The Little One with Green Eyes

--Canon Harry PART 2--

The Dark Lord's Castle
8:37 AM

Harry awoke slowly, his mind pleasantly fuzzy from a good night's rest. It was strange for Harry to sleep well, especially lately, as he's been so stressed out with school and avoiding Umbridge. Being constantly on edge wondering if your classmates would attack you for the slander the Daily Prophet had been spouting while avoiding a defense teacher bent on torturing you, was exhausting, but whenever Harry laid down to sleep in his dorm room, he was kept up from nightmares. That's why, when Harry awoke to the birds chirping after a restful night's sleep, Harry didn't want to wake up. He sunk into the comfortable sheets and heavy duvet with groan, wishing he could fall back asleep. Just as he was about to slink off into peaceful oblivion, however, the strange dream he had was called to mind.

He dreamed he went to the Department of Mysteries and fought a battle, losing Sirius to the veil before he jumped in after him, only to wake up in a different dimension where Lord Voldemort was his father! Harry cracked a smile at the ridiculous thought. He slowly opened his eyes and sat up on one elbow, reaching out to tug at Ron's curtain next to him.

"Hey Ron, I had the craziest dream---" Harry froze when he took in his surroundings, his eyes widening impossibly big as he looked around the lush guest room. He swallowed dryly as his mind came back to him, no longer fuzzy from lethargy. "Oh," he said softly, his eyes tracing the Slytherin-green curtains. "Not a dream."

He carefully pulled back the soft comforter and duvet, shivering as his bare feet touched the cold stone floor. So it wasn't a dream, after all. He really went through the veil and ended up in a completely different dimension where everything was completely different. And Sirius... Harry swallowed at the sudden swell of grief, and he had to blink back tears. His godfather was gone, probably in some other dimension where Harry could never find him again.

Harry was all alone. Again.

Harry walked around the guest room cautiously, forcibly throwing the depressing thoughts out of his mind. There would be time for grief later, but right now Harry needed to be careful and focused. Despite what the Voldemort of this world said, this could all be a trap, and Harry would be stupid to just accept everything he said as the truth.

Just as Harry was working up the courage to open the door and explore, a loud pop startled him enough to make Harry stumble, his hand reflexively flying to his wand. He spun around to see a House Elf staring at him sheepishly. "Little One's Papa is requesting Little One be eating breakfast," the House Elf said. "Dottie be taking Little One to the dining room."

"Okay..." Harry said, tightly gripping his wand. "And my name is Harry. You can just call me Harry. He's not... I'm not Little One."

Dottie just looked at Harry with confusion, her hands nervously tugging at her ears. "You and Little One have the same magic," she said. "Yous being Little One and Little One being you."

"Um... right..." Harry said, his eyebrows drawn together. He supposed it made sense considering Harry was Little One from another dimension, but he was still a different person. "Okay, but could you please call me Harry?"

Dottie burst into tears at the question, and Harry panicked, his hands flying towards the hysterical House Elf. "Harry be so kind!" she wailed. Harry relaxed, realizing that her reaction was to his manners and not his question. "Dottie be taking Harry to the dining room, now. Kind Master Harry be following Dottie."

Harry followed Dottie throughout the grand hallways of the castle, and he took the sights in with wide eyes. The castle reminded Harry of Hogwarts only grander, with more lush decorations and windows. The castle itself seemed to be larger than Hogwarts, but it felt different. It felt more lived in.