Arnold's Wizarding World

Chapter 15: The Boy Who Lived

Ooo, ouch. My writing has changed drastically since I wrote this in July xD IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER!

We woke up to the sound of angry mob cries.

Ron barged into our room and told us to pack up and get ready, because Scheck and a few other wizards had arrived to drag us to Azkaban. Woah, when he had said we needed to leave, I didn't anticipate it'd be so soon, guess that's how things are here in the Wizarding World.

Mrs. and Mr. Weasley and George were fending the wizards that were creeping up in the front door off, while Hermione urged Helga to hurry and get ready.

We were taken to the back, where Ron threw a broom at Hermione. "Where's Harry?"

"I don't know! He should've been here by no—"

CRASH.

I fell back, feeling a sudden sting on the back of my head.

A wizard I had never seen before was chanting spells while Ron and Hermione fired back, ordering us to run outside.

We followed suit, and we suddenly felt the chills of the cold, fall weather. We ran in between the plants that were outside the Burrow, stopping as we noticed Hermione run toward us.

"We need to get you out of here!"

I opened my mouth to respond, only to feel someone grab me roughly and throw me to the side.

I felt a cold piece of steel on the back of my head.

"ARNOLD!" Gerald and Helga yelled.

"If I succeed, we'll only need your parents," Scheck spat, and I heard a click, causing my heart to race.

It was then when I realized that Scheck was holding a gun to the back of my head.

My automatic instinct was to freeze, but my arm lingered over my wand in my pocket. My head hurt like crazy, and the world began spinning.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

I suddenly felt the pressure from the gun being lifted, and a cry from Scheck.

I felt someone else grab me from my arm, "Who has the flask? He needs the potion!"

"This one?" I heard Helga ask.

The person holding me snatched it, and lifted me so that I can face him. He had bright green eyes, scruffy raven hair, and round glasses. "Arnold, I need you to think about somewhere near your home. Somewhere that you know we'll be able to land safely!"

I blinked slowly, it was becoming harder to think. My first thought was of a little country home right outside of Hillwood… Arnie's home.

"Did you think of it?"

I nodded, and the stranger opened the flask. "This is going to make you sleep for a long time, it's best if you stay asleep for this."

I drank the potion, suddenly feeling my vision get blurry, and the world went black.

When I woke up again, I felt nauseous, and threw up all over the grassy plain beside me.

I immediately felt better, and as I lifted my head and my eyes adjusted, the scenery became familiar. The chicken farm was still there, and I recalled a fifth grade project Lila, Gerald, and I did where we wanted to measure how sensitive baby chicks were to sound, and Arnie gave us two eggs.

Those were easier times.

"How are you feeling?"

I jumped and turned to look at the stranger with the green eyes, who was giving me a soft smile.

"Better," I answered.

He chuckled, "When I told you to envision somewhere near your home, I never imagined this. I kind of like it, it's peaceful."

I frowned, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I ever got your name."

He shifted his eyes toward me, "Right, sorry, where are my manners? I'm Harry Potter."

I gasped, causing him to sheepishly scratch the back of his head, "Yeah, I've become used to that reaction. You're probably real sick of having to hear my name all the time. I've been made aware of how many times you were compared to me in The Hole. But yes, this is me, pretty anti-climatic don't you think?"

My gaze immediately drifted towards his eyes, which shocked me, because we really did have the same shade of green. "No, I'm just surprised that we're barely meeting now. I feel like we've known each other for a long time!"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, unfortunately people seem to know more about me than I know about myself."

His eyes shifted towards the invisibility cloak that lay beside me, "How did this work out for you? Pretty helpful, don't you think?"

I blinked, "Y-You… you were the silhouette!"
He smiled cheekily, "Malfoy really can be an arse sometimes. He gave up on you right after defeating Boris. He was the one that was supposed to be giving them to you, but because we didn't have time for him and his pride, I took matters into my own hands, while Ron and Hermione convinced him to go back for you."

"Why didn't you just give them to us yourself?" I asked.

Harry frowned, "The Ministry ordered me not to show myself to you. Besides, everyone there was watching you like a hawk, and if they would have seen me with you, they would have made it harder for us to get you out of there."

I nodded, agreeing with him.

"So, this is actually my first time being in America, where are we, exactly?" Harry asked with a soft chuckle.

I blinked, "Oh wow, we actually made it. This is Hillwood's countryside, my cousin Arnie lives here, speaking of which— ARNIE!"

I stood up and headed towards the small country home, stepping onto the porch and knocking on the door.

"Arnie? You in there?"

Harry followed me, "Cousin huh? Don't you think he might be asleep?"

"Arnold, what a surprise, you didn't tell me you were coming."

Harry and I jumped as Arnie popped up behind us, with a jar of peanut butter on one hand and a bucket of milk on the other. He blinked and waited for me to respond.

"Oh, uh, hi Arnie. Whatchu got there?"

"I was reading the ingredients to this jar of peanut butter while milking a cow."

"Oh, sounds fun."

"It was."

The next few seconds were silent, and I think Harry started to feel uncomfortable, because he cleared his throat and looked to the side.

I cleared my throat, "Arnie, this is Harry Potter. He's uhhh—"

"A friend," Harry finished for me. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Arnie blinked and stared at his extended hand, "Your accent is weird. Are you from Britain?"

"I am," Harry muttered. "Actually."

Arnie nodded, "Cool. Want gum?"

"Eh— no thanks?"

"Arnie," I stated. "The neighborhood is in trouble again because of La Sombra and Scheck. Have you heard anything about it? Is everyone okay?"

Arnie blinked, "Oh, you mean how Lila and your friends came running to my house a week ago asking where you were? I haven't heard much, but they did seem worried."

I paled, "Where are Lila and the others now?"

He shrugged, "I think they went back to Hillwood. Phoebe wasn't with them, which is something that had Lila on edge. Last I heard, they were going to hide themselves at PS 118 or something. I was busy reading the ingredients to beef jerky, so I wasn't really paying attention."

"We have to get back!" I exclaimed, eyeing Harry.

"You're in luck, the bus arrives in five minutes," Arnie informed.

"Thanks Arnie!" I exclaimed, leading Harry towards the bus stop. When Arnie was out of earshot, Harry turned to look at me.

"He—"

"I know," I muttered. "I promise we really are related."

"I was going to say he seems charming, but whatever works."

The bus approached us and I resisted the urge to groan as Murray held onto the wheel.

"Oh boy, it's the football headed kid who saved the neighborhood. Where's the kid with the big hair and the girl with the one eyebrow?"

"Hello Murray," I greeted. "This is Harry. Harry, this is Murray."

"Pleasure," Harry smiled.

Murray nodded, "Hillwood?"

"Yep."

"No can do kid, the road's blocked off, the city isn't letting anyone in for some reason. It's becoming a scandal back at the office."

"Can you at least take us close to Hillwood, we can walk the rest of the way."

He sighed, "You're lucky I'm in a good mood, Mona and I are celebrating her birthday tonight, take a seat."

After taking a seat, Murray started driving the bus, and Harry noticed his prosthetic leg, blinking as if he was impressed.

"Believe it or not," I started. "Gerald, Helga, and I once drove his other bus and stopped Scheck from bulldozing our entire neighborhood. All by ourselves."

"And you did this… without magic?" Harry asked.

I scratched the back of my head, "Yeah."

"Brilliant," he smiled.

I gasped as Harry and I neared the neighborhood. It looked… awful!

The streets were deserted, the windows to lots of businesses were broken, there were people with black cloaks guarding the streets with wands held in their hands.

Where was everyone?

We headed towards the boarding house cautiously, and that shocked me even more.

The boarding house was plagued with cloaked people.

"Is that where you live?" Harry asked.

"Yes," I answered. "My family is in there, and so is my friend Phoebe."

"Well, you can't just barge in there," he reasoned.

I nodded, I needed a plan, but what?

Suddenly remembering that someone needed to destroy the Corazon in order for me to defeat La Sombra, I turned to look at Harry.

"We need to find the Corazon and destroy it! That's the only way we can defeat La Sombra."
"You mean that artifact created by the Green Eyed people? Where do you think it could be?"

I said nothing as I looked at the sky, noticing a strange wave of energy coming from the roof of PS 118.

"The school!" I exclaimed. "Arnie told us that my friends had gone to the school to hide, maybe they know where the Corazon is!"

"Wait," Harry stated, handing me the cloak. "Take this."

"What about you?"

"I need to apparate back to the Burrow to make sure the Weasleys are okay, I'll be back once Hermione and Ron arrive. Be careful out there, I have a feeling you know what you're doing."

He then disappeared with a pop, leaving me dumbfounded with the cloak in my hand. With a sigh, I put it on and ran towards the school.

Wand in hand, I sneaked in through a dent Wolfgang made when he wanted to play hooky and ditched school during recess, and slipped through the fence with ease. Two cloaked figures were standing by the doorway, and I used my wand to conduct a levitation charm, causing a rotten apple from the dumpster to rise on its own. I threw it against the fence, and that caused both cloaked figures to run toward it.

I took my opportunity, and ran inside the school. I was faced with a dark corridor, with lockers dented and papers scattered across the floor.

Now, to find my friends…

"I've been quite impressed with your cooperation lately, Sean."

I gasped, watching as La Sombra and Sean passed by my corridor. I chased after them, being as subtle as I could be.

"Thanks," Sean grumbled.

That was him! The real Sean!

He looked sick, as if he hadn't been able to sleep in days, and he looked kinda worried.

"Sir, don't mind my asking, but my Uncle—"

"Will be alright," La Sombra finished. "He has the willpower to whip those wizards into shape, and when he returns with the good news that he's managed to get rid of Arnold, your family will obtain glory for the rest of your life. I'll grant you anything you want."

Sean frowned, but said nothing.

"But if he fails," La Sombra continued, his voice gaining a bit of edge. "Well, let's not think negatively."

Now Sean looked sick, but bit his lip to prevent himself from speaking.

"Where are the brats?"

"In their classroom, they're still crying over Mr. Simmons."

"A fool, no less. Risking his life over a snot nosed brat, such a waste."

I then scooted over towards my old classroom, refusing to hear La Sombra say anything else.

There were two cloaked figures standing beside the door, and I lifted my wand.

"Stupefy," I whispered, causing one of the cloaked figures to fall.

The other cloaked figure looked startled, and looked around to see where the force had come from.

I winced, biting my tongue to resist the urge to apologize, and knocked out the other guy too.

I tried to open the door, but after realizing that it had been locked, I quickly remembered the unlocking spell Professor Flitwick had taught me at Hogwarts.

"Alohomora," I iterated, quickly opening the door and shutting it behind me.

I heard gasps, and a shriek coming from Sid.

"Please don't hurt us!" Harold exclaimed. "Whoever you are! I still haven't kissed a girl!"

I removed my cloak, "Don't worry guys, it's just me."

My classmates gasped and quickly ran toward me.

"Arnold! Is that really you? Or are you the phony?" Sid asked.

"No," I smiled. "It's me."

"Where have you been?" Rhonda scolded. "We've been looking for you for weeks!"

"Arnold! La Sombra is back, and he wants to kill us! He hasn't fed us in two hours and I'm huuungry!"

"Harold, can you stop thinking about food for at least two seconds?" Nadine reprimanded.

"Wait!" Lila exclaimed. "We should let Arnold explain himself."

My friends grew silent, and I thanked Lila. "Look, for now, there's no time to explain. I need to find the Corazon and destroy it. That's the only way we're going to defeat La Sombra. Does—"

I stopped, freezing as I noticed Phoebe and Mr. Simmons lying in the middle of the classroom. Phoebe looked bruised, and Mr. Simmons' gash was drying up, but he was still unconscious.

"Oh Arnold…" Eugene stated. "It's terrible. Phoebe only wakes up during the nights, only for Nick to take her to another room to torture her, and then brings her back unconscious again. Mr. Simmons hasn't woken up since La Sombra hurt him. He needs to go to the hospital, but La Sombra won't let us help him."

Tears cornered my eyes, and I knelt beside them. Never did I ever think La Sombra would go this far, Gerald and Helga were going to be devastated when they found out.

"Where are Gerald and Helga?" Stinky asked. "Weren't they with ya, Arnold? That's what Eduardo told us."

"They're on their way," I answered, placing a hand on Phoebe's forehead.

I let out a shaky breath, and placed a hand on Mr. Simmons' forehead too.

They were both still breathing. That was a good sign.

"Does anyone know where Eduardo is?" I asked.

"He took your parents somewhere to hide a long time ago. We don't know where," Eugene answered.

That gave me a bit of relief. And as I inspected Phoebe and Mr. Simmons a little bit more, I felt someone massage the back of my head.

"Arnold. What happened to your head? It looks ever so injured."

I frowned and eyed Lila, "There was an ambush and I hit my head, but I'm fine. Does anyone know where the Corazon is?"

I was met with frowns, causing me to sigh.

"Okay, well, first things first, we need to get out of here," I announced. "Arnie's home is safe, and I think that would be a good place to stay in."

"That's nice and all, but we've already tried escaping," Rhonda crossed her arms. "Didn't work."

"Yeah, but now we have this," I stated as I pulled out my wand and the invisibility cloak. I then recalled giving Mr. Simmons a Dino Spumoni CD as a going away gift at the end of fifth grade, and I headed towards the back of the class, where he had it on display next to a fish tank.

I grabbed it and ran to the front of the class, where Mr. Simmons' boom box was placed safely inside his desk cabinet.

"Uh, what are you doing Arnold?" Sid asked.

I placed the CD inside the boom box, "I'm going to go to the end of the hall and I'm going to play this song to distract La Sombra and his minions, meanwhile, you're all going to get out of this room and run out of the school as fast as you can."

"What about Phoebe and Mr. Simmons?" Eugene asked.

"Well, I think we can carry Phoebe, but I reckon Mr. Simmons might be too heavy," Stinky pondered.

I winced, I had forgotten about that. I turned to look at a broomstick that lay near the chalkboard, and I gulped.

I was going to have to fly Mr. Simmons and myself out of here.

"I have a plan. Just make sure you take Phoebe with you while I take this out into the hallway."

The gang nodded, and I placed the invisibility cloak over myself and stepped out into the hallway, scuttling over towards the side opposite to the exit. I pressed play, and ran back towards the classroom, hearing Dino Spumoni's voice blast through the halls.

I heard footsteps stomping towards the boom box, and I knew we had to act fast. I noticed my friends already heading towards the exit, with Harold and Stinky working together to carry Phoebe.

I slammed the door open and grabbed the broom, letting it fall on the floor.

"Up!" I exclaimed, and the broom obeyed me, to my surprise. It wasn't a normal quidditch broom, it was the janitor's broom, and I really hoped that it didn't mess with my flying.

I carefully placed Mr. Simmons on it, and used all the skills I learned doing quidditch to fly us out of the classroom – and that's when things got ugly.

I slammed against a locker, suddenly realizing that this broom wasn't stable. This caused me to make noise, and the minions who were hovering over the boombox turned and started chasing me.

I let out a cry and concentrated fully on controlling the broom without causing Mr. Simmons to fall. I sped towards the exit, feeling the broom wobble back and forth.

Sean pushed himself through the crowd of minions, an angry expression plastered on his face. He pulled out a wand, much to my surprise, "Stupefy!"

Just as I exited the school, the spell hit me, causing Mr. Simmons and I to fall onto the floor.

Sean stood on the stoop, wand in hand, while I struggled to get up. My head throbbed, and I got up slowly, standing in front of Mr. Simmons, hoping to protect him as much as possible.

"Sean, why are you doing this?"

"You already know the answer to that question," he responded.

Suddenly, Stinky, Sid, and Harold, who were hiding beside the stoop, leaped and trapped Sean under the school's American flag.

All of my other friends ran out, and dragged Mr. Simmons into an alley, where they were hiding.

Sid, Stinky, and Harold then released Sean and the four of us hid in the alley, much to Sean's utter anger. I urged everyone to hide under the invisibility cloak, and we hid Phoebe and Mr. Simmons behind a trash bin.

"Where's Curly?" I asked.

Everyone looked around frantically, realizing that Curly was no where to be found.

"He was with us when we ran out!" Eugene whispered.

Sean walked into the alley, tightly holding onto his wand with a scowl on his face.

We then heard a wedding hum, and a familiar dress came into view — and Curly, dressed as the Ghost Bride, slowly approached Sean with a baseball bat in his hand.

Sean widened his eyes and backed away. "What in the world, I thought you were just a legend!"

Curly lifted the baseball bat, and Sean shrieked, leaving the scene.

I smirked, "Nice one Curly!"

Curly removed the wig, "I've been WANTING to try that plan, but nobody WOULD LISTEN TO ME!"

I turned to look at Rhonda, who shrugged.

"He's been begging us to let him try that plan all week. He even brought the costume with him when he was taken from his home. You can't blame us, he's awful at making any plan sound rational."

"As long as we're okay, it's fine. Now, we need to find a way to get you all to Arnie's, and then I need to find the Corazon."

"No Arnold…"

Phoebe, who had apparently awaken when my friends were escaping the school grounds, stood from where she was lying. "We're coming with you."

Okay everyone, I have an announcement to make. Keep It Crescendo and Arnold's Wizarding World, until further notice, are probably going to be the last stories I post up on Fanfiction. I had to move on at some point, and I'm already reaching the end of my college career.

I've been working on an original manuscript for about two years now and it should be completed by September of this year, so the reason I haven't been posting is because I've moved on to my own original work. I've been on Fanfiction since I was, oof, since I was ten! This platform has been good practice for me and my writing. I'll go more in detail in my profile if any of you are remotely interested in reading a "goodbye" speech *crickets chirp* lol I'm kidding xD

What does that mean for this story? I may have to make a synopsis for the rest of the story because I don't want to leave you guys hanging any longer. Unfortunately, I don't think I have the time or passion for this story to be able to continue. I really want to give you guys closure before I move forward with my writing career. I'm really sorry I had to resort to that, please don't be mad!

Thank you so much for your patience! The synopsis will be up before or by March 20th.