CHAPTER 22: SPIES

"Can you believe it?" Ron said in amazement in the dormitory. The boys were quickly packing their trunks.

"No!" Harry exclaimed, "I'm too shocked, I think… you think I should bring Hedwig, then?"

"Nah," Ron responded, "Leave her in the owlery, where she'll be much more comfortable. I'm leaving Pigwidgeon. Though, I am bringing Gryff, so why don't you bring Simon?"

He crammed two more robes into his trunk. "Harry?"

"Hmm?" Harry responded absentmindedly; he was putting a sweater in the bottom of Simon's crate.

"Don't you think they'll recognize you there?"

Harry considered this. "I suppose they will. I'll ask McGonagall."

Harry and Ron brought their trunks and their cats down to the front of Dumbledore's office. Hermione was waiting. "I've been here for ten minutes; honestly, you boys take forever to do the simplest things!"

The door opened, and Professor McGonagall waved them into the office.

Hagrid stood next to Dumbledore.

"All right, some last minute details," Professor McGonagall said. "Harry, you'll be recognized. We told the Micksmeyer headmaster, Professor Trudini, that you'd be there on a promotional visit. Now, don't worry, you don't have to do a thing. We said you'd be observing life as an American wizard, and that you'd be available, along with Miss Granger, to sign autographs and pictures."

Ron groaned.

"Now, Mr. Weasley, you've got quite a purpose as well. You see, we had very good reasons to select the three of you to go to America. Miss Granger, we feel that your cleverness and intelligence will help any assignment. Mr. Potter, we believe that your power as a wizard will ensure everyone's safety. And, Mr. Weasley… you've got such talent. I know, I know, you're thinking of your older brothers. But we're thinking about you. You do well in every class, but that's because you don't try very hard. If you only tried… you could be magnificent."

She paused. "Anyway, Harry, Miss Lecour has had her book confiscated because… erm… anyway, Professor Dumbledore has Miss Lecour's book, so he'll be giving you all instructions through that. Good luck, all!" She turned to leave.

"Please, Professor," Hermione piped up, "How will we know if we're doing the right thing?"

Professor McGonagall pondered this. Then she said, "We trust you all, Miss Granger. Follow your heart. Your heart will lead you in the right direction. Like I said, we trust you. Good luck." She left the office.

"Righ' then, Professor Dumbledore, I'll be takin' 'em, then." Hagrid lifted the three trunks and held them as if they weighed nothing.

"Professor, how will we ever make up the work we miss?" Hermione asked.

"Miss Granger, your teachers are all aware of the… importance… of this, er – mission, and you will be excused from anything you miss."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Well, we'd best go, then! Got a train to catch!" Hagrid led the way out of the office.

At the front of the school, a black limousine was parked. "Ministry got this fer us… we'll take the road next ter the Hogwart's Express train tracks." The four of them climbed into the limousine, which drove itself.

All the way to London, Harry wondered if he'd ever see Hogwart's again. He knew his aunt and uncle would not be happy about his going to America. He could just see Uncle Vernon now…

"Boy, I don't want you consorting with those American swine!"

"They're filthy!" Aunt Petunia would say.

But Harry didn't care. He'd never left the United Kingdom before in his whole life. Dudley had been to Majorca, and France. But Harry had been left at home. He knew Ron would never have left, either, and Hermione's parents didn't seem like they would want to go to America.

"Hagrid, what did you need to tell us about Madeline?" Ron asked tentatively.

"Oh, that… righ'. See… like McGonagall said, she 'ad 'er book taken away. Yeh'll find out why, but I can't tell yeh. Just –er- how should I say this… keep yer ears open over there for anythin' bout fairies, all righ'?"

Hermione gasped. "She's a fairy?!"

"Din' Harry tell yeh that?"

"No."

"Oh… sorry…" Harry said quietly.

"Most mysterious creatures, fairies. Hardly in any books, and if they are, they're in the Restricted Section." Hermione commented despondently.

"Has she got wings?" Ron asked naively.

"Meoooooow…." Simon was getting carsick.

Harry hoped they'd be in London soon. He really didn't want to be holding a puking cat.

Sure enough, the car pulled into a parking lot near Marble Arch. Hagrid carried the trunks down to the Underground station. Harry, Hermione, and Ron followed, among stares. They'd forgotton to change out of their robes, which were attracting attention.

The cats (Crookshanks, Simon, and Gryffindor) all meowed noisily on the Underground. An old woman began to sneeze. Harry could tell they weren't terribly popular on the Underground.

Finally, they reached Heathrow Airport.

"Well, this is where I leave yeh," Hagrid said tearfully after checking their trunks. "Here." He handed Hermione, Ron, and Harry each a small card with instructions on it and an envelope. "Yer tickets are waitin' fer yeh there. This says where to get off and everythin'. Directions and three hundred American Muggle dollars each. Good luck." He left, sobbing.

Alone and frightened, the students tried to find their gate.

"A-4… A-5… Ah, here it is!" Hermione exclaimed, "A-6!" They checked in to receive their boarding passes, then waiting quietly to board the airplane.

"It's a long flight, Ron," Hermione said, "From London to Helena… must be ten and a half hours, at least!"

Ron sighed. "I don't know why we couldn't use Floo Powder…"

"Under the ocean?!" Hermione said skeptically.

The three boarded the airplane and took their seats.

"Here we are, row 21, seats A, B, and C. who wants the window? All right, Harry, you go in first, then." Hermione had flown before, so she was the leader of the group.

"Goodbye, England…" Harry mumbled, staring outside at the rain.

The flight was nearly eleven hours long due to rainstorms below. Ron got wretchedly sick from the motion, and kept mentioning wizard issues, to the stares of the Muggles.

"You think their Potions teacher's as horrible as Snape?" He asked loudly.

"Shh… Ron!" Hermione hissed back. She leaned in towards Ron and whispered, "Don't say such things around Muggles… they'll think we're in some sort of wretched cult."

Most of the people on the airplane were Americans returning home from holiday in London. The plane wasn't entirely full. Harry knew that Montana had a very low population, so he couldn't imagine that a lot of people would be returning home to Helena. He'd never even heard of Helena before.

Three hours into the flight, Ron was fast asleep. Hermione and Harry stayed awake.

Soon, flight attendants came by to take drink orders. "Do you guys want anything to drink?" The woman's American accent shook Harry.

"Hold on one second, please." Harry leaned over and poked Ron, who woke up, looking confused.

"Want a fizzy, Ron?" Hermione asked.

"A what?" Ron raised an eyebrow.

Trying to cover for Ron's ignorance of the Muggle world, Hermione said quickly, "Erm – he'll have a Coke. So will I. Harry?"

"May I please have a Coke as well?" Harry asked politely. The flight attendant nodded and poured the drinks.

When she'd gone, Ron stared from Harry to Hermione, then to his drink. "Strange…" he muttered, slowly taking a sip. He grinned. "It's good!"

Ron admired the light bulb above his head, continuously turning it on and off, accidentally pressing the flight attendant call button once. By the end of the extremely long flight, everyone seemed very curious in the black-clad children in row 21.

At the Helena Regional Airport, the three students were even more of oddities. Harry didn't know which attracted more attention: Dragging heavy wooden trunks through the airport, or Ron's cries of, "Look at that! What is that?"

The children had to get two separate taxis; their trunks couldn't all fit in one. Harry and Hermione split up as they didn't trust Ron to be alone with a Muggle.

The train ride took three hours. By the time they were in Redbird, Montana, it was midnight. Hermione gasped and pointed at a large palace. It was just as large as Hogwart's. Harry noticed that Muggles were walking past it, completely ignoring it. Harry supposed that to get to this place, students simply had to take a train to Redbird.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked towards the palace. None of the Muggles noticed at all.

The Hogwart's students had just reached the tall wooden doors when they swung open.

"Hi! Welcome to Micksmeyer. I'm Emily. I'm from New York City. This is Renee." A short, stout girl with short black hair had opened the door. She wore red robes. The girl beside her, tall and lanky with light brown hair, nodded.

Renee extended her hand to Harry. "You must be Harry Potter. I'm Renee Hersel, and I'm a fifth-year. I'm from Louisiana." Her southern accent was thick; it sounded as though she'd said: 'Ah'm from Looziana.'

"Hello. I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione shook Renee's hand.

"Hi, there, Hermione Granger." Emily took Hermione's hand.

"This is Ron." Harry elbowed Ron, who had nearly fallen asleep next to him.

"Right, then! Ron Weasley's the name." He yawned.

"Ok, well, let's go inside. It's late," said Emily, leading the way into the palace. She turned around, giggled, and said, "Your accents are so funny!"

Hermione, Harry, and Ron followed. Harry whispered to Hermione, "Our accents?! It's our language!"

Hermione grinned, but shushed Harry anyway.

The Hogwart's students were led to an empty dormitory on the second floor of the rectangular building. Harry knew it would be much easier to navigate among this structure than at the Hogwart's castle. Three beds (not four-posters, like at Hogwart's, Harry noted) stood plainly in the unembellished room. The floors were carpeted with a deep blue, and the walls were white. Sheer drapes blew in the gentle breeze coming in from the window. The beds had white bedding consisting of one pillow each and sheets along with a red and blue quilt. Moonlight filled the room.

"Okay. You'll wanna go to sleep, I guess, huh? It's almost one A.M. We'll wake y'all up at seven for breakfast so y'all can meet everyone. Lucky ducks, don't have to go to class." Renee yawned. "'Night, everybody."

"Yeah, 'night. Oh, and… um… welcome to America!" Emily and Renee turned around, left the room, and shut the door.

There was a fatigued silence broken only by Ron's snores. He had collapsed on one of the beds and had fallen fast asleep.

"I don't know why he's tired. He slept on the airplane." Harry took his glasses and shoes off.

"Erm – Harry, If it's all right with you, I'm going to go find a lavatory to change into my nightgown in. 'Bye." Hermione left and closed the door quietly behind her.

When she'd returned, Harry was lying in bed. "Goodnight," he mumbled sleepily.

"'Night, Harry." Hermione closed the window before climbing into her own bed across the room.

Harry woke up the next morning before it was even light out, but Hermione was already awake. Harry was exhausted, but knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. The time change had made him feel a bit off-kilter.

"Good morrow, Harry!" Hermione greeted him merrily. She was already dressed in her Hogwart's robes, brushing her hair up into a tight, high bun. Ron lay asleep beside Harry in the next bed.

"Morning." Harry reached for his glasses. He'd only just put his robes on when there was a tapping at the window.

A tawny owl was flying outside the window, a scrap of paper attached to its foot.

Harry opened the window and let the bird in. Hermione came over to see what the bird had brought.

Harry paid the bird five Knuts (little bronze coins) and untied the paper. It was written in large, scrawled letters. The note said:

GET OUT NOW, MUDBLOOD. LEAVE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

Hermione gasped. "Do you recognize that writing, Harry?"

"No…" Harry responded slowly. "Do you?"

Hermione shook her head anxiously. "Who could have sent it? Who wants me dead?"

"I suspect it's just a little prank played by one of the students here like Malfoy. You know, rich, 'pure-blood only' people."

Hermione nodded tentatively, but used her wand to ignite the bit of paper anyway.

The sun was beginning to rise.

After a while, Ron woke up. The three were all ready to go to breakfast when there was a knock at the door. Hermione answered it. Emily from the night before stood at the doorway.

"Morning, all. Time for breakfast!" The Hogwart's students followed Emily to the Micksmeyer version of the Great Hall. They called it the Dining Hall.

Not nearly as magnificent as the Great Hall at Hogwart's, the 'Dining Hall' was plainer. Tables that could hold about twelve each were in neat rows. Harry counted twenty-four tables, which meant that there were about as many students at Micksmeyer as Hogwart's. (He had quickly done the math: Ten per year in each house at Hogwart's, which meant two hundred eighty total, and twenty-four times twelve was two hundred eighty-eight… Harry's brain started to hurt…)

About half of the tables were filled. Harry, Hermione, and Ron sat alone at an empty table. Harry glanced down at his "watch", which was really the magical recording device, and made sure it was on. When he looked back up, Harry saw none other than Ruby Redenblue standing at their table.

"Hi. I'm Ruby. Ruby Redenblue. Mind if we sit here?" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder to two girls. One was scrawny and skinny with long red hair; the other was very large.

"N-no… of course not." Harry gestured to three seats across from the Hogwart's students. He discreetly pressed the 'record' button on his watch/recorder under the table. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Hermione and Ron do the same thing.

"So… you guys the Brits?" Ruby showed no emotion.

"Right… that's us!" Ron forced a laugh.

"'Roight!'" Ruby mocked Ron's accent.

Harry tried to smile. "So… what's it like in… America?"

"It's… fine… You like to play Quidditch?" Ruby asked.

"I'm the Seeker for Gryffindor – that's a house at Hogwart's." Harry replied.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you go to Hogwart's? My grandpa and grandma went there, but they were in Slytherin."

Ron nearly choked on his cereal. Ruby glared.

"Anyway… you're two of the ones who killed You-Know-Who, right?" Ruby pointed to Harry and Hermione with her fork.

"Right." Hermione smiled pleasantly. She gave Ron a look that said, 'Remember, we're supposed to be her friends.'

"Dumbledore's your headmaster?" Ruby continued to saw through her sausage links.

Harry nodded. "He's the best wizard I've ever seen."

Ruby pursed her lips and looked as though she were dying to say something horrible about Dumbledore.

"What sort of classes do you take here?" Hermione changed the subject.

"Oh, we've got Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Flying…"

"What about Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Ron blurted.

Ruby looked at Ron curiously. "No, they don't teach that at Micksmeyer. If you wanna learn that, you gotta go to Welsnurth in Illinois. That school's riddled with Mudbloods."

Hermione cleared her throat and took a sip of orange juice.

"Anyway," Ruby continued, "My favorite class is Potions."

Ron dropped his fork.

Ruby ignored Ron and kept talking. "I heard about all of those Dark Wizards and Witches dying in England… that really stinks."

"Why?" Ron demanded.

"Because," Ruby snarled indignantly, "It just does." She took a sip of juice and said, "So, we've just had eighteen students expelled."

"Why's that?" Hermione asked lightly.

"'Cause they were all part or full fairy."

Hermione gulped and tried to maintain composure. "Why is that a bad thing?"

"Well everyone knows that!" Ruby furrowed her brow suspiciously.

"We don't learn anything about fairies. We've only got one that I know of at our school." Harry chimed in.

"Well…" Ruby paused dramatically, not bothering to keep her voice down, "Everyone knows that fairies use the Dark Arts. Everyone knows that they… well, until he died… they worked for You-Know-Who. They were indebted to him, bound to him. They were his slaves."

****** Author's note ****** Ooh, big shocker! Madeline – a slave of Voldemort?! :: Gasp :: What's gonna happen next? What's Ruby gonna say? WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?! Well, you'll just have to keep reading… next chappie should be up tomorrow. :D