Chapter 4:
Harry pulled the knife out of his pocket. It was dripping with blood. He stared blankly at it. So did Ron.
"Harry," said Ron, pointing to the body. "What do you think you're doing? You can't kill someone in a public train station! It's a good job nobody can see him over here."
"Ron, I swear I didn't do it. You have to believe me," said Harry, a slight quiver in his voice. He looked into Ron's eyes, as if begging him to believe.
Ron looked down at his feet. "I believe you," he said. Harry wasn't sure if he could believe him.
"Listen," Harry said, discarding the knife. "I know it looks odd, but I didn't kill him. I don't even think he knew where the girls were."
"Stabbing him isn't going to help us find out though, is…"
"I DIDN'T STAB HIM!" Harry screamed. Ron hadn't seen Harry this angry since Dumbledore died.
"He came to tell me something about the girls," Harry explained, "and then an assassin came and stabbed him."
"Harry, even if you didn't stab him, unless we dispose of the body fast, people will think you did it. You've got motive."
Harry hadn't realized that. Quickly, he and Ron pulled out their wands and cast a vanishing spell on the body.
"Harry!" Ron exclaimed. "We've got to get moving. We've now only five minutes to catch our train!"
The two broke out in a mad dash. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, and knocked over seven people in the rush.
"All aboard!" yelled the conductor. James and Ashley were waiting in front of the train door for Harry and Ron.
"GET ON THE TRAIN!" Harry screamed at them, but they obviously hadn't heard them. Harry had to grab them and push them in the train in order to get them on.
They made it with half a second to spare. Before they could even recover themselves, the train had started moving.
The four of them got up, examined their tickets, and found their seats. Ron and Harry where seated next to the windows, with James and Ashley on the aisle seats.
Harry stared out the window. He noticed a bird, flying away to the clouds. He wished it luck on its journey.
The train ride lasted twelve hours. By the time they made it to Frankfurt, it was already 10:00 pm. Harry and Ron decided that they needed a hotel for the night, since their plane didn't take off for three days. Ron didn't know where the closest magical place was, so they decided to stay at a muggle hotel. They found one not to far from the station called the Inter Continental.
"All right," said Harry. "Now we've found a place to stay, we need some money to pay for it. What do we have?"
"Well, if you had thought ahead like me," said Ron, "you would have thought to bring the proper currency. Muggles don't use galleons and all, do they?"
Harry hadn't thought of this, and was thankful Ron had.
"So," said Ron, "I exchanged my money before we left." Ron pulled out a wad of £100 notes.
"Ron," said Harry understandingly, "Not all muggles use the same currency."
"Exactly!" said Ron. "That is why I also got these." Ron then proceeded to pull out a large wad of both Euro and Dollar bills.
"Great! This is exactly what we need!" said Harry. Then Ron lent him one of his Euro wads, and Harry purchased one room for the four of them to share, so as not to deplete more funds than necessary.
"A little small isn't it?" said Ron as they came to their room.
"We couldn't afford a bigger one," Harry explained. Ron still didn't cheer up.
James saw the TV, and was thrilled. "It's excellent dad! Thank you!" he cheered. Then he turned it on.
"I've seen muggles use these things all the time. They can watch whichever other people they want with these things," James explained.
"Really," said Ashley, curiosity in her voice.
"Yeah. It works just like this."
On the television was a documentary about the dung beetle. "See, I don't care to look at a beetle," James said to his sister. "So I just press this button."
James, not understanding the concept of a remote, had pushed the volume up button. "Just a second, it will work," he said, and continued pushing on the volume up button.
"Quiet!" yelled Ron, but James, still not understanding the remote control concept, just started staring at it. Harry ran over, grabbed the remote, and returned the volume to a tolerable volume.
"It's the one labeled channel that you want," Harry said to James. He demonstrated by flipping channels up one.
The show on that channel was a news broadcast in the English language. The story was about a picture some tourists had taken while at a train station in London. In the background, the police had discovered Harry looming over Kingledarm's body, knife in hand, and Ron just staring at the body.
"What's happening?" Ron asked, seeing how intrigued Harry was.
"The police… someone took a picture of us with Kingledarm's body. They're after us, and I'll bet 700 galleons that it won't be long before the magic community is on to us, too."
Ron looked left to right nervously. "You don't suppose they can find us, do you?"
"Muggles keep track of everything you do with them, Ron. If they find our travel agent, chances are they'll find us in the hotel."
"What's going on?" Ashley asked, worried by her father's reaction to the news program. Harry ignored her.
"It's not safe in this hotel," he said. "We're going to have to leave it."
"And get another hotel?" asked James. He was watching a German cartoon with great interest.
"No hotels are safe. We'll have to sleep in the airport, or a train station, or something," Harry replied.
He went to the front door to their hotel room in hopes of escape, but the door wouldn't budge. Someone had done something to lock the door. Harry, Ron, James, and Ashley were all trapped inside.
Harry pulled the knife out of his pocket. It was dripping with blood. He stared blankly at it. So did Ron.
"Harry," said Ron, pointing to the body. "What do you think you're doing? You can't kill someone in a public train station! It's a good job nobody can see him over here."
"Ron, I swear I didn't do it. You have to believe me," said Harry, a slight quiver in his voice. He looked into Ron's eyes, as if begging him to believe.
Ron looked down at his feet. "I believe you," he said. Harry wasn't sure if he could believe him.
"Listen," Harry said, discarding the knife. "I know it looks odd, but I didn't kill him. I don't even think he knew where the girls were."
"Stabbing him isn't going to help us find out though, is…"
"I DIDN'T STAB HIM!" Harry screamed. Ron hadn't seen Harry this angry since Dumbledore died.
"He came to tell me something about the girls," Harry explained, "and then an assassin came and stabbed him."
"Harry, even if you didn't stab him, unless we dispose of the body fast, people will think you did it. You've got motive."
Harry hadn't realized that. Quickly, he and Ron pulled out their wands and cast a vanishing spell on the body.
"Harry!" Ron exclaimed. "We've got to get moving. We've now only five minutes to catch our train!"
The two broke out in a mad dash. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, and knocked over seven people in the rush.
"All aboard!" yelled the conductor. James and Ashley were waiting in front of the train door for Harry and Ron.
"GET ON THE TRAIN!" Harry screamed at them, but they obviously hadn't heard them. Harry had to grab them and push them in the train in order to get them on.
They made it with half a second to spare. Before they could even recover themselves, the train had started moving.
The four of them got up, examined their tickets, and found their seats. Ron and Harry where seated next to the windows, with James and Ashley on the aisle seats.
Harry stared out the window. He noticed a bird, flying away to the clouds. He wished it luck on its journey.
The train ride lasted twelve hours. By the time they made it to Frankfurt, it was already 10:00 pm. Harry and Ron decided that they needed a hotel for the night, since their plane didn't take off for three days. Ron didn't know where the closest magical place was, so they decided to stay at a muggle hotel. They found one not to far from the station called the Inter Continental.
"All right," said Harry. "Now we've found a place to stay, we need some money to pay for it. What do we have?"
"Well, if you had thought ahead like me," said Ron, "you would have thought to bring the proper currency. Muggles don't use galleons and all, do they?"
Harry hadn't thought of this, and was thankful Ron had.
"So," said Ron, "I exchanged my money before we left." Ron pulled out a wad of £100 notes.
"Ron," said Harry understandingly, "Not all muggles use the same currency."
"Exactly!" said Ron. "That is why I also got these." Ron then proceeded to pull out a large wad of both Euro and Dollar bills.
"Great! This is exactly what we need!" said Harry. Then Ron lent him one of his Euro wads, and Harry purchased one room for the four of them to share, so as not to deplete more funds than necessary.
"A little small isn't it?" said Ron as they came to their room.
"We couldn't afford a bigger one," Harry explained. Ron still didn't cheer up.
James saw the TV, and was thrilled. "It's excellent dad! Thank you!" he cheered. Then he turned it on.
"I've seen muggles use these things all the time. They can watch whichever other people they want with these things," James explained.
"Really," said Ashley, curiosity in her voice.
"Yeah. It works just like this."
On the television was a documentary about the dung beetle. "See, I don't care to look at a beetle," James said to his sister. "So I just press this button."
James, not understanding the concept of a remote, had pushed the volume up button. "Just a second, it will work," he said, and continued pushing on the volume up button.
"Quiet!" yelled Ron, but James, still not understanding the remote control concept, just started staring at it. Harry ran over, grabbed the remote, and returned the volume to a tolerable volume.
"It's the one labeled channel that you want," Harry said to James. He demonstrated by flipping channels up one.
The show on that channel was a news broadcast in the English language. The story was about a picture some tourists had taken while at a train station in London. In the background, the police had discovered Harry looming over Kingledarm's body, knife in hand, and Ron just staring at the body.
"What's happening?" Ron asked, seeing how intrigued Harry was.
"The police… someone took a picture of us with Kingledarm's body. They're after us, and I'll bet 700 galleons that it won't be long before the magic community is on to us, too."
Ron looked left to right nervously. "You don't suppose they can find us, do you?"
"Muggles keep track of everything you do with them, Ron. If they find our travel agent, chances are they'll find us in the hotel."
"What's going on?" Ashley asked, worried by her father's reaction to the news program. Harry ignored her.
"It's not safe in this hotel," he said. "We're going to have to leave it."
"And get another hotel?" asked James. He was watching a German cartoon with great interest.
"No hotels are safe. We'll have to sleep in the airport, or a train station, or something," Harry replied.
He went to the front door to their hotel room in hopes of escape, but the door wouldn't budge. Someone had done something to lock the door. Harry, Ron, James, and Ashley were all trapped inside.
