Lord Of Time

2

Chapter 2
1940

Harry slowly regained consciousness, the very familiar ceiling of the Hospital wing greeted him, disorientating and bewildering him further. It had been quite a while since he'd been at Hogwarts; it was no longer his home. Grunting in pain, he shoved his hands down on the mattress to get himself into sitting position. Hissing softly at the strain it immediately put his protesting ribs under, maybe he should have remained lying down. His gaze travelled the length of the hospital wing; well it was the hospital wing - of sorts.

It was different; the layout was not the same, instead of twelve beds against the wall on each side, with a cabinet for potions and personal effects next to it and of course curtains to draw it. Instead there was what appeared to be double the amount of beds, with old fashioned privacy screens, like he saw them in old movies he'd glimpsed while cleaning as his aunt watched something on the TV. They weren't along the wall, they were placed in rows along the way instead. Why so many beds?

Waving his hand, mentally thinking 'Tempus' and the time materialised in front of him, showing him the time and date, needing to figure out how long he'd been out of it. The date made him gulp, and just like that the conversation he had with 'Death' came to the forefront of his mind, causing him to gasp in astonishment.

It had been real, bloody hell, he was back in the nineteen forties, and Voldemort was fourteen years old! He was in his third year of Hogwarts. Dumbledore had gone into great lengths to 'make sure he had the means at his disposal to destroy Voldemort'. Which meant viewing his memories, Dumbledore was a disgusting lying hypocrite. Panting outrageously, just thinking about him, he forced himself to calm down. Which was very easy with his occlumency shields, centring himself he relaxed completely.

Had there been some sort of epidemic in the magical world during the forties?

'No, there is no outbreak; this is the way the current Medi-witch prefers it.'

'How can you get through my mental shields?' Harry inwardly grumbled.

'Need I remind you that I am Death, I can go wherever I please.'

Harry shook his head, he sounded far too smug about that. 'Are you going to be in my mind all the time?' he definitely didn't like that, this was very distracting. He could barely concentrate on real life, and it was something that made him extremely nervous and twitchy. He'd been looking over his shoulder for so long that he couldn't completely relax and let his guard down.

'No, I am much too busy,' the war with Grindelwald saw to that. 'I only came because you needed me, you've been unconscious for a month, and it took them that long to remove all the curses that were on you.'

'Thank you,' Harry thought, he definitely felt like crap. He did wonder why it had taken them so long though, maybe some of the spells hadn't been created yet and they had to actually make counters for something they hadn't seen before? That would definitely mess with the whole time continuum.

Then again, hadn't Death said he could do what he wished? Did that mean he could do what needed to be done? Change the future and shape it for the better? Did he even have the power to see that happen? He was one man, a tired one at that, most of the time he felt there was nothing redeemable about the magical world at all.

'Yes, you can and will, you are time, you can adapt it to your liking nothing can touch you' Death added. He would not interfere with Harry's choices, as he had said before his actions were his own. He had to learn, not be told, this much he knew of Harry's stubborn nature...just like Ignotus. 'Remember Hadrian Peverell, the Headmaster is coming be prepared'

Just like that the presence was gone, he could actually feel Death leaving, this was a relief, and it meant he would feel him entering his mind? Perhaps it was because he'd been asleep and albeit unaware - vulnerable that he hadn't sensed him.