Carefully drawing her wand, Hermione used Harry's body as a shield and silently cast a Patronus Charm toward the direction of the Headmaster's office outside the tent.
However, before she could celebrate her success, the elderly man who looked and sounded like Dumbledore gave her an approving nod. "A remarkably proficient Silent Patronus, Miss Granger," he said. "Though, if you could suppress the magical fluctuations and the glow of the Patronus itself just a tad more, I daresay your intentions would be even harder for enemies to detect… Oh, Harry, no need to rush into an attack. I believe we're still on the same side. What we need now is to sit down and have a proper talk."
With a casual wave of his wand, Dumbledore conjured an Armor Charm to deflect a barrage of spells Harry had fired. With another grand flourish, a coil of ropes materialized, dragging Harry and Hermione—who had been making a break for the tent's exit—back onto the sofa.
"You see, this isn't such a difficult matter, is it?" Dumbledore said, winking at Harry and Hermione, who were now seated back-to-back on the floor.
Five minutes later, Dumbledore spread his arms wide, offering a warm welcome to the entire staff of the new Hogwarts, all of whom were now bound like caterpillars.
After witnessing Dumbledore's wand, his Invisibility Cloak, and his phoenix Patronus, Professor McGonagall and the others finally accepted that this Dumbledore was no imposter. However, explaining the concept of parallel worlds to the group proved to be a taxing endeavor for Harry and Hermione, especially since neither had interacted much with the Muggle world in quite some time.
"Albus, can you tell us about Hogwarts in your world?" Minerva McGonagall asked, her eyes fixed on her old colleague in the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head. "That's quite a long story… It all begins when Harry ran away from home at eleven…"
While Dumbledore recounted the history of his world to McGonagall and the others, Harry, freshly returned from Baldur's Gate, had just finished sharing his own Hogwarts experiences with the other Harrys. He turned to the second Harry to arrive in this world. "Number Two, what's your story?"
Number Two Harry scratched his head. "Pretty much like yours. I was raised by my aunt and uncle, got beaten and yelled at growing up. Then, on my eleventh birthday, Hagrid showed up, told me I was a wizard, and even got me a birthday cake…"
As the six Harrys swapped their tales on one side, in a small room warded with a Silencing Charm, the six Hermiones were gathered, buzzing with excitement.
"So, Numbers Three, Four, and Five, you're saying your boyfriends aren't Harry but Ron?!" The youngest, local Hermione stared at her third, fourth, and fifth counterparts in disbelief. "What on earth do you see in Ron? His appetite? His snoring? Or maybe his knack for picking fights with you?"
The three Hermiones exchanged awkward glances until Number Six stepped in to rescue her floundering counterparts.
"Number One, let's be honest," Number Six Hermione said, eyeing her first counterpart. "Out of all six of us, your story is the strangest. First year, Halloween—no Ron to help, yet your Harry took down a troll single-handedly. Second year, Professor Dumbledore himself dealt with the basilisk. Third year, you got Sirius Black freed. Fourth year, you were chosen as a champion. And every time you argued with Ron, your Harry always took your side—unlike our blockheads, who always sided with Ron when we fought. On top of that, your Harry never fancied Cho Chang or Ginny. He's been smitten with you from the start. For the rest of us—well, except for me, who went to Slughorn's Christmas party with Harry in sixth year to spite Ron and accidentally fell for him, and Number Two, who confessed to Harry in a life-or-death moment—everyone else ended up with Ron without realizing Harry's feelings for them."
Number One Hermione fidgeted, blushing as she looked down. "Well, my Harry isn't that perfect, you know… But Three, Four, Five—what are you three going to do? Come clean to your Harrys, or just keep muddling through with Ron?"
"If I hadn't met all of you, I might've just stuck it out with Ron," Number Three Hermione sighed. "But if my Harry looks at me the way yours does… I can't lie to myself and say Ron's the better match."
"I agree," Number Four nodded firmly.
"I've got a problem," Number Five Hermione raised her hand. "My Harry hasn't broken up with Ginny yet."
"Then why don't you take Harry from Ginny?" Number One Hermione asked, puzzled. "Doesn't it bother you, watching the boy you like kiss another girl?"
"But… Ginny's my friend," Number Five Hermione said, conflicted. "And Mrs. Weasley's been so kind to me…"
"Kind enough to send you an Easter egg the size of a chicken egg in fourth year?" Number Six Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"That was just because of Rita Skeeter's article. Mrs. Weasley was misled by her lies," Number Three Hermione said, still trying to defend her.
"Number Three, do you really think Mrs. Weasley, after knowing you for nearly four years, would trust a reporter notorious for making things up over you?" Number Two Hermione placed a hand on Number Three's shoulder. "The truth is, while Mrs. Weasley is warm and kind, she comes from a pure-blood family. Deep down, she doesn't see you—a Muggle-born 'Mudblood'—as equal to someone like Rita Skeeter, who comes from a wizarding family. And that's me being generous. Do you know what I realized after Harry and I confessed to each other and looked back on these past few years?"
"What?" Number Three Hermione asked.
"Remember when Mrs. Weasley told us about her first date with Mr. Weasley?" Number Two Hermione's expression darkened. "To get him to confess, she slipped a tiny bit of Love Potion into her drink."
The faces of Numbers Three, Four, and Five Hermione fell in unison.
"You're saying…" they chorused.
"I don't have solid proof," Number Two Hermione said, frowning. "But thinking back, my behavior in sixth year was bizarre. You all know I despise cheating. I spent months upset with Harry because he used Snape's old Potions notes to get ahead unfairly, even though that wasn't technically cheating. Yet I—me—cast a spell on Ron's Quidditch rival during tryouts to help him win. Can you believe it? Me, someone who's hated unfairness my whole life, cheating like that? Even now, I can't figure out what was going through my head…"
Meanwhile, as the six Harrys and six Hermiones held their respective meetings, the three Rons were sprawled across their beds, snoring soundly.