1. A freak Tornado

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 Here is my all new fic: Over the Rainbow. It is a Harry Potter/Wizard of Oz crossover, which is an idea I’ve been with for quite some time. I figured since Different Paths was starting to head toward it’s ending, that I start my new fic now. So enjoy.

Chapter 1: A freak Tornado

It was the start of a new term at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As the magical scarlet steam locomotive known as the Hogwarts Express chugged along through the Scottish Highlands, the hundreds of magical students aboard the train were chatting excitedly about the upcoming school year. Perhaps, all the excitement was only a smokescreen hiding the ever-present anxiety caused by the revelation of Lord Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries 3 months previously. The Wizarding World was on the brink of another war, everybody knew it: especially the 16-year old boy sitting in the very last compartment of the train.

Harry James Potter sighed as he looked toward the hills surrounded the railroad tracks. He dully noted that the sky had gone dark and it was starting to rain, with the occasional flash of lightning and the rumble of thunder. ‘Much like my mood,’ thought Harry. Just three months ago, Harry had been lured into a trap set by his archenemy Lord Voldemort, whom had tricked Harry to believing that he was holding Harry’s late godfather Sirius Black hostage at the Department of Mysteries, so as to lure Harry to a prophecy concerning them. Harry and his friends arrived there where they encountered a group of Death Eaters. In the resulting battle, the Harry and his friends were forced to defend themselves until the Order of the Phoenix arrived to save them. Unfortunately, Sirius Black was killed in the battle, an event that shook Harry’s very foundation.

Harry had just spent a horrible summer recovering from the trauma of the end of his fifth year. It was certainly no help that he had to spend about a month at the Dursleys before he had to return to the Wizarding World. Thankfully, they had been rather lenient on him that summer if only for the fact that they were terrified of the Order of the Phoenix. After the month was over, Harry was whisked away to 12 Grimmauld Place, the house of his late godfather (now belonging to him as he had been Sirius’s heir) and the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Returning to Sirius’s old house was a very difficult process for him, but it helped with his recovery as it gave him a certain sense of closure. The disgruntled house elf Kreacher was also gone, though no one knew where he had run off too. In fact, one of the things that helped Harry recover during that summer was the various self defense regiments the Order members had started teaching him during that summer. Most especially, Harry excelled at fencing, though he often wondered how sword fighting would pay off in a magical duel.

“So let me get this straight, you’re telling me that there’s such a thing as Fairy Kingdoms?” Voice of Ginny Weasley brought Harry back down to Earth. Harry quickly remembered that since he his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were in the prefect compartment, he was sharing his compartment with Ron’s sister Ginny and the strange Ravenclaw girl, Luna Lovegood.

Luna shrugged as her large, silvery eyes scanned the pages of the Wizarding Tabloid Magazine, The Quibbler. “That’s exactly what I said, Virginia,” replied Luna. “According to some sources there are powerful Fairy Kings and Queens who rule over entire kingdoms of fairies, elves, sometimes even people. Why, I wouldn’t even be surprised if some the students from Hogwarts are actually from Fairy Kingdoms themselves.”

Ginny regarded her friend with skeptical eyes. “You do realize that according to Fantastic Beasts, the whole concept of powerful, intelligent fairies is a muggle concept right?”

“Sometimes muggles have more hindsight into these things than wizards and witches do,” replied Luna. She then looked up at Harry and asked, “Isn’t that right, Harry?”

“I wouldn’t know,” answered Harry truthfully. After all, the Dursleys had always discouraged his thinking of fantasy.

“Well I’m telling you, they do exist,” said Luna. “The most powerful of these Fairy monarchs would be Oberon and Titania. Several authors, both wizard and muggle have written stories about them: some of them accurate, others way off. But there are also several not as well known Fairy monarchs such as...”

“Oh honestly,” said a familiar voice as the compartment door swung open, “The idea of intelligent fairies is clearly a myth. Fairies are tiny little ornaments that have next to no intelligence.” Into the compartment stepped Hermione Granger: her long brown hair still as bushy as ever. Behind Hermione was Ron Weasley, standing tall with lots of freckles.

Luna shrugged and said, “You have your beliefs; I have mine.” Hermione rolled her eyes plopped down next to Harry while Ron sat down next to Luna. Hermione’s large, orange cat Crookshanks stood up from the seat he was lying on near the door, and leapt onto Hermione’s lap.

“How was prefects’ meeting?” asked Harry.

“Terrible,” said Ron. “It was OK, for first hour or two but then Malfoy has to go about sprouting his anti-muggle junk and hinted us kind of subtly that You-Know-Who would take over. I’m surprised all of us managed to restrain ourselves from hexing him.”

“You and me both,” said Harry. “I wonder if Malfoy will ever change for the better.”

Ron snorted. “Yeah, and that will be the day Snape declares his undying love for Trelawny.”

Meanwhile, Luna was chatting with Ginny again, “Like I was saying, there also several not as well not Fairy Monarchs. One of them would be the enigmatic Queen Lurline. Nearly a century ago, Queen Lurline and her fairies flew over a secluded kingdom on the other side of a vast desert. There, Lurline married the king of that kingdom, while she also instructed and trained several powerful sorceresses and witches. Ultimately, Lurline and her fairies left the kingdom: but not before leaving a young princess as the heir to the throne. Rumor is that, when Lurline left behind her heir, the kingdom was enchanted and transformed into an extraordinary Fairy Kingdom.”

Harry imagined Hermione rolling her eyes at Luna’s incredible story. He was therefore surprised when he glanced at Hermione and noticed that her eyes were alight with a mingled look of curiosity and surprise.

“You’ve read the books too?” she asked.

“Read what books?” asked Luna, clearly confused.

“The books. By L. Frank Baum...” when Hermione noticed that Luna had no idea what she was talking about, she sighed and said, “Never mind.”

Luna shrugged and simply went back to chatting with Ginny while Hermione pulled a book out of her bag and started reading. “Hey want a game of chess?” asked Ron. Harry agreed and proceeded to be check mated three times in a row by his red haired best friend. This tranquil moment traveling continued on for about 2 hours or so when an unwelcome visitor showed up at the door.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the weener gang? Potty, Weasel, Weaselette, Loony, and the Bookworm, all packed together like sardines.” Draco Malfoy smirked at the crowd in the compartment while his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind him.

Ginny and Luna had to restrain Ron from leaping onto Malfoy and smashing his face into smithereens. Harry simply glared at Malfoy and said, “I’m surprised you actually had the nerve to come here considering how your daddy’s now locked up in Azkaban with many of his other friends. Can’t go whining back to him now, can you?”

Draco gave Harry an ugly look while Crabbe and Goyle started cracking their knuckles. “You’re dead Potter,” hissed Malfoy. “The Dark Lord is going to get you soon, and you know it! All of you are going to end up like your godfather. Although,” Malfoy leered at Hermione, making her uncomfortable, “I just might have Granger spared if you want me to. There are plenty of pleasurable uses for a mudblood after all.”

Harry stood up, radiating a calm sense of anger and power from his being. He pulled his wand out of his robes, but before he could do anything, Hermione grabbed his arm. “Harry, please just ignore him,” she pleaded.

“Yeah Harry, do as she likes. Be her lapdog,” mocked Malfoy. “Although if I were in your position, I’d make her my lapdog. Let her be at my every beck and call, pleasuring me for my purposes. I mean really, what else is a mudblood any use for...”

“Don’t!” said Harry. Harry’s green eyes cackled with electricity and suddenly blasted Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle away from the compartment door. They were unharmed, but stunned at Harry’s sudden display of power. Ron had stopped struggling against Ginny and Luna and all three of them were starring at Harry in awe and shock. Hermione was still clinging to Harry’s arm but was also startled.

Harry glared at the trio of Slytherins, his now glowing eyes still cackling with electricity. “Don’t ever talk about Hermione that way again!” he whispered, anger emphasizing each of his words. As if the heavens themselves were on Harry’s side, thunder rumbled around outside the train and lightning flashed. This frightened Crabbe and Goyle so much that they made a hasty retreat away, leaving a stunned and terrified Malfoy alone to fend for himself.

“Harry please,” it was the plea in Hermione’s voice, that finally calmed Harry down. He glanced into her near tearful eyes and immediately, the power surrounding him dwindled down to nothing.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he muttered. Hermione drew him back into the compartment, leaving a still shocked Draco in the corridor. Luna opened up a copy of The Quibbler and started reading while Ron muttered a few obscenities at Draco under his breath. Ginny however, was looking out of the window at the thunderstorm raging out side.

“Hey, is that cloud supposed to be doing that?” she asked.

“What?” asked Ron. “What could a cloud possibly be doing other than release rain or hide the sun?”

“Well, this cloud is shaped like...like I don’t know. A funnel.”

“A funnel?” said Ron.

“Must be that thing muggles call a tornado,” said Luna, disinterestedly.

“What’s a tornado?” asked Ron, quite confused.

“Impossible,” said Hermione. “Tornados only form on completely flat plain lands. They shouldn’t form in hilly regions like the Scottish Highlands.”

Ginny shrugged. “Well, whatever it is, this ‘tornado’ thing is about to envelope the compartment.”

“What?!” shrieked Hermione.

Ron, Ginny, and Luna had no idea why Hermione was shrieking, but they soon found out why. For as soon as the funnel shaped cloud enveloped their compartment, it blasted the windows out of their panes, showering the terrified teenagers in glass. All three of the girls screamed but their voices died down in the noise of the tremendous wind that was now billowing through their compartment, tearing at their clothes. Harry and Ron looked up in terror as they saw the outer wall of their compartment being ripped right off, exposing them to the elements. Then, when they were thinking things couldn’t get worse, Harry felt a jolt of weightlessness and the sound of tearing metal and wood. With a horrified shudder he realized the truth: their compartment had been ripped away from the rest of the Hogwarts Express and was now being lifted up into the air.

“Everybody! Grab onto something!” yelled Harry. His voice was lost in the wind but he could see that at least the others indeed had the sense to grab at anything sturdy they could get their hands on.

Closest to Harry, Hermione was clinging onto one of the hangings of the baggage compartment, her terrified face tear streaked as she whimpered, “Oh my God! Oh my God!” over and over again. Trying to keep a clear head, Harry started fishing around in his pocket for his wand, desperately trying to think up any spell that could help them in their situation. At least everybody was clinging securely onto something that wouldn’t cause them to fly away he observed.

It was then, that the compartment suddenly jerked dangerously, and Hermione’s hand slipped. “HARRY!” she screamed as her body flew right out of the gaping hole in the compartment wall.

“Hermione!” cried Harry. He lunged out at her and managed to grab Hermione’s hand as she was now completely outside the compartment in midair. Harry was also being dragged outside by the wind and while his right hand was holding Hermione’s hands securely, he searched with his left hand for something to grab onto. He finally located something elongated and made a grab at it, only to realize that it was Crookshank’s tail from the resulting caterwaul a bit too late. Crookshanks may have been able to cling onto the compartment carpet with his claws but his claws certainly weren’t enough to hold Harry and Hermione as well. In the moment it took to blink, Harry and Crookshanks were blown right out of the compartment with Hermione into the eye of the tornado itself, Hermione’s scream slowly fading away as they were blown further and further away from the compartment.

“Harry! Hermione!” yelled Ron. He would’ve jumped right out of the compartment into the tornado as well had Luna not grabbed onto his robes.

“Ronald, NO!” yelled Luna over the howl of the wind. Ron struggled but Luna’s grip was like a vice.

“Harry and Hermione! I have to save them! I have to save them!” said Ron, but his voice was going quiet and was starting to break.

“They’re gone, Ronald,” whispered Luna, her voice now breaking. “They’re gone.”

Next to them, Ginny was sobbing. However, she soon noticed that the wind was dieing down and managed to take out her wand and whisper “Reparo,” repairing the missing wall and the windows. This stopped the wind but it didn’t stop the simple fact that the compartment had two people less. Facing this reality, Ron, Ginny, and Luna broke out in tears and sobs on the compartment floor.

A/N Intense? Well it’s only the first chapter and more should be coming soon. This fic shouldn’t be as long as Different Paths or The Mage Knights for that matter. Just playing it by ear here. Enjoy.

2. In a Strange Land

A/N I feel very encouraged by the reviews I received so far. I don’t know how much time I’ll have to update this story frequently but I’ll try to do so as often I can spare. In the mean time, just enjoy every update as it comes because I really want to just have fun with this story.

Chapter 2: In a Strange Land

When Harry came to, the first thing he felt was that he was now lying on grass, the sun shining overhead. He also realized that he was holding onto a girl, whom he assumed was Hermione by the way she was clinging on to him. Harry opened his eyes and was immediately struck by the beauty of the land he was in, though he quickly noticed something strange: every leaf of every plant from the glades of grass to the leaves in nearby trees was a greenish blue. Even the petals of every flower in the place (wherever they were), was a shade of blue.

All too quickly, Harry remembered the tornado and about being sucked out into the storm with Hermione. He noticed that Hermione was holding onto him tightly in her sleep and he gently nudged her.

“Hermione?”

Hermione stirred a little and let out a groan. She opened her eyes and gazed into Harry’s green orbs. “Harry? What happened? The last thing I remember, we were sucked into a tornado...” Hermione shivered as she recalled the event and Harry held her a little tighter.

“I don’t know,” said Harry, idly wondering why he and Hermione were still clinging to each other and why it felt so good and natural.

“Are... are we dead?” Hermione asked hesitantly.

Were they dead? Harry swallowed as he realized the possibility was very real: this strange land seemed Heavenly enough. He was about to tell Hermione this when an unfamiliar voice said, “Oh please, if we really were dead I doubt I’d still feel so sore from being dropped off by that funnel cloud thing!”

Harry and Hermione sprang up into a sitting position, though they were still rather close to each other. They looked around for the source of the voice but all they found was Crookshanks the cat sitting at their feet. “Who said that?” demanded Harry.”

“I did. I mean really, who else is there around here?” Both Harry and Hermione gasped for the voice had come from Crookshanks’s mouth.

“Crookshanks? You can talk?” asked Hermione.

“Aren’t I talking now?” said the orange cat.

“But, how?” asked Harry.

“Easy,” said Crookshanks. “I just think up of something to say, take a breath, and let the words come out of my mouth.”

“No I mean, you have the ability to talk?” said Harry. “Have you always been able to talk?” Harry had long realized that Hermione’s cat wasn’t an ordinary feline and he somehow thought that it certainly wasn’t above Crookshanks to conceal a hidden ability of speech for years.

Crookshanks however looked thoughtful (if a cat could look thoughtful) and said, “Actually, that first sentence I said to you was the first words I ever spoke in my life. I’ve never spoken to humans before or for that matter never completely comprehended what humans said to one another though I could often figure it out.” Crookshanks turned his large greenish yellow eyes back on Harry and Hermione and said, “So, Crookshanks is my name?”

“That’s right,” said Hermione who was now beaming. “Do you know who I am?” she said as she stretched her hands out toward the cat.

Crookshanks started purring and walked over to her. “Of course I do, you’re my person.” He started stroking his head along Hermione’s hands.

Hermione laughed and started petting Crookshanks. “That’s right, I’m Hermione,” she said. She toward Harry and said, “And that’s Harry.”

“Hairy? Hmm, well I guess that pile of black fur on his head looks hairy enough. What a mess.”

“Oh ha ha, very funny,” said Harry as he stood up. “So really, where are we? What kind of place could we been in where plants are blue and cats can talk if we’re not dead?”

“Don’t forget the unending miles of sand behind you,” said the cat.

“Sand?” Harry and Hermione said at the same time and look behind them. Several feet away from where they had been lying, the bluish grass abruptly stopped and a great, sandy desert stretched far out into the horizon, farther than the naked eye could see. It was an interesting view: toward one way, there was a bluish land of grass and forests, and toward the other direction was never-ending desert.

“A Desert?” said Harry. “What kind of desert is this where the grass just stops and the sand just starts?” He started walking toward the sand, intent on examining it himself.

Hermione, who had been thinking while glancing back and forth from the blue plants, to Crookshanks, to the desert, suddenly cried out, “Harry, don’t touch the sand!”

Harry stopped in his tracks and turned toward her. “Huh? Why?”

“Because,” said Hermione also standing up, “if we’re where I think where we are, than that’s the Deadly Desert. It’ll kill you the second you touch it.”

“What? Deadly Desert?” said Harry, obviously confused.

“It’ll change you to dust in a second if you touch the sand. I just need to make sure where we are, follow me,” said Hermione. She started walking away from the desert toward the bluish grasslands and forests, Crookshanks trailing after her. Harry was still confused by everything but he dutifully followed after her.

Hermione kept on walking past trees and bushes for nearly thirty minutes, further and further away from the desert. She seemed to be looking for something as her head was constantly darting back and forth, surveying the landscape, which Harry had to admit was the most beautiful landscape he had ever seen in his life.

Or perhaps it’s the girl amidst this landscape that really looks beautiful, said a sly voice in the back of Harry’s head. Confused by his own thoughts, Harry shook his head and pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

Hermione’s eyes suddenly caught something and she gleefully shrieked, “I knew it! I knew it!” Harry had rarely seen Hermione like this; acting like a gleeful child on Christmas as she bounded toward whatever it was that caught her eye.

Harry soon saw it too, though he didn’t necessarily understand what was so special about it. It was a road, a brick road to be exact, leading in the direction away from the desert. There was something unusual about the brick road in that the bricks that were used to construct the road were a bright yellow color, in clear contrast to the bluish land surrounding them. Hermione however was clearly absolutely ecstatic about finding the road and was positively bounding around excitedly.

“The way she’s going around, you’d think she’d found a storage of catnip,” said Crookshanks. Harry had to agree.

“Oh Harry!” Hermione exclaimed, beaming at him. “Aren’t you excited? Do you realize where we are?”

“Er,” Harry clearly had no idea so Hermione pressed on.

“Harry, we’re in the Land of Oz!” she exclaimed.

“Huh?” said Harry, still drawing a blank.

“Oh come on Harry. Even if you haven’t read the books you must’ve seen the movie.”

Harry was about to mention that the Dursleys never let him see movies when it suddenly clicked. One night, about 3 years before he received his Hogwarts Acceptance letter, Harry had discovered that his cousin Dudley had fallen asleep in front of the television. His Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had already gone to sleep and Harry knew that nothing short of World War III would’ve waken them up. Harry had crept out of his cupboard, intending to shut the TV off, as it was keeping him awake, when he noticed a certain movie was playing: a 1939 MGM classic called The Wizard of Oz. Intrigued, Harry had stayed up late into the night watching the movie, keeping the volume low so as to make sure his relatives stayed asleep. As soon as the movie was done, he shut the TV off, and returned to his cupboard, relishing that one moment where he was able to go behind the Dursleys’ backs doing something they wouldn’t allow him to do.

Hermione must’ve remembered about the Dursleys for she had started saying, “Oh Harry, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that those relatives of yours...”

“No. Actually, The Wizard of Oz is one movie I did manage to see,” said Harry. “But I thought it was just a story.”

“So did I,” said Hermione. “But I started to get a little suspicious when Luna started talking about Oz earlier today. You know those fairylands she was talking about? The one about Queen Lurline?”

“That was Oz?” asked Harry.

“That’s right,” said Hermione. “It seemed to coincidental for a witch to talk about Oz so I asked her if she had read the books. She clearly hadn’t, but I figured maybe the author of that Quibbler article must’ve read the books and thought it would make a good tabloid story so I didn’t questioned her further. Oh but Harry! It does exist! I used to dream of traveling to Oz as a child, every night after I read the books. It was my favorite escapist fantasy growing up. Of course, I had long realized it was only a fantasy, but you would think that my becoming a witch should open my eyes to the possibility of it all being true. Oh, and now I’m standing right here at the very proof of Oz and I can’t believe I always thought those books were nothing more than L. Frank Baum’s imagination...”

“OK, OK, I get the idea!” said Harry. “So now that we’ve established that we’re in Oz, what do we do?”

“Find a place where we could get some food,” said Crookshanks. “I may be alright now, but soon, it’s going to be starve city.”

“City, of course,” said Hermione. “We need to head to the Emerald City, the capital of Oz. There should be some magical tools there can get us back to Hogwarts.” She pointed to the road. “The Yellow Brick Road should lead us straight there.”

“To the Emerald City?” said Harry, grinning now. “Are we going to go prancing down the Yellow Brick Road singing ‘We’re off to see the Wizard’?”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Do you realize how ironic that sounds considering you’re a wizard yourself?”

Harry laughed and said, “Of course I do.” Hermione rolled her eyes once more as Harry looked around the landscape again. “By the way, why is everything a bluish color?”

“Because we’re in the Munchkin Country,” said Hermione. “Oz is divided into four countries, centered by the Emerald City. In the east there’s the Munchkin Country where everything is blue. In the west, there’s the Winkie Country where the main color is yellow. The Gillikin Country in the north is a purple land while the Quadling Country in the south is all red. Oh, and the Emerald City and surrounding regions are green.”

Harry shugged. “Well OK then. What are we waiting for? Off to the Emerald City!” he grinned and offered his hand to Hermione. Hermione smiled and took his hand, and they started walking down the Yellow Brink Road, Crookshanks trotting along at their feet.

* * *

Ronald Weasley groaned as he groggily woke up. He noticed that the sun was now shining through the repaired windows, meaning that the tornado had long passed. Also the fact that the compartment was no longer jolting around indicated that they were back on the ground.

“Are you OK Ron? Are you fine Ron? Not hurt Ron? Huh? Huh? Huh? Do you need help? Do you need to send a message? Should I send a message? Can I send a message? Will you send a message? Huh? Huh? Huh? Can I help somehow? What was that storm last night? All the shaking really scared me. But it looks like we’re OK. Are we really OK? Where are we for that matter? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

Ron was about to tell Ginny to shut up when he realized that the insistent chatting wasn’t his sister’s voice. He looked up to realize that it was coming from none other than his pint size owl, Pigwidgeon, who was now fluttering around the compartment babbling endlessly.

“Oh goody! You’re up! I’m so happy now! So what’re we going to do? Are we going to go outside? Are we going to stay here? Are we going to play? Have fun? I really want to have some fun. So can we have fun? Huh? Huh? Huh?” prattled Pigwidgeon.

“Alright, who put a speaking spell on Pig?” Ron asked.

“Whoever it was, I wished they’d take it off,” said a haughty, feminine voice. “He’s starting to give me a headache.”

Ron looked to notice that this time, the speaker was none other than Harry’s snowy white owl, Hedwig. “Someone put a speaking spell on you as well?”

Hedwig ruffled her feathers. “Whomever it was must have put it on me while I was still asleep. Why the nerve, putting spells on me while I was out. Why, no owl should be subject to that kind of treatment. And it should not be allowed to place Pigwidgeon under such a spell!”

Pigwidgeon started fluttering around Hedwig saying, “Oh Hedwig! I’m so sorry! Will you forgive? Please forgive me? Why won’t you forgive me? Are you mad at me? I don’t like it when you’re mad at me! I don’t like it when anyone’s mad at me! Are you really mad at me? Huh? Huh? Huh? What can I do to make you not mad at me? Is there something I can do...”

“Pig, shut up!” exclaimed Ron. Pigwidgeon instantly shut up and settled on a perch next to Hedwig. “OK, now who put speaking spells on the owls?” He looked over to the girls lying on the compartment floor and noticed that they had woken up. “Ginny, did you?”

“I didn’t put any spells on the owls,” said Ginny. “And besides, why should I? I don’t think talking owls are going to be much help to us.”

Ron looked puzzled. “But if nobody put a spell on the owls, why can they talk?”

“Because I don’t think we’re in Scotland anymore, Ronald,” said Luna, glancing out the window.

“What?” said Ron and Ginny.

“We’re in a fairyland,” said Luna. “Look for yourselves.” She threw the compartment doors open and the compartment was flooded with sunlight. The scene outside was astounding.

They were in the courtyard of a palace of some kind. There were pillars surrounding them all, decorated with rubies. There were trees all over the courtyard with red leaves as well as flowers were scarlet petals all over the ground. That in it self wasn’t too much of a big deal but even the grass was red, which was definitely unusual. Down a small path from where the compartment had landed was the grand entrance to the palace, also covered with rubies. And there standing in that entrance way was the most astounding sight of all.

It was a woman. A tall, exceedingly beautiful woman wearing scarlet robes and had long golden, red hair. She wore no jewelry, but her beauty made it so that any jewelry she could’ve worn would look too awkward on her. And most charming of all was the maternal smile she was giving them. Ginny made an intake of breath while Ron’s ears turned red.

“Welcome, my children,” she said, and her voice sounded angelic. “Welcome to my palace.”

The Hogwarts students and owls were speechless for a moment, even Pigwidgeon. Finally Ginny managed to stutter, “P-please ma’am. Not to be rude but where are we? Who are you? Why did you bring us here?”

The woman smiled again, and Ron looked ready to hyperventilate. Luna slapped him on the back and reminded him to breathe. “Do not worry children, all of your questions will be answered soon. However if you must know, you are in the Land of Oz, in my palace in the Southern Quadling Country. And my name is Glinda. Glinda the Good.”

“Are... are you a witch?” Ginny hesitantly asked.

Glinda laughed, and oh what a beautiful laugh it was. “Most people call me a sorceress these days,” she said. “But yes, I am a witch. I am the witch of the South. But please, come inside where I can properly prepare a meal for you and I shall answer all questions you have.”

Ron and Luna were about to follow Glinda when Ginny exclaimed, “Oh no! What about Harry and Hermione? Are they OK?”

Glinda turned to Ginny, her face troubled. “There were more of you?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Ron, now distressed about his missing best friends. “They were blown out of our compartment into that tornado thing.”

Glinda seemed to be thinking something and face seemed to pale a little bit. “Come with me,” she said and she disappeared into the palace, Ron, Ginny, and Luna following after her.

A/N Wow, I’m having a lot of fun writing this. I’m going to be introducing more and more Oz lore into the fic as I progress through it, but I’ll try to explain things as I go along so that people who are clueless about Oz will not be confused. Of course, I’m also going to recommend you all to read L. Frank Baum’s books. They’re great.

3. A Land Conquered

A/N I am hoping to churn out these chapters very quickly. Since I don’t know what my future schedule is going to look like, I want to get as much of this fic done as fast as possible. So at least for the first few chapters, things are going to come fast.

Chapter 3: A Land Conquered

In his office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Headmaster Albus Dumbldore was pacing around, clearly thinking about something. The Sorting and Welcoming Feast had been completed nearly two hours previous, but he was still puzzling over the fact that the Hogwarts Express had pulled into Hogsmeade station with the entire rear compartment missing. Furthermore, according to eyewitnesses, the compartment had been ripped off and carried away by a tornado.

That alone was enough to alert Dumbledore that magic had been involved: tornados generally did not form naturally in the Scottish Highlands. Furthermore, the tornado had conveniently taken only one compartment while the rest of the train remained nearly unscathed. As if somebody needed to take only one group of students, or perhaps only one student specifically and the others had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Voldemort wasn’t behind this, that much he knew. The professors had already examined the train in full detail and no trace of Dark Magic was sensed anywhere. But that didn’t alter the fact that several students were missing from the Welcoming Fest that evening. And who knew why.

Dumbledore was still pacing when a squawk from Fawkes the phoenix alert him of a certain magical effect taking place behind him. Dumbleodre turned to see a transparent image of a beautiful woman materialize in his office.

The image of the woman smiled at Dumbledore and said, “Hello Albus. It is wonderful to see you again.”

“Glinda, how delightful!” said Dumbledore, a smile adorning his face now. “So tell me, what does Lurline’s prize pupil wish to see me for?”

Glinda’s image’s smile instantly faded. “Albus, I need your help. Please come to Oz right away.”

Dumbledore sighed and sat down at his desk. “Glinda my old friend, as much as I would love to help you, I mustn’t leave Hogwarts right now. There is a small crisis on my hand that I must deal with as well.”

“If you are referring to your missing students I will tell you now that I was the one who summoned them,” said Glinda. “Furthermore, you wouldn’t be able to enter Oz now even if you wanted to. Just send your image over like I am, I will explain everything over there.” With that, Glinda’s image disappeared.

Curious as to what Glinda had to say as well as the welfare of his students, Dumbledore cast a spell upon himself that placed him in a trance. Doing so, his conscious awakened within an image of himself that was now standing in one of the dining rooms of Glinda’s Palace. Glinda herself was sitting at the very end of the long table opposite Dumbledore. Seated around the table were none other than Ronald Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood.

“Professor Dumbledore!” exclaimed Ron. He and the girls were clearly surprised yet relieved at seeing a familiar face.

“Mr. Weasley,” said Dumbledore, beaming at him. “Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood. It is good to know that the three of you are unharmed. However, three are still missing.”

“Three?” asked Glinda, her face further troubled. “According to the children, two are missing.”

“I’m afraid that is not so,” said Dumbledore. “There were not five students in that compartment: there were six. Three of them are here but the other three are nowhere present: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Draco Malfoy.”

“Malfoy?” exclaimed Ron. “You mean he’s somewhere in this land as well?”

“Of course,” said Ginny. “He was still in the compartment when Harry lost control. The tornado struck immediately after that: if Malfoy was still in the compartment at the time, he would’ve been taken here with us.”

“And sucked right out into the storm like Harry and Hermione,” said Ron. “Well good riddance!”

“I’m sure they’re at least alive and safe if they’re somewhere in Oz,” said Dumbledore.

Glinda smiled sadly. “They’re alive, somewhere in Oz. I know that at least. However, it is highly unlikely that they are safe. For you see, this is a conquered land.”

“Conquered?” said Dumbledore. “Oz has survived many invasions completely unscathed due to Lurline’s magical protections. Are you saying that those very protections have failed?”

“I am afraid so,” said Glinda. “Previous invasions of Oz have usually been from lesser fairies such as Nomes. Why, I cannot even recall how many times Roquat the Red, the Nome King has attempted to conquer Oz and failed. However, the being that has finally overcome Lurline’s protection is a being far more powerful than the Nome King, or even Lurline herself could ever hope to be. A being of such evil that the very nature of Oz had been corrupted when he set foot within our borders.”

“Voldemort,” said Dumbledore, the twinkle in his eye replaced by his glare of wrath. Ron, Ginny, and Luna shuddered at the name. Glinda nodded sadly.

“I have never felt such helplessness before,” she said. “The Nome’s King’s old Magic Belt, Ozma’s Magic Mirror, my Great Book of Records, he managed to fool and overpower all of them. I was completely helpless as his evil descended upon our land rooting out happiness and joy that has been a part of us for so long. Ozites are a peaceful people: they did not know how to fight. I am Lurline’s former pupil, what chance did I have against a being more powerful than Lurline herself?” A lone tear slid down Glinda’s face. Had any Ozites been present, they would’ve been shocked for no one had ever seen Glinda the Good cry.

Ron and Luna looked sorrowful while Ginny was on the verge of tears. Dumbledore looked complacent and said, “And what about Ozma?”

“She is a prisoner within her own home,” said Glinda. “Voldemort is keeping her hostage within the Royal Palace at the Emerald City.”

“He wouldn’t dare harm her,” said Dumbledore. “He needs her to get what he needs.”

Ginny gulped and said, “But why is that what You-Know-Who wants? Why does he want this country?”

Dumbledore chuckled humorlessly. “There is only one thing he could be after,” he said, “Voldemort wishes to possess Lurline’s magical powers for himself.”

“Why?” asked Luna.

“In terms of sheer raw power, wizards are generally more powerful than the High Fairies that created the fairylands like Oz,” said Dumbledore. “However, in terms of sheer potency and effectiveness, Fairy magic is definitely superior. Lurline was the most powerful of the High Fairies; if Voldemort possesses her powers, he will literally be unstoppable.”

“He has already begun the possession,” said Glinda. “He has corrupted Lurline’s protection over this country, so that no one is able to enter or the leave Oz now.”

“Then how did we get here?” asked Ron.

“I summoned you, right before the country was closed off by Voldemort from the rest of the world,” said Glinda. “Or rather, I summoned for the one that would be the greatest threat against Voldemort. The other five are here as well since they were in the same compartment as him.”

“That would be Harry,” said Luna.

“A lot of help that is,” muttered Ron. “He’s somewhere lost in this huge country. Who knows if we’ll be able to find him before You-Know-Who does.”

“We will find the lost ones,” said Glinda. “There are many pockets of resistance in Oz. They will find your friends, and I will be able to protect them then. In the meantime, I want to take you three to a different location. This place may be safe but it is a far too obvious place for you to hiding. Therefore, I am sending you to another resistance location.” Ron, Ginny, and Luna nodded glumly.

“I will alert the Order,” said Dumbleodre. “We will figure out a way to get them into Oz. You’re going to need help.”

Glinda nodded and smiled. “Thank you Albus.”

“Professor,” said Ginny tentatively.

“Do not worry Miss Weasley. I am leaving in very trustworthy hands,” said Dumbledore. With one final smile to his students, Dumbleodre’s image disappeared.

“Come with me,” said Glinda, leading the Hogwarts students out of the room.

Glinda led the three students through various chambers of the palace. In every room, there were women soldiers, dressed in ruby armor and carrying spears standing guard and saluting Glinda as she went by. Eventually, Glinda led them outside of the palace to the main entrance. Hedwig and Pigwidgeon were there, waiting for them.

“Hey look they’re back!” exclaimed Pigwidgeon. “So how did it go? Was there a meeting? What was the meeting about? I like meetings. Lots of people there, so much fun! So how did the meeting go? Are you going to tell me? Will you tell me? Do you want to tell me? Huh? Huh? Huh? I would like it if you told me. Will you tell me? Do you think they will tell us Hedwig? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“Pigwidgeon, if you will only shut that eternally annoying beak of yours, I am sure they will explain to us what happened,” snapped Hedwig. Pigwidgeon shut up.

Ginny explained to the owls everything that had happened in the meeting with Glinda and Dumbledore. “So what happens now?” asked Hedwig.

Ginny spoke again, “Well, according to Glinda, we’re going to moved somewhere else. But,” she turned to Glinda, “where are we going to be taken to?”

“To the Winkie Country Miss Weasley,” answered Glinda. “To the castle of Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodsman.”

“OK, so how are we getting there?” asked Ginny.

It was Luna who answered, “We’re going there in a carriage drawn by a wooden horse.”

Ron scoffed. “Oh really. Sure in Transfiguration we might transfigure wood into horses but what makes you think that we’re going to be taken by one?”

“Because,” said Luna, “there’s one heading here right now.” She pointed to a dust cloud that was heading toward them.

Ron and Ginny craned their necks toward the cloud of dust. At first, they couldn’t see what was making the dust cloud, but as it grew closer, their mouths dropped as they caught sight of what it was.

It wasn’t just a wooden horse. It was a sawhorse (a rack on which wood was placed while being sawed) only it was shaped crudely like a horse: especially the wooden ears stuck on the knotted section that was obviously the sawhorse’s head. It was very, very fast as it’s feet thundered along the ground, yet as it had no knees the legs were completely straight as it ran. None of the Hogwarts students had ever seen something so awkward yet graceful at the same time.

The Sawhorse stopped in front of the palace gates and the students had their first good look at it. It was a crudely constructed sawhorse that was essentially one log held up on four legs. On it’s rear side was a twig attached that was clearly its tail. The side of the log that was its head was somewhat larger than it’s other end. It had a pair of knots on either side of the head that were clearly its eyes. There was a large chop in the front side that worked as a mouth. On top of the horse’s head were two wooden ears that were not part of the actual log but rather stuck into a pair of slits in its head. The ends of the four pieces of wood making its legs were covered with gold, clearly to keep the legs from wearing out.

“Oh my,” said Ginny. She stepped forward and started examining the Sawhorse over. “Um, can you talk?”

The Sawhorse reared up and neighed. “I can, but I really prefer only speaking when I’m addressed to,” replied the Sawhorse.

“Well, OK then,” said Ginny. Meanwhile, Luna had started stroking the Sawhorses head and Ron couldn’t help but wonder how it felt like to stroke wood. Meanwhile, some of Glinda’s women soldiers were attaching a scarlet wagon to the Sawhorse.

If owls could raise eyebrows, Hedwig would’ve raised hers. “A wagon? Tell me, should we fly along with you or shall we ride in the wagon with the others?”

“I would suggest riding the wagon,” said the Sawhorse. “I seriously doubt you could keep up with me.”

“He’s right you know,” said Luna. “You saw him running, he’s got the speed of the wind in him.” Hedwig ruffled her feathers to show her indignation.

“Take care,” said Glinda as the Hogwarts students and owls piled into the wagon. “Good luck. Be wary for any Dark activity. And whatever you do, do not stray away from the Sawhorse.”

* * *

Meanwhile, back in a hidden stadium in England, two Quidditch Teams, Appleby Arrows and the Chudley Cannons, were battling it out for the ticket to face the winner of the Puddlemore United vs. Tutshill Tornados match taking place the following week in the league finals. This was the first time in decades that the Cannons actually had a shot at the Finals and many fans were getting overzealous with the cheering of their favorite teams as the players flew around on their broomsticks, chasing after the various balls.

Sitting in the stands were two people: one was a wizard still in his thirties though his brown hair was streaked with gray and his clothes were patched and frayed. His name was Remus Lupin. Lupin turned to his companion and said, “Not that I don’t enjoy a good game of quidditch but I’m still wondering what we’re doing here.”

His companion, a young woman who’s currently jumping up and down cheering the Cannons Seeker, turned to Lupin and grinned. “Oh come on Remus, we just figured we should all go out and have some fun for once. You hardly get out as it is,” Nymphadora Tonks said to him with a grin. That day, she was a strawberry blonde with shoulder length hair that curled inward. “And besides, I think you deserve a break.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” said Lupin with a smile, as he sat back. Minutes later, they were joined by their third companion, a tall black man with a hoop earring in one of his ears.

“I got the refreshments,” said Kingsley Shacklebolt as he took a seat next to Lupin. He passed a drink and a packet of chips to Lupin and he would’ve passed one to Tonks if she hadn’t been enthusiastically cheering the Cannons along. “I see someone is very excited,” said Kingsley. Tonks stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to the game.

The Order Members would’ve enjoyed game further if they suddenly hadn’t felt the buzzing of their wands, indicating that they were wanted back at Headquarters. The three shared looks before they apparated away to just outside a rundown suburb and an empty lot. Within seconds, the air around the empty lot rippled and the run down mansion of Number 12 Grimmauld Place appeared in its place. Within minutes, they were inside along with several other Order of the Phoenix members. Among them was Severus Snape who glared at Lupin as he entered. There were also several Weasleys there as well.

“Glad to see you three here,” growled Alastar “Mad-Eye” Moody as the three entered the meeting room. “We’ve got an interesting situation we’ve been presented with here.”

“Alastar could you please explain to us why we’ve been called here,” said Arthur Weasley. His wife Molly was walking around the table handing out tarts she had baked.

“It’s about Potter,” said Moody. The Order Members looked somewhat alarmed.

“Has Voldemort struck? At Harry while he was heading to Hogwarts?” said Lupin, worriedly. Several Order Members flinched at the sound of Voldemort’s name.

“No,” replied Moody, and there were several gasps of relief around the room. “No, but it’s true that You-know-who has struck. Only not in Britain.”

“Not in Britain?” said Tonks. “Where, somewhere in Europe? That won’t be good, I was planning on spending my next vacation in Paris and Barcelona.”

“Not in Europe either,” growled Moody. “Or any of the usual places. He’s struck a Fairy Kingdom.”

Snape snorted. “Get real Moody. Anybody with half a brain knows that Fairy Kingdoms don’t exist.”

“They do exist,” said Lupin. “If Dumbledore says they exist than they exist.”

“Lupin’s right,” said Moody. “Now, just before the Death Eaters closed off this Fairy Kingdom, the witch in charge of this place, and old friend of Dumbledore’s, whisked away several Hogwarts students: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Virginia Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Draco Malfoy.”

Molly dropped the tray of tarts she was carrying. “Ron and Ginny as well? Are they all right?” she asked anxiously.

“They are,” said Moody. “As is the Lovegood girl. However, Potter and Granger are missing in this Fairy Kingdom.” Molly paled and Arthur squeezed her hand tightly. Lupin clutched the arm of his chair hard.

“Potter and Granger can take care of themselves,” snarled Snape. “What about Draco Malfoy? Why was he of all people whisked away as well?”

“Apparently he was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Moody. “Usually, we could apparate to this Fairy Kingdom but at the moment the Death Eaters have set up wards that prevent us from doing so.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” asked Kingsley.

“Stand by,” answered Moody. “The mission the Students need to do is quite simple: take down those wards. Once those wards are down, we’re going in.”

A/N Interesting, no doubt? I hope so. I am currently slightly depressed because I’ve been rejected by a job I applied to, but I’m hoping that my writing won’t be affected too much because of it.

4. Nomes, a Death Eater, and a Mechanical Man

A/N Ah, the sweetness of writing. I just love writing these chapters, especially when the ideas just come forth like a machinegun. So just enjoy this fic will you? And don’t forget to R/R.

Chapter 4: Nomes, a Death Eater, and a Mechanical Man

After walking for nearly a day, the novelty of the strange land was wearing off and Harry and Hermione were growing exhausted. It was also starting to grow dark and as if that wasn’t bad enough, they were in the middle of a deep forest.

Hermione glanced up through what little of the sky that could be seen through the treetops. “We’ll need to find some shelter soon,” said Hermione. “It’s getting dark, and there might be wild beasts like Kalidas or giant spiders about.”

“Sounds a bit like home,” said Harry. “I’m not too worried about shelter: we can magic up a place to sleep in and some sleeping bags. Personally, I need some food; I’m starving.”

“I’m surprised we haven’t met up with anybody,” said Hermione. “I was hoping that we could at least ask for lodging and food along the road but there hasn’t been any hint of civilization.” It was clear to Harry that she was hiding her anxiety. “I wish we had at least some food with us. It might take days to arrive at the Emerald City and if we don’t meet up with anyone, we might have to go hungry.”

Harry was about to say something to reassure Hermione when Crookshanks suddenly exclaimed, “Food! I smell food!” causing Harry and Hermione to jump. Before either could say anything, the feline scampered off the road. Harry and Hermione shared a look before chasing after Crookshanks.

Crookshanks wasn’t too far away from the road, and he was peering up at what looked like a fruit tree. “Hey, check this out,” he said.

Harry got closer, hoping to find a type of fruit on the tree that could at least satisfy his hunger, only to realize that fruit wasn’t growing on the tree. Instead, what was growing on it were loafs of bread, cheese, ham, turkey, some containers containing butter, and some bottles that appeared to contain what looked like milk.

“Now I’ve seen everything,” said Harry. Hermione giggled.

The two teenagers gathered some of the food from the trees and made themselves several sandwiches. They also gave some of the meats and milk to Crookshanks who was more than happy to have his share.

After their meal, Hermione gave a little yawn. “I don’t know about you Harry, but I’m ready for bed.”

“To be honest, so am I,” said Harry. Hermione smiled and proceeded to make her way over to one of the larger trees. She took out her wand and muttered an incantation. The base of the tree grew a little and ultimately created a gaping hole in its base, just large enough for a grown man to crawl through. Harry and Hermione poked their heads into the hole to take a look at Hermione’s handiwork.

She had created a cozy little hole that looked something right out of a children’s book about human like animals. It wasn’t that large, Harry would have to crouch while inside it, and the ceiling appeared to be made out of the actual tree itself. The floor appeared to be dirt though it was far more softer, and comfortable to lie on. What caught their attention however was the single, large sleeping bag, large enough for two people. It is also worth noting that there were two pillows at the mouth of the sleeping bag.

Harry turned Hermione, looking incredulous. “Just one sleeping bag?”

Hermione blushed and looked down at her feet. “I could never get that spell right,” she muttered.

“Well, I guess it’ll have to do tonight,” said Harry. He and Hermione crawled into the hole, before they noticed that Crookshanks wasn’t following them in. Harry looked outside at Crookshanks and asked, “Are you coming inside?”

“I don’t mind staying out here. I love the night and I figure I could keep watch,” said the orange cat. “And besides, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your mating.”

Harry and Hermione’s jaws dropped and their faces turned tomato red. “M-mating?” stuttered Harry. “W-what do you mean?”

“H-he’s a cat, Harry,” said Hermione, still blushing. “I’m sure he means well but their views and instincts are somewhat different from ours.”

If Harry didn’t know better, he could’ve sworn that Crookshanks was smirking. “Don’t be so sure,” he said. “Over my dead body, would I suggest you mating with that red haired friend of yours: the one that had that bad rat man.”

Hermione was blushing so fiercely now that Harry thought he could feel heat coming from her. She mumbled a quick ‘good night’ to Crookshanks and disappeared into the hole, quickly snuggling up into the sleeping bag.

Harry was also still blushing a little but he chuckled and climbed into the sleeping bag. At first, Harry and Hermione faced away from each other. Eventually however they decided they couldn’t take the awkward silence any longer and turned to face each other. Upon making eye contact, they couldn’t help but smile a little. Harry opened up his arms and Hermione snuggled up to him. They spent the next 40 minutes or so simply basking in each other’s warmth, occasionally rubbing each other’s back while whispering sweet nothings, until blissful sleep finally came over them.

* * *

Several hours later, Harry woke up from a pleasant dream when he felt a tongue licking his face. He opened his eyes and groaned in disappointment when he noticed that the one licking his face was Crookshanks rather than the object of his dream. His eyes flew open wide however when he noticed that the said object of his dream was still snuggled up close in his arms.

Noticing that Harry was awake, Crookshanks started licking Hermione’s face. Harry also started shaking her, whispering “Hermione,” and after a few groans, Hermione woke up.

“Harry?” she said when she caught sight of his eyes. She blushed when she noticed that she was still in Harry’s arms but she didn’t appear to be in any great hurry to move. She looked up at her cat and said, “Crookshanks?”

“Wake up,” said Crookshanks. “There are some people outside. And they’re not good people.” Not for the first time, Harry was amazed by Crookshanks’s uncanny ability to sense untrustworthy people.

Crookshanks gracefully leapt out of the hole while Harry and Hermione scrambled after him. Outside, the sun hadn’t risen yet though the Eastern sky was getting brighter. The cat beckoned for the teenagers to keep low and Harry and Hermione crawled into the bushes Crookshanks led them into. From there, they had a good vantage of the people Crookshanks was referring to.

The first thing Harry saw was three beings that were most definitely not human, though they were quite sentient. They were about half the size of an average man, had fiercely shaggy hair, and skin and clothes that were highly pronounced rock gray. They were dancing around what looked like a large, metallic ball.

“What are those?” asked Harry.

“I think they’re Nomes,” said Hermione, shaking a little.

“Gnomes?” said Harry, thinking about the Garden Gnomes he often saw scurrying around the yard of the Burrow. “They sure don’t look like the same type as the ones in the Weasley’s yard.”

“Not Garden Gnomes Harry, Nomes,” said Hermione. “Rock Fairies. Malevolent beings that live underground the land of Ev across the Deadly Desert from Oz. I’ve read about them in the books as well.”

“What are they doing?” whispered Harry.

“Shh.” Hermione whispered a spell that enabled them to hear what the Nomes were saying.

“Ah ha ha ha ha! No more running! No more running!” laughed one of the Nomes. “Poor helpless resistance guy; can’t even move anymore.”

“Pathetic! Pathetic I say!” laughed another Nome. He kicked the metallic ball, whereupon he leapt back, holding his foot in pain while he jumped around on the other one. The metallic ball meanwhile didn’t even budge.

“Gah! How are we going to move this thing!” exclaimed the third Nome. “He’s far too heavy for us and the masters’ magic doesn’t work on him!”

The Nomes continued on arguing amongst each other when they were disrupted by a voice from the other side of them saying, “Well now, what do we have here?”

Harry and Hermione jumped and nearly let out a gasp for they had instantly recognized the voice. The Nomes had meanwhile completely stopped in their tracks and were now looking toward the black haired, black robed woman whom had spoken, with clear fear in their eyes. It was Bellatrix Black Lestrange.

Harry tensed up and a scathing rage rushed through his body as he saw the woman whom had killed his Godfather. Sensing Harry’s anger, Hermione gripped his hand, signaling to him that she was there for him while also reminding him that now was not the time go chasing after Sirius’s murderer.

Bellatrix had now observed the metallic ball thing while the Nomes groveled around her feet. “Hmm, so you finally caught him now did you?”

“Yes Mistress,” said one of the Nomes from the ground. “He tried to escape but we finally captured and subdued him.”

“Fool!” exclaimed Bellatrix while kicking the Nome. “You pathetic fool! What do you mean ‘captured and subdued’ him? Why it’s obvious that he simply ran down and you just found him!”

“Forgive us mistress! Forgive us!” begged the Nomes.

“Never mind, Nomes,” said Bellatrix. “My magic doesn’t affect him. Pick him up and take him back to our master.”

“But mistress, he is too heavy for us,” said one of the Nomes.

The Nome seemed to realize a bit too late that he had said the wrong thing. Bellatrix grinned most sinisterly and said, “Tell me little one, do you like pain?”

“What?”

“Crucio!” The Nome started writhing and screaming in pain as Bellatrix’s curse rippled through his body. Harry started grinding his teeth while Hermione was now shaking; they gripped each other’s hands harder. Finally, Bellatrix took the curse off. The other two Nomes backed away in fear as Bellatrix made her way over to the metallic ball.

“Well, we can’t leave him out in the open,” she said. “Can’t let those pesky upstarters find him and wind him up again.” Bellatrix muttered a spell that caused mounds earth to rise from the ground and completely bury the metallic ball in a small mound. The three Nomes groveled toward her, as Bellatrix turned to them.

“Well what are you still doing here? Leave and go find other dissidents! I will be returning to the master, don’t come back to him without news,” exclaimed Bellatrix. The Nomes all bowed once more before scurrying away and Bellatrix apparated with a pop.

After several minutes, Harry decided it was safe to come out of their hiding place. He stood up and pulled Hermione to his feet as Crookshanks trotted over to the mound that Bellatrix had buried the metallic ball under to examine it. Hermione was shaking and several tears were running down her face.

“Are you all right?” asked Harry, concerned. He wiped the tears away with his thumb.

Hermione nodded. “Harry, that woman! That vile Death Eater! What was she doing in Oz? How could she be here?”

“I don’t know,” said Harry. “But I think I can say one thing: if Bellatrix Lestrange is in Oz, that most certainly means Voldemort is in Oz as well.” His eyes became downcast and he seemed to sag a little as he digested this information. Hermione sniffed and gave Harry a gentle hug.

After several minutes, the two had calmed down enough to join Crookshanks in examining the mound.

“What was that thing that bad woman buried here?” asked Crookshanks. “I couldn’t sense anything from it but it looked to me like a man.”

“A man?” said Harry. “I thought it looked like a huge metallic ball.”

“I think I might have an idea,” said Hermione. She whipped her wand around which caused the mounds of earth to fly away, revealing what had been buried underneath it.

It was certainly formed like a man, though a rather strange looking man. He was about 4 feet tall and his body was completely round (which was why Harry had mistook him as some kind of ball) and made entirely out of copper. His copper head and limbs were welded to his body with metal caps over the joints, like medieval armor, and there was what looked like a copper, wide-brimmed army hat on his head. He stood completely still as he glittered gold in the rising sun.

“What is he?” asked Harry.

“Beats me. I don’t think it’s even alive,” said Crookshanks.

Hermione however looked positively gleeful as she was now looking back and forth over the copper man. “Oh Harry! Look at this!” she exclaimed as she pulled something out from underneath the copper man’s left shoulder. It was a card. Harry looked over Hermione’s shoulder as Hermione read the writing on the card aloud:

SMITH & TINKER'S

Patent Double-Action, Extra-Responsive,

Thought-Creating, Perfect-Talking

MECHANICAL MAN

Fitted with our Special Clock-Work Attachment.

Thinks, Speaks, Acts, and Does Everything but Live.

Manufactured only at our Works at Evna, Land of Ev.

All infringements will be promptly Prosecuted according to Law.

“Mechanical Man?” said Harry. “Does it really work?”

“That’ll be the day,” said Crookshanks. Hermione shushed him and continued reading:

DIRECTIONS FOR USING:

For THINKING: --Wind the Clock-work Man under his left arm, (marked No. 1.)

For SPEAKING: --Wind the Clock-work Man under his right arm, (marked No. 2.)

For WALKING and ACTION: --Wind Clock-work in the middle of his back, (marked No. 3.)

N. B. --This Mechanism is guaranteed to work perfectly for a thousand years.

“So I guess we’re going to wind him up huh?” said Harry.

“Well of course we are,” said Hermione. “We need to ask him why the Nomes and Voldemort were after him. He might explain to us what’s going on.”

“Well OK then,” said Harry. “So we want to hear what he says, does that mean we’re winding up his speech first?”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Of course not Harry. How do you expect him to speak properly if he can’t think?”

“Oh yeah,” said Harry, feeling stupid.

“I beg to differ,” said Crookshanks. “That red-haired friend of yours certainly doesn’t think when he speaks.”

Harry snorted and Hermione said, “Well I guess you have a point.” She fished a key from underneath the shoulder where she had first found the card and stuck it into the hole underneath the left arm marked “# 1”. She wound the clockwork up as tight as she could and a silent ticking soundstarted coming from the copper man. Other than that, he remained completely still.

“Sure doesn’t look any different,” said Crookshanks.

“He’s just thinking; of course he doesn’t look that different,” said Hermione.

“I wonder what he’s thinking about,” said Harry. “Wind up his speech so he can tell us.”

Hermione did so and immediately the copper man’s lips started saying: “Good mor-ning, young girl. Good mor-ning young boy. Good mor-ning Mis-ter cat.”

“Good morning,” replied Harry, Hermione, and Crookshanks.

“Thank you for re-wind-ing me,” said the copper man in a clockwork monotonous voice. “I am Tik-tok, mem-ber of the Ro-yal Ar-my of Oz and ser-vant of the ro-yal court of Prin-cess Oz-ma.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” said Hermione beaming. “I am Hermione Granger. This is Harry Potter and Crookshanks.”

“My gra-ti-tude,” said Tiktok. “Now, would you pl-ease wind up my ac-tion?”

“Of course,” said Hermione. She quickly wound up the last clockwork and in no time, Tiktok was walking around the general vicinity without any problems. He trotted up to in front of Harry and Hermione and bowed.

“Courteous,” said Harry. “Um, Mr. Tiktok, could you please explain to us what’s been going on in Oz these days and why those Nomes and the Death Eater were after you?”

“It is a long sto-ry,” said Tiktok. “But I will.” Tiktok then launched into the long story of an incredible evil from an outside land (“Voldemort,” said Harry) that had stormed Oz and taken over the Emerald City with powerful magic that overwhelmed the magic of Oz. The citizens of Oz were now living in hiding or fear as squadrons of Nomes patrolled the land spreading terror. Those Nomes were being overseen by the dreaded Death Eaters while Voldemort himself languished in the Emerald City. By the time Tiktok had completed this part of the tale, Hermione was shivering and in tears. Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulder as Crookshanks rubbed his head on her leg while purring. Hermione laid her head on Harry’s shoulder while absently petting Crookshanks.

Tiktok continued: “I am part of a res-is-tance: there are sev-ral of them. Since I am not a-live I am im-mune to the Death Ea-ters’ mag-ic. I can-not be hurt, con-trolled, or killed since I am a life-less mach-ine. There-fore, I re-gu-lar-ily spy on them. This time how-ev-er, I was seen and I had to make a fast es-cape. I man-aged to out-run and out-fight the Nomes but e-ven-tu-ally my ac-tion ran out. I froze in this spot un-til my speech and thought ran out as well. The next thing I re-mem-ber is you had wound-ing me up.”

“Well it was all in a day’s work,” said Harry, smiling.

“This place is not safe,” said Tiktok. “I will take you to a place where some of the res-is-tance is tak-ing place.”

A/N Part of the joy of writing this fic is introducing all these Oz characters into the fic. I sure would love to get some feedback on my own version of the characterizations of these Oz characters. So please, R/R.

5. Down the River and under the Stars

A/N OK, this fic is definitely a H/H fic. I’m going to be spending another two or three chapters developing their relation before I make the big H/H leap. Then again, it might happen rather soon, maybe in the next chapter. Tell me what you think. In this chapter, one of my favorite Oz characters, from since I was a child comes out.

Chapter 5: Down the River and under the Stars

Tiktok wasted no time leading the two teenagers and the cat down the Yellow Brick Road. Harry for one couldn’t help but wonder how such a waddling mechanical man could walk so fast. He also wondered why they were still heading down the Yellow Brick Road since they now knew that Voldemort was in the Emerald City.

When Harry voiced his concern, Tiktok explained, “We are on-ly head-ing to the ri-ver. A fri-end is wait-ing for me there to take us down the ri-ver to one of our main re-sis-tance homes.”

“OK. Well why are we traveling in plain daylight?” Harry asked again. “Wouldn’t it be safer to travel in the cover of darkness? With all those Nomes about?”

“Not necessarily,” said Hermione. “Nomes live underground in secluded darkness: they hate the sunshine. Traveling in darkness would increase the chances of meeting up with them so it’s better to just move along in broad daylight. I also don’t think we’ll run into any Death Eaters. It seems to me that they’re just languishing in the Emerald City while they allow the Nomes do their dirty work around Oz.”

“Personally, I could care less about these Nome things; if any try to get me, I’ll scratch them. And nobody wants to mess with an angry cat,” said Crookshanks. He turned to Harry and Hermione and said, “Forget about that. Tell me, why didn’t you two mate last night?”

Harry and Hermione blushed deeply. “Crookshanks,” said Hermione. “I know you’re a cat and things are different for you, but Harry and I are just friends. In humans, friends don’t go around mating with each other, even if they’re different male and female.”

“Yeah whatever,” said Crookshanks. “By the way, you’ve been holding each other’s paws since I got you two out of the tree.” Realizing that they had indeed been holding hands for the past several hours, Harry and Hermione hastily let go of the others hand and placed a noticeable gap between each other, both blushing further. Harry could’ve sworn that the orange cat was sniggering.

“We are al-most there,” said Tiktok. Sure enough, they soon came upon a huge river that was shining crystal blue in the sunlight. It wasn’t necessarily a large river though it was definitely too wide to ford across, and Harry wondered why there wasn’t a bridge, for the Yellow Brick Road continued on the other side.

Surrounding the Yellow Brick Road leading to the river was a vast cornfield. It was an interesting sight since it was the otherwise bluish land was covered in a blanket of yellow. Hanging in the cornfield on a pole near the river was a scarecrow.

“There he is. Over near the ri-ver,” said Tiktok. Harry looked around to see but couldn’t catch sight of anyone. Tiktok had meanwhile left the road and was now walking through the cornfield toward the scarecrow, Harry, Hermione, and Crookshanks following after him.

Ever since he had become a wizard, Harry had seen many astounding things that had been absolutely amazing, so much to the point he often thought nothing else could really surprise him. Even to someone used to surprises like Harry however, seeing a scarecrow suddenly leap off its pole and start shaking Tiktok’s hand was nothing short of shocking. Hermione reached over and closed his gaping mouth.

“Tiktok my good friend, splendid to see you! I was worried when you didn’t show up at the set time but I decided to wait patiently in the cornfield pretending I was a plain ordinary scarecrow,” exclaimed the Scarecrow. His body was made up of a blue suit of old clothes, stuffed with straw and held in place by a rope belt around the waist. On his feet was a pair of old boots with blue tops. His hands were white cotton gloves also filled with straw. His head was a small, stuffed, white sack with eyes, nose, and mouth painted on it to form a face, though Harry noted that one of the eyes was quite larger than the other one. An old, wide-brimmed, pointed blue hat was on his head. Harry however had to cut short his examination of the straw man for he had now noticed them.

“Good day,” said the Scarecrow tipping his hat to the two teenagers. “How are you on this fine morning?”

Harry was still rather shocked and didn’t say anything. Hermione giggled at the look on Harry’s face before turning to the Scarecrow and saying, “Very well, thank you. It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Scarecrow.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” replied the Scarecrow.

Harry turned to Hermione and asked, “How is it that you’re able to take him in so naturally?”

Hermione grinned. “I’ve read the books remember? I know all about the famous Scarecrow.”

“Famous?” asked Harry, slightly disbelievingly.

“Oh now really,” said the Scarecrow quite modestly. “I am not really that famous.”

“Not true,” said Tiktok. “You are one of the most well rec-og-nized per-sons in the fai-ry lands.”

“Ah but enough of that,” said the Scarecrow. “You obviously know me but I have yet to be introduced to you. Who may you be?”

“Oh!” exclaimed Harry. “I’m Harry Potter.”

“My name is Hermione Granger,” said Hermione. “And the cat is Crookshanks.”

“I am appreciative about being referred to as ‘the cat’,” said Crookshanks rather sarcastically. Hermione grinned apologetically.

“We can have some time to talk la-ter,” said Tiktok. “It would be wise to head down the ri-ver be-fore night falls.”

“Yes, yes, of course. We must be on our way,” said the Scarecrow. He started making his way toward the river and Harry noted that he was rather wobbly on his feet.

Within no time, the party was standing on the banks of the river, and Harry noticed the distinct lack of a boat on the river.

“How are we supposed to go down the river?” asked Crookshanks. “Cats are notorious for not being able to swim and I’m no exception.”

“I’m not one for water myself,” said the Scarecrow. “Water ruins my straw and causes me to sink. But thankfully, the Wizard of Oz was gracious enough to provide me with a transport.” As the Scarecrow was saying this, he pulled out something that looked like a chicken egg from his pocket, though it was colored green, and threw it into the river. As soon as the egg hit the water, into transformed with a puff of smoke into an emerald green river boat about the size of a yaught, complete with a cabin where they could sleep during the night.

“Oh my,” said Hermione. “That’s rather advanced magic.”

“That it is,” said the Scarecrow. “That’s what you would expect from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

Harry looked thoughtful. “I was under the impression that the Wizard of Oz was a humbug.”

“Some say he was, during his original tenure in Oz; though since he did present me with my brains during then, I firmly believe he never was an actual humbug,” said the Scarecrow. “Whichever way upon his return to Oz, Glinda took it upon herself to train him in magic and therefore make him into a true wizard. You can ask the Wizard himself when you meet him later. For now, we should really get going.”

In no time, the group had boarded the boat (though Harry and the Scarecrow had a rather difficult time hauling Tiktok on board) and was sailing leisurely down the river. The boat was clearly guided by magic, as it didn’t require anybody to the rudder to guide it. Nor did the currents of the river toss it around. The Scarecrow exclaimed that every since Voldemort had taken over the Emerald City, river travel was the safest way to travel, as Nomes were reluctant to go out on open water.

“And in the event that they actually are brave enough to come near the boat,” exclaimed the Scarecrow, “this ship has got a multitude of chicken eggs stocked up under the deck which we can lob at them. Chicken eggs are highly toxic to Nomes and just the sight of them will cause them to run away in terror.”

Harry snorted at the image of a Nome approaching a boggart whereupon the boggart changed into a chicken egg.

Several hours of calm sailing soon led to the sinking of the sun and the approach of night. As it grew darker, Harry could occasionally hear the laughter of Nomes in the distance over the hills, but thankfully none of them were near the river.

Soon, night fell and the stars climbed up into the night sky. Harry and Hermione decided to retire for the night and climbed down into the cabin where a pair of beds had been prepared for them. Hermione had no problem falling asleep that night as she slept contently, Crookshanks purring in his sleep at her feet.

Harry however was another matter. Though he had made vast improvements during the summer, thanks in part to the help of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry was still troubled over the death of Sirius Black. Sometimes, he would spend all night not being able to go to sleep pondering over the many ‘what ifs’ surrounding the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and his godfather’s death. That night happened to be one of those nights.

After tossing and turning for about a hour, Harry sighed and gave up trying to go to sleep. He considered waking Hermione up but she was sleeping so peaceful and contently that he didn’t have the heart to wake her. And he certainly wasn’t going to wake Crookshanks considering how cranky the orange feline could get. Sighing once more, Harry climbed out of bed and went up on deck. The only sources of light were the stars and the moon but Harry really didn’t care much as he sat down on the deck, starring at the stars but not really looking at them, as he felt sorry for himself for the loss of his godfather.

“Well now I do say, whatever are you doing up Harry?” came a voice from behind Harry. Startled, Harry looked up just as the Scarecrow flopped down on the ground right next to him.

“Oh hello,” said Harry. “I couldn’t sleep. What are you doing up?”

“I’m a man made out of straw. I don’t require sleep,” said the Scarecrow. Harry felt a little embarrassed. “Tiktok also doesn’t sleep but he often spends the night as still as a statue so as to conserve his wind up mechanism, so I’m pretty much alone. Usually when I’m traveling with flesh people my good friend Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodsman is also there to keep me company, but on nights where I’m alone I need to find ways to entertain myself until morning.” The Scarecrow turned to Harry and said, “On the other hand, I have often noticed that when flesh people can’t sleep it is usually because something is troubling them. So if you don’t mind, I could try to offer you some help if you share what is troubling you with me.”

Harry wasn’t sure what to say. He had only met the Scarecrow that morning and talking about Sirius was something rather personal. Something about the Scarecrow however was compelling him further on: he strangely reminded Harry of Dumbledore. In the end, he decided to just simply summarize: “Sirius, my godfather, was killed several weeks ago.”

Harry was expecting the Scarecrow to say a comforting word to him. Instead, he looked rather pensive and said, “You say his name was Sirius?”

“Er, yeah,” said Harry.

The Scarecrow was scanning the sky. After several seconds of stargazing, the Scarecrow pointed at the brightest star in the sky. “See that Harry: that bright star in the constellation Canis Major, the ‘big dog’? That star is a white spectral class about two times larger than our sun and 20 times brighter. It’s also the brightest star that can be seen from Earth, other than Venus, Mars, and Jupiter and our sun, as well as one of the closest just short of 9 light years away from us.” The Scarecrow turned to Harry and grinned, “it’s called Sirius. So whenever you’re feeling sorry for your godfather, maybe you could look up at that star and think, ‘Sirius is looking at me shining so bright.’”

Harry’s jaw dropped. He of course knew all about the ‘dog star’ Sirius as he had been taking astronomy for five years at Hogwarts. However, he had never thought about that star in that context. Harry was about to say this when Hermione suddenly burst out of the cabin looking rather frantic. Her worry-stricken face visibly relaxed as soon as she spotted Harry.

“Oh there you are,” she said. “I was wondering where you were when I noticed your bed was empty.”

“Well, I was in the middle of star counting,” said the Scarecrow standing up, “So I’ll leave you two alone and get back on track.” With that, Scarecrow wandered over to the other side of the boat.

“So, what have you been doing?” asked Hermione as she sat down in the spot the Scarecrow had occupied before, next to Harry.

Harry looked up at the ‘dog star’ once again. “I was looking at Sirius,” he said.

Hermione looked confused for a moment. “Sirius?” She followed Harry’s line of view to the star and said, “Oh.” Her eyes then widened in further comprehension. “Oh! Oh Harry.” Hermione scooted closer to Harry and also looked up at the star. “I suppose he’ll always be shining down on us,” she said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Harry remained silent for several seconds seemingly carrying out an internal debate with himself. Hermione was about to suggest that he didn’t have to talk if he didn’t want when Harry opened his mouth to speak: “Some nights, I can’t sleep a single wink as I keep wondering about all the what ifs. What if I had listened to you when you were skeptical about Sirius being captured? What if I hadn’t been so blind in my determination to get to the Department of Mysteries? What if I had used that two-way mirror? All these possible what ifs where Sirius would’ve lived: just so many of them. People say it wasn’t my fault but I still can’t help blaming myself. If only I had listened to you, then Sirius would be alive.” Harry’s voice started to break.

“Oh Harry,” said Hermione. She took Harry’s arm and prompted him to continue. The simple act was enough to break down Harry’s barriers as he started pouring out everything he felt about Sirius. He talked about his guilt over his death. He talked about the guilt he felt for dragging Hermione and the other students to the Department of Mysteries. He talked for about a hour about everything that had been troubling him, except the prophecy. For some reason he still wanted to keep that just a little longer to himself, though he also realized that he would have to tell her about it soon, very soon, but not just yet.

“And then comes I start wondering what if you had been killed,” he said, looking at Hermione intently.

Hermione gave him a weak smile. “But I didn’t die. I’m here aren’t I?”

Harry’s eyes bore into hers. “You were scarred,” he said. It was a statement rather than a question.

Hermione gasped. She looked down at her feet for a moment before looking up at Harry and slowly nodding. “Yes. Dolohov’s curse has left a scar slashed diagonally over my chest.” She traced with her hand the path of the scar over her chest. “Madame Pomfrey says its permanent. But it doesn’t really hurt. And it’s not unpleasant to look at, though that doesn’t mean I’m planning on showing it to you.” She let out a soft chuckle as a lone tear slid down her cheek.

Hary looked down at the ground. “I’m so sorry.”

“Its not your fault, Harry.”

“If you hadn’t come...”

“Get this through your head Harry. I would’ve followed you even if you had suggested jumping off of Big Ben. Of course, I would be trying to discourage you all the way but I’d still take the plunge with you. So understand that Harry Potter that I am never ever going to let you go into a situation without me.”

Harry considered arguing with her but couldn’t think up of anything else to say. Instead, he simply opened his arms. Hermione leaned into his hug and simply basked in his embrace. They stayed in that embrace until morning, simply talking about nothing as they looked upon the stars fading as the sun started rising.

* * *

“Tiktok my old friend. Do you notice something?” asked the Scarecrow. He was observing Harry and Hermione sitting on the deck, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her.

“I al-ways no-tice some-thing be-cause there is al-ways some-thing to note,” replied Tiktok.

“I was referring to our new friends.”

“I have no-ticed that they are ra-ther close. Al-most un-usu-a-ly close.” Tiktok looked toward the Scarecrow and said, “Do you plan on match-ing them up? Is that what you were re-fer-ing to?”

The Scarecrow smiled. “I don’t pretend to be an expert on matters of the heart: that would be the forte of the Tin Woodsman. However, anyone with brains as good as mine can tell that those two won’t be needing any match maker.”

A/N Sorry for the delay in this chapter folks but I ran into a mild case of writer’s block. Hopefully its passed so I’ll be able to get back on track. Anyway, don’t forget to read and review. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I’ll try my best to answer them.

6. The Tin Castle

A/N You know I just found out not too long ago that Baum’s Oz series is in the public domain (even though Walt Disney Pictures Inc. owns the movie rights). So basically I don’t have to be putting disclaimers up to it. But I’m going to continue doing so anyway, because I want to.

Chapter 6: The Tin Castle

As far as Ron Weasley was concerned, there was nothing better than the thrill of riding a broomstick at high velocities: the faster the better. Perhaps that was why he was enjoying the carriage ride as the Sawhorse dashed through the countryside at the speeds of a Firebolt. And, according to her delighted shrieks, Ginny was enjoying the carriage ride just as much as he was. Luna’s face was completely neutral but Ron noticed that her eyes were shining brighter than usual. In fact, that only one who was truly terrified of the speed was Hedwig.

“Ack! Stop! Stop! Too fast! Too fast!” screamed the snowy white owl. “Stop! Raptorcide! Raptorcide! I can’t take this speed!”

“You would think an owl would enjoy these speeds,” muttered Ron.

The Sawhorse had long led them out of the Quadling Country into the Winkie Country. This was evident in that the formerly scarlet countryside was now a distinct golden yellow color.

The Winkie Country was considerably hillier than the Quadling Country, and to bypass these hills, the Sawhorse was now taking a course of many twists and turns. Since there were no seatbelts in the carriage, the Hogwarts students couldn’t help sliding back and forth on their seats with the veering of the carriage. On one such rather extreme veering, the teenagers were scooted around so much that Ron suddenly found Luna deposited in his lap.

“Oh, hello Ronald,” Luna cheerily said. Ron blushed while Ginny giggled. “Mind if I stay here for a while?”

“Er...”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Luna settled more comfortably into Ron’s lap. Ginny appeared to be chocking while holding back her laughs while Ron’s face turned as red as his hair.

Had Ron not been so distracted by Hedwig’s screams of “Aaaaahhhhh! I’m molting! I’m molting! My world! My world!” he would’ve wondered why it felt so comfortable to have Luna in his lap.

Eventually, the carriage came to an abrupt stop and the two owls fluttered out. Pigwidgeon was beside himself with glee.

“Wow! Was that cool or what? Wasn’t it fun? Didn’t you have fun? It sure was fun. Didn’t you think it was fun? Huh? Huh? Huh? I loved it! It’s cool to go fast! I like going fast? Don’t you like going fast Hedwig? Why don’t you like going fast Hedwig? Why is that? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“Pigwidgeon, don’t make me regurgitate my breakfast all over you,” groaned Hedwig, looking a little green (if owls could look green). Pigwidgeon promptly shut up. Hedwig shook her body letting loose feathers fly around.

Ginny clambered out of the carriage. Ron would’ve also climbed out if Luna wasn’t still in his lap.

“Um, Luna, would you mind moving so I could get out?” he asked. Luna perked up and started fidgeting around a little, attempting to get herself out of Ron’s lap. Of course, her fidgeting prompted a reaction from Ron.

“My goodness Ronald, is that your wand? Or are you just happy to have me in your lap?” asked Luna, her eyes positively shining with glee. Ron looked like a tomato while Ginny was now rolling on the ground clutching her sides in laughter. As Luna left the carriage, Ron couldn’t help but notice the sway of her hips.

“So where are we anyway?” asked Ginny. They were in the grounds of a large tin castle. There were flowerbeds laid around the main castle and several fountains with crystal water sparkling all over. But what caught Ginny’s eyes were the various tin statues that were standing around the courtyard. Ginny went over to inspect the nearest statue. It was a life-size statue of a girl around 9 or 10 wearing a sunbonnet and carrying a basket. At her feet was a small tin dog. The sign at the feet of the statues read “Dorothy and Toto”.

“Hmm, interesting,” mused Ginny. “This is the most normal looking statue here though. What are these other oddballs?” She went off inspecting the other statues. “Lets see. ‘Scarecrow’... ‘Tik-tok’... strange, this bald man’s labeled as ‘The Wizard’. He doesn’t look much like a Hogwarts educated wizard. And this one... oh my.”

Ginny had come upon a statue that appeared to have a place of honor amongst the other statues. It was a tin statue of a beautiful girl seemingly around Ginny’s age. She was wearing flowing gowns and had a tiara around her forehead. A pair of flowers were attached to each side of the tiara and the insignia “Oz” was formed on the front of the tiara. The sign at the statue’s feet read “Ozma”.

“So this is Ozma?” said Ron as he and Luna joined Ginny in front of the statue. “Funny, I pictured her as being older. This girl looks even younger than m... What the?”

Ron and Ginny finally found themselves frozen in terror for something large had just leapt in front of them. It was a lion, a huge, golden lion about the size of a small elephant with a full mane that made him look even larger than he actually was. Every joint of the lion was rippling with muscle, his claws were sharp and deadly looking, and when he opened his mouth there was a menacing set of fangs and sharp teeth. Ron and Ginny opened their mouths in a scream while Luna simply stared at the lion as if it were a cat. It was surprising however that instead of a roar, the lion let out a shriek of terror and darted behind the statue of Ozma just as Ron and Ginny darted behind the statue of the Wizard.

“There’s nothing to be afraid about,” said Luna. “He’s a Cowardly Lion.”

“A Cowardly Lion?” exclaimed Ron. “The concept doesn’t even make sense! I mean Gryffindor’s symbol is a lion for Heaven’s sake!”

“Oh but its true,” said the Cowardly Lion emerging out from behind the statue. “I have always been rather cowardly. In the past, I used to be an outright coward until the Wizard gave me some courage. After that, I’ve always been scared but I’ve been able to muster up the courage when I need to.”

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of,” said Luna. “After all, being brave means that you’re scared but you’re doing what you have to do anyway.”

“Too true,” said the Lion. “You did startle me, but I guess if I hadn’t panicked I would’ve realized you weren’t a Nome or a Death Eater.” He sighed a deep lion sigh. “I guess I’m just too cowardly afterall.”

The Weasleys were about to say something when another huge beast lumbered into view. It was a tiger. If any of them knew anything about zoology, they would’ve recognized the tiger as an overtly large Siberian tiger. “Whoa! What’s that?” asked Ron.

“Huh?” The Cowardly Lion turned to look at the tiger. “Oh. He’s my good friend, the Hungry Tiger.”

“Oh? Are you hungry?” asked Luna.

“Very,” replied the tiger. “Why, just this morning I had 12 casseroles, 15 doughnuts, 3 whole pizzas all with different toppings, 9 apples, an orange, 5 slices of pumpkin pie, a crate of strawberries, a large fish, and a bag of chips and I’m still hungry.”

“Oh you poor thing,” said Ginny.

The Hungry Tiger sighed sadly. “What I really crave more than anything is a nice, plump human baby. But I know its wrong to eat babies so I just ignore my cravings. By the way, can I eat any of you?”

“No!” exclaimed Ron and Ginny.

“Oh well. It was a long shot anyway,” said the Tiger.

“We should probably get inside,” said the Lion. “Its not safe outdoors these days.”

“Oh really?” hooted Hedwig as she and Pigwidgeon joined the others. “And who are you to decide that?”

“You may want to watch you tongue, you tasty morsel,” said the Tiger. “The Cowardly Lion is king and lord of all four-legged beasts in Oz and he and I are Ozma’s personal bodyguards.”

Hedwig actually looked sheepish. “I’m sorry. I guess I spoke out of line,” she said. She then picked up her haughty tone again and said, “But I do not appreciate being referred to as a ‘tasty morsel’.”

“My friend is exaggerating,” said the Lion sheepishly. “I am really nothing more than a cowardly fool.”

“And so modest,” said the Tiger.

“Oh wow! Big, big cats!” exclaimed Pigwidgeon. “Lookit, lookit! They’re so big! Don’t you think they’re so big? How did you get so big? Could you tell me how you got so big? Huh? Huh? Huh? Is there a way I could also get so big? People always say I’m so small. I guess I’m a little small. Do you think I’m small? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“Little one, don’t tempt me into making you a snack,” said the Tiger. Pigwidgeon shut up.

Ginny looked around as the Lion led them toward the castle. “So where are we anyway?” she asked.

“This is the castle of the Emperor of the Winkies,” said the Lion.

“Emperor?” said Ron. “I thought Ozma is the ruler of Oz.”

“She is. But each of the four kingdoms have their own rulers that serve under Ozma,” said the Lion. “They’re sort of like the captains to her general. For example, Glinda rules the Quadlings but she answers to Ozma. And you’re currently in the residence of the ruler of the Winkies.”

The Lion and the Tiger led the teenagers and the two owls into the castle. The walls and ceiling of the interior of the castle were also made out of highly polished tin. Even all the furniture was made of tin and Ron couldn’t help but wonder how such furniture could be comfortable. They occasionally ran into several servants who wore gleaming uniforms of tin who bowed every time they passed.

“I could get used to this,” said Ron. Ginny elbowed him.

They were finally led to a large tin door. Standing to the side of the door was an important looking Winkie in a particularly stiff tin uniform. “May I present to you, the Emperor of the Winkies!” he explained pompously. The doors swung open on their own vocation.

Ron had been half expecting the Emperor to be some pompous jerk like Cornelius Fudge or someone of the likes that Percy would’ve adored. He was therefore completely surprised that not only was he completely wrong about the Emperor, he was also not quite human.

The man who emerged from the doors was made completely out of tin, from the funnel hat on his head to the tin hinges that made up the joints in his arms and legs. He was also carrying a gleaming axe, which he was carrying on his shoulder rather effortlessly.

“What is this, guests?” he said pleasantly. “A pair of lovely young ladies.” He bent down and kissed Ginny and Luna’s hands with his tin lips, causing Ginny to blush a little. “And a strapping young man.” He grasped Ron’s hand and shook it firmly. “Ah, but where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nick Chopper, and I am known as the Tin Woodman.” He gave them a polite bow. “You must be starving from your journey. Would you like to have some dinner?”

Ron and Ginny were a little tongue-tied so Luna politely said, “Of course we would love to.”

“I am sure we could prepare a meal for the owls as well,” said the Tin Woodman. He looked up at Hedwig and said, “I must say you are a beautiful owl. The pure whiteness of feathers reminds me freshly fallen snow.”

If owls could blush, Hedwig would’ve done so. “Er, uh, why thank you,” she said.

The Tin Woodman led them into the main dining room. The long table like the rest of the furniture in the castle was made completely out of tin, as were the dishes and the silverware. But the food was thankfully real. Ron immediately started wolfing down the meal as if it were a regular Hogwarts feast. Ginny rolled her eyes at her brother and turned to their host. “This is an, um, unusual castle.”

“I like it,” said Luna. “I think it has character.”

“It used to belong to the Wicked Witch of the West,” said the Tin Woodman. “After I was appointed as Emperor of the Winkies, I hired every tinsmith in the country to redecorate it to better suit my needs.” He observed Ginny’s confused face. “Perhaps I should tell my story from the beginning. You may be surprised to learn that I was not always a tin man. I was once a Munchkin woodcutter of flesh and blood, engaged to a Munchkin girl. Unfortunately, I somehow ended up incurring the wrath of the Wicked Witch of the East who enchanted my axe to cut myself to bits. Every time a piece of me was cut, the local tinsmith replaced it with a piece made completely out of tin until I was soon the tin man your see before your eyes now.”

The Tin Woodman continued his story, of how the tinsmith who forged his new body couldn’t give him a heart and thus he could no longer love the girl he was engaged to. Of how amongst the following depression, he had met Kansas girl Dorothy Gale (who’s statue the Hogwarts students had seen on the grounds) with whom he had accompanied with the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow (statue also on grounds) to the Emerald City to ask the Wizard (once again statue on grounds) to grant him a heart. When Dorothy had arrived in Oz, her house had crushed the Wicked Witch of the East, soothe Wizard gave them the condition that he would grant them their wishes if they also destroyed the Wicked Witch of the West. He told them of how after Dorothy managed to melt the Wicked Witch of the West, the Winkies were so fond of him that they made him their emperor (having just been liberated from the Wicked Witch of the West) and how the Wizard finally gave him his heart shortly afterward.

The Tin Woodman talked for several hours about the various adventures he and his friends had had in the various fairylands. In return, Ron and Ginny told him several stories of the adventures they had at Hogwarts. The Tin Woodman listened to these stories with rapt attention. Eventually, they got to the story of how they were whisked away to Oz by Glinda just before it was sealed off to the rest of the world by Voldemort and how Harry and Hermione were lost somewhere in Oz.

“You have nothing to worry about concerning those two,” said the Tin Woodman pleasantly. “I received word from my good friend the Scarecrow not too long ago. He met up with your friends in the Munchkin country. He’s currently taking them to Jack Pumpkinhead’s place. They should be here in about two or three days.” There was a general feeling of overall relief amongst the Hogwarts Students and the owls. The Tin Woodman meanwhile continued speaking, “I imagine that your friends Harry and Hermione will in the mean time be busying building their love nests.”

Ron’s jaw dropped. “L-love nest? Er...why do you say that?”

“My good friend, I pride on being an expert on matters of the heart,” said the Tin Woodman. “Even from what little you have told me about your friends, I have managed to gather that they adore each other dearly. It’s all in a matter of perception. And of course, the beauty of young love.”

Ginny and Luna were delighted to hear that a neutral observer thought that Harry and Hermione were in love with each other with just their stories. Ron however remained completely quiet, apparently thinking something over. Ginny and Luna wondered how he felt about the prospect of Harry and Hermione being in love with each other.

The thing was, Ron wasn’t too sure himself.

A/N OK, I think I’ll call this chapter off right here. I know you guys have been desperately waiting for the main plot to shape up but all I can say is please have patience. I’m having a lot of fun with this fic right now and I’m on a bit of a roll.

7. In the Pumpkin Patch

A/N This fic is essentially divided into two parts. The first part of the fic is where I have our beloved Hogwarts Characters essentially go on a quick tour of Oz meeting various Oz citizens. The latter part is of course where the main plot finally gets underway. Sorry the plot of this fic has been coming slow but I really want spend sometime writing up about the various Oz characters because who knows if I’ll ever get the chance to work with them again.

Chapter 7: In the Pumpkin Patch

“What is that?” exclaimed Harry. Their boat had left the blue landscape of the Munchkin Country and was now drifting along the yellow lands of the Winkie country. They were sailing past a vast cornfield that covered the surrounding land in a yellowish gold. But what had caught Harry’s attention was the giant corncob standing in the middle of the field quite a distance away: Harry’s vantage point, appeared to be larger than even the largest house.

Hermione, Crookshanks, the Scarecrow, and Tiktok glanced over the boat’s edge toward the giant corncob. “That would be my corncob mansion,” said the Scarecrow. “My home if you will. I would be delighted to give you a grand tour but right now we need to head for our destination for tonight.”

“It looks like a giant corn on the cob,” said Crookshanks.

“That’s precisely what it is,” said the Scarecrow. “Hollowed out and furnished for residential purposes of course.”

“If we’re not stopping there, where are we heading?” asked Hermione.

“Our fin-nal des-ti-na-tion is the Tin Cas-tle,” said Tiktok. “But we will spend to-night at Jack Pump-kin-head’s house. We will ar-rive at the Tin Cas-tle to-mor-row.”

Soon, the yellow of the cornfields turned to large tracks of orange of pumpkins. These pumpkins were generally larger than average, but these weren’t necessarily unique as Hagrid’s own pumpkin patch back at Hogwarts had many similar sized pumpkins.

The ship soon came to a stop on the shore. At the entrance of the pumpkin patch, they came across several tombstones in front of grave mounds. The first one read, “Here Lies the Mortal Part of JACK PUMPKINHEAD Which Spoiled April 9^th”. The second one read, “Here Lies the Mortal Part of JACK PUMPKINHEAD Which Spoiled October 2^nd”. The third read “Here Lies the Mortal Part of JACK PUMPKINHEAD Which Spoiled January 24^th” and so on: the rest had similar epitaphs of various dates.

“What’s this? Did the same person just die over and over again?” asked Harry.

“No. Jack simply needs to replace his head every time his old one spoils,” said the Scarecrow.

The Scarecrow and Tiktok led the party through the pumpkin patch. Soon, they came across the single largest pumpkin in the field. It was a monstrous big, hollow pumpkin, which had a door and windows cut through the rind. There was a stovepipe running through the stem, and six steps had been built leading up to the front door. Next to the door was an old mahogany rocking chair and seated on that chair was a strange man wearing a spotted shirt, a red vest, and faded blue trousers, whose body was merely sticks of wood, jointed clumsily together. On his neck was set a round, yellow pumpkin, with a face carved on it such as one often carves on a jack-o-lantern. He didn’t appear to notice his guests until Harry exclaimed, “Holy Cow! What is that?”

“That, my friend, is Jack Pumpkinhead,” said the Scarecrow. “Hello Jack, I see you’re looking well.”

“That would depend on what you mean by ‘well’,” said Jack Pumpkinhead. “If you mean that my newest head hasn’t spoiled yet, then I suppose I am well and will remain so for several months.”

“Your cur-rent head a-ppears to be ra-ther in-tel-li-gent. Smart-er than the last one at least,” said Tiktok.

“I just had the pumpkin seeds replaced the other day,” said Jack, tapping the shell of his pumpkin head. “They’re rather fresh.”

“He’s a very interesting fellow,” said Crookshanks.

“Jack, these are Harry, Hermione, and Crookshanks,” said the Scarecrow.

“My pleasure to meet all of you,” said Jack. He turned to the Scarecrow and Tiktok and said, “By the way, there’s someone here waiting for you to come back.” Just as Jack said this, someone emerged from his house. It was a young girl of around 12 with a full head of shoulder length blonde hair held in place with a hair band. At her feet was a small dog, apparently some kind of terrier. As soon as she saw the Scarecrow, she shrieked and tackled him in a strong hug. The Scarecrow looked somewhat startled.

“Dorothy? What are you doing here? It’s too dangerous. You’re supposed to be waiting for us at the Tin Castle,” he said.

“I was. But the Wizard said that you would be bringing friends with you and I just had to meet them,” said the girl in a distinct mid-western American accent. She turned to Harry and Hermione and curtsied. “Hello, I am Dorothy Gale.” She gestured to her dog and said, “And this is Toto.”

Hermione returned the greeting but Harry looked stunned and remained speechless. Finally, he managed to exclaim, “You’re blonde?!”

Dorothy looked confused. “Yes,” she said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Out of all the questions I expected you to ask upon meeting her from ‘I thought you went back to Kansas’ to ‘when did you come back to Oz?’ the one you ask her is about her hair color.”

Harry turned to Hermione looking flustered. “But the movie... I thought...”

“Only because Judy Garland didn’t suit a blonde wig,” said Hermione. “They originally wanted Shirley Temple for the role.”

“Well OK,” said Harry. He turned to Dorothy and asked, “So why are you back in Oz? I thought you went back to Kansas.”

“I traveled back and forth between Kansas and the fairy lands several times,” said Dorothy. “Then, Uncle Henry’s farm ran into some trouble, they said it was going to be shut down and we were going to be evicted. So, I asked Ozma to bring Uncle Henry and Auntie Em here with me and we’ve been living in Oz ever since.”

Meanwhile, Toto had caught sight of Crookshanks. He started barking at the feline intending to chase him off as soon as Crookshanks bolted. Crookshanks however merely looked annoyed as he puffed up the fur on his back and hissed. Having never encountered a cat considerably bigger than him, Toto backed up behind Dorothy and started whimpering.

“That’ll teach any dog to mess with me,” snapped Crookshanks.

“Toto,” admonished Dorothy as she scooped up her dog. “You know you’re not supposed pick on cats.”

Toto looked astonished. “Me pick on that cat?” he exclaimed. “Why, that cat is more likely to pick on me!”

“Nah, wouldn’t dream of it,” said Crookshanks, as he started to lick his paw.

“Toto can talk as well?” asked Harry.

“Yes,” said Hermione. “If I remember correctly, he hid the fact that he could talk for quite some time.”

Dorothy looked toward Hermione. “You seem to know a lot. Have you read Mr. Baum’s books?”

Hermione beamed. “All of them.”

“How is Mr. Baum these days?” asked Dorothy with a smile. “I haven’t heard from him in years.”

Hermione’s face dropped. “Um, L. Frank Baum died nearly 80 years ago.”

Dorothy looked crestfallen. “He’s...dead?” she asked. When Hermione nodded sadly Dorothy continued speaking, “Oh my, I’ve been living in Oz for so long I had completely forgotten about how much time has passed in the outside world. Nobody ages in Oz so I s’pose I must’ve forgotten that people outside grow old and die.” Dorothy hugged Toto close. “The Shaggy Man used to work the telegram, that’s how I sent all of our adventures to Mr. Baum. He was the Royal Historian of Oz. I can’t believe I never realized that he was gone.”

“Not to bo-ther a-ny thing but it is get-ting dark and we should go in-side,” said Tiktok. Dorothy broke off from her rant and looked somewhat sheepish.

“I s’pose you’re right Tiktok,” she said. “I’m going to take you to the Tin Castle tomorrow. Your friends are waiting for you there.”

Harry and Hermione looked surprised. “Ron and the others are here?” exclaimed Harry. “I was under the impression that we left them behind in Scotland.”

“We needed the help of as many people we could gain,” said the Scarecrow. “Anyway, we should really go inside. I wouldn’t want to run into any Nomes or Death Eaters tonight.”

“I can cook up a nice dinner for you flesh folks if you like,” said Jack. “People say I make the best pumpkin pie in Oz.” Harry and Hermione grinned, as they were rather hungry.

* * *

That night, Harry was walking through the pumpkin patch underneath the stars. Like the previous night, his eyes were focused primarily on the star his godfather was named after. He had come along way but the death of Sirius still haunted him during the nights. This particular night however, that was not the only thing troubling him.

The Prophecy weighed heavily on his mind, like it did every night since he learned of it. The thought that he had to either become a murderer or be murdered. Harry didn’t know for sure whether or not he would’ve actually been able to handle it back when he was 11 years old when he first asked Dumbledore that question, but he knew that he had to learn to handle it now.

“Harry? What are you doing out here?” It was only then that Harry noticed that Hermione had joined him in the field. “It’s dangerous out here at night,” she said.

“I could say the same to you,” he said. He sat down on a rather large pumpkin and Hermione joined him on it.

“Have you been thinking about Sirius again?” Hermione asked.

Harry hesitated for a bit before he said, “Sort of... no not really. More like about what I learned the night he died.”

Hermione’s eyes widened a little. “Do you mean the prophecy? But I thought it was smashed. Did you hear what it said amongst all that chaos?”

“Didn’t have to. Dumbledore already knew it. He was the one who originally heard Trelawny make the prophecy.”

“Trelawny?” Harry nearly laughed at the look on Hermione’s face.

“Yeah, first of only two accurate prophecies she’s ever made,” said Harry. Then, he recited straight from memory: “THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES... BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES... AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT... AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES... THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES...”

Hermione was silent for a moment before she whispered, “That’s... that’s you.”

Harry laughed humorlessly. “Actually, if you think about it in terms of simply a wizard born at the end of July 16 years ago to parents who escaped Voldemort three times, then it would refer to either me or Neville Longbottm. However, this,” he pointed at his scar, “proves that the prophecy refers to me. I was the one Voldemort felt more threatened by and I was the one he marked as his equal.”

“Oh Harry.” Hermione leaned in to give him a hug and winced as some pain shot through her chest.

“Why are you still with me?” asked Harry.

Hermione was clearly surprised by his question. “I beg your pardon?”

“Why are you still here? Why aren’t you running away far as you can? You’ve already been hurt once and that’s not the first time you came close to death! You could be killed if you’re with me! Didn’t you hear? I’ve got a death sentence hanging over my head and the only way I can escape from it is if I become a murderer myself! I’m a curse to myself, and to those closest to me! So after all this, why do you still insist on being with me?”

Hermione said nothing; it appeared that she was carrying out an internal debate. Finally, she appeared to come to a conclusion and asked, “Tell me Harry, were the contents of the prophecy really that much of a surprise to you?”

Harry was taken aback a little. However, he quickly realized that she was right: he had always known in the back of his mind ever since his first year that in the end, it would come down to him and Voldemort. The prophecy was simply a confirmation of something he had always known. “No,” he honestly answered.

“Neither was it to me, Harry,” said Hermione. “Remember, I knew who you were before we became friends. I knew that being with you wouldn’t be a walk in the park. But really, what friendship is? You have been everything to me Harry,” she drew Harry into a hug, ignoring the pain in her chest. “I would live for you. I would die for you. I would do anything for you. Even if I disagree with you, I will try to make you see my point, but I will still be by your side. I have never had any doubts in my mind that I will always, always be by your side, even if you are one day fated to kill Voldemort. I am forever yours, Harry Potter.”

“Why?” whispered Harry.

“Because you have that power Voldemort doesn’t have,” said Hermione. “You have a power so strong that it frightens me but it also draws me: the power that has saved your life from Voldemort so many times. Remember what I told back in our first year? Your power is friendship,” she gently kissed Harry on his left cheek, “bravery,” she kissed him on his other cheek, “and love.” Leaning forward, Hermione gently brought her own lips to Harry’s.

Harry froze as Hermione continued to kiss him, the thoughts running through his head ranging from, ‘She’s kissing me! Why is Hermione kissing me?’ to ‘Damn, she’s one heck of a kisser!’ Harry only had one previous experience with kissing with Cho and that had in a word been ‘wet’. Kissing Hermione was anything but ‘wet’: Harry realized that even if Hermione had been crying buckets he still wouldn’t have thought kissing her was ‘wet’. Kissing Hermione felt so right, so complete, made him think forbidden thoughts, and made him want to do all sorts things with her body (and what a gorgeous body it was) which he shouldn’t have been thinking about with his best friend: stuff which Crookshanks had fondly referred to as ‘mating’. Before Harry had really comprehended what was going on, he was kissing her back with full abandon. This brought out a moan from Hermione, which drove Harry crazy.

Finally, they pulled apart. Harry’s formerly sullen look had been replaced by a confused, yet goofy grin. Hermione giggled at the look on his face.

“I was right!” she exclaimed.

“Right about what?” asked Harry.

“I was right about what I said last December. You really are a great kisser!”

A/N Sorry this chapter took such a long time to arrive but I’ve been so busy recently. People can read my livejournal for details: www.livejournal.com/users/ecrpotter. Anyway, somebody’s been harassing me to write these chapters faster. Please stop this, I have a life you know! I don’t spend 24/7 writing Harry Potter fanfics!

8. Reunions and a Council

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 19^th 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.

9. The Emerald City

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.

10. An Interesting Turn of Events

A/N Why is it that it takes me forever to update this fic? Why must writer’s block even exist? Is it a curse I have to bear? Am I doomed to spend weeks wondering what the heck I’m going to write until too much time has elapsed and I just scribble something down hurriedly? Whichever way, here’s the belated chapter.

Chapter 10: An Interesting Turn of Events

“What do you mean by ‘who are you’?” exclaimed Ron. “You’ve known us for years Malfoy, much to my displeasure.”

Malfoy merely blinked and said, “So is this ‘Malfoy’ my name? What a weird name.”

“All right, what kind of half arsed stunt are you trying to pull off,” demanded Ron, pointing his wand at Malfoy.

“I think he’s really lost his memory, Ronald,” said Luna.

“Lost his memory? How could you believe that? This is Malfoy we’re talking about, it’s a trick!” exclaimed Ron.

“No, I agree with Luna,” said Harry. “He reminds me far too much of the state Lockhart was in after his memory charm backfired.” Sure enough, Draco Malfoy was now rocking back and forth humming some tune in a daze.

Ron still didn’t lower his wand but said, “Well, I suppose you have a point.”

“I can’t even believe this is that same Malfoy we’ve known for years,” said Ginny. “He looks so, well innocent and happy: two words I never thought I would’ve associated with him.”

Hermione had a thoughtful look on her face. “Draco...” she said.

“I thought my name was ‘Malfoy’,” said Draco.

“It’s ‘Draco Malfoy’,” said Hermione impatiently. “Anyway Draco, what is the first thing you remember?”

“The first thing I remember?” said Draco scratching his head absently. “Well that would be drinking some water out of that fountain over there.” He pointed at the fountain at the center of the garden.

“What, that fountain?” asked Ron, walking up to the fountain.

He was about to reach out to the water when Hermione yelled, “Don’t touch it!” Ron sprang away from the fountain as if it were on fire.

“Why shouldn’t he touch it?” asked Ginny. “It just looks like an ordinary fountain to me.”

“It’s not an ordinary fountain; it’s the ‘Forbidden Fountain’,” said Hermione. “It contains a special type of water called the ‘Water of Oblivion’.”

“The ‘Water of Oblivion’, Daddy printed something about that in the Quibbler once,” said Luna. “Whoever drinks this water forgets everything they ever knew. If a malicious or evil person drinks from it, they forget all about they’re evilness and become innocent and happy people.”

“Really?” said Ron, suddenly looking completely delighted. “Do you understand what this means everyone? We have the chance to redesign Malfoy’s character.”

“Ron! We can’t do that! He should get help to reclaim his memory!” admonished Hermione.

Ron snorted. “Oh come on Hermione, this new and improved Draco Malfoy seems to be a rather decent guy. Do you really think that if we told him that he was really a self-centered git that he’d want to reclaim that memory?”

Hermione hesitated. “Well...”

“Like I said, we have the chance to shape up a new and improved Draco Malfoy,” said Ron. “Maybe I could convince him that he’s actually my servant: get back at him for the way he’s treated us for years...”

“No!” said Hermione. Ron merely shrugged.

“We don’t have time for all this bickering!” exclaimed Harry, startling Hermione and Ron. He turned to Draco and asked, “Draco, do you know what the inside of the Royal Palace looks like?”

Draco looked thoughtful. “Well, during most of the day there are all these scary people in dark robes coming and going and I spend my time hiding from them. But they leave during the night and I have been able to take some quick looks inside.”

“Did you find any place in the palace where someone might be kept captive? A dungeon or a locked room perhaps?”

“Well, there is a locked door at the back of the throne room. I could lead you there if you like,” said Draco.

“Show us,” said Harry.

* * *

As it hadn’t been too long since Voldemort had taken over Oz, he had yet to redecorate the Royal Palace to his style. Despite this fact however, it was still a rather dark and dreary place without the life of Oz imbued into its hallways. The only light available came from the Lumos spells from the wands of the Hogwarts students. Draco was at first so fascinated by the lighting up of the wands that Harry had to remind him that he was supposed to be guiding them to the locked room he had mentioned.

After walking through a few dark corridors and chambers, the troupe finally emerged in what was clearly the throne room. There was a little bit lighter in this room, surrounding an emerald encrusted throne that stood upon a dais at the end of the chamber. The velvet steps leading up to the throne were also covered with emeralds of the highest quality.

“Its so beautiful,” said Ginny. “But it’s also rather depressing somehow.”

“Its probably far more livelier when Ozma is in power,” said Hermione. “It certainly wouldn’t be this morbid.”

“All this green light, so pretty,” mumbled Draco. He seemed to be hypnotized by the light shining off the emeralds, the dazed smile on his face looking even more formless.

“Snap out of Malfoy and show us the locked room!” snapped Ron.

Draco blinked as he came to his senses and said, “Of course, its right here behind the throne.” Sure enough, built into the wall so well that you could only tell it was there, if you looked very closely at the wall. It was merely a crack in the wall about the size of a small man and there was no knob or handle in sight. Harry examined the door and decided he couldn’t find a way to open it with his hand.

“Well, I guess we’ll need magic,” he said. “Alohomora.” With a deep creak that echoed through the entire throne room, the door rumbled open.

“I just hope that sound didn’t alert anyone,” said Hermione. Harry merely shrugged and walked through the now open door. Hermione walked in right after him followed by Ron then Luna. Ginny dragged Draco through the door as he had started humming some dazed tune.

The chamber they now stood in was in fact virtually identical to the throne room with the exception of one thing: there was no throne. Instead, there was a rotating pyramid of blue light where the throne was in the previous room. The pyramid was emitting a deep hum and was buzzing with an electric charge of some sort, and the ethereal beauty of the pyramid was much like some sort of mystical diamond.

“Oh so pretty,” sad Draco. Before anybody could stop him, Draco had stepped forward and touched the pyramid. As soon as he done so, the pyramid released an electric shock and Draco was thrown back about two meters. He started moaning and groaning as he clutched his hand in pain.

Ron couldn’t help but smirk a little and asked, “You know, considering Malfoy can’t remember anything and all, is it OK to feel satisfied by that?”

Hermione face palmed herself and said, “Oh Ron, he isn’t the same Draco Malfoy we’ve known for years.” Ginny meanwhile gave her brother a look of disgust and kneeled down next to Draco. She muttered a quick healing spell while waving her wand over Draco’s hand. Draco was clearly relieved of the pain.

“So warm. Oh thank you. Its so warm,” he said.

Ron clearly didn’t like what appeared to be happening between his sister and what had used to be his nemesis and scowled. “So where is this princess anyways?”

“I’d say inside that pyramid right here,” said Luna in her dreamy voice.

“That’s rather obvious,” said Hermione. She tried prodding the pyramid with her wand, which caused a few electrical zaps. Hermione herself wasn’t harmed but the tip of her wand singed a little. Thinking for a moment, she yelled out, “Finite Incantatem!” and sighed dejectedly when nothing happened. “I guess conventional magic can’t dispel this enchantment. Maybe its not meant to be dispelled.”

“No, I think there is a way to dispel this pyramid,” said Harry. Hermione noticed that he had a strange gleam in his eye.

“Harry?” she asked. Harry didn’t seem to have heard her as he approached the pyramid. He outstretched his arms toward the pyramid, his fingers spread. “Harry, what are you doing?” Hermione asked again.

Harry said nothing. Quite suddenly, he jerked his arms forward and flicked his fingers. The others were completely startled as the magical pyramid suddenly shattered into a million shards with a large sound similar to the sound of breaking glass. Within seconds, the shards that had made up the pyramid had completely disappeared.

Standing in the center of where the pyramid was before was a girl, and an exceedingly beautiful girl at that noticing how Ron, Draco, and even Ginny were now completely speechless. She was wearing a white royal, robe of pure white and she had a tiara like crown around her forehead, decorated with scarlet flowers on the side and the letters ‘OZ’ formed on the front, the ‘Z’ within the ‘O’. Physically, she appeared to be around the same age as the Hogwarts students, yet there was a strange quality surrounding her that indicated that in truth she was far older.

All of this was beside the point for Hermione however. For her, the thing that stuck out the most was the strange resemblance between the girl and Harry Potter. Both had deep raven black hair, pale skin, and emerald green eyes. Even more noticeable to Hermione however was the sense of tremendous power both of them clearly possessed, hidden behind their gentle exteriors.

Harry made a small, polite bow and said, “Princess Ozma I presume?”

The girl smiled sweetly and said, “You assume correctly. I am Ozma, daughter of Lurline and Pastoria and ruler of Oz. Thank you, brave souls from rescuing me from my prison. But you are clearly not natives of Oz. Pray, tell me your names and how did you enter Oz during these dark times?”

“We’re enemies of Voldemort and his Death Eaters, your highness,” said Harry. “Or at least, he’s got some kind of fixation on me. My name is Harry Potter. The others are Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Virginia Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and uh... well... er, Draco... Malfoy... I guess. We’re all wizards and witches who Glinda summoned here your highness.”

Ozma smiled again. “Well brave wizards and witches, Glinda has once again chosen wisely. I am in debt to you and deep gratitude.” She made a polite bow and said in a less formal voice, “And please just call me Ozma.”

“OK,” said Harry. “Well, as we’ve concluded our initial mission I suggest we should try to make our back to the Tin Castle.”

“How do we get out of here?” asked Ginny. “Its almost dawn and I don’t fancy running into a Nome or death eater as we try to get out of the city.”

“Portkey,” said Hermione. She pulled off one of her shoes and tapped it with her wand saying, “Portus.”

“You know how to make a portkey?” asked Ron, his expression a cross between being impressed and being exasperated.

“I can’t make a really long distance portkey yet,” said Hermione. “But I can get us outside of the city. I’m hoping we can meet up with the Sawhorse once we’re outside. Now hurry, this portkey will be activated in just 2 minutes.”

Ron and Luna immediately placed a hand on Hermione’s shoe and Harry guided Ozma to do the same. Ginny pulled Draco to his feet and tugged him toward the others.

“Why are we all touching this shoe?” asked Draco.

“It’s going to get us out of here,” answered Ginny. This only confused Draco further.

“How is it getting us out of here?” he asked.

“Oh you’ll see soon,” said Ginny, “and you probably won’t enjoy it too much I’m afraid.” It was in that moment that the portkey was activated whisking away the crowd.

It was only after the Palace was completely deserted that a figure emerged from the shadows: a tall hooded figure with glaring red eyes. “How interesting,” he hissed. Soon, a sinister laugh echoed through the empty corridors of the palace.

A/N Next time, I promise I won’t take as long to update, I promise. I just need to force myself to sit in front of my computer and start typing. Once I start, I often get on a roll. Its starting that’s the problem for me. Anyway, just enjoy this chapter. This little fic is starting edge toward its conclusion so look forward to it.

11. The Next Phase

A/N Mel Gibson’s controversial film “The Passion of the Christ” is has been released. Everybody, if you have enough free time to read this chapter, go watch this film as soon as you can. That is, after you read this chapter of course. OK, that was probably a little stupid for an A/N. Of course, I’m free to say anything in my A/Ns.

Chapter 11: The Next Phase

Crookshanks was bored. Of course being a cat, boredom wasn’t really much of a deal since the average cat tended to sleep for twenty hours a day: if you had nothing else to do, just curl up and sleep. But Crookshanks was obligated; he had asked if he could get to know any of the other cats of Oz. After all, any feline was bound to be far more amicable than Mrs. Norris. But while Eureka and the Glass Cat were definitely preferable over Mrs. Norris, they made Crookshanks wonder if he himself was the only decent cat in existence personality wise.

“So like I was saying I do believe you see me as the most beautiful feline in the all the lands you have ever been in, do you not Mr. Crookshanks?” said the Glass Cat. “After all, what other cat has the crystalline transparent skin like I do? How much beauty can you observe from the rolling of my pink brains? Or the gleam of my ruby heart?”

Crookshanks hissed. “Oh come on, that’s nothing more than a red stone and a bunch of pink gunk,” he snapped irritably. “And besides what’s the big deal with you being transparent? Can you imagine how unsightly you look when you eat something?”

“I don’t eat!” said the Glass Cat with an indignant shake of her head. “I have far better things to do than chase mice around each day.”

“If you don’t chase mice, what good are you other than standing around trying to look beautiful?” said Crookshanks. The Glass Cat looked furious.

“He’s certainly my favorite cat,” said Eureka. She was called the ‘Pink Kitten’ but as cats were partially color blind, Crookshanks couldn’t tell whether she was white or pink.

“So what kind of a name is ‘Crookshanks’ anyway?” asked the Glass Cat, obviously trying to change the subject.

“I don’t know. What’s your name again?” asked Crookshanks.

“Yeah, what was your name again?” asked Eureka. She already knew the Glass Cat’s name but she never missed an opportunity to tease the other cat.

Looking absolutely mortified, the Glass Cat mumbled something unintelligible.

“I can’t hear you,” said Eureka with a singsong voice.

“It’s ‘Bungle’ OK!” snapped the Glass Cat. The other two cats burst into laughter much to the Glass Cat’s anger. “I don’t see why you find it necessary to embarrass me. You don’t have much of a clean history yourself pork eater!” she snapped at Eureka.

“Pork eater?” asked Crookshanks.

“This flesh and blood cat,” said the Glass Cat “was once nearly beheaded for attempting to eat Ozma’s pet piglet. That was before I came to the Emerald City but I know the story.”

“Hmph, those pigs were practically begging to be eaten looking so plump and juicy like,” said Eureka.

“Oh what have I gotten myself into?” groaned Crookshanks.

“You only reap the seeds you sow,” replied Hedwig from her perch above the bickering felines. “You asked to spend some time with some Oz cats and now you’re obliged to spend your time with them.”

“Oh very funny,” snapped Crookshanks. “I don’t see you having such a great time with your companion.”

“Owls and chickens don’t necessarily get along,” said Hedwig, referring to the golden hen perched next to her.

“I would be a more friendly chicken if the owl were not as haughty,” replied the yellow chicken. Her name was Billina and she was a companion of Dorothy from way back.

“I am sorry you think of me as too haughty,” said Hedwig “but when I was told that I could meet with another bird other than Pigwigeon, I was hoping I could meet another owl, or at the very least another raptor.”

“Sometimes, you don’t know what you’ve really got until after you get it,” said Billina. “Take me for example. Sometime after I arrived in Oz, I hatched eleven chicks. Since I couldn’t tell them apart, I called all of them ‘Dorothy’ and they all wore a locket containing a picture of Dorothy from Kansas. Unfortunately, two of the chicks turned out to be roosters so I had to change their names to ‘Daniel’.”

“And exactly how does this relate to our situation?” asked both Hedwig and Crookshanks at the same time.

Billina blinked and said, “I’m not sure.”

Hedwig would’ve said something if a cry hadn’t suddenly rang out from down the hall proclaiming, “The Princess has returned! Princess Ozma has returned!”

* * *

Ozma stepped into the Tin Castle amidst the cheers of the Winkies and the Ozites. She smiled at them lovingly before stepping up on a dais. “Thank you everybody, and I am sorry that I have caused so much worry and fear during the time I was held prisoner. I extend my gratitude to the wizards and witches of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who released me from my prison,” she said. “This evening, we will hold a council to decide are next course of action. I would like to invite the Hogwarts representatives to attend.”

Harry and Hermione acknowledged Ozma as she took her leave amidst the cheers of the Ozites. Others were about to leave when Ron came forth and said, “Hey Scarecrow.” The Scarecrow came up as Ginny pulled Draco forward. “Scarecrow, this is Draco Malfoy,” said Ron.

“Wow, a man made out of straw. What will people think up next?” said Draco in a daze.

“Let me guess, he drank from the Forbidden Fountain,” said the Scarecrow.

“That’s right,” said Ginny. “Ron says he can now be completely reeducated. I wouldn’t go as far as say reeducated but I was wondering if you knew anybody that could at least give him a new kind of identity. Someone who knows how to live life to the fullest, and has a sense of fairness and kindness will also help. Someone...”

“Someone with no dignity whatsoever!” exclaimed Ron. Ginny scowled at her brother who merely grinned back at her unashamedly. Draco just looked confused.

The Scarecrow appeared to be lost in thought. “Well, the Tin Woodsman would be the best person to teach him kindness and fairness,” he said, “But if you want someone to teach him how to live life to the fullest with no dignity, you want Scraps.”

“Who’s Scraps?” asked Ron and Ginny. No sooner had they said this, a swirl of many colors bounded up in front of them, turning cartwheels, back flips, somersaults, moon-saults and the occasional dance step. The multicolored figure stopped in front of Ron, Ginny, and Draco in the pose of a cross between a curtsey and a bow.

It was a Patchwork Girl. She had a patchwork skirt and apron, red leather shoes, carefully formed fingers and thumbs with small gold plates for fingernails, and was stuffed throughout with cotton. Her hair was brown yarn, which hung down to her neck in several braids. Two silver buttons stitched on with black thread served for her eyes, and her ears were made of two thin gold plates also stitched on with black thread. Her mouth was shaped with two rows of pearls sewn in for teeth and a tongue of scarlet plush, but it was closed in the back and thus did not connect to anything in her stuffed cotton insides. Her face looked just like the rest of her patchwork figure, with one cheek of yellow and the other red, a blue chin, purple forehead, and a padded, bright yellow nose.

“Did someone call me?” asked the Patchwork Girl.

“Scraps,” said the Scarecrow. “This is Draco Malfoy he drank from the Forbidden Fountain.”

“Say nothing further,” said the Patchwork Girl. “I’ll teach him all the basics of living. And might we consider giving him a new name? ‘Draco Malfoy’ sounds so gloomy and depressing?”

“You’re the one with no dignity?” asked Ron.

“I hate Dignity!” exclaimed Scraps, going into a fast paced dance. “Perhaps I would’ve been more ‘dignified’ if Ojo the Munchkin boy hadn’t placed more brain mixtures in my head than was meant to. But as it is, I’m grateful to Ojo as I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to end up a boring servant with only the intelligence to do her job.” Scraps suddenly burst into song and started turning cartwheels.

Ron’s grin grew wider. “Can you just imagine Malfoy acting like this Patchwork Girl?”

Ginny shrugged. “It might be interesting to see.”

* * *

There was still some time to go before the council started so the Hogwarts students had to kill time. At present, they were chatting with one H. M. Wogglebug, T. E; that is he was a Highly Magnified Wogglebug whom was also Thoroughly Educated. He was rather flat, with a glistening dark brown back and a striped light brown and white front. His nose ended in a curling antenna and his ears looked like miniature curling pigtails. He wore a swallowtail coat that is dark blue with a yellow silk lining and a flower in the buttonhole, a white vest, fawn colored knickers, and a top hat.

“So as I was saying, why waste valuable time studying when you could spend all that time playing sports?” said the Wogglebug. “When I became headmaster of the Royal Athletic College of Oz, I brought in the School Pills: they’re sugar coated pills that give you dosages of basic education like grammar or spelling. Thus, the students at the great Temple of Learning don’t need to waste time studying when they could be playing sports, they pills do all the studying for them.”

Ron looked delighted at the prospect of School Pills. Hermione looked horribly scandalized.

“How could you implement such a thing?” she exclaimed. “How could you disband all the joys of learning for the pursuits of sports? I’ve never heard of such a thing so ridiculous!”

“I’ve never heard anything more wonderful,” said Ron.

“You would,” said Hermione haughtily. “But what happened to the joys of learning?”

“Joys? I’ll tell you what would give me joy,” said Ron. “Hogwarts bringing in these School Pills! Can you imagine Harry? Getting to play Quidditch instead of taking all those classes? All that Quidditch?”

“I don’t know,” said Harry. “Well sure I’d rather play Quidditch than take Potions but I think even I’d get tired of the sport if that was all I did twenty four-seven.”

“You’re mental, you know that?” said Ron.

“No, these School Pills are what’s mental!” shrieked Hermione in a shrill voice. “How can you even consider these, these alternatives?! Don’t you understand the joy of looking something up and learning something new?”

The Wogglebug looked troubled. “I don’t know. I’ve never looked up anything, other than a magnifying glass.” Hermione sighed exasperatedly at the Wogglebug’s poor (in her opinion at least) pun.

Hermione was about to come up with another retort when a voice called out, “The Council will start now.” Sighing, she and the other Hogwarts students made their way to the council.

A/N OK, I confess. This chapter is mostly a filler episode to showcase the various Oz characters. I’m having so much fun writing about these characters. But, I’m writing a story here so I’ll promise everyone that the plot will advance again next chapter. In the mean time, let us bask in the joy of LOTR:ROTK winning 11 Academy Awards.

12. The Council and the Attack

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.

13. The Shrine and the Deception

A/N This fic is almost finished. I just need to really convince myself to sit in front of my word processor and start typing. Now, I just have to remind myself to finish this fic before the 27^th. Otherwise, I won’t be able to finish it till July.

Chapter 13: The Shrine and the Deception

When Hermione came to, the first thing she noticed was that she was lying on purple grass. That in it self might have been alarming for most people but ever since Hermione had learned she was a witch, she had learned to expect the unusual.

Hermione groggily sat up, trying to ignore her pounding head. She noticed that all the plant life were different shades of purple and violet. That meant that they were in the Gillikan Country, the North region of Oz. She also noticed that Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Draco were also nearby still unconscious. Shaking her head a little, Hermione stood up and made her way over to the others.

“Ron, Ron, get up,” she said while shaking him. Ron merely groaned and brushed her hand away. “Get up Ron,” said Hermione, a little sternly.

“Ugh, five more minutes Mum,” groaned Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

“Ron, there’s a spider on your face,” she said. That did the trick.

Ron leapt to his feet screaming, “AH! SPIDER! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!” He started jumping around trying to brush the spider off as Hermione began chuckling. Ron’s antics had woken the others up.

“You know, having spiders on your face is a sign that you have good fertility,” said Luna as she sat up. “Lucky me.”

“Ugh, that’s too much information for me,” said Ginny as she stretched.

“There isn’t really a spider on his face,” said Hermione. “I just told him that to get him to wake up.”

Ron’s temper quickly flared. “Hermione, I can’t believe you...”

“Let it rest Ron,” said Hermione. “We have a job to do right now.”

“What job?” said both Ron and Ginny.

“There’s only one reason why Harry sent us to the Gillikin country,” said Hermione. “We’re here to either take over or destroy the shrine.”

“What shrine?” asked Ron.

“Weren’t you listening to a single thing Ozma was saying?” snapped Hermione. “There’s a shrine here in the North. Its what controls all the protections of Oz and we have to either take control of it or destroy it.”

“Well OK then,” exclaimed Ginny. “What are we waiting around for lets get moving!’ She made her way over to Draco whom was looking around dazedly. “Move Draco!”

“Wow, look at all that purple,” said Draco dreamily.

* * *

Back at the Emerald City, Voldemort had led Harry and Ozma to the throne room, placing them under the guard of two Nomes. Both Harry and Ozma’s hands were bound and Voldemort had Harry’s wand hidden within his robes. “It is such a shame we had to run into each other again under such circumstances,” said the Dark Lord.

“What do you plan on doing to us Dark One?” demanded Ozma, her tone defiant.

“Why princess, I thought the answer to that was quite obvious,” said Voldemort as he leaned on the back of the throne, a smug grin on his face.

Ozma glared at Voldemort. “You wish to claim the power of the High Fairies for yourself,” she said.

“Well done Princess! Wonderfully deduced!” Voldemort exclaimed mockingly, flinging his hands into the air. “Long ago, your mother Lurline enchanted the whole land of Oz, transforming it into a fairy kingdom. The vast amount of magic Lurline churned into the very bonds of this land to hold it together are far superior to the powers of even the greatest wizards and witches from Hogwarts. If I can claim it for my own, nothing, not Dumbledore, not Potter here, nothing can stop my ascension to ultimate power.” He pulled out his wand and pointed it back and forth between Harry and Ozma.

“Unfortunately, shortly after I captured the Emerald City and you Ozma, Glinda managed to summon my old enemy, Harry Potter to Oz. Potter has thwarted me in the past; I couldn’t just allow this potential threat to run around unchecked. So before I made the claim for Oz’s powers, I lured Harry into a trap.” Voldemort smirked at Harry who merely glared back at him. “But, now that Potter is safely back in my care I can go back to claiming the power of Oz for myself.”

Something glinted in Harry’s eye. He caught Ozma’s eye before turning to Voldemort and saying, “And just how do you plan on going about this?”

Voldemort looked thoughtful. “Hmm, well I figured using the Cruciatus on Ozma until she tells me how to gain the powers of the High Fairies would be a good enough plan.”

“Oh but you won’t need to do that,” said Harry with a shrug.

Voldemort stared at Harry as if he were mad. “And why won’t I be needing to do that?” he asked.

To the Dark Lord’s surprise, Harry smirked. “Because,” he said, “I already know how to access the powers of Oz.”

Voldemort’s face twisted into confusion. He looked at Ozma who merely said nothing while looking passive. He turned back to Harry and spat, “And you would tell me this, why?”

“Well, now that I really think about it,” said Harry, still smirking, “where has living all these years as a goody-two-shoes led me to? A dead Godfather and cursed muggle relatives who think of me as nothing more than the scum of the world. For years, I’ve been nothing more than a pawn in Dumbledore’s game of cat and mouse. I’m sick of this. I want to take up that offer you gave me 5 years ago. I’d like to join you by your side.”

Voldemort looked thoughtful. “And what’s in it for me?” he demanded.

“Well I’m the only one with ‘the power to vanquish the Dark Lord’ aren’t I?” said Harry, quoting from the bit of the prophecy Voldemort knew. “Wouldn’t it be much more to your advantage if the only one who could vanquish you were on your side?”

Voldemort still looked skeptical. “And I suppose you’d like me to make you my second in command, eh?”

“Ah yes,” said Harry looking delighted. “Actually that was one of three conditions I had.”

“Three?”

“Well my other condition would be that you spare a certain Hermione Granger. I’d like to have her in my care.”

“The mudblood you befriended,” said the Dark Lord. “A personal play thing for yourself?”

“You’ve read my mind,” said Harry. “The third one is a bit more optional but I would rather not have the Dark Mark. As your second in command I want to be recognized as above your Death Eater minions. So what do you say? Master?”

Voldemort looked toward Ozma who merely glared back at him, seemingly not having heard anything that was said. He turned to Harry and said, “We have an agreement.” He waved his hands and the ropes binding Harry’s hands dissolved away.

Harry smirked and bowed. “Excellent. You will not regret this my lord.”

“And now, the powers of Oz?” asked Voldemort.

“Oh its actually quite simple,” said Harry. “Lurline had set the magic of this land up so that they will be accessed by one of her fairies sitting on the throne of Oz. To gain the powers of Oz, you simply have to sit Ozma on the throne.”

* * *

“There it is,” said Ginny. She and the Hogwarts students had located the so-called shrine that held the protections of Oz in place. It was a large violet colored rock about 20 feet high and shaped like an egg. Four Nomes and three Death Eater guarded the shrine. The Hogwarts students were hidden behind a ledge.

“What’s the analysis?” asked Ron.

“Four Nomes and three Death Eaters,” said Hermione. “And you’re not going to believe this, but one of these Death Eaters happens to be none other than our favorite, Bellatrix Black Lestrange.”

“Oh perfect,” groaned Ron.

“That shrine, looks like a pinolem,” said Luna.

“I’m not even asking,” said Ron.

“Well I think it is a pinolem,” said Luna, “so if we hit it right dead on in the center it’ll crack in half.”

“You think that will work with this thing?” asked Ginny.

“We won’t know until we try,” said Hermione. “Lets take this one step at a time. First we take care of the Nomes and the Death Eaters and then we decide what to do with the shrine.” She looked around and said, “There doesn’t look like too many places for cover. We’ll have to take them out fast.” She turned to the others and started laying out her plan. “Ginny, Luna, I want you two to stun the Nomes. Transfigure something into eggs if you can't stun them. Ron and I will stun or at least disarm the Death Eaters. Draco... you stay here.”

“Stay here?” asked Draco dreamily. “Where are you all going?”

“We’re going to take care of that mad aunt of yours,” snapped Ron.

“I have an aunt?” asked Draco.

“Now is not the time for that,” said Hermione. “Everybody, its time to show what we learned all last year in Dumbledore’s Army. Good luck and be careful.”

Silently, the Hogwarts students pulled out their wands. Then, without saying anything, they charged the Death Eaters and Nomes, taking them by surprise.

* * *

Back at the throne room Ozma was now seated on the throne. She was in a semi-comatose state as the magic of Oz slowly started gathering around her head, little by little rippling in power. Voldemort was standing in front of the throne eagerly anticipating the release of magic. Harry was idly standing by the window, starring at the sky.

“Well, I must hand it to you Harry,” said Voldemort. “I always knew that underneath that shell, a deceptive wizard was waiting to be released.

“Well it just shows that you can’t tell a book by its cover,” said Harry. “I guess I really am a deceptive wizard afterall. Accio!”

In a surprising bout of wandless magic, Harry’s wand flew out of Voldemort’s robes and into his hand. Before Voldemort could react Harry had stunned the two Nomes and turned his wand on the Dark Lord.

The confused look on the Dark Lord’s face quickly turned to a malicious grin. “’Deceptive’, I see.” Within seconds, the throne room was filled with the lights and bangs of a wizard’s duel.

A/N I am almost finished with this fic: just two more chapters to go in fact. Everybody, remind me to finish this fic before the 27^th. And just trust me to get this done.

14. Final Confrontation... for now

A/N Lets go guys! One more chapter to go! One more chapter to go! Now all I have to do is work my butt off to make sure the last chapter comes out within this week.

Chapter 14: Final Confrontation... for now

It was sheer pandemonium at the shrine up in the Gillikin Country. Curses flew back and forth as the Death Eaters and the Nomes battled the Hogwarts students, all members of Dumbledore’s Army. The students had taken them completely by surprise and unprepared. Most of the Nomes were quickly finished off and were lying around unconscious and those few remained were being picked off. The Death Eaters had managed to regroup on the other side of the shrine and were now firing curses back at the Hogwarts students.

“Students! Students!” screeched Bellatrix Lestrange as a curse grazed her ear. “We’re being bested by children again! I’ve had enough of this!”

‘It looks like she hasn’t realized we’re the exact same students she faced in the Department of Mysteries yet,’ thought Hermione. She thought another curse before ducking behind a small rock to avoid a particularly nasty curse.

On the other side of the rock, Ron was yelling, “Stupefy! Rictumsepra! Reducto! Impedimenta! Expelliarmus!” Ron was so intent on casting as many curses and jinxes he knew that he wasn’t concentrating much on defending himself. As a result a stunner hit him.

“Ronald!” exclaimed Luna from a farther side of the field. She dashed toward Ron, dodging curses as she went by. She arrived next to Ron, just as Hermione took out one of the Death Eaters with a handy “Expelliarmus”.

“Ronald, wake up,” said Luna, shaking Ron a little. She pointed her wand at him and said, “Ennervate.” Ron groggily woke up.

“Wow, I must’ve died and gone to Heaven,” he groaned as he looked up at Luna. “I see an angel before me.”

Luna smiled and said, “Well that just depends on what kind of angel you’re talking about. Earthbound angel, celestial angel, fire-angel, piper-squeak angel, they all look quite different.”

“You can make sweet eyes at each other later,” snapped Hermione as she fired another curse. “Lets finish our job first!”

* * *

Back at the Emerald City, the duel between the Dark Lord and the Boy-who-lived was still raging on.

“You can’t win, Potter,” sneered Voldemort. “You maybe be growing more stronger with each passing year. But I am forever the more powerful. The more experienced. Comparing you to me is like comparing a kitten to the largest of tigers.”

“Even a kitten has sharp claws, Voldemort,” snapped Harry. They circled around each other brandishing their wands like swords. Voldemort fired a series of curses at Harry, all of which Harry deflected with a well-placed shield charm. Harry in return shot a disarmer at Voldemort, which the Dark Lord merely shrugged off.

“Insolent fool,” said Voldemort with a laugh. “What did you possibly think you were doing when you attempted to deceive me? What difference is there if you were planning on eventually turning on me anyways? I would’ve killed you at a different time.” He fired another curse, which Harry dodged by leaping out of the way. Harry in return fired two continuous jinxes, both of which had no effect on Voldemort.

“I’d like to see you try!” snapped Harry. He leapt forward using a little bit more stronger curse. Voldemort was forced to place a shield charm around himself to stop the curse.

“Reducto!” yelled Harry. The resulting explosion threw Voldemort’s body across the chamber but he quickly leapt back to his feet, unharmed.

“Pity, pity,” replied Voldmeort with a smirk. He pointed his wand at the ceiling. With a careful swish, he brought the ceiling’s support beams crashing down onto Harry. Harry managed to keep himself from getting crushed by levitating the debris. But by the time he was clear of it, Voldemort was standing in front of him wand right in Harry’s face.

The Dark Lord laughed triumphantly. “I have you now,” he said. Then, not giving Harry any time to react, he shouted, “Avada Kedavra!”

* * *

Back at the shrine, things were heating up as the small battle continued on. Hermione was standing her ground against the few Death Eaters present as Ron and Luna covered her from behind one of the larger rocks.

“Get the mudblood! Get the mudblood!” screamed one of the Death Eaters as he fired random curses at Hermione. An irritated Hermione was about to shut up the Death Eater with a well place ‘Silencio’ when she remembered that that was how she had ended up getting wounded in the Department of Mysteries. Quick to learn from a mistake, Hermione silenced the Death Eater with a “Stupefy!” instead.

“Petrificus Totalus!” exclaimed a jubilant Luna as she petrified the last of the Nomes. “And that’s it!”

“All right! We’ve won control of the shrine!” yelled Ron, bouncing giddily on the balls of his feet.

“Not yet,” said Hermione rather somberly. “I don’t see Bellatrix Lestrange anywhere.” She looked around and finally noticed for the first time that one of their numbers was missing. “Where’s Ginny?” she asked.

Luna suddenly paled. “I-I left her when I went to wake up Ronald,” she said. “I hope she’s OK.” Unfortunately, the group realized that Ginny was not OK when they heard a shrill scream from the other side of the shrine.

“Ginny!” exclaimed the three of them. They raced over to the other side of the shrine only to see Ginny on her knees with Bellatrix Lestrange right behind her jabbing her wand into the back of Ginny’s neck.

“Oh, pity, pity little kiddies,” mocked Bellatrix with her sing-song voice. “It was such a good plan taking us by surprise but it all goes to say that you’re all a bunch of babies after all.” Ginny would’ve glared at Bellatrix if she could have.

Ron was about to rush Bellatrix when she snapped “One move and it will be curtains for your baby sister!” Ron stopped dead in his tracks. “Ok, now obey every command I give you or else.”

“What do you want us to do?” asked Hermione as she glared at Bellatrix.

“Putting down your wands would be a start,” suggested the Death Eater. Both Hermione and Luna placed their wands on the ground as Ron angrily threw his down. Bellatrix started speaking up again, “OK, now that that has been taken care of, I suggest that you all stay still while I tie all of you up. After that, I will be taking you to the Master himself who will... Draco? What are you doing here?”

The Hogwarts students looked up in surprise to see that Draco Malfoy had emerged from his hiding place and was making his way over toward Bellatrix and Ginny.

Draco’s face was a mirror of confusion. “Why does the lady have Ginny on her knees?” he asked.

Bellatrix was equally as perplexed. “What are you talking about nephew? I am your aunt: you mother’s sister. Don’t you recognize me?” she demanded. “What are you doing with these blood traitors and mudblood? You should be at Hogwarts right now!”

Draco looked around once more dazedly. He suddenly seemed to have comprehended what was going on for his confused face suddenly twisted into anger. “How dare mean lady hurt Ginny!” he yelled. Before Bellatrix could comprehend what had happened, Draco had smashed his fist into her face, the force of which sent Bellatrix sprawling back, hitting her head on the rock that was the shrine. Her head must’ve hit the perfect spot for the rock suddenly cracked in half, breaking into two pieces as Bellatrix crumpled to the ground unconscious.

The Hogwarts students quickly got their wits about them as the magic bindings of the protection of Oz unraveled with the destruction of the shrine. “Bloody hell,” exclaimed Ron. “Well I guess that’s one way to take care of the job.”

* * *

The flash of green light filled the throne room of the Emerald City as the Dark Lord’s triumphant laughter echoed across the chamber. However, when the green light subsided, Voldemort was shocked to see that Harry Potter was still on his feet very much alive.

“What? How is this possible?” demanded the Dark Lord.

“Oh, thank God it worked,” exclaimed Harry as he let out a breath of relief. “As for how this is possible, I would think that it’s quite obvious.” Harry nodded toward the throne. Voldemort looked at the throne to see that Ozma was no longer in her comatose state but was rather smiling triumphantly at him.

“You fell for my gambit Riddle,” exclaimed Harry. “While its true that sitting Ozma on the throne would grant you access to all the powers of Oz, you seem to have forgotten that its also the key to the immortality of Oz, which I believe is the real reason why you invaded this land in the first place. So long as Ozma sits on the throne of the Emerald City, no one can be killed in Oz. Which means, “ Harry made a small bow, “I am immune to Avada Kedavra.”

“No!” exclaimed Voldemort. “No! No! NO!” Voldemort started firing more curses at Harry, but Harry merely dodged all of them. “I am the all-powerful Lord Voldemort! I cannot be defeated by a mere technicality such as this!”

“Oh you can boast all you like. Threaten, torture, maim,” taunted Harry. “But tell me, Tom Riddle, just how far can you really go if you can’t kill anyone? Where are your special powers now?”

“I will not be taken in like this!” yelled the Dark Lord. “I will emerge triumphant! I cannot be defeated!” Voldemort continued firing killing curses at Harry, all of which had no effect what so ever.

“You’ve already lost Riddle,” snapped Harry.

“No, I cannot lose!”

Voldemort looked ready to defiantly continue the duel when there was a deep rumbling sound through the land. The Dark Lord looked around realizing that the rumbling was the result of the protection binds of Oz giving way.

“The shrine has been taken, way to go guys!” said Harry. “Well, there you have it Voldemort: the protections of Oz are down. Within seconds, members of the Order of the Phoenix will be apparating into Oz ready to fight until the bitter end. Just how willing are you to take them on if you don’t have the ability to kill any of them?”

Voldemort glared at Harry saying nothing, then in the blink of an eye he disapparated, leaving Oz behind.

“Why did you let him escape?” asked Ozma.

“He can’t be captured. No prison in Oz or on the Earth could hold Voldemort for more than a few hours,” said Harry. “In the end he has to be destroyed because ‘either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives’. But not here, not now: in the same way he can’t kill me in Oz, I can’t kill him in Oz either.”

It was that moment when several pops sounded through the chamber and the room was quickly filled with five wizards: Dumbledore, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Shacklebolt. “All right, where’s the action?” demanded Tonks. No sooner had she stepped forward when she tripped on one of the steps and fell flat on her face. She muttered incoherent curses as Lupin pulled her to her feet.

Dumbledore surveyed Harry and smiled. “Well, I see that this land had been left in good hands.”

A/N Whew. That’s another chapter down and just one more to go. You can all expect to see it within this week. The conclusion of this fic is coming very soon. That’s a promise.

15. Goodbye to the Fairy Land

A/N Here it is, the last chapter! Yeeha! Thank you so much for reading this fic everyone, I hope you all enjoyed it. I am now leaving to spend 9 weeks in Navy Boot camp. Wish me luck, and pray that I pass. If all goes well, I’ll be back in fandom by July.

Chapter 15: Goodbye to the Fairy Land

When Voldemort had disappeared from Oz, all Dark Magic that had plagued the land disappeared with him. Everybody who was petrified or turned to stone was restored to normal and the Nomes scattered in fear, fleeing to the remotest parts of Oz. The Death Eaters had all also disappeared along with Voldmeort, even those that were unconscious at the shrine. It was a pity none of them were taken as prisoners but perhaps it was better this way. Oz was a Fairy Land isolated from the rest of the world; in the view of the British Wizards, it should’ve never have been tainted by the horrors of the Second Magical War.

There were still a few loose ends to wrap up first however: the most pressing one was what to do with Draco Malfoy.

“There really hasn’t been a valid case where memory has been restored after a drink from the Forbidden Fountain,” said Remus Lupin. He was sitting at a conference table opposite Nymphadora Tonks and Draco Malfoy. “It’s a little different from our memory charms. But I’m sure the healers at St. Mungo’s might eventually be able to restore your memory.”

“Do I really want them back?” said Draco, his voice a lot more clear now. “Through what the others have said, it doesn’t seem like I was such a great guy. I like being what I am now and I don’t think I’d like the old me.”

“To be brutally honest Draco,” said Lupin, “I’m afraid I can vouch for everybody saying the same thing.”

Tonks sighed dejectedly. “Well I guess he’s in my care now,” she said. “He is family after all. But that means I’ll have to owl Aunt Narcissa about all this. Who knows how she’ll take the news that Draco’s lost his memory, let alone even accept an owl from me to begin with?”

* * *

“I sure am going to miss this land,” said Hedwig as she and Crookshanks made their way across the gardens of the Royal Palace of the Emerald City.

“How true,” said Crookshanks. “It’s a pity we won’t be able to speak human languages when we get back. I’m going to miss being able to talk.”

Just then, Pigwidgeon zoomed by twittering, “Oh wow! We’re going home? I can’t wait! Home is so cool! I mean I love this land but home is where the heart is like they say. Are we really going home? Really? Really? Huh? Huh? Huh? I wonder how all the owls are doing back home. I wonder if maybe Hermes has come back: he’s not too bad, though I can’t say the same of his human. What about Errol? I wonder if he’s still alive. Do you think he’s still alive? Huh? Huh? Huh? Are you two ignoring me? Why are you two ignoring me? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“Then again, its maybe a good thing we won’t be able to talk anymore,” said an irritated Crookshanks.

“You said it,” agreed Hedwig.

The animals continued making their way though the gardens when Crookshanks said, “Say Hedwig, I’ve got a certain thought up my paw which I want to share with you.”

“Oh and what’s that?” asked Hedwig, flopping down to Crookshanks’s level. The orange cat started whispering something into the white owl’s ear.

* * *

“You know I really am glad we made this trip here,” said Harry. He and Hermione were seated on a sofa in one of the towers of the Royal Palace. They were in front of a window overlooking the Emerald City.

“Why is that?” asked Hermione. She snuggled up closer to Harry.

“I was so depressed over Sirius’s death,” said Harry. “I was so caught up about the prophecy. I think a part of me just didn’t want to continue anymore, wishing I were dead.”

“And now?” asked Hermione.

“Now, coming here has given me a new perspective on things,” said Harry. “It’s made me open my eyes, reminding me that there is still so much to continue living for. Still someone to live for.” He cupped Hermione’s cheek.

Hermione smiled. “Oh Harry.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his and they were soon kissing passionately. Unfortunately, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Ignore it,” said Harry, continuing to rain kisses along Hermione’s jaw. The knock sounded again.

“Harry,” gasped Hermione as Harry started kissing a particularly sensitive part of her neck. “You can’t ignore them.” Despite Hermione’s words, she pulled Harry’s face back up to hers and kissed him again. Finally the door barged open.

Ron stormed in exclaiming, “Oh for crying out loud when I knock once just...” Ron stopped short when he saw his two best friends snogging wildly on the sofa. “Ah! My eyes!” he yelled, covering his eyes. Ginny and Luna also entered the room.

“What is it Ron?” asked Harry before Hermione pulled him back into another kiss.

“Dumbledore says we’re going to leave for Hogwarts in an hour,” said Ron. “So once you get your lips off of each other we should head down to the throne room.”

“Well we’ve got an hour,” said Hermione as she started kissing Harry again.

“Oh great, must I be subjugated to this for the rest of my life?” exclaimed Ron throwing his hands up.

“Oh they’re just trying to build up their ectrion,” said Luna, in her dreamy voice. “Which reminds me that I need to build up my ectrion as well.” She pulled Ron into a kiss. Ron certainly wasn’t complaining as it took his mind off of Harry and Hermione and he started engaging in more pressing matters.

“Great, my brother’s snogging Luna. Harry and Hermione are making out. And I’m stuck here all alone,” said Ginny. “Hmm, maybe I’ll go snog Draco. He seems like a nice guy without his memories.” She left the room, but not before her words had stopped Ron from his own snog session.

“Oh no you won’t!” he exclaimed as he took off after his sister. Luna followed after him.

Harry pulled away from kissing Hermione long enough to wonder out loud, “I thought she was dating Dean Thomas,” before Hermione pulled him down for another snog.

* * *

About an hour later, the Hogwarts students had gathered in the throne room in the Royal Palace of the Emerald City. It seemed as if the entire population of Oz had come to wish the outsiders goodbye. There was Dorothy Gale with her Uncle Henry and her Aunt Em. The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, and the Wizard were all there as well as Jack Pumpkinhead, Tic-toc, Billina, the Hungry Tiger, the Patchwork Girl, the Glass Cat, the Sawhorse, Toto, Eureka, the Shaggy Man, and the Wogglebug. There were also several people they hadn’t met previously yet Hermione managed to recognize due to her familiarity with Baum’s books. There was the Woozy, a creature who could best be described as ‘square’. A soldier with green whiskers, a girl named Betsy Bobbin, and another girl named Trot who was with a one legged sailor named Cap’n Bill. There was also a munchkin boy named Ojo and another named Button Bright. So many more people lined up the chamber that Hermione didn’t recognize.

Ozma sat on the throne of Oz, at the very end of the chamber. Standing behind the right hand side of the throne was Glinda. Around the students were the members of the Order of the Phoenix with Albus Dumbledore standing at their head.

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Virginia Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Draco Malfoy, this land is in your debt,” said Ozma. “You have saved us from a great evil that would’ve overwhelmed us had you not intervened.”

“You are all true heroes,” said Glinda. “You have raised a wonderful new generation of wizards and witches, Albus.”

“I merely offer them an ear to listen with and some advise,” said Dumbledore. “You’ve done a good job your self helping Ozma run this land old friend. Of course, you’ve been doing that long before I became headmaster of Hogwarts.”

“I will also extend an invitation toward all of you in gratitude,” said Ozma. “You will always be welcome here in Oz. You may even stay here permanently if you wish.”

“I am sure my students are tempted by your offer,” said Dumbledore. “But I’m afraid, it is now time for us to go home.”

“Must you return so soon?” asked Glinda.

“Yeah. Do we really have to go back so soon sir?” asked Ron.

“Mr. Weasley, you have already missed the first several days of classes,” said Dumbledore. “Unless you wish to find yourself hopeless behind you will wish to return to Hogwarts soon.”

“Then we shall wish you all good bye,” said Ozma.

“So long. Take care,” said the Scarecrow, shaking everyone’s hand.

“I wish you all my love in your safe journey home,” said the Tin Woodman as he also shook their hands.

The British wizards and witches wished everyone goodbye. “Ready to go home?” asked Dumbledore.

“Wait!” exclaimed Hermione. “Crookshanks, Hedwig, and Pigwidgeon aren’t here.”

“We’re here! We’re here!” exclaimed Pig as he and the other two made their way over to them. “So we’re really going home now? I’ve wanted to go home for some time. Oh, but I really love this land. I’m going to miss it. Will you miss it? Huh? Huh? Huh? It’s going to be so great to be back home. Home is always good. Don’t you think its good? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“Pig, shut up!” snapped Ron. Pigwidgeon quickly shut up.

“So where were you all off to?” asked Hermione.

Hedwig and Crookshanks shared a smile (if animals could smile). “Oh Crookshanks and I were just coming up with a little scheme,” said Hedwig.

“A scheme?” asked Harry, his eyes narrowing. “Just what kind of scheme is this?”

“Oh its nothing big really,” said a very smug Crookshanks. “We’re just trying to scheme a way to get you and Hermione to mate before the end of the year.” Harry and Hermione blushed bright red as Dumbledore apparrated them out of Oz, ending their little adventure.

The End

A/N Ha! Its over! Told you I could finish this before the 27^th. I sure hope everyone enjoyed this fic. It was quite a bit of fun writing it. A great thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. And wish me luck in Navy Boot Camp. If all goes well, I’ll be able to rejoin fandom in July.