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Chapter 3: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Squall's expression didn't change. Selphie cowered behind his shoulder, but he had been trained for this sort of thing (so had she, but it was more of Squall's personality not to show fear). He simply replied to the now smug-looking man, "We are SeeDs from Balamb Garden. We've come to learn more about your world."
The man laughed back at him, suddenly grabbing them both by the scruff of the neck, something he seemed to be a pro at. "Load of Muggle rubbish, whatever you just said. Come on now. Off to the Headmistress with you."
But Squall wasn't about to be patronized by this strange man who kept talking about Muggles, whatever the hell they were. He quickly swung himself out of the man's hand, also swinging him at the same time, causing him (and Selphie, who was still in his grasp) to fly to the floor. Selphie gave a small yelp, and the golden-eyed cat yowled and hissed at Squall, grabbing him with its paws. "OWW!" he yelled as it latched on, shaking his leg, trying to get Selphie off the floor. He thought he had managed to knock the old man out, but as he felt an arm swing out and trip him he knew otherwise.
"Stupid Muggles!" he sneered as Squall landed on the ground next to Selphie, the cat still hooked on to his shin. The scraggly man was hobbling back up now, but Selphie had managed to scramble up also. "Fire!" she cried, spreading the two ends of her flail apart. Suddenly their attacker's matted nest of hair flamed up, and he screeched as he stumbled back, the cat still yowling and hissing and attacking Squall. As he himself hobbled back up, trying to remove the cat but failing, another voice came into the room.
"What's the problem here, Argus?" a tight-sounding voice asked. Squall and Selphie looked up, and Selphie gasped.
"It's- It's you! From the images!" she exclaimed, her eyes looking like they were about to bulge out of her head. But the petite yet sturdy looking woman with a tight bun and a mouth that seemed to be disappearing before them waved a wand at "Argus", thus turning his hair back to normal, before replying to her.
"I know nothing of the images you're talking about, but I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
But before she or anyone else could say anything, two more people came through the mirror. It was a strange sight, to see Quistis and Irvine coming out of something so solid- looking. The first man that Selphie and Squall had met was staring, looking astonished. Obviously, he hadn't seen the first pair arrive. His cat was next to him now, still hissing at Squall. Quistis gave a little scream when she saw McGonagall and the scraggly man, and collapsed on Irvine for a second before recovering herself. McGonagall simply watched her, looking unfazed by what had just happened.
"I've been expecting you ever since Professor Trelawny made her prediction about two months ago. There are more coming, are there not? There will be seven of you?"
Selphie nodded, looking as though she too were trying to regain her composure. "My name is Selphie Tilmitt, director of the Dimension 12 project which has enabled us to come here. We're interested in learning about your world. We're not hostile unless provoked."
"And I see you were provoked. Never mind it, I'm sure both you and Mr. Filch here were shocked by each other's presence ," McGonagall replied in a very schoolteacher way. The SeeDs just stared at her, not knowing what to say. "But it is interesting that you've come through this of all mirrors..."
As she said this, a black-gloved hand punched through the mirror, but didn't break it. They heard Zell's hyper-voice say, "I don't know! Feel's kind of warm when you're going through it, but there's air on the other side!"
Suddenly, as though he were punted, Zell came flying out of the mirror and landed smack on his butt in the middle of everyone. His face, red, he turned back to the mirror, muttering, "Seifer!"
Seifer, his arm around Rinoa, waltzed out of the mirror last. He looked around at everybody, including two strangers and a skinny cat, and said, "So? I knew if Chicken-Wuss could survive, they weren't hostile."
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Zell bellowed, his face an even brighter red.
Seifer gave him a smirk and began muttering, "Chick-"
"Seifer, please," Rinoa interrupted him.
Selphie glared at him before turning back to McGonagall. "I'm sorry to have dropped in on you like this. But could you please tell us more about where we are?"
"Certainly," McGonagall said, and Selphie took out her tape-recorder. McGonagall seemed an ounce surprised by this, but didn't mention it. "You've walked into one of the many mysterious rooms of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is where young people from Britain who possess magical powers come to learn and sharpen their skills. It was founded over a thousand years ago, our time anyway. I assume where you're from you use a different time system."
Filch looked amazed. "Professor, why are you telling all this to Muggles?"
McGonagall looked at him for a moment like he was a jackass. "Because these children aren't Muggles, Argus. They're just as magical as any of the students in this school, although they probably don't know it."
Irvine gave Selphie a look when Dumbledore said "children", seeming to forget that most of them still actually were just 17, which legally made them children. Quistis raised her hand suddenly. McGonagall gave her a nod of recognition. "If you don't mind me asking, um, Professor, could you please tell us what a 'Muggle' is?"
"A term for someone who is non-magical and has no magic abilities," she answered swiftly, gazing at her from her stern-looking face. "But, judging from Ms. Tilmitt's earlier spell against Argus, I know all of you have magical knowledge, and can perform it without wands. Quite amazing."
The seven from Balamb looked around at each other. Squall spoke next. "We're trained in schools, too, to use magic. Where we come from, anybody can perform magic with the right training."
"Where does the magic you use come from?"
Squall held back a groan. He didn't want to sound cheesy, but there was really no other way to say it. "From within ourselves. Well, as long as we each have a magic stone equipped on us. The stone 'stocks' certain types of magic within itself. We use our minds to absorb magic from others or from 'draw points', and we use our voices to cast it."
McGonagall looked a little lost. Rinoa pitched in.
"You see, Professor, where we come from, magic exists in every one and everything. When Squall was talking about magic 'stocks', he meant that once we absorb a certain kind of magic, we can use it only a certain amount of times. When he was talking about 'draw points', he meant that there are certain spots around our world where magic comes out of the earth itself, and we are able to absorb it from those instead of other people or monsters."
It seemed as though the stern witch wearing black robes finally understood. "Very interesting," she mumbled to himself. "Well, then, before showing you around the school I shall have you escorted to Madame Pomfrey's office to be checked over. There we will discuss more about this project you speak of and compare our types of magic. Are you hungry, by the way? Lunch is about to start in the Great Hall."
Zell shyly nodded, and everyone else sort of packed together as a subconcious safety measure. Selphie grinned at McGonagall. She was happy that so far, things seemed to be going smoothly. "We have many things we want to find out about your world," she said. "I guess I should tell you more about the project, though, and how we came here."
"That will be for after Madame Pomfrey's office, Selphie. For now , I would like each off you to introduce yourselves to me, and tell me any information you specialized in at school back home."
Selphie went first, even though she already stated her name. "I'm Selphie Tilmitt. I specialized in the flail. I'm seventeen."
McGonagall nodded, then looked at Irvine, who was standing besides Selphie. "Oh. The name's Irvine Kinneas,"- he tipped his hat-"and I specialized in the assault rifle. I'm also seventeen."
Next came Quistis, Zell, and Squall. Seifer had a hint of nervousness in his face as it came to him. "Yeah, my name's Seifer Almasy. I specialized in the gun blade too. I'm eighteen."
Seifer failed to mention he hadn't passed his exam like the others. Next came Rinoa, who also looked a tad nervous, but she shrugged it off and said, "Rinoa Heartilly. I fight with an advanced crossbow. I'm seventeen."
McGonagall was still gazing at Irvine, who seemed to have caught the Professor's attention, before saying, "Hmm? ...Oh… Y-Yes, very interesting. I gather your school is used to train you for battle?"
Squall nodded. "It's a military academy; we call it Garden. Gardens were used to train SeeDs to fight the Sorceress, but now that she's been defeated it's just used to train SeeDs as a mercenary force. We usually do peacekeeping missions."
McGonagall nodded. "Very well. Argus, please escort Ms. Tilmitt's team to Madame Pomfrey. I shall be making arrangements for our guests in my office. I will be joining all of you shortly."
And with that, she left out of the room's door. "Okay, come on, ye Muggles," Filch said, a touch of mockery in his voice. He started hobbling out of the room, followed closely by his strange cat. Everyone else followed, too, but Quistis and Selphie took out their cameras, taking pictures of the room they had arrived in, and especially, the mirror. As they left, Squall hung back a second and looked back at the mirror. He was waving at himself from within it, a huge, unSquall- like grin on his face. Disregarding that the others were leaving and he was almost totally alone, he approached the mirror, staring hard at his reflection, which continued waving at him. "What the hell?" he said out loud, and suddenly his reflection spoke back to him.
"There's no need for language like that," it said, in his voice. Squall jumped back, unsheathing his gun blade. His reflection suddenly laughed, and a raven haired girl came up next to it and he put his arm around her. Squall let out a small gasp, almost dropping his massive weapon. It was Rinoa in the mirror, and the reflection and her were now going at it like there was no tomorrow. "Oh, Squall," the mirror-Rinoa whispered, and the real Squall felt his cheeks grow hot. He suddenly charged at the mirror with his gun blade, letting out a sort of war cry as he did so. The blade hit it with a loud DING, not even scratching it. He gazed back into the mirror.
"I never loved Seifer, you know," mirror-Rinoa was now saying to mirror-Squall. "I was in love with you since the moment I met you. I've missed you, Squall," she finished. Squall, sprawled on the ground from his failed charge at the mirror, suddenly started pounding on it with his fists.
"Argh!" he yelled, completely forgetting where he was.
"Squall?" a voice asked from somewhere outside the room. "What're you doing in there?"
The real Rinoa entered back in, and Squall almost died. She was staring at him as he was lying spread-eagled on the floor in front of her, when moments before he had been pounding on a mirror. Not only that, but now she was going to see what was in the mirror. "Squall?" she said again. "Are you o-"
But she froze, and looked into the mirror herself. Squall closed his eyes, dreading what he thought would come next. But he opened them back up again when he heard her say, "Mom?"
He saw her turn around to look over her shoulder, and then go back quickly to the mirror. "Mom? Is that you?"
Squall still saw only him and Rinoa making out in the mirror, but he realized she must be seeing something different. He gave a sigh of relief. "Rinoa," he said. "I think this mirror only shows what we want to see. We should get going."
"A- Alright," she agreed hesitantly as he got up. She still watched the mirror as they left, entranced by the image of her mother patting her on top of the head and giving her forehead kisses.
