The Marauders: Year Five #Wattys2017

The Port Key

The Port Key

"Alright, everybody grab a hold -- a, uh, a good hold, mind!" Newt Scamander held up a pillow. Tina Scamander pressed close to him and took a fist full of the pillow's fabric, and Ned Veigler grabbed a corner... Sirius did too, and Remus held tight to one corner and searched for Sirius's free hand with his free hand and their fingers twined together. Newt nodded, "Alright. There we are. Are we ready, then?" he checked his watch, "I set it for half past ten... nearly there now, any second... any second..."

"I've never travelled by port key before," Remus said, looking at Sirius, "Have you?"

"Once or twice," Sirius replied. The sunlight glinted off the ring on his finger as he gripped the pillow. "It's... interesting."

"Interesting?"

"Yeah, sort of twisty."

"Twisty?" Remus looked a bit panicked.

"Don't worry," Ned Veigler said, "It's not so bad. Just don't let go because if you do you'll --"

But Remus never heard what would happen if he did.

Suddenly the pillow twisted and pulled them along, flipping them right off their feet and knotting itself up and disappearing with a CRACK! so that they all disappeared, leaving the hotel room perfectly empty.

Thousands of miles away, they reappeared, in a back alley in Cairo, with an equally loud CRACK!, the lot of them clutching a hotel room pillow. Remus stumbled backward and nearly fell over a rubbish bin they'd landed beside, but Sirius caught him and pulled him back upright as Ned Veigler shook his head to clear it and Tina Scamander fixed her hair quickly. Newt Scamander knelt down quickly opened his briefcase and, pushing the Niffler back in, threw the pillow into the laboratory, then closed the case and flipped the muggle worthy switch. "There we are," he said. "All accounted for? No splinching?"

Ned Veigler pretended to count his fingers and Remus laughed as Sirius put an arm about his shoulders. Remus looked a bit peaky (he felt queasy and wondered whether his stomach might've been left back at the inn), so Sirius pecked his cheek with a quick kiss and said, "It's alright, we've made it, Moony."

Newt cleared his throat, "Now we need to be as inconspicuous as possible."

Sirius looked about at them. They weren't exactly the least conspicuous people in the world, by nature. He raised an eyebrow.

"I know, that's not going to be easy..."

"I mean, you're wearing an overcoat and scarf in... blimey it must be close to a bloody 40 degrees out here..." said Sirius, fanning himself.

Newt Scamander looked down at his clothes and he nodded, "Yes, well..." and he waved his wand and with a swooshing, they were suddenly all dressed in more traditional looking clothes of drab colour. The boys had long robes with dark coloured cumberbands tied about their middles and turbans covering their hair while Tina was in a dark brown dress with a shawl over her head, which she reached up to hold with her fist at her chest. "There, that's, uh, better," Newt said.

Sirius looked at Remus and Remus grinned at Sirius, "Blimey, you in a turban. Interesting."

"I was thinking the same thing," Sirius smirked.

"Now listen - very, uh, very closely," Newt Scamander said, "Culture here is very different than in London, you'll, uh, you'll be wanting to stay quiet. I'll do the talking so we don't, uh, offend anyone. It's very... very important that we don't offend anyone. Under - understand?"