Harry, Hermione and Ron walked into the great hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Fred and George and across from Neville.
Regina Mills walked into the hall, still in her grand purple poof-y dress, followed by the other teachers.
She took a spare seat at the table that overlooked the hall, and most eyes fell on her.
"Oi, who's that?" Fred asked, surprised.
"Regina Mills," Harry answered, "She's staying here for a while."
"How'd she get here?" George asked.
"She fell through a portal, apparently, and got past the Hogwarts defenses." Hermione chimed.
"So she's a witch?"
"And a bloody powerful one!" Ron said, "She doesn't even have a wand or need to speak!"
The group turned to the professor's table and stared at Regina.
At the professor table, Regina smiled as dinner popped onto the plate and dug in, trying to stop herself from scarfing it down, but it felt like she hadn't eaten in days... Like the time her mother had gotten angry and looked her in the room for a week.
She shook the memory away, then looked down the table at the teachers.
They were all watching her with confused and fearful looks as she ate.
She was at the end of the table, but behind her, the greasy haired man in black, a woman who looked like a pixie, some kind of pumpkin-lady covered in dirt, a giant man dressed like a hobo, the strict, green cloak lady, Dumbledore, a few other cloaked teachers, then the pink idiot.
She didn't like that Umbridge... Something about her, the sweetness, the poof-y, the pink... Extremely unsettling.
But Regina wasn't dressed like your perfect citizen, either. Everyone was staring, the teachers, the students, the boy students were staring a little too hard...
Let them stare, she thought, you're used to it... And you have more important things to worry about.
Gold, the bastard, was her more important concern right now.
He had been there... In all that chaos...
One hour earlier...
The woods were pure chaos.
One second, Regina was racing through the woods.
The past week had been pure chaos. Ever since Marian had come back, something was in town. An army of creatures had been attacking the citizens, and Regina was closing in with the other morons.
She was alone, racing through the woods, chasing after one of the creatures, firing fire at it, but to no avail.
When suddenly, out from a tree popped Gold.
"Gold!" she cried out, surprised, "What are-"
"Sorry, dearie. But I don't have much of a choice, do I?" he snarled, then threw his hand down.
"What the-" she cried out, but it was too late.
The green portal opened, and Regina screamed as she fell and clawed at the ground.
The wind ripped around her, dragging her down, and she screamed as she lost her grip on the ground and fell through the portal...
Regina stared at the food and felt her appetite drop.
She picked at it, then sighed and looked up.
Regina noticed a blond boy at the far end table, staring and laughing at her. She tilted her head at him, narrowed her eyes and frowned.
She turned to the greasy, hooked nose man next to her.
"Why are the kids all separated by their colors?" she asked.
"Their houses." the man snapped, like he was bored by everything.
Regina didn't like his tone, but still, she wanted answers.
"Houses?"
"Yes," he sighed, "Hufflepuff, the useless morons," he said, pointing to the orange kids, "Gryffindor, the stupid idiots," he said, pointing to the red ones, "Ravenclaw, they're supposed to be smart but they're still idiots," he said to the blue, "and the Slytherin. They're the only smart ones." He said, pointing to the green kids, the one where the smirky little blond was.
"Interesting." she said.
Regina finished her lunch, and decided if she was going to find a way home, she was going to have to do it herself.
She got up and hurried out of the great hall, and out into the sun of the Hogwarts ground.
She looked around, to find herself alone, then threw her hands up and was engulfed in purple smoke.
When the smoke cleared, she was hoping she'd be home, but she was still at Hogwarts.
"God." she muttered, stomping.
She tried again, and again, thinking maybe because she had just gone to another country it would work, but nothing was working.
"What are you trying to do?" a voice said, and she jumped to find the same three kids from before behind her.
Regina stared at them, then sighed, "I'm trying to get home."
"How did you do that... The smoke?" Ron asked, gulping.
"It's my type of teleportation."
"Your type?" Harry asked.
"Well, my magic's obviously different from yours, I don't even need to speak to do magic." Regina sighed.
"Is it working?" Harry asked, which earned an annoyed look from Regina
"Would I still be here if it was!" she hissed.
"Sorry." the boy muttered, and Regina sighed, feeling bad she had snapped. Something about him reminded him of Henry in a way...
"No... Sorry I snapped, I just want to get home." Regina sighed.
"Where do you come from?" Hermione asked, always curious.
"You all are too curious for your own good, you know that?" Regina scoffed, and the three chuckled.
"We get that a lot." Ron sighed.
"Where are you from?" Hermione repeated, "You're American, are you from there?"
"Yes." Regina sighed, annoyed yet happy for some reason, "I'm from Maine."
"What's Maine?" Ron asked, and Hermione nudged him angrily.
"It's a state, idiot." she hissed.
Regina smiled, then realized why.
"You three remind me of my son." she said without thinking, then kicked herself mentally.
"You have a son?" Harry said, surprised.
"Henry. He's your age." Regina said, "He's adopted."
The three were silent.
"And you're trying to get to him?" Hermione asked, and Regina felt her eyes sting.
"Yes." she choked, "But I don't think I'll ever see him again."