Rated: G
A/N: For the Crossover Challenge #140. (Better late than never, right?) Many thanks to Lucky, who graciously agreed to be my Harry Potter idea bouncer and polisher for this one. She bounced terrific ideas back at me as well! I couldn't have done it without her!
This is a two-shot.
The Forbidden Forest – Mick Meets Harry Potter
“Admit it. We’re lost,” Beth said with exasperation.
“We are not lost,” Mick insisted. “We’re in a forest. In England.”
“Very funny. We were supposed to be having a nice walk through the scenic English countryside. But now we are in some deep forest where it’s dark and creepy. And you have no idea where we are or how to get back, do you?”
“You think it’s creepy in here?”
Beth nodded. “Yes, it’s creepy. Oh! What if it’s haunted?” she said and looked hard at Mick. “You feel something too, don’t you?”
Mick nodded. “I thought it was just me. Wild animals react poorly to vampires. I’m sure they can detect my presence and are somewhat, well, unnerved by me. It happens often in the woods; I figured that’s what I was sensing. But you wouldn’t be able to pick up on that.”
“Wild animals? What wild animals?” Beth tried to keep the tremor out of her voice. “You mean like bears? Or mountain lions?”
Mick smiled. “I was thinking more along the lines of foxes and deer.”
Beth relaxed. “Well, if it’s just cute animals, then why am I getting the creeps?”
Mick shrugged. “I’m not sure. It’s almost like we’re being watched.” He saw the fear in Beth’s eyes and took her hand. “Come on, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. Let’s go… this way.”
“But isn’t that farther in? Let’s just go back the way we came. Please? You can follow our trail, right?”
“Oh, alright. But it might be farther to get back than if we just kept going forward.”
“I don’t care,” Beth said, turning them around. They walked a few steps when Mick stopped suddenly.
“What’s the mat…” Beth started to say.
“Shhh!” Mick stood still, listening intently. Beth’s grip on his hand grew tighter.
“What is it? What do you hear?” she whispered.
“I swear I heard voices. There it is again! It is voices. Children’s voices, I think.”
“Children? In these woods?”
“Come on, I don’t think they’re far. If we follow them we might get out of these woods.” They turned around again and walked as quietly as they could. “Do you hear them, yet?”
Beth shook her head. “No. What are they saying?”
“I can’t tell yet. But I think they’re playing.”
“Playing?” Beth asked. Mick nodded and they kept walking. “Oh, I can hear them now. And look, I think it is getting a little lighter, don’t you? Maybe we’re reaching the end of the forest.”
Suddenly Mick knelt down and pulled Beth down to the ground with him. He put his finger over her mouth to shush her, and then pointed. Through the trees they could see three children shouting and laughing in a clearing past the edge of the woods.
“Look at how oddly they’re dressed, Mick. They’re wearing robes! And are those wands they’re waving around?” Beth was totally bewildered.
“It looks like it, doesn’t it?” They continued to watch them.
“I can’t make out everything they’re saying, can you?” Beth whispered to Mick.
“I’m trying to figure it out. I mean, they’re speaking English, but something else, too. I’m just not sure what. It’s almost like, like…” he trailed off.
“Like what?” Beth persisted.
“Like magic spells,” Mick said somewhat chagrined. “That’s all I can make out.” Beth stared at him. “I know it sounds lame, but look at them!”
Beth inched forward a few feet so she could hear better and stopped to watch again. There were two boys and one girl, who had bushy brown hair. One of the boys had bright red hair and the other one had black hair and wore glasses. They really did seem to think they were casting spells.
“Accio!” The redheaded boy shouted, pointing his wand at a small stone. Beth gasped when the stone seemed to fly to his open hand. “Hey look! I did it!” He smiled proudly at his friends.
“Good for you, Ron,” the boy with the glasses said.
“Now watch this,” the girl said. She pointed her wand at the same stone and said, “Wingardium leviosa!” The stone began to rise from the boy’s hand. They all laughed and when she stopped pointing at the stone it fell to the ground. Mick and Beth exchanged puzzled looks.
“I’ll try one,” the boy with glasses said as he picked up a stick and broke it in two. Laying the pieces on a large flat rock he pointed his wand at them and said, “Reparo!” The two pieces of twig rejoined as one and the boy picked it up to show his friends.
“Great, Harry!” the redhead said. Ron, Beth thought his name was. “Now you can repair your own glasses when they break!”
The boy named Harry laughed and took a step backwards, forgetting about the large rock. He tripped and started to fall, but the girl quickly pointed her wand at the rock and shouted, “Spongify!” The rock turned soft and rubbery, cushioning his fall.
“Gee, thanks Hermione!” Harry said and all of them laughed again.
Mick pulled Beth back into the forest a short ways. “Well, it does indeed look like they are using magic,” he said quietly to Beth.
Beth looked skeptical. “Magic? Really? There must be some trick to what they are doing.”
“This coming from the woman who just said these woods must be haunted?” His smile faded and he turned serious. “Why don’t you trust your own eyes, Beth? If there are vampires, why can’t there be real magic?”
Beth sat silently. She really couldn’t argue with him; she had seen them with her own eyes. And they did look like kids just out having fun. Using magic. She turned back to Mick. “Never say never, right?” He grinned. “But why would they be playing out here in the middle of nowhere, by a creepy forest, in front of those old ruins?”
“Ruins? What ruins? Don’t you see that castle over there?”
“Castle? What castle? Mick, there’s nothing there but some old ruins that probably used to be a castle at one time.”
Mick gave her an odd look. “You’re sure you don’t see that castle?” When Beth shook her head, Mick just shrugged and changed the subject.
“What do you say we go meet them? If they’re from around here I’m sure they can direct us back to the village where we started.” They both stood up. “Um, on second thought, why don’t you stay here for now? I wouldn’t want one of them to turn you into a toad.” He gave her a wink.
“If they did, it would mean you’d have to kiss me,” Beth said with a twinkle in her eye.
Mick leaned down and kissed her till she was weak in the knees. “I never need a reason to kiss you,” he said as he let her catch her breath. And with that half grin Beth loved so much, he walked out of the woods and into the clearing.
“Hello there…” he started to say. But before he could say another word three wands were suddenly pointed at him and all the children shouted at once.
“Expelliarmus!” But instead of disarming the stranger, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood staring at the spot where he had just been.
“Where did he go?” asked Ron, bewildered.
“I’m over here,” Mick said. All three children spun around and again pointed their wands at him. “Now hold on just a minute there,” Mick said with his hands raised. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Where’s your wand?” Harry asked.
“I don’t have a wand,” Mick replied.
“How did you apparate on Hogwarts grounds?” Hermione demanded.
“How did I do what where?” Now Mick was the bewildered one. The children looked at him skeptically and then Hermione spoke up.
“You were there,” she pointed to the spot where Mick first exited the woods, “and now you’re there,” she said as she pointed at him. “But it’s impossible to apparate on Hogwarts grounds because there’s an Anti-Disapparition Jinx that prevents it.”
“Is Hogwarts the name of that castle over there?” Mick asked.
“You can see it?” Hermione asked incredulously, glancing at her friends.
“What were you doing in the Forbidden Forest anyway?” Ron wanted to know.
“Look, I’m sorry if I startled you. I didn’t know the forest was private property. My name is Mick St. John and this is my girlfriend, Beth Turner.” He motioned to Beth to come out of the woods and she walked out nervously to stand next to Mick. “We got lost. We heard your voices and came to ask if you could direct us back to the nearest village.”
The children lowered their wands and Hermione crossed her arms. “You still haven’t said how you were able to apparate.” Mick looked confused. “Apparate! Go from there to there!” she said exasperatedly as she pointed. “You disappeared from one place and appeared in another!”
“Oh, well, I didn’t apparate, as you call it. I, um, have exceptionally fast reflexes. When I saw all of you pointing those things at me, I ran.” All eyes looked at him in disbelief.
“No one can run that fast,” Harry insisted. “Not even a wizard.”
“I’m not a wizard.”
“Muggles definitely can’t run that fast,” Ron sneered.
“Muggles?” Beth spoke up for the first time. “What are Muggles?”
“A Muggle! Non-wizard folk! Ordinary humans!” Ron shouted and turned to Harry. “What a git!”
“Oh, well that’s easily explained,” Mick said. “I’m not human, either.”
“Then what exactly are you?” Harry asked.
Mick and Beth exchanged glances and Beth nodded. Mick sighed. “I’m a vampire.” His statement was met by silence.
“No you’re not,” Hermione scoffed.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not a vampire. You don’t look like one. And you’re out in daylight.”
“How do you know about vampires, Hermione?” Harry whispered, keeping his eye on Mick. “We haven’t studied them in Defense Against the Dark Arts class yet.”
“I’ve already read the whole book,” she whispered back. “It tells all about them.”
“Well, your book is wrong,” Mick said matter-of-factly. Hermione seemed surprised that he had heard her. “Which is the case with most literature about vampires,” he continued.
“Our textbooks are not wrong,” Hermione sniffed.
“I used to think the same thing,” Beth said. “Garlic, coffins, daylight - all of it. But none of it is true. Well, sunlight isn’t very good for him and can make him sick, but he doesn’t burst into flames.”
“What about drinking blood?” Harry asked.
“Well, yes, that part is true,” Mick answered. “I need to drink blood to survive. But I don’t have to bite people to get it. And if I do bite, I don’t have to kill.”
“And the bites can be quite pleasurable,” Beth said with a blush, staring into Mick’s eyes.
“Oh gag me,” Ron whispered to Harry.
Beth went on. “But what I don’t understand, is why none of you are surprised to learn that vampires even exist?”
“Of course they exist,” Hermione said. “The Ministry of Magic has classified them as Beings. And he can see Hogwarts, so he obviously has some magic in him. It’s just that, well, the ones in the book don’t look as normal as you do.”
“You mean there is a castle there?” Beth asked. “I don’t see anything but a bunch of ruins.”
“That’s what Muggles are supposed to see,” Harry told Beth.
“Well, I think he should prove he’s a vampire,” Ron said.
Harry looked askance at his friend. “Ron!”
“What?” Ron looked Mick up and down again, then leaned in and whispered to Harry, “I told you, he’s a nutter. Or maybe he’s a squib.”
There was a sudden whoosh and Ron found himself being held up in the air on one of Mick’s hands, wildly waving his arms and legs.
“I should also mention,” Mick said in a low growl with fangs showing, “that vampires have excellent hearing and exceptional strength. And I don’t know what a ‘squib’ is, but I am definitely not one.”
“Yikes! I believe you! I believe you!” Ron shouted.
Mick’s face transformed back. He set Ron down on his feet and smiled while straightening the boy’s robe. “That’s better.”
Ron stared at him with his mouth hanging open. “That was way cool! Can you do it again? The face, I mean. Not the dangling me in the air part.”
“I can do it whenever I want, but I think you’ve all been convinced.”
Hermione looked like she was about to cry. “I can’t believe the textbooks are wrong,” she said disheartened.
“Your books are as they should be, Hermione Granger.” The whole group turned and saw a centaur coming towards them out of the Forbidden Forest.
“Mick,” Beth began to whisper, but Mick squeezed her hand tightly and she stood in quiet amazement.
“Firenze,” Harry said in greeting. “What do you mean the books are as they should be? Obviously the books are wrong.”
Firenze walked around the group and without their realizing it, herded the children to one side, near himself, and away from Mick and Beth. “The books have always been written that way to protect the students from his kind,” he said as he pawed the ground in Mick’s direction. “To keep the innocents away so they will not to be tempted to seek these vile beings out. They are not to be trusted, Harry Potter.”
“Now just a minute there,” Mick said taking a step towards the centaur. But immediately Firenze raised his bow and arrow, warning Mick away.
“Stay where you are, vampire. I know of what I speak. I have had encounters with your kind before. You are but a young one; however your ancestors used to roam these lands to kill.”
“Firenze, if he wanted to kill us and drink our blood he would have already,” Harry said trying to diffuse the tense situation.
Beth spoke up. “It was you, watching us in the forest wasn’t it?”
Firenze turned to her. “Many of my kind were watching you. You should not have entered our forest.”
“Look, Firenze is it?” Mick said. “I’m sorry we entered your forest; we didn’t mean to trespass. Yes, I am young by vampire standards. I’m American; my sire’s lineage is French. I don’t know if any of them roamed this area or not, but I am not like them. In fact, most vampires in North America have lived quietly among humans for well over a century.” The children stared at him in disbelief. “We have our own rules and laws and dispense our own justice within our society. It’s not perfect, but for the most part it’s civilized.” He took a breath and looked around at the others. “And now, if someone will please direct us to the nearest village, we will be on our way and not bother you any longer.”
Just then a loud wail came from the forest. Firenze cocked his head towards the trees. “It is the distress call of a unicorn. Something dreadful has happened.” There was a noise in the undergrowth and suddenly another centaur rushed to the edge of the woods, not entering the clearing.
“Firenze,” he said. “There has been an accident in our forest. The unicorn foal has been trapped in a rock slide at the bottom of the ravine. You must come at once.” Then he disappeared back into the forest.
“Shall I run for Hagrid?” Harry asked anxiously.
“Or Dumbledore?” Ron added.
“A unicorn foal,” Hermione whispered in awe. “Those are very rare.”
“There is no time to fetch anyone,” Firenze replied. “And yes, Miss Granger, unicorn foals are extremely rare. I must go.”
“We’ll all go,” Hermione spoke up at once, though Ron looked much less enthused. “Maybe we can use our magic to help.”
“Students are not permitted to enter the Forbidden Forest,” Firenze warned.
“We’re coming anyway. Every little bit helps,” Harry replied.
“Suit yourselves,” Firenze said. “If you can hang on, you may climb on my back.” He turned towards Mick and Beth as the children scrambled onto his broad back. “You are not welcome or needed.”
“I have great strength,” Mick told him. “I can surely help you.”
“We do not need the help of a vampire. You will scare the others.”
“Firenze, we’re wasting time,” Hermione implored. “A unicorn’s life is in peril and this man said he can help,”
Firenze looked over his shoulder at the faces of the children and then back at Mick. “You have neither my permission nor my blessing. I cannot guarantee your safety should you decide to trespass in our woods again.”
“Fair enough,” Mick replied, but the centaur was already gone. Mick and Beth looked at each other.
“Don’t even think about asking me to wait here,” Beth told Mick. “First, I’m not going to wait alone in a place where such strange things are happening. And second, there is no way I would miss the chance to see a real unicorn!”
Mick smiled and scooped her up. “Let’s go then,” he said and took off with vampire speed into the woods, following the path of the centaur.
To be continued...
Part 2 Final
Ooooh! What a great start! 
), but this is still very easy to read and understand. Hermoine, Harry, and Ron's characters are all very well developed. 
I'm looking forward to part two! 
And I hope the baby unicorn will be okay... 
I am a fan of your writing, but am not big on crossovers, in general, and I thought the whole thing would be lost on me. 
However, the story came highly recommended (thank you, Lucky!), so I thought I'd take a quick look. 
When we met the Harry Potter characters, it really worked for me because Mick and Beth were meeting them for the first time too. We were all introduced at the same time and I felt no more lost than they did. It worked extremely well! As the HP characters explained things to the ML characters, they were also filling me in. It felt perfectly natural -- not at all forced. I give you a lot of credit for that. It's not an easy thing to achieve. 
), so I came at this from a different perspective than the first time. Let me just say that I had NO idea how brilliantly and seamlessly you made this work. The HP world itself, with its sense of mystery and hint of danger - along with the characters' light-hearted camaraderie and individual idiosyncrasies - were spot on. And as I said in my first comment, you brought the reader in painlessly because I was learning right along with Mick and Beth. I love this. 
