Storybook Crisis
by: Gemin16
Chapter 2: Welcome to the Land of Magic.........
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
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Two deep blue eyes stared down at Hermione. "I asked if you were okay?"
"I believe I'm fine," Hermione said as she relaxed and stood up. She winced as she felt pain coming from the cut on her leg. She looked back up and noticed the blue-eyed person gone from the branch.
"That's a pretty nasty cut you have there."
Hermione spun her head around to stare strait at a maroon shirt. She looked up and saw a boy looking down at her. The boy was extremely tall and had a head full of flaming red hair. He had a smirk on his face and had a smuge of dirt on his nose. Hermione noticed that he had a crossbow in his hand and a stalk full of arrows swung around his back. She sighed through her nose.
"Exactly where am I?" she asked boldly. She hated wasting time on small chat.
The boy snorted. "Did you have a memory charm put on you or something? Where else would you be? You're in the forbidden forest of Hogsmeade. What exactly are you doing here anyway?"
Hermione looked at him strangely. Memory Charm? Hogsmeade? "If this forest is forbidden, then why are you in it?"
"I have permission to be in here. Let's see about that leg of yours." He bent down and removed a clean rag from his pocket and wiped Hermione's bleeding leg. She winced again as he wiped it and tied it around the cut with a piece of cord that he also pulled out of his pocket. "So will you answer my question? What exactly are you doing in this forest?"
Hermione noticed Crookshanks lying peacefully as if nothing had happened. Lazy cat. She looked down as the boy stood up. "I don't really know."
He looked at her strangely. "Sorry?"
Hermione gave a frustrated sigh. "Listen this may sound absolutely crazy to you but I was just sitting in my room, reading an old tattered book when all of a sudden I read this silly little rhyme and the next thing I know, me and my cat are in this strange place where a big giant green thing attacks us."
"It was a troll actually."
"I don't care if it was a goblin," she said yelling at this strange boy. "I have no clue where I'm at and it's all thanks to that stupid book written by Albus Dumbledore-"
"You mean you were reading a book by thee Albus Dumbledore?" the boy interrupted.
"Do you know who he is?"
"He's the best wizard in this land, that's who he is!"
"Wizard? Where exactly am I?"
The boy just looked at her funny. "You have no clue where you are and don't know who Albus Dumbledore is?"
Hermione scowled at him, of course she didn't have any clue where she was and she didn't know who Albus Dumbledore was. He should be able to tell that she wasn't from here just by the clothes they were wearing. She was just wearing a skirt, blouse, and sweater. He was wearing a maroon tunic with a pair of hand-sewn pants. His boots where made from some material that she couldn't identify. "Can you just explain to me where I am? And is there a way to get me home?" She had a frustrated look on her face.
The boy looked at her with a troubled look. "If you did what you said you did then I don't think I should tell you. Follow me." He started to walk off.
Hermione just looked at him as he walked away. Crookshanks was still lying there. "Come on you!" she said to him. She started to walk after him trying to keep up with him. Once she finally caught up with him, he started to ask her questions.
"So what's your name?"
"Hermione Granger."
"I'm Ron Weasley. How old are you anyway? Fourteen?"
"I'm sixteen actually."
"You sure don't look like it."
Hermione turned a little red. Sure she was a bit undeveloped but she didn't look that young. "Why is this forest forbidden?"
Ron turned his head to the right to look up in the branches of the trees. "Dangerous creatures are located in this area as well as a few other things. You wouldn't want to get eaten by a dragon now would you? That troll would have crushed you for sure."
"Well I didn't know, as to seeing that I had just came from no where. You still haven't told me exactly where I am yet."
"If it makes you happy, you're within the forest limits of Hogsmeade. About half a mile of a walk and we'll be within the city limits. Once we past by Hagrid's place."
"Who's Hagrid?"
"The keeper of this forest."
"Why are you in the forest?"
"It's none of your business," he replied bluntly.
"I was just wondering. If something's forbidden then you shouldn't be in it."
"You're a goody-goody, aren't you?"
"There's nothing wrong with following the rules, I mean they exist for a reason."
Ron shook his head and gave a laugh. "Boy, do you need to get your priorities strait." After that, they walked on quietly through the forest. Hermione's leg didn't hurt her anymore and she looked at the forest scenery. It was beautiful, the sunlight hit it perfectly giving off the right amount of light and with the birds chirping, it made it a pleasant seen. Of course that was before she heard a loud grumble in the bush. She jumped near Ron and walked closer to him.
"Exactly what was that?"
Ron looked undisturbed. "Huh, I guess it must have been another troll or maybe an ogre."
Hermione stayed no more than three feet away from him and his crossbow.
After almost half an hour of walking, they reached the edge of a forest where a small little cottage sat with a little smoke stacked chimney.
"Hagrid's not at home, so we should head on to the castle," he muttered to himself.
"Castle?"
Ron turned around and pointed towards the city. "Yeah, right over there."
Hermione turned around and stared breathlessly at the castle that sat smack in the middle of the busy city. It was obviously the tallest building in the city with it's towers pointing strait into the clouds. It looked old but it had a weird cozy feeling to it. The city itself was made of nothing but little houses or cottages but they were huddled together through out the entire area. People for miles around could be seen all over but what made the seen even weirder was that there were little stick figures in the air, gliding around.
"Uh, Ron, what exactly are those?" she asked him, pointing at them.
"Oh those are people and their flying on broomsticks."
Hermione just stood there silently. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Broomsticks and flying? "But how?"
"Magic, what else," Ron said as he started walking on.
"Magic? You mean it actually exist?"
"Of course it exists. Why wouldn't it? Come on, before it gets dark."
Hermione was going to snap back at him but decided against it. "Why are we going to the castle?"
"That's were Dumbledore is. He can tell you whatever you want to know."
"So you mean that he's the king of your land or something?"
Ron just looked at Crookshanks, who was trotting besides him. "No, he isn't our king. There is no king, just the Ministry. What's with your cat anyway?"
"His name is Crookshanks and he just acts that way."
"He's very strange for a huge lump of orange fur."
"Leave my cat alone!" She crossed her arms. "By the way if you're going to go to the castle, you should wipe the dirt on your nose," she said. Ron rolled his eyes and wiped the dirt from the side of his nose. They soon reached the suburb of Hogsmeade where Hermione could see hundreds of people walking around, all wearing funny robe looking clothing. She could hear people talking about all sorts of things. She even heard this one lady mumbling something about overpriced dragon livers.
"We're entering the city, so stay close to me. I'd keep that cat of yours in your arms or he'll run off chasing gnomes or something." Hermione grabbed Crookshanks and held his large body in her arms as they kept on walking. People gave her strange looks but Ron just ignored them and walked forward. Hermione noticed different shops as they walked. Some included Eyelop's Owlry, Flourish and Blotts, and a shop with a strange name that looked like Quidditch.
Where exactly am I? Hermione asked herself.
As they walked further she saw many people traveling on broomsticks and children walking around with sticks in their hands. Many of them were yelling out funny words like Expelliarmus and Accio. She even noticed a slightly large building with words spelling The Daily Prophet and Witches' Weekly on it. Hermione was in such a stage of amazement that she almost found herself lost in a large crowd but she also found it hard to loose sight of her tall, red headed guide.
After what seemed like an hour of walking through the massive city, the castle seemed closer than ever but Ron was almost leading her away from it.
"Um, Ron, isn't the castle that way?" she called to him.
"We can't go in that way. The security is much to difficult to deal with, I have another way of entering." He led her into an alley and out into what seemed to a dead end. Ron stopped and so did Hermione. She let Crookshanks out of her arms and watched as Ron took off his pack of arrows and set his crossbow down.
"Why are we here?"
"If you want your questions answered than we have to go in this way." He took out a stick from the pack of arrows and counted the bricks on the wall. He reached a weird looking one counted around it and gave it a tap with the stick. Hermione gasped as she saw the wall completely start to open to reveal a small alley that was bare. Ron picked up his arrows and bow and nodded towards her. "Come on."
Hermione did as she was told and her and Crookshanks followed him inside. The wall made a colliding sound as it closed itself back up. Ron just ignored it and walked on further up the empty alley. Hermione noticed that they were rounding the castle and seemed to be facing its back side. It was a really huge castle now that she was closer to it than ever. The towers seemed endless as they circled the main building. Hundreds of owls seemed to be flying in and out through the windows, some of them were flying together carrying large packages and some where carrying no more than a piece of parchment.
"Amazing."
Soon they reached a small cottage near the entrance with a quaint little chimney giving off smoke. Ron walked up the steps and gave a slight tap on the door. Hermione just watched as Ron knocked again only louder and waited for an answer.
After a minute and three more knockings. The door finally opened and a man wearing a shabby robe stepped out. He had a head full of patchy gray and light brown hair and was holding a stick in his hand. "Sorry about that. Hello Ron, what brings you around at this hour." It was starting to get dark.
"I have something important to show to Dumbledore, Mr. Lupin."
"Really?"
Ron looked over at Hermione, who was standing at the bottom of the steps and whispered something into his ear.
Remus's face went from a cheerful grin to a serious expression. He looked at Hermione and smiled calmly at her. "Bring her in. It's getting cold out here." He walked back inside with Ron following he turned at Hermione.
"Come on, Remus's a friend." Hermione followed with Crookshanks at her heels.
Inside the cottage, it was cozy and small. Right when you entered, there was the kitchen with a small table and a stove cooking food all by itself. Hermione just watched as Ron set his things by the door and sat down at the table where Lupin had a tea set waiting. He motioned for Hermione to come and sit down and she did.
"Would like some tea, young lady?" Remus asked politely.
"Yes please." He served her a cup and set it down in front of her. He gave one to Ron and sat down himself.
"Unfortunately Dumbledore is in a serious meeting with the Ministry and won't be done till then," he said to Ron with a serious expression. "It'll be about an hour so the two of you can stay for dinner." He turned to Hermione. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Remus Lupin and you might be?"
"I'm Hermione Granger." Just then Crookshanks leaped onto her lap and meowed. "And this would be Crookshanks."
Lupin smiled. "Does Crookshanks like milk?" Crookshanks meowed and jumped down and sat on the floor. Lupin got up and retrieved a saucer of milk and set it in front of Crookshanks. "Wonderful cat you have here."
"Thank you," Hermione said quietly. Lupin sat back down and turned to Ron.
"Is your mother expecting you to be out this late?"
"She knows I was going to be out in the forest but no I guess not."
"Go ahead and use Hedwig and tell her you'll be staying for dinner." Ron stood up and went into another room. Lupin shook his head and looked at Hermione. "Why don't you explain to me what happened? I'm quite curious."
Hermione explained everything that happened from that morning to the evening. Remus just sat there and listened only excusing himself once to step into the next room after Ron had reappeared and listened in. He hadn't heard everything from her. At the end, Lupin nodded and went to go check on the cooking. "Very interesting."
"Do you believe me?" Hermione asked him.
"I certainly do. It makes sense," he said sincerely. Hermione smiled. It was good to know that at least one person would believe her story. She wasn't quite sure what Ron thought about it all, not that she really cared.
"Where's Harry?" Ron asked Remus.
"He's at that meeting with Sirius right now. How was the forest?"
"Same as usual. Boring."
"But it seems that you fought off a troll. More or less that seems interesting."
"Three arrows were all it took to scare it, besides I can't let it kill innocent victims." Hermione just stared down at the table watching Crookshanks drink his milk.
Remus laughed and looked at Hermione. "I hope you like vegetable soup." She nodded. He served her a bowl and sat it down in front of her and served some for Ron and himself.
Right after dinner, Lupin looked at the clock above the stove and took out a stick from his robes. He pointed to the sink and let the dishes wash themselves. "The meeting should be over with, so we should be going. Come on, Hermione, we'll see if Dumbledore can fix your problem."
Hermione nodded and followed him into another room with Crookshanks at her heels and Ron right behind her with his arrows and crossbow.
He must bring those where ever he goes, she thought to herself. Remus led them through a door that automatically connected the cottage to the castle. They went from being in a small room to a large cold empty hall lit by torches. Their footsteps could be heard as they walked northward to what Hermione thought was the main building.
"I live in the cottage with my best friend and his godson, Harry," Lupin explained to her. "We have a close relationship with Dumbledore and the Ministry so we get to live right next to the castle. Dumbledore should still be in the main hall when we get there so it shouldn't be to difficult to find him. Besides if you're from another world, he'll be sure to want to meet you."
"Oh. I saw a picture of him, he looks like a kind man."
"He is, and a brilliant one for that fact. If there's anyone that can help you, it's him."
By the sound of Remus's voice, Hermione believed him. They climbed a few more steps before finally coming to regular size metal door. Lupin gave it a gentle tap with his stick and the door opened silently. He motioned for Hermione to follow him and she did. She followed him inside and almost gasped at the sight she saw. She had walked into what was a large banqueting hall covered in bright decorations. In front of her stood many people dressed in fancy robes and discussing many things. Lupin grabbed her wrist gentle and guided her through a crowd of people with Crookshanks and Ron right behind her. As they walked along, she noticed a large table in the front with different people sitting at it. It seemed that Lupin was leading her in that direction.
"Remus, what brings you here? Me and Harry were just about to head on home." A tall man had came up next to Lupin and blocked him from his direction. He wore a black robe and had shaggy shoulder length black hair and was holding a cup filled with something in his right hand.
"Hello, Sirius, staying for the party, I suppose," Remus said wryly.
"Well, nothing wrong with a drink now is there? Besides the meeting just ended and people are starting to leave." He laughed and spotted Hermione. "Who's she?"
"She's the exact reason why I'm here. I need to see Dumbledore."
"I'll be right back, wait a second." Sirius left for a second. Hermione stood there with Remus and spun around to see Ron talking with another guy dressed in green robes around his age. He was about half a head shorter than Ron and had a head full of unruly black hair and wore glasses. He nodded at Hermione with his green eyes and went back to talking to Ron.
"He'll be with you in a second, Remus." Sirius had come back and it looked like he refilled his drink.
After a few minutes, the hall was left empty with only a few people standing around and the people sitting at the table. Among them, the one sitting in the direct middle, Hermione recognize. It was Albus Dumbledore. His beard was long and white with his blue robes underneath his hair. Half moon shaped eyeglasses sat on his nose as he spoke to a black haired woman sitting to the right of him. He looked over in the direction Hermione was standing in and smiled.
Remus looked at Hermione and smiled. "Come on, he won't bite you."
Hermione followed him with Crookshanks by her side and they walked right in front of the table. Hermione felt dozens of pairs of eyes staring at her and all of a sudden wanted to run away. She stood with Lupin and watched as Dumbledore fixed the glasses on his nose. "Thank you, Remus." Lupin walked away.
"So according to an owl I received you come from another world, Ms. Granger."
"Yes, sir," Hermione said quietly.
Dumbledore smiled at her and took out his own stick. What is it, some sort of wand? Hermione thought.
"Why don't you have a seat and then we'll hear your story." He pointed his wand at her and a chair formed right behind her. She sat down upon it and found it rather comfortable even with Crookshanks jumping on her lap to lie down.
"Please proceed in telling your tale."
For the third time that day, Hermione explained every detail in her day. Some of the other people sitting around him looked at her funny as she told them.
Dumbledore said the exact thing that Lupin had said. "Interesting."
Lovely, Hermione thought sarcastically.
"Apparently, I did write that book. A very long time ago but I do recalling writing it. It came to me in a dream, someone asked me to write a book and put an enchanted spell on it. For in those times a seer had predicted the trouble we are facing now."
Hermione just stared at him.
"You see, Ms. Granger, our world is in dire needs. There is an evil wizard going around who calls himself Lord Voldemort (everyone except himself, the boy standing next to Ron, Lupin and Sirius flinched) running muck among our lands. Him and his group of Death Eaters go around and kill innocent victims for fun. No one in this world can stop him for he is that powerful. It's a hard life for us, for we don't know whether he is among us or when he will strike next. People go on and live with their lives but fear is always around for no where is safe. Once you become a victim, the chance of surviving are almost one in a billion. Only one person in this world has survived his deadly spell and he stands among us now. Mr. Harry Potter." Everyone in the room looked at the young man who was standing next to Ron. He smiled weakly and looked at Dumbledore, who chuckled.
"But what does this have to do with me?" Hermione asked.
"Well I believe that you just happen to fall under the enchantment of the book."
"Is there anyway to bring me and Crookshanks back?"
"I'm afraid I can't do a thing."
Hermione's heart fell, she was at least hoping to get back by this evening. Her mother and father would probably be worried sick about her. If she were to stay, she would fall behind on her homework and she would never be able to catch up. It seemed very hopeless. Tears were welding up in her eyes. "So that means I can never go back home?"
Dumbledore and the other people gave her a sympathetic smile. Another wave of his wand and a handkerchief appeared in her hands. "The only way you can go back home is when the story ends. You came in from the beginning and won't be able to go back till the very last sentence in the story. It's how the enchantment works and I can't break it. I'm sorry, Ms. Granger, but I do believe that your coming into this world does mean a great deal more in your benefit."
"I don't understand. What do you mean?"
"Our world is a magical one, if you haven't already drawn that conclusion. Everyone living here is either a wizard or a witch and we coexist with magical creatures as you have experienced. Ms. Granger, you said that you fell upon this world when you said the last word in the ballad. Transporadore. Well the only way you could have done that is if you, yourself have magical powers."
Hermione's brown eyes opened wide as she looked directly into his. "What are you saying?"
"You, Ms. Granger, are a witch."
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Fifteen reviews! I can't believe that. I'm jumping for joy (still is).
I have a lot of people to thank!
Let's see there's: evyfleur (who was my first review for this story!), Pansy Potter, Ginny, Red1, Shadowcat, Atemis-Chan
Charlie(+ Sam), Lalaine, Ptip, Evelyn Granger, pokey, Rebecca Padfoot Weasley, the one and only taya, timeseeker, DarkIllusion, Jazz/Pizza, and Adnap Nottap.
Thanks for reviewing!!!!!
So Hermione falls into a world and is led by the blue eyed archer/wizard to castle. What will happen next? Guess you'll have to read to find out.
I had about three people tell me that the idea about Ron being an archer reminds them of the guy from Lord of the Rings (I forgot his name). I'm in the middle of reading the book and haven't seen the movie yet but I never thought about it until you told me. Cool!
I'll also take this time to do some shameless promoting. ^_^
I have other Harry Potter fics out there. Two to be precise.
Triple the Trouble, Triplet the Fun!- a Humor/Action-Adventure/Romance fic about the seven years at Hogwarts for the offspring of George Weasley with the appearance of other characters' kids, including Ron and Hermione's.
The other one out there, April Fools is kinda of a prequel to TTTF and is a fluffy George/Katie fic!
I have much more to add-
For those of you who haven't read it, you must! I guarantee you that it's really good.
Runaway Fox is a great fic about Ron five years after graduating Hogwarts and the plot to this is among the best I've ever read. It's a must read!
Um let's see what else. Oh yeah.
The Hermione Granger Fan Club has some hilarious fics out there if you haven't already tried. I personally trhink their perfect for a good laugh.
That's all for shameless promoting! If I see any other fics out there I'll promote absolutely free!
Adios and til next time,
Gemin16