Hogwarts Down Under
Rose Hermione Weasley was in shock. She gazed around the room, seeing many others overcome with grief, uncertainty, anger, or just plain disbelief. Most nights you could look around the Gryffindor common room and see people smiling, laughing, doing homework and occasionally blowing things up (in the case of James, Fred and Louis) or accidentally transfiguring things they're not supposed to. Not tonight.
There was silence, broken only by the occasional sobs from around the room. The day's events had left most of the school in a state of shock.
Professor Mortis was, by general consensus, a kind, helpful and approachable man. Anyone could tell him anything, and he wouldn't tell a soul. He always knew when it was okay to slack off, didn't pressure them, and helped them always do their best. He was also considered one of the most powerful wizards of the age. A tragedy had occurred that day. Professor Mortis had been murdered, by a mysterious band of villains, lead by a man named Abduxuel. They were following in the steps of Lord Voldemort, and her father and Uncle Harry were working day and night, trying to catch them. But they were as slippery as snakes, and had eluded the Aurors for months now.
"This is just… wrong. Not Professor Mortis. He was…" Rose Weasley trailed off. Her friends Chloe Madison, Isabelle Hark and Alice Longbottom understood. It was hard to describe someone as great as Joe Mortis.
"Still, he wouldn't go down without a fight. He must have hit them at least as bad as they hit him," Chloe replied grimly.
"But to be murdered by Abduxuel himself..." Alice said sadly.
"No one else could have." Rose said quietly, and they lapsed back into silence.
!..!..!..!
"Now that Professor Mortis has been… killed, we need to immediately update the school's security," Professor McGonagall was speaking to Professor Longbottom in her office. They both had worried looks on their faces.
"He had performed most of the protective magic on the school, and now that he is dead-"
Professor McGonagall paused briefly. She didn't like to think that her friend and colleague was dead. They had been through a lot together, including the battle of Hogwarts when he was only 15. "We need to put it all back before Abduxuel realizes our defenses are weak."
"How long do you think it will take?" asked Professor Longbottom.
"It's hard to say- perhaps 6 months, maybe more." They both jumped as there was a loud crash above them.
"Minerva …" Professor Longbottom said in a worried tone, glancing at the headmistresses face.
"I fear we may be too late," She replied, leaping to her feet and racing out the door. Neville was right behind her. "You know the plan. Protect the students, and call Harry, Ronald and Hermione." Neville nodded and headed down the nearest stairs without another word.
!..!..!...!
"I can't believe Mortis is actually dead, I mean, he was the DADA teacher, he should have been one of the-" Isabelle stopped as there was an impact so hard from above that the whole room shook and books and other possessions fell from their respective positions. Several girls cried out in shock. Alice screamed. Rose, Alice, Chloe and Isabelle along with most of the common room, fell to the floor, covering their heads.
"What on earth-"Chloe began, but stopped as there was another bang above them, this time much closer.
"EVERYONE! OUT OF THE ROOM! NOW!" yelled Molly, who had only ever raised her voice once in her lifetime. They didn't need telling twice, and the fact that Molly had yelled only added to their fear and sureness that this was serious. When James, Fred and Louis walked out of the portrait hall completely sombre and quietly, everyone was hit with the fact that this was not a drill. Suddenly, everyone leapt to their feet and ran for the portrait hole. Dust and debris rained down on them.
Once they were outside the common room everyone headed downwards, directed by the prefects. Rose found herself running next to Albus, with Chloe, Isabelle and Alice right behind her. The force attacking Hogwarts' roof had now collapsed into a constant barrage of thumps, bangs and thuds. As they reached the first floor, a chunk of marble the size of a baby rhino dislodged itself from the ceiling and started hurtling towards Albus. Seconds before he was hit, Rose saw it. Without thinking, she pushed Albus out of the way and screamed. Out of nowhere a spell came and obliterated the rock. She screamed thanks but kept running.
They skidded into the entrance hall, one of the last. Professor Longbottom, looking disheveled, forced a baseball bat into Roses hands. "Portkey." He said simply, and before running away, gave a shard of mirror to Rose. "Say your father's name into it in a couple of days," he said urgently, then ran off. Rose, Chloe, Isabelle, Alice, Albus, Hugo and some fourth year Ravenclaws hurriedly reached for the baseball bat. The second they were all touching it, they were gone.
Spinning through a weird, foggy place, Chloe asked "What the hell?!" "Chloe, ask questions later. Now, on the count if three let go." Said Rose. "One, Two, Three!" They all let go of the bat and spun round and round until they fell in an untidy heap.
Rise looked up as soon as the dizziness had passed. It was pitch black and they could hear Hogwarts students landing all around them. Isabelle was the first regain her sanity, and pulled out her wand. She muttered "Lumos," and immediately she was copied by almost everyone in the vicinity.
"Is everyone alright?" Chloe asked loudly, and was met with a chorus of "Yes." Then, "Help!" The group looked at each other, and then ran towards the voice. "Over here! Lia's unconscious!" Isabelle spotted the children first, and called the rest over.
"Out of the way." Alice gently but firmly pushed Isabelle and the unconscious girls friend aside. A trickle of blood ran down the girls face from a cut in her scalp. Rose quickly rummaged in her bag and found her first aid kit. She held it out to Alice who grabbed it without looking and found a bandage. Within a couple of minutes, Alice had finished wrapping up the girls head and picked her up.
"ATTENTION!" A strangely accented male voice called. "Attention, can you please step this way!" They looked around and saw a small group of authorative-looking witches and wizards standing in front of a grand looking door, and that had a darker-skinned male standing in front of them all. "My name is Mr. Ngatoro. I am Principal, or Headmaster of Nova Zelandia School of Magic, which is where you are now."Comprehension dawned on the previously blank Hogwarts faces as he continued. "You have been sent here because this is one of the safest places in the world, and Headmistress McGonagall wants you to be here whilst Hogwarts isn't safe. If you have any more questions, you can ask them tomorrow at breakfast." Professor Longbottom suddenly arrived, looking clearly ill after apparently having run from the school gates.
"Neville, has everyone..?" Mr. Ngatoro asked. Professor Longbottom nodded. "All right, can everyone please follow me into the school. You will be sleeping in the Great Hall."
Everyone stood up and followed. Nova Zelandia School of Magic was an impressive building. It must have been at least the size of Hogwarts and seemed to expel a sort of magic feeling . A warm glow shone out of most of the windows and through the door. It was hard to see the exterior of the building and the grounds, as they were bathed in a dusky color, but as soon as they got inside the Entrance Hall they felt awed by the obvious magic.
The Entrance Hall was huge. The floor was a cream colored carpet, and to the left was a giant staircase made of highly polished timber. The handrail to the staircase seemed to be made of marble, and was adorned with small flowers and birds along the side. To their right was a huge door that filled up most of the space on the right wall, much like the one at Hogwarts that must open to the Great Hall. The only difference the door had to the one at Hogwarts was that the door was carved. Weird faces and sea creatures adorned the door, glaring or smiling at the newcomers. Next to the huge door there was a smaller door that had a red cross on it. The roof was a tasteful combination of wood and marble.
"Ehhem." coughed Professor Ngatoro. Many students jumped in surprise; they had been distracted and staring around the Entrance Hall in awe. "Can all those injured please come through this door here." Professor Ngatoro motioned to the door next to the grand door. Alice started quietly walking toward the door with the girl in her arms and the girl's friend beside her. "Please maintain some order and wait your turn to be healed. Serious injuries to the front. Those that are not injured, please follow me into the Great Hall."
As the doors to the great hall opened Professor Ngatoro turned and led them into the grand room. It was probably as big, if not bigger, than the one at Hogwarts. Hundreds of black, comfy sleeping bags lay all over the floor, and kind of like Hogwarts, the ceiling was see through, but there were no floating candles.
"Guys, are you okay?" Rose turned, and running towards them was James, Fred and Louis. "Yeah, fine, what about you?" replied Albus. "Fine." Soon all the Weasley/Potter clan and their various friends were gathered together. "Can't wait to meet some hot chicks." Said James with a wink. "Okay, before this gets out of hand; boys, no scarring girls. Or maiming, or breaking hearts of any girl. "Said Molly."You can go out, just please don't challenge any boys over a girl." appeased Dominique. They were the oldest Weasleys, and therefore held all of us in check. "No fair." grumbled James. "I'm a player, I gotta break hearts." "Look, just don't give the school a bad name and absolutely no cheating, whether it be encouraging a girl to cheat on her boyfriend or cheating on a girlfriend. If you do, all the girls in this family will come after you. Right girls?" said Dominique."Yeah." All the girls said.
After that we all drifted off and a few minutes later we were all told to sit down. Headmistress McGonagall stepped up at the front of the group.
Rose hadn't noticed that she was even here.
"Hello everyone, and welcome to the Nova Zelandia School of Magic. Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here. Sadly, as most of you have probably heard, your professor, my colleague, our friend, Joe Mortis was murdered earlier today by Abduxuel," When he said these words a collective shudder ran throughout the room. McGonagall seemed not to notice and continued.
"Professor Mortis had performed the majority of the protective magic that protected Hogwarts, and when he died this magic disappeared. This left us vulnerable and the second Abduxuel realized that, he and his followers attacked the castle." Everyone gasped. They had no idea that they had been attacked by Abduxuel. Whispering broke out through the hall, but ceased as soon as McGonagall began speaking again.
"Fortunately, nobody was critically injured and we managed to get everyone evacuated. Eventually you will all be able to return to Hogwarts, but not until we are sure it's safe. You will all be staying here until we decide that time has come. All of your possessions, unless they were destroyed in the attack, will be brought here within the next few days and accommodation will be provided for you within the castle. Lessons will begin day after next. For tonight, everyone is staying in the Great Hall. Goodnight, and enjoy your time in New Zealand; you may never again get a chance like this to interact with foreign witches and wizards."
She turned and walked calmly out of the hall, leaving the entire student body of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry staring after her in open-mouthed shock.
After a few minutes whispering started trickling in and soon everyone was talking.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading, I really love thi story, and please review! If you do I update quicker!
Charlotte