The Road Less Traveled

Chapter 2: Come What May

But that doesn't stop me from admiring the silhouette of the smokestack against that fat moon as I walk through the rubble-strewn streets of the Tombs. I feel like a stranger and I think, That moon's a stranger, too. It doesn't seem real; it's more like the painted backdrop from some forties soundstage, except there's no way anybody ever gave paint and plywood this kind of depth. We're both strangers. That moon looks like it might be out of place anywhere, but I belonged here once.

-Charles de Lint, The Ivory and the Horn, 'Waifs and Strays'

A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.

-American folklore

So maybe he's just an old man, down on his luck, making do. Or maybe he's got a piece of magic he wants to pass on with the music he's playing.

Next time you go by, stop and give him a listen. But don't go looking for a tag to put on what you hear or, like that cat that runs off when you name her, it'll all just go away.

-Charles de Lint, The Ivory and the Horn, 'Saxophone Joe and the Woman in Black'

Well. That hadn't been so bad.

Touya had strongly protested Sakura's going to England, the understatement of the century. When he found out that Syaoran was going as well, he nearly had a coronary.

Thankfully, they hadn't had to use the tranquilizers. His system had been building up a resistance to them anyway.

Instead Sakura had tied him to a chair with rope that his power couldn't untie by itself, gagged him, and transported him across the city to his dorm room. Sakura had been kind enough to send along his luggage as well. How was she supposed to know they weighed a ton? It wasn't her fault if he got a concussion.

At least she had sent him to his own dorm room. Goodness knows, Sakura had been there enough times to be able to tell. . . Hm. Come to think of it, since when did Touya have a TV in his room? And where had he gotten the space for that extra cot and desk?

Sakura shrugged. Oh well. Touya was a big boy. He could take care of himself. He knew how to erase memories, he was just forbidden to untie, cut, or burn the ropes that bound him.

Her father hadn't been a problem. He was going out of town in a few days and had been a little worried about leaving her home alone, even though she was 18 and the most powerful sorceress in the world.

Sakura checked her suitcase one last time before climbing into bed. She would need her sleep for tomorrow. Teleporting two people, a cat, and suitcases halfway around the world was no small feat.

Minerva watched her until she was sure Sakura was asleep before examining the room inch by inch. She needed that wand. Not for her passage home, since Sakura was bringing her to London, but because it would help the Order locate Nott.

Nowhere. It wasn't in any drawers, or pockets, or tossed on the desk or floor. She turned her gaze to the suitcase and backpack against the wall. She glanced at the clock. Sakura had been asleep for 45 minutes.

Minerva decided to wait 15 minutes more before checking the bags.

11 minutes. She flicked her tail impatiently.

8 minutes. Time was crawling just to spite her.

5 minutes. Her stomach felt full of butterflies. If the girl woke up and caught her. . .

2 minutes.

Minerva waited, studying Sakura. She was breathing deeply and steadily. All signs pointed to sleep.

Minerva transformed back into a woman and stood. She stumbled a little, uncomfortable in her true form. That wasn't good. It seemed she'd been a cat for too long. Just one more day, she consoled herself. That's all.

She barely breathed, as she reached out for the backpack. Luckily the window faced the moon. One of the traits that carried over from her Animagus form was the ability to see well at night, but light helped quite a bit.

Slowly, slowly, she unzipped the bag and gently poked through the contents. Some books, food, a Chinese outfit, packets of herbs (she nearly sneezed at the smell), and several unusual pieces of jewelry. The last two she found rather unusual, but she wasn't an expert on Muggles. The wand wasn't there.

Minerva turned to the suitcase and quietly flipped it open. This would be more difficult. She would have to remember what went where.

Twenty minutes later she sat back on her heels, puzzled and disappointed. The wand wasn't there. She was positive that Sakura had brought it up here.

She shook her head, trying to keep her eyes open. A letter. She needed to get a letter to Albus.

Minerva walked soundlessly to Sakura's desk and opened the middle drawer where she knew paper and writing materials were kept.

Quietly seating herself on the chair, she toyed with a Muggle pen, wishing for a quill. How should she start it?

Albus,

I've been in Tomoeda, Japan as a cat in a Muggle family by the name of Kinomoto. The daughter, Sakura, discovered me in a nearby park, and cared for me. Tomorrow,

Minerva looked around for a calendar.

Saturday, Sakura and her friend, Syaoran, are journeying to England. Would you do me the favor of sending someone to meet me at the pub? I'd rather not use Floo powder, and I'm sure you recall that I do not have my wand.

-Minerva

She wondered if she should add in the part about the Death Eaters discovering her, and decided to wait until she returned to Hogwarts and saw Albus. No use worrying him before she could make it clear that she was fine. He could be rather overprotective at times.

Minerva bit her lip and examined the writing. It was the only code she had memorized that hadn't been broken. She hoped she hadn't been too detailed. Codes weren't foolproof, and she hadn't brought the seal with her that would prevent any but a member of the Order from reading it.

Satisfied with her work, she rummaged through the drawer and came up with an envelope. This she addressed to Dumbledore. Now came the hard part.

Minerva took a deep breath and concentrated as hard as she could, trying to feel the magic that lay inside her. When she thought she had grasped it, she let it flow out from her fingers and surround the letter. A moment later the envelope was gone.

Oh dear, she thought, darkness hovering at the edges of her vision. She hadn't fully recovered from the Cruciatus Curse, not to mention she was tired and had sent a letter halfway around the world without a wand.

Cat, she thought desperately and felt herself shrink as she lost consciousness.

~*~

Sakura yawned and blinked sleepily. "Stupid time differences," she muttered angrily.

Syaoran looked at her in amusement. "We haven't even gotten there yet."

"Yes, but when we have to leave at 7:00 in the morning to get to England at a decent time. . ." Sakura scowled.

"At least Tabby-chan is still asleep," Syaoran pointed out. "You don't want her to see you do the teleport, do you?"

"I'll still have to account for her lack of memory of the airplane ride."

"Sakura. . ."

"Well, what else can I do to keep her ignorant? I know we don't encourage tampering with memories, but sometimes it's safer that way," Sakura said crossly. "Let's just get going." She brightened. "I'm trying something new with this teleport."

"What?" asked Syaoran warily.

"Just follow me," said Sakura with a grin, wheeling her suitcase to the front door.

"We're not going to walk somewhere with all of this stuff, are we?" said Syaoran skeptically.

"Not exactly."

Sakura opened the door and stepped through. Syaoran followed more slowly.

He whistled, impressed despite himself. The two of them stood in Eriol's living room, furnished with plush, red sofas facing the fireplace. Looking up, you could see a crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. "A perfect transport. None of the usually disorientation. And it must have taken some energy to translocate and connect two different doors."

"I live to please," said Sakura with a mocking bow.

"Hello Sakura. My cute little descendant. Welcome to my humble abode," greeted Eriol, stepping into the room wearing a robe.

"Hi Eriol," said Sakura cheerfully.

"Hiiragizawa," growled Syaoran, his knuckles white as he clenched the handle of his suitcase in a death grip.

"Tomoyo-chan will be coming by plane in a few days. She has a choir performance, and her mother wanted to spend some time with her now that she's out of school," Sakura told him, suppressing a yawn. "And Kero-chan is coming with her."

"I'll show you to your rooms," said Eriol. "This way, please."

Sakura followed in a daze, stroking Tabby-chan repeatedly.

Eriol frowned and turned to look at her. "You're modifying her memories?"

Sakura was silent for a moment, tying up the last strands of the spell. "She needs to at least vaguely remember a plane ride, or she'll be suspicious. She's strange. Do you see the silver tangles that surround her?"

Eriol gently took Tabby from Sakura's arms and examined her without missing a step. To Syaoran's disappointment, he neither tripped nor bumped into anything.

"Yes," Eriol said. "Yes. It fits."

"Fits?" asked Syaoran sharply as Eriol halted and opened a door. "Fits what?"

"I'll explain in the morning. Good night."

Syaoran found himself and his baggage in the room, the door shut behind him, and two sets of footsteps fading away. He growled and clenched his hand into a fist before sighing and changing into his pajamas. At least he'd always adjusted well to time differences.

Sakura stopped in front of the door next to Syaoran's. "Was that really necessary?"

"What?" asked Eriol blandly.

Sakura sighed. "Never mind."

"If you wake up in the middle of the night, the kitchen is down the stairs and to the right. Hey. That rhymes."

Sakura snorted. "Oyasumi nasai, Eriol-san."

"Oyasumi nasai."

Sakura sighed and laid Tabby down in the cat bed before flopping down on her own bed and falling asleep instantly.

Three hours later (1:00 AM England time) Sakura opened her eyes and spent the next half hour staring at the ceiling, trying to get back to sleep, but it was no use. She could fall asleep anywhere when she was tired, but she had the hardest time adjusting to different time zones. Syaoran, on the other hand, had no trouble.

With a sigh she heaved herself off the bed and headed off to the kitchen. She anticipated many sleepless nights to come. Maybe hot chocolate would make her sleepy enough to fall asleep in a few hours.

She groaned and turned on the stove.

*~*

Syaoran awoke and glanced at his clock. 7:00. He stretched and threw on some clothes before heading downstairs to the kitchen, feeling wide awake and somewhat energetic. He stopped upon entering the kitchen and grinned. Sakura was asleep at the table, an empty mug held loosely in her right hand.

He quietly stalked over to her, careful not to wake her up. Then he slammed his hand down on the table.

BANG!

Sakura yelped and leapt to her feet. The mug skidded across the table and stopped a few inches from the edge.

"SYAORAN!!!"

Eriol walked into the kitchen looking disheveled and thoroughly disgruntled. "Normal people are trying to sleep at this hour," he told them sulkily as Sakura chased Syaoran around the room.

They stopped.

"You're not normal," Syaoran observed dryly.

"Oh," said Sakura worriedly. "Did we wake Mizuki-sensei?"

"She's in the Philippines right now," said Eriol, gritting his teeth.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" exclaimed Nakuru, rushing past Eriol in her haste to glomp the girl.

Eriol threw his hands in the air. "Fine! I realize that no one cares about me or my lack of beauty sleep. And you're ignoring me."

"That's right," agreed Syaoran, trying to pry Nakuru's arms from around Sakura's neck.

*~*

Minerva woke with the vague impression that she was still in the cage. It took a moment to confirm that that was not the case. She yawned and stretched, feeling better than she had in a long time. Then she realized that she was in an unfamiliar room.

Now where am I? she wondered crossly, and made her way over to the window.

Her heart thudded in her chest. The view was dreary and gray, rain pounded against the window, but she didn't care. Everything was so familiar. She was nearly home! The Leaky Cauldron was only a few blocks away!

She stepped back and reflected on the flight here. She must have been exhausted to have slept through the whole flight. The only clear memory she had was being in the airport in Japan. She remembered the feet passing by, and the bumping ride in the animal cage to their gate. Many voices talked rapidly in Japanese, but the puzzling thing was that she couldn't recall a word of what anyone had said.

All Minerva had to do was get out of this house. Mansion, rather, but that shouldn't be too hard.

She padded softly down the stairs and decided to head to the left. The door had to be around here somewhere.

And there it was. A large wooden door carved with all manner of designs.

"There you are," someone said softly and Minerva spun around. Sakura was standing behind her, holding a small black stuffed animal and wearing a sad smile. "You're leaving now?"

She didn't seem to expect an answer and Minerva didn't move.

"I'll miss you. Oh!" Sakura set the toy on her shoulder and rummaged through her pockets. "Here it is!"

She held a silver necklace with a small crystal cherry blossom charm. "Don't forget us," Sakura said, wrapping the necklace twice around Minerva's neck before opening the door.

Minerva meowed softly and then sprinted out onto the street, heading toward the Leaky Cauldron.

It was wet and cars splashed walls of water. There weren't many people that she had to avoid on the sidewalks, which was a small blessing. The driving rain had sent them all scurrying indoors.

It wasn't long before she was shivering with cold and soaked to the bone. Almost there, she told herself encouragingly. Just a little more.

A wizard was entering the pub as she turned the corner and she barely made it inside behind him.

The room was smoky and loud. People huddled in groups, eyes darting about suspiciously.

"Did you hear about the Johannesons? Cut to pieces in front of . . ."

"I always knew he'd go bad. The apple doesn't fall far . . ."

". . . even went after the children. I can't imagine . . ."

Minerva ignored the chatter and shook herself before examining the area around the door, keeping close to the shadows. Whoever was supposed to meet her would most definitely be in a room, and Order members left signs near the entrance of buildings that only other members could recognize.

And there it was. A small red feather caught in a crack in the wall. It had an 'OP' stamped on it and the number 18 beneath.

Minerva clawed the feather to tiny pieces before slinking out a side door and into a hallway of doors.

She stopped in front of #18 and scratched the door. Ordinarily she would have transformed back into her normal self, but if she did the necklace Sakura had given her would choke her.

The door opened and Minerva froze. Albus?

"Come in," the Headmaster murmured quietly and closed the door behind him.

"Minerva?" he asked. "Why don't you change back?"

She fixed him with a glare and pawed at the chain around her neck.

"Ah," he said with a small grin and unclasped the necklace.

Minerva immediately became herself again. "What are doing here?" she asked. "I thought you'd send someone, not come yourself."

He embraced her, heedless of her wet clothes, and she stiffened before allowing herself to relax.

"I came to see if you were alright. And I must say you had me worried for a moment, Minerva. I was afraid you'd gone feral."

*~*

Sakura glanced at Spinel Sun. "So?"

He nodded, perched comfortably on her shoulder as she turned and headed back to the living room, where Syaoran, Eriol, and Nakuru were waiting for them.

"I agree. The spell looks self-induced. That's about all I could discern from the tangle."

"There was some structure to the spell," Sakura said. "Just nothing we're used to."

"Exactly," said Eriol as she entered the room, and motioned for her to take a seat.

"What do you know that we don't?" asked Syaoran in an attempt at being civil that obviously pained him.

"A great deal," Eriol replied with a smirk.

"He meant pertaining to this mystery," Sakura cut in before Syaoran could speak.

"Well, in the past two weeks I've been investigating and researching strange occurrences and believe I have some of the answers," said Eriol. "It began when I arrived at the scene of a mass killing. One traumatized woman kept shouting that magic had killed them. Masked men in black robes and masks had appeared out of thin air and pointed wands at random people, killing them instantly. My first thought was that a rogue sorcerer was on the loose, so I retreated across the street and examined the building level by level, but I could find no trace of sorcery. What I did find were large traces of silver threads, obviously spells. What troubled me was that I didn't recognize it, and recalled nothing from Clow's memories. I returned and questioned the woman, only to discover that she remembered nothing of what she'd seen or been screaming. She looked at me as if I were crazy - "

"You are," muttered Syaoran. Sakura elbowed him sharply.

" - and told me that she had no idea what I was talking about. I noticed that her eyes had a curiously blank look and examined her with the Sight. There were traces of the same silver threads about her, but this time it didn't seem malignant. I left it at that and returned home."

"After that I activated the Sight whenever I went outside. For a while I saw nothing of the silver, and was about to give it up when I walked south to visit a small book store. I rarely head in that direction, so it was no wonder I hadn't noticed before. There was a small dingy pub called the Leaky Cauldron that nearly blinded me with the spells that had been placed over it.

"I decided to make myself invisible and slip inside. It was full of people in cloaks, huddled close together in groups. They were afraid, suspicious of everyone they didn't know well. Not one of them was there alone. One group stood, and I moved to the side of the door so they wouldn't walk into me, but instead they headed toward the back. I followed them. They stopped in front of a brick wall and one of them took out a wand and tapped a brick. The wall disappeared and I looked upon a cobblestone walkway lined with shops. A sign said, 'Diagon Alley.'

"At that moment the wall began closing and I retreated, not wanting to become trapped in a world I knew nothing about.

"Since then Spinel Sun and I have been scouring the bookshelves in the library and after much research and investigation I have discovered some of your answers."

Sakura snapped her fingers and held out her hand, palm up. The wand she'd taken off of the Englishman appeared.

"Was the wand designed like this?" she asked, holding it out to Eriol.

Eriol took it and examined it. "Yes. The wood was different, but the design is similar. Their wands are much cruder than ours, but I suppose they get the job done, or they'd have improved them."

"So who are these people?" asked Syaoran impatiently. "What are they?"

Eriol fixed his piercing gaze on Syaoran, eyes glittering. "Witches and wizards. There's a whole society of them living in secret, right here in England, and, I would guess, all over the world. They're in the middle of a war against a rogue wizard and his army. I don't know his true name, but they refer to him as You-Know-Who." He snorted. "As if someone as weak as a wizard could see you or know who spoke his name."

"So they're not very powerful?" asked Sakura with interest, leaning forward.

"I would guess that the most powerful among them would only rank a low-level sorcerer," replied Eriol. "I wanted to ask, have you had any dreams about this?"

Sakura frowned. "Perhaps. I don't really remember any of my dreams. There is one way to find out. Do you have a blank CD and a boombox?"

"I'll get it!" said Nakuru, leaping to her feet and skipping out the door. She returned a few minutes later with the requested items.

"Arigatou," said Sakura with a small smile. She picked up the CD and closed her eyes, gathering energy. The disk hovered above her hand and began to spin, emitting a golden light. Streaks of colored lightning seemed to flash across it.

The light disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Done," said Sakura with a satisfied smile. "Now we play it."

She handed it to Nakuru who popped it in the boombox.

Eriol realized that she'd transferred her dreams onto the disk and frowned, muttering, "New-fangled technology these days. What's wrong with the old spells, I ask you?"

Syaoran smirked. "You're just annoyed that you didn't think of it. Admit it. You're getting old."

Clow's half reincarnation glared at him, but his attention immediately turned to the machine when the CD began playing.

At first it was just static, but then voices became clear, many voices, talking about people and events that none of the beings in the room knew of.

"Did you hear about Stratford School of Magically Gifted? Burned to the ground and . . ."

". . . told yeh 'e was a good fer nuthin' . . ."

". . . You-Know-Who is immortal some say . . ."

". . . poor Potter boy 'as a lot on 'is shoulders . . ."

". . . lucky Dumbledore is at Hogwarts . . ."

". . . Harry Potter'll be safe at Hogwarts . . ."

". . . reckon Master will allow us into his inner circle . . ."

". . . take over Hogsmeade. From there we'll launch our attack on Hogwarts . . ."

". . . wants revenge on Harry Potter . . ."

". . . kill that Muggle-loving fool . . ."

". . . only safe place left, Hogwarts is . . ."

". . . yeh can't trust them Slytherins . . ."

". . . Dumbledore and Potter, those two will defeat him, mark my words . . ."

". . . kill them! Eliminate all Muggles and any who would defend them . . ."

". . . traitor among us . . "

". . . join Dumbledore . . "

". . . Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who is afraid of . . ."

". . . most powerful wizard in centuries, you'll be safe . . ."

". . . protect us . . ."

". . . safe . . ."

". . . war . . ."

". . . losing . . ."

". . . Dark Lord . . ."

". . . Help me," a little girl whimpered.

Screams, and shouts, and above it all a high, cold, cruel laugh that made their skin crawl.

The words were once more lost in static, but none of them dared move, none dared speak. That world was in turmoil, and what affected one world would eventually affect them all.

Someone gasped. It sounded like a boy, perhaps their own age.

"Voldemort!"

The CD stopped. Silence descended.

Sakura broke the silence. "I'm going to help them."

"We all are," said Eriol, "but to do that we need to learn more about them, their history, their magic, the key people and events in this war. We can't charge in there ignorant."

"How are we going to do this?" asked Syaoran. "We can't just charge in there, tell them we're sorcerers and more than three times as powerful as they are and expect them to trust us."

"Of course not. That's why we're going to disguise ourselves as one of them. We'll split up and infiltrate three major places. One of us will definitely take this Hogwarts place and discover who this Dumbledore and Potter are. Perhaps they have a newspaper or government building. Spying avoids going through all the red tape, " said Eriol matter-of-factly.

"Red tape?" asked Sakura, her accent more pronounced when repeating a word she didn't know.

"It means a mess of paperwork," explained Eriol.

"Right."

"Did you put a tracking spell on your cat?"

"Of course," said Sakura indignantly. "I added it to the protection spell on the sakura blossom pendant."

"I think it's time to see what our feline friend is up to," said Eriol and Sakura immediately activated the tracker.

Syaoran frowned at the map that appeared. "Isn't that just a couple blocks away from here?" he asked.

"As I suspected. She's at the Leaky Cauldron," said Eriol.

"Do you want me to scry this?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, please."

The map wavered and was replaced with the image of a hotel room. A man and woman stood near the door. The man was tall and old. He wore half-moon glasses and purple robes. His eyes were bright blue and he had a long silver beard and silver hair cascaded down his back.

The woman was rather old as well and dressed in torn, wet green robes. She wore square glasses and her ebony hair was streaked with silver and pulled back into a loose bun. Despite her somewhat shabby appearance she carried herself with an elegant grace. And her eyes . . .

"Tabby-chan!" Sakura exclaimed. "She's that woman!"

"Of course," said Spinel thoughtfully. "She changed herself into a cat. That was the self-induced spell we noticed."

"Shh," hissed Syaoran. "I can't hear what they're saying."

*~*

"What happened? How did you disappear?" asked Albus, stepping back to examine her. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Honestly, sometimes you're worse than my mother was," said Minerva, shaking her head. "Do you mind if I take a shower before I say anything? I'm freezing."

"Of course. I took the liberty of bringing you a clean set of robes," replied Dumbledore.

"Thank you," said Minerva, giving him one of her rare smiles.

"I also brought your wand. Why in the world didn't you keep it?"

Her smile quickly faded. "You're the only one Voldemort is afraid of. You needed it more than I did."

He raised an eyebrow. "As I recall, you were his focus. At the moment you were the bigger threat."

"Which was why you were able to surprise him. I think," she added with a frown, gathering up the clean robes.

He grasped her by the shoulders. "You don't know, because you were wandless under the Cruciatus Curse."

"Albus, I'm fine," she told him, shrugging him off and heading toward the bathroom, missing the hurt look in his eyes when she turned away. "I was well cared for, and I'm healed now."

"Wait."

Minerva stopped and he parted the torn robes on her right side enough to examine the scar she had received from the Cutting Curse.

"All right," he said, straightening. "I'll take your word that you're healed."

"Thank you."

Moments later the shower was running. Minerva stepped beneath the hot running water, sighing as it beat a tattoo on her back. The steam relaxed her muscles, and for the first time in a long time she felt clean.

*~*

"Interesting," murmured Eriol.

Minerva was taking a shower at the moment and Albus Dumbledore sat at the desk, full of nervous energy. He hid it well, but Eriol could pick it out easily.

He looked up to see Sakura wearing a wide, silly grin. "What?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head. "You're recording this, right?"

"Yeeesssss," Eriol answered slowly.

"Can I send it to Tomoyo when we're done?" she asked.

"Sure," he agreed. "Why?"

"To confirm my suspicions."

"Which are?"

"Private. Stop trying to read my thoughts."

"Right," he said, disgruntled, and stood. "Tell me when the shower goes off."

*~*

Minerva stepped out of the bathroom with her hair dry and in its usual bun, her old robes bundled under her arm.

Seeing Albus sitting at the desk, she perched on the edge of the bed. "Where do you want me to start?" she asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"How about when you disappeared? How did you Disapparate?"

Minerva frowned. "You know that Animagi have more talent for wandless magic than anyone else, most likely because the very act of changing form is a wandless act? When I was under the Cruciatus it was . . . my most fervent wish was to get away. I think I accidentally performed a wandless spell, using not only my own energy, but somehow channeling the energy of the curse to get me all the way to Tomoeda, Japan."

"A good theory," Albus agreed.

"I don't remember anything before waking up in a girl's room." She hugged herself, eyes unfocused as she remembered. "Everything hurt and I tired easily. At first I didn't realize I was in another country, even though everyone spoke Japanese. It's lucky that I ended up in Japan. Japanese is the only foreign language I know."

"Extremely lucky," said Albus, reaching out to pat her arm.

"I think I wrote in my letter that the Kinomoto family took me in." Minerva frowned, trying to shake off the feeling that she was being watched. "The girl who cared for me was named Sakura. She had an older brother named Touya, and I only met two of her friends, Tomoyo and Syaoran.

"Yesterday night - was it only yesterday? - I managed to slip out the door and made my way to the park where they mentioned I had been found. I don't know what I was hoping to find, but there was nothing. Then three Death Eaters, Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle, appeared and grabbed me. I wonder why they hadn't appeared before?"

Albus' expression had become worried. "Well, it stands to reason that if we couldn't locate you, Voldemort couldn't either. But did he find a new spell, or did some element change?"

Minerva looked surprised. "You tried to find me?"

"Of course! How could you think that we didn't?"

She avoided his gaze and studied the blankets, saying rather sheepishly, "I just assumed that you were busy. I found a way back myself."

"Minerva," he said softly. "I'd never abandon you. Or anyone if I could help it."

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure Lockhart is the exception."

He chuckled. "Let's not get sidetracked at the moment. Do you have any idea why you were untraceable?"

Minerva shook her head. "When they caught me, I wasn't sure what to do. Then Sakura arrived and I was terrified for her. She foolishly thrust herself into a dangerous situation."

"You sound like you're talking about one of your students. It turned out all right?"

"Oh yes," she replied wryly. "Her friend Syaoran leaped out of a tree and knocked Crabbe and Goyle unconscious. Sakura took out Nott by dodging the Killing Curse and tackling him, knocking his head against a tree." Minerva frowned. "Then Sakura took Nott's wand. She brought it home and I'm sure she left it in her room, but I couldn't find it. I even checked her drawers and no luck."

"It shouldn't be too much of a problem that she has the wand," Dumbledore thought out loud. "As a Muggle she won't be able to use it. I'm more concerned that Voldemort will send someone for revenge."

"Should we have a wizard watch her and her family?" suggested Minerva.

("No!" exclaimed Sakura as she watched the scene. "Eriol, fix it! Sorcery will be twice as hard to work with us being watched by them!"

"What am I, your resident Mr. Fix-It?" grumbled Eriol, touching the scene. It briefly glowed blue to their eyes.)

"No." Dumbledore shook his head. "That would most likely draw unwanted attention to them. And the Dark Lord is drawing his followers close to him. We need all the help we can get."

"There was something strange that Sakura said when she returned home after the fight. She was livid and yelled at her brother." Minerva racked her memory, trying to repeat it word for word. "She told him, 'You were supposed to renew the wards on the house yesterday,' and he apologized. That's when she announced that she was going to England. What does it mean, Albus? I'm sure she wasn't a witch."

"Muggles have religion called wicca. It uses what some might consider magic, but it has very little similarity to ours. Or it could be nothing," said Albus easily.

"Do you think a ward made by 'wiccans' would block the locator spells?"

"Perhaps. It's something we should look into when we have more time and less to worry about," suggested Albus.

Minerva nodded in agreement. "There's not much left for me to tell. I slept most of the way to England and Sakura let me out this morning, giving me this before I left." She fingered the necklace.

"Albus, what do you know about Asian witches and wizards?" she asked suddenly.

"Aside from the native culture, they are similar to you or me. The only difference is the population. For some reason, Asia has a smaller population of wizards, especially in the east in places such as Japan, Vietnam, China, and so on. There is one thing that we don't understand. You are familiar with the energy absorbing of the earth?"

"Yes. The earth inadvertently soaks up tiny bits of magic, reflecting the population of magic beings and users," recited Minerva.

"In eastern Asia, the earth should reflect a much lower amount of magic than any other place. Instead it is about equal to the more powerful places, such as England, Ireland, Alaska, Hawaii, and Australia. Though eastern Asia has a larger population of magical beings than most areas, it should not account for such a large leap in magic energy. Our researchers believed that they were close to the answer when Voldemort returned. Now that mystery will have to wait. Are you ready to return to Hogwarts?"

"I'm assuming you have a new wand?"

Albus grinned. "I paid a visit to Ollivander the day after you disappeared. Would you like to Apparate or would you rather go by Floo?"

"Don't even joke," she told him sourly. "I have no wish to be in the hands of Voldemort so soon."

"As you wish, my dear," he said gallantly.

They vanished.

*~*

"You're getting good," Sakura said to Syaoran.

"Well, I knew that they would be too suspicious for our liking if I didn't do something."

"Congratulations, Descendant," said Eriol gaily. "But you still have a long way to go if you want to match my subtlety when messing with minds."

"You don't even need magic to do that," said Sakura dryly. "And I suppose our frowning down upon those who mess with memories doesn't make you feel guilty?"

"Nope," said Eriol brightly. "And it's all for a good cause."

"It always is with you," said Syaoran, glaring.

"Shouldn't we see where they've gone?" interrupted Spinel.

"Of course," said Sakura and clapped her hands once. The empty room changed and became a map of the British Isles. A red dot blinked in northern Scotland.

"Do you know this place asked Sakura, enlarging Scotland and erasing the surrounding countries.

Eriol shook his head. "I rarely journey to Scotland, and never so far north."

"What good are you?" asked Syaoran as Sakura enlarged the image, focusing on the blinking dot. She could have just brought up an image of the area or room Minerva appeared in, but this way one could get an idea of the surroundings. Besides, it was easier to zoom in than it was to zoom out.

Sakura finally got the two adults on the image and shushed the two boys. They were walking in a forest toward a large, impressive castle.

"If they wanted to get to the castle, why didn't they just teleport there?" asked Syaoran sourly.

"The logical assumption would be that something prevented them from doing just that. Cute descendant," Eriol added as an afterthought.

"Why you," growled Syaoran.

"Stop it. Both of you. Eriol, what is Hogwarts? Is it the castle? Who lives there?"

"I haven't had the chance to find out," Eriol replied delicately. My assumption is that Hogwarts is the castle. I think I heard that Albus Dumbledore is the Headmaster, so I'm guessing that it's a school of some sort."

"How are we supposed to infiltrate that?!" exclaimed Sakura. "It's huge and I can almost see the power coating it. Not so powerful as us, but not something to be trifled with."

"Actually, only one of us is going to infiltrate that," Eriol replied brightly.

She stared at him. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Not necessarily," said Eriol in an unconcerned tone.

*~*

"Serpentium," gasped Hermione. She, Harry, Ginny, and Ron stood in front of the blank wall, panting after the long run from the Charms classroom.

An opening appeared and the four Gryffindors sped through the Slytherin common room.

The Slytherins watched this without batting an eye. After a little over a year of such activity, they no longer shot spells at whichever Gryffindor that raced past. It wasn't like they'd been able to hit them anyway. Though Slytherins disliked Gryffindors as a rule, less than a quarter of them truly hated them, and those that did were eager to become Death Eaters. They didn't dare let this desire become commonly known. It was always easier to work anonymously and in secret.

"Draco!" exclaimed Ginny as they entered his dorm room and slammed the door shut behind them.

The blond Slytherin jumped. "Good God! Don't any of you know how to knock? I could have been changing, you know!"

Ron looked sick. "Oh, that was a very very bad mental picture."

"It's the middle of the day," Harry pointed out dryly.

"So? It's also a Sunday." He sighed and waved a hand imperiously. "Get on with what you were about to say."

"Have we taught you nothing?" asked Hermione. "What's the magic word?"

"Alohomora, Incendio, Expelliarmus. Take your pick."

"Malfoy," Hermione said warningly.

"Granger," he drawled sarcastically.

"Well, if that's the way you're going to be, I guess we won't tell you," said Ginny with a smirk and turned to leave. It was incredibly amusing to see his conflicting emotions, especially since he rarely showed any.

"Fine," he growled.

They waited expectantly.

"Please," he mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" asked Harry, trying to hide a grin. "I couldn't hear you."

Draco looked at him murderously. "Please," he murmured furiously.

"What?" asked Hermione.

"Will you please. Freakin'. Tell me!" he bellowed.

"Since you asked so politely," Ginny said sweetly, "Harry overheard Sprout and Flitwick saying that Dumbledore got a letter from McGonagall. He's going to get her today!"

Draco looked impressed, even as he tried to hide the relief that their Transfigurations Professor was safe. "You're getting good at this eavesdropping thing, Potter."

"Well, I've had seven years of practice," Harry stated matter-of-factly.

"Hurry up," said Hermione, almost bouncing in her impatience. "We wanted to greet her when she arrives."

"At least let me put on my cloak," said Draco.

"Let's just go," said Ginny.

*~*

"Sometimes I wish we didn't have those anti-Apparition wards," sighed Minerva as the two of them walked across the grounds of Hogwarts.

"But it's a beautiful day for a walk," protested Dumbledore. "The sun is out and - "

"It's cold," finished Minerva. "Sometimes I miss my fur."

Albus threw back his head and laughed as they entered the main doors. "My dear, that is probably one of the strangest things I've ever heard."

She didn't have a chance to reply when something hit her at chest level causing her to step back. Albus was immediately at her side to keep her from falling over.

"Miss Granger?" she asked, astonished, and awkwardly put her arms around the girl. She strongly suspected that Hermione was crying.

Then she looked up and noticed three other students. Malfoy was scowling at the floor, hands jammed in his pockets, and Potter and the two youngest Weasleys were fidgeting uncomfortably.

"What on earth..." she asked, at a loss for words.

"W-we're glad you're all right," Ginny Weasley said softly.

"How did you know I would be coming back today?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Harry turned red under her gaze and coughed uncomfortably.

"We just happened to be around," said Ron guiltily. "We weren't sneaking around. Listening. At doors."

Harry groaned and Draco slapped a hand to his forehead. "Smooth, Weasley," he sneered half-heartedly.

"And you say you're related to Fred and George?" hissed Ginny. "Honestly."

Dumbledore chuckled and the three jumped. Hermione finally let go her death grip on the Transfigurations professor and stepped back, embarrassed.

"I'm sure you had the best of intentions," he said kindly. "Why don't you go off to your Common Rooms and inform everyone of Professor McGonagall's arrival while I escort her to the Hospital Wing."

As the four scurried away their professors' voices followed them, quickly growing faint.

"Albus!" she exclaimed. "I am perfectly fine."

He looked at her gravely. "It is better to be safe than sorry."

*~*

Sakura waved a hand and cut the connection.

"I think that might be a boarding school," said Eriol.

"What's a Muggle?" asked Sakura.

"I don't know," said Eriol.

"What?" said Syaoran sarcastically. "You don't have a book of wizard lingo?"

Eriol chuckled. "Not at the moment, cute descendant, but I plan on remedying that soon."

"How so?" asked Sakura curiously.

"We," Eriol announced grandly, "are going to Diagon Alley."

"Right now?" asked Sakura nervously, following him into the kitchen.

"Of course," said Eriol, going to a closet and rummaging around inside. "Ah ha." He brought out his midnight blue robes. "You might stand out a bit in that clothing, but I think it's better than wearing your Asian robes."

"Why would we stand out?" asked Syaoran, looking down at his clothes.

"I thought you were more perceptive than that, Descendant. Didn't you notice that they were all wearing robes?"

"I just thought it was a uniform, or something," Syaoran said with a scowl.

"Right," said Eriol, tossing his robes on over his clothes. He grabbed his keys and checked to make sure he had the Key to his staff with him. "Let's go. Coming Spinel?"

"I think I would prefer to stay," began Spinel when Nakuru called out, "Oh Suppi-chan! Where are you?!"

"On second thought, I would be happy to accompany you," he said hastily, and dove into Sakura's backpack.

Eriol quickly wove a simple illusion spell to keep others from noticing his unusual dress.

Sakura wrinkled her nose as they headed out. The air smelled of burning rubber and car exhaust; the streets were crowded and noisy, a sharp contrast to her small, quiet town. It was somewhat similar to Tokyo, and Osaka.

Sakura yelped and stumbled back as a car ran a red light, right before she was about to cross the street.

"Kami-sama," she gasped, more than ready to get into some stronger terms.

"Let's go," said Eriol impatiently, pulling both her and Syaoran along behind him.

"What's the hurry?" Syaoran grumbled, jerking his hand from Eriol's grasp. Sakura noticed that this was done after they had crossed the street.

"You've got to get across when the streets are clear, or you'll end up as roadkill. Tomoeda is positively heaven compared to this mess."

Neither of them argued that point.

"Here we are," Eriol announced, several minutes later. The three of them stood before a small, dingy pub.

Syaoran noticed that everyone around him - save for his companions - was ignorant of the buildings existence.

"This is it?" asked Sakura dubiously. "It's so. . . dirty."

"Didn't I tell you that?"

"I don't remember," she answered truthfully.

"Let's just get inside before we attract attention," said Syaoran and opened the door.

Eriol entered between Sakura and Syaoran, using them as a sort of shield as he doffed his illusion.

"This way," he murmured and made his way to a back room. Once the door closed behind them they sighed in relief, glad that they hadn't been challenged or noticed.

"Now what?" asked Syaoran.

"I'm thinking. Help me find a brick that looks like it's been tapped on quite a few times. It should be in this area." He waved at the part of the wall above the garbage cans.

Syaoran was used to these sorts of exercises and soon found one that looked lighter than all the rest.

"Sakura, do you still have that wand?" Eriol whispered.

She silently took it out and handed it to him.

"I hope this works," Eriol muttered as he tapped the brick. He figured it was the wand itself that was the key to getting to Diagon Alley, not actively using it, since the only flash of magic he'd seen when in the presence of the other wizards had been the door opening. There was a chance that he was wrong.

The bricks pulled back to form an archway.

"Yes," whispered Sakura with a grin. Her look quickly melted into awe. "It's like a blend of old and modern. They can't coexist comfortably with normal people."

"That," Eriol murmured back as they started walking down the cobbled street, "is what I think is one of the main differences between them and us. Their type of magic helps them even as it hinders their technological progress. You'll notice a distinct lack of technology and machines. It's all done by magic."

"Don't you notice?" interrupted Syaoran.

"Notice what?" asked Sakura, somewhat distracted by the smell coming from the apothecary.

"Look at them. No one dares go out alone. They're all huddled up together in groups, and even then they eye each other suspiciously. They don't know who to trust, don't dare let down their guard. They're terrified."

Sakura looked around and wondered how she had missed it. No one was truly relaxed. They all had their guard up.

"At least we won't look so suspicious since there are three of us," Sakura pointed out in a murmur.

"Let's go in there." Eriol pointed at Madam Malkin's Robes. "We need to blend in."

"Ah, Eriol," Sakura said uncomfortably. "I didn't think to get any English money."

"Not to worry," said Eriol. "I have more than enough for the three of us."

"If you're sure," Sakura replied as they stepped inside.

"I'm sure," Eriol replied and they began browsing through the racks of robes.

"Black seems to be the most common," Syaoran murmured.

"Right." Sakura nodded. "Oh, excuse me," she said as she bumped into a wizard.

"Pardon me," he said at the same time and moved on.

"Tomoyo's going to be livid when she finds out we bought robes. We're going to have to placate her by allowing her to make us a wardrobe of robes," Sakura said with a quiet giggle as she examined a black robe with gold embroidery on the cuffs.

"Wonderful," grumbled Syaoran as he grabbed a robe so black it seemed to suck in light.

Eriol eyed his selection. "That's sure to get them to trust you," he said dryly. "Black as the Dark Lord's heart." He made sure that no one could overhear him when he said this.

"Here they are," Sakura said, finding a rack of ordinary black robes. "Leftovers from Hogwarts' students. Half off."

They each took their sizes and headed for the counter where a witch sat. The wizard Sakura had bumped into was in front of them with a red robe.

"That'll be two Galleons, five Sickles," the witch said tonelessly.

The three behind him immediately tensed.

That's not English money, is it?, Sakura asked telepathically.

Wizard money, Eriol said viciously. Of course! Syaoran, can you see what they look like enough to transform some change?

Syaoran slunk to the side, pretending to examine an advertisement flashing in the air above the counter.

Which one was two? he asked.

Galleons. Hurry! Eriol sent.

Got it, he sent back and returned to stand next to them. He concentrated on changing the handful of change into Galleons and Sickles, half of each. He hoped the witch didn't look too closely at them. He was sure he hadn't gotten all the details right.

"Thank you. Please come again," the witch said and it was their turn.

"Five Galleons, three Sickles, seven Knuts."

Eriol made a gamble and gave her five of the gold coins and four of the silver ones. He was rewarded with several copper coins and they left quickly.

"That was close," Sakura gasped, a hand over her racing heart.

"Much too close," Eriol agreed, and handed Syaoran the Knuts. "Are the pictures the same?" he asked.

"Yes. Hand me those other ones I transformed and I'll fix them," said Syaoran.

They walked along the cobble stones leisurely, looking in windows and occasionally entering interesting stores. They didn't buy anything until they got to Flourish & Blotts.

Eriol's eyes lit up. "Two books each," he cautioned. "Find good ones, preferably history or spells, and anything informative."

They spent an hour browsing before they had what they wanted. Eriol was carrying The Founding of the Wizarding World and Dark Lords: The Rise and Fall.

Syaoran carried a rather large tome that read Ancient Spells and Their Origins. On top of it was a rather thin book that they overlooked at first. It was Major Wizarding Centers and How to Get There for Dummies.

It had taken Sakura a while longer because, while she could read English at a decent pace, she was much faster at Japanese. She had finally managed to collect a small pile of books and brought them over to Eriol and Syaoran to get their opinions on which to keep. She ended up with Modern Magical Events and Their Causes and Consequences and The Big Book of Spells. They weren't exaggerating when they said big, either. It was larger than the tome Syaoran had discovered, though it was not nearly as old. Foreign Wizarding Communities caught her eye, but she reluctantly moved by.

Eriol surveyed the pile and figured, if the system was anything like theirs, it would cost a small fortune.

"Syaoran," he hissed as they slowly made their way to the front. "Make more of those gold coins. This is going to be costly."

"Do you have anymore change?" he asked. "I left mine at your mansion."

Eriol wordlessly handed him a handful of change and Syaoran passed his books to him so he could concentrate.

It was lucky he did. The 37 Galleons and eight Sickles nearly cleaned them out.

"Did you find out what 'Muggle' means?" Sakura asked suddenly as they lingered in front of a broom store.

Eriol groaned. "I forgot." He sighed. "I'll try to remember on the way back."

"Let's try this way," Sakura suggested, gesturing at a small path between the second-hand broom store and a cafe.

"Sure," said Eriol and Syaoran shrugged. They were in no hurry.

They followed it, gazing at the floating candles and illusion garden that covered the sides of the buildings.

Sakura noticed the library first. She clapped her hands. "What luck!"

They immediately trooped inside and headed for the reference section. It only took a moment for them to find the dictionary and look up the word 'Muggle.'

"A person who is neither witch, nor wizard; a person who cannot perform magic," Syaoran read.

"Try Hogwarts," whispered Sakura.

Eriol deftly flipped through the pages until he found the word. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: A boarding school; Arguably the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the British Isles. Current Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore, Deputy Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall ("Oh," said Sakura softly). Faculty contains some of the most powerful wizards and witches of our time. For more information on Hogwarts read Hogwarts: A History."

"I'll ask the librarian," Sakura told them and disappeared. She returned minutes later with a somewhat tattered copy of Hogwarts: A History.

"I got a card and checked this out. Why don't you put it in the Flourish & Blotts bag?"

Eriol had just done so when they heard faint screaming. "Death Eaters!" someone shouted, and the few people in the library disappeared.

"Hoe," murmured Sakura.

Eriol sent their bags back to his mansion and followed Syaoran and Sakura as they raced out the door. The three hesitated once outside.

"I'll meet you two up above," Eriol said. "I want to get a good look at these people, and you already have."

Sakura nodded and the two disappeared. Eriol raced down the path and stopped short. The streets were chaos, full of blinding flashes. Stores were on fire and those who hadn't Disapparated couldn't or wouldn't because they were with children. Death Eaters laughed at the destruction, toying with their victims before killing them in the end. There was pitifully little resistance.

"Mama!" a small boy screamed, having been separated in the panic.

Eriol swooped down on him just in time. The ground he had been standing on exploded.

"Picture your mother," Eriol said through gritted teeth. "Quickly!"

This was not difficult as he had wishing desperately for her. Eriol followed the connection between the mother and child and dumped him in her arms before rushing away. The witch had no time to thank him and dashed away from the destruction.

He transported himself to the roof next to the now-visible Sakura and Syaoran.

"What a waste," Sakura murmured, watching in horror as the stores were plundered and ransacked.

"Poor little wizards all alone. Allow me to assist you," said a harsh, unfamiliar voice.

The three spun around quickly and saw two Death Eaters had crept up behind them.

"Two of those cowards," Syaoran said coldly. "A nuisance."

"How dare you call us cowards," the one on the left said. It sounded like a woman. She brandished her wand.

"Then why do you wear masks? You cower in fear behind your disguise."

"You impudent child!" she screeched.

"No child," returned Syaoran harshly and called upon his sword, swinging it the moment it appeared in his hands. A glowing arc shot at the woman. It hit her and she staggered backward.

Syaoran frowned. "What happened? It was supposed to throw her off the roof."

The male cast the Killing Curse, but Sakura batted it aside.

Eriol used his staff in a way similar to Syaoran's attack. The man simply staggered back as well.

"Attacks don't work well on them," Sakura murmured. She flung her arms wide and ropes of iron bound them to the roof. They struggled in vain. The ropes held. "Anyone corrupted by evil will not be able to free them, but will be bound as well," Sakura said. "Only someone who works for the Light will be able to free them."

She, Syaoran, and Eriol teleported back to Eriol's mansion.

Sakura turned on Eriol. "Why don't attacks work well on them?" she demanded, hands on hips.

"Sakura, I have no idea. I never knew wizards and witches existed until two weeks ago," Eriol said wearily.

"Let's concentrate on a more immediate problem," Syaoran suggested. "Such as how to get to Hogwarts and their government or newspaper buildings."

Eriol pulled a pamphlet out of his pocket. "I took this off of one of those foreign-looking witches."

Sakura read the title. "A Guide to Wizarding London. Aren't they going to get lost?" she asked worriedly.

"Nah," said Eriol carelessly. "Everyone in the group had one."

They crowded around the brochure.

"There!" exclaimed Sakura, pointing at a bullet on the list of popular sights.

"Eriol-sama," Nakuru said delightedly. "I didn't know you were back." She pouted. "I can't find Suppi. Have you seen him?"

"Spinel!" exclaimed Eriol. "I forgot all about him!" He opened his bag and pulled out a rather traumatized guardian by the wings. "I'm sorry, Spinel."

"No problem," he said dazedly. "I'll just recover in the library." He wove back and forth in that direction, Nakuru following, prodding him in the correct direction every once in a while.

"I need to remember not to run while carrying Spinel in my bag," said Eriol ruefully.

Syaoran had been studying the map while that had been going on. "The Ministry of Magic is next to the Leaky Cauldron, perhaps another block or two past it. I think the newspaper building was one of the ones decimated today."

"Well, we've got two buildings between the three of us," said Eriol cheerfully.

"Nakuru and Spinel Sun aren't coming?" asked Sakura.

"Nakuru is not the . . . sneaky type," said Eriol carefully. "She's even worse when Spinel is with her."

"True," Sakura conceded. "Tomoyo will be here in a couple days. Then we can have two per building. That should be all right, except she has to go to college in a little over a week."

"Then we'll just have to do this in a week," said Eriol, as he scanned the brochure.

"We're supposed to learn their entire history and spells within a week?!" exclaimed Syaoran.

"Why not? Oh, look at this. Diagon Alley is the oldest Wizarding Community in the world. Built in the early 1100s A.D., hundreds of witches and wizards worldwide visit this town daily."

"They only go back to the 1100s?" remarked Syaoran. "We go back hundreds of years before that."

Eriol stood and stretched. "I'm going to go study some of those books. Tomorrow we'll teleport to Edinburgh and drive up to Hogwarts, just in case someone is sensitive to sorcery."

"I'm not going to trust myself in a car with you as the driver," growled Syaoran. "Oof." Eriol had tossed his large book at Syaoran.

"I suggest you get started reading. Who knows? This might be interesting."

"Hoe," murmured Sakura. Reading English for too long gave her a headache.

*~*

"Poppy," snapped Minerva. "I am perfectly healthy."

"Stop making a scene," said Poppy cheerfully as she rummaged through the potions cupboard. "You're worse than the children."

Minerva gave the students in the Infirmary a quelling look, daring them to say anything. They were intelligent enough not to, although one girl, Sharon from Hufflepuff, had her face buried in her pillow. Her shoulders were shaking with what Minerva strongly suspected was laughter.

"I'll make you a deal," said Poppy, returning with a glass phial. "If you drink this - all of it - I'll let you go."

Minerva studied the dark, murky substance dubiously. "I strongly suspect Severus poisons these potions. What is it?"

"Just something to keep you strong, healthy, and awake. Cheers," said Madam Pomfrey sweetly, handing her the phial.

Minerva grimaced and threw back her head, downing the potion.

"Go McGonagall," a particularly brave Ravenclaw boy by the name of Jeremy cheered.

"You're telling me that a Potions Master can't make that taste less like sh-"

Poppy cut her off. "Minerva!" she exclaimed, scandalized. "There are students in the room. And the Headmaster," she added belatedly. "And anyway, I think Severus makes it as nasty as he can for a reason."

"Yes," Minerva muttered crossly. "It suits his personality."

Sharon fell off the bed, her head firmly buried in her pillow. The other patients were slightly more composed, only letting out small muffled giggles.

"Sharon, if you don't watch that wrist it'll take twice as long to heal. Back in bed," ordered Poppy.

Minerva quickly left with Albus.

"If I had known how entertaining your trips to the Hospital Wing are, I would come with you every time."

She snorted and headed for her office. "I'll be sure to get you front row tickets," she said sourly.

*~*

"This is all a rather large coincidence," Sakura said suddenly, in an attempt to alleviate the boredom as she stared out the back window of the car. They had just left Edinburgh in a rented car. They had spent the day before reading the books they had purchased at Flourish & Blotts. It had been surprisingly interesting, although Sakura had had some trouble with Ancient Spells and Their Origins. The English terms were very technical and difficult to read, and the book was very dry.

"How so?" asked Syaoran, from the passenger seat.

"Well, a severely injured witch just 'happens' to land in such a way that I can't help but find her, and she ends up with one of the few people who can help, and will, and Japanese 'happens' to be the only foreign language she can speak, while English is mine," she said.

"There are no coincidences in this world," began Eriol.

"Only the inevitable," Sakura chimed in. "Yes, I know. I was being facetious."

They fell silent again and Sakura turned back to her book, wincing as the car went over a rather large bump, cracking her head against the window.

An hour later Eriol looked over at Syaoran. "Take over?" he requested quietly.

Syaoran glanced in the back and his mouth twitched at the sight of Sakura huddled in her sweatshirt, sleeping, book forgotten in her lap. "Sure," he whispered back.

Eriol pulled over and they switched places.

"I don't know where I'm going," Syaoran said.

"Just keep heading north," Eriol told him, and closed his eyes, searching, poking, prodding for the large magical barrier that shouldn't be too far ahead.

He found it and touched it, flinching as it sparked. Realizing that Syaoran was heading in the right direction, he returned to examining the castle. It would be difficult to get in with so many layers of foreign spells, but it was possible.

"Left," Eriol murmured and Syaoran complied. "Right, and then straight on until you reach a forest. Stop there."

"We're going to have to walk through this," Eriol said. "It's the thinnest part and I didn't see any roads leading to Hogwarts."

Syaoran turned around and shook Sakura. "Wake up," he said. "It's time to go."

Sakura batted his hand away. "Five more minutes, 'Niichan," she muttered.

"Sakura," said Eriol solemnly. "Syaoran's gay."

"What?!" shouted Syaoran as Sakura blinked her eyes open.

"What?" she asked.

"Never mind," Syaoran said, shooting a glare at their resident demon. "We need to walk through the trees, and then we'll be at Hogwarts."

"Right," she said groggily, and sat up, opening the door. "Let's go."