Chapter 3: Here?

Water? What the hell? Glub glub glub. I'm not dead? Yay! Just in a freezing lake.

"Oy! What was that?" a boy asked.

"It fell in the lake!" a girl screeched.

"Looks like a girl!"

"Henry, I'm scared…"

"Get a grip."

"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" a different female voice yelled.

I felt myself getting picked up by an invisible force and then slowly hovering above the water towards the shore. People were starting to surround me, talking in hushed voices. They were all wearing black. Did I just drop into a funeral, I thought.

"Hey, are you ok?" the male voice asked. He had a British accent.

My hair was plastered over my face so I could not see properly. I swallowed a lot of water so I was choking quite a bit. The boy casually pulled my hair off my face. He had bright brown eyes and red hair cut like those emo-band guys. He was freckly, had a big nose and a wide red mouth. He then proceeded to slap my back lightly.

"Ron!" the girl exclaimed. She was the one who yelled Wingardium Leviosa. I must be delirious. She had a British accent too. I then realized that almost everyone did. Some people had Scottish accents, Irish…

Ron? A redheaded guy named Ron?

Then I looked at the girl. She was pretty except for the bushy brown hair that made her look like Hermione in Harry Pot…nnnooo. No! It just can't be!

"She looks friendly," Ron said matter-of-factly, "I'm not afraid of her."

"How'd she fall out of the sky like that?" another boy asked the girl. He had messy black hair and round glasses. The girl shrugged with a worried look on her face.

I finally asked 'Ron' weakly, "Am I in some sort of convention?"

"No…" he answered, "You're in a school. A magic…"

My jaw dropped. Am I in a mental institution? It was suffocating being encircled by a crowd. But the people in front of me parted. I soon found myself facing an old man with a long white beard. He was wearing gold half-moon glasses, purple robes with stars and moons, and a matching hat. He had a serious expression at first. But when our eyes met, his expression softened. I saw the kind face of a man who just had to do his kind face justice. His wrinkled face then expressed a brightness that everyone else seemed to be oblivious to.

Dumbledore.

"What do we have here?" he asked.

Nothing.

"Can you hear, child?"

"Umm… yeah. But… I'm… you…it's not possible…"

"Just calm down."

I shook my head and heard a sloshing sound.

"I…I…have water in my ears."

"That explains the belated reply," he smiled and pointed his magic wand at my ear.

Whoosh.

Ahh. Sweet relief.

"Umm…thanks."

"But," he continued, "That doesn't explain your dropping into our lake."

I then got up to my feet. I was the lone t-shirt-shorts-flip flops clad person in the place. I was wet. I was freezing. I shivered and hugged myself. My knees were shaking.

"Why don't you dry off and we can talk in my office," he said. This caused even more murmuring among the younger people. He waved his wand and I felt a warm wind blow at me. I found myself dried off. He waved again and I felt a dark velvet cloak fall on me. I hastily wore it and put my hand in the pockets. I looked at the man and he smiled.

"Let's go then."