sniffsbutt | ♣ 001 - Accidental Video

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♣ 001 - Accidental Video

[The communicator turns on with a click, revealing an image of a young man with long hair that’s falling into his eyes, staring around him with a confused expression on his face.

He’s surrounded by tall hedges, and he’s looking around him curiously.]

All right, so I haven’t the foggiest idea where I’ve turned up, but I’m pretty sure James is behind this somehow. He’s just hiding from me, and I’m going to have to find him.

Except I don’t fancy getting more lost than I think I already am.

[He’s thinks he’s talking to himself at this point, since he hasn’t figured out that the communicator, which he is ignoring, is on and broadcasting. He keeps looking around, finally calling out in case anyone happens to be nearby. And yes, he’s still ignoring the communicator in his hand, until, hello, he realizes there's something there.

At which point he addresses... someone. Anyone, really.]

Unless there’s no one who lives here but gnomes or something… Can anyone hear me? I need you to tell me where I am so I can get back to Hogwarts.

[Of course, there’s no answer. Sirius sighs, and he lets his shoulders slump forward.]

This is definitely not the best day ever.

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[Sure, there's no way out, but you'd never know it by looking at James' face. This is just another big adventure, another mystery to figure out.]

No place could possibly be dull with us around. Wonderland could always use a bit of mischief.

[He laughs a bit at Sirius though.]

Don't worry; I'll come rescue you. I've got the best cheat for hedge mazes with me. I'll be there soon!

[And then he clicks the picture off so he can go save his best friend from the cold and the wet.]

[Once he figures that little detail out, sure, he'll be a little crestfallen. But he'll bounce right back, because at least he has his best mate here.]

This place won't know what hit it, once we get to work. It'll be like old times at Hogwarts.

[His face gets this kind of dreamy look as he imagines the reactions they'll get once they start pulling pranks. But after a few seconds, he comes back to reality.]

Hurry up, why don't you. We're losing valuable time here!

[And what's the best cheat for a hedge maze? Flying over it, obviously. ~~Illegally, according to Terezi.~~ So James goes outside, gets on his broom, and takes off for the maze. In a minute or two, he's flying slowly over it, searching and calling out.]

Sirius? Sirius!

[Somehow, he feels a bit like he's calling a lost puppy. Can't even imagine why.]

[While he's waiting for James to show up and get him out of this ridiculous maze (which, by the way, would be completely awesome any other time), Sirius is idly flipping his hair out of his eyes with one hand.

He doesn't have the foggiest idea what James's best cheat is, but knowing him, it's going to be something spectacular.

Then, he hears something coming from way up in the sky, and he cranes his neck to look. Merlin's pants, it's James on a broom.

Completely unsurprised (he really is the best flier), Sirius gives a wave or two and yells:]

James, mate, I'm down here!

[It is pretty awesome. You should see it from above - the maze keeps changing and moving to make itself more complicated for anyone stuck inside.

James pivots at Sirius' voice. Then he looks down, and oh there he is. He waves, and then dives right down, pulling up at the last second for a smooth stop right next to Sirius.]

Hey! I heard you need a lift?

[There are no words for how happy he is to see Sirius. None.]

[As soon as he gets his hands on a broom, he'll do just that. He thinks the world looks a lot better from the air.

He grins widely when James touches down next to him.]

You heard right. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this, otherwise I'd have found a way out on my own.

[Pause.]

Good to see you.

Good to see you too.

[He leans over and gives Sirius a bro-hug then, because he might have been starting to wonder if he would ever see Sirius again.

He spoils the moment though, because what Sirius said fully sinks in. He lets go so he can address that.]

Err...well, getting out's a bit more complicated than that. Not the maze though, that's easy - we just fly back out or blast holes in the shrubbery. But, um. Going home will be a bit trickier.

[Sirius happily returns the bro-hug, because even though he knows he just saw his best friend, he's still very pleased that he's here, especially if this isn't home and there's no going back.

Not that he believes that yet, though.]

Right, James, I'm just supposed to believe that you, the best student in our year, can't figure a way to get us out of here and back where we belong.

Think about all the times we pulled a fast one on professors, getting us out of tricky situations. How is this any different?

Mostly that I've been here a couple of months and still haven't puzzled it out yet. But aside from that, and the fact that we're apparently worlds away from home, it's not really much different at all.

[He's not terribly worried though. He talks about it like it's about as inconvenient as a splinter.]

Besides, now that you've shown up, I'm sure we'll figure something out in no time at all. It can't possibly be that hard to get out of here with both of us around to figure it out.

Fill me in, then. I'm curious about this place that has swept us up.

And, I really think this conversation could be carried out elsewhere, unless you've developed a liking for catching up with friends in giant mazes.

[He elbows James in the side, grinning.]

Aw, but it's almost cozy, in here, don't you think?

[He's kidding, of course, which is why he calls out a spell that vaguely sounds like it might put a hole in something and points his wand at the nearest hedge. It does, well, exactly that, leaving a large gap that the two of them can easily walk through. Then he motions to Sirius to follow him, and maybe join in the maze-blasting if he feels like it.]

Well, this place is called Wonderland, as I'm sure a bunch of people on that little pocket muggle thingy probably rushed to tell you. They're all sort of friendly like that. From what I've gathered, a whole bunch of people from all sorts of different worlds got trapped here.

There's a lot of muggles here, but with all of the strangeness of this place no one's been terribly bothered by my overwhelming magicalness. That, and I've heard that when a person leaves this place they forget everything. I even got told I'd been here before, but I don't remember a bit of it.

[You know what makes exposition more interesting? Blasting more holes in the hedge maze. Bam!]

Cozy? Sure, just as cozy as my mum and dad's house.

[Sirius follows James through the newly created hole, and then begins blasting more holes in the hedges. Probably more than is absolutely necessary.]

Yeah, I was getting that. Did you know there's a bloke from Spain here? He kept going on about how there's people from the future running around this place.

Wait, you too? Someone was going on about how I was her best friend or something along those lines. I think she's hoping to get her best mate back.

[He steeples his fingers and tilts his head.]

Not sure what I think about everyone knowing we're wizards, though I guess it could be fun watching them go all bug-eyed.

That's probably true! There's people from everywhere. There's even a little girl with grey skin and candy corn horns who keeps trying to tell me I need a license to fly!

[He laughs at that though. She's funny, and kind of worth hanging around, especially if it means getting in another high speed chase.]

Really? Some fellow named Ryohei was telling me I'd been here before. We must've made quite the impression if they still remember us after we've been gone for a while.

[James blasts another hole or two and - oh hey, is that the exit? Well, it is now. There isn't really another hole that leads outside.]

I think it'll be fine if they know. This place is magical like Hogwarts is, so no one's come after me with torches or anything. And their bug-eyed faces are priceless. I showed up on broomstick and most of them had never seen a person riding one before!

[Another wizard might have been nervous about that revelation, but James doesn't seem like he was terribly bothered at all. There wasn't really anything he could do about it, and nothing bad happened. ...Except for that high-speed chase, but he sort of won that anyway.]

Besides, at least this way we won't have to be as secretive when we try and figure out how to go home.

So, you've found yourself a broom, have you? I'll have to see about getting me one, because I can't let you have all the fun. And that girl sounds fascinating. What's her name?

[Sirius can't help but grin a little roguishly as he lets his imagination run a tad bit wild. But soon enough, he returns to reality.]

Of course we must have left an impression. It comes natural to us, doesn't it?

[His face gets this oddly dreamy look as he reminisces about Hogwarts and all the mischief the two of them caused there.]

I suppose so, because we also don't have the blokes from the Ministry of Magic breathing down our necks. So what if we do a bit of magic now and then? We can't be expelled from Hogwarts if there's no one watching.

[Sirius smirks widely as he thinks of all the possibilities that are just lying around waiting to be taken advantage of.]

So tell me, James, what have you been up to, in the couple of months you've been here? I imagine it must have been difficult, living up to our reputation as the worst troublemakers to ever enter Hogwarts without me around. Though I'm sure you managed beautifully.

[He looks a little eager, hoping that James is about to regale him with grand tales of daring deeds and a dash of danger.]

[He has to think about it for a second.]

It was Terezi, I think. You can't possibly miss her.

[James leads Sirius out of the maze through the last hole, and right there across the way is the mansion itself, just past some gardens. There's ocean off to their right. James points over to the mansion.]

Everyone's staying in there, since there's really nowhere else around. I'm telling you, it's just as magical as Hogwarts, and that's saying something. Most of the trouble I've been getting into is right in there. It's got closets that can give you just about anything, and kitchens with any food you can think of. And there are these mad events that do all kinds of things. If they happen every couple of weeks like they have been, we're due for another one soon, actually.

[Long info dump is getting pretty long, but you know how it is when people first show up. Shh.]

Granted, I've spent more time exploring and trying to figure out what this place can and can't do. Flying out is out; I tried it. And if you walk far enough away, it just loops back to the mansion. Haven't given the forest much of a go yet though...

[James grins over at him, like maybe they should do that at some point. Then he tries to think of any mischief he might have missed.]

...Oh! And there is this other thing I found out, about someone here...

[It's not so much danger, but mystery will do, right?]

Terezi, eh?

[Yep, that name's going onto Sirius's list of names to remember. But he doesn't have anything... unsavory planned, in case anyone happened to be wondering.

In any case, he follows James through the hole, just glad to be out of that blasted maze. He's about to make some complaint about it again, when he realizes, hello, this area is actually pretty nice to look at. Not that he cares about the scenery or anything.

It almost reminds him of the grounds at Hogwarts.]

Right, and I figure that's where most people show up, not in some great bloody maze. The closets, now... I hope I can get a broom from them, unless you fancy me borrowing yours every time I feel like flying.

Soon as I get settled, figure out how this place works, let's go see that forest, all right?

[He grins back at his friend. No point in wasting time as long as there's things to explore and fun to be had.]

Oh? Well, enlighten me then. I could use a spot of gossip.

[And it sounds like James has stumbled upon a particularly delicious gem.]

Well, I don't know about that - I showed up in midair on my broom! But we should be able to get you one somewhere around here, I'm sure.

[That being James-ese for "No, I don't fancy you borrowing my broom every time you feel like flying, even if you're my best mate." He gives an enthusiastic nod about going into the forest though - that's an absolute must.]

All right, this one's pretty good. There's this muggle here, Shannon Beiste. I was talking to her, and we've gotten to be pretty chummy, I'd say.

[You know, since she bought his friendship in that one event there. But to be fair, he probably would have been chummy with her anyway. He's pretty friendly like that.]

Anyway, even though she's a muggle, she knows about Hogwarts, and it isn't because she knows a wizard, apparently. On top of that, she knows something about my future that she isn't too keen on telling me, for some reason. A bit odd, don't you agree?

[He's on to you, James.]

Fine. Stingy.

Chummy, eh? Forgotten about Lily already?

[He's only joking. There's no way James would ever forget Lily, and Sirius knows that.]

A muggle who knows about Hogwarts?

[He looks questioningly at James, but he also knows that he wouldn't lie about this.]

Very odd, I'd say. Dodgy, even. You think she's just messing with you?

Not that kind of chummy.

[James rolls his eyes and laughs a little. If Sirius saw Beiste, he would laugh - she was at least old enough to be one of their professors. It would be akin to getting that kind of chummy with McGonagall, and that's just hilarious to think about.]

I don't think she was messing with me though. She said she'd read about it in some series of books. I dunno, she sounded like she was telling the truth. It seemed sort of like she knew something she thought I wouldn't want to hear...

Silly her though! All that's going to do is make me wonder about it, and she hasn't known me long enough yet to know that I probably won't stop bothering her about it until I figure it out.

[He looks over at Sirius with That Face. You know That Face. It's that face James has whenever he's plotting something, or stumbled on a mystery, or come up with something fun and dangerous to do.]

Are you in? She might know something about you too - I can't imagine our futures not having anything to do with each other.

All right, all right. I was only asking.

[He rolls his eyes right back before moving along.]

So, she definitely said she came across it (whatever "it" is) in a book, then?

[That definitely sounds dodgy to him, but Sirius is not the type to pass up something like this, especially when James gets That Face. That Face means there's something worth checking out.]

But, you know, this does sound fascinating, and well, dodgy or not, I'd want to figure out what she's on about too. So yes, I am most definitely in.

When can we have a chat with this Shannon Beiste? With both of us having a go at it, she can't hold out for long.

Absolutely. Apparently it's several books, because all I could get out of her was that it's called the Harry Potter series, and that only raised more questions.

[After all, James can't think of anyone in his family named Harry.]

It's definitely a good mystery, and it'll give us something to do while we're here, even if it winds up being complete rubbish.

[His face curls into a smile at the mention of chatting with Beiste. That's going to be fun.]

Are you kidding? It's us. She'd love our company any time. Anyone would. I'm sure she'd be just delighted to meet you.

[Plus, between the two of them, they could probably charm her into telling them a little more. ...You know, in the non-magical way, since they are the most charming people in existence, obviously.]

Harry Potter? Doesn't ring a bell. Rubbish or not, I'm interested now, and I honestly haven't anything better to do.

So, what do you say, James? You up for a little chat with this friend of yours?

[Judging by the expression on Sirius's face, it can be assumed that he's thinking charming the information out of Beiste will be the easiest thing ever, and they won't have to resort to magic to do it.]

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♣ 001 - Accidental Video

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