Author's Note-This story is a sequel to Harry Potter and the Time Turner, which was set in Harry's sixth year. This story is set in his seventh year, following the defeat of Voldemort. Obviously, this story will make much more sense if you've read the previous story.
Following the defeat of Voldemort, Harry, Hermione, and the rest of the wizarding world rejoiced in hope of a better future. However, their peace is soon threatened by old foes, new enemies, and the race to recover a powerful weapon from the nearly forgotten age of Atlantis. But who would be interested in an artifact which, according to myth, gave its wielder power over life and death? Harry and Hermione must find out who is looking for it and beat them to the artifact if they hope to prevent the curse of Atlantis from destroying their world. This story is a sequel to H.P. and the Time Turner.
This page is a general disclaimer for all of the chapters that follow.
Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor any of the characters in this story, they are the property of J. K. Rowling.
I still appreciate comments or reviews, those I received on my earlier story were very helpful and often very motivational, as well. I hope that everyone who reads this new story enjoys it, especially all those who read and offered comments on my earlier story.
Ch 1: A Missing Hero
At number four, Privet Drive, the tranquility of the beautiful Sunday morning was broken by another loud, rather vulgar oath. "There can't be this many bloody owls in the entire world Petunia! But they all seem to be finding their way here. When I get my hands on that scrawny boy, I swear I'll wring his worthless neck!"
Indeed, both the front lawn and the backyard of the Dursley's were covered with owls jostling for position. The trees for nearly a block around were filled with all sizes, shapes, and colors of owls, with a few other breeds of birds as well. The one thing they all had in common was the item they all carried, either a tightly rolled scroll or a very small package with the name Harry Potter written on the outside.
Inside the house, all three Dursleys were simply hurling the pieces of mail as fast as they hit the table or floor into the roaring fireplace. If they had been watching closely, they would have noticed that none of the scrolls actually burned in the fire, but disappeared as soon as they were tossed into the flames. But none of the Dursleys were particularly observant or curious about the letters. They were simply furious.
Their summer had been terrible so far. In May, they had thought it was going to be the best summer ever, when they received a letter from Harry telling them that he would not be coming home for the summer. But then a few days later, the owls bringing letters and scrolls and packages addressed to Harry had begun. And instead of decreasing in numbers, the flocks of owls had only grown larger as the days of June passed one by one.
They had already received numerous complaints from their neighbors, most of whom were no longer talking to them. They had received visits from the Health Department and the Wildlife Preservation Agency, several natural resource and conservation societies, and staff from the various British zoos. And the reporters never stopped harassing them. Now bird watchers from around the country were flocking to their street to watch all the birds that seemed so interested in the Dursley's home. They were the center of attention in Little Whinging, Surrey, but for all the wrong reasons.
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As the morning sun rose, it became readily apparent that it was going to be a beautiful day. Outside the solid walls of Hogwarts, the warm June morning felt pleasant to the bustling wizards and witches as they streamed across the grounds, heading towards the castle doors. Many stopped to pause and look at the black, circular scars radiating from the front doors of the school that still marked the turf from the battle at Hogwarts weeks earlier. Where the magical fire had burnt away the Dementors and resisting Death Eaters, the very ground remained dead and charred a deep black while in contrast the green grass and bushes everywhere else seemed even more vibrant than ever.
Inside the castle, Professor Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled merrily as he looked around the Great Hall at the milling crowd. The hall had been greatly expanded in order to provide sufficient space for the hundreds of ministry officials and reporters from around the world who had insisted upon attending the award ceremony. The slight scowls and frowns on the faces of most of the faculty and members of the Order he saw around the room made it difficult for him to continue hiding his growing smile. Minerva McGonagall leaned over and whispered to Dumbledore, "Where is Harry? I haven't seen him anywhere. There's Ron Weasley with his family, but where is Hermione Granger? Surely she wouldn't miss this?" Dumbledore just smiled but said nothing.
Minister Fudge, as usual, seemed extremely cheerful as he gesticulated wildly with both arms in front of a throng of reporters, whose quills were scribbling madly as he droned on and on. Finally, with a huge satisfied grin on his face, Fudge looked around the head table and moved closer to Dumbledore.
"Truly a memorable day in the history of the wizarding world, wouldn't you agree Dumbledore? Harry Potter, the powerful young wizard I have often thought of as fondly as I would my own son, to be the youngest wizard ever to receive the Order of Merlin, First Class. Simply amazing. Even beat you by a few years, eh Dumbledore?"
"Yes of course, Minister Fudge," smiled Dumbledore.
As Fudge continued to look around the room, appearing extremely pleased with himself, a sudden thought struck him.
"It's nearly ten o'clock, Dumbledore. If he waits much longer, young Harry is going to be late. As it is, I'm astonished that he's not here yet. You haven't seen him this morning, have you?"
"No Minister Fudge, I have not." With that, Dumbledore leaned back in his seat and continued watching the crowd with amusement.
Five minutes after ten, a somewhat flustered Minister of Magic came to speak with Dumbledore again. "Are you sure you haven't seen him, Dumbledore? Where on earth could the boy be? Doesn't he realize how important this ceremony is? Does he know how many people have traveled from around the world to share in our triumph over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"
"Are you referring to the defeat of Voldemort, Minister Fudge?"
"You know I am, Dumbledore."
"Then do not be afraid to use his name. He has been defeated after all."
"I know that Dumbledore. And I am not afraid." With that, the Minister of Magic stalked off angrily.
Half an hour later, there was a loud buzzing throughout the room as the hundreds of people gathered for the ceremony speculated openly about why the guest of honor had not appeared yet. A livid Minister of Magic was alternating between pacing back and forth by the front table and snapping at various aides who kept appearing and disappearing from the room.
"Minister Fudge. Do you have any idea when Mr. Potter will be showing up today? Will he be coming to the award ceremony today?" asked one of the milling reporters.
"We are confident he will be appearing shortly," replied Fudge.
"How do you know, sir? Have you spoken with him? What did he say?" asked another reporter. Amidst the various questions being asked of the minister, one from the back caught everyone's attention. "Has some sort of problem come up?" There was a gasp throughout the room.
"We do not foresee any problems that young Mr. Potter could not handle himself." People throughout the crowd chuckled at his answer.
"Does that mean there is not a problem, or that you are unaware of a possible problem Minister?" followed up another reporter.
"There is no problem." Fudge began to look a bit uncomfortable with the continued questioning but managed to hide it fairly well.
"When was the last time you spoke with Mr. Potter?"
"Well, I spoke personally with Mr. Potter several weeks ago, several days after the battle. Obviously, I have been very busy since directing…"
"You haven't spoken with Mr. Potter in over four weeks?" Gasps of astonishment were heard throughout the room. "How would you characterize your relationship with Mr. Potter?"
"I would say we have a very good relationship. I believe he feels he can trust me with anything and I've made it perfectly clear that he can talk to me any time he wishes. I owled him several reminders about the award ceremony last week and I'm sure he will be here momentarily."
"You owled him about the highest award the magical world can bestow on a wizard? You didn't invite him personally? How did Mr. Potter respond to these messages?" Loud whispers could be heard throughout the hall.
Fudge looked stumped for a minute. "Well, err, I'm sure he has been very busy…"
"Has he responded at all to any of the Ministry's messages? Has anyone from the Ministry been in contact with Mr. Potter recently? Speaking on behalf of my paper, I can assure you that all of our attempted communications with Mr. Potter have been ignored. Has anyone at all been in touch with Mr. Potter recently?" The crowd exploded with a dull roar as reporters shared notes and quickly discovered that nobody from the press had received any kind of a response from Mr. Potter.
"Does the Ministry even know if he's still alive? We know there are still searches for remaining allies of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Is it possible that there has been some sort of attack on Mr. Potter by one of these yet unapprehended Dark wizards?"
"Please, everyone calm down. I'm sure there is no need to worry. Mr. Potter is very capable of…" Fudge looked increasingly frustrated as he tried to speak over the growing murmurs in the crowd. Dumbledore, hiding his smile, stood up the front table and raised his arms waiting for the hall to quiet down.
"I assure you, young Mr. Potter is perfectly fine." Before the crowd could erupt again, Dumbledore raised a palm to the crowd. "Harry has in fact, been keeping in touch with the Ministry of Magic."
The crowd exploded in commotion and Fudge turned to glare at Dumbledore. "I believe Arthur Weasley may be able to provide some of the information many of you desire. Please come forward Arthur." There was a dull roar as the crowd spoke amongst themselves while the tall, thin red-haired man made his way from the side of the table to the center by Dumbledore. Mr. Weasley looked somewhat confused and in shock at all of the attention being focused upon him. Fudge glared at him with intense anger.
"I'm not sure exactly what Headmaster Dumbledore meant to imply, but…"
"Do you know where Mr. Potter is? Have you been in contact with him? What is your relationship to Mr. Potter?"
"Well, Mr. Potter is good friends with my son Ron and several other members of my family. Ron and Harry are in the same class and house at Hogwarts. We have received several messages from him while he has been on vacation. He seems to be very happy and doing well…"
"Where is he vacationing? Where is he now? Is he coming to the award ceremony and if not, why not?"
"I am not at liberty to say where he is vacationing. He wished to remain undisturbed. I am not sure if he is coming to the ceremony or the reason for his absence."
Nearly purple with rage, Fudge stalked over to Arthur Weasley and demanded, "Why didn't you tell me about this? Why didn't you inform the Ministry of your communications with Mr. Potter?"
Arthur glared back and replied, "My communications with Harry were personal and private, not related to my position within the Ministry. I saw no need to inform anyone at the Ministry about them nor has anyone at the Ministry been asked to do so. Besides, the impression we had at the Ministry was that you were in constant contact with him and that everything was fine." One of the veins in Fudge's neck began pounding almost as if it were going to burst.
More questions and comments came from the assembled crowd. "Why isn't Mr. Potter coming to the ceremony? Doesn't he realize the effort and preparation that has gone into this ceremony? How could he be so disrespectful of the wizarding world and the representatives gathered here to honor him? How could he be so immature as to disappear without notification? Didn't he understand the responsibility he owed to the wizarding world?"
As the muttered comments continued, the look on Arthur's face turned from puzzlement to surprise to one of growing anger. As his face turned nearly as red as the hair on top of his head, Arthur Weasley rounded on the reporters. "That is enough!" he thundered. The hall was immediately silent. "Disrespectful? Immature? Irresponsible? Is this how you describe the wizard who just saved the entire world from the horror and terror of Lord Voldemort and his army?" Most everyone in the crowd flinched at the mention of Voldemort's name but continued to listen quietly as Arthur continued. "I think those phrases better describe those members of this audience who slandered Mr. Potter last year in their sleazy tabloids and contemptible editorials. It hasn't been a year since many of you thought he was an egotistical, fame-seeking delusional danger to the world. And you dare call him disrespectful, immature, or irresponsible? How dare you? HOW DARE YOU! All of you, all of us, pinned our hopes on the shoulders of this young man, who is not even seventeen years old yet. We expected this boy to save us from the darkest wizard our world has seen in centuries and he's not even allowed to legally use magic outside of Hogwarts yet. He met and defeated Voldemort six times, once while an infant and the rest while a student at Hogwarts. His whole life up until now has had one focus-defeat Voldemort and save the world. Is there anyone here tonight who could have done what he has accomplished under the incredible pressure he has survived with the same amount of courage and grace and strength? Is there? For over sixteen years, this young man has shouldered the heaviest burden one can imagine, having lost most of his family and many of those dearest to him, afraid of losing still more close friends, knowing that if he was defeated the entire world would fall into shadow and despair beneath the heel of a merciless tyrant.
And you dare to complain because he wants to take a vacation? Because he doesn't want to be bothered for a few weeks? Hasn't Harry Potter done enough for all of us? What more do you expect from him? What more do you want?" Arthur Weasley glared around the silent room, listening in shock and shame to his impassioned speech. Not a sound could be heard, until a chair scraped and someone's footsteps could be heard. The crowd turned to watch as a slightly slimmer version of the older Weasley walked forward to his father. Arthur looked in confusion as Ron approached. "Uhh, Dad, I think Harry would have wanted you to read this about now." Ron handed him a sealed scroll and after looking around to see everyone's eyes riveted on him, returned to his seat.
Arthur broke the seal, unrolled the scroll, and as he read the first few lines his eyes widened in surprise. Clearing his throat, he began to speak again. "Dear witches and wizards of the magical world, it is with the deepest regret that I must refuse the honor you wish to bestow upon me. Though I deeply appreciate the sentiment and gratitude that led you to award me with the Order of Merlin First Class, I cannot accept it. I consider myself very fortunate to have survived my various encounters with Voldemort. Though I survived several of his attacks, I did not defeat him by myself. Voldemort would never have been defeated without Hermione Granger or Ronald Weasley. He would never have been destroyed without the sixth and seventh year students of Hogwarts, the Hogwarts faculty, the Order of the Phoenix, or the Aurors from the Ministry. None of us would have survived the final battle without the aid of the magical creatures who stood by us in our fight, the house-elves, the wild elves, the dwarves, the centaurs, the unicorns, the tree sprites, the merpeople, the hippogriffs, the thestrals, and the dragons. If you truly wish to honor those who stood up to Voldemort and helped bring about his downfall, honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Honor the memories of James and Lily Potter and the countless others who gave their lives trying to prevent the rise of Voldemort. Remember those, like Sirius Black who was falsely accused and wrongly imprisoned in Azkaban, who fell trying to prevent his return. Never forget those who fell at the Battle of Hogwarts or during the final battle with Voldemort. Some of the greatest wizards and witches of our time, as well as younger ones with great potential, gave their lives so that the rest of us who survived could live in peace and joy. They are the ones who deserve our thanks and gratitude, not some young wizard who by sheer luck happened to remember how to cast a Summoning spell. The honor belongs to them, not to me. Yours sincerely, Harry James Potter."
There was a moment of silence until Dumbledore rose from his chair and slowly began clapping. The Great Hall then burst into applause as Dumbledore looked over the crowd with great pleasure and pride.
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"Humble Hero Rejects Wizarding World's Highest Award," read the headlines of the Daily Prophet. Similar headlines framed other important wizarding papers around the world. At the bottom of most of the British papers, but still on the front page, ran a number of articles very critical of Cornelius Fudge and his behavior as Minister of Magic. Many of them poked fun at the attempt he had made to appear close to Harry Potter, when in fact it seemed like Mr. Potter barely communicated with him. Several reminded readers of how Fudge and the Ministry had been very critical of both Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore the summer before. Some observed how the refusal of Fudge and the Ministry of Magic to believe their account of the return of Voldemort delayed defensive preparations and undermined the safety of the magical world. A few even criticized Fudge for not using the portkey to fight in the final battle when many other witches and wizards like Arthur Weasley, who were not specifically trained as Aurors, did go and fight.
Speculation ran rampant about where Harry Potter was vacationing and over the next week, Harry Potter sightings popped up all over the world. A few papers speculated that Harry Potter had been captured or killed by former allies of Voldemort and that this was just the latest in a number of cover ups by the Ministry of Magic. The Weekly Wizard ran a special series of detailed reports on Arthur Weasley and his family's connections to Harry Potter as well as Arthur's involvement in the final battle against Voldemort. Ginny's was the most informative to the general public. Ron's was the shortest, but his interviews with other papers were much longer, though they tended to focus less on Harry's accomplishments and more on Ron's contributions. The interview with the Weasley twins was the most humorous, and by far the most popular. Sales at their store doubled after the second reprint of their interview and catalog orders for their products went through the roof.
It wasn't until the second week when reporters began trying to track down Hermione Granger, the third member of the incredible trio, and were unable to find her that concern for the whereabouts of both her and Harry Potter began to increase. Speculation ranged from a double kidnapping by surviving Death Eaters to wild claims that they had eloped and were now honeymooning in the foothills of Mongolia. Few of the guesses were even remotely close to the truth, the truth which Dumbledore and Arthur Weasley had already explained.
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