Wizarding World, Visited for the first Time

Chapter 3

The library at the castle was huge. Immense would be more appropriate, though. Huge, antique wooden tables and large red leather chairs were everywhere. No one was in sight, and the only sounds that could be heard were the hoots of owls. Owls seemed to be plentiful in this place.

She had figured out that these people were wizards, or witches, or something similar to that. They had to be- no one else could concoct a place like this. No one else would need to. No one else would need to make an invisible platform, or a huge castle-school, or an entire train to transport magical students to the castle-school.

Why in the world had she gone through that obviously insane platform?

Suddenly, the wooden door to the library opened with a creak and a petite, stocky person stepped through. They closed the door slowly, then walked toward the center of the room and sat down on one of the leather chairs. They opened a book and started reading.

"Hello," she said. She walked over to the chair and looked at the boy, then recognized him as one of the red-haired boys that had walked into the gate with the twins.

He looked up at her, smiled, then put down his book. "Hullo. Are you a teacher here? I haven't seen you before." He blushed. "I know I'm supposed to be at the Great Feast, but... I kind of wanted to come here. I like the quiet, and at home I really don't get it that often... What's your name?"

"Joanne Kathleen," she replied, sitting down in the chair opposite him. So this was some kind of school. She looked at the book he was holding. A picture of a black-haired, bespectacled boy was on the cover. He looked normal, except he had an irregularly shaped scar on his forehead- in the shape of a lightning bolt. The title of the book was "The Boy Who Destroyed Evil". The boy saw her staring at the book, and held it up for her to look at.

"Ah, yes. Harry Potter. I love reading about him! Mom always says I don't read enough, even though I'm smart, but I only like reading about interesting things. He- Harry- is coming to the school in two years, you know."

She stared at him.

"Oh, I know, no one's supposed to know which school they're going to before they get their letter, but he's special. He's had his name down here since he was born! He'll be in my brother Ron's class when he comes. I hope he gets to be in Gryffindor!" He smiled, then continued to read.

Rowling opened the door and stepped outside, then wandered down the hall. Loud laughs and eating noises came from the feast. Apparently it still hadn't ended. Suddenly, a black, caped figure came out of a room, long, blackish wand in hand. He strode down the hallway in her direction, then stopped and stared at her.

"Who are you?" he asked. "No one is supposed to be here. Not while there's school going on. Especially not right now." He stopped, then looked at her more carefully. "Are you here to help with the barrier? Dumbledore said he'd sent for someone from the ministry."

She nodded. It didn't really matter that she didn't know what the shield was. If she couldn't find a decent cover up, then who knows what these people would do to her.

"Come with me, then." He grabbed her arm and half-dragged her down the hall and out of the grand double doors.

At first glance, she thought the rain had stopped. Then she noticed a team of these wizards had enchanted a great clear dome so that the water didn't hit the other wizards that were working. Working at what, exactly, was the question.

Three or four wizards and witches had their wands raised in the air, shooting sparks high in the sky. The tall, white-haired one seemed to be the leader. A shorter brown-haired woman was to his right. A dwarf was next her, and another man was next to him.

"Severus," the white-haired man said with a small smile. "Is this the ministry's representative?" He looked at her.

"Yes," he answered. "I found her roaming the halls. I expect she Apparated- not much of a trick, now that the shield's down." He looked at her. "Trust the ministry to send us a newbie. How has the progress gone?

"Not very well, I'm afraid." He frowned. "It's worse than we thought. When they installed the field in the twelfth century, they had made it to last forever. I don't know why it failed today. But the point is, it's practically impossible to fix in the rain. Very well. Take out your wands, and we'll get to the matter at hand."

Wand? Everyone looked at her. Something... something had to be done. She reached into her pocket and frowned. "Oh, I'm afraid I must have dropped it on the way here. Never mind. I'll just go back into the building and look for it. Don't worry, I'll only be a minute-"

She started to walk off, but the white-haired man grabbed her coat sleeve. "Wait, I'll go and help. I don't think you know the building quite as well as I do. No, don't try and stop me. I need a break anyway. I've been out here since two o'clock yesterday morning."

They started off toward the huge entrance, and down the hall in the opposite direction from where she and Severus had come. The students had started to line up at the doors and were going in opposite directions. Some look curiously at them, and others ignored them. A huge, burly man led a group of students toward the stairs, and the white-haired man nodded to him.

At the end of the hall, they came to a huge statue of a majestic bird- a phoenix, she recognized. A bird of fire.

"Lemon drop," he said, and the bird started to revolve slowly upwards. "I'm rather fond of that sweet, though they are rather hard to get around here. None of the stores I know keep them in stock."

"I like them, too," she answered. He stared at her curiously, then motioned for her to walk up the stairs behind him.

At the top, they arrived at some sort of round office. A beautiful phoenix stood at one corner on an intricately carved wooden stand, and pictures were hung throughout the room. Bookshelves were scattered-

Oh. Oh my God. Did that picture move?

He sat down in a shimmering chair, straightened his hat, and smiled. "Now, my dear," he asked. "How do you like my office? It's been here for ages. I really am sorry it's so messy. Faux has just been reborn again, and I haven't had time to clean up the ashes. But that has nothing to do with the matter at the moment. And I really have a burning question I need to ask you."

She nodded. It seemed all eyes in the room- real and photographed- were looking intently at her.

"Suppose you tell me why a young Muggle like yourself is at Hogwarts?"