Harry, Ron, and Hermione had just settled themselves at the Gryffindor table. An excited murmur was passing through the Hall. Harry was as puzzled as the others. Dumbledore had never called a meeting of the entire school before. The teachers were seated up at the High Table, and most of them looked curious, except for a few that looked downright scared. If Harry had not been so preoccupied with his own thoughts, he would have noticed that Hagrid's seat at the table was oddly vacant. Dumbledore, Harry noticed looked as though he had been punched in the stomach and elected president of the world at the same time. As Harry watched, he got to his feet, and the already unusually quiet Hall fell silent.

"Students….faculty. There is much I would like to tell you. However, I do not even know what is happening. I can tell you, however, that right now, our school is in a situation that neither I, nor any of the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses, have ever been in," he said. He stopped to let another murmur run through the Hall. He raised his hand, and silence fell again. "I would like to tell you that this is a safe situation, but I have never lied to my students before, and I do not intend on starting now." Several people's mouths fell open at this statement, but Dumbledore seemed no to have noticed. He certainly continued as though he had not, "There is no more I can add until you all know what I am talking about. Hagrid, can you bring her in, please?"

People started to talk quietly again, apparently confused. Harry caught Seamus' eye, and Seamus shrugged. Just then, Harry noticed that Dumbledore had his long crooked hand pointed at the huge oak doors that lead out of the Hall and back in to the main castle. Several heads, including Harry, Ron, and Hermione's, flicked back to face the door. As they watched, the door slowly opened, and Hagrid's huge face appeared. He looked around for a moment and when he saw Dumbledore, he smiled and announced, "May I present to everyone here….Miss Jessica." He propped open the door and stood aside. In walked a girl who looked no more than fifteen. There was nothing extraordinary about her appearance, apart from her eyes. They were like two huge, sparkling clear blue diamonds. She was not an ugly girl, but she was still not extremely pretty. She had shiny chestnut hair that hung roughly an inch below her shoulder, porcelain colored skin, freckles that were apparent even from his distance, and she somehow carried herself differently than the girls that attended Hogwarts. Harry stared at her for a moment, wondering what it was that was different about her that he couldn't put his finger on. As he was staring, he suddenly realized that he was not the only one who was absolutely dumbstruck at her very being. All around the Hall, people sat staring, mouths hanging open. It certainly wasn't her clothes that attracted their attention. She was dressed in plain jean bellbottoms and a light blue T-shirt. Muggle clothes, said a voice somewhere in the back of Harry's fogged brain. She must be a Muggle, he concluded, because she certainly doesn't look like a witch incognito. She cast a nervous glance around the Hall, taking in the many staring faces, the mouths hanging open, until finally she took a small step further in to the Hall, next to Hagrid. She was visibly shaking from head to toe. With the eyes of everyone in the Hall upon her, Hagrid placed a giant hand on her shoulder and began to gently steer her toward the High Table, as the oak doors closed silently. Students began to turn and sit down again. Through a gap in the people, Harry saw the Slytherins jeering and pointing, all, that is, except for Malfoy. He sat and stared as though he were in a trance. Ron noticed this too, and grinned to Harry.

"I bet he likes her," he whispered, still grinning.

Harry smiled, but secretly, something inside of him was starting to panic. What it was, he didn't know. Something about what Ron had said had left him with an unsettled, eerie feeling. His musings were cut short as Hagrid and Jessica reached the High Table.

I knew I should have worn the pink T-shirt, Jessica thought bitterly as all the students continued to gape at her. Professor Dumbledore had once again gotten to his feet, and once again, silence blanketed the Great Hall

Dumbledore turned to look at Jessica. He fixed her with a piercing stare that Harry knew only too well. After a moment he said, "Thank you, Hagrid. You may take your seat now."

"Righ', then, Professor," Hagrid said, "but I would just like ter say that I don' think she's got anything ter do with Dark Magic. Heck, when I found her she had fainted in the woods and had nothin' more on her than a nightshirt." He patted her shoulder in what should have been an affectionate way, but she felt her knees buckle, and she was almost sent face first in to the High Table.

"Thank you, Hagrid. That information will be taken in to account, as we try to sort this out," Dumbledore replied with a hint of the old twinkle in his eyes.

Hagrid nodded and went to take his place at the High Table, leaving Jessica standing alone under the piercing gaze of students and faculty.

Now, Dumbledore turned to her. "Hello," he said good-naturedly, "I have a few questions for you. Will you answer them?"

Harry wondered why he would give her an option, but as he watched, she nodded her head mutely.

"All right, then. Do you confirm that your name is Jessica?" he asked.

Again, she nodded mutely.

"And where do you come from?' he asked kindly.

Jessica swallowed. She wasn't even sure she was in the same galaxy anymore, but she had to answer. She forced herself to stare directly into Dumbledore's light blue gaze.

"Please, forgive me, sir. But I'm not sure I'm in the same universe as where I came from," she said quietly, "but in case I am, I'm from Poland, Ohio in the United States of America."

"Very well," Dumbledore continued, "and how old are you?"

"I'm fifteen," she admitted. Harry felt his stomach lurch, although he didn't know why. She was his age, so if they let her stay and study there, she'd be in his year.

"Alright, and now for the most difficult question of all. How did you get here?" Professor Dumbledore asked in a strong voice that reminded Harry forcefully of the previous year, when Dumbledore had caught young Barty Crouch trying to kill Harry. Up until Dumbledore's statement, he never realized how loud silence was. He was pretty sure no one in the Hall was breathing, the silence was so deafening.

Finally, Jessica cast a nervous look at the other teachers, and said, "Please, Professor. I know what was taking place in my world on the night I arrived here, but what was going on here, I'm not sure. I think that perhaps I should discuss the specific circumstances with you alone, as I'm not sure it would be wise to tell the whole school. It may cause a panic," she finished breathlessly. Once again, Professor Dumbledore fixed her with a piercing stare. Finally, he said, "Very well. I will speak to you alone in my office. For now…"

"Please, Professor Dumbledore," she interrupted. Her voice was anxious and she sounded very nervous, "So that you will believe what I tell you in your office, may I prove it to you now?"

He studied her for a moment. "All right," he said, "but will it involve telling your secret to the whole school?"

"No, sir. All it will involve is me proving to you that I know very much about the Hogwarts grounds, the students, and the faculty," she said, a little more confident than before.

"All right, then. Prove your knowledge," he said calmly, as he sat down.

An interested wave of talk broke out in the Hall. Surely, she had never been here before, so how is it that she would know about the school?

Show time, Jessica thought.

She cleared her throat and thought for a moment.

"I'd like to start with the staff first, sir. May I?" she asked. Harry noticed that she seemed to be becoming more confident. At any rate, she was certainly shaking less than she had when she first arrived.

"Please, proceed," said Dumbledore. He had that familiar twinkle in his eyes, and he was sitting with his chin resting on his long fingers.

Jessica walked to the far right end of the staff table, and pointed a shaking finger at Professor McGonagall. "Professor Minerva McGonagall," she spoke in barely more than a whisper, "She is the head of the Gryffindor house, and the Transfiguration teacher here at Hogwarts. She filled in as the Headmistress two years ago, when you, Professor Dumbledore, were taken away from the school by some….unfound accusations." She stopped for a moment, to think of what else she could say. "She is an Animagi, and can transform at will into a tabby cat with markings around its eyes, identical to her spectacles." A tense silence followed this little speech. Harry noticed that Professor McGonagall's lips had stretched into a thin white line.

Jessica seemed to think she had said enough and move to the next teacher. She once again pointed a shaking finger, although this time, it was pointed at Snape. "Professor Severus Snape," she said breathlessly, "The Potions master at Hogwarts. He is the head of Slytherin house, and he has been known to favor the Slytherins during his lessons. He is also known to be rather hostile toward non-Slytherins, particularly Gryffindors." Harry could have sworn that at this statement, she had given him a small wink. Of course, he may have imagined it. Ron and Harry grinned at eachother, as they watched Snape assume a look of utmost loathing for Jessica. She gave him a weak smile, and moved onto the next teacher.

"Madame Hooch," she said, "She is the flying instructor, and the referee at most of the Quidditch matches." A ripple of confusion broke out in the Hall. This girl was certainly a Muggle. How could she know about Quidditch?

She seemed to notice the confusion of the students, and she turned around to address them.

"Yes," she said simply, "I know all about Quidditch. The rules, the players, the risks. I've also read the book Quidditch Through the Ages, and I consider myself quite a broom connoisseur."

The students sat gaping at her, and even the teachers looked quite shocked. Still facing the students, she shrugged and smiled. At that moment, Harry shivered as he felt a sudden and inexplicable wave of warmth overcome him. He stared at those blue eyes, and for a moment, they connected with his. He felt himself get lightheaded and his scar felt as though it were tickling. There was an odd sensation traveling from his forehead down through the rest of his body. She looked away, and even from his distance, he could see her fair cheeks blush. She turned around again to face the teachers.

'I believe I have said all I need to say. I know more, of course. But perhaps the rest should be told to you alone," she said to Dumbledore. Apparently, she was no longer nervous, and Harry saw that she had stopped shaking completely. Could it be that she had induced that strange sensation when their eyes had met?, he wondered. Dumbledore gazed straight at her eyes for a moment, then he stood up quickly.

"Students. Please return to your respective dormitories. Your head of house will summon you when it is time for you to go to your last lesson. Off you go. Teachers, staff, and Miss Ciccone, follow me, please."

The students rose from their seats and proceeded out of the Great Hall. Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Gryffindors then all set off in their separate directions.

"What d'you reckon is going on?" Ron asked Harry as they started up the great marble staircase.

"I dunno," Harry replied, wondering whether Ron had felt the same sensation when he had looked in to Jessica's eyes.

"Me either," Ron said, "but wow. They don't make 'em like that at Hogwarts," he continued smiling.

"Oh, do you think so?" Harry asked, accidentally tripping over a stair because he was looking at Ron, "You think she's pretty?" he asked.

"Oh I don't know. I suppose so. Of course, I'd never admit it. I mean, who knows what kind of evil powers she could have?" he asked, shrugging.

Harry nodded, but despite all of the things that made her seem evil, he still couldn't shake the feeling that maybe…just maybe…