Chapter 8: Learning the Ropes

The two of them finished their sandwiches and tea. Zaman turned the ledger to the date August 3. He then took a piece of paper and wrote Black Forest near Bad Wildbad – 1473. Getting up, he walked to the clock and waited for Neville, who was collecting his book and pen.

Once again Zaman folded the paper and slid it into the slot as Neville put his hand on his arm. A moment later they were standing in the midst of a forest.

"This is the Black Forest of Germany."

"It's beautiful here. Is it really the year 1473," asked Neville.

"Yes, why?"

"It doesn't look any different than regular time back at Hogwarts."

"Well, what did you expect, dinosaurs and cavemen?" said Zaman with a bit of a chuckle.

"Just because the year changed, it doesn't mean it will be a completely different world."

Zaman looked at his watch. "We need to go this way," he said, pointing toward the sun. What we are looking for should be over there."

"They walked for a bit, eventually starting to smell the smoke of woodfires and food. As they got closer to the source of the smells, they started hearing voices.

The woods opened into a clearing and Neville recognized the structure of a quidditch pitch. "Are we going to a quidditch game," he asked.

"Not just any quidditch game," came the reply. "This is the very first Quidditch World Cup Championship game. It should be quite an event."

"Wow!" said Neville. "The very first one. Amazing."

Zaman started writing. Neville, remembering what he had been told, also started capturing the picture of the build-up to the event.

Everyone clearly appeared to be magical folks. The dress was similar to modern times, but more basic. Children were playing with interesting toys and practicing basic magic. Adults were talking and making food. Vendors were selling a wide variety of oddities. Neville chronicled everything, trying to paint a complete picture.

The competitors for the game were going to be Transylvania and Flanders. The Transylvania fans were wearing black, lots of black, with blood red accents. It made their pale complexions look even paler. Many of them had bloody red paint runs coming from the corners of their mouths.

The Flanders fans were dressed in gold with black dragon insignias. A large percentage of them had blond or reddish-blond hair and blue eyes. Most of the adults were drinking large tankards of beer and eating cheese and sausages.

The fans all started to fill the stadium as game time neared. The Flanders fans were singing cheerfully. The Transylvania fans were much more sedate, many staying in the shadows of the trees. As they walked to the stadium, a fair percentage of the Transylvania fans were wearing capes with hoods over their heads, even though it was a warm, sunny day.

Once they made it inside, it was an interesting scene. All of the Transylvania fans were in the seats that had fallen into the shade created by the stadium walls. The Flanders fans were everywhere else, enjoying the warm sunshine of this beautiful day.

The Flanders team were the first to enter the pitch. They were all muscular, big, blond men, except for the seeker, who was a smaller, but equally blond, young witch. She darted to and fro like a hummingbird in a garden full of flowers.

Several minutes passed, as the sun slipped below the top edge of the stadium. Then there was a sudden blast of unexpected cold air as the Transylvanian team entered. Neville had heard people talking about the team not having any human members. Some said they were a team entirely made up of vampires, demons and werewolves. Their appearance did nothing to dispel the rumor.

Once the quaffle was released, the game quickly devolved into nothing Neville had ever seen on a quidditch pitch at Hogwarts. By the time the game ended, every single one of the hundreds of potential quidditch fouls had been called, some several times. Many new ones were also created.

A Flanders beater went after the Transylvanian keeper with a broad sword, trying to behead him. That ended when a different Transylvania player transfigured the swordsman into a polecat. The game went late into the night with it finally being called without a declared winner after the Transylvania captain released at least one-hundred vampire bats onto the pitch from under his robes. Neville was aghast, having never dreamed of such mayhem on a quidditch pitch, by the end.

Once they had returned to the office, Neville sat and organized his report while Zaman did the same. When he was finished, he handed it to Zaman, who said this was 'much, much better'.

"Now you are capturing the entire event," he said. "It gives a good feel of the event to the reader. That is the key to a good report. You want the readers to feel a desire to see it for themselves. We will do a couple more, then we will go to the library, so you can see how the system converts reports into video representations. We'll also see about getting you a watch, so you can capture images to be included. I will show you a bit about taking images with a watch on our next trip. I can see you writing a report well enough to submit in the near future. You have pretty good writing skills."

"Thanks," said Neville. "I think this is going to be fun. I am enjoying going places, already. I miss my family and friends, but I am feeling mostly okay."

Four trips, and four increasingly better reports later, Zaman said it was time to visit the library for a break and to learn more about what they were doing. He pulled a glittering card from his pocket and walked over to the clock.

"This is a library card," he said, holding it up for Neville to examine. "When you become a Recorder, you will be issued one. This is the only way in and out of the library. Grab my arm, and let's go see some interesting stuff."

Zaman inserted the card and they instantly appeared in the room they had been in on their first visit. They walked down the hall to a room with a big screen that looked like a muggle television. On the table was a smaller screen with a keyboard in front of it. Neville had seen muggle computers but had never actually used one. He watched Zaman as he sat down at the table.

"This is how you access all of the information in the library," he said, pulling the chair up to the keyboard. "There are millions of these on millions of worlds throughout the universe. Like I said before, the encyclopedia is available to all peace-minded, advanced cultures. You will also be able to access a compact version of the encyclopedia through your watch. It is the greatest resource for information in the universe. It is the culmination of millions of years of work by hundreds of millions of recorders. A person can go from one end of the universe to the other, and not get lost, using it. They can do that in just about any time period, as well."

"Amazing. So, I can see other planets and everything?"

"Not yet. I can't show them to you until you become a recorder. For now, all I can show you is Earth. So," said Zaman, clapping his hands, " let's look at some examples.

"The first thing they looked at was the quidditch game they had just attended. The view on the big screen was a good representation of the event cut down into a five-minute video. According to the information at the end, it was a composite of twenty-seven collected reports on the event.

"I should have mentioned that," said Zaman. "The entries are all put together from all of the various reports from all of the recorders who have seen it. The more reports, the more detailed and accurate the reports. That is a major part of why the encyclopedia is so good."

They looked at several more videos, then Zaman said it was time to get Neville a watch. It was a necessary step in moving him forward to a time when his reports would be joining others in creating the encyclopedia.

They went down a hallway to an office marked supplies. Inside, a lady in a green robe with blue stars on it greeted them.

"How can I assist you?" she asked.

"I am Zaman Bahar of the third director of the recorders on Planet Earth. This is my apprentice, Neville Longbottom. He is in need of a watch and money pouch."

"Very well," she responded as she picked up a stack of papers. You will need to fill out the request forms."

Zaman took the paper and started writing on them at a nearby table. Neville busied himself looking around.

"There," said Zaman after several minutes.

He handed the papers back to the lady. She scanned them and sat them down.

"Looks proper," she said as she reached over and pulled two small boxes up to the window. "There you go."

Zaman and Neville thanked her as they left. Neville opened the first box and pulled out a watch very much like Zaman's. It buzzed to life as he put it on. The second box had a pouch similar to Zaman's. It was empty, since Neville was not in need of money at this time.

They eventually found themselves back in the office. Neville was examining his watch and the coin purse he had been given. Zaman gave him another run through on the watch. Neville felt confident with the basic settings and usage. The coin purse was quite simple. It always had a supply of local money inside. Recorders never hurt for cash during their trips. It was a very handy perk.

Neville said he was tired. A mat with a pillow and blanket appeared in the corner. This was an upgrade from sleeping at the table or on the floor. He laid down and closed his eyes. He was asleep in nothing flat.