A New World Chapter 2, a harry potter fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Harry Potter world, universe or anything like that. I'm making no money off of this. It's all just fan tribute

Albus Dumbledore had decided that he was having a good day. As an early christmas present to himself, he'd purchased himself a new pair of woolen socks, extra fluffy, that changed colour every second between over 30 different colours and they had arrived that morning. It was christmas eve this day, Students were gathered in the great hall for breakfast before they would go home for the holiday. There were no classes so students were in high spirits. There had been some form of prank played by a student or group of them that had changed everyone's clothes, skin and hair to their relevant house colours, that noone seemed to mind. House cooperation was at an all time high except on the Quidditch pitch, but even that had an element of fun to it, that made all the games so much more enjoyable. To top off what could only be a perfect morning, the House Elves had prepared a truly wonderful cheese omlette for breakfast. In fact, he pondered as he chewed. It might just be the best cheese omlette he had ever had.

The perfection of his morning was interupted by a sudden twinge on his consciousness. Something was penetrating the Wards of Hogwarts. He had a fraction of a second to react. A flash of concern and the beginning of a straightening of his posture was all he had time for before the air suddenly filled with the charged electric feel of a massive outpouring of pure magical energy. Students hair crackled and sparked as he stood, a flash of alarm crossing his face as he felt the wards allow the energy to pass through them. It felt similar to a portkey, but of a power level he could barely comprehend. He had never allowed such a portkey to be made and only he as the holder of the wards, could make such items that would be allowed to bring anyone into Hogwarts. In the time it took for him to draw his wand, the other teachers were starting to react. Severus Snape had begun to stand. Remus Lupin was beginning to push his chair out. Students had fallen silent as they felt the weight of the magic filling the hall.

As he began to call for attention, he was silenced as a ball of yellow energy appeared infront of the head table. Lightning, charged by raw magic arc'd between it and the floor. Other bolts arc'd out to the roof and walls as the energy grounded itself. Students screamed and began to back away from the front of the hall. The teachers were all standing now, their wands drawn. Goblets of pumpkin juice on the head table detonated as lightning passed through them, yet not a single person was touched. Suddenly there was a crack of thunder and a definate POP as the magic in the air vanished. With it the sphere and lightning vanished as well leaving five strangers who landed lightly on their feat with the cat like grace that only seasoned veterans can have. Dressed in battered dragonskin combat robes, they bore no uniformity, no semblance of markings. None of them had wands out, rather they carried an assortment of sword and knives and in one case, no weapons but a gloved hand held out defensively. Within an instant of landing, the largest of them took a step back, placing himself in the centre of the other four and bellowed a word that even Albus Dumbledore had never heard before, as he slammed the butt of his staff onto the floor and the five were suddenly encased in a powerful shield of some kind that rippled faintly with silver energy.

"CLEAR"

Was bellowed out from the five as they cautiously looked out over those present, their stances and grim, cautious faces revealed nothing of their intentions as they surveyed the hall, their backs to the one in the centre.

"Brains, give me intel, is this what I think it is?" an expression of shock was beginning to force itself onto the face of the black haired one which was quickly forced off. The others were also displaying the same looks of shock and awe as they looked around. A sense of speachlessness that lasted until Dumbledore took a step foreward.

"Might I enquire, Who are you people and what is the meaning of this?" For the first time since the war against the Dark Lord Voldemort, he unleashed his full magical aura. He was Albus Dumbledore, The greatest and most powerful wizard in the world, staunch defender of the light and Headmaster of Hogwarts. This however didn't seem to even make the strangers blink. Instead he received his second shock for the day and an equally big one as the first as a sudden pillar of light erupted from the staff of the one in the centre which was followed by a pulse of magic that exploded out like a shock wave. Students and teachers alike were pushed back by the wind of power. The doors to the Great Hall opened with a bang. The enchanted ceiling shimmered and went out revealing grey stone where the illusion of the outside had been. Candles flickered and went out before they dropped from where they had been suspended in mid air. Dumbledore did his best impersonation of a goldfish as he felt a massive shift in the wards. Power and complex energies rippled through them, blending and weaving into them seamlessly. Then he paled as he felt a second connection form. He could only guess that new wards had merged with the old ones and these ones were controlled by the stranger with the staff. The implication of what had just happened filled him with horror as he realised what the stranger had accomplished. This was offset by a sudden surge of pride and love from Hogwarts herself. He could feel Hogwarts accepting these new wards willingly, even with a sense of joy. What stunned him most was that he could feel Hogwards helping to fuel the placing of the wards. Draining magic from areas like the stairs and some enchantments to fuel them.

Teachers were asking questions, which he didn't hear. Students were fleeing the great hall. The prefects had stayed, though at the back, their wands out, ready to defend their school, but this was ignored by both Dumbledore and the strangers, who were now looking worried. Three of them had their hand that was bare placed upon the large staff wielding one, who was trembling and looking both shocked and exhausted. Concern and anger clouding their vaugley familiar faces as the shield that protected them flickered and dropped.

Before Dumbledore could even repeat his question, the black haired one had turned to face him and looking wary, asked "what did you do to him?" Again Dumbledore was shocked. These strangers who arrived in such a manner were blaming him for this? He had no idea what was going on!

"Not his fault Streak" gasped out the one with the staff. "She linked with me and put up Brain's new wards. She's a clever old girl."

Dumbledore was shocked again as he felt the surge of satisfaction and motherly pride from Hogwarts at this statement. That the school itself was accepting these strangers left him totally confused.

"I will ask again, who are you people and what are you doing here" His aura of command flared up again as he struggled to regain control of the situation. The teachers looked dumbfounded and confused. Hostility and caution seemed to be the obvious flavour of the day, they were definitely hesitant to attack such obviously powerful individuals.

The black haired one smiled slightly, "I wish to apologise for any fear we have caused Headmaster, I assure you that we are not hostile." To demonstrate this, he sheathed his sword, a cue it seemed for the others who put their own blades away. "Perhaps this should be discussed in a less public place, such as, for example, your office? Perhaps professors Snape, McGonnagal, Lupin and Flitwick would like to accompany us to ensue our good intentions?"

In the Ministry of Magic, alarms that had not been heard for twenty years were blaring. Arthur Weasley, Head of the Depatment of Magical Law Enforcement, burst into the ministers office.

"Minister, we have two massive surges of magical energy from Hogwarts, type unknown. It's off the scale. I've scrambled a team of Aurors to investigate. Floo access is cut off."

Minister Amelia Bones had just gotten into the office. She had been having her first cup of tea for the day while reviewing the nights reports. Life had been peaceful for the past 5 years of her term in office. Save for rumours of a new Dark Lord, there had been unprecedented levels of peace and prosperity. The pureblood families had been cooperative with the ministry, the Goblins were happy, Taxes were low but more than enough to allow the ministry to function. In short, life was good. The sound of the alarms had caused her to drop her cup of tea. As she scrambled to save the reports, Arthur had burst in with the news, causing all worry about the reports to vanish.

"Are you sure it wasn't dark magic?"

"no minister, it's an unknown energy sort. We'll provide you with a full report as soon as we know anything."

Kinglsey Shaklebolt, Head of the Aurors, had not been having a good day. He'd overslept his alarm and had to hurry to make it to work on time. He had been caught in the rain and now was sitting at his desk, still damp despite his best drying charms with a precious cup of coffee infront of him. The optomistic side of him knew that once he finished his coffee, the caffine would kick in and he'd be fine for the rest of the day. Sadly, he was not to get his wish as just as he was taking his second sip, the alarms started blaring causing him to spit out his coffee and drop the cup in surprise. The pain of a cup of hot coffee in his lap was only surpased by the shock of hearing the Hogwarts alarms going off. Moving at full speed, he bolted for the watch room, where operators were busy making notes of what had happened. Cancelling the alarms he leaned over to look at what had been registered. Seeing the size of the power spikes, he immediately ordered the on duty emergency response team, the reserve team and the last shift's team, who were about to head off duty, to make for the portkey room with all haste. To his mind it looked like a high priority emergency at Hogwarts and he didn't want to go there with too few aurors.

By the time he made it to the transfer room, the twelve aurors were already assembled and waiting. Two hit wizards had also taken it on themselves to come along as well, something for which Kingsley was greatful. Picking up the length of rope marked as the portkey to the Hogwarts front hall, he waited till everyone had taken ahold. "3..2..1 Activate." He felt the familiar tug behind his navel as he was transported. However half way through the journey he realised that something was very wrong as he felt himself shunted sideways and rather than end up as they left, but inside Hogwarts, the fifteen of the ministry's finest found themselves sprawled on the ground outside of the front gates of Hogwarts. A shimmering dome of magic covered Hogwarts and sounds of yells and screams could be heard from inside. Wasting no time, Kingsley stood and started to run, however he was stopped rather abruptly when he crashed into the wards, which were as solid as a rock. As he was not an irresistable object, despite what his last girlfriend had claimed, he bounced off the immoveable wards and for the second time in less than a minute, found himself sprawled on the ground, like the rest of his teams, unable to enter Hogwarts.

In the great hall, both Neville and Dumbledore felt the incoming portkey bounce off the wards. To Dumbledore's surprise, the portkey, which he recognised as a ministry one, was diverted from it's destination to outside the wards. Blinking in surprise, he looked at Neville who just shrugged and looked to Harry.

"Incoming portkey of unknown origin was just diverted to outside the wards"

Harry nodded in understanding then turned to Dumbledore. "As I suggested headmaster, perhaps this should be continued in your office?" Without waiting for a reply, he turned and headed for the exit. Regaining his poise, Dumbledore signalled to the professors he wanted to be in his office. "Could the rest of you please return the students to their common rooms. Prefects are to keep the students calm, this should be resolved in an hour or two and then the students can depart for their homes."

The trip to the office was silent. The five strangers not only showed a disturbing familiarity with the layout of the castle, as they took the quickest path to the entrance to the office, but the headmaster was even more shocked when the big one simply tapped the gargoyle with his staff and the staircase opened for them. Still in silence, they moved into the office where the female who didn't have red hair, and had a disturbingly intense gaze, simply waved her hand, conjuring 5 chairs, which they sat in. Not to be out done, Albus waved his wand to conjure a matching number of chairs for himself and his professors as well as a table between the two groups.

"Now that we have some privacy, I restate my questions." Leaning back in his chair, Dumbledore was sure he could regain control of this situation. His eyes twinkling gently.

The five remained stoney faced for a few seconds before the one who conjured the chairs spoke. "Headmaster, certain things will be revealed here that while not breaking any laws, must remain a secret. To that end, we will require a wizards oath of secrecy from yourself and those present. In return, we offer an oath to tell nothing but the truth. Is that acceptable?" Even Snape was impressed by the poker faces of the five. In an effort to find out more, Dumbledore allowed a thin tendril of Legilimancy to waft out from his mind, which immediately was stopped by impressively formidable Occulemancy barriers. The witch didn't even blink. "If however you would prefer to play games and try to invade my mind, you are welcome to try, but that will be taken as a hostile attack." The others didn't move, but now had a definate air of violence about them, as if they were ready to leap up and start cursing in the blink of an eye, which they probably were.

"Yes, well" Severus Snape remained motionless, he had recognised the detatched way these strangers had prepared themselves and wasn't about to provoke them. "Perhaps as a sign of good will, we should alternate? As you have no brandished weapons and we don't know who you are or if we should trust you?" A hint of his customary sneer drifted into his voice. "One of us swears and then you and so on. That way a level of trust is exchanged."

The five remained quiet for a moment, before the black haired one spoke up. "Agreed, however once we begin, everyone here swears the relevant oath, no exceptions" He nodded faintly then looked to the Headmaster.

"I Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, on behalf of the teachers present and myself do give my Wizards oath, by my life and magic, not to reveal any words spoken in this meeting or discuss it with any save those present unless released from this oath" As he did so, he held out his wand, which glowed for a moment and then faded.

The black haired one smiled faintly, a hint of a sly sense of humour showing itself as he held out his own wand. "I Harry Potter, Head of the Order of the Phoenix, Lord of Gryffindor, on the behalf of myself and my companions, do swear to tell the truth for this meeting." The wand glowed, but this was not noticed by the staff members who were gaping in absolute shock .

"you're dead" blurted out Snape. "Pettigrew killed you! I saw your corpse!" Professor McGonnegal had gone white and was frozen with shock. Professor Flitwick just emitted the occasional squeak. Dumbledore was motionless while Remus Lupin blinked, peered at Harry for a moment and then fainted.

Harry looked to Remus, a flicker of concern was quickly quashed under iron self control. With that, he leant back in his chair and looked to Dumbledore, rigid self control on both sides allowing not a trace of emotion to show. With a groan, Remus sat up.

"Harry? But you died! James and Lily! Your alive! How? What? Who? Did you say Lord?" His confusion was silenced as Ginny leant over and hit him on the head with a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Bad Moony, no chew toy for you!" Nodding with satisfaction, the young witch leant back in her chair, grinning impishly. Ron and Neville both snickered while Hermione looked disapproving. Professor McGonnegal's lips pursed into a thin line while Professor Snape smirked. Remus just looked shocked.

"Now that the formalities are out of the way, I should introduce my companions. Ladies first, this is Lady Hermione Granger, of the Order of Gryffindor, Second in command to the Order of the Phoenix, Potions Mistress and Runes Mistress. The beautiful rehead next to me is Lady Ginevra Weasley of the Order of Gryffindor. The other Redhead is Sir Ronald Weasley, of the Order of Gryffindor, Battlemaster of the Order of the Phoenix and last but not least, Sir Neville Longbottom of the Order of Gryffindor, Potions Master and Holder of the Wards of Hogwarts." He allowed a smile to cross his face as he finished, the teachers on the other hand looked to be in a state of abject shock. Severus Snape was gaping like a fish, not even his harsh self discipline developed as a spy against Voldemort was enough to contain his sheer shock.

"You are all dead! What kind of sick joke is this? Impersonating the dead!" He was interupted as Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Now now Severus, the oath they swore is enforced by magic itself, therefore, no matter how unlikely, they must tell the truth. Though I will admit that I am very curious as to how all five of you came back from the dead?" With that question, he regarded them.

"I do not believe we did Headmaster" was Hermione's reply "If you could give us the quick version of how we died please? This will most likely confirm the details of a theory I am developing."

"Indeed Miss Granger" He smiled benevolantly "Mr Potter died at the hands of Peter Pettigrew moments before Mr Pettigrew himself died due to linked magics from his dark mark. We are not sure what happened exactly, but Lord Voldemort, a powerful Dark Lord, also died there, along with Mr Potter's parents. You died at the fangs of a basilisk during your second year. In fact you were the second student death. Mr Weasley and Mr Longbottom also died because of the basilisk but inside the Chamber of Secrets. Ms Weasley died at the fangs of the Basilisk as well." Nodding to each of them as he spoke, he was surprised to see not shock, but amusement on their faces.

"Honestly Neville" Harry poked Neville with a finger "were you trying to be some kind of hero? What were you doing trying to take on a basilisk without me to actually kill it." His laughter seemed infectious amongst the five.

"Very well Headmaster" Hermione's voice was calm once again. "I believe I have enough information to propose a hypothesis as to what exactly has happened. It is my belief that the five of us have been moved from one dimension, reality, existance, take your pick of the term. To another, this one. I have point of divergance for this reality from ours. I believe this was a deliberate move made by you. In our reality as it was you who provided us with the transport device and instructions as to how to activate it. I am asuming that this device was developed from studies made by the unspeakables in the department of mysteries, based off of, among other pieces of information, the nature of the Veil of Death." She paused a moment to gather her thoughts. "I don't suppose it would be too much trouble to ask for some tea? This conversation could take some time and none of us have had a good cup of tea in over a year."

Blinking slightly, Dumbledore tapped his wand on the table and a full tea set appeared. Pouring cups of tea for those who wanted them, he adressed Hermione. "an interesting theory Miss Granger, from your attire and demeanour, your reality is somewhat more punative than ours?"

"We have our reasons Headmaster. Let me explain. As far as I can tell, Harry's death is the divergance point. Wormtail betrayed the Potters, allowing Tom to enter Godric's Hollow. Lily and James Potter were then killed by use of the killing curse. It was at this point that the divergance occurs, Tom used the Killing curse on Harry and it rebounded off of Harry, back at Tom. This lead to Tom's spirit linking to Harry's and being driven out of his body. From what you have said, we could then hypothesise that Wormtail then killed Harry with a knife. The lack of a link to provide stability to Tom and holding him from crossing over during the first few minutes of his new existance would likely have been all that it took. His spirit would have discorporated and crossed over to what eternal judgement there may be. In our reality, Wormtail did no such thing, likely fleeing the area. This meant that Tom, stabilised and fled the area. He then fled to Albania where he posessed animals bodies and whatever people were unlucky enough to cross his path, leading to our fourth year when he kidnapped Harry and used his blood in a ritual to provide him with a body. This lead to his second rise and open warfare. In our sixth year, Hogwarts was closed due to the number of deaths occuring due to raids by Death Eaters." She paused to sip her tea, remembered pain crossing the faces of all of them.

"Most of the Hogwarts staff was dead by what would have been our seventh year. The Order of the Phoenix was the main resistance against Tom, The ministry was crippled early on by minister Fudge, after his death and due to massive infiltration by Death Eaters and those sympathetic to their goals, the next two ministers were helpless. A year and a half ago, the ministry was gone due to a unknown magical explosive of some kind. By then, you were dead as well and Harry was running the Order. We got support from most of Europe and the Americas, however so did Tom. Six months ago, England was the battleground for both sides. There were few pitched battles, but both sides were running a guerilla war. Due to a numbe of factors, not the least of which being pressure from allies on both sides, the Muggles were left alone. This was simple survival. If they found out about us, then the magical world, globaly, would be exposed and that was unacceptable to both sides. That was about it for rules of engagement though. The european wizarding communities economies collapsed, people helped where they could, but gold was meaningless next to the value of a vial of good skele-grow or some rare potions ingredients or an enchanted item."

"Five months ago, Hogwarts finally fell, leaving the side of Light with no true base to operate out of. Of course, by then, the north and east wings had already been destroyed. This meant we were on the run. Magical England was over ninety percent under Tom's fist. Most of Europe was covertly under his control. A week ago Luna Lovegood allowed herself to be captured. She held out for four days under torture before allowing false information to be dragged from her that brought Tom and his inner circle to us." Ginny leaned over and hugged Neville, who's knuckles had gone white gripping his staff. "and finally, sixteen hours ago, Lord Voldemort was killed in a pitched battle against all that was left of the side of Light, Taking every marked Death Eater with him."

Silence followed the narration. Hermione's voice had remained calm and analytical, dispasionate even. This was bellayed by the fact that towards the end, tears were rolling down her face. Once she was finished, Ron gathered her into his arms and hold her close. Ginny was hugging Neville and Harry seemed to have been carved from stone for all the emotion he displayed.

Hmmm The beginings of the secrets are revealed, the staff are stunned by what could have been and Hermione gets to show off her brain. Yes, these people are more tactile with eachother that might be expected, but they do have a deep trust based intimacy. More chapters to come, but it may be a few weeks before the next one is ready.