I woke up the next morning with sunlight pouring into my face. I had absolutely no idea where I was, and I felt like the books describe a hangover. My whole body hurt, particularly my head, and I felt like I was going to throw up.
"Good Morning, Kathryn," came a voice I kind of recognized.
I sat up. "Where am I?" Out the windows, everything was going so fast! My head was spinning. I lay down again.
"Enroute to Hogwarts. We should be arriving shortly. How are you feeling?"
"Sick. And I hurt."
"No doubt," and then softly, "This isn't the first time he's hit you, is it?"
I paused, remembering. "No."
"Mam," the driver called, "your stop."
I stood up dizzily as Professor McGonagall picked up my bag. She took a firm hold on my elbow and led me off the bus, then for a short walk I can't remember, and into this huge castle. She has a short conversation with some brownish/gray thing that was shorter than me, but I could only pick out a few words. "bag, room, headmaster, Pomfrey, quickly." Then I remember stairs. Lots of stairs. She brought me to a room with lots of beds and curtains, and I sat down on the edge of the nearest bed. I came to the slow realization that this was kind of like a hospital.
"Kathryn, Madam Pomfrey is going to check you over, alright?"
"Sure."
When Madam Pomfrey came around the edge of the curtain, she glanced at me and froze. She stood there gaping until Professor McGonagall cleared her throat. Then she shook herself, closed the curtain, and 'checked me over.'
"Drink this," she said while handing me a glass, "It'll calm your stomach, ease your pain, and clear your head."
It was a putrid green color, and had a horrific smell, but it had to be better than the way I was feeling then, so I obediently drank it while Madam Pomfrey went out to talk to Professor McGonagall and a male voice I didn't recognize.
"I knew she wasn't being treated well," Professor McGonagall was saying. "The one hit I saw . . . would've felled an ox."
"Judging by her marks," Madam Pomfrey added, "her jaw must've been made of steal not to have shattered. But don't worry, she's fine gave her a potion to ease the car-sickness and her headache, and to remove the marks and bruises as much as possible."
"Only time will heal the rest, I'm afraid," replied the male voice. Then, a little louder, "Kathryn, may I come in?"
"Sure."
He pulled the curtain open, and paused for a moment, looking at me, but recovered quickly.
"I'm Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of this school. How are you feeling?"
"Better."
"Good to hear that," he said with a smile and a twinkle in his eye, "I'll set up a room for you to use until the other students arrive and you are all sorted. I'll have Professor McGonagall escort you there, and then we'll call you down to dinner in a few hours. I'm guessing you would enjoy a nap?"
I nodded. A nap sounded very, very good. But of course when I got to my room and laid down, the potion was in full swing, and I couldn't sleep a wink. I decided to do a little exploration expedition.
I got up, walked out of the room, and started down the stairs. I heard some creaking and looked up, surprised to see a staircase moving, on it's own.
'This place is insane,' I thought to myself. 'What am I doing here? How furious will Mother and Father be when I get back? How much will it hurt this time . . . ?'
As I was trying to get some sense, ANY sense out of this, I was walking through the halls of the castle. Suddenly I stopped. I looked around and realized I had absolutely no idea where I was. I started to panic, but then (thankfully) this man dressed all in black came around the corner. I ran up to him, thankful to see somebody.
"Excuse me, sir. I'm a little bit lost."
He looked down at me, and I saw a million emotions flash through his eyes in less than a second. Quickly his face became a blank state emotionally, and he said,
"Students don't arrive until tomorrow."
"Professor McGonagall brought me. Where is she?"
I hear a click of heels on the floor, and Professor McGonagall walked around the corner.
"There you are, Kathryn," she said. "I just went up to bring you down to dinner, and you weren't there."
"I couldn't sleep."
"I see. Well, let's get to dinner, then. Severus?"
"In a moment, Minerva," he replied.
Professor McGonagall nodded. "This way, Kathryn."
She led me into a huge room with 4 long tables and a shorter table facing them. There were already several adults seated at the shorter table. The most facinating part of that room though, was that it had no ceiling! Only sky.
"Tomorrow, after the other students arrive, you will be sorted into one of the 4 houses; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin," she said, pointing to each one of the tables. "And then you will eat at your house's table. Until the other students arrive however, you shall eat at the teacher's table."
I nodded, she showed me to a seat, and I sat down. I suddenly felt very out of place. I'd always been surrounded by adults, but they were just my parents, and all these people were looking at me like they expected me to do something, or be something amazing.
I summoned up my courage and said, "hello." My greeting went completely unnoticed.
One professor started to say, "She looks just like like," but drifted off into silence.
I was very confused, and very uncomfortable, and then I heard the doors opened behind me. I turned and saw a tall gray-haired, long-bearded man walk into the room. I recongnised him as the Headmaster, Dumbledore.
"Please forgive my tardiness," he said, "and enjoy your dinner."
I turned back to the table and noticed (with a shock) that it was now piled with food. This (thankfully) took their attention off of me, and I enjoyed the meal in peace.
When we were nearly finished with dessert, the Professor I met outside walked in.
"Ah, Professor Snape," Dumbledore welcomed, "I'm glad you decided to join us."
Professor Snape sat down and ate his meal without saying a word, but he kept looking up and staring at me. This, of course, refocused the other teacher's attention. They kept looking at him and me like they were waiting for something to happen. Suddenly the meal was no longer fun. I was glad when Professor McGonagall stood up, and I followed her out of the room.