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Harry and Ron didn't even bother concealing their surprise. "Wait, so that's it then? You're coming with us?" asked Ron. She shrugged.
"Well, you don't get a chance to save the world every day," Sarah said easily. She got up and started putting dishes away. "Let me just get rid of these and then I'll get some stuff together and we'll leave. Sound good?"
"Here, let me help you with that," Harry said. He waved his wand and the dishes started cleaning themselves. Sarah beamed at him.
"Now that was cool. I wish I were magic," she said wistfully. "It'd be useful for so many things. Doing the laundry, cleaning up…" Ron stared at her like she'd lost it. Then again, from his surprised reaction when she'd agreed to come, maybe he already thought she was nuts.
"Are you serious? You want magic just to wash your bloody clothes? Magic can do so much more than that!"
"Of course it can, Ron, but it's not always about the bigger picture. Sometimes, you have to deal with the details," answered Sarah. Ron just looked confused and gave up.
Hermione had been laughing quietly at the table at their banter and stood now, drawing everybody's attention to her. "The dishes are done," she pointed out. "Shall we leave now?"
Sarah nodded. "Alright. Should I bring anything with me? Clothes? Food?"
Harry shook his head. "We're going to a safe house. There should be enough food for everybody and you can always borrow Fleur's clothes."
"Sounds good!" Sarah stepped a little closer to the trio. "So how do we get there?"
"We're going to Apparate. It's like teleporting," explained Hermione. "Just hold on to Harry's arm and don't let go until we get to the cottage. You're going to feel a little dizzy afterwards, but that's normal. Ready?" They paired off, Hermione and Ron, Harry and Sarah, and Apparated back to Shell Cottage.
Four cracks broke the peaceful silence of Shell Cottage as Harry and his friends returned victorious from their mission to recruit Sarah Williams. Sarah stumbled away from Harry feeling more than a little nauseous when she heard a cry of pain from her left. Looking up she saw Ron crouched on the ground, bleeding into the floor.
"He's splinched!" shouted Harry. "Quick, Hermione, the Dittany!"
Sarah watched as Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out a small bottle. She rushed over to Ron's side, picking something up on her way, and —Sarah stared in shock—reattached the hand she'd found on the floor with his wrist. She and Harry proceeded to levitate him onto the bed and clean up the blood. Ron sat shakily on the edge recovering.
"What was that?" Sarah demanded. "He was fine when we left, and then all of a sudden his hand falls off?" Harry glanced back at her from his seat on the side of the bed.
"It's a side effect of Apparating sometimes. It's called splinching. We aren't used to Apparating somewhere so far away; I'm surprised it was just his hand. Last time, he splinched most of his arm off. At least he's getting better at it." Sarah just shook her head. Wizards, losing body parts trying to teleport places! She was never going to get used to this. Hermione finished checking on Ron and helped him up from the bed.
"Alright then, shall we go visit Griphook?" The other two nodded and followed her out the door.
They walked into a corridor and down some stairs, turned left and entered Griphook's room at his "Enter". As they stepped inside, Sarah took a good look around the room. It was fairly sparse, with no additional decorations or furniture to make it anything more than a room. There was a small bed in the corner with a plain wooden chair. The walls were a neutral off-white color that matched the drapes hanging open by the window. Sarah took in the sword leaning against the wall opposite the bed and noticed a tray of untouched food on the blankets of the goblin. Then she glanced at the goblin's face and let out a surprised laugh.
"Hoggle?" Harry and the others turned back to give her confused looks.
"What are you talking about? This is Griphook!" said Ron. He was right, she was definitely a nutter. Mistaking her own friend for a — Wait did she just mistake a goblin for another goblin?
Griphook stared at her, unsurprised by her reaction but shocked she'd even agreed to come. He wondered what Harry had to promise her to get her here. Hermione and Harry had come to the same conclusion as Ron and were staring at Sarah, silently demanding an explanation. She was still staring at Griphook, now thoroughly confused. Stepping closer, she examined his face in more detail. His face was very similar to Hoggle's she realized, but this wasn't him. There was a definite pointiness to his ears and nose that Hoggle lacked, giving his features an angrier look. She looked up to apologize for her outburst when she noticed the look on everybody's faces.
"What?" she asked, confused. "Why are you all staring at me like that?"
"We should be the ones asking the questions here," said Harry. He stepped in front of her, slightly angry. "Who are you really? How do you know any goblins? You're a muggle! And just why exactly does Griphook think you can help him?"
She thought they already knew. Now that she realized they didn't know anything about her, she was surprised it took them this long to wonder who the stranger they were bringing with them to their secret base was. Not a very smart thing to do, she thought.
After Harry's outburst, Sarah told them all about her adventure in the Underground, starting from the time she wished Toby away until the moment she returned home. Of course, they didn't really believe her on the spot. They were wizards and witches who already knew about magic and magical creatures; why hadn't they ever heard of this Underground before? Or the story about the Goblin King. If he was so powerful, how come nobody knew about him? At that, Sarah had to call Hoggle out from a mirror to help her explain, since she didn't know much about it either. That was where they were now, standing around a small bedroom staring at a twin goblin of the one in the bed. Nobody had said anything for 5 minutes, and Sarah was getting tired of shocked silences.
"Hoggle," the goblin jumped at the sharp noise, "Care to explain what's going on here?"
"Oh, you mean the, um, goblin in the bed over there?" he gulped. After all the secrets she found out Hoggle had kept from her all these years, she was so not in the mood for anymore of this.
"Of course I mean that goblin, or do you see any other goblin in this room besides the two of you? Why does he look like you? Why do I get the strangest feeling you're involved in this somehow?" she exploded.
"It's because it's his fault I'm here in the first place," said Griphook quietly from behind them. They all turned to see him glaring at Hoggle. "My real name is Higgle, and I was mistakenly exiled because of this fool betraying his King and helping you get through the Labyrinth."
AN: I definitely have way too much time on my hands. Getting a chapter out every few days? At least we're starting to get somewhere. I think the chapters are going to get longer from now on. Anyways, leave a review or PM me if you have questions, comments, or just want to say hi! Thanks!