Opposite Sides of the Mirror

Opposite Sides of the Mirror

Chapter 1- Untitled

The sky was a pale blue as the afternoon sun shown brightly over the Hogwarts castle, casting a tremendous shadow on the Western side. Harry Potter stood looking out onto the surrounding grounds through the Charms classroom window. The class was resting while Professor Flitwick tried to figure out how Neville managed to stick all the desks onto the ceiling.

Ron yawned from his left, and Harry, circling around to grin at his friend's sarcastic gesture, stopped mid-turn. The full-length mirror that stood in the corner, not four feet from Harry, had just flashed a bright yellow. From next to the window he heard a barely audible crack. Harry was by now to curious to ignore it, for a slight split in the center of the mirror was visible.

He started walking towards it, Ron to tired to notice a thing, and Hermione trying to calm Neville down. With every step he got closer, and with every step the crack splintered, now elegantly scattered across the surface.When he reached the mirror he expected to see a thousand miniature reflections of himself. What he actually saw was a full-length Harry standing behind all the cracks; pieces of the mirror had begun to fall out in chunks.

As he saw his reflection mirror his befuddled stare, the image changed. Harry no longer saw himself, or his fellow Gryffindors, but was looking into a different classroom, as if the mirror had changed itself to a window. It looked exactly like the Charms classroom, except it was occupied by a set of younger Gryffindors, all of them he was sure he had never seen.

Harry turned to get Professor Flitwick's attention when the mirror flashed a second time.

A bright light was fluttering over his closed eyes when he woke. Professor Flitwick hovered over him with his wand held out. Swatting at the light the wand emitted, Harry squinted up from the floor. He couldn't remember how he got there or when he blacked out.

"As far as I can see there is no, ah...lasting damage."

If Harry wasn't having difficulties focusing on the classroom he might have missed that one anxious note that slipped out of his professor's lips. A pair of hands passed him his glasses and he was able to see the room clearly.

It looked the same, if not for his change of position. The Charms professor hadn't grown two extra heads and his classmates...his classmates were

"Younger?" Everyone gave a start as they heard him speak. Harry turned his head slowly, trying to find Ron or Hermione. They weren't there. He turned to the nearest group of students, only seeing bewildered faces staring back at him., all young and unfamiliar.

Harry, deciding to rise into a sitting position, looked upwards and saw the biggest hint that something was wrong. The ceiling was bare; the desks that were previously stuck onto it were properly placed in their respectable spots. Not a sign of any sort showed that they were once elsewhere. The desks had papers casually tossed on top of each, as if they were there all along. Someone coughed to his left and Harry was forced to focus on those around him.

"Are you quite alright?" Flitwick had cleared a circle around them, giving Harry some space to breathe.

"Yeah." Harry replied, "Must have hit my head." He made to stand up but he didn't make it passed kneeling. His head started to spin from the sudden movement. The students gasped as he fell back onto the floor. Harry could only smile meekly at them before the blackness claimed his sight.

When Harry came around he was lying in a stiff bed situated inside the Hospital Wing.. The walls were a bright white and with his left arm he shielded his blurry eyes from the brightness. His sudden movement alerted the person standing near his bed of his wakefulness.

"That must have been quite a fall to make you black out twice in one day." the slightly blurred Dumbledore, he could tell by the white beard, spoke.

Fumbling for his glasses on the nightstand, Harry placed them back on and looked at Dumbledore for an explanation on the weird occurrences.

But the Headmaster didn't give him one. Instead, he adjusted his half-moon spectacles and smiled gently.

"I believe when two strangers meet they introduce themselves." Harry only looked at him as if he had stated that he was going to permanently stick himself to a wall.

"Very well, I'll start." Dumbledore stuck his hand out and continued, "I am the Headmaster-"

"I know who you are." Harry's eyes widened, doesn't he remember me? He started to breathe faster, attempting to stay calm.

"Well of course he's heard of you, Albus." Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, brought over a steaming goblet and handing it to her patient. "The boy's probably heard many stories of you."

"No, you don't understand!" Every ounce of calm had by now abandoned Harry. "I don't know of him, I know him!"

Rather than show any signs of acknowledgement towards him, the Headmaster just glanced towards the school nurse before his eyes rested once again on Harry, plastering a warm smile onto his face. Harry switched his attention between the two Hogwarts staff members, a look of disbelief stealing itself across his face.

"You don't believe me," he clearly stated, his anxiousness present in his tone of voice.

"The circumstances are curious." Madam Pomfrey said, heading towards her office, "Now, why don't you drink that potion before it gets too cold?"

Harry ignored her comment and turned to face Dumbledore. He was peering at Harry through his spectacles but softened his gaze once he saw that he was being watched.

"What can I say to make you believe me?"

Dumbledore twirled his wand, making a red chintz chair appear. It hovered in the air for a mid-second then landed with a soft thump next to Harry's bed. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

"The last thing I remember before blacking out was a light coming from the corner of the room." Harry recalled the mirror and the events leading up to it as precisely as his memory would allow. Once he completed his story the Headmaster gave a curt nod and laced his fingers underneath his chin.

"I have never heard of a mirror crumbling for no apparent reason." he spoke slowly and deliberately. "Has this mirror ever acted oddly before?"

"No," Harry replied quickly.

Despite Dumbledore's warm smile, Harry was sure that it was only half-meant. His smile only stretched a mere four inches, barely reaching his eyes that were giving off a searching gaze. Harry shifted under his strong stare, though never looking away from Dumbledore's calculating face. His eyes stayed locked on Harry, his half-moon spectacles being the only barrier between the two. Giving off a small sigh, the Headmaster stood up.

"I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will have no qualms with you staying the rest of the day and night." with a wave of his hand his chair twirled and gave off a miniscule pop as it vanished. "In the morning you may come to my office in order to be sorted."

"Sorted?" Harry repeated. "But sir, I already know what House I'm in. I was sorted into-"

Dumbledore raised his hand. "I understand that you have been through this already, but we must take the right procedures. You are a stranger to this school, if I were to put you into any House of your choosing the effects may be drastic.

"I will leave the choice of your House to the Sorting Hat."
"But I know what House I'm in," Harry quietly repeated himself, the conversation was draining him of all energy.

"The only possible explanation I can procure at the current moment is that you have been transported into a parallel universe, here." Dumbledore peered at Harry over his spectacles. "This apparently is a different world from your own. Maybe here, you belong in a different House?"

"A different world?" Harry, who was sitting straight, slumped against his pillows. "Is that even possible?"

"I have heard of it, yes. For now that is the most I can come up with, maybe in a few days new evidence will appear, hmm?"

"How long do you think I'll be here?" Harry paled slightly. What if he was stuck?

"You don't need to worry about that." Dumbledore smiled down at him. "It is possible to get back. For the mean time, you will attend classes as you would normally."

Harry nodded deftly. Another world, he thought how can that be?

"I will be waiting for you sometime before breakfast. Do you know where my office is?" Harry nodded once.

Dumbledore lifted his hand and placed it on Harry's potion. Taking it from its resting place on the nightstand. "The password is 'Bertie Botts'." he said, holding the steaming goblet in front of Harry. "And now, I believe, it is a good time as any to take this." Harry reached his hands out and wrapped his fingers around the potion, bringing it closer to himself.

Dumbledore straightened, backing away from Harry's bed but still facing him. "I hope your stay here suits you well, however long that may turn out to be." again he produced one of his warm smiles, his eyes only having a hint of their usual sparkle.

As the Headmaster exited the Ward Harry let himself frown. Their discussion was nothing like the one Harry expected, even from Dumbledore. He had never talked to him like...like

Like I was a stranger, Harry couldn't help but think. Who knows what could be different in his new yet so familiar surroundings. Could it still be the same year as it was in his world? Or maybe, just maybe, events here were different form the ones he knew. What if he wasn't even alive. Who is still living and who isn't? Are his parents deceased? Is Sirius?

Harry's gaze turned downwards as another thought struck him. What about Ron and Hermione? Is there any hope for them here? Tearing his mind from such theories, he caught sight of the potion still clutched between his hands.

Sighing in resignation, Harry brought the goblet to his lips and drank. Swaying on the spot, he leaned completely back and let the Sleeping Draught take effect; the empty goblet clanging as it hit the floor.