Here's the next chapter. Sorry it is so long, but it needed it. Oh, if
you have been reading it as we have been adding chapters, we had to change
the previous chapter. Leo needed to carry more suitcases(. Without
further ado- the next chapter.
"Wow! This is really beautiful." Piper commented.
"Breathtaking." Phoebe agreed.
"I thought Hogwarts was a castle." Prue said, looking at where the train had stopped. It was a small little village. Like stepping backwards in time. There were no cars, it looked like no electricity, and it was small and quaint.
"Are you the Halliwells?" A voice said from behind them. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe turned to see a stern woman behind them. Her gray hair was pulled tightly into a bun on the back of her head.
"That's us!" Phoebe said.
"I am Minerva McGonagall. Dumbledore told me to show you to Hogwarts." She said. "Are you ready to go?" She asked.
"Uh yeah." Prue said. She took one last look around before she began to follow McGonagall. They were led to five horseless carriages waiting a couple of blocks away. Piper stared at them, unsure of what to do. McGonagall signaled them in, and then stepped in herself. It was dark and musty inside, a single lantern lit the carriage.
"We will be there in ten minutes; I will show you your room. I hope you enjoy it here, most people do, but then, all are wizards." McGonagall said, slowly she was warming up to the Halliwells, sure enough, within ten minutes before them lay a beautiful castle, with giant front doors and a lake in the background. The noon sun reflected off the lake, illuminating the forest beyond it, but still, beneath the trees, it was as dark as night. "This is one of the better days, normally you can't see much." McGonagall said, looking at the Halliwells, watch the breathtaking scenery. "Come on now, I'll show you to the temporary dorms. Do you know how long you will be staying?" McGonagall said, showing them up the marble stairs.
"Not a clue." Phoebe said, hey eyes wide open looking at the talking paintings, and moving suits of armor. "It was just at night."
"Professor McGonagall!" A slimy voice from behind them said. The party stopped, and turned to see a tall man, with jet black hair, and a hooked nose. This was Severus Snape.
"Severus, Dumbledore wants the Halliwells in the Vistarus room?" McGonagall said.
"Yes, but the password has changed, and he sent me to inform you of the change." Snape said.
"Why?"
"Apparently the Weasely twins discovered the old one, and had some fun. Flitch decided to change the password."
"Ok then, what is it?"
"Lemon Drop."
"Lemon Drop?" Prue repeated, she had heard that as a password before. 'Wasn't that Dumbledore's password? Maybe, passwords are used more than once.' Prue thought. Snape nodded.
"We better be going." McGonagall said, pressing onward. She stopped in front of a painting of an old wizard with an even older hat in his hand.
"Professor McGonagall, to what do I owe this pleasure?" The painting asked. Phoebe stared at the painting like it would come out and kill her.
"You're going to have visitors for a while."
"As much as I humbly trust you, I still need to hear the password."
"Lemon Drop!" Piper offered. The painting swung open. Piper half- expected to see a modest sized hotel room, but she couldn't have been more wrong. The main room was circular, with three staircases going up, and one down coming off of it. In the center and at the four compass points (north, south, east, and west) was a large fire place. The Halliwell manor could have easily fit inside of the room. The vaulted ceiling, had a painting of the stars, and they appeared to be moving. It was overwhelming. On the three tables, were maps, and notes about the castle. The assorted couches and chairs each bore the Hogwarts crest. Long, rectangular windows were placed so that one could see the dark forest, the lake, the mountains, the moor, and much of the castle. Needless to say the room was breathtaking.
"Up those staircases, you will find two rooms, per set of stairs. And each room has a bathroom. Maps are on the tables, along with mealtimes. If you need anything, just tell one of the paintings, and they will get one of us." McGonagall offered. She pointed to one of three paintings around the room. Each with a different old person, each holding the old hat from the guard painting. "Do not be surprised if some students get in, two of the main trouble makers somehow always end up with the password to every room, and they sometimes come in un- announced. Down the stairs, is a direct root to a passage that leads to the headmaster's office. We ask that you not use that route, we prefer you to find one of us, and we will take you there, besides that, I will see you at dinner." McGonagall said with a smile, she turned and left, stepping out of the entrance.
"This place is huge!!!" Phoebe said, looking around. Suddenly, she dropped the backpack she was carrying, and started to run around the circumference of the room. Prue smiled at her youngest sister's childlike manor, and decided to do the same. Piper stood around the edge, laughing, and decided not to participate, but Phoebe pulled her in. Soon the three of them were running around, laughing like children. "Whew!" Phoebe said, as she collapsed from exhaustion in one of the couches.
"No kidding!" Prue said, doing the same, squishing Phoebe.
"He he he…" Piper laughed, collapsing so close to Prue that she squished both Prue and Phoebe. It was the perfect sister moment.
"Move!" Phoebe said playfully, pushing her sisters out. They moved, and between giggles listened to Phoebe. "I'm going to un-pack in one of the rooms up- that staircase." Phoebe said, pointing up a staircase painted a beautiful maroon color.
"Ok, I think Leo packed you the dark green bag." Piper said, indicating one of the three bags in a heap on the floor. Phoebe checked the contents and saw that they were hers. She smiled and went up the stairs, what she found at the top was even more beautiful than what was downstairs. Two doors, edged with gold glittered before her on opposite sides of the hall. The doors themselves were intricately carved with beautiful designs of Hogwarts. Straight ahead of her was a painting of Dumbledore, again with the same hat. "What is up with the hat?" Phoebe asked herself, forgetting that the paintings could answer.
"Each of the Hogwarts headmasters, were painted with the old sorting hat." The painting of Dumbledore answered. Phoebe jumped back in surprise. "The paintings both guarding this room, and in the Vistarus room were all Gryffindor when they attended Hogwarts. There are three other visitor rooms, one for Hufflepuff, and anther for Ravenclaw, and a fourth for old Slythern headmasters. I myself, well the real me, am quite fond of this one, for that is where my painting resides."
"Wow! That is really cool. Are there paintings in the bedrooms?" Phoebe asked. If the paintings could see, talk, and hear, she would have a problem staying in the room with paintings that could watch her undress.
"Certainly not!" Dumbledore's painting exclaimed.
"Thanks," Phoebe said, pushing open one of the doors. There was one large canopy bed in the center of the room. There was already a fire roaring in the fireplace, and a slab of chocolate lay on the pillow. "Wow, it's not everyday that when you stay at a place, a whole slab of chocolate is on your pillow. Chocolate mints, yes, but a slab? This place is awesome." Phoebe began to unpack her bag into a drawer. She finished and went downstairs to talk to her sisters.
"Have you guys been up the stairs yet?" Phoebe said, approaching Piper and Prue, who were looking at the picture of Wadwork.
"No why?" Prue asked.
"If you think that downstairs is impressive…" Phoebe said. That was all she needed, her sisters took off like bullets, first up Phoebe's staircase to poke around up there. They took the chocolate off of the bed in the other room, and went up the other two cases. One was a pale yellow, almost gold, and the other was a forest green.
After exploring the rest of the Vistarus 'room' they went back to looking up Wadwork, but that didn't take long.
"This is it?" Prue said amazed; she continuously was turning the page expecting to find more on the next page, or on the page before it. Phoebe nodded her head, and put her hand on Prue's to get her to stop obsessively turning the page. "Are you sure?" Prue asked. Piper and Phoebe nodded.
"What is with you and double checking everything today?" Phoebe joked. Prue shrugged her shoulders, and laughed.
The portrait hole opened, and in stepped Dumbledore. "I hope that everything is ok here." He said.
"This is a magnificent room! And your portrait is so polite!" Phoebe said.
"Splendid! Now, the students will arrive tomorrow, and one of the concerns I know will come up, is how public would you like to be?" Dumbledore asked.
The girls looked at each other dumbfounded. They hadn't thought about that.
"I don't mind being very public! Piper? Prue? DO you mind?" Phoebe said, she was the most outgoing of the three. Prue nodded, and Piper hesitated.
"No." Piper said after a minute.
"Ok, then, I will add three chairs to the head table, and I will introduce you to the students. Many will be interested in what Wicca is; would you be willing to teach a class one night while you are here?" Dumbledore asked.
"Four, my husband should be back soon, he will need a chair." Piper said, Dumbledore smiled knowingly and continued.
"We don't know how long we will be here for, it could be a week, it could be tomorrow night. But as long as we are here, I don't se why not." Prue said. 'He sure has been thinking about this for a while.' Prue thought.
"Ok then, I will leave you alone for a while, and will see you at diner." Dumbledore said, leaving.
"We've seen everything in the book about our guy, and we've seen this room, I want to check out the rest of the castle." Prue said.
"Does this have to do with anything about reading the books, and wanting to see it for yourself?" Phoebe joked.
"Yeah, but come on, it will be fun!" Prue said, grabbing Phoebe's arm, who in turn grabbed Piper's arm. Being smart, Piper then grabbed the map off of the table. Prue dragged Piper and Phoebe out of the room. She unlinked herself from her sisters when they stepped over the portrait hole. She looked both ways down the stone hallways. A rat ran across the hall farther down.
"That way is the library." Piper said, consulting her map, and pointed left.
"Then that way we go!" Prue said, marching her sisters left. Up staircases with missing stairs, through doors that told you a joke before you went through them, down moving staircases, the Halliwells explored the castle. By no means did they see the entire thing, only a small portion. They came down to the great hall for dinner. There was one large table in the front of the room facing all of the other tables, and four larger tables length wise sat facing the head table. Banners of a lion, a badger, a raven, and a snake hung over each table. The ceiling above was bewitched to look like the sky outside, and it gleamed beautifully as people began to assemble. Teachers were scattered at different tables, and the only one at the head table was Dumbledore and Hagrid.
"Wonder why they are sitting at the house tables? Normally they all sit at the head table." Prue whispered. Dumbledore caught their eye, and signaled for them to join them at the head table. Scared, they approached the table. The once noisy room grew silent the closer they got to the table. Outsiders. That was what they were. They sat down, and Dumbledore started his speech.
"Friends and guests! This is the night before the students. The last night before our sanity fly's away." The staff chuckled. "The last night of watching for students out of their dorms, the last night before our hands full. Enjoy it. As always, teachers once again sit under the banner of their old houses." 'That explains it!' Prue thought to herself. Dumbledore continued, "As you are all aware, we have four guests joining us tonight. Actually three, the fourth will join us when he gets back. May I introduce, Prue, Phoebe, and Piper Halliwell. They are hear under my invitation, and are here to protect some of the students. They are witches, only they are Wicca witches, meaning that they are much like muggles. And now, let's eat!"
The empty gold plates suddenly filled with food. Chicken, lamb, and many other foods that they had never seen before. To Phoebe's delight, there was even a plate of hamburgers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "This is good." Phoebe said with her mouth full. The Great Hall was once again filled with noise as the teachers began to talk, joke and socialize with each other. Just like when the Halliwells entered the Great Hall, the room fell silent again. The attention of everyone in the Great Hall was focused on blue orb lights. Piper got up from her seat and went over to where they were forming. The teachers were wide eyed. No one could apparate on school grounds, and this man almost did so.
"Ah, my fellow teachers, this is Leo!" Dumbledore said. He stood up and indicated Leo. Piper and Leo took their seats at the table, and continued to eat. They filled up on so many wondrous things. The sky was black as night as everyone began to head to bed. Piper pulled out the map from her pocket and showed everyone the way back to their dorms.
"Lemon Drop!" Phoebe said. It was her turn to say the password. The portrait smiled and opened his hinges. Leo was just as taken back by the room as Piper was.
"This is really big!" He commented.
"We're staying up the golden staircase." Piper informed Leo.
"Wow." He saw the open Book of Shadows and quickly remembered that they were not their for pleasure.
"What did the elders wa-wa-wa-want? Phoebe asked, suppressing a yawn.
"I missed a staff meeting this morning, but they understood, and they did find something about Marvalo." Leo informed.
"Told you so. But in the morning. I'm going to bed." Phoebe said, going up her stair case.
"Night Pheebes." Piper and Prue said in unison.
"Wow! This is really beautiful." Piper commented.
"Breathtaking." Phoebe agreed.
"I thought Hogwarts was a castle." Prue said, looking at where the train had stopped. It was a small little village. Like stepping backwards in time. There were no cars, it looked like no electricity, and it was small and quaint.
"Are you the Halliwells?" A voice said from behind them. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe turned to see a stern woman behind them. Her gray hair was pulled tightly into a bun on the back of her head.
"That's us!" Phoebe said.
"I am Minerva McGonagall. Dumbledore told me to show you to Hogwarts." She said. "Are you ready to go?" She asked.
"Uh yeah." Prue said. She took one last look around before she began to follow McGonagall. They were led to five horseless carriages waiting a couple of blocks away. Piper stared at them, unsure of what to do. McGonagall signaled them in, and then stepped in herself. It was dark and musty inside, a single lantern lit the carriage.
"We will be there in ten minutes; I will show you your room. I hope you enjoy it here, most people do, but then, all are wizards." McGonagall said, slowly she was warming up to the Halliwells, sure enough, within ten minutes before them lay a beautiful castle, with giant front doors and a lake in the background. The noon sun reflected off the lake, illuminating the forest beyond it, but still, beneath the trees, it was as dark as night. "This is one of the better days, normally you can't see much." McGonagall said, looking at the Halliwells, watch the breathtaking scenery. "Come on now, I'll show you to the temporary dorms. Do you know how long you will be staying?" McGonagall said, showing them up the marble stairs.
"Not a clue." Phoebe said, hey eyes wide open looking at the talking paintings, and moving suits of armor. "It was just at night."
"Professor McGonagall!" A slimy voice from behind them said. The party stopped, and turned to see a tall man, with jet black hair, and a hooked nose. This was Severus Snape.
"Severus, Dumbledore wants the Halliwells in the Vistarus room?" McGonagall said.
"Yes, but the password has changed, and he sent me to inform you of the change." Snape said.
"Why?"
"Apparently the Weasely twins discovered the old one, and had some fun. Flitch decided to change the password."
"Ok then, what is it?"
"Lemon Drop."
"Lemon Drop?" Prue repeated, she had heard that as a password before. 'Wasn't that Dumbledore's password? Maybe, passwords are used more than once.' Prue thought. Snape nodded.
"We better be going." McGonagall said, pressing onward. She stopped in front of a painting of an old wizard with an even older hat in his hand.
"Professor McGonagall, to what do I owe this pleasure?" The painting asked. Phoebe stared at the painting like it would come out and kill her.
"You're going to have visitors for a while."
"As much as I humbly trust you, I still need to hear the password."
"Lemon Drop!" Piper offered. The painting swung open. Piper half- expected to see a modest sized hotel room, but she couldn't have been more wrong. The main room was circular, with three staircases going up, and one down coming off of it. In the center and at the four compass points (north, south, east, and west) was a large fire place. The Halliwell manor could have easily fit inside of the room. The vaulted ceiling, had a painting of the stars, and they appeared to be moving. It was overwhelming. On the three tables, were maps, and notes about the castle. The assorted couches and chairs each bore the Hogwarts crest. Long, rectangular windows were placed so that one could see the dark forest, the lake, the mountains, the moor, and much of the castle. Needless to say the room was breathtaking.
"Up those staircases, you will find two rooms, per set of stairs. And each room has a bathroom. Maps are on the tables, along with mealtimes. If you need anything, just tell one of the paintings, and they will get one of us." McGonagall offered. She pointed to one of three paintings around the room. Each with a different old person, each holding the old hat from the guard painting. "Do not be surprised if some students get in, two of the main trouble makers somehow always end up with the password to every room, and they sometimes come in un- announced. Down the stairs, is a direct root to a passage that leads to the headmaster's office. We ask that you not use that route, we prefer you to find one of us, and we will take you there, besides that, I will see you at dinner." McGonagall said with a smile, she turned and left, stepping out of the entrance.
"This place is huge!!!" Phoebe said, looking around. Suddenly, she dropped the backpack she was carrying, and started to run around the circumference of the room. Prue smiled at her youngest sister's childlike manor, and decided to do the same. Piper stood around the edge, laughing, and decided not to participate, but Phoebe pulled her in. Soon the three of them were running around, laughing like children. "Whew!" Phoebe said, as she collapsed from exhaustion in one of the couches.
"No kidding!" Prue said, doing the same, squishing Phoebe.
"He he he…" Piper laughed, collapsing so close to Prue that she squished both Prue and Phoebe. It was the perfect sister moment.
"Move!" Phoebe said playfully, pushing her sisters out. They moved, and between giggles listened to Phoebe. "I'm going to un-pack in one of the rooms up- that staircase." Phoebe said, pointing up a staircase painted a beautiful maroon color.
"Ok, I think Leo packed you the dark green bag." Piper said, indicating one of the three bags in a heap on the floor. Phoebe checked the contents and saw that they were hers. She smiled and went up the stairs, what she found at the top was even more beautiful than what was downstairs. Two doors, edged with gold glittered before her on opposite sides of the hall. The doors themselves were intricately carved with beautiful designs of Hogwarts. Straight ahead of her was a painting of Dumbledore, again with the same hat. "What is up with the hat?" Phoebe asked herself, forgetting that the paintings could answer.
"Each of the Hogwarts headmasters, were painted with the old sorting hat." The painting of Dumbledore answered. Phoebe jumped back in surprise. "The paintings both guarding this room, and in the Vistarus room were all Gryffindor when they attended Hogwarts. There are three other visitor rooms, one for Hufflepuff, and anther for Ravenclaw, and a fourth for old Slythern headmasters. I myself, well the real me, am quite fond of this one, for that is where my painting resides."
"Wow! That is really cool. Are there paintings in the bedrooms?" Phoebe asked. If the paintings could see, talk, and hear, she would have a problem staying in the room with paintings that could watch her undress.
"Certainly not!" Dumbledore's painting exclaimed.
"Thanks," Phoebe said, pushing open one of the doors. There was one large canopy bed in the center of the room. There was already a fire roaring in the fireplace, and a slab of chocolate lay on the pillow. "Wow, it's not everyday that when you stay at a place, a whole slab of chocolate is on your pillow. Chocolate mints, yes, but a slab? This place is awesome." Phoebe began to unpack her bag into a drawer. She finished and went downstairs to talk to her sisters.
"Have you guys been up the stairs yet?" Phoebe said, approaching Piper and Prue, who were looking at the picture of Wadwork.
"No why?" Prue asked.
"If you think that downstairs is impressive…" Phoebe said. That was all she needed, her sisters took off like bullets, first up Phoebe's staircase to poke around up there. They took the chocolate off of the bed in the other room, and went up the other two cases. One was a pale yellow, almost gold, and the other was a forest green.
After exploring the rest of the Vistarus 'room' they went back to looking up Wadwork, but that didn't take long.
"This is it?" Prue said amazed; she continuously was turning the page expecting to find more on the next page, or on the page before it. Phoebe nodded her head, and put her hand on Prue's to get her to stop obsessively turning the page. "Are you sure?" Prue asked. Piper and Phoebe nodded.
"What is with you and double checking everything today?" Phoebe joked. Prue shrugged her shoulders, and laughed.
The portrait hole opened, and in stepped Dumbledore. "I hope that everything is ok here." He said.
"This is a magnificent room! And your portrait is so polite!" Phoebe said.
"Splendid! Now, the students will arrive tomorrow, and one of the concerns I know will come up, is how public would you like to be?" Dumbledore asked.
The girls looked at each other dumbfounded. They hadn't thought about that.
"I don't mind being very public! Piper? Prue? DO you mind?" Phoebe said, she was the most outgoing of the three. Prue nodded, and Piper hesitated.
"No." Piper said after a minute.
"Ok, then, I will add three chairs to the head table, and I will introduce you to the students. Many will be interested in what Wicca is; would you be willing to teach a class one night while you are here?" Dumbledore asked.
"Four, my husband should be back soon, he will need a chair." Piper said, Dumbledore smiled knowingly and continued.
"We don't know how long we will be here for, it could be a week, it could be tomorrow night. But as long as we are here, I don't se why not." Prue said. 'He sure has been thinking about this for a while.' Prue thought.
"Ok then, I will leave you alone for a while, and will see you at diner." Dumbledore said, leaving.
"We've seen everything in the book about our guy, and we've seen this room, I want to check out the rest of the castle." Prue said.
"Does this have to do with anything about reading the books, and wanting to see it for yourself?" Phoebe joked.
"Yeah, but come on, it will be fun!" Prue said, grabbing Phoebe's arm, who in turn grabbed Piper's arm. Being smart, Piper then grabbed the map off of the table. Prue dragged Piper and Phoebe out of the room. She unlinked herself from her sisters when they stepped over the portrait hole. She looked both ways down the stone hallways. A rat ran across the hall farther down.
"That way is the library." Piper said, consulting her map, and pointed left.
"Then that way we go!" Prue said, marching her sisters left. Up staircases with missing stairs, through doors that told you a joke before you went through them, down moving staircases, the Halliwells explored the castle. By no means did they see the entire thing, only a small portion. They came down to the great hall for dinner. There was one large table in the front of the room facing all of the other tables, and four larger tables length wise sat facing the head table. Banners of a lion, a badger, a raven, and a snake hung over each table. The ceiling above was bewitched to look like the sky outside, and it gleamed beautifully as people began to assemble. Teachers were scattered at different tables, and the only one at the head table was Dumbledore and Hagrid.
"Wonder why they are sitting at the house tables? Normally they all sit at the head table." Prue whispered. Dumbledore caught their eye, and signaled for them to join them at the head table. Scared, they approached the table. The once noisy room grew silent the closer they got to the table. Outsiders. That was what they were. They sat down, and Dumbledore started his speech.
"Friends and guests! This is the night before the students. The last night before our sanity fly's away." The staff chuckled. "The last night of watching for students out of their dorms, the last night before our hands full. Enjoy it. As always, teachers once again sit under the banner of their old houses." 'That explains it!' Prue thought to herself. Dumbledore continued, "As you are all aware, we have four guests joining us tonight. Actually three, the fourth will join us when he gets back. May I introduce, Prue, Phoebe, and Piper Halliwell. They are hear under my invitation, and are here to protect some of the students. They are witches, only they are Wicca witches, meaning that they are much like muggles. And now, let's eat!"
The empty gold plates suddenly filled with food. Chicken, lamb, and many other foods that they had never seen before. To Phoebe's delight, there was even a plate of hamburgers and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "This is good." Phoebe said with her mouth full. The Great Hall was once again filled with noise as the teachers began to talk, joke and socialize with each other. Just like when the Halliwells entered the Great Hall, the room fell silent again. The attention of everyone in the Great Hall was focused on blue orb lights. Piper got up from her seat and went over to where they were forming. The teachers were wide eyed. No one could apparate on school grounds, and this man almost did so.
"Ah, my fellow teachers, this is Leo!" Dumbledore said. He stood up and indicated Leo. Piper and Leo took their seats at the table, and continued to eat. They filled up on so many wondrous things. The sky was black as night as everyone began to head to bed. Piper pulled out the map from her pocket and showed everyone the way back to their dorms.
"Lemon Drop!" Phoebe said. It was her turn to say the password. The portrait smiled and opened his hinges. Leo was just as taken back by the room as Piper was.
"This is really big!" He commented.
"We're staying up the golden staircase." Piper informed Leo.
"Wow." He saw the open Book of Shadows and quickly remembered that they were not their for pleasure.
"What did the elders wa-wa-wa-want? Phoebe asked, suppressing a yawn.
"I missed a staff meeting this morning, but they understood, and they did find something about Marvalo." Leo informed.
"Told you so. But in the morning. I'm going to bed." Phoebe said, going up her stair case.
"Night Pheebes." Piper and Prue said in unison.