What, you thought the story would start making sense?
Ron felt very dizzy. The apparation was not going the way it was supposed to. It felt like he was slogging through mud while carrying a ten-ton weight.
But then he felt cool air on his face and opened his eyes.
"Where on earth," he began, looking around. "Did we end up?"
The others were looking at him with expressions that said "you tell me."
Ron turned away and looked around. He could see mountains in the distance... maybe the same that surrounded Hogwarts?
In any case, he was not going to try apparating with all those people again. They'd do this the old-fashioned way.
Ron began to walk towards the mountains.
***
Harry, who had had considerably less strain on his apparating than Ron, appeared on the doorstep of Hogwarts, the anti-apparating spells down for the occasion. He grinned, then turned to Meena- but she wasn't there. Then he registered the fact there was a scared-looking girl suspended above him. One of her hairs was brushing the top of his head. Which, apparently, was enough to bring her along when he had apparated.
"Erm- hello?" said Harry, stepping away from the girl. The moment she had lost contact -with him, she fell to the ground. Her eyes widened. "What- where- who-"
--
Violet took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "We were on the beach!" she exclaimed. "And now... we're not." She looked around. Maybe she was dead. This didn't look like any version of heaven she had heard of. Then again, it didn't look like hell either. What did that mean? Was she actually being forgiven for killing her own sister?
At that thought, Violet collapsed into renewed sobs.
Harry stood awkwardly and was about to try and comfort the girl when Meena appeared with a sharp "crack!" beside him.
"Where were you?" he demanded.
"I..." Meena looked very confused. "I don't know," she said.
"It's not a lie," thought Meena.
What had actually happened was that Harry had begun to... Apparate... but at the last moment Meena had seen the girl falling towards them. She wanted to help the girl, catch her and stop her fatal fall, and had simply stopped herself from vanishing alongside Harry. She had no idea how she had done it. But the girl had vanished too, leaving Meena stuck on the beach. She was wondering what to do when she realized that she could feel the place where Harry had vanished. A rip in space. So she had followed it. It had been ridiculously easy- she had stepped into it while turning on the spot as Harry had done, closing her eyes and pulling herself along the invisible line until she had ended up here.
Meena pulled herself out of her thoughts in time to hear Harry finish some long-winded speech. "...after all, it's impossible to follow someone who's disapparated."
***
Tintin landed on the hard ground. He glanced around. Where was the school? Maybe it was hidden. It certainly didn't seem to be standing among the sparse trees and rocks. But Ron started to walk away. Tintin followed.
Peter landed with a jolt...somewhere. He ignored his surroundings, staring instead at Ron. He was LOST? They could be ANYWHERE? As Ron headed off towards the mountains in the distance, Peter followed with a sigh. This rough terrain would be hard on his chair.
Nancy felt air whoosh around her, like she was being squeezed down some tight air-duct. She closed her eyes, hoping it would end, and next thing she knew, she was on the ground. She opened her eyes slowly, spat out some dirt she had in her mouth, and turned towards the rest of the group, wondering what they were going to say.
The moment Thirrin tapped the boy on the shoulder, she felt like she was in a hurricane. Blurry shapes zoomed by her, but they were going so fast she couldn't tell what they were. And then it all stopped. She fell, face-first, onto the ground.
"It worked!" Bella rolled her eyes as Alice squealed in delight, one step closer to the magical building in her vision.
She glanced around, studying her surroundings. The red haired boy, Ron, had started a quick pace towards the treacherous looking mountains, followed by Peter, the boy in the wheelchair. She was surrounded by the others, equally shocked with their sudden appearance.
"Okay, that was strange." Edward's firm voice was easily recognizable He was leaning against a sturdy oak tree, arms folded across his chest. "How did he do that?"
"I'm not sure." Bella answered, her eyes wide. "You don't think...?"
Edward shrugged. "Possibly."
"I doubt it." Alice motioned with her hand for them to start walking as well. "I still don't believe in magic."
Ron led the group to the mountains and through a valley. They were silent, but Ron could feel their doubt. Then he crested a ridge and saw the familiar silhouette of Hogwarts castle.
"We're nearly there!" he announced. Then he heard a commotion behind him.
---
Peter sighed. His arms were getting very tired from going over all the bumps and hills. Maybe just coasting for a little while would give him a bit of a break. He went a little ways up the nearest mountain, then began rolling down in the direction they were headed. Ah, that was better.
Tintin continued determinedly towards the school. He couldn't wait to show off his amazing skills to all the students. Maybe they would make him headmaster...that would be cool. Lost in thought, Tintin didn't hear the shouts until it was nearly too late. "Tintin, get out of the way!" He glanced around. Peter's wheelchair was headed straight for him. Tintin laughed. As if that weak thing could hurt him! He was Tintin! Instead, he stared it down, stepping away at just the last second. The chair clipped his heel.
Suddenly, Tintin knew nothing but pain. Excruciating pain. Not just in his foot, but throughout his perfect body. What was going on? Tintin felt as if he were being burned, shot, cut, and flattened- all at the same time. He felt relieved when it began to fade away, leaving nothing but soothing darkness. Then, he knew no more.
Alice skipped along the mountain side, eagerly studying the scenery as she went. She didn't want to miss out on seeing the amazing castle, especially since from up here it was so easy to see everything for miles.
Alice was overjoyed when she heard Ron's enthusiastic shout. They were nearly there! She quickened her step, passing a few of the others, and joined Ron, surveying her surroundings.
She gasped, immediately seeing the faint outline of the extraordinary castle, the one that she had been thinking about ever since her vision. It seemed more magical then before, glowing with warm shades of yellow, orange, red, and pink, as the sun rose up from the nearby hills. There was a misty lake surrounding Hogwarts, outlined by a dark forest. She gazed at the trees a second longer then everything else, noticing how eerie and ominous it appeared.
"Hey, Ron?" Alice gently nudged Ron with the tip of her elbow, whispering into his ear. "What's that forest?"
Ron glanced dismissively at the forest. "It's just the Forbidden Forest. I don't advise you to go in there. There are dangerous things in it."
***
Harry turned away from Meena and the other girl and rapped on the door. No answer.
He pushed it open slowly...
"WELCOME TO HOGWARTS SUMMER TRAINING!" boomed a loud voice.
Confetti and streamers fell from the awnings, and a fanfare of trumpets sounded.
Harry just stared.
When the festivities had cleared, he saw Dumbledore himself standing in the middle of the Great Hall.
"Welcome!" he said. Then he looked at the small group of people and his enthusiasm faded.
"Are these all the people you could find?" he asked Harry.
Harry cringed at the disappointment in the headmaster's voice. He had done a bad job at something! How was that possible?
Dumbledore sighed, turning away from the small group of students. "Ah well" he muttered. "We may as well eat." With a wave of his wand, a mountain of food appeared on each of the tables. "Help yourselves" he told the new students, before striding confidently back up to his customary seat at the front of the room.
***
Alice gave a slight snicker, trying to be as polite as possible. "Oh, alright. I wouldn't want to be meddling with dangerous creatures."
Bella lingered at the back of the group, in awe of all that had happened. She was amazed at her transformation. It had been done so fast!
She loved the feel of her new senses, the way she could hear even the faintest noises, smell the scent of everything, able to spin around gracefully in a split second. It was fantastic, being a vampire.
"Aren't you thirsty?" Bella smiled as Edward's familiar voice came from behind her, sounding worried.
"Oh course I am." Bella took Edward's outstretched hand, marvelling over how warm he felt to her touch. "But... whenever I think about hurting another human, it passes. Wasn't that how it was for you?"
"Er... yes, in a way." Edward shrugged, his face hard. He was noticeably focused on something, trying to solve a question that he was holding on to. Bella kissed his cheek, and suddenly pulled away, sniffing the air in alarm.
"No." The little colour remaining in Edward's face drained away. He clutched Bella's hand tighter, his knuckles white. "It can't be."
"What's that smell?" Bella's eyes narrowed, eyeing the top of the mountain. Slowly her features relaxed, a look of longing crossing her face. "It's so... inviting."
Bella started jogging towards the smell.
"Bella!" Edward regained his strong voice, still gripping her fingers. "Just ignore it! Please!"
--
Ron shook his head in disbelief of the girl's lack of respect of magical creatures. Then he spotted to girls who seemed to be hanging back, looking confused. They hadn't been in the circle...
And the red-haired man was sprawled on the ground. He seemed alright; other than a cut on his heel, that is. Ron was much more worried about the strangers.
"Hey, you!" he called out. "Come over here! Who are you?"
--
Bella came to a shuddering halt, spinning around to face Edward, her eyes flaming. When she spoke, nothing came out but a shamed whisper.
"I'm sorry."
Edward placed his hand on his shoulder, calming a little. It was phenomenal that she was able to control herself like this, especially since there was a fresh source of blood only meters away. If he hadn't practiced self restraint, who knew what he would have done in similar circumstances?
"It's alright." Edward forced a reassuring smile, slightly frazzled by the current stream of events. There was just so much going on, from explosions to transformations, from unpredictable visions to magic. It would probably be a lot harder if everyone's minds weren't so silent.
Speaking of which, why were everyone's minds so silent?
"No, it's not." Bella insisted, shoving his hand away with a surprising amount of force. "I almost lost my control a second ago. I could have hurt someone."
"No, no." Edward shook his head, distracted. Now that he thought about it, the last jumble of words that he had heard in someone's head, other then his own, had been back at the park, right before they had all teleported to this distant land. Of course he wasn't able to hear Bella's thoughts, he never could. But what could explain the distinct lack of human chatter that usually filled his mind? The unusual silence? The feeling of emptiness?
Was the teleporting to blame? Or was it this strange, unfamiliar world? Edward had been to many places before, but none compared to this magical landscape. He had to get to the bottom of this.
"Edward?" Bella asked. "Is something bothering you?"
"No, everything's fine." Edward tried to put on his reassuring smile once again, but all he could manage was a grimace. "Look, I have to go talk to Alice. I'll be back in a moment, okay?"
"Okay." Bella nodded, appearing unconvinced. She narrowed her eyes, sceptical, but let it go, shrugging it off. "I think we're almost there, though."
"Perhaps." Edward started to run towards his sister, a slight urgency to his step.