See Chapter Two for disclaimer's notice.
Chapter 3
Ramo was awakened by something sharp digging into her side.
"Go the hell away!" she snarled.
"I am sorry, but Professor Dumbledore say you must get up!" said a squeaky voice in Ramo's ear.
Ramo sat up and wondered where she was for a moment. The small room had red carpet and blue paneled walls. Five beds draped with green blankets sat in a neat row. It was the guest room Snape had brought them to.
Kee-Kee sat on the edge of her bed and was gazing around with unfocused eyes. Ramo turned back to the thing that had awakened her. It wore an assortment of hats and scarves along with mismatched socks, a sweater, and what looked like a mini skirt. The creature was only a few feet tall with bat ears and huge green eyes.
"Dobby?" Ray-Ray whispered, awakening and recognizing the house elf.
"At your service!" the elf bowed low and then dropped a stack of clothes on Ara's bed. "Dobby get you robes from the laundry room! Dobby will wait outside in case you need a different size."
The girls dressed in silence. None of them were morning people.
After emerging from the room, Dobby brought the Freak Show to Dumbledore's office instead of the Great Hall. A table weighed down with doughnuts, toast, bagels, and a variety of cereals and fruits had replaced the desk. Six places were set.
"Good morning, ladies," Dumbledore emerged from the shadows. "I hope you will join me for breakfast so that we can discuss your futures."
"Thank you, Professor," Chippy plopped down onto one of the chairs.
Once they were all seated, Dumbledore said, "Now, technically anyone from another dimension possesses magical abilities. You five are no exception. I can contact a few magic schools in America and try to get you enrolled. Or, if you would be interested in attending Hogwarts, I could arrange for you to stay. It's up to you."
"We want to go here!" Ara snapped as though Dumbledore was rather slow.
"Very well," the headmaster spoke with a smile. "I will send you to Diagon Ally with Professor Snape later today to get supplies. I'll pay for everything. School starts in a week after all."
Ray-Ray had thought Severus was going to cry when he was given his assignment. Indeed, the look on his face was priceless. Perhaps it was because Ramo and Ara were repeatedly asking him if he had in fact been stripped nude in front of the entire school.
Kee-Kee took a bit of powder from the pot Snape held out to her. She hesitated, and then hurled the powder into the roaring flames.
"Diagon Alley!" Kee-Kee shouted and she was gone in a whirl of flames.
Fire whizzed around Kee-Kee and her eyes stung from the heat. Suddenly she was being blasted out of a fireplace in some little store. Kee- Kee landed hard and heard a squealing noise. Standing up, she realized that she had landed on top of Draco Malfoy. Just then, Ray-Ray flew out of the fire and landed a few feet away.
"Ray-Ray! Look who it is!"
"MALFOY?!" Ray-Ray shrieked gleefully.
The boy lay on his back moaning and clutching his stomach.
"Isn't this hilarious?" Kee-Kee giggled. "I squished him!"
As the two freaks stood there laughing hysterically, Ara shot past them and was almost immediately followed by Ramo. Ramo slid across the polished wooden floor and came to a stop after colliding with a shelf stocked with gloves, compasses, and an assortment of little gadgets. Judging by all the brooms, the were in the Quidditch supply store.
"I. . . I think my ribs are broken!" Draco gasped from the floor.
"Oh, come on you sissy," Kee-Kee grumbled. "I'm not that heavy."
Chippy managed a somewhat graceful landing as the fire spat her out and Severus appeared about fifteen seconds later.
"Malfoy? What's wrong?" Snape demanded, standing over the whimpering boy.
"They. . . Those weirdos tried. . . To kill me!" he wheezed.
Severus turned to glare at the Freak Show.
"It's not my fault!" Kee-Kee insisted, putting on the most innocent expression she could manage. "I just landed on top of the little whiner."
"Who are they?" Malfoy struggled to his feet.
"They're--" Severus began.
"We're his long lost children!" Ara exclaimed, throwing an arm around Severus's shoulders.
A look of horror crossed Draco's face. Severus shoved Ara back.
"They're new students at Hogwarts," he snapped. "I'll see you later, Malfoy. You five, come with me!"
They exited the shop and were temporarily blinded by the bright sunlight.
"Dumbledore said that although you will be very behind, you will be going into the year you would be in if you had attended Hogwarts since you were eleven. That means Chippy will be in her second year and the rest of you will be in your fourth. He trusts that you will be able to catch up quickly." Surprisingly, Severus didn't seem too upset over the Quidditch shop incident. "Before you get your supplies, we'll buy some lunch."
After placing their orders, Snape left the girls at the table with the drinks and went to wait for their food.
"I found this in Professor Snape's office last night," Chippy murmured, holding up a vile of silvery liquid. "It's supposed to change hair color, I think."
As a joke, Chippy uncorked the vile and held it over Snape's drink. At that moment, tragedy struck. A man in light green robes rushed by and bumped Chippy's arm, causing her to spill the vile's contents into Severus's pumpkin juice.
"Excuse me," the man said politely as he hurried away.
The Freak Show was horror struck.
"What do we do?!" Ray-Ray hissed.
The silver liquid changed color to blend with the juice.
"Um. . . No big deal," Kee-Kee mumbled nervously. "He's a good potion maker. He'll be able to reverse the effects."
"Yeah, you're right," Chippy didn't quite sound convinced.
"Shit! Here he comes!" Ramo moaned.
"Just sit down and act normal!" Ara ordered.
Severus set down a tray piled high with food and handed each girl her order.
"Nice day," he commented, taking a swig of pumpkin juice.
"Yeah, beautiful," Ara squeaked shooting a nervous glance at her friends.
A few pink threads appeared in Severus's oily dark hair. Another sip caused some strands to turn purple. Ten minutes later, the potions teacher had downed the entire glass of juice. His hair was now striped pink and purple without a trace of black.
"What's wrong?" Severus caught the terrified look on Kee-Kee's face.
"Uh. . . nothing," she replied, taking a large bite out of what remained of her burger.
No one seemed to have the heart to point out the fact that Barbie would be proud of the professor's hair's color combination.
Their first stop was Ollivander's wand shop. Severus got strange looks as they fought their way down the crowded ally, but he didn't seem to notice.
The shop was tiny with a dusty chair and huge stacks of slender boxes.
"May I help you?" a soft voice crooned from the shadows.
"I need to buy wands for five Hogwarts students," Severus replied briskly.
An old man with pale blue eyes emerged from behind a very tall pile and eyed the group for a moment. His eyes lingered on Severus's hair.
"Ah, Severus Snape! I remember you. Maple and phoenix feather. Fifteen inches."
"Yes, we're in a hurry, so will you please help them find wands?" Snape snapped.
"I'll start with the youngest girl."
Chippy stepped forward and measuring tapes sprang up and began stretching across her arms.
"Which is your wand hand?"
"Um. . . My right," Chippy said nervously.
After ordering the measuring tapes to leave Chippy alone and start on Ara, Mr. Ollivander yanked a box out of one stack and removed a wand from it.
"Wave it," he ordered Chippy.
Chippy obeyed.
ZAP!!!
After a cloud of purple smoke faded away, they could see Chippy who had been blasted back against the wall. She appeared uninjured for the most part, but was massaging a sore spot on the back of her head.
"Well, that can happen. Have a go with this one now," Mr. Ollivander was the only one who wasn't worried about Chippy.
None of the other wands backfired, and finally she tried one that emitted multi-colored sparks when it was waved.
"Cherry wood and chipmunk hair! Nine inches," he announced triumphantly.
Ara went through about ten wands before she found one that suited her.
"Ash, dragon scale, ten-and-a-half inches!" the old man called.
Then it was Kee-Kee's turn.
"Ebony and phoenix feather. Fourteen inches."
Ramo had to try at least twenty wands before Mr. Ollivander finally shouted out the components of the one that fit her.
"Oak and raven feather. Twelve-an-a-half inches."
"You don't usually use chipmunk hair, raven feathers, or dragon scales, do you?" Ray-Ray asked.
"I've been experimenting." the wand shop's owner reported. "I found that a creature doesn't have to be magical to provide a good core for a wand. And powdered dragon scales are often more effective in some woods than heartstrings."
Ray-Ray went last and found a perfect wand in just a few minutes.
"Mahogany, unicorn hair, Thirteen-and-a-half inches."
Severus paid, and the Freak Show wandered outside to wait for him.
"Should we tell him about his hair?" Ray-Ray whispered.
"He'll figure it out eventually," Kee-Kee responded.
"We don't want to be around when he does," Ara added.
Snape then led them to Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasions next. They each purchased five sets of plain black robes, one set of dress robes, three cloaks (two thick wool ones and a lighter cotton one), gloves, scarves, and a couple pairs of shoes. The ones Dobby had managed to find for them were ill-fitting. Madame Malkin apparently knew Severus.
"I like your hair today, Mr. Snape," she chirped as they left the shop.
"Thanks," he looked a bit confused, and Ara barely managed not to laugh.
After uneventful trips to shops to buy caldrons and ingredients for potions they stopped at Flourish and Blotts, the magnificent book store. Standing near a display of books on common hexes was Draco Malfoy and his father Lucious.
"That's her, Father!" Draco squealed, pointing at Kee-Kee. "The one I told you about!"
"Lucius," Severus mumbled stepping forward, "how are you today?"
"Not bad," the man replied, "but I believe one of your companions injured my son. By the way, may I inquire as to the occasion? Your hair looks. . . festive."
"I'm very sorry about Draco's injuries, but it was an accident. Kee- Kee, apologize. And I'm not sure what you mean. This is how my hair looks every day."
Chippy started laughing, but quickly turned it into a cough. Severus elbowed Kee-Kee in the side.
"Um, sorry Malfoy Boy!" Kee-Kee turned to Ray-Ray. "What should his Freak Name be?"
Ray-Ray studied Malfoy. "How about Dra-Dra?" she suggested.
"It has a nice ring to it," Ara agreed.
"We pronounce it Dray-Dray, right?" Ramo checked.
"Maybe we should spell it D-R-A-Y so no one gets confused," Chippy pointed out.
"Dray-Dray it is!" Kee-Kee declared.
They formed a tight circle around Draco and began the Anti-Tableism dance. Draco looked terrified. Lucius pulled out his wand and seemed to be trying to decide which freak to curse first. Severus ignored the scene taking place in front of him and handed the lists to a worker at the bookstore who scurried off to find the required volumes.
"Knock it off, you five," Severus snapped.
"How did you get the job of escorting these barbarians to Diagon Ally?" Lucious sneered.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ray-Ray pointed her wand at her caldron.
"Hey! It works!" Chippy shrieked as it rose a few inches off the ground.
"Well, um, Dumbledore likes tormenting me for some reason."
"You actually take orders from that old fool?" Lucius said with a laugh.
The clerk returned and shoved a large pile of books into Severus's arms. Balancing them precariously on one arm, he stuffed a handful of coins in her direction.
"Oh! Look at the time! We'd better get going! Grab your things, girls!"
Severus shoved past Lucious and over to the fireplace. A bucket of floo powder sat beside the hearth.
"Talk to you later, Lucius!" Snape called over his shoulder.
"Do we have to leave?" Ara asked. "We were having fun with Dray- Dray!"
"We've got to get away from the Malfoys. I hate them all," Severus snarled.
"I thought you liked the Malfoys," Chippy commented, helping herself to the floo powder.
"I just pretend to. Go! Hurry!"
One after the other, the Freak Show vanished into the fire. They found themselves back in the guest room. Severus popped out of the fire last and dropped the heap of books on the small table.
"This will be your room until you are sorted into your houses. The Great Hall is to the right and down the stairs. If you need anything, look for a house elf. They're out all day while there are no students at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore wants to speak to you later, so don't go to far," Severus suddenly grabbed his left wrist and winced. "I have to go. I should see you at dinner."
"He still hasn't noticed his hair," Chippy muttered when he was out of sight.
"I hope we get to see his expression when he does!" Ray-Ray giggled.
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Chapter 3
Ramo was awakened by something sharp digging into her side.
"Go the hell away!" she snarled.
"I am sorry, but Professor Dumbledore say you must get up!" said a squeaky voice in Ramo's ear.
Ramo sat up and wondered where she was for a moment. The small room had red carpet and blue paneled walls. Five beds draped with green blankets sat in a neat row. It was the guest room Snape had brought them to.
Kee-Kee sat on the edge of her bed and was gazing around with unfocused eyes. Ramo turned back to the thing that had awakened her. It wore an assortment of hats and scarves along with mismatched socks, a sweater, and what looked like a mini skirt. The creature was only a few feet tall with bat ears and huge green eyes.
"Dobby?" Ray-Ray whispered, awakening and recognizing the house elf.
"At your service!" the elf bowed low and then dropped a stack of clothes on Ara's bed. "Dobby get you robes from the laundry room! Dobby will wait outside in case you need a different size."
The girls dressed in silence. None of them were morning people.
After emerging from the room, Dobby brought the Freak Show to Dumbledore's office instead of the Great Hall. A table weighed down with doughnuts, toast, bagels, and a variety of cereals and fruits had replaced the desk. Six places were set.
"Good morning, ladies," Dumbledore emerged from the shadows. "I hope you will join me for breakfast so that we can discuss your futures."
"Thank you, Professor," Chippy plopped down onto one of the chairs.
Once they were all seated, Dumbledore said, "Now, technically anyone from another dimension possesses magical abilities. You five are no exception. I can contact a few magic schools in America and try to get you enrolled. Or, if you would be interested in attending Hogwarts, I could arrange for you to stay. It's up to you."
"We want to go here!" Ara snapped as though Dumbledore was rather slow.
"Very well," the headmaster spoke with a smile. "I will send you to Diagon Ally with Professor Snape later today to get supplies. I'll pay for everything. School starts in a week after all."
Ray-Ray had thought Severus was going to cry when he was given his assignment. Indeed, the look on his face was priceless. Perhaps it was because Ramo and Ara were repeatedly asking him if he had in fact been stripped nude in front of the entire school.
Kee-Kee took a bit of powder from the pot Snape held out to her. She hesitated, and then hurled the powder into the roaring flames.
"Diagon Alley!" Kee-Kee shouted and she was gone in a whirl of flames.
Fire whizzed around Kee-Kee and her eyes stung from the heat. Suddenly she was being blasted out of a fireplace in some little store. Kee- Kee landed hard and heard a squealing noise. Standing up, she realized that she had landed on top of Draco Malfoy. Just then, Ray-Ray flew out of the fire and landed a few feet away.
"Ray-Ray! Look who it is!"
"MALFOY?!" Ray-Ray shrieked gleefully.
The boy lay on his back moaning and clutching his stomach.
"Isn't this hilarious?" Kee-Kee giggled. "I squished him!"
As the two freaks stood there laughing hysterically, Ara shot past them and was almost immediately followed by Ramo. Ramo slid across the polished wooden floor and came to a stop after colliding with a shelf stocked with gloves, compasses, and an assortment of little gadgets. Judging by all the brooms, the were in the Quidditch supply store.
"I. . . I think my ribs are broken!" Draco gasped from the floor.
"Oh, come on you sissy," Kee-Kee grumbled. "I'm not that heavy."
Chippy managed a somewhat graceful landing as the fire spat her out and Severus appeared about fifteen seconds later.
"Malfoy? What's wrong?" Snape demanded, standing over the whimpering boy.
"They. . . Those weirdos tried. . . To kill me!" he wheezed.
Severus turned to glare at the Freak Show.
"It's not my fault!" Kee-Kee insisted, putting on the most innocent expression she could manage. "I just landed on top of the little whiner."
"Who are they?" Malfoy struggled to his feet.
"They're--" Severus began.
"We're his long lost children!" Ara exclaimed, throwing an arm around Severus's shoulders.
A look of horror crossed Draco's face. Severus shoved Ara back.
"They're new students at Hogwarts," he snapped. "I'll see you later, Malfoy. You five, come with me!"
They exited the shop and were temporarily blinded by the bright sunlight.
"Dumbledore said that although you will be very behind, you will be going into the year you would be in if you had attended Hogwarts since you were eleven. That means Chippy will be in her second year and the rest of you will be in your fourth. He trusts that you will be able to catch up quickly." Surprisingly, Severus didn't seem too upset over the Quidditch shop incident. "Before you get your supplies, we'll buy some lunch."
After placing their orders, Snape left the girls at the table with the drinks and went to wait for their food.
"I found this in Professor Snape's office last night," Chippy murmured, holding up a vile of silvery liquid. "It's supposed to change hair color, I think."
As a joke, Chippy uncorked the vile and held it over Snape's drink. At that moment, tragedy struck. A man in light green robes rushed by and bumped Chippy's arm, causing her to spill the vile's contents into Severus's pumpkin juice.
"Excuse me," the man said politely as he hurried away.
The Freak Show was horror struck.
"What do we do?!" Ray-Ray hissed.
The silver liquid changed color to blend with the juice.
"Um. . . No big deal," Kee-Kee mumbled nervously. "He's a good potion maker. He'll be able to reverse the effects."
"Yeah, you're right," Chippy didn't quite sound convinced.
"Shit! Here he comes!" Ramo moaned.
"Just sit down and act normal!" Ara ordered.
Severus set down a tray piled high with food and handed each girl her order.
"Nice day," he commented, taking a swig of pumpkin juice.
"Yeah, beautiful," Ara squeaked shooting a nervous glance at her friends.
A few pink threads appeared in Severus's oily dark hair. Another sip caused some strands to turn purple. Ten minutes later, the potions teacher had downed the entire glass of juice. His hair was now striped pink and purple without a trace of black.
"What's wrong?" Severus caught the terrified look on Kee-Kee's face.
"Uh. . . nothing," she replied, taking a large bite out of what remained of her burger.
No one seemed to have the heart to point out the fact that Barbie would be proud of the professor's hair's color combination.
Their first stop was Ollivander's wand shop. Severus got strange looks as they fought their way down the crowded ally, but he didn't seem to notice.
The shop was tiny with a dusty chair and huge stacks of slender boxes.
"May I help you?" a soft voice crooned from the shadows.
"I need to buy wands for five Hogwarts students," Severus replied briskly.
An old man with pale blue eyes emerged from behind a very tall pile and eyed the group for a moment. His eyes lingered on Severus's hair.
"Ah, Severus Snape! I remember you. Maple and phoenix feather. Fifteen inches."
"Yes, we're in a hurry, so will you please help them find wands?" Snape snapped.
"I'll start with the youngest girl."
Chippy stepped forward and measuring tapes sprang up and began stretching across her arms.
"Which is your wand hand?"
"Um. . . My right," Chippy said nervously.
After ordering the measuring tapes to leave Chippy alone and start on Ara, Mr. Ollivander yanked a box out of one stack and removed a wand from it.
"Wave it," he ordered Chippy.
Chippy obeyed.
ZAP!!!
After a cloud of purple smoke faded away, they could see Chippy who had been blasted back against the wall. She appeared uninjured for the most part, but was massaging a sore spot on the back of her head.
"Well, that can happen. Have a go with this one now," Mr. Ollivander was the only one who wasn't worried about Chippy.
None of the other wands backfired, and finally she tried one that emitted multi-colored sparks when it was waved.
"Cherry wood and chipmunk hair! Nine inches," he announced triumphantly.
Ara went through about ten wands before she found one that suited her.
"Ash, dragon scale, ten-and-a-half inches!" the old man called.
Then it was Kee-Kee's turn.
"Ebony and phoenix feather. Fourteen inches."
Ramo had to try at least twenty wands before Mr. Ollivander finally shouted out the components of the one that fit her.
"Oak and raven feather. Twelve-an-a-half inches."
"You don't usually use chipmunk hair, raven feathers, or dragon scales, do you?" Ray-Ray asked.
"I've been experimenting." the wand shop's owner reported. "I found that a creature doesn't have to be magical to provide a good core for a wand. And powdered dragon scales are often more effective in some woods than heartstrings."
Ray-Ray went last and found a perfect wand in just a few minutes.
"Mahogany, unicorn hair, Thirteen-and-a-half inches."
Severus paid, and the Freak Show wandered outside to wait for him.
"Should we tell him about his hair?" Ray-Ray whispered.
"He'll figure it out eventually," Kee-Kee responded.
"We don't want to be around when he does," Ara added.
Snape then led them to Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasions next. They each purchased five sets of plain black robes, one set of dress robes, three cloaks (two thick wool ones and a lighter cotton one), gloves, scarves, and a couple pairs of shoes. The ones Dobby had managed to find for them were ill-fitting. Madame Malkin apparently knew Severus.
"I like your hair today, Mr. Snape," she chirped as they left the shop.
"Thanks," he looked a bit confused, and Ara barely managed not to laugh.
After uneventful trips to shops to buy caldrons and ingredients for potions they stopped at Flourish and Blotts, the magnificent book store. Standing near a display of books on common hexes was Draco Malfoy and his father Lucious.
"That's her, Father!" Draco squealed, pointing at Kee-Kee. "The one I told you about!"
"Lucius," Severus mumbled stepping forward, "how are you today?"
"Not bad," the man replied, "but I believe one of your companions injured my son. By the way, may I inquire as to the occasion? Your hair looks. . . festive."
"I'm very sorry about Draco's injuries, but it was an accident. Kee- Kee, apologize. And I'm not sure what you mean. This is how my hair looks every day."
Chippy started laughing, but quickly turned it into a cough. Severus elbowed Kee-Kee in the side.
"Um, sorry Malfoy Boy!" Kee-Kee turned to Ray-Ray. "What should his Freak Name be?"
Ray-Ray studied Malfoy. "How about Dra-Dra?" she suggested.
"It has a nice ring to it," Ara agreed.
"We pronounce it Dray-Dray, right?" Ramo checked.
"Maybe we should spell it D-R-A-Y so no one gets confused," Chippy pointed out.
"Dray-Dray it is!" Kee-Kee declared.
They formed a tight circle around Draco and began the Anti-Tableism dance. Draco looked terrified. Lucius pulled out his wand and seemed to be trying to decide which freak to curse first. Severus ignored the scene taking place in front of him and handed the lists to a worker at the bookstore who scurried off to find the required volumes.
"Knock it off, you five," Severus snapped.
"How did you get the job of escorting these barbarians to Diagon Ally?" Lucious sneered.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ray-Ray pointed her wand at her caldron.
"Hey! It works!" Chippy shrieked as it rose a few inches off the ground.
"Well, um, Dumbledore likes tormenting me for some reason."
"You actually take orders from that old fool?" Lucius said with a laugh.
The clerk returned and shoved a large pile of books into Severus's arms. Balancing them precariously on one arm, he stuffed a handful of coins in her direction.
"Oh! Look at the time! We'd better get going! Grab your things, girls!"
Severus shoved past Lucious and over to the fireplace. A bucket of floo powder sat beside the hearth.
"Talk to you later, Lucius!" Snape called over his shoulder.
"Do we have to leave?" Ara asked. "We were having fun with Dray- Dray!"
"We've got to get away from the Malfoys. I hate them all," Severus snarled.
"I thought you liked the Malfoys," Chippy commented, helping herself to the floo powder.
"I just pretend to. Go! Hurry!"
One after the other, the Freak Show vanished into the fire. They found themselves back in the guest room. Severus popped out of the fire last and dropped the heap of books on the small table.
"This will be your room until you are sorted into your houses. The Great Hall is to the right and down the stairs. If you need anything, look for a house elf. They're out all day while there are no students at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore wants to speak to you later, so don't go to far," Severus suddenly grabbed his left wrist and winced. "I have to go. I should see you at dinner."
"He still hasn't noticed his hair," Chippy muttered when he was out of sight.
"I hope we get to see his expression when he does!" Ray-Ray giggled.
* ~ * ~ *
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