A Chaotic Encounter

Chapter 3 - The Books in Aisle 10

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"Excuse me, sir," called Hermione. The tall boy was shelving a new batch of books into the sturdy wooden case and by his nametag ("Hello, My name is Richard, how may I help you?") she sought him out as an amiable employee in a sea of fans.

She was wrong.

"Yes?" he answered stiffly, eyeing her with beady black eyes.

"Er... may I please speak to the manager?" she asked politely. He went back to squeezing a huge tome into, what looked to Hermione, an already full-to-bursting shelf.

"No," he answered bluntly.

Hermione was taken aback.

"Er... may I ask why?" she asked uncertainly.

He glared at her. "No!"

"Why?" she asked anyway.

"Because," he answered. He picked up the cardboard box and moved up the aisle to continue his task in another section. Hermione followed.

"That's not a reason... may I please speak to the manager?" she repeated.

"No," he answered, without even sparing her a glance. He pulled a stack of thin, green books titled ________ Through the Ages that Hermione looked curiously at as he ripped the clear plastic wrapping off and pushed them into the shelf. His thumb covered the first word of the title. She looked up at the top shelf and saw that they were in the Fantasy section. He picked up his box once more to move on into another section. She followed once more.

He stopped in front of the Biographies and put his box down to glare at her.

Hermione was reminded somewhat of Snape as she glared right back.

"I can file a customer complaint when I do see the manager, Richard," she threatened, much less confidently than she had intended.

"Go ahead," he replied, with a knowing smirk, crossing his arms over his chest. She stood awkwardly for a moment before finding her wits and turning on her heel back towards the line. She was sure to find another employee down there, where many were assigned to keep the crowds under control.

She strode quickly towards it, letting off steam and delighting in the thought of reporting this Richard character to the manager. She turned a corner and bumped right into someone.

It was Ron.

"Ron! Did you get anything?" she asked eagerly. He sighed.

"Er... I'm not really sure. A girl that I talked to up there pretended to be you and knew all about Dumbledore and Hogwarts and she even showed me her wand. She told me she was home-schooled, though. She's definitely a witch... but I'm not sure about the others... and I don't understand why she wouldn't tell me her real name, or why she called that fellow on me..." he pointed to the burly guard sulkily, "Any luck with the manager?"

"Not a bit. This employee that I spoke to was so rude! He wouldn't even give me a reason for not letting me to talk to the manager! I'm going to complain about him once I find the manager!" she declared resentfully.

"Bummer. Okay, we'd better split again." Ron decided, looking off to the right, "There's an employee down there. Try asking her."

Hermione followed his gaze and nodded. "Thanks. Good luck."

"You too," Ron turned to go but then stopped, "Have you seen Harry?"

"Nope, I'm sure he's doing fine though," Hermione answered confidently.

"Yeah, I mean, he's only looking for those books, that's easy enough."

"Yep, it's no trouble at all."

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Harry wound slowly through the aisles, sweeping his gaze over the multitudes of books lined neatly on the shelves. He hadn't seen any book about himself yet, albeit he wasn't looking too hard. He would rather not know what was going on at this point. He'd actually started at the very back of the store, with the cookery section, sure that the volume he was searching for wouldn't be lodged next to a book of Indian cuisine.

He turned at the end of the aisle and entered the vast Science Fiction section. He passed by a boy with flame-red hair and a black trench coat, speaking rapid Japanese into his mobile phone. The boy stared at him as he strolled by, causing him to turn red and flatten his bangs nervously.

He grinned at this gesture and gave Harry a thumbs-up.

Harry ran from the Science Fiction section as fast as he could.

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"Hi, my name is Ron," Ron introduced himself to an employee named Martha. She smiled at him.

"I can see that, Ron. I'm Martha," she said with a grin, as Ron stopped himself from panicking at her apparent recognition, "How can I help you?"

"Er... are you Muggle or Magical?" he asked bluntly, deciding he didn't care if she thought he was crazy.

"Ah, well I'm a witch of course," she replied, her eyes twinkling and mouth twitching into a smile.

"Ok, good, so am I. I mean, a wizard," Ron let out a breath of relief, "You're about the only person who's not pretending to be me, Hermione or Harry."

She laughed. "Well, the Hermione look didn't suit me too well so I thought I'd come natural, you know what I mean?"

Ron nodded, not knowing what she meant. "Yeah, hehe. So what's going on here, is everybody here Magical?"

"Well, I'm sure everybody in costume fancies their self to be Magical. As for the others, well they must be oblivious to it all." she answered kindly.

"Oh," Ron muttered, looking around at everyone with sudden understanding. Martha watched him for a moment before receiving a message via a headpiece wired to a black box fastened to her belt. She was asked to restock Aisle 7, the 'How to...' books. With a smile, she walked towards a door leading to a back room and Ron followed, waiting outside awkwardly when she entered it. She emerged a few minutes later holding a crate and looking surprised that he was still there. He followed her to Aisle 7 and stood back while she opened the crate and proceeded to add more books to the shelves.

"You're an odd one," she stated, glancing at him while he seemed to be thinking while watching her. He looked at her in confusion, "What's you're name?"

"Ron." he answered, somewhat annoyed at the repetition and then, remembering that he surrounded by imposters, he clarified, "The real Ron Weasley."

"Oh...er, yes, of course," she said, raising her eyebrows at him. He was debating whether to ask more about the books (which Harry would find out all about, no doubt) or ask whether this was a Wizarding establishment or Muggle, and then find Hermione and show her how very productive his inquiries were. He would rather do the latter, because that would give him an answer and an opportunity to show Hermione how much more efficient he was than her...

"So... which is your favorite?" Martha asked presently. He frowned in confusion.

"Favorite what...?"

"Which is your favorite Harry Potter book, I meant," she explained. Oh no, there was more than one?!? Harry had better tell him exactly what these books are about.

"Er... the first..." he answered, figuring that there had to be a first.

"Really? Personally, my favorite is Book 3, I thought the time turner idea, and when they all use it at the end, was beautifully written. My favorite part of Book 1 would have to be when Harry finally gets his Hogwarts letter in that little shack, the way Hagrid was presented and all. Which was your favorite part?" she asked cheerfully.

Ron couldn't help but panic. Time turner? Harry and Hermione had used that time-turner at the end of their third year to rescue Sirius Black and Buckbeak, Hagrid's hippogriff. If the time-turner was in book 3 that might mean that book 3 coincided with their third year at Hogwarts. He didn't know how Harry had received his Hogwarts letter, but if that was written in book 1, book 1 must coincide with their first year at Hogwarts. Ron blinked. But that would mean...

What else was in these books?

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Harry turned the corner into the Best Sellers section, hoping against hope that the books wouldn't be here. He held his breath as he walked slowly down the aisle, nervously glancing at the titles that began with the letter 'H'. He breathed a sigh of relief when he reached the end; sure that he hadn't seen it in there. He turned the next corner into Aisle 10 and stopped dead at the banner that hung above it.

It read, "The Magical World of Harry Potter" in bright yellow letters against a navy blue background, the 'P' in 'Potter' shaped like a lightning bolt, and an amateur drawing of himself flying underneath on a broomstick, the left arm outstretched, reaching for the snitch that hovered just a few inches from it. Below his image it said, "Welcome to Diagon Alley". The aisle was swarming with people and filled with books, posters, school supplies, and even plush owls, broomsticks, and cats.

A man pushed past Harry gruffly, bringing him back to earth. He blinked several times and when the same image re-occurred every time, he took a deep breath and stepped in, bracing himself for the horror to come. Upon stepping in, the first thing he saw was a stack of shiny, rubber twigs, with a sign above it that read, "Ollivanders, for the best wands this side of the Forbidden Forest!" and a picture of an old, leering man above it. Harry shook his head and walked passed it, coming to the books. There were several shelves stocked with the same book, in paperback and hard cover. Upon better inspection, not the same book, the same two books. No, wait, the same three books. The same...

Oh bloody hell.

There were four of them.