Chapter 23: Animation and the Traveling Portal

"Hollywood! What a wonderful place!" Ginny said as they exited the Great Movie Ride. "That ride was fantastic!"

"Yeah, that one part really surprised me!" Ron said. Everyone enjoyed that ride and wished to ride again, but Mr. Weasley was so excited, he wanted to do everything else first!

"Now let me see…" Mr. Weasley said as they all gathered around him looking at their maps. "We could go west to the Animation courtyard…"

"Animation is fantastic!" Hermione said. "It's one of Muggles' greatest forms of entertainment! Professor Smithsonian even brought in an old Muggle movie camera and filmstrip to show us. I knew it wouldn't work, but would he listen to me…honestly, does anyone else read Hogwarts, a History besides me?"

"Why bother when we've already got you to tell us about it," Fred said.

"That's old news," George said. "So Hermione, what is Animation?"

"It's like motion pictures, only with drawings. A series of drawings are made each very much the same, but with only a tiny difference. Once each is photographed, the picture is played and you have a moving drawing."

"There's a tour in an actual animation studio," Harry read in his guide. "The Magic of Disney's Animation."

"Oh we should go there!" Hermione squealed. "It would be a wonderful learning experience!" The boys groaned, but went anyway. They truly were interested to see how it was done. The group entered the Animation Courtyard through a high concrete, blue-tiled, archway. This archway was decorated with large cutouts of Disney's famous animated characters such as Ariel and Genie and Mickey Mouse. Immediately upon entry, they found themselves in front of a theatre featuring the show, Voyage of the Little Mermaid. A colorful statue of Ariel, the Little Mermaid, adorned the top of the entrance to the theatre.

"Oh no, not her again," Ginny groaned when she saw the boys gaping at the statue.

"We should go in there first," George suggested.

"Oh please," Hermione said, turning right. She checked the park map. "Come on everyone, it's this way!"

"We want to see the show," Oliver said, following Fred and George, who have already joined the line.

"You boys wait for us here until we're done!" Mrs. Weasley called.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley accompanied Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to see the Magic of Disney's Animation. First they watched a short film introducing the basics of Animation. Finally the backstage tour began, and the tour group had met up with a real live Animator. He continued to explain animation and brought them to the actual studio where many animators were hard at work.

"Right now, the Disney Animators here in the Florida Studio are working on a film called Brother Bear," the tour guide explained. Harry looked through the glass and down where an animator had been working hard on his desk, decorated with all kinds of things for his work. There was a desk lamp, pencils and pencils and rulers little toys of Disney characters plants and reference material, finished materials, a picture of his dog, and the most important tool: a mirror. " This is the third animated feature to be completely created in the Florida Animation Studios. Opening in 1989, the studio wouldn't create a full-length animated feature for several years. In 1994, Mulan began production and the feature was completely animated in these studios. Lilo and Stitch followed in the new millenium. Brother Bear, also known as, Bears, will be about a Native American boy who gets transformed into a bear."

"Transfiguration!" Hermione said, excited to hear that a movie was going to be made about transfiguration. "When will it be released?"

"Oh, not for another year. The latest rumors say next summer," said the tour guide. The tour ended in an Animation Gallery were some of Disney Animation's awards, celluloids, drawings and sculptures and other materials from creating an Animated Feature were displayed.

"Look, this one's from a movie called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," Hermione said, reading a text box under a framed cell of Snow White sitting on the tiny beds of the Seven Dwarfs. All seven of them were peering over the foots of the beds.

"Those are funny looking dwarfs," Ginny said, enjoying the comical looking characters. "Look at their noses!"

"The movie premiered in 1937!" Mr. Weasley said in disbelief. "Animation has been around for that long and we've never even heard of it!"

"Oh look, dear!" Mrs. Weasley said, laughing so much. "It's a witch! Look at her nose!" Mr. Weasley looked where Mrs. Weasley was and saw the picture of the wicked witch from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

"That's a witch?!" Mr. Weasley said, laughing too. "Haa-haa-haa-haa-haa! A witch!"

"Mum, please!" Ginny said, her cheeks growing red as the other guests started to stare at them.

"And look here! They say that's Merlin!" Mr. Weasley said, pointing at a sculpture of Merlin from the feature The Sword in the Stone. "Merlin! Haa-haa-haa-haa-haa!"

(I don't know if all these films are really seen here) After admiring celluloid's from Disney's Animated Features of: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Dumbo, Victory Through Airpower, Saludos Amigos, Make Mine Music, Melody Time, Fun and Fancy Free, The Adventures of Ichabod Crane and Mr. Toad, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, the Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Robin Hood, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Rescuers, The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver and Company, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: the Lost Empire, Lilo and Stitch, and sneak peek pencil drawings of: Treasure Planet, Home on the Range, Brother Bear, Once in a Blue Moon (Now it's My Peoples), and Chicken Little, the group exited the Animation building only to be ambushed by the Harry Potter fan club.

"I told ya he was comin' here! Look everyone! It's Hairy Potter!" Mary Sue said as a big group of American student witches and wizards blocked the exit.

"Hi Harry!" a small boy said. "Remember me? I sat next to you on Test Track! I'm a big fan! My name is-" Suddenly the group shifted away when a troop of cast members cleared them out. The small boy was lost in the crowd.

"Please clear the area, we don't want anyone getting lost or stuck!" a cast member said. "Thank you for visiting the Magic of Disney Animation! Please come again and see our special display of Home on the Range art!"

Mr. Weasley had all shooed them away with the other cast members and attempted to hold them back in the courtyard.

"So are you some British TV star?" the cast member asked Harry.

"Oh no, I'm just-" Harry started, but was interrupted by Hermione.

"A look-alike and we've got to go!" They squeezed by the screaming fans and managed to get away from them. "What were you thinking? Tell that Muggle you're a normal guy who happened to have a lot of fans? They'll get suspicious! Especially if you said your name! For all we know, it could've been a Death Eater in disguise!"

"That's ridiculous! What are you talking about?"

"But we do have to be more careful! Someone was very close to killing you last night! We shouldn't take any chances. I've thought of a plan during that tour. Your new name will be Kalvin Whitmore and you come from a poor family in London and-"

"Hermione! What are you talking about?!?" Ron said, when he caught up with them. They stopped and sat on a bench by the Voyage of the Little Mermaid theatre. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and Ginny did likewise and waited for the other boys. Ginny went to sit with the young ones.

"We have to come up with fake aliases until that dark wizard is caught," Hermione said. "Now I'd always thought you looked like a Henrietta, so that's your name Ginny. You and Ron, I mean Edmund, are of the rich family of the Griswalds from the old English Town of Crawford-"

"Hermione! What are you talking about?!?" Ron said again. Ginny was getting very confused and scared. "No one's going to kill us in broad daylight. You're worrying too much."

"But what if they try to attack again! Lupin isn't here with us and-"

"Lupin isn't where?" Lupin said from behind them, holding Snuffles leash. Snuffles ran over and barked happily at the group.

"Professor Lupin, please explain to Hermione that we're safe!" Ron pleaded. "I don't want to be Edmund Griswald…honestly Hermione, you think too much!"

"Hermione, we're perfectly safe here," Lupin said, with a chuckle. "You have nothing to worry about. Besides, I'm here now, so never fear!"

"You better be more careful, Snuffles," Harry said, scratching him behind the ears. "You're all over the newspapers here too you know." Snuffles made a curious "roof" and looked up at Harry.

"Oliver was reading the paper this morning and it said about how the English Prime Minister-" Ginny screamed.

"So it was true!" Ginny squealed, jumping backwards, staring full of fright at Snuffles. "My dream was real! Help! It's S-" Ron had grabbed her muffled her mouth. She struggled as Ron held her down on the bench and Hermione started explaining again. Ginny was in tears and tried to get away.

"He's been framed! The real villian is not Snuffles but Wormtail, I mean Scabbers…I mean…Oh Ginny, you mustn't worry!" Finally Ginny calmed down and stared warily at Snuffles. He crept closer and rested his head on her knee. She petted him quickly and shut her eyes while doing it.

"Really, Ginny," Harry said reassuringly. "Snuffles is all right."

"What was this about newspapers?" Lupin asked.

"This morning at breakfast, Oliver was reading an American newspaper and the headline was about the English Prime Minister notifying the United States President…uh what was his name?"

"Was it…Shrub?" Ron said, thinking hard.

"Bush…it was Bush," Hermione said. "Well it said that they told him of Sirius's delinquency and warned him that he may be hiding in this country."

"Well we shouldn't worry too much," Lupin said. "Snuffles isn't liable to change forms out here." Snuffles made a "That's right" woof. "But what I'm worried about is you four. What happened after we disappeared?"

"Oh, my mum came in to see what was going on," Ron said. "After she left, we found that Snuffles had found the school letters!"

"Oh thank goodness!" Lupin said, relieved for this news. "McGonagal told me all about them. I believe it is a good thing that all you students didn't get them yet. She intends to rewrite them in case they get stolen again. Did any of them seem opened?"

"We didn't see any," Harry said.

"Did you read them?"

"No," Hermione said. "Of course not! But what is so important that shan't be told to us yet? Is there information about Dumbledore?"

"Well…where are they? Have you turned them in yet?"

"Is there information about Dumbledore?"

"Well, I don't know if I should tell you…"

"That means yes!" Ron said immediately. "That always means yes!"

"Then there's your answer. I'm not telling you all anything else…"

"Oy Professor Lupin!" George said, waving to him. "What brings a blind man to a theme park about movies?"

"Snuffles," Lupin replied, Snuffles scowling at him. They all laughed.

"So what's the pow-wow all about?"

"Nothing," Hermione said, pulling the park map in front of her face. "Just planning our next destination. If we hurry, we can catch the 10:30 showing of the Beauty and the Beast-Live on Stage."

"Not another history lesson," Ron groaned. "It was boring to learn about Engora the Enchantress with Professor Binns. What did she do again? Turn people ugly because their hearts were ugly or something?"

"This show is based on the Animated movie by Disney," Hermione said. "In the motion picture, Engora is only in the very beginning when she turns the selfish prince into a beast. Besides, I don't think she's in this stage production of the story."

"So where is it?"

"We have to exit the courtyard then turn north into Hollywood Boulevard, and west on Sunset Boulevard towards the large tower…"

"I heard that the tower is a hotel," Oliver said, turning to gaze at the very tall Tower Hotel visible from even outside the park.

"I heard it's a time machine ride that brings you back into the 1930's Hollywood," Hermione said as everyone stared at it with Oliver.

"I heard that if you ride to the top, and the brakes give way and you fall all the way down!" Fred said. Everyone stared at him as if that was the most ridiculous suggestion yet.

***

Earlier that morning…

"Penelope, wake up," Mrs. Clearwater said, coming into her daughters' bedroom. "Pansy dear, why is your sister still sleeping?"

"I don't know," Pansy said from the adjacent bed. "I thought she got up earlier. I heard her in the bathroom." Mrs. Clearwater shook the lump on the bed. Once she touched the blanketed figure, it collapsed as if deflated. A worried Mrs. Clearwater tore off the bed cover only to find an air pocket spell had left the bed cover suspended. She also found a note.

Pansy,

When you'll read this note I'll probably be home already. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Tell Mother and Father that I'm at breakfast and then out with Percy. Just don't tell her I'm at home.

Love, Penny

***

About six a.m. that same morning…

Penelope waved her wand on the bed covers and slipped a scrap of paper underneath the elevated bed cover. She took one last look at the bed, satisfied that it looked like it was occupied. She checked to see if her sister was still asleep and went into the bathroom where a potion was brewing in the sink. A small spellbook (Quick Easy Travelling Spells for the Witch or Wizard on the Go) lay open by the sink. Penny scanned the page:

After letting the flitterby wings stew for 5 minutes, add the remaining bezoars and mint leaves. Stir brew with wand counterclockwise and clearly state destination. If a portal does not open, turn to page 37 ("Portal Problems"). If this still does not help, try the famous Travelling Spell, though this only has been proven to work with bedknobs.

Penny took out a brown paper bag she had brought from the Wizard's Convention and emptied its contents into her potion. She took out her wand and stirred counterclockwise, cleary saying her destination, "The English Ministry of Magic, London." The potion began to bubble. Penny lost control of her wand, for it began spinning by itself very fast. The potion seemed to ball up into a sickly purple sludge and then was splattered onto the bathroom mirror. Penny no longer saw her reflection in this mirror, but a window showing another bathroom. She pushed her hand through what felt like a clear wall of Jello and climbed through, carrying her bag with her. Penelope looked back at the hotel room left behind as the "Jello glass" shrank until Penny could see her reflection again.

"I can't believe it. I'm actually here!" Penelope said, looking around. She found herself in a large bathroom with several stalls and-

"Oops," Penny said, seeing the urinals lined up by the sinks. Suddenly, a toilet flushed and a stall door was pushed opened.

"'Oops' is right, this is the Men's Ro-" Percy gaped at Penelope.

So sorry that this is SO late! I think it's been more than a month since Chapter 22 was posted! This chapter was only half written and now it's finished so I hoped you enjoyed it! As always, THANK YOU all so much for your reviews, especially Sailor Sol for that big @$$ review you posted all about your Walt Disney World Trip! Such wonderful inspiration! Also, next week (April 2-6) I'll be in Virginia so sorry again for no post that weekend or after that. I need to finish my homework now…Thanks again and keep reading!

Putercat: Thanx for ideas of MGM-Disney Studios situations and information! I'm glad you enjoy this story!

Xenia: Guess what? I'm continuing the drama just for you! (okay, maybe for me too, lol) I'm glad you don't think it's as cheesy as I thought it was!

MouseBrat: Hahahaha…Ginny…hehehehe…anyway, I'm glad you liked Ginny's small dilemma. Ginny's love attempts will be back, so be sure to keep reading and the sequel scheduled for a summer release!

Anyone else: If you want a Thank you note, please review. It's nice to know people are reading this and replying. If your shy…Thank You ____(your name)_____ for reading my story! You're time to experience my little fanfic is greatly appreciated! Please keep reading!