Disclaimer: I own nothing. I merely like to play in Harry Potter's world.
Is that a wand in your pocket…? (Part I)
When the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs made their way back to Dumbledore's office they arrived to find that the Slytherins were already there and looking categorically bored, in a very Slytherin-ish way.
They probably don't know then, Ginny presumed. The Gryffindors approached in silence, the only sign that the Slytherins had seen them at all was a flickering of eyelids.
Ginny felt the Hufflepuffs move unconsciously behind the Gryffindors as though seeking a hiding place from the glares of the Slytherins. The three separate houses stood in silence, carefully avoiding eye-contact across the room.
The door creaked slowly open to admit a teacher whom it took them all a few seconds to recognise. His skin was still pale but not to the point of sallowness, his hair still lank but not quite as greasy and the most noticeable difference were his eyes; dark, a reserved quality for sure, but not as cold, not dead. Indeed, Professor Snape seemed almost entirely a different man except, of course, for the familiar smirk marring his features.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" He surveyed the room furtively his eyes falling on their faces in turn. Finally, seemingly content with their unworthiness of his time, he sneered spitefully. "Welcome to Hogwarts, I hope you feel at home." Snape gestured aimlessly, unintentionally revealing an unblemished left fore-arm.
Harry, Hermione and Ron exchanged surprised glances. It was going to take time for them to become accustomed to this change in circumstances.
"A Weasley, Granger and… a Potter… hmm, now this is a combination that I never thought I would ever see." Harry started at the obvious surprise in the Potion Master's voice. He looked up into the black eyes of the man he'd hated vehemently for most of his Hogwarts career and was startled to find them surveying him with respect, fondness even.
Where was this place they'd been sent!
At that moment Dumbledore appeared, with Professor McGonagall at his elbow. "Ah," he said, "I see Professor Snape has been acquainting himself with you all. I think these students will need all the defence against the dark arts you can give them Severus," he added conversationally.
The students exchanged glances again. Severus Snape? Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher? No wonder this school – world – whatever – was doomed. Draco Malfoy frowned slightly at this new turn of events, especially at the vaguely amiable glance Snape had sent Harry.
"I see we have the Hufflepuffs," Dumbledore continued. "But where are the Ravenclaws?" The Gryffindors shrugged, the Hufflepuffs stayed silent and the Slytherins reverted to looking definitively bored.
At that exact moment Sam, Michael, Sally-Anne and Luna appeared in the doorway, the first three huddled very close, the latter continuing to stare into space as was customary. They looked like they'd seen a ghost; in fact Sally-Anne looked very close to tears. When they saw the Hufflepuffs they sighed in relief, but still looked edgily around the room as though expecting to be jumped out at at any moment.
The Gryffindors swapped intrigued looks for the third time in nearly as many minutes. Harry resolved to ask them about it later, he wondered if they knew about Tom Riddle – Voldemort – yet. It would take a long time to get used to; he contemplated the consequences of Voldemort's death, still not quite being able to comprehend just how many things must have changed.
"Well since you're all here, we shall begin." Professor Dumbledore pushed his glasses up his nose, looking rather older than Harry had ever seen him. He produced a scroll and quill which Harry recognised as being similar to the one Rite Skeeter used to write her notes about him. Setting them upright on the desk, the headmaster surveyed them all thoughtfully. "If I could have your name, house and year please," he indicated.
Sally-Anne stuttered out her name first and they went around the group ending with Daphne Greengrass, the Slytherin fifth year whom Harry hadn't recognised.
"Interesting," the headmaster said, looking at the list. "Very interesting."
"Sorry Sir, "Hermione started. "But what's interesting?"
"Well you see Miss Granger, a lot of these surnames you have given me, we already have at this school but with different forenames attached and, no doubt, different personalities."
There was a clamour of noise as the students went into uproar, firing questions loudly at each other, the teachers and generally anyone who would listen. Dumbledore gestured for quiet while professors Snape and McGonagall merely looked on disapprovingly at the noise.
"We know what's different, Sir," Draco Malfoy's voice came out coldly above everyone else's. A lot could be said about him, but he had a presence that demanded attention when he wished to say something. "We know how this… place… differs from our own. But if this can have happened in the first place, then there must be a way of reversing it."
"What is this change you speak of?" Professor Snape asked coldly.
Draco met his eyes uncertainly before continuing. "In the Astronomy Tower there was a memorial to a student, Tom Riddle, who died when he was fourteen. In our world this never happened." He spoke almost triumphantly expecting the other students to know nothing of this revelation but quickly hid his disappointment when no one appeared shocked.
Dumbledore nodded. Harry was surprised to see that this piece of information fazed him little. How could he have known? The question hung prominently in Harry's mind. Yes, Dumbledore was very powerful but he couldn't know everything, could he?
"Yes, well, until we find a way to send you back to your 'world'" the headmaster continued, "you shall continue your education here, no doubt learning the same things you would have learnt in your own time. I shall put my energies into finding out how this could have happened."
Harry glanced quickly around at his friends faces. Hermione was nodding sombrely in agreement, but no one else looked very happy. "How will you explain in to the other students though?" he asked curiously.
"Yes," agreed Michael, "because if, as you say, there are people here of the same surnames as us… doesn't that make them – technically – our brothers or sisters? Or… us… as we would have been in different circumstances?" He shook his head as though trying to make sense of it all.
"It is a little confusing isn't it?" Dumbledore agreed mildly. But Harry could see an almost mischievous twinkle behind his glasses but it vanished as quickly as it came leaving him to wonder if it had been his imagination. "The students in this school question little," he told them. "They are too wrapped up in themselves and their own disputes to wonder about anything." Harry detected disappointment in his voice and wondered at it. "However, I think it is best if we find each of you a different name and various glamours to hide obvious parts of your identities." His eyes strayed to Ron's hair and Harry's eyes.
"And what? Just let us loose in a world where we have no idea what to do, or how things are?" Draco exclaimed impolitely. "Where will we sleep? What houses will we be in?" He almost followed it up with a 'my father will hear of this' but caught himself just in time.
"Mr Malfoy," Snape addressed him coolly. "The headmaster has no doubt thought about these things. Unless you'd like to go and live in the Forbidden Forest I suggest you hold your tongue."
Dumbledore continued as though the interruption had not happened. "I think it would be most appropriate for you to stay in the same houses you are at the moment." The old wizard looked around as though to see if anyone had a problem with this, he seemed slightly surprised when they did not. "We have a room on the top floor known as the Room of Requirement, where I'm sure you will find comfortable quarters for each of you. You will be visited individually by the heads of your houses and given your pseudonyms and specific glamours which you will need to wear at all times."
Although they each burned with unanswered questions, his word seemed to be final and he moved aside so that they could file out of the door. The students moved in silence to the seventh floor, the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws clumped together, seeking safety in numbers. The Slytherins stood apart at the back seeming nearly as cold to each other as they were towards the other houses.
On his way out Harry noticed the twinkle dancing in Dumbledore's eye. It was almost as if he was happy to see them despite the inexplicable circumstances. Almost as if he wanted them here. Harry wrinkled his brow… so maybe they weren't here by accident… maybe for a reason.
"Ah, Potter," McGonagall looked at him curiously over her glasses as he entered the small interview room that had been set up. She glanced down at her list. "Harry, is it?" she checked rhetorically.
Harry nodded. It was weird; he'd known the professor since he was eleven and she barely recognised him.
She surveyed him critically looking from his scar and glasses to his lanky but slim frame. "Well I'll have to change your eye colour," she muttered. "Can't have you looking too similar to Dwayne…"
"Who?" he asked even as she took his glasses off and began waving her wand experimentally.
"Dwayne Potter," she said. "He must be… the same age as you, possibly a little older. You look very similar."
"I have a brother?" Harry asked in shock. He hadn't really thought about it, but now that he did, he was overwhelmed. It meant that his parents were… alive. He felt a sensation in his chest, something strong and all-consuming. Much like his heart was bursting.
"Oh, yes, I suppose you could call him that." The witch frowned slightly seemingly as at a loss for the situation as Harry himself was. "You have a 'sister' as well," she continued. "Eloise Potter. Exceptionally bright girl," she added.
The Boy Who Lived was speechless, and happier than he ever remembered being. He had family and he'd be able to meet them! He'd be able to see his parents and fulfil his dearest desire, as shown to him by the Mirror of Erised. In a heartbeat he didn't care if they never returned home.
The Transfiguration Professor smiled at his dumbstruck expression. "Right, well you won't be needing glasses whilst you have this glamour on." She held up a mirror for him and he found himself staring into unfamiliar blue eyes. "We have decided to keep your forenames, but if anyone asks your surname either avoid the question or tell them – she checked her list again – 'Mason'. If the glamour becomes uncomfortable at all, please come and see me again." She gestured for him to go and he complied, still feeling as though he was in a dream.
Once all the Gryffindors had been to see McGonagall they sat in the small sleeping quarters allotted to them within the vast series of rooms the Room of Requirement had become. They sat in stunned silence.
Harry's wasn't the only appearance which had changed; Hermione now had glasses and freckles, Ron's hair had been changed from the autograph red to a light brown and Ginny had reappeared without freckles and her own red hair had been darkened from the natural orange tint to being much darker and nearer brown. Although in each case the change was only minimal, they were things that Harry automatically associated with the person, and so, looking at them now, he felt as though he barely knew the people around him.
Except of course that Hermione was itching to get to the library and read about everything that had happened in the last fifty years. Ron was muttering because he had been told that he had two twin sisters in Ravenclaw and a younger brother in Hufflepuff. Ginny was excited for the same reasons.
"I've never had Weasley girls to talk to before!" she kept exclaiming happily.
Harry wondered how the other houses were getting on, and if he would actually recognise them when he saw them again. He also thought about the next day; Monday, when the students would return. They'd all been given their timetables, which pretty much matched in the cases of Harry, Ron and Hermione; Ginny of course was the year below and would be spending the time on her own with the sixth years: she had looked quite terrified at the prospect. They still weren't entirely sure how Dumbledore was going to introduce them either.
The black-haired boy felt a mixture of anticipation and trepidation about the next day, mainly because he didn't know what to expect. How different could this world really be?