"Good morning!" the headmaster greeted. The Great Hall quieted in front of him.
Aurora was standing at his left. In her new robes, she fit in with the other students and none had noticed her until their attention was called. Now eyes widened and foreheads furrowed with lack of recognition at this stranger in their hall.
"I would like you all to join me in welcoming Miss Aurora Townsend to Hogwarts," Dumbledore continued. "It is because of Miss Townsend's exemplary academic record that she has been accepted to our sixth year."
The students stared at her, but she maintained a calm expression. Her wand once again in hand, she felt more confident than before.
Her wand. She didn't know how Godric had found it or how the castle had managed to conceal it for so long, only that it had been waiting in the headmaster's office for her. When she had arrived at Dumbledore's door the night before, he had not been alarmed. He – in a dressing gown and a long cap – had listened intently as she explained who she was. Who she really was.
Somewhere on the walk to Dumbledore's office, Aurora had decided that someone would have to know the truth. After seeing the inscription and understanding its intent, she knew she had to stay at Hogwarts. To do that, she knew she would have to become a student. It only made since that she should confide in the person entrusted with the legacy Godric left behind.
And when she met Dumbledore, she knew it was right.
He waited until she finished her bizarre story and, instead of immediately taking her to the hospital ward (as she had worried he might), he rose and stepped into a back room for a moment. When he returned, he was carrying her wand.
"I thought it was lost," she said, unable to help the tears springing to her eyes.
"This had been waiting for you for a long time," he replied, handing it to her.
When Aurora reached out and took it, the aspen seemed to sigh.
"Now," Dumbledore continued. "Let's talk about what you should do."
It would be impossible to learn one thousand years of history in a single night, so he only provided her the basics. It was 1976 – exactly one thousand years after that day in the hollow – and Godric had died over nine hundred years ago. Hogwarts had been operating for decades when he died and had continued since. And there was a place for her there, of course, if she wanted it.
She nodded.
"Well, there will be no need for show," he said, reaching up on to a shelf and pulling down a ragged hat. Aurora smiled sadly when she recognized it.
"I've already been sorted," she said.
"Excellent," Dumbledore said, returning the hat to the shelf. "Now, for some more practical matters."
He opened a cabinet and took out a small vial. He handed to her.
"This will help with the time sickness."
"Excuse me?"
"Sleeping for one thousand years does not come without complications."
She nodded and took the vial. Removing the cork, she tipped it into her mouth and swallowed. Immediately, she began to feel better when she had no idea she had even felt bad.
"Better?"
She nodded.
"Good," he said, peering over his half-moon glasses. "You'll need to keep taking this. Everyday."
She nodded again.
"You are handling this remarkably well."
"Well, I taunted a time-witch," she said with a tight smile. "I knew what she was capable of and I did it anyway."
Dumbledore frowned. "You should know, time-magic is illegal now. It has been for many years. In fact, the Ministry had much of its history redacted in textbooks."
"You seem to know quite a bit about it, though."
He smiled a crinkly smile. "It has been a special curiosity of mine," he said. He stood and waved his wand toward the wall. A door appeared.
"You may stay here tonight," he said. "It is late and your arrival will cause a stir in the dormitories. Tomorrow, I will announce your arrival and you will attend sixth-year classes. We are a few weeks into the year, but I don't think you'll find them too challenging."
She smiled.
He turned away for a moment and then turned back.
"I don't think I need to caution you about discretion. No one can know who you really are," he said. "It may not be your fault, but your existence is dangerous – dark things happen to witches that meddle with time."
He disappeared up the stairs.
Even when she retreated to her room, she couldn't sleep as she repeated his words in her mind. Her hands started to shake and her body soon followed. As safe as she felt inside Godric's castle, her situation was bleak and she knew it.
In the morning, she debated how to present herself to the students. At first, she assumed she ought to be quiet. Shy. Reserved. Unassuming. If she made herself as uninteresting as possible, she may not have to interact with the other students very much at all.
But, standing at Dumbledore's side in front of the crowd, she was glad she had chosen the other option. It was her bravado, Godric said, that had gotten her so far before and she would need it to get her through this now. It was why he always wanted her for his house.
"Now, let us move on to other matters," Dumbledore was saying. "Miss Townsend, please join your house."
Embracing her dare, she looked out to the crowd and found Remus's face. She winked at him before taking her place at the end of the Slytherin table.