A Choice to Change Time

The statement froze Harry as he tried to comprehend what his grandfather was trying to tell him. When no words came to him the man continued, "If you were to skip the train that is coming in, then you will go back further in time. How far I can't be sure. I am certain it will be a time before you were ever born though. The only part of the deal that I understand is that you will get to go back and be with your family. You would then have an opportunity to get to know them. To befriend them even. You could go back and prevent the second Wizarding war from ever happening, one way or another. Either you go back and win this war the first time, or Voldemort will take it all. Death and destruction will be catastrophic, but it will only happen once."

Harry was stunned. What an option. To go back in time and actually get to know his parents. To get a chance to rewrite history and do it all again. To actually have a home and family, "Won't this interfere with the timeline? Won't everything I do create such a powerful paradox that it would unravel time?"

The man chuckled, "You think too highly of yourself, and have listened to your brilliant Muggleborn friend way too much on things she couldn't even hope to understand."

Harry looked at the man in confusion, and he continued, "If you go back it will be a completely new timeline. Everything up until the point that you go back to will have been the same but starting from the first blade of grass you step on everything will change. The muggles call it the butterfly effect. While I believe you will see lots of similar events, I do not believe you can expect or count on things being exactly the same."

Harry sat in silence for a few moments. Contemplating everything he had learned, "What about the Horcrux in my head? Will that come with me?"

"You will find that while you were quite the formidable wizard with that Horcrux in your head now that it has been unequivocally destroyed you will be quite the marvel. Regardless, Voldemort has yet to cast the curse at you that even gave you that scar in the new timeline.., And while I am sure the lightning bolt shaped scar will always faintly remain there as a reminder as to where you came from, it will have no hindrance on your magic any longer. I am sure you will impress many in this new time and believe me you may need it." the man said with a smile.

Harry sighed, not even considering the possibility of getting on the train as it began to speed by, "What do I do first? Do I go find you? Try to explain what happened?"

Fleamont paused for a moment, "No. No, I am afraid I could not take you, and give you what you need. As you know I will die of Dragon Pox before you were born, and I do believe that unless a cure is found in this new timeline, my wife and I will likely follow each other into the afterlife once again together, and I wouldn't have it any other way. No, I think you are better off going to my brother. Show him the cloak as proof of who you are. Memories in a pensieve can be fabricated, but any Potter would recognize our families cloak.."

Harry was floored by this, "I have other living relatives?"

Fleamont smiled again, "Not by the time you were born, but yes, Charlus will be alive to whatever time you go back to. He was an extraordinary wizard, and I believe at any time he could have given Dumbledore a hell of a fight. Go to Charlus, tell him what happened in this world, and ask him to teach you everything there is to know about fighting a war. He led the British forces against Grindelwald and won. The man knows things that I could not even dream of. I was a decent duelist in my day, one of the best in my Hogwarts class, but Charlus…between him and my sister-in-law, Dorea, they are what you need, and they were never the same after the loss of their son."

"What happened to him?" Harry asked, clearly dumbfounded about discovering all this new family.

"Dragon Pox was a major Pandemic, it wiped out mostly newborn children and elderly people. Charlus is much younger than me, and he could use your guidance, and I think you two will be good to each other." Fleamont explained.

"How did he die?" Harry asked carefully.

Fleamont took a wicked grin, "He and Dorea took down a dozen death eaters before Voldemort and Rookwood finished them off. It took both of them to do it. Had Rookwood not sabotaged the fight then the duel between Charlus and Voldemort could have been just as legendary as Dumbledore and Grindelwald. That's not to say he would've won, but who knows?"

Harry suddenly swelled with hope. He had no idea he was related to someone so powerful. Why hadn't anyone told Harry anything about him? Harry asked excitedly, "Why was I never told about him? What if he accuses me of stealing the cloak?"