Bently McQuinn Saves Literature

The Entrance Hall was almost exactly like it had been in Bently’s so-called dream, except that it was empty, and there was the small roar of a crowd coming from the Great Hall.

“Come on,” said Pansy, leading him to the doors. “Everyone’s waiting for you.”

And she pushed open the doors, a small smirk on her face.

The hall went silent as Pansy pushed Bently through the doors. As all the faces turned to look at him, he felt self-conscious. He couldn’t really tell the faces apart. But then, from the staff table at the end…

“Welcome, Bently McQuinn. Welcome back to Hogwarts.”

It was Neville Longbottom, and he was grinning. The whole hall burst out into cheers, and Bently couldn’t help but smile. He walked up between the tables of cheering people to the staff table with Pansy trailing behind him, still smirking. Once he reached Neville, Neville extended his hand over the table to shake Bently’s.

“Nice to see you again, Bently.”

“Hey Neville! You got my name right!”

“Of course. Please, sit down,” Neville said, indicating to two empty seats next to him. On Neville’s other side was Ron Weasley, who beamed at Bently as he and Pansy walked around to take their seats.

“Wow, this is… a lot of people,” Bently commented when he had sat down and taken a good look at the hall. There certainly were a lot of people, but there were also some animals thrown into the mix as well, most notably a white rabbit and a large lion.

“Hogwarts is one of the last of the great books left safe,” Neville said quietly to Bently.

Bently was confused once more. “Alright Neville, what the hell is going on? First Pansy tells me you’re all real, and my dream was too, and now I’m back at Hogwarts, and there was something about Stephanie Meyer trying to take over the world in all that.”

Neville nodded before raising his arms to the hall. It quieted down. “My friends, our hero has arrived! The fabled one, who slew the Fairy Lord… Bently McQuinn!”

There were more cheers, but they soon faded so Neville could continue.

“Bently… do you know how writers are able to do their craft?”

“Wh—what?” Bently asked, caught off-guard.

Neville just smiled again. “I guess not. Bently, your world is not the only universe out there. Lots of science fiction books talk about parallel universes, but did you know they actually exist?”

Bently was at a complete loss of words. Parallel universes? What the hell?

“These universes find ways to interact with each other, and the most common way is through writers. You know these universes as books and movies, but for our world, my world, those places are very real. But only people from your world with the special gift of writing and imagination can access these books and movies.”

“Are you telling me, this is… this is real?”

“Indeed I am, Bently. When you first came to Hogwarts, it wasn’t by accident. That was Meyer’s first attack, and we called upon you to help us. We called you Lightning McQueen in hopes that Meyer wouldn’t be able to figure out your real name. To protect you. But, we need you again.”

“Wait, attack? What’s going on?”

“Bently… Stephanie Meyer is not a real writer. She took the powers of another writer, and accessed an incomplete world. The world whose story she wrote down wasn’t completely developed yet, and that resulted in her terrible books. Yet, she gained intense popularity, and now she wants more. Meyer is on a quest to destroy some of the most popular and well-written books of your time in order to be writing master.”

“So… she’s trying to bring other writers down so she can become more powerful?” Bently asked tentatively.

“Yes, that’s exactly what she’s doing. She’s trying to take over the world… of literature.”

Bently sat there for a minute, trying to absorb it all. It didn’t really surprise him to find out Meyer was trying to take over the world, but wasn’t that a bit extreme?

“What are these ‘portals’ Pansy was talking about?” he finally asked.

“Ah, the Portals. The Portals are the gateways between the imaginary worlds, as you call them, and the ‘real world,’ or your world. The more an ‘imaginary world’ gets written about, the bigger the Portal gets, and the more the two worlds get mixed up together. Take my world for example; in your world, it is the most written about topic for fanfiction ever. Hence, all of the influence my world has in yours. They built a theme park out of it for Merlin’s sake.” Neville laughed a bit, shaking his head.

“So, does this apply only to people from ‘my’ world?”

“In a sense. Powerful people from different ‘imaginary’ worlds can travel between the worlds, just like how good writers in your world can access the imaginary worlds and write about them to make a change in your world.”

Bently’s head was spinning. This concept of what was real and what was imaginary was very, very confusing.

“But don’t worry about it. Once you get used to it, it’ll all come naturally. Right now, we need to focus on the task at hand, and that is making sure Meyer can’t take over the literary words. Bently… are you in?”

Everyone’s eyes seemed to zoom in on Bently. He gulped and nodded strongly. “I’m in.”

“Good, then you’ll need to know what you’re up against.” Neville looked out over the hall again. “We’ll make our reports now. Jill, Eustace, Lucy, how about you start?”

From the table on Bently’s immediate right stood three people, two girls and a boy. They looked a little younger than Bently, maybe around thirteen or fourteen. But he recognized their names, even before the girl with dark hair spoke.

“Well, we’re the only ones left from Narnia,” Lucy said, a bit timidly. “They’ve taken Cair Paraval, and there’re armies of wolves everywhere.”

“Who’s taken over?” asked Bently.

“The shape-shifter, Jacob Black,” responded the other girl, Jill. “Meyer sent different main characters into different worlds to oversee the take-overs.”

“If you get rid of the head vampire, you’ll get rid of the rest of them,” added Neville.

“Just like what happened when I killed the Fairy Lord,” said Bently, mostly to himself.

Lucy nodded. “Yes. But magic is still there, so taking everything back should be alright with a little help.”

“Yes… what about you, Farimir and Eowyn?” Neville asked, and a man and woman stood up from the left table. They both wore battle armor. ‘Lord of the Rings,’ Bently thought.

“Our need is dire,” said Eowyn, the woman. “Minas Tirith is completely taken by the one named Emmett, and our forces are dwindling.”

“Wait, who’s where?” Bently asked, and immediately, everyone started talking at once.

“Shut up!” Pansy yelled over the babbled, and it died instantly. “One at a time!”

“Alice is wrecking our world,” said the White Rabbit, who was accompanied by the King of Hearts. “She thinks she is the Queen now.”

“One named Jasper is in ours, trying to take over the V.F.D.,” said one of a set of triplets, the one who was holding a young child in their arms.

“The Flock is trying to take down Rosalie, but nothing has been successful thus far,” said a man with a mustache and glasses, accompanied by a Spanish woman with dark, curly hair.

“That one named Carlisle took over the park, and now the dinosaurs are running even more wild than ever,” said a very dusty looking man in almost western wear.

“And his wife, Esme, tricked everyone into thinking she’s Mrs. Coulter,” said a girl holding a lynx.

“It is ‘orrible in ze opera,” said a blonde, aging French woman. “Zat one named Bella killed dear little Christine.”

“Ours is the worst,” said a very short man, who sat by the large lion. “The Wizard himself couldn’t even keep out the likes of Meyer. She took over the Emerald City.”

There was a general murmur of disapproval through all the characters. The man wearing silver armor yelled, “We can not let this happen again!”

“Wait, again?” Bently asked Neville. “This has happened before?”

Neville nodded gravely. “Yes. Quite a few years ago, a poet by the name of Harrison Dent tried to take over literature in order to make himself more popular.”

“I’ve never heard of him,” said Bently.

“Of course you haven’t. I got rid of him.”

The hall went silent as everyone but a lone man sat down again. He had fading brown hair, glasses, and carried a notepad and pencil under his arm. Bently stared at him, flabbergasted. He couldn’t believe who he was seeing.

“S—Stephen King?”

“Yes, I’m here too,” King assured the teen, a tired expression on his face. “I’m the one who they called upon last time, and here I am again to assist you. That is, if you are Bently McQuinn.”

“But—but—”

“Don’t worry, we’ll have more time later to discuss my own role.” King now turned his attention to Neville. “We need a Portal Jumper.”

“Mo is expecting you,” replied Neville. “I contacted him while Pansy was fetching Bently.”

Silence crept over the hall as everyone looked at Bently. Bently could not help but feel anxious. All these characters—no, people—expected him to help. Killing the Fairy Lord had been difficult enough… was he up to this?

“Bently McQuinn,” Neville finally started. “Your task has been presented to you. Will you accept this quest to save literature and defeat Stephanie Meyer and her vampire minions?”

Bently met Neville’s eyes. “Yes,” he finally said. “Hell yes I will.”

The hall broke out into cheers, and Neville grinned. “Very well. Pansy and King will go with you, and before you leave to meet Mo, you need to stop by Dumbledore’s office. There are some items there you will find useful for your journey.”

Pansy got up and shooed him from the hall along with King. She lead them through the corridors and to the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster’s office. “Lemon Drop,” she said, and it sprang to the side, revealing the staircase. The trio ascended it, not speaking. When they finally make it to the office, it was empty. Not even Fawkes was there. Pansy prodded Bently up to the desk, and he found only three objects on it. “They’re all for you,” she said grumpily.

The first was a necklace, a medallion of bling; the Horcrux Seeking Medallion. It weakened the vampire’s powers, making it possible to kill them. Bently hung it around his neck heavily.

The second item was Gryffindor’s Sword, which he had used to kill Edward on his last visit to Hogwarts. There was even some glittery powder left on the blade. Bently tied it carefully around his waist, making sure it wouldn’t cut him open unsuspectingly.

And finally, there was a wand on the desk. But it wasn’t a wand Bently recognized.

“It’s yours,” Pansy said, reading his mind. “Mr. Olivander made it specially for you.”

Bently nodded, too overcome with wonder to speak. He took the wand in his hand, warmth instantly making his fingers tingle. Smiling, he waved it and said, “Wingardium Leviosa!” The desk levitated, and Bently set it down after a moment. “This is so sick,” he muttered to himself, pocketing his new wand. Then he turned to his new companions. “I’m ready.”

“Good,” said Pansy. “And so are we.” She waved her wand over a book sitting on the floor and said, “Portus!” Nothing seemed to happen to the book, but Pansy looked satisfied. “Alright, on three, everyone touch at the same time.”

“One, two, three!”