Disclaimer: I'm afraid that my limited brain capacity would never allow me to produce such a wonderful concept as Harry Potter, nor would my finances allow me to buy him. Therefore, I regretfully state that I own neither Harry Potter, nor any other characters that you may recognize. I'm not even sure if I own the plot.

Note: I'm assuming that you already know the basic story of Harry Potter from books 1 through 5.

'Italics' stand for thoughts/letters or text

Chapter Nine: Ally or Enemy?

Day Two, Evening:

The inner circle of the Order of the Phoenix gathered around the table in the dining room of No. 12 Grimmauld Place and exchanged nervous glances.

"Just what is this about, Albus?" Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt demanded. "What's going on? Where are Lily and James? And why is Sirius grinning like a mad fool?"

"Calm down now. Lily and James are upstairs having a talk with a young visitor of ours, who came calling this afternoon. As for Sirius, why don't you ask him?" Dumbledore suggested, his eyes twinkling merrily.

Shacklebolt turned abruptly. "Sirius, why are you grinning like a mad fool?"

Before Sirius reply, Remus interjected, "Because he is a mad fool."

"Hey! I object!"

Five minutes later, James stuck his head around the door and asked bemusedly, "Why is Padfoot chasing Moony around the table?"

"He called me a mad fool!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Padfoot, you are a mad fool."

His friend collapsed in a chair, throwing up his hands in exasperation. "The whole world is ganging up on me! I give up!"

"That's enough, Sirius," Lily sighed, shaking her head. "Let's get this meeting started."

Dumbledore nodded in agreement and stood up, waiting for the chatting members to quiet down. "All right, our first matter of business has to do with a visitor." His words made Nymphadora Tonks frown.

"A visitor? Do you mean a visitor here? That's impossible; this house is under Fidelius. No one could have just come by."

"Ah, but someone did."

"Well, then, get on with it," Shacklebolt snapped impatiently. "Who was it?"

"Mr. Potter."

"James?" Molly Weasley looked across as the Auror. "What does James have to do with this?"

"Not James. Harry."

Immediately, the room erupted in noise.

"How could he have come here?"

"Where is he?"

"What's he doing here?"

"Who invited him?"

"What are we going to do?"

"We'll have to move headquarters!"

"We should Obliviate him!"

Remus rolled his eyes and drew his wand. "Silencio."

"Thank you, Remus," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I am pleased to announce that Harry has joined our side."

This time, the Silencing Charm prevented any exclamations, but many of the members still showed inclinations to burst out yelling again.

"If you don't behave, I'm not taking the charm off," Remus warned them. "Let Albus speak."

"I know that you are suspicious because young Mr. Potter has grown up serving Voldemort, however, I questioned him under veritaserum and came to an unexpected conclusion. Somehow, I don't know exactly how, Harry has come here from another universe where he did not support Voldemort. Since he still has the skills and abilities of his counterpart here, I believe he will be a great help to us."

Seeing that almost everyone was still suspicious, Dumbledore pulled a vial of liquid from his pocket. "I see you don't believe me. Lily, do you think Harry would mind taking veritaserum again?"

"No, I don't mind," Harry himself answered, walking in. Immediately, everyone had their wands out, with the exception of Dumbledore, Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus.

A flash of pain shot through Harry's eyes, seeing the people he loved and respected glaring at him. Ignoring them, he sat down and drank the truth serum without hesitation. Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody offered to question him.

"What is your name?"

"Harry James Potter."

"Do you serve You-Know-Who?"

"No."

"Are you a spy?"

"No."

"Are you really from another universe?"

"Yes."

Shocked murmurs greeted his answers.

"How do we know that he wasn't memory charmed?" Shacklebolt wanted to know.

"How would he know where Grimmauld Place is?" James challenged. "Why don't you ask him something that he would only know if he was trustworthy in his world?"

For a few minutes, everyone was quiet as they tried to think of a question. Finally, Dumbledore decided to break the silence. "What is Voldemort's real name?"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"Voldemort would never have told his followers what his true name is," Dumbledore pointed out. "He hates his half-blood heritage."

"I have an idea," Remus said suddenly, turning to address the room in general. "How many of you have seen Harry's Patronus?"

A few people raised their hands. "It's a snake, right?" They nodded in agreement. "Well, if this is a different Harry, then he would have a different Patronus, right? Harry, can you produce a Patronus for us?"

Obediently the teen rose and raised his wand. "Expecto patronum!"

James gasped when he saw his Animagus form emerge. "That's me!" Those in the Order who know about Prongs were startled as well.

"I guess he is from another world," Shacklebolt conceded. "There's no other way he would have James as his Patronus otherwise."

Someone in the back called, "Do you know any of the Order's spies?"

"The only spy I know of is Professor Snape."

"He must be telling the truth, then," the person said, coming forward. It was Severus Snape himself. "Otherwise he would have betrayed me."

"Professor?" Sirius laughed. "I wonder what you ever taught him."

"Shut up, you mangy mutt," Snape sneered. "I doubt you taught him anything useful. For your information, I did teach Potter, the one in this world, anyway."

"What's Harry going to do how?" Tonks queried.

"He can't go to Hogwarts; the parents of the other students will never agree to that," Remus said thoughtfully.

"He's going to stay at Godric's Hollow with James and me, of course," Lily declared.

"I doubt You-Know-Who will let his heir go, just like that," Shacklebolt stated dryly. "What if he attacks you?"

"Then we'll fight," James replied simply.

"Is Harry going to fight with us if there are raids?" Remus questioned.

"No!" Lily exclaimed, just as her son said the opposite, having recovered from the veritaserum.

"I lost you once; I'm not losing you again!"

"Mum, I can take care of myself," Harry protested. "I can't just sit here and do nothing. Professor Dumbledore, please!"

After a moment of contemplation, Dumbledore gave his consent reluctantly. "If you wish to, I doubt I could stop you, Harry. But please be careful; Voldemort will want you to suffer now that you have betrayed him."

As a matter of fact, the last sentence was a bit of an understatement.