Harry Potter and the Kingdom of the Mountain
A Fanfiction by Arrows' Biggest Fan
DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter, etc., does not belong to the present author, who begs not to be sent to Azkaban.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Last Hope of the World, by the same author. Please read that story first. Also, please visit my website ) for further information on the stories. Feel free to review, but you are under no obligation to do so.
This story has been abandoned. I have no intention of writing anything more in the near future or in the far future. I'm only leaving it on the site for the benefit of anyone mad enough to want to read what I have actually written. If you want to find out what else happens in this story, write it yourself.
Chapter 1: A Disturbance
"And he takes it! Dodges a Bludger, dodges the Keeper – GOAL!" The announcer's voice boomed through the stadium. "The Chudley Cannons' first of the match! So – three hundred and sixty to ten. And we're off again – it's Dupont …"
Harry Potter watched as the Montrose Magpies' French Chaser took the red Quaffle and sped up the pitch with it. His friend Ron would be happy when he returned with the burgers. He was a fanatic Chudley Cannons supporter, and went to every game where possible. Harry, being his best friend, generally had little choice but to come with him to the matches, which were almost exclusively full of woe and suffering.
Luckily for Harry, he and Ron were both training to be Aurors, Dark wizard catchers, at Andros College, and were away from home for more than half the year. Very few people every got through the rigorous courses and testing, but Harry thought he might be in with a chance. Two years ago, he had defeated the most deadly Dark Lord for a century, Voldemort, and less than two months ago had stopped a new Dark Lord, Amarenox, from plunging both the magical and non-magical worlds into ever-lasting darkness.
Ron returned, holding two burgers in one hand and a large bottle of Butterbeer in the other. He was tall and lanky, with bright red hair and freckles, wearing wizard's robes of the Chudley Cannon orange. He handed Harry his burger, and glanced up at the scoreboard in the corner of the stadium. "Did we score?" he asked, sitting down and taking a bite of his own burger.
"Yeah," replied Harry. He was a tall man, slightly skinny, with long black hair and wearing sunglasses. His ears were pierced, a new development to his appearance. "Didn't you hear the cheering?"
Ron cleared his mouth of bread and beef before speaking. "Yeah, I s'pose. Thought it was the Magpies. Let's watch."
Things continued to go badly for the Cannons. After a Cannons Chaser missed what was practically an open goal, Ron commented:
"Oh well, we'll do better next time. We'll have Suzuki coming from the Toyohashi Tengu. Two million Galleons, he cost us."
Harry racked his brains for something reassuring to tell Ron. "Don't worry," he said finally. "It's only the first game of the season. You have plenty more – what's that?"
A loud bang had gone off with a flash of bright light behind the opposite stand, which was a rickety affair made of wood that was only standing up because of magic. Harry looked up, expecting to see the stand collapse any second, but it didn't. The rest of the stadium had also looked up briefly, but turned back to the match when it appeared that nothing was going on.
"Ignore it," said Ron. "Just a Muggle messing around."
"There're Muggle Repelling Charms, remember?"
Ron looked slightly flustered. "Okay, a wizard messing around then. Still, it's nothing."
They returned to watching the game and chewing their burgers. The Montrose Seeker had spotted the tiny Golden Snitch and was speeding after it, the fans cheering him on; to try to win one hundred and fifty points for his team and win the game. The Cannons Seeker also gave chase, hoping to reclaim some lost goal difference, but the Montrose Seeker had a head start. Even so, the Cannons were gaining, they were nearly there –
A solid iron Bludger crashed into the shoulder of the Magpies' Seeker, causing him to peel over. It had been sent by one of Chudley's Beaters. The Cannons' orange-clad supporters roared on their Chaser, but he too was hit by a Bludger, this time from the Montrose Magpies Beater. He fell off his broom, hitting the ground with a thud, and the crowd groaned.
BANG! An explosion rocked the stadium, and a blaze of light ripped across the pitch. The fans were looking around, confused; the commentator had faltered …
"Let's go," Harry whispered in Ron's ear.
"What?" exclaimed Ron. "Look, I paid for these tickets …"
"I'll refund them," replied Harry, fumbling in his pockets for money. "We need to investigate."
"Why?" said Ron, taking Harry's coins.
"Because we're Aurors," said Harry. He grabbed his bag and slung it onto his back. "It's our job."
"We've had a year's training," argued Ron. "Look, there are professionals –"
"Who aren't anywhere near," Harry countered. "We're going." He walked along the almost vacant row of seats in the Cannons section of the stands. Reluctantly, Ron followed. As they left the stadium, there was a great cheer; and the two watched a Magpies' Chaser spiralling above the stands in his typical goal celebration.
"Face it, you were going to lose anyway," pointed out Harry.
Ron nodded glumly. "Maybe I should play for them." He had been Keeper for the Gryffindor House team at his and Harry's school, Hogwarts. Harry had been Seeker.
The pair walked in the direction of the explosion in silence. Ron was obviously brooding over his team's misfortune, and Harry didn't feel like either cheering him up or teasing him.
They arrived at the area after a few minutes walking through the deserted grassy surroundings of the stadium. It was clear that something had been going on. A large hole, like the gaping mouth of a whale, had been blasted into the sloping lawn behind the stand. It was at least forty feet wide and just as high. Inside, bare rock had been exposed, revealing a narrow tunnel leading into the hillside.
"Wow," breathed Ron. "Why on earth would anyone do that?"
"I don't know," replied Harry. "That's what I'm going to find out."
Ron looked incredulous. "No!"
"Why not?" asked Harry.
Ron paused, searching for a good answer. "I – er – it could be dangerous. It's obviously just been put here. You know – it could fall in, or something. I'll – er – I'll just Apparate back to London and tell someone at the Ministry, and you can keep watch. If anyone comes out – you can stop them, you're good at that sort of thing."
Harry decided not to argue. It wasn't fair to force Ron to come up with more arguments. He was obviously scared stiff about the hole, and who could blame him? The blackness was ominous and not at all welcoming. Anyway, someone was bound to come out soon. He could still do something.
"Okay," he said. "We'll do that. You go off, and I'll look around for clues. Bye."
With a loud crack, Ron disappeared. Taking out his wand, Harry started to search the cave mouth for anything that could be of interest. After all, this didn't happen every day.
