Chapter Five

There was another splash as Frito landed next to John. He sunk below the foaming water for a moment, before raising back up on a crest. John squeaked in his hamster form as the waves swept him about, pulling him under, and throwing him into the air. John tried to concentrate on becoming a human again, but he couldn't. The stormy sea was too violent.

Frito gasped for air, shivering violently. He made an attempt to rub the salty water from his eyes, but he soon found that to be a mistake. He had opened his mouth when trying to blink the running water out, and immediately swallowed the freezing water around him. He choked, the salty taste filling his mouth, water flowing down his chin.

Through blurred eyes, the young elf looked around for his friend. John's hamster form was barley distinguishable from the foamy waves he was lost in. Frito reached out for the hamster, but the water swept John away. The rain pounded down against the water, causing the small hamster to be flung around in the sea every time a rain drop collided with the ocean near him.

The albino hamster sneezed water from his burning nose, and tried again to concentrate on turning human.

"M-master John!" Frito shouted over the immense noise of the rushing sea and falling rain.

John couldn't really reply, but let out an encouraging squeak to reassure Frito he was safe. Now if only John could convince himself that he was safe. If he didn't manage to turn back soon, he would be lost to the ocean, pulled under and unable to swim back up, or worse…

John screwed up his face, squealing, and then quite suddenly, he had a human leg. John felt himself sink a few inches into the water, the cause being, with out a doubt, the recent addition of the leg. Then, John didn't become a human, but the most ugly hamster in the world.

His fur had disappeared, his skin turning the dark color of his hooded cloak. The whiskers remained, and so did his front claws and one of his hamster legs, but the leg that had already turned back human, re-grew fur. Then the leg shrunk slightly, and the rest of the body grew to about two feet.

John knew he didn't want to look at himself, but he hoped that his distracting form would attract Frito's attention. And his hopes were proven right, as Frito was able to make out the black and white creature rising up and down in the waves. Frito swam his best through the large swells, every now and then being pushed off course by a freak wave.

Finally, he reached John's side and clutched onto him.

"M-m-master John," Frito stuttered, spitting some of the water out of his mouth. "You are pr-probably the ug-ugliest hamster I've ever seen." John just glared back at the elf, still with a mouth incapable of speech.

If John and Frito thought their trouble was almost over, they were wrong. The sea only seemed to get more rough as the night wore on (or was it day?) and the storm didn't show any signs of letting up.

John stared up at a small sign, groggily.

"Welcome…" He read, slowly. "…welcome to Stranraer…" It took a moment for John to realize what he was staring at, but eventually his mind seemed to register the fact that he and Frito had finally arrived in a town. After washing up on a shore, John and Frito had taken to wandering lonely fields until they found signs of civilization. And now they had.

"Fr-frito," John said, battling away the difficulty of communication caused by his extremely dry mouth. "Frito, where here."

"Huh?" Frito croaked, looking about, wakening from a walking half sleep. "H-h-here?"

"Well," John said, pulling the elf away from the sign and down a road. "Were somewhere. I think we may be back in Scotland…"

Frito perked up. "We're in Scotland!" He dashed off into the town, but John grabbed him on the arm and held him back.
"Frito, you're a house elf," John said, sternly. "If you run out into the middle of a muggle town, you can't help but get noticed."

Frito stopped, and stared at the town hungrily. John patted him on the shoulder, and Frito turned around as John pulled a small bonnet and dress from one of his large inside pockets. John gave Frito a wide grin, and raised his eyebrows.

The door to a small restaurant swung open and in walked John Starlight, followed by a bustling Frito. The elf looked positively miserable in a blue flowered dress and pale wig covered by a white laced bonnet.

The two took a seat at a table by a window, and were soon greeted by a waiter.

John smiled at the waiter and read his and Frito's orders off a flimsy menu. The black suited man nodded, and went off to retrieve their orders. John turned to Frito, and grinned.

"Lucky I still had that costume from when we went to France, huh?" John said. Frito looked around the cramped café nervously.

"Lucky?!" he shrieked. "I don't-t like this cost-costume. I don't like this restaurant. And I especially don't like them."

He pointed behind him, where three old men were grinning toothless grins at their table. "Those three guys haven't t-took their eyes off m-me since we came into this place…"

John laughed. "What are you talking-" John watched Frito blow a kiss back at the men, and one of them made a motion as though he was catching it. "Oh…"

He walked over to the men and waved friendly. He leaned in close and whispered.

"Hi. How are ya. I see you've been eyeing that woman over there."

One of the men shrugged.

"Well let me tell you something. Keep your filthy eyes of my Great Grandma Lay Lays."

The men decided to take that time to use the restroom, and John returned to his table.

"There," John sighed. "Better now, Gran?"

Frito crossed his arms and pouted. John rolled his eyes and spotted an old, yellow piece of paper pinned to the wall across the room. He and Frito drew near it, and found it to be map of Scotland.

"Jeez." John let out a long low whistle . He pointed to a dot on the map labeled, Stranraer, and turned to the elf.
"This is where we are, Frito." John gestured to the dot on the bottom of the worn map. "We're in Southern Scotland. We want to be up around here, in Northern Scotland." He pointed an area at the top of the map, and Frito's mouth fell open.

"How are we s-supposed t-to get-t there?" Frito shrieked. "C-can you apparate us?"

John grinned, sheepishly. "Uh…can you?"

Frito's mouth dropped even further.

"M-master John?! Are you t-telling me I'm stranded seventy thousand kilometers away from Hogsmeade, in a costume that-t makes me look like freaking George Washington in a night dress, and you can't even apparate us… BACK!" Frito screamed, knocking his wig askew.

The shabby waiter had returned, so John led the still ranting Frito back to their table. At the sight of the food Frito stopped screaming, and a loud growl erupted from his stomach.

The elf made an attempt to gobble up as a much of the meat and vegetables as he could, but John stopped him.

"Sorry, Frito. But we have to save this food for the trip. I'm out of money."

Frito pulled savagely at his bonnet clad wig, as John handed him a small strip of meat. The young elf found himself longing for the meal he had had with Christopher Draconian. Why hadn't he eaten more?

"Can't-t you just conjure some food-d every time we get hungry?" Frito moaned, stuffing his 'meal' into his mouth, as John wrapped the remained of the food up tightly in napkins.

"Chris has my wand," John answered, piling the wrapped food in his pockets. "The most magic I can probably do right now is shatter a few windows." John emptied his wallet to pay for the lunch, then the two went outside.

"YOU"RE COMPLETELY OUT OF MONEY?!" Frito gasped.
"
Frito! Stop Panicking!"

"M-master John! We're stranded over fifty thousand k-kilometers from our home without any m-money! What do you s-suggest I do?!"

"I suggest you pace yourself better," John grinned. "You don't want to wear out your legs before we even get out of town!"

Frito turned white as a ghost. "We're walking?!"