Headmaster Dumbledore had never, in all his years as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, witnessed what was taking place in front of him at that very moment. There had been nothing but the barest signs to warn him that anything was amiss; a slight trembling in the stones and a faltering in the wards. Before him in the middle of dinner in the Great Hall, it was right on top of the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables: colors violently clashed in a swirling eddy as the air around it became more and more saturated in magic.
For precious seconds the Headmaster was as immobile as the rest of the students and staff, watching dumbly in frightened awe but another, stronger spike in the wards prompted him to move. He quickly organized the other members of his staff to shepherd the children against the walls and cast shield spells. He chose a few of his most trusted staff to stand with him in a half-circle facing the vortex, preparing in his mind several of his more powerful spells just in case, as the rest of the staff and the prefects stood ready at the walls.
Just in time for the magic to reach its climax as it curled into a tight ball and lowered to the ground where tables had once stood, now just more protection for the children as barricades hanging suspended from the ceiling. They watched as the lights slowly faded away to reveal a body; it looked human enough with a petite and slim figure dressed in muggle fashion. But looks could be deceiving so they waited for it to show whether its intent was malicious or benign—some more impatiently than others.
The figure stood still with its eyes closed for a few moments, visibly adjusting to the magic which had brought it through the wards of Hogwarts, allowing them to study it more thoroughly. It wore a plain black top and loose bottoms with grey stripes covered in a number of pockets. Only three accessories adorned it in any sign of style; a metal belt with a silver buckle in the shape of an otter—curious, that—a leather armband of red and green, and a corded necklace bearing a coat of arms similar to Hogwarts' own. The outfit was topped off with steel-toed black boots.
The Headmaster noted that the bottoms it wore were in the style of the American muggle army, the belt it wore emitted a slight but definite amount of magic and that the band it wore to tie its hair back was in the shape of a coiled snake. All troubling signs but none were definite marks of a Dark wizard. And he had spent too long trying to overcome his prejudices against the Dark Arts and Slytherins in general, and mostly succeeding to allow himself to make snap judgments. So he cleared his throat and waited to be acknowledged.
He did not have to wait long before it opened its eyes, took a quick glance around, casually ignoring the wands pointing at him, and spoke, "Is this Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" It spoke without inflection or tone, neither feminine nor masculine.
"Before I answer yes or no, I think it would be most courteous of you—sir, madam?—to please state your name and purpose for interrupting our dinner." He said politely but firmly.
"You may call me by whatever title you wish, for I am neither male nor female." It paused as murmuring broke out and waited for it to die down before speaking again. "I have no name. I am the Scout and Herald of the Vanguard; sent forth to gather intelligence and determine viability." It said calmly, taking a more thorough look at its surroundings, especially at the students—no, at their robes.
"Four houses of badger, snake, lion and raven. Adolescent human children in black robes of coordinating colors, respective to Houses. Yes, this is Hogwarts."
It nodded to itself, in satisfaction he presumed.
"But surely you must have a name? What do people call you?" He said, desperately trying to process the information and ask pertinent questions at the same time. Luckily, as Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Mugwump of the Wizemagot and Head of the Order of the Phoenix, he had a lot of experience doing so. "For what purpose do you need to gather intelligence; for what reason do you need to determine 'viability' for?"
It blinked. "My Creator refers to me as 'Hagrid' on occasion." Then: "I am unable to completely answer your questions due to matters of security and the laws of travel which theoretically govern alternate realities."
He was not the only one to take in a sharp, stunned breath.
Or look at their visitor with a jaundiced and skeptical eye.
He gave a strained smile. He was taken aback by the use of Hagrid's name and the term 'alternate realities'. "You must forgive me, but it is hard to believe you are from an alternate reality. It is more reasonable to say that perhaps you, and whoever it is you are speaking for," he said with shrewd eyes. "Are simply unable to leave your current residence for whatever reason. Or that you harbor malicious intent and seek to confuse us in making such a statement."
"You require proof? So be it. I will make three statements about you, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore that only someone close to you would know." 'Hagrid' cocked its head to the side, as if listening to something only it could hear. "My Creator informs me that it would be wise to place a charm to ensure your privacy. She tells me that these are truths which not even your two closest confidants were ever allowed to know."
A nod toward Minerva indicated who it thought were his closest confidant, though he didn't know who the other it was speaking about, as it had mentioned two.
"She? Does your Creator have a name?" He tried asking, hoping that he could learn more about it but it only stood there, waiting with inhuman patience for him to make the next move. Ah, well. He glanced around and noticed that his staff was giving him looks of varying degrees of shock and disbelief. At the information given to them or by the request, he didn't know but he supposed he was about to find out as several started to move toward him.
He grimaced. "Please excuse me, it seems my staff has something to discuss with me."
He watched his Heads of House marched toward him. Not entirely surprising, Minerva was the first to speak. "Albus! You cannot be seriously thinking about complying with this request!"
"I must agree, Headmaster, only a fool would trust the word of a stranger. And one who is most likely not even human at that, not that I have much if any prejudice against non-human beings as you well know." Said Sirius Black, Head of Slytherin House. And the headmaster did know, for Black was good friends with Remus Lupin, a known werewolf and the only one of his kind to have attended Hogwarts.
"Black is correct. I certainly have no prejudice toward non-human beings, but there have been several references made to some Creator, we can make an educated guess that it was created by someone for a purpose and that it clearly does not hold itself to human standards." Spoke Filius Flitwick. Pomona Sprout nodded in support, seeing no reason to repeat what had already been said.
"I understand that you are all rightly suspicious and doubtful of…It's sincerity…but I am also a capable wizard and Legilimens. Had there been any malicious intent, Hogwarts would not have allowed it through nor would I not know of such thoughts. I have been continuously scanning its thoughts and I have only found simple instructions."
He didn't mention, of course, that he suspected there were more he wasn't able to discern from its mind but since it had made no harmful actions so far he thought it was less than likely that it'd start now. He motioned to the rest who had kept their wands pointed toward the stranger to put them down. They, student and staff alike, reluctantly put them down but not away. He sighed, suspecting that was the best he could expect of them for the moment.
"So, I am going to put up the privacy charm as suggested and listen to what it has to say. If it speaks truth, we know at the very least whether there might be some merit to the theory of alternate reality. If it speaks untruth, well, I can simply banish them through the wards." He saw that they wanted to protest further but he had made his decision and they would just have to deal with it. "If it makes any of you feel better, you can keep your wands pointed at it." All four did not hesitate to do so.
He turned and walked towards the stranger, stopped a few feet away, cast a simple but effective privacy charm and nodded toward 'Hagrid'.
"You had a sister named Arianna, whom died in the crossfire between you and Gellert Grindelwald—a death you have never forgiven yourself for.
"You may or may not have had a sexual relationship with Grindelwald, but you certainly loved him.
"You own the Elder Wand, one of the Deathly Hallows, which you won from Grindelwald."
He could hear the muted sounds of his staff asking questions and feel their concern, as with each statement it made, his face paled until it was a sickly shade of grey. He dropped the privacy charm and staggered to a chair Minerva transfigured, his head in his hands and wearily hunching forward.
"Headmaster!"
"Albus!"
"Headmaster Dumbledore!"
He let them worry for a little but stepped in when it looked like Black was going to curse it. "No, no, don't. It meant no harm, it only did as it promised; it spoke three truths only someone close to me would have known. The only others are long dead."
"Or imprisoned." The headmaster met its eyes, finding no pity and glad for it.
"Yes," he replied. "I am still not entirely sure of you and yours, but no one else could have known. I can only accept that you are from an alternate reality. The only question now is why you have come here—to Hogwarts, to this reality."
