MAGIC & TIME
Chapter 13
Those Meddlesome Kids
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Suddenly there was a flash of light. Mika thought perhaps that another storm was on its way and that it was lightning. But then Hermione came running out.
“Mika, Professor Lupin, quickly! Something’s going on in the clock tower! It may be Sirius Black!”
Together they ran back inside and up the stairs to the clock tower where Dumbledore and the other teachers had gathered. Before them lay a sight no one had anticipated seeing. A group of students were holding on to anything they could get their hands on, trying not to be sucked into a gigantic, spinning whirlpool that roared with a brilliant, blinding light “Help!” they were screaming as the stronger teachers tried to grab them and pull them away before they got sucked in. Lupin ran forward and carefully managed to take hold of Callum Jenkins’ hand and drag him to safety without getting sucked in himself. Mrs. McGonagal, however, was not so lucky. She had just managed to reach Sarah Ingersoll when she slipped and they were both sucked into the whirlpool. |
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“Stand back everyone!” shouted Dumbledore above the din.
“What is it?” Mika shouted.
“It seems to be some sort of portal,” Madame Sprout hollered back. “I have no idea how it happened.”
“I bet this one knows,” said Lupin heatedly. “Well?”
“It was their idea, I swear!” Callum insisted. “Sarah, she wanted to show Hermione that she was just as smart by learning the spell for time travel, only we had a little accident…”
“I’ll say,” Hermione glared angrily at her classmate.
“A time storm,” sighed Dumbledore. “That’s even worse than I anticipated. Mika,” he turned to the timelord. “Is there anything you can do?”
Mika thought for a split second before bursting into action. This was more what she was used to. “Right, can you keep that open while I fetch some equipment from my TARDIS?” she asked, breathlessly.
Dumbledore nodded, and motioned for Snape, Lupin and Flitwick to position themselves around the portal. Training their wands on it they coordinated their efforts to keep the storm open for as long as possible.
“I’ll be right back!” Mika shouted as she raced off towards her quarters. Once inside, she dashed into her TARDIS and hunted for the equipment of which she had spoken. Then she operated the controls, materialising the TARDIS nearby so she didn’t have so far to walk.
She returned where it was clear that the wizards were having trouble keeping the portal open. Dumbledore himself had now joined in with his wand.
“What’s that?” Snape shouted when she had returned.
She cast him a very nasty look before answering. “It’s a tracker device. Once it’s through the portal I should be able to locate it wherever it is in time and retrieve Minerva and the children in the TARDIS,” she answered.
“Well, what are you waiting for, throw it in!” shouted Flitwick.
Mika shook her head. “No, we can’t risk it getting damaged otherwise they will be lost forever. No, we need someone to carry it through.”
She turned to the small group of students that had begun gathering just at the top of the stairs.
“I’ll go,” Hermione stepped forward.
“Absolutely not, I forbid it!” exclaimed Dumbledore. “We cannot risk a student even to save the others.”
“Albus, all the available adults are currently keeping the portal open. And I have to operate the TARDIS. Let her go. I guarantee her safety.”
Knowing he didn’t have much time left before all was lost, Dumbledore reluctantly agreed. Mika made an adjustment on the tracker and handed the small, metallic globe to Hermione.
“You be careful and guard that tracker with your life,” Mika instructed. “Stay where you land if you can and don’t try to find the others. We can do that together when I arrive, is that clear?”
Hermione nodded and Mika carefully helped her move forward. It was a strange sight indeed with Mika hanging onto Hermione’s hand while Lupin and Flitwick held onto Mika’s robes to keep her from getting sucked in as well. Eventually Mika could hold on no longer and Hermione slipped from her grasp and fell with a scream into the raging storm.
As Hermione disappeared, the wizards holding it open could do so no longer and the whole thing collapsed in on itself with a loud BANG, knocking everyone over with the blast. In silence the wizards and Mika picked themselves up. But the timelord wasted no time in springing into action.
“I’ll go find them and bring them back,” she addressed Dumbledore. “I promise.”
“I’m coming with you,” Lupin moved forward. But Mika placed a hand on his chest, holding him back.
“No, Remus. You stay here. This I must do on my own.” Their eyes met, each pleading for their own argument. In the end, Mika’s won. With a wan smile as if to say not to worry, Mika disappeared into her TARDIS. A few moments later, the engines roared to life and what appeared outwardly to be a large wooden wardrobe faded from view leaving behind only an echo and many very confused witnesses.
When Mika had left, Dumbledore placed his hand on Lupin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Remus. Mika is a tough cookie. She’ll be back before you know it. Now, here, help me get the children to bed, hmmm?”
Lupin agreed but still, he worried that Mika wouldn’t return, that something would happen to her. It would only make sense if it did. That was the way his life seemed to work.
As he passed, Snape gave Lupin a sneer. "Very touching, Lupin," he drawled. "I don't know what she sees in you."
"More than she sees in you," he returned. “Just come back, Mika,” he whispered to himself. “I need you.”
