Disclaimer: If it were in my power to own Ms. J.K. Rowling's amazing Harry Potter series, I would have made a billion more books to boot so the world wouldn't have to suffer the agony of what a puny number seven is. :)

Sorry if it's long. I thought I should make up for all the other short chapters.

Vague HP/HG

Special thanks to:

Linneagb

For reviews on the fifth chapter

Chapter 6

Arriving on Vanishing Island

Harry was covered in soot when he reached Vanishing Island. The first thing he noticed was the Weasleys and Granger were already there. The second thing he noticed was that he was in a large, wooden room. It looked like it had been standing in the earth for a long time.

A shaggy man with a strange goatee and large glasses came up to them.

"Ah, Bentley!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed happily. "So nice to see you again." She stuck out her hand, wihch Bentley shook. "Children, this is Mr. Pratt. Say hello."

Fred and George waved solemnly, which was much unlike them, Harry thought, and Ron smiled. Hermione managed a curt "Hello," and Ginny showed her white flashy teeth and tossed her head.

Somehow, small as the wooden house was, there must have been about sixteen families sitting in the room together, some by the coffee table, others having food. Harry found himself very hungry, having had a very tiny breakfast, and asked for a snack.

"We have nothing but fried Cauldron cakes, chocolate frogs and potato wedges," replied Mr. Pratt. "For drinks, hot chocolate and water. Is that what you would like?"

Harry asked for a few bottles of water, hoping they wouldn't be poisoned; the soot in his throat had not gone away and he was very thirsty. So was everyone else, too.

"Five Knuts, please," said Mr. Pratt.

Harry forked over his money and handed everyone their bottles.

Ron turned red. "You don't have to-"

"I know. I just want to." Harry smiled.

Ron shrugged and uncapped the water. He took a large gulp so loud that it made everyone in the little building stop what they were doing and stare. Ron blushed again and pocketed the water.

"How humiliating," said Hermione, half-sympathetically, half-sarcastically.

Ginny giggled. She knew her brother could be irrational.

Charlie asked for a hot chocolate and a fried Cauldron cake. Mr. Pratt slammed it down in front of him a little agressively. That was when Harry began to suspect that he wasn't the kind man he was seen as (not that he'd trusted him from the start, anyway. He was nearly sure that he was a Death Eater in disguise). "There you go," he said a little snobbishly.

He then sauntered off to greet a well-dressed man in a suit.

Percy recognized him at once. "Mr. Crouch!" he cried excitedly, running out like a boy out of school to greet him.

"Oh. Hello, Weatherby," greeted Mr. Crouch absentmindedly.

"Weatherby," coughed George, and Fred laughed.

"May I interest you in a fried Cauldron cake? They're very good," said Percy, waving around a Galleon in Mr. Crouch's face.

Mr. Crouch wrinkled his nose. "No thank you, Weatherby. I'm not in favor of fried foods, much."

"Oh sir, of course you're not," Percy said quickly. "They're all crunchy and oily..." soon he was babbling again.

"Ah. Hello Arthur," said Mr. Crouch, greeting Mr. Weasley slightly more warmly than Weatherby. "Molly, Fred, George, Ronald, Ginevra, Charlie, Bilius, Hermione, Harry."

They all waved, slightly nervous; his narrow eyes were giving Harry the creeps.

Suddenly, Mr. Weasley appeared to have seen someone he knew. He called out, "Edward!" and soon, he and Mrs. Weasley were talking with an elderly wizard wearing a blue vacationing shirt and flowers over his neck. After being introduced, Harry felt quite tired of meeting and greeting, and tried to settle himself.

He quickly asked the cook for a chocolate frog (it seemed to be the least likely thing to be poisonous, as it came in a wrapped packet), who gave it to him disgruntedly. Harry sat down on a table that seemed reasonably clean. As he removed the wrapping, he noticed that Hermione was staring at him.

"Hi," said Harry awkwardly. For some reason, he felt his cheeks burning red. Maybe it was just normal; after all, Hermione was a girl.

"Hi," said Hermione calmly. She obviously wasn't having nearly as much difficulty as Harry. "Is it just me, or is that Mr. Pratt a kiss-up?" She leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Did you see the way he set down Charlie's order? That was no way to treat a guest. And then, right after, he started talking really nicely to Mr. Crouch, just because he looked like he had a lot of money."

"Yeah," Harry said. "Like Charlie was a peasant compared to him or something."

"There's really something I don't like at all about that Mr. Pratt figure," continued Hermione. "Don't you agree, Ron?" she asked the fourteen-year-old boy as he slid into a seat next to them.

"He's fishy all right," Ron agreed. "Bit of a bloke, right? I was thinking the same thing."

Harry nodded.

Soon, the Weasleys were done talking with the Edward figure and returned to finishing off the rest of their water.

After some time, Harry overheard a little girl holding a lollipop saying, "Is this Vanishing Island?" while tugging on Mr. Pratt's sleeve.

"Not technically," replied Mr. Pratt, in that same snobbish tone. He seemed to dislike children. "You will all enter the bus later, driven by Mr. McGill." He pointed to a chubby, stubbled man smoking a cigarette. "But we are quite near, my dear. In fact, we should be getting on the Whirly Bus in about ten minutes, once Mr. McGill has finished his lunch."

"I'm done, Bentley," replied Mr. McGill. "It's you I'm waitin' for."

"Well, let's be off, then," said Mr. Pratt, turning red.

Everyone started to mount the floating vehicle. It was rather dirty and damp. Harry's heart sank. Mr. McGill pushed his foot on the gas and they started to float away slowly, yet there was a loud roaring coming from around the engine.

Harry found this experience rather like the Knight Bus, except much more nauseating and in the air; he held his breath to keep from throwing up, and soon he found Hermione felt the same way, for she was holding on to him. This was more awkwardness than Harry could bear. He almost wrenched her off, but then he figured that would be very mean, and permitted her to stay.

He saw Ron shoot a jealous look as he held Ginny under his wing. But what could he do? Hermione needed help.

It wasn't nice at all to be on the way to a murderous island, and after what seemed to be an eternity (which was really just about an hour), Mr. Pratt called, "We're here!"

As the Weasleys, the Granger and the Potter stepped off, Harry noticed the ground was made of soil, but seemed to crumble at his feet and become air, then crumble and become air again, yet he never seemed to fall. It was a funny experience. He looked up suddenly, then smiled. He waved; Dean and Seamus were watching him on the dragons.

A/N: Sorry it's taking them so long to ACTUALLY get on VI, but I've got a surprise coming up; hee hee hee. You'll find out, in our next chapter, "The Plot Thickens!" :) Thanks for reading!