Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize from the original HP series. And I forgot to put a disclaimer on the song 'Go The Distance' for the last chapter. That doesn't belong to me either.
Chapter 3: From A Fairy Tale To Reality
"Albus, what do you make of this girl? Is she a threat?"
Elle heard a quiet, worried voice speaking somewhere near her.
"Now, Minerva, I don't believe that she posses us a threat," said an old, much calmer voice. "But I suppose that we won't know for sure until she awakens. Only then can we get our answers."
There was a short pause before the old voice spoke again. "Pomfrey? How is she doing?"
Elle heard a new voice answer this time, "The poor dear was soaked to the bone. I'm surprised that she hadn't caught cold. But as soon as she drinks this, I'm sure she'll be back to her old self again."
Elle felt her head being propped up and a warm, strong tasting liquid being poured down her throat. She choked on the liquid and that brought her full back into consciousness. She sat up quickly as the old woman in front of her made her drink the rest of the liquid. She managed to take another swallow of it, before pushing the glass away.
"What is that stuff?" she choked out and for the first time she realized that she was in a room that she didn't recognize. She looked around the room that was highly furnished and found herself to be in the company of two men and two women. There was one man who was clad all in black. He had extremely greasy hair and pasty skin. The other man was very old - he had on long blue robes, a long white beard and he wore small spectacles on his face. The woman who was standing closest to Elle had on what reminded her of some sort of nurse's uniform and had her grey hair pulled up under her head ware. And finally, Elle looked past her and her eyes fell upon another woman who wore her hair up in a tight bun on the top of her head. She looked somewhat nervous about the whole situation.
Elle all of a sudden felt a little nervous herself and moved her feet over the side of the couch that she had been laying on, "Who are you?" Her voice came out smaller and quieter than it was meant to making her seem just as vulnerable as she felt. She looked from one person to the next hoping that someone would fill the silence with an answer.
The old man with the beard stepped forward so that he took the place where the nurse had stood. "My name," he began calmly, "is Albus Dumbledore. I am the Head Master of Hogwarts." He gestured with his hands as he sat down beside Elle which allowed her to see the bright twinkle in his blue eyes.
Somehow, Elle was no longer afraid when she heard him speak. "Hogwarts…" she said with confusion.
Dumbledore smiled kindly at her as he explained, "Hogwarts is a school of witchcraft and wizardry."
Elle looked at him wide-eyed, "Witchcraft…and wizardry? You mean to tell me that you…you're all…?" she looked at everyone in the room.
Dumbledore nodded again, "Yes, you would be correct."
Elle looked at him in disbelief and stood up. "No, this can't be. This is all some sort of dream. When I fell…" she tried to reason, more with herself than to the others around her, "I must of hit my head. Yeah, that's what must have happened…"
"Please calm yourself," Dumbledore had rested a hand on her shoulder. "I assure you," he said as she turned around to face him, "that this is no dream. This is indeed real."
Elle looked at him as this information sank into her. She slowly lowered herself back onto the couch and looked up at those standing around her. 'Let's pretend that for one second I'm actually awake here and these people are who they say they are,' thought Elle to herself. But her thoughts only lead her to one question. "Why am I here?" she looked up to meet Dumbledore's eyes.
"We were hoping," said Dumbledore, "that you could tell us."
Elle looked back down and shrugged slowly, feeling very confused.
"Perhaps Minerva is right," spoke an accusing voice, "maybe this is all a trap. Another one of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's traps!"
Elle looked up at the greasy haired man who spoke. She knew that she wasn't going to get along with him very well.
"Now, Severus, let's not be too hasty," Dumbledore said.
"But how do we know that she isn't a danger to this school?" demanded Severus.
Dumbledore clearly looked as if he was considering this question before he gave a knowing glance towards Elle. He then walked over towards a stool that was in the corner of the room and picked up an old looking hat off of it.
Elle watched him carefully as he walked back towards her with it.
"Please," he gestured for her to put the hat on and she did so.
Elle jumped as the hat began to speak out loud.
"Ahh," it said as it began to move a bit on her head. "Elle Carter is your name. You hail from the muggle world, although that is not where you really come from…" Elle felt confused by what this hat was saying. She watched the reaction that everyone around her had, but found that most of the faces were intent on listening to what the hat had to say.
"Yes…yes, I see," the hat continued. "You are the one. The one that this world will ultimately depend on. An age old prophecy has laid out a path for you…an unknowing girl wanting to prove herself…a forbidden love that is your true love…a task that you must willingly choose to take. Your heart shows bravery and determination. You have a good head on your shoulders as well. Ah, yes…you are much like one who has come before you…one who followed a path and unknowingly caused what you must destroy…"
Elle tried to take in all that the hat had just said. It wasn't making any sense!
"But if I am to sort you…there is only one place where you belong. GRYFFINDOR!" the hat finally yelled out and went silent once more on her head.
"There we have it," Dumbledore said after a few moments of silence. He took the hat off her head and set it on a nearside table.
The woman with the tight bun approached Dumbledore with her hands clasped tightly together, "It can't be her, Albus, can it? After all this time…it just can't be…"
"She's a MUGGLE!" spat Snape. "There's no way that she can be the one! The sorting hat made a mistake!"
"Professor Snape, if you please! Calm down," Albus said with a little authority trying to calm the man. "The sorting hat hasn't been wrong in the past, and we have no reason to doubt it now." He paused as he looked back at Elle with a kind smile. "There's no other way she would have been able to come through the platform…she is from a magic lineage."
Elle looked at him blankly. "You mean to say that I'm…I'm a witch?"
Dumbledore nodded at the girl.
Elle felt that this was way too much to take in at once. "I don't understand…"
Dumbledore gave another kind smile, "Don't worry. All will be explained in time. I assume that since you never knew of your lineage, that you don't know any magic or anything else associated with this world?"
Elle shook her head 'no'.
"Very well, then. We will get you caught up to speed." Albus then turned around and addressed the professors. "Professors? Can I count on you to help our new student to catch up in class?"
"Of course," replied Minerva.
"Yes, but even if we did that, she still needs to learn things that students learn in earlier years to be able to be at the same level as other students," replied Snape.
"Point well made, Professor. That's where our head students will come in." Dumbledore then turned towards Minerva and asked, "Will you be so kind as to go fetch our head boy and girl?"
"Of course," replied Minerva as she promptly walked out of the room.
Snape just folded his arms in front of him as he couldn't argue with the idea Dumbledore had.
"Severus," Dumbledore asked with patience, "Could you please go ask Mr. Potter to come up to my office?"
Snape looked at Dumbledore with a slight grimace of the idea of having to go get Harry and with a curt nod left the room.
Pomfrey followed him out saying that she had work to get finished.
Dumbledore then turned to Elle with a twinkle in his eye and lowered himself down to her level. "You, my dear, have nothing to worry about. In all due time, you will learn about this world and why you are here…"