Chapter 1: And I Appeared
Author's Notes: This is actually a piece of writing I put effort into..so there, Arianne! Flame me and I'll cry...because I'll be so happy that someone actually read this. If you have something nice to say to me...good. I need encouragement. I have low self esteem. Not really, but I thought...nevermind. Get reading!
I suppose I should start at the beginning. Doesn't every story start at the beginning? Yes, they do. They start at a beginning, proceed to the middle, and for the conclusion there is always a standard "The End".
To tell the truth, I would much rather be at "The End", but instead, here I am...at the middle. I suppose I should try to explain a bit first...about who I am, and what I am doing.
I don't know my name. I don't know where I'm from, or how I got here...in front of Hogwarts. It has started to rain, and I'm just standing here. Why? Where is my family? Who is my family? I think I may have amnesia. It doesn't scare me. I'm beyond the point of scared.
My cloak is black, I finally notice. It comes to my ankles. It appears to be knitted...by my mother? I take in my surroundings. I had heard of Hogwarts...where?...and I knew this was where the great wizard Dumbledore was headmaster.
I can remember so many things about everything else except me. I walk up the path to the castle. A haven. Warm. Safe. I feel like a sinner walking to Heaven. Why? I am so confused....about everything.
The door to Hogwarts looms in front of me. I put the hood over my head as the door slowly creaks open. I didn't even knock. Or did I? I don't trust my memory any longer.
"What do you want?" the man growled at me. A mangy cat weaved inbetween his legs.
I opened my mouth to say something...anything. But there were no words. None. I closed my mouth.
The man looked at me strangely. "Wait here," he said gruffly. "I'll go see if Dumbledore wants to see you." He closed the door in my face.
I sat in the mud. It seemed appropriate.
The rain came down harder. I was getting much colder, but I didn't care. Again, it didn't seemed to matter what happened to me now. This was just another part of what was happening to this person who wasn't really me. How could she be? She had no name, no place in life. How old was I? My own body was a mystery to me.
The man came back to the door. "He's in a meeting, but he said he'd see you anyway. You'd best be grateful, girl," he let me in, grumbling all the while. "Yer going to get mud on my floors too."
I nodded.
He got angry.
"You can find your own way then!" he snapped, and walked away, laughing to himself. Selfish prat.
"We'll help you find Dumbledore's office," said three kids...teenagers....people my age?...as they appeared out of mid-air. I took a step back. "An invisibility cloak," said the black haired boy sheepishly. He had a weird scar in the middle of his forehead. The other boy was red-headed with freckles. The girl had bushy, brown hair and a haughty stature that can only come from too much knowledge.
I nodded. Again.
I followed them. The boy had taken off the cloak and started off in a direction, followed closely by his two friends. I followed them. My boots echoed loudly in the halls we passed through. I was wearing boots? We went through a number of different hallways, and possibly the same hallway twice. I didn't ask questions. If these kids wanted to jerk me around, fine. I wasn't in any better shape before. They'd get tired soon.
The boy with the scar stopped in front of a gargoyle. He mumbled something to it, and it swung open, revealing a set of stairs. They climbed. I followed. We reached another door. The boy knocked, and the voice of an old man floated through it, "Come in" it said. He sounded friendly. Thank God.
I walked into the room, expecting only one other person. There were five. Suddenly, the trio was pressed a bit closer to me. Protecting me? Wanting protection? They were scared...intimidated.
"I brought the girl that Filch mentioned...." the boy with the scar started. "He got angry and left her to find her way. Luckily..uh..er..we were on our way to..."
"To find a book I had lost," the girl piped up.
This was recieved by skeptical looks.
"Oh!" the black haired boy exclaimed suddenly. He turned around to look at me. I raised my head, and my eyebrow at him. "I'm Harry Potter," he said, motioning to himself incase I just didn't get it. "And this is Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley." They nodded. They seemed nice. "This is Proflessor Dumbledore. He's headmaster here. And this is Professor McGonagall, she's head of our house, Gryffindor. That's Professor Sprout, she's head of Hufflepuff-"
"We beat them at Quidditch last week!" Ron exclaimed excitedly.
Whoop-ee.
"-Professor Flitwick is head of Ravenclaw, and Professor Snape is head of Slytherin."
Ron grimaced at me.
I was feeling ill now too. There were too many people in here. I was getting nervous.
"Well, well..." Dumbledore said. He seemed like he had just snapped out of a trance. "Have a seat, child. Have a seat." He turned to my three escorts. "You three may leave for your dormitory."
"We were just headed there," Ron said, backing out of the doorway.
"See you!" Harry said, about to leave. "Wait! What's your name?"
The room seemed to reverberate with this question. What was my name? I would just explain that I couldn't remember....I opened my mouth to speak again, but....there were no words. No words came...like before. I knew I could speak, but I couldn't...wouldn't. I shook my head at Harry instead, and turned away.
They left.
I sat down.
"So, why have you come here to Hogwarts...in the middle of the night?" asked Dumbledore gently.
I didn't even try to speak this time. I just looked at him. I heard once that you could convey what you were thinking through your eyes.
It's bullshit.
You can't.
"Hmm...well...," Dumbledore mused.
"She might be dangerous," said the greasy one. Snape, was that his name?
I turned quickly to look at him and glared. I was still in the room after all. No need to pretend I wasn't.
Dumbledore took my anger to be a good sign. "Why don't you remove your cloak?" he asked. "It must be soaking wet, and besides, you remind me of a dementor in it." His eyes were twinkling.
What the hell was a dementor? It sounded familiar....
I took off my cloak, but a sharp pain made me hiss. I was cut! The cuts were everywhere...my arms, legs, on my stomach....what had happened?
The other adults gasped and jumped up to...to what? Prevent me from getting hurt again?
I looked at my wounds in amazment. How did I get these? They didn't hurt too badly....it was a numbing kind of pain. I knew it was there, but had chosen to ignore it...until now.
"Get her to Madame Pomfrey," was what Dumbledore said.
Then I fainted.