9/1/11: I've decided to make some grammatical changes that likely won't impact the story in any meaningful way, but feel right. While I am writing in third-person in an English setting, I am following an American character for the most part, so I'll be changing the spelling and grammar to reflect that. So, for example, I'll be editing the spelling of words like "recognise" to instead be changed to read "recognize".
The Looking Glass
The Beginning
Alice blinked through the sleep that seemed to glue her eyes together. As her eyes focused, a sharp gasp escaped her throat. She found herself in a pristine and well-decorated room that was very clearly not her own. Her eyes darted around the room, searching desperately for some explanation as to where she was or how she had come to be there.
An envelope lying on the bedside table began to answer the multitude of questions bubbling up in her head.
Alice Tudor,
You will no doubt be confused about your current situation, but rest assured that you are safe, and all will be answered in time. Things have been arranged so that you may attend school here. Your things have already been bought and delivered to your new home. You leave for school tomorrow, so be prepared to use the portkey I have prepared for you. It leaves at precisely 10:45 in the morning. Do not miss it. Best of luck!
Alice's nose wrinkled as she read over the letter again. She wondered at who would have the audacity to set up and pull off such a ridiculous prank. A portkey! She scoffed and crumpled the letter roughly in her hand, before springing out of bed to look out the window.
She had hoped to get an idea of where she was at—see some sort of landmark or recognizable street name. What instead greeted her eyes was a circular gravel driveway with a gate guarding the entrance and a large, very green lawn.
Alice swore under her breath and began to search the room she was in again. After several moments of not finding anything that might indicate her location, she headed to the door, stopping as she reached her hand out to the door handle. A long wooden box lying on top of a pile of books had suddenly captured her attention for no discernable reason.
She abandoned the door handle, instead snatching up the glossy box and slowly opening it. Inside lay an ornate, grayish brown stick, tapered and smooth at one end.
"This is a fucking joke," Alice gasped, wrapping her fingers around the thin piece of wood. A warm, wonderful feeling seemed to fill her whole body as fuzzy waves of light flowed out of the tip of the… the wand. "This is sick! How does this even…? This doesn't even remotely make sense!"
Nevertheless, a brilliant smile had erupted across her face, her eyes twinkling from the pure, unadulterated joy she was feeling. Her eyes fell over the pile of books, and she suppressed a squeal of delight. She had never been particularly studious. In fact, she had prided herself on never studying for her lessons—never having the need to—although she read voraciously about subjects that interested her.
She was all set to bury herself in her books, when she noticed something. All of the books supplied to her were for a first-year. She couldn't pass for eleven, could she? She hoisted herself back off the floor where she had collapsed amongst the magical texts.
As she had suspected, her rather defined cheekbones were masked by a small amount of baby fat padding her very young cheeks. Her breasts had shrunk considerably, although they were probably still larger than average for an eleven-year-old. Overall, she mostly thought she looked emaciated without the curves she had grown into by the time she had turned eighteen—the age she was last time she had checked.
Alice wondered vaguely at the kind of psychological implications this might have. Being stuck in a body that was seven years younger than yourself must have some sort of complications at this age.
She shrugged, supposing she would deal with it when it came up, and returned to her book. The books completely enthralled her. In fact, she hadn't realized just how lost she had become in her textbooks until the sun began blinding her as it peeked over the horizon.
The books she hadn't had time to begin were moved carefully off the trunk they had been resting on. She began to file the books away into the trunk, noting that everything else she could think to pack had already been neatly organized into the trunk.
A sickening gurgle filled the room suddenly, and Alice glanced at the clock quickly before rushing out of the room to search for food. She found the kitchen and quickly whipped up some breakfast, as well as finding some chips as a snack for the train ride. She stowed the chips as well as a fresh school uniform and a random small book from a bookshelf in her room into a small, brown leather bag. Then, glancing at the time again, she scurried off to shower and change. She emerged from the bathroom just in time to grab her trunk and the portkey—a locket that had begun to glow a bluish hue.
The sight Alice was met with set loose a million butterflies in her stomach. Children and parents were rushing about, and owls swooped and soared overhead. An extremely fluffy cat rubbed its face against her bare leg and purred as it darted back into the crowd.
Alice fought back her giddiness, suppressing a smile as she wound her way through the crowd toward the train. She found a compartment and put her trunk away, pulling out the book she had brought with her. After just a few short minutes, she was interrupted by a male voice.
"D'you mind if I sit here?" a very tidy-looking boy with dark hair asked.
"Not at all," Alice nodded him toward the empty seats, eyeing him carefully. She had just realized that she could possibly come across someone recognizable from Rowling's franchise.
"You're American," the boy noted, looking her over.
"Uhh, yeah," Alice answered lamely. She had suddenly realized she would probably have to come up with some sort of back story for herself here. "I was born in America, but I was sent to live with my father in England two years ago."
"Oh? Why's that?" the looked her over, a strange look in his eye. "If you don't mind sharing."
"Actually," Alice covered as smoothly as she could. " That's sort of personal."
"I'm sorry," the boy quirked an eyebrow, his face quite unreadable. "I'm Sebastian, by the way."
"Alice," she offered in return.
"Excuse me," a pretty, young redhead piped up. "Can we sit in here with you two?"
"Go ahead," Alice smiled widely. Red hair was a good omen. Red hair wasn't overly common, so it likely meant that this girl was someone of importance.
How right she had been, she realised, as the redhead was followed by a thin boy with limp, black hair and a hook nose. The pair was unmistakably Lily Evans and Severus Snape.
"You're American," Severus Snape unknowingly echoed Sebastian's earlier statement.
"You noticed," Alice smirked at him playfully, giggling stupidly in her head at the repetition. "I'm Alice Tudor."
"I'm Lily Evans," the redhead seemed, not surprisingly, to be quite friendly.
"Severus Snape," the thin boy offered, quite a bit more enthusiastically than Alice expected from the future Death Eater.
"I'm Sebastian Bach," the tidy boy piped up.
"You're joking!" Alice playfully pushed his shoulder. Lily giggled and Severus smiled lightly, not overly amused by the name, but feeling laughter in his throat from the girls' giggles.
"Err… No I'm not," Sebastian looked confused.
Alice guffawed in a decidedly unladylike manner. Lily continued to giggle, and Severus just smiled somewhat awkwardly.
"Sebastian Bach is a famous musical composer from ages ago," Lily answered Sebastian's silent question.
"I'm not sure I get why that's funny," Sebastian said, furrowing his brow.
"Me neither, to be completely honest," Lily giggled again. "You probably don't know about him because you grew up in a magical family, am I right?"
"Yes," Sebastian answered, a well-masked look of distaste settling over him. "My whole family is magical. What about yourselves?"
"I'm a half-blood," Severus answered simply, his demeanor shifting. He looked out the window, suddenly very interested in the passing terrain.
Alice did not miss the meaningful glance Lily sent in Severus' direction before the redhead quickly answered, "No-one in my family is magical. It was a shock to find out about all of this to be honest."
Alice thought for a moment before deciding on what to say: "My family is all magical as well. My aunt has a secret love of Muggle music, however."
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" a kind-looking woman had appeared, pushing a trolley overflowing with sweets.
Sebastian bought a fairly large amount of sweets, while Lily just stared in awe at all of the magical and brightly-coloured packaging before finally buying a couple of Chocolate Frogs.
"The two of you don't want anything?" Sebastian asked.
"I've already got a snack," Alice brought out the bag of chips, feeling a tad uncomfortable about not having any money. "Plus, I really don't feel like eating anything sweet right now. I understand we'll be greeted with a feast when we arrive. Wouldn't want to ruin my appetite!" She giggled nervously.
Severus looked just as uncomfortable as Alice felt, if not moreso. She knew he probably had very little—if any—money to spend on sweets as well. She decided to try to change the subject for both of their sakes as Lily offered Severus one of her Chocolate Frogs.
"So what House d'you guys think you'll be in?" Alice asked, knowing full-well that at least two of them probably had no idea.
"My parents would prefer that I be put in Slytherin," Sebastian answered. "I'd be happy with Ravenclaw if I'm not put there, though." He looked a bit bored—and maybe a little disgusted—with his present company.
"Hogwarts has four 'Houses': Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." Alice explained to the confused-looking Lily and Severus. "You'll be living with and attending your classes with your House."
"What's the difference between these houses?" Severus asked, understandable excitement reappearing in his voice.
"Well," Alice wanted to give a fair explanation of each of the Houses, so she tried to choose her words carefully. "Gryffindor is supposed to be for the brave. However, from what I understand, it tends to attract pranksters and trouble-makers as well.
"Hufflepuff confuses me a bit. My father heard conflicting things about that House. Either it's where loyal and diligent people go, or it's where everyone who doesn't quite fit anywhere else goes.
"Ravenclaw is for the intelligent people with a thirst for knowledge. They also tend to be rather straight-laced and by-the-books.
"Slytherin is for quick-witted people who will go to any lengths to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, Slytherin has a reputation for containing some rather unsavory characters. Most of the supporters of Grindelwald were supposedly from Slytherin."
"I think Gryffindor sounds rather nice," Lily said, going over what she had just heard in her head. "Or Hufflepuff. I'd like to think I'm rather loyal and diligent."
"Hufflepuff does sound like a good House to be in," Severus agreed, eyeing the growing distaste on Sebastian's face.
Alice, Lily, and Severus chatted animatedly over their growing excitement for the school year as the look on Sebastian's face grew colder and colder, until...
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to change. We'll probably arrive soon," Sebastian quickly left, looking as if he smelled something foul.
"He makes a good point," Alice noted the dark sky out the window. "Severus, would you mind stepping outside for a moment so that Lily and I can change?"
"I should get changed as well," he answered, grabbing his clothes and exiting the compartment.
The three of them quickly changed, finishing just in time to watch the castle appear in the distance. Alice could hardly keep her breathing in check as she positively beamed. It was breathtaking to see the magical castle that had frequently been the subject of her childhood dreams. How many times had she desperately wished to be whisked away to this very place? She had grown up reading about this amazing castle and its inhabitants, and here she was on the Hogwarts Express, speeding toward all the magic she had hoped for as a child.
Sebastian never came back to join the trio, and they didn't really look for him or even wonder where he had disappeared. The trio followed the rest of the first-years into boats. They were mostly silent as the boats glided noiselessly across the dark water toward the enchanting castle. The only noise made throughout the entire trip was a quiet yelp from Alice when she thought she may have seen the Giant Squid.
A young, but stern-looking woman led the gaggle of first-years up into the castle. Before long, the children around her were being sorted into their respective Houses. Alice watched eagerly as familiar names were called.
"Bach, Sebastian!" The boy strode confidently up to the Sorting Hat, which promptly placed him in Slytherin. He grinned at the news, sauntering down to sit with his House.
"Black, Sirius!" A boy with dark hair winked toward who Alice assumed was James Potter as the Sorting Hat placed him in Gryffindor.
"Evans, Lily!" Alice squeezed Lily's shoulder and mouthed "good luck" to her as she went up to be sorted into Gryffindor as well.
"Lestrange, Rodolphus" was a name Alice recognized only as the name of a future Death Eater. She wasn't at all surprised when the lanky boy was sent to Slytherin. He sneered in the direction of the Gryffindor table, his crooked nose wrinkling in an unattractive way.
When "Pettigrew, Peter" was called, the thing that stuck out most to Alice was that she seemed to have missed Remus Lupin's sorting. She looked toward the Gryffindor table, searching for a boy that might stick out to her as Remus. She still couldn't find the boy anywhere as the tiny and rather skittish-looking Peter Pettigrew made his way to the Gryffindor table.
"Potter, James" did turn out to be the boy Sirius had winked at and was unsurprisingly sorted into Gryffindor, joining his friend with a cheerful smack on the back.
Alice stared absently up at the magical ceiling. The stars twinkled brilliantly as the few clouds in the sky drifted lazily by, revealing a gorgeous full moon. It suddenly made sense why Remus wouldn't be present for the Sorting. Alice felt bad for the kid. This was a terrible thing to have to miss.
The call of "Snape, Severus" broke Alice out of her thoughts, but rather than watch the thin boy nervously approach the Sorting Hat, she turned her attention to Lily Evans.
The pretty redhead was biting her lip as she waited anxiously for her friend to be sorted. When Severus was sent to Slytherin, Lily's face fell a bit, and the two friends shared a quick glance as Severus made his was to the Slytherin table.
"Tudor, Alice!" Alice was a bit surprised to suddenly hear her name, and hurriedly scurried up to the stool and breathed as slowly and deliberately as she could to calm herself as the Sorting Hat slid easily over her head.
Aaaahh. Interesting… your situation is very interesting, but that's beside the point. Hmmm… You're very intelligent, with a voracious appetite for knowledge. Not quite brave, so much as you are fearless. You can rather ruthless with striving to get what you want. You'd likely do best in…