CHAPTER 1 – OFF TO THE MOON...?

"Hey guys, wait up!" Bernard called out. "You know that I can't run that fast!"
Hermione, Ron, and Harry let out a sigh. "If you don't catch up, we'll never get those tickets, you know that?"
"Alright, alright. I'll stay here. Just get one for me, ok?"
"No prob."
"We finally got that straightened out..."Hermione said with relief.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Harry demanded. "He's a good guy. Plus, he's lonely. Don't you realize that? He's clinging to us because he has no one else."
"Ok, ok. I'm sorry....to him. But he's gonna have to learn to let loose. It's not like we'll ditch him, right?" Ron said.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. He does have some issues. But he'll know...sooner or later. Now, let's just think about those tickets of ours. C'mon, let's pick up the pace!"
They walked with quick huge steps so that they could get to the tickets before anyone else does. They sure did. When they reached there, the ticket booth was still closed. There was no one there, which was quite a shock to all of them. They had expected crowds of people queuing up for those precious hard-to-get-by tickets. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. How strange!
* * * * "Hey, how long was it since we were here?" Ron broke out suddenly. "When's this freakin' booth gonna open anyway?"
"Not anytime soon, I reckon" Harry replied. "But do try to be more patient."
"You know what? Even I agree with Ron. We've been sitting here for like...5 and a half hours. My backside's starting to hurt." Hermione said.
Suddenly, there was a great flash of light. A man with a huge grin appeared before them. "Ready, kids? Here are your tickets! 450 bucks each. Thank you, thank you." The ticket-seller said and took a bow.
"450 dollars? No way!"
"That's impossible!"
"This can't be true!"
"Is it true?!"
"Yes, kids. The price has gone up high. Now if you really want to get a trip to the moon, be nice little boys and girls, and pay for your tickets, NOW!" The ticket-seller burst out. His face had become red and then purple and red again with impatience and fury. Then the colors receded and he regained his composure. "Ooh, cool down now, Berkley. There's nothing to be angry at," he told himself.
"Okay, now. What do you want?" He asked nicely.
"Hold on a moment. Can I discuss about this with my friends first?" Harry asked.
"Sure, go on ahead. Take all the time you need," he said politely.
Harry, Hermione and Ron huddled together and discussed about the matter. "No wonder no one's here. Absolutely no one can afford it." Ron muttered. Hermione jabbed her elbow into his ribs. "Shh, Ron! The guy might hear you! You wouldn't want to anger him again, do you?"
"Okay, okay. I was just joking. Sheesh!"
"Well, what Ron said was actually true. Now, do you guys really want to go to the moon or what?" Harry asked.
"Definitely. I won't want to waste my time doing nothing in boring old school. And you won't want to be with your Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, with your piggish cousin Dudley anyway. Hermione...well, I have no idea what you have in plan for your summer break, but I assume it's as lousy as ours. So, is it agreed that we go on this trip? Just to make sure?"
"I'm in..."Hermione replied. Harry repeated after her.
"But I don't like the idea of paying $450 per ticket. It's just too costly. I say we don't take the tickets." Harry said.
"Ooh, I know where you're getting at! Cool idea, dude." Ron replied. "We'll plan about this later, won't we?"
"Ugh, you guys are so predictable. I knew that it would end up like this."
"Then why didn't you try to stop us?" Ron questioned her with a smug look on his face.
"That's because I actually agree with this. The price of ticket is way beyond unreasonable! If I don't escape from here, it's gonna be the worst summer break of my life!"
"Whoa...What do you have in plan for this holiday anyway?" Ron questioned her.
"You wouldn't believe this, but I have a dentist appointment," she told them.
"What's so bad about a dentist appointment? I've been to the dentist a million times. Plus, your parents are dentists." Harry said.
"To tell you the truth, I've never visited a dentist before, besides my parents, though. And don't laugh at me...but I'm afraid of dentists. They're scary...I mean, the way they pluck your tooth or drill them...it's pretty scary and painful. This is the consequence of being a dentists' daughter, huh?" Hermione replied. "I'd do anything. I repeat, anything to get out of here. Even lie." She shuddered at the thought.
"So, did anyone tell anyone where we're going? Or are we just gonna escape?" Harry asked.
"Nope. Didn't tell my parents, or Professor Dumbledore, or any of our teachers."
"And I didn't tell my parents either. If I did, they're really going to force me to go to that stupid dentist appointment. I can't tell them that I'm afraid of dentists, can I?"
"Okay, so our plan is to run away from here. Why the moon, though? Can't we go somewhere else? Like on this planet?" Harry asked them. He was actually beginning to feel suspicious that no one else in the whole "supernatural planet" wasn't going. It could have been a trick. Who knew? There were lots of very rich people here, and they wouldn't even miss the chance of going to the moon, because it is said that the moon had healing powers that even the mightiest wizard could not conjure up such an extraordinary spell. And this person who was trying to trick them knew that they would try to cheat their way to go to the moon. But why? Couldn't he/she just sold them the tickets at a very low price? Why go through so much trouble as to make them use their sneaky ways? Was the person trying to find fault on them? Or was it something else?
"I have no idea. It's like I'm attracted to it or something. I felt it since the day we went back to Hogwarts." Hermione said.
"Yeah, me too. Wasn't that the reason why we were so eager to get the tickets?" Ron agreed.
"I guess so, but there's this feeling...like something bad's bound to happen," Harry replied.
"Um...Harry, you get that feeling all the time, remember?" Hermione reminded him.
"Yeah, man. You're always having this uneasy feeling as if Voldemort would come and kill you all of a sudden. And I'm getting quite sick of it."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry about that. I won't try to spoil your holiday again. If I get that sneaky feeling of mine, I'll just keep it to myself, alright?" Harry promised.
"Mr. Ticket-Seller...We're sorry but we've decided not to go to the moon after all." Harry said out loud.
"Oh well, I guess I'll close down my booth now. No one's ever gonna buy tickets anyway. I'll be nothing. My wife's most likely gonna leave me...or worse, kill me. I have a little girl, five years old, what am I gonna do? I don't have money. What's gonna become of my poor little kiddo? Is this her fate?" He said with emotion and sadness.
"Aww...alright. I'll give you some of our money. Here's 100 bucks. Hopefully it will help you." Ron gave him the money unwillingly. But it was Harry who decided to give the money to him, because of how miserable he looked, and of course, for the sake of his little daughter and his future with his wife.
"Meet me here at midnight tonight," Harry told them. "We're gonna do some sneaking in..."
"Alright!" Ron said with excitement.
"Okay," Hermione replied in a squeaky, mousy tone. "Don't blame me if I don't show up, okay? I don't really like doing these things."
"Not a prob. Don't tell anyone, okay? Not even Bernard," Harry said.