Chapter 1

Rachel Elizabeth Dare stared out over the lake forlornly.

She didn't even know why she came out here. To get away from those girls, perhaps. Spoiled rich girls who hid their true selves behind a mask of polite indifference or arrogance.

It seemed she had no friends at Clarion Academy, the elite private girls' school her father had admitted her to.

Her father.

Now there was something she could definitely rant about for a while.

Rachel snorted to herself almost pityingly.

She then sighed heavily; stood up and brushed herself off while mentally preparing herself for the world of Clarion Academy. It was a boarding school, so when she had first arrived, it seemed like there was no escape.

Until she found the lake.

A place hidden from the world, just her and her thoughts.

It was only a quarter of a mile away from the main school, while still being a part of the campus. Of course all the other girls complained about using any amount of energy unless it involved shopping, catfights, or boys in general. How stereotypical can you get?

She sighed to herself again and began the trek back to the boarding houses. Only another 4 months or so, she told herself while rolling her eyes, and after school's over… She burst into an involuntary grin then frowned reflexively as she remembered that she still had to last another 4 months. How in Hades did she manage to stay sane last year?

Rachel walked along absentmindedly, consumed by her thoughts, until she was jerked from them with a sudden CRACK.

Rachel must have jumped five feet, but her instincts kicked in right after. As she ran behind the nearest tree, she still managed to smile wryly to herself. The results of spending a summer trying not to get killed made her wary and jumpy for a few weeks. She thought she had cured herself from that particular habit, but she was sort of reluctant to do so, just in case of another attack. Though who would want to attack Clarion Academy was beyond her. They were mostly after the people she was with. But she still remembered the way she was before she met her friends; sure she was insane from seeing things that didn't exist.

She peered out from behind the sturdy oak and thought that she was really beginning to go crazy.

For there, standing in the spot she had just abandoned, was an old man dressed in brightly colored robes complete with stars and moons, looking for all the world like he had just stepped out of a fairy tale. He had white hair and an impossibly long beard, and appeared to holding in one hand a wand.

Rachel couldn't believe this.

In all of her supposed hallucinating, she had never seen a wizard. Maybe a crazy son of Hecate? But he didn't look like the fighting type, and fighting was key in order to survive for this long. In fact, she didn't ever remember seeing a half-blood any where older than twenty-five, though she supposed they were out there. Of course, she thought morosely, most don't last that long.

She peeked around the trunk of the tree again, only to stare straight into twinkling blue eyes that vaguely reminded her of Chiron behind clear semi-circle glasses.

"Hello."

Rachel jerked back in surprise and a small part fear.

"Who are you?"

Rachel blushed at her sudden lack of manners, then immediately was horrified at herself. Oh no! Clarion must be getting to me! She blinked and dismissed the thought to focus on the problem at hand.

The old man just smiled reassuringly.

"I assume you are Miss Dare, correct?"

Rachel hesitated for a moment, before replying tentatively.

"Yes."

The man's smile grew wider.

"Chiron sent this letter; he said it should explain everything."

Rachel relaxed at the mention of Chiron, but as always, kept her guard up. She held out her hand expectantly.

"May I see it?"

Her long fingers grasped the thin paper and were quick to unfold it.

Dear Rachel,

I have known your opinion of your school and your abilities, so when I received word from an old friend I immediately thought of you. The man who delivered this letter is called Albus Dumbledore. He is headmaster of a prestigious school for witchcraft and wizardry, Hogwarts. As you are probably wondering, witches and wizards are merely mortals blessed by Hecate, having no godly blood. However they have managed to create their own society, hidden from the eyes of unknowing mortals. Few, however, know of their origins, having passed down the magical ability through their offspring.

Albus is one such man. One of my distant, more prophetic centaur relatives, Firenze, has recently become a teacher at his school due to unfortunate circumstances, which prevented the last professor from teaching. The subject he is teaching is Divination, which has to do with telling the future, prophecy, and other related subjects. When he contacted me for teaching advice, I suggested an actual oracle coming to stay as a guest at their school. Both Albus and Firenze were agreeable with the idea, and so, coming to my conclusion, it is up to you whether or not you would wish to visit their school, Hogwarts, for an extended period of time. Any arrangements will be taken care of and you may research some of their subjects at Hogwarts if you wish, without using practical application, of course. The decision is entirely up to you. Simply tell Albus you wish to go and he will take you or you may remain at Clarion Academy until it is time for you to return in the summer.

Best of Luck,

Chiron

Rachel blinked in surprise. Definitely not what she was expecting. Then she grinned broadly as all the information sunk in.

Stuck-up, make-up obsessed freaks or a new cool magical world? Gee, I wonder.

"I'll go." She said abruptly, looking up from the paper she held in between her fingers at the patiently waiting Headmaster.

He smiled kindly in return.

"Thank you for your help. We are always pleased to be welcoming talented young people to Hogwarts." He said sincerely.

"Should I go pack my bags? Will we be leaving now?"

"Chiron said he already sent two suitcases from your other living area."

The cave where she stayed during the summer.

"Oh." She paused, slightly worried. "Did he-"

"Chiron said he remembered your art supplies."

Rachel flushed at being this predictable, but grinned at the thought of being able to paint in her free time. Though, nowadays she used them mostly to record her visions.

"So, do we just…leave then?"

Rachel suddenly felt apprehensive at the abruptness of this. Not ten minutes ago, she was sitting by the lake, avoiding school. Now she was traveling to a distant magical school.

"Yes." He confirmed. "Please hold onto my arm tightly. We will be apparating, which while the travel time is relatively short, can often cause some motion sickness to those not accustomed to it. Just so you will be prepared."

Rachel now looked at outstretched arm with a slightly panicked expression. Motion sickness? She never had many problems with it before, but she was nervous about this new form of travel. Nevertheless, she grabbed his arm, albeit a bit tighter than normal.

Dumbledore didn't seem at all uncomfortable with her death grip on his arm, merely muttering words that made no sense to Rachel and suddenly she felt the most peculiar feeling of being dragged through a tornado by the pit of her stomach.

It was not Rachel's most favorite feeling in the world.

When the winds finally died down, true to his word, Rachel was vomiting into the nearest bush.

Ugh, she thought as she wiped her mouth with a kerchief provided by a thoughtful Dumbledore, I hate apparating.

She had been too busy being sick before to notice her surroundings, but now that she did, she felt like she had been transported back in time.

They stood at the edge of a village; it wasn't big enough to be called a town. There were old thatched rooftops and heavy brick walls. The cobblestone road was one of the few main ways in the village. The people who milled about the quiet settlement wore the oddest of clothing, like they were from the Medieval Ages. All in all, very strange.

"Where are we?"

Dumbledore smiled for what seemed like the twentieth time in the short five minutes she had known him.

"Hogsmeade. We cannot apparate directly into Hogwarts because of the wards, so the closest town was Hogsmeade. I've arranged for transportation for the remainder of the way."

As long as it's not apparating. Rachel grimaced at the thought.

"They should be here relatively soon."

Rachel wondered how he had managed to notify whoever was coming so quickly; it didn't seem at all possible, but then again, this was magic.

Rachel was dragged from her thoughts by a clip-clop sound and she turned around, fully expecting to see a regular horse, or maybe a Pegasus; they were common around camp. What she saw was a winged dark raggedy skeletal looking horse-thing. It didn't even look alive. It was terrifying. Rachel could almost feel herself being dragged back to her fears of the past and looked up at Dumbledore with a panicked expression to make sure she wasn't crazy, she was still sane, she wasn't hallucinating ag-

"Can you see the threstrals?" He looked down at her calmly, and some small irritated part of her wondered if he ever stopped being annoyingly peaceful all the time.

Still, Rachel nodded numbly.

Dumbledore looked greatly depressed. "So sad for one so young."

Seeing Rachel's confused look, he explained. "Thestrals can only be seen by those who have seen death."

Rachel blinked and tried to remember when she had seen death. She recalled the horrifying experience of Antaeus's area. But the monsters really weren't dead; they would come back. In fact, Rachel couldn't ever remember actually seeing death. She remembered the feeling of the injured and dying all around her during the battle of Manhattan, but she had never physically seen someone die. But then again, Rachel had always been able to see that which others couldn't. Maybe it was just another side effect of being clear-sighted.

Rachel was jerked from her thoughts by the sound of a door opening. While she had been preoccupied with the threstrals, she had somehow managed to completely miss the carriage it was pulling.

The carriage was black with high intricate wheels. It had small windows on either side through which she could see two people.

The person who had opened the door was a woman. She had chaotic unnaturally pink hair and bright eyes. She could just make out the silhouette of a rather lumpy man.

The first lady flashed a grin at her, before addressing Dumbledore.

"Who's this? I thought we were just picking you up, Headmaster."

The man in the shadows grunted in agreement.

Dumbledore smiled serenely. "This is Ms. Dare. She will be assisting Firenze with the Divination classes."

The woman looked confused but still smiled at her and motioned for her to get in.

Rachel sat down across from the other man on old dusty red cushions. She could finally see the other man.(the curiosity was killing her) He had balding red hair in random tuffs, a long trench coat, a wooden leg, and of all things, a moving artificial eye. The eye scared the crap out of Rachel, who had never seen such a thing. It was bright blue and swiveled around in all directions, but right now it was centered on her. She gave an involuntary shiver.

Dumbledore situated himself on the seat next to hers before closing the door tightly and with a sudden jerk the carriage moved forward.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"I'm Nymphadora Tonks, but you can just call me Tonks." The woman broke the silence with a nervous smile and reached out her hand to Rachel.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare." She shook her hand.

Tonks nodded and motioned her head at the man with the creepy eye. "This is Moody."

Rachel nodded. "Do you work for the school?" she asked, trying to make small talk.

Tonks shook her head. "Actually we're aurors for the Ministry. We were just helping out for security."

Rachel tilted her head in a puzzled manner. "Aurors? Ministry?"

Now Tonks was confused. "You know… the Ministry of Magic?"

Rachel shrugged. "I'm sorry; I don't know much about the magical world. I only found out today."

Moody finally spoke from his dark corner. "Today? How is she supposed to help if she doesn't know anything? And shouldn't she have found out sooner? Mighty suspicious, if you ask me." His voice was low and growling and his fake eye fixed on her again.

Rachel glared indignantly at his tone. "I may not know much about magic, but I do know a great deal about foretelling and prophecy."

"How can you know about foretelling and prophecy and not about magic? It's impossible." His already suspicious look turned into an accusing glare.

Dumbledore broke in. "Rachel is an expert at seeing the future and giving prophecies. It's a natural gift. However, she wasn't aware of the magical world because she is, technically speaking, a muggle."

Muggle? Rachel was confused again and Tonks looked shocked and unsure of what to say. Moody's expression didn't change.

"A muggle in Hogwarts? Are you sure this is wise, with the Ministry poking around this year?" Tonks asked tentatively.

"We just won't be mentioning this to the Ministry." Dumbledore said calmly.

Still, Tonks sputtered. "But, how? I mean, what can she….do?"

Rachel, tired of being ignored, cut in. "What is a muggle?"

"A non-magical person, my dear." Dumbledore said before turning back to Tonks. "Rachel is an Oracle. This ancient trait has passed from a muggle girl to muggle girl for thousands of years."

Tonks still looked slightly skeptical, but seemed to believe it for most part. Moody, on the other hand, looked entirely skeptical. Oh well, she thought, their loss.

The rest of the trip was awkward silence, except for Dumbledore mentioning that this was to only stay between Order members, whatever that meant.

Rachel glanced out the window as they approached the school and she caught her breath.

It was a castle.

A giant, medieval castle. Complete with numerous stone turrets and towers. A mystical air seemed to surround the castle and the lights inside cast an eerie glow about it. A vivid reflection glistened on the long lake in front. The watery image broke apart in quiet ripples as something large and dark stirred under the surface. She felt the sudden urge to sketch it before it disappeared.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

Rachel tore her eyes from the magnificent sight to turn to Tonks. She seemed to have overcome her hesitation from before.

"I've never seen anything quite like it. Does anyone live there?"

Tonks laughed lightly. "Of course! That's the school!"

"Oh." Rachel shook her head, grinning at the obviousness of her question. She was filled with a sudden nervous excitement. She was going to live in a castle! She was suddenly launched back ten years into old memories. A six-year old girl who wanted nothing more of the world than shiny tiaras and princess gowns. She'd grown out of that stage quicker than most, but it still didn't change the fact that once her greatest desire was to live in a castle.

They neared the castle swiftly drawing up in front of huge doors that must have been at least three stories tall. They were a solid stained oak, kept together with large iron bars, thicker than her torso.

The edges of the iron curved into a myriad of varyingly sized decorative circles, symmetrical on both sides.

She clamored out of the carriage behind Dumbledore onto the stone pathway.

Moody strayed behind Rachel, but she could feel his eyes watching her back, alert of her every movement. She shivered reflexively.

Dumbledore led the way to the doors and pulled out his sti-wand. Knowing she was about to see some of her first bits of magic, she inched forward eagerly. Green eyes watched as Dumbledore waved his wand through the air like a conductor over an orchestra.

There was no bright flash of light, no sparkles or anything you might expect from magic. Just a swish and a few mumbled words.

The imposing door swung open with a loud creak in response to his gesture.

"Welcome to Hogwarts."

A/N: I really don't know why I'm doing this. I really shouldn't be starting yet another story, but I can't help it. For this reason, updates will be spontaneous and random. Don't expect anything soon. Hoped you liked it. Please tell me what you think. This may or may not influence my decision to update faster. That's all.