Monthly Archive for May, 2006

Updated: The mist and the hurricane

Published on May 30, 2006 in Life etc.. 15 Comments

I would start with a brief account of what I’ve been doing last week. Last to last Friday, I travelled to US, just after I finished my last post. Didn’t get much time to blog last week.

Anyway, the funniest thing about Chicago is that then sun rises at 4 am and sets around 8.30 pm. Unbelievable?? It was, for me. I mean, I knew about this, but to experience it was a different feeling altogether.

Well..I’m pretty settled in a beautiful countryside called Libertyville, about 30 miles from Chicago downtown. Got a Hyundai Sonata, but still confused whether the right lane is the right lane or the left lane is the wrong lane or whatever.

This weekend was a long one here with Memorial Day falling on Monday. So we decided to have a little visit to Niagara Falls, which was about 7 hours to the east. So we, 3 couples and 6 bachelors, took 3 cars and drove all the way. I went in Nagaraju’s car, which carried the weights of Nagaraju and family, Amal and me. It was a Chevy Malibu.

The American Way
On the way, we saw these people in two cool vehicles. Probably were couples. I was jealous of the way the Americans were enjoying their life.

The freeway

It was time for me to take a couple of snaps of the freeway. I believe this one was good enough to be in the camera of the ace photographer, Amal, being taken from a car moving at 80 miles per hour.

We stopped over to have some food. What we had was some junk food in McDonalds. We took the wrong exit and went into another freeway. We realised it only after about 16 miles when we saw a board saying “Welcome to Michigan state” (or something like that!). We had to come back all the way and take the right route.

Me, Deepesh and Jeetu

Destination Niagara
We went along, took a motel in Cleveland, almost midway through to Niagara.

The next day we set off towards Niagara. That was a good ride. We finally crossed the Niagara river twice. Immediately after the second bridge, we took a wrong exit again, but quickly recovered to come back. Then we saw the exit towards the American Falls, the lesser of the two falls which make the Niagara.

We went further along the banks of the lake Erie. I saw the mist at the edge of the road, and the Canada beyond that.

Exit to Niagara



 The mist

We reached, but had some difficulty in finding parking space. Then we set off towards the falls.

A free trip to Canada
One thing we knew we would miss was the view of the falls from the Canadian side. But Venky and co were lucky enough. A few minutes after we parked our car, we got a call from Venky. They had strayed into the wrong exit, which was the way to Canada and had crossed the borders. They immediately contacted the immigration office in Canada. After a few questions, they were taken back to US side. The result was that they could claim to have gone to Canada as well.

The American Falls
It was about 4.30 in the evening when we saw the American falls. It was looking great. But it was not what I was looking forward to. We spent a considerable amount of time taking pictures of the falls, the Rainbow Bridge and the Canadian skyline. The Rainbow bridge looked majestic, but we couldn’t go on that.

The American Falls


Rainbow Bridge


Observation Tower, as Amal says, the best US can offer

Maid of the Mist
It was time for the famous maid of the mist boat service. We had to enter the obesrvation tower and take an elevator down. This was the best way for Americans to see the Horse shoe falls. The boat would go right into the mist. That was awesome…the second best thing in Niagara.


Maid of the mist


Horse Shoe Falls

After the boat ride, we went to the observation deck. That gives a pretty mediocre view of the horseshoe falls compared to Canada side. We went to the Goat island, famous for “The Cave of the Winds”, in a trailer. That ride was funny.


Trailer

A long queue awaited us at the entrance to cave of the winds. We decided to take it. That was the best decision we took, because the cave of the winds is the best thing there is at Niagara.
There is a wooden deck which would take you very close to the foot of the falls. As they said, raincoat was not optional down there. You would be soaked in the water. And for the daring ones, there was hurricane deck. I went there…it was..well…windy and like a storm. Several WOO! HOO!’s later, I came out. I wanted a picture of mine taken there, but nobody took out their cameras there.

When I came out, I felt my hair to check if it was wet. I couldn’t feel. My hands were so numb.

As I came up the elevator, I called my uncle in CA. My cousin took the phone. She asked me how Niagara is.
“Hmmm…Errr…It’s….wonderful”
“Wonderful? Is that all you have to say?”, she asked.
What could I say? I was speechless.
In fact, it was just as well you were speechless. No one could hear you over the roar!!!

Update

More pictures at http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2105646343&code=22489224&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

The Muggle Studies Professor – Part 2

Published on May 20, 2006 in Harry Potter and Stories. 8 Comments

The sun was shining brightly on the green meadows somewhere in England on the afternoon of September 1st. It made the land look like a royal green carpet vanishing into the hills yonder. I was once again silent, admiring the beauty of the countryside. There were a million questions inside me, like magma inside a volcano which would erupt any moment. But Jo was not giving me much hint.

All I knew till then was that I was allowed a free passage into platform 8 and three quarters, because they wanted me to be a muggle studies professor at Hogwarts.
Were they some old crackpots? Was I worth it? What if students misbehaved? I didn’t have the slightest amount of magic to bring discipline.
“Well. Hagrid too doesn’t do magic”, said Jo.
I gaped at her. Her face was hidden behind Witch Weekly.
How did she know what I thought?

But most of the curses won’t work on Hagrid as he is so tough.
“You’re afraid some student might try a bat-bogey hex on you?”, said Jo, lowering her magazine.
I smiled and replied, “You are a Legilimens, aren’t you?”
Jo smiled back and said, “Don’t worry. You will be equipped with all the essential magic you need.”
“But I thought one should have in-born talent for magic, just like music. It is impossible to make every person sing.”
“Yes and no. There are some tricks which anyone can do. For example, which spell do you say the most?”
“Lumos”
“Try saying that with this”, she handed over her wand to me.
I carefully examined the wand, which was made of Ash.
“Go ahead. Wave it”.

“Lumos”, I said with a flick of my wrist.
Nothing happened.
“Concentrate.. Say a bit louder.”

“LUMOS”
Then it came…the bright light on the tip of her wand. I was grinning from ear to ear.
“I did….magic”
“Good!”, she said encouragingly.
“Nox”…and it was out.

“You know..you shouldn’t give your wand to others like this.”
“Heh..What are you gonna do? curse me? Try doing that!!”
My grin was so hearty as I returned her wand, that all my 32 teeth were showing.

***

At long last, the train hooted once again as we reached the Hogsmeade railway station.
I heard the voice I was looking forward to hearing…”Firs’ years, this way”

When the crowd of the students was gone, I saw some elderly people in cloaks standing there. There was none mistaking the lady on the front.
Jo said, “Meet the headmistress of Hogwarts, Prof…”
“Pleased to meet you Professor McGonagall”, I interrupted with a grin.
“Glad to have you aboard, Mr. Kogan”, she said without the slightest sign of “gladness” in her face.
I easily recognised Prof. Flitwick and Prof. Sprout (lots of dirt on her cloak).

***

“I will be very brief for the time as we have to hurry for the feast, Mr. Kogan.
Your first question will be why we invited you to Hogwarts.
We let you into our world because we want you to become our Muggle Studies professor. That is only one side of the story.

A few years after You-know-who jinxed the DADA class, Professor Dumbledore had requested him to lift that jinx. For that, he replied arrogantly, “I would lift the curse the day a muggle starts teaching in Hogwarts”, and walked off.
It took these many years for the International Convention of Warlocks to decide on improving wizard-muggle relationships. As a result, several amendments were made wherein muggles who were particularly inclined towards the wizarding world were allowed to actually see and live in it. We didn’t want to obliviate anyone unnecessarily.

Your induction as a Muggle Studies professor is an experimentation to see whether the DADA jinx is lifted or not.
“Prof. Eowyn Banks will be the DADA teacher this year”, she pointed to a charming blonde lady, who bowed to me. I smiled and nodded.
McGonagall continued, “Prof. Pithius, our present muggle studies teacher, is retiring this year, and he has kindly agreed to stay till this Christmas to give you the necessary training. You will be given a wand, which can be used to perform simple spells and defensive spells. You will learn about other basic things like using brooms and all. You will do your shopping later this week. Sorry we had to arrange all of this so fast.”

“Alright. But why me? Why not any other muggle?”
“Because you have the most wonderful kinds of magic inside you. Joanne noticed you when she came for the publication of her book, ‘Quidditch through the ages’”
“I was voluntarily working for Comic relief at that time. I’d seen her. And she’s my favorite author”, I winked at Jo as I said this.
“She was impressed by your work for charity through laughter. Afterwards, we had several magical folks tailing you and we learnt that you had the greatest wish to be in the wizarding world. So we cleverly started showing a few hints for you to catch on and come here.”
McGonagall was smiling now.
Of course!!! All those things which I was seeing!!

“So what do you say, Mr. Kogan? Yes or No?”
“Mmmm. Let me think….Of course, yes!!”

I never stopped grinning. This day has been the most wonderful and unbelieve day in my life so far. By then, our horseless carriages had reached Hogwarts. I saw the white tomb. I closed my eyes in prayer for Dumbledore. Too bad I couldn’t meet him.

Inside the Great Hall, I witnessed the Sorting Ceremony, then got a very good applause from the students when Prof. McGonagall introduced me. It was time to go to bed soon.

That night I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t want to. If this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up and realise that it was a dream. I wanted to live in that dream.

***

EPILOGUE

One morning, I went to the white tomb to pay homage to the greatest wizard of all time.

As I turned to go, I heard “Hello Janus.” It was Jo.

Again questions started erupting. Why did Snape kill Dumbledore?

“Jo, you are my best friend here in Hogwarts and everybody but me knows what happened to Harry Potter and others. Jo, I’m curious. Please tell me. What happened to Snape? Was he really a death eater or was it all a drama scripted by Professor Dumbledore?”

“The drama was in fact scripted by Snape himself. Didn’t you understand? It was Snape, not Voldemort, who was the main antagonist. Voldemort and Dumbledore were mere pawns in the clever game played by Snape. All of us believed that Voldemort was the main threat, while all the time, Snape was brilliantly manipulating everyone to emerge as the antagonist.”

“It…It doesn’t make sense.”
“Who overheard the full prophecy and conveniently forgot to say some major points of that to Voldemort? Snape!!
Who led Dumbledore into believing that he indeed was a spy for the Order? Snape!!

“Snape was the reason why Voldemort attacked on Harry and his parents and met his downfall in Harry. Snape was the one who killed Dumbledore.
Don’t you see it? Snape was playing the Order against the Death Eaters as mere pieces of a chessboard. Loss of either side would be a gain for him, because he wanted to get rid of both.

“Snape didn’t kill Harry on the night he killed Dumbledore, because he knew that only Harry could get rid of Voldemort. And the part of the story that you don’t know: Snape helped Harry in destroying the horcruxes and finishing off Voldemort himself. Now the main threats in his rise were removed. Except one. Harry himself.

“He cast the death spell on Harry. But Harry was again saved by the very same magic which had saved him earlier…Love. Ginny jumped in front of him. She wanted him to live from the deepest of her heart. Harry didn’t want her to die either. This mutual love and mutual magic which emanated from that created what we call Orbicular Bounding. It was old, nay, forgotten magic. The spell rebounded off the shield and hit Snape. Ginny was in St. Mungos for 5 months. She recovered, but had lost her flaming red hair. Her hair changed to a short silver and black color. They say it will be a permanent relic.”

“But is Snape vanquished? What if he too has a horcrux?”
“We can only hope that he doesn’t..that he’s gone for good,” Jo said, as we returned slowly into the castle.
A cuckoo was singing somewhere near the forbidden forest. It stopped singing suddenly. I turned back and saw the whomping willow moving ominously. Was it a sign of the end of happy days once again?

The Muggle Studies Professor – Part 1

Published on May 10, 2006 in Harry Potter and Stories. 9 Comments

If there was anything which I yearned to do, it was to live in the magical world among wizards and witches.
There was a time when I wished that somebody would just apparate in my room and tell me that I am a wizard. That, however, never happened. So, there I was, wasting precious time and a good life in some muggle nonsense in London.

One fine day, I was walking along the Charing Cross Road. I used to be excited whenever I came here, because this was supposed to be where the Leaky Caudron was. The Leaky Cauldron…the gateway to Diagon Alley. Did that ever exist? I never found out. For several years, I thought it was hidden by a Fidelius Charm, but now I gave up. This time I didn’t even bother to look around for the inn. But I knew I was alert anyway, because I noticed somebody tailing me. What was more, that person was wearing the most unlikely set of clothes I had ever seen. I turned around when I reached an open place (so that he couldn’t hide). But he was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

Days went by, and I forgot that incident. On September 1st, I had to go to Manchester. I took a ticket from King’s Cross Station. The train was coming in platform 8. After the explosions in King’s Cross, they had restructured the platforms. Now the barrier was between platforms 8 and 9. I remembered the times when I would feel the barrier around hoping to find some hidden entrance to platform 9 3/4.

I couldn’t resist a smile as I looked at the barrier. But the smile was momentary. Then I saw that…a piece of black cloak vanishing into the barrier. Totally grossed out, I took a step backwards. Then, almost involuntarily, I ran towards the barrier and touched it. It was solid. But I was so convinced that I took 10 steps backwards and started running towards the barrier. As I neared it, I closed my eyes, a part of my brain saying, “Fool! You are only going to get bruised and hurt.”
The collision with the solid mass of bricks was just milliseconds away…But it didn’t happen. I went on and almost collided with a jolly young couple who jumped in their seats. Then I heard it…the long whistle..I turned and saw a black and crimson steam engine. “Hogwarts Express” was written in big letters in that.

A dream come true..that indeed was. My joy knew no bounds.

Then I saw someone I knew. It was Jo (J K Rowling). I went up to her and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Although it was something rude to hear from a stranger, she seemed to understand what I meant and who I was.
She just replied, “I’m a witch.”
“Wow!!”
I introduced myself as a muggle who happened to get into platform 8 3/4 (It was renamed now!) by sheer chance. She smiled and said that she was about to board the train with her daughter to Hogwarts. It was her first year at school.

“So it exists..Hogwarts and all”
“What do you think? I made up a story so vivid in a few hours of train journey?”
“So what you wrote was a story based on your world which actually exists”
“No. I wrote a biographical story. Harry Potter is a real life character and is very much alive. He’s almost your age now, is an Auror with the ministry and is happily married to Ginny Weasley, who too is working in the ministry.”
“Oh I see”, I said very seriously as if I wasn’t amazed. But only I knew what was inside my mind….The greatest joy since I was ever born.

I asked, “Why are you going to the school?”
“I’m a teacher there. I teach potions.”
“Er…I hope everything is finished, Voldemort vanquished.”
“Why? You afraid?”
“Shoudn’t I be?”
“Don’t worry. He’s dead.”
“I’m still wondering how the gateway opened for me.”
“You’ll get to know. Let’s get on to the train.”
“Me?”
“Yes..”
I was not a fool to refuse a ride aboard Hogwarts express.

As the train sped past the green meadows, I kept on looking alternately outside and Jo’s face. Jo’s daughter was playing with a Reusable Hangman. Jo was immersed in a book. On the front cover, I saw the words “Witch Weekly”

I got an opening to talk with Jo only when the familiar witch with the trolley came. After buying a few chocolates for her daughter, Jo asked, “So…how’s it feeling to be in wizarding world so far?”
“I still don’t believe it. You didn’t answer me. Why give me…a..a muggle a free trip to Hogwarts when the ministry is desperately trying to hide it from muggles?”
“Because you are going to get a chance to be a part of the wizarding world forever.”
“I..I don’t understand. I don’t have the slightest amount of magic in me.”
“But you have the love and belief in magic.”
“But what am I gonna do in the magical world? I’m no better than a squib.”
“There’s a seat vacant for a teacher in Hogwarts.”
“But I’m not even qualified to be a wizard, leave alone a teacher”
“We have a subject called Muggle Studies.”
“Heh…You think I will accept that?”, I asked.
She mocked me, “Heh. You think you will refuse an offer to live your dream?
“Wait for a few hours…The answers are coming….”

To be concluded…

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of the characters or the articles mentioned in this story. They are owned by appropriate authorities