Disclaimer: You know already.
To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames, so back off, if you know what's good for you.
Thank you for your reviews!
Chapter 3: To the Castle
The next morning, Hermy was awaked by Mrs Jones, who marched into her room and pulled the curtains aside.
"Wake up, you lazy girl!" she screeched.
Hermy shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight with her hands and mentally groaned.
Mrs Jones dumped something beside her bed and Hermy, who slowly got used to the sun, looked the thing. Was that a suitcase?
"Get up." Mrs Jones ordered.
Hermy sat up slowly and Mrs Jones yanked the sheets off her immediately. "Get your things and pack them into this suitcase as soon as possible."
"Why?" asked Hermy.
Mrs Jones dropped the sheets and folded her arms. "Because I have employed another new servant. I don't need you anymore."
Hermy's mouth dropped open. "What?"
"You heard me. Now pack your things and get out." said Mrs Jones coldly.
"But, but I have nowhere else to go!" Hermy protested.
"I don't care. Now are you going or not?"
Hermy didn't move. She was too shocked.
Mrs Jones mistook her shock as stubbornness. She glared at her, then walked to her cupboard. She opened it and pulled out her golden gown. Without warning, she put her hands at the collar and tore it apart.
Hermy's eyes widened at her actions. At first, there was a horrified silence. Then it was broken by Hermy's sniffing.
"If you still don't move, I'm going to do something horrible to your precious necklace." sneered Mrs Jones, throwing the dress aside.
Hermy gasped and her hand flew to her necklace. She gripped on the heart tightly, as if Mrs Jones was going to take it away from her any moment.
"Well?" asked Mrs Jones.
Hermy got out of the bed and rushed to her cupboard. She took out her work clothes, apron, boots and threw them on the bed. She then opened the suitcase and put her stuff in. As she did, she wept silently over her loss of her only gown and her place in the house.
"Stop crying and hurry up." snapped Mrs Jones and picked up her dress.
She was about to toss it into the trash bin and Hermione shouted, "No!"
She practically jumped onto Mrs Jones to grab her dress back. "I still want it."
Mrs Jones raised an eyebrow at the dress and with disgust, pushed it into Hermy's arms. "Here, take it."
Hermy took it and stuffed it along with the rest of her belongings into the suit case.
"Now get changed and get out of here." said Mrs Jones.
Hermy dragged the suitcase out of Mrs Jones' gates, wearing a cap and a long brown coat. Her tears were still wet on her cheeks. She pushed her cap down tightly over her head and looked around aimlessly, wondering where to go.
"Oh well, anywhere besides here." she thought and dragged her suitcase away.
Hermy walked slowly and tiredly for the next hours, when she arrived the outermost of London, where there was not much household, she was so tired that she didn't watch where she going. She tripped over a rock on the road and quickly, she flung out her right arm to break her fall and she landed on the floor.
BANG
Suddenly, a triple-decker purple bus appeared out of nowhere, running past a strolling couple (who didn't notice the presence of it at all) before it screeched into a halt in front of Hermy, nearly crushed her arm with its wheel.
Hermy stared in shock at the distance between her arm and the wheel (which was just a few inches) and removed it from its place. She turned over her body, sat up and moved away from the bus with her backside still on the ground.
A man in a purple uniform jumped out of the bus and said, "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch and wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Stunpike, and I will be your conductor this afternoon......"
Hermy blinked. Did he just say witch and wizard?
Stan stared at Hermy, who was still on the ground. "Hey, what were you doing, sitting on the ground?"
"I fell over."
"That reminds me of 'Arry Potter, when 'e woz younger. 'E fell over when 'e saw the bus too, di'n't he, Ern?"
"Ar." said Ernie.
Hermy had no idea who was Stan talking about, even though the name sounded kind of familiar to her. She got up, brushing her coat with her hands.
"So, where do you want to go?" asked Stan, changing the topic.
"Hogwarts." said Hermy immediately, then she frowned, wondering where did she hear that word from. Hogwarts didn't even seem like a word.
Stan raised his eyebrows in surprise. "'Ogwarts? Are you sure? Nobody goes there anymore. That place is like a graveyard, isn't it, Ern?"
"Ar." said Ernie again.
"Yes, I'm sure." said Hermy, wondering again why she would agree to go to a so-called graveyard. She couldn't explain it herself, but something about this Hogwarts place made her wanted to go there.
"All righty then, so that will be eleven Sickles." said Stan, holding out his hand.
Hermy stared at him. She figured what Stan meant was the money for the ride, but she hadn't got any of those things that Stan was talking about.
"I don't have money." said Hermy in the end, which was true, Mrs Jones never gave her pay.
Stan frowned slightly at her. "You need to 'ave eleven Sickles for a ride."
Hermy looked as if she was going to cry. "I don't have any Sickles." she said quietly.
Stan looked at her pathetic state. "Aw, please don' start cryin', Miss."
"Stan, I think we should give her a free ride. She looked pitiful." said Ernie at the wheel.
"Well, I guess it's nice to do summfink good fer a change." said Stan. "Come on, Miss. We'll give you a free ride."
Hermy smiled and Stan went to get her suitcase. "'Ere, let me carry your stuff."
"'Ere we are, Miss, 'Ogwarts. Look dreadful, innit?" said Stan as the bus stopped abruptly in front the rusty gates of Hogwarts.
Hermy looked out at the place. The castle was ruined. Most of the bricks had fallen off from the walls, a tower had broken off completely from the castle itself and crushed into pieces on the ground. The ground itself was brown and full of dead weeds. Windows were smashed.
"A lot worse than the Shrieking Shack, if you ask me." said Stan.
Hermy wasn't listening. She felt like crying again at the state of the castle, as if she had deep feelings for the place and was sad to see it like this.
"Are you getting' off, Miss?" asked Stan.
"Hm, yeah." said Hermy, and got off the bus with Stan. He handed her the suitcase and got back on the bus. "See ya next time, Miss!"
The bus drove off.
Hermy stared after the bus for quite a while before she turned her attention to the castle.
"Oh well, might as well explore this place, I have nowhere else to go anyway."
She pushed the gates open. They squeaked noisily as they had not been oiled for a very long time. The she went in.
Hermy went through the huge but brittle oak front doors and to the musty, dark Entrance Hall. She looked up in awe, wondering how high the ceiling was. There was an entrance at the side of the Hall, leading to somewhere else. Wondering whether to go up the stairs or through the doors, Hermy thought for a while before deciding to go through the entrance, leaving her suit case behind.
Her footsteps echoed through the Hall as she walked across it to the entrance. She stopped at the double doors and gasped. The place was in a total mess. Big, glass pieces were shattered all over the floor. Years and years of dust covered them like a blanket. There were four old Christmas trees at each corner, one of them was down, its ornaments were either broke or faded.
"This place is giving me the creeps." said Hermy slowly.
Suddenly, she saw the place as good as new, lit by thousands of floating candles. Students in black school robes were sitting in four long tables, eating their food from golden plates and drank from golden goblets. Adults were sitting at another long table at the top of the Hall. The ceiling, (or at least Hermy thought there was a ceiling) was showing a clear blue sky.
The place was alive.
Hermy blinked and rubbed her eyes. She looked again and found the place quiet again, as messy as before.
She shivered. Thinking that she should go somewhere else, she quickly left the place. She went up the marble staircase, which had bits and pieces broken off the steps and walked pass empty portraits. Her legs automatically led the way, as if she knew where to go. She walked through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries, climbed more staircases (which cracked whenever she stepped on them).
Hermy reached to the end of a corridor and stopped. she wondered why she stopped here, in front of a slashed painting. She suddenly noticed something behind the canvas. Pushing them aside, she revealed a round hole in the wall.
She looked in and her mouth dropped open. The painting was actually a secret entrance to a room. She stepped in and arrived into a round, dark room. The chairs and table were overturned, broke and badly slashed. The fireplace was cold. The carpet looked as if it had not been washed for years. Holes were found on it. The dirty window was wide open.
Hermy looked around. A mixture of feelings like sadness and familiarity filled her body. She felt like she had come here before, when the place was full of life. Slowly, she walked to a chair that had not been knocked over and sat down. She stared silently at the room.
A moment later, she saw the place new and alive again, students were sitting at the squashy chairs, playing cards or chatting. Some were writing with old-fashioned quills. The fire burnt brightly at the fireplace.
Hermy blinked again and shook her head with her eyes squeezed shut. She opened them and found the place dead, as silent as a tomb again.
"I'm imagining things." said Hermy in fear.
Suddenly, someone behind her said, "Hello."
Hermy turned around, saw the speaker and gave a short scream.
To flamers: I don't take kindly to flames, so back off, if you know what's good for you.
Thank you for your reviews!
Chapter 3: To the Castle
The next morning, Hermy was awaked by Mrs Jones, who marched into her room and pulled the curtains aside.
"Wake up, you lazy girl!" she screeched.
Hermy shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight with her hands and mentally groaned.
Mrs Jones dumped something beside her bed and Hermy, who slowly got used to the sun, looked the thing. Was that a suitcase?
"Get up." Mrs Jones ordered.
Hermy sat up slowly and Mrs Jones yanked the sheets off her immediately. "Get your things and pack them into this suitcase as soon as possible."
"Why?" asked Hermy.
Mrs Jones dropped the sheets and folded her arms. "Because I have employed another new servant. I don't need you anymore."
Hermy's mouth dropped open. "What?"
"You heard me. Now pack your things and get out." said Mrs Jones coldly.
"But, but I have nowhere else to go!" Hermy protested.
"I don't care. Now are you going or not?"
Hermy didn't move. She was too shocked.
Mrs Jones mistook her shock as stubbornness. She glared at her, then walked to her cupboard. She opened it and pulled out her golden gown. Without warning, she put her hands at the collar and tore it apart.
Hermy's eyes widened at her actions. At first, there was a horrified silence. Then it was broken by Hermy's sniffing.
"If you still don't move, I'm going to do something horrible to your precious necklace." sneered Mrs Jones, throwing the dress aside.
Hermy gasped and her hand flew to her necklace. She gripped on the heart tightly, as if Mrs Jones was going to take it away from her any moment.
"Well?" asked Mrs Jones.
Hermy got out of the bed and rushed to her cupboard. She took out her work clothes, apron, boots and threw them on the bed. She then opened the suitcase and put her stuff in. As she did, she wept silently over her loss of her only gown and her place in the house.
"Stop crying and hurry up." snapped Mrs Jones and picked up her dress.
She was about to toss it into the trash bin and Hermione shouted, "No!"
She practically jumped onto Mrs Jones to grab her dress back. "I still want it."
Mrs Jones raised an eyebrow at the dress and with disgust, pushed it into Hermy's arms. "Here, take it."
Hermy took it and stuffed it along with the rest of her belongings into the suit case.
"Now get changed and get out of here." said Mrs Jones.
Hermy dragged the suitcase out of Mrs Jones' gates, wearing a cap and a long brown coat. Her tears were still wet on her cheeks. She pushed her cap down tightly over her head and looked around aimlessly, wondering where to go.
"Oh well, anywhere besides here." she thought and dragged her suitcase away.
Hermy walked slowly and tiredly for the next hours, when she arrived the outermost of London, where there was not much household, she was so tired that she didn't watch where she going. She tripped over a rock on the road and quickly, she flung out her right arm to break her fall and she landed on the floor.
BANG
Suddenly, a triple-decker purple bus appeared out of nowhere, running past a strolling couple (who didn't notice the presence of it at all) before it screeched into a halt in front of Hermy, nearly crushed her arm with its wheel.
Hermy stared in shock at the distance between her arm and the wheel (which was just a few inches) and removed it from its place. She turned over her body, sat up and moved away from the bus with her backside still on the ground.
A man in a purple uniform jumped out of the bus and said, "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch and wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Stunpike, and I will be your conductor this afternoon......"
Hermy blinked. Did he just say witch and wizard?
Stan stared at Hermy, who was still on the ground. "Hey, what were you doing, sitting on the ground?"
"I fell over."
"That reminds me of 'Arry Potter, when 'e woz younger. 'E fell over when 'e saw the bus too, di'n't he, Ern?"
"Ar." said Ernie.
Hermy had no idea who was Stan talking about, even though the name sounded kind of familiar to her. She got up, brushing her coat with her hands.
"So, where do you want to go?" asked Stan, changing the topic.
"Hogwarts." said Hermy immediately, then she frowned, wondering where did she hear that word from. Hogwarts didn't even seem like a word.
Stan raised his eyebrows in surprise. "'Ogwarts? Are you sure? Nobody goes there anymore. That place is like a graveyard, isn't it, Ern?"
"Ar." said Ernie again.
"Yes, I'm sure." said Hermy, wondering again why she would agree to go to a so-called graveyard. She couldn't explain it herself, but something about this Hogwarts place made her wanted to go there.
"All righty then, so that will be eleven Sickles." said Stan, holding out his hand.
Hermy stared at him. She figured what Stan meant was the money for the ride, but she hadn't got any of those things that Stan was talking about.
"I don't have money." said Hermy in the end, which was true, Mrs Jones never gave her pay.
Stan frowned slightly at her. "You need to 'ave eleven Sickles for a ride."
Hermy looked as if she was going to cry. "I don't have any Sickles." she said quietly.
Stan looked at her pathetic state. "Aw, please don' start cryin', Miss."
"Stan, I think we should give her a free ride. She looked pitiful." said Ernie at the wheel.
"Well, I guess it's nice to do summfink good fer a change." said Stan. "Come on, Miss. We'll give you a free ride."
Hermy smiled and Stan went to get her suitcase. "'Ere, let me carry your stuff."
"'Ere we are, Miss, 'Ogwarts. Look dreadful, innit?" said Stan as the bus stopped abruptly in front the rusty gates of Hogwarts.
Hermy looked out at the place. The castle was ruined. Most of the bricks had fallen off from the walls, a tower had broken off completely from the castle itself and crushed into pieces on the ground. The ground itself was brown and full of dead weeds. Windows were smashed.
"A lot worse than the Shrieking Shack, if you ask me." said Stan.
Hermy wasn't listening. She felt like crying again at the state of the castle, as if she had deep feelings for the place and was sad to see it like this.
"Are you getting' off, Miss?" asked Stan.
"Hm, yeah." said Hermy, and got off the bus with Stan. He handed her the suitcase and got back on the bus. "See ya next time, Miss!"
The bus drove off.
Hermy stared after the bus for quite a while before she turned her attention to the castle.
"Oh well, might as well explore this place, I have nowhere else to go anyway."
She pushed the gates open. They squeaked noisily as they had not been oiled for a very long time. The she went in.
Hermy went through the huge but brittle oak front doors and to the musty, dark Entrance Hall. She looked up in awe, wondering how high the ceiling was. There was an entrance at the side of the Hall, leading to somewhere else. Wondering whether to go up the stairs or through the doors, Hermy thought for a while before deciding to go through the entrance, leaving her suit case behind.
Her footsteps echoed through the Hall as she walked across it to the entrance. She stopped at the double doors and gasped. The place was in a total mess. Big, glass pieces were shattered all over the floor. Years and years of dust covered them like a blanket. There were four old Christmas trees at each corner, one of them was down, its ornaments were either broke or faded.
"This place is giving me the creeps." said Hermy slowly.
Suddenly, she saw the place as good as new, lit by thousands of floating candles. Students in black school robes were sitting in four long tables, eating their food from golden plates and drank from golden goblets. Adults were sitting at another long table at the top of the Hall. The ceiling, (or at least Hermy thought there was a ceiling) was showing a clear blue sky.
The place was alive.
Hermy blinked and rubbed her eyes. She looked again and found the place quiet again, as messy as before.
She shivered. Thinking that she should go somewhere else, she quickly left the place. She went up the marble staircase, which had bits and pieces broken off the steps and walked pass empty portraits. Her legs automatically led the way, as if she knew where to go. She walked through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries, climbed more staircases (which cracked whenever she stepped on them).
Hermy reached to the end of a corridor and stopped. she wondered why she stopped here, in front of a slashed painting. She suddenly noticed something behind the canvas. Pushing them aside, she revealed a round hole in the wall.
She looked in and her mouth dropped open. The painting was actually a secret entrance to a room. She stepped in and arrived into a round, dark room. The chairs and table were overturned, broke and badly slashed. The fireplace was cold. The carpet looked as if it had not been washed for years. Holes were found on it. The dirty window was wide open.
Hermy looked around. A mixture of feelings like sadness and familiarity filled her body. She felt like she had come here before, when the place was full of life. Slowly, she walked to a chair that had not been knocked over and sat down. She stared silently at the room.
A moment later, she saw the place new and alive again, students were sitting at the squashy chairs, playing cards or chatting. Some were writing with old-fashioned quills. The fire burnt brightly at the fireplace.
Hermy blinked again and shook her head with her eyes squeezed shut. She opened them and found the place dead, as silent as a tomb again.
"I'm imagining things." said Hermy in fear.
Suddenly, someone behind her said, "Hello."
Hermy turned around, saw the speaker and gave a short scream.