A.N.: Bad news: I'm still blocked. *sighs* Oh well…just don't go expecting
another chapter for a while 'cause I have to make one first. Anyways,
there's two paragraphs in here that kind of explain things through what Gir
sees, so it's really cute. See if you can find it while reading. And
reviews would be appreciated beyond what words can describe. (No, I'm not
being greedy…okay maybe not REALLY greedy…) I'm loosing the bet already!
I'm gonna lose my already non-existing sanity!!! WHAHOO!!! *blink blink*
Okay, chapter four, here ya go…
---
"That's right, Dumbledore Sir. Found 'em just lyin' in some burnt up pile 'o rubble out near the edge of the forbidden forest, the poor kid."
"Hmm…that is certainly strange…no matter Hagrid. It's a good thing you brought him up here so quickly. Madam Pomfrey says he'll be fine now…"
These unfamiliar, accented voices continued to echo through Zim's barely conscious mind. When he tried to move his arms, he found it useless, for it felt like they weren't even there. His normally aching back felt strangely comfortable though, probably because his back pod was missing. And that was just peachy because now he not only had no clue of where he was, but without his back pod full of weapons, also had no way to defend himself. He also doubted Gir's defensive mode would come in handy either, since that robot never obeyed. Heck, he doubted if Gir was even there. If he could just find out where 'there' was…
Zim moaned slightly as he finally opened his eyes and tried lift his head so he could see his surroundings better. He was in some kind of bed with white linen sheets. Around him lay, what seemed to, be hundreds of other beds neatly arranged in rows along the walls, with a narrow walkway in between them. The walls themselves where made of grey stone, and only ended at the very top of an extremely high ceiling. Narrow stain glass windows, which allowed magnificent warming sunlight to pour through, were almost just as tall. This amazing structure was obviously made by humans…and if humans made it…then that must mean…
The Irken quickly regained feeling in his numb limbs as his hand flew to head, hopefully checking for a miracle. When he found his wig was on, he blinked his eyes a few times, trying to see if his contacts were in as well. That was definitely something, because he certainly didn't remember putting his human disguise on before the crash. Oh no. How could he have forgotten?! The crash!
"Have you finally decided to join us?" the raspy voice of elderly man asked him, "But really, trying to come to Hogwarts before the term has started isn't appreciated…"
Zim looked up to his right to see the gentle face of old human who had sparkling sky-blue eyes peering down at him through half circle glasses. This man wore draping purple robes, which were partially covered by his incredibly long silver-grey beard, and atop his head sat a pointed purple hat to match his ensemble.
The confused Invader would have had some sharp, witty response if only the pain in his left side wasn't so horrible. He squinted his eyes and groaned again as he slowly laid back down in bed, holding his burn and trying not to look back at the stranger. Zim knew if he did look back at the man there would be weakness showing in his eyes. Something he couldn't stand other people to see. But on the other side of his bed was someone…or something…even scarier.
"How're feelin' little guy?" asked the giant, hairy man who was looming over Zim's bed with a look of concern on his bearded face. Beings so small, the confused Invader could only gape at this man's amazing size. He looked back at the man dressed in purple in shock, then at the other in the moleskin coat, right, then left, until he sat up completely, ignoring the fiery pain in his side.
"WHERE AM I?!"
The two humans (if that's what they really were) immediately began trying to calm down the hysterical patient. But Zim wouldn't stop gasping at the people and area around him until he felt a sharp pain in his burn, which made his hand grip his side tightly as he flopped back against the pillows. He looked down and lifted his hand just enough to see bloody stain in the white bandages wrapped around his middle. 'That crash must have been worse then I imagined,' Zim thought as he squinted his eyes shut and tried not to cry out. The only pain worse then what he was feeling from the burn was the thought that Gir didn't make it through that horrible landing, but he didn't want to think of that right now.
"Dear Boy, try to relax yourself. With all that noise I'm surprised Madam Pomfrey hasn't come in here thinking we strangled you," the old man commented while placing a cold hand on Zim's forehead. "It looks like that one will take a bit longer to mend using just that burn healing potion, but the rest of them seem to be gone with by now-"
"There were more?!" Zim gasped and tried to sit up again, "What's going on here?! Where am I?! Where's Gir?! WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!"
The old man chuckled and shook his head. "I see you're not easily distracted." He suddenly took a deep breath and calmly explained…"Yes, there were more burns, you're in the Hospital Wing, Gir must be that strange talking dog of yours and he's just fine. I am Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and this is Rebus Hagrid, keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts. And you, young man, seem to be suffering from amnesia."
It took a few seconds for the confused Irken to let this all sink in. "Whoa, wait a minute! Just rewind and freeze!" Zim demanded, though this time sitting up more carefully. "Did I hear you straight? WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY?!"
"Meow! Master's a WIZARD!" a blur of bright green suddenly latched itself to Zim's head, almost knocking his wig off. Confused little Gir licked Zim's face like a puppy, but then curled up next to him and began purring like a kitty. "I missed ya while you was sleepin' Master Zim wizard!"
Zim looked up at the two humans expecting their faces to be as petrified with shock from Gir's behavior as his, but they were surprisingly calm. "C-could I…could I p-please speak w-with Gir alone?" he stuttered nervously.
"Of course," Dumbledore replied and smiled, "We better be going anyway. Lots to do before the rest of the students arrive tomorrow you know. Just try to get some rest." The older man turned around to head out, but not before Hagrid patted one of his massive hands on Zim's shoulder and gave him an encouraging wink. After they were gone, Gir helped his master get propped up against a few white pillows with a silly grin on his face as though he hadn't a care in the world. However, he did have something to worry about when Zim suddenly grabbed him around the neck and forced the panicking droid to face him.
"You are going to tell me everything that's been going on while I was out, and everything that you told the people around here about me RIGHT NOW!" the alien practically screamed the last two words after desperately trying to keep the rest of his sentence in a frustrated hiss. Gir squealed in fright, wiggled away from his master's grip, and hid under his bed sheets.
"I told 'um you was a wizard just like everybody else around here," the rather muffled voice of Gir answered proudly. "And I put your disguise on after you messed up big time in da landing."
Gir's stroke of brilliance went unnoticed for the moment. Instead, his little insult on Zim's piloting skills made the Irken's eye twitch in fury. "What do you mean 'MESSED UP'?! I wasn't the one who was supposed to be keeping watch! …hey wait a minute…" Zim lifted the covers to see Gir trembling on the mattress underneath, "You put my disguise on to protect me from discovery?"
"Um…" Gir's shaking voice hesitated, "Which answer will I get punished for Master?"
"I don't care right now, Gir. I'm too tired," Zim groaned and yawned deeply, streatching his thin arms, and rubbing his sore burn again. "Just tell me the truth."
The little android explained what happened after the crash as best he could, or as least everything he was actually paying attention to at the time. He had dragged Zim from the damaged Voot Cruiser, which had landed right next to some strange looking, gigantic hut. Then Gir took his master's back pod off and rummaged through all the guns, cords, and shiny metal pieces until he found both of their disguises. After that, Gir saw a big orange and yellow butterfly that fluttered around and around and around and…oh yeah. Anyways, he put their disguises on just in time, because the big hairy Hagrid man came rushing over to see what was making his house catch on fire. After he put out the pretty red flames with water that came shooting out from the tip of his flowery umbrella, Hagrid carried Zim to the Hospital Wing where the nice lady gave him some funny-smelling purple potion to drink that made some of his burns disappear.
Gir cried and pleaded to stay with his master while he was being treated, but the Dumbledore human took him to his office full of smokey- puffy instruments and funny pictures that winked at you. While Gir was waiting for Dumbledore to finish explaining some boring important stuff that he wasn't paying the least bit attention to, Gir ate the entire bowl of little lemon candies on the desk and hugged the old man randomly. After that fun, Gir answered a few questions, like what his master's name was, how old he was, what house he was in, what type of wand he had, why he came so early, etc. Most of the time Gir just made up a bunch of stuff for the questions he didn't understand, like when he tried to answer what 'house' Zim was in. When Dumbledore named the four houses Gir decided he liked the name 'Slytherin' best, thus putting him in that house. Dumbledore filled out a few papers with a long tickly feather pen that he let Gir play with when he was finished putting their new student's files in alphabetical order with the rest of the other Hogwarts pupils.
"And then I came back here and played with Pig!" Gir exclaimed once he had finished, and shoved the slightly burned rubber toy in his master's sleepy face. Zim moaned and pushed the pig away.
"I don't know what we've gotten ourselves into Gir," the Irken grumbled and turned himself over in the soft hospital bed, "But I think we're going to find out soon…"
---
"That's right, Dumbledore Sir. Found 'em just lyin' in some burnt up pile 'o rubble out near the edge of the forbidden forest, the poor kid."
"Hmm…that is certainly strange…no matter Hagrid. It's a good thing you brought him up here so quickly. Madam Pomfrey says he'll be fine now…"
These unfamiliar, accented voices continued to echo through Zim's barely conscious mind. When he tried to move his arms, he found it useless, for it felt like they weren't even there. His normally aching back felt strangely comfortable though, probably because his back pod was missing. And that was just peachy because now he not only had no clue of where he was, but without his back pod full of weapons, also had no way to defend himself. He also doubted Gir's defensive mode would come in handy either, since that robot never obeyed. Heck, he doubted if Gir was even there. If he could just find out where 'there' was…
Zim moaned slightly as he finally opened his eyes and tried lift his head so he could see his surroundings better. He was in some kind of bed with white linen sheets. Around him lay, what seemed to, be hundreds of other beds neatly arranged in rows along the walls, with a narrow walkway in between them. The walls themselves where made of grey stone, and only ended at the very top of an extremely high ceiling. Narrow stain glass windows, which allowed magnificent warming sunlight to pour through, were almost just as tall. This amazing structure was obviously made by humans…and if humans made it…then that must mean…
The Irken quickly regained feeling in his numb limbs as his hand flew to head, hopefully checking for a miracle. When he found his wig was on, he blinked his eyes a few times, trying to see if his contacts were in as well. That was definitely something, because he certainly didn't remember putting his human disguise on before the crash. Oh no. How could he have forgotten?! The crash!
"Have you finally decided to join us?" the raspy voice of elderly man asked him, "But really, trying to come to Hogwarts before the term has started isn't appreciated…"
Zim looked up to his right to see the gentle face of old human who had sparkling sky-blue eyes peering down at him through half circle glasses. This man wore draping purple robes, which were partially covered by his incredibly long silver-grey beard, and atop his head sat a pointed purple hat to match his ensemble.
The confused Invader would have had some sharp, witty response if only the pain in his left side wasn't so horrible. He squinted his eyes and groaned again as he slowly laid back down in bed, holding his burn and trying not to look back at the stranger. Zim knew if he did look back at the man there would be weakness showing in his eyes. Something he couldn't stand other people to see. But on the other side of his bed was someone…or something…even scarier.
"How're feelin' little guy?" asked the giant, hairy man who was looming over Zim's bed with a look of concern on his bearded face. Beings so small, the confused Invader could only gape at this man's amazing size. He looked back at the man dressed in purple in shock, then at the other in the moleskin coat, right, then left, until he sat up completely, ignoring the fiery pain in his side.
"WHERE AM I?!"
The two humans (if that's what they really were) immediately began trying to calm down the hysterical patient. But Zim wouldn't stop gasping at the people and area around him until he felt a sharp pain in his burn, which made his hand grip his side tightly as he flopped back against the pillows. He looked down and lifted his hand just enough to see bloody stain in the white bandages wrapped around his middle. 'That crash must have been worse then I imagined,' Zim thought as he squinted his eyes shut and tried not to cry out. The only pain worse then what he was feeling from the burn was the thought that Gir didn't make it through that horrible landing, but he didn't want to think of that right now.
"Dear Boy, try to relax yourself. With all that noise I'm surprised Madam Pomfrey hasn't come in here thinking we strangled you," the old man commented while placing a cold hand on Zim's forehead. "It looks like that one will take a bit longer to mend using just that burn healing potion, but the rest of them seem to be gone with by now-"
"There were more?!" Zim gasped and tried to sit up again, "What's going on here?! Where am I?! Where's Gir?! WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!"
The old man chuckled and shook his head. "I see you're not easily distracted." He suddenly took a deep breath and calmly explained…"Yes, there were more burns, you're in the Hospital Wing, Gir must be that strange talking dog of yours and he's just fine. I am Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and this is Rebus Hagrid, keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts. And you, young man, seem to be suffering from amnesia."
It took a few seconds for the confused Irken to let this all sink in. "Whoa, wait a minute! Just rewind and freeze!" Zim demanded, though this time sitting up more carefully. "Did I hear you straight? WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY?!"
"Meow! Master's a WIZARD!" a blur of bright green suddenly latched itself to Zim's head, almost knocking his wig off. Confused little Gir licked Zim's face like a puppy, but then curled up next to him and began purring like a kitty. "I missed ya while you was sleepin' Master Zim wizard!"
Zim looked up at the two humans expecting their faces to be as petrified with shock from Gir's behavior as his, but they were surprisingly calm. "C-could I…could I p-please speak w-with Gir alone?" he stuttered nervously.
"Of course," Dumbledore replied and smiled, "We better be going anyway. Lots to do before the rest of the students arrive tomorrow you know. Just try to get some rest." The older man turned around to head out, but not before Hagrid patted one of his massive hands on Zim's shoulder and gave him an encouraging wink. After they were gone, Gir helped his master get propped up against a few white pillows with a silly grin on his face as though he hadn't a care in the world. However, he did have something to worry about when Zim suddenly grabbed him around the neck and forced the panicking droid to face him.
"You are going to tell me everything that's been going on while I was out, and everything that you told the people around here about me RIGHT NOW!" the alien practically screamed the last two words after desperately trying to keep the rest of his sentence in a frustrated hiss. Gir squealed in fright, wiggled away from his master's grip, and hid under his bed sheets.
"I told 'um you was a wizard just like everybody else around here," the rather muffled voice of Gir answered proudly. "And I put your disguise on after you messed up big time in da landing."
Gir's stroke of brilliance went unnoticed for the moment. Instead, his little insult on Zim's piloting skills made the Irken's eye twitch in fury. "What do you mean 'MESSED UP'?! I wasn't the one who was supposed to be keeping watch! …hey wait a minute…" Zim lifted the covers to see Gir trembling on the mattress underneath, "You put my disguise on to protect me from discovery?"
"Um…" Gir's shaking voice hesitated, "Which answer will I get punished for Master?"
"I don't care right now, Gir. I'm too tired," Zim groaned and yawned deeply, streatching his thin arms, and rubbing his sore burn again. "Just tell me the truth."
The little android explained what happened after the crash as best he could, or as least everything he was actually paying attention to at the time. He had dragged Zim from the damaged Voot Cruiser, which had landed right next to some strange looking, gigantic hut. Then Gir took his master's back pod off and rummaged through all the guns, cords, and shiny metal pieces until he found both of their disguises. After that, Gir saw a big orange and yellow butterfly that fluttered around and around and around and…oh yeah. Anyways, he put their disguises on just in time, because the big hairy Hagrid man came rushing over to see what was making his house catch on fire. After he put out the pretty red flames with water that came shooting out from the tip of his flowery umbrella, Hagrid carried Zim to the Hospital Wing where the nice lady gave him some funny-smelling purple potion to drink that made some of his burns disappear.
Gir cried and pleaded to stay with his master while he was being treated, but the Dumbledore human took him to his office full of smokey- puffy instruments and funny pictures that winked at you. While Gir was waiting for Dumbledore to finish explaining some boring important stuff that he wasn't paying the least bit attention to, Gir ate the entire bowl of little lemon candies on the desk and hugged the old man randomly. After that fun, Gir answered a few questions, like what his master's name was, how old he was, what house he was in, what type of wand he had, why he came so early, etc. Most of the time Gir just made up a bunch of stuff for the questions he didn't understand, like when he tried to answer what 'house' Zim was in. When Dumbledore named the four houses Gir decided he liked the name 'Slytherin' best, thus putting him in that house. Dumbledore filled out a few papers with a long tickly feather pen that he let Gir play with when he was finished putting their new student's files in alphabetical order with the rest of the other Hogwarts pupils.
"And then I came back here and played with Pig!" Gir exclaimed once he had finished, and shoved the slightly burned rubber toy in his master's sleepy face. Zim moaned and pushed the pig away.
"I don't know what we've gotten ourselves into Gir," the Irken grumbled and turned himself over in the soft hospital bed, "But I think we're going to find out soon…"