A/N: Oy… Sorry for the delay, folks, but I've had a busy summer.  Also, fanfiction.net has been down for a long while, and I haven't had any inspiration for this fanfic.  The only reason I'm not working on Tiger's Eye at the moment is because I'm at the Sorting and I hate writing the Sorting.  Much of this chapter was written at about three thirty in the morning, so forgive any randomness.  What am I saying?  This whole story was just a random idea, and you people LOVE it!  J

In Which Everyone Does Some Thinking and Harry Talks to A Dragon

     Queen Cimorene leaned in closely to Harry and gazed at him in such a way that it made him squirm.  "Yes, why didn't you melt?"

     "What, I was supposed to melt?" Harry snapped at her, and he could hear Hermione in the back of his mind reprimanding him for forgetting his manners.  "You could have at least told me beforehand so I would have known to bring a poncho or a shower curtain or something!"  Calm down, Harry, you're losing it.  And I thought the wizarding world was strange.  Compared to the Enchanted Forest, it's a walk in a muggle park!

     "I think you've upset the wizard!" the gargoyle whooped from its perch.  "Oh, you're in for it now!  First, he'll make your body waltz through the entire castle, then he'll make you run around acting like a monkey, and after he's had his fun, he'll burn you until you're crispier than a potato chip!"  Of course, no one thought to ask the gargoyle how it knew what a potato chip was; they all glared at it instead.  The gargoyle merely cackled its unspeakable pleasure.

     "Telemain," said the king, turning to the magician.  "Could you perhaps try that melting spell on him?"

     "Certainly - " Telemain began, but was interrupted by Morwen.

     "Will not!" she interjected, glowering at them both.  "Isn't it obvious that he's not evil?  Why go through all the trouble of melting him?  We've already made enough of a mess of the castle carpet."  She pointed and the soap bubbles that were still sinking in.

     "Morwen, I thought you, of all people, would understand," Telemain fumed.  "There is a wizard here who I can test the improvements on the dissolving enchantment, which, as you know, I have been diligently laboring over for an interminable duration of time so that the spell is actually more efficient then the water mixture.  Now, the separation of the molecules does not hurt the wizard in the slightest bit, so Harry here will not suffer any discomfort in the melting process.  I - "

     "Hold on!" Harry said, bringing Telemain to an abrupt stop.  "Hold on, wait, halt, whatever it is you people say - "

     " 'Wait' works very nicely," Cimorene interjected.

     " – I never agreed to getting melted," he finished.

     "Exactly," Morwen said, nodding wisely.  "Though I would like to see those improvements."

     "But you heard him!" Daystar said quickly.  "He doesn't want to get melted!  I wouldn't want to, either," he added, smiling at Harry.  "I don't think you're really a wizard like the Society.  My name's Daystar, as you probably already guessed."

     "Harry," Harry replied, happy someone finally truly believed him.

     "Well, if he's not a wizard, then it shouldn't affect him," said Mendanbar. 

     As the two boys' attention was fixated on the king, Telemain stepped behind Harry and Daystar and said, "Argelfraster."

     Harry blinked and turned around to face Telemain, who was regarding him with mild surprise.  "What did you say?" Harry asked incredulously.

     "Don't ask," said Cimorene.  "Long story, and it didn't work."

     "He already did ask," said Daystar.

     "Don't be a smart alec."

     "I'm not!  I'm just stating a fact."

     "He grows more and more like you everyday," Mendanbar said.

     Cimorene sighed.  "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult."

     "Take it as a compliment."

     "Mm…"

     Daystar made a face and mouthed "Mushy stuff," causing Harry to grin.

     "Mendanbar, Cimorene!" Morwen said, her tone disapproving.  "Something needs to be done about this new 'breed' of wizards, and - "

     " 'Breed' is not exactly the right word; a more appropriate word would be - "

     "I don't care, Telemain, but something needs to be done, and – how did you say you got here?"  This last remark was obviously directed at Harry.

     "I don't know," Harry replied.  "I told you; all I know is that there was a sudden violent windstorm and then I was here."

     "Exactly!" Morwen said, leaving Harry completely confused.  "I believe that the windstorm Harry speaks of was not natural, but wizard-provoked.  If that is the case, then - "

     "What do the wizards want with him?" the others finished.  Morwen nodded satisfactorily at their comprehension.

     "Perhaps they wish to study him," Telemain offered.  "He was born with an innate magical talent, whereas all the wizards here were taught their magic and spent many years learning the all the techniques and technicalities."

     "Or maybe it's simply his magic they're after," Cimorene pondered.  "Like Telemain said, it's something completely new to them.  Maybe they want to run some experiments themselves."

     "Could it be they want a spy?" Daystar asked, apparently eager to get his two cents in.  "Someone who is not quite wizard, but not quite magician to go undercover?"

     "There is something else we should think about," Mendanbar said.  "Why this Harry?  Why not any other kid?"

     The king had a point.  Everything did seem to happen to Harry.  I wonder why it's me this time, he thought.  Probably has to do with being "The Boy Who Lived."  That's what it's always about.

     "What if he is just another kid?" Morwen pointed out.  "Maybe he was just selected at random.  The more pressing issue is to find whether it was really the wizards who brought him here, and, if yes, why they want him."

     Or maybe it has to do with that whole "true Gryffindor" mess in my second year, Harry continued to himself, completely unaware of  the discussion going on around him.  I did pull that sword out of the Sorting Hat.  Ha!  Some people pull rabbits out of top hats, but I can pull swords out of ratty old "witch" hats!  Speaking of which, where is that sword now?  Why is no one looking for me?  Who exactly was Gryffindor, anyway?  All we know about him is that he was a brave and powerful wizard who helped found Hogwarts.  What was he like?  Where was he from?  Did he have any children?  Did they go to Hogwarts?  Did they have children?  Does his bloodline still live on?  If it does, is what Tom Riddle said true?  That he's the Heir of Slytherin?  If there's an Heir of Slytherin, is there an Heir of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and even Hufflepuff?  Wow, I'm beginning to sound like Hermione with all these questions.

     " – to the dragons," Queen Cimorene was saying, and everyone looked as if they agreed with her.

     "Wha-wha-what?" Harry stammered out.  He had missed everything while he had been contemplating his situation among other things, but from what had heard, this lot was going to take him to see a bunch of dragons.  "Dragons???"  Oh no, anything but dragons.  Harry had had enough of dragons.  They were nothing but bad luck for him.

     "That's right, dragons," said Morwen.

     "Maybe we'll take you to see Shiara, too," said Daystar, a far-off look coming over his face.

     "Stop daydreaming, lover  boy," his father said teasingly.

     "Yes, we all know it's just you who wants to see Shiara," Cimorene added, grinning.

     "I am not!  I do not!" Daystar retorted indignantly.

     "Though he does have a point," Telemain said.  "The natural magical abilities of fire-witches could be either distantly or very closely linked to the powers Harry was born with."

     "So we will get to see Shiara!" Daystar exulted.  When all eyes turned to him, his cheeks burned with crimson as he realized what he had just said.  "Not that I like her or anything."

     The Mountains of Morning were a complete change from the lush greenery of the Enchanted Forest.  Where as the Forest was covered in bright green moss, comfortably warm, and the sunlight fell in little patches through the leafy canopy, the Mountains were made of harsh gray stone, with little mountain flowers growing here and there.  The air, being higher in the atmosphere, was significantly colder and thinner than in the Forest, and the sun that continuously glared into Harry's glasses offered no comfort whatsoever.  Not to mention tunnel snakes, which Harry had yet to encounter, and he was not looking forward to it.  He suddenly found himself wishing for one of Mrs. Weasley's hand-knit sweaters, but this only called up the image of Ron, then Hermione, then Ginny, and that didn't help at all.

     "Are we there yet?" Harry grumbled, his muscles becoming sore from the uphill climb.

     "Just a little farther," said Cimorene cheerily, obviously looking forward to seeing her old friend again.  Before they had all left the castle, Harry had been informed that Cimorene had once been the princess of Kazul, who was now the King of Dragons even though she was female.  This was yet another thing that was new to Harry.  He knew the dragons of the Wizarding World, and the monstrous dragons from fairy tales who ate princesses, but dragons that kept princesses to do their housework and had an elaborate system of government was altogether different.

     "I don't see why we couldn't have just teleported," complained Telemain.

     "Quit your whining," Morwen scolded him.  "A little exercise never hurt anyone."

     Mendanbar was striding protectively next to Cimorene, though it was quite obvious to Harry that she could take care of herself – she did have a sword strapped to her waist – and Daystar was in his own little world as they hiked up to Kazul's cave.

     A few tedious hours later, they reached the entrance to Kazul's cave, and Harry thought he would wet himself any minute now.  Not that he was scared.  Of course he wasn't scared, he was terrified.  He patted his robe pocket.  Yep, his wand was still there.  Unlike the last time he came up against a dragon, Harry didn't have his broom nearby to Summon it.  Was it even in this realm?  He didn't know if his broom had come to the Enchanted Forest with him!

     "Hello, Kazul!" Cimorene called.

     Harry felt the ground shake beneath his feet as something very large came towards them from the depths of the cave at a very fast rate.  The door flew open and Harry found himself staring at a giant, scaly belly.  His eyes slowly moved upward until he saw the head of the dragon.  She, for Harry was guessing that this was Kazul, had three horns on top of her head that looked very sharp and menacing. 

     "Cimorene!" Kazul exclaimed.  "What brings you to the Mountains of Morning?"

     The queen was about to respond when a red-haired girl peeked around the huge body of Kazul.

     "Shiara," Daystar breathed.  The girl named Shiara smiled at Daystar and moved out from behind Kazul.  Abruptly, the smile reversed direction and became a frown.

     "It's about time," she declared, fixating Daystar with a heated glare.  This confused the prince to the point that he was only capable of staring at Shiara.  "You never visited!"

     "Excuse me?" said Daystar.  "Didn't you say that you would be the one running back and forth?"

     Shiara opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it.  "I did, didn't I?" she said thoughtfully.  "Well, I'll have you know that I've been a working a very long time to get this politeness curse you so kindly bestowed on me and haven't been given any breaks, so you should have come to visit me!  I don't think that's the reason why you're here right now, either!"

     "Which brings us all to the question I am about to ask," said Kazul before Daystar could contradict Shiara.  "Why exactly are you here, Cimorene?  I'm sure you're not all here to throw me a surprise un-birthday party."

     Cimorene nodded.  "You're right, Kazul," she said.

     "We're here because of him," Morwen continued for her, pointing at Harry.

     "Who's that?" asked Kazul.

     "His name is Harry," Mendanbar replied, "and he is a wizard."

     Harry, who had been trying to work out what had just happened between Daystar and Shiara, looked up to see a very toothy grin directly in front of his face.

     "Hello, Harry," rumbled the King of the Dragons.

     Harry wanted desperately to pull out his wand and throw a curse at Kazul's eyes, get up on a broom and fly away, or maybe just run.  However, he did none of these things.  Instead, he did the only thing he could manage.

     "Hi," Harry squeaked.

*%*%*%*%*%*%

Next Chapter: In Which the Reader Sees What's Happening on the Other Side

     Oh dear.  Poor Harry.  I think that's the first time he's ever squeaked since he came to Hogwarts.  He must feel quite stuck… Sure, he's all brave and such on his home turf, Summoning brooms and facing the Dark Lord, but I think the Enchanted Forest is being a little too tough on him.  Poor thing.

     Before I get into the review thank-you's, I'd like to give a special "I-love-you-you're-the-best-I-can't-believe-you-would-do-that-I-feel-so-honored-astonished-mystified-even" hug to everyone who put me on either one of the favorites list.  Also, Jeselmium gets chocolate hugs, kisses, and a butterbeer for making "Un-Parallels" the Fanfiction of the Month on her author page.

Now, for everyone else, including those who put me on their favorites list:

AquaChild, Firefox, Elenrihil, Herald Mistylenna, lunatyme, DumbOldDork, LunarBard (this chapter is a little longer…I'm trying, at least!), HiBob, Tipper, Squire, Jeselmium, Blue Moon, DiamondSky17, J-Kid, M, Gia, Authoress, ShinigamiKarui, Lady Cinnibar, and, last but not least, guess.

Again, thank you all for loving my story!  Now, click on the little button down there so I know you loved/hated/or even just read this!  J