A Matter of Power

Once you realise the trick, changing the past is disgustingly simple. Oh, sure. You need a ritual circle. Expensive components. Lots of time performing calculations and preparing the ritual. But once you've changed the past, none of that matters because unless you mess up, you'll be in a past where you won't need to perform the ritual and thus how expensive the ritual would have been in the future that no longer exists doesn't matter. And the ritual isn't really that complicated. People go on and on about how smart I am, but I'm certain that any competent witch could perform it given the resources and the right incentive.

"Incentive." Such a tidy word. Makes it sound like I'm doing this in hopes of a reward or to feel better about myself. No, I'm doing this because everything went to hell after Voldemort died. It really seemed like a fairy tale ending, at first. Sure, some people died, but it was over, and we the survivors could learn to be happy again. Then Harry started getting worse. The killing curse didn't do him in. Being a Horcrux for 17 years did. The Deathly Hallows didn't help either, especially since the Resurrection Stone was tainted as well. It was subtle at first. Just nightmares, as if the rest of us didn't get them too. Sometimes he dreamed of Voldemort coming back. Sometimes he dreamed of becoming Voldemort. Of course, the reality ended up being even worse. When his soul started leaking... Him being the Master of Death didn't do any good, then. And with the Elder Wand he was damn near invincible.

But enough of a future that won't come to pass. Time to fix things. September 1994.

Step one. Go to the Room of Requirements for some privacy. Write down all my notes on Voldemort, Death Eaters, the Horcruxes and Harry's... condition. He hasn't been a Horcrux for as long this time. Maybe they can help him. I've figured out more than 20 ways to try, and I'm sure Dumbledore can think of others. If none of them work... at least they've been forewarned. And he won't have the Elder Wand this time.

Step two. Kill Barty Crouch Jr. He's not nearly as competent or paranoid as the real Moody, so it turns out to not be terribly difficult. I could probably have just duelled him, to be honest. He's not the most competent of Death Eaters, and I've certainly fought worse. Much, much-. No. Must not think of it. Still, it's a risk not worth taking. And I'm sure the real Moody will appreciate the irony of someone pretending to be him dying of poison.

Step three. Deliver my notes to Dumbledore. Crouch is still in the hospital wing, not quite dead, but things are already starting to become... unstable. I've changed too much. The old timeline is trying to reestablish itself. So I must hurry. Dumbledore is surprisingly calm, given the news I'm delivering to him. He doesn't interrupt me. He doesn't try to convince me or himself that I'm delusional. He allows me to explain the matters to him, provide evidence that what I claim is true, and deliver him my notes. As I explain that I'm from the future, he grows alarmed, but doesn't panic. He only asks pertinent questions. He doesn't try to dissuade me from doing what must be done. He does ask me what he should tell the others, and I give him two letters. One to my friends, another to my parents. When I leave his office, I'm trying to hold back tears and almost succeeding.

Step four. The trick. You see, it's a matter of power. The power required for the ritual cannot come from the future, for that future is no longer quite real. It also cannot come from the present, for the ritual is not being performed in the present. There is only one source of power that is synchronous with the present that is and the future that was. Myself. It's too late to turn back. I don't have time for anything else. The current timeline is already becoming... less real. There does not exist a language to describe the sensation. A more poetic person could call it dreamlike, which is better than anything I can come up with, yet wholly insufficient. So as I make my way back to the Room of Requirement I can only wonder... was it worth it? Did I really change the future for the better? Did I do enough?

When the door to the Room of Requirements comes into the view, I pull it open without hesitation. It looks like a chapel, which feels appropriate enough. As I march into the centre of the room, there is only one thing left do. It is not something I ever wanted to contemplate, Yet, now it is not merely something I must do. It is the only thing I can do. There is no longer any choice in the matter. There hasn't been since I activated the ritual, at best I could have merely delayed it. "Avada Kedavra!"