Croaker smiled at the teen.
"I'm praying for your success Harry" he said truthfully.
"I will do my best Clarence" Harry promised. "That is all that we can ask of you" Croaker declared giving Harry a pat on the back before he too left the room, leaving only Harry and his familiar within.
"Things are going to be very different from now on Hedwig" Harry whispered as he stroked her feathers through the cage.
The owl simply hooted and nibbled his finger affectionately.
It was a few minutes after Croaker had left the room that Harry began to feet a disturbance around him that grew and grew, causing the room to shake violently.
The shaking became more and more vigorous and Harry was certain that it would collapse in on itself, but before that became a real possibility Harry felt a violent jerking as he was hoisted into nothingness, though he could not be sure where he was as he could not physically open his eyes, it was certainly much more different than when he had used a Time-Turner in his third year. It was definitely much more physical and was taking an inordinate amount of time to even begin to slow.
The feeling however subsided much more quickly than it had taken to start and Harry did find himself within the very same room after he managed to open his eyes, though it was clearly different.
Instead of the exercise equipment and area in which he would practice his spell work, there were various cabinets full of Time-Turner's and tables spread throughout the room all full of delicate looking instruments.
Harry himself was feeling rather sick, though it was not as bad as he had anticipated. He checked that Hedwig was ok and that all of his possessions had survived the journey before proceeding to leave the room, only to run into a much younger looking Filmore. "Who the bloody hell are you and what are you doing in my room?" he growled.
Harry simply removed the badge he had been given and showed it to the man whose eyebrows shot up to his hairline.
"I'm sorry sir" Filmore professed profusely. "I didn't know" he added weakly.
Harry stifled the chuckle he wanted to let out and simply nodded before exiting the room and managing to get out of the department without being hindered any further.
He managed to leave the atrium of the ministry of magic and surfaced inside a toilet cubicle where he removed the grey cloak he had been given, ensured to door was locked and sat on the toilet, placing his head in his hands where he simply cried silently for a time.
He cried for those he had left behind and he cried from the sheer amount of emotions he was feeling all at once. He was both sad and happy, though scared and excited.
It had all gotten too much for the teen and he knew he needed to just finally let it out, he had been strong for long enough after all.
After he had managed to dry his tears and prevent anymore from falling he stood and took a very deep breath in preparation to face what was ahead of him.
He was alone and though he had Hedwig with him, he had not felt this alone since before he started Hogwarts, a feeling that he was not at all fond of.
He sighed and exited the cubicle to carry out the next part of what needed to be done. He needed to ensure that he had arrived at the right time and he needed to buy more clothes and the best broom available, even though it was not a necessity, it was something he knew that would make him feel a little better and he was interested in seeing what was on offer here.
With a plan formulated in his mind he apparated away to Diagon Alley to start putting everything into motion.
He appeared close to the brick wall that would gain him entrance to the Leaky Cauldron and tapped the correct bricks with his wand to pass through.
He entered the pub and immediately noticed the difference. Everything inside looked less worn and almost every table was occupied by various groups of people sharing a drink and chatting happily amongst themselves. This was the first time he had managed to be in the wizarding world without people gaping at him and pushing there way forward to greet him, something he could definitely get used to he concluded. He made his way to the bar and was greeted by a much more youthful looking Tom, who actually had a mouth full of gleaming white teeth and though his hair was grey as he remembered, it was flecked with brown.
"Good Afternoon sir, how may I help you" Tom asked him with a warm toothy grin.
"I'd like a room please" Harry requested.
"And how long will you require it? Tom asked, reaching behind to a row of hooks and retrieving a key.
"I'm not sure yet" Harry answered uncertainly. "But I will pay for a week now and then give you more if I need it longer" he offered.
"Very good sir" Tom agreed with a nod. "If you would kindly follow me" he requested and began heading up the staircase that was placed at the side of the bar. Harry followed the man up the flight of stairs up until the point that he paused outside a door, unlocked it and stepped inside, gesturing for Harry to follow.
"I'm sure this will be sufficient" Tom spoke confidently. "You have a private bathroom and breakfast is included in the price, for one week that will be 12 Galleons" he finished expectantly.
Harry was surprised by the low price but quickly paid the man and thanked him for his help.
Tom took the gold and bid the teen farewell having a full bar to tend to.
Harry removed his trunk from his pocket, resized it and fetched some more gold knowing that he would needing it for his shopping.
He took a seat on the bed and sighed as he let Hedwig out of her cage who quickly hopped on to his shoulder and began rubbing her head lovingly against his cheek.
"Do you think we should write to Dumbledore?" he asked the owl who hooted disapprovingly. "You think we should just go to Hogwarts?" he questioned further.
Hedwig hooted and began bobbing her head in reply causing Harry to chuckle.
"I guess you're right girl" he conceded. "We have to do this in person" he said uncertainly. "Do you want to go and stretch you wings?, it's been a while since you've had fresh air" he pointed out.
The owl hooted again and immediately jumped onto the window ledge, clearly keen to go for a fly.
Harry chuckled as he opened the window and sent her on her way. He knew that she would be ok and would come back when she was ready.
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