"So who are you?"

Harry could only stare in horror at the man who had asked the question. You can't be me. How are you doing this? Why are you doing this?

"You're asking who we are, you bastard?! How about you tell us where you get off imitating my son and calling yourself a Potter?!"

"Asked the man who looks like my dead father." When that terrifying gaze shifted over to Dad, Harry couldn't help but be grateful that he was no longer the one being examined.

"I told you, Mr. Potter: they seem to insist on claiming to be Potters." Not-McGonagall said with disapproval in her voice.

"So you did, Professor. It is a fairly common name though and I had thought that it might just be a coincidence." Not-Harry looked over them again. "This seems to stretch the bounds of coincidence a little further than I am comfortable with. You plan to interrogate them, Shack?" Not-Kingsley nodded. "You mind if I watch?"

"Of course not, Harry. Horace, if you would? We'll start with the one that wants to think he's James." The fat man gave nod and waddled forward. As he did Not-Kingsley spoke in a hard voice. "You will be given Veritaserum and interrogated to determine what you are doing here. If you prove to be a threat to Magical Britain and her people you will be taken into custody until a trial can be held. If you are innocent of any wrongdoing then we will attempt to cure you of your delusions. I'm afraid that I cannot in good conscience allow you to impersonate war heroes, not to mention close personal friends, for your sake or theirs." The fat man waited for Not-Kingsley to finish speaking before he withdrew a vial from his robes and attempted to feed it to Dad who kept his jaw firmly shut.

"Gawain, Allard, help the good professor out." Two of the men in auror robes stepped forward. One of them shot a stunner at Dad and the other grabbed his unconscious body and tilted his head back.

"No! Let him go, you scum-sucking Death Munchers!" Harry lost his self control when he saw what they were doing.

"Really? Death Eaters?" There was something mocking in Not-Harry's voice. Harry flinched away from that carnival mirror version of himself. When he looked over at Dad the men were already stepping away. One of the ones dressed like an auror shot a Reviving Charm at Dad.

"What is your name?" Not-Kingsley asked.

"James Charlus Potter."

"When were you born?"

"The 27th of March, 1960."

"Where do you live?"

"Godric's Hollow." With each answer Not-Kingsley's scowl got more pronounced.

"Professor Slughorn, is there any way to circumvent Veritaserum? We know that last answer at least is not true."

"I do not know of any." the fat man said looking disturbed as well. "This man truly believes that he is James Potter."

"Could some Death Eater have done something to his mind?" one of the aurors asked. But you are the... no, they are just trying to throw you off.

"Perhaps. We'll have to ask him some questions that aren't common knowledge. I'm sorry to ask this of you, Harry..." Huh? Why are you-

"I understand." Oh. Right. Not-Harry took a careful look at Dad. "What is the activation phrase for the Marauder's Map?" What?! How can you possibly know about the map? Dad said it was lost when the rat got caught one night.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"What is your animagus form?" Hah! Got you. Dad doesn't have an animagus form.

"A stag." For the first time Harry saw Not-Harry grimace.

"Judging by your expression he's right." Not-Kingsley said. Not-Harry just nodded. "I always wondered what it might be. Sirius refused to tell me what exactly your father turned into. It explains your patronus though." Harry felt Iris twitch almost imperceptibly next to him. Not-Harry seemed to be ignoring everyone in favour of studying Dad.

"How did you survive Voldemort's attack on your family on Halloween, 1981?"

"I was not in the house."

"Where were you?"

"A meeting of the Order of the Phoenix." No, nobody's supposed to know about the Order. Except... they don't look surprised at all that there is an Order.

"Where have you been since?" Dad stayed silent.

"That was too general, Harry." Not-Kingsley said. "Besides he already told us that he lived in Godric's Hollow which we know is not true. It's only a small village and quite a few of us live there. He would have been noticed." Not-Harry gave a small nod and his expression was once again unreadable. Not-Kingsley continued the interrogation.

"Who are the people with you?"

"Lily Potter. Harry James Potter. Iris Lily Potter." Not-Harry's gaze rested on Iris as if she had suddenly become the most interesting person in the tent.

"How did you get here?"

"I am unsure."

"Do you have any guesses?"

"My son asked a djinn to 'get us out of here' when our house was attacked by Death Eaters." Several of the people in the tent looked interested at that statement, though none of the aurors even twitched.

"Do you mean anyone here harm?"

"I want to thrash the one that looks like my son."

"Why?"

"Because he is impersonating a member of my family."

"Would you change your mind if we could prove that he is not impersonating anyone?"

"I don't know." Not-Kingsley sighed at Dad's answer.

"Professor Slughorn, would you please provide the antidote?" The fat man moved forward again and poured something from a different vial down Dad's throat. Harry saw his father's face take on a thunderous cast. Before he could say anything further Not-Kingsley was talking again.

"It's very interesting that you appear to at least believe that you are James Potter. To the best of our knowledge you died sixteen and a half years ago." Say what?

"I feel rather alive for a dead man." Dad growled out.

"True. That's what's causing our confusion." Not-Kingsley admitted. "You suggested that a djinn might be involved. I know that their powers are not fully understood so perhaps that offers an explanation. I am afraid that for now we will have to keep you detained at the ministry. You have indicated that you wish to harm one of our citizens; a rather prominent one at that." Harry saw annoyance flash in Not-Harry's eyes but decided to keep quiet. "I will ask the Department of Mysteries to come up with a plausible explanation. Anyone else got an idea?"

"Headmistress, perhaps you could ask Dumbledore's portrait if it's got anything stored in there that might help us." Not-Harry suggested. Dumbledore's portrait? He's dead?

"I'll do that, Mr. Potter."

"Don't call him Potter!" Dad snarled out. "I don't know who that is but he's not a Potter." Not-Harry's eyes glinted with amusement for a brief moment.

"Annoying isn't it?" he asked. "Not being able to figure out why the impossible is staring you in the face."

"What would you know about it?"

"We just interrogated you with Veritaserum and I still can't figure out how you can possibly be my father." Not-Harry turned away from a seething Dad to address Not-Kingsley. "Depending on which one of us finds her first, I'd also suggest asking Hermione if she's got any ideas. She may know something the rest of us can only guess at." Not-Kingsley nodded. "Since I'm here I'll get started on the next section. You can find me here or at home if you need me."

"And where is here?" Harry called out desperate to get at least some information from this fiasco. Not-Harry stopped, turned and gave a half-smirk.

"You are on the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Or it will be once we get the repairs done." With that the walking contradiction left the tent followed by Not-McGonagall and Slughorn. Harry and his family were levitated by the aurors. As they floated out of the tent Harry caught a glimpse of what should have been a familiar castle but looked like a broken ruin.

"What happened?" he gasped.

"The war happened, kid. What kind of rock have you been living under?" the auror who was floating him retorted while looking at him with a strange expression. Harry felt like nothing could have convinced him the entire world was wrong like the sight of Hogwarts not being there.

:-:-:-:-:

Harry decided that there was nothing like some exhausting repair work to get past the strange encounter with the people who thought they were him, his parents and what would appear to be a younger sister. He shook himself as he went to look for one of the work crews that would put a section of wall together for him to secure with magic.

The group he found was ready to get started on the Astronomy Tower. Perfect. Pulling magic up a tower from a ley-line should do the trick. Harry waited for the crew to have a section of the tower set in place and then started pulling on the magic in the earth itself. It required a ridiculous amount of focus and control to pull a sliver of a ley-line up to support a building. Harry had on occasion wondered which of the founders had come up with the idea. It was ballsy, ambitious, hard work and absolutely genius. He felt like he was picking at a thick hawser and pulling out a fiber at a time to build a spiderweb. It was difficult, finicky work for all that it was also among the most draining, power-intensive magic he had ever done; and distance only made it more difficult.

Since the task was so terribly absorbing Harry didn't notice that he had company until he flopped down, sweat streaming from his body after completing his fifth section of the day. A house elf immediately ran up to him with a cold glass of water and as he was thanking the little creature he heard a loud tut from behind him. The sound was so familiar that he didn't even need to turn around.

"Hey, Hermione. Come to help out?"

"I heard what happened this morning."

"Then I guess Shack ran into you first."

"Don't be a smartarse about this, Harry. How are you feeling?" Hermione came and sat down beside Harry as she spoke. He could see the concern on her features and plastered a smile on his face to reassure her.

"I don't know yet. I think I'll understand my feelings on the matter more when I actually get an idea of what's going on." Hermione was studying his expression with pursed lips. Somehow, I don't think that she's buying the smile. Harry let it slide off his face since there was apparently no need for it. "If Shack told you everything then you know that we interrogated… the father using Veritaserum. Somehow he really thinks that he's my dad and the rest of his family are my mum, my sister and myself. He even knew about Prongs and the Marauders. It just isn't adding up any way I look at it."

"I may actually have an idea about that and from what Professor McGonagall said, Professor Dumbledore's portrait theorised something similar."

"Your theory is good enough for me, Hermione." She gave him a wry smile.

"Nice try. We're still going to the Headmas-... Headmistress's office to have a meeting with Kingsley regardless." Harry groaned theatrically, but got up before offering Hermione a hand. She took it and rose gracefully to her feet. Standing next to him Hermione suddenly frowned and wrinkled her nose. She took out her wand and with a few quick flicks his shirt was dry and he could smell a distinct scent in the air.

"Lavender? Seriously?"

"Hush, you. I don't know how long you've been working but I'm not sitting in a confined space with you smelling like you just did."

"We could just avoid that particular confined space altogether."

"That was just pathetic as efforts to avoid the place go." Hermione said as she started walking back down the tower. The two friends filled the time catching up on their recent accomplishments. When they reached the Gargoyle, Hermione gave the password:"Porskoff Ploy."

"Well, at least I'll still be able to guess the password to this thing while Minerva's Headmistress." Harry said with a slight grin. Hermione looked like she didn't know whether to grin back or throw her hands up in exasperation. She settled for ignoring Harry and knocking on the door.

"Come in." Hermione opened the door and stepped inside. Come on. Get in there, Potter. It's just a sodding portrait; of a man who engineered your death; which can talk… enough! I will not be scared off by a piece of sodding canvas. I will even try not to burn it. He stepped in after Hermione and found that his worries had been needless as the portrait of Albus Dumbledore had been covered with a heavy black cloth. Oh. That works. Harry sat himself in the open chair between Hermione and Shack facing Minerva's desk.

"I see the golden boy is still getting special treatment." came a sneer from one of the walls. Harry looked at the sallow, hook-nosed portrait that had spoken and with a flick of his wand covered it with the same kind of black cloth that was covering Dumbledore's portrait.

"Was that really necessary, Harry?" Minerva asked in a reproachful tone.

"I understand we are about to discuss the miraculous reappearance of James Potter. You tell me." Minerva actually blanched a little at that.

"Never mind. I see your point. Minister, I believe that you were the one to ask for this meeting so I'll turn it over to you."

"Thank you, Minerva. I will get the bad news out of the way first: Croaker is being a useless sod. He says he has several possible theories, but that he won't share them unless he gets to experiment on the people in our holding cells to test them." Harry let out a sigh of frustration. Sometimes I wonder if the bloody Unspeakables aren't as much a part of the problem as Voldemort was.

"So in other words: we should be grateful we have Hermione who is worth a department and a half on her own?" Harry asked.

"You could say that." Shack responded with a smile. "Hermione, would you care to share your theory?" All attention shifted to Hermione who cleared her throat while trying to pretend that she wasn't blushing like an English rose.

"Ahem, yes. That is, I have a rather outlandish theory of what may have happened. Are any of you at all familiar with the term 'parallel universe'?"

"Hermione, that's fiction. It only shows up in comic books." Harry said, remembering Dudley's fascination with the concept when he was eight.

"Actually the idea was first proposed in 1952 by Erwin Schroedinger who said that when his wavefunction equation seemed to describe several different histories that these weren't alternatives, but that they all happened simultaneously. The idea has since been expanded on and reached popular culture." I think I can actually feel my mind boggling right now.

"So you think that these people may be my counterpart from another universe and his family?"

"I did say it was outlandish." Hermione admitted.

"And yet when I discussed the matter with Albus' portrait he mentioned a very similar possibility suggested by some arithmantic equations known as the Phoenix Gate Equations." Harry tried to let himself absorb the idea.

"Okay. Let's assume we haven't collectively gone around the bend and have hit upon the right answer. What does that mean for our guests? Can we use those equations to send them back? Either of them?" he asked as he looked at Hermione who was biting her lip.

"Honestly? I think that we might be able to offer them an explanation of what's happened at most. I've never seen the Phoenix Gate Equations, but I don't think that I could work through the Schroedinger Equation to that extent. Anyone who could would instantly win a Nobel prize for the feat. Even if we could work out dimensional travel from the equations, there are literally infinite universes theorised. I don't think we could just chuck them through the multiverse and expect them to land back home." Harry nodded his understanding, or rather his understanding of her understanding. "I think that the best option if they want to go home might be to locate a djinn. That was what the man you talked to thought brought them here, right? Logically another djinn should be able to accomplish the same feat."

"If we can get one's cooperation." Shack sighed. "They don't usually do things the way you want. I think that these four… Potters showing up here illustrates that rather neatly."

"So, in summary: we have maybe the barest of ideas of what may have happened and no idea of how to reverse it." Harry clarified. When the other three nodded he sagged back into his chair. "I don't suppose anyone's going to volunteer to tell our guests this?" Hermione reached over and squeezed his hand but shook her head with a sad smile.

"This should probably come from you, Harry." Harry was about to dispute the point when she barrelled on. "I'm not saying that they want to hear it from you anymore than the rest of us. I am making the point that even if none of you might want it, you are going to be involved in each other's affairs for as long as they're here. If only because of the confusion that having two indistinguishable Harry Potters is going to cause."

"We're not exactly indistinguishable." Harry muttered. That may be the weakest argument that you could have given. "I suppose I do see your point about the need for a working relationship; or I at least need to get that James Potter to not want to 'thrash' me if we're going to let him out of his cell."

"He said that?" Hermione sounded shocked. Harry just nodded to which Hermione huffed and scowled.

"So, Shack, do you have a timetable with regards to these guys?"

"Not really. I think it would be best to get it out of the way quickly though. Looks better to them and if we can get them adjusted to the idea sooner we can let them out sooner."

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that." Harry heaved a sigh. "No use in putting it off. I don't suppose that they've any other appointments?" Shack's grin gave Harry the answer he needed. He stood up and gave the Headmistress a nod. "Thank you for your help, Minerva. I'll let you know how it goes."

"It was no problem, Harry. Feel free to use my floo for your journey." Joy. It will be the quickest way to get this over with though.

"Thank you." Harry let Shack lead the way into the floo. Just before he could throw in his own powder Harry felt a pair of arms grab him in a hug.

"Good luck, Harry. I have to take care of some legal negotiations to set up a democratically elected Wizengamot. Will I see you tonight?"

"Sure. Where?"

"I promised Mrs. Weasley I would be at the Burrow tonight. You know she'd be happy to see you too."

"Yeah. Might be nice to see everyone. I'll be there around six." Harry's answer got him an extra squeeze.

"Good. I'll tell everyone. Now go talk with your… guests." Harry just gave his friend a quick smile and threw the floo powder into the fire and called out his destination.

"Ministry Detention Centre!" After the usual dizzying ride past everyone's fireplace Harry emerged with a stumble in the guard room attached to the detention centre. He looked around and managed to ignore most of the stares the on-duty aurors were giving him. "Shack, where do I go?"

"We put them in cells two and four."

"You put them together?" I could swear it was Shack who said that putting suspects together just gives them a chance to get into mischief.

"Yeah. With a set of listening and monitoring charms in each cell." That makes more sense.

"Anything interesting?"

"Not really. They're pretty convinced that this place is all an illusion." I wonder if they've considered the power requirements of that particular theory?

"I'll see if I can liven it up a little for you then." Harry moved down the hallway that held the cells that he was interested in. I should remember to thank someone for putting them in adjacent cells. It makes the conversation easier if I don't have to keep an eye on both sides of the hallway.

"You! What are you doing here?" James Potter yelled out once he caught sight of Harry. Harry ignored the man for a moment and conjured a simple wooden chair. He took a seat and calmly inspected the people in front of him. The parents did look like the photos he had in his album, if a bit older. The girl had her mother's face, and her father's colouring. Finally Harry looked over his counterpart. He looks like a little kid. Well, not a firstie or anything, but… did I ever look that innocent? Harry was having trouble imagining that he had. Finally he raised his eyes to a furious James Potter.

"I am here, Mr. Potter, because some of our best and brightest have come up with a theory of how you came to be here. It seemed polite to share it."

"Bullshit. This is just some elaborate illusion."

"That's quite flattering, Mr. Potter."

"Huh?" I was right. He hasn't stopped to consider the power requirements. Looks like his wife might be catching on though. Hell, she might even be able to calculate how much power would be needed rather than simply classifying it as 'a shit-ton'.

"If this is all an illusion, Mr. Potter, then the person casting it makes Merlin look like a snot-nosed school boy. Or perhaps you have some other explanation for the presence of touch, taste and smell?"

"What's your theory then?" James ground out.

"As I understand it: there is something called the multiverse. It comes down to an infinite amount of universes existing next to each other, each slightly different, or potentially very different. The going theory is that you crossed from your universe into this one."

"That's ridiculous!"

"A little, yes. Got a better one?" James remained stubbornly silent. "I'm told that this multiple worlds theory is implied by something called the Phoenix Gate Equations." Harry heard Lily gasp. "If you understand it, ma'am, feel free to explain. I'm just the messenger and I never took Arithmancy."

"The Phoenix Gate Equations are the foundation of the absolute cutting edge of Arithmancy. They are an attempt at a Universal Thaumic Theory and lay the basis for Reson Field Theory." Harry blinked at that description.

"If you say so. If I understand it correctly, working the equations through to the point where we'd be able to send you back is beyond us at the moment." Lily was nodding along seriously. Which might be the only reason her husband hasn't snapped yet. "Even if we could figure out a way to send you anywhere, it is apparently near impossible to guarantee that you'd land in the proper place due to the sheer number of universes that exist. The best idea we could come up with to get you home was to find a djinn like the one that you believe sent you here and get it to send you back. I don't think I need to explain the risks involved with that."

"So you think we are stuck here." Lily stated quietly.

"I believe the people who think so."

"And are we to be kept in these cells much longer?" she inquired.

"Depends. You going to behave or act like belligerent berks to everyone?"

"Everyone or you in particular?" James snarked.

"Everyone. Let's assume for a moment that the whole 'different universe' theory is correct, shall we?" Lily and… damn, I can't remember the girl's name… Lily and the girl seemed ready to listen. James looked mulish. The kid doesn't look like he knows which way to jump on this. "I don't know what things were like in your universe, but it is clear that this one is different. For starters: James and Lily Potter died when I was a year old. I'm sorry, miss, but I've forgotten your name?"

"Iris."

"Right. Well, Iris Potter was never born." Harry gave the family some time to process that. "Under normal circumstances two people who are supposed to be dead, one who's not supposed exist and one who already exists as someone else, all walking around would cause problems. We are however just coming out of a war and doing our best to rebuild our world. The four of you walking around would lead most people to the assumption that you are a Death Eater trick of some sort." He could see James getting ready to take offence at everything he had laid out for them. "If you cannot act civilly towards the people in this world then we will likely have a riot on our hands before long and I, for one, have had enough of fighting for the foreseeable future." Just think, you idiot. If you start acting on the things you knew before rather than the world around you, you're in for a rough time.

"How are you so calm about all of this?" the kid demanded, drawing Harry from his contemplation of James.

"Like I said, kid: I don't know how alike our lives were. I do know that mine has been one idiotic impossibility after another. I doubt that this will be the one that proves insurmountable." The kid just blinked at him in confusion.

"Excuse me? Could we get back to what we have to do to get out of these cells?" Lily asked carefully. Looks like someone's decided to give their manners a try.

"I'd love to tell you what the exact conditions are for your release, but I don't know. I don't work for the Ministry and it's rather up to them. I'll pass the message on though."

"I-... well, thank you I suppose."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Potter." Harry said standing up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the repair work at Hogwarts if we're going to have a school come September." Harry gave a cordial nod towards the women's cell and Vanished his chair before walking out of the hallway. "You get all that?" he asked Shack once he entered the guard room.

"Yeah. Thanks for dropping their parole conditions on my head like that."

"Hey, you get paid for it." Shack just grunted in reply. "I'm going to head back to Hogwarts unless there's something else?" Getting nothing more than a shake of the head, Harry moved over to the floo and steeled himself. "Hogwarts Headmistress's Office."

:-:-:-:-:

Could he be right? Could we be in another world? I wonder what the actual power requirements are for this to be an illusion? Dad didn't tell him he was wrong so he was probably right about that at least. Harry was still trying to get his head around what his counterpart had told them. It was just so… weird. And he really didn't look at all freaked out about all of this. I don't know what he meant by 'one idiotic impossibility after another' and our lives being different. We're the Boy Who Lived, of course we did the impossible: we Lived! Besides I'm the one who's apparently caught in another world. And where does he get off calling me a kid? Is he older than me? Did we travel through time?

Dad looked like he was sunk in thought and Harry couldn't hear anything coming from the cell next to him. Nobody said a word as they each worked through what they had heard from this world's Harry. The silence made it all the more noticeable when they heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Harry saw Dad sit up, before assuming a more relaxed pose. Soon he could see who their new visitor was. Merlin's sweaty sack, Kingsley is creepy with that one white eye, no matter what way you look at it.

"Minister… Shacklebolt?" Harry could hear the slight note of disbelief in Mum's voice as she addressed the man in front of them.

"Yes, Mrs. Potter?"

"I asked… Harry when he was here, but what do you people want from us? What do we have to do to get out of these cells?" Shacklebolt nodded.

"Yes, that's what I'm here to discuss with you. Our main concern, as a government, is that you abide by our laws for the time that you are here. In an effort to secure that from you, we have set the following conditions to your release: you will register with the government under Veritaserum so that we know we have accurate records for you, we will give a press conference to explain who you are and how we suspect you came to be here and you will all read our law-book and agree to abide by it to ensure that there are no misunderstandings."

"That's it?" Mum's voice was tinged with hope.

"As far as we can tell you haven't actually done anything wrong and we don't lock people up for accidents; at least not once we're sure that they aren't a threat." Dad couldn't contain a snort at that. "You do understand that assaulting a war-hero who is revered by the people, with no other reason for your behaviour than that he is who he is, is a bad idea right? I'm not sure if we'd get you away from the mob in time if you do that."

"Yeah, yeah. I won't attack him."

"Good. I do have a suggestion, if you'll hear it: when you're registering with us you will be given the opportunity to change your names after we have taken your information down. Take it in regards to your son at least."

"What?! Why should my son be the one that changes his name? Why not that other one?" Dad was on his feet looking outraged.

"You mean aside from the fact that Harry is already world famous and we have records stretching back to his birth that we would need to work through to effect such a change, all of which makes it rather impossible? You are the visitors here and, as harsh as it may sound, you will have to adjust to us while you live among us." Dad just huffed and sat back down.

"Dad, it's fine." Harry said, causing his father to pin him with a questioning look. "'Harry' is a bit juvenile anyway. This way we get to do a rebranding at the moment I'm becoming an adult without all the hassle; well, without additional hassle. We can present the new me at this press-conference that the Minister is calling and position me as a more mature Boy Who Lived." He turned to Shacklebolt. "Minister, I assume that Harry is the Boy Who Lived in this world?" Shacklebolt was giving him a very odd look. It was almost like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"He is. I haven't heard if the people have started calling him something else yet."

"See, Dad? We'd need to change something anyway." Harry could see that Dad was starting to consider the possibilities.

"Minister, what will we do about the more practical aspects of staying here? Where will we live? How will we pay for things?" Dad asked. Good. If Dad's planning then we're going to come out on top, no matter what world we're in.

"The ministry will provide you with two rooms in the Leaky Cauldron for the coming month. If you want to send your children to Hogwarts the Ministry is prepared to loan you this year's tuition for the pair of them. As for how you will pay your way? You get a job like anyone else. Were you an auror like the James Potter of this world was?"

"I am."

"In that case I am prepared to offer you a position on our auror force. We could use the extra personnel anyway." Dad nodded carefully.

"Excuse me? Minister?"

Yes, Mrs. Potter?"

"If we aren't being detained and will be released soon, can we all be together in one cell?" Harry could see Shacklebolt considering this quickly.

"Certainly, Mrs. Potter. I understand that this must be stressful for you."

"Thank you!" The Minister opened the girls' cell and led them over to the cell Harry was sitting in with his father. He let them in and closed the cell-door behind them. Mum immediately rushed forward and pressed her lips to Dad's. After the kiss she grabbed Harry in a ferocious hug. "Oh, Popkin are you alright?" Harry could feel his face burning with embarrassment.

"Muuum. Not in public. Weren't you listening when we were talking about rebranding me as a more adult Harry Potter?"

"I think I'll leave you for now. I'll be back soon with some staff to get you registered in our world." the Minister said. He was once again shooting them that odd look from before. Once the Minister had left and Mum and Dad were standing with their arms around each other, a serious planning session began.

"Okay, son. You were the one who agreed to this name change thing: what did you have in mind?" Dad asked. Harry gave them a sly smirk.

"I was thinking of something with a little gravitas and dignity. How about 'Hadrian'?"

"Hmmm. 'Hadrian Potter'... that could work. You could always claim that 'Harry' is a nickname."

"That's the plan. Now, aside from that we need to find a new selling point since the Boy Who Lived is apparently taken. I was thinking we should go with something like: Traveler. It's short, simple and gets the point across." Dad was nodding along to Har-Hadrian's ideas while Mum just looked proud.

"All of us will be caught up in that Traveler concept though. I think that it's important that we mention that you are the Boy Who Lived. We won't trade on it, but the suggestion alone should create some media attention that we can exploit. We'll be able to take it from there."

"Should we change our last name too?" Mum asked.

"Absolutely not!" Dad looked furious at the idea for a moment before he calmed down. "For one thing, I'm not going to abdicate the Potter family and all its pride and history to that cheap imitation of our son. For another, there are things that we will be able to accomplish as Potters that will make our lives a lot easier." Mum nodded in understanding while Har-Hadrian wondered what Dad might be referring to. Iris didn't contribute one way or the other. After Dad's outburst the family started planning for the upcoming press-conference. Dad kept them all quiet on the matter of what they'd do once they were out in the real world. It's better that way. We don't know who could show up here and overhear our plans.


AN: The Universal Thaumic Theory is of course just supposed to be the magical equivalent of a Theory of Everything which we know from physics. Reson Field Theory is the translation of Quantum Field Theory from physics to magic. The Resons are something I took from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels (and if you don't know what those are, stop reading fanfiction and get your priorities straight). In those novels the 'Thaum' is the smallest unit of magic and several students at the Unseen University are trying to split it to the horror of their elders. They theorise that the Thaum is made up of Resons and that Resons consist of five different flavours: up, down, sideways, sex appeal and peppermint; so they're basically quarks. You will need to remember precisely none of this, but it does explain the how and why of things to our characters.

I should also mention that the Phoenix Gate is an artefact from the cartoon 'Gargoyles' which allows the user to travel freely through time and space (by stepping through a portal of fire).

Normally I despise people trying to force the name 'Harry' to somehow be an abbreviation of 'Hadrian'; this kid's just smarmy enough to make it work.

As always thank you for reading.