The World Beyond

Chapter Two: Welcome to Hogwarts

At first glance, the Great Hall was just as Harry remembered it as he, Fred, George, and Hermione followed the crowd of students in the second year and above through the doors and into the massive dining room. As per his memory of the room from his own world, there were four long tables lined up perpendicular to another, somewhat shorter, table. The seats at this fifth table were already almost all occupied by the professors, many of whom Harry recognized, though a few looked less familiar.

The students split apart upon passing through the doorway and headed to their appropriate house tables. Harry realized that he didn't know if his house table would be in the same place as he remembered, but before he had time to put much thought into this, Fred grabbed his elbow and directed him towards the second table from the right.

"This is the Gryffindor table," George said as the three boys sat down together. Hermione went to sit with Parvati and Padma Patil, leaving the three of them alone again. "That one's Slytherin," he pointed to the table to their right. "And those are Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff," he indicated the two tables to the left.

Harry nodded, taking it all in. He felt in almost equal parts that he was in a familiar setting and that he was in his first year again, seeing everything for the first time. A boy plopped down in the seat next to Harry and he was startled from his thoughts as he turned to see who it was.

Harry's eyes widened for a moment, but then he got control of himself as he remembered he wasn't supposed to recognize these people. The boy next to him was without a doubt Seamus Finnegan. Seeing the recognition in Harry's eyes, George quickly introduced the two boys, "Harry, this is Seamus Finnegan. He'll be one of your roommates. Seamus, this is Harry Potter. He's new."

Seamus nodded agreeably, "Nice to meet you, Harry. Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Wait a second," the boy across from Seamus said. Harry recognized immediately that he was Dean Thomas. "Potter? Are you related to the Quidditch player?"

Harry wrinkled his brow, "Um, no, no... I don't think so."

"Oh, that's too bad. It'd be cool if you were," Dean said. "I'm Dean Thomas, by the way. You're a fifth year? Then I'll be your roommate, too." The introductions completed, Seamus and Dean went back to the conversation they had been having since they got off the train, which sounded to Harry like a debate over professional Quidditch teams.

Harry turned to look at the teacher's table in the front of the room. Professor McGonnagall was there, as were Professors Vector and Binns. Hagrid was sitting down at the end of the table, as usual, and Professor Sinistra was chatting with Professor Flitwick. Notably absent were, Harry noticed, both Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape, but Fred's voice interrupted his thoughts before he could contemplate this further.

"You do have the sorting where, you know, where you came from, right?" he asked.

Harry nodded, "Yes, of course. But... does Professor McGonnagall not do the sorting here? She's already at the head table."

"Why would she do the sorting?" George asked. "That's a job for the Deputy Headmaster, not the Headmistress."

Harry looked surprised to hear this, "McGonnagall's the Headmistress?"

"Of course. Has been ever since the year before Bill came here. Why, who is yours?"

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry responded. Fred looked confused and George had a thoughtful expression on his face.

After a moment, George shook his head, "I'm pretty sure I've never heard that name before. Dumbledore? No, doesn't sound familiar. Is she..."

"He," Harry interrupted.

"Oh, right, is he..." George continued, but Harry didn't hear another word of the question. His attention was stolen away as the doors to the Great Hall banged open once again and the first years were led into the Hall. But it wasn't any of the students that caught his eye; it was the professor leading them.

"Is that..." he began to ask. Fred and George looked in the direction he was staring.

Fred nodded, "Deputy Headmaster. Professor Black, he's head of Ravenclaw house and Transfiguration teacher. He's not bad, a bit stern, of course, but a nice guy, all and all."

"Sirius Black?" Harry asked in a whisper, as if the shock had knocked his voice out of him.

"That's him," Fred said. "What, you know him where you came from, too?"

Harry tried to respond, but no words came out of his mouth for a few seconds. If he had thought Ron had changed a lot, it was nothing compared to Sirius. This was not at all the godfather he remembered. This Sirius was tall with neat black hair that fell just past his ears. He was fairly muscular, from what Harry could see; his skin didn't look like it had ever been tan and his blue eyes glimmered at the students around the Great Hall, but there was a serious expression in his eyes and on his face. The scroll with all of the students' names was clutched in his left hand.

"He's just so...." Harry paused, trying to find the right word. Nothing in particular stuck out, so he settled on, "different."

George leaned in so the three boys could talk privately. "He's not Deputy Headmaster in your world, then?"

Harry shook his head no, "Not in a million years."

"Well, he is here," George laughed. "Obviously. He became a professor here pretty soon after he graduated, I believe. I know Bill was in school with him and then had him for a professor. Which is pretty weird, if you ask me."

"He's fairly strict, you know," Fred continued. "Not much tolerance for our pranks. And a very demanding professor, academically and all. But he's not a bad guy. He's fair and he'll stick up for you, even if you aren't in Ravenclaw. He's got a couple of kids in school here, all in his house. I heard he married his Hogwarts sweetheart."

George nodded, "That's what Bill said. She was in Gryffindor."

"He's not a prankster?" Harry asked. "And he was a Ravenclaw?" He was bewildered. This Sirius was becoming less and less like the one he remembered.

Before either boy could respond, Sirius's voice broke through over the various conversations at the house tables. He called the first of the first year students forward. A small, blond boy stepped up and pulled the hat over his head. As the boy jogged happily off to the Hufflepuff table a second later, Fred and George turned back to Harry.

"He's nothing like the one in your world, then, is he?" Fred asked.

Harry shook his head quickly, "Not a bit. He's... well; he was, I guess, one of the most notorious pranksters at Hogwarts in his time. And in Gryffindor... I think. He's never said, actually. You two worship him, sort of. I mean, you don't know that you do..."

"We don't know we worship him? Are we daft?" George asked.

Fred shook his head, "Forget about that, George. I want to know why we worship a teacher. Especially one like Professor Black!"

"You idiot," George berated his brother, "clearly he's not a teacher where Harry came from. He loves pranks there, or are you deaf?"

Fred snorted, "I am not deaf. It's just hard to think of Professor Black as anything other than what he is."

"Imagine how I'm feeling," Harry sighed.

"Sorry, mate," George said. "So tell me, how do we worship him without knowing it?"

Harry glanced to his side, and was glad to see that neither Dean nor Seamus was paying any attention to their conversation. The students sitting on George's far side were equally disinterested in the boy's conversation. "When he was a student, he and his friends made a map. It showed all of the grounds of Hogwarts, all of the secret passages, and anyone who was in the castle."

"Bloody brilliant," Fred exclaimed. "We've been trying to do something like that! Our first attempt is in the notebook."

"Did it work?" George asked.

Harry nodded quickly, "It's great, and it works perfectly. And he and his friends signed it with their nicknames, so you two don't know that it's really them."

"So we have this map?" Fred asked.

"You did," Harry began. "But you gave it to me."

George looked surprised, "We must really like you, then! So you have it?" Fred and George both looked very excited at the possibilities this presented. Harry hated to disappoint them.

"I did. But... last year, it got taken up by a teacher."

"Harry!" George admonished. His exclamation caught the attention of a few nearby students, so the boys huddled closer together to continue talking. The sorting was still going on in the background; Professor Black had reached the T's. "We entrusted you with such a prized possession, and you got it taken up?"

"I'm sorry..." he began, but then looked curiously at the twins. "Why am I apologizing to you two?"

Fred smiled, "Who knows? You know Professor Black pretty well, then?"

"Sort of."

"All these bloody ambiguities," George scolded him. "Is there anything you can say for sure, Harry?"

Harry sighed, "Listen, do you want to hear the story or not?"

The twins quieted and looked expectantly at Harry. Fred drew his fingers across his lips as if zipping his mouth shut.

"All right," Harry continued. "I don't know Sirius too well because he was in Azkaban most of my life." Fred and George's eyes both widened but they remained silent. "He was friends with my parents, and when Lord Voldemort came after them, he was supposed to be their secret keeper. Everyone thought that he was, but he wasn't..." Harry paused, somehow tired of telling the story. It occurred to him that neither of the twins flinched at the mention of Voldemort's name. "My parents ended up being killed; their actual secret keeper betrayed them, but everyone thought it was Sirius. He spent 12 years in Azkaban for it."

"Who was it, then?" George asked in excitement. "Who was the real secret keeper?"

Harry sighed, "Peter Pettigrew." He spat the name with disgust he couldn't keep from his voice.

As the words left his mouth, Fred burst out laughing and George snorted loudly. Students up and down the table turned to look. Harry saw a couple of girls from the Ravenclaw table glance in their direction as well; he couldn't be sure, but one looked quite a bit like Lavender Brown.

"Quiet, will you?" he hissed at the twins. "What's so funny, anyway?"

Fred held up his hand, motioning for Harry to wait, as he and his twin finished laughing. The students who had looked up passed it off as simply more of Fred and George's typical antics and returned to either their own conversations or watching the sorting, as most students were doing.

"We really can't tell you," George managed to get out between fits of laughter. Fred was beginning to get control of himself, but George was still hysterical as he continued, "It's really better that you find out on your own, honestly."

"Control yourself, for Merlin's sake," Fred admonished his brother. After a moment, George did stop laughing, but there was still a mischievous glint in his eyes as Harry glanced warily at the two boys. "Wait," Fred thought of something. "So you don't have any parents, then?"

Harry shook his head no.

George looked sympathetic, "That's too bad, mate. But at least no one to be worried about your being gone."

"Well, I do have friends and such, you know. They might miss me!"

"Oh, right," Fred laughed. A confused look came over his face and he appeared to be trying to remember something. A moment later, he said, "You mentioned, who was it, Volde-something? Who's that?"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. He looked back and forth between the twins, "You mean you don't know?" They exchanged a glance and shook their heads no. "You don't have Voldemort here? You-Know-Who?"

"All these epithets," George said. "Boy Who Lived, You-Know-Who, does anyone you know go by their proper name?"

"He's... Voldemort is the most feared dark wizard ever. Well, in a century, or so, at least. And most people are too scared to even say his name, that's why they call him You-Know-Who," Harry explained. Both twins looked interestedly at Harry for a minute.

A spark of understanding came over George's face. "I get it!" he crowed. "You-Know-Who gave you that scar and now you're the Boy Who Lived. It all fits!" Harry didn't respond, so George prodded him, "I'm right, aren't I?"

Reluctantly, Harry nodded, "But can we talk about something else, maybe? It's not exactly my favorite topic of conversation, you know." Fred and George nodded their agreement. "All right," Harry continued. "How about you telling me what's so funny about Peter Pettigrew, then?"

"No, no," Fred shook his head. "That really is something best learned on your own."

Before Harry could question them further, Professor Black's voice rang out over the mass of students, "Professor McGonnagall would like to make a few start of term notices." The three boys glanced to the front where the Headmistress was standing up. The sorting was over and the stool and hat were gone.

"Thank you, Professor Black," Professor McGonnagall began. "First of all, to all the returning students, welcome to a new year. And a special welcome to all of the first year students this year. I hope you will all help to make this year one of the best Hogwarts has ever had." She paused for a moment. "Quidditch matches will begin again this October. Anyone wishing to try out for their house teams should see their respective captains. As you can all see, there are no new professors to introduce, so I'll move right along. Students will all note," with this she glanced at Fred and George specifically, "that the Forbidden Forest is, in fact, still forbidden." The two boys smiled angelically; she shook her head at them. "So, without further ado, let the feast begin!" The Headmistress clapped her hands and the four long house tables filled with food.

"Not very considerate of her," Fred said through a mouthful of potatoes. "She might have introduced the professors for Harry's sake!"

George rolled his eyes at his brother, "She doesn't know he's here, now does she?"

Fred shrugged his shoulders, but Harry smiled, "It's all right, I know most of them anyway. Assuming everyone is who I think they are."

George made to grab an ear of corn from a plate across from him, but paused midway as he thought of something, "You'll have to go talk to McGonnagall, you know," he told Harry. "She doesn't know you're here. I think she'd rather find out now, than when you start popping up in classes."

"That'll be a fun conversation for him," Fred laughed. "Yes, Professor, I somehow ended up in this world, but it's an alternative universe for me. I know everyone, but no one knows me. Or else, I'm just bloody insane."

Harry shook his head, "George's right, I have to. What do you think she'll do?"

"What can she do?" George asked. "Unless she knows how to send you back. In which case, it's been nice knowing you, mate."

"Right," Harry sighed. "Well, after dinner, all right? Let me eat this meal in peace?"

Fred and George both nodded their assent to this plan. Fred reached out and grabbed a plate of lasagna, scooped what looked to Harry like a very large serving onto his own plate, and then handed the dish to Harry.

Harry grabbed the offered dish and quietly served himself some dinner. He knew he had to do it, but of all the conversations he had ever had with Professor McGonnagall, this one figured to make his all time least desirable list.

------------------------

The Great Hall was buzzing with the excited conversations of students ready to begin the new school year an hour later as the Welcome Feast drew to a close. Harry scooped the last of a piece of chocolate cake off of his plate and into his mouth a moment before the desserts vanished from the table.

Fred and George were sitting across from him clutching their stomachs; Harry couldn't be sure if they were faking it or if they had really eaten so much that they were feeling sick. Based on the piles off food that he had seen make their way to the twins' plates, Harry was equally willing to believe either possibility.

The initial shock of ending up in a world that was not his own was beginning to wear off, Harry noted, but he had to remind himself every time he looked around that this was not the place he knew. In this world, Ron hated him already and Hermione had no idea who he was. Harry suddenly felt saddened as he thought of his two best friends back home. He supposed they were in the Great Hall at the feast as well, assuming that time was still running parallel. He wondered what was going on there and if anybody missed him. He could imagine perfectly Hermione's frantic face and could just see Ron telling Dumbledore in a rush that You-Know-Who must have done this.

"Why the long face?"

Harry came out of his dream world and looked to see Fred and George watching him. They both seemed to be over their stomach troubles by now; Harry figured this was related to the fact that no one seemed to be laughing at their antics anymore. Harry sighed.

"I just miss my friends, that's all."

"Well, we're your friends now!" Fred smiled. "What, don't you like us?"

Harry laughed ruefully, "I do, of course. I'm just worried, you know, my friends... what they must be thinking now. There are people who will think something truly horrible has happened. They're bound to have realized I'm not there by now."

"They'll be too busy eating to miss you, mate!" Fred laughed, and then saw the serious expression on Harry's face. "Sorry, not helping things am I?"

"Not especially," Harry muttered.

George reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a colorfully wrapped candy. After inspecting it for a moment, he passed it off to Harry. At the reluctant expression on Harry's face, George commanded, "Oh, come on, try it. Our latest invention. We haven't named it yet, but it's a cheering chewy fruit flavored sweet. If it works right, you'll be feeling better in no time!"

"And if it doesn't," Harry said, "I might end up a toad."

"There is that possibility, of course," Fred laughed. Harry shook his head. Despite George's promise of harmlessness, he had seen the effects of the twins' inventions more than enough to be unwilling to try one. "Try it, Harry. You'll need the extra happiness when you have your talk with McGonnagall."

"Oh, man," Harry groaned, still not taking the candy. "I had almost forgotten about that."

"She'll be announcing the end of the feast any minute, Harry," George shoved the candy into Harry's hand. "You'll want to be prepared, of course." Harry contemplated the piece of candy now in his hand. It looked innocent enough, but this Fred and George were far too much like the ones he knew for that to satisfy Harry.

"I'll have it later," Harry stuffed the candy into the pocket of his own robes. "I'll need it more after the conversation, won't I?"

Fred laughed, "'Spose you will. Good thinking, mate." He reached across to pat Harry encouragingly on the shoulder. Harry smiled back at him, glad to have simultaneously avoided offending his new friends and avoided eating the candy. After a moment, he turned and glanced up towards the head table.

Professor McGonnagall was just standing up. Fred and George followed his gaze to the front of the room as Professor Black clinked his spoon against the side of his now empty glass. The multitude of voices in the Great Hall quickly fell silent.

McGonnagall smiled, "Thank you. Now that our stomachs are full and the hour is drawing later, it is time for the feast to end. But before everyone returns to his or her common room, I would like to announce the Head Boy and Girl for this year. First of all, our new Head Boy is Mr. Roger Davies of Ravenclaw." She indicated the boy who stood up near the middle of the Ravenclaw house table. There was applause throughout the Great Hall, most noticeably from the Ravenclaw table. "Congratulations, Mr. Davies," she continued. The Head Boy nodded in her direction and sat back down. "And our Head Girl, from Gryffindor house, Ms. Katie Bell." The girl stood up to applause from everyone in the Great Hall except the Slytherins, who Harry noticed were scowling at her. "Congratulations to you as well, Ms. Bell."

The Head Girl sat down and Professor McGonnagall waited a moment longer for the Hall to get quiet again. "Now, if there is nothing else," she glanced around her. No one moved. "You are all dismissed to return to your common rooms. Have a wonderful new year, everyone!"

The moment she had finished speaking, the Great Hall erupted in noise once more. Students all around Harry hopped up and began to hurry towards the doors, but he remained rooted to his seat. Dean and Seamus ran after Parvati and Hermione as Harry watched Padma and Neville, the new prefects, round up the first year Gryffindors. Fred and George had stood up as well, but didn't leave. They both watched Harry as he watched the zoo of people around him.

"Now's as good a time as any," George said to Harry. Harry nodded reluctantly but still didn't move. "I told you, you ought to have had the cheering candy. Come on," he grabbed Harry's arm from across the table. "Out of your seat."

Harry stood up and moved away from the table. He looked back to the front of the room. The professors were beginning to leave as well. Only Professors McGonnagall and Black remained seating, and they were chatting busily and seriously about something. "I guess I'd better, before they leave, huh?" Harry chuckled. "All right, then."

"We'll come with you," Fred said. "Give you some credibility." Harry snorted and Fred pretended to look offended. "Are you saying you doubt our credibility? And you've only known us today!"

"Let's just say," Harry said, "that they're more likely to think this is one of your jokes, if you're with me." He shook his head, thinking. "But, I'd like it if you did come. Moral support, and all that..."

George nodded, "We're with you."

The three boys started towards the Head Table where McGonnagall and Black were still seated and talking. All of the other professors were gone and the Great Hall was nearly empty of students, as well. Harry's pace slowed as they got nearer to the two professors. He didn't really know how he was going to explain the situation, seeing as he didn't understand it himself. And the idea that they wouldn't believe him really terrified him. He didn't know what he would do if he wasn't allowed to stay at Hogwarts.

Harry barely had time to contemplate the possibilities because, before he knew it, he was standing right in front of the two teachers, flanked on either side by the twins. Professor McGonnagall looked up and sighed as she saw the two red heads, "You're supposed to be in your dormitory, boys. Don't tell me you've already gotten into trouble this year!"

"Why, Professor McGonnagall, I'm offended," Fred mocked hurt. "To think you would distrust us so!"

"Let's just say I have experience," she muttered. "What brings you here, then, and why aren't you in your common room?" It was at this point that she and Professor Black both seemed to notice Harry. The Headmistress squinted down at him as if trying to decide if she knew him, while Black just looked questioningly at the young boy. The twins seemed to notice the shift in their focus and took advantage of it.

"We're here to give Harry moral support," George said proudly, clapping the younger boy on the shoulder. "What are friends for, after all?"

Professor McGonnagall grabbed her bifocals that had been resting on a chain around her neck and jammed them onto the bridge of her nose. She leaned forward to look more closely at Harry, but there was still no recognition on her face. "I don't believe I know you. Are you a first year?"

Harry was in the process of shaking his head no when Professor Black said, "He's not. There was no Harry and certainly no one who looks like this boy on the roll. He's far too old, anyway." His voice was sharp, but not mean. Harry was startled to hear this Sirius talking about him. From this close distance, Harry thought he could see a bit of the Sirius he knew in this man's eyes.

Harry was brought quickly out of his thoughts when he heard Fred saying, "He's a fifth year. A Gryffindor, naturally, look at his robes. They're spiffy, aren't they? Wish I could have nice robes like that."

"Now, Fred," George chastised his brother. "You know Mum can't afford it."

"I know," Fred answered back, but McGonnagall held up her hand to stop any further response.

She motioned for Harry to come forward. He stepped towards the Head Table as she stood up and came around to meet him. "Who are you, boy?" she asked in a not entirely unkind voice.

"Harry. Harry Potter," he answered quickly and quietly.

"And you are in fifth year here?" Professor Black asked, coming around the table to join them as well. He seemed to tower over Harry as he stood to Professor McGonnagall's right.

Harry looked down at his feet and mumbled, "It's complicated."

"What?" McGonnagall asked. "Speak up, Potter, I can't hear you."

"He said it's complicated," George supplied. "Everything about him is, it seems. Trust us."

"Thank you, Mr. Symmons," she said crossly to George, "but I was talking to Mr. Potter here." George held up his hands in surrender and stepped back closer to his twin. "Now, Potter," she began again. "Why don't you begin to tell us your complicated tale?"

Harry shuffled nervously on his feet. He really didn't know how to even begin telling them what had happened to him; he wasn't sure that he, himself, knew. Professor Black seemed to see the boy's distress and motioned towards the nearest table - that of Hufflepuff house, "Why don't we all sit down?"

Professor McGonnagall nodded her agreement to this suggestion and the two professors led the three students to the table. McGonnagall and Black sat down on one side and Fred and George pushed Harry into the seat between them, right across from the adults.

Harry cleared his throat nervously and began, "I went to King's Cross Station this year, same as the past four years. My uncle dropped me off and left in a hurry, so I went inside and met up with my friends. I had been running late, so we all had to hurry and get to the platform. But when I got to the barrier, and tried to go through, I just... didn't..."

"What do you mean, you 'just didn't'?" Professor McGonnagall asked, pushing her glasses further up her nose.

Harry scrunched up his nose, displaying his own confusion at the situation. "I'm not sure. I... I tried to get through, of course. But I bounced back... At first I thought it might be like in second year..." at the confused look of the others around him, he waved that comment off, "Oh, that's another story all together. But after it happened, I looked around me, and my friends were gone!"

"Gone?" Professor Black asked. Harry nodded quickly, and the professor continued, "You mean they had gone through the barrier and you hadn't? That you were the only one who bounced back?"

Shaking his head no, Harry said, "No. I was going alone, and Ron and his mum..."

"Our mum," Fred interrupted.

"Yes, their mum. They were waiting behind me," Harry glared at Fred for interrupting. "But after... after, they were gone. I didn't know what to do, of course. I mean, last time it happened, I was with Ron, and we had the flying car..."

George's eyes lit up with excitement, "Flying car?"

"This story gets better and better," Fred crowed. "Forget about today, tell us about the flying car!"

"He will tell us about today, Mr. Symmons," Professor McGonnagall cautioned Fred. "You and your brother will please keep silent." Duly chastised, the twins sank silently back into their seats and turned to Harry to hear the rest of the tale.

Harry traced his right index finger in a nonsensical pattern over the table in front of him as everyone' attention was directed back in his direction. "I was confused, of course... still am. But I tried again to get onto the platform, and the second time, it worked. Everything appeared the same. I saw Ron standing over by the Express, so I went to talk to him. But he was completely different."

"In his world," Fred supplied, "Weasley isn't a total slimeball." At another glare from the Headmistress, Fred fell silent once again.

"Let me get this straight," Professor McGonnagall began. "You went to the platform with one set of people, the Weasley family, I take it?" Harry nodded his assent to this assumption. "And then, you tried to get onto the platform, but couldn't, and when you looked back everyone was gone?" Harry nodded again. "But once you finally got onto the platform, everyone was there, but they were completely different to how you remembered them."

Harry nodded once again, "Yes. I know it sounds crazy, believe me, I know..."

Professor Black looked suspiciously at Harry. After a moment, he spoke, "How do we know you aren't a dark wizard come to hurt the school and its students? Or even that you're not just one of the twins jokes?"

"I thought that at first, too!" Harry exclaimed. "The joke thing, not the dark wizard, I mean," he clarified. "But it's not. Or if it is, it's absolutely the most elaborate joke ever pulled off. But, with you," he waved his hand towards Black, "and everything, and I just... it's not a joke, Siri... Professor."

"Well, I suppose," Professor McGonnagall began with a weary expression on her face, "that the theory of the alternate universe has just been proven."

"That's all you have to say?" Professor Black replied. "What do we do with him?"

Professor McGonnagall sighed, "That is the question, isn't it? You say you're in Gryffindor, Mr. Potter, and a fifth year?" Harry nodded quickly. His fate was about to be decided. "I know no way of sending you back, though rest assured, we will be looking into it. As we don't know exactly how you came to be here, things will be more difficult..." She shook her head in thought, and then began speaking again. "For the short term, at least, I see no other plausible course of action but to assimilate you into the student body here at Hogwarts."

Fred let out a whoop of happiness, and then shrugged his shoulders innocently when everyone turned to face him. "What?" he asked. "It'll just make things simpler, won't it? We've already told a few people that he's a new student here."

"Define a few," Professor Black said.

"Hermione," Fred counted on his fingers as he began to name people, "Seamus, Dean, Malfoy, Weasley, Weasley... I think that's it. Though any one of them might have told others."

"All right," Professor McGonnagall sighed. "I do hope you have at least had the foresight and common sense not to tell people that Mr. Potter has popped up here from another reality?" The three boys all nodded quickly, confirming this to be the case. "Good. Let's keep it that way. Merlin knows what would happen with rumors of alternate universes flying around this place. I certainly don't need to have to deal with it. This school is chaos enough as it is, thanks in no small part to the two of you," she looked pointedly at the twins.

George nodded quickly with a grin, "We've displayed common sense and maturity today, Professor. Don't you think Gryffindor deserves a house point or two?"

"I do not," she said and the grin fell from George's face. "However, you and your brother may earn five house points each if you escort Mr. Potter back to your common room and help him to become acclimated with our Gryffindor House." At the wide grins on the twins' faces, she added, "Assuming that you complete the task without incident and nobody gets hurt."

"Aye-aye, Professor!" Fred mock saluted her. "Can we go now?"

She nodded at them, "You may. Mr. Potter, you will find a bed will be added for you in the fifth year dormitory, and your things will be brought up. I do hope you are able to make yourself comfortable while you are here, and we will be doing everything we can to help you to get back home."

Harry nodded, "Thank you, Professor."

The three boys got quickly from their seats and walked together back towards the entrance to the Great Hall. Harry glanced back as they passed through the doors into the entrance hall to see the two professors talking rapidly to each other.

"This way," George's voice called him back to reality as he realized he had been about to turn the wrong way right out of the Great Hall. "Our common room is just up here a ways," he pointed. "I don't know if yours is the same, where you came from..."

"Behind the Fat Lady?" Harry asked. The twins nodded. "Then it's the same," the boys continued walking towards the common room. As they headed up a staircase, something occurred to Harry, "Do either of you have the password?"

The twins stopped short, causing Harry to almost walk into them as he kept going.

"I knew it!" Fred moaned. "I knew we had forgotten something!"

"Maybe..." George began thoughtfully. "We could just bang our fists on the portrait until someone inside hears and opens it for us..."

"The Fat Lady would just love that..." Fred commented.

As no one could think up a better idea, the three boys continued up the staircase. The sound of heels clacking down the hallway caught their attention as they approached the Fat Lady. The boys turned to see Padma walking towards them.

"I was wondering where you were," she addressed the twins. "If you were going to be taking your time like this, you might at least have found out the password ahead of time. If I weren't here, you'd be stuck out in the hall." She then noticed Harry. "Who are you?"

"Harry Potter," Fred answered for him. "New student. We'll tell you all about it inside, come on, what's the password?"

Padma turned to the Fat Lady and gave the password, "Chudley Cannons." As the portrait swung open, she turned to the three boys behind her, "Neville's idea, of course."

Harry wrinkled his nose in confusion as he stepped through the entryway. Neville, a Quidditch fan? The boy he knew had been too worried about melting cauldron bottoms to think about something like Quidditch. Harry had no more time to think about this, though, because he now found himself in the crowded common room and Padma was calling for everyone's attention so that he could be introduced.

To be continued...

Scenes from Chapter Three: Introducing the Gryffindors

- "Which school did you go to before?" he asked. "I mean, mum's always said Hogwarts was the only wizarding school in the UK." Harry froze. All eyes were on him and he didn't know what to say. Even Fred and George seemed to have abandoned him this time; he thought he could hear Fred trying to hold back unsympathetic laughter.

- "What's wrong with her, why does everyone talk so badly about Hermione?"

"There's nothing wrong with her, exactly..." Padma began. "She's really sweet, and all, and her heart's in the right place, it's just..."

"She's a disaster," Parvati supplied, glancing at the crowd to make sure Hermione wasn't amongst them.

- Harry dropped the hand he had been shaking in shock and jerked almost unconsciously backwards, "Tom Riddle?" his voice squeaked unnaturally as the students all turned to stare at him.