Chris had barely moved an inch, preferring to stay where he was. Although usually fighting demons in obscure corners of the underworld, he preferred to stay where he was until he was found when lost. Fortunately for him, an echo of footsteps thundered around the cavernous room. A man so old that he looked to be one of the elders fighting Leo was steadily approaching. His long silver beard accentuated his age, and his flowing purple robes had shimmering stars tattooed on them. He slowed to a stop right before Chris, seeming to glide liquidly.

"It's wonderful to see new faces," the old man said at long last, smiling broadly.

"Uh, I'm sorry?" Chris asked, bewildered.

"Wait—I don't recognize you? First year?" the man raised one spectacled eyebrow pensively.

"Excuse me?" Now Chris sounded embarrassed. First year? What on earth is a first year?

"No, you can't be a first year. You look too old." The man tapped his long, brittle-looking fingers together.

"Uh—"

"Chris, there you are!" Sara came running full-out down the corridor.

"Sara!" Chris sighed in relief.

"Dumbledore!" Sara shrieked. Too bad Raye isn't here to see this.

"And who might you be?" Dumbledore asked in patient tranquility.

"Sara…McKenny," Sara panted, clutching at a cramp growing in her side.

"Do I know you?" Dumbledore asked, peering over the tops of his spectacles.

"Uh, no, but I know you." Sara said, hoping she didn't sound too stalkerish.

"Uh, excuse me?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'll get back to you. Chris, go find Raye. She's in some room…she got into firewhiskey!"

"Firewhiskey?" Chris asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, don't ask, just run. Do you know where Rroburt went?"

"No. Should I?"

Sara sighed at his absolute deficiency. If you want something done right, you're just going to have to do it your self.

"Perdon!" Dumbledore gasped between clipped phrases. "Necessito entender quien estais. Hableis lentamente y me dirais sus nombres."

"My name's Sara McKenny, and this is Chris Halliwell. We're from San Fransisco, California, and we're looking for a hippogriff named Rroburt that brought us here as a portkey." Sara spoke very rapidly, and did not bother to pause for breaths.

"Oh, I see," Dumbledore looked disconcerted.

"Yeah. Raye's my cousin and best friend, and Chris is her second cousin once removed or something, and he's her boyfriend." Sara felt it was necessary to explain all of this.

"Isn't that a little…" Dumbledore trailed off, perplexed.

"Incest? Yeah, tell me about it. However, Raye is currently gallivanting around with Draco Malfoy and has gotten into the firewhiskey stores from the kitchens." Sara finished up.

"Malfoy. Such a troubled little hoodlum. Well, you will need help finding this runaway hippogriff, of course. You obviously have never been in this castle before, so I am assigning you each to students from Gryffindor. Sara, did you say your name was?"

Sara groaned inwardly. "But—yes, Professor."

"If you do not attend my school, you need not call me Professor." He smiled benignly.

"Yes, Sir. Who will be assigned to Raye and Chris?" Sara crossed her fingers, hoping that Raye would be assigned to someone annoying, like Hermione Granger. Sara had the most reserved respect for Hermione out of everyone in the books, because of Hermione's thirst for knowledge and paranoia regarding rule-breaking.

"I think I shall send…Oliver Wood and…well, the only other person free is…Neville Longbottom." Dumbledore shook his head morosely. "Great boy, but a little off his hinges. Doesn't seem to know the difference between a cauldron and a Christmas bauble."

Sara stifled a snicker. Neville Longbottom. His clumsiness was almost as notorious as that of Raye's.

"You are to collect your friends and meet in my office when you found them. Here is a map of the castle. Use it wisely." Dumbledore handed Sara a yellowed, brittle hoja de papel that had nothing on it.

"A Marauders Map? You're giving us a Marauder's Map?" Sara stared at the paper incredulously.

"Correction. I am lending you a Marauders' Map. Now, if you'll excuse me, Argus Filch wants to speak with me about some sixth years letting loose three million bats in the astronomy tower." Dumbledore turned on his heel and strutted away