Chapter 6- A Few Pips Short of an Orange
Lucius had taken his findings straight to his master. He was so proud of his idea and he was desperate for The Dark Lords thoughts on it.
Obviously he had been pleased with his most loyal Death Eater and promised great rewards for his efforts.
Lucius had expected no less.
He was told to go and rest, for it would be a big day for them tomorrow. Lucius would call his son home from Hogwarts, and complete the training himself if necessary.
He did as he was instructed and smiled to himself as he fell to sleep, finally feeling things were going his way.
Voldemort however did not rest. He had to be sure this idea would work, and so, a small test was required.
He knew that it was a difficult spell to cast and it was over an extremely long distance which didn't help matters, and this was why Draco was needed.
However, he also knew that he could cast it with temporary effects, 10 minutes at most. He had to do it now, he couldn't have Muggles finding out yet, not when he was unprepared, so in the early hours of the morning would be the best time, when many were in bed.
Even if they did see it, he thought, it would be gone soon after and would be thought mad if they alerted anyone. After all, it wasn't everyday that you saw your local run down old mansion turn into a huge castle, that looked as if it was lived in by hundreds and had been for many, many, many years!
And so he set to work, muttering incantations and filling the room with light from his wand as he read over the instructions in the book Lucius had brought him.
In the early hours of the next morning, when the spell was complete, a green light shone proudly from the tip of his wand. It had worked. Hogwarts was vulnerable, if only for a short while. Hogwarts sat, for the entire muggle world to see.
"Shit Harry? What is it?"
"Its---ah! Its my scar" Harry had his eyes clamped shut, clutching his forehead and leaning forward over his knees as he sat by the tree with Draco.
They had been watching the sun rise together, mainly because they couldn't be bothered to move from their comfortable and warm places. They normally did this on a night after training, not wanting to part from each others company and so agreeing that Monday nights would be their nights to be friends together, away from everyone else. Their friendship was still a secret, even after so many months. An even bigger secret was the feelings they still held for each other, neither being brave enough to admit them to the other. Neither had accepted them fully themselves yet, and so they were content to be friends for the time being.
"Wha- What do I do?" Draco was panicking, and if Harry wasn't in so much pain he would have laughed.
"Don't worry" Harry grimaced "Its easing off, I just need to-"
Harry attempted to get up but Draco pushed him back down "Wait for it to stop completely before you move, you could fall and hurt yourself"
"I need to tell Dumbledore" Harry growled trying to stand again and failing miserably when Draco stood in his way
"Come on, I'll help you" Draco said pulling him and making him rest his weight on the arm that kept his body upright.
"I'm not an invalid Draco"
"I know you're not, but you're hardly going to make it all the way up to Dumbledore's office if you cant see are you? And if anyone sees us don't expect me to keep hold of you" Draco laughed nervously.
Harry just smiled and concentrated on making his way carefully up to the headmasters office. When they arrived outside the door the pain had subsided completely.
He wondered what Dumbledore would make of it this time...
Alex listened closely.
He had woken to the sound of voices, and not wanting to be found by any old person, sensibly stayed hidden behind the tree, the opposite side to which the voices were coming from.
"Its---ah! Its my scar"
"Wha- What do I do?"
There were two of them. Both male. They didn't sound all that dangerous but Alex couldn't be sure, they sounded more scared if anything.
He listened and waited, and eventually they left. He watched their backs as they walked away and followed their path, they were heading for the ruin...
But there was no ruin as there had been the night before.
In its place stood a massive, stone castle. One light shimmering dimly in the topmost window in the last of the darkness before dawn came.
Alex looked on, astounded at the sight before him. Without looking away from the sturdy structure in place of the run down shack, he nudged Willow awake and nodded towards the castle.
Willow gasped when she saw it. Now it was lighter and more of the castle was in view, less in cast in shadow, and it really was breathtaking.
"There are people here as well" Alex whispered to his sister taking his gaze away from the distance to look at his sister.
"People? How do you know?" she asked, sounding worried.
"I heard them talking. One of them was saying something about a scar, and the other carried him off to see someone. Someone called Dumbledore, but they didn't say who they were or who this Dumbledore is. All I know is their names, Draco and Harry."
"Do you think there could be more of them?"
"I don't know. But I guess our only option is find a way to get back to the other bank. They must have come here by boat, we can steal it and-"
"I hate to tell you this Alex but we are in a completely different place to where we were last night. It doesn't take rocket science to work that out!" Willow hissed, trying not to raise her voice.
"How do you get that?"
Willow sighed, sometimes her brother really could be very dense.
"Well, tell me how you think they can bring a bloody great castle on a tiny row boat and stick it in place of the ruin all without us hearing them..."
"Point taken...So what now?"
"I say we go and explore" Willow replied, her eyes lighting up. She got her wish, she had found something. She KNEW there was more to the ruin than everyone thought.
"Oh yeah, coz exploring got us SO far last night" Alex groaned, covering his eyes with his hand.
"Does that look like its about to fall down?" Willow snapped pointing at the castle
"No"
"Well then, the worst that can happen is we get caught and taken home. The best that can happen is we find some stuff out, maybe find out where we are and what these people are up to."
"I doubt they will just 'Take Us Home' if they find us Wil" Alex warned as she stood and brushed herself off
"Don't be such a pessimist"
And she stuck out her hand to help him up. Alex noticed her arm was covered in blood, it had leaked through the makeshift bandage and was now trickling down her arm. She followed his gaze and frowned
"Don't worry about it, we can find some more stuff to bandage it up with when we get inside"
Alex hesitated for a moment longer before taking her hand reluctantly and standing up.
His leg was hurting but he ignored it and limped after Willow who was making her way up to the castle.
It was completely light but it was still very early and they hadn't seen any movement other than the two men by the lake. They took this as a good sign but approached the doors warily.
"You first" Alex whispered. Willow rolled her eyes and slipped inside, just as she had done the night before.
This time however, what they found was much different to their findings the previous night. They stood in a huge lobby. Beautifully carved stone was in every direction they looked and it was completely empty.
They went a little further inside, climbing a few small sets of stairs and came to a smaller room but not by much. Here stood a staircase similar to the one they had destroyed last night, but it was stone, like the rest.
Alex whipped his head round at the sound of voices coming from the top of the stairs.
He grabbed Willow and shoved her behind a wall just as the voices reached the bottom of the staircase and stopped abruptly.
"Oh bollocks" Alex whispered and he closed his eyes, waiting...
Harry felt very stupid. He had forgotten it was the early hours of the morning and of course Dumbledore was in bed, not sat in his office waiting for Harry to come knocking with an update every time his body did something.
Draco had forgotten as well but was telling Harry he could see Dumbledore after breakfast that morning.
"Has the pain gone?" Draco asked as they descended the stairs back to the lobby.
"Yeah, I cant feel anything now" Harry rubbed his forehead where the scar was, and ran a finger along it out of habit.
"Why does it do that?"
"Its when Voldemort is feeling something particularly strongly, or anytime he's close. It happens when he's, angry, happy, you know..." Harry replied sadly
"That's kinda creepy" Draco smiled, trying to cheer Harry up. Harry smiled back. "What do you wanna do now? We have an hour till people start getting up and moving around"
"I was kinda hoping to get a shower before-"
They had reached the bottom of the stairs and Harry suddenly stopped, mid sentence, and stared at a wall on the other side of the lobby.
"What is it?" Draco asked, following Harry's gaze and seeing nothing.
"I thought I saw something." He whispered "Someone"
He kept his gaze on the wall and moved closer. Fingerprints made in blood were smeared on the wall and moved around the corner.
"So what?" Draco sneered "If they are hiding from us then it can only be a couple of silly first years...no one believes what they have to say!"
"I don't think its first years" Harry said, as he looked round the corner to catch a glimpse of two people dressed in muggle clothes running down the corridor away from them.
Harry took off after them, he had no idea why but he wanted to know who they were and why they were watching he and Draco.
"Harry! Where the hell-"Draco, who was very confused, decided to follow him.
Harry in the meantime was racing after the escaping pair and was pulling out his wand in order to stop them. He was choosing between immobulus or just tripping them over when Draco who had now caught him up made the decision for him.
"IMMOBULUS!"
The mystery pair stopped dead in their tracks.
"You're too strong to trip them "Draco smirked "You would have sent them flying"
"Would have been amusing" Harry chuckled
"Not if you were intending on catching them"
Both boys made their way over to the completely still couple. One was male and the other was female, both looking the same age but the girl was slightly taller than they boy.
"I've never seen them before" Harry said looking them over with interest. Draco nodded his agreement and noticed a pendant on the boy. He pulled it out from his torn shirt and looked closely at it.
"What is it?"
"Don't know" Draco replied, running his thumb over the pattern carved into the pendant "Some kind of Symbol"
Harry pointed his wand and took the spell off them. They carried on running but Harry and Draco grabbed them and stopped them from getting very far.
"Please don't hurt us" the girl wailed covering her face with her arm. Harry noticed she had a large gash in her arm that was pouring with blood. He frowned.
"Who are you?" he asked, loosening his grip when he noticed how frightened they both were.
"We just want to go home, we didn't see anything we promise" the boy spoke up
"See what? You don't go to Hogwarts?" Draco asked eyeing him suspiciously
"I don't know what Hogwarts is. Please, just let us get home, that's all we want"
"You...Oh fuck!" Harry cursed suddenly clicking "Draco they're Muggles!"
"Don't be stupid Harry" Draco replied pulling a face "It isn't possible, there are too many spells and wards protecting this place. No way!"
"But Draco, what else can they be? They cant be Wizards, ALL Wizards know about Hogwarts"
"WIZARDS? I'm sorry, but I'm really starting to get confused" the Boy butted in, looking at Harry as if he was a few pips short of an orange.
"See" Harry hissed at Draco who had gone pale and looked as if he wanted to throw up.
"This must have been what Voldemort was planning" Draco whispered looking anywhere but the Muggles "He must have brought them here"
"Can you stop talking about us like we're not here" the girl said, the boy elbowed her in the side and she shot him a look.
"Draco, we cant stay here. People will be getting up in half an hour, maybe less!"
"People? There are more of you?"
They were ignored as Harry and Draco thought about what to do.
"Dumbledore will be in his office soon wont he?"
"Probably"
"We can go up and wait for him, it's the safest place. Come on" Draco grabbed the boy by the shoulders and began to push him up towards the castle, but he began to struggle.
"Will you keep still? We're taking you somewhere safe, we're not going to hurt you we promise" he growled spinning the younger boy around to face him. Draco was older and quite a bit stronger than him so there was no chance of him escaping. He did as he was told and quietly let himself be pushed to their destination.
They arrived at the door to Dumbledore's office without seeing anyone luckily but they could hear the first stirrings of people echoing around the castle.
They knocked and were relived to hear Dumbledore's friendly voice waft through telling them to Enter.
Dumbledore was surprised to see Harry and Draco with two other people he didn't recognize.
His usual warm smile to greet them faded when he saw the looks on Harry and Draco's face.
"My Boys, what is wrong?" he asked, concerned that something terrible had happened.
"We found these two people on Hogwarts grounds" Harry began "They aren't Wizards"
Dumbledore's face fell. He didn't reply for a long while, and just stared at the newcomers, no emotion at all playing on his face.
"How is it that they came to be here?" he finally said, not losing the blank expression on his features.
"We don't know. They haven't said"
"Then ask. It is important we find out"
All eyes turned on the two Muggles and Alex felt it was him time to talk.
"We...we live in a village on the other side of the lake. There was an old ruin on top of the hill on the opposite bank and we decided to go up there. Only, our boat...we couldn't get back. So we slept under a tree on the bank and when we woke up...we were here."
"It is as I suspected" Dumbledore sighed. He got up and accioed a small shiny object from a shelf high up near the ceiling. He run his hand over it and mumbled something inaudible.
The shiny object began to glow sliver and Dumbledore seemed satisfied with its answer.
The occupants of the office watched this with interest and all their eyes followed him back to his desk where he sat back down and took a lemon drop from his jar.
He offered one each to the four that stood before him, all refused.
"I hate to be annoying" the girl suddenly said "but I was wondering if you could tell us where the hell we are"
"You are standing now, in Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry." Dumbledore explained calmly. The two people standing behind you are both Wizards, I myself am a Wizard, and every other person in this school is either a Witch or a Wizard"
"Yeah, OK, and I'm Maggie Thatcher" the Boy snorted, amazed at these people for actually believing this crap.
"Who?" Draco said screwing up his face in confusion
"Muggle, don't worry. You wouldn't know her" Harry replied
"How can he NOT know who-"
"Because he's not from the Muggle world!" Harry was beginning to get slightly irritated with these two
The boy suddenly burst out laughing.
"Tell me" he said between splutters "Is this some kind of a mental institution?"
Draco took out his wand
"Look! He even has a-"he never finished his sentence because Draco got him with a silencing charm. The boy clutched at his throat, opening his mouth but making no noise.
Draco chuckled quietly to himself, proud of his work and turned back to Dumbledore.
"What have you done to my brother?" the girl squealed frantically, her eyes shining with anger.
"He was annoying me" Draco sneered "So I shut him up for a little while"
"Draco don't, you're scaring them. Take it off" Harry sighed, holding the girl back, stopping her from launching herself at Draco in attack. Draco just rolled his eyes and pointed his wand at the boy.
"You're such a spoilsport sometimes Harry"
The boy instantly began shouting obscenities at Draco the moment the spell was taken off. Draco shot Harry a look that said "now look what you've done" and slumped down into a chair.
"Alright, so you've proved you're a freak" the boy shouted
"Young man I will NOT have you speak to my students like that!" Dumbledore had risen to his full height which wasn't all that tall but his voice boomed around his office and he seemed to grow as he stood, scaring the wizards who knew him as much as the Muggles who didn't.
"You are a visitor here and you will be polite and agreeable, do you understand me?"
Both Muggles nodded and Dumbledore sat back down in his chair, all anger seemed to fade from his face and he sighed heavily.
"So...this place is a school?" the girl said quietly. Dumbledore smiled.
"Yes, the best there is so I'm told."
"Of course Hogwarts is the best! Durmstrang is full of total idiots and Baubaxtons is in France which explains pretty much everything..." Draco exclaimed rolling his eyes at the thought of that silly Fleur girl.
"There are more of these places?" the boy yelled
"There will be plenty of time for explanations later" Dumbledore replied "I will need to hear more about how you came to be here and who you are. We can then answer all your questions"
"We told you all we knew. We fell asleep, and we woke up here" the boy explained
"Maybe we should use Veritaserum" Draco suggested, not entirely believing they could just 'wake up' anywhere.
"It is unnecessary, they are telling the truth" Dumbledore replied "I suppose we should have expected something like this. An attack on Hogwarts safety was inevitable and I should have seen it"
"What happened Professor?" Harry asked
"It would seem Voldemort attempted to brake the Muggle Repelling Charm I placed on the castle to keep Muggles away. It is back in place now, I have checked. But he managed to break it for nearly 10 minutes without me noticing. It has probably drained him and he shall need to rest, he does not hold the power to break my Wards" Dumbledore explained, pride showing clearly on his old kindly face.
"But...if he broke it then that means anyone could have seen it!" Harry said, scared that his home would be found. He couldn't let anyone destroy Hogwarts.
"Even if someone saw Harry, the Ward is now back in place and they will have thought it a dream or an hallucination"
"What was the point in him doing it then? Honestly I swear that guy gets thicker by the day" Draco scoffed, swinging his arm over the back of the chair he was sitting in.
"How come we can still see it?" the girl spoke again, her voice had gained some confidence now she knew she was in no danger from these people.
"You have already seen too much, you are inside, you have spoken to Wizards. You know this isn't a trick your mind is playing. The Ward is now useless for you." Dumbledore answered her question, staring intently at her "What is your name?"
She blinked, surprised at the sudden question
"Willow. This is Alex, my twin brother"
"Well Willow and Alex" Dumbledore smiled warmly at them "My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore, I am headmaster of Hogwarts"
"I'm Harry Potter" Harry added sticking out his hand for either of them to shake. Willow took it and shook, followed by Alex who smiled apologetically at him before holding out his hand to Draco
"You are Draco then"
Draco looked at his hand and up at him, his eyes narrowed in dislike. He looked up at Harry who scowled at him, meaning for him to shake his hand. Draco rolled his eyes again and took Alex's hand and shook it quickly.
"Draco Malfoy, just Malfoy to you"
"Don't mind old grumpy guts over there" Harry laughed "He's always like that"
"Will we be able to go home?" Willow asked. She had had enough of her adventure now and was desperate to get back.
Dumbledore's smile faltered. "I am afraid not" he said looking at her over his spectacles "we do not know yet, what Voldemort intended you to do. He may have made you come here, in which case he will have more plans for you. If he has no idea about you both, then he will find out soon enough and go looking for you. Either way you are in great danger. We could wipe your memory completely of the incident but he will force you to remember, he will make you talk. Your home is no longer safe"
A tear made its way out of the corner of Willows eye and traced a wet line down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly and sniffed. She understood and didn't bother to argue.
Harry saw and put his arm round her shoulders to comfort her.
"Its ok, this is the safest place you can be"
"For the time being it is Harry, but we are running out of time. My guess is that Draco will be called home. Voldemort will need him to make the spell permanent, this morning was merely a test." Dumbledore rose from his chair and retrieved a piece of parchment from across the room.
"He isn't actually going though is he?" Harry began to panic, not only if he went home would Hogwarts be in serious trouble but so would Draco. Even though Harry would not accept the real feelings he had for Draco he accepted the fact that he was now a permanent fixture in his life. He was his friend, and he wasn't about to lose him.
"No, he will stay. This means Lucius will know of his sons loyalties but there is nothing we can do. This should not matter to Lucius anyway, he has ways of making people do things and I doubt he will hesitate to use them on his own son. Which side Draco has chosen will make no difference"
Draco gulped and looked away. He knew what his father was capable of and wasn't jumping at the chance to experience it any time soon.
"What's the deal with this Voldemort guy? Why is everyone so terrified of him?" Alex asked
"Sometimes I ask myself the same question" Draco mumbled. Harry smiled but stifled a laugh, now really wasn't the right time to be mocking the most evil Wizard ever known.
"Just know that he's one evil bastard and he isn't to be messed with" Harry smiled, telling them what he could do would just scare them and that wasn't helping anyone.
"I am writing to the Order to tell them to come here. They will need to be informed and to quash rumours if any are flying around" Dumbledore said warily, obviously still tired "I am leaving them in your care boys. Take them to the hospital wing to get their injuries seen to and then go and have some breakfast, I'm sure all of you are hungry"
Harry and Draco nodded and motioned for the Muggles to follow them.
"What should we tell people Professor?" Draco asked
"Tell them they are from Baubaxtons, just visitors I have put you in charge of" Dumbledore turned his attention to the Muggles "I would advise you not to speak unless you know what you are talking about. Some Wizards are wary of Muggles and there will be chaos if you are found"
They nodded, both feeling rather shell shocked, and the Wizards led them from the office.
"You didn't tell him about your scar" Draco whispered to Harry when they were a fair distance away from the entrance to Dumbledore's office.
"No point, I know what it was about" Harry replied sighing lightly.
"What was it?"
"Voldemort was happy...very happy. His plan is working."
The rest of the walk to the hospital wing was taken in worried silence.
So they were found. woop! At last!
OK next chapter: Strawberry Jam and the Slytherin Clan! Muggles get to ask alot of questions that only muggles would ask, Hermione and Ron get introduced at breakfast, Draco gets artistic with some Jam and then gets in a sulk, a playfight gone wrong at lunch turns into a battle of houses, Alex and Willow start to feel a little bit guilty and so take drastic action.... and now my hands are really cold.
Lucky Dragon Smile- Rock on is such a cool phrase! :D
Lady Of Death- Uh...a bit of smacking may come into it...next chappie! hehe!
Demongirl12000- Lol, i love the meat vision thing...i have written some later chapters and i made sure i put it in so look out for it. It isnt EXACTLY like you said but its still meat!
And thank you to everyone else who reviewed as well. PLEASE keep them coming, i like the surprise in my inbox, and again with the offers of food....
Laterz dudes xxxxxxx