Chapter 2: Yes, She Is All-Knowing
Maddi looked around wildly, trying to make sense of this completely illogical situation. What the bloody hell had happened? First she was in her room, in a little town in bloody Australia, and now she was somewhere in the middle of England at bloody Hogwarts! This was definitely a far cry from the countless headcannons and fan fictions she'd read, far from what she'd imagined; she was here! In the flesh! Hogwarts was so much more than what she'd thought! It was only then she realised that she must have interrupted Dumbledore's start-of-year speech. The room was completely silent and everyone was staring at her. What was she to do? What was she to say? She was pretty sure there wasn't anything in any book or magazine about, "What to do if you're thrown into the fictional world of Harry Potter."
"Ah-hem. May I help you?" a strange voice questioned her. She knew exactly from whose mouth it came.
"Professor Dumbledore?" she whispered
"It is I."
"Professor, if I could have a moment, could I just try and assess this situation? I have no wand; I can't do any damage," Maddi replied a bit more confidently this time.
"Very well," Dumbledore smiled. "You may, as you say, 'assess'."
Maddi looked around the room. Immediately she identified the Gryffindor table, due to the large amount of ginger-haired, freckly kids sitting there, eyeing her up and down with curiosity and a hint of suspicion, as was everyone else. She walked slowly over to the table, nervously pulling the sleeves of her shirt over her hands. Her huge, brown eyes flicked up and down the table until she found the people she sought. She stepped toward the youngest of the ginger clan, who was sitting close to a short boy with jet black hair that he obviously hadn't touched since he got up that morning. Further down the table she spied a small girl with a shock of fizzy, mousy brown hair, framing her strangely wise face. Maddi approached the ginger boy and his dark haired friend. As she came closer, the red-headed boy's expression of horror intensified, until she reached them when it looked like he was going to jump up and run away.
"Hi. You're Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, aren't you? "Maddi questioned the two frightened boys as cheerily as she could. It was the dark haired one who answered.
"Yeah. I'm Harry and he's Ron," Harry said boldly, gesturing to his trembling friend.
"Brilliant," Maddi smiled. She looked further down the table, and strode towards the girl with the bushy hair and the wise face, who was looking at her with nothing but curiosity and intrigue in her eyes.
"And you, my dear, are Hermione Granger, yeah?" Hermione nodded.
"May I ask you three, what year are you in this year?" Maddi was eager to discover; if everything went according to the events that occurred in the books, she wanted to know what to watch out for.
"First," Hermione stated manner-of-factly.
Philosopher's Stone, Maddi thought automatically. She was older; the same age as Fred and George. She also remembered their birthdays being around the same time, early April. She walked briskly toward the fiery- haired twins. "And you two are Fred and George Weasley," she stated; she didn't need to guess now.
"At your service," they said in unison, and promptly stood up and bowed. Maddi giggled, and the twin she was pretty sure was George winked at her. She scanned the table quickly and pointed out the people she recognised by forming their features in her imagination. "Lee Jordan," she said quickly. "I am," smiled the fuzzy haired, dark skinned boy seated next to Fred. "And you three are Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson, hey?" The all nodded, assuring Maddi that she was correct.
"Neville Longbottom!" she cried to and awkward looking boy at the other end of the table, and ran up to him. "How's Trevor? Did you find him?" she giggled. "H-how d'you know about Trevor?" the nervous boy stammered. Maddi winked mischievously at him. She saw Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, and she found Percy Weasley, with his horn-rimmed glasses and greatly annoyed him when she called him 'Perfect Percy', much to the glee of Fred and George. She started to build confidence and didn't feel as awkward and wary now. Maddi felt the atmosphere in the Hall relax. She rattled off the names of most of the teachers and what subjects they taught, pointed out the heads of houses and that which they belonged to. She pointed out the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, and recognised Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory. Finally, at the end of the Hall, she reached the Slytherin. Maddi's face fell, not in anger and hatred but in sadness and disappointment. Her eyes flickered to lock with a small, pale faced and platinum-haired boy, flanked by two huge boys with vacant expressions. The small boy in the middle grimaced at her, and her eyes darkened. She pointed to each of them. "Draco Malfoy," she said blankly, pointing at the middle boy. "Vincent Crabbe," she spoke to the boy on Malfoy's left now. "And Gregory Goyle," she spoke to the last of Malfoy's little posse. Malfoy's scowl grew deeper.
"But tell us;" Hermione piped up from the other end of the room, not noticing the silent battle that was going on between Maddi and the Slytherin boys, "You seem to know a lot about us, how did you find out all of this?"
"You're right to be suspicious," Maddi sighed; she didn't know if she could tell them. But then Dumbledore saved her from having to say anything about that matter, for the time being.
"I think the more important question to be asked, Miss Granger is, why is it that we know nothing about you, Miss..?" the white-haired man probed, his sharp blue eyes looking straight into Maddi's soul.
"Bennet. Madison Bennet. But everyone calls me Maddi," she revealed.
"Well, Miss Bennet, since you came so unexpectedly and dramatically into our midst and you seem to know so much about us, it seems only fair that we should be allowed to comb your brain, don't you think?"
"Certainly, sir. What is it that you would like to know?"
