As they walked timidly down the many stairs and halls, another girl joined
them. She was wearing robes of smooth, creamy beige that looked great with
her perfect skin tone and blonde hair.
"Vicks!" Tabby Girl whispered excitedly, "Where've you been all this time?"
'Princess' Vicks smiled secretively and mouthed to her,
"I'll tell you later!" They walked on in silence, hoping that Minerva didn't turn around and ask Vicks where she'd been.
They reached the main marble foyer which they hadn't noticed was lit by a large, floating, crystal chandelier, and followed Minerva down a hallway that lead to the left. The floor was made of smooth, shiny marble that made their footsteps echo eerily. They finally reached the end of the hallway, where two foamed glass French style doors faced them. Minerva reached forwards and pulled the door open smoothly, motioning for her guests to go in ahead of her. They stepped into the room quickly, which turned out to be a large dining room. The floors here were made of smooth, varnished gray and red granite tiles, and a long table was in the middle, with many chairs placed around it. The table cloth was maroon, with what was obviously the Dumbledore family crest embroidered on it with silken gold thread. There was another floating chandelier above their heads; this time lit with traditional candles instead of magic-tricity (a wizarding variation of electricity), that cast a warm, dancing light. The ceiling was vaulted very high, and the room itself seemed to have a certain elegance that made the girls glad of their elegant dress robes.
"Please, have a seat! Make yourselves comfortable!" said Albus Dumbledore, who was already seated at the far end of the table, and ushering for them to join him.
Tentatively, they seated themselves around the table and looked at each other. Minerva finally seated herself at the other end and looked towards another door in the far right corner that the others hadn't even noticed. To their surprise, it burst open and over a dozen house elves came marching out bearing trays and dishes of every kind. They placed them on the table, and bowed or curtsied politely in a way that would make Hermione rant and rave, before hurriedly leaving to wherever they had come from. The odd thing about them, was that they seemed to be wearing neat little uniforms, complete with little aprons and hats.
"Help yourselves, ladies." Minerva said, doing so.
"Thank you." they murmured.
Carefully they all reached over and helped themselves to an assortment of dishes, many they had never tasted before. It was difficult maneuvering their long, draping sleeves around so that they didn't drag in the food, and Albus noticed their troubles.
"If I may, ladies." he said, waving his wand and shortening their sleeves considerably.
"Thank you!" Punurple laughed, looking down at her now short purple sleeves.
The others nodded, and Albus waved his hand.
"Think nothing of it, my dears."
They continued to silently eat their way through many courses without a mishap, if you discounted Mini Minerva accidentally tipping over Tetley Bag's glass of wine and Sprite, and Vicks 'accidentally' flicking a pea at Sky, who then retaliated by flinging a spoonful of mashed potatoes at her head. Minerva pursed her lips slightly and cleaned up the mess with a longs swish of her wand and some well chosen words, but said nothing of it. The girls, however, were quite sure that they saw an amused twinkle come to Albus's eye, but it was promptly squashed by a stern look from his Deputy.
During dessert, a few questions came up. Tetley Bag raised her head and met Minerva's and Albus's eyes in turn, getting the OK to ask a question or two.
"If you don't mind me asking, Professors, what will become of the people that we left behind at our homes?" Minerva nodded, satisfied at this question.
"Well, they won't particularly notice that you are gone." Albus said, meeting her eyes.
The girls around the table gasped, and frowned in confusion.
"My mom would notice if I was gone." Sky said stubbornly. "And so would Buttercup."
"Yes, but you see," said Albus patiently, "We haven't quite taken you, at least not yet." When this earned him nothing but a few confused looks and raised eyebrows in his direction, he continued.
"Let me explain," he said. "We have temporarily affected the time-continuum surrounding your homes. Not quite stopped time, but we have fixed it so that time slows down considerably. For example, every twenty-four hours that you spend here, is a mere minute there."
"How the heck did you do that?" Jestana burst out quite impressed. She suddenly realized what she'd said and lowered her face to her plate, blushing. "I'm sorry, do continue."
Sky looked proudly in her direction, nodding.
"Yes, it was not easy. You see, the British Ministry of Magic is in possession of the largest time turner in the Wizarding World, and though they are now aware of Lord Voldemort's rise to power, they were reluctant to assist Muggles. When I finally persuaded them, assuring them that it was for the benefit of our world as well as yours, they gave in and allowed us to use it. It continues turning over every twenty for hours, for approximately fourteen days."
Tabby Girl let out a low whistle.
"Woah. That's impressive!" Punurple exclaimed.
Sky snorted into her chocolate fudge pudding.
"Whatever. So you slowed down time just to bring us here, to protect the information that we have about Minnie here, and your world? That's stupid." The group stared at her, wide eyed, but Sky continued to placidly eat her pudding. "Only Dumbledork would come up with something like that." she added in a whisper.
The girls could hardly believe their ears. A vein in Minerva's head began to twitch slightly, and they got the distinct impression that she was chewing her tongue. She was beginning to rather dislike this 'Sky' girl. To break the awkward silence, Vicks raised her voice slightly and asked another question.
"Ok, so the Harry Potter books are true, then?" Minerva pursed her lips slightly and nodded stiffly.
"Yes, these 'Harry Potter' books are indeed, true. Only a witch could have written them, and we haven't quite figured out who has been writing under the pen name 'J. K. Rowling', but I suspect that she will be in some serious trouble when and if we do find out. Her writing those books and making them available to muggles is directly defying the Wizarding statute of secrecy. She could get a large fine or possibly a short sentence in Azkaban. You'll know all about Azkaban, of course." she said, in a disapproving tone.
"It'd serve her right, for making Harry Snotter the main character." grumbled Sky.
They chose to ignore that last statement, but Minerva looked as if she was not looking forward to the next two weeks with Sky in her house.
"Alright, if everyone is finished, I suggest that you all get some sleep. You must be tired, because mass portkey travel takes a lot out of everyone. Goodnight, ladies, and I trust that you will be able to find your rooms sufficiently?" The girls nodded and said goodbye, making their way down the hall way and up the stairs to their rooms.
"Yeah," said Sky, as she stomped up the stairs, "But the day that I'm sent into a room to go to sleep, with a girl my age -especially Dani- is the day that Hell freezes over." Dani stuffed her fist in her mouth to muffle the laughter.
"Wait, wait, you guys! Come to my room in about ten minutes, I really, really have to tell you something!" said Vicks. They looked at each other and shrugged, disappearing into their rooms to change into something more suitable for receiving information in Vicks' room.
"Vicks!" Tabby Girl whispered excitedly, "Where've you been all this time?"
'Princess' Vicks smiled secretively and mouthed to her,
"I'll tell you later!" They walked on in silence, hoping that Minerva didn't turn around and ask Vicks where she'd been.
They reached the main marble foyer which they hadn't noticed was lit by a large, floating, crystal chandelier, and followed Minerva down a hallway that lead to the left. The floor was made of smooth, shiny marble that made their footsteps echo eerily. They finally reached the end of the hallway, where two foamed glass French style doors faced them. Minerva reached forwards and pulled the door open smoothly, motioning for her guests to go in ahead of her. They stepped into the room quickly, which turned out to be a large dining room. The floors here were made of smooth, varnished gray and red granite tiles, and a long table was in the middle, with many chairs placed around it. The table cloth was maroon, with what was obviously the Dumbledore family crest embroidered on it with silken gold thread. There was another floating chandelier above their heads; this time lit with traditional candles instead of magic-tricity (a wizarding variation of electricity), that cast a warm, dancing light. The ceiling was vaulted very high, and the room itself seemed to have a certain elegance that made the girls glad of their elegant dress robes.
"Please, have a seat! Make yourselves comfortable!" said Albus Dumbledore, who was already seated at the far end of the table, and ushering for them to join him.
Tentatively, they seated themselves around the table and looked at each other. Minerva finally seated herself at the other end and looked towards another door in the far right corner that the others hadn't even noticed. To their surprise, it burst open and over a dozen house elves came marching out bearing trays and dishes of every kind. They placed them on the table, and bowed or curtsied politely in a way that would make Hermione rant and rave, before hurriedly leaving to wherever they had come from. The odd thing about them, was that they seemed to be wearing neat little uniforms, complete with little aprons and hats.
"Help yourselves, ladies." Minerva said, doing so.
"Thank you." they murmured.
Carefully they all reached over and helped themselves to an assortment of dishes, many they had never tasted before. It was difficult maneuvering their long, draping sleeves around so that they didn't drag in the food, and Albus noticed their troubles.
"If I may, ladies." he said, waving his wand and shortening their sleeves considerably.
"Thank you!" Punurple laughed, looking down at her now short purple sleeves.
The others nodded, and Albus waved his hand.
"Think nothing of it, my dears."
They continued to silently eat their way through many courses without a mishap, if you discounted Mini Minerva accidentally tipping over Tetley Bag's glass of wine and Sprite, and Vicks 'accidentally' flicking a pea at Sky, who then retaliated by flinging a spoonful of mashed potatoes at her head. Minerva pursed her lips slightly and cleaned up the mess with a longs swish of her wand and some well chosen words, but said nothing of it. The girls, however, were quite sure that they saw an amused twinkle come to Albus's eye, but it was promptly squashed by a stern look from his Deputy.
During dessert, a few questions came up. Tetley Bag raised her head and met Minerva's and Albus's eyes in turn, getting the OK to ask a question or two.
"If you don't mind me asking, Professors, what will become of the people that we left behind at our homes?" Minerva nodded, satisfied at this question.
"Well, they won't particularly notice that you are gone." Albus said, meeting her eyes.
The girls around the table gasped, and frowned in confusion.
"My mom would notice if I was gone." Sky said stubbornly. "And so would Buttercup."
"Yes, but you see," said Albus patiently, "We haven't quite taken you, at least not yet." When this earned him nothing but a few confused looks and raised eyebrows in his direction, he continued.
"Let me explain," he said. "We have temporarily affected the time-continuum surrounding your homes. Not quite stopped time, but we have fixed it so that time slows down considerably. For example, every twenty-four hours that you spend here, is a mere minute there."
"How the heck did you do that?" Jestana burst out quite impressed. She suddenly realized what she'd said and lowered her face to her plate, blushing. "I'm sorry, do continue."
Sky looked proudly in her direction, nodding.
"Yes, it was not easy. You see, the British Ministry of Magic is in possession of the largest time turner in the Wizarding World, and though they are now aware of Lord Voldemort's rise to power, they were reluctant to assist Muggles. When I finally persuaded them, assuring them that it was for the benefit of our world as well as yours, they gave in and allowed us to use it. It continues turning over every twenty for hours, for approximately fourteen days."
Tabby Girl let out a low whistle.
"Woah. That's impressive!" Punurple exclaimed.
Sky snorted into her chocolate fudge pudding.
"Whatever. So you slowed down time just to bring us here, to protect the information that we have about Minnie here, and your world? That's stupid." The group stared at her, wide eyed, but Sky continued to placidly eat her pudding. "Only Dumbledork would come up with something like that." she added in a whisper.
The girls could hardly believe their ears. A vein in Minerva's head began to twitch slightly, and they got the distinct impression that she was chewing her tongue. She was beginning to rather dislike this 'Sky' girl. To break the awkward silence, Vicks raised her voice slightly and asked another question.
"Ok, so the Harry Potter books are true, then?" Minerva pursed her lips slightly and nodded stiffly.
"Yes, these 'Harry Potter' books are indeed, true. Only a witch could have written them, and we haven't quite figured out who has been writing under the pen name 'J. K. Rowling', but I suspect that she will be in some serious trouble when and if we do find out. Her writing those books and making them available to muggles is directly defying the Wizarding statute of secrecy. She could get a large fine or possibly a short sentence in Azkaban. You'll know all about Azkaban, of course." she said, in a disapproving tone.
"It'd serve her right, for making Harry Snotter the main character." grumbled Sky.
They chose to ignore that last statement, but Minerva looked as if she was not looking forward to the next two weeks with Sky in her house.
"Alright, if everyone is finished, I suggest that you all get some sleep. You must be tired, because mass portkey travel takes a lot out of everyone. Goodnight, ladies, and I trust that you will be able to find your rooms sufficiently?" The girls nodded and said goodbye, making their way down the hall way and up the stairs to their rooms.
"Yeah," said Sky, as she stomped up the stairs, "But the day that I'm sent into a room to go to sleep, with a girl my age -especially Dani- is the day that Hell freezes over." Dani stuffed her fist in her mouth to muffle the laughter.
"Wait, wait, you guys! Come to my room in about ten minutes, I really, really have to tell you something!" said Vicks. They looked at each other and shrugged, disappearing into their rooms to change into something more suitable for receiving information in Vicks' room.