Chapter 13 I Wish I Was in Happy World Land

Disclaimer: Most Roller Coasters, indeed most carnival and amusement park rides are safe.

"Ready Lavender?" Professor Hamilton asked with a smile.

"I just wanna stop by the Defence Group for a few minutes to say goodbye first," Lavender replied.

"Alright," Hamilton agreed. "Just do your best to calm down, you'll be fine."

"What if I'm not?" Lavender demanded. "It's my first real duel on the professional circuit, I'll be facing Aurors and dueling professionals. I'm just a student."

"You'll be fine no matter what you do," Hamilton reassured his student. "Anyway, you couldn't do worse than I did in my first professional duel."

"What did you do?"

"I dropped my wand," Hamilton said. "And lost to a simple stunner . . . then I wet myself."

"Really?" The girl giggled.

"Unfortunately," Hamilton agreed with a sigh. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread that story around."

"I'll think about it," the no longer nervous student said with a smile.

"Better hurry if you want to see the group before we have to leave," Hamilton said.

"Right," Lavender agreed. It took the girl a few minutes to reach the classroom and she arrived just in time to hear the tale end of a speech.

"Saying what house Mr. Black would be in is meaningless," the student said. "Better to say which of the founders would be in Mr. Black's house should he have chosen to found one of his own. I say it would have been Hufflepuff," the student said and shocked the room. "In his first class, Mr. Black taught us a lesson about loyalty. About dying and killing for your friends, thank you."

Lavender joined the applause and smiled at her friends. "Good luck Lav," one of the students called out.

"Yeah, show them what you can do." Another agreed.

IIIIIIIIII

After a few hours of riding, a growling stomach caused Harry to pull over for lunch.

"Perfect time to eat that sandwich I got in Portland," Harry said to himself.

The smell hit Harry just before the sandwich entered his mouth. "Ug." Harry gave the sandwich a sniff. "Mayo went bad, guess I should get rid of it." Harry tossed the sandwich into a nearby trash can. Putting perishable items in a warm place isn't the best idea I've ever had Harry mused as he rode away, leaving a very confused pair of watchers behind.

Harry continued south until he saw a small sign advertising an amusement park. "Why the hell not," he asked himself. Harry walked through the front gates and past the roller coasters until he reached the object of his desire, something he'd wanted to try since he was a small child. "How much to ride?" He demanded.

"The ferris wheel is three of those tickets in your hand," the Carney replied.

"Can I stay on it till I run out of tickets?" Harry asked.

"No one else in line," the man agreed with a shrug. "You wanna spin around or just stay at the top for a few minutes?"

"Spin a few times then stay at the top," Harry replied.

"Get on," the man motioned.

"One moment please," a woman ran up and thrust a handful of tickets into the Carney's hands. "I'll stay on till he gets off."

"Sure." The Carney stopped the ride and seated the woman two cars behind Harry.

The grin on Harry's face grew wider and wider as he made the slow trip around and around until finally he stopped at the top. "Roller coaster doesn't look too interesting," Harry muttered. "Not as good as a broom, bout as good as a Gringotts car I'd guess . . . wonder if it's safe without magic, guess I'd better ask the Professor."

IIIIIIIIII

"Chief," a wild eyed code breaker yelled as he ran into the chief's office. "I think I may have figured out what half of Mr. Black's latest message might mean."

"Well?"

"It took us several hours without sleep and fifteen gallons of coffee each but we think that Mr. Black telling us to give a message to agent eighty six."

"How do you figure that?"

"Mr. Black said get rid of," the man said quickly. "Another way to 'get rid of something' is to eighty six it. Mr. Black wants us to tell agent eighty six that the mayo is bad."

"Are you sure that Mr. Black wasn't just throwing away food that went bad?"

"Course not," the code breaker replied with a sniff of disdain. "It's Mr. Black, everything he does is calculated. The sandwich is in the bio warfare labs, so far they haven't found anything unusual but for all we know it could contain a cure for cancer."

"Why don't you get a few hours of sleep," the Chief said slowly. "I'll be sure that Max gets the message."

"Already took care of that sir," the code breaker said proudly. "But I'll tell the men you told us to turn in. Thanks chief."

"Dismissed," the Chief said with a sigh. He had nearly thirty precious seconds of peace before he had another knock on the door. "Enter."

"Hello chief," a woman said as she walked into the room.

"Ninety nine," the chief replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I was assigned to tail Mr. Black today," ninety nine replied.

"And?"

"He went to the amusement park and I think he tried to arrange a face to face on the ferris wheel," ninety nine reported. "I was unable to get in the same car as he did but I was able to get on one close enough to hear some of his message."

"Get on with it."

"All I was able to make out were the words; Roller coaster . . . interesting . . . not . . . safe . . . ask Professor. I'm sorry I wasn't able to hear more," ninety nine finished with regret.

"Where did he go?" The Chief asked with a yawn.

"Happy World Land," ninety nine said with a smile.

"What?" The Chief demanded quickly. "Gather every available agent. Tell them that we have a possible assassination attempt against a member of my family."

"I'm on it Chief," ninety nine said quickly.

"God let us get there in time," the Chief said as he ran out of his office. It took the gathered agents fifteen minutes to gather and get to the park and they arrived just in time to see one of the roller coasters derail. "God no," the Chief screamed as he watched it plummet to the ground.

The agents watched in growing horror as their hastily cast charms did nothing and they followed their leader as he ran towards the wreck to search for survivors.

"Grandpa," one of the young riders called out as the rescuers arrived.

"Holly," the Chief yelled as he pulled the little girl into his arms. "Thank god you're alright."

"I was so scared," the little girl said as she buried her face in his jacket.

"Do what you can for the survivors," the Chief ordered as he comforted his granddaughter.

"They all seem to be fine Chief," ninety nine said in shock as they surveyed the damage.

"There aren't any injuries among the riders," ninety nine repeated herself. "Only casualties was someone that was standing under this thing when it fell."

"I . . . I suppose it could be worse," the Chief said. "One death is nothing when you think about what could have happened."

"He had several tools on him that were of great interest to one of our techs," ninety nine said slowly. "It's too soon to make any determinations but it seems likely that he may have been behind the accident."

"Thank you ninety nine," the Chief said. "Mr. Black, smiting the wicked and saving the innocent. I've heard the stories but you really can't understand just how good he is until you see it for yourself can you?"

"No Chief," ninety nine agreed. "You can't."

IIIIIIIIII

Harry was forced to pull to the side of the road when his pocket began buzzing. "Yes?" He asked for his zippo.

"It's me," Henchgirl's voice called out. "Just learned of a small dueling tournament near your position that I thought you might be interested in attending."

"Where?"

"Lake Tahoe," Henchgirl replied. "East of you."

"Thanks Henchgirl," Harry said with a smile. "I think I'll check it out."

"You're welcome," Henchgirl replied happily. "Have fun."

"I will," Harry promised. "Black out."

"Henchgirl out."

IIIIIIIIII

"The mayo is bad," Max said to himself. "What could that mean?"

"I don't think it's something you'll have to worry yourself over Mr. Smart." The voice caused Max to freeze, "I suggest that you put your hands up. Unless of course you'd like to die now rather than later."

"Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow," Max said as he raised his hands. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Who else uses a shoe phone?" The man said with a grin. "Walk down the hall slowly and enter the first door. Our leader would like a word with you."

"You leave me no choice but to do what you've ordered," Max said with a sigh as he complied.

"Hello Mr. Smart," the leader said evilly as Max entered the room. "I'm glad you decided to stop by."

"How could I refuse?" Max quipped.

"True," the leader agreed. "Tell us what you know and . . ."

"You'll let me live?"

"For a bit longer then you would otherwise," the leader said calmly.

"Let me counter with an offer of my own," Max said. "Surrender and I'll make sure that you never see the light of day again."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because as we speak, one hundred men are ready to descend on this place." Max said with a grin.

"I don't think so Mr. Smart," the shadowy man replied with a smile.

"Would you believe fifty men?"

"No"

"How about two girl scouts and a llama?"

"Put him in his cell," the shadowy man commanded. "Kill him at dawn."

"You're making a big mistake," Max called out over his shoulder as the guards took him away. And they were, Max mused. Imagine their surprise when one hundred men showed up on their doorstep . . . an hour after dawn. Well, you can't have anything I guess. Max sighed, it wasn't like he wanted to live forever.

IIIIIIIIII

"Are you sure I'm up to this Professor?" Lavender asked nervously, "I'm still just a student."

"And one of the best natural duelers I've ever had the pleasure to know," Professor Hamilton said with a smile. "Just do your best."

"I will," Lavender agreed nervously. Taking one last breath, Lavender stepped into the ring and forced herself to smile confidently. "Who's first?"

"Me," a woman replied. "You sure you're up to this kid?"

"I . . . I should be asking you that," Lavender replied confidently.

"Let's go then," the woman said with a smile. The two combatants took their place and Lavender cast her first spell. "What's that supposed to ah ohhhehhhhah . . . where did you learn that charm?" The suddenly red woman demanded.

"Useful Spells for the Young Witch," Lavender replied. "It's in the back."

"I'm going to have to get that book," the woman replied. "It'd be a good spell to know, but it won't win you this duel."

"No it won't," Lavender agreed. "The spell that will win the duel is the one I cast while you were distracted."

"Wha . . .?" The woman's eyes crossed and she passed out.

"Looks like you win," the referee announced. "What did you do?"

"I used a healing charm," Lavender replied. "It allowed me to cut off the supply of blood to the brain for a few seconds. It's hard to cast on an unwilling subject so I used the first charm to distract her."

"Good job," the referee said with a nod. "You up for another match?"

"Yeah," Lavender agreed. "Who's next."

"One of the spectators," the referee replied. "You sure about this? He doesn't look like he'll go down as fast as your first opponent."

"Yeah," Lavender said firmly. "Send him up."

"Hello Lavender," the man said with a smile. "How is Parvati doing?"

"Fine," Lavender replied quickly. "How do you know about her?"

"You'd be surprised at the things I know," the man said with a grin. "But that, I suspect, is a conversation for another day. Why don't we get started?"

"Let's," Lavender agreed. Lavender growled as the strange man swayed out of the way of her first several spells. "Stop dodging and fight back," she demanded.

"As you wish," the man agreed, flicking his wand.

"What did ouch," Lavender dropped her wand after it became too hot to hold. "What'd you do?"

"Cooking charm," the man replied. "Do you yield or would you like to continue?"

"I give up," Lavender said in a whisper. "You win."

"You did a good job," the man tried to reassure his opponent. "Only advice I can give you is to stay calm, you got a bit agitated and your control slipped a bit during the match."

"Thanks," Lavender said with false cheer.

"No problem," the man replied. "Have a good day."

Lavender's shoulders slumped as she stepped out of the ring. "I'm sorry Professor," Lavender said, "I wasn't good enough."

"Why are you sorry?" Professor Hamilton asked with a frown, "you were wonderful . . . he even said so."

"But I wasn't good enough to beat him," Lavender protested. "Maybe I wasn't ready for this after all."

"You do know who that was don't you?" Hamilton asked with a smile.

"Who?"

"Mr. Black," Hamilton replied with a smile. "He even dropped off an invitation for you to go to his island, I'm very proud of you Lavender."

"Mr. Black?" Lavender screamed in shock. "I dueled Mr. Black?"

"Yes you did," Hamilton agreed. "There's no shame in losing to the best, so Mr. Black beat you, who else can claim that?"

"Harry Potter," Lavender muttered.

"So you've lost against 'The Boy Who Lived' and Mr. Black," Hamilton said with a laugh. "Definitely nothing to be ashamed of."

"You're right," Lavender agreed. "I just have to practice more, then I'm going to have another duel with Harry Potter and this time I'll beat him."

"Good for you," Hamilton cheered. "What about Mr. Black?"

"Next time I duel Mr. Black," Lavender began. "He's going to need more than a cooking charm to beat me."

AN: Been working on a few other projects and haven't felt much urge to write so things are going slower than usual. On the plus side and with a bit of luck, I should have a bunch of new things posted soon.

by luinlothana

On the Black Island

The portkey they got allowed Lavender Brown and Professor Hamilton

to reach Black Island. After spending a few moments in awe Lavender

took a chance to look around. Granted, it wouldn't be wise to wonder

off in a place like this but a quick look here and there wouldn't

hurt. Especially since nobody seemed to mind. Ten minutes later she

decided that it would be impolite to go somewhere the host didn't

allow her to go (not to mention that no matter how nice he was so

far he could consider this invading his privacy and THAT wouldn't

be healthy) so she started talking to people instead. That is how

half an hour later Professor Hamilton found her.

"Here you are, Lavender. I was looking for you. How do you like it

here so far? Amazing, isn't it?"

"Yes, the place is amazing. Though some customs here are a bit

strange."

"What do you mean 'strange'?" Hamilton looked as if he was just

faced with person who criticized everybody short and materialistic

in the middle of a goblin bank.

"Just some customs you see. . ." Lavender said as if trying to make

an excuse "You see, professor, I talked to people a bit. . ."

"I do hope you were on your best behavior."

"Of course. But they asked me how a girl like me got invitation

here. So I told them I was dueling Mr. Black and he gave it to me

because he liked the way I fight. . . And then they extended hands

to congratulate me . . . But professor, why exactly people here

instead of shaking hands check if you have a pulse?"