Harry Potter opened his eyes and looked behind him, where there was a window. The room he'd been given was quite large. In fact, it felt more like a small apartment. There was a private bathroom connected to the small sitting room with a fireplace. The bedroom was off to one side and was just big enough for a large bed, a desk, and a few other things. Getting up, Harry went to the bathroom to start his day and get dressed properly.
Last night he'd been thinking about a few things in this timeline. For example, the fact that Harry Potter hadn't been marked. Well, he still had a scar because of what Lily had said. But based on the information he'd received on the mission, it was safe to assume he didn't have a Horcrux embedded in his head. This was good, but it would also make Voldemort a bit more powerful.
The real Voldemort was actually stronger than Albus Dumbledore with the Elder Wand. The evidence was the Horcruxes themselves and the power Voldemort possessed when he faced Dumbledore after his resurrection in his fourth year. Just as that dark magic split the soul, it also did the same to the magic that was bound to that soul.
Well, not that it mattered too much; Harry could literally blow up mountains with his magic. Especially after he discovered that the explosive charm, Bombarda, was a certain manipulation of hydrogen and oxygen through magic. When he understood that, he became a little... explosive, to say the least. He experimented with many things and created a spell that would only fall short against a nuclear weapon.
Rias was annoyed by the danger Harry had put himself in by experimenting with magic so closely.
Harry couldn't help but chuckle softly at the thought of unleashing such magic on a defenseless Voldemort.
When he emerged from the bathroom fully dressed, his hair still slightly damp from the shower, he was a little frustrated by what he saw. The living room was a mess from what he'd been doing the night before. Yes, he could clean and tidy up with a simple flick of his wrist, but seeing all his documents and studies in disarray made him angry at himself for not having more control over his surroundings when he did certain things.
With a flick of his wrist, as if swatting away a fly, the things scattered on the floor and the disorganized papers were efficiently gathered as Harry left the room. Upon exiting, he found himself descending a small staircase before opening another door to one of the castle's corridors.
Not even five minutes had passed when he encountered several students walking towards the Great Hall. Harry simply smiled, feeling nostalgic for his days at Hogwarts. He wasn't even bothered by the whispers behind his back anymore. He dismissed them as the words of small children who knew nothing of the world. Besides, he had other things on his mind, like Lily Potter.
He had always longed to speak to her, but when he finally did, he simply didn't feel much. She was a beautiful, kind, and intelligent woman. Having a more relaxed conversation with her should be enjoyable, thought Harry.
Perhaps his lack of enthusiasm for her stemmed from the understanding that this particular woman, this Lily Potter, wasn't actually his real mother. Just as the James Potter of this world wasn't his father. However, don't misunderstand; he still felt a sense of happiness at seeing the woman named Lily Potter.
When he finally reached the doors of the Great Hall, he was greeted by stares from all directions.
"Ah, Henry! Please, come and have breakfast with us!" Albus stood up and greeted Harry with a smile as he invited him to the staff table.
"Everyone, I'd like to inform you that you can refer to our guest as Henry! Otherwise, it might cause confusion having two Harry Potters with us!"
Once everyone had processed those words, the conversations began immediately. From what could be gleaned from the headmaster's words, the person who had fallen into the Great Hall through a portal the previous night was indeed Harry Potter from another timeline.
"Thank you very much..." Harry nodded as he walked toward the table. When he approached, he greeted everyone with a smile, even Snape, surprising him slightly. He ended up sitting between Minerva and Lily.
And as breakfast was being served and he began to eat, Harry glanced up at the Gryffindor table, noticing the small group where Ron, this timeline's Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting. Harry looked taller and a little heavier than he had at that age. The rest were identical, every expression and detail on their faces.
"We contacted Sirius after last night's conversation," Lily said, looking at Harry carefully.
"Oh... did you find the locket?"
"Yes... And thanks to the Sword of Gryffindor, which was protected by the poison, it was destroyed without any problems."
"Hmm... I see. Then things will be easier for you from now on."
"It's all thanks to you. Without the information you gave us, it would have taken us much longer to figure this out."
"Well, it's good to be of help, especially when it comes to that damn obsessed idiot," Harry said, smirking. It was always good to tease Voldemort. No matter the situation, even if he had him right in front of him, Harry would mock him, mercilessly.
"By the way, would you like to see my class?"
Harry raised an eyebrow and looked at Lily with some interest in the invitation.
"Sorry, what class was it?"
Lily giggled a little and said, "I didn't really say that. It's Muggle Studies. I would have liked to teach Charms, but Professor Flitwick still has several years before he decides to retire."
Harry stopped and looked at her with a sympathetic expression.
"It must have been tough starting that class for the first time."
Lily was surprised by the expression, but then looked at her food with a mixture of sadness and annoyance.
"Yeah... I can't believe the previous teacher actually taught her students how to use 'Muggle' armchairs."
"Cough... Cough..." Harry coughed at the absurdity of the words, and felt the food catch in his throat. He knew that class was a bit silly because, in reality, the teacher didn't know much. It wasn't that she underestimated or looked down on Muggles, but having lived her whole life in the wizarding world, understanding their way of life and all the things that had been created was more complicated. She was like Arthur, Ron's father. The man was very curious about Muggle objects and tried to understand them, but he still seemed blind to the bigger picture that each small thing formed.
"So what have you done?" Harry asked after taking a sip of tea.
"I included history to better understand how things work, and then I explain what each thing is for. Besides that, I try to teach about society; how it functions and is structured."
"Damn... that's quite a lot of work."
"But it's fun! At least I learn things I didn't know either by researching the history behind everything."
Harry closed his eyes for a second and let out a small, amused snort. It seemed his interest in research might have come from his mother.
"I'll go then. It could be fun."
As breakfast wrapped up, the students got up for their classes, while others simply stayed in the Great Hall since they didn't have classes that morning. Some also went out in groups to wander around or chat a bit before their classes started. Lily and Harry walked together toward the fifth floor, where the Muggle Studies classroom was located.
To get to the classroom, they first had to pass through the Muggle Studies exhibition hall. This room was very large and square. In two of the four corners of the room were dioramas representing parts of an ordinary person's home. Or at least, that's what Harry remembered. Then he couldn't help but smile when he saw diagrams and dioramas of other, more interesting things. For example, an electrical circuit diagram or one for a television. Alongside these were blackboards with explanatory diagrams (showing how to use Muggle armchairs, among other things). Many other Muggle artifacts were kept in glass cases or hung on the walls, such as radios, mailboxes, and vacuum cleaners. Light bulbs hung from the ceiling.
Harry smiled at the sight of the bulbs and closed his eyes for a moment. Controlling his magic, he manipulated the wind around the room to convert it into electrical energy using his spiritual power and magical particles. As a result, each of the bulbs lit up, surprising the students who looked up.
Lily opened her mouth, but not a single word or sound came out. Then she looked to her side and saw Harry winking playfully at her. She couldn't help but smile, excited to know how this had happened. However, she didn't ask. She walked forward as the students followed her. When Harry entered the room, something he'd never done before, he looked around curiously. The classroom was quite large, with desks for two and a large work table to one side. At the far end, there was a large table with a chair for the teacher. Behind that was a large blackboard with a bookshelf on the left. And on the other side of the bookshelf, a television sat in the corner. Harry also noticed a rather large and beautiful globe. There were other objects as well, smaller and near the work table: a printer, a radio, a rotary dial telephone, and a vacuum cleaner.
Harry sat down in a chair next to a student, who was staring at him in surprise.
"Today we'll have Henry as our guest," Lily said as the class began.
"Don't stare at me too much, I'm embarrassed. Just imagine I'm a ghost," Harry remarked with an amused smile, his eyes twinkling slightly. To be honest, he was feeling nostalgic at that moment. It had been a few years since he'd last sat in a Hogwarts classroom.
The student next to him just blinked a few times. It was a fourth-year class, so this was their second year taking the lesson. It was a combined Gryffindor and Ravenclaw class, so Harry was sitting next to Ron. Hermione was actually the student next to Harry; the other two were behind them.
Then, the class began. Henry (Harry) listened intently, crossing one leg over the other and his arms. He looked at the things Lily was putting on the blackboard, like drawings and some smaller diagrams. He was really enjoying the class. Because Lily was actually teaching them not to underestimate Muggles and how dangerous their inventions could be.
In this case, it was gunpowder and the latest things that used it. The police and the army had firearms, so it was really important to teach the children how dangerous such things were and that magic wouldn't be able to protect them in some cases.
And as expected, Hermione raised her hand shortly after. Lily seemed to have been expecting it too, because she looked at young Hermione with amusement.
"Do you have a question, Hermione?"
"I understand that the protection charm can protect not only from magic, but also from physical blows. Can't it stop a bullet?"
"Um..." Lily nodded. "It can stop one bullet, but could it protect you from a second? Remember, Hermione, the Protego charm doesn't last very long. You'd usually have to cast a second shield after protecting yourself from the first attack. And it's true that you can enchant clothes, but they aren't that effective, and they generally only protect against magic that isn't very powerful."
"A bullet from a revolver—the kind of weapon the police usually use—travels at 360 m/s. You can save yourself from the first bullet, maybe even the second, but a third and fourth? It doesn't matter if they're Muggles or magical beings, they both end up forgetting how dangerous a gun is. In fact, several dangerous criminals have ended up dead because they think a police officer would hesitate too long to shoot."
"But... why would you go around doing dangerous things just to get shot?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
" "You wouldn't. And I doubt anyone would, Hermione. But you must understand that magic is unknown to much of the world. There are people who are even licensed to carry a weapon, and they wouldn't hesitate to shoot if they felt threatened if someone on this side tried to do anything with magic."
"I'm teaching this so you can better understand the other side of the world and not do stupid things."
Hermione nodded slowly and went back to writing on her parchment. Henry (Harry) couldn't help but press his lips together to stifle a laugh at the furious storm that was Hermione's hand as she took notes.
And so, the class continued slowly, with several students asking questions. Harry even saw some Ravenclaw pure-bloods listening with a hint of fear on their faces.
"How amusing," Harry thought as he continued listening.