Chapter Three!
To StephanG and Knight25 for predicting my actions.
Disclaimer: Standard denial applies.
And, to PrideIsArrogance and anyone else seeking clarification from the previous reviews: Hermione did not meet Baba in London – she had to seek her out way in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I wasn't very clear about that? If I wasn't, I apologize. As for the other meeting which was in London - that will be explained in either chapter four or five. You have a good point about the title: I chose it because wizard characters will be encountering other characters and elements from the DBZ world, and, though it really hasn't happened to large extent yet, DBZ characters will be encountering other characters and elements of the wizarding world. It does seem a little one-sided at this point though, and it actually might remain that way – I haven't decided yet if the DBZ characters are even going to be remotely interested in the wizarding world, but even if they are, although it's written in third person, it's mostly Hermione's take on everything. Perhaps "collide" is too strong a word though; a better title might have been "When a World is Encountered," but that sounds pretty stupid. It's probably better to just accept that I'm horrible at titling stories (look at the titles of my other stories for proof), and ignore the title entirely.
The next day at work, the Ministry was abuzz with anxiety. Hermione paid a sidelong glance to a witch trying to sell protective amulets before picking up a copy of the Daily Prophet in the Atrium. She stuck the paper under her arm and headed down to her office.
Plopping down in her chair, she unfolded the paper and gasped at the title:
Escape from Azkaban!
She skipped the picture and went straight to the article:
Late last night, Azkaban was subjected to the first prison break since the defeat of the Dark Lord, and, surprisingly, the escapee was not a known Death Eater or wizard explicitly proven to be affiliated with Voldemort. The convict, a certain Uranai Baba, had just recently registered her use of magic at the Ministry, putting her under Ministry jurisdiction, when she was found to be guilty of exposing muggles to magic, and exploiting muggles with said magic for her own amusement. When being taken away from the Ministry by the Law Enforcement squad, several witnesses alleged that she swore Azkaban would not hold her long, and that she had powerful connections that would free her.
Her vow was proven last night when a large hole was suddenly blown in the side of the prison on the exact floor Uranai Baba was being held.
"Everything was quiet, 'cept for the occasional cackle from that little witch [Baba], but she'd been cacklin' all night, so it wasn't anything new," stated floor overseer Hector Piccadilly. "Then POW, all-a-the sudden the wall at the end of the hall was suddenly missing, and there was this bright light – it took my eyes a few seconds to see that it was a man stepping in from outside. Weird thing is, though, we were five levels up an' he didn't have no broom. Or anything. It was just him."
Several other overseers ran to the scene, having heard the explosion. They described the man as tall and fit, with bright turquoise eyes and golden hair, and a golden aura of light surrounding him.
"We got to the floor and saw this guy, and knowing that he wasn't supposed to be there, we fired some spells," Pandarus Finch, another overseer, attested. "They all bounced off though, as if that glowing light surrounding him was some kind of shield. Blimey, he was frightening – just unearthly. He just walked silently down the hall as if he didn't even know we were firing spells at him. Then he just stopped in front of that little witch's cell. And all she says is, 'You're late.'"
Authorities say that Baba had no communication with anyone, other than making a scene in the Atrium of the Ministry, from the point of her arrest up to the point of her escape.
"An' after she acknowledged him, he still didn't say nothing," Piccadilly stated. "He just stuck his hands 'tween the bars and pulled them apart, then completely out. I can't even do that with magic!"
"He stepped into the cell and picked the witch up," said Finch. "And then, he just stuck his hand out in front of him, and out comes this blast of light. He bloody went and made another gaping hole in the prison – with some kind of blast that came from his hand, not a wand. I don't even know what he was."
The man was then said to have walked to the edge of the hole, jumped out, and flown away from Azkaban. He was pursued shortly by security on Firebolts, but was able to out-fly them. Uranai Baba's whereabouts are still unknown, but if any information concerning her or her accomplice turns up, the Ministry should be notified immediately.
Hermione finally dared to look at the picture – it was of the back of the man. He was holding Baba in his left arm, who was making faces and cackling at the overseers behind them, and his right arm was extended in front of him, with the magical picture showing the blast from it taking out the wall. The bent bars lay on the ground behind them, and his head was turned just enough to show that his expression remained perfectly calm despite the blast he was firing and the spells being fired at him.
Hermione returned from her registration work early enough to spend her lunch break with Harry, and their conversation topic couldn't have been more obvious.
"I'm one of the aurors who's been assigned to the case," Harry explained. "Everyone seems to think that this Uranai Baba character is somehow tied to dark magic and the remaining Voldemort faction – I mean, there's a lot of parallels that've been worked out."
"Like?" Although Hermione found Baba to be extremely creepy, she somehow did not get the feeling that she was at all tied to dark magic. She had expressed this opinion to Harry, and though he agreed, evidence led him to remain undecided.
"First of all, muggle abuse - "
"That's questionable. She seemed to be very out of touch with the wizarding world before yesterday when I met her at her castle, yet she knew who I was. Given that, she probably knew that I was muggle-born as well, but she was not disdainful towards me because of it. In fact, she was partial to me."
"Okay, fine. But she alluded to 'powerful connections.' Whether or not she was referring to dark wizards, it still sounds really suspicious."
"I'll give you that one."
"She was able to get in touch with someone despite the mental blocks put on her. The Squad puts them on everyone they arrest."
"Creepy yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's dark magic. To me it only suggests a new kind of magic. It's a little fascinating actually, but in a frightening way."
"Okay, and what about the man who rescued her? He could block spells, channel magic without any sort of wand, and fly. Only Voldemort and Snape could fly."
"He's the most suspicious, I suppose. Whatever kind of magic he's using is obviously very powerful – if it made nothing of all the protective charms around Azkaban, it has to be extremely powerful - "
"Hermione. He out-flew a firebolt."
Hermione furrowed her eyebrows.
"This is all so overwhelming. In fact, it's frightening! There is quite possible a very powerful magic using group that has kept itself secret from both muggles and wizards. Even with the Ministry's new way of detecting unregistered users that Mafalda was blathering about, they still have not come up with anything remotely like this guy. It would do wonders for our reputations within in the Ministry should we be the ones to figure it out."
Harry paused and frowned.
"I don't know about you Hermione, but I've been hearing a lot of 'Potter was good against the Dark Lord because he was destined for that battle, but what can he really do?'"
Hermione smiled sympathetically.
"Mafalda's explicitly told me that my skills were worth something to game-playing grade schoolers at Hogwarts, but that they're completely worthless in the serious Ministry environment."
"Well that settles it then," Harry straightened up. "We'll just have to solve this case in our old Hogwarts style. Just to prove them wrong."
"I'm tempted to say I disapprove just to reprise my Hogwarts-age self."
Harry laughed.
"I'll pay a visit to Ron after work then; we may be needing some extendable ears."
"I'd appreciate it if I didn't have to work too closely with him," Hermione frowned. "But I'll consent if only because the wheezes are so conveniently handy."
"Excellent. So I propose we take tomorrow, Saturday, as a research day, and relay our information back in some way on Sunday."
Hermione nodded, approving the plan, then took her leave back to the office.
Sunday morning, Hermione took a seat at the bar of the Leaky Cauldron to wait for Harry and Ron. Though she'd had her share of recent lateness, she was usually more punctual than them.
"Long time no see, 'Mione," Neville greeted her cheerfully. "Can I get you anything on the house?'
She smiled in return.
"Just some tea please. Plain. I don't drink anything that tastes good in the morning."
As Neville began to prepare the request, Harry and Ron strode in.
"Morning Hermione, Neville," Harry smiled, taking the seat next to her. Ron took the seat on the other side of Harry, greeted Neville, and gave a nod to Hermione.
Neville handed Hermione her tea and poured two glasses of butterbeer for the newcomers before retreated to the back.
Seeing that they were relatively alone, Harry commenced the meeting.
"So, let's get this started," Harry began. "Ron, would you mind telling us how the magical community outside of the Ministry is handling the situation?"
"Well," Ron paused. "Like myself, I don't think anyone is really clear on what the situation is. They know there has been a prison break, and they know that the witch claimed she had powerful allies, and this scares them. It seems to immediately scream 'Dark Lord.' The protective trinkets stands have reopened, and I've seen some sketchy folk reappearing when passing by the entrance to Knockturn Alley."
"I suspected as much," Harry replied thoughtfully to the overview. "The Ministry is scared too, though not as openly about it. The auror's department is very nervous. They're not so much scared of Baba as they are of that golden-haired man though. Frankly, most of the department is scared to death of him. Hermione, I hope your theories about this being an entirely new group of magic users is correct, because if he actually happens to be part of a new order of Death Eaters, we're doomed."
"Well," Hermione interjected, "We'll hopefully have this sorted out by the end of this week. As usual, I've thought about this more than either of you, and I have an idea for where to start. We need to find Uranai Baba. She told me that her only two interests were money and fighting. So, I think we should compile a list of major fighting venues, or places where you can get money easily so that we can find her."
"How about the Triwizard Tournament?" Ron suggested.
"Okay," Hermione's quill scribbled it down on a piece of parchment.
"Las Vegas," came Harry's suggestion.
"Sorry, we're not going there," Hermione rolled her eyes. "How about the Satan Dojo? My muggle neighbors are always carrying on about that place."
"Isn't Mr. Satan the one the muggles believe defeated Cell?"
"That's him," Harry answered. "I don't know how he lives with himself, claiming false credit like that. Everyone here knows that Ministry aurors took care of that monster Cell. I heard he was almost as frightening as Voldemort. Anyway, though, I think my cousin Dudley works out in one of Mr. Satan's UK-branch gyms. Maybe that will help us out."
"Perfect. So let's meet again on Saturday. Really do try to think of some more places we could look during the week."
Voila.