Chapter 3 Laelia Sayre

A NEW, REVISED VERSION OF THE CHAPTER!!!!!!(AT END)!!!!!!!!!!! It's time for a new chapter and hopefully things will speed up from there. Hmm…yeah. Not really much to say. Can't think of anything. I haven't had much input. I actually don't blame you. I usually review somewhere into the story once it has actually started going. BUT – I really wanna know if anybody cares, I will read your reviews and reply, really! I'm not asking for an essay or anything, just like a sentence that tells me if it sucks or not. Thanks, really. So I'm really trying to get Laelia started. I hate writing the beginning of stories, one spends most of the time describing the setting and whatever. Oh well, I should probably get on to it so I can get to the good parts…oh yeah, and about Mogget and Sabriel, they will come in later, just not now.

Disclaimer: (thought I'd add one) I don't own the charas or world of Harry Potter, nor do I own the charas or the Old Kingdom. I am the creator of the particular plot (story) and Laelia and whatever else really. Common sense but I thought I'd mention it. If I were either author in disguise I would probably have thought of a better pen name and my writing would be more brilliant. Whatever. On to the story.

begin chapter 3 'Gretchen and Henry' (if you want a title, otherwise just ch.3)

Laelia sat down on the couch after changing her clothes and rubbed her forehead, sighing. Suddenly a rush of magic surged through her, startling her. She jumped up from the couch and gasped, but once she had a moment to think she realized she recognized the feeling.

"Oh!" Now she was a little embarrassed, with her heart pounding in her chest. "My charter mark! I totally forgot. I'll have to disguise that…" Touching the mark on her forehead released the energy that a vessel of such a great magic would. It was almost a charter stone that channeled the power, only as a single charter mark on one's forehead. The problem now, though, was how to keep it from being seen from others, unless Dumbledore thought that no one would give it enough thought to go to the trouble of hiding it. She sighed again. She was now realizing there were plenty of little details that could make all the difference now that she was going to live here as a real student. Just as she was thinking this, one of the portraits decided to try starting a conversation.

"Hello, dear. Over here! I couldn't help but notice – were you outside? It looks like you have a little something on your forehead, right smack in between your eyebrows." An old, cheery, grandmother-like woman in elaborate dark robes waved her over. The woman looked too nice to ignore, so blushing, a little embarrassed from the comment, she walked over to the portrait, which was next to a portrait of a tall, skinny old man who had decided to read a book at the desk he was sitting at. He smiled at her to be polite, but hastily returned to his reading, finding it more interesting. Or so she thought, as he suddenly spoke without looking up from his book:

"Honestly, Gretchen, your sight continues to worsen no matter how many times Dumbledore has that Dropsy elf retouch that paint of yours. That is obviously not dirt, Merlin's sake, that's some sort of mark that's supposed to be there!" Gretchen took a moment to pout before answering him.

"If you're going to insult me, Henry, look at me instead of that awful book. There's a reason only a few copies were made!" She turned to Laelia with an apologetic look. "Excuse us dear, we just have a hard time accepting that we had the great fortune of being hung too close to each other. I've found if you try really hard, you eventually can't hear him anymore-"

"Awful book?! This is a special edition! Of course there's only a few. Bloody hell, woman! Why is it so hard to understand? You're just jealous that I'm smarter for it. You'll never get your hands on this- it's all mine."

Laelia could swear she heard a cackle coming next, but Henry composed himself immediately and turned to her, Gretchen huffing indignantly in the background. "Don't listen to her. She doesn't make sense most of the time anyway. I do agree with that 'too close' statement however. One of the few things we agree on." Gretchen rolled her eyes. Laelia stood there uncomfortably for a second, noticing they were expecting her to say something. She didn't want to look like she was on either side. She finally opened her mouth, but just as she took a hesitant breath, someone cracked the door open and called,

"Laelia, dear, do you need any, um, help in there?" It was Professor McGonagall, which she could see when the professor stuck her face past the door. Once again Laelia was interrupted in her reply. The voice came from the professor's side of the wall.

"I can't imagine why we're dealing with this girl if she can't even put some clothes on by herself. This is ridiculous. You're wasting my time, Girl!" Laelia blushed. McGonagall's head disappeared into the other room as she turned to scold the speaker.

"Really, Severus, that's enough!" Her head poked past the door again. Then she looked around and felt rather foolish with her head through then doorway. "Actually, can I just open the door now?" Laelia smiled.

"Yes, of course." She paused to let the professor open the door. "I thought of one little matter that we haven't discussed yet, Professor." Professor Dumbledore stepped forward.

"What might that be? Hurry since the professors have limited time to talk before the Heads and Prefects arrive. They've been invited over to witness your 'sorting'. And then whatever prefects are in your house will escort you to the dormitories and get you settled." His eyes twinkled as he watched Laelia's confused face. "Of course, you already have a house, but we have to figure out which one you arrived in. Then we'll let them 'figure out' that there's an open bed that you can use, although we already know that. But now, it's your turn to speak." Laelia smiled. The old man's eyes were twinkling again.

"Alright. Well, I just realized that we may have to do something with the charter mark on my forehead, that is unless you think it won't make a difference with the rest of the students…" Dumbledore thought a moment.

"No, I rather like it." He laughed, but Laelia noticed that Professor Snape scowled behind him. "Just leave it like it is, maybe tell people it's a strange birthmark or something that runs in the family. Or maybe just tell them it's part of your everyday style!" Laelia laughed and shook her head.

"I'll think of something. Now, about this sorting…"

"Ahh, yes. The details. This is how it will go: All of the prefects and Heads will come at 6 o'clock and I will introduce you to them as they will be the main people to settle you, a new student, in at her new school. Then you will be sorted by the sorting hat which will actually be searching your recent memories to figure out which house you appeared in, the students not knowing anything is out of the ordinary. Then, when we start talking about room arrangements, someone from your new house will know that there is an extra bed in one of the rooms – the one you appeared in – and we will all be pleased and send you off with those prefects of that house. You will then answer whatever questions they throw at you as if you were a new student that has come from a different part of our world – basically as if you are a student transferring from a different school of magic. Make up your own story and share it with me later so I will not contradict anything you say, which could bring suspicion. Just try to make your home sound like something in this world, I suppose. You will probably be stuck with a lot of catch up homework tonight so that you know some of the basics when you start tomorrow. I'd better hand you over to your new professors now though. It's getting late."

"I think I can handle that. Um, who's first?" Professor McGonagall stepped forward.

"We can just step in that room over there. We'll practice a few spells with my little intro, so you'll need your wand-"She paused when she saw Laelia freeze and her eyes widen.

"My wand?! I don't have one!" It was McGonagall's turn to widen her eyes.

"What? Oh, I thought you had one, I didn't even mention it before when we were shopping! I didn't think your magic was that different! Albus, I'll have to take her now! The other students would know something was up the moment they knew she didn't have a wand!"

Almost without waiting for a reply from the headmaster, McGonagall grabbed a surprised Laelia and was out of the castle in record time. Laelia heard her mumbling the entire way back to Hogsmeade, but could only make out a few sentences like, "Sometimes I just wish I liked flying those bloody brooms!" All Laelia could think about then, though, was having her own wand. When she was little listening to her bedtime stories, she always wished she could try using one of those sticks for magic. At the same time, she wondered how handicapped these people felt having to depend on such a stick. At least her connection was firmly stuck to her forehead, making it unlikely that someone could possibly manage to steal it. Finally they stood in front of a little shop with an unreadable sign due to accumulating dirt and filth.

They stepped inside and were greeted by a warm, but lonely shop with dim, candle-lamp lighting, walls stuffed with shelves of boxes and a big, dark wood counter with the register in the corner.

"Hello?" McGonagall wasn't going to wait for the owner to notice them, she was in a hurry. Soon they heard some rustling noises and finally a short little man appeared from the back room.

"Why hello, Professor. What can I do for you?"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Viridian, we're here to get this young lady a wand, and quick." The shopkeeper looked confused but nodded and grabbed several boxes. He grabbed a couple more just in case.

Looking at Laelia, he asked, "Well, dear, do I need to explain the process or can we get started?"

"We can get started." She said this contrary to her thoughts that we saying that she had no idea what the process could actually be. But, she was in a hurry, after all. It couldn't be that difficult.

"Good. Now these first few are made of the materials that I have been using for a long time, but the last few are made from my new experimenting. They all work fine, of course." He handed her the first wand, and…nothing happened. The same thing happened for the second and the man decided to try one of his new experiments. Laelia was a little apprehensive when she saw the skeptical expression on Professor McGonagall's face. This one worked, however, and it worked very well. Huge sparks flew everywhere, and one of the larger green ones caught on the chair sitting nearby, which started a brief fire. Those short moments were filled with the man scrambling frantically to fix the problem. Laelia didn't notice for a moment. She was amazed by her wand and was glad that it was specifically hers. It was a wonderful feeling, that strong energy. It was so different from being lost in the charter, but it was just as invigorating. A second later she noticed the chair and gasped, her hand flinging to her mouth. 'Oh, how embarrassing!' She thought.

Noticing the shopkeeper's struggles, Professor McGonagall sighed and with a flick of her wrist, she put it out immediately. Once he had calmed down, she asked what it was so they could pay and be off.

"I-i-it's a-an eleven and a quarter of applewood with a tail hair of a ruddy centaur, the color I mean – you know, reddish-brown, and the fur from the mane of a sphinx, bonded together by the dust of the scales of a Chinese Fireball dragon." Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, it most certainly sounds like you had a lot of time on your hands – what a concoction." Mr. Viridian frowned slightly.

"Yes, well, that's what happens when you have a competitor such as Mr. Ollivander whose family has been in the business since 382 B.C. Not many people know my store exists."

"Well I would suggest that you try cleaning off your store sign out there – can't read a thing!" He scowled this time.

"Can't. A few years back some rotten kid cursed it to be forever filthy and I don't know the counter curse. And then I can't even buy a new sign as I don't have enough business to bother." Both Laelia and McGonagall sighed at the miserable man. McGonagall stepped to the counter and placed ten galleons next to the register and turned toward Mr. Viridian.

"We really must be going. Lucky to have had a match for her." She nodded towards Laelia who grabbed the box the wand had come in. She loved the feel of it, how it felt specially connected to her. They walked toward the door, and Laelia turned one last time to give the man an encouraging smile.

Once outside, Professor McGonagall motioned for Laelia to be quiet. Laelia looked at her curiously. The professor took out her own wand, whispered a spell, and watched, satisfied as the dirt on the sign disappeared and the white letters shone brightly on the dark blue background. Smiling, the professor turned to Laelia and started walking briskly back to Hogwarts. Laelia followed, her eyebrows raised, and looking at the sign as she passed it, the letters were suddenly embellished with silver. She giggled. Always wanted to use that mark. (Thoughts in italics now, ha ha, fickle me!) She ran to keep up with the professor, her new wand at her side.

They were now back in Dumbledore's office, and an exhausted Laelia was now finishing the notes the last professor was giving her as the introduction to his subject. Her hand hurt badly, but she loved the pretty new ink color that Dumbledore gave her. He had told her that the black ink was too common and boring, but he found her pen from the Old Kingdom was pretty fascinating. It was a lovely navy blue plume with white spots with dark gray centers in a rather odd shape with wavy fringe. Laelia rather liked it too.

Just as she was finishing her practice with the last few spells, everything was halted by a knock on the door. The professors finished putting away their supplies and Professor Flitwick managed to tell her that she could learn more about any subject (more specifically, Charms!) by visiting the library (strongly suggested) by the time Professor Dumbledore called the students inside the office. By then the room was pretty crowded, but the Headmaster managed to magic in a few more comfy chairs for the new arrivals to sit in. He motioned for Laelia to go stand by him behind his desk. She obeyed but wished she couldn't feel all the stares following her that were coming from the Prefects. Once she was settled, Dumbledore began.

"Good afternoon, all. This young lady right here is Laelia Sayre. She is a transfer student from a far away school who will be joining us as a 6th year tomorrow. I will be introducing her to the rest of the school tomorrow morning before the start of breakfast. I trust that you all will help her adjust and make her feel at home, as if she has been here since her first year." He paused to receive the nods from all the students. "Alright then, on to the main topic! You were called here to meet her before everyone else. She has yet to be sorted and with you and our professors present as witnesses, the sorting hat will do its job. Why not in front of the school like everyone else? Because it would mess up the flow of classes tomorrow and you all know it would be horrible if you missed part of your first class of the day!" The students smiled, and some rolled their eyes jokingly. "So, here we go! Laelia sit here at my desk and I will go get the Sorting Hat." She sat and Dumbledore fetched, and everything was ready for the big moment. The headmaster asked Laelia if she was ready, and after nodding, he placed the too-big hat on her head.

'Why hello, there. It seems that my usual methods aren't good enough this time. Oh well, I still get to meet you. Let's see here…ahh, here we have it. I get better at this every time. Found it already. Either that or these students get brighter every year without all their thoughts jumbled together. Laelia mentally smiled uncomfortably. It was a pretty weird experience, actually feeling the hat go through her mind. Ahh, it seems you made your grand entrance in

"GRYFFINDOR!" Laelia jumped, unaware that it was going to yell.

"Hey!" She leapt up and tossed the hat on the desk, surprised. The hat was facing her and it 'tsk'-ed at her and grumbled to itself. Dumbledore smiled at the pair as the Gryffindor students cheered. Laelia smiled at the two. But when she actually looked at them her smile faltered for a second. It was that girl she had seen sleeping by that book next to that fireplace. Hmm…She immediately started smiling again in hopes of getting away with the frown without anyone noticing, but the girl noticed. Darn…used to be good at that. So, to bring less attention to herself, she turned to Dumbledore who announced her as the newest member of the house of Gryffindor.

Just as the headmaster had planned, once they started discussing the next action, the one girl raised her hand. Dumbledore called on her.

"Professor, there's an empty bed in my dorm room; she could sleep there instead of having to bring in another bed." Dumbledore smiled.

"That's a great idea, Hermione, that helps a lot. Why don't you and Seamus take her to the Gryffindor tower and get her settled in now? That will be all." He dismissed the other professors and students. Professor McGonagall stayed behind a moment.

"Miss Sayre, I would like you to know that I am your new Head of House in this school. You will probably end up coming to see me once in awhile." With a smile, she left to follow the other professors. Laelia turned to her new fellow house members. Hermione and Seamus grabbed their bags. Laelia did the same.

"Got your trunk taken care of?"

"Er, I don't have one…" Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"That's all you brought?" Asked Seamus. Hermione gave him a reproachful look that told Laelia that she thought that she was poor and didn't own anything else, which meant that he was being incredibly rude. Wait till she saw how much was packed in there. Seamus took the hint and promptly apologized.

"That's okay. Really." She tried her best to hide the sort of embarrassed amusement that she felt. Hermione opened the door.

"We should head back now. Seamus and I can show you around and I'll settle you into your room." Laelia nodded and followed the two out of the office and down a flight of stairs until they reached a hallway.

"Now, the corridors and stairways and rooms all have their tricks here at Hogwarts, and it may take you awhile to remember all of them. I would strongly suggest you never go around without someone until you do, and maybe read Hogwarts, A History. That helped me. For example, corridors and stairways lead to tons of places throughout the castle and some paths change on different days. Then some steps on the stairs might disappear, or you may find yourself trying to open the door that is really just a wall in disguise. Some other doors are hidden, such as behind tapestries and paintings, and some will only open for some cue. So, bringing company will be useful if you get into trouble." She said this as she turned the corner and passed behind a tapestry. Laelia took a mental note of that. Tapestry with a fox hunt…right. Just as soon as she stepped through after her guides, she was bombarded by a full trash bin that apparently came from the nearby classroom with its door open. Well, she noticed the doorway as soon as she got a particularly sticky bit of crumpled up parchment that was covered in some unknown substance.

Apparently, it was in fact done by a cackling little man who had just zoomed out of the doorway, and not the room itself. Well, that would make sense, but this place seemed to have a mind of its own anyway.

"Ahh, this would be Peeves, the wonderful resident poltergeist." Said poltergeist sniggered. "How are you, Peeves?" He leveled himself with her face and was about a few inches away when he blew a giant raspberry, soaking her with poltergeist spit. Hermione grinned sarcastically at him before he swooped down on Laelia. Laelia gave him a look that silently warned him not to tick her off. Surprising both Hermione and Seamus, he paused, but only momentarily. In one fast motion he stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out an ink bottle which he managed to upset over Laelia's head.

So, that's how he wanted to play it, did he? Fine. She'd use a little magic of her own.

"Peeves-" she began, but the attempt was apparently fruitless as she saw him reach into his pocket again.

So she whistled. Not any whistle, but a whistle with a combination of Charter marks that kind of worked like the sixth bell, Saraneth, which was the Binder. Only these marks worked at a lesser level on the living, not the Dead. It was a magic-infused note that caused Peeves to go rigid.

"Go away, Peeves," she commanded, and he floated away down the hall with an expression of mixed confusion and fright. Her companions stared at her.

"Wow, no one's been able to stop Peeves like that without a wand before, except for Slytherin's ghost, the Bloody Baron." Seamus said. Hermione snapped out of it and decided they should keep going. They obviously hadn't noticed the magic, consciously anyway, as they had sort of been entranced as well. Apparently they hadn't thought anything of the whistle either, not that they would be thinking along those lines anyway.

"Oh, and here – scourgify!" Instantly the ink disappeared from Laelia's hair, face and shoulders. She smiled gratefully. They then moved on.

"Right, so…oh yes, the Gryffindor dormitory is known as the Gryffindor Tower, and it's just up a little ways. The entrance is at the portrait of the Fat Lady. She's in a pink silk gown. You can't miss her. Unless she's out roaming of course." Of course. Laelia thought sarcastically. But then she remembered how the pictures here could move and she immediately understood.

"So the first room once you enter is the Common Room. That's where we Gryffindors hang out and do our homework. There is plenty of space and there are a bunch of couches and chairs around the fireplace. A lot of people tend to stay down there pretty late. Then, opposite the fires we have the girls' and guys' dormitories. You'll have to climb a staircase to get to the room. I'll show you around, and I'm sure your new roommates will want to say 'hi'." They stopped in front of the portrait.

"Well, here we are, home!" Hermione smiled. "Oh, and the password's 'Snicket'." The Lady smiled at Laelia before she swung forward to reveal a round opening in the wall. She followed Hermione and Seamus through the hole into what had to be the Common Room. At first, being behind the two regulars, no one noticed anything different. She went unnoticed for about a total of one minute before a tall, freckled red head jumped up from one of the comfy-looking couches and bounded over to the two.

"Hey! What was it about? Oh, and Seamus, thanks for filling in for me. I was at the Hospital Wing for ages. Ginny must have gotten me with one of the newest Wizard Wheezes experiment. Haven't even heard of it yet, and-" It was then that he noticed a third person in the group. His eyebrows shot up and for a moment he couldn't say anything, then all of a sudden yelled out,

"Who's that?" Immediately every head in the room turned to see what Ron was looking at, except for her two companions. Laelia froze. Well, this is just a little uncomfortable. Just a little bit…Hermione rolled her eyes exasperatedly and hissed at the red head,

"Ron! That, er, volume was a little unnecessary!" Ron blushed a little but was still focusing on the girl behind her. Hermione noticed this and accusingly said, "Why don't you ask the girl herself. She's right there you know!"

"Er, well then, who are you?" Laelia paused for a second.

"I'm Laelia Sayre, new transfer student…from, uh, from the States!" Why that popped into her head, she didn't know, but he seemed more appeased than she thought he would.

"What year are you?" He had a strange, undecipherable look on his face.

"Tomorrow is the start of my 6th year, only the first here at Hogwarts, obviously."

"Oh." That's all he said. He just kept staring at her, unmoving for a few moments, even after most heads had turned back to what they were originally focused on, until someone else put a hand on his shoulder, shaking him out of his thoughts.

Only it was Laelia's turn to stare, which he ignored with ease. She understood why though, he was probably totally used to it. She had an idea of the feeling herself, but not just because of the staring contest that had concluded only moments ago. But she couldn't help herself. She had finally laid eyes on the protagonist of the special story she had only let her mother read her as she grew up. She was actually about three feet from him.

Who was it? Harry Potter himself, of course.

end Ch.3

Hmm……well I changed the ending to make it sound less ridiculous. But now I have to start the next chapter and the weekend is over. It's just too bad I wasn't in the mood to write Saturday as I was stuck inside doing nothing for almost the whole day. Very nerve-wrecking, let me tell you. Not having anything to do and fidgeting around, needing something to do. shudders bad memories. Well I hope you enjoy this ending more than the last. I know I do. Until next time seeya, oh – and don't forget to review. You know you want to. ;) I mean I know it might be hard to summon the strength to scroll down the last inch or so and click on the drop down menu, click on review and type, like, a sentence at least, but come on. Please? Pretty please? I will thank you for your strenuous, valiant efforts. It's all I'm asking for, a – okay, I'll stop. Now I'm sounding desperate. But I don't care about the vast number of reviews I get, I just want some feedback, k? Alright, I'll sleep, go to school, and try to find time to write. Oh yeah – and post this new version. That may be helpful! u G'night!