A Herald-Witch 3

Disclaimer: I really wish that I could say that everything in silly work is my own, but it isn't. All references to heralds, ideas, and characters specific to the world of Velgarth belong to Mercedes Lackey and all characters, phrases, and references to the world of Harry Potter belong to J.K.Rowling. Both are wonderful and creative ladies….please don't sue me!

Once again Kora was sitting on the bench by her window. It had been a week and a half since she'd sent her "owl" back to that wizard school and it still hadn't replied. Well really she hadn't had much time to worry about it either because her teachers were trying to push her to finish the classes she was scheduled for so she'd not have to worry about collegium work at this school. I can't believe that they'd do this to me. Why am I singled out for this?

:You're projecting again.:

:I can't help it. I haven't slept in a week.:

:Well, then you should take a nap now rather than staring out into the field.:

:I suppose I could use:

Thwack!

Kora jumped as a brown ball of fluff hit the window and scrabbled to find a hold on the glass. Right on the proverbial heels of the first owl a second one came and this time Kora had the wits to open the window. The second one swooped in followed by the first who had needed to recover and make a second pass to get over the shock of not being able to find a perch on the sill. They both landed on her bed with a soft flump and waited patiently for her to pour some water into the mug on the night stand and bring it to the bed for them to have a drink. She also had some dried meat she had filched from the kitchens the last time she had been cook's helper. Darkwind had told her that the birds would probably appreciate the gesture. As the birds helped themselves to the meat and water Kora looked at the letter and package the owls had dropped.

On both the letter and the package was a message "Please open the letter first"

She decided that following directions for once in her life might be a good idea. So she opened the letter first and read the loopy handwriting.

Ms. Talese,

Since you are the first young witch from your area that has ever attended Hogwarts it is reasonable that you wouldn't have any idea where to go. For this purpose in the package there are three portkeys. The first, a copy of the school equipment list will take you to the Leaky Cauldron when you touch it. The second, a small picture of an owl, will return you to your place of residence. And the third, a train ticket, will take you to platform 9 ¾ where you will catch the train to school on September 1st. Please be careful with these items because they will take you as soon as you touch the items themselves. Please keep them in their envelopes until you need to use them as they are one use only.

Minerva Mcgonagall

Deputy Headmistress

:Portkey:

:I would guess that it would be similar to a gate in that it will take you where you need to be in a matter of seconds:

:Gee, ya' think genius:

:Well I don't see you throwing out any ideas.:

:Wait am I going to bring you:

:I don't think they have any where for me to stay. Besides you and I both have surprisingly long distance mind speech. If I link to the heartstone in the palace, I should be able to reach you there. It will be easier on me if there is a ley line near that school for you to use.:

:Well I should probably go tell Dean Teren and Lady Els- never mind, Elspeth's here:

:Good then, I'm off to talk to Gwena:

Just as Kora finished with the companion Elspeth pounded on the door. "Kora, Vree just told Darkwind that two owls just flew from this side of the complex. Were they coming from you?"

"Yeah, They dropped the means of getting to the places for my equipment and to get to school."

Elspeth suddenly got a greedy look on her face and her fingers began to curl as if she couldn't wait to examine these new magical items. "Well where are they? How do they work? You should let me examine them to be sure they're safe."

"No, The letter said that as soon as someone touches them it activates some kind of transportation spell. And they're one use only."

"Oh. You should still take someone with you, you know to keep you safe."

"I don't know if it works that way, besides you only want to go because the curiosity is killing you. Isn't it."

"No…"

"I think that if you link with me before I go you should be able to look through my eyes."

"That may work…"

"Well I'm going tomorrow after breakfast. I'll mindspeak you before I leave."

"Sounds alright, you do that.."

With that and the far off look she had Elspeth may very well have gone into shock with excitement. Kora watched as her mage teacher walked blindly down the corridor back to the Herald's wing and her room running into a wall on the way. This may be a good way to see if I can stay in contact while I'm away from Donni. She knew as she checked in the small package for the envelope labeled equipment that she wasn't going to be able to sleep. It also occurred to her that she had no idea how she was going to pay for this stuff so she decided she would have to speak with Dean Teren about getting some money in the morning before breakfast. And with that thought she went down to supper and fended off questions about the strange place and what she thought she would see when she got there. Eventually she got sick of pondering and re-pondering the same questions and pled that she would need sleep if she was going to remember the things she saw and be able to tell them about it.

The next morning she went down to Teren's orderly office to see if he had any ideas as to how to purchase her school supplies. Teren seemed to sense the nervousness she had about going alone and cut a deal. "If you can make the books available to the collegium libraries when you don't need them any more, take and keep detailed notes from any classes that may deal with herbs that could be used by the healers, and if possible keep a journal of your time there. The Bardic, Mages, and Healers collegiums have agreed to help pay for your equipment if you can try your best to keep your end of the bargain."

"I'll do what I can but I don't know how much I can do around the classes they've scheduled me for. But I can promise to keep up a regular correspondence whether by mindspeech or by letter. That way I can be told what to watch for. And as for the books I will most assuredly make them available to the collegia when I'm finished with them."

"That's all we can ask."

As Teren spoke he passed a large white leather pouch toward her. As Kora picked the bag off the dean's orderly desk she realized it was full of trade silver and weighed quite a lot. "Kora, We all wish the best of luck to you and hope you'll share what you learn with us. Also before I forget, you may need to go to a money changer to get the proper currency if you have any left over, please bring one of each kind of coin if you can."

She went back to her room with her bulging pouch of coins and placed them next to the envelope on her bed, changed into one of her nicest uniforms and proceeded down to breakfast.

:You're ready now right:

It always felt weird when she shared her eyes with someone. Like she had two brains inside her head, it felt kind of heavy and squished inside. well there's nothing else to do now but to try it. Kora double checked that she had the envelope labeled owl in her pocket , tore open the envelope with the list in it, and as soon as she grabbed the paper of the list she felt a curious pull behind her navel. A strong swirling wind and a blur of color later she found herself deposited in a heap on the floor of the strangest tavern she had ever seen. :Hwa- hey where are we:

:The letter said that the port thingy would bring me to a place called the leaky cauldron:

:Is this the place:

:How should I know? Like I've ever been there.:

"Miss, are you okay, do you know where you are?"

Kora opened her eyes and saw an older man, slightly scruffy looking with blue eyes and a face that told of a recent illness. "Uhh, yes, I'm alright except for the new lump on my head. This wouldn't happen to be the Leaky Cauldron by any chance would it?"

"This is indeed the place." the man remarked with a smile. "Are you a new student?"

:Wow, He's kinda cute, in a y'know scruffy kind of way.:

:ELSPETH, You're bonded to Darkwind. You shouldn't be ogling other guys.:

:I'm not ogling, I'm just …appreciating.:

:Sure you're not.:

"Yep, and I have no idea where to go. You couldn't help me by any chance could you?"

"I'm going to assume that you are Ms. Kora Talese," He sort of reminded Kora of the Dean, except for the fact that Teren was a neat freak. "I'm Professor Lupin, one of the teachers at Hogwarts. I suppose that first we should take you to exchange your money, for that we will head over to Gringotts."

:Gringotts? That sounds like somewhere to eat.:

:Mind back in your stomach lady teacher:

:Hush you:

"Gringotts sir?" Kora personally agreed that it did indeed sound like somewhere to get food. "Shouldn't we go to a money changer type person? I did bring Valdemarran trade silver.."

"Gringotts is the wizard's bank, where else would you go to get currency exchanged? Besides with that amount of money you should probably open a vault there so you don't have to worry about changing your money every time you come for supplies."

:He has a point. Elspeth, can you ask Dean Teren if anyone minds if I open a vault here? I will be sure to bring some coins back with me tonight.:

:Done and done. No one minds, in fact, Teren said to tell you to try to remember as much of the processes as you can for Myste. She'll want to interview you when you get back.:

:Thanks:

As Kora walked past the front windows in front of the bar she just had to stop and gape at the people outside. She saw a group of three people who were maybe two or three years older than her. One had hair that was pink. Pink. So bright that it nearly hurt her eyes to look at it. Strange, Her eyebrows are brown. The next had bits of metal poking out of his ears, lower lip, eyebrow, and nose and a chain that ran from his right ear to his lip. And the last one was wearing some shiny black material, covered in buckles and metal interlocking pieces.

:I think that that's enough for me for one day, That's scary.: And with that Kora had a sensation of someone "letting go" of her mental hand.

"Talese, please stop gawking at the muggles."

"Sorry professor, and you can call me Kora, everyone else does. What's a muggle?"

"People without magic. Wizards call them muggles."

Leading her away from the windows Lupin brought them to a stop in front of a pair of trash cans and a brick wall. Kora was definitely confused. Weren't they supposed to go to this Gringotts place and then to Diagon Alley. "So where is the bank place? Is this a secret passage like in the palace/collegium complex?"

"Well, well it's kind of a secret passage but not really. You see once you get your wand you can open it too. Any wizard can."

With that the professor pulled out a long narrow piece of wood and proceeded to count and tap bricks on the wall. "one, two, three up and one, two, over" as he touched the last brick with the tip of his wand suddenly the bricks started to shift back and forth or spin around emitting a cloud of mortar dust. Kora had no idea how to respond so she opted to sneeze before her head exploded. As she finally opened her eyes after her sneezing fit she saw a massive cobbled street filled to bursting with people dressed in a manner even the most flamboyant hawkbrother would be amazed at. Robes in all colors of the rainbow and pointed hats as far as she could see. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet trying to see as much as she could to her right was a dark building called "Owl Emporium" and next to that was a store selling cauldrons. On her left was an open area for sitting with tables and umbrellas. She saw two older ladies comparing bags. "This Chinese Fireball bag really looks flashy but won't hold up as well as the Hungarian Horntail." At a table in the sitting area a girl who looked to be nearly 18 with flaming ginger hair was playing a game of chess with an old man and winning spectacularly. Lupin noticed the girl just as she declared "checkmate" and the old man put three silver pieces onto the table.

"Still trying to get money by creaming old men at chess. That's not very nice Ms. Ginny."

So this was a long chapter huh? Are you still reading this? Really? What didja think? Was bringing Lupin in to lead Kora a concession to plot convenience? Umm, the answer to all of the above is yes. Please click the buttony-majig to review or I may sick the man-or-woman-eating momewraths on you.