Chapter 5: Aladdin

The date was Thursday, December 16, 1993.

It was the night before most Hogwarts students would be returning home for the Christmas holidays. Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley siblings were gathered at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, enjoying the meal. Usually in the Great Hall, you'd find things like roast chicken, corn, and mash being served. Tonight's feast, however, was different.

Harry, Hermione, and the Weasley siblings had planned to see a new movie that had just been released in the U.K. and saw dinner as a chance to celebrate. On the tables were Moroccan dishes, such as Chicken Tajine and Vegetable Couscous, along with Egyptian dishes, such as kebabs with rice. The Egyptian foods were recommended by Bill Weasley, who had just come back from Egypt for a visit.

There was also a change in decoration. Rather than the usual house banners, which showed the heraldic house animals, there were silk banners, graced by calligraphic house animals. To top it all off, Dumbledore was wearing a purple turban, with matching robes, as opposed to his usual moon and star purple robes, and had entered the Great Hall on an elephant, courtesy of Hagrid.

As the children enjoyed their meal, Bill came down from the teachers' table with a monkey on his shoulder.

"Great idea you had there, Harry," he remarked, patting him on the back.

"Thanks," Harry replied. "And thanks for that other gift you brought to my place."

That other gift that Bill brought happened to be some monkeys brought straight from Egypt. He and Charlie had visited the Potter Family menagerie the previous summer and wanted to bring in some provisions of their own.

The next day, on the train home, our Golden trio was seated in their compartment, when Bill stopped by. Harry had told him about the movie they were seeing sometime ago, and after seeing the trailer, Bill didn't want to miss it.

The film they were seeing was Disney's 31st animated feature, Aladdin.

They went over the plan for the next day. James, Sirius, Paul, and Remus would take Harry, Hermione, Sarah, and the Weasley siblings to the cinema while the mothers would be out doing some Christmas shopping. Bill had also invited Charlie along, and, unfortunately, Percy ended up going at his parents' and older brothers' urging. This brought the total to fourteen people. It was more than Harry and Hermione were going for, but it wasn't as bad as the last time.

In exactly 24 hours, the big day had come. It was Saturday, December 18, 1993. They decided on seeing it at the Plaza again, hoping for the more comfortable stadium seating. They arrived just in time for the 8:00 screening. The Weasleys immediately made a dash for the snack bar, as they all loved food, but not all of them loved sucking it down like an elephant. People in the audience were staring at a single file line of people carrying double sized orders of popcorn, but the attention died down once they took their seats and the Weasleys all sipped Pepsi. They decided that next to Butterbeer, this had t be the Weasley family drink.

Soon enough, the lights went down and the previews begun. But this time, there was only one preview that needed anybody's interest. If it held anyone's interest, it was Harry's.

This trailer begun quite simply. Some red text appeared on the screen, which read,

Next Autumn, Walt Disney Pictures will present its newest animated feature…

The text dissolved to say,

What follows is the opening song that begins the story.

After that, came the classic Walt Disney Pictures logo, consisting of the white castle against the blue background. Over it, played the sound of jungle birds calling, complete with a lion roaring in the distance.

Suddenly, the sun began to rise voice began to sing…

Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba

(Sithi uhm ingonyama)

That first note was all Harry needed to be drawn in. After that opening chant, the buildup to the chorus was enough for Harry. The high point of that first scene made a part of him deep down inside want to get up and shout, "Hallelujah."

His excitement culminated near the end of the song, when he would learn the film's title…

Till we find our place,

On the path unwinding…

in the Circle,

The Circle of Life.

The bang on the drum brought the title in on a perfect note… The Lion King.

"Wicked," Harry thought.

He was a little dismayed to read the last part,

To be continued – October 1994.

He was disappointed that he'd have to be taken out of school to see it. Now he knew how Hermione felt about Beauty and the Beast.

His excitement almost distracted him from the movie. Bill had to grab him by the shoulders to snap him form his disappointment. That, didn't distract Bill from his fascination though.

The opening notes of the first song, followed by the smoke forming the title, was enough to suck Bill into the story. His fascination culminated upon the discover of the Cave of Wonders. His fascination continued as

Aladdin was sent into the cave, filled with treasure and inhabited by a magic carpet. It made no sense to him that they'd be outlawed in Britain. After all, broomsticks didn't fly in the muggle world. Aladdin narrowly escape from the collapsing cave and nearly being devoured by a sea of flames was enough to continue Bill's excitement. But as the cave collapsed and Aladdin found he still had the magic lamp, the rest of the audience got interested. Aladdin rubbed the lamp and out of it came a screaming puff of smoke with the voice of Robin Williams, saying,

"Ten thousand years… will give you such a crick in the neck." The rest of the audience laughed. Their laughter proved too contagious for Sirius, who spent most of his time trying to figure out why it was so funny. The genie's song had Sirius tapping his feet, and he saw the Prince Ali song as the perfect way to make an entrance. When the Genie was given more screen time, Sirius was happy to get a laugh fest. Then came such classic one-liners like,

"I can't believe it, I'm losing to a rug,"

"Alright Sparky, here's the deal. If you wanna court the little lady, you gotta be a straight shooter, do ya got it?"

And, best of all…

"A woman appreciates a man who can make her laugh."

The climax at the end had something for both Bill and Sirius. Bill watched the fight scenes as if he was watching his favorite Quidditch team. Sirius was laughing loudest after hearing,

"Jafar Jafar, he's our man. If he can't do it, GREAT!"

When the movie was over, Bill was overblown. Sirius walked out casually, but not without a huge grin on his face.

"I loved it," he announced.

"I didn't understand it, but I loved it."

And yes, the kids looked at the little stub at the bottom of the poster, which read…

Visit the new EuroDisney Resort in Paris.

Harry and Hermione thought back to their little trip the previous summer and thought that if they ever went there again, there had better be some Aladdin attractions in the more Arabian-themed Adventureland section of the park.

Later that night, Harry was surprised to find that his parents had bought a condominium apartment in Bal Harbour, Florida, and the Potters and Grangers would be staying there over the next couple of weeks, along with Sirius, Remus, and Dora. They flew in the private plane that they had acquired to go along with the pilot's licenses that James and Sirius had gotten.

The arrived on the evening of Sunday, December 19, 1993. When they arrived, they'd found some new friends. They were two muggle families; the Kahns and the Greissmans. It turned out their children, Danny Kahn and Rachel Greissman, were bigger Disney fans than they were.

One night, the Potters and Grangers were joining the Kahn and Greissman families for dinner at their apartment, and the kids were trying to settle on a Disney movie to watch on VHS tape. Eventually, they decided on Aladdin. This was Danny's favorite film, but before he put the tape in, Harry grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Danny, how can Aladdin already be out on videocassette?" He asked. "It's still in the cinemas."

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Danny replied. "It was in theatres last year."

"I mean that I just saw it at the cinema last week," he replied. "And cinema is the correct term, isn't it?"

"Oh, I forgot. You guys are from England," Danny realized. "The release dates must be different for every country."

Danny popped the tape into the player and the previews begun… after having to sit through the FBI warnings on the green background, that is.

Harry didn't know it, but he was in for a big surprise from the first preview. They heard the familiar voice of the Disney voice over guy speak,

"Over the years, Walt Disney Studios has taken us on unforgettable journeys. From under the sea in The Little Mermaid, to an enchanted castle in Beauty and the Beast, and into a whole new world with Aladdin…"

Harry then saw the opening to the intro of the one film he'd been so longing to see. When Danny was his reaction, he knew what he had to do. He'd seen Rachel and Hermione bond over Beauty and the Beast and this kind of reaction was nothing new to him.

Harry was dismayed to find that in the United States, The Lion King was to be released in the summer, not the Autumn and thus, Danny and Rachel would see it first.

Lily and James decided that he only thing to do would be to visit their new friends the next summer and then go out to see it.

This is only a brief summary of The Potter and Granger's Florida holidays. I'll expand on them, plus the EuroDisney trip in another story. If you're wondering what Danny is going to do, I'll fill you in on the next chapter.

Yes, life was good for Harry, and Danny, but in the next chapter, it would get even more interesting.