"You should," George said breaking him from his thoughts. "It might help."
"I'll think about it," he conceded.
"So, how come the ghosts in the Alley get to stay longer?"
"They have unfinished business. Well, except the ones that were defending me, those spirits had their say and left. The ones that were killed because of their blood status can stay as long as they want."
"I guess, I can understand that, I wouldn't want Fred to be a vengeful spirit," George said thoughtfully and then shrugged. "So, any more surprises?"
"A few," was the answer as the younger man brought out his list and handed it to his friend.
The redhead took the list and read it over. He then looked at Hydrus and stated, "You're planning to go back in time."
"Yeah."
"Are you taking anyone with you? Ron, Hermione or anyone?"
"No."
"Why?" the confused man asked.
"Because anyone else would cause a paradox, unless they can be adopted into another family. Besides, I've done all I can to get them out of the country or make their way in the non-magical world. Well except for your family, but I reckon that the Weasleys will survive anything, being as stubborn as you lot are," the young immortal explained. "You can try to get your mum and dad to move, but I doubt they will. They'll want to stay and help others."
"You're probably right, though Hermione would be helpful, think about it a bit more, yeah," George said with a shrug. "If you had shown me this list an hour ago I'd've begged to go with you, now…" he trailed off, then cleared his throat and looked over the plans. "Well, after the recent events, I'd say you're getting a good start on these."
"Yeah," Hydrus said with a beaming smile. "So, do you want to help?"
"Yeah, let me hire another worker for the shop and clear out the back room and I'll join you here," George said distractedly, as his own ideas formed. The two troublemakers put their heads together and refined Hydrus' ideas. They talked into the night, until George left stating he had things to do in the morning.
It was a content Hydrus who went to bed that night. His studies were coming along nicely, it was as if a great pressure had been taken off his mind, and now he was learning things at a faster rate. Oh, he wasn't super-smart, just… smarter. He was also happy with the things that happened in the Alley today. He only hoped that very few innocents got caught in the backlash, but he couldn't plan for everyone.
.....
The fallout from Hydrus releasing the spirits was funny—well, to him and George anyway. Every time Rita wrote an article calling him Dark Lord, the Quibbler would print the exact opposite. The owner of the Quibbler even pointed out that Skeeter had been a spy for Voldemort. He had to wonder why Xenophilius was defending him, after the man turned him and his friends in to the Snatchers. Maybe he was trying to get back into his and Luna's good books. Oh, the immortal teen understood why the man did what he did, but still it was one more person that stabbed him in the back.
These conflicting reporters caused the people to split even further. Rita made the public scared by calling Harry Potter a necromancer. She stated that it was only a matter of time before he took over Diagon Alley with an army of Inferi. Mr. Lovegood reacted by saying that there had been no proof the young hero did anything, and quoted some of the ghost that they were brought here by someone else. The young immortal just let the two reporters battle and went about his business, safe with his new looks.
December came and Hydrus's research was paying off. He kept up his studies and was now proficient in Arithmancy and Runes. He also bought more books to get his A-levels, and was going through those at a pretty fast rate. Self-help books were also bought, on the advice of his counselor, but they were put aside for later.
After a few months of catching up on his studies, he now had the laptop charmed to take books into its database. There were also magical/electronic devices that stored books, but couldn't get on the internet. The teen was shocked at this discovery, since he hadn't seen anything like it in the non-magical market. Frostwell must have been a great inventor.
Hydrus spent many hours downloading books to one of the book-readers and was going to start on the laptop after Christmas break. He'd leave the others for a later date. The charm was simple all you had to do was touch top of the device to the center of the book (or incase of the laptop, touch the book to the top of the screen), incant the spell, and after a few moments the information was stored. It was a relief that he wouldn't have to store all those books in his pocketspace, and with these devices he wouldn't have to look very hard to find any information he needed.
Ron and Hermione were coming to visit him during the break. He had written to Hermione often and was concerned about how she was being treated at Hogwarts, though it did make him feel better about the staff that they seemed to be stepping in more often than they ever had with him. Hermione had told him the many confrontations she had with Pure-bloods, she came out on top, but they were still cause for concern.
The day came for the visit and Hydrus was once again in his Harry Potter persona. He made sure to only keep school books out for their visit. When the Floo flared Ron stepped out and Hermione wasn't far behind. The only reason the redhead was welcome in his house was because he and Hermione were still a couple, much to his displeasure.
"Alright, Harry?" Ron asked as he took one of the empty chairs.
"Alright," he answered as he went to hug his best friend. "How are you, Hermione?"
"Better, thanks," she said returning the hug. She then made her way to the chair next to Ron's and Hydrus took the sofa.
"Have you figured out what to do about your parents?" the younger wizard asked.
"No, I'm still undecided," she answered with a sad tone.
"Oh, sorry, well, whatever you decide, I'll help as much as I can," he offered and then turned to Ron. "How is Quidditch going? Ginny doing alright?"
"She's doing okay, we'd be doing better if you came back," the redhead said with a glare. "Still don't understand why you're hiding."
"Good to hear Ginny's doing a good job," he said sincerely, ignoring the rest, trying his best not to get angry and ruin the visit.
"How are your studies coming along?" Hermione asked quickly sending a pointed look to her boyfriend. They had talked about it before they came, and it was understood that Ron wouldn't harass Harry about returning to the castle.
....
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