Meanwhile, somewhere miles away a lone owl flew against a biting wind with an urgent mission. It had to reach the girl. It was his master's last chance.

            The owl stopped to rest and take water at a spring somewhere in Belgium. He only spent a minute or two; he couldn't afford to let his guard down until he reached the girl. The pendant had originally been made in Ireland by the Celtic magic contained in the rocks. His master however had lived in China. A long flight this owl had taken, and still more was to come. He gathered all his strength and flew off towards Scotland, and Hogwarts School, where The One Who Would Help currently resided. He prayed that she was still there when he got there.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (or at the castle as it was)

            Isabel awoke on the couch. She lay staring at the embers of the dying fire trying to remember what her dream had been about. Eventually she gave up and sat up slowly, noting the stiffness present in her limbs. She caught a movement in the corner of her eye and tensed. Isabel relaxed again when she saw it was only Snape.

            "Good morning." Snape said. He was buttoning up his clothes and seemed to be prepared to face the world.

            "A weekday is it?" Isabel asked looking around for some indicator of the date. Then she looked slightly confused. "But...it's summer. Why're you all dressed up?"

            "Today, I will be going to your house to procure you some clothing and make your father aware of your whereabouts." Snape said running a hand through his hair and straightening his shoulders.

            "When Buttle the Butler comes to the door, ask to speak to Wilma. She's a house elf, and the only member of the staff who is semi-competent. Don't talk to my father directly or you might end up in the seat that I fear Farbon may have vacated due to death. Tell Wilma to grab my pack and select three books. She'll know what you mean. With any luck, you won't have to spend any phenomenal length of time at that…place." Isabel said sitting up. "Is there anything I can do while you're gone?" she asked stretching.

            "No. I imagine you are free to roam around the school. Don't bother anything though. Have a good day." And with that Snape walked out of the room. Isabel followed his movements with her eyes and sat staring at the doorway for a couple of minutes before shaking her head and standing up. After quickly checking her appearance in a tiny mirror, she stepped into the corridor. Isabel didn't like the whole dungeon atmosphere, and she certainly didn't like the spider webs that hung in every corner. She had to admit that it gave the building a sense of wisdom and power to posses stones as old as the ones lining the wall.

            Isabel was watching a particularly peculiar suit of armor as she walked backwards down the hall. She couldn't be sure, but it seemed as if it moved every three steps she took. Suddenly there was a cold sensation at her back and she whirled around. She came face to face with a silver, bloody ghost.

            "S-Sorry, sir," she stammered, startled by the silvery blood that dotted the man's attire. "I wasn't watching where I was going." The ghost's glare alleviated with the apology and he nodded his head in acceptance. Make no mistake, reader, his glare was still enough to set a 7th year Slytherin quaking in his robes. Isabel, however, just smiled. He bowed his head and floated off. She walked quickly down the corridor and ducked down the first hall she came too. She took a deep breath and leant against the wall. Only to fin the wall wasn't there. Isabel tumbled to a dusty ground.

            "OOF…" the sound came as she struggled to sit up. As if sensing her motion, a nearby torch lit up. She looked around and found herself to be with in a tunnel of some sort. Isabel looked off into the murky darkness and then back at the door. She then shrugged and grabbed the torch. Who was she to say no to a little adventure? As it turned out she had no need for the torch, because as she walked on random torches would light up. The walls were graffitied with copious amounts of names and dates, phrases and doodles. Some of the phrases were none-too-polite and some of the doodles had Isabel rocking with laughter. One particularly interesting one showed Snape and his nose. Or rather, just his nose. It was quite amusing. At last the tunnel ended in a room filled with books. Isabel grabbed a random one and after having extinguished her torch in a metal pail, sat down to read. It wasn't until about 4 that she came out after having spent 6 hours reading. She found Snape pacing outside the guest room.

            "There you are," he said. "I left your stuff on the bed. Good day." He left before she could say anything. She shrugged then walked inside and started to unpack her meager belongings.

Back to the owl…

All day he flew hoping to reach Hogwarts before sundown. When he reached the town of Hogsmeade he felt relief flood through his tiny body. He collapsed just inside the gates and fell asleep. He wasn't to be discovered until sometime the next day, when the proverbial hell would break loose.

A/N: I'm basing the Owl's flight on the widely accepted theory that Hogwarts is located somewhere in Scotland. For more information, go to this link:

http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/faq/geography.html#Where%20is%20Hogwarts

Also, there is going to be some mention of Dragons in here. Mostly though, my facts will be made up to support my story. Please keep that in mind when you come across an untrue fact. Thank you. : ) This is to be applied to all facts. If it isn't completely true, go ahead and tell me, but don't think I will immediately jump to change it. Thank you.