Disclaimer: All of the characters from HP are owned by JK Rowling's and
all the characters from Charmed are owned by the WB. All other characters
and plot lines are owned by myself.
Chapter 2 – Revelations
When Ginny woke up the next morning, she looked over at Payton's bed; relieved to see the girl was still sleeping Ginny got up and quietly exited the room. There were still so many questions running through Ginny's mind as to what she had seen and heard but she wasn't ready to face Payton yet. Slowly she descended the stairs from the girl's dormitory to Gryffindor's common room. As she reached the bottom stair, she was surprised to see her brother, Ron, sitting in one of the common room's comfy chairs. Ron usually sleeps until noon on a weekend, Ginny thought to herself.
"Morning Ron, what are you doing up so early?" Ginny asked.
"Couldn't sleep, too much going on up here," he said as he tapped his head. /You have no idea/ thought Ginny.
"Why what's up?" she prodded. "Come on, if you can't trust your little sister, who can you trust?"
Ron sat there for a moment longer, seemingly pondering the validity of that statement, with a slight nod of his head he began. "Well last night on the way back from the Great Hall, Hermione and Harry said they needed to talk to me. They said it at the same time too, then they giggled, should've known something was up when that happened. Anyway, it seems that Harry was staying with the Granger's for a week this summer when the Dursley's went away on holiday. It seems that during that time, Harry and Hermione discovered some feelings they never knew they had before." Ron stopped here for a moment to catch his breath and got lost in his thoughts until Ginny coughed gently. "You know what Gin, I really thought that she was feeling for me the way I was for her; I thought this was going to be our year, Hermione and me. I guess I was wrong."
Ginny interrupted, "Are you okay?" I mean, now what?"
Ron shrugged, "well, they are my best friends, what else do I do then be happy for them and move on; what else can I do?"
Ginny, feeling very sorry for her brother, was reminded of her own crush on Harry not that long ago. She knew what it was like to have feelings for someone and not have them returned. She didn't know what else to say to Ron to ease his pain so she thought of the only thing she could, "Ron, you want to go and raid the kitchens before breakfast? I'm sure the house- elves would love to make you some of those sweets you like."
Slightly perked up at the idea of food, Ron and Ginny raced out the door.
Just as Ginny and Ron were racing to the kitchens, a plane was landing in Heathrow International Airport. Phoebe Halliwell stepped off the flight and glanced around the enormous airport. She had no idea how she was supposed to know where to meet her new employer, so Phoebe hoisted her backpack onto her back and started off in the direction of the luggage claim.
As Phoebe exited the baggage claim, she saw a small woman with curly hair and tiny facial features, rapidly scanning the exiting passengers. As soon as she saw Phoebe, she started jumping up and down, making her no taller than the eleven-year-old child standing beside her. Phoebe laughed to herself as the woman jumped up and down waving a little sign yelling "Charmed One, over here. Woo-hoo. Charmed One." Phoebe quickly made her way to the woman in an attempt to divert the crowd's attention.
"Hi, my name's Phoebe Halliwell and you are?" asked Phoebe.
"Oh I am so excited to meet you, Charmed One, I am Professor Pomona Sprout, I teach...eh, let's talk about that after I get you to the train."
Professor Sprout stopped for a moment looked around, she seemed to decide which way she wanted to head and quickly moved Phoebe along to what looked to be a side entrance. As soon as they were out of site of the other passengers, Professor Sprout took out a wand muttered something that sounded like "Jelly Slugs" and suddenly a door appeared in front of them. Professor Sprout led the way through the door into a giant train station.
"Okay dearie, we have to move quickly, follow me and do exactly as I do, don't worry if it may seem strange, we need to hurry now, if we want to make our connection," Professor Sprout uttered as she hurried along the platform. Suddenly, Phoebe looked up and saw her walk right through a wall. /Well here goes nothing, / Phoebe thought to herself as she quickly walked through the wall trying to follow the Professor. Stopping for a moment, to get a better handle on her luggage, Phoebe looked up to see a giant locomotive with "Hogwarts Express" written in gold on the front. She looked around the new platform for Professor Sprout and saw her slowly making her way up the stairs into the only car attached to the train. Phoebe shrugged her shoulders and stepped up the stairs right after her.
Putting her bags down, Phoebe looked around to see a large room, which had several couches and large comfortable chairs to sit in. Amused at seeing a train that looked like her grandmother's living room Phoebe made her way to the nearest couch and flopped down ungracefully into it.
Humph! She heard from underneath her and suddenly she was tossed onto the floor as a man bristled "what do you think you are doing?" "You are as unceremonious as some of the students," he exclaimed rapidly.
"That will be quite enough, Severus, allow me to introduce the newest member of our staff, Phoebe Halliwell." Phoebe turned to see long robes of varying purples and as she lifted her eyes, she finally laid them upon her newest employer. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am the headmaster of The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore, at your service" he declared with a graceful bow and a quick wink to Phoebe as she began to stand.
"Hello, thank you so much for this opportunity. I am Phoebe Halliwell and I am so happy to be here. Wherever here is," she said as she looked around once more to the other professors and some of the staff.
"We are on route to Hogwarts now. Since you were unable to catch an earlier flight and take the train in with the students, the headmaster thought it might be nice for us to come and meet you. By the way, I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, but you can call me Minnie as long as we are not in front of the children" she laughed as Phoebe stuck out her hand to shake it. "I teach Transfiguration and am the head of Gryffindor house."
Professor Dumbledore then spoke up, "You have already met Pomona, and she is the teacher of Herbology and the head of the Hufflepuff house. Then Severus Snape, the man I believe you flopped on," he paused here to suppress a giggle "he is our Potions Master as well as being the head of Slytherin house. Lastly, I would like you to meet Professor Flitwick, teacher of Charms and head of the Ravenclaw house." Phoebe slowly turned looking for the last teacher to be introduced, when a small voice came from one of the chairs, she looked over and saw a tiny man, smaller than even Sprout herself, sitting on some books. He looked a little like some of the gnomes her sisters and she had encountered.
Amazed at all of them, she smiled and briefly waved, not knowing what else to do. "Please sit down," requested Dumbledore. Looking before she sat, Phoebe chose a chair by the window this time. As soon as she sat down, she realized how exhausted she was from the flight, the frantic packing the night before, and the emotional and mental upheaval that was coursing through her body. As if all the teachers understood her exhaustion, they started chatting amongst themselves as Phoebe stared out the window. A few minutes later after regaining some of her composure, Phoebe turned to Dumbledore and started to ask him some questions about the castle and her duties.
Phoebe learned she would be staying in a room off of Gryffindor's wing and that she would have a small apartment to herself. Dumbledore explained that Professor McGonagall would be taking her to her classroom tomorrow as it was near her office and that the first day she should just use to get the student's acquainted with herself and the new book she had chosen for them. It was only about two in the afternoon then but Phoebe was getting very sleepy. Dumbledore suggested that once they got to the castle and she was shown her room, she might want to take a sleeping draught in order to forego jet lag. Reluctantly, she agreed. And as the train made the way through varying landscapes, Phoebe settled in to deep conversation with Professor Dumbledore about varying subjects including her sisters and their quest to rid the world of evil.
Soon the train had arrived at Hogsmeade and Hagrid, the half-wizard, half- giant caretaker and teacher of Care for Magical Creatures class was there to meet them. As soon as she got off the train, Phoebe was introduced and though a little startled by his size, she took an instant liking to him. He carried her bags to the carriages and off they went to the castle. Struck by it's size and beauty, Phoebe decided she must start exploring it as soon as her body and schedule allowed. She was given a map of the castle, which was magically enchanted to show her the way to her destinations. And as dinner was quickly approaching, most of the students were making their way in doors to change for dinner. She decided to sacrifice food for sleep and made her way to her new apartment. Too tired to unpack, she took a quick shower, got changed into her nightclothes, and hopped into her new bed. She slowly drank the potion Snape had given her and laid back into her pillows as she recalled some of the days events and began her nightly reflection.
Phoebe had finally felt as though her life as a witch had meaning again. Even though her sisters meant well, she had felt useless once her powers were stripped. She would forever be in Dumbledore's debt for giving her the opportunity to teach young witches and wizards Defense against the Dark Arts. Since she had gone on sabbatical from her advice column at the paper she had felt, well in a word...obsolete. By taking this teaching job at Hogwarts, she was taking control of her life again, magic included.
It wasn't as if she was turning away from her sisters, she was still an active part of the Power of Three. Piper and Paige knew that she was just an orb away and they were to call for her whenever they needed her, but inside Phoebe hoped it wasn't that often. This was her time and she believed the separation would do all of them good.
On top of all of that, Dumbledore had just informed her of a niece she never knew she had and the girl was to be one of Phoebe's students. She was bursting. Who would ever believe Prue had left a child behind! Doing the math in her head, she was wondering how Prue could have ever kept a secret like that from Grams, after all they had been living in the same house. Then Phoebe realized Prue must have had the child during her stint in Europe after high school. That would mean that the child was Andy's.
Wow. The enormity of it all just blew Phoebe's mind. What would Piper say? Do? Phoebe wasn't sure, which is why she had kept this her little secret for the time being. Even now she thought back to Prue and Andy's death, reliving their last moments in her mind as tears poured down her cheeks. She wondered if they had even gotten the chance to meet their daughter before they died. Sighing, Phoebe reached over and turned out the light as she let out a small sigh and "Blessed be" escaped her lips as she fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 2 – Revelations
When Ginny woke up the next morning, she looked over at Payton's bed; relieved to see the girl was still sleeping Ginny got up and quietly exited the room. There were still so many questions running through Ginny's mind as to what she had seen and heard but she wasn't ready to face Payton yet. Slowly she descended the stairs from the girl's dormitory to Gryffindor's common room. As she reached the bottom stair, she was surprised to see her brother, Ron, sitting in one of the common room's comfy chairs. Ron usually sleeps until noon on a weekend, Ginny thought to herself.
"Morning Ron, what are you doing up so early?" Ginny asked.
"Couldn't sleep, too much going on up here," he said as he tapped his head. /You have no idea/ thought Ginny.
"Why what's up?" she prodded. "Come on, if you can't trust your little sister, who can you trust?"
Ron sat there for a moment longer, seemingly pondering the validity of that statement, with a slight nod of his head he began. "Well last night on the way back from the Great Hall, Hermione and Harry said they needed to talk to me. They said it at the same time too, then they giggled, should've known something was up when that happened. Anyway, it seems that Harry was staying with the Granger's for a week this summer when the Dursley's went away on holiday. It seems that during that time, Harry and Hermione discovered some feelings they never knew they had before." Ron stopped here for a moment to catch his breath and got lost in his thoughts until Ginny coughed gently. "You know what Gin, I really thought that she was feeling for me the way I was for her; I thought this was going to be our year, Hermione and me. I guess I was wrong."
Ginny interrupted, "Are you okay?" I mean, now what?"
Ron shrugged, "well, they are my best friends, what else do I do then be happy for them and move on; what else can I do?"
Ginny, feeling very sorry for her brother, was reminded of her own crush on Harry not that long ago. She knew what it was like to have feelings for someone and not have them returned. She didn't know what else to say to Ron to ease his pain so she thought of the only thing she could, "Ron, you want to go and raid the kitchens before breakfast? I'm sure the house- elves would love to make you some of those sweets you like."
Slightly perked up at the idea of food, Ron and Ginny raced out the door.
Just as Ginny and Ron were racing to the kitchens, a plane was landing in Heathrow International Airport. Phoebe Halliwell stepped off the flight and glanced around the enormous airport. She had no idea how she was supposed to know where to meet her new employer, so Phoebe hoisted her backpack onto her back and started off in the direction of the luggage claim.
As Phoebe exited the baggage claim, she saw a small woman with curly hair and tiny facial features, rapidly scanning the exiting passengers. As soon as she saw Phoebe, she started jumping up and down, making her no taller than the eleven-year-old child standing beside her. Phoebe laughed to herself as the woman jumped up and down waving a little sign yelling "Charmed One, over here. Woo-hoo. Charmed One." Phoebe quickly made her way to the woman in an attempt to divert the crowd's attention.
"Hi, my name's Phoebe Halliwell and you are?" asked Phoebe.
"Oh I am so excited to meet you, Charmed One, I am Professor Pomona Sprout, I teach...eh, let's talk about that after I get you to the train."
Professor Sprout stopped for a moment looked around, she seemed to decide which way she wanted to head and quickly moved Phoebe along to what looked to be a side entrance. As soon as they were out of site of the other passengers, Professor Sprout took out a wand muttered something that sounded like "Jelly Slugs" and suddenly a door appeared in front of them. Professor Sprout led the way through the door into a giant train station.
"Okay dearie, we have to move quickly, follow me and do exactly as I do, don't worry if it may seem strange, we need to hurry now, if we want to make our connection," Professor Sprout uttered as she hurried along the platform. Suddenly, Phoebe looked up and saw her walk right through a wall. /Well here goes nothing, / Phoebe thought to herself as she quickly walked through the wall trying to follow the Professor. Stopping for a moment, to get a better handle on her luggage, Phoebe looked up to see a giant locomotive with "Hogwarts Express" written in gold on the front. She looked around the new platform for Professor Sprout and saw her slowly making her way up the stairs into the only car attached to the train. Phoebe shrugged her shoulders and stepped up the stairs right after her.
Putting her bags down, Phoebe looked around to see a large room, which had several couches and large comfortable chairs to sit in. Amused at seeing a train that looked like her grandmother's living room Phoebe made her way to the nearest couch and flopped down ungracefully into it.
Humph! She heard from underneath her and suddenly she was tossed onto the floor as a man bristled "what do you think you are doing?" "You are as unceremonious as some of the students," he exclaimed rapidly.
"That will be quite enough, Severus, allow me to introduce the newest member of our staff, Phoebe Halliwell." Phoebe turned to see long robes of varying purples and as she lifted her eyes, she finally laid them upon her newest employer. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am the headmaster of The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore, at your service" he declared with a graceful bow and a quick wink to Phoebe as she began to stand.
"Hello, thank you so much for this opportunity. I am Phoebe Halliwell and I am so happy to be here. Wherever here is," she said as she looked around once more to the other professors and some of the staff.
"We are on route to Hogwarts now. Since you were unable to catch an earlier flight and take the train in with the students, the headmaster thought it might be nice for us to come and meet you. By the way, I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, but you can call me Minnie as long as we are not in front of the children" she laughed as Phoebe stuck out her hand to shake it. "I teach Transfiguration and am the head of Gryffindor house."
Professor Dumbledore then spoke up, "You have already met Pomona, and she is the teacher of Herbology and the head of the Hufflepuff house. Then Severus Snape, the man I believe you flopped on," he paused here to suppress a giggle "he is our Potions Master as well as being the head of Slytherin house. Lastly, I would like you to meet Professor Flitwick, teacher of Charms and head of the Ravenclaw house." Phoebe slowly turned looking for the last teacher to be introduced, when a small voice came from one of the chairs, she looked over and saw a tiny man, smaller than even Sprout herself, sitting on some books. He looked a little like some of the gnomes her sisters and she had encountered.
Amazed at all of them, she smiled and briefly waved, not knowing what else to do. "Please sit down," requested Dumbledore. Looking before she sat, Phoebe chose a chair by the window this time. As soon as she sat down, she realized how exhausted she was from the flight, the frantic packing the night before, and the emotional and mental upheaval that was coursing through her body. As if all the teachers understood her exhaustion, they started chatting amongst themselves as Phoebe stared out the window. A few minutes later after regaining some of her composure, Phoebe turned to Dumbledore and started to ask him some questions about the castle and her duties.
Phoebe learned she would be staying in a room off of Gryffindor's wing and that she would have a small apartment to herself. Dumbledore explained that Professor McGonagall would be taking her to her classroom tomorrow as it was near her office and that the first day she should just use to get the student's acquainted with herself and the new book she had chosen for them. It was only about two in the afternoon then but Phoebe was getting very sleepy. Dumbledore suggested that once they got to the castle and she was shown her room, she might want to take a sleeping draught in order to forego jet lag. Reluctantly, she agreed. And as the train made the way through varying landscapes, Phoebe settled in to deep conversation with Professor Dumbledore about varying subjects including her sisters and their quest to rid the world of evil.
Soon the train had arrived at Hogsmeade and Hagrid, the half-wizard, half- giant caretaker and teacher of Care for Magical Creatures class was there to meet them. As soon as she got off the train, Phoebe was introduced and though a little startled by his size, she took an instant liking to him. He carried her bags to the carriages and off they went to the castle. Struck by it's size and beauty, Phoebe decided she must start exploring it as soon as her body and schedule allowed. She was given a map of the castle, which was magically enchanted to show her the way to her destinations. And as dinner was quickly approaching, most of the students were making their way in doors to change for dinner. She decided to sacrifice food for sleep and made her way to her new apartment. Too tired to unpack, she took a quick shower, got changed into her nightclothes, and hopped into her new bed. She slowly drank the potion Snape had given her and laid back into her pillows as she recalled some of the days events and began her nightly reflection.
Phoebe had finally felt as though her life as a witch had meaning again. Even though her sisters meant well, she had felt useless once her powers were stripped. She would forever be in Dumbledore's debt for giving her the opportunity to teach young witches and wizards Defense against the Dark Arts. Since she had gone on sabbatical from her advice column at the paper she had felt, well in a word...obsolete. By taking this teaching job at Hogwarts, she was taking control of her life again, magic included.
It wasn't as if she was turning away from her sisters, she was still an active part of the Power of Three. Piper and Paige knew that she was just an orb away and they were to call for her whenever they needed her, but inside Phoebe hoped it wasn't that often. This was her time and she believed the separation would do all of them good.
On top of all of that, Dumbledore had just informed her of a niece she never knew she had and the girl was to be one of Phoebe's students. She was bursting. Who would ever believe Prue had left a child behind! Doing the math in her head, she was wondering how Prue could have ever kept a secret like that from Grams, after all they had been living in the same house. Then Phoebe realized Prue must have had the child during her stint in Europe after high school. That would mean that the child was Andy's.
Wow. The enormity of it all just blew Phoebe's mind. What would Piper say? Do? Phoebe wasn't sure, which is why she had kept this her little secret for the time being. Even now she thought back to Prue and Andy's death, reliving their last moments in her mind as tears poured down her cheeks. She wondered if they had even gotten the chance to meet their daughter before they died. Sighing, Phoebe reached over and turned out the light as she let out a small sigh and "Blessed be" escaped her lips as she fell into a deep sleep.