CHAPTER TWO
The change was dramatic. One minute, Pandora was exploring a castle, and the next she was waking up in a loud room filled with roaming teenage girls. They were fumbling with clothes and items, trying their hardest to prepare their uniforms for the day ahead. All of them were behind, most of them wearing mismatched pieces of the navy uniform: One girl had on the proper skirt and a tank top, while the girl next to her was still wearing pajama bottoms to go with her formal shirt.
"Hurry up, Pan! You can't be late too!" a girl called, jostling Pandora as she ran past. Her unruly hair was pulled back into a pony tail, a pile of books keeping the huge mass from toppling her backwards. She was the only one in a perfect uniform, her shoes polished and shining in the early morning light coming in from the room's one window.
"Hermione, wait up!" another girl called, following her from the room. The hallway outside was filled with students. Pandora didn't have much longer or she'd be late.
Her navy blue uniform was kept hanging at the foot of her bed. It was a metal bunk bed, the top part empty. Pandora didn't know if someone slept there or not, as the bed was perfectly made. She tried to do the same, but the other girls assured her there'd be no time. Most of the beds were unmade, and clothes from the night before we flying off as the next day's uniform flew on. Pandora didn't want to strip in front of everyone, but the line from the room's communal bathroom was overflowing as girls from an adjacent room filled it to put on makeup. She had no choice: Strip down in front of everyone or be late for class.
"Oh, there's the bell! Run, girls, run!" someone cried. Pandora nearly put her shoes on the wrong feet as she fumbled with her uniform. It looked right in the full-length mirror between two bunks across the room, so she scurried out behind the others to join the hallway insanity, a small pile of books tucked under her arm.
The dream from the night before was still in her head. Her fingers felt raw from running them along the stone walls, and her head still felt fuzzy after the sudden change. But otherwise, she remembered nothing. She had no idea where her feet were taking her or where she was. She just knew to keep going, and to hold onto her books if she didn't want to pick them up from the overused floor.
"Hurry, Pan, we'll be late for chemistry!" a girl behind her called. Pandora tried to pick up the pace, but there was a wall of people in front of her. Books went flying, causing a traffic jam as people walked around the girl. Pandora recognized her as the girl from the dorm, her wild hair bobbing around as she tried desperately to pick up her papers before the foot traffic of others destroyed them. Her friend helped, passing her papers as fast as she could, but a few were lost in the madness and Pandora couldn't help her.
"Turn!" the girl behind her begged, pushing her into a large classroom. The seats were filling quickly as a tall, dark man in a suit looked to his watch, counting under his breath. Pandora watched him from her second-row seat as he closed the door in time with the bell, locking out the girl with the wild hair and her friend.
"Try again tomorrow, girls, and don't forget my absentee essay," the professor called through the door. The hallway was surprising empty; they seemed to be the only ones who didn't survive the madness.
Pandora's eyes focused on the professor, who flipped open a leather-bound notebook and began calling out last names. Answers came from the names called, except Granger and Smith, who were outside the door. Pandora answered to Fields quickly, her eyes remaining on the dark professor. He looked familiar as someone else, someone who taught something similar to chemistry but not chemistry. She ignored the thoughts as his lecture began.
Aside from a numb hand, the lesson was a success, and Pandora joined her nameless friend in the bustle to her next class, a literature course with fewer students. Pandora remained with her friend on the back row as she watched others come in. A blonde jock in a Letterman jacket took a seat in front of her, along with his large friends. Pandora's friend scoffed loudly; she couldn't see the board with those two blockheads in front of her.
"Could you move, Drake? We can't see," she said, her voice touched with irritation. Pandora knew this had happened before, but she remained silent as the boys chuckled, sitting up higher to block their view further. "Ugh, do you see this, Pan? They win one soccer game, one!, and suddenly they're stars destined for the major leagues. They forget that no one takes people who don't get good enough grades. Come on, Pan, we'll move down there."
The two found new seats just as the professor closed the door in time with the bell. Unlike the previous professor, the door remained unlocked, allowing two more students to enter the room.
"Ten point deduction, Michael and Sam. Try to be faster next time," she warned, marking the deduction in her book. "Amelia?"
"Yes?" Pandora's friend asked, sitting up further in her seat.
"The next time they block your view, just hit them with a little water," she said dryly, handing her a spray bottle. "By the way, Drake, you and your buddies owe me a book report on Wuthering Heights. I expect it by the end of the day or you both will receive zeroes, no exceptions."
Her serious tone made Pandora think of another woman, but she couldn't be sure. She rubbed her temples as roll was called, trying to get the haziness from her mind. Her name didn't seem familiar, and neither did anyone else's. But Drake's name felt wrong, as did her name of Professor McHenry.
"Last night, I asked you to read a few sonnets from Shakespeare from your text. Pandora, I'm still working on acquiring a volume for you to use. Take mine for the class today; I have them all memorized," she winked, passing her a thick volume. Pandora thanked her, flipping through the worn pages with a blank stare. She didn't remember this teacher at all or her lack of a book. She didn't know she needed a book at all.
Themes, words, meanings, and symbols blew past Pandora as she took diligent notes, unsure how she got here or why things seemed so odd. She wanted to ask the girl beside her, Amelia, if there was a nurse's office, but Professor McHenry taught throughout class and a minute after the bell, making them late for brunch services in the cafeteria. Pandora did stick close to her, following her to a table filled with the girls from their dorm room.
"Oh, Hermione! Look what I have!" a girl squealed. She was in Pandora's literature class, one row below Drake. She asked a lot of questions, but not as many as the wild-haired girl. Pandora didn't notice her until she redid her fallen hair with a rubber band from the floor. It was loose now with pieces flying in front of her face, but she didn't seem to mind. A note was handed to her, one written in a boy's hand.
"I can't believe he wrote back!" her friend exclaimed, watching her open the note.
"He said yes! He wants to meet me at the smoothie shop tonight after dinner. But...I have to study," she sighed.
"Ugh, you and your studying!" Amelia scoffed. "You've got plenty of notes and you've already done half of your reading for term. Go out with him and have fun. You deserve it."
"Pandora, you look lost," the girl who delivered the note whispered.
"You've looked off all day. Are you having a hard time adjusting?" Amelia asked. Pandora shrugged, eying the room a little. Nothing felt familiar, aside from the wild-haired girl and the two boys eying her from a nearby table. One was a ginger while the other was dark-haired with a jagged scar on his forehead. She'd definitely seen him before, as well as the blonde and his friends from the table behind them. But where?
"Pandora? Hey, are you okay?" the first girl asked. "Amelia, maybe you should take her to the infirmary. A lot of new girls have a hard time adjusting, but she just looks sick."
"I'm fine. I'm just trying to remember everyone's names. I have a hard time with them," Pandora lied.
"Well, I'm Amelia, and this is Ginny. That's her brother, Ronnie, over there. His buddy, Henry, is always with him," Amelia scoffed, lowering her head. "I heard from a friend that his cousin, Dudley, is a fat slob who got kicked out of prep school for sneaking in a homemade Shepard's pie!" she whispered. The table filled with laughter, but Henry didn't seem to notice they were talking about him. Instead, he looked to Hermione, who saw but looked away.
"Henry likes Hermione, but he and Ronnie called her ugly names when she first came here. She's like you; she isn't from our world, at least not here," Ginny whispered.
"We're both from the middle class, if I recall," Hermione explained, "but we're both very intelligent. I hear you scored the highest at your last school, and you'll be taking more advanced courses next semester if you prove yourself. Isn't that what the headmaster told you?"
"I can't remember," Pandora replied honestly. The group immediately broke into laughter. "Why is that do funny?"
"You'd never forget a conversation with this guy. He fancies himself to be a wizard," Ginny mocked, causing the girls to roll in their seats. "He does lame magic tricks at every assembly. It got old after the third year, I swear!"
"He takes lunches in his office," Amelia said, watching Pandora gaze around the room for him. "If you're having trouble adjusting to life outside Yale, you should talk to him. I'm sure he'll make you feel better."
"How do I make an appointment?" Pandora asked. The others scoffed.
"The man owns color wheels instead of clocks. I'm sure he'll find the purple for you," Ginny cackled, causing the girls to roll in their seats as well.
The laughter quickly ended as the bell rang. But rather than journey to advanced algebra with Amelia, she was lead to the headmaster's office, hopefully to get some answers about her current problems.
"Sit, sit," the old man instructed, watching as Pandora took a seat in front of his desk. "I have a lot to discuss with you and not much time."
Pandora eyed the man carefully. He looked more familiar than any of the others, with his long white robes and eyes that begged for both laughter and information. She even had a name for this man: Albus Dumbledore. She smiled happily as he took his seat. Maybe she could get some answers too.
"I remember you. Please, tell me what's going on," Pandora begged.
"You disobeyed me," he replied sternly, slamming a wrinkled hand onto the surface of the desk. Pandora's smile faded instantly. "I strictly informed you that Hogwarts was a dangerous place, not for curious explorers who want to poke their little fingers at things that didn't belong to them! You've done something unthinkable, Miss Fields, and I have little patience for you! You looked like this was a game when you came in here," he whispered, pointing to the door. "That is not a game, nor will it ever be."
"How do I fix it?" Pandora asked, tears streaming down her face.
"I'll have to do something on the other side, but you're in charge of damage control. No one is the same as they were, but you must decipher who is of our world and who is not. Even I will turn into someone different at sunset tonight. I have to go back while the portal is still alive, but you'll stay until a solution is met, until everyone from our world is picked out and escorted home safely."
"How will I get them back? Will there be a way to contact you?"
"This amulet came with the device centuries ago. It was a different color until now," Dumbledore explained, dropping the blue amulet into her palm. "According to the book that also came with the device, this should allow me to communicate with you. There is no way of keeping track of time, so I'll check back with the device a few hours a day. As soon as everyone is accounted for, contact me. If you encounter any major problems, this is who you should contact," he said, jotting a name down on a scrap piece of paper. "A man from the Ministry of Magic was staying with us in Hogwarts that night. He was going after some students who were planning something, but he never got a chance to tell me what. He's not in the school, I thought, but maybe you can find him. He and three of my professors are here, along with ten students. You've already found some, but the others will be difficult.
"And please, whatever you do, don't let your curiosity get the better of you again. This time, we should be able to fix the damage, but next time? Well there better not be a next time, Miss Fields," Dumbledore said sternly, eying the clock that ticked furiously on his desk. "I'll be leaving soon. I wrote a letter telling you about Hogwarts. It's sad that you only had one day there before this happened. It'll make your job harder, much harder."
"I'll do everything I can, Headmaster," Pandora promised, putting on the amulet.
Dumbledore nodded before grabbing a stick-like object from his desk and moving into a side room. A flash of light came from under the door, but Dumbledore never returned. It was up to Pandora to do things now, to fix the wrongs she created. And she needed to work fast. She couldn't figure out why, but she knew swiftness was important.
