Chapter Text
Harry James Potter blearily opened his eyes to find himself face down on some kind of hard surface. His glasses were skewed and his surroundings were blurred. There was a loud ringing in his ears and his vision swam in and out of focus.
What the hell…?
He took a deep breath and tensed as the sound slowly returned to his ears.
"Hey, you there, are you alright?" A rough voice demanded, shaking him out of his thoughts.
It became apparent that while he'd been taking his impromptu nap on the concrete, a small crowd had gathered around him. Harry quickly jerked to his feet and swayed a bit unsteadily, his mind already working through suitable cover stories he could use.
"Steady there, kiddo, you took quite the fall." The same voice advised,
Harry blinked stupidly up at the abnormally large, copper-haired man as he offered an arm of support.
Kiddo?
Even in his addled state, his Auror-training kicked in and words automatically spilled from his lips.
"I'm so very sorry about that, I think I forgot to eat this morning." He said, noting with growing alarm that something was terribly wrong.
His voice was too high, definitely not his and everything was so big.
"Nothing to worry about- has anybody got a bottle of water?- where're your parents, kid?" The man continued questioning him, only pausing to receive a plastic bottle from someone in the crowd.
Harry briefly let his eyes scan the crowd, wondering for a moment if his parents were out there somewhere before turning to the man again.
"They're dead, sir." He said, trying to diffuse the situation so he could go back to figuring out what the bloody hell was going on.
The man paused for a second before handing him the bottle which he gratefully excepted.
"I'm sorry about that, but where are your guardians then? You can't be here alone." He asked, his face warring between calm blankness and an odd expression he couldn't quite decipher.
Harry's mind blanked and he found he couldn't figure out how to answer the question. Instincts having abandoned him, he blurted out the first thing he could think of.
"I don't know, I think I'm lost." He said, which wasn't really a lie, was it?
He genuinely had know clue where he was, how he'd gotten here and what to do now. He needed to think, and he certainly couldn't do that with all these concerned muggles hovering around. A vague plan began to take shape in his mind and Harry decided to just go with it.
"Alright, don't worry, we can find them again. Do you know what platform they were on?" The man asked, trying to keep his tone warm and friendly.
"No, I'm sorry sir." Harry responded,
While the man pondered on what to do, Harry unscrewed the cap on his bottle and took little sips to give himself some more time to think. He gaped incredulously at the rather familiar surroundings when it finally dawned on him. He was at King's Cross Station! But how!? Looking down at himself as discreetly as possible, he was still aware of the crowd refusing to move away, he found he was dressed in baggy muggle clothes that was several sizes to big for him and his wand wasn't anywhere on his person.
He could tell he was smaller by the way everything and everyone was bigger and taller, and he was obviously younger if his voice was anything to go by. He tried his best to recall the last thing he'd seen as he'd crashed into that crate, those glittering gold things. They'd been small and circular and quite familiar in hindsight… The water bottle slipped from his numb fingers and the water splashed everywhere, causing his spectators to back away, hissing in shock but Harry paid them no mind.
Time turners! He'd been thrown through a crate of time turners! Which had then proceeded to get sucked into an experimental runic portal not meant for human transport!
Merlin's Beard, this was exactly the kind of trouble he'd been hoping to avoid! Hadn't he suffered enough already? Two-faced Quirrell, giant ancient snake, bloody dementors, Umbridge the Toad, murderous tasks, Hermione and Ron's spat in sixth year, and that stupid horcrux hunt.
What more did this world want from him?
"You alright?" The man asked again, eying the water coating the floor.
It was embarrassingly easy to make his eyes water.
"I don't where they are." Harry sniffed pathetically, causing the copper-haired man to shift uncomfortably.
Faced with the prospect of a wailing child, Harry was certain he would've reacted the same way. Aside from Teddy of course, but his godson was a different matter.
Oh dear, poor Teddy.
Harry recalled promising the boy he'd take him to visit the Weasleys this weekend. And the Weasleys! They'd be so worried! Tears were dripping down his face now and the man began to visibly fidget.
"Hey now, don't cry! Look, why don't I take you to that booth over there and we can ask that nice man if he can find your guardians for you, how's that, hmm?" He said, trying to hush him.
Harry nodded feebly and wiped his face with his oversized sleeves, still looking miserable.
"My things." He sniffed, "I forgot my things."
"Is this yours, dearie? It was off to the side over there." An old lady came forward, a trolley in her hand.
Harry startled yet again, seeing that the trolley contained not only his beloved, beat up old trunk but also a cage with a very familiar snowy white owl.
"Hedwig!" He cried, the crowd momentarily forgotten.
"Oh, thank you so much, that's my trolley." He grinned happily at the old woman who pinched his cheeks.
"Well, c'mon then, lets go find your folks." The copper-haired man said, gesturing for him to follow.
"Yes sir." Harry nodded brightly and waved at the woman before falling into step behind the man. He carefully flicked up the latch of his trunk and opened it just a crack. Glancing up at the man to make sure he wasn't being watched, he soundlessly summoned his wand from the depths and quickly tucked it into his sleeve before remembering he no longer had his wand holster.
The man watched him with amusement as he fumbled with his sleeve, trying not to reveal his wand and chuckled at the look on his face. Harry waited for them to be a good distance away from the dissipating crowd before yanking on the man's sleeve and tugging him behind a pillar. Before he could express his confusion, Harry had pulled out his wand.
"Obliviate. You took me to the booth where my guardians were already waiting for me and you returned me to them. They thanked you profusely and we left to catch our train. You are now on your way back to your platform." He said, watching the man's eyes glaze over.
Without waiting to see the man come out of his daze, Harry slipped out from behind the pillar and placed a notice-me-not charm over himself before blending into the fray of busy people. He cast a wandless tempus charm and glanced at the time. Sighing slightly because he still had half-an-hour to go before he had to be onboard the Hogwarts Express if his time travel theory was to be believed. Something still didn't feel right.
Deciding it was time to maybe gather some evidence and straighten his facts out, he walked slowly towards a bench, looking as unassuming as he could and settled down, snatching a discarded paper in the process. The first thing he checked was the date, which read September 1st, 1991. Hedwig hooted in her cage, eying him with clear annoyance.
"I'll let you out in a moment, alright? I've got a few things I need to do, and then you can stretch your wings for a bit, kay?" He told her, pausing his research to stick his finger through the bars for her to nibble on.
Hedwig looked disdainfully at his outstretched finger and turned her head away. Rolling his eyes, Harry went back to his paper. He skimmed quickly through the articles and furrowed his brows in confusion, there were minute changes that didn't line up with his memories. Although to be fair, it had been nine odd years since then, or would be? Either way, he sincerely doubted his eleven-year-old self had paid that much attention to the paper of all things.
Shrugging to himself, he tossed the paper aside and tried to discard the distinct feeling of wrongness that was plaguing him. He curled his fingers around his trolley and drew it closer. Hedwig offered an impatient hoot and Harry felt a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He'd missed his snowy girl. He hefted her cage out of the trolley and placed it beside him before getting his trunk down next. He cast another Notice-Me-Not charm over himself before quickly shrinking the trunk and shoving it into his pocket. Then, he unlocked Hedwig's silver cage and set her free, shrinking and tucking away the cage.
Hedwig fluffed up her feathers and shook them all out experimentally and stretched her wings out. Then she affectionately nipped his fingers before taking off.
"I'll see you at Hogwarts, girl. You do know the way there, don't you?" Harry called out.
Hedwig shot him an offended look, as if to say- of course I know where Hogwarts is, you moron- and flew off from his sight. Snorting, Harry got to his feet and pushed the trolley back to its stand, he wouldn't need it anymore. It wasn't until he'd abandoned the trolley at the stand did he finally figure out why everything felt so wrong.
Engraved in bold silver lettering on a black plaque hanging above the trolley rack, were the words Queen's Cross Station. How wonderful. Not only was he back in time, he was in the wrong dimension to boot. If it hadn't been obvious before, Harry was now dead certain that fate had some personal vendetta against him…