Chapter 6: Harry and the Alien of Tomorrowland
"Hermione?" Harry said questionably from behind the girl and her father.
"HARRY?!?" Hermione said, turning around to face her friend.
"Hermione!" Ron chimed in.
"Ron!" Hermione said.
"Harry Potter?" Mr. Granger said.
"Yes Mr. Granger," Harry said.
"Harry, Ron… Father," Hermione said, introducing everyone. "Father…Harry and Ron."
"Hermione!" Ron said again happily. Now that everyone knew everyone's names, they continued forward in the line. Hermione certainly was not recognizable. Harry and Ron were used to seeing Hermione in wizarding robes. Today she had on a blue T-shirt depicting a yellow and orange cat and blue jeans and her bushel of hair was tied back in a ponytail with an orange scrunchy. Her father had a red and white striped T-shirt and blue swishies. Ron and Harry had T-shirts and short pants. The line continued to move.
"I thought you were with Viktor Krum," Harry said. Ron started to clench his fist.
"Oh, well I left early because Mother and Father had a surprise for me," Hermione said. "After telling them about how interesting America was, they decided to visit. It's so fabulous here. The weather is so much better compared to that iceberg Viktor calls a home."
"Oh, so you hated it there?" Ron asked, looking more cheerful.
"It wasn't that horrible. The snow was lovely, but it was just too cold for me. I always stayed by the fireplace when I wasn't eating or sleeping," Hermione said. Then she started to giggle. "Then again, skating with Viktor helped to keep me warm."
"You went skating?!" Ron said, clenching his fists again. Harry quickly spoke up.
"So what are you here for Ron?"
"Oh, I never told you? Well, Percy got a summer bonus from the Ministry and after getting your letter, he decided it would be fun to see Disney World." (Yeah, I know…Lame excuse) Finally, the group emerged into the pre-show area. There, they viewed a video from The Interplanetary Convention Center explaining the X-S Tech company's products and new technological finds. They moved on to a demonstration on a new teleporter that moved a creature from one end of the room to the other.
"They use a glass tube to Apparate?" Ron said in disbelief.
Finally, the bulk of the attraction, the main event…the terror of ExtraTERRORestrial. The show was ready to begin. The guests entered the circular auditorium and were seated in rather awkward seats with restraints that circled around a "teleporter". Hermione was really shaking now. The restraints lowered onto the guests' shoulders.
"Are we going to drop or something?" Hermione asked nervously. "Why do we need these restraints? Is something supposed to happen to us?"
"Just to keep you safe, dear," Mr. Granger said, who was sitting on her right. Ron was on her left and Harry was next to Ron.
"What fun…another glass apparater," Ron said sighing. Then the show began. The chairperson of the X-S tech company was going to be teleported to the Interplanetary Convention Center from another planet.
"Another planet that can support human life, oh get real," Hermione said, a bit calmer now. All of a sudden, something goes wrong! The wrong creature was teleported and a monstrous carnivorous alien was now pounding in the teleporter tube! The screams began and Harry, Ron, and Mr. Granger began to laugh and enjoy the entertainment. Hermione was trying to get out of her seat.
WARNING: Spoiler for Alien Encounter attraction, read if you dare…if not, scroll down to "That was great!"
"Send it back! Send it back!" Hermione shouted, absolutely terrified. Other guests began to chant with her. "Send it back! Send it back!" Suddenly, the theater goes black. The X-S Tech workers are trying so much to restrain the evil alien, but then…CRASH! He has escaped the teleporter tube! The Screams grow louder and Hermione had reduced to tears. Harry and Ron began to fell nervous as well. The alien hisses and sound effects and light effects make it seem like it was crashing about in the theater. All the guests could feel it breathe down there necks and here the crunching of human bones between the jaws of death from the alien. Harry and Ron began to panic. Everyone was screaming until finally, the alien was recaptured and the show ended. The guests gave a round of applause as the restraints lifted off their shoulders.
"That was great!" Ron said, rising from his seat. Hermione quickly got up and ran to the exit. She stopped to wait for Mr. Granger, Harry, and Ron. Harry's restraint seemed to be malfunctioning.
"Muggles and they're silly machines…" Ron said, trying to help lift it off. A cast member (a.k.a. employee) approached them. He was a smiley college freshman and he had dark black hair, neatly combed. His nametag read "Tomás".
"We're sorry, but your seat seems to be malfunctioning," Tomás said, as if he was repeating a cast member trainer's manual.
"We can see that," Ron grunted, continuing to try to lift off the restraint.
"You guys can go ahead," Harry said. He saw Hermione dying to get out of there. "Just wait for me outside." With that, Mr. Granger, Hermione, and Ron left the theater and sat by the exit souvenir shop. It was filled with Tomorrowland merchandise, Buzz Lightyear merchandise, and Alien Encounter merchandise.
"You should get that, Hermione," Ron laughed, pointing to a shirt that read "I survived the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter!".
Meanwhile…Harry was still stuck in his seat as the next group of guests piled into the theater.
"You'll have to wait while we figure out this problem," Tomás said to Harry. "Enjoy your second ride!"
Harry was shocked. He had to stay for a second ride. He definitely didn't want to go through the same nightmare again. The one moment when we could hear the alien and feel the alien reminded him of his night in the forbidden forest in Aragog's lair. This time around, he'd be with strangers…