Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story except for Mark and
Katie.Wupee.
1 Prolog-The Old Building
A lone owl flew though the buildings of London, a rare sight in the city and even rarer because it was in the day. The owl flew towards the forest then started down ward toward the ground. Attached to the owl's leg a letter in old-fashioned parchment. The owl flew down to building that with a sign with the words KEEP AWAY, CONDEMED BUILDING. And indeed it did look abandoned, with its faded and chipped away paint and broken windows. The building was, while still considered "part of the city" was abandoned and near the forest that was slowly creeping up and destroying the building. A boy and girl, around the age of 8, were playing in near the forest and so had seen the bird fly to the only window that wasn't broken, peck on it, then wait. A few seconds latter the window opened and the bird flew in. A few seconds later the window shut. The boy and girl slowly crept forward towards the old building not really sure whether they wanted to go and see how come that bird went inside there.
The boy looked at the girl and said "You don' really want to go in THERE do ya?"
The girl started chewing on her bottom lip and said, "Well yea, sorta we might be able to see that bird up close. And I ain't never been able to pet a bird like that before Mark."
The boy, now named Mark, looked at her and in a slightly whiney voice said "But everyone says that its haunted! And didn't you see that window open? Windows don't open by themselves ya know. And mommy doesn't like it when you said ain't." Mark turned away from his sister to look at the house.
"Well mommy AIN'T here now is she? Though you are right window don't open by themselves. So a person has to be in there."
"But why would he stay in there? Maybe he's a murder on the run from the police and he's here to kill us all. I don't want to go over there Katie." Mark said still looking at the house.
......
"Uh, Katie?" He turned to look over at her to look at her only to find the spot where she had been empty. He glanced up and saw her small figure crawling toward the house. "Ug. My sister's an idiot." He mumbled, and then he followed after her. Katie stopped when she saw Mark was coming after her.
"Nice'a' you to finally come join me." She said with a little grin.
"Hmmm going with my sister to go to a supposedly haunted house possibly to get ourselves killed or go home and get yelled at by mom for 'leaving your sister out there like that' hmmm now there's a great choice. Remind me why god had to give me a girl for a sister?"
"Umm cause sisters can't vary well be boys?"
Mark sighs and says "Oh well might as well get this over with. Can we hurry though? The Three Musketeers is the story that the story teller is doing to today and I don't want to miss it."
"Humph. Where's your since of adventure?"
"I am here aren't I? And I believe its out sick today. Now lets hurry up and get this over with." He started crawling toward the house again. Katie shook her head then followed him.
When they reached the old building went to one of the windows and tried to peak inside but the window was dusty. Mark leaned up against the window and used his sleeve to clean off a spot big enough for them both to look in. When they looked in they saw that the inside was not as bad as it should have. The floorboards were all in tacked, the floors and walls looked like they had been cleaned recently. There was also some furniture. There was a wooden perch that the owl was sitting on inside, a rug, and four chairs. And those for chairs had two men and two women sitting in them. One of the men, a pale, black haired man had the parchment in his hands, scowling at it.
"Who are those people?" Katie asked in a whisper.
"Ghosts?" Mark replied.
"I do not think so. They are not seeing though enough. But perhaps we should have no," She started when Mark interrupted her with a "shhh one of them is talking."
"Who's the letter from?" One of the women asked.
"My muggle loving brother. He says that all is well in the wizarding world but that we should stay out of sight until the Ministry of Magic catches our.little problem. in Hogwarts." The man with the letter said. The other man had sent him a glare when he mentioned muggle lover.
"Is our little problem going to be solved by the time the term starts this year?" The other woman said before the two men could get in a fight about whatever "muggle lovers" were.
"What are muggles?" Katie asked in a low whisper.
"Never mind about the muggle part, didn't you hear the first part? The Ministry of Magic." He said in an awed sounding whisper.
"Magic? So there *gulp* Witches?"
"Come on the door over there is kind of open. We will be able to hear better over there." Mark started crawling over to the door then looked back and saw Katie was still frozen into place. Mark grabbed her arm and pulling her over to the door. They got to the door just as one of the women was breaking up a fight with the men.
"Will you two just sit down and act slightly your age in stead of acting like you are three?" The lady said sounding exasperated.
The two men said at the same time "Sorry Mam," and sat back down.
"Hmm it looks like that woman is in charge," Katie whispered to Mark.
"Yes, strange isn't it?" Mark replied with a teasing grin on his face. Katie poked her el-bow into his ribs with a slight glare. Mark just giggled quietly. "Shhh the other lady's whispering something to the other lady." The other lady was leaning over in her chair and whispering something to the lady that had stopped the two men from fighting. Then she got up picked up her teacup and headed into the other room. The other two men were now discussing some thing about. Brooms?
"Brooms are bloody uncomfortable if you ask me," Said the man who had the 'muggle loving uncle.'
"That I have to agree with, why while I was flying over I nearly got ten blisters on my bum." The other man said with a slight grin. The man looked at the lady in charge. His grin broadened. "Would you like to kiss it and make it better?"
The Lady scoffed at him and hit him over the head with a short stick that had been in her robe and said "You should know better then to say that to a lady you dog." The man's grin just got wider.
"Where did Ro go?" The other man asked.
"She went to..go take care of something," Replied the woman.
"What?" the one with the 'muggle-loving uncle' asked.
"You shall see soon enough," She said.
"I bet she went to go get some more tea," Mark whispered to Katie. She just nodded. He turned back to watch what was going on inside the house. They heard some slight rustlings behind them and looked back behind them but saw nothing. "Must just be a rabbit," he whispered. Then they turned back just as another bird flew in, though instead of another owl it was a hawk. It too had a letter attached to its leg.
"Hello Clau, just go sit with Hackle. She will be back in a minute." The woman said with a slight glance at the door. The hawk went and sat with the owl on the perch.
"We have to go," Katie said in a tense whisper and grabbed his shoulder and started pulling him back away from the house. "Now."
"No, I want to stay and watch." He pulled out of her grip and sent a glare at her. She glared right back.
"Don't you see? They alrea," She stopped short. Mark glanced back and saw her laying on the ground unconscious with the other woman pointing a short stick at him just as she muttered a few words and a blue beam shot from the stick and hit him knocking him unconscious too. She then walked passed them pointed the stick at both of them muttered a few more words and they floated into the air a few feet. She then pushed open the door and walked inside the floating figures following her inside.
The two men looked surprised but the woman did not. "I see you got our little trespassers Ms. Ravenclaw." The other woman said as Ms. Ravenclaw walked over to her chair, sat down, and with a motion of the stick brought the two back down.
"In deed I did Hufflepuff." Ravenclaw said.
Hufflepuff looked at the man with the muggle loving uncle and said, "I told you, you would find out soon enough Slytherin."
Slytherin nodded his head and asked, "Who are they?"
"Perhaps a better question is what do we do with them?" The other man said.
Hufflepuff answered, "I don't know Gryffindor, I just don't know."
1 Prolog-The Old Building
A lone owl flew though the buildings of London, a rare sight in the city and even rarer because it was in the day. The owl flew towards the forest then started down ward toward the ground. Attached to the owl's leg a letter in old-fashioned parchment. The owl flew down to building that with a sign with the words KEEP AWAY, CONDEMED BUILDING. And indeed it did look abandoned, with its faded and chipped away paint and broken windows. The building was, while still considered "part of the city" was abandoned and near the forest that was slowly creeping up and destroying the building. A boy and girl, around the age of 8, were playing in near the forest and so had seen the bird fly to the only window that wasn't broken, peck on it, then wait. A few seconds latter the window opened and the bird flew in. A few seconds later the window shut. The boy and girl slowly crept forward towards the old building not really sure whether they wanted to go and see how come that bird went inside there.
The boy looked at the girl and said "You don' really want to go in THERE do ya?"
The girl started chewing on her bottom lip and said, "Well yea, sorta we might be able to see that bird up close. And I ain't never been able to pet a bird like that before Mark."
The boy, now named Mark, looked at her and in a slightly whiney voice said "But everyone says that its haunted! And didn't you see that window open? Windows don't open by themselves ya know. And mommy doesn't like it when you said ain't." Mark turned away from his sister to look at the house.
"Well mommy AIN'T here now is she? Though you are right window don't open by themselves. So a person has to be in there."
"But why would he stay in there? Maybe he's a murder on the run from the police and he's here to kill us all. I don't want to go over there Katie." Mark said still looking at the house.
......
"Uh, Katie?" He turned to look over at her to look at her only to find the spot where she had been empty. He glanced up and saw her small figure crawling toward the house. "Ug. My sister's an idiot." He mumbled, and then he followed after her. Katie stopped when she saw Mark was coming after her.
"Nice'a' you to finally come join me." She said with a little grin.
"Hmmm going with my sister to go to a supposedly haunted house possibly to get ourselves killed or go home and get yelled at by mom for 'leaving your sister out there like that' hmmm now there's a great choice. Remind me why god had to give me a girl for a sister?"
"Umm cause sisters can't vary well be boys?"
Mark sighs and says "Oh well might as well get this over with. Can we hurry though? The Three Musketeers is the story that the story teller is doing to today and I don't want to miss it."
"Humph. Where's your since of adventure?"
"I am here aren't I? And I believe its out sick today. Now lets hurry up and get this over with." He started crawling toward the house again. Katie shook her head then followed him.
When they reached the old building went to one of the windows and tried to peak inside but the window was dusty. Mark leaned up against the window and used his sleeve to clean off a spot big enough for them both to look in. When they looked in they saw that the inside was not as bad as it should have. The floorboards were all in tacked, the floors and walls looked like they had been cleaned recently. There was also some furniture. There was a wooden perch that the owl was sitting on inside, a rug, and four chairs. And those for chairs had two men and two women sitting in them. One of the men, a pale, black haired man had the parchment in his hands, scowling at it.
"Who are those people?" Katie asked in a whisper.
"Ghosts?" Mark replied.
"I do not think so. They are not seeing though enough. But perhaps we should have no," She started when Mark interrupted her with a "shhh one of them is talking."
"Who's the letter from?" One of the women asked.
"My muggle loving brother. He says that all is well in the wizarding world but that we should stay out of sight until the Ministry of Magic catches our.little problem. in Hogwarts." The man with the letter said. The other man had sent him a glare when he mentioned muggle lover.
"Is our little problem going to be solved by the time the term starts this year?" The other woman said before the two men could get in a fight about whatever "muggle lovers" were.
"What are muggles?" Katie asked in a low whisper.
"Never mind about the muggle part, didn't you hear the first part? The Ministry of Magic." He said in an awed sounding whisper.
"Magic? So there *gulp* Witches?"
"Come on the door over there is kind of open. We will be able to hear better over there." Mark started crawling over to the door then looked back and saw Katie was still frozen into place. Mark grabbed her arm and pulling her over to the door. They got to the door just as one of the women was breaking up a fight with the men.
"Will you two just sit down and act slightly your age in stead of acting like you are three?" The lady said sounding exasperated.
The two men said at the same time "Sorry Mam," and sat back down.
"Hmm it looks like that woman is in charge," Katie whispered to Mark.
"Yes, strange isn't it?" Mark replied with a teasing grin on his face. Katie poked her el-bow into his ribs with a slight glare. Mark just giggled quietly. "Shhh the other lady's whispering something to the other lady." The other lady was leaning over in her chair and whispering something to the lady that had stopped the two men from fighting. Then she got up picked up her teacup and headed into the other room. The other two men were now discussing some thing about. Brooms?
"Brooms are bloody uncomfortable if you ask me," Said the man who had the 'muggle loving uncle.'
"That I have to agree with, why while I was flying over I nearly got ten blisters on my bum." The other man said with a slight grin. The man looked at the lady in charge. His grin broadened. "Would you like to kiss it and make it better?"
The Lady scoffed at him and hit him over the head with a short stick that had been in her robe and said "You should know better then to say that to a lady you dog." The man's grin just got wider.
"Where did Ro go?" The other man asked.
"She went to..go take care of something," Replied the woman.
"What?" the one with the 'muggle-loving uncle' asked.
"You shall see soon enough," She said.
"I bet she went to go get some more tea," Mark whispered to Katie. She just nodded. He turned back to watch what was going on inside the house. They heard some slight rustlings behind them and looked back behind them but saw nothing. "Must just be a rabbit," he whispered. Then they turned back just as another bird flew in, though instead of another owl it was a hawk. It too had a letter attached to its leg.
"Hello Clau, just go sit with Hackle. She will be back in a minute." The woman said with a slight glance at the door. The hawk went and sat with the owl on the perch.
"We have to go," Katie said in a tense whisper and grabbed his shoulder and started pulling him back away from the house. "Now."
"No, I want to stay and watch." He pulled out of her grip and sent a glare at her. She glared right back.
"Don't you see? They alrea," She stopped short. Mark glanced back and saw her laying on the ground unconscious with the other woman pointing a short stick at him just as she muttered a few words and a blue beam shot from the stick and hit him knocking him unconscious too. She then walked passed them pointed the stick at both of them muttered a few more words and they floated into the air a few feet. She then pushed open the door and walked inside the floating figures following her inside.
The two men looked surprised but the woman did not. "I see you got our little trespassers Ms. Ravenclaw." The other woman said as Ms. Ravenclaw walked over to her chair, sat down, and with a motion of the stick brought the two back down.
"In deed I did Hufflepuff." Ravenclaw said.
Hufflepuff looked at the man with the muggle loving uncle and said, "I told you, you would find out soon enough Slytherin."
Slytherin nodded his head and asked, "Who are they?"
"Perhaps a better question is what do we do with them?" The other man said.
Hufflepuff answered, "I don't know Gryffindor, I just don't know."