Chapter 74 - The Setting Sun
Anna Granger shuddered violently as she woke with a start, momentarily disoriented when she realized she was slumped in a most undignified manner in her office chair. For one strange moment she would have sworn that Harry Potter was standing there in the room beside her but when she shook her head she realized that it was only old Mr. Paddison, sitting across from her in the visitor's chair set before her desk.
"My apologies, Mr. Paddison," she exclaimed in mortification - had she actually fallen asleep while talking to the old man? She shook her head to clear the fog that still lingered in her mind before focusing her attention back on her client. The old man had managed to crack several teeth but was being stubborn about getting them repaired. She'd been trying to convince him that it wasn't cosmetic in nature - it needed to be done for the overall health of his teeth.
"Mr. Paddison?" she said again when she realized that the man had not answered her. Frowning she stared at her client - the old man was slumped in his chair, apparently as deeply asleep as she had been only moments ago.
Frowning, Anna rose from her seat and moved around her desk, reaching out to shake the old man's shoulder. When he did not stir, she shook him again harder. He slumped forward and she barely managed to catch him before he hit his forehead on her desk. "Mr. Paddison!" she cried in alarm, setting the man back in his seat. She shook him again, roughly this time as she called his name. Alarm washed through her when she still got no response.
Holding the man in place with one hand, she struck the intercom button on her phone. "Lisa! Something is wrong with Mr. Paddison. I need some help in here!"
When her secretary failed to answer, she struck the button again. "Lisa!" she called urgently. Though evening, it was still too early for her secretary to have gone home. Their offices stayed open until eight that evening.
When there was still no response, Anna quickly propped Mr. Paddison up in his seat, and then rushed toward the door. "Lisa!" she shouted as she yanked open the office door. Despite the hour, there were no sounds coming from the hallway beyond.
"Lisa? Kathy?" she called out to the dental hygienist who should be in the room next door cleaning Mrs. Bradford's teeth. Though the door was open she could hear nothing coming from the room.
Frowning worriedly back at Mr. Paddison, Anna stepped across the hallway and looked into the exam room. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight. Kathy was lying on the floor of the exam room, Mrs. Bradford dozing quietly in the dental chair.
"Kathy!" Anna exclaimed as she rushed to the woman's side, feeling immediately for a pulse at the woman's neck. Kathy was young and healthy and her heart was beating steadily beneath her fingers. Bewildered, Anna shook Kathy's shoulder and called her name. When she got no response, she stood up and shook Mrs. Bradford. But nothing she did woke either woman.
Panicking now, Anna rushed down the hall toward the main reception room where Lisa and the other secretary sat. She skidded to a halt at the sight that greeted her. Lisa was slumped over her desk, snoring quietly, as was the other secretary Monique, though she was holding the phone in her hand. Through the reception window Anna could see into the waiting room where three other people were waiting to be seen - all of them were slumped in their chairs, unmoving. There was a little girl lying on the floor next to a small doll.
Frightened now, Anna began shaking the other women, trying to wake them. She could feel strong steady heartbeats, but nothing would stir them from their slumber.
A loud ding reverberated through the room and Anna jumped in shock. She stared at the elevator across the main reception room. A moment later the door slid open, and she let out a cry of relief when she saw Michael stepping out of the lift. Rushing through the side hallway she headed into the reception area to greet her husband. Michael stepped forward, maneuvering around the body of the little girl, and caught hold of Anna in a tight hug.
"Michael, they won't wake up!" she exclaimed in horror.
"It's the same with everyone upstairs," he nodded, looking as pale and frightened as she felt.
They both stood there in the center of the room for a moment, holding each other's hands and staring around in indecision, neither knowing what to do.
"The phone!" Anna exclaimed suddenly, and began patting the coat pockets of her white dental coat for her mobile phone. She found the small folded device almost immediately and flipped it open. Dialing 999 she raised the device to her ear. The phone rang. . .and rang. She stared uncertainly into Michael's eyes as it continued to ring.
"They should have picked up by now," he said after several moments of silence. When she shook her head, still listening, he crossed the room to the main desk, reaching over the counter to take the phone out of Monique's hand.
"Hello, hello?" he said into the receiver. Anna watched as he cleared the line and dialed 999 himself. They both stood there, holding the phones to their ears, waiting, staring at each other across the room.
"This is a land line," Michael told her. "They should have picked up even if the mobiles are down."
"Unless they're receiving too many other calls?" Anna suggested, trying to think of a logical explanation for the lack of response.
"A computer should have picked up then," Michael reasoned.
"How many calls does it take to overwhelm the system?"
He just shrugged, not knowing the answer.
Anna flipped her phone closed. "It can't be a gas leak," she stated.
"What?" Michael stared at her, phone still at his ear.
"If it was a gas leak it would have affected us," she told him, motioning to the sleeping people around them.
"That rules out just about any chemical agent then," he agreed. "But I think it did affect me - at least briefly. I'm certain I blacked out. I woke up on the floor of my office."
Anna nodded. "I think something happened to me too," she admitted, remembering the moment of disorientation. She glanced down at her watch, but she had no idea how much time had passed. She couldn't remember the last time she had checked the clock. "Did you feel anything?"
Michael shook his head, frowning. "I got dizzy, and then I was waking up. I thought. . ."
"What?" she stared at him.
He gave her an almost helpless shrug. "I would have sworn I saw Hermione's friend, Harry, in the room with me - just for a second, but I'm certain I heard his voice."
Anna nodded. "The same thing happened to me. Just for a second I thought I saw him."
They stared at each other, both trying to figure out what this might mean. Anna knew there was only one logical explanation - though she hated to apply the term 'logic' to it. If this wasn't some sort of chemical or gas leak, it had to be magical.
"Magic then," Michael whispered as if loathed to say the word. They were both so careful about never saying any thing of that nature outside the safety of their own home. Hermione might live in the Wizarding World, but they did not - people who spoke about magic were not looked upon favorably. They were both fascinated by the subject, but knew enough to keep their professional lives very separate from the topic.
"That still doesn't explain why we weren't affected," Anna reasoned. "We have no protection against spells."
"Unless Hermione or Dumbledore did something to us," Michael suggested. "What if they've cast some sort of protection incantation on us? Hermione said something about wards to protect our house."
"I suppose it's possible," Anna agreed. She frowned then. "Is this an attack then?"
They both turned to stare in dread at the now closed door of the elevator. They were on the second floor but anyone attacking the building would probably enter through the main floor of the office building.
"It's been at least ten minutes," Michael reasoned. "If this was an attack, wouldn't someone have come up here by now? Or those Wizard Police - they would have responded as well."
Anna nodded in agreement, but she could see by the look in Michael's eyes that he was not even remotely certain of what he was saying. She wasn't either. They both stared at the elevator. Michael set the phone back down on the hook. "We can't stay up here," he said at last. "There's always a police officer on duty at the end of the street. He can use his radio to call for help since the phones aren't working."
"The elevator or the stairs?" Anna asked him, knowing he was right. They couldn't just stand there waiting.
"Do Wizards have elevators?" Michael asked her.
She shrugged uncertainly. "I have no idea. But they do seem pretty baffled by Muggle technology."
"Then they'd mostly likely take the stairs," Michael guessed. Reaching out to take hold of each other's hands, they both headed toward the elevator. Anna pointedly looked away from the little girl lying on the floor. Her heart was pounding as they waited for the door to slide open again - it did so immediately indicating that no one else had called for the lift. Stepping into the elevator, Anna pressed the lobby button. As the door slid shut they both heard the faint sound of Rod Stewart singing over the elevator speakers.
Michael squeezed her hand as the lift came to a stop. A moment later the door slid open, and the two of them stiffened, staring out at the main lobby beyond. Slumped against the far wall of the lobby was the familiar shape of the janitor, his mop lying on the floor beside him. No one else was in sight.
Cautiously Anna and Michael stepped out of the elevator and turned their attention toward the glass entrance doors that looked out upon Tooley Street. There was no movement at all beyond the glass. For a moment Anna thought that the cars lining the road were frozen in place, but a second glance revealed they were simply not moving - several however had crashed into one another. She could see the crumpled fender of small red Nissan smashed into the back of a larger delivery vehicle. Michael's hand tightened on hers.
Nervously the two of them made their way toward the glass doors, pausing only briefly before pushing them open and stepping outside. It was evening, though at this time of year it would be at least another hour or so before the sun set, so the sky was bright enough. Tooley Street was typically busy in the evening - cars jamming the road, pedestrians walking up and down the sidewalks as people made their way home from work or shopping. But nothing was moving in either direction.
There were men and women lying on the ground, sprawled in undignified heaps everywhere they looked. The crumpled Nissan had a woman behind the wheel, slumped over the steering column. Anna thought she could see blood on the woman's forehead as if she'd cracked her head against the windshield.
Across the street she could see a young lady lying on the ground next to a pram which had been stopped from rolling into the street by the street lamp it had smashed into. At the far end of the road, the enormous front window of a Tesco had a mail truck sticking out of it. Anna thought she saw the shape of a man lying beneath the back wheels of the vehicle.
"It's the entire street," she stated unnecessarily, keeping her voice low.
"Do you hear any traffic?" Michael whispered back.
She listened. London was a noisy city. She should have been able to hear the traffic from the numerous roads all around them. It wasn't silent - the cars on the street in front of them were still running, their engines idling. In many directions she could hear the various wails of car alarms. But she couldn't hear the sound of anything moving.
"Maybe it's the entire block?" she told him, shaking now. Unable to just stand there she moved toward a large man lying on the ground nearby, pressing her fingers to his throat. His pulse was beating strong beneath his skin, but no matter how hard she shook him, she got no response. Copying her actions, Michael moved toward another fallen form, getting the same results.
Anna stared for a moment at the woman crumpled over the steering wheel of the Nissan before making up her mind. She ran across the street and pulled open the car door, reaching in to touch the woman's throat. Her heart was still beating as well - though this time it was a bit more sluggish. There was indeed blood dripping from a large gash in her forehead. Despite the pain such a wound must have caused, the woman did not respond when Anna shook her.
Glancing around she saw that Michael had moved to the pram, and was checking the form of the small baby inside it. Seeing Anna's worried stare, he nodded to her. "He's alive."
"So is she," she nodded toward the woman in the car. Frowning Michael pulled the pram away from the light post and pushed it off to one side into the shelter of the little bakery. He then grabbed hold of the mother's arms and dragged across the sidewalk and settled her next to the pram.
Anna frowned. "We can't just leave the baby there." The very idea felt wrong.
Michael pointed down the street. "There's two more of them down there," he told her. "And another in a car seat in that car over there."
Anna stared in the direction he had pointed, seeing both prams as well as the car seat he'd indicated. Her heart sunk as she understood his meaning.
"We can't carry all of them," he said unnecessarily. "We have to find help. It's the best thing we can do for all of them."
Knowing he was right, she joined him on the sidewalk. They both glanced up and down the street. "There's always a police officer around the corner by the Tesco," Anna said, since neither direction looked very promising. Michael took hold of her hand again and they headed toward the crashed mail truck.
They walked in silence, both staring at the shape on the ground beneath the crashed mail truck in the Tesco window. As they drew nearer, Anna could see that a dark stain was spreading out beneath the figure. Her heart started racing, her stomach flipping uneasily. When they were only a few feet away, they both stopped and stared in horror. It was obvious that when the mail truck had crashed through the supermarket window it had struck someone lying on the ground. Anna didn't have to get any closer to realize that the person's head had been crushed beneath the tires.
"Come on," Michael said quietly, motioning her toward the street. They swung wide around the store, both of them careful not to look inside. One glimpse was enough. They rounded the corner and stopped, wide eyes taking in the sight before them.
The street beyond was a main thoroughfare - four lanes of busy traffic as well as busy walkways which led to the London Underground at either end. Nothing was moving - cars were scattered all over the road, crashed and crumpled in on one another. Evening commuters to the London Underground were lying sprawled along the walkways. At the far end of the street they could see one of the red double decker tour buses smashed into a tall building. There was no doubt in Anna's mind that from the force of that impact numerous people had been killed.
It took them several minutes to spot the uniform of the police officer they were searching for. He was slumped against a wall in front of a small street-side cafe. Anna and Michael hurried across the road toward him, weaving around the cars - most of the engines were still running, but the drivers were all asleep at the wheel. Several car alarms were shrieking pointlessly.
Reaching the police officer, Michael turned him over, tugging the small radio he wore on his belt free of its holder. "Hello, hello!" he said into the microphone, his thumb pressing the speaker button. Both of them waited in silence, listening to the static on the other end. "Hello! Can anyone hear me! We need help!" Anna stared hard at the small speaker, willing it to answer, but nothing came through the line but static.
"Try your mobile again," Michael urged, and Anna reached into her pocket and pulled out the small phone. Dialing the emergency number once more she listened in frustration to the endless ringing. She shook her head at Michael.
Michael stood, his expression filled with indecision as his gaze stopped momentarily on the numerous signs for the London Underground.
"Michael, we can't go into the Underground," Anna told him nervously, guessing the direction his thoughts were taking. "What if the trains stop running?" The idea of being stuck in one of the tunnels terrified her.
He frowned at that but nodded his head in agreement. "We need to find help."
"No one's answering the phones or the radio," Anna told him. She didn't want to think too hard on the implication behind that.
He shook his head in frustration. "It can't be more than few blocks affected. We just have to get out of here so that we can reach the authorities."
Anna thought about that for a moment. Now more than ever she was certain this was magical. What ever had done this had been instantaneous - the drivers had had no chance to stop their cars or pull over to the side of the street. Had it been some sort of nerve gas or chemical agent, it would have killed everyone - but most of these people were just asleep. And that also wouldn't explain why Michael and she were not affected. Magic was the only explanation.
"Which authorities?" she asked her husband.
"At this point I'd settle for anyone," he told her. "The Leaky Cauldron and the Ministry of Magic are both in that direction." He pointed northwest toward the Thames. "Stay there a moment," he ordered and then ran across the road toward a man sprawled on the ground next to a small motorbike. She watched nervously as Michael dragged the man away from the motorbike, moving him off the road and onto the side walk near a bus stop. Then he pushed the bike upright and straddled the seat, fiddling with the key in the electric starter. It only then registered in Anna's mind what her husband intended to do. She rushed toward him.
"We can't just take his bike," she protested.
Michael gave her an odd look. "He's not using it at the moment," he pointed out. It took him several tries but he managed to get the engine running again.
"Do you even know how to drive one of those things?" she asked uncertainly. He was revving the engine by twisting one of the steering handles.
"I had one when I was a teen," he assured her. "Get on behind me."
Anna rolled her eyes heavenward, but dutifully climbed on behind Michael, hiking her skirt up so that she could sit comfortably. She wrapped her arms tightly around Michael's chest and hissed in nervous shock as he started forward. She was grateful at least that he seemed to have no desire to go fast - the roads were hardly clear enough to do so anyway.
Michael weaved cautiously between the crashed cars on the road, having to move up onto the sidewalk more than once to get by. As it was it was slow going, mostly because he didn't want to risk running over anyone lying on the ground. Each time they turned a corner and entered a new street, they scanned the area for any sign of movement, growing more and more alarmed when they realized how widespread this phenomena was.
At one point Michael stopped the bike and they stared in silent horror at a book store that had caught on fire - two cars had crashed into it and the petrol from one of the vehicles had ignited. They both stared as the building began to burn - through the window they could see people inside, sleeping in blissful ignorance. With absolutely no way to stop the fire, they realized that all these people were going to burn alive. And after that what was to stop the fire from spreading to the next building, or the next?
"We have to find help," Anna whispered urgently to Michael. He nodded his head, and drove on.
"The next right should take us out to Waterloo Bridge," Anna told him, pointing ahead. "We should be able to see some sign of life from there." From the bridge they would be able to see up and down the Thames. There was bound to be some sign of hope there.
It took Michael far longer than it should have - it was rush hour and the roads were crowded, even if no one was moving. Weaving in and out of the crashed vehicles Michael made it up onto the main road and drove out onto the bridge, heading out over the Thames. In the course of the short distance they had traveled they had both seen things they didn't want to contemplate, and there was still no sign of life anywhere.
Michael paused in the center of the bridge, bringing the bike to a complete stop as they searched up and down the dark Thames for any sign of life. There were still dozens of boats and barges on the water, drifting along their currents - but they could see no movement on the decks of any of them.
Anna scanned the shore, looking for the tall spire of Nelson's Column - instead her gaze was caught by a dark plume of smoke rising high into the sky far off in the distance. It was almost due west from their location, and stood out in stark contrast to the red blaze of sunset. She guessed the smoke had to be at least fifteen miles away - but judging by the height of the smoke column the burning structure had to be something enormous.
"Michael," she whispered, pointing toward it. Her husband turned to follow her finger, staring at the smoke. "What's over there?" She tried to picture a map of London in her head - but this was too far away for her to be familiar with any local landmarks.
"Heathrow," Michael answered, and Anna felt a cold chill go down her spine. If that was Heathrow, the only thing that could send up a cloud of smoke like that was a burning airplane.
"Heathrow is fifteen or twenty miles away," Anna told him. "It can't be that widespread. It's not possible."
"How do we know it's not possible?" Michael asked. "We have no idea what magic is capable of." Looking around now, they could see other columns of smoke rising into the air. Buildings all over London were burning and the one thing painfully absent was the sound of emergency vehicles. With this many fires, the air should have been filled with police and news helicopters - but there was nothing flying in the sky save a few birds who were scanning the waters of the Thames for dinner.
"You don't think it's all of London?" Anna asked.
"I don't know," Michael replied. He sounded ill with the thought. "Where should we go?"
Anna thought about that for a moment. "We have to see if the Wizarding World is affected. We should try to contact Hermione - I'm sure Dumbledore will know what to do."
"Do you remember how to get into the Ministry?" Michael asked her. Neither of them had ever been there before, but Hermione had described it to them in one of her letters.
Anna closed her eyes briefly, trying to picture her daughter's written words in her head. "She said something about a phone booth with a magical receptionist. I don't remember the number you're supposed to dial however."
"That Tom chap in the Leaky Cauldron is nice enough," Michael suggested. "I'm sure he'd ring Hogwarts for us if we asked."
Anna nodded in agreement. Out of the corner of her eye, something caught her attention and she looked eastward down the Thames, past the familiar shape of St. Paul's Cathedral. Further down river she could see a dark flock of birds rising into the sky, flying toward them. Noticing her stare, Michael turned to watch them as well. For several long minutes, they just watched as the birds drew closer and closer. When they neared the bridge they banked in formation and turned northward, flying away from the Thames.
"Michael," Anna whispered. "Those were ravens. They came from the Tower."
Michael shook his head. "They can't be. All the ravens at the Tower have their wings clipped so that they can't fly away. It's just a coincidence."
She hoped he was right - even if it was little more than a myth, it struck something decidedly British inside her and chilled her to the bone. "Let's leave," she urged, pointing northwest across the Thames. "Charing Cross is that way. We should try to get there before nightfall." It was only a few miles away, but with the crashed cars cluttering the roads it might take longer than anticipated to get there.
Michael nodded, but paused before taking off. "What if they're all asleep as well?" he asked softly, and Anna shuddered. The thought had crossed her mind already. What if there was no one in London to go to for help?
"Then we'll go to Hogwarts on our own," Anna decided. "Whatever has happened, it has something to do with Harry Potter. We both saw him. We'll get answers at Hogwarts."
Michael revved the bike engine and started off again down the long stretch of the bridge. He took a left down the Victoria Embankment following the Thames all the way to Northumberland Avenue. The road was lined with crashed double decker buses, many smashed into buildings, some lying on their sides along the roadway. Michael paused before heading down the main road, glancing briefly over his shoulder at Anna for confirmation. She wasn't certain she really wanted to see what was up ahead, but she nodded anyway. They could take the side streets to Charing Cross Road, but it was harder to get past the smashed vehicles on the narrow side roads.
Slowly they drove forward, each trying to keep their eyes focused ahead instead of on the accidents all around them. It didn't take them long to reach the center hub at Trafalgar Square. There Michael stopped the motorbike and they stared in silence at the sight before them.
The tall spire of Nelson's column was as beautiful as ever, the carved lions still gazing proudly out in all directions from the enormous fountain. But beyond that the sight was alien to both their eyes - bus after bus were crashed into one another or smashed into the traffic risers that kept vehicles from approaching the memorial. There were hundreds of men, women and children lying about on the ground - several bodies floating in the water of the fountain itself. Police men, tourists, evening commuters - as far as the eye could see there were people lying unmoving throughout the entire Square.
"Let's go, Michael," Anna whispered, horror stricken by the sight. Michael just nodded weakly and began to maneuver the bike through the throng of disaster, weaving around bodies and automobiles. Anna knew that most of these people were only sleeping - but so many of them were dead. When the others woke up what would they think - lying all this time beside loved ones who had passed away in their sleep?
It didn't take Michael long to make his way down a few side streets to Charing Cross Road. The old buildings lining the roadway had become familiar to the two of them over the last six years as they took Hermione to the Leaky Cauldron so that she could buy her school supplies in the magical world beyond the back alley. They passed banks, theatres and restaurants - Anna shuddered when she glanced through the front windows of a well known noodle house. It was crowded with diners - all lying face first on their tables, insensate to the world around them.
And then up ahead something moved.
Michael slowed the bike, both of them staring at the sight before them, not certain they were really seeing what they hoped they were seeing. A woman, wearing a dress that would have been fashionable in the 1940s, was sitting in a chair near a small cafe beside Leicester Square Tube Station. She wore an odd hat upon her head with several feathers sticking out of it which twitched as she looked around in curiosity. But the most telling sight was the long, familiar looking stick she held in one of her hands. Anna wanted to say she looked harmless - but they both knew better than that. The woman was obviously a Witch, and they were far from harmless. Nonetheless Michael drove slowly toward her - this is what they had been looking for after all, even if they did not know who this woman was.
As they approached, Anna tried to get an estimation of her age. The clothing was nothing to go by. Few people in the Wizarding World seemed capable of dressing in proper Muggle attire - they were always several decades out of date if nothing else. She was obviously older than both of them, but as Wizards and Witches aged at a much different rate than Muggles, Anna had no idea where to place her age. Her hair was pulled back in a rather severe bun, but still looked quite dark in color.
The woman watched them as they drove up, eying the motorbike mistrustfully. She stood when they neared, nodding her head to both of them in typical British fashion. Anna immediately climbed off the bike, flushing uncomfortably when the woman frowned disapprovingly at the bare legs she showed. She quickly smoothed her skirt back into place.
"Excuse me," Anna said politely, holding her hand out to the woman. This whole moment took on a surreal quality - they were surrounded by men and women lying unmoving on the ground and she was trying to remember her manners. Across the road three cars were smashed into the front of a dress boutique. "I'm Anna Granger, and this is my husband Michael."
The Witch took her hand and shook it firmly, her grip strong. "Augusta Longbottom," she told them both, her accent marking her as a Northerner. "Are you any relation to Hermione Granger?"
Startled Anna glanced back at Michael before nodding her head in confirmation. "She's our daughter," she admitted. "Do you know her?"
"Not personally," the woman replied. "She goes to school with my grandson, Neville."
Anna supposed she should not be surprised - the Wizarding World was a relatively small community, and they were near one of the most frequented pubs in Wizarding London.
"Can you help us?" Anna asked. "We're trying to get to the Leaky Cauldron. We want to contact Headmaster Dumbledore." The two of them had never gone to the Cauldron without Hermione beside them - while they could see the building they still found it disconcertingly hidden. Often it took Hermione to point it out to them before they even noticed the sign. They had never tried to find it on their own.
"Good man, Dumbledore," Augusta nodded her head in approval. "And there are strange things afoot. Best take out your wands - there always seems to be trouble in this city. I haven't been here in years, but the last time I came for a shopping trip a group of German fellows started dropping bombs on the place. I'm beginning to think that no good ever came from a city this large."
German fellows? Anna revised her estimation of the woman's age upwards - the woman's dress was certainly old enough to have been purchased during the Second World War.
"We don't have wands," Anna admitted nervously. She knew there were a lot of prejudice in the Wizarding World concerning Muggles and Muggleborn.
Augusta frowned at that. "Squibs then?" she mused thoughtfully.
Again Anna shook her head. "Muggles actually." She glanced back at Michael but he just shrugged uncertainly.
Augusta snorted at that and motioned to the people lying on the ground. "All the Muggles are still asleep," she informed them. "It is only the Magical Folk that Potter has managed to wake up. You must be Squibs. Lots of them grow up believing themselves to be Muggles."
The very idea startled Anna - Hermione had suggested something similar to both of them in the past. Both Anna's and Michael's parents had died young, and neither of them really knew much about their ancestry. She supposed it was possible they had some magical blood somewhere in the bloodline - it would certainly explain why Hermione was as powerful as she was.
"Do you mean Harry Potter?' Michael asked from his seat on the motorbike. "Do you know what has happened then?"
"Only one Harry Potter," Augusta informed them both. "You must have heard his voice when the spell was broken?"
They nodded, surprised that their experience had not been unique.
"It was a spell of some sort," Augusta stated. "Don't know the details exactly - never seen anything like this, never seen anything so widespread.. But I know a counter curse when I feel one, and it was Potter that cast it and woke me up. A true King and no mistaking."
"King?" Anna asked in surprise. She knew the Wizarding World treated young Harry like some savior, called him the Boy Who Lived. But this was the first time she'd ever heard anyone call him a king.
Augusta pursed her lips thoughtfully at that. "You wouldn't know about that, living in the Muggle world," she remarked. "Wouldn't know about Stonehenge. Well, there's no helping that. You had both best come along with me to the Leaky Cauldron. If there are Death Eaters about, the safest place for the two of you will be Hogwarts. Hop off that mechanical contraption, young man, and walk beside us. I have no intention of riding in one of those Muggle machines."
Michael quickly turned off the engine, kicking the motorbike's stand down before climbing off of it. He joined Anna, taking her hand before offering his arm to the older woman. She huffed at him, but took his arm, nodding in satisfaction at the courtesy. Anna couldn't help but find it odd that the reality was the two of them were relying on her for protection - if Death Eaters were around, the Witch would be the only one of them capable of defending them.
Michael gave her a reassuring smile and she nodded in understanding. At least they knew the Wizarding World was still standing. With that hope in mind, they headed down Charing Cross toward the Leaky Cauldron.