Harry Potter and the Wizards of Waverly Place: The Stone of Dreams

Chapter 19

"Sure, I'd be happy to help. Anything for you Alex," Hugh Normous offered with his nasally voice. "My parents are out right now. You can use our Wizard portal." 

Hugh was the first person Alex could think of who might be inclined to help. He'd had a crush on Alex since last summer and his parents maintained a home nearby. So here she was with Max, Harry, and Hermione, standing before the Normous's family portal.

"Thanks Hugh, I knew I could count on you," said Alex, giving Hugh a hug.

As Hermione and Harry stepped through the portal into the fog, they felt a whoosh and a tingling sensation. Hermione was awed. This was a whole separate dimension, a bubble of an alternate world within the "real' world. Her senses told her that this entire reality was maintained through an immense source of magical power.

Hermione was beginning to see a pattern. She surmised that there must be an energy core which powered this plane of existence. But she could think of only one way to power the core. She pushed those thoughts aside for the moment to focus on the immediate situation.

"What's next?" she asked Max.

"Well at this point, I'd usually ask Justin, but he isn't here so Alex will have to do!" Max wore his best stupid smile.

"Oh, thanks a lot, Max!" groused Alex, giving him a shove. "Okay, Hermione, where we go depends on what you want to do. Will these Death Eaters stop hunting you if they can't find you?"

"Of course not!" said Harry quickly. "We've got to start hunting them back, and try to stop them before they start killing people--more people I mean--I expect they've already killed some. I think the best thing for you and your country would be if Hermione and I went back to England. That would draw them away from you and we could deal with them there. Do you have a way to send us back from here?"

"NO!" Alex blurted out. "I mean yes we have a way but there is no way I'm sending you back to England, at least not without me."

Max nudged Harry in the ribs.

"See dude, what'd I tell you...?" he said in a loud stage whisper. Harry shook his head and smirked. Hermione giggled and Alex stuck out her tongue at Max. But the uncomfortable truth was that Max was hitting a nerve in the three of them.

"Nooo," Alex said, shiftily looking off to the side for an excuse, but the truth just popped out "It's just that I know that if these Death Eaters exist, and that I really, really like Harry and Hermione, then I have to help them. We're connected somehow!"

"I know you are..." retorted Max, the stupid smile never once leaving his face. Alex threw up her hands with a disgusted look on her face and walked away from him.

"Okay," she said firmly to Harry, "If you and Hermione think it's better to go back to England fine, then I'm coming with you. That's the deal."

"And if Alex goes with you, then I have to come too." Said Max, "I'm not letting my sister face danger without me."

Harry was liking Max more and more. He suspected there was a lot more going on behind that stupid smile.

"Right then," began Harry, "so Hermione, I think we should..."

"...stay here because the Death Eaters are here now anyway..." continued Hermione.

"...and they'll keep looking here, and killing until they've decided that we really have gone back to England." Finished Harry. "But I have no idea what we should do next..." he admitted grimly.

Hermione had been giving that some thought. Dolohov and Rowle were ruthless, and Dolohov had a certain sort of brutal intelligence, but it was Alecto Carrow who had probably taken charge. She and her brother were sadistic psychotic murderers, but Alecto was the one with brains. She would look for a way to shut down whatever was stopping their tracking spells from working.

"Alex, is there sort of a central power station for Wizard World?" She asked.

"I think so," replied Alex. "But we'll probably have to go to City Hall to find out where. Why?"

"Because I think that the Death Eaters will be looking for the biggest power source so that they can shut it down and make it easier for them to find us. That's where Alecto will take them first, and we need to be there to stop them. She's very smart, and it won't take her long to find a way in here once she's pinpointed the location of your power core."