Elaine asked no questions. She simply brought Nora back to the inn and made her lie down. She went to the kitchen and brought back a mug of tea, reporting that Mr. Lupin...

"Don't call him Mr. Lupin." Anna said weakly, sipping at the steaming tea.

Well, all right then, Remus hadn't arrived back yet, or so it seemed. And another interesting tidbit of information; the rest of the guests were gathered in the front sitting room, seeming to have a deep conversation.

"About my rudeness, no doubt."

"Actually, they stopped talking when I passed by, so I don't really know. It could be about somebody else, like that convict."

"Maybe."

Late that night, when Elaine had long since fallen asleep, Nora lay awake, thinking. She couldn't understand what was happening. Everything seemed so surreal right now. She watched the full moon hanging low outside the window, so low and close, that Nora felt she could reach out and touch it shining pearly blue face. Finally, Nora stood and walked downstairs, intending to sit with another cup of tea or cocoa. She crept down the stairs, careful of any creaks in the wood. She had gone halfway to the kitchen, when the sound of murmuring voices made her stop. They were coming from the sitting room, and Nora could clearly see the door slightly ajar.

She stole up to the door, placing her ear next to the crack, and listened.

"How did he miss it? There was obviously potential there, and he missed." Came the voice of Diggle.

"Dumbledore, miss anything? I beg your pardon, but this was not his fault. McGonagall is in charge of these things," Trelawney's voice sounded icy.

"My dear Professor Trelawney, we are not insinuating that Dumbledore's at fault here. Anything could have happened." Said the man with the mustache.

"What could have stopped any letter from arriving to her, wherever she was, Mr. Figgs?" Asked Trelawney.

"Well, maybe those American schools aren't doing a good job of keeping their eyes open. I've known that school in Salem to make a few slipups, myself. It's run by that ninny Professor Haley. Remember him? He's the one that was sent all of those Howlers years ago by parents who claimed he was teaching their children poorly. Didn't even know how to pronounce a few of the simplest hexes, they claimed. I'm half inclined to believe them too." Said Figgs.

"Perhaps there was no sign of it until she arrived here." Suggested the derby hat man. "That's happened before."

"Good point, Mr. Landry. Who knows, maybe she'd turn out to be a Squib, and that would be ten times worse than being a Muggle." Said Diggle.

Nora knew they were talking about her and she felt anger start coursing through her. She did not understand what a Squib or Muggle was, though she was certain they could not be good things. The anger boiled in her, and she stared at the wood grains in the door intently. She did not know how she ended up in the room, or how Diggle was thrown about halfway across it.

Nora stared at them and they gazed back in shock. Then one by one, they started applauding, even Diggle, who lay on his back. Nora watched them, confused by the way they had reacted. Diggle jumped to his feet, ran up to her and shook her hand vigorously.

"I do believe, Miss Cane, that we have had our first break through."

The others nodded their heads, and Figgs cried, "Quite so, quite so!"

Nora had no clue what they were talking about. "Break through? Break through in what?"

"Why just look at the door!" Landry said, gesturing excitedly. Nora looked behind her and saw the door smashed inward, splintered at the hinges.

"Oh no." She groaned. How are we going to fix this? She didn't think she could possibly cover for the price of the door. But, now Landry was patting her on the shoulder, and taking out what looked like a long, thin stick.

"Quite all right. We'll have this fixed up in no time." He pointed the stick at the splintered door and said loudly, "Reparo!" At which time the pieces of the door flew up and reattached themselves, and the door was once more in a whole piece.

Nora stared, unbelieving. "Wha...? How?" Was all she could get out.

They all laughed, and Landry led her to the couch. "Here, sit, we have a lot to talk about. Care for some tea?" Nora sat, nodding dumbly.

"All right, then." He waved the stick and a tea set appeared out of nowhere, complete with a steaming kettle. The others sat in chairs that surrounded her, as Landry handed out teacups. What's going on? Did he just do what I thought he did?

"One lump or two?"

Nora looked up, shocked. "Excuse me, what?"

Landry laughed. "Would you like one lump of sugar in your tea, or two?"

"Er...two. And some cream." Nora replied automatically. Landry handed her a teacup and sat down in another chair. Nora felt like she was at an interrogation, or sitting in front of a panel of judges. She put the tea down. "What is going on here?"

"Well, my dear," Trelawney said smiling mistily, "we weren't sure before, what with the tale of the Leaky Cauldron and the man in the scarlet robes, but now we are positive."

"Positive of what?"

"That you are a witch." Figgs stated bluntly.

"A what?" Nora blinked, unsure if this was really happening to her or not.

"A witch!" Diggle said delightedly, once again bouncing up and down, "And I'm sure you would make a fine one, what with a little work. But we leave that up to our wonderful schools, don't we Professor?" Professor Trelawney nodded sagely. "Professor Lupin and I would love to teach this young lady about the fine art of magic."

"What? Lupin's teaching at Hogwarts this year?" Diggle asked indredulously.

"Oh yes," Trelawney said, and, somehow through her numbness, Nora detected bit of disdain in her voice, "Dumbledore has asked him to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, which he has accepted, though I hope there is some means of protection. I mean, even now..."

"Excuse me." Nora said quietly, showing a calm she didn't feel, "Perhaps someone would like to explain to me what this is all about."

"You are a witch." Figgs stated again, "And we are wizards, and Professor Trelawney is a witch as well. It's all very simple, really. We live in the same world as Muggles, or, non-magical people, though we do have the upper hand in things don't we? We thought that you and your friend, Miss Glitwick were both absolute Muggles, but tonight proved that you do have some magic in you. Just how much, I'm not sure. But the only way to find out would be to take you shopping tomorrow."

"Shopping?" Nora asked blankly.

"Oh, yes dear." Trelawney said, smiling at her. "Shopping. We will have to make an important stop in Diagon Alley that will determine the extent of your magical powers. Now, I suggest you go up to bed, and try and get some rest before tomorrow. We have a big day ahead of us." Nora didn't want to get up and leave; she had too many questions racing through her head. Landry seemed to read her mind. "Don't worry about it until the morning. Then we'll answer any of the questions you have." Nora smiled for the first time, stood and left the room, her heart feeling lighter for some reason.

As she climbed back into bed, Elaine turned and looked at her drowsily. "Somethin' happen? Sounded like there was a commotion."

"It's all right, I just ran into a door, that's all." Nora said reassuringly.

Elaine nodded sleepily. "Okay. That's cool. Good night."

Nora lay awake for hours, thinking about what had happened downstairs. She couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. Those people have to be crazy. Even if all this bull were true, how can it be that I am a witch and have never known it before? These thoughts ran continuously through her head as she slowly drifted off to sleep.