Chapter 3

Slowly I calm down a bit. She lets go of me. I wipe away my tears and take a deep breath.

"So, that is better, dear," says the woman "and now dinner. You must be starving!" she ladled out an enormous plate full with food. I don't know what it is, but I don't care. Hungry as I am I eat everything without even noticing how it tastes. When I finish I realise everybody is watching me. I look around and notice that more than 3 people seem to have disappeared. First there were definitely more adults but now I'm not sure of that anymore. I even think there are more children now. Where did they go? The young man with the light-brown hair and the man with the long black hair and his fascinating eyes didn't return either. Embarrassed I look at the table again. Why is everybody staring at me? I feel that my face is growing red. Why don't they just look away? But I know what they are expecting...

"So..." begins a tall man also with red hair. Quite a few people seem to have red hair. At least five. Is everybody in this strange place one big family or something?

"What happened? How did you come in here?" I sigh, I have no choice. I kind of broke into their house!

"I was lost..." I say "My aunt sent me to the baker but I couldn't find it and I got lost... I'm here just for a week, my mother had to go to France. So I'm a stranger to London." Then I remember what I saw when I reached the square. An evil grin... a black cloak... a terrifying man... I shiver and look up. Everybody is still watching me. "There... there was a man... an evil man. He pointed something at me. But then came that other man... He saved me. Where is he?" I notice that some people are exchanging looks.

"And I guess he brought you here?"

"Yeah, he showed me something on a piece of paper and... and it appeared! This house! It wasn't there, and suddenly it was! What is happening? Who were those men? What is this place? How did it appear?" The woman who had hugged me suddenly stood up. "Ok, thank you Nika, dear. Can you please follow Hermione, Harry and Ron? Oh and Ginny, go with them too." The boy with red hair who had noticed me first, shoots a dark look at the woman.

"Oh, mum, why do we always have to go upstairs when something's going on?! I want to know what happened!"

"Please Ron, can you cooperate a bit? There is something very wrong and we have to sort it out, please, do what I told you, you have to help!" Still muttering he walks towards the door and a boy with black hair and spectacles follows him. I'm still sitting there, not really knowing what to do, but a girl with bushy brown hair comes towards me.

"Come Nika, come with us," and she too walks to the door. I follow her and see that a girl who also has red hair follows her too. We're going through the door and I see they are going up some stairs I didn't notice before because it was too dark. Now there is more light in the hall: old-fashioned gas lamps are burning all along the walls. They give a strange flickering kind of light and reveal the portraits that are hanging on the walls. This place is giving me shivers. The people are being nice but maybe they are only pretending. Their behaviour just doesn't fit with the feeling this house is giving me. It reminds me of that man with the evil grin... I start up the dark staircase, and see that these walls are decorated too. I try to look better but it is too dark. They aren't portraits. They are... things... on plaques on the wall. I come closer and suddenly I'm sure I don't want to know what they are. I look away quickly and walk further, again with that unpleasant feeling of fear in my stomach.

We reach the second landing and enter a room on the right. Like all the other rooms and places in this house, the room is dark. It has a high ceiling, two one-person beds and no decoration at all, except from one portrait on the wall which shows nothing, only a black canvas. The girl with red hair comes in last and closes the door. Again they are staring at me and again I feel embarrassed and look everywhere except at their faces.

"So," begins the girl with the bushy brown hair, hesitating. I know she wants to break the silence but her voice had sounded hard. It had cut through the quiet room and when the tones die away, the silence returns, weighing even heavier than before. The girl notes it too, and tries to continue.

"Well. We already know that you are Nika... I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger." I look at her. She holds her hand out to me. I hesitate, but then I put my fear aside and shake her hand.

"Hi Hermione, nice to meet you." The other girl also holds her hand out now and I seize it

"Hi Nika, I'm Ginny."

"Hi Ginny, nice to meet you too!" I look at the boys. I see that they are the ones who are feeling embarrassed now.

"Hi, I'm Ron," says the red-haired boy shortly, looking over my right shoulder at something very interesting on the wall behind me.

"Ron!" hissed the girl, called Hermione. Ron shoots the same look at Hermione as he had given his mother. But then stretches out his hand too. I shake it with an amused smile around my mouth while Hermione rolls her eyes towards the ceiling.

"So," I say "and what's your name?" I observe the last boy with interest. He looks a bit odd. I don't like his spectacles and his hair grows all over the place. I see some kind of scar behind his fringe. It is shaped like a bolt of lightning. Ron throws a strange look at me. I wonder why. He has an expression on his face as though he couldn't believe what I just said. But what did I say? The boy answers;

"My name is Harry, Harry Potter"

"Nice to meet you, Harry." I look around. I expect they are going to ask me a bit more about what happened to me, but instead of that they are all four looking at me with that same expression as Ron.

"Err, what's up? Did I say something wrong?"

"His name is Harry! Harry Potter!" Ron repeats. Now it is me who is looking a bit confused.

"Yeah, I heard that. Why?"

"Why?!" he exclaims. He opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again and shuts it one more time.

"Never mind Ron, I don't care," says Harry, but I'm still looking puzzled "It's ok Nika, it's a relief you react like this, you're the first person in the last five years of my life who doesn't gape at me or my scar when I meet him for the first time." And he smiles. But I'm absolutely bewildered now,

"Why should I gape at you or your scar?!" But now they are gaping at me.

"Well... because of what happened to me... because of..."

"His scar!" interrupts Ron "He is famous! His scar is famous!"

"You're kidding! Why?!?"

"Why?" Ron said weakly "Don't you know that? He is famous because he defeated You-Know-Who!"

"I-Know-Who? Do I?!" I'm getting curious now, Harry had defeated someone who I had to know, and he is famous! But I'm pretty sure I've never heard of him!

"Wait!" Says Hermione "Wait a moment! You're a muggle!"

"You are?" Ron looks excited. "Wow! You better not say that to dad! He would kill you to see how you look like inside!" He grins.

"Ron!" exclaims Hermione "Can you just try and act like you're normal, or is that too much for you?"

"Well, I guess it is," mutters Ron and Hermione rolls her eyes towards the ceiling again.

"Stop arguing!" says Ginny, and Hermione who had opened her mouth again shuts it at once, looking a bit ashamed.

"So, you are a muggle?" Ginny asks me but I don't know what to answer. I have no idea what they are talking about or who or what a muggle is. I think my face is showing my thoughts because Hermione says:

"Ginny, I think she is. Muggles don't know anything about us and so they don't know that they are called 'muggles' either." But now I have had enough. Is nobody going to tell me anything here?

"What the hell are muggles? Why am I one? Who is that I-Know-Who? And what did you do," I nod at Harry, "that made you famous?!" The four of them exchange looks.

"Well..." says Harry "I don't know if we are allowed to tell you... but I suppose we are now, as this is a special case." He looks at Hermione.

"Yeah..." she says slowly "I think we should tell her something... But we can't tell her all! I mean, we can't tell her about this place, can we? She is a muggle and even we are not allowed to know everything..."

"Oh please, tell something! I have no clue what is going on here! Please explain some things, you are driving me nuts!"

"Yeah, I suppose we are," nodded Harry. "Ok, well, sit down Nika, we are going to tell it, but it is a very long story and I'm not sure you will understand everything!"

Relieved I sit down on one of the beds and Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry sit around me; at least I will understand a few things now from what is going on, and Harry begins the story.