Chapter 168: A plan to change history

In the brightly lit entrance hall, Harry felt that everything was becoming unreal.

He remembered the sensation of flying through the clouds. It was misty, ethereal, like a dream.

"In the past?" muttered Harry, looking at Ivan in amazement. "What does that mean? I don't understand, what happened?"

"We've gone back in time," whispered Hermione, lifting the chain from Ivan and Harry's necks. "For six hours..."

"Back in time!" Harry found his own leg and gave it a very hard pinch. It hurt like hell, which seemed to rule out the possibility that he was having a very strange dream.

Harry still wanted to say something, but Ivan suddenly said, "Shhh! Someone's coming, it should be Madam Pomfrey. We have to hide first."

The three of them left in a hurry, ran out of the infirmary, and into the empty corridor. Then they immediately stopped as they saw Professor Trelawney stumbling down the stairs in front of them.

She did not see them. In fact, she looked very nervous as if she was hiding something.

Professor Trelawney was drunk and stumbling. She almost tripped over the stone steps under her feet.

"Who is it?" whispered Hermione.

"It's Professor Trelawney!" Ivan looked out and said, "By the looks of her, she should have finished that prophecy!"

"What prophecy?" Harry and Hermione asked at the same time.

"A prophecy about Voldemort, he will select one person to help him rise. With the help of the chosen one, he will gain power that ordinary people can't imagine, becoming stronger and more terrible than ever," Ivan said.

When they heard Voldemort's name, the mood turned somber.

"How can this be, how can Voldemort..." Hermione said anxiously.

"This is obviously ridiculous!" Harry said. "Don't believe it. Professor Trelawney must be talking nonsense, she's a liar! Always pretending to be mysterious, and always predicting something bad, remember? She's been predicting my death all semester."

"No, I think it's a real prophecy!" Ivan was thinking about the content of the prophecy.

Since Peter Pettigrew died, the future had changed and the way Voldemort would return had changed as well.

What would he do with the help of the chosen one?

"Well, let's not talk about that prophecy! So many strange things happened today, more than I've seen in the last six months." Harry turned and looked at Hermione, asking anxiously, "I can't believe it so far, we actually went back in time. Hermione, where did you get that hourglass?"

"It's called a time-turner," Hermione whispered, "and I got it from Professor McGonagall on our first day of school. I've been using it all year to get to all my classes. No one knows about it except Ivan and me. Professor McGonagall made me swear not to tell anyone. She had to write all kinds of letters to the Ministry of Magic so I could have one. She had to tell them that I was a model student, and that I would never, ever, use it for anything except my studies.... I've been using it so I could put in extra hours, that's how I've been doing several lessons at once, do you understand?"

Hearing Hermione's explanation, Harry nodded and shook his head hurriedly. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"I don't understand what Dumbledore wants us to do, why did he tell us to go back six hours? how is that going to help Sirius?" Hermione turned and looked at Ivan's grim face, and said puzzled, "Ivan, do you know?"

"I have no idea what Dumbledore meant. There must be something that has happened now that he wants us to change," Ivan said slowly, "Think carefully, I was looking for the Marauder's Map in Professor Lupin's office just now. Peter Pettigrew was there too, where were you two?"

"Six hours ago?!" Hermione remembered, "We were supposed to be in the common room. Shortly after you left, Peter Pettigrew stunned us both. It was Sirius Black who saved us."

"Then we saw Ron carrying Snape into the common room," Harry added. "Snape had the Marauder's Map in his hand, he wanted to catch Sirius and hand him over to the Dementors. But it wasn't long before you came running in. Wait, wouldn't that be..."

Harry's eyes widened and he looked at Ivan.

"Yeah, that should be me coming back from the future, not me right now." Ivan rubbed his forehead with his left hand and continued. "I also saw you two in Professor Lupin's office. What we need to do is very clear."

Harry and Hermione nodded their heads, with a strange look of unease and disbelief on their faces. They both felt that this was unbelievable.

The three of them were saved by themselves coming from the future.

"Well, I should go to the common room now, stop Snape from catching Sirius, and you two should go to Professor Lupin's office to save me." By the dim light, Ivan looked at his friends. Hermione looked scared, and Harry was anxious to go.

"After that, you will stay in Professor Lupin's office and wait for him to find you." Ivan urged anxiously. "Remember, don't go to the main entrance, we mustn't be seen by ourselves."

"Wait a minute, Ivan! Peter Pettigrew, if we let him die or run away, there will be no change in the future compared to before he came back," Harry said hastily.

"Leave it to me, I know what happened inside the Forbidden Forest, I'll find a way to catch Peter Pettigrew," Ivan said.

"But..." Hermione looked worriedly at Ivan; she didn't want him to return at night to the Forbidden Forest which was full of danger.

She was trying to imagine centaurs and giant elephant-sized spiders. Imagining how horrible Acromantulas would be, and remembering their description and danger rating in 'Fantastic Creatures and Where to Find Them' worried her to no end.

To her, such a fierce and dangerous dark creature could not be dealt with by young wizards of her age.

Still, Ivan was going for it, definitely putting himself in danger.

If something bad happened to him... Hermione couldn't even imagine it.

"Don't worry, Hermione. I'll be back safe and sound." Seeing how worried she was, Ivan stepped forward and hugged Hermione.

Then he hugged Harry as well and said in a firm voice, "I'll get Peter Pettigrew this time!"