The Worst School Year

Fandom: H*rry P*tt*r

Chapter 1

Harry lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He had just arrived back at Number 4 after his absolute worst year at Hogwarts yet. On top of a teacher determined to torture him by making him slice words into his hand with a magic quill, a government hell bent on smearing him in the papers, and constant moodiness caused by a mental connection to a man determined to see him dead, his godfather, Sirius Black, was now dead.

As he drifted off to sleep, he wished that he got a chance to at least avoid Sirius’ death. Had he known even just about that stupid mirror, Sirius would have survived.

His dreams focused on the previous year. He saw Sirius falling backwards through the veil, Bellatrix Lestrange cackling away. She watched blood run down her fingers onto a parchment covered in the words ‘I must not tell lies’ while Umbridge smiled in the background. He saw Ron as the brains in the Department of Mysteries swarmed him, Luna and Ginny, surrounded by death eaters, casting spells desperately, Hermione, her body covered in purple flames and blood.

CRACK!

Harry sat straight up. Or he would have if it wasn’t for the open window he immediately smacked his head against.

What the hell?

He was lying in the front garden outside, just as he had been the previous summer, the day… the day the dementors attacked. He heard his aunt and uncle coming to yell at him, but he was already running away towards the park.

He was sure he had fallen asleep in his bed last night. Hadn’t he? So how had he suddenly ended up lying in the garden?

Judging by the sun, it was late afternoon, which made no sense. How had he overslept by that much? He sat down hard on the swing, his mind a complete mess of confusion.

He started swinging the swing back and forth ever so slightly.

His clothes were not what he had fallen asleep in. His hair was shorter.

The conclusion to everything was… no, this had to be some sort of sick prank.

But who would even pull something this messed up? Fred and George certainly wouldn’t.

The only other reason for all of this…

Harry heard voices and looked up. He spotted Dudley and some of his friends. That was odd, Dudley had barely been out of the house that summer. He’d been much more reserved and nervous, likely because of the dementor attack. Now, however, he was back to his old boisterous self.

The sun was heading down, and Dudley seemed to be heading towards home.

Harry got off the swing to follow them. Just in case.

He followed at a distance, watching Dudley’s friends split off one by one until it was just Dudley alone. Harry sprinted up to join his cousin.

“Hey,” Harry said.

Dudley turned to the sound of Harry’s voice and scowled. “It’s you.”

Harry sighed. “Yes, Big D, it’s me. Nice nickname, by the way. It suits you.”

“Uh, thanks?”

Harry sighed. “Listen, cuz, I’ve been having a really weird day. Maybe I might try to have some sort of verbal spar with you or whatever, but I’m not in any sort of mood. So I’ll just be honest. I’m a bit on edge. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I’m nervous something is going to happen.”

“Like what?”

Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair, cursing how short his aunt always cut it. “Something… well, something from my world. We may not get along, but I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Dudley snorted. “I don’t believe you.”

“Didn’t think you would. Just stick close, ok? Just in case.”

Dudley didn’t respond to that.

The two cousins reached the alley that the dementors had ambushed them in the year before (or in a few minutes if Harry’s hunch was right).

“Dudley, wait.”

Dudley stopped. “What?” he growled.

“I have a bad feeling… let’s avoid alleys for now.”

Dudley rolled his eyes. “Afraid of the dark, are we?”

Harry eyed the alley nervously. “It’s not the dark that scares me, but what could be hiding in the dark.”

“Afraid someone’s gonna mug us? I’ll just punch them.”

Dudley turned to walk into the alley.

Harry shouted at Dudley to wait, but Dudley didn’t listen.

Harry grimaced and ran into the alley after his cousin.

“Dudley, I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Would you just shut it?”

“No, Dudley, I mean it. Something bad is going to happen.”

Dudley stopped and turned to Harry. “Then we better get moving.”

Harry hesitated, then nodded, and the two continued through the alley.

Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket, just in case.

Then the feeling Harry had been dreading - the temperature dropped, despite the day having been swelteringly hot. The light dimmed, despite the still visible moon. Harry shivered.

“What’re you doing?”

Harry looked up at Dudley. “I’m not doing this. I think I was right. We gotta move.”

Dudley stood, eyes fixed on Harry’s wand.

“Goddamnit, Dudley, get a move on before they get here.”

Dudley’s look hardened, and he advanced on Harry.

“Dudley, it’s not me!”

“Whatever you’re doing, stop it!”

Harry gulped nervously.

That was when he heard it. A deep tortured breath. The sound of a dementor.

“Dudley, run.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No. Now run before they get you.”

But it was too late. One of the dementors grabbed Dudley, holding him up and preparing to kiss him. Harry held out his wand, prepared to help his cousin, but hesitated.

Harry’s hunch had been right all along. He had, inexplicably, travelled backwards in time.

He had time travelled once before, using a time turner near the end of his third year, but that had been different. That time, there had been two copies of himself running around, and nothing had been changed. This time, it was as though time had rewound around Harry, and things could be changed. Things were ever so slightly different from the first time around.

The first time around, when the dementors had attacked, Harry had cast the Patronus Charm to defend himself and his cousin, but he had quickly received a letter to inform him he had been expelled from Hogwarts. This had quickly been overturned, but Harry had then been given the date for a trial for underage magic use.

Screw it. It turned out fine the first time. Harry raised his wand.

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!”

A large white stag burst out of the end of his wand charging at the dementor holding Dudley, knocking it back. Dudley collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. Harry quickly directed his patronus to charge at the second dementor, which had been coming up behind Harry. The two dementors fled, letting out an ear-piercing screech each.

Harry dispelled the patronus, turning to help his cousin up.

“Come on, Dudley. We gotta get you home. Get some chocolate, that helps.”

Dudley opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out. He was shivering despite the cold having left with the dementors.

Harry lay in his bed once again, staring up at the ceiling.

The remaining events of that evening had gone the same as he remembered. The letters, his aunt and uncle’s anger, the determination to kick him out followed by the sudden change of heart following the howler.

Harry twisted his wand around in his hand.

So, he had travelled back in time. The implications of that were immense. So much could be changed or avoided. Sirius - Sirius was alive!

Despite everything Harry knew to be coming, Harry smiled. He had been given a chance to save his godfather’s life. He was determined to take it.

He knew that soon the Order would be there to bring him to headquarters.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry could remember. He was a little surprised at that, but he wasn’t about to complain. He didn’t need to be told the secret. He still would pretend he didn’t know to avoid rousing suspicion. He felt like he should keep his time travel to himself. He didn’t exactly trust Dumbledore at the moment.

His aunt and uncle left that night to bring Dudley to see a doctor. Harry was alone in the house, locked in his room. He could easily escape, and without magic at that, but he didn’t particularly feel like it.

There was a crack from downstairs. Harry sat up in his bed.

He had packed his trunk already, anticipating the Order’s arrival. He pulled out his wand, watching the door to his room.

Someone knocked on the door.

Harry crept over to the door.

“It’s locked from the outside,” he said.

There was a bit of noise on the other side of the door, with a woman’s voice saying, “ok, what the hell? That’s not right.” Then the door opened.

Harry immediately brought his wand up, pointing right between the eyes of none other than Nymphadora Tonks.

“Who are you, and why are you here?”

The people in the hallway shifted nervously.

Tonks responded, “we’re here to pick you up, Harry.” She smiled. “We’re with Dumbledore, we’re here to get you to bring you to safety.”

Harry didn’t lower his wand. “Prove it.”

The people standing in the hallway muttered among themselves.

Tonks continued smiling in a friendly manner. “Kiddo, if we were secretly Death Eaters, we’d already have taken you to You-Know-Who.”

Harry relaxed but kept his wand up. “Good point.” He smiled, lowering his wand, but keeping a grip on it. “I figured someone would be here eventually. After all, I’ve got that trial! How am I supposed to defend myself without proper legal counsel?” He picked up his trunk off his bed, hefting in his right hand while he continued to grip his wand in his left. “So, who’s the lawyer? Is it you, pinkie?” He sent a smirk to Tonks. He knew she didn’t like being called that and wanted to mess with her a bit.

Her cheeks flushed ever so slightly, but Harry ignored that.

“No, I’m-”

“Her dad’s a lawyer,” a gruff voice said.

Harry turned to the source. “Professor Moody.”

The scarred man smiled. “Didn’t do much teaching, did I? You can call me Moody.”

“Alright. So, how may I go about getting her dad’s services? I find myself in need of a lawyer at the moment, you know.”

“I’ll send him an owl,” Tonks said. “Now, you need to come with us.”

Harry was once again lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. This time, however, he was in Grimmauld Place.

He had been over the moon to see Sirius again. Seeing his godfather alive had brought home that Harry really had gotten a second chance.

His reunion with Ron and Hermione had been odd. On the one hand, Harry no longer possessed the same annoyance with his friends that he had a year prior (in his own experience that is). However, these friends weren’t the same ones he had spent an entire school year dodging Umbridge and leading Dumbeldore’s Army with. They, along with Ginny, weren’t the same people who had gone with him to the Department of Mysteries to save Sirius. So Harry definitely didn’t feel annoyed with them anymore, but he didn’t feel as close to them as he should have. They just weren’t exactly his friends as he last knew them.

He’d of course continue being friends with them, but the first downside of Harry’s second chance had made itself known; he now felt much more distant from his two closest friends.

There was currently an ongoing Order meeting, but Harry had opted not to listen in on it. It wasn’t like he would learn anything he didn’t already know.

There was a soft knock at the door to his bedroom. Harry assumed it was just Ron and told the knocker to come in.

Harry was proven right.

“Hey mate,” Ron said.

“Hey,” Harry said, eyes still fixed on the ceiling.

“You feeling alright?”

Harry shrugged. “Other than my potential upcoming expulsion, I’m totally fine.”

The truth was, Harry wasn’t nervous at all about the trial. He had gotten off just fine the first time around, and this time he was planning on going to it prepared with an actual lawyer, instead of just showing up nearly late and hoping it all worked out.

Ron tried to engage Harry in a conversation, but Harry didn’t particularly feel like talking and drifted into a fitful sleep filled with dreams about the year to come.

The following days leading up to the trial went mostly the same as Harry remembered from the first timeline - time spent cleaning the house for the most part. One difference was the letter he received from Tonks’ dad, Edward Tonks. The two started corresponding, and Ted, as he insisted he be called, had helped Harry build a case even stronger than the first time around. Alongside the testimony of Mrs. Figg, Ted had somehow managed to find two wix who had actually seen the dementors after they fled from Harry’s charm, which Harry had been completely unaware of the previous time.

Nothing had been found to pin this on Umbridge, like Harry had somewhat been hoping for, but he hadn’t actively pushed for it nor did he really expect that.

Harry also asked the friendly man about potentially dealing with the libel from the Daily Prophet, but Ted believed that with the Minister being the one pushing for this libel to go through, nothing would come of it unless Voldemort was forced to reveal himself. Harry fully intended to pursue legal action against the paper once that happened.

Finally, it was time for the trial itself. Rather than going with Arthur, Harry was accompanied by Ted. As well, Harry had told Ted that he had a feeling the Minister might mess with them by changing the time of the trial the day of. Harry got a funny look when he was proven right, but the two were easily able to make it to the trial on time.

The trial proper still didn’t start until the original time anyway, as Ted had immediately started chewing out everyone present for this move considering it was technically illegal, and the trial was reverted to the original time.

During the trial itself, Harry felt himself grow less and less tense as Tonks thoroughly demonstrated that the presence of dementors was a certainty using the testimony from both wixen witnesses as well as Arabella Figg’s description of the effects the dementors had. She didn’t even try to claim she had been able to see the dementors either, which Harry figured was for the best since her testimony the first time around had clearly indicated she actually could not.

This time around, the trial was decided in Harry’s favour by an even more significant margin.

On the night before term, Harry sought out Tonks to speak with her about something he had noticed the day of the trial during the celebrations.

“Tonks!”

Tonks turned towards him as she was about to leave. “Harry?”

Harry shuffled his feet nervously. “I, uh. I need to talk to you about something.” He looked up to try and look her in the eyes, but cringed and looked away.

“What about, Harry?”

“Can we talk in private?”

“Sure,” she said.

They went upstairs, heading into Harry’s room, which thankfully did not have Ron in it, as he was still eating his supper.

“So, what’s up?”

“How did you know you were a metamorphmagus?”

Tonks shrugged. “Always have known. Why do you ask?”

Harry fidgeted nervously. “I think I might be one.”

Tonks nodded, “pretty sure you are, actually.”

“W-what?”

Tonks nodded. “Yup. I remember when you were a baby. I met you once. You kept changing your hair to match mine. It was very cute.”

Harry sighed. “Then… then why can’t I anymore?”

Tonks blinked. “What do you mean?”

Harry tugged at his hair agitatedly. It was too short!

“Like, I hate my hair this short. I want it to grow longer, but it just grows at a normal rate. I wish it would go faster.”

Tonks was silent for a few seconds, then said, “Harry, can I ask you something a bit personal?”

Harry was startled. “How personal?”

“Very. Harry, can you be honest with me? How badly do your aunt and uncle treat you?”

Harry felt like he was swallowing a rock. “What does that have to do with this?”

Tonks sat down on Ron’s bed. “Quite a lot. If they treated you badly because of your magic, you might have started suppressing your talents because of that.”

“But after my trial, I swear I saw my hair turn blue for a split second.”

“That can happen, even if you’re suppressing it. Mind you, this is mostly guesswork on my part. Metamorphmagi are super rare.”

“Really?”

“Yup. It was actually quite shocking when it turned out both of us were.”

“Oh.” Harry swallowed, but the rock swallowing feeling didn’t go away. “How would I unsuppress it?”

Tonks sighed. “I don’t know, Harry. But… you’re safe here. And trust me, if I ever hear those Dursleys have treated you badly ever again, I will be pulling you out of there so fast. My parents would actually love to take you in.”

“They would?”

Tonks nodded, smiling. “Oh yeah. You’re practically family to us, ya know. Not blood-related, Sirius is my cousin and he’s your godfather. Although, there might be something distant, now that I think about it…”

Harry smiled back. “What, like my grandfather was cousins with yours?”

Tonks nodded. “Basically.”

Harry laid back down on his bed. “So what now? Do I just need to make myself morph or something?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think you should force it… but you should try.”

A smile crossed Harry’s face. “Thanks, Tonks. I’ll give it a try.”