ALIUS EGO ALIUS RUDIMENTUM

CHAPTER VII

I don't own it, I never will, and I'm okay with that.

/S/

Briara was suddenly a bit peeved. Had Ron just called her hairy? He knew that was taboo, ever since the 'incident' back in fifth year in transfiguration when Ron had jolted Hermione just as she was changing her bowling ball into a dog and the spell hit Bri instead. To say she had looked like the muggle character, Cousin It, was an understatement. Well, HER Ron would have known. As far as she knew, Bushytail was far away beyond her reach. However, that didn't stop her from getting angry. It had been a very stressful past few minutes while she had been conscious. "What's hairy? Certainly not me! If anyone needs to worry about hair it's your poor friend over there! Doesn't he know what a comb is?"

Hermione started to giggle. Briara sent her a death glare. "I'm sorry Briara!" Hermione said between laughs. "It's just that you misunderstood. Although, you DO have a point about his hair, his NAME is Harry."

Oh, right. I think I remember them calling him that. Oops. But hey! Why would Ron say that I thought I was this boy? I mean, I'm obviously a girl.

McGonagall took over the speech. "He's Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived et al. And it is HE who must kill Vol-Voldemort. Voldemort isn't dead; we would know. So you must be mistaken as to who you are. Perhaps you hit your head harder than we thought."

"Not dead? That's not possible. I ran him through with a sword. I watched him die. That's the last thing I remember clearly before I ended up here. Give me verituserum, anything! I know I'm not lying." She swept away the bangs that covered one half of her forehead. "See? I even have the curse scar from where he tried to kill me at my Grandparents' house when I was one. Madame Pomfrey can even check it to see if I'm lying."

After receiving a nod from McGonagall, Pomfrey went forward and poked and prodded at the scar on Briara's head with the tip of her wand. "It's not fake, I can't perceive any form of glamour. The scar tissue is real and was indeed produced as the result of a powerful curse. Harry? Could you come here please? I would like to compare the two."

Briara looked at Harry weirdly. He has a scar too?

"Anything to help, so long as I'm not the one stuck in the hospital for an overnight stay." Harry went and stood beside the bed next to both Madame Pomfrey and Briara and was still while the nurse poked at his forehead just as she had the strange girl's.

Suddenly Pomfrey took half a step back and her eyes opened wide. She looked directly at McGonagall. "They are identical. Their scars. Not a single difference between the two. It isn't possible even with magic."

"But then what does it mean, Poppy? Surely there must be some difference you overlooked. She couldn't have lived through the killing curse without anyone knowing. She would be as famous as Harry, or at least nearly so, if it were true."

While the adults discussed different explanations for the mysterious identical scars, the four teens began to softly talk among themselves. Harry and Briara were now sitting side by side on the hospital bed. Bri was swinging her legs back and forth.

Harry turned to look at her. "You survived the killing curse?"

"Yeah, small world huh? Though I'm beginning to think I'm not in Kansas anymore."

"You're from Kansas? That's in the United States, right?" Sadly, Ron meant the question in earnest.

"It's a muggle pop-culture reference Ron," Hermione explained. "It means she doesn't think she is anywhere near her home."

"Oh, okay. Why Kansas?"

"Nevermind, Ron, it's from a movie." Hermione turned to look at Bri. "Are you really who you say you are? It's just so hard to believe."

"I believe her." Harry said. "I don't know why, but I do."

"But how is it possible?" Ron asked "I mean, she would have to be from a different world of something."

"Well I suppose it is theoretically possible. There are some ancient spells, mostly forgotten, that allow people to look into the worlds of 'What If.' It would simply take a stronger spell along the same line of magic to bring forth people from these places. Briara may have come from a 'What if the Potter's had a girl' universe. Of course, other things may be different as well in Briara's world. But the magic required to do such a spell would be immense." Hermione stopped, lost in thought.

"Voldemort did it!" Briara exclaimed. "I remember now. At least, it could have been him. After I stabbed him with the sword from the Sorting Hat . . ."

"Gryffindor's Sword!" Ron interjected "Harry slew a basilisk with that thing."

"The sword belonged to Gryffindor? Huh, I didn't know. Real handy, that. Anyway, I took the sword, stabbed the mean, evil, smarmy, not to mention ugly, old guy. He was dying, I was in pain, and he called out a spell just as I blacked out. 'Als ego all us rude to mum', or something."

McGonagall stopped talking abruptly. "Alius Ego Alius Rudimentum?"

"Yeah, that was it. Does it mean anything?"

"My dear, that answers all our questions about your origin. I just wish I'd thought of it sooner. It's a terrible charm. True dark magic. The soul of the castor is bound in endless torment until the parameters of the charm are met."

"But what does it mean? How does it have anything to do with me?"

"Well, roughly, the spell can be translated to 'another me, another try.' The spell sends the object of the castor's desire to the next closest possible universe in which the castor's wish can be fulfilled. Assuming that Voldemort's desire was to kill you, you were sent here to us, his hope being that the Voldemort of our world can do away with you. If he succeeds, your Vodemort's soul will be releases to its final resting place, most likely Hell. If you survive, and Harry kills our Voldemort, the soul will be destroyed."

"Couldn't I kill your Voldemort? I mean, I'm the chosen one too."

"No, the spell is safeguarded against the same failures twice. It's possible for you to kill him, however you would be sent even farther from your own world to the next universe where Voldemort still lived. You can only help from the sidelines. It is Harry Potter's, not Briara Potter's, destiny to destroy Voldemort here." McGonagall put a reassuring hand on each of the Potter children's shoulders.

It was silent for a moment. Everyone simply stood or sat, absorbing the information. Bri desperately wanted to ask a question, but refrained, fearing the answer. Hearing the answer she feared would make it come true.

"Is there anyway she can go back home?" Being so closely connected to Harry, both though blood and similar experiences, seemed to make them think alike. He could ask the question she dared not to.

McGonagall squeezed Bri's shoulder. "There is always hope. I have never heard of it happening before, of course, the spell has only been confirmed to have been cast twice in the history of wizard kind, neither time being within the past two thousand years. If Albus were still alive maybe he . . ."

"Dumbledore is dead!" Bri nearly shouted, interrupting Professor McGonagall. "How? It's not possible! He is the most powerful wizard ever."

Pomfrey gave Bri a sad look. Hermione's eyes misted over. Ron and Harry both turned away so no one would see their tears. McGonagall simply clasped Bri's hand. "I think, perhaps, that it is time to discuss the differences between your world and ours."

/E/

Wow, these poor people have been standing around a bed talking for over two chapters. They need to get out more. And didn't Harry, Ron, and Hermione have a train to catch? Hmm, well, next time we delve into the differences between the worlds. There was one major one mentioned in this chapter; it will be explained in further detail later. Maybe I'll even get them all out of the hospital wing, then again, maybe not.