An Aussie Adventure

Harry Potter was getting sick of working at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Defense. He needed a vacation. A long vacation.

"Fudge, how many vacation days do I have?" Harry asked, walking into the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge's, office.

"Let's see, about...one month," Fudge replied. He was wearing olive green robes, and a brown bowler cap that he always wore. "Why?"

"I need a holiday. Percy keeps running to me, asking my advice. I need to take my month off starting tomorrow," Harry answered.

"Okay, Harry. No more vacation time for you," Fudge said, crossing off all of Harry's vacation days except one. The boy had worked so hard over the past year to defend wizards and Muggles alike from Voldemort. He felt it was only right.

"Thanks, Minister. See you!" Harry said, and rushed out of the office.

These days, it was easy to crash into somebody in the hallway and watch papers go flying. This time, it happened to be Hermione Granger, Harry's old schoolmate from Hogwarts. She was helping Arthur Weasley in the Department for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts over the summer, until the school year started and she taught Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall.

"Oops, sorry, Harry," she said. Her bushy brown hair was always kept back in either a tight bun or two tight pigtails, and she was wearing black robes.

"It's okay, 'Mione. See you in a month," Harry said, Apparating on the spot to his flat in Stars Hollow, Canterbury.

Harry's apartment was a mess. There were robes everywhere, and posters of the English International Quidditch team. There were also thousands of moving pictures of him and his friends Hermione and Ron Weasley at Hogwarts and on their graduation day. There were also pictures from the Weasley's house of him, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred, George, Percy, Bill, Charlie, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, all crammed in there.

But the ones that he treasured the most were still in the photo album that he received from Hagrid, the Hogwarts Keeper of Keys and Grounds. Inside that album, were the only remaining pictures of his family, mainly his mum and dad. Harry still looked at them, even though some of them brought tears to his eyes. The album was kept in his room, in a safe so nobody could steal it.

"All right, time to clean up this mess," Harry said to himself, and started pointing his wand at everything. Soon, robes were flying in one direction, while shoes and socks and underwear were flying in the other. By the time he was finished, the flat looked brand new.

"Okay, time to call a hotel. A wizarding hotel this time," Harry said, walking over to the firebook, titled Firebook for Floo Powder: Hotels, Rentals, You Name It! , and flipped through to the hotel section, and looked for worldwide wizarding hotels. "Found one." Harry pointed to the hotel named the Australian Wizard Hotel.

He walked over to the fireplace, took a handful of shimmering Floo Powder, and threw it into the fire, which turned a sickly green as the flames rose up. "The Australian Wizard Hotel!" Harry yelled, and stuck his head into the fire.

"Welcome to the Australian Wizard Hotel. How may I help you?" a blonde witch that looked like she had half a brain asked.

"I'd like to rent a room for one month, starting tomorrow," Harry said.

"Okay, sir. Just a second," the witch said, and checked a very old book. "We have three rooms open. Ocean front, Street front, or Wall front."

"I'll take the Oceanfront. Now, how much?" Harry asked.

"Three hundred Galleons and twenty Sickles, please," the blonde said, holding out her hand.

"Look, my money back is kind of far from reach, and so is my wand. Can I pay when I Apparate there tomorrow, please?" Harry asked.

"Of course you can, sir. And your name?" the witch asked, smiling and pattering her eyelashes.

"Harry Potter. And it's the Oceanfront room. Now, I'll see you tomorrow at nine thirty. Bye," Harry said. He pulled his head out just to hear the blonde witch say, "Catch you on the flip side, cutie!"

Harry shook his head, sniggering. He threw some robes into his trunk, along with a pair of swim trunks and a shrinkable surfboard. He had wanted to learn how to surf ever since he caught a glimpse of a surfer on Dudley's television, before he was whomped in the face by a very large fist.

Hedwig, Harry's trusty snowy female owl, soared through the open window and dropped a letter on the table as Harry magically cooked himself a hamburger. It was from his best friend, Ron Weasley.

Harry ripped open the envelope and read the letter silently to himself.

Dear Harry,

How are things at the Ministry? Things are great up in Edinburgh. Hermione wants to come and live with me, but I think it's too early. I mean, I'm only eighteen! I can't live with my girlfriend and not expect something to happen, right?

Anyway, Hermione says your taking a vacation. To where? Send me a postcard once you arrive, okay?

See you ~

Ron

Harry smiled. Ron and Hermione had been going out since fifth year. Now Hermione wanted to move in with Ron, because they were becoming more serious. Honestly, Harry thought Hermione was moving a little too fast for Ron's brain to handle everything. But, whatever Ron decided, Harry knew that something was bound to happen between the two of them. Like kids. Oh, well, his friends could be nutters sometimes.

Harry set his alarm clock for eight o'clock in the morning, so he could take a shower and get ready. Then he plopped down on his bed and fell asleep.

* * *

Cassie Turner, an Australian witch, lived across the street from the Australian Wizard Hotel in Sydney. She owned a two-story house on Magic Side, the part of the big city that the wizards referred to as 'the Diagon Alley of Australia'. It had shops, and the Australian bank, Aussies, but it also had all the hotels and a lot of people lived there.

Cassie had blue eyes, curly dirty blonde hair, and a knack for getting into trouble. In school, Charmers Academy of Magic, she had always been caught sneaking around the hallways at night with her mother's old Invisibility cloak. And she had always been the class clown, playing pranks on her least favorite teacher, Professor Levine, who taught History of Magic. He hated, no, loathed Cassie like she was yesterday's garbage. He was always shooting her evil looks, getting her into trouble, that sort of thing. But now she was out of school, eighteen, and home free.

At least, that's what she thought.

* * *

Harry woke up to his alarm clock. He rushed around, showering, dressing, and dragging his trunk over to the fireplace. He threw the Floo Powder in, shouted clearly where he wanted to go, and landed in the lobby of the Australian Wizard Hotel.

Harry got up and walked over to the front desk, where the same blonde he had talked to yesterday was sitting, painting her nails a firecracker red. "Umm, excuse me?" he said.

"Oh, good day, mate! You wanted the Street front room, right?" the blonde asked, smiling at Harry.

"No, I wanted the Ocean front room. Why? Did you give it away?" Harry asked.

"Umm, yeah, I think I did! Oh well, will you settle for Street front for a month instead?" the blonde asked. She kept batting her eyes.

Blondes as receptionists. What in the blazes is going on in this world? Harry thought to himself. "Yes, I'll settle for street front. Can I have my key, please? Here's my payment." He handed the blonde a bunch of Galleons and Sickles.

"Here's your key, cutie. Their floor up, last room on the right," the blonde said, handing Harry the key with her dry hand. She winked at him as he made his trunk feather light, and carried it up the stairs.

"Honestly, some people shouldn't have been allowed to become magical. I'll bet anything that that witch back there was either a Squib or a Muggle before she attended the wizard school here," Harry said to himself, shaking his head as he unlocked his room.

Inside, it was perfect. The walls were a scarlet red with gold swirls as a border. The bedspread was scarlet, and there was a cushy chair in front of a fire that was scarlet, too. It was a mini Gryffindor common room.

"I'm home," Harry said, and fell onto his bed. The fabric was velvet and very soft.

Harry got up to check out the view from the balcony. He walked to the sliding door and stepped out to look around. He looked across the street, and saw the most beautiful person in the world.

She had curly dirty blonde hair and blue eyes by what Harry could see. She must have been a witch, because this was what the Australians referred to as Magic Side. She was gardening, and they were plants Harry had only seen in his days at Hogwarts.

Cassie was out in her garden, planting a few Mandrakes and a couple of other magical plants. She looked up into the glaze of the hot sun, and saw someone looking right back down at her.

Who's that? She thought, standing up to get a better look. But the person, whoever it was, went back into the hotel.

Cassie shrugged and got back to gardening. Then she had a better idea. The wind was perfect for it, too. Windsurfing. She ran inside, changed into her wetsuit shorts, put her wind board and sail into the back of her Jeep, and pulled out of the driveway.

Although Magic Side consisted only of wizards, all of them were told to purchase a Muggle vehicle, so they could get to the beach and back without going on a broom. Cassie taught herself how to drive, mainly her Muggle friend Jimmy helped.

Cassie pulled up to the Magic Side/Muggle Side border, checked in with Customs, and got clearance to drive through. There were so many Muggle tourists in Aussie-land that the wizards had to take extra precautions not to been seen doing magic. Of course, every once and a while, there was some amateur witch who would fly her broom through the border and got seen. But the Improper Use of Magic specialists would be there to wipe the minds of whoever saw, and take the witch (who was usually a blonde) into the office just to make sure it didn't happen again.

Cassie pulled into the parking lot at the beach, thankful that it was basically empty. She pulled her board and sail out of the car and set them up. She clipped herself on and pulled the board out into the water. She jumped up onto the board, and let the wind take control.

This was what Cassie had been born to do. Windsurfing had been everything to her, even while she attended Charmers Academy. She had used up all her free time between periods to go windsurfing and jet skiing.

"Oi!" a voice called from the beach. Cassie looked around, but was caught in a gust of wind and almost tipped. Luckily, she had brought her wand, and made sure that that didn't happen. She just lifted herself effortlessly off the water, back onto the board, and sailed into shore.

A teenager with jet-black hair and green eyes (by what Cassie could tell) was standing on the beach in a pair of swim trunks and a Quiksilver shirt.

"Good day, mate! What's shakin'?" Cassie asked, pulling her hair into a ponytail.

"Not too much. You?" the young man replied. Cassie could tell from the accent that he was a pretty Brit-ie.

"Not much. You a pretty Brit-ie?" Cassie said, squinting in the glare from the teen's glasses.

"A what?" he asked.

"A Brit. You are from Britain, right?" Cassie replied, smiling.

"Oh, yeah. You're an Aussie, right?" he asked.

"Damn right. So, what's your name, gringo? I'm Cassie Turner," Cassie said.

"I'm Harry Potter. And what's a gringo?" Harry asked.

"A gringo is a northerner. Anybody above the equator," Cassie explained, when the name hit her. "Wait, Harry Potter?"

"Yeah. Why, you've heard of me?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you were in some of our school books at Charmers. But I never thought you would actually come down under," Cassie replied. "You ever windsurf before?"

"No, but I've heard that it's really exciting," Harry replied.

"Want me to show you how?" Cassie asked, pulling the elastic out of her hair. "Come on, up to Rick's. He'll lend you a board."

Harry followed Cassie up to a huge shack on the side of the road, with what looked like a hand-painted sign, reading Rick's Windboards.

"Howdy, Rick. Can I borrow a board off'a ya?" Cassie asked.

"Sure, Caps. Six candies," Rick replied. Rick looked like he was about nineteen or twenty, with his red hair and freckles as bright as they were. A little like Ron, in fact.

"Thanks, mate. Catch you on the flip side!" Cassie said, handing Harry the board and walking back to her own.

"Caps?" Harry asked.

"It's Rick's nickname for me. We were buddies in Charmers, but he was a year above me. And candies, before you ask, is just another name for Galleons. But us Aussie's don't like using big words unless totally necessary. Now, you are going to want to take that shirt off, bloke," Cassie said, pointing to the red shirt that Harry was wearing.

"Oh, right," Harry said, and pulled the shirt off.

"Oi! You're pale as paper! What kind of conditions are they up in Brit-ville?" Cassie asked, staring at Harry's pale chest.

"It's never that sunny in England. I'll probably go back tan," Harry said, smiling. "Let's go!"

"Whoa, hold on. Strap this on, and clip it to the hook on the beam," Cassie said, unclipping her safety harness and tossing it to Harry. She wouldn't need it; she only wore it as an extra precaution.

Harry clipped the harness around his waist and hooked it to the beam on the sail. "Now what?" he asked.

"We get out there!" Cassie shouted, and ran into the water. She hopped onto the board. "Do what I do, gringo! You'll be fine!"

Harry jumped onto the board and glided out behind Cassie. He held on, balancing himself.

Cassie watched as Harry jumped onto the board and sailed out. She could feel a gust of wind coming.

"Oi! Harry, you'd better be ready! A puff of wind it coming!" Cassie called. Harry nodded and tried to catch up.

"Okay, no what do I do?" he asked.

"Hold on, and when the breeze comes, lean to one side and try to keep balanced. You'll get the hand of it; piece of sweat bread!" Cassie explained.

"Okay," Harry said. Cassie could hear a hint of panic in his voice.

The wind came, and Cassie steered hard to the left. She started skimming the water, leaning back and forth, creating sprays of water. She looked back and saw Harry doing pretty well.

For a gringo, Cassie thought. "How did you like it?"

"That was awesome! Want to try it again?" Harry asked.

"I wish we could, but it's twelve o'clock," Cassie sighed, looking at her watch.

"So?" Harry said.

"At twelve, all the shoebies invade the beach, and never leave. Especially the tourists. Come on thought, I'll show you around Sydney," Cassie said, and they glided back to shore.

After returning Rick's windboard, Cassie lent Harry a pair of young men's swim trunks that she had bought for no reason, and he put his Quiksilver shirt back on. Cassie put on a halter-top and pair of girls swim trunks; beige with bright red Hawaii flowers down the sides, and a pair of sandals.

"Okay, you know how to Apparate, right?" Cassie asked when they were back outside her house.

"Yeah. But we're going into Sydney," Harry replied.

"I know that, Harry. There's a special pub that only wizards can see, kinda like your Leaky Cauldron. We can Apparate there and head into the city. It's called the Hungry Cub Aussie Pub. Catchy, ain' it?" Cassie explained. Then she Disapparated.

Harry followed suit, and appeared in the Pub. Cassie was standing at the door, and waved him over.

Cassie really was something. She had a neat way of talking, and she seemed like a fun person to be with. Harry totally trusted her. Like a sister.

"Come, on, T-Bolt," she said, opening he front door to a busy street in the center of Sydney.

"T-Bolt?" Harry asked.

"I can't call you 'Harry', it's too long. You can call me Cap's if you want, or Cassie. Either one is fine, but I'm gonna call you T-Bolt if we're in the city," Cassie replied, walking down one of the sidewalks.

"Can I guess why you picked that name?" Harry asked.

"That bloody scar? You're good, gringo," Cassie replied, smiling.