Chapter #3.
Melissa and Alicia were really nice, actually. I knew that they could help me find Harry and bring him back. We just needed to find him. Then I could convince him to come back. We assumed that he would be living somewhere in America, Canada, Australia, or France, because he only spoke French and English. Our problem was, those are obviously huge countries. They couldn't get much bigger.
Harry was one of those guys who is totally content wherever he is, so I don't think that he would really care where he was. But then, he cared enough to get away from everything. So that didn't really narrow anything down.
I also had a slight disadvantage, being a teacher and all. I had to get away only when I could, and I think my students wondered where I always was. In fact, sometimes they would show up at my house wanting to go to Hogsmeade or something, because I'm only three years older than the seventh years. I usually decline, because I have to talk to Melissa and Alicia, who I sometimes called Liss and Lee.
The holidays finally arrived. Although I didn't want to spend my Christmas break looking for someone in Canada, where it would be freezing cold, or in Australia, where I heard that the animals could eat you alive, I did want to find Harry. Besides, Alicia and Melissa were depending on me. So the day that school was out for the holidays, we packed and disapparated to California. The only thing that I could ever remember Harry saying about when he was older was that he would live someplace warm and he would kill Voldemort and be a quidditch player, and that I would be there with him. At least I knew he had one part of his dream done. One of four. Not a good success rate.
We apparated onto a really busy street. I think it was called Hope Street or something in Los Angeles. There were a bunch of smelly cabdrivers in their taxis all over the street, but unlike New York, there were many more cars owned by normal people. It was really amazing. In London, it was snowing. Over here, people are wearing tank tops and shorts, because it feels like at least eighty-five degrees.
Imagine that. Eighty-five degrees, a week and two days until Christmas. Amazing. This is weird.
All three of us girls decided to get some muggle money and find a hotel, a mall, and some cooler clothes. We were dying in these sweaters and black trenchcoats.
Soon enough, we had everything that we needed. I was wearing a tan tank top, which was a bit more see-through than I would have liked, and Melissa and Alicia were wearing sparkly tube tops. We all had on sandblasted jeans, new from Macy's. I really like all of this stuff in California, because it never actually gets cold. You can wear the same thing all year round and never get too cold.
We went back to our hotel room, which was very nice, and found a phone book. Would Harry actually be listed? It was worth a try.
He wasn't. We kept searching, calling companies and asking if they knew a Harry Potter. They didn't. So far, we were having some horrible luck. So we went the see some files for the city, where everyone who was there legally would be listed. He wasn't there either.
Our next stop would be New York. The same thing happened, still no Harry. We completely covered Australia, America, and France. Well, our last place would be Canada. We decided to start from the west. Although we were nearly sure that he wouldn't be there, we searched Nunavut. Then, we searched British Colombia, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and we were so tired that we hardly had much time, but we did look through Quebec. Too bad it's so big. We still didn't find Harry. After all of that, we had to go home.
There was only one thing left to do. We sent an owl to Harry, because owls always find the person that the letter should be delivered to, and sat at home, hoping that Harry would read our message and come home again. Barely two days after I showed up at Hogwarts again, with Melissa and Alicia in tow, school started up again. I had to get the older students ready for O.W.L's and N.E.W.T.'s, which would be in a few months. I had to design tests for the younger students. It was very stressful, thinking about that and Harry, and Ron. So every night, all that I could do was pray that Harry would come back. We looked for Harry in December, and now it was February. Somehow, I knew that we would find Harry. I could feel it in my bones.
Melissa and Alicia were really nice, actually. I knew that they could help me find Harry and bring him back. We just needed to find him. Then I could convince him to come back. We assumed that he would be living somewhere in America, Canada, Australia, or France, because he only spoke French and English. Our problem was, those are obviously huge countries. They couldn't get much bigger.
Harry was one of those guys who is totally content wherever he is, so I don't think that he would really care where he was. But then, he cared enough to get away from everything. So that didn't really narrow anything down.
I also had a slight disadvantage, being a teacher and all. I had to get away only when I could, and I think my students wondered where I always was. In fact, sometimes they would show up at my house wanting to go to Hogsmeade or something, because I'm only three years older than the seventh years. I usually decline, because I have to talk to Melissa and Alicia, who I sometimes called Liss and Lee.
The holidays finally arrived. Although I didn't want to spend my Christmas break looking for someone in Canada, where it would be freezing cold, or in Australia, where I heard that the animals could eat you alive, I did want to find Harry. Besides, Alicia and Melissa were depending on me. So the day that school was out for the holidays, we packed and disapparated to California. The only thing that I could ever remember Harry saying about when he was older was that he would live someplace warm and he would kill Voldemort and be a quidditch player, and that I would be there with him. At least I knew he had one part of his dream done. One of four. Not a good success rate.
We apparated onto a really busy street. I think it was called Hope Street or something in Los Angeles. There were a bunch of smelly cabdrivers in their taxis all over the street, but unlike New York, there were many more cars owned by normal people. It was really amazing. In London, it was snowing. Over here, people are wearing tank tops and shorts, because it feels like at least eighty-five degrees.
Imagine that. Eighty-five degrees, a week and two days until Christmas. Amazing. This is weird.
All three of us girls decided to get some muggle money and find a hotel, a mall, and some cooler clothes. We were dying in these sweaters and black trenchcoats.
Soon enough, we had everything that we needed. I was wearing a tan tank top, which was a bit more see-through than I would have liked, and Melissa and Alicia were wearing sparkly tube tops. We all had on sandblasted jeans, new from Macy's. I really like all of this stuff in California, because it never actually gets cold. You can wear the same thing all year round and never get too cold.
We went back to our hotel room, which was very nice, and found a phone book. Would Harry actually be listed? It was worth a try.
He wasn't. We kept searching, calling companies and asking if they knew a Harry Potter. They didn't. So far, we were having some horrible luck. So we went the see some files for the city, where everyone who was there legally would be listed. He wasn't there either.
Our next stop would be New York. The same thing happened, still no Harry. We completely covered Australia, America, and France. Well, our last place would be Canada. We decided to start from the west. Although we were nearly sure that he wouldn't be there, we searched Nunavut. Then, we searched British Colombia, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and we were so tired that we hardly had much time, but we did look through Quebec. Too bad it's so big. We still didn't find Harry. After all of that, we had to go home.
There was only one thing left to do. We sent an owl to Harry, because owls always find the person that the letter should be delivered to, and sat at home, hoping that Harry would read our message and come home again. Barely two days after I showed up at Hogwarts again, with Melissa and Alicia in tow, school started up again. I had to get the older students ready for O.W.L's and N.E.W.T.'s, which would be in a few months. I had to design tests for the younger students. It was very stressful, thinking about that and Harry, and Ron. So every night, all that I could do was pray that Harry would come back. We looked for Harry in December, and now it was February. Somehow, I knew that we would find Harry. I could feel it in my bones.
