{Sorry about the delay, folks. I'm really swamped with work these days. Just doing the best I can, so bear with me if you please}
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14th Feb 1993
Hogwarts
School commenced on the 4th of January, and since then the next few weeks passed by in a blur of normalness. Classes continued as usual, with one week seeming to meld into the next. Sirius had stayed true to his word and was looking for a piece of property in Hogsmeade for our joint venture. With any luck, the Arcade would be set up before the end of the school year.
Our regular routine was broken this morning when we walked into the Great Hall for breakfast and were promptly ambushed by a world of pink.
The walls were all covered with large, lurid pink flowers, while heart-shaped confetti was falling from the pale blue ceiling. Groups of red, pink and white balloons dotted the four tables at regular intervals and tiny pink pixies swooped about.
"What's going on?" asked Harry, taking a seat at the Ravenclaw table. He was a bit late owing to a late running quidditch practice session yesterday evening.
Those of us already there pointed to the Teacher's table.
Professor Dumbledore was seated at the centre of the table looking highly amused, while the teachers on either side of him looked stony-faced. In front of the table Professor McGonagall was talking to someone in a less than friendly tone.
"Sir, I demand that you take down these gawdy decorations and exit these premises at once," said Professor McGonagall, her nostrils flaring.
"Would that I could," replied a surly looking dwarf chomping on a cigar. "But we have a contract with Gilderoy Lockhart to deliver valentines around the castle today."
"Gilderoy Lockhart is not a faculty at this institution anymore. Any orders placed by him regarding the school are no longer valid," she protested.
"Unfortunately it doesn't work that way, lassie," replied the dwarf in an unconcerned tone. "Doesn't matter where the dandy is - a contract is a contract. Unlike those slimy goblins, we dwarves keep our words. Now stand aside, we got work to do."
A sudden clomping of heavy boots spun our heads around in time to see a dozen horribly dressed dwarves, outfitted as extremely mean-looking cupids enter the Great Hall.
"Attention, folks!" yelled the apparent dwarven leader to the Hall. "Know that nothing would give me greater pleasure then to take an AK (Avada Kedavra) to the noggin and get this day over with," he started. "But we have a contract with Gilderoy Lockhart for managing today's festivities. So if any of you little shits want your valentines delivered, we are here to indulge your lovesick foolishness. That's all."
The announcement was met by awkward mutterings from most of the boys and giggles from their female counterparts. Spirited discussions sprang up in the room about the day's possibilities, which were only interrupted by the arrival of the morning post.
A couple of owls landed on our side of the table. One of them hopped in front of Hermione, the other one, me.
"Oh Ben, you shouldn't have," Hermione gushed, holding a card in one hand, while a yellow rose graced the other.
I had thought about whether it might be too early, but a yellow rose is supposed to symbolise friendship and therefore should be innocent enough for our age. That and a simple card would be considered appropriate. I have known from prior experience that if you like a girl, it's better to make your interest known sooner rather than later.
Giving her a smile, I turned my attention to the brown short-eared owl raising its leg at me. I detached the letter and gave it a strip of bacon for its troubles. Opening the letter, I found a card in Hermione's perfect script:
Dear Ben,
Happy Valentine's Day
Love, Your Friend, Hermione
"Thanks Hermione," I said, feeling my cheeks go slightly warm.
"You're very welcome," she replied before ducking her head.
Looking across the table, I found the girls in our group sniggering. Astoria and Rachel were offering me thumbs ups, while Daphne was giving me a teasing smirk. Harry and Neville on the other hand, were nodding their heads at me with proud smiles.
All day long, the dwarves kept barging into classes to deliver valentines, much to the annoyance of the teachers. But that was mostly the case for the upper years. As 2nd years, we were spared from such rambunctious romantic escapades...well,at least most of us were.
"Oy, you!" sounded a belligerent voice as we came out of the DADA classroom and were about to make our way to the Great Hall for lunch.
Turning around, we saw a grim-looking, tutu-wearing dwarf, elbowing people out of the way to get to us.
"'Arry Potter!" he shouted.
"Nope!"
Realising what was about to happen, Harry did an about-face and tried to escape. But the mean-looking dwarf was faster than his build would otherwise suggest. He cut his way through the crowd by kicking peoples shins and quickly overtook Harry.
"I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person," he said twanging his harp in a threatening sort of way.
"Would you look at that!" I said in mock surprise. "Seems like I am not the only lucky chap among us to get a valentine," I smirked, while Neville end Hermione sniggered. Harry shot us a look that made it clear he was not amused.
"Not here," Harry hissed at the dwarf and tried to get past by side-stepping him.
But the little cupid wannabe was not to be denied. With a leap, he grabbed ahold of the top of Harry's backpack and pulled. Not anticipating the sharp tug, the Boy-who-lived lost his footing and came crashing down on his back.
"Stay still!" grunted the dwarf, sitting on Harry's ankles.
"Let me go!" Harry snarled, then looked at me. "Help me!" he pleaded in desperation.
"Now now, Harry. It must have taken a lot of courage for this girl to send you a valentine," I smiled, looking around at the gathered audience which happened to include a blushing Ginny Weasley. "As a chivalrous Gryffindor, the least you can do is accept it with grace and humility." I said sagely.
"Damn you!" Harry retorted hotly.
"Right," said the dwarf. "Here's your singing valentine:
His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard,
I wish he was mine, he's really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord."
Harry's face turned beet red in embarrassment at being the subject of the quatrain, delivered in the dwarf's gruff scottish accent. As he stood up and valiantly tried to join everyone else in laughter, I noticed Ginny slinking away, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
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30 minutes later
Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom
"Eyes as green as a fresh pickled toad. Really?"
"Go away!"
"How do you even know what a pickled toad looks like? And please don't say that it's from personal experience."
The door opened a smidge and Ginny Weasley poked her head out of the bathroom stall she had barricaded herself in. Her red eyes clearly indicated that she had been crying.
"This is a girls bathroom," she sniffed.
"Trust me, I'm acutely aware," I said, moving away from the cubicle door.
"Are you here to make fun of me?" she asked a bit defensively.
"Who do you think I am? Malfoy?" I scoffed. "Merlin, why do girls always race for the bathrooms whenever they get upset?" I said mostly to myself, leaning back on the sink.
"Always?" she questioned, walking out of the stall.
"Never mind," I waved her off. "So, I guess the day didn't go quite the way you thought it would, huh?"
"It was stupid," she muttered, lowering her head. "I should never have done it. But I saw you and Hermione this morning and I thought..." she shook her head. "It was stupid."
"You took a chance," I said gently. "I think that in life, it is better to take chances and risk looking stupid then to let fear overwhelm us and never take a chance at all."
"You don't think I was wrong?" she asked, looking at me expectantly.
"For chasing after Harry? No." I said simply. "It's been clear to me from the first time I saw you looking at him, that you have a crush on the boy." A blush crept up her cheeks and she looked down at her feet. "The question is - why?"
"I beg your pardon?" she said, looking at me.
"Why do you like Harry?" I asked. "What drew you to him?"
"Well, of course I like him! He is Harry Potter!" she said passionately. "He defeated the Dark Lord! Because of him we no longer live under the tyranny of the Death Eaters. And he is so humble and kind and charming," she said with stars in her eyes.
"Hmm." I looked at her critically.
"What?" she frowned.
"Harry Potter, the Boy-who-lived...the one I am sure you have heard countless stories about...is a magical prodigy that defeated Voldemort as an infant, all by himself. He spent the next few years before arriving at Hogwarts being trained by the most powerful wizards in the world, all while taming dragons and befriending phoenixes." I said.
"Harry, on the other hand... the one we know... only survived because his mother sacrificed herself to save her son. He spent the next ten years being raised by his magic-hating muggle relatives...the once you saw last year." I explained. "He spent that time living in a boot cupboard, never having a single friend. Before he came to Hogwarts he didn't even know about the existence of Magic or our world."
"So tell me...do you think you like Harry? Or do you like The Harry Potter?" I asked.
Ginny looked at me silently. When I started talking, she had looked confused; but as I kept going, smart girl that she was, she figured out what I was trying to say.
"Why are you telling me this?" she said with a conflicted gaze.
"To let you know that the Harry Potter you grew up hearing about, and the one that exists in reality, are very different from one another." I moved away from the sink and started making my way out. "If you still think you like Harry and want to be in a relationship with him, how about you start by being his friend? Learn about what kind of boy he is - his likes and dislikes, strengths and flaws. I think you will find Harry to be much better than any Boy-who-lived you could have conjured up in your fantasies." I smiled.
Having said my piece, I exited the deserted bathroom, leaving a ponderous redhead behind. Honestly, I liked the Harry-Ginny ship. They both complimented each other rather well. Hopefully this talk will get her out of her "fangirl phase" and allow her relationship with Harry to blossom earlier than in canon.
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15th Feb 1993, 11:42 PM
Arcane Club
Finally!!!
I gazed upon the fruit of my labours for the last three years. My Anywhere Door was near completion. I began working on it just a few days after I turned 10. Of course the actual creation process began after I came to Hogwarts, but even before that there were a lot of issues that needed to be sorted out.
Believe it or not, the biggest problem wasn't about finding the right world. My Compass took care of that. No, the biggest issue was about power. All the wizards in the British Isles, nay, in Europe working together couldn't provide enough power for the Door to pierce the barriers between stable dimensions even once.
That is why coming to Hogwarts was such a godsend for me. By connecting to the wards drawing power from the ley lines underneath the school, I can easily accomplish what would otherwise be an impossible task for me right now. Thanks to having access to the virtually limitless magical energy generated by an entire planet, I can open the door as many times as I want.
The Door was almost complete. There was just one more step left...the most important one. It needed a concept...an idea...a wish. One that will define its very existence. It had to be something powerful...something personal...something precise.
Simply wishing for a way to travel the infinite omniverse would not work. It was too varied... too diffused. At the same time, while wishing to travel to one specific universe would work, it would also be a waste as the door would only be able to cross the dimensional barriers to that very world.
And that is why I am so glad to be where I am right now. Once again, dear old Hogwarts was going to help me. There is a powerful concept buried in its walls, one that has been there since the very inception of the school. The four founders had this wish in their hearts when they built this castle and opened its gates for the very first time. Since then, that idea has lived on in the hearts and minds of the teachers and students that called this castle home.
Dumbledore himself told Harry about it once, although he amended it a little bit, which I approve.
I flexed my fingers and a stone arose from the ground. With a thought, it turned to gold, one of the most magically conductive metals in existence. I moved my hand in an arc over the top of the Door. The gold shined brilliantly as it melted and laid itself on the top casing in runes of mystical Ancient Germanic script.
HELP WILL ALWAYS BE GIVEN HERE TO THOSE WHO DESERVE IT
I infused those words with my magic as the metal cooled. At the same time, I connected the Door to the school wards. A tremor ran through the room and perhaps through the very castle itself, as the Door powered on for the first time. The artefact began to glow with an otherwordly light as it greedily devoured the ambient magic, as if a parched man getting his first drink of cool water.
I kept sending my magic to the door along with my desire to travel to other worlds...my feelings about aiding those who could use my help to avoid their tragic fates...my wish to carve out a place for myself in the omniverse where I could flourish and grow along with all my friends and family. It took about a minute for the light to die down, and when it did I knew I had succeeded.
I could feel a connection form between the Door and myself, as if I could summon it anywhere I wanted, even across worlds. It would continue to draw power from the ley lines of this world until I decided otherwise. Satisfied with the success of my project, I was about to leave it at that and call it a night.
I was not a reckless idiot. I knew the dangers out there and what kind of power my Anywhere Door represented. I had no intention of travelling the omniverse right now. Maybe after a few years, once I became powerful enough I could venture out there...maybe even take my friends with me. But sadly, today was not that day.
Fortunately or unfortunately, fate had other plans.
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Time: Unknown
Place: Unknown
She was scared.
A black kitten, her only companion meowed and she held the feline close, hoping for some small measure of comfort. She looked over at her mother, standing near the window and looking out with a worried gaze while holding her baby brother close to her bosom. Her mother tried to be brave for her sake, but even as a child she could tell that something was very wrong.
She wished her father was here. She missed him terribly. She remembered him singing for her when she was little. He always treated her kindly, unlike her grandfather. Then one day, her father disappeared. He didn't even say goodbye. He just left.
That's when it all started to go wrong. People she used to see everyday became less and less frequent in her life. Even her grandmother had to leave a few months ago. And now she was alone, in a locked room with her mother and brother, while outside she could hear painful screams, clashes of steel and cruel laughter.
She didn't know what was going on, why everything had gone so wrong. She was afraid, she was terrified. Her mother must have noticed her discomfort, for she came close and hugged her. She tried to smile, but whatever small relief she felt in her mother's embrace fled when someone began to noisily break down the door leading to their chambers.
She screamed. Her mother went as white as a sheet and held her tightly, while looking around the room for any way to save her children from the looming calamity.
She prayed to the gods to save them.
She begged her father to come protect them.
She wished for anyone to help them.
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15th Feb 1993, 11:49 PM
Arcane Club
I was about to power down the Door and cover it up when it begin to pulse with a red light. I was confused. I didn't remember putting any such function on the artifact. Slightly concerned, I reached out and put my hand on the door.
I felt fear...not my own, but someone else's. Someone was in mortal danger, and they were asking, no, begging for help. Somehow their desire was so strong that it had allowed my conceptual artifact to pick it up and lock on to their position in spacetime.
The light begin to blink faster and I knew if no one helped them soon, then it will most likely result in tragedy. The person asking for help was probably a child, because only someone whose mind was young could make such a powerful wish. There was a reason accidental magic only occurred in children, after all.
I was of two minds. On the one hand, I wasn't prepared for a trip...well, not nearly as prepared as I would have liked. I didn't know where I was going, what kind of beings I would be facing, what kind of situations I would get tangled up in. Basically, there was no way to calculate the risks and I hated not being in control.
On the other hand, there wasn't much of a choice. As the light begin to pulse even faster, I knew whoever it was on the other side was running out of time. Could I really just stand by and watch as the light stops blinking, knowing that there was a child somewhere begging for help? That I could have helped them, but choose not to...simply because I was afraid?
I made my decision. It wasn't like before. I am no longer a helpless muggle. I am a wizard now - one that even Dumbledore would have to take seriously in a fight. Realising I didn't have enough time to inform anyone about my abrupt departure, I carved down a few words on the lab floor. As I put my hand on the Door handle, it stopped blinking red and a soft golden glow emanated from its seams. I mentally prepared myself and pulled the Door open.
/////////////////////////////////
Time: Unknown
Place: Unknown
CRASH!
The battered entrance could no longer withstand the punishment being inflicted upon it and broke down. Hiding underneath the bed she shuddered, trying not to make a sound as her mother had instructed her. She chanced a look at the ruined doorway, and dread filled her gut.
There stood a monstrous figure over seven feet tall, dressed in heavy plate armour wielding an enormous greatsword. The massive hulking brute made his way inside and removed his helm, revealing a brutish scarred face with small cruel eyes filled with malice.
His eyes found the crying form of her little brother in his cot and he started striding in that direction. She watched her mother's trembling form as she stood in front of the infant, trying to protect him from the beast.
"Please!" she pleaded desperately with tears in her eyes. "Please, not my children!"
In return, the armoured demon backhandedly struck her in the face and sent her sprawling on the floor.
"No!" she whimpered, watching her mother's pitiful self.
To her dismay, the giant heard her and moved towards her hiding place. She crawled out from the other side just as he reached her location and flipped the bed away, revealing her cowering form.
Eyes burning with hot tears, she scrambled back until she hit the wall and could go no further. She could hear her mother screaming her name as the monster smiled without mercy. He advanced slowly with his sword raised, almost as if he was savoring this moment that she knew was going to be her last.
And then there was light.
Out of nowhere, the room was illuminated with such bright light, that she was forced to shield her eyes. When she felt safe to open them again, she saw a wooden door standing in front of her. It was carved elegantly with a large crest on it that she had never seen before, with writing on the top in a language she did not understand.
The armoured brute didn't take kindly to the strange barrier that suddenly materialised between him and his quarry. Raising his greatsword with both hands, he swung it with all the strength he could muster, intent of cleaving the door apart.
What happened next flabbergasted everyone present.
The sword struck the door with enough force to butcher a fully armoured knight. But instead of crumbling down into kindling wood, it stood there proudly without a mark. The next moment, a great force erupted from the structure that hit the brute who dared attack it. She watched with wide eyes as the seemingly invulnerable monster was lifted off his feet and sent flying into a wall.
A click drew her attention back to the mysterious aperture. She watched with bated breath as the door slowly opened and someone stepped out right in front of her.
"Hello there!" he smiled.