Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
Chapter 11: A way back
Next to the ruins of a dilapidated castle rose a tower made with ivory stone, much taller than the broken castle ever was.
At the highest level of the tower was a room. If the place had to be described with one word, that word would be 'messy'.
Books and scrolls were lying carelessly on the floor, bed, and on top of tables and shelves. Several robes and other clothes were also seemingly thrown without care.
It was immediately obvious that the person living in here was not expecting visits any time soon and was fine with all the clutter.
Sitting at a desk was a young man with short black hair, green eyes, and glasses. He appeared to be writing something in complete concentration.
On one corner of the desk lay a very peculiar black pointy hat. The creases of the leather were arranged in a way that almost resembled a human face.
All of a sudden, a tremendously loud noise was heard coming from outside. Stones clashing against each other echoed through the air.
This really startled the young man. After all, he had grown accustomed to the complete silence that plagued the frozen world.
"What was that?!" Harry said as he jumped from his chair and made his way to the window.
Far away from his position, there was a big mountain that he was very familiar with. The noise seemed to have come from that direction, and it sounded like rocks colliding against other rocks.
"Is it getting smaller?" He noticed the peak of the mountain going down very slowly and disappearing among the dense forest.
Harry pressed something on the side of his glasses, and the distant image became a lot clearer.
He gasped. "The mountain is collapsing!"
As he was trying to understand what was happening, he started to hear similar noises from other directions.
He looked towards the forest that surrounds the train station and could not believe what he was seeing.
"The trees are disappearing into the ground… what is thi—"
His eyes opened wide in realization of what this event may be.
"This is it! This is what we have been waiting for!"
Harry noticed that in the distance, the sky was turning black...something that never happens here, since the frozen world has no day-night cycles.
And it wasn't just the sky. The ground also seemed to be disappearing into nothingness, and everything on top was being swallowed into that black void.
"Come on, we need to go NOW!" He exclaimed with urgency.
Realizing how little time he had to prepare, Harry rushed through his room, grabbing things and putting them inside a bag in a careless fashion. He then put the peculiar hat on his head and jumped out of the window before he started to fly as fast as he could.
As he looked back once again, he saw how the previous mountain had already disappeared, and if he looked further away, there was nothing but darkness. It was like something was swallowing this entire reality.
"We need to get back to the point of origin. This world is finally collapsing!"
Harry from Hogwarts to London in a matter of seconds and without even using a broom. He then entered the tunnel that now connects the surface directly with the Department of Mysteries, a tunnel that he had made years back to avoid the hassle of using the elevators.
He made his way to the Room of Time in a rush and stood in the middle of it.
Harry then opened the bag and started to search its contents, trying to find a specific object.
"Come on, it has to be here… ah! Here it is!"
He took a small box from the bag and held it firmly, then opened it to reveal the time-turner he had made all of those years back.
Harry then started to hear noises in the distance. The end was near.
"It's already here… okay...back then the Time-Turner didn't work, but if my hypothesis is correct, time should be different. One turn will be enough. And if it isn't..." He didn't say it out loud, but one way or another, he was going to get what he wanted.
He activated the time-turner, and the runes illuminated once more.
But nothing happened.
Harry clenched his teeth.
"Calm down… just one more time."
He could hear the noises getting closer and closer. He activated the time-turner again.
The runes illuminated, but on this occasion, the time sand inside also started to shine.
Harry's eyes opened wide. "Yes! It's working."
The walls of the room started to collapse around him, and appeared to fall into the black void that now covered everything that used to be the frozen world.
After all of the walls collapsed, the floor tiles also started to fall. Harry was now surrounded by complete darkness.
"Come on! Faster!"
As the darkness got closer, the time-turner began to shine more brightly, to the point that Harry was forced to close his eyes for a moment.
He then heard some strange noises that resembled the sound of something being chewed.
And then, all sound stopped…
When he opened his eyes again, Harry found himself in the same familiar room, but the walls and everything else seemed to be restored.
Harry was once again surrounded by a familiar silence.
"Hello?… is someone else here?"
He opened the door, left the Time Room, and started to walk around the Department of Mysteries, trying to spot some signs of life.
"What is going on? Shouldn't I be back in my own world already?" He felt so confused right now.
As Harry was walking through the long corridors, trying to understand his situation, something caught his attention.
There was a big painting on one of the walls. It depicted a beautiful landscape. But what caught Harry's attention were the colors of the painting.
After spending so long inside that frozen world, Harry had grown accustomed to the muted colors of that place, and now he was suddenly seeing colors so vivid that it almost made it seem real.
"Beautiful…" He muttered without thinking.
He then took notice of something else. He could smell something… it was the musty smell from the old corridors, but it was nonetheless something Harry had not experienced in an extremely long time…
"I see. Time is returning to its place, but the process takes a little bit. Well...to be more exact, it is I who is returning to my place in time."
Harry then heard the scream of a familiar voice. Even after not having heard it in so long, he immediately recognized it belonged to his old friend.
"Hermione!"
Harry rushed in the direction of the voice without a second thought.
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