He woke with a start, making the owl fly away in terror. “Bloody owl!” he shouted to its back. Then, looking around, he muttered, “Where am I?”
He propped himself on his elbows and took in his surroundings: a grassy field with no one around. He was lying not far from a dirt path and in the bush nearby were his wand and a small satchel. Thinking this might give him an idea of where he was, he grabbed the satchel and started looking through it. He pulled his history book out and tossed it aside with a disgusted look and reached into the bag again. There was a folded bit of parchment, which he opened to reveal a map of Hogsmeade. “Why do I have a map?” he wondered aloud. “I know my way around Hogsmeade.”
From the depths of the sack he pulled a small golden necklace, which seemed to ring a bell. He studied the large hourglass in the center, but its identity remained a mystery. The satchel was now empty and he still had no idea what he was doing in this field. Tossing it aside in frustration, he crossed his arms behind his head and lay back in the tall grass.
As he stared up at the sky, he noticed a small piece of parchment dancing in the air, with a slow downward progression, eventually landing beside him.
At the sight of the familiar narrow handwriting, he suddenly remembered what he was doing here. He smacked himself on the head and muttered, “Dedalus Diggle, you bloody idiot!” He jumped to his feet, packed the history book and map in the satchel and threw the necklace over his head. He turned the hourglass twice, then shrugged his shoulders and spun it a few more times.
Everything around him dissolved in a flurry of colors as he felt himself falling through time. In an instant, he was back in the field where he just lay. Throwing the satchel over his shoulder and pocketing his wand, Dedalus began a sprint toward the buildings in the distance.
As he approached the buildings, Dedalus could tell something was not right. The houses surrounding the town were more like cottages, and the people he passed were wearing old-fashioned robes. When he got into Hogsmeade, he realized that the buildings were the same as they always were, yet with different names.
When Dedalus noticed all of the stares he had been receiving by passerby, he decided he should try to blend in. About halfway to Madam Landi’s robe shop, he realized it would no longer be there and stopped a young woman for directions.
“Forge’s is just down this street a bit, and on your left,” she said, pointing in the direction he had come from, “but I don’t think you’ll find your style there,” she finished, eyeing his robes curiously.
“Thank you,” he said, laughing on the inside and heading toward the shop.
There was an old man behind the counter, who he presumed to be Forge. His face was filled with concentration, which melted into a jovial grin when he saw Dedalus. “Hello, what might I do for you today?”
“I need robes,” Dedalus said.
“Well, then this would be the place to get them,” he said merrily. “What style are you interested in? I don’t think we have anything like you’re wearing…” he trailed off.
“Anything is good. What do you have?”
Mr. Forge proceeded to show him many different styles and colors. He seemed to be hoping he could stir some sense of fashion into him. Dedalus chose the simplest robe and Mr. Forge fitted it for him.
Stepping up to the mirror in the shop, Dedalus couldn’t help but laugh at himself. The material made his body stiff and the collar and cuffs of the robes were frilly. If my friends ever saw me like this, I’d never hear the end of it, he thought. Mr. Forge mistook the laughter as a good sign, and rang up the robes, which only cost the price of a chocolate frog in modern days.
Dedalus set off down the street, but what he saw a few blocks later made him stop short, confused and worried.
“Riddle?”
Dedalus couldn’t imagine what he was doing here. But he didn’t have time to worry about that; he couldn’t be seen. He’d been told the consequences of time travel and Tom Riddle wasn’t the kind to let it go lightly.
He rushed into the nearest pub to avoid being seen and fell against the closed door, breathing heavily. But he couldn’t believe his eyes when he realized where he was. He’d been in this very pub countless times before, but now the tables were arranged differently and the walls were covered with portraits. But this was most definitely The Three Broomsticks.
He ordered a butterbeer from the woman at the counter and took a seat by the back wall. When he took his first sip, he spat it back out, gaining stares from everyone in the bar. “Something in my throat,” he shouted to the curious onlookers, faking a cough. He set the mug aside, choosing to stay away from the butterbeer in the past.
He stayed in the pub for awhile longer, deciding to play it safe and avoid being seen by many people or by one in particular. Time traveling is a dangerous business, and he knew he shouldn’t be meddling with it the way he was.
Just as he was starting to feel more comfortable, a silky voice behind him drawled, “Well, look what the Kneazle dragged in!”
Dedalus turned to face Tom Riddle, who was staring down at him knowingly. Bucking up all of his courage, he grinned and said, “And look what the Hippogriff spat out.”
Riddle grinned cockily and took the seat across from Dedalus, “So, what brings you to 1874?”
“Is that where I am?” Dedalus pondered.
“Surely you didn’t think The Three Broomsticks had just been redecorated. Plus, I see you’re dressed for the occasion.” Riddle, who was wearing his regular robes, smirked at the look of realization on Dedalus’ face. Dedalus had hoped no one would ever see him dressed like this.
“I thought I would blend in. You’re the one who looks like a bloody idiot right now to all of these people.”
“True, but then what does it matter what they think. They’ll probably all be dead by the time I get back to the present.”
It took Dedalus a minute to understand what he had just said. Time traveling was really beginning to confuse him. “Why are you in the past anyway?” Dedalus asked.
Riddle looked at him suspiciously. “I’m doing some research. On my family tree,” he said. Dedalus thought he sounded as though he was choosing his words carefully, and decided there must be more to the story. “Why are you here?”
“I’m not really sure. I think I spun the time turner a few too many times,” he admitted.
“Hah, rookie mistake,” Riddle laughed. “I don’t remember seeing your name on the list of students using time turners?” he asked.
“Well, my name isn’t on there,” Dedalus said grudgingly.
“Your friend, David; he’s on the list, correct? Borrowed it from the Mudblood, did you?”
“Don’t you call him that!” Dedalus said, kicking his chair back violently and drawing his wand on Riddle. “You Slytherins think you’re so much better because of your blood, but that doesn’t make a bloody bit of a difference.”
“Tsk, tsk,” Riddle sighed. “Don’t you know the first rule of time traveling is not to draw attention to yourself,” he said, motioning to the pub full of curious onlookers. Dedalus reluctantly pocketed his wand and took a seat. “I don’t suppose you know how to get back?” Riddle asked.
“I suppose you do,” Dedalus prodded.
“Of course,” he said reassuringly, “I wouldn’t travel seventy years into the past without knowing how to return.” Then his tone became deathly serious, “but I believe in learning from our mistakes.”
He smirked and left Dedalus abandoned at the pub. Dedalus couldn’t believe that he would just leave him there, without any idea of how to get back. Even through the House rivalry and mutual dislike, Dedalus was sure he would have helped him in this situation.
He threw a few coins on the table, not knowing how much a butterbeer cost, and walked back into the streets, without any direction or purpose. The cobbled street here was rough and he kept tripping over the stones. As he walked past each shop window, he tried to recall what store is located there in his time.
The post office had moved to the next street, the sweet shop was a Stationary Store, and there was a Broomstick store where the robe shop should be. The town smelled differently, of smoke, and it was dirty and drab. He knew he was in Hogsmeade, but it just didn’t feel like it.
Desperately trying to think of what to do, Dedalus decided to take a look in his History of Magic book. Taking a seat on a bench, he opened it to the index and looked up 1874. He skimmed the part that might be of any relevance, but somehow he didn’t think the Goblin Strike of 1874 or the Muggle Secrecy Act would help him get home.
Slamming his book shut in frustration, Dedalus made the woman sitting beside him on the bench jump. He hadn’t even noticed when she sat down, but, upon seeing her, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
It was his mum. But, looking at her more closely, he saw that it wasn’t really his mum. Her hair was a bit darker, her face narrower, and she had dark brown eyes, unlike his mother’s blue eyes.
“Hello, dear,” she said, after he’d been staring for a moment.
Shocked out of his reverie, he said, “Oh, sorry. Hello.”
“What are you doing here?” she asked politely.
“What?” he asked, panicked. Did she know that he was from the future?
“I didn’t think the school trip to Hogsmeade was until next weekend? Didn’t sneak out, did you?”
“Well, no, not exactly,” he said, much more relieved. “My name is Dedalus.”
“I’m Emily,” she said, and reached her hand out to him.
He took it and shook it, receiving on odd look in return. Then he realized that men probably did not shake women’s hands in 1875. What did they do in those old Muggle movies? he wondered. Did they kiss their hand?
Suddenly, he realized who she was. His great grandmother, Emily, who everyone said looked just like Dedalus’ mum. “Emily Jorkins?” he asked excitedly, then realized his mistake.
“Yes,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Have we met before?”
“No,” he said truthfully. But she was still looking at him curiously, waiting for him to say more. Deciding that, if he could trust anyone, it was his great grandmother, he said, “Do you know much about time travel?”
“No, I don’t,” she said. “What do you know about time travel?”
“Apparently not enough,” he sighed. “That’s why I’m here.”
She considered this for a moment. “Well, I believe that whatever goes back must be able to go forward, you just need to know how to spin things in the opposite direction.”
Opposite direction… Dedalus jumped up from the bench, knowing what he must do. Taking out the time turner, he thought back to the directions he’d been given by David. “To turn back time, place the chain around your neck and spin the hourglass counter-clockwise…”
All he needed to do was spin it clockwise to get home. But there was something he needed to do before he left.
Dedalus said goodbye to Emily and tucked the time turner into his pocket before heading down High Street and up the path to Hogwarts. As the castle came into view, he felt like he had steeped into a time capsule; it looked exactly as it looked in his time.
He went through the entrance and tore up the stairs, passing several students on their way to the Great Hall for dinner. The only way he could tell that anything had changed was by the portraits in the halls.
He quickly made his way to the fourth floor and stopped in front of the library. It almost surprised him that Madam Pince was not there. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to study without her standing over the students all the time. The small man who sat at the librarian’s desk stood to leave for dinner just as Dedalus arrived, leaving him free to find what he needed.
He stepped over the gate to the Restricted Section and walked up to the first row. But he couldn’t believe the state this room was in. The books, scrolls, and encyclopedias were in no particular order, some were sitting in boxes on the floor, and Dedalus had no idea where to begin. For the first time in his life, he respected Madam Pince’s obsession with keeping books in pristine condition.
He picked a spot and started shifting through the many shelves and piles of books, a daunting task. He couldn’t be sure that what he was looking for was even there yet. After he had made it through the entire first row, he’d had no luck.
As he was about to turn the corner, he heard something from behind him and drew his wand. Faced with a cloaked man holding his wand at the ready, Dedalus shouted, "Stupefy!"
But the man easily blocked it and countered, "Expelliarmus!" Dedalus' wand flew out of his grasp and into the man's outstretched hand.
He laughed coldly and pocketed his own wand, as he twirled Dedalus' in his long, spindly fingers. "I see we have come to the past for the same purpose," Tom Riddle said, lowering his hood to reveal a satisfied grin. Prodding Dedalus' neck with the wand, he said, "Hand it over."
Turning his face away from the wand in defiance, Dedalus shot him a filthy look. "I don't know what you are talking about.”
"Let's not play this game," Riddle warned. "You've been searching for over an hour; certainly you've found it by now."
"I've told you; I have no idea what you are talking about."
Riddle poked Dedalus in the chin, causing him to wince in pain. "You'll show me. You have no choice," he said.
"Is that right?" Dedalus asked sarcastically, though he knew he was at the disadvantage now.
"Accio time turner!" Riddle said, and it flew out of Dedalus' pocket and into Riddle's hand. "Now you have no way back," Riddle teased, "assuming, of course, that you have even determined how to use it."
Dedalus' face dropped. With no wand, no time turner, and no information to give, how could he hope to get out of this mess and return home?
Riddle reached into his pocket and pulled out a second time turner, twirling it in his hands playfully.
"You show me where it is, and I will return your wand and time turner. No harm, no foul."
"Are you dense?" Dedalus said angrily. "I've told you I don't have anything! I don't even know what you're looking for!"
"Oh, but you do," Riddle said, and he showed Dedalus a piece of parchment that looked very familiar.
Use your Time Turner to travel back in time and retrieve it before it is stolen.
It is located on the first row, third shelf from the top, with a chain and lock.
It has the title: Confidential: For authorized wizards only, written in green letters.
Dedalus couldn't believe Riddle had been given the same directions, but here he stood, with the parchment as proof.
"You're looking for the scroll too?" Dedalus stuttered.
"Yes," Riddle said. "Are you telling me that you haven't found it yet?"
"No. Do you see the mess this place is in?" Dedalus sighed.
"Where have you searched so far?" he asked, lowering Dedalus' wand.
"Why should I tell you that?"
"Look, we might have gotten off on the wrong foot." Dedalus raised an eyebrow at him. "But we both need to find this scroll for the same reason, so why don't we work together and we can get it done quicker. Plus, I know something you don't"
"What are you talking about?" Dedalus asked suspiciously.
"I know something that may very well make it possible for you to find the scroll. Work with me and we can share information."
Dedalus considered and decided he had no choice. "I've already searched this entire first row. I was about to move onto the second."
"The school didn't start putting locks and chains on scrolls and important texts until twenty years from now, in the early 1900's. So we should probably look through the first row again."
"Why don't I do that and you can start on the second row?" Dedalus suggested. They each went off in separate directions and started searching through piles and shelves of dusty scrolls.
"This is a sight," Dedalus joked. "A Gryffindor and a Slytherin working together"
Riddle nodded his head.
"It's like House Unity!" They both laughed. Dedalus didn't notice Riddle roll his eyes.
A half hour later, after having no luck, Dedalus came across a scroll with a lock and chain on it. "Riddle, I thought you said none of these scrolls had locks on them." He didn't answer. "Riddle?"
Dedalus turned around the corner and found the next row empty. Riddle wasn't anywhere in the Restricted Section. Dedalus ran out of the library and down the Hogwarts hallways, heading in the opposite direction of the students returning from dinner. When he came to the Grand Staircase, he saw Riddle on the third floor weaving through the crowd, carrying a scroll under his arm.
Dedalus began pushing his way through the angered students. "Riddle! Get back here!"
Riddle looked over his shoulder, smirked at Dedalus, and quickened his pace. Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at him, thought Dedalus. They rushed through the crowds, but Dedalus wasn’t able to close the gap between them. Riddle was almost to the first floor landing and Dedalus was losing hope of catching him when his luck improved; the staircase changed.
"You're cornered now!" Dedalus shouted triumphantly from half a floor above.
"I guess I am," Riddle said, "but how much damage can you really do without your wand?"
Dedalus stopped dead, at a loss for anything to do. Then he reached into the pocket of an unsuspecting second year, who shouted, "Hey!” and produced a wand. He pointed it directly at Riddle, shouted, "Expelliarmus!" and two wands flew out of Riddle's pocket and landed by Dedalus' feet. He picked the wands up and handed the wand back to the boy, saying a small, "Thank you."
Dedalus stepped up to Riddle just as the stairs made it back to the landing, but his wand pointed at Riddle's chest prevented him from going anywhere.
"So much for not making a scene," Riddle drawled.
"Scroll?"
Riddle pushed the scroll into Dedalus' arms roughly.
"That's funny, and I thought you said this wouldn't have a chain?" Dedalus asked sarcastically.
"My mistake."
"Time turner?"
Riddle threw it into Dedalus' hand. "My wand?"
"I think I'll keep that for now," Dedalus laughed. "But at least I'm human enough to leave you with your time turner." He turned and walked away, hoping to be rid of Tom Riddle forever.
Dedalus walked briskly out of Hogwarts, noting that it was now dark. He couldn't believe what Riddle had done, that he had lied and tricked him, but, most of all, that he had fallen for it. Why did Riddle want the scroll? Did he want credit for finding it? Or did he want to know what was in it?
Dedalus stopped short. He held the scroll in front of him and let the curiosity overwhelm him. This is ridiculous, he thought, I don't care what's in there. He continued walking towards Hogsmeade, fighting an internal battle about the contents of the scroll. No, Dumbledore trusted me with this. He stopped again and read the title. Confidential: For Authorized Wizards Only.
"Doesn't anyone understand that writing Confidential only makes it more tempting?" he thought aloud.
Making his decision, he directed his wand at the lock, and said, "Alohamora!" but it didn't open. Dedalus didn't expect what next appeared on the scroll. Ink began to spread just below the title, forming into words.
Then take this password to the barkeep
of the loneliest Pub in the most magical
town in Britain. These don't fall
from the sky. They can reach high
speeds and faster we try.
"It's a riddle!" Dedalus exclaimed, and he sat on the grass and began thinking. "If the contents of this scroll you do seek," Dedalus said to himself. "Well, that's obvious! If I want to know what the scroll says. Yes, I do. Why the bloody hell does it think I Alohamora-ed the lock?"
"Take this password to the barkeep. Okay, take a password to a bartender. I'm good at this!"
"Of the loneliest Pub." Dedalus frowned at the scroll. "Loneliest pub? How can a pub be lonely? Does that mean a pub that's in the middle of nowhere, with no other buildings around? I don't suppose that would be good for business. Possibly a pub that doesn't get many customers?" Dedalus considered this for a moment.
"I'll move on. The most magical town in Britain. There are a lot of Wizards and Witches in Diagon Alley, that could be it. Godric's Hollow is full of wizards." Then it hit Dedalus like a ton of bricks. "Hogsmeade! The only all-wizard town, that must be it!"
He had gotten to the part of the riddle that contained the password. "They don't fall from the sky. They can reach high speeds and faster we try," Dedalus whispered slowly, piecing the words together in his head. "So they can fly, or maybe just levitate. But they can go fast, so that must mean they can fly. They can fly at high speeds and they are trying to go faster. That could mean anything," he sighed. He read the sentences over and over again, until one word popped out at him. "They are not trying to go faster. We are trying to go faster! They can fly fast and we are trying to make them go faster! Broomsticks! That's it!"
Dedalus leapt from his place on the ground and made his way anxiously to Hogsmeade. He kept running the riddle through his head to be sure he hadn't missed anything, but it all made sense.
When he got into the town, he stopped a man in his mid-thirties. "Excuse me, sir, do you think you could point me in the direction of a pub?"
"Oh, yes, of course, there's --"
"Oh, I'm actually looking for one that's particularly unpopular." The man gave him a questioning look. "I like to avoid the noise," Dedalus explained hastily.
The man nodded understandingly. "Merlin's Cabin is just down the road there, but I'll warn you, it's a bit dodgy."
"Thank you." Dedalus turned to leave but the man called him back.
"I wouldn't get too chatty with the bartender. Good day."
Dedalus left feeling a bit nervous about the bartender. He wondered if he would even help him, but this was his only shot of knowing. He was growing more curious by the minute about the contents of the scroll.
On the outskirts of town, he saw a sign for Merlin's Cabin and hesitated outside. The front door mat was dirty, the windows were covered in years of dust, and it reeked of old garbage drifting from the alley. He bucked up his courage and went inside.
He tried to ignore the sour smell as he took a seat at the bar. The barman, a rough old man with a bald head, considered him before stepping in front of his seat at the counter.
"We only serve wizards of age," he barked.
"I'm seventeen."
“What do you want?” he said gruffly.
“A butterbeer.” The man poured him a mug of butterbeer, but Dedalus didn’t touch it.
After a few minutes, the bartender asked, “Are you going to drink it or stare at it?”
“I’m not very thirsty.”
“Then what the bloody hell are you doing at my bar?”
He leaned over the counter toward the man and whispered, "Broomsticks."
The bartender scowled at Dedalus for a moment. With every passing second, Dedalus felt the information in the scroll slowly slipping away from him. Then he ducked under the counter and produced a small, old wooden box with carvings and several knobs. He shoved it into Dedalus' chest and whispered roughly, "Two turns should do it," pointing to one of the knobs. With that, he walked off into the side room.
Dedalus could not believe the barman had helped him. He rushed out of the pub looking for a place to read the scroll in private. Without any other ideas, he ran out of Hogsmeade and down the path to the field that he originally time traveled in. It was completely deserted, so he laid the scroll on the ground and set the box on his lap.
As he turned the knob, he heard a click-clicking sound and felt his heart beating faster. After two turns, the knob popped up slightly, revealing a nook containing a brass key.
Dedalus unlocked the scroll and spread it out on the grass. He knew what it was immediately, a family tree. It had lines connecting names going up and down and sideways. Some of the names he recognized, such as the Gaunts and the Peverells. But he couldn't imagine why a family tree was so confidential and was fairly disappointed. Then he saw a name that stuck out to him, Salazar Slytherin, and understood why it was in the Hogwarts Library.
He pored over the scroll for a long time, looking for names he recognized and trying to remember names to look up in the library. After the Chamber of Secrets was opened last year, no one had any idea who the heir of Slytherin was, but he had the truth right in front of him. The last names to be added were the Gaunts, but there were no Gaunts at Hogwarts.
It was pitch black, except for the light from his wand, when he finally decided to go home. He packed his stuff, locked the scroll, and returned the key to the knob in the box. Then he turned the time turner around clockwise and flew away in a flash of time.
Dedalus headed down the path toward Hogsmeade, noticing that the buildings had returned to their modern state, and hurried back to the castle. Upon arriving, he ran straight up to Professor Dumbledore's office to bring him the scroll, but in his haste, he didn't realize he was still holding the wooden box.
"Hello, Professor."
"Hello, Dedalus," Professor Dumbledore greeted cheerfully. "Have a seat. I see you were able to retrieve the scroll."
"Yes, I was." Dedalus set the scroll and box on his lap, which Dumbledore noticed, but chose not to say anything.
“How did it go?”
“It started out a bit badly. I went a little too far in time and wasn’t sure how to get back.” Dedalus started.
“How far?”
“1874.”
Professor Dumbledore’s eyes sparkled as he gave a small chuckle. “How did you come to be in 1874?”
“I don’t know,” Dedalus explained hastily. “I used my time turner exactly as David explained. Well, maybe I spun it a few more times,” he admitted, “but not seventy years worth.”
“May I see it?”
Dedalus handed Dumbledore the time turner which had caused him so much trouble. Dumbledore aimed his wand at the hourglass and small sparks flew from the tip as he began muttering under his breath.
“This has been tampered with,” Professor Dumbledore explained. “We will need to get a new one for David. Now finish your story.”
“Well, I met someone when I went back…” he trailed off.
“Go on.”
"Professor, I don't understand,” Dedalus said, choosing his words carefully. “Why did you send someone else to get the scroll? Did you think I couldn't do it, because it only caused trouble?"
"Dedalus, you were the only person I sent to retrieve the scroll. I had full faith in you,” he said kindly.
"Tom Riddle was there. He had the same letter that you gave me about the scroll. It was even in your handwriting."
Dumbledore sighed. "Tom Riddle, of course.”
"Excuse me, Professor?"
"I suspected it might have been Tom who stole the scroll, and I suppose this means it is true. Tom Riddle is very smart. I've seen him use any angle to get to his advantage, so this was just an example of that.”
“You didn’t send him, then?”
“No. He convinced you that he was trying to get the scroll to help me, but it was really for himself."
"But why did he want it?"
Dumbledore glanced at the wooden box in Dedalus’ lap and smiled. "Curiosity, I suppose."