Chapter Four
"Go Gryffindor!"
Nita waited to get her balance. She looked down on her feet and willed them to stay still. When she was okay, she looked around to get her bearings.
It was a stadium of some sort. People all around were cheering and waving up banners. But the teams on the banners weren't like any sports team she knew of. Then again, Nita wasn't exactly cutting edge in the sports world, what did she know? Nita looked over at Kit to see how he was taking things, but because he'd done this spell before he was better off than her.
"I guess he's watching a sports game," Kit looked down at the field of green grass and concluded, "A soccer game, most likely. But who are the teams?"
Slytherin and Gryffindor, Nita read squinting her eyes to make out the tiny print on the banner. It looked tiny to her. The field was so huge that letters probably bigger than her head looked like a font size of 5. Looking around her she noticed that the field was big... and she and Kit were right in the middle of it.
"Shouldn't we have been mauled by a large sports team by now?" Nita asked. Before activating the locator spell Kit had cloaked them with invisibility. Suddenly Nita was extra glad that he had. All of these eyes on the field were a bit unnerving.
Only the eyes of the spectators weren'ton the field. They were in the air. But what kind of sport was played in the air? Nita's eyes flew upward, just as a Bludger smacked into her.
She didn't know that it was a Bludger of course. All she saw was a very heavy ball coming straight toward her, and all she felt was this sharp pain in her arm.
"Y'okay there, Neets?" Kit asked, coming over to her.
Nita nodded. Yes she was okay, but was she going mad? The ball looked as though it had a mind of it's own flying up and down the field. Nita was even more confused when a boy in green robes went flying after it.
On a broom.
What the heck?
"Uh... you're sure we're on Earth?" Kit asked uneasily. Nita didn't know what to say or how to answer. She and Kit both followed the green cloaked boy as he went after the dangerous ball. The boy had in his hand a bat which he proceeded to whack the ball... right into another kid on a flying broomstick, only this one was wearing scarlet robes.
"Foul!" someone yelled. A shrill whistle blew and a silver haired woman strolled onto the field wearing what referees would wear in robe form.
14 robe wearing, broomstick flying, kids landed around them.
This was their first clue to get out of there, the fact that they were now in the middle of a circle of these oddly dressed people, who had a few seconds earlier been flying on brooms.
Nita rubbed her temple with one hand and grabbed Kit's arm with another. "I dunno whether to be confused or afraid."
"I think I'll go with both. Come on, we need to get out of this circle." Before all 15 of these people could meet in the middle, Nita and Kit slipped out. However, too intrigued by this sudden weirdness, they didn't leave, but watched the scene unfold.
The girl who had been hit by the same ball that had whacked Nita was glaring at the green-cloaked people. Despite the fact that they had injured someone (or maybe because of that fact) all of the green-wearers were smiling smugly. Two tall red headed boys in deep red robes were standing by the injured girl and muttering insults under their breath.
"Is Ms Bell alright?" the referee stepped in to inspect the damage.
A dark haired boy with a lightning shaped scar stepped in and explained that he suspected Katie's arm to be broken. This boy was covered by scarlet robes, but Nita suspected that under them he was extremely skinny and pale. She knew that if she walked close enough to inspect his eyes that they would be a brilliant green. The glasses concluded it. This was the boy from both dreams.
"That's Harry!" Nita stupidly cried.
Head whipped around to stare at the patch of air where Nita and Kit stood. Kit grabbed Nita and clamped a hand fiercely over her mouth. She sent him an apologizing look, but she couldn't contain her excitement. Harry was alive. Harry was here. She had to... She had to warn him. Warn him that the darkest being in this universe and the next was after him.
The robed people stopped looking at Nita and Kit but Kit didn't let go of Nita's mouth. He only removed his hand when Nita pried it off of him.
"Sorry--" she whispered but Kit shushed her.
Kit looked at the robed people and then led Nita away from them. He gave Nita a forgiving nod and then nothing more was said on her slip-up. Now they had to talk about how to get to Harry. The weirdness of this situation they'd discuss later, preferably with Harry. But first they had to figure out a way to meet him without thousands of people watching. They were out of there element, and while they had been to distant planets never had they seen anything so odd and so different of their own Earth. It was like a whole other planet.
So they couldn't very well talk to him now with everyone watching, they had to get him somewhere else. Kit suggested a note, and because Nita couldn't think of anything else, they wrote him one.
Using the pad from Kit's backpack they devised a note that, hopefully, Harry would listen to.
Now they had to give it to Harry without him freaking out about invisible people, and throwing the note away out of distrust.
The meeting on the Field was about to break up. They had about one minute before these strange characters would mount their brooms and fly away. Nita still felt odd thinking about magic brooms and such. She had dismissed those ideas as soon as she learned what magic -or wizardry- really was. But now she pushed this disbelief out of her mind, because she had seen those brooms fly.
Nita felt like she would be the one to give Harry the note because she knew him the best. She snuck up to him, trying not to make any noise but the grass was soft enough and well-kept that there was nothing to make noise. She found herself behind him.
Carefully she took a breath, but found this to be a bad move as Harry felt the breath on his neck and looked behind him.
His eyes narrowed on hers. It was odd how he was looking her in the eyes, but she was invisible. After a two-second quizzical look he turned back around. This was the time, Nita thought as Harry got ready to take to the sky.
"Don't turn around."
She could see Harry stiffen, but thankfully he didn't turn around conspicuously.
"Who are you?" Harry murmured.
"A friend. I'm not about to hurt you, just bring your hand back, I have something to give you."
She could see Harry making the difficult decision in his head. He didn't know if he could trust her. Not only had she snuck on the field, but she was covered by an invisibility spell. She hardly expected him to put his hand back, but he did.
She slipped the note into his hand and then backed away.
She had to admit, Harry was good. A few seconds after she slipped him the note he took off after he hadn't just met a total stranger.
Nita ran over to where Kit was, holding her hands out. Kit's eyebrows raised, "He took it?"
"I was surprised too. But taking the note, and believing it two different things."
Kit smiled a little, "We'll see at eight."
Yes, Harry caught the snitch. Yes, Gryffindor won by an amazing point spread. And Harry had to admit seeing the disheveled looks of the Slytherins did give him a sort of satisfaction. But all he could think about, during the last half of the game and afterward was that note that the girl had slipped to him.
She'd had an invisibility cloak, he was sure of it. He wasn't crazy and he hadn't imagined it. Every so often he'd slip his hand into the pocket of his jeans just to make sure that the invisible girl was real. No one else had seen her, but they'd all heard her. He was becoming more sure now that the "That's Harry!" that he heard when the Quidditch teams had been grounded had come from her. So she'd been looking for him. And now she'd found him. What was she going to do?
Harry didn't even get a chance to look at the note. As always after a Quidditch match the team was swarmed. Wood's smile blinded people from across the common room. Katie was being fawned over by fan-boys and her friends. And Harry, the Seeker who had won it for them, had been slapped on the back many times.
Finally, all the craziness was over and he got a moment to talk to Ron and Hermione. "Up in our dormitory," he said to the both of them. Neville was out studying in the library, Dean and Seamus were still down at the loose ends of the party. They would have the dormitory to themselves for about half an hour.
When Harry sat down on his bed and told them he had something to tell them, Hermione confessed she had something to. "But you first," Hermione was clutching a book to her chest, and Harry wondered if what she had to say had something to do with new information she'd found. He was about to suggest that she go first, but then the note in his pocket rubbed against his skin, and the weirdness of the situation hit him again.
"On the Quidditch pitch today, someone walked up to me and gave me this." Harry pulled the note from out of his pocket, unfolded it and held it up for Hermione and Ron to see.
" 'We're your friends and we're here to help you. Tonight at 10:00 go somewhere safe. As long as no one can hear us, it doesn't matter where. We'll find you,' " Hermione read aloud.
"Er... doesn't that sound kind of creepy?" Ron asked, fidgeting nervously.
"I wouldn't go," Hermione said shaking her head. "Most likely she's in a league with You-Know-Who, or even if she's not a Death Eater, she's probably a supporter. It isn't safe, Harry."
Harry felt conflicted. The girl hadn't seemed like a Death Eater, nor did she seem like a supporter of You-Know-Who. She seemed kind of nice.
"I'm going to go," he said surprising both of his best friends. Ron nodded and said he'd come with. He recognized the tone of Harry's voice as a cue that Harry wasn't going to change his mind. Hermione, however, did not.
"Why? That doesn't make any sense! Just because this girl says, at the beginning of the note, that she's your friend and she's here to help does not mean that she's actually your friend. In fact Harry this entire thing reeks essence of 'fake'! I wouldn't go if I were you."
Harry lifted his eyebrow. "Well I am going to go. I can't explain it Hermione, but she doesn't seem like a Death Eater. It was her voice..."
Hermione crossed her arms, hugging the book tightly to her chest. "So you've got a crush on her, is that it? Heard her voice, fell madly in love?"
Harry would have laughed if he weren't so ticked. "Wrong. I just feel like it's an opportunity that I want to take." He could tell that nothing he could say would convince Hermione. And how could he explain it? He couldn't. The only thing he could offer was that Hermione come along. "If we all three have our wands, we could probably take her. That is if she attacks us, which I doubt she would."
Hermione thought on it, and agreed. "We'd better hurry up then," she said looking at her watch, "because it's ten o'clock now."
Hermione didn't like this. She didn't like this at all. If she'd had her way Harry wouldn't be falling into the hands of what would surely be a trap. The safest place they could think of would have to be outside the castle. They couldn't risk any of the Hogwarts' staff finding out. Hogsmeade was the only route Harry could think of, and although it pained Hermione they snuck out of one of the secret passageways. They were only five-minutes out when they collided with an invisible force.
They'd been invisible themselves, huddling together under Harry's invisibility cloak. Now, Harry Ron and Hermione picked themselves up from the ground, threw off their invisibility cloaks and pointed their wands in the what they hoped was the direction of who they'd bumped into.
"Who's there?" Harry said. He tried to make his voice sound commanding and intimidating.
He heard a voice that said something that sounded kind of like "Release" but foreign at the same time. Since this confused him he shook the thought out of his head, but confusion followed him into what he saw next. One minute he was pointing his wand at air the next he was threatening two teenagers. Startled, he almost dropped his wand. There was a clatter on the floor, and looking over at Ron, Harry saw that Ron did drop his wand.
"Um, hello." the girl looked up at Harry, and he recognized her voice. This was the girl that had handed him the note.
"You found us," was the only thing he could say.
The girl and her friend picked themselves up. The girl nodded and shrugged. "A locator spell."
Harry tried to make his face look like he understood what that was. "Er... yeah. Shouldn't we go someplace safer? Someplace where we won't get caught?"
Both the girl and the boy nodded. Harry looked back at Ron and Hermione to see their reactions. Ron had picked up his wand and had put it in his pocket. Hermione was staring intently at the teenagers' arms, in which they held brown library books.
Harry smirked to himself figuring how like Hermione it was to notice someone's book before anything else. But it didn't make much sense, why they would bring a library book to a meeting like this? Or maybe it's part of the 'help' she promised.
Hermione tried to get herself to calm down. It's just a look-alike, she tried to convince herself, it's not as though they have the very same book. Of course not, that would be absurd. But Hermione hoped. The way they were carrying the book, as though they knew all of the secrets inside the book, as if they understood it. And if it was the same book, and if they did understand it, perhaps they could teach her...
But, wait a minute. They were evil, right? Or the very least, not to be trusted. The fact that they could appear wherever Harry was whenever was unnerving. And something kept bugging Hermione. How could that girl have gotten on Hogwarts grounds? It was impossible to Apparate yourself, and unless you were a house-elf the ways of getting into Hogwarts were very limited. So how did they do it?
Hermione wanted to ask all of these questions and more, but the walk into Hogsmeade was silent. Nobody said anything, but occasionally the girl and the boy would look at each other and then back at Harry. Finally they reached the end of the street and entered the Hogsmeade village.
The girl and boy's eyes bugged out. It much reminded Hermione of the way she had felt when she first was introduced to the Magical World. In kind of a touristy way the boy and the girl looked around at the witches and wizards going about their business.
Harry noticed this and ushered the boy and girl quickly into the Three Broomsticks. He shot Hermione a look that said "What's up with them?" Hermione was wondering that too. They grabbed themselves a booth and the owner swarmed on them asking for drinks. Harry Ron and Hermione ordered butter-beers. The two teenagers looked at them oddly and then ordered Cokes.
Heads whipped to face them. Ron didn't fully realize the oddness of this situation, but Harry and Hermione shared a knowing look.
Quickly, Hermione corrected their mistake ordering them both butter-beers. As the owner was sashaying away Harry leaned in to whisper to Hermione. "D'you think...?"
Hermione shook her head. "Impossible. If they were Muggles they wouldn't have been able to see Hogwarts, let alone enter it. But still..."
"Those odd looks they were giving the wizards and the witches. It sort of reminds you--"
"Yes, I know, about the first time I saw the wizarding world. But you don't really think--"
Ron cleared his throat and Hermione snapped her head away from Harry.
"I was just thinking that we ought to get introductions over with." Ron suggested. He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the newcomers.
The girl cleared her throat. "I'm Nita," she pointed to the Hispanic looking kid, "and he's Kit. As we explained before in our note, we're here to help you. Or first to warn you that you're in trouble--"
Harry held up his hand. "Wait, first we need some things cleared up."
Nita shot Kit a look and then she nodded. "Yea, us too. Don't get offended or anything... but we're wondering if you're in some kind of cult."
There was silence. This question alone was enough to stir up thoughts in Hermione's mind. Could they be Muggles? Their ignorance to butter-beer, their look of amazement at the world around them. But that didn't make any sense at all. Could they have gotten into Hogwarts on pure luck? Stumbled upon the castle, just happened to see it? No, Hermione thought, it said so in Hogwarts A History, Muggles couldn't see the castle. So what was up with these two?
"Do you mean, 'are we Death Eaters'?" Ron asked, enraged.
Nita and Kit threw each other looks. "Um, what are death eaters?"
There was silence around the table as each side tried to digest the news. Hermione was busy trying to work out exactly what these people were. Her brain couldn't come up with a sufficient answer. On either side there were loopholes. Thankfully Ron helped ease her mind by asking, in a loud frustrated voice, "What are you?"
Nita looked offended and was probably about to say something smart when Kit interrupted. "We're wizards. What are you?"
"I'm a wizard also," Ron said still frustrated. Like Hermione that answer wasn't enough. "But you don't make any sense."
"I'm sorry?" Nita said incredulously. "Well neither do you! I've never heard of wizards so... so... stereotypical. I mean, a pointy witch's hat? Magical flying brooms? Those must be mechanical, why would you use a spell on a broom to make it fly? Why not just levitate yourself? Do you even have manuals?"
"You mean this?" Hermione asked. Hermione put the book that she had been clutching protectively onto the table for everyone to see. This was her moment. This was her chance to see if this was fake or not. Nit had said 'manuals'. This book called itself a manual. Maybe, if these two outsiders were using these spells, then the spells in the book did actually work.
Nita's and Kit's face went into relief, and then back into confusion. "Okay, so you do have a manual. But what's up with the robes?" Nita asked about the same time Ron inquired, "What the heck is that?"
Harry groaned and Hermione got the feeling that this would be a long night.
