p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Where am I? Who am I?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The boy opened his eyes and sat up in bed, gazing around the room, and almost blinded himself. Everything, the walls, the ceiling, the floor, even the bedside table, was a perfect, brilliant white. He squinted his eyes against the shine and threw back his bed covers./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Why can't I remember anything?" He thought as he put his feet down on the floor. "Am I dead?" The floor was cold. But if I'm dead then why does my head hurt so much?" He forced himself to think straight. "My name is...Michael. Michael...Stone. I think...I am...10 years old. My birthday is July the 13th, and...and..."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"But he found that he simply could not remember anymore, no matter how hard he tried. His head began to ache, and he gave up. Trying to distract himself, he stood up off the bed and began to examine the room. Before he had taken two steps past the edge of the bed, however, a door swung open on the right side of the room and a man walked through the door, pulling up in surprise when he saw Michael./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The man was middle aged, maybe in his mid 30s. His face was smooth and chiseled, handsome except for a long, thin scar running from the top of his cheekbone to the bottom of his chin. His hair was black, his eyes a deep, pure brown. His shoulders were broad and his arms were complementing of his size, which, while not to be considered tall, was formidable. If it weren't for the kindly look behind his astonished expression, Michael would've been afraid to be in the same room as him./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You're already awake." He said, his tone betraying the fact that this somehow impressed him. "The Healers said it would take another couple of hours. How are you?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Michael stared at him, backing away slowly. "Where am I? Who are you?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The man smiled sadly. "You don't remember anything? Nothing at all?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, I remember my name. And how old I am and my birthday. But...no. Nothing else. Why is that?" Michael asked. For the first time, he began to feel afraid. "Am I sick? Why can't I remember?!" He struggled against the tears of frustration that threatened to come to his eyes./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The man walked over to him and knelt down in front of him, putting his hand on his shoulder./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hey, it's ok. You're fine, don't worry. My name is Levi Potter and I'm here to help. You're in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. You were brought here a few days ago, but now that you're awake, we can go whenever the Healers clear you. How do you feel?" As he asked the last question, he led Michael back to the bed./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Michael sat down. Something about this man made him trust him. His touch was kind and soft, and it calmed Michael. He took a deep breath and steadied himself./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""My head hurts, but only if I think too hard or try to remember. Otherwise, I'm fine. What happened to me?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You had an accident. You're memory should come back eventually, just give it some time."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"At that moment, a portly old woman walked into the room, a trolley gliding smoothly a foot off the floor behind her. She stopped as she entered just as Levi had done, her face registering astonishment./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You're awake already. But we gave you enough for..." She broke off at a warning look from Levi. "Right, well...I'll just...ummm...I'll go get your Healer."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She turned and hurried out of the room, the cart moving along in front of her as if pushed on invisible wheels. The door swung shut behind her./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Why am I supposed to be asleep?" asked Michael./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""The Healers gave you a sedative to keep you asleep for a while after your accident to let your body rest. But it looks like they didn't give you enough to keep you under for as long as they'd planned. It's perfectly all right, mistakes like this happen often in a huge hospital like this one."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"He said it flippantly, obviously intending to reassure Michael, but there was something in his voice, underneath the guise of his nonchalant tone, that made Michael wonder if maybe it wasn't quite as normal as he claimed./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The door swung open again and this time, instead of a woman, a man in flowing green robes walked through it. He had a blinding smile on his face, but it looked plastered, as if it was just another article of clothing he put on for work. Which, Michael guessed, it probably was./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hello, hello. Feeling better, are we? Right, then, let's see here..." And he began to look Michael up and down, patting him on the cheek, touching his head, tapping on his knees to make his leg jump, and, finally, sticking a thin piece of wood into his face and running it up and down his body while muttering under his breath. He finished after a few minutes and turned to Levi./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well Levi, I can't find any reason he should stay. He's in perfect health."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi nodded. "Right then, I'll take him out as soon as possible. When can you have him all ready?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Oh, less than an hour. Just need to perform some last second checks, all for legal issues, you see."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I understand, Barnabus. I'll wait for you in the lobby then, shall I?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"He waved to Michael as he walked out the door. "See you in a bit, kid."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The door swung itself shut behind him, and Michael was left alone with the Healer./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Right," the Healer sighed. "Let's get this over with."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"He waved the stick in his hand and the lights went out. Michael froze...this felt very wrong./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I'm really very sorry about this, you know." Barnabus's voice spoke out of the blackness. "But it's you or me, boy. And I'd prefer it to be you."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Michael acted on instinct, instinct he couldn't remember having learned, flattening himself to the ground and rolling behind the bed. He was just in time. He heard Barnabus shout something in a strange language, and a bolt of green light flashed through the space where Michael had just been and blew a hole in the wall. Light flooded into the room from the hole, illuminating the astonished face of Barnabus. Michael heard him shout again and he dove to his right, knocking over the bedside table as he did. The green light blasted the bed into pieces. Michael lay on his back in the middle of the room, with no cover left for him. He stared up at Barnabus as the man raised his wand./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Before Barnabus had spoken, the door burst open, and Michael heard another voice shout, a voice he recognized./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Stupefy!" Levi shouted, flinging out the stick he had in his hand, which by now Michael assumed was a wand, though how he knew what a wand was, he didn't know./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"A blast of red light hit Barnabus in the back, and he toppled to the ground, unconscious. Levi ran over to Michael and helped him to his feet./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Are you alright?" He asked, checking him over for any injury./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I'm fine, I'm ok." Michael said. "He got the wall and the bed pretty good, though."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi turned Barnabus over onto his back with his foot. "I never would've thought it of him," he muttered. "I've known him for a long while. He seemed honest enough."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Michael looked down at Barnabus. "What was he trying to do to me? Was he trying to kill me?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi hesitated. "I'm...not sure. Come on, I need to talk to some people and get this sorted out."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"But something about the way he said it made Michael suspect that he had a pretty good idea about what Barnabus was trying to do./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi waved his wand and thin, silver ropes flew out of it, binding Barnabus hand and foot and gagging him. Then Levi gave his wand a small flick and the healer rose into the air and hovered there, like a puppet suspended on strings. Levi led Michael out of the room, with Barnabus floating along behind them. A small crowd of people had gathered, all trying to get a glimpse through the door but all to scared to step inside and see what happened. As they passed, everyone backed away from Levi, eyes wide when they saw the Healer being towed behind them. Levi was walking so fast that Michael had to almost jog to keep up with him, and within seconds was feeling slightly lightheaded. Soon he was breathing hard, so hard that his stomach hurt. He stopped and bent over, his hands on his knees, his breath coming out in wheezes./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""L...L...Levi!" He gasped./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi stopped and turned and his face softened, losing its hard frown. He stooped down beside Michael and put his hand on Michael's shoulder./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""It's fine. Take a second to rest. I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was going so fast. I'm just worried. This isn't good at all."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Michael just nodded, wondering whether Levi was telling him this intentionally or just talking to himself out loud./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"They waited for Michael to catch his breath, then, when Michael indicated he was ready, they continued on at a gentler pace. Levi led them through corridors and down stairs, and everywhere they went people backed away as if they carried a curse. Every floor they arrived at had a different color and feel, from the brilliant white of Michael's floor to the deep brown wood panels of the third floor they reached. Michael kept staring around, eyes wide, trying to see everything he could possibly see. Men and women walked milled everywhere, some acting odd, very obviously dealing with some sort of strange problem. One man seemed to have a book clamped around his leg, another had had his head shrunken to the size of a baby's. A woman's skin had gone a deep purple shade and she kept vomiting up what looked to be small slugs. A boy couldn't seem to keep still; he kept giving little jumps as if something had bitten him. Healers drifted from person to person, waving their wands or giving patients something to drink from small flasks./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"After they had descended four flights of stairs, they stepped out into what was obviously the entrance hall. Wizards were streaming in from all sides, some stepping in through the fireplaces lined up against the wall (which contained a fire that turned green every time someone was going to step out), some appearing through the large glass panels that made up the far wall,/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"some just appearing out of mid-air with a small pop. They all were making their way to the massive reception desk, and then toward one of the five flights of stairs. No one seemed to have time or be interested in the Healer floating along behind Michael and Levi./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi put his hand on Michaels shoulder again and guided him toward the other side of the room. They passed the reception desk and Levi nodded to the young woman on duty, who smiled winningly at him, until she noticed the body that floated behind them. Her eyes widened in shock, but she didn't say anything to them, and they passed by. They made their way to the fireplaces, which were still spurting out people every few seconds each. Levi guided him to a few in the corner at the near end of the line that had a sign in front of them that said "Exits" in large, black letters. Levi crouched down in front of Michael and grasped his arms./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Right, then, Michael. I need you to do something for me. These fireplaces are special, if you use them correctly they can take you places. But you're going to have to do this on your own, I can't go with you. Watch what this wizard does."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi pointed to the fireplace next to them, where an old man with a man with a white beard was approaching a fireplace. He took a handful of white dust from the bowl hanging next to the bricks, tossed it into the fire, stepped into the flames (which had now turned green), and said in a loud, clear voice "22 Owl Flight Avenue!" The flames roared up and twisted, then died down. The man had disappeared./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You take a handful of the dust, throw it into the fire, then you get in and tell it where you want to go." Levi said, as if it was the most simple process in the world. Michael nodded, completely bewildered./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Does it hurt?" he asked./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi laughed. "No, it actually feels kinda nice. Don't worry, it's going to be easy. Now, when you get in, I need you to tell the fire to take you to the address 'Number 12 Grimmauld Place.' I'll be coming right after you."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"He gave Michael a little push toward the fire. Michael took a tentative step toward it. He took a handful of dust with a shaking arm, and threw it into the fire. It instantly turned a deep shade of green. He turned around, looked at Levi (who gave him an encouraging nod), then stepped into the fire. To his surprise, Levi had been right. The fire didn't hurt; instead, it tickled his legs and a warm sensation spread up his spine./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Number 12 Grimmauld Place!" he said as clearly as he could. He saw the fire roar up around him, and then he was sucked into the ashes./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The boy opened his eyes and sat up in bed, gazing around the room, and almost blinded himself. Everything, the walls, the ceiling, the floor, even the bedside table, was a perfect, brilliant white. He squinted his eyes against the shine and threw back his bed covers./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Why can't I remember anything?" He thought as he put his feet down on the floor. "Am I dead?" The floor was cold. But if I'm dead then why does my head hurt so much?" He forced himself to think straight. "My name is...Michael. Michael...Stone. I think...I am...10 years old. My birthday is July the 13th, and...and..."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"But he found that he simply could not remember anymore, no matter how hard he tried. His head began to ache, and he gave up. Trying to distract himself, he stood up off the bed and began to examine the room. Before he had taken two steps past the edge of the bed, however, a door swung open on the right side of the room and a man walked through the door, pulling up in surprise when he saw Michael./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The man was middle aged, maybe in his mid 30s. His face was smooth and chiseled, handsome except for a long, thin scar running from the top of his cheekbone to the bottom of his chin. His hair was black, his eyes a deep, pure brown. His shoulders were broad and his arms were complementing of his size, which, while not to be considered tall, was formidable. If it weren't for the kindly look behind his astonished expression, Michael would've been afraid to be in the same room as him./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You're already awake." He said, his tone betraying the fact that this somehow impressed him. "The Healers said it would take another couple of hours. How are you?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Michael stared at him, backing away slowly. "Where am I? Who are you?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The man smiled sadly. "You don't remember anything? Nothing at all?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well, I remember my name. And how old I am and my birthday. But...no. Nothing else. Why is that?" Michael asked. For the first time, he began to feel afraid. "Am I sick? Why can't I remember?!" He struggled against the tears of frustration that threatened to come to his eyes./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The man walked over to him and knelt down in front of him, putting his hand on his shoulder./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hey, it's ok. You're fine, don't worry. My name is Levi Potter and I'm here to help. You're in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. You were brought here a few days ago, but now that you're awake, we can go whenever the Healers clear you. How do you feel?" As he asked the last question, he led Michael back to the bed./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Michael sat down. Something about this man made him trust him. His touch was kind and soft, and it calmed Michael. He took a deep breath and steadied himself./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""My head hurts, but only if I think too hard or try to remember. Otherwise, I'm fine. What happened to me?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You had an accident. You're memory should come back eventually, just give it some time."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"At that moment, a portly old woman walked into the room, a trolley gliding smoothly a foot off the floor behind her. She stopped as she entered just as Levi had done, her face registering astonishment./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You're awake already. But we gave you enough for..." She broke off at a warning look from Levi. "Right, well...I'll just...ummm...I'll go get your Healer."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"She turned and hurried out of the room, the cart moving along in front of her as if pushed on invisible wheels. The door swung shut behind her./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Why am I supposed to be asleep?" asked Michael./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""The Healers gave you a sedative to keep you asleep for a while after your accident to let your body rest. But it looks like they didn't give you enough to keep you under for as long as they'd planned. It's perfectly all right, mistakes like this happen often in a huge hospital like this one."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"He said it flippantly, obviously intending to reassure Michael, but there was something in his voice, underneath the guise of his nonchalant tone, that made Michael wonder if maybe it wasn't quite as normal as he claimed./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The door swung open again and this time, instead of a woman, a man in flowing green robes walked through it. He had a blinding smile on his face, but it looked plastered, as if it was just another article of clothing he put on for work. Which, Michael guessed, it probably was./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hello, hello. Feeling better, are we? Right, then, let's see here..." And he began to look Michael up and down, patting him on the cheek, touching his head, tapping on his knees to make his leg jump, and, finally, sticking a thin piece of wood into his face and running it up and down his body while muttering under his breath. He finished after a few minutes and turned to Levi./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Well Levi, I can't find any reason he should stay. He's in perfect health."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi nodded. "Right then, I'll take him out as soon as possible. When can you have him all ready?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Oh, less than an hour. Just need to perform some last second checks, all for legal issues, you see."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I understand, Barnabus. I'll wait for you in the lobby then, shall I?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"He waved to Michael as he walked out the door. "See you in a bit, kid."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The door swung itself shut behind him, and Michael was left alone with the Healer./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Right," the Healer sighed. "Let's get this over with."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"He waved the stick in his hand and the lights went out. Michael froze...this felt very wrong./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I'm really very sorry about this, you know." Barnabus's voice spoke out of the blackness. "But it's you or me, boy. And I'd prefer it to be you."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Michael acted on instinct, instinct he couldn't remember having learned, flattening himself to the ground and rolling behind the bed. He was just in time. He heard Barnabus shout something in a strange language, and a bolt of green light flashed through the space where Michael had just been and blew a hole in the wall. Light flooded into the room from the hole, illuminating the astonished face of Barnabus. Michael heard him shout again and he dove to his right, knocking over the bedside table as he did. The green light blasted the bed into pieces. Michael lay on his back in the middle of the room, with no cover left for him. He stared up at Barnabus as the man raised his wand./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Before Barnabus had spoken, the door burst open, and Michael heard another voice shout, a voice he recognized./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Stupefy!" Levi shouted, flinging out the stick he had in his hand, which by now Michael assumed was a wand, though how he knew what a wand was, he didn't know./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"A blast of red light hit Barnabus in the back, and he toppled to the ground, unconscious. Levi ran over to Michael and helped him to his feet./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Are you alright?" He asked, checking him over for any injury./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""I'm fine, I'm ok." Michael said. "He got the wall and the bed pretty good, though."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi turned Barnabus over onto his back with his foot. "I never would've thought it of him," he muttered. "I've known him for a long while. He seemed honest enough."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Michael looked down at Barnabus. "What was he trying to do to me? Was he trying to kill me?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi hesitated. "I'm...not sure. Come on, I need to talk to some people and get this sorted out."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"But something about the way he said it made Michael suspect that he had a pretty good idea about what Barnabus was trying to do./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi waved his wand and thin, silver ropes flew out of it, binding Barnabus hand and foot and gagging him. Then Levi gave his wand a small flick and the healer rose into the air and hovered there, like a puppet suspended on strings. Levi led Michael out of the room, with Barnabus floating along behind them. A small crowd of people had gathered, all trying to get a glimpse through the door but all to scared to step inside and see what happened. As they passed, everyone backed away from Levi, eyes wide when they saw the Healer being towed behind them. Levi was walking so fast that Michael had to almost jog to keep up with him, and within seconds was feeling slightly lightheaded. Soon he was breathing hard, so hard that his stomach hurt. He stopped and bent over, his hands on his knees, his breath coming out in wheezes./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""L...L...Levi!" He gasped./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi stopped and turned and his face softened, losing its hard frown. He stooped down beside Michael and put his hand on Michael's shoulder./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""It's fine. Take a second to rest. I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was going so fast. I'm just worried. This isn't good at all."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Michael just nodded, wondering whether Levi was telling him this intentionally or just talking to himself out loud./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"They waited for Michael to catch his breath, then, when Michael indicated he was ready, they continued on at a gentler pace. Levi led them through corridors and down stairs, and everywhere they went people backed away as if they carried a curse. Every floor they arrived at had a different color and feel, from the brilliant white of Michael's floor to the deep brown wood panels of the third floor they reached. Michael kept staring around, eyes wide, trying to see everything he could possibly see. Men and women walked milled everywhere, some acting odd, very obviously dealing with some sort of strange problem. One man seemed to have a book clamped around his leg, another had had his head shrunken to the size of a baby's. A woman's skin had gone a deep purple shade and she kept vomiting up what looked to be small slugs. A boy couldn't seem to keep still; he kept giving little jumps as if something had bitten him. Healers drifted from person to person, waving their wands or giving patients something to drink from small flasks./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"After they had descended four flights of stairs, they stepped out into what was obviously the entrance hall. Wizards were streaming in from all sides, some stepping in through the fireplaces lined up against the wall (which contained a fire that turned green every time someone was going to step out), some appearing through the large glass panels that made up the far wall,/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"some just appearing out of mid-air with a small pop. They all were making their way to the massive reception desk, and then toward one of the five flights of stairs. No one seemed to have time or be interested in the Healer floating along behind Michael and Levi./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi put his hand on Michaels shoulder again and guided him toward the other side of the room. They passed the reception desk and Levi nodded to the young woman on duty, who smiled winningly at him, until she noticed the body that floated behind them. Her eyes widened in shock, but she didn't say anything to them, and they passed by. They made their way to the fireplaces, which were still spurting out people every few seconds each. Levi guided him to a few in the corner at the near end of the line that had a sign in front of them that said "Exits" in large, black letters. Levi crouched down in front of Michael and grasped his arms./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Right, then, Michael. I need you to do something for me. These fireplaces are special, if you use them correctly they can take you places. But you're going to have to do this on your own, I can't go with you. Watch what this wizard does."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi pointed to the fireplace next to them, where an old man with a man with a white beard was approaching a fireplace. He took a handful of white dust from the bowl hanging next to the bricks, tossed it into the fire, stepped into the flames (which had now turned green), and said in a loud, clear voice "22 Owl Flight Avenue!" The flames roared up and twisted, then died down. The man had disappeared./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""You take a handful of the dust, throw it into the fire, then you get in and tell it where you want to go." Levi said, as if it was the most simple process in the world. Michael nodded, completely bewildered./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Does it hurt?" he asked./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi laughed. "No, it actually feels kinda nice. Don't worry, it's going to be easy. Now, when you get in, I need you to tell the fire to take you to the address 'Number 12 Grimmauld Place.' I'll be coming right after you."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"He gave Michael a little push toward the fire. Michael took a tentative step toward it. He took a handful of dust with a shaking arm, and threw it into the fire. It instantly turned a deep shade of green. He turned around, looked at Levi (who gave him an encouraging nod), then stepped into the fire. To his surprise, Levi had been right. The fire didn't hurt; instead, it tickled his legs and a warm sensation spread up his spine./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Number 12 Grimmauld Place!" he said as clearly as he could. He saw the fire roar up around him, and then he was sucked into the ashes./p