Behind The Mirror

Chapter 4

"DUMBLEDORE!" a voice roared above the din. A gigantic woman, not unlike Harry’s Aunt Marge, strode into the hall, each gait approximately the size of an elephants. Harry’s first thought was of Madame Maxime, another half giant like Hagrid, also the headmistress of Beauxbatons, but this woman was definitely not Madame Maxime. She was someone entirely new.

The woman practically galloped up to the head table, charging straight for Dumbledore. Her massive hands swung heavily at her side, threatening to cuff Justin Finch – Fletchley over the head as she passed him.

“DUMBLEDORE!!!” the voice bellowed again. The woman looked absolutely furious, a snarl lifting her lip. She had now reached the table at which Dumbledore sat.

“How may I help you, Doris?” asked Dumbledore calmly.

Harry wasn’t sure that he could have been that calm if faced with a woman that reminded him of a mad rhino.

“It’s despicable, absolutely despicable!!” Doris spat. “I won’t have it anymore!!”

“What, may I ask, is it that you find despicable?” Dumbledore said mildly.

“THAT!” at this Doris swung around madly and pointed at the other end of the hall.

Everyone again swivelled in their seats, this time to look at what she was speaking about. Against the doorframe a small blonde haired girl was leaning, a smirk on her pretty face. Many people’s eyes flew up, mostly boys. The girl’s blonde hair swirled around her shoulders, straight as corn silk. Here dark blue eyes looked very mischievous, as did the smile playing around her lips. Her small frame was draped in turquoise robes, and she was twirling her wand in her hand.

“I’ve had it! Enough is enough!” Doris had started up again. People were starting to look confused; surely she wasn’t talking about this elfish looking girl?

“I don’t think you understand what I’ve been going through! Out of bounds constantly, midnight expeditions around the school, the school brooms locked up on the roof, the manticore released on school grounds…” Doris ranted, “House elves told to serve the food with hot chilli pepper, snakes in the baths, constant fights, dungbombs…” the list went on. Doris looked like she was about to explode.

“Enough is enough! I wipe my hands of her! She’s all yours, Dumbledore!” At this the woman stopped, gasping for air.

Dumbledore looked past her, at the girl, who was still twiddling her wand between her fingers. Dumbledore’s face looked very grave.

“Come here Sylvia.” He said quietly. The girl looked up and then began to walk towards the table.

“Let’s go into a separate room and talk about this.” Dumbledore motioned for Doris and Sylvia to follow him into a small room, just off the Great Hall. Doris glared at Sylvia as she sauntered past, and then followed her.

As the door shut behind them with a ‘click’, the hall burst into uproar.

“Who is she?”

“Who’s that woman?”

“Cor, Wasn’t she good looking?”

“Wonder if she’s going to come here?”

“Dunno, that Doris didn’t look too happy, eh?”

“Looked like a Malfoy didn’t she?”

This last question was from Ron. As soon as the door had shut, He, Hermione and Harry had put their heads together to talk about this abrupt arrival.

“You know, with all that blonde hair, plus she sounds really terrible, did you hear what she’d been doing?”

“Ron, we can’t build an opinion on her just by what that woman said,” Hermione said sensibly. “I doubt anyone could do everything that woman was talking about… apart from your brothers.” She looked down the table at the Weasley twins, who saw her and smiled back angelically. Hermione sniffed and turned back to look at Ron.

“I dunno Hermione, she does sound like a troublemaker, but still, she was good looking though, eh?”

Hermione didn’t look too pleased with this last statement. She stared stonily at Ron. Harry intervened quickly.

“Wonder how Dumbledore knew her?”

“Maybe she’s his niece or something.” But before Ron could speculate further the door opened again.

“That was quick!” said Harry. Doris, Dumbledore and Sylvia stepped out. Doris looked distinctly flushed but the girl looked the same, no revealing expression on her face. Dumbledore was the same.

The hall turned to silence as Dumbledore spoke.

“Professor McGonagall, please could you bring back the sorting hat. One last sorting needs to take place.”



McGonagall looked absolutely shocked. So did the rest of the hall. It was impossible, you didn’t just turn up uninvited to Hogwarts and five minutes later have it announced that you would be joining the school.

“Professor?” Dumbledore asked gently.

McGonagall shook herself and cleared her head. “Yes, of course, Headmaster.”

She disappeared from the hall and returned a few minutes later, the sorting hat in her hand.

“Sit down Sylvia.” Said Dumbledore motioning to a chair that he had pulled out. Sylvia sat and crossed her legs at the ankle, the smirk still on her face.

McGonagall cleared her throat, and then, her voice trembling, called out, “Spencer, Sylvia.”

The hat was placed on Sylvia’s head, covering her forehead completely. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the hat’s decision. After a few minutes the hat finally called out her house.

“GRYFFINDOR!” it said clearly.

People were still looking shocked at the events that had taken place. Ron’s jaw had dropped when Dumbledore had asked McGonagall to fetch the hat again. It was still hanging wide open when Sylvia sauntered over to Gryffindor table and took her place in an empty seat next to Seamus Finnegan. Seamus looked like he had won the lottery.

“What just happened?!” Ron finally croaked.

“Dunno, must be some kind of madness. You don’t just admit people to Hogwarts after a five minute chat!” Harry muttered to him.

“Dumbledore obviously has his reasons, can’t say that I understand them at the moment though,” said Hermione, reaching for the green beans and adding them to her half full plate.

“But…” stuttered Ron, still gawking at the new girl, who was keeping to herself, ignoring all of those around her.

“Let’s just eat, we can talk after dinner.” Said Hermione, starting on the steaming Yorkshire puddings.

Harry looked up to glance at the new girl, not expecting her to be doing the same thing to him. Their eyes met, and instead of averting his gaze, Harry felt himself uncontrollably drawn to her eyes, as though he needed to search for something in them.

It was a distant cough that finally caused him to look away.

“Yeah, let’s just eat. We’ll talk after dinner.” Harry began shovelling more food onto his plate, trying hard not to look up, in case the strange girl was still looking at him.

Hermione and Ron were tucking in as well. Harry relaxed and began to feel very hungry again, and so, it was another half hour before they finally left the hall. Sylvia was already gone by the time they clambered from their seats, clutching at their stomachs.



They arrived in Gryffindor tower to find the common room in uproar.

Everyone was chatting excitedly about the new arrival, except for the first years, who hung uncomfortably on the sides. Fred and George Weasley were standing on a table in the corner, taking bets about the parentage of the girl.

“Two Sickles says some sort of Malfoy, though I don’t know what she’s doing in Gryffindor…”

“A Galleon on her being a vampire, she’s got that look about her you know…”

The voices were getting very loud, each person trying to be heard above all the others.

“Quiet!” Katie Bell was hissing, “You’ll get McGonagall up here!”

Fred and George were taking no notice though, and carried on taking bets.

“What’s going on?” Harry asked Seamus.

“The girl went straight up to bed,” said Seamus, shrugging his shoulders, “And then the Weasley twins started joking around, betting on who she was, and well, it sort of got serious. Some seventh year just bet ten Galleons, can’t remember on what though…”

“Madness,” aaid Hermione, shaking her head. “I’m going to talk to her, she must be overwhelmed by all this. No doubt she can hear all that’s going on down here…” At that Hermione disappeared up the girl’s dorm staircase. Harry turned to Ron.

“Let’s go up to our room, I want to unpack and be able to hear myself think.” He motioned to Ron to follow him, and together they walked up the boy’s staircase to their dorm.


Ron and Harry opened the door to their dorm, careful to step around Neville’s trunk, which was dangerously close to the door. Harry took off his glasses and set them down on his bedside table and then flopped down onto his bed, enjoying the way it bounced underneath him.

“Bit strange isn’t it?” came Ron’s voice from the bed next to him.

“What?”

“You know, what we were talking about before, allowing someone to come to Hogwarts with five minutes notice. I really want to know who she is.”

“So does everyone else. But I doubt she’s anyone special, probably just a troublemaker like you said. Dumbledore probably owed her family a favour or something.”

Ron turned on his belly to face Harry. “So where is her family then? Why didn’t they come here with her?”

“Probably anxious to get rid of her, like that woman. I don’t know, stop asking questions.”

“’Kay. Let’s unpack shall we?” Ron heaved himself off the bed and lurched towards the trunk at the end of his bed.

Just then the door burst open and Seamus, Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom appeared on the doorway.

“OWWWWWWW!” howled Seamus as he stubbed his toe on the Neville’s trunk. He went tumbling to the floor, Dean and Neville following him. Harry and Ron looked down on the three of them, sprawled out on the floor.

“Oh, the betting’s over is it?” said Ron sarcastically.

“Yeah, McGonagall came up and told us off. Your brothers got detention for ‘participating in underage gambling activities’. She was absolutely livid. Something must have set her off, other than the bets. Anyway, care to give us a hand?” Seamus held his hand out hopefully. After a moment Ron took it and pulled him to his feet. Harry did the same to Dean and Neville.

“I take it the common room’s empty then?”

“Yeah, everyone scattered once McGonagall came up. Fred and George got mixed up and tried escaping to the girl’s dorm.” Seamus grinned. “McGonagall gave them an extra detention for their cheek.”

“Any sign of Hermione down there?” said Ron.

“Can’t say I saw her, mind you, it was crowded.”

“Doesn’t matter. Ron, we’ll talk to her in the morning. I’m too tired at the moment.”

Ron agreed with Harry and they got ready for bed. The lights went out shortly after. Harry lay in bed, thinking about the way the girl had stared at him and listening to Dean and Seamus whispering well into the night. He gave in to sleepiness, eventually, and dreamed about past events, of a man and a woman murdered horribly, and a tiny baby with jet black hair and a fresh scar on his head…