CHAPTER TWO cognosco
Author: Serene Chaos
Category: Humor, Drama, Romance
Keywords: Tom Riddle, chamber of secrets, grindelwald
Spoilers: All four books as well as QTTA & FB&WTFT
Rating: PG
Summary: What if you could enter the Harry Potter world? Well, three "Muggle" girls randomly end up doing so. One problem: the year is 1942. The Chamber of Secrets is open and one of them has a mad crush on Tom Riddle. How the heck will they get out of THIS?
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. I own Kierra Warren, Rose Javenson and Natalie Gregory. Oh, and I own Mapleneige. The X-Files are the property of Chris Carter & Fox Networks.
Author's Note: This chapter's title means "to examine, inquire and learn". Thank you and remember to review! And I do hope that no one has used this idea before!
Armando Dippet looked up as there was a knock on the door. He glanced at the clock on his office wall. It was well past midnight; who could want to speak with him at this hour. Frowning, the Headmaster spoke in an old, feeble voice, "Enter."
The door opened and a boy with slightly over-long black hair and violet eyes poked his head in, "Professor Dippet?"
"Yes, what is it, Mr...?" Dippet trailed off.
"Riddle. Tom Riddle, sir." Tom said, opening the door, "I need to speak to you."
Dippet could see three girls wearing Muggle clothing standing there. The one with brown hair and eyes looked slightly apprehensive while the one with hazel eyes and blonde hair looked awed and the one with red hair and turquoise eyes looked slightly mischievous.
"About what?" Dippet asked.
"Does Hogwarts accept transfer students?" Tom asked nervously.
"Why? Do these three want to transfer?" Dippet questioned, "You can come in you know."
The three girls quickly scrambled into the office and closed the door behind them.
"Yes, sir, we would like to transfer." Kierra spoke up.
"Well, I'm not sure it's in Hogwarts policies to accept transfers." Dippet frowned.
The three girls looked disappointed, "But Mapleneige was destroyed and we just can't go back to the orphanage!" Natalie exclaimed.
"Mapleneige?" Dippet asked, surprised, "Why didn't you say so? I'm sure all of Hogwarts will be sure to welcome you!"
"Does that mean you'll accept us as transfers?" Rose asked hopefully.
"I don't see why not." Dippet mused, "We'll have to clear out a room for you tonight and..oh, do you have your school supplies?"
"No, the orphanage people took them away." Kierra said.
"Do you have any money?" Dippet asked.
"Yeah, four hundred and fifty Canadian dollars." Rose said, smirking at Kierra who looked furious.
"So, you'll be able to buy your school things tomorrow in Diagon Alley?" Dippet asked.
"Of curse, sir." Natalie said.
"Now let me see...tomorrow's Halloween.." Dippet mused."Let's see...what year are you in?"
"Fifth." Rose, Natalie and Kierra replied in unison.
"All right, you shall go to Diagon Alley tomorrow to get your school things, Riddle, would you accompany them there? You know your way around, correct?" Dippet asked.
"Of course." Tom nodded.
"You can come up here tomorrow at eleven in the morning and use a Portkey to get to Diagon Alley." Dippet said, "And tomorrow, at the Halloween feast, you'll be Sorted."
"Thank you so much, professor!" Rose said happily.
"Now, let's see...where can you sleep tonight?" Dippet mused. Then he snapped his fingers, "I know. Follow me."
"Where's he taking us?" Kierra asked Tom quietly.
"No idea." Tom shrugged in surprise as the group headed down many staircases and through hallways before stopping in front of a room.
"Here we are." Dippet said, opening the door. He waved his wand and the room was instantly transformed. It now held three beds and a fireplace where warm flames were crackling, "I'll see you in the morning then." He then left.
"Well, I'll see you three in the morning too, I guess." Tom said awkwardly.
"Good night, Tom." Kierra said.
"Good night." Tom said, before walking away. Rose closed the door and leaned against it while Natalie sat down in front to the fire, a bit chilled after being out in the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night.
"Good God, he is hot!" Kierra exclaimed as she flopped down on one of the beds.
"Why, Kierra, I had absoloutely no idea that you liked old Armando Dippet!" Rose asked, grinning mischievously.
Kierra's response was to throw a pillow at her friend, "Hell no. You know damn well that I mean Tom."
"Kierra." Rose said warningly.
"What?" Kierra asked, "I just said he was hot!"
"Kierra, he's evil. Here, I'll even spell it out for you: e-v-i-l." Natalie said.
"Wow, you learned how to spell." Kierra said sarcastically, clapping.
"Kierra!" Natalie exclaimed, "I'm serious. I honestly don't think you should get mixed up with him."
"And why ever not, Nattie?" Kierra asked, studying her nails.
"He's the Heir of Slytherin, for Christ's sake!" Rose exclaimed, "Future Lord Voldemort, killer of Mudbloods and Muggles alike!"
"Oh-ho, better not let anyone hear you say Mudblood." Kierra smirked, "And anyway, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."
Rose rolled her eyes, "And one other thing." she said as she got up and lay on one of the other beds.
"What's that?" Natalie asked.
"Kierra, if I catch you sneaking off down Knockturn Alley, I'll skin you alive." Rose said.
"Ooh, someone's bitchy."
"I have a right to be. I just got transported back in time over fifty years, to a wizarding/witchcraft school where one of my friends has already developed a crush on the Dark Lord!" Rose muttered, flopping down on the third bed.
"I think you need sleep." Natalie commented.
"Damn straight." Rose said, closing her eyes.
"Well, now we know there's no magic school in Canada." Kierra said, amused. "Maybe that's why we never got any letters."
"Or we're just not witches at all and we're gonna be totally screwed when everyone finds out." Natalie muttered, yawning.
"But, it states clearly in the books that only witches and wizards can see Hogwarts." Kierra retorted triumphantly.
"Ooh, that is true." Natalie mused.
"And I don't know about you guys, but technically one could refer to me as a witch," Kierra said thoughtfully, "After all, I am Wiccan."
"But then you'd be a Muggle-born witch," Natalie replied.
"So?"
"Well, we all know what's happening to Muggle-born witches and wizards here," Natalie said grimly.
"Damn."
"Get up!" a voice said impatiently.
Rose kept her eyes shut. Maybe whoever was bothering her would go away if they thought she was asleep.
"Rose!" another voice said.
No such luck, Rose groaned inwardly. She burrowed her head into the pillow.
"Rose, it's time to go to Diagon Alley." the second voice said.
"I don't care." Rose muttered into her pillow.
"Rose Marie Javenson, if you do not get up this instant, I will bring Tom Riddle in here and get him to hex you." the first voice said impatiently.
Rose's eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright, "I'm awake! I'm awake!"
"I knew that would work." Kierra smirked, "Now, get up. It's ten to eleven."
"Why didn't you wake me up?!" Rose cried.
"We tried. It was like you'd been given the Drought of Living Death." Natalie said, "Now, c'mon, we've got to go to Dippet's office."
Rose got up off her bed and stretched, with much grumbling involved.
"I'll go see if the Portkey's ready." Kierra said, going to the door. She opened it and was almost punched in the face.
"Oh, sorry." Tom said, looking quite surprised. He lowered his fist, "I was just going to come and get you three."
"Good God, you almost gave me a heart attack." Kierra said, her eyes still wide. Natalie had to stifle her laughter.
"Are you ready to go?" Tom asked.
"Yeah." Rose said, yawning, "Off to Diagon Alley we go."
"What do we need?" Natalie asked Tom as the quartet walked down the halls.
"All the items on this list." Tom handed her a piece of parchment.
Rose looked over Natalie's shoulder at the list. Geez...seven flipping spell books...
"So, what are classes like here at Hogwarts?" Kierra asked Tom animatedly, pretending not to know a thing about Hogwarts, "And will me and my friends all be placed in the same class?"
"Well, you have to take Potions, Transfiguration, Defence against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Astronomy and Charms." Tom said, "I'm not sure if you'll all be Sorted into the same house, though."
"What are the different houses?" Kierra asked curiously.
"Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor." Tom replied promptly, "I'm in Slytherin."
"Neat." Kierra said cheerfully, "What are the optional classes?"
"There's Study of Ancient Runes, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies and Arithmacy." Tom said, "I'm taking Study of Ancient Runes and Divination. They're both interesting. in Ancient Runes, we sometimes make up our own spells."
"Those sound like interesting classes." Kierra said, "Can we only take two?"
Incessant chatter...Rose thought as she rolled her eyes, "Umm...we're at Dippet's office, now."
Indeed they were. There stood Professor Dippet, with a small bag, waiting for them. Obviously, while talking, Kierra and Tom hadn't noticed how fast they had been walking.
"Are you all ready for your trip to Diagon Alley?" Professor Dippet asked.
"Of course, Professor." Natalie said.
"Here is your Portkey," Dippet handed Tom the bag, "It will go off in exactly five minute, so I suggest, you all hold onto it, or one person holds onto it and the others hold onto that person. It will also work exactly three hours from now."
"Will we be placed in fifth year, sir?" Rose asked.
"No. Not exactly. When you get back, you'll have lunch and then I'll gather the teachers and you'll take parts of the exams to see where you place." Dippet said slowly, "I know that Mapleneige has a different program than ours and you'll be placed in different classes in different years, depending on your strengths."
"Of course, Professor. We understand." Rose said, nodding.
"I suggest you all grab hold of the Portkey now, then." Dippet said.
"Okay, here we go." Tom pulled a silver pocket watch and chain out of the bag. He grasped onto the watch part while Rose and Natalie held onto the chain.
"Okay, how am I supposed to do this?" Kierra muttered. There was no place for her to grasp onto the pocket watch/chain.
"I suggest you hold onto someone or someone holds onto you." Dippet said cheerfully.
"Here." Tom said, "You can hold onto the other side of the watch."
"Okay." Kierra walked to him and grasped onto the pocket watch. She was standing so close to Tom that she could've stood up and kissed him.
I swear, those two together is a recipe for BIG trouble, Rose thought as she felt a jerk behind her navel and was pulled by the Portkey.
"Oof!" Natalie said indignantly as she fell on her behind as they appeared in Diagon Alley.
Rose wobbled slightly and held onto the pocket watch, even though everyone else let go.
"Eep!" Kierra cried as she stumbled and fell...
...right into Tom's arms.
"Whoa!" Tom cried softly, steadying her.
"Sorry!" Kierra said, blushing slightly.
"Umm...it's...okay..." Tom said as he and Kierra disentangled themselves from each other.
Rose turned away and pretended to gag. Natalie saw this and giggled. Kierra, on the other hand, stuck out her tongue at Rose. Tom was oblivious to them, though.
"How about we go get our school supplies now?" Rose suggested.
"Good idea." Natalie backed her up.
"The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Five; A History of Magic; Magical Theory; One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi; Magical Drafts and Potions; Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; History of the Dark Arts and Defending Yourself Against Them..." Rose muttered, looking at the book list.
"Not to mention the books for extra classes." Natalie piped up.
"Let's go, then." Tom said, "We'll go to Gringotts first..."
About a quarter of an hour later, they were back in Diagon Alley, the four hundred and fifty dollars changed into Galleons and Sickles.
"Flourish and Blotts'll be our first stop, then I suppose you should get new wands..." Tom mused.
"Can we get our new wands first?" Kierra asked. Need wand...must do magic...she thought, grinning impishly. Lemme think...we should be able to do most spells up to fifth year...
"It would make most sense to get them last, seeing as choosing wands can take up to five hours." Tom said, "I should know."
"Why? It took you that long?" Natalie asked.
"Unfortunately." Tom said, smiling ruefully.
"Well, let's go get our books then." Rose said.
And so they headed off to Flourish and Blotts.
"Don't forget to get books for the extra classes you'll want to take." Tom said as the three girls picked out their books.
"Umm...which ones are for Arithmacy and Muggle Studies?" Natalie asked.
"Why do you want to take Muggle Studies?" Kierra asked her in a curious whisper, "I mean, you don't need to take it."
"It'll be an easy pass." Natalie shrugged as Tom handed her the required books.
"I'll take the same classes." Rose said, Farther away from Tom Riddle, the better. she thought, eyeing the Slytherin teen suspiciously. She grabbed the same books as Natalie.
"What ones do you need for Divination and Ancient Runes?" Kierra inquired.
"Unfogging the Future and a Rune dictionary." Tom said. He looked at a bookshelf, then reached up and grabbed two books off of it, "Here you go." he handed them to Kierra.
They paid for their books and left the shop. Soon, they had gathered potion supplies from the Apothecary and were ready to set off to Madam Malkin's for robe-fitting.
"Lovely," Tom muttered under his breath as they entered the robe shop.
"Oh, hello, dears." a plump young woman - Madam Malkin - greeted cheerfully, "A bit late to be getting your school clothing, isn't it?" she asked.
"We're transfers. All of our stuff was left behind in Canada." Natalie spoke up.
"Okay, hop up on this stool dear and we'll get you fitted." Madam Malkin said, as a stool appeared out of thin air. Natalie hopped dubiously up on the stool and Madam Malkin threw a robe over her.
"Uhhh..." Natalie said nervously as Madam Malkin waved her wand and instantly the robes were a perfect fit.
"So that's three in this size..." Madam Malkin muttered, magicking the robe off of Natalie and into a box where two others like it appeared. "Now, dress robes...how about blue?"
"All right." Natalie said.
"Okay." Madam Malkin pointed at the box and royal blue dress robes appeared. "Your turn, dear." she said to Rose as Natalie got down from the stool.
Soon, Rose was outfitted with her three robes, "I want lavender dress robes." she told Madam Malkin promptly, "With pale blue trim."
"Let's see..." Madam Malkin muttered and Rose was dressed in long lavender robes with dark blue trim around the bottom, neckline and edges of her sleeves.
"Not on the neck. I want it like, sorta braided trim, please." Rose said, tacking on the last word so not to sound rude.
Madam Malkin waved her wand and the trim on Rose's robes changed to braided trim and disappeared from the neckline. "Happy now?"
"Quite." Rose said as the robes vanished into a box with her other robes.
"C'mon, your turn now, missie." Madam Malkin turned to Kierra, "What dress robes will you be wanting?"
"Umm..." Kierra frowned. Black? Nah...already have black robes...blue? Natalie has blue...definetly not pink or purple. Hmm... "How about green? With silver?"
"All right." Madam Malkin waved her wand and Kierra was instantly wearing forest green robes with a silver underskirt and silver accents on the sleeves and collar. "Is that what you want?"
"Yes, thanks very much." Kierra said as Madam Malkin magicked the robes into a box for her.
"Going out for Slytherin?" Tom asked her as they left the shop after the girls paid for their purchases
"Maybe," Kierra smirked.
"Oh, God." Rose muttered under her breath.
"Wands, now?" Natalie suggested.
"Of course!" Kierra said, her eyes shining eagerly.
"How about you three go get your wands and I'll meet you in front of Gringotts in an hour or so?" Tom suggested.
"All right." Rose said immediately.
"Fine by me." Natalie instantly chimed in.
"Okay." Kierra said, somewhat glumly.
"I'll see you all in an hour then." Tom called over his shoulder as he walked away.
The three girls looked at each other and chimed in unison, "Knockturn Alley."
"Figures, doesn't it?" Kierra grinned as the three of them set off down the street to Ollivander's wand shop.
Natalie was the first one in, pushing open the door. "Hello?" she called to the empty, slightly dusty shop.
"I'll be there in a second!" a voice called from the back of the shop.
"I swear, these British accents are driving me up the wall." Rose muttered under her breath, while looking around at the shelves upon shelves filled with piles of long, thin boxes.
"Hello, hello, welcome, welcome." a man stepped out of the back room, looking slightly dishevelled and holding a few boxes. "I suppose you're here for wands beacuse you a - lost them or b - somehow manages to break them."
"Choice number one - or letter a." Kierra quipped.
"Wand hand?" The man, who was obviously Ollivander said, putting the boxes he carried down on a nearby table.
"Ambidexterous." Kierra replied promptly, waving both her hands.
"Lovely." Ollivander muttered before opening several boxes, "You'll have to try the wand with each hand then." picking up one, he handed it to the red-head, "Oak, dragon-heartstring, fourteen inches."
Kierra waved it around in her right hand, then her left. Nothing.
"Holly, eleven inches, unicorn hair."
Nothing once more.
After a few minutes, Ollivander handed Kierra a wand, "Here's an interesting one. Thirteen inches, yew..." he squinted, searching his memory, "Yes, this is one of the odd ones...ah! I remember now, powdered salamander's blood."
"Interesting." Kierra said, waving it around with her right hand. Other than feeling a little tingle, nothing happened. She switched hands and felt a great warmth run down her arm. When she waved it around green and blue sparkles flew out of it and a gust of wind blew through the shop.
"Very good, very good." Ollivander clapped his hands, "That will be eight Galleons...for each of you. You might as well pay for them all together."
"One sec.." Kierra dug into her pocket and pulled out a handful of change. She counted out twenty-four Galleons and handed them to Ollivander.
"Next, please." Ollivander said, pocketing the money. Natalie stepped up confidently,
"My right hand is my wand hand."
"All right, then." Ollivander handed Natalie a wand, "Werewolf's fur, Oak, twelve and three-quarter inches."
Waving it around, Natalie felt rather foolish...well, until a flash of blue light and a gust of wind erupted from the wand. She looked shocked and amazed, "Cool!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide and hair windswept.
"My turn, yay!" Rose bounced forward, impatience brimming from her. She immediately snatched up the wand Ollivander gave her.
Her impatience turned soon to exhasperation as she tried wand after wand with no success.
"Tricky customer, eh?" Ollivander asked, eyes alight as he handed Rose her hundred-something wand, "Rosewood, twelve and a half inches, feather of an Irish phoenix."
Rose waved it around, feeling throughouly annoyed, but was soon delighted as purple and pink sparkles flew out, "Finally!" she exclaimed, "Let's go Natalie, Kierra."
"Kierra?" Natalie looked around the store for their friend.
"Where the hell has she run off to this time?" Rose muttered, dragging Natalie out of Ollivanders and looking up and down the street for the redhead.
"I'll give you a clue," Natalie sighed, "It starts with a K, ends with a y and there's a 'nockturn alle' inbetween."
"Damn her!"
"My sentiments exactly."