Disclaimer: Of course, as always, I do not own the Harry Potter series or JK Rowling. I am not creative enough to come up with something that great. Any likenesses between the main character and myself may or may not be purely coincidental.

This story is long, and may cause you to neglect your real world responsibilities while you read. You have been warned.


Chapter Two
Explanation and Mystery

"Good morning, sleepy head."

Melinda opened her eyes and looked around. She was laying on her living room couch, and a man was sitting on the arm chair next to her. She groggily tried to remember what happened.

"TREVOR!" cried the boy on the television.

"I hate that part. They made my voice sound so high pitched. I do not sound like that!" said the man.

My voice... voice... Neville Longbottom... Door... Magic...

Memory after memory flashed through Melinda's head as it all came back to her. She shot up into a sitting position and immediately regretted it, her head swimming from the sudden change of movement.

"Whoa, easy there! Don't go moving too fast and passing out again." Neville said, leaving his seat and coming to stand in front of her to keep her from falling forward off of the couch.

"Why are you here? Do you want money? I don't have any, but you can take whatever you want if you just leave!" Melinda spat at him.

"Money?" Neville said incredulously. "Of course I don't want money. I just-"

"Then what do you want? Who put you up to this? If it was Carl from accounting... he always talks about me, but I never thought he would stoop this low."

"Melinda, if you would please just listen to me-"

"It was, wasn't it? I bet you can't wait to go back to your good buddy so you can both have a laugh at me."

"Melinda, please don't make me put a silencing-"

"Are we really in high school? Do you think that this is funny? Does it look like I think it's funny, having strangers come in and-"

Neville sighed. "I'm really sorry about doing this, SILENCIO!"

Melinda's eyes widened. She opened and closed her mouth, but nothing was coming out. But that was a spell. A Harry Potter spell! How...?

"Now can I PLEASE explain?" Neville asked desperately. Melinda did nothing. Neville took that as an invitation to continue.

"I know you are confused. I would be, too. But there is a very simple explanation for everything." Neville said.

"In 1998, there was a war, a great war between light and dark. You know all about it, of course. Harry Potter saved the wizarding world from a terrible fate. But the ministry had to make a decision to protect the muggle born witches and wizards. If the death eaters had access to the list of them, we would have no way to protect them from being killed. The decision was made to destroy the list. We made them invisible, even to themselves."

Melinda was frozen. She did not understand why the strange man was telling her this. But part of her, inexplicably, remained calm and listened to his every word.

"A spell was cast over the list before it was destroyed. No witch or wizard listed on the list would have any sort of magical signs. Their abilities lay dormant in their minds. Of course, they knew they were different. They knew there was something missing in their lives.

The ministry knew that one day, they would work to move the "Invisible Ones", as they were called, back into our world, but how to do it? It is one thing to explain it to a child. Even muggle children have an understanding and acceptance of magic in their young mind. But they would never believe as they grew, never understand like an adult who had been hidden from the world in which they belonged in.

The idea finally came to one of the witches in Muggle Relations. A book, something available to all children, but bewitched so that when an Invisible One would read it, they would have an unexplainable draw to the books. It worked like a charm. Of course, Rowling is kind of known for her unorthodox methods and ideas. But, it had to be done in a way that did not derail the Statute of Secrecy. She headed up the whole thing herself, of course. She's brilliant, even if she is a little eccentric.

After months of interviews, Rowling finished the book. She had the copies published in strategic locations, making sure that every Invisible One would have access. Of course, muggles would have access to the books as well. But in their minds, the book would just be an interesting story. It wouldn't call to them. But every time an Invisible One would read it, they would feel at home, they would believe, deep down, that somewhere there was a hidden magical world, just around the corner. The only people who would truly understand them were other Invisible Ones.

This also helped catch them up with the war, so that when it was time for them to come back to us, to the world they belonged to, they would be caught up. And that is why I am here."

Melinda thought she knew where this was going. He was about to say it and confirm her suspicion that he was either crazy or this was the most epic prank ever.

"There is a reason you love Harry Potter. You are a very special person, Melinda. You are a witch."

There it was. There was the line. She wasn't going to believe it… was she? She was having a hard time getting her rational thoughts to match up with her ability to disbelieve at the moment. She knew he was insane. And yet... and yet it all just felt right. It was as if she always knew, and he was telling her something so obvious that she didn't see the need to question.

"I know you have loads of questions. I don't want to keep the silencing charm on you. I just needed to be able to explain. I will try to answer as many questions as I can while we are traveling. We don't have much time though. We need to be careful when we travel, and stay as hidden as possible. If I take the silencing charm off, you have to promise not to scream when we leave. There's no way of knowing if we are being followed or not, and we don't want any unwanted attention on ourselves. Do you promise?"

Melinda nodded, and, with a flick of his wand, Neville lifted the charm.

"Why? If the war is over, why do we need to be so secretive when we travel?"

Neville didn't quite meet her eyes when he responded, "It's just better this way. Trust me."

"There aren't still- still Death Eaters on the loose, are there?" Melinda asked hesitantly.

"Of course not!" Neville said, this time looking right at her. "They were all arrested ages ago.

"Then what-" Melinda began.

"Please, just trust me." Neville said firmly as he offered his hand to her. Melinda knew it was no good trying to argue. Instead, she took his hand, and they walked out into the night together.


Hey everyone! I know, I know, there was a LONG delay between chapters. I want to give enough information to make sure no one is confused, but not so much that it would give away the entire story. That proved quite difficult for me. As always, PLEASE review! I love the support and/or constructive criticism, and I love knowing that others are reading. Until next time...