Out of the Books

Chapter 14 - Meet the Author

"That is so strange to think of a character in a book as our brother," said Leo as he flipped through the pages of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" yet again. Even though the book was not older than three days, it looked already very used.

"Yes, I know," Amy agreed. "And it's even stranger to think of him as our older brother, seeing as in the story he was three years younger than we are now."

The twins were lying under the large chestnut tree, where they had read the book together with their parents two evenings before. It was the first opportunity for them to discuss the book among themselves without their parents or Padfoot around. On Sunday all five of them had talked about Harry and his adventures all day long, after having slept almost until noon, of course. Their parents had told them about some more customs in the wizarding world and their Mum had spoken openly about all her other dreams in front of the twins for the first time.

Amy and Leo had listened attentively and had eagerly soaked up all information about this other world, but now they were glad as well to talk without someone around who knew everything better than they did.

"What do you think would happen, if we really went to the wizarding world?" Amy wondered.

Leo turned over on his belly and chewed on a straw as he thought about the question.

"I don't know," he said finally. "We could probably help Harry to fight against Voldemort, couldn't we? That would come as a nasty shock to that evil bastard to have Mum, Dad and Sirius coming back from the 'dead'. And us he doesn't even know at all."

Amy shrugged, somewhat unconvinced. "But wouldn't it come as a shock to Harry as well to suddenly have a family after all those years?"

"Yes, probably," Leo admitted slowly, but then was interrupted by their mother's car turning into the driveway. "Look, Mum is home," he said, standing up.

When Liz climbed out of the car and saw her children, a bright smile lit up her whole face.

"Guess what," she beamed at Amy and Leo as they walked over to greet her.

"What, Mum?" asked Amy eagerly.

"We're going to Edinburgh next Saturday," she said and smiled at the blank faces, which met her announcement. "There we are going to meet someone..." she continued to raise the suspension.

"Mum," Leo wailed impatiently after Liz had made no indication that she would continue talking. "Who are we going to meet?"

Liz smiled again and took a deep breath. "Joanne K. Rowling"

Amy gasped. "But isn't that the author of the book? How did you do that?"

Liz winked at her daughter. "Sometimes working at a newspaper helps you to get in touch with people. We will meet Mrs. Rowling on Saturday for tea and she told me to bring my whole family. So we are all going," she said happily.

The following week seemed to crawl by extremely slowly, but when Leo, Amy and Padfoot stood behind the stage of the school anniversary on Friday afternoon, getting ready for their show, it was as if they had only blinked and the week had been over.

"Is it full? How many are there? Where are Mum and Dad sitting?" asked Amy urgently as she watched impatiently how Leo clawed at a small hole in the bluish-grey curtain which covered the back-stage of the school auditorium.

"In the last rows there are some empty seats. Mum and Dad are sitting in the third row to our left," Leo whispered close to Amy's ear to make sure she heard him over the singing of the choir on the stage.

Amy nodded shortly and there was a concentrated silence between the twins as the choir finished and the audience applauded. Padfoot, who was sitting at the twin's feet, yawned pointedly and put his head on his paws. Amy scowled at him, before checking her watch excitedly for what felt like the hundreth time this evening. "One more song, then it will be our turn," she murmured, a hint of stage-fright making her voice tight.

Leo leaned casually sideways against the door frame, leading to the storage room behind the stage, and crossed his arms. He felt as if standing in line for a roller coaster, his stomach flipping with nervousness, but at the same time he was very much looking forward to this ride.

He put a hand on his sister's shoulder and felt her jumping slightly, as he tore her out of her thoughts. He gave her a smile that was only a little bit too bright. "We are going to be great, aren't we, Padfoot," he added with a wink at the dog.

Padfoot nodded eagerly and Amy grinned at him and her brother. "Yep, we are going to be the best," she replied.

The audience clapped again as the choir retreated backstage. The singers gave Leo, Amy and Padfoot encouraging smiles when they passed them. Leo and Amy nodded at each other a final time and entered the stage, Padfoot was following them at first, but overtaking them after only two steps and running a lap on the stage, wagging his tail excitedly.

Amy laughed along with the audience, while she was on her way to the left corner of the stage, from where she would read the questions for Padfoot.

Three large posters were pinned onto the curtain, which covered the backstage area, each showing a large letter A, B or C. Leo was standing in the right corner of the stage waiting.

Amy would read a question with three possible answers and Padfoot would sit in front of the according poster. Then Leo would walk over to him, kneel there and put a hoop over his head. Padfoot would then run another lap and jump through the hoop.

The fifteen questions, Amy read to Padfoot, and which he all answered correctly of course, were over much faster than she would have imagined. Now Leo and she were holding hands as they bowed to the audience, while Padfoot was running yet another lap around them. Amy could feel her heart beating wildly with pride and happiness to the rhythm of the applause.

When the whole show was over, Leo, Amy and Padfoot came from behind the stage, together with some fifty other student performers, to meet the large crowd of teachers, friends and parents, who had watched. The twins took some compliments and backslaps in passing, but had already made out a glimpse of their parents and fought their way determinedly through the crowd to get to them.

"Hey, you were great, all three of you!" Jack smiled proudly at his children and at his best friend.

"I know," Leo said breathlessly and flushed with excitement, "but now we are really hungry!"

"All three of us," added Amy with a broad and slightly silly grin.

Amy and Leo led their parents to one of the food booths, set up on the running track for the anniversary. Finally, all four of them stood around one of those small round tables, each with a bag of fish and chips and Padfoot lying to their feet, chewing happily on a large steak.

Their conversation turned from the show to the meeting with Joanne Rowling the next day quite soon.

That evening, the Pearson family went to bed quite early, as they were facing a long drive the next day. If they wanted to meet Mrs. Rowling at four in the afternoon, they needed to start from Dawlish at seven at the latest.

Getting up at five the next morning was a hard task to achieve, but with the up-coming meeting in mind, even that was manageable for Leo and Amy - and contrary to their father, who was driving, the twins could sleep in the car.

The ride to Edinburgh was mainly uneventful and the first part of the journey passed in sleepy silence. Only after lunchbreak close to Blackpool, it had totally sunken in, who they were going to meet in only a few short hours - the woman who knew everything about the wizarding world and had written a book about it.

"Dad," Leo sat up straight after having a sudden thought. "We want to ask Mrs. Rowling, how she knows about the wizard world, right? But how can we explain to her that we know about it, or that you actually come from there? She will think that we are some crazy weirdos, won't she?" he asked worriedly

Jack threw a short glance in the rear-view mirror to look at his son, then shared a look with Liz, who was sitting next to him. "Your Mum and I actually talked about that yesterday night," he answered.

"I guess we should let her talk at first and I will ask some questions as if interviewing her for my newspaper. Hopefully, she will say something unusual, so that we can pick on that," Liz continued, aware that her strategy sounded a bit thin.

When Jack parked the car close to Nicholson's Cafe, where they were supposed to meet Joanne Rowling, they still had more than half an hour to spare. However, as the children and especially Liz were so jumpy and restless, they decided to go ahead into the cafe and just wait there instead of taking a stroll around the block.

The cafe was not empty, but not exactly crowded either. So Leo, who was facing the door, sat up straight when a tall blond woman entered at four o'clock. He nudged his mother excitedly. "Do you think that is her?"

The woman exchanged a few words with one of the waiters before she advanced to their table.

"Hello," she smiled at them politely. "Are you the Pearsons?"

"Yes, hello. Mrs. Rowling, I assume." Liz stood up to shake her hand. "I'm Liz Pearson. We talked on the phone. This is my husband Jack." Jack rose halfway from his chair as he shook Mrs. Rowling's hand. "And these are my children Amy and Leo." The twins nodded a greeting and beamed excitedly at the author.

"And Padfoot," Liz introduced the dog, who was already sniffing at Rowling and wagging his tail.

Rowling, who had smiled at each introduced family member in turn, frowned at the dog. "Padfoot," she repeated in wonder. Then she shook her head and took a seat between Amy and Liz. "Nice name for a dog," she commented and eyed Padfoot warily.

"Oh, you don't need to be afraid of him," interpreted Leo her uncertainty. "He's really intelligent and he would never bite you," he explained readily. "You know, we only got him a year ago. My sister and I found him on a class trip in London. He was injured and we took him home," Leo chatted on enthusiastically.

Liz just threw a reproachful glare at her son and put a calming hand on his arm to interrupt him, when the waiter Joanne Rowling had talked to upon entering came to their table to take their orders.

After having ordered, Rowling sat back into her chair more comfortably.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet us here," Liz initiated the conversation. "I imagine, you have quite a full schedule with your book having come out just two weeks ago."

Rowling smiled as she shrugged. "Well, not so full. Actually, you are the first newspaper appointment I have."

Liz gave her an encouraging smile. "Oh, that is no problem. To me, the situation is quite new as well. I've never had my whole family come along for an interview before, but all four of us were so amazed with your book that they wanted to come along."

Amy and Leo nodded. "Yes, thanks that we could come."

Rowling looked a bit flattered, and as if she didn't quite know how to respond, she finally settled for asking them what they liked best about the book.

"Hm," Amy thought for a moment, but before she could come up with an answer, Leo interrupted her.

"The Weasley twins of course! They are really funny."

Amy glared at her brother for answering the question faster than her, but then she nodded in agreement.

"I can see that," Joanne Rowling laughed. "I rather enjoyed writing about them, too."

Suddenly Amy's face lit up with an idea. "Their poor teachers," she sighed dramatically. "But better two pranksters than four pranksters, don't you agree, ma'am?" she finished slyly.

Rowling gave her a puzzled look. "What do you mean, Amy?" she asked curiously.

Leo, who had caught on what Amy was planning, was about to answer the question, a wide grin on his face, but a fierce scowl from his sister kept him silent this time.

"I can imagine that even the Weasley twins didn't cause as much trouble as the Marauders, did they?"

"Oh, no they probably didn't," Rowling began to reply cheerfully, before she stopped herself abruptly. Her eyes narrowed, as she stared at the girl, who was looking smugly at her.

"How do you know that?" she asked quietly, her voice nonetheless very intense.

Knowing that their next answer would probably be the most important for the further conversation, the Pearsons shared some nervous glances. Amy already felt guilt creeping up her neck for bringing up the Marauders at all.

Finally, when Joanne Rowling seemed just about to demand an answer for the second time, Jack drew a deep breath and, wishing he had had more time to think about something impressing to say, he started rambling, "You know, it's really complicated and not quite easy to believe, but..."

His wish for more time, was granted when Joanne Rowling's mobile phone rang just in that second.

The call wasn't long, but the time Rowling needed for saying "I'm busy now, I'll call you back later, Chris," was enough for Jack.

Being aware that her attention had never wavered from him and his family, Jack cleared his throat and leaned forward.

"Mrs. Rowling, we do not only know about the Marauders. We know quite a lot about the wizarding world, which is not printed in your book. The reason for that might be hard for you to accept, but please hear us out and give us a chance to prove that everything we are saying is true."

Joanne Rowling watched curiously and obviously in wait for an answer, how Liz took her husband's hand, as he swallowed his nervousness.

"The wizarding world does really exist."

Joanne was staring at Jack disbelievingly, as he continued, "But not only does it exist, everything you have written in your book really happend."

After a few moments of silence, Joanne Rowling raised her eyebrows sceptically. "And you want to tell me that you are wizards, right?" she couldn't help but snort.

"No, right now we aren't," said Liz. "In this world we are muggles, like everyone else. We used to live in the world you described in your book, but we were killed by Voldemort and somehow we ended up here."

"What do you mean, you ended up here?" Rowling asked totally perplexed.

Liz shrugged helplessly. "There seem to be different worlds existing. I have no idea how that works, but somehow we came to this world after we died in our homeworld, the world where magic exists."

"No, wait just a moment," Rowling shook her head vigorously. "You want to tell me that you have been wizards, but then you were killed and now you are suddenly muggles and live in a different world than before?"

Liz and Jack nodded carefully, nervously awaiting her reaction to this revelation.

Rowling breathed in deeply, then she slumped into with a great resigned sigh. "Oh great! So, assuming that you tell the truth, I can prepare myself for meeting thousands of 'dead' wizards, who all recognized their homeworld in my book, in the future," she exclaimed sarcastically.

Liz and Jack stared at her. Of all possible reactions that hadn't been one they had expected.

Jack shook his head. "Yes well, maybe. But maybe not. Liz and Padfoot remembered where they had actually come from right after dying, but I was totally clueless until two years ago, when we dreamed of Harry encountering Voldemort and our spirits appeared from his wand at the Priori Incantatem."

Rowling shot up into a straight position, her wide eyes fixed disbelievingly on Jack's face, as the pieces of information clicked into place and gave her a full view on who she actually was talking with.

"You are James, aren't you?" she whispered in shock, before she turned mechanically towards Liz. "And you are Lily," she continued in the same hollow voice. Then she looked down at the dog sitting at their feet. "And is this...are you...Sirius?"

Just in this moment the waiter appeared with their food. While he put the plates in front of everyone, Joanne Rowling still sat there absolutely motionless, muttering, "Impossible, that is just not possible..."

The waiter put a concerned hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay, Joanne?" he asked.

Rowling nodded shakily. "Could you bring me a whisky please, Roger?"

When Roger retreated from their table again, Rowling looked up and her eyes focused on the twins. "You are Harry's siblings," she stated, her voice sounding almost normal now.

Leo and Amy nodded. "Yes, but we were born here. We only know of the wizarding world from what Mum and Dad told us."

"Of course," murmured Rowling, then she looked abruptly at Liz again. "I won't have to worry about other wizards coming to me, because no one else remembers the wizarding world."

Now it was Liz's and Jack's turn to look puzzled.

"James - I may call you James, may I?" Jack nodded absently. "James, you couldn't remember the wizarding world after you died, right? But Lily could - through Harry."

Rowling fixed Liz with her startling blue eyes, which reminded her strongly of Dumbledore in that moment. "Your sacrifice protected Harry from the Killing Curse. And through the bond, your sacrifice created, you could also keep your memories of the wizarding world."

"But how did Sirius remember? He shares no such bond with Harry," Jack wondered.

"I have no idea. Actually I didn't intend to let you die at all in any of my books," Rowling told the dog. "Did he die through a Killing Curse as well?" she asked Jack.

"No, he fell through the Veil of Death, which is situated in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic," Jack told her.

Rowling shrugged. "Well, that probably explains it. Maybe this veil is a smoother pathway between the worlds, which allows the people going through it to keep their memories."

Liz nodded slowly. She had no idea how Rowling knew all that, but her explanation sounded plausible. That also reminded her just of the purpose of their coming here at all.

"Mrs. Rowling,"

"Please call me Joanne," Rowling interrupted her.

"Joanne, we are very curious how you know about everything that you have written into your book."

"I have absolutely no idea," Rowling admitted with a blank look on her face. "Harry and his whole world just sort of popped into my mind on a train ride from Manchester to London in 1991. I would never have dreamed that everything I write could actually be true. I still can hardly believe it."

Again, Rowling shook her head in wonder and then she downed her whisky, which had arrived in the meantime.

Liz sighed and stared down at the table top in disappointment. "So you can't help us to get back," she said in a quiet, defeated voice.

Suddenly, the air felt thick and warm like cotton and a strange melody floated around them, which Liz recognized as phoenix song. It couldn't have lasted longer than a few seconds though, and when Liz looked up dazedly after it had ended, she seemed to have been the only one to have noticed anything strange at all.

"I never said that," replied Rowling to Liz's last statement. "I know a way for you to return to the wizarding world." Rowling took paper and pen out of her handbag and scribbled two lines.

She gave the paper to Liz. "Remember, I'm the author. Everything I write concerning your world, turns out to be true." Rowling smiled at the whole family, her eyes sparkling merrily, reminding Liz of Dumbledore yet again. Liz and Jack slowly took the slip of paper from her and read the message on it in puzzlement.

The mark on an old man leads to a marked young boy

-->A way of transport leads into another world[Author ID0: at Tue Oct 24 13:36:00 2006 ][Author ID2: at Tue Oct 24 13:37:00 2006 ]

The entrance lies in a Temple