Chapter Six

"I'm telling you, Amy, it was really real!" Richard whispered to his friend. The girl rolled her eyes, elbowing her sister.

"Richard, there's no such thing as magic!" The older of the two girls said. "That's just stuff that they do on the telly."

Richard shook his head. "Dad was there too, he'll tell you."

"Your Daddy drinks." The older girl said with a sniff. "It's not real!" Several kids nearby heard their conversation, and started to come over.

"Did they have magic wands and wear funny hats?" Another boy piped up.

"Yeah, did they all have long beards and say gibberish?"

Richard shook his head, grinning. "No, there were girl witches too, and they didn't have beards. Some of them wore funny clothes, but some of them didn't. Their village was really pretty. They sold brooms!"

Some of the kids laughed. "Do you think they fly on them?"

The kids were on the playground while they were at recess. A teacher nearby noticed a group gathering, and walked over casually to see if there was a fight. The oldest girl spoke up, getting her attention. "I bet Richard's lying again, there's no such thing as magic!"

"Hello children, what are we talking about over here?"

Most of the kids quieted, and Richard spoke up. "My Dad and I found a village over the weekend. It's not too far from here- it's called Hogsmeade. It's a magical village, full of witches and wizards!"

The teacher blinked. She'd heard stories in the past, old wive's tales, about not to go too far into the forest because it was haunted and things. But a magical village?

"You saw this village?"

Richard nodded quickly. "Yeah, they've got thatched roofs, and really nice people there- they don't even have proper roads!"

"Do they even have a school?" The oldest girl sniffed.

"They used to, but it got destroyed somehow. Hey, I don't think I saw any little kids there. Isn't that weird?"

The teacher furrowed her brow. She would have to investigate this.

Winter turned into spring. It was Saturday night, and many of the older students had returned to Hogsmeade for a visit. Some of the teachers were there, acting as chaparones. Many of them hadn't been to Hogsmeade in a while, and were startled at some of the changes. The destroyed buildings had been rebuilt, better than before, and the abandoned ones were now in use. Also, there seemed to be more people than usual in the little town.

Padma sipped her tea, watching the Hogwart's students roam the streets. She saw her sister among them, and she backed away from the window. Her sister had chosen to go back to school, while she had tested out early that past semester. She was working for the Vita Corporation, as a researcher. The company was headed by her four friends. In addition to their 'official tasks', each of them worked side by side with their employees, doing what needed to get done.

Draco was in charge of finances, and scouting for new properties. Luna was in charge of the newspapers they owned, as well as their publishing company. Neville was in charge of dealing with the staff, and delegating tasks. Harry was in charge of recruiting. There were five departments in all- Magical Text Preservation, Herbology Research, Magical Animal Research, Potions Research, and the MagiTechnology Lab .

Each department had opened offices that spring in Hogsmeade. Magical Text Preservation was actually to gather old texts that had been grown rare over the years, and rewrite them. Many books had been destroyed with Hogwarts, which caused much of their information to be lost. However, gathering texts from the Malfoy, Longbottom, and Lovegood libraries, along with other donated books, they would be able to copy the information down and resell them once they were printed. This department had a team of elves learning how to read and write, to assist them in their work.

Herbology Research was headed by the Couple from South America, Mr. and Mrs. Rivera. Mrs. Rivera was a muggleborn, with a degree in muggle botany, and a Mastery in Herbology. Mr. Rivera had a Mastery in Herbology as well, and had published a number of his findings previously. Some of the naturalists from the English Ministry had joined them, their pay being better at Vita than with the Ministry. Rosalie and her friends worked in this had specific house elves assigned to do their gathering for them, as they were not allowed in the forest. The elves were trained to preserve and care for the plants.

The Potions Research department was headed by Snape. Not many wanted to work with him, except for Hermoine Granger, who was stubborn, and the elves, who would work for anyone.

The Magical Animal Research department was headed by the Chinese wizard, Mr. Hui, who had worked in the Magical Creature Sanctuary of Beijing. He was more of a researcher, so it was co-chaired by Charlie Weasley, who was more of a hands-on sort of guy. Hagrid, of course, worked with them, and was an invaluable asset. They worked with the creatures of the forest, and were the only ones allowed onto the grounds other than the 'Four Guardians' as Harry, Neville, Luna, and Draco were often called.

The MagiTechnology lab had several Americans, and a witch from Beaubaxtons working there. The Twins were often by as well, and had a contract with the company. They were the most experimental of the departments, and their findings were often top-secret. Padma knew that Colin was already working for them, even while he was still a student.

Because of all of these new offices, the local shops flourished, and more jobs became available. Vita Inc. bought a number of cottages, and had their employees live there at a cheaper rent. Because their employees had more money, they often spent more. Which was good for everyone.

Padma was avoiding her sister because she hadn't written her in several months. She'd been terribly busy with her work, and felt bad for not writing. She was in her cottage that she shared with Hermoine, Susan and Daphne.

"Hey, I thought you'd be at the show." Daphne spoke up from the doorway. Padma turned slightly, arching a brow at the girl's clothes. She was wearing a pair of pants, with a muggle t-shirt. It was still so strange to see an uptight once-Slytherin wearing muggle clothing.

"The show?"

"Yeah, Forbidden's playing in the square tonight. Thought you knew."

Padma drained her tea. "I'll see you guys there. I might be a bit late." Daphne gave her a grin, and headed out. Padma hurried up the stairs, and saw Hermoine reading in the study, stacks of books around her.

"You going to the concert tonight?"

"Concert?" The girl echoed, still reading.

"Yeah, Harry and the others are playing."

Hermoine looked up at that. "Are they? I thought they'd be too busy to be doing that stuff anymore."

Padma shrugged. "Apparently not. Are you coming?"

Hermoine looked longingly at her book. "I don't think so. I wanted to get this finished first."

Padma sighed. "Alright then. See you later." She went to her room, and went through her clothes. She picked a pretty red dress, and pulled it on. She pulled her hair back, and put her shoes on. She put some makeup on quickly, and glanced out the window. She could see more people heading into town, so she grabbed her bag and hurried down the stairs.

Mark Walker was trouble. Well, that's what most of the village said. That he was too nosy for his own good. He'd overheard some of the teachers gossiping one day about some village closeby that no one seemed to know anything about. He even heard some of the older parents whispering about it too. He, being him, told his friends about it, and they decided to go over and see what the fuss was about.

According to some kid that had seen the village, it was to the west, about 10 kilometers away, over some fields. He and his friends piled into his truck, and drove through the fields. As they drove, Mark spoke up. "Hey, I think I see some lights up ahead."

"It's true! There is some village over here! Hey, do you think it's like a government cover up or something? Why would no one really know about this place?" One of his friends guessed.

Mark slowed his truck down, and they heard music. "Hey, they've got music or something going on. Maybe it's like, a hippie commune, full of crazy people."

The teens laughed, and got out of the car. They snuck through the fields and into the town. The street that they found was fairly empty, and the houses were dark, but they could still hear the music, and the lights up ahead.

"C'mon." Mark whispered, and the kids walked up the street. Mark noticed the thatched roofs and the dirt roads, wondering what kind of place this was. Was it some sort of touristy place? No, they would have heard about it.

The buildings grew closer, and they noticed the lights grew brighter, and the music louder. Mark paused as he saw a pretty girl walk out of one of the cottages, and hurry towards the music.

"Oh, she's pretty, look at that bum!" One of his mates whistled. Mark nudged his friend, and followed the girl.

They followed her up the street, and the girl seemed to notice she was being followed. She glanced over her shoulder, and Mark stopped, blushing. She was hella pretty, he realized. She looked at them curiously.

"Is there a concert or something?" One of his friends called out.

The girl nodded, studying them, probably trying to recognize them. Mark walked up. "So, who's playing?"

The girl started to walk again. "Kit and the others. Forbidden. I don't think I've seen you around before." They walked into a crowded square, full of people. They were mostly all adults and teens, and were standing around and talking. The music was playing from a weird device on the stage- the band wasn't there yet, apparently.

The girl waved to some people she apparently knew, and turned back to Mark. Mark just gave her a sheepish grin. "We're not from around here."

"Oh!" She smiled. "Are you checking out Vita?"

"Are you Vita?" Mark said with a charming grin. The girl's eyes widened, and she looked down shyly. Mark took the opportunity to check her out a bit more. She filled out that dress pretty nicely.

"I'm Padma. Padma Patil. Vita is a Research company. We get people coming here all the time who are looking for work from the company. I just...assumed..." She trailed off.

"Padma's a nice name." His friends walked off, probably to explore some more, bored with him chatting up another girl. "So, Padma, you work for this company?"

She nodded quickly. "In their research department."

"Pretty and smart!" Mark grinned. 'and older too.' He assumed.

A boy climbed up on stage, a short sandy haired thing, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He started to set up the mikes and things.

"He seems kind of small for a roadie."

The girl looked at him strangely. "That's Colin Creevey. He often works with them on their equipment. Well, he and his brother do. They should be up on stage soon." She said excitedly, turning to look up on stage.

Mark watched her face. "You a fan?"

She nodded. "I guess so. I mean, I went to school with them too."

"Cool."

He watched the boy jump off the stage, and shortly after, four people came up. The stage had darkened, so he couldn't really see them clearly. Then the lights came on, and his eyes widened. Up and front was a dark haired girl that was wicked hot. She was wearing a black leather jacket, jeans, and a sweater. She looked a bit too goth for his tastes, but she still looked good. The blonde at her side was hot too, but he didn't really go for blondes. The two guys were cool, but his eyes kept going back to this Padma standing right next to him.

They started to play, and he held his hand out to her. "Dance, any?"

Padma grinned, and took his hand.

It seemed as though they had danced for hours, or maybe minutes, before his friends came up to them with wide eyes.

"Mark, dude, we have to get out of here!"

Mark looked at them a bit confusedly. "What? Did you guys get into trouble?"

Padma pulled away from him, looking a little worried.

"No! Come on, we need to get going!"

Mark looked plaintively at Padma. "Sorry, gotta split. Uhm...you'll be here if I come around again?"

The girl smiled, and nodded. "It was nice meeting you, Mark."

Mark gave her a dopey grin, and his friends dragged him away. The boys practically sprinted back down the street, heading out of the town.

"What the hell is going on?" He exclaimed, hurrying after them. "So help me if you broke into some place-"

"No, no, shit, there was some sort of creature! It was tiny and squeaky, and it had big eyes-"

"What the hell-"

"And it asked us if it could do anything for us, and-"

"It was a friggin' alien! I bet they're all a bunch of aliens-"

Mark frowned. "I think you guys are yankin' my chain. I was talking to that hot girl back there, and you had to ruin it. I didn't even get her number."

"She's an alien, just like the rest of them." One of his friends exclaimed frantically, and as they reached the edge of the forest, they heard hooves nearby. Mark stopped in shock, and his friends kept running.

A half man-half horse creature was staring him down, with red feathers in his hair. One of the short creatures with big eyes was riding his back. Mark stepped back just slightly, while the rest of his friends ran off.

"What are you doing, human?" The horse creature asked. "The concert is the other way."

"I...I..." Mark stepped back. He heard his truck engine start, and he cursed his friends silently. They were just going to leave him here? What the hell? He never should have left his keys in the truck.

"What are you?" He whispered, stumbling back as the creatures advanced.

The horse like creature seemed to cock his head. "I am a centaur, and my name is Firenze. My elf friend here is Binkie."

Mark couldn't help but laugh at the little creature's name. The little creature frowned. "Why is you laughing?" Mark laughed harder at the creature's high pitched voice.

"I'm sorry, I just...is this a joke or something?"

The horse like creature, a centaur, he supposed, looked to the stars. He tilted his head, and Mark looked up as well. It was just... he was looking up, the creature grabbed him by the pulled away quickly with a frown.

"Human, come with us." The centaur. "Your friends, will they return?"

Mark shrugged. "They left me here. Said you guys were aliens or something. Are you?"

"What are those?" The small creature squeaked. Mark fought to keep from laughing again. They walked back into the village. They went through some streets, avoiding the main square for some reason. They headed up a wide road, into a forest. Mark got a little scared. He stared up at the monstrous gates.

"Hogwarts...what's that?"

"Nothing, anymore. It used to be a school. Inside." Mark went inside, and he looked around. Some of the trees and plants looked a bit odd. This used to be a school? Was it like the X-men school or something? That would explain these weird things...

They went to a clearing, where there was a bonfire roaring. Mark noticed that there were more of the centaurs and the little elf creatures walking about, and many of them were staring at him oddly. Mark was shoved to sit down on a log by the fire.

"Wait here." The centaur ordered, and the elf hopped off of his back. He sat there for a moment, looking around. More of those centaurs, and they didn't look friendly. A little elf dressed in leaves approached him with a tray. He'd half expected it to have alien food or something, but no, it just had some fruits and berries.

"Human sir? You is hungry?" The little thing squeaked. He thought it could have been nodded and accepted the food.

He was halfway through the food when he heard laughter in the distance, and talking. His eyes widened, and he dropped a berry onto the tray when he saw those people from the band walking towards him, talking to one of the little elf creatures, and to the centaur that brought him here. With them, were several other people, including the pretty girl he'd danced with.

Padma stared at him in surprise. "Mark, what are you doing here?"

"You know this human?"

Mark stood, upending his tray. "What's going on here?"

The others exchanged a look, and the dark haired guitarist extended her hand. "I'm Kit. Nice to meet you."

He didn't take her hand. He looked to Padma. "This...creature brought me here, and one of those little elf things brought me food, what the hell are they?"

Kit lowered her hand, and her smile fell. "Mark, right?"

Mark looked to her. She laced her fingers together. "Our friends here are Firenze, who is a centaur, and Binkie is an elf. What do you know of magic?"

"Are you lot even human?" He asked. Padma looked hurt at this, and he instantly felt bad for some reason.

"Yes. We are. We're witches and wizards- magical humans. The village you are in is called Hogsmeade." The blonde guitarist from earlier spoke. He sat down slowly, trying to take it all in.

"What?"

Padma sat next to him. "So...when you said you weren't from around here..."

"I'm from Woodcroft."

"Merlin, he's a muggle!" The blonde boy exclaimed. "Another one!" He shoved his finger towards kit. "I told you we should haven't told those others the truth!" He glared at Mark. "Who else knows?"

"My...my friends. But they left me here." Mark said, feeling a bit shaken. Was he dreaming? He had to be. Padma took his hand, peering at him.

"Mark...we're not supposed to tell people about this place." She paused. "Do you think you could keep your friends from telling anyone?"

He stared at her, getting lost in her pretty eyes. "You're going to let me go?"

"We should obliviate him." The blonde boy hissed, and Mark grew alarmed.

"You're going to blow me up? What the-" Padma shook her head quickly, glaring at the blonde boy.

"No Mark. We're not going to do that." She squeezed his hand. "I'll take you back to your village, okay?" She stood. "Can I borrow your broom, Kit?"

He stared at the ground, trying to take all of it in. Was magic really real?

Wow, wonder what they're going to do now, eh?

Check out this sketch I drew of Luna: (without the spaces in the url)

http:/ hecateslover . deviantart . com /#/d3989le