f A Tale From Hogwarts
Written by: Lokin Nabsirinia
Chapter 1
The Letters
"Dear Zippzee,
Hope you summer's going well. Mine's doing quite fine, though I have
got a bit of a cold. I hope to see you sometime during the holidays, though
I doubt it, with my dad being the way he is. (Yes, he's back.) I will be in
London on the last week of vacation, though, maybe we could meet at Diagon
Alley. Oh! Have you heard of KnockTurn Alley? It comes off of Diagon Alley,
but it's supposed to be host to many dark witches and wizards. Don't you
think that the ministry should've just gone in there and arrest everyone when
You-Know-Who was in power? That certainly would have helped. Switching back to
Alley's, I wonder if there are any more alley ways coming off of Diagon. We
should check it out, if we meet up there. Well, enough rambling. I hope to see
you soon!
Love,
Miss Serena Abcock"
"Dear Miss Serena Abcock,
I'm going to London the second to last day of the vacation, so
we can meet up. By the way, when's your birthday? I hope I haven't missed it
already. Sounds like something I would do, huh? Any ways, KnockTurn alley
didn't really exist when You-Know-Who was in power, it became separate a week
after He disappeared, because people who were buying some of the Dark stuff
didn't want to have to face the people who had been hurt by You-Know-Who. Even
though most of them weren't in His league, they still had to by some of the
stuff that would be considered dark, to make certain potions, or to expel
ghouls and hags, etc. I have heard that there might be different alleys, we'll
have to check it out. Fjornia! It's a spell I learned, You should now have
three eye's, tell me if it worked. Heh heh heh. You probably gonna kill me now.
Oh well.
Avec Amour,
Zippzee"
"Dear Zippzee,
I now have two eye's, so Ha! and Ha! again. I'm now at London,
I came a week early. Two whole weeks in the wizarding world, without my dad!
He is supposed to pick me to take me to Kings Cross. I look forward to seeing you.
I hope I can find everything I need. I've never really been here before.
Any ways, I made some friends here in Diagon Alley, they're called Flourish and
Botts. It has so many books! About everything! I'm in heaven! The only
hindrance is this Gilderoy Lock o' Hair fellow. We need all his books, and
he's been causing such a ruckus here. He's personally appearing everyday,
expecting (and receiving) praise and worshipping. Well, that would be kinda
blasphemous, but it's reached a point where the store keeper is going to ban
him, but he can't. Gilderoy is supposed to be holding a book signing session,
and he doesn't want to lose the sales from that. Anyway, Portiosim! There, you
should now be seven feet taller. Tell me if it worked.
Your Love (I hope I'm not assuming this),
Serena"
"Serena,
You hope you aren't assuming this? What does that mean? Please
don't say things like that! It scares me. Are you okay? Nothing's wrong, is
there? Did I do something wrong? If I did, just tell me.
All right, enough badgering. So, Gilderoy Lockheart has a
really puffed up ego, so it sounds like something he would do, showing up
anonymously and being worshipped by every female around. I say this because,
I've noticed that most male's don't like him. Maybe he's a male veela or
something, or maybe the men are just jealous. I'm still my regular 5' 3",
so you don't have to worry about walking around Diagon Alley with a 13 foot
kid. When's your birthday?
Love,
Zippzee"
"Dearest Zippzee,
I'm writing this right after my last letter, so I don't know
which one will get there first. Hopefully, this one won't get there at all.
If you're reading this, I'm guessing it did, so if you want to get depressed,
read on. I received this...
'Serena,
I wont be coming to pick you up. You can find you own way to
the train station, right? Good girl. I'm leaving for France, I have to
see someone there. I wont be picking you up at the end of the year,
either. You'll be with your grandmother, Eowen Argganith. She's one of
your kind. I wanted to get you off my hands, so I'm free to do other
stuff.
Your father'
I can't really write anymore. I'll see you soon.
Serena."
"Serena,
Just disregard the first part of my letter. Like wise, I don't
know which will get there first, but I hope this one does. I'm so sorry about
everything. I wish I could meet this man, this monster of a muggle, so I could
show him what Elf's do to people like him. When I read you letter, I saw him,
in my mind. I wanted so much to throw a punch, to hurt him. But, I can't. I
have to control my anger. I hope you feel okay. On a good note, maybe a high
C#, or a Bb, yeah, Bb, that's a good note, I'm coming to London a day earlier,
I don't want to deal with Mr. Lockheart. So, I'll see you then!
X's O's and even a Q,
Zippzee
P.S. We can give you a ride to King's Cross."
Chapter Deux
Melnoc Alley
Zippzee awoke with a start. His room was pitch black. He pulled out
his wand, then hesitated. "I wonder if I'm able to use magic to tell the time."
He thought. "Dissengi!" He said. A silver ribbon came shooting out of his wand.
It formed the numbers 2, 0, and 5. He heard something slam into his window. He
lit a lamp and pulled the curtains back. A small, greenish owl had smacked
into his window, and was currently getting ready for another go at the window.
It charged, and Zippzee flung the window open. The small owl flew into his
stomach with the force of a bludger being thrown by... well, Zippzee couldn't
think of any professional beaters right now. He didn't really keep up with
sports. The point is, the owl pushed him back into a chair, and took flight
again, running into a wall, using the force of the recoil to turn his oddly
proportioned body towards Zippzee. He landed with a crash on Zippzee's desk,
where a freshly written essay had been dry-ing over night. The small owl took
flight, determined to get it right, and flew clumsily to Zippzee's outstretched
hand. He fell over in his hand, clearly exhausted. Zippzee pulled off the
letter.
"Dear Mr. Nabringer,
The use of magic has been banned outside of school to
Hogwarts students, as you know. This morning at 2:05, a simple spell was used
at you residence, in your bedroom, with the wand you are holding now. If this
continues, we, the Board of Directors for Underage Magic-ing will have to
expel you from Hogwarts. In short, DON'T USE MAGIC!"
Zippzee jumped back. The letter had screamed these last words.
The cat downstairs "meowed" fearfully and he could hear the sounds of four
running feet, and then a bang. Zippzee could only assume the cat has run into
something. "Bloody Animals." He muttered, throwing the owl out the window,
who took flight again and buzzed, looking like a hummingbird, off into the
moon-set. Apparently, Zippzee could not use magic to tell the time. Zippzee
tried to get back to sleep, but he couldn't. Today, he was going to London.
He would be seeing Serena again in little more than a few hours. He went back
to his desk, and started another essay. As he couldn't use magic outside of
school, the teachers had all assigned essay's over the holiday. He had already
finished all except one. It was a particularly nasty one for Professor
McGonagall about why transfiguration was "dearly needed by the tribes of old
Britain" in her words. He wrote until the sun was just peeking over the hills
and its rays were lighting up his room. He put the finished, and rather long,
essay into his trunk, and pulled the rest of his stuff from the shelf's,
mainly books, into his trunk, along with his backpack, and clothes. He stuffed
his wand in his pocket, grabbed 50 galleons, he'd been saving up over summer,
and headed out his door. Zippzee walked down the hallway, down the stairs, and
into the chilly living room. It was still pretty dark down here. He pulled out
his wand, then put it back. He didn't want any more letters from the Ministry.
Zippzee waited for about half an hour, reading a book entitled "Dead
Peoples Stuff: A Guide to Magical Antique's". He pulled out a small green
bottle, flowing on the inside with a blueish-green vapour. It was the Bottled
Imp he had received from his Uncle last Christmas. He had been thinking about
it all summer, after he had been startled to see it when he unpacked for the
holiday's. He didn't dare use it, powerfully magical 'things' were not to be
taken lightly. Zippzee had, however, been reading up on it ever since. He
only found it referenced in one book, the one he was reading. He knew
it would give him any wish, any power, but he wanted to know the finer
intricacies's of how it worked. He liked to sit and watch it bubble and froth,
it was like that muggle thing, the Magma Lamp, or something silly like that.
Zippzee was also fascinated with Muggle stuff, too. Those things, Computers,
he liked those. Using electricity channeled through many different wires,
sending blast's of "code", it was amazing how a piece of silicon can remember
how many short blasts of electricity it had received a week ago. He wondered
if it could be controlled by magic. These muggles, they had come up with some-
thing. A copy of themselves, really. A computer has a brain, it has a heart,
pumping it with electrical blood, it had veins, memory, it could feel, touch,
interact... if it was told to. That was the only difference between muggles and
computers. Muggles, humans in general, could think for themselves. Computer's
don't really know what they're doing, when they're doing it. It's just perfor-
ming a series of task's, being ordered about by electricity. There was
something else, electricity. Muggles had harnessed the might of electricity,
almost a being in itself. The sheer might of electricity, it's speed, it's
power, it's ferocity. These muggles don't really know what they're playing
with. The mighty beast of electricity, all in a small cord? Being produced in
these plants? How they fight over it. They would kill each other for it, for
anything, for that matter, anything, if it had power... he shuddered to think
what would happen if the muggles found out about magic... They would unleash
weapons, force them into slavery, force them to produce this electricity, to
teach them their skills. Or, they would be scared and wipe out the whole magic
community with one of their bombs, controlled by one of their computers...yes
these muggles had advanced, for the worse. The scorches they put on their
world. They would see it destroyed before they saw their downfall. Like a
nasty virus, muggles. They cling on to everything, shelfish and absurd, and
claim it as their own. The destroy everything they come in contact with, in-
cluding each other. When their home is gone, destroyed by their own hands,
they move to another place. This is a trait found only in humans, no other
species would leave it's habitat, unless forced (by humans), and then it would
go through serious evolutionary changes and most of the species would die off.
And no species except humans would destroy their environment for the good of
their pocket-book...
The ancient Elven legends tell that the race of man warred
with the elves. They sought the power of the elves, but they didn't
understand. Elves cant just give up their powers, just as wizards can't give
up their magic to muggles. The elves fought against the men, and lost,
driving them all into hiding. The race of man was safe to deny the existence
of anything they didn't understand, or couldn't control. They were safe from
anything that was different, shielded from anything that could help them.
Zippzee only wondered one thing;
"Why are you up so early?" A voice behind him said, breaking Zippzee
from his long train of thought. His brother, Kyrille, had come down the stairs
and into the living room.
"Couldn't sleep." He said. "Dad isn't coming with us today. We've got
to go by Floo Powder." Zippzee's dad usually came with them to do their
shopping.
"Why?"
"He's got to go into work. Plus, seeing Gilderoy Lockheart wouldn't be
very pleasing to him at this juncture in time. We'll have to shop alone."
"Great!" said Kyrille, "he wont be watching over our backs the whole
time." Zippzee nodded. "So is your girlfriend gonna be there?"
"Giggle giggle." Zippzee said sarcastically. Kyrille was going to be a
first year this year. He was a mischievous little fellow, after Zippzee's
kind, and he was deeply in love with the old elven culture. His whole family
was. They knew the elven myths by heart, practically, and they all spoke
elvish tongue, too. Zippzee wasn't the old "Santa's" elf type, no his family
tree went back to many great wood elves, most notable was Vardatuleion, who
led the first war against the orcs of the north, before Morgoth even came to
power. They were also related to Voronwe, who led Tuor, son of Huor, into the
secret city.
"So, ready when you are, then." Kyrille said. He checked his watch.
"It's 6:45." Zippzee got up, and grabbed the floo powder, and lit a fire. In
a few seconds (and a few yells, "Diagon Alley!"), they were off.
***
It only took a few second's before they reached their destination.
They stepped out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron's lobby, and went out
into the alley. Zippzee didn't wait for Kyrille as he headed out into the
crowded street. Within a matter of seconds, Zippzee has spotted Serena and ran
over to her, Kyrille puffing behind. Serena ran up and kissed Zippzee.
"Get a room!" Said Kyrille. Zippzee gave him a 'I'm-your-older-brother
I-can-kill-you' kind of look.
"Serena, Kyrille; Kyrille, Serena; Kyrille, Kyrille; and Serena already
knows herself... Shall we?" Zippzee motioned towards Gringotts. Serena took his
hand they walked off towards the wizarding bank. They walked into the bank, and
several goblins ran to their aid.
"It's not been very busy in here... What can I do for you?" The goblin
said when he had reached the counter.
"Vault..." Zippzee started. "Kyrille, what's our vault number again?"
"210 1/2"
"Right, vault 210 1/2." He handed the goblin a key.
"And the lady?" croaked the goblin.
"Oh! No..." She said, turning red. "I don't have any wizarding money. I
do need to change some money, though." Serena pulled out a few notes.
"Ooh! Muggle money!" Zippzee said, staring at the money. He was also
fascinated by money. How it worked, why it worked. It was one of the universal
things. Every culture has money... except communism. Zippzee came back to reality
as the attendant gave Serena her gold and came out from behind the desk.
"Grognak!" he called. The goblin, apparently called Grognak, came waddling
over. "Vault 210 1/2. And be a little carefull this time!" He added, looking over
his glasses. Grognak looked guilty.
"I flipped me las' car." He said merrily once they were on their way.
"Lucky fer me, the wizard knew a levita'in' spell. Just floa'ed back up." Zippzee
really didn't want to know how many times that had happened before. They stepped
cautiously into the car, and it took off jerkily. Zippzee took a sidelong glance at
Serena. She seemed slightly frightened. Kyrille, however, was having the time
of his life. It was like a roller coaster, though Grognak had not seemed to get
the hang of driving it yet. He kept taking very sharp turns, as if he had missed
a turn, and tried to make up for it. More than once, they had 'jumped the gap'
across two unconnected tracks, with Grognak muttering "Forgot 'bout 'at one."
or "Tha' was a close one." They finally stopped, and they all fell out, Serena
looking slightly green, and Kyrille looking sad that it was over. Then they all
got back in the car. They were at vault 717, not 210 1/2. After about ten more
minutes of the roller coaster on crack, they FINALLY arrived at the correct vault.
The goblin wobbled up, slid the key in the lock, and opened the door. Small
piles of gold were positioned around the outside. Zippzee got enough for his
and Kyrille's school things, and the screamed back to the Gringotts lobby.
A few second's later, they were walking out into the warm sun, their pockets
jingling merrily.
Zippzee was looking at how the light played on Serena's hair, how the
warm sun was making her face light up, and she must have noticed. She looked
over at him.
"What?" She said.
"Nothing. What's first on our list?"
"Books!" Kyrille said. "And lots of them, look!" Zippzee looked and saw
that 2nd years required about 20 books, and almost 10 of them were written by
Mr. Gilderoy Lockheart. Kyrille had just as many.
"What? We have to have all of that git's books?!" Zippzee said.
"Yeah, looks like it." Responded Kyrille. The group headed towards
Flourish and Botts. There they found a long line waiting behind a table,
filled mostly with witches. Sitting at the table was none other than Mr.
Gilderoy Lockheart, Order of Merlin, and three time winner of Witches Weekly's
Best Smile Award. The usually quiet book store was filled to the bim with
witches and wizards, though Zippzee noticed it was mostly witches. They pushed
their way into the store, and took refuge in a corner near the back. The
store-keeper came rushing by.
"Oh, hello Serena! How goes it?"
"I'm o.k." She said brightly.
"Sorry I cant talk, need more Lockheart books. This is great for
bussiness, but I don't know how much more I can take!" He scuttled off into a
back room. Zippzee started to get his books for school, and threw them in his
bag. While waiting for Kyrille to finish his shopping, Zippzee started looking
at books of charms and spells. One that particularly interested him, "POWERS
YOU NEVER KNEW YOU HAD, AND WHAT TO DO WITH THEM NOW THAT YOU'VE WISED UP". It
sported a picture of a small man, throwing fireballs out of his hand.
"Magic that doesn't require a wand is either Dark magic, or Potions."
came a soft, smooth voice. Zippzee turned around. A small man stood there. He
had dark eyes, they seemed to lead right into nothingness. This deeply
contrasted his face, which was nothing short of evil (note the sarcasm in my
tone of voice.) Zippzee had the impulse to run. He had a small mark on his
forehead. It took Zippzee a second to realize that it was a tattoo. A stange
one, at that. It was shaped like an upside-down raindrop, black, like his hair
with a red outline. His hair was slicked back, and it's greasiness still
astounds Zippzee.
"Who are you?" Zippzee said. Serena had looked over, and was en route
to Zippzee.
"Your imagination." Said the man.
"What's up?" Said Serena. "You look scared."
"Do you know him?" Zippzee asked, pointing at the man.
"Who, your brother?"
"The man, right in front of me!" Was she blind? How could she not see
the man right in front of her?!
"What man?" Zippzee turned and gaped at her.
"What do you mean, 'what man'?" He turned to point at the man. He was
gone. Zippzee stared for a moment, then walked out into the sun. Serena came
jogging out.
"You have to pay for your stuff!" She said. Zippzee threw his bag into
Kyrille.
"Pay for 'em!" He yelled. Kyrille nodded.
"Zippzee, what just went on in there?" She asked him seriously. Zippzee
was pale.
"Tell me you saw him! Please, tell me you saw him."
"Who?" She asked, thoughroly perplexed.
"There was a man standing there! Right in front of me! You didn't see
him?"
"Zippzee, this isn't funny."
"It's not a joke! A man, in black robes. He had a tattoo on his fore-
head. He had black hair, dripping with grease. He said... he said..." It just
occured to Zippzee the obsurdity of what was happening. He had seen a man that
no-one else had seen. That wasn't a good sign.
"What did he say?"
"He said 'magic that doesn't require a wand is dark magic, or potions'
C'mon. I didn't just imagine it, are you sure you didn't see him?"
"A sure as I love you." She said. Zippzee looked at her. She was
really beautifull right now. Serena looked at him, but what he had just seen
was too frightening to him to just forget it, even for Serena.
"I'm sorry." He said. "I... I didn't get much sleep last night. That
must be it." He shook the man from his thoughts, and went back into Flourish
and Botts. Kyrille still hadn't found all his books, so Zippzee took his bag
back and found a book to look at. Serena had gotten her stuff last week, but
was buried in a book about Transfiguration, her favourite subject. Zippzee
picked up book about the muggle's computers, titled "HOW MUGGLES HAVE MANAGED
TO CREATE SOMETHING DUMBER THAN THEMSELVES (and why)." It poked fun at how
muggles get along without magic, but wasn't against them. Serena put her book
down, and almost ran into Zippzee.
"I almost forgot!" She said, obviously very excited about something.
She grabbed his hand, and pulled him out the door. Kyrille was at the counter
paying for his books. Zippzee threw him his bag ("Pay for 'em!") and ran out-
side with Serena. She was leading him towards an alley-way between Gringotts
and another store, filled with all sorts of different parchment and quills.
They got to the very end of it, there was a man-hole and a brick wall. Zippzee
didn't understand. Serena pulled out her wand.
"Dislamnia!" She muttered. A chalk line began to draw on the wall. It
looked like it was drawing a door. When the invisible chalk had drawn the door
knob and the peep-hole, the wall cracked and opened like the door that was
drawn there. A bright light came from within, and Serena pulled him in,
grinning broadly.
"Welcome," She said, "To Melnoc Alley!"
Chapter Deux et Demie
Knockturnal Alley
Zippzee was stunned. Utterly and completely stunned. The alley was
bright, and full of music;
"An elven-maid there was of old,
a shining star by day;
Her mantle white was hemmed with gold,
her shoes of silver grey.
A star was bound upon her brows,
A light was on her hair;
As sun upon the golden boughs,
In Lorien the fair..." [Editor's note: From Lord Of The Ring's
Fellowship of the Ring]
It continued on. There was a faint glow about everything, and the
people that lined the streets were the fairest Zippzee had seen.
"Serena... Elves!" Zippzee said excitedly.
"I know! I knew you'd like this place!" She said, grinning bigger than
before. Zippzee smiled at her, and the hugged and kissed.
"Thank you." He said. One of the elves wandering the street walked up
to them.
"Hail! Zippzee, son of Glamis!" He said. His hair was silver, like
Serena's
"How do you know me? ... and... my dad's name isn't Glamis, it's
Turin."
"Yes, but you grand father was Glamis, was he not?"
"Yeah, he was."
"Then are you not the son of Glamis, in a sense?"
"Yeah... I guess so." Serena laughed.
"So, hail, Zippzee, son of Glamis!" He bowed deeply. "I'm am Gilfandil
and friend of your father's father. I knew you were who you are because of
your ears, and your hair." Zippzee's ears were pointed in elvish fashion, and
his hair was dark green, almost black. This was most unusuall in elves, it was
supposed to be sign of some sort, but in the old legends, they never told any-
thing about it. Kyrille's hair had a slight tinge of green, it was more silver
and blonde.
"This is Melnoc Alley?" Zippzee asked.
"Yes." Said Serena.
"Well, good Zippzee, and fair lady, I must go. Good bye!" and
Gilfandil disapparated. Serena and Zippzee walked down through the alley,
looking in the shops. There were so many things in each shop, from books to
bows and arrows to swords and daggers, armor of mithril; instruments, lute's
harps, jsunits, and many assorted flutes and ocarina's; and there was a joke
shop too. Zippzee had though that the only joke shop was in Hogsmead, but,
knowing elves, there was bound to be one here. They saw a small store named
THE MYTHS AND LORE OF LORFINDELL. "Kyrille would like that." Though Zippzee.
At that moment, Kyrille came out of the store, carrying Zippzee's bag, and his
own, which was stuffed to bursting.
"How did you get in there?" Zippzee asked in amazement.
"Magic." Kyrille said, grinning. And that was all that Zippzee could
get out of him. They continued down the road, until they reached a place where
Melnoc Alley stopped, and another Alley broke off to the left.
"All these years... I thought that Diagon was the only 'alley' out
there." Zippzee said.
"Make sense, though, doesn't it? I mean, magical people need a place
to go. Elves can't really congregate in a London pub, really." Serena said.
"Yeah."
"LOOK! DWARVES!" Kyrille yelled. A pack of about twelve dwarves
waddled into the street, headed toward a building that connected 2 streets. It
was painted black, and was taller than any other building in the street. A
sign hung about ten feet above the door, it read "THE HOBBIT HOLE". Zippzee
glanced at Serena, they nodded, and entered. One thing was for certain, it was
loud. About ten hundred creatures all crowded into the seemingly small room (
For when a room is crowded, it doesn't matter how big it is, it's small to you
). Zippzee and Serena headed towards a table in the corner, Kyrille gaping
behind them, staring at everything. They sat down, and an elven waitress came
up to them.
"What'll you have?"
"Just water please." Serena said.
"Same for us." Zippzee said. He didn't want to know what Kyrille
wanted. Zippzee looked around at the room. All sorts of creatures were there,
Zippzee could spot the Dwarves, he recognised a hag confabulating with a man
that looked suspiciously like a vampire. Lots of elves sat everywhere. A few
humans were there, laughing along with everyone else. Zippzee noticed that no
orc's or goblins were to be spotted anywhere. This could have something to do
with the fact that they hated elves.
"Zippzee, look, there's some house elfs." Serena whispered. He looked
over to where she was pointing. Sitting with two humans and a dwarve, there
were three house elfs, small creatures that are born to be servants. These
were all crowded around a small table, playing a game of cards. House elf's
were said to be distant cousins of wood elves, but Zippzee had a feeling that
was a rumor that started because of the shape of their ears. House elf's look
more like goblins than elves. Zippzee also thought it would be strange to have
someone waiting on his every whim. He wondered if-
His thought were cut short. Out of the crowd, he saw a man with black,
slicked back hair, so intensly greasy that Zippzee couldn't bear it...
Zippzee's eyes snapped down to the table. He didn't make eye contact.
He quickly tried to remember which table the guy was at.
"Serena!" He whispered.
"Yes?"
"Dont look now. Over to the left of the bar, there's a table with one
dwarve, an elve, and a man. Two tables to the right, there's a table with two
dwarves, in yellow. Look now. Am I right?" Serena glanced over there.
"Yeah." She said, a faint smile on her face. "This a memory test?"
"No. One table back, there is a man, all alone. See him?"
"Yes."
"He's the one. The one I saw in the book store. See him?"
"Yes. Zippzee, is he following you?"
"I dont know. What should we do?"
"Who is he?" Kyrille had just joined the conversation.
"I don't know." Zippzee said.
"You're not making this up just to scare me, are you?" Serena said.
"No."
"Here's you drinks." Said the elven waitress. She set the waters down
and turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Zippzee said. He hastily scribbled a note down on a napkin,
and gave it to the waitress. "Give this to the guy with the black hair over
there." The waitress took the note, read it, and looked at Zippzee.
"Ohhhkaaaay." She strolled over to the table and handed him the note.
"What'd you write?" Serena asked.
"Tell you in a sec. Lets get out of here." They stood up and walked
rather conspiculously outside. Zippzee, Serena, and Kyrille walked across the
street, headed for a store.
"Hey!" The man from inside came running out. "Get back here!!!"
"RUN!!!" Zippzee yelled, and they all ran towards the alley that broke
off of Melnoc Alley. They crossed the border of the two alley's, and the world
became dark. They kept running, into a space between buildings. What they met
there was a strange sight. Three grown wizards stood around a bubbling
cauldron. They seemed to be making a potion of some sort. They were singing a
as they worked...
"Round about the caldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot!
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and caldron, bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and caldron, bubble.
Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witch's mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse,
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangl'd babe
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our caldron.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and caldron, bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten
Her nine farrow; grease that's sweaten
From the murderer's gibbet throw
Into the flame.
Come, high or low;
Thyself and office deftly show!"
Horrified, the group watched as with each line, they added the
ingredients. When it was done, the cauldron boiled over with a greenish,
blackish foam. Then, a single wizard appeared behind the cauldron. He was masked
and cloaked.
"So it's done then?" He said
"Yes. It should be starting any minute." said one of the others.
"If we are caught, Lock-"
"NEVER MENTION MY NAME! If someone were to overhear..." He looked over,
directly at the spot where Zippzee was kneeling. Almost at the same time, he
heard Serena mutter a spell behind him.
"It's ok. We're invisible now!" She whispered.
"How -" Zippzee began.
"Shh! Listen!" The masked wizard drew his attention back to the cauldron.
"If we are caught?" The wizard was saying.
"We will not be." Said the masked wizard. The potion began to glow a
sickly greenish yellow.
"Ahh... It begins!" With a woosh, a spectre outlined in green shot out
the cauldron. Zippzee reconised it as the Bottled Imp.
"Whats that?" Serena asked. Zippzee had never told her about his strange
gift.
"Something very magical." He said. The wizards began to talk again.
"Yes...Who has it?" The masked man said. The cauldron shot out another
shadowy figure. It was Hogwarts. The masked wizard became angry. "Does this thing
show me what I know, or what I want to know?" He yelled at one of the three
wizards. They didn't answer, but pointed to the cauldron. It shot forth another
echo of a being. Zippzee couldn't tell what it was.
"Yes, yes! Here it is. This boy has it." Zippzee kicked himself. The
thing was himself. How did he not recognize himself? He of all people should
know what he looks like. "This boy," continued the wizard. "I want you to find
his name, his family, his friends. Everything about him. Everything."
Zippzee could feel Serena's silent stare.
"Why do they want you? At that thing... you have it?" She whispered.
"Yes. But how do they know..." Zippzee sat, pondering for a few
seconds, then came back to reality as the three plus one wizards flung the
contents of the cauldron into a gutter and fled the scene, walking right past
Zippzee, Serena and Kyrille. After they had gone, a light seemed to come on
in the world about them. Serena muttered another incantation and told them
that they were visible again. They walked out into Melnoc Alley, and were
greeted by the man from the bar.
"Why hello." He said. "Now, dont run!" He stared into Zippzee. A
strange feeling came over him. He couldn't move, he didn't want to... he
wasn't in control of his mind anymore. At least, he couldn't use his consiouse
mind. He still could think about how he wasn't able to think. And by the
expressions on Serena's and Kyrille's face, they had lost the drivers seat as
well. "Now listen, and listen good. I may come of a scary, so I'll excuse your
escape episode. But, I'm a ministry wizard, and I've been seeing some strange
things lately. Especially at Hogwarts. The Philosaphers Stone, the Arcanix,
and the Bottled Imp, too many highly dangerous things at a school, filled with
too many irresponsible kids."
"Are you calling me irresponsible." Zippzee said, amazed that he got
himself to say it.
"Very good! You seem to have fought off my little charm, at least long
enough to respond with some comeback that you no doubt thought would be totally
appropriate in this juncture in the conversation... May I continue?
My question to you is, do you know the danger you and that artifact
are in? My sources tell me someones after it. They are willing to do anything
to get it. I'm telling you this so I dont have to go through the paper-work
about someone die-ing at the school. You could, of course..." And Zippzee
knew what the conversation was all about. "...give it to me?"
"I dont have it." Zippzee put his hand over his breast pocket, which
contained the Bottled Imp. The man stared at him for a second, then turned on
his heel and walked away. Then, he came back, gave Zippzee a napkin, and left
again. On the napkin was written[blah]
"What was that all about?" Serena asked. They had just came out of the
charm. Zippzee didn't answer. He pulled the green bottle from his pocket, and
held it in his hands. He stared at it for a second, then hastily stuffed it
back in his pocket.
"We should get back to Diagon Alley." He said, and he strode off quikly
towards the end of the alley.
***
Once they where back to Diagon, Zippzee launched into the story of how
he had gotten the Bottled Imp, and it's powers. They didn't have any questions.
The end of the day came quickly after that, and Zippzee made arrangments to meet
Serena at the Leaky Cauldron the next day. Zippzee and Kyrille caught the last
firreplace out of London, and went home to a dark house. The rest of the day he
spent thinking about the Bottled Imp. He wondered if he ought to leave it here,
at home, away from him. But that wizard would come here looking for it, and
nothing could happen under Dumbledore's supervision, right?
Chapter 3
Back to Hogwarts
By the next day, Zippzee's worries seem to wear off. If the Bottled Imp
was causing all this trouble, he would just throw it away. Destroy it. Set it
free.
He woke up, finished some last minute packing, and went downstairs.
Kyrille was finishing some toast. His father was getting ready to go.
"I'm sorry guy's. I have to go into wok again. You can see yourself off
with floo powder, and I guess I'll see you later." He apparated.
"Well, I guess we'll just go, then." Kyrille said.
"Give him a break." Zippzee said. They grabbed Floo Powder, got their
trunks and things, and went to meet Serena. She had all her stuff ready, and they
were off. They appeared in a fireplace at King's Cross, and the red Hogwarts
Express sat steaming in front of them. They loaded all their things onto the
train, and (seeing as how they had some time before the train went off) they went
into the coffee shop. Wizarding coffee was interesting, but none the less
disgusting. At least to kids, anyways. Zippzee always figured it was enchanted,
to keep it out of the hands of children, so to say. At any rate, they just sat
and conversed. Kyrille decided to go wondering around, and Zippzee and Serena
talked about everything, nothing, and everything in between.
After was seemed no time at all (Zippzee always found that time either
slowed down or sped up when he was around Serena) the train was blowing it's
warning horn. Zippzee and Serena got a car all-their-own, and watched the people
hurring and waving, hugging, saying goodbye. Zippzee was relieved to not have to
say goodbye, but it didn't seem that Serena shared the same view. She gazed
longingly at the families.
"You ok?" Zippzee asked Serena.
"Yeah." She said, unconvincingly.
"You missing your dad?" He said carefully. He didn't want to upset her.
She didn't answer. She didn't have to. She couldn't. Fred and George came in
at that moment, and she didn't want them over hearing.
"Oi! Hows it goin' suck a duck's?" Fred said. "Whatever that means."
he added.
"Hey, Zippzee, Serena, we need your help." George said.
"You need our help?" Serena said, disbelieving.
"Yes. Let me introduce you to someone called the Weasly Wizard Weezes."
He held out a piece of parchment. It was blank.
"A piece of paper?" Zippzee said. Was this a joke?
"What?" George said.
"George, you git, thats a piece of spare parchment. Get the order form."
said Fred.
"Oh. Yes." He stuffed the paper back in his pocket, and pulled out
another paper. "Here it is." He passed it to Zippzee. On it was a list of things.
He read aloud.
"Ton Tongue Toffe, One galleon;
Color Changing Beans, One galleon, seven sickles;
Canary Creams, Three sickles, Eighteen Knuts;
Fake Wands, One galleon;" The list went on and on.
"What is this? You made all these things?" He said when he finished.
"WE are going to make them. Thats why we need your help!" Fred
declared. He grinned. Zippzee figured he needed time to think it over.
"O.K." He said immediatly.
"I'm game" Serena said.
"Great! So, we start on the first weekend of school. Keep quiet about
it, we dont want to get in trouble. We have to go now. Lee Jordan's waiting
for us." Fred said all this in a very bussiness-like manner. Then, both he and
George slid out of the compartment. The train started, and within minutes,
the smooth farmlands gave way to tangled forests and wild lands. Zippzee long-
ed to be walking in them, exploring the tangled branches. His mind went into
a day-dream. He was an old elven warlord. Legions of orc's were filing onto
the great grasslands. Zippzee was atop a horse.
"BATTLE IS COME!" Yelled an elve beside him. They charged into the
ranks. Great strikes of lightning came raining down upon them all, and many
goblins fell. Then came the creatures of the unknown. Thousands of things,
huge, hoursunts (great big devilish tigers), gargoyles, creatures developed
from Morgoth. Thousands of creatures from the deep. The lake behind the elven
army was writhing with evil as well. They where surrounded. Zippzee charged
into Morgoths forces. Many elves followed him. For a minute the tide turned.
A hoursunt took a deep bite of his horse, and he fell to the ground. Then, the
Balrogs came. Four of them, though Morgoth had more in the secret places of
his stronghold. Fire consumed them. The Gargoyles ran in fright. The lake
silenced all movement, and Zippzee lay. He turned over, jumped up, and the fire
grabbed him, by the ankle, and threw him in the sky. It was a whole minute
before he started falling again. He hit the ground, and he felt a couple of
ribs break and crack. His elven heritage saved him. Not for long. He stood up
as a massive, firey foot (if you could call it that) came crashing down. As
is the patter with dreams, he awoke before it hit him. He cried out, and fell
to the ground of the car. Serena was standing behind him.
"Zippzee, whats wrong? You were... convulsing or something. I-"
"I just had a really wierd dream. There was a battle. I was a warrior
....an elven warrior. Fire demons...."
"What?" She sat next to him.
"Do you know about the fire demons?"
"Dragons?"
"Worse."
"Tell me."
"They are too evil to speak alot about. Especially while the sky grows
dark. Tommorow, if I have the heart. Just know that they are worse than worse,
and no men nor elve dreams about them, even in their nightmares." During all this
his voice seemed to change. It was fair, but frghtfull, it seemed to be the
voice of warning, of danger, of power... "Yet I dreamed of them. Them, unleashed
upon the face of the earth, in the plains..." He paused, and the glow that had
come over him faded away. When next he spoke, his voice was his own. "I...
I cant talk about it any more. Not now, at least." And so they sat, silent, as
the train rushed past the once beautifull scenery. Now it brang fear to
Zippzee's heart. He didn't wish to think on the dream, yet it kept coming to
his mind. The darkness settled outside the train, and even as it did, it seemed
to settle on Zippzee's heart.
***
With a final creak, the train came to a halt. Zippzee and Serena
de-boarded, and headed with the other students toward some carriages. These
were new to them. Last year, the gamekeeper, Hagrid was his name (I think),
had led them in rowboats across the lake. This year, however, it seemed that
they were going to take horse-drawn carriages. Except these didn't have horses,
or anything at all leading them. Serena and Zippzee hopped in one of them, and
it sped off into the night.
"This is nice." Serena said, tesing to see if Zippzee was still in the
'shadow' of his mind.
"Yeah. No more water. It's pretty warm too." He responded. "These
things are well built." Just then, a loud crunching was heard. Zippzee looked
out the window. The wheel had fallen off. He grabbed Serena and braced as the
carriage flipped over, spun, and came to a rest. Zippzee kicked the door above
him open. It came crashing back down.
"Bloody Gravity." he muttered, and held the door open for Serena. She
climbed out, and Zippzee followed.
Once out in the cool air, they noticed that they were alone.
"Where'd everyone else go?" Serena yelled.
"I suppose the carriages are'nt supposed to stop... for anything."
Zippzee reasoned. So, they picked themselves up, and started toward the castle.
It wasn't long before the reached it, but as they climbed the steps, they saw
a particularly strange shadow. It looked like a car, only the shadow was
flying, streaking towards a tree. They turned to see a car slam into the
Whomping Willow.
"We should help!" Serena gasped.
"I dont even want to know." Zippzee said. They watched as the car fell
to the ground, and ejected whatever was in it, or whoever. Two boys stood up,
and started gathering their things.
"I want to take a car next year, instead of the train." Zippzee said.
"Something tells me they weren't supposed to be flying that thing."
Serena said. Then they both saw something. Snape was looking out a window,
watching, as they were, the car and the two boys.
"Serena!" Zippzee pulled her arm, "Snape!" They both ran into the
school, and slipped into the Great Hall, for the sorting ceremony.
"I dont envy those two boys." Zippzee said. They silently joined their
house tables. Serena went to Hufflepuff, and Zippzee went to Gryffindor. The
Sorting Hat was just finishing his song.
"So put me on!
Give it a try!
You'll find I
Wont make you cry!
For I am the Sorting Hat!" He paused for
applause, then the rift opened again. "Now in Japanese!" And he sang the song
over again, this time in the Asian tongue. Fred leaned over to him.
"Bloody hat. It always to this. Year before last he sung it in five
different language. English, Elvish, Gibberish, Fairy-talk, and Mer-talk. It
was horrible, listening to all that screeching. Dumbledore approves, though,
says it makes for good culture. Anyways, have you seen my brother Ron?" Zippzee
shook his head. After the hat was done singing, the sorting began.
"Abercy, Fillow" became the years first Hufflepuff.
"Creevy, Colin" was put into Gryffindor, much applause ensued.
"Gilloweed, Kent" became a Ravenclaw.
"Stanvenson, Brook" became a Ravenclaw. The alphabetical mistake went
un-noticed.
"Hatleson, Gordon" became a Slytherin, even more applause ensued. The
list went on, until...
"Nabringer, Kyrille" The hat went on his head, and he yelled
"RAAAAAAAAAAAVEEEEEEEENCLAAAAAAAWW!" He took a whole minute yelling it
out. Zippzee figured the hat must get really bored, so he mixes things up. It
would be boring, being a hat. Kyrille jumped down and joined the Ravenclaw table.
Zippzee knew better than to think that him being in another house would stop
him from following him around the castle.
After what seemed a life time, the sorting ended, and the feast began.
Written by: Lokin Nabsirinia
Chapter 1
The Letters
"Dear Zippzee,
Hope you summer's going well. Mine's doing quite fine, though I have
got a bit of a cold. I hope to see you sometime during the holidays, though
I doubt it, with my dad being the way he is. (Yes, he's back.) I will be in
London on the last week of vacation, though, maybe we could meet at Diagon
Alley. Oh! Have you heard of KnockTurn Alley? It comes off of Diagon Alley,
but it's supposed to be host to many dark witches and wizards. Don't you
think that the ministry should've just gone in there and arrest everyone when
You-Know-Who was in power? That certainly would have helped. Switching back to
Alley's, I wonder if there are any more alley ways coming off of Diagon. We
should check it out, if we meet up there. Well, enough rambling. I hope to see
you soon!
Love,
Miss Serena Abcock"
"Dear Miss Serena Abcock,
I'm going to London the second to last day of the vacation, so
we can meet up. By the way, when's your birthday? I hope I haven't missed it
already. Sounds like something I would do, huh? Any ways, KnockTurn alley
didn't really exist when You-Know-Who was in power, it became separate a week
after He disappeared, because people who were buying some of the Dark stuff
didn't want to have to face the people who had been hurt by You-Know-Who. Even
though most of them weren't in His league, they still had to by some of the
stuff that would be considered dark, to make certain potions, or to expel
ghouls and hags, etc. I have heard that there might be different alleys, we'll
have to check it out. Fjornia! It's a spell I learned, You should now have
three eye's, tell me if it worked. Heh heh heh. You probably gonna kill me now.
Oh well.
Avec Amour,
Zippzee"
"Dear Zippzee,
I now have two eye's, so Ha! and Ha! again. I'm now at London,
I came a week early. Two whole weeks in the wizarding world, without my dad!
He is supposed to pick me to take me to Kings Cross. I look forward to seeing you.
I hope I can find everything I need. I've never really been here before.
Any ways, I made some friends here in Diagon Alley, they're called Flourish and
Botts. It has so many books! About everything! I'm in heaven! The only
hindrance is this Gilderoy Lock o' Hair fellow. We need all his books, and
he's been causing such a ruckus here. He's personally appearing everyday,
expecting (and receiving) praise and worshipping. Well, that would be kinda
blasphemous, but it's reached a point where the store keeper is going to ban
him, but he can't. Gilderoy is supposed to be holding a book signing session,
and he doesn't want to lose the sales from that. Anyway, Portiosim! There, you
should now be seven feet taller. Tell me if it worked.
Your Love (I hope I'm not assuming this),
Serena"
"Serena,
You hope you aren't assuming this? What does that mean? Please
don't say things like that! It scares me. Are you okay? Nothing's wrong, is
there? Did I do something wrong? If I did, just tell me.
All right, enough badgering. So, Gilderoy Lockheart has a
really puffed up ego, so it sounds like something he would do, showing up
anonymously and being worshipped by every female around. I say this because,
I've noticed that most male's don't like him. Maybe he's a male veela or
something, or maybe the men are just jealous. I'm still my regular 5' 3",
so you don't have to worry about walking around Diagon Alley with a 13 foot
kid. When's your birthday?
Love,
Zippzee"
"Dearest Zippzee,
I'm writing this right after my last letter, so I don't know
which one will get there first. Hopefully, this one won't get there at all.
If you're reading this, I'm guessing it did, so if you want to get depressed,
read on. I received this...
'Serena,
I wont be coming to pick you up. You can find you own way to
the train station, right? Good girl. I'm leaving for France, I have to
see someone there. I wont be picking you up at the end of the year,
either. You'll be with your grandmother, Eowen Argganith. She's one of
your kind. I wanted to get you off my hands, so I'm free to do other
stuff.
Your father'
I can't really write anymore. I'll see you soon.
Serena."
"Serena,
Just disregard the first part of my letter. Like wise, I don't
know which will get there first, but I hope this one does. I'm so sorry about
everything. I wish I could meet this man, this monster of a muggle, so I could
show him what Elf's do to people like him. When I read you letter, I saw him,
in my mind. I wanted so much to throw a punch, to hurt him. But, I can't. I
have to control my anger. I hope you feel okay. On a good note, maybe a high
C#, or a Bb, yeah, Bb, that's a good note, I'm coming to London a day earlier,
I don't want to deal with Mr. Lockheart. So, I'll see you then!
X's O's and even a Q,
Zippzee
P.S. We can give you a ride to King's Cross."
Chapter Deux
Melnoc Alley
Zippzee awoke with a start. His room was pitch black. He pulled out
his wand, then hesitated. "I wonder if I'm able to use magic to tell the time."
He thought. "Dissengi!" He said. A silver ribbon came shooting out of his wand.
It formed the numbers 2, 0, and 5. He heard something slam into his window. He
lit a lamp and pulled the curtains back. A small, greenish owl had smacked
into his window, and was currently getting ready for another go at the window.
It charged, and Zippzee flung the window open. The small owl flew into his
stomach with the force of a bludger being thrown by... well, Zippzee couldn't
think of any professional beaters right now. He didn't really keep up with
sports. The point is, the owl pushed him back into a chair, and took flight
again, running into a wall, using the force of the recoil to turn his oddly
proportioned body towards Zippzee. He landed with a crash on Zippzee's desk,
where a freshly written essay had been dry-ing over night. The small owl took
flight, determined to get it right, and flew clumsily to Zippzee's outstretched
hand. He fell over in his hand, clearly exhausted. Zippzee pulled off the
letter.
"Dear Mr. Nabringer,
The use of magic has been banned outside of school to
Hogwarts students, as you know. This morning at 2:05, a simple spell was used
at you residence, in your bedroom, with the wand you are holding now. If this
continues, we, the Board of Directors for Underage Magic-ing will have to
expel you from Hogwarts. In short, DON'T USE MAGIC!"
Zippzee jumped back. The letter had screamed these last words.
The cat downstairs "meowed" fearfully and he could hear the sounds of four
running feet, and then a bang. Zippzee could only assume the cat has run into
something. "Bloody Animals." He muttered, throwing the owl out the window,
who took flight again and buzzed, looking like a hummingbird, off into the
moon-set. Apparently, Zippzee could not use magic to tell the time. Zippzee
tried to get back to sleep, but he couldn't. Today, he was going to London.
He would be seeing Serena again in little more than a few hours. He went back
to his desk, and started another essay. As he couldn't use magic outside of
school, the teachers had all assigned essay's over the holiday. He had already
finished all except one. It was a particularly nasty one for Professor
McGonagall about why transfiguration was "dearly needed by the tribes of old
Britain" in her words. He wrote until the sun was just peeking over the hills
and its rays were lighting up his room. He put the finished, and rather long,
essay into his trunk, and pulled the rest of his stuff from the shelf's,
mainly books, into his trunk, along with his backpack, and clothes. He stuffed
his wand in his pocket, grabbed 50 galleons, he'd been saving up over summer,
and headed out his door. Zippzee walked down the hallway, down the stairs, and
into the chilly living room. It was still pretty dark down here. He pulled out
his wand, then put it back. He didn't want any more letters from the Ministry.
Zippzee waited for about half an hour, reading a book entitled "Dead
Peoples Stuff: A Guide to Magical Antique's". He pulled out a small green
bottle, flowing on the inside with a blueish-green vapour. It was the Bottled
Imp he had received from his Uncle last Christmas. He had been thinking about
it all summer, after he had been startled to see it when he unpacked for the
holiday's. He didn't dare use it, powerfully magical 'things' were not to be
taken lightly. Zippzee had, however, been reading up on it ever since. He
only found it referenced in one book, the one he was reading. He knew
it would give him any wish, any power, but he wanted to know the finer
intricacies's of how it worked. He liked to sit and watch it bubble and froth,
it was like that muggle thing, the Magma Lamp, or something silly like that.
Zippzee was also fascinated with Muggle stuff, too. Those things, Computers,
he liked those. Using electricity channeled through many different wires,
sending blast's of "code", it was amazing how a piece of silicon can remember
how many short blasts of electricity it had received a week ago. He wondered
if it could be controlled by magic. These muggles, they had come up with some-
thing. A copy of themselves, really. A computer has a brain, it has a heart,
pumping it with electrical blood, it had veins, memory, it could feel, touch,
interact... if it was told to. That was the only difference between muggles and
computers. Muggles, humans in general, could think for themselves. Computer's
don't really know what they're doing, when they're doing it. It's just perfor-
ming a series of task's, being ordered about by electricity. There was
something else, electricity. Muggles had harnessed the might of electricity,
almost a being in itself. The sheer might of electricity, it's speed, it's
power, it's ferocity. These muggles don't really know what they're playing
with. The mighty beast of electricity, all in a small cord? Being produced in
these plants? How they fight over it. They would kill each other for it, for
anything, for that matter, anything, if it had power... he shuddered to think
what would happen if the muggles found out about magic... They would unleash
weapons, force them into slavery, force them to produce this electricity, to
teach them their skills. Or, they would be scared and wipe out the whole magic
community with one of their bombs, controlled by one of their computers...yes
these muggles had advanced, for the worse. The scorches they put on their
world. They would see it destroyed before they saw their downfall. Like a
nasty virus, muggles. They cling on to everything, shelfish and absurd, and
claim it as their own. The destroy everything they come in contact with, in-
cluding each other. When their home is gone, destroyed by their own hands,
they move to another place. This is a trait found only in humans, no other
species would leave it's habitat, unless forced (by humans), and then it would
go through serious evolutionary changes and most of the species would die off.
And no species except humans would destroy their environment for the good of
their pocket-book...
The ancient Elven legends tell that the race of man warred
with the elves. They sought the power of the elves, but they didn't
understand. Elves cant just give up their powers, just as wizards can't give
up their magic to muggles. The elves fought against the men, and lost,
driving them all into hiding. The race of man was safe to deny the existence
of anything they didn't understand, or couldn't control. They were safe from
anything that was different, shielded from anything that could help them.
Zippzee only wondered one thing;
"Why are you up so early?" A voice behind him said, breaking Zippzee
from his long train of thought. His brother, Kyrille, had come down the stairs
and into the living room.
"Couldn't sleep." He said. "Dad isn't coming with us today. We've got
to go by Floo Powder." Zippzee's dad usually came with them to do their
shopping.
"Why?"
"He's got to go into work. Plus, seeing Gilderoy Lockheart wouldn't be
very pleasing to him at this juncture in time. We'll have to shop alone."
"Great!" said Kyrille, "he wont be watching over our backs the whole
time." Zippzee nodded. "So is your girlfriend gonna be there?"
"Giggle giggle." Zippzee said sarcastically. Kyrille was going to be a
first year this year. He was a mischievous little fellow, after Zippzee's
kind, and he was deeply in love with the old elven culture. His whole family
was. They knew the elven myths by heart, practically, and they all spoke
elvish tongue, too. Zippzee wasn't the old "Santa's" elf type, no his family
tree went back to many great wood elves, most notable was Vardatuleion, who
led the first war against the orcs of the north, before Morgoth even came to
power. They were also related to Voronwe, who led Tuor, son of Huor, into the
secret city.
"So, ready when you are, then." Kyrille said. He checked his watch.
"It's 6:45." Zippzee got up, and grabbed the floo powder, and lit a fire. In
a few seconds (and a few yells, "Diagon Alley!"), they were off.
***
It only took a few second's before they reached their destination.
They stepped out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron's lobby, and went out
into the alley. Zippzee didn't wait for Kyrille as he headed out into the
crowded street. Within a matter of seconds, Zippzee has spotted Serena and ran
over to her, Kyrille puffing behind. Serena ran up and kissed Zippzee.
"Get a room!" Said Kyrille. Zippzee gave him a 'I'm-your-older-brother
I-can-kill-you' kind of look.
"Serena, Kyrille; Kyrille, Serena; Kyrille, Kyrille; and Serena already
knows herself... Shall we?" Zippzee motioned towards Gringotts. Serena took his
hand they walked off towards the wizarding bank. They walked into the bank, and
several goblins ran to their aid.
"It's not been very busy in here... What can I do for you?" The goblin
said when he had reached the counter.
"Vault..." Zippzee started. "Kyrille, what's our vault number again?"
"210 1/2"
"Right, vault 210 1/2." He handed the goblin a key.
"And the lady?" croaked the goblin.
"Oh! No..." She said, turning red. "I don't have any wizarding money. I
do need to change some money, though." Serena pulled out a few notes.
"Ooh! Muggle money!" Zippzee said, staring at the money. He was also
fascinated by money. How it worked, why it worked. It was one of the universal
things. Every culture has money... except communism. Zippzee came back to reality
as the attendant gave Serena her gold and came out from behind the desk.
"Grognak!" he called. The goblin, apparently called Grognak, came waddling
over. "Vault 210 1/2. And be a little carefull this time!" He added, looking over
his glasses. Grognak looked guilty.
"I flipped me las' car." He said merrily once they were on their way.
"Lucky fer me, the wizard knew a levita'in' spell. Just floa'ed back up." Zippzee
really didn't want to know how many times that had happened before. They stepped
cautiously into the car, and it took off jerkily. Zippzee took a sidelong glance at
Serena. She seemed slightly frightened. Kyrille, however, was having the time
of his life. It was like a roller coaster, though Grognak had not seemed to get
the hang of driving it yet. He kept taking very sharp turns, as if he had missed
a turn, and tried to make up for it. More than once, they had 'jumped the gap'
across two unconnected tracks, with Grognak muttering "Forgot 'bout 'at one."
or "Tha' was a close one." They finally stopped, and they all fell out, Serena
looking slightly green, and Kyrille looking sad that it was over. Then they all
got back in the car. They were at vault 717, not 210 1/2. After about ten more
minutes of the roller coaster on crack, they FINALLY arrived at the correct vault.
The goblin wobbled up, slid the key in the lock, and opened the door. Small
piles of gold were positioned around the outside. Zippzee got enough for his
and Kyrille's school things, and the screamed back to the Gringotts lobby.
A few second's later, they were walking out into the warm sun, their pockets
jingling merrily.
Zippzee was looking at how the light played on Serena's hair, how the
warm sun was making her face light up, and she must have noticed. She looked
over at him.
"What?" She said.
"Nothing. What's first on our list?"
"Books!" Kyrille said. "And lots of them, look!" Zippzee looked and saw
that 2nd years required about 20 books, and almost 10 of them were written by
Mr. Gilderoy Lockheart. Kyrille had just as many.
"What? We have to have all of that git's books?!" Zippzee said.
"Yeah, looks like it." Responded Kyrille. The group headed towards
Flourish and Botts. There they found a long line waiting behind a table,
filled mostly with witches. Sitting at the table was none other than Mr.
Gilderoy Lockheart, Order of Merlin, and three time winner of Witches Weekly's
Best Smile Award. The usually quiet book store was filled to the bim with
witches and wizards, though Zippzee noticed it was mostly witches. They pushed
their way into the store, and took refuge in a corner near the back. The
store-keeper came rushing by.
"Oh, hello Serena! How goes it?"
"I'm o.k." She said brightly.
"Sorry I cant talk, need more Lockheart books. This is great for
bussiness, but I don't know how much more I can take!" He scuttled off into a
back room. Zippzee started to get his books for school, and threw them in his
bag. While waiting for Kyrille to finish his shopping, Zippzee started looking
at books of charms and spells. One that particularly interested him, "POWERS
YOU NEVER KNEW YOU HAD, AND WHAT TO DO WITH THEM NOW THAT YOU'VE WISED UP". It
sported a picture of a small man, throwing fireballs out of his hand.
"Magic that doesn't require a wand is either Dark magic, or Potions."
came a soft, smooth voice. Zippzee turned around. A small man stood there. He
had dark eyes, they seemed to lead right into nothingness. This deeply
contrasted his face, which was nothing short of evil (note the sarcasm in my
tone of voice.) Zippzee had the impulse to run. He had a small mark on his
forehead. It took Zippzee a second to realize that it was a tattoo. A stange
one, at that. It was shaped like an upside-down raindrop, black, like his hair
with a red outline. His hair was slicked back, and it's greasiness still
astounds Zippzee.
"Who are you?" Zippzee said. Serena had looked over, and was en route
to Zippzee.
"Your imagination." Said the man.
"What's up?" Said Serena. "You look scared."
"Do you know him?" Zippzee asked, pointing at the man.
"Who, your brother?"
"The man, right in front of me!" Was she blind? How could she not see
the man right in front of her?!
"What man?" Zippzee turned and gaped at her.
"What do you mean, 'what man'?" He turned to point at the man. He was
gone. Zippzee stared for a moment, then walked out into the sun. Serena came
jogging out.
"You have to pay for your stuff!" She said. Zippzee threw his bag into
Kyrille.
"Pay for 'em!" He yelled. Kyrille nodded.
"Zippzee, what just went on in there?" She asked him seriously. Zippzee
was pale.
"Tell me you saw him! Please, tell me you saw him."
"Who?" She asked, thoughroly perplexed.
"There was a man standing there! Right in front of me! You didn't see
him?"
"Zippzee, this isn't funny."
"It's not a joke! A man, in black robes. He had a tattoo on his fore-
head. He had black hair, dripping with grease. He said... he said..." It just
occured to Zippzee the obsurdity of what was happening. He had seen a man that
no-one else had seen. That wasn't a good sign.
"What did he say?"
"He said 'magic that doesn't require a wand is dark magic, or potions'
C'mon. I didn't just imagine it, are you sure you didn't see him?"
"A sure as I love you." She said. Zippzee looked at her. She was
really beautifull right now. Serena looked at him, but what he had just seen
was too frightening to him to just forget it, even for Serena.
"I'm sorry." He said. "I... I didn't get much sleep last night. That
must be it." He shook the man from his thoughts, and went back into Flourish
and Botts. Kyrille still hadn't found all his books, so Zippzee took his bag
back and found a book to look at. Serena had gotten her stuff last week, but
was buried in a book about Transfiguration, her favourite subject. Zippzee
picked up book about the muggle's computers, titled "HOW MUGGLES HAVE MANAGED
TO CREATE SOMETHING DUMBER THAN THEMSELVES (and why)." It poked fun at how
muggles get along without magic, but wasn't against them. Serena put her book
down, and almost ran into Zippzee.
"I almost forgot!" She said, obviously very excited about something.
She grabbed his hand, and pulled him out the door. Kyrille was at the counter
paying for his books. Zippzee threw him his bag ("Pay for 'em!") and ran out-
side with Serena. She was leading him towards an alley-way between Gringotts
and another store, filled with all sorts of different parchment and quills.
They got to the very end of it, there was a man-hole and a brick wall. Zippzee
didn't understand. Serena pulled out her wand.
"Dislamnia!" She muttered. A chalk line began to draw on the wall. It
looked like it was drawing a door. When the invisible chalk had drawn the door
knob and the peep-hole, the wall cracked and opened like the door that was
drawn there. A bright light came from within, and Serena pulled him in,
grinning broadly.
"Welcome," She said, "To Melnoc Alley!"
Chapter Deux et Demie
Knockturnal Alley
Zippzee was stunned. Utterly and completely stunned. The alley was
bright, and full of music;
"An elven-maid there was of old,
a shining star by day;
Her mantle white was hemmed with gold,
her shoes of silver grey.
A star was bound upon her brows,
A light was on her hair;
As sun upon the golden boughs,
In Lorien the fair..." [Editor's note: From Lord Of The Ring's
Fellowship of the Ring]
It continued on. There was a faint glow about everything, and the
people that lined the streets were the fairest Zippzee had seen.
"Serena... Elves!" Zippzee said excitedly.
"I know! I knew you'd like this place!" She said, grinning bigger than
before. Zippzee smiled at her, and the hugged and kissed.
"Thank you." He said. One of the elves wandering the street walked up
to them.
"Hail! Zippzee, son of Glamis!" He said. His hair was silver, like
Serena's
"How do you know me? ... and... my dad's name isn't Glamis, it's
Turin."
"Yes, but you grand father was Glamis, was he not?"
"Yeah, he was."
"Then are you not the son of Glamis, in a sense?"
"Yeah... I guess so." Serena laughed.
"So, hail, Zippzee, son of Glamis!" He bowed deeply. "I'm am Gilfandil
and friend of your father's father. I knew you were who you are because of
your ears, and your hair." Zippzee's ears were pointed in elvish fashion, and
his hair was dark green, almost black. This was most unusuall in elves, it was
supposed to be sign of some sort, but in the old legends, they never told any-
thing about it. Kyrille's hair had a slight tinge of green, it was more silver
and blonde.
"This is Melnoc Alley?" Zippzee asked.
"Yes." Said Serena.
"Well, good Zippzee, and fair lady, I must go. Good bye!" and
Gilfandil disapparated. Serena and Zippzee walked down through the alley,
looking in the shops. There were so many things in each shop, from books to
bows and arrows to swords and daggers, armor of mithril; instruments, lute's
harps, jsunits, and many assorted flutes and ocarina's; and there was a joke
shop too. Zippzee had though that the only joke shop was in Hogsmead, but,
knowing elves, there was bound to be one here. They saw a small store named
THE MYTHS AND LORE OF LORFINDELL. "Kyrille would like that." Though Zippzee.
At that moment, Kyrille came out of the store, carrying Zippzee's bag, and his
own, which was stuffed to bursting.
"How did you get in there?" Zippzee asked in amazement.
"Magic." Kyrille said, grinning. And that was all that Zippzee could
get out of him. They continued down the road, until they reached a place where
Melnoc Alley stopped, and another Alley broke off to the left.
"All these years... I thought that Diagon was the only 'alley' out
there." Zippzee said.
"Make sense, though, doesn't it? I mean, magical people need a place
to go. Elves can't really congregate in a London pub, really." Serena said.
"Yeah."
"LOOK! DWARVES!" Kyrille yelled. A pack of about twelve dwarves
waddled into the street, headed toward a building that connected 2 streets. It
was painted black, and was taller than any other building in the street. A
sign hung about ten feet above the door, it read "THE HOBBIT HOLE". Zippzee
glanced at Serena, they nodded, and entered. One thing was for certain, it was
loud. About ten hundred creatures all crowded into the seemingly small room (
For when a room is crowded, it doesn't matter how big it is, it's small to you
). Zippzee and Serena headed towards a table in the corner, Kyrille gaping
behind them, staring at everything. They sat down, and an elven waitress came
up to them.
"What'll you have?"
"Just water please." Serena said.
"Same for us." Zippzee said. He didn't want to know what Kyrille
wanted. Zippzee looked around at the room. All sorts of creatures were there,
Zippzee could spot the Dwarves, he recognised a hag confabulating with a man
that looked suspiciously like a vampire. Lots of elves sat everywhere. A few
humans were there, laughing along with everyone else. Zippzee noticed that no
orc's or goblins were to be spotted anywhere. This could have something to do
with the fact that they hated elves.
"Zippzee, look, there's some house elfs." Serena whispered. He looked
over to where she was pointing. Sitting with two humans and a dwarve, there
were three house elfs, small creatures that are born to be servants. These
were all crowded around a small table, playing a game of cards. House elf's
were said to be distant cousins of wood elves, but Zippzee had a feeling that
was a rumor that started because of the shape of their ears. House elf's look
more like goblins than elves. Zippzee also thought it would be strange to have
someone waiting on his every whim. He wondered if-
His thought were cut short. Out of the crowd, he saw a man with black,
slicked back hair, so intensly greasy that Zippzee couldn't bear it...
Zippzee's eyes snapped down to the table. He didn't make eye contact.
He quickly tried to remember which table the guy was at.
"Serena!" He whispered.
"Yes?"
"Dont look now. Over to the left of the bar, there's a table with one
dwarve, an elve, and a man. Two tables to the right, there's a table with two
dwarves, in yellow. Look now. Am I right?" Serena glanced over there.
"Yeah." She said, a faint smile on her face. "This a memory test?"
"No. One table back, there is a man, all alone. See him?"
"Yes."
"He's the one. The one I saw in the book store. See him?"
"Yes. Zippzee, is he following you?"
"I dont know. What should we do?"
"Who is he?" Kyrille had just joined the conversation.
"I don't know." Zippzee said.
"You're not making this up just to scare me, are you?" Serena said.
"No."
"Here's you drinks." Said the elven waitress. She set the waters down
and turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Zippzee said. He hastily scribbled a note down on a napkin,
and gave it to the waitress. "Give this to the guy with the black hair over
there." The waitress took the note, read it, and looked at Zippzee.
"Ohhhkaaaay." She strolled over to the table and handed him the note.
"What'd you write?" Serena asked.
"Tell you in a sec. Lets get out of here." They stood up and walked
rather conspiculously outside. Zippzee, Serena, and Kyrille walked across the
street, headed for a store.
"Hey!" The man from inside came running out. "Get back here!!!"
"RUN!!!" Zippzee yelled, and they all ran towards the alley that broke
off of Melnoc Alley. They crossed the border of the two alley's, and the world
became dark. They kept running, into a space between buildings. What they met
there was a strange sight. Three grown wizards stood around a bubbling
cauldron. They seemed to be making a potion of some sort. They were singing a
as they worked...
"Round about the caldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot!
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and caldron, bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and caldron, bubble.
Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witch's mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse,
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangl'd babe
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our caldron.
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and caldron, bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten
Her nine farrow; grease that's sweaten
From the murderer's gibbet throw
Into the flame.
Come, high or low;
Thyself and office deftly show!"
Horrified, the group watched as with each line, they added the
ingredients. When it was done, the cauldron boiled over with a greenish,
blackish foam. Then, a single wizard appeared behind the cauldron. He was masked
and cloaked.
"So it's done then?" He said
"Yes. It should be starting any minute." said one of the others.
"If we are caught, Lock-"
"NEVER MENTION MY NAME! If someone were to overhear..." He looked over,
directly at the spot where Zippzee was kneeling. Almost at the same time, he
heard Serena mutter a spell behind him.
"It's ok. We're invisible now!" She whispered.
"How -" Zippzee began.
"Shh! Listen!" The masked wizard drew his attention back to the cauldron.
"If we are caught?" The wizard was saying.
"We will not be." Said the masked wizard. The potion began to glow a
sickly greenish yellow.
"Ahh... It begins!" With a woosh, a spectre outlined in green shot out
the cauldron. Zippzee reconised it as the Bottled Imp.
"Whats that?" Serena asked. Zippzee had never told her about his strange
gift.
"Something very magical." He said. The wizards began to talk again.
"Yes...Who has it?" The masked man said. The cauldron shot out another
shadowy figure. It was Hogwarts. The masked wizard became angry. "Does this thing
show me what I know, or what I want to know?" He yelled at one of the three
wizards. They didn't answer, but pointed to the cauldron. It shot forth another
echo of a being. Zippzee couldn't tell what it was.
"Yes, yes! Here it is. This boy has it." Zippzee kicked himself. The
thing was himself. How did he not recognize himself? He of all people should
know what he looks like. "This boy," continued the wizard. "I want you to find
his name, his family, his friends. Everything about him. Everything."
Zippzee could feel Serena's silent stare.
"Why do they want you? At that thing... you have it?" She whispered.
"Yes. But how do they know..." Zippzee sat, pondering for a few
seconds, then came back to reality as the three plus one wizards flung the
contents of the cauldron into a gutter and fled the scene, walking right past
Zippzee, Serena and Kyrille. After they had gone, a light seemed to come on
in the world about them. Serena muttered another incantation and told them
that they were visible again. They walked out into Melnoc Alley, and were
greeted by the man from the bar.
"Why hello." He said. "Now, dont run!" He stared into Zippzee. A
strange feeling came over him. He couldn't move, he didn't want to... he
wasn't in control of his mind anymore. At least, he couldn't use his consiouse
mind. He still could think about how he wasn't able to think. And by the
expressions on Serena's and Kyrille's face, they had lost the drivers seat as
well. "Now listen, and listen good. I may come of a scary, so I'll excuse your
escape episode. But, I'm a ministry wizard, and I've been seeing some strange
things lately. Especially at Hogwarts. The Philosaphers Stone, the Arcanix,
and the Bottled Imp, too many highly dangerous things at a school, filled with
too many irresponsible kids."
"Are you calling me irresponsible." Zippzee said, amazed that he got
himself to say it.
"Very good! You seem to have fought off my little charm, at least long
enough to respond with some comeback that you no doubt thought would be totally
appropriate in this juncture in the conversation... May I continue?
My question to you is, do you know the danger you and that artifact
are in? My sources tell me someones after it. They are willing to do anything
to get it. I'm telling you this so I dont have to go through the paper-work
about someone die-ing at the school. You could, of course..." And Zippzee
knew what the conversation was all about. "...give it to me?"
"I dont have it." Zippzee put his hand over his breast pocket, which
contained the Bottled Imp. The man stared at him for a second, then turned on
his heel and walked away. Then, he came back, gave Zippzee a napkin, and left
again. On the napkin was written[blah]
"What was that all about?" Serena asked. They had just came out of the
charm. Zippzee didn't answer. He pulled the green bottle from his pocket, and
held it in his hands. He stared at it for a second, then hastily stuffed it
back in his pocket.
"We should get back to Diagon Alley." He said, and he strode off quikly
towards the end of the alley.
***
Once they where back to Diagon, Zippzee launched into the story of how
he had gotten the Bottled Imp, and it's powers. They didn't have any questions.
The end of the day came quickly after that, and Zippzee made arrangments to meet
Serena at the Leaky Cauldron the next day. Zippzee and Kyrille caught the last
firreplace out of London, and went home to a dark house. The rest of the day he
spent thinking about the Bottled Imp. He wondered if he ought to leave it here,
at home, away from him. But that wizard would come here looking for it, and
nothing could happen under Dumbledore's supervision, right?
Chapter 3
Back to Hogwarts
By the next day, Zippzee's worries seem to wear off. If the Bottled Imp
was causing all this trouble, he would just throw it away. Destroy it. Set it
free.
He woke up, finished some last minute packing, and went downstairs.
Kyrille was finishing some toast. His father was getting ready to go.
"I'm sorry guy's. I have to go into wok again. You can see yourself off
with floo powder, and I guess I'll see you later." He apparated.
"Well, I guess we'll just go, then." Kyrille said.
"Give him a break." Zippzee said. They grabbed Floo Powder, got their
trunks and things, and went to meet Serena. She had all her stuff ready, and they
were off. They appeared in a fireplace at King's Cross, and the red Hogwarts
Express sat steaming in front of them. They loaded all their things onto the
train, and (seeing as how they had some time before the train went off) they went
into the coffee shop. Wizarding coffee was interesting, but none the less
disgusting. At least to kids, anyways. Zippzee always figured it was enchanted,
to keep it out of the hands of children, so to say. At any rate, they just sat
and conversed. Kyrille decided to go wondering around, and Zippzee and Serena
talked about everything, nothing, and everything in between.
After was seemed no time at all (Zippzee always found that time either
slowed down or sped up when he was around Serena) the train was blowing it's
warning horn. Zippzee and Serena got a car all-their-own, and watched the people
hurring and waving, hugging, saying goodbye. Zippzee was relieved to not have to
say goodbye, but it didn't seem that Serena shared the same view. She gazed
longingly at the families.
"You ok?" Zippzee asked Serena.
"Yeah." She said, unconvincingly.
"You missing your dad?" He said carefully. He didn't want to upset her.
She didn't answer. She didn't have to. She couldn't. Fred and George came in
at that moment, and she didn't want them over hearing.
"Oi! Hows it goin' suck a duck's?" Fred said. "Whatever that means."
he added.
"Hey, Zippzee, Serena, we need your help." George said.
"You need our help?" Serena said, disbelieving.
"Yes. Let me introduce you to someone called the Weasly Wizard Weezes."
He held out a piece of parchment. It was blank.
"A piece of paper?" Zippzee said. Was this a joke?
"What?" George said.
"George, you git, thats a piece of spare parchment. Get the order form."
said Fred.
"Oh. Yes." He stuffed the paper back in his pocket, and pulled out
another paper. "Here it is." He passed it to Zippzee. On it was a list of things.
He read aloud.
"Ton Tongue Toffe, One galleon;
Color Changing Beans, One galleon, seven sickles;
Canary Creams, Three sickles, Eighteen Knuts;
Fake Wands, One galleon;" The list went on and on.
"What is this? You made all these things?" He said when he finished.
"WE are going to make them. Thats why we need your help!" Fred
declared. He grinned. Zippzee figured he needed time to think it over.
"O.K." He said immediatly.
"I'm game" Serena said.
"Great! So, we start on the first weekend of school. Keep quiet about
it, we dont want to get in trouble. We have to go now. Lee Jordan's waiting
for us." Fred said all this in a very bussiness-like manner. Then, both he and
George slid out of the compartment. The train started, and within minutes,
the smooth farmlands gave way to tangled forests and wild lands. Zippzee long-
ed to be walking in them, exploring the tangled branches. His mind went into
a day-dream. He was an old elven warlord. Legions of orc's were filing onto
the great grasslands. Zippzee was atop a horse.
"BATTLE IS COME!" Yelled an elve beside him. They charged into the
ranks. Great strikes of lightning came raining down upon them all, and many
goblins fell. Then came the creatures of the unknown. Thousands of things,
huge, hoursunts (great big devilish tigers), gargoyles, creatures developed
from Morgoth. Thousands of creatures from the deep. The lake behind the elven
army was writhing with evil as well. They where surrounded. Zippzee charged
into Morgoths forces. Many elves followed him. For a minute the tide turned.
A hoursunt took a deep bite of his horse, and he fell to the ground. Then, the
Balrogs came. Four of them, though Morgoth had more in the secret places of
his stronghold. Fire consumed them. The Gargoyles ran in fright. The lake
silenced all movement, and Zippzee lay. He turned over, jumped up, and the fire
grabbed him, by the ankle, and threw him in the sky. It was a whole minute
before he started falling again. He hit the ground, and he felt a couple of
ribs break and crack. His elven heritage saved him. Not for long. He stood up
as a massive, firey foot (if you could call it that) came crashing down. As
is the patter with dreams, he awoke before it hit him. He cried out, and fell
to the ground of the car. Serena was standing behind him.
"Zippzee, whats wrong? You were... convulsing or something. I-"
"I just had a really wierd dream. There was a battle. I was a warrior
....an elven warrior. Fire demons...."
"What?" She sat next to him.
"Do you know about the fire demons?"
"Dragons?"
"Worse."
"Tell me."
"They are too evil to speak alot about. Especially while the sky grows
dark. Tommorow, if I have the heart. Just know that they are worse than worse,
and no men nor elve dreams about them, even in their nightmares." During all this
his voice seemed to change. It was fair, but frghtfull, it seemed to be the
voice of warning, of danger, of power... "Yet I dreamed of them. Them, unleashed
upon the face of the earth, in the plains..." He paused, and the glow that had
come over him faded away. When next he spoke, his voice was his own. "I...
I cant talk about it any more. Not now, at least." And so they sat, silent, as
the train rushed past the once beautifull scenery. Now it brang fear to
Zippzee's heart. He didn't wish to think on the dream, yet it kept coming to
his mind. The darkness settled outside the train, and even as it did, it seemed
to settle on Zippzee's heart.
***
With a final creak, the train came to a halt. Zippzee and Serena
de-boarded, and headed with the other students toward some carriages. These
were new to them. Last year, the gamekeeper, Hagrid was his name (I think),
had led them in rowboats across the lake. This year, however, it seemed that
they were going to take horse-drawn carriages. Except these didn't have horses,
or anything at all leading them. Serena and Zippzee hopped in one of them, and
it sped off into the night.
"This is nice." Serena said, tesing to see if Zippzee was still in the
'shadow' of his mind.
"Yeah. No more water. It's pretty warm too." He responded. "These
things are well built." Just then, a loud crunching was heard. Zippzee looked
out the window. The wheel had fallen off. He grabbed Serena and braced as the
carriage flipped over, spun, and came to a rest. Zippzee kicked the door above
him open. It came crashing back down.
"Bloody Gravity." he muttered, and held the door open for Serena. She
climbed out, and Zippzee followed.
Once out in the cool air, they noticed that they were alone.
"Where'd everyone else go?" Serena yelled.
"I suppose the carriages are'nt supposed to stop... for anything."
Zippzee reasoned. So, they picked themselves up, and started toward the castle.
It wasn't long before the reached it, but as they climbed the steps, they saw
a particularly strange shadow. It looked like a car, only the shadow was
flying, streaking towards a tree. They turned to see a car slam into the
Whomping Willow.
"We should help!" Serena gasped.
"I dont even want to know." Zippzee said. They watched as the car fell
to the ground, and ejected whatever was in it, or whoever. Two boys stood up,
and started gathering their things.
"I want to take a car next year, instead of the train." Zippzee said.
"Something tells me they weren't supposed to be flying that thing."
Serena said. Then they both saw something. Snape was looking out a window,
watching, as they were, the car and the two boys.
"Serena!" Zippzee pulled her arm, "Snape!" They both ran into the
school, and slipped into the Great Hall, for the sorting ceremony.
"I dont envy those two boys." Zippzee said. They silently joined their
house tables. Serena went to Hufflepuff, and Zippzee went to Gryffindor. The
Sorting Hat was just finishing his song.
"So put me on!
Give it a try!
You'll find I
Wont make you cry!
For I am the Sorting Hat!" He paused for
applause, then the rift opened again. "Now in Japanese!" And he sang the song
over again, this time in the Asian tongue. Fred leaned over to him.
"Bloody hat. It always to this. Year before last he sung it in five
different language. English, Elvish, Gibberish, Fairy-talk, and Mer-talk. It
was horrible, listening to all that screeching. Dumbledore approves, though,
says it makes for good culture. Anyways, have you seen my brother Ron?" Zippzee
shook his head. After the hat was done singing, the sorting began.
"Abercy, Fillow" became the years first Hufflepuff.
"Creevy, Colin" was put into Gryffindor, much applause ensued.
"Gilloweed, Kent" became a Ravenclaw.
"Stanvenson, Brook" became a Ravenclaw. The alphabetical mistake went
un-noticed.
"Hatleson, Gordon" became a Slytherin, even more applause ensued. The
list went on, until...
"Nabringer, Kyrille" The hat went on his head, and he yelled
"RAAAAAAAAAAAVEEEEEEEENCLAAAAAAAWW!" He took a whole minute yelling it
out. Zippzee figured the hat must get really bored, so he mixes things up. It
would be boring, being a hat. Kyrille jumped down and joined the Ravenclaw table.
Zippzee knew better than to think that him being in another house would stop
him from following him around the castle.
After what seemed a life time, the sorting ended, and the feast began.