Another City, Not My Own

"ANOTHER CITY, NOT MY OWN"
Chapter Fifteen
"Fly, Fly, Fly!"

This was a VERY bad move!

Harry thought, gripping his broom.

They shot down the Auto-Route tunnel in the narrow pocket of air between the tunnel ceiling and the tops of the honking, screeching cars roaring by in the opposite direction under their feet. It took all of Harry's strength to hold the broom in the pocket and keep them from crashing. Each time a car streaked by underneath them, it sent up a blast of air that threatened to knock them up into the tunnel ceiling. It was like flying head-on into a wall of wind every few seconds. Harry crouched low on his broom, his chin almost touching the broomstick, as the tunnel lights flashed by on either side of him. Gabrielle tightened her hold on his waist and kept her head down, her forehead pushed into the small of Harry's back. They didn't have to look back to know that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had followed them down into the tunnel.

The tunnel seemed to go on forever, twisting and turning in a series of S-curves. With each turn, Harry and Gabrielle had to lean sharply into the curve to keep from missing the turn and slamming into the white-tiled tunnel walls. Headlights flashed, horns blared, and tires squealed as the cars beneath them skidded and swerved, their drivers panicking as they saw the flying broomsticks hurtling by over their heads. Loud crashes and shattering glass sounded in the tunnel. Cars braked and collided with each other, fenders crashing against fenders, metal grinding against metal. Harry didn't dare look back at the wrecks. One bad move, he knew, and he and Gabrielle would end up splattered like bugs across somebody's windshield. He kept his eyes forward and concentrated on getting them out of this alive.

A huge moving van roared down the tunnel at them. Harry just managed to swivel around it on the right. Ahead, he saw an entrance ramp with cars moving down into the tunnel to merge with the traffic on a side lane. He gambled up the entrance ramp, banking hard in the tight curve of the inner wall, and saw the tunnel entrance coming up fast. A large rectangular traffic sign hung down across the opening, directly in their path. Clenching his teeth, Harry aimed for the narrow space of air just below the traffic sign. As he shot through the opening, a huge white Mercedes charged down into the tunnel just under his feet. The Firebolt exited the tunnel in a blast of wind, as if it had just been fired from the barrel of a gun. It rattled and shook, and Harry just managed to keep them from doing a nose-dive into the oncoming traffic.

Behind them, Malfoy and his gang followed Harry up the entrance ramp and saw him exit the tunnel. Malfoy looked at the narrow space under the traffic sign and decided that if Harry Potter could make it through that space, then so could he. Crabbe and Goyle followed somewhat reluctantly.

* * *

Harry and Gabrielle came out of the tunnel into a huge traffic circle. To their left was a stately building that Harry guessed must be the City Hall. In the center of the circle was a street island, with a large white marble statue of Napoleon, standing on a pedestal. The traffic was slowing around the tunnel entrance as Harry flew over the circle. He hoped that nobody was hurt back there. Reaching the statue of Napoleon, he looked back at the tunnel entrance--just in time to see Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle squeeze out of the tunnel on their broomsticks.

"Oh, no!" Harry grumbled. "Here we go again!"

Malfoy had already spotted them. He aimed his wand across the circle and shouted a curse over the traffic. As Harry pulled away, a jet of green light from Malfoy's wand struck the statue of Napoleon and decapitated it. Gabrielle screamed as her back was peppered with stone fragments.

Harry darted across the traffic circle. He looked around and suddenly realized that once again they were caught over open space with nothing to hide behind. They couldn't go down. It would be suicide trying to fly between the cars whizzing by underneath them. And there was no other cover for fifty feet in any direction. Harry looked back and saw Malfoy aiming another curse at them.

Across the circle, Draco Malfoy smiled. He had a clear shot now. Harry Potter was trapped out in the open. His next curse would knock Potter and his silver-haired passenger clean off that broom!

On the other side of the circle, an open-topped, double-decker tour bus suddenly whirled by in front of Harry Potter, obscuring him from Malfoy's view. Malfoy waited patiently, his wand pointed at the bus. As soon as it passed, Potter was a dead man.

But when the tour bus passed by, Harry Potter and his passenger had vanished!

"Where'd they go?!" shouted Goyle.

"They grabbed onto that bloody tour bus!" Malfoy snarled. "Come on!"

* * *

Harry clung to the side of the double-decker tour bus as it moved across the traffic circle and turned down a side street. Grabbing the bus as it passed had been a desperation move. He knew that Malfoy would instantly figure out where they had gone, and would follow them. He held on to the vertical hand pole on the back corner entrance platform of the bus, glancing back over his shoulder for any sight of Malfoy and his gang.

The porter of the tour bus--a fat, gray-haired man with a white moustache, wearing a blue uniform and cap--stood on the back corner entrance platform, next to the stairway that led up to the upper deck. The old man goggled at the sight of a boy with glasses and a silver-haired girl, flying alongside the bus on a broomstick. Harry stared back at him. After a moment, the porter bewilderedly held out his fare cup. Harry wrapped his left arm around the vertical hand pole, dug into his pocket with his right hand, and dropped a coin into the fare cup.

"Acheterez-vous une Coupon hebdomadaire?" asked the porter.

"'E wants to know if you would like to buy a bus pass?" Gabrielle said, behind Harry.

"Tell him no!" Harry shouted irately, rolling his eyes.

He glanced back at the traffic circle again. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had just entered the side street and were following the tour bus on their brooms.

"'ARRY, LOOK OUT!" Gabrielle shouted.

Looking ahead, Harry saw an open horse carriage, with a top-hatted driver and a young couple inside, pull away from the curb and move into the side lane. He saw that the carriage was in no danger of being hit from behind by the tour bus. The bus would pass the carriage on the left, with plenty of room to spare. But since Harry and Gabrielle were flying alongside the tour bus, they were about crash right into the back of the carriage!

Harry quickly let go of the double-decker bus. He gripped his broom and yanked upward so that he and Gabrielle flew straight over the carriage. The horse panicked as the Firebolt soared over its head! It bucked in the air and charged away down the street, the carriage rattling after it, the driver shouting, "Hola! Hola! Doucement! Doucement!" Harry had a feeling that the horse was not going to stop for a long time.

Malfoy and his gang were right behind them again. Harry looked around wildly for another escape route. To his right along the sidewalk was the entrance to a wide, open alley, streaming with light and hung with Chinese lanterns. People were going in and out, carrying large paper shopping bags. With nowhere else to go, Harry skidded to the right and headed up the alley.

It was a mistake! They were flying through a huge open-air market, with dozens of display tables, wooden stalls, and sales booths with bright-colored awnings on either side. The market was open late, thanks to the Carnival, and the alley was packed with evening shoppers. Once more, Harry and Gabrielle saw a blur of shocked and startled faces flashing by underneath them. They streaked down the center of the alley just above the heads of the crowd, as the terrified shoppers ducked and screamed in terror.

Behind them, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle swung into the alley and plowed into the crowd. The uproar became a stampede as the panicked Muggle shoppers ran for cover, diving headlong over tables piled high with flowers, breads, and cheeses, bottles of wine, and jars of honey and olive oil. They overturned crates of fish packed in ice, trampled stalls full of crafts and antiques, and blundered through racks of clothing and leather goods. Harry winced as a huge cart loaded with fruits and vegetables was knocked over and crashed to the ground just as he and Gabrielle flew over it. Everywhere, he heard angry shouting, smashing wood, shattering glass.

This just keeps getting better and better!

he thought disgustedly.

Halfway down the alley, he saw a gap between the buildings to his left. It was a courtyard of some kind, surrounded by high hedge walls. A garden arch entrance with a sign reading "Le Bon Vintage" was stretched over an opening in the hedge wall. Hoping it might provide an exit from the alley, Harry turned and darted over the hedge.

On the other side, he found a large, open-air wine garden, filled with people sitting at huge circular tables decked out with blue-white-and-red umbrellas. Harry and Gabrielle veered through the wine garden, bouncing feet-first like a pinball across the tops of the table umbrellas. The customers in the wine garden screamed and ran for their lives, knocking over the tables as they fled, just as Malfoy and his gang cleared the hedge wall and came after Harry. Waiters carrying trays loaded with wine glasses and bottles dived under the tables. Swiveling to avoid a mob of fleeing customers, Malfoy hit a large table umbrella and knocked it down. He landed on the bar and slid down it, knocking three wooden barrels off the end, but was back on his broom in a flash, coming after Harry once more.

Through the mayhem, Harry spotted a gap in another hedge wall just to his right and made a dash for it. As he and Gabrielle sped through the gap, they found themselves in an enclosed flower garden, brightly lit and full of people dressed in tuxedos and formal outfits. There was a young woman there in a beautiful white bridal dress. Harry realized that they had just blundered into a late-night wedding reception.

A high stone wall surrounded the back of the enclosed garden. Harry headed for the wall, just as Crabbe and Goyle came skidding through the garden entrance on their brooms. Out of control, the two boys tumbled across the garden lawn and crashed into the refreshments table, overturning it. A huge punch bowl and a six-tiered wedding cake toppled off the table and landed on Crabbe and Goyle. Harry heard the bride sobbing as he and Gabrielle vaulted over the wall.

Behind them, in the wine garden, five elderly Frenchmen sat together at the bar. They looked at each other, dazed. Had they really just seen four young boys and one little girl come flying through the wine garden on broomsticks? The five elderly Frenchmen each cast suspicious glances into their glasses of wine.

"I think, perhaps, we have had enough to drink for one evening, mes amis," said one of the old men, in French.

* * *

Marcus Flint circled over the city of Latrece on his Firebolt, pausing every now and then to wipe blood from the cuts on his forehead. He knew he was getting close. In the streets below, he heard car horns blaring and occasional shouts of anger and alarm from crowds of people. Something told him that Draco Malfoy was making it very hot down there for Harry Potter and his silver-haired friend. Flint hovered over the rooftops, peering down into the lighted streets for any sign of the boy wizard.

* * *

Escaping down a narrow back alley, Harry and Gabrielle climbed high into the night sky on their broom. Harry took a quick look back as they sailed above the rooftops once more. Malfoy and his gang were nowhere to be seen, but Harry was sure that they weren't far behind. He looked around for a new place to hide.

A few blocks to his right, he saw an enormous baroque cathedral, standing on the edge of a large open square. The cathedral had a Roman-style façade with marble columns and triangular pediments, and a great blue dome in the center of its roof. A bell tower, topped by a bullet-shaped pinnacle of red tiles, rose up alongside the cathedral. In the moonlight, Harry could just make out the dark silhouettes of the church's huge bells hanging inside the open arched windows at the top of the tower.

"Hang on," he told Gabrielle. "We're going to hide in there."

* * *

Not far away, Marcus Flint watched as Harry Potter and his silver-haired friend glided above the rooftops on their broom, and darted through the open window of a nearby church tower. A few seconds later, Flint saw Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle fly up over the rooftops, looking around angrily for Potter.

Flint stared at his friends and blinked in disbelief. Goyle was soaking wet, and Crabbe looked like--well, he looked as if he had just been smacked over the head with a giant cake! His hair and shoulders were covered with a white creamy substance that looked like frosting. Every few seconds, Crabbe scraped a fingerful of this stuff from his clothes and popped it into his mouth.

Flint took out his wand and shouted, "Lumos!"

* * *

"Oh, no," Harry whispered, as he watched Marcus Flint signaling his friends with his lighted wand.

He and Gabrielle sat poised on their broom inside the bell tower. Through the arched window on their left, they could see Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle hovering near the tower on their Firebolts. Malfoy was looking at the tower now, and signaling to Flint that he understood. Then Malfoy pointed at Flint with his wand and moved his arm in a sweeping motion, indicating that Flint should go around to the far side of the tower. Flint waved back that he understood and took off, disappearing past the edge of the window.

Malfoy then signaled to Crabbe and Goyle, who broke off and circled the tower in the opposite direction. Through the window, Harry saw Malfoy grip his broom and drop slowly through the air until he disappeared beyond the window's edge.

"What are zey doing?" Gabrielle whispered nervously, behind him.

"They're about to make our lives a lot more complicated," Harry muttered, pulling out his wand. He pointed around to the four windows. "In a few seconds, they're all going to come in through these four windows at once and trap us in here."

He looked around the belfry. It was a square room lit by shafts of moonlight from the windows. Above them, the cathedral bells were hidden in the shadows. Directly under the bells, in the center of the floor, was an open trap door that led down to the lower levels of the tower. A single thick bell rope hung from the rafters and dropped through the trap door into the darkness below.

"Can we go down in zere?" Gabrielle suggested.

Harry stood at the edge of the trap door and stared down into the darkness. He shook his head. "If we go down there, they'll know where to find us. They can stand up here and fire curses down the trap door at us. We'd be sitting ducks on the bell tower floor. We've got to think of something else."

He looked up past the cathedral's huge iron bells, searching the belfry for a dark corner where they could hide. A sudden movement in the shadows caught Harry's eye. From the corners of the ceiling, he heard a rustling sound that, for some reason, reminded him of the Owlery back at Hogwarts.

"Wait a minute," he whispered. "Lumos!"

His wand lit up, illuminating the bell tower. A thousand tiny, pointy-eared faces peered down at them from the upper corners of the belfry. Yellow eyes shined in the light of Harry's wand, and he saw huge swarming crowds of small, black, leather-winged bodies hanging upside-down from the rafters and wooden beams over their heads.

"Bats!" Harry whispered. He smiled craftily. "I've got an idea. Nox!"

The light on his wand went out, plunging them into darkness once more. Sticking his wand in his belt, Harry gripped his broom and rose in the air, moving into position so that he and Gabrielle were hovering directly over the open trap door. "Gabrielle, I want you to hang on as tight as you can to me, and don't let go."

Just then, Draco Malfoy sailed in through the arched window directly in front of them. Crabbe darted in through the window on their left, and Goyle entered suddenly through the window on their right. Harry heard a whispering sound, and knew that Marcus Flint had just flown in through the open window behind them. All four boys had their wands out and pointed at Harry and Gabrielle.

"Well, well, well!" said Draco Malfoy, a sneering smile on his face. "Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of wands! Thought you'd be pretty foxy didn't ya, Potter? Looks like you picked a bad choice of hiding places."

Harry said nothing. He hovered over the trap door, waiting. Malfoy looked around at his friends. "What should we do with these two little dragon turds, boys?"

"Let's drop 'em off the tower without their broom!" shouted Marcus Flint.

"Naw, let's burn 'em alive until they're all black and crispy!" Crabbe yelled.

"Naw, let's turn 'em into bugs and step on 'em!" Goyle shouted back. His friends roared with laughter.

A low, gruff voice echoed through the bell tower. "Naw, let's let zem go and forget zee whole thing!!"

Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint looked up at Harry irately. Harry smiled with amusement. He turned and glanced back over his shoulder at Gabrielle.

"Nice try," he said. Gabrielle shrugged.

Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry. "You have my mother's bottle of Chimaera's Root, Potter! I want it back! Give it to me--right now!"

Instead of obeying Malfoy's order, Harry reached up and grabbed hold of the bell rope with both hands. And then he dropped!

Gabrielle screamed as they plunged straight through the trap door. Harry yanked down hard on the bell rope, stopping in midair. Malfoy and his friends rushed to the edge of the trap door and looked down at Harry. They heard a low creaking sound as he pulled down on the rope, and looked up to see the tower's four huge bells, swinging in opposite directions on their axle beams. The large iron clappers swung listlessly inside each of the bells as they turned.

And then Harry Potter let go of the rope.

BONNGG!! -- BONNGG!! -- BONNGG!! -- BONNGG!! -- BONNGG!! -- BONNGG!! -- BONNGG!! -- BONNGG!! -- BONNGG!!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHH!!" Draco Malfoy and his friends fell to the belfry floor, clutching their ears over the deafening toll of the bells! The bell tower shook and rattled with each pounding peal, and the next instant a huge cloud of bats came swooping down out of the inner reaches of the belfry. Malfoy and his gang howled in terror as the squealing bats surrounded them, slapping them with their wings, biting them, and slashing at them with their claws.

* * *

Below, in the cathedral sanctuary, an elderly priest ran around the altar, heading for the bell tower entrance. He had just been wrapping up his preparations for tomorrow's Ash Wednesday Mass when he'd heard the bells tolling. Who on earth was ringing the bells at this hour?!

He reached the bell tower door and opened it. To his complete astonishment, a dark-haired boy with glasses and a scar on his forehead emerged through the door, sitting on a broom that was hovering several feet off the ground! The priest reeled back against the sanctuary wall in shock.

"L'exit?" the boy asked, politely.

Wordlessly, the priest pointed down the center aisle of the church. The dark-haired boy cleared his throat. "Merci."

A small girl with silver hair sat behind the boy on the flying broom. She smiled at the priest and made the sign of the cross just before they rose in the air and zipped down the center aisle towards the cathedral's main entrance.

* * *

Writhing on the belfry floor, his skull still ringing from the toll of the bells, Draco Malfoy screamed and cursed as the bats slashed his face with their claws. Two of the furry monsters latched onto his arm and sank their teeth into his wand hand. By Voldemort, he was going to kill that four-eyed, scar-headed Muggle-lover for this!

He grabbed his Firebolt off the floor and battered his way through the torrent of flying bats. Moving around the belfry, he swatted first Crabbe, then Flint, then Goyle on the backs of their heads, and pointed down the trap door. His friends nodded, still deaf from the toll of the bells. Malfoy jumped on his Firebolt and dove headlong through the trap door. One by one, his friends followed him down the shaft.

In the sanctuary below, the priest watched in horror as, one by one, four more boys came out of the bell tower door on flying brooms. Thinking that these boys wanted to find the exit too (and praying that, whoever these strange kids were, they would leave as soon as possible), the priest pointed, dazed, in the direction that the dark-haired boy and the silver-haired girl had gone. The four boys rose in the air on their broomsticks and streaked down the center aisle of the church.

* * *

Outside the cathedral, Harry and Gabrielle soared above the moonlit rooftops once more. They stopped and looked back at the bell tower. A thick, dark cloud of bats was still buzzing around the belfry like a horde of angry hornets.

"That should keep Malfoy and his friends busy for a while," Harry said.

In the center of the cathedral's front façade, directly over the main entrance, was a huge rosette stained-glass window. As Harry and Gabrielle looked back at the church, the stained-glass window suddenly exploded in a multi-colored burst of glass! Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint came crashing out on their brooms. They looked ready to kill!

"Then again, maybe not!" Harry gulped. He turned on his broom and fled.

He flew over a grove of pine trees just to the left of the cathedral and found a vast, wide lawn stretching out beneath them. Harry guessed that this must be Clemenceau Park; he had seen it earlier while studying the city layout on the Traveler's Map. Harry and Gabrielle dipped low across the lawn, skirting the edge of the pine forest, the green grass blowing fiercely underneath their feet as Malfoy and his gang closed in on them once more!

Suddenly, they heard band music nearby, playing the song "Que Sera, Sera!" Rounding a curve on the edge of the forest, they saw a huge white bandstand gazebo. A small brass band was playing inside, the conductor standing on a platform, waving his baton airily. About a hundred people sat on the ground around the gazebo, on blankets and folding chairs, enjoying the late-night concert.

"OH--WHY--NOT?!" Harry growled, as they sped towards the gazebo.

Gabrielle saw what they were about to do, and ducked her head just in time. Harry flew straight through the gazebo, under the low ceiling, and out the other side. It was a very tight fit! The bottom edge of his broom bounced off the tops of one-two-three-four-five-six heads, sitting in a line in the trombone section. A woman shrieked in terror just as a pair of cymbels crashed right next to Harry's ear. The members of the band screamed as their music scores flew off the music stands in a flurry of white pages, and the conductor's toupee blew off the top of his head!

As the musicians in the gazebo all jumped up and dropped their instruments in a panic, Malfoy and his gang came to a sudden halt over the screaming crowd. With the musicians all standing inside, they couldn't follow Harry through the gazebo.

"Go around it!" Malfoy shouted angrily.

Ahead of them, Harry and Gabrielle flew low over a reflecting pond in the center of the park. They stared down as their startled reflections gazed up at them from the moonlit water. The wind from their broom whipped huge waves across the pond's surface in their wake. Soon the pond narrowed into a watery river-stream, winding like a snake through the park. Harry turned right and left, left and right following the stream. Suddenly, he saw a small, gilded, cast-iron bridge spanning the river in front of them. A young couple stood on the bridge, kissing in the moonlight.

"Duck!" Harry shouted to Gabrielle.

They flew under the bridge. There was a terrible flurry of slapping wings and an angry trumpeting cry like a bugle from hell. Two huge white birds that had been swimming underneath the bridge screeched loudly and flew away on either side of Harry's broom. Harry held fast to the Firebolt as the wind from their slashing wings almost knocked him into the river.

"Zose were swans!" Gabrielle shouted. "Not ducks!"

"Whatever!" Harry shouted back.

He glanced back at the bridge. The two young lovers were still standing there, staring after them with startled expressions. The next instant, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Flint rocketed over the bridge on their broomsticks. The young couple screamed and toppled over the side of the bridge into the water.

The stream came to an end at the edge of the forest, and Harry suddenly found a small amusement park in their path. Again, he flew over the crowd, zigzagging past a giant, two-story carousel, loaded with wooden horses and laughing children. A calliope version of "And The Band Played On" sounded from the carousel. Once more, the people in the amusement park screamed and ducked out of the way of the flying broomsticks. As he slalomed between the amusement park rides, Harry glanced back and saw Malfoy and his friends coming up behind them again. He looked around for a way to shake them and saw the entrance to the Tunnel of Love to his right.

"Not anozzer tunnel!" Gabrielle screamed. But they were already through the Tunnel of Love, flying over the heads of the startled lovers in boats, past dozens of flashing neon hearts and Cupids, with Malfoy and his gang following. As they came out of the tunnel, Harry saw the amusement park's huge Ferris Wheel in front of them. It was stopped at the moment to load new riders. He took a big chance and steered his broom through the large triangular gap between the huge steel spokes in the bottom of the wheel. Just then, the Ferris Wheel started up behind him. Malfoy and his gang came to a halt in front of the giant spinning wheel, unable to fly through after Harry. Cursing, Malfoy motioned for his friends to go around once more.

On the other side of the Ferris Wheel, Harry found another line of pine trees, marking the northern boundary of the park. He angled his broom upward to get over the treetops. Just beyond the pines, he saw a grove of small, fat trees, planted in rows, stretching down a long, flat grassy surface at the bottom of a hill.

An orchard of some kind,

Harry thought. But it might be a good place to hide from Malfoy and his gang. He headed for the orchard, dropping into an open lane between two rows of planted trees.

Behind him, Draco Malfoy suddenly braked to a halt in midair, holding his right hand up to signal the others to stop. He watched Harry Potter and his silver-haired passenger descend into the orchard below.

We've got him, now!

Malfoy thought, smiling wickedly.

He signaled to Crabbe, and pointed to the row of trees just to Harry Potter's right. Then he signaled to Goyle, and pointed to the row of trees to Harry's left. Crabbe and Goyle both nodded and headed for the orchard. Malfoy pointed to Flint and made a long sweeping motion with his arm, indicating that Flint should try to get ahead of Harry. Flint nodded and soared away over the treetops. Malfoy dove towards the orchard, down the lane that Harry Potter had just entered.

* * *

Speeding down the narrow lane between two rows of leafy trees, Harry caught a sharp, pungent smell. Something familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. To his right, he saw an enormous gnarled tree with a French sign posted on it. The sign read: "CITRON!"

Lemons,

he thought. That's it! We're in a lemon grove!

He glanced around at the trees in the orchard. They were thick and bushy and looked as if they were loaded with ripe fruit. Movement to his left caught Harry's eye. In the gaps between the trees he saw Gregory Goyle, in the next lane over, speeding alongside him on his Firebolt. Turning, Harry saw Vincent Crabbe flashing by on his broom, in the lane to his right.

"'Arry!" Gabrielle shouted in alarm, behind him.

Marcus Flint suddenly sailed over their heads and kept on going down the lane at top speed, without looking back. Harry glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Draco Malfoy drop into the lane directly behind them. Malfoy poured on his speed, closing the distance between them.

They've got us boxed in!

Harry thought. And Flint will be waiting with his wand ready to ambush us when we get to the end of this lane! NOW what do I do?!

Suddenly, he felt a yank at his side and realized that Gabrielle had just pulled his magic wand out of his belt. "Gabrielle, what are you -- ?!"

"Keep going, 'Arry!" she yelled. She pointed his wand over his shoulder, at the top of the nearest lemon tree to his right, and shouted "Reducto!"

A jet of red light from Harry's wand hit the lemon tree, and the top of the tree exploded. Branches, leaves, and ripe lemons flew in the air and came down on both sides of the tree. Harry had to swerve to the left side of the lane to avoid the sudden cascade of falling lemons and branches. Vincent Crabbe was less lucky. In the next lane over, they heard him yell. Harry looked to his right just in time to see Crabbe tumble across the ground, between the trees. The flying lemons had knocked him clear off his broom.

Gabrielle quickly pointed the wand to Harry's left and shouted, "Reducto!"

Another jet of red light flew from Harry's wand, and the top of a lemon tree to his left exploded. Harry swerved to the right side of the lane as the lemons came raining down once more. Glancing between the trees to his left, he saw Gregory Goyle crash to the ground under a sudden hailstorm of flying lemons and debris.

Harry laughed, wildly. "Very good!" he shouted to Gabrielle. "Okay, get ready to do that one more time! Hang on tight to me and don't let go! This is going to be tricky!"

Gabrielle locked her hands tight around Harry's waist. Harry took one final look back to make sure that Malfoy was still behind them, then suddenly jerked his broom to the right and skidded sideways down the lane. He leaned hard into the skid until the right side of his face nearly touched the ground as they flew over the grass. Gabrielle screamed again, but held on, leaning with him as they slid through the air between the rows of lemon trees.

Behind them, Draco Malfoy suddenly found Harry Potter blocking his path. Caught off guard, he yanked his broom high and flew straight over Harry and Gabrielle. He wheeled to a halt about ten feet down the orchard lane and turned back, his wand pointed at Harry.

Harry slid to a stop and righted himself, so that he and Gabrielle were sitting upright on the Firebolt once more.

"Now, Gabrielle!"

Gabrielle aimed Harry's wand at the lemon tree directly to Malfoy's right and shouted, "Reducto!"

A jet of red light shot from the wand. The top of the lemon tree exploded.

Gabrielle aimed the wand at the lemon tree directly to Malfoy's left and once again shouted, "Reducto!"

A jet of red light flew from the wand. The top of the other lemon tree exploded.

Malfoy looked up in horror to see the full contents of both trees descending on him. He looked back at Harry Potter. Harry was smiling, viciously.

"Damn you!!" Malfoy shouted.

A half-second later, an avalanche of ripe lemons, thick branches, and falling leaves crashed down on his head, burying him.

"Hoo-hooooo!!" Harry yelled. He wished for all the world that Ron Weasley had been here to see that. Gabrielle gave him back his wand, and Harry reached back over his shoulder and tousled her silver hair.

"That was beautiful!" he shouted, laughing. "Okay, hang on! Let's get out of this citrus grove and find a new place to hide!" Gripping his broom once more, Harry took to the air and rose above the tops of the lemon trees.

* * *

When neither Harry Potter nor Draco Malfoy and his friends showed up at the end of the orchard lane, Marcus Flint doubled back on his broom to see what had happened. He found Draco Malfoy crawling out from under a huge pile of lemons and tree branches.

"Draco! Wot the hell -- ?!"

"Never mind me!" Draco shouted, pulling leaves and twigs from his hair. He pointed to the sky. "Potter and his friend just took off that way! Get up there and see where they've gone! Don't let them get away!"