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 OK, maybe I was a little hard on my readers last chapter. If you want spend your time demanding that I turnout these chapters faster, demand away. Just, send me emails, demand in the reviews. It's somewhat disheartening every time I see a new review and it turns out only to be a demand for more chapters.
Chapter 8: Reunions and a Council
"Here it is, the Tin Castle," said Dorothy as she and the Scarecrow led Harry and Hermione through the doors of the large metallic palace. "I s'pose even wizards haven't seen a castle like this."
Dorothy led the two through the corridors. She eventually came to the entrance to the main banquet hall. "Wait here, we'll go get your friends," she said. She and the Scarecrow left Harry and Hermione behind.
Harry turned to Hermione and grinned, his eyes glinting with mischief. "Well, now that we're all alone..."
"Ahem, I'm still here," said a voice from their feet.
Harry grinned sheepishly. "Oops, sorry Crookshanks. I forgot..." Harry couldn't continue for he suddenly found Hermione's lips on his. Crookshanks rolled his eyes in a very feline way but Harry and Hermione clearly had no intention of breaking up. That was until a squak and a flutter of white feathers caused them to spring apart.
"Harry!" screeched the snowy owl as she fluttered around Harry's head. "Oh Harry! I was so worried! When we found out that you and Hermione had been separated from us, I was so scared that something might've happened to you! Oh thank heavens that you two are OK!"
Harry was somewhat dazed. "Hedwig?" he asked.
"Of course its me silly," said Hedwig. "Oh my, you and Hermione..." However, Hedwig was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of Pigwidgeon.
"Oh wow! Harry and Hermione!" he screeched as he twittered around their heads. "Where did you two go? What did you do? We were so worried when you two disappeared! Why would you two just disappear like that? Huh? Huh? Huh? Were you two scared? Anything scary happen? I know I would've been scared. Or at least I might've been scared if I was alone. If I was with someone maybe I wouldn't have been scared. But you two were together, were you scared? Huh? Huh? Huh? No, nothing scares you much Harry. Or maybe I'm wrong there might be something that does scare you. Are you scared of anything Harry? Huh? Huh? Huh? How about you Hermione? Are you scared of anything? Are either of you scared of anything? Huh? Huh? Huh? You know, I bet you two were..." Crookshanks suddenly swiped at Pigwidgeon, knocking him out of the air onto the ground, pretty much knocked out.
"Thank you, I've been waiting for someone to do that," said Hedwig.
"My pleasure," said Crookshanks as he started licking his paw.
"Crookshanks," admonished Hermione, "you know you're not supposed to hurt any of the owls."
The orange cat simply continued grooming and said, "Yeah, yeah, go back to mating with Harry," causing Harry and Hermione to blush bright red.
A gasp from behind them caused Harry and Hermione to swivel around to see Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood standing in the doorway. "Mating?" exclaimed Ginny. "You mean you two have..."
"No! No! No!" protested Hermione. "We didn't do anything like that! We only kissed, I swear."
"Are you sure?" asked Luna in her dreamy voice. "You two have got the 'after-love glow' surrounding yourselves."
"There's such a thing called a 'after-love glow'?" asked Ginny.
"Uh-huh, it's caused by little love bugs transferred during love," said Luna. Harry and Hermione meanwhile resembled human tomatoes.
"Would you two please stop talking about our love life?" hissed Harry. "We didn't do anything more than kiss, OK? And even if we did, it's quite frankly NONE OF YOUR BUSINESSES!" Only then, too late did Harry realize that standing behind Ginny was none other than his best friend, Ron Weasley. "Ron!" he exclaimed.
"Ron?" asked Hermione tentatively.
Ron didn't say anything, but he looked anything but happy for them. He simply, looked back and forth between Harry and Hermione and chuckled bitterly, before turning tails and running out of the chamber.
Harry and Hermione were about to give chase when Luna raised a hand and said, "I'll go talk to him." She then took off down the path Ron had disappeared down.
* * *
Luna found Ron pacing on one of the balconies. "What seems to be troubling you Ronald?" she asked.
"Harry and Hermione," said Ron.
"I figured as much," said Luna. "But I was wondering what exactly about Harry and Hermione you were so upset about. I for one am happy for them."
"Don't you get it? Harry and Hermione are together now! Now there going to go running off doing all that couple stuff leaving poor Ron Weasley stuck alone in the rain! No more, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, its just Harry and Hermione now!"
Luna raised an eyebrow. "OK, so you're upset that you'll be the third wheel and not that Hermione chose Harry over you."
"Right!" yelled Ron. His face suddenly turned to confusion however. "Wait a minute, that's right. But what's that mean? I always thought..."
"That you had a crush on Hermione?" said Luna. "It means that you never really felt anything for Hermione. You just convinced yourself that you had a crush on her because you wanted something that Harry didn't have."
"Oh," said Ron, feeling deflated. "I guess I'm somewhat surprised at myself that I'm not hurting anywhere near as much as I expected I would be if Harry and Hermione got together. Well that still doesn't change the fact that I'm going to end up being the third wheel between Harry and Hermione."
"Well you must've known from the start that Harry and Hermione were going to get together," said Luna. "After all, you can clearly see the heart cherubs circling their heads."
"Heart cherubs? What are those?"
"They circle the heads of soul mates. You've got some circling your head as well."
Ron snorted. "Oh please, what girl would look someone so pathetic he plays third wheel to the dream couple?"
Luna rolled her eyes. "Must I be any clearer?" She grabbed the scruff of Ron's shirt, and before he could ask her what she was doing, Luna pulled him into a fierce kiss. When she pulled away, she grinned and said, "Now really, really think about it." With that, Luna left a dazed Ron on the balcony with a grin on her face. Seconds later, Ron's face also twisted up into a goofy grin and he followed Luna off the balcony.
* * *
Harry and Hermione didn't know what to expect from Ron when he returned, but they certainly didn't expect to see him with a huge grin, nor did they expect the wide hug he gave the two of them. Clearly, something had happened between him and Luna as his emotions had made a complete turnabout and he was now tending to sit rather close to the 'loony' girl.
They were now seated around a rectangular table, Harry and Hermione on one side, Ron, Luna, and Ginny on the other side. All around them were a whole host of colorful characters from the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, Jack Pumpkinhead, Tik-tok, the Saw Horse, the Hungry Tiger, Dorothy and Toto, and a whole slew of other strange people Harry didn't recognize. Hedwig and Pigwidgeon were perched on ceiling beams above them and Crookshanks was curled up in Hermione's lap.
At the head of the table was a well-dressed man with a shiny baldhead, whom was in charge of the council. "Welcome to our Council," said the bald man. "I am the one known as the Wizard of Oz."
"Why do they call you 'the Wizard'?" asked Ginny. "Not to be impolite but back where we're from, just about everybody is a wizard so why in particular are you the Wizard?"
"Ah, that is quite a story," said the Wizard. "When I was born oh so long ago in Omaha, Nebraska, the United States, my father, a politician named me Oscar Zoraster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs."
And I thought 'Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore' was a long name," said Ron. Hermione kicked his shin under the table and Ginny elbowed him.
"One of my first lessons was memorizing my own name," continued the Wizard. "When I had grown up, I simply started referring to myself as 'Oz' since the initials of my other names spell, 'P. I. N. H. E. A. D.' which is not good for the ego. I became a sideshow ventriloquist and magician of the circus when one day, my hot-air balloon was blown away by the wind. I was eventually flown to this land and landed where the Emerald City now stands. Now you must understand, that at the time, not all was well in Oz. Queen Lurline had been driven out of the land by her former pupils soon to be known as the Wicked Witches who wanted to usurp control over the land. King Pastoria had been lost in the conflict and their heir Ozma had also gone missing. Desperate for a leader, the Ozites were amazed when I appeared out of the sky and as soon as they saw the initials 'Oz' on my balloon, they proclaimed me a wizard and made them their leader."
"So you aren't a true wizard?" asked Ginny.
"He is a true wizard," said Hermione. "The Magical Education system in the United States wasn't as advanced as ours during the late 19th century and a lot of American muggle-born wizards and witches weren't ever able to get their magical educations back then."
"Indeed I later found out that I am a true wizard, but at the time I was a powerless humbug," said the Wizard. "But the Ozites needed a leader and I was determined to help them. So, to stave off the Wicked Witches, I had the Ozites construct the Emerald City as a show of power. It worked, and the Wicked Witches never dared attack the Emerald City until Dorothy disposed of them. After the defeat of the Wicked Witches, I returned to Omaha and once again started working for the circus but I eventually returned to the Fairy Lands and made my permanent home in Oz as Ozma's court wizard. I finally received my official magical training from Glinda and achieved my full wizard potential. But enough of that, let us start discussing what is needed to be discussed."
After the Wizard said that, he produced a large map of the Emerald City from his black bag and placed it on the table. The Scarecrow took over the discussion.
"We know that Ozma is being held captive in the Royal Palace," he said. "Every night, at around midnight, your so called Dark Lord leaves the Emerald City to inspect a one of his stations in the Gillikin Country for about a hour. I personally think that whatever is in that station will be the key to driving these Death Eaters out of Oz but for now, our priority is to save Ozma. Therefore, tomorrow night at Midnight, we need to send in a team to get her out of the Emerald City and into safety..."
"I'll do it," said Harry. The Ozites looked up at him.
"I was under the impression that Glinda brought you here to help us by providing what you know of these Death Eaters and Dark Lord to us," said the Wizard. "I do not think she would've wanted to send you into danger for what is essentially an Oz matter."
"I know Voldemort probably better than anyone else," said Harry. "The same goes with his Death Eaters. If I'm not the one who goes in there, I have no idea why I was brought here in the first place."
"I'll go with you," said Hermione.
"So will I," said both Ron and Ginny.
"You aren't expecting us to just wait around while you go alone are you, Harry?" said Luna. "We're all going with you."
The Wizard looked worried but the Scarecrow was quite interested. "Well I guess that settles it," he said. "The Sawhorse will take you to the Emerald City tomorrow evening. We can only wish you the best of luck after that."
A/N This will most likely be the last chapter I'll get out before Thanksgiving. This will also be the last introductory chapter and the main plot will finally start getting under way with the next chapter. Still, I wanted to continue bringing out more and more Oz characters in cameo roles at the very least. Candidates for these cameo roles are: the Glass Cat, the Patchwork Girl, the Woozy, Billina, the Frog Man, the Shaggy Man, Polychrome, Eureka, Omby Amby, Betsy Bobbin, Ojo, Button Bright, Trot, and Cap'n Bill. Which ones do you want to see? One character that is definitely coming out will be H. M. Wogglebug T. E.: I just can't wait to write Hermione's reaction to his education pills.