Chapter 4: When the Door is Opened...
Co-Written by GoldenPhoenix and WitchGirl
"Well, here we are! What do you suggest we do know, Sherlock Hermione?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. Hey, is it just me, or does this library look a little... dusty to you?"
"It's not you. When ever I think of books, I think of them collecting dust,"
"No, seriously. Look around. Doesn't this place look a little odd to you?"
"Yeah... It does look a bit different now that you mention it... Wonder what it could be..." Ron looked hard around the old library which appeared more ancient then ever. They looked around, but Hermione was nowhere to be seen.
"Did you hear that?" Harry stopped.
"That almost sounds like Moaning Myrtle!" and the two boys sprinted off and out the library down the hall.
"So what you are saying, sir," Snape said, slowly, "Is that the reason we can't find the three students, is because they are not even in Hogwarts?"
"No, Severus, I did not say that. I said that he has taken her to Zaphire. And that means that he has discovered a way to open the door to it, which is not a good thing at all," Dumbledore replied.
"But Headmaster, if they are in this 'Zaphire' place, then they can't be at Hogwarts!"
"Minerva, have you been listening? Zaphire is all around us as is Seadene and Hades Realm. It is in the very walls of Hogwarts itself; it is in the air you breath; it is in the hearts of the people you know; Hogwarts is Zaphire! You may not be able to see it or feel it, but you look it in the eye every night and you touch it every day. It is a whole other world that we know as little about as anything else. The four worlds, Minerva, exist in one space. And the Vikings knew. So you see, they are in Hogwarts, but they are on another plane of existence! How they got there, I do not know. I only know where the entrance is and who opened the door. And I only know that if those children do not find a way out on their own, they will surely die!"
"I may not understand your concept of these other worlds, Dumbledore, but if I got at least something out of the story you told us, it was that you said that You-Know-Who opened the gate to one of these worlds and trapped the students in question inside. If this is true, then is there anything we can do about it?" McGonagall inquired. Dumbledore bowed his head.
"I am afraid not. If they do not find a way out of that nightmare before 7 o'clock this morning, they will be doomed to live an eternity there,"
"Hermione!" Ron and Harry screamed, tearing off the invisibility cloak. They saw a girl, hugging her knees by the great oak door. She looked up. Her face was tear-blotched, but her eyes widened as she saw the two boys.
"Harry! Ron!" she cried in delight, "Where am I?"
"What do you mean, you're in Hogwarts!"
"I... I am? But it's nothing like Hogwarts! Oh Harry! Ron, I'm loosing my mind!" she began to cry again.
"I hate to say it, but I think she already has," Ron whispered to Harry. They carried her back to the common room but the picture of the fat lady was gone. There was only a hole in the wall leading to a cold, damp room.
"What's going on here?!" Ron screamed.
"Calm down, Ron, maybe we just took the wrong passage,"
"I don't think so, Harry, I've been to the common room from the Entrance Hall billions of times and I think I'd know the way. Do you think we're going crazy, too?"
"Don't be stupid, Ron, we can find it. Like you said, we've been to the common room loads of times from the Entrance Hall, now there must be a way to find it!"
"It's no use!" Hermione had given up, "We're trapped in this place forever!"
"Hermione, don't say that!" Ron ordered as much as for her as for himself.
"If only I hadn't gone into the library..." Hermione said, dazed and confused. Ron had pulled Hermione's arm onto his shoulder as they followed the quick-paced Harry in pursuit of an exit.
"Yeah, stupid good-for-nothing library-"
"WAIT!" Harry stopped and spun around to Ron, "The library! That's how this all started! Remember? Hermione followed music there-"
"It was a singing book!" Hermione told him, stubbornly.
"Yeah, whatever you say, Hermione," Ron rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, she followed that music she heard to the library! And when we went in after her, she was gone! And then later, we went in, and it looked different-"
"Did it look older?" Hermione asked, "As if it had been untouched for years?"
"Yeah," said Ron, "What is going on here?"
Hermione seemed to come back to her senses for a moment, "I picked up this book for some extra reading. It was on the list that Professor Binns gave us for optional background reading. It sounded very mythological to me; nothing at all the kind of book Binns would recommend. It talked about the Vikings and before Hogwarts. Oh, I wish I had been more awake when I read it! I can't remember!"
"Was it in the library?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded and Harry spun around again and headed this time for the library.
"Then it has to be there!" he said, "It has to!"
"But Harry-"
"No, Hermione, it will be there. If it can give us any clue to where we are, it will be there," Harry said mostly to himself then to Hermione.
"Professor, what's happening?" Dean Thomas asked McGonagall when she came into the room again.
"Where's my brother?" Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister, demanded, standing resolutely next to Dean.
"We have a right to know!" Seamus Finnigan appeared at Dean's side.
"That... That you do, children... But... But family only, for now, please," McGonagall was very pale. She took Ginny by the hand and led her to her dormitory.
"Hermione, where did you find it?" Harry asked.
"It was in this section, I swear it! It was called the Viking Religious Book. The chapter was... Oh! It was Chapter 4, the Tri-Corner!" Hermione stopped. Her eyes widened and her face drained of color.
"What is it?" Ron asked. Hermione didn't hear him. She heard a cold, shrill voice calling her name.
"Hermione..." suddenly, her face took a determined look and she fell into a trance and began to speak, as if to defy the voice.
"Before Hogwarts was even built and when Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff were only toddlers, there were ruins. Old Viking ruins. The Vikings knew valuable information that muggles these days barely believe true. They knew of the four worlds. The four alternate universes each one completely different. Three of them were inhabited and one was not. Those envied the ones who went to Seadene and took pity on those who went to Hades Realm. This world that we know of was known as 'Earth.' This is where the inhabitants of all three realms are born. Some go to the other worlds at young ages, others leave when they are old but they all leave by ways of death. Seadene is what people call today heaven while Hades Realm is what they'd call Hell. The Vikings had discovered a way to make a door to these other dimensions and they built a door to each realm calling them the tri-corner. They were placed in an equilateral triangle and the middle of the triangle was a source of great power. When a person would die, they would hold a burial service here. If they led a good life, the bodies would be wished well and pushed into Seadene. If they were bad... They were given no prayer and thrown into Hades Realm. There was one piece of information the Vikings had lacked, though. What the third domain, Zaphire, was for. They thought it was just there, but they were mistaken. Zaphire was a land of magic. Since no one had used it, it was neither good nor evil. But someday, the Vikings would have discovered what it was for had they not been over thrown. And so their great tri-corner was left as a ruin and the Hogwarts castle was built over it. But the power remained. The entrances to the other worlds still exist if one knows how to open them. These days unknown forces decide the judging of which world you go to after death. The entrances are as follows: Zaphire, the library, Seadene, Dumbledore's office, and Hades Realm, Slytherin common room. The kingdoms have been closed for years and no one but the Vikings knew how to open it. But what if someone, somehow, discovered how to open it and got to it. If this person was good, great and wonderful things could be unleashed and discovered. It could be used as a secret Garden of Eden. Loads of good magic could be discovered from this world. But if that person were bad, then terrible things would happen. Instead of a secret Garden of Eden, it would become a secret Garden of Torture. Instead of good magic and discoveries, evil magic and unknown destructive secrets could be unleashed. Whoever discovers the way to open could use it to his advantage. He could do almost anything..." And with that, her eyes rolled and she fell to the floor...
Co-Written by GoldenPhoenix and WitchGirl
"Well, here we are! What do you suggest we do know, Sherlock Hermione?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. Hey, is it just me, or does this library look a little... dusty to you?"
"It's not you. When ever I think of books, I think of them collecting dust,"
"No, seriously. Look around. Doesn't this place look a little odd to you?"
"Yeah... It does look a bit different now that you mention it... Wonder what it could be..." Ron looked hard around the old library which appeared more ancient then ever. They looked around, but Hermione was nowhere to be seen.
"Did you hear that?" Harry stopped.
"That almost sounds like Moaning Myrtle!" and the two boys sprinted off and out the library down the hall.
"So what you are saying, sir," Snape said, slowly, "Is that the reason we can't find the three students, is because they are not even in Hogwarts?"
"No, Severus, I did not say that. I said that he has taken her to Zaphire. And that means that he has discovered a way to open the door to it, which is not a good thing at all," Dumbledore replied.
"But Headmaster, if they are in this 'Zaphire' place, then they can't be at Hogwarts!"
"Minerva, have you been listening? Zaphire is all around us as is Seadene and Hades Realm. It is in the very walls of Hogwarts itself; it is in the air you breath; it is in the hearts of the people you know; Hogwarts is Zaphire! You may not be able to see it or feel it, but you look it in the eye every night and you touch it every day. It is a whole other world that we know as little about as anything else. The four worlds, Minerva, exist in one space. And the Vikings knew. So you see, they are in Hogwarts, but they are on another plane of existence! How they got there, I do not know. I only know where the entrance is and who opened the door. And I only know that if those children do not find a way out on their own, they will surely die!"
"I may not understand your concept of these other worlds, Dumbledore, but if I got at least something out of the story you told us, it was that you said that You-Know-Who opened the gate to one of these worlds and trapped the students in question inside. If this is true, then is there anything we can do about it?" McGonagall inquired. Dumbledore bowed his head.
"I am afraid not. If they do not find a way out of that nightmare before 7 o'clock this morning, they will be doomed to live an eternity there,"
"Hermione!" Ron and Harry screamed, tearing off the invisibility cloak. They saw a girl, hugging her knees by the great oak door. She looked up. Her face was tear-blotched, but her eyes widened as she saw the two boys.
"Harry! Ron!" she cried in delight, "Where am I?"
"What do you mean, you're in Hogwarts!"
"I... I am? But it's nothing like Hogwarts! Oh Harry! Ron, I'm loosing my mind!" she began to cry again.
"I hate to say it, but I think she already has," Ron whispered to Harry. They carried her back to the common room but the picture of the fat lady was gone. There was only a hole in the wall leading to a cold, damp room.
"What's going on here?!" Ron screamed.
"Calm down, Ron, maybe we just took the wrong passage,"
"I don't think so, Harry, I've been to the common room from the Entrance Hall billions of times and I think I'd know the way. Do you think we're going crazy, too?"
"Don't be stupid, Ron, we can find it. Like you said, we've been to the common room loads of times from the Entrance Hall, now there must be a way to find it!"
"It's no use!" Hermione had given up, "We're trapped in this place forever!"
"Hermione, don't say that!" Ron ordered as much as for her as for himself.
"If only I hadn't gone into the library..." Hermione said, dazed and confused. Ron had pulled Hermione's arm onto his shoulder as they followed the quick-paced Harry in pursuit of an exit.
"Yeah, stupid good-for-nothing library-"
"WAIT!" Harry stopped and spun around to Ron, "The library! That's how this all started! Remember? Hermione followed music there-"
"It was a singing book!" Hermione told him, stubbornly.
"Yeah, whatever you say, Hermione," Ron rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, she followed that music she heard to the library! And when we went in after her, she was gone! And then later, we went in, and it looked different-"
"Did it look older?" Hermione asked, "As if it had been untouched for years?"
"Yeah," said Ron, "What is going on here?"
Hermione seemed to come back to her senses for a moment, "I picked up this book for some extra reading. It was on the list that Professor Binns gave us for optional background reading. It sounded very mythological to me; nothing at all the kind of book Binns would recommend. It talked about the Vikings and before Hogwarts. Oh, I wish I had been more awake when I read it! I can't remember!"
"Was it in the library?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded and Harry spun around again and headed this time for the library.
"Then it has to be there!" he said, "It has to!"
"But Harry-"
"No, Hermione, it will be there. If it can give us any clue to where we are, it will be there," Harry said mostly to himself then to Hermione.
"Professor, what's happening?" Dean Thomas asked McGonagall when she came into the room again.
"Where's my brother?" Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister, demanded, standing resolutely next to Dean.
"We have a right to know!" Seamus Finnigan appeared at Dean's side.
"That... That you do, children... But... But family only, for now, please," McGonagall was very pale. She took Ginny by the hand and led her to her dormitory.
"Hermione, where did you find it?" Harry asked.
"It was in this section, I swear it! It was called the Viking Religious Book. The chapter was... Oh! It was Chapter 4, the Tri-Corner!" Hermione stopped. Her eyes widened and her face drained of color.
"What is it?" Ron asked. Hermione didn't hear him. She heard a cold, shrill voice calling her name.
"Hermione..." suddenly, her face took a determined look and she fell into a trance and began to speak, as if to defy the voice.
"Before Hogwarts was even built and when Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff were only toddlers, there were ruins. Old Viking ruins. The Vikings knew valuable information that muggles these days barely believe true. They knew of the four worlds. The four alternate universes each one completely different. Three of them were inhabited and one was not. Those envied the ones who went to Seadene and took pity on those who went to Hades Realm. This world that we know of was known as 'Earth.' This is where the inhabitants of all three realms are born. Some go to the other worlds at young ages, others leave when they are old but they all leave by ways of death. Seadene is what people call today heaven while Hades Realm is what they'd call Hell. The Vikings had discovered a way to make a door to these other dimensions and they built a door to each realm calling them the tri-corner. They were placed in an equilateral triangle and the middle of the triangle was a source of great power. When a person would die, they would hold a burial service here. If they led a good life, the bodies would be wished well and pushed into Seadene. If they were bad... They were given no prayer and thrown into Hades Realm. There was one piece of information the Vikings had lacked, though. What the third domain, Zaphire, was for. They thought it was just there, but they were mistaken. Zaphire was a land of magic. Since no one had used it, it was neither good nor evil. But someday, the Vikings would have discovered what it was for had they not been over thrown. And so their great tri-corner was left as a ruin and the Hogwarts castle was built over it. But the power remained. The entrances to the other worlds still exist if one knows how to open them. These days unknown forces decide the judging of which world you go to after death. The entrances are as follows: Zaphire, the library, Seadene, Dumbledore's office, and Hades Realm, Slytherin common room. The kingdoms have been closed for years and no one but the Vikings knew how to open it. But what if someone, somehow, discovered how to open it and got to it. If this person was good, great and wonderful things could be unleashed and discovered. It could be used as a secret Garden of Eden. Loads of good magic could be discovered from this world. But if that person were bad, then terrible things would happen. Instead of a secret Garden of Eden, it would become a secret Garden of Torture. Instead of good magic and discoveries, evil magic and unknown destructive secrets could be unleashed. Whoever discovers the way to open could use it to his advantage. He could do almost anything..." And with that, her eyes rolled and she fell to the floor...
