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

16 • the caretaker

BY MIDDAY Luke, Leia, and Han were called by Professor McGonagall while the three of them were roaming around the grounds. She came bustling towards them, her emerald cloak flying behind her. They turned to meet her.

"Mr. Skywalker," she said, acknowledging him, also nodding towards Han and Leia, "There is a Halloween banquet later in the evening in honor of the other wizarding schools visiting us for the Triwizard Tournament. I thought that you could join, so the three of you can experience an important wizarding event, and Dumbledore agreed."

Han's face lit up at the sound of banquet. Leia, meanwhile, looked hesitant. "Won't Professor Snape scold us for sitting with the Gryffindors?" she asked warily.

McGonagall shook her head. "That won't be a problem, Miss Organa. You are free to sit in any table you want to, by the way. And since Dumbledore whole-heartedly agrees with me, Snape cannot do anything to protest to that," she replied simply. Leia exhaled in relief.

"That's great, Professor," Luke said brightly. He's never heard of a Triwizard Tournament before, but it sounded exciting. "Thank you very much." McGonagall smiled thinly and headed back towards the school building, where groups of students were starting to head to their classes, too.

"Holy stars, a banquet!" Han exclaimed. "I've never been to one myself, so it must be exciting. There must be mounds and mounds of food!"

Leia cocked her head disapprovingly. "Han, you just had breakfast," she started.

"Whatever this tournament thing means, we gotta go see it," Luke said, before Han starts another protest. "I wonder what types of tournaments and games wizards have. Do they race on their brooms, like pod-racing?"

"Ron told me about this game called Kwidditch," Han added, kicking a rock aside. "It's complicated. Is everything here complicated?"

"It's Quidditch with a Q," Leia corrected him. "Everything just seems so complicated for us because we're in a new world. Just as we're trying to adjust with our surroundings, we also have our mind set on going home."

"Going home? Already?" Han said, stopping abruptly. "Man, Leia. I know you're putting a lot of effort here, but I just really, really like this place." He jogged towards a tree and sat underneath it, while Leia and Luke had to keep up with him. "It's just so green and magical. Places in the galaxy are mostly sandy or concrete, if they're not green."

"We've had this conversation before, Han," Leia sighed exasperatedly. Luke was grateful that Leia didn't fire another insult that would lead to an endless quarrel, because things would just get worse. His mind was already muddled with so many thoughts. Then it hit him.

"Wait, speaking of planets, what planet are we in?" he asked, looking around. All this time, he never bothered to ask anyone. It would just seem strange and outlandish for them to do so. But he was sure that they've never been to this one, and just like what Rosie Granger said, it would be from another galaxy (or worse, universe) from theirs. He started pondering again over what she said about her Multiverse Theory just a few days ago.

"Earth," Leia replied instantly, leaning on the tree next to Han. "Hermione told me so. I've never heard of the planet before, and it sounds too plain to be a part from our universe."

"Earth?" Han repeated, stretching his arms and yawning. "Weird. This planet's not even part of the Outer Rim!"

The multimillion thoughts were just piercing through Luke's brain like lightsabers. "So is Rosie Granger telling the truth then?" he piped up. "That we're in another universe?"

Leia and Han shrugged, but he could tell that they were as worrisome as he is. "We could try to track our location and see how far we are from Coruscant," Han spoke again. "By using the Falcon's location tracker. If I could just get Chewie off from work for a while..."

"That's a really, really genius plan, Han." Leia said, nodding slowly. Surprisingly, there wasn't any hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Although, how do we use the Falcon's tracker if it's broken down by the Whomping Willow?"

"And we don't even know where to find it," Luke added. Han slumped in his seat, defeated.

Leia sighed and fingered the blaster in her belt. "Come on. Why don't we go around the school and see if anything -- even pictures or maps -- show anything about this Earth."

Luke and Han didn't have any choice but to follow her towards the school building.

~*~

THEY ROAMED around the school corridors, scanning the tall walls of the school. There were moving paintings everywhere, their eyes watching the trio's move very carefully. There were statues of witches and wizards, and even mythical animals like the phoenix. Luke hasn't even heard of such thing, because he knows that there are no such birds that explode in flames, but after seeing one in Dumbledore's office from their first day here he realized that everything, anything is real.

He also wishes that their hopes of getting home is real.

"Hey," Leia called to them, standing by a tapestry on the farther end of the hallway. Han and Luke immediately went next to her, gazing at it. It was a woven map. "There's a map of how Earth looks like. It says that Hogwarts is situated here," she pointed to a bright red star on a landmark that was labeled Scotland. Scotland turned out to be in a land called United Kingdom, which was part of a bigger land piece called Europe, which is part of the numerous islands of Earth. Luke's head spun rapidly just looking at the complex graph.

"That's complicated," Han remarked. Leia sighed and nodded solemnly in agreement.

"Hey, you three." The three of them spun around in alarm at the sound of a husky voice. Crap. Were they caught by a professor?

They found out that an old man, accompanied by a cat, was limping towards them. His lips were curled in a permanent scowl as he eyed them. "What are you three doing here? This is off-limits!"

"Oh, really?" Luke said, scanning the area to see if there were any signs that bore the words OFF-LIMITS. Leia, however, kept her composure.

"We apologize for the misunderstanding, sir," she said, her face stern and focused. Luke always admired how his sister was always so calm and serene, unlike him. Sometimes, he's emotionally unstable, which both Ben and Yoda already remarked him about that. "We're the visitors that came in a few days ago."

The man took no understanding in her words. His eyes scanned them up and down. "Whoever you are, stay away from this place," he growled, "or else I'll put you three in detention." And with that, he limped away, his cat following him. To their surprise, the cat also growled at them, baring its tiny sharp teeth.

As soon as the man disappeared, Han burst into a sonorous, mirthful laugh. "Does he think we're students here?" he choked, clutching his waist, while Luke and Leia sighed and half-dragged him out of the corridor.