Chapter 3 Meeting of Old Friends

"A hornet's nest?" gulped Draco, his face paling if that was even possible. Slowly he looked up and true to her word, the buzzing came from yellow and black flying insects. When he looked back at the others, his eyes were bulging out and without any warning Draco ran past the others screaming.

Without further prodding, the four students followed Draco, passing the last few apple trees in the orchard before reaching the end which only left a couple of yards from an ancient wall. But that wasn't what stopped Draco in his tracks.

Looking to their right they saw a bow ready with an arrow pointed right at them. Then, as it dawned on them who it was holding the weapon wide smiles crossed all but Draco's face.

"Susan!" Hermione exclaimed. "Or should I say, Queen Susan. You are going to put that bow and arrow down, aren't you?"

"Hermione? It's really you?" Susan asked as she lowered the bow. Holding the bow made Susan think about the bow she had gotten from Father Christmas a year ago before Narnia was be-rid of the White Witch. That bow had been perfect, the complete opposite of this one.

"Hermione, Ron, Harry! Pansy!" came the second voice, Queen Lucy as she ran into Hermione with a big hug, forgetting Draco entirely.

"Where did you go? You never came back after the ceremony. We were all wondering where you were but Aslan said not to. That you had done your part."

"Last time we had Mr. Beaver to help us out," Ron said. "I don't suppose he's with you?"

"Sorry," Lucy replied.

"What about Peter and Edmund?" Harry piped in.

"Come on, we'll take you to them," Susan said. "We figure this wall was once a wall to a great castle. We found where the Great Hall would be. It must have been built ages ago but I don't remember any ruins in Narnia."

"There wasn't any," Pansy said thoughtfully.

"I'm so glad to see all of you again," Lucy said, meaning every word.

"I'm glad to see you too," Hermione replied, a grin in place. "Susan, where did you get that bow?"

"I found it by the well. I don't know how long it will last or even if it actually works. The string is about to snap any minute and I think I almost broke the bow in half."

"The well?" Pansy asked.

"The well is beyond the wall further away from the orchard," Lucy answered, skipping happily beside Hermione and Susan.

"Susan! We need wood," called out a voice that everyone assumed to be Peter's. "Anytime you're ready, Dolly Daydream."

"Oh shut up," snapped Susan playfully. "Look who we found."

Instantly Peter and his younger brother Edmund jumped to their feet as their eyes took in the sight before them.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione," started Peter.

"Draco and Pansy," finished Edmund. "How did you get here?"

"We were supposed to be in Potions but instead we ended up here," said Draco as if that explained everything.

"Potions?" Lucy wondered.

"It's a class at Hogwarts, the school we go to," explained Pansy who had always liked Lucy.

"It's the worse class ever and taught by the worse teacher ever," groaned Ron.

"Snape's not that bad," Pansy contradicted.

"We were supposed to be going to our schools and we were waiting for our trains to come but then we felt something poking us and then we ended up somewhere on this island," Lucy recalled. It was obvious that she didn't miss going to school anymore than the Hogwarts students.

"We still need wood for a fire, you know," Peter said, glaring at his sisters.

"If we had our wands there wouldn't be a need to find wood," Ron said. "I wish Narnia would let us keep them. They'd come in handy."

"Are you that incapable of surviving without your wand?" Hermione glared, but Ron found the hint of a smile in her eyes. For whatever reason, Ron had a feeling Hermione liked arguing with him. Why she would, he would never know. As Professor Bins had once said, there were some mysteries not even time can unravel.

"Maybe I am. After all, I am a wizard."

"If you're a wizard, you're a very bad one," Hermione laughed, her thick brown hair blowing in her face and her hand brushing it aside, just to have yet another strand of hair in her face.

"I'm not a Muggle and I don't know anything about them. All I know is if I have my wand, I'm as good any other wizard. Maybe even better."

"Even with your wand you end up failing. And Muggles in some ways are better. They don't need silly sticks to solve their problems. When they need a fire, they get wood."

"Fine, I'll help with the wood finding," Ron sighed, hoping that was what she wanted.

Once the fire was started and strongly ablaze, Ron slumped against the ancient wall as if he had done a hard day's work, which he never had. He had been surprised at how fast the darkness had settled in, pushing the light away and blowing it out. The only shadows came from the fire and made even the friendliest of faces look dark and possessed. Draco, however, didn't seem to change. He was sitting the furthest from the fire and only a little bit of light touched him.

"Doesn't this seem…weird?" Peter asked.

They had all eaten plenty of apples and had tried roasting them as well, but it made the apple too hot to eat and when it finally cooled down it tasted horrid. Ron, as usual was the last to finish, still crunching on his last apple.

"What do you mean," he asked with food in his mouth. He heard Hermione sigh and saw that she was biting her lip so she wouldn't say anything.

"I don't know. I just feel like somehow I know this place."

"Really?" Pansy asked. "So do I. But there were no ruins in Narnia and this place has been in decay for decades or centuries."

"I know," Peter sighed. "But the feeling is there all the same."

"Well," ventured Harry, "if you do know this place I'm sure there is some way we can find out. Is there a passageway or a particular room that you remember? We could try to find that."

"It's nighttime, Harry," Susan whispered. "I don't think we ought to be wondering around in the dark."

"She's right," informed Hermione.

"Of course she is," Edmund teased in. "She's the law-book itself."

"Oh, I won't be able to sleep even for a moment," Lucy complained. "What if this is a place we do know? Maybe we've lived here before, a long time ago."

"It's only been a year, Lu," Peter cut in.

"Maybe it's hasn't been a year, here," Edmund said. "Maybe in England, but maybe not in Narnia."

"Ed," Peter asked, is voice strange, "what if this is Cair Paravel?"

"I bet it is!" Lucy nearly screamed, jumping up and pulling Peter to his feet. "I bet, if this is the Cair Paravel, then over there were our four thrones." Lucy pointed towards the end of the great hall where, had it been Cair Paravel, their thrones had been, but now were long gone. "And over there would be the door to the treasure room, where we put all of our favorite things."

"Then that's settled," Peter said. "We're going to find that door. It can't be too hard and I doubt anyone could sleep with something like this going around in their heads."

"Well, we might need a flashlight, don't you think," grinned Edmund, and he pulled out his that he had kept in his school bag which he had brought with. Turning it on he said, "The door would be right over here. If you knock on the wall you'll be able to hear it."

Soon everyone was knocking on the wall, the same wall they had been leaning on by the fire, only a few yards further down towards their would-be-thrones. The air was filled with noise, but not the one they were listening for. And before too long, they regrouped.

"That didn't work," mumbled Harry, disappointment in his voice.

"Maybe this isn't Cair Paravel," Draco said, although for some odd reason, he didn't believe himself.

"Wait," Ron said. "What if there was a wall over there," he said, pointing well past the thrones, "and one going that way over there," and he pointed in front of them, towards the orchard. "That would mean the door would be further along this wall."

Ron got up and started walking along the wall, his hand feeling it as he went.

"You mean this was bigger?" Peter asked.

"Yes. Maybe we forgot how big it really was." Ron stopped, looking at the wall then pounding on it. Moving slowly onward he did the same until a hallow thud resounded in the air.

"Ed, I need your flashlight."

As soon as Edmund had given Ron his modern torch, he saw what Ron had seen.

"Peter, we need you," Edmund hollered.

Then the three of them pulled and dragged the ivy and vines away from a portion of the wall. With a count of three they pushed on the wall, which was really a door. They tried several times without success but then on the fifth try the door gave way.

The boys set the wood aside and peered down into the darkness.

"Well, there were sixteen steps," Peter remembered. "So, why don't you count how many there are, Ed?"

"One, two, three…"

"I don't think I can wait any longer," Lucy whispered to the girls.

"Me neither," Hermione whispered back.

"…fourteen, fifteen, sixteen!" shouted Edmund. "There's sixteen steps down here! C'mon!"

"Let's go," Peter breathed as he raced down the old but familiar steps.

"Peter, look!" Edmund exclaimed. "It's here. Everything is here!"

Looking around, the Hogwarts students saw what seemed to be from out of book, or as Hermione said, out of a Muggle movie. Gold and diamonds, rubies, jasper, crystal, and all sorts of shiny gems glittered the ground and tables and several chests. Armored statues stood their ground although some had dropped their swords.

Quickly Lucy went over to the center of the room towards a beautiful golden chest and opened it.

"That was easy," she giggled.

"So was mine," Susan laughed.

"It's all here. My favorite dress. It's quite big now isn't it?"

"Yeah," Edmund grinned, "You were older years ago than you are now, years later."

"Yeah, everything is in my chest as well," Peter said softly. He grabbed something and pulled it out. It was his sword. With one swift movement, Peter had taken out his blade. It looked like new, just as it had when he and his siblings had been kings and queens.

"I knew we shouldn't have taken our things with us when we went to the cave that brought us back to school," wined Ron.

Lucy had her dagger and her small diamond bottle of the liquid that would heal almost everything. Susan was fingering her arrows and admiring her bow. Just like with Peter, the girl's gifts were just as new.

"My tomahawk, I don't suppose, is anywhere down here?" Ron asked, trying not to look too disappointed.

"I know, mate," Harry sighed, "I miss my flail."

"And I miss my medieval crossbow," Hermione added.

"Now I feel like a king again," Peter firmly said, a smile in place. "Now, let's have some sleep and we can figure out what's happened and why we're here tomorrow."

"What's wrong, Susan?" Lucy asked.

"My ivory horn, it isn't here."

"You must have left it in your saddlebag the day we left," Lucy said.

"It was my favorite gift, but I suppose my bow and quiver of arrows will do just fine."

She smiled, gripping her bow, her quiver of arrows already on her back, and guided Lucy up the stairs.

"We're in Narnia for sure," Harry said.

"But the question is," Ron went on, "when?"

Why are the children in Narnia again, and what has happened to Cair Paravel? Again, tune in next time my internet is up and running.

Courtesy of both C. S. Lewis and JKR