Chapter 6: The Lion King

It was the summer of 1994, just after third year. You may expect Harry and Hermione to be relaxing at the Potter house in Liverpool, but not this time. Right now, they're in America. Woodmere, New York, to be exact. They're visiting some ironically Jewish friends they've made last Christmas. Their names were Danny Kahn and Rachel Greissman.

Danny and Rachel lived at 934 Woodmere Drive and had been doing so for the last eight years. They'd slept in the same room for all that time and thus, it led to some interesting changes that year. But, I digress. This chapter is about Harry, not them.

Anyways, one day, the four of them were gathered in Danny and Rachel's bedroom. Rachel and Hermione were parked in front of the television watching Beauty and the Beast. The two of them had bonded over their love of this film when they'd met each other and were now becoming very close friends. Of course, both of them loved it for different reasons. Hermione's reason was kind of obvious, but Rachel on the other hand, had other interests in it. She liked it because for once, Disney made a heroine that had brown hair, like hers.

"Why should the blondes have all the fun?" She asked.

In the other timeline, you girly expect Hermione to turn away from someone interested in this, but only if she were too feminine. Rachel had thoughts like these about the girls from Full House, particularly DJ.

"Too had her brains are in her boobs," she muttered.

Also, Hermione noticed that she too looked like Belle in some ways. She had brown hair, but it was lighter than Belle's, and bushier. Rachel's hair was about the same color as Belle's, but curlier. Also, they noticed that the both of them wore Belle's colors. Hermione wore blue, Rachel wore yellow.

Since they were spending a couple of weeks there, Rachel let Hermione sleep with the giant stuffed Beast she had. She had this along with other Beauty and the Beast items, including the soundtrack on both CD and cassette, an electronic magic mirror, a plastic enchanted rose, snow globes, picture frames, and a yellow Belle dress, just to name a few. But her most prized items were the Belle and Beast dolls made by Mattel.

Harry's attention was elsewhere. He was busy admiring the Aladdin collection that Danny had. He had everything; snow globes, picture frames, games, books, electronic swords (both light-up and sound), popcorn buckets from Disney World and Walt Disney's World On Ice, plush toys, a costume, the soundtrack on both CD and cassette, and quite a selection of apparel, just to name a few. But the most prized items were the Aladdin action figures made by Mattel. Danny had every one they'd made, from Aladdin himself to Evil Genie Jafar. They still had all their swords, scepters, and other accessories, along with all the Genie coins they came with.

Harry started to long for a collection like this, only with items from the movie he was so excited to see. Danny and Rachel had already seen it a few weeks prior and had bought some of the merchandise. The movie wouldn't be released in the U.K. until October, but The Potters and Grangers decided to let them stay with their new friends to give them a head start. The film they were seeing was Disney's 32nd animated feature, The Lion King.

Soon enough, the big day came. They were going to see the movie at the Green Acres Cinema in the Green Acres Mall area. It was a rather large cinema, and it smelled nice also. They chose a 6:00 showtime so they could order in pizza when they got back. Also, they had tickets reserved for them so they wouldn't have to wait in such a long line for tickets. The last Danny and Rachel were there, there was a long line of people around the block, waiting to see the movie.

When they got inside, it was even better. The whole cinema was decorated for the release. Everywhere you looked, there were fake trees and banana leaves mounted, with cardboard characters sticking out of the brush.

When they went to get popcorn, it was placed into Lion King buckets. Hermione made a beeline for the candy/sweets. Her parents told her not to get any, but in this timeline, she understood that you'd never get anywhere unless you bent the rules a little bit.

Soon enough, the group entered the theater. Wherever they sat, they considered it the best seats in the house, even though a whole crowd of people swarmed to get seats.

Remember, when The Lion King came out it was a big stinkin' hit.

Eventually, the lights went down and the previews begun. Most of the other big summer movies had been released, so they didn't see trailers for movies like Forrest Gump or The Mask. Danny and Rachel saw those trailers when they saw The Flintstones about a month prior. One preview that did look tempting was a trailer for a live action version of The Jungle Book, titled, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, starring Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli.

"What are Fred and George going to say about that?" Harry wondered.

Soon enough, the movie begun.

After seeing the Walt Disney Pictures logo with the jungle sounds over it, followed by the lion's roar, it happened.

After hearing the first note of that first song, you'd expect he audience to erupt with applause, but applause just seemed too distracting for an opening like that.

When the song ended with the bang on the drum, all Harry thought was…

"Wicked."

When Simba first appeared as a cub standing on Pride a rock at pre-dawn, Hermione instantly wanted a Simba of her own. She wanted one that could just stay a cub forever, and even look like Simba did in the movie, as opposed to a real lion cub.

Harry's interest in Simba, however, was different. As soon as Simba had grown into an adult, he wanted an Adult Simba, as it would seem more heroic.

The real deciding point for both of them, was when Simba and Nala were reunited and falling in love. As the two lovers embraced each other, Harry and Hermione noticed that their hands were touching each other on the armrest. The both of them looked at each other and felt a strange churning in their stomachs. Danny and Rachel smiled at them, but Harry knew what he'd do if Sarah were there teasing them about it.

Fortunately, she wasn't there to ruin their little moment, but Harry knew that Sarah would be starting Hogwarts in the Fall, and things would really get embarrassing.

None of this is to say the other scenes didn't go ignored. The Wildebeest stampede was definitely captivating, the Mufasa's ghost scene was an obvious favorite, and the songs… need I say more.

The final fight scene was exciting for Harry, because of how much it played with the color red, his favorite color. After Simba defeated Scar and made his kingly roar, Harry was tempted to get up and yell, "Hallelujah". But he felt it still wasn't the right time yet.

The buildup in the final scene was when Harry thought,

"It is time."

The chorus sang as Simba and Nala's cub was presented,

Till we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the circle,

The Circle of Life…

Circle of…

Life!

After the bang on the drum, the whole audience erupted with the loudest applause of all.

As the friends exited the theater, Harry looked at the poster. Unlike the others, the stub at the bottom read,

Visit Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida.

Harry then looked at his popcorn bucket and Danny knew exactly what Harry was thinking.

"I want to have a Lion King collection as big as your Aladdin collection," he told Danny.

"Well, I'll help you get started," Danny offered. "There's a Toys R Us nearby."

The friends entered the Toys R Us and headed for the Lion King section. There were cardboard characters hanging from the ceiling and fake banana and palm leaves tacked onto boards. Danny bought Harry the two box sets of Mattel's Lion King action figures, along with some that didn't come in the box sets, such as Mufasa, and some of the Hyenas. Harry's favorite was he set that contained the Adult Simba, along with Timon, Pumbaa, and Rafiki. Also, Harry got some Lion King trading cards, as a companion piece to Chocolate Frogs cards.

When they returned home, they ordered in a Pizza from the nearby Marinara Pizza Place. They'd ordered a regular pie, along with a penne fiorite. This was Hermione's favorite because it had sun-dried tomatoes.

Later, Lily and James called Harry and Hermione and announced that they had an announcement.

"Tomorrow morning, we're getting on the plane… and going to Disney World!"

Danny and Rachel held excitement for their friends.

Danny offered his best wishes, "Have a great time, guys."

"And you're coming with us," James added.

"Is that okay, mom?" Danny asked.

"Weren't you just there a couple of weeks ago?" Danny's mother Jill teased,

Danny clearly knew his mother was teasing, "Mom!"

He knew she was more than happy with it because of how much they all trusted each other.

Danny looked at a brochure for Disney World and grinned at Harry. He pointed to a section labeled, New! There was a poster for a new attraction at the Magic Kingdom, titled Legend of the Lion King. The bottom read, opening July 8. This would be he day after they arrived. Harry knew he could not miss this, as it would be the highlight of his life.

I'll be writing about this trip in another story, along with last year's Paris trip and last Christmas's Florida trip. I've already talked too much about Disney in comparison the Magic of Harry Potter. I hope you've enjoyed this peek in the Wizarding World's introduction to the Magic Kingdom.

Until next time, remember to believe in Magic.

The End.