Backdoor.
Darren spent that afternoon drying off and buying a step-ladder. He called his mum and told her he loved her. She started fussing over him, complaining about his ex-fiancee and the long hours he was working. Darren made his excuses and ended the call.
The sun was setting when he returned to the site. The rain had stopped leaving only an endless grey sheet above him. Shadows were forming but it was fairly light.
He stood atop the aluminium step-ladder and waited.
The night fell and hours passed. He chanced getting off of the ladder a few times to stretch his legs. As he did so, three owls screeched above him and made through the gateway, beyond which there wire stars in the night sky.
Darren growled every expletive he knew and got back up his ladder.
Owls still hooted in the distance and soon Darren was rewarded when a large dark owl flew above his head and through the gateway ahead of him.
As it did so, he clambered up the last steps and jumped at the gateway – but just as it closed. Darren fell with a heavy wet thud into the darkness below. Around him he swore the owls were hooting more. Two more even took this opportunity to fly through the gateway while he struggled to his feet.
So it was an hour later that Darren sat perched, motionless on top of the ladder. He was struggling to stay awake now. He was roused by a large grey owl landing on his shoulder. It hooted at him so loudly that he almost fell off the ladder as the owl took off again and went through the gateway. Darren righted the ladder in time and with an almighty effort leapt at the gateway.
He fell through and onto hard dry stones. Both of his legs were strained from the jump and he ached all over with exhaustion and pain. None of that mattered. He had made it.
Tentively, he tried to stand up, but his calf muscles were aching like mad. Darren sat up and looked about himself. He noted that although he could see the starry sky from where he was, he could never see the ground. All around him, stony heathland stretched out under a moonlit sky. The heather was only a foot at most in places but it gave the sloping hills around an unearthly quality.
Darren checked his pocket for his camera and noted it was gone, probably dropped in the leap across. Above his head the gateway opened and a dozen owls flew through, screeching with what he suspected to be laughter. He muttered under is breath after them and watched them fly away together. That's when Darren saw the distant buildings. Towers and spires rose high beyond some forest at the bottom of the heathland hills ahead of him. It looked to be several miles away and quite large. Darren noticed lights in some of the windows and saw the disappearing owls making a line for them.
Looking around behind him, he saw the hills becoming larger and more erratic the further they go toward the horizon. He did not fancy the mountains in his state so shrugged and began to walk towards the lights.
After a long silent walk across the eerie landscape down the hillside, he realised the forest was bigger than he first thought. His legs still ached and Darren decided to push on, if only to get himself a decent walking stick. Tall dark silhouettes stood up against the dark night. He would not be able to see a thing in that lot, so Darren stopped a few hundred yards short and let himself rest. He lay back, staring into the heavens. Many years ago he had been the sort of boy who had enjoyed camping out and had joined the army cadets as a teenager. He had briefly being a boy scout but changed over to the army when he heard they got to play with guns rather than help old ladies across the road. Looking back he realised this wasn't strictly true. "What is eh?" he reminisced. He nodded off.
The sky was much lighten when he awoke again. There was a cold wetness of pre-dawn all around him and the forest looked a lot less formidable now.
Revitalised from his short nap he stood up and felt better. Darren was grinning like an idiot as he strode into the dark green forest. "I wonder if they've got bacon and eggs?" he called.
The greenery soon gave away to greys and browns of the forest. Darren considered the age of the trees and whistled to himself at some of the plants. Once or twice he thought he heard the rustling of animals around him, but knowing breakfast could not be more than an hour away and armed with a big sturdy stick he trudged onwards.
If only he had not started to whistle to keep up his spirits he might have gotten to Hogwarts unnoticed…
To be continued…
Disclaimer:
The characters and setting are all thanks to J. K. Rowling. I claim no ownership of these characters, just the scenario. Big hugs.