Harry Potter: Secrets of the Past

- OVERRIS – PENFLICK CHALLENGE # 2

It was a surprisingly warm and humid winter. It rained almost every day and created the illusion that the season was only a mere extension of the last autumn. Only this time the landscape was filled with leafless empty branches and decaying piles of leafs all over the ground. While the rich earth beneath could not drain properly the amount of rain it received over the last few weeks it surely but slowly made every inch of land into a maze of puddles of water and mud. Even having a light stroll meant getting dirty boots and wet trousers. Many could easily tell who spent their time outside the halls of the school just by looking at their marked attire.

Life was still buzzing at Hogwarts despite the fact that many left to meet their family. Those who chose to stay where granted several interesting tasks to do, in order to kill unwanted boredom. The lack of snow and winter spirit convinced the headmaster to take some steps and somehow try to raise the remainders level of holiday spirit. The teachers committee was assembled and had agreed on to arrange a sculpting competition (called Frostbite) where the contestants had to create a lovely winter scene with magic and they also livened up the place by creating snow around the school. The one lucky person (who would win the prize of the challenges) would enjoy some rare gifts amongst the greatest: bragging rights for being the first ever frost king or queen (alongside with a personalized cup which would be displayed in an honorable fashion) and a lovely basket filled with magical items (such as: special icy treats from the far country of Alaska).

Harry always loved to compete, so this was his great chance to proof himself worthy. He was so eager to work on this project that he barely slept until he was finished. He's masterpiece – within his bounds of course – scene was about an elk which was about to jump over a frozen river. It was somewhat spectacular for those whom took the time to enjoy it. This kept him busy for quite a while until he managed to get his hands on a particularly dangerous and forbidden item: a black leathered diary. This particularly item had to do with the latest incidents that happened in Hogwarts. Harry was a bit arrogant regarding this matter as he was not satisfied with the progress that the teachers – or any one – made so far. He wanted to help out and knew something had to be done immediately in order to prevent any future casualties. So proudly he took this matter into his own hands and made some sketchy plans. He carefully prepared and carried out his secret scheme to snitch the notebook from Snape's cabinet. It was no easy task as he had to figure out when the professor was out of the office and had to be sure no one would catch him in sight also. Along the way, Harry had this sneaking suspicion: "Why was it that Genny always kept her diary with her and clung to it like it was the most valuable possession on Earth? She was also acting rather strangely at times? On top of that, why would Dumbledore charge Snape to figure out the secrets of this book?". This clearly navigated him to realize: this book is definitely the key to solve this whole mystery. He did not know much about the Chamber of Secrets but he learnt enough to know it by heart: it is best to destroy or seal up that place once and for all. But in order to do that he needed some answers, desperately.

Just shortly after, as the grand dinner ended on the 25th of December, Harry impatiently sat through the awarding ceremony for the Frostbite Challenges. He did not win any prize but was honorably mentioned as a good participant and craftsman. The recognition of greater artists pleased him way more than any prize he could won. As soon as the formality has ended he was one of the first who left the grand hall. He rushed through his well-known corners and hallways and skipped a few unnecessary conversations with familiar ghosts and paintings and almost fell over at a staircase for not being careful enough.

The sleeping quarters of Gryffindor was shockingly silent and empty as Harry was the only person living there through the holidays. The only noise was the gently pouring rain from outside and the occasional cracks of the burning wood form their fireplace. Harry found it to be pleasantly warm and somehow relaxingly cozy. This was his first time in a long where he could gather his thoughts in peace and finally focus on one thing: the mystery which laid ahead. While gathering his thoughts he remembered a great quote of someone: "Every great soldier of the past could have been easily beaten without a proper coup of tea before battle". After acknowledging this important lesson he put a small kettle above the fire and watched as the flames danced back and forth while the water was brought up to boil. Being an avid tea enthusiast, Harry got a small handcrafted wooden box (with marvelous amount of nature motives, accompanied with various types of forestry animals) of special herbs and tea leaves as a gift from Ms. Molly – which he cherished very much –. He used those ingredients to mix up a calming mixture of black tea and various fine dried fruits. After the tea was made and the process of seasoning has ended Potter went straight upstairs and sat down at his own desk. He took several sips of his delicious tea and embraced the lasting flavors for a while. As it was getting darker by the minute he reached out for his new candle to lit up his desk and placed it next to his big pile of notes. But it was no ordinary candle! It magically lit itself in the time of need and was imbued with a particular spell: it brought light and warmth into people’s heart to be able to repel any shape or form of sadness and dark wizardry – within limits of course –. Also it magically returned itself to normal just before the candle would completely burn down. This special item was a friendly gift from Ms. McGonagall which he got just not long ago. Fittingly enough it was the perfect present for Harry's unforeseen endeavors – as if Ms. M. knew that he would eventually get into trouble –.

All was set as he put the diary on his desk. A strange feeling got to him as he unpacked the wrapping paper for the book and finally held it in his own hands: he felt a cold and unwelcoming touch, almost numbingly cold. Strangely enough his old scar also started to rumble a bit: he felt dizziness. These all where very strange but Potter knew immediately that he was on the right track. When he finally opened the book with a sudden movement (in participation of great fear and pain), surprisingly nothing happened. As he continued to investigate the book, he found out that all the pages where completely blank. This confused him. The more he browsed the less his chance became of ever stopping the madness in his school. He thoroughly scanned every inch, every micron but could not find any hidden information. He tried to use his wand to command the diary, tried to cast some minor spells on it but none of them worked at all. It was either out of his reach or he was doing it all wrong.

Time was rapidly passing by and it was late into the night when finally Harry had an epiphany: ”What would Genny do, if she stumbled across this empty diary? She would have tried to write something in it! – Harry slapped his desk in his moment of brilliance – Of course!". He quickly grabbed a pen and started to write on the first page: "Dear diary...". As he was reaching for more ink, he saw his words disappear into nothingness: magic was at hand! This made him enthusiastic and wondered if he could find out more. Before he was able to do anything at all, strange and somewhat hard to read handwriting started to appear on the opened page: "I know you...", than they slowly faded away. Soon more letters became visible to his eyes: "The great Harry Potter himself! Let me introduce myself...".

The room went pitch-black in a flash. One moment ago Harry was sitting in his comfy chair at his desk but now he found himself in the middle of nowhere. He was seemingly standing on solid ground but could not tell on what as he did not see a thing. While he was clueless, slowly his surroundings became moderately cold than started to reach even lower. He started to shiver as he was clearly underdressed with his thin casual clothing. Then whispers hit his ears: whispers of long forgotten voices, spoken in an unfamiliar language. Harry started to feel anxious and a bit scared: – Maybe this wasn't my best idea ever? – he thought. Soon enough heavy wind started to blew in his direction, carrying a thick gray smoke cloud which filled the vast emptiness. As soon as he inhaled the smoke he immediately started to choke and he felt like having an asthma attack. He managed to somewhat recover himself rather quickly when loud shouting struck him from ahead:

– Potter! THE Potter! The famous Harry Potter! Ahahahaha... – screamed the voice, as a shadow started to form from the poisonous cloud. A fairly young man appeared who must have been in his early twenties. He wore an unfamiliar and old magic robe and held a wand in his hand. In some ways he reminded Harry of one of the Slytherins prefects. Than the person continued:

– Speak up Potter, has your tongue been cut out? – he laughed again.
– No… no, of course not! – Harry replied quietly while still coughing from the smoke. Harry then asked: – Who are you and what are you doing here? What do you want?
– Tsss... Just like your pesky father James, nosy as usual. – after a short period of frustration, the person continued: – Well, if you must know everything – he giggled –, my name is Tom Riddle and this is my notebook. – Than he scratched his head and questioned Potter further with a slick and slimy tone of voice:
– More interestingly, I would like to know what is it that I can help you with, my dearest and greatest friend? – Tom's voice penetrated Harry's mind. He felt like being on a rollercoaster and being half sleping at the same time. But he mastered up all his energy to continue:
– Do you know why Genny or the others turned into stone? Or who did it and why?
– Acting like a true detective, eh? I like it! But those questions will sadly remain unanswered for now. I’m sorry but I can’t tell you about that. – Tom again let out a devilish giggle and put on a wide smile on his face: – All will be fine Potter! Do not worry! E V E R Y T H I N G will be fine. Fine, I tell ya! – he chewed on his words for a while.

Harry started to realize that he will not be able to get much out from this person as he was clearly just playing with him. Also Harry started to feel the power of the candle which gave him strength and made him feel less alone and vulnerable. He knew he had to be more cunning in order to get something out of Tom, so he replied:

– What can you show me than? – the question shocked the snug wizard and made him even more vigorous:
– This! – he clapped his hands in front of Harry, which somehow teleported them back to Potter’s hometown, his old place where all started in a long time ago...

***

It was midnight. The once quiet town of Godric's Hollow was now in chaos as it was under siege and parts of it were already burning down. Loud screams and magic shots echoed through the air while everyone was panicking about their life’s. Some were trying to pack all their belongings, some tried to barricade their windows and doors or fought with their last breath with the Death Eaters. The less courageous and strong chose to run while only a handful of few remained to help the others or tried to put some of the raging flames out. This was really a horrible place where Harry was brought into. He could not talk to nor touch nobody as he was just a mere invisible ghost to them. He had to helplessly stand there and watch as these events unfolded in front of their eyes. As a person was just caught by his chasers, Tom suddenly turned Harry's shoulders to a particular direction: towards the bright moon. A dark patch of clouds were rapidly approaching to their location (seemingly as if it came from behind the Moon). All of the nearby Death Eaters turned around them and stopped whatever they were doing to make way: it was the dark lord himself. The one whom you do not speak of: Voldemort. Than at that point Harry came to a nasty realization: that person was none other than an older version of Tom...

Potter's scar started to hurt like crazy while he witnessed the full stance of his great enemy. However he could not hear what evil discussion the lord had with one of his servants, but he felt by heart that it was not a good omen. As Voldemort grew a grinchy smile on his face, he headed with great steps towards the house of Potter's (Tom also nagged Harry to follow). Once again he reached back to his candle light and drew courage and warmth from it. He needed that as they were entering his parents old house. The home use to have a lovely and pleasant aura but now it was completely different. It was torn up and was in a great mess. Originally Harry would have loved to live here if he had the chance.

They were already late. First he saw something barely visible from the kitchen. As it turned out it was a person’s arm. Harry immediately knew it was his father’s. Tom tried to push him to witness the scene close up be he’s legs where nailed to the ground. While they
were standing in the entrance they heard his mother’s scream from upstairs. Harry suddenly got paralyzed by the scream (which hunted him from as long as he could remember). The pain he both suffered from losing his family and his hurting scar. Harry pulled himself into the nearest corner and started to cry out in agony. There was no way he could live a second longer…

Tom saw all of this and took it as a job well done. But it did not last for long as the candle sensed Harry's unbearable pain and became even more powerful than before! The candle miraculously nursed Potter back to life. This sudden aid helped Harry to partially overcome his pit of darkness. Quickly as he could, he stud up and mastered his remaining will and spoke to Tom:

– Enough! No matter what you do I am still stronger in heart! I may not have my family anymore but I gained a new one and great friends for life!
– Tom suddenly stopped his theatrical enjoyment and let out an angry shout while everything disappeared behind them to nothingness: the nightmare has finally ended. But Harry knew it was not over as he felt it within his scar. He realized that by somehow stopping Tom's plan he gained partial control over the diary! Harry than shouted:
– WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? TELL ME!
– No, no! You... You can't do that! I am my own master! – this completely shacked Tom up and made him hesitant and disorganized. Harry just kept on going:
– SHOW ME YOU TRUE LIFE! – everything went into dark while a loud scream from Tom's mouth left his ears. For a moment Potter was in complete silence. Than he found himself at an unfamiliar place: somewhere near London, in the suburbs, at a nursery when Tom was much, much younger.

The small child was nothing compared to what Harry would have imagined in his wildest dreams: Tom was the sweetest and warmhearted person you could find. He was a bit weak in strength and a tad clumsy but even at this young of an age he showed remarkable kindness and awareness toward others. He was so positive, so happy all the time that nothing could break his endless joy. Before Harry could see more the place changed and soon enough he found himself years later at Tom's prosperous house. Despite the fact that Tom lived a privileged life, not all was well. Things have drastically changed for the Riddle family: the parents where constantly arguing and Tom's older brothers did not cope with all eight members of the family.

Swiftly, everything changed again. Tom now was around the age of Harry, and was shown how the family changed from great to bad. At a particular night the family received terrible news from a local police officer: the loss of the father in a car accident. Tom's mother collapsed at the door and the elder brothers just stood there like a giant brick. The only one who showed maturity was young Tom who tried to help where ever he could.

Harry slowly realized something remarkable: Tom was just a regular muggle, just like him (until proven otherwise). The scene changed again to a later time. Now he was shown how they bullied the fifth Riddle both by force and mentally. He was beaten up all the time, until he managed to unleash his anger and frustration in a class where a tiny bit of magical accident has happened. From that day on he was labeled crazy and a maniac. Tom became an outcast for life. Harry felt that Tom still had a tremendous heart but he showed less and less of its potentials. He was also allowed to peak into Tom's mind: he knew something was wrong with him but did not know what and why.

Finally, around the age of eighteen, Potter witnessed how the family broke up completely while Tom started to hang out with the wrong people. He's experiences with life made him cynical and slowly got alienated from his remaining few friends, his loved ones and from people in general. He had no peace or rest for a minute. All he held dear was gone and he’s only left with a sour taste in his mouth from the betrayal of his loved ones...

Harry saw Tom somewhere, smoking in the rain in a dark alley, looking like the worst you could think of. That man showed no life and had been completely given up on every finding one. In this deepest and darkest of hour a dark robed person walked towards him with great steps. The person pulled Tom up and shook him back to life. This visitor talked little in voice and equally briefly. His somewhat rusty old mumbling cracked the monotone sounds of the pouring rain:

– Mr. Riddle. The time is right for you. You will come with me and I will teach you the ways of a wizard... – and just to gain Tom's attention, this person used his wand to remove an immense spell from Tom which somehow blocked his slumbering powers. A small explosion happened as Tom's energy was released at once. Know he finally had enough proof to believe in his own imagination: he is the chosen one to lead the world into darkness...

Harry than once again felt a sharp pain in his scar and the image he just witnessed disappeared. It became dark again and he could only think about one thing: to return back to reality. He started to concentrate and with the luck of the magic candle, he managed to escape from this terrible nightmare. He was finally back in his chair. It was dawn as the first lights were already shone through the windows. He even pinched himself, just to be sure. The dairy was closed on his desk, like nothing has ever happened. The candle however mysteriously have burned down and somewhat exploded into smaller bits on his written notes. Even more strangely it became tainted with darkness and did not regrow anymore. It took him a while to ease his tension as he was still shocked and amazed from what he experienced. He recognized that this trip of his was highly bold and most childish, as it could have been his last journey. But in all honesty he thought it was worth the effort and the pain. Then he opened up one of the windows to let some air in. After getting some fresh relaxing air to his lungs he stretched himself and said only one thing: -– Wow!