Fate

Harry jerked, not daring to believe the implications of what he'd just heard. "Isn't it… isn't it a bit late now? I mean, I'm dead. The prophecy was unfulfilled."

At this point, Death took over from the beautiful woman now standing at Harry's side.

"Normally yes, however, in this situation, we're going to bend our self imposed rules. That fucker, Tom Riddle that is, not Dumbledore, needs to die."

Fate fixed Harry with a hard sapphire stare. "And I will not subordinate my will to a pathetic excuse of an old man who gets off on lemon drops and playing the puppet master, especially when he's so utterly crap at it."

Harry returned her stare, and for a fleeting second, was reminded of Daphne Greengrass, Slytherin's Ice Queen. "…So, what's the plan?"

"Well," she continued, "unlike your brother, even in the worst of situations, you made the best of it. You spent years absorbing all of Riddle's knowledge. That's a good thing."

Death jumped back in. "We're going to send your soul back in time to several years before you leave for Hogwarts. We want you to make sure Riddle dies, and we want you to make sure the prophecy is fulfilled."

"…What's to stop me being thrown in prison again?"

Fate smiled. "You must save Ginny Weasley."

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment. "I've no problem with that, but didn't you just say the headmaster manipulated events to send me to prison at the first possible excuse? I may dodge that particular bullet, but what's to stop me being sent on some other flimsy trumped up charge?"

Fate's eyes shone. "And this is exactly the reason why you're going to be our champion this time, Harry, and not John. You think things through. We already let John re-do the timeline once and he still failed."

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, sending him back required less intervention, and since he was already fighting Riddle we figured he might be able to pull it off."

"… But wouldn't that mean the non-fulfilment of the prophecy?"

"It would have been close enough for me to accept. But that's irrelevant. He failed."

"How did he die in the first time-line?"

"In the grave-yard at the end of fourth year."

"Huh… I did wonder how he got such good grades without trying, and how he seemed to instinctively attract witches to him despite his horrific personality, he had a four year lead on everyone, and already knew them."

"…"

Inside his head, the revelations were coming thick and fast. His eyes widened.

"Wait… That's why he let Voldemort kill him! He thought you would give him a third chance!

Death nodded, grimly.

"…"

"And… wait, that doesn't make sense…. He knew Ginny was going to die and let it happen anyway? I thought those two loved each other for years before they even came to Hogwarts!"

Fate looked sad. "In the first timeline the diary of Tom Riddle didn't abduct Miss Weasley until the end of the year, and your brother managed to save her. In the second timeline, John Potter's meddling caused Tom to accelerate his plans."

"Wow. He really messed that up."

"Indeed. And let this be a warning to you, Mister Potter." Her face became sterner. "Do not try to setup master plots based on foreknowledge, and do not worry about 'preserving the timeline'; acquire every advantage you can, as quickly as possible with the power you possess, while exposing yourself to as little risk as possible. Remember, even though we are sending you back, your brother has already gone back. We can't change that, so you're going to have to deal with another time traveller who also thinks they are our chosen. The life you know was in the second timeline, and when we send you back, it will be the third."

"Yes, my lady… er… if my brother saved Ginny in the first timeline, did I still go to Azkaban?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"Dumbledore pushed him to provide false evidence that it was still you that opened the chamber."

"That… utter… fucker!"

"Mmmmhmm."

"So, how am I going to stop that from happening then? It seems the old goat is desperate for me to go."

"Well, in the first instance, you now have a good solid knowledge of how the political and legal system of the wizarding world works, and for the second… I am going to grant you a gift."

A gift?

Harry looked away from Fate and towards Death who merely smiled. "No, Mister Potter, not a deathly hollows style gift. I'm never making that mistake again."

Fate laughed. "Mister Potter, how much are you aware of your lineage?"

"Umm… I'm a Potter?"

"Figures you'd know almost nothing. Riddle didn't know after all." Fate walked Harry over to her throne and motioned him to sit down, which he did so, hesitantly. The woman then started pacing in front of the two men.

"Harry," she said eventually, "you know your wizarding world has a highly stratified political and legal system."

"Yes."

"So to grant you the chance you need to fight back against Dumbledore you need to be higher up in the system."

"Makes sense."

"I'm going to grant you a lordship."

Harry's eyes bugged, "Whaa… You're going to kill my father and brother? I mean, I don't really have a problem with that, but even then I wouldn't become Lord Potter until I'm seventeen."

"No no no, Harry. I don't have the power to intervene that much, if I did, I'd have just killed Riddle, and it is as you say; you still wouldn't ascend until you reached your majority, well, in theory anyway. No, what I'm suggesting is for you to take a completely different lordship."

Harry blinked, owlishly.

"There are three possible lordships you are close enough to being able to claim for my influence to work. Peverell, Gryffindor, and Slytherin."

Fate started pacing again.