Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter belong to J K Rowling and the Powers That Be.

Summary:  After Harry gets a strange birthday gift he and his friends end up in the time of the Hogwarts founders.  Stuck there for a year the friends decide to learn all they can that could ultimately be used to destroy Voldemort.  They finally get out of that time, but where do they end up next?  War-torn Europe, 1943, that's where!  While Hitler ravages the Muggle world, the Dark Lord Grindelwald is consolidating his power…

Harry Potter and the Amulet of Time

Book 2 – Two Worlds, Two Wars

Chapter One – Where Are We?  When Are We?

There was a bright flash of light, much like the last time, and the four students found themselves sitting on their trunks in the middle of the Great Hall.  It looked exactly the same as when they had left, the only difference being the style of the banners hanging above the tables, and the fact that they were the only ones there.  Ron and Ginny were looking around the room curiously, but did not see fit to move.  Hermione had stood up and was actively searching the Hall for any indication of what time they were in.  Harry was sat staring into space, his mind off in a world is its own.  The same thoughts kept whirling through his head over and over.  Did she really say she was pregnant?  Did they really do more than sleep the night of his birthday?  What happened to her?  Was the baby born?  Was it a boy or a girl?  The most prominent thought, though, was 'I'm a father'.

Harry was dragged out of his thoughts when Hermione, still looking for clues, heaved open the large doors to the Great Hall and peeked outside.  Letting out a very un-Hermione-like squeak, she ran back into the room and over to her waiting friends.

" We're definitely a lot closer to our time," she stated.

" How do you know that?" Ron retorted.

Before she could answer the doors were thrown open and an imposing figure strode up to them.  He was tall and thin, yet radiated power, with long auburn hair and a beard that was tucked into his belt.  The four students recognised him immediately.  Before they had a chance to say anything, he crossed his arms and looked down at them, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

" I am Albus Dumbledore, Professor of Transfiguration.  May I ask where you four materialised from so suddenly in the middle of the Great Hall?"

The four glanced at each other for a minute, communicating silently.  Harry cleared his throat before turning to the new arrival.

" Sir, may we confer for a moment?"

" Of course, though I assume an explanation will follow?"

" Of course, sir."

Dumbledore nodded his head and Harry turned back to the group, switching back to Anglo-Saxon.

" What are we going to tell him?"

" The truth."

" Are you sure we can tell him everything, Ginny?"

" I suggest we tell him very little.  We can tell him the basic idea of what happened, and what we did in the past.  But we can't tell him what happens in the future.  It's the same as when we were in the founders' time, we couldn't tell them anything that might interfere with the future."

" I agree."

" Me too."

" But who's going to explain?"

" Hermione."

" Why me?"

" Because you are the one that is always telling us to be careful.  If you're that paranoid, you can be the one to explain.  Then you can add and leave out whatever you want."

" Alright," she agreed, reluctantly.  Turning to the bemused professor, she made a request.

" Professor Dumbledore, we are ready to discuss things.  However, would it be possible to move to somewhere more private?"

" Of course.  We can go to the headmaster's office."

" I don't want Dippet to know!"

Harry's sudden outburst caught everyone's attention.  Dumbledore was looking at him as if surprised that he knew the headmaster's name, and his friends were simply looking in confusion.  They couldn't understand what he had against Dippet.  Harry looked a little uncomfortable, before he started to explain.

" It's just I've…heard…things…about his methods and decisions, and I would just be more comfortable if we kept this between the five of us."

Dumbledore nodded his consent and led them out of the Great Hall towards his office.  On the way, Ginny questioned Harry in Anglo-Saxon on his reasoning.

" Harry, what do you have against Dippet?"

" We still don't know what year it is, Gin.  I'm guessing Dippet is still headmaster, from Dumbledore's reaction.  I'm just thinking…Dippet's decision to make Tom Riddle go back to the orphanage in the holidays may have been one of the causes of him turning into Voldemort.  I just don't want to trust someone with such poor judgment with such a huge secret.  I don't mind speaking to Dumbledore, as I know I would trust him with my life, but I'm not going to give too much away to a complete stranger."

Ginny had paled at the reminder of her first year, but nodded in agreement with what he was saying.  Before they knew it, they had reached what would one day be McGonagall's office.  Looking around, they recognised various objects that could be found in the headmaster's office in their own time.  After ushering them into their seats, Dumbledore sat at his desk and regarded the new arrivals.

" Would you care for a Lemon Drop?" he offered, holding out a bowl.  The four exchanged looks before bursting out in a fit of giggles.  Dumbledore hasn't changed, Harry thought, as he watched the now utterly confused teacher.  Setting down the bowl, he waited for them to calm themselves before continuing.

" I'll take that as a 'no'.  Now, would you mind telling me who you are, and why you suddenly appeared out of thin air in the Great Hall?"