A/N: Part 2. Italics are part of Laura's story. Thanks to all for great reviews and encouragement! That's all… for now…
Illusions of the Mind: Part 2
Sophie McClellan was rather pleased with herself. She'd made three new friends, and she wasn't even at Hogwarts yet. Her mother would be pleased, at least. Alicia McClellan had always been one to encourage her daughter to "join a club" or "try out for a sport". Alicia had always been somewhat disappointed with Sophie, since she had never been very popular at "normal" school.
Sophie was immersed in a very interesting conversation with Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were enlightening her about life at Hogwarts.
"…And you should be careful to stay away from Slytherins."
"Slytherins?"
Hermione began to talk, but Sophie couldn't catch everything. Hermione could talk very fast. Sophie thought that she heard a bit about "Helga" and caught a few words about a hat. Ron noticed the puzzled look in her eye and decided to take the matter into his own hands.
"Hermione, shut up." He turned to Sophie. "Slytherin is one of the four Hogwarts houses. You'll find out more about it when you get there."
Sophie grinned. Life looked as if it had gotten tired of throwing curves at her- for the moment, at least.
"Hey, Hermione? Got the list?" Harry had forgotten his supply list, (He suspected that it was under the floorboard near the closet at the Dursley's) so he kept asking Hermione about the necessary equipment.
Hermione pulled a piece of paper out of the pocket of her shorts, and studied it for a moment. "We're all done, unless Sophie wants an owl or you two want to look at brooms."
Sophie thought. "Well, getting an owl would be nice…"
"And I need food for Andromeda." Andromeda was the name of Ron's new owl, a gift from Sirius Black.
"That remind me, do any of you know when Sirius's re-trial is?"
"Re-trial?" Sophie looked puzzled. "Who's getting a re-trial?"
"Sirius Black. He's an innocent guy in prison."
"But how do you know he's innocent?"
"He just is." Hermione looked rather exasperated. "Believe me, we've got evidence."
Harry interrupted her. "Hey, Dumbledore said he was getting some lady from the United States that had evidence, too. He contacted me over the summer."
"Really?" said Ron. "I hope they get Pettigrew, and rip his little head off. Scabbers, yeah right."
Hermione noticed Sophie getting rather pale. "Sophie? Are you okay?"
Sophie nodded. "I just realized something, though. You know that lady that brought me here? Laura? Well, what if…"
"…She's the witness?" Hermione finished her sentence. "I don't know who it is. What if she was?"
"I don't know. It would be cool, though." Harry said. "I wonder… why is she here anyway?"
Sophie shrugged. "I asked her, but she just shook her head and wouldn't tell me anything."
Ron whistled the theme from The Twilight Zone. "Creepy. Maybe she's here to… um… get Snape sacked?"
"Or to cure Professor Lupin?"
"He's not Professor anymore, Herm, he's just Mister again."
"I really don't care, Ron."
"But why does he need to be cured?" Sophie was really very puzzled by now.
"Never mind that," said Harry. "It's a long story."
"Oh."
"Maybe she's come to spy on You-Know-Who."
"He has a name, you know."
Ron looked insulted. "Sure. I just don't like to say it."
"Anyway," said Sophie, "It's five o'clock. I've gotta go."
"Hey, I'll come too. I want to meet Laura."
"Maybe we'll find out what she's doing! Good idea, Herm."
"I wasn't thinking in terms of spying! Ron! No, you get back here right now! That's rude! Ron!"
Hermione ran after Ron, who was sprinting down Diagon Alley.
"Hey, Harry? Are they always like this?"
Harry laughed. "Of course. They're Ron and Hermione. Come on, let's go."
*
Harry and Sophie arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron sweaty and out of breath. As they jogged up to the entrance, they saw Hermione lecturing Ron about being rude.
"Asking people about convicted criminals is not good. Asking people if they are spies is not good. Asking people if they are working for You-Know-Who is definitely not good." Hermione rattled this all off in one breath.
Sophie checked her watch. "You guys! We're late. Come on!"
"Can I at least ask her about Professor Lupin?"
A unanimous answer followed- "NO!"
"Aww… I never get to have any fun…"
All four walked into the Leaky Cauldron.
"Are your parents coming to pick you up?" asked Sophie.
"No."
"Nope."
"Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia? Yeah, right. We're all staying at the Leaky Cauldron."
"Okay. Hey, wait, there's Laura…" Sophie waved at a woman in the back of the dining room. She motioned for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to follow as she walked across the carpeted floor.
"Hey Laura. Have fun?"
"Oh. Yes. Simply tons." Laura was obviously being sarcastic, due to the look of disgust on her face. "Anyway, did all of you finish getting your school stuff?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I think we're done. Hermione?"
"Yes. We're all finished."
"Um, do you know anything about Sirius… Ow!" Hermione kicked him and was sending daggers at Ron with her eyes. "The Dog Star?" finished Ron, lamely.
Laura looked puzzled. "No, I wasn't exactly great at Astronomy. Beth Sinistra was always better at that than I was. She's a professor at Hogwarts now, is she not?" All three veteran students nodded.
"Well, what about Black… Hermione, stop it!" Ron was rubbing his arm, where Hermione had pinched him. Laura watched Ron, with a strange look on her face.
"Ron, are you trying to interrogate me on if I know Sirius Black?"
Ron turned red and stuttered something about how he wasn't REALLY asking her about her involvement with convicted criminals.
"Because if that's what you're asking, you're about to get an answer. Just wait until after we eat, okay?"
All four kids ate quickly, and waited rather impatiently for Laura to finish her dinner. She motioned for them all to listen. "Okay. Go up to Sophie's room, and wait for me."
The four got up from the table and hurried up the flight of stairs. Hermione called for them to stop when they reached her bedroom. She ran in and grabbed a tape recorder and a notebook. "What is that for?" asked a curious Harry.
Hermione shrugged. "I've decided that I want to be a journalist, so I'm taking notes."
Sophie looked disgusted. "Hermione! She's pouring out her heart to us and you're taking notes? That's ridiculous, not to mention inconsiderate."
At that moment, Laura Graham walked up the stairway. "Ready? Hermione? Have a new tape in that thing? This is a long story."
The whole group entered the room. Hermione situated herself on the bed and got her tape recorder ready. Sophie sat on the other bed, while Harry and Ron sat on the floor. Laura sat on the sofa and began. "It all started when we were at Hogwarts…"
*
"Lily, Julie, and I were best friends. Yes, Harry, your mother Lily. Julie was Julie Prewett, I'll tell you more about her later. And then, there were James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus. 'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.' We were all good friends, and they got into the most trouble of anyone in the entire school. That's how all three of us girls got so many detentions."
"One day, in our 5th year, Sirius and I were serving a detention, when he said something about Animagus. Of course, being the inquisitive soul that I was, I interrogated him on the subject. Eventually, after two days and three detentions for talking in detention, I got the truth out of him. So basically, I know all about their adventures as Animagi, and Remus's transformations."
"Fast forward about three years. Lily and James were engaged, and we were all happy. Then, after they got married, Harry was born, and Sirius was made Godfather, while I was made his Godmother. So eventually, Sirius and I fell in love, and since it's kind of personal, I'll spare you all the details. Anyway, we got engaged about a month after Harry was born."
"Fast forward about another year. Sirius and I were going to Lily and James's house for dinner, but I was running late, because I lost my car keys. As soon as I found them, I drove to their house. But when I got there, all I found was a pile of rubble and Sirius, sitting on the ground with his head in his hands. I gasped, and began to cry. But then I thought of Harry, and shuffled through the rubble. I found Harry and scooped him up. As soon as I had rocked him to sleep, Rubeus Hagrid showed up and took him off to Vernon and Petunia Dursley."
"I cried, since my only reminder of two of my best friends was gone. Sirius was muttering something about rats and traitors, but I didn't connect that with the fact that Peter was the secret-keeper for the Fidelius Charm."
"The next day, Sirius and I were out shopping in the Muggle world when Peter confronted us. He shouted at Sirius, and as Sirius took out his wand, Peter muttered a spell and then changed into his Animagus form. The whole street was blown up, and eleven Muggles died. Then, Cornelius Fudge came up, and they took Sirius away to Azkaban."
"I cried again. Only this time, the wizarding world wasn't as accepting. They stayed away from me, like I would give them a disease or something. They called me names and they were positively awful to me, as if I hadn't suffered enough. Right before that, the entire Prewett clan had been murdered. The funny thing was that Julie wasn't dead. Julie, well, she had special powers. She was a real Divinator. I think she sensed that something would happen to her if she stayed in the public eye any longer. She came to my house, told me that she was going into hiding, and disappeared. So basically, I lost four of my best friends in one small window of time."
"That's about the time I went to the United States, to get away from everything. I moved to Illinois, and got a job as a teacher at a high school. I hated it though; I just kept seeing the children and thinking about all my friends. It was horrid."
*
"And now I'm back in England, and I'm supposed to testify for Sirius Black."
Sophie was crying, and Ron was trying to make her feel better. Harry just sat on the floor, thinking, while Hermione questioned Laura, with the tape recorder still on.
"When is the trial?"
"I think it's three days after the start of term. I'm not sure, though. Anyway, you guys should all go to bed. You have a long day tomorrow, what with term starting and all."
"Night everyone."
"Good night."
"See you in the morning."
"Night."
*
"Ron, where's my wand?"
"Has anyone seen my tape recorder?"
"Where's my train ticket?"
"I can't find my copy of 'Sibyl Trelawney's Predictions for the Future'!"
"You actually BOUGHT that?"
"All right, all right. That's enough. Harry, your wand is over on the table. Hermione, your tape recorder is under the bed. Sophie, I have your train ticket, and Ron, your book is on the floor over there. Why did you buy that, anyway?"
"I was going to give it to Ginny as a birthday present."
"Why would your sister want that?"
"Sophie, you don't know my sister."
Laura interrupted. "Is everyone ready?"
All four kids nodded.
"Then let's go."
The group climbed into Laura's rental car, which was just a normal car, unlike Mr. Weasley's magically enhanced vehicle. They sped down to King's Cross Station, averaging just below the speed limit. When the car pulled into the lot, Sophie jumped out and grabbed her trunk handle.
"Hurry up," she cried. "We'll be late!"
"No we won't," said Hermione, exasperated. "And even if we are, we can still enchant the car to make it fly." She sent Harry and Ron a nasty look.
"How did you… never mind, I don't want to know…" Laura was busy dragging five trunks out of the car.
"Jeez Hermione, we earned back those points, so it doesn't really matter. Anyway, Harry got rid of the basilisk too. So be quiet."
"That doesn't matter. It's the ethics of it. You knew you'd be breaking the rules, so…"
"Oh be quiet. Come on, get the trunks and stop the bickering." Harry was already dragging a trunk inside the building, and Sophie had the sense to run inside and grab a couple of the trolleys that bellboys use in hotels.
"…Just because you earned back the House points doesn't make anything RIGHT…"
"Come ON!"
*
The entire group stood outside Platform 9. Where's Platform "9¾?" asked Sophie. "Come on Ron, let's go!" Harry and Ron raced for the brick wall between Platforms 9 and 10. Sophie stifled a scream and watched breathlessly as both boys ran at the barrier. And then, suddenly, they weren't there. Sophie looked bewildered. "Where'd they go?"
Hermione laughed. "Hurry up!" She grabbed Sophie's wrist and dragged both Sophie and the cart towards the wall.
"Help!" screamed Sophie. "I'm too young to die…"
"Oh, be quiet you. Close your eyes."
Sophie closed her eyes.
"Alright, stop and open them."
Sophie gasped and looked around. She glimpsed a huge scarlet steam engine, and tons of kids, parents, and people who appeared to be professors.
"Hey, there's Harry and Ron!"
The two boys jogged up to the trio of girls. "Let's go get in a car."
Laura sighed. "Sorry guys, but I have to go sit with all the professors. I'll see you at the start-of-term banquet."
And with that, Laura was gone.
Fred and George Weasley came up to the group of four. "Need help?" asked one of the two, Sophie wasn't sure who was who, despite being introduced to them.
"I don't think so." Hermione was already up the stairs. "Thanks anyway."
"Okay. We're off to make mischief!"
Both boys hopped onto a nearby train car. "Uh-oh," said Hermione.
Sophie magicked her trunk up onto the platform. As she did, she heard the whistle. She grabbed the handle and got into the passenger car just in time. As soon as she walked in, Her trunk disappeared. "Hey!"
"Don't worry," said Hermione, "They're sent on a different car."
"Oh. Okay."
The train ride passed uneventfully, unlike other years' rides had. Within five hours, the train pulled up to the Hogsmeade station.
The group of returning students trudged over the grass. Thankfully, their trunks weren't with them, or the trip would have taken a very long time. As they neared the castle, Hermione instucted Sophie to close her eyes for the second time that day. "We want you to be surprised when you see it," she said, "Because it's really gorgeous, wait and see."
"Okay," said Hermione, after a few minutes of leading Sophie around as if she were blind. "You can open them now."
Sophie gasped. The castle, with all it's turrets and passages was incredibly beautiful in the light of the sunset.
"Welcome," said Hermione, "to Hogwarts."
A/N: End of Chapter 2. Please, please, PLEASE review. If anyone cares, my e-mail address is bee824@yahoo.com. You can send comments there. Thanks!
Written on Saturday, May 20, 2000
© 2000 by Bumblebee