Chapter 2
Can You Do That Again?
Hermione dragged herself down to breakfast, her eyes half-opened, the following morning. The events of last night were clearly still occupying her mind. Cho was seated near the end of the Ravenclaw table. She was nibbling at some fruit and sipping a drink. Hermione walked over and sat down with her.
"I couldn't sleep at all last night," said Hermione with a yawn. Her face, even under the uncharacteristic addition of some borrowed makeup and a framing of combed hair, looked stretched and tired.
Cho looked at her. Her eyes were red and damp. "Me, neither," she said. "I was tossing and turning all night. I couldn't turn off my brain."
"Every time I almost went to sleep I would see stars flashing red, yellow and blue. Then I would be wide awake," said Hermione as she put some toast on her plate and half-heartedly dabbed at it with some butter and marmalade.
"I kept seeing those stars, too. It was like they were trying to talk to me. Do you think that is even possible?" asked Cho as Padma and Parvati walked over to join them at the table.
Both of them were considered two of the more fastidious, particular dressers at Hogwarts. However, both of them looked like they had just jumped up, threw on what was available and called it good enough. The parts in their normally perfect hair were wobbly. Instead of matching earrings, they were earringless. The knot in Padma's tie, which usually looked like she had tied and retied it several times until it was perfect, was lopsided and off center. Parvati's tie was loose and crooked.
"Are you girls okay?" inquired Hermione. "Did you get any sleep last night?"
"About as much as the two of you from the looks," said Parvati, trying to grin at the condition of their foursome.
Just then, Luna came skipping up to the table. She looked chipper and well-rested. "Good morning, everyone," she chirped. "My, all of you look dreadful. What's the matter?"
"Didn't that bother you last night?" asked Cho as Padma put her head down on the table. Hermione and Pavarti just stared at her.
Luna sat down and filled up her plate with a scoop of scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes, some bacon, a couple of kippers and a slice of toast with marmalade. "Did what bother me?" she asked like she had no idea what they could be talking about.
Hermione's eyes opened all of the way for the first time since she had arrived. "Those stars," she said incredulously. "Those stars responded to you last night. That doesn't bother you?"
"Of course not. I think it is exciting. Why would that bother me?"
In the meantime, Harry and Ron had made it down to breakfast and were sitting in the normal spots with a group of fellow Gryffindors. "Where's Hermione?" Harry asked Ginny. "She always beats us down to breakfast?"
"Don't know. Haven't seen her this morning," came her reply as she edged away from them. She was still shy around Harry. "She was gone before I got to the common room."
"You don't suppose she is still mad at me about last night?" Ron said, looking at Harry.
"Why would she be mad at you? What did you do now?" asked Ginny, not shy about quizzing her brother.
"Nothing," said Harry, looking at Ginny. "You know your brother and his smart remarks. Always two steps ahead of his brain."
Ginny laughed and looked over at Ron who was frowning.
"No," said Harry. "I don't think she is still mad at you. She was really not that mad last night. I think you were the mad one because she got one on you."
"Yeah, right," said Ron.
"Look over there," said Neville, pointing across the dining hall. "Hermione is over there."
Ron and Harry saw her sitting with the other girls. "I wonder what they are up to, now?" said Ron.
"Probably planning her revenge on you," quipped Ginny.
Harry choked on his pumpkin juice. Fred and George cracked up while slapping Ginny, who was now beaming with pride at her successful shot, on the shoulders in a congratulatory manner. Ron just scowled at her. This was all he needed, another comedian in the family, a Fred and George backup player ready to jibe him on a second's notice.
Over at the other table, the girls were still chatting. "Are we still going to talk to Professor Sinistra about last night?" asked Cho.
They all looked at each other, trying to gauge the feelings of the group. It was going to be a weird conversation. They wanted to be certain of themselves.
"I say we should go talk to her," said Hermione, looking at the rest of the group.
"I'm good with it," agreed Padma.
"Me, too," said Parvati.
"Sure," said Cho. "I think we'll all feel better if we get some answers."
Everyone looked to Luna. She was kind of a key player in this whole situation. She is the one who made the contact, if that is what actually happened.
"Well, Luna," said Hermione after an extended pause.
"Oh," she said. "Of course. Let's talk to her."
Professor Sinistra was just getting up from her breakfast as they looked her way. She headed down from the head table and towards the main doors along with professors Trelawney and Flitwick, as well as Madam Pince. They all got up and walked towards the doors with the intention of catching up with her there.
"Excuse me, Professor Sinistra," said Hermione, taking the lead as the two groups both met near the door. "Could we ask you some questions?"
"Why of course, girls," came her reply as she excused herself from the others with a smile. "How may I help you?"
"Maybe we could we sit down for a moment," suggested Hermione, both because their discussion could take a while, and because she was feeling too tired to stand around talking.
"Certainly," replied the professor, all too happy to see a group of students curious about something with which they thought she could help them.
They walked to an empty spot near the end of the Ravenclaw tables. "Now, what is it you need help with, girls?" inquired the professor as the got themselves comfortably seated.
"Have you ever heard of anyone actually making contact with the stars, like talking to them?" asked Hermione.
"No, I cannot say I have," replied the professor, looking a bit confused by the question. "Actual contact with the stars, or aliens for that matter, is not something we learn about or teach in Astronomy. Why would you ask a question like that?
"Do you believe in aliens from other planets or stars?" asked Cho.
"Well, the universe is very big," said the professor. "I see no reason why there could not be other civilizations out there on different planets. But that is a subject more suited to an Astrobiology class, not Astronomy. I took a class in that at a muggle school called Imperial College in London before becoming a professor."
"What did it say about life in outer space?" ask Pavarti.
"It said a lot, mostly theories. There are a lot of people, especially muggles, who believe there are other civilizations out there. They think some of them are very advanced beyond ours. They think some of them may have visited us in the past?"
"Do you think that aliens have visited here?" continued Pavarti as the other listened as well as their tired minds could listen.
"I'm not sure," came the response from the professor. "I suppose it is possible. There are many unexplained things in this world. A lot of people claim aliens had something to do with them."
"Yes," said Hermione. "Like the pyramids, crop circles, Stonehenge, places like that."
"Yes, those, and many other things, such as the gods and goddesses of ancient religions, the Mayan calendar, Ezekiel's Wheel in the Christian Bible, the math skills of several ancient civilizations. And then there are lost places like Atlantis, Mu or Shangri La. Almost all of the large religions on Earth believe aliens are possible or at least have room to believe in them."
"So you do believe it is possible that aliens have been here?" asked Parvati, restating her previous question.
"Like I said, I do not know if they have been here, but I see no reason why they could not have been here. But why all these questions about aliens, girls? " asked the professor, getting very curious about their conversation. "We haven't been studying them in any of your classes. Did something happen we should talk about?"
The girls all looked at each other, then back at the professor. They all hesitated, waiting for one of the others to speak up.
"Maybe," said Hermione, finally speaking up. "Something may have happened last night."
"Please, please tell me about it. Don't be nervous. I want to help."
"Okay," said Hermione, clearing her throat. "Well, we were all down on the lakeshore enjoying our reward for doing so well in our classes. We were mostly talking, looking at the stars and the way they lit up the lake and surrounding hill. It was really quite peaceful and enjoyable."
Hermione paused and looked at the others. They seemed more than pleased to have her doing the talking.
"Yes, please go on, Hermione."
"We were talking about the stars and how a lot of people believe there might be aliens out there among the stars. We talked about whether or not we thought they had been here and whether or not they might return."
The professor was sitting, listening intently, wondering where this all of this was leading.
"Ron had made a joke. He pointed his wand at Orion's Belt and said if we want them we just say 'Accio Aliens'. I got mad at him. He got mad at me and got up to leave. A bunch of the others used that as an excuse to also leave. That's how it ended up with just the five of us on the lakeshore."
"Please continue," urged the professor as Hermione paused to gather the rest of her thoughts.
"Luna looked at the professor and said, "I told Hermione I agreed with what she told Ron. I told her the charm would have to be more specific."
"Okay," said the professor as Luna stopped. "Is that it? Is that the question? Are you looking for a more specific charm to use for contacting aliens?"
"No, professor," said Luna. "I think we found it."
Found what? Are you saying you found a charm to contact aliens?" said the professor, not believing what she was saying?
"Yes, professor. I pointed my wand at Orion's Belt and said 'Accio Mintakans'. That's the star on the right end of the belt."
"Yes, I know, I am the one who taught you that."
"Yes, that's right, you did," replied Luna. "Anyway, Mintaka changed colors and glowed bright red for a few seconds."
"Are you certain? Did you all see that happen?" asked the professor, looking around and seeing quiet agreement from all of the others.
The professor looked at all of them and said, "Maybe it was a coincidence. It could have been something in the atmosphere. Or maybe you all just thought you saw it turn red."
"That's what we thought, too," interjected Hermione. 'Keep telling her what happened next, Luna."
"Well, I pointed my wand back up and said it again. Mintaka did it again. It glowed bright red."
"That's very odd, said the professor in a befuddled voice. "I don't know what to say. I have never heard of such a thing."
"That's not all of it," said Hermione. "Tell her the rest, Luna."
"The rest—uh—I pointed my wand up again and said 'Accio Alnitakans'. It lit up bright blue. Then I tried 'Accio Alnilamans'. It glowed bright yellow for a moment."
That's—well—if it is all true, it's—uh—incredible," stammered the professor. "If you have made contact with aliens, then it will be—well, it cannot be underestimated the impact it could have on our world."
"It's true, professor. All of it," said Padma, making her first contribution to the conversation."
"I would really like to believe this," said the professor. "Would you be willing to try to make contact again? We can do it up in the Astronomy Tower tonight."
The girls look at each other. Last night had pretty well freaked them all out, that is with the exception of Luna. They had no idea what they had really done. They had no idea what kind of things they might be tinkering with. The very idea of voluntarily doing it again was really frightening.
"I think that is a good idea," said Luna in an abrupt, but calm manner. "We should check to see if what happened last night really happened."
The others looked at her like she had exceeded her normal reputation for loony. However, after a moment of consideration, it was agreed to meet after dinner and to go up to the Astronomy Tower for an attempt at recreating the events of the previous evening.