Alternate Universes | Star Wars x Harry Potter (ON HOLD)

11 • the library

THE THREE OF them were approached by a Hufflepuff student when they arrived back at the school grounds. "I was asked by Professor McGonagall to give this to you," he said, handing a piece of parchment to Luke. "All three of you. The creature goes back to Hagrid." he motioned to Chewie.

Han pouted and turned to Chewie. "Sorry, Chewie, but I guess you're not invited to this party. Besides, I promised Hagrid that I'll send you back--- hey, don't worry, I'll be working with you guys starting tomorrow," Han added, when Chewie moaned sadly. "Hey kid, can you usher Chewbacca to Hagrid's hut? Tell the guy that he's getting Chewie back."

The student seemed pretty frightened about ushering Chewie, but in the end he agreed and the both of them walked down the school corridors. Han sighed. "Man, at first I thought I would be able to get Chewie back."

Leia patted Han consolingly on the shoulder. "Don't be that sad about it, Han. Remember the time when we went to the kitchens and we thought we could get Threepio back, too? He ended up staying in the kitchens, and I guess he's burning his bum right back in there with the house elves. We shouldn't give up, Han."

Luke agreed. "Leia's right, Han. Now let's keep on going until we're all back together again. We haven't even seen R2 yet," he added.

Han sniffed but nodded. "What's in the dumb letter, anyway?" He pointed at the parchment in Luke's palm. Luke opened it and started reading out loud.

"To Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa: Please be informed that our meeting will continue this Friday, two o'clock in the afternoon at my office. Do not speak of this to anyone else. P.S. I like Cockroach Clusters. Dumbledore."

"He likes what? " Leia said in disbelief.

"What the hell are Cockroach Clusters?" Han said, raising an eyebrow. "Why bother mention it in a letter, anyway?"

Luke thought for a moment. "Remember when McGonagall sent us to the office the first day we've arrived here? She mentioned a password, and it was 'lemon drop'. Maybe this time it's Cockroach Clusters."

"But what are they?" Leia insisted, as if she was interested in knowing what they were. Luke shrugged and replied, "I know this place only as much as you do, Leia. How should I know what Cockroach Clusters are?"

"Friday's two days from now," Han intervened, thoughtful. "What do you think Dumbledore will ask us? I hope Snape isn't there; seeing that hooked nose of his just makes me shudder."

"We need Threepio for the interrogation," Luke said, but then Leia slapped him on the shoulder.

"Luke, it says that we can't speak of this interrogation thing to anybody else! Which means," she huffed, as Luke opened his mouth to say something, "if we bring the droid with us, Dumbledore will then know that we told this matter to someone else."

"But C3PO is the only one who can fully explain everything, Leia! It's time he has something important to do for us," he said in a low whisper, as some students passed by them. Leia glared at her brother impatiently.

"Never mind about that now. Where d'you think we should go next?" Leia turned to Han, who was still lost in thought. "Han? Any ideas? Han! "

"What? This place is so freakishly huge," Han said, startled. "We can just wander around the place, right? We haven't got a good view of anything much, seems like Hermione and Ron left out the good parts of the place."

Luke nodded. "Let's do that instead. Dumbledore didn't say anything about us not allowed to go anywhere,"

A soft beeping sound was heard instead of a reply. Luke found out that the beeping sound was coming from his HoloNet, which was stashed inside of his pocket. He pulled the circular slab out of his pocket and turned it on. The agitated face of Admiral Ackbar, one of the Rebellion leaders, appeared. Leia and Han stood on either sides of Luke to see the admiral.

The admiral cleared his throat, which sounded more like vomiting. "Skywalker, where are you? It's been two days and you haven't even reached Coruscant yet. Where's the rest of your crew, too? We desperately need Princess Organa, but unfortunately she's not here because she's with you. Start talking, young Jedi, the rest of us are waiting to hear from you."

Luke looked at his two other friends nervously. "Uh, Admiral, it's a pretty long story, and we can't talk right now," he replied softly. The Admiral's wide eyes widened, which seemed physically impossible.

"Can't talk right now? Skywalker, we've been waiting for two days! We couldn't contact you at first because we couldn't find a signal, and now---"

Without warning, the hologram disappeared and the HoloNet shut down. Surprised, Luke checked if it was broken. "What happened?" Han asked, staring at the spot where the Admiral was. Luke shrugged and pocketed the HoloNet.

Leia coughed. "Well, it's obvious, isn't it? The reason why the Rebellion couldn't reach us or communicate with us was because we're in a totally different world surrounded with magic rather than the Force. So all of the communication waves and stuff related to it are altered. Hermione told me all about Hogwarts surrounded with all of these strong magic that protect the school, courtesy of Dumbledore. The magic is too strong that it makes all technology go haywire. So---"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it Leia. Thanks for the information," Han said, cutting through her statement.

"We need to know more about this place. Hermione and the rest are in their classes, so we have to deal with this on our own. It's our problem anyway," Luke added. "Does anyone know the way to the library?"

~*~

THE LIBRARY WAS dead silent and smelled strongly of old papers. In some tables, there were students hunched over their homework or bent over in reading thick books. Luke cringed at the sight of having to work so much.

"I'll ask the librarian if we could borrow a Hogwarts history book," Leia suggested, and then skipped off towards the librarian, who was arranging the books in a farther shelf.

Han and Luke rummaged through the shelves, occasionally sneezing and coughing with all of the dust coming from the books. Some of them had no titles at all, while others screamed when it was opened. Han dropped one of the screaming books when he got ahold of one, and cursed loudly. The sharp, hurried footsteps grew louder and louder, until the figure of Madame Pince, the librarian, was towering on them.

"What are you doing in the Restricted Area?" she shrieked, her thin eyebrows quivering. "Get out, get out! Don't you see the keep out sign?"

Han was apologizing under his breath while Luke said, "We're just wondering if you could borrow a book about---"

"You are not borrowing a book, mister! Now get out, get out, before I tell a professor about your unruly behavior!"

The next thing Luke and Han knew, they were sitting outside of the library on the floor, their knees close to their chests. "Well, at least Leia's still inside," Han grumbled. "She might get a huge stack of books that we'll have to read 24/7."

"And that's a good thing, Han," Luke said, an edge to his voice. They did not speak to each other again until Leia came out of the library, holding a stack of books that reached the tip of her nose.

"Hey there, guys. I've found a handful of books that will help us know more about Hogwarts--- and I've got the book Hermione's talking about, Hogwarts: A History by Bathilda Bagshot. It's got everything in here," she said brightly.

Han rolled his eyes at Leia. "You should definitely stop talking to Hermione, Leia."

Leia ignored him and said instead, "C'mon the both of you, I need a hand with some of these books. Gosh, they're heavy! " Luke stood up and took some books from the pile, and Han did the same.

"It's a good thing we've got something to do for ourselves, right?" Leia said happily as they were walking down the corridor. "We get to read books. You two better help me with this, okay?"

Both Luke and Han groaned in protest.