The Riders of Hogwarts
A/N - Hey! This is my first story, just an idea that popped into my head and i actually wanted to write. Any and all reviews are awesome as long as they are constructive. This series will probably be split into 2 books, with book 1 being post horcrux hunt 1 and book 2 being back to Hogwarts. I'll try to post regularly but no guarantees. Obviously I do not own Harry Potter or Eragon which this takes after- they belong to J.K. Rowling and Christopher Paolini respectively
Chapter 1 – The meeting
Shanghai, China, 2001
The marketplace was a sea of colour and noise, filled with people buying food, clothes and other objects. The couple were walking along, laughing at their own jokes and studying random items at the stalls. On the surface, the two appeared to be tourists, enjoying the sights. To the expert eye, however, it was clear that they were watching their surroundings. Not only that, they were being followed.
The young woman had grabbed a pair of sunglasses, and was studying her reflection in the mirror. Her brown hazel eyes, framed by short blond spiky hair, studied the mirror, while her partner was stood nearby reading a magazine.
"She's across the road again Polonius" She said quietly. Her eyes were focused on the woman that had stopped and was staring at the shop. "How is it she keeps following us? We've ducked through stores, gone down alleys, vanished into crowds. How, in the name of Merlin, is she still here?"
Her partner grunted, agreeing with her. Over the magazine, his emerald green eyes surveyed the woman. "I don't know Ophelia. She's not very discreet".
Indeed, that was true. The woman was in her mid-twenties, but her outfit made her stand out. She was wearing riding boots, jeans and a thigh length jacket, grey with red trim. Her hair was blonde and shoulder length, but had green, red and blue tips, and eyes that were a bright violet but also seemed ancient, like she had seen a lot. Not only that, she was tall, standing out above the crowd. The moment they had seen her they were immediately suspicious of her. Ducking through the shopping centre, they went into a café. The woman had walked in and up to the counter and ordered a coffee, sitting down at a booth. They had all sat there for an hour, until they got up to leave. Moving out, they had quickly ducked into a nearby store, watching as she sauntered past. They thought they were fine, until they made it to the market, and realised she was still there.
"She must have a tracker on us or something" he said. "Think she's a death eater?"
"No. She's too obvious while also too comfortable in this world; no pureblood could do that" replied Ophelia. "that or a charm. What's strange is that, I think she WANTS us to notice her following. Why, I don't know." Biting her bottom lip, she looked in the mirror again. "I think we should head home, but take the back alleys"
He nodded, and as one, they turned and walked to the back of the store. Opening the staff door, he looked back, watching as the woman simply stared. Exiting quickly, they ran down the alley. The woman, however, simply walked back into the crowd whistling a merry tune.
An hour later, the two finally reached their street, heading straight for their apartment. The best description of their street was that there were a lot of similar looking buildings, and a lot of people living in them. Opening the door, they walked in and locked it. "Think we need to run?" he asked. She replied by shaking her head, walking to the kitchen. "No. I didn't see her follow…..." He turned and ran into the kitchen at the sound of her voice trailing, stopping next to her staring at the women who had been following them making an omelette in their kitchen, with a man reading the paper at the table.
The man looked to be as tall as the woman was. His hair was short and grey, more like a military crew cut. His eyes were sky blue. He was wearing a similar outfit to the woman, who had draped her jacket over the chair showing a bright purple tank top. Unlike her, he looked to be African descent while she was more European.
"Sorry about the mess, and that the foods not cooked yet" she said. "Wasn't sure when you would get home, but I'm glad the food will still be hot." Ophelia moved as quick as a snake, placing a knife hidden up her sleeve at the back of her neck. "How the hell did you know where we lived? And how did you get in?"
To her credit, the woman didn't even flinch from the knife, nor did she turn; instead she kept cooking. In response, she waved her hand, and the couple watched as plates floated out and landed on the table.
"Ok, but how did you know where we lived?" Ophelia asked, still holding the knife.
"Well, this will sound creepy, but we have been watching you guys for about a month now" she replied. "Now, why don't you two sit down and enjoy the meal? We have a bit of talking to do"
The couple looked at each other, the only changes being a slight twitch of the mouth and eyebrow. Slowly, they sat down at the table. "Thanks" she said, as she served some omelette to them all, sitting down at the table and sending the pan into the sink. "So, what's your names? I'll start. My name is Maddie, and my companion here is Edran." His only response to that was a slight dip in the paper.
"I'm Ophelia, and this is Polonius" said the young woman. "Where are you from? You're obviously not from China, and you sound somewhat European."
The woman just sat there, studying the young blonde. Brown hazel eyes locked into violet eyes, engaging in a battle of wills, intently studying each other. Suddenly the woman started laughing, startling the couple.
"You're good, very good" laughed the woman. "You're right, I'm from Europe, but my accent comes from a country and language that no longer exists. And no, I'm not one of these, 'Death Eaters' was it you said?" The two looked at each other, startled. "Yeah I don't really know what that means, but that's why I'd like to talk. Now I'd like to make an observation. You're obviously from England, but from the state of the apartment here you're clearly on the run. That's a given, considering that the apartment has only the bare necessities, yet you have a nice escape route with the loose window into the river and the backpack hidden in the cupboard in that corridor"
The couple looked at each other, suddenly wary. "Yeah. Another clue is that your hair has been crudely hacked rather than cut, therefore most likely coloured as well. For you, you just grew yours out. Not only that, your names are obviously from the Shakespeare play Hamlet, but no one would look really twice at it here, helping the 'tourist look'. So what I'd like to know, as well as I'm sure they do, is how did you two ended up here from England"
The man frowned "Who's they?"
She smiled. "You know, them. The ones reading this on their phones, or computers, or whatever devices they are using."
The two turned to Edran, who simply said "It's just something that she does. Doesn't make sense to me, but then I know she's insane. You two will get used to it."
The two looked at each other, but eventually the blonde sighed and looked down. "Ok" said Hermione, still staring at her lap. "Here's our story".