2 chapter 2

As Harry opened his eyes, he saw a smiling redheaded woman looking at him. His first instinct had been to say "Mum?", but he had suppressed that in time. "Doctor Crusher."

"Good morning, Harry. Sleep well?"

"I suppose. The bed was reasonably comfortable and there wasn't too much noise. How am I doing?"

"Surprisingly well, considering what I know happened to you yesterday," she said with a smile. "As long as you don't strain yourself, I think you can leave here. The only question I have is about your Anaphasic energy, but since you don't know anything about that, we'll just have to monitor it."

"I've been thinking about that," he said, trying to be vague about some magical theory Hermione had once said. "Does Earth naturally produce that, even if it is very little?"

She smiled at him. "I did research that and the answer is yes. It is almost everywhere on the planet in trace amounts, although some places are a little stronger or weaker than others." She leaned over with a conspiratorial look and whisper. "There are stories that some believe that the places with the highest concentration also support ghosts." She stood straight and chuckled.

Harry chuckled along with her, despite knowing ghosts were very real. "Ignoring ghosts, if the Earth makes it, maybe my body wants it? You know, like food?"

"It is an interesting idea and probably the best guess at the moment," she agreed. "I've considered something similar. Also, if you're from an alternate Earth, maybe this is one of the ways it's different from ours."

"Maybe," Harry agreed vaguely. "I know we don't have anything like this," he waved his hand around a little to indicate the ship.

"Since you have no family and you're old enough to be considered an adult, we'll give you one of the small extra quarters that we have and you can put these lamps there. You can sleep under them for a few days and then come here every other morning. If your Anaphasic energy levels remain reasonably constant for the next week, then we'll consider that good enough. Otherwise, we'll try something different." She gave him a questioning look.

"That's fine and I can do that," he answered her. "Err, so, can I get dressed and leave?"

"Of course. I have some clothes that should fit you. I'm sure the clothes you came in will be returned to you later today after they've been cleaned. I'll also have someone take you to the main mess hall for breakfast and then introduce you to the others who will help you."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"I'm glad we could fix you up, but please try not to do it again," she said with a smile and a wink as she led him to a place to change.

"No, no more wormholes for me," he promised.

When he came out, he saw another woman who was about the doctor's age talking to her.

"Harry," Crusher called him over. "Harry, this is Ada Winters. She is the head of our educational programs. She can help you from here."

"Professor Winters, it's good to meet you," he greeted her.

The woman chuckled pleasantly. "Technically, I suppose I am a professor, but Mrs Winters will do."

"Oh, Doctor, do you have the rest of my things?" Harry really wanted to get his things back, and he hoped even more there would be a working wand among them.

"No, but I believe Lieutenants Worf and Data do. I'll send word to them to bring them by. They'll probably ask you a few questions about them," she said.

"They're a few of the things I have left from my family," he said, trying to play the sympathy angle.

Crusher bought it and smiled. "I'm sure there won't be any problems. If you'll go with Ada, she'll help you find breakfast and get settled in."

"Thanks again."

"Good-bye, Harry."

Ada Winters led him out of sickbay, walking very slowly. "Harry, I understand that you're from the equivalent of our late twentieth century. Is that correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. Doctor crusher told me what they think that time was like despite not knowing everything that happened back then. It sounds very similar to where I came from."

She nodded. "Yes, it was a time of trouble for us but we did survive while some of our records did not. I bring that up because as they told you, we now travel to other planets. That means that we sometime meet others who don't look like us and act differently too. Do you think that will be a problem for you?"

Harry thought he understood why they were taking their time going anywhere. She wanted to know this first. "No, Mrs Winters, or at least I don't think so. I suppose there are a few things that could freak me out, but I can't think of what they might be."

Winters smiled at him. "That's good. I was asking about what we call xenophobia, or the fear of strangers and especially other species. Most of the crew is human or at least enough so to look like you and me. However, some are fairly different."

They stepped onto what Harry thought was a lift. Winters called out, "Deck 14, main mess hall." A beep answered her and he could feel a tiny bit of movement to the side.

"I thought this was a lift?" he asked.

"This is a turbolift. It also goes horizontally if needed." With a smile she told him, "Fortunately for you, I have a good background in history."

The turbolift doors opened and as they stepped out, a family of three passed them and stepped into the lift. Harry stared at the taller than normal man who was bald, a beautiful woman who felt like a Veela, and their daughter who looked a little younger than himself and also had the feel of the Veela. However, unlike the Veela, all three of them were very green.

As the doors closed, Harry blinked and took in a deep breath before looking at his guide, who was watching him closely. "Err, that was unusual. I assume they were some of the people you were telling me about?"

"Yes. How do you feel now, Harry?" she asked with obvious curiosity.

"I, uh, I can see that I've got a lot to learn and it's more than just technology and history." Green house-elves were one thing, he thought; but green people were another.

Ada Winters chuckled and relaxed as she started to guide him again, though a little faster now. "Yes you do."

— — —

Mrs Winters helped Harry order breakfast by speaking to a "replicator" in the wall. It gave him a breakfast that was similar to what he was used to. Then they found a table among the many that was in the large room and talked about his near future. It would mostly consist of tests in the basic subjects so they'd know where to start him in school. Winters also told him they would give him some books on history and culture that he could read as he had time.

She then showed him his room. It was like a small flat, except there were no windows and no kitchen. The large screen on the wall could function like a window, she told him, because it could show him what was outside. It was three rooms: a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small living room. It wasn't much, but it was all his and he appreciated it. It was also only one "deck" away from the main mess hall, which was always open. They had also put five different outfits in the drawers of his room, along with his original clothes. She showed him how to use the "new technology" in his quarters. This really didn't seem so bad he decided.

About the time they were done there, Winters received call to bring Harry to the bridge from someone named "Worf".

In the turbolift again, Winters looked at him very seriously. "We're going to the bridge, Harry." That was no surprise because she had told the lift that. "Technically, there aren't any active restrictions on coming here; however, you shouldn't do this unless invited. Captain Picard takes a very dim view of uninvited visitors unless you have a good reason to be there."

"I understand," he replied, matching her seriousness.

The doors opened and they walked out. Even though Harry had been told this was where he'd arrived, he had no memory of it. It was something special to behold though, very grand he thought. A quick glance showed that Captain Picard was not here, although a man with a dark hair and beard was looking at him with curiosity. Before he became too absorbed with his surroundings, he heard Winters say, "Lieutenant Worf? We're here for our appointment."

Harry turned and looked at the … man. The darker skin wasn't an issue, nor was the man's size - after all, Harry was used to Hagrid. But the bushy eyebrows and ridges on his forehead caught the young man by surprise.

"This way," the deep voice said before it called out, "Data?"

If Worf had surprised him, Data did more so. Just as green skin on a person had been a surprise, Harry had never imagined someone having a slightly golden tone. This wasn't a suntan brown, but actually golden. The yellow eyes were not expected either.

"Hello, I am Data." He held out his hand.

Harry slowly extended his and shook hands, but it didn't feel right. "I don't understand," he finally said, having trouble putting his feelings into words.

"If you mean why does my hand feel different, it is because I am an android," Data explained.

"What's an android?"

"An android is-"

"Data!" Worf called sharply.

The android looked up and nodded. "Perhaps that is an answer for when we have more time. If you'll follow Lieutenant Worf?"

Harry started to walk and asked, who he wasn't sure, "What kind of person is Lieutenant Worf?"

"He is a Klingon," Data answered swiftly.

Harry looked at Winters with a little bit of desperation.

"Don't worry, we'll discuss all the major species later today if you like. I can also explain about androids," she assured him.

"Thank you," he told her, suddenly feeling very lost.

A moment later they were in a room with a large table and Harry's things were there.

A pretty woman with dark hair and dressed in blue joined them. "Hello, I'm Deanna Troi, ships' counselor. I'm an advisor to the Captain and I help the crew make adjustments with difficult situations. I thought I might be able to help today and perhaps we could talk sometime in the future?"

"Err, sure," Harry said, suddenly feeling very tongue tied. He thought she was pretty although definitely too old for him.

The counselor smiled changed to be a little more amused for a moment before she started the meeting. "We have your things here, but we were curious about them because we didn't understand. Would you be willing to explain?"

"I'll try," he told her, hoping he could without giving too much away. "Most of these things are family heirlooms and I really don't know too much about them and I don't have the ability to ever create more. I, uh, I haven't learned enough to do that."

"What are these?" Data asked, pulling the two "sticks" over.

"Those are called wands," Harry said. "We use them in school for pointing at things and moving small things around. The teachers also use them for that, and for rapping us on the top of head when we do something they don't like."

Troi and Winters chuckled; Data nodded.

Worf scowled. "Our scans show something inside but I didn't see any holes or cracks to insert anything."

"I have no idea. I bought mine in a store from a man who makes them for seven gold coins. He's considered an expert in making them and one of the few who can," Harry explained.

"What type of cloth is this?" Worf asked as he slid the silvery material over.

"That is also a family heirloom and goes with the ring," Harry told them, glad that the cloak didn't seem to work for them. He'd be careful not to put it on in front of them. "I was told the cloak is made from an animal called a Demiguise. It's special because it's very hard to capture a Demiguise to shear it and make this material, hence why it's an heirloom and passed down. The ring is also from an ancestor and I have one named Godric from centuries ago, or so I've been told. I assume that's why there is a 'G' on it, but it could be from a different ancestor; I don't know much about my family since my parents died when I was a baby."

Data nodded at the explanation as he put the ring on the cloak.

"It is very pretty," Troi told him.

"It's only worn on special occasions," Harry told her, or at least he thought they were special.

"This is your personal item," Worf said as he slid the last item over, "but why can't I open it?"

Harry picked up the Mokeskin bag with a smile, glad to see that it had survived. He put the long drawstring around his neck before he opened the "little bag". "You can't open it because you aren't me," Harry finally said as he carefully pried it open and put his fingers in to pull out a few gold coins, something that would have obviously fit inside based on looking at the outside. He didn't dare pull out all of its contents to show it was a little bigger on the inside than the outside. "It's great for holding money and other small but important things." He held out his hand to show them the coins.

"How is it possible for only you to be able to open it?" Data asked very puzzled.

Harry shrugged. "I couldn't make one of these if my life depended on it so I can't tell you how it works, but it was given to me and I appreciate it," he said simply as he put the coins back and closed the bag before he picked up all of the items, although he did put the ring on his finger as it made it easier to carry. "If we could go back to my room, Mrs Winters, I'd like to put these away so they don't get lost."

"Of course, Harry."

"Thank you for explaining what you could," Deanna told him with a smile that reminded him of a few of the girls from Hogwarts, although Deanna had curves that few of those girls could match.

"I hope it was helpful, despite what little I know about some of the things. If I had known I was going to come here, I would have brought more with me," he gave them all a grin, "but this was a real surprise to me."

"Thank you," Data told him very sincerely. Worf half-grunted the same.

— — —

When Ada Winters had led Harry out, Worf looked at the rest of them. "I don't think he was very truthful."

They all looked at Deanna and she sighed, knowing this was the main reason she had been invited too. "Actually, he was truthful about most of it. The parts that weren't true seem to be mostly lies of omission - I think - and most of those came during the discussion of the wands."

Worf growled with unhappiness.

"Worf," she said a little sharply to get his attention. "If you were in his place, transported somewhere completely foreign, would you explain all of your secrets when asked less than one day after you arrived?"

The head of security's mouth twitched as he considered his response, obviously biting back several more crude answers. "No, but I don't trust him either."

Troi smiled. "I didn't say you shouldn't watch and observe him, just that he has good reason not to trust us completely at this time." Pleased that they understood her point, she left the two men behind. She needed to create a report of this and schedule some time to talk with the young man in a few days to see how he was adjusting.

— — —

Harry's head was spinning, or so it felt like. The rest of the morning was spent discussing the major intelligent species in the Federation and learning who the senior officers on the ship were (he'd found out the bearded man on the bridge was the First Officer). The afternoon was spent taking tests.

He felt reasonably certain that the teachers here didn't think very highly of his teachers in his "home world". There was no way he could tell them that he hadn't been taught at what they thought of as normal school for years. Fortunately, they were going to let him work independently so he wouldn't have the embarrassment of sitting in classes with the much younger students in half of his classes.

Harry only saw a few others near his age at lunch and they all were a couple years younger than he was. That was because by the time they reached his age, many had left their family and had gone to some university, usually on Earth, or in a few cases had left for Starfleet Academy - or so he had been told.

As he reached his room after his last test, he found a boy about his age but dressed in the red and black of Starfleet leaning against the wall by his door.

"Err, can I help you with something?" Harry asked, unsure what was going on.

"Maybe," the boy said with an amused look. "I'm Wesley Crusher." He held out his hand and they shook. "My mom, the doctor, thought that maybe you'd like to meet someone your age."

Harry relaxed a little. "Sure, won't you come in." Harry paused by the door as he'd been shown and let it open. Apparently it could sense that he was there. The door stayed open for Wesley too.

"Nice," Wesley said as he looked around.

"Nice? It's bare," Harry pointed out as Wesley stuck his head into the bedroom to give it a quick check.

"So, it's all yours," Wesley pointed out before he dropped himself on the couch.

Harry took a chair. "As you said, so?"

Wesley shook his head. "Sorry, it's just that I have to share quarters with my mom. Yeah, I've got my own room, but still…"

"Ah," Harry said with a quick laugh. "I understand. I used to stay with the family of one of my best friends. I liked his parents, but having them around did, err, restrict us some." He did his best to focus on his new acquaintance so he didn't think about the Weasleys, or really miss them.

Wesley laughed for a moment. "Yeah, that's one way to put it. I'm trying to get into Starfleet Academy. I passed half of the test but missed the ship to get there to take the rest of the test. The Captain was good enough to make me an Ensign for the experience, so I shouldn't complain too much, but it'd be nice to have a place of my own."

"It is pleasant, but it'd be good to dress it up a little, you know?"

"Sure," Wesley agreed, "but that will happen with time. Want to go get some dinner? I was relieved a little early." He smirked at Harry. "I think I have you to thank for that."

"If you say so," Harry replied, pleased that it look like he was making a new friend.

A few minutes later they were in the mess hall. Wesley helped him get some food before they grabbed a table for four.

"Maybe we'll be joined by someone," Wesley said hopefully.

"Oh?" Harry asked as he looked around.

"I can be hopeful." Wesley gave him a secretive look. "There is this one girl, but I haven't been able to really get her attention so she'll do more than say 'hi'."

Harry couldn't help but smile at that. It felt so normal. "I had a girl that would have hopefully become my girlfriend; but now…" He couldn't finish; he'd never know if things would have worked out with Ginny.

"Sorry about that, it must be difficult coming here."

"I'm sure it'll be great after I get used to it, but yeah, I really miss my friends," Harry admitted.

Harry let Wesley do most of the talking, just giving comments from time to time. When a topic was exhausted, Harry would ask a question about something else and Wesley started talking about that.

That continued after dinner as Wesley gave him a tour of the ship and introduced him to a few more people.

When they bid each other good-bye for the night, Harry returned to his room - or quarters as everyone else called them. There was no doubt he and Wesley were friends, made even more so after Harry had learned that Wesley had lost his father when he was very young too. However, Harry suspected that Wesley would have had a better time talking to Hermione; Harry thought those two had similar personalities and Harry could tell that Wesley was a lot smarter than he was, much like Hermione was.

Harry went to bed feeling very pleased overall. He felt like he could fit in here given time. The fact that his quarters, as bare as they were, were better than what he was used to at the Dursleys was a nice bonus.

[virtual May 4]

The next day, Harry was mostly on his own, at least as far as his schedule went. He sat in what passed for the school's library and started on his classes. He took lessons on the computer, which was so far advanced beyond the computer Dudley had it wasn't even funny, and only asked for help from a teacher when he really was stuck. He had only done that twice this morning.

For lunch, he went to the mess hall on his own. He had just sat down when three girls came over and sat down at his table. They were all a year or two younger than he was, or so he thought. The real surprise was that one of them was the green girl - an Orion he'd found out yesterday.

"You don't mind if we sit here, do you?" the green girl asked as she put her tray down on the table and sat before he could give an answer. When he didn't say no, or anything really, the other two girls quickly did the same.

"I'm Camillia," the Orion said. "Is your name Harry?" She was looking him over and not really caring that he saw her doing it.

"Yeah, Harry Potter," he said as he worked to pull up what little Occlumency shields he had, hoping they would help. He'd swear the girl was a Veela. "Who are you?" he asked the others.

"Fran," the blonde said.

"Lauren," the brunette replied before looking at Camillia.

"I heard you came onboard at the last minute, accidentally." Camillia gave him a strange look. "How could you come here accidentally?"

He was sort of prepared for this. He and Wesley had talked about it since Wesley had pointed out his appearance would be hard to ignore and rumors happened. Rumors had hit him at Hogwarts, so he was not too surprised.

"I'm not really supposed to say too much, but it was a transporter accident," he replied, using the excuse the two teen boys had come up with.

The girls looked shocked. Lauren finally said, "That hasn't happened in years, maybe not even in the last 100 years."

Harry shrugged. "They didn't tell me what happened, but I think the problem was they put in the wrong coordinates."

Lauren relaxed, mostly. "Oh, that's not so bad then. That's really rare, but not unheard of. I thought you meant the transporter didn't put you back together correctly."

Harry blanched and pushed his mostly eaten lunch back. Wesley had told him about transporters last night and how they worked, in more detail than Harry could remember, including what could happened if all the fail safes failed. That result hadn't sounded pretty and Harry wasn't sure he wanted to use the transporter, even if Wesley assured him the device was completely safe.

"Sorry," Lauren said very contritely. "I didn't mean to ruin your lunch."

"Don't pay her any attention," Camillia said. "There are a lot better things to talk about."

Harry didn't have to wonder too much about what Camillia was talking about as she slowly batted her eyes at him. If they had been at Hogwarts, he suspected she, Lavender, and Parvati would be close friends. He also guessed it wouldn't be too hard to get her into a "broom closet".

"It's all right," he told them, especially Lauren. "I was finished anyway and I need to get back to my class, such as it is. Thanks for stopping by. We'll have to have lunch again another day." He beat a hasty retreat. At the door, he glanced back and saw the other two glaring a Lauren. He felt sorry for her as he didn't think she had meant to do that, sort of like how Ron spoke without thinking so much.

So he didn't become too depressed, he ruthlessly pushed the thoughts of his old friends out of his mind and hurried back to his learning area. He really wanted to catch up to where he should be and knew that he needed a lot of work. He also didn't want depressing feelings right now - or really ever.

— — —

Sitting in his room that evening, Harry looked at his original wand - his broken wand. He also held the Elder Wand. At the present, he was waiting to see what happened. He had done a spell a few minutes ago and wanted to know if it tripped any alarms, so he waited and thought about his first wand which had been hidden in his Mokeskin bag.

Should he repair it or try to do something else with it? He considered trying to make a different kind of wand, like a ring, and using the phoenix feather as the core. However, even with the Elder Wand, he thought he couldn't do it because he didn't know enough. He wasn't too hard on himself about it because he thought even Hermione couldn't have done it.

After ten minutes had passed and no one came to his door, Harry pointed the Elder Wand at the broken holly one and cast, "Reparo." The wand moved back together and looked as good as new. He was pleased that the Elder Wand had survived and come with him. He suspected that the only reason he had survived the journey to this dimension was because he had all three Deathly Hallows on him, or in the case of the Elder Wand near him. That made him glad he'd put the ring in his pocket rather than dropping it on the ground in the forest.

"Lumos", he said with holly wand in hand. Satisfied with the results, he though "Nox" to turn off the light and hid the wands and his little bag behind the bottom drawer for his clothes.

He briefly wondered about Draco's wand since it had it come through also. It worked for him, just not well. Oh well, he supposed it was useful as a backup for his backup.

While getting ready for bed, Harry thought about his encounter at lunch. Camillia was something else and if all he was after was "a good time", he thought she'd agree; but he wasn't sure that was what he wanted. Fran had been very quiet, as if she was only there because of her friends. But Lauren, Lauren had tried to really talk to him, even if she had said the wrong thing. She was even kind of cute. Perhaps he should give her another chance, he thought with a smile.