Raising Danger
The Multiverse Fact

“Where are we?” Ron asked, shaking his head.

“Hogwarts,” Meghan said, looking perplexed.

“No,” Hermione looked around, “This place is more like Hogwarts than Hogwarts is.”

No one could argue with Hermione's words, and as one they turned towards the doors to the castle and walked in, automatically turning towards the Great Hall.

What they found there surprised them: there were ten people there in pandemonium.

“Excuse me, what's going on?” Harry asked them when they'd been standing there unnoticed for a bit.

A man who looked distinctly like a lion stood up.  “That's what we want to know.  How did you learn the oath, when none of us gave it to you?”

Luna spoke up, “I had a dream last night, telling me what I had to do today.”

“Alex?”  The lion like man turned towards a younger man with dark hair.

“It wasn't me this time.”

“Girls?”  A woman with white hair turned towards three women grouped together.

“We didn't interfere.”

“Excuse me,” Harry spoke again, “What's going on?”

Everyone in front of them tried to speak at once, and the young adults took a step backwards involuntarily to get away from the loudness.  Suddenly, the woman with the white hair spoke out, “Enough, I will speak to them about this.”  Immediately everyone stopped talking, and deferred to her.

She sat down, and a chair conveniently formed beneath her.  “Please, be seated,” She said, unconsciously slipping into the tone of voice that teachers use.  “Are any of you aware of the multiverse theory?”

Harry watched as everyone but Luna looked at her in confusion, while Luna seemed particularly pleased at knowing this piece of knowledge.

“Luna,” she said, for all the world like a teacher calling upon a pupil.

“Multiverse is the idea that there are many similar worlds to our own, in which anything that could possibly happen, does happen.”  For once Harry remembered why Luna was a Ravenclaw.  If it was something that interested her, she could be very intelligent.

“Very good.  Now, the thing is, the multiverse theory is not, in fact, a theory, it is a fact.  There are a multitude of universes, and they generally fall into three categories.”

Harry hesitantly tried to sit the way the woman had, and found a chair forming underneath him.  The others quickly followed suit, and Harry noticed that Hermione had out a notebook and a quill and appeared to be ready to take notes.  He smiled at the contrast between the easier to use muggle notebook and the wizarding quill that she had gotten so used to.

“The first world branches away from the other two shortly after the time of Merlin.  Instead of England's wizards and witches coming together to learn, they became more and more separated.  As wizards and witches became more and more reclusive, they stopped marrying each other, and even went so far as to become hermits, guaranteeing that magic left England.  The witch-hunts later guaranteed that the last remnants faded, and the wizarding world as you know it, did not exist.  Although, in the late nineties, a woman of that universe turned out to be very receptive to the second universe, and wrote stories about the happenings of the wizarding world as fiction for the masses.  And as it became more and more popular, more and more people of that generation became receptive to the second universe.  And then one day, a young woman became receptive to the third universe, and every day more people become receptive to that universe too.  There are probably more minor universes, but nearly all of those can fall under the broader category of the second universe.”

“Which universe are we from?”  Hermione asked, as the woman stopped for a breath.”

“I'll get to that,” She said, stilling Hermione's question with a look, “The other two universes branch off at the times of the Hogwarts Founders, shortly after they formed the school, but before the rift between Salazar Slytherin and the others.  The worlds divided because of,” she paused for a moment, “Rowena Ravenclaw.  There were two men that were both in love with her.  In one universe she married one man, and in the other universe she married the other.  In universe two, she had a daughter, Helena, who died tragically, and became the Gray Lady at Hogwarts.  Her marriage was hurt terribly by it, and she died of heartbreak.  In universe three she had three daughters, Margaret, Brenna, and Sophia.  The only trouble with her family was that Margaret was a squib, and while her husband died before her, Rowena did not die of a broken heart.”

“That makes no sense,” Hermione interjected, “Harry spoke to Helena, she was your daughter.  But these three are clearly your daughters too.”

Rowena smiled slightly, “Points to Gryffindor.  There are certain characteristics that distinguish between Universe two and three, other than my children.  The biggest of which is that in universe two, there is no Danger, but in universe three, there is.”

Harry scoffed, “If you're trying to tell me that there was no danger in my life, then you must have your facts crossed.”

Rowena looked confused for a moment, then began to laugh a bit.  Ron gave her a look that clearly said that he thought she was barmy.

“Harry, in universe two, you were sent to live with your Aunt and Uncle, and lived with them until you went to Hogwarts, where you met Ron and Hermione your first year.  You went back to their place each summer, to reinstate the bloodwards there, in spite of their abusiveness.”  Max looked startled at this, and gave Harry a considering look.

“In universe three, Hermione's parents had a daughter before her, nicknamed Danger Granger.  She was twenty years older than her, and after their parents were killed, she raised Hermione herself.  The two of them lived in Surrey, and Danger became your babysitter.  A chance meeting with Remus Lupin in a park and the fact that we were supplying her with prophetic dreams showed the two of them that Sirius Black was innocent of murder.  Remus and Danger met with an old friend of theirs, and the three of them concocted a plan to kidnap you Harry, and break Sirius out of jail.  The four adults went into hiding with you and Hermione.  Remus and Danger married, and Aletha and Sirius married.  Aletha became pregnant, and gave birth to Meghan,” Everyone swiveled to look at Meghan, and even her dark skin couldn't hide her blush.  “After Lucius Malfoy kidnapped all of you, Narcissa released you all and promised to turn Lucius in in exchange for one thing, for the adults to raise Draco in a loving home.  Harry, Hermione, Meghan and Draco were raised as brothers and sisters.”

“What?”  Everyone but Luna, Meghan, and Ginny exclaimed at that statement, but were too dumbfounded to say anything else.

“Your family swore the oath that you spoke earlier, and became known as the Pack.  You four became friends with Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna, and after your first year of Hogwarts, the eight of you also spoke this pact, and became known as the Pride.”

“So what would we be?” Neville asked, speaking up for the first time.

“You'd be the Pride,” Rowena said calmly.

“Even without Draco?” Meghan asked, not knowing the boy, the question wasn't asked with hostility.  But Rowena was silent.

Max looked around for a moment, before steeling his nerves.  “I think that there's something that I should tell you.  Or maybe show you.”

Everyone turned to look at him, except Luna.  Hermione seemed to have already put the pieces together and was staring at him wide eyed.  Suddenly, he had a wand in his hand, and was casting finite.  For a moment everything was still.

The next moment the all too familiar site of Ron Weasley punching Draco Malfoy was seen, before Rowena froze them all in place with a wave of her hand.

“The most important fact that must be addressed is this.  You have moved from universe two, to three, because of one fact.  Danger Granger was born, nearly forty years later than she should have been, this is bumped you into another universe, and someone other than us appears to be meddling.”