You've Just Defeated Lord Voldemort...

~chapter five~

Harry woke with a start, without knowing why. He looked around the darkened room, noticed that Ron and Mr. Weasley were still sleeping, saw that it was only 5:00 and decided to fall back asleep.

When the alarm went off two hours later, Harry rolled over and hopped out of bed. Today was their last day at a Disney theme park, and Hermione had planned to make the most of it. She had booked them a reservation at the character breakfast again, and had made dinner reservations at a fancy Italian restaurant in Epcot.

At 7:30, Harry, Ron and Mr. Weasley met Hermione, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley in the parlor. The six headed down to the 1900 Park Fare restaurant for breakfast. It was the same as their breakfast before the day at Magic Kingdom, but it was nice change from their cereal the previous day.

Hermione took more pictures, making sure to get the group with Mickey and Minnie Mouse. After eating their pancakes and bacon, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley headed back up to their room to finish getting ready. After Hermione finished brushing her hair, they left the hotel, took the monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center, where they transferred to another monorail that took them to Epcot. The monorail track went over the highway, through a small swamp and finally around Spaceship Earth in the park itself.

Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys went through the turnstile and were walking through the Leave A Legacy area of Epcot. There were monoliths with names and pictures engraved in them.

"How do you get your name on one of those?" Ron asked, pointing to the nearest monolith.

"You pay a lot of money," Hermione answered. "And it's not worth it, because this might not even be permanent."

"You mean they're not going to keep this?" Ginny asked. "It's pretty."

"What's that giant golf-ball looking thing?" Harry asked.

"It's Spaceship Earth," Hermione answered. "There's a ride in there."

"Oh, let's go on it," Ron said. Everyone agreed on it, so they headed over to the ride. The line was very short (no one could believe it, as Hermione had read that the line was longest in the morning) and they walked right in and were on the ride. They sat in little blue cars that looked like they had plucked out of a cartoon and very slowly wound their way up into the giant golf-ball. It was designed to be like a travel though time, from Cro-Magnon times to the future. They passed cave paintings, Grecian plays, Michaelango painting the Sistine Chapel, Shakespeare writing Hamlet, Edison inventing the light bulb and other important events from history.

The ride exited into a futuristic-looking room sponsored by the phone company, AT&T. It was full of booths and hands-on exhibits, showcasing the improvements that have been in communication through the years since Marconi's first telegram. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny amused themselves for a little while, playing with the exhibits, calling each other on camera phones and teaching Mr. Weasley how to use a normal "felly-phone". When the kids had worn out the exhibits, they walked over to the Universe of Energy, where they waited in line to ride Ellen's Energy Adventure.

"Ellen DeGeneres is a famous American comedienne," Hermione explained. "This ride shows her journey with the TV scientist, Bill Nye, to learn about energy."

"So this ride...teaches us stuff?" Ron asked, with a horrified look on his face.

"Every ride in Epcot teaches us," Hermione said. "That was the Walt's vision of the park."

"What does Epcot mean, anyway?" Harry asked as they entered the building housing the ride.

"Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow," she answered, while taking a seat on the floor and focusing her attention on the television screens on the walls. "Walt Disney envisioned the park to be a futuristic community, but it's evolved into a futuristic theme park and permanent World's Fair."

"Where does she learn this stuff?" Ron whispered to Harry who shrugged. The lights dimmed and the TV screens flickered on, so their conversation ended as Ellen DeGeneres appeared.

She began explaining a bit about energy and how she came upon wondering how it worked. She then laid down on a couch and fell asleep, having a very strange dream. Ellen was on the television program, Jeopardy and had to answer questions about energy. Unfortunately, she didn't know any of the answers. Then her neighbor, Bill Nye showed up and told her he could help.

The screen flickered black, the lights came on and a Cast Member directed the crowd into a theatre whose doors had just opened. Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys followed the crowd into the theatre and chose seats near the front. Safety bars came down above their laps. Harry looked questioningly at Hermione. She simply smiled and turned to the front.

Ellen and Bill Nye appeared on the screens. Bill explained how he was going to take Ellen back in time to show her how energy is made. Ellen protested, but Bill ignored her and sent the two of them back in time by pushing a button on a small remote. They landed in a dense jungle, and when Ellen questioned where they were, (or rather, when they were) Bill answered "Prehistoric times." Ellen opened her mouth to speak, but a dinosaur's roar silenced her. The dinosaur roared again, and the theatre went dark.

"Why does this keep happening to me?" Hermione asked.

The seats of the theatre began moving. The wall opened, and Harry found himself in a prehistoric land, complete with mist, "smell-o-vision" (musty, humid smelling air), plastic but like-life plants and Audio-Animatronic dinosaurs. Ellen's and Bill's voices were projected throughout the ride, and an Audio-Animatronic Ellen could be seen in the background of one scene.

When they moved out of the prehistoric-themed room, the occupants of the car found themselves back in a theatre. Bill Nye and Ellen DeGeneres were again on the television screens, and Bill was explaining fossil fuel to Ellen. He then pushed the button again, but this time, they were sent forward into time.

There were no more Audio-Animatronic figures on the ride (which disappointed Harry and Ron), but it teach about solar and nuclear fuel (which Hermione found interesting.)

After Ellen's Energy Adventure, Ron was ready for something more "thrilling". So Hermione led Ron, Harry, Ginny, Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley to Mission: Space. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley decided to not ride it after they found out that it created almost a feeling of weightlessness.

"Are you sure you don't want to ride?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, Hermione. No, it's okay," said Mrs. Weasley. "Arthur and I need some time alone anyway."

"All right," said Ginny. "Have fun!"

"We will," said Mr. Weasley. "We'll meet you right out here when you're done." He and Mrs. Weasley turned and walked in the direction of Illuminations (an area showcasing the newest technologies and scientific advances.)

"Wicked!" said Ron. "No parents!"

"Let's go," said Hermione. "This ride is supposed to very exhilarating. And we have a lot more to see."

"Then come on," said Ginny. She grabbed Harry's sleeve and pulled him towards the ride. Ron and Hermione followed and the four entered the queue. It was a lot shorter than they had expected, and after only twenty minutes, they were in the "briefing room". A computer screen hanging overhead showed Gary Sinese as a NASA worker, giving instructions for the mission to Mars. When the video ended, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were led into another room, and stopped in front of a rectangular shaped capsule. The door opened and revealed four seats, four computer screens, three button panels and a joystick.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny filed into the ride and sat down. Shoulder restraints came down and the wall opposite came forward to that there was hardly any room between the riders and their computer screens.

Gary Sinese's voice filled the room, giving instructions. Each person had a job, based on where they were sitting. Harry was the engineer, and he had to fix the shuttle if anything broke. Ron was the commander, and he was in charge of the mission. Hermione was the pilot, and Ginny was the navigator.

"Five...four..." Gary Sinese counted down. 'Three...two...one...Blast off!"

The computer screen filled with images of flame and smoke, and the shuttle began shaking. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny felt a force as strong as what real astronauts feel, even though the ride never left the ground. (It was just spinning around really, really fast.)

As they neared Mars, things started to go wrong. Ginny's navigation system blew, Hermione lost vision, and a heat panel almost fell off, which Harry had to fix.

They eventually completed their mission and returned to Earth, safe and sound. They shakily exited the ride and carefully made their way to the exit.

"I had no idea I would have to think while on a ride!" Ron said.

"Do you think you would have done a better job if you had known?" Hermione asked.

"A better job! I stopped you from crashing!" Ron said. "I helped fix Ginny's navigation, and I helped Harry fix the heat panel!"

"No you didn't, mate," said Harry. "I got it all on my own!"

"So did I," said Ginny.

"Let's stop arguing," said Hermione. "It was fun, we all did our jobs, now let's find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley."

They quickly walked through Illuminations East, trying not to be distracted by all the amazing technologies. They didn't see the Weasleys, so they headed back to the Courtyard outside Mission: Space. After wandering around for a bit, the kids found the parents, and the six of them walked across Futureland towards the Living Seas.

Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys entered the queue, which wound through a dimly lit room filled with underwater artifacts. After a long, tiring, boring wait that was filled only with the sound of Hermione spouting out facts about The Living Seas, the queue entered into a high-tech elevator. After everyone was in and the doors shut, the elevator began moving downward. It crawled to a halt after about a minute, and the doors opened. The crowd filed out into what looked like a high-tech underwater laboratory.

"Will you look at this place?" Hermione asked in awe. "A two-story aquarium. A submarine. And look, manatees!" She and Ginny ran off to the other side of the room to look at the manatees. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley wandered off to the gift shop, leaving Harry and Ron to fend for themselves.

"Wanna go look at the aquarium?" Ron asked Harry.

"Sure," Harry answered. "Let's go." They rode the escalator up to the second floor to see the upper level of the tank. There were 60 varieties of sea creatures swimming around, including turtles, angelfish, sharks, dolphins, sting rays and many different kinds of coral, all in about six million gallons of water.

After wandering through the entire area, Ron and Harry went to find Hermione and Ginny. They were still in the manatee room. Ginny was petting one, while Hermione was feeding another.

"Harry! Ron!" called Ginny. "Come here and pet Barbara!" Harry and Ron walked to Ginny and Barbara the manatee. Harry kneeled down next to Ginny and began petting Barbara. Ron stayed slightly back, looking warily at the animal.

"Come on, Ron," said Harry. "It's harmless."

Ron grimaced but kneeled anyway. Barbara seemed to smile up at Ron. Ron smiled back. "Right. This isn't so bad."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley found the kids a few minutes later and the six headed out. "Where to next?" Ginny asked Hermione when they were outside.

"Well," she answered. "The Land is right ahead of us. I figured we could have lunch and see the show."

"What show is it?" Ron asked.

"It's called Food Rox," Hermione said. "And it features Audio-Animatronic food singing parodies of oldies music."

Ron just stared blankly back. "You said we could get food there, right?" he asked. Hermione nodded. "Then I say we go." Hermione and Ginny laughed and led the way.

The next Food Rox show was starting just a few minutes after they stepped into The Land pavilion, so they went there first. Hermione led them to a row near the middle of the theatre, and they settled in for the twenty-minute show.

"I cannot believe I sat all the way through that," Ron said as they exited the theater.

"I thought it was cute," Ginny said.

"It made me hungry," said Harry. "Can we get lunch now?" Without waiting for an answer, Harry and Ron walked to the Sunshine Season Food Fair, located directly ahead of them. The Food Fair offered a variety of food, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley all returned to their table with something different.

"This is delicious," Harry said, biting into his barbeque ribs.

"So is this," said Hermione, about her spaghetti and meatballs.

All of the food was delicious, and everyone exclaimed over it, except Ron, who was too busy eating to talk. When all the food had been consumed, and the garbage disposed of, Hermione looked at her watch and gasped. "Look at the time! We have to leave if we want to see all of World Showcase!" She hurried out of the Land pavilion. Harry and the Weasleys looked at each other, shrugged and followed her.

They caught up to Hermione as she passed the Imagination pavilion. "Come on guys!" she yelled.

"Hermione!" Harry called. "The park doesn't close until ten o'clock. We have the time to walk." Hermione stopped right next to a snack stand and waited for Harry and the Weasleys. "Can we walk now?" he asked her.

"Sorry. But there are eleven countries to see, two rides to ride, too many shops to count...and we have dinner reservations at seven," Hermione explained. "Now let's go."

The party officially crossed over from Future World to World Showcase. The first country they encountered was Canada. In the background was a very small replica of the Rocky Mountains. The first building Harry and the others encountered was Le Cellier Steakhouse. As they had just eaten lunch, they passed it up, as well as a pastry stand. There were rustic lodge buildings housing stores, and Indian totem poles as decorations.

"If all the countries are like this, we should breeze through here in ten minutes," Ron said. "And go on Mission Space again."

"Sorry, Ron," said Ginny. "I don't think that'll be happening."

They passed Canada, and the World ShowPlace Events Pavilion before reaching the U.K. Pavilion.

"Wow," said Mr. Weasley. "This looks amazingly like London! High Street, smoke stains on the chimneys, a thatched roof! Even those red phone booths! This is brilliant!"

"Listen, do you hear music?" Mrs. Weasley asked. There was indeed music coming from High Street. Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys walked towards the crowd, and noticed a band playing old Beatles tunes. Harry and Hermione sang along with what lyrics they knew, while the Weasleys clapped their hands and tapped their feet.

"They're not bad," said Ron over the applause.

"No, they're really good," agreed Harry.

When the band (called the British Invasion) finished playing "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", Hermione suggested that she, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley go into the Rose and Crown pub for some tea.

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "It's been so long since I've had a proper cup of tea."

The six went into the Rose and Crown, found a table and ordered their tea.

"This is really good," Hermione said.

"Any tea that wasn't poured by Trewlany is good," said Ron.

Harry and Hermione laughed. "What do you see in my cup?" Harry asked Ron, pushing it towards him.

Ron shuddered but smiled. He glanced into the cup. "Let's see...er...there's going to be loads of brown rain falling from the sky tonight." Everyone laughed and Ron handed Harry back his tea.

When they all finished their tea, the six left the pub and walked through the rest of the U.K. before crossing the International Gateway. "This is an alternate entrance to the park," said Hermione. "It has access to some of the hotels."

"What's the next country we'll see?" Ginny asked.

"France," Hermione said. A minute later, they were in France. In the distance was the Eiffel Tower. In the foreground were buildings reminiscent of those built during the Belle Époque. "Do you smell that?" she asked.

"Yum...freshly baked bread," said Ron. "Oh, that smells so good..."

"Where is it?" Ginny asked. Hermione checked her map.

"Boulangerie Patisserie," she answered. "It should be..." she checked her map again. "Right there." She pointed right ahead.

"I don't see it," Ron said.

"Because it's behind that building," Hermione said. She led Ron, Harry, Ginny and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to the Patisserie. They all bought some bread or a pastry, and they enjoyed them while they walked to Morocco. There was a band of musicians playing Western music with an Arabic twist, and some girls were belly dancing to it.

"Ooh," said Ron, while staring entranced at the belly dancers. "Look at that!"

"I didn't know people could move like that," said Harry.

"It's bloody brilliant," Ron said.

"Oh, Ronald," said Hermione with more than a touch of sarcasm in her voice. "Hey, Ginny, look! Henna!" She and Ginny went off to the Henna tattoo artist, leaving Harry and Ron and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to watch the belly dancers. About fifteen minutes later, Hermione and Ginny returned.

"Mum, look what I got," Ginny said, rolling up her sleeve to reveal an Asian symbol on her shoulder. "It the Japanese symbol for friend," she explained.

Hermione rolled up her pant leg to reveal a rose on her ankle.

"Oh, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "How long do those last?"

"About a week and a half," Hermione answered.

After admiring the Henna, and watching the belly dancers for a few more minutes, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys left Morocco and walked to Japan.

"Now, this is a small world," Ron said. "When you can walk from Africa to Asia in five steps."
"It helps that there are only eleven countries," Harry said.

"And that each country is no larger than five city blocks," Hermione added.

"Yeah, that does help," admitted Ron. "So, what is there to see in Japan?"

"Unfortunately, not a lot," Hermione said. "The art gallery is closed for renovation, the sugar cube artists isn't here today, and there are no movies or rides."

"What about food?" Ron asked.

"Or shopping?" asked Ginny.

Hermione consulted her map. "Matsu No Ma Lounge," she said to Ron. "And Bijutsu-Kan," she told Ginny. Hermione led the way into the large Japanese looking building in front of them. It was the store Hermione had told Ginny about, and the two wandered off, browsing the merchandise. Mrs. Weasley followed them, while Mr. Weasley took Ron and Harry with him to find Matsu No Ma Lounge.

It was almost an hour later when the six met up again. The girls were carrying bags full of Japanese souvenirs (to go with the rest of the souvenirs they had already bought in World Showcase) and the guys were finishing their snack of sushi.

The next country was America, but it wasn't modern day America. "This reminds me of Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom," Ginny said.

'That's because both are based on Colonial America," Hermione said. "But there's not Haunted Mansion ride."

"Are there any rides in this part of the park/" Ron whined.

"Yes," answered Hermione. "The Maelstrom in Norway, and El Rio del Tiempo in Mexico."

"When are we going to get to those?" Harry asked.

"After we go through America, Italy, Germany and China."

Ron groaned. "Can we skip any of that?"

"We can skip Italy, since we're going there for dinner. And Germany and China are pretty much walk-through, so they'll be quick."

"Good. Let's go," said Ron.

They walked right through America, and right past Italy, Germany and China. They passed an oompa band and miniature railroad in Germany and an art exhibit in China. Ron was so desperate to get to the rides that he nearly pulled Hermione's arm out of her socket when she stopped to listen to the band. They eventually made it to the queue for Maelstrom. It was an extremely long wait, so Hermione suggested that they get Fastpasses and go ride El Rio del Tiempo while waiting. She took their tickets and returned a few minutes later with the Fastpasses.

Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys left Norway (past a Viking ship) and entered Mexico. (Sort of.)

"This is Mexico?" Harry asked.

"A cantina and a pyramid?" Ron added.

"Actually," said Ginny. "Mexico is inside the pyramid."

"Inside?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. Let's go."

The six walked up the steps towards the door leading to Mexico. They stepped inside and, suddenly, it was nighttime.

"Wow," said Ron. "Brilliant." The ceiling was painted dark blue to resemble a night sky and small twinkling lights blinked from the walls. A restaurant emitted delicious aromas of Mexican food and a Mariachi band played familiar strains. Hermione and Ginny led the way past souvenir stands to the queue for El Rio del Tiempo.

While waiting in the line (which didn't offer Fastpasses, so they had no choice but to wait for forty-five minutes), Hermione explained that "El Rio del Tiempo" was Spanish for "River of Time", and the ride chronicled the history of Mexico, from the Mayans and Incans, to modern day.

Finally, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley boarded the boats. They sailed past mosaics, televisions and puppets showing ancient Mexico. Then they sailed past Audio-Animatronic figures re-enacting some of Mexico's most important events. Eventually the boat sailed through a huge room decorated to look like Mexico City on New Year's Eve. Fake fireworks exploded as they left the room and exited the ride.

"Oh my goodness," Ron said as they stepped into the fresh air once more. "The only thing that could have made that worse is an annoying song."

"I liked it," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Me, too," agreed her husband.

"I never said it was a thrill ride, Ronald," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "But Maelstrom is supposed to be, and it's time to use our Fastpasses, so let's go." They went back to Norway and once again entered the queue (though this time, it was the Fastpass queue.) About ten minutes later, they were again boarding a boat, but this time, it was a Viking ship.

The ride wound through a history of Norway, but it had drops (and a fake drop, backwards, over a rocky waterfall) and a three-headed troll that attacked the ship at every chance it got.

"That was better," Ron said. "But not thrilling enough for me."

"Well, I'm sure you'll love the next thing on our agenda," Hermione said.

"Dinner?" Harry guessed.

"Yep, dinner."

The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione walked back to Italy, but this time, Harry and Ron were in the lead. Hermione showed them which restaurant it was, and Ron checked them in.

About ten minutes later, they were seated and handed menus. Each chose an authentic Italian dish, and, when the food arrived, dug in like there was no tomorrow.

After dinner, Hermione rushed them back to Mexico. She found seats along the World Showcase Lagoon at the San Angel Cantina. When everyone was settled, she bought some drinks and churros and everyone sat in to watch Illuminations.

Illuminations is Epcot's nighttime show. It takes place on the Lagoon, and it features fire, lasers and a giant globe that floats around, placed to a rousing soundtrack.

When the show ended, the crowd headed towards the exit and boarded the monorails and buses that were waiting to return them to their hotels.

When Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys returned to their hotel, they gladly fell into bed and went right to sleep. Harry's last conscious thought was that holidays are tiring...