'Let's go back
Back to the beginning
Back to when the earth, the sun, the stars
All aligned…
Because perfect, didn't seem so perfect'.
-Come Clean, Hilary Duff
Preface
"Why send me?" she asked the headmaster, her voice tight and filled with raw emotion.
"It is best to send an otherwise anonymous student," he explained yet again, "a student who holds little prejudice. Therefore, upon going back in time, you will not let any judgment or outward persuasions prevent you from fulfilling this task."
"How do you know I haven't already chosen a side?" she had to ask, not at all sounding rude or rash.
"I'd care to believe that a witch coming from another country would not know enough about this war to choose," he supplied with honesty.
"Yes," she nodded, agreeing with that logic, "but from what you've told me, Tom Riddle hardly seems like a man worthy of a second chance."
Albus sighed, "The one in this life, perhaps," he told the sixteen year old, "the past, however, shall be up for you to decide."
"Speaking of the past," she needed more information on the matter, "the sorting and coursework shouldn't be much different from that of America's, right?"
"Not at all," he reassured her.
"If I choose to go back, there is no returning, the red haired teen peered at the headmaster grimly, "is there?"
He did not lie, "I am afraid not, Miss Hedley."
Being an orphan in the states, the fact didn't bother her as much as it should have.
"So," she took a deep breath, still feeling nervous about this off the wall plan, "how did you decide on me? I mean, there are hundreds of other students in Salem."
"You scored the highest in your testing for the age I hoped to acquire," he enlightened her. "Given your history, I also found it safe to assume that you would not miss this era too terribly," Albus still refrained from keeping in any secrets as he remained bluntly honest.
She wasn't offended by the facts. "So, why change my name?" she desired to know.
"Merely as a safety precaution," he assured her, "we do not know whether or not your predecessors attended our school prior to or after the year of 1943."
"Can I choose my own name at least?" she asked, knowing she would automatically be placed in a Hogwarts house known as Slytherin in order to be closer with Tom. Having formerly been in a house whose qualities centralized around selflessness, she was hardly aware as to how she would pull this off.
"Of course," Albus smiled kindly, feeling as if it were the least he could offer.
Not having to ponder for even a second, she opted to go with the name of a place she'd always wanted to visit. "Alaska," she brightly told him, "Alaska Clark," the surname was based off of an author she favored.
"Right then, Miss Clark," his blue eyes twinkled for all but a moment given their rather serious situation, "are you prepared?" he checked, the ancient enchantment already explained and ready to be placed.
Closing her hazel eyes and giving herself a minute to mentally be set, she hesitantly nodded.
"Now," Albus spoke carefully, "I have here, a parchment of which you should pass on to my earlier self," he handed the ivory skinned girl a folded note, watching as she took it with shaky hands. "I advise you to seek my company immediately upon your arrival," he ordered more so than suggested. "I should be of some help to you once you do so," he tried providing her with this small comfort.
"Okay," she breathed out, "and I'll have Hogwarts: A History, to read on the train ride in, right?" the newly named student made sure, wanting to know as much as possible before entering the castle at an earlier date.
"A less updated version, yes," the headmaster confirmed. "For now, I am afraid you really must be going," he checked the time, realizing that the fifty years younger Express would be leaving in less than half an hour.
Nodding in a silent agreement, Dumbledore formed the first link in a long and drastic chain of the events about to unfold.
Next: The train-ride in.
Until then…
(R&R, please!)