Chapter 1
Knock, Knock.
Who's There on this Starry Night?
"Most people don't realize or appreciate how dark it is up here at night," said Hermione, lying on her back with the others as she gazed upwards into the heavens. "You can barely see any stars at night in London or other cities. Up here, there are so many. Especially on a moonless night like this. It is astounding."
"I suppose so," replied Ron, who was used to pretty decent night skies out at The Burrows."I always used to look at them at night back home."
"It is very peaceful and relaxing," noted Parvati. "It is like being one with the universe."
"Yes, but when you consider the size of it, it is a bit overwhelming, too," said Cho.
They were part of a group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws that included Harry, Dean, Katie, Lavender, Seamus, Neville, Luna, Michael, Mandy, Anthony, Terry, Padma, and them. They were stargazing while listening to the waves gently lapping at the shore in tune with the frogs, crickets and other insects.
The group was being rewarded for their doing so well on their recent tests. As part of it, they were enjoying a rare Friday night treat of be allowed to hang out on the lakeshore long after normal curfew.
"What do you see when you look up?" queried Hermione.
"Stars," quipped Ron without thinking, thereby displaying what was interpreted as a lack of rightful consideration for Hermione's question.
"You're a complete ass, Ron," snapped Hermione, taking offense to his glib reply to her serious question.
"Yeah, Ron," echoed Harry, trying not to laugh as he hit him on the shoulder. "A 'complete' ass."
"Good answer, Ron," added Seamus as the rest of the group laughed.
"You're all a bunch of gits," grumbled Ron, starting to get angry.
"They're really quite beautiful," said Luna, defusing the situation with her dreamy, lilting voice. "Some people believe we originate from aliens who visited here from the stars long ago."
"I read that many people think that things like the pyramids in Egypt, stone circles here in the UK and a lot of other ancient things around the world were either built by aliens or built with their help," said Dean.
"I have read about those things, too," said Hermione. "Lots of people try to link the pyramids in Egypt with the ones in Mexico and Central America as evidence of aliens have visited here."
"I was reading about pyramids in Muggle Studies. They say the three big pyramids in Egypt line up with the three stars in Orion's belt. That's Orion, right up there," said Michael, pointing up at the sky. "Do you see those three stars? They make up his belt?"
"Yeah," replied Terry. "I remember him from the book. He was a great hunter in Greek Mythology."
"I remember reading about him, too," concurred Lavender. "He got into trouble with Gaia, the Mother Earth goddess. She sent a giant scorpion to kill him."
"Yeah," agreed Terry. "Scorpio stung him and he was going to die. But he was revived by Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer."
"Yes," said Lavender. "They say that is why the constellations Orion and Scorpio never appear in the sky at the same time, and why Ophiuchus is found halfway in between them."
"That's fascinating, but the people of India don't see Orion when they look up," injected Padma. "They see the constellation as a giant deer."
"Yes," said Cho, who was born and raised in the UK, but spent considerable time investigating her deeper Chinese heritage. "I have read about Orion, but the Chinese see it differently, too. They call it 'shen' or 'three'. It is an autumn constellation and part of the White Tiger of the West.
"That's interesting," said Hermione. "I read that in the Americas they see Orion as a huge bison. They call it 'The Winter Maker' because winter follows its appearance in the sky."
Ron and several of the others were quickly losing interest in the conversation. They were here to hang out and escape the classroom, not get into an academic discussion. They were getting restless and talking to the distraction of some of the others.
"The thing I find most fascinating," waxed Hermione, lost in the joy of intellectual discussion, "is how many cultures all believe aliens from Orion's belt—well—uh—the three stars came here and sparked their civilizations. They believe the things they built, like their pyramids, rings and sky drawings were created to talk to the aliens and to help the aliens find them and to stay in contact."
"Yeah," sniggered Ron as he waved his wand. "Or we can just go 'Accio Aliens' to call them back.
Several of the group laughed at his quip, but Hermione was less than amused. Her sense of humor was still a project under development with a lot of pending work before it would be completed.
"Did you really just say 'Accio Aliens'?" said Hermione as she waved the wand she had just pulled out of her gown.
Ron looked at her nervously. "Here we go," he thought to himself as he wondered if she was about to curse him. He still could not help grinning as the others calmed down and leaned back.
"I am pretty sure you don't just say something stupid like "Accio Aliens' to summon them," as she repeated the waving of her wand towards the stars. "Maybe I should try 'Accio Brains' to summon some for you."
Ron got up and looked at Harry. "I'm going back up to the castle," he said curtly with an expectant look.
Harry took the hint and got up to leave, as well. All of the other boys used that as an easy out for them, as did Mandy, Katie and Lavender.
This left Hermione with Padma and Parvati, Luna and Cho to contemplate the universe. As the others disappeared up the hill, Luna spoke up as only Luna could.
"I agree with you," she said in a serious voice as she looked at Hermione, who returned her comment with a puzzled look. "You can't just say Accio Aliens."
"What do you suggest, then, Luna?" said Parvati, trying not to laugh. "How do you call them?"
"Well, you can't just call them with something simple like 'Accio Aliens'. How would they know which aliens you are calling? It would have to be something more specific like the name of one of the stars in the belt. It would be something like 'Accio Mintakans," she said with a wave of her wand.
The others all giggled at the way Luna was taking seriously the absurd notion of calling forth the aliens from the distant stars with a wave of a wand and the summoning charm. Suddenly, they fell silent. The star on the right end of Orion's Belt changed colors from white to a bright red for several seconds before returning to white.
The silent disbelief of the group held fast for several moments. Four of them looked at each other, back up at the star, and then back at each other. Luna simply had her head cocked to one side as she continued to look up with a dreamy expression on her face. None of them could find the strength to speak.
Finally, after an extended moment, Padma more or less choked out a weak "Did the rest of you see that?"
"What the heck just happened?" gasped her sister as she rubbed her eyes.
"Maybe it was just a coincidence, a fluke in the atmosphere," said Hermione, trying to rationalize something just a tad bit too weird for her mind to accept.
"Do that, again, Luna," said Cho as she looked at her.
"Do what?" was her response.
"Say what you did to that star," said Cho.
"Oh," replied Luna, like she had done something so trivial that it never really penetrated her sense of proper reality. "Accio Mintakans."
Once again the star lit up a bright red for several seconds.
"That—that—that's—I don't know…" was all Hermione could muster.
"Do you think we—uh well, Luna just spoke to that star?" said Parvati, obviously shaken by what had just happened.
"Something just happened," said Padma.
"Curious," said Luna. "I will have to show that to my father. He will find it fascinating."
"Try saying that to one of the other stars," suggested Hermione as she started to regain her composure.
"I don't think it would work on the others," she said. "They have different names."
"Yes, Luna," said Hermione, slightly amused at the literal interpretation by Luna of her request. "I know they have different names. Use their different names."
"Oh, of course," she replied as she pointed her wand skyward and said "Accio Alnitakans".
A few seconds passed. Then, just like with Mintaka, the star on the left end of the belt lit up for a few seconds. However, Alnitak glowed in a bright blue.
"Oh my," gasped Cho. "What is happening?
"That's fascinating," observed Luna with total calm in her voice.
The others looked at each other with a collective "YUH THINK!" expression.
"Do you want me to try Alnilam?" asked Luna.
"Yes," said Padma and Parvati in twin unison. "Yes."
Luna raised her wand and said, "Accio Alnilamans". It quickly lit up in a bright yellow before returning to white.
"What does all of this mean?" asked Cho in a tentative voice. "Do you think we made contact with aliens?
"I don't know," replied Hermione. "It is kind of scary."
"Should we ask a professor about it?" asked Padma.
"Which one?" added Parvati.
"I suppose we should talk to Professor Sinistra. Maybe we can catch her in the morning after breakfast."
The others agreed with that idea. For now, it was getting late. They did not want to abuse the privilege they had been given. After a quick moment of looking back up at Orion's Belt, they got up and headed back to the castle and bed.
