Chapter 15:

Joanna pulled herself out of bed and hurried after Annoria. The pain in her thigh became more evidently present as she was forced to limp on one side.

As she made it out into the hallway, Annoria was no longer in sight.  A wave of panic washed over her as she imagined Professor Dippet reading the diary.

Quickly, she headed left, towards the headmaster’s office. She knew she was moving too slow as the pain in her thigh was increasing, but as she turned a corner, she spotted Annoria. She was relieved at sight, but it was a short lived one, as standing in front of Annoria, blocking her path, was Tom.

Joanna quickly dodge out of their view as she strained her ears to listen.

“You were the one that killed that girl!” Annoria said loudly, though unable to hide the fear in her voice.

“Well technically, the basilisk did,” Tom replied calmly. Too calmly perhaps.

“You sent it on her!”

“I sent it on a lot of people. I can send it on you too.” Joanna was sure Tom smirked as he said that.

“You wont be able to. This will be given to Professor Dippet before you can do anything horrid again.” Annoria laughed falsely, trying to cover up the quiver in her voice.

“The only horrid thing I plan on doing right now is to kill you.”

“And how are you going to cover up your tracks?”

“Some stupid, naive student like Hagrid shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

There was a short moment of silence before Tom spoke again, “Where did you find my diary anyway? I’m curious on how a girl like you could possibly break the enchantment on my book, let alone find it to begin with.”

“I found it-“

“Annoria!” Joanna had to cut her off as she limped into sight.

“Give the book back to Tom,” Joanna said, keeping eye contact on Annoria, and careful not to look at Tom.

“No.”

Joanna slowly headed towards her and whispered, “He WILL kill you.”

“And you’ll stand here and let him do it?” Annoria asked in disgust.

“No. Of course not. That’s why I’m asking you to give it back to him!”

“Aw, come on Joanna, she’s too stubborn, let me just finish her off,” Tom spoke without a hint of emotion.

Joanna finally turned to look at him, unsure if she should be shock at what he had just said. She knew he was capable of murder, and have the least amount of remorse, but she it didnt dawn on her that he was coldblooded.

“No, you can’t kill her, I wont let you. You’ll have to kill me first.” Joanna quickly stood in front of Annoria.

Un-mistakenly, she saw the expression on his face change. He didn’t want to kill her.

“Don’t be silly. Get out of the way,” Tom said in a different tone, unlike his previous.

“You can’t kill her Tom,” Joanna pleaded.

That was when she heard Annoria made a run for it and disappeared around the corridor behind Joanna.

“Great,” Tom muttered.

Joanna quickly grabbed a hold of Tom’s arm as he ran past her.

“Don’t. Let me,” Joanna said.

“What are you going to do? Talk her out of it?” Tom gave a soft chuckle.

“I’ll get the book back without having to hurt anyone,” Joanna answered and headed after Annoria.

Annoria had not gotten far as Joanna found her hidden in a broom closet, trying to catch her breath. Upon having the closet door open, Annoria tried to run for it, but as she shoved Joanna out of the way, Joanna fell and could not get up after as an electric like pain surged through her leg.

Annoria must have heard her fall as she came rushing to her side.

“I’m so sorry!” Annoria said, as she helped Joanna up.

Annoria was about to run off again, but Joanna held on to her hand tightly.

“Don’t! He won’t let you go! Just give it to me, and we can pretend this never happened!”

“Do you think he’ll still let me go after today? Even if I hand this back to him? I know all his secrets!”

“I’ll tell him not to hurt you!”

“He won’t listen to you. He’s crazy. He’s sick. He killed his own family! Do you know that?”

“Yes, I do.”

“What?! And you’re o.k with it? That’s why you’re helping him aren’t you?!” Annoria pulled herself free from Joanna’s grip.

“You don’t understand,” Joanna tried to explain, but she couldn’t find any reason to make Tom look any bit innocent.

“I understand enough.” Annoria took off.

Joanna thought briefly on what she was about to do, as she didn’t have much options. It was now or never.

To Be Continued…

(Leave a comment below or vote on what Joanna should do next!)

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Bacon

Harry awoke in a dazed state. Without his glasses, he couldn’t see much at all. While he fumbled for his glasses, he could hear voices. Hagrid’s was one of them. Putting his glasses on, he could see that he was in some sort of a sick bay, surrounded by the old man with the pointy hat and long beard, Hagrid, and some other people he had never met before.

He tried to speak but his voice came out in such a hoarse, raspy whisper even he couldn’t understand what he had just said. Seeing that he was struggling, Hagrid spoke up, “Don’t worry Harry, you’ll have your voice back soon enough. All that bacon down your throat, we pulled all that out from your belly,” said Hagrid, pointing at a large vat by the corner overflowing with bacon.

Harry found out the old man’s name was Dumbledore and was the headmaster of Hogwarts, a Wizarding school. Harry also found out that his parents were killed by magic. Also, Harry was trying to tell himself to enjoy this peculiar dream of his before he woke up at the Dursley’s.

“Cheer up,” a voice said “you’ll be fine in no time.” Looking up Harry saw a boy, around the same age as him, with red hair on his head and a silly grin on his face. “I’m Ron,” said the boy. “Ronald Weasley, pleased to meet you!”

Suddenly, a shabby looking man entered the room and went straight to Dumbledore and the both of them seem to be discussing something rather serious. The man looked panic stricken. It left Harry wondering what else could have happened.

 A girl walked in just then and stood next to Ron. She looked straight at Ron “There’s been murder!” she said, “A trail of bacon leading into a dead end was found too!”

“No way!” said Ron.

“It’s true,” she then turned to Harry, “Oh how rude, I’m Hermione. You must be Harry Potter, I heard all about how you ha-”

“Stop battering the poor thing, Hermione,” Ron cut in.

“What is going on?” Harry managed to croaked, “What happened to me?”

“Oh, well, they said you found the Philosopher’s Bacon. He’s happy you found it, the Philosopher i mean. But the spell that was placed on the Bacon backfired on you. Sent a whole lot of bacon down your throat,” Ron explained.

Ridiculous. This dream was getting ridiculous! Harry thought to himself. Bacon, magic and all that. Now a murderer?

“I know it sounds like madness Harry, but we’ll help you,” Hermione said.

“And… you two are my friends now?” Harry asked skeptically.

“Professor Dumbledore made us befriend you actually. He said you might need help.” The both of them nodded.

It is confirmed. Harry is officially nuts. Honestly, he started assuming his parents were killed by magical bacon too. That seem to fit how bacon-rific his life was right now. Why couldn’t he be chased by nose-less bad guys instead of having to chase bacon?

“Harry, are you o.k?” Hermione asked as Harry made a face close to Uncle Vernon’s Hunchback of Notredame impersonation.

“Yea. Anyways, you said about a trail of bacon leading to a dead end?”

“Yes.” Hermione nodded.

“I bet there’s a secret door somewhere,” Ron added and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

“I think so too. Cause when i found the Philosopher’s bacon, i saw a message about a chamber being open,” Harry said as he recalled the incident.

Harry slowly got out of bed, “Let’s find out who’s killing these people.”

“NO! You must rest!” Hermione immediately replied.

“Honestly, you look like a nice young lady, but i dont really know you and you cant really tell me what to do,” Harry gave a quick reply in a low voice as his throat still hurt.

He didn’t wait for them to follow as he started walking out of the hospital wing into a place he knew nothing about. And as though it was his destiny, Harry smelled bacon. Yes, the salty mouth watering smell. One could only ignore it briefly as it drew him towards a direction and Harry followed.

The smell led him to a dead end, the same dead end the bacon led to.

“How do you know where this place was?” Hermione asked in astonishment.

“Shut up! Can’t you see he’s concentrating?” Ron snapped at her.

“Bacon…” Harry said softly, and what he saw blew his mind. The wall started shifting, creating a small door. Harry quickly entered, still followed by the pestering girl and the boy who kept saying he spotted a spider.

Harry hurried down a long dark corridor until he came into an open space. There was a big statue of a man that stood in the center, and when harry took a step forward, he heard a gushing sound. It didnt sound like water, but it sounded more like a flood of bacon.

Oh, and as stupid as this sounds, it was. Believe it or not, bacon came flooding into the chamber. And the trio ran, they ran as fast as they could, but bacon finally caught up with them. And the force was so strong that it sent them flying out of the chamber’s hidden door and back into the corridor.

When Harry finally had gotten his bearings, he saw Hermione, lying on the ground, looking rather petrified. Who knew she was allergic to bacon as her body grew stiff.

“Oh no! She’s going to die!” Ron exclaimed.

“I don’t think so. I think she just has an allergy.”

“But the killings and the murders? It can’t be bacon can it?” Ron was rather confuse.

“No, i think it was just allergies. Does she have a tendency to exaggerate?” Harry asked.

“Sometimes always,” Ron answered. “But what about the chamber?”

“Let’s just leave it as it is. I guess someone just loves bacon,” Harry answered as he shook his head.

Boy oh boy, as much as Harry hated to admit this, the Dursley’s seem like a better place now.

(This was a collaboration with Jessica D, a freelance graphic designer, photographer, and the high school friend i played Diagon Alley with when i was 13.)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Bacon

Harry had just turned 11. He wished he had a birthday cake, or maybe even a small present, but nothing as magical as that could ever happen to him. It was rather pathetic. No, actually, it was really pathetic.

Harry decided to sneak out of the horrible Dursley’s house that morning, in hopes that the sun would make him feel any better. But when he saw that the sky was dark, and that rain was falling, Harry sighed. Can the day get any worst?

Just then, Mr. Dursley came walking down the stairs with his rounded belly peeking out from under his tight old singlet. At sight, Harry quickly hid his face of disgust.

“Where do you think you are going boy?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he frowned. Harry always wondered how he could do that, and often tried while he brushed his teeth, but he could never look as facially distorted as his uncle.

“No where sir,” Harry quickly answered as he tried to look at the man’s face.

“Good. Now make me some bacon!” his uncle, Venom ( or so Harry called him), ordered, still holding on to his Hunchback of Notredam look.

“Yes sir.” Harry quickly hurried to the kitchen. But as he was about to open the refrigerator, his aunt, whose name sounded more like a horrid vegetable than a flower, annouced, “We’re out of bacon.”

Harry held his breath immdiately. He knew that when something as important as bacon was out, Harry had to get more.

“Go fetch Bacon boy!”

“But sir, it’s raining. In fact, its pouring cats and dogs.” Harry pointed out the window as the rain splattered on it loudly.

“Do i look like i care?” His uncle glared at him.

“No sir, i’ll go get some bacon.” Harry gave a quick nod and headed out the front door. He didnt even bother to take an umbrella as he walked into the pouring rain.

The gloomy sky spared him no sympathy as it kept going, drenching Harry completely by the time he walked into a small convenient store. The security guard by the counter stared at him as he left puddles of water where ever he went, but the deeply upset eleven year old could not care less.

Making his way down an aisle, he saw a weird looking man. He wore a turban and a long black cloak. He eyed Harry as he reached for a can of cat food. And Harry held his gaze until he turned towards the frozen section.

Eyeing for bacon he had not noticed the same weird man, until he hovered over Harry.

“Looking for bacon?” he asked in a soft voice.

Harry quickly backed away from the man, as he watched him sniff the can of cat food.

“Er, yes,” Harry politely answered.

“I can show you where it is,” the man offered, “But, i need a favor from you in return.”

Harry started to wonder how would this strange character know that he was looking for bacon and why showing him where it was required a favor in return, but as these thoughts made their way through Harry’s befuddled mind, his mouth seemed to have spoken words without him realizing. “Of course,” said Harry, “what is this favor you require of me?”

“Take my hand!” said the man hurriedly, grabbing Harry’s hand with his own grubby ones before Harry could react.

Everything after that became a blurry dream sequence for Harry, it felt like his body had disintegrated into it’s different parts and were experiencing their own feelings. It felt like an eternity to Harry, but very quickly he felt his stomach getting sick as all the different parts of his body came slamming back to form him.

They were now in a dark alley, somewhere in London, Harry could tell from memory.

“Sorry,” said the man, who suddenly appeared twice as large as Harry remembered. “There were people watching us; it would have been to risky!”

Harry, trying very hard not to throw up, tried to steady himself and focus his vision to see if his eyes were playing with him. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up to the man, who seemed more of a giant than a man at that point, he shakily said “Wha..what is go..going on..?”

The man was at least 10 feet tall, and that’s pretty much impossible. Harry thought he might be dreaming for a second; that they never really ran out of bacon and he’s still asleep in the broom closet.

“Well, I hate to break it to you this way,” boomed the giant man “But you’re not really what you think you are. It’s dangerous for you to continue to stay here any longer.”

“Who are you?” said Harry feeling a little puzzled by what was just told to him “How did you know I was looking for bacon?”

“Oh well, you had bacon written on your hand,” he said. Harry looked at his hand and true enough the word “BACON” was written on the palm of his hand in bright red ink.

Confused, Harry asked the big man “I don’t even remember writing that there! How could it have gotten there? And in RED INK too! Aunt Tuna, err Petunia hates red ink! What’s happening? You tell me right now!”

After bursting out in such a manner, Harry realized that the oaf of a man he was shouting at could crush him in his hands, so he backed up a little.

“Calm down, Harry,” Harry’s eyes widened at the fact that the man knew his name. They weren’t even properly introduced. “All will reveal itself in time.”

“I’m Hagrid the half giant, in case you were wondering,” he said “And YOU, my friend, is Harry Potter, the chosen one. That’s why you have bacon written on your hands!” Hagrid chuckled heartily as if he just told a joke, then immediately his face changed and in a serious tone he said, “’Tis dangerous times we live in, my friend. The Philosopher’s Bacon has gone missing, and you are our only hope. Yerr a wizard, Harry!”

Harry was dumbfounded. He thought he’d been kidnapped by a crazy lunatic and was going to get murdered. Then out of nowhere, a light appeared and a silhouette of a man walking towards them. He was tall and skinny, and he had a tall pointy hat and a long pointy beard.

“Hagrid, take him to the room of the chambers at once! We must end this madness,” he said in a surprisingly calm tone. Looking at Harry, “My boy, everything you have ever known about the world and yourself will change tremendously. All will reveal itself in time.” And with that, he disappeared just as he appeared.

Hagrid then grabbed Harry’s hand and they appeared next in what seemed to be a hallway in some sort of an underground building. It reminded Harry of the time he had to help Uncle Vernon carry his luggage to King’s Cross, except there were no train tracks, or crowds.

Harry looked back hoping to see Hagrid; hoping he will explain what was going on but Hagrid was disappearing into the walls. As he was somehow going through the wall, he said “Harry, you must find the Philosopher’s Bacon. You can do it Harry. It is where you will least expect it. Hurry, save the wizarding world Har-,” and with that he was completely swallowed up by the wall, leaving terrified Harry with a lot of rooms.

“The Philosopher’s Bacon? Whatever does that mean?” he thought to himself. Then it hit him, literally; packages of bacon started falling all over the place. It was raining bacon.

He started to panic and run around the place but everywhere he went, the bacon would not stop. He got a hold of one and it read, NOT THE PHILOSOPHER’S BACON; and the next one too, same thing. He was beginning to lose hope when he saw something glisten in the corner of his eye.

He quickly turned to see what it was, and it was a package of bacon, looking just like the rest but Harry could see that inside the plastic wrap was the juiciest piece of bacon he had ever seen, with the layer of fat glistening in the candlelight.

He ran towards it but it seemed to be floating away from his grasp, and all the other packages seemed to be attracted to him by some form of magical force and kept hitting him in the face. Harry ducked and jumped over bacon packages that were flying around him at full force.

He was so close; his fingertips were touching the shiny packaging of bacon. With all his might, he threw himself forward and lunged at the bacon. Successfully catching it, all the other packages seemed to form a line and move into one of the doors on the right of the hallway.

Harry looked at the package he was holding, it read, THE PHILOSOPHER’S BACON. Harry looked at the package carefully, behind it there were the words, THE CHAMBER OF BACON WILL BE OPENED.

(This was a collaboration with Jessica D, a freelance graphic designer, photographer, and the high school friend i played Diagon Alley with when i was 13.)