A/N: I'm sorry this chapter has taken so long to get posted compared to the others. I completely redid the first few chapters of the story before writing this, and there is quite a bit of new content, so if you started this story before May 2004, you should reread the first four chapters. I don't think it matters much, as I currently don't have any readers, but I'm just telling you people in case there's someone who has been reading and not reviewing. Well, here's the next installment, enjoy!
Chapter Five: Some Who Wander Are Lost
The six professors and Sianna sat at a modified staff table, a smaller one whose seats surrounded it instead of facing only the house tables. Professor Dumbledore sat on Sianna's right, Lupin on her left, and Snape was directly across the table. Sianna, just like all the other Muggle-born students that had ever come to Hogwarts, was astonished when the food appeared magically in the middle of the table. She recovered from the shock and began to eat, quietly listening to the professors, who spoke mostly of the news.
"Yesterday's meeting did not go well at all," Dumbledore reported. "Fudge is as stubborn as ever."
"That is to be expected for now," Snape pointed out. "He is right in that we have no concrete proof—"
At this, McGonagall sputtered and said, "You aren't seriously defending his behavior! He isn't much of a Minister of Magic if he denies the danger in order to save his...pride and his precious office."
"Yes, well, we already knew that, didn't we?" Snape retorted. "But if I were in his position, I'm not sure I would trust Potter either."
"You've always been biased against the boy just because of his father—"
"And with good reason! The boy has no respect, he gets away with murder at this school because you let him!" It was becoming apparent to Sianna that these two professors did not get along.
"Please, you two," Flitwick interrupted. "If I'm not mistaken, we've had this discussion before...more than once." Sianna snickered at that.
"Does something amuse you?" Snape shot.
"No, sir," she said, trying to hold in her laughter. She looked down and breathed deeply, but a moment later she snorted again, this time at her plate. This caused the headmaster to start laughing, then Lupin and Sprout, and finally Professor Flitwick joined. Only the two arguing professors remained unmoved, glancing at each other as if they suspected a conspiracy.
"Oh, I do believe that I neglected to mention something during our little meeting, Miss Castell," Dumbledore said suddenly after the laughter died down.
Sianna swallowed her mouthful of food and asked, "What's that, sir?"
"Well, you don't currently have the materials needed to begin your schooling, do you?" he didn't seem to want an answer, so Sianna just looked at him. He continued, "Normally I'd have Professor Hagrid, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, take you to get your things, but he is not available right now. I was thinking perhaps Professor Snape would take you to Diagon Alley tomorrow to buy your books and such," Dumbledore suggested.
Sianna cringed inwardly as she heard Snape exhale with exasperation, and she decided to do a small favor for him. So, before he could protest the suggestion and offend her, Sianna did it for him.
"Actually, Headmaster, Professor Snape was just telling me earlier how much work he had to do. Maybe someone else isn't as busy?" She glanced at Snape with a completely blank expression. He looked slightly amused, but not exactly grateful.
"Oh really? I wasn't aware..." Dumbledore said, immediately spotting what Sianna was trying to do. He knew for a fact that Snape had reached a low point in his workload. "In that case, do any of you want to take Miss Castell?" he asked, addressing all the occupants of the table.
There was a moments pause before Professor Lupin volunteered, "I could." Sianna smiled at him. "I need to get a few things myself, actually," he admitted.
Dumbledore looked at Sianna questioningly, silently asking for her acquiescence.
"Sounds good," Sianna agreed.
Dinner continued less eventfully for several hours, and by the time the plates and goblets were empty, everyone but Sianna was stretching tiredly and mumbling about work they needed to finish up. Sianna was just relaxing back into her chair when a very small and curious creature approached her from the side. Its huge round eyes were set on her, and its overlarge ears flopped and bobbed as it walked. Sianna did not see it coming.
"Is Sianna Castell ready to follow Dobby?" it asked her.
Sianna looked down at the voice coming from her elbow and barely kept herself from letting out a screech. She stared at Dobby for a moment and inhaled deeply before addressing the house elf.
"Sorry?" she asked.
"Dobby asks if you is ready for bed."
Sianna's eyebrows rose and the surprised expression remained on her face. "Uh, sure, just one second."
She turned to Professor Lupin and whispered, "What is that?"
He leaned into Sianna's ear and breathed, "He's a house elf. Don't worry, he won't be offended if you ask him about himself. He's very outgoing for an elf, actually."
"Oh. Right," she said, staring ahead at the tablecloth in front of her. Then she looked back at Dobby and said, "I'll just follow you, then."
He nodded and beamed at her, waving his hand in a beckoning gesture. Sianna rose from her chair and bid the professors goodnight. She was too distracted to notice the particularly amused look in Dumbledore's notoriously glittering eyes.
Sianna followed Dobby silently through the befuddling maze of hallways and stairs to her room. Dobby, however, was far from quiet.
"Pay special attention, Miss. This be the shortest way to Miss's rooms," he told her. "There is never many house elves in this part of Hogwarts, and if Miss gets lost she may be lost for a very long time." This was not very comforting to Sianna, but she let it pass.
"Down this corridor here be the office of the kind Professor Lupin..." he informed her, "and through here be a shortcut to the houses of green—that be where the talented Professor Sprout makes many plants..." and the running commentary continued all the way up to the top of a squat, slightly obscure, too-small-to-be-a-real-tower type structure situated in the west wing of the castle.
Dobby opened the thick wooden door into the spacious, circular bedchamber that would be Sianna's headquarters for the remainder of the summer. Sianna stopped at the door and took a good look at the entire room, which was softly lit by several candelabras. She wandered in slowly and made her way to the huge four-poster bed. She dragged her hand lightly over the midnight blue bedspread and turned in a full circle to take in the rest of the furnishings. There was a small table and a few squishy chairs settled directly in front of an unlit fireplace, and a wide bay window let the moonlight shine on the Oriental rug.
"There is a bathroom, Miss, through this door," Dobby told her, gesturing to a door hidden by the shadows.
"Okay, thanks. Um, what did you say your name was?" Sianna asked, wondering if the elf in front of her was actually Dobby or if Dobby was some kind of elf-in-command. From the way he spoke, it was hard to tell.
"I is Dobby. I is taking care of you, Miss, at the most generous Professor Dumbledore's request," he informed her.
Sianna nodded, then remembered to ask, "Sorry, Dobby, but I really don't know anything about house elves. Would you...well, can you tell me about yourself?"
Dobby looked surprised and even...honored to be asked such a question. "What does Miss want to know?"
"Um, anything really," she said, not knowing what to ask. When Dobby continued to wait expectantly for specifications, she said, "Well, what do you do around here? Are there lots of you?"
"Oh yes, Miss, there is more than one hundred of us in service at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most of us works in the kitchens when the studentses is here, but we cleans and takes care of the young masters and misses also. Then the studentses leave and us house elves go to everywhere in the castle, and we fixes everything and makes all shiny and new again."
Sianna was sufficiently impressed. Before she could ask another question, though, Dobby told her that he would come back at nine the next morning to take her to breakfast.
"Miss is likely to lose herself here when she be tired," he explained, and she accepted the offer gratefully. Dobby then exited the room and disappeared down the widely spiraling steps.
Sianna closed the door quietly behind him and crossed the room to her new bed. She threw herself lazily onto it and sank into the downy puff of pillows and blankets, wondering how long it would take her to fall asleep if she went to bed then.
I mean, I woke up like what...five, maybe six hours ago? she thought to herself. Besides, it's only like nine o'clock here anyway.
She couldn't study (which she really wanted to do) because she had no material, and she wouldn't have been able to read anyway because the light was so dim. Finding nothing else to do, she uncased her guitar for the second time that day and took it over to the window, where she sat herself on the ledge and began to strum random bits of some of her favorite songs.
Sianna felt restless—she didn't want to sit idly in her room when she could be exploring her new home and familiarizing herself with the enormous castle. She played lazily for several more minutes before she realized that no one had mentioned any rules against leaving her room at night. As a matter of fact, she hadn't been informed of any rules at all.
I do believe Professor Dumbledore forgot to mention something again, she thought mischievously as she hopped off the window ledge and set her guitar on the bed. Maybe they think that if I'm alone, I don't need rules. She laughed to herself put on her slippers and slipped out the door, leaving it slightly ajar, just as a precaution. She had gotten locked out of a detention classroom more than once.
Once she was down the stairs, Sianna stared at her surroundings for a minute so that she would recognize the area when she returned from her walk. Then, she closed her eyes, spun in a circle, and chose to walk in the direction that she faced when she opened her eyes. She set off down the left corridor, hesitating only momentarily before she grabbed a bright torch off the wall to light her way. No one will see me, those professors were dead on their feet. They won't be roaming the halls now, not just because of one student, she reasoned.
Sianna's feet took her through mazes of hallways on her floor, but this section of the castle seemed relatively unused and strangely sparse. Sianna, looking for landmarks, stopped at the first painting she saw, hoping to remember where it was, so she could find her way back. She was drawn into the canvas, marveling at the lifelike quality of the lakeside landscape. The water shone impossibly and the grasses were almost moving in the imaginary wind. Sianna stared for several minutes, transfixed by the amazing beauty and near reality of the work. She finally tore herself away, wondering if it was the torch light or some kind of magic paint that made a piece of art look that way.
Sianna quickly became bored with the lack of interesting places she found on her walk, so she decided to find a staircase and go to a different floor.
She did not have to search for long. Barely a minute later, she found herself on the landing of a stairwell at the end of a hall. Her feet led her up step after step, and by the time she reached the top, Sianna had forgotten how many levels she had climbed. She cursed at herself, praying she would remember the way back, then started down the corridor once again.
A breeze from an open window made Sianna stop, and she turned her head up to observe the night. The crescent moon rose steadily higher, covered only by the rare wisp of a passing cloud. Sianna watched reverently, letting the moonlight shine on her upturned face. Suddenly she heard a strangled snort.
Her body spun reflexively, and she scanned the corridor with wary eyes, holding her torch in front of her. The noise came again, from just to her right. Something in the hallway was...snoring?
Seeing nothing on the wall she stood against, she slowly approached the opposite side, still with the torch held defensively before her. She heard it again, and cocked her ear towards the source. As the torch shed its light on the stone wall where the sound seemed to come from, Sianna became even more confused. Nothing was there, except the one painting, of course. She relaxed and looked around, then jumped when the noise sounded yet again. It was coming from right in front of her, but there was nothing there!
She forced herself closer to the wall, scanning it more closely, and nearly fell over when she saw the portrait of a sleeping man clearly jerk and snort, mumbling in his dreams.
People in paintings don't have dreams! Sianna yelled at herself, but she couldn't tear her eyes away. The fat man rolled over in his armchair and snuffled, suddenly opening his eyes and sitting up groggily.
"Ah! Get that bloody light out of my eyes!" he commanded.
Sianna froze. "What?" she asked after a moment.
"I said, get your bloody torch out of my face!" he said, nearly yelling at this point.
"Oh, um...sorry," she said weakly, pulling the torch a bit further away from the canvas.
"What are you doing here? Students aren't allowed out at night, get back to your dorms."
"I've got special permission. Listen, um...do all of you paintings talk?" Sianna asked curiously, having recovered a bit from the initial shock.
"Of course. What kind of a question is that?" spat the man in painting, who was still rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Right then. I'll just—I'll go now...bye," Sianna said. As she walked away, the man continued muttering about rude students who wake innocent portraits up in the middle of the night.
Sianna continued to wander slowly around the perimeter of the floor. She found a few strange passageways (possible shortcuts) and unused classrooms, but nothing of real interest. Her eyes began to droop slightly, and although it was far from bedtime in California, the darkness was beginning to take its toll. She started down a staircase on her way back to her room, trying desperately to remember how far up she had gone. In her preoccupation, however, Sianna failed to notice the shine reflected by the puddle on the next stair.
The smooth sole of her slipper hit the water, and down she fell, instinctively letting go of the torch to catch herself. The reflexive maneuver did its job, and Sianna did not fall far, but the torch did.
Sianna watched in horror as it jolted erratically down the many steps, finally coming to rest in yet another pool of liquid. Darkness engulfed her as the fire was completely extinguished.
"Damn those fucking shit-headed torch-making whores to hell," she said out loud. "And screw water, too. Of all the idiot places to find water, for fuck's sake..." Sianna could not find the proper words to express her anger.
"So much for finding my way back," she mused unhappily. Then, a light bulb clicked on above her head. It was not a very bright one, but Sianna considered it better than total darkness. Maybe the man in the painting will know where I am...and how to get back, she thought hopefully.
Sianna pushed herself up, wincing at the new bruises on her bum and elbow. She turned and trudged back up the few steps she had slid down, then began to make her way back through the maze of hallways. She had snuck out and explored unfamiliar places before, and so she had known to keep careful tabs on the turns she had made. She was significantly encouraged when she passed by several "landmarks" she had noticed during her walk.
She made a few mistakes and wrong turns, but she eventually found herself back in the moonlit hallway, although the moon no longer shone through the windows. Sianna wondered about the time, knowing she had been gone for several hours but unable to pinpoint the elapsed time without the aid of her watch, which she could no longer see.
She could barely make out the frame of the painting in the empty blackness of the stone corridor. She approached the painting and greeted its resident loudly, hoping that she would be able to wake him. No response came. She spoke again, louder this time, but the man still did not wake. This disconcerted Sianna, as she had no back-up plan if this man could not direct her. She squinted and leaned closer to the canvas, until her nose was almost touching it. That made it easier to see, but when Sianna was finished looking, she wished she had not.
The man was not there.
Sianna let a wail of disappointment and despair escape before backing up to the windows and collapsing on the floor. The thought and reasoned until she thought her brains would fry, but there was no option. She would have to stay there for the night, or risk getting even more lost. She wished beyond hope that the man in the painting would return by morning.
The floor was cold and unforgiving, and this was all too apparent to Sianna as she curled into a ball and leaned against the wall. Anger and self- disgust welled up in her. She had always been able to take care of herself...how could she be so stupid as to sneak around and get lost in an unfamiliar place? She chided herself for taking her wealth of experience for granted. She had always been able to find her way back before, and she had just assumed that it would be just as easy this time.
Sianna nearly cried in rage as she thought back through everything she had done since Dobby left her room. The mistakes piled up in her mind, and she eventually had to stop counting all the things she had done wrong during her little escapade. She threw her head back in disbelief at her stupidity, immediately regretting it as her skull made contact with stone. She cursed and put a hand to the back of her head, expecting to feel blood soaking through her hair. There was nothing there, and she reminded herself about the strange way that night seemed to exaggerate the slightest things.
I probably don't even have a bruise, she thought bitterly. Nevertheless, a pounding ache now accompanied her thoughts.
After a long while of silence and stillness, the black corridor began to feel menacing and even scary. In between self-deprecating thoughts, Sianna began to feel strangely threatened by the pure nothingness that surrounded her. Whenever she started to relax a bit, some disembodied hallucination would creep up on her, only to disappear when she was fully alert and coherent again. She did not sleep that night.
Even before the sun's rays had poked over the horizon, when the sky had lightened just enough for her surroundings to become vaguely visible, Sianna forced her dry, bloodshot eyes to focus, and she stood up slowly and stiffly. She made no attempt to stretch her cramped muscles or shake some of the fatigue off before crossing the hall to the painting. Thankfully, the man was in his chair once again, and once again asleep. If she had been even slightly more alive, this may have surprised Sianna, because she had not noted any snoring during the night.
"Hey. Dude. Wake up," she said lazily, her grammar deteriorating with annoyance and exhaustion. The man did not move.
"Okay, WAKE UP NOW," said Sianna, much louder and more forcefully this time. She had no reason to be patient, and was relieved when the man woke up. He was unhappy, of course, but Sianna did not care.
Sianna's voice carried over the cursing and mumbling when she told the man, "Tell me how to get to the Great Hall."
"I don't have to do anything, you insubordinate little—"
"I don't have a lot of patience right now, and I won't hesitate to punch a hole through your world if you don't cooperate."
"How dare—"
Sianna showed him a fist. That did the job.
The man squeaked, "What can I do for you, miss?"
Sianna laughed a bit at his cowardice, but pushed it aside. "I need to get to the Great Hall. Tell me how," she demanded.
"Well, you see, I'm really terrible at directions, and—"
"Then find someone who's not," Sianna told him. He nodded and started to disappear out of the frame. Before he was out of sight, though, Sianna called, "Hey you! Remember, no directions, no home." He nodded even more vigorously and ran out of the painting.
As she waited, the eastern sky lightened to a pale blue. She nearly dozed off again in the few minutes of the painted man's absence, but he returned before she could truly fall asleep.
"A house elf should be along shortly, Miss. It can take you wherever you need to go," he assured her nervously, obviously still thinking of Sianna's threat.
Whoever said that violence isn't the answer has never dealt with stubborn paintings, Sianna thought wryly to herself.
Sianna did not wait long for salvation. The house elf approached her warily, probably having heard the man in the painting recount his conversation with Sianna.
"Miss, you is not supposed to be here," he told her cautiously.
"I am aware," responded an irritated Sianna. "Please take me to the Great Hall."
"Miss is not supposed to be there either. Miss is not allowed out of her rooms until six hours in the morning."
Sianna checked her watch...it was 5:50. The timing was infuriating.
Then, an idea occurred to her. She was unwilling to argue with the elf about the rules, so she tried a different approach. "Do you know who I am?" she asked the elf.
"Of course, miss. You is Sianna Castell, Dobby's girl," it said, unsure of the reason for the question.
"Good. Do you know where my room is?"
"Yes...you wants to go there?"
"Right in one," Sianna said, glad she had made progress.
The elf, though, apparently did not comprehend Sianna's last statement. It just stood, waiting for an answer.
"Yes, yes, I want to go to my room," Sianna clarified.
The elf turned briskly and beckoned Sianna to follow, and she did. It led her through a confusing set of shortcuts and passageways, arriving at the base of her miniature tower in less than five minutes. Sianna thanked the elf profusely and dragged herself up the last few steps to her bed. She pushed open the still-ajar door and nearly fell across the room, landing on her mattress. Despite the fact that she was still clothed, she gratefully drifted off to sleep within seconds.
Three hours later, Dobby appeared, as promised, expecting to find Sianna dressed and ready to be escorted to breakfast. He was slightly dismayed that while she was indeed dressed, she remained entirely torpid.
"Sianna Castell! Miss Sianna, you is got to be getting up!" he told her urgently, hovering next to her dormant face.
"You is got to be getting up, miss!"
Sianna mumbled and swung her arm tiredly around her, aiming for the voice. She did not make contact, though, missing by several feet.
"Breakfast is ready, miss, you is got to be going there!" Dobby harassed.
"Buzz off," Sianna mumbled incoherently. "Gimme five minutes..."
"Miss, you is going to be getting lost without Dobby! You is got to be getting up!"
Finally realizing where she was and who was speaking to her, Sianna opened her eyes fully, only to be greeted by Dobby's strangely pointed nose, magnified many times. She let out a yell before rolling over—and off the bed.
'That is the second damn time I've fallen of the bed in less than forty- eight hours,' she realized with annoyance.
Dobby appeared around the corner of the bed. "Dobby will wait while Miss is getting ready for breakfast," he told her, unsure of what to do for someone who had fallen out of bed. He left the room.
Sianna just nodded and grabbed the side of the bed, hauling herself upright. She stumbled blearily to the bathroom, where she managed to wash her face without drowning and brush her teeth without choking. She then walked with slightly more verve to her trunk, which had been placed neatly at the end of her bed. She finally found the thin, loose cargo pants she was looking for and threw them on, along with a much tighter V-necked tee. She shoved her feet into a pair of flip-flops and poked her head out the door. Dobby was waiting on the landing.
"Is Miss ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Sianna told him.
Dobby then made his way down to the Great Hall, Sianna in tow. Most of the professors were already there; the only one missing was Snape.
Dumbledore, seeing Sianna gazing curiously at Snape's place, informed her, "He takes breakfast much earlier than us late risers." Sianna looked up at him, shocked that he had volunteered that information. How had he known what she was thinking?
She seated herself in the same place she had taken the night before. Lupin leaned over and told her in a stage whisper, "Don't worry, he doesn't actually read minds—contrary to popular belief."
The staff chuckled knowingly at that. Sianna just smiled, feeling like the new kid on the block. These teachers had obviously been colleagues for some time, and it seemed to her that they shared a long history and intricate relationship, although this was not readily apparent. Sianna finished her eggs and toast in silence, again listening to the professors' conversation.
The professors sometimes spared her a concerned glance, although she never noticed it. She seemed like such a quiet girl, not at all what they had expected from Snape's descriptions and reported tales, and Professor Snape was anything but notorious for exaggerating. They wrote it off for the time, though, as fatigue. Sianna finished her meal quickly and excused herself early. As she left, Professor Lupin reminded her to meet him by the front doors at 10:15. She nodded her understanding and left.
The conversation paused as the professors shared a baffled look, and Professor Sprout finally vocalized the group's thoughts.
"Well, she certainly not quite what Severus made her out to be."
The group muttered their agreement, and McGonagall added, "I expected her to be much more of a handful. She's actually rather..."
"Contained," finished Lupin, filling in the appropriate description.
"Maybe we're all jumping to conclusions," Dumbledore offered. "It is one o'clock in the morning in California, perhaps she is merely weary."
"Perhaps," they agreed.
"You'll be spending the whole day with her, Remus. Maybe she'll open up a bit later," McGonagall said, not quite hopefully. She could not really be expected to hope for a troublemaker, but she had always favored the more—lively—students.
"We'll just have to wait and see," Lupin said noncommittally. After that, the subject was closed, and the professors finished breakfast speaking of other topics.
Chapter Five: Some Who Wander Are Lost
The six professors and Sianna sat at a modified staff table, a smaller one whose seats surrounded it instead of facing only the house tables. Professor Dumbledore sat on Sianna's right, Lupin on her left, and Snape was directly across the table. Sianna, just like all the other Muggle-born students that had ever come to Hogwarts, was astonished when the food appeared magically in the middle of the table. She recovered from the shock and began to eat, quietly listening to the professors, who spoke mostly of the news.
"Yesterday's meeting did not go well at all," Dumbledore reported. "Fudge is as stubborn as ever."
"That is to be expected for now," Snape pointed out. "He is right in that we have no concrete proof—"
At this, McGonagall sputtered and said, "You aren't seriously defending his behavior! He isn't much of a Minister of Magic if he denies the danger in order to save his...pride and his precious office."
"Yes, well, we already knew that, didn't we?" Snape retorted. "But if I were in his position, I'm not sure I would trust Potter either."
"You've always been biased against the boy just because of his father—"
"And with good reason! The boy has no respect, he gets away with murder at this school because you let him!" It was becoming apparent to Sianna that these two professors did not get along.
"Please, you two," Flitwick interrupted. "If I'm not mistaken, we've had this discussion before...more than once." Sianna snickered at that.
"Does something amuse you?" Snape shot.
"No, sir," she said, trying to hold in her laughter. She looked down and breathed deeply, but a moment later she snorted again, this time at her plate. This caused the headmaster to start laughing, then Lupin and Sprout, and finally Professor Flitwick joined. Only the two arguing professors remained unmoved, glancing at each other as if they suspected a conspiracy.
"Oh, I do believe that I neglected to mention something during our little meeting, Miss Castell," Dumbledore said suddenly after the laughter died down.
Sianna swallowed her mouthful of food and asked, "What's that, sir?"
"Well, you don't currently have the materials needed to begin your schooling, do you?" he didn't seem to want an answer, so Sianna just looked at him. He continued, "Normally I'd have Professor Hagrid, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, take you to get your things, but he is not available right now. I was thinking perhaps Professor Snape would take you to Diagon Alley tomorrow to buy your books and such," Dumbledore suggested.
Sianna cringed inwardly as she heard Snape exhale with exasperation, and she decided to do a small favor for him. So, before he could protest the suggestion and offend her, Sianna did it for him.
"Actually, Headmaster, Professor Snape was just telling me earlier how much work he had to do. Maybe someone else isn't as busy?" She glanced at Snape with a completely blank expression. He looked slightly amused, but not exactly grateful.
"Oh really? I wasn't aware..." Dumbledore said, immediately spotting what Sianna was trying to do. He knew for a fact that Snape had reached a low point in his workload. "In that case, do any of you want to take Miss Castell?" he asked, addressing all the occupants of the table.
There was a moments pause before Professor Lupin volunteered, "I could." Sianna smiled at him. "I need to get a few things myself, actually," he admitted.
Dumbledore looked at Sianna questioningly, silently asking for her acquiescence.
"Sounds good," Sianna agreed.
Dinner continued less eventfully for several hours, and by the time the plates and goblets were empty, everyone but Sianna was stretching tiredly and mumbling about work they needed to finish up. Sianna was just relaxing back into her chair when a very small and curious creature approached her from the side. Its huge round eyes were set on her, and its overlarge ears flopped and bobbed as it walked. Sianna did not see it coming.
"Is Sianna Castell ready to follow Dobby?" it asked her.
Sianna looked down at the voice coming from her elbow and barely kept herself from letting out a screech. She stared at Dobby for a moment and inhaled deeply before addressing the house elf.
"Sorry?" she asked.
"Dobby asks if you is ready for bed."
Sianna's eyebrows rose and the surprised expression remained on her face. "Uh, sure, just one second."
She turned to Professor Lupin and whispered, "What is that?"
He leaned into Sianna's ear and breathed, "He's a house elf. Don't worry, he won't be offended if you ask him about himself. He's very outgoing for an elf, actually."
"Oh. Right," she said, staring ahead at the tablecloth in front of her. Then she looked back at Dobby and said, "I'll just follow you, then."
He nodded and beamed at her, waving his hand in a beckoning gesture. Sianna rose from her chair and bid the professors goodnight. She was too distracted to notice the particularly amused look in Dumbledore's notoriously glittering eyes.
Sianna followed Dobby silently through the befuddling maze of hallways and stairs to her room. Dobby, however, was far from quiet.
"Pay special attention, Miss. This be the shortest way to Miss's rooms," he told her. "There is never many house elves in this part of Hogwarts, and if Miss gets lost she may be lost for a very long time." This was not very comforting to Sianna, but she let it pass.
"Down this corridor here be the office of the kind Professor Lupin..." he informed her, "and through here be a shortcut to the houses of green—that be where the talented Professor Sprout makes many plants..." and the running commentary continued all the way up to the top of a squat, slightly obscure, too-small-to-be-a-real-tower type structure situated in the west wing of the castle.
Dobby opened the thick wooden door into the spacious, circular bedchamber that would be Sianna's headquarters for the remainder of the summer. Sianna stopped at the door and took a good look at the entire room, which was softly lit by several candelabras. She wandered in slowly and made her way to the huge four-poster bed. She dragged her hand lightly over the midnight blue bedspread and turned in a full circle to take in the rest of the furnishings. There was a small table and a few squishy chairs settled directly in front of an unlit fireplace, and a wide bay window let the moonlight shine on the Oriental rug.
"There is a bathroom, Miss, through this door," Dobby told her, gesturing to a door hidden by the shadows.
"Okay, thanks. Um, what did you say your name was?" Sianna asked, wondering if the elf in front of her was actually Dobby or if Dobby was some kind of elf-in-command. From the way he spoke, it was hard to tell.
"I is Dobby. I is taking care of you, Miss, at the most generous Professor Dumbledore's request," he informed her.
Sianna nodded, then remembered to ask, "Sorry, Dobby, but I really don't know anything about house elves. Would you...well, can you tell me about yourself?"
Dobby looked surprised and even...honored to be asked such a question. "What does Miss want to know?"
"Um, anything really," she said, not knowing what to ask. When Dobby continued to wait expectantly for specifications, she said, "Well, what do you do around here? Are there lots of you?"
"Oh yes, Miss, there is more than one hundred of us in service at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Most of us works in the kitchens when the studentses is here, but we cleans and takes care of the young masters and misses also. Then the studentses leave and us house elves go to everywhere in the castle, and we fixes everything and makes all shiny and new again."
Sianna was sufficiently impressed. Before she could ask another question, though, Dobby told her that he would come back at nine the next morning to take her to breakfast.
"Miss is likely to lose herself here when she be tired," he explained, and she accepted the offer gratefully. Dobby then exited the room and disappeared down the widely spiraling steps.
Sianna closed the door quietly behind him and crossed the room to her new bed. She threw herself lazily onto it and sank into the downy puff of pillows and blankets, wondering how long it would take her to fall asleep if she went to bed then.
I mean, I woke up like what...five, maybe six hours ago? she thought to herself. Besides, it's only like nine o'clock here anyway.
She couldn't study (which she really wanted to do) because she had no material, and she wouldn't have been able to read anyway because the light was so dim. Finding nothing else to do, she uncased her guitar for the second time that day and took it over to the window, where she sat herself on the ledge and began to strum random bits of some of her favorite songs.
Sianna felt restless—she didn't want to sit idly in her room when she could be exploring her new home and familiarizing herself with the enormous castle. She played lazily for several more minutes before she realized that no one had mentioned any rules against leaving her room at night. As a matter of fact, she hadn't been informed of any rules at all.
I do believe Professor Dumbledore forgot to mention something again, she thought mischievously as she hopped off the window ledge and set her guitar on the bed. Maybe they think that if I'm alone, I don't need rules. She laughed to herself put on her slippers and slipped out the door, leaving it slightly ajar, just as a precaution. She had gotten locked out of a detention classroom more than once.
Once she was down the stairs, Sianna stared at her surroundings for a minute so that she would recognize the area when she returned from her walk. Then, she closed her eyes, spun in a circle, and chose to walk in the direction that she faced when she opened her eyes. She set off down the left corridor, hesitating only momentarily before she grabbed a bright torch off the wall to light her way. No one will see me, those professors were dead on their feet. They won't be roaming the halls now, not just because of one student, she reasoned.
Sianna's feet took her through mazes of hallways on her floor, but this section of the castle seemed relatively unused and strangely sparse. Sianna, looking for landmarks, stopped at the first painting she saw, hoping to remember where it was, so she could find her way back. She was drawn into the canvas, marveling at the lifelike quality of the lakeside landscape. The water shone impossibly and the grasses were almost moving in the imaginary wind. Sianna stared for several minutes, transfixed by the amazing beauty and near reality of the work. She finally tore herself away, wondering if it was the torch light or some kind of magic paint that made a piece of art look that way.
Sianna quickly became bored with the lack of interesting places she found on her walk, so she decided to find a staircase and go to a different floor.
She did not have to search for long. Barely a minute later, she found herself on the landing of a stairwell at the end of a hall. Her feet led her up step after step, and by the time she reached the top, Sianna had forgotten how many levels she had climbed. She cursed at herself, praying she would remember the way back, then started down the corridor once again.
A breeze from an open window made Sianna stop, and she turned her head up to observe the night. The crescent moon rose steadily higher, covered only by the rare wisp of a passing cloud. Sianna watched reverently, letting the moonlight shine on her upturned face. Suddenly she heard a strangled snort.
Her body spun reflexively, and she scanned the corridor with wary eyes, holding her torch in front of her. The noise came again, from just to her right. Something in the hallway was...snoring?
Seeing nothing on the wall she stood against, she slowly approached the opposite side, still with the torch held defensively before her. She heard it again, and cocked her ear towards the source. As the torch shed its light on the stone wall where the sound seemed to come from, Sianna became even more confused. Nothing was there, except the one painting, of course. She relaxed and looked around, then jumped when the noise sounded yet again. It was coming from right in front of her, but there was nothing there!
She forced herself closer to the wall, scanning it more closely, and nearly fell over when she saw the portrait of a sleeping man clearly jerk and snort, mumbling in his dreams.
People in paintings don't have dreams! Sianna yelled at herself, but she couldn't tear her eyes away. The fat man rolled over in his armchair and snuffled, suddenly opening his eyes and sitting up groggily.
"Ah! Get that bloody light out of my eyes!" he commanded.
Sianna froze. "What?" she asked after a moment.
"I said, get your bloody torch out of my face!" he said, nearly yelling at this point.
"Oh, um...sorry," she said weakly, pulling the torch a bit further away from the canvas.
"What are you doing here? Students aren't allowed out at night, get back to your dorms."
"I've got special permission. Listen, um...do all of you paintings talk?" Sianna asked curiously, having recovered a bit from the initial shock.
"Of course. What kind of a question is that?" spat the man in painting, who was still rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"Right then. I'll just—I'll go now...bye," Sianna said. As she walked away, the man continued muttering about rude students who wake innocent portraits up in the middle of the night.
Sianna continued to wander slowly around the perimeter of the floor. She found a few strange passageways (possible shortcuts) and unused classrooms, but nothing of real interest. Her eyes began to droop slightly, and although it was far from bedtime in California, the darkness was beginning to take its toll. She started down a staircase on her way back to her room, trying desperately to remember how far up she had gone. In her preoccupation, however, Sianna failed to notice the shine reflected by the puddle on the next stair.
The smooth sole of her slipper hit the water, and down she fell, instinctively letting go of the torch to catch herself. The reflexive maneuver did its job, and Sianna did not fall far, but the torch did.
Sianna watched in horror as it jolted erratically down the many steps, finally coming to rest in yet another pool of liquid. Darkness engulfed her as the fire was completely extinguished.
"Damn those fucking shit-headed torch-making whores to hell," she said out loud. "And screw water, too. Of all the idiot places to find water, for fuck's sake..." Sianna could not find the proper words to express her anger.
"So much for finding my way back," she mused unhappily. Then, a light bulb clicked on above her head. It was not a very bright one, but Sianna considered it better than total darkness. Maybe the man in the painting will know where I am...and how to get back, she thought hopefully.
Sianna pushed herself up, wincing at the new bruises on her bum and elbow. She turned and trudged back up the few steps she had slid down, then began to make her way back through the maze of hallways. She had snuck out and explored unfamiliar places before, and so she had known to keep careful tabs on the turns she had made. She was significantly encouraged when she passed by several "landmarks" she had noticed during her walk.
She made a few mistakes and wrong turns, but she eventually found herself back in the moonlit hallway, although the moon no longer shone through the windows. Sianna wondered about the time, knowing she had been gone for several hours but unable to pinpoint the elapsed time without the aid of her watch, which she could no longer see.
She could barely make out the frame of the painting in the empty blackness of the stone corridor. She approached the painting and greeted its resident loudly, hoping that she would be able to wake him. No response came. She spoke again, louder this time, but the man still did not wake. This disconcerted Sianna, as she had no back-up plan if this man could not direct her. She squinted and leaned closer to the canvas, until her nose was almost touching it. That made it easier to see, but when Sianna was finished looking, she wished she had not.
The man was not there.
Sianna let a wail of disappointment and despair escape before backing up to the windows and collapsing on the floor. The thought and reasoned until she thought her brains would fry, but there was no option. She would have to stay there for the night, or risk getting even more lost. She wished beyond hope that the man in the painting would return by morning.
The floor was cold and unforgiving, and this was all too apparent to Sianna as she curled into a ball and leaned against the wall. Anger and self- disgust welled up in her. She had always been able to take care of herself...how could she be so stupid as to sneak around and get lost in an unfamiliar place? She chided herself for taking her wealth of experience for granted. She had always been able to find her way back before, and she had just assumed that it would be just as easy this time.
Sianna nearly cried in rage as she thought back through everything she had done since Dobby left her room. The mistakes piled up in her mind, and she eventually had to stop counting all the things she had done wrong during her little escapade. She threw her head back in disbelief at her stupidity, immediately regretting it as her skull made contact with stone. She cursed and put a hand to the back of her head, expecting to feel blood soaking through her hair. There was nothing there, and she reminded herself about the strange way that night seemed to exaggerate the slightest things.
I probably don't even have a bruise, she thought bitterly. Nevertheless, a pounding ache now accompanied her thoughts.
After a long while of silence and stillness, the black corridor began to feel menacing and even scary. In between self-deprecating thoughts, Sianna began to feel strangely threatened by the pure nothingness that surrounded her. Whenever she started to relax a bit, some disembodied hallucination would creep up on her, only to disappear when she was fully alert and coherent again. She did not sleep that night.
Even before the sun's rays had poked over the horizon, when the sky had lightened just enough for her surroundings to become vaguely visible, Sianna forced her dry, bloodshot eyes to focus, and she stood up slowly and stiffly. She made no attempt to stretch her cramped muscles or shake some of the fatigue off before crossing the hall to the painting. Thankfully, the man was in his chair once again, and once again asleep. If she had been even slightly more alive, this may have surprised Sianna, because she had not noted any snoring during the night.
"Hey. Dude. Wake up," she said lazily, her grammar deteriorating with annoyance and exhaustion. The man did not move.
"Okay, WAKE UP NOW," said Sianna, much louder and more forcefully this time. She had no reason to be patient, and was relieved when the man woke up. He was unhappy, of course, but Sianna did not care.
Sianna's voice carried over the cursing and mumbling when she told the man, "Tell me how to get to the Great Hall."
"I don't have to do anything, you insubordinate little—"
"I don't have a lot of patience right now, and I won't hesitate to punch a hole through your world if you don't cooperate."
"How dare—"
Sianna showed him a fist. That did the job.
The man squeaked, "What can I do for you, miss?"
Sianna laughed a bit at his cowardice, but pushed it aside. "I need to get to the Great Hall. Tell me how," she demanded.
"Well, you see, I'm really terrible at directions, and—"
"Then find someone who's not," Sianna told him. He nodded and started to disappear out of the frame. Before he was out of sight, though, Sianna called, "Hey you! Remember, no directions, no home." He nodded even more vigorously and ran out of the painting.
As she waited, the eastern sky lightened to a pale blue. She nearly dozed off again in the few minutes of the painted man's absence, but he returned before she could truly fall asleep.
"A house elf should be along shortly, Miss. It can take you wherever you need to go," he assured her nervously, obviously still thinking of Sianna's threat.
Whoever said that violence isn't the answer has never dealt with stubborn paintings, Sianna thought wryly to herself.
Sianna did not wait long for salvation. The house elf approached her warily, probably having heard the man in the painting recount his conversation with Sianna.
"Miss, you is not supposed to be here," he told her cautiously.
"I am aware," responded an irritated Sianna. "Please take me to the Great Hall."
"Miss is not supposed to be there either. Miss is not allowed out of her rooms until six hours in the morning."
Sianna checked her watch...it was 5:50. The timing was infuriating.
Then, an idea occurred to her. She was unwilling to argue with the elf about the rules, so she tried a different approach. "Do you know who I am?" she asked the elf.
"Of course, miss. You is Sianna Castell, Dobby's girl," it said, unsure of the reason for the question.
"Good. Do you know where my room is?"
"Yes...you wants to go there?"
"Right in one," Sianna said, glad she had made progress.
The elf, though, apparently did not comprehend Sianna's last statement. It just stood, waiting for an answer.
"Yes, yes, I want to go to my room," Sianna clarified.
The elf turned briskly and beckoned Sianna to follow, and she did. It led her through a confusing set of shortcuts and passageways, arriving at the base of her miniature tower in less than five minutes. Sianna thanked the elf profusely and dragged herself up the last few steps to her bed. She pushed open the still-ajar door and nearly fell across the room, landing on her mattress. Despite the fact that she was still clothed, she gratefully drifted off to sleep within seconds.
Three hours later, Dobby appeared, as promised, expecting to find Sianna dressed and ready to be escorted to breakfast. He was slightly dismayed that while she was indeed dressed, she remained entirely torpid.
"Sianna Castell! Miss Sianna, you is got to be getting up!" he told her urgently, hovering next to her dormant face.
"You is got to be getting up, miss!"
Sianna mumbled and swung her arm tiredly around her, aiming for the voice. She did not make contact, though, missing by several feet.
"Breakfast is ready, miss, you is got to be going there!" Dobby harassed.
"Buzz off," Sianna mumbled incoherently. "Gimme five minutes..."
"Miss, you is going to be getting lost without Dobby! You is got to be getting up!"
Finally realizing where she was and who was speaking to her, Sianna opened her eyes fully, only to be greeted by Dobby's strangely pointed nose, magnified many times. She let out a yell before rolling over—and off the bed.
'That is the second damn time I've fallen of the bed in less than forty- eight hours,' she realized with annoyance.
Dobby appeared around the corner of the bed. "Dobby will wait while Miss is getting ready for breakfast," he told her, unsure of what to do for someone who had fallen out of bed. He left the room.
Sianna just nodded and grabbed the side of the bed, hauling herself upright. She stumbled blearily to the bathroom, where she managed to wash her face without drowning and brush her teeth without choking. She then walked with slightly more verve to her trunk, which had been placed neatly at the end of her bed. She finally found the thin, loose cargo pants she was looking for and threw them on, along with a much tighter V-necked tee. She shoved her feet into a pair of flip-flops and poked her head out the door. Dobby was waiting on the landing.
"Is Miss ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Sianna told him.
Dobby then made his way down to the Great Hall, Sianna in tow. Most of the professors were already there; the only one missing was Snape.
Dumbledore, seeing Sianna gazing curiously at Snape's place, informed her, "He takes breakfast much earlier than us late risers." Sianna looked up at him, shocked that he had volunteered that information. How had he known what she was thinking?
She seated herself in the same place she had taken the night before. Lupin leaned over and told her in a stage whisper, "Don't worry, he doesn't actually read minds—contrary to popular belief."
The staff chuckled knowingly at that. Sianna just smiled, feeling like the new kid on the block. These teachers had obviously been colleagues for some time, and it seemed to her that they shared a long history and intricate relationship, although this was not readily apparent. Sianna finished her eggs and toast in silence, again listening to the professors' conversation.
The professors sometimes spared her a concerned glance, although she never noticed it. She seemed like such a quiet girl, not at all what they had expected from Snape's descriptions and reported tales, and Professor Snape was anything but notorious for exaggerating. They wrote it off for the time, though, as fatigue. Sianna finished her meal quickly and excused herself early. As she left, Professor Lupin reminded her to meet him by the front doors at 10:15. She nodded her understanding and left.
The conversation paused as the professors shared a baffled look, and Professor Sprout finally vocalized the group's thoughts.
"Well, she certainly not quite what Severus made her out to be."
The group muttered their agreement, and McGonagall added, "I expected her to be much more of a handful. She's actually rather..."
"Contained," finished Lupin, filling in the appropriate description.
"Maybe we're all jumping to conclusions," Dumbledore offered. "It is one o'clock in the morning in California, perhaps she is merely weary."
"Perhaps," they agreed.
"You'll be spending the whole day with her, Remus. Maybe she'll open up a bit later," McGonagall said, not quite hopefully. She could not really be expected to hope for a troublemaker, but she had always favored the more—lively—students.
"We'll just have to wait and see," Lupin said noncommittally. After that, the subject was closed, and the professors finished breakfast speaking of other topics.