Chapter 2
A short time later, an absolutely flabbergasted Bella was sitting and sipping a sweet foamy drink called a 'butterbeer', across from the man who had saved her life today, a man named Harry Potter.
Except Harry Potter wasn't just a man; no, he was a Wizard.
Bella wanted to laugh at how absolutely absurd that sounded, and yet, given that vampires and werewolves exist, why not witches and wizards too? Did she not joke about Angela Weber being a witch once?
As Bella sipped her sweet drink, she thought that she had seen enough strange things in her life that she could take most anything in stride; but when Harry opened up the bricks that led to the 'wizard space enclosed shopping district' known as Diagon Alley, Bella realized how wrong she was!
With wide eyes, she couldn't decide what to stare at first. The whole alley - essentially a wide, cobblestoned street fanning out before her - was like being transported back to some quirky version of England a century or two ago; the people walking about wore a wide collection of eclectic, strangely styled clothing, mostly covered by robes of different cuts and colors; and lining the streets, old fashioned shops with crooked wooden signs were selling strange novelties ranging from 'potion ingredients' to 'quality broomsticks.'
Bella stared at the broom store for a bit, surprised at the number of younger people who were looking through the windows; she was just about to ask why they didn't use vacuum cleaners when Harry explained to her that Wizards flew on brooms for sporting purposes.
Amazed, she just shook her head in response: of course they did!
After a while, as Bella finally thought she was able rationally accept the oddities and wonders she was seeing, she was almost knocked on her bum by an ugly, dwarfish creature with a pointy nose and an armful of oversized ledgers that scurried up a set of polished marble stairs, disappearing into a large whitle building while cursing her for blocking his way.
Harry's offhand remark of 'Goblins, don't mind them. Time is money, after all,' set her jaw right back to hanging open.
Goblins?
Was every mythical creature actually real?
For maybe fifteen minutes, a slowly calming Bella - standing a little ways from Harry - craned her neck as she looked up and down the Alley, her mind cataloging all the amazing oddities she was seeing. Meanwhile, Harry talked with a group of blue robed 'aurors' about the capture of the bad guys. Several of them took down notes on what looked like parchment, and they waved their sticks several times to send off what looked like paper airplanes that zipped away at high speed to God-knows-where. She was aware that several of the Aurors were giving her curious glances, but she easily avoided their gaze when they looked her way; there was so much to see and she didn't like being gawked at, thank you very much!
Harry eventually gestured with a tilt of his head for her to come along, and she hurried back to his side, her mind filled with questions as they trudged along the wide Alley.
They didn't stop anywhere for very long, though Bella really wanted to go into the bookstore and explore. She was fascinated by everything she was seeing, and could easily have spent the day looking in every shop window. But Harry was giving her the quick 'ten minute tour', only pointing out highlights, and discussing the wizarding world in very general terms.
When they finally had traversed the whole alley - Bella saw a few other streets that were much narrower branching out in other directions, with old wooden signs on them and colorful names such as 'Vertec Alley' and 'Centriped Alley' and 'Knockturn Alley', but Harry didn't stray from Diagon. 'Vertec is mostly a business and manufacturing area, Centriped is mostly apartnments and small dwellings, and Knockturn is a bit shady - you don't want to wander in there, especially after dark.'
"How...how is this all hidden? Don't planes fly over and see all this? Or satellites?" Bella asked, not able to understand how this could exist in the middle of London.
Harry then explained 'Wizard Space' to her; 'a space within a space' was his definition, but that didn't really help her understand it any better, and she thought of it more as a 'rolled up' dimension, that was accessed through that cool brick door in the Leaky Cauldron.
When she posited that theory to Harry, he just shrugged. "However you want to think about it probably doesn't really matter - it's here, and has been here for over five hundred years." With a small grin, he wagged a finger at her. "And, if you are going to spend any time in the wizarding world, you'll just have to sometimes leave your common-sense explanations behind: a good friend of mine, who was raised in the muggle world and is probably the smartest person I know, likes to frequently point out that "magic has a way of turning reality on it's head."
Okay then, thought Bella.
When they finally returned to the pub, Bella had about a million questions, but Harry now had a few of his own. "Bella, I've taken a bit of a chance with you on showing you everything I have. I am assuming you either are a squib or a witch, as you were able to see the Cauldron. People without magical blood can't see it unless they are physically touching a magical person."
"Okay," said Bella, confused by the term 'squib'. "So you think I'm one of these squibs, maybe? I mean, I certainly don't think I'm a witch: I'd know, right?"
Harry frowned. "Well, I would think that you would have had a visit from someone at MacUSA if you were a witch, but it's possible the laws in the US are a bit different than here: I'm not sure how they introduce magic to underage witches. But in Britain, when you turn 11, magical's are visited by a representative from one of the schools here; Hogwarts being the largest and the only boarding school, though there are a couple of day schools for wizards and witches who have just enough magic to use a wand, but not enough power to really do any of the advanced stuff." He took a sip of his own butterbeer. "If the family of the young witch or wizard refuses to let the child attend any of the schools, then the family is 'obliviated' of their visit - their memories removed - and the child's magic is usually runically bound so they won't hurt themselves or anyone else."
Bella's eyes opened in horror. "You mean...you think that might have happened to me? My memories changed and my...my magic bound?" Bella felt sick, continuing in a small voice. "And I wouldn't even remember it?"
Another frown marred his face. "It's possible, but again, I am not certain how they do it in the states. I'll need to check tomorrow, to see if MacUsa has records on you."
Bella nodded, her throat dry, her mind racing. Was it possible she was a witch, and Renee turned away someone who had come to offer her a place in a magic school? It certainly did not sound like something Renee would do out of hand; she would probably love the idea, so she didn't not think this sounded likely. "And if you find I was never contacted? What then?"
"Well," Harry said thoughtfully, "then one of three things spring to mind; one, you are a squib. That's someone who was born with a tiny spark of magic in them, but not enough to ever actually cast spells. They don't show up on any registry's, but they can see through muggle repelling wards and the like."
When Bella made a face at the strange terms, Harry quickly explained about wards and how things were kept hidden from non magicals - 'muggles.'
"The 2nd possibility," he continued, "is that, somehow, you were missed by MacUSA. Maybe you were travelling, or records got lost, or maybe the person sent to collect you had an accident? Stranger things have happened, believe me," he said winsomely, thinking about his Godfather spending twelve years in prison with no trial.
Sighing at the sad memory, he refocused on Bella. "Finally, there is the chance that you are a normal muggle but have some strange ability that somehow lets you 'see' magic and protects you from spells affecting the mind. Now, granted I've never heard of anything like that, but I suppose it's possible."
As Bella contemplated his words, Harry tapped his finger on the table. "Bella, can I try and read your mind? To see if it's not only my obliviate that didn't work?"
Bella blanched, and leaned back. "No! My mind's private!"
Harry was surprised by her vehement reaction. "Well, a legilimens - a mind reader - can limit what they see, and I can just take a quick peek to see if it works on you at all. I promise I won't look for anything at all besides the last few minutes." Harry leaned forward. "It might help us narrow things down, Bella."
Bella chewed her lip, her hands clasped nervously in front of her. She had always been so happy her mind was closed to Edward, did she want some relative stranger reading her thoughts?
After a few minutes contemplation with Harry patiently sipping his beer and looking at her with those startling green eyes, she finally nodded, her shoulders scrunched. "Ok. But promise me you will just see if it works and then stop, okay?"
For some reason - and she could not really explain why - she felt like she could trust him.
She just hoped she wouldn't regret it.
Harry smiled warmly at her, and she relaxed a bit. "I promise, Bella." And then he lifted his wand, and pointed it her forehead.
"Wait wait, does it hurt?" she asked, panicking the moment he pointed the stick - his 'wand', she corrected herself - at her. After all, she'd seen the damage they could dish out.
"No, not at all," he said, reassuring her. "While legilimancy can be abused, like anything, my brief probe will be so light you won't even feel it."
Bella took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Okay, go ahead."
Harry nodded, raised the wand again, and while looking into her guarded brown eyes quietly said 'Legilimens.' He held the spell for a good thirty seconds, gently increasing the power, but still got nothing at all.
When he lowered the wand and let out a slow breath, Bella looked at him expectantly. "Well?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. It's...it's like your mind isn't even there." He frowned in frustration, trying to puzzle this out. "Even the strongest occlumens - people with protected minds - have a presence, or 'wall' in their mind. But yours...it's like there is nothing there at all."
Bella chewed her lip, echoes of conversations with Edward rattling around her head.
Harry tilted his head, looking at her with a curious expression. "Bella, just out of curiousity - has anyone ever called you 'empty headed'?"
Bella's jaw dropped open, only for her to see the mirth in Harry's eyes and him trying to fight a smile.
"Harry!" she hissed, smacking his wrist. "That's not very nice!"
"Sorry, Bella, that was too easy," he chuckled, and was pleased when she slowly smiled as well. "But seriously, your mind is so protected that it's basically invisible to my probes."
Bella looked down at the table, and let out a small breath. "I have heard that before," she admitted quietly, old fears of being a weirdo - a freak - coming back to the fore. She'd always suspected her mind didn't quite work right, and here was another confirmation of that.
When she looked up, she saw that Harry's eyes had sharpened. "The vampire?" he asked. "Is that where you heard that before?"
Bella realized Harry was pretty sharp to have picked that up. "Yes," she admitted. "He was able to read the minds of everyone nearby. He said he'd never failed - until me."
Harry shook his head, amazed at that kind of ability on such a powerful creature as a vampire, and even more the fact that the creature let the girl escape him, unharmed. "How are you alive? Vampires generally don't leave people behind that know of their natures: it's not only hard on their control to get so close to a human to speak with it and not feed, it's also against their laws for anyone to know about their nature."
At this declaration, Bella's face paled and her heart began to pound.
Had the Cullens broken the vampire law? And then she remembered bits and pieces of conversations about the Volturi, and how they were the 'royalty' of their world; she remembered the picture in Carlisle's study when he explained to her about their nature and Carlisle's history.
But she didn't realize that they knowingly broke the law by leaving her behind with forbidden knowledge!
"Bella?" Harry asked, his hand reaching out and taking hers. Her hand was sweaty, and Harry felt her heart thundering in her pulse. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head in a jerky motion. "No," she said in a hoarse voice. "I...I didn't realize..."
Harry nodded gravely. "They protect their secrecy very seriously. There is a coven on the continent that are in charge of keeping the secret. They work very much like our obliviators - the folks in the red robes you might have noticed today - in insuring that anyone that is not part of the supernatural world themselves, like wizards and witches and other magical creatures like the goblins, are either changed or killed if they know about vampires."
Bella knew he was referring to the Volturi, but did not acknowledge that she understood his reference to the 'coven on the continent.' She had to be very careful now - the Cullens', and her own fate, might rest in the Volturi never finding out about her forbidden knowledge.
"Bella, please - who were these vampires that you knew? You have to see how dangerous it is for them to be telling people about their existence. They could put a lot of people's lives in danger without even meaning to."
"No!" Bella said loudly, jerking her hand away from his and surprising Harry. "They don't tell anyone, I found out by accident! I saw something I wasn't supposed to, and did a lot of research and figured it out myself! They never told me!" She was panting, trying to convince Harry that the Cullens were no threat.
Harry looked at her for a long moment, his auror instincts flaring. Clearly, something had happened between Bella and this unknown group of vampires. She seemed to be trying to protect them.
How very odd.
Their eyes locked, and Bella forced herself to calm; she tried willing Harry to believe her, that they were not revealing their secrets, that everything was fine, no danger.
Hard green eyes began to soften as he saw the imploring look on Bella's face, her warm brown eyes looking desperate.
He looked away first. "Bella, I'm not sure what to believe here." He paused, pursing his lips. "But even supposing you are right and you discovered the truth by yourself - why did they let you live? I refuse to believe they didn't know about the need for secrecy."
Bella let out a breath in relief. "Because they don't kill or hunt humans. They live completely off animal blood. They are peaceful."
It was Harry's turn to rear back. "What?" he whispered in shock. "They don't...they don't feed from humans? At all?" His tone was incredulous.
"Nope," Bella said with some pride. She had not really thought of the Cullen's much since she left Forks, and today she had opened a lot of old doors that she was happy to see no longer hurt. Rather, she felt a lingering warmth, of happy times with a family that did their best with the lousy hand they'd been dealt.
Defending them, despite their abandonment, felt right.
"They completely abstain, and they interact with the community and everything. They are completely amazing, and even saved my life a couple of times."
Harry nodded thoughtfully, tilting his head as he considered her words. Clearly she was attached to this coven, and he wondered if she was still in touch with them.
And he hoped, for her sake, that the Italians never learned of her knowledge. If they did, the only thing that might save her from retribution was if she was indeed magical, and that only if they took the time to investigate before ending her life.
Thinking about what he should do, he finally sighed in resignation and gave her a crooked smile. "I don't suppose you want to tell me their names, eh?"
Bella's tension finally ebbed, and she smiled back. "Nope," she said, popping the 'p.'
Harry laughed. "Fine, Swan, keep your secrets." And then he winked: "for now."
Bella laughed back. "For now, and for later" she quipped. Her eyes suddenly flashed as another question occurred to her. "Are vampires magical?"
Surely Edward or Carlisle would have known, right?
Harry's eyes lost focus for a moment before he spoke. "Well, it's generally accepted that vampires were created about six thousand years ago by a group of Mesopotamian wizards. The most accepted story is that they were trying to create a better form of 'inferi' - essentially an animated corpse - and the 'improved inferi' had far more intelligence than the Wizards expected. Inferi are completely mindless; they obey their creator and have no will of their own. Muggles refer to them as 'zombies.' But the new ones - the vampires, though they didn't call them that for several thousand years - were very intelligent and fast, and quickly escaped the Wizards control. No one knows how they were able to infect others to create more vampires, as Inferi can't do that, but clearly the whole process got mussed-up and out of control."
He shook his head. "But are they magical? Well, most people believe that a tiny sliver of magic resides in their venom, passed down from the magic that created them so long ago. But as far as I am aware, they cannot see through muggle repelling wards..." He drummed his fingers in thought. "So, I would say no, they aren't magical, but might have magic in them, if that helps answer your question?"
Bella nodded, her mind awash with this new knowledge. She was sure that the Cullen's did not know this story; or, at least Edward didn't, as he had no explanation from where vampires originated when she had asked him.
Realizing it might be getting late, Bella reached into her bag to get her phone to check the time. As she put it back in the bag, she noticed that she had almost no cell reception, causing her to frown.
Harry saw her looking at it, and smiled. "Can't use cell phones in wizarding locations, the ambient magic interferes. And in expanded wizard spaces, there is no signal at all." He chuckled. "In fact, most technology can get fried if used in areas with lot's of magic. That's one of the reasons you didn't see anything too modern in the Alley. Electricity is tricky to get working in magic rich environments."
Nodding, Bella closed her bag. She had to leave, much as she didn't want to. "Harry, I've got to go. I'm staying with a friend, and she will expect me home by now."
He nodded. "Okay." For some reason, he didn't want to see her leave, he had enjoyed her company, but he knew he had a lot of work to do.
For her part, Bella had no desire for this to be her one and only excursion into this fascinating world and this personable wizard. "Can...can we meet back up? You said you were going to check to see if I was a witch with that...what was it called? Mack US?"
Harry chuckled. "Pronounced Mah coo zah, stands for MACUSA. That's the Magical Congress of the USA - the wizarding authority in America."
"Yes, that. So? Can we? Meet up?" Bella twisted her hands together, nervous at the possibility of him saying no.
"Relax, Bella, you look guilty of something, like you are confessing to a crime." he snickered as she relaxed. "But yes, we can certainly do that." He looked down at his waist, and Bella watched in surprise as he pulled a full size notebook out of one of the small pouches on his 'utility' belt."
"How did that fit?" She asked in amazement before he had even opened it.
He looked back up at her, eyes teasing. "space within a space."
Bella huffed. "Rolled up dimension," she snarked in reply, leaning back in the chair and crossing her arms over her chest.
Harry mumbled quietly: 'stubborn.' He looked back down at his notebook, flipping it open and laughing softly when he heard her sniff huff at him.
Checking his schedule, he thought about what time would work. "Hmm, I am pretty booked up tomorrow, but by Thursday I should hopefully have some news from my contacts in America for you. Usually they get back to us in a day or so, but if they are busy it can be longer." He looked away for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face. "I think I'd like you to meet my friend Hermione. She is a researcher, and she might have an idea about what this ability of yours is. Even if you are a witch, you should not have been able to block my obliviate."
His eyes moved back to hers. "We could meet up here at 3pm on Thursday if that works?"
Bella gave him a wide smile. "Yes!" she practically shouted, lifting halfway up and out of her chair in excitement. When he laughed at her exuberance, she settled back down, her cheeks flushing. "I mean, sure, Thursday at 3pm is a good time for me."
With another chuckle, Harry wrote something in the notebook and stashed it away back in the small pocket. He stood, and Bella did as well, and he gestured with his hand towards the door of the Leaky. "After you?" he said, and Bella smiled softly, walking out through the door that Harry held for her, onto the bright and noisy streets of muggle London.
As Bella stepped back onto the busy sidewalk, filled with people walking by with absolutely no clue what secrets lived just behind the door to this apparently invisible pub, she felt like she was waking from a dream. It was only Harry's presence by her side, and the small rocks and debris that she could see in the street from the battle that had taken place not even an hour ago, that convinced her that everything she'd just seen was real.
"Ok, Bella," Harry said, interrupting her musing, "but I've got a lot of reports to fill out, and a minister who is probably angry with me. So I will see you Thursday." He held out his hand to shake, a smile on his face.
Bella blinked at him, suddenly feeling vulnerable and not wanting him to go, worried that she might not see him again; but she immediately quashed it, feeling silly for reacting that way. She reached for his hand, and smiled back at him. "Yes, right, Thurs. 3pm, right inside, right?"
"Yes," he said, laughing. "See you then, Bella. Bye." And he watched her with a raised eyebrow when she didn't move.
"Bye, Harry," she answered, her hand dropping but her body not moving.
They looked in each other's eyes and laughed, neither willing to leave first. "Stubborn," Harry muttered, and Bella huffed again.
Feeling ridiculous, she tried again. "Bye Harry," and this time, she did turn and step away.
However, Bella looked over her shoulder several times, seeing that Harry was watching her go with a smile on his face. Each time he caught her peeking, she would blush and he would waggle a finger and mouth 'bye, Bella.'
It wasn't until she almost bowled over an old lady because she was walking while looking back that she waved and finally turned and walked out of Leicester Square.
When she got to the corner that she had almost run away from an hour earlier, she looked back one more time - and this time, Harry was gone.
And even as she walked with shaky steps down into the subway, she could not help but feel like a secret door to a new chapter of her life had just been cracked open.
A/N - glad to see some people are enjoying! As I said, I've written nothing so far, have only vague ideas of where this is going to go, though it gets clearer as i make decisions for paths the characters will take. But if you have suggestions on things you want to see, this is your chance.
I've gotten a few pm's re: romance. At this point, romance will at best be a secondary part of the story, and I have not even decided on any pairings, though Harry/Bella or Bella and one of the Avengers are the obvious choices (which would leave Harry with a different avenger maybe?). Again, this story won't focus on Romance as the major theme, unlike any of my other long stories do. There will most likely be some, but I won't spend chapters and chapters focusing on that.
