Wishing Gone Awry

After gaping a moment at the unexpected result of my impulsive, sugar-induced suggestion I grabbed Emylie's hand, dragging her forward. "C'mon! We have got to check this out."

"But... it's a castle! It's a Hogwarts castle! That wasn't supposed to do anything!"

"So? It did! We're at Hogwarts, just like you wanted! Isn't it great? Do we have magic? Do we have wands? Do we have trunks? What do we have?"

"Well we have to have magic, otherwise we couldn't see Hogwarts."

"Thank you, Hermione, but we would see it." I paused for effect. "It would just look very old and run down and dangerous if you recall. So what do we have?"

"Magic Faerie Rings. They're pretty now." I waited.

"Oh good! Anything else?"

"The clothes we're wearing. And my book." In fact, there was a book in her hand. It was Ender's Game. I was holding a stack of manga.

"Oh. And I guess I have some tootsie rolls in my pocket."

"Candy? Share!"

"But we might need it! We're in a strange new magical alternate reality!"

"Dumbledore'll give us food. Share now!"

"Dumbledore! What a great idea! Let's go talk to him." I continued dragging Emylie toward the castle.

"Gimmie tootsie rolls!"

"Wait!" I stopped suddenly, almost making my sister run into me.

"No."

"That is so not what I meant. I'm too old to be a Hogwarts student."

"So lie."

"You serious?"

"Yeah, of course, we can be twins!"

"K!" At least one person had mistaken us for twins before, though I'd only heard about it second-hand. I suppose I could pass as sixteen. After all, I certainly don't act twenty, and Emylie's a bit mature for her age. "Well, let's go then. You think we'll be sorted into the houses you always say that we would?"

"Tootsie rolls. And I am most definitely a Slytherin."

"You're not a pure-blooded witch. And they're mine."

"I'm not a Muggleborn, either. Too bad. Give."

"Mine."

"Give."

"Mine."

"Mine." We kept this up for a while, imitating the seagulls from Finding Nemo until we got tired of the game.

"You still haven't even seen that movie."

"So?"

"It doesn't come out here for another seven years."

"So?"

"Okay then."

"Gimmie tootsie rolls."

I sighed. "No, Lie. They're mine. I may share later, but we have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment." Indeed, we had arrived at the front doors of the castle, and up close it was enormous.

"We are going to be lost the moment we step through those doors."

"K!" I exclaimed. I shoved open one heavy door and dragged my sister though. This was gonna be fun! I shoved the door shut behind us. For being so big they really weren't all that heavy. Must be magic. I grinned at the thought. "Not lost yet, are we?"

"Yup, we are."

"No we're not! We can only go four directions. Left, right, up, or straight ahead. Any clue which way the stone gargoyle is?"

"I don't even remember if it's on the first floor or the third!"

"Hm... Well, do you remember which floor the Room of Requirements is on?"

"Uh, seventh I think."

"K, we'll go there and wish for a doorway to Dumbledore's office guardian gargoyle thingy. K?"

"We are so gonna get lost."

"No way. It looks like a Saturday or something 'cause there's not that many people around and I don't hear classes. So it's probably a Hogsmede weekend or before school starts."

"Lei, it's the end of August. School hasn't started yet."

"Time might run differently here," I pointed out, observing the corridors before us. "Up would be quickest, I guess." I started toward the stairs with Emylie following behind me. "Is this the one with a trick stair?"

"I think it's a normal one, and if it is trick it hasn't been mentioned."

"Oh good." I grinned behind me and picked up my pace, waiting on the landing for Emylie to catch up. "Are you muttering something about stupid fat hobbits?"

"'Course not." Which meant that she had been. We continued up the last of the stairs together, only to be confronted with a choice of left or right. "When in doubt, go right."
"Okay Lie, but do you remember which painting was in front of the Room?"

"It's a tapestry," she answered slightly distractedly.

"Well, then, which one was it?"

"Barnabas the Barmy being beaten up by trolls."

"There it is!" She saw the tapestry I pointed at and sighed as I lead her back and forth in front of it three times. Suddenly there was a door across from the tapestry where there hadn't been one. I stepped forward and turned the knob, swinging it inward. "It's like a hallway, except a bit wider and shorter I guess." The walls and floor were plain and bare, not at all like it had been described at the D.A. meetings. There was a second door set in the opposite wall. "C'mon."

"So we have found a Way."

"You weird. What you talkin'bout?"

"We have found the Way we seek." She paused, as if expecting something. "Now go!" I stuck my tongue out at her and did.

"Lookie. Gargoyle." On the opposite side of the hallway from our new door was the stone statue of a gargoyle. "You get to guess first."

"Mellon."

"Melon's a fruit, not a candy. Be serious."

"No it's not... it's 'friend!'"

"Goober." The stone gargoyle leapt aside, revealing a stone staircase that moved upwards. "Oh. I meant her, but okay." Emylie cackled at my surprise. "Strange sister you are." The two of us stepped onto the stairs side by side and rode silently upwards.

Reaching the top I stared at the door. Then I stared at my sister waiting for her to take the lead. I may be occasionally hyperactive, something that had gotten us this far, but talking to people was not my thing. Emylie shrugged and grasped the griffin, striking it against the heavy wooden door three times, each echoing with a resounding thud.

"Eerie." She shrugged again and the door swung open. "Eerie," I repeated quietly as we stepped inside the office. The walls were lined with portraits; about half of them were empty of their occupants. I looked around and quickly spotted Fawkes on his perch in the corner. I stared in awe at the beautiful avian. He stared back with something that looked akin to amusement. I poked Emylie. "Pretty phoenix birdie."

"Pretty birdie," she replied decisively.

I turned, looking around more of the room. "Hogwarts headmaster," I stated, poking Emylie again.

"Hm?" She was still watching Fawkes, who was preening slightly with the attention. Dumbledore, sitting behind his desk, chuckled. My little sister turned, startled.

"I've been expecting you."