The room immediately erupted into hysterics. All of the Preliums were standing now, and all of them were shouting at each other. Only Bentel had a level head. Endu and Startslite wanted more proof than Veritaserum could provide. The others wanted to know how their lead Bernien was supposed to fulfill the prophecy when he'd grown up on Lorena.

"She lies!" Endu screeched. "That's not possible!"

Bentel faced him angrily, his patience finally snapping. "Lying isn't possible under Veritaserum. She's telling the truth, as incredible as it seems." Bentel declared, glaring at each of them in turn before giving Hermione the antidote.

"There must be a mistake, Bentel. Surely you aren't suggesting…" Starslite began.

"There is no mistake, Starslite." Sirius cut him off. "I am the one the prophecy speaks of." He paused, looking at Bentel. "My story is long, so you may want to sit back down." Bentel did so, but not until after he'd conjured simple wooden chairs for the four visitors. The others gratefully took their seats while Sirius remained standing at the podium.

"You had best explain yourself, Calhoun." Balkror warned. "I, for one, will not believe you unless you provide ample evidence." The others nodded in agreement.

Sirius gave her a look. "That's what I'm about to do, Prelium Balkror." If I can ever get the chance, he thought to himself, just barely able to stop his tongue from speaking the words aloud. "I was not born Lorenian, nor is my birth name Certus Calhoun. I was born on Earth, in England, as Sirius Black. I am the Brotherworlder who became Lorenian."

Kish's eyes narrowed. "But how did you become Lorenian?"

"The short version," Sirius began, "is that Godric Gryffindor snatched me from the arms of death and placed me on Lorena 13 years ago. I was found by Marcus Ventrius in the middle of the forest. I had no idea who I was, or where I'd been. It wasn't until the betrayal that I began to remember my past. You heard Hermione – I am as much Lorenian as I am Brotherworlder."

"Godric Gryffindor has been dead for centuries." Starslite scoffed.

"No, he hasn't. He – along with the other Ancestors – evolved. Essentially, they live as pure energy." Sirius explained. "They are all still very much alive, but they live in a different plane of existence than we do. I don't understand it very well, but I'm sure one of the other Brotherworlders can explain it better." He was thinking of Rodney, specifically.

"Why didn't you remember until the betrayal?" Yatuli questioned. All of them knew of the one he spoke about – the betrayal of Darien Doren.

"He'd been betrayed before, by the Rat." Jikara answered, "That is what the prophecy speaks of."

Sirius nodded. "Peter Pettigrew was – is? – the Rat." He looked at Hermione. "I don't know if he's still alive or not." She shrugged. She had no idea either. "It's not important right now. His Animagus form was a rat, and it suited him all too well."

"How so?" Endu inquired.

"He betrayed him, obviously." Maren said sarcastically. "That's where this is going."

"Maren, enough." Marcus said. "Peace. Let Certus finish his tale."

"Please." Sirius added, though he paled under Marcus's frustrated look. "Where was I?"

"Wormtail," Hermione supplied, smirking at him. She knew he was aware of where he'd left off; he was just trying to make the Preliums feel bad for interrupting him again.

"Right. Well, Pettigrew – or Wormtail, as we called him – was part of my circle of friends. He betrayed the man I considered a brother, James Potter, and his wife Lily." Sirius explained. "Because of him, I spent twelve years in Azkaban Prison for a crime I didn't commit." Yatuli seemed angered by that fact. She was always the most compassionate of the Preliums.

"Then who is the Snake?" Jikara asked after a long silence.

"Darien Doren is the Snake. Our source tells us that he's a Snake Mage." Kleit answered, speaking for the first time that day. "You know what he did." The others nodded.

"Who're the Otter, Duck, and Eagle, then?" Balkror asked. "They are spoken of in the Prophecy, too."

"Those I've connected to the Patronus forms of some of my closest friends." Sirius stated, and then he elaborated. "Marcus has an Eagle Patronus, Kleit a Duck, and Hermione an Otter."

"Ms Granger is one of your closest friends?" Starslite asked. "You know her?"

Sirius nodded. "Yes, to both questions. She was one of my godson's best friends all through school. And she's proved her trust a thousand times over to both me and my godson over the years." He and Hermione smiled at each other. "She's been through things even veteran Berniens haven't survived. She helped my godson defeat the most powerful Dark Lord on Earth since Grindewald. Without her, my godson, and one other wizard, Earth would have fallen into another world war."

Endu smirked. "Who in Merlin's name is Grindewald? And what is a Dark Lord?"

Sirius had to fight to keep his patience and make his voice steady. "Picture the Achnid Emperor. Now split his soul into seven and spread the pieces all over Lorena. He can't die until each piece is destroyed, and he keeps one of them near him at all times." He met Endu's eyes. "Try and kill him."

"What Sirius speaks of," Hermione stood, "is a Dark Lord who called himself Voldemort that was just as vicious as the Achnid Empire, from what I've heard. I was a part of the Trio that ended his reign of terror over the Wizarding world on Earth. But that's a long story for another day." She looked at each of them in turn. They seemed to have more respect for her now, as they well should. "Today, I ask that you fulfill part of the prophecy. Today, I ask that you help Sirius partner with the Brotherworld. Today, I ask that you forge an alliance between our two peoples. Together we can defeat the Achnid and Wraith. Together we can end the Battles of Old once and for all." She finished, and the courtroom was silent. "Who will join us?" She didn't dare look at Sirius, for if she broke eye contact now it'd be viewed as a sign of weakness. No, she really couldn't afford to go looking for his support. How she wished Ronon were here. He'd be standing next to her, and that'd be enough to give her the strength to get through to the thick skulls amongst the Preliums.

"Motion to vote on the alliance," Maren said clearly, though his voice was shaking. Hermione nodded once in his direction, showing her appreciation for his bravery.

"If I may, Maren," Jikara interrupted. "Calhoun, what is your plan to end the Battles of Old? I will not agree to an alliance until I have heard your plans."

Hermione had thought this would happen, so she'd come prepared. "We will combine both the Bernien forces of Lorena and the forces of the Ancient… er, Ancestral cities to fight the Wraith and Achnids."

"From what we could see," Sirius cut in, "the planet we visited was the base of operations for their alliance. Here's what we were thinking we'd do…"

Atlantis

"Harry, could I talk to you for a minute?" Sam asked, pulling him aside. He'd been helping Maggie with some sort of experimental magic. "What were you planning on telling our soldiers about how you've gotten your expertise?" She was referring to the fact that, in half an hour, he'd be leading a training session of the SG teams and the Atlantis teams that would be joining them on the mission. Later that day, if all went well on Lorena, they'd hold mock skirmishes with Berniens. Until then, Harry was going to teach them what he could on his own about battle magic.

Harry sighed. He'd been wondering the same thing, but he supposed that, for this mission, the Earth teams would need to know his true past. And since the Atlantis teams would be dealing with Achnids for awhile after the battle, they needed to know all they could, too. They didn't have time to wait for Sirius and the others to get back, either. The mission was set for tomorrow evening. "Er, I think I need to tell them what I am. Obviously it'd be a waste of time to do anything else. I need to talk about it with General O'Neill, though."

"You don't think that'll be a problem with your people?" Sam asked. She didn't want to cause an international incident.

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. Besides, as head Auror it's well within my authority to train soldiers for a fight against wizards. Even if those soldiers are muggles. The only thing I need to know is whether or not there are any witches or wizards on these teams. I don't want to blow their cover without talking to them first."

Sam nodded and turned on her radio. "Sir, do you have a minute?" She asked into the device.

"What's going on, Carter?" Jack answered.

"Harry's wondering if he can tell the teams going on the mission about who he is. They need training, sir, and they can't wait until the Lorenians get back. There's just not enough time. He wanted to make sure there weren't any magic users on the teams before he blew their cover."

"They're all in the research fields, Carter. They wouldn't put magic users on field teams. We don't want to attract more attention than we need. He doesn't have to worry about anything like that. And all of our people are American, so there's no need to keep someone out who'll tell their government about magic. The true's same for your field teams, I think."

"It is if we leave the scientists on one of the cities, sir. The fact that we need more people manning the cities than fighting on the ground will be a good enough excuse for that. That's all I had, sir. Carter out." She turned off the radio and related the information to Harry. Since they were in the control room, she brought him over to the com. Tapping the button to turn the device on, she said, "Attention all personnel, this is Colonel Carter. Scientists from field teams fighting in the upcoming mission are to remain in one of the three cities to help with repairs. Your department heads will tell you where to go. Carter out."

"That makes everything a lot easier," Harry said, smiling. "Where can we hold this? There are a lot of people to train, so I'll need a big room."

Carter shrugged. "We use a room on the Eastern pier for our mass training exercises. It's a bit remote, but it's probably your best bet. Sheppard can show you where to go. I think he's working with Zelenka and McKay in the Chair Room." She looked around and called, "Dr. Hanseth, a moment?" A blonde woman with blue eyes wandered over. She had a patch of the English flag sewn onto her uniform. "Can you show Mr. Potter to the Chair Room, please?"

"Certainly." The girl smiled brightly at Harry, looking him over from head to toe. "Dr. Julia Hanseth, at your service. Right this way." She shook his hand and headed towards the transporter. "What brings you to Atlantis, Mr. Potter?"

"I'm a consultant for this mission. My family's been involved in Earth magical practices for centuries." Harry shrugged. "Not sure how much Wicca will be able to help here. This is far beyond what I'm used to."

"IOA get you involved?" Dr. Hanseth asked knowingly, grinning at his surprised nod. "They try anything to get some people over here. Manipulative, nosy blokes they are. You from England?"

Harry blinked at the rapid change of topic, thinking that Dr. Hanseth seemed like Luna Lovegood. "Yeah. Born and bred. I grew up in Surrey."

"Ah." Dr. Hanseth said. "I'm a Londoner by birth, but I grew up in Liverpool. Dad was a marine biologist, so he moved there for his job. It's how I fell in love with the sea."

"I was wondering what your doctorate was. Marine biology, then." Harry said, shrugging as they stepped into the transporter. "That must be interesting here."

She nodded, her eyes bright. "The ocean covers almost 90% of this planet. And there're creatures here no one's ever seen before. Hold on." She punched a button on the display and they were teleported to the wing the Chair Room was in. "Nearly there. Anyways, Atlantis is an incredible workplace. Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect. It'd be better without the Wraith, after all. But it's just about a scientist's dream."

Harry grinned. "I'm sure. My friend works here, just started a couple days ago. She always said she'd do something worthwhile."

Hanseth laughed cheerily. "Who's your friend?" They rounded a corner.

"Her… she's Dr. Madeline Marshall, the new diplomat." Harry answered, just barely catching himself from calling Hermione by her true name. "We went to the same private school in Scotland."

"I've not met her yet, but it's good to know there's another Englishwoman on base." Hanseth said. "What school did you two go to?"

"Sherriman Institute of Higher Learning," Harry answered. That was the name muggleborns used for their records. He'd heard a couple of his Aurors talking about it. Sherriman was known in the muggle world for its exclusivity and its incredible programs.

"Really?" Hanseth asked, her eyebrow raised. "I'm impressed. How many degrees does your friend have?"

"Two, in linguistics and diplomatic relations." Harry answered.

Hanseth shook her head. "Sounds like she'd get along right well with Dr. Jackson. Have you met him?"

"You mean the Earth base's top archeologist? Yeah, I have. He and General O'Neill filled me in on the program." Harry answered easily. "Madeline probably would get along well with him, from what I've seen. They haven't had much of a chance to get to know each other yet."

Hanseth nodded. "Understandable. Well, here we are." She motioned to the door they'd stopped in front of. "You need anything else, just let me know. Pleasure meeting you, Mr. Potter."

Harry grinned. "You too, Dr. Hanseth. See you 'round." He stepped in front of the door and it slid open. Dr. Hanseth left the hall just as he went into the room. It was a big, circular room with weird, pulsating tubes leading to a chair in the centre of the room. John Sheppard was laying back in the chair, his eyes closed. Rodney and another man Harry had yet to meet were arguing over a laptop. Harry wandered to where John was sitting. "Sleeping on the job, are we?" Harry asked jokingly.

"Nope." John said. "Closing my eyes helps me work the Chair. Not that it's a big deal right now. They're so busy arguing they haven't noticed you walk in yet. I bet it'll be another five minutes."

Harry turned his attention to the scientists. "… just listen to what I'm saying," Rodney was shouting, "maybe you'd be able to do this on your own. It's not that hard."

The man next to him turned to him, red faced. "And if you would look at these readings, you'd know that something's not right."

"You aren't reading them right, that's what's wrong!" Rodney said, rolling his eyes. "Look, that's the power source and that's the output level. It isn't the other way around!"

"I know that, Rodney!" The man went into a stream of words spoken in another language. He seemed incensed. "You're so bloody arrogant!"

"Who's that?" Harry asked finally. It was amusing to watch someone rip into Dr. McKay like that. Honestly, the man was more arrogant than Malfoy. Well, at least Dr. McKay had a valid reason for his arrogance.

"That's Dr. Zelenka. He's from Switzerland." John answered. "Hence the stream of cusswords in a foreign language. Rodney likes to push his buttons."

"I heard that!" Rodney shouted to John, who just smiled back at Harry. "What do you want, Potter?"

"I need John." Harry said. "Carter wants him to help me set up the training exercise in…" he glanced at his watch, "twenty minutes, now." John immediately sat up in the chair and started heading out of the room. Harry smiled. "See you later, Dr. McKay."

"Great. Now look what you've done!" Rodney shouted at Zelenka. "If you weren't…" The door slid shut, leaving Harry and John in blessed silence.

John looked at Harry and grinned. "Thank you," he said sincerely, making Harry laugh. "Where does she want us to have this training exercise?"

"In the room on the Eastern pier you normally use." Harry said. "Supposedly it's big enough."

John nodded. "It is. Come on. Let's get out of here before they figure out we're just outside the door." He led Harry back down the hall and into the transporter. Within minutes, they were on the Eastern pier. "How much time do we have left, and do the others know where to go?"

"Training session starting in fifteen minutes. All participating personnel report to the Eastern pier training room," a voice said over the all-call.

"Guess that answers those questions." John said. He looked around the room. It was long; probably about 300 yards in size. It had windows lining one wall that peered out into the vast ocean surrounding Atlantis.

"May I?" Harry asked, brandishing his wand and two bags of apple slices he'd pulled from the lunch line. John nodded, not entirely sure what the wizard was going to do. John watched as Harry went around and put the apples at various positions in the room. Then, to his amazement, Harry turned some of the apple slices into large boulders, just big enough for someone to hide behind. Other apples he turned into dummies. A couple of apples he took to the far end of the room and made a stage. And the last apple was made into another dummy and placed on the stage.

"What are the dummies for?" John asked. He couldn't see how they would help – none of his men could use magic. There were about five of them, spread out at ten yard intervals and scattered across the room. They were made of hay and had a bull's eye painted on their head. A 'wand' hung in the left arm of each dummy.

Instead of answering him, Harry turned and faced one of the dummies. He said, "Rictumsempra," but before the spell could hit the dummy spurred into life and cast a shield. Harry dodged the rebounded curse as it shot towards him instead. It burned a small hole in the opposite wall. "They won't be as good as a live person, but it'll give them an idea of what to expect."

John just shook his head. "Why'd you learn how to do that?"

"It's my job to train new Aurors sometimes," Harry explained, "and we're not always at the training fields. I learned to do that when we're on a mission so we can keep training if it's needed."

"Aurors?" John asked.

"They're like the Berniens from Lorena." Harry explained. John nodded, just as the door slid open and people started filing in. It took a while before Harry recognized anybody, but he could tell the difference between the two military uniforms. Those from the SGC were wearing green BDU's and black t-shirts. Those from Atlantis were wearing blue cargo pants and black t-shirts. He noticed that they grouped themselves by their base. Most of the Lanteans hung around other Lanteans, while most of the SGC personnel hung around other SGC personnel. It was only SG-1 and SGA-1 that broke the trend – they stood talking and joking with each other like they were old friends.

"Harry," Rodney called, "How long is this going to take? I've got other things I need to get to."

"It'll take as long as it takes, Dr. McKay." Harry replied. "I'm here to prevent the loss of lives, and I'm going to see to it that we minimize the chance of such an occurrence." He looked to John. "Everyone here, Colonel?"

John counted the heads of those in the room from his base. "Yep."

Harry turned to Jack, who was standing with SG-1. The General didn't even need to look – he'd been watching his men as they arrived. "Present and accounted for."

"Good, then we'll begin." Harry said, jogging over to the stage. He took out his wand and pointed it at his throat. "Sonorus," Harry enchanted, and his voice became loud and booming. "What you've just seen is magic. It's my job to show you what you can expect from magic users, or witches and wizards, during battle. My name is Harry Potter, and I'm the head of the British Auror Department, essentially a group very similar to your FBI. Yes, I am from Earth, and yes, I am a wizard. I don't think I need to reiterate the fact that the security level for this is far higher than even the Stargate program. Of the people in this room, only two knew about magic a week ago – myself and General O'Neill." That caused a stir from the audience. One SGC soldier raised his hand. "Yes?" Harry looked at the soldier that had raised his hand.

"So we aren't supposed to tell anyone else about magic, then?" He asked, frowning a little. Harry noticed a few of his fellows sniggering at him.

"No, Matheson, you can't tell anyone else. No one outside this room is to know that magic exists on Earth. Got it?" Jack raised his eyebrows. "We had to get special permission for Mr. Potter here to tell you all about this. So what's with all of these doohickeys here?" He motioned towards the dummies.

Harry and John shared an evil grin. "They're going to help with the training until we get some live people to work with."

"How?" Another soldier asked challengingly. "They're just dummies." John had to fight back laughter. Oh, is he in for it.

"Your name, soldier?" Harry asked, the Sonorus still in effect.

"Major Thompson, uh… sir." Thompson said, not sure how to address him. He figured that if this guy was the head of the British magical FBI, then he probably outranked him.

"Everyone gather up here so I can take this bloody charm off." Harry said, and the group stepped up just below the stage. Harry took the charm off. "Thank you. That's better. Now, Major Thompson, I think you were just volunteering to demonstrate what the dummies can do." Thompson rose his eyebrows, but didn't argue. A few of the people in the room who'd known about magic before now were shaking their heads at his foolishness. "Stand up on the stage here, in front of the dummy. Yeah, that's it." Harry watched him get settled before he got off the stage. "Stage Dummy, Test Mode." He said, pointing his wand at the dummy. Harry smiled – this was going to be fun.

A/N: And that's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed!