Summary: When a young girl's ability to 'book travel' (travel into any story or book and be a part of it) is unearthed, her life becomes completely complicated. What happens when she starts to travel into her favorite book and starts to get attached to the characters? HBP Spoilers.

Disclaimer: Everything you dont recognise is mine. Everything you do recognise is JK Rowlings

Chapter 3: Explanations

Keya looked at herself in the mirror. She looked the same. On the outside, she was still the same girl. Same long dark hair that she had tied into a high ponytail and the same dark eyes. But from the inside, Keya had changed. It was as if the night before had been a turning point in her life and Keya knew that she would never be the same again.

"What is up with you today?"

Keya jumped and turned around. Delta was standing in the doorway watching her sister with a smirk on her face.

"What?" asked Keya.

"You're looking at yourself in the mirror as if you're about to sprout antlers or something." said Delta, laughing.

"Don't know what you're talking about," said Keya as she grabbed a bag "I gotta go."

"Wait a sec," said Delta "Where are you going?"

Keya didn't answer. She just left, leaving Delta to wonder what had gotten into her sister.


The cove was a beautiful place to just sit and relax. It was a small clearing near the lake, with the woods all around it. The lake was often calm and soothing and the trees all around were filled with twittering birds. The cove was also a secret and secluded place – only five people knew of its existence.

When Keya arrived, Alan was already there waiting for her. She went and sat down next to him. He didn't even look up.

"Alan…" said Keya

"Before you ask any questions," interrupted Alan "I have to tell you the rules"

Keya gave him a blank look.

"It's traditional," explained Alan "for the experienced traveler to explain to a new traveler all the risks and things at stake that come with book traveling"

"There are risks?" asked Keya

"Many," said Alan "But if there weren't any risks, book traveling would be no fun."

Alan turned towards Keya.

"Book traveling is really complex. Like I told you yesterday, when you're in a book, you're kind of in a trance…so no one can reach you."

"Right." said Keya. This she knew.

"This is why you must be very careful when you travel. It's best to do it only when you know you won't be disturbed."

"Like now?" asked Keya

"Well kind of," said Alan "But the best time to travel is at night. When everyone in the real world thinks you're sleeping."

"Alright" said Keya nodding.

"Another important thing is, that you have to be careful not to get too attached to the fictional characters"

"Why?"

"Because if you do, you won't want to leave. And then you'd have to live in that world forever. It's really important to remember that once you travel, the fictional characters aren't fictional anymore. In their world, they're just as real as you or me."

"So one can't get too attached?"

"That's right," Alan nodded "A lot is at stake if you don't come back from traveling because of attachment. Everyone in this world would think you've gone into a coma or something. If one wants to live in the fictional world, they have to prepare to die in the real world."

Keya nodded. She didn't think she would get attached. It was just a book anyway…they were just fictional characters.

"There's another very important thing," said Alan "It's possible to get fatal injuries while in a book."

"WHAT?" said Keya. The birds in the tree behind flew away.

"Well, technically can't die…but we can get seriously injured."

"So if Voldemort captures us and kills us…"

"I've never actually died in a book so I don't know exactly what will happen. I've just heard that one can't die in a book."

"Are you sure about that?' asked Keya tentatively.

"Yes," said Alan "I trust the person who told me."

He said it with such firmness, that Keya didn't press the matter. After all, if any of them knew what they were doing, it was Alan.

"Anything else?" Keya asked

"Yes," said Alan. "You can never ever tell anyone about your ability to book travel. Unless of course it's a fellow traveler or a fictional character."

"What happens if you do?"

"You lose your powers," said Alan "Forever".

Keya nodded. She hadn't even begun using her powers properly and she was terrified of losing them.

"Now," said Alan "Do you have any questions?"

"Yes," said Keya. "How do we make up our stories? Do we just go with the flow or do we plan it out before traveling? And why do we have this ability to travel? Is it really rare? Can we travel into any book that we like? Even into historical textbooks? And…"

"Whoa," said Alan "Hold it. One at a time, Keya."

"Sorry," said Keya

Alan laughed. "Okay," he said "One can either decide what they're going to do before hand or go with the flow. It doesn't matter. It's your story and your actions determine what course the story is going to take. It's basically just a game…just a little dangerous one."

Keya nodded "But if we mess something up and travel into the same book again…do the characters remember us?"

Alan laughed "Of course they do. You don't have to make up something every time you travel into a book. If you travel into HBP and start talking to say…Hermione right now and if you travel into the book and talk to her tomorrow, she'll remember you. So if you screw up something…you have to fix it."

Keya smiled "Okay," she said "And what about this ability to travel. Why have we got it?"

Alan looked thoughtful "I don't know exactly," he said "I just know that it's really rare and only a few people have the ability."

"And what are the conditions of this ability? Can we travel only into books?"

"Actually," said Alan "We can travel intro any literary work that has fictional characters. We can't travel into factual books because the things in those books really happened. So only fictional things, written on paper."

"Okay," said Keya "And what about sequels and series? Like if I travel into Chamber of Secrets wont it change the outcome of the other books?"

Alan shook his head "No it wont," he said "See each book in a series is different. So the characters are counted as being different as well. The Harry in 'Chamber of Secrets' is different from the Harry in 'Half Blood Prince'."

"So," said Keya "What you're saying is that if I travel into Half Blood Prince 3 nights in a row, those characters will remember me. But if on the 4th night I travel into Order of The Phoenix…they won't?"

Alan nodded "Order of the Phoenix would be regarded as a different book, even if it has the same characters of Half Blood Prince."

Keya nodded. It was complicated, but it made sense. Although she realized that If Alan hadn't showed her solid proof that book traveling was real, she would have thought that what he was saying was ludicrous and that he was crazy. Now, she was just wondering how she had gone through most of her life without knowing this.

"I just have one last question." said Keya

Alan looked at her and smiled "Go ahead," he said.

"If there's a gap between visits into books, does time stand still or does it go on?"

Alan laughed. "I know exactly what you mean," he said "There is no time between visits. Like if you travel today and its 9:00pm there and you have to leave, the next time you return, it will still be 9:00pm. It will be like you never left."

"Alright," said Keya. I think I'm ready to travel now.

Alan smiled. "I think so too."