MerWhoPotter

Chapter 3: Ghosts of Winchester

MerWhoPotter: Merlin + Doctor Who + Harry Potter

Early next morning, Harry woke up from a weird dream though he forgot all about it immediately. Still a few hours till breakfast, he quickly got dressed and left the dormitory feeling restless. He had this weird urge to take his invisibility cloak with him which came in handy when he saw a dark figure running in a parallel corridor. It could have been a student but what caught his attention was the wheezing noise he heard yesterday. He started following this figure at a brisk pace but tried not to make too much noise. He realized that the dark figure entered the newly opened war memorial museum that was recently added in memory of all those heroes lost in the war; in the first floor and followed the sound into the muggle section which held things from a toy car to some electric gadgets like toasters & washing machine though they don't work. There was also a British police box in beautiful bright blue paint! Harry tried to open the slightly open doors of the box to see if anybody was hiding inside. When he stepped inside, he was reminded of the tent he was in at the Tri-wizard tournament in his fourth year. It was bigger on the inside! But other than that the interior decor was nothing like he has ever seen. For lack of a better word he thought it looked modern. Very 'muggly' but somehow he doubted it. Not noticing the door embedded in the side wall, he thought the box was empty and came out. The mysterious figure was nowhere to be found.

Slowly he headed back to the main hall for breakfast. Others soon followed and were enjoying their huge breakfast when an owl delivered the daily prophet to Hermione. She started reading the headlines with her spoon half way to the mouth and forgetting about the spoon hanging midair! Observing this, Ginny nudged Harry who in turn nudged Ron and all three were laughing silently. Suddenly conscious of her surroundings as she spilled the contents of the spoon onto her dress the silent smiling turned into open laughter.

She magically siphoned off the food with a frown and said 'If you read the headlines you would be shocked too. I thought such things were published in quibbler only.'

'What are you talking about?' Ron asked while Ginny took the paper and started reading,

*'Ghost of Winchester on vacation at MOM?'*

One of our top reporters was interviewing the new minister of magic, Mr. Kingsley Shacklebot about the new regulations in safety patrol committee when an unbelievable artifact appeared out of nowhere making a shrill noise and disappeared before the officials could act on it. It was described as a 'translucent disc quartet with a bent hook' which is similar to other sightings of a similar object in history which till today was considered as just a myth while mystery buffs have named it 'The ghost of Winchester' for its translucent nature and as it was also rumored to be first sighted in Winchester, Hampshire which in fact holds the ruins of the great Camelot city (though the muggles believe Camelot synonymous to the Cadbury castle in somerset).

This is the first time this object is officially observed and registered by our ministry. The ministry officials also known as the 'unspeakable's' immediately closed of the atrium for further study. The minister was hastily removed from the area while the rest were held in custody for questioning and were released only after 3 hours which included testing for radiations from any magical substances that might have remained back. The officials commented it as a trick of a spell though the people present there were doubtful as the culprit if any was not caught. This recurring anomaly might forever be a mystery to wizard kind.'*

As Ginny finished reading and gave the newspaper back to Hermione, Harry felt a similarity and wondered if he heard it in his dream. Though Harry was accustomed to dreaming about real things, he was sure it was not Voldemort related as the mystery was centuries old.

"Well, that was indeed very weird. I think I read about this myth somewhere, but I can't remember where." Ron agreed and Ginny and Harry agreed.

Soon it was time for the classes. Ron and Hermione seemed to be enjoying themselves in the backseat of advanced charms class, while Harry was telling Ginny about his cousin who visited him in the holidays for a few hours. Ginny started laughing about something Harry said but prof. Flitwick was too busy to notice the disturbance as he was busy scolding another student for a wrongly done charm spell that has given the professor wings which now made him look like an old cupid with beard but very pink feathers in his wings. After that the rest of the day was very normal except for the humongous homework they had been given.

After dinner, the four of them were leisurely walking towards their dormitories and were suddenly aware of a tiny ball floating in the corridor ahead. Ron started to shout not to touch it when Ginny has already done so. Suddenly the ball blast into a million pieces of confetti and birds making a loud screaming noise!

Ron shouted over the noise "Shit! This is one of my brother's joke shop product. Someone must have left it here as a joke. Oh god! We are already covered in the confetti!! Shit shit shit!"

Hermione immediately asked "why? Is that bad?" To which Ron replied "well whoever touches the confetti will be seen naked for the next 1 hour!"

"What?"

"Yes, except for the ones covered in it! Don't worry, I can still see your clothes" replied Ron cheekily with an expression as if to say he was disappointed at the news, to which Hermione punched his arm and said 'Run! Before anybody comes and finds four naked students in the middle of the corridor!

Realizing the immediate danger, all four of them started running, and once again Harry found himself going to the memorial hall. He took lead and let all of them to the tiny box and asked them to get in, but when the rest of them looked unsure, he immediately explained its character and soon all four of them ran inside the blue box and closed the door. After getting accustomed to their surroundings, Ginny sat on a nearby staircase and said 'are you sure this will only last an hour? To which Ron nodded in affirmation.

Hermione suddenly asked "what about the people who will go and check the scene of commotion? What happens if they touch it?" to which Ron answered the spell affects only those who are in the place for the first minute of the blast. Don't worry, I am sure nobody will come so soon, most of them are still in the great hall and our route was also out of the way of any common rooms. Unless of course Filch decides to investigate! Oh. I pity those who will see Filch naked! They will be scarred for life.'

Harry soon found the door he missed before and went to check it! He called out to others and soon all four of them were walking along a long corridor. Suddenly they heard a man's voice and almost got back to the first room when Harry silently gestured for them to stop and pointed towards their dresses! Realizing his point, they slowly peeped into the main room and found their astronomy teacher talking to himself joyously but they didn't understand what he was so happy about which was something like this:

'Finally I found it! I can't believe I missed the meaning for so long! Now I know exactly where I should go and when I should go.'

Saying this, the professor immediately pressed some buttons they have observed before but didn't touch as they looked dangerous and suddenly the whole place was making that weird noise they heard the before day. Suddenly the noise stopped and the professor soon left the box. They waited till the hour was over, and waited a good 20 min more to be safe hoping that they were not naked anymore, and tried to get out of the weird box. Four of them came out one by one but became still like statues as they realized that they were no longer in the castle but actually in a lush green forest. What's more, it's not even evening, but looked like midday!! It's not even the forbidden forest. The woods are totally different. The air also smelled weird, more fresh and pure. Far away, they saw a castle which looked very regal and beautiful but was no Hogwarts. That's when they realized that a man was running towards them very fast. All four of them had their wands at the ready immediately.

Guys: place of the fabled camelot as mentioned in the news article is my take on the location! Dont mind! hope you enjoy the story and vote for it! i finally had the chance to write after my exams and so am posting it immediately. so forgive me for any mistakes!! i will be posting the next chapters sooner than before. :) keep reading and keep smiling! happy birthday harry potter! this chapter is my gift to you today!(date:31-07-2015).