A/N: It's the longest chapter yet! Yay! And I'm writing this so very quickly! I hope you're all enjoying the effort that is going into this little story that I originally intended to be quite short. So... enjoy! And please leave a review! I love getting feedback.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the HP stuff. Get used to it.
Chapter 5: Sorting, Assignments, and Other Nonsense
Lunch was a rather uneventful affair. The whispers of the students increased somewhat as they noticed that their most loathed professor seemed to be having a rather civil and enthusiastic conversation with the red-haired witch next to him; their favorite professor, Potter, was also involved in an animated conversation with the strange witch beside him. Lupin and the third mysterious witch were talking quietly.
After lunch, Cassie and Ella decided to wander around together, while Amy had asked Snape if she might sit in on one of his classes. Surprisingly, the Potions Master had agreed, and the two disappeared down to the dungeons.
"Why do I have the feeling that she's going to be spending most of her time down there?" Cassie glanced at Eleanor as they started up the main stairs. Ella simply shrugged and grinned in response.
Amy followed the Potions Master down to his office. He gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk, and she sat down quietly. She couldn't help but study the office around her, absolutely fascinated with the things inside of it. The corners of Snape's mouth upturned briefly in a minute smile before his stony mask was in place again. He cleared his throat, and she turned to face him. "In a few moments we will proceed to class. It is my only N.E.W.T. class... the sixth and seventh year students are in the same class."
She arched an eyebrow at him, mimicking his own favorite questioning gesture, "And why is that?"
He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers, "They are the first and second post-war classes. Most of the children their age were killed during the second war." Snape sighed, "In fact, there are only 30 seventh year students, and only 58 sixth years."
Amy nodded, looking solemn. "I see."
"When we go into the class, you are welcome to sit at my desk while I lecture. Then, if you so desire, you may help me keep an eye on the students as they brew the potion."
"That sounds just fine, Professor." She smiled brightly at him. "Shall we, then?"
He rose and followed her out of the office. He paused outside the classroom for a moment and smirked at her before banging the door open in his usual dramatic entrance. She followed him silently, her own robes flaring about her in a manner very similar to Snape's. Amy sat at Snape's desk (receiving questioning glances from students, but her presence was not explained) as he stood behind his podium and started to lecture.
Ella and Cassie were having a wonderful time. So far they'd been by Gryffindor Tower, the Astronomy Tower, and the owlery. Now they were simply wandering through the halls at their leisure, listening to different teachers lecturing as the passed.
They were approaching the Defense classroom, and they heard laughter up ahead. Cassie glanced at Eleanor questioningly, but Ella simply shrugged and headed towards the classroom. They peered in through the open door, and grinned as they saw what was going on.
Harry Potter took another chocolate out of the box and popped it into his mouth. Suddenly, in his place, was miniature lion. It stood there for a few moments, flapping its tail before Harry Potter replaced it. He laughed. "What was that one, Ron?"
"A Lion Lemon."
"Excellent. Did Gred and Forge make any Snake Sherberts like I asked?"
Hermione Granger-Weasley nodded, "They did. But they said you weren't going to get to test them quite yet."
"Why not?" Harry folded his arms over his chest.
Ron smirked. "They've sent me on a mission to testt them on Snape."
"Jesus fuck. Do you have a death wish?"
The three Hogwart's alumni turned towards the door, a bit startled. Ron looked at the woman who had spoken. "Erm, no. I don't actually have a death wish."
"She's got a point though, Ron." Harry motioned for Eleanor and her friend to enter the room. "He probably wouldn't be pleased about being tricked into eating anything from the twins, no matter how much he may have lightened up over the years."
"He's lightened up?" The raven-haired woman snorted. "Jesus, I'd hate to have met him before now."
Eleanor nudged Cassie and smiled at Ron and Hermione. She extended her hand to Hermione, "I'm Eleanor Jolie, and this is Cassandra Graustark. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Weasley."
Hermione threw Harry a questioning look, but he only smiled. She reached out and took Eleanor's hand, "Nice to meet you as well, Ms. Jolie, Ms. Graustark."
Harry held his hand out to Cassandra, "I'm Harry, Cassandra. It's nice to meet you. Eleanor has told me quite a bit about you and Amy."
Cassie shook his hand and glanced at Eleanor, "Yeah. Amy and Ella have told me many things about all of this over the years. But I'm still not as familiar with this place as they are."
Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, quite lost. Harry grinned, "Eleanor, Cassandra, and Amy arrived here late last night. It seems that they are from some sort of parallel universe where our world is something from a children's book."
Hermione's eyes lit up. "Amazing!" She grinned, "I'll have to go to the library later and see if I can find anything on inter-dimensional travel." Ron groaned and Harry chuckled.
"Why don't we all go sit and talk in my office? And perhaps then you and Cassie could sit in on my last class today, Eleanor. It's one of my N.E.W.T. classes."
Eleanor nodded, as did Cassie. "That sounds just fine, Harry. Lead the way." He smiled and led the group into his office. They all sat and Harry served them tea.
"Remember to follow the steps in your book exactly. This is a N.E.W.T. level class, and I will not tolerate mistakes. You have forty-five minutes. Begin." The class set to working on their potions, gathering ingredients from the student cabinet and setting up their cauldrons.
Snape walked over to his desk and sat lightly on the edge of it. "I trust you found the lecture interesting, Ms. MacLeod?"
Amy smiled, "Actually, Professor, I did. I was never all that interested in chemistry, the Muggle equivalent of potions, but I always did excel at it. Potions is much more interesting than chemistry ever was."
He inclined his head slightly, "I've had a few Muggle-born students say the same thing." Snape smirked, "Now, if you're ready... they've begun the brewing process, and we should keep an eye on them, just in case."
She quirked her eyebrow at him, smirking as well, "Don't you mean 'torture Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students, taking as many points from them as possible'?"
The Potions Master chuckled softly, but didn't respond. He simply stood and began prowling through the rows, followed closely by Amy. He complimented the Slytherin students, was indifferent towards the Ravenclaws, but criticized the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students.
Amy was quite content to follow the Potions Master around, watching him in action. She glanced over to the Slytherin side of the room and a sense of dread overwhelmed her. "Stop!" She raced over to a black haired Slytherin seventh year, who had seemingly frozen. Amy grabbed the small spoon full of powder out of the boy's hand, which had been carefully frozen above the cauldron as though he was just about to add the ingredient.
Snape stalked over to where Amy was. "What's the meaning of this?" Edward O'Connor was frozen where he sat, as if he had been petrified. "What have you done to my student, Ms. MacLeod?"
"Stopped him from blowing up your classroom, Professor Snape."
Snape waved his wand at his student, "Finite Incantatem." Nothing happened. He tried the incantation again, still with no result. "Ms. MacLeod," he growled, "why is my student frozen?"
"Oh." She waved her hand lazily, and he was released from whatever spell he'd been under. Amy glared down at the boy, "Name?"
"Edward O'Connor, ma'am."
"Well, Mr. O'Connor, do you realize what you were about to do?"
He shook his head, "I was just about to add the powdered unicorn horn to my potion..."
"Really," she said dryly. Still holding the spoon with the powder on it she reached down at picked up the container that held the ingredient. "Tell me, Mr. O'Connor, are you literate?"
He looked at her, quite confused. "Excuse me, ma'am?" The boy was obviously trying to be as polite as possible, after all, he didn't know who this woman was.
"I asked you if you could read, Mr. O'Connor." Amy was still glaring down at the boy, and for some reason Snape did not interrupt her tirade. He wanted to see where all this was going, she supposed.
"Of course I can read," the Slytherin said indignantly.
"Then read this for me, Mr. O'Connor." She handed him the container with the powder in it.
The boy threw a questioning glance at Snape before looking closely at the container in his hand. His face paled quite drastically. "Powdered bicorn horn, ma'am," he managed to choke out.
"Exactly, Mr. O'Connor." Amy waved her hand at the cauldron, vanishing its contents. "Had I not stopped you, you would've blown this classroom up, and most likely killed the lot of us."
"Twenty points from Slytherin, Mr. O'Connor, and detention with Mr. Filch for a week." Snape gave his student a hard look, "I expect better than that from you, Mr. O'Connor. You are one of the best students in this class, and I would hate to have to dismiss you for any other slip ups." The boy nodded, all color had drained from his face. Snape waved his wand and vanished the potions from all the cauldrons. "Class is dismissed. We will attempt to make this potion again next week."
The students quickly packed their things and left the room. When the last of them had gone, Snape turned to Amy, a puzzled expression on his face. "How did you know he was about to add the wrong ingredient? And how did you know what reaction it would cause in the potion?"
Amy stared up at him, then shrugged. "I just had a feeling about the boy adding the wrong ingredient... and... I'm not quite sure how exactly I knew." She tilted her head to the side, "It's like... ever since I arrived, random facts about this world have been popping into my head... Like I always had the knowledge, but I'm only now recalling it." She shrugged again, "Or something to that effect."
He contemplated this for a moment before nodding. "Very interesting," he murmured. "But how did you petrify the boy? And vanish his potion?"
Amy grinned, "I just did!" She laughed softly, "Didn't I tell you last night that I'm not some sort of ordinary Muggle?"
Snape smirked at her, nodding once, "I am beginning to see the error of that particular judgment."
"So," she took hold of his arm and started steering him towards the door, "since we've still got another thirty or so minutes before classes are over, how about you give me a tour of the dungeons? I know the layout for the rest of the school fairly well, but not the dungeons."
"I suppose I could give you a brief tour, since you managed to save my classroom, and most likely my life and the lives of the rest of the class, from the incompetence of one of my students." He led her out of the classroom and down the hall, deeper into the dungeons.
"Alright class," Harry began as the last class of the day settled into the room, "today I'm going to break from my lesson plans." A happy murmur spread through the class. "As you've noticed, there are three visitors in the castle today. Two of them are here right now, waiting in my office. I've asked them to talk to you a bit about where they are from. The Headmaster will formally introduce them tonight at dinner. So please show them the same respect you show me." The class nodded and Harry smiled. He turned towards the door to his office, "Alright, you guys can come out now."
Eleanor and Cassie walked out of the office and into the classroom. They walked over and stood beside Harry, who motioned to Eleanor, "This is Miss Eleanor Jolie." Eleanor gave the class a small curtsy. "And this," he gestured to Cassie, "is Miss Cassandra Graustark." Cassie gave the class an indifferent wave. Harry smiled at Eleanor, "I relinquish control to you." She nodded and he sat down behind his desk.
"Good afternoon, class." They murmured a response to her, and Eleanor smirked at them. "As Professor Potter said, my name is Eleanor Jolie. My friends and myself arrived here last night by accident."
Cassie jumped in, "Yeah. A freak accident. I was driving along, minding my own business, and suddenly we're in another dimension." She folded her arms over her chest as she sat on the edge of the professor's desk.
Eleanor cleared her throat and glanced at Cassie. "Yes. Cassandra, myself, and our friend Amy, who is currently assisting Professor Snape, are from another dimension. Where we are from, your world is fictional."
"What do you mean?" A Ravenclaw up front leaned forward in her desk, quite interested in their tale.
"I mean that there is an author writing a series of books about this world. I am beginning to suspect that she might actually have come from your dimension, because her account of the events that occurred here are disturbingly accurate." Eleanor leaned back against Harry's desk next to Cassie.
"So are there wizards, and magical schools in your world? Do Muggles know about any of it?" The Hufflepuff boy blushed as he spoke, obviously embarrassed about speaking up.
Eleanor smiled, "There is magic in my world... though only a few truly know how to grasp it. Most people in my world are Muggles... and the only information about magic they know comes from legends we have, from books of fiction." She shrugged, "Yes, strange things happen, but most people just try to ignore it and go about their own normal lives."
"So are you saying that you and your friends knew about the magic in your world?"
Cassie stared at the Slytherin boy, "Yeah. We knew. Well, Eleanor and Amy knew. They told me... and I only kind of believed them."
"Yes, Cassie is quite hard to convince." Eleanor grinned at her friend. "But to answer your question, yes, my friends and I knew about magic. Amy and I were working on learning to control our magic, actually."
"Can you give us a demonstration?" Eleanor glanced at the Gryffindor boy who'd spoken up. It figured that it would be a Gryffindor to ask for a demonstration.
"Of course." Eleanor turned to Harry, "Might I ask for your assistance, Professor Potter?"
"Certainly, Ms. Jolie." Harry stood and walked around his desk. Eleanor walked to the other side of the room, well out of everyone's way. "What would you like for me to do?"
"Oh, you know, just start throwing some hexes or something."
He looked at her uncertainly, "Are you sure, Ms. Jolie? You don't even have your own wand yet."
"Sure I'm sure, Professor Potter." Eleanor smiled sweetly, "Do your worst!"
Harry glanced at his class, who looked quite eager to see the stranger get cursed into oblivion. He shrugged and raised his wand, "Expelliarmus!"
Eleanor yawned and waved her hand. The spell was reflected back at Harry, and it knocked him flat on his back, wretching his wand from his grip. The wand flew directly into Eleanor's open and waiting hand. She smirked at him and the class before sauntering over to where he lay, stunned. "Alright there, Harry?" She held a hand out to him and helped him up before handing his wand back over to him.
He nodded, "Fine, Eleanor. Thank you." Harry grinned, "Excellent show." She smiled and nodded. He looked over at the class, "Any other questions?"
The rest of class was spent with Eleanor and Cassie demonstrating their wandless magic and answering student questions. Harry dismissed the class ten minutes early, and offered to go wandering with Eleanor and Cassie for a while. They agreed, and left the classroom.
"Ah, Harry! Eleanor! Cassandra! Wonderful to see you all!" The Headmaster strolled towards the three in the hallway.
"Hello, Albus." Harry nodded at the Headmaster.
"I see you've met two of our guests." Harry nodded. "Excellent. You'll most likely meet Ms. MacLeod a bit later this evening. I'm going to call a staff meeting for after dinner." Dumbledore smiled at the two women, "Now, I was wondering if I might borrow these lovely ladies from you for a while, Harry."
"Of course, Headmaster." Harry smiled at Eleanor and Cassie, "Guess I'll see you two at dinner." He walked off in the vague direction of the Teacher's Tower.
"If you'll follow me, ladies, Amy is already waiting in my office." Eleanor and Cassandra followed the Headmaster back to his office, where Amy was indeed waiting for them. However, she was playing with Fawkes to pass the time. It seemed like the phoenix had taken quite a liking to her.
"Now that I've assembled the three of you," the old wizard began, "I thought that I would see if you'd like to be sorted. Simply because most teachers here attended Hogwart's, and those that did not are sorted as well."
Amy grinned, "Awesome!" Eleanor and Cassie nodded their consent as well. The Headmaster took the Sorting Hat off it's shelf and lightly placed it on Amy's head.
Ah, it is nice to meet you, Ms. MacLeod.
Amy giggled, Nice to meet you, too, Sorting Hat.
In her mind, Amy felt like the Hat grinned. Now, Albus wants me to sort you... but there's a small problem with that...
What's the problem? Amy bit her bottom lip nervously.
Nothing to worry about... just something odd that I haven't encountered before. Would you mind placing me on one of your friends?
Certainly. Amy lifted the Sorting Hat off of her head and placed it on Eleanor's. She seemed to have some sort of conversation with the Hat as well before placing it on Cassie's head.
Cassie sighed after a few moments and took the Hat off, holding it out to Dumbledore. "It wants to talk to you, Headmaster."
Dumbledore nodded, not surprised in the least, and placed the Hat on his head. How can I help you, Hat?
Headmaster, I cannot sort these women.
Dumbledore furrowed his brow, Why ever not, Hat?
Each of them have traits of all four houses. If I were to sort them, I would be dishonoring the legacy that the Founders left in me. If you want to sort them, then you sort them yourself!
The old man sighed, If you insist. He took the Hat off his head and put it back on its shelf. "Well, as I'm sure you have figured out, the Sorting Hat will not sort you. Therefore, I will sort you myself." He turned to Cassandra, "Ms. Graustark, I believe I shall declare you a Ravenclaw."
Cassie shrugged, "Whatever. Cool. Thanks."
He smiled, his blue eyes twinkling madly as he turned to Eleanor. "You, Ms. Jolie, most definitely belong in Gryffindor." Eleanor looked at the Headmaster incredulously, but said nothing. He turned to Amy, still smiling and still twinkling, "And you, Ms. MacLeod, are a Slytherin."
Amy stared at the Headmaster, "Uhm... you know... I really think that Eleanor is a bit more Slytherin than I am..."
"Oh, you're plenty Slytherin, Amy. You manipulate people with your cuteness."
The red-head grinned at her friend, "I do, don't I?" She shrugged, "Oh well. Sounds good to me."
"Yeah, yeah. Great. Amy's a snake. Can we go to dinner now?"
The Headmaster smiled at Cassandra, "Of course, Ms. Graustark." He led the girls out of his office and down to the Great Hall.
Halfway through dinner the Headmaster stood, and McGonagall tapped on her goblet, calling the Hall to order and silence. "Well, students, as I'm sure you've noticed, we have three new faces at the staff table today. I would like to introduce to you Eleanor Jolie, Cassandra Graustark, and Amy MacLeod." Each of the girls stood and waved as their names were called before sitting back down. "Beginning next week they will become teaching assistants, and so I expect you to treat them with the same respect you treat your professors."
There was a resounding "yes, headmaster" that echoed through the Hall. Dumbledore smiled and sat back down, returning to his meal.
After dinner, the staff gathered in the Staff Room, waiting for Dumbledore and the three guests. A few moments after the entire staff had taken their seats Dumbledore and the three young ladies came into the room. They all sat down at the meeting table, and Dumbledore smiled.
"Now, I know that many of you have questions about the origins of our guests. But that is not the point of tonight's meeting. We will address that issue at our regular staff meeting on Sunday." A few of the staff nodded, and so Dumbledore continued. "I'm having this meeting tonight to assign these ladies to three of you as teaching assistants."
"How do you know they're qualified to be teacher's assistants, Albus?" McGonagall spoke up.
He smiled at his Deputy Headmistress and long time friend. "Trust me on this one, Minerva." She eyed him carefully for a moment before nodding. "Now, I have thought about this all day, and have finally made my decisions." Dumbledore turned to Amy, "Miss MacLeod, I would like to assign you to help Professor Snape with his potions classes." She nodded quickly. "Any objections, Severus?"
The Potions Master stared at the Headmaster for a moment, "Actually, no, Headmaster. That will be fine."
The majority of the staff were quite shocked that Snape had just agreed to a decision Dumbledore made, but they quite didn't have time to process it before the Headmaster moved on. "Miss Jolie, you will be assisting Professor Potter in Defense Against the Dark Arts." Both Eleanor and Harry nodded, smiling. "Finally, Miss Graustark, I'd like to ask you to assist Professor Trelawny in Divination."
"No fucking way."
McGonagall covered her mouth as she gasped. She couldn't believe someone had just spoken to the Headmaster in such a way. But the Headmaster simply smiled at the girl, "For the moment, Ms. Graustark, that is where I feel you will best serve the school." Cassie glared at the Headmaster, but decided not to argue for the moment. "You will all take up these positions starting on Monday." They nodded and the staff started to rise, "Ah, one more thing before you all leave."
The staff settled back down. Dumbledore glanced around at them all, "These ladies arrived with practically nothing, and so they need to make a trip to Diagon Alley for supplies. I need two or three teachers to escort them to London and help them gather the things they need. Any volunteers?"
"I'll go with them." Harry smiled at Eleanor and Cassie.
The Headmaster nodded, "Excellent. Thank you Harry. Any other volunteers?"
"I shall accompany them as well, Headmaster."
Dumbledore over to Snape, the twinkle in his eyes doubling (at least). "Wonderful, Severus. Thank you very much. Now, you are all dismissed for the night!" The Headmaster stood and left the room.
The rest of the staff trickled out of the room, leaving Harry, Cassie, Eleanor, Snape, and Amy. "Well," Harry began, "I guess I will excuse myself. I've got some grading to do."
"Would you like some help?"
Harry smiled at Eleanor, "That would be wonderful. Thank you." He waved to Cassie and Amy, and nodded to Snape before he left the room with Eleanor.
Cassie glanced over at Amy, who was standing next to Snape. She smirked, "I'm going to go find Lupin. See you kids later!" She exited the staff room quickly.
Snape glanced at Amy, who seemed rather amused. "Did she just refer to me as a 'kid', Ms. MacLeod?"
Amy giggled, "Yes, Professor, she did." She began walking towards the door, "Now, don't we have some essays to stain with red ink or something?"
He smirked and nodded, "Yes, we do. Shall we?" Snape led the way out of the staff room and down to his dungeon office.
A/N: Woo! That chapter was fun to write. Hope you all enjoyed it! It's really a lot of fun to write. And again, I really enjoy any feedback, so reviews are my life-blood! Thanks! See you in chapter six!
