A Collision of Worlds

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I need to get this out. At least, that is what my therapist says. She tells me, "Marisa, there is that one case that troubles you. Write the story of that case down and give it to me." I protested loudly, seeing how there is more than invasion in that statement. That simple statement threatens my life. Dr. Leonard sighed and insisted I write the story of that case down and mail it to someone, since I obviously don't trust her. I protested once again, largely because I don't believe I need therapy, but Deputy Wagnar insisted I follow all Dr. Leonard's instructions. So, you are the only one I can safely write this to. Maybe I shouldn't even send this to you or anyone, just pretend I wrote the stupid letter. But, deep inside, I think I need to write this letter, because in my ten years working at the London Division of Missing Persons, one case stands out.

The Kaye-Mejacava Case.

So, Prof. Dumbledore, here goes nothing:

(Oh, feel free to do what ever you like with this. Print it out for others, read it and burn it, or just burn it now. I really don't care.)

Here is the case that still affects me, ten years later

.

Katrina Kaye. A normal, 5'6" high school sophomore who liked everything and did everything. She played Junior Varsity volleyball, she sang in choir. She danced, she wrote for the newspaper. She shopped at Versace; she was in Astronomy club. Kati was not just a well-rounded person. She was a full circle. A very pretty girl, too. Perhaps it was the aura she gave off that made her gorgeous. But, she had many secrets. These secrets gave her depth, one man said, "adding to her outstanding beauty". People like that are smart, and Kati was no exception. 4.0 student, honor roll, ranked first in class. Would she trade that to get rid of her secrets?

If I start at the very beginning, I will be writing from the dawn of time, when man was first created. So, I will write from my beginning, where I think everything really starts.

October 24. Browning versus Douglas for JV volleyball conference championship. 14 -13 with Browning serving. Number 22 raises her arm, tosses the ball and

Ace.

Browning High School, Public School 24 in London, wins the conference. The girls cheer in the middle of the court, yelling "Undefeated". And Kaye is there, #24. Happy, proud, and excited. One of her last happy moments in a long, long time.

It is dark outside, and JV coach Elizabeth Keller zips up her jacket and walks towards her car. Normally she takes the athletic bus to and from games with the players but, today, she had to work late and missed the bus.

She would always wonder if that was a blessing or a curse.

A figure appears along side her. "Kati," Keller says, "You're still here?"

Kati smiles as always. "Yeah, I'm taking the bus."

"You better hurry up and catch it. Coach Miller will leave with out you. That would suck."

Kati smiles wider. "That would suck, but Miller knows I'm here. She sent me to see if anyone else is taking the bus. Are you?"

"No, my car is here."

"Then, it is just Coach Miller, Kristi, and I. And the bus driver," she adds as an afterthought.

Keller laughs. "Well, be careful. You bounce around a lot on empty buses." Pause. "You better hurry up, Kati. Miller is probably wondering if you're going home with someone else."

"I have no one else here. My parents are meeting me at Browning High to go to conferences."

"Parent-Teacher Conferences tonight, eh? Not like you have to worry, Kaye." Keller taps her on the shoulder. "Have a good night. See you tomorrow."

"Good bye, coach."

Kati walks towards the bus as Keller turns and goes towards her car. For a reason Elizabeth Keller would never have been able to explain, she turned around, watched Kati board the bus, and saw the bus disappear down the road.

Four hours later, her phone rang and began the explanation.

*************************************************************************************

"Mhhm, 'lo," Elizabeth moaned out tiredly. She glanced at the clock. 11:30 at night and she needed to be up at 4 tomorrow morning. Who was calling her at this hour?

"Miss Keller?" a worried voice said, "This is Kati's mom. Hermione Kaye."

"Mhhm?"

"I'm sorry to wake you but, Kristi's mother, Mrs. Davis, and my husband and I are here at the high school."

"Mrs. Kaye," Keller says impatiently, "It is 11:30 at night."

"We know, Miss Keller. However, the bus never arrived."

Keller sits up. "What?" she says calmly.

"The athletic bus with Kati, Kristi, and the others on it never arrived."

The meaning of these words begins to sink in. "But, but, the bus left Douglas at 8:30 and even with the worst traffic it never takes more than an hour and a half!"

"Miss Keller, do you know if the bus broke down? Did you get a call?" Adeline is beginning to get hysterical. "Do you have any idea were our children are?"

"Mrs. Kaye, we need to call the police. We have a huge problem here. They've disappeared."

*************************************************************************************

"Mhhm, 'lo?"

"Marisa, get up now."

I sit up obediently and swing my legs over the side of the bed, accidentally knocking the telephone down. I can almost hear Deputy Wagnar swearing. It is late, we are obviously on some urgent case, and he hates loud noises. I pick it up and skip the apology for the noise, "What is it, Gus?"

"A school bus has disappeared."

"It is 11:45 at night!"

"I'm quite aware of that, Longbottom. It was an athletic bus-taking players to Browning High School from a volleyball game at Douglas High. The bus left at 8:30."

"8:30! It should have only taken a half-hour, maybe an hour and half max. with terrible traffic!"

"I know. One of the mothers called the Junior Varsity coach at 11:30 to see if the bus had broken down."

"Why wasn't the coach on the bus?"

"She had to work late, missed the bus the first time, and had her car at Douglas, so she drove it home." Pause. "Marisa, I need you to get down here now. There bringing the JV Coach in and the parents are coming. We need to find that bus."

"Gus, where the hell could that bus be? It's nearly midnight. How many buses are driving around London at midnight?"

"At the moment, only 1."

*************************************************************************************

12:30 AM- London Missing Persons Department (LMPD)

Deputy Wagnar tapped me on the shoulder as I drank from my Starbucks container. His tap was more like a hit and I choked on my latte. "Hey," I said coughing.

Wagnar ignored the greeting/bereavement. "Room 6. JV coach Elizabeth Keller. You and I are interviewing her."

"Shouldn't we..."

"Now, Longbottom."

"Coming."

We were seated in a room opposite Elizabeth Keller, the JV volleyball coach at Browning High, who seemed unnaturally shook up.

"Miss Keller," I started.

"Beth," she said, "It's quicker."

I paused and looked at Deputy Wagnar, who found nothing unusual with this.

"Beth," he said, "Tell us what happened. You are the last person to have seen that bus and the last person to have seen Kati."

She took a deep, shuddering breath and began. And she told us how they had just won the volleyball conference and went the whole season undefeated. How Kati had walked beside her and how she'd turned around for some odd reason to watch the bus disappear down the street. And when she had finished, she stared straight ahead like she could still see Kati and the bus.

"Beth," Gus said with the calmest sincerity, "I need you to tell me who is on that bus."

"Well, Kati Kaye, one of my players, #24." Pause. "And then Kati said, Kristi Davis, one of my players, #15, the Varsity coach, Rebecca Miller, and," she gave a little laugh, "the bus driver."

"Why is this funny?" Gus said.

"Because, before she disappeared, Kati told me everyone who was on the bus and she added the bus driver as an afterthought."

"Beth, is there anyone who would be out to hurt you? Those were all your players on the bus."

Keller stared straight at Gus. "No, I can't think of anyone."

"Any thing someone might have against one of the girls?"

"No. Can't think of anything."

"Thank you, Miss Keller. Marisa will take you to someplace and get you something to drink."

"Wait," I jumped in. "You seem shook up. Unnaturally so."

"Ms. Marisa. Have you ever been a coach or been on a team?" Without waiting for an answer she jumped ahead. "I am so attached to those girls. They're like my daughters or sisters. That team is my family. And two of them have disappeared along with Coach Miller, whom I happen to be good friends with."

Gus glared at me and said, "Please wait right here, Miss Keller. If you need anything, Jeff," he nodded at the security guard in the corner, "will get it for you."

Gus then led me out of the room. I winced as soon as we were out of it.

"You have never coached, have you?"

"No, and it's been a while since I've been on an athletic team."

"Be more sensitive, Longbottom." He walked down the hall, leaving me at my desk. If things hadn't been so serious, I would have burst out laughing. Deputy Gus Wagnar had just told me to be more sensitive!

*************************************************************************************

I walked down the hall to talk to Matt on his opinions on the case, when I saw Mr. and Mrs. Kaye. They were just sitting on a bench, waiting for us to fix this huge problem in their lives. Mr. Kaye was muttering in Latin, and as I headed toward them to offer them a coffee, I noticed two coffees in their hands that I was certain hadn't been there before. Or had they? Another muttering in Latin, and I noticed a blanket over Mrs. Kaye's lap. I stared down at my latte container. "They must be putting too much caffeine in these," I muttered.

"What?" a voice said. I jumped, nearly spilling the latte I had left.

Matt was standing behind me, a rather jovial look on his face, under the circumstances.

I sighed. "I will never understand how you can play jokes on me at 1 AM with a missing school bus about."

"What can I say? You're too easy!"

"Thanks, thanks a lot." I continued walking down the hall. Matt hurried to catch up to me.

"What are we doing next?" I asked him.

"Interviewing the parents. Wagnar has a suspicion that it's one of the children they targeted."

Just then, Wagnar ran into us. "Hey, you two. We got a missing bus. Get in room 2 with the Kayes. I already interviewed the Davises."

"Anything?" I asked hopefully.

"Nothing. Both parents are dentists. Child doesn't have any enemies, doesn't do drugs, cleanest record around."

I sighed. This case was so difficult. There was no reason for it.

Then, I remembered the suddenly appearing coffee. The blanket. The funny mumbling in Latin.

"I think we're on to something."

"What?" Matt asked.

I shook my head. I'd heard stories from my parents about...We'll I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been a Squib. But that was impossible. What would their child be doing on a Muggle bus?

DID I JUST USE THE WORD MUGGLE?

I stared down at the coffee again as the Kayes were seated. Matt began the questioning.

"Your names please?"

"Harry and Hermione."

My head snapped up on instinct. That was impossible. But, could it be? I noticed the thick, frizzy brown hair surrounding the intelligent face. Going on the world's largest hunch, I asked, "Mrs. Kaye, what might your maiden name be?"

"Granger."

I smiled. I was on to something. My smile quickly faded. This was a bigger problem than we had thought. Two worlds were colliding. There was no time to be nice. I had to be frank.

"Why is a wizard child on a Muggle bus?"

The Kayes stared back at me, dumbfounded and afraid.

"Did you just use the word..." Harry said.

"It can't be... it just can't be..." Hermione muttered.

Matt looked utterly perplexed, as did the guards. I could hear Wagnar in my earpiece, wondering what the hell was going on. But I knew. Their reactions had been enough. My father had gone to school with Hermione Granger. I had heard tales of her brilliance. How she ended up on a bench in a Muggle police station, I could only begin to imagine. But, if she was Hermione Granger, wouldn't it make sense that... I took a good look at Harry. Could that be... Is it possible...

Hermione stared at me, and noticed my eyes searching Harry's forehead for the scar. She paled.

"Harry," she said, "She knows."