Disclaimer: I hate college. Why am I in college again? I want a million dollars so I can be schooled whenever I want...which will be never. And no, I don't own Harry Potter. Why can't I have wings...

Amber looked around her calmly, taking in the rather rustic village on whose outskirts she and the others had appeared on, the natural woods surrounding them, filled with the simple noises of bird call, and various herbivores trying to eat lunch without the consequence of becoming such for the local predators.

From the looks of things, the place seemed not all that advanced, like she and the group had traveled back in time. However, advanced was a subjective term, and Amber was well aware that even the most objective-seeming of terms was truly subjective in nature and use. Just because it LOOKED like something from the Middle Ages did not mean that they weren't advanced. It may just be a different sort of advanced.

What the odd girl couldn't have possibly known was just how right she was. She came from a place not overly advanced, despite its appearances. This was because, for all it's advances in magic, and the advanced technology the non-magic half of their culture invented and used, Amber and her people, magic or not, were not aware of what everyone here, at least, were.

There were many planes of existence on the planet known as Earth, each as unique as the last. This place, this little village, was on one such plane. Amber and her companions were native to another. While all planes had magic to it, sometimes it was inert, while at others it was visible, normally in people with the capability of wielding and using it. The magic, inert or otherwise, was the only common trait that ran through all planes. The rest was totally different, the difference coming from the peoples inhabiting that particular plane and their actions throughout the time that runs through each.

This is why Amber's plane was not seen as overly advanced. Unlike other planes—like this one, although the group didn't know it yet—the plane she and the others came from did not know of the planes. Even the magic cultures that inhabited their plane thought of "different dimensions", and even then, those were myth themselves.

Nearly every other plane knew of the others, something else that connected them, even if they couldn't see the other planes and were no where near advanced enough to travel between them. This plane was one, advanced enough to peek into other planes if they desired, some people even earning a living with studying the unique cultures the other planes offered and trying to advance the way to see into them just that little bit further. Others of the same field devoted their lives to trying to transcend the barrier, their hope being that once they had, they could actually visit and see these fascinating cultures up close and personal.

Amber and her friends were special, because unlike the others, no one of her "World", so to speak, even thought of such things as being more then fairy tales, and knew not that they had just done the impossible, no matter the plane, by transporting themselves to this one. This made them perfectly unaware that they weren't even capable of going home by any sort of means. They were prepared, once over shock, to figure out a way home in the instance that they traveled through time and any number of other things. Not this. Never this.

This was because going home after being blasted through time, while never simple itself, was easy because you were on the same plane. It was like moving from one country to the other. What Amber and her group did was similar to moving from Earth to Pluto. And without a rocket, they were now stuck and incapable of getting home.

Turning to her fellow travelers, Amber felt a strong desire to bash her head against something hard, like a rock wall. It would appear that the group had gotten over their shock, at least to the point of seeing who else had come with them, and, upon recognizing each other, had started the "Blame Game"—which had now turned into a full-fledged fight between them.

Amber could understand how easy it was for this to become so, because she knew that, while some of them were friends with each other, the others of the little group were people they considered only a few levels short of their Mortal Enemy. Amber hadn't been particularly supportive of the idea to start with. However, THIS, in her book, took the cake—and the ice cream along with it.

"You would think that the first thought one has after been mysteriously transported to an unrecognizable place is to find out where we are, and if our most precious valuables traveled with us…NOT whose is at fault and the hex that is appropriate for such an action." Amber's voice, while by no means yelling, was still loud enough to be heard by the others, who stopped so fast it was astounding.

Or would've been if Amber had been anyone else.

Amber gave the others a stern glare that their Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, would've been proud of. It had the same effects, as everyone shuffled their feet and hung their heads in ashamed guilt.

"Now, while you all were choosing to act like a group of two-year-olds, I have managed to determine that the only civilization to be found in the village directly around us. Outside of the village, we are surrounded by forest. While I do not recognize any plants, that is not overtly surprising, as my strength comes from animals, not plants. All of them seem off, but I'm not too concerned right now, because everything is off. And this, to me, is a good sign, because we have just been transported to a place unknown by a force even more unknown."

Everyone exchanged startled glances at this, as what had just recently happened finally impacted them. They had all been in different locations at the time, miles apart even, and yet here they all were now as if they had all just come from the same broom store. For that matter, they had no clue where they were or even less of a clue how they got there. None of them could Apparate, they hadn't used Portkey or Floo, and no one had cursed them.

Just what was going on?

"My thought is to head into the village. While we have never seen it before, and will no doubt find ourselves in the midst of strangers, it is better then nothing, especially if the townspeople are human and can tell us where we are, if nothing more. If anyone has a better idea?"

No one said anything, and seemed to more or less brace themselves for the oncoming shocks the little village held for them, as it must. Amber nodded.

"Then it is agreed. Let us go."

And so they went.

Alarms ringing loudly throughout Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as well as similar alarms ringing out through various other locations, alerted a good many people of the problem before anything else.

In Hogwarts, Headmaster Dumbledore rushed towards his office with a speed and flexibility that spoke of a younger man then he. He was followed by his ever faithful staff, Potions Master Snape and Deputy Headmistress McGonagall keeping on his heels while the other followed on theirs.

At Malfoy manner, Lucius was rushing towards a very special room, Narcissa meeting him there, banging the door open without a thought. What few house-elves they ran across on the way instantly squeaked and vanished the minute they caught sight of the adults.

Molly was beside herself as she noticed, thanks to a very special clock, the missing members of the household known affectionately as the "Burrow". Her scream of despair brought the other occupants of the house running. Their tears of worry and slight sorrow mingled with hers as they took notice of the problem.

Dumbledore practically screamed the password to his office, which allowed for them to bypass its gargoyle guardian without any fuss whatsoever. Almost immediately, the teachers reached the man's office, where it became apparent the source of the noise.

Several various instruments of Dumbledore's were shrieking at the top of their non-existent lungs, while the Headmaster's phoenix, Fawkes, added to the noise with loud mournful cries that not even Albus had ever heard before. The other teachers were astounded and wondered just what had set off the instruments.

It took a full hour before the noise was silenced, and the effects of it made the sudden silence deafening and slightly creepy.

"Albus?" Minerva's voice did not so much as request an explanation as demand one.

"Those alarms are tied to the students. It would seem as some of them have disappeared. And the magic that tied the instruments to them seems to have been severed, something that should not happen unless something drastic has occurred."

"Are they…?" Hooch didn't dare ask aloud of the students were dead, which is why the bond had been severed.

"No. The alarms would've been much, much louder of death had been the cause for the destruction of the tie. However, the disappearance seems to be far more then just having been kidnapped by Death Eaters and held captive in Azkaban."

"Which students have gone missing?" asked Snape with growing dread. "And is there anything to be done to find them?"

"The answer to the last question is no, or the instruments would've already done that for us. As for the first, they are Harry Potter, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Luna Lovegood, and Amber Hawkstar."

"But what happened?" asked Sinistra.

"I wish I knew. I really wish I knew." was the response. No one got to say anything else about it because at that moment, the fire flared green, and the hysterical Molly was practically yelling at Dumbledore about how Ron's and Ginny's hands had moved from "Home" to "Lost". A frantic letter from Moody, who was watching Harry at his relatives' house, followed shortly thereafter.

"Amber would be severely disappointed in all of you, I have to say." It was, surprisingly, the Sorting Hat that brought some order to the room. "I can see, now, why she thought that the whole school, and indeed, the whole wizarding world, was utterly moronic."

"I often wondered why she seemed to go about her day looking like she constantly wanted to bash her head into the nearest wall." Severus mused as everyone settled down to stare curiously at the Hat.

"Yes. As far as Amber was concerned, your actions a minute ago would have her actually giving in to the temptation for once. Merlin, but you were all acting like a bunch of three-year-olds fighting over the last cookie in the cookie jar, as the saying goes. And considering that the entire wizarding population tend to act like this at the slightest upset, it's no wonder she thought wizards and witches in general were idiots."

"Do you know what's going on, then?" asked Dumbledore hopefully.

"If I did, I wouldn't tell you. There is more to this then you would care to see, and it is not my place to map out another's destiny for your viewing pleasure. All I know is that they'll eventually come back, if only because they have ties yet to this world."

And with that, the Hat fell silent, and refused to answer anything else. Fawkes chirped sadly. He had finally calmed down, but he still seemed overly depressed about what was going on. It was as of he missed the students personally, and missed them a way a lover would miss their other. Badly.

The teachers exchanged glances. Would the Hat's prediction ring true? And just what was going on anyway? They had no way of answering, and just simply sat in silence.

And they stayed that way for a long, long time.

Amber arched an eyebrow at the way people created the signs hanging over their shops. The words were utter nonsense to the group, suggesting that they had left England, and perhaps even Europe for that matter. Mostly, they were using the rather descriptive pictures that went with the words to identify buildings.

They were midway through town when they finally spotted a building that could possibly be of use to them. The sign labeled it as a "Majub." That meant nothing to the group, however, as they managed to guess based on the picture that it was an inn. Exchanging glances, the group headed inside, uncertain as to what lay behind the large wooden door for them, or the future.

The inn was rather reminiscent of the Leaky Cauldron, and the handful of patrons within it froze and stared at them as the group of teenagers made their way inside. Mutterings began as they went up towards the bar, intent on the obvious innkeeper standing behind it. The language the patrons spoke, much like the language on the signs, was utterly foreign, and in the personal opinion of most of the group, utterly ridiculous.

The innkeeper, for his part, was ruffling through a large book none of the group had seen the first time 'round, muttering to himself in his native language as he did so. Amber wondered just what it was the man was looking for. She dare not ask, knowing that, even if he understood her, which was unlikely, she wouldn't understand him anyway.

A young woman sitting at the bar seemed to be trying to help him, although he didn't seem overly pleased with the idea, as the mumblings seemed to be mainly about the beautiful lady, and he kept shooting her dirty looks. Amber decided to ignore the by-play, instead being grateful that these people were at least human.

Finally, a shout that the group expected would've translated as "Eureka!!" or something similar was given by the woman, followed by a smug smirk shot to the even more disgruntled innkeeper. The group managed, just barely, to put a lid on their amused sniggers and snorts.

The woman beckoned them with a finger, raising the proverbial red flag for the entire group, who followed orders warily. Once they had stopped what they had deemed a safe enough distance away, they stood and waited.

The woman spoke, but she seemed to know that they wouldn't understand her words, because the inflection was on her tone, which was soft, gentle, and reassuring. As she talked, she and the innkeepers waved their hands in what appeared to be a complicated pattern over the whole group.

The magic the group could feel effecting them was rather immense, and they were all surprised to be hit with it. However, they understood a minute later when the woman spoke and they understood her.

"My name is Uae. Welcome to the town of Xeeto. And from where do you hail?" Sky blue eyes stared questioningly at the group.

"England." Draco replied. The woman exchanged confused glances with the innkeeper, who ran a hand thorough his thinning sand-colored hair.

"What is this En-ga-land?" Uae asked, sounding the word out.

"I don't think I can answer, because I've never heard of this place anymore then you have our home." replied Amber, trying and failing to come up with a reason for why England didn't seem to exist.

"Great Hiser! They must have traveled between!" the innkeeper cried out in shock. The patrons froze.

"Traveled between?" asked Hermione, looking confused.

"They don't know! Oh Hiser, but they don't know!!" another patron breathed in stunned shock.

Seeing their group looking beyond lost, Uae decided to take pity on them. "You have traveled between planes."

"Planes?" echoed Ron dumbly.

"Like dimensions! We've traveled from one world to the next!" Amber exclaimed, eyes widening. This was serious, and not just because they had traveled between planes, but because she and her fellows had no clue that the planes existed at all until now.

The rest of the group stared at Amber dumbly for a few minutes before they reacted. Most of them decided that the best course of action at learning this information was to faint.

So they did.

Amber stared at them in amusement, before turning towards Uae. "What does this mean for us now? We are in school, and it is quite obvious that the school doesn't exist here, and we have no idea how to train ourselves, and does magic training even exist here?"

"Yes. While you were discussing the planes, which I can safely assume, by your friends' reactions your world doesn't know about them, I was discussing things with my husband here, Benu. He runs the inn here. He has agreed with me that you are magic, if nothing else, and you should be taken to see the Gift Seer and perhaps enrolled in the Academy, if you are able."

"But how will we pay for this stuff? And what are you talking about, for that matter?"

"Well, seeing as you have no idea about the planes, it is safe to assume you know not how you traveled from one to another. This also makes it safe to assume that you little trip to here wasn't so much as planned as sprung on you by higher powers you have no control over. Benu and I have talked, and we decided that, if you accept our offer, we'll pay your way until you can either do so yourself, or you travel back to your dimension. Repayment on your side will be discussed in terms of grades at school, and whatever else we can agree on as a group later on in life. How does that sound?"

"I thank you for your generosity. I would be willing to accept, but you'll have to ask the others yourself, because I dare not speak for all of them. We were not the best of friends back home, and I don't think they'll be happy if I answered for them."

"Right. I'll ask them then, but first you require a bit of an explanation. The Gift Seer is a specially empowered person, one or two each generation, that people take their children to see when they turn about 3 or so. The Gift Seer will then read them to see just which special abilities, if any, exist in the child. This also proves a record for schools to use so they know which subjects, outside the basics everyone takes, to offer their students."

"And the Academy?"

"It is the school of choice for many people, especially here in Xeeto. Although, the people here might just choose it because it's located at the top of the hill just on the other side of town." Uae smirked at the girl, who sniggered.

At this point, Benu poked his nose into the conversation, as the others began to regain consciousness. After getting over the shock, again, the group began getting into groups, mainly separated by House, Amber noted with amusement, and discussing the offer. Amber's amusement increased when they realized what Amber had known when she first heard the offer—they really had no choice if they didn't want to be on the streets.

"So they are accepting our offer then?" Benu asked of his wife, who nodded.

"Seems so. Do you wish to accompany us to the Seer?"

"Seer?" asked Hermione with a disgusted snort.

"Wrong kind, Hermione. This is the kind that can see our auras, if nothing else, and tell our new guardians, as well as the people up at the school they have here, just what we can do. It's a way for the school to better know which courses to offer their students outside of basics seeing as everyone has a wide range of talent and everyone is different. Benu and Uae are also going to fund our schooling till we can pay them back with something better then good grades, although it will have to be agreed on by all of us first."

"Oh, well then. Lead the way." said Harry, blinking.

At the couple's confused look, Dean explained. "In our plane, Seers are people who can see the future, but that is extremely iffy at best, and Hermione here doesn't put much faith in it at all."

They nodded in understanding, and the group fell silent, the students becoming nervous at the idea of being told what their gifts were. What if they were weak or stupid? Amber didn't look so much as nervous as excited, although it was hard to tell because her face was blank—something she had picked up from her fellow Slytherins. However, unlike her fellow Slytherin, Draco, she was doing a superb job at hiding all her emotions.

"Well, here we are. The seer's name is Spau, and she is a very nice lady. Go in one at a time, tell her about your traveling the planes, and ask her to read you because Uae and Benu are going to be sending you to the Academy. Okay, can you handle that? Who's going first?" Uae instructed.

Amber went first, eyes glinting, and disappeared through the door after receiving permission to enter. The others just waited outside nervously, wondering what awaited them behind the oak door that separated their future from the one who could See it.

And they would forever tell anyone who cared to listen that it was the most nerve-wrecking experience they would ever experience, hands down.

But they would never find themselves disappointed with it.

Don't ask. Seriously. I just remembered a fic I read once where Harry went to a different plane or dimension or whatever, and decided to do my version. For Laura Sedai, if you read this, I hope you notice that Amber is different this time, and she will continue to be so. I've decided to follow your advice with this one, although I'm still tweaking it my way. $Grins$. Don't ya just love me?

I've decided that, if it is needed, which it probably will be for the first few chapters, I will provide a guide so you can speak the names properly.

Here is the first:

Uae--U-A

Benu--Ben-U

Xeeto--X-e-tow

Spau--SPA-u

Majub--MA-jub

Hope that helps ;