Chapter Eleven: Hermione and the Truth About Harry

A Blank Dimension: September 2nd 1995

"Hi Hermione!" Harry said brightly, setting his books down beside her. Remembering that they were in the library, he lowered his voice and asked, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Hermione replied, smiling hesitantly. "You?"

"I'm good. So…what do you want to work on?"

"Well, I have homework in Arithmancy, Defense, and Potions. What about you?"

"I'm taking Care of Magical Creatures instead of Arithmancy and I haven't had Defense yet, but I did have Potions. I'm almost done with my essay."

"Me too. Do you need help with anything?" Hermione offered.

"Not yet, but thanks for offering."

The pair turned to their individual assignments, working quietly for some time. Then, Hermione pushed her book aside and made a frustrated noise.

"Is something the matter?" Harry inquired, looking up.

"Professor Lupin said to pick a defensive spell that we want to learn, regardless of the level, and write down information about it and why we want to learn it, where it would be useful, that kind of thing," Hermione explained.

"So what's wrong?"

"There are too many spells! I can't make up my mind!"

This very Hermione-like exclamation made Harry grin. "You Ravenclaws," he teased lightly. "Why don't you pick…oh, the Patronus Charm."

"The Patronus Charm?" Hermione repeated, frowning. "I don't recall that one…" She seemed ashamed to admit that she didn't know something.

"The incantation is 'Expecto patronum,' and it conjures a corporeal embodiment of a protector," Harry recited, trying to remember what one of the books he had studied said. "Generally used to repel Dementors and other dark creatures that feed on emotion. It draws on your happy emotions to power the spell."

Hermione's eyes were shining. "That sounds fascinating! Where did you learn about it? It's not in any of our schoolbooks, is it?"

"Um…I read about it in…one of my dad's books," Harry lied. "I did a lot of studying this summer to pull my grades up."

"I've noticed. Your practical work is better than last year," Hermione commented. "Thanks for telling me about that spell; I think I'll choose that — unless you wanted it?"

"No, that's okay, go ahead," Harry urged. "There are tons of other spells for me to pick from."

"Harry?"

The Boy-Who-Lived turned and found his sister standing behind him. "Oh, hi Lila! How were your classes?"

"They were fine. What about you? Was everything okay?" Lila inquired, referring to the fact that this was not exactly the Hogwarts that Harry knew.

"Yeah, everything was great; well except for Malfoy and Professor Snape." At that, Lila laughed and even Hermione grinned a little, though she still looked somewhat disapproving. "Anyway, did you come down here for something?"

"Oh, I wanted to ask you if you could maybe help me with my Care of Magical Creatures homework. We're supposed to research hippogriffs. I'm a little nervous; Hagrid showed them to us and they don't look very friendly."

"Hippogriffs? Piece of cake," Harry assured her. "They're just like horses with wings, but they're very touchy and prideful. Just be careful not to insult them and do what Hagrid says, and you'll be fine."

"You sound like you're dealt with them," Hermione observed.

Harry almost blurted out that he had, when he realized that he might not have in this dimension. "Erm…the book I read made them seem pretty harmless if you show respect," he said quickly, throwing Lila a wink. "I think there's some information over in that section."

"Thanks!" Lila said and hurried off towards the indicated area.

Eying Harry, Hermione cocked her head and remarked, "That was nice of you."

"What do you mean?"

"Last year, you wouldn't have given her the time of day. You've changed, Harry, you've changed a lot…for the better, I think."

Blushing, Harry looked down and mumbled, "Not really, but thank you."

"How touching," a quite unwelcome voice sneered. "Really, Potter, associating with a Mudblood! And I thought you couldn't possibly sink any lower."

"I certainly couldn't sink any lower than you," Harry retorted, surreptitiously drawing his wand. "Really, having a Death Eater for a father must be terribly embarrassing."

"But having a Mudblood for a mother must be worse," Malfoy taunted, making Harry flush with anger.

"I see no dishonor in having the smartest witch of her year for a mother," Harry snapped. "If your parents were so wonderful, why didn't they accomplish something beyond kissing some idiot's robe hems? Oh yeah, they had you — but that could hardly count as an accomplishment now, could it?"

"Densaugeo!" Malfoy screamed, enraged.

"Protego!" Harry yelled immediately, jumping sideways so that his shield charm covered Hermione as well.

"What is going on here?" Madam Pince screeched, arriving on the scene. "Out! All of you! This is no place for a brawl!"

"You'd better watch it, Potter," Malfoy hissed as the librarian hustled them out. "You and that Mudblood friend of yours."

"Why would Hermione need to watch out?" Harry wanted to know. "She's loads smarter than you and me. How can you be so dangerous if you can't even beat a Muggleborn in class? You're pathetic."

With that, he grabbed Hermione's arm and stalked away, pulling her along. When they were several corridors away, he stopped to catch his breath. "Sorry about getting us kicked out of the library," he apologized. "I didn't mean to, but I couldn't let Malfoy curse us."

However, Hermione seemed to be astonished at something. "You said it! You actually said it!"

"What?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"You admitted in front of Malfoy that there's someone on this planet better than you!"

"Well, yeah, isn't that what you wanted me to do? I didn't actually plan it, though, it just slipped out."

"I never thought you'd actually do it!"

"Hermione, listen, I know you're smarter than me; you know you're smarter than me; the whole school probably knows it! Why is this, such a big deal?" Harry demanded.

"Because you're Harry Potter! The Boy-Who-Lived! You never ever admit that anyone is better than you in anything!"

"Well, that's stupid," Harry said matter-of-factly. "I see that now. Clearly, I was an idiot."

There was silence for several minutes, and Harry was starting to feel uncomfortable, when Hermione shook her head. "This doesn't make sense."

"What?"

"None of this adds up. Harry…what did you say to me last year, the day you stole my Transfiguration essay and copied it?"

"How should I know? I- I don't remember."

"Who are you?" Hermione hissed, seizing his wrists and staring him in the eye. "You can't be Harry Potter. No one changes that much in one summer. It's impossible! Who are you?"

"I am Harry Potter!" Harry insisted. "Like I said, I…I grew up a lot."

"No, it can't be, not unless you got a personality transplant!"

Harry groaned, realizing that Hermione wasn't going to let him get away with a flimsy excuse. "All right, all right…I'll tell you what happened, but not here. Come with me."

"Where? For all I know, you could be trying to kill me!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Hermione, why would anyone want to kill you?" Harry pointed out reasonably. "Besides, if I wanted to kill you, why would I go through such a complicated charade? There are easier ways."

Hermione did not look convinced.

"Fine then, take my wand," Harry said with a sigh, handing over the thin wooden object.

"Okay, okay, where are we going?" Hermione asked.

"An empty classroom will do. I don't want anyone to overhear us," Harry explained, moving down the corridor. "In here should be fine."

They stepped into the deserted room and sat down on a pair of old and dusty desks. "Now, spill," Hermione demanded.

"Privacy Charm, please," Harry requested calmly. "I know you can do one."

Frowning, Hermione complied. "There. No more stalling now. Talk."

"Well…you see…I'm from an alternate dimension," Harry told her awkwardly. "In the middle of the summer, the Harry from this world somehow switched with me…and so, here I am."

"Right. And your proof of this is?"

"Um…I don't actually have any," Harry admitted. "What would convince you?"

"Tell me about the Hermione in your world," she ordered, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. "Were we friends?"

"Yeah…you and Ron Weasley were my best friends; people called us the Golden Trio. We met in first year, when Professor Quirrell let in a troll. Ron had insulted you earlier that day, and you were crying in the girls' bathroom, so you didn't know about the troll. We went to warn you, but we were too late," Harry recounted.

"The troll had already reached you, so we tried to distract it, but that didn't work too well. Finally, Ron Levitated the troll's club over its head, and knocked it out. When the professors showed up, you told them that you had gone looking for the troll because you thought you could take care of it; I guess you didn't want Ron to get in trouble for teasing you. After that, we became really good friends."

"Wow," Hermione whispered, surprised. "Either you're telling the truth, or you've got a wild imagination."

"What happened here?"

"Well, Ron did tease me, and I was crying in the bathroom, like you said. The troll came in, but I managed to dodge it until the teachers arrived. I got away with a sprained ankle. Tell me some more."

"Hmmm…let's see…at my first Quidditch match, someone jinxed my broom while I was up in the air. You thought it was Professor Snape, so you ran down to the teachers' stands and set his robes on fire."

"I'd never!" Hermione gasped in amazement.

"You did," Harry confirmed with a grin. "It turned out it wasn't Snape, but Quirrell. You knocked him over when you were rushing towards Snape."

Despite her doubts, Hermione found herself believing Harry. He sounded so sincere…unless he was a great actor. "Oh my…did I break a lot of rules in your world?"

Smiling slyly, Harry announced, "In our second year, you helped Ron and I brew Polyjuice Potion illegally. You even stole the ingredients from Professor Snape."

"What!"

"Yup! You helped us get the textbook out of the Restricted Section of the library, you found us a place to brew it, you stole the ingredients, and it was actually all your idea!"

"What on earth possessed me to do such a thing?" Hermione moaned.

"There was a basilisk loose in the school," Harry informed her. "We thought Malfoy was responsible, so we wanted to impersonate Crabbe and Goyle and find out some information. You were going to be Millicent Bulstrode, but the hair you found was a cat's hair, and the transformation went wrong. Anyway, it wasn't Malfoy after all."

"Okay…well…" Hermione hesitated before suddenly perking up. "Harry, what do my parents do for a living?"

"They're dentists," Harry answered, confused. "Why?"

"I haven't told anyone here what my parents do! If you know…well, unless you researched it…"

"So basically, there's no real way for you to know if I'm telling the truth," Harry concluded wearily.

"Yeah…but, well…I guess I believe you," Hermione said finally. "Your story is just insane enough to be true. Besides, like you said, there's no reason why anyone would put this much effort into tricking me."

"Great!" Harry beamed. "This is wonderful! Now I don't have to lie to you anymore!"

"Do your parents know?"

"No, I haven't told them. Lila knows, and now you know, but that's it."

"Don't you think you should tell Professor Dumbledore, so that he can help you get back to your world?" Hermione inquired.

"The thing is…I don't want to go back to my world, not really," Harry declared. "It's nicer here…and much more peaceful."

His friend frowned. "What do you mean, more peaceful? What's wrong with your world?"

"For one thing, Voldemort's back." Ignoring Hermione's shudder at the name, Harry began to list reasons. "Second, my parents are alive and I get to live with them; they died in my world and I got sent to stay with my Muggle relatives. Third, I have a sister here. Let's see…fourth, it seems like no one is trying to kill or capture me, which is definitely a first…"

"What are you talking about?"

Reluctantly, Harry began to tell Hermione about the most important points of his life, starting from Halloween of 1981.

When Harry finally finished his story, Hermione was stunned.

"Wow…your world sounds…exciting," she commented slowly.

"Dangerous, more like," Harry grumbled. "I wish I could stay here forever."

"But, Harry…do you realize…if you're here, the Harry of this world might be…"

"…back in my world?" Harry completed her sentence. "Oh no! I never thought of that, I was so caught up with seeing my parents again…I've got to find a way back!"

"I think you'd better talk to Professor Dumbledore," Hermione told him gravely. "He could probably help you get back."

"How could he? I don't even know how I got here in the first place!" Harry exclaimed. "I just woke up one morning, and here I was!"

"And your parents didn't notice at all?" Hermione asked, trying to figure out how that could have happened.

"Well…they just think I've grown up a lot," Harry said with a shrug. "Dad gives me this funny look sometimes, but no one seems too suspicious…yet. And Professor Dumbledore hasn't seen me much lately."

"Still, someone's bound to get suspicious!" Hermione pointed out. She didn't know just how right she was.

The first staff meeting of the school year was drawing to a close when Dumbledore inquired, "How is Mr. Potter?"

All of the teachers, even Snape, exchanged glances. Finally, McGonagall stated flatly, "He's changed, Albus."

"Changed? How so?"

"Well, for one," Snape cut in bitingly, "he didn't complain about not being made Prefect."

"Say, Albus, why wasn't he made a Prefect?" Sprout queried. "I wondered about that."

"I felt it would be best if he focused on his schoolwork instead," Dumbledore answered delicately. "Besides, I'm sure Mr. Longbottom is benefiting from the responsibility."

"Hah! That clumsy fool," Snape snorted. "Responsibility indeed! I don't know what you were thinking…even Weasley would have been better!"

"Now, now, Severus, let's stay on topic. What exactly has changed about Mr. Potter?"

"His grades have shot up," Flitwick reported. "If he keeps improving like this, he could easily make it to the top of the class, barring Ms. Granger."

"Speaking of Ms. Granger, I noticed them studying in the library together," Madam Pince added. "They seemed to be getting along quite well, as opposed to last year."

"Hmm, anything else?"

After a moment's silence, Snape grudgingly spoke. "Much as it pains me to admit it, Potter has been flaunting his title slightly less. I've heard no reports of him bullying or showing off."

"Mr. Potter does not 'bully' anyone!" McGonagall protested. "He is merely practicing leadership skills!"

"Leadership!" Snape exclaimed incredulously. "You call forcing younger students to do his work leadership?"

"That is not the issue," Dumbledore diverted the conversation gently. "Does anyone else have anything to say?"

"Harry's been treating Lila better," Remus offered. "And he doesn't seem so…hostile to me anymore."

"Is it really a radical change?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Well, by itself, I'd say he was maturing," Remus mused, "but combined with everything else…it seems just a little bit suspicious, like maybe something serious is going on."

"Very well, then," Dumbledore decided. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll be sure to have a chat with Mr. Potter soon."