Disclaimer: The only thing I claim to own is Madeleine and the plot. All Harry Potter related characters and locales are property of JK Rowling.
This story is partly based on some truth, but mostly it's a merging of various daydreams, replacing myself with a character I created long ago. The movie mentioned would be the Sorcerer's Stone, and the edition of Goblet of Fire would be the British adult version, with its nice subdued cover, and paperback. I'm not entirely sure where I'll go with this, but given time, I'm sure it will find its own path for me.
------------------------
Life Changing Summer Travels
"Is miss wanting more tea?"
The squeaky voice of a house elf brought Madeleine's mind back to reality, a reality that still seemed to be a daydream.
"No Mert, I'm fine for now."
The house elf vanished and Madeleine looked back out the window onto the grounds below. The term had yet to start and things were fairly quiet at Hogwarts.
Hogwarts
Never in her life did Madeleine think she would be at Hogwarts. Oh sure, she had imagined it, and daydreamed about it like many of her friends had when they started reading the books. Like all her friends, she assumed that Hogwarts was truly a place of fantasy, invented for a story. The speculation on where it could possibly be located due to weather, countryside, train lines surrounding the supposed platform 9 ¾ were something they did to pass the time.
And now she knew they were wrong. Hogwarts was a real place. Very real.
Looking back out the window her mind drifted back nearly a year.
* * *
Early October, 2001 – Hallway
Maddy stepped out of a meeting with the chair of the department, who also happened to be her advisor and noticed a printout posted on the otherwise empty board.
*Study abroad in Cambridge eh? Hey they're offering theatre classes…and one of them would fulfil a requirement. Hmmm…have to take two...maybe an English class as well then…need more information, and applications aren't due until February.*
Late November, 2001 – After the first movie
"What did you think of the movie Madeleine?"
"I have to go to England this summer." She turned to her parents, "I want to apply for the Cambridge program this summer, can I?" A number of reasons for them to say no were going through her head; travel was dangerous after what just happened, she had never really been far from home by herself for more than a week, and such. She wasn't worried about travelling or being on her own. She didn't know why she felt she just had to go there this summer, but she felt she would explode if she didn't go.
To her surprise, her parents agreed.
Late March, Early April, 2002 – Theatre
Maddy had just opened the letter from the Reeve's Centre in the side lobby and startled people when she jumped up with a gasp. She had been accepted to the program and would be studying in Cambridge for 6 weeks.
30 June 2002 – Norfolk, Virginia
She was nervous, but for good reason. She had never had to worry about making connecting flights, for that matter she had never flown overseas by herself. Between the excitements of finally going somewhere out of the States, and the nervousness of making her connection, it was very hard to sit still and appear calm, but she managed.
Security was fairly painless. She did have to stop to deal with her laptop that she insisted on bringing with her. She was going to Cambridge to study after all. The plane from Norfolk was a small plane. She could feel her nerves arguing with her mind. It had been awhile since she had flown, she wasn't surprised that she was a tad scared.
The rest of the plane was a group heading to Los Angeles, and the brief flight allowed her to worry less about flying, and more about what she would do when she arrived in London the next morning. Of course she had to get through the connection at Dulles first!
Finding the gate was actually fairly easy, and she did have plenty of time before the flight actually boarded. Sitting in the waiting area, she chose to take in her surrounding and update her travel journal rather than rereading Goblet of Fire.
It was very busy, with lots of people everywhere. She wasn't thrilled with that, crowds tended to make her nervous. There were a few children, but not many, so the noise level was reasonable. Sitting across from her was a man with shoulder length black hair, with a rather distinct nose dressed all in black. She smiled to herself, knowing that if some of her friends were here, they would be discussing how he fit the description of a certain potions master. He didn't seem too thrilled about the crowds either, and chose to spend his time scowling at the people who dared to sit near him.
Boarding came, and Maddy rushed to join the line. She knew she had a window seat and wanted to get there and be settled before whoever was sitting next to her came. That, and the sooner she got on the plane, the less people to push through to get to her seat, and the less people to try to take up her overhead space.
Moments later she was aboard, with her travel journal in the pocket of the seat in front of her, and Goblet of Fire on her lap, looking out the window. The seat next to her was empty, did she dare hope that no one would sit next to her? She opened the book and picked up reading with the start of the Triwizard tournament. She was quickly absorbed into her reading and didn't notice the person sitting down next to her.
She barely stopped reading when the flight attendants came out to do their pre-flight speech. She glanced up long enough to notice someone had seated themselves next to her. It was the Snape-look-a-like. Her natural shyness kept her from attempting to start any sort of conversation. He probably wouldn't be too thrilled if he discovered that she was one of those annoying people who would talk to a complete stranger whether they wanted a conversation or not.
------------------------
Okay, that's it for now, though I think I will be writing more tonight. Please review. It's been too long since I've written anything, and I think I've gotten much worse.
