Out of the Books

Chapter 13 - A Story from another World

"Now, would you please take your dog and leave this shop!" Liz and Jack were interrupted in their staring at the book by the rude and angry voice of the clerk.

Liz forced herself to look away from the title, which mentioned her oldest son and told Jack and the children to take Padfoot outside with them and wait in front of the shop, while she would buy the book.

Liz took a deep breath and reached for the book up in the shelf. Her heart was thumping wildly as her hands touched the smooth paper, protecting the hard cover.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

It was unbelievable. How could someone, some author, know about her son? Was this book even about her son at all, or was this all a huge coincidence, a cosmic joke of fate?

She turned the book around, trying to calm herself down enough to read the blurb.

On the left side of the back cover there was a young man in a purple wizard's robe, a giant book under his right arm and and a pipe in his left hand. On the right side there was a short text on what the book was about.

Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy - until he is rescued by an owl, taken to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns to play Quidditch, and does battle in a deadly dual. The Reason: HARRY POTTER IS A WIZARD!

Crazy! Just crazy! she thought, shaking her head. Almost like in a trance, the book clutched tightly in her hand, Liz went to the checkout to pay for it. The clerk scowled at her as he typed in the price, but Liz didn't even notice.

"What took you so long?" Jack asked impatiently when she finally exited the shop.

"Look at this!" the words bubbled out of Liz. "This book is really about him! It's really about Harry," she rattled on excitedly.

"Let me see!" Amy rushed forward to take a closer look on the book.

"Is that really our brother?" Leo pointed at the boy on the cover in amazement.

Liz nodded. "Well, he looks a bit different. It's a drawing after all and not a fotograph. His hair is darker and not so tidy, but you can recognize him," she said quietly, still stunned about the possibility of finding a sign of her lost son in a bookstore of all places, open for all the world to see. Only the rest of the world would assume the book would be just that. A nice children's novel.

There was an awkward pause as the whole family stared at the book, not really knowing what to say.

"Well, what now?" Jack broke the silence.

"Let's go home and read it," Amy suggested eagerly.

"Yes, we can go to Powderham another time. Let's go home right now," Leo agreed.

Jack and Liz shared a half anxious, half excited look and shrugged. "Okay then, why don't we go back to the car."

Padfoot barked excitedly and ran some steps in the direction of the parking lot, then turned around and watched them impatiently as if to tell them to hurry up.

For none of them the car ride from Exeter to Dawlish had ever felt so long, as they rode in silence, each lost in their own thoughts of what would be written in this book.

The book itself lay in the trunk together with the hoops, Liz's new shoes and Jack's new suit. Liz had thought it best to put it away during the drive, as she didn't want the children to read ahead.

When they finally arrived at home, Jack put the shoppings away, while Liz prepared some ice tea and fruits and gave Leo and Amy some blankets to carry into the garden, so that they all could go outside to read.

Everyone hurried up with their tasks and shortly after the Pearson's and Padfoot sat gathered on a blanket under a large chestnut tree in the garden, ready to start reading the book.

They had decided to take turns reading out loud and Jack would begin.

He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, while he let the book fall open on his lap.

"Chapter 1, The Boy who lived," he read with dry voice. He had to drink some ice tea, before he could go on. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much..."

Jack read on. Liz, Amy, Leo and Padfoot listened attentively, although especially the children interrupted him several times with comments such as "So, Petunia Dursley is your sister, Mum? Then Vernon and she are our aunt and uncle! Urgh!" said Leo.

"Are they really like this?" asked Amy curiously.

Jack snorted in disgust and nodded, while Liz looked at him reproachfully.

When Jack reached the part, where Hagrid brought Harry with the flying motorcycle, Padfoot started barking excitedly and the twins looked askingly first at him, then at their parents.

But then Jack read Hagrid's answer of where he got it from, "Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it me."

Leo and Amy grinned at Padfoot. "Wow," Leo exclaimed. "I want to ride on a motorcycle like that!"

But the excitement about the motorcycle didn't last long. Padfoot, Liz and Jack knew already that Harry was going to have to grow up with the Dursleys and the twins dreaded the worst for Harry as well, when Dumbledore put the little boy on the doorstep of Liz's sister.

Learning about how the Dursleys treated Harry put Liz's and Jack's patience to a test.

"If we ever get back to our world I'm going to kick their arses!" Jack growled after he read how Vernon told Harry that he didn't want "any funny business" during their trip to the zoo.

Liz ignored Jack's bad language for once and nodded grimly.

With the book going on and Harry getting deeper into trouble with the Dursleys, first for setting the boa constrictor free and later for getting the Hogwarts letters, it became harder and harder for Jack to continue reading as he was shaking with rage.

But when Liz suggested to make a short break, he just shook his head determinedly. But he didn't say no, when Amy offered to read on.

Amy was just at the description of the pathetic little hut, where Vernon had carried the family off to flee from the letters when Liz gasped, "I dreamed about that. Hagrid must break into the hut any second."

Amy continued, "A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair."

Padfoot and Jack nodded. "Yep, that's definitely Hagrid," Jack said, smiling at his wife. "That was the dream you had at the campfire during this one vacation, wasn't it?" he asked and Liz nodded and returned his smile shakily.

Leo put a hand on his mother's shoulder. "Cheer up Mum, he will go to that Hogwarts School now, far away from the Dursleys."

Liz gave her son another little smile and turned to Amy, ready for her to read on.

When Amy had finished the chapter, the sun was already standing quite deep in the western sky and drenched the garden in a rich golden light. A soft cool wind had come up and Liz shivered slightly in the breeze.

"I think, here is a good point for having a small break," she suggested. "Why don't I fix some sandwiches and you put the blanket away and take the dishes into the kitchen. We can continue reading inside then."

Amy and Leo nodded a bit reluctantly. They wanted to know what Hagrid would show their brother. They wanted to know everything about this wonderful wizard world, where their parents had grown up in and in which Harry was about to be introduced.

But judging from their growling stomachs, the suggestion of their mother had its merrits as well. Having become a bit lazy from sitting in the sun and listening all afternoon long, they slowly got up and folded the blanket, while Liz was already on her way into the kitchen.

After putting the blanket and the dishes away, Amy and Leo went into the kitchen to help their parents prepare the food, so that they could sit down to continue the book as fast as possible.

It was Liz's turn to read now. Jack chuckled about Hagrid, when he took Harry to London by tube. "That's so typical Hagrid - talking loudly about all the mugglethings like escalators and ticket machines."

Liz grinned. "Oh, come on, as if you were any better on our first flight by air plane. Do you remember the fuzz you made, going through the security."

The twins looked at each other and grinned. "Oh, Dad, I can imagine what it was like: 'Hey, what are you doing? Leave my wand alone, I still need that,...'"

Jack had grown slightly pink in the face while his children were poking fun on him. "Oh, shut up you two. You have no idea, what it was like. You haven't even flown yourselves yet." He turned to his wife, who could barely suppress her mirth. "Why don't you continue reading?" he said a bit grumpily.

Reading about Harry and his amazement, when he first went to Diagon Alley and drank in its unique atmosphere, caused Liz pangs of sadness. It should have been James and her who had taken their son to this wizarding shopping area, who accompanied him to buy his first Hogwarts robes, his first school books and his first wand.

His first wand. Liz found the passage where Harry went to Olivanders very interesting.

"That explains it!" she exclaimed. "That explains why we were at this graveyard when Harry and Voldemort were fighting each other. It was priori incantatem!" she said breathlessly.

"Mum, what are you talking about?" Leo wanted to know impatiently.

Liz took a deep breath. "You know that your Dad only remembered our world after we both had the same dream about two years ago? We dreamt that we were shadows, coming out of Voldemort's wand. But that really happened, because Harry's and Voldemort's wand have the same cores and when they were cursing each other, the last incantations from Voldemorts wand could be seen - and one of his last magical acts were to kill us," she explained.

Jack had a look of understanding on his face and Padfoot nodded enthusiastically. He remembered how Dumbledore had explained this phenomenon. But Leo and Amy looked totally lost. Amy was just about to ask for further details, but Leo shook his head forcefully.

"Let's read on for now. I want to know what happens next."

Leo and Amy barely listened for the next few pages where Harry spent the last month of the holidays at the Dursleys. They were too excited and eager to know how Harry's new school would be.

Only when Uncle Vernon made fun of Harry leaving from platform 9 ¾, they pricked up their ears. "How can he leave from platform 9 ¾? There is no such thing! Why doesn't Harry wonder about it?" asked Leo.

Liz smiled at her son, "Of course there is. At least in a world where wizards exist. You don't think the schooltrain would leave from an ordinary platform, do you? Think of the attention from muggles that would draw."

Amy shook her head. "Let's just continue the story, shall we?"

Harry's helplessness at King's Cross to find the right platform let Leo and Amy exchange a knowing glance, while Padfoot, Liz and Jack growled at uncle Vernon's and aunt Petunia's gloating and leaving Harry stand alone on this huge train station.

Still, Liz breathed a sigh of relief, when she read, "'-packed with Muggles, of course-' Harry swung around. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair."

"Ha, sounds like the Weasleys to me," exclaimed Jack, while Padfoot nodded enthusiastically.

"Who are the Weasleys?" asked Amy curiously.

"Oh, they are an old wizard family. They all have red hair and usually they have many children. Molly and Arthur Weasley were very good friends with my parents. Arthur and my Dad worked together at the Ministry of Magic," Jack explained.

The twins were immediately thrilled about Fred and George and were quite happy to hear that they helped Harry with his trunk. They also thought it great that the youngest Weasley brother went to sit with Harry on the train - and even more they liked how Harry quickly became friends with Ron and chose him over Draco Malfoy.

Liz and Jack chuckled about Harry and Ron being worried about the Sorting. "I guess it is the same with every new class at Hogwarts," smiled Jack.

"Yes, do you remember how Dwyn Lovegood told everyone how his father had said that we needed to find a Crumple Horned Snorkack in the Castle?" grinned Liz. "I'm amazed that up to now, nobody had told their children how the Sorting really takes place before coming to Hogwarts."

Leo and Amy looked at each other blankly, as Padfoot and Jack howled with laughter. They shook their heads and with their eyes they asked Liz to just continue with the story.

Even though everyone in the room knew that Harry was a Gryffindor, they all listened with held breath as Liz read about Harry's encounter with the Sorting Hat.

"Why does the hat even consider to put him into Slytherin at all? Of course he is a Gryffindor! There should be no doubt at all!" wondered Jack indignantly.

Liz had reached the passage about the Welcoming Feast and as she read the colourful description of the food, Leo's stomach growled loudly.

"Oh my," Liz exclaimed. "It is already past nine! Don't you all think, it would be time for some dinner?"

Jack, Padfoot, Leo and Amy looked at each other uncertainly, not knowing whether their hunger or their curiosity were the larger desires to be fulfilled.

"Well, let us finish this chapter, and then we can eat something, okay?" Liz suggested .

Dinner consisted of some more sandwiches. Liz wanted to fix some proper meal, but as Jack pointed out that they had already had a large lunch in town today, she agreed that sandwiches would do as well.

Leo would read the next chapters. He and Amy were amazed about Hogwarts. The castle itself, the moving portraits, the lessons the young wizards and witches had to learn, (with the exception of Potions with Snape of course) the Gryffindor common room, and most of all Flying fascinated them. More than once one of them exclaimed, "Oh, I would like to see that!"

They were deeply impressed with Harry's performance during Madam Hooch's flying lesson. "Wow, and he never did this before?" said Leo in awe, who could imagine that flying took quite some practicing, even though he had never flown himself.

Jack and Liz had listened raptly as well and now exchanged a look which could be interpreted somewhere between anxiety and pride. "How could he have done that before? He grew up with the Dursleys, remember?" Jack whispered disbelievingly.

Jack was totally thrilled of the aftermath of Harry's stunt during the flying class.

"How cool is that of old McGonagall?" he cheered. "Harry will be the youngest Seeker in over a century or something like that!"

Liz smiled indulgently at her husband, a proud twinkle lingering in her eyes as she told Leo to continue reading.

During the next pages, Leo and Amy started poking more and more fun on Hermione. She quoted stupid rules for every occasion and kept Harry from experiencing fun stuff. When their pointed remarks about her became too much to Liz, after the encounter with the three-headed dog, she frowned. "Harry would do well to listen to someone who has some common sense. He does seem to get into quite some trouble. Really, I wouldn't be surprised if they turned out to become friends."

Padfoot made some amused noise, while Jack rolled his eyes at Liz. Of course, she would know who Harry's friends are. She had probably dreamed about them after all.

Leo, who had missed Jack's look, gaped at his mother. "Mum, how can our brother become friends with someone like that? She is absolutely uptight and seems like a real pain in the - "

"Leo, don't you dare finish that sentence!" she said sternly. "Just read on."

It turned out that Liz was right with her prediction that Harry and Ron would become friends with Hermione, as Leo and Amy realized in shock after they finished reading the chapter where a troll had come into the school on Halloween.

It was Jack's turn to read again and he was thrilled to see that this chapter was about Harry's first Quidditch game. He was so excited to read about his son flying that he sounded more like sports commentator than like someone reading a story book.

He also became really angry about Snape trying to hex Harry's broom.

"You slimy git! What do you think you are doing?!? That is my son you are putting into danger," he growled dangerously under his breath and Padfoot barked belligerently in agreement.

When Harry caught the snitch in the end anyway, he punched the air in triumph. "That's my boy," he said, his eyes shining with pride. "And Hermione, setting Snivellus on fire - that girl is much better than she seemed in the beginning, isn't she?" he said, winking at Leo.

After the Quidditch match, when Harry, Ron and Hermione talked to Hagrid about Snape, Fluffy and Nicholas Flamel, Leo sighed and said, "Too bad, they don't know that they are in a book and too bad they don't know the title."

Liz, Jack and Amy gave him puzzled looks. "What are you talking about," Amy asked a bit irritated.

"If they knew the title, they would know that a Philosopher's Stone, whatever that is, is under the trapdoor," Leo explained as if it was totally clear.

"That's right," admitted Amy after some seconds. "I hadn't thought about that."

Leo had a smug look on his face, as he turned to his father again to listen to him reading on.

When Christmas approached at Hogwarts, Jack became excited again. "I just thought of something!" he exclaimed. "I got my cloak at my first Christmas in Hogwarts and I told Albus to give it to Harry then, in case we wouldn't be around. I wonder whether he remembered," he said giddily. Then he turned at Padfoot. "You know whether Harry has it now, don't you?" he asked eagerly.

But Padfoot just gave him a look which clearly said that he just would have to read on to find out.

Liz thought for a moment. "Oh, I'm sure he hasn't forgotten. But I doubt he will give him something that would encourage him to break rules already in his first year."

"What cloak are you talking about?" Amy wanted to know.

"Oh, you'll see," Jack answered, smiling secretly as he read on.

As Harry got his presents on Christmas morning, Jack let out a delighted whoop, as if he had gotten the present himself. "He really gave it to him," he said happily. "Now he can go and find the Philosopher's Stone"

"James, you're talking like Prongs again," Liz said appalled and reproachfully. "You are talking about our son after all. Of course he will find the stone, but he will be in such grave danger doing that."

It still took quite some time and some other applications of the cloak, including Harry finding the Mirror of Erised, at which point Liz had tears in her eyes, and Harry and Hermione smuggling a dragon from Hagrid's hut to the Astronomy Tower, before Jack's prediction came true and Harry, Ron and Hermione used the cloak to sneak to the third floor corridor in order to rescue the stone from Snape.

Amy, who was reading now, was impressed with the courage and the team work of Ron, Harry and Hermione. "They complement each other so perfectly," she commented in amazement. "And Leo, they are even three years younger than we are now. That's just so unbelievable what they are doing."

Liz was unusually quiet. She knew what would wait at the end of this obstacle course. She knew that Harry would face Voldemort in only a few pages. She had dreamt about it. Her heart was hammering hard in her chest as she listened raptly how Harry and his friends solved one task after the other, only to get closer to the most dangerous chamber.

Liz sucked her breath in sharply, as Amy read the last sentences of the chapter: "--then he was on the other side, in the last chamber. There was already someone there--but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort."

"What?" Leo asked, totally perplex. "Who is it then?"

Liz just shook her head, she and Jack had known that it would be Quirrell, but she hadn't said anything to not spoil the book to the twins, but now she was a bit impatient with their surprise. She just wanted the book to go on.

The encounter with Voldemort was exactly the way she had dreamt it. Only then she had not known what they were saying, as she had never heard any noise in her dreams.

Jack put a reassuring arm around his wife. He hadn't known what Harry had to face down there. Sure Liz had told him once, but she had been a bit vague about her whole dream, and honestly, Jack couldn't blame her after he heard what had happend in this chamber under the school.

"Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm, and hung on as tight as he could. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off--the pain in Harry's head was building--he couldn't see--he could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of, "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" and other voices, maybe in Harry's own head, crying, "Harry! Harry!"

He felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from his grasp, knew all was lost, and fell into blackness, down ... down... down...," Amy read in a hoarse and an horror-stricken whisper.

There was a pause, heavy with silence.

"That is how far I dreamed. I want to know what happened next," Liz said quietly, visibly shaken.

Amy nodded and swallowed to clear her throat.

They breathed a collective sigh of relief as they realized that Harry was safe in the hospital wing, with Dumbledore visiting him.

Liz and Jack found the conversation between Harry and Dumbledore quite interesting, although especially Jack was somewhat cross with Dumbledore. "Why did he put Harry in danger like that? I'm sure he knew exactly that Harry was looking for the stone and he even gave him the cloak and showed him how the Mirror of Erised worked. Looks like he planned for Harry to find it," he rambled on angrily.

Liz managed a little smile as she remembered that Jack himself was totally delighted that Harry would use the cloak to go after the stone, but she decided not to bring that up now. Instead she listened how her daughter finished the book.

"Hope you have--er--a good holiday," said Hermione, looking uncertainly after Uncle Vernon, shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant.

"Oh, I will," said Harry, and they were surprised at the grin that was spreading over his face. "They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer...."

Amy yawned and stretched, still holding the book in her right hand. "Wow, that was quite some story," she commented, sounding a bit tired.

"Yes, it's really amazing," added Jack. "I wonder how this Joanne Rowling knows all this stuff."

"Well," Liz said and took the book from her daughter and put it down on the table purposefully. "We should find her and ask her, shouldn't we?"