Journey back to the past and his Prime CH.6

Harry Potter fiddled with the sleeve of his robes as he tried to push down the nervousness bubbling inside of him and psyched himself up for what he was about to do.

It was the next morning, and Harry was on his way to meet with Emmeline Vance in the next few minutes. Despite himself, the time-travelling wizard couldn't help but feel a little hesitant about the prospect of meeting the older witch, nervous butterflies fluttering in the pit of his stomach.

Harry had no idea what he was walking into. For all he knew, there could be an ambush waiting for him there by the Order of the Phoenix if Emmeline had told the Headmaster about what he had done. Harry knew Dumbledore would not be pleased that someone unknown, potentially a wild card, was meddling in his well-orchestrated plans regarding the war against the Dark Lord.

Still, Harry had made up his mind. He was going to go through with it. There was no point playing it safe now. Didn't he want excitement and adventure in this second chance at life? Harry thought to himself as he finished his preparations in front of the mirror. Well, here was the opportunity.

As he finished putting the final touches on his disguise, Harry thought about his plan of action. Sometime during the last night before he went to sleep, Harry had decided that he was going to reveal his identity to Emmeline if things went well upon their meeting. It was the best way to move forward, he had decided. Best to keep no secrets among potential new allies and all that.

So, with his mind made up, all that was left was for Harry to make the next move. However, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous about his decision.

Previously, Harry had been in disguise, concealed beneath a spell that masked his features when he'd first met Emmeline. She had no idea who her savior from the Death Eaters truly was. Harry was self-aware enough to admit that the secrecy had lent him an air of mystery — made him seem more powerful, more dangerous. But now, as he prepared to reveal his true identity, he knew it would be a test — a test of whether she could bring herself to follow someone so much younger than she was.

It was, Harry had decided, a good measure — a way to see whether other witches and wizards out there would be willing to follow his lead in the future. Or if his entire plan to rally the Wizarding World and lead the fight against Lord Voldemort from the front had been doomed to fail from the very beginning.

So, once Harry decided he was finally ready and couldn't delay it any longer, he picked up the glass jar containing Nott the toad from his desk and slipped it inside the pocket of his plain black robes. He then quickly spun on his feet, apparating to Emmeline's house in East London.

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Meanwhile, at her house, Emmeline Vance was scratching her quill on another parchment as she filled out the umpteenth report from the Department of Magical Transportation. After being out of commission for the last few days due to her injuries, she had been catching up on some of the office work from the Ministry. However, despite going through the numerous reports in front of her, Emmeline's mind was still distracted. Her thoughts were stuck on the events from the last few days.

Emmeline's rash actions had nearly cost her life. Her thirst for revenge against her sworn enemy had blinded her to the dangers ahead. Because of it, she had been taken by surprise and captured. Emmeline knew that if not for her mysterious savior, she would've died at the hands of Nott in that dark, abandoned forest - her fate no different from the very friends she'd set out to avenge that night.

Luckily, Emmeline's mysterious benefactor had saved her life - and captured her enemy in the process. She vividly remembered the sight of Nott, transformed into a toad and captured in a glass jar held by the mysterious wizard. That memory never failed to bring a smile to her face every time she thought about it. Seeing that pompous arse Nott finally brought low had filled her with such happy feelings.

That had been half a week ago.

Emmeline had spent that time drifting in and out of consciousness as her body recovered from her injuries. She had been cared for by an excitable house elf named Knobby, who always wore a cloth mask on his face to hide his identity while he cared for her. The elf was clearly working for the wizard who had saved Emmeline's life and had likely been put on the duty by that very man to look after her.

For her part, Emmeline didn't really mind. She couldn't help but be charmed by the House elf caring for her. Knobby was a total sweetheart who made sure she was always comfortable and never in any sort of discomfort. He provided her with delicious meals and made sure she got all her potions on time without having to get out of bed at all. Due to his dedicated efforts, Emmeline had managed to recover in no time.

Once her body was fully recovered, Emmeline knew what her next course of action was going to be. Last night, after her ribs had finally stopped aching at any movement, she'd politely asked the House elf to contact his master so that they could meet, and he had happily done so.

So, now, Emmeline was waiting for her mysterious savior to arrive so that she could properly thank him. That was the least she'd decided she could do for everything he'd done for her. Still, she couldn't help but feel nervous about her decision.

Emmeline knew she wasn't supposed to contact that wizard anymore. Even though he had saved her life, he had proven himself to be a killer, and as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Emmeline was supposed to report any such rogue witch or wizard who was using lethal force against the Death Eaters to the Headmaster.

Professor Dumbledore had issued that order to every Order personnel. It was one of the few things that every Order member was supposed to follow, no questions asked. The Headmaster had issued that decree on their very first meeting because he feared that any lethal attack on Voldemort's forces would bring an even more severe retaliation from the Dark Lord, causing even more innocent lives to be lost.

For her part, Emmeline had agreed with the Headmaster's reasoning for a long time. She also didn't want innocent people to suffer because someone angered Lord Voldemort by killing his minions, bringing his wrath on them. But that was before Nott had broken out of prison. The sight of him walking free after killing so many of her friends had blinded her with rage. She no longer cared about Albus Dumbledore's orders - the only thing she cared about was vengeance.

Unfortunately, Emmeline had failed to finish her task. Her original plan had been to kill Nott on her own before she'd been caught blindsided by his cronies.

Luckily, her saviour had succeeded where she'd failed. He'd killed Nott's underlings while capturing the man himself. Now, Emmeline would be a hypocrite to report him to the Headmaster after what she herself was going to do.

So, Emmeline had decided that she was going to hear him out. Learn what he planned to do against the Dark Lord before doing anything against him.

As Emmeline was lost in her thoughts, she was taken by surprise as a person materialised in her kitchen from out of nowhere. Emmeline let out a surprised ''eep'' when the individual dressed in black robes with a hood over his head to hide his identity apparated inside her home.

Immediately, Emmeline's wand was out of her sleeve and pointed at the intruder as she jumped to her feet, ready to fight. A spell was on her lips, and she was ready to fire when something stopped her. It took her a few seconds before she recognised her visitor.

Emmeline relaxed, lowering her wand to her side.

"Merlin's beard!" She gasped, clutching a hand to her chest. "Where the hell did you come from? You scared the crap out of me!" she complained to the new arrival, giving him a stink eye.

"Erm... did you not invite me for a meeting?" her visitor asked, radiating confusion as he tilted his head to the side.

Emmeline sighed, shaking her head at his response. She suppressed a shiver at the sound of his voice; it was so unnatural and had such a gravelly undertone to it. Emmeline was sure it was the effect of a magical spell to hide his identity, but it still made her feel uncomfortable due to its roughness.

"Yeah, I did," she replied to his question after a second, stowing her wand back into her sleeve before continuing, "But that's not the problem. How the hell did you get inside my house? There are all sorts of protections around here, some of them put into place by Moody himself. No one should be able to enter without my permission. So, how the hell did you get in, huh?" she asked, pointing a finger at him.

Her unannounced visitor didn't get flustered by her accusations. "You keyed me into your wards when I brought you here a few days ago, remember," he answered calmly.

Emmeline could hear the amusement hiding in his deadpan voice, and her cheeks turned red in embarrassment. "Oh, is that right? I guess I forgot that," she mumbled softly.

"I don't blame you. You were quite hurt that day after all," Her savior said, giving her an easy way out of her embarrassment. "So, how are you now?"

"I'm alright now. The Skele-Gro patched me up pretty good. No more broken ribs or anything of the sort." Emmeline replied, giving him a grateful smile. "Anyway, I don't remember if I said it before, but thanks for saving me that day. Before you came, I really thought I was done for."

The hooded stranger nodded in response. "You're welcome." He then paused for a second before continuing. "Is that all? Or did you want anything else?"

Emmeline hesitated, unsure of how to continue. She wanted to ask this man so many questions, but she wasn't sure where to even start. Finally, she decided to just take a chance and blurted out, "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

The disguised wizard tilted his head to the side. "You're asking me to tell you my identity?" he asked, his voice growing soft and dangerous. "That's quite a request, Ms. Vance."

Emmeline blanched, covering her mouth with her hand. She couldn't believe she'd just said that out loud. That was such an unreasonable request to ask of someone who'd saved your life while putting themselves in danger. Emmeline couldn't believe how rude she was acting. She opened her mouth to apologise, but he cut her off.

"Okay. I'll tell you," the mysterious stranger said simply, before continuing, "But let me ask you something first."

Emmeline, who'd been left speechless by his response, quickly snapped out of her daze and hesitantly nodded her head.

"S-sure. You can ask me what you want," she told him.

The disguised wizard dipped his head in reply. He then took a few measured steps towards Emmeline until they were standing face-to-face with each other.

"Are you happy with how things are going, Ms. Vance? Do you think you or your Order are having any effect in the fight against Lord Voldemort?"

Despite his face hiding in the shadows of his dark hood, Emmeline could feel the heat of his gaze on her. Unable to meet his eyes, she ducked her head. "We're...we're doing everything we can," she answered in a voice that sounded weak to her own ears.

The wizard in front of her scoffed, turning away. "You guys are failing in the dark," he said, his voice dripping with disdain. "Dumbledore's little band of do-gooders, always a step behind, always reacting instead of acting."

Emmeline bristled in anger. 'The sheer gall of this guy to dismiss the efforts of so many people just like that,' she thought to herself. However, despite the anger that she was feeling, Emmeline couldn't exactly deny his words. They were harsh, overly critical, but also true in a sense.

As an organisation, the Order of the Phoenix mostly dealt in information gathering. That was their main purpose - to keep track of the dark side's movements and stop them from gaining too much power in the Wizarding world. As a result, most Order members weren't really fighters; they were like common individuals playing spies. Apart from a few special persons, most of them weren't prepared to fight in a war.

When she couldn't deny his words, Emmeline admitted to her savior with a sigh. "Okay, I admit you're right. The Order's not as effective as it could be. But that doesn't mean we're completely useless. We do a lot of important missions behind the scenes."

The hooded stranger turned to face her once more. "I never said you're useless. You guys do your part in the scheme of things, but your group could be better if you weren't held back by Dumbledore."

Emmeline narrowed her eyes. "You're talking about fighting back against the Death Eaters lethally," she said softly. "Sorry to inform you, but that won't work for long. You can kill a few of them, but then the Dark Lord would just respond in kind in an even more gruesome manner. He'll kill scores of people or unleash his Werewolves on a Muggle town like he did in the last war."

Despite what she had expected, Emmeline's words didn't cause the man in front of her to stop for a second. Before she'd finished speaking, he was already shaking his head.

"I can't believe how naive you are," he responded immediately in a bitter voice. "Is that what you tell yourself not to fight back against injustice? That Voldemort would kill even more innocents if you killed people in his army. Well, newsflash, Vance, he's already doing it! Or did he not kill an entire street of muggles in Manchester two weeks ago?"

Emmeline closed her eyes, his words hitting her hard in the chest. She remembered reading about that article - how entire families were killed in their sleep at night just for fun. It was an absolute massacre - Lord Voldemort announcing his return to the entire Wizarding World with style. That was one of the few times in her life Emmeline had felt completely helpless, unable to do anything.

As she thought about the words of her mysterious saviour, Emmeline realized he was right. She was afraid and making excuses until this moment. Innocent people were already being killed out there, and the Order's non-lethal fighting policy was just making sure that their enemies' numbers never reduced. It was time for her to start fighting back without her hands tied behind her back.

"You're right. I've been making excuses," Emmeline said after a few seconds, admitting the truth to herself and to him. Her eyes opened, and they were filled with determination. "But not anymore. I'm going to do everything I can to fight the Death Eaters. I'm going to fight back as hard as I can."

The mysterious stranger nodded. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

He then reached up and removed the hood of his robes, dispelling the darkness that hid his features from her view.

Emmeline yelped in surprise and stumbled back a few steps as she got a got look at his face.

"Harry Potter!" she gasped in shock, hand flying to her mouth. "Wha...but how...this..this can't be possible?"

"This doesn't make any sense?" she whispered to herself, unable to believe that her mysterious saviour was none other than Harry Potter.

As Emmeline was trying to come to terms with this earth-shattering revelation, the wizard in front of her chuckled good-naturedly.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.