I do not own Harry Potter or gain anything from writing this other than the opportunity of expanding on an already brilliant universe for my own entertainment, and hopefully yours.

Afoul of Time

He could hear the shouts from the angry Death Eaters behind them, cursing and issuing orders as the noise of shattering prophecies finally started to subside. The grip on his off hand tightened to ensure the orb didn't join its destroyed kin as nothing more than a pile of broken glass. A series of footsteps came scrambling out of a row they'd passed not long before, just as they finally found a way out.

Harry Potter ran recklessly into the room behind his friends and slammed the door shut. Hermione cast her locking charm quickly and they heard bodies slam against it. When he turned, he saw they were in the room with all the clocks, a series of hard choices around them.

'Hurry!' he shouted at Hermione and Neville. 'Just pick a door! We need to find the others!'

They ran down the center of the room but the door behind Harry suddenly blasted apart, sending him sprawling over the lip of a stone half-wall and falling into a pool of strange black liquid.

He rolled around in the impossibly deep pool, disoriented as to which way was up, forcing himself to calm down, he looked around - there was no up. It wasn't pitch black, he could see his hands clearly, but all around him was a murky darkness that barely seemed to exist. Feeling his panic rising again, he swam furiously in a random direction that he hoped would get him out.

His lungs ached from the effort of using so much energy while holding his breath. He was about to give up, feeling helpless and trapped, but then he saw a blinding white doorway just ahead of him. He swam toward it desperately but it didn't seem to get any closer. His lungs burned and he could hold it no longer. He took a breath …

His lungs filled with glorious air, impossible though it seemed, he heaved and panted and gasped and marvelled that he wasn't drowning.

The light was still ahead of him. Instead of swimming, he tried taking a step and somehow moved forward. Feeling much calmer now that his life wasn't in immediate danger, he walked toward the light quickly. It didn't get closer so much as the doorway enlarged until it was so big that it enveloped him.

Instead of being in darkness he was covered in white light. It wasn't blinding, as the darkness wasn't tenebrous, it was almost comfortable. Looking behind he saw a black doorway, similar to the white one he just passed through.

There was no telling which way to go but the endless darkness that he came from didn't seem to have any other exits. He needed to find someone or something to get him back to the Department of Mysteries. Hermione and Neville were probably worried about him, not to mention the other three they'd gotten separated from. They were all in danger because of him, he had to go help.

Deciding against going back into the darkness, he started to walk. He was in the Department of Mysteries after all; maybe he just needed to find another door. He moved forward for a long time before he turned around to check for the dark door, but there was nothing. Thinking maybe he'd made a mistake letting it out of his sight he doubled back.

After walking about the same amount of time he still saw nothing. He spun around, feeling his panic rise a bit before realizing panic wasn't going to help him. He thought of a spell that might. Placing his wand on the palm of his hand he said, 'Point me.'

After spinning wildly for a moment the wand settled on a direction that was apparently north and he started walking. Harry checked the Four-Point spell on occasion to make sure he hadn't drifted off course, the feeling of incredible anxiety he had about the friends he left behind kept him moving. He'd been away from them for what seemed like a very long time at this point but as there was no sun or anything else but whiteness, he had no way of telling how long. His watch had stopped at some point so that was no help.

Eventually he saw a building up ahead and let out a relieved gasp, breaking into a run. It was a domed structure of mostly white but for the top quarter which was a shining gold. The white of the walls seemed almost dirty compared to the rest of the strange place. On either side of the construct stood two large hourglasses like odd book ends, the sand inside was half filled on either end, the flow down the middle was still, as if it were frozen.

He looked around curiously while walking through the open archway that led into the dome. The interior was built in a similar way as the outside, the walls were all white but as it sloped up higher it turned into a sky that looked to be enchanted in a way that reminded Harry of the great hall at Hogwarts. This one, however, was a gradient of night and day, a bright sun with light blue sky flowing into a dark night sky with a realistic moon.

There were three more arched doorways in the room. The one to the right was trimmed in a dark blue, the one to the left in gold, the third, straight ahead of him, was the only one that had a door. It was pitch black, with no apparent handle. The centre of the room declined with a couple of steps that made a full circle around the middle and led to a small gold carpet with two sculptures of people sitting cross legged.

Harry walked forward down the steps to the statues. One was a man, one a woman, both made of a hard white stone that might have been ivory. They were finely crafted, clothed in intricate stone magical garb, complete with pointed hats. They sat back to back with their wands held upward in front of them. There was something about the two faces that almost seemed alive, whoever had carved them, magically or otherwise, was a truly brilliant artist. The man had a jovial look to him with its wide, laughing smile though his face held a touch of madness due to the wide eyes. The woman was beautiful yet austere-looking, and perhaps a bit intimidating.

Moving on from the statues, he tried the room on the left first. It looked to be a modest sized kitchen, complete with table, pantry and stone sink. When Harry opened the pantry, the cupboards were bare, but clean. In fact there wasn't a spot of dust in the entire strange space. He wandered out of the "kitchen" intending to check the other archway when he paused. One of the statues was missing.

'It's been a long time since anyone has come here,' a voice said.

Harry started, whipping out his wand and aiming at the doorway where an old man had appeared. He wore bright blue and white robes with a matching pointed hat. His face was heavily lined yet the more Harry looked at him the more he thought maybe his skin was smooth. It was like trying to see something just on the edge of your vision that would disappear every time you turned to look.

The man was standing quite calmly in the archway that led out into the whiteness, a small smile on his wrinkled yet smooth face. Harry regarded him cautiously, not lowering his wand in case he turned aggressive.

'Well to be honest,' Harry said eventually, 'I didn't mean to come here. I came here by mistake.'

'No,' the old man said, his smile turning to a frown. 'If you are here it is no mistake. You are meant to be here.'

Harry cocked his head to the side and glanced at the spot where the missing statue had been then back at the man.

'I'm sorry, but I'm not,' he said carefully. 'In fact my friends are in danger right now. I need to get back.'

The old man laughed heartily at that, his hands clapping lightly in approval.

'It has been a long time since I've had a good laugh,' he said and he waved a wand that wasn't there a moment ago.

In an instant Harry found himself sitting in a rather luxurious cushioned chair. Another wave of the wand and the chair reclined, Harry was staring up at the enchanted ceiling with the night and day sky.

'There is no "right now" here, boy,' the old man said in a powerful voice. 'Or rather, there is only "right now" and nothing else.'

A white star that wasn't there before began spinning rapidly around the enchanted sky, disappearing as it neared the sun and reappearing on its route back to the moon.

'We may be here in this space,' the man rambled on, 'but the space is not here. Time does not exist here, you will not age. Though you may grow hungry, you do not need to eat. You may wish to sleep, but your body does not require it. The place where you "need to get back" is not here. It exists, while here does or does not, it doesn't matter. When you are meant to leave, you will leave, and not before.' The man laughed again.

'Of course there is no when here,' he continued, still chuckling amusedly at whatever joke he saw that Harry didn't. 'But if there is no when, that means you'll leave now, no matter what, but not this now. A now that is a different now but the same … now.'

During his entire speech Harry had been staring at the spinning white star, getting more and more confused. He scrambled off the chair and attempted to convey what he needed to the man.

'Look,' he said weightily, 'I don't know where here is, but I'm worried about my friends. I don't want them to die just because I am stuck here.'

'You misunderstand,' the man said quickly, clearly excited. 'They will not die. You are not stuck here. You are here to get what you need so they will not die and so you can accomplish whatever goal is unreachable to you.'

Harry stared at him, confused as ever and now seriously considering just ignoring him and searching for an exit.

'I seem to be wasting my time.' The man laughed again at his own joke. 'But of course what you lack is knowledge, and I am hardly the one to talk to about that. Ask her.'

With another flick of the man's wand, Harry found himself sliding across the floor, down the steps and arriving on his arse behind the now lone statue of the woman. He was about to stand and give the man a piece of his mind when he heard another voice. Or perhaps more accurately, he thought it.

'Hello, Harry Potter,' a feminine voice echoed in his head. 'Please, be calm, I will answer all of your questions for you.'

Harry looked over his shoulder to the statue of the marble witch; it was still in its original place and in its original form. He sat back against it, hoping that the voice wasn't just wasting more of his time.

'How do I go home?' he asked impatiently.

'I will explain it in a way you will understand.' The voice was calm in his mind. 'You cannot force your way out of this place, it is not possible. The door in front of you will not open until it does. That is how you will leave.'

Harry stared at the pitch black door in front of him, grinding his teeth in frustration.

'What you are worried about,' the voice continued, 'is not something that will come to pass. For you, your home is still while you are here. Time will not continue to flow. The instant that you entered this place will be the instant that you reappear when you leave.'

The thought calmed Harry somewhat but he was still unsure of what he could trust. What was the reason he was here? If the old man was to be believed then he was meant to be here. If so, why?

'You are here,' the voice said, answering his unvoiced question, 'because of your destiny. You are not prepared for it as you are now. You know of what I speak.'

Harry's pulse quickened. He reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out the glass orb that was there.

'Tap your wand to it,' she said.

Harry did as she ordered, he tapped his wand to the prophecy and a misty face appeared on its surface, speaking in an eerie voice.

'The one with the power to defy the Dark Lord approaches … He will be born as the seventh month dies, to those who have thrice defied him … The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not … For neither can live while the other survives … The one with the power to defy the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.'

Harry stared at the orb. He knew already that the prophecy was about himself and Voldemort. Does that mean that he was supposed to have power the Dark Lord knows not? That he either killed Voldemort or died at his hand?

'Yes,' the voice answered. 'The power the Dark Lord knows not shall be taught to you here. Or else it can be interpreted that this place is the power he knows not. When you leave, you will leave prepared.'

Harry's mind was working furiously. 'How will you help me?'

'Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am called the Guardian of Knowledge in this place. I will be your educator, your guide, your book. I will give you the knowledge you need to succeed and knowledge far beyond your success besides. The old man you have already met is the Guardian of Power. He will train you physically and magically, a more hands on approach, if you will. He will also teach you how to fight.'

Harry looked behind him past the statue to the old man who was currently lounging in the chair he had conjured under Harry earlier. The Guardian certainly seemed powerful but Harry questioned how capable he was in teaching him.

'He is more than capable of doing what must be done,' the Guardian of Knowledge said. 'But for now, you will be training under me.'

Harry felt as if his mind was being opened like a book to be read. Memories and knowledge flashed by uncomfortably quickly, his entire life was summarized in a matter of moments.

'A solid foundation to begin building upon,' the voice said approvingly. 'Good. Prepare yourself, Harry Potter, much of this knowledge is beyond what modern wizards know of in your world. It may feel a tad overwhelming at first.'

The Guardian didn't so much as speak the knowledge as ram it into his brain for him to observe. Overwhelming was one way to put it. Harry reached for his wand. For what? He did not know. But he felt like he had to do something while knowledge he'd never even dreamed of was rammed into his mind. Nothing physical was being done to him but it was extremely painful for the first few moments.

By the time he got used to it he could already understand things he hadn't understood before. The process he was undergoing was called melding. It was transferring knowledge to his brain much the way reading a book would, if he didn't retain it himself then it would be forgotten. Thankfully he learned new ways of thinking and organizing his thoughts and knowledge within his own head. It made the process significantly simpler and he had no idea why he hadn't used his mind in this way before.

'Now that we are restructuring your mind to be able to accommodate what is to come, I will start showing you what you have come here to learn.'

'Like magic?' Harry asked out loud through the wave of knowledge still being sorted into his mind.

'Magic is part of it, but there is more that will be useful to you. History, psychology, science, there is much knowledge that exists even outside the Magical world that is invaluable.'

Harry's mind could recall much of what the Guardian was saying already, as if he had always known it.

'How long have we been here already?' he asked, though he thought he knew the answer.

'Time does not matter. It might have been an instant, or perhaps hundreds of years. Your perspective of time is faulty in this place. You do not need it.'

Harry concentrated on the things he had been learning. There was certainly magic, concepts that he had heard of before but never understood now made perfect sense. Rules and laws that magic obey and methods in which to break them; spells and how they function, how they're created and why they work the way they do; the difference between wand movements and how they affect the magic; how to completely control magic so none of those things were necessary. He learned about abilities that were inherited, like Parseltongue and ways to teach that kind of magic to others; gifts that magical beings have inherently, like the veela's allure or the magic of house elves and how versions can be made to function for humans; even magical beasts and their powers, such as Phoenix tears and a Nundu's breath can be emulated, though never perfectly. Stances and battle magic, methods of killing, crippling, breaking and disarming; theories behind fighting and how to apply them, how to learn from an opponent and observe them as the fight goes on.

And more. So much more. More than he could have ever hoped to know in a single lifetime.

Yes, overwhelming was not the right word at all. Impossible seemed closer to correct. Though as he fell away from the statue five hundred years later and yet the same instant he sat down, he felt fine. Better than fine.

He cast a quick diagnostic charm on himself and found his body was functioning normally, though not as efficiently as it could. He could rectify that however.

Knowing full well that food wasn't necessary here, he went to the kitchen anyway. When he opened the pantry this time everything he needed was already prepared for him and he moved it to the table. Downing the potions and eating all that was required.

When he was done he waved his wand over his own head and walked into the whiteness that was outside of the building. The Guardian of Power was already waiting for him there, wand at the ready. Harry took up his expected position in front of the man and prepared himself.

'Knowledge is all well and good,' the old guardian said to him, 'but power and control are completely different animals altogether. Can you apply your knowledge to defeat your opponent? En garde!'

A series of spells flew silently from his wand. Harry, casting a very loud Protego, shielded himself from two of them but the third sent him sprawling back a few meters, forcing him to stagger back to his feet.

'You'll have to break those instincts of yours!' the old man chided angrily. 'You know better, don't you? Just because you know how to cast a non-verbal spell and have the perfect counter in your mind to defend yourself from me, you still need to do it!'

The man raised his wand again, sending another three spells toward Harry.

This time he raised his wand high over his head and said out loud, 'Protego Horribilis!' The spells fizzled uselessly out on the domed shield that formed around him.

'Better,' the old man said. 'At least you're on your feet. Still shite. I can't fault you too much for that though, can I? After all, these things take time.'

The man cackled madly as he launched a continuous flurry of magic at Harry who could do nothing but stay hidden under his shield until it shattered. The spells continued to rain upon him, pain lancing through every inch of his body, until everything went from white, to black.