6. Being a witch
Minerva walked into the great hall a few minutes before seven. She saw Albus already sitting at the head table. The man was an early riser, but she knew he also went to bed late most nights. Sometimes she wondered if the man slept at all.
'Ah Minerva, good morning! You're early?' Albus said as soon as he laid eyes on the woman. 'Has our newest habitant of the castle decided to join us for breakfast?' Minerva tutted at him. 'Yes, but don't think I went to her yesterday just because you asked me to Albus. I was going to visit her anyway. The girl needs some help and guidance from a woman.' she said as she sat dawn at Albus' left side.
'She is hardly a girl anymore Minerva, and I would have gone to her myself if you hadn't visited her, but I think it's good she gets to know more of us all. She needs to focus on this world now, not her own.' Albus replied. Minerva frowned at the comment. She just was about to ask Albus what he meant with that when she saw Stephanie walking through the doors into the great hall.
Stephanie was so nervous she felt sick. She also felt uncomfortable in general: she missed her own stuff. She was wearing a stranger's clothes (her own clothes were transfigured back to what they originally looked like but she couldn't wear them or she would get strange looks), she couldn't do her hair the way she wanted and she had no make-up. So there she was, walking into the great hall with a pale face, wild big brown curls that went everywhere, feeling very...well...ugly.
And the dress… It was just horrible. She hated skirts and dresses, she almost always wore trousers. The dress looked like a second hand version, no, third hand version of the dresses McGonagall was wearing. But they looked alright on her, she was older and they fit her personality. Stephanie wasn't old, and these dresses were absolutely not her style. She was grateful they gave her clothes, but stil.
Stephanie walked up to the head table and was glad there were barely any students present. She took her seat next to McGonagall and murmured a quiet good morning to her and Dumbledore. They both smiled at her. 'How lovely that you are joining us Stephanie. How have you been?' Dumbledore asked.
'I'm alright. It's still a lot to get used to.' she answered. 'Minerva is going to help me to pick out some books from the library after breakfast, so I can start learning about magic myself.' Dumbledore's eyes started twinkling behind his half moon spectacles. 'That's wonderful! And don't hesitate to ask the other teachers as well. I'm sure they are all happy to help you out, right Severus?' Dumbledore asked as he turned to his other side.
Snape had just taken his seat there without a sound. He looked at the headmaster as if he wanted to murder him for involving him in the conversation. Stephanie wondered if Dumbledore honestly didn't get that Snape wasn't a social butterfly, or that he chose to straight out ignore this little fact and maybe even found it funny to tease the potions master like this. Or perhaps, he knew something about Snape none other knew.
They all started eating breakfast and Minerva and Albus included Stepanie in their light conversation. Stephanie felt more at ease already and hadn't even noticed that the great hall had started to fill up with students, hungry for breakfast. The noise in the hall became louder and suddenly there was a Bang!
Stephanie flinched and her head shot up to see where the noise was coming from. It wasn't even that the bang had scared her that much but right after, her own and Minerva's glasswork exploded. Embarrassed, she looked up, 'I'm so sorry!' she said and started to collect the pieces with her hand. 'No apology needed, allow me.' Minerva said as she took out her wand. 'Reparo' Within seconds the glasses were perfectly fine again, ready to be used.
That had been enough excitement for Stephanie. 'I think I'm going to go now.' she said. Minerva quickly took the last bite of her toast and got up as well. 'I'll come with you and show you the books in the library.' They wished Albus and Severus a good day and exited the great hall through the side door, only used by staff, as it was connected to the staff room.
"I hope it didn't scare you too much? The students can be quite mischievous. What were they thinking, setting off fireworks at breakfast.' The frustrated tone in Minerva's voice was obvious and made Stephanie grin a bit. 'I'm alright. The fireworks weren't scary, what shocked me most was me breaking the glasses, sorry again.'
'Don't worry about it dear. Accidents happen. But trust me, as soon as you learn more about magic and start using it yourself, the accidents will disappear.' That sounded good to Stephanie. She didn't like to not be in control, and these accidents made her feel anxious as they were unpredictable.
The library was on the first floor so they didn't have to walk for very long. Minerva went in first and approached the desk near the entrance. 'Irma, I'm sure you've heard that we have a new guest, this is Miss Stephanie Saxton. Stephanie, this is our librarian, Irma Prince.' They shook each other's hand and madam Prince murmured a 'welcome'.
They walked further into the library where it was very quiet. There were barely any students present. 'She is nice, trust me, but she is just very protective over the books and doesn't trust anyone with them.' Minerva explained as she started pulling books from the shelves.
All the books in the library were first sorted on category, and then alphabetically on author. The last book was on defense against the dark arts which was found in the back, just before the restricted section. They saw Quirrell standing there looking into one of the books. He looked up at them and smiled nervously.
'I think that's all for now. These are all the first year books. I would advise you to start with these. Of course you're more than welcome to read any other books in here as well if you find them interesting. As you're an adult you can go into the restricted section but I would wait with that for a while if I were you.
'Thank you,' Stephanie said as she took over the pile of eight books. 'And I wasn't planning on going to the restricted section. Basics first!'
'Excellent, my dear. And if you want more explanation on anything you come across in the books please ask me or any of the other teachers. I'm sure they are happy to help. I've got to go now, my class starts in 20 minutes. 3rd year Slytherin-Gryffindor class, they are a challenge! Will you be okay?' Minerva asked. Stephanie nodded and thanked the older witch for her help.
Together they left the library and went their separate ways. Stephanie went back to her own chambers and put down the books. There was one for every subject and she smiled when she noticed that Minerva had slipped in one extra: Hogwarts, a history.
She was actually feeling excited to start reading. She looked at all the books and scanned some pages. After a while she decided to start with Hogwarts, a history.
It was very interesting to learn everything there was to know about the school. She read about the founders, about the changes through the years and other trivia. She learned that in the beginning, Hogwarts didn't have that many house elves, but that it became a sort of sanctuary for house elves that were without a master. Later the house elves began reproducing, supplying the school with an unlimited supply of faithful servants.
She came across the paragraph about the chamber of secrets. She wondered if she would go down there now, she would find a hibernating basilisk, or would it be awake?
She was so immersed by the book she completely lost track of time. After what felt like only two hours, she finished the book. She looked up at the clock on the wall. It was five thirty already! She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.
She quickly called Mipsy to bring her some dinner, she wasn't feeling like eating in the great hall again. She would try again tomorrow, for breakfast.
After a lovely dinner she decided to start in the book about charms. She was amazed at how many useful spells there were that she didn't know about! It wasn't just wingardium leviosa and alohamora, but there were charms to clean, charms to translate, charms to write, charms to prevent hurt and many more.
Even though she hadn't read about the other subject yet, and hadn't even used any of the charms yet, she knew she already loved this subject. After a few hours of reading she felt her eyes getting tired, so she decided to go to bed.
She was surprised the first night that the bed was so comfortable. She had always imagined that the castle and the furniture are so old, that the bed for example could never be comfortable. But of course she had not realized that the mattress was probably charmed and she was grateful for the soft and warm bed. She easily fell asleep, excited for the next day.
She woke the next day at seven thirty, got up and made her way to the great hall for breakfast. When she walked in she noticed professor Flitwick sitting at the head table. She decided to sit next to him in the hope they could talk about charms.
He was absolutely delighted to hear that Stephanie enjoyed the book so much. Stephanie told him what she had read so far, and Flitwick started telling her more about the background and use of certain charms.
Dumbledore glanced in their direction and was happy to see Stephanie finally seemed to relax a bit. After a while he tried to get Stephanie's attention.
'Ahem, Stephanie, excuse me for interrupting your conversation, but could you please come to my office tonight after dinner?' Albus asked. 'There are some matters I would like to discuss with you.'
Stephanie was a bit surprised by his request and couldn't help but immediately wonder what he wanted to talk about. She nodded as a reply. 'Excellent, have a nice day!' he said and made his way out of the great hall.
What would the headmaster want to talk about? Would she have to leave? Or maybe he had found a way for her to go home? Stephanie tried to push the worry from her mind and focussed on her breakfast.
The food was absolutely amazing here. Everything tasted so fresh and every dish was perfectly made, nothing was ever burned, overcooked or undercooked. She would have to be careful to not eat too much.
After breakfast she wanted to take a walk, so she decided to explore the castle some more. She hadn't seen everything yet and today, she climbed one of the towers.
She was absolutely exhausted when she came to the top of the astronomy tower. The view from up there was absolutely beautiful. She could see so far, and the wind in her face felt lovely. That is, it felt love for now as the weather was still warm, but she couldn't imagine how freezing cold it must be here during the winter.
After enjoying the view for a while she decided to go back to her rooms and read some more. Before she knew it, it was dinner time again, after which she had to go see the headmaster.