Evan stepped out of his room and almost ran into Harry. "Hey there," he said with the grin he wore when he was around his younger counterpart.
"Hey," Harry replied with the identical grin. "Was wondering what you were doing. Hope you don't me hanging out a lot."
"Not at all. I thought it'd be weird at first but I'm actually getting more comfortable with the whole brothers thing," Evan said comfortably.
"Cool, me too," Harry said with happy relief. "Sorry, were you going somewhere?"
"Yeah but still in the castle. Come along." Evan walked off with Harry beside him. "How're things?"
"Good. Glad Remus is back and teaching us again," Harry said.
"Be happy about that. The next year's professor is a horrible person and if I see her again, I'm going to kill her," Evan said in that disconcertingly very serious way.
"Did she work for Voldemort?" Harry asked.
Evan snorted. "Eventually. She's just a foul ugly person with an uglier spirit. The less you know about her, the better."
Harry nodded, accepting that. "Other classes are going well. Things have been good with Ron and Hermione."
"Glad to hear that," Evan said softly. "It really did suck when we were avoiding each other. Hedwig come back today?"
"I didn't see her," Harry said. "I'm not worried though. She's gone on long trips before. Usually sending a letter to someone far away but she can handle herself."
"Yeah she can," Evan agreed.
"Thanks for talking to Neville. He seems happier."
"Good, he deserves it too."
"Mind if I ask why you befriended Luna? I thought you said you weren't going to do that with a lot of people and really change things like that," Harry asked.
"Don't mind at all. I know I said I would try not to interfere with things that'd impact your day to day, aside from Riddle and the Tournament of course. Don't want to send you down any paths without you having the chance to choose." Evan sighed.
"Luna though, she's special. She's a good person with a big heart that just needs someone to spend time with her and to understand her while not literally doing that."
"She's a bit…strange," Harry said slowly.
Evan grinned. "She is, but she's sweet and she becomes a really close friend and provided a lot of comfort and I like to think I did the same for her. Before we became friends next year but I didn't want to leave her hanging for a year."
He frowned. "She's a lot like us. No real friends, bullied a lot, went through something really traumatic."
Harry nodded. "She is fun though, once you get past the different things she talks about." He stopped when Evan did. They were in a hallway in the upper parts of the castle, staring at a blank stone wall. "What's this?"
"This is the Come and Go Room," Evan said, "also known as the Room of Requirement."
"Doesn't look like a room," Harry said.
"That's because we don't require it to be one right now, and we have to ask it to be the one we want," Evan said. "Think with me. Think that you need the room where things are hidden."
"Okay." Normally Harry would be reluctant to do something like that or have some measure of disbelief. However, he had no such reservation coming from Evan. He stood there and thought about that for a moment and then smiled as a large door appeared in the stone, slowly coming into being. "That's so cool!"
"Right?!" Evan grinned. "I love magic and I love Hogwarts." He opened the door and Harry followed him inside. Harry gasped as he looked into the giant room. The ceiling soared out of sight and the dimensions of the room exceeded the physical properties of the walls outside. Within, racks upon racks of shelves went on for what seemed like forever and they were crammed with all sorts of things. Books, brooms, cauldrons, quills, bags, so many things were there.
"Wow," Harry breathed softly. "What's all this?"
"Hidden things," Evan said. "Anything that's been lost in Hogwarts makes its way here one way or another, or were hidden and forgotten and they too came here. They sit and wait to be found."
"Brilliant. Are we looking for something specific?" Harry asked as Evan started walking.
"Look for a bust of someone wearing a tiara," Evan said, his eyes roaming up and down the shelves and things. "I think it's an old ugly bloke or something like that."
They walked for a few minutes before Harry pointed. "That?"
"There you are," Evan said softly, walking up to the old chipped statue of a warlock. Like he said, the bust was of someone old and not pleasant looking at all, and a tarnished tiara sat on top. Evan reached out and picked the tiara up, holding it in his hands.
"Why do you want that?" Harry asked. He leaned in and then winced a little. "There's something…weird about it."
Evan gave him a sharp look. "It feels off to you?"
Harry nodded, rubbing his scar a little. "Looking at it makes me have like a headache."
Evan looked at Harry's scar and nodded to himself. "It's something important to deal with Riddle," he said and slipped it into a bag before putting the bag back in his pocket. "I'll explain more soon, I promise. But it's good that we found it here and it'll be important, really important."
"Glad we found it then," Harry said, sighing with relief when the tiara was put away. "Why does it make me feel that way?"
Evan looked at Harry for a moment. "Promise not to tell anyone what I'm telling you right now, until you hear otherwise from me."
"I promise," Harry said readily.
"Riddle made these things," Evan said, his voice low. "They helped him survive when he shouldn't have. They're Dark magic and because of this," he tapped his own scar, "we had a connection to him."
"Is that why I had those dreams about him?" Harry asked, eyes wide.
Evan nodded. "Yup. Eventually, the connection is broken, but I'm trying to figure out a way to do it for you without going through what I did. And once I find all of these things," he patted the pocket holding the bag, "we'll break them all and then Voldemort will be fucked."
"Good," Harry said.
"And I'll explain more in detail later. Not that I don't think you can't handle it, but you don't have to worry about it right now," Evan said. "Which is something I hated in your position but now that I'm on the other side of it, I'm strangely seeing the other side of the argument, annoyingly."
Harry snorted. "I trust you," he said, smiling when Evan did. "I'd like to help more, you know."
"I do, and I'll let you know what you can do," Evan said as they walked to the exit together. "I want you to have an easier time of things."
"Doesn't seem fair to me," Harry argued.
"Yeah well, you should listen to yourself, and since I'm you, that means listen to me. Double because I'm older than you."
"You know that we barely listen to ourselves normally," Harry said dryly.
"I know, we're stubborn like that," Evan chuckled. "But if you can do something, I'll tell you about it and like I said, I swear I'll explain more as it comes up. There's a lot going on and I'm just making sure things start off well."
Harry nodded. "Any more night time trips of vigilantism?"
"Sadly not," Evan sighed as they left the room and the door shrank and disappeared behind them. "I have been 'strongly discouraged' from doing that again. I've told the Aurors what I do remember and I let Director Croaker poke at me a bit and answered a questionnaire for her research. The Ministry is doing a bit of housecleaning after what I've told them, which will ultimately be good."
"Have they found Peter or Little Riddle?"
"Nope. They're proving as effective at finding them as they were finding Sirius," Evan snorted. "Which is fine. I'm going to end it for good one way or another. Besides, Peter and Little Riddle must be in dire straits right now anyways. So they can't do much right now on the move and without Crouch Jr being their informant and doing what Riddle wants."
"That's good." They walked in companionable silence for a bit. "How's planning for the First Task?"
"Good! I'm pretty much done and it has a good chance of working." He frowned. "Hmm, I feel like I'm forgetting something."
"Master Evan!" Dobby popped out of the air beside them, smiling at the two brothers. "You are needed at the big room on the main floor. They are weighing the wands!"
"Oh right! That! I better get going," Evan said. "See you later." He and Harry exchanged high-fives and Harry watched as Evan followed the house elf down the hall.
"Would Master Evan like a pre-weighing snack?"
"I'd love one, thank you Saint Dobby! Tell me, what's your favorite kind of socks because I'm getting you some."
"There are different kinds?!"
"Oh Dobby, buddy, pal, you have no idea."
-0-
The Weighing of the Wands went very similarly how Evan remembered it did the first time.
All of the heads of the schools were there, as well as Ludo. They had not sent over a replacement for Crouch Sr. yet though they said there would be one by the time the First Task happened. Garrick Ollivander, the legendary British Wandmaker, was there to examine the wands and to ensure they were in working order. The other Champions were there of course and to finish the roster, Rita Skeeter the infamous journalist was there as well.
When Evan had entered, she had given him an appraising look and had approached him. Before she could say anything, Evan promised her an exclusive interview after the event and she had backed off, eyes already glinting with gold. Dumbledore had given him a curious look that had turned uneasy when Evan smiled cheerily back at him.
Ollivander examined the wands of the others. He said very similar things like he did the first time Evan went through the event. That Viktor's wand was well made by a rival wandmaker. Fleur's wand with the Veela hair core was different. He admired his own handiwork when examining Cedric's.
Then it was Evan's turn.
Evan handed over his well-polished wand and waited patiently for Ollivander to react. After a few moments, Ollivander's eyebrows came together and he frowned deeply at the wand before he looked at Evan with wide eyes.
"Is something wrong?" Rita asked, seeing the expression and pouncing on it.
"No, nothing is wrong," Ollivander said evasively. "It is one of mine, and also not. I recall making this wand, but some of the details of it are different. As if finished by someone like me, but not exactly me. How very curious." He waved the wand and a glowing phoenix made of fire flew out of the tip, circling the room before disappearing with a flash. The wandmaker nodded and handed the wand back to Evan, still looking at it strangely. "In perfect working order."
"Thank you," Evan said, smiling and feeling slightly relieved. He had worried that there had been some damage to it but was gratified to hear there was not any. With the official part done, some pictures were taken for the various newspapers. As the Champions began to leave, Evan turned to Rita. "So, how about now for that interview?"
"No time like the present!" she replied cheerily.
"Uh, Mister Potter-" Dumbledore said slowly.
"Everything will be fine, Headmaster," Evan said smoothly. "I'm sure Miss Skeeter and I will have plenty to talk about."
"That is what concerns me," Dumbledore muttered, watching the two leave the room with a sense of unease and dread.
-0-
"So! Mister Evan Potter! Or is it Harry James Potter technically if rumors are to be believed?" Rita asked with a wide smile that spoke multitudes. The pair had found an unused classroom and she set herself up at the teacher's desk, putting parchment out and her quill ready. She blinked when he snapped his fingers and looked at him inquisitively.
"Bit of a habit," Evan said, making a show of flexing his right hand. "But you're not completely wrong. I am Harry James Potter, just not the same Harry James Potter. I'm going by Evan to limit confusion."
"And what is your relation to young Mister Harry Potter?" Rita asked, smiling hungrily.
"He's my little brother," Evan said.
"I wasn't aware that young Mister Potter had older brothers, or siblings at all," Rita said.
"There's a lot that you're not aware of," Evan said, smiling at the look of irritation that flashed across her face. "Not an insult, just saying." He tapped a finger to his chin slowly, looking at her closely. "It is nice to see you again, I've decided."
She frowned. "Have we met before?"
"Not in this plane," Evan said. He sat down in a chair across from her, putting his legs up on the desk.
She blinked at him. "This plane," she repeated.
He nodded, staying quiet.
"As in, this…what, dimension? Reality?" She snorted deeply at his nod. "Really, is that the explanation? Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Not at all, I think you're very intelligent," Evan said honestly. "You have to be to do what you do and do it well."
"Flattery gets you somewhere," she said, giving him a careful look.
"How about you tell me the rumors you've heard, and I'll tell you the truth of them," Evan offered.
Rita looked at him for a moment. "That you are in fact from a different place," she said slowly. "And time. That you're powerful and you know things. There's been some changes at the Ministry and some say it's because of you. Even that mess with Macnair a few days ago."
"All true," Evan smiled.
"So you know the future?" she asked, leaning forward hungrily.
"A future, certainly," Evan said. "Admittedly not all of it, the trip was a bit traumatic and some of my memories are muddled. But I know the broad strokes and remember the important things."
She smirked before she looked at him carefully. "So we met then, in the other plane." She smiled when he nodded. "I assume we were friends since you said it was nice to see me again?"
"Oh not at all," Evan said, surprising her. "But what they did to you wasn't very good, it was a bad way to end things."
She snorted yet something in his tone made her insides clench a little. "Oh I see. Is this how you're going to manipulate me? Tell me of my so-called future and try to get on my good side?"
"Not at all, mostly because I don't know if you have a good side," Evan grinned.
"Not a very smart thing to antagonize me," she said with faux-sweetness.
"No it's not and I'm not doing that, I'm just being honest with you. Something that must be rare for you," Evan said. He laughed at her reluctant nod.
"How do I know that you are, in fact, being honest with me?" she asked boldly.
"You don't," Evan said. "You only have my word that I'm not lying. But I make it a point to not lie when I can. Not tell the whole truth, I do that a lot. But lie?" He clenched his right hand, revealing the scars in sharp detail. "Don't do that these days."
She stared at the scars in his hand. "That looks like it was made with a blood quill." She raised an eyebrow at his nod of confirmation. "That's very illegal and not kind at all."
"No it wasn't," he agreed.
She looked at him silently for a while. "So what happens to me?" she asked, half-sounding like she believed him.
"Nothing good, and trust me, you don't want to know. Some things you can't forget, no matter how hard you try," Evan said seriously, making her shudder lightly. "But, part of the reason I'm here is to prevent the circumstances surrounding it from occurring again, so it shouldn't impact you."
"And you expect me to believe that?" she asked, snorting deeply.
"I think you're going to," Evan said. "Because you, Miss Skeeter, are not stupid."
"Reusing the same compliment typically doesn't work," she said condescendingly.
He smirked. "It wasn't the same compliment at all. Being intelligent and not being stupid are two different things. You see, being intelligent doesn't mean you'll survive whereas not being stupid means you have a much better chance at it."
"Is that a threat?" she asked mildly.
"No, you'll know when I threaten you," Evan said pleasantly. He continued at her scowl. "As fun as this verbal sparring has been, I'm busy and I'm getting a little tired of it. So I'm just going to lay it out for you. I'm offering you three ways our working relationship can go forward."
He put his legs down and folded his hands, looking at her directly. "One, we have a good one. I tell you all sorts of things, fun things that you can write all sorts of stories about. Places to go to get confirmation. You write to your heart's content and you rake in the gold. Your name will go higher and you'll cement your reputation as an investigative journalist. The only things I require from you in return is that certain people are off limits. Otherwise, go wild."
She licked her lips hungrily and continued to listen.
"Two, we have a neutral one. I tell you nothing and you act as you do. I'll try to ignore you and deal with you when I have the time and the inclination. You'll still be the same quality of writer you are now and that's that."
His eyes turned hard and she stiffened at the pressure he suddenly exuded. "Third, we have a bad one. You go against me, actively antagonize me and do your worst to me. I make you a priority. I hunt you down, no matter which form you take, no matter where you hide. I then crush you under my boot and when I reveal to the world how you get around and obtain your information, not a soul in Wizarding Britain will convict me for doing it."
His voice fell into a whisper. "That, Miss Skeeter, is me threatening you while also telling you that I will follow through on my threat."
She shuddered, heart pounding. "I don't know what you're-"
"Yes you do," Evan interrupted. "Please treat me with the same respect I've been treating you."
She gulped, staring at him with large round eyes.
Evan relaxed slightly and leaned back. "I don't know what you know of Harry, but trust me when I say that he and I are alike in some ways, but vastly different in others. A product of our experiences. Something I think you can understand."
He continued at her brief confusion. "You see, for a while, I hated you. I thought you were a terrible person that wrote things in the worst way just for attention. It didn't matter how much pain you caused, how much confusion and turmoil. As long as you were feted for doing it, as long as you were being paid for it, you loved it and that, to me, made you a bad person.
"It wasn't until later that I realized that you and I are a bit more alike that I care to admit." He smiled at her continued confusion. "Your writing is desperate."
"And I don't know if you know a lot about women, but you don't want to call a woman that," Rita said coldly, trying to recapture control.
Evan laughed. "I didn't, I said your writing was. You see, I bet you had a rough upbringing too. You tried your best to be noticed, to be helpful, to be liked. You worked hard but no matter what, there were some people that just wanted you to suffer."
He leaned in and smiled sadly when she looked shocked and pained. "Then you found something, something that you could do to appear…useful. To appear needed. You had a talent for hearing things and a talent for twisting things. You are a master of the written word, no doubt about it. At first, you did it to survive. Now, the desperation is different. Desperate to remain relevant? Desperate to show that you can still do what you do? That, I don't know."
She licked her lips again but this time it was for something to do, to keep them from growing increasingly dry. "It seems like I don't have a choice," she said, half-wry and half-bitter.
"You always have a choice," Evan snorted. "I've found that people who say that are people who want to pass responsibility off to someone else. They don't want to accept that they are in fact responsible for their own decisions and the consequences that follow."
He looked at her with cool amusement. "Children, innocents who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, they are the ones that really don't have a choice sometimes. But everyone else? When they need to decide something? They always have a choice.
"You just don't want to be responsible for it," he said quietly.
"And all of what you're doing, is you making your choice?" she asked.
He nodded. "For once, I have something to bring to the table. I'm not the one in the dark. And I'm going to do my best to shine a whole lotta light all over and make sure that my future, Harry's future, is the best it can be. So I'm doing everything and anything I can to make it happen and it'll be my choice to do it. He believes in me and trusts me, so he's actively made the choice too."
She looked at him carefully. "And it's in my best interests to take the first choice with you?"
"I think so," he replied. "But that's ultimately up to you. But you know, the opportunity to write more and have fun with it, job security because I promise I have plenty for you to write. And I take care of the people that help me. So there's security there as well."
"And I assume that the other Harry, his friends, Sirius Black, they're off limits?" she asked, warming to the idea.
"Very intelligent of you, Miss Skeeter," Evan said with a smile.
"And how do we present you, Mister Potter? Not everyone's going to believe the time travel and plane travel thing," she asked.
"You're the expert," Evan shrugged. "You know how people are and how stupid they are. Most will believe anything they read because they can't be bothered to research it to confirm it. You could write that I'm a long-lost blood relative, or that I'm a Ministry accident gone rogue. Hell, include the time travel and plane traveling. Throw so many ideas out there, it'll confuse everyone. I only care what the people closest to me think about me. Truth is the meat-"
"-and rumor is the sauce that covers it," she finished, looking at him with wide-eyes once more. She tapped a long nail against her lips at his nod.
"Well, Miss Skeeter?" he prompted.
"Call me Rita," she said, offering a hand. She relaxed when he shook it readily and without reservation.
"Call me Evan," he replied.
"So, what can you tell me, Evan?" she asked, smiling as well.
"So much, Rita," Evan grinned. "Let's start with the Crouches, shall we?" His smile turned hungry. "And then let's move on to Umbridge."
-0-
Dumbledore sighed slowly, putting down his copy of the Daily Prophet. Like most people, he usually read the newspaper while he ate breakfast as a way to keep abreast of the news and of things that happened not only around Wizarding Britain, but the world. This morning, he had taken one look at the headline and knew that it would be one of those articles. Not only was it written by Rita Skeeter, but he had an inkling that it would actually be true for the most part.
"How did she find all of this out?" Flitwick asked, looking up from his own copy. "This also smacks of more truth than normal coming from a Skeeter article."
"I believe I have an idea," Dumbledore said slowly, looking out over the rest of the Great Hall. A good number of students were also reading the newspaper and while less of them were as engrossed by the article, more of them were paying a lot of attention to it, the older ones especially. His eyes stopped moving as he looked at the small group of students with one not-quite a student at the far end.
"Oh, that makes sense," Flitwick said, following Dumbledore's gaze. "I wonder why he did that."
"I believe it is his way of keeping things unsettled," Dumbledore said with an admiring snort. "He is not causing chaos per se, but he is keeping the situation moving and to disrupt things, all the better for him to do what he wishes in achieving his goals."
"Quite clever of him," Flitwick mused.
"Quite," Dumbledore agreed.
-0-
Evan grinned and set the newspaper aside, deeply amused by the article and could already see the impacts it was having around the Great Hall, knowing that it would be even more impressive through the rest of Wizarding Britain. "You actually want the silver for moonstone."
"Really? Why?" Hermione asked, looking at him.
"Silver has a tempering effect on moonstone," Evan said, adding another mound of potatoes and eggs to his plate after putting another one of each on Luna's. "Keeps the effects of moonstone in check. Every potion recipe that needs only partial moonstone effects always has a silver component either from preparation or using powdered or slivered as an ingredient."
"You're right," Hermione said, paging through her text. "Why is that?"
"Symbolic resonance. You know, the whole thing about silver affecting werewolves a lot." He shrugged. "One of those things that works but no one knows exactly why but it's accepted."
"That's absurd," Hermione complained.
"That's magic," Evan replied cheekily.
"I never thought I'd see someone teaching Hermione something," Ron said, watching them.
"He is older," Harry grinned. He looked up. "Oh hey Hedwig's back! Wait, who's that?" They looked up and watched as Hedwig swooped down and landed on the table. She was accompanied by another snowy owl that looked very much like her. The speckled pattern of her feathers was a little different, but the snowy owl almost looked like the twin of Hedwig.
Hedwig hooted warmly at everyone, nuzzling Harry then Evan. She then looked at the other owl and nodded her head at Evan. The other owl looked up at him appraisingly before nodding herself, barking with approval. She then waddled in front of Evan and looked up at him adoringly, cheeping at him.
"Are…are you here for me?" Evan asked, voice shaking softly as he looked down at the new owl. He looked at Hedwig. "You went and found her for me?"
Hedwig bobbed her head, looking pleased. She gently tugged on Evan's hair and picked up a loose strand of it. She then flapped her wings and dropped it which was then picked up by the new owl who flapped her wings and then she daintily put it down in front of Evan.
"You want to be my owl?" Evan asked, eyes glinting a little. The others looked on with shock and awe at the scene. He smiled, one that was so very much like the one he had when he first appeared on Halloween night when the new owl bobbed her head eagerly. "Thank you!" He hugged the new owl who wriggled happily and did the same to a plump and proud Hedwig. "Nothing's happening to either of you, not this time." He gave them the bacon from his plate and smiled as they devoured the food without reservation.
"They're beautiful," Luna said and smiled when both owls cheeped their thanks to her and nuzzled her too.
"Do you have a name?" Evan asked. He hummed when she shook her head. "I'll have to think of one for you." The rest of the breakfast passed pleasantly with the others offering suggestions and Evan feeding the snowy owls until they had to leave the Great Hall with their people, too full to fly.