There was an article in The Quibbler the very next morning. It bore an arresting headline written in big, bold letters and was accompanied by a menacing looking photo of Harry; the same photo, he realized, that had been used on his Undesirable No. 1 posters. The article itself was pretty much what Harry had expected (though it was wildly different from the few articles he had seen in The Quibbler back when he was still in Hogwarts) it revealed Harry's status as 'Master of Death' and carefully listed all that Xenophilius knew about Harry and his quest for the Hallows. There wasn't much, honestly, but what little he had was damning. The article then went on to explain how and why the Hallows meant the end of them all. Or, at least, all but Harry. It was clear and well written, completely devoid of Xenophilius' mad ravings; even if didn't immediately succeed in convincing those who read it of the wizarding world's fall, it would eventually and it would bring trouble right to Harry's front door.
"So we're back to this," Ron noted angrily as he tossed The Quibbler aside with a sneer of disgust, "having your name slandered in the papers."
"Xenophilius was actually pretty good about not slandering my name," Harry pointed out. "He didn't blame any of this on my greed or my hunger for power as the Prophet would have. But it was inevitable that I would come off looking like the bad guy, the wizarding world is dying because of me."
"It's not because of you," Hermione snapped. "If you hadn't united the Hallows someone else would have eventually and this same thing would be happening then. So quit trying to beat yourself about it, we need you focused."
"Focused on what?"
"Finding some way to stop this." Harry had returned to Grimmauld Place after his discussion with Death the previous night and grimly informed his two friends that all that Luna had said was true, they were coasting towards extinction and the brakes had been cut. There'd been horror and more than a small bit of fear, but then Hermione had declared his lamentations of hopelessness as bullshit and locked herself in the library for the rest of the night. When Harry had shuffled down to the kitchen after a night of fitful sleeping, she was already up and poring over a large book while she sipped at a mug of tea. Seeing her so calm and assured allowed the smallest bit of hope to nip at Harry, if anyone could prove Death himself wrong, it would be Hermione.
"Have you found anything?"
"No, not to stop it." Hermione spared Harry a quick glance while she turned to the next page in her book. "But there is a way we can prevent this whole mess from happening. It'll be just like third year."
Just like third year? It took only a second for Harry to process the statement, his jaw dropped. "You want to go back in time?"
Hermione nodded. "If we can go back to before the war ended and stop you from uniting the Hallows, maybe even find some way to destroy them, then this whole mess would be stopped before it could even start."
"But how would we go back?" Ron wondered. "All of the time turners were destroyed our fifth year, and even if they weren't, they only go back a few hours, right? Not the weeks and months we'd need."
"You're right," Hermione smiled at her boyfriend approvingly. "But we won't be using a time turner." She tapped the spine of her book. "There is a ritual, it's old and powerful and probably really, really dangerous, but it can send us as far back as we need."
"How dangerous."
"If done wrong, best case scenario you're displaced in time, worst case scenario your magic is drained and you die."
"Then we'll just have to make sure we do it right. What do you know about this ritual?"
"Other than that it's incredibly high risk? It's not like time turner travel, when you go back, you replace the you that exists, they're gone so you have to live from that point on. There's no traveling back, we'll have to relive every moment."
Ron didn't seem at all upset by this. "That's a small price to pay. How far back do you intend to send us?"
"I was thinking Christmas of last year," Hermione suggested. "That was only a few days before we made the mistake of visiting Xenophilius."
Harry hummed contemplatively. "At that point I had both the stone and the cloak, but I hadn't actually physically touched the stone and the wand was still with Voldemort. I like it, we should do it. What will it take?"
Hermione sighed heavily. "A lot. The ingredients we need are obscure, I'm not even sure where we can find some of these things, and they're bound to be incredibly expensive. Not to mention it needs to be done in a specific order at a specific time of the year."
"When?"
"Mid-November, I think." Hermione consulted her book. "It has something to do with moon magics and such, that specific time of the year is when the spell will be most effective. If we have everything we need when the time comes around, actually performing the ritual won't be all that hard. It requires a basic knowledge of runes and a fair bit of magic, but it can be done."
What Hermione was saying was all good news, but something about her delivery indicated that there was more to what she was saying. Ron seemed to sense it too as he immediately pressed her to go on. "But…?"
"But," Hermione sighed, "all three of us won't be able to go back. One of us will have to remain behind to perform the ritual."
"And you think it should be you," Harry guessed.
"Well, yes actually. Of the three of us, I would be the easiest to convince that the two of you were from the future, I've dealt with this sort of thing before. Not to mention, I'm the only on with experience in ancient runes, I should be the one to perform the ritual."
"What will happen to you when we change the past?" Ron frowned. "Will you remember what we've done or will you just be gone?"
Hermione shrugged. "I honestly don't know. But no matter which way it goes, you'll still have me. It'd be a slightly different version is all."
"It's the best option we have," Harry was speaking directly to Ron, who didn't seem entirely convinced. "I think we should do it."
"It's risky."
"But it's worth it. Think all of the people we'll save, not just those who will die, but those we already have."
Realization slowly dawned. "Fred?"
Harry nodded. "And Remus and Tonks and anyone else that we can save."
Ron still looked uncertain but his jaw no longer held that stubborn set that signified that he was completely against the idea. "What are we waiting for then? Let's get started