tucked into her shirt.

“Sort of happened in the moment...” Harry added awkwardly wondering if his actions actually distorted the plan.

Dumbledore nodded but didn’t seem too surprised, instead he smiled at Harry.

“Oh that’s fine, the only slight problem is that you may not have a trunk full of clothes and spell books now.”

“Wait –I have a trunk? I didn’t even bring anything with me?” Lileth was eyeing the letter once again, she was sure it was heavier before. Her suspicions were correct when Dumbledore pulled out a small doll-sized trunk from his embellished pockets and placed it on his desk.

He muttered a spell and the object grew until it looked identical to her trunk back at Hogwarts, well the future one.

“It was in the letter, but unfortunately Mr...- “ He waited for Harry to fill in the gap.

“Potter.”

“Mr Potter will not have any clothes for his stay at Hogwarts, unless he manages to borrow some from a few willing friends, or we could have a house-elf arrange something for you” The professor considered Harry who had a dull look of regret on his face for acting so rashly before.

Lileth was full on grinning at him, trying to hide a laugh that was close to escaping. Harry rather sneak off to Hogsmeade for clothes than have a house-elf knit him a sweater. She might be able to lend him a few clothes but doubted they would fit him anyway.

“Oh look at the time, I thought we should get you sorted into houses but the feast is close to finishing and you both could do with a meal.-” Dumbledore smiled lightly and headed towards the door adding “-don’t worry Miss. Smith, I’ll send up your trunk to your dormitory
but we must really head off to the feast.”

The two followed him out of the classroom into the corridor. Hogwarts looked the same but there was a dull air about it, not as many portraits were hanging on the walls and there were no students, presumably all at the feast. Lileth thought back to the image of Tom Riddle in her head and wondered if she’d see him; now that there was Harry it would be twice as difficult to control their emotions. Yes, their task was to discover the remaining five horcruxs but Lileth still had a nagging feeling telling her it would be so much easier if they just killed Riddle now so there wouldn’t have to be a Voldemort. It was a nice thought, but obviously too much would change in the future and it would’ve been too easy to be true. She was hoping Harry wouldn’t do anything reckless throughout the mission, actually on second thought; they should keep each other in check. Lileth wasn’t so sure of herself sometimes and the pain of her Aunt and Uncle Longbottom being tortured by his followers still caused pain. Her parents worked at the Gringotts bank France leaving her with hardly had any time to see them. Her mother still wanted her to attend Hogwarts so she lived with her cousin Neville and his grandmother, who didn’t Lileth very much, no surprises there. Neville was a sweet kid, despite him being a month older than her; she treated him like a little brother. A soft, longing sort of wrench suddenly hit her heart. She didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to anyone and the mission wasn’t that straightforward. Who knew how long they had to stay here?

“I wonder what everyone’s doing back at home” Lileth smiled at Harry trying to disguise their fears. She knew Harry would miss Ron and Hermione. He was a good few inches taller than her, despite being short for a boy, so had to look down to return gesture.

“Yeah...but I remember when me and Hermione freed Sirius only a second passed since we left. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to find the horcruxs” He said the last part in a hushed voice because they finally reached the open doors of the Great Hall.

Dumbledore turned around and told them to head off to the Gryffindor Table while he headed up to the staff table. The noise grew louder as they approached, the sorting had finished and everyone was digging into the food hungrily. All the same banners for each house were hanging in mid-air with the four house tables below them as they did in Lileth’s time. One clear difference was the students. They had a nostalgic look to them; there was an obvious fashion alteration as the girls and boys dressed slightly differently. The Hogwarts uniform was the same apart from the skirts being a few inches longer than Lileths. She suddenly felt self-conscious.

Harry and Lileth walked up quickly as possible without attracting attention to themselves, towards the Gryffindor table. They fitted in perfectly with their red lined robes and sat down near the end. Lileth thought she saw a few heads look their way but didn’t really care, time travel made you hungry like that. Another thing she noticed was how she was one of the very few girls who had their hair down. Many of the girls in 1943 tied up their hair or had it in plait, the few who left it down had short or shoulder length hair. Lileth’s hair reached a few inches below her shoulders and was naturally soft with a few curls at the end.

Note to self, invest in more hair-ties.

After minutes of eating no one turned to speak to them until Lileth asked Harry to pass the pumpkin juice which she clumsily spilt down her shirt.

“Nice one” Harry strained a sarcastic smile as the people around and finally noticed their unfamiliar faces.

A blonde haired boy who looked rather well built yet skinny at the same time was sat across from them and asked “Have I seen you two somewhere before?”

She grabbed some tissues in an attempt to clean up the mess while Harry took the liberty to answer the question.

“Uhh no...You see we’re new students...it’s for our last two years of school, we were homeschooled before...” Harry tried to keep a straight convincing face and realised they weren’t filled in on life stories.

The boy looked like he didn’t believe a word Harry said, an awkward silence took place. Finally after a shrug of the shoulder he decided to trust them, placing out his hand for Harry to shake.

“Welcome to Hogwarts, but I’ve got to say it’s not as amazing as it sounds –well apart from quidditch of course! That’s the only thing keeping me here or I wouldn’t even have turned up for my last year. I’m George Eakins, captain of Gryffindor team.” He grinned in a proud fashion at Harry, who ironically was also a quidditch captain.

“What position do you play? I’m a seeker –for a local team near my town.” Harry looked enthusiastically at George, feeling a sudden familiarisation with the boy due to their passion for the sport.

“I’m a chaser, and really? We could use a new seeker, well ever since Hobson left Gryffindors never been the same. Tryouts begin in a couple of weeks; I’ll let you know... I never quite caught your name?”

“Harry Potter.” It felt strange to even Lileth how no one gawked at his name or scar like they did back in the present. The boy who lived didn’t seem to mind so began conversing with the blonde about the sport and all sorts of tactics. Some things never change. Lileth also played the chaser position, but reluctantly. Ever since a group of ditzy girls showed up for Harry’s tryouts he begged her to have a go. She was good, but not brilliant and it was either her or the bimbos who didn’t know which way round the broom was. As the school year progressed along with her irritating dreams she ceased to appear for sessions more frequently, which if anything frustrated Harry even more than losing to Hufflepuff. Quidditch was all well and fun, but they had a greater meaning behind their mission –horcruxs.

Looking around the hall she noticed the Slytherin table behind her by the banner hanging above their table. Riddle had to be here somewhere. Lileth scanned the long rows of students trying to spot one in particular. The image of his face was still fresh in her mind; nevertheless spotting the boy in real life would be entirely different. The table was packed full with some students moving around to get up to say hello to their friends they hadn’t spoken to all summer long, and others who remained eating dessert which had magically appeared. Squinting with her back now fully turned towards the Gryffindor table, facing the Slytherins, she mentally crossed off people’s faces in search. Riddle had black hair, brown eyes and was meant to be quite a catch, according to Dumbledore. Instantly her head came to a halt near the middle of the table, there was a large group of sixth years (or seventh) surrounding just what she was looking for... Obviously -he was the most popular guy in the school.

Lileth openly stared at him for a moment and could still hear Harry and George going on about quidditch in the background. Riddle had a handsome face that looked as if it was carved from stone, with prominent cheekbones, pale skin which contrasted with his dark hair that made him stand out amongst the sea of common people. The students around him animatedly spoke to one another, while Riddle remained silent, staring at his plate then around a few times. Once or twice he whispered something in the ear of the boy sat next to him who nodded, but then went back to quiet observation. For a split second he felt eyes on him then looked in Lileth’s direction.

They held no expression, not even unease at the girl openly staring at him. He held her gaze evenly until breaking away and turning back to his companions to join in the conversation as if he had been listening all along. It took Lileth a few seconds to register what had happened. For a moment she felt she was dreaming again with Riddle giving her the blank stare so often seen followed by a blurry horcrux waving through the air almost teasingly, making her want to see a clearer image. The noise of the hall flooded back into her ears dissolving the trance.

“And I keep telling them –pass the quaffle! But they just forget it all during a match.” George did a passing motion with his hand looking clearly annoyed.

Harry nodded but frowned when Lileth turned to face them once more.

“What’s up with you?” He looked at her untouched jelly which appeared during her little search.

“Nothing, just looking for the snake.” Lileth replied quickly noticing how George finally registered she was there.

“Hello, you must have been home schooled too, I’m George Eakins” He said

Lileth already knew this, nevertheless didn’t want to come off as rude so smiled at him instead.

“Hi, Lileth Smith...I guess you like quidditch?” She added –how couldn’t she when that was all he spoke about ever since they arrived.

“Yeah, sorry I get a little carried away. Potter’s into it too, looking forward to seeing him on the pitch.” He nodded at Harry, already sounding possessed by the captain-syndrome Oliver Wood went through.

Groups of student were getting up to head off to their common rooms. Religiously, the first years followed the prefects who had a hard time trying to speak over loud voices chattering throughout the Hall.

“Good morning to you too, Eakins!” A boy slapped a hand on George’s back who looked behind him to find his friend grinning.

“Fletcher! Where have you been?”

More students filed out of the hall as the two spoke about their holidays and mentioned something about throwing stink bombs into the Slytherin compartments on the train.

“Who’s your new friends?” The boy’s gaze shifted.

“This is Harry and Lileth, new students joining our year. Listen, Harry might try out for seeker, we might just win this time.” George looked at Harry with a sort of longing.

Okay, this guy could pass off as possessed.

Fletcher smiled politely at them; he had dark brown hair along with a slight tan from his holiday. Lileth thought he looked slightly similar to Neville but without the round face.

“Hey, I’m Tobias Fletcher. If you ever need the password for the prefect’s bathroom then just ask me –that’s all I’m useful for.” He rolled his eyes at George sarcastically sharing a private joke.

“That was only once!” Eakins shot back in defence.

Lileth had to admit, the two made quite a pair, it was amusing watching them argue childishly almost reminding her of the Weasley twins. Harry joined her and also stood up stretching then lowered his voice for her ears only.

“Did you see Riddle?”

Lileth could hear the strain in Harry’s voice; this was going to be hard for him.

“Yeah, I saw him sat on the Slytherin table surrounded by his posse. He saw me too.”

“He saw you? Did he do anything...weird? I mean, did he...recognise you?” They were walking towards the doors now so his voice lowered even more with the passing students.
Lileth hesitated before answering.

Did Tom Riddle know her? If so, he hardly acted like it.

“I think I know what you mean. If he was in my dreams there’s a chance he’d know who I was...kind-of. But, when he did see me he just stared back for a minute then acted like nothing happened.” She frowned at her words. Was there a way for him to know her? They only went back in time but the look he gave her was...familiar. Maybe it was just because she’d seen him in her dreams so often or he just gave everyone that blank, bored look.

Harry nodded slowly trying to make sense of it all, dreams held very misleading meanings.

“It’s better if he doesn’t know who we are. I doubt he does, we travelled back in time so it’s impossible anyway.” He looked at her in order to reassure himself. The plan would be pretty useless if Riddle knew what they were here for.

“Yeah, I think we’re just being paranoid.” Lileth smiled at him shaking off the doubts.

They were halfway up the stone steps leading to the Gryffindor tower, when stopped by a girl who displayed a shiny prefect badge on her Slytherin robes.

“Are you Mr Potter and Miss Smith by any chance?” Hera accent was almost aristocratic. Lileth noticed how the whole question sounded so formal even for a student.

“Yes, that’s us” She smiled at the girl trying to lighten the mood.

It didn’t work, instead her lips thinned into a very fine line resembling Professor Mcgonagall when she disapproved of anything.

“The Headmaster wishes to see you” With that she trotted off and only when Harry and

Lileth began making their own way, noticed they were meant to follow her despite already knowing where the office was.

Perhaps it was because the girl was a Slytherin she blatantly disapproved of their presence, sticking her nose in the air whenever she looked behind at the two. Lileth hoped it was just an odd encounter because if other students of Slytherin house were just as openly prejudiced, their mission would become much more difficult.