Chapter 2

Explanations and a tour

They entered the observation lounge and most people took a seat. Ron however made his way to the window and looked out. Shaking his head he sat down besides his sister. Just after he sat down two more men entered and took their places.

Captain Picard took the word. "Thank you for joining us. These are Mr. Data and Mr. LaForge. To our guests, would you please explain who you are and how you came here?"

Harry spoke first. "I am Harry Potter. How we ended up here, I don't know, except that Voldemort something has to do with that. We were on the Hogwarts Express on our way to school when we were attacked. We defended ourselves, but then everything because black and we woke up here."

"And you were attacked by this Voldemort person? Who is that?" Will Riker asked.

"It was Voldemort. It's an evil wizard." Ginny said.

The crew of the Enterprise glanced at each other. "I am sorry. Did you say wizard?"

"Yes, she said wizard. Ginny and I are witches and Ron, Harry and Sirius are wizards. The school we go to is Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry." Hermione said.

Will laughed. "And those sticks were your wands? Yeah right?"

"They are. Perhaps we should give a demonstration." Sirius suggested.

The five looked at each other. Ginny took out her wand and stood up. She placed her mini-trunk on the ground, pointed her wand at it and said: "Engorgio." The trunk grew back to its normal size. She waited a few moments, then shrunk it back it old size.

Then Ron stood up and pointed his wand at his chair. Ron murmured something and the chair turned in a pig. The pig ran around a bit before Ron turned it back.

Hermione then pointed her wand at Ginny and said: "Wingardium Leviosa." Ginny slowly raised in the air and floated there for a few moments before Hermione broke the spell.

Sirius stood up and said: "Orchidea." Flowers sprung from his wand and he took them. After tucking his wand away, he handed them with a small bow to Counselor Troi who was sitting besides him.

Harry shook his head, leaned towards Sirius and whispered: "Do you always have to play the ladies man?" Then he stood up and walked over to the empty space. "Expecto Patronum." The silver stag emerged from his wand, looked around for a Dementor and them turned back to its creator. Harry reached out to touch it, but the moment he was about to touch it the stag disappeared.

***

After their demonstration the five explained who they were and where they came from. They included some of Harry's history, some of Sirius being on the run and a little bit about the Order of the Phoenix. When they were finished it is was silent.

"I must admit: it sounds like a fairytale." Captain Picard said.

"It might sound like a fairytale, but they are speaking the truth, Captain." Deanna replied.

"I have a question. Miss Granger, what did you do to wake Mr. Black and Miss Weasley?" Beverly was the next to speak.

"They were stunned. It's a spell that only can be countered with 'Enervate'. That's what I did." Hermione explained. Hermione stood up and moved to the open space. Then she looked at Ron.

Ron looked at her for a few seconds, then pulled out his wand again and pointed it at Hermione. A second after 'Stupify' sounded Hermione lay unconscious on the ground. Harry stood up, also pointed his wand and said: "Enervate."

Hermione opened her eyes and Harry helped her up. "Very useful spell if you have to catch dark wizards." Harry said and sat down besides Sirius.

"Miss Granger, before your friends woke up you did some kind of probe. What was that?" Deanna asked.

Hermione regarded Deanna for a few seconds. "You sensed it? Normally muggles can't sense it."

"Muggles?"

"Non-magical humans."

"Then it might be that I am not completely human. I am half Betazoïd, an alien race." Deanna suggested.

"It's possible. What I did was basically reaching out with my magical senses, searching if there was any dark magic around here. I came up clean. I learned it last year in DADA." Hermione explained.

Ginny, who had been silent for the most of the time, suddenly spoke up. "But I am also wondering something. How are we gonna get back?"  

"I don't know, Ginny. I think Dumbledore and the other members of the Order will find a way. And we can look from here." Sirius said.

"And in the meantime we will also look for a way to recreate the gateway. Counselor, will you please escort our guests to the guest quarters?" Captain Picard said.

Deanna nodded and stood up, the two witches and three wizards following her example and quickly leaving the room.

***

"Mr. Data, I want you to research the database about anything in relation to magic or the wizarding world. Mr. LaForge, please take a look at the telemetry from the wormhole and see if you can find out anything about its origin." Picard ordered after Deanna and the guests had left.

Both men nodded and left the room to start their work. Picard turned towards Will, Beverly and the chief of security, lieutenant Tarzar. "Lieutenant, do you think they will pose any security threats?"

"I don't think so, sir. They could do some impressive things with their wands, but I don't believe that 's their intention to do damage."

"I share his opinion, Captain. And I believe that Counselor Troi would agree also." Beverly said.

Picard nodded. "I am going to contact Starfleet Command. Number one, you have the bridge." Picard stood up. "You're dismissed.

Everyone left the room.

***

Deanna led the quintet trough the hallway's to the guest quarters. She stopped by one of the doors and opened it. She walked inside and gestured them to follow.

The quarters looked quite good. In the middle of the chamber stood a couch with a table and some other chairs around it. Under one of the windows stood a desk with a computer terminal. In the other corner was a dining set. On one side of the rooms were two similar doors as the ones they came in trough. 

Deanna sat down and gestured the other to do the same. "These are the quarters for Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter. The one next door are for you Mr. Black and the following is for the ladies. They all have the same layout, so I think I can explain some things just in here."

"This is the living room. You can order foot by the replicator. Just say what you want. The same goes for clothing and any other objects you may need. The computer arranges everything around here. If it's too warm or you want to change the level of illumination, just say it to the computer."

Then she stood up and walked to the door. "Here is the bad room and here is the bed room. I will leave to settle in for a little while. Then I will come back for to give you the grand tour. I will show you around the ship. Mr. Black, Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, if you come with me."

The girls and Sirius followed Deanna, while Ron and Harry explored around a little.

***

Deanna showed the girls and Sirius their quarters and then left them to settle in.

Harry and Ron placed their trunks in the bedroom by the foot end and enlarged them. Harry then dug though the trunk, grabbed some clothing and changed into some normal muggle clothing, placing his wand in a thin holster on his belt. Ron seemed to have the same idea. 

Soon some kind of bell rang and Harry called: "Come in." Ginny and Hermione entered and sat down on the couch. Both had obviously had the same ideas for the fact that Hermione wore a jeans skirt and a green blouse, while Ginny wore a simple yellow dress. Both had their wands in a holster on their left fore arms.

The four sat down on the couch and chairs.

"Well, there we are." Ron said.

"This is the most be bizarre thing that Voldemort pulled on me till now." Harry said.

"You can say that. But are we ever gonna get home?" Ginny said in a small voice.

Hermione placed her arm around the girls' shoulders. "I am sure Dumbledore can find a way to trace us. And they seem to have some quite impressive stuff here. Perhaps they can get us home. I just hope we don't miss too much from school."

Ron groaned. "Mione, is school all you can think about?"

"Well, we have NEWT's next year. I think I am just gonna start studying something on my own. We have our books here, so…" Hermione stated.

"Maybe isn't that such a bad idea, Hermione. We have to do something over here and I think there are some things I can help you with." Sirius stated who just entered.

"And that comes from you?" Harry said surprised.

"Why shouldn't we do that, Harry? We have to face it. We will probably be here for quite some time. We can better find some things to keep us busy. And don't mean stuff like History of Magic. I am thinking more of dueling, DADA and what you want to practice." Sirius said while he sat down.

"Probably you're right, but I don't want to think about it yet. If we must spent so much time here, I want to get familiar with the ship first." Harry replied. 'And now he has to play the responsible adult.' he thought sarcastically. 

Ginny got a small smile on her face. "Well, there are a few good things. We won't have to worry about Voldemort attacking anymore for a while. And… Sirius, Harry, you can finally spent some normal time together without worrying for the ministry."

"About the last thing you're probably right. But Voldemort sent us here. I don't think he's gonna leave us alone…"

***

Deanna stood outside the quarters of Ron and Harry, trying to get an image of the feelings of the people inside. The bonds between them were very close. Smiling in herself, she rang the chime and soon the door opened.

Walking inside, she saw the five people sitting together and they looked like they had been discussing things. She also noted all had changed from their robes to casual clothing.

"Have a seat, Counselor." Harry said, standing up.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter."  Deanna sat down. "I wanted to ask if you are ready for the big tour."

"When you are ready to go, Counselor."

"I think I can give these to you now."  Deanna took out a small box and inside were five com-badges. "These are com-badges. You can use them to contact each other."  She dealt them out and the five pinned them to their shirts.

Deanna answered some questions they had and then lead them outside, to the hallways to start the tour.

***

"This is the Holodeck. Here you can create any environment you can think off. It's used for relaxation very often, but also for studies, research and other more serious features."  Deanna explained. "Computer, run program Troi-16-home."

Ginny jumped a little when everything around her shimmered and suddenly they found themselves in a beautiful garden.

Hermione also looked around. "This is a computer program?" she asked. At Deanna's nod she got a thoughtful look on her face. "That means it's programmed, made before by someone. I believe that not everyone is able to program things like this. How do you do that while making personal programs?" 

"Environments can be described, created and saved. You will also be able to do that. Persons are different matters. But I will give you a list with normal programs that are accessible for everyone."

Hermione nodded and walked further into the garden and sat down. She looked around her, enjoying the rest around her.  She was startled when suddenly someone was standing behind her. She looked up to see Deanna standing behind her.

"Are you ready to continue?" 

Hermione smiled a sad smile and stood up. "I am."  She walked besides the woman, back to the others.

"You were very sad just before. May I ask where you were thinking about?" 

Hermione startled from the voice. "Just thinking about my school. That little piece of garden looks exactly like my favorite spot at Hogwarts." Suddenly she stopped for a second. She was feeling something. Something like a probe. Dismissing it as nothing she continued to walk further.              

***

They ended their tour in Ten Forward. The six of them had taken a table and Guinan had come over to take the orders for drinks. Deanna quickly introduced them to each other and then Guinan left to fetch one coffee, four pumpkin juices and a hot chocolate.

Ron was looking around. He hadn't noticed it when he came in, but now he calmly sat, he noticed that there were some people present who didn't look completely human. "Are those … aliens?" he blurted out.

Deanna nodded. "That's right." 

"Are they all from the same planet?" 

"Of course not. We have several 'aliens' serving on our ship. The most of them are Vulcans. You can recognize them at their pointed ears."

Guinan returned with the drinks while Deanna told some more about the different species on board the Enterprise.

Hermione listened interested, taking notes in her mind and reminding herself that it might be a good idea to find out some more information about this subject. Suddenly that feeling was there again. Something was probing her. She closed her eyes and reached out with her own senses, trying to figure out where it came from.

It wasn't one of her friends keeping an eye out. That was the first thing she could disconcert. She searched a little further and realized it was Deanna. But she also realized it wasn't like her own probe or those of her friends. She then pulled back, reminding herself that the Counselor had felt her earlier probing in Sickbay. She would find it out later.

***

After enjoying their drinks and some supper they went on their way again. They managed to find their own way back, although Deanna walked with them to prevent getting lost. Arrived by the doors, everyone said goodnight and headed into their own quarters.

On the last moment Hermione turned around, facing Deanna. "Counselor, would you mind coming inside for a moment. I have a few things I would like to ask."

"Of course."  Deanna followed Hermione inside.

Hermione turned around to face Deanna, noticing that Ginny had disappeared in the bedroom. She scrutinized Deanna and closed her eyes for a second. Deanna started to feel very uncomfortable.

Hermione opened her eyes again; scrutinized Deanna again for a moment and suddenly her wand was out, pointed firmly at Deanna. "Why are you probing us whole the time?" she demanded. 

"Where are you talking about?" Deanna was confused at first, but then it clicked. "Please sit down. I will explain it."

Hermione gestured her to walk over to the couch, then followed with her wand still firmly pointed. She sat down also.

Ginny suddenly emerged from the bedroom. "Hermione..." Then she noticed Hermiones wand out. A second later Deanna had two wands trained on her. "What's going on?" She walked over to Hermione and stood behind her.

"I told I was half-human, half Betazoïd. Betazoïds are a species which is empathic and telepathic. Because I am of mixed blood I am only emphatic. I can sense your emotions. I don't probe willingly; it's something I can't turn of completely. That's the probe you were sensing."

Both girls slowly lowered her wands and placed them again in the holsters. Ginny sat down besides Hermione.

"I am sorry, Counselor. But I had to know."  Hermione said.

"It's okay, Hermione. But why didn't you just ask it?" Deanna forced herself to relax.

"We are at war in my world, Counselor. Last year Ginny was kidnapped. I am part of The Order of the Phoenix, a group who fights Voldemort. It's a reflex."        

"Are you also part of this Order, Ginny?"

"I am not. But since I have been kidnapped, I have been receiving some extra training. But excuse me, counselor, I am going to get some rest." Ginny stood up and went back to the bed room.

The counselor also stood up. "I have to go now. Have a pleasant evening."