A/N: You should all probably know that I started writing this on September 12th and so the crashing of ff.net is nothing to do with it being so late as I could have done it all ages ago but then I had to get a job and do some work and collect my A-levels [I'm going to Exeter baby!] and panic and go to Paris on holiday and generally get so overexcited that I just splurge like this and run out of breath from talking so muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccccccccccch…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Enjoy.
Harry Potter
Lord of the Net
THE RETURN
Chapter 3: Plans
'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHH!' Voltora shouted as she sat stunned in the seat by the computer she had recently evacuated.
'Nice to meet you too Beverly,' Dumbledore said calmly before she could open her mouth and scream again.
'Aaaaah – huh? How do you know my name is Beverly?'
'Because I am Albus Dumbledore, you should remember me from a little known adventure you took part in a few months ago…'
'You mean…' eyes widening as she looked around the room.
'Welcome to Hogwarts.'
A few minutes of silence ensued before Voltora spoke again, 'it looks just like my school in here.'
* * *
'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHH!' shouted Harry as he suddenly regained consciousness and found himself staring at a rather large spider only inches from his nose. With surprising swiftness a trainer squashed the bug and following the leg Harry stared up into the smiling, yet somehow anxious face of Stephen. 'Now that was a wild ride,' he muttered as willing hands picked him up off the floor, 'it feels like there's a rat tap-dancing on my brain.'
'Well there is one on your head come to mention it,' Wes replied as he began dusting Harry down but was interrupted by the young wizard doing a remarkable jig in an attempt to remove the rat from his hair. A few seconds later [following a dismayed squeak] Harry sat down and became aware he was the centre of attention again.
'Where am I?' he asked, desperate to break the unsettling silence.
'Dunno,' replied Netsurfer.
'How did I get here?'
'Beats me,' Bandy answered.
'Who are you?'
'Oh right,' Stephen said, 'you only know me and Wes, that's Serene, Bandy, Netsurfer77–'
'Do they have real names?'
'Yeah but he'll hear,' Wes took over the naming process, 'Lunar Bard, Beth with the stars–'
'Who will hear?'
'Voldemort,' said Giesbrecht, 'and my names Giesbrecht by the way.'
'HE'S here?' Harry said with a look of shock.
'Well not here,' Stephen said with a worried look to Wes, 'not yet at least…'
* * *
'Um…how did I get here?' asked Voltora after getting a bearing on her surroundings.
'No idea,' Dumbledore replied lightly, 'by the way these are Harry's friends Ron and Hermione,' he gestured and the two waved dumbly. 'This is Professor Mysis,' he gestured again, 'and we're all hoping that now you're hear you can help.'
'How?'
'By getting us into that machine. Harry's in no state, he went in and you popped out, but he just suffered an attack from Voldemort's kidnapping of your friends and yourself.'
'Well how did he get in?' asked Beverly.
'He pointed at the screen,' Ron replied, 'it was in one of the eyes on the Dark Mark.'
'Of course,' Dumbledore cut in smoothly, 'the real question is how did you get out…?'
* * *
'And that's what happened,' Harry finished unaware that on the other side of reality the same events were unfolding. 'Isn't one of you missing? There should be nine of you…I count eight.'
'Voltora!' Serene said, snapping her fingers, 'Stephen didn't you push her out?'
'When Harry popped in…she must be on the outside!'
'That means she can get help,' Wes joined in the conversation quickly, 'Harry where were you before you…you…you know.'
'In my school.'
'Oh dear,' Bandy said, 'that means no help right?'
'Wrong,' Harry replied, 'my friends and headteacher were with me…of course they probably don't understand what happened.'
'But Voltora can tell them right?' Lunar Bard cut in.
'Um…the odds of them understanding are gonna be quite low,' Stephen said, 'they don't really use computers, or any electrical stuff…'
'Except for Hermione,' Harry stated. 'She grew up like a Muggle until she joined Hogwarts, she's still a Muggle at home, like me. She can help.'
'And don't forget Voltora,' Giesbrecht added, 'she's one of us too.'
* * *
'Look at that,' breathed Voltora, 'I can see everyone in the eye, it's like an entrance to the grotto.'
'What's in the other eye?' Hermione asked, 'I can see something in there twinkling as well.'
'It looks…' Professor Mysis was leaning in beside Voltora, 'I can't actually tell,' moving in she almost touched the screen with her nose before Dumbledore placed a hand on her shoulder.
'Don't touch the screen Mysis,' he whispered, 'you saw what happened to Harry.'
'I won't Albus, I just need to let my eyes focus.' Leaning in again Mysis examined the screen where she saw another part of the caves entirely, and strolling around inside was, 'oh my God.' With a lurch in her stomach she realised that Voldemort was now staring directly at her, with surprising speed the small digital image whipped out a wand and sent a green beam shooting towards her.
'MOVE!' shouted Dumbledore and pulled her chair over backwards as the beam metamorphosed from digital image to stark reality as it shot from the eye of the Dark Mark. Ducking apart Ron and Hermione were inches away from being struck by the beam as it ploughed into the wall behind them. Whipping out his wand Dumbledore returned fire with a golden beam that also transformed as it struck the screen, 'Beverly, you have to get everyone else out now, that's where he'll be heading.'
'We have to send someone in to get the portal working though!' she replied as she studied the screen.
'Ron, Hermione, go with her and get them back – now!' Dumbledore shouted as a high pitched whining began to emit from the computer, 'it won't handle much more of this damage.
'Hands together, touch the eye on three!' Voltora said as Ron and Hermione joined her, '1…2…3!' and as one they placed their fingers on the eye. With a whirl of colours and a tugging behind their bellies the three were sent flying into the screen with a blinding flash.
* * *
'Look!' Serene shouted while they all grouped around, 'it's happening again!'
'There must be more people coming in!' Harry shouted over the thumping noise, 'that's our only chance of getting out, all of you get by where the portal is, we'll have to grab them and jump out together.' The silhouettes became clearer as the wall's digital features began to merge with the real surface, and with a sudden shout of surprise; Ron, Hermione and Voltora came flying through, 'GRAB THEM AND GO!' he shouted as a high pitched whining suddenly cut into the cave as the portal opened.
The others needed no instruction to jump through and with careful hands Giesbrecht and Bandy caught Voltora in time to lift her back the other way, as she left Harry heard a phrase he had used a little while before hand: 'n-n-n-n-not a-a-a-ag-again.' With a thump Ron landed beside him and he had just enough time to mutter a garbled 'hi' before Harry lifted him up and readied to jump through the portal, then everything went to hell…
A/N: okay so it isn't a normal cliffhanger but what the hell, I hope you're all having fun reading this and I will strive to finish it soon, I'm only sorry that it's going to be shorter than the original [but hopefully it's just as good for you all.] Okay you know what comes next: read and review as per norm plz