Harry Potter and the Phantom Gifts
Diaclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter universe. It's all JKR's. Nuff said.
Quick overview: This fic was playing around in various forms in my head for a while. Finally, I decided to start writing it. A Harry Potter fanfic with traces of Labyrinth, Spirited Away, and Fushigi Yuugi.
Ch. 1: The Silver Staircase
Harry Potter sat in the train. He kept mentally punching himself. Two years ago. Two years ago. That had been the end of it, but no, it really hadn't. Voldemort was not dead. Harry had finished school in confidence, the pride of the wizarding world, and had been told no more than a day ago that Voldemort was alive and could possibly gain power again.
Hermione and Ron glanced over at their friend worridly. He just stared out the window. They tried to cheer him up.
"Come on Harry. It won't be so bad," Hermione said. "We'll get lots of information that can help us. Voldemort is only alive in spirit-sense, not really in physical form."
"Yeah, it'll be easy to kill him for good," Ron said. He bit his tongue, knowing full well that he was on the verge of asking someone how on earth they were going to kill a spirit.
Harry looked at his friends. Hermione still had her bushy hair, but she was very attractive. Ron made a nice match for her, his looks turning out to be like his brother Bill. He had even copied Bill's ponytail, though Hermione forbade him from getting an earring. From them, Harry's eyes drifted to the other memners of their party sitting in the spacious special train compartment that had been reserved for them.
Next to Ron was his siser, Ginny. She fidgeted nervously, only sent along because of her past incident with Tom Riddle's ghost, a connection that could possibly be used to their advantage. Directly across from Ginny was Professor Snape, who looked very unhappy about everything. He had suffered greatly under numerous torture sessions from Voldemort, and was not looking forward o facing the Dark Lord again, especially not with partnering up with Harry again. Another reasson for his discomfort were the two individuals sitting next to him, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Sirius sat so that he turned his head away from Snape, as Snape did the same, and Remus just sat facing forward, hands folded on his lap. Next to him sat Professor McGonagall, who was in charge of this mission, appointed by Dumbledore. Finally, sitting directly across from Harry was Draco Malfoy. He was in much the same mood as Snape, though he had not faced the same torture as Snape. What he suffered was the loss of his father, sent to Azkaban and than killed while trying to escape from it. Draco, though, didn't like the other option, which would have been his father forcing him into the Death Eater circle. Draco was a Slytherin, and he was snobby, and he wasn't too favorable of Muggles or Muggle-born wizards, but he didn't want to be one of Voldemort's lackeys either. Harry couldn't help but smirk at the irony; two of his least favorite people, Snape and Draco, definitely into the Dark Arts, but both resisting the Dark Lord. Draco saw his smirk.
"What's so funny, Potter? Finally finished sulking?" Draco turned away from Harry, not waiting for an answer, and stared out the window.
"No fighting, please," Minerva said. She glanced at the two boys, before turning to a fidgeting Ginny. "What's wrong my dear?"
"Um," the skinny girl gulped, than said, "I still don't quite understand what we're doing. Dumbledore didn't give us that much information."
"For once, Miss Weasley is correct," Snape spoke up. "A pity she couldn't be so attentive in class. Minerva, perhaps you would like to enlighten us more on our mission." He stared at the compartment door, not bothering to look up when he spoke. Minerva sighed.
"Yes Professor, please explain our mission to us more," Hermione said, eagerly leaning forward.
"Of course dear. But do call me Minerva, you are no longer students, but our friends," the older woman said, smiling. "Now as you know, we are going to a spirit world. It is believed that Voldemort will try to enter there and than return to our world."
"Yes, that's what Albus said," Remus remembered, "but what exactly does it mean. Where would Voldemort be comming from? And how?"
"I'll give you the details than...please don't crowd me though, I do need to breath," Minerva said, as the majority of them leaned towards her. Snape and Draco, like two bookends, mearly turned their heads toward her.
"Alright," Minerva continued as everyone sat back. "There are a number of worlds.. Millions. Some worlds are like ours, with other versions of the lands, some go as far to have other versions of ourselves, with variations. Some worlds are at different stages of evolution, with dinosaurs still roaming, or are ahead of our own world in progress, with cars flying through the air on elecricity and cyborgs, as i believe they are called. Some worlds have magic, others don't. There are some worlds that are drastically different though, ones that are so different, humans are never seen there. There is the Heavens and Hells of various religions, for example."
"Those are real?" Hermione asked. "So, like, there's a real Mount Olympus with Hera and Athena, and a real Valhalla with Odin?"
"Quite right, Hermione dear," Minerva said. "The world we are going to is a 'hot spot' for all sorts of magical creatures, gods included. I doubt that we will have the chance of meeting God, or Allah, or any of the dieties from the old civilizations, but we could keep on the lookout for them, in case we need their assistance, and if they are willing to help us. We will have to be careful, though. It is not likely that Voldemort will be there yet, but we will run into a number of fey and demonic creatures. We must be on guard, as we will be the only and first humans there. Which is why, Hermione, you will document anything and everything from our mission and from that world, for research and reference possibilities." Hermione nodded.
"And," Minerva went on quickly," there will be no rough-housing or fighting within our party." She gave Sirius, Remus, and Snape and meaningful look.
"Don't look at me Minerva, as far as I'm concerned, I try not to interact much with these two," Snape said. "However, you may need to put leashes on them so they don't get lost-"
"Don't start, Snape," Sirius warned. Remus and he gave Snape bitter looks.
"Boys." Minerva gave them a hard look, and they quieted down. She turned to the children, or rather, the young adults.
"That goes for you all as well. Ron and Draco, I expect perfect behavior." They nodded, thankful that at least she wasn't asking them to shake hands.
"Well, Pro- er, um, Minerva, you still haven't said how Voldemort will get to this other world," Harry said.
"There are many ways to get to this world, different ways for different folk. When you defeated the Dark Lord the first time, his spirit escaped to another world with the little power he had. It is believed that he is feeding off of raw magical energy, and when he has enough he will try to enter the world we are headed for, so that he can feed off of the incredible amounts of magical energy there and than enter our own world."
Harry shivered. If there were gods and such in this world they were going to, than Voldemort could gain enormous amounts of power. He could almost become a god himself!
"And how will we be getting to this world, Minerva?" Remus asked. He shouldn't have asked.
The lights in the train went out. They sat, stiff and wary, in the darkness. Harry heard the clack-clack of the wheels on the tracks, and the breathing of everyone in the compartment, and nothing else.
"What's going on?" Ginny asked.
"It's probably nothing," Sirius said.
"I don't mean to alarm anyone, but there is no way to see out the windows, and we're not in a tunnel," Draco said.
They were puzzled by this statement. Harry looked out his window, and saw that Draco was right. This wasn't the blackness of a closed up tunnel. The darkness expanded, had depth, depth like an ocean. But he could make out nothing in it.
"Draco's right," he said, surprised at the phrase comming from his mouth.
"Well, best sit tight than," Minerva said. Harry was aware, as he was sure they all were, that the darness was becomming, well, darker. Harry could no longer make out the shpaes of his friends in the compartment.
"What the hell is going on," Snape snapped. He stood up, and went over to the compartment door. Opening it to look out, he quickly regretted his action.
A wind of some unearthly power whipped through the compartment. The younger girls screeched, and Sirius and Ron cursed. Snape tried to vainly close the door, but the wind whipped at him, and he was sure he would be cut by it.
"Severus, shut the door!" Minerva said, realizing that he must have opened it and thus let the wind enter.
"I'm bloody trying to!" He finally shoved the door close with his shoulder, and leaned agaisnt the wood.
"What the hell was that?" Draco asked, shaken. Harry realized that he could see Draco's outline, the darkness letting up. Draco's platinum hair was tassled from the wind. Harry looked around as the light returned to the room, though it was from the outside and not from the lights inside the train. Everyone's hair was messed up by the breeze that had invaded. Clothes were askew a bit, but worst of all was Snape, who was indeed hurt by the wind. His sleeves were shredded, and he had a number of raised marks on his arms. He grmaced, examining his arms and shirt.
"Are you okay?" Remus asked.
"Fine wolf-boy, it's nothing to be concerned of. Just a few welts," Snape said. He sat down again, and did a few healing and sewing spells. He put his wand away, and realized something.
"I'm sure we're all thinking the same thing right now, but, did it seem strange that none of us thought to use magic to close the door?" Hermione said. That was frightening. They had lived their lives with the instincts to immediately whip out their wands to fix their problems. Even for menial tasks. To not do so in a somewhat dangerous situation meant that they were all slipping.
"Well, let's just not think about it," Minerva said, adjusting her glasses.
"Hey, look outside," Ron said, pointing over Harry's shoulder. Outside, it seemed that there really was an ocean. The train was on a small area of land, big enough just for the tracks. On either side of this area of land was pure blue water. They noticed that the train was slowing down.
"You have to be kidding me. A train station out here?" Sirius said. But apparently, there was, for the train soon stopped completely.
"We must have gone through some sort of magical vortex," Hermione said. "This doesn't look like any place in England."
"We're not comming back this way, are we?" Ginny asked.
"If we are, nobody is to open that door," Sirius said, and Snape snorted.
"As if I knew," he grumbled.
"Let's just get off this train already," Ron said. He got up to leave, and everyone followed suit.
***
They stood on the platform. The train had departed just as they all exited, and had abandoned them on a platform in the middle of nowhere. No train station even. Just a flat, white stone platform in the water. Their only option it seemed was to walk on the tracks, but if another train came by, they could be killed or else they would have to jump into the water.
"Wonderful, isn't it," Snape said, voice dripping with sarcasm. harry didn't know how Snape could speak with such sarcasm all the time. If he talked like that as much as Snape did, Harry was sure it would make him sick. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why, even after Voldemorts first defeat, the Potions Master had been so sour.
"This is where we should be," Minerva said. She was searching her pockets for something.
"Pardon?" Sirius Black said.
"This is where we should be. The water around us, according to what Albus has told me, is the River Sublime."
"More like an ocean," Harry said.
"Yes, actually it is," Minerva said. "No human has ever gotten even this far before, but thanks to Hagrid's connections with a few of the magical races, we had the proper tickets and the proper device to get into the world." She still searched her pockets, than finally found what she was looking for.
"What is it?" Hermione asked. She already was writing down their progress in the books she had brought along. Minerva held up a sphere.
"Looks like unicorn horn," Remus commented.
"It is. Normally, this route is taken by human-like beings. Elves that live in cities, you see. This globe is made out of unicorn horn, with the dust of a star inside of it. I'm quite proud of Hagrid's connections, for items like this are hard to get. You see, thet are very rare, and always kept secret."
"So, how did Hagrid get it?" Ginny asked. Harry quickly came up with the answer.
"Dobby...it was Dobby, it had to be. He's helped me tons of times, of course. He must have been asked to try and help us this time, and got the, uh, unicorn horn for us."
"Correct, Harry. Now, all of you should stand back, I'm going to activate it." Minerva examined it a bit, trying to remember what she had been told to do by Albus, before finding the right spot. A small indentation on either side of the ball was where Minerva placed her index fingers.
"Neva ehf oe Tags ur Ofnepo," she said. The incantation, though silly, seemed to work. The ball glowed a milky white, than returned to normal, adn Minerva stuffed it back into one of her robe pockets.
"What the-" Sirius said, looking up at the sky as a humming came from above them. They all glanced up to see a stairway, a silver stairway, unfold above them like a ladder. It seemed to come from nowhere, at a very great height. Ginny gulped.
"We're going up there?"
"Oh, don't whine," Snape said. The other boys, save Draco, shot him dirty looks.
"It'll be alright Ginny, just hang onto me," her brother said.
"I think we should all be careful," Hermione said. "This staircase is really steep looking."
In pairs, they ascended. Minerva took the lead, followed by Harry and Hermione, Ron and Ginny, Sirius and Remus, and Snape and Draco. They willed themselves not to look down. All of them seemed rather nervous, save for Snape, who didn't seem to mind the height or the gentle breeze playing with his hair. At least, he didn't mind, until Remus slipped and fell down, nearly knocking Snape off the stairway.
"Be careful, you idoit! This stairway doesn't have railings, you know. One slip and Mr. Malfoy and I could end up dead!"
"And that's a bad thing?" Sirius asked. Snape growled at him as Remus got his footing again and stood.
"Now who's acting like a dog?" Sirius said, smirking.
"Knock it off," Draco said. Both men were fairly surprised. Draco had no hint of menace or Slytherin-like poison in his voice when he said it. He had said it in much the same way as Hermione might have said it.
"We're falling behind," he continued. The older men noticed this, and they continued on their way.
They didn't know how long they climbed. The air seemed to get no thinner, as it should have, but they could no longer see the land or water below them. It was all white-blue, and they passed by numerous clouds. Ron playfully reached out to ouch one of the fluffy white expanses, and picked up a handful to show his sister. Delighted as she was, she had no urge to reach out and grab her own little cloud, too afraid of losing her footage. The fluffball in Ron's hand dissapaited, and they continued walking.
"Hey, I think I see the end," Harry said. He seemed to see the edge of a platform resting in the air, surrounded by thick clouds. They kept their pace, too timid to rush lest they fall to their doom.
"Finally," Minerva said, reaching the platform. She walked forward between the cloud-archway, and waited for her friends to gather themselves at the top of the staircase. On the platform, the saw a strange sight. In front of them was a large brigde, very large, in fact, that it could easily have been as long as the lake at their school. Other platforms connected to the end of the bridge, and various creatures walked throughn the archways to get to the bridge. Some were familiar; gryphons, imps, goblins, etc. Others were other types of familiar creatures, but ones that the wizards had no way of knowing that they knew them; jovial elves that looked nothing like Dobby or Winky and were about Ginny's height, goblins that were tall and beautiful with pale skin and glitter in their hair. And than there were the extrodinary beings they had never seen before; demons of multiple colors, spirits of the earth better known in foreign countries than in Britian.
"Stay close together," Harry said. He had an urge of leadership rise in him, and Minerva relinquished control, for the time being, to him. He stepped forward, and carefully walked between the strange creatures on the bridge. His company followed.
"Um, they're looking at us," Ginny said. Sure enough, the other travelers were. Mystical creatures were turning and pointing, and whispering to eachother. A little boy with wings comming from his back pointed at them.
"Look, mommy, humans," he said, before his mother pulled him away from them, telling him it was rude to point. Harry and his friends were halfway across the bridge when it was apparent that all other traffic had stopped.
"What's going on, what's going on!" A voice from the other side of the bridge shouted.
"There are humans comming," a gorgoness shouted back.
"Are they allowed to come through?" A cat-headed man asked, shouting his question to the voice from afar.
"Humans? Oh, oh yes, those humans, of course! Yes, they're expected. Don't worry, they're wizards."
Everyone relaxed, and a few of the creatures laughed.
"Oh, about time some human wizards paid a visit to this town," a fearie girl said to her friend. "We've been wondering for ages when they'd pay a visit."
"Yes, it's so nice to see some new races come by," her friend said.
Harry sighed. He was sure that the creatures would have thrown him and his company off the bridge. A man with rabbit ears and porcupine quills poking out of his back laughed and adressed Harry.
"Nat ta warry, yaung man, ya'll anjaoy yaur stay haere," he said with a strong accent, and went on his way. Traffic moved again on the bridge, and Harry sighed, relieved. He looked over his shoulder to see how everyone else was. they all seemed fine, save for Snape, who was still wary and had a firm grip on his wand. It took a firm glance from Minerva to force him to put away his wand.
As they walked along the bridge, Harry was disturbed to see a large purple, snake-like creature approach them. He had six arms and a pair of bat wings, and slithered towards them quickly.
"Need a guide?" he said. Harry was slightly surprised to see him speak without using his mouth, directly communicating through his mind, but Harry grew a bit frightened as the creature grinned. Lips pulled back along a lupine-like muzzle to reveal some very nasty looking teeth.
"Um, no thank you," Harry said quickly. He hurried on, his companions following. The creature watched them the entire way, untill they were out of his sight.
They reached the end of the bridge, and before them they saw what seemed to be a checkpoint. Ten men stood in long black robes. They wore masks,and their hands only had three, clawed fingers, in which they clasped large books and quills. It appeared that they were taking down the names of the travelers that were crossing the bridge. Behind them all stood a man with orange skin and black hair. He looked like an Itallian circus ringmaster, wearing an outfit much like an Itallian, and with a large glittering top hat and a whip. He saw the humans and backoned them over. They approached, and the man brought over one of the bookkeeprs.
"Ah, yes, our human visitors," said the man. Harry noticed a devil's tail swishing from behid the man. "I am very pleased to greet you here, travelers. I was alerted of your comming by a young unicorness, who had heard of your comming from a half-giant, I believe. Normally, I don't believe such tales, but Radiance, that's her name you see, well, she's one of our esteemed regulars, and I knew she wouldn''t fib such a thing."
"Er, yes, sir, well-"
"Call me Randolf, please. And now, give us your names please, all visitors must be checked in." The bookkkepper stepped forward. Minerva took the lead from there.
"Well, certainly Mr. Randolf-"
"Oh, just call me Randolf, please, no need to be so formal towards me ma'am," he said.
"Yes, well, thankyou Randolf. My name is Minerva McGonagall. The young man here is Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter! Well, this is an honor. Heard quite a it about you from some house elves and hippogriffs. Exactly who we need. There have been rumurs of trouble in the network. Dark Magic getting close. Boy what an honor. May I shake your hand?" Harry couldn't help but grin as he shook Randolf's hand. Minerva had to smile as well at the orange man's charm and friendliness.
"Oh, oh yes, the names, please continue," he said, remembering his job. Minerva gave him the rest of their names.
"Ah, now, I suppose you'll need instructions, yes? Okay. Down a ways, just follow the main street to the very end. Maraculous, that's the name of this town, has only one main street, so you can't get lost. At the very end is Emba's Rest House. Go there and say you were sent by Randolf to speak with Emba. She'll give you any information you want, but she may charge a price for it. She's a bit greedy, you see. Well, go see Emba, and she'll set you up with a guide too, most likely. If she won't, there are plenty haning around her place that will volunteer their services. The best you can get is Emba's top girl, The Jack. Don't worry about nothing now. You'll be alright."
They nodded their thanks and departed the bridge, stepping onto the land on the other side. On either side of them now was forest, and in front of them was a tall wall, with a gateway leading into the city. As they headed forward, Harry heard Randolf call to them from behind.
"Have a grand old time, friends, and a merry visit to you."
Diaclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter universe. It's all JKR's. Nuff said.
Quick overview: This fic was playing around in various forms in my head for a while. Finally, I decided to start writing it. A Harry Potter fanfic with traces of Labyrinth, Spirited Away, and Fushigi Yuugi.
Ch. 1: The Silver Staircase
Harry Potter sat in the train. He kept mentally punching himself. Two years ago. Two years ago. That had been the end of it, but no, it really hadn't. Voldemort was not dead. Harry had finished school in confidence, the pride of the wizarding world, and had been told no more than a day ago that Voldemort was alive and could possibly gain power again.
Hermione and Ron glanced over at their friend worridly. He just stared out the window. They tried to cheer him up.
"Come on Harry. It won't be so bad," Hermione said. "We'll get lots of information that can help us. Voldemort is only alive in spirit-sense, not really in physical form."
"Yeah, it'll be easy to kill him for good," Ron said. He bit his tongue, knowing full well that he was on the verge of asking someone how on earth they were going to kill a spirit.
Harry looked at his friends. Hermione still had her bushy hair, but she was very attractive. Ron made a nice match for her, his looks turning out to be like his brother Bill. He had even copied Bill's ponytail, though Hermione forbade him from getting an earring. From them, Harry's eyes drifted to the other memners of their party sitting in the spacious special train compartment that had been reserved for them.
Next to Ron was his siser, Ginny. She fidgeted nervously, only sent along because of her past incident with Tom Riddle's ghost, a connection that could possibly be used to their advantage. Directly across from Ginny was Professor Snape, who looked very unhappy about everything. He had suffered greatly under numerous torture sessions from Voldemort, and was not looking forward o facing the Dark Lord again, especially not with partnering up with Harry again. Another reasson for his discomfort were the two individuals sitting next to him, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Sirius sat so that he turned his head away from Snape, as Snape did the same, and Remus just sat facing forward, hands folded on his lap. Next to him sat Professor McGonagall, who was in charge of this mission, appointed by Dumbledore. Finally, sitting directly across from Harry was Draco Malfoy. He was in much the same mood as Snape, though he had not faced the same torture as Snape. What he suffered was the loss of his father, sent to Azkaban and than killed while trying to escape from it. Draco, though, didn't like the other option, which would have been his father forcing him into the Death Eater circle. Draco was a Slytherin, and he was snobby, and he wasn't too favorable of Muggles or Muggle-born wizards, but he didn't want to be one of Voldemort's lackeys either. Harry couldn't help but smirk at the irony; two of his least favorite people, Snape and Draco, definitely into the Dark Arts, but both resisting the Dark Lord. Draco saw his smirk.
"What's so funny, Potter? Finally finished sulking?" Draco turned away from Harry, not waiting for an answer, and stared out the window.
"No fighting, please," Minerva said. She glanced at the two boys, before turning to a fidgeting Ginny. "What's wrong my dear?"
"Um," the skinny girl gulped, than said, "I still don't quite understand what we're doing. Dumbledore didn't give us that much information."
"For once, Miss Weasley is correct," Snape spoke up. "A pity she couldn't be so attentive in class. Minerva, perhaps you would like to enlighten us more on our mission." He stared at the compartment door, not bothering to look up when he spoke. Minerva sighed.
"Yes Professor, please explain our mission to us more," Hermione said, eagerly leaning forward.
"Of course dear. But do call me Minerva, you are no longer students, but our friends," the older woman said, smiling. "Now as you know, we are going to a spirit world. It is believed that Voldemort will try to enter there and than return to our world."
"Yes, that's what Albus said," Remus remembered, "but what exactly does it mean. Where would Voldemort be comming from? And how?"
"I'll give you the details than...please don't crowd me though, I do need to breath," Minerva said, as the majority of them leaned towards her. Snape and Draco, like two bookends, mearly turned their heads toward her.
"Alright," Minerva continued as everyone sat back. "There are a number of worlds.. Millions. Some worlds are like ours, with other versions of the lands, some go as far to have other versions of ourselves, with variations. Some worlds are at different stages of evolution, with dinosaurs still roaming, or are ahead of our own world in progress, with cars flying through the air on elecricity and cyborgs, as i believe they are called. Some worlds have magic, others don't. There are some worlds that are drastically different though, ones that are so different, humans are never seen there. There is the Heavens and Hells of various religions, for example."
"Those are real?" Hermione asked. "So, like, there's a real Mount Olympus with Hera and Athena, and a real Valhalla with Odin?"
"Quite right, Hermione dear," Minerva said. "The world we are going to is a 'hot spot' for all sorts of magical creatures, gods included. I doubt that we will have the chance of meeting God, or Allah, or any of the dieties from the old civilizations, but we could keep on the lookout for them, in case we need their assistance, and if they are willing to help us. We will have to be careful, though. It is not likely that Voldemort will be there yet, but we will run into a number of fey and demonic creatures. We must be on guard, as we will be the only and first humans there. Which is why, Hermione, you will document anything and everything from our mission and from that world, for research and reference possibilities." Hermione nodded.
"And," Minerva went on quickly," there will be no rough-housing or fighting within our party." She gave Sirius, Remus, and Snape and meaningful look.
"Don't look at me Minerva, as far as I'm concerned, I try not to interact much with these two," Snape said. "However, you may need to put leashes on them so they don't get lost-"
"Don't start, Snape," Sirius warned. Remus and he gave Snape bitter looks.
"Boys." Minerva gave them a hard look, and they quieted down. She turned to the children, or rather, the young adults.
"That goes for you all as well. Ron and Draco, I expect perfect behavior." They nodded, thankful that at least she wasn't asking them to shake hands.
"Well, Pro- er, um, Minerva, you still haven't said how Voldemort will get to this other world," Harry said.
"There are many ways to get to this world, different ways for different folk. When you defeated the Dark Lord the first time, his spirit escaped to another world with the little power he had. It is believed that he is feeding off of raw magical energy, and when he has enough he will try to enter the world we are headed for, so that he can feed off of the incredible amounts of magical energy there and than enter our own world."
Harry shivered. If there were gods and such in this world they were going to, than Voldemort could gain enormous amounts of power. He could almost become a god himself!
"And how will we be getting to this world, Minerva?" Remus asked. He shouldn't have asked.
The lights in the train went out. They sat, stiff and wary, in the darkness. Harry heard the clack-clack of the wheels on the tracks, and the breathing of everyone in the compartment, and nothing else.
"What's going on?" Ginny asked.
"It's probably nothing," Sirius said.
"I don't mean to alarm anyone, but there is no way to see out the windows, and we're not in a tunnel," Draco said.
They were puzzled by this statement. Harry looked out his window, and saw that Draco was right. This wasn't the blackness of a closed up tunnel. The darkness expanded, had depth, depth like an ocean. But he could make out nothing in it.
"Draco's right," he said, surprised at the phrase comming from his mouth.
"Well, best sit tight than," Minerva said. Harry was aware, as he was sure they all were, that the darness was becomming, well, darker. Harry could no longer make out the shpaes of his friends in the compartment.
"What the hell is going on," Snape snapped. He stood up, and went over to the compartment door. Opening it to look out, he quickly regretted his action.
A wind of some unearthly power whipped through the compartment. The younger girls screeched, and Sirius and Ron cursed. Snape tried to vainly close the door, but the wind whipped at him, and he was sure he would be cut by it.
"Severus, shut the door!" Minerva said, realizing that he must have opened it and thus let the wind enter.
"I'm bloody trying to!" He finally shoved the door close with his shoulder, and leaned agaisnt the wood.
"What the hell was that?" Draco asked, shaken. Harry realized that he could see Draco's outline, the darkness letting up. Draco's platinum hair was tassled from the wind. Harry looked around as the light returned to the room, though it was from the outside and not from the lights inside the train. Everyone's hair was messed up by the breeze that had invaded. Clothes were askew a bit, but worst of all was Snape, who was indeed hurt by the wind. His sleeves were shredded, and he had a number of raised marks on his arms. He grmaced, examining his arms and shirt.
"Are you okay?" Remus asked.
"Fine wolf-boy, it's nothing to be concerned of. Just a few welts," Snape said. He sat down again, and did a few healing and sewing spells. He put his wand away, and realized something.
"I'm sure we're all thinking the same thing right now, but, did it seem strange that none of us thought to use magic to close the door?" Hermione said. That was frightening. They had lived their lives with the instincts to immediately whip out their wands to fix their problems. Even for menial tasks. To not do so in a somewhat dangerous situation meant that they were all slipping.
"Well, let's just not think about it," Minerva said, adjusting her glasses.
"Hey, look outside," Ron said, pointing over Harry's shoulder. Outside, it seemed that there really was an ocean. The train was on a small area of land, big enough just for the tracks. On either side of this area of land was pure blue water. They noticed that the train was slowing down.
"You have to be kidding me. A train station out here?" Sirius said. But apparently, there was, for the train soon stopped completely.
"We must have gone through some sort of magical vortex," Hermione said. "This doesn't look like any place in England."
"We're not comming back this way, are we?" Ginny asked.
"If we are, nobody is to open that door," Sirius said, and Snape snorted.
"As if I knew," he grumbled.
"Let's just get off this train already," Ron said. He got up to leave, and everyone followed suit.
***
They stood on the platform. The train had departed just as they all exited, and had abandoned them on a platform in the middle of nowhere. No train station even. Just a flat, white stone platform in the water. Their only option it seemed was to walk on the tracks, but if another train came by, they could be killed or else they would have to jump into the water.
"Wonderful, isn't it," Snape said, voice dripping with sarcasm. harry didn't know how Snape could speak with such sarcasm all the time. If he talked like that as much as Snape did, Harry was sure it would make him sick. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why, even after Voldemorts first defeat, the Potions Master had been so sour.
"This is where we should be," Minerva said. She was searching her pockets for something.
"Pardon?" Sirius Black said.
"This is where we should be. The water around us, according to what Albus has told me, is the River Sublime."
"More like an ocean," Harry said.
"Yes, actually it is," Minerva said. "No human has ever gotten even this far before, but thanks to Hagrid's connections with a few of the magical races, we had the proper tickets and the proper device to get into the world." She still searched her pockets, than finally found what she was looking for.
"What is it?" Hermione asked. She already was writing down their progress in the books she had brought along. Minerva held up a sphere.
"Looks like unicorn horn," Remus commented.
"It is. Normally, this route is taken by human-like beings. Elves that live in cities, you see. This globe is made out of unicorn horn, with the dust of a star inside of it. I'm quite proud of Hagrid's connections, for items like this are hard to get. You see, thet are very rare, and always kept secret."
"So, how did Hagrid get it?" Ginny asked. Harry quickly came up with the answer.
"Dobby...it was Dobby, it had to be. He's helped me tons of times, of course. He must have been asked to try and help us this time, and got the, uh, unicorn horn for us."
"Correct, Harry. Now, all of you should stand back, I'm going to activate it." Minerva examined it a bit, trying to remember what she had been told to do by Albus, before finding the right spot. A small indentation on either side of the ball was where Minerva placed her index fingers.
"Neva ehf oe Tags ur Ofnepo," she said. The incantation, though silly, seemed to work. The ball glowed a milky white, than returned to normal, adn Minerva stuffed it back into one of her robe pockets.
"What the-" Sirius said, looking up at the sky as a humming came from above them. They all glanced up to see a stairway, a silver stairway, unfold above them like a ladder. It seemed to come from nowhere, at a very great height. Ginny gulped.
"We're going up there?"
"Oh, don't whine," Snape said. The other boys, save Draco, shot him dirty looks.
"It'll be alright Ginny, just hang onto me," her brother said.
"I think we should all be careful," Hermione said. "This staircase is really steep looking."
In pairs, they ascended. Minerva took the lead, followed by Harry and Hermione, Ron and Ginny, Sirius and Remus, and Snape and Draco. They willed themselves not to look down. All of them seemed rather nervous, save for Snape, who didn't seem to mind the height or the gentle breeze playing with his hair. At least, he didn't mind, until Remus slipped and fell down, nearly knocking Snape off the stairway.
"Be careful, you idoit! This stairway doesn't have railings, you know. One slip and Mr. Malfoy and I could end up dead!"
"And that's a bad thing?" Sirius asked. Snape growled at him as Remus got his footing again and stood.
"Now who's acting like a dog?" Sirius said, smirking.
"Knock it off," Draco said. Both men were fairly surprised. Draco had no hint of menace or Slytherin-like poison in his voice when he said it. He had said it in much the same way as Hermione might have said it.
"We're falling behind," he continued. The older men noticed this, and they continued on their way.
They didn't know how long they climbed. The air seemed to get no thinner, as it should have, but they could no longer see the land or water below them. It was all white-blue, and they passed by numerous clouds. Ron playfully reached out to ouch one of the fluffy white expanses, and picked up a handful to show his sister. Delighted as she was, she had no urge to reach out and grab her own little cloud, too afraid of losing her footage. The fluffball in Ron's hand dissapaited, and they continued walking.
"Hey, I think I see the end," Harry said. He seemed to see the edge of a platform resting in the air, surrounded by thick clouds. They kept their pace, too timid to rush lest they fall to their doom.
"Finally," Minerva said, reaching the platform. She walked forward between the cloud-archway, and waited for her friends to gather themselves at the top of the staircase. On the platform, the saw a strange sight. In front of them was a large brigde, very large, in fact, that it could easily have been as long as the lake at their school. Other platforms connected to the end of the bridge, and various creatures walked throughn the archways to get to the bridge. Some were familiar; gryphons, imps, goblins, etc. Others were other types of familiar creatures, but ones that the wizards had no way of knowing that they knew them; jovial elves that looked nothing like Dobby or Winky and were about Ginny's height, goblins that were tall and beautiful with pale skin and glitter in their hair. And than there were the extrodinary beings they had never seen before; demons of multiple colors, spirits of the earth better known in foreign countries than in Britian.
"Stay close together," Harry said. He had an urge of leadership rise in him, and Minerva relinquished control, for the time being, to him. He stepped forward, and carefully walked between the strange creatures on the bridge. His company followed.
"Um, they're looking at us," Ginny said. Sure enough, the other travelers were. Mystical creatures were turning and pointing, and whispering to eachother. A little boy with wings comming from his back pointed at them.
"Look, mommy, humans," he said, before his mother pulled him away from them, telling him it was rude to point. Harry and his friends were halfway across the bridge when it was apparent that all other traffic had stopped.
"What's going on, what's going on!" A voice from the other side of the bridge shouted.
"There are humans comming," a gorgoness shouted back.
"Are they allowed to come through?" A cat-headed man asked, shouting his question to the voice from afar.
"Humans? Oh, oh yes, those humans, of course! Yes, they're expected. Don't worry, they're wizards."
Everyone relaxed, and a few of the creatures laughed.
"Oh, about time some human wizards paid a visit to this town," a fearie girl said to her friend. "We've been wondering for ages when they'd pay a visit."
"Yes, it's so nice to see some new races come by," her friend said.
Harry sighed. He was sure that the creatures would have thrown him and his company off the bridge. A man with rabbit ears and porcupine quills poking out of his back laughed and adressed Harry.
"Nat ta warry, yaung man, ya'll anjaoy yaur stay haere," he said with a strong accent, and went on his way. Traffic moved again on the bridge, and Harry sighed, relieved. He looked over his shoulder to see how everyone else was. they all seemed fine, save for Snape, who was still wary and had a firm grip on his wand. It took a firm glance from Minerva to force him to put away his wand.
As they walked along the bridge, Harry was disturbed to see a large purple, snake-like creature approach them. He had six arms and a pair of bat wings, and slithered towards them quickly.
"Need a guide?" he said. Harry was slightly surprised to see him speak without using his mouth, directly communicating through his mind, but Harry grew a bit frightened as the creature grinned. Lips pulled back along a lupine-like muzzle to reveal some very nasty looking teeth.
"Um, no thank you," Harry said quickly. He hurried on, his companions following. The creature watched them the entire way, untill they were out of his sight.
They reached the end of the bridge, and before them they saw what seemed to be a checkpoint. Ten men stood in long black robes. They wore masks,and their hands only had three, clawed fingers, in which they clasped large books and quills. It appeared that they were taking down the names of the travelers that were crossing the bridge. Behind them all stood a man with orange skin and black hair. He looked like an Itallian circus ringmaster, wearing an outfit much like an Itallian, and with a large glittering top hat and a whip. He saw the humans and backoned them over. They approached, and the man brought over one of the bookkeeprs.
"Ah, yes, our human visitors," said the man. Harry noticed a devil's tail swishing from behid the man. "I am very pleased to greet you here, travelers. I was alerted of your comming by a young unicorness, who had heard of your comming from a half-giant, I believe. Normally, I don't believe such tales, but Radiance, that's her name you see, well, she's one of our esteemed regulars, and I knew she wouldn''t fib such a thing."
"Er, yes, sir, well-"
"Call me Randolf, please. And now, give us your names please, all visitors must be checked in." The bookkkepper stepped forward. Minerva took the lead from there.
"Well, certainly Mr. Randolf-"
"Oh, just call me Randolf, please, no need to be so formal towards me ma'am," he said.
"Yes, well, thankyou Randolf. My name is Minerva McGonagall. The young man here is Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter! Well, this is an honor. Heard quite a it about you from some house elves and hippogriffs. Exactly who we need. There have been rumurs of trouble in the network. Dark Magic getting close. Boy what an honor. May I shake your hand?" Harry couldn't help but grin as he shook Randolf's hand. Minerva had to smile as well at the orange man's charm and friendliness.
"Oh, oh yes, the names, please continue," he said, remembering his job. Minerva gave him the rest of their names.
"Ah, now, I suppose you'll need instructions, yes? Okay. Down a ways, just follow the main street to the very end. Maraculous, that's the name of this town, has only one main street, so you can't get lost. At the very end is Emba's Rest House. Go there and say you were sent by Randolf to speak with Emba. She'll give you any information you want, but she may charge a price for it. She's a bit greedy, you see. Well, go see Emba, and she'll set you up with a guide too, most likely. If she won't, there are plenty haning around her place that will volunteer their services. The best you can get is Emba's top girl, The Jack. Don't worry about nothing now. You'll be alright."
They nodded their thanks and departed the bridge, stepping onto the land on the other side. On either side of them now was forest, and in front of them was a tall wall, with a gateway leading into the city. As they headed forward, Harry heard Randolf call to them from behind.
"Have a grand old time, friends, and a merry visit to you."