Double
Hi, guys. Thanks for the reviews. Keep 'em coming.
I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
-appletart55
Chapter One
Harry walked through the Door. Ron and Hermione walked in after him.
The inside of The Room of Requirement was a huge mausoleum of old objects. It was filled with thousands of different types of things. There were books, old chess pieces, broken broomsticks and a pile of exotic rugs.
Harry looked around.
"Ron, is this what you wanted?" asked Harry.
Ron shook his head. "No," said Ron. "I wanted our old training room as usual."
"This is an odd place," said Hermione. "It looks like a place where Hogwarts keeps all the lost, random objects that students have forgotten. Something must have gone wrong. Let's leave and come back through again."
"All right," said Harry.
The three exited the Room of Requirement. Harry decided to be the one to walk back-and-forth in front of the blank stretch of wall this time. He closed his eyes and pictured the training room of Dumbledore's Army.
Once Harry walked past the wall the third time he stopped.
The wall did not change. It remained the same blank stone wall.
"What's going on?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know," said Harry. "I'm sure I did it right."
"It's your turn to try now, Hermione," said Ron. "Maybe it just needs a woman's touch."
Hermione nodded. She did the same thing as Harry and Ron.
The Door did not appear.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were stumped.
"What should we do now?" asked Hermione.
Harry thought. "Let's head back to the Great Hall," he said. "Everyone in Dumbledore's Army is probably at breakfast. We need to talk to the others in Dumbledore's Army. Without The Room of Requirement we have no where to practice."
Ron and Hermione agreed. They three left for The Great Hall.
Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the Great Hall. Harry realized something was wrong as soon as he entered.
There was a strange man sitting in a chair upon the dais where the professors sat.
It was Sirius.
"What the…" said Ron.
"Oh my word," said Hermione.
"Bloody hell," said Harry.
Harry, Ron and Hermione ran outside to a small group of trees by the Lake. They stopped when they reached the water's edge. The three were out-of-breath.
Ron spoke up first. "What the hell?" he asked.
"That was Sirius sitting up there. What's he doing here? He's supposed to be in hiding," said Hermione.
"Yes," said Ron. "And what was wrong with the Great Hall? The hangings weren't right. They were all red and black."
"Dumbledore wasn't there either," said Harry again in a low voice.
"I feel like something's wrong," said Hermione.
"yea, me, too," said Ron. "Harry?"
"Yeah," agreed Harry. "I feel like the sun went into hiding… like I'm walking around backward."
"What should we do?" asked Hermione.
Harry thought. "Let's go to Hagrid's hut," said Harry. "We can ask him. He'll know why Sirius is here."
"Good idea," said Ron. "And maybe he'll let us have a spot of something strong."
Hagrid was in his Hut. Hagrid looked surprised to see Harry, Ron and Hermione.
" 'ello there," said Hagrid gruffly. "Wha' do you three want?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione never heard Hagrid speak to them in such a hostile way.
"Hagrid, we need to talk," said Hermione.
"Abou' what?" asked Hagrid nervously.
Hermione frowned. She glanced at Harry and Ron. "Well," said Hermione. "What is Sirius doing in the Great Hall?"
Hagrid stared. "Wha' do you mean? Headmaster Black's always in 'er Great Hall for breakfast."
"Ha ha," said Harry. "Headmaster Black? That's a laugh. But what's he doing here? He's should be in hiding, Hagrid."
Hagrid scowled. "'Don' know what yer talking about, Potter," said Hagrid.
"All right… how about this," said Harry. "Where's Dumbledore? Where's Umbridge?"
Hagrid looked confused. "Look… I 'don know what yer three are tryin' ta do…" he said. " 'm doin' my work as usual… not tryin' to get intr' any trouble…"
"Just answer the question, Hagrid," insisted Hermione.
" 'Er… Madame Umbridge is pro'ly where she always is…" said Hagrid finally. "She's pro'ly at the Ministry of Magic. The Prophet last said that ther' British Magical troops are gettin' together for another battle in Russia. She's pro'ly doin' somethin' smart like planin' strategy or somethin'."
Harry, Ron and Hermione were stumped.
"…okay," said Harry slowly. "Right."
"Well, where's Dumbledore?" asked Ron.
Hagrid gave the three of them a confused look. "Professor Dumbledore? Don' know how you know about him. He's wher' he always is… in his burial plot behind the castle."
Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I was right after all," he said. "I should have stayed in bed today."
"An alternate dimension?" said Ron. "What are you talking about?"
"I think we entered another world similar to our own," said Hermione. "I've seen it on Doctor Who."
"Who?" said Ron.
"Precisely."
"I'm lost," said Ron.
"Never mind," said Harry. "Listen… let's say we're in an alternate dimension… how did we get here?"
"Who knows?" said Hermione. "We could have stumbled our way through… we could have accidentally touched an inter-dimensional portkey… our someone could have called for us."
"I like the portkey theory," said Ron. "That way we can find it again and make our way home."
"Me, too," said Harry. He sighed. "Okay, let's say we're in an alternate dimension… what do we do now?"
"Well, two things," said Ron. "We should do some reconnaissance."
"I agree," added Hermione.
"What's the second thing?" asked Harry.
"We should avoid our other selves," said Ron.
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"Well," said Ron. "For one thing… it's a sure-fire way for us to get twinning headaches."
Harry, Ron and Hermione decided to head to the library. They tried to avoid the other students. They walked with their head down.
Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to the 'European Magical History' section of the library. Hermione immediately began scanning the book titles. She pulled a few books off of the bookshelves and then placed them on a nearby table.
Harry and Ron looked on with amused looks on their faces.
After thirty-five minutes Hermione raised her head with a grim look on her face. She ushered Harry and Ron closer.
"So?" said Ron quietly.
"I was right," said Hermione. "We're in an alternate universe."
"Bloody hell," said Ron.
"How is this world different from ours?" said Harry.
"Two things: first off, Dumbledore is dead," said Hermione. "He died during the First War in 1945. He died killing the 'Mad-King Grindelwald.'"
"Huh," said Harry.
"Damn," said Ron. "Dumbledore's dead? That's not good. We could have used his help to get home."
"So, what's the second thing?" asked Harry.
"The Second War is still going on to this day. This world's Harry Potter never stopped You-Know-Who. You-Know-Who is still out there. The whole wizarding world is fighting him."
The three were silent.
"Okay," said Harry finally. "We have enough information for now. Dumbledore is dead… that's a real blow. We'll have to figure this out on our own."
"We should get out of here," said Ron. "We should try to avoid our counterparts. We need money so we can buy some place to stay… we need a home base of some kind."
"Then what?" asked Hermione.
"We need to figure out how to get home," said Harry grimly.
Harry, Hermione and Ron decided to best way to get home was to slip into McGonagall's office to use Floo Powder. The three of them knew that the professor's fireplaces could connect to places outside of Hogwarts.
The three made their way to her office. They had to pass by the Great Hall to get there. A huge crowd was exiting the Great Hall as the three of them passed by. The students were talked, laughed and joked around.
"Hey, Harry," said a familiar voice.
Harry jumped. Oh, no, thought Harry.
It was a Ravenclaw student named Terry Boot. Well… he was a Ravenclaw student in Harry's world. Here in this strange, new world Terry Boot did not wear a tie of blue and bronze. His robes were simple black robes.
"Hi, Terry," said Harry cautiously.
I hope your name is still Terry Boot here, thought Harry.
"Shouldn't you be out on the pitch?" he asked. "The match will start soon."
"Right, yeah," said Harry vaguely. "The pitch… I was heading there now."
"Okay, well, good luck today, Harry," said Boot.
Harry nodded.
Once Boot left Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione.
"No- no! Absolutely not," said Hermione.
"What?" asked Ron.
"Harry wants to check out his counterpart," said Hermione. "He wants to see how good he is at Quidditch."
"No," lied Harry "We need to do reconnaissance. I need to figure him out."
Ron laughed.
"Harry, we can't go," said Hermione. "What if other people recognize us? Then, they'll know there are two Harry Potters there."
"C'mon, what could go wrong?" said Harry. He grinned. "And we can see if your counterparts are there, too."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I don't care," she said.
"Aren't you a little curious?" asked Harry.
"Not in the least," said Hermione. She sniffed. "Okay. We'll go."
"I'm game," added Ron.
"Great," said Harry. "After all… it seems like a good afternoon for Quidditch."