Mwa ha ha ha ha ha THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS HAVE BEGUN! YAY!
Birdie: I thought you said you hated the Christmas holidays; your dad makes you go to his house and see your family...
Reaper: Well, it's not for the WHOLE holidays, and besides... after Christmas, my 'dear' pater is going to Boston for SIX to SEVEN MONTHS!!! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! All the way to another continent! Way, way across the Atlantic... hee hee hee...
On with the chapter, and it's basically straight into the action:
********************************
November 12th, Hogwarts, early morning...
********************************
As usual, the bleachers were packed with Hogwarts students on the day of the first match of the year. And as usual, tensions were high. Gryffindor versus Slytherin was always the tensest match of the year, which was why it was always held first, so the teams wouldn't spend an entire school year building up the hatred.
The normal scheme of events had been disrupted at the end of Harry's third year, due to Malfoy's skiving.
And although Harry had never lost to Slytherin, and barely to anyone else, he was still immensely nervous about the upcoming match. Partly because Slytherins were such dirty cheaters, partly because Umbridge was already sceptical on his worth as a model Quidditch player, and the next permanent bar may be actually permanent.
He needn't have worried so much, but then, he didn't know what was going to happen.
He would have attempted to truant if he had.
"Come on Harry, Katie says if you don't hurry up, she'll strangle you in your sleep tonight!" Harry looked up to see Ruby Lawley's curly haired head poking in the doorway.
"I'll be right there Ruby" He assured her; she was looking very nervous, probably as this was her first match.
She nodded and left. Harry sighed and ruffled his untidy hair, wishing he could go back to bed and forget he existed. As he making for his firebolt, he was pleased, and somewhat lightened to see Ron and Hermione in the doorway.
"Just wanted to wish you two good luck," Hermione said with a smile. Harry smiled back,
"Nice to know you still care about me"
Hermione rolled her eyes, while Ron let out a 'Hmph' of disdain
"WE don't need luck, we're too bloody brilliant!" He said enthusiastically,
Hermione put her hand up to her head, as if to soothe a headache "Ron, last year you thought you were rubbish, this year your gods gift... make up your mind!"
Ron would have come up with a brilliant retort (maybe) when they were interrupted by one of the banes of their existence.
Draco Malfoy.
In the time to come, Harry would wonder why he didn't do something quicker. /Why/ he would wonder /why didn't I act? I should have known he was up to more than just verbal sparring, I should have realised.../
But he didn't, and although he was confused as to why Malfoy just strode up to him without the usual insults, he didn't realise that Malfoy was about to engage in something infinitely more sinister.
He began to worry when Hermione stood up and screamed. There was something in Malfoy's hands, a key of some sort, a silver-ish one engraved with emeralds in some sort of design, but Harry couldn't focus on the key that much because it all happened so fast.
So fast that there was hardly anything he could describe, simply that Malfoy came in with a smug smirking expression, held up an object, yelled something Harry couldn't be bothered to remember...
And then (With Hermione shrieking something about the instability of portal- door spells) the room exploded into defined colour.
**********************************
"Something's coming Sirius" Said Remus worriedly "And I don't think it will be easy either"
Sirius sighed, "Since when were you a seer, Moony?" He asked jokingly
But Remus had already gone back to sleep.
"Well isn't that nice..." Sirius muttered to himself, "He wakes up for about ten seconds to inform me of some catastrophic event yet to come, then falls back to sleep... Hmph!" He put an extra note of disdain on the last onomatopoeia.
Tonks rolled her eyes "How would you feel if you had to go through a devastatingly painful transformation every month for no good reason?" She snapped "I bet he wouldn't be saying that if it were you, and besides, something /is/ coming you know... we all know that..."
Sirius smiled /You don't know the marauders, Tonks/ he thought humorously " 'Spect it's that time of the month for you too, eh Tonks?" He laughed.
"Oh SHUT-UP!" she yelled, her tone escalating in volume, making Sirius jump back, afraid for his life.
He would have burst out laughing if Albus Dumbledore hadn't unexpectedly appeared at that very moment, with a look graver than any Sirius had ever seen.
And Sirius would have been surprised, if it wasn't for all the times Dumbledore had done this in the past.
Tonks sighed, dreading whatever ill news brought by the old wizard.
Dumbledore waited for what seemed like a millennia to speak, apparently having difficulty with finding the right words.
"We have an unexpected development," He forced out "There has been an accident. It involves Harry Potter..."
Sirius snapped out of his semi-interested state, and sat bolt upright, though nothing could prepare him for what he was about to hear.
*************************************************
Harry regained his senses in a bleak field; somewhere that was obviously not Hogwarts.
Cursing Malfoy's ancestors, he looked about for Ron and Hermione, finding them in a dazed state a few feet from where he was standing.
"Alright Ron?" He asked
No answer
"Alright Ron?" His tone was noticeably more urgent
"All right Harry," Ron gasped out, staring wildly at their surroundings. Harry let out a sigh of relief, that Ron had not suddenly become catatonic. Predictably, Ron started to panic.
"What the HELL is going on here, Hermione? Where the hell are we? What was that Malfoy had? How are we going to get home? What is the meaning-"?
"RON!" Hermione yelled, revealing that she wasn't catatonic either, "I'll explain it to you if you calm down!"
"CALM DOWN!!! WE HAVE NO IDEA WHERE WE ARE, AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?"
"Yes Ron," Said Hermione exasperatedly "I would appreciate it if you didn't lose your marbles..."
Harry, though also extremely shocked at recent events, was almost becoming used to these situations, so he was almost perfectly calm when he asked Hermione what had just happened.
"Hermione, What just happened?" He asked.
"Weeeeeell..." Said Hermione slowly "Has Ron ever told you that sometimes in Quidditch league matches, players and referees have been known to vanish, and turn up months later in the Sahara desert?"
Harry brought his hands up to meet his head, "Don't tell me..." He pleaded,
"Well, it appears that we're not in the Sahara desert at any rate..." Hermione said, in an attempt to be cheerful
Harry's green eyes roamed across their surroundings. In front of them, all they could see was a bleak, depressing, pale, foggy field that seemed to go on ad infinitum. Behind them, the field went on for a few metres before giving way to a sinister looking forest, darker than Harry had ever remembered seeing the forbidden one.
Hermione folded her arms, also surveying the land, "By the looks of things, I'd say we were still in the country!"*
Harry groaned, and turned off to one side, wishing there was a wall on which he could bang his head on.
Suddenly, two dark blurry shapes caught his eye, moving through the fog briskly. He tapped Ron's arm silently. "We're not alone..." He muttered
Hermione noticed too, and much to Harry's horror, called out to it.
"Hello! Hello, is there any one there? My friends and I are lost!" She cried. The two blurs quickened their pace, revealing themselves to be two people.
"Hermione!" Hissed the other two simultaneously. Hermione covered her mouth with her hand hastily, a guilty look in her eyes.
The three huddled together closer, hearts racing in anticipation.
But they needn't have worried, it turned out to be only two dark-haired children, of about eleven or twelve years, a girl and a boy.
It was hard to tell who was more shocked, the boy and girl (Who were obviously not used to having strangers randomly appear in their field) or the intrepid trio (Who were blatantly not used to meeting two little kids in the middle of no where)
Hermione broke the silence. "Ummm, excuse me..." She started, "But... are your parents any where nearby, by any chance?" She asked hopefully
The children exchanged glances, the boy spoke up first, "Ummm," He began "Uhh, they're right across the field... there..." He pointed nervously in the direction he and his companion had just come from.
The girl decided that her parents would know what to do better than her and her brother, "This way," She whispered "Follow us..."
It was difficult following the children in the fog, but somehow, the three of them managed it. Hermione was, however, eager for more information, so she began to question the children
"Ummm, if it's not too much to ask, uhh... Where are we?"
The children exchanged glances again the boy was the one who spoke, "Oh, you'd be, about... fifty miles northwest of Alba Luila..." He explained.
The three gave him a blank look
"In Alba..." The girl explained, still meeting with nothing but confused stares "Romania..." She clarified further.
ROMANIA!!!???
Hermione gasped. Ron turned to her with a murderous look
"Still in the country?!" He hissed "Still in the country?!"
Harry groaned miserably. Where was that wall when you needed it?
*******************************************************
*Ahh yes, the wonderful British countryside...
*******************************************
Reaper: I HAVE TO LEAVE IN 2 HOURS!!! I haven't CHANGED, I haven't PACKED, I haven't checked this chapter for TYPOS, and I haven't logged on to my ACCOUNT!
*faints*
Birdie: Oh well, I suppose I'd better do it... Thanx to Blank, This Parrot has ceased to be, roobes, and anyone else that liked Reapers story *mutters* all those silly people, Ha-ha Reaper's unconscious, so I can insult her reviewers! Oh you stupid people! You should be reading MY stories, MINE, ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!
Reaper: *Waking up* My precious?
Birdie: NO!
Reaper: I just thought... HEY! You can't insult my reviewers! My wonderful reviewers who took about three minutes of their lives to review me! Wish me luck at my nightmare house! Good-bye, See you all in January!
Birdie: I thought you said you hated the Christmas holidays; your dad makes you go to his house and see your family...
Reaper: Well, it's not for the WHOLE holidays, and besides... after Christmas, my 'dear' pater is going to Boston for SIX to SEVEN MONTHS!!! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! All the way to another continent! Way, way across the Atlantic... hee hee hee...
On with the chapter, and it's basically straight into the action:
********************************
November 12th, Hogwarts, early morning...
********************************
As usual, the bleachers were packed with Hogwarts students on the day of the first match of the year. And as usual, tensions were high. Gryffindor versus Slytherin was always the tensest match of the year, which was why it was always held first, so the teams wouldn't spend an entire school year building up the hatred.
The normal scheme of events had been disrupted at the end of Harry's third year, due to Malfoy's skiving.
And although Harry had never lost to Slytherin, and barely to anyone else, he was still immensely nervous about the upcoming match. Partly because Slytherins were such dirty cheaters, partly because Umbridge was already sceptical on his worth as a model Quidditch player, and the next permanent bar may be actually permanent.
He needn't have worried so much, but then, he didn't know what was going to happen.
He would have attempted to truant if he had.
"Come on Harry, Katie says if you don't hurry up, she'll strangle you in your sleep tonight!" Harry looked up to see Ruby Lawley's curly haired head poking in the doorway.
"I'll be right there Ruby" He assured her; she was looking very nervous, probably as this was her first match.
She nodded and left. Harry sighed and ruffled his untidy hair, wishing he could go back to bed and forget he existed. As he making for his firebolt, he was pleased, and somewhat lightened to see Ron and Hermione in the doorway.
"Just wanted to wish you two good luck," Hermione said with a smile. Harry smiled back,
"Nice to know you still care about me"
Hermione rolled her eyes, while Ron let out a 'Hmph' of disdain
"WE don't need luck, we're too bloody brilliant!" He said enthusiastically,
Hermione put her hand up to her head, as if to soothe a headache "Ron, last year you thought you were rubbish, this year your gods gift... make up your mind!"
Ron would have come up with a brilliant retort (maybe) when they were interrupted by one of the banes of their existence.
Draco Malfoy.
In the time to come, Harry would wonder why he didn't do something quicker. /Why/ he would wonder /why didn't I act? I should have known he was up to more than just verbal sparring, I should have realised.../
But he didn't, and although he was confused as to why Malfoy just strode up to him without the usual insults, he didn't realise that Malfoy was about to engage in something infinitely more sinister.
He began to worry when Hermione stood up and screamed. There was something in Malfoy's hands, a key of some sort, a silver-ish one engraved with emeralds in some sort of design, but Harry couldn't focus on the key that much because it all happened so fast.
So fast that there was hardly anything he could describe, simply that Malfoy came in with a smug smirking expression, held up an object, yelled something Harry couldn't be bothered to remember...
And then (With Hermione shrieking something about the instability of portal- door spells) the room exploded into defined colour.
**********************************
"Something's coming Sirius" Said Remus worriedly "And I don't think it will be easy either"
Sirius sighed, "Since when were you a seer, Moony?" He asked jokingly
But Remus had already gone back to sleep.
"Well isn't that nice..." Sirius muttered to himself, "He wakes up for about ten seconds to inform me of some catastrophic event yet to come, then falls back to sleep... Hmph!" He put an extra note of disdain on the last onomatopoeia.
Tonks rolled her eyes "How would you feel if you had to go through a devastatingly painful transformation every month for no good reason?" She snapped "I bet he wouldn't be saying that if it were you, and besides, something /is/ coming you know... we all know that..."
Sirius smiled /You don't know the marauders, Tonks/ he thought humorously " 'Spect it's that time of the month for you too, eh Tonks?" He laughed.
"Oh SHUT-UP!" she yelled, her tone escalating in volume, making Sirius jump back, afraid for his life.
He would have burst out laughing if Albus Dumbledore hadn't unexpectedly appeared at that very moment, with a look graver than any Sirius had ever seen.
And Sirius would have been surprised, if it wasn't for all the times Dumbledore had done this in the past.
Tonks sighed, dreading whatever ill news brought by the old wizard.
Dumbledore waited for what seemed like a millennia to speak, apparently having difficulty with finding the right words.
"We have an unexpected development," He forced out "There has been an accident. It involves Harry Potter..."
Sirius snapped out of his semi-interested state, and sat bolt upright, though nothing could prepare him for what he was about to hear.
*************************************************
Harry regained his senses in a bleak field; somewhere that was obviously not Hogwarts.
Cursing Malfoy's ancestors, he looked about for Ron and Hermione, finding them in a dazed state a few feet from where he was standing.
"Alright Ron?" He asked
No answer
"Alright Ron?" His tone was noticeably more urgent
"All right Harry," Ron gasped out, staring wildly at their surroundings. Harry let out a sigh of relief, that Ron had not suddenly become catatonic. Predictably, Ron started to panic.
"What the HELL is going on here, Hermione? Where the hell are we? What was that Malfoy had? How are we going to get home? What is the meaning-"?
"RON!" Hermione yelled, revealing that she wasn't catatonic either, "I'll explain it to you if you calm down!"
"CALM DOWN!!! WE HAVE NO IDEA WHERE WE ARE, AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?"
"Yes Ron," Said Hermione exasperatedly "I would appreciate it if you didn't lose your marbles..."
Harry, though also extremely shocked at recent events, was almost becoming used to these situations, so he was almost perfectly calm when he asked Hermione what had just happened.
"Hermione, What just happened?" He asked.
"Weeeeeell..." Said Hermione slowly "Has Ron ever told you that sometimes in Quidditch league matches, players and referees have been known to vanish, and turn up months later in the Sahara desert?"
Harry brought his hands up to meet his head, "Don't tell me..." He pleaded,
"Well, it appears that we're not in the Sahara desert at any rate..." Hermione said, in an attempt to be cheerful
Harry's green eyes roamed across their surroundings. In front of them, all they could see was a bleak, depressing, pale, foggy field that seemed to go on ad infinitum. Behind them, the field went on for a few metres before giving way to a sinister looking forest, darker than Harry had ever remembered seeing the forbidden one.
Hermione folded her arms, also surveying the land, "By the looks of things, I'd say we were still in the country!"*
Harry groaned, and turned off to one side, wishing there was a wall on which he could bang his head on.
Suddenly, two dark blurry shapes caught his eye, moving through the fog briskly. He tapped Ron's arm silently. "We're not alone..." He muttered
Hermione noticed too, and much to Harry's horror, called out to it.
"Hello! Hello, is there any one there? My friends and I are lost!" She cried. The two blurs quickened their pace, revealing themselves to be two people.
"Hermione!" Hissed the other two simultaneously. Hermione covered her mouth with her hand hastily, a guilty look in her eyes.
The three huddled together closer, hearts racing in anticipation.
But they needn't have worried, it turned out to be only two dark-haired children, of about eleven or twelve years, a girl and a boy.
It was hard to tell who was more shocked, the boy and girl (Who were obviously not used to having strangers randomly appear in their field) or the intrepid trio (Who were blatantly not used to meeting two little kids in the middle of no where)
Hermione broke the silence. "Ummm, excuse me..." She started, "But... are your parents any where nearby, by any chance?" She asked hopefully
The children exchanged glances, the boy spoke up first, "Ummm," He began "Uhh, they're right across the field... there..." He pointed nervously in the direction he and his companion had just come from.
The girl decided that her parents would know what to do better than her and her brother, "This way," She whispered "Follow us..."
It was difficult following the children in the fog, but somehow, the three of them managed it. Hermione was, however, eager for more information, so she began to question the children
"Ummm, if it's not too much to ask, uhh... Where are we?"
The children exchanged glances again the boy was the one who spoke, "Oh, you'd be, about... fifty miles northwest of Alba Luila..." He explained.
The three gave him a blank look
"In Alba..." The girl explained, still meeting with nothing but confused stares "Romania..." She clarified further.
ROMANIA!!!???
Hermione gasped. Ron turned to her with a murderous look
"Still in the country?!" He hissed "Still in the country?!"
Harry groaned miserably. Where was that wall when you needed it?
*******************************************************
*Ahh yes, the wonderful British countryside...
*******************************************
Reaper: I HAVE TO LEAVE IN 2 HOURS!!! I haven't CHANGED, I haven't PACKED, I haven't checked this chapter for TYPOS, and I haven't logged on to my ACCOUNT!
*faints*
Birdie: Oh well, I suppose I'd better do it... Thanx to Blank, This Parrot has ceased to be, roobes, and anyone else that liked Reapers story *mutters* all those silly people, Ha-ha Reaper's unconscious, so I can insult her reviewers! Oh you stupid people! You should be reading MY stories, MINE, ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!
Reaper: *Waking up* My precious?
Birdie: NO!
Reaper: I just thought... HEY! You can't insult my reviewers! My wonderful reviewers who took about three minutes of their lives to review me! Wish me luck at my nightmare house! Good-bye, See you all in January!