"It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and the father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where...
MINISTRY OF MAGIC, DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL MAGICAL COOPERATION, ELVISH WELFARE DIVISION
HARRY: That letter was waiting for me when I went looking for the Carrows.
HERMIONE: You found them?
HARRY: I did. Or, at least, I will in the future.
HARRY points to the scar on the back of his left hand.
It's my handwriting.
She inspects the scar uncertainly and hands back the parchment with indifference.
HERMIONE: What does this have to do with me?
HARRY: I need the Time-Turner, Hermione.
HERMIONE (startled): And what makes you think —?
HARRY: I know you have it. You're the only one Percy would trust.
HARRY holds up the letter.
And you've already given it to me.
HERMIONE (surrendering): He trusts me — thinks my talents are wasted here. Percy likes that I used it to take simultaneous courses at Hogwarts, rather than to cheat on exams. He claims it reveals my integrity since I was never tempted to take advantage of such magic.
HARRY: Saving Sirius and Buckbeak was an afterthought, I presume?
HERMIONE: Yes, and no. He wants a report on how we can save Ginny and Albus. I told him we can't change the past, only fulfill it... but he wouldn't listen to reason.
There's a pause as she works up the courage to ask her next question.
Why do you need the Time-Turner?
HARRY: Honestly, I don't know. But I have it in the future, and I must need it for a reason.
HERMIONE is reluctant, yet admits with a heavy breath that HARRY's logic is sound. She pulls out the Time-Turner from within her robes. HERMIONE reveals the Time-Turner to HARRY but does not give it to him.
HERMIONE (fretfully): There was blood on the letter, Harry. Can I trust you? Can you trust yourself?
HARRY: I think so. I mean, it's all become quite confused and you're entirely right to be keeping hold of the Time-Turner.
HERMIONE: What if you somehow make things worse?
HARRY: You think it can get worse than this?
HERMIONE: Yes, very much so.
HARRY: We need all the information we can get to stop The Tempest. The device you're holding is a tool that can assist us in reaching that objective. Nothing more.
HERMIONE nods and offers HARRY the Time-Turner. The lights on HARRY brighten as he takes it.
HERMIONE: Be very careful. And promise me that you won't lose yourself in the past.
HARRY: I won't.
HERMIONE: There are things that death cannot touch, you know. Those that we love never truly leave us, Harry.
HARRY shrinks in pain, he reaches for his scar.
HARRY: What about those we hate? (beat) Any idea why my scar is still burning?
HERMIONE: No. We thought Voldemort had returned, but it was Albus. Your scar shouldn't be giving you any trouble.
HARRY: Not unless some part of Voldemort remains within me, like a parasite on my soul. What if he's still knocking about and there's nothing I can do to stop him?
HERMIONE: I don't think Voldemort is capable of controlling you from the grave — and you're kind, Harry. To the depths of your belly, to the tips of your fingers. I truly believe Voldemort — Voldemort was never a part of you. Not in the way that counts.
HARRY: But there is something to it.
HERMIONE: Yes, and who knows how your scar might be involved. But you're still you, Harry.
HARRY: Am I? I've seen myself in a different way recently. I don't want to be who I am.
HERMIONE: And what's brought that on? Delphini Drake?
HARRY shrugs.
I saw the Patronus she conjured. It's the same as yours. This young woman has very real feelings for you. Do you —?
HARRY: I don't know. I don't know anything anymore.
HERMIONE: What is it, Harry?
HARRY: Do you think we are destined for a certain life — a rigid, immutable future? What if I had knowledge that someone was going to become something they never thought possible? Something evil? Is there any way to stop them? Should you even try?
HERMIONE: The past is written, Harry. The future is not, you know that.
HARRY: Are you so sure, Hermione? What about prophecies?
HERMIONE: You're asking the wrong person. I've never held much stock in the merits of Divination.
HARRY (unhurriedly): Ginny did. I wish she was here. I could use her advice right about now.
HERMIONE: I'm sure you'd like to see them both.
HARRY: Yes. I'd like to find out from Al what those monsters did to make him look like Voldemort. I can't work out what he did in the years following the breakout. He did something and it changed everything. Any ideas?
HERMIONE(shaking her head): No, it's quite the mystery. It's as if Voldemort and your son embodied the same form. And no matter how many books I read on the subject, I cannot find a single spell or potion that can manifest such a feat. Unless a member of The Tempest shares this information with you, the truth of what happened to your son may have died with him.
HARRY: I think you're right.
HARRY has a thought. He digests this and stands to leave. HERMIONE walks him out.
HERMIONE: Harry, you've been put under enormous pressure, the loss of Ginny, of Albus, the search for him, the fears as to what your scar might mean, but trust me when I tell you, the answers can't be found with magic. Sometimes we just need to grieve, be thankful for those in our lives who remain, and restore ourselves. (beat) So, I'm asking if there's anything I can do — to restore you to what you were... you, know... before you went attacking a teenager on platform nine and three-quarters.
HARRY (with a light laugh): No. No. Consider me restored. Temporary aberration. That's all.
She stops him at the door.
HERMIONE: I'm concerned, Harry. Your confidence has me worried.
HARRY: Confidence? To be fair, you told me you don't think I'm scared of anything, and that — I mean, I'm scared of everything right now.
HERMIONE: Well, whatever you're doing — do it safely. We can't lose you, too.
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