(A/N): This was more of a tension-builder and plot-element-certifier moment than anything.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER NINE: WHERE

When the Saturday morning sun hit her face, Coraline awoke back in the real world in a similar fashion to the previous day. She needed time to think about all that she had dreamed about.

First there was the magical book that had kept showing her all the crazy quotes concerning the character that was so similar to her. But it couldn't be more than a coincidence, right?...

And then there was the stuff concerning the poor imprisoned man, Harry Potter. Was that really what happened, or was the whole world lying to her?...

Coraline decided to ask Melanie about it. She figured that Mel, having been in school five years longer than she had, might know.

"Where did you hear that?" Melanie almost shouted when Coraline told her about Harry Potter's imprisonment.

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me," Coraline said. "But do you think it's true?"

"Where did you hear that?" Melanie almost had an expression of shame on her face when she asked it.

Coraline sighed before answering. "I read it in a book in a dream."

Melanie's 'are-you-serious?' expression led Coraline to sigh again and say, "I told you you wouldn't believe me."

Then it was Melanie's turn to sigh. "Cora, I think you've gotten that pamphlet too tangled up inside your head. I think we should get rid of it. It's only going to bring us trouble, I can feel it. And there's something really messed up about your dreams if you dream up stuff that you don't even know."

Coraline then asked, "Well, is The Encyclopedia of Famous Witches and Wizards a reliable source?"

"Yes. We use it all the time when writing papers for History. Volume 28 is even approved by the Dragon Order. Why?"

Shyly, Coraline answered, "Well, that's the book I read it out of. Except it was Volume 10."

Melanie stiffened. No one spoke for a while, and eventually Melanie reached her hand for her long hair and tucked it behind her ear.

"Coraline… something seems really wrong to me about that dream of yours. I would advise you not to have it anymore, but unfortunately, I can't control your dreams and neither can you. Just… stay out of trouble, okay?"

Melanie finally turned away from the sink to look at her sister.

Coraline smiled at her, and Melanie left the house to go to her first job.

(A/N): Now that the little kid is alone in the house again, with a whole DAY to spare, and nothing to do…

What's a kid to do?

Hmm… let's see. Why will the kid NOT go to the crazy dream-world her sister just told her not to go to?

Well, for one, Coraline still thinks it's a dream. She doesn't know that all this is real yet. She just doesn't remember going to bed, ever, and she knows that that's a bit weird.

Second thing, she had no idea what the fuck the cat was talking about with the quotes. Because he wouldn't just say it out loud, which was because he would have scared her shitless.

AND she wants more info on Harry James Potter and The Time Before The Takeover, which she can only get in the Other World.

But the OM still has a few surprises up her sleeve; these next few chapters will actually let us see JUST HOW POWERFUL she is. Because, believe me, you will be SHOCKED when you read JUST WHAT she can do.

I'm even kind of shocked. Sure, I knew about this detail FAR before you guys will, but it surprised me when it hit me that I should make her THAT powerful. That's the reason the magic book is there to give her tips and examples from how an alternate self defeated her Beldam. If the magic book weren't there, Coraline would be completely and utterly SCREWED, with NOTHING to do about it, and the whole second half of the plot wouldn't be happening.PERIOD.

And then I wouldn't actually really need this to be a Harry Potter crossover.

Well, I still would, as a few important elements would still need to be in effect. Such as the fact that Coraline is a squib, and the Dragon Order is there, and the other stuff along those lines. Because part of the reason this OM has all this power is because this is a Harry Potter crossover, and not just a plain old Coraline story.

THAT was a long A/N! It was around the length of the chapter itself! But it was important.

The end.