Author's Note: I do not own "The Phantom of the Opera" in any of its forms, nor "Doctor Who".

The Students, however, are mine (to an extent). They are inspired by myself and my classmates when I took violin in High School. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Erik walked through the Grand Foyer in the black of night. Only the moon and distant city lights illuminated the room. He stood in the center of the hall and looked out of the windows. The midnight bells rang at Notre Dame. As they faded, silence reigned once again.

And then something disturbed that silence. It was distant at first, but the sound was fast approaching. A scream... Several people screaming, growing louder. The sound was coming from behind him, in the Grand Staircase. He hurried to the centre tier. He had been sure that no one was still here...

As the screams reached a crescendo, there was a great burst of light at the foot of the staircase and about half a dozen of young people were thrown from it, along with several violin cases, one cello case, and portfolios of sheet music. They all lay still for a moment or two, motionless as the leaves of paper settled around them.

Normally, he would have hid if he knew people were approaching, but Erik stayed rooted where he was, staring at the adolescents, trying to make sense of what had happened.

Almost in unison, they started to moan quietly from the pain of being slammed into the marble floor.

Grant was the first to make a sound. "What the heck happened?" he groaned, rubbing his head.

He, Lisa, Alicia, Megan and Julie all pulled themselves into a sitting position and stared at each other. Suddenly, it hit them. Well, figuratively speaking, this time. They all turned to the one figure who had not yet risen.

"DAN!" they yelled.

Dan sat up. "Wha'?"

"What did you do?" demanded Grant.

The rest of the teens gathered around him, all repeating the question.

"I didn't do anything!"

"Yes you did!" retorted Megan.

"Nothing happened until you started playing the piano!" said Alicia.

There was a general fracas until Julie, having seniority and being the accused's older sister, commanded all to be quiet. "Now just wait a second!" Silence reigned once again. "Ok, what's the last thing everyone remembers until we showed up here?"

"Dan was going to test his new theory with us," said Lisa. "It had to do with music, and we all gathered around the piano. He hit the keys, there was a terrible noise..."

Megan continued, "And then there was the light." All the kids nodded and murmured in agreement. "And then... it was like being in a tunnel, being sucked through until we landed. Rather harshly, too."

"Speaking of which," said Dan, "Where are we?"

They all looked around, taking notice of that particular fact for the first time. They squinted in the darkness.

Erik, being French and not knowing how to speak English (which is a surprise to the author), could not fully understand what they were saying. He knew how to speak German, however, and could pick up some of their words and have some idea as to the conversation, as if their body language did not provide enough information.

Megan looked straight up. "No!" she said in disbelief.

"What?"

"No!" she repeated.

"What?" They demanded again.

Megan laughed. "We're in Paris!"

"What?"

"I'd know those paintings anywhere!" She pointed to one of the portraits on the ceiling. "See that one? It represents all the arts presenting their gifts to Paris. And the woman in the blue represents the Seine."

"How do you know that?" asked Grant.

"Wait, weren't you here last year?" asked Lisa.

"Yes. When I went to Europe last year, this was the highlight of my trip. My friends, we are in the Paris Opera House, the Opera de Garnier, the Palais de Garnier!"

"All three in one?" asked Dan. Megan slapped him.

"This was the inspiration for The Phantom of the Opera", she continued. "It's an amazing place. Come up here and see the Foyer."

Erik disappeared as they made their way up the staircase and found a more useful place to observe them.

The kids stopped, speechless and awe-stricken.

"It's even better at night," whispered Megan.

They looked out the windows and gazed at the lights of the city.

"Look," gasped Alicia, "Notre Dame!"

After the customary 'oohhs' and 'aahhs', Julie asked a pertinent question: "Can you see the Eiffel Tower from here?"

Megan's face suddenly became unusually serious. "Yes."

"Well, where is it? Shouldn't it be lit up at night?"

"Yes."

Julie looked at her closely. "Are you ok, Megan?"

"Not anymore."

"What's wrong?"

"The Eiffel Tower's gone."

"What are you talking about?" asked Dan.

Megan pointed to a blank space in the Paris skyline. "The Eiffel Tower is supposed to be right there."

"But if it's gone, what does that mean?"

"It means that we not only teleported, we time-traveled."

"Are you sure?"

"Look at it! There's no Eiffel Tower, no brilliant lights of any kind, which would lead me to believe that we've not yet entered the age of electricity and that's what makes Paris Paris!" She turned around dramatically. "If the Eiffel Tower isn't there, that means that we are in Paris at a year prior to 1900."

Dead silence ensued. Everyone turned to Dan again. Then they all attacked him again.

Loud above everyone else's voice, Grant was heard shouting, "You maniac! What have you done? We're not only half a world away, we're over a century away!" The outburst was followed by a bout of hysterical laughter, which was terminated by a sound slap from Alicia.

"Wait, Megan, wait," said Lisa. "Couldn't you have made a mistake? Maybe the Eiffel Tower's on the other side."

"Well, I did see both the Tower and the Opera from Notre Dame, and they looked kinda parallel, but I could be mistaken."

There was a small sigh of relief from the group.

"But there's another thing we could check," she continued, "The mural around the chandelier."

"Oh no..." muttered Julie.

"About 40 years ago, they changed the mural around the chandelier from the original Victorian-era painting to a modern art one. It's one of the most hideous and misplaced things I've ever seen, but for once, I'd be glad to see it! Follow me, I know how to get there!"

Megan ran back down the steps and, despite some misgivings, the rest followed her. Megan went through the statues of Comedy and Tragedy, through the hallway and into the main auditorium. It was pretty dark but still lighted in some places.

They gathered in the middle and looked straight up. There was the chandelier, surrounded by the original mural.

Lisa swore.

For a long time, everyone just stared.

"Now what?" asked Alicia.

Everyone shrugged.

"I suppose the worst thing that could have happened is that we're not stuck in the 1800's but just in the 1960's," offered Lisa. After a moment, they all shrieked in horror at the prospect.

"Well, we have to find a way back," said Dan, after they had recovered their senses.

"So, we found a wormhole from Roseville, California, 2008 to Paris, France, late 19th century..." Grant said slowly.

"But if it's a wormhole, there has to be an entrance," Julie said. "I say the best chance we have is to look around and find it. It might not make any sense, but, so far, none of this has."

"That's box 5," Megan said quietly as she pointed to the infamous box on the left side of the stage. Or stage right. Either one of those.

Everyone silently considered the possibilities that their new predicament presented to them. Lisa was the first one to raise her hand to the level of her eyes. Being the phan-girl of the lot, Megan was glad that she wasn't the first one who did that. The rest of the group quickly followed suit. Sure, Phantom was from the realms of fiction, but with the whole wormhole thing and all, no one was going to take anything for granted.

They walked to the staircase again, arms still raised.

Alicia turned to Megan. "You're the only one who's been here before. Do you know how to get around well?"

"I only toured for a day and still didn't get to see a quarter of it, and that was just the public-access areas. I know a couple things, but other than that, we'll have to find out for ourselves. But be careful; Leroux didn't get his ideas from nowhere."

Megan led them down past the main staircase to the fountain of Pythia behind it. In front of them were seemingly unending corridors, very dimly lit.

"Ok," whispered Dan, "That's just plain freaky."

"Just stay together," warned Megan.

They all advanced slowly, gradually separating smaller groups. Every shadow was a threat, and they were numerous.

Megan had drifted away from her group; she wasn't out of sight, but she was far enough. As she stood still, she heard a noise behind her and spun around to see what it was. There was a very tall man wearing a mask.

"Qui vous est?" he asked in a deep voice.