The Order of the Phoenix

The Order of the Phoenix

     By Richard T. Reilly

Chapter 1: Strange Encounters

An old Muggle had died. Nobody really cared until they found out what he had.

     Fredrick Stone had been living on the lands near Hogwarts for his entire life. His family had come and gone until he was left with the land. He lived in an old shack that was wasting away with dust. His life had been mellow and he almost never met any other Muggles. He made his own simple living. He hunted for his food. If he was known in the Muggle world, he could be a famous hunter, but those were not his reasons, for he had to live off the meat he killed. He also fetched his water in a nearby stream. This is where he became connected with the world. The river appeared to go on forever. The glittering of the sun reflecting off the river would make him leave his worries for another day. But he always knew that something was wrong, out of place. Yet he never acted on it, for he liked the way his life was coming to be and he didn't want that to stop.

     His daily trips to the river were the breaks in his life. The river never asked anything of him, but still let him have what he most wanted. His mood changed completely as he approached the glittering river. These were the days, when the giant snake shred its blue rhythmic skin and brought to life a new golden way. But this was it; he'd never gone further, he never dared. Why not explore, let the golden rays lead your way. The morning had just begun, and so had his newfound journey. He traveled for miles until the golden rays stopped in midair, but even that didn't stop him. He was right; the river did go on forever. But then, a smoky green engulfed the water. The river came to a dead stop as it approached a blackened forest. He stopped dead in his tracks, he had been in many different forests before but this one seemed...forbidden. But a feeling had never stopped him from doing anything. He approached the forest with a little caution. He took a few steps in past the first tree and couldn't see a thing. He could only see the small light coming from where he entered, and dared not to go any further. Suddenly a scream of pain and fear came from within the forest. As he listened to the cries, it turned to sound more like music. He was drawn to it but quickly came to his senses and ran from that place. But the sound, music, cries seemed to compel him. He would return tomorrow, under the protection of his gun.

     That night was a restless one. He sat in his creaking chair for hours wondering what he had heard. He couldn't match the painfully beautiful scream with anything he had ever come across. He slipped into sleep unaware and unknowing to what he was about to uncover.

     He woke up confused but determined; he knew this creature was like no other. As he got ready to get on his way, he set his mind on the true problem, what had made that creature scream so terribly. He had no other intentions for today except to find out what was in this Forbidden Forest. Before he left, he made sure to grab his gun and flashlight, not sure exactly what he was to come across. The sunrise glow of the water took no effect on him as he walked along the river. The birds over him might as well be dead for he had no time to listen to their songs. This walk along the river was taking longer than yesterday. The sun was set up high in the sky, with no intention to let up on the heat. But his mind was not set on the heat; he had been noticing the greenish of the water and the darkened line of trees approaching.

     He approached the forest so slowly that a crippled snail could have beaten him. With his gun raised and cocked and his flashlight on, he passed the first tree. He walked a few feet and noticed that his flashlight did nothing but keep him company. But he would not turn back. He needed to know what he was after and even more, what was after it. As he walked through the forest, he heard the scurries of animals off to the side that made him jump for dear life. He just needed to keep going in a straight line, so he would know he'd be able to get back out. The trees were getting bigger, making him squeeze in-between. He kept on tripping over the overgrown roots and scurried to keep his balance. He heard the scream burst out in pain, but extremely loud this time. He seemed to be right next to it. The scream was throbbing in his head, starting to make him dizzy. He whirled his flashlight in every direction to see where it was. Struck with horror, it landed on a man not ten feet away. He stood up from his crouched position as if threatening to attack. He was of high stature and was looking quite old. Then he noticed a silvery gue dripping of the side of his mouth. Then, looking frightened himself, he scurried away on all fours. Fredrick was much too shocked to chase after him. He let his flashlight fall to the ground. Its shine grew brighter as it reflected off a silvery puddle next to the trees. Then he noticed what the puddle really was, the exact same thing dripping for the man's mouth. Very frightened and confused, he picked up his flashlight and ran. He ran for what seemed like an eternity. He saw the edges of the tree grow near. He burst past the last tree and wanted to start singing to the sunlight from above. He looked at the ground and noticed the river a few feet away. He started on his was home, this time, listening to the birds sing their song.

     His journal was the one thing that would hold this memory forever. Once somebody saw what he did, they would never forget. But nobody was there to see what he had. One day, somebody would see what he saw.

     His lonely life strode on without a care, trying to clear his mind of everything. But without anybody there, he started loosing his mind. Still at a young age, he could not take care of himself. He started having delusions of the forest and what it held. Then one day he was caught in his cabin swinging mercilessly at the head of a moose he had once killed and stuffed. From that day, he was to be taken care of. But he would never leave his house and was watched 24 hours a day. He was fed, bathed and dressed by other people as he stared off into space and mumbled on. Because of his dangerous ways, he was considered dangerous and had his gun taken away, but not without a fight. People started to catch him muttering the same words, while he was sitting in his creaking chair, over and over again "The old man killed it...it was dead...he killed it." But they never found out what 'it' was or who the old man was.

     One night he tore off a leg of his bed and started chasing the nurse around with it. After giving her a slash across the face, the nurse took it from him and gave him a nice whack in the face. He not only broke from his alternate universe because of this, but he also fell in love. They talked for hours on end. He eventually showed her the diary he had written years ago. After being asked if he could take her, he couldn't resist. They would leave the first thing tomorrow.

     The next morning, he woke up refreshed. This was the first day in years he seemed to have control of what he was doing. He grabbed his gun and flashlight, and met the woman outside. They strode along the river as days first light rose from the East. The walk there was like a road to glory. The river was once again shining its miraculous color of gold. He once again took notice of the songs the birds sang. He was gaining control on his life. He also, for the first time in a long time, felt good about the presence of another Muggle. They enjoyed their walk, until the sun got high and the water turned its greenish color.

     The good feelings washed away at the first glance of the forest ahead. Together they approached the deep, dark forest. Fredrick was approaching with the up most caution, but the girl didn't seem all that worried. They stood there, looking into the deep dark forest, wondering what to do next. At that moment, the women sprinted into the forest and Fredrick, confused and scared for her, sprinted after. After ten minutes of running, he began to get worried. He started walking in his cautious way again. He heard the rustles of leaves nearby and stopped dead. He called out and was instantly blinded by a bright light in his face. He averted his eyes and looked to see the woman was holding the flashlight. They assured themselves that they were okay and got on their way.

     They burrowed further into the forest, just waiting for something to happen, something they could see. They stopped cold as an object even darker than the forest dropped with a thud behind them. At first look, they saw an enormous figure but ten feet behind them, and started running, hoping that the other side of the forest wasn't too far. The monster hadn't followed them, but they weren't about to stop. They made it through, weaving through the trees, and finally saw light beaming through the last few trees. They emerged, not followed, but extremely frightened. Out of breath they looked at each other confused. They had both noticed it looked like an eagle, but the waist down seemed different. After making sure that they were not followed, they turned their heads to the road ahead and were astonished by what they saw. Up on top of the highest hill was nothing but one of the largest mansions they had ever seen; though it looked a bit different. It looked dark and like it was about to fall over.

     The woman urged Fredrick on. She seemed even more determined than ever to continue on. They made their way up the hill, approaching the mansion with great fear and cautiousness. Sounds started coming from inside, but it was the sound of the howls of what only came from nightmares that really scared them. They reached the front few steps and stopped dead. Fredrick seemed more eager to get going than the woman. He made his way up the thirteen steps and turned back to look at her. . She was standing there staring at the door as if paralyzed. She slowly took the first step and made it up the rest even slower. They gripped each other by the hand and burst in through the front door.

     The moment they entered was the moment their lives changed. Everything in the mansion became eerie. Even the pictures on the wall seemed out of place. But then noticeable figures came out through the hallways and down the stairs.

     They stopped dead as many young looking ghastly things approached them. They were just standing there, as black as night with even darker gases rising from them. They started to mumble to each other. Their voices were just a tweak normal, but you could still just tell that it was a human. They listened in on what they were saying. They seemed to wonder why they were there and why they looked at them so strangely. They kept on saying something about 'Dark Arts Teacher'. After a while of seemingly looking at each other, they started muttering the word, 'Muggle'.

     Fredrick started to look around as the woman stayed in a trance with monsters in front of them. As Fredrick looked around, he noticed everything was different, from the moving staircases to the appearing and disappearing foods on the extra long tables. The only thing that looked familiar were the portraits on the walls, but then he noticed they were all looking at him and blinking. He drew his notice away from the portraits since the woman next to him screamed with fright. He looked to see what it was. All of the things around them had stopped talking... stopped moving. They then filed back into the giant room.

     He looked up to see that a very tall ghastly object was approaching. It took but a second, but Fredrick noticed it as the thing he had seen in the forest years ago. It stopped and drew a stick from its waist. He focused it on the woman next to him. Fredrick looked paralyzed for he didn't know if he should take this as a threat and protect her. But then something happened. A sudden burst of green light burst out after the monster mumbled a few words. Without notice, the woman fell to the ground, unscarred but most definitely dead. She had fright written all over her face. Fredrick stood still for a moment until the stick was pointed at him. With fright, and knowing he was next, he ran. He ran through the forest, not caring what he passed or came along. He ran along the golden lake and back to his shack.

     Without thinking, he started to write in his journal again, about the forest, mansion, and the green light. His mind was still set on the body that lay dead with fright on its face. He knew that she was gone but he didn't know how and no longer wanted to know.

     When he finally noticed what had happened, he lost it. The delusions started again, and he went back to his unknown way of life. His was able to fight off the nurses so they would never dare come back. He lived the rest of his life alone, pondering on what was happening in the forest and in the mansion. He laid on these thoughts until he died sixty years later.

     With no family, the land went to the nearest city to do as they wished. After short talks, it was decided to tear down the area for future use. But when the shack was searched, an old diary showed up. It was full of drawings and descriptions of the surrounding land. They were amazed when they read about the Forest and the Mansion. Everything was so realistic; they needed to see if any of it was true.

     A small search team was dispatched to search for the mansion, to see what was truly there. Many of the searchers were scared of what they'd find, so each was given a gun to go with. Some thought it was all a joke while others thought it could be the discovery of a lifetime. But none of them knew what they were truly about to discover. The news spread quickly and an acclaimed physic named Maria Voralberg demanded to come for 'her people'.

Two Worlds hidden yet so close

One to stay hidden while the other finds out

Two Worlds about to collide

The lives of many are about to change

Now the people must decide

For the fate of one is to be found out