Muggle Camp

Chapter 3 - Strictly Ballroom

Harry watched as the people who had stopped to listen to Ron and Hermione's bickering turned toward Professor McGonagall sniggering. It was hard to tell who was redder, Ron or Hermione. Hermione gave a great 'hmph!' then walked over and sat down on her bag. Ron followed suit. Harry turned back to Professor McGonagall who gave the assembled crowd a sharp look.

'This,' McGonagall continued silencing the sniggering crowd, 'I assure you, will be a challenge. Well, for the most of you at least.' She surveyed the crowd, her eyes landing on the muggleborn and half-blood children. 'Even so, for those of you who live in muggle environments or who have done muggle studies, this will still be a valuable and well...interesting experience.' She paused. She had an odd look in her eye that Harry couldn't figure out.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. 'There will be other teachers who will be meeting us at our destination.' Where was their destination, Harry wondered to himself?

'What is our destination Professor?' Anthony Goldstein had voiced the question that Harry had been thinking, and from the eager looks on the other student's faces, they had been wondering the same thing.

'That, Mr Goldstein, is for me to know, and for you to find out.' Harry thought she was acting very oddly indeed.

'Now, in order for us to all get there, I have ordered a coach,' she proclaimed to the confused crowd. 'A coach is a form of muggle transport which resembles the knight bus. That is, with the exception that it is not purple and is only single decker.

'Before it arrives however, we need to get some things sorted out.' She pulled out her wand and picked up a small chest that had been placed beside her on the pavement. It was rectangular, very deep and very ornate. It had many tiny jewelled shapes on it.

'Accio Wands!' Professor McGonagall shouted causing wands to shoot at her from all directions. Harry felt his own wand shoot from the waistband of his jeans and automatically held out his hands to try to catch it. He watched as it zoomed over the heads of Hannah Abbot and Justin Finch-Fletchley and landed smoothly in the rectangular box, which Professor McGonagall was moving to aim at the oncoming attack of the wands. This wasn't fair! He wanted his wand back now. He felt as though someone had cut off one of his limbs. His wand was like his best friend. Maybe this Muggle Camp wasn't going to be as fun as he thought.

He wasn't the only one, by the looks of it, that missed their wand. Judging from the outcry of angry voices all around him, they felt the same way as Harry. Figuring it was pointless trying to argue, he walked over to Ron who was still in a towering temper and looked as though he was about to burst into tears. His footsteps seemed to bring Ron out of his stupor. He lifted his head to look at Harry. He was about to say something when Professor McGonagall spoke again.

'Silence! This is a necessary precaution I must take in order to ensure that you do not use magic. Please talk quietly amongst yourselves until the coach arrives. The next person I hear raise their voice will not only get detention but will have a silencing charm placed on them. Remember, we are in a muggle inhabited area. Does anyone have any questions?'

'Yeh,' Malfoy had just spoke up from the crowd. Harry gave him a scathing look. 'What is going on? I mean, we get told to meet here at two o'clock in the morning at King's Cross Station. Why did we have to meet here in unearthly hours? Why not Diagon Alley at midday? It's ridiculous!' Crabbe and Goyle snickered annoyingly at his side.

'Because Mr Malfoy!' she looked venomous - obviously the early hours didn't agree with her. 'Our destination prescribes that we be there at 6am sharp. Because we are going in a muggle way, we have to leave here now in order to get there on time. King's Cross is a general area that everyone knows. Now,' she looked very irritable, 'if there are no more questions...' she gave them a look that suggested that the next person to ask a question would be committed to a life-time of slavery.

Harry turned and looked at Ron. He was still seething. 'I can't see why you're so angry. I mean it's still Hermione. She just looks a bit different, that's all.' Harry personally thought that Ron was over-reacting. Yes, he had been surprised and confused when he saw Hermione, but there was no reason to get so angry!

'You can't see! Harry, she has stuck metal through her skin!' Ron paused to take a breath, 'and anyway, that's not Hermione. I want my Hermione back.' He looked very forlorn now and Harry wondered what he had meant by 'my Hermione'. Then Ron's head shot up and he covered his mouth as if he had let slip something he shouldn't have.

'What s'matter Ron?' Harry asked looking confused, stifling a yawn.

'Nothing, it's just...' Ron started but was interrupted.

'Mr Weasley, Miss Granger. Over here now please.' Professor McGonagall had just closed the rectangular box. She had obviously been counting the number of wands to see that it matched up with the number of students. Harry watched as Ron got up, now looking furious again.

His mind wandered back to the camp. Without his wand he felt very unsafe, especially with Voldemort back. Maybe this camp wasn't such a good idea. I mean, Harry thought, would Voldemort know about this? Surely Malfoy's father would know. What if he had told Voldemort? He might come after Harry again. No, he was giving himself too much credit. He wasn't the most important thing to Voldemort at the moment and there was no way Mr Malfoy could tell Voldemort. He was locked up in Azkaban. Ha! Serve him right.

He was distracted by blaring headlights coming along the road. They belonged to a coach, like one he used to go on when he went on school trips back in his primary school days. It progressed down the road and came to a gradual stop with a squeal of breaks in front of them. An outlet of air and the door of the coach swung open revealing a tall, plump, balding man.

''Allo, 'allo. My naym es William Turner ma'am.' He held out his hand to Professor McGonagall to shake. 'But yow can call me Billy!' He smiled widely, but seeing his hand was not accepted, he used it to hitch up his pants that were sliding down his fat rear inconspicuously.

'Thankyou Mr Turner.' McGonagall smiled a thin-lipped smile and continued, 'Where shall the children place their luggage?'

'Is just dawn 'ere me fine laydey.' Billy answered still smiling.

'Thankyou, er, Billy. Right, bags where Mr Turner said please!'

'Please ma'am, cawll me Billy! When yowl all ready yow can get on the coach!'

Harry walked over to Ron who was piling his bag into the luggage compartment of the coach. 'Come on, let's try and get a good seat.'

Stepping up onto it, he saw the seats were in row of three. Walking four rows in, he took the middle seat and Ron took the window. A minute later, Hermione took the aisle seat making him feel very uncomfortable. This was not going to be a pleasant trip.

When all the students had filed onto the coach, Professor McGonagall addressed them again.

'Silence!' The coach had started moving again. McGonagall turned to the bus driver who had just started to speak again. 'Sow, was you're favourite filum? Miyne as to be tha classic, yow remember it? Stricly Ballroom. Wha' a classic!' McGonagall whipped out her wand, muttered something under her breath and turned around to face the class again. Harry noticed a curtain of pink had appeared in the aisle in front of the driver's cab

'Right,' Professor McGonagall paused to take a breath. 'I have placed a charm in the form of that pink curtain that will act as a sound barrier so that no sound can pass between here and there. I suggest that you all get some sleep before we arrive. It is going to be a long day.' Professor McGonagall smirked in a way that was very unlike her.

'Can we put a video on Professor?' Harry turned to see Justin Finch-Fletchley indicating the video and TV suspended from the roof of the bus.

'If you insist. This is a muggle camp after all. You have to figure out how to work it though.' Professor McGonagall sat down and disappeared from view. Harry watched as Justin passed his seat to reach the video player.

'What's he talking about? A video? What's a video?' Harry had almost forgotten Ron and Hermione were there. He was at least glad that something had distracted him from his disagreement with Hermione. Hermione made a loud tutting sound on Harry's other side which he ignored.

'It's a form of entertainment that muggles have. It's like moving pictures that tell a story. Watch and see.' Intrigued, Ron turned to watch Justin with Harry.

'What've they got Justin?' Harry asked.

'Just the one video. The one that the driver was talking about. It's called 'Strictly Ballroom'. Shall I put it on?'

'Sounds a bit girly if you ask me!' retorted Ernie Macmillan.

'Just whack it on mate,' Dean Thomas called out from the back of the bus.

'Oh, this will be interesting!' said Hermione who was sniggering in the seat next to him.

'What's so funny?' asked Harry confused.

'Nothing, nothing. Just...enjoy the movie.' Harry watched as she settled back in her seat and closed her eyes, a wide smile on her face.

Hm, Harry thought, maybe I will. He settled himself back into his seat, watching amusedly as Ron jumped up and down eagerly in the next seat like an excited little kid. He never got the chance to watch the Dursleys' television and thought that this was an ample opportunity to lie back and relax. Little did he know what he was in for. Hermione was not sniggering for nothing.