DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. The Oz series was originally created by L. Frank Baum and is now owned by the International Wizard of Oz Club and Walt Disney Pictures Inc. while the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz was produced by Metro Golden Meyer though recently re-released by Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N In his Oz books, L. Frank Baum gave two conflicting accounts to the origin of Oz. In The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma was the daughter of King Pastoria who was hidden away when the Wizard arrived in Oz before the time of the Wicked Witches. In The Tin Woodsman of Oz, Baum explains that Oz was a normal country until Lurline the Fairy Queen flew over the country and left one of her fairies, her daughter Ozma to rule over the land. Of course, Baum never intended his Oz books to be a series (as he only wrote the sequels following the popularity of the original Wizard of Oz) so inconsistencies were quite common. In this story, I combined the two origin stories into one so just keep in mind that the origin story I use in this chapter is my own creation.
Chapter 12: The Council and the Attack
The Council took place in the main dining hall of the Tin Castle. If the situation were not so serious, Harry just might have laughed at the wide array of strange, weird beings attending the Council. The attendees of the Council ranged from the likes of the Wizard, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, the Cowardly Lion, the Wogglebug, even a six-foot tall frog in golden coat tails and spectacles called 'the Frog Man'. There was also a man dressed in clothes resembling rags in an aristocratic way: a 'Shaggy Man' if you will. He was the scribe of the council, recording everything that was said. Even Jack Pumpkinhead was attending, which suggested that he had gotten a new set of seeds for brains.
To signal the start of the council, Ozma stood up from her position at the head of the table. "Before we start the more important discussion, I feel it is necessary to explain to our guests the very history of our land."
Hermione timidly raised her hand. "Um, begging your pardon your highness, but we already know much of the history of Oz."
Ozma smiled at Hermione. "I am assuming that that you are referring to the books written by Mr. L. Frank Baum. Am I correct?"
Hermione looked a little flustered as she said, "Er, yes your highness."
Ozma caught the Shaggy Man's eye. "Then I suppose you do know a good portion of our history after Ozma came to power," said the Shaggy Man. "Mr. Baum, was the Royal Historian of Oz, and I was the one who provided him stories through telegraph."
"Yet, the detailed story of my own origins have never been told," said Ozma. "No one knows the exact story save Glinda and myself. The time has finally come to tell my people everything.
"Long ago, this land of Oz was a plain ordinary kingdom, much like those old kingdoms in Europe. We had a serfdom, a feudal system, and a royal family. The last king of Oz during this time was my father Pastoria. Oz had always been isolated from the rest of the world, but the desolation grew worse when the surrounding sea dried up to become the Deadly Desert. It was amidst this time of desolation when my mother, Queen Lurline flew over Oz with her fairies. Taking pity on the land, the fairies took up residence in Oz, planning to transform the land into a fairy kingdom.
"While the fairies traveled the breadth of Oz, changing the land to suit whatever individual needs they thought to bring, my mother married my father and started training a number of young apprentices in magic. Glinda was the most promising of my mother's pupils, and the most honorable. Alas if only her other students were as honorable as Glinda was." Ozma bowed her head sadly before continuing.
"There was a rebellion amongst my mother's pupils shortly after I was born, the center of that rebellion being the sisters that came to be known as the Wicked Witches of the East and West. My father was lost, and the Wicked Witches chased my mother and her fairies out of Oz. They carved the land up into four realms: the Eastern and Western realms of the Munchkins and the Winkies were in control of the Wicked Witches. Glinda controlled the Southern realm of the Quadlings and another honorable pupil of my mother's ruled over the Northern realm of the Gillikins.
"As for myself, after my father was lost I was hidden away for my own protection. I was placed under the care of a Gillikin witch named Mombi, and disguised as a boy named 'Tippetarius', 'Tip' for short. It was around that same time that the Wizard first landed in Oz. Is that not right?"
"Yes it is," said the Wizard. "I assume that people were weary of the tyranny of the Wicked Witches and were rather impressed by my method of transport, hot air balloon. They declared me a Wizard after I impressed them with a few tricks I learned in the circus. I organized the building of the Emerald City as a show of power. After the city was built, I managed to hold the four kingdoms in a stance of what I believe the French call 'détente' until Dorothy destroyed the Wicked Witches. It was sometime after that when Ozma was revealed and came into power."
"Yes that is all true," said Ozma. "And now, I must reveal to everyone what is not known. Shortly before my mother was driven out of Oz, she left behind a shrine just north of where the Emerald City stands in the Gillikin Country. To the average person who passes by this shrine, it would merely look like a peculiarly shaped rock formation. In truth, it is the guardian of Oz, the very source of the vast protections of Oz that shield the kingdom. The Death Eaters were able to take control of this land so quickly and effectively because Voldemort learned the truth of the shrine and taken it over first thing."
"So what do you propose?" asked the Tin Woodsman.
"We must take the shrine back from the Dark Forces," said Ozma. "If we cannot do that, we must destroy it. Now, I am open to suggestions on how we do this."
Harry hesitated for a moment before saying "Well I say we can wrestle the shrine away by force."
"That would be too dangerous to be acceptable by me," said Ozma.
"I can't see why it would be too dangerous," said Harry. "If we take them by surprise, my friends and I can stun or petrify the Death Eaters, and Nomes can be taken care of with eggs. And besides, if I remember right nobody can be killed in Oz."
"Nobody can be killed in Oz so long as I sit on the throne of Oz," said Ozma. "As I am clearly not on the throne at present, that rule may not be applicable. But even if I were sitting on the throne, I would not resort to violence. There is no need to fight at any time."
Harry's face grew a little stern looking. "Some times it is necessary to fight to protect what you love," he said.
"There are alternative ways," said Ozma. "Evil can be outwitted or tricked."
"There are times when evil has to be confronted and vanquished," said Harry.
The two starred at each other for a briefly tense moment. Earlier, Hermione had noticed the vast similarities between Harry and Ozma, namely in their looks and power. Now, Hermione noticed the differences in the two. Ozma was a pacifist: she constantly strove to find a peaceable solution to a conflict and preferred diplomacy and persuasion over violence. Harry on the other hand was a warrior: hardened by battling the Dark Forces for years, he was itching for a fight against evil.
Just as Hermione was wondering if the two wouldn't ever break contact, both Harry and Ozma's eyes suddenly flashed a look of alarm. It came so suddenly that only Hermione noticed the change, but notice it she did.
"Harry what..." No sooner had Hermione said that, the entire Tin Castle shook with an explosion of some sort. The Hogwarts students looked on horrified as the Ozites other than Ozma suddenly keeled over falling into magical comas: even the non-humans who shouldn't have been able to sleep.
"What, what's going on?" asked Ginny. She and the other Hogwarts students were frightened, but Draco (who had mostly been humming in one of the corridors) looked positively terrified.
"They've come," said Harry. He suddenly whipped out his wand and started chanting. Ozma also started chanting and their combined magical powers started producing a high gust of wind in the room. There were flashes of light as well as the sound of thunder before two streams of light, one from Harry and the other from Ozma collided in the middle of the room and formed a portal. Before they could ask what was going on, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Draco were sucked up into the portal. Hermione wasn't sucked up because she had grabbed Harry's hand.
Harry looked at Hermione and shouted, "Go!"
"I'm not leaving you!" shouted Hermione over the wind.
"You have to!" shouted Harry. "You know what you have to do!"
"Harry!"
"Trust me Hermione," said Harry. "If only for once and only once in your life, trust me now."
"You know I trust you with my life Harry," said Hermione, placing a hand on his cheek.
Harry also cupped her cheek and gave her a brief kiss. "Go!" he said. Hermione let go of his hand and was instantly sucked into the portal. The portal disappeared soon afterward.
Harry and Ozma faced the door. They could hear footsteps coming from the other side of the door.
"Do you still don't want to fight?" asked Harry. "Then at least let me fight in your stead."
"Eventually," said Ozma. "But now is not the time to fight. Soon, but not yet."
"All right," said Harry just as the doors burst open.
For a moment, a purple mist and a hiss came forth from the open door. Then, black-hooded with scarlet eyes, the dark figure of none other than Lord Voldemort entered the room.
"Why hello Harry," he hissed. "And Princess, I believe you didn't expect to see me again so soon."
"Dark one, how did you find this castle," said Ozma. "This sanctuary was protected by Glinda's enchantments, you shouldn't have been able to find it."
"Yes, yes, the Sorceress of the South has been a constant thorn in my side, enchanting these pockets of rebellion to be hidden from me," said Voldemort. "She even managed to place a spell of protection on the young ones from my own land such as Potter. But you see, Princess Ozma, she couldn't place an enchantment on you."
"So, my rescue was a trap," said Ozma. "You couldn't find the resistance but if you allowed me to be rescued, then you could trace me to the resistance." She glared at the Dark Lord defiantly.
"Hmm, correct," smirked Voldemort. He turned to Harry. "Potter, I certainly did not to expect to see you so soon. When was the last time we met? Ah yes, it was in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic wasn't it? The night Sirius Black died."
Harry's eyes flared with anger. He barely managed to contain himself and said nothing.
"It's a pity I had to send Bella on another mission in the land. She would've loved to see you," said the Dark Lord. He snapped his fingers and about a dozen Nomes entered the room. "Take the Ozites prisoner. Make sure they are secured enough before I pronounce their doom. Young Mr. Potter and the Princess Ozma will accompany me back to the Emerald City."
A/N I am too lacking in motivation to write these days. I've got so many plot bunnies I want to explore but I don't know if I'll be able to get around to writing them. At least this story is nearing its climax.