Part 2: The Portkey
It was only a little past three in the afternoon, one day after their chance encounter with Hermione. Ray couldn't help but get his hopes up, even though he knew deep down in his heart that it was a longshot that they would ever hear from her again. The rest of the afternoon drawled on in an uneventful manner. After dinner he decided that he would call Mallory and see if she had heard anything from their new friend. "Hello Mal," he started in as soon as she picked up the phone. " Hi," she replied. Their conversation went on a few minutes longer although it was mostly small talk, and the like. Eventually Ray got around to stating the real reason for his call, and much to his dismay Mallory had heard nothing from Hermione. They talked for another hour when Ray heard a scraping noise at his window. He looked out to see a beautiful owl perched in the bush next to his window. It stood there peering in at him, and he noticed a small message tied to it's leg. "Hold on a sec," he told Mal as he set the phone down on a nearby ledge and went to open the window. Then he thought about how risky it was and decided to take a look around before letting in his mysterious visitor. Luckily for him his parents were still at church. He locked his door and went back to the window letting the bird in. The bird flapped it's large wings once and hovered into Ray's room, landing on the ledge near his desk. Ray picked the phone back up and explained to Mallory about his peculiar company. He reached up and petted the bird softly before moving on to the message. He unrolled the letter and read it's contents to Mallory over the phone.
" Meet me at 12:30 tonight at the following address. There is a portkey here that will take us to the WCCC. Please don't forget to send a message back with this owl regardless of whether you will be able to make it or not. Also, if you could fill Mallory in I would most appreciate it as there was only one school owl available to run letters and I couldn't get one to her.
Your Friend, Hermione"
Then at the bottom of the page it listed the address they were to meet her at. Two thoughts instantly crept into Ray's mind. The first was that he was ecstatic to have gotten a response so soon. The second was the trickiness that would be involved with trying to attend the meeting later that night. He talked it over with Mallory and they decided that they would attempt to sneak out of their homes that night, but they needed to come up with a plan. They talked it out for about and hour while Ray quickly wrote a note back to Hermione. It wasn't real detailed response, just a quick "yes, we'll be there" sort of affair. He fidgeted for a minute trying to figure out how to tie the message onto the bird that sat perched in front of him. After a few more minutes he had it on there well enough that he wasn't worried about it coming off, and he sent the bird on it's way. They made plans for Mallory to sneak out of her house a little before midnight that night, and to pick Ray up. That was the most risky part. Then they would follow through and simply go to the address that was listed. It would take a little while to get there, and they had allotted more than enough time to compensate for any unseen problems that might arise. With that they said their good-byes over the phone and began their anxious wait until that night. Ray decided that the most effective way he could pass the remaining hours would be a quick nap. That way he would be well rested for that night's mischievous plan. It took him some time to finally fall asleep, but when he did the hours quietly slipped away into peaceful slumber. At about 10:30 he woke up and started getting ready. Meanwhile Mallory sat wondering exactly what the best way to slip past her parents would be. She knew that that would be the real trick, getting past her parents. Their senses were honed after years of catching her sister sneaking out. She decided after a half hour of fretting; that the best method would be to just flat out try to sneak her way out of the house. She knew that no matter how elaborate the scheme she created, it had about the same likelihood of working. She rested up and when the time came she masterfully opened her bedroom door as to avoid the loud creak it normally emits. She slipped on her shoes and quietly moved out of the hallway and peered around the corner. It looked like her parents might have already been asleep. She quietly crept up to the front door, her heart racing. She was rather nervous, but the whole experience was altogether exhilarating. This was a new kind of adventure for her she thought to herself as her mind snapped back to the task at hand. She moved to open the front door and heard a loud noise coming from back by her parents bedroom. Her heart skipped a beat. Had her parents heard her? She quickly ducked down behind the end of the couch and half waited, half anticipated the voice of her dad to call her name any minute. Instead she was met only with silence. After about 30 seconds her curiosity got the best of her and she decided to look and see if anybody was coming. She slowly looked around the corner to see that the noise had only been her cat Minnie jumping from the ledge to the floor. She sighed a breath of relief and silently opened the door. She tried her hardest to get out of the screen door without it making it's characteristic howling moan. It made a slight sound as she closed it, but not enough to stir anybody inside the house. At least she hoped not. She looked down at her watch to catch the time, it was only 11:52, not bad at all she thought to herself. Now the true test, she had to try and take the car without her parents hearing it start up and take off. She made her way to her car, thankful that she had parked it by the side of the street earlier that day, instead of in the driveway. She opened the door and hastily got in. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw another car slowly coming down the road. When it passed she quickly started her engine and she was off. She took the most direct route to Ray's house, and when she pulled into the driveway it was only a few brief seconds before he crawled out his window and made his way to the car. Once again she accelerated off into the night, her newfound sense of adventure running rampant. Mallory took a look at a piece of paper that Ray handed her. It was a map that he had printed up off the Internet, it gave the quickest directions on how to get from his house, to the address that Hermione had given them. It was a good thing that they were making good time, because their destination was a little farther away than they both had expected. Seconds ticked off into minutes as they continued on their journey. It was about 12:22 when they finally pulled into the remains of the driveway. Before them stood what had to be one of the most dilapidated and rickety old houses still in existence. What was left of it's exterior was in shambles, it's wood rotting, covered in mold, and reeking of mildew. The lawn looked like it hadn't been attended in almost 15 years, weeds and trees had overtaken it many many moons ago. The windows were at one time boarded up, but even those boards were in advanced stages of decay, and were starting to fall to the ground below. Mallory wondered if it was even the right address, but upon closer examination she found that the street address was still on the building in rusted metal numbers. It was definitely the right place. For a little past midnight the air was still heavy with heat and humidity, or maybe it was heavy with nervousness and anxiety. Ray took the lead as they headed up to the front door of the estate. He stepped up on the first step and it made an obnoxious creaking sound. He looked back to make sure Mallory was still with him before continuing up the porch steps. Each made their own distinctive cry as he walked up them. When he got to the top of the stairs he waited for Mallory to join him. "Ladies first," he said as he looked at her with that devilishly sly grin and held the door open. "Now way!" she exclaimed back. "Fine, I'll go first," Ray decided as he turned to enter the building. His body tensed up as he took his first step into the dark main room of the house. He paused for a minute in the doorway, allowing his eyes to adjust. The moon was almost nonexistent that night, and with half the windows boarded up the room was eerily dark. "Ray?" Mallory called softly from outside the door before saying it again, only this time a bit louder. "Yeah, I'm still here," he answered back as he turned around looking for her. "Give me your hand," he said, extending his hand towards hers and leading her into the darkened house. "In that owl post, did Hermione say exactly where in here we are supposed to meet her?" Mallory asked out of genuine curiosity. "Nope," he responded, starting to wonder about that himself. "She just said to be at this address at 12:30," he added. They stumbled around in the darkness for a few moments, not quite sure what to do. Then they heard a high pitched sound and both of their hearts skipped a few beats. Mallory clutched Ray's hand harder, and he threw his other hand up instinctively as the sound swooped closer. "Was that a bat?" Mallory asked. "Your guess is as good as mine, but I think so, yeah," Ray quickly said. It was at that time that they heard a loud noise above them. Mallory could barely make out a staircase in front of them in the dim light. She pointed it out to Ray and he nodded as he led the way towards it. They creaked their way up the stairs at a steady pace. Ray knew that if he stopped he might not be able to work up the courage to keep going. At the top of the stairs the room was even darker. Ray couldn't make out anything at all, and he knew there was someone or something in the upstairs with them. His heart raced on and all of his muscles were tense. He felt the intensity of the situation rise up in his chest with every breath he drew in. They continued on into what must have been the middle of the room when they heard the footsteps again. They were drawing nearer and nearer. "Hermione?" Ray called out frantically, the nervous edge evident in his voice. There was no response as the footsteps drew closer. "Hermione, Hermione is that you?" Mallory tried, obviously the situation had gotten to her as well. Ray felt something brush past his left leg, and he froze for a split second. Then in an instant the entire room lit up, and the creature they had heard stood before them. Both Ray and Mallory stood there staring in speechless wonderment. They weren't sure what they were looking at, it was a humanoid figure, a goblin or an elf of some sort. It wasn't very tall, and it was wearing mismatched socks... "Dobby?!?" Mallory asked, wondering if it could possibly be him. "Yes ma'am, that would be me," he responded, looking up at them. "What are you doing here?" Ray asked. "Hermione asked me to come, said to tell you something came up and she couldn't make it," Dobby answered grinning. He was holding some kind of strange torch in his hand that illuminated the whole room. "So exactly what is it that we are supposed to do?" Mallory asked him, starting to get over the fact that they were in the same room as Dobby the house elf. " Simple enough, we're going to take the portkey back to the WCCC, speaking of which, we better access it before it activates at 12:30," he said looking at the clock that hung from the chain on his neck. It was just then Ray noticed Dobby's attire. Other than his mismatched socks, he wore an interesting flannel shirt with a neon green tie. He had some strange hat on his head, the likes of which Ray had never seen, and of course, the aforementioned clock on a necklace. He was quite a sight to behold, just as Rowling had made him out to be. Dobby was busy searching under the floorboards in one corner of the room, and after a few moments he emerged with a rather odd looking smooth rock in his hand. His face was illuminated in a strange way from the mysterious light source that now rested on the floor. He walked into the center of the room and held up the rock. "This rock is the portkey," he said holding it up. "OK," Ray said as he walked over to Dobby and put his hand on the rock. Mallory did the same, and they stood there for a minute. "It should take effect any minute now," Dobby said as he stood there with one hand on the rock, and the other holding the clock dangling from his neck. Then, just like that the wind picked up and they felt themselves being jerked forward in a flash of brilliant color and light.
It was only a little past three in the afternoon, one day after their chance encounter with Hermione. Ray couldn't help but get his hopes up, even though he knew deep down in his heart that it was a longshot that they would ever hear from her again. The rest of the afternoon drawled on in an uneventful manner. After dinner he decided that he would call Mallory and see if she had heard anything from their new friend. "Hello Mal," he started in as soon as she picked up the phone. " Hi," she replied. Their conversation went on a few minutes longer although it was mostly small talk, and the like. Eventually Ray got around to stating the real reason for his call, and much to his dismay Mallory had heard nothing from Hermione. They talked for another hour when Ray heard a scraping noise at his window. He looked out to see a beautiful owl perched in the bush next to his window. It stood there peering in at him, and he noticed a small message tied to it's leg. "Hold on a sec," he told Mal as he set the phone down on a nearby ledge and went to open the window. Then he thought about how risky it was and decided to take a look around before letting in his mysterious visitor. Luckily for him his parents were still at church. He locked his door and went back to the window letting the bird in. The bird flapped it's large wings once and hovered into Ray's room, landing on the ledge near his desk. Ray picked the phone back up and explained to Mallory about his peculiar company. He reached up and petted the bird softly before moving on to the message. He unrolled the letter and read it's contents to Mallory over the phone.
" Meet me at 12:30 tonight at the following address. There is a portkey here that will take us to the WCCC. Please don't forget to send a message back with this owl regardless of whether you will be able to make it or not. Also, if you could fill Mallory in I would most appreciate it as there was only one school owl available to run letters and I couldn't get one to her.
Your Friend, Hermione"
Then at the bottom of the page it listed the address they were to meet her at. Two thoughts instantly crept into Ray's mind. The first was that he was ecstatic to have gotten a response so soon. The second was the trickiness that would be involved with trying to attend the meeting later that night. He talked it over with Mallory and they decided that they would attempt to sneak out of their homes that night, but they needed to come up with a plan. They talked it out for about and hour while Ray quickly wrote a note back to Hermione. It wasn't real detailed response, just a quick "yes, we'll be there" sort of affair. He fidgeted for a minute trying to figure out how to tie the message onto the bird that sat perched in front of him. After a few more minutes he had it on there well enough that he wasn't worried about it coming off, and he sent the bird on it's way. They made plans for Mallory to sneak out of her house a little before midnight that night, and to pick Ray up. That was the most risky part. Then they would follow through and simply go to the address that was listed. It would take a little while to get there, and they had allotted more than enough time to compensate for any unseen problems that might arise. With that they said their good-byes over the phone and began their anxious wait until that night. Ray decided that the most effective way he could pass the remaining hours would be a quick nap. That way he would be well rested for that night's mischievous plan. It took him some time to finally fall asleep, but when he did the hours quietly slipped away into peaceful slumber. At about 10:30 he woke up and started getting ready. Meanwhile Mallory sat wondering exactly what the best way to slip past her parents would be. She knew that that would be the real trick, getting past her parents. Their senses were honed after years of catching her sister sneaking out. She decided after a half hour of fretting; that the best method would be to just flat out try to sneak her way out of the house. She knew that no matter how elaborate the scheme she created, it had about the same likelihood of working. She rested up and when the time came she masterfully opened her bedroom door as to avoid the loud creak it normally emits. She slipped on her shoes and quietly moved out of the hallway and peered around the corner. It looked like her parents might have already been asleep. She quietly crept up to the front door, her heart racing. She was rather nervous, but the whole experience was altogether exhilarating. This was a new kind of adventure for her she thought to herself as her mind snapped back to the task at hand. She moved to open the front door and heard a loud noise coming from back by her parents bedroom. Her heart skipped a beat. Had her parents heard her? She quickly ducked down behind the end of the couch and half waited, half anticipated the voice of her dad to call her name any minute. Instead she was met only with silence. After about 30 seconds her curiosity got the best of her and she decided to look and see if anybody was coming. She slowly looked around the corner to see that the noise had only been her cat Minnie jumping from the ledge to the floor. She sighed a breath of relief and silently opened the door. She tried her hardest to get out of the screen door without it making it's characteristic howling moan. It made a slight sound as she closed it, but not enough to stir anybody inside the house. At least she hoped not. She looked down at her watch to catch the time, it was only 11:52, not bad at all she thought to herself. Now the true test, she had to try and take the car without her parents hearing it start up and take off. She made her way to her car, thankful that she had parked it by the side of the street earlier that day, instead of in the driveway. She opened the door and hastily got in. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw another car slowly coming down the road. When it passed she quickly started her engine and she was off. She took the most direct route to Ray's house, and when she pulled into the driveway it was only a few brief seconds before he crawled out his window and made his way to the car. Once again she accelerated off into the night, her newfound sense of adventure running rampant. Mallory took a look at a piece of paper that Ray handed her. It was a map that he had printed up off the Internet, it gave the quickest directions on how to get from his house, to the address that Hermione had given them. It was a good thing that they were making good time, because their destination was a little farther away than they both had expected. Seconds ticked off into minutes as they continued on their journey. It was about 12:22 when they finally pulled into the remains of the driveway. Before them stood what had to be one of the most dilapidated and rickety old houses still in existence. What was left of it's exterior was in shambles, it's wood rotting, covered in mold, and reeking of mildew. The lawn looked like it hadn't been attended in almost 15 years, weeds and trees had overtaken it many many moons ago. The windows were at one time boarded up, but even those boards were in advanced stages of decay, and were starting to fall to the ground below. Mallory wondered if it was even the right address, but upon closer examination she found that the street address was still on the building in rusted metal numbers. It was definitely the right place. For a little past midnight the air was still heavy with heat and humidity, or maybe it was heavy with nervousness and anxiety. Ray took the lead as they headed up to the front door of the estate. He stepped up on the first step and it made an obnoxious creaking sound. He looked back to make sure Mallory was still with him before continuing up the porch steps. Each made their own distinctive cry as he walked up them. When he got to the top of the stairs he waited for Mallory to join him. "Ladies first," he said as he looked at her with that devilishly sly grin and held the door open. "Now way!" she exclaimed back. "Fine, I'll go first," Ray decided as he turned to enter the building. His body tensed up as he took his first step into the dark main room of the house. He paused for a minute in the doorway, allowing his eyes to adjust. The moon was almost nonexistent that night, and with half the windows boarded up the room was eerily dark. "Ray?" Mallory called softly from outside the door before saying it again, only this time a bit louder. "Yeah, I'm still here," he answered back as he turned around looking for her. "Give me your hand," he said, extending his hand towards hers and leading her into the darkened house. "In that owl post, did Hermione say exactly where in here we are supposed to meet her?" Mallory asked out of genuine curiosity. "Nope," he responded, starting to wonder about that himself. "She just said to be at this address at 12:30," he added. They stumbled around in the darkness for a few moments, not quite sure what to do. Then they heard a high pitched sound and both of their hearts skipped a few beats. Mallory clutched Ray's hand harder, and he threw his other hand up instinctively as the sound swooped closer. "Was that a bat?" Mallory asked. "Your guess is as good as mine, but I think so, yeah," Ray quickly said. It was at that time that they heard a loud noise above them. Mallory could barely make out a staircase in front of them in the dim light. She pointed it out to Ray and he nodded as he led the way towards it. They creaked their way up the stairs at a steady pace. Ray knew that if he stopped he might not be able to work up the courage to keep going. At the top of the stairs the room was even darker. Ray couldn't make out anything at all, and he knew there was someone or something in the upstairs with them. His heart raced on and all of his muscles were tense. He felt the intensity of the situation rise up in his chest with every breath he drew in. They continued on into what must have been the middle of the room when they heard the footsteps again. They were drawing nearer and nearer. "Hermione?" Ray called out frantically, the nervous edge evident in his voice. There was no response as the footsteps drew closer. "Hermione, Hermione is that you?" Mallory tried, obviously the situation had gotten to her as well. Ray felt something brush past his left leg, and he froze for a split second. Then in an instant the entire room lit up, and the creature they had heard stood before them. Both Ray and Mallory stood there staring in speechless wonderment. They weren't sure what they were looking at, it was a humanoid figure, a goblin or an elf of some sort. It wasn't very tall, and it was wearing mismatched socks... "Dobby?!?" Mallory asked, wondering if it could possibly be him. "Yes ma'am, that would be me," he responded, looking up at them. "What are you doing here?" Ray asked. "Hermione asked me to come, said to tell you something came up and she couldn't make it," Dobby answered grinning. He was holding some kind of strange torch in his hand that illuminated the whole room. "So exactly what is it that we are supposed to do?" Mallory asked him, starting to get over the fact that they were in the same room as Dobby the house elf. " Simple enough, we're going to take the portkey back to the WCCC, speaking of which, we better access it before it activates at 12:30," he said looking at the clock that hung from the chain on his neck. It was just then Ray noticed Dobby's attire. Other than his mismatched socks, he wore an interesting flannel shirt with a neon green tie. He had some strange hat on his head, the likes of which Ray had never seen, and of course, the aforementioned clock on a necklace. He was quite a sight to behold, just as Rowling had made him out to be. Dobby was busy searching under the floorboards in one corner of the room, and after a few moments he emerged with a rather odd looking smooth rock in his hand. His face was illuminated in a strange way from the mysterious light source that now rested on the floor. He walked into the center of the room and held up the rock. "This rock is the portkey," he said holding it up. "OK," Ray said as he walked over to Dobby and put his hand on the rock. Mallory did the same, and they stood there for a minute. "It should take effect any minute now," Dobby said as he stood there with one hand on the rock, and the other holding the clock dangling from his neck. Then, just like that the wind picked up and they felt themselves being jerked forward in a flash of brilliant color and light.