Snape led me out of the store and I barely acknowledged what was going on around me. I had a freaking dragon, how many people can say that? After a couple minutes of walking Snape suddenly seemed to notice that he was practically dragging me behind him. I think he tried to get my attention for some time before I finally even realized we'd stopped walking. "Miss Ashburn," Snape said to me, "I'm aware that this is completely unexpected and frightening but you honestly need to pull yourself together."
I shook my head and tried to comprehend what he was saying to me. He was aware that this was "frightening" and "unexpected"? I didn't know dragons existed in real life until fifteen minutes ago, hell I didn't know that magic was real or that I was a witch until a couple weeks ago! I took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, what are we doing now?"
Snape seemed to search my face for a moment before nodding to himself and saying, "Headmistress McGonagall said to come to her immediately so that's where we are going now. I'm afraid you'll have to get your wand at a different time. Do you understand?"
I nodded before looking to the small dragon on my shoulder and found that she seemed aggravated for some reason. I looked at her for a moment and then back at Snape. I stepped away from Snape a little and she seemed to relax fractionally. I stepped closer again and she tensed so I stepped away again and said to Snape, "Umm, sir? My new pet doesn't seem comfortable…" I trailed off hoping that Snape would get what I was saying.
Snape shrugged and looked like he wasn't overly surprised. "I know that Tibetan Impressions normally don't like their person to be close to strangers or anyone if possible. I was hoping that she would be so wrapped up in finally finding her person that she wouldn't notice but I guess we don't have that kind of luck," Snape informed me.
Tibetan Impression? Such an odd name, I thought to myself. "Okay, then. How are we getting to Hogwarts?" I asked Snape.
Snape sighed. "I was planning on apparating there."
I thought about it before shrugging. "I guess we won't know what's okay with her until we try it, will we?"
Snape nodded before we walked over to a circle on the path. "This is an apparition point," he didn't elaborate because I think he could tell I couldn't handle anymore new information and he was right.
Snape offered his forearm for me to hold onto again as I looked around me. Ice was on my shoulder, I'm pretty sure that counts as holding on, I thought to myself, but I don't think me holding on to the puppy's leash does. So I picked the puppy up and held her in my arms before lightly grasping Snape's offered arm. I closed my eyes seconds before I felt that pulling in my stomach. I waited a couple seconds after I felt the ground under my feet to open my eyes. Luckily when I did open my eyes the world wasn't spinning around me. A couple seconds after opening my eyes I felt eight points of sharp pains on my shoulder. I turned to look at the small dragon perched on my shoulder; she had her face hidden in my light brown hair and her claws were digging into my shoulder through my clothes. She looked absolutely terrified and I think I was lucky that she hadn't burned me to a crisp.
I glanced at Snape to find him watching my new pet intently. "I think that apparating is out," I told him.
He just nodded and said, "You should probably find a way to calm her before she draws blood."
I didn't respond, instead I slowly lifted my hand and gently started running my hand down her back. Her scales were smooth and glinting in the sunlight. She seemed to relax with every pass of my hand over her scales; eventually she lifted her head and nuzzled against my cheek.
After couple minutes Snape just started walking and I became aware of what was around me. There were tall, wrought iron gates in front of me and trees on either side of the path I was standing on. I put the puppy back down on the ground and gave a slight tug on the leash to make sure that she walked along side me before walking off and following behind Snape.
I was thinking about all the new developments in my life when I suddenly realized that I hadn't even named my new pets yet. I looked at the small ice blue dragon perched on my shoulder and said, "Ice." She looked up instantly and somehow conveyed her approval of the name. I nodded before turning my gaze to the puppy walking happily alongside me. I thought about it for a moment saying, "Max?" The puppy didn't look up and when I glanced at Ice she seemed to be looking at me incredulously. "Okay, fine." I thought for another minute before saying, "Sam?" The puppy looked up at me with her baby blue eyes and barked, this time I didn't even need to look at Ice to feel her approval.
I'd been so caught up in naming my new pets I hadn't even glanced at the castle that had come into view. It was magnificent and absolutely over powering. Honestly, I was intimidated, this was the school I was going to be living in for the next couple months – no, I corrected myself – the next couple years. Shit, I thought to myself, how the hell am I supposed to get used to this? I don't care if I have weeks, months, years or a freaking life time there was no way I would ever get used to living in a freaking CASTLE.
Before I knew it we were standing before two huge, oak doors. I was starting to question if we'd be able to get them open when Snape seemed to just push with the same amount of power he would use for a normal sized door and it opened. I grinned and thought to myself, I love magic.
I followed Snape through various hallways, past talking and moving portraits and windows with breathtaking views. But I was way too nervous to actually soak in my surrounding, and Snape was walking too fast. I still couldn't believe that school hadn't even started yet and I was already being called to the Headmistress's office; I knew that it had nothing to do with anything I'd done but it was still a bad start to my Hogwarts career.
Finally we were standing before a statue of an eagle with its wings spread. Snape mumbled a password and the statue started to spiral upwards leaving stairs in its stead. Snape motioned for me to step onto the spiraling staircase so it would carry me upwards, so I did. When the stairs stopped I was standing in front of a normal sized oak door.
I lightly knocked on the door and I heard a terse female voice say, "Enter." I opened the door to see a woman with graying brown hair pulled back in a harsh bun. She was wearing a pair of green robes. The woman smiled when I hesitantly opened the door before her gaze drifted behind me. "Thank you, Severus. Now, you can go and rest while we handle this matter."
"No, Minerva, I cannot leave because young Miss Ashburn's mother is a good friend of mine and has asked me to look after her daughter while she is here and I believe this is precisely the type of thing she wants me to be here for," Snape replied from behind me.
The headmistress sighed before saying, "Very well, then. Charlie, what do you think of the situation?"
I just then saw a tall, well muscled, red headed man sitting in one of the chairs across the desk from the headmistress. He had eyes the same color of Ice's scales and they were disturbingly intent as they looked from me to Ice and back again. He suddenly stood and I saw just how tall he really was; he was probably at least 6' 6" with broad shoulders, muscled biceps and thighs the size of tree trunks. All he needed was a bright red beard and he would easily pass for the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk. He looked down at me before slowly reaching a hand towards me. The closer his hand got the tenser both Ice and I got. When the hand was less than three inches from Ice's snout I grabbed his wrist. My fingers didn't even come close to touching, as soon as my hand made contact those intent blue eyes met mine. I didn't say a word I just shook my head no and took a step back.
"I wasn't going to hurt her; I just wanted to see how she reacted to someone else's touch," the red headed giant said patronizingly.
I glared at him and said, "If you'd bothered to ask you would've already known instead of getting three inches away from getting your hand fried to a crisp. She doesn't like is when someone's too close to me, how do you think she would've reacted to someone touching her?"
The red headed man blinked, taken aback by my attitude. The headmistress decided to cut in then and said, "Miss Ashburn this is Charlie Weasley, he's thinking about teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year he's a dragon trainer and a very good one too. Charlie this is Allyssa Ashburn." I simply nodded in both understanding and greeting.
"Yes, it's very easy to tell when a dragon trainer is good; if they're dead or permanently seriously injured they aren't good but if they're like Charlie here and have escaped with a few minor scars then they're considered good," Snape added with a chuckle earning a glare from Charlie and the headmistress and a faint smile from me. "Oh, yes, Miss Ashburn this charming Scottish lady is Headmistress and Transfiguration Mistress Minerva McGonagall." I gave McGonagall a nod in greeting too.
"Right, now that we've discovered that Miss Ashburn's pet is against contact with other people, what do you say is the next step Charlie?" McGonagall asked the younger man.
I glanced at Weasley only to see that he'd been staring at me (or was he just staring at Ice?) at the sound of his name he tore his gaze away and cleared his throat before replying, "Well, there's really nothing we can do except hope that Miss Ashburn's dragon adjusts to having other people around her without incident. I think it would be a good idea for Miss Ashburn to have her own rooms or at least something more private that a dorm because time away from other people will relax – what did you say her name was?"
"Ice," I answered even though I hadn't actually mentioned her name.
"Right. It'll relax Ice so that she doesn't get too stressed and snap," Weasley finished.
"Well, where her rooms are would depend on what house she's in," McGonagall said with a frown.
"Minerva I'm sure sorting her three days early won't make that much difference and since no one will know no one can complain about it," Snape sneered.
McGonagall sighed before going to one of the shelves and picking up an old pointy hat. Instantly the folds seem to make a face and it said, "I didn't think I had to do any work for another three days, what's the meaning of this? I was working on my song you know, they don't write themselves!"
"Dear, how about you sit down," the elderly woman suggested. I complacently sat rigidly in one of the chairs next to the one Weasley had been sitting in.
McGonagall put the old hat on my head and it sighed when it was put down. "How interesting; a great future awaits you no matter where you are placed but where fits you best? You're very smart and a fast learner but Ravenclaw would be much too boring for you. You'd eat the Hufflepuffs for breakfast. That leaves Slytherin and Gryffindor. Such troubled times we're recovering from so I believe I'll put you in . . . . Gryffindor!" Okay, that was the second weirdest thing that's ever happened to me, the first is a tie between having a dragon as a pet and being a witch. I still had no idea why they actually put the hat on my head but I wasn't about to ask any questions, I'll probably just ask another student.
"That's splendid, now she can share rooms with Hermione Granger," McGonagall said.
"She's going to be turned into a know-it-all if you put her there Minerva," Snape sneered.
"Now, Severus, she's one of the reasons you're still alive today so hush. Besides, Miss Granger is a hero of the wizarding world and she still decided to come back and finish her NEWTs; she's a woman to be admired not mocked Severus Snape." Obviously this Hermione Granger was very important and Snape didn't like her very much yet she saved his life; interesting but I'll think about it later. McGonagall turned to Weasley again and said, "Charlie why don't you go introduce Miss Ashburn to Miss Granger, I think Miss Granger is in the library as usual."
Weasley nodded before saying, "Our conversation from earlier is not finished Minerva; I will not be nagged into taking this position even it is two of the most feared women in wizarding Britain."
"Very well, Charlie. We will continue our conversation after you get back," McGonagall replied.
I followed Weasley out of the office, down the spiraling stair case, past more talking and moving paintings and more breathtaking views, up and down moving staircases (those really freaked me out), down hallways that looked like they never ended and finally passed a door that led to shelves and shelves packed with books. Well, this told me one thing about my new roommate: she liked reading probably more than I did and she wasn't afraid to read text books either, in fact it almost seemed like she preferred them.