Hope you all enjoy, and please, if you get a chance, leave a comment!
Sweet Disorder
Chapter II
Sophie gazed in astonishment at the castle before her. Diana, luckily, had not awoken with her nearly jumping ten feet in the air, but the young woman hadn't even remembered the child in her arms. She was way too busy trying not to faint.
Slowly, she stood. She put a shaking hand on the castle wall, convincing herself there was no way that this was actually happening; it was too surreal. Feeling the hard, cold stone against her fingertips, she turned and leaned on it, Diana's soft snores still the only noise permeating the air.
Sophie sighed, confused beyond belief. "Do you know what's going on, my dear?" she whispered, but the toddler simply turned over to curl against her chest, her breathing even deeper.
Sophie mentally went over every calming trick she knew -counting sheep, breathing slowly, doing yoga- before giving up and making her way around the castle. Surely there was an entrance somewhere?
It was still pitch black outside, so Sophie kept her left hand trailing along the wall while her right arm held the child, who was growing heavier and heavier. Finally, her fingers left the stone and hit smooth wood, and through the darkness her eyes perceived a huge, oval-shaped door.
Her exhaustion finally catching up to her, she slumped against the door as she knocked weakly. What she wasn't prepared for was the door creaking open by itself.
She fell hard, twisting at the last second so that her back hit the floor instead of trapping Diana beneath her. She laid there for a minute, catching her breath, too tired and thirsty to get up. That is, until a voice made her jump to her feet.
"What do we have here? A student out of bed?"
A slimy, creepy man came into view, his grotesque face glowing in the light of a simple lantern held up to his head. 'What the hell?' Sophie thought. 'They keep creepy people like that in... is this a school?'
'Well, he did say students,' she reasoned. She stood shakily and backed against the wall, Diana still sleeping in her arms. "I'm not a student here, Mister. Could you point me to some sort of authority?" She asked, trying to be as polite as possible, barely holding in her exhaustion.
"I'm the authority here, girly," the man leered, stalking toward her. Sophie whimpered, turning so the man couldn't see Diana. She braced herself for running, when...
"Filch, what in Merlin's name are you doing?" a voice drawled.
Sophie's head shot in the direction of the voice; a man in all black with a huge nose and greasy hair stood there. Whatever he expecting, it clearly wasn't her, as his expression was one of surprise. Then his face crinkled into some sort of frown. "Who are you?" he implored, walking quickly over to her.
He took a small, smooth stick out if his sleeve, held it against her neck, and began interrogating her. She didn't really hear what he was asking; she could only stare up at him confusedly. He seemed to get still angrier, and with only -Filch, was it?- looking on, Sophie was beginning to feel scared. There was only one good thing about this situation, and that was that the two men had not seen the child yet.
Suddenly, the castle rumbled above them. The man in black and Filch both jumped. The former didn't look too freaked out, but Filch was staring at the ceiling with his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets. "Last time that happened," he muttered to himself.
It was as if his words were a trigger. Four people of various shapes and sizes poured out of an assortment of doors and halls, all coming toward them at a run. One was a small man, who came to a stop next to Filch. Another was an older woman with a funny looking hat on her head, and next to her was a woman with long ebony hair streaked with grey falling over her shoulder in a long braid, wearing an equally dark robe.
The last one came quickly toward them. "Severus, who is it?" he asked, moving closer.
Her eyes were beginning to droop, but she would've recognized that voice anywhere. "Mister Dumbledore?" She questioned weakly, before Diana dropped out of her hands and she fell forward in a dead faint.
HPHPHP
It was, oddly, Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore who reacted the fastest.
With good reflexes and a wandless Accio charm, the small child was in Minerva's arms before it could hit the ground.
Severus had backed away when Dumbledore had come toward him, so he wasn't close enough to catch the girl, but Albus was. He lunged forward with a speed that was incredible for his age, and caught the young woman and hoisted her into his arms. Her head dangled at an slight angle, making her long waterfall of black hair tumble so far that it was softly brushing the floor.
The entire room stared at their Headmaster in awe.
Only Minerva was unsurprised. "I wish you would cease to attempt to show off, Albus, and tell us what on earth is going on here!"
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Well," he began. "I was on my way to the kitchens to-"
Severus rolled his eyes. Only Dumbledore would give a monologue at a time like this. "Headmaster, who is this witch and how do you know her?" He questioned, looking bored and tired but slightly curious. "And what is she doing with that little girl?"
"This is Sophie Stromwell," Dumbledore explained, "and she is in no way a witch, because she is a muggle. And I have no earthly idea about the young child." He nodded toward the toddler who was now wide awake, and beginning to wail in Minerva's arms. Dumbledore's eyes softened for a moment before he added, "As for the circumstances under which we met, that is a story I do not wish to disclose at the present time. Perhaps tomorrow would be better."
Minerva handed the child to Poppy Pomfrey, who immediately began gushing at the girl. "What's your name, darling?" she cooed.
"Diana," the young girl replied shyly, fingering Poppy's hat. "Your hat look funny," she added slowly, her brow crinkling. Poppy giggled.
"Poppy? Do you think you could take care of the little one for tonight? She seems hungry." The matron nodded. "I shall put Sophie down in my room, and meet the rest of you in my office in five minutes." The others nodded, and Albus hurried to his quarters.
Feeling a presence beside him, he looked around, raising an eyebrow at Minerva McGonagall. "What?" she asked indignantly. "The poor girl's soaked to the bone, and I'm sure not letting you unclothe her!"
Dumbledore blushed. "Of course, my dear. I'm afraid that thought escaped my mind." Minerva only snorted softly in response.
The rest of the journey was quiet; the two were best friends, and had worked together for innumerable years. Between them, words were simply not needed.
Albus quietly waited outside while Minerva took the girl inside with a Levitating Charm and laid her on the bed, slowly unpeeling her soaked clothes from her body and transfigured a nightgown from a handkerchief, using a simple Drying Charm on the girl's long hair. She took a step back, admiring her work, before pulling up the covers and making sure she was, or at least looked, comfortable.
She quickly left the room –being in Albus' chambers had always made her marginally uncomfortable- and set off with the Headmaster to his office. There were only three people there when they arrived: Filius was seated in the visitor's chair across from Dumbledore's chair, Severus was standing ramrod straight against the back wall, and a new arrival, Pomona Sprout, was wringing her hat tightly in her hands, standing next to Flitwick.
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Pomona, but Filius, by way of explanation, spoke. "It seemed only fitting that all the Heads should be here to discuss this… girl, Albus. So I sent my Patronus to Professor Sprout and she came as quickly as possible. Mr. Filch left very soon after we arrived; he was muttering something about chains and detentions," he clarified in a squeaky, somewhat worried, voice.
Pomona raised her head. "Is the girl alright?" She questioned concernedly.
"Her name is Sophie," Dumbledore began with a bit of an edge to his voice. None of the others picked up on it, but Minerva shot him a wary glance. He noticed, and his tone lightened. "She is fine, Pomona. A small cold, maybe, but we're here to discuss how she got into the castle and what we do with her next."
Severus pushed himself off the wall, coming slightly closer to the rest of the professors. "What I wish to know, Headmaster, is how exactly you know a Muggle," he enunciated slowly.
"We met in London recently," Albus said simply, obstinately refusing to say anything more. "What I truly wonder is how in Merlin's name she got was allowed into Hogwarts."
"Or how she got past the Dementors," Filius added solemnly. "Even the most powerful of us all still have issues overcoming their terrible darkness, and this is a teenaged Muggle and a child we're talking about." The other nodded, concurring with this statement. With all the excitement of the unexpected company, they had all but forgotten about the soul-sucking creatures.
"Professor Dumbledore?"
Five pairs of eyes snapped to an old, decrepit hat sitting on the shelf next to a bunch of ancient books. For an enchanted object that had seen so much, its voice was surprisingly chipper. "Yes?" Albus acknowledged, cautiously. It had been a while since he had conversed with the Sorting Hat.
The hat chuckled, if a hat can laugh. "I believe the answer you are seeking, Headmaster Dumbledore, can be told only by the one in this place that knows all and sees all." Then, the hat went quiet.
The small group turned back to each other. "Well, Filius," Snape sneered. "A riddle. Isn't this right up your alley?" Filius began to retort, when Minerva interrupted.
"It's the castle," she said softly. "It's talking about the castle." Dumbledore clapped lightly, and the rest worked it out and began nodding deliberately.
"Wonderful, my dear," Albus smiled. "How delightful! Now, if you will excuse me for a minute…" He got up, walking up to the wall and resting his hand on the warm stone. The others watched him, fascinated, and he softly spoke to the wall as if it was his best friend. It made quite the funny picture.
But when Professor Dumbledore spun around, his eyes were wide and his face had gone a bit pale. "I don't," he began roughly, clearing his throat and beginning again. "I don't believe any of you have heard of the Incident of 1687." They all shook their heads. Albus sighed. "Well, as it is stated in Hogwarts, A History, this castle is living and breathing, or it technically has a mind of its own. In the graduating class of 1687, there was a boy who had spoken to the castle in times of trouble or happiness, and the castle listened. When he graduated, the castle showed its… appreciation, then wouldn't let him leave the grounds… for twenty years."
Pomona gasped. "What? How did he finally leave?" She stuttered, still astonished.
"They found the trigger," Albus explained with a shrug. "It seemed the castle wanted him to find a particular room, and once he did, he was free to go." The old man chuckled. "Not that he wanted to. He ended up becoming the Headmaster, my Headmaster for the first two years of my schooling."
There was a brief silence, then Minerva broke it. "Albus, you actually believe this girl could… be in the same situation?"
Eight eyes were trained on him. "I hope, for her sake, she can leave," Dumbledore offered solemnly. "But we can only learn that when Sophie wakes. However, the castle just told me something about being exceedingly protective of the girl with pretty hair as black as the very night itself."
HPHPHP
I hope I did the Harry Potter characters justice! Especially the Sorting Hat, who I have to say is in my top ten favorite characters (?) ever!
Hope you liked it!
~lala~