There's No Place Like Hogwarts

Chapter Nine-Here She Goes Again

            Moody and Sirius raced out the front door together, clearly responding to some sort of emergency. Shouting back, Sirius wished them good luck, then he was gone. The four stood in the kitchen, dazed for a moment. Then, without a word, they walked up to their room and began to pack.  Hermione used an undetectable extension charm on her purse and everyone’s clothes, books and other belongings fit neatly inside the bag. They decided to leave immediately, before the other Weasleys arrived and complicated their own departure. 

            As a last minute thought, the two girls returned to the third floor to grab an old spell book Hermione had seen a few days before. As they both dug through dusty piles in search of the book, Hermione talked idly, regurgitating information as she often did. This time she had chosen the Black family history as her topic.

            “…and Sirius was disowned by his mother, his own mother. She didn’t want to have anything to do with him once he decided to associate with Mudbloods.” Hermione spat, either at the word or the thick cloud of dust. “There are loads of books here on their family history,” she said, “might as well be a history of dark wizards. The Black family has always had pure blood mania. They even had close ties with the Witch of the West. I read that before You-Know-Who fell, the Black family and the Wicked Witch were counted among his most loyal followers. I wouldn’t be surprised if something in this house belonged to her.”

            Dorothy straightened her back, taking a break from looking for Hermione’s book, doubting the importance of one more book, but not wanting to insult her friend. Hermione continued to search and ramble, not noticing Dot had stopped.

             “All those dark wizard families used to have ways to travel to each other quickly, in case the Dark Lord called. Vanishing cabinets, Dissaparation charms, portkeys, you name it. Who knows how many old cabinets are out there, or old portkeys disguised as a shoe, waiting for an unlucky person to try it on?” Hermione laughed at her own joke, looking up for the first time. At that same moment Dorothy thought she saw the spine of an old, leather bound book deep within the pile. Dot reached into the pile to grab the book and vanished before Hermione’s eyes.

            Dorothy’s hand was locked to the leather cover and she felt like there was a string attaching the book to the back of her navel.  The room spun around the book, her body levitating for a moment until she was flung hard to the ground. Dust filled her nostrils and chocked her as she tried to regain her bearings. Putting down a hand, she felt dry soil beneath her. Opening her eyes, she saw tall corn stalks surrounding her. Recognition dawned on Dorothy as she gazed around the corn field. Once again fate had “shaken” her into a new world. Her wizard friends were gone and with them her confidence. Dot didn’t know where she was or if magic was even real in this new place, but she knew that something had to be done. She couldn’t sit in a dusty field all day, so she stood up and patted herself off, trying to muster as much courage as she could.

            “Nobody is here to take care of me, so I’ll take care of myself,” she thought, trying to project bravery. “Now what have I got myself into?” She looked around and then down, noticing she still had her ruby slippers on (as she had taken to calling them). The sight of her shiny, red shoes was surprisingly comforting. “I’m not alone after all,” she thought. “I’ve got Hermione here to protect me.” With that she set off down the row of corn, ready for what she might find at the end. She had her shoes and she had her wit, and at that moment it felt to the young muggle girl like more than she was used to.