ill woke suddenly to find that he was not alone.

"What...where am I?" he stuttered, terrified to wake up in the middle of a large corridor with strangers.

"That's what we'd all like to know," said a young woman, dressed in black robes marked with strange symbols.

"Glitch in one of McGonagall's spells, I'd say," said a teenage girl with flame-red hair and a freckled face. "Not usual for her, but possible."

The boy next to her, a tall lad with floppy black hair and glasses, frowned. "Doubt it. What type of dragon is that, anyway?"

Will turned to find himself face to...well, foot, with an extremely tall blue dragon. He looked up at it, turned white, and tried to stop himself passing out.

"Her name's Saphira," said another boy, looking a little older than the other. "I'm Eragon."

"Sonea," said the young woman, standing up. "Black Magician of the Magician's Guild."

"You can do magic?" said the red-haired girl, looking interested.

"Yes," said Sonea.

"So can we," said the boy with glasses. "Haven't heard of a Magician's Guild, though."

"Oh yes?" said Sonea. "So where do you train?"

"Well, it's not exactly training," said the girl. "We learn about magic at Hogwarts. Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Sonea raised her eyebrows. "No schools were I come from," she said. She turned to Will. "And you? Where are you from?"

Will looked at her. "I'm Will Turner," he said, a little cautiously. "I'm from Port Royal."

"And your friend? Where's he from?"

Will looked confused. "I don't..."

Sonea pointed. Will turned to see a sleeping Jack.

"Oh, great," Will muttered. He poked Jack. "He's called Jack Sparrow," he said.

"Captain Jack Sparrow!" Jack snapped, swatting Will's hand away from him. Then, on seeing Will, sat up.

"Will!" he said. "Was that you with the light? Not a good trick to play on a man, William."

"I didn't play any trick!" Will said. "I have no idea what's going on!"

"So who are you?"

Jack looked up to see the odd variety of people before him. "Oh, great," he said. "I get rescued from the Kraken for this?"

"He's a pirate," Will answered for him. "Captain of the Black Pearl."

"Pirate?" the young girl raised her eyebrows. "Right..."

"Harry Potter," said the boy with the glasses. "And this is Ginny Weasley..."

"I can introduce myself, Potter!" she snapped at him.

"You two know each other?" Eragon said.

Ginny nodded. "Sometimes unfortunately," she muttered.

"That's odd," said Eragon, looking round. "Looks like everyone here's with someone they know, except you." He pointed at Sonea.

Sonea looked at him warily. "I am with someone I know," she said, placing a protective hand over her stomach.

"Great, that's all we need," Jack muttered. "A bloody pregnant woman. They're even worse than the normal ones."

Sonea glared at him, then looked at him more closely, a sad expression on her face. "Do I know you?" she asked.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Believe me, if you knew me you'd remember me, darling," he said. Will snorted.

"It's just...you remind me of someone I knew," she said.

"Is that so?" said Jack, sounding not-very-interested. He twisted to look at Eragon, who was standing behind him, and caught sight of Saphira- which shut him up for a few minutes.

"People, this is not solving the problem of where we are," Harry said, looking around at the stone walls and sand floor, flecked with something red.

Ginny caught sight of markings on the wall and looked closer at them, reading the letters scratched in. "Beware of...the...Minotaur..."

"Minotaur?" Jack said. "That another of Davy Jones' creatures?"

Eragon gave him a strange look. "Can't be any worse than the Ra'zac," he said to Saphira.

"Can...she talk?" Will said in a strangled voice.

Eragon stared at him. "Only to me," he said eventually. "It's the same with all Dragon Riders. Don't you have them where you come from?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"The Minotaur?" said Harry, sounding a little scared. "From Greek times?"

Ginny nodded. "Apparently so," she said. Seeing that no-one else but Harry and herself seemed to know what they were talking about, she sighed.

"The Minotaur is a legendary creature," she said. "From ancient times. Greek times. It was kept under a castle in a labyrinth- a maze- by King Philius, who was the creature's father. Every month, about ten people were put into the labyrinth to feed the Minotaur."

"I can't be eaten!" Will protested. "I'm getting married tomorrow!"

Harry sighed. "How long would it take to kill some beast?" he said, sounding tired. "We've got magic...and other stuff. What can you lot all do, anyway?"

Eragon patted Saphira. "Saphira and I can do all sorts," he said, sounding proud. "Fly, fight, use magic."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Don't get too cocky, son," he said.

"Well...I'm just good at sword fighting," Will said, a little uneasily.

"Same," said Jack. "And that's not all. I'm very good at controlling ships. And escaping ugly big sea monsters with tentacles."

"Good," Ginny muttered. "That'll be useful."

"Oh, and I can drink a gallon of rum in a minute."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "And you? What can you do?"

Sonea looked up at her. "Black magic," she said.

"Black magic?" said Harry disbelievingly. "There's no such thing."

Sonea glared at him. "You don't know the power of it," she hissed. "By making one cut, I can kill someone, and gain their power."

Ginny elbowed Harry. "Wow," she said to Sonea. "That sounds...frightening..."

Sonea smiled at her. "Don't worry, it's only to be used on enemies," she said. "I have to be careful, anyway. Too much power could result in the baby being damaged."

Harry stood up proudly. "I'm a wizard," he said. "I can cast spells."

Ginny rolled her eyes again. "Harry, you're rubbish at magic," she said. "You spend all your lesson time mucking around with Ron."

Harry glared at her. "Well, I survived a death spell," he said. "Dumbledore said I was special."

"Harry, you have a strange prophecy thing in your name, which could have easily applied to Neville," Ginny said. "That does not make you special."

Harry shut up and sulked.

Jack, bored with the conversation, yawned and reached for a bottle of rum. Finding nothing but sand, he looked around furiously.

"Bloody hell, why is the rum always gone!"

Saphira snorted, accidentally shooting a flame out of her nose, which landed next to Jack's head. The enraged pirate got up and stamped off, muttering about rum and 'bloody great scaly creatures.'

"Interesting man, your friend," said Sonea, looking after Jack, who, on realising that there was nowhere to go but into a creepy looking black corridor, was stomping back.

"Not my friend," Will said defensively, remembering only too well the last time he had seen Jack, and what had happened then. He hadn't even been aware that Jack had been rescued from the Kraken. He guessed that he would have to ask him about it sometime. But for now, Will had to concentrate on getting back to Port Royal- and to Elizabeth.