Well, here is the second instalment for: Not quite the same.
I do feel I have to explain what changes there are compared to canon.
So far, it's a grand total of one change…
Namely: Harry is actually somewhat competent with occulmency, for the rest it's pretty much the same so far. More changes will appear as the story progresses.
I have no beta yet, so I apologize for any faulty spelling and or grammar.
It took some time for it to really sink in. At first, He simply refused to believe it. There was however the nagging problem that Harry couldn't possibly think of anything else that may have happened. There simply was no better explanation. How else did he end up at the Dursleys in his thirteen year old body, with memories that matched everything that happened to him down to this exact day?
After Harry realised he truly was back in the summer after his third year, he fell back on his bed. After the realisation came the shock. For ten straight minutes, Harry just laid there, staring at the sealing. Finally calming himself sown a little, Harry looked at his self repaired clock. Noting that the display indicated that it was 14:28, he finally sat back up.
"Now what do I do?" He muttered to himself. Silently he started to debate on what he should do. Should he write Dumbledore? Sirius perhaps? Hermione had some experience with time travel. Perhaps she could help?
Before he could even start to formulate a letter, however, he remembered that Hermione was somewhere in France, Sirius was even further away and Dumbledore... Well Dumbledore had seemed rather keen on ignoring Harry for his entire fifth year and if he were honest with himself, he admitted that it had instilled a little resentment against the man.
His options were limited to waiting at least a week for answers, call in help from someone that hadn't looked him in the eye all year, or figuring out what to do himself.
The more he thought about it, the better figuring this out himself seemed.
He wasn't even sure anyone would believe this story over a letter anyway. He knew he wouldn't have blindly believed if it had not happened to him first.
Walking over to his desk, he grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. Sitting down, he decided to try and write down some ideas on what he could do.
1: Explain what happened to someone?
Thinking about his first point for a moment, Harry decided that he would rather not try to convince anyone that he was really from the future yet. As far as he knew, such a thing wasn't even supposed to be possible.
2: Triwizard tournament…
That one raised more questions than number one on his list. Should he unveil Barty Crouch jr. for who he was? He wanted to at first. It would delay Voldemort coming back for at least some time and he would be spared having to compete. At the very least delaying Voldemort's plans was a plus. Another bonus was that perhaps this time, Ron wouldn't become a jealous prat for the first semester.
A rather negative side however, was that it would completely negate Harry's advantage of future knowledge. After all, if he changed the future too much, he wouldn't know what would happen next. And knowing what Voldemort was up to, before Voldemort himself, sounded like a good idea to Harry. Playing dumb in the matter of Voldemort's grand plan behind the tournament would allow Harry to disrupt Voldemort's plan right before its conclusion.
At least Harry would know what Voldemort was up to till the end of the next school year, rather than up to the point where he unmasked the fake Moody.
Lastly being exempt from exams was always nice. He remembered that, as a champion, if he hadn't wanted to, he was allowed to skip as much lessons as he wanted to. That last part was rather tempting now that he was technically already on OWL level in every class. (Divination didn't count.) It would allow him loads of free time if he was not forced to follow every class.
Having made up his mind, he went on to the next problem he would likely face.
3: Ron in jealous prat mode.
Harry looked at that sentence for a moment before scratching it through and changing it into:
3: Nobody believing I didn't enter myself.
He had momentarily forgotten about that. No matter, knowing what was coming, he could make a far stronger case for himself then last time. Besides, even if he didn't they would all come around eventually, even Ron.
4: How to hide that I already know magic at fifth year level.
'I guess I can't just show up at Hogwarts and pretend I knew the stuff al along.' Harry thought to himself. He could of course show a bit more skill every week and pretend it was from training for the tournament. But that wouldn't work if people didn't see him studying hard. That meant working his ass off even if he was already two years ahead. Damn that just sucked! 'No helping it I guess. With Voldemort after me I need to be more advanced anyway.'
With that last thought in mind he made another point on his list.
5: Dropping Divinations.
'Shouldn't have chosen it in the first place.' Harry thought. Without Divinations however, he didn't have enough courses to take his OWLS again. Perhaps he should try to switch for Runes instead? Perhaps Arithmancy. Perhaps even both? He wasn't particularly knowledgeable on those subjects, but not having to do anything about his other courses should give him enough time to catch up to the rest of the class in those two subjects. He knew that while it wasn't done often, more than one student switched courses in their fourth year. At least McGonagall and Hermione would be proud.
Looking over the list, he decided that he made enough long term plans for now. Time to focus on the short term stuff he could do.
First up: Get in shape! He knew that while the tournament and playing quiditch had done wonders for his scrawny form, he had never been very athletic, something that would undoubtedly help him in both the tournament and his near yearly fights against Voldemort.
Looking at the clock again, Harry noted that it was now nearing 17:00.
Harry ripped the paper to shreds before throwing it away, thinking it best to leave as little evidence of his time travel adventure as possible and went to cook dinner for himself and his relatives.
The next day, Harry woke up at 7, like he always did, prepared for the day and, deciding to take the getting into shape thing serious, went for a run around the neighbourhood. Walking into the kitchen, harry grabbed himself some bread and cheese before slipping out of the house before his relatives got up.
Deciding to run to the park and back, he set out at a speed that he thought he would be able to maintain for some time. Checking his watch when he finally arrived at the local park, he was pleased to note that he had been faster than he had expected to be. Deciding to do a couple of push-ups and sit-ups before running back, he got to work.
By the time Harry got back, it was 10 o'clock already. Managing to avoid his Aunt, who was rummaging around in the backyard, he trotted up the stairs and took a nice warm shower. Figuring that neither Dudley nor Vernon was around and that his aunt didn't even know he was in the bathroom, he took his sweet time. He was seriously enjoying the hot water that soothed his aching muscles.
Back in his room after he finished showering, he set to his desk and wrote a quick note to Hermione, asking her how France was so far. He told her that the Dursleys had let him to his own devices so far and that he rather liked it that way. He also asked her if she could tell him what books she had used for her Runes and Arithmancy classes.
Closing it up, he went over to Hedwig, before sending her off.
Seeing as it was still morning, Harry decided, that if he was going to be seen as more advanced than he should be anyway, he may as well start acting the part. He still had enough time to do some shopping before it was time for dinner.
Harry was once again reminded of how much he absolutely loathed every form of magical transport that didn't involve flying. He had done things on a broom that made most roller coasters look like an ordinary train and he hadn't even flinched, but one ride with the knight bus made him want to throw up.
After gathering himself a little, Harry stepped into the little café that was the Leaky cauldron.
In a smart move he had taken a muggle baseball cap that prevented people from immediately recognizing him. Swiftly walking through the back of the pub, he opened the portal and stepped into Diagon alley.
After a quick trip to his vault, Harry headed to Flourish and Blots.
Looking around, Harry quickly sought together al the books he would need for both his fourth and fifth year, aside from the ones for runes and arithmancy as he didn't know what books he needed for those courses. He did buy an introductory book for both subjects, but he would have to order the required school books by owl later.
Having sought out his schoolbooks he started picked up books about all his school classes that lead up to NEWT level magic. Seeing as he was supposed to have concluded his OWLS, it was the next logical step he thought he should take.
Aside from the standard subjects, he bought both a beginners and a more advanced book on mind magic, as he needed to explain his sudden budding occulmency skill should it be necessary. Aside from that, he tried to find a book on becoming an animagus. Unfortunately the subject seemed so rare, that even Diagon alley's best known bookshop didn't have anything on the matter. He mentally noted to ask Sirius about it later.
Although the clerk looked at him a little funny, he did shrink the books for Harry when asked, enabling Harry to continue shopping, without having to go back to privet drive first.
Harry's next stop was at madam Malkin's. When he first went in, he thought about just getting some clothes that he could us for his new routine of working out every morning, but he soon ended up buying the same dress robe that he had worn the first time around, plus a couple of muggle styled clothes that actually fit. It wasn't really anything spectacular in his opinion, but madam Malkin had seemed incredibly thrilled with getting to choose the clothes for him. He decided that he didn't particularly care how it looked so as long as the clothes would fit.
Harry was finally walking back towards the leaky cauldron, intent on going home, when he noticed a small shop he hadn't seen before. It looked rather new and before he knew it, he had walked over to check it out.
Looking at the window Harry could see the words.
Larkin's magical Optometrist. For all your eye related problems.
Come in and check out our newest shop, because there's more to it than meets the eye!
Groaning at the obvious pun, but curious nonetheless he walked in. Once inside Harry noted that it wasn't actually much larger on the inside than it looked from outside, but the space they did have was being put to full use.
Every wall was adorned with all sorts of glasses and everything affiliated with eyesight.
There was a small counter with a very cute looking witch behind it that couldn't have been older than seventeen. To the left of the counter was an open door that led to a room that, as far as Harry could tell, was used to measure peoples eyes.
"Good afternoon sir, can I help you?" The witch started with a dazzling smile. Harry felt drawn to her smile. Looking closer, Harry thought she wasn't just cute. The girl looked stunning. Suddenly realizing that he had been staring, he started to blush. Getting himself together he answered. "Hi, I'm just looking around. How long has this shop been here?"
"We've been here a couple of weeks now" The girl answered. "Are you looking for something in particular?"
"Not really, but I could probably use a check-up. My eyes have not been measured in years."
Once more, the witch gave him a dazzling smile. "Well, I have time now and the first check-up is free. Just come over to this side room and we'll measure your eyes."
"Great, thanks." Harry smiled back at the witch and was surprised to see a tiny blush appear. It made her look all the cuter.
Walking over into the side room, he noticed a machine that looked rather like binoculars mounted on a rather thick stick.
"So" the pretty witch had just walked into the room and pointed at the weird looking binoculars. "Basically, the idea is that you look through the machine and it will tell us what prescription you have."
Doing what she said, Harry saw nothing at first, until a tiny prick of red light appeared, that seemed to scan his eyes like some sort of laser. Just as sudden as the light had appeared, it disappeared and the witch told him the machine was done.
Checking over his results, that had appeared on a bit of parchment, he discovered that his sight had changed a little. Nothing earth shattering, but still enough to warrant a new pair of glasses.
Heading back to the main part of the store, Harry turned to the witch. "It seems like I do need a new pair of glasses. Would you like top help me pick a model?"
"Sure, let me take a good look." Walking over to him, the stunningly pretty girl looked him over well. To his embarrassment Harry felt himself blush again at the attention. The girl just seemed amused if the small smile on her lips was to be believed.
"You know, have you ever thought about contacts?" She suddenly said. "It would really make your eyes stand out more. It would look good on you."
Damn it, why couldn't he stop blushing! "You think so?" Harry was oddly relieved to hear that his voice sounded far calmer than he felt.
"Positive." She answered. "It would be more practical as well. No losing your glasses during quiditch or something." Debating it for a couple of moments, he decided that it would, in fact, be more practical. "Ok then, I'll try it." He was rewarded with another smile. He started to really like that smile. If only he could stop the damn blushing!
While she was silently casting magic on a small container that held his soon to be lenses, the pretty witch explained that unlike muggle lenses, you didn't have to take them out. The only time he would have to do so, was during a yearly check-up. When asked why some people didn't choose contacts, the stunning witch explained that just like muggle contacts, some people just didn't like the feel of it.
After she was done, she taught him how to put the contacts in and out.
It was a slightly strange feeling, but Harry figured that he could get used to it. It was worth it in his opinion. Looking at the mirror that he used to practice putting the contacts in, he decided that the girl had been right. It did look good, something he was secretly very pleased with.
After paying Harry looked at he girl. "Thanks for your help, I'll see you at the next check-up."
"Oh, it was my pleasure. It's my job after all." She gave him a wink.
"Still, it isn't everyday that I get help from a beautiful witch like yourself." He said, hardly believing that he had actually just said that. He started to smile in victory however, when he saw, that this time. She was the one left blushing.
Walking out of the store, He noticed that it was later than he had hoped. 'Oh well. Guess I'm eating out tonight.'
A while later Harry Potter sat at a table in the Leaky cauldron, enjoying a nice steak, with thoughts of how he made a stunning witch blush. If only he had known that while he was eating steak, his cousin and uncle were forced to start dieting. Perhaps if he had known, Harry's smile would have been even larger.
That was it for this chapter.
Not sure I'm completely happy with how it turned out, but oh well.
The contacts and the optometrist shop, run by the young witch appeared out of nowhere. I hadn't planned it at least. I think I could use some advice where dialog is concerned. But maybe it's just the lack of practice. Only time will tell. Well time, or a nice constructive review I suppose. *wink, wink*
Well, see you next time!