Chapter Seven: Both Known and Unknown; the Problem with Harry.
Two Dimensions to the Left: August 3rd 1995
"Boy! Boy, get up!"
Harry jerked awake with a scowl. 'Who on earth is that?' he wondered. 'Who dares to speak to me like that? I'm the Boy-Who-Lived!'
"Boy!" His bedroom door banged open, and the most enormous man that Harry had ever seen barged in. "You ungrateful lazy freak! Get up!"
"And just who do you think you are?" Harry snapped back. "What are you doing in my house?"
"Your house? Why, you…your aunt and I took you in out of the goodness of our hearts, and you—"
"WHAT!" At this point, Harry noticed his surroundings. In place of his luxurious room was a bare cramped chamber. The bed he was lying on was old, rickety, and quite uncomfortable, and his pajamas were baggy and threadbare. A smelly owl cage housing his beloved Hedwig stood in the corner. As, he looked around the room, he began to wonder how whoever lived here moved around, let alone the fat man by the door. "What's happening?"
When the large man continued to rant, Harry seized his wand from his nightstand and pointed it. "Petrificus Totalus! You foolish man…wait, you're a Muggle, aren't you? And you would go up against a wizard? You really are an idiot."
"What are you doing? You can't do magic! You'll get expelled from that school of yours!" someone yelled. Turning, wand still raised, Harry saw a pudgy teen standing in the doorway looking positively terrified.
"Yeah, right, the Ministry would never expel me," Harry informed him. "Petrificus Totalus!" Satisfied, he got out of bed and went to a trunk sitting in the corner. Inside were some Hogwarts robes, a cloak, some school things, and a small stack of Muggle clothes.
"Ew, these things are ridiculous!" Harry muttered, tossing the hand-me-downs aside. He attempted to Transfigure a quill into a more decent shirt, but after several unsuccessful tries, he gave up and pulled on the robes.
"Vernon? Have you got that boy up yet?" another voice called.
"Who are you?" Harry demanded, poking his head out into the hallway.
"You! Boy! How dare you wear those…unnatural clothes in my house!"
Eying the thin woman with confusion, Harry was about to curse her when he remembered a picture he had seen long ago, a picture of his mother's family. "Aunt Petunia? What are you doing here? Where is here anyway?"
"What are you talking about? This is my house, where Vernon and I and Dudley live…and you too, unfortunately." Petunia sniffed. "Go and put on some normal clothes at once!"
"You have no right to order me around! I am the Boy-Who-Lived!" Harry declared. Suddenly, an owl swooped through the kitchen window and through the hall, depositing a letter on his head before soaring away. Puzzled, he opened it. "What? A notice for underage magic? What's going on? The Ministry doesn't monitor my wand!"
'Ding dong!'
"What do you want?" Petunia asked crossly, yanking open the door and glaring at the shabby man outside.
"Professor?" While under normal circumstances Harry would have been less than pleased at meeting his father's 'Dark' friend, the situation was so bizarre that he was actually relieved to see a familiar face. "What's going on here? Why am I at my aunt's house?"
"Harry? Are you okay? I heard the Ministry sent you a notice for doing magic," Remus Lupin commented, seeming worried.
"I know! Can you believe their nerve, sending me an underage magic notice! And where are Mum and Dad?"
Instantly, Remus' face hardened and he thrust Harry away. "Who are you! You're not Harry!"
"Wh-what are you talking about? Of course I'm Harry!"
"Why are you asking for Lily and James? You know they died thirteen years ago!" By now, Remus had his wand out, and Petunia seemed about to explode with anger at their "freakishness."
"Get those…sticks out of my sight!" she screeched. "What will the neighbors think! Get out! Out!"
"What's your Patronus?" Remus questioned, ignoring her.
"What's a Patronus?"
"That's it…you're definitely not Harry! Come with me!" the werewolf ordered, seizing him roughly. Before Harry could protest, Remus pulled a quill from his pocket and pressed it into his hand. "Phoenix," he whispered, and the Portkey whisked them away.
"What are we doing here?" Harry wanted to know when they rematerialized in the sitting room of a gloomy house. "This is Grimmauld Place, isn't it? Why does it look so…dark?"
"How do you know about this place?"
"Padfoot told me…now why are we here, werewolf?"
Although Remus was used to such little barbs, he wasn't quite accustomed to hearing them from a Harry look-alike, and was slightly hurt, though he hid it well. "I want some answers, and you are going to give them to me."
A redheaded teen poked his head around the doorframe. "Harry? Harry, is that you? What are you doing here, mate?"
"Ron?" Grinning in recognition, Harry shrugged and replied, "No idea, really. But why are you here? What's going on?"
Another person walked in; this time, it was a young woman with spiky pink hair. "Remus? Why did you activate your Por— oh! Wotcher Harry! I'm Tonks." She offered a hand, which Harry eyed contemptuously.
"Just what do you do, Tonks?" he sneered, making Ron and Tonks frown, while Remus shook his head.
"Tonks," the latter interrupted, "get Dumbledore! It's an emergency! This isn't Harry." With a confused glance back, the witch vanished from the room.
"What are you talking about?" Harry and Ron inquired at the same time.
"I don't know who you are, or why you're impersonating Harry, but if you've hurt a hair on his head…" Remus said in a menacing tone of voice.
"I am Harry!"
"What's going on?"
"Padfoot!" Whirling around, Harry greeted his godfather enthusiastically.
Albus Dumbledore entered just behind the ex-convict. "Remus, is there a problem? Tonks said you wanted to see me at once. And why is Mr. Potter here?"
"Albus, this boy is not Harry," Remus stated firmly. "Just talk to him and you'll see!"
"Mr. Potter? Well, what do you have to say in this matter?"
"I am Harry! I don't know why Professor Lupin won't believe me!" Harry cried, frustrated.
"Am I never to escape that title?" Remus muttered to himself, while Sirius snickered.
Dumbledore ignored them. "Well, Mr. Potter, can you tell me what happened this morning? I believe the Ministry sent you a notice for underage magic. Even more seriously, this is not the first time. You're lucky that a…friend of mine managed to hide the first two marks on your record, or the Ministry would have demanded your expulsion."
"I don't understand, Professor! This morning I somehow woke up in my aunt's house, and this large man tried to attack me. I think he's my uncle…anyway, I had to defend myself from him! Then Professor Lupin showed up, and when I asked him where my parents were, he started acting funny."
During this speech, the occupants of the room began to look more and more confused and, in Dumbledore's case, worried. "Your parents?" the headmaster repeated.
"Yeah, where are they anyway? Why didn't you call them?"
In the blink of an eye, Dumbledore had his wand out, and before Harry had time to panic, the world around him went black.
"Professor Dumbledore, what's wrong with Harry?" Ron asked anxiously.
"I'm not sure," the elderly wizard admitted, his brow creasing in thought. "If he's an imposter, the spell will wear off eventually."
Frowning, Remus drew his wand and made a complicated gesture. "There aren't any disguising spells or illusions on him, Albus. What else can impersonate someone this well? Even his voice sounds like Harry!"
"Could it be Polyjuice?" Ron suggested.
"How do you know about Polyju— no, on second thought, don't answer that," Remus said, shaking his head. "Well, Polyjuice would wear off pretty soon."
"Albus, this doesn't make sense," Tonks concluded, after a moment's thought. "This boy wasn't even trying to pretend that he's Harry. Everyone knows that his parents are dead. Why would he ask for them?"
"I don't know…perhaps Voldemort Confunded him."
During their conversation, Sirius had been staring blankly at his unconscious godson. Now, he looked up sharply. "Let's give him Veritaserum. There's no way he could lie under that."
"Sirius, we don't have any veritaserum," Remus told him wearily. "At least, I don't think so. Snape could brew some, but it would take a long time. What are we going to do in the meanwhile?"
"Isn't there some kind of Truth Charm or something?" his old friend persisted. "I don't like seeing Harry…like that."
"Truth Charms can be broken," Dumbledore pointed out.
"Can I ask him some questions?" Ron spoke up. "Either he's Harry, or he's not, right? If he's really Harry, there are certain things he'll know…"
The Headmaster considered it briefly before consenting. "Very well. Remus, revive him, but tie him up first. We can't take chances here."
Grimly, the werewolf did as he was told. "Ennervate."
"Wha?" Harry mumbled, opening his eyes to see Remus standing over him, wand aimed at his forehead. Frightened and disoriented, he panicked and tried to squirm away, but to his horror, he found himself magically bound.
"Ron, go ahead," Dumbledore directed the redhead, who stepped forward and knelt by Harry.
"Mate, what happened on Halloween of our first year?"
"Um…a troll got in," Harry replied, confused as to why his friend was questioning him.
"And?" Ron prompted.
"I think some Ravenclaw got injured, but that's it. Why?"
"Some Ravenclaw?" Dumbledore repeated.
"Yeah. What's going on, Professor?"
"Harry, what's the password to open the Map?" Sirius inquired.
"The Marauder's Map? 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.' What's with all these questions?" Harry almost yelled, frustrated.
"Just be patient," Remus coaxed. "What's your dad's Animagus form?"
"A stag."
"What do you hear when you get close to a dementor?" Ron put in.
"What's a dementor?"
Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus exchanged bewildered glances. Then, Remus had an idea. "Harry…could you describe the entrance hall of Potter Mansion for me?"
"Sure, it's white marble veined with gold, and there's a picture of my parents and I on the wall across from the front door. The ceiling's really high, with a crystal chandelier, and there are glass lights on the walls."
"What about the master bedroom?" Sirius whispered.
"Dark red carpet, ivory walls with gold designs, a huge bed in the middle of the room, with a gigantic window on the east side facing the Quidditch Pitch."
"That's unbelievable!" Sirius exclaimed. "The master bedroom at Potter Mansion has special wards on it; you can't enter unless you're with a Potter," he explained to Dumbledore, Tonks, and Ron. "James showed it to me once, but Remus and Pettigrew never saw it. By the time Harry was born, James and Lily were in hiding at Godric's Hollow. He's never seen Potter Mansion."
"Of course I have!" Harry protested. "I live there! Are you all insane!"
"I think I know what happened," Remus declared suddenly.
"What?" Ron demanded. "Did You-Know-Who do something to Harry?"
"Maybe…you see, I think Harry has been switched with another Harry from a different dimension."
"That's impossible!" Harry and Ron cried in unison.
"No, it's very possible," Dumbledore agreed. "An interesting thought, Remus. What do you propose we do about this? I think it's safe to assume that Harry, regardless of his origin, is basically the same person as the Harry from this world?"
Remus grimaced as he remembered Harry's attitude earlier that morning. "I'm not so sure about that, Albus…I don't think it's a good idea to send Harry back to the Dursleys."
"Why would I stay at the Dursleys? Where are my parents?" Harry asked, his voice becoming more and more frantic.
"Calm down, your parents are safe and sound back in your own dimension," Sirius soothed, though he still looked a little doubtful of Remus' opinion. "Things are different in this world, that's all."
His godson scowled. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to like this dimension.
It had been three days, and the occupants of Number 12 Grimmauld Place were missing their Harry Potter more and more. Ginny was completely avoiding the new Harry Potter, and before long, so was Ron. Fred and George pranked him until their mother forced them to stop, at which point they also disappeared.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the rest of the Order members mostly stayed away from him, and (luckily) Snape had not yet come by. However, Hermione was still having trouble believing that this was all real. She had arrived back from her vacation abroad with her parents just after Harry arrived.
"Another dimension?" Hermione shrieked, half in excitement and half in skepticism. "But…I thought those were only conjectures! You mean to say they really exist?"
"I don't see how Harry could know all the things he does otherwise," Remus told her. "I've asked him several questions about James and Lily, things that aren't commonly known, especially since they've been…gone…for so many years."
"So…what's his world like then?" Hermione asked curiously. "Is You-Know-Who still around?"
"His world sounds good to me, but personally, I wouldn't like to live there," Ron declared firmly.
"Why not?" Remus inquired, raising an eyebrow. "He told us that your dad got promoted, you have more than enough money, and everything seems peaceful. What's wrong with it?"
"Harry's a prat, that's what's wrong," Ron grumbled. "And from what I've heard, I'm a prat too. Have you heard the way he's been talking? 'How dare you do this and this and this; I'm the Boy-Who-Lived!'"
Hermione smiled a little at Ron's impersonation, but stopped when she realized that he wasn't joking. "Seriously? But…Harry hates his fame! He'd never say something like that!"
"Not our Harry, but this new one seems to love the spotlight," Remus remarked dryly. "Quite a change it is."
As if to emphasis Remus' statement, there was a yell from elsewhere in the house. "I am NOT staying here with that werewolf!"
"How could he say such a thing?" Hermione gasped in horror.
She glanced at her old professor, who shook his head in resignation. "This Harry doesn't like Dark things…or creatures."
"You're not a Dark creature," Ron asserted staunchly. "You were the best Defense teacher we ever had!"
"Well, Harry seems to think otherwise." Ron and Hermione exchanged sympathetic glances. It was clear that Harry's dislike hurt Remus deeply.
A door slammed upstairs, and a moment later, Sirius came into the room, looking weary. Without a word, he collapsed on the couch and groaned.
"What's wrong?" Hermione questioned. "Is it Harry?"
"Yeah," Sirius mumbled. "More like what's not wrong. That kid…well…"
"What did you do with him?" Ron wanted to know.
"Nothing, really. I warded his room so if we'll know if he leaves; that's about it. He seemed really upset that he couldn't leave the house."
"But doesn't he understand the danger he's in?" Hermione exclaimed, perplexed. "Doesn't he realize how important it is for him to stay safe?"
"He understands how important he is, definitely," Sirius grunted. "As for the danger…no, I'd say he doesn't. Apparently in his world, Voldemort isn't back yet."
"Do you think our Harry is in his world?" Ron wondered. "Must be nice and peaceful then."
"I hope so. Harry could definitely use a break," Hermione commented. "But what are you going to do about this Harry, Professor Lupin?"
"In all likelihood, he'll stay here for the rest of the summer. Several of the Order members are working on a way to travel between dimensions, but they've made very little progress. Chances are, Harry will have to go back to Hogwarts with you guys," Remus informed them.
"Hogwarts!" Ron yelled. "But…everyone will know that it's not Harry! He's just too different!"
"You have about a month to talk him into behaving more like our Harry," Sirius pointed out. "Can you imagine what would happen if Voldemort found out how weak Harry is right now?"
"He'd kill him in a flash," Hermione whispered, turning pale. "If this Harry is really as spoiled and unprepared as you say…he'd never be able to stand up to Voldemort."
The four of them sat in silence for a moment, taking in the exact meaning of those words. This Harry really was as spoiled and unprepared as they said. And if he stayed that way… then the war against Voldemort was, in all words, hopeless.