Harry Potter Short Stories

That time Lucius Malfoy went back to fix it and dragged Harry along 4-5

A pearlescent stag jumped out of his wand, and then another one, and another. Soon six Patronuses cramped the small room, awaiting instructions. One prodded a slipper with his hoof, another was nudging Snape to step back with its incorporeal head, and antlers entangled all around them.

"That's quite a herd," Snape said, standing his ground. "Are we expecting the entire regiment of Azkaban Dementors to join us for dinner?"

"Hopefully it won't come to that this time," Harry said, thinking guiltily of Sirius who was suffering the horrible creatures at this very moment. He vowed to get him out as soon as possible; Malfoy's influence in the Ministry had to be good for something.

One of the stags nuzzled him soothingly before they dissipated one by one. Harry watched them in concern. He never thought producing more than one with a single spell was even possible.

"I take it you did not intend this many?" Snape asked.

"Maybe I did." Harry raised his chin.

Snape stared at him for a moment, eyebrows raised.

He deflated. "My magic doesn't seem to handle this change well."

"It stands to reason that if one's mind and soul got sent back in their past body, their magic would be sent too, as the three are inseparably entwined. I suppose in a way, it's similar to possession; self-possession if you will. Most studies agree that if a host body is not equipped to handle the possessor's magic, the results might be unpredictable." Snape seemed to be fascinated with the subject, sounding a bit like Hermione, if Hermione was into Dark Magic.

While glad that Snape abandoned his scepticism about the time travel in favour of scientific interest, Harry squirmed in discomfort thinking about it in these terms. He preferred to leave things like possession to Voldemort, thank you very much.

"I'm not possessing myself," he said firmly.

Snape waved him away. "Spare me the existential crisis. It's simply similar enough of a concept to draw plausible conclusions in the absence of concrete knowledge of the type of time-travel."

"So you're saying that this younger body cannot handle my adult magic properly?"

"Essentially, yes."

"What do I do? We don't have time to wait."

"Since you're apparently familiar with the art, basic Occlumency exercises like meditations and clearing your mind should help you expedite the adjustment."

Harry pushed his hand into his hair. "Yeah, well. I never actually got the hang of those. I just sort of give the intruder a good mental kick."

"I refuse to believe the Headmaster did not instil the importance of clearing your mind to you."

"He wasn't the one who taught me."

Something in his look must have tipped Snape off because he actually recoiled. "Your future does sound more horrific by the hour."

"You don't know half of it."

For a moment, Snape looked as if he wanted to ask something. Instead, he pointed his wand at the slippers and, before Harry could protest, reverted them to their initial form.

"Hey! I worked hard on those," Harry said, mostly to distract Snape from staring at the crumbling, teeth-marked trainers.

Another wave of the wand, and a new pair stood in their place. In black, of course.

"Thanks," he mumbled, putting them on.

Snape gave him a curt nod. "I'm making dinner," he announced, turning around. "You may join me in the kitchen in twenty minutes."