4. Welcome to Hogwarts
Together Albus and Stephanie walked through Hogwarts halls, on their way to the staff room.
'Ah miss Saxton, one more thing before we go in. We will tell them you are new to magic. Please try to not let them know you are not really that new to magic. Try to be...ah surprised sometimes?' Albus asked her as he looked at her.
Stephanie laughed softly at his request. She would be surprised alright, because magic was actually still a bit scary. 'That won't be a problem sir.' she answered before they moved on.
They took a left turn after they passed the great hall, and went through a door at the end of the hallway. They entered a room with a few large tables that could fit around 20 people in total. Against the walls were a few bookcases filled with books, files and stacks of paper.
As Stephanie stepped through the door, the room fell silent. Every face turned her way and shamelessly stared at her.
'Everybody take a seat!' Albus started. Everybody sat down and Stephanie picked a chair next to Albus. 'Let me introduce you all to Stephanie Saxton here. As you have all seen, she came to us last night. Luckily she is in good health. It seems Stephanie has found her way, without her intention, to our school. To be more precise, to our dimension.' Faces around the room turned into confused looks, whispers could be heard throughout the room. 'I have talked to Miss Saxton and seen in her memories she has no ill intentions. Somehow she managed to travel between dimensions. She is a long way from home. She was quite shocked to find out she ended up here. Especially since we have found out that Miss Saxton was a muggle. Through her journey, she somehow has become a witch, but knows very little of magic yet.' As soon as Albus spoke his last word, the staff started asking questions. 'How is this possible? Where is she from? What is she doing here? Can't she go back? How do we know she speaks the truth? Maybe she is a spy for you-know-who!'
Stephanie suddenly felt very unwelcome. She wished she just could disappear through the back of her seat. She felt her cheeks becoming red of embarrassment. Clearly she was not welcome here and would have to find some other place to live. Albus raised his hand to silence everybody.
'I fully trust Stephanie and I can guarantee you she is not a threat. She is just as surprised to be here as you are. Now keep in mind this is hard for her, she just somehow travelled to our dimension and she has nothing here. So please, try to be kind and make her feel welcome.' Albus said stern but kindly.
The others stopped talking and some looked a bit ashamed. They had, of course, in their first reaction not thought of how this must be like for Stephanie. It was McGonagall who spoke first. 'Will she stay here?'
'Yes, I have not found a way yet how she can return to her own dimension, and there might not even exist one. So for now, we will help her settle in, provide her with the basics and we will see how to move on from there.'
During the discussion between Albus and the rest of the staff, Stephanie just sat there looking a bit sheepishly. She observed all the teachers present. Most of them she recognized, some she didn't. Probably because they didn't have a large role in either the books or the movies.
She knew Dumbledore of course, just as McGonagall, Snape, madam Pomfrey, Sprout, Flitwick, Hooch and Quirrell. She saw professor Trewalny sitting at the far end, looking at the ceiling as if it had something interesting to say.
She saw a few people she didn't recognize. A woman with shoulder length straight black hair. Stephanie guessed this must be professor Sinistra. Then there was an older man. He was either the care for magical creatures or the muggle studies professor.
Stephanie noticed how Hagrid and Filch were missing, and probably some more teachers...this couldn't be all, right? Albus was still answering questions. 'Perhaps Stephanie would like to answer some questions herself?' he said questioningly.
Stephanie nodded, 'yes, sure. What would you like to know?' she asked, looking at the others, one by one. She was glad Albus had already answered the hard questions for her. It was Flitwick this time: 'Miss Saxton, forgive me if I'm being rude, but how old are you?'
'Please, all of you, call me Stephanie. And I'm 29.' she answered. 'And you know nothing of magic yet, but you are a witch?' Flitwick asked.
'Apparently' she answered. Flitwick seemed to be quite fascinated by her. He saw her looking at him questioningly and he explained: 'It's quite rare for an adult with a fully grown magical core to not know any magic and not turn into an obscu….' 'AHEM, Filius, could we please keep the topic a bit lighter?' Albus interrupted.
Was he going to say obscurus? Stephanie was almost sure that's what she heard before Albus had cut him off. She knew what they were but she had never thought of it. Would she become one? She still felt normal, so she probably wasn't, right? She got pulled from her thoughts by another question.
'Are you going to learn magic here?' professor Sinistra asked. Stephanie didn't know, could she? She would have to do it on her own, is that even possible? 'Im not sure if I can…' she answered.
'My dear, if you wish, I'm sure most of us are happy to teach you a thing or two.' Albus said with a bright smile and a twinkle in his eyes. Most professors nodded excitedly, except for Snape of course, who was looking annoyed, and Trewalny, who was now fascinated by… Quirrell. Maybe there was more to her than most would think.
Stephanie felt a bit overwhelmed by all the happy and helpful faces looking at her. She was going to learn magic here apparently. That idea made her feel excited and scared at the same time. What if she failed miserably? She told herself she had to try first, and see what would happen before she judged herself a lost cause.
She took a few seconds to observe Quirrell as well. He was looking at her happy just like the others and also a bit nervous, as he was. He was already possessed by Voldemort now. Stephanie would have to try hard to hide who she truly was from him. Voldemort could absolutely not know what knowledge she possessed.
She smiled gratefully at the others. 'Wonderfull!' Albus said. ' Now on with other business.' They started discussing the first week of lessons and how everything went. They talked about a few students and soon the meeting came to a close.
'Thank you all very much, I wish you all a nice weekend.' Albus said. Just as all were about to rise and leave he said: 'Severus, Minerva, Poppy, please hang back for a minute.'
Snape started looking even more grumpy. If Stephanie had not known more about this man she would have found him scary, but now, it was actually kind of funny. This man needed to cheer up and soon.
Stephanie stayed as well, because she had no idea where she would even go. Albus addressed them all: 'As you might have noticed I have told the others that she is from a different dimension but not a different time. I believe it's better for now that they do not know this as Stephanie might posses crucial information that could be disastrous in the wrong hands. I need you all to Promiss me to not share this information any further.'
They all nodded their heads as a promise. 'Also,' Albus continued, 'I believe it's best that we also don't know anything yet about the future. So please do not ask Stephanie anything.' he said as he looked at his colleagues. 'And Stephanie, I must i sist that you do not share any knowledge about the future with anyone yet.'
Stephanie absolutely wasn't planning to keep the future a secret for long to certain people, but for now it was better to have Albus get his way. She knew how dangerous the future was here. Lives are at stake. She would keep to herself for now and play dumb to the others.
'Excelent. You're all free to leave then. Stephanie, if you would follow me please, I have taken the liberty to have the house elves prepare private chambers for you so you don't have to stay at the hospital wing.'
Stephanie smiled at this news, she was a private person and needed her own space. 'That's so kind of you sir, thank you.' She followed Albus out the door and walked with him down the hallway.
She felt conflicted. Albus actually seemed like such a nice person. He was definitely trying to make her comfortable. She genuinely believed he meant well, even though she knew they would disagree on certain topics. She would be careful with trusting him, but she couldn't help but admire him as well.
They climbed a few flights of stairs and took a left on the third floor. After passing a painting of a phoenix rising from the ashes they came to a halt in front of a door. 'These will be your chambers. The password is 'hippogryph' and only I know of this, next to you of course. I promise I won't come in unannounced.' Albus said with a wink.
Stephanie nodded in understanding and said the password. She opened the door and walked into a living room. On the right was a fireplace with a couch and a chair. On the left were bookcases, which were mostly empty. In the back she saw a dining table, on the far left a small kitchen and on the far right was a small hallway which probably led to a bed- and bathroom.
It looked very comfortable. 'Thank you so much sir, you really didn't have to. It looks great!' Stephanie said to Albus. 'Not to worry my dear, the pleasure is all mine' he replied. 'Now, we were able to give you some basics, you will find some clothes in the bedroom, toiletries in the bathroom, and the kitchen also has all the basics. There should be some food in the pantries but you can also of course call the house elves or go to the kitchens yourself. I'm assuming you know where they are?'
'That's great thank you so much. I think I can find them. But I still want to figure out a way to make some money so I can repay you.' Stephanie said.
'Don't worry about that for now. Just get settled in, try to rest and process what has happened. After a few days, we will see what we can do. Feel free to explore the castle. But be careful once the weekend is over. Around mealtimes and between classes, the hallways can be very crowded with students. If there is anything you need, feel free to ask me, Minerva or even Poppy. Or of course the house elves for any practical stuff. Just call for Mipsy, she can help you out.'
Stephanie nodded. She just noticed how tired she actually was. She would just explore her chambers quickly and then go to bed. 'Thank you sir, I really appreciate it.'
Albus nodded with a smile and turned to leave. 'Oh one more thing, please don't go into the corridor on the right side in this floor. I think I don't have to explain why?'
Stephanie chuckled. 'No sir, I know why. Wasn't planning on petting a dog.'
Albus just smiled. 'Goodnight then, miss Saxton.' And with that he left.