When the Light Goes Out

When the Light Goes Out Chapter 02

'Hermione!' Harry shouted, but Ron stood between them, his expression a cross between hurt and anger.

'How dare you come back here,' he said through gritted teeth.

'Excuse me?' Harry said again and took a step back.

'You heard me.'

Harry blinked in confusion. 'Ron? What's the matter?'

He stared at Harry incredulously. 'Oh, what do you think?'

'What?'

'You are unbelievable. You come back here, after all this time; I don't even know how you got in-'

'No! What? Ron--'

'Don't talk to me. I have nothing to say to you.'

Harry took another step back, then turned on his heel, and ran away. He found himself running to Dumbledore's office, and was just thinking that he didn't know the password, when the figures of Snape and Dumbledore came into view. They stopped abruptly when they saw Harry, and Dumbledore turned white. Snape simply took a step back.

'Professor Dumbledore,' Harry panted, 'something really strange is going--' He stopped when he saw their faces. 'Oh, not you too.'

'I think,' Dumbledore said gravely, 'that you had better come into my office.'

Snape, however, drew his wand, and pointed it at Harry. 'Do you think that is wise, Headmaster?'

'He is of no threat to me, Severus.'

Harry stiffened. What?

The three entered the office, and Dumbledore seated himself in his high-backed chair, behind his desk. 'What is your reason for coming here? Do you seek to kill me?'

Harry blanched, and his mouth opened in shock. 'Why on earth would I want to kill you, sir?'

'Well, I presume it would be on Voldemort's orders.'

Harry almost fainted in shock. 'Excuse me? Since when have I been on Voldemort's side?'

'Well,' spat Snape, 'you are a traitor to us.'

'Oh,' Harry retorted, firing up at once, 'and you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?'

'Why you little--'

'Enough!' Dumbledore boomed. 'If you do not wish to kill me, or any of my staff and pupils, then why are you here?'

Harry was confused. 'Well, sir, firstly, it's my school, and I practically live here! Secondly, I had originally come here to tell you that something weird was going on, but you're acting just the same as they are.'

'They? Who are "they"?'

'Ron and Hermione, sir.' Harry looked directly into Dumbledore's penetrating blue eyes. 'They seem to think that I'm some sort of--' He looked over Dumbledore's shoulder and frowned. 'Since when did you own a dragon? Where did Fawkes go?'

Dumbledore and Snape looked at each other in confusion.

'What is a Fawkes?' Dumbledore frowned, looking slightly worried.

'What is this rubbish, Potter?' Snape spat, his wand still on Harry.

Harry started. 'Um, Fawkes, you know, your phoenix.'

'Harry, I have never owned a phoenix. I have always had this dragon.' Dumbledore looked fondly up at the red and gold dragon that was nestled contentedly on a perch.

Harry shook his head. 'What is going on?' he mumbled.

'Pardon?' Dumbledore rested his chin on his long fingertips.

'Everything's changed. Well, not everything.'

'What do you mean, changed?'

'Well, just little things. For instance, the Fat Lady's dress is pink, not blue. The girls' bathroom on the first floor is abandoned, and you have a pet phoenix, not a dragon.'

There was silence, and then Dumbledore spoke. 'I see.'

'Oh, and we are expected to believe you?!'

'Thank you, Severus. Harry, what is your last memory? Before things changed, I mean.' He pierced Harry with his usual blue-eyed gaze.

'Um...' Harry frowned in concentration. 'well, I was in the--abandoned--girls' bathroom, with Hermione--' Harry saw Snape smirk, '--and we were brewing some--' He stopped for a moment, then decided honesty was best, and took a deep breath. '--Veritaserum.'

'Veritaserum?' Snape said icily. 'Potter, you do know that Veritaserum is a banned substance?'

Harry bit his lip, but he said nothing.

'Go on,' Dumbledore prompted, smiling faintly.

'Well, we had almost finished, but it started overflowing. Hermione put the fire out, but it still kept bubbling. So, I prodded it with my wand, and it exploded. When I sat up in the girls' un-abandoned bathroom, Hermione and the cauldron were nowhere to be seen.'

There was another silence.

'Well, it seems to me, that you do not belong here. You are not, thankfully, our Harry Potter.'

Harry blinked. 'Why? What's wrong with him?'

'He is...evil.'

'What?!'

'He...he joined Voldemort, three months ago. Of course, Voldemort must have poisoned his mind before we could get to him, so I doubt it is all his fault. Voldemort made him see the "truth". Or, more accurately, Voldemort's version of the truth.'

Harry gaped. So it really was possible.

'You have obviously crossed to this world, somehow through the exploding potion.'

'Well, what should I do?'

'I think, for the moment, while we work out how to return you, you should stay here. And, Severus, could you please find Mr Weasley and Miss Granger?'

Snape inclined his head, and left the office.

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There was silence in the bathroom.

'Well,' McGonagall said, after a deep breath, 'we will have to search the school. He can't have gone too far. You can't leave or enter Hogwarts by magical means, so he will be fairly close.'

'I wouldn't count on it, Minerva.'

Everyone turned to face Snape, who was frowning and biting his lip. 'Potions can backfire, have unexpected results. Potter could be anywhere. Outside Hogwarts, maybe even in a different world.'

'What?!' Hermione shrieked, 'D-different w-world?'

'Yes. Parallel, or worse.'

Hermione leaned against the wall, and slid to the floor. She began to cry again. 'Oh, Merlin, what have I done?!'

'Severus, is there... any way of bringing Harry back?' Dumbledore was very quiet.

Snape was silent. 'The only method I know of is for Potter to really want to be back. He must desire to return with every ounce of his being. But, I will check my books.' Snape nodded at the group, and swept out of the bathroom.

'B-but,' Hermione whimpered, 'Harry m-must want to b-be back! I-I mean, w-why wouldn't h-he? He has f-friends here, people w-who love him!'

Dumbledore lowered his head slightly. 'Yes, Miss Granger, but what you are forgetting, is that in this parallel world, things may be much different for Harry. James and Lily may still be alive, Voldemort may be dead, there are too many possibilities.'

'B-but what about us? And, w-what if the-there's another H-Harry there? What w-would he do then?!'

'There may not be another Harry. The parallel one may be dead or never even born. We just don't know.'

'S-so,' Ron stammered, 'he might n-not ever come back?'

No one said anything.

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