The Searcher II: Harry Potter and The False Ghost - Ch. 3 A/N: Yes, Ch. 3 is finally here!!!! I'm taking my time going over it, because I need to make some changes for the third series, which I plan to start writing soon..... heh.... If I take a while between chapters, is that now I'm a listian, and as one I'm dutifully involved in a peach war going on right now...

As I said before, I will try to explain as I go if you haven't read Harry Potter, but please understand that this was originally a Harry Potter story and His Royal Tightness wiggled his way into it...

Special thanks to all of you who reviewed the second chapter: Melissa Davis, Pearl, Sailor Faerie Star (I have converted another one!!! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!, er, ahem!), Estelle(I was listening to Rue Paul's Supermodel song at the time, what can I say?), Tenila (thanks, I feel honored that you think so), Lillian(well, I hope that my writing has improved, and was afraid that this was not the same caliber as The Searcher), Danalas (Is this revenge for bugging you for sequels? ^_^), no need to know, Usagui Tsukino (Hi stranger, long time no hear! I'm evil, I know... ::wicked grin::), L, and Silver Space (Just read the books, and you will not regret it.)

If you find mistakes here, please excuse my spelling errors and other horrors, but English is not my first language(and this was my second fic). So let me know any errors you find and I will correct them. As always, please R/R and tell me if I'm doing a good job or if this sucks.

And before I forget,

DISCLAIMER - All characters from Potterverse belong to the magnificent J.K. Rowling. Sarah, Jareth, and everything Labyrinth belong to Jim Henson Productions. I only own Caridwen, the plot, and any other characters you don't recognize.

And now, the story.


The Searcher II:
Harry Potter and the False Ghost



Ch. 3: Chaaaaaaaaaaaarge it!

"Wake up sleepy head! You don't want to be late for breakfast, do you?" Hermione shook her new friend awake.

Cari opened her eyes and became disoriented. She saw Hermione and all the events from the last day came back to her. She was alive!

With that happy thought, she got out of bed, and asked Hermione "At what time are we leaving?"

Hermione answered "Since we are going to Diagon Alley, I'm assuming we are leaving earlier than everybody else. That way we will have time to have two to three hours in Hogsmeade."

The girls were having breakfast when professor McGonagall approached them.

"Good, you are early. Let me know when you are finished, the earlier we leave, the earlier we come back and you go to Hogsmeade."

The girls looked at each other and said in unison "We are ready."

Professor McGonagall responded "Very well. We will go to Hogsmeade to the Three Broomsticks. We will go to Diagon Alley from there by floo powder."

They got into a carriage that took them right in front of The three Broomsticks. They entered the establishment, greeted Madam Rosmerta, and professor McGonagall put some floo powder into the fireplace.

She looked at the girls and said, "We are going to The Leaky Cauldron. You girls go first."

Cari and Hermione nodded and holding hands said in unison "The Leaky Cauldron!"

Cari felt like everything was spinning at the same time she was being pulled by her waist. They came to an abrupt stop, and almost fell on their faces. They were recovering a little when the professor came right after them.

Professor McGonagall said "We need to get to Diagon Alley first. We will go to the bank, where you can get money. Then we will go and get your things."

Cari was looking at Hermione and asked McGonagall "Professor, could it be possible to have some time to buy muggle clothes? I'm afraid my muggle clothes went out of style" with a sheepish smile.

Professor McGonagall looked at her with what seemed to be -excitement?- in her eyes. They greeted Tom the bartender and stepped into the alley. Professor McGonagall counted the bricks and pushed one with her wand, making the entrance to Diagon Alley.

They went directly to Gringotts.

They stopped in front of a free goblin and Cari said "I'm here to retire some money from Caridwen Blantyre's vault."

The goblin looked at her and said "Do you have a key?"

"Yes, sir.", and she proceeded to give it to him.

The goblin murmured something in the lines of "Well, well, I'll be…", shutting up as he saw her gaze, and motioned them to follow him.

Professor McGonagall said "I'll wait for you here. You can go with her if you want, Hermione."

Hermione's face lit up, and said "Really? I've never been into the vaults before. My parents always exchange muggle money."

Cari said "If it is as I remembered, it will be fun."

While they were following him, Cari asked Hermione "How much you think I need to change in muggle money? I'm going to need a full muggle wardrobe."

The goblin who was leading them could not help to hear the conversation and said "If you think you will need a large amount of money to exchange, may I suggest getting a Gringotts credit card? It is good in any muggle establishment, and we give you the best exchange rate for the month. The money will be deducted directly from your vault."

Cari was curious now "How long will I have to wait for this credit card?"

"You can receive one right after you come back from your vault. If you want, I can request the card before we leave to speed up the process."

Cari nodded, and he stopped to talk to another goblin.

He turned to them and said "Your request is being processed as we speak. Let's go to your vault."

They arrived into a room with a cart, and the three of them got in.

Hermione looked suspiciously to the cart and said "If I didn't know better, I would say this is a roller coaster ride."

Cari looked at Hermione with a puzzled look and said "A what?"

She could not say anything more, because the cart suddenly jolted forward, and started to pick up speed. Pretty soon it plunged downwards, and upwards again.

Hermione yelled "No wonder Harry did not wanted to say anything. This is just like a coaster ride. It's fun!"

The girls kept screaming with glee every time they took a plunge. Even once they saw some flames in one of the corridors.

Cari said "I think that was a dragon!" and they suddenly stopped.

The goblin said "Vault 108. Watch your step. I will wait in the cart."

Cari made signs for Hermione to follow her, and they both stepped out of the cart. Cari opened the door with her key, and Hermione could not believe her eyes when she saw all the money that was stored in there.

Cari took some money and said "I'll take some extra, to last for the semester. I also want to have muggle currency with me anyway."

They got out of the vault and settled in their seats for another wild ride out of the vaults.

They met professor McGonagall, and Cari said, "I'll be right back. I just need my card and exchange some money" and went to the teller that was with them.

Professor McGonagall said "Girls, I will go and get your books and school supplies. You two go get some robes for Cari and a wand. Make sure that what you buy is sent directly to Hogwarts. I will see you here in an hour and a half."

Cari gave money to the professor and she left for the bookstore. The girls decided to get the robes first.

They saw that Madame Malkin had black robes in a new style, making them look more like a dress than a robe, so Cari decided to try those.

She got measured, and said "Now we need some dressing robes."

Cari was looking around the store, when her gaze went to a beautiful deep purple and cream lace robe, very delicate, with small purple, blue and pink flowers, and Cari went deathly pale.

Hermione went to see what had frightened her friend and gasped as she saw the robes. "This is beautiful! You should definitely try this."

Madame Malkin walked over to them and said, "I'm sorry, but those robes are not for sale."

When she saw the confused expression on Hermione, she continued "This dressing robe had been here for ages before I took the store. Seems that someone paid for a dress for his daughter, which disappeared more than 300 years ago. We cannot sell the robe, just in case the girl comes back."

Cari seemed to get out of her initial shock and said "Is the girl's name by any chance Blantyre?"

Madame Malkin looked at her with surprise and said "How did you know?"

Cari said, still in shock, "This is my dressing robe. I'm the girl who disappeared 317 years ago."

She took one of the black robes with her and said "Can I have that robe and my other black ones sent directly to Hogwarts? This is the address" and scribbled her dormitory in a piece of parchment.

She paid her bill and looking nervously at Hermione said "Let's get out of here" and took the bag that Madame Malkin handed to her with her black robe, getting out of the place almost in a run.

Hermione ran after her and asked "Is there something wrong? Can I help you with anything?"

Cari was still shaking, but managed to smile and said "It's a long story. I will probably tell you later. Let's just say I did not expected to see that dressing robe", not wanting to touch the subject anymore.

Hermione sensed this and changed the subject "Let's go to get you a new wand."

This seemed to get Cari out of her sadness, and they entered excitedly into Ollivanders.

Mr. Ollivander stood next to Hermione and said, "Needing a wand so soon?"

Hermione jumped startled, and said "No, it's not for me, it's for her" and pointed at Cari.

He looked at her and asked "Which is your wand arm?"

She raised her right arm. He started measuring her, and went up a ladder taking some boxes.

He gave her a wand and said "Try this one. Ebony, dragon's heart, 8 inches."

She raised her hand, but nothing happened. "Try this other one. Maplewood, unicorn hair, 9 inches."

She tried and nothing happened. She kept trying wands with no results.

When she was about to give up, he started saying "I wonder…. Stay there, I'll be right back!"

Professor McGonagall went inside the store, and said "I thought you girls were here. Did you got your wand?"

Hermione answered "Not yet, but we might be close."

The man came back with a box that seemed to have been buried deep within the storage room.

The box still had some trails of dust, even that it could be told that he tried to dust it off in a hurry.

"This wand has been here for a long time. It's one of a kind. White marble, eleven and a half inches, mixture of dragon's heartstring, unicorn hair, and fairy dust. Very powerful indeed. It's the only wand in existence that uses anything from a fairy, not mentioning a mixture. Try it."

Cari was nervous when she took the wand, she thought that being marble it would weight a ton, but instead was light as a feather.

"Fairy dust, that's why is so light.", was the conclusion that Cari came up with.

As soon as she touched it, she could feel a tingle in her hand, and as soon as her hand moved the wand was shooting red and gold sparkles.

Mr. Ollivander still looked at her with curiosity, but he only said "That will be 10 galleons and 8 sickles."

Cari paid quickly and got out of there, the guy was giving her the creeps. They were about to leave to The Leaky Cauldron, when Cari had a strange feeling, making her stop.

Stretching her senses with her eyes closed, she said, "Wait, I need to make one more stop. I want to buy an owl."

The went quickly to the Magical Menagerie, were Cari was looking at the owls while Hermione was checking the cat toys.

Cari saw a beautiful white owl, larger than any of the other owls there. She stopped, trying to see if the owl was friendly towards her or not.

She looked around, making sure nobody could hear, and whispered, "What are you doing here?"

The owl just looked straight to her eyes, and she heard inside her mind *Looking after you, of course.*

The witch behind the counter noticed her and said "That is a very nice selection. A very rare bird, miss, excellent choice."

She took the owl out of the cage and perched it on her shoulder.

She said to the witch "Is it possible that he could fly to Hogwarts, and have the cage sent there? This is my address", scribbling it in a piece of parchment.

She looked at the owl, and said "What should I name you?"

Her face lit up and she said "I know, I'll name you Jareth! What do you think?"

The owl nudged her ear affectionately, and she heard inside her mind *Very funny.*

"I will take that as a yes" she said, happily paying the witch.

Upon exiting the store she said to the owl "Jareth, can you fly to Hogwarts? I will see you there later today."

The owl brushed his face against her cheek and took flight.

Hermione asked "Where you got that name?"

Cari responded, "Oh, is from a story I heard a student tell once, I think it was a muggle movie called Labyrinth. The king of where the story takes place could transform into a white owl. He reminded me of the story."

'At least I was not lying', Cari thought, 'Why did that story was made into a movie? I'll have to ask him later.'

Looking at Hermione with a mischievous grin, she said "Now to the fun part. Let's go shop for clothes!"

Professor McGonagall transformed their robes into muggle clothes, and walked outside Diagon Alley.

They got back into The Leaky Cauldron and went out to London. Cari went to different stores, where she bought shoes, socks, jeans, shirts, pants, dresses, underwear, and anything else under the sun. When the group got back to The Leaky Cauldron they had several bags each.

Professor McGonagall said "I will take your things to Hogwarts once we get into Hogsmead. I suggest you get something to eat while you are there and make sure you come back with the rest of the group."

They went back to The Three Broomsticks by floo powder, and they said good-bye to the professor. Professor McGonagall put a levitating spell on the bags, making them follow her outside, where she placed them into the carriage that was waiting for her.

Once they were alone, Hermione said "Let's look for Ron and Harry and get something to eat."

Cari nodded, and as they were making their way to the exit, they heard "Oy! Hermione! Over here!" and saw Ron waving at them from a table in a corner.

The girls went to the table and sat down, noticing an empty chair.

Hermione asked "Where's Harry?"

Ron responded "He went to get some butterbeer. He should be back pretty soon."

As soon as he finished saying that, Harry came with 4 mugs, and said "I saw you arriving at the fireplace, so I ordered for you as well."

The girls just responded "Thanks!"

Cari asked "Did you guys ate already?"

They shook their heads.

"Good, let's order something, my treat" and she went to get the attention of the waitress.

The friends gave their order and Harry asked "Did you had a good time? For the looks of it you bought half of London."

Cari smiled and said "It felt like it. I did not realize there were so many things I needed to buy. And what you saw is what we bought in the muggle stores. What we bought in Diagon Alley was sent directly to my room", laughing at the shocked expression of the boys.

The food arrived and they spent the rest of the time engaged in small talk, and eating.

When they finished, Cari paid for the food and Harry said "We left the two best places for you. We need to go to Zonko's Joke Shop and Honeydukes. Where you want to go first?"

They all looked at each other, and said at the same time "Zonko's!".

They went to the joke shop, where Harry, Ron and Cari bought Filibuster Fireworks, Dungbombs, Hiccup Sweets, Frog Spawn Soap, and Exploding Quills. Then they went to Honeydukes, where they bought Every Flavor Beans, Fizzing Whizbees, Peppermint Toads, Jelly Slugs, and much more. They took a stroll around Hogsmeade, and before they knew, it was time to get into the carriages that would take them back to Hogwarts.

They got a carriage just to themselves, and once settled they started talking about the girl's trip to London.

"…And you would never believe that anyone would be so happy to wear jeans."

"Hermione, you would be happy that a girl is allowed to wear pants too if you were constantly scolded by your father when he would catch you dressed up as a boy sneaking out of the castle" answered Cari.

"I can't wait to get back, I need to check up on Jareth"

Harry quickly asked "Who's Jareth?"

Fortunately for Harry, he was the only one who caught the strange look that Ron gave him.

Cari answered "Jareth is my owl. I just sent him from the pet store, and I want to make sure he arrived safely. Want to see him?"

Hermione shook her head "Saw it already."

Ron stretched and said "No, I'm tired. I think I'll lay down before dinner", giving a mischievous look at Harry.

Harry saw that look again, so he fixed his gaze to the floor and said "I need to send a letter anyway, so I will go."

"Great! We can go to the common room, pick up your letter, and go to the owlery."

The carriage stopped shortly after. They kept walking to the Griffindor tower.

When they got into the common room, Harry said to Cari "Let me grab my letter, I'll be right back."

Shortly after, the two of them climbed out of the portrait and were on their way to the owlery.

Cari asked "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but, whom is the letter for?"

Harry smiled and said "It's for Sirius, my godfather. I send him owls from time to time, so he knows I'm fine."

They started the climb up the stairs to the owlery.

Cari sighed and said "It's nice to know you have people who care about you outside from school. I'm afraid I will have to spend all my holidays at Hogwarts, as I don't know who my legal guardian would be."

Harry said "I would give anything to spend my summers here instead of spending them at the Dursley's".

They got inside the owlery where hundreds of owls were perched all around the tower. They saw two white shadows coming towards them. Hedwig was the first one to arrive, perching herself in Harry's arm.

"Hullo, Hedwig" Harry said, receiving a nudge from the snowy owl.

Jareth landed in Cari's shoulder, giving her an affectionate nudge in her ear, as she said "Hi, handsome. Did you miss me?"

Harry noticed that Cari's owl was not a snowy owl like his, but it was white with a faint touch of tan color on top of the wings and back, and pretty big in size.

Cari noticed Harry checking her owl and asked with a smile "What Harry, owl envy?"

She noticed that Hedwig started to get undignified and said "Just kidding, Hedwig. I'm sure Harry only have eyes for you."

Harry blushed a bit while he finished tying up the letter to Hedwig's leg.

He said to the owl "Give this letter to Sirius, but please be careful. I expect he gives me a reply to this letter, so wait for it."

The owl pinched one of his fingers softly and left through the huge window. Jareth took this as a cue and he flied to nest in the top perch.

They were making their way out of the owlery when Cari slipped. She would have fallen to the floor, but Harry held her in his arms.

She felt a shiver down her spine as soon as she felt being held by Harry like that. She glanced at Harry to apologize, but no sound came out of her mouth. She just kept gazing at those intense green eyes, frozen.

In a second, she saw a flash of light, and a thought crossed her mind 'It's him. He is the one. I found him at last!'

She felt Harry tense up as well, but suddenly he started getting closer, and her mind went flying "Is he going to do what I think he is doing? Oh, my, he is going to kiss me, he is going to kiss me, he is going to kiss me, he is going to kiss me, he is going to kiss me, he is going to kiss me, he is going to kiss me…."

Suddenly everything stopped as soon as she felt his lips touch hers.

Her mind went blank, and she closed her eyes. Before she could realize what she was doing, she put her arms around his neck, and kissed him back, passionately. They separated when the need for air became apparent. Suddenly, reality sat in.

Harry's faced turned an intense crimson and started saying "I, um, er…", but stopped when he saw tears coming down from Cari's face.

'This was not supposed to happen.', thought Cari, 'I'm just supposed to find him and train him, nothing more. I cannot go through this again, but I think I'm in love with him. Ever since I saw him in his crib, looking at me with his green eyes… What am I going to do now?'

She was looking at him with an expression of betrayal, while she said "How could you?" wiping the tears from her face and running down the stairs, leaving a very confused Harry in the owlery.


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