A/N: Hi there, everyone! Hope you're enjoying this story thus far. It's quite amusing to me. I'm having a blast writing it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I appreciate the criticism just as much as I appreciate compliments. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the "Harry Potter" universe. Though sometimes I wish I did. I do, however, own Amy (myself), and claim ownership of Cassie. Eleanor retains the right to claim any and all of us whenever the hell she wants.


Chapter 3: Rude Awakenings

September 15, 2004 7:01 A.M.

Thump, thump, thump!

Amy cracked an eye open, wondering if her next-door neighbor was hanging pictures again. She figured it must be, so she rolled over and shut her eyes again.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!

She sat up in bed and opened her eyes fully, shocked for a moment to find herself in a strange bedroom, but the memories of last night soon flooded her mind. Amy grinned and snagged the black dressing gown off the hanger of the open wardrobe (she assumed a house elf must have brought it there... she also noticed a clean change of clothes and some plain black robes hung up in the wardrobe). She quickly made her way out of her bedroom, through her living room/study area, and to her door.

Amy opened the door quickly just as Professor Snape was about to bang on it again. He stopped short and glared at her. "Miss... MacLeod, was it?" Amy nodded and smiled brightly. "Well, Miss MacLeod, the Headmaster has asked me to summon you and your companions to join him for breakfast in the Great Hall, to be followed by a meeting in his office."

The girl stared at him blankly and checked her watch. It read "7:02". Glaring slightly at the Potions Master she nodded, "Alright. But I thought breakfast in the Great Hall didn't start until 8 A.M.?"

Snape smirked at her, "Quite correct, Ms. MacLeod, but I thought you and your companions might want ample time to wake yourselves and get ready for the morning."

"You just wanted to wake us up as early as you did, since none of us got more than like... 3 hours of sleep last night." Snape's smirk intensified. "Sadistic, Professor. Definitely sadistic."

"Why thank you, Ms. MacLeod."

Amy rolled her eyes, "So, would you like to wake Ella and Cassie or shall I?"

"Oh, I will wake them. It would be my pleasure to wake them." He smirked again, "Go and get ready, Ms. MacLeod. I will be back around at 7:45 sharp to collect you and to show you to the Great Hall." With that statement he closed Amy's own door on her. She stared at the door for a moment before squealing in delight. Snape had most definitely been teasing her, and she loved it! She ran off to her bedroom, grabbed the fresh clothes the elves had brought, and went to go take a morning shower, giggling as she suddenly heard the distinct sound of Eleanor yelling (most likely at Snape).


At exactly 7:44 A.M., Amy rushed out of her room to the quad that made up the level of the tower they lived on. Ella and Cassie appeared a few moments after she did. Ella looked quite calm and collected, but Cassie looked quite pissed off and extremely tired.

The three turned as they heard footsteps coming up the stair well. The Potions Master arrived on the landing at precisely 7:45. He smirked as he looked them over, noting with amusement that they were dressed nearly identically, save for the color of their clothing and the way in which they wore it. Cassandra wore a knee-lengthed black skirt, a pale pink undershirt with a white button down over it (which was mostly unbuttoned but still tucked into her skirt), and she wore plain black robes fastened only over her midriff. Eleanor's skirt was considerably shorter than Cassandra's, and her undershirt was lilac. She wore her robes fastened by only a single button at her bust. Amy's skirt length was a medium between her two companions'. Her undershirt was a pale blue, and her over shirt was left completely unbuttoned and un-tucked, and her robes were also left undone. All three girls wore knee-high black socks and simple black shoes.

Snape gestured grandly at the stairwell. "You will follow me to the Great Hall. Do not dawdle, and do not deviate from our route. There will be time to wander aimlessly later." With that, the Potions Master spun and began to descend the stairs. Amy, Eleanor, and Cassandra followed quickly, grinning to themselves.

Amy glanced at Ella and Cassie as they descended the stairs. "Now I know why the call him the 'Great Bat'," she whispered, "and he's damn sexy when he does that!" Ella and Cassie chuckled at their friend, making sure to do so as quietly as possible. Only an idiot with a death wish (or possibly Amy) would dare to get on Snape's bad side this early in the morning.

Surprisingly, the trip to the Great Hall didn't take as long as the girls had thought it would. They guessed that either the Teacher's Tower was very close to the Great Hall, or Snape had led them along some short cuts that not many people were aware of.

The Potions Master preceded them into the Hall. They paused a moment before following Snape through the center of the Hall and up to the Head Table. Most of the students and staff were already there, breakfast having just started a few minutes ago. As they passed between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables, the girls heard the whispering begin.

Snape went around the table and took his usual seat. Ella, Amy, and Cassie stopped in front of Dumbledore's place at the Head Table, and he smiled broadly at them. "Please, ladies, take any of the free seats up here that you like. All the staff who usually eat breakfast are here already, and tonight at dinner we will figure out where to have you sit regularly."

"Thank you, Headmaster," Eleanor said, smiling sweetly. The three looked over the table and noted where there were spaces. There was an empty seat between Harry Potter and Professor Flitwick, and Eleanor hastily, but gracefully, made her way there and sat. There was an empty space between Remus Lupin and Professor Sprout, and Cassie looked at Amy before making her way over to that place. But that suited Amy just fine. Now the only gap in seating was between Professors Snape and McGonagall.

Smiling brightly, Amy sat between the Deputy Headmistress and the Potions Master. She extended her hand to McGonagall, "Hello, Professor McGonagall. I'm Amy MacLeod. It's a pleasure to meet you."

McGonagall looked at the girl for a moment, incredibly confused. She glanced to her left, to the Headmaster, who sad there grinning like the cat who got the canary. She shrugged and turned back to the girl next to her, "Minerva McGonagall, Ms. MacLeod. May I ask what brings you to Hogwart's?"

"A freak rift in the space-time continuum."

"Pardon?" McGonagall frowned at the girl. "A what?"

"Well," Amy began, "as far as I can figure, I'm from a parallel universe to this one... and there must have been some sort of rift in the space-time continuum to allow us to end up here. It was probably the cause of the storm we ran into right before we appeared here."

Snape, who was sitting to Amy's right, snorted. "Did Ms. Jolie come up with that theory, Ms. MacLeod?"

McGonagall watched with amusement as the girl tried to glare at the professor next to her, but failed miserably. She had too sweet a countenance to glare properly. "No," the girl replied quite icily, "Ella did not come up with that theory. She is not the smartest one of us."

The potions professor smirked, "And I suppose you are?"

Amy shook her head, "I didn't say that. Ella, Cas, and I are all pretty much on the same intelligence level. I just don't act it, usually. I'm not some silly little girl who has no understanding of the goings on around her; I'm not one of your students, and I really don't appreciate being treated as though I am an imbecile."

McGonagall smiled. The girl next to her was definitely intelligent, and very brave. The deputy headmistress thought that Amy might have been in Gryffindor had she ever attended Hogwart's. "Don't mind Severus, dear, he's just not very fond of things disrupting his little world." She smiled warmly at the girl beside her, "I hope you enjoy your stay here at Hogwart's."

Amy grinned, "Thank you, Professor."

"Please dear, call me Minerva."

"Okay, Minerva. Thank you." Amy giggled, "I must insist you call me Amy... or Mac... or Jaina, or Jade, or Alanni, or Lani..."

Snape glared at Amy, "Ms. MacLeod... you cannot possibly have that many names."

"Oh, she does. But those aren't her names." Eleanor strolled up behind Amy. "Her full, true name is..."

"Ella! Don't!"

"Hush, Amy." Eleanor glared slightly at her friend, and Amy quieted quickly. "Amy's full name is Baby Girl Angel Amy Marie Cosmas MacLeod."

Snape arched an eyebrow, "Indeed."

Eleanor sighed, "Yes, 'indeed'." She folded her arms over her chest, "But we all have many nicknames that we go by... Amy will respond to pretty much any name thrown at her. Won't ya, ducks?"

Amy stuck her tongue out at her friend, "Not any name, Ella-Kyra!" She grinned, "Just Amy, Aimerz, Mac, Jaina, Jai, Jade, Alanni, Lani..."

"Amy. Shut up."

"Yes'm." Amy glared briefly at Cassie, who had just joined the group, for telling her to shut up.

"We need to get to the Headmaster's office. He's already left the Hall." Cassie gestured to Dumbledore's empty seat.

Snape rose, "I will take you to his office."

McGonagall also rose, "Oh, Severus, you don't have to. I'd be glad to take them." Snape eyed her for a moment before nodding curtly and exiting the Great Hall anyways. She smiled at the girls, "Now, ladies, follow me."


Along the way to the Headmaster's office, Cassie and Ella had introduced themselves to the Deputy Headmistress, and explained to her what they knew had happened the night before. She was quite intrigued, to say the least, and was also very pleased to hear that they would be staying on at the school (at least temporarily).

Once inside the Headmaster's office, McGonagall was dismissed. "Now, children," the blue-eyed wizard began, "I think that today I shall give you free reign over the school to explore and become familiar with your new surroundings. But before we do anything else, I'd like to cast a spell over each of you to determine your power levels, and to see if there are any specific, or rare, gifts that you might possess. Is this satisfactory?" They all nodded to Dumbledore, and he raised his wand at Eleanor. "Aparecio Ingenium!"

A golden light surrounded Eleanor, and it had a border of deepest violet. "Hm. Very interesting." Eleanor looked at the Headmaster questioningly. "It seems, Miss Jolie, that you have a naturally developed ability to do Legilimency and Occlumency. And you're quite powerful." Eleanor nodded, not saying anything, almost giving the impression that she had somehow known of her skills.

Dumbledore turned his wand on Cassandra and cast the spell again. A deep emerald green glow surrounded Cassie, with little bits of a brighter shade of green shining through. "Ah, you're just as powerful as Ms. Jolie, Ms. Graustark... and it seems you're a natural animagus."

"I can turn into an animal?"

"Yes and no."

"...what the hell does that mean?" Cassie folded her arms over her chest, looking at the Headmaster impatiently.

"It means, my dear child, that you can turn into any animal you so desire." Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled madly.

"Oh. That's cool, then." Cassie sat down, obviously still tired and a bit cranky for being woken up so early in the morning. "So let's see what Amy's got."

The Headmaster nodded and cast the spell on Amy. The redhead was surrounded by a beautiful silver light that had small black and green squiggles all over it. "Ooo! Pretty! What do the squigglies mean, Professor?"

He smiled warmly at Amy. "Well, my dear, in addition to being as powerful as your too friends, it is the sign of a Parselmouth. I've only recently learned this by casting this spell over Mr. Potter."

Amy giggled and turned to Cassie, "See! I told you I spoke Parseltongue!"

Cassie rolled her eyes and stood. "Great. Wonderful. Can I go back to sleep now?"

Dumbledore chuckled and gestured towards the door. "You three are free to roam the castle as you please. I simply ask that, for today at least, you stay inside the castle and do not disturb any of the classes. I will be making an announcement tonight at dinner about your presence here."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore." Eleanor curtsied slightly before turning and exiting the office. Amy waved and bounded out behind her friend, while Cassie sluggishly drug herself out of the chair and down the stairs.

When he was alone again, the Headmaster turned to his pet phoenix, Fawkes. "Well, Fawkes, I think that things are about to get very interesting around here."


A/N: "Aperacio Ingenium" is my freakishly bad latin for "reveal talent"! Yay for bad latin! So, chapter four should be up fairly soon. Probably tomorrow. Depends on how quickly I write it. I hope everyone is enjoying the story thus far. Thanks to eridani for her kind review (she seems to be a fan of mine! )