Sexism in Survival Situations
Back at the Visitors' Center restaurant, the sun peeked through the windows as several hours had passed since their dessert gathering. In the restaurant, a collection of pulp, seed, and crumbs resided on the plates John Hammond stacked, no doubt left by the Grangers. In the kitchen, Remus Lupin was busy wiping chocolate of the edges of the plates and bowls, no doubt left by himself and Nymphadora Tonks.
Dumbledore missed his look of amusement, as he was waiting by the kitchen door, glancing through the window. He gently drummed his fingers across the pane, signaling for Lupin and Tonks to have a look of their own.
When they stepped over, what they noticed was the rest of the crowd at the restaurant table, staring expectantly at Hammond, who doing his best to maintain a jovial appearance.
This so-called "crowd" was mainly Paul, Jane, and Dr. Sattler, as Hermione's head had nodded off and she was asleep in her chair.
"Well then," Hammond cleared his throat, "Perhaps I'd better get back to the Control Room. There may be hope for saving ourselves yet?"
"Indeed…" Paul agreed. "Then again, maybe this would be a challenge best suited for Dr. Sattler."
"Pardon me?" Sattler interrupted.
But Paul shushed her as he noticed her wide eyes and furrowed eyebrows leaving a hint of irritation in her voice.
"If you don't mind…" he continued. "My wife and I have some unfinished both have some… unfinished family business we need to attend to… if you know what I mean..."
Paul stepped over to the chair Hermione slept in, gently shaking her shoulder, causing her to stir.
"It requires the presence of soon-to-be thirteen year old daughters," he added. "So, I reckoned we best leave this to the more experienced, don't you agree, dear?"
While Hermione stretched herself awake, Paul turned his sights to his wife. Jane shared Sattler's look of disbelief, until her husband gave her a nudge.
"Yes…" she blurted out, trying to play along. "Yes, of course… If Mr. Hammond will excuse us?"
"Of course," Hammond replied after a beat. "I take it you'll want to be alone for a bout of… personal discussion… Well then… shall we?"
He motioned for Dr. Sattler to follow him through an opening to the right of the dinosaur mural.
Once the coast was clear, Paul pulled up their seats next to Hermione at the table, while leaning into the ear of his impatient wife.
"It was best to send those two off," he whispered. "I'd rather have spared them the mentality of dealing with parents' frustration."
It was probably for the best that Grangers hadn't noticed the door to the kitchen was held barely more than an inch open.
"I wonder what he'd say about the wrath of former students," Tonks piped up.
"Maybe in your case, we should have left the 'former' bit out," Lupin chuckled.
Tonks playfully slapped Lupin on the arm, who tried to pull away from any more play fighting, until they were interrupted by the clearing of another man's throat.
"What's going on?" Hermione yawned.
"Now then, if you're awake…" Paul began. "Where did we leave off before we got on the plane?"
This seemed to trigger something in Hermione, as she straightened up faster than her parents and even her professors had ever seen. She bit her lower lip harder, as she didn't want her parents to know she'd been petrified for three months.
"Something about no letters for three months this year… Hermione dear?" Paul continued.
Back in the kitchen, there were muffled voices spewing out the open door and the source of them remained unidentified.
"Well, well, well, will you look at that?" Tonks murmured.
"That happens to be the brightest witch of her age, Miss Tonks," Dumbledore replied. "She spends a fair amount of time with young Mr. Potter."
"A Muggle-born…" Lupin noted.
"Correct," Dumbledore confirmed. "Yet, I'm afraid she's entered quite an undesirable situation at the moment. The time may be right for us to intervene, so I suggest each of you take ahold."
He offered both of his hands as his right palm generated another ball of light. Tonks quickly grabbed Dumbledore's right wrist, while Lupin slowly grasped onto his left hand, as there came another loud SNAP.
Back in the restaurant, the Grangers missed the kitchen door opening, as a slight creak echoed from the openings at either side of the mural. Paul and Jane might have guessed it was Hammond and Sattler, or even Phipps and Fobbs returning from the control room. Hermione, however, saw it as an chance to make a quick getaway.
She ran through the opening on the left, missing the shaking head of her mother being pulled along by her father.
"I have got to lay it on harder," Paul sighed.
But barreling past them was Dumbledore's ball of light, still radiating from the invisible wizard's hand, and neither were Lupin and Tonks to be seen. The light zigzagged across Paul and Jane's noses, stopping them in their tracks before waving in the direction of the left door.
"What in God's name is that?!" Paul murmured.
Before his wife could answer, the light dashed through the left opening, swinging both doors open.
"Brilliant," Paul grumbled. "Now, I'm bloody seeing things!"
He grabbed his wife by the hand, pulling her out of the restaurant, albeit much faster than Dumbledore, undoubtedly slowed by both his age and the weight of his two younger colleagues.
Past the mural, they skidded back into the Visitor's Center lobby, but Hermione was nowhere in sight until they heard rapid footsteps echoing off the rotunda.
Turning right, Paul and Jane found Hermione rushing up the stairs, the ball of light urging them in the same direction.
When it sounded as though her footsteps became louder, Hermione stopped to turn her head backwards, finding her parents darting after. She muttered to herself, wishing Harry was there to pull her along, being thankful for his speed compared to hers.
Atop the stairs, Hermione located the source of the creaking towards the right, where the doors to the showcase theater were repeatedly propping open and closing again.
While a more responsible Hogwarts student would politely bring themselves to a halt, Hermione burst through once she was able to swing them open.
But she finally came to a full halt when something behind her bowled her over. She tumbled off her rear, expecting her parents to be waiting in the doorway, but all she found was the ball of light, hovering only a few inches away from the tip of her nose.
As Hermione stood back up, there came yet another SNAP, asball of light completely vanished. Instead, standing before her were Lupin, Tonks, and Dumbledore, all of whom she least expected to see at that moment, the former two of which she'd never seen before.
Initially, Hermione failed to recognized the man in front of her as well, but all she needed do was look closer, from his purple Hawaiian shirt to his long white beard and crescent moon shaped spectacles.
"Professor Dumbledore?" she gasped.
"Yes, Miss Granger..." Dumbledore assured her.
Hermione mentally beat herself, as anyone in Hogwarts would have recognized Dumbledore, whether Muggle-born or not.
"Professor!" she cried in a rapid-fire patter. "What are you doing here?! How did you get here?! Who are..."
"Excuse me, I believe is the real question 'Have we gone too far?'" interrupted the last voice Hermione wanted to hear.
She froze as her none-too pleased parents stood inside the theater doorway, eyeing their daughter with parental suspicion. Of course, they also took enough steps forward into the theater to pull her back into their embrace.
"I believe you recall us telling you never to run away when we're talking to you, Hermione?" Jane continued.
"And If I recall correctly," Paul mused. You might have mentioned a Professor Dumbledore in one of your letters, no?"
"Hermione dear," Jane interjected. "Are you going to introduce us?"
"Oh right," Hermione sighed. "Mum and Dad, this is Professor Albus Dumbledore... my headmaster."
Hermione dragged her parents by the hand and aftera couple of simple 'how-do-you-do's' Paul and Jane firmly shook hands with Dumbledore, but they were about as equally clueless as their daughter.
"I'm sorry about the dramatic entrance, Mr. and Mrs Granger," Dumbledore apologized. "But some trouble at home has apparently summoned us here. We received word that our own Mr. Potter and his relatives have been as well, although I certainly had not expected to see you and your daughter involved."
"Professor, Harry's out there!" Hermione cried.
"I know…" Dumbledore assured her. "And I had hoped we might amount to something of a rescue…"
"But I'm afraid all the commotion in here will never equal up to what we've witnessed out there…" Lupin interjected, stepping out from Dumbledore's left.
"Professor… who is this?" Hermione queried, eyeing the strange, mustachioed man with scars across his face.
"Miss Granger, may I introduce you to Mr. Remus John Lupin," Dumbledore replied. "He will hopefully be your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor come September."
"A pleasure…" Hermione hesitantly replied, shaking Lupin's hand.
"We appreciate the formalities," Tonks cackled.
"Oh Merlin…" Remus mumbled trying to stifle a laugh.
"Oi, why not open with a joke?" Tonks laughed, clearly thankful for her tactics.
Now, Hermione stiffened up, since Tonks seemed to make her presence known in a way that wasn't unlike two others she knew from Hogwarts. She loosened up slightly as Lupin placed Tonks' hand into hers.
"Allow me to introduce a protégé of the Ministry," Remus interceded. "Miss Nymphadora…"
"Tonks," she reiterated. "Never, ever Nymphadora."
Hermione felt her hand shook only once, as Paul pulled her back a little more. But before he could step up, they were interrupted by a rather unfamiliar, unbecoming snore.
Inside the theater, on her left, Hermione spotted a familiar figure reclining in the first row of seats, hunched over like it had been there all night. Resembling a balding, red-haired man with a pair of spectacles hanging off his left ear and the bridge of his nose, it didn't take long to recognize him as her other best friend's father.
"Mr. Weasley?" she questioned, loudly.
The last snort he made indicated Arthur Weasley was on the verge of walking. Once he opened his eyes, he stretched into the back of the chair, clearly fascinated with what it could do for him.
Of course, once Mr. Weasley saw Hermione before him, he looked quite pleased to see another familiar face.
"Good morning… Mr. Weasley," Hermione began with caution.
"Hermione!" he delightedly replied. "How wonderful to see you here!"
Hermione's parents needed no introduction this time, for it was Dumbledore who didn't look pleased to see him.
"Arthur," he seemingly reprimanded. "I believe I have given you explicit instructions not to follow my lead, but to return directly to Britain…"
"Albus, I had to…" Arthur insisted, slightly yawning. "Molly would have insisted on it…"
"…And yet, you came along in an hour of greatest need," Dumbledore finished with his famous grin.
He extended his hand, which Mr. Weasley grasped into a firm, but quick handshake, as his typical mood returned, motioning for Hermione to come over.
"Hermione," he called out. "I could express interest in where I'm sitting all morning, I mean after all, you must know all about this incredible design in seating…"
"It's called stadium-style seating," Hermione explained. "But it seems that isn't the only new thing here this morning…"
Hermione, gesturing towards Lupin and Tonks, the latter of whom offered her a casual wave.
"If you don't mind my asking…" Hermione continued. "Exactly, what do you do for the Ministry, Ms… Tonks?"
"I'm an auror," Tonks replied. "Or at least, in-training."
"Auror?" Hermione queried.
"Dark Wizard Catcher," Tonks explained. "And where we've been for the last two days, we reckon they've flown into town long ago."
"Mum, Dad," Hermione began, before double taking. "You remember our friend, Ron Weasley's dad, you met in Diagon Alley last summer," Hermione interjected.
Mr. Weasley offered them an overenthusiastic handshake. But before he could launch into a Muggle-related conversation, Hermione extended her parents' other hands to Lupin and Tonks' to get the introduction over with.
"If it will appease the Grangers," Dumbledore interrupted. "I promise you that Harry Potter will be delivered to this building safely."
"It's just like that, right?" Paul queried. "You 'promise' it?"
"There are others we've brought along out searching for him," Dumbledore explained. "Thankfully, he hasn't quite covered up his tracks, and we have reinforcements with us as well, so let's do try to remain positive, shall we?"
But Dumbledore spoke too soon, as the room instantly fell dark and any electronic buzzing around them faded completely. Luckily, any Muggles on the island besides the Grangers weren't in the room, since Dumbledore had conjured up another perfect ball of light.
"On the other hand, Mr. Dumbledore," Paul countered. "Perhaps there are more than one on this island that need rescuing."
"Let us never forget the Standard Book of Spells, my friends," Dumbledore chuckled. "Apparently Miss Granger has made use of a certain spell from the seventh chapter last year."
He turned toward the sealed theater doors, both cast perfectly under his light, along with Paul and Jane pushing off their knees. But Hermione had been through this during her first year, so she simply rolled her eyes.
Her face brightened as Dumbledore clapped his hands together before waving them apart.
"Aberto," he commanded as the doors slowly creaked back open, where a stunned Paul and Jane awaited, cast into the oncoming sunlight.
It poured back into the room from the rotunda windows, as the rest of the building's lights were still out.
"Now that our exit has reopened, I suggest we search out the cause of our darkness," Dumbledore suggested. "I still await the word of Sirius Black and Hagrid..."
"Professor…" Hermione interrupted. "May we talk about this in the next room? The answer to our question might be there…"
"You've taught my daughter well Mr. Dumbledore, have you?" Paul seconded. "Among other things, a restricted area should be a perfect place for a group discussion of a search and rescue."
"The door out is over there," Hermione directed, gesturing to the blue one at the theater's right.
Just as she was about to run for it, Paul and Jane wrapped an arm around each of their daughter's, wrestling her into a seat at the end of the front row, both taking the respective seats at either side of Hermione.
"In a time such as this, I'd recommend getting a seat," Jane suggested.
"It does seem like the best way to talk, don't you agree?" Paul added.
The rest of the group shrugged as they filled up the row, Dumbldore gently wedging himself in the center. He began elaborating on his side of the whole story during the last few days. But since the flight of stairs was relatively short, most of the talk had been about how Dumbledore was notified of Harry and the Dursleys' absence and how they'd travelled such a great distance.
The Grangers were frozen on the edges of their seats as Hermione interrupted Dumbledore with the first question she'd had.
He then launched into narrating the infamous tale of Sirius Black, the not-so-would-be killer. Naturally, this included his arrival in Azkaban after his godson was taken out of his possession and how certain events the day prior led to his release.
But the most interesting reaction to this hadn't even come out of Hermione.
"I didn't even realize your world had godparents," Paul muttered dryly.
"The selection process is very much similar to yours," Dumbledore replied. "Although I can only assume breeding techniques on this island were as well."
"…Meaning?" Hermione cautiously requested.
Her parents noticed she looked affronted at this, but still presented her with a look of disbelief, most likely for her tone.
"I believe we owe a visit to the head of this establishment," Dumbledore explained. "We can convince him to reveal his sources for the beasts he keeps on this island."
"Actually, you won't need to, Professor," Hermione assured him with a light sniff. "I think you'll find that none of this was all the work of magic. On the contrary, it was some… interesting advancements in Muggle science and breeding."
While Paul and Jane stared at Hermione like they hadn't gotten through to her before, Mr. Weasley was poking his head over the others, looking quite amused.
"Hermione, do you mean to tell me that Muggles have found a way to invent their own species of dragon?" he gasped excitedly.
"Not dragons, Mr. Weasley," Hermione corrected. "Creatures called dinosaurs, which Muggles discovered to have existed millions of years ago..."
"Oh yes," Arthur replied, his eyes widening. "I've heard of them, but I and the rest of the world were told they were all extinct."
"I'd forget that explanation, Arthur," Lupin suggested. "If I were you, I'd be more concerned that in a few minutes, we might be pulled into something that will risk the secrecy of our existence…"
"Curiously, Remus…" Dumbledore intervened, holding his hand up. "Some parents of Muggle-born students may very well be under the impression that the board of governors has been withdrawing certain things from reaching them for some time. If Harry is acquainted with these people somehow, we may be save yet from violating anything," Dumbledore suggested.
"How many were there?" Arthur queried.
"Three initially," Dumbledore replied. "But from what we have heard, their group will become no less than seven."
"This should be really quite wonderful," Tonks snickered.
While she attracted a few glances and a nudge, Hermione stood to hold the blue door open for the group.
"Mr. Hammond said he'd be in the control room," Hermione added.
Dumbledore placed his hand against the door, casting a second Aberto charm to hold it open. But only a small amount of sunlight filled the void, to which Dumbledore cast a larger ball.
He led the group down a flight of stairs bolted to the side of the revolving room, into a curving tunnel with black tracks laid out about an inch above the floor.
The tracks lined both the center and the edges of the corridor as Dumbledore's light was cast upon some imitation rock formations with sculpted dinosaur skeletons lining the walls, framing the windows of each station.
A set of double doors awaited up ahead with one of the large viewing windows for the tour to the left. Dumbledore shined his light closer, the ball reflecting against the window before finally revealing the Genetics, Fertilization, and Hatchery signs.
On the opposite side, there was a gray concrete corridor, slanting upward and splitting in both directions at the end.
Hermione ran towards them, looking pleased that nobody had to use another Aberto charm as she ushered everyone in.
"This way," she commanded. "I remember passing a window full of computers after this one."
The two people waiting on the railing, however, were a sign that her luck wouldn't be turning for long. Hermione waved them forward lastly, doing her best to ignore the look her father presented her with.
"Don't think you're getting out of any of that, young lady," he warned her.
Jane pulled her husband and daughter inside, but they found themselves promptly plunged again into pitch black again once the doors closed. Dumbledore's light was around the corner, where the Grangers found him and the others were waiting.
They continued down the corridor, past the hatchery windows, down another flight of stairs, until they came upon some circular windows and another door to their left.
Hermione opened the door open as Dumbledore shined his light on the interior, revealing rows upon rows of computers.
"Here we are," Hermione confirmed.
She and the others entered, but neither Hammond, Sattler, nor Malcolm appeared to be anywhere within sight. While darting about the room, searching, Paul and Jane noticed some extra light emanating came from a single computer at the back of the room.
"This should be the answer to all our problems," Paul suggested.
He led his family towards the desk and shook the mouse upon noticing the black screen, not noticing two larger figures looming behind them.
"Had lots of experience with these, have we Mr. Granger?" Lupin murmured.
"Not really," Paul mumbled after jumping out of his skin. "But maybe if I tried it like the one at our practice…"
He pressed his index finger on the "Enter" key, but heard no immediate response. Paul tried pressing it several more times until he'd heard a faint, repetitive beep. At the bottom left corner of the monitor, Paul discovered a line of code reading, System Ready followed by the word ENTER repeating as many times as he'd pressed.
"Damn," he whispered.
"That's rotten luck," Tonks apologized.
A pair of hands dropped into the light cast on the desk, with a head of thinning red hair. The sound of his voice, however, caused the Grangers to jump from their seats.
"I know what this is!" gasped Mr. Weasley. "It's one those… comkutors as the muggles call them!"
"Com-pu-ters," Hermione corrected.
"Anyway, it appears to be connected to all the park's appliances," Paul murmured. "Only someone who understands programming can likely fix it."
"If only we'd brought a secretary along, right dear?" Jane teased.
"We might not have to fix it," Hermione suggested. "Professor Dumbledore said he and the others came here by portkey, we can use it to leave!"
"Alas, not without too much violation," Dumbledore replied. "It will return us to Britain, but also to Hogsmeade Village, more precisely to the Hog's Head Inn. Even less than seven Muggles will have seen too much there."
"What about your broomsticks?" Hermione persisted.
"I'm afraid only two remain in our possession," Dumbledore apologized. "Even without Hagrid, they will only carry three wizards at most."
"And you can't apparate us out?" Hermione requested.
"International apparition is a hazardous undertaking, Miss Granger," Dumbledore explained. "For that reason, we have used the portkey."
Hermione rolled her eyes before letting her guard down, but some muffled metallic clanging was in the air, as Dumbledore pointed his light at the windows.
"Pardon me, if you will, Mrs. Granger," Dumbledore requested. "But is that not one of the Muggles from your entourage?"
Through the windows, Hermione spotted Dr. Sattler running down a corridor past the Embryo Storage Room until she was out of sight.
"There's Dr. Sattler!" she exclaimed. "She should lead us to Mr. Hammond!"
Hermione glanced around until she made out the stairs up to the back door of the room. She and her parents placed their work down and waved the others in their direction.
"Are you still looking to meet him face to face, Professor?" she queried.
"I believe this Mr. Hammond has done all within his power to retrieve Harry," Dumbledore replied. "I fear I have no right to reveal anything until I receive word from Hagrid."
"I'm going to have a closer look at this… com-pu-ter," Arthur commented. "I've enchanted hundreds of Muggle devices, so I'll see if I can decipher what makes this one tick."
"We'll go," Tonks piped up. "I reckon you'll need a little backup about now."
"I've said enough before arriving here, thank you," Lupin exhaled.
"You seem to work quite well together," Paul noted.
"Catch us up," Hermione requested.
As her parents began to pull her out the door, Hermione stopped in her tracks, remembering something she'd forgotten.
"And one more thing, Professor," she added. "My parents, Harry, and I left our bags in some huts up the road to the left. Can you retrieve them for us? Look for the sign that reads Visitors' Lodge, check the huts numbered eight and nine,"
Hermione's parents pulled her along before she could hear an answer, but Dumbledore sent a reassuring grin in her direction.
After the back door closed, Lupin and Tonks waited until the Grangers out of sight before opening it again. Once the two of them were in the corridor, the Grangers' footsteps allowed them to pick up their trailer.
"You haven't changed since you left Hogwarts, have you Tonks?" Remus panted.
"I haven't talked once for the last five minutes, have I?" Tonks insisted. "Now, come on!"
Two or three turns away, Dr. Sattler heard the footsteps herself and noticed the Grangers coming up behind her.
"Dr. Sattler, wait!" Hermione cried, skidding to a halt. "We've been looking for you…"
"That makes four of us, sweetie," Sattler assured her. "Come on, Mr. Hammond wants everyone in the emergency bunker."
As they continued towards the end, clambering down another two flights of stairs, Sattler offered them a quick review of everything they had missed.
"Mr. Arnold's missing," she explained. "He suggested we knock the animals out with a lysine contingency Wu put in."
"A lysine contingency?" Paul requested.
He raised an eyebrow, as being a dentist left him and his wife familiar with hazardous chemicals to some extent.
"So the they wouldn't spread and find a way off the island," Sattler clarified. "It would have put the animals in a coma to die later… after about a week. So we tried shutting down and restarting the park system, but everything's still off."
"And exactly what happened to Mr. Arnold?" Jane queried.
"He went to check the circuit breakers, maybe get everything back on," Sattler replied. "But he's been gone for awhile."
At the bottom of the stairs, they came upon a worriedly pacing Muldoon, who ushered them into a dimly sunlit compound filled with wooden crates. He and Sattler were already in deep enough to not hear more footsteps behind them.
When the Grangers saw it was Lupin and Tonks coming, Hermione pushed her disbelieving parents together, double taking to make sure Muldoon was inside before addressing them.
"We'll wait here and listen to what's going on," Remus offered. "Unless anything happens where you should need us..."
"And if they catch you?" Hermione reminded them.
"They won't," Tonks replied. "In the event of that, Dumbledore gave us a few tip-offs. He reckoned they'd be handy to an auror."
Hermione shrugged as she and her parents followed Sattler and Muldoon into the compound. Inside, they found a bare-chested Malcolm lay upon a table in the center of the room, trying not to wince as Hammond tried patchinghis wounds.
"Something's happened," Sattler pointed out. "Something's wrong
"This is just a delay," Hammond assured them. "That's all if is. All major theme parks have delays. When they opened Disneyland in 1956, nothing worked."
"Yeah, but John," Malcolm dazedly interjected. "If the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists."
"I'd have preferred a side trip to the new EuroDisney, myself," Jane commented.
"You can talk excursions, I can't wait anymore," Sattler tensely interrupted. "Something went wrong. I'm going to go get the power back on."
"You can't just stroll down the road, you know," Muldoon interjected.
"Well, don't be too hasty," Hammond added, checking his watch. "He's only been gone…"
"I'm going with Dr. Sattler to try and get everything back on," Muldoon insisted.
He pried open a lock on a steel cabinet in the corner, retrieving a brand new air rifle. He then loaded a shell into the barrel, popping it in with a faint electronic whistle.
The Grangers, meanwhile, watched Hammond unearth a set of blueprints and spread them across Malcolm's legs, almost crushing them, before gathering around the table.
"Our maintenance facility," Hammond explained. "This isn't going to be just like switching on the kitchen light, but I think I can follow this and then talk you through it."
"Right," Ellie murmured.
After pulling a couple of walkie-talkies off a nearby shelf, she noticed that Hammond was eyeing her, Jane, and Hermione in a way that seemed to made Paul frown.
"But… it ought to be me really going." Hammond nervously insisted.
"Why?" Ellie requested, shoving the walkies into her belt.
"Well, I'm a…" Hammond stammered. "And you'rea…"
But after gesturing toward the both of them, he seemed to notice her mood.
"Look…" Ellie griped. "We can discuss sexism in survival situations when I get back. You just take me through this step by step. I'm on channel two."
"Right," Hammond whispered.
"Come on, let's go," Muldoon ordered, waving her back up the stairs.
A concerned Hermione turned in their direction, before she was thrown off by yet another loud SNAP, followed by what sounded like a couple of tiny whispers, one male, one female. But once Sattler and Muldoon were off the top of the stairs, she found no sign of either Lupin or Tonks waiting.
"Worry not, Miss Granger…" whispered the voice of Lupin. "It's just a little disillusionment charm."
"We'll watch out for them…" added the Tonks. "And keep ourselves scarce doing it."
