Once again, the old admonishment: the original characters are still the intellectual property of the copyright-holders, and this is intended for your enjoyment only. If I get names and plot lines wrong, tough mammaries (the t-word) as I'm writing this at lunch and have no reference materials handy.
For everyone who has been waiting patiently, my apologies as I spent the summer studying for a "professional accreditation exam". For those who know what that means, and work in IT, I passed the GIAC GSEC exam (woo-hoo!). For those who have been quietly asking "where's Ranma", I guess that it's time for the big reveal…
- And the mayhem ensues…. -
Myrtle woke and blinked her eyes, trying to focus on where she was. Oh yes, in the Solar with Harry, whose back she was snuggled up against. She wondered what had woken her so early, with the sun not yet risen over the Great Lake. Then she heard another one – a gentle quiet but booming toll of a very large bell somewhere nearby.
Sliding quietly out of the bed and trying hard not to wake or even jostle Harry, she sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her dressing gown from the foot of the bed and then padded to the wash/dressing room.
A couple minutes later, dressed and at least a bit groomed, she walked over to the door and pulled on her walking boots and quietly opened the door into the hallway and stepped out of the Solar, pulling the door closed behind her.
Coming down the hidden staircase into the Gryffindor common room, she pushed the bookcase open and stepped through, peering around the room to make sure that no one was there. Snickering to herself, she muttered "here I am, getting up at the crack of dawn and tip-toeing around, afraid to make a sound. What are they going to do if I get caught out of my room? Deduct house points?"
She walked quietly across the room to the entrance portal and pushed through it, a muffled exclamation coming from the Fat Lady as Myrtle's pulling on the back of the portrait woke her up.
"Oh, it's you Myrtle!" she said. "Whatever are you doing up at this hour? Even the house elves are barely moving about."
"Good morning, I woke up with a bell ringing somewhere and I want to find out what is going on."
"Oh, I didn't hear anything but I'm surprised that young Mister Potter hasn't worn you out, what with all those new bags of clothing that were going in yesterday. I mean, what with your change of status….." She finally ran out of steam as Myrtle started blushing and went even redder as the implications of what the Fat Lady was implying filtered into her brain.
"Harry and I did talk about it and we decided that we needed to learn more about each other before either of us 'exercised our prerogatives' as some call it."
"Ah, young love!" the Fat Lady smiled and leaned forward conspiratorially. "Don't be in a rush to exercise them, only when the time feels right for both of you. Do you want me to keep that a secret?"
"Well, we don't want it shouted about and be common gossip, if that's what you mean," replied Myrtle, leaning forward and speaking in a whisper. "My reputation from before was not the best and I don't want Master Harry to be painted with the same brush. You know how rumors go around here, and how vicious some of them can be, don't you?"
The Fat lady straightened up. "You'll never hear that sort of thing from my lips! Well, unless I've managed to get drunk. Yes, 'loose lips sink ships' and I've sunk a few in my day….", she whispered back with a wistful tone in her voice. "Go on, I'll spread the word with the other portraits that this is a topic of great discretion and not to be bandied about. I'll also ask them to be quiet about your early morning excursion as well?"
"Oh no, milady. Just ask them to watch over me. I've never been up this early and might get lost or run into a monster or something terrible and need rescuing….."
The Fat Lady chuckled, winked and tapped the side of her nose. "Discretion and keeping an eye on you so you don't get lost. Proceed!"
With that the portrait swung back and Myrtle stepped over the frame and into the main hallway.
The tower hallway was almost misty with only the night-time torches providing light, and the staircases sitting in their 'rest' positions. Stepping over to the nearest stairway, she proceeded to the next levels and finally to the ground level, heading for the Great Hall and the main doors.
As she passed theGreat hall, one of the house elves busily cleaning the room looked up and dashed over. "Good morning, Miss Myrtle. We're not quite ready for breakfast, but I can get something from the kitchen if you want to wait a few minutes."
Myrtle shook her head. "No, thank you. I just heard this bell and I came looking to see what it is."
"Oh, THAT bell, miss" came the smiling response. "We have visitors arriving and their accommodation includes this whacking great bell. One of them must have come early and been ringing it this morning. Do you want to go and take a look before everyone else gets up?"
"Please, but I don't want to bother anyone, especially while you are getting set up for breakfast and claening and everything…." Her voice trailed off as another house elf came dashing up with an unlit torch and started bowing before her.
"Doobie is here to serve, mistress. Even though Doobie works for Hogwarts, Doobie's first loyalty lies with Master Potter and since you are Master Potter's…."
"Enough!" snapped the first house elf at the newcomer. "Doobie, have you finished your tasks?" Doobie nodded and shifted the torch against his shoulder. "Fine! Then accompany Miss Myrtle to the visitor's village and bring her back safely, and obey all of her instructions. Understand?"
"Doobie understands and Doobie will protect her, even at the cost of his life." Doobie then snapped into a military pose, shifted the torch into a classic British Army Slope arms position and saluted the other house elf.
The first house elf sighed and bowed to Myrtle. "Doobie will show you the way and will make sure that you don't get lost." The last comment was accomplished with a raised eyebrown and a glance at Doobie.
Doobie scampered ahead of Myrtle out through the Great Hall's doors and towards the main entrance, pausing while she caught up and then pushing a main door open while ingniting the torch and holding it aloft.
Stepping through the door and beside Doobie, she admired the view and then heard another gentle rumbling peal of the bell roll across the parkland.
Dobbie sniffed and chimed "Yes, there's magic in the bell, but Doobie finds that it only intends peace and tranquility. This way, mistress!" Holding the lit torch well over his head, he pointed to the east and walked slowly in that directin, casting backward glances to make sure that he kept her within the torch's light as they walked off across the parkland towards the quiddich pitch.
However, they weren't heading directly there, but were swinging down towards the grounds between the pitch and the lake. Another epal from the bell came from directly ahead of the,
"Doobie right, this is the shortest way there, mistress! See! We'll be there in a minute, just over the next hill."
The next hill was actually a gentle roll. As they came across the top, the moon broke through the clouds and illuminated the vale. What Myrtle saw was what looked like a small Japanese Shinto temple with a bell standing between the building complex and them. Myrtle then looked at the miniature pagoda from which the bell hung and realized that there was someone standing there, holding the suspended pole and swinging it back. Myrtle then realized that whoever it was, they were surrounded by a barely visible numbus that extended down the pole from wehre they gripped it.
Back the pole swung, paused and then forward against the bell. The booming gong was accompanined by a wave of the same faint nimbus that swept in all directions from the bell, up the hill and past them, almost blowing out the torch that Doobie held.
Myrtle looked down at Doobie. Doobie looked up at Myrtle.
Myrtle sighed. "Doobie, it looks like no one is really concerned about the bell, so everything must be all right. At least, I hope so. Shall we go down and introduce ourselves?"
"Doobie agrees but Doobie never seen these people before. Maybe, strange people hurt Doobie. Maybe strange people hurt mistress…." came his plaintive words.
"Well, let's go down and see what they are like. If it is bad people, I want you to apprate back to the Main Hall and raise the alarm, but not until I tell you to or something happens to me. Got that?"
Doobie shivered and then nodded. "Doobie ready, mistress."
With that, he started down the hill towards the pagoda with Myrtle just a step behind him.
As they got closer, Myrtle saw that there was a small lantern located against one of the pillars, with a small animal, possibly a dog or a cat, curled up beside it. With the light of the lantern shining across the pagoda, she saw that the person at the bell was actually a girl in a costume or uniform consisting of a white wide-sleeved top and red pantaloons and a red cord that was circling the upper body and tying back the sleeves so that her arms were bare.
The young lady in question, sighed then draw in a deep breath, her body obviously focusing on some effort. The nimbus became deeper and stronger around her as she pulled back on the pole, held it suspended against the ropes for a minute and then lt it swing forward, obviously controlling the strike against the massive bronze bell suspended in the middle of the pagoda-like building. The nimbus around the pole was sucked up by the bell and then burst out along with the ringing peal, blasting past everyone and causing Doobie's torch to flare and then die out.
The flare attracted the attention of the young lady. Stepping back from the pole and the bell, she bowed towards the bell and then turned and walked towards Myrtle. Stopping about five feet from Myrtle, the young lady smiled and bowed then straightened up and spoke a couple of sentences in Japanese.
Myrtle shrugged, and then spoke slowly and clearly. "Hello, My name is Myrtle, Myrtle Potter, and I am a ... a... a resident here at Hogwarts. Do you understand English?"
The young lady smiled again. "Hai. My apologies. I was so into the spell that I didn't realize that I was speaking Japanese. My name is Saotome Misuzu and, among other things, I am the resident shrine maiden. Would you like to have some tea to warm you up?"