(A/N): Well, wait. I forgot. This is also a big Reveal chapter for where the hell Harry's been for the last, oh, twenty-seven YEARS or so since the Takeover by the Dragon Order.

Just so that you know (as now is a handy time to state it): Coraline is 11, Melanie is 16, and Harry is 45.

Also so that you know: Coraline stars in both halves. Melanie, the Other Melanie, and the Other Mother co-star in this one, while Harry and a few other yet-unnamed characters co-star in the next half.

Anyway, I hope you like this. Some of it is an information dump, some of it isn't.

CHAPTER EIGHT: ENCYCLOPEDIA

Coraline slammed the book shut just as the Other Melanie ran around the corner.

"You won't believe what I found!" the Other Melanie excitedly shouted.

Coraline shoved over the magical book to the other side while the Other Melanie dropped a five-inch-thick book by the title of The Encyclopedia of Famous Witches and Wizards, Volume 10, G-I, on the table. The Other Melanie flipped to a page around half of the way through.

Coraline knew that the Other Melanie had to be an extreme speed-reader if she had been able to go through the entire H section of the book looking for a wizard with a matching definition.

The Other Melanie pointed to a name around half way down the page (which, Coraline found to her disbelief, labeled page 5,841):

HARRY JAMES POTTER was born on July 31st, 1980, to Lily and James Potter.

Coraline skipped through the rest of it, until the end:

At the time this was published, it was found that Harry had been taken captive by the Dragon Order for purposes of an extensive cover-up. That way, no proof would remain that the Order is manned almost completely by rebelled Death Eaters. See VOLDEMORT (TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE) on page 8,463 of The Encyclopedia of Famous Witches and Wizards, Volume 10, T-V.

Coraline stared at the page for a little while.

She was shocked to see so much secret information in one paragraph.

All these hidden facts… she even felt sorry for the man she barely knew, because she could half-sympathize with him. She knew what it was like to be wrongly restricted.

The Other Melanie noticed Coraline's silence and figured that she was still reading. In truth, Coraline's mind was spinning in circles, trying in vain to find a way to free both of them from this evil deception by the Dragon Order. The only plans she came up with she didn't like herself.

"Isn't it amazing?" the Other Melanie asked.

"Yeah," Coraline said, trying to sound natural when she was coming apart at the seams inside. "It would be interesting to see the page in the other book, though – "

"Girls! Time for bed!" the Other Mother called.

"Okay, Mom!" the Other Melanie called back. "Come on, Sis. Let's go."

With big smiles on their faces, the two sisters left the room.

On the inside back cover of a book, a sentence appeared.

If she waits too long, she won't be able to refuse.

(A/N): Yay! The cat said something again!

I always LOVE when the Cat says something! Usually, it means that there's a good amount of foreshadowing involved.

We still have roughly four chapters left of Friendly-Other-World before the OM gets pissed off. And no, as you can probably already tell, this isn't exactly following the plot of Coraline or Harry Potter. The Coraline aspect is a lot closer, for sure, but it's way different with the fact that it's a Harry Potter crossover, and the Dragon Order is there, and the fact that Coraline is a squib plays an important role, too.

For those of you who haven't yet gotten what a squib is (if you didn't know to begin with) a squib (by regular HP canon) is someone who has magical parents, but can't perform magic. So, in other words, they're the inverse of a muggle-born (someone who doesn't have magical parents – or any magical ancestors – but can perform magic).

I've stretched that definition to include that they have a better sensitivity to magic than regular muggles do. That's why Coraline always feels the waves of strong magic pouring off the door when it's unlocked.