Not of This Earth
Part One
Through the Gump
(Disclaimer: All of these charaters are the creations of either J.K Rowling's Harry Potter or Eva Ibbotson's The Secret of Platform 13. I did not write this intro, although I have revised it. {in italics below} and it is also property of Eva Ibbotson. Enjoy!)
"It's a person without a brain, like a chump," a child might say Or: "It's a camel whose hump has got stuck" Or even: "It's a kind of chewing gum." But once this wasn't so. Once every child in the land could have told you that a gump was a special mound, a grassy bump on the earth, and that in this bump was a hidden door which opened so very often to reveal a tunnel that led to a completely different world. They would have known that every country had its own gump, and that in Great Britian the gump was at a place called The Hill of the Cross of Kings not far from the river Thames. And the wise children, the ones who had read the old stories and listened to the old tales would have known more than that. They would have known that this particular gump opened for exactly nine days every nine years, and not one second longer, and that it was no good changing your mind once you got there because nothing would open the door once that time was up. But the children have forgotten. Everyone had forgotten, perhaps you can't blame them. Yet, the gump still sits under Platforn Thirteen of Kings Cross Kingdom, and the secret door is still sitting behind the wall of the gentleman's cloakroom, just waiting for a new soul to discover it.
The year is 2000, and the gump is preparing for the opening once more. Quite a coincidence that the date is September first.
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"Come on, you oaf! I'm about as upset with this interesting new development in our family as you."
Hermione Granger hauled her bags up to the entrance of the train station... followed by Draco Malfoy, her arch nemisis. She had been forced to hang out with the gloating git the entire summer. And it was all Maria's fault, that dratted cousin. How could she fall for such a dispisable person? Who could ever marry William Malfoy?
Draco halted, obviously thinking about something. "You know Granger, our lives are turning into that corny television show, the Brady Bunch." Hermione rolled her eyes, still trying to shake the horrible feeling that now, she and Malfoy were related.
"Here's the story, of a girl named 'Mari' who tried to mingle with the Pureblood crowd..."
Hermione gave him a warning look. Draco's singing was horrible. He was practically deaf tone, and that's saying something if you're a wizard.
"And then one day when the cheap slut met this fellow... And they knew that it was much more than a hunch. And against their families wishes, they both got married, and that's how the Malfoy's mixed with the Mudblood Bunch."
Draco looked pleased with himself. Ignoring Hermione's looks of warning, he continued.
"The Mudblood Bunch... The Mudblood Bunch...and that's how the Malfoy's became the Mudblood Bunch."
Malfoy gave a bow, and was prepared to sing his parody to Giligan's Island when Hermione, fed up with all this mixed blood buissness, took off her platform sandel and threw it at Draco.
"Bull's Eye!" she shouted eagerly. "And if you keep this crap up, you'll have a stilletto pump shoved up your ass before you can say 'Gilagan'." Draco retreated.
"Now then," Hermione flipped into bossy tour guide mode, "we have a couple of hours before the train starts boarding, so I figured we'd go explore some of the older parts of Kings Cross."
"There goes that 'we' again Granger..."
"Oh just quit your whining for a moment. You're worse than Neville for Christ's Sake."
"No I'm not..."
"Are too"
"Am not"
"Are too"
"Am not"
"Are t-"
"SILENCE!" A voice rang out through the station. "Just shut your gobs for a minute and listen to what I have to say."
Malfoy started whimpering. "Where's the penguin?" he asked stupidly.
"Oh shut up for once in your life and let's here what the spirit's got to say."
"S-S-Spirit?"
Hermione was agitated. Was Malfoy a fifth year or not? "No, I'm kidding, it's the Easter Bunny Draco." Her remark was dripping with sarcasm.
"Don't they teach you anything down in those dungeons? Honestly, first years know how to identify a spirit of a ghost."
"G-Ghost?"
"Stuff it, you big sissy... honestly, Ginny Weasley's got more nerve than you."
"Humph."
"Ok... whoever you are... what do you want from us?"
The ghost answered in voice that made neadles run down their spine. "Build it, and they will come."
"Tell u-"
"Cut the crap, Santa Claus or whoever you are... this is beginning to sound awfully like that movie Field of Dreams..."
Hermione reached down to take off her shoe once more.
"What... It was on BBC one day..."
Hermione kicked him in the shins. "Shut up!"
"What do you want us to build?"
The spirit laughed. "That waste of air is good for one thing... how he manages to memorize so many lines from made-for-t.v. movies..."
This was getting nowhere.
"I was just kidding... Come on... I need to show you two something.'
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Malfoy coughed. "Do we have to walk through this passage? This Armani suit cost father a fortune... silk too... quite impressive..."
Hermione felt the need to kick him once more, and expressed herself freely.
"Aww..."
"Actually sir, I have been wondering what plans you have in store for us. We're due on the eleven o'clock train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and it's already ten-thirty."
"Surely two," then giving a second thought to Draco, "I mean an intelligent witch like yourself is able to stop time? No?"
Hermione beamed. She wasn't tops in her class for nothing.
"Oh of course sir-"
"And for the love of God, pray don't call me sir. It makes me feel like the authority."
"YES DRILL SARGENT!" Draco apparently thought his joke to be amusing. "No, don't tell me you haven't seen Forest Gump."
Hermione flipped him the bird. The spirit felt things grow tense.
"For goodness sakes, call me Tonino."
"And I though Draco was bad..."
"Ok then, Tonino, what are we here for then?"
"The Island is in trouble once more. The North has declared war, and the King and Queen have gone missing."
"Whoa. And I thought Taiwan was in trouble."
Hermione kicked him once more.
"Whoa, whoa, slow down a minute. What's this Island?"
The ghost sighed. "It's not really and island, it's just that people have grown to call it that. The Island is actually another world, identical to ours."
"I wasn't aware that there were more than one earth." Hermione was quite sure this spirit had to have been mistaken. Other worlds?
"Look, to save you and me a whole lot of trouble, let's just say that you're on a need to know basis. And you don't need to know."
"Isn't that from the Rock?"
Slap.
"AWWW!"
Hermione let out a sigh. Great. Another adventure to embark upon. Just how she always wanted to start out a new term. And with perhaps the most arrogent person in the world.
"State the mission."
"You're gonna save the world."
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Interesting? I thought so. R/R, and I shall post more. ok... sorry i had ta bore yall to death w/ that intro part... but it wuz veeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyy necessery... as you shall find out. this is one of mah earlier fics... back from the grave cuz i felt like finishin it. ya can tell it's not mah best...