Harry Potter and the Wizards of Waverly Place: The Stone of Dreams

Chapter 20

Mr and Mrs Russo fretted while Justin, George and Ginny decided what to do. Justin figured that Alex would probably take Harry and Hermione somewhere shielded from the normal world--that could only be Wizard World. But he didn't know where they would go once inside.

George spoke up. "Alecto will want to cut off the power supply to whatever is blocking their spells. That's the way these Death Eaters think-especially Alecto. They aren't so keen to 'win the hearts and minds' so to speak. They just take what they want by killing who or whatever is standing in their way."

"Hermione will know that too then," said Ginny. "So she and Harry will have Alex take them to your central power station to head off the Death Eaters. We'd better hurry, because if Harry and Hermione and your brother and sister don't get there before the Death Eaters, we will have to."

Without further ado, Justin, Ginny and George entered through the Russo's portal into the Wizard World.

~o0o~

Alecto had triangulated the power source. She was astounded by its enormity, and the fact that it was hidden in a reality pocket just out of phase with the "normal world." They would need a portal to get in. And the portals were relatively easy to locate now that Alecto had discovered the frequencies the power was operating on. She picked the closest one.

TJ Taylor's life had been turned upside down ever since the Russos had freed his parents from his control and Alex had exposed his Magical Abuse of a Normal. He had been a shoo-in for the Family Wizard Contest because he was an only child. But now his powers had been suspended indefinitely. He had been searching for months through his family's lair for something, anything that he could use against his parents to bring them back under his thumb, but to no avail.

Once he found something though, he'd show them, he'd show them all. The first thing he was going to do when he got his powers back was destroy Alex Russo. As far as he was concerned, it was her fault that he'd ended up losing his powers.

A loud explosion shook the lair, slamming TJ against the Wizard Bookcase. TJ groaned. Blood was trickling from a cut on his forehead, and one of his ribs felt like it was broken. Four dangerous looking strangers stepped through the smouldering hole in the wall of his family's lair.

"Wha... Who are you? What's going on?" TJ whimpered. A chuckle was the only reply. Alecto pointed to what looked like a wall made out of stained glass.

"There, that's the portal. Amycus, the boy is yours, but be quick."

"I'll... I'll show you a portal..." muttered TJ before a wickedly curved blade slit his throat. Amycus hated being rushed through a kill as much as his sister did. But he didn't waste any time complaining about it. If his sister was telling him to hurry, he knew they were in trouble.

Once inside the portal, Alecto held out the palm of her right hand and placed her wand on it with her left. The wand spun around several times, then came to a halt, pointing off to their right.

"This way," said Alecto, "We can't apparate inside here with their power up, so get a move-on," she barked. Rowle and Dolohov restrained themselves yet again and just kept moving. When this was over...

Hermione looked over the city hall department directory. It was nearly incomprehensible, but if she could manage runes and arithmancy, she ought to be able to find her way through a 4 dimensional maze. There it was. The power core was right next to the Power Transference Room which Alex had told them about in her story about the time she had prevented Stevie from destroying the Transference machine. Hermione stiffened, her suspicions confirmed.

The Wizard Competition, the Power Transference, the Wizard World Energy Grid... it was all powered by the wizards who ostensibly "gave up" their powers to their siblings. Nobody lost their powers at all; this place ran on their powers--without their knowledge or consent. The losing wizard's magic was coded to the Power Core through the "Transference" machine. Once done so, the Core would draw on that wizard's magic directly, effectively rendering them powerless wherever they went in the world.

Alex's friend Stevie had been on the right track, it was a shame how that had ended thought Hermione. This was awful. The very thing which they needed to prevent the Death Eaters from shutting down was keeping millions of wizards hostage and subverting their magic. Hermione gritted her teeth, there was nothing else she could do.

Right now her goal was to protect as many people as possible, and that meant leaving the Core intact. She understood why the Establishment of the American Wizard World had created such a system. It provided a level of security and a sanctuary for Magical Beings unparalleled in the Western World... but at what cost? How many families had been broken and destroyed by the infighting and distrust which must surely come from forcing siblings to compete to keep their powers?

"Okay, Alex, the power core is right next to the power transference room. You've been there, so we'll follow you." Said Hermione.

"Say what?" asked Alex, who didn't like what she was hearing. Her brows furrowed "I had no idea... I always assumed it was in some industrial type area, not here--I thought... dragons..." she trailed off, then pushed her suspicions aside; but she couldn't help thinking sadly about Stevie. "We'd better go then. We're going this way," Alex said, pointing down a corridor to their right.

They made their way through an Escher's Maze of hallways, elevators and staircases.

"There, over there, look..." shouted Alex, it's the second door down on the left.

Then everything went black. The grid was down.