The Potter Chronicles

Chapter 21: The Olcroft Skeeter (part 1)

Warm sunshine shone on Harry's face and a cool breeze blew through his spiky hair. Harry Potter woke up, rubbing his eyes. His back was sore. He looked around gathering himself. Where was he, he wondered.

The sun had risen and had left dawn a couple of hours behind. He looked at his place of sleeping. It was a green bench. No wonder his back felt so sore. He was in an unfamiliar place...again. It looked as if he was in a muggle area.

There was a hustle-bustle of people on the road. People seemed to laugh and chat about the day, while other ambitious people seemed to drag goods in carts. Harry tried to recall how he ended up there...fuzzy memories came to him...the night...the centaurides...the mother centauride...her prophecy...Oh yes, he recalled it.

He was in the Albanian forest where the mother centauride had given him a prophecy. His Deluminator had emitted a blue light and he had followed it, hoping he would end up in his home, and find Ginny, but when he touched the blue light, he had disapparated, and materialised into an entirely unknown place. He had looked around...deserted streets...burning street-lamps...it had looked like an unfamiliar place.

Then he had seen the green bench, and immediately all the fatigue came rushing to him. He realised that he was very tired and needed some rest. So he lied down on the bench, vowing to find out where he had ended up, in the morning. He slept like a stone through the night and here he was, in the morning, sitting on the bench, looking at the bustle of the muggle market before him.

Harry combed his unruly hair with his fingers and brushed off the creases off his robe, determined to find out where the Deluminator had taken him and why.

He started walking towards the busy alley. He could smell spices. A fresh aroma of frying food wafted through a nearby stall, where people had gathered for their morning breakfast. At the end of the alley, Harry could see a coastline.

"So I'm near a sea" Harry thought, and started recalling the names of the places with a beach. "Ireland? Miami?" he thought, cursing himself for his bad knowledge of geography.

The people here were slightly dark skinned, by which he guessed he must be in the east.

"Namaste? Kaha se aye ho?" a girl's voice sounded.

Harry looked at the girl. She looked in her mid-twenties. She was dressed up in red traditional-looking saree and heavy make-up.

"Yeah? Hello?" Harry said, smiling rather foolishly.

"Naye ho yaha par? Rehne ki jagah dhundh rahe ho?" the girl asked.

"Umm...English please..." Harry said.

"Aah...from England hmm? English? Sure. So are you new here?" the girl asked, and started walking with Harry. Her accent was a bit quirky.

"Yeah I'm new here. Can you please tell me where am I?" Harry asked.

"Umm...where are you...you are in the vyapaar chowk, also known as the merchant's hub of the city. Anything you want to buy, from spices, to original Dhaka muslin, you'll get it here" the girl said, signalling Harry to make way for two people carrying a huge mirror.

"Alright. But I mean which city? Which country?" Harry asked.The girl looked at Harry amused.

"Looks like you've had a lot of bhaang yesterday eh. Okay, so you are in Varanasi, the hub of culture and business in India. It is one of the best cultural places of the country. And if you're staying for another week, you shouldn't miss Holi, the festival of colours" the girl said.

They had almost walked through half of the alley. Shopkeepers were doing brisk business in their shops. Harry looked at the vast water-body ahead.

"Is that a sea?" Harry asked.