A Paradox In Time

Pieces of the Past

The Ministry of Magic, London, 1945 ...

Harry and Hermione stepped into the Atrium and moved quickly to one side, to prevent being jostled by the early morning crowds hurrying to work. The place looked remarkably the same as they remembered it ... or at least as they remembered it pre-Voldemort. The Magic is Might statue was gone, and the original monument of the witch, wizard and house-elf was back in it's place. Hermione frowned as she looked at it.

"You know, I don't know which one is worse," she frowned. "Wizards trampling on each other for power, or trampling on sentient magical creatures instead. They are as bad as each other in their own ways."

"When we put all this right, we'll build you a new one," Harry promised. "With my reputation, I'm sure I could arrange it for you. What should we have?"

"Don't ask me that just now," Hermione replied, grimly. "I might respond with something like, 'Molly Weasley's head on a spike' or something. And that would simply be a waste of an opportunity to spread a message of tolerance!"

Harry chuckled at that. Then he looked at Hermione in seriousness. "So, what's the plan? Are there any time-travel rules that we have to follow?"

"Well, the first one we can ignore," Hermione replied. "And that's Do Not Be Seen .... because, as we don't exist yet in this place, we are safe from that."

Harry nodded. "That certainly makes moving around easier. I suppose the next problem we have is how to get inside the Ministry to find Hector. We have no reason to visit, and I'm not sure we could bluff our way past security. This is a post-war period, so I imagine tensions and suspicions are still pretty high."

"I tend to agree," Hermione mused. "But we have historical events on our side."

"Which are?"

"The trials," Hermione explained. "The Bloody Sympathises ... as they were called ... were big news at this time, and members of the public flocked to watch them. All we have to do is say that we're here for that."

"And if they check citizenship records and see we aren't on them?"

"We'll say we've just come back from an espionage mission in Europe and our records are kept Top Secret," Hermione replied. "Britain sent an expeditionary force of combat wizards to fight Grindelwald. Many were mercenaries, some were even criminals, but they all wanted security for their families if the war went badly. So their records were moved for security reasons."

"And what about our age?" Harry argued. "They might say we're too young to go to war."

Hermione turned with a half-patient, half-pitying expression. "Wizards as young as fifteen lied about their age to sign up. In the end, the Recruitment Office had to install an Age-Line to expose potential hoodwinking."

"And I bet I can guess who cast the enchantment!" Harry hushed, grabbing Hermione and tugging her bodily behind a large plinth nearby.

"Harry! What are you doing!" Hermione yelped, somewhat crossly.

"Quiet! Look ... over there."

Harry gestured towards the crowd, but there was no point, really. For the throng had parted to allow a single wizard to pass through them, making quite a scene as he did so. When others realised who it was, they began to applaud wildly ... but a youthful-looking Albus Dumbledore simply ducked his head modestly and tried to brush off the adulation.

Hermione felt Harry tauten next to her. She could see his pulse hammering in his neck, so she reached out to try and soothe him.

"Merlin, Harry, you are tense!" Hermione hushed and she kneaded Harry's clavicle. "I need to rub these knots out of you."