"We may also want to change his name and appearance so no one recognizes him. I'd better alert Nicholas and Pernelle what is going on. They've always had a special place in their hearts for our Mr. Potter. Fawkes? Can you take this note to the Flamels? Thank you.
"While we're waiting for them, let us endeavor to get Mr. Potter calmed down and ready to travel. It appears that Mr. Weasley is not one to sooth a troubled child's fears."
"They're not dead! I don't believe you! They're not! I talked to them last night!"
As Hermione attempted to calm down a distraught Harry, Fawkes returned with two people in tow. "Your note was cryptic as ever, Albus, what do you need and how does it affect Harry?" Pernelle said.
"Mr. Potter has been injured but we are unsure if was someone attacking him, or if he had a mental breakdown. All we know is that he believes himself 10, turning 11 next month, and that he believes his parents, Sirius and Remus are all still alive."
"What?" Nicholas said. "A mental breakdown you say? He's too strong for that to happen to him. I'll take a look at him."
"Hello, Harry. My name is Pernelle and this is my husband, Nicholas. Do you remember us?"
"No. I want my mom and dad. Why won't you get them?" Harry's voice carried the strain he was showing.
"Shhhh, son," Pernelle comforted. "We're here to help you. The people that found you said that you might have been injured somehow. Why don't you sit right here while I run a few diagnostic spells, okay? This won't hurt you a bit, alright?"
"You promise?"
"Absolutely," she smiled. "You can pinch me if I'm lying. See, I've already started the first one and here comes the second. No pain, right?"
"No ma'am," Harry conceded warily.
"Hmmm, that's certainly unexpected," she said quietly while looking at a 3-dimensional image of Harry's body. Numbers and colors continually ran throughout the exam as she went from body part to body part.
"You're right. We need to get him back home," Nicholas said.
"What? What is it? Does he need to go to St. Mungos?" Hermione tried to make sense of the complicated diagnostic that Pernelle had created. It contained far more information than what she had read that healers usually worked with.
"No; no St. Mungos for him," Pernelle smiled at the young witch. It was good that Harry's former friends still wanted to look out for him. "Please don't worry any, Miss Granger, I am very capable of taking care of Harry."
"Look, people, all I want is my mom and dad," Harry pleaded to everyone there.
" Stupefy," Nicolas stunned Harry.
"Was that really necessary?" Albus asked his former colleague.
"Yes. I didn't want him to panic and hurt himself. We will take him home and begin treatment. We will inform you to our findings." With a simple gesture, Harry was floating in the air while Nicholas took his hand. "Pernelle, you ready?"
She grabbed his other hand and pulled out a pen. "Activate," she said loudly before the three of them disappeared.
"What now, headmaster? It's so tragic the way he thinks his parents are still alive," Hermione said.
"Now? We officially list Harry Potter as missing. Which, technically, is true. Our Harry is missing."
Many hours and many scans later, Harry was enervated back awake. He found himself lying on a comfortable couch with two people he'd only just met standing over him. He didn't know where his mom and dad were, but he could tell that these people weren't there to hurt him - their expressions were one of concern and hope.
"Hello, Harry. My name is Nicholas Flamel and this is my wife, Pernelle Flamel. Do you mind if we call you Harry?"
Harry nodded, not able to speak just yet. He did, however, move to a sitting position on the couch. Pernelle sat on the other end of the couch and Nicholas in a nearby chair.
"Harry, I know you want to talk to your mom and dad right now, but there are some things you need to first understand. I know these things will be hard to understand, but they are true. All the different scans we've taken of your magical core prove it."
"Harry, what my husband is trying to say is: do you believe in alternate realities?"
For the next several hours the Flamels hypothesized on what happened to bring a different person to this world and then gave Harry a crash course in what is was like to be Harry Potter in that dimension. It was difficult information to swallow. Losing your parents, siblings, uncles - everyone you'd ever grown up with was now gone. At age 11, he was on his own. True, he'd had spats with his folks, what kid didn't? But now? He didn't know what to do? Who was going to take care of him? Would he ever get a chance to eat his mother's partially-burned biscuits again?
It eventually took days for Harry to come to grips with what had happened. What had helped him believe their outlandish tale of an alternate reality was not when they took him home only to discover a burned out building. No, what had sealed the deal was when he looked at himself in the mirror. He was grown up. He knew something happened at puberty, but this was ridiculous.
It wasn't easy on the Flamels either. They hadn't been totally convinced at the beginning of what happened to Harry. Could it have been someone else under Polyjuice? They initially scanned the curse scar area. With Voldemort dead, the curse in the scar was no longer active, but the scar was still there. Their scan should have detected residual curse elements that created the scar. Only, they found nothing. It was as if he had simply cut his forehead one day and had a scar to prove it. As is, the scar almost appeared fresh.
But there was no getting around his magical core. It had changed from the scan example they'd made of Harry over the past year and a half. There were key elements still there and Harry would grow to be an above-average wizard should he put his mind to it. But there was no shadow signatures. That was when they realized that this Harry was physically the same as theirs, but magically different.
Yet, Harry was able to retrieve his wand and his necklace when he needed them. Nicholas had helped Harry design the wards in place on each so knew that this person was at least a Potter. A quick scan of the wand confirmed his was Holly & Phoenix.
"Harry?"
"Yes Mr. Flamel?"
"Pernelle and I have been talking and we want to see if something is okay with you. We know that you've been having problems working with your grown up body. Your sense of balance is totally off kilter, right?"
"Yes, sir," Harry acquiesced.