Chapter 25 - Outside The Wall
The sun was blindingly bright as it cut through the trees which were now nearly totally bare. It was setting early now that we were getting deeper into winter. Christmas was nearing and with it would come joy for the students at Hogwarts. The usual Christmas feast was due soon, and the party crackers and usual festivities were soon behind them. There would be the beautiful ecstasy of sitting by the immortal fire, feeling its warmth, and looking outside to the bitter cold. This had been the past few Christmases for Luna and her friends, but this would not be their Christmas this year. After a few confused minutes, standing in disbelief at their current situation they began to realise that they all needed to go somewhere. The entire house of Gryfindoor was no more, and were essentially left for dead outside Hogwarts. "Where is there for us now?" asked Harry. He only knew of Hogsmeade outside Hogwarts but that was on the other side of the building and fenced off by the same fence that fenced off Hogwarts. Harry took offence to this. "I don't know, I'm not from these parts, in fact" started Ron who then looked around at the various scared faces of fellow former students, "I don't think any of us are." It seemed as though they were to just stay out in the edges of the forest to die, or to set up their own homes here when Rincewind spoke through his beard "Actually I've seen some other places in the lands around Hogwarts". He had been up in the Hogwarts hills more than anyone else and had glimpsed upon the farther lands that nobody else really knew of, at least none of the students. So Rincewind led the large group up the hill, and they all escaped their miserable lives for a few moments as they watched the bunnies run and jimp in the bushes, the woodpeckers peck their wood, and the frogs sitting about like the lazy lizards they are. Luna could see much more than this though. She could see things that she didn't believe she could see, as she was quite skeptical at heart. Luna could see the souls of many dead animals in this part of the forest, but these were animals that she didn't think she would ever see. She saw tasmanian tigers running about, pyrenean ibex chasing a passenger pigeon that was flying back to its ghostly nest. All these animals were extinct and barely a memory existed of them. Of course, several years after this story is set Wikipedia will be invented and will jog people's memories but that's besides the point. Luna cried a single night black tear that burned in the falling sun. She realised that if they didn't manage to find a way out of this situation that they would all end up extinct and forgotten, much like the golden toad that was currently drinking from a leaf.
Once at the top of the hill the former Gryfindoors all gasped at the sight. There were lands as far as the eye could see. There were seas, and cities, rivers, and a mountain in the perpetual dark of the horizon. This mountain was so high that the sun did not make it over it and all the land underneath the enormous overhang was as black and mysterious as it gets. There was a whole world of possibility lying just out of reach, but it would remain out of reach, as everyone realised to their horror that these lands were all many hundreds of miles away and down a near vertical face. There was a path though, and this would have to be the path that they took, even if it would take them nowhere it was the only choice.
Rinkwind led the way, with Luna at the front of the pack as well. They both felt more secure and comfortable with each other, leading the way as a pair. But they also didn't want to disappoint the other one and didn't want to appear weak, like an almost all milk cup of tea. Their joint confidence set a precedence for the rest of their former house's former residents to feel more secure and proud of themselves. They had overcome so much more in the past, all they had to do was walk. After several miles they had looped around the school and were walking in the opposite direction from where they had started up the hill. Wherever they were going, it was not towards the mountain or any of the places that they had seen. They eventually found a signpost ahead of them. Finally, they could figure out where they were going! Well, those of them who could read that is. "Brill - 2 miles" the sign said, pointing left. This place name rang no bells with the students, not that there were many bells to be rang right now, butt tit was the only choice they had so they continued on until they saw the glimmering lights of Brill in the distance.
The gates of Brill were insignificant compared to Hogwarts, but nice and quaint in their own way. A bit like Harry's biceps compared to Ron's. The hinges were rusted red with rust and must have been over a hundred years old and never replaced. The wood was in much better condition and the markings on it indicated that it had survived many attempts to barge it down. There was an issue with this gate though, it was closed! "Shucks" said Ginny, "I guess we're stranded". "Not so fast" shouted a voice from way behind them. Someone was coming up their behinds, it was Esk! "Esk you old slut, why are you here?" shouted Luna over to her when she was still some distance away. Esk and Luna had such a good friendship that they could call each other stuff like "slut", "dicklips" and "daddy's little disappointment". Esk didn't reply to the question but instead strolled up through the crowd of lost children, up to the gate, gave it a rat a tat tat and a little flap opened up towards the top of it. "Who goes there? Oh Esk! What brings you here?" said a face at the top, in the hole. Presumably the face belonged to a man with a full body, but they couldn't quite tell at this stage. "I'm in a bit of a situation and need a place to stay for a while. I've brought some friends too, we're going to stay at the inn" she said, flirtingly, squeezing her boobs together like a nice pair of big juicy raspberries. The man looked like he was in the mood for fruit juice but was still suspiscious. "There must be a hundred of them! How are you planning on paying for that then?" he said back to Esk. "With this" she said with a wink and pulled a small box out of her pocket and showed the contents to the man. The man's eyes opened wide enough for it to be seen that only one of them was real. He seemed genuinely scared and amazed and after a moment of pause he climbed down from the ladder he must have been on and quickly opened the gates. "Welcome to Brill!" said Esk like a tour guide, except she wasn't asking for money. "We'll be staying over at the inn, so let's go over and get unpacked". This was a sensible idea so they all followed over. Once in the inn Esk walked up to the counter where two short but rugged people stood. "Hey Esk! Fuck me sideways, how many people are there there behind you?1?" the little woman asked. "About 120" said Esk without a chalant to give, "I was looking to rent some rooms for the forseeable future." she said. "And how are you paying for that then? That would cost a fortune!" the dwarvish woman said skeptically. "With this" Esk said as she showed the same box to them. The little woman fell over, but she didn't fall far because she is short, and the little man just trembled and said "okay, okay, that's fine, but there's not enough room!". "It's fine we'll squeeze" said Esk as she started to lead the children, and Rincewind who was a grown man with a beard, up to their rooms. "Here are your rooms then, first comes first served" she chuckled as she pointed them to a long narrow corridor. "There's not enough rooms so it's two to a room BTW" she said. All the younger kids rushed in with their tiny but speedy legs and in a flash it was only the main characters left. It was decided then that Hermione and Ron would go together, Harry and Ginny, Neville and Rincewind, and Esk and Luna. "Ah wait though" said Esk, "I'm not staying here, I've got...other things to see to and somewhere else to stay. I'll explain later" and she flew out of the hall window. "Well that was weird" said Hermione. "Yes" replied everyone else. People started going towards their rooms, which were right at the end of the corridor as the smaller kids had taken the closer rooms. "I hope you're okay with my hideous snoring" said Neville, like a curteous friend. "Oh shit" said Rincedwind, "I'm a really shit sleeper and forgot to pick up my earplugs, I won't be able to sleep and I'll be really shit without sleep!" he said with such drama and such worry. "Don't worry about it" said Luna, "I've got a spare bed in my room, you can stay with me, and that way you can enjoy a peaceful night's sleep and nobody has to sleep with Neville. No offence Neville" she said. "None taken" said Neville as he immediately forgot about the conversation. "Well... if you're sure" said Rincewind and they both went into what would be their new room and started to unpack. The old lady would have to spend the night on the floor.