Harry Potter and the Agent of Death

by Lord of mystics

I have been writing chapters of this series after I came to read many fanfictions on this topic. I became obsessed with this theme. Harry James Potter dies at the age of 120 and goes to meet his master, Death. Death reminds him of the agreement that they have had for many lives now and sends Harry into another world which is like his own but at the same time different.

1. Chapter 1

What remains burns away

It had been a good life. Harry Potter- Black was a content man. He had become an orphan when he was 15 months old and brought up with this muggle guardians. He was a wizard, a real bone and flesh thing who could do wonders with a wand and his guardians were non magical folks and abhorred anything magic. He lived with them, tolerated their abuses until he turned 11 when he came to know about his position in the wizarding world. He was the boy-who-lived, someone who had survived the curse which no one else did. He started attending a magical school where his parents had gone to study and for the next 7 years his life was full of adventures that would fill books. He had become a leader of the world when his foe, his archenemy Voldemort rose from the dead and started rallying his followers into a war. The second wizarding war, as it came to be known later, went on for 3 years before Harry Potter was able to put down Voldemort like a dog but he lost a lot in the process.

He lost his godfather, one Sirius Black who was killed during a rescue operation in the Department of Mysteries in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic. The following year, he lost his mentor, an old wizard named Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore who was killed at hands of one of the men that he trusted with his life, one Severus Snape. That year, the Ministry of Magic fell and Harry Potter went on a run with his two best friends. They spent most of the next year battling death eaters, finding soul anchors of Voldemort and were able to kill him then. In return, he lost Remus Lupin, the last link to his parents, Nymphadora Tonks who considered him family and who had named him the godfather of their child, Ted Lupin.

After the war, Harry Potter became an Auror who are wizards specialized in finding and capturing dark wizards. In his career as an Auror, Harry Potter captured many wizards who aspired to become the next dark lord. Learning from mistakes in the past, Harry Potter nipped every potential uprising in the bud so they won't have to face another Voldemort. After 4 years of the war, he married his girlfriend, Ginerva Weasley and had 3 children with her. Within 10 years, he was named the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. With time, he also realized the importance of being on the wizengamot, i.e. the political body where the laws were passed and took his traditional seat there with the one given to him by his godfather, Sirius Black.

After 15 years of the battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter became the Minister of Magic when his best friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley persuaded him to be so. Harry had wanted Hermione to don the role but Hermione had confessed to him that he had more sway than her and people really saw him as their savior because it was his wand that had put Voldemort down finally.

He remained the Minister of Magic for 10 years before he became disenchanted with the position on the Wizengamot and abdicated it in favour of his sons who had come of age. After retiring from his position as the Minister of Magic, he joined Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the position of the Professor of Defense against the Dark Arts. He taught in that position for 20 years before he became the Headmaster of Hogwarts following in the footsteps of his mentor Albus Dumbledore and replaced Kingsley Shacklebolt who had become the headmaster after Minerva McGonagall had retired and the board of governors nominated him for the post.

Harry Potter lived to the ripe age of 120 years when he eventually kicked the bucket. His wife had died 5 years before him. Ron had died at age 100 and Hermione had outlived her husband by 2 years. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had died when they were about 100 years old. Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, another two of his best friends had died about a decade before it was his time. Harry Potter was alone when he died but it had been a life full of love and joy. If one asked if there was something that he regretted, he would shake his head and tell them it was not.

James Sirius Potter had married the daughter of Ernie Macmillan and Susan Bones and had two children who were named after Susan and Arthur Weasley. Albus Severus Potter had married the daughter of Daphne Greengrass and had three children of his own of which his eldest was named after Harry while the other two were named after one of Greengrass and one of the Potter ancestors. Lilly Luna Potter had married the eldest of Neville Frank Longbottom and she had two children- a daughter and a son. The daughter was named after Neville's mother Alice and the son was named after Hannah's father who was favorite grandparent of Frank Longbottom.

Ron Weasley's daughter Rose Weasley had married Scorpious Malfoy, which as a surprise because the enmity between the Weasley and Malfoy family was well known during the wars. Ron's daughter had married the eldest son of Luna Scammander nee Lovegood and Rolf Scammander named Lycan Scammander.

Minerva McGonagall who had become the Headmistress of Hogwarts when the war had ended, had resigned from her post after the first year of James Sirius Potter at school, citing that there was only so much that she could take in her old age and she deserved peaceful final years. Filius Flitwick had resigned from Hogwarts 10 years after the war had ended and so had Pomona Sprout.

Harry Potter passed away in his sleep when no one expected him but he had been feeling it was his time ever since Ginny had died. He knew his purpose was over and waited for his time to come. His children were married and settled into their lives.

His death had been peaceful and when he died, the wizarding world mourned for a month. Without asking, Hogwarts had shut its doors for a month sending the students home, the wizarding district situated at Diagon Alley had shut down and the shop keepers refused to do business for a week. Hogsmead went into shutdown and none of the shops, inn and taverns entertained any customers.

James and Albus wanted to bury him at the cemetery where the Potter family had been buried for generations but the ministry persuaded them to allow him to be buried at Hogwarts. Harry Potter had been a hero to the people as much as Albus Dumbledore had been and the ministry felt that he deserved the honour to be buried at Hogwarts as much as Albus Dumbledore did.

Harry's tomb at Hogwarts was erected right beside Dumbledore and the number of people that turned out for his funeral were innumerous. There had been so many people that there was no place left in Hogsmead to accommodate all of them. Tents were pitched on the Hogwarts grounds, in the village and on the edges of the forbidden forest.

Oblivious to all that happened in the wake of his death, Harry Potter opened his eyes in the afterlife and groaned, "Not this! Not again!".

Someone chuckled and he sat up. He recognized that voice! It couldn't be. Even his luck could not be that wretched.

The deal

As it had happened before, he found himself in King's Cross as he had done after Voldemort had hit him with the killing curse. And as like before, he was naked. He willed some robes for him to appear and after he had been dressed, he stood up and had the eerie feeling that he was being watched. The hairs on the back of his head stood as they did whenever he sensed some danger.

Willing for a wand, he turned around to find him staring at Harry. Harry had never thought that he would ever see the other man again. Not after they had said bye to each other in the limbo during the battle of Hogwarts yet here he was. Dressed in purple robes having the moving sun and stars, a lemon drop in his hands, the waist length beard tucked into his silver belt and his eyes sparkling with amusement was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

"You!", Harry croaked, "It does not seem like I can escape from you, can I?"

Dumbledore raised an eye in question, "I am sorry but this is the first time that we are meeting in this life, my protegee."

"What do you mean?", Harry snapped, "Did the eternity addled your brains, Headmaster? You were my mentor, my headmaster and then we met in limbo when you told me that I was free of Voldemort's horcruxes."

The other being chuckled, "I see. You have confused me with someone else. That is possible since we both look alike but I am not Albus Dumbledore."

Harry said irritably, "Who are you then? And what do you mean 'we'?"

"I have many names and many identities, Harry Potter", he said, "But for your understanding I am Death and you are my agent."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, Harry Potter there are many forces which are guiding this universe and running it as per their whims and fancies. They are always engaged in some sort of game with each other where the mortals are inadvertent pawns. Your Albus Dumbledore is the agent of Order, who likes to keep things running in an order so that this universe does not tear itself apart. Your Voldemort is the agent of chaos who spreads destruction in his wake wherever he goes and would like to tear this universe apart on the bidding on his master. You are my agent and I believe in a balance between order and chaos. What is life without an order and what is order without chaos! But when one starts to overwhelm the other, I have to intervene. You have been my agent through many realties, many universes and many lives. You have served me in different dimensions, different universes and different worlds. You have served me as Harry Potter, Harold Peverell, Hadrian Potter- Black and simply Harry Potter- Black."

"I don't understand this", Harry said, his vision starting to swim around him and a headache coming.

The one who claimed himself to be death rumbled in laughter, "I know it is hard for you to digest it but it is the truth."

"I don't believe you!"

"What?", said Death.

"Prove you are death", Harry demanded.

The other being grinned evilly and the air around him condensed. A second later, in place of him was a being who was about 20 feet tall, covered in a cloak which was like the one Harry owned, his body looked as if on fire, a hood was drawn on his face and he swung a massive scythe on his shoulders. Just looking at the being incited Harry's worst fears into him and he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. He could feel how insignificant he was in comparison to this being who reeked of primordial power.

"Is that enough to your satisfaction, mortal?", rumbled death and Harry shuddered.

"Yes! Yes!", Harry cried and the being again appeared to him as Albus Dumbledore.

"I have a few questions", said Harry.

"I am sure you do. You always do every damn time that we have to do this again", Death grunted.

"Why or How I became your agent and what you do mean every time?"

"It's been many lives ago that you became my agent. At that time, you were known as Ignotus Peverell, the last lord of House of Peverell, a tribe of druids who worshipped death as the ultimate reality. The Peverells were infamous for their magic and their prowess and they were a big clan with so many branches that even after 5 generations of their extinction, most of wizarding Britain could claim distant relation with them but the family magic or the familias magicas did not appear in any of them. Anyway, other tribes had it in them to drive out and kill all the Peverells. The allies of Peverells were picked off one by one by the agent of Chaos who was the Lord of the House of Slytherin at that time. It was when Ignotus's family started to die at the hands of his enemies and his brothers who were known for their prowess were killed that he did something that no one before him had done. He called on to me to help him avenge his family. I agreed to give him the strength provided he would become my agent and work to store order wherever there was chaos. He was so blinded by his rage and the thirst of revenge that he agreed to it without batting an eye. I did not gift him anything special but I gave him my powers. The Peverells were very gifted. The elder, Cadmus had created a wand that was very powerful and I infused it with some of my own powers and renamed it as the elder wand. The other brother, who was an Alchemist had created a stone who could take necromancy to the next level but died before he could achieve his purpose. I infused that stone with my power so whoever had it could summon the dead. The twist that I added was that no one could actually raise anyone but call a figment of their spirits. If they had no control over themselves, their longing to be with their loved one who had perished would eventually bring that person to me. Finally, I gave Ignotus a piece of my cloak which he had fashioned into a cloak which cannot be seen by any enchantment and no magic can affect its wearer. Ignotus took my powers and had his revenge. Since then you have been serving as my agent, my enforcer in different dimensions."

"But that's outrageous! I mean how many lives have passed since then. Shouldn't it have been ended by now?", Harry shouted.

"No", Death smiled evilly, "It hasn't. You see, a part of the deal with Ignotus was that whenever he became a Master of Death, he will have to serve as my agent for next few lives. And you have been donning that persona since millennia, Harry Potter. You are mine, whether you wish it or not."

"No, I refuse to become your pawn again", Harry said tersely.

"How many times we will repeat this?", Death asked, "Should we duel again so I can best you and have you work as my agent, sending you into another reality with no clue and suffer whatever you have suffered?"

"What do you mean?"

"In one life, you were alive with your parents and a twin who was proclaimed the Boy-who-lived. You had a family but you weren't loved as much as you deserved. In another life your parents survived but you didn't and they were eventually killed by Voldemort. In one life, you were born as the girl who lived and killed Voldemort. In one life, you ended up in another world where you own world had been destroyed by Voldemort and you had to defeat that Voldemort too. In one world, you were killed by Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts. This time it looks like you had somewhat peaceful life and now it's time for you to enter into another life again. If you serve me willingly, I will give you some memories of your past life and of this conversation so you won't find it hard to settle into that world. If you are willing to fight me than you will be born in a world where you will have no memories of your past life or this conversation. It is your choice but you will eventually serve me again."

Harry said nothing but he was thinking. He was also getting flashes of different lives that he had lived as the enforcer of death. He believed it as he felt it in his bones. He also knew that he would serve Death eventually. There was no escape from this.

"I will be your enforcer", said Harry, "But can you tell me somethings about the life that you are sending me into?"

Death laughed, "Where the fun will be in it? Knowing is half the battle won. But what I will tell you is that there are three constants in every life that you have lived as Harry Potter. You, Dumbledore and Voldemort are always present in each of these lives and they represent three different things. What you have to remember is that other things can change. In one life, you were even best friends with Draco Malfoy and in another, he was your foster brother. In one, Sirius Black raised you but in others, he was in Azkaban. In one reality, he was never friends with your father! These little things give me a lot of joy to see you stumble through them. I will tell you a few things though. The world where you are going, Harry Potter was killed on Halloween. James and Lilly Potter had 3 more children since then. In that world, Peter Pettigrew was outed as the traitor when you were killed and he has been evading capture. Voldemort has established base somewhere unknown and operates from there. No one even knows who the death eaters are. In this world, the Order of the Phoenix is the only thing that has been keeping him from overwhelming the world. His influence is restricted to the British Isles since other countries keep their borders sealed and their laws strict. They are not fussy about throwing people into the death veil."

"You mean there are more veils in the world?", Harry asked.

"Yes. These veils are portals basically and were opened as a result of mortals tinkering with magic and the unknown. I will send you sometime before the summer of your fourth year. The Triwizard is coming to Hogwarts and you will need to be there. It will be a good start for you. You will need to convince Dumbledore that you are what you claim to be. You will be Harry Potter but you will remember you are my agent and you will have a few memories that will convince anyone that you are not from their world. A word of advice to you though, "Don't trust people blindly'. Now off you go, Harry Potter. I can't afford to lose on the board against Order and Chaos."

"Wait! If I win this thing then? What do I get?", Harry asked.

Death smiled, "As I have said earlier, you win this thing without invoking me then you will get out of this cycle, your soul will go to the powers that be and then you will be out of my hands."

"What…" Harry's question remained unspoken as Death snapped his fingers, a chasm opened beneath Harry's feet and fell into the void.

A new world

When Harry's eyes opened, he found himself in a forest. He had no sense of direction or wherever he was. He was not even sure what year was it.

Groaning, he sat up and pushed his limbs into action. His right leg protested of the strain and he fell promptly. He poked his leg and from what he remembered of his Auror training in his last life, he knew that he had broken his leg.

He tried to remember the emergency field medic training that was imparted to all the Aurors so they could heal themselves. To his consternation, he seemed to be forgetting everything that had happened in that world. He had already forgot what his children looked like. He remembered their names but barely.

He shot a spell at his injured leg and with a snap, the bones settled into place as he howled in pain. Then he cast a charm that would eventually heal his broken bones and wrapped his injured leg in a bandage. Grimacing, he stood up and then properly looked upon himself for the first time. He was dressed in the finest robes that anyone can afford, his hair fell to his shoulders as he preferred but his body had shrunk. He groaned and cursed Death. Conjuring a mirror, he looked on himself and he looked exactly like he had looked when he was about 14 years old.

He shrugged to himself. This was not that bad as he came to think of it. Somewhere out there were his par... no, James and Lilly Potter. These were not his parents. Their son had died when he was little. He knew there would be differences between the two worlds and he had to understand them before he could take any steps.

His hand went to his wrist where he kept the wand holster attached and found it missing and sighed. Of course, death wouldn't give him a wand just yet. No one crossed the dimensional portals with something in their pockets. A flash of a past life showed him where he had been an unspeakable and tried that exact thing and everything on him had burned down except his body.

He would need to find a wand, in the meantime, he could get a good sense of the direction by the sun. He climbed up to a tree and saw the sun in the distance. It was on his right and descending downwards so that was west. He came down and started to walk in the east as he had done whenever he visited Forbidden Forest and wanted to return to Hogwarts. The road east always brought him home.

He had to remain extra cautious because he had no wand on him and it would be hard for him to fend off any attackers. He knew wandless magic but that was taxing on his core and he was not sure if his young body could take that stress. After about an hour of walking, he saw the first creature. It was a centaur and reminded him of another from his home world. The palomino centaur looked like his Divination teacher, Firenze.

He was going to call the centaur when he realized that it would be bad idea. He was not of this world and Voldemort was at large. This was extremely stupid if he were going to make himself known before known someone for who they truly were. Keeping to the shadows of the tree, Harry tried to get away but ducked when there was an incoming whoosh and an arrow lodged itself into the bark inches form his face.

"Where are you going?", asked Firenze.

Harry raised his hands in surrender, "I have no intention of hurting you. I am just trying to find my way out."

The centaur pawed the ground and snorted, "As if you can hurt me, human. There are 20 centaurs around you who have their arrows pointed at you."

Harry cursed himself. In his last life, he could have sensed so many people around him but may be, he was getting sloppy.

"Who are you?", Harry asked.

"I am Firenze, the leader of the herd of Centaurs in this forest", said Firenze.

"But I thought that Bane and Margorian were the leaders", Harry said before he could stop himself.

The centaur skittishly pawed the ground with his forefoot, "Bane and Margorian were killed by the followers of the Dark Lord when he attempted to invade Hogwarts."

"What year is it?", Harry asked.

"1994, but enough of your questions", Firenze growled, "Now approach us quietly and let me see your hands while you walk. Try to use magic with your hands and you will regret it."

Harry cautiously walked forward and Firenze said, "I have seen your coming in the stars a long time ago, Hadrian Peverell. Mars is shining bright on the sky. War and death approaches. You have come to unleash Death on those who evade him."

"Umm… was that a prophecy?", Harry asked nervously.

"It is the future, Harry Potter", said the centaur.

"Why are you calling me by different names?", Harry asked him.

"I can see that you have lived different lives with different names. Ancient magic courses into your veins and you alone have the power to make changes that will shock the world", said the centaur, "Go now with our blessings. Hogwarts is to the east of here but you won't get easy entrance."

Thanking the centaur, Harry walked forward. He had also been spreading his magical senses and had found that almost all the creatures of the forest were watching him intently. Even the acromantulas had come out of their colony and were watching him with apprehension, a few were chattering, their tentacles quivering with anticipation but none dare approached him.

Soon, Harry felt the powerful wards which surrounded Hogwarts. In his earlier life, he was always comforted by them but now they looked oppressive to him. Almost as if they would kill him if he did anything hostile.

Skirting around the wards, Harry reached the gates of Hogwarts which looked like a fortress. An entire Auror contingent was on duty there.

"Halt!", growled a familiar voice, "Identify yourself."

Harry was overjoyed to hear that voice. The owner of that voice had died when he was being rescued from his muggle relatives to go to the home of the Weasleys.

He turned excitedly to see Moody and was shocked. The person who bore Moody's voice did not look like him. Sure he had a leg missing replaced by a wooden leg but that was where the similarities ended. His hair was neatly combed and tied in a ponytail, his face had no scars which he had become used to seeing, he had both of his natural eyes and his nose was intact.

"Master Auror Moody", Harry said happily, "I am here to see Dumbledore."

The man eyed him suspiciously, "Do I know you? I don't recall to have ever met you."

Harry sighed. This was the not the Moody that he knew after all, "No, we have not met in this world but it is important that I see Dumbledore."

"Who are you?", he asked.

"My name is Harry Potter…" Harry started to say.

"How dare you?", shouted a voice, "How dare you to use the name of my dead son?"

Harry turned to the new comer and was shocked. Coming towards him was Lilly Potter as if she had just come out of the album that he had in his previous life and her emerald eyes were on fire.

Harry was wordless but only for a moment because he had to dodge the blasting hex which Lilly had sent at him. She sure had a temper. Soon Harry was dodging all the curses because he had no wand. Seeing, Lilly in action another Auror walked forward to help tackle him when Harry saw his opening. Relying on his training that he had received in his previous life, Harry dodged the curses watching his movements. Soon he was near the man and employing a trick that Gawain Robards, his mentor, had taught him Harry pulled the man by his arm and pushed a few points on it, while keeping the Auror between him and other two so they wouldn't be able to hit him.

As the Auror's arm went slack, Harry snatched the wand and swatted aside the spell that Lilly had just sent at him.

He swatted everything that she sent at him while trying to make her see reason. He shouted multiple times for her to hear him out but it looked like Lilly was not going to listen. Finally, he swatted aside her last spell and shifted left while sending a spell at her. Lilly fell to the ground, knocked out cold.

Moody, seeing how two people had been easily defeated by him, went on offensive. Moody sent a variety of curses and spells at him which Harry shielded against while waiting for an opening. The wand that he had won was serving him well but he was not going to answer a spell with spell. He waited for his opening which came soon.

Moody halted for a second to catch his breath and Harry sent a spell chain at him. The Auror barely dodged them when Harry started peppering him with bombarda. The Auror was barely able to keep up his shield when Harry decided to use some transfiguration in his duel. He ran towards Moody who was flabbergasted. By the time, Moody was able to raise his wand, Harry had vanished his fake leg and the Auror fell on the ground unceremoniously. Harry wasted no time in stunning him and then binding him with chains.

"Well, that was an interesting duel, Prongs"

He heard someone say and turned to face the newcomers and his wand went slack. Standing in front of him, dressed in Auror robes were James Potter and Sirius Black. James looked like he did in those pictures but it was Sirius that surprised him. This Sirius looked healthy, full of vitality and powerful. His voice was full of enthusiasm and his eyes were full of merriment.

"Padfoot…", he whispered and did not notice James raising his wand and intoning, "Petrificus Totalus."

Harry fell forward, petrified and a stunner had him knocked out.

My secrets are mine, yours are also mine

When Harry came back to conscious, he found himself in the Headmaster's office. He of course recognized it well because it had been his in his last life before he resigned when he reached 104 years of age. He was tied in a chair with magic restraining cuffs on his wrists. Of course, they would use magic restraining cuffs on him because they did not know that an accomplished wizard could escape them.

He saw Severus Snape opening his mouth and administering him a clear potion and even then, it was only 3 drops. If they thought he was going to be speaking the truth under veritaserum then they were in for rude awakening.

"What is your name?", asked Alastor.

"My name is Harry James Potter, the neo marauder, the harbinger of troubles and the hottest wizard to ever live, according to Teen witch weekly", he said and watched them squirm.

"Is it not working?", Lilly Potter asked.

"Impossible", said Severus Snape, "It is my strongest dose."

"Clearly you have lost your touch, Snivellus", Harry drawled, "Your potion is potent enough for a flobberworm but not an occlumens."

Harry heard the snickering in the background, clearly from Sirius and James.

"Is it?", sneered the dungeon bat, "Then I will pry those secrets from your head."

Harry evilly smirked, "Try your worst."

As Snape looked into his eye and cast the spell, Harry realized why Death had left him some memories which were not going to fade away.

Snape went through the boy's memories and saw himself going into a classroom and starting the roll call, "Ah Harry Potter... Our new celebrity."

The scene changed and he was in his office and threatening Harry Potter with the veritaserum, "One more toe out of the line and you will find that my hands missed and three drops of this potion will be found in your pumpkin juice and you will tell your most hidden secrets to the world."

Snape watched in disbelief as the boy led him through another memory where Sirius was casting the Legilimens spell on the boy.

Another memory shifted and he was on the Astronomy tower with Dumbledore whose right hand looked as if it was dead, "Why do trust Potter so much? He is mediocre at best. What makes you think that he can defeat the Dark Lord?"

Before he could make sense of what was happening, he found himself in another memory where the boy showed him dying. He was covered in blood, a wound was open on his torso and blood flowed freely.

"Take it… take these memories… and look at me while I die…"

As the memory ended, Harry threw him out of his mind.

Sirius staggered and Moody caught him before he fell, "What did you see?"

"This… this boy…", Severus had no words to explain what he had seen.

Lilly asked him, "Snape, what did you see?"

Severus however refused to say anything. At that moment, the door opened and in walked Albus Dumbledore. He looked like his own Dumbledore but also different. This one wore plain grey robes, his eyes did not have the twinkle but a look that Harry had only seen once on his face and it was during the battle of the Department of Mysteries. This was not the headmaster he had come to adore but it was the Victor of Bavaria.

"Have you found anything useful?", Dumbledore asked of the group.

"He is impervious to veritaserum, Albus", said Moody, "And he showed something to Snape which has reduced him to a blubbering mess."

Dumbledore looked at Snape who almost looked catatonic and was thoughtful. Anyone who could do that to Severus was not an ordinary wizard.

He sat on a chair facing Harry, "Who are you? Where do you come from? If you don't let yourself known, it is going to end very badly for you."

Harry had the audacity to laugh, "I revered the man who always looked out for me but you are not that man. I know how powerful you are and that you can do what you say but I am no slouch either. You think these cuffs can stop me?"

Before Dumbledore could say anything, Harry gave a jerk to his hands and the cuffs slipped out of his wrists and fell to the ground. Before anyone could do anything, Harry said, "I am ready to answer all of your questions and I will tell the truth to you. I will take a wizard's oath for you to believe what I say but I ask you that please ask others to leave. I only wish for you, James Potter, Lilly Potter and Sirius Black to remain while I am speaking."

Others protested but left when Albus pressed for them to leave. After they were alone, Harry raised his hand and intoned, "I, Harry James Potter, do hereby solemnly resolve to speak the truth. If I am found untruthful in my words and intent, may mother magic smite me for my folly. So I say so mote it be."

After Dumbledore was satisfied with the oath, he asked the first question, "Who are you?"

"I am Harry James Potter, born to Lilly and James Potter in Potter Manor, Wiltshire, England."

He heard gasps in the room and could see James straining to attack him but Sirius held him back.

"Harry Potter is dead. We buried him. How can you claim to be Harry Potter?"

"I am not the boy who was born to those two standing over there but I come of a different world. A world where my parents were murdered on Halloween by Voldemort (He was surprised by the gasps around the room)."

"What proof do you have?", Dumbledore asked him harshly.

"What? Do you expect souvenirs from the other world? Or perhaps some lemon drops? Or sherbet lemon?"

There was snickering from Sirius who quit as he was viciously elbowed in the stomach by James.

"Prove that you have come from a different world", Albus said resolutely.

Harry shrugged, "Alright, I guess I will have to show you then. Do you still have the pensieve in that drawer behind your secret firewhiskey stash?"

Dumbledore watched him in stunned silence as others were now giggling.

Harry continued, "Did you really expect no one would know it? Now bring it over and we can cut a lot of unpleasantries."

After 10 minutes during which Harry pulled out memories to show them, they were ready to view the first set of memories.

"This is the memory of the time when I came to know that I am a wizard', Harry explained about the first set of memories.

"What do you mean?", Lilly asked.

Harry did not look at her but said, "You will know once you see it."

"Headmaster, if we all are in the pensieve, who will keep an eye on him?", James Potter asked.

"I will keep an eye on him", Sirius said.

"Padfoot, are you sure?", James asked.

Sirius nodded, "Of course. And you will let me know what you saw in the memory, right?"

James nodded and followed others into the memory. During the hour while the memory lasted, Sirius kept an eye at him, looking at him curiously but saying nothing. Harry tried to speak a few times but words failed him. What he could say to the man anyway. This was not his Sirius. This one had not gone through the hardships that his Sirius had.

When they emerged about an hour later, James and Lilly's eyes were wet. Lilly rushed forward to hug him but stopped herself in time, "I am so sorry, Harry. It should not have been this way."

Harry casually asked her, "Why do you say sorry? You are obviously not my parents whom I lost in childhood. And even then they gave everything to save me from death. I love them and I am proud of them."

"I believe I speak for all of us when I say that I believe you, Mr. Potter", said Dumbledore, "But it is very hard to believe and would be even harder to explain to our minister."

Harry scowled, "I know Fudge is an idiot."

"Fudge? You mean Cornelius Fudge?", Dumbledore said, "but he is not our minister. He is the head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. The Minister of Magic is Arthur Septimus Weasley."

"WHAT!"