"Harry Potter & the Eleventh of September"
by: R.J. Christensen
Harry Potter, star Quidditch Seeker for the British National team, held
the hand of his new bride Ginny as his best friend and new brother-in-law Ron Weasley stood wide eyed at the spotlighted Boeing 767 outside the pre-dawn window at Boston's Logan Airport. "Wow! You'd never have ever thought the Muggles could make such a huge thing like that fly!" Ron exclaimed.
Ron's wife Hermione, a Muggle-born witch who knew all about jetliners, could only answer with an exasperated sigh. "Ron, dear, you must remember that it doesn't take magic to fly."
"I know that, Hermione!" Ron laughed, "Fred & George used to dodge
Muggle arrow-planes when they were kids---I just never imagined they could get this big!"
Harry, having been raised by his Muggle Uncle and Aunt, laughed along with his teammate Ron. Before being selected for the British National team, they had both been players for the Chudley Cannons, Harry as Seeker and Ron as back-up Keeper, and suddenly that long-suffering team then won 3 straight British and European championships. Harry himself was named League Most Valuable Player in all his three seasons since Graduating from Hogwarts. And for the last month, they had been playing a series of exhibition matches against American teams, always with huge crowds in attendance, mostly there to see the now-magical world famous Harry Potter.
After an exciting sweep of games against the Fitchburg Finches, the Georgia Grey Ghosts, the Texas All-Stars, the Mendocino Mages, and the Rocky Mountain Highs, Harry was a bit exhausted and was looking forward to a long rest on the Muggle airliner. If they had used the Salem to London portkey to return home magically, he and Ron would immediately be set upon by exuberant British fans---and Couch Wallis Wimme, who would have them on the practice pitch for the next 2 weeks straight in preparation for the upcoming Quiddich season. Plus, with his Invisibility cloak in his carry-on bag, he and Ginny could easily join what the Muggles called the "Mile-High club".
Harry, his Firebolt 5000 racing broom nestled in a guitar case he was
carrying, had exchanged 50 golden Galleons for American Muggle dollars and
paid for the four first class seats for the trip back home. After all, he
and Ron (also carrying his concealed broom) were Quidditch stars and they
and their wives deserved a bit of luxury, even if their fellow passengers
had no idea that Quidditch even existed.
Still, since Harry and Hermione were from Muggle families, they had
enjoyed the experience of being "normal" for the month long exhibition
tour. They took their Weasley family spouses to all sort of Muggle (or
"Mundane" as the American magical community called non-magic users)
attractions like San Francisco, Disneyland, the Grand Canyon, San Antonio's
Riverwalk, various waterparks, the CNN Center, a camping trip in the
Rockies, and a visit to New York City. The fact that they didn't have to
worry about Lord Voldemort's surviving minions was reason alone to be care-free for once.
So, they all boarded the aircraft and settled down into their large,
cushy first class seats, Harry & Ginny in the middle and Hermione & Ron behind them. They were soon joined by several businessmen in suits, an Indian family of six, and a well-to-do British couple expecting a child. Ginny smiled at Harry when the pregnant woman sat in the seat across from Hermione. Harry then kissed his young wife on the forehead. "Someday, my sweet..."
Behind them, Hermione was busy explaining the aircraft information
brochure to Ron, who kept asking questions like how did it stay up in the
air without a levitating spell, whether it could outrun a dragon, or how
the toilets were emptied. After the other one hundred and seventy-some
passengers had boarded, the half-full 747 roared down the runway, and took
off into the soft golden glow of the rising sun. Ron sat with his long nose
to the glass of the small window watching the plane rise over the still
darken waters of the bay. Harry and Ginny cuddled together, quietly
whispering about raising a family of their own.
About 15 minutes into the trip, the smiling flight attendant brought them some orange juice. But as the four young magic-users started to get comfortable, one of the passengers across from Harry, a large dark man in a suit with a longish beard stood up, grabbed the flight attendant, and screamed "Allah Akbar!". Then eight more similar, yet larger men throughout the plane jumped up, grabbing surprised passengers, including the pregnant woman across the aisle from the young wizards. "This is a Hijacking!! Do not attempt to stop us or these infidels will die!!" The six other hijackers then pulled out razor knives and box cutters, holding them to the throats of the fearful captives.
"What the hell...." Ron started, before Hermione shushed him up. She
then hissed to Harry and Ginny between the seat divider. "Harry! What do we
do??" Harry, who had faced danger many times before, coolly replied back,
"Just sit tight... maybe they just want to fly somewhere like Cuba..." Ron, with a fire in eyes to match his red Weasley hair, was already reaching for his wand, but Harry talked him out of it; having to do well over a hundred memory charms on the other passengers afterwards was a bit much to ask for even the four of them.
The hijackers, now joined by 2 more men, one of them a much smaller
man and one wearing a very bulky-looking trench coat, brought three of the
Muggle captives to the front of the plane, then threw open the cockpit
door. The two newer hijackers then entered the cockpit as the leader began
yelling at the passengers that they were to be relocated to the back of the
plane. Ron was ready to fight them all single handedly, but when one of the
hijackers pulled his razor knife to the throat of the terrified pregnant
woman, he reluctantly got up with Hermione, Harry, & Ginny, then began
shuffling to the back of the plane. But realizing the potential for danger, Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak and put it inside out over Ginny's shoulders.
Harry, being one of the last passengers to leave the first class section, then made a quick glance back at the cockpit. He could see the flight crew being dragged out bound and gagged, with the smaller hijacker nowhere in sight. "What were they up to?" Harry thought. From what he had always seen on TV programs and movies was that hijackers always ordered the pilots to fly somewhere sympathetic to their demands. A quick shove by one of the hulking air pirates kept Harry from seeing anymore.
Moments later, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were stuffed in a row
of four interior row seats along with a wailing woman and her fat husband,
who was yelling in an American western drawl that if he had been able to carry his handguns with him, that he'd take care of these villains. Luckily, Harry had taken the left side aisle seat on the opposite side of the American
"cowboy", in case he had to do something.
Up ahead, the hostages were being duct taped to the first set of coach seats 10 rows in front of Harry's party. The leader then yelled that if anyone tried to be a hero, they would instantly kill half of the hostages. That was enough to quiet down the passengers, including Mr. Cowboy.
"Maybe they're drug dealers trying to free their boss!" Ron wondered slightly aloud, thinking back to his Muggle comic books. To which, Hermione again countered with slight annoyance. "Ron, they're obviously Arabic terrorists who are most likely trying to win the release of their captured fellows in Israel or America."
"Why'd you think they're Arabs? Bill works with Arabs in Egypt and he says they all pretty cool dudes..."
"These are Muggle extremist Arabs, dear...."
"Gee, Hermione, you're beginning to sound like Malfoy did in school..."
"Don't start that again...."
Ignoring the soft debate of his two friends, Harry noticed something
odd. With his keen sense of broom flying, he noticed that the plane was
making a wide turn. Looking out the window at the slowly revolving sunrise,
Harry knew they must be heading back to the United States---but what for?
The airliner would have more then enough fuel on board to make it to Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East. Maybe it was Cuba or South America they were heading to. But what were their plans? Harry had to find out.
"Ginny...I need the cloak..." he whispered, to which she slowly removed it from around her shoulders. "Please, Harry...don't do anything rash..." she quietly asked, but then recalled that a rash action of her husband's had saved her life from Tom Riddle's memory and Salazar Slytherin's basilisk in her first year at Hogwarts.
Harry looked around the plane and slowly sank into his seat. With all the passengers focused in fear at the hijackers, Harry thought he could go invisible without attracting their attention. But he knew the agitated and constantly scanning hijackers would notice. "Ginny... could you cause a distraction up front?"
Slowly reaching into her dress coat, Ginny pulled her wand into her coat sleeve and then even more slowly placed her arm between the seats ahead of her.
"Cabinetos Detacheum..."
Instantly, the hushed stillness of the aircraft interior was shattered by the sudden crash of all ten first class cabin overhead bin doors falling to the floor. All of the terrorist guards spun their heads around in surprise and then Harry slipped under the Invisibility cloak and dropped to the floor. Thankfully, Harry was not as tall as his father was and easily fit his 5'9 frame under the cloak and slowly began making his way forward. Ginny nudged Hermione next to her to indicate that Harry had a plan. Hermione then in turn told Ron, who answered "I know...Mr. Macho here saw Harry disappear and kind of flipped out..." pointing to the man from Texas next to him flapping his jaw silently in utter shock.
Narrowly slipping past one of the larger hijackers, Harry made his way to the front of the plane. Seeing that his and Ron's broom-carrying guitar cases were now accessible, he quietly used an unlocking spell to release the latches on them. He thought that he and Ron could call for their brooms and then apparate with Hermione and Ginny outside the plane to make their escape, but Harry realized that would mean abandoning the rest of the passengers to whatever fate awaited them. After facing the constant threat of Lord Voldemort for 7 years in school, this was no time to run away.
As Harry passed the first class section, he saw the three man flight crew and four flight attendants bound and gagged in the first class galley---so who was flying the plane?? Passing by their struggling bodies, Harry entered the cockpit. There, the leader and the man with the trench coat were conversing with the smaller man---now at the controls. Stepping in as close as he dared, Harry then saw a picture of the American Statue of Liberty taped to the control panel---with a red 'x' drawn on the feet of the colossal green statue.
"Yes, Azim..." the leader began, "You shall heroically strike the first blow against the Great Satan---and their heretical idol of perversion." he spat out with venomous hatred.
"This will guarantee our eternal martyrdom in the Great Paradise," the trench coated hijacker gloated. "Even if most of the men guarding the passengers do not know of our true plans."
The new pilot then chillingly added "I have prepared myself for two years for this...I still do not believe that our charges might not so willing martyr themselves as easily as we true believers would."
Harry was dumbfounded. They were planning to crash the plane into the
Statue of Liberty kamikaze-style, taking the rest of the passengers with them! Not even the fanatical Death Eaters had that low opinion of life, especially of their own. And the Statue of Liberty! They had just visited it two days ago! Harry knew that only he, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione could stop this act of sheer brutality from happening...but how??
Just then, Harry heard a loud commotion from the back. He turned and saw the largest hijacker screaming at a terrified Ginny. He raced back down the aisleway as he heard what was going on.
"You!! Where is the one with the glasses?!?!? Where is he???" the muscle-bound behemoth bellowed at the cowering Ginny. Hermione was busy trying to keep the obscenty-spewing Ron from jumping on the enraged hijacker. Ginny could only tremble with fear as the other five guards left the bound hostages to investigate the missing passenger. "Th...the...there...wasn't any...one here...." she whimpered as the lump of angry flesh screamed at her. "I put him in this very seat, you lying whore! Where is he??"
"Leave her the hell alone, you camel-raping flobberworm!" Ron yelled.
Next to him the formerly courageous cowboy was squealing "Tell them he vanished! Tell them he vanished!" The other hijackers began to scream and flail at the bewildered passengers to reveal where the usurper with the glasses had gone to. One hijacker threw the fat man and his wife to the floor as he prepared to club Ron with a folding baton. And then, as Harry passed the hostages, the large man threatening Ginny raised his large arm and smacked her across the face, screaming "Tell me or I kill you!!" as he held out his razor knife and placed it to her quivering throat.
"DON'T YOU DARE, YOU BASTARD!!!!!!"
Taken aback at the loud voice from BEHIND them, the guards all spun
around----and were struck with horror at the sight that met them. A Disembodied head with glasses was floating above the empty seats between them and the hostages. Razor knives, box cutters, scissors, and batons were dropped to the floor as the hijackers and the passengers were stunned beyond words at the bizarre vision in front of them.
Harry, standing on a seat, flung off the cloak and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Ron! Hermione! They're going crash the plane! Use your wands!!"
The two married Weasleys did not need any more clarification as Harry
instantly turned the large bully threatening Ginny into a cockroach. Almost
by instinct, Ginny then slammed her foot down on her transfigured would-be killer with a sloppy crunch. Ron pulled his wand out and rapidly levitated the hijacker above him fatally into the overhead movie projector with a spray of electrical sparks. Taking Harry's lead, Hermione transfigured four hijackers into rats, which went squealing under various seats. The two remaining guards then leapt at Harry and Ron, with blood-curdling screams in Arabic and Farsi, but Ron shrank the attacker atop him to the size of an action figure and then threw him into the seat's magazine pouch. Harry, enraged by what had nearly happened to his cherished wife Ginny, didn't play as nicely as Ron did.
"Avada Kedavra!!!!" Harry growled as the terrorist's body shuddered in
a green glow of death and collapsed sickingly to the floor.
"Harry! You...you...used the Unforgivable Curse!" Hermione gasped as
Harry collapsed into a seat, exhausted from casting the deadly spell. Just
then, the leader of the hijackers appeared with his compatriot in the
Trenchcoat. "What is happening ba..." he began, but was then dumbstruck by
the sight that his followers were no longer there. Two of the highjackered-turned rats scuttled noisily between his legs as he the other hijacker stammered in shock, "Wha...where...how..."
"Oh! Wondering where your pals are?" Ron jauntily exclaimed. "Here's
two....just like you're going to end up!!" he added as he held up a rat and a squirming 4 1/2 inch tall hijacker.
"What is this Deviltry??' the leader screamed, to which a good number
of passengers were also asking. The Cowboy and his wife were on the floor holding crosses up at Ron and Hermione gasping something about "Satan
Worshipers".
But then the man in the Trenchcoat revealed just why he was wearing it; he pulled the flaps back to reveal a dozen sticks of dynamite strapped around his chest. "Infidels! You will still not live to see the noonday sun!" he hideously shrieked with insane glee. "Death to the Great Satan of America!"
Just then, Harry, who had been recuperating from the Avarda Kedarva spell, performed yet another one of his foolhardy acts of bravery. He bolted upright, and took a running jump at the two suicidal terrorists. Leaping upon them, he grabbed both by the arms, in particular the bomber's hand reaching for the detonation cord, and yelled "Accio Firebolt!". And loyally, Harry's broomstick zipped from the first class cabin overhead bin and under his shoulder. Harry then yelled "Apparate!" and he and the two terrorists disappeared from the cabin.
Ginny screamed, "Harry! Where are you??" and Hermione looked back at
her fellow passengers and realized there one more hijacker left. "Come on,
Ron! We got to see about the pilots!"
Ron, however, was struggling with the overweight cowboy who had grabbed him by the leg and was placing a crucifix on his shin wailing "Begone, Demon Spawn of Hell!"
"You idiot!" Ron yelled as he kicked at the now-deranged man. "We're trying to rescue you!"
Meanwhile, there were now three things on Harry Potter's mind. One was the struggle to keep Mr. Suicide Bomber from detonating his explosives, two was that he was suddenly freezing in 60 below zero degree temperatures, and three, that his lungs were seizing up because of the lack of oxygen at 18,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. For he and the two would-be hijackers were now falling at 32 feet per second after being apparated 1,000 yards underneath the plane. But because he knew exactly what he had done and exactly what situation he was in,
Harry had the wherewithal to mount his broom and begin a roaring dive towards breathable atmosphere. His unwitting passenger with the dynamite however, could only gulp with futility at the rarified air instead of concentrating on exploding himself. When at last Harry could breath with some difficulty, he grabbed the flopping detonation cord and performed one of his amazing hairpin turns that had made him a star Quidditch Seeker. However, the centrifugal force of the rapid turn flung the almost unconscious human bomb away from him. A split second later, the explosives went off in a crimson cloud, speckling the back of Harry's jacket with bits of frozen blood and tiny pieces of seared flesh and cloth.
Meanwhile, the leader of the suicidal hijackers was hurtling alone towards the ocean, his oxygen-starved brain struggling to comprehend what had just happened. His henchmen had been turned into rats and dolls, and he was now outside the plane falling towards a young Englishman with glasses, and ...riding a flying broom? The fantastic image drew closer and then raced past him upwards to the plane he had intended on using as a guided missile. What was this strange magic?
It was the last thought he had before hitting the water at 300 miles an hour.
Realizing that Ginny, Hermione, and Ron still had to deal the suicidal substitute pilot, Harry took a few deep breaths before continuing his climb back towards the airliner. Thankfully, his Firebolt 5000 did have the speed necessary to catch up with the plane, but he'd have to take a quick look in
the interior to avoid what his Apparition instructor Professor Sperry had once described as "really nasty-looking accidents". Holding his breath as best as he could and fighting the painful cold, Harry caught up with the plane and could see Ginny waving from one of the windows. Harry stopped 200 yards from the plane, and then concentrated on the space above the aisleway in the first class cabin before apparating. He fell with a thump to hard carpeted floor and was soon smothered by the warm body of his wife Ginny, who was crying his name.
"Harry! Harry! I was so worried about you!!" she sobbed happily as her
brave husband shivered with intense cold.
"I...wasn't...about...to...let...you...get...blown up....love...." he stammered through chattering teeth.
"Harry! You made it back!" Hermione sang out while racing down the aisleway with Ron. "That was so brave of you to take those two terrorists off the plane!"
"Bloody Brilliant, Harry! You should win the Dangerous Dai medal for that move!" whooped his fellow Chudley Cannon.
"The...the...p-p-p-p-pilot...." Harry chattered back in desperation.
"Oh, him!" Hermione began. "Ron and I raced up to deal with him after you apparated. Ron wanted to blast him, but I put a full-body bind on him instead-- in case he tried going into a dive." Ron then added with an evil grin, "Yeah! He sure made a splendid Otto pylon while we untied the Muggle crew!"
"That's Auto-pilot, Ron."
"Whatever..."
Harry could not help but laugh as Ginny continued kissing him all over. "So...how is everyone...?" Harry asked through his clicking teeth.
"Well, we're all right!" Ron exclaimed happily, but then took a dour turn. "But the Muggles...well, I think I now understand why we wizards try and stay a secret..." He pointed down to the back of the plane where all the passengers were cowering even further back in the cabin, silently horrified by the impossibilities they had all witnessed, even more so then from the actual hijacking.
Hermoine spoke up. "The pilots were a bit bewildered when we untied them, but they are flying the plane after I did a few memory charms, but as for the rest of the passengers, they're pretty much in shock..."
Suddenly, the plane shuddered violently, throwing Hermione and Ron to floor on top of Harry and Ginny. The plane had somehow stopped in midair! A loud pop was heard, followed by more screams of the still terrified passengers. A gruff voice then followed.
"What in the hell is going on here?"
Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione looked up and saw three men in black suits, black fedora hats, and sunglasses. The forwardmost arrival pulled out a small badge. "Agent R. Garrison...Federal Bureau of Incantations. We picked up a lot of illegal magical activity going on here..." he said in a rather staccato voice.
Ron gasped in amazement as he got up, "Mages in Black!! Wow! We're sure glad you guys finally showed up!"
However, the FBI Mages didn't seem too glad to be there, as the other two pulled wands and promptly put all the passengers to sleep. "And just who are you kids, anyway?" Garrison asked quite annoyed.
Hermione decided she needed to clear up matters. "We're members...and wives... of the British National Quidditch team! This is my husband Ron
Weasley and this is Harry Potter and his wife Ginny! We were flying..."
"Harry Potter??" the other two Mages in Black gasped with unnatural glee for their profession. "Wow! Can we have your autograph?" Agent Garrison shook his head angrily instead. "So that gives you the right to cast twelve spells, including the #1 Unforgivable Curse in the open presence of Mundanes--and on an moving airplane? You realized how much trouble it will take to cast almost 200 memories displacements on the passengers, crew, and air traffic controllers, and then get this aircraft back on it's course?!?"
Harry, finally warmed up by Ginny's embrace, sat up. "The plane was taken over by terrorists," pointing at the body of the hijacker he had cursed to death. "They were going to crash it into the Statue of Liberty..." Ron pulled out the miniature hijacker from his pocket as proof. Agent Garceau took the squirming figure and tapped it with his wand. The tiny hijacker began squeaking out a full confession and Agent Garrison seemed somewhat pleased.
"While the Bureau frowns on such vigilante actions, you did save a lot of innocent Mundanes. Of course, what can you expect from the guy who defeated Lord Voldemort so many times? Now about those autographs..."
After that, the American Mages had time teleported the airliner to it's initial course an hour ahead, modified the memories of all the Muggles on board, replaced the fallen overhead bin doors, and took the surviving transfigured hijackers into custody. Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron sat back in their seats and rested happily for the rest of the flight, satisfied with their heroic work for the day. Agent Garrison had stayed on board to go explain to the British Ministry of Magic just what their four young wizards had done, but considering that his Father-in-law was the current Minister of Magic, Harry didn't feel too troubled.
But upon arriving at London's Gatwick airport, the pilot had some horrible news to give his passengers concerning 4 other flights that morning. It seemed that the hijackers that Harry had defeated were not the only ones with cruel and evil plans that morning. Hermione gasped in horror, Ginny could not stifle her tears, and Ron seethed angrily about not crushing his shrunken captive to death earlier.
Harry sank into his seat, stunned. He thought he had won that day, but now he felt helplessly defeated. What did it take to stop all this madness?
He couldn't be everywhere all the time, what did he have to do to combat evil in the world? Lord Voldemort or Hate-filled Muggles, it made no difference. These were monsters who wanted to painfully inflict their hatred upon the world. When was it all going to stop?
Clearing his throat, Agent Garrison then stood up and extended his hand to Harry, who looked up at the ashen-faced Mage in Black. "Mr. Potter... I'd like to thank you and your companions for your courageous actions of today. While we Americans lost a couple of buildings and a lot of good, innocent people this morning...you saved the Statue of Liberty....the TRUE symbol of our country. That's what those scumbags hated so much...and that's what we cherish so much. And for that, we are all truly grateful......even if 97% of the population will never know your name. Thank you, sir..."
And with that, Agent R. Garrison of the American Federal Bureau of
Incantations turned and disappeared into the exiting crowd of shaken passengers. Ginny took Harry's hand and pushed her face into his shoulder.
"You truly are a hero, Harry. I love you..." Harry leaned down kissed
Ginny's forehead. "You were pretty brave as well, Ginny." The couple held each tightly and kissed. As long as there was evil in the world, magical or otherwise, Harry Potter knew that he would also be there to fight it.
The End.
After the event of that dismal day, I feel better after writing this. Send all comments to R.J. Christensen, founder and president of the Hogwarts Alumni Association.
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