Disclaimer: Half-Blood Prince, bleh. Enough said.

Harry Potter and the Refraction of Light

Chapter Two: Revelations

By Jake

Harry Potter groaned rubbing the back of his head as he sat up on the comfortable couch he had been occupying. "Ugh, I feel like someone hit me over the head with a fire poker." An elderly man smiled sheepishly at the now conscious swordsman, he banished the fire poker leaning against the wall with a wave of his hand "Well, you were hit over the head with a fire poker." Harry nodded sagely "That explains it." Only then did Harry process what the old man had just admitted to, the dark haired youth stood up angrily and drew the sword of Gryffindor, it ignited upon hitting air. "What's the meaning of this?" He was livid but the anger quickly melted away to confusion as he noticed the other occupants of the room, all of whom were in various states of awareness.

Harry held the sword of Gryffindor in all its flaming glory in front of him "What the bloody hell is going on here?" A velvety voice spoke up as its owner got to his feet, his wand out. "I'd like to know that as well." The swordsman turned to look at the Harry who had just spoke "Who the bloody hell are you!" The man with red tinged eyes turned to look at the sword wielding Harry Potter "I'm Harry Potter and you will put that sword away or I'll put it away for you." His voice was soft but commanding as he turned his wand on his sword wielding look alike. The flames around the sword of Gryffindor grew in magnitude "Don't lie to me! I'm Harry Potter! Now tell me who you are and stop pointing that wand at me!"

The third Harry Potter, the one sitting in the plush armchair jumped to his feet and stepped between the two enraged versions of himself. "Now gentlemen, calm yourselves! There is no need to fight! Please," he said turning to the Harry with the wand "put your wand away." He turned to the Harry holding the blazing sword of Gryffindor "Sheathe your sword, there is no need for it now." The two Harrys acquiesced before the darker one spoke "And who are you?" Harry smiled running a hand through the shock of white in his long black hair "I too am Harry Potter, and I assume that the other two regaining consciousness are also Harry Potter. Now I suggest we all sit down and wait for our gracious host to explain himself." With that the Harry Potter who was shockingly similar to Albus Dumbledore returned to his plush armchair. Harry removed the sword of Gryffindor from his belt before plopping down on the couch resting the sword on his lap. The other Harry waved his wand and conjured a high backed armchair which he then lowered himself into.

It was then that the elderly man who had since been forgotten decided to speak up "Yes, thank you for the help, Harry." He smiled slightly looking around the room "You are all the saviors of the various worlds you come from. Yes I said worlds. There are an infinite number of alternate realities each changed by a single choice in time." He looked over to the Harry who had obviously delved rather deeply in the dark arts "For example, you, Harry, chose to be sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor on that fateful day nearly eight years ago." He turned to the silvery ghost of twelve year old Harry Potter "And you, Harry, well you died in the Chamber of Secrets after killing the Basilisk." The old man turned to the swordsman version of Harry "And you discovered the secret of Gryffindor's sword and have since learned to use it in a way that not even Godric could manage." He turned to the Harry who reminded everyone of Dumbledore "In your world, Dumbledore also saved you from a killing curse and in doing so transferred his powers to you." The old man turned to the final Harry Potter who sat on a foot stool looking slightly bewildered but also very interested around the room at the other Harrys. "And you, Harry, when Voldemort murdered your parents on that fateful day, he took your magical core leaving you a squib."

"Preposterous, how can you expect me to believe that these fools are versions of me?" A skeletal hand pointed around the room. The old man smiled "You know it to be true, your legillemency detects no lies behind these tired eyes." The Harry holding Gryffindor's sword shook his head, looking at the old man "You're telling me that in one world, I turned dark, and in another I died, another I took Dumbledore's power, and in another I'm a squib? That's ridiculous!" "But it is true." The Harry with twinkling eyes spoke up "So what I would like to know is why you brought all of us together? Surely not just to exchange pleasantries" Harry smiled slightly at his little joke.

The old man nodded and looked around the room "I apologize; I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Almus and I lead the resistance against the Dark Lord Nocens. He is incredibly powerful, even more so than the Voldemorts from your respective dimensions. Our spies have reported a dimensional rift near his base and we can only guess who he has brought into his service, likely Voldemorts from your own worlds. Nocens doesn't plan on just conquering this dimension, but every dimension and once this one falls it will be child's play for him. That is why I've brought you here together, you are all powerful in your own rights and it will be your combined skills that can take down this threat to existence. I cannot force you to fight and I will send anyone who asks home, but please think about it. I will return in an hour to hear your decisions. I suggest you discuss it amongst yourselves." With that Almus walked out of the room into some unknown part of the house.

Harry stood up from the footstool as soon as Almus left and looked around "Before we do any discussion of leaving or staying, I think maybe we should make up codenames, it's going to get bloody confusing if whenever someone says 'Harry' we all answer." Red tinged eyes looked upon the squib with disdain he was about to respond when Harry, who's eyes were twinkling madly responded "An excellent idea Harry! I could go by Brian." Brian smiled at the looks of confusion on the other Harrys faces "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, it hints at my powers without being too obvious. If I chose Albus, Percival, or Wulfric, someone might put two and two together." His eyes flicked to the sword wielding version of himself "How about you Harry, any ideas?" The swordsman sat pensively for a moment "Orion." He said no more but there was an overwhelming sadness in his eyes as they flicked over to the ghost version of himself. "How about you Harry?" The twelve year old ghost grinned "How about Casper?" Casper looked around the room expectantly, hoping someone would get the joke, he saw Brian smile slightly and Harry bite his lip to keep from laughing. Orion was bewildered and the dark arts student remained stoic. "What about you Harry, after all it was your idea to make up names in the first place. Surely you must have one thought out." The squib looked around the room "Well, I thought I'd just be Harry because I don't really have any special powers to define myself with." He shrugged and looked at the man with red tinged eyes. "What about you, have you come up with a name for yourself?" The darker Harry closed his eyes before speaking softly "Astus." Brian's eyes twinkled as he looked towards the dark arts enthusiast "Astus, cunning in Latin if I'm not mistaken. How very Slytherin of you. Now on to business, I believe our host said he would return within the hour."

Author's Note: Again thanks to the wonderful Lady Padfoot for all her help. I love Reviews hint hint wink wink nudge nudge