Utopia

UTOPIA

Gromit

Chapter Two

FAKE I.D.

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Remus Lupin woke up from a wonderful night´s sleep. It had been one of those rarities, which he treasured. He had no nightmares and didn´t wake up from a cold sweat. Things seemed to be normal. The magic world was getting back in gear. Voldemort was gone; there was no reason to worry.

No, there were things that still bothered him. Harry was very sick; in fact, he almost didn´t make it out of the fight alive. Voldemort tortured him constantly, but Harry had figured out to block away pain. It was grueling torture that he went through and Remus would´ve gone mad had that happened to him.

Harry was becoming quite a wizard; he was nearing the age of eighteen. Remus didn´t know what Harry was going to pursue for a wizarding profession. He had basically dropped off all communication with his only living relatives, the Muggle Dursleys, and was staying with Sirius Black. They didn´t care; Harry didn´t either. Black was the only seemingly real relative to Harry.

Sirius Black was undergoing his own trials--literally. Now that Voldemort was gone, Sirius and his close friends believed that it would be easy to prove his innocence. The one person who was most vital for the trials was missing--this man was Peter Pettigrew. The nasty worm was hiding and Remus personally wanted to find him. Remus shook away the urge to kill him. Pettigrew needed to be alive in order for the trials to take place. Black was allowed to stay in his secluded home within the edge of the Forbidden Forest, miles away from Hogwarts, almost in Muggle territory. It was reinforced magically so that he could not Apparate or leave without approval of the Ministry of Magic. Black was lucky that he didn´t have to stay at the crumbling Azkaban prison.

Remus yawned and stretched his long arms as an owl flew in with the Daily Prophet. There would be some news to occupy his mind as he sat down in a stiff wooden chair in the kitchen. He craved some coffee and toast and decided he´d prepare it the magical way. With a flick of his wand, the soft white bread became a delicious piece of pale brown toast and the steaming coffee appeared in a musty red mug instantaneously. As he munched on the toast--complete with orange marmalade--Remus flipped through the articles of the Daily Prophet. Not too many things were interesting to him:

Re-em Blood Sales Are At All-Time High

CANADA-The Institute for Maintaining Wild Magical Beasts near Ontario is facing many problems due to stolen Re-ems. "There´s obviously a connection between the sales of their blood. Yet, our institute is suffering significantly because of the disappearance...Sure, you might be a really strong wizard, but what good will that do when this giant beast is charging at you?" says Professor Victoria Boufee...

Bertie Bott Faces Charges With New Dung Flavor

LONDON- Bertie Bott, known for her famous "Every Flavor Beans," is facing charges with the dung-flavored bean. Many adults and children have had it with the over-occurrence of the gross flavors and claim to never buy the beans again. "There are plenty of alternative candies in the magic world that I wouldn´t mind eating. When there´s a chance that you could be eating dung...no, that´s not worth it," says a concerned witch.

Falcons to Contend with Macaws in Australia for the Cup

The Falmouth Falcons are up against the Moutohora Macaws in this year´s Quidditch World Cup. This year, it´s going to take place in Australia for the first time. Even though the Macaws are from New Zealand, the magical communities down south are already preparing for the big match. "Fancy flying will collide with the pugnacious antics of the Falcons," said amateur Quidditch player Oliver Wood. "The Falcons are good, but the Macaws have got strong support having the Cup take place in their own territory." Get your tickets now! Few seats are available!

Remus flipped back to the first page. There wasn´t too much going on in the news that he was amused with. He almost threw the parchment away when he noticed one article: Weasley Wizard Wheezes Founders Missing. The Weasley twins are missing?

Remus scanned the article. For some reason, he couldn´t just sit and read the whole thing slowly. He had always enjoyed Fred and George. They were troublemakers, but they reminded Remus of his own school years. The article mentioned something about a few other people mysteriously disappearing. It was odd because of the lack of conclusive information. Remus intended to find out what was going on. He hadn´t expected any weird news now that Voldemort was gone.

Rubbing his rough chin, Remus planned the day´s events. He really wanted to talk to one of the Weasleys and get the real story. While the Daily Prophet was good in obtaining wizard news, some of the journalists proved to be unreliable. But Remus didn´t have time to further plan his day because a snowy owl landed on his shoulder, holding a small piece of parchment. "Hedwig? Did Harry send you?" There was no response. "I bet it´s Sirius then." He unfurled the letter.

Remus,

Harry seems to be doing OK, but there hasn´t been a lot of improvement. I´m not sure if St. Mungo´s is the next step or not. He assented into letting me use Hedwig. You be the judge.

I really wanted to write you to inform you of some peculiar news concerning our Minister of Magic and his son. I would investigate personally, but I have my own binds, obviously. Unfortunately, it seems as if all the big heads are headed to America for the World Magic Council. So I´m in an odd position. They´ll probably refrain from having any trials until all of that business is over. That won´t be until August!

Well, I would just like to talk to you so stop on by as soon as possible and we can maybe have a drink. (I´ve got some new Ogden´s Firewhisky!) Most of the things on my mind are too risky to write in an owl letter, especially since I wasn´t originally able to write letters to anyone. Just come by as soon as possible.

-Sirius

Remus slowly frowned as he rolled the parchment. Things weren´t looking any better. He decided to clean up the kitchen a bit and make his bed before leaving his quaint cottage for Sirius´s. Then he would meet up with the Weasleys.

* * *

"I think you should go to America, Remus." Sirius suggested bluntly.

"What? Why?" Remus´s gray eyes were wide with shock.

"Shh, Harry is resting." Sirius pointed to a room down the small hallway of he cottage. The house was completely secluded from both the Muggle and Magic world. Remus was annoyed that he hadn´t found it first. It was on the outer edge of the Forbidden Forest, miles away from Hogwarts. Instead, Remus resided in a shabby place in the mountains near Hogsmeade.

"I can´t help but feel that something dodgy is going to happen--that´s all," Sirius continued; his shoulders shrugged.

"I can´t just leave and do some arbitrary investigating, we´re not the Marauders any more. You and I are the only true ones left." There was a long pause in the house.

"Malfoy´s son is missing. Who knows where he could be or even worse: what he could be doing! I don´t think that Voldemort´s wrath is gone--not gone by a long shot." Sirius rose from his chair, entered his kitchen and returned with two tall glasses of Ogden´s Firewhisky.

"I suppose you wouldn´t want to risk anything either," Remus sighed and reluctantly took one of the glasses. The tepid drink ran down his throat and left a refreshing sting. "You know that the Weasley twins are missing?"

Sirius nodded gloomily. "Read about it this morning. Do you think there´s a connection?"

"It´s soon to tell," Remus winced. The drink was too strong for him at ten in the morning. "I suppose Arthur will be at Emeraldon. Maybe I could find something out. But even then, what good will it do? I´m not sure I understand you´re intentions, Sirius."

"I don´t know. Like I said, I have this feeling."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Last time you had a feeling, we were locked in one of the dungeons for over five hours. All...four of us...."

"All the more reason; we need to find him. I don´t think he´ll be too far from Lucius."

"Fine, I´ll leave tonight. Hopefully, there´ll be proper lodging available--"

"I´ve got it all figured out!" Sirius dashed to his bedroom and retrieved a magic camera, a golden nametag, and a long brown trench coat. "Put this on and you´ll be Charlie Gordon, reporter for the Daily Prophet!"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "I don´t need a disguise. All I need is a room and food!"

"Nonono. With this nametag, you´ll be given a prime suite at the Emeraldon Complex. Of course, you´ll need the alias to keep the secret going. Plus, there will be plenty of people who know Remus Lupin. I think that if you want to really get some good info, you´ll have to be Charlie Gordon," Sirius grinned.

"What in the--" Remus was befuddled. "How did you get this stuff?"

"I was going to do this as an investigator but then I have all of these restrictions at the house; I´m pretty much trapped here. I´m lucky I´m not back in Azkaban right now--I can´t risk it. You, however, can," Sirius was begging with hopeful eyes, much like a dog, which was perfectly fitting for him.

"I hope you realize that the next full moon is in four days. I´ll need at least a week to find anything good. What will I do then?" Remus.

"Find Lucius and bite him hard."

* * *

Hermione Granger and Cho Chang were working hard in their room in the Magical Expansion wing of the Emeraldon Complex. The young women were in charge of the Ministry's world magic tours. The World Magic Council was not only for discussions of the current magic world, as it was for showcasing the ideas of different magical communities of the world.

Cho sighed heavily, "I think this room will do. I suppose we´re only providing a wonderful touring experience and all. Doesn´t sound too important in many people´s minds."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione raised her voice scornfully. "This is a wonderful idea! There´s no better way to get wizards and witches to be more accepting of each other in different countries. I´d do anything to view the world from a magical perspective. Unfortunate we never had Magic Geography as a course in Hogwarts."

A brilliant flying carpet of sparkling yellow, orange, and red circled the room, which was full of miniature displays of the temples of Mexico and the Pyramids of Egypt, to the dazzling reef in Australia. But beyond their tourist appeal was their magical appeal as well. The ancient magic sites of the jungle temples of Mexico and Brazil had plenty of exotic and deadly magical lures. It was just one of the various sites that was on the itinerary for the tours.

"I suppose," Cho said half-heartedly. "I just don´t understand why the Ministry is making us do this. I can understand your position, just out of Hogwarts and all. But I´ve been on the waiting list for so long. I´ve patiently waited for an apprenticeship at the Ministry and nothing´s happened."

"But we´re here," Hermione declared. "We can sit in on so many different meetings and debates. The entire world of magic is gathering tomorrow. This is a fascinating experience, Cho."

Cho smiled lightly as she retrieved her wand and stopped the magic carpet in the air. "I suppose I should be grateful about this. The Ministry´s in disarray anyhow...."

Hermione nodded in approval. "True. I´m not sure what to think about Malfoy being the Minister of Magic. But I never liked Fudge either." Hermione became lost in her thoughts.

"Crookshanks just left the room. Don´t know if you want him skulking around the Complex or not."

"Don´t worry about him," Hermione said. "He´ll return soon enough. Always does." She checked her watch. "It´s almost time for dinner. I hear there are some excellent restaurants in Emeraldon."

"I don´t know, I think some people may pass by yet. We could always order via House-El--"

"That´s completely unnecessary. Let´s have a bit of fun in America and see the sights. I´m considering this as a vacation and intend to enjoy it."

Cho rolled her eyes. Hermione was going to enjoy the Council whether she got to "see the sights" or not. This was an opportunity Hermione couldn´t miss. Cho also suspected that Hermione still had some disapproval of House Elf labors. Cho was going to say something but a tall man in a brown trench coat entered the display room.

"Hello, can we help you?" Hermione said, congenially.

"Er--no, that´s quite all right. I didn´t expect to see you two--er...."

"Excuse me?" Cho raised an eyebrow. "We´re about ready to eat now so if you would--"

"Oh, I´m terribly sorry." The man said as he gained his composure. "I´m Mr. Gordon with the Daily Prophet. Just doing a bit of a self-guided tour of the Complex. Um--yes, that´s what I´m doing." His nervous brown eyes wandered around the room.

"Are you sure? You seem a bit lost," Hermione implied. "We could direct you to your room."

"Um..." Mr. Gordon scratched his head. His black hair actually shined in the dim light of the room. "I´m sorry to bother you now. I actually have an interviewed scheduled now. Good night." The reporter dashed out of the room.

"That was odd," Cho placed her arms on her hips, ruffling her navy robes.

"He seemed familiar to me. But I don´t know where I´ve seen him before." Hermione placed a finger on her lips and frowned.

"I don´t know. He seemed shady to me," Cho continued. "Come on, let´s go out and get a bite to eat. I´m in the mood for some sea food."

Hermione realized that she was craving some food too. All too often she let her work get in the way of normal daily occurrences. "I think some food would be lovely." Cho turned off the lights as Hermione locked the door. She didn´t want to risk the chance of the odd reporter snooping around.

* * *

Draco, where are you? Lucius slammed his fists on his nightstand near his overly luxurious waterbed. The blue wand sat on the floor, beckoning him. Lucius didn´t know whether he should walk into Boledge´s offer or not, but he had mentioned something about Draco. There are some people who want you dead right now because of your son's actions. The words echoed in his mind, as if he was standing in a long bare corridor and someone was shouting at the top of his lungs. Each syllable reverberated after the other.

Lucius looked at his watch. The silver watch glowed the time of 9:52. Eight minutes...eight more minutes and I don´t know what to do. Draco was supposedly running around in some special place in the magical world. Lucius had no idea. Draco was given the mansion for the summer as he went under his apprenticeship to become an Unspeakable, a formidable position for a man fresh out of Hogwarts.

9:55

"Damn you, Boledge." Lucius rushed over to his fireplace and summoned Narcissa, who was in France trying to sell some particular items that a Minister of Magic should not have.

Instead of a bobbing head of his lovely wife appearing in the fireplace, only a loud voice sounded: I´m out and about right now, taking care of business. If it´s urgent, too bad, I´m busy. Lucius smiled. The guile of his wife amazed him; she was the perfect match for him. Unfortunately, he desperately needed to talk with her. He was growing more and more fearful about the meeting with Boledge within the next few minutes. He wouldn´t dare do anything to me, though. If he knows something about Draco, I´ve got nothing to loose-- except my son.

He picked up the wand. It was 9:59.

"Utopia--" A flash of blue consumed the room and Lucius disappeared.

* * *

Lucius squinted his eyes at the bright light. The blue flash subsided but the light did not. He was in awe; the entire area around him was white. The stark landscape stretched for miles. Occasionally, there would be a frosted evergreen here or there, but the land was immaculate. It was snow; Ivan Boledge sent Lucius to a land full of snow. Bulgaria isn´t like this, is it? Lucius thought.

There was no apparent path to take, as there were no footprints in the snow. Lucius was completely alone in an unknown land. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in rage. How foolish it was of him to believe Boledge. Lucius had no idea who the man was, but he remembered the words he said about Draco. His son was missing and people wanted Lucius killed because of where Draco was. Someone who has information like this could not be ignored.

Shivering, Lucius arbitrarily headed forward, hoping to find something useful in the desolate land. Climbing up a tall hill was more work than he wanted, but there seemed to be no other option. At least there´s no wind. This would be bloody cold. The coldness did, however, begin to get to Lucius. First, the tips of his ears began to sting and then his nose had very little feeling. I´m going to hurt you, Boledge. Whenever I find you. Lucius began fishing for his wand. He kept it with him all of the time, in his left pocket, which was easy access, should he ever need to use it. Lucius didn´t remember if he had dropped the blue wand that seemed to transport him like a Portkey. He wasn´t about to turn around and search for it in the snow. Just over a hundred meters ahead of him was a small cave. For some reason, it gave him a chance of hope and his pace quickened.

Heaving heavily, Lucius reached the cave and fell to the ground. His fingers were numb and were probably frostbitten. The cold was unbearable and it seemed as if there would be no relief in the cavern. Fury swelled within his body. "IIVVAANNN!!!! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!" The shouting echoed strangely and a rumbling sounded above Lucius. Small chunks of snow fell from above the mouth of the little cavern. Soon, the rumble grew more intense and a multitude of icicles and snow crashed down above him. Lucius shrieked in horror as the snow pounded on top of him. Fortunately, an arm gripped Lucius´ cloak and pulled him from the minor avalanche. It startled Lucius and he cried out again, but he was no longer buried under the hellacious cold.

"Aren´t you going to thank me?" said a jovial voice.

Lucius couldn´t think or even react. Instead, he breathed heavily with his wet blond hair dangling in front of his eyes.

"Lucius? What´s wrong?"

What´s wrong? Who knows how long I could´ve been buried under that and you want to know what´s wrong with that?

"I suppose you´re wondering about where I´ve been. I had some minor business to attend to. Come along, we´ll go to my mansion. It´s warmer there."

Lucius didn´t reply. He just stood up and followed the foolish man.

After regaining his composure, Lucius realized that the man was Boledge. He wanted to hurt him badly, but the warm mansion was incentive enough to refrain from any beating he would give. He also wanted to talk more about Draco and why they were in a land with snow in the middle of summer.

The mansion was not more than a few hundred yards from the "avalanche." Boledge suggested it was the loud shouting that caused it. In reality, the avalanche was nothing more than a bit of snow falling from the top of the small hill above the crevice. It was perfectly mild. When the two wizards reached the mansion, Lucius was horrified. It was constructed completely out of ice. Boledge is mad, that´s the only conclusion I can draw up.

"Welcome to my humble abode. Don´t worry about the ice walls. They´re just on the outside. It´s much warmer inside, I can assure you." Ivan winked. Lucius rolled his eyes.

Upon approaching the mansion, Lucius was mystified by the wonderment of the mansion grounds. A sparkling blue path was surrounded by giant ice sculptures of various magical beasts that Lucius hadn´t even seen in his entire life. Toward the great doors stood a regal chimera. Though it was an ice sculpture, Lucius swore he saw it breathing. It was stunning how such an exhausting land could hold horrifying beauties.

The interior of the mansion was stunning. Lucius was actually jealous. The white marble floor stretched down the long halls. Midnight blue rugs spun along the winding staircases. Lucius´ eyes diverted to a puzzling tapestry of the solar system. The nine unique planets were revolving around the sun, which appeared to be glowing. The stars twinkled magically as well. Lucius became more and more at ease in the comforting manor.

"Care for something to drink? Tea? Coffee?" Boledge offered.

Lucius considered the tantalizing offer, but he shook his head. "No, let´s talk business. Where is my son?"

"I suppose you want to cut to the chase?" Ivan smiled, pushing his thin, circular glasses up his face. Lucius stared in annoyance. He was sick of the games. Ivan took the hint. "Well, welcome to Utopia. I think you´ve started to enjoy the wonders it may hold. This ice kingdom cannot be found in the physical Muggle or Magic world. This is my own world that I´ve created within Utopia. There are many others as well."

"What? I´ve never heard of such a thing." Lucius frowned.

"That´s why this is very strange. You see," Ivan continued, "your son is in this world. This magical world is unlike anything on the earth. Utopia is constructed of a chain of worlds. They are spectacular, truly amazing, I assure you. The odd thing is the fact that your son has been given access but you haven´t."

"What on earth--"

"It´s hard to believe, I realize, but please let me explain. We have reason to believe that the access information to Utopia has been withheld from you. Somehow, your son made the right connections and entered within the past few weeks. Has he been in the manor alone during then?"

Lucius paused and began to think. Of course Draco was in the manor alone. Lucius practically lived in his office at the Ministry. It had a bedroom and bath. His wife was in and out doing business, keeping the image of the Malfoys in check. But why did Draco´s staying at the manor matter. "Why does it matter?"

"Because," Ivan´s eyes widened, "the necessary information has been in your manor for over five years. It was the hope that you would be the leader of the Eight and help us build the Utopia Empire. Our intentions must be made known to the world very soon."

Lucius was startled by the information. Most of it made no sense to him. The most startling bit was the fact that he had the opportunity to know about this obviously secretive project for quite some time. Someone must have been withholding it; could it have been Draco?

"I´m still not sure I really understand," said Lucius who was very confused.

"I don´t expect to you to right now." Ivan scratched his head and pondered. "It´s too risky to say anything here. So in four nights there will be meeting of the Eight. It´s there that you will understand what Utopia is really about. I think the path to true magic power will be revealed to you. We need guidance and you are it." Ivan paused and scanned the surroundings of the mansion entrance. He took a deep breath. "The plans of the Dark Lord must be carried out very soon. We can achieve an amazing amount magical domination."

* * *

"What do we do, Fred?" small beads of sweat dripped down George´s face. Fred stood in utter disbelief. There was no way that this could be happening.

"Bagman..." It was all that Fred said.

"You really think he d--"

"Bagman tricked us. That card he gave us was some kind of warped Portkey. This is one sick joke," Fred spat in disgust.

"But why? We never did anything to him!" George reasoned. He was trying to think of the logic behind the strange transportation but he couldn´t think of anything. "So what do we do? I´m sure we could just Apparate out of here."

Fred smiled. Of course it would work! "Let´s do that. Let´s head to the Burrow." The twins focused completely on the dilapidated Weasley house. It was the most comforting home to the brothers. After a long pause, there was no change.

"Not only is Bagman a horrible git, he´s a smart one too. Magic seems to be canceled here." George searched the desolate landscape. It was a red, dusty desert. The sky was a brownish orange and gave no hint of the sun.

"So what should we do?" Fred asked, impatiently. There weren´t too many options. George scanned the landscape. About a mile away stood a soaring black tower.

"Let´s go to that tower over there," he pointed. "Maybe if we climb it we can see where we are or find people who live around here. There´s bound to be something."

Fred hesitated. The tower was incredibly ominous and Fred got a very foreboding sense from it. However there was absolutely nothing in sight except for the looming tower. "I don´t think there´s any other choice. Let´s go." The brothers sighed and started the trek.

After a minute, the heat became unbearable. George threw off his robe and sent it across the ground. It kicked up a lot of dust and sand and blew away with it. Fred took his robe off too, but he didn´t throw it away. "There´s a chance that this place could get real cold at night and there you go, chucking your robe to who knows where!"

"I need a new one anyway," George grinned. Fred shook his head. They continued on as their hair became increasingly wet from the sweat.

The tower was incredible. It was purely black and didn´t seem very welcoming. There were only a few tiny windows scattered along the walls. The pinnacle of the tower held various beastly gargoyles. Both Fred and George began to reconsider their decision, but their dry throats and weary bodies told them otherwise.

"If we reach the top, we´ll get a better look at this dump. I think this is deserted. I hope it is...." Fred didn´t sound too sure of himself. George trudged on and moved to open the large door; however, the door opened all by itself

A long, mysterious shadow appeared on the dank floor of the tower. Fred and George had no time to react as the being of the shadow leapt on top of them, showing no signs of mercy.

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