Game

Harry on the Hudson

You are waking up from what you thought was a dream, when you open your eyes and find yourself lying on the ground looking up into a violent sky. Trying to get your bearings you notice that you are surrounded by 12-foot evergreen trees. They appear as a wall, as you move the trees close in behind you. You feel trapped, the wind is howling around you. Thunder is cracking, but you see no rain the booming noise surrounds you.  

Disoriented you begin to realize that you are in the maze from “The Goblet of Fire” you hear Harry and Voldemort fighting nearby. Sparks are flying, loud claps of thunder, screams from Cedric Doudry as the final blow hits him, he goes silent. You have no idea why you are here. You are a Muggle. You do not know which way to go.  

You try to move and realize your legs are frozen, you cannot move. Dumbledore comes around the corner and finds you. He is stunned and angry that a Muggle has managed to find his way into this battle. He casts a spell on you to release your legs. The spell will only work for a short time, you need to get to London. As you start down the path you hit another dead end, you turn the opposite way and hit another wall, you look up about 6 feet you discover a window cut through the trees. You cannot reach it, suddenly your legs stretch 6 feet longer, enabling you to walk through the open window.  

As you step onto the other side, there is another path, your legs shrink back to size. You can still hear all the fighting and see the flashes of light, hear the screaming of Harry, spell after spell, flash after flash. Fear of discovery washes over you as you run down the path seeking the exit. You come around the corner, and you see Harry, he is being chased by Voldemort. There is nowhere for you to go. Harry has spotted you; he throws his Cloak of Invisibility over you.  

Now invisible you can maneuver your way through turn after turn without being seen. Thunder still booming all around, strobing flashes of light, the screams echo against the buildings of Hogwarts. A squad of Death Eaters swoops overhead they can sense a muggle being there, they are heading toward you, their stench is overwhelming, your fear is feeding them. They are swarming toward you.

You have two choices:

You can look for the portal in the cup

Or

You can try to jump over the wall of trees

Suddenly you feel yourself falling from behind. Hagrid has grabbed you and is bringing you to the Enchanted Forest. As he makes his way out of the maze giant spiders are creeping toward you. Hagrid places you on the back of Aragog, his pet spider. He instructs Aragog to take you to the Hogsmeade Train Station.     

As the spider rambles through the campus of Hogwarts wizards and witches are staring at you gobsmacked. Hagrid tries to swoop the students to safer ground. Suddenly the noise stops Voldemort has disappeared. Aragog storming through Hogsmeade Village. There are no people on the streets, all the buildings are shuttered, it is eerily quiet. Just before you reach the train station you slip off the back of Aragog, as you land on the ground your legs have turned into springs and you go sailing through the air you have lost control you are thrown past the train station. You try to get to the train before it pulls out of the station, your legs stretch again, and now you have the speed of a wizard. You manage to get on the train, but you have no money to pay for the ticket. You reach into your pocket and find nothing but a bag of Every Flavor Beans. You trade them for a ticket to London. You arrive at Kings Cross Station Platform 9¾.  

Finally, you wake up and look around. You are at Hogwarts on the Hudson, Marist College in McCormick Hall in your own room. As the fog leaves your mind, you realize that you just woke up from the nightmare of the Covid-19 Pandemic. You, your friends, and your families have escaped the virus, and it is a new semester. You await the next challenge life throws at you. In the meantime, you go the library, and finish your capping project.