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 I am so sorry I haven't updated this fic in forever. There are two reasons for this. The first one is that I was so close to completing Different Paths and really wanted to get that one out of the way. Secondly, I was in Japan during the holidays and Japanese keyboards have a different encoding from American ones, which causes a mess I'd rather avoid. Anyway, here's the long overdue chapter.
Chapter 9: The Emerald City
"This is amazing!" exclaimed Harry. The Hogwarts students were in the scarlet chariot being driven across the countryside by the Sawhorse. Four out of the five were clearly enjoying the high speeds generated by the wooden horse. Hermione however clearly felt otherwise.
"Does it have to go this fast?" she demanded, while clinging desperately to Harry's arm. Harry certainly didn't seem to mind the tight grip she had on his arm.
"We have to arrive at and leave the Emerald City before sunrise," said Harry. "That way we can avoid Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
"But surely we could slow down just a little bit can't we?" asked Hermione again.
The truth was, they could but Harry was rather enjoying having Hermione on his arm and said, "No, I don't think so." Ginny and Luna caught each other's eyes and giggled.
They soon left the yellow fields of the Winkie country and the fields they were speeding down were now green. After about 5 more minutes of traveling, Luna looked up and exclaimed, "There it is!" The others looked to where Luna was pointing resulting in an "Oh wow!" from Ginny.
It was a city emitting a green glow that lit up the night sky like an aurora borealis. Even from the distance they could tell that every one of the many buildings they could see was covered in emeralds. In the center of the city was an emerald citadel with a tower, clearly the Royal Palace.
"That's the Emerald City? Incredible," said Ron. "Do you think it'll be OK to nick some of the emeralds?"
"No!" snapped Harry and Hermione.
"I guess not."
The Sawhorse led them straight to the magnificent gates of the city. It was closed and there were a pair of Nomes on duty trying to look important. They pointed their spears at the Hogwarts students as they climbed out of the carriage. "Halt, who goes there?" they demanded.
"Leave this to me," whispered Hermione. She took out her wand and said, "Mutare Galliovum," with a wave. The Nomes' spears transformed into a pair of chicken eggs resulting in the Nomes dropping them and running away screaming in terror.
"Brilliant," said Harry with a grin. Hermione beamed while Ron just looked confused.
"Huh? What just happened?" he asked.
"Its some kind of phobia to them isn't it?" said Luna in her dreamy voice. "Sort of like how Snorkacks are terrified of Bluimburgs."
"Eggs are poisonous to Nomes," said Hermione. "They're deathly afraid of them. Now lets just get inside." Hermione waved her wand again and said, "Alohomora." With a deep, groaning creak the large doors of the gates slowly opened and the Hogwarts students entered the city.
The Emerald City was a ghost town. Sure it was the dead of the night but there was absolutely no lights in the windows, no people in the streets, no sound whatsoever. All there was were darkness and silence. It was probably the most depressing scene any of them had ever seen.
"Where is everybody?" asked Ginny. "I know its past midnight but to be this quiet?"
"They're all in hiding," said Hermione. "They have to be. I dare not think of any alternative."
"Lets just forget about that and concentrate on what we came here to do for now," said Harry.
"Er, what are we doing here again?" asked Ron
Hermione rolled her eyes. "We're here to rescue Ozma."
"Oh yeah," said Ron. "But how will we recognize its her when we see her? I mean, there aren't any Ozites with us and certainly don't know what she looks like."
"I do. Baum often described her in his books," said Hermione. "And since we know Voldemort better than any of the Ozites, we're the most qualified to be here."
"But couldn't we have had at least one Ozite with us here to act as a guide?" asked Ginny.
"That one Ozite wouldn't be able to protect him or herself from any Death Eaters if we end up running into some," said Harry. "Besides, its kind of hard to miss where the Royal Palace is."
"True enough," said Luna.
Harry led the group through the streets of the city toward the paths leading to the Royal Palace. The way to the Royal Palace certainly wasn't that hard to miss, as the tower of the palace was clearly visible from the entire city. Harry however, was worried about running into patrols of Nomes, or even worse, if they were to run into a Death Eater that had decided to stay behind. However, there was no such patrol or anybody at all on the paths and this was in fact a little unnerving.
"Why isn't there anybody here?" whispered Ginny. "You'd think they'd leave behind at least a group to watch over the city, and not leave it completely abandoned."
"Maybe You-know-who's just so confident in his control of Oz that he's not afraid of leaving the city deserted," said Luna.
"Or maybe, we're walking into a trap," whispered Hermione. Everybody fell silent as her words sunk in.
"I don't think we can do anything about it if it is a trap," said Harry. "We have no choice but to push forward."
"But what if it is a trap?" asked Ron, a slight sense of fear in his voice. "What if You-know-who and his Death Eaters are waiting for us at the palace?"
"Then you better hope that you remember everything I taught you in DA last year," said Harry as they came upon the gates of the Royal Palace.
The citadel stood in the center of the city, a vast palace of emeralds lighting the sky with an emerald glow. To call it beautiful would be an understatement: unearthly, but in an incredible would be more suiting. It was almost hard to believe that the hand of the men and women of Oz had built the Royal Palace of the Emerald City, for it looked more like the work of an angelic host. Yet, even the extreme beauty of the citadel appeared to be marred by the presence of dark forces: a sad scar that perhaps may never be completely healed. Now, despite its magnificence, the Royal Palace loomed over them looking lonely and despairing.
"Its so sad, isn't it?" said Hermione, her voice heavy with emotion. "Such beauty, ruined by such evil. I don't know how the Ozites can ever recover."
"It'll be difficult, but they can recover," said Harry. "They'll have to."
"OK, OK, enough talking and observing. Now lets move it," said Ron. The others rolled their eyes as Ron led them straight to the main gate and pushed it open.
The group entered the main courtyard of the Emerald City. It was a vast garden with many trees and flowers lining the walls. The paths were made out of marble and covered with emeralds, just like the vast majority of buildings within the city. What most clearly stood out in the middle of the courtyard was a large fountain. It was a classic style fountain that sprayed water in rings around a central sculpture. The emerald glow of the city bathed the fountain in an eerie green light that made the fountain look strangely appealing yet also disturbing.
What caught Harry's eye however was not the fountain, but rather the form of a person standing nearby it. "There's someone there!" he whispered frantically. The Hogwarts students dove for the cover of nearby bushes and hid themselves from view. The form did not appear to have noticed them.
"What it is it? Is it a Nome?" asked Ginny.
"No, not a Nome. Definitely a human," said Harry.
"Death Eater?" asked Ron.
"He's not wearing a mask," said Hermione.
"Just because he's not wearing a mask doesn't mean he's not a Death Eater," said Harry. "I don't think they wear their masks in private. And as this guys alone, he might not need to be wearing a mask."
"Whoever said he's a Death Eater?" asked Luna. "He just might be a living statue of sorts or some kind of emerald spectre."
"But he's most likely to be a Death Eater," said Ginny.
"But we can't tell for sure from here," said Luna. "I never said he wasn't a Death Eater. I just said he might not be a Death Eater."
"Why don't we rush him?" said Ron. "He obviously can't tell that we're here and if we charge at him, he'll probably be too stunned to react before we determine if he's a Death Eater or not and stun him."
"I'm not sure," said Hermione. "He might not be a Death Eater resulting in our not stunning him but then he could still be an agent of Voldemort's. We just can't know for sure."
"Still, we're running out of time and options," said Harry. "I don't think we have much of a choice but to go with Ron's plan."
After hesitating for a moment, Hermione reluctantly nodded her agreement. Harry signaled the others to take out their wands.
"OK, on the count of three," said Harry. "One... two... three!"
The Hogwarts all charged out of their hiding places, their wands blazing. They completely startled whoever it was that was standing near the fountain as he spun around his platinum blonde hair a complete mess and his gray eyes open wide in fear and surprise. All five Hogwarts students instantly recognized him and stopped in mid charge.
"Malfoy?" all five of them exclaimed.
Draco Malfoy's lips curled. Instead of the customary smirk however, a dazed smile formed on his face, not unlike the expression Gilderoy Lockhart often made after his memory was blasted away by Ron's old wand.
"Hello, who are you? And who's this 'Malfoy'?" he asked.
A/N Aw drats, this is the shortest chapter yet. But some things can't be helped. I have a minor case of writer's block for this chapter and its somewhat taxing. But not to worry, I'll start updating regularly again soon. And hopefully, my chapters will start growing longer.