Harry's Light

Harry's Light

Seventeen year old Lainey Potter sat in Headmaster McGonagall's office, waiting for her to arrive.  Lainey had been called out of the Welcoming Feast to speak to McGonagall, and she wondered why.  The door behind her opened, and Professor Minerva McGonagall entered.

"Hello, Ms. Potter," McGonagall said to her.  Lainey gave her a smile.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," she returned uncertainly.  "What did you wish to speak to me about?"

"Ah, yes," Professor McGonagall remembered.  White hair streaking the grey, McGonagall was showing her age.  "First, however, I must ask you a question.   You are familiar with the story of how You-Know-Who was defeated?"

"Of course, Professor.  How could I not know about the day Voldemort left us forever, with who my dad is?"  Lainey was confused.  What did this have to do with her?  McGonagall had flinched at her saying the name, but continued.

"And how Harry Potter, your father, was assissted by a mysterious girl from the future during his seventh year?"

"Of course I know.  Dad's only asked about it every day.  Why are you asking me all this?  What does it have to do with this visit to your office?"

"Have you ever wondered who that girl was?"  Now Lainey was getting impatient.  She wanted to know, and fast.

"Who was it, Headmaster?" she asked eagerly, looking at the professor.

"You, Lainey.  You."

"Me, Professor?  How can it be me?" she queried skeptically.  "Professor Trelawney didn't tell you this, did she?"

McGonagall chuckled.  "You're just like your mother, you know that? Hermione was always skeptical of Divination.  Never time travel, though. She experienced that in her third year here."  McGonagall was obviously off on Memory Lane, and Lainey grounded her suddenly.

"Now that I know this, what am I to do with this information?"

"You are going to travel back in time, tonight, to your father's seventh year.  Only reveal who you are if he figures it out, Lainey, or history will change."

"Will he figure it out?" Lainey wondered.  This was all a little strange, and she was hoping McGonagall didn't happen to be off her rocker this evening, as her Uncle Ron put it.

"He will, and pretty quickly.  Don't be caught off-guard or you may reveal more than you should.  Now, I'll give you this time-turner (which, in fact, was your mother's) and I want you to turn it exactly one hundred and fifty times, so that you end up at this moment twenty years ago.  The Ministry's approved this, Lainey, so I bid you farewell, and a safe journey.  I won't be headmaster, so my office will be on the second floor.  After dinner, I want you to come to my office directly.  I will know who you are, and we'll sort it out further then.  Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Professor McGonagall.  I'll see you in a few hours."  With that, Professor McGonagall left the office and returned to the Welcoming Feast.

Breathing deeply, Lainey leaned against the wall.  This had to be a cosmic joke, she just knew it.  There was no way it was she who helped her dad defeat the darkest wizard of all time, Lord Voldemort.  There was just no way.

Might as well try, she thought to herself.  Here I go.

"One..."

"Two..."

Lainey continued to count, concentrating as her mother would have done.  It took a least an hour to count up, but at last she was there.

"One hundred and fifty," Lainey muttered to myself.  There was a whirl ofcolor, and she saw past events: her sixteenth birthday, the day she'd gotten her Hogwarts letter, the expression on Dad and Mum's faces, the day she'd gotten her first broom, from Uncle Ron.  She saw her birth, Mum and Dad's marriage, and even their graduation day.

Suddenly she landed, quietly, just outside the doors of Hogwarts.  Pulling her black robe closer to her, she opened the door and strode quickly across the flagged stone floor and through the double doors to the Great Hall.

When she opened them, thousands of faces turned to look at her.  She was suddenly unsure of what to do, and looked up at the staff table to find McGonagall.  There she was, in the Transfiguration teacher's chair, looking at Lainey pointedly.  Nodding, Lainey walked toward her, avoiding the eyes of the other students.

McGonagall leaned over to an old man, who Lainey recognized as Professor Dumbledore, former confidant of her father and also the old headmaster of this school.  Dumbledore had died the year after she had entered Hogwarts. She smiled at him, wondering if she could get to know him better in the time that she was here.  He'd always seemed like a nice man to Lainey.

"Students, I'd like to welcome our new student, Lainey Rettop, from Northern England who formerly attended Miss Estella's Witchcraft Academy for Girls.  She'll be sorted now, and I hope you all make her feel welcome, no matter what house she goes in."  Everyone applauded lightly, except for the Slytherins.  Some things don't change, Lainey thought to herself.  Professor Flitwick, the old Charms Professor, pulled out a stool and the famous Sorting Hat.

"Come, Miss Rettop."  Professor Dumbledore gave Lainey a smile.

Sitting down carefully, she looked toward the Gryffindor table for Mum, Dad, Uncle Ron and Aunt Lavender.  There was Uncle Ron-she could see the hair-and her godmother, Ginny, who was Uncle Ron's little sister.  And then-she saw him.  "Daddy?" she whispered to herself.

There was Dad, sitting at the table between Mum and Uncle Ron.  He looked so young, compared to at home.  He was twenty one years younger, she minded.

However, there was an innocence to his face that wasn't there twenty one years in the future.  She had never realized how much the loss of Uncle Ron's Mom, Mrs. Molly (as she had been told to call her) had affected Dad.

The hat was placed on her head, and it began its examination.

"Hmmm...Lainey Potter, what are you doing in the past?  I'd recognize this brain anywhere!"

Don't ask, she told the hat in her mind.  It's a long story.

"All right then, since I know you like a book (as I know your dad, and I knew his dad) it had better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Sighing with relief, Lainey hopped up and sat in the vacant seat across from her dad.  On the way, her Mr. Finnigan, whose daughter Gabi was Lainey's best friend, was catcalling.  Ew, she thought to herself.  My best friend's father wants to go out with me!

"Hi, Lainey, I'm Hermione," came a familiar voice.  Mum? she thought in wonderment.  She looked over, and there was her bushy haired mum, with her perfect white teeth and chocolate eyes, smiling at her.  Not only that, but she had her Head Girl badge on.  Then she remembered it was impolite to stare, and returned the greeting.

"It's nice to meet you, Hermione," she said warmly.  "So, you're Head Girl?   I was prefect at my old school."  Lainey was both prefect and Head Girl at Hogwarts.  She remembered how proud Mum had been of her, and this was why.

"Really?" said Hermione eagerly.  "Do you like to study?"

"Mostly, yes," Lainey returned.  "I enjoy learning as much as I can so I can put the knowledge to use."  She got a smile from her mum, and then Uncle Ron snorted.

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione shot at him.

"I see Mione finally has a study buddy," he teased.

"Unc-Ron!  Honestly," she protested to her uncle.  "Do you study?  Are your grades better than Hermione's?"  She knew the answer already, but she was enjoying putting Uncle Ron on the spot.

While Lainey was engaged in conversation with Ron and Hermione, Harry had begun to wonder about this new girl.  He'd never heard about Miss Estella's School, and certainly Hermione would have told him about it.  She liked to inform him about other schools, after all.  And her eyes...despite the girl's attempt to hide them, Harry had seen them.  They were his startling green.  He shook it off.  "Coincidence," he muttered to himself.

"What's that?" Lainey asked her dad.  She was slightly anxious.  Could he really be figuring it out already? she wondered.  Shaking it off, she waited for a reply.

"Uh...nothing, Lainey."  Smiling, she turned to Dumbledore as the plates cleared away.

"Now that we are all fed and watered," Dumbledore said, "let me make a few announcements.  As everyone above first year should know, with the exception of Miss Rettop, that the Forbidden Forest is just that-forbidden.  Weasley and Weasley's Dungbomb Delights, Pelican Exploders, and Ladybug Gumdrops are on this year's list for forbidden items.  To see a full list, please stop by Mr. Filch's office.  And don't forget, no magic is to be used in the corridors.  Now, off to bed with you all!"

Lainey, remembering her promise to McGonagall, left the company of Harry, Ron, and Hermione and went to the office.  Sitting in a chair, she waited.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait for long.  McGongagall came in after a few moments.

"Hello, Miss Potter," she said, closing the door after making sure no one was around.  "I expect everything went all right?  You didn't reveal yourselves to your parents or uncle?"

"Hello to you, too, Professor," she returned.  "No, I didn't really say much of anything, except that I was a prefect at my old school.  Mum didn't think anything of it."

"All right.  Let's arrange this further."

"You are to attend classes, as everyone else does, and live a normal life. You must try out for the Quidditch team, it's a part of your destiny. You'll be made Keeper, as the last two have dropped the position after the death of parents."

 Lainey nodded mutely.  She knew who they were: Mr. Finnigan, or Seamus, and Mr. Thomas, or Dean, as they were probably known here.  Seamus had lost his dad and Dean had lost his mum, each at the end of the Quidditch season they had begun.

"All right," Lainey said.  "Any other stipulations?"

"Yes," McGonagall said.  "You will join Advanced Transfiguration with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  I know you're not taking it at home, but it will affect the future in a certain way, all right?"

Lainey nodded again.

"Then goodnight, Miss Potter."  McGonagall opened the door for her, and Lainey left.  Just down the hall, Hermione waited to take her to the common room.

After a little while (neither spoke; they were both too full from the feast and too tired to even bother) they arrived at the Fat Lady, who still guarded the door at home, Lainey remembered.

"The password is `Sky Song'," Hermione told her as the portrait swung open.

Climbing through, Lainey went right up the stairs to the dormitories. The top door read `Seventh Years.'  Saying goodnight to Aunt Lavender, Lainey laid down on her own bed and fell asleep.

Downstairs, Harry asked Hermione, "Is there something odd about that girl, or is it just me?"

Yawning as she went up to her private bedroom, Hermione said, "I think it's you, Harry dear."